Monday, September 26, 2011

It's Raining in Education

I listened to a talk by Dr. Michael Apple this afternoon at the University of Regina.  According to their website, he's a "renowned critical pedagogue".  I was going to make up a simpler name but couldn't think of anything appropriate so we'll go with their title.  Basically, he's a wise man who knows a lot about education.  How could  he not with a name so apt for the profession as "Apple"?  Of course, I mentioned this to my tech savvy hubby and his mind went in another direction.  I suppose Dr. Apple would be great at computer technology as well but I digress.

I arrived at the talk a bit late since it started at 3:30 pm and it was a bit rushed to drive from work and try to find a parking spot.  I won't get into the parking issues too much but I will say that I spent way too much time looking for a parking spot which was extremely far away from the lecture.  I also may have used a few curses along the way and feel badly for the parking attendant who was forced to listen to me vent about the whole fiasco.

Back to the talk...and because it's late and I still have a journal article to read, we'll go with point form.  Here are the points that resonated with me the most today.
  • Education is a feminized profession.  Because of this, we are constantly fighting for respect.  We make 5,000-10,000 less than professions that require similar educational expectations.  (I would argue the gap is much larger than this in Saskatchewan and there are plenty of statistics to prove it.)
  • Teachers are highly skilled individuals and yet everyone seems to think they can be a teacher.
  • Governments and educational stakeholders understand very little about what goes on in the classroom on a daily basis.  Only teachers and those who spend time in the classroom truly know what's best for the students.  
  • Standardized testing assumes that every teacher should teach every student the same thing.  This conflicts with the very basis of the Saskatchewan Curriculum which encourages inquiry based learning and constructivism especially in subjects such as Science.  In math, we are asked to teach understanding in many ways where different students connect to the material in a way that makes sense to them.  Yet, at the same time, students are writing standardized tests which assume they are being taught the exact same thing.  Sounds like a no-win situation to me.
  • It's always the teacher's fault when something goes wrong in education.  In fact, anything that goes wrong in education is automatically blamed on teachers or teacher education.  Apparently it has nothing to do with a lack of resources, diverse student needs, cuts in educational assistants, or a multitude of initiatives that would make a head spin.
  • For every 500 poor people, there is one rich person.  Dr. Apple then said that this stat was wrong...there are actually more poor people for every rich person.
  • In every nation where teachers have been paid based on performance, it has never been done with an intention to pay teachers more but with the intention of cutting jobs.
  • There is no research that supports the idea that paying teachers based on performance yields better results.
  • Paying teachers based on students' performance results in a greater divide between the rich and the poor.
Referring back to the title of this post, "it's raining in education" for everyone.  For teachers, for parents, for school boards, for governments, for private enterprise.  In other words, there are challenges for everyone when it comes to education and you have to stand under your own umbrella.  The private sector and those who are interested in a more market-based education system are trying to pull others under their umbrellas.  According to Dr. Apple, private-based education does not work.  He went into descriptions regarding various groups and their beliefs near the end of the presentation.  Unfortunately, I had to take off to pick up the kids at that point but felt enlightened by the lecture and am glad I took the time to attend.

Listening to lectures like these reinforces how important it is for educators to continue to work hard to advocate for what we know works in the classroom.  Teachers are the ones in the classroom each day and there are a lot of good things happening.  As Dr. Apple said, about 19 out of 20 media reports are telling the public about all the shortcomings of our education system.  This struck a chord with me after the attack ads we saw on Saskatchewan teachers in recent months.

How often do we see positive articles about what teachers are doing?  Let's see more of those.  Teachers really are doing great things in their classrooms.  I see this passion for teaching everyday in my colleagues (and myself).  I see the caring and attention teachers give students everyday.  Let's start to talk about that rather than all the doom and gloom of how our educational system is failing children.  Teachers are doing great things and I truly believe that the public knows this.  Why are we trying to keep it a secret?  It's okay to celebrate our teachers and to thank them and to appreciate them. Above all, it's okay to RESPECT them.  That's what we really want.



Sunday, September 25, 2011

The Mabel's Labels Giveaway Winner is...

Caitlin! (All About the Chaos Baby)

Thanks to everyone that entered this giveaway.  Mabel's Labels really are a great product for labeling your little one's belongings.  You also get lots of them when you order so you can label pretty much everything that you send to daycare or school.  They stay on well and are easy to remove later if you want to sell something after the fact.  Here's their website again: http://www.mabel.ca/

Also, I follow them on Facebook and Twitter because they often have deals.   If I see something come up, I'll post it on my blog page as well.  For example, I bought some earlier this year when they had a Groupon type deal on Mamapedia.com.

I hope everyone has a lovely Sunday.  We are enjoying 30 degree temperatures at the end of September so I hope to get outside with the family at some point today!

Lastly, if you could click on the Top Mommy Blogs logo, I would appreciate it!  A click equals a vote and that's all you have to do.

Visit Top Mommy Blogs To Vote For Me!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

'Bloggin' About Everything Baby' for Over a Year Now!

Here were the kiddos around the time I started this blog.
It's hard to believe it's already been a year since I started this blog.  It has been a lot of fun to keep it up although it has been harder to post as consistently since I returned to work in the spring.  I thought it'd be fun to copy my friend Meghan over at Food and Whine (an awesome food blog) and share my top ten blog posts from over the past year. Meghan celebrated her "Blogiversary" in the same way and I enjoyed seeing what her top posts were so I hope you feel the same way!

Without further delay, here are my top ten posts of all time!

1.  Daily "Deal" Websites - I don't think this will surprise anyone.  This post still receives the most "hits" per month.  What this tells me is that I am not the only one with this problem.

2.  lia sophia Jewellery Giveaway! $150 Value- This was my biggest giveaway ever.  It still gets lots of page views even though the contest ended months ago.                                                                                         
3.  Kidco PeaPod Plus Review and Giveaway - I'd always wanted a Kidco PeaPod and apparently so did everyone else.  This giveaway received lots of attention along with the most entries for any giveaway I've done so far!

4.  Z99 Radiothon Auction Information - Again, not a huge surprise especially since this fundraising effort was advertised on the radio and received a ton of support.  By the way, I am going to do another auction again for the next Radiothon next March so keep this in mind.  I will need sponsors and bidders!

5. Taryn Laine Photography Review & Giveaway- Taryn is a very talented photographer and people love to look at her pictures.  This post has received a ton of page views and I hope it has helped to drive her business at least a little.  She deserves it as she works hard, does great work and provides awesome deals.

6. Baby Gourmet Review & Giveaway - Obviously Baby Gourmet is onto something because several people found their products interesting and tasty.  It only makes sense that baby food should taste good and Baby Gourmet has managed to do just that.

7.  Skor Shortbread Cookies - I love that a recipe made the top ten list.  These cookies really are addictive.  I believe a reader referred to them as Christmas "crack" so bake with caution.

8.  The Great Canadian Blog Bash - This was an awesome blog event where I connected with several other Canadian mom bloggers leading up to Canada Day.  We celebrated our country and its traditions and promoted lots of great Canadian companies at the same time with lots of product giveaways.

9. Haute Tots Review & Giveaway - I still absolutely love the hat that we received from Haute Tots for this giveaway.  We get compliments every time Aleena wears it.

10. TippyToesKnits Giveaway - I love the style of TippyToesKnits hats and was thrilled to do a giveaway for this small but fantastic Etsy shop.

That rounds up the top ten posts according to Blogger Stats.  Hope you enjoy and that you keep reading in the months to come.  Christmas is coming after all and I have a Kitchen Aid Mixer named Martha that is calling my name.

Finally, I just want to thank everyone for reading my blog and for all the kind words and support I have been given over the past year.  I love sharing all sorts of deals, giveaways and stories with you.  My favourite part of this blog was the Z99 Radiothon and the amazing outpouring of support that was literally received from across the world.  It just makes me realize how powerful the internet is at bringing people together and I truly appreciate that sort of global thinking especially since that's been a concept I have embraced fully in my life.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to sharing more in the year to come!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Connor is THREE!

Connor's birthday was almost ten days ago but I was too busy to post any photos.  The day started off with my half marathon and then a Sunday brunch.  We then watched the Rider game while the kids napped so Connor's birthday didn't really get going until after naptime.  He knew it was his birthday all day of course.

We didn't have a huge party this year but the day was still very nice!  Connor got tons of presents thanks to Grandma Kelly who came over and spoiled him big time.  Of course, we got him a few gifts too!  I bought him a couple of Cars and yet another Thomas the Train set.  They had Tidmouth Sheds at Toys R Us the other day and it was 20% off so I couldn't resist.  Now, Connor has somewhere to park his plethora of Thomas trains.

I took a couple other photos of our busy yet quiet birthday party for the little man.  It's hard to believe he's already three years old.  It sometimes feels like he was just born.  I thought it'd be fun to post a birth story I wrote a couple days after he was born.  So here are a couple more photos from his 3rd birthday and then his birth story which I wrote exactly three years ago today.

The cupcakes that I later decorated and took to his daycare to share.
New train set!
Aleena having yet another tantrum.
Connor getting ready to blow out the candle on the cupcake!  Bigger isn't always better!

Connor's Birth Story
September 19, 2008

Last week was a very difficult week for my whole family. My uncle had passed away very suddenly in an accident at work. My family is very close and this was very stressful for everyone including myself! Here is his obituary Obituary and the newsstory about his death. News Story

He passed away on Sunday. I was still working last week and had planned on working until my due date which was supposed to be today. I had an OB appointment last Tuesday where my doctor told me that nothing had started progressing yet and I wouldn't be having my baby this week. I didn't mind as the funeral was on Saturday and I was a week and a half away from my due date anyway.

On Wednesday, Jeremy and I went to our first breastfeeding class put on by our local health district. I felt very sick before the class started and spent the first few minutes in the washroom clearing out the system. I won't get into details about that part! I thought it was because I ate KFC for supper...we'll call that my last pregnancy craving.

Everything else was normal for the rest of the night. I felt much better, we made it through the class and I went home to find a message asking if Jeremy and I would help out at the funeral. I called back and said we would since the doctor seemed to think I'd be waiting awhile yet.

At about 2:30 am, I woke up to go to the washroom as per usual and felt some cramping. I didn't think much of it. I just thought it meant I was starting to finally dilate and labour would still be a week or two away at least. I tried getting back to sleep but couldn't.  That morning, I thought about calling in sick to work but my replacement was coming in and I didn't want to miss the chance to speak with him. I am a teacher and I love my students and wanted to be sure they'd be taken care of properly once I was gone.

Throughout the morning, the light cramps continued and I still didn't think much of it until around noon when I was starting to feel a bit wet. I went to the washroom and noticed I was very wet. For the next hour, I knew it was my water breaking. I was somewhat in denial as there was no other evidence that I was in labour before the water broke. I told my principal I wasn't feeling well and he told me to go home. He asked my friend to take me but I insisted I could drive as I thought it would be awhile before I'd actually be in labour. As I drove home, the cramps (aka contractions) got stronger. I called Health Line and asked a few questions as I didn't want to waste my time going to the hospital if I was going to be sent home right away. The nurse told me to get checked out as it sounded like my water had indeed broken so I called my Jeremy. She also asked me to time my contractions and I discovered they were already 4 minutes apart. I felt kind of silly thinking it was just cramps but that's how it felt.

Jeremy took me to the hospital where I was admitted right away. I was checked and was already 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced. This was at 1:30 pm and I had left work around noon. I spent the next couple of hours walking around the hospital and dealing with the contractions which were all wonderful back pain. It became excruciatingly painful and I asked for an epidural. My nurse was awesome and had the anesthesiologist giving me the epidural within a few minutes. I went from nauseous and ready to pass out to a blissful oblivion. I felt almost no pain immediately and Jeremy and I spent the next while doing an acrostic puzzle in a puzzle book. My parents drove from Lanigan to Regina and spent time with us too. My Mom actually watched the delivery which I had never intended initially but when the situation arose, I wanted her there and didn't care where she was in the room. The fact that Jeremy passed out during the epidural made me think I might be on my own during delivery so I wanted a backup. I would just like to add that Jeremy was wonderful during the delivery and has been ever since. I think it was just a needle thing but it made for a funny story and he received a bit of razzing about it. When I got the epidural, I was a "good 3 cm" dilated. An hour later, I was at 8 cm. Apparently, the epidural sped things up very nicely. Over the next couple of hours, I just waited for the contractions to get stronger and was told to tell them when I felt like pushing. It's really interesting how you still feel that need to push even though half of your body is numb.

Around 8:00 pm, I told them I was ready to push so they checked and I was fully dilated. The baby's heartrate was fluctuating a lot and they wanted to get him out as fast as possible so I agreed to let the doctor use a vacuum. I really wish it hadn't been necessary but there was a real risk to pushing a long time when the baby was in distress. So, literally about 15 minutes of pushing (or possibly less), Connor was welcomed into the world. They put him on me and I believe my words first were "He's so cute!!" I was so relieved and happy to have a healthy baby in my arms. There was an increased risk for Down's Syndrome and it had been in the back of my mind all along. We chose not to do an amnio as I was quite far long when this all came to light and our genetic specialist also recommended against it as he didn't feel the risk was that high. Of course, the fact we even had to see a genetic specialist freaked me out.

So, after five days in the hospital, we finally came home and it's been tiring, exciting, emotional, and wonderful all at the same time. Connor had jaundice because of the bruising from using the vacuum. We are still waiting for the swelling to come down completely. We have to take him for another blood test today to check the jaundice levels but he hasn't needed lamping since Monday so we're hopeful that it's cleared up. The doctor just want to see that the trend is improving I think.

As for the funeral, obviously we didn't make it but my family was thrilled and delighted to have something positive happen in the midst of such grief. I will always remember my uncle and have a special place in my heart for him especially since Connor was born during this time. I honestly believe that the stress of everything is likely was prompted a somewhat early delivery but I don't mind in the least!

So, Connor was 6 pounds 9 ounces at birth and born at 8:33 pm on September 11th.

Here's some pics of our little guy...







Sunday, September 18, 2011

Mabel's Labels Ultimate Back-to-School Combo Review & Giveaway

I love Mabel's Labels and I know a lot of other Moms out there do too.  Simply put, they make labelling clothing and personal items easy.  Not only is it easy, but they look great and are extremely durable.  I can speak to their durability as we bought some for our trip to Disney World and the luggage tags we bought still look good as new.  I have also been using clothing tags for Connor and they still look perfect even after being washed a few times.

For this review, I received an Ultimate Back-to-School Combo which includes the following:
  • 50 Tag Mates™
  • 40 Skinny-Minis™
  • 16 Shoe Labels
  • 2 Teeny Tags™
For detailed information on the exact size of the tags and care instructions, here's the website link for the Ultimate Back-to-School Combo.

When I received the combo pack, I was very impressed with the lovely box it came in.  Mabel's Labels are a quality product through and through.  I took a few photos of the various tags and applied a couple to show how they can be used.  I still have a lot of sticking to go but want to wait until I get more winter clothes for Aleena.  I plan on using the Teeny Tags for a back pack but still have yet to purchase one for her.  My baby girl is moving to the toddler room at daycare so these labels came at the perfect time as she'll be in a room with a lot more children next month.  I like to know that everything is labelled so the odds of getting our belongings back is good.

Aside from the awesome quality of these labels, my favourite part of Mabel's Labels is choosing the colours and design.  In fact, that sounds like a great way to enter the contest portion of this giveaway!  There are lots of designs to choose in a variety of colours.  I had a very difficult time deciding which one I wanted.  I love the ones I got but might need more...because I really loved the owl ones too.  Here are more photos of the labels as well as a photo of the shoe labels inside Aleena's new shoes.  I think they look pretty sharp!

 
Aleena's new shoes with the Shoe Labels inside.

The Giveaway:
Mabel's Labels is generously giving away an Ultimate Back-to-School Combo to one lucky winner. 

I will be using www.random.org to select the winner.  You must make each entry in a separate comment.

How to Enter:
1.  Visit the Mabel's Labels website and let us know which design you'd pick if you win.
2.  "Like" Mabel's Labels on Facebook.  Feel free to let them know I sent you their way!
3.  Follow A Sophisticated Mommy on Google Friend Connect.
4.  "Like" A Sophisticated Mommy on Facebook.
5.  Share this giveaway and let me know how in the comments. (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Blog, Forum)

This contest is open to Canada and the US.  Entries will be accepted until 12 am Saskatchewan time on Sunday, September 25th.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

My First Karen Wedding

The lovely couple and my students to the left and right.
You may be wondering what 'Karen' means.  It is a tribe of people that live in the country of Burma.  They were forced to leave their villages there and became refugees in Thailand.  I teach lots of wonderful Karen students and was honoured to be invited to the wedding of my students' older brother.  I have to admit that I have a soft spot for these kids in particular because we both started at my high school at the same time back in 2007.  I have taken two maternity leaves since then but they are always sure to say hi and ask me how my children are doing.  I still teach many of them in both my tutorial classes and my regular EAL classes.  It was particularly fun to take Connor and Aleena today as my students were very excited to see them.

The wedding was very nice although I didn't understand very much aside from the official vows.  It kind of reminded me of when I first arrived in Taiwan and had no clue what was going on.  It made me realize once again how hard it is to live in a foreign country when you don't speak the language.  The most striking part of the ceremony for me was the amazing singing.  Not only were there some lovely duets but the entire congregation sounded like a choir singing in unison.  Aleena joined right in with them which was quite cute.

After the singing, sermon, and musical interludes, there was a great dinner provided in the basement of the church.  They basically order Chinese takeout..and there was a lot of it!  As in, it looked like they ordered everything off the menu at a particular restaurant.  There was also another table with tons of fruit.  Connor, my little fruit monster, loved that aspect of the lunch.  The whole affair took around 2 1/2 hours and we thought it was great that it all happens back to back.  First, the ceremony is held and the lunch was immediately afterward in the basement of the church.

I really enjoyed the wedding and hope that I'm lucky enough to attend many more in the years to come.




These are all my students too!  They are very talented singers.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Marni's OnlyGreen Review and Giveaway Winner is...

First of all, I am REALLY sorry for the delay with this announcement.  I can truly and honestly say that this week has been absolutely crazy busy and I have not had any time where my brain was functioning well enough to write this post.

Without further ado, the winner is...lucky number seven, Amy C!

Also, check out OnlyGreen's current promotion in the ad below.  If you purchase Vada Jr. Bubble Bath, Shampoo and Body Wash and Body Lotion, you get it for $35.70 which is 15% off .

To order products, you can visit Marni's OnlyGreen website.  To stay on top of other great promotions, "like" Marni's OnlyGreen Spot Facebook page as she is always posting the latest deals.  It seems like there's a new promotion every couple weeks so it's worth checking out if you're waiting for a certain product to be on sale.

 

A huge thanks to everyone that participated in this giveaway and I appreciate your patience.  I try to be super woman sometimes but clearly I am just a mortal after all.

Look for another great giveaway coming up soon. I am very excited about the product as it's one of my faves for daycare. I'll give you a hint and say that the company name has two words and they rhyme. They are also Canadian!

Finally, please take a moment to click on the Top Mommy Blogs logo at the top of the page (or bottom). TIA!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

QCM Half Marathon Race

Today was the big race day! I finished the QCM half marathon. In case that wasn't enough, our family attended the post-race brunch, watched the Rider game, celebrated Connor's 3rd birthday and I managed to do some laundry too. I officially have no energy and desperately need to go to bed. I will wait until I have some photos to post and then provide a bit more info on the race. If nothing else, perhaps I can convince some of you to do it next year! Oh, and if any random stranger wants to know why I always hold up different numbers on my fingers at the finish line, they represent the ages of my kids. Not sure what I'll do when Connor turns 6 but I am sure I'll figure something out in the next 3 years (or more depending on when the race is).

Here are the detailed split times for the race. As you can see, I started out strong and was very happy with my race and sort of struggled a bit near the end. Honestly, I thought I was even slower than these split times indicate at the end so I am pretty proud of myself for keeping my sore, tired legs at a sub 9:30 pace!

QCM Half Marathon Race by skrunningmom at Garmin Connect - Details

Thursday, September 8, 2011

She walks!

Okay, I realize that it was inevitable but she's almost 17 months old so there was a fair amount of excitement to learn that my baby girl walks.  That's right..I was at work when this revelation occurred.  I wasn't even the one that picked her up at daycare today.  That privelege went to my hubby who saw a baby walking around and didn't even realize it was his!  Granted, we saw Aleena take one little step a couple weeks ago but there's been no sign of upright walking since.  According to Jeremy, she stood up on her own and just started walking across the room when he got there.  It was almost as if she'd been doing it for weeks.  I guess we were right when we said we thought it was a confidence issue. 

I am very happy to see her walk!  Everyone tells me it's great when they aren't walking and I hear what they're saying but it's not always the best consolation when you're baby still isn't walking at this age.

Here are a couple cute videos we took tonight.  I used my cell phone so the quality isn't the best but you'll get the idea.  I was trying really hard not to laugh when she kept falling down.  I have to give her credit.  She is one determined litle girl!



Monday, September 5, 2011

My Crazy Life

Check out the title on this journal article!
So it maybe be the Labour Day holiday but I have taken the day to print out my journal articles for my Masters class.  I am also working on laundry, making supper and that sort of thing.

Back to the journal articles, I haven't finished printing them all and my 3" binder is already busting at the seams.  I have no idea when I will read all of these materials.  The only consolation seems to be that they appear somewhat interesting, most have a large font size and white space is ample in some cases.

I am just feeling a bit stressed out right now.  Work is going all right for the most part.  I am a bit frustrated by the lack of resources for the classes I'm teaching but I'm working on it.  It's so difficult to teach EAL classes when you don't know the students very well too.  I am finding one of my classes quite a challenge and need to totally revamp what I wanted to do this semester.  Imagine starting a class with your plans in place and then meeting the students and realizing that your plans must completely change.  We'll be all right...I am very flexible!

Of course, I am taking another Masters class.  I actually don't feel particularly stressed about it but I know it'll take time and keep me busy.  My class is about teaching reading and writing to second language learners.  It's pretty much what I do everyday so I can relate and make some real connections with the research material.  I realize this may sound a bit nerdy but it's nice to feel like you have a real grasp on what has been proven to work.

What else?  I am going to run the Queen City Half Marathon next weekend.  I feel pretty good about my training overall.  It could have been better but I was sick for most of July and then I have calf strain issues.  Luckily, my leg is much better now.  It's still a bit sore from time to time but I am blaming the pain and strain on wearing old shoes.  I didn't think about it much but I've felt a LOT better since I started wearing my new runners.  Once again...there was much disappointment but I try to be realistic.  I had hoped to train hard this summer and work towards a personal best or get back to where I used to be.  I am not there but then I think about my lovely two children and how hard I've been working in many aspects of my life and then I give myself a break.  I am doing just fine.

And I think that's an important message to keep in mind.  People..and Moms in particular often focus on what we aren't doing right.  I think that parenting and teaching are very similar in some ways.  The sky is the limit.  You can work your butt off to be perfect all the time and do everything for your kids and worry about what you aren't doing OR you can be thankful for what you have and appreciate all the positive things that you are doing.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

OnlyGreen Review and Giveaway

I'm always trying to live a little greener and was happy to try out a couple of products courtesy of Marni Labrash of OnlyGreen.  OnlyGreen is a relatively new company that sells a wide range of eco-friendly products.  I have perused the website a fair amount to learn more about what they sell and am very interested in trying out several other things too.  In addition to the hand and foot cream that I am reviewing, they really do offer a huge variety of products.  They sell everything from SoapBerries to cloth diapers to coffee and tea.  They also have several cleaning products that I'd like to try out as I stay away from anything with strong chemicals for several reasons these days. 

For this review, I received some Moisturizing Therapy Foot Cream as well a some Moisturizing Therapy Hand Cream.  I'll just write a bit about each from my perspective and then post some of the information from the website about each.

Foot Cream-  I don't often use foot cream but I need to use it more since I run alot and end up with dry (very sore) feet quite often these days.  The cream was very thick but my very dry feet seemed to soak up all the moisture quite happily.  It has all sorts of natural ingredients in it including wintergreen which I assume is where the nice scent and tingly quality come from.  It was quite pleasant to put up my feet for a while..the only other thing I could have used was a nice foot massage.  (Hello Jeremy...hint! hint!)

This will give you an idea of how thick the foot cream is.

Moisturizing Hand Cream- This was a bit different than I expected.  The scent wasn't my favourite initially but it's started to grow on me.  The cream is loaded with natural ingredients such as grape seed oil, jojoba, sweet almond, fruit juice, shea butter, and mandarin peel oil.  My favourite aspect of the cream is that it's not greasy.  It absorbs quickly and you are still able to do things like type on the computer without leaving greasy streaks everywhere.  The bottle also promises other benefits such as improving the texture of the skin and re-establishing the PH balance. 

After checking out the website, I did a pretty good job of explaining the hand cream!  The only other thing that could be mentioned with respect to the products is that the foot cream is supposed to destroy the bacteria that causes perspiration odour.  I might have to return the foot massage favour if that's the case!

The Giveaway:
Marni is going to give away the same two items that I received.  The winner will receive the Moisturing Hand Cream and Foot Cream as pictured.  The value of these items is $32.00.

As usual, I will number the entries and use www.random.org to select a winner.

How to Enter:
1.  Visit Marni's OnlyGreen website and let us know which products you would like to try out!
2.  "Like" Marni's OnlyGreen Spot Facebook page.  Feel free to let her know I sent you.
3.  Follow A Sophisticated Mommy via Google Friend Connect.
4.  "Like" A Sophisticated Mommy on Facebook.
5.  Share this giveaway (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Forum).

This giveaway is open to Canadians only.  The contest will be open until Friday, September 9th at Midnight SK Time.

If you'd like to order some OnlyGreen products, please contact Marni at marnilabrash.onlygreen@yahoo.ca or 306-565-0626.  She'd be happy to help you!
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