A great alternative to fast food… grab and go healthy meals and snacks!  For more information, visit the Lifestyle Foods website.

*Disclaimer:  Complimentary samples of these products were provided to Mommy Reporter in exchange for an honest opinion and review.  No other form of compensation was received.

Plan your trip to the grocery store before March14 so you can take advantage of huge savings on your favorite brand name products in over 60 categories at the Kroger family of stores.  The Cart Buster Savings Event is taking place at all of these great stores:  Kroger, Ralph’s, King Soopers, City Market, Dillons, Smith’s, Fry’s QFC, Owens, Jay C Food Stores, Hilander, Gerbes, Food4Less, Pay Less Super Markets, and Scott’s Food and Pharmacy.

And here are just a few of the great brands participating in the event:  Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Hamburger Helper, Yoplait, Progresso, Totino’s, Green Giant, Cascadian Farm, Tide, Charmin, Bounty, Pampers, Pantene, Crest, Iams, Febreze, Old Spice and many more!

To celebrate this event, Mommy Reporter, along with the Kroger Family of Stores, General Mills, and My Blog Spark are offering one lucky reader the opportunity to win a $25 Kroger gift card.  To enter the giveaway, simply leave me a comment telling me how your family saves money on groceries.  For a bonus entry, follow Mommy Reporter on Twitter, or subscribe to her YouTube channel, if you do either of these, you’ll get three bonus entries (just leave me a comment here telling me you’re following or that you’ve subscribed).  The giveaway runs from now until March 20, 2010.  The winner will be chosen randomly using Random.org.  Enter as many times as you like.  Good luck!

*Disclaimer:  A gift card in the amount of $25 was provided to Mommy Reporter courtesy of Kroger, General Mills, and My Blog Spark, in exchange for promotional purposes and sponsorship of this giveaway.  No other form of compensation was received.

“The Champion Stride features the Cradle Toning bottom, a patent-pending technology with two curved pods that create slight instability — both laterally and back-to-front — while walking to encourage muscle toning benefits. This shoe also includes special Air Traverse(R) cushioning that transfers air between the heel and forefoot on impact for added comfort and support while walking.”

Since I walk my dog daily, I plan on picking up a pair this week…

Beginning March 6, the new Thomas and Friends movie “Hero of the Rails” will be in theaters nationwide.  Everyone’s favorite railroad friend will star in an action packed movie where he meets an abandoned engine named “Hiro.”  Follow Thomas as he plans to help Hiro avoid being turned into scrap metal as he and his friends embark on an exciting resuce adventure.  For a complete list of theaters, visit the Screenvision website.

If you or your family missed ‘The Wiggles BIG, BIG Show in the Round’ live stage show, don’t worry, all is not lost as you may be able to catch the show at local theater near you.  Due to popular demand, Cinema Live captured the show from Sydney, Australia’s Acer Arena on December 20, 2009, and has made the show available for viewing for a limited time at participating cinemas around the world.  Screenings have already begun in the United States, and Canada shows are scheduled to begin next month.  Check the Cinema Live website for a listing of locations to view the Wiggles BIG, BIG Show in the Round.

Face it: there is no magic solution to aging with grace and dignity. Having just written a book offering guidance to millions of women who feel trapped by conflicting feelings, we think we are on to something. We have found satisfying, long term solutions that help us deal with a culture that virtually programs women to have a crisis over their aging appearance. We were once professional models, so we were made acutely aware how quickly a premium on physical beauty can fade with age. It took hard work and time, but we learned the secret of how to enjoy our changing appearance. Now we are therapists treating hundreds of women who may be fulfilled and evolved in many ways, but are still having difficulty coming to terms with the lines of time. Here are some great psychological tips we tell women to “think” about that help them change the way they “feel” /and/ “look.” They worked for us. They can work for you!

1) Beauty is not just a physical experience, but a psychological one as well.  We all tend to think of beauty as a skin-deep issue, all about how we physically look. But research tells us that perception of what is deemed attractive and unattractive is much more complicated. Why do you think some beautiful women say, “I’ve never thought I was pretty”? Yes, even beauties like Uma Thurman and Michelle Pfeiffer have drawn attention to what they consider flaws. Similarly, there are women who may not be your typical image of beauty, yet when you ask them they say they are quite confident in their looks. Serena Williams never tries to cover up her unconventionally muscular physique: in fact, she flaunts it and somehow it makes her more appealing. What makes people feel attractive goes well beyond our physical self. It runs deep, much deeper than the eye can see.

2) Although we can’t stop the physical changes of aging, we can change our experience of aging.  No one, not any doctor, dermatologist or surgeon can stop physical changes of aging. There may be ways to look better, take care of your skin and bodies that put things temporarily on hold, at least on the surface. We’re all for that! We’re also for ways we can experience — and even enjoy — our changing looks. If we take care of ourselves, it makes us feel better and we smile more. When we smile, we look more attractive. The sooner we go through an interior process, (we offer six steps in our book) the better you will feel inside and out.

3) While aging is inevitable and irreversible, self-image is not. Self-image can be fluid and timeless.  Self-image is not an actual still picture of oneself. It is an internal experience, how we see ourselves from within, over time throughout our lives. It’s flexible and malleable. And if we understand that self image is changeable, then that is what we try to help women conquer. Not age itself. That’s a battle we can’t win.

4) Beauty is in the “I” of the beholder.  If we become our own internal “eye,” we can take control over how we see ourselves, rather than give it over to other people to determine if we’re attractive or not. Our six steps serve to change the internal lens through which we see, not only ourselves, but others as well. The result? Women will be less self critical and less critical of each other.

5) Chronological age does not have to define you. You can define yourself at your chronological age.  A particular age has little to do with how old you feel. You can define how you want to be 40, 50 and onward. We also don’t have to let magazine images define what is beautiful. Some women in their 20’s feel old. Some women in their 60’s feel young.

6) Put your beauty in your identity, not your identity in your beauty.  Your identity is made up of many aspects of yourself. How you look is just one of them. As you get older, more aspects of yourself can make up your identity; for example, your experiences in life, your accomplishments and your relationships. If you hold onto youthful beauty as a narrow definition of yourself, you’re especially unlikely to enjoy your looks as you age. You leave out so many other ways to feel good about yourself.

7) Take an honest look at who you are, not what you look like.  Mirrors tell only a little of what we really look like. Gaze again and go beyond, past your reflection and see who you are as a person. Think of what you see as only the image of yourself, that informs the world of your physical self. But who you are is more than what they see.

8 ) Rob beauty of its power over you.  Take back that power and you will feel more beautiful. Our culture has given beauty power over women. We are told who and what is beautiful. We know that youth is beautiful. Most people see babies as beautiful. But grandmothers can be beautiful as well. Some of the most beautiful women in the world are those who smile, engage and appear happy at any age. If you take back the power of what makes you feel attractive, you will become more attractive to yourself and others.

9) Become less afraid of aging and you will look more beautiful.  When you see a face that is scared, you would hardly call it beautiful. There is nothing pretty about fear. Women need to accept that aging happens and that becoming more courageous about all aspects of our lives will enhance them . . . and us.

10) Beauty matters to all women, but to those who age beautifully, it matters neither too much nor too little.  We all know that a core aspect of our identities is our appearance. No doubt our looks matter. But women who allow beauty to matter, but keep it in balance with all other aspects of their lives, can enjoy their looks at any age.

Bottom line:  Dealing with your looks as they inevitably change is a psychological process as well as a physical challenge. Master the first and the second will come with much more joy. When it comes to your face, your body and your aging process, be smart, be thoughtful and you’ll be more beautiful.

© 2010 Vivian Diller Ph.D. with Jill Muir-Sukenick Ph.D., edited by Michele Willens, authors of Face It: What Women Really Feel as Their Looks Change

Author Bios:  FACE IT: What Women Really Feel As Their Looks Change by Vivian Diller, Ph.D, with Jill Muir-Sukenick, Ph.D. and edited by Michele Willens is a psychological guide to help women deal with the emotions brought on by their changing appearances. As models turned psychotherapists, Diller and Sukenick have had the opportunity to examine the world of beauty from two very different vantage points. This unique perspective helped them develop a six-step program that begins with recognizing “uh-oh” moments that reveal the reality of changing looks, goes on to identify the masks used to cover deeper issues, defines the role beauty plays in a woman’s life, and ends with bidding adieu to old definitions of beauty so women can enjoy their appearance — at any age! For more information on the book, authors, and events, please visit their website or visit their fan page on Facebook.

If you are a super busy mom (and I don’t know any mom who isn’t), I highly recommend the Busy Mom’s Bible.  It will make your daily quiet time with the Lord a little easier and much more intimate.  Its simple and practical plan will encourage you to study the Word daily, and it will help you to realize just how much God loves all of us “busy moms.”

*Disclaimer:  A complimentary copy of this product was provided by Zondervan in exchange for an honest opinion and review.  No other form of compensation was received.

“We were started by a mom for busy moms and families to be able to use easily and quickly.  We want to provide a neighborhood shopping experience to those who visit and use our site.  We don’t want our online guests to feel the pressure of auctions or that they might not be able to get something they had their heart set on because they were outbid at the last second.  No lugging all your items to a consignment shop only to be disappointed in the end. We want to give those of you without a yard or a garage to speak of their own little space to have a tag sale.  No early morning set-up, no posting classifieds in the newspapers or hanging signs all over the neighborhood and praying for a good weathered weekend.”

Bellies to Bellies is the perfect answer for busy moms.  Registration is free and fees to list items are very minimal, less than $2!  Check out BelliestoBellies.com.