Tina Chadwick was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was eight months pregnant with her daughter Elizabeth.  She was in for the fight of her life.  She underwent an extensive brain surgery, performed by the same surgeon who operated on Robert Kennedy.  She had to re-learn how to swallow, talk, walk, and regain sight in her right eye. She was even unable to hold her baby.  Since having going through this, she decided to start bee well wishes. bee well wishes is an online retailer of feel good gifts with the purpose of spreading love and cheer.

Ever wonder if your children’s behavior is normal? Ever wonder about how to handle certain situations (like a spider bite for example)?  I know I look for advice from other moms on these kinds of things.  A great place to get answers like these is Mamapedia.  This is place where you can ask other moms questions and get their answers.  I even learned what I should do for the spider bite I got over the weekend (several moms suggest taping a penny on it.  I figure it can’t hurt anything).  I love that we can help one another out and learn new things in the process.

The site is one of the easiest one’s out there to navigate.  You can even see what other moms are searching for in real time!  Taken right from the site, Mamapedia is:

• For mothers with kids of all ages
• Questions by moms, answered by moms who’ve been there
• Over a million answers on everything from Acne to Zoos
• Easily searchable and browsable
• Updated daily
• 100% free

I would highly recommend that all moms check it out!

Another great cause I have to let you all know about is from Bumble Bee Foods. From 4/1/09 – 10/31/09, Bumble Bee Foods will donate 15 cents for every mile you log over at BeeWellMiles.com (up to $200,000) to Breast Cancer Network of Strength. This is a charity that provides emotional support to women with breast cancer. It is super easy too — all you have to do is log the miles you walk and run each day. That’s it!

It is quite easy to rack up several miles daily. If you look at my pedometer above, I’ve already earned about $1.50 already! Granted, that is a couple of days worth of steps, but still. Without even trying (since we’ve had nothing but cold and snow here in Chicago), I was able to raise that much already! Not only can you walk for a good cause, you can lose inches from your waistline too!

The BeeWell Miles website is great place for resources too! Besides logging you miles, you can learn how many calories you’ve burned, how many miles your route is, and see how your activity and nutrition offset one another. (That’s just a couple of things. There is a lot more on the site to check out.) The best thing has to be that you can instantly win one of 15,000 prizes they are giving away. All you have to do is log your miles or game codes from your pink Bumble Bee cans.

Lose weight. Raise money for a good cause. What else could you ask for?

This contest is now closed. The winner is Helena Batt-Vesey. Congrats!

Did you know that it has been estimated that two million dust mites can thrive in an unprotected mattress? Gross, I know. Prevention Magazine has recently named bedding encasements as one of the ways to allergy-proof your home and encourages providing a barrier between you and any allergens that may be housed inside your bed.

I knew I had to try this. As I have stated many times, I am allergic to life itself. I’ve done allergy tests, and I was allergic to every single thing they tested me for. Needless to say, I can be miserable year round.
We had the matress pad and the pillow protector. I noticed a change the first night. I didn’t wake up in the morning coughing like I normally do all winter. I love that these protectors are cloth instead of plastic. The last protector we had on our bed was plastic, and it always made noise and wasn’t as comfortable. When we moved, it got torn, so we haven’t had one since. However, my most favorite feature has to be that it is waterproof! When you have kids, this is very important. Madison may be potty trained, but she still brings her sippy cup into our bed. The waterproofing will be especially nice when we potty train Will, because we will have no worries. I love my protectors. The real test will be in the summer with the pollen, but I am impressed with what it has done with just the dust alone.

Since I know I have readers who have allergies like me, I have arranged a giveaway. The winner will have their choice of an AllerZip Mattress Protector (for individuals with extreme allergies), a Premium Mattress Protector or, if they prefer, a Crib Mattress Protector (readers may want to visit PAB’s site to see which would be best for their allergy situation). Additionally they will also receive a Premium Pillow Protector. If this sounds like something you need in your house (like I did), here’s what to do:

Leave a comment on this post. Check out Protect A Bed and tell me which product you’d like.

Each of these gives you one additional entry:

1. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify. Or use something like this:

RT @blm03 is giving away Protect A Bed Allergy Products! http://urlbrief.com/c0abab

2. Stumble this post. If you don’t know what Stumble Upon is, please read Lori’s post at Blogging Cents. She explains it extremely well.

3. Add this post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc. (1 entry for each social network).

Each of these gives you 5 additional entries,

1. Blog about this on your blog. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.

2. Add this to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.

3. Subscribe to this blog using either my email or RSS feed

4. Add my badge to your sidebar:

<a href=”http://lisareviews.com”><img src=”http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/blm03_photos/125ad-1.png” border=”0″ alt=”Lisa Reviews” /></a>

For 10 additional entries:

I’ve added a new way to subscribe to this blog. Click on the Mobile Updates in my sidebar and subscribe to my blog that way. Let me know if you’ve done so, and you’ll have ten more entries for this contest!

This contest is for US only and will end at 8:00 pm CST on February 10rd.

When I started reading SixtyFive Roses, I had no idea what the book was about. All I knew was that Eva Longoria optioned the film rights, Celine Dion wrote the foreword, and Angela Lansbury said she couldn’t put it down.  What I didn’t expect was to pulled into the lives of the Summerhayes family.  Heather Summerhayes was only six when her sister (who was four) was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis.  However, since she was only four, she couldn’t say that and called it “sixtyfive roses” instead.  In those times, kids didn’t live very long with the disease (I think the oldest living person with Cystic Fibrosis is in their forties now I think).  Pam beat all the odds and (spoiler alert!) she did end up living till she was 26.

This is not a book that is happy go lucky.  For me, I found it gut wrenching.  I have a cousin (who is in his twenties right now) who has Cystic Fibrosis, so this book hit close to home for me.  Before having children, I was tested to see if I was a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis (which I was not).  I am actually finding myself tearing up just trying to write this review – that’s how much this book affected me.  It was Pam’s deathbed wish that Heather write their story and to tell it like it was.  This book shows you this family’s strength in a time there was no hope.  The Summerhayes helped to create the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Sick Kids hospital in Toronto. They set up a Financial Advisory Board as well as a Medical Advisory Board to help families and to raise funds for research for a cure.  There have been many books written about parents going through this struggle, but I think this is one of first of a siblings struggle.  This is one of the few that shows you what it is like to live in a home with a chronic illness and how it effects every single person.  You feel like you are one of family.  You laugh with them; you cry with them.  After reading this book, there is no way it doesn’t leave an imprint on your heart and you soul.

This is one of the best books I think I have ever read, and I want one of you to have the opportunity to read this.  Here’s what you need to do:

1. Leave a comment on this post. Tell me why you would like a copy of the SixtyFive Roses book.
2. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify.
3. Stumble this post. If you don’t know what Stumble Upon is, please read Lori’s post at Blogging Cents. She explains it extremely well.
4. Add this post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc. (1 entry for each social network).

For 5 additional entries,

1. Blog about this on your blog. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
2. Add this to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
3. Subscribe to this blog using either my email or RSS feed
4. Add my badge to your sidebar:

<a href=”http://lisareviews.com” mce_href=”http://lisareviews.com”><img src=”http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/blm03_photos/125ad-1.png” mce_src=”http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/blm03_photos/125ad-1.png” border=”0″ alt=”Lisa Reviews” /></a>

This giveaway will end on December 20 at 8:00 pm CST is available to US residents. Good luck!