Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Meet The Squeegees! (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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I’ve got SUCH a fun stocking stuffer for you today! If your child doesn’t have his or her own music collection, it is seriously time to get that started. And if they do, it’s time to add to it!!!

Meet the Squeegees is a wonderful cd that is available exclusively at Target! Many children’s cds don’t get such mass exposure and have to make their sales through smaller venues, so that should tell you something about how good this cd is!

I’m listening to it right now, and Darah’s at daycare for the moment. Are you judging me for listening to kids music while my kid isn’t around? If so, it’s just because you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing this cute cd! It is SOOOO singable, and the topics the songs cover will inspire some great conversations with your tot! I love the extensive listing of yummy fruits in “apples, oranges and peaches.” It makes me want to go find a kumquat for Darah to try! And “the elements” does such a great job of describing all the great things that wind, fire, earth and water do! Love it!

The mood of this cd is hip, cute, but not obnoxious. It is easy on the ears, I promise! I’m totally committing to memorizing these songs so that I can sing them to Darah, because she’ll be learning great things while I sing them to her!

Buy it!: This cd has 14 educational and fun songs, and is perfect for kids 0-7. As I mentioned, this is a cd that you can find at your local Target and it is just $7.99. That’s a great buy, folks!

Win it!: Now is your chance to snag this great cd for your little one! The contest will run until November 19th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me the last piece of music you bought (could be a cd or an mp3!). My answer: Ben Folds Accapella album he did with college students. And that was almost a year ago, so clearly I need to spend a little time over at Itunes getting up to speed!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Join the Squeegees mailing list (scroll down toward the bottom of the linked page to sign up)
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Google Friend Connect

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my home page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary album for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Holiday Cards Made Easy (GIVEAWAY!!!)

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Now, don’t throw your shoe at the computer screen when I share this with you, but…

My Christmas cards are already made.

And honestly, they were SO easy to put together! At first, I thought I’d need to wrangle everyone in the family together for a holiday portrait (DIY version, that is). I started getting really stressed out over find the right time of day, the right lighting, and oh yeah, coordinating outfits. I actually got a little panicked thinking about it, and when I realized how stressed out I was, I just tossed that plan right out the window!

Instead, I selected a lovely template from Paperspring, and found 3 photos from throughout the year (one from March, one from late June, and one from October) that captured members of my family having fun. I uploaded them to Paperspring, added a brief holiday message, and placed my order. It seriously took about 5 minutes to do after I chose the photos. And guess what? They look FABULOUS! I love the way they turned out (see the template I used on the right), I think people will enjoy seeing the pictures from throughout the year, and I really love just how easy it was to get a beautiful product with not hassle from Paperspring.

There are endless things to stress out about during the holidays. Let Paperspring help you make sure that getting beautiful personalized holiday cards isn’t one of them!

Buy it!: Paperspring wants to offer Stuff Parents Need readers 20% off any holiday card purchase, plus free shipping! Just use code November20 at checkout, and then sit back and relax! 🙂 The code is good through November 14th.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to score a $50 gift certificate to Paperspring, which should take care of your holiday card needs. Woo hoo! The contest will run until November 18th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.
Mandatory entry: I’d love to hear which holiday card template suits your family the most. I think you’ll be really surprised by the excellent variety Paperspring has!
For example: I love the cards we picked out, but if I had to go with something different for my family this year, I’d go with Holly Jolly!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: “Like” Paperspring on Facebook
2. Blogger love: “Like” Stuff Parents Need on Facebook

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

What is the Best Mop on the Market?

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When we moved from Memphis to Chattanooga in August, our POD was so full that we couldn’t even fit our mop in there. We had to leave it behind and just get a new one here. I was annoyed to leave a perfectly good mop behind, but I had to choose between a mop and Tim’s bike, so I guess I chose wisely.

I hadn’t shopped for mops in a good long while, and I learned a few things while trying to find the perfect mop.

1. Mops can be very inexpensive. I found a basic mop (the kind with a sponge on the bottom, not the “long hair” mop) for $4.00 at Wal-Mart. The downside of buying such an inexpensive mop can be seen by me telling you what happened when I got the mop home. It BROKE while I was trying to get the plastic off the sponge part of the mop. Yes, it broke before it ever got used. Sigh…

2. Mops can be really expensive. The Swiffer and other similar mops may not seem all that expensive on the front-end, but then you realize that you have to keep buying replacement heads and special cleaning solutions, and before you know it, you are sucked into a product that keeps demanding more and more of your money. NO THANKS.

rubbermaid reveal mop: best mop I’m embarrassed to tell you that I didn’t learn my lesson with the $4.00 mop, because the next week I found one at The Dollar Tree for $1.00. Yes, I bought it. Was it a good mop? Uh, no. But it got us through for a few weeks before also coming to an end (the sponge top separated from the handle) just a few days before the arrival of a very cool new mop from Rubbermaid.

The Best Mop

If you haven’t heard about this mop yet, I’m so excited to tell you about it! It is called the Reveal Spray Mop, and what I love about it is that it has the thrifty consumer in mind.

First and foremost, the microfiber pads at the bottom of the mop head are washable. They are attached with very secure velcro and will get you through 2 good sized room before they need to be pulled off and washed. The mop comes with 3 pads, so if you have several rooms that need to be mopped at a time, you won’t have to wait for your cleaning pads to get washed first!

Second, the mop has one of those nifty spray bottles on it, but it is designed for you to put whatever you want inside of it to clean with, and doesn’t require a special mix. You can use vinegar, hot soapy water, whatever you like. I adore this about the mop, because using it doesn’t commit me to any future purchases to keep it going.

Third, the mop is a very good quality! Now, you may be wondering how “Miss Dollar Tree Mop” over here would even know quality if it slapped her in the face. Fair point, but I can tell you that this mop is SO much nicer than any mop I’ve ever owned! I had a brief rendezvous with a Swiffer a few years back (settle down, I think I had a good coupon for it), and I remember it feeling much cheaper than this mop. Also, it does a great job, and at the end of the day, isn’t getting your floors nice and clean what matters the most?

The Rubbermaid Reveal Mop is designed to keep your floors looking good for many years, and it is also designed to keep money in your pocket by letting you re-use the mop pads and use your own thrifty cleaning solutions. This is also good for the environment: less waste, and no nasty chemicals! And for the super cheap folks out there like me, no more wasting resources on dumb mops that break after a few uses. Pull all those dollars that you’ll be spending on mops that have a very short shelf life into the Rubbermaid Reveal Mop. You’ll be money ahead when it is all said and done, I promise!

Buy it!: Rubbermaid Reveal Mop is $29.99 and can be found online or at your local Target. Home Depot, and select Wal-Mart stores, as well as Amazon. If your mop needs replacing, this gets my frugalista seal of approval!

Edit: this giveaway is closed.

Win it!: Step right up, because now if your chance to win your very own Rubbermaid Reveal Mop! The contest will run until November 17th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me your current approach to cleaning your non-carpeted floors. Do you scrub on your hands and knees? Have a favorite mop? Have a favorite cleaning solution? Anything related to the topic will work!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Subscribe to Rubbermaid’s Adventures in Organizing blog
2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need via RSS or email.

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, listed on the sidebar of my home page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This post contains affiliate links. 

Know Who Made Your Stuff? Novica Will Tell You

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Novica

Every once in a while, I come across a company that has a mission that just warms my heart, and makes me feel like they are truly working to make the world a better place by connecting us to each other. Novica is one such company.

bracelet from novica Here’s what Novica is all about: “We want to give artists and artisans around the world a global platform to express their true artistic talents and to spur their creativity. And, we want to provide you with access to unique, hard-to-find items at great values that only the Internet infrastructure can allow. We want you to know about who you’re buying from. We want you to feel that attachment to the product and to the hands that created it.”

Have you ever looked at an item in your home and wondered who made it? Even if it was machine made, there were likely people in that factory, making sure those machines worked and making sure the final product was correct. I wonder about that sort of thing all the time, actually. How many different people from how many different countries have played a role in creating something that I use or that I admire? I bet the answer would blow my mind.

platter from novica It is so very cool to me that Novica gives me information about the artisan who makes every single product. It gives me some context for where it came from, the love that was poured into it, and the person whose livelihood I am supporting by making my purchase.

I was given the opportunity to do a bit of shopping with Novica in order to see what it is like to shop on this site. It was a very cool experience, I must say! I looked around the shop for a gift for my mother-in-law, a woman who has been to many different parts of the world, and who really appreciates fine craftsmanship. I knew she would be very pleased with and appreciate a gift from Novica. While I won’t tell you what I picked out (sorry! MIL reads the blog!), I will tell you that I received notification of when the product would be shipped, and it got to me surprisingly quickly. I will also tell you that what I got is GORGEOUS. It looked pretty on the website, but I audibly gasped when I unwrapped it. It truly looks like the work of an artisan, and not something mass produced. It also came with a card telling a bit more about the person who made it. The Novica website also has videos on many of the artists they work with, and I was really tempted to put a video up of the artist I bought from, but it would give away the gift! Here’s a different artist for you to check out.

http://www.novica.com/media/publicPlayer.swf?id=81

Buy it!: I can tell you from experience that ordering a gift from Novica is a special experience, and being able to give a gift that supports an artisan and gives you information about the person who made your item is very cool. I would recommend this site to anyone who is looking for something extra special and meaningful this holiday season!

Win it!: Just in time for the holidays, Novica wants to give one lucky Stuff Parents Need reader a $50 gift certificate to use on whatever the heck you want at their store! You will be able to get a truly beautiful and unique gift for someone on your holiday shopping list! Or…you can give a wonderful present to yourself! 🙂 The contest will run until November 15th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me about something you own that is from another country (not talking about “made in China,” unless you are referring to something you got while in China!). Perhaps it is something you got while traveling, or perhaps someone you love who was traveling brought it back to you. Perhaps it is something you inherited! For me, I love my beautiful ceramic vase that my mother-in-law got for me in France. It is simply gorgeous and I will be passing it down to Darah one day!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Follow Novica on Twitter
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my home page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Bambo Nature: Eco-Friendly Disposable Diapers

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If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that we have switched from disposable to cloth diapers. We feel really great about this change that we have made for a million different reasons that I won’t go into right now.

But…

I am of the opinion that disposable diapers have their place. I don’t think they should be the primary source of diapering (though I wouldn’t judge someone for choosing them, as I don’t know what it is like to be you and to live your life, and so I won’t assume that you should live your life as I live mine!). But I DO think that if there are times when disposable diapers will make your life a little less hectic, then they should be a resource to you. That’s our approach to diapering; it’s totally cool if yours is different.

Eco-Friendly Disposable Diapers?

bambo nature eco-friendly disposable diapers So when do we reach for disposables? Largely, at night (at least until we got the amazing Ecobubs diaper!). Disposable diapers can hold an awful lot of pee, folks. Mostly that is due to them having a bunch of awful chemicals in them that can get the job done, but that are actually quite dangerous for baby. We also are using them when we take Darah to daycare. They are willing to accept cloth diapers, but I’m just not quite ready to start bringing them in. I’m hoping to have her potty trained before I turn to cloth for daycare, but if she isn’t done with potty training in a few months, I’ll start sending cloth with her (my logic for not bringing cloth now isn’t really sound, but it makes me feel less stressed, so that’s that).

When I was pregnant, I used coupons extensively to buy as many disposables as I could for the least amount of money, and I amassed quite a stockpile. I paid absolutely ZERO attention to the fact that disposable diapers tend to be loaded with really harsh chemicals that could be quite dangerous for your baby. To be perfectly honest, I had abolustely no idea how disposable diapers worked, and didn’t think I had any reason to need to know.

Now, of course, I know better. If you have ever really looked into what is in a typical disposable diaper, it will shock you. Even if you don’t care about the negative environmental impact of diapers (which is massive, by the way), I want to encourage you to look closely at the health risks.

Ok, so since disposable diapers tend to be full of gross chemicals, and tend to be horrific for our landfills, what’s a gal to do if she feels she needs to use them from time to time, as I still do?

Bambo Nature

Bambo Nature eco-friendly disposable diapers Well, there is a solution. Check out Bambo Nature diapers, which you probably won’t find at your nearest Walgreens, but which can be found on Amazon.com and direct from the company’s website. These diapers are chemical free (woo hoo!) and they have been given the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, which means that this product has been assured to be eco-friendly and a safe product for baby.

On the Bambo Nature website, you can sign up to receive discounts and free samples of wipes and other chemical free products from Denmark (that is where these diapers are from), so definitely check that out. They disclose everything that is in their diapers, which is amazing!

Additionally, Healthychild.org has just declared Bamb0Nature the ONLY disposable baby diaper available in America that meets their high standards for safety. This tells me that the ingredients in this diaper are even safer than what you will find in any other eco-friendly diaper on the shelves.

So how do these diapers work? Well, they work great! When Darah wears them overnight they go the distance, just as you would expect Huggies or Pampers to do, only without those gross chemicals that those companies use. I think they are a little bit thicker than other disposable diapers, but they are thinner than a cloth diaper, for sure.

One thing I did notice about the diapers is that after she has been in them a long time (like overnight), they do smell like pee. But that’s because they don’t contain any perfumes to mask the odor, and I’d rather have to deal with that smell for the 1 minute it takes me to change her than to have her bottom exposed to those chemicals all night long just so that I can’t smell it for a moment.

I am extremely impressed with Bambo Nature diapers, and will look to these anytime I decide that a disposable diaper makes the most sense. I still believe that cloth is the best choice in many situations, but for me, not in every situation. Bambo Nature offers diapers that I can feel confident (and not guilty!) about. I give them my highest recommendation.

Where to Buy Bambo Nature Diapers: Bambo Nature diapers are available through their website, and also on Amazon.

Edit: this giveaway is closed.

Win it!: I am thrilled to tell you that Bambo Nature wants to give THREE lucky Stuff Parents Need readers a case of Bambo Nature diapers in your choice of size! Depending on the size you get, that will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 diapers! How awesome is that?!?! The contest will run until November 13th at 11:59pm EST when the winners will be selected using Random.org. The winners will have 48 hours to respond to the winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.
Mandatory entry: Tell me anything about how you diaper (or used to diaper if your kid is potty-trained). Do you use cloth? Disposable? Have a favorite diaper brand? Have any concerns related to how you diaper? Have a question you’d like to ask Bambo Nature? Anything relevant to the topic at hand will work!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: “Like” Bambo Nature on Facebook.
2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need via email or RSS!
3. Bonus opportunity: Tweet: “#Win free eco-friendly disposable diapers! http://tinyurl.com/26cfzjd! ” You can do this as often as you want, but only your first tweet will count for an extra entry.

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage!

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Real Food on a Real Budget

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Many of you know that Tim and I are actively trying to take steps to “go green” in various ways. We are doing it because it is good for the planet, good for our health, and in some cases (hello, cloth diapers) good for our budget!

But there are some cases where “going green” is very painful, in terms of the monetary cost. I struggled to figure out how to feed our family as much organic food as possible when we were a dual-income family, and now that we are a single-income family, I’ve been pretty much at a loss for what to do. In the past two months I have purchased very few organic items. I avoid our local Whole Foods (Greenlife) whenever possible because I get depressed looking at all the scrumptious stuff in there that I can’t afford! I’ve even had to stop buying organic milk for Tim and me so that I can keep buying it for Darah. It has been a source of sadness and guilt, but I haven’t really known what other choices I had.

I recently learned about an e-book on this very topic, put out by the wonderful blogger, Stephanie, at Keeper of the Home. Stephanie is very committed to feeding her family the very best food that she possibly can on her limited budget, and she has a variety of strategies that she employs to make it possible. Her e-book is called Real Food on a Real Budget, and I had the opportunity to review it.

Now, I’m not going to tell you everything I learned in the book, because that would take forever, but let me tell you, I learned A LOT. I consider myself a savvy person, especially when it comes to finding a good deal, but Stephanie really challenged me to think creatively in ways I hadn’t before. There are many things you can do to provide nutrient rich, whole foods that are seasonal, and to preserve those foods so that you can still enjoy them when they are out of season. Does it take hard work? You bet. Is it worth it? I’m starting to think so.

I really appreciate that Stephanie is very real about what works for her family, and is real about the fact that she DOES spend more time in the kitchen, and she DOES spend more time looking for good deals, and she DOES have to think more about making smart choices when it comes to food. This is not an effortless process. I think the truth is that I have pretty much exhausted the “effortless” or “near-effortless” ways to save money on food, and I just sort of stopped there, thinking that was all I could do. WRONG!

Now, does this mean that I’m going to do every single thing that Stephanie does for her family, and do it now? No. And she doesn’t necessarily encourage you to do that, either. What is most important is that I start somewhere, and that I change the way I think about how I get our food. I’m not about to start my own garden, simply because I’m not interested in gardening. Maybe I will be by spring, or by the spring of 2012, but I’m not now, and that’s ok. But if you are interested in starting a garden (a container garden on your patio or even several rows in your big backyard) Stephanie has some wonderful ideas and inspirations to get you started.

So what am I going to do right away? I AM interested in doing some sleuthing around town to find alternative ways to buy produce (I’m on the lookout for roadside stands and local CSA groups that are affordable). I’ve also requested some library books on canning…I think I’ll try my hand at canning one or two types of things that are relatively easy and see how it goes. Finally, I’m convinced that making my own bread is really something I should do, and that once I start, I will really enjoy it.

Buy it!: Do you struggle with affording REAL food for your family? I highly recommend Stephanie’s e-book. It is well-written and offers many wonderful ideas that can help you provide better food with the budget you have. I absolutely loved reading it, and I know you will, too! The e-book is available for $18.97 (that’s money you will make back ten times over by implementing just one or two of Stephanie’s ideas!), or you can purchase a hard copy of the book for $25.97, including shipping.

Win it!: Stephanie wants to give one lucky Stuff Parents Need reader an amazing gift: a copy of her e-book! The contest will run until November 5th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Share a tip for making the most of your grocery budget. Any tip you use will do, and it doesn’t have to be about how you buy organic or whole foods! For example: my tip would be to pick one item out of your pantry each week or so and commit to using that item up in a dish. That’s a great way to use up things that might otherwise be forgotten, and you’ll likely find a cool new recipe if you don’t have something in mind for the item! You’ll also buy less at the store because you’ve already got one thing you need at home.

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: subscribe to Stephanie’s wonderful blog, The Keeper of the Home.
2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need via email or RSS (subscription buttons are on my main page if you aren’t already subscribed).

Be sure to check out my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my home page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

A Little Funny for You!

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Darah is starting to get a little bit into Sesame Street (I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve been waiting so anxiously for her interest to pick up, but it is true!). We watch a few YouTube clips every day, and I’m almost as entertained as she is, seriously! I love that the writers keep the parents in mind, because they know we are often sitting with out kids and watching, too. For example, I love the song that Feist did on the show (we seriously listen to it EVERY DAY).

I also love the funny bits they do that make references to things that only the grownups will really get, such as the play on True Blood called True Mud.

I was recently checking out a cute blog written by a fellow Stuff Parents Need reader, and found this awesome Grover bit that is modeled after the funny Old Spice commercials. HILARIOUS!!! Definitely watch the video (and if you are lost then you need to check out the regular Old Spice commercials), and then head on over to the Baby Banter blog for a few weekend chuckles!

Kraft Cooking School: A Great Resource for the Home Cook

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I hope everyone is having a really fun Halloween weekend with their families and friends!

Now that the fall holiday season is in full swing, I wanted to share a resource I learned about that I’m enjoying. Kraft has a “cooking school” online that has some quick and helpful videos with cooking tips and techniques, step by step recipes and more! I’ve been cooking for many years now, but I still have lots to learn in the kitchen (let’s just say I’ve never been up for any “cook of the year” awards!).

Anyway, if you need some holiday recipe ideas, want to learn a few tips and tricks, or just need a refresher in the basics (like how to boil an egg), check out the Kraft Cooking School!

Bring Clean Water to Others: Charity Water

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This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of  iNetVideo. All opinions are 100% mine.

Charity Water

I always love hearing about when businesses are putting some of their resources into making the world a better place. I don’t know about you, but knowing that a company really cares makes me want to shop with them!

I just learned that iNetVideo.com has launched a nonprofit called Charity Water to raise funds to build a freshwater well in a village that currently doesn’t have access to clean water. This is going to provide over 250 people with clean drinking water, and positively change their lives in ways we take for granted every day. Imagine if you had to travel long distances (usually by foot) to go get your daily supply of water, and you had to carry back everything you planned to use! It would take a great deal of time and energy. What if you couldn’t make the journey one day? You’d just have to go without or risk getting a disease from the unclean water that may be more readily available. Wow.

On any given day, roughly 4,500 people DIE from water-related diseases. Providing access to clean water truly saves lives. I applaud iNetVideo.com for their efforts to bring clean water to communities currently without it.

Charitywater_tank

So how can you help the Charity Water project? There are 3 ways:

1) spread the word of the iNetVideo charity water campaign via email, facebook or twitter

2) Look for the water drop and buy those items on iNetVideo.com and they will donate $1 to their water project for you

3) Donate directly to the project by visiting:

http://mycharitywater.org/iNetVideo-Charity-Water-2010

This is a non-profit, so all donations are tax-deductible!

I want to encourage you all to take a moment to give thanks for the clean water coming out of your faucets, and donate a few dollars to help make that happen for someone else.

Visit my sponsor: Charity Water: iNetVideo.com Gives Back!