Th-th-that's All Folks!

The saying goes that all good things must come to an end. That is how I am feeling about my time here in blogdom.

I have worked really hard to make this blog something that I have become very proud of and I have truly enjoyed meeting some wonderful new friends. However, the time that I feel I need to put into keeping this blog the way I want it maintained is just more than I can do right now. I have started developing a lot of anxiety about things that I should not be anxious about and I have been devoting time to this instead of to my family.

There may come a time when I feel more balanced and ready to come back to this but for now, this will be my last post.

Tickle Me Tuesday- The Husband Store

My sweet husband sent me this in an email this morning. Hope you enjoy it as well.

The Husband Store

A store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch . . . You may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!


So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband.

On the first floor the sign on the door reads:

Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord.

The second floor sign reads:

Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids.

The third floor sign reads:

Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking.

"Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.

She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads:

Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead good looking and help with the housework.

"Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"

Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads:

Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop-dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads:

Floor 6 - You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day!

As you can see I left on the 5th floor!

For more Tickle Me Tuesday posts go to Jacki's blog.

100 Things

Congratulations! You made it through 100 posts with me! Whether this is your 1st post to read of mine or you've read all 100 I'm glad you're here!

To celebrate my 100th post I will tell you 100 things about myself that you may or may not already know. Please leave me comments on what we have in common! Here we go!

1. I am a Christian.
2. I asked Jesus into my heart when I was 6 1/2 years old.
3. I have been married for 10 1/2 years.
4. My husband's name is Alex.
5. For our 10th anniversary he took me to Hawaii for a week!
6. I always wanted 4 children.
7. I only have 2 girls.
8. I will not be having any more children!
9. My oldest daughter, Abby, is 7 years old.
10. My youngest daughter, Alyssa, is 5 years old.
11. I had postpartem depression after Alyssa's birth.
12. Postpartem depression stinks!
13. I met my husband at Auburn University.
14. I have a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education from Auburn.
15. Hubby has a Bachelor's in Computer Science.
16. I am a huge Auburn football fan- WAR EAGLE!
17. I taught 1st grade for 3 years.
18. I do not plan on ever teaching again.
19. I now teach 1st grade Sunday School so I don't feel like I'm wasting my education abilities.
20. When I entered Auburn in 1992, I wanted to be a Veterinarian.
21. I changed majors 2 times.
22. I have a 9 year old Yorkshire Terrier.
23. His name is Jonathan Rashleigh.
24. He is named after a New Kid on the Block!
25. I love 80's music.
26. I especially love 80's hair metal bands (Def Leppard anyone!)
27. I have had the same best friend since I was 4 years old.
28. My kids go to the same school my husband graduated from.
29. I am a terrific driver!
30. I work part-time at my church in the childcare department.
31. I live 15 minutes from my mom and dad.
32. I live 3 minutes from my in-laws.
33. We lived in a suburb of Memphis, TN for 3 1/2 years when we 1st got married.
34. We moved to the Birmingham area when we had our 1st daughter.
35. Hubby and I love to travel when we get the opportunity.
36. In 2006, he took me to Sydney, Australia.
37. His company sent him there for a conference so I tagged along.
38. I have touched a Koala (which is not a bear) and a Kangaroo!
39. For my 30th birthday, hubby took me to New York City for the first time.
40. I was on the plaza at the Today show on my 30th birthday (May 28, 2004).
41. For my 31st birthday, he planned a surprise trip to San Antonio, TX.
42. For my 32nd birthday, we stayed at home!
43. I am going to Ecuador in May on a mission trip with my church.
44. I will be working with a local church to teach them how to do "children's church" while the adults meet.
45. The one thing I've always wanted to do that I haven't done yet is swim with dolphins.
46. I have been swimming with stingrays, though!
47. It was cool, but I want dolphins!
48. I have 1 older sister that I have always looked up to.
49. I drive a minivan.
50. I wish I did not!
51. I am an awful cook.
52. I am an even worse housekeeper!
53. I'm great at reading kids books.
54. You should hear me do the voices in Wombat Divine by Mem Fox!
55. I am 5 ft. 10 in. tall and have been that tall since 7th grade!
56. No, I don't play basketball.
57. I do play volleyball and softball when given the opportunity.
58. I have suffered from migraines since I was a teenager.
59. I now take medicines daily to try to prevent them.
60. It doesn't always work.
61. I love to scrapbook... when I have time (LOL)
62. I make a scrapbook for each of my girls plus one for myself.
63. I am currently 2 years behind!
64. I am teaching my oldest daughter how to scrap.
65. I also know how to sew and embroider.
66. I can smock dresses but haven't had time in over a year.
67. I play Bunco with a group of friends from church once a month.
68. They say I'm the loudest in the group.
69. I love warm weather.
70. My favorite movie is Grease.
71. My favorite kids movie is Lady and the Tramp.
72. My favorite children's book is The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle. (It takes a good woman to bring out the best in a man - go read it!)
73. I love to shop for my clothes at The Gap.
74. I get my kids clothes from The Gap, The Children's Place, Limited Too, and Target.
75. Hubby's clothes come mostly from Eddie Bauer.
76. We do not eat much fruit.
77. It's a chore to get my kids to eat apples, bananas, and grapes, let alone anything more exotic!
78. We eat lots of vegetables, meats, pastas, and breads.
79. Both of my children are underweight.
80. Hubby and I are not :)
81. I love to read celebrity gossip.
82. I subscribed to People magazine for 8 years!
83. I felt like it was becoming an addiction and decided to let it go!
84. I would probably pass out if I ever met someone famous.
85. I have watched Days of Our Lives since I was 15 years old.
86. For those doing the math that is 18 (almost 19) years!
87. Following my People magazine theory, I should probably give that up, too.
88. I will not!
89. I love Steve and Kayla and the new John and Marlena. (on Days)
90. I read the newspaper everyday.
91. It drives me nuts if someone else messes it up before I can read it!
92. I like to do Sudoku puzzles.
93. I am horrible at talking on the phone.
94. I will forget to call you back.
95. I am much better at email.
96. If you don't see me write it down, it's not going to happen!
97. Hubby and I completed Financial Peace University (by Dave Ramsey) in the fall.
98. We are debt free (except our house).
99. I don't wear much jewelry.
100. I sleep with a stuffed bear. (yes, still!)

There you have it! 100 things about me! I now return you to your regular programming!

My 1st Giveaway Winner!

It is almost time for my 100th post y'all! My next post will be my 100th! Can you believe it? In honor of that, I hosted my very 1st giveaway. I hope you saw all the hints I left along the way. I was amazed at the number of comments I received! Thank you so much! I hope you will all come back Monday for the reveal of post #100!

Until then here is the winner of the great 1st giveaway ever on Keeping It Sane!

Here are my kids pulling the name out of a hat!

Drum roll please! The winner is:

Nancy

Nancy, you should have received an email from me this morning. Congratulations! Thank you to everyone who played along and who stop by to read this little corner of the blogosphere! See you all on Monday!

Who Doesn't Love Jewelry?

I don't know about you, but I am somewhat picky about my jewelry. I have 2 rings that I always wear and I never leave home without my watch. I like to pick a piece of jewelry and stick with it!

Well let me introduce you to the QRay. This is an ionized bracelet made with select mineral component metals and exclusive ionization technology. This means you will get the best looking bracelet while maintaining optimum performance. It's worn by many athlete's to maintain wellness, so shouldn't you check it out, too?

Thankful Thursday- Provision

Psalm 103:5 (Contemporary English Version)

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

5Each day that we live, ^[a] he provides for our needs

and gives us the strength

of a young eagle.

This week I am especially thankful for how the Lord has provided for me in a particular area of my life. Of course I am grateful for his provision of our household daily needs, but He has gone above and beyond in a particular area and I want to show His glory to all of you!

I have been called to go on a mission trip to Ecuador at the end of May with my church. When I first started feeling like I should go, I was very hesitant. It is a medical mission trip and I am not in the medical field. I spoke with the person leading the trip and shared me feelings. I told him that I felt the call to go, but that my heart was for working with children. He said that on this trip for the first time they would be using a children's curriculum and teaching the churches they are planting how to do children's church! That's why I was called to go on this trip!

So I signed up and payed my deposit. Then I went about raising money. Within a month my trip was fully funded! The Lord fully provided the call and the funds for me to go on the trip! He has even provided extra money that is now in an account for a future trip that I am waiting to be called to go on.

It has been so exciting for me to see scripture fulfilled in my life and to know that the Lord is going to do mighty things in the lives of the children I meet in Ecuador! I am so thankful that He is my provider!

For more Thankful Thursday posts go to Sting My Heart.

Works For Me Wednesday- Financial Planning

With gas prices sky rocketing, and talks of a recession all around who wants to talk about finances? That is probably the time we need to think about it the most!

Hubby and I went through a course in the fall called Financial Peace University and I thought I would share one of the things that works for us.

This course changed how we think about our finances and how we plan our budget (that used to be an ugly word in our house). We started thinking about how we could plan ahead for major purchases like vacations, cars, and Christmas so that we could just pay for them outright and not have debt. Can you imagine doing that! We set aside money every month for each of those things.

When we first started, we just kept a spread sheet and set money aside for different categories. We decided those 3 categories were going to get big and wouldn't be used for a while so we decided to set up separate accounts at our bank. Our bank does not charge for separate accounts as long as you keep a certain minimum in there and we set them up as money markets to get a higher return. This Christmas we didn't have a full 12 months to save so we still had to do a little on credit but we came close to a cash Christmas!

If you have some of these same goals, I hope this will be helpful for you too. For more great Works for Me Wednesday posts go to Rocks in my Dryer.

And don't forget that you only have 2 more days to register for my 1st giveaway as we get ready for my 100th post!

Tickle Me Tuesday- Momsense

This week for Tickle Me Tuesday, I am showing you a video from a comedian that I saw in Atlanta last year. Her name is Anita Renfroe. This is a song that she does during the show that I laughed so hard I thought I would pee in my pants!

The song is done to the tune of the William Tell Overture and she goes through all the things we say to our children in a 24 hour period. Can you imagine! It's like she is a fly on my wall! Enjoy!




For more Tickle Me Tuesday posts go to Jacki's blog.

In Response to Help

Thank you to my sweet blog buddies for your encouragement this weekend! So many of you had the same questions I did about increasing page ranks on different scales, so I thought I would share one thing I learned over the weekend and ask (maybe beg a little- Tee Hee!) for help again.

I was reading a website this weekend that talked about how your rankings are affected by your standing on other social networking sites like technorati, digg, and del.icio.us. As your standing on the social networking sites go up, your rankings go up as well.

To that end, I joined technorati several weeks ago. You may not have noticed my button on the side bar where you can add me to your faves, so here it is again:



If this is a blog you enjoy, run over to technorati and add me to your faves, please. You can walk if you must! Then leave me a comment so I can make sure I have returned the favor. I know I already have many of you in my favorites folder. When I get digg and del.icio.us added I will add those buttons on the side bar as well so make sure you look for them.

And don't forget that you only have until Friday to get entered in my very 1st giveaway! I will notify the winner this weekend and hopefully have my 100th post up on Monday.

HELP!

Sometimes you just need a little help from your friends! And this is one of those times for me. If you haven't noticed, lately I have been trying to pick up a few sponsored posts here and there to make a little extra money.

I am a stay at home mom, but I work a few hours a week at my church doing child care to help out. All of the money that I make goes into a fund for gifts, vacations, and to hopefully replace my car one day soon. Since the car may need to be replaced sooner than we expected, I have started stepping up my attempts at building income with my blog.

Here's where I need your help. I have really enjoyed building a network of friendships this year and that has increased my ranking on a few scales. Unfortunately, I have not been able to increase my Google rank. That is what I need to increase in order to get the type of sponsored posts that I feel comfortable writing on my blog.

So how can I increase my Google rank quickly? I am on two web rings and am linked on several blogs out there. Any advice on what else I should do?

It's Really Happening

I am so excited I can hardly contain myself! I brought you the information about the New Kids on the Block reuniting back in January when I told you the story that makes my hubby cringe. Then I haven't heard anything else... I've just been waiting.

This week, news broke that boys from Boston (that's the New Kids -catch up people!) will be on the Today show Friday morning! You can see the official AP story here. I have so been waiting for this moment.

I saw a recent interview with my favorite fella Jonathan and I squealed like a 33-year-old woman should not over a boy band! Especially when her hubby is in the room!

Here is the video from their official website www.nkotb.com. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! I'll be back tomorrow to rave over how awesome the Today show will be!

Thankful Thursday- Peace

I'm a little late getting my Thankful Thursday post up, but that is actually part of what I am thankful for this week.

There has been a lot of stress in my house this week. I have been trying to plan my youngest daughter's 5th birthday party and the date had to be moved up a week. There were many phone calls made to a certain princess who is available on the date we need her now, so all systems are go!

Then there was the subject of getting my oldest daughter dressed this morning while she was tired and grumpy! She did not like what I picked out and decided to throw a bit of a temper tantrum that ended with her saying "I wish you weren't my mother!" That doesn't go well with me (needless to say).

Here's where my thankful part comes in in a huge way. I suffer from depression and anxiety. This time of year is always very difficult for me. It is a busy time of year with recitals, exhibitions, birthdays, and memorials for a few loved ones who passed away in recent years. This time of year seems to hit me hard every year. But this week especially I have felt an unusual calm and peace around me during the same type of circumstances I have faced in the past. I am choosing to face the trials and struggles that everyone goes through while knowing that I have the God of all comfort on my side. For years I have fought these struggles on my own and lost miserably. This week I have felt God's peace in such a real way and have been able to handle life's circumstances. I am so grateful for that peace this week!

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27

To see more Thankful Thursday posts go to Sting My Heart.

And don't forget to check out my first giveaway as we get ready for my 100th post!

WFMW- My Greatest Hit

This week for WFMW, we are going with a greatest hits theme. If you missed this the first time, here is my tip on how to organize kids craft items. Enjoy!

My two girls are very crafty. Not sneaky crafty, but artsy crafty. They love to do any kind of art project. I found that their art projects were taking over my house! And because they love to do them so much, everybody began to give them cute art projects for gifts, which we love to do but we couldn't get a handle on the mess.

Luckily, my dear hubby is a much better organizer than I, and he came up with the idea of using these office organizers for the girls craft stuff. There is one in each corner of our eat-in kitchen. This one is labeled for crayons, glue, stickers, crayons, coloring books, and all types of paper products:

This one holds all the craft kits we have received. At any given time when they are bored they can go get modeling clay, make sand art, create their own soap, or create a Spot (one of their favorites). Of course their is much more in the drawers and I'm sure they can list every item in there but you get the picture!
The main thing is they have freedom to craft and clean up-YEAH! Here is Abby's latest creation that she made Sunday afternoon. Alyssa was over at the grandparent's house with Dad so Abby made this for her. Any guesses what it is?
It's a music stand! She made it out of construction paper rolled up. It will actually raise and lower. How about that? The green piece is folded up to hold the sheet music.
Here you can see the back that she reinforced with a plastic knife because her sheet music kept flopping backwards :) LOL! I think that's pretty crafty for 7- years-old! Watch out Martha Stewart!

For more Works for Me Wednesday posts click here.

Don't forget to check out my 1st giveaway as we get ready for my 100th post. We're only 10 away!

Tickle Me Tuesday- Cats

This week for Tickle Me Tuesday, please join me for the time honored tradition of laughing at cats as they do what they do best - fall down and sometimes grouch and fight!

I am a dog person, but I really enjoy all animals, so I love these types of clips. They make me giggle. I hope you enjoy it as well.





To see more Tickle Me Tuesday posts head over to Jacki's blog.

And don't forget to register for my 1st giveaway as I get ready for my 100th post!

I've Got a Rep to Maintain!

What would you do if you found out that negative information was coming up about you on search engines? I would be pretty mad at first. After I stopped crying to my husband, I would contact the reputation management experts. This company will help you regain your good reputation online!

We don't often think about these kind of things until it is too late. So head on over and get their list of 10 ways to protect and enhance your online reputation as well. You'll be glad you did!

My 1st Giveaway!

I can hardly believe it is almost time for my 100th post! In honor of my 100th post I am giving away a package of goodies with a "100" theme! Here it is:


The winner will receive Rick Warren's best selling book "The Purpose Driven Life" (I know that should be underlined but I can't figure that out!), Tazo Green Tea, Keith Urban's Greatest Hits CD, Burt's Bees Peppermint Shower Soap, Method Cucumber scented All Purpose cleaner, and a $20 Target gift card!

So how is this "100" themed, you ask? There are 40 chapters in the book, 20 bags of tea, 18 songs on the CD, $20 on the gift card, + 2 single items = 100! Plus these are all things that I enjoy. Wait until you smell the Burt's Bees Soap. If you are near a Target, go smell one right now, I'll wait... And the Method cleaner is non-toxic so I don't feel bad using it when my children are in the room. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Now for the important part, how can you win this? Simply leave me a comment and let me know what your favorite item in the giveaway is. You'll get all of them anyway. I just want to know for the future. I will give you a second entry if you post about it on your blog with a link to this post. This contest will end on April 11th. I hope to have my 100th post up around that date and I will announce the winner on my 100th post. If you do not have a blog make sure you leave me an email address so I can contact you. The winner will be drawn out of a hat by one of my children. Good luck everyone!

I Love This Show

With all this spring break travel and craziness, I have fallen so far behind on my Tivo watching. I finally got some time today to watch some shows that I recorded a few weeks ago and I just had to tell you about a show that I absolutely love. I read about it months ago and waited for the premier episode and I can't believe I just now got to see it! I hope you are all watching:

Oprah's Big Give

Here is a preview from you tube:

Can I tell you why I loved this show? I was just reading on Jacki's blog today about how spoiled J.Lo's twins are. When I see their nursery and think of all the things that money could have been used for while still supplying them with a very nice nursery it makes me nauseous. So this show actually shows people trying to outgive each other!

They start with the same amount of money and the same time frame, but they are trying to make the biggest difference in someone's life. There have been some great stories, yet I still get the reality TV drama that I need from a TV show. Its a win-win situation! If you're not watching yet, this is the Sunday that you need to tune in.

For my regular readers, keep your eyes out for my 1st ever contest! I am coming up on my 100th post so I hope to have a giveaway up soon to get everyone ready for my big 1-0-0!

Thankful Thursday- Safety

There are so many things that I take for granted on a daily basis, but this week I just want to take a minute and be thankful for the Lord's protection on me and my family this past week.

My kids were out of school for spring break so we took the opportunity to do a little traveling. Hubby chaperoned our church youth group on a trip to the beach. Bless his sweet heart. If that doesn't earn a jewel in his crown in heaven, nothing will (grin). He totaled about 11 hours in a church bus with adolescents!

I spent one day in Huntsville, Alabama; one day in Selma, Alabama; and 3 days in Kentucky (almost to Cincinatti, Ohio). Those 3 trips totaled about 23 hours in a vehicle with 2 small girls!

We always pray the night before a trip and ask God to keep us safe while we travel. While we were in Kentucky we called back to family in Birmingham and heard about this awful car accident that took the life of 4 teenagers. You can read about it in the article from The Birmingham News here.

I realized how important God's protections was right then and there. I know that He is in control and He has a plan for these families who are grieving so right now. But as we pulled in safely from that last trip, I have never been more grateful for the Lord's protection on me and my family. I hope that is something I never for granted again.

To read more Thankful Thursday posts go to Sting My Heart.

Tickle Me Tuesday - Easter funny

In honor of Easter this past weekend, I hope you enjoy this comic strip that was in our local paper on Sunday. You will probably have to click on it to enlarge it enough to read it, but I think it is worth it! Hope you enjoy it as well. You can also read the daily For Better or For Worse strip written by the talented Lynn Johnston by clicking here.


I don't know if you made it to church on Sunday or not. Our church was packed and I was thrilled to see so many people in the Lord's house!

To see more Tickle me Tuesday posts, head over to Jacki's blog.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone is having a truly blessed Easter Sunday! Here is my family dressed in our Sunday best for church this morning. It's nice to know we can clean up when we try! Ha!My girls were actually being very sweet to each other depite the large amount of candy they had already ingested by this time of day!

My dress is absolutely darling, but I had to cover it with a cardigan because we got hit with another cold spell this weekend after weather in the high 60s and low 70s all week. The girls had a white sweater, too, but they were misplaced by the time we returned from church and tried to take pictures. Oh well, you can see their dresses better! Does it really matter if they are freezing?

We coaxed Dad into an Easter picture as well. Please forgive my sweet Abby. She's a blinker like me and the sun was bright but not warm!

Enjoy a wonderful day with your families!

I'm Back

I sure hope you've missed me at least a little bit! This has been a crazy week! My girls were on Spring Break so we traveled to Huntsville, Alabama one day; Selma, Alabama one day; and we just returned from a 3 day driving trip to Kentucky on a church bus! Please forgive me for not posting for a few days. I will catch up tomorrow!

Until then, go check out the place I visited in Kentucky. It's called The Creation Museum. I will post more info and pictures tomorrow or Monday.

Tickle Me Tuesday - Edition 1

Welcome to my first Tickle Me Tuesday post hosted by my friend Jacki! She has been doing these for a while and has just begun hosting it. It is designed to share the funny things we always stumble upon, and up until now, I have not had anything to share - Boo Hoo!

Well, we spent yesterday at my sister in law's house and she showed me the funniest video that I just have to share with all of you. She actually saw it on another blog so I apologize if you've already seen it.

I don't know if this family is actually a homeschooling family that is poking fun at itself or just a large family that thinks homeschooling is a little odd. My personal disclaimer is that I know tons of homeschooling families with lovely, well-adjusted children. I also know a few kooky ones and I refuse to name names to protect the innocent!

With that being said I present to you The Homeschool family, Addams family spoof:



For more Tickle Me Tuesday fun go to Jacki's blog, Moving at the Speed of Life.

I Got an Award

Look at this sweet award I got from my friend Jen yesterday.


I love reading her blog because she is always so positive and fun. She is also a faithful reader and commenter on my blog. What a great encouragement she has been to me. Thanks Jen for my very first award! The fact that it's an Easter themed award means a lot to me :) Go visit her blog today. She's hosting a great meme called Heads or Tails that is a lot of fun!

I am going to pass this award on to two other great friends, Jacki and Dee. They have great blogs that are lots of fun, too. Jacki is hosting Tickle Me Tuesday today as well. Make sure you go visit them both as well! Thanks for being such great friends girls!

Lost and Not Found

I don't know if your children are like this, but why do kids always seems to lose the most expensive or most treasured toys yet keep every free kids meal toy they ever acquire?

We have boxes upon boxes of junk toys! You know the ones. You get them for free at any drive-through and if your kids see you throw them away, they cry. They don't really want to play with them, but proclaim that each one is their very favorite!

Now, my sweet Abby has one treasured baby doll that she calls "Tickle" because she likes to tickle her yarn hair as she falls asleep. She has kept this doll since she was about 3 (she is now 7). It has been misplaced before, but this time it has gone missing for about a week and we have turned the house upside down.

There is also the subject of a missing Nintendo DS that she just received for her birthday in November. Now, she is not quite as anxious as Mommy is to recover the DS, but Mommy knows how much the DS cost!

She of course has no idea where she left either one and has about a 3 minute attention span for looking for them. We even approached a higher power tonight and prayed that God would help us to think clearly and remember if we had seen them anywhere! Is that bad? I apologize for hogging His time on such a silly matter, but we are at our wits end!

My big question is, when we finally find the DS (it's got to be here somewhere), do I keep it away from her for awhile as a punishment to teach her to be more responsible? What kind of rules can I set up to help her be more responsible with her more expensive toys? We try to teach her to take care of all of her toys, but look where that's gotten us! Help, please!

Thunderstorms

Why is it that thunderstorms seem to always come in the middle of the night?

Last night my nephew spent the night with me, and naturally hubby was out of town chaperoning a youth trip for our church to the beach. I had been a responsible parent when I heard that bad weather was coming our way and stayed up late to watch the weather report on the news. The nice weatherman said that severe thunderstorms would come through our area between 5 and 10 this morning. I thought we would be fine and hoped that it wouldn't get bad until after we were all awake.

Imagine my surprise when I was awakened at 2:45 this morning to flashes of lightning, howling winds, and hail on my roof! I started running around shutting down computers, unplugging TVs, and checking on amazingly still asleep children. After I finally got back in bed at 3:30, guess who couldn't get back to sleep? My dog was going nuts in his kennel! Every time I heard any creak in or outside of the house I thought my sweet nephew was trying to find his way down to my room! I think I finally got back to sleep around 5:30 this morning! I am one tired Mommy (and Aunt Sissy)!

Win a Wii from Charter

I heard about this on our local radio station yesterday and thought it was a very intriguing idea. Charter cable offers high speed internet as one of their many services to their customers. They are now extending a terrific promotion on top of their already fantastic cable, internet, and telephone packages.

Starting on March 12 and ending on March 26, you can Click Here for a Chance to Win a Nintendo® Wii™! You have the awesome opportunity to bid on Charter's High Speed Internet for Life service. The bidding will start at only $10. Can you imagine not having to pay for internet again? And have your own Wii as a bonus! I told you it was an awesome opportunity!

We got a Wii last fall for my husband's birthday. Every once in a while he actually gets to play it because our children are on it all the time! I have some friends who have been looking for one all over our city. Now, I can send them to get their internet service and their Wii all at the same place. So head over to Charter's web site and put in your bid. I would love to see one of my faithful readers win this, if I don't beat you to it!

I'm an Awful Cook, but ...

Look what I made last night!

Usually when I cook, I make things straight out of a box. We're talking Hamburger Helper, taco kits, even spaghetti straight from the jar (I do add meat). If it's not easy, we don't eat it!

Well, we have been watching the Biggest Loser this season and trying to get in shape as best we can. My sweet hubby is even going to the gym several times a week and looking quite good. You can imagine how our eating habits are not contributing to his weight loss goals!

A few weeks ago, Bob Harper (one of the trainers on the Biggest Loser) mentioned the ZipLoc Zip and Steam bags and talked about how easy they are to use. Well, as you know, easy is my language! So I immediately bought them, but didn't use them until last night!

It was so easy and tasted great! Here's what I did: I cut up 1/2 of a fresh zucchini, put in some baby carrots, broccoli and cauliflower (they came pre-cut and washed). Then I added about a teaspoon of olive oil and a sprinkle of seasoned salt and popped it in the microwave for about 3 minutes. It wasn't quite done so I added another minute to finish the carrots and it was perfect! I will definitely do this again.

Has anyone else tried these? I have 9 more bags and want to try some more recipes!