Thing I Love- Family Fun Magazine October 31, 2007

 If you are a new reader to my blog, perhaps you have not been alerted to my love, possible addiction, to magazines. I think I have a pile of magazines which numbers into the double digits on my nightstand at any given time. I am one of those people that opens every magazine invitation that comes in the mail and there is a good chance I will subscribe. It is so sad, but they make me so happy.

About a year ago, I discovered Family Fun magazine at a doctor’s office (for me, those places are like a bar is to an alcoholic). This is the greatest parenting magazine around. Well, along with a few others. Anyway, if you don’t know about this magazine, you should. If nothing else, utilize their website for ideas.  It makes me look like WAY more of an impressive mother than I am (please don’t giggle if you think I am the least impressive mother you know-ignorance is bliss).

The best part, a subscription is only $1 an issue. I am sure if you put a little work into surfing around the web, you can find it for even cheaper. I think you will love it!

Meatloaf Help October 30, 2007

 No this isn’t a 12 step program for those of you who like Paradise By The Dashboard Light. Although someone should really start one.

Tonight I went to one of those assemble freezer meal places. I had a gift certificate I won over at Big Binder so I got a really good deal! Anyway, one of the things I assembled was meatloaf and while doing so I had what Oprah called “a light bulb moment.”

I like an occasional meatloaf, but I can’t think of many things grosser than sticking my fingers in a pile of raw meat to mush a bunch of ingredients together. I am always freaked out that some raw meat is going to lodge itself under my fingernails infecting me with salmonella (although come to think of it, that might be accompanied with some weight loss and bed rest-maybe salmonella wouldn’t be so bad).

But I digress. My tip for the day is this. Next time you make meatloaf, put all your ingredients in a Ziploc and mush away. In fact, you could even let your kids do some mushing. Then you just dump it in to the loaf pan and use the Ziploc as kind of a glove to form it into a loaf. Less mess, less disease, yummy meatloaf. It is a win-win!

For more Works For Me Wednesday ideas head over to Rocks In My Dryer.

Crazy Eights October 29, 2007

 I have been tagged for the Crazy Eights Meme by Jenny over at Mommin It Up! I can’t turn down a meme tag so here it is.

8 things I’m Passionate About
1. My Faith
2. The Hubby
3. My 2 girls
4. Singing
5. Blogging
6. Healthy Marriages
7. Way too many TV shows
8. Keeping my girls un-hoochified

8 things I say Often
1. Get off of your sister!
2. Stop touching your sister!
3. Don’t eat that!
4. Get out of the toilet!
5. Leave your sister alone!
6. Why did you take that toy?
7. Can mommy have just a few minutes of quiet?
8. Honey, How long until you get home?

8 books I’ve recently read
1. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
3. Lucky by Alice Sebold
4. Sunriseby Karen Kingsbury
5. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

6. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvick
7. Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
8. Real Sex by Lauren Winner

8 Songs I could listen to over & over
1. SexyBack by Justin Timberlake (a guilty pleasure)
2. I Am by Nicole Nordeman
3. The entire Kansas CD by Jennifer Knapp
4. Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfeld
5. I Don’t Wanna Be by Gavin McGraw
6. This Love by Maroon 5
7. Respect by Aretha Franklin (my karaoke song)
8. Mighty to Save by Hillsong

8 things that attract me to my best friends
1. A good sense of humor
2. Loyalty
3. Straightforward
4. Intelligence
5. Honesty
6. Self Confident
7. Goofy
8. Love of life

8 things I’ve learned this past year
1. Having your parents this close isn’t so bad
2. Losing baby weight is darn near impossible
3. How to blog
4. Married, Christian housewives aren’t having enough sex
5. Marriage still rocks even after 6 years
6. You are never too old to get something pierced
7. I really love Pilates
8. There is nothing more precious that watching your children discover who Jesus is

8 of my peeps I think should do Crazy Eights (if they haven’t already!)
1. Big Binder
2. Mama Mia (it’s unofficial meme week)
3. Damselfly
4. Char
5. SAHMmy
6. Summer
7. Anne
8. Olivia (and her brand spankin’ new blog)

Get to it ladies. This one was kind of tough.

Fall Y’all Bloggy Giveaway! October 29, 2007

 I hope you have caught up on sleep, because Shannon over Bloggy Giveaways is hosting another giveaway carnival. My fingers hurt after the last one in the mad rush to enter all of the contests. I still didn’t win anything though. Better luck this time

I will once again be giving away a product from my mother’s fabulous line of products, Script-Yours. This time, I will be giving away a personalized scripture name.  

     

These are hand written and can be customized for the winner. You can pick your colors, you can pick your scripture, you can pick your name (you can pick your nose, you can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your friends nose). Each name is personally prayed over with the scripture before it is shipped out.

We have chosen scriptures for each of our girls and had names done for them. I also give them out when my friends have babies. The result is always the same. People are amazed and touched by such a personal and unique gift. It also is a powerful way to bring scriptures into your home.

In addition, anyone who doesn’t win and would still like to order any products from Script-Yours can receive 20% off any order placed before November 15th by mentioning my blog when ordering.

So to enter, just leave me a comment and I will draw at random on Friday, Nov 2 at midnight. This contest is open to US residents only, but you don’t have to have a blog to enter. Now head on over to Rocks In My Dryer, get your fingers warmed up, and get to entering!

*UPDATE: We have winner over here.

Week 4 Challenge- Shock and Awe October 28, 2007

 Well, a little 4th week update. Overall, I think the challenge is going well. Many women have told me how much they appreciate it and I think we are getting some good participation and some happy husbands. As for me, my new “sexy” underwear are giving me a constant wedgie. I think I need to rethink that purchase. Sorry, I am late this weekendwith your week 4 challenge, but better late than never.

I don’t know if you have told your hubby about the challenge or not. Maybe he hasn’t noticed, suddenly the bedroom has been rearranged. I hope he noticed the new undergarments. If not, you need to think sexier. This week’s challenge is all about the element of surprise. So hubbies, avert your eyes.

If your sex life is like most housewives I talk to, evenings look like this: Do some cleaning up, organizing, miscellaneous things you couldn’t accomplish with kids around. Watch a little TV, surf the internet. Finally get to bed about 1/2 hour past exhausted. Head hits the pillow only to feel a little tap on the shoulder (or worse). You roll over and groan as you see “the look” in his eyes. The words, “I’m so tired” or “It’s so late” or even “You must be kidding me?” might be uttered. Sound familiar?

How about instead, you take command of the evening. Put the kids to bed and tell the hubby you need him to come do some made up chore in the bedroom (hang curtains, fix the dresser knob, fold socks, whatever). When he enters, you pounce. Hubbies get really tired of asking and getting shot down. This week, you initiate. He may fall over from the surprise, but then you will have him on his back, right where you want him :)

Check back every Saturday for your weekly challenge. Are you in? Leave a comment below.

By the Mighty Mississippi October 28, 2007

 Just got back from my 10 year college reunion. Yes, I am that old. I am pretty sure that the school has started admitting 12 year olds since I left cause that is how old all the students appeared to be. The only thing that made me feel better was that I got carded at the local college hang out. I am pretty sure the bouncer just took pity on us.

Anyway, I really enjoyed connecting with some old friends. I even discovered one of them is a Diaper Diaries lurker. So M, hello, and leave a comment already. If any of the rest of you have swung by to check out my blog, welcome. Hope to see you at the 15!

Weekly Contest Review October 28, 2007

1. 5 Minutes for Mom is giving you the chance to win a Protect-a-Bed mattress cover. It keeps your mattress pee-free, dust mite-free, puke-free. Hopefully your kids are doing the former and the latter. We all could use a little protecting from those dust mites. Head over here to win.
2. Crunchy Domestic Goddess is giving away a t-shirt from Bitty Braille. This company makes really cute t-shirts that have sparkly brailled letters with their words spelled out below. To enter head over here.
3. Oh how I would love an I-pod. I fear I am the only person left on the planet who doesn’t have one. It’s Write Now! is giving one away. Head over here to enter.

I think that is all, but I am too tired to look for more.

Frugal Friday- Beg, Borrow and Steal October 25, 2007

 Ok so not the beg and steal thing, but the borrow one is a good idea. I am speaking of maternity clothes. They are kind of pricey for things you wear for such a short period of time. Chances are, unless it’s your first kid, you are surrounded by other mothers. Hopefully some of them have good fashion sense. And a generous spirit.

Now, when I get maternity clothes, I take a pen and write my initials in the tags. That way when a fellow mommy who is my size announces a pregnancy, I offer up my clothes. When I am pregnant, I start asking around and people usually return the favor.

I think this works really well for things your kids need that aren’t worn that often too. For instance, if your child is trying out a sport that requires a lot of equipment purchases, ask around before shelling out a bunch of money. Same thing for special occasion dresses, a swim suit for a vacation during the winter, snow suits, a costume, etc.

I think it never hurts to ask. The worst you will hear is no. Then return the favor whenever you can. For more frugal wisdom, check out Biblical Womanhood.

Things I Love Thursday- Squid Soap October 24, 2007

 Ok, we have another product review this week. I was so excited when I was asked to give SquidSoap a try. I had seen it advertised in my parenting magazines and thought it looked like so much fun, but I had frankly never seen it in stores. The idea behind the soap is that it will teach your children how to properly wash their hands.

Let me digress a moment to state the obvious. I never realized until I was a parent how many things a child has to be taught how to do. I mean I get things like ride a bike, read a book, do long division. I just never imagined there would come a time where I would sit down and give a lengthy explanation of how to wipe oneself. And with girls, it gets really lengthy cause there are extra parts to wipe. I shudder to think of the conversation one must have with a little boy about what to do with his…I can’t even speak of it. That whole thing is confusing to me, I will leave that talk to the hubby.

So anyway, back to the soap. There is a proper way to wash your hands. To effectively kills germs you should be washing for 20 seconds with soap and water. I think I have been a lazy washer. 20 seconds is a lot longer than it sounds. So the brilliant people at Airborne designed a soap dispenser that leaves “ink” on your hand when you pump it. It is really a vegetable dye that takes 20 seconds to wash off.

Let me just say this was a big hit with Lily. She was suddenly washing her hands every 5 seconds and showing everyone who would listen her new soap. We have had it a few weeks and the novelty has worn off a bit, but she still loves to wash her hands with this soap. I must admit, I get a little excited when I use it too. Perhaps this is a sign I need to get out more. I choose to believe it is just because it is a really great product.

If you think your kids would love it to, here is a coupon so you can get some for your family. I think it would be great if everyone got some. Better yet public restrooms that had ink on the toilet flusher handle so you could tell if people were washing their hands. Airborne people, if you are reading this, that is your next brilliant invention. Then we would know not to shake hands with anyone running around with a red dot on their hands. How is it possible no one in corporate America has recruited me for product development?

Disclaimer: Baby still sick. Mommy still not sleeping. Not responsible for lack of coherence in posts.

Works For Me Wednesday- Healthy Snack October 23, 2007

  I am always looking for healthy things to snack on during the day. If you have read my blog for any length of time, you know I have a love of all things fiber. So my new favorite combo- apricots and almonds. I love the taste of it. I love the fiber-ificness of it. I love the alliteration of it. I just plain love it!

Short and sweet today people. I got a sick baby. Yes, still. Thanks for all your kind words yesterday.

For more Works for Me Wednesday ideas, check out Rocks in My Dryer.