SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN CLEAN..... HAMPTON INN STYLE


Last month
I was invited by The Hampton Inn & Suites to a WONDERFUL Dinner, Night's stay, and an even BETTER "Make your own Waffle" Breakfast, so I could see their new campaign, "Clean & Fresh".  Let me tell you...I'm SOLD! 
No more bringing a sleeping bag to sleep on. 
No more needing a black light to seek out nasty stains. 
No more worrying about who slept in the bed the day before you. 
Why? You ask...
Well, because the Hampton Inn has brought freshness to a whole new level.... 
I know you're wondering what in the world I'm talking about right? 
Well let me tell you...
The Hampton Inn & Suites are now Clean and Fresh!!! 

That's right, and to give you an example of how clean & fresh The Hampton Inn &  Suites mean by "Clean & Fresh"...
"The Queen of Clean" Niecy Nash is heading and endorsing
The Hampton Inn & Suites Clean and Fresh Campaign!!!
Now you know, if it's "Clean and Fresh" enough for the Queen, it's great for the rest of us ;)
Just so you know, and Niecy Nash DOES; The Hampton Inn Family KNOW how much some of us LOVE their beautiful things, that they have EVERYTHING for sale ;)

Check it out!!!

That's right, you read me; from now on ALL of your linens and that includes the duvets, will be ENTIRELY cleaned right before your visit!!!
I don't know about you but that sounds pretty fresh and clean to me. I would hate for you to end up sleeping like this.......
So remember the next time your looking to stay at a hotel leave the black light and sleeping bag at home and head to the Hampton Inn & Suites!!!

I had the BEST sleep I have had in almost a year!  As we entered the room it smelled GREAT, and freshly cleaned.  Your nose does NOT fail you does it?
So remember, the next time you go to book your stay anywhere other than your Mom's house, keep in mind that NO PLACE is cleaner than Mom's, except for The Hampton Inn & Suites!!!
Now for an EVEN BETTER part...
I will be having several giveaways courtesy of The Hampton Inn & Suites!!!!
How AWESOME RIGHT!?!?!?!
My Friends at The Hampton Inn & Suites have given me
2 FREE night's stay
to give away to 2 of my readers

*1 night for each, don't get carried away! ;)
**Approximate Value $130 each!

Want more?!?!?!
For the "POW-EFFECT" The Hampton Inn & Suites have given a
KING SIZE BEDSET to ONE of my readers!!!
*King Size Clean & Fresh Linens, Duvet, & Duvet Insert!!!
**Approximate Value OVER $400!!!
That way you can experience just how great this bedding is!!!

Here's how to participate:
Mandatory Entry: 1 Entry
Tell me about your best/worst hotel experience EVER

Optional and Additional Entries:
  1.  Comment on any other of my posts 1 Entry per comment per different post(unlimited)
    (Blog Archive is on bottom-left hand column)
  2. Add @militaryfamof8 on Twitter 2 Entries
  3. Tweet about this giveaway with  link, feel free to cut and paste: 
    Check it out: 2 ppl #Win 1 night stay or King Size Bedding set from Hampton Inn Hotels @Militaryfamof8 http://bit.ly/bOs5uO #giveaway PLS RT
      (1 entry per tweet, unlimited entries make sure you keep @militaryfamof8 in the tweet so I can track it AND make sure you leave URL of tweet as a comment f/each one))
  4. Follow This blog through Google Friend Connect 2 Entries
  5. Subscribe to my feed reader (upper left hand corner) 2 Entries
  6. Blog about this review and giveaway on your blog 7 entries
  7. Become a Fan on My Facebook page 2 Entry
  8. Comment on any other of my posts  2 Entry Each
  9.   Follow me on NetworkedBlogs    2 Entry
  10. Add my button to your blog 5 Entries (on the left hand column) 
  11. Add "Tag, you're it" button for Tuesday's meme 5 Entries (right hand column)
  12. Add giveaway on Linky's 2 Entries p/linky (leave me URL or Name is Linky in a comment)
  13. Add @Militaryfamof8 to #FF #follow or any other Twitter follows (1 Entry p/Tweet) 
  14. Send your Friend's to my giveaway 4 Entries p/friend (leave me a comment w/friends name & will be verified)
Giveaway Ends 8-25-10 @ midnight PST, Open to US and Canada residents
(FREE night's stay is open to everyone, Bed set is ONLY open to US residents)
PLEASE SPECIFY IN EACH COMMENT FOR WHICH PRIZE YOU ARE COMPETING

Leave me a separate comment with URL to your posts
, including twitter, for each of your entriesFor example if you posted on your blog, leave me 7 separate comments, makes sense? 
PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS OR THE URL TO YOUR BLOG IN YOUR COMMENT IF YOU LEAVE A COMMENT AS ANONYMOUS.
Due to the AWESOME Value and that I will be in NY for BlogHer 2010 and Vacation before and afterwards, I have extended this giveaway from the normal 2 week time.  I hope you understand, and at the same time it gives those of you who love to compete more chances for more entries ;)

Winner will be chosen through Random.org, I will Post and E-mail the Winner.  Winner will have 24 hours to contact me with their information or I will choose a New Winner.

C'mon Energizer,I have the $2k "Drive" 2 deliver USB's ;)

As you all know by my Blog title, we are a Military Family of 8, and always living in a world of non-stop Adventures.  Weather they are outrageous and out of this world, or just our every day adventures, we are always on the move.  Having so many kids in the house, is an adventure in itself, and there is hardly ever a quiet peaceful moment, let me tell you, when the kids don't have betteries for their toys we ALL suffer!!!

A few months ago I received an Invite to attend  an event from Energizer to promote their newest product, The Energizer Smart Charger.
We had such a BLAST at the event, we were served an awesome lunch, wraps for grown-ups and chicken strips and fries for the kids, guess which side I ate from?  After all, I AM a kid at heart ;)
There was an awesome speech and presentation, along with a super fun moment for all, a giveaway shower of toys for all the children!!!
When the presentation and the giveaways were over, we went into a second room where the kids were filmed for the Energizer Kids take charge Contest
It was so funny to see my kids act for a camera, and the Energizer representative filming them was having such great laughs, seeing that my kids were acting like complete lunatics and showing him how they make Mommy crazy when they don't have charged batteries.
All in all we had a blast, we received our own Smart Charger and I have been using it ever since.  

Now don't get me wrong, it's not because we didn't have any chargers already, in fact we own 4 different kinds of Energizer battery chargers. 
With a Family that has always been on the Go!, full of children's activities, Military Events, Deployments, Births, Birthday's, Holidays, and everyday funny moments, I have carried a small and a big camera with me ALWAYS, as well as the kids music players (CD players because this Family can't afford anything more), and the newest addition to our Family since this Christmas has been the boys hand held video game devices (which each use 4 AA batteries) The DIJI. (Let me tell you that my 2 little boys HYPER-active-energy-filled-bodies have sometimes been so quiet with their games, that I forgot they were home!)
Do I have to mention how many batteries we need for the Wii remotes for a Family of 8!?!?
Let me tell you, this Family would go through disposable batteries like they were TP ;)'
Until one day we decided to buy the small charger + 4AA batteries.  It was the best thing we ever did.  We have saved SO much money without having to buy disposable batteries, not to mention the smile we put on Mother Nature's face when we don't throw those nasty things into her playground as we would.

We all have our own Energizer Chargers, the small boys each have the "skinny" charger, it charges 2 batteries on each side AA or AAA, and it fits in their jean pockets when we go to the nursing home with Grampa for the whole day...
The Girls each have their own "collapsible" charger, they like that they can fit it into their small purses and always carry it along with their camera's and C.D players...
The Teenage boys each have their dual light chargers, they HAVE to have something that tells them their batteries are charged, and it helps so much because once they see the red light, they know to UNPLUG! ;)

Now for Myself and Hubby, after receiving my own Smart Charger and seeing how awesome the features were, and since hubby also liked the way it worked, we bought him his own...
Now I don't want you to think that I only downloaded these images from the internet and in fact I don't have these chargers, so I took one picture of one of each and just 1/4 of our batteries so you can see for yourself that we ARE in fact an Energizer Family...
(Do you see my post in the background?)
P.S. the girls were too lazy to go get their purses from the car for the picture :/

So as you can tell Energizer is a part of our daily lives, one of the extremely important reasons why I always have charged batteries in hand, is because we are so used to Hubby being deployed or at work until midnight, that I ALWAYS try to capture every memory for him, and for myself ;)

See, with other chargers I was never able to tell if the batteries were fully charged and before we bought the kids their own chargers, everyone would take the charged batteries from chargers and replace with dead ones, MANY times I missed great memories because my batteries were dead. 
With the Energizer Smart Charger, I have never had that problem again!!!
It has a meter that tells you just how charged your batteries are, and how much longer until they are fully charged.  It has helped me capture so many memories because I knew how long I would have before I was going to need the kids batteries ;)
The Energizer Smart charger has LED windows that show the countdown of charging as well as showing you if a non-rechargeable or dead battery has been placed in the charger. 
Did you know that it's EnergyStar Certified!?!?!?

Now do you see why I love it?!?!
No more missed pictures!!!!!

Now let's move on to why I strongly believe that I should be the next Energizer Smart ChargHER Sponsored Blogger...
I have never in my life been able to attend an event for myself, or travel somewhere far other than for Family emergency trips.  The sad kind. 
So I am SO SUPER EXCITED to announce that I AM attending BlogHer 2010!!!
Not only attending, but I will be working at the Front Registration Desk ;) !!!!
I know right?!?!?
That's one of my biggest reasons for screaming!!!
I will be sitting at the front desk, signing EVERYONE in, and meeting EVERYONE and their mama's ;)
Being that I have always been shy I was scared at first, but learning from my experience in attending so many blogging and social events lately, I have learned that Bloggers in fact DO NOT BITE!!!

I am so excited that everytime I think about being at BlogHer and meeting everyone from the registration desk, staff, and events that I just GLOW!!!
I am not only attending BlogHer 10, and being at the registration desk (which might I add has been called the "premier Real Estate Spot"), but I will also be attending every single Social event while I am there, I am talking confirmed entry to ALL the parties that have been announced, and many "Private" ones ;)
I know that I have the personal and genuine love for Energizer Smart Charger and all their line of rechargeable batteries and chargers, so I have the emotion and drive to want to promote the Energizer brand to the world!!!
I know my passion has driven many Family and friend's to buy what I have, to buy what I RAVE about, and to fall in love with certain products as I have, I Blog and am into Social Media for the love of it, not for the products or recognition, I love reaching out to the world and sharing my experiences and loves.
As a Finalist for the "Blog of the Year" Award from InfluenceSD, and a Finalist for the Sony Blogger Contest and here, I know I have what it takes to get my Influence and heart out to the world, I have turned down several sponsor offers to BlogHer10 because the companies were not who I wanted to represent to a World of Social Media Influencers during BlogHer10.
After having my Family go to the ends of the world while I care for my Grampa in the Nursing home from 8am-8pm 7 days a week for the last 3 months, and the 24hr stays during his last 3 hospital stays that were 4-20 days in length, I decided that I owed my children a summer.  Their entire summer vacation has been spent helping me care for Grampa in the nursing home, so I made a decision that I am taking my whole Family to New York for a much DESERVED vacation!!!   You have to just IMAGINE how drained and un-energized MY body, mind, and soul are from dealing and caring for my Grampa, though I love him to death, his hip & shoulder fractures, along with his brain hemorraghes on each side (all from the fall), and his worsening Dimentia, have taken a serious toll on me, I NEED to have MY batteries RE-CHARGED!!!
This trip to NY will seriously RE-charge our ENTIRE Family ;) 
Shall I mention that my Husband is from New York??? and due to the demand of his Military Career he has not been back home to visit his Family in many years!!!
 So what better thing to do than to work my butt off trying to sell all the recyclable cans and bottles I can find, cutting down on all things possible from our grocery bills, and fast food, to give my Family the one thing that we ALL need?  This will be our opportunity to connect again, to remind ourselves what Family is all about, and for Daddy and his Family to bond with my kids while I am at BlogHer10 and all things BlogHer Related!!!!
To prove to you how much saving and planning we have been doing, My Husband has gotten ALL info we need to get on a MAC flight, for those of you who don't know what that is, it's a free flight we can use in the Military, we would only board stand-by to any other Military installation the cargo plane is going too.  We are prepared to fly cargo and do 3 days on stand-by wait to get a free flight to NY,I mean c'mon did you think I had the money for a Family of 8 to fly on only one Military income? HA!!

In addition, the closest Military installations that will be having stand-by flights around the time we have to leave are a few hours from NY, so we will HAVE to rent a car just to get to NY, we are also prepared to eat sandwiches the entire 2 week stay in order for us to be able to enjoy the sights.  Our flight back home will also be around a 3 day stand-by wait to San Diego, Ca.  We are prepared to do and live with the least means necessary while we are out there, in order to be able to go and have fun, so this $2,000.00 Sponsorship from Energizer would be just a dream come true for our Family.


I KNOW I HAVE the DRIVE, PASSION, EXCITMENT, and LOVE for Energizer Brand, that I know I will be an asset for the company during BlogHer10, I will walk, talk, and Socialize with the entire world while I am there, as well as Twitter, and Facebook my fingers off ;)
I will definitely be using my Smart Charger to charge my camera batteries every chance I get, because we all know we want to capture all the memories while at BlogHer10 and of course take pictures to show the world of our long time Blogging friends that we haven't met in person ;)  Did I mention this is my First Blogging conference?!?!  Pictures and Networking Galore!!!!!

I will Tweet, Facebook and Blog about where I am and mention the Energizer Smart Charger to all who have ears, I will PROUDLY wear the Energizer T-shirts because C'mon, it's my outfit of choice!!!
If I win this Sponsorship, I promise to make Energizer T-shirts for my entire Family to wear during our ENTIRE 2 week stay in New York and take pictures to prove it!!!
If asked from Energizer, I will parade my Family through the BlogHer Hotel and City in our Energizer T-shirts looking like a duck row made of Energizer Bunnies...
I will also give out my locations for the AWESOME USB drives that will hold the company info and possible prizes throughout the Conference as well as throughout the City of New York !!! ;)
If approved I will also hold giveaways through Twitter, and my Blog for some of the "Sought after" USB's ;)
In addition, If I win this sponsorship, I would feel guilty being the only one to benefit from the sponsorship right? So naturally, I will buy treats, prizes and souveniers for giveaways, so we can all be happy ;)  I mean really, who doesn't want an I (heart)NY T-shirt, or some Pretzel M&M's???
So C'mon, please please please help support me by letting Kailani at An Island Life, and Krissy at Barefoot Mommies know that you think I would be a GREAT representative for the Energizer Smart ChargHER Brand Campaign ;)
Tweet for me, Facebook for me, heck, you can even scream it out your window for me if you want ;)

Tweet this for me if you think I am worthy of this $2,000.00 Sponsorship from Energizer:
Hi @Kailani @BarefootMomma UR custom-made #Energizer Bunny is @Militaryfamof8 She's got the $2k "Drive" 4 USB Delivery! http://bit.ly/cRQlSY

If you really want to help, get the word out through Facebook as well, let Energizer know that you think I have what it takes to fully represent their company:
C'mon Energizer, your custom-made #Energizer Blogger is @Militaryfamof8 She has the $2k "Drive" 4 USB Delivery! http://bit.ly/cRQlSY Check out her post and duck row of Energizer Bunnies!!! http://adventuresofamilitaryfamof8.blogspot.com/2010/07/cmon-energizeri-have-2k-drive-2-deliver.html

July has been a month of Adventures in our house....

ok ok, I know,
EVERYDAY is an adventure with us, I get it, lol.

This month has been hard for the kids since they have spent this month of summer vacation with me in the nursing home.  In a way it has been great, they have grown a stronger bond with their Great Grampa and have heard many of the stories my Grampa used to tell me, like the one about him wrestling a 10 foot Shark in the ocean ;)
Grampa has been doing so much better, he can walk during his therapy and even do a few stairs, we are so proud of him ;)

This month My mini-me turned 8 years old!!!
Izeah (6) lost his first tooth!!!!!

Izeah's super-active-non-stop-action-driven-body has surprisingly been to "average" levels until this week, for some reason, he has gone back to that behavior a week before the new school year begins ;/  It has been nothing less than a completely wild adventure with our Family this summer.

I have taken my Grampa on a few outings this month, and I have all 4 youngest kids with me, plus Grampa's wheelchair, I am not sure if that qualifies as an adventure or just a sign of my insanity; either way I wouldn't trade it for the world ;)

Here are a few pics ;)
He wanted to show his great Grampa how brave he was, so he swished water in his mouth until the tooth popped out ;)

Happy Birthday Lily!!!!!!!!!!

WNBA Action with the Los Angeles Sparks @ The Staples Center!!!!

Now who said basketball season ended in June?!
They're WRONG..... 
The WNBA season is in FULL FORCE!!!

What better way to celebrate a World Championship Win by the Los Angeles Lakers in the Staples Center then to continue the basketball season with the Los Angeles Sparks?!?!!
 
Though the WNBA doesn't get as much publicity as the NBA I truly believe that the ladies bring the game back to it's purest form. 
The Los Angeles Sparks was one of the original 8 teams that helped form the WNBA in 1997 not to mention that the first ever points scored in the WNBA were by Penny Toler who played for the Los Angeles Sparks and as the General Manager helped put together the 2001 championship team!!!
Awesome facts right??

 One thing that was more awesome than knowing about and loving the WNBA was being able to attend a game.  Now to many it was just a Basketball game, to our Family it was so much more than that, it was an experience we will never forget.  
The WNBA graciously invited our Family of 8 to the Los Angeles Sparks vs New York Liberty game on June 29, 10. 
The rivalry between these two teams went further than the court, it was in our Family, in our 3 hour car ride each way, to say it was in our blood would not be an exaggeration either, see, I am from Los Angeles, Ca and my husband is from New York, NY, so while hubby and the boys rooted for New York Liberty Ladies, the girls and I cheered our lungs out for our Los Angeles Sparks ;)

It was so much fun!!!
The screams, cheers, dancing, and rooting were so loud, and that was just from my daughters and myself ;)  It was so adorable to see the 4 & 6 yr old boys cheering loud and chanting for the New York Liberty Ladies.
 C'mon Defense!!!!!
I was so excited to attend this game for many reasons:
  1. The Rivalry between LA & NY with husband and I.
  2. that it was 1 1/2 weeks since LA Lakers WON the NBA Championship in the same court!!!
  3. My kids were going to have the opportunity to attend their first WNBA game
  4. The Family adventure was going to be one to remember ;)
 As many of you know my 10 yr old Daughter loves and just started playing basketball, so it was a learning experience for her, and so exciting to see such great Women playing basketball.  It helped give her confidence, and a different outlook on her own game.  She saw what she can accomplish if she continues to practice and follow her dream, and she DOES dream of playing basketball when she grows up.
Unfortunately the Los Angeles Sparks lost this game, we drove home hearing the boys tease us about their team winning, but all in all the ENTIRE Family had a great time!
 Final Score 80-68 NY Liberty

I highly recommend going to a WNBA game, these Women are so amazing!!!  Yet, severely under-appreciated and valued.  The WNBA does not receive 1/4 of the credit and praise they deserve, so c'mon, support our Women Athletes and attend a game, I promise that the experience is so worth it! 
Not to mention that a WNBA game ticket is completely more affordable than going to a majority of other sports games, but you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you helped support such an under-valued sport ;)

As an added bonus, here is a code so you can purchase tickets at a discounted rate!  Just go to TicketMaster.com/wnba and enter the promo code WNBABLOG and experience the WNBA's exciting, affordable, family-friendly entertainment!

Click here for Los Angeles Sparks Schedule
Click here for WNBA Schedule
 Thank you WNBA, Los Angeles Sparks and One@One for sending our Family on this unforgettable adventure ;)

Tag, you're it!!! (new list starts on Tuesday)

Guess what?! We got through our 23rd week of Tag ;)
It has been fun, I appreciate everyone who played along  ;)

If you don't know what "Tag, you're it!" or "Tag Tuesday" is:
You "Tag" your new friends and they "Tag" you as well.
(instead of leaving "following from..." comments which is what prompted me to start "Tag"
since I heard many friends say they didn't like how impersonal that sounded)

The Special "Quality" about "Tag, you're it" is that through this game,
you can post the url's to 
your blog, twitter, facebook, "like"on Facebook, networkedblogs, Etsy store, links to voting pages that you are in, contest/giveaway pages and anywhere else you want followers in ;)
  • The Rules to playing "Tag, you're it" are simple:
  1. add your information to the spreadsheet , "Tag" everyone else above you on the list
    (Tag= add/follow the person and leave "Tag, you're it!" comment)
  2. Check back regularly to "Tag" new friends below you (list is open all week)
  3.  "Tag" back everyone who has "Tagged" you (remember to add/follow in addition to leaving the Tag comment)
  4. THIS MEME RUNS THROUGH ENTIRE WEEK ;) 
Here is the Spreadsheet

Also, if you can, help spread the word,
The more people know about Tag Tuesday, 
the more people will Tag you ;)

A BIG thank you goes out to Stacie at Simply Stacie for always playing and posting "Tag, you're it!"

If you posted about "Tag, you're it!", pls send me a comment and I will post your ur ;)
and just in case you really have to have a button ;)  
my daughter is showing off her skills:

"""Tag means you add/follow a person and leave a Tag comment in return"""

Winner of $30 dllr GC f/ pound 4 pound challenge is.........

#17......

kalea_kane said...
Daily tweet. http://twitter.com/kellyblackwell/status/17267297826 I love how the pound for pound challenge gives me a goal that goes beyond just helping myself but helping others. :) Thank you to everyone who played, I have a great Kung Zhu review and giveaways coming soon, as well as one for a great Hotel that rhymes with Ham..... ;) Congratulations to the winner