Can I please put the clock on pause?

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that time seems to be racing by, as we get older? I cannot believe that Halloween is only 2 & a half short weeks away. Don't get me wrong- I LOVE this time of year! The holidays-Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas of course; but I also love the colors of the leaves changing, the "smell" in the air, turning the heater on & drinking hot apple cider on the rainy days. And of course the countdown to Black Friday! lol I just wish I had a little more time to enjoy the time leading up to these things. I really want to decorate the house for Halloween, but it's looking more & more like it isn't going to happen. My garage is still packed to the gills with boxes from our move. My goal this week is to make a big dent in them. I have to- Joshua's costumes (yes, I did say costume in the plural. lol Gotta love the after Target clearance sales. ) are in a box somewhere out there.

I'm also having issues with how fast the baby is growing. He is so close to crawling, doing the rocking & lunging, rocking & going a step. He is getting pretty darn fast at it too! Last night he was heading towards Matt's fan, and daddy barely had time to grab his foot to stop him in time. lol

We all like Free Stuff, right?

As a newbie blogger, I'm a little overwhelmed by all the elements of blogging. Should I blog about the family & our lives? Do I write reviews of books I've read, movies I've seen, or products that I can't live without? Can I share cool websites that I have found? To get ideas (and to hopefully win some cool stuff) I've been Blog Hopping the last couple of days, reading, commenting & grinding my fingers down to nubby stubbs, entering literally hundreds of wonderful giveaways. The Bloggy Carnival is going on this week, with at last count, well over 1000 participants. Tons of cool stuff to be won, like blog makeovers ( which I would LOVE to win!), gift cards, clothing, and my personal favorite, lots of books. I've had a ton of fun entering, getting great ideas, and finding new products that I hadn't heard of before ( like MomSpit- don't you just love the name?). So much that I want to host a giveaway of my own.

I've been blessed with some neat wins of my own, so I think I will share a few of them with you.

-Advance copy of Julius Caesar by Phillip Freeman

- Country sings Disney Cd

-Coupon for a Freschetta Pizza Product

- Two mystery prizes

So, leave me a comment with a way to contact you, if chosen as one of the 5 winners. Tell me something about yourself or your family- make sure you do this, or you will be disqualified as a winner. ( Got to make you work a little bit for the prizes! lol) Since I am starting a new job tomorrow, the giveaway will be open until Sunday evening, 9pm Pacific Time. Good luck all & hope to see you stop back by,as I get my bloggy up and running.

Ice Cream, The World's Best Dessert

With 7 people in our household, Ice Cream products have a way of disappearing pretty fast. It seems like every time I go grocery shopping, there are at least 4 new flavors, or different novelty ice creams. I usually pick up one of the huge buckets of vanilla ice cream ( which is great for banana splits, or root beer floats), the latest popsicley-type character novelty (supposed to be for the kids, but I've caught the dh enjoying a hulk colored super pop once or twice!), and a smaller specialy ice cream just for me. My newest flavor I have been loving is Ben & Jerry's One Cheesecake Brownie. This little container of lovliness is full of smooth cheesecake ice cream w/ hunks of cheesecke brownie chunks. Can you say yum? I am also a sucker for the holiday themed ice creams- I actually will jump up & down, clapping in the frozen food section, when the Eggnog & Pumpkin ice creams are in stock. Probably another reason why my 14 year old dislikes shopping with me. :D

Momsinablog is hosting a contest for free ice cream from IcecreamSource.com. and all you need to do to enter is to blog about your fave flavor & why you should win. As I already stated above, their are 7 people in our family. And out of that 7, how many do you think are female? If you said 3, well you'd be wrong! I am the lone female in a sea of males. So for that very reason, I should win. lol

Some links to check out- Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream, www.IceCreamSource.com. , http://momsinablog.com/browse-by-topic/contests-giveaways/today-is-national-ice-cream-day/

Book just for Boys

I recently received a copy of The Dangerous Book for Boys by Gonn & Hal Iggulden. If you have even one boy in the family, you should definately have this book on your bookcase! Filled with such things as how to make the airplane ever, to rules of soccer & rugby, even how to skip the perfect stone. I personally liked the chapter with advice on girls.

"It is important to listen. Human beings are often very self-centered and like to talk about themselves. In addition, it's an easy subject if someone is nervous. It is good advice to listen closely- unless she has also been given this advice, in which case an uneasy silence could develop, like towo owls sitting together"

How cute is that? I think any young boy, or even said young man's dad, would get a kick out of this book. Now saying that, let's flip it over. I'm sure plenty of girls would like this book too. Heck, I'm a girl & I liked looking thru it! lol Now we need someone to write The Dangerous Book for Girls. Any volunteers?

It's a Boy, It's a Girl, It's a Cyber Baby Shower!

Take one computer, add adorable unique baby gifts, sprinkle in lots of new friends- you now have the ingredients for a great Cyber Baby Shower! Mamanista is having just such a party & we are all invited. Woohoo! (Click here to join Baby CyberShower Games and Unique Baby Shower Gifts Mamanista! ). Being a mom is the most challenging & wonderful job I have ever had. Having gone down this road 5 times now, I wanted to share some of the tidbits of "knowledge" that I have picked up along the way.

-Sleep whenever you can. Even 5 minute catnaps will help. This will be a bit easier if the baby is the only baby you have. If you have other children, it will be harder to find time to nap. Trust me on this- you DO NOT want to accidently nod off while they are awake. My older kids ( 6,4 & 3) have built in sensors that instantly kick in if I nod off in my rocking chair. The consequences? Any & all gum in the house is consumed, lotions & powders will be applied the every available surface in the bathroom, and snacks will be pillaged from the kitchen. I swear my dh has superhero blood in his family, as my kids are FAST! lol

-When changing diapers, make sure you have clean diapers, wipes & extra change of clothes if needed, within arms reach. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT take off diapers slowly, do not stop to smell the roses, do not pass go, do not collect $200. More than likely, you will be pee'd on at least once! Boys are notorious for waiting til you have taken the old diaper off, smiling, and letting loose! Now that I've let you in on this little tidbit, feel free NOT to share it with your signifigant other- while it's not fun to be the Pee-ee, it's pretty darn hilarious to watch it happen to your dh. :D

-Take time everyday to just enjoy your baby. As my oldest son turns 14 next week, I can tell you that time goes by waaay too fast. Revel in the little things- take the morning smile that only mommy can bring out, the baby coos, that sweet baby smell, and the way he holds your finger when you rock him to sleep- lock these in your heart! My youngest will soon be 4 months old, and I already am starting to tear up over milestones Joshua is flying by. :(

Imagination

It is amazes me how my children't minds work. Everyday it seems like one of them says something that is cute and so far out there at the same time. lol Brandon seems to be the one who makes me laugh the most. He has told me such random things as "I hope monsters don't come take the baby away" to his "hecka-megatron-rocket firecracker" fast. :) See doesn't that just make you smile? If he is happy & in a good mood, he will literally talk your ear off. Yesterday, he was outside helping with the garage sale. While waiting for customers, I traced his hand on notebook paper, then he traced mine. We drew stars, flowers, and other things that needed imagination to tell what exactly they were. It was just a nice quiet time for the two of us.
Andrew has a partial imaginary friend. He talks about his friend Joey ALL the time! I'm not sure if he is talking about his second cousin Joey.We went to Joey's brother Riley's first bday party at the end of March, But it's hard to believe that one afternoon influenced him. He constantly asks to go to his friend Joey's house, or that Joey's mom has a baby too, or that his friend Joey has this toy, or like that food. Again, this is something that makes me smile. :D

I dont' get it....

How is it my fault that you won't talk to me about what we owe for rent, our finances on your end, that you aren't going to work each day, and that apparantly I'm "not helping" you? I thought since I am taking care of 5 kids, doing a big majority of the household chores, doing all grocery shopping, making sure the bills are paid, being a chauffeur, taking care of the everyone on ALL holidays (including making sure the kids have presents, family, food, christmas light looking, trick or treating, easter baskets, etc), and all the other 9004759834534734 things that I do around here, I was helping. Yeah, maybe I don't have a 40 a week job that is garaunte payday, but last time I checked neither do you! I'm trying to be as creative as I can, to make a bit of money on the side. You know that is why I do my sweepstakes. Hell, you've even benifited from my wins- who got the Ipod Shuffle? The Norelco Body Goomer? Don't you get to download songs on the computer I won? And all the free food coupons, hell the Freschetta ones alone are almost $100 of free pizza!!!! Yeah, I do spend money when I go to the thrift store. Look around- are you having to spend hundreds of dollars on clothes for the kids each year? No, because I shop for everyone at the thrift store, or on super cheap clearance. I don't have the luxury of spending $50 on a damn sweatshirt, or $40 on new shoes. Sometimes I would love to buy brand spanking new things too. Just like the stupid fan you bought. $50 on one little fan, when you easily could have bought 3 of the stand fans for that price, so the kids would have one in their room, and one for our bedroom. I hate that you only think of yourself. If you don't ever wnat to put me first, thats fine. But damn't- PUT YOUR KIDS BEFORE YOURSELF!!!!! I'm not saying all the time, but half the time would be nice! Their needs should always come first!!!