Celebrity Gossip

So, I totally love reading celebrity gossip. It's sometimes hilarious what makes the news when it happens to a celebrity, when it happens to normal people every day. I usually use celebritygossip.com to read up on what's going on. Some recent stories are that legend Evel Knievel has died at age 69, Lindsay Lohan broke up with the guy she met while she was in drug rehab in Utah this summer, the hostage situation at Hillary Clinton's campaign office, and Kirsten Dunst has some new surfer boyfriend. I also like watching Entertainment Tonight on CNN. It's interesting to see what the rich and famous are up to.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What is your favorite carnival/amusement park ride?
- Roller coasters! Woooooo!

Soup
How do you react in uncomfortable social situations?
- I am shy and just stay quiet.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy discussing deep, philosophical topics?
- Not much, I get nervous and can't think straight.

Main Course
Did you get a flu shot this year? If not, do you plan to?
- Nope. The one year I did get a flu shot I still got the flu.

Dessert
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend watching television?
- Waaaay too many! And unfortunately it's usually a lot of cartoons.

Looks like Christmas

Hubby has spent this last week putting up Christmas lights. He spent hours out in the freezing cold putting the lights on the house and today he put lights inside on our staircase. Makes me want to go get a tree already and get out all the decorations! I might get out the decorations soon anyway, Christmas is in less than a month. Now I want to start playing Christmas music too :D

They make me look good :D

So I think I should post cute videos of my kids more often. They are just too adorable! Plus I am really bad at remembering the cute things they do to write about. And I like to show off my cute boys lol :D And they bring in more comments, so that's always good!

Sleep baby sleep

I think I need more baby furniture. I am running out of places for kids to nap lol. When I can get Jason to nap, he is in the boys' room. I let Jakey nap wherever he falls asleep (usually in the swing in the living room) because he's such a bad sleeper that I'm not going to fight him on it. Little T sleeps in either on my bed or the boys' bed depending on if Jason's napping or not. I don't want any of them napping in the same room so they don't wake each other up. I think I'll have to set up the pack n play in the office when Little I is here. If I have another baby while still watching these kids I'm going to be having baby cribs coming out my ears!

Growing

It's so funny how every kids grows differently. My boys take after us and are small. They are both around the 5-10th percentile for both weight and height (despite them both being almost 9 lbs at birth lol). Then there's Hubby's niece who just turned 1 a few months ago and weighs probably the same as Jason, my 3-yr old. And Little T is only 8 months old and weighs the same as Jakey who is 18 months. Carrying him around gets tiring. Who needs weight training and bodybuilding supplements when you have kids? I know other friends whose kids have weighed more than Jason before they are even 1. For a while I worried about my small kids, but the pediatrician assured me that since they were still growing on their small curve and Hubby and I are not big, that they were perfectly fine. I wonder if all our kids will be like that.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for my our new laptop. It is so awesome! And it makes it so much easier to watch the kids while I'm online cuz I don't have to be up in the office to get on the computer. And it's so useful for listening to music, watching DVDs, playing games, and taking on road trips. I really am glad we got it.

What are you thankful for today?

Presenting...

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! I've made a video of my two boys telling you their names. They are so cute! I'm sure you'll all agree :D

In case you couldn't understand what he was saying, Toddler's name is Jason and Baby's name is Jacob, but we normally call him Jakey. And before you ask, no, we aren't naming all our kids "J" names, and yes, we get them mixed up all the time lol :D

I'll be calling the kids I babysit Little T and Little I. Little T has been Little Baby on here and Little I starts here next week. So that's that! Hope you enjoyed :D

Things that start with K!

I got tagged a few days ago by Misty Dawn for this fun little meme. I know I have another meme waiting for me somewhere, but I'll try to find it later. For this one I'm supposed to use the first letter of my first name to come up with words that answer the following questions, but not use my name. Sounds easy enough!

1. Famous Singer: Korn
2. Four Letter Word: King
3. Street: Kempfield Way
4. Color: Kelly Green
5. Gifts/Presents: Kisses
6. Vehicles: Kia
7. Things In A Souvenir Shop: Kid t-shirts
8. Boy Name: Kevin
9. Girl Name: Kelly
10. Movie Title: King Kong
11. Drink: Kool-aid
12. Occupation: Karate instructor
13. Celebrity: Kelly Clarkson
14. Magazine: Knit 'n Style
15. U.S. City: Kansas City
16. Pro Sports: Kickball (Ok, maybe not a pro sport but couldn't think of one with a k lol)
17. Fruit: Kiwi
18. Reason For Being Late For Work: Kissing
19. Something You Throw Away: Kitkat wrapper
20. Something You Shout: Kids! Down!

That was a little harder than I expected, but still fun :D I'll tag my hubby Nate

Let them sleep

Well, Little Baby should be waking up soon, but now Baby is asleep. I don't want to wake him cuz he really needs his naps but I need to go to the bank soon. Silly kids, too bad their habit of all napping at the same time didn't last more than a few months. I might as well do some more laundry while I wait and see what messes Toddler is getting into. (Oh yeah, I will reveal their names soon, just wanted to do it cute and haven't gotten around to it)

Wordless Wednesday- Helicopter Head

Funny Pictures

Where did that come from?

I get some funny google searches linking to my blog. Some of them are from paid posts I've done, like horse riding apparel, and I get "finbar oneill" at least a few times a week. I also get searched for "cat urine smell out" a few times a week. Others I get are things like parenting styles, grocery list, car angels, friday feast, sick kittens and a bunch of one's that don't make sense like "bathrooms grey tails", "gifts for a germaphobe", "gren brett white", "make crochet belly" and a ton more. It's fun to go to mybloglog or google analytics and see what brought people to my site.

Stains

Our carpet is so stained. 2 toddlers and a handful of cats will do that. We have cheap tan carpet that just soaks up anything that falls on it. Unfortunately it is also under the table and has had many foods dropped on it. I really want new carpet, something that doesn't stain as easy, hides dirt, and looks nicer. Maybe I should get home theater carpet. I bet theater carpeting has to be pretty tough since it gets tons of people walking on it and food spilled all over it all the time. Of course, I still want to get the bathroom tiled and the kitchen floor done before getting new carpet, so it might be a while before I have to think about carpet.

Library debate

I'm debating whether or not to take the kids to the library. On one hand, there is a bank right by the library, and I need to go put some money in my checking account so I might as well do it in one trip. Plus Toddler loves the library. On the other hand, taking three kids 3 and younger to the library is like setting a litter of puppies loose in an antique store. I have to carry Little Baby in my sling, so he's easy, but my two tend to run different ways and I cannot keep up with either while carrying Little Baby. They pull books and movies from shelves and run around looking for the fish tank. Last time I dropped my library card in the parking lot but didn't know it until I went to check out, and I had to drag the kids back out to find it and back in to get my books again. It's so much easier just to go alone after Hubby gets home.

Getting behind

Well, I didn't get much done yesterday, just like I figured. So today I need to go to the bank, the library, do lots of laundry and the dishes, and vacuum. I still have a cold, but I picked up some medicine and cough drops yesterday so I'll live. Brr, it's cold, stupid snow :P I have our heater on it's highest setting but it hasn't caught up to the cold yet. I think I'll go put on a sweater and nice warm socks.

Heads or Tails: Mark

Today's Heads or Tails theme is Mark.

Toddler loves to leave his mark on our house. Ever since he was old enough to hold a crayon he's been coloring anything he can get his hands on. We had to scrub our old apartment so much when we moved cuz every single wall had been colored on. He especially likes using markers. Luckily he is mostly past the stage of marking the walls, tables, and everything else and usually uses paper. And Baby doesn't seem to have the same joy in coloring so he doesn't mark the walls.

Head over to Skittles' Place to join in Heads or Tails.

Tuesday To-Do

I'm still not feeling well today, so I'm not putting much on my to-do list and I may not get any of it done lol.

* Go to bank

* Vacuum

* Some laundry, may or may not get folded

* Clean boys' room

That sounds like enough :) I hope you all have a great day!

Carpet in the bathroom

One of these days we are really going to redo our main bathroom. I am tired of the mildew smell in the carpet (yes, carpet in the bathroom!) and the old linoleum around the toilet and the tiny tub. Every time we go to Lowe's we walk around looking at tile, bathroom vanities, tubs and stuff. Everything else can wait as long as the floor gets taken care of. The boys love dumping water out during their baths and their latest trick it scooping water out of the toilet with Toddler's little potty and dumping it on the floor. Ugh. So needless to say the carpet is in bad shape. Hopefully next year we can get that done.

Cute little headaches

It's amazing how one minute my kids are all adorable and the next they are giving me a migraine. Today has been a headache. They seem to have a sixth sense for when I'm not feeling well and choose to make me even more miserable. My boys finally both napped, but were still cranky when they woke up. And now I better go make sure they aren't torturing the kittens.

Monday Madness

Ugh, I am not having a fun day. I got a cold or something, my throat is sore, I have a little cough, stuffy nose, headache, and can't think straight. Then my boys did not want to nap and woke up Little Baby from a nap so he wasn't happy, and he fell and bonked his eye and he had to go for pictures today tired and with a swollen eye. Crazy. But now my boys are asleep, Little Baby left and I took some medicine and dinner is smelling delicious in the crockpot, so hopefully the rest of the day will be better.

Menu Plan Monday

Check out Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie to join in or get some great dinner ideas!

Here's what we are having this week:

Monday- BBQ Chicken

Tuesday- Pancakes, sausage, eggs

Wednesday- Pizza

Thursday- Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Soup

Friday- Leftovers

Saturday- Hamburgers

Sunday- Turkey

Sunday Saying

If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world.
- Proverbs

I love this proverb. Peace in the world begins with peace in our homes. In a society where around half of all marriages end in divorce and the growing trend is to place family on the back burner and focus more on jobs, games, selfishness, etc it's no surprise to me that there is so much fighting between people in the country and out.

Presents

OK, so since you all want to know what I got at Circuit City and what I'm getting for Christmas I might as well tell you lol.

At Circuit City yesterday we were standing in line to hopefully get a laptop they had on sale for $299. Unfortunately they only had 7 and we were at least 50-75 in line so we didn't get it, but we did get another one they had on sale that was a little more expensive. So I am now using our nice new laptop! I love it! Except that is has Vista on it and I'm not used to it yet.

My Christmas presents were supposed to be a surprise, but Hubby bought them on ebay and forgot that PayPal receipts gets sent to my email lol, so I found out when I suddenly got the receipts for seasons 7-10 of Friends. We already have seasons 1-6 and he got me 7-10 for Christmas. A few have already arrived but I'm not allowed to watch them until Christmas lol. And his Christmas present that he wanted was golf clubs, so we picked some up at WalMart yesterday.

Black Friday!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a good day, ate lots of yummy food and spent time with family. This morning Hubby and I got up at the crack of dark to go stand in line at Circuit City. We stood there from 2am until they opened the doors at 5am, 3 hours in the freezing cold. My toes were so numb by the time we got in, and we didn't even get what we wanted, had to get something more expensive :P At least the people we were standing by were fun, so that helped pass the time. Then Hubby waited in line for 2 1/2 hours just to check out! Yikes! They seriously need a new checkout system. After that I headed to Target were it took only a few minutes to get what I needed and check out. We then went to McDonald's for breakfast and WalMart for Hubby's Christmas gift (yes, he helped pick it out lol, I already know what I get too). We came back to the inlaws and took a nap. We were planning to go home today, but Hubby was too tired and I was too sick. Yep, sick. I got food poisoning! I'm guessing from the McDonald's this morning, ugh. Luckily my mother-in-law took care of the boys and let me just nap and rest most of the day. My stomach is still queasy but should be fine by tomorrow.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend! I'll be home tomorrow and back to blogging. Can't really do much here since they have super slow dial-up.

Thankful Thursday- Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone enjoys the holiday. So tell me what you are thankful for! I am thankful for:

* My 2 cute, healthy boys

* My wonderful, loving, hard-working husband

* Our nice house

* Immediate and extended family

* Good friends like Michelle

* Our car and van

* My family's health

* All the wonderful friends I've made blogging

* Little Baby and his mom


And so many more things! What are you thankful for?

It's a small world after all

It's so funny how small the world can be. Just a few examples: I used to live in Rigby about 5 miles from where Hubby lived his whole life, but never met him until we both went to school in Utah. I still have friends in that town and now I am related to them through Hubby, kinda cool. Every time we go to something of one of my friend's from there we see some of his family, and every time we have a large family thing like a wedding I see some old friends. It's great. Also, last year we went online to look at health and life insurance quotes and a guy came to talk to us about it and turns out he was an old neighbor of Hubby's from Rexburg. I went to WalMart one day here and a girl working there was an old friend from Rigby. When we lived in Logan, at the WalMart there an old dance team friend from Rigby was working there in the car shop. It's just funny how these things are :D

Batteries not included

With Christmas shopping coming up, especially Black Friday in just a few days, I just want to send out an important gift reminder...remember the batteries! I swear every year there is at least one gift that cannot be used right away because we forgot batteries. You'll be opening up your new iPod (hint, hint) and wondering why it's not working. You read the instructions and the words install ipod battery pop out and you realize that you don't have a battery! Nothing worse than a great gift that you can't use until you get batteries. So keep that in mind with the toys and electronics you are buying!

Busy shopping

Wow, I'm sure I'm not the only one here who braved WalMart the day before Thanksgiving am I? I've known for days that I needed to make this jello salad but of course waited until the busiest grocery shopping day of the year to go get the stuff. I got to the store and parked near the end of the row, not even trying to get a good parking spot because there were cars lined up waiting. I could not for the life of me remember where to find cranberries, so I'm walking up and down aisles, weaving in and out. People are not watching where they are going and I'm so glad I just had a hand basket instead of a cart or I would not have been able to get through. Luckily I managed to find everything I need, and in record time since I didn't have the kids with me. And can I say just how much I love self-checkouts? The other checkouts had long lines but the self-checkouts were moving fast so I got out pretty quick. And then I had to wait a few minutes to pull out of my parking spot since I was right near the entrance to WalMart and everyone was driving in while I was trying to leave. Next year I really need to remember to grocery shop at least a few days earlier.

Let's talk food

So what is on your Thanksgiving menu?

For us, we are heading to the inlaws for a big extended family dinner so there will be all sorts of dishes, and I get to bring a jello salad. I am so excited to eat all that yummy food!

So what are you spending the next few days preparing? Are you slaving away in the kitchen? Going to someone else's house? What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?

What's in a name

I just realized that in less than 2 weeks I start watching another little baby boy. The problem is, what do I call him here? My boys are Toddler and Baby, the 8month old I watch is Little Baby, so what should I call the new one? Of course there's also the problem that Baby is now a toddler, no longer a baby, so I really should call him something else. I should have given them personality-related nicknames here instead of age-related lol, since they keep growing. Of course, I could just call them by their real names, that would make things much easier. What do you think?

Wordless Wednesday: Birdwatching

Going somewhere?

Last weekend I had to drive to somewhere by Park City, Utah and I had no idea how to get there. I ended up looking it up on Yahoo maps or something to find the way. Sometimes I wish our van had a GPS navigation system in it because it's so much easier for me to get places if I can see where I'm going on a map. I learn things visually like that easier than if someone just told me directions. Hopefully in a few years we can upgrade to a new van that has a navigation system.

Need a good jello salad recipe

So my mother-in-law called yesterday and asked me to bring some kind of jello salad to the big family Thanksgiving dinner. I haven't made jello salad in who knows how long so I thought I'd ask the wisdom of all you great bloggers. I prefer to get recipes from real people rather than cookbooks cuz then I feel better knowing someone actually likes the recips. So, what is your favorite jello salad recipe?

Tuesday To-Do

Alright, let's see what needs done today:

* Clean office- done

* Preschool

* Go to library for book on hold

* Clean boys' room

* Vacuum

I already got the office cleaned up today, it was driving me nuts. The boys' room is in serious need of a thorough cleaning too and I hope to get to that today. We are having preschool today, since of course Thursday is Thanksgiving. When hubby gets home I think I'll go to the library, it's just much easier without 3 kids.

Heads or Tails: Never Say Never

Today's Heads or Tails theme is Never say never, things we always said we wouldn't say or do, but say or do anyway.

Some things I said I'd never do as a parent are the spit-clean washing of kids faces and watching TV so I can get a break. I have done the spit-clean more often than I'd care to admit and my kids are downstairs watching Wow, Wow, Wubzy right now so I can have a few minutes to write this.

Go to Skittles' Place to learn more about Heads or Tails Tuesday and to join in!

Giveaway at Mama Speaks

So I just learned of another cool holiday giveaway that I want to get in on. It is at Mama Speaks and they are giving away hundreds of dollars worth of great stuff in packages. Choose from Rockin Tot, Girly Girl, Daddy Dearest, Knocked Up, Baby Makes Three, and Toy Joy packages. Deadline to enter is December 1st so go check it out!

Monday Madness

Well, we had a busy weekend in SLC with my family and are home again. Back to the normal routine. We need milk and I need to clean and do laundry. The boys are already driving me crazy today. I'm thinking I might pack them up and go to the mall to play at the little play area thing sometime today. First I'm going to go make some pancakes for breakfast, that will keep them entertained for a bit, then they'll need baths to un-stickify them, then maybe we'll get out of the house by noon lol.

Manic Monday- Relish

I decided to join in Manic Monday for the first time. I saw that everyone was posting about relish, and it reminded me of a funny story I just have to tell you.

I have a brother who will eat almost anything, and he will make the weirdest combinations. One of them is about the most disgusting combination ever. My mom makes delicious German Pancake. Mmm. Of course people normally eat it with fruit or syrup or something, right? Well, my brother ate it with...can you guess?...pickle relish!?! Ugh, doesn't the thought just make you sick? And he ate it all, although he admitted it wasn't very good. You think?!

Menu Plan Monday

Check out Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie to join in or get some great dinner ideas!

Here's this week's dinner plan for us. Of course Thanksgiving will be spent at the inlaws so I won't have to cook :)

Monday
- Pork Chops

Tuesday
- Twice Baked Potatoes

Wednesday
- Hamburger Helper

Thursday
- Thanksgiving

Friday
- Leftovers

Saturday
- Hamburgers

Sunday
- Lasagna

Vat19 Gifts

I am so excited that I got to try out some really great products from www.vat19.com. They sent me some Insta Snow Fake Snow Powder, Color Flames Colored Candles, and a Smencils Gourmet Scented Pencil. I had to try out the pencil first to see if it really smelled like grapes, and it does! Toddler promptly confiscated it and loves it, he's been drawing with it for the last hour. I wanted to try out the Insta Snow but Hubby says we should save it for when we decorate for Christmas. From what I've heard it really does look and feel like snow. I can't wait to try it! I did try out the Color Flame candles and what's cool about them is that the flame burns the same color as the candle! I told Hubby we are going to use them on my birthday next month. Toddler thought they were pretty cool too. Check out www.vat19.com for great products like the Ambient Fire Video Fireplace DVD and more.

SMART Habit Saturday

I did ok this week. I was trying to get back into the habit of Toddler's bedtime routine and I think I did it about half of the week, so that's good. There are still some goals that need a lot of work, but some are mostly habits. Like bedtime by 11:30, I can hardly stay up past 10:30 so that's working. And I bring dishes to the kitchen and keep up with dishes most of the time. So I'll just keep working on them all :)

Goal recap:

*Clean 1/2hr a day

• Make bed
• Keep up with dishes
• 1 load of laundry
• Clean office
• Bringing dishes to kitchen

*Bedtime routine

• Read scriptures
• Lotion
• 50 crunches
• Take vitamins
• Brush teeth
• Floss
• Bedtime 11:30pm

*Toddler bedtime routine

*No computer for 1hr a day when Hubby gets home

*Daily prayers, morning and night

*Dinner 3x during the week

*4 cups of water a day

To join in SHS go to The Lazy Organizer.

Musical toilets

Ugh, so there are 4 bathrooms in this house, but with how many people are here at all times, usually all the toilets are always in use. I have to wander upstairs and down until one opens up. Unless it's 2am and the cold and lack of blankets is keeping you awake, of course at that time I'm afraid to go use the bathroom cuz I don't want to wake people up. Fun times.

I'm in charge

So, not much on the plate for today. I'm pretty much in charge at my family's house because my dad is out of town and my mom and sister are at some thing until tomorrow, so Hubby and I are the only adults watching the 8 or however many kids here. That also means one of us needs to be here the whole time so we can't sneak off to lunch or anything lol. We need to go to the bank to deposit some money in our checking account, go to the store for diapers, and that's about it. Fun stuff :)

Amby Baby Beds

I have always wanted to try out the Amby baby beds. It is like a little hammock for babies. From what I've heard they are great at helping babies sleep. The Amby bed is supposed to especially help babies with reflux, GERD, colic, and preemies to sleep better and longer. I t has gentle, easy motion to cradle your baby and comfort them. I would love to have one of these. You can check out their site at www.ambybaby.com for more information on the very cool baby item. The site is easy to navigate and gives you all the answers, testimonials, and product information you will need.

Have a great weekend!

OK, I hope everyone has a great weekend! I probably won't be on much this weekend while at my family's, but you never know. I have a few last minute things to get packed and once Hubby gets home we can go. I'm not looking forward to the 3hr trip with the boys, but hopefully since they didn't nap today they will just sleep the whole way.

Britney gives diaper tips

I'm sure many of you have already heard this but I just want to post about it anyway :D So recently Heidi Klum did an interview where she shared how Britney Spears helped her learn how to diaper a baby. I am just in shock, for one that anyone would take parenting advice from Britney, but mostly because how can a person not know how to fasten a diaper?! My 3yr old knows how to do that! And string?! If anything why didn't she use tape? I just don't know how a person can be that dumb.

Here's the article:
Britney Teaches Heidi Klum Diaper Secrets

Visiting family

So today we are heading down to SLC to see my family for the weekend. It hit me last night that I hadn't washed any clothes or thought of packing. Oops! Guess I better work on that :D I have clothes washing cuz all of my clothes were dirty. I need to make a list so I don't forget something. And before I forget again I will list something here. My brother and sister-in-law's cooler we borrowed last year and keep forgetting to give back! Maybe I should go put it in the van while I'm thinking of it. I should probably start getting stuff together while Little Baby is napping and my boys are being good.

Important Note!

Hey everyone, you may have noticed that I have a new url! I am now www.ramblingmom.com yay! I'm so excited to have my own domain! All your links to me should redirect just fine, but if you could switch them to my new domain that would be great!

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What was your first “real” job?
- This little pizza place. I only worked there 3 days before my family moved, and I hated every minute of it, except the free pizza.

Soup
Where would you go if you wanted to spark your creativity?
- Probably some secluded area that's warm, with trees, and a little stream. Someplace quiet with no kids where I could think in peace.

Salad
Complete this sentence: I am embarrassed when…
- I am embarrassed when I have to get up and speak in front of people.

Main Course
What values did your parents instill in you?
- Honesty, morals. My mom could be psychic, you could never hide anything from her lol.

Dessert
Name 3 fads from your teenage years.
- 10 years ago I was so out of style and out of the loop. I have no idea what the fads where. Ugh, bad middle school memories.

U.S. Healthcare Woes

My Hubby posted about dental insurance today. We currently don't have any, which drives me nuts because I have genetically bad teeth, enjoy candy too much, need 2 crowns, and have braces. Unfortunately the dental insurance offered through his work is $70 a month, which is more than just a regular cleaning costs, so we do not have it. Luckily my braces were already paid for by our old insurance company so I don't have to worry about those costs, but once I get my braces off we better have good dental insurance because I will be getting a thorough cleaning, probably a few fillings (I always need fillings) and those 2 crowns from past root canals that were never crowned. Crowns alone cost at least $400 each. Ugh.

Anyway, the whole point of this post that I keep getting away from, is that I'm not too happy with the US healthcare system in the first place. Lorie posted yesterday that she needs to see a doctor urgently but because they don't have insurance she can't go yet. It's just unfair that there are people in real need of care that can't get it because our healthcare system is all about money and not actually helping people. I know that most of the other advanced countries have some sort of universal healthcare and I've heard Canadian friends say how much better they like theirs compared to what the US offers.

What do you think about the healthcare here in the US? And if you don't live in the US, what kind of healthcare do you have and do you think it's better or worse?

Bettercaring.com

If you are looking into a care home for yourself or a loved one you should go check out bettercaring.com. They help you find the best care available. Their easy to use site shows you how to choose a care home, with a search feature, different resources available for your care, and information of care homes. They also bring you up to date news on subjects related to your care and articles for you to learn more about how to live healthy, including foods you can eat to be healthy, and get the care you deserve. You can talk with other members on their discussion forums and share with them. Choosing a care home for yourself or a loved one can be a difficult and stressful task, but with bettercaring you can get the support and information you need to make the best decisions. Check out bettercaring.com for more information.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that this weekend we are going to visit my family. And I am thankful that Thanksgiving is next week, I love Thanksgiving. I'm thankful that Little Baby is doing better. He has another double ear infection and was so fussy on Tuesday but yesterday he was back to his normal happy self thanks to medicine.

What are you thankful for today?

A little late, but here it is

I know this is 2 weeks late, but I figure better late than never :) Here's my 2 cuties on Halloween.

Toddler was dressed as a football player. I had planned to sew on some Patriots logos, but never got around to it. Baby was dressed as the cutest puppy ever. Isn't he adorable!?


Unfortunately I let Hubby take the pictures and we only got 2 and they are both blurry like this. I might have to dress them up again one day just to get some clear cute pics lol.

Holiday Traveling

When we got married we agreed to rotate holidays with our families, so this year we are spending Thanksgiving with Hubby's family and Christmas with my family. This year is a little different because my family is holding off Christmas until January when my brother gets back from Spain. So Hubby, the boys, and I are going to have our own little Christmas in December, our first alone, and then another Christmas with my family in January. Double the fun :D How often do you get 2 Christmases? So next weekend we are going to the inlaws for Thanksgiving. I like going other places for Thanksgiving cuz then I don't have to do all the cooking and cleaning up :D

Is anyone else traveling for the holidays?

A bit of nepotism

As much as I love all the blogs I read and want to tell you all to check them out, today I'm going to point you the direction of my 2 favorite blogs by family. Please welcome them to blogging, I'm sure they'd love some comment and/or linky love to keep them going :)

First, my Hubby Nate. He started his blog a few months ago but then slacked off but is going to try to get into it more. Go check out his blog Life Happens

Next, my awesome sister-in-law Danielle. She is funny and sweet and we love her. You can find her at My Silly Days

What's the time?

I haven't worn a watch for 3 years. After I had Toddler I took my watch off because I was afraid it was scratch him when I held him, and I just never put it back on. Eventually the battery died and now I have no idea where it is. It was special because Hubby got it for me when we were dating for Christmas. I was thinking this Christmas I would like a new watch, like a cute D&G watch. There is one that has a tiny lock and key dangling on it and it is so cute. Or I could just find my old one and ask for a new battery, that might be a bit cheaper lol.

Tuesday To-Do

Well, I need to do a few things today:

* Go to the bank

* Go to the library

* Go to the store for apple pie stuff

* Dishes

* Vacuum

* Clean boys' room

* Clean office

I was going to go to the library and bank in a few minutes but Little Baby hasn't been feeling well and just went down for a nap, so I'll have to go in a few hours. His mom is coming to get him at 11:30 to take him to the doctor, hopefully he doesn't have another ear infection. Dishes and vacuuming are daily to-dos. It's never ending. And the boys' room is way past due for cleaning, it honestly hasn't been clean in a month since they now have all the toys down in the basement that we converted to their playroom. And the office is a disaster too, but shouldn't take too long to clean once I finally get around to it.

What are you all up to today?

Monday Madness

So I totally forgot that banks and libraries were closed today. Little Baby's mom had the day off, I mentioned to Hubby that we wouldn't be any mail today, but for some reason it didn't occur to me that the bank and library would also be closed for Veteran's Day. I didn't realize it until I got to the bank and it was closed so I had to turn around and go back home. I think I just didn't get enough sleep last night, my brain isn't working properly.

In other news, I've found myself saying "Cuz Mommy says so" an awful lot lately lol. All day long Toddler is asking "why?" and "what?" and that's just the easiest answer :D

Menu Plan Monday

Check out Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie to join in or get some great dinner ideas!

Here's this week's dinner plan for us. I added a few things that were on last weeks menu that we never got around to, like spaghetti.

Monday
- Spaghetti

Tuesday
- Meatloaf

Wednesday
- Eat Out

Thursday
- Taco Ring

Friday
- Leftovers

Saturday
- Hamburgers

Sunday
- Divan

Sunday Saying: Veteran's Day

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

I am grateful for all the brave men and women who have fought and/or died in service to their country. They are truly heroes for their sacrifices and service. I hope everyone takes a moment today to remember those living and dead. As a mother and wife I can't imagine having to send my husband off for military duty, so I want to give a special thanks to the military wives out there who keep things together at home and support their men.

Don't you hate it when...

OK, it really annoys me when I post something here and later I'm reading through blogs and see someone has used my words as their own post. Sometimes the exact same words, sometimes with a few small changes. It hasn't happened with personal posts, usually with sponsored posts or contests, but it just irks me. I hadn't mentioned it until now and won't name names because I like these people still, but I'd like people to know that I really don't appreciate plagiarism of my posts without permission or acknowledgment.

SMART Habit Saturday

I'm still a slacker lol. I have done better with saying my prayers at night, but only read my scriptures a few days. Dishes usually get done every day. The rest I mostly don't do :P What I really want to work on is Toddler's bedtime routine. We got out of the habit, but itworked so well so I'm going to start it again.

Goal recap:

*Clean 1/2hr a day

• Make bed
• Keep up with dishes
• 1 load of laundry
• Clean office
• Bringing dishes to kitchen

*Bedtime routine

• Read scriptures
• Lotion
• 50 crunches
• Take vitamins
• Brush teeth
• Floss
• Bedtime 11:30pm

*Toddler bedtime routine

*No computer for 1hr a day when Hubby gets home

*Daily prayers, morning and night

*Dinner 3x during the week

*4 cups of water a day

To join in SHS go to The Lazy Organizer.

Bad me

I feel so bad, I haven't done any running in 2 months. We spent 3 months preparing for our 5k this summer and it was nice to know I was actually getting exercise. Then after the race I never ran again. Very sad. We just got busy and now it's cold and I hate running in the cold. I wish I had a treadmill so I could run at home, it would be so much more convenient and I wouldn't feel so bad for not exercising. I would ask for one for Christmas, but I just looked at prices, and um no, not this year lol.

Funny pic

This picture cracks me up. This was at our wedding reception. These are my brothers, nephews, and some of their friends just chilling out. What's so funny is how some of them dressed, they thought it would be cool to dress from the 70's, obviously normal wedding shirts are not fun enough. We all got a good laugh out of it. The one withthe brown jacket and yellow shirt and hideous gren pants is Brett, a family friend, the one with the brown checked jacket and yellow tie is my brother AJ, and the one with the awesome white jacket and black shirt is my brother's friend Chris. Another funny thing was that as the night wore on the line of boys sitting up there kept growing, I guess they got bored at the reception lol. So we have progressive pics of the growing line too :) Fun times. Sorry the pic quality isn't that great, I had to scan a small picture since our CD drive is broken and I couldn't get it off the cd.

Texas Roadhouse Yummy!

Have you ever eaten at Texas Roadhouse? We just got one here a few months ago and I love it :D Especially the rolls, mmmm. I'm a sucker for good bread. Anyway, for our date tonight we are going to Texas Roadhouse, we just need to call ahead because they get horribly long waits on Friday nights. Last time I got their oven roasted chicken and it was sooo yummy. I think I'll try the bbq chicken tonight. Mmmm, just thinking about it is making me so hungry.

Hurray for the weekend!

What I love most about the weekends is Hubby being home to help me. I still have to get up early with the boys, clean, cook, etc but at least I have help. Well, not with the getting up early, Hubby sleeps in :P Tonight we are going out, not sure what we'll do, see a movie or go to dinner or something. That'll be nice. Anyone doing anything fun this weekend?

Bloggerwave

By now all my regular readers should know that I love being able to make money on my blog. Well, yesterday I was just reading through my feeds and saw a few bloggers who had joined bloggerwave. It is a new company where you get paid to post reviews, opinions, and buzz about products or sites. And it was so easy and quick to get started. I signed up yesterday and am already approved, less than 24hrs later. Go check it out!

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Which snack do you like to get when you go to the movies?
- Popcorn! Nothing like that buttery, greasy junk :D

Soup
What year did you start using the internet?
- I'm not sure, around '96 or 97'

Salad
What is your first name in Pig Latin?
- Ara-kay

Main Course
Name something you are picky about.
- The way the bed is made. Just ask hubby lol. Every time he helps me make it I have to redo it and he wonders why I even ask for his help lol.

Dessert
Fill in the blanks: I ____ ____ yesterday and I ____ ____ today.
- I did dishes yesterday and I won't do dishes today. :D

Our Preschool

We just started Month 3 in our preschool curriculum. So far it's been pretty good. I'm not sure how much of it the kids are actually soaking in, but at least some of it seems to be getting through. Last month we talked about family and how we have different names. Like my name isn't Mommy (could've fooled me!). So Toddler keeps calling us Nate and Kara instead of Daddy and Mommy lol. When Hubby comes home from work they hear him open the garage and today Toddler went, "Oh, it's Nate!" lol, it was cute. I don't think they are remembering the numbers and letters as much, but I think they are doing really good :)

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that daylight savings time had teh effect of making the boys tired earlier so they go to bed a bit earlier, more free time for me at night! And I am thankful for Subway lol. When Hubby gets home I'm going to ask him to go pick up Subway for dinner instead of the spaghetti I had planned. Mmm, yummy!

What are you thankful for?

Christmas Giveaway at 5 Minutes for Mom

I absolutely love 5 Minutes for Mom! They are always giving away awesome stuff on their blog. For their latest one, the Christmas Giveaway, they will be posting lots of new contests from now until November 24th. It's easy to enter too, just link to their giveaway and add the banner and then comment on all the contests you want. I hope I win something!

Helpful Hubby

One of my favorite parts of the day is when Hubby comes home from work. As soon as he walks in a huge weight is lifted from my shoulders. I am no longer outnumbered by my little monsters adorable children. He helps with diaper changing, cleaning the house, and getting the boys to bed. He is so wonderful! I know people who's husbands don't help with any of that, and I am so grateful my Hubby is the way he is.

Gross :P

I feel like I am bathing my kids all day lol. I gave them a bath this morning cuz they were a mess from their cereal (yes, I give them cocoa puffs and stuff with marshmallows, but I'm just happy to get them to eat anything lol) and then not an hour later Toddler comes up waving brown hands at me saying "kitty poo-poo!". Yuck! One of the cats had pooped in the playroom and Toddler had decided to paint the wall with it. Sooooo gross!!! So I threw him in the tub while I cleaned up the mess. And Baby needs another bath cuz he got into some candy and dripped red sticky slobber down his chest. All I want is a nap. My stomach is not feeling very good (could possibly have something to do with the 5lbs of Halloween candy I've munched on while on the computer, thankfully it's almost gone). I don't feel like doing anything productive. Baby finally crashed and is sleeping but Toddler won't nap, so he's just watching Backyardigans. I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner cuz I had Tuna Helper planned but it does not sound good right now. Maybe I'll make spaghetti.

Why, Mommy?

Toddler has reached the question stage. Everything I say to him is answered with either "Why mommy?" or "What?". It is driving me insane! Especially the "what". He acts like he doesn't understand me, even though I know he does. He just keeps saying "What?" over and over. Then I'll say it back and he'll laugh. They "Why mommy?" I can deal with easier, I just say "because mommy says so, no more questions" and that seems to work lol. I don't know why everyone focuses on the "terrible 2s" when 3 is so much more terrible lol.

Saving-schmaving

This time change is really messing me up lol. It's only 9:30 and I am about to fall over. I better head to bed soon. Toddler wouldn't nap at all today and Baby only got about 1/2 hr before Toddler decided to use his stomach as a drum. Little Baby is still teething and wants to be held a lot, but is super squirmy and really loves grabbing the hair at the base of my neck. I never even got my to-do list done, only washed the one load of laundry. Oh well, it'll all still be there tomorrow :)

Tuesday To-Do

Okay, let's see what I need to get done today.

* 1 load of laundry

* Fold laundry

* Sweep and mop kitchen

* Maybe mop the bathrooms while I'm at it

* Clean up office

Have no where to go today and nothing important to do :) I really need to clean up this desk, it is overflowing with candy wrappers from Halloween. And there's papers and stuff all over the floor. The boys are being good today though, so that's good.

Monday Madness

I hope everyone's week is off to a good start. The time change has messed us all up over here and the boys are napping weird and going to sleep early and waking up early. We are all tired. But other than that is going normally. I was hoping to go to Ian's funeral, or at least the viewing, tomorrow, but I don't have anyone to watch the boys. I don't think I have any other plans this week. Anyone doing anything fun?

Menu Plan Monday

Check out Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie to join in or get some great dinner ideas!

Here's this week's dinner plan for us:

Monday
- Hamburgers

Tuesday
- Garlic Chicken Pasta

Wednesday
- Tuna Helper

Thursday
- Spaghetti and Garlic Bread

Friday
- Leftovers

Saturday
- Leftovers

Sunday
- Crockpot Roast with Potatoes

Sunday Saying

Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality.

We slowly drove—He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility—

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess—in the Ring—
We passed the fields of Gazing Grain—
We passed the Setting Sun—

Or rather—He passed Us—
The Dews drew quivering and chill—
For only Gossamer, my Gown—
My Tippet—only Tulle—

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground—
The Roof was scarcely visible—
The Cornice—in the Ground—

Since then—'tis Centuries—and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity—

- Emily Dickinson, Because I Could Not Stop for Death

I love Emily Dickinson's poems and this has always been a favorite. I used to have it memorized. The events of this past week made it pop into my head when I sat here to post my Sunday Saying. It is sad when life is cut short for anyone. We received news that Little Ian passed away this last Thursday. He was only 6 months old, but was such a fighter. I am grateful for my testimony that families can be reunited in heaven and that Ian is with Heavenly Father watching over his family. Another sad happening took place tonight. One of our little 6 week old kittens died after a fall. There was nothing we could do to help him and it's so hard to explain to Toddler that he will not be waking up and went to live in Heaven. What a sad week.

No-nap little monster

At what age did your kids stop taking naps? Toddler is 3 and now at the point where he will not go down for a nap easily and sometimes not take one at all, but if he doesn't he still gets really grumpy and tired early. So I either resort to threats to get him to nap or deal with him being a monster the rest of the day. So do I just not try to get him to nap and hope he gets used to it and starts behaving better, or keep forcing it? I really enjoy that 2 hours when he does nap, it helps a lot.

SMART Habit Saturday

I haven't posted for SHS for the last 3 weeks, mostly cuz I just want worrying about my goals. I do okay on some of them, like my stay off the computer for an hour after hubby gets home, I do that most of the time now. I also try to keep up with dishes and bring dishes to the kitchen. I make dinner usually 4 times during the week. I've started taking my vitamins again. But the rest I've really just stopped doing. I mostly want to get back in the habits of reading my scriptures and saying prayers. So I'm going to work on that again this week.

Goal recap:

*Clean 1/2hr a day

• Make bed
• Keep up with dishes
• 1 load of laundry
• Clean office
• Bringing dishes to kitchen

*Bedtime routine

• Read scriptures
• Lotion
• 50 crunches
• Take vitamins
• Brush teeth
• Floss
• Bedtime 11:30pm

*Toddler bedtime routine

*No computer for 1hr a day when Hubby gets home

*Daily prayers, morning and night

*Dinner 3x during the week

*4 cups of water a day

To join in SHS go to The Lazy Organizer.

Fall Y'all Bloggy Giveaway is now over!

I have drawn 3 winners from the 120 entrants in my contest. Each winner gets to choose a custom made hat from my crochet site, Kara's Custom Crochet. And the winners are...

#23 Qtpies7

#56 Sheena

#80 Debby

Thanks to all of you who entered my contest!

Little Ian passed away

I am crying and sad to report that Ian passed away yesterday after his life-long battle with heart problems. He had such a short life but blessed everyone who knew him with his strength and now has returned to Heavenly Father's arms. Please keep his family in your prayers.

This is a sticky post, scroll down for new posts.

Make sure to check out my giveaway for the Fall Y'all Bloggy Giveaway here. Contest ends Friday night.

Gonna pull my hair out

Boy, these kids sure are driving me batty today. Little Baby has been very fussy and I finally just got him down for a nap. Toddler and Baby keep getting into the dishwasher and spreading the clean dishes around the house. You'd think that by now I would have just unloaded the dishwasher to prevent this, but I'm not that smart lol. I need a nap :P

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
How much money do you plan to spend this upcoming holiday season?
- I really have no idea. Hopefully not too much.

Soup
What was the last television show you watched, and was it good?
- ER last night, and it's always good :D

Salad
If you had to paint the walls of your living room tomorrow, what color would you choose?
- Off-white beige-ish color that's in a few places in our house.

Main Course
Name something clever or practical you have thought of that should be invented, but hasn’t yet.
- Our fridge has an ice and water dispenser on front, but what it could really use is a milk dispenser. My kids drink tons of milk and it would be great to have it come out easily like that :D

Dessert
List 3 things you would like to receive as gifts this upcoming holiday season.
- Gift certificate for massage, mp3 player, money :)

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that Hubby is back from his work trip, and that he had a safe trip. I get so stressed out without his help. He is very helpful and I am thankful for that. And I'm thankful that we had a great holiday yesterday. They boys had lots of fun and we got plenty of yummy candy.

What are you thankful for today?