There are a lot of things I want to do that I say I’ll do “when I get around to it.”  Or, “when I have the money.”  Or how about my favorite, “When I have the time.”  The reality is that only a small percentage of these things will ever get done.  But there are a few things in life I’ve managed to actually take the time to accomplish that were totally worth it.  Time+ effort paid off!  A perfect example of this is the “fun room” that I posted about a year ago.  We lived in our house TEN YEARS before we ever turned our useless, waste-of-space mud room into a beautiful, functional art room for the kids.  Not only did it take a long time for us to finally DO IT, but it took a lot of time to physically accomplish the transformation – researching and finding the appropriate furniture, cleaning the room, painting the room, arranging all the kids things in an organized manner, and of course, the 50 bajillion coats of chalkboard paint and dry erase paint Bobby had to put on the opposite sides of our door in that room!

But all that hard work and time we invested totally paid off!  In the year since we accomplished this big task, we’ve made so many good memories in that room!  Like this one:

Joshua, Sophie and I were making a Jack O’Lantern craft in October.  We’ve spent so much time making things together in this room.  This is also where Sophie and I did all of our work together to help her overcome her developemental delays. As a matter of fact, we still often call it the “Mommy-Sophie time room” even though it’s for everyone, because Sophie and I spent SO much time there accomplishing THAT big achievement!

Ok, so why am I telling you all about my great accomplishment?  Because the good folks at Quaker Oats asked me to spread the word about a great accomplishment of theirs that has been a loooooooong time coming. As in, 130 years long!  Quaker, the Oatmeal experts, have finally…made…COOKIES!! Delicious oatmeal cookies!  Can you believe they never had cookies before?  Me neither.  I got to sample some of the soft-baked oatmeal cookies and they are delicious!  Joshua and Sophie loved them too.  They come in five yummy flavors, Apple & Cinnamon, Banana Nut, Chocolate & Almond, Raisins, and Cranberry & Yogurt.  All made with the Quaker oats you’ve loved for-EV-er!  Get them at your local grocery store and you’ll be really glad Quaker finally accomplished this feat!  These cookies are well worth the wait.

To celebrate finally accomplishing oatmeal cookies, Quaker is giving away a $75 Visa gift card to one lucky reader! (You could buy A LOT of Quaker cookies with that!)  Here’s how to enter to win this dough!

1) Leave a comment on this post telling  me something that was worth taking the time to accomplish in your life.

2) “Like” Quaker’s Facebook page and then come back to this post and leave a comment telling me that you did.

3) Follow Quaker on Twitter and then come back to this post and leave me a comment telling me that you did.

**Leave a separate comment for each entry! Up to 3 entries!*

One winner will be chosen at random on Saturday, March 23, 2012 at 6 pm EST.

Good luck!  I can’t wait to hear all about your accomplishments!

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This post is sponsored by Quaker.  All opinions about the super-delicious cookies are my own!

I’m sad to say this post marks my last one for the Vicks Blogger campaign.  I have loved representing this great brand, and one of my very favorite tried-and-true products, Vicks VapoRub.  Sophie and I were covered in it as recently as last week when she had a virus and had to miss three days of school.  The smell of Vicks was about the only bonus of having a sick five-year-old sleeping in my bed with me!  It helped both of us rest easier.

Anyhoo, to end this campaign with a bang!, Vicks is offering a “Medicine Cabinet Makeover” to one lucky reader.  The makeover is just for the INSIDE of your medicine cabinet and includes a variety of Vicks Vapo products plus DayQuil, NyQuil, and Nature Fusion!  The winner will also receive a “Feel Better Friend” care package from Vicks as well.

To enter this contest, simply go to the Vicks VapoRub Facebook page and leave a comment on their status update “I know I feel better when I can smell _____.”  FIll in the blank by commenting with your answer!

THEN, *this is very important* – come back HERE and leave a comment on this post telling me what you filled in the blank with!  You must comment HERE to gain an entry in the  contest.   The giveaway is on this blog, not Facebook, but you must comment on Vicks’ Facebook page and then come back here and tell me what you said to enter!  One winner will be chosen at random on Sunday, March 18th at 6 PM EST. I will notfy the winner via email and Vicks will deliver your prize.  Ta-da!

Thanks again to the folks at Vicks for including me in this great campaign and letting me spread the VapoLove!

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I am being compensated for my role as a Vicks Blogger.

Recently I was asked to try out H&R Block’s Block Live tax preparation service. We’ve used an online DIY service for years now, and it’s worked well for us, so honestly I was a little hesitant to switch it up. I’m glad I did – I really liked the H&R Block Live service. It saved Andy and me a lot of time, and they came up with a few deductions we weren’t aware of that saved us some money as well.

With Block Live, you can have your taxes done by a professional. By using video, phone and/or online chat, you don’t even have to leave your house. I was very, very impressed with the technological aspects of Block Live. I just uploaded PDFs of our previous tax forms, W2s, etc., which meant much. less. paper, because I didn’t have to print any of that out. For the things that were mailed to us in hard copy, I used the Block Live app, where I logged on from my phone, took a picture of my documents, and voila, they were there ready for my tax prep person seconds later.

Using Block Live was incredibly easy and didn’t take much time – I’d estimate I spent an hour and a half on our taxes – and it took a lot of the guess work out of the process. We didn’t have to wonder if we were putting the right things in the right places, because a professional was doing it for us. And, like I said, she knew some nuances about deductions that we weren’t aware of and saved us some money. I would definitely use the service again.

Block Live is affordable as well – the packages start at $39 (for the 1040EZ form – remember those days?) and a regular 1040 starts at $129. Of course, you can deduct tax preparation expenses from next year’s return as well.

Want to try it out? We’re giving away $50 discount codes to 5 readers. To enter, leave a comment on this post. For an extra entries, “like” H&R Block and/or Mommin’ It Up on Facebook, and leave additional comment(s) letting us know you did so. Winners will be chosen on Friday, March 9, 2012. Good luck!