I heart MOO.com. No, really, I’m not just saying that! They make it so easy to create wonderful little cards to promote your business, share your Flickr photos, give your email address to new friends on the playground, create unique birthday invitations and more. As they say, the only limit is your imagination.

Not feeling particularly talented design-wise? No problem. They have hundreds of images to choose from. You can also use your own Flickr account as an image source!

Maybe you’re quite the artiste? That’s no problem either. You get lots of flexibility in selecting and positioning artwork, and even control-freaks (like me!) are able to come away with satisfying results.

I went to a blogging conference this past summer, and I made up some funny little MOO cards to hand out to other bloggers I met. The size is unusual, the paper stock is beyond sturdy, and they were a big hit.

I can hook you up with a discount!

As further proof of my undying love for you, my loyal readers, I have a great coupon code for you to use to get a free third set of MOO MiniCards when you buy 2. Just put 3 sets of cards in your cart and use MOO coupon code H7V7BK by November 30, 2007. Simple!

The amazing MOO cards are only available at MOO.com — and they have lots of suggestions for ways to use their products. Halloween themes, weddings, gift tags, product labels, birth announcements… Just head over there and check it out!

I love Thanksgiving. The smell of roasting turkey, arguing over what kind of stuffing to make this year, forgetting to take the rolls out of the oven, chaos at the kids table, debating cranberry sauce from a can or homemade…

With all the family milling about and everyone impatient for the food to be served, I find it especially important to have the right cooking equipment on hand. Here’s some of what we use and some of what we wish we had. PLUS how to get it all at the best price!

Calphalon 16×13x3-in. Nonstick Contemporary Nonstick Roasting Set

Gorgeous! We have an older version of this roaster with handles that are really tricky to grab out of a hot oven. These improved handles are really handy for making sure your turkey doesn’t end up on the floor. See More…

“New looks from Calphalon’s Contemporary Nonstick line. The stainless handles are slim and flared and are multi-riveted for added strength. Made of hard-anodized aluminum with a nonstick interior, this new roaster heats evenly and quickly and comes with a removable, nonstick rack that holds up to a 25-lb. Turkey. It’s also ideal for chicken, pork or beef tenderloins. As your main course browns and glistens, vegetables roast and caramelize at the bottom of the pan.”

Emile Henry Couleurs Pie Dishes

All pies taste even better from beautiful Emile Henry pie dishes. Their heft is satisfying, and you can find a color to match every holiday. (Treat yourself to some of their coffee mugs as long as you’re there. I have my coffee in an eggplant colored-one every morning, and they are wonderful.) See More…

“Present your best cherry, pumpkin or fresh strawberry pie in this stylish & sturdy pie dish. It is handcrafted of Burgundy clay that offers excellent heat conduction and retention, so pies bake and brown evenly. The rich glaze, applied by hand, makes each piece unique and provides a scratch-resistant surface that cleans up easily. Ridges on the rim produce a fluted-edge piecrust. About Emile Henry… In the Burgundy region of France is the legendary maker of fine French cookware named Emile Henry. There, potters still hand craft each piece from the local Burgundy Clay - one of the purest of clays, and finish each one with a process known as CERADON, which makes them extremely solid and durable. Containing no lead or cadmium, the clay is one of the best materials for baking and serving.”

Polder 36-in. Preprogrammed Thermometer

This thermometer won’t let you overcook your turkey! Set it to the temperature you want and it will monitor the turkey in the oven — and this is the best part — it will sound an alarm when it is time to take out the bird! See More…

“Insert the cooking probe of this Thermometer into your meat, and monitor the inner temperature as it cooks in the oven. A digital readout displays the cooking temperature as the meat cooks and an alarm sounds when the desired temperature is met. There’s a setting for beef, lamb, veal, pork, turkey and chicken with a well done, medium and medium rare choice. There is also an option to manually program the desired temperature (from 32 to 392 degrees Fahrenheit). The probe and wire measure 3 feet, and the monitor lays flat or tilts up for an easier read. The thermometer has an On-Off switch and is powered by one AAA battery.”

Pfaltzgraff Napoli Bread Basket with Warming Stone

Maybe getting a nice, new bread basket will help you remember to put the rolls on the table? (Or is it just me who always forgets to do that?) And the bread will stay nice and toasty on the table when you use the included warming stone. See More…

“Napoli is a subtly decorated, hand-painted collection that evokes the light and colors of the coast of Italy. Napoli’s soft palette of pale orange, rose, varying shades of blue and light green creates a bright, cheerful setting for any meal. Each piece in Napoli’s broad range of items is individually styled, yet the entire collection works together through the repetition of an elegant vine motif and whimsical hand painted floral renderings. Bread Basket with warming stone.”

VillaWare Chromed Cast Iron Apple Corer and Potato Peeler

Your kids will love to help in the kitchen when you use one of these clever gizmos to peel apples. Make a pile of pies in a snap, and your kitchen will smell wonderful too. See More…

“During the nineteenth century, American inventors came up with dozens of designs for removing the skin from an apple. This device, which not only peels but slices and cores apples, is the direct descendant of those contraptions; the suction-cup base is its only modern element. You spear the apple (or potato) on the three-tined fork and turn the crank. This spirals the fruit past a little spring-mounted blade that does the peeling. You can also attach the corer-slicer to turn the apple into a perfect spiral with the core removed.”

And as a special surprise for those of you who read all the way to the bottom of this post, I have found some really great coupon codes for Cooking.com — a great place to stock up on kitchen supplies at outlet prices.

Sweet!

One thing I worried about when my kids were babies was: do they really need to wear shoes? I know once you have a toddler they need foot-coverings, but in warm weather I never bothered with shoes.

I’m so fortunate that I found Robeez baby shoes. They come in sizes to fit kids from birth to age 4, but the only size I ever used was 6-12 months.

These don’t fall off!

The 6-12 months size is perfect because before that your baby isn’t moving around enough to warrant shoes — and why would you want to cover up adorable baby toes anyway? And after they grew out of this size, I found that my kids were so active that they really needed soled shoes.

The soft, comfy, never-fall-off shoes are also adorable! They have girly-girl, very boy, and everything in between. I give them as gifts all the time and I’m always able to find a style that fits the child’s personality.

They’re machine washable, and did I mention they’re really soft? Plus, just in time for my last child they came out with adorable boots. Everyone called them Chip’s “Uggs” which I thought was hilarious. He loved putting his tootsies into the fluffy-lined boots, they never came off him, and they were light and smooth enough to not trip him up when learning to walk.

Free Shipping

Plus if you order by October 31 and pay with PayPal you get free shipping — sweet! (Don’t have a PayPal account? It is safe, fast and free to sign up.) To get Free Shipping, just use promo code paypal.

I know it isn’t even Halloween yet, but if your family likes to celebrate the days leading to Christmas with an Advent Calendar, now is the time to make sure you’re ready.

If you’re lucky enough to have a traditional Advent Calendar socked away in the attic, now is the time to pull it out and make sure you have all the pieces and that everything is nice and clean. I’ve spent a few late November evenings ransacking the garage to find where I put it all away last year, but if you start now you’ll have plenty of time to do this and be reasonably stress-free.

If, however, you’re looking for something new to try this year, I have found some great Advent Calendars for you to check out.

1. The Advent Calendar that will make me Mother of the Year

This is what I got for my 3 boys and I guarantee they will lose their minds when I bring it out. Every day the 2 oldest spend several hours doing Legos, and this is going to be fantastic. (The Lego Advent Calendar is also available at Amazon.)

They make a girl version in the Belville line, but I don’t know… Do girls like Belville, or do they like the “regular” Legos instead? You be the judge. (The Lego Belville Advent Calendar is also available at Amazon.)

You say your kids aren’t Lego fans? How about Playmobil! (The Playmobil Advent Calendar is also available at Amazon.)

2. Paper Die Cut Advent Calendars

This is the style I grew up with. It was always so much fun to open a door every day and see what was behind it! (The Disney Princess Advent Calendar and Cars Advent Calendar are available at Calendars.com.)

And of course there are always the Chocolate-filled Advent Calendars. Yum!

You can get both the Santa Chocolate Advent Calendar and the Christmas Tree Chocolate Advent Calendar at Amazon.

3. Make your own Advent Calendar

And as long as I’m doing this post in October, I’ll mention that you do have time if you’d like to make your own Advent Calendar. Aren’t those cute? And since they’re not ginormous projects you actually have some hope of finishing them in time. (The Dimensions Snow Friends Advent Calendar Felt Applique Kit and Bucilla Santa’s Toy Shop Advent Calendar Felt Applique Kit are both available at Joann.com)

4. Fabric Advent Calendars

This is the kind of calendar we have had until this year. I think they are very sweet, and absolutely perfect for small kids. Every day they just take a small, stuffed decoration from one of the numbered pouches and stick it onto the tree with the velcro fasteners. Nothing can break, if they put it in their mouth it isn’t a big deal, and if they manage to get it off the wall when you’re not looking the mess is minimal. Ask me how I know this! (The Cutout Christmas Tree Advent Calendar and Christmas Tree Advent Calendar are available at Shop.com.)

5. Unique Wood Advent Calendars

Isn’t this gorgeous? The wood pieces are held in place by magnets so even small kids will have sucess when it is their turn to choose the piece for the day. (The Wood and Magnet Advent Calendar is available at Bellacor.)

This beautiful Kurt Adler Nativity Advent also has magnetic doors and beautiful features. It is available at Amazon.

So there you have five great kinds of Advent Calendars that will work in families with kids. I hope you like them!

Color printing on-the-go — it even has a handle! This also means it is more likely to get put away when you’re done using it thereby giving you one less thing to clutter up your house. This is very clever. But you don’t have to take my word for it, check out the full specs.

The Epson PictureMate Dash Photo Printer makes it easy for consumers to print photos - just simply insert a memory card, choose a photo and press print. Additional features include:

• Print durability: PictureMate prints resist fading up to 96 years in a glass frame and about 200 years in an album; prints also resist smudges, scratches, water, and fingerprints.
• Fast print speeds: The PictureMate Dash produces a borderless 4″x6″ print in as fast as 37 seconds.
• LCD: PictureMate Dash features a large 3.6″ adjustable tilt LCD making it easy to view, select, crop, and edit photos, as well as watch slideshows.
• Auto Photo Correction: PictureMate Dash automatically adjusts photos to correct improperly lit images - allowing you to get the best print possible, even from a bad picture.
• Easy to use: PictureMate Dash is created to make everything easy - from cropping photos using the LCD to selecting one of 18 different layouts to removing red eye and adding color effects.

The clearly hilarious duo behind LTDchix T Shirts have hit the nail on the head with their witty series of mom T shirts. With captions such as Beach Cart Mom, Cleaning Mom, Cooking Mom, FabuLess Finds, Fitness Mom, Laundry Mom, Minivan Mom, Referee Mom, and Shopping Mom you’re likely to find one that fits you to a T. (Har har, I couldn’t resist :)

Cindi and I came up with a concept of how as young women we didn’t really expect motherhood to be so hairy at times, and decided to print that concept on stylish tees. We created a signature “mom” with the humorous tagline…”Living the Dream.” The designs are funny, sarcastic and depict our every day, overwhelmed “mommy” situations and showcases mommy-hood at it’s finest.

What a great idea for an educational DVD — all about money and learning to make change. This is a great way to get your kids started thinking about the math behind the every-day transactions they witness while shopping with you.

Rock N Learn: Money and Making Change. Penny and Bill know how to shake things up when it comes to counting money and making change. Cool songs and games provide plenty of practice with real-world skills. Learn about coins and how they relate to one another, strategies for counting cash, “skip counting,” expressing money in written terms, how to make change, and more. You’ll have lots of fun as you gain valuable skills you can bank on. For ages 6 & up. Approx. 57 minutes.

If this sounds good, hop on over to Amazon and grab a copy of Rock N Learn’s Money and Making Change for yourself. Fun!

This is one of my favorite kinds of products: straightforward solutions to complex problems.

As you are probably aware, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children have no more than 1-2 hours of “screentime” per day. Screentime includes TV, video games, and computer activities.

Are you tired of constantly battling with your kids about the TV? Then The BOB Screentime Controller is the product for you.

BOB puts parents back in control of kid’s screentime-TVs, computers, and video games. When the users (your kids) reach their daily or weekly time limits, BOB shuts off the screen; no more arguments, no more challenges. BOB is the perfect parenting tool for today’s family, and it’s easy!

You can find the BOB Screen Time Controller at Amazon — and right now it is on sale for just $74 with free shipping :)

The new Care Bears Movie comes out October 23rd in honor of the 25th Anniversary of The Care Bears.

Oopsy Bear is the only Care Bear without a belly badge. When Cheer and Grumpy Bear build an amusement park for their friends, Oopsy Bear accidentally destroys it. Grizzle, an evil bear, uses Oopsy?s mistake in a plot to steal the Care Bears? belly badges. But, Oopsy stumbles to the rescue proving you don’t need a badge to be a bear who cares.

This DVD comes packaged with a cute little Oopsy Bear toy — what a great gift this would make :) You can order the DVD from Amazon and it will ship to you when it is released. The Care Bears “Oopsy Does It”

Wow wow wow. This is such a smart idea — one of those that make me wonder why I didn’t think of it first?

So there you are, with hours and hours of video of your preeeechious children. Then what do you do?

I mean, even the most resolute of grandparents give out after an hour or two of watching junior’s first swimming lesson / first haircut / first mud pie creation, but you also really want to share these special moments with friends and family. So what do you do?

You go retro, that’s what, but you do it with 21st Century style.

Just go visit the smart people at FlipClips where you can upload a video clip and have it turned into a professional-looking flip book. Don’t know what a flip book is? They have a handy-dandy demonstration video on their site.

And starting at just $8.99, these books make great, inexpensive gifts.