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Monday, March 30, 2009

Monday again already?!

Alright Danielle, you reminded me that I haven't posted in a week! I swear time just seems to be going by so fast. And I'm still not getting enough sleep so that makes me less aware of the time.

Can you believe it's almost April already?! It's hard to believe it's spring when we are having snowstorms. I am so ready for the weather to just stay warm. I have been meaning to get my garden started the last few weekends but then the weather decided to go back to winter. Hopefully next week I'll be able to get it started.

Jason and Jacob are driving me crazy today. It's only 9am and I'm ready to send them to bed. I wish it was warm enough to send them outside to play, I know they get crazy from being cooped up so much. I need to think of some kind of project they can do. I always see tons of cute projects that other mom bloggers do with their kids, but I never have any of the stuff to do them. Maybe I'll let the boys actually play with some Play-Doh. I don't very often because it always ends up in tiny pieces everywhere, but if I keep them in the kitchen it shouldn't be too much of a mess, or at least easier to clean up.

Oh, and I'm going to update the boys pic blogs too, I've been horrible at taking pictures though, so I only have a few to add.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Monday Madness

Aren't baby feet just so cute?!

Anyway, today we have snow. Yep, SNOW! Ugh, seriously, I just want warm weather to be here to stay. And it's worse because I actually have to pack up 4 kids and drive somewhere in it. We rented a carpet cleaner over the weekend and I have to go return it this morning. That means as soon as Little D is here I need to get my kids all dressed and ready to go and brave the crazy drivers for an hour. People here seem to lose IQ points when the weather gets bad. Now, I'm an Idaho gal and learned to drive on snow and ice, so it really annoys me that as soon as there's even a tiny sprinkle of snow people start driving like idiots.

The rest of the day should go pretty normal. I need to vacuum and do a bunch of laundry, and that's pretty much it. I need to think of something fun to do with the boys since they can't go out and play today. Some kind of art project. I'll have to look at some of the more creative mommy blogs and get some ideas.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Left out

I'm on a bunch of mommy messageboards. I've "known" these ladies for years but haven't met most of them. They occasionally have meetups, but they are always too far away for me. A few months ago on one of the boards the ladies had a meetup in Texas. For weeks there was tons of talk about Dallas Texas hotels, flights, fun stuff to do, etc. For those of us who couldn't go we felt a little left out of all the discussions. Maybe one of these days I'll get a chance to go to a meetup, if they ever have one closer to where I live.

Unsaved

I love when I find something cool online, like a yummy recipe or cute baby clothes, but I have a hard time remembering where I found it so I can't go back when I want to! A few days ago I came across a cookie recipe that looked yummy and easy, but I have no idea where! I'm sure it was on a blog I have in my feed reader, but I don't want to go through the posts from the last week for all those blogs, that would take forever! I also saw a cute baby tuxedo shirt onesie that was adorable, but have no idea what the site was. I need to start saving those pages so I can actually use the cool stuff I come across.

Glade Sense & Spray Review

I had a chance to try out the new Glade Sense & Spray air freshener through BzzAgents.com, a company that sends me promotional products to try out and discuss with other people.

I was excited to try out this product because we buy a lot of Glade air fresheners already, and I am a fan of the automatic spraying kind. But what's different about the Sense & Spray air freshener is that you only need to use the amount of scent needed. With our other automatic air freshener, it can be set to spray every 18-30 minutes (I think), which is nice, but what about when you don't need the scent to keep coming? Perhaps you go on a trip and are gone for 3 days. The air freshener is going the whole time unless you remember to turn it off (which I never do), so you waste a lot of money buying more refills.

With the Glade Sense & Spray it only sprays when it senses movement. So it will only go off when you go into that room. At first I was worried that it would just keep going off if you stayed in the room and moved around a lot, but it comes with a built-in lock out that keeps it from going off for 30 minutes after it releases the scent. During that time you can push the button for more scent if you want, but it won't keep automatically going off.

My Sense & Spray came with a Clean Linen scent. It smells nice and fresh, though Hubby doesn't like it much. I at first set it on an end table in my living room, but Jacob kept pushing the button and making it spray way too much. So I moved it to a wall (it has a spot on the back to hang it up) out of his reach. Unfortunately up on the wall it doesn't sense movement as well and I usually have to push the button if I want it to spray. I even waved my hand in front of the sensor to get it to go off and it wouldn't. So, on the table it worked great but was too accessible to little boys, but on the wall the sensor didn't work well. I'm going to try it on different walls to see if it will work better in a different area.
*Edited to add: It seems to be working fine on the wall now! :)*

The Glade Sense & Spray starter kit costs $8.99 and refills are $3.49. Scents available are Clean Linen, Apple Cinnamon, Powder Fresh, and Country Garden. If you would like a coupon for $4 off, shoot me an email with your address and I will send you some! No more coupons!

So, tell me what you think about this product. Does this sound like a product you would use? What features do you like/dislike?

Dang weather

So, our weather the last few weeks has been sooo nice! It got up in the 70's. I was enjoying it and the boys were loving the chance to play out in the backyard. Unfortunately today is cold again. A storm is coming in and there a possibility of SNOW tomorrow! I am so sick of snow! Why can't we just have nice warm weather all the time? It's not fair. Summertime seems like it just cruises by, and then winter lingers forever. I was hoping to get my garden in soon, but this whole week is going to be chilly so it'll probably have to wait until next week.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Twilight DVD Release Party

As many of you know by now, last night the Twilight DVD was released and many stores across the country held parties. Five cities across the country were also going to be treated with surprise appearances from some of the cast and filmmakers of the movie.

Now, I was not that impressed with the movie and don't plan to buy it unless the rest turn out much better, but when I heard that a celeb would be visiting a WalMart just 20 minutes away, I decided to go anyway to see if I could at least get a glimpse. I mean, how often do I ever even have the chance to see a celebrity in real life?!

So I called up my sisters. One was at a friend's house, one was who knows where, but my littlest (or I guess I should say youngest, since she is taller than me!) was home and was excited to come. The party was supposed to be from 10-midnight, so I picked her up around 9:45 and we headed to WalMart. I even brought my copy of the Twilight book in case I would get a chance to get an autograph.
The parking lot was packed, law enforcement officers were stationed everywhere, and there was a hoard of ecstatic teenage girls screaming and gushing over the hot celebs they hoped would show up. It was chaos. One of the store entrances was blocked off to create an area where the star would sit to sign autographs. There was a mosh pit of girls in "Team Edward" and "Team Jacob" shirts getting as close as they could, hoping to catch a glimpse as the star came in. And there was a loooong line of people who had been waiting for hours. We soon realized that we were in for a long wait. The line wrapped around the inside of the building and was already halfway through the store.
My sister and I took our place at the end of the line by the toy aisles and listened to the noisy chatter around us. We took turns walking up front to the madhouse to see if the person had shown up or if the line was moving at all. They were also serving cake, cupcakes, sandwiches, and red punch to everyone, so I took a sandwich to get me through the long wait.
We found out that the cast member who was going to show up was Rachelle Lefevre, who plays Victoria. I thought this was exciting because I knew that the main actors like Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart were most likely not coming to our store and was afraid we'd be stuck with someone nobody even knew lol. There was also a rumor that Cam Gigandet, who plays James, was coming too, but that was wrong. Someone also said they were only letting 200 people through, but luckily they were wrong since we were probably at least 1000 people back.

Finally, a little after 11pm the line started to move. Slowly at first, and then a little faster. It still took us nearly 1.5 hours to get to the front. We were almost there when my mom called to see if we were still waiting. I let her know that "Victoria" was there signing autographs and she was a bit disappointed she hadn't given my sister any money to buy the movie so I offered to buy it and have her pay me back, so that we could get it signed for her.
We reached the front of the line and they had everyone get into a single file. We could see Rachelle signing autographs and I started taking pictures. She's even prettier in real life too and smiled sweetly the whole time. It went very quickly. We set our items on the table and were ushered through fast. I managed to get out a quick, "Hi!" and "Thanks!" as she signed my book before I moved on. I also got a picture of my sister as she got the DVD signed (no, she's not bored, she was getting a pic with her phone lol).
After we checked out we hobbled out to our car, through a much emptier parking lot. It was 1:30am by then. Note to self- wear more supportive shoes when you plan to stand in line for hours. I took my sister home and finally got home around 2am.
Yes, I was at WalMart for 3 hours in the middle of the night, waiting to get a star to sign my book when I didn't even like the movie and wasn't buying it myself. But it was fun, and I'm glad I went. I'm not even going to complain about how tired I am today, because this time it was totally my own choice lol.

Writing for hits

I often read blog posts that give tips on how to grow your blog traffic. There's a bunch of terms I don't understand like SEO and conversion rate optimization. Mostly, though, they say just write interesting posts. So I sometimes try to think of what I could write that would actually interest other people. My life is pretty much the same day after day- get up, take care of kids, go to bed. So without many things going on in my life it's hard to find something that I think anyone would care to read. And then other days I just don't care if someone reads is or not, it just feels nice to unload some thoughts whether or not it gets comments.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Ultimate Blog Party 2009!!!

Ultimate Blog Party 2009

Hi there, welcome to my blog! If you arrived here via the Ultimate Blog Party then pull up a seat and chat. If not, then go see what this is all about at 5 Minutes for Mom and then get your butt back here lol!

The Ultimate Blog Party is all about getting to know each other and have a great time. There are also some really great prizes you can win. There are hundreds of them. Some of my favorites are the Kitchen-Aid Artisan Stand Mixer, Ergo Baby Carrier, and a 4 Tier Diaper Cake from Lil' Baby Cakes (for my pg sister). I also like prizes 45, 27, 19, 21, 22, 26, 91, and USCs 35 and 56. Half of those are Target gift cards lol.

Anyway, enough about that, here's a little bit about me:
My name is Kara. I'm a stay-at-home mom to 3 little boys- Jason, 4.5yrs; Jacob, almost 3; and Nathan, 4 months. They are just adorable. Some days Jason and Jacob drive me insane, but I love them to death. My boys are the light of my life. I also have an awesome husband, Nate. He is hardworking and loving. We met at college when I was 19 and were married 9 months later. We've been married 5.5 wonderful years.

My blog is just random stuff about my daily life, stuff I think about, and my cute boys.

I enjoy reading, blogging, making my kids laugh, and eating junk food. Usually all at the same time. ;)

Some of my recent reads are the Twilight series (for the 5th time!) by Stephenie Meyer, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, The Eyes of Darkness by Dean Koontz, and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. My tastes vary quite a bit from historical fiction, to suspense, to fantasy, and more. I have always loved to read. If you have read anything good lately, let me know, I'm always looking for something new!

I'm currently listening to music by the Twilight Music Girls, a group that an old high school friend of mine is in that writes and sings songs inspired by Twilight as well as covers for songs by other great artists like Muse. They are actually playing at a Twilight DVD Release Party at Hot Topic in LA tonight! Too bad I live a bit too far away to go. Click the the little playlist box in my right sidebar to hear some of their amazing work.

You can see some of my favorite bloggers in my right sidebar, and view my profile to see my other blogs, including some cute pictures of my little boys.

Now, I'm going to grab me a yummy double chocolate brownie and visit some more bloggers! Leave me a comment and say hi and I will come by to visit during the week!

Ads-shmads

Do you ever think some marketing ploys are set up just so you remember the product, even if the advertisement sucks? Some commercials are done well and still rememberable (yeah, that's not a word but I can't think of the word. Oh, memorable! That's what I meant) while others just leave you feeling dumb. I didn't use to like the ones for Progressive (the company that compares multiple auto insurance quotes) because the girl with all the makeup annoyed me, but now I like them. On the other hand, I have always disliked the Old Navy commercials. They are just lame, I think. And I like the Geico commercials with the Gecko and most of the caveman ones, but the new ones with the googly eyes are just stupid.

Forgetful

When I was a teenager I would often write notes on my hand so I wouldn't forget things. I have a horrible memory and forget things all the time, especially since having kids and getting less sleep. I need a rubber stamp that says "Don't forget_______" so I can just stamp my hand and fill in the blank with whatever I need to remember lol. Right now I'm trying to remember where I put some tickets to the Draper Temple dedication this Sunday. I know I took them out of Hubby's church shirt before I threw it in the wash, but I can't remember where I put them. I distinctly remember thinking I need to put these somewhere safe where they won't get lost. And of course now I can't remember where that is lol.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Thankful Thursday

I've been very whiney this week about my lack of sleep, so this post is just going to be about positive things.

I am thankful that today I was able to lay down for an hour and get a little rest while the babies slept and the other 2 played in the playroom. Didn't sleep much, but it helped. And I am thankful that our new couch is so comfy to lay on.

I am thankful for our nice new furniture. The couch is just so comfy, especially the reclining seats. And our bedroom set is so pretty, it makes me happy to see it.

I'm thankful for Mtn Dew, it is helping me get through today lol.

I am thankful that I was able to help out the lady in our ward with MS yesterday. I swept, mopped, and vacuumed for her. It helped me get to know her better, she is so sweet, and made me realize how blessed I am to have a healthy body.

I am thankful for the beautiful weather we've had this week. I was able to go running Monday and Tuesday, and will again probably Friday and Saturday. And the boys have loved getting to go out and play in the backyard (me too, gives me a break!) with their toys. I love being able to open the blinds and let in the glorious sunshine. Natural light makes my house look more inviting and puts me in a better mood.

What are you thankful for today?

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Rather be sleeping

Today is a bit busier than most Wednesdays for me. Usually the oly thing I have is scouts, but I don't have that today because tomorrow is pack meeting. I watched Little D for a few hours this morning (I normally don't have him on Wednesdays). Then at 10:30 my visiting teacher came over for a bit. At 12:30 I need to leave to take the boys to my dad's house so my sister can babysit them for a few hours while I go help out a lady in the ward. She has MS and can't do a lot of things herself, so a few days a week ladies from the ward go over to help with some cooking and cleaning, I'm doing some cleaning today. Her son is one of my scouts too, though not after tomorrow cuz he gets his badge and moves on to boy scouts. Anyway, after that I have to go pick up my boys and come home to make dinner (which reminds me I need to get the hamburger out of the freezer). Hopefully Hubby gets home by 5:30 so I can go for a run and take a shower before Enrichment meeting at 6:30. And of course I need to try and fit dishes and a few loads of laundry sometime in there too, and stopping to nurse and change diapers every few hours.

Ugh, just reading that makes me want to go back to bed right now.

Still not getting enough sleep

I know, it's weird for me not to be posting as much as I normally do. I'm still not getting enough sleep. Nathan has been sleeping worse, waking up every 1-2hrs every night for the last few weeks. I keep hoping it will get better, but it hasn't yet. I even tried giving him a bottle of formula before bed last night to see if he'd sleep longer since it takes longer to digest, but it didn't help. He sleeps right next to me (the crib and bed frames are right against each other with the side rail off so I can still roll over to feed him) so at least I don't have to get out of bed when he wakes up, but it's still exhausting because he won't go back to sleep unless I nurse him, he just fusses if I try to give him the binky. I'm hoping he's just having a growth spurt and that it will go back to normal soon. I also heard that it's common for them to have sleep disturbances right before they hit milestones, and he is close to rolling over, so that could be it. I just need some good sleep! I'm going to ask Hubby to sleep with him on the couch tonight so I can hopefully get at least a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. Or maybe I'll sleep on the couch and they can go up to bed. Either way, hopefully that will help.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Big Comfy Couch

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. The time change has seriously screwed up my sleep and so I haven't been getting enough, which makes me just kind of pass through each day in a fog. Hopefully my body will adjust soon. :)

But in good news, we got our furniture today! I love it! We got this huge comfy sectional couch for our family room and a very nice bed set in our room. This morning I moved our old couches up to the living room, by myself, because Hubby had to take the van in for some repairs and I needed to get the family room cleaned out before the movers brought the new stuff. I bonked myself in the nose twice getting them up the stairs, but I managed it. And I moved around a bunch more stuff getting everything in the family room and our bedroom set up. Hubby says I'm Superwoman :D I was going to go running today cuz it was really nice out, but decided that my furniture moving was enough exercise for the day.

We also go our federal tax refund today and were able to pay off our credit cards, yay! Once we get our state refunds we will get the hospital bill paid off and that will be a couple debts paid off. I love getting out of the hole instead of further into it. :)

Anyway, I better head to bed soon. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Monday, March 09, 2009

Monday Madness

Boy, I'm tired! Daylight Savings Time just messes up my already crappy sleeping lol. I've been going to bed later since my body is used to going to bed at that hour, the hour has just changed, but I still have to get up the same time every morning.

One good thing so far is that it has hopefully changed Jakey's wake up time. He normally gets up around 6:30am when Hubby gets ready for work. On days I watch Little D I also get up that time, but on the days I don't I hate having to get out of bed that early. Well, this morning Jakey didn't get up until after 7:30, yay! It would be great if he keeps that up. It's much easier to get some stuff done in the morning before I have any kids to take care of.

We don't have any plans this week. I think. Except for Saturday when we are getting some new furniture! Last Saturday we went out and found a great new sectional couch and a bedroom set at RC Willey. We decided to use some of our tax return to get it. We have had an empty living room since we moved in 1 year ago, so now we can move our old couches to the living room and put the new sectional in the family room. I'm so excited, it is the most comfy couch every. Seriously. And all our bedroom furniture has either been handed down or bought at thrift stores, so I am so happy we will finally have a nice, new bedroom set. It's dark cherry wood and we got a sleigh bed, dresser w/mirror, and 2 nightstands. So we'll be spending Friday and Saturday moving furniture and cleaning carpets (cuz boy do they need it!), it'll be fun.

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Stuck in my head

Don't you hate when you get commercials stuck in your head? We were watching TV this morning, the news I think, and a commercial that came on just keeps going through my head for no reason. It's the one for Colonial Penn, with a couple old ladies talking about how easy it is to get a cheap life insurance quote even if you are old and don't think you qualify. Yeah, see, no reason that commercial should be in my head, but it is and it's driving me crazy! I also have Fur Elise stuck in my head because it plays on the baby's swing, and because I got me keyboard out and was practicing and that is one of the songs I can play.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Irresistable

Yesterday we went to the Draper Temple open house and decided to stop by Ikea while we were in the neighborhood. I really like Ikea. I like the decorated rooms they have set up to walk through, and especially like the kitchens and the kid area. It's just fun to get ideas on how to set up bedrooms, play areas, office furniture, etc.

But, really, my favorite part is the cinnamon rolls. Mmmmmmmmm. Sooo good! We usually never buy any actual furniture or anything there, just a 6-pack of cinnamon rolls. They are big and gooey and just plain delicious.

Too bad Ikea is a half hour away. I can't justify driving that far just for cinnamon rolls, so the only time I get them is if we are in the neighborhood for something else. Of course, that's probably a good thing lol. If they were within walking distance I'd probably be buying them every day!

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Today is Tuesday

Wow, is it Tuesday? I just can't keep track of the days lately lol. I kept thinking it was Monday or Wednesday. I think part of the reason is I usually have Little D Monday and Tuesday but haven't this week because he is sick, so that has thrown my timing off.

It was so nice and sunny today and got up to around 65*! But it was pretty windy too. I went running just now and did okay. The first half of my course was uphill, plus I had the wind pushing against me, so I got tired quicker and had to walk for a minute before I turned around and got to run back downhill, which was much easier. It was a mile and I ran about .8 of that.

OK, Hubby is out grilling up some burgers and hot dogs so I need to get out the buns and stuff. Hope you are all having a good day!

Monday, March 02, 2009

Plan Toys Wooden Refridgerator Review

During the last Bloggy Giveaways Carnival I was pleased to be the winner of a very cool toy. It is a cute wooden play fridge by Plan Toys. With it we also got three food sets to use with the fridge. Plan Toys is dedicated to making toys that are environmentally friendly as well as educational and fun for kids. They use clean manufacturing processes as well as reusing and recycling materials.
Not only are their toys great for the environment, they are so much fun. My boys have loved their fridge and toy food from the minute I took it out of the box. They have so much fun pretending to cook and serve food. Jason loves going through their catalog and telling me all of the other kitchen sets he needs. And every day that I go out to the mailbox he tells me to make sure to check to see if there is an oven lol. I'd love to be able to get them more of the kitchen sets, but so far they are making due with stuff I've made of from cardboard boxes. :) But their favorite is of course their fridge. They really love the ice dispenser. You can actually turn a little knob and get the little wooden ice cubes to come out.
Everybody can enjoy the great earth- and kid-friendly toys from Plan Toys. Go check out their wonderful selection of fun, adorable toys.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Sunday Saying

"You can't make your kids do anything. All you can do is make them wish they had. And then, they will make you wish you hadn't made them wish they had."
— Marshall B. Rosenberg

Most days this feels so true. Trying to get my kids to clean up their toys is like, well, um, trying to get kids to clean up anything. Practically impossible without a lot of whining, yelling, and bribery. Most days I am not sure if I want to just do everything myself, or try to teach them to be responsible. Somebody please tell me that it gets easier as they get older?! Or if you have any tips on getting them to cooperate when I want them to clean.