Since Seal made the Grammy list with Kiss From A Rose, he’s been among those that I listen to regularly. His deep husky baritone voice and his writing style captured my heart and my ears. This week, he’s released another sure to be winner of a CD, Soul. Each song in this collection of what can surely be called the “best ever” classic soul, was carefully hand selected by Seal and his producer, the renowned David Foster.

Check this “stone cold” soul classic, orginally by Otis Redding:

If that’s not enough Seal to convince you that this is a golden disc check out these other videos

I’ve Been Loving You

It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World

The CD is available online at your favorite retailer.

Still haven’t gotten your fill of Soul?

Don’t Miss Seal on TV This Week

Seal will be baring his SOUL to the media this week.  See his TV appearances below and tune in to hear him talk about SOUL and perform songs from the album.


Wednesday, Nov 12
Dr Phil

Friday, Nov 15
Martha Stewart

*Check your local listings for time and channel

Here’s The Goodies!

Here’s your chance to win a copy of the Soul CD and one of these cute little Ipod speakers.

The folks at Delight.com* want you to enjoy more Soul on your IPOD and they’ve sponsored a giveaway here! You can win one of these cute little IPOD  mini speakers.

The sturdy retro shape looks like your favorite interlocking building set (hint hint), and holds your iPod upright and gives enough volume to keep you rockin.  Perfect for your cubicle, traveling or the bathroom. No batteries needed! This speaker uses a USB to power through your iPod!

*Delight.com is a super little shopping site for Christmas! Think of Delight.com as a unique boutique that stocks the perfect gift for everyone on your list. Delight features eco-friendly tote bags, gadgets for guys, kitchen gear that is smart and saves time, travel essentials, one-of-a-kind baby gifts, stocking stuffers for holiday gift shopping and unique jewelry and décor accessories with most under $50

Its easy to enter this give-away. Simply visit the official Seal page, watch a couple of the videos there and come back here and leave a comment, tell us which song you like the best on this CD and why.Then subscribe to our feed here. Don’t forget to tell me you did! That’s it. A winner will be drawn randomly on November 21st at midnight EST. Good Luck! And enjoy all that Soul!

Instantly double your chances to win 3 ways!

1. Link to this post from your blog.

2. Twitter this post using Seal and Soul in your tweet.

3. Join our mailing list for updates and savings. (its in the sidebar)

And just to add a little more sugar to the pot:

One2One Network is sponsoring even more prizes!

The prizes are: 1st place=$200 gift card to Spafinder.com and Seal’s new CD, Soul; 2nd and 3rd place=$100 gift card to Spafinder.com and Seal’s Soul CD; 4th place Seal’s Soul CD (40 winners).  How everyone can enter this contest: embed the widget  on your blog or any social media site (the widget has super easy “get ‘ n share” instructions.The widget can be found here:  http://www.clearspring.com/widgets/490b6d3729deba87).  You get one additional entry for each location the widget is placed.  All entrants must email the url of the location they put the widget to  One2One to be entered. Contest  at One2One ends Dec 1st.

The story reads a little like a movie script and I think that’s just the way the authors want you to feel. (as though you’re in a movie) Clearly, Billy was never pegged for success, but the blessings from God that brought him success and the plans to bring Christ to the world and win it for HIM are stunning wittness to the lives and faith of both men. Together they had great plans in 1949 for an evangelism campaign to win the world for Christ. What began in Los Angeles on that day, certainly wouldn’t have succeeded had it not been for divine intervention and a wife, friends and family that stood beside the evangelist every step of the way.

If you’re looking for a biography of Billy Graham, there are more than a few to choose from. And if you’re searching for a true biography, this book isn’t what you’re looking for. But if you want an inside look at Billy and the crisis of faith spurred on by his relationship with Charles Templeton, then you’re going to find this book quite a read.

Epson America asked me to try the NX400, a 4-in one printer, copier, fax. Its an ink jet printer, cousin to the now famous Artisan used at Blissdom last month (no I didn’t get to attend. We were moving) and in my book, its a steal of a deal!

First, the retail price of the printer comes in below $100. I’ve seen it advertised as low as $79 and as high as $99. For home use or for a student away at college, the price is well within budget. But let me tell you more.

The printer arrived, complete with extra ink cartridges and several different paper qualities to try. I’ve given the printer a good two weeks worth of trial printing and here’s what I can tell you.

It is everything that the company says and more. Whether it’s printing short reports, driving maps, recipes, housewarming invitations or photos, this easy to use all-in-one delivers. I got great results on plain paper, photo quality paper (glossy and matte) and even card stock. I needed to print a new version of my business cards since our move and though the NX wasn’t as fast as my office printer, the results were outstanding!

The ink dries fast (with instant dry DURABrite® Ultra Ink) its waterproof, smudge proof, and resistant to things like highlighters (good feature for the creative ones in the house). Handling photos straight from the printer is possible because of these great inks. (Another plus in my book)

Copying old photos is simple and fast and restoring them is super simple because of the flip up LCD screen.  I got perfect prints automatically with the auto photo correction feature, which corrects the lighting in poorly exposed and older images. This feature also includes advanced face detection, which automatically distinguishes people from scenery, and corrects the color  producing beautiful, natural skin tones. AND, you don’t even have to turn on your computer to print photos. Whether you’re using a memory stick or other type of portable media or just plugging your camera into the printer, the process is easy peasy and produces wonderful results.

The Epson Stylus NX400 even includes fun and easy-to-use ArcSoft Print Creations™ software for designing personalized greeting cards, invitations, calendars, photo albums, and more!

Now, I wouldn’t be fair to you if I didn’t tell you it has some drawbacks:

Printing average typefaces like Arial in standard 10-12 pt sizes produces great results. On the other hand, if you print larger, bolder typefaces, you’ll see a little bit of print bleed. (I’m kind of picky when it comes to print)

The Nx400 is a bit on the noisy side when it starts up, (freaked the cat out) but the noise is minimal and considering the quality of photo printing the machine does, I can live with it.

Purchasing refill ink for the Nx400 can be a little costly. The multi pack of the color cartridges (1 each of the colors) runs about $37 and the black cartridges run about $16.  Weighed against other brands, they’re not out of line costly, but some other brand printers in this class don’t allow for separate ink cartridge replacement.

Now, more good stuff! Epson is giving a $50 mail in rebate, through January 10, when you buy the Nx400 and ANY digital camera, computer or notebook, including Apple. That makes the price of the NX400 come in below $50 plus tax  and a steal of a deal!

I’m donating this printer to a local nursing home, for use by their Alzheimers therapists in reproducing photos and other memories for their patients. I know they’ll get good use from it.

Honey bees are disappearing!  Yep, the problem is so big that the University of California at Davis, Penn State, The National Honey Bee Board, and other groups are studying Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). What’s that you say? It is a little understood phenomenon in which worker bees in a beehive or colony abruptly disappear. The hive dies.

Bees are honey makers but the most important
job they perform is pollination. One out of every
three bites of food we eat and drink is animal
pollinated! And, all kinds of wildlife depend on
pollinated plants for food.

Many plants and trees are pollinated by honey
bees: apples, apricots, avocados, cherries, strawberries,
raspberries, grapes, and blueberries,
peaches, pears, pumpkins, squash, watermelons,
plums, cranberries, cantaloupes, cucumbers,
soybeans and almonds! In fact, almond
crops use 1/2 of the honeybees in the country!

To help the bees and us, because we love to eat, Häagen Dazs is helping to fund research for the cause. They have a great interactive site for you and the kids to visit, telling all about honey bees, what’s gone wrong, and how we can help. And, they even have a great little book you can download. Its full of information, suggested books and activities for kids and more!

Häagen Dazs is contributing a portion of the sale of each carton of their bee dependent  flavors to fund research and they’ve even come up with a brand new flavor, which I might add is a “honey” of a treat! Its called Vanilla Honey Bee! Support your local hive, try a little Häagen Dazs sweetness and drop by their  Help The Honey Bees Site for lots of fun! (and a little education)

• Non toxic components
• Wheat & Tear Free Formulations
• Hypo-Allergenic

The Bath Blizzard, instantly creates a literal mountain of soapy, bubbly fun with the turn of a knob. The bubbles don’t stop til you want them to. It fits right into the tub and secures on tile walls, the side of the tub or laid on the flat sided of the tub using the included suction cups.  This one’s so good, you may just want to hide it from the kids and use it yourself! Its available at all the usual shopping outlets, big box stores and even on Amazon. The sales price varies, but averages around $19.99

The Bath Blizzard gets two thumbs up from the kids at the Nest!

Another “hot” Christmas item from Spin Master is the Aquadoodle Draw ‘N Doodle Mat. This one, I’ve got to tell you is pure genius. If you’ve ever had your carpet, walls or countertops decorated with your little one’s coloring projects. You’ve GOT to give this a looky loo!  The mat, is a large, sogt, fabric mat, with enough room for a couple of kids to draw at the same time. The secret is the Aqua Pen, which only requires water. Watching the kids draw was fun, but watching their faces as the pictures magically began to disappear was priceless! The mat and pen are reusable and the average price I’ve found is around $24.99

Another 2 thumbs up from the kids at the Nest!

The good people at Pillsbury® wanted me to try their newest refrigerated breakfast pasty. I’m not a big breakfast person, I’ll confess. But, these twisted rolls are incredible! There are 8 in each package, and take only about 15 minutes refrigerator to table to make. And well, they’re iced with chocolate, so that was one big point in their favor to get started. At $2.99 per package, I won’t be making them during the week, but the flavor and quality are well worth the expense.

New Pillsbury® Flaky Twists with Chocolate Icing  will conveniently help you make mornings even sweeter. The rich chocolate icing, warm flaky texture and aroma create an irresistible pull to the breakfast table.
Simply twist, bake, and enjoy fresh-baked goodness straight from the oven. Enjoy those deliciously sweet family moments today!

Make weekends even sweeter with these  bakery-style pastries warm from your oven! You can find these bake-at-home, mouth-watering Flaky Twists with Chocolate Icing and other cinnamon rolls in your grocer’s refrigerated case.
Visit Pillsbury for tasty recipes and more ways to bring your family together with great food.

Get a full price coupon to try these yourself. Join our List to get this coupon and many more plus tips,tricks, recipes and more. Fill out the form  below.

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Dannah Gresh has hit pure gold with this series. Moms and daughters who want a great site and some good reading will enjoy Secret Keeper Girls. Expounding on the original SKG, Dannah’s added a whole plethora of great stuff for teens and pre-teens and information for moms.

Had a date with your daughter recently? Check out some ideas and activities you and your tween can enjoy together. You’ll have fun and she’ll gain some valuable insight into friendships, modesty and you. A bonus to all this, she’ll be having so much fun she won’t know she’s learning anything. This site is perfect for homeschoolers,  as well as regular mainstream schoolers. Give it a whirl and let me know what you think!

One word of warning, turn down your speakers BEFORE you click on the link. You’ll thank me for that when you hear the music! Its cute, but its loud!

Partnering the website with books, Moody Publishers has published the series of oversized paperbacks for Gresh.Each is loaded with fun activities for moms and daughters to learn and grow together in truth. This round of the fiction series consists of Danika’s Totally Terrible Toss, Just Call Me Kate, Yuzi’s False Alarm and “T” is for AnTONIa.

Delve into stories of how Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School will never be the same. Their worlds collide one afternoon when they all end up in after-school detention and the Secret Keeper Girl Club is formed to save the day. This is a junior “Breakfast Club” adventure. (You remember that movie don’t you?) This one’s got a lesson or two to teach and it does it with style. Each book is full of comedy, emotion, and even action and includeds a mother/daughter project/assignment in the appendix section to help spur discussions and teach girls some real truths about friendships.

Secret Keeper Girls gets a thumbs up at The Bird’s Nest! Tell me what you think!

When we gave a set of the Sesame Street® KIDS K’NEX to our youngest builder, it was instant fun! So much fun, she wants to collect the entire set. She loves Sesame Street® and Elmo and I’m sure this will be on the list for birthday and Christmas.

The sets range in price from $10.99 to the ulitmate set at $31.99 and are available at your local retailers including exclusive sets found only at Target and Toys R Us.

Today, you can see the entire Sesame Street® collection at K’NEX online, then find your favorite !

The folks at Luvli Foods, wanted us to try their new Organic Applesauce for kids. It’s called Smashies, a 100% organic, no sugar added applesauce product, geared according to the distributor, to the 3-13 year old age group.

While the packaging is novel (I’ll give it an E for effort), the product itself somehow just misses the target market.  I gave the Smashie packs to two taste testers, one was 3 years old and the other 10.

The package was not easy for the 3 year old to open. Motor skills to twist and squeeze at the same time just aren’t there for a 3 year old, which means, mom would have to open it. All things being equal, that’s a good thing at 3. The red twist off cap is a choking hazard according to the warning label on the packaging.

While she liked the taste, she wasn’t bowled over by the texture. I put some into a spoon and quickly discovered why. Three year olds aren’t keen on “baby” food. They want something with some texture, and its just flat missing here. The same response was had from the older taste tester.

From my opinion, this product would be best for younger toddlers still eating from baby food jars. This packaging makes a handy carry along for mom and for the earliest fruit eaters, since no refrigeration is needed until opening and the 3.2 oz size is a convenient package.

All in all, the idea is great! The product just organically misses the mark.

If you’ve got a four legged friend with foul breath, I’ve got your new favorite pet treat.  Greenies! The folks who developed this great product say that of course it came about as a solution to a problem. You guessed it! Their beloved dog Ivan had, ahem, bad breath.  They worked with a board certified veterinary nutritionist and other experts and finally came up with the ingenious treat that dogs and owners both love! They continued to work on the idea, changing ingredients, flavors and design and finally came up with a product that works for all types of dogs and now a product for the feline in your house too! There are look alike products out there, but none as good as these. I use them regularly with my pets. I’ll only buy Greenies!

You can find Greenies in most local pet supply stores, at your vet, and online. The Greenies site even has a store finder, if you’ve not been able to find them locally. I could keep talking about these great products for days, but I’d rather you try ‘em. The folks at Greenies will send you a free sample for your cat or your dog just for the asking. (limit one per household) So go ahead, give your four legged, furry kids a reason to smile!

If you’ve tried Greenies, I’d love to hear your story. If not, get your free samples and let me know here in the comments what your furry kid thinks.  And after all, fresh breath puppy or kitty kisses are what its all about, right?