Pinks and Blues Girls are always up to something fun! They are hosting a contest with products from Sheena's The Body Shop Consultant. They are giving away a Vera Bradley Nantucket purse and coin purse as well as some yummy Coconut Butter moisturizer. Coconut scented moisturizer screams summer!! It reminds me of the beach!!
If you are interested in this contest, go to Pinks and Blues Girls blog and add a comment. It is THAT easy!!
Stephanie over at Adventures in Babywearing is a busy mom of 3 boys and she always knows where to find the latest and greatest babywearing things. For instance, Supermomz is giving away a MobyWrap in the color of YOUR choice! There is also a discount code on Stephanie's site. You will receive a 10% discount for using the code she provides. It appears Supermomz is a really great place to find all the latest gadgets and other goodies that make Mom's life easier!!
Well I have received this Rockin' Girl Blogger Award from two very special friends! It first began with a visit from my friend Tracey. Her kind words were very much appreciated!! Thank you again Tracey! I was later visited by my buddy Amanda with this honor. Both ladies are awesome in my book and are true Rockin' Girl Bloggers.
Now my job is to pass this honor on to others. So, I pass this honor of Rockin' Girl Blogger to:
1. GlassHalfFull is my first nominee. She is a true woman of grace and seems to take life with a smile. Everytime I visit her site I feel uplifted and glad I stopped in. She truly shines with a graceful spirit and she is also someone who knows how to have fun(Rock). I am thankful I found her site and count her blog as one of my favorite stops.
2. MommaRoar is another top blog I like to visit. She is a down-to-earth Momma that keeps me coming back for a laugh or a good idea. She is always sharing a new idea or new bakery item that makes me drool. She is hands on and letting God stretch her as He sees fit. It is an honor that I found her site. I love to see what is Rockin' in the Roar house.
3. Ginger is another blog I frequent. She is a Mom finding her way on the other side of Motherhood. I find her blog is a great stop for refreshing. Sometimes she gives the tough advice - like some kids are daring for longer than we like. :) I will forgive you for that discouraging news, but usually I leave her blog feeling a little lighter. Her blog Rocks because she is on a journey I will follow one day. A journey back to me and hubby! Keep on Rockin' Ginger!!
4. Aimee` is a true Rockin' Girl Blogger. How can she not be Rockin'? She is a Mother of 8 blessings. She started this journey barren and God chose to bless her with 2 natural children after she gave her home so willingly to 6 He called as hers! What a strong believer and true Rockin' Momma!! She loves her family and her 'Man' and above all she loves her God!!
5. My sister is my final choice. A recent college graduate and new to the blogging world. She was a MySpace girl and now she is a Rockin' Girl Blogger!!! I converted her! Go welcome her. This was her first week at this new world and she even did a Wordless Wednesday on her first week. That is Rockin'! haha
There are so many others of you who deserve this award as well! I consider you all Rockin' Girl Bloggers in my book!! Keep on Rockin' girls!!
And just for fun:
5, 6, 70'clock, 80'clock Rock
9,10,110'clock 120'clock Rock
We're gonna R0ck Around the Cl0ck Tonight!!
Here is my most recent sewing accomplishment. I intended to make this for my son but I lost my motivation and now it is too small for him. My neighbor's little boy will be wearing this very soon!! I think it turned out cuter than I expected. It is a reversible playsuit.
On the off-white side I added this giraffe embellishment and these dark brown buttons. 
The reverse side is an apple green and I added a turtle embelishment and off-white buttons.
Very simple and sweet. I only wish I had learned to sew earlier so that I could have made more outfits for my son. He is now a t-shirt and shorts boy. The "Jon-Jon's" no longer suit him. Oh well, maybe I will have another chance? You never know!!
Ok all you moms of boys. How is this done? Yesterday was our first real effort to teach JB to go tee tee on the potty. We tried earlier this year and he had a stomach bug so we stopped. I put the big boy underwear on JB and he was proud. Every time he had to tee tee, he did. He tee teed in 6 pair of underwear. :) Is this step normal with boys? When I ask him, where do you go tee tee? He says, "I go tee tee in the potty Mommy."
At one point he was outside playing and when we came in he was wet. I said "JB did you tee tee in your underwear?" He said, "No, I tee tee in the grass." I looked at my husband with shock, thinking my husband let him tee tee outside. He quickly said "I didn't do it". I wouldn't mind JB tee teeing outside but we don't have a fence, and you know my husband would have to show him how this works. So, anyway that is why I was concerned with that! haha
I didn't have this issue with HC. If her panties were wet she was upset. JB could wear wet underwear with no qualm!! Any ideas on what I should do next? I've heard that once you start with the underwear - don't turn back. Any advice Moms??
Stephanie is having a contest. She is giving away a Royal Heinie and a matching changing pad. Both of these items were designed and created by two inventive mama's at Strollermama. I don't know about you, but I sure could put that Royal Heine to use!!
Ever since having my baby girl, all holidays and everyday has been more FUN!! I had the same experience when JB was born, they just bring another level of joy to everything. I enjoyed going to the store more, I enjoyed visiting with friends or family more and I enjoyed sleeping more. :) I just didn't realize how much I would miss sleeping. haha
Well, the past few Christmas' have been fun but my kids still lacked the complete understanding of what was going on. For instance, my husband's parents bought my daughter a great doll. It made drinking noises, said "Mama and Papa", it cried and laughed, it even made sleeping noises. Her response was, "I don't need anymore babies, I have one already." Well, I beg to differ - she has more than one. In fact, after she opened her first gift she said "I already opened my present, I don't need anymore presents." A part of me thought how great it was for her to be so content and thankful for the one gift. The problem was, all her aunts, uncles, cousins and her grandparents had gone to much effort to buy her presents. I wanted her to light up a little more. My son was more interested in gifts his cousin received than his own gifts. haha Oh the joys of Christmas.
Well, the other day my daughter came up to me and said "Mom, I want a house. You know? The purple one? You know? It has a tower that goes up, up up? I want that house." I got online, like any good blogging mommy would, and went to Toys R Us and found this:
I asked HC, "Is this what you mean?" She started jumping up and down, "Yes, Mommy that's it that's it!!! I need that for Christmas this year."
Being a lover of Christmas, this just thrills me. She is going to be tons of fun this year!! She has a little anticipation of what's to come. I don't mean for her or JB to be present or object oriented. I am glad that they are both thankful and content. I pray that will continue to be a strong character trait they display. We place a HIGH value on keeping Christ at the center of this holy day. But Christmas IS about giving and I just want to see the anticipation and thrill in her eyes like I had when I was her age. And guess what, this is my year for that!! What a great Christmas indeed. I am anticipating it too. Let the fun begin!
All I chose was the dress - Princess HC chose the shoes and the other accessories.
We had a great Father's Day celebration. You can see my son was thrilled with his meal. Today I was provoked a bit by Fruit in Season's blog regarding honoring our husbands. I am for that! I also started to consider how I am preparing my kids for everyday life. Am I setting them up for a win?? Pinks and Blues are blogging on Manners today and it made me think! I feel I am doing some things right but I can see gaping holes in other areas.
Yesterday at lunch, my kids behaved well. They are 3.5 and 2 years old. They wiggled, grabbed at items they wanted. At times they were loud and other times I was impressed with their self-control. They were sitting properly, then standing, then peering at the tables behind us. I keep wondering when they will begin to display better table behavior.
After reading the two above blogs I was inspired. I decided to start with lunch today. I sat the kids at the table, I told them we were learning about manners today and I gave them a few rules. I told them: "We only talk softly at the table - no loud talking at the table. We only use our spoon to eat and not our fingers." We prayed, they ate and guess what - It worked!! I have taught them these things before but I realized I hadn't taught them this in awhile. So, I googled table manners and I think this will be my project over the month for sure, if not longer. I will teach them table manners. Maybe it will help while eating out, or maybe they will tuck it away in their minds until they are old enough to display self-control. I felt I had a mommy win today! Thanks Pinks and Blues and thanks Fruit in Season. You challenged me to step it up today!
God, are you listening?
It's me again today.
God, are you listening?
I'm growing weary again.
God, are you listening?
I want to keep the faith.
God, are you listening?
I need you more today.
Sandi has tagged me for “8 Random Facts About Myself”. Sandi mentioned the 8 things should be weird. I know some of these are weird, ok maybe all of them. :o)
The rules are as follows:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own post about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your post, you need to choose eight people to tag and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
The title would be a quote from Lola, of Charlie and Lola - a household favorite here. :-)
I have been tagged by Oh Amanda to complete a dining out meme. I love the indulgence of dining out. Being new to Alabama, I feel I may not represent the actual 'Must Dine' eateries well. I will do my best though. Since we have 2 wee ones we usually choose family friendly spots.
The rules:
1. Link to name of person that tagged you.
2. Include state and country you live in.
3. List top five favorite local restaurants.
4. Tag 5 other people and let them know they’ve been tagged.
Here are our must haves lately:
1. Salvatore's Pizza - I love their pizza!! We love to go there for lunch or dinner. If you stop in for dinner, you may want to go early. They fill up fast. It is a family run restaurant and there is nothing like going in and seeing the owner working hard to keep the place in tune. We always enjoy going in our LSU gear, since the owner is an Auburn fan (you know that other tiger). He and my husband share a love for the Yankee's too. It just feels good to eat there and it is yummy. We normally order a Pepperoni Pizza (boring I know but we all can eat this together). If we order to go, my husband splurges for a Philly Cheese Steak Sub and I also love their Spaghetti and Meatballs!! They have a really awesome Greek salad - I love feta!! Last but not least, the garlic cheese bread is a great treat!! Served with marinara of course.
2. Zoe's - This is another of our local favorites. I ALWAYS order a grilled chicken sandwich. It is a marinated chicken breast served with caramelized onions, lettuce, tomatoes and feta on a sesame seed bun!! Did I mention I LOVE Feta?? :-) I always choose the potato salad as my side. YuMmaYummalicious! I need to eat Zoe's soon. I haven't had this in awhile.
3. Panera Bread - This isn't a local staple but it is my little piece of heaven. I love going to Panera. I feel like I am giving myself a treat to eat there. My recent favorite is the Grilled Salmon salad. Grilled salmon filet served chilled, field greens, romaine lettuce, French green beans, roasted red peppers, wheat berries, red onions & our Meyer lemon vinaigrette. I must admit I am addicted to this salad!!
4. O'Carrs - I am not sure if this is a local joint or a chain. I do enjoy their turkey sandwich or chicken salad sandwich. I've only eaten here twice but loved it!! It seems they have something on their menu that is to die for but I cannot remember what that is.
5. Fleming's Steakhouse - This is the only fine dining we've done since being here. Once for our anniversary and once for Valentine's Day. We do not have much time for the good stuff during this season of life. So we make sure to go where we will truly enjoy. My favorite appetizer, I am now so hungry for this I feel I shouldn't even go on.... but I must. It is Seared Ahi Tuna, on a fresh vegetable salad with spicy mustard sauce. ummm.um Ok, I also enjoy the French Onion Soup. I enjoy a Caesar Salad - yum and of course a nice Filet - cooked Medium. We usually order Creamed Spinach or Mashed Potatoes to share with our steak. I am usually too full for dessert but we always make a trip to Barnes and Noble to peruse the bookstore and drink a little coffee for our treat.
Whew! I did it. I was afraid I wouldn't have any to recommend. I feel I did fairly well. I do apologize if I have missed or do not know of a true jewel of a restaurant in Alabama. I am open to any suggestions of places I should try.
So now I will tag the following blogging friends:
1.The good, the bad & the ugly
2.Amydeanne
3.Glass Half Full
4.Adopted As His Own
5.MommaRoar
6. Real Estate Girl
7. Tallie
I tagged 2 extra friends because I wanted to hear a few extra dining choices. Thanks Amanda!
Here are the BEFORE shots of the books and the vacation things which need to be put away.
And after:
And as you can see in the photo, one load of laundry down, three to go. I did not finish the book I mentioned on my last tackle. I hope to finish it by the end of this month. Visit 5 minutes for mom for more Tackle it Tuesday.
We just came in from a fun afternoon out in the dirt and it was time for a bath. My daughter said she was thirsty and so I went downstairs to fill her cup with water. As I climbed the stairs again, I hear my daughter say 'Mom, look our feet are clean'. I see wet feet and realize - the water wasn't on and so - where could they have found water. I go a little further and I see, my son is dunking one foot at a time in the TOILET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What?!?! I ask my daughter 'Who did this first, knowing her feet were wet and his were um.. getting wet. She admits to this being her brilliant idea and we scrubbed those tootsies!! I was just happy it was a clean bowl of water!
I was on the phone with my husband during this event, he is away on a business trip, and he says, "Why don't they do these cool things when I am home?" I know he didn't mean that! The joys of Motherhood!
A gift certificate for $75 is a good thing! If I were to have a $75 gift certificate to MamaKanga, I would buy this 
or maybe this 
. Did I mention - free shipping in the US for orders over $35?? That's a deal! Want more info?? Go to Stephanie's blog for more details.
Whew! We made it through vacation last week and now are beginning to get things back to normal!! I feel like I am still recovering!! :o) The kids never sleep the same as they do at home and that just means less down-time for Mommy!!
HC loves Butterflies!
JB's hat was a dinosaur but I chopped the head off here. This guy really did a great job entertaining the kids! They thought this was quite a treat!!
HC loves the ocean!! She loves jumping in the waves and splashing away, but JB does not like the waves at all! I hope he outgrows this. HC wanted to play in the water and JB would cry if she was in it or if he were near it. This was the closest he would go without wailing. He wasn't thrilled that he was this close. As you can see, the seaweed debris was bad. This was the best spot we could find.
JB loved the sand! He loved to roll around in it, throw it or play in it!!
I guess this goes without saying, but they both LOVED the pool. What kid wouldn't right?
