Insanity Deals!!!!

OMG No More Rack is having Insanity Deals which they are offering at Random times and days. These are deals like PS3 for $26.34, Apple iPads for $43.20, Laptops under $100 and other HOT items for 90% off! No joke. They are only available for probably seconds the way they sell out and only 30 of each item is available. People have actuually scored some of these yesterday with free shipping. It's crazy and you have to be ready to refresh the page and click your mouse like lightning. Sign up for No More Rack now so you can try to catch one of these. I want to get one so bad!

Neglecting my blog

 I'll admit it, I'm posting all my awesome deals and sales on facebook. I know people read my facebook but I don't get a lot of blog traffic. I feel the need to get the deals out to people as quickly as possible so that people can save and get fantastic deals on things for Christmas. What I should do is post on my facebook and then on my blog. I haven't done that and I feel like a neglectful blogger. I am making a commitment to post deals that I find on both. That's the plan. We will see how it goes.

Can I use these coupons (pieces)?

 Yesterday I got a coupon booklet in the mail with $1 and $2 off coupons for Downy, Bounty, Tide, Herbal Essence etc. Well I went to work last night and came back to find my little boy had ripped them to pieces. Some of them are ripped in two and I think I will tape them. Others however are going to require a hospital stay and several surgeries.
  These are AWESOME coupons on stuff I need. I am not sure if taping these is even an option. If I can find all the pieces I am going to try. Is that silly? Should I call it a loss, pull the plug, or should I try to revive them? What would you do with the pieces?

Save money on gifts this Christmas!

  I don't know about you, but I have been Christmas shopping since August. Maybe that is a little early but if you find a good deal you should go for it. I have been finding some amazing deals. I'm actually quite proud of myself. A lot of these deals are thanks to sites like No More Rack and Totsy. These are sites that offer deeply discounted products for a limited amount of time. Not only are these sites free to join but No More rack will give you a free $10 to spend when you join from the links on my page. Totsy will give you totally free shipping on your first order and discounts on future orders.
  The items offered are always changing and sometimes they sell out fast. That is because they are usually amazing! I already got Christmas presents for less than half of what I spent last year on really awesome items. I have to keep reminding myself I am shopping for Christmas and not myself. I want these awesome $40 women's boots that they have for $16.25 right now and I want them! I mean I have saved so much money I could definitely afford them. Check these sites out and see how good it feel to save so much money. And if you love boots, hurry and sign up before I buy them all!

The WAT-AAH! Challenge

  I think a lot of kids these days do not drink enough water. I know I never did as a kid. My mother "doesn't like water" so never enforced it on us. When I got older and more health conscious I had to force myself to drink water until eventually it became part of my every day routine. Then when I had kids I made sure that they always got water to drink when they were thirsty. I reserve drinks like juice for meals only. That's not to say my three year old doesn't want juice sometimes over water, I mean he's a kid. The thing is, he will drink water which is something the kids I babysit for rarely do.
  My older kids were primarily raised in my mother's house. They were raised in a house where water was not an important priority. Trying to get them to drink water when we moved was a difficult task. Even though they are now better water drinkers they would rather down a gallon of juice a day if they could than touch a drink of water. The creators of WAT-AAH! recognize this. They know how hard it is to get some kids to drink water in the day and age where soda and juice is pushed into their faces through colorful and kid friendly advertising. They created a fun way to get kids to drink more water. WAT-AAH! Comes in several different varieties including Body, Brain, Bones, Energy and Defense.


 

I got to take the WAT-AAH! Back to School challenge with my kids. The WAT-AAH! challenge is basically where you put a few bottles of WAT-AAH! in the fridge along with other kid's beverages and see which drink the kids will prefer. My WAT-AAH! challenge package arrived the same week my phone broke so I did not get many pictures and the ones I did get were poor quality. I can tell you though my older children immediately wanted the WAT-AAH! asking me if they were allowed to take them to school. My little ones actually fought over the bottles and they loved the smaller bottles perfect for their cup holders and lunch boxes. That was awesome to see my kids actually wanting water and asking for more.

This is my three year old enjoying his WAT-AAH!

  Unfortunately WAT-AAH is not available in my town but it is available at one store about 20 minutes or so from me. Hopefully by spreading the word more retailers will start selling WAT-AAH! so that I can keep it well stocked in our fridge.WAT-AAH! is carried by Food Lion but unfortunately the Food Lions by me do not have it. Bummer. You can also get WAT-AAH! at Whole Foods, GNC and many other health food stores. You can check the WAT-AAH! website for a location near you. The website is full of fun facts, awesome music and adorable animations so please go check it out HERE

Max and Ruby, alone in the world

 I watch a lot of kids shows. It's just what you do when you have kids. You watch the shows, you sing the songs, you get funny looks when you realize your singing them out loud at work... Anyway, I actually like most of the shows that my boys watch. Shows like Yo Gabba Gabba, Olivia, Caillou, Team Umizoomi etc. There are a few I don't particularly like, Fresh Beat Band and Little Einsteins, but I don't hate them. Then there's Max and Ruby. While it has the cuteness factor, something about that show rubs me the wrong way.

  I don't know if everyone is familiar with Max and Ruby but it is an animated show on Nick Jr. about two rabbit siblings. The older sister, seven year old Ruby, takes care of her little brother, three year old Max. While I have seen "family photos" on the wall of the Max and Ruby home there are never any parents in the show. The only main character adult is the enabling Grandmother who does not live with them. Ruby is basically the mother while trying to be  child as well as a parent to her spoiled and bratty little brother. The only other adults in the show are Mr and Mrs Huffington, the neighbors. Who the heck is raising these kids?

  Max is always professing these one word demands at his sister and narrowing his eyes when he does not get his way. He will say this one word through the entire episode until he gets what he wants, which by the way, he always does. Whether he is shouting "Strawberries!" and hiding the egg that Ruby wants him to eat for breakfast or "mud" because he want's to play in the mud when all this poor seven year old wants to do is take a photo for their grandma. He always ends up getting his way by not listening to Ruby and since no one is there to be the parent he has no consequence. What is the moral of this show anyway?

  My son loves Max and Ruby but I just want to call the Bunny Protective Services every time I watch it. Max needs a spanking and Ruby needs to be allowed to be a child. Not to mention I think little Max needs some speech therapy because he is seriously behind verbally. For goodness sake!

  Here's a particularly annoying episode where Ruby only has just enough money to buy Max new pants but the little brat wants a dragon shirt. Well of course by not listening to his sister (who is obviously allowed to take her brother to a store alone) and get ice cream all over the shirt. Ruby is forced to use all her money to buy the shirt for this little jerk. She should be kicking his cotton tail to the moon. Sorry, this is like the worst 1980'sish bootleg video but just watch:

Perhaps the first thing your asking yourself is what kindergartener noob took this video (it wasn't me) and then I suspect you are thinking, "Where the heck are these kid's parents?!?" Exactly my point. Max and Ruby run, don't walk, to your nearest police station and get yourself some help. I know your scared but you need parental supervision! It's obvious grandma doesn't want the responsibility, perhaps she is senile, otherwise she wouldn't be pretending everything was ok.

Squinkies 16 packs only $5 shipped!

If you have a little girl or know one who loves Squinkies then hurry to Target.com right now!
  Target is offering Free Shipping on many toy items right now and if you use the promo code TGT75HFN you will get $5 off on any order.
  Squinkees are $9.99 with free shipping so you will get a 16 pack of Squinkies for only $4.99 SHIPPED! How cool is that?
  An awesome Christmas present if you ask me.

I'm boring

   Boooorrrrriiinnnnggg. Yep, I know by the standards of some, I'm anything but. I'll let you in on a little secret, come closer. Closer. Ok, ok that's plenty close. I do the same things over and over and over and over and over and over and... You get the idea. I babysit, I drink coffee I walk, enter contests,  I cook, I work, I (sometimes) write blogs. I don't do many other things and I don'tchange my routine and I really just don't want to. Not because I am satisfied with my boringness, but more because I just don't have the time or energy for change. Mostly things that cause me to stray from my routine give me anxiety.
  I used to be fun. No really. I was fun, I took care of myself, I looked good, I felt good. I did stuff. What the heck happened? I am ashamed of how unfun I have become. I live for my kids, and that's awesome, but there's definitely no me time. Ahh, the title of my blog. See how it fits my life? If I didn't fit in a quick blog now and again I'd be even less me than I already am. One day I will need to find some tiny spec of the old me to pull me out of endless boringdom. I know that won't be at least until I stop breastfeeding and maybe have one little boy in preschool.
  I don't even know how someone so busy can be soo boring but I made that possible. I don't even have fun things to write about. I should be sleeping. Maybe I should be glad that my life is so predictable. No surprises. Up at 8am, dinner at 5:30, work at 7pm. Kids in between, a little Calliou and some coffee. I may be boring but at least I am lucky. I love my family and one day maybe I'll stop feeling like I am boring. One day, but not today.

Excited about my Fekkai Bzz Kit!

  I got my Fekkai Bzz Kit in the mail this week! I have been so excited to try these since I signed up for the campaign. I received a bottle of each of the Salon Technician Color Care Shampoo and Conditioner, a sample of each one and several samples of their Glossing Creme. I absolutely love the scent, it's light, flowery and luxurious. I wish my hair was long enough for me to sniff it! At least my husband can enjoy it.
  After using the shampoo and conditioner my hair felt baby soft! I wanted to keep running my fingers through it. When I met up with my friend for coffee she asked if I had dyed or cut my hair recently and when I went to work that same day someone asked me if I lost weight. All I did was use the Fekkai Color Technician Shampoo and Conditioner. Score! I love getting compliments for doing something so easy. I have not yet tried the Glossing Creme because the last gloss product I used left my hair looking greasy, so I got scared. I will try it though and I'll report on the results.
  I'm super excited to be a part of this Bzz Campaign and to receive free samples of the Fekkai products that I have reviewed. If you are totally jealous and want to get free products in exchange for your opinions you can go to www.bzzagent.com now and sign up for free!

My little princess boy

  My three year old son announced last week that he wants to be a princess for Halloween. I reminded him that we had already gotten a dinosaur costume but it was clear that he had made up his mind about this princess thing. This is the first year he has had any opinion at all about what he could dress up as. I knew this day would come but I thought I had one more year of dressing him in whatever I thought was cutest. I am grateful he didn't pick one of this year's hottest selling $50 costumes that all the kids just HAVE to be. I don't have to spend a ridiculous amount of money on a one time wear, although he did mention wanting a magical hairbrush that could make his hair "really really long". I heard those are pricey. A princess, well, I can handle that. But can everyone else?
  At first my husband was against the idea, the natural father reaction. However, after some consideration he, unlike a lot of dads might, decided that it was ok for his son to be a princess. My daughter, believe it or not, was much harder to convince. As for anyone else, I don't care about their opinions. We have purchased a crown and long blue hair attached to a headband, and a blue gown. I have done my best to  keep others from telling him that he can not be a princess because he's a boy and have tried to show him that he can be whatever he wants no matter what anyone might say.
Letting my son be a princess for Halloween does not mean he's going to be gay or a cross dresser. It doesn't mean that won't be one of those either. It means simply, that he possesses the precious innocence of being able to be a princess or a dinosaur, Dora or Ironman, with no second guessing, no shame or fear of ridicule. He does not comprehend gender rules or boundaries and he doesn't care to fit into any mold. He is a child and I feel very protective of that innocence. I refuse to let anyone's ignorance or judgement take that away from him. My son is going to be the most beautiful princess in the world this Halloween.

Messes

  As a mom, you need to get used to messes. I think I spend half my waking hours cleaning up messes. These are usually fresh newly created messes left to me by my mischievous boys. I've found pancakes in the washer, juice in the carpet, crayon on the walls, peanut butter on the stairs, and many other things that non-parents would probably never have to clean.
  I am not the neatest person or best housekeeper but these boys can DESTROY things. Now that my baby has become a climbing toddler, nothing is safe. The thing is we have too much clutter so it's easy for him to pull a bunch of things off of the shelves, dump a basket of toys and tip over a chair in seconds flat. It takes me many many more seconds to clean it up. I'm trying to teach my three year old and the four year old I babysit to clean up after themselves. My one year old will often follow the lead and pick up toys with them. It's cute.
  I can seriously clean my entire living room before leaving for work at night and by noon the next day, it appears as if it hasn't been cleaned in a week. I know my boys have too much toys and I periodically go through and get rid of toys but the mountain keeps growing. I was at least able to get rid of the baby toys recently. As most kids, mine would rather play with mommy and daddy's "toys" than their own. They get tired of them I guess. I need a toy rental place where I can trade toys my kids get tired of with new ones. Like a Toybrary. This way I don't have all these toys, but just enough to entertain the boys and then I can return them and get different toys. Genius! Why haven't I thought of this before. There would have to be sterilization of some sort of course. That would be awesome. Maybe I'll do that one day.
  Well, I really should go clean up six or seven messes. The little boy I babysit just left and I have my work cut out for me. It's a thankless job, but somebody's got to do it.

A day in my life

 I never write enough in here. I feel like I need to find something "interesting" to write about. I always amuse those on my person ravening account because I can always find little blurbs in my life that I know may entertain others. But a whole blog post? Well, I realized something. My life... Is interesting. I'm not boring, I'm downright amusing in my daily life and I should write about it. People always tell me that I should write a book about my life. Maybe I will. But first I'll write in my blog. So here is my first entry in the series I'll call "a day in my life"

Wednesday started out about the same as the day before except, this day I almost forced myself to stay awake long enough to realize that there would soon be a knock at the door. I was semi-conscious when the boy I babysit got here, little Messy boy (which we will affectionately call him because he is a little mess maker). I'm sure it's comforting to leave your child with a raccoon woman mumbling incoherently to you as you leave. Crap, I should have taken my make up off before I passed out face down drooling onto my pillow. I know I must have looked as frightening as I felt that morning.
  I know I have to pull myself together somehow. Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee. I NEED coffee. Oh, and some kind of breakfast for the kids. Destroyer boy has his own opinions about everything so I rattled off a few suggestions that he shoots down one by one. Oh well, I then decide to make myself a bagel. When destroyer boy sees me taking my first bite of bagel he says "I want a baydool" even though he said he didn't want one five minutes ago. Baby Dude crushes a muffin and eats whatever doesn't end up in the carpet.
  A while after breakfast I vacuum the massive amounts of crumbs off the floor and pick up a few stray dinosaurs and too many toys that are littered across the living room. Then I remember that I need to mail a package. To China. I contemplate not bothering at all but decide a walk to the post office won't be so bad. Check the weather get dressed, try, try, try to get out the door. We eventually get outside which takes, as usual, far too long. I get the double stroller out of the van and strap baby Dude in the front. He is content and loves the stroller. Thank goodness. Destroyer boy sits in the back and Messy boy walks alongside holding on. 
  We don't get far before Destroyer boy wants to walk too. He wants to be a big boy in every aspect except toilet training. But I digress... We walk a bit and Destroyer boy stops to pick something up. He has found a dinosaur egg. It's not very big and it's the invisible kind. He cradles it carefully in his palm. I ask him to keep holding on to the stroller if he is going to walk with us. I can tell he is having difficulty keeping his egg safe and holding the stroller at the same time. We don't get much further along before he insists we stop. He is fidgeting with his pocket and I'm not sure what he's doing. "I put my didoor egg in my pocket. We can go now" Good. The last thing we need is him dropping his dinosaur egg on the sidewalk. Lord knows it could be last of it's kind and I couldnt handle the guilt of it's second extinction. The rest of the way goes pretty well with a few "what's that?"s and "look mommy"s.
  We finally get to the post office. It only took 35 entire minutes, a walk which takes a mere 20 minutes in adult steps. We run into an aquaintance I know from work who holds the door for our brood. We exchange quick hellos and he has an odd expression come across his face. I assume its because I have a large mob of small humans with me. Only after we get inside do i realize my baby Dude is just contently licking a slimy trail of nose goo off if his lip flowing in a continuous stream from his nostrils. Figures. Between that and me realizing Messy boy is wearing his pants on inside out, I must look like mother of the year. I dont have much time to sit on that thought however. We arrive at 12:36pm greeted by steel bars. The post office closes for an hour lunch, at 12:30pm. "Oh man!" I say aloud, thinking of an exclamation slightly more profane. I sigh, "they are closed, boys. What should we do now?" Then I remember Destroyer boy was asking about going to the library earlier and it is just down the road. So off we go to kill some time.
  On the way to the library, I quizzed the older two on the most important library rule. "Be Quiet!" Messy boy answered. Of course my Destroyer boy didn't know the answer, he doesn't even know the meaning of the words. I make them both repeat the phrase out loud. We get to the library and I let them play for about forty five minutes. I spend a majority of that taking toys out of baby Dude's mouth a hundred and thirty four times. "Are you ready to leave now?" I ask desperately. "No." answers Destroyer boy. "We will never be weady to weave" replies Messy boy. I throw the idea of Slurpees into the air as sort of a bribe. That does the trick. I guess "never" comes pretty quick. We take a walk down to 7-11 and baby Dude starts howling as soon as he sees the Slurpee machine. Can we say spoiled? Yep, spoiled at 16 months old. I can't get him that Slurpee fast enough. You would think it was life or death situation. When he FINALLY gets his Slurpee he looks so darn happy he quietly sips on that thing through the entire ordeal of getting the other two. Ordeal,  of course, because we are picking colors, wanting to do everything ourselves and goodness me I gave Destroyer boy the wrong color straw. 
 After 7-11 we head back to the Post Office. When we get inside Destroyer boy starts leaping around happily yelling "Yay! Yay! Them open, them open! Yay!" followed by Messy boy until they made quite the cute scene. An older woman on line commented on how cute they were and I agreed. Until they discovered the Parcel lockers.
  The Parcel locker wall is three lockers high and maybe ten lockers across. A few of them have keys in them that are I assume yet to be rented out. Of course the Curious Georges had to run over and open every one that  had a key and look inside. After all, who knows what wonders may await inside. A Narnia of sorts perhaps. By the time I got up to the counter, I'm sure cuteness was replaced by annoyance due to the repeated slamming of lockers. I had tried coaxing, calling and threats but they were much to fascinated by the walk of magic lockers. After speaking with the Postal worker for mere minutes I turn towards the lockers and the boys are nowhere to be seen. I would have panicked had I not distinctly heard them talking little kidenese by the wall. Before even finishing my transaction I run over to the locker wall and yank open the talking one. There inside scrunched up like a mischievous ball is my Destroyer boy. I have no idea where Messy boy is but I pull Destroyer boy out and what do you know there's the other little trouble maker squeezed in behind him. I caught them just in time. Another minute and they would have been driving Mr. Tomlin out of his horns. I take them back to the counter with me and am asked by the Postal worker if I am running a babysitting service. "Practically" I answer and finish my transaction. 
  I hurried out of the Post Office and two seemingly little gentlemen held the doors for me.  Ok little hellions, all is forgiven. The walk home was painstakingly slow as my Destroyer boy wanted to stop every five feet to touch or climb something. My little Dude fell fast asleep a few minutes away from home.  When we finally got there a lengthy three hours after we left, all I wanted to do was sit, but I had to get dinner into the slow cooker and put away some laundry. At least I was off from my other babysitting jobs this day.  I decided to leave Baby Dude asleep in the stroller until after I started dinner and then I could bring him upstairs. I put on Calliou and prayed for a moment of peace. I instructed the boys to be quiet for a few minutes until I could bring the baby upstairs. Not five minutes later Dude was crying and the Destroyer was climbing though the cargo area of the stroller. As soon as he saw me he looked up with puppy dog eyes and said "Sowee mommy". I just sighed and picked up Baby Dude. No peace is scheduled for today.
  The rest of my evening involved fun stuff, like laundry, nursing, making dinner and going to work. I'll spare you those exciting details and leave you craving more. I hope that the glimpse into my day brought someone out there enjoyment.  Stay tuned for another exciting chapter in a day in my life.

Burt's Bees Natural Skin Solutions

  As a person with Sensitive skin, I hate trying new facial care products. The last one I tried left me with a three day red rash and everyone kept asking if I had gotten sun burn. I easily break out or get that tight skin feeling after using facial washes, even some that claim they are for sensitive skin. I almost never use facial moisturizers because they leave me looking shiny and I easily break out from them.
  I am very excited to have received my Burt's Bees BzzKit through BzzAgent. I recieved the Facial Cleanser and Daily Moisturizing Cream. I used the soap-free sensitive facial wash before bed. I loved how it lathered and how smooth it felt on my face. I was surprised that a facial cleanser that did not contain soap could lather well. It didn't leave that dry tight feeling on my skin that I hate with facial cleansers. I was a little worried that I would wake up red and rashy but to my relief I woke up feeling soft and clean. Finally, a facial cleanser that truly is for sensitive skin like mine!
  The Burt's Bees Sensitive Daily Moisturizer comes in the coolest tube. It has a shape and dispenser similar to a mini shaving cream bottle. I used this product with greater hesitation because moisturizer always results in pimples for me. I am not really on good terms with facial products if you haven't noticed. I dispensed a few pumps of the moisturizer on my fingers and applied sparingly to my frightened face. The first thing I noticed was that there was no greasy slimy feeling to this moisturizer at all. My face immediately absorbed the lotion like a dog in the dessert getting it's first drink. Woah! It didn't feel heavy and I couldn't even tell I had applied it. I didn't get that feeling of pore clogging and impending pimple formation that I have gotten with other products.
  I am so excited to start sharing my samples and coupons with everyone. I love Burt's Bees and they never disappoint. From their lip products to their baby care products and now their skin care line I love Burt's Bees! Do you have Sensitive Skin? Then I urge you to give these a try, you will be glad you did.

As a BzzAgent I received samples of these products so that I could share my open and honest opinions of them with you.

My Memories Suite Winner!

And the winner (chosen by random number generator) is...
Drum roll please

Comment #8 Michelle

Michelle said...

I follow MyMemories on Twitter

September 23, 2011 3:43 PM

Congratulations Michelle, you will get an email from me shortly so you can claim your prize!

Due to the fact that Michelle has won at another blog she graciously passed on her prize so that I may award it to another. Entry 26 was chosen:

Just Married Mom of 3 said...

Follow My Memories Blog on GFC under Just Married Mom Of 3 boylaneely at hotmail dot com

September 30, 2011 1:14 PM

So Congratulations to our new winner! I just emailed you and am awaiting your response. Thank you to everyone that entered!

Why do the weekends fly by?

  I have been so excited all week about my three day weekend. I had three days off from work, although I did babysit for a short while friday. I don't know how it happened but it's now Saturday evening and two thirds of my long weekend is gone. I didn't do anything cool or exciting but I kind of feel gyped. I don't know how two days passed before I could blink. Is this what happens as you get older? I just need more time.
  I love having time with my family. The only time we have together is the weekends. My husband and I see each other for only fleeting moments throughout the week. It's always so nice to be with him and the kids and do things as a family. We try to do something family related every weekend. I think that's what feels off. We didn't go to a playground for a picnic, like last weekend, go to a park, have a movie night, nothing. It was an off weekend. They always go quickly but this one in particular just melted away. There's still tomorrow.
  I have to work next weekend but the weekend after that I took another three day weekend due to my birthday. Luckily I've stopped counting birthdays so I won't be getting any older. I am very much looking forward to that next long weekend. I guess I live for the weekends. I just wish I could make them last. I am going to make tomorrow count. The last day of this long weekend. I'm going to cherish my time with my family and make the time worth it. More than changing what I do, I am going to change the way I feel about it. Even if we just sat around and hung out all day, these are precious moments and I know that the next weekend will come soon.

Great Giveaway over at Mama to 4 Blessings

   Mama to 4 Blessings is hosting a giveaway for a Peg Perego Aria Twin 60 40 Double Stroller.
 
The Aria Twin is an awesome side–by–side compact stroller. You can bet I entered this giveaway. I want to win one for my boys! I am an avid walker and my big clunky front to back twin stroller was only good when my youngest boy was an infant and I could strap the car seat in. The best part is that this stroller will fit through the standard door frame! Not to mention it has individual adjustable hoods, individual reclining backrests and individual child trays. Did I mention how badly I want this stroller? Hurry over to Mama to 4 Blessings for your chance to win here:
 http://mamato3blessings.blogspot.com/2011/09/peg-perego-aria-twin-60-40-double.html