A proud mom moment (and I can't take any credit)

Moments like these make motherhood so sweet and rewarding. This cutie on the left just had his birthday this month. A card arrived for him with a ten dollar bill enclosed from Great Grandma. Did he immediately begin formulating a list of the treasures he wanted to purchase with his new found riches? No...his immediate thought was, "I can can buy presents for the boys!" This kid who doesn't get an allowance...and loves to have his own money to buy treats and things when we are at Wal Mart, didn't think about himself, but about giving to his family.

I thought when we got to the store he would pick out some matchbox cars for his brothers, maybe something little for big sister, and then move on to spending the rest on himself, but nope! I was wrong. While at Walgreens last night he saw a perfect gift for his little three year old brother. He knew that his brother would love it an insisted that this was what he wanted to buy. Last night my eight year old boy used almost all of his birthday money on Christmas gifts for his brothers and sister. And then, with a few dollars left, he placed one in our Lagoon bank ( a bank in which we place our spare change, trying to save up for Lagoon Season Passes for next summer)!

I sure love this boy!

Introducing one of my childhood friends to my daughter

Favorite books and movies often feel like wonderful friends. They don't judge you, they are just there when you need them. The Anne of Green Gables books and movies are these types of friends. I have many fond memories of watching the movies on PBS (impatiently waiting through the pledge drives in between portions of the movie). A childhood friend and I even liked to pretend we were Anne and Diana (we would switch who was who so that we each got a chance to end up with Gil...seriously...who didn't have a crush on Gilbert Blythe after watching these movies?)

I have owned VHS copies of the first two movies for years, but in the last year or so our last VCR died and I have not been able to meet up with my old friends Anne, Diana and Gil. As my daughter has arrived at the preteen years I have had an increasing desire to introduce her to these wonderful friends, but alas, my VHS copies were useless and I did not own a copy on DVD (anyone reading this who wants and idea for my or my daughter for Christmas..DVDs of both Anne of Green Gables and the sequel (formerly known as Anne of Avonlea) would be great gifts this year :)). After a recent family party while visiting in California, I was inspired by discussions of movie borrowing from the library. Did you realize that you can borrow movies for free from the library? Seriously why have I NOT taken advantage of this before...ok back to my story (can you tell I like to go off on tangents...you are probably getting used to that by now). Yesterday I had a book to pick up from the library, so I decided to head to the movie section and see if I could find Anne of Green Gables.

There sitting on the library shelf was my old friend Anne. Oh how I have missed that old friend. I swiftly grabbed one of the two copies available and brought it to the checkout counter (along with a copy of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit as requested by my son who was also with me at the library).

Yesterday afternoon my daughter and I watched Anne of Green Gables. I wish I could say that I was able to sit down and watch the movie together, all the way through. But, those of you who have seen Anne will know how long it is and that a mom of five children rarely gets the opportunity to sit that long! Surprisingly enough, even a couple of the boys sat and enjoyed parts of Anne.

Do you have movies that feel like old friends that you are anxious to share with your children?

On privacy lost.

As a mom, there are few moments in the day that are completely your own. Early on in motherhood I found that I could catch little moments of privacy in the bathroom. Yes, pitiful, I know, but those few stolen moments recharge my batteries. I usually keep a book at the ready, read a couple of pages, and then re-emerge, ready to start again.

As of late these moments of privacy have been stolen from me. The lock on the main floor bathroom has become defective. I blame it on little boys who like to jiggle the handle over and over again, trying to get in. Well, they have succeeded. I can lock the door all I want, but all they need to do is wiggle for a few seconds and they are in! Goodbye privacy...hello toddlers invading my private sanctuary. I guess it is time to get a new door handle on the bathroom...or nothing will get done around the house. I need my few minutes of privacy to keep me going through the day. Anyone know of a sale on bathroom door handles...with locks...maybe I should buy in bulk...these boys are pretty tricky!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving All! As I think today of all of the wonderful blessings I have in my life, I want to take a minute to express my gratitude for a few of them. I am grateful that I have a wonderful husband who has been by my side for the past 12 years and continues to be a wonderful support. I sure love this guy:Some days I think I am going crazy, but I am truly thankful for this great group of kids. They may be wild at times, but they are sweet, thoughtful children who make me smile every day! How can you not smile when you see all of that red hair and those sweet smiles:
I am so thankful for a wonderful extended family, both my own and my in-laws. I couldn't' have been more blessed. I have parents who are always willing to take my kids for me so I can be present in my kids class rooms, or fulfill church responsibilities. They support me and my family in so many ways. My husband's parents are wonderful people. Sadly we lost my mother-in-law this year to a long battle with Alzheimer's, but she was a wonderful woman who always let you know that she loved you! My father-in-law stood by her side and took care of her daily through her struggle. He loves his family and it shows!

We have wonderful friends and neighbors in our little town. We know that we are in the right place for our family. We also have a wonderful home that amazingly fits our large family.

I am also grateful for simple pleasures. An icy glass of this:
a great camera I can use to capture our family memories, good books, my local library that can help keep me in good books without breaking the bank!

And a big thanks to you for reading my ramblings!

Happy Thanksgiving all! May your day be filled with yummy food and family!

Do you ever do crazy things like this?

Seriously, am I the only one who does things like this?

So all day yesterday I was craving a milkshake...a Utah style milkshake

(what is a Utah style milkshake you ask...it is more Blizzard or McFlurry than milkshake...super thick and filled with yummy mix ins).

No, it was NOT that time of the month, and no buns in this oven,

just a craving for some yummy ice cream goodness!

Does a girl really need a reason for an ice cream craving?

So, last night on the way home from buying doughnuts for my son's Kindergarten class

(he has a summer birthday, so today was the randomly selected day for him to celebrate his birthday) I stopped off at Arctic Circle for one of these:

I selected a super yummy strawberry cheesecake shake and brought it home to enjoy.
I only got a small, but after about 2/3 the way through I decided that I was full
and took it to the freezer so I could save it for later...
well I THOUGHT I put it in the freezer.
This morning, I decided that I wanted to enjoy the rest of my milkshake.
I opened the freezer and couldn't find it anywhere!
I was beginning to get angry, thinking someone had stolen my milkshake..
Opening the refrigerator to get some milk for the kids cereal I saw it, yes
there sat my milkshake on the refrigerator shelf...completly melted!

So, tell me. Do you do crazy things like this when you are tired?

I could tell you more crazy stories about double diapering children and putting my fresh strawberries in the freezer, but I will leave those for another time...suffice it to say, I tend to do crazy things when I am tired. Please tell me I am not alone...please...please...

Arctic Circle restaurants are located mostly in Utah and Idaho, but can also be found in parts of Nevada, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Laundry AAAACCKKK!

Seriously, laundry is just crazy for a family of seven! It feels like I am constantly washing clothes and we never have any that are clean. I have tried different systems of doing laundry, and nothing seems to really work for me...I think what I really need is two sets of washers and dryers...maybe then I could stay on top of things...but then again, maybe not! The battle of mom vs laundry wages on and it seems that laundry has the upper hand!

Armed with a large capacity washer and super concentrated laundry detergent, I am off to wage war on the dirty clothes in this household...wish me luck!

Pencil frustrations!

Maybe it is just me, and I am completly inept when it comes to sharpening pencils, but seriously...the pencils in my house always have broken lead. I can sharpen a fresh, brand new pencil and within minutes the lead with crack and I will be required to resharpen the pencil...only to go through this process over and over again ( and I don't mean just the sharp point will crack, I mean crack at the point where the lead is just coming out of the wood). I can't keep mechanical pencils in the house, because my children (when they are between the ages of 6 months and 3) seem to think that the erasers on those are so much fun to eat...(really I do feed these kids). And when the erasers are gone, all of the lead falls out and the pencils are useless...

So whats a mom to three school aged children to do? When it is time to do homework I seem to spend a majority of the time either searching for pencils that are sharp or sharpening pencils that have just broken... Have you found a good brand of old school pencils that always work for you... Is my problem that I buy the cheap, $0.50 packs of pencils during back to school? Would the more expensive pencils really work better, or am I doomed to waste away the minutes sharpening pencils over...and over... and over again?

Please help this pencil challenged mamma...share your pencil tips (really, no pun intended)with me!

Sorry for the lull...

I have been busy with the craziness that is back to school time. But never fear, I will have some fun reviews for you this week, including an awesome giveaway. So keep your eyes peeled and keep me in your readers. I can't wait to share with you.

I took some time off...

I have taken a little time off lately from this blog. My family got really busy and I wasn't happy with the way the blog was running. I really wanted to offer more to you as readers than simply a breakdown of other reviews and giveaways around the internet. I have decided to take this blog in another direction. While I will still point you in the direction of giveaways and freebies that I think are worthwhile, the focus of this blog will be sharing my thoughts and tips on products, services and more that I find helpful and fun as a mother, wife and woman.

These will often be products that I buy and try for myself, but some will be those provided by sponsors (I will indicate at the bottom of each post whether the review was sponsored in any way). I promise to give you my honest opinion on each product. (I may even let you know when I find a product that truly did not live up to the hype).

I have a few posts in the works (including a super fun giveaway from Trix!), so please check back soon!

Sorry to have fallen off the face of the earth!

Last week I experienced and internet outage and that really through me off. I have been back up for a bit now, but just have not been able to get back into the swing of things since. Look for more giveaway posts, a giveaway of my own and a couple product reviews in the next week!

Sorry for the drop off in posting!

April and May have been very busy months in our house! With School in full swing, soccer winding down and baseball getting started I have been really busy. But do not worry, I am ready to hop back in an share with you some of the awesome giveaways I find and a few of my own (one to be posted this afternoon!). Keep checking in and tell your friends to pop on by as well, I have some fun stuff in store!