The Chaos of Prop 8

If you have called California your home for the last month, than I'm sure you've heard up to your eyeballs about Proposition 8. Well, unless you've been living under a rock. I don't remember past Props getting as much media attention as this one has. It seems like every time I turned the tv on, listened to the radio, or went anywhere, I would get bombarded on how I should vote. We all have our opinions on what we feel is right. Which is great- another reason to live in the great country that we do- democracy rules, and everyone's voice counts. I personally will say I am sad that this passed. I feel that EVERYONE deserves the same rights. My dh & I were allowed to get married, put each other on insurance forms, and are automatically the "next of kin" if something were to happen to one of us. Alot of people voted Yes on 8, because they don't want it taught in school. How do they think it is going to come up in school? I highly doubt that a course on gay marriage will be a requirement for high school graduation. What if your child comes home & tells you their friend at school, has 2 moms or 2 dads? What would you say to your child? Would you tell them that it is wrong? Isn't that teaching intolerance? Or Discrimination? I would really like to hear people's views on it. The world is changing, & we need to keep up with her! What should we ban next? Interracial marriage? Personally, if you want to "save & protect" marriage, ban celebrities from marrying! Getting married & divorcing 2 months later just because you can, in my opinion, is hurting our children's image of marriage far more than gay marriage.

The North Pole

Did you know to go to the North Pole you need a fast rocket or a flying car? It's true, because my 5 year old told me. And he is really smart. He is so smart he did his whole homework packet, for the week, in one night. Child takes after me, you know. ;) I guess if it takes Santa some magic to "get out" of his magical home, it makes sense to use some magic to get there. Who wouldn't love to sit and have some yummy hot cocoa & scrumptious cookies with the big man himself? I love this time of year-seeing it through my children's eyes. To see them watch the beloved Christmas movies that I watched myself, growing up. Decorating cookies, the way we did w/my mom & grandma. To watch the awe in their faces, as we go Christmas Light looking. Yes, I love the hustle & bustle of the holidays! Now if I could only find someone with a flying car.......

Have Luggage, Will Travel

Finally, a nice win for October.

Contest Second Prizes (4): Set of Eddie Bauer Luggage (ARV $582)

I received email notification today, and the contest ended yesterday. Now I need to win my New York trip. I would so love to take my mom at the beginning of December, to New York for an actual Broadway Play. And it would be awesome to be in the snow & see all the holiday festivities. It could happen.......

Pumpkin Patch & the Cute Things that come out of my children's mouths

I am tired. And sore. Did I mention tired? 3 weeks before my 35th birthday, and I realize that I am getting old. How the hell did that happen? Seems like yesterday that I was stayng up all night, dancing in the clubs & hitting up Taco Bell for Breakfast Burritos.

Today, Felicia & I took the kids ( my 3 middle ones, her 2 & her niece) to a neat pumpkin patch about 25 minutes away- Bishop's Pumpkin Farm. The pic above is the merry bunch on the way there. Aren't they cute?
They have everything here= animals to feed & pet, several play areas, a train, lots of yummy goodies to eat, many picture ops, & of course the standard hayride & pumpkins. The kids had early day at school today, so we got to spend a couple of hours there. Even though they didn't get to do everything, they still had fun. It was hilarious watching the kids feed the goats- they were getting attacked! lol They enjoyed riding the train, and going down the slides at Coyote Mountain. And LOVED panning for marbles- they all came home with a baggie full of them. Felicia bought them all ice cream, and I picked up a caramel apple ( that was delicious & all gone now lol) & some pumpkin bread. They were a bit disappointed that we didn't have time to go in the corn maze, but all in all, it was a fun day! Exhausting, but fun.:)





The kids have been saying the funniest things lately. Andrew informed the other day, while he was bringing me a diaper/change of clothes for the baby/one of the other 4574573475374 things that I asked him to get for me that day, that he loved me forever & that is why he always brought me the stuff I asked for. Brandon gets stickers on him homework folder, when he turns in his homework. The other day, he was showing me his pteradactyl sticker. He informed me that it was a "carrot-dactyl", & he ate carrots. lol He also cracks me up when he sees the Brown UPS trucks. As a son of a Sweeper, he knows all about the fun packages the mailman, UPS, FEDEX & DHL sometimes brings us. If you ask him who the brown truck is, he calls it the PS truck. My kids make me smile every single day! I am so glad that I am a mom!

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/