Lipstick to Crayons » Mom Stuff

The Healthy School Lunch Makeover

lipsticktocrayons — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:05:07 +0000

By Connie Diekman, Registered Dietitian

As a mom, you likely know what your child eats for breakfast and dinner, but what about lunch at school? Typically, kids get about 30 to 50 percent of their calories while at school. The good news is there are several changes happening in school cafeterias across the country this year to make lunch time nutritious and delicious for students.

This year, moms will be pleased to know that school cafeterias are serving more whole grains in unexpected places (like pizza), more fresh vegetables (especially nutrient-rich leafy greens and orange vegetables), lessening sodium content and offering great-tasting flavored milk with fewer calories and less added sugar than in the past.

As the beverage of choice among students, the change to flavored milk is an important one. On average, school chocolate milk is projected to have just 31 calories more than white milk and 38% less added sugar, the result of ongoing work by milk processors with local districts across the country over the last five years.

This school year when kids pick up a carton of flavored milk with their lunch, the majority will be less than 150 calories and will have all the same nine essential nutrients as white milk – including vitamin D, calcium and potassium, nutrients that the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans say children need to consume more of.

As a registered dietitian, I know most kids ages nine and older are far from the recommended three servings of dairy a day, and it’s important to offer a variety of choices, both flavored and white milk, to ensure kids have more opportunities to get the nutrients found in milk, versus choosing drinks with no nutritional value.

The food choices kids make today can have a big influence in shaping their future. Providing wholesome, nutritious meals for students increases their ability to pay attention in class, provides energy for sports and exercise, and reduces the risk of health problems later in life. These nutrients are important for kids’ growth and development, and for many children, school meals may be the best source of real nutrition they get all day.

So remember, nutritious food doesn’t have to be boring! Low-fat chocolate milk strikes a great balance between good nutrition and good fun.

For more information on school flavored milk reformulations, please visit: http://www.whymilk.com/school_milk.php.

Connie Diekman, M.Ed, RD, LD, FADA is a nutrition communications consultant in St. Louis, Missouri. Diekman is the past President of the American Dietetic Association (ADA) and is a former chair of the American Heart Association – Missouri affiliate.

She is the voice of the “Eating Right” minute, which airs daily, on WBBM radio in Chicago. She is also a former television nutrition reporter with St. Louis’ NBC affiliate and the local FOX affiliate.

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Diplaying Quilts as Artwork, Creating Heirlooms

lipsticktocrayons — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:17:55 +0000

I’ve shared with you that one of my prized possessions is a quilt made by Campus Quilts from the baby clothes of my three children. And now, Campus Quilts is in the process of creating another quilt for me that will honor my late father’s memory. I wrote about that here and I will enthusiastically share pictures as soon as it arrives.

My dilemma, however, has been how to display these treasures. I want everyone who enters my home to see them! Well, my problem was solved when I found Chuck Pederson and Generation to Generation Heirlooms. Chuck handcrafts a Website full of products that are certain to become family heirlooms, including children’s toys, quilt ladders and quilt racks. Here is the gorgeous 7.5-foot quilt ladder he made for me:

As you can see, I am proudly displaying my baby-clothes quilt on the rack and will soon be adding my father’s memorial quilt above that. It fits perfectly in the corner of my room, with an angled design at the top so it leans securely against the wall.

Chuck makes all of his products by hand with the utmost care and attention to detail. The solid construction of this quilt ladder is amazing, and the silky-smooth finish on it is absolutely beautiful. Due to the size of this ladder, Chuck constructs it to fold in the middle for shipping and some minor assembly is required when it arrives. Just so you know, I intended to add that project to my husband’s “honey do” list, but the instructions Chuck sent were so simple and easy to follow that I completed it all by myself using the tools he suggested: A screwdriver and wood glue. (He pre-drills the holes for the dowels, good man that he is).

You can purchase any of Chuck’s heirloom treasures on his Website (quilt racks, children’s toys and quilt project hangars) and he will ship them to you. Prices range from $100 for a Toddler Town Car, $300 for a handcrafted Rocking Horse, $100 for a traditional floor quilt rack and $125 for the 7.5-foot ladder (plus shipping). All of the toys from Generation to Generation Heirlooms would make perfect Christmas presents for children. And unlike the latest toy made of hard, molded plastic and running on batteries, these toys are certain to last through the generations, becoming family heirlooms as Chuck intended.

If you live in/near California, you can see the items in person at the following craft shows:

October 21, 22 & 23 – Independence Hall Quilters Quilt Show, Ironstone Vineyards, Murphys, CA

November 12-13 – Tuleburg Quilt Guild Quilt Show, Scottish Rite Masonic Center, Stockton, CA

Chuck’s other tentative shows for 2012 are listed here.

Please visit Generation to Generation Heirlooms to check out Chuck’s products. You won’t be disappointed.

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Memorial Quilt to Honor my Father’s Memory

lipsticktocrayons — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 02:22:11 +0000

My father, Roger L. Melton, Jr., died on April 30, 2011. It was somewhat unexpected and it’s still hard. As I said in my eulogy to him, he was my hero. He retired after 30 years as police officer and had a decorated (and sometimes colorful) career in law enforcement. I learned just days before his death, but unfortunately after he had slipped into unconsciousness, that he single-handedly prevented a Polaris missile from hitting a Navy aircraft. You can read about it here.

Now I have memories, photographs, a few videos and some other items that remind me of my Dad. I have some old police uniform shirts, a few medals he received while in the Army, some of his favorite T-shirts and the Sergeant’s badge from his police hat. I thought about putting these things in a shadow box, but then I remembered what I did with the baby clothes from my three kids. Campus Quilts turned those items into an absolutely amazing quilt that I will cherish forever. Here is a picture:

Campus Quilts makes t-shirt quilts, but they also make beautiful quilts from baby outfits, sweatshirts, socks, hats, and any other memorable fabric. So I figured why couldn’t they make a Memorial Quilt using my Dad’s things. So I contacted them and they said they could do it — Army medals, badges, T-shirts and all. Their sewing expertise is unmatched.

Once again, they’ve sent me the kit that describes exactly how to organize and number your items (you get to choose the order of your squares) and provides colors from which to choose for the sashing (an optional border around all of your quilt squares) and backing (the fabric on the back of your quilt). Or, you can provide your own fabric, which I might do this time. I haven’t decided yet.

I’m getting my items organized and ready to ship back to Campus Quilt. I might even email them a photo or two which they can transfer onto a white T-shirt and turn into a quilt squre. I have images of his letter commendation regarding the missile incident and my favorite photgraph of him in uniform.

I know this quilt will be among my most cherished possessions when it’s finished and is the best way I can imagine to display the things about my Dad that make me proud. As we move through this first year of milestones without him, I know it will provide me with comfort. For that reason, I wanted to share this with my readers. I think a Memorial Quilt would make a great gift for anyone who has lost a loved one. What better way to tell a grieving friend or family member that you acknowledge their loss and want to help them celebrate the memories.

Now stay tuned because you KNOW I’ll be posting pictures of my Dad’s Memorial Quilt as soon as it arrives. (And I’m hoping to have a new quilt ladder upon which to display it and my baby clothes quilt, too).

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Great Idea for Mother’s Day – Scentsy Wickless Candles.

lipsticktocrayons — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:53:42 +0000

I have a new item in my home that I love, love, love. It’s a Scentsy wickless candle.

Scentsy wickless candles are a safe way to bring great fragrance and stylish decor into your home. They are flameless candles that are heated in a decorative warmer where wax is slowly melted by a small, low-watt bulb.

You can choose from more than 75 warmer styles to fit any size room, decor or personality. I chose the full-size Hope warmer from the Miracle collection and it is lovely amid the earth tones in my living room. The full-size warmers are 4.5” wide by 6” tall and cost between $30 and $35 dollars.

Scentsy comes in 80 wickless candle bar fragrances, including spa, tropical and romance scents. Each bar contains as much fragrance oil as a 12 ounce jar candle. And when your wax is completely used, you simply buy more for your beautiful warmer, which makes a pretty way to add some mood lighting to a room, as well.

Scentsy is a direct selling, wickless candle company headquartered in Meridian, Idaho. The company is owned by Orville and Heidi Thompson and sells its products through a field sales force of more than 70,000 independent sales representatives known as Independent Scentsy Consultants, who market and sell Scentsy products through home parties.

In addition to warmers, Scentsy sells plug-ins, foams, travel tins, room sprays and other fun, fragrant products. To find out how to host or party or to find a consultant near you, go here.

Try a random post.

$50 Snapfish Giveaway for Mother’s Day – Check out the Photobooks! – CLOSED

lipsticktocrayons — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:21:48 +0000

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I LOVE SNAPFISH PHOTOBOOKS! And what would make a better Mother’s Day present than a Snapfish photobook?

You can honor mom by capturing her favorite moments in a personalized photo book. You can even archive her favorite family recipes! Snapfish offers photo books with many creative layouts and a range of sizes including 8×11, 8×8, 5×7 and even 4×6 flip books, great for all occasions. And one of the really cool features of the photo books is the custom cover which lets you stretch a picture across the entire front cover (see the image with this post).

And guess what? I reccently discovered that Snapfish has integrated with Flickr!! This makes the photo book making process even easier. I am an amateur photographer of sorts — I’ve taken a few classes and I have 17,000 (no, that’s not a typo) pictures in my Flickr photo stream. I used to have time to have those photos printed and then spent hours creating beautiful scrapbooks, but with Baby No. 3, scrapbooking went out the window. Now whenever I want to turn my pictures into a scrapbook, I can create a Snapfish photobook and load the pictures right from my Flickr photostream. I no longer have to upload my pictures to two different places (Flickr, where I store ALL my digital photos and Snapfish for my photo books and photo gifts). Of course, you can still upload your pictures to Snapfish the “old fashioned” way!

Here are some other great Mother’s Day Gift ideas on Snapfish:

Leather bracelet with photo charm – Put mom’s favorite picture on a bracelet so she can wear it every day.

Sterling silver swinging locket – Looking for a gift she’ll cherish forever? Snapfish’s new sterling silver necklace with swinging locketallows you to display mom’s favorite photo in a locket that is sealed in a waterproof, UV-resistant coating to protect the image. Sent in a gift box, Snapfish does the wrapping for you.

Keepsake Box – Perfect for keeping all her prized possessions in one place, this beautiful keepsake box is made of dark-stained wood and features one glossy photo tile, measuring 5″ X 2¼” deep.

Hardcover Journal – Inspire mom by helping her record her special day and year with a personalized journal by Paper Coterie. The journal features a photo and several custom designs she’ll flip for.

Photo greeting card – Who doesn’t love a thoughtful greeting card? But why settle for one you can buy anywhere? Instead, show your appreciation for mom by sending her a personalized photo greeting card on her special day. Snapfish offers a myriad of selections with more than 3,000 designs. You can even create a recordable greeting card to show mom how much you care, whether she’s close or far.

Now here’s the best part about Snapfish and Mother’s Day — Snapfish wants to give one of my lucky readers a $50 gift credit to use on a product of her choice.

Giveaway Guidelines:

To enter the contest, you MUST subscribe to Lipstick to Crayons (subscribe button in upper right corner) and then comment below that you did so (or leave a comment telling me you’re already a subscriber). After completing this mandatory first entry method, you can gain additional entries by doing any or all of the following (but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do):

Blog about this contest.
Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (You can tweet daily, but leave a comment for each time you do so).
Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.
Post a link to this contest on your Facebook page.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time May 2, 2011. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. The winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If the winner does not claim the prize by May 5, 2011, she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner who will be drawn at random.

USA residents only.

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. CONGRATULATIONS TO NICOLE, COMMENT #7.

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How I’m Getting Uber-Organized — AboutOne!

lipsticktocrayons — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 02:24:40 +0000

Last month, I had to help my 15-year-old daughter gather information on all her activities, awards, work accolades and volunteer hours so she could fill out a National Honor Society application. That should’ve been stressful and taken us hours of digging through files and scrapbooks and certificates. It wasn’t and it didn’t.

My son is working toward becoming an Eagle Scout, and we have to keep track of all the nights he camps, and which of those are in a tent, and how far along he is on the Eagle-required merit badges, and how many non-Eagle merit badges he has, and how many hours of service he performs, etc. That should be complicated and overwhelming. But it’s not.

I am getting into the habit of journaling, and I like to journal whenever I think of it, sometimes with photos — like when I’m watching my 3-year-old swing at the park or when I visit my Dad in the hospital, etc. Using the same tool that I’m using to track my kids’ educational accomplishments, awards and extra-curriculars, I can journal from my phone, or from my laptop, or from a computer at the library. I can include pictures and I can then incorporate any or all of those memories and milestones and photos into a newsletter that I can mail to friends or family, or simply print for my own keeping.

What’s all this about? It’s AboutOne! I first wrote about AboutOne here when I started my subscription last fall. At that time, I was simply using it to start documenting my kids’ extracurricular activities and awards. But as the months have passed, I’ve come to use it more and more. Now, I access the site the site everyday.

AboutOne is a family management Web site that enables you to manage just about every aspect of your life in one place, including:

Education records, awards, grades and test scores, organized by grade level and school. This section lets you document things by typing in entries, attaching files or photos, and/or uploading scanned documents. I’ve scanned letters of commendation and uploaded pdf files and attached them to entries that document my daughter’s extra curricular activities, etc.
Medical/Health records and information including places to keep track of allergies, procedures, doctor’s appointments, illnesses, medicines, immunizations, and contact information for medical professionals. Like education, items can be uploaded and attached to entries. For example, I can document an immunization and date and any reactions that my child might have, and scan and upload her immunization record, allowing me access this record from any place where there’s a computer and Internet access).
Vehicle records, including date purchased and maintenance records.
Emergency contacts.
Home records, including everything related to a home purchase, maintenance and capital gains.
Volunteer Hours
Contacts, and you can upload your contacts from other programs such and your phone or email contacts.
Memories and milestones (which, as I said, can be typed in on the site or emailed form your phone or computer).

Here’s the amazing thing: Once you have entered information such as educational records and volunteer hours, you can generate reports from the information you’ve entered. So I can choose a time frame for my daughter — like her freshman and sophomore year for the NHS application — and print a report that includes everything she did, was honored for, accomplished, volunteered at, etc, for those two years. That made filling out her NHS application a snap!

I really, really love this site and I keep finding new uses for it. For example, a few weeks ago I stayed with a family member who is having some health issues and who lives out of town. It occurred to me while there to scan some documents related to his health issues and medications, including contact information for his physicians and neighbors who live nearby. Now, I can access from any computer these records in case of an emergency. And if this family member eventually needs my family to be more actively involved in his health care, we will have a place to store records and information that my husband can access from work, or I can access from my Smart phone, etc. It made me think that if siblings caring for aging parents live in different cities or part of the same city and share responsibilities for aging parents, this would be the perfect way for all of the to have access to records regarding medications, doctors, etc.

The memories and milestones part of the site is by far, my favorite. I find myself sending emails to the site from my phone all the time with just a few words or phrases. These emails arrive in my AboutOne Inbox and are waiting for me the next time I sign into the site. They act as writing prompts for me, helping me journal about our lives, and the site allows me to attach photos or documents to those memories. It’s so FUN!

AboutOne costs $5 per month or $30 per year for unlimited storage of your documents, memories, photos, health and education records, and home and vehicle receipts and documents. The site is adding new features all the time. You have GOT to try it, and they will let you try it for free for 17 full days. Check it out here and be sure to watch the videos here.

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$39 PRIMESSE Essential Facial Cleanser Giveaway – CLOSED

lipsticktocrayons — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 16:25:49 +0000

If you can’t find it, why not invent it? That’s just what two registered nurses did. This new breed of pure-nutrient skincare for anti-aging and challenged skin was created by two nurses, Nan Brown and Lil Bogdan who worked with burns and severe dermatological conditions at Johns Hopkins and other leading hospitals. After fifteen years of treating skin at its very worst and studying clinical and holistic skin healing principles, they discovered that skin responds best to pure, potent, nutrient rich natural preparations. After much research L’Athene was born.

PRIMESSES Essential Facial Cleanser is three products in one — a detergent free cleanser, toner and eye makeup remover. THIS ALL-IN-ONE CLEANSER DISSOLVES IMPURITIES, Make-Up and Excess Oil… without Detergents. Smoothes and tones without stripping skin. Most skin cleansers and soap contain harsh detergents…that can strip the protective acid mantle of skin… leaving skin imbalanced, irritated, and dull-lookin. The product retails for $39, but one lucky Lipstick to Crayons reader can win a bottle for free by entering the contest below.

Giveaway Guidelines:

To enter the contest, you MUST become an email subscriber to Lipstick to Crayons. The subscribe button is in the upper right corner of the site. Once you subscribe (or if you are already a subscriber), leave a comment below telling me you did so, and make sure the email address you provide is the one you used to subscribe. After completing this mandatory first entry method, you can gain additional entries by doing any or all of the following (but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do):

Visit the L’Athene site and come back here to comment on something you read.
Blog about this contest
Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (You can tweet daily, but leave a comment for each time you do so).
Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.
Post a link to this contest on your Facebook page.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time March 10, 2011. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. The winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If the winner does not claim the prize by March 13, 2011, she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner who will be drawn at random.

USA residents only. THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. CONGRATS TO MS. WRIGHT, COMMENT #12

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Get Amber Alerts Via Text, Help Save Children

lipsticktocrayons — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 22:41:59 +0000

Jan. 13 was the 15^th anniversary of National AMBER Alert Awareness Day. In celebration, cellular companies across the country invited customers to sign up to receive free AMBER alerts via text message, and you can still do so.

Since its inception, the AMBER Alert program has led to the safe recovery of more than 500 children, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Statistics show that the first three hours following abduction are the most critical to the search. In 2005, the Wireless AMBER Alerts Initiative enabled the public to receive alerts via text message on their wireless devices. Wireless AMBER Alerts have the potential to reach 96 percent of the public with more than 292 million cell phone subscribers in the United States.*

“Once customers sign up for this free service, AMBER Alerts are sent to their wireless devices, so they can be made aware of a missing child in their area immediately,” said Michelle Groves, director of sales for U.S. Cellular in the St. Louis region. “Signing up is quick, simple and may help in bringing home a lost or abducted child.”

To sign up for wireless AMBER Alerts, visit www.wirelessamberalerts.org or text the word “Amber” followed by a space and your 5-digit zip code to short code 26237. All cellular carriers participate in the program.

How wireless AMBER Alerts work:

Sign up to receive AMBER Alerts in your area by selecting the location(s) you frequent most, such as where you live and work.
Law enforcement issues an AMBER Alert and provides the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) with the information to include in the alert.
NCMEC formats the AMBER Alert information, which is then relayed to the cellular companies.
This information is sent as a free text message.
Cell phone customers will only receive AMBER Alerts by enrolling in the program.

If you have information on a missing child, call the NCMEC toll-free Hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) 24-hours a day.

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$191 Kymaro Beauty Products 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway!! – CLOSED

lipsticktocrayons — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 10:11:53 +0000

I’ve told you before about Kymaro Health and Beauty products, which are designed to help women look their best all the time. With the holiday’s right around the corner, Kymaro wants to offer one of my readers an amazing prize pack as part of the 12 days of Holiday with Kymaro! This contest is filled with perfect stocking stuffers and gifts valued at $191!!

I got to try some of these brand new Kymaro Products that are new to the market, including the Kymaro Blow Dryer (an amazingly powerful, full-size dryer that folds down to about half its size for travel) and the Portable Hair Straightner (also a GREAT travel item for those of us addicted to our flat irons). The prize pack also includes:

So, if you’d like a few items from Kymaro to help you look your best this holiday season, enter the contest below.

Giveaway Guidelines:

Blog about this contest
Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (You can tweet daily, but leave a comment for each time you do so).
Favorite Lipstick to Crayons on Technorati
Stumble this post
Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.
Post a link to this contest on your Facebook page.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time Dec. 10, 2010. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. The winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If the winner does not claim the prize by December 13, 2010, she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner who will be drawn at random.

USA residents only.

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. CONGRATS TO SOMELUCKYDOG, COMMENT #51.

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AboutOne Family Management Subscription Giveaway (5 Winners) – CLOSED

lipsticktocrayons — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 10:04:56 +0000

I am an organization maniac. Being organized is part of my personality. But I’ve never found a method or tool or system for keeping track of EVERYTHING important in my life – school records, medical forms, physicals, immunizations, volunteer hours, mortgage information, my address book and memories/milestones.

Until now – until I found AboutOne.com, a family management Web site.

I am stealing this sentiment from a fellow blogger who introduced me to AboutOne, but I am not exaggerating when I say that I have been looking for this resource for most of my adult life. And let me say the next part in all caps:

IF YOU HAVE KIDS AND IF YOU EVER PLAN TO FILL OUT FORMS FOR THEM TO PLAY A SPORT OR ATTEND A CAMP OR APPLY FOR COLLEGE OR A SCHOLARSHIP OR AN AWARD, YOU WILL WANT TO BEGIN CAPTURING ALL THEIR INFORMATION ON ABOUTONE.

AboutOne is a place that lets me upload and store all of the following:

Records of immunizations, school physicals, dates and details of doctor’s and dentist appointments, medications and reactions, allergies, locations of where prescriptions were filled, blood types, heights and weights, emergency contacts. And much of this information automatically flows into printable caregiver sheets that I can create with the touch of a button to give to a sitter or a grandparent who’s staying the weekend, etc.

Education information on schools attended, dates, GPAs, copies of report cards, standardized test scores, honors and awards, extracurricular activities and volunteer/service hours. Again, all of this information flows into a printable that I can use to fill out award, scholarship, job or college applications.

My address book, which I can then enhance by adding information to the contacts including birthdays, Web sites, a gift log, labels (to make it more searchable) and attached files. I can also attach photos to contacts and connect contacts to other things on the site. So, if I’m looking at my daughter’s medical record, I can see a picture of her pediatrician, all his contact information, and click on a link to his practice Web site. In other words – my whole life is INTEGRATED.

Memories. I’ve been trying to get into the regular habit of journaling, but I just can’t seem to get into it. AboutOne changed all that. I can type in memories or daily thoughts or comments on a family event or one of the kids’ activities right on the site, then attach it to a family member and upload a photo and even a file if appropriate. If I want, I can mark it to be included in a monthly newsletter that the site will generate for me. Then, at the end of the month, I can generate the newsletter with the click of a button and email it to friends and family. It’s a great way to stay in touch. And, I can add memories/milestones from my PHONE and even include pictures as attachments. My plan is to get my family members in the habit of sending milestones and pictures to the site (wish me luck).

Check out this two-minute video on AboutOne:

Other things to LOVE about AboutOne.

It’s very affordable – you can try it for free for 15 days and when you LOVE it (which you will), you can subscribe for $5/month or $30/year.

It’s EXTREMELY secure – This was my first concern. After all, I’m uploading photos, medical records, school records, etc. I talked at length with the folks at AboutOne and they reassured me. You can read all the security information that they shared with me at the end of this post.

You can click on the “live help” link on the site and get live, online help to learn to use the site most efficiently.

Now the fun part. AboutOne is giving five of my readers a free, one-year subscription. Here’s how to enter the contest:

Giveaway Guidelines:

To enter the contest, you MUST leave a comment below on the video. Then you can gain additional entries by doing any or all of the following (but be sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do):

Follow AboutOne on Twitter
Like AboutOne on Facebook
Blog about this contest
Share your favorite winter road trip or “must have” winter essentials
Tweet this giveaway on Twitter (you can do daily tweets, but leave a comment each time you do)
Follow @MyMidasGuy or “like” Midas on Facebook
Add Lipstick to Crayons to your blogroll or my button to your sidebar
Become a fan of Lipstick to Crayons on Facebook.
Post a link to this contest on your Facebook page.

This giveaway closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time December 3, 2010. Be sure to include a valid email address with each of your entries. Winner will be randomly chosen via random.org and will be notified via email and announced on this post.

If any winner does not claim the prize by December 6, 2010, she will forfeit the prize to an alternate winner who will be drawn at random.

SECURITY REASSURANCES FROM ABOUTONE

We are as concerned about data security as you are. After all, everyone at AboutOne uses AboutOne, and we don’t want the hackers, phishers, scammers or anyone else including other members or our own team reading our private information either.

So, what are we doing about security? A lot. We use the same technologies and practices that banks and other financial institutions use to protect customer information. We even scoured the globe looking for the strictest security standards, and used them as the basis for how we store and transmit your information.

Here are just some of the things we do to keep your information safe and still easy to access from anywhere:

Data Center Security

We use a state-of-the-art data center with firewalls, redundant hardware, redundant power sources, redundant battery backups, redundant cooling and redundant cabling, and video surveillance.
Entrance is controlled by biometric authentication (things like fingerprint or retina scanning) & key card access and staff must pass these two-factor authentication points no fewer than three times to access data center floors.
Facilities are nondescript and have no published address.
They are built with military grade perimeter control beams in addition to other natural boundary protection–think ‘Fort Knox for the Internet.’

Server Security

We use Verisign 128-bit SSL encryption to make your data impossible to read by anyone but you.
We hack our own site daily. We scan our ports, test for SQL injection, and protect against cross-site scripting and we also use McAfee SECURE to continuously test AboutOne with the latest hacker tools and techniques to make sure we aren’t vulnerable.
We apply bank-level data security standards. This includes encryption, auditing, logging, backups, and safe-guarding data.

Data Security

Your information is backed up every hour. These back-ups are encrypted
Passwords and account numbers are encrypted at rest so no one is able to every ready your password.
To top it off, we have taken strict precautions to make sure that even AboutOne employees don’t have access to your information. We also never share anything you enter with anyone unless you authorize it.
We take all of this seriously, which is why we have hired TRUSTe to make sure that we honor our commitments to you.

Still not convinced? Fill out the contact form on the site and AboutOne will have a security specialist get back to you and answer all of your questions!

For more information check out our Privacy Policy.

DISCLAIMER: This product review was made possible by the Double Duty Divas. I received a trial subscription for review purposes; all opinions are 100% mine.

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. CONGRATULATIONS TO KRISTI, BROOKE, ALEX & CHRIS!