, Christmas time again.  ‘Tis the season to be jolly, to be next to the ones we love, to be thankful for all we have and…. to gain about 5 pounds eating all the yummy things that are put in front of us during the month of December.  It is also the time to string up Christmas lights around the house.  This is not my favorite part of the holiday season.

 When we moved into our house, we inherited a very old, large, wooden ladder.  This is the ladder I have used for the past 7 years that we have lived in this house.  It is heavy, awkward and I run the risk of getting splinters every time that I use it.  It has no ability to collapse any smaller than it’s full length, so it takes up a whole wall in my garage.  I have found myself making excuses not to do any work on my house that requires a ladder, mostly because I have to use that thing.  The leaves that are still in my gutter from this fall can attest to that!

This is why I was so excited to learn that I was going to get the opportunity to review the Little Giant Ladder System.  I have seen the advertisements for these ladders on TV and I thought they looked extremely cool.  But, everything looks cool on TV, right?  So, I couldn’t wait to get my ladder delivered to me so I could quickly put it to use putting up my Christmas lights.

I was sent the Little Giant Xtreme Ladder System.  After the box was sent to me, I brought it out to my garage and opened it up.  I was very please to see that there was virtually no assembly required.  It slid right out of the box ready to use.  From watching the commercials and looking on the website prior to receiving the ladder, I had a general knowledge of how it was supposed to work.  With literally 20 seconds worth of fooling around with it, I was able to quickly figure out how to adjust the height and settings on it.

 The main selling point on these ladders is that it is really 24 ladders all in one.  Obviously, this includes an extension and a stepladder.  But the different combinations and ways you can adjust this ladder prepare you for virtually any environment that the world will throw at you, from uneven ground, to stairs, to uneven walls.  You can also separate the ladder into two trestles and make scaffolding out of it.  I hope I am doing justice to the amount of mind-blowing things that this ladder can do, but to get the full idea, I think you’d have to actually see it in action.  Yes, I said “see it in action”… a ladder… it is the only was I can describe it.  I’d start with this video:

All of this and it only weighs 34.5 lbs.  My model adjusts to a full height of 15 feet (a larger model goes up to 17 feet) but its storage height is just 4 feet and seven inches.  Each rung has a weight capacity of 300 lbs (so I don’t have to worry about all the horrible food I am eating this month!) and there is a lifetime warranty.  These ladders are made here in America.  It is great to see such a quality product being made here in our country.

The Little Giant Xtreme also comes with a magnetic tray (genius!) that will keep your paintbrushes and tools on it.  You can also buy several other options to go with your ladder, including a paint bucket, a cargo hold, a work plank, a leg leveler, a ladder rack and number other accessories listed on the website.

I was able to put up my Christmas lights in no time.  I continued to be amazed by the ease of which I was able to use this amazing ladder.  I will use it again when I take my lights down in January.  And yes, when I finally get to my leaves next spring, the Little Giant will be there with me.

Want to win one of your own?

Leave a comment and tell me what your favorite feature of the Little Giant Xtreme Ladder is!

(You must complete this entry before completing any of the bonus entries)

Bonus Entries:

• Follow me on Twitter and Tweet: Win a Little Giant Xtreme Ladder at A Mom’s Impression Enter here: http://wyn.cc/j3bol
  (You may enter daily, just leave a comment with each Tweet’s link)
• Like A Mom’s Impression on Facebook
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• Subscribe to A Mom’s Impression by Email (2 Entries, please leave 2 comments: Please remember to confirm your subscription)
• Comment on any non-giveaway post on A Mom’s Impression. (just tell me what post you commented on)
• List this giveaway on any giveaway site, or share on Facebook.

Please leave a comment about each entry, include a valid email address or you may contact me directly with your contact information.
 Open to continental US residents only. This giveaway will end at midnight on December 28. Winners will be picked from Random.org. 
Must be 18+ year of age. Good Luck!

This giveaway was made possible by Little Giant  I was not compensated for this review other than a product sample. All opinions are 100% mine.

I was excited when my wife informed me that I’d have the opportunity to listen to the new, self titled, album from One eskimO.  I had heard the first single from the album, “Kandi” (click here to see the video), several times on the radio and was intrigued to find out what else this band had to offer.

One eskimO, the London based band lead by front-man Kristian Leontiou, immediately set the tone of the album with the opening track, “Hometime”.  The band’s sound is at the same time acoustic and electronica.  Just as bands such as The Killers, Franz Ferdinand and Snow Patrol have merged electric guitar riffs with dance beats a couple years ago, One eskimO uses this same hybrid philosophy by taking folk infused acoustic guitar sounds and pairing them with spacious, ambient, electronic sounds.  Their sound reminds me vaguely of Sparklehorse.   The result is an original, fresh and engaging sound.

My favorite track of the album is the second song, “Astronauts”.  This is a sad, patient song sprinkled with beautiful piano melodies.  Leontiou’s vocals are perfect as he reasons with us:

So whenever you need space

I guess it’s okay

When your floating away

To feel nothing at all

We can be astronauts

If you want to get out of here.

We live in an iTunes world where we can choose, find and own a single song that we like at the click of a button.  It is easy to forget the importance of an album, of a group of songs relating to each other.  I was not surprised to learn that the band has released an animated film that accompanies the music. One Eskimo’s album takes folk, rock, jazz, dance and electronica and blends it all together.  Rock and Roll is best when the lines get blurred a little bit.  For this album, the resulting picture is a collection of songs that speak to each other, and their conversation is something that grabs our attention.  We want to listen. This is a great album to study to, or to have on at a dinner party, or to have on during a road trip.  From the Jack Johnson influenced “Simple Day” to the Maroon 5 sounding “Givin’ Up”, this album is a road trip in itself.  It doesn’t get too comfortable, it continues to change, but is comfortable to listen to.  It is moody, but in a good way.  I can’t wait to hear where they will go from here.

One eskimO is currently on tour…. check out these date for a city near you:

May 14 Miami, FL                 Fillmore
May 15 Jacksonville, FL       Free Bird Live
May 18 Orlando, FL              House of Blues
May 19 Tampa, FL                The Ritz Ybor
May 22 Raleigh, NC              Lincoln Theatre
May 24 Asheville, NC           The Orange Peel
May 25 Charleston, SC        The Music Farm
Jun 01 Toronto, ON              The Guvernment
Jun 03 New York, NY           The Beach at Governor’s Island
Jun 04 Boston, MA               House of Blues
Jun 05 Essex Junction, VT   Camplain Valley Expo
Jun 06 Hunter, NY                Mountain Jam Festival
Jun 08 Royal Oak, MI           Royal Oak Music Thtr
Jun 09 Grand Rapids, MI     Orbit Room
Jun 12 Memphis, TN            Minglewood Hall
Jun 13 Kansas City, MO       Crossroads
Aug 14 Denver, CO               Mile High Festival

Win It:

One (1) lucky winner will receive an One eskimO T-shirt and a copy of the self titled album.

How to Enter:

Visit One eskimO’s website and tell me one thing you learned about the band.

(You must complete this entry before completing any of the bonus entries)

Bonus Entries:

• Follow me on Twitter and Tweet: Win One eskimO’s self-titled CD and T-shirt@AMomsImpression http://wyn.cc/ho4fn (You may enter daily, just leave a comment with each Tweet’s link)
• Follow A Mom’s Impression on Facebook
• Follow One eskimO on Facebook
• Blog about this giveaway (Please leave a link to your post)
• Grab my Button and post it on your blog.
• Subscribe to A Mom’s Impression by Email (2 Entries, please leave 2 comments: Please remember to confirm your subscription)
• Comment on any non-giveaway post on A Mom’s Impression. (just tell me what post you commented on)

Please leave a comment about each entry, include a valid email address or you may contact me directly with your contact information.
Open to US or Canadian residents only. This giveaway will end at midnight on June 3. Winner will be picked from Random.org. 
Good Luck!

This product review was made possible by One eskimO.   I was not compensated for this review other than a product sample provided by the company or PR firm. All opinions are 100% mine.

My wife told me that I could order any t-shirt I wanted from crazydogtshirts.com.  Being a man, I can never have enough t-shirts.  So I logged on to the website to select the t-shirt to order.  Wow.  They have a lot of t-shirts to choose from.  It would have certainly been overwhelming if the website hadn’t been so easy to navigate.  You can search for t-shirts by choosing the kind of t-shirt you are looking for.  Some of the different kinds to choose from in your search are 80′s, Halloween, graphic, funny, cool, hangover (!?), hilarious, novelty, St. Patrick’s Day, Christmas and Tuxedo t-shirts.  That was just some of them.  I spent about 45 minutes looking through all the different kinds and styles they had.  I am 33 years old and found that a lot of these t-shirts were a little “young” for me.  I like a cool, casual t-shirt, but some of them would have looked more appropriate on someone 10-15 years younger than I am.  I finally choose a t-shirt that said, simply, “You are Here”.  The t-shirt came in the mail and I was impressed with the quality of it.  I like “fitted” t-shirts.  I don’t like them to be too big so that I swim around in them.  I found this t-shirt to fit mere very well and it had a nice cut to it.  I also like my t-shirt material to be a light cotton.  Nothing too thick like some of the cheaper shirts you might sometimes wind up with.  The cotton on this shirt was nice and light and thin.  If you have some time to spare, I do recommend that you go to crazydogtshirts.com and take a look around.  It is worth your time.  Even though, at my age, I would never wear some of these t-shirts in public, I must say some of them are pretty darned funny and the website is worth cruising around in. These shirts would also make great gifts.  Thanks for the t-shirt Crazy Dog!

Buy It:

You can purchase your own Crazy Dog T-shirt online at www.crazydogtshirts.com

Win It:

One (1) lucky winner will receive a Crazy Dog T-shirt of thier choice!

How to Enter:

Visit Crazy Dog T-shirts and tell me what t-shirt you will choose if you are the lucky winner.

(You must complete this entry before completing any of the bonus entries)

Bonus Entries:

• Follow me on Twitter and Tweet: Win a Crazy Dog T-shirt@AMomsImpression http://wyn.cc/dwjz1 (You may enter daily, just leave a comment with each Tweet’s link)
• Follow A Mom’s Impression on Facebook
• Blog about this giveaway (Please leave a link to your post)
• Grab my new Button and post it on your blog.
• Subscribe to A Mom’s Impression by Email (2 Entries, please leave 2 comments: Please remember to confirm your subscription)

Please leave a comment about each entry, include a valid email address or you may contact me directly with your contact information.
Open to US residents only. This giveaway will end at midnight on April 19. Winner will be picked from Random.org. 
Good Luck!

I received a T-shirt from Crazy Dog T-shirts to facilitate this review. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you like to have choice of what you put into your body we have the company for you. I have recently had the pleasure of trying out various products from You Bar.  This company allows you create your own protein bars, trail mix, cookies, and cereal.  This mother/son team of Anthony Flynn and Ava Bise will put together your creation in their kitchen in Los Angeles and mail it to you. It is really simple to choose your ingredients from an extensive list including Goji berries, Brazil nuts, Chia seeds, licorice, and much more.  There are also several organic ingredients to choose from.  

What I got in the mail were several protein bars, some trail mix and protein powder. The ability to custom order these items is that you can decide exactly what you want to put into your body.  This is important for people with dietary considerations, such as vegans and those with food allergies.  It is also very helpful to athletes who may be training and want to consume only certain specific things to help them.

I found the bars and the trail mix to taste fantastic.  They were very fresh and gave me great energy throughout the day.  I have not yet tried the protein powder.  I plan on trying it this weekend.

Kudos (no pun intended) to Anthony and Ava for having a great idea and executing it with such style and efficiency.  Go to youbars.com and order yours today.

Buy It: You can buy customized trail mix, nutrition bars, cookies, and shakes  from YouBar on their website here.

Win It:

YouBar is offering one lucky reader a Gift Certificate for a product of their choice and free Fed-Ex shipping with the US.

How to Enter:

To enter visit YouBar and tell me what ingredient you would choice to be in your customized nutrition bar from their extensive list. (You must complete this entry before any of the bonus entries)

Bonus Entries:

• What are your favorite nutrition bars?
• Follow me on Twitter and Tweet: Win a customized nutrition snack from YouBar @AMomsImpression http://wp.me/pFQZQ-cg (You may enter daily, just leave a comment with each Tweet’s link)
• Blog about this giveaway (Please leave a link to your post)
• Grab my Button and post it on your blog
• Subscribe to A Mom’s Impression by Email (2 Entries, please leave 2 comments: Please remember to confirm your subscription)

Please leave a comment about each entry, include a valid email address or you may contact me directly with your contact information.
This giveaway will end at midnight on February 28.
Good Luck!

For purposes of this review, I was sent a selection of products from YouBar free of charge.  This review is my honest opinion and is not influenced by any other source.

Do you get bored of the same old chocolates for Valentine’s Day?  I have the solution… Cowgirl Chocolates!  Cowgirl Chocolates takes chocolate to the extreme.  They offer chocolate truffles in many fantastic flavors and varieties. Most of these varieties are spicy.  Yes, spicy.  The sample we got seemed to have two different spice levels from mild to hot.  The mild ones included Ivory Orange and Rasberry Lemonade Dark Chocolate.  They also had milk and dark chocolate.  These truffles had a nice, distinct spice hiding behind the sweetness of the chocolate.  I had honestly never mixed sweet and spicy like this before.  Sure, I’ve had the various Chinese dishes that mixed the two flavors, but this was quite different.  My taste buds actually received a bit of a shock at first, but I quickly got used to it and found them quite enjoyable.  

The spicier variety included Spicy Cappuccino and Spicy Hazelnut.  These chocolates packed quite a punch and I’d have to say the spiciness actually outweighed the sweetness.  This is either a good or a bad thing depending on what you are looking for.

The true surprise in the package that we got were the “Buckin’ Hot Habanero Caramels”.  These were absolutely fantastic.  I wished that there were more of them.

Cowgirl Chocolates does not stop at just truffles.  They have hot chocolate, chocolate bars, peanut butter brittle and chocolate bark.

This fantastic take on a classic, along with the extremely cool packaging, makes this a fantastic gift for any occasion.

Buy It: You can buy your own delicious chocolates and candy from Cowgirl Chocolates on their website here.

Win It:

Cowgirl Chocolates is offering one lucky reader a 1/3 pound chocolate sampler.

How to Enter:

To enter visit Cowgirl Chocolates and tell me what flavor of candy your would most like to try. (You must complete this entry before any of the bonus entries)

Bonus Entries:

• What is your favorite Valentine’s Day candy?
• Follow me on Twitter and Tweet: Win a chocolate sampler from Cowgirl Chocolates@AMomsImpression http://wp.me/pFQZQ-aD
  (You may enter daily, just leave a comment with each Tweet’s link)
• Blog about this giveaway (Please leave a link to your post)
• Grab my Button and post it on your blog
• Subscribe to A Mom’s Impression by Email (2 Entries, please leave 2 comments: Please remember to confirm your subscription)

Please leave a comment about each entry, include a valid email address or you may contact me directly with your contact information.
This giveaway will end at midnight on February 12.
Good Luck!

For purposes of this review, I was sent a selection of chocolates from Cowgirl Chocolates free of charge.  This review is my honest opinion and is not influenced by any other source.