I have my hands full

Little Boy Blue is bringing Ren Pen EVERY SINGLE TOY from their room out onto the patio.  At least they are outside, not screaming at each other, and not watching TV.

A Blogtastic Extravaganca 2.0 - Fill Your Bag WINNER

Thank you for all of those who entered into A Blogtastic Extravaganca 2.0!!!  I hope that each of you had a great time and look forward to doing A Blogtastic Extravaganca 3.0 sometime in the near future!  I am pleased to announce that we had 682 entries here at Life: SemiCrunchy :)  So, without further ado...

Our winner is entry #95

TANDRA AHRENS!!!

A Blogtastic Extravaganca 2.0 - Fill Your Bag

Welcome to A Blogtastic Extravagance 2.0!  Starting August 17th at 12:00AM EST and running until August 21st at 11:59PM EST 109 elite blogs are hosting awesome giveaway packages for you to jump from blog to blog to enter!  Each blog's prize package is worth at least $50!

I am pleased to announce that our Prize Package is "Fill Your Bag"

The winner will receive:

 

1 Custom Diaper Bag from Peanut Butt Baby Products (ARV $100)

1 Custom Clutch from Peanut Butt Baby Products (ARV $29.99)

 1 Easy Clean Diaper from Crunchy Angel (ARV $17.99)

To enter for a chance to win you must be a Google Friend Connect follower and then simply fill out the form below.  

For Extra Entries you may do any/all of the following - just make sure to fill out the form for each extra entry!

- Like LifeSemiCrunchy on Facebook

 - Follow LifeSemiCrunchy on Twitter

 - Tweet:  (up to 4x a day, must be 2 hours apart)

I just entered to #win at @lifesemicrunchy during #abe2.  You can enter for your chance to win too!  http://bit.ly/oxBwMQ

 - Subscribe via email

- Follow LifeSemiCrunchy on Networked Blogs (2 extra entries)

- Check out the Sponsor Spotlights for Crunchy Angel & Peanut Butt Baby Products for more extra entries!!!

Now that you have entered to win, hop on over to another blog for a chance to win one of their great packages!!!

A Blogtastic Extravaganca 2.0 Sponsor Spotlight & Review - Peanut Butt Baby Produts

 

If you have been looking for a custom diaper bag, let me introduce you to Peanut Butt Baby Products!  Kim is the wonderful mama behind the wonderful products that Peanut Butt offers and she is truly a wonderful mama to work with.  

I received a custom diaper bag, diaper clutch, and two changing pads and I am in complete awe.  You will not believe how big the diaper bags are!  The diaper bag is perfect for those of us who chose to cloth diaper, as let's face it, we need a little extra room in our bags.  When I first received my bag, I was cloth diapering 2 kiddos full time, so going out without the minimal amount was a pain in my diaper bag.  I would try to shove 4 cloth diapers and my wet bag in my standard sized diaper bag and felt like there was no room for anything else (sippy cups, change of clothes for the kiddos, snacks)!  Now when I go out, I do not have to worry about "will it fit in my diaper bag?"!  I can take everything I need with me! 

One feature of the bag that I adore is the shoulder strap.  My biggest worry with have a bag this large is that I would fill it up and then it would be too heavy to carry.  I love that the shoulder strap is super wide and padded, taking the stress off of my shoulder!  I have been known to toss my lap top into my diaper bag along with all the other needed items and can carry it with ease.  

I want to mention that while Kim does say that these bags are best suited for cloth diapering parents, that the bags are so much more than that!  I have used my diaper bag as my carry on (carrying my toddlers items, computers, and snacks for myself), I have sent this bag with my kids for overnight stays at Grandmommy's house, and of course I have used it as my laptop bag/purse.  I fully intend on packing my Peanut Butt Diaper Bag as my "just in case" bag for when I go into labor (we are having a homebirth, so not really planning on having a hospital bag)!  Of course Ren Pen loves my bag too and has been known to play a game of hide and seek in it :)

Peanut Butt Baby Products has been VERY GENEROUS and donated two wonderful prizes to our A Blogtastic Extravaganca 2.0 prize pack!

For Extra Entries you can do any of the following:
(Fill out the form below for each entry.  Remember these are EXTRA entries only, you MUST come back on Aug 17-21 and enter the mandatory entry.)

- Like Peanut Butt Baby Products on Facebook

- Leave a comment on this blog post telling me you look for most in a diaper bag!

- Tweet (up to 4x a day - must be at least 2 hours apart)
Enter to #win a custom diaper bag & clutch from Peanut Butt Baby Products @lifesemicrunchy during #abe2 http://bit.ly/nXGEGo

Disclosure: I received a Peanut Butt Diaper Bag and Diaper Clutch to review. All thoughts expressed are 100% my own!

A Blogtastic Extravaganca 2.0 Sponsor Spotlight & Review - Crunchy Angel

 
Crunchy Angel

We have had the opportunity to put to good use an Easy Clean Snap Diaper from Crunchy Angel over the last several months.  While I realize that I have taken a long time reviewing this diaper, I am thankful for that time, because it means that I have been able to truly put the diaper to test.  There are things about the diaper that when we got it, I thought I was going to hate, but now have come to find that we actually love!

The main thing that I "knew" I was going to dislike is the double opening.  I thought, what a pain, the insert is just going to slide out.  Come to find out, this is probably my favorite feature!  I really adore the fact that when the diaper is ready to be cleaned, I do not have to stick my hand in a nasty pocket and pull out the dirty insert.  I can just throw the diaper in the wash the way it come off baby and the insert agitates out in the cycle and gets nice and clean.

The back opening is very generous, which allows for easy cleaning.  If you choose to pull the insert out before washing, the size of the opening is great because your hand doesn't get dirty.  Or, like I said, you can just leave the insert in like me, and because of the ample size of the opening, it just agitates it's nasty little self out!

Due to the the size of the opening, I feel like there is a little too much fleece at times, but I have found that it does not effect the diapers performance negatively, so it is just a personal frustration really.

Holy snaps batman.  This diaper has a lot of snaps.  I have, at times when my toddlers are wiggling, found this annoying because I am trying to get three snaps attached.  Having said that, I have found that as long as I get two out of the three attached, I am in good shape.  I was at a lose to why there are so many snaps until I visited the Crunchy Angel website and saw the above photo that explains how to adjust the diaper to the small setting.  I have to say that while we do not have a little tester yet (OCTOBER we will), I love how this diaper snaps down.  It is a truly unique configuration.  I look forward to getting to try this diaper out on our baby-to-be.

So, how does it fit you ask?  GREAT!  Have a look for yourself...

I really love the customization of the diapers sizing and fit!

For Extra Entries you can do any of the following:
(Fill out the form below for each entry.  Remember these are EXTRA entries only, you MUST come back on Aug 17-21 and enter the mandatory entry.)

- Like Crunchy Angel on Facebook

- Visit Crunchy Angel and leave a comment on this blog post telling me your favorite item from Crunchy Angel!

- Tweet (up to 4x a day - must be at least 2 hours apart)
Enter to #win an Easy Clean Snap #clothdiaper from Crunchy Angel at @lifesemicrunchy during #abe2 http://bit.ly/n3VlmP



Disclosure: I received an Easy Clean Snap Cloth Diaper to review. All thoughts expressed are 100% my own!

DreamWorks Pictures' The Help

Based on one of the most talked about books in years and a #1 New York Times best-selling phenomenon,  “The Help” stars Emma Stone (“Easy A”) as Skeeter, Academy Award®–nominated Viola Davis (“Doubt”) as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as Minny—three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s,  who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. From their improbable alliance a remarkable sisterhood emerges, instilling all of them with the courage to transcend the lines that define them, and the realization that sometimes those lines are made to be crossed—even if it means bringing everyone in town face-to-face with the changing times.

My Review:

A-maz-ing.  I read The Help by Kathryn Stockett last summer and it quickly became one of my all time favorite books.  I have been cautiously optimistic about the book being turned into a movie for months now.  I often feel that movies let down the wonders of a book, but I am very pleased to say that the movie didn't let me down in the slightest!  I seriously doubted that the moie would be able to capture the wide range of emotions that I felt while reading the book.  Boy was I wrong.  Be prepared to be laughing one minute and crying the next.  DreamWorks was able to bring the feelings of love and hate, happiness and sadness, hope and fear across the screen to the view.  If you only see one movie this year, make sure The Help is the one you see!




If you are interested in entering a giveaway for The Help movie, my good friend Jessica over at MySillyMonkeys is hosting a great giveaway that is very easy to enter!