Banning The Locks

I have been waiting about posting this because I have been trying to get over the initial shock. Jayden locked Silas in the van. Luckily, the van was running with air condition. We were leaving the pool when it happened. Usually, when I put Silas in his car seat, I will go ahead and start the van right afterwards to get the air running. Then I will put Jayden in. Well, apparently, Jayden played with the door locks when I was not looking, because the minute I closed the door to go around and put Jayden in, they all locked at the same time. The situation ended with the fire department having to come and unlock it for me. Luckily, I had left my windows cracked just enough so they were able to use a tool to unlock it from the inside. That truly was a MaNiC day!

Picture of the Day

I love Family Circle.

Creepy Crawlers

Did you know I hate spiders? If I see one crawling on my ceiling, I cannot sleep until I make Jake go and kill it. When I was younger, I heard that most people swallow spiders and bugs in their sleep. So, that started a paranoia about sleeping with my mouth open. Not that I have any control over that when I'm sleeping.

To better elaborate my fear of spiders, this is why:

Luckily, he was on the outside, or else he would have been a dead spider. I showed it to Jake. He said it's just like 'Charlotte' from Charlotte's Web. Yeah right.

Ice Cream Hangover

Do ice cream hangovers exist? If so, I have had one all day. Thanks to my late night ice cream binge. I was tired all day. But I think most of it was because it was such a drab day with no sun. We are going to the pool tomorrow with Dana and her kids. I'm hoping the sun makes an appearance. But I'm just glad to get out of the house. Jake works all week, except for Sunday, so it's going to be a long week.

I got my domain name set up today for my La Bella Basket website. It's www.hotmommybaskets.com I had buyers remorse after I made the domain but I'm sticking with it. If anything, it will get a ton of attention. If you are interested in becoming a consultant too, La Bella has extended their 7 day trial sign up until the end of July.

In case you are wondering, this is what we do in our house for entertainment:

Random

I am so proud of myself for posting three days in a row. That takes real determination on my part. The truth is, I get so wrapped up with facebook and fixing up my land on frontierville. I sound like a complete loser with no life. Fortunately, most of my friends are obsessed with frontierville too, so all is good.

In truth, it took me three days to get my blog back up to my standards. I feel like such a goob. I used to a be whiz at blogger, and html and I were like *this*. But then the kids got older, and I got more obsessed with facebook. You catch my drift.

While you're here, look at my blinkies. I know, that sounds SO wrong. But according to shabbyblogs.com, that is what they are called. They are over there on the right hand side. Scroll down. No, not Jake. Way below him, and you'll see them. I really like the pathological picture taker one. I am always in everyone's face with a camera. There were a lot more blinkies that I liked, and obviously I could not choose just one. So, you might see more later. I might even put them in my posts. Won't that be wonderfully random?

It's almost midnight and I'm sitting here blogging. Who would have thought? I'm going to blame my husband because he's laying here snoring beside me and he's easier to blame. We watched Walker, Texas Ranger before going to bed and he brought me moose tracks ice cream. Chuck Norris didn't bring me the ice cream, Jake did. However, I would gladly accept it from Chuck. So, now I'm wide awake. Isn't it weird how men can just fall asleep within 5 seconds of laying down?

Since I'm being random, I should give you all a heads up that Lowe's Hardware has a bunch of stuff on clearance right now. How do I know this? Well, I'm fortunate enough to have a husband employed there. He's the department manager of tools. Which is why he's the "Tool Guy". I call him that and it makes him feel better. I guess it's good to fluff his ego once in a while. Just kidding. But I am proud of him. He's climbed the ladder pretty quickly there. Sometimes he comes home pissed off at every tool he see's, but I think he really does enjoy his job. He especially loves finding out the good deals before any one else.

So getting back to the clearance, there are lamps and drapes clearanced WAY down. He called me from work today and told me there was a lamp clearanced down to $9. Even though I protested that we did not need another lamp, he insisted that it was too good of a deal to pass up. And I thought I was the one obsessed with a sale. So, after dinner we went back to Lowe's and got the lamp. We also got 2 drapery panels to sell on ebay, because they were originally $40 a panel and we go them for $6 a panel. Since we have had the same drapes in our bedroom since 2006, we got some for our room too. The packaging says that they save money on your energy bill. But we just liked the fact that they blocked out the sun. Obviously, I'm not a morning person. Did you love my randomness? Hopefully I'll be determined to come back and blog tomorrow.

La Bella Baskets Review

I'm not a big fan of just throwing a gift in a gift bag for someone on a special occasion. I'm well known in my family for making gift baskets. I love searching for all of the items to put in the basket at the store and personalizing it for that person. I think part of it is that I'm a little TOO detailed. But either way, they are always a hit. So, when I found this new business opportunity to sell gift baskets, I was pretty excited. I've read other work-at-home mom's success stories about La Bella Baskets, and I thought I would give it a try. Especially considering I have a free 7 day trial and it's only $19.95 a month afterwards. If I can get two referrals a month, then the membership fee will be taken care of. From what I've seen so far, the company offers a ton of support. It's not like other companies where you cannot talk to someone 24/7.

I was also really impressed with the gift baskets. Especially the military items. They have a cute military bear that reminds me of my brother and would be a great gift for our grandmother or our Mom. I'm also well known for being a complete cheap skate. I only buy something if it is seriously discounted or at a extremely low price. I was pleased to see that La Bella also had sale items and gift for under $30. So, do me a favor and go check it out here. I'll have my own website up and running tomorrow so I'll post that later.

The Lone Soldier

Do your kids like to hide things in strange places? Mine do. One day I turned on my toaster oven to cook tater tots and the strangest smell filled my kitchen. I realized it was burning rubber and I raced to my toaster to find a half melted tire. I had another surprise in my kitchen today.

I think he was guarding the apple sauce.

All Aboard

As a late birthday present for Jayden, my Mom and Stepdad took us to the NC Transportation Museum to ride the train. It was HOT, but everyone had fun despite the heat. Afterwards, we came back home and went out to eat at Chili's, which is a interesting experience any time you take my kids out to eat. Jayden got to pick out a Thomas the Train toy at Walmart afterwards.

My Stepdad, Mitchell, and hubby, Jake, flying "planes".

Mitchell and Silas

Jayden, waiting for the train to start.

My Mom and Jayden

Silas

Personality Confusion

This is Izzy, our boxer/pitbull mix that we got free on Craigslist last year. She looks like she's missing one ear, but it's just laying flat. We are not sure why but one ear sticks up and the other has a mind of it's own. She's as large as a small pony, but I think she believes that she's the size of a small dog. She also believes that she's the queen of this castle. She prefers to sit on top of the picnic table and stare down at her followers. I think she needs a personality adjustment.

My Long Hiatus

I have a confession. I am a facebook addict. This explains why I have disappeared for months. It's so much easier to just post pictures and update my status on facebook. However, I have missed my blog. Now that my kids are getting older and are actually old enough to drive me to insanity, it's time to share it with the world. The plus side is that I'll have evidence to show their future children. Pay back is sweet. For example, my youngest son, Silas, has decided that it is more appropriate to get in the bathtub with clothes on, even after I have given him a bath. Which means he goes through pajamas like candy. We are taking the boys to the transportation museum today to ride the train. Sort of a late birthday celebration for Jayden who just turned 3 last week. Hopefully I will come back with some of my sanity.

Top 10 Things About My Mom

I have not posted in ages but I wanted to post this for sure.

In honor of Mother's Day, I thought I would post the top 10 things that my Mom has taught me. (Of course she's taught me much more than 10 things!)

1. Don't go to Walmart if you don't want to see someone that you know ;)
2. Put God first, and the rest will fall into place
3. Some people are just weird. But that's okay, because we are weird too!
4. Pray about everything
5. If you don't laugh at yourself, then who will?
6. Sometimes, you just have to have chocolate and ice cream. Sometimes both at the same time!
7. Put family first and work second
8. A few best friends are better than a lot of fake friends
9. Don't burn your bridges
10. A Mom can turn out to be your best friend!

Bath and Body Works FREE Lip Item

Wow did my blog need an update. I woke up this morning to find an awesome coupon in my inbox from Bath and Body Works. Use this coupon when you go to the mall to get a free lip item (C.O. Bigelow or Liplicious) with any purchase. There is also this coupon that you can use to get any free item with a $10 purchase. From what I've learned, you cannot use the coupons together in one purchase. But I usually tell them that I have to make two separate purchases and then use the coupons all in one visit.

The Wonder Sheet

Have you tried the new Purex 3-in-1 sheet? It is laundry detergent and fabric softener packed in one convenient little sheet. There is no need to make space for the large bulky laundry essentials that you normally have to purchase. Also, one sheet goes a long way. Click on the button below to find out more about the 3-in-1 sheet. There is also a great money saving coupon on the site as well.

Free Sample of Aveeno Nourish Hair Care

I love this stuff, and I'm so glad the freebie is back! Click here to get a free sample of Aveeno Nourish hair care.

Freebies of the Hour

Here are some cool freebies I've found:

*Oscar Mayer is giving away coupons for a free package of beef franks.  They mail the coupon to you.  Offer is available until 11:59 tonight, so act quick! Click here to sign up. (It did not work for me in Google Chrome browser, but it did in Firefox)

*Join the Quiznos Q Club and receive a free cookie on your birthday.  You'll also receive coupons along the way for free sandwiches or discounts.  (Note:  I really liked how they did not require me to submit my address.  The signup was super simple and easy to do.) (UPDATE: Just wanted to mention that I just received an email from Quiznos asking me to update my profile and confirm my subscription.  When I went to the link provided in my email, there was a coupon waiting for me to print for a free Sammie with any purchase of a side and regular drink.  Sweet :) )

*Tell Elizabeth Berg what you thought of her book 'The Year of Pleasures' and receive a free Elizabeth Berk novel.  

*O.B. Tampon sample (make sure to not put that you use O.B. Tampons)

*Free Playtex Gentle Glide Tampons

*Free subscription to Wakeboarding Magazine

*If you still have your digital TV converter box coupons, then you can go here and get a free converter box and antenna.  I got one and my coupon went through.  They do not ask for any credit card info. 

*Acuvue Colors Free Trial Pair Certificate and Acuvue Oasys Free Trial Pair Certificate