I absolutely love bath and body works! I hit their semi-annual clearance sale every year and stock up. If your like me and love their stuff you might enjoy my review of some of their lotions and body creams.
Here are a couple Reviews I wrote:
Warm Vanilla Sugar Body Lotion and Body Cream
Sensual Amber Body Lotion and Body Cream
Vanilla Bean Noel Body Lotion and Body Cream
Well as you all know our home has become a meg shift care center. With all the kids sick I have a med sheet with medications I have given everyone. I actually have to keep track of what med and times. I swear it is like working in a hospital. Thankfully one sick kid is better and only 3 more to go. The two little ones are doing good, just tired and hardly no fever left. My 10 yr old is still running lower fevers now. I'm hoping tomorrow she will be finished and able to go to school Wednesday.
Read more...As parents I believe we should be awarded some sort of medal for living through the tantrums, screaming, and that ever so popular word toddlers love, "No." I have lived through the terrible twos twice, and I am currently reliving them again with my 1 and 2 yr old children. Here is an article I wrote on my tips and tricks that are helping me survive the terrible twos.
How to Deal With the Terrible Twos
A Survival Guide
Well my 16 yr old daughter isn't any better today and my 2 year old is running a really high fever still. My 1 yr old is running fevers too, but not as bad as the other kids. I called the Doctor and they said to bring my oldest daughter back in, and bring the 2 yr old too. They decided to check them for influenza. The Doctor said he thought if it is the flu it should have already ran its course with my oldest daughter. Well, it ends up it is actually Influenza B. My poor kids are as sick as dogs. To top if off, when I got home from the office I found my husband with my 10 yr old at home. Apparently she started running a fever at school and they called him. Now all 4 kids are sick. I will be so happy when everyone is feeling better. It is awful to see all the kids so sick. Little Abigail (my 2 yr old) asked if she could have "pup cakes" (cup cakes). Of course I went and got her some, but my poor little girl couldn't eat them after all. She got sick :(.
Read more...My house has now become an impromptu clinic. I feel like I am working in the hospital all over again. Last week one of my daughters was sick. Now the other 3 kids are all sick at the same time. Mostly it is high fevers, chills, coughing, and generally achy all over. Unfortunately there is nothing the Doctor can do for them. We just have to wade it out with Tylenol and Motrin. I hope it doesn't last too long. This is the 4th day for my oldest daughter. The two youngest just started the fevers and coughing last night.
Read more...Okay, I admit it, I love the psychic medium John Edward. I have read everyone one of his books, watched all his television shows and even went to several of his venues. For all of you wondering, no I didn't get a reading. I probably won't be attending any more venues. I found out the prices for tickets have risen quite a bit.
If your like me, you might have wondered how much celebrity psychics like Sylvia Browne, Chip Coffee and John Edward charge. I decided to find out. I wrote an article detailing how much each one of them charge, and what you get for the money. It was pretty interesting. If you would like to read the full article here is the link:
Celebrity Psychics and How Much They Charge
Psychic Bang for Your Buck
Wow, what a great day! I had to sign for letter today and much to my surprise it was a gift card to Kmart! I still haven't figured out which sweepstakes I won it from. There was no letter inside, just the gift card. I even had to call the number on the card to find out how much it was. You can imagine my surprise when I found out it was $50.00. Of course it will be put to good use. Diapers and diaper wipes :). I am really surprised too. I haven't been able to enter sweeps for a couple months, because of the whole DSL thing. Entering using dial-up just drives me nuts and half the time don't even work. Of course now I'm itching to enter some sweeps. Happy sweeping everyone! May you wins be many and BIG!
Read more...Happy St. Patrick's Day! What a beautiful day it was. Nice and warm. I didn't even need to wear a coat! We spent all afternoon at the park. My little ones were thrilled, and I am thrilled too! All that swinging and sliding wore them out. For the first time in months they actually went to bed early. (knock on wood, since I said that, with my luck they will wake up in the middle of the night lol. ) It was wonderful opening all the windows. The house always feels so stuffy after keeping the windows shut all winter. Don't you just love it when the weather warms up! I guess I shouldn't be bragging too much. I hear it is suppose to snow at the end of the week, go figure! I think it is mother nature just giving us a taste and teasing us!
Read more...ok, I figured since I have been married 20 years there has to be something I might know about marriage..lol. I decided to write an article about What Questions you should ask your fiance before you get married. To keep all of you updated on how much my upfront payments are, this one netted me $2.31. That is not a fortune, but hey it will help me pay for my slow dial up connection ;). Besides, I had fun writing it. So far 87 people have read it! I hope you enjoy it. If you like it, don't be afraid to leave me a comment on Associated Content and here too! I love feedback!
Questions to Ask Your Fiance Before You Get Married
Update on my experience with Associated Content. The pay is not a lot. It is $1.50 for every 1000 page views. I guess that is good if you get a lot of people that read your article. I think it could take awhile for people to do that. I guess you never know. I believe it helps if you get a good fan base. Just like when blogging you have fans or followers. As you can see by my list of 3 followers at the moment, I am not what you would call a busy blog lol. It really doesn't matter, because I enjoy it and that's all that counts. I did have several articles get approved for upfront payment. I didn't start submitting them that way, until about the 10th one I wrote. I didn't think they would be interested in them. Much to my surprise they did offer me a couple dollars for the ones I did submit. I graciously accepted the offer. Now I wish I would have submitted them all for upfront payment. From now on I will do that.
My latest article is about entering Sweepstakes. It is a pretty long article. It is about tips and tricks that I find useful. I'm dropping a link here because it is too long to post the whole thing on my blog. It is easier to just drop the link. I think with most of my articles I will do that. Most of them are pretty long , and it is a lot to write on a blog. They have to be 400 words or more when you submit them.
If you interested here is my story:
Real Sweepstakes Winner Shares Secrets to Winning
Well it looks like I am going to be stuck with dial up for awhile. After 6 attempts, still no DSL. I have given up completely. I cancelled my order. I was afraid that if they finally did get it to work, and I had a problem with it later, it would take forever to fix it again. I didn't want to get in a contract for a year when I wasn't sure about the reliability. I guess I am going to have to give up and go back to my phone company for service. I was on a protest again my phone company. That's why I was trying to get it hooked up through someone else. I guess my protest has ended. Eventually I will suck it up, and call and have it installed through them.
Read more...Here is the latest news about my Dial Up Dinosaur. I am still stuck in the Dark Ages! My DSL didn't work. Go figure, just my luck! First it was that my connections weren't connected, what ever that means. They fixed that and still I see this annoying flashing green light, that lets me know my DSL still isn't working. Now they have to come out to the house and run the lines to see if there is a different problem there. Of course they can't make it out until Thursday. To top if off, they will be here anytime between 8am til 8pm. Nothing like waiting all day for someone to stop by. I am so keeping my fingers crossed that they will be able to fix it. I am honestly going nuts with Dial Up. Hopefully Thursday night I will again join the modern age, and surf the net with the speed of light! Well, maybe not that fast, but faster than Dial Up.
Read more...Today started like any other day, wake up, fix breakfast, and take my daughter to school. The exception for today was, me muttering the words, "Oh please not now". On the way to take my daughter to school my car decided it wanted to give out and not start. Right in the middle of the street at a stop light. Now I'm sure some of you have all had this terrible experience. It definitely isn't a pleasurable one. The thing that even made this worse, is the fact that I decided I would just drive and drop my daughter off in my PJ's. Now you must understand, they aren't just any PJ's, but my very colorful, solid pink ones, with the little blue penguins with white bellies!
As I sat at the stop light, turning green and the cars behind be beeping, I was muttering those words, " oh please not now". My car in my mind had became this unwilling creature, who refused to start. It was laughing at the fact that I would have to get out of the car, in my lovely PJ's and push it to the side of the road. All I could think about is all those mother's gathering in the school yard and chatting just how lovely I looked this morning! I would be the laughing stock of the subdivision. Funny thing about today too, it was freezing cold outside, and I was as hot as the blazing sun. I guess it was my fear and embarrassment that kept me warm.
As I was sitting there, begging the car to start, and praying to God to just let it run long enough to get me home, my daughter asked me if we should start pushing the car out of the street. I was thinking to myself I could let her steer while I pushed, but would she be able to do that. See, I had to push it up an incline backward to move it. My daughter doesn't drive, and now I was thinking if I let her steer she might panic and not hit the break it if started rolling forward. Omg, now I would be in my PJ's when the ambulance came to pull me out from under the car! I said to her, "Don't worry about pushing, just pray!" She simply replied, "Mom I have been praying".
Just as I thought all hope was gone, and I was destined to look like a fool, my car gave me a reprieve and fired up. I quickly backed up, and drove that baby home. As we drove home I reminded my daughter to say a prayer and thank God that our car started. She said, " Oh mom I will", with a smile on her face. I'm sure she had fearful thoughts running through her head too. Poor girl was probably in a panic that her mom would be seen in those funky PJ's and the kids at school would teaser her forever!
I guess I learned a lesson, that PJ's are for sleeping in, and not necessarily to be worn out in public. It reminds me of how my mom always says the thing about wearing clean underwear. Always have them on, in case you were in an accident. Well now I will remember to always put on regular clothes when you go out. You may never know when you might have to get out, and push a car down a road.
OK so there is nothing to do, and your kids are complaining once again that they are board! Here is a great recipe me and my kids made up. We call it Sparkle Bread. They like making it because it's fun, creative and something they can do with little or no help. For little girls you can even make them and use them for a tea party, or for little boys it can be a fun time snack!
If you would prefer not to use butter, you can use alternative toppings like peanut butter, nutella, or even marshmellow cream.
Your all finished. Now sit back and watch your kids eyes Sparkle when they eat the wonderful snack they created. My kids love doing this, and I hope your kids do too!
Read more...Check out my recently published content on AC:
Recipe: Fun & Easy Sparkle Bread
Book Review: Sign of the Dove by MaryRose Occhino
I will be posting my recipe and my book review on my blog here too. I just wanted to show that I did get published there, and as far as how it pays, I will keep everyone updated on that too!
Well I've been reading about some people making a bit of extra money online by writing articles, reviews, and ect. online. I figured I'd give it a try. I signed up with Associated Content. The pay isn't a lot, but I figure something is better than nothing. I believe it is $1.50 per 1000 hits. You'd have to check out their specifics to be sure. So far I have written a kids recipe and a book review. I am currently waiting to see how it goes. They haven't approved my articles yet. They say it can take a couple of days. Once I find out how it all works, and if it is worth it, I will post and let everyone know. I figured it would help me with my writing. I'd like to be a better writer, and I figured the it would give me some good practice.
Read more...Where have I been your might ask? Well I have been left behind in the middle ages with only dial up Internet access! I never realized just how much dial up resembles a dinosaur. It is truly something that seems exstint. Pictures, omg what are those? Trying to download a picture is nearly impossible. Even trying to access my own blog takes FOREVER! Please everyone, keep your fingers crossed. My new DSL service is suppose to be up and ready Feb. 28th. I am counting the days, hours and minutes. You might want to say a prayer too that I can figure out how to set it up, or that my brother in law is off that day :). He is my go to guy for tech stuff. I believe I am starting to go through withdrawal. I cannot get to some of my favorite sites, and I swear I am developing a twitch! Hopefully, all goes well I can start posting again. If it doesn't, you might have to check me into the local mental hospital. I will go crazy if I have to live on dial up much longer.
Read more...Omg, it is such a beautiful day! It's amazing how just seeing the sunshine can rejuvenate you. At least for today the winter blahs are gone. It is an amazing 61 degrees, which feels like summer, after the long cold winter. Driving around I noticed all the people with their car window rolled down. I even seen someone with flip flops and shorts!
To celebrate, we are have steaks on the grill. Yummy mushrooms, grilled onions, kaiser rolls and french fries will top off our feast. Funny how the weather can spice up your mood! I went from feeling icky, blah, and a bit depressed yeterday, to feeling wonderful, happy and almost giddy today. I believe I might even have a cocktail after dinner. I haven't had one in years!
I have so many people ask me all the things that I have won. I decided to publish a list of all my 2008 wins! It really is a bit of luck, but mixed in, is a bit of dedication too! You have to be in it to win it, as they say! When everyone else is sleeping, generally I am up, blogging and entering contest. I always say I work the midnight shift :). I started sweeping in May of 2005, and so far I have 25,281 expired sweeps that I have entered. Yes that's a lot of late nights! Everything in red, is a $50.00 win or more!
January 2008
Book-The Blue Door (reviewingtheevidence.com sweeps)(ARV $25.00)
$75.00 Gift Card to Fresh.com (Lucky Magazine Sweep)(ARV $75.00)
$50.00 Circuit City Gift Card (McAffe Triple Play Sweeps)(ARV $50.00)
OneTouch UltraMini Blood Glucose Monitoring System (LifeScan Sweeps)($19.99)
February 2008
Gift Basket of S.C. Johnson Products (Clean Home Journal Sweeps)(ARV $25.00)
Shiloh Falls DVD (Starpulse.com Sweeps)(ARV $15.49)
Cookout carryall (Kids Cook-Off Recipe Contest)(ARV $45.00)
Lovers, Dreams and Me CD (thestarscoop.com Sweeps)(ARV $11.95)
March 2008
Coupon for a box of Quaker Oats bars (Quaker Oats Sweeps)(ARV $3.69)
A Novel Idea Book (SimonsaysTEEN.com)(ARV $6.99)
April 2008
Goalrilla T-Shirt (Goalrilla.com Sweeps)(ARV $unknown)
Australian Lamb oven mitt (Austrailian Lamb Sweepstakes)(ARV $15.00)
May 2008
Scrubbing Bubbles Scrubber (Quick & Simple May Sweep)(ARV $9.00)
$50.00 (Taco Bell Baja Blast Instant Win)(ARV $50.00)
Pokemon Action Figure (Lunchmakers Second Chance Sweeps)(ARV $9.99)
Pokemon Action Figure (Lunchmakers Second Chance Sweeps)(ARV $9.99)
Blockbuster Free Movie Rental (Quicken Loans Instant Win)(ARV $3.99)
Enchanted Disney Phone Call (Disney Rewards Instant Win)(ARV $2.49)
Mothers Bread (Sara Lee Instant Win)(ARV $3.00)
Race Day Credential Holder (3M Nascar Instant Win)(ARV $1.10)
June 2008
Hanes Cotton Panty (Hanes Wedgie Free Wednesday Sweep)(ARV $2.00)
Fusion Soccer Ball (Gillette Champions Instant Win)(ARV $13.00)
July 2008
My Enemy's Cradle by Sara Young (Harcourt Books)(ARV $24)
Code for Get Smart Movie (Subway Get Smart Instant Win)(ARV $12.00)
Super Soaker (Schwan's Tony's Pizza Soak up the fun Instant Win)(ARV $9.99)
Myoplex Bar (Incredible Haulk Instant Win)(ARV $3.00)
$10.00 Itunes Gift Card (American Greetings Instant Win)(ARV $10.00)
Pedometer (Beewell Instant Win)(ARV $10.00)
Kodak EasyShare Printer 5300 All-in-One Printer (Contest was for winning a Gift for someone else. Mine was given to my Sister)(Mad Cropper's Random Act of Kindness)(ARV $149.99)
August 2008
Annie and Snowball Book (Simon & Schuster SimonSaysTEACH)(ARV $3.99)
Oust Air Sanitizer coupon (petfinder.com)(ARV $3.49)
That Baby DVD (Bloggy Giveaways - That Baby DVD Giveaway)($34.90)
RoC Correxion Moisturizer & Wrinkle Night Cream(Lucky Mag)(ARV $unk)
Ashtray (Marlboro Flavor Chase)(ARV $2.00)
$25.00 Build a Bear GC (The Full Mommy Giveaway)(ARV $25.00)
Hadda the Hippo Zoobie Pet (Metropolitan Mama Blog)(ARV $29.99)
September 2008
Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Piano (Enfamil Instant Win)(ARV $50.00)
October 2008
Miller Chill T-Shirts x 2 (Miller Chill Sweeps)(ARV $20.00)
$25.00 Master Card (Lipton Second Chance Drawing)(ARV $25.00)
Mountain Dew Cap (Mountain Dew Old School Sweeps)(ARV $10.00)
November 2008
2 Books David & Jesus (ChristianBooks.com)(ARV $50.00)
Book Christian Apologetics(ChristianBooks.com)(ARV $14.97)
December 2008
$20.00 Walmart GC (Walmart Survey Contest)(ARV $20.00)
NFL Bears Team Hat (Snickers NFL Instant Win)(ARV $28.00)
Baby Alive Learns to Potty (Ebay $1.00 Door Busters)(ARV $31.98)
If your not a member yet of the Juicy Juice Community, then now is the time to sign up. It is totally free! While supplies last you can get a free sippy cup too. They even have coupons you can print for Juice, once your a member! I signed up, and did receive my sippy cup. I will be downloading and printing the coupons too. My kids love their juice!
Click HERE to go to their website and join today.
It never ceases to amaze me, how each day seems to be a circle. Where I end is where I begin, over and over again! I am sitting here looking around, and noticing the toys all over the floor, the dishes in the sink, the dirty clothes piled up again, and the dirty bathroom! I woke up this morning, picked up toys, vacuumed, swept, finished the dishes, did several loads of laundry and cleaned the bathroom. Now here I sit tonight and it is back to square one again. Funny how you can work all day taking care of the house, cooking, cleaning, caring for little ones, and the big ones, and the next day it's starting the circle all over again. I must say I have a new found respect for my mother! I guess I never realized as a kid, just how hard she worked. I do believe my mom was even better than I am. I know she cooked from scratched a lot more than I do, and some how she was like a phantom. I never remember seeing her do her work, it was just always finished. I guess as a kid, we just never paid attention. So as I sit here tonight, I am reminded of just how great my mom is! So to all those hard working moms out there, blessings to all of you. You have the greatest, toughest, hardest, and rewarding job in the world. I have one thought that always goes through my mind on nights like this. It's actually a poem I once read somewhere. Cleaning after children while they are still growing, is like shoveling snow when it's still snowing!
Read more...Yes, I actually made pretzels. You know the big soft pretzels you get with the salt and if your like me, you dip them in cheese! I have to say since my Dotty Mae Kitchen Aide Mixer came into my life, it has been yummy every since. I couldn't believe how easy it was and cheap to top it off. Compared to how much you pay at the store, you can make them much cheaper at home. I used the recipe out of my Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. The poor thing hasn't been used in years! My kids were thrilled, they loved them. Now I have both kids asking me if I can make them for their class parties! The recipe states it makes 20, but I actually ended up with 17 all together. Next time I might have to make a double batch. They were gone in just a couple hours! We dipped them into the Ragu Cheesy Sauce. I didn't put the coarse sale on top. So if your ever afraid or intimidated at the idea of making pretzels yourself, I say GO FOR IT. It was fun, easy and the kids loved them.
Read more...
Another win for January. The win was from thisbookforfree.com Thanks to their great site. Flirting with Forty by Jane Porter. It was made into a Lifetime movie too. The book reads " Playful and smart, a coming-of-middle-age story of a woman not ready to give up on love and life.Omg. Talk about one of those days you just don't want to get out of bed. Today is it! I cannot believe how cold it is. It's -22 with the windchill. I actually believe it feels even colder than that. There were several schools that closed due to the weather, but not our system. The poor kids had to get out and go today. I really hope this weather doesn't last for days. It makes it way to cold to go anywhere, or do anything. It's hard even keeping the house warm. Last night we put plastic on the rest of the windows in the house. Go figure, they are new windows and still leak cold air. I really hate to see our heating bill this month. That should be a small fortune. Keep warm everyone. Keep thinking and dreaming of sunshine, the ocean and a nice warm tropical breeze!
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Wow, two more wins for January 2009. This year is off to a good start! Great wins! My little one will definitely love the Word World Lucky Duck DVD. She absolutely loves the TV show. Thanks to the blog Lipstick to Crayons for the great win. You can find them on my blog roll. Check them out! My second win is from Scholastic Books. Which is a great company with great books! I won a $25 Burger King Gift Card which will also be greatly appreciate by all my kids! Look out BK here we come. Cheese Burgers, Fries, and Chicken Tenders here we come. 
I have often pondered the question Why? Why do little ones do the things that they do. The only reasonable answer I have came up with is, "Because they Can!" Here is a pic of the beautiful art work my 2 year old created. Unfortunately it was on her brother! To top it off, it was created with Red sharpie marker. Why do you say she did that? I believe she did it " Because she Can!"
My biggest win EVER !! June of 2008, my husband and I took the trip of a life time. I won a 4 day 3 night trip to Maui Hawaii. It was absolutely beautiful and breath taking. It was perfect timing too. Dec 2008 we celebrated our 20th anniversary, and the trip made for a nice early anniversary celebration. We spent a day on the road to Hana, something you must do if you ever go. We hiked to waterfalls, swam in an ocean with black sand beaches, and had a blast at a luau. It will be a memory forever etched in my mind. If you think people don't win contests. I am here to say YES people really do. Just remember, "You have to be in it, to Win it!
Check out Momsational Blog and enter for your chance to win a Zenses DS game! These look totally awesome.
How the enter Giveaway:
Go to The Zenses site and then come back here and comment on which game you would pick and one feature of that game
Giveaway ends on Thursday, January 1st at noon EST
Read more...I just came across some great info with Common Sense Tips from Scott Products. I thought this tip was great: When drying clothes in your dryer, place a large, dry bath towel in with the clothing, and you can save drying time and electricity.
With 4 children, hubby and myself it seems all I do is laundry. I am going to try it and see how well it works. If you want to see some more great tips, the Scott Products website is full of great stuff. Click Here to visit their site!
Loving Heart Mommy has added a Giveaway for the Nintendo DS Zenses Ocean and Rain Forest Games. Why not visit her site and enter while you are there. Click Here to Enter.
Giveaway Ends: January 3rd!
Tons of Blogs are giving away the Zenses for Nintendo DS. Here is another great contest at Pink Family Reviews. Click Here to Enter.
Here are the Rules and Entry Dates and Deadlines.
1. Enter by visiting the Game Factory site and leaving a comment here to let me know which DS games (other than Zenses) you think you would like.
2. The contest will run through , Friday, January 2nd at 11:59 Central Time. The winner will be chosen by random.org. They will be contacted through email. Continental U.S. entries only please.
Okay, I will be honest. I have been posting to blogs and got hooked. I figured it was about time to try and start my own. I am hoping someday mine will look as amazing as all of the other blogs. Thanks for stopping by !!!
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