Good Karma Soaps is having a contest exclusively for our creative readers.

My friend Blaire Borthayre, a marketer by trade but also Head Soapmaking Woman at Good Karma, is scouting out an idea for a unique soap. Blaire makes every soap by hand using all natural ingredients and none of that yucky, gummy stuff you find in commercial soaps. The Lego soap pictured here, for example, is made from goat’s milk, organic color and scent — meaning that each block is safe for sensitive skin.

Blaire says that coming up with ideas for soaps isn’t an easy task, so she’s looking for your help.

What’s in it for you? Blaire is offering a $20 $50 gift certificate (!) for Good Karma Soaps. Plus free shipping. (Okay, now we’re talking!) Blaire says, “The good news is that even if you don’t win, you still win.” Translation: If you participate, you automatically get a gift certificate for “Buy One Get One Free” for anything in the store until May 30,2009.

Here’s the nitty gritty.

In order to play, all you have to do is:

1. Take a peek at Good Karma Soaps website. Then come back here and post your favorite item in the shop.

2. Here, in the comment section, tell us your idea for a new soap.

3. Tweet about this contest and using this post’s URL: http://bit.ly/yB9eZ

How simple is that? The contest starts today and ends a week from now, next Tuesday, when Blaire picks the winner!

And by the way, 50 percent of all proceeds from Good Karma sales are donated to local animal shelters in Raleigh, where Blaire lives and works. As Blaire says, “A combo of art, common sense and Karma. What’s not to love?”

Thanks for playing!

Read on to win one of 2 copies of Alexis Martin Neely’s Wear Clean Underwear book!

As I wrote earlier this summer, my husband and I went on our first trip sans children in June. We’ve had to do some hard thinking this year while planning for all of the serious and practical things related to leaving our children for 4 days and I’d like to share a few parts my experience with you. Our journey included making our wills, choosing guardians, creating Medical Authorization forms, and a Kids Protection Plan.

First of all, I fully admit that we should have taken care of all of this approximately 2.5 years ago when our daughter was born. If not then, than sometime earlier than NOW, when we were finally being forced into making these decisions because we were leaving on a trip. How naive ARE we to think that something horrible could happen to us only when going on a trip far from home? Anyway, at least we did it now, right? Better than never.

We decided we finally had to ACT on creating our wills less than a week before we left for vacation. The main thing we were worried about was assigning someone as legal guardian of our children should we for some reason not make it home from the trip - or, as I mentioned earlier, should anything bad happen to us EVER.

Because we were so delinquent, we went the route of using an online service called LegalZoom to fulfill this need. I have to say that the process was very simple and got the job done for what we were trying to accomplish. However, when I mentioned on Twitter that we had used LegalZoom for this, I received a reply from Alexis Martin Neely who pointed me toward her book about family legal planning - what. an. eye. opener. Alexis’ main point in that message was that while LegalZoom might be appropriate for some legal needs, it might not cover everything.

I honestly spent the next hour or so poring over all of the materials and information Alexis provides for parents who are planning for their family’s future, and really wanted to bring these resources to the readers on This Mommy Gig. I actually contacted Alexis and mentioned this to her and she was so great about it! She immediately sent me a copy of her book, “Wear Clean Underwear” for review and is offering 2 books for our readers!

My mention of LegalZoom on Twitter actually inspired Alexis to write this article titled “Is LegalZoom a Good Idea? Do the Legal Documents Work?” in which she outlines the issues people might have when relying strictly on these documents - her main advice is to make sure to have them reviewed by a family lawyer if you do decide to go ahead with LegalZoom.

What really struck me about Alexis’ work is her advice to parents about planning for the future of their children in the event of a tragedy. Her book “Wear Clean Underwear! A Fast, Fun, Friendly - and Essential - Guide to Legal Planning for Busy Parents” includes some majorly eye-opening scenarios for parents, all set in a “choose your own adventure” type of format, where you choose your path and see what the outcome would be like. Of course, you should read all the possible outcomes for each scenario, but the stories are set in a very realistic way and really showed me how valuable it is to fully plan for my children. The legal documents we prepared through LegalZoom simply aren’t enough.

The other main thing that I took away from Alexis is that we need a Kids Protection Plan in which we lay out much more than just a guardian for our children. We need to think through many more scenarios and be much more aware of the legal issues that are part of custody arrangements and in the event of an emergency if our kids are at home with a sitter and the sitter doesn’t know whom to contact.

For all parents, I’d highly suggest reading “Wear Clean Underwear” and checking out the Kids Protection Plan site where you can create free legal documents for your family. I’m not at all qualified to offer any of the advice that Alexis is able to, so rather than me passing it on, it would be much more beneficial to check out Alexis’ materials. You’ll have a chance to win the book here, but if you’re not one of the lucky winners, you should know that when you purchase the book through the official site, you receive over $3,000 in bonus materials!

Win a Copy!

All you need to do to be entered for a chance to win one of the two copies available for our readers is leave a comment on this post - I’d love to hear whether or not you’ve created legal documents for your family, but this information isn’t required. You just need to leave a comment - that’s it!

The contest will close on August 11th and the winners will be notified by email shortly after.

Kelli is mom to Braxton, age 2, and partner to Mike. She is an instructor at the University of Oregon and a public relations consultant with her own firm. Thanks to growing up in a large family, she’s learned to manage chaos and still have fun. You can read her posts here.

I clearly remember my first baseball game. I was 9 and we lived in Blessing, Texas (poplulation: 800), and my dad took my best friend, Barbie (an actual girl, not a 11″ fashion doll) to see the Houston Astros play the St. Louis Cardinals at the Astrodome. It was 1984, Nolan Ryan was on the mound and Jose Cruz was in center field.

Spending an afternoon at the ballpark, whether it’s our local minor league team or heading north to Seattle to watch the Mariners play, is still a beloved tradtion in my family. I thought, for that reason, that reviewing Baseball Bits: The Best Stories, Facts, and Trivia from the Dugout to the Outfield would be fun. I always love a good story and, as an academic, I appreciate a good set of data. And my partner, Mike, is a baseball stat geek.

I must admit, the amount of information in the book is a tad overwhelming. Not many stories are more than a page, resutling in a smorgasbord of anecdote and fact snacks. The book is categorized, not chronologically, but thematically with chapters like: Ball Clubs, Bosses, Deals and Steals, Big Events and Color, Clout and Controversy. This works really well, especially if you’re a fan of a particular aspect of the game. And it makes it easy to browse the book without feeling like you’re missing some part of the story.

As I read through many of the “bits,” I’d often find myself yelling across the house, “Hon?! Did you know…?” To which he’d dutifully reply, “No! Really? That interesting!”

This book is a treasure trove for fans, afficianados and stat geeks. Author Dan Schlossberg is all of the above. A former Associated Press writer, he’s authored 33 (!) baseball books and more than 25,000 (!!) articles about baseball.

A few of my favorite “bits.”

• Nolan Ryan, who pitched a record seven no-hitters in the majors, was 12 when he pitched his first no-hitter - in Little League ball in Alvin, Texas*. Page 88, Batters and Pitchers
• Philadelphia zookeeper Jim Murray sent baseball scores to telegraph offices by carrier pigeon every half inning. Page 4, Origin, Innovation and Evolution
• Although he started with the St. Louis Cardinals, Harry Carry was with the Cubs in 1992 when he joined his son Skip and grandson Chip to become the first three-generation family to announce the same game**. Page 202, BallTalk
• The Boston Braves spent $10,000 to purchase Hank Aaron’s contract from the Indianapolis Clowns***, a Negro Leagues team, in June 1952. After less than two years in the Braves’ minor leagues, Aaron reached the majors to stay. Page 133, Deals and Steals

Win a Copy!

We have 5 copies of Baseball Bits: The Best Stories, Facts, and Trivia from the Dugout to the Outfield for our readers! All you need to do to enter is leave a comment here telling us who would benefit from the book if you win - are you a baseball fan yourself? Is it for your husband? Dad? Son? Wife? That’s it - easy as pie. Just leave a comment and make sure you use a valid email address.

The contest will close on Monday, August 4 - winners will be chosen by a random number generator and will be notified via email.

Also, don’t forget to check out the rest of our contests!

* this is a favorite because of the family legend of my dad vs. Nolan Ryan in the Little League All-Star game that same year. Nolan pitched, Dad hit a home run.

** Mike is a huge Cubs fan and Harry Carray was his favorite announcer of all time. He can even do a pretty spot-on impression.

*** The Clowns? Are you kidding me? That was the name of the team?!

(Disclosure: A copy of the book was provided free of charge for review.)

Kate Olson is a mother of 2 toddlers and lives in rural Wisconsin. She balances motherhood & working from home in a semi-functional fashion - you can read more about Kate on our contributors page. She blogs about education and lots of business/tech stuff at Kate Says . Want more? Read all of Kate’s posts!

Ok, this giveaway is just AWESOME and if I were eligible I’d be madly entering right now to try to win this for my friend who’s due next month. Alas, I can’t enter, but YOU can!

Now, I haven’t tried this product - Rachael is going to be testing it when her little one comes this winter and will give you a full product review then. However, we just couldn’t wait to do the giveaway, so here it is:

We’re giving away 1 Serena & Lily Market Sling - valued at $129.

Yup, that’s right - one of the hottest baby products out there right now, so hot it was even featured in the June 25th issue of People magazine! I loved wearing my babies, so I’m just SO jealous of anyone who wins this.

The product description on the website states:

Our signature slings are crafted with beautiful hand-embroidery on 100% organic cotton* with a super-soft brushed interior that is gentle against baby’s delicate skin. The simplified design - one seamless piece of fabric without buckles, belts or straps - is snug, sleek and easy to wear.

The sling comes in three color combinations - Grass/Marigold, Flax/Sky Blue, and Cloud/Petal - and 3 sizes. The website gives a great description on how to measure to decide which size will fit.

How to enter:

This is pretty darn easy - all you need to do is:

1) Take a look at the Serena & Lily website and pick the color you like best
2) Make a comment here telling which color you would like if you won and
3) What you like about the sling and
4) Who would benefit from the sling if you won - you? a daughter? a friend?

Gain another entry by tweeting about the contest - then reply to @thismommygig telling that you did so.

Contest open to U.S. entrants only - so sorry!

Contest will be open until August 1st.

Winner is picked by a random number generator and winner will be notified by email within 1 day of winning. If winner doesn’t respond within 48 hours of email being sent, a new winner will be chosen.

Don’t forget to check out all of our other contests!

Kate Olson is a mother of 2 toddlers and lives in rural Wisconsin. She balances motherhood & working from home in a semi-functional fashion - you can read more about Kate on our contributors page. She blogs about education and lots of business/tech stuff at Kate Says . Want more? Read all of Kate’s posts!

Read on to win this yummy snack!

Funky Monkey Snacks - I liked the name as soon as I received the press release! This is honestly the easiest review I’ve ever written because one sentence really sums this product up:

My children INHALED these things - all 3 bags.

What more could a mom say? They’re healthy, my kids ate them. Done!

Want the fine print?

Funky Monkey Snacks are freeze dried fruit - all natural, with no added sugar, preservatives, colors or flavors. They are gluten-free, wheat-free and dairy-free. They come in four delicious flavors: Bananamon (banana and cinnamon - a personal favorite of mine), Carnaval Mix (banana, pineapple, apple, papaya and raisins), Jivealime (pineapple and lime juice) and Purple Funk (banana and acai berries).

The yummies are found at a ton of stores all over, including Whole Foods and Amazon.com - easy enough for ALL of us to access!

Want more healthy trips and ticks for getting more fruits and veggies into your kids? Check out this very cool resource - Fruit and Veggie Guru. Tons of resources and recipes that I know my family needs - maybe yours does too?

Win Funky Monkey Snacks!

Want to win a bag of Funky Monkey Snacks for you or your kids?

Easy peasy - 3 winners and all you need to do to enter is leave a comment here telling which of the 4 flavors you think you (or your kids) would like best.

Contest ends 7/21/08 - make sure you use a valid email address when entering!

Kate Olson is a mother of 2 toddlers and lives in rural Wisconsin. She balances motherhood & working from home in a semi-functional fashion - you can read more about Kate on our contributors page. She blogs about education and lots of business/tech stuff at Kate Says . Want more? Read all of Kate’s posts!

If you want an idea of how much I love peanut butter, just know that I actually sought out P.B. Loco for this review and contest. Yup, that’s right. No PR reps filling my inbox, no surprise packages arriving at my house. P.B. Loco has a twitter account (@pbloco) and amazingly enough, right after Diane wrote her fabulous peanut butter post, @pbloco started following This Mommy Gig (@thismommygig) and me on twitter!

Once I saw the product behind the twitter account, I brazenly direct messaged PB Loco and asked if they’d be interested in providing me with some peanut butter so I could review it and hold a contest here. They smartly agreed, so here we are! What enticed me to approach them? Just read these product descriptions!

Peanut Butter with Creamy White Chocolate

Inside the mild-mannered jar of white chocolate peanut butter is possibly the yummiest stuff you will ever put in your mouth. It gives us shudders just writing about it.

Peanut Butter with European Cafe Mocha

An amazingly dee-lish blend of European chocolate, espresso and premium peanut butter. You will feel like you are in your favorite coffee bar. Only you will not be. You will be eating really really good peanut butter.

You can check out prices and complete product descriptions on their website, where you can also find all the exciting product small print - like the fact that peanut butter is good for you, there’s no trans fat, they’ll ship it directly to your house……..all that good stuff!

The first jar I tried was the Peanut Butter with Creamy White Chocolate - oh. my. lord. is it good! It actually has little chunks of white chocolate in it and my daughter and I ate it spread on graham crackers……..I think we ate 2 whole packs of crackers just as a vehicle for the peanut butter! I actually kind of (don’t tell!) hide it from my kids now - I don’t want to waste the good stuff on people who like Skippy just as much!

Oh, and I’m hoping my family isn’t reading this, because they’re all getting a jar of P.B. Loco for Christmas this year - they’ll love me for this!

Ok, I decided to list all of their flavors here so you truly get an idea of the yumminess of their flavors…….the next one I’m trying is the Peanut Butter with Sumatra Cinnamon and Raisins.….

Peanut Butter with CoCoBanana
Peanut Butter with Asian Curry Spice
Peanut Butter with Dark Chocolate Duo
Peanut Butter with Jungle Banana
Peanut Butter with Raspberry White Chocolate
Peanut Butter with Sun-Dried Tomato
Peanut Butter with Creamy White Chocolate
Peanut Butter with European Café Mocha
Peanut Butter with Raspberry Dark Chocolate
Peanut Butter with Sumatra Cinnamon and Raisin
Peanut Butter with Sun-Ripened Apricot
Peanut Butter - Classic Crunch
Peanut Butter - Classic Creamy

Win Some!

We have a precious jar of peanut butter to give away here and I want someone to win this! All you need to do is tell which flavor you’d love to try - you can just throw it in a comment here. For another chance to win, you can reply to @thismommygig and tell us your desired flavor there as well!

So, bring it on - I need to share the yumminess!

This contest will end July 15, 2008. All eligible to enter, even past winners!

In our constant quest to make this a better place, we’d love your input on our site! We’d love if you would take a few seconds and take this 2-question survey to make This Mommy Gig even more fabulous.

What’s in it for you? Follow the below instructions - we’ll be choosing 2 lucky winners to receive $5 Starbucks gift cards! Caffeine makes this world go ’round, especially for parents, right?

Of course, if you just want to help us out and take the poll but NOT enter the contest, that’s more than wonderful and we’ll love you forever for taking the time to give us your opinion! Scroll down just a teeny bit for the questions - and don’t worry, the poll is anonymous!

To enter the contest:

1) Take the poll - answer BOTH questions please!
2) Leave a comment telling us that you took the poll (don’t have to share your answers, though)
AND
3) in that comment, tell us what your favorite post is so far AND WHY it’s your favorite.

We really want this to about our readers, not just a free-for-all contest, thus a few minor hoops to jump through! Of course, this is open to anyone - you just have to know enough about our site to be able to answer the questions, not too difficult.

The contest will end July 8th, but the poll will remain open after that.

We look forward to hearing what you have to say!

Note: Make sure to click “Vote” after EACH question!

(Read on to win a case of Primo single-serve water!)

When I first heard about Primo Water I thought it was probably just another bottled water - they’re all pretty much alike, right? Well, I guess not! I was sent a case of Primo to test after being told that the Primo bottles are made from plant-based materials, NOT fossil fuels, which really intrigues me. The Primo promotional materials state:

“The renewable Primo bottle is made from Ingeo, the world’s first and only performance plastic made from 100% annually renewable-resources - plants, not crude oil like other plastic bottles.“

While I attempt to use my Nalgene water bottle as much as possible because it’s washable and reusable, I often don’t have it filled up or clean - this means that when I’m sprinting out of the house with my 2 kids or have EXACTLY 25 minutes to go for my run, I need a quick bottle of water and I need it in a bottle that will fit in my car or stroller cup holder. This is the reason that I usually have bottled water in my house, but I sometimes feel guilty about the environmental impact of using all of those disposable bottles.

The Bottom Line

The Primo materials make a pretty compelling case for choosing Primo over other bottled waters because of the composition of the bottle, and I have to admit that I agree. I like the fact that the bottle is more environmentally friendly, and the water truly tastes great. If given a choice of Primo water and other brands, I would choose Primo simply because of the company’s efforts to minimize the use of fossil fuels. I am really excited to see more recycling options for this type of bottle, but in the meantime I applaud the company for the innovation.

Get Some!

You can buy Primo water for $4.99/case of 18 single-serve bottles at the following stores: Kroger, Ralph’s, Kings Soopers, City Market, Dillon’s, Smith’s, Fry’s, QFC, Baker’s, Pay Less, Owen’s, JayC, Hilander, Gerbes, Food 4 Less, Food Co, and Fred Meyer. Primo is available in regional retail grocery stores like Lowes Foods in North Carolina, Hannaford stores in select New England markets, and Sweetbay stores in Florida.

More Information

You can find out more about Primo Water at their website, where you can find recycling information and more information about the unique Ingeo bottle. Primo also has videos showing the life cycle of the bottle - check them out at YouTube!

Also, check out Jessica’s thoughts on Primo over at Moms Group Manual.

Win Some!

Primo is offering 10 cases of Primo water for our readers - that means YOU! We’ll pick a winner in 2 weeks (June 23rd) and notify the winners. If you win, Primo will then ship a case of water directly to you!

Here’s what you need to do to win:

Choose one or more - each thing that you do earns another chance to win!

1) Leave a comment here telling us your favorite activity for staying cool or keeping your family cool in the summer (make sure to use a valid email address, as that’s where we’ll notify you if you win)

2) Share the news of the contest either on Twitter or in a blog post - leave the link to your tweet or your post in a comment here

3) Follow @thismommygig on Twitter (if you already do this, just throw in the note in the comments letting us know!)

You have good odds of winning here since we have so many prizes - and since you each have 3 chances to win!