There are over 30 Giveaways listed below, from Amazon GC, books, movies, etc. I hope ya'll win something, I know I'm going to submit entries this time around...in fact I've beeen.

If you have a giveaway drop me a line at homemom3@gmail.com and I'll add it here. Don't want to host it on your site but want to promote your item, drop me an email and I'll host it for ya. Contact me for details.

Once more, if ya win something through one of these giveaways please let me know I'd love to link you and the blog you won from.


GIVEAWAYS:

Here's your chance to win money, Marketing Pilgrim wants to give you $300 but you must subscribe to their newsletter to win. That sure would be some nice school shopping money.

Celebrity-Babies has had several giveaways listed on their site, here are a few:

Clene Baby Carrier
3-packs of Adiri bottles including two bottles of each stage
Tiny

Kailani over at Island Life is having a GREAT giveaway, the prize is a $50 gift certificate to Koo Koo Bear Kids. This would be great school clothes shopping.

Freaky Girl wanted to know your weirdest experience with food. The prize is Anthony Bourdain pintglass now head on over and tell her what yours was. Mine's already up, it dealt with an actual cow's tongue. YUM!

Camy's Loft has two books up for grabs: Bittersweet and Split Ends.

Blog Ecorrouge is giving away an ipod catch is you must order something through the site.

XBl Radio is giving away a Final Fantasy Sword.

Design Mom has a lovely Sports Cars to giveaway. It's worth $140, but worth more just for the look on your child's face when it arrives.

Crunchy Domestic Goddess is giving away another cute Bug T-shirt from Cute as a Bug. My favorite is the Instructions.

The Man Room has many DVD giveaways going on from wii, to stargate season 10.

Super Cool Baby is giving away a copy of">The World Around Us DVD

The Feathered Nest is celebrating their 100th post, with a giant giveaway. The prizes are really nice too.

Raising Joey is giving away their copy of Aunt Mommy book.

There's a beautiful first time parent's basket that Merchant Circle is giving away as well.

Serious Jumbo is having their first Blogiversary and to celebrate their are some really great gifts for the giveaway. Every friday there'll be a giveaway too, oh and the music you'll just LOVE.

Sheri Prescott has a great back to school Giveaway going on over at her place, but only those that are in jr. High or high school can join in on it.

Gay Walker is giving away a copy of Lottery. Read the instructions to sign up for that one.

The Mom Blogs is giving away one copy of Elmo Sesame Street Back to School dvd.

A Patch Work of Books is giving away one copy of The Red Tent.

Discussing Autism is giving away Bob's Red Mill Chocolate Cake Mix and Raisin Bread Mix. Gluten and Casein Free, head on over to read the rules.

Book Splurge is giving away their copy of The Elevator by Angela Hunt. You must leave them a comment to qualify for the book, it does look suspenseful. Not sure though as I can't stand elevators. Yes, I know a fear of mine and it is silly.

Photo Induced is giving away a copy of Annie Leibowitz’s A Photographer's Life.

The Opinionated Parents has two giveaways going on :
wildflower darling pinafore dress and nursing cover

Chelsea Morning is having a book giveaway, the book is Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

The Nerdy is doing a new launch and in honor of that they are giving away an USB cup warmer/cooler but you must tell them why you deserve to win.

Trashionista is giving away 2 copies of Be Mine by Laura Kasischke all ya got to do is drop her an email with the subject, "Laura" in it.

Fiction Scribe is having a contest, it's a fun one too, the price is a $20 amazon gift certificate and all you need to do is write up your biggest Pet Peeve. Wow, that's so easy, I have so many though. hehe.

Labels: book giveaways, books, christmas movies, contests, dvd giveaways, giveaways, july giveaways, movie giveaways, prizes, usb cooler, usb cup warmer

I've seen many blog postings and message board postings of bloggers/agencies looking to hire bloggers/writers. Look no further, I've experience in blogging, content writing/seo/article, etc.

If ya need a writer drop me a line at homemom3@gmail.com

Past Assignments:
cactus, loans, mortgages, love, family, kitchen remodeling, teddy bears, credit, credit cards, activities for kids, holiday pieces, books, book reviews, product reviews, interviews, etc.

I'm more than willing to do the research. Have a GREAT day!

Labels: article, assignments, blog, blog jobs, blogger, blogger jobs, content writing, homemom, homemom3, pay gigs, seo, writer, writer needed, writer wanted, writers

I thought this would be the perfect place to find all my reviews online and on this site.

If you have a product that you'd like for Homemom3 to review: Here are the details about the Homemom3 Household: Do We Review Products?

MomGadget

A MomGadget Review - Fizzix: It’s a Fun Snack
Mother’s Intuition Set - A MomGadget Review
ReliaDose
Little Capers
Innobaby Packin’ SMART®
Word World
Tip e Toes Baby Bottle Holder
Days Ago Digital Day Counter
The Fairy Chronicles

Reviewing Toys

Review: Pokemon Leaf Green Game
Review: My Little Pony So Soft Good Morning Sunshine
Review: Clutch & Crinkle Ball
Review: Infantino Hippo Gym

Homemom3

LaLa Natural's Baby Rattles
Net Jet Rulz!
Noah's Pals Batteries Not Included
Fun Crafts for Girls (Spotz) Spotz: Design 'N Write Board, Spotz: Messenger bag and the Spotz: Spotz Maker.

Upcoming Reviews:

BabyPlus
Potty Watch
Word World: Happy Birthday Dog
Kazoo Toys- Yo-yo pack
Magic Show 100 piece
Create-a-cling
Hooked on Phonics: Electronic Learning Musical Letter Twist
Hooked on Phonics: Phonics word Master
Hooked on Phonics: Electronic learning Smart Sticks Numbers (bilingual)
T-Rex Dinosaur Battle Board Game
Families with Purpose:
Dinner Games & activities
Beginner Dinner Games
Mom's Family Calendar
Mom's Family Desk Planner
Your Baby Can Read
Bob Books
Fortune Tootsies
Flavorit
Snoozer pillows -Upper, body, jr.
Jake Baby
Freeze It
The Touch Game by Anthony Innovations Inc

Labels: book reviews, product reviews, reviewer, reviews

I am doing another Blog Carnival and would love it if ya'll would come and participate. Drop me an email at homemom3@gmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 9 - I'd like to hear about going back to school. How ya'll are preparing, maybe traditions, memories, etc (homemom blog)

August 10 - crafts related to going back to school (holiday blog)

I'll would post these on the days listed above, so please get them in by noon that day.

Q- How do I do a carnival?
A- Ya write about the topic, for instance you have a child about to start school for the first time. You would write about it, anything from your fears, shopping, etc. Post it on your blog and send me the link. On the day mentioned above I would post an intro and have everyone's link in it.

Previous Blog Carnivals:

Memorial Day Carnival
Mother's Day Carnival
Earth Day Carnival
Christmas Traditions Carnival
Christmas Traditions Carnival 2



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dreaming of owning a home theater? It doesn't have to be a dream anymore with HTMarket. They speacialize in all things home theater related, audio video products, movie posters and frames, lighting, snack machines. Picture having your own movie room, this would be perfect for a child's room. The scones to light up their room as if they were in their own theater, two or three movie posters from their favorite show and top it all off with their very own popcorn machine. Get yourself a home theater today.

Labels: blog carnival, get back to school, going back to school, school carnival

That's right, I stuck through the 24 hours of blogging for my cause and once it was all done and over with I only slept for one hour. I had family come out and didn't think it would be polite to not be awake, so I finally slept between 7:30-8 p.m. last night until this morning. That is a first for me as I NEVER sleep that long.




YOU CAN STILL PLEDGE: SPONSOR ME

We ended up with 6 sponsors, myself included and I'd like to thank all of you... we reached $55.

Leigh
TXWriter
Sally Andersen
sapheyerblu
Annonymous (can I share yet?)
Homemom3
(would you like to see your name added? SPONSOR ME)

I had many commenters throughout the event and I'd like to thank you all for that. Even during trying times with my computer and me, ya'll stuck it out. Yes, computer would freeze, another point my cable company had a malfunction, but I still came back on once it did and wrote more posts. Next year, if I'm with internet connection I will do the blogathon but it'll be more planned and with giveaways.

Hmm, now to actually blog stuff this week....I feel like I've blogged about everything under the moon. Oh and sorry to ya'll that have me in your feeds, I have mine in a feed and I saw it really clogs it up. Had no clue, next year I"ll make a warning.

Labels: blogathon, blogathon 2007, blogathon2007, blogging, blogging for a cause, comments, hope for the warriors, hope for the wounded warriors, sponsors

This will be my official sticky post for the Blogathon 2007. I thought this would be the best way to show ya'll the updates as they go on throughout the day. To read the posts you must scroll below this message. (You may remember I tried this the other day but it didn't work, I guess we'll see how it goes today.)

Wanna sponsor me? Click the link to Sponsor me.



My cause is for "Hope for the Warriors."

My Goal $500
Currently I have: $55
I need: $445 more
Sponsors: 6

Sponsors:
Leigh
TXWriter
Sally Andersen
Sapheyerblu
An Anonymous Sponsor
An Anonymous Sponsor

Time Ending: 0900 EST (6 a.m. pacific time) Sunday, July 29, 2007 (Hubby's Birthday)

I'd love comments to get me through the day. Send questions if ya will and I'll post a link to your site. Any memes out there that someone needs tagged for, I'm your girl. Okay I'm off for now! Wish me luck!

P.S. My computer froze that's why I'm a few minutes late.

Labels: blogathon, blogathon 2007, hope for the warriors

I must say I believe this was the post that touched me the most, even the hubby got a tear. It's just something that we know does happen and that song just fits perfectly. I know BalletGirl would be proud of her momma for sticking it out, especially since she knows one of those wounded warriors.

If you'd like to sponsor me, you can still do it. Sponsor Hope For the Warrior"



There are many programs out there that support the Wounded Warrior. Won't you support one? Sponsor Hope For the Warrior"

I'd also like to thank all those that commented, emailed and imed me today. Trust me it helped out a LOT. There were a few times I thought I'd crash, and that wasn't meant to be a pun since my computer crashed several times.

Thank you to my sponsors:

Leigh
TXWriter
Sally Andersen
Sapheyerblu
An Anonymous Sponsor (I do know who you are and THANK YOU. I didn't know if you wanted it to stay secret since that is how it came across.)

Labels: blogathon, blogathon 2007, blogathon2007, hope for the warriors, wounded warriors

The worst thing I did to myself tonight was not advertising enough, not planning it out entry by entry and having a computer that constantly dies. Next year, I will have a plan and have it all figured out, this way I get to hit more bloggers. Instead, once I wake up later today I'll be hitting the blogosphere for all those that I may have missed.

Learn from me, get the sleep ya need and be prepared.

Labels: blogathon

Let's talk one last hour about the charity I'm blogging for...."Hope for the Warrior."

Here are a few things they do:

A Warrior's Wish- When a warrior (wounded) or someone requests something for them. Remember the one where his friend wished he could get a wheelchair. The other one that only wanted to see his men off the bus? These are the types of things they do.

Warrior House - The house for the wounded warrior and their family. This way they don't have to find a hotel to stay in while their loved one is being treated and he/she can focus on themselves and not worry about where his family is staying.

Wounded Warrior Barracks/Spouses Support Group - Just what it sounds like, a group of spouses that have already dealt with it to keep each other together.

Spouses Scholarships and Hope-N-Comfort Bears.

As you can see they are trying their best to help the wounded warriors, but they need our help to do it.

Sponsor Me today.

Labels: blogathon, hope for the wounded warrior

What TV shows can you NOT stand?

Spongebob
Backyardigans
Jimmy Neutron

Which can you watch?
Life with Ginger

Which ones did you watch as a child?
As ya'll know I hated cartoons but I loved Heathcliff, Garfield and the Chipmunks.

Labels: blogathon, cartoons

Isn't it funny how things change. First it was just me and Little A, then it switched to me, Little A and Daddy. Daddy went to bed and SoccerBoy snuck down here. Now he said it was to help me but the ENTIRE time he played the game thingy. He crashed around 5. I thought it would be quiet which would've been good cause the computer kept giving me issues.

By 7 am. BalletGirl was down here, she is STILL flipping the channels on the t.v.

SO much for quiet time for mom. Maybe in my dreams....only in an hour. (7 a.m. post)

Labels: blogathon, kids, tv

You Are A Gold Girl

You're dependable and hard working. You never miss a deadline - and you're never late. You have a clear sense of right and wrong. You're very detail oriented. You get frustrated when your friends are sloppy - or when they don't follow through. You're on top of things, and you wish that everyone else was!

Very sorry but computer crashed at 6:30 am. EST, so I'm making up for lost time now.

Woo Hoo! While I should be jumping with joy I'm not. Why? Simple and for most of us mommy bloggers know, it doesn't mean we'll get to sleep long. Am I right mommy bloggers? For me in approximately 1 hour my wee ones will be waking up, the oldest in about two maybe three because he stayed up.

So when I head for bed they'll be getting up. Every mommy's worst nightmare, see my kids like to rise with the sun. Eeeek!

In three hours and 30 minutes where will you be? Will you be preparing for a new day or will your head drop to a pillow?

Labels: blogathon, pillow talk

You Are a Chocolate Cake

Fun, comforting, and friendly. You are a true classic, and while you're not super cutting edge, you're high quality. People love your company - and have even been known to get addicted to you.

Why would I not eat Rocky Mountain Oysters? First, there was seafood on the menu. Granted I should've known because we were beside the desert, but in the mountains. No water nearby. Imagine my horror as the person with me is snickering when I reply, "Oh I just love seafood."

Yeah, laughing now aren't ya? The waiter can't do it though so hahah on you. He asks as politely as he can, "Do you know what "Rocky Mountain Oysters are?"

"Oysters from the Rocky Mountain," I reply as if he should know.

He tries not to laugh but can't help it. "Ma'am, they are Buffalo Balls." I'm looking at him blankly.

"You know the balls" he looks around the room, "the testicles"...

I'm 18, I knew exactly what balls were, "Yeah I know what they are," I'll have the shrimp. It is shrimp right?"

Hey, I was a blonde back then give me a break.

Labels: blogathon

What Songs make You Want to Vomit?

I remember in high school we would cheerfully skip down the street (we were purposefully annoying) singing, "The Brady Bunch." We knew everyone hated it but we song it anyways. I can't stand it.

Another song I hate is "Winnie the Pooh." No this one doesn't make me want to throw-up but it does put shivers down my spine. Why? Remember a while back, geez I think it was the 80s when "Little Jessica" fell down the well? That was the song they sung to her to keep her calm, to this day I still can't listen to it without thinking about her.

Food:

I've ate cows tongue, pig's feet and squid. So why when I ordered "Rocky Mountain Oysters" could I not eat them? Stay tuned for the answer....

Labels: blogathon, food, songs

Blogathon meme, stolen from here.

1. What charity are you blogging for, and why?
'Hope for the Warriors' because I love the cause. Being in the military has brought me up close and personal with it and I think it is a great cause.

2. What's been the hardest part of the Blogathon for you, so far?
Staying awake, and finding somethign to write about.

3. Did you have a sponsorship goal? Have you met it?
Yes and no, I had hoped to reach at least $100 but my ultimate goal was $500.

4. What's been fun for you, so far?
getting the comments

5. Have you met anyone new and cool?
Sure have, plan on continuing to read their blogs too

6. Assuming it were possible, would you choose, right now, to time-travel back to the beginning of the Blogathon, with an unflagging supply of energy, or to the end, exhausted but finished?
The beginning, actually right before it because I would've wrote down notes on what I should post and when. Now I know what I'll do next year.

7. What have you been eating today?
soda and chocolate

8. So… whatcha wearing?
green t-shirt, blue jeans, barefeet, plaid flannel jacket (cold in here)

9. Quick! Three truths and a lie:
I have thick hair, don't sleep much, and I love my toes.

10. What do you most want, right this second?
Frappacino

Labels: blogathon, meme

TV Shows:

Lark Voorhies played a spoiled little girl that was always being chased by the geek.
This actress once starred in "Cats."
The Blonde hunk of the show.
The prinicipal was a big part in this show...kind of like Life with Derek today for kids.

Any clue of this tv show?


No clue? Think of it all taking place in a school and the geek always getting shoved into lockers.

Labels: blogathon, trivia

Blogathon HQ wants to know what our favorite Wild Animal is. Here are mine:



and the other three Wild Animals

Labels: blogathon, wild animal

I wanted to give a shout-out to a Former Army Officer, Ed F.Acevedo. He recently rode his bike...as in his bicycle 4,288 miles to support a course. He wanted to let others know about wounded veterans.

He says that during his trip the one thing that kept him going was when he saw a wounded marine with only one leg riding along with him for 55 miles. He knew at that point if that guy could do it so could he.

Now see, this is definitely something worth supporting. His trip began at Florida and ended up at Camp Pendleton, California.


Source: The Globe

Labels: blogathon

Don't say your family as we already know that.

1 the internet
2 life
3 my computer (yes I also hate it)
4 books
5 writing
6 reading
7 amazon.com and ebay.com
8 watching my soaps
9 Army Wives TV show
10 blue jeans

Your turn

Labels: blogathon

1 child molesters
2 children running around in the backseat of a car
3 That person that allows their dog to run loose in the back of their pick up truck
4 parents that don't watch their kids
5 Kids that run out in front of my car (I hate driving as it is)
6 unwanted advice
7 politics
8 money
9 running out of ideas to blog about
10 my computer right now

What are 10 Things you hate?

Labels: blogathon

Hey it was a quick idea.

1 I was born in Ohio

2 I once hated California and now miss it deeply, I hope our next state we move to is there. That's right dad, I now consider California my home...not Ohio.

3 I was born with dark hair, later it would go blonde...a few days after marriage it was colored red.

4 I once had to get stitches...on my sister's 13th birthday.

5 I am a worry-wart, always have been and probably will always be.

6 I love deeply, once you are in my heart it is hard to get ya out.

7 There are few things that upset me, but those few things will make me IRATE.

8 I hate driving, anywhere, even to the store. Funny thing is I didn't learn to drive until I turned 26, everyone told me once I learned I'd regret not learning before. They were wrong.

9 I hate to shop, unless it is online.

10 I'm passionate with things that interest me ...can't ya tell.

Labels: about me, blogathon

Okay, ever have problems with your computer just not working. For the past hour it will let me on and then it frezes, then it goes to this whole internet explorer page doesn't exist thing. Finally I got it working, so now ya'll know I am here just dealing with things behind the scenes. No I'm not stopping, I know some emailed asking what was wrong and when I explained they said why don't I just quit now.

For me, this is not an option, this is a cause I really believe in and want to help. I WILL finish this! ;)

Support me.

Labels: blogathon, computer problems, computers, sponsor me

Okay my husband and I disagree on something....Syrup. He hates syrup and can't stand Karo Syrup. I just love the stuff, my dad got me hooked on it when I was a little girl.

Things I use it on:
scrambled eggs
hashed browns
french fries (yes I do)
grits
oatmeal
see a pattern here?

Things My husband uses on:
scrambled eggs (ikk)
cheeseburger (no, I don't use syrup on it)
hash browns

answer.... ketchup. Yuck! I can't stand the stuff.

Over at Blogathon.org they've asked, "Tips on how you'll survive"

So my tip is to have someone nearby to keep you company. I had my husband but he went to bed. Now I have my 10 year old son, whom snuck down moments after dad went to sleep. Funny thing is he has his new game that he is playing inside his gameboy. Yeah, not sure if he really is down here to support me or not.

Tip #2 - Be prepared, I've got snacks galore and sodas. Two sodas in the freezer, one in the fridge and another by me.

Tip #3 - Do stuff, I'm currently washing one load of laundry, another in the dryer and I'm folding the other stuff. See, I'm a multitasker.

Next up....more fun stuff.

Labels: blogathon

Just to show you what this charity does, watch the video I found on youtube today. This should really explain things better than I ever could.



Want to sponsor: Hope for the Warriors

Labels: blogathon, blogathon2007, hope for the warriors, wounded warriors

Sergeant Eddie Ryan

Sgt. Ryan was shot several times while in Iraq in 2004. Once above his eye, lower jaw and twice in the head. He suffered brain injury on top of everything else. His family was flown over since they weren't expecting him to live, two years later he was still going through intensive surgeries/recovery.

His wish wasn't wished by him but his own friend.

A friend of Eddie's contacted Hope For The Warriors™ requesting a special wish. A wheelchair - not just any wheelchair, but an all-terrain wheelchair that Eddie's dad can push him around in the yard and maybe even go hunting again someday.

Source: Hope for the Warriors

Want to support the cause? Sponsor me.

Labels: blogathon, warrior wish, wish

The Opinionated Parent is having another giveaway and this time it is for Badgemaker.

Blogs We Luv is giving away a copy of A Little Twist of Texas. Stop by the blog to find out more details.

Currently there is no update on the blogathon. Would ya like to ask me questions?

Sponsors 4
Amount: $40
Amount Remaining: $460

Would you like to Sponsor me?

Next up: Wounded Warrior

Labels: blogathon

The hubby brought back the rugrats, but with dinner and of course sent them to bed.

Dinner:
Wendy's Frosty
Coke
cheeseburger
fries

No I don't normally eat all that but it did sound good. So far, I've ate the Frosty and coke. Soon the fries I think.

Kids came back wtih gifts from their Great aunt:
SoccerBoy Pokemon Game for his Gameboy
BalletGirl Password Journal
BabyGirl my little pony set (with a barn)

Labels: blogging, dinner

The hammering continued to get louder and louder. I was freaking out, I had my little boy in my arms. Afraid to go out the door, afraid to move. Every time I did move it would follow me. I had no clue why someone would try to break into my home from the ground. Didn't intruders normally come through the front door. That I could deal with, this I could not.

The sirens could be heard louder than anything, course I lived only a lot away. Why they didn't just run down the street I have no clue. I quickly ran to the door the moment I heard them open it.

"What seems to be the problem?" The police asked.

"Someone's breaking in."

They looked puzzled and spoke on their talkie to someone I couldn't see. "Ma'am no one is around your lot."

"Someone's here, someone's here right now..." at that point the pounding got louder. "Can't you hear them?"

The police looked at one another and bust up laughing, I was angry.

"What? Arrest them."

"Ma'am, how long have ya lived out here?"

What had that got to do with anything I thought to myself. The movement ran around me and I screamed and ran towards the officers. The officers stopped me, "Ma'am have ya ever heard of an armadillo?"

Yep, that's all it was my first experience with an armadillo.

Labels: armadillo, intruder

Okay, now you must imagine being young and living in your own home, by yourself for the first time.

It was the first night that I was in the house by myself, my hubby had just deployed and it was only my 1-year-old-son and myself. But we weren't the only one there that night. Around midnight I heard someone trying to break in, except they weren't trying to come through the house from the door. Nope not the windows either and we didn't have a chimney.

Guesses?

I could hear him hammering his way through my floor. Yes, that's right someone was trying to break into my home through my floor. I immediately called 9-1-1 and explained to them the situation. Almost in hysterics I begged them to come quickly.......

Next up
the continuation

Labels: blogathon, the intruder

This program all started when Shannon Maxwell's husband, Lt. Col. Timothy Maxwell was severely wounded in Iraq back in 2004. She learned then that something needed to be done to support these men and their families. She became the president of "Hope for the Warrior" and has even received the "President’s Volunteer Service Award."

To date Shannon has started up support groups, temporary homes, fundraisers, etc.

Support Hope for the Warrior

Labels: blogathon, blogathon2007, hope for the warriors, Shannon Maxwell

There are many programs out there that support the Wounded Warrior. Won't you support one? Sponsor Hope For the Warrior"

Labels: blogathon, hope for the warriors, wounded warrior act

I am going through my comments now, but someone asked about packages.

Here's a short list of what they like:

beef jerky
baby wipes
lotion
feet spray
toys (yes they love tiny trinkets they can play with)
yo yos
snack foods like pretzels, chips, etc
books

No chocolate, no matter how much they LOVE this stuff it'll arrive in one large clump. Trust me, I tried it.

I'm going to scour the net and find sites about care packages for ya'll.

Wanna sponsor me? Hope for the Warriors

Labels: care packages

Many of you say you know me but can't remember from where, so this post will include places I blog at and hang-outs (forums). For the most part I go by Homemom3 or elizajane202.

TomCruiseWatch
TVBender
ReviewingToys

Homemom3 or I'm not just a mom...I'm a Home Mom
EntertainUsNews
TeenZoneNews
Step by Step
HotTronics
Work at Home Mom

My kids have blogs too that normally have my name attached to them.

Forums:
MomGadget & GeekySpeaky

Labels: blogathon, blogs, forums, sites

Want to cheer me on?

AIM - elizajane2004
Yahoo Messenger - a_lady_poet


Or Drop me an Email:
eliza_ferree@yahoo.com
homemom3@gmail.com

or Sponsor Me

Three Giveaways:

5minutesformom is having another giveaway and this time you can win an Insignia 37 inch flat panel LCD HDTV. Don't miss out.

DS Fanboy is having a giveaway, deadline is tonight though. What can you win? Oh, yeah I guess I should post that. Quickspot and TrionCube.

Wedding Bee is giving away some wedding coasters that you get to put photos in.

Labels: AIM, blogathon, giveaways, yahoomessenger

Mr.Roberts was adopted January 2006 for the Camp Johson 1st grade class (Mrs.Snyder). From my understanding when he entered the class he used a cane, by the time he left he was walking without one. This was something wonderful to see, BalletGirl tells me that he actually got to live in one of the Warrior Houses they have beside the school.

This is a wonderful guy, he supported these kids and not only that, he supported Mrs.Snyder. How, well he would come over bright and early before school began and not leave until school was let out. But then he was suppose to go on leave and he checked in with her, at that particular moment in time she got a call.

Her husband had been injured, got hit with an IED (if I recall correclty). The class heard her, she was in shock. This marine took over the class until she came back, he was suppose to be on leave but knew she'd need him. The following morning he wasn't there but in his place was a flower for her. He knew what she needed as well as the rest of this class.

This is just one reason I loved this guy, he would constantly send BalletGirl home with pictures he drew for her...which of course she has hanging on her wall. I'm going to look for the article that was online about all this throughout the day. Once I find it I'll post. THat's what took this post so long.

Support the cause, Sponsor me

~~~~~~~~~~~`

I was asked, "How can I help you when I don't have money?" There are a few ways, one you can link me on your blog and let everyone know what I'm doing. Two leave me comments throughout the night or pm, im me. Heck I'll even take emails. :)

Labels: blogathon, hope for the wounded warrior, wounded warrior

Yes, I know it is past lunch but I skipped it. Hubby knows me too much and swung by here after taking relatives and kids to the movies. Surf's Up! They loved it, which I knew they would.

Lunch:

Burger King- One Rodeo Cheeseburger, chocolate shake (love my chocolate), onion rings.

What did you have for lunch? What's the plan for dinner? I'm sure he'll be bringing back dinner in a few hours. Honestly I had another post but it got ate when computer froze, don't ask it does it often.


Next up: All About My daughter's Marine

Labels: blogathon, burger king, marine corps, movies, surf's up

Okay I thought this would be the perfect time to tell you some of the projects that my charity does. So here is the list of different Wounded Warrior Projects they do.

The Run For The Warriors - this is just what it sounds like. A marathon where the participants are trying to raise money for the wounded warriors. This was held May 2007 here on Camp Lejeune.

Now with four children in tow I couldn't do it, which is why I'm blogging. Hmmm, maybe I can get this to become something they add to their list. (just a thought)


Kids Run For The Warriors - That's right the kids get to run for the warriors. Now, who could ever turn down a child and to top it off this is a great charity for it.

To let ya know, yes, sometimes the wounded warrior actually takes part. Want to support the "Hope for the Warrior" fund?

Sponsor me

Thanks goes out to Sapheyerblu, my latest donation. These men and women will appreciate it.

Labels: blogathon, blogathon2007, hope for the warriors, hope for the wounded warrior

I'd like to give a shout-out to Gayla and her little boy (Trey). Remember recently she went to a 4-H Fair? Well, her son's bird won and was headed to the State Fair but last night it mysteriously died. I'd like everyone to head over there and comment on her blog. Her son is very crushed it was his bird.


Here's a picture of Trey with his beautiful bird. Trey's Bird. It sure was a gorgeous bird.

(((HUGS))) I don't know what to say sweetie, I know how hard it is to lose a a pet.

Labels: momgadget

This will be a thank you entry to my sponsors and those that have done a link to me and my cause today.

Sponsors:
Leigh (who are ya dear)
TXWriter
Sally Andersen (what's your link deary?)

Links:

Track Bunny Films
Blogs We Luv
Miss 604

If I missed a linker please let me know. (linker sounds so stranger)

The Movies I rented: A Good Year & The Holiday (yes I have rented both of them before, but there was nothing new)

Labels: blogathon, blogathon2007, Links, linky love, sponsors

For those that have not seen the movie, skip this post...it will have SPOILERS.
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Okay, don't get mad at me.

The Messengers

Photo Source: IMDB

Stars of the show: Kristen Stewart, John Corbett (boy does he look good), Penelope Ann Miller.

I'm not going to lie to you, it can scare the crud out of you and it will make ya jump. In the very beginning of the movie you watch some of the most horrific scenes, so be prepared. I won't go into details but make sure you aren't eating or drinking anything during that time.

It starts off very scary, then suddenly there is a family driving in the country and pulling into a very old farmhouse. Creepy just looking at it. Things begin to happen almost immediately, a crow smashes into a window, a person appears out of nowhere, the baby boy watching something intently that no one else can see.

Jess (the teen daughter) sees all of this, so does the little boy but he doesn't talk. When she flips out no one will believe her, they all think she's trying to draw attention to herself and get her family to move back to their old home. Only she's correct and they are in deep trouble. There is a scene that reminded me of Birds by Alfred Hitchcock too. She runs outside during one bad experience and sees birds (hundreds) on top of her house, but none of them are attacking the corn.

Will anyone believe her? There's one person that does, but will it be too late?

Want a preview?



Look interesting? Don't watch it at night thought...course that may be what some of you blogathoners need tonight.

Next up....not sure yet. Headed to get more movies.

Questions?

Labels: movie review, scary, the messengers, thriller

For those that have not seen the movie, skip this post...it will have SPOILERS.
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Okay, you were warned.

Photo Source: IMDB

To me this movie is one of those must see movies for every writer, or want to be writer. I dream of one day writing a book that gets published, not something that just sits on my computer and waits for me to have the guts to mail it off. So, I bring you Stranger Than Fiction.


The movie is about an author writing a book, but she just can't seem to write, "The End" on it. (can't say I blame her either) The publishing house sends over help for her. In pursuit of her trying to overcome writer's block we get to watch her story come to life. Yes, come to life.

The story line is about a guy that happens to be an IRS agent and must die. Yes, die. He wakes up and begins to brush his teeth, suddenly he hears a narration of what he happens to be doing. Throughout the day he continues to hear this voice, he screams at it, goes to a shrink for help, etc. He really believes himself to be crazy, which of course these scenes will make you laugh.

Harold (the guy in the story) meets up with a baker to audit her and he learns all about a whole new way of living. Course at the same time he's dealing with this author inside his head, eventually he tries doing things that the author doesn't say, ie like finding her. Yep, imagine writing a book about someone and they show up at your door.

The scene is the author typing on the computer and the phone ringing, suddenly her phone is the one that rings. She then writes, rings again and her phone does. I swear I'd be freaking out. Now that she's met him will she continue on with the story and kill him off? That's the big question. (okay so I couldn't spoil it)

Anyways it's a great story, sorry this is a lot of rambling and not my best review but it'll let ya'll know. If you are a writer looking for a funny story, this is it. BTW- I've rented this movie twice now.

Next up...."The Messengers"

Labels: blogathon, movie review, Stranger Than Fiction

Someone wrote me and asked if these houses were JUST for the warriors?

The answer is No, they are not. The homes are definitely for the warrior and their families.

More on Warrior House

On March 15, three houses were opened up for the Warriors. One house is for the staff needed, the other two are special homes for the families and warrior themselves.

The 1,100 square foot houses are to serve the military community much like Fisher Houses that provide free lodging to veterans and military families while service members receive treatment at military medical centers.

As you can see, it is to help everyone. These are very trying time, heck any time you've got a loved one in the family go to the hospital it is stressful. But the stress of one that's just been injured in war, flown home and now in a hospital or coming home and needs a special place to live can become overwhelming. This is one way we can help. While it may not seem like much, they are very thankful.

Any questions?

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next up Movie reviews. Any movie review requests? I'm currently watching, "The Messengers" it'll be over by 3:30 (one hour) so I know one I'll do and the other I watched today was "Stranger Than Fiction." During that hour I'm going to drop these videos off to get new ones. :)

Okay I'm off.

Labels: blogathon2007, warrior house

Looking for another good reason to support "Hope for the Warriors"? Here's one:

Photo Source: Hope for the Warriors

The Warrior House was built for the woudned warrior and their families. It isn't always easy seeing your loved one in the hospital, let alone finding a place for them to go after they get out. These houses are furnished, thanks to community members. They are also equipped to handle the wounded warriors. See the ramp in the picture, wheelchair accessible.

Each furnished Warrior House™ is complete with ramps, roll in shower and widened doorways, and is designed to look and feel like home so the temporary residents can spend time focusing on the needs of their loved ones. The homes will provide temporary lodging for families visiting their wounded service member and severely wounded returning for their units’ homecomings, as well as transitional adaptive lodging for Wounded Warriors with spouses and children.

Much like a typical home, each Warrior House™ is equipped with a full kitchen and dining room, laundry facilities, an open living room, a bathroom, two bedrooms and a fully equipped office which includes a new computer system and internet service. Other structural comforts include a screened-in porch and covered carport. Comfortable living room, dining room and bedroom furnishings are being provided by various local businesses and community members

This is just another good reason to help them out. Look at these homes, just down the street from where I am.

Support Hope for the Warrior
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Don't forget to ask me questions! :)

Next hour will have movie reviews.

Labels: blogathon, blogathon2007, hope for the warriors, warrior house

First time we moved it was the winter time, hmm, I think it has always been winter time when we move. We only had one child, slightly less than one year old and we were moving from California to Oklahoma. Why? I chose to move there since we was going to Okinawa, course this would be a big mistake as I got stalked while living there.

The trip itself was fine, lots of crying as our son did not want in the seat that long. Once we got there we stayed with my grandparents and had to find a house soon as the hubby only had a week or two (can't recall) before he was shipped out. We scanned every paper and came up with a CUTE little house. Only problem is it was not as nice as we thought. Outside the house was a light yellow with white trim, fenced in yard and a big tree out front. It looked great, we signed.

I guess we should've looked inside, the house was crooked. I mean if ya put a ball in the living room it would roll down. It was crazy. I also ended up with an armadillo which is another funny story, maybe I'll share with ya'll later today. I lived one lot away from the police station, but when I'd need them the most it would take over 30 minutes to get to my house.

That's just one story.

On the way to where I am today (NC), we went once again during the winter, with three kids this time. Luck was not on our side. First our chains broke, then a blizzard so we got stuck in Kansas, when we were just about here we ended up ran off the side of the road into a snow bank by a semi. I HATE moving.

Labels: blogathon, military, moving, moving day

photo source: Mayflower.com

Ackkk, my post just got deleted. Okay starting over. Growing up military you'd think I'd know a lot about moving. Truth is we went from Ohio to California...I've been told we were in Colorado but don't remember it. I didn't move until my dad retired and we moved one town over. So imagine my surprise when I was told my hubby would get sent away and I'd have to move. I NEVER believed it, until a month before we were due to move. Eeeek!

Someone asked me to write some packing tips so here they are:

- Make one box your "First night" box, this should include everything you need for that first night. Blankets, pillows, a change of clothes, a pot, dishes to eat off of, dishsoap, shampoo, soap, a few towels, etc.

- If you have something that can't be replaced take it with you. I meant it TAKE IT WITH YOU. I had one box get lost, the one with all the baby things in it, you know those keepsakes that can't be replaced. Ultra sound pics, video, baby book, etc . All gone.

- Let the military pack ya, they reimburse you for lost items or broken. No, I've never actually filed for it...too much paperwork hubby says. But if they do it it gets done FAST, wheras asking 10 neighbors to help might not happen.

- Know all the details on how to get your stuff and when you need to pick it up.

- Try making a list for each box that way you know what's in them. Something I've learned to keep a box per room. Pack up your room, label it MY Room, kids room, etc.

More as I can come up with them, this is just a quick list.

Next up, stories of moving. haha, this will be fun.

Labels: blogathon, packing tips

Miss 604 was posting their prep for blogathon. I must say coffee sounds so good right now.

The hubby did bring me stuff for today though, he took three kids with him for the day...of course the third must stay with me. He'll be taking them to see either Surf's Up or Ratitoulle (spelling is wrong but no corrections right now).

12 pack of pepsi
bag of pretzels
bag of chex mix
2 yogurts
Vanilla wafers
chocolate chocolate chip muffin

But what will I have for lunch? Not sure. Over at Blogathon radio they asked what was the healthiest food to have at lunch. Their winner was Chinese. Boy does that sound good. YUM, kids hate it though. I wrote in chocolate but then said subway sounded good. :( Okay off to find me some lunch.

Next up... those packing tips sorry it was suppose to be now.

BTW- Did you hear me on the radio interview? Yep, I was on it but didn't get to hear it as it was live. How can I hear it? Anyone know?

Labels: blogathon2007, blogging, coffee, lunch

Track Bunny Films couldn't figure out how to start off her blogathon today, so I sent her a list of Questions and since she answered I figured I should do the same.

What’s your favorite color? red & black

Movie? When Harry met Sally or Frankie and Johnny

What’s the last movie you watched? Stranger than Fiction (just finished about 30 minutes ago.

What are you currently doing? about to play "The Messengers" again

What sites have you visited today? Blogathon2007, Blogathon Forums, KMRL radio, Diary of Track Bunny, MomGadget, Casual Keystrokes, my own and a few other Blogathoners.

Are you married? Yep

Any children? Four, youngest is in my lap. 10yob, 7yog, 3 going on 4 yog, 4 month old boy.

How many brothers/sisters do you have? 1 stepsister which I call sister, 2 half-sisters and a brother

If you could visit anywhere in the world where would you go? Italy

Shoot me some more questions this is fun! :) Oh and Grace I'll post my packing tips at 12:30. hehe (30 minutes from now.)

Labels: about me, blogathon, fun stuff

Sergeant Shurvon Phillip Wish

During deployment over in Iraq (May 2005), Sergeant Shurvon Phillip's humvee was hit by an IED while doing patrols around Al Anbar. His injuries were many that were critical due to the explosion, including traumatic brain injury. This is one man that refused to quit and has been so strong through it all. He returned to his hometown in 2006, after many months of fighting infections and surgeries. One problem though, his small apartment wasn't equipped for his need. But this man still goes through his daily life and shows what type of man he is.

Support Hope for the Warriors and help them help those that need it.

Next up fun stuff...

Labels: birthday wishes, blogathon, blogathon2007, hope for the warriors

2nd Lieutenant Andrew Kinard, USMC Wish

2nd Lieutenant Kinard was deployed with his unit back in 2006, he was flown home shortly after that. He had been severly wounded in October of 2006 losing both legs and suffering from many internal injuries. He was in the hospital until April 2007.

His one wish....to be able to see his men off the bus as they arrived back to the States from Iraq. Who wouldn't want to grant him that wish?



He did get his wheels to go down there, in fact he got them specially made.

He was presented with a new "humvee" of a wheelchair that suits his personality and his wish to be more mobile and active.

Source: Hope for the Warriors

Next up, another wish.

Labels: hope for the warriors, hope for the wounded warrior, hope for the wounded warriors, injured, marines, wheelchair, wishes

Camy's got two giveaways you can still sign up for: Stitch in Time and Split Ends.

Over at BabyLune they are giving away Maternity Hosiery. Good Luck!

Do you know of any giveaways? I'd love to post them today.

Next up...wishes of injured warriors.

Labels: blogging, giveaways

Remember "The Dog Days of Summer Giveaway" post I did last week? Well, I'm happy to announce that I have the winners. Sadly though I could not getting my Flip to work with my computer today. But here's what we did:

Cut 60 pieces of paper and numbered them, tossed them in a large silver pot and SoccerBoy drew three numbers. Those winners are:

Laura - Carolina Isle by Jude Deveraux

Grace - She said she'd take any books which was great because I had one left that wasn't requested.... More Than Friends by Barbara Delinsky

Homeschool Mommy - Small Town Girl

Congratulations ladies, I'll be emailing you today.

Next half hour I'll have a list of giveaways, not many though. But it should be fun.

Labels: blog, blogathon, giveaways, winners

Currently I'm trying to figure out what it is I should post, yes I did have a list but I tore it up as nothing ever goes as planned. Am I right?

Hello, I'm Eliza Ferree, aka Homemom3- wife to a Marine and mother to four children. No, I won't tell ya my age but I will tell ya that I'm a Sagitiarius.

My father was in the Air Force, which makes me a brat. For those that don't know a brat is a military child, I have no clue why but that's what I was always told. My dad got out of the military when we entered our high school years, but it wasn't much of a change because we moved to a retired military community. My senior year of high school I'd get engaged, married him two days after graduation.

So as you can see I've been military my entire life. Yes, I know many would say that doesn't qualify me as military but you ask any military child or spouse and they'll tell ya the same. Military is who I am, I live it, breath it and don't know any other life.

As you can see, this would be the big reason I'm doing the blogathon for Hope for the Warriors.

Any questions on my military life? I'd love to answer it in one of my posts today? Leave me a comment.

To support me click the link: Sponsor Me

Labels: about me, blogathon, me, military, military life

I'm just checking to see if I can get the logo to work and my time correct. It is 7:40 a.m. EST right now. Yes I know I'm up but I can't go back to sleep and you wouldn't want to know what time I went to bed, the youngest decided he learned to roll and wanted to roll around in my bed. Ugh. lol

Labels: blogathon, blogathon 2007

Earlier I stated that I would be up at 6 a.m. EST, thankgoodness I was corrected. The actual time is....

Blogathon will take place Saturday, July 28th at 6am PST. For those with other commitments (such as religious observances, etc.) that cannot be rescheduled, there will be a B-Schedule which will begin at 9pm PST on Saturday, July 28th and continue until 9pm the following night.

which means I WILL NOT be blogging at 6 a.m., but the kids will probably wake me up regardless because they rise with the sun. In fact they like to watch the sun come up and let me know. UGH!

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You've captured on of those beautiful moments in a picture, now you just need to find a way to display it. Over at Buy.com they have the perfect digital frame for you to choose from. There are white and wooden looking photo frames. With a digital frame you can actually have the image set inside the frame and have music playing...or even something you wanted to say to a loved one. Imagine grandma getting this photo with her grandson's first words and a picture of him. Yes, everyone will love it. Get one for a dad that will miss a pregnancy due to his job, take a picture of the ultrasound and record the heartbeat. Dad never has to be far away.

Labels: blogathon, blogathon 2007

Wow, so much is going on with Myspace lately. I'm sure ya'll are thinking, oh great another article on myspace, but that's not totally what I'm blogging about. I have one in fact, but it is set to personal or private. Did ya'll watch the news this week about the Attorney General Roy Cooper seems to be heading up the fight.

FACTS:
- Over 29,000 sex offenders found on Myspace...and suspended.
- Myspace is kicking out Pervs! Woo hoo!
- Myspace handed over sex offender data, even after they stated they wouldn't (maybe they finally saw there was a need)
- They are trying to beef up security.

Course seeing that there were 29,000 found it worries me a bit on how many weren't found. It seems that now there will (hopefully) be laws that protect us and our children. Courts are trying to make it so that if someone is a registered sex offender they MUST let everyone know, including myspace. So if you know someone that is a registered offender and has a Myspace account out there, you could call it in and have them suspended from the site. Get these creeps off our computers and away from the children.

Labels: arrests, myspace, myspace.com, registered sex offenders, sex offenders, sexual predators

It's Fun Friday again and everyone knows what that means....LINKY LOVE Day, leave your link (and a comment cause ya'll love me) and I'll visit over the weekend.

Now I'd like to send ya'll to a review I just did for MomGadget. Don't forget to explore her blog. Tip e Toes Baby Bottle Holder- A MomGadget Review

Lets not forget our other Friday people, these two blogs are doing Comment Friday. BlogAboutYourBlog, wants to know "Who has really went above and beyond, and supported you and your blogs?" Over at Casual Keystrokes, Char wants to know: Did you have a fantastic post on your blog that I missed?

As for me, don't forget to sign up for my latest giveaway.

Labels: baby, baby review, blogaboutyourblog, casualkeystrokes, comment friday, comments, fun friday, linky love

That's right here I am only a few hours from that first Blogathon 2007 posts and am wanting to know your suggestions on staying up. Now I can't fully intoxicate my body full of caffeine, but it has been in my thoughts. On a serious note I've been known not to be able to sleep until the hubby gets home the next day, so it may not even bother me, but ya never know.

So how would you stay up? I did go out and re-rent "The Messengers" and "Stranger Than Fiction" because well I LOVED both movies. One will definitely keep me up while the other is funny. Hmmm? Oh no it's okay, I won't have to leave the computer...normally when I post I'm watching a new movie I'm either watching it on here or I've set up the laptop right beside this hunk of junk and am watching it there. So I'm never far from the keyboard.

RULES of the BLOGATHON:

I must post every 30 minutes for 24 hours. (Yes, I know that's 48 posts and I have NO clue what I'm going to blog about)

The Blogathon for me will begin July 28th, 2007 at 0600 (6 a.m.) EST. I will end with the last post at July 29th, 2007 at 0600 (6 a.m.)EST.

Blog must be public, which it is...heck you can even type in homemom3 in google.com and pull up my site. (or even July Giveaways)

Blog posts are not allowed to be post-dated, which is fine because I wouldn't know how to do that anyways. Heck look at my sticky I can't get it to stay at the top.

How do you Sponsor me? Click on the following link: Sponsor Hope for the Wounded Warriors Fund

Why am I doing the Blogathon for "Hope for the Wounded Warriors"? I believe in the cause, these men and women put their life on the line, sometimes they get injured and really need a helping hand. I'd love to give just a little bit of that, since I can give them some HUGE check from myself and I really can't run for them with four kids in tow I thought I'd blog for the cause. I know many people that have been injured or worse, this is a great way to support them. Not to mention last year my daughter's first grade class had a "Wounded Warrior" that helped out in the class all school year, she was heartbroken when she had to go on to 2nd grade.

Support me in Blogathon2007

Labels: air force, army, blogathon, blogathon 2007, blogging, blogging for the cause, coast guard, hope for the wounded warrior, hope for the wounded warriors, marines, national guard, navy, soldier

I'm sorry to announce that this giveaway list is a small one, it kind of got hard to do this week with the Dog Days Giveaway Carnival going on. Not to worry though I did find some for ya'll and I'll be back Tuesday with more.

In the meantime, anyone win anything lately? Let me know. If ya got a giveaway and would like it listed give me a shout, even if you are part of Dog Days and want a little more exposure. Trust me going through that list of 450+ is VERY hard, I haven't even got through it yet. If ya want to have me to host a giveaway for ya just give me a shout.

homemom3@gmail.com <--just got a new email just for the giveaways, or ya can stick with the old one at eliza_ferree@yahoo.com

Giveaways:

The Opinionated Mom has Jet Settin’ Make-Up Artist Sketch Book and a Braille t-shirt with your child's name on it.

John Chow is giving away one copy of 4 Hour Workweek, all ya need to do is comment on the entry. No other work, gotta love that type of giveaway.

5 Minutes For Mom is giving away 10 copies of Ready for School with Elmo DVD.

This one is a great contest/giveaway if ya gotta teen, TeenReadsToo is giving away a lot of prizes. Tons of books, all ya need to do is send in an email.

Modish July Giveaway with 12+ items. It's a WOW giveaway too that has EVERYTHING in it. To win this one ya must visit one of those shops and leave a comment with something you'd like to win from one of those shops.

Sophistishe is giving having a giveaway and the lucky winner gets body butter.

A few of the Dog Days of Summer Giveaways

- A Schmitty Life prize is a set of 20 personalized Doodle Kids Notes and Envelopes.

- Facipiers and Stinky Toes prize is a Build-A-Bear Workshop kit.

- Out of My Mind With Worry prize is knitted hats. Very colorful too.

- Charming Delightful prize is something new every day. Frog raincoat, personalized cake, red wicker snack server, Tonka lights and sound ambulance and CD Logic Portable In-Car DVD Player Case.

- It's Always a Production has a lot of fun things to offer up.

- Mommy Babble prize is scrapbooking supplies. I love your header BTW, oh and I would've loved the dolls. :)

- Where My Treasures Are prizes are books and I know ya'll love those.

- Heidi Lagan prize is $25 in Mary Kay goodies.

- Semi Colon BlogPicture Book Preschool.

- Kim and Jason prize is Tea Time for Mom Gift Set. You don't want to miss this, I LOVE tea.


Qtpies did a list of 13 giveaways. Take a peek.

Don't forget to stop by my giveaway if ya like books. Be sure to comment as well, just in case I lose my linkies again.:)

Labels: blog, book giveaway, book giveaways, dvd giveaways, giveaway, july giveaways

It seems that the Technorati Ping isn't working, and of course this is a BIG feature I use to read all my friends blogs. :( Now I know they recently (July 24) had that power outtage but then they came back saying everything was working again. Except my pings quit four days before that.



My little site icon on their is a VERY old one, my guess is they must've lost a lot of data as well and went back to my original icon pic.

Another problem I noticed is my ranking seems to go up, remember we want to go down. But the funny thing is it goes up every time someone links my site. Ummm, shouldn't this be the other way around? Last week I was going to post that I had finally made the 10K team but now I can't because I'm 10K+. Anyone know what causes this?

Labels: blogging, ping, pinging, technorati, technorati ping, technorati rank, technorati update

Yes, I know it is a bad shot but still learning that whole print screen thing. I was wondering if anyone else noticed a change in their Google Webmasters Tools? I logged in yesterday to find out every site I'd put in now needed verified...again. I've already done this before, in fact I was approved and it was reading my site just fine. Any clue what is going on?

Labels: google, google webmaster tools, google webmasters, google.com, verified

13 Reasons Why I'm Doing the Blogathon for Hope for the Wounded Warriors.

First I'd like to take a moment to thank two people that donated to my cause:
- Leigh (I don't know which one ya are, if you see this please contact me I'd love to give you a shout out)

- TXWriter: You may have seen her at Opinion Mom or Writing Thoughts. Thank you honey!



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1 The first reason is because of this website, Hope for the Wounded Warriors.

2 This past school year BalletGirl's class had a wounded warrior in it, I got to experience first hand how they live through my daughter. She adored her wounded warrior.

3 My father was Air Force, therefore I've always been military.

4 I'm the spouse to a military member, my husband is a Marine.

5 I've got four military children, by this I mean their daddy is in the military.

6 I've been through deployments, two of them, even had a baby before he came back for one. I learned how to drive after he got back that time.

7 The first time my husband went off to Iraq he was inside a prison that was bombed, many were injured. Thank goodness he was not.

8 The second time my husband went, he had two close calls. One of which he was suppose to be in a vehicle but at the last minute they changed plans and he stayed behind...the ones that went got hit by one of those missles.

9 I've seen neighbors come back with injuries, arms injured, legs injured or worse.

10 I've read what Hope for the Warriors does for wounded, from getting them chairs, limbs, etc.

11 The men/women that have been wounded don't ask for much, their requests are geniune, not like "I want to go to DisneyLand." Their wishes will make you cry, especially since we take most of them for granted. Their Wishes

12 It's a great cause that I'm proud to support.

13 I live down the street from this place: Warrior House

If you'd like to support me in my blogathon click the following link, Blogathon 2007, Hope for the Wounded WarriorsI'll be doing a 24 hour marathon (blogging). Every 30 minutes I'll be making a blog post, so don't forget to stop by and cheer me on.

Labels: 13 Thursday, blogathon 2007, blogging, hope for the wounded warriors, Thurday Thirteen, Thursday 13

The following is from an email my husband received today at work. Remember we are military so when these go through they are for real, and since it is a serious matter I wanted to pass it along to my readers.

Jury Summons Scam:

This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included
below). It is spreading fast, so be prepared should you get this call.

Most of us take summons for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of scam has surfaced. The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity just got stolen. The scam has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma , Illinois , and Colorado.

This (scam) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation
over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they're with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm

http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

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Now back to your regularly schedule program: Thurday 13, Giveaways and a Blogathon Announcement coming up later today.

Labels: jury duty, jury summons, Scam, scam alert, Scams

Sticky Scroll down for regular entries

I'm hosting my very own giveaway this week because of the Dogs Days of Summer carnival hosted by Rocks in My Dryer is starting in the morning.

I'm giving away books, there'll be three winners. The books are:

Small Town Girl by Particia Rice
The Summer I Dreamed by Barbara Delinsky
Carolina Isle by Jude Deveraux

Leave me a comment on which one you want in, all those posted by Midnight Friday, July 27, will be added to the pot. Yes, I said a pot. I'm going to toss all the names in a pot and have the hubby or one of the kids draw a name (make that three names). If I can figure it out I'll even upload it to youtube. The winner will be announced during the Blogathon on Saturday, July 28th. Due to money restrictions I'm limiting this to US only, very sorry.

These books have each been read one time. But other than that they are in great condition. Hey if this works out I'll do more of these in the future.

Labels: book giveaways, giveaway

Tech blogs

What is a tech blog? According to Wikipedia:

Tech Blogs - Blogs about technology.

To me a tech blog is anything technical, from talking about html, page rank,etc. You might find reviews on the latest technology, news, books, the internet itself, gadgets, etc. What is a tech blog to you?

Here is a small list I’ve compiled of Tech blogs:

Gizmodo
BlogAboutYourBlog
Engadget
TechCrunch
Slashdot
Brown Baron

Essential Keystrokes
PopGadget
Product Reviews
TheGadgetBlog
Ars Geek
GeekySpeaky

Young Tech Blogger
TechZi

Now’s your chance to add your own tech blog, please only leave your name of your site and a link to it in the blinky if you believe it is a tech blog. For everyone else, don’t worry there’ll be other chances in the next few weeks as I go through each type.



Other Links of interest:
What Type of Blog Do You Have?

Labels: bloggers, blogging, gadgets, internet, tech blogs, technology

I thought this would be a perfect time to remind everyone to wear SUNSCREEN during the summer. This wasn't recently taken, it is a few years old but I thought it was a perfect picture of a sunburn. You should've seen my back. (BTW- I actually can't wear sunscreen as it makes me burn quicker, no clue why.)

Looking for giveaways? I've got my very own giveaway this week, plus a whole list of them for ya'll. Giveaway list.

Want to play?



For more Wordless Wednesday participants please visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Labels: wordless wednesday

First I'm going to link ya'll to a very large giveaway carnival, it's call the Dog Days of Summer. There are over 300 giveaways in this one, I'll probably even post a few throughout today's list. You try doing a collection of giveaways during a time where 300 are out there.

Please let me know if I have any winners out there that have one a contest/giveway through a link on my site. I'd love to post a link to your blog as well as the blog you won the item at. Also, if ya have a contest/giveaway I'll add your link, just let me know. Have a product but don't want to host it? Drop me an email or leave me a comment and I'll host it.

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Giveaways:

I'm having a book giveaway, there are three books to choose from. Head to the link and take a peek.

Camy's Loft has two giveaways up this week, one is for Stitch in Time and the other for All the Tea in China.

Over at Edgy Inspirational Author, their giving away one copy of The Lifter of My Head by Susan McRoberts.

TV Squad has another giveaway and this time it is for a signed Law & Order script and a Law & Order T-shirt, all ya need to do is comment on their blog.

The King Kong Blog is giving away the FINAL FANTASY XI Vana’diel Collection 2007. For all you gamers out there you can earn up to 20 tickets for the drawing. Good luck!

ArsGeek still has that Wicked Laser to giveaway.

Kailani over at Island Review is having a charm pen giveaway. I've seen these and loved them, but never bought myself one. I'll be entering.

5 Minutes for Mom has a couple of giveaways this week, first up we have The Winnie the Pooh DVD, second is $300 in Dairy GC and last Get Ready for Kindergarten/Get ready for 1st Grade.

The Opinionated Parent is giving away an African Safari play set. Drop her an email to win.

Desperately Seeking Sanity (I hear ya there) is having a scrapbooking giveaway, plus stick around her blog because she'll have a giveaway a day until friday. :)

She Finds is giving away one pair of W1 Lean Fit Jean, they looks so comfortable too. Subscribe to the newsletter and put your details in the comment section.

Bella Sugar has another Tuesday Giveaway and the lucky winner will receive Cosmedicine Opti-Mologist Eye Cream with Light Diffusers, all ya need to do is leave a comment.

Got someone into Anime? They'll love this giveaway, some lucky winner will get Alive: The Final Evolution.

For my homeschool readers out there, ya'll will love this one. Little Acorns Treehouse is giving away one copy of Primary Language Lessons by Emma Serl.

Peachtree Knitter is giving away a ste of stitch marker sets and another contest for earrings are mounted on silver plated hooks. Leave her a comment to enter this one.

Builder AU is giving away four copies of PHP Programming Solutions By Vaswani Vikram.

Mums The Word is giving away one package of samples from BodyShop, there are over 10 different things in this package. Good luck!

Mimi Frou Frou is giving away one copy of the Perfume - The Story of a Murderer.

DVD Talk is having two giveaways, one is for Pariah and the other for The adventures of Sonic.

Four Kids and a Blog is doing Dog Days of Summer and ahs a list of books to giveaway. The Ultimate Gift, Learning to Breathe Again, Be True, Freefall, God's Little Devotional Book for Parents, Straight Up, In This Mountain, by Jan Karon and many others. Only one book per person though, but there are 12 different ones to choose from.

Bullz Eye is having a Transformers giveaway. I can picture two men in my family wanting this one.

My dear friend over at Onorach is having four giveaways (surprise pack, $6 Amazon GC or Silver Jewelry club), two will be on Onorach and the other two are at Sona Creidhe Reviews (book list or surprise package).

Mom's Menu has four giveaways, there's a pressure cooker (nice), KitchenAid KG300 Box Grater, 5 winners will get a set of 4 pastel colored MIU France Silicone Spatulas, 8 lucky winners will get a receive a Bailey's Billions DVD.

Super Paige's Pad is having four prizes to giveaway. Two beanie babies, one CD and The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot.

Family Corner is having 5 giveaways, all ya have to do is fill out one form.

Lille Punkin is having a baby package giveaway. This is definitely one I want to win, it has Baby Einstein books and learning cards, Sesame Street Magic Sounds Molecule toy (Little A would love it), Blue Jean Teddy Baby Book, Huggies Cleanteam detangler (perfect for the girls), Huggies Extra-Sensitive Disposable Washcloths.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UPDATE: I will post below this whenever a new one appears. (if ya want your giveaway added drop me a line)

Thanks to Elizabeth from Table4 five for the link. Toast The Trends is giving away a free iPod. Hurry on over to sign up.

Matthew over at Blog About Your Blog is having another giveaway this time you can win a laptop briefcase, worth $180. The bag comes from Echo-handbags which are all made from recycled products.

Here's a fun game. Remember those baby showers where you get to guess the sex, weight, birth etc of a new baby? Well over at Oooh Pick Me is giving everyone a chance, this giveaway has a bracelet and a starbucks card for prizes.

My guesses 1. boy 2. Aug 18 3. 8lbs 3oz 4.Noah 5. told all my friends

Labels: blog carnival, blog giveaway, book giveaway, book giveaways, cd giveaway, DVD giveaway, july giveaways, toy giveaway

Okay, this always seems to get someone's attention. I swear people must look up the word geek or geeky in technorati. Whatever works. I'd like to sticky my giveaway if that is possible with blogger.

I just posted it and already have four comments. Wow! I so did not expect this. Thank you to anyone that can help me with my sticky.

Labels: blogger, computer geek, geek, sticky

I have been tagged by Sandy over at Rep on the Run. You can only answer each question with one word.


1. Where is your cell phone? desk

2. Relationship? Married

3. Your hair? ponytail

4. Work? WAHM

5. Your sister? Jennifer

6. Your favorite thing? Family

7. Your dream last night? future

8. Your favorite drink? frap

9. Your dream car? hummer

10. The room you’re in? computer

11. Your shoes? barefoot

12. Your fears? bridges

13. What do you want to be in 10 years? Settled.

14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? FIL.

15. What are you not good at? cooking

16. Muffin? Chocolate.

17. One of your wish list items? books.

18. Where you grew up? Edwards, AFB

19. Last thing you did? type

20. What are you wearing? Clothes.

21. What aren’t you wearing? shoes

22. Your pet? None.

23. Your computer? DELL

24. Your life? Great.

25. Your mood? blah

26. Missing? family

27. What are you thinking about right now? blogathon

28. Your car? SUV

29. Your kitchen? military

30. Your summer? rainy

31. Your favorite color? red

32. Last time you laughed? hour

33. Last time you cried? week

34. School? soon

35. Love? yep

I'm going to just tag 5 people on my side lists that pop up. Hang on going to look now. Who's the lucky one?

Brown Baron
Jen's Juice
ArsGeek
Yoshi2me
ffnstuff

Labels: blog, bloggers, meme

I really haven't seen any reports on this but that's more because I've been watching the war on Iraq and Tom Cruise. But it seems that the Whiting Finery is striking back at reports from the Chicago Tribune, that it was doing harm to the community.

The factory is BP, for those that don't know it stands for Beyond Petroleum, which is a gas company...at least I've seen lots of gas stations with that symbol.

"BP is committed to minimizing the environmental impact of their actions."

We do know that all factories mean more jobs for workers which is always good for those small towns that seem to be dieing out. BP refinery however has 1700 employees with more on the way, it'll end up being over 3,000 jobs. That's a roof over people's heads, food on the table and gas in the cars. They even plan on adding on 2,000 more people in the future.

But at the same time we all know that factories, no matter what type, equal polution. Polution does harm people and the enviroment, but at the same time so does driving vehicles, spraying hairspray and everything else we do. The refinery in question is SUPPOSE to be trying to make a better enviroment for everyone. I'm not really sure how they figure they can accomplish this but they are hoping it does.

The good news about the refinery being there is that because of it only treated water into Lake Michigan. This will not only make the water cleaner, but it'll taste better and make the area look beautiful. Have ya ever looked into a lake that had a bunch of crud in it? Trust me, it's disgusting...I grew up in the desert and there were areas that had small lakes but those lakes quickly became polluted and it wasn't a pretty sight. The water in Lake Mighigan is 99.9% water, not sludge and not including all things that live in the water like fish, etc. It's pure, it's something that if you needed to you wouldn't mind drinking from it.

Now I don't live in Michigan or Indiana so I really can't say one way or another, but I know that knowing it would make more fuel for the Midwest is a great idea. At least we aren't having to bow down to other countries in order to get gas, no more price guaging and such. Sure prices may go up from time to time but knowing it is right here in my own country just makes me that much happier. I could totally understand the bad of it if it were making people sick and deaths because of it. I could even understand getting upset by it because it spilled tons of oil inside the Lake, or even polluted it. But the fact is they are trying to MAKE it better, not worse. Who knows maybe this company can actually improve the water in Lake Michigan, without harming the people, animals or the enviroment while doing it. All we can do is give them a chance right?

What's your take on it? They are trying to make life better.

I took place in Christy's Coffee Break link love blogs, if you'd like to sign up head on over and let her know. All ya do is leave a comment with your blog's name and URL. You can read a whole bunch of lengthy details here.

Here's the Saturday Link List, I missed it as I was already gone before I knew I was added.


Book Project - Unity in Diversity at MyBlogLog

Learning Thinking Adsense Advertising-SEO

Flights of Fab Fashion Fancy

Adsense Tracker

Onarach

Sona Creidhe Review

The Next Post

Your Golden Opportunities

About Single Woman

About-Personal-Growth.com

Paris Romance

Jericho Monster

I'm not just a mom...I'm a Home Mom

EntertainUS News

Dreams To Come True

Labels: link love, link swap, links

I’ve been thinking a lot about what my blog is and really I don’t know, to me my blog is just that MY Blog. This week I’ll be focusing (believe it or not) on what types are blogs are out there. There are many on the photosphere but do you know what types are really out there:

Technical blogs-
Essential Keystrokes
Ars Geek
Geeky Speaky
brown baron
Blog About Your Blog

Money making blogs-
John Chow
Garry Conn
Dosh Dosh
Can I Make Big Money Online
Make Money With Kassper

Problogs-
Problogger
ShoeMoney
MomGadget
Lorelle
eMoms

Mommy blogs- Dooce
5 Minutes for Mom
Contest For Moms
Rocks in My Dryer
Plain Jane Mom

Dad blogs-
Blog Fathers
Metro Dad
LaidOffDad
LA Daddy
Be a Good Dad

Niche Blogs-
Andy Beard
Mom's Niche
The Prize Blog
The Big Bad Book Blog
Engadget

Business Blogs-
451 Press
BlogHer
Entrepreneurs Journey
B5Media

Baby blogs, Journals, Author blogs, Fashion blogs, Hobby Blogs, Review blogs, interview blogs, Celebrity blogs.

As you can see there is a whole list of different categories a blog may fall into, but what is your blog? What types of things do you discuss? If you tend to be focused on one specific thing you can narrow down that category, it’ll fit perfectly into a niche blog. But what if you don’t, what if you write about everything under the sun, including your child’s poop, when they are sick, bills, etc. If you tend to do this you are more or less in the mom/dad blog category.

In Darren Rowse’s blog he always writes tips on making better blogs and how to help bloggers out, here is a great example: Blogs: Frequently Asked Questions . In this article he takes ya through what a blog is and the different types that are out there. It’s been about a year but still very helpful.

Not to worry if you weren’t linked today, I’ll be adding a linky on each day when I blog about a specific type. This way if you aren’t mentioned everyone can learn about you and visit.

Now that we’ve taken this little introduction I’d like to know what ya’ll think makes a blog different from another type. Do you know of any types of blogs that I have left off. Please let me know. Hopefully this will be a fun week. Hey, I had to think of something to focus on this week.

Things I’m doing:
Husband’s aunt & cousin are coming in Thurs-Mon
Husband’s dad just left yesterday
Waiting to read the book (don’t ask why I have no clue)
Must wait a week to give out spoilers (if I ever read the book)
I will still be doing Tues and Thurs giveaways (don’t worry)
I’ll still be doing Wordless Wed and Thursday 13.

Hmm, yep, I am focused but still doing the other items as well. I guess I really am a mommy blog, I do talk about anything and everything.

Labels: blogs, business bloggers, daddy bloggers, mommy bloggers, tech bloggers

photo source: Veritaserum

I founds there were actually a large amount of people finding my site by looking up none other than Dudley Dursey. Dudley? I can't really recall talking about him but I think it is due time.

One search was: What School does Dudley Dursey attend? Does anyone know? The answer is Smeltings, the school where his father went. It was a private/boarding school.

Dudley is the famous, Harry Potter's cousin, granted I don't really think Dudley would believe he was so popular. Do you?

Dudley Dursley is spoiled so much that he throws a fit on his birthday because he doesn't have MORE presents than the year before. Ummm, this is one child that needs to learn the value of a dollar. But in reality you can't blame him, if this is the way he's grown up it would be a shock I guess.

I feel Dudley is a sad character that is trying to figure out life but is crippled by the way he was raised. All his life he was the "King" or "Prince" of the castle as he watched his own parents treat his cousin, Harry, as a servant. It's no wonder he struck out at Harry. But maybe it was the attention Harry always got from Vernon, father to Dudley, although negative he did talk with Harry more.

So, can we really blame Dudley for his behavior? We did know he had friends, even if he bullied everyone, they did seem loyal in their own way.

Labels: Dudley, Dudley Dursey, Harry Potter, Smeltings

No, Daniel Radcliffe hasn't appeared at my house, neither has Harry Potter, or J.K. Rowlings. Well, wait her book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has. It got here at 1:17 p.m. this afternoon. I knew the moment there was a knock on the door. The kids insisted it was probably just a kid but I knew better, I knew it was already on its way.



I opened the door and the mail lady greeted me with this weird smile, "I take it you are another one?" I simply smiled, thanked her for my book and took it from her grasp before she walked back to her mail truck to deliver a whole truckload of books.



Could you picture being a mail person today? While I do feel for them today, I'm glad I didn't have to wait in line for it.

Labels: Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, mail

While we all wait for our Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I thought I'd post some little fun items today. Anyone looking for writing jobs?



Currently 451 Press is looking for bloggers for the following towns:

about-clevelandoh.com
about-dallastx.com
about-fortworthtx.com
about-honoluluhi.com
about-houstontx.com
about-mesaaz.com
about-neworleansla.com
about-oaklandca.com
about-oklahomacityok.com
about-phoenixaz.com
about-sanjoseca.com
about-seattlewa.com

If you happen to be experienced at blogging, live in one of these towns or just know a lot about one this could be a fun place to blog. Oh and ya get money.

I recently got a new blog through 451 press, it's TV Bender and of course ya'll know about Tom Cruise Watch. Please stop by them and leave me a comment, it gets awfully lonely over there when no one chats with me.

Okay no UPS truck, I"m getting bummed I want my book.

Labels: 451 press, 451press, Harry Potter, jobs, town blogs, towns, writing, writing gigs

Many are wondering just how will the Harry Potter series end, as am I. But the big question is once you get the book and read it will you tell all? I've already stated that I will give it one week, but after that all bets are off. Course by then everyone else will have their reviews up. I will however place Spoiler Alert on that post like I did with my movie review. How does that sound? Can we all do a spoiler alert when talking about the book?

What are you doing tonight? Will you be waiting in really long lines? I'm guessing some of you already are as I know a few are HUGE fans and haven't been online today. I saw the news this morning and people were already in front of stores on large sofas to be prepared for tonight. Wow, that's some dedication.

Okay well it is time for me to get ready for my party. No I am not dressing up, they actually want us to go in our pjs but that ain't happening either. But I will have a blast you can count on that.

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Ever run out of golf balls when you are playing ball? I know I hate hitting a ball off the tee and losing it in the woods, there's just no way I'm going into the woods to get golf balls. Ya never know what will get ya. At Used Golf Ball Deals, you get some great deals on balls. Prices range from $9-$25 a bag of balls. Some balls are from tours while others are simple golf balls in a mesh bag. I love those bags, they can carry so many balls around. Get your golf balls here and stock up for the year.

Labels: Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Okay the count down has begun, it is 9:11 p.m. and our Harry Potter party begins at 10:30 p.m. Soccerboy and I will be attending and boy does he know his trivia. He keeps asking me to quiz him because he wants to win all the questions they might ask. Hmmm, who knows he might be my lucky ticket.....I just wonder if he can really stay up that long.

The book, according to amazon, will be here some time tomorrow so I won't have to stick around in line after the release I can just go home to my nice warm bed and have it when I wake up. After all I know I'm going to be crashing this old body when it gets home.


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In the need for office furniture? I know I am, my desk is so small it only sits the computer and keyboard. I still need a computer chair I am currently sitting on a dining room chair. At Of Concepts they've got a ton to offer you. They've got formal office furniture, something you'd expect to see in a principal's office to the type you would want in your computer room at home. There's something for everyone. Need something for a dental office? They've even got that. Get yourself some nice furniture today, your bottom won't be sorry.

Labels: Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Most people won't admit when they have an addiction, but I will admit that I am addicted to blogging. Are you? Do you have do or see something during the day and immediately think about getting home to blog about it? Do you wonder how many people have commented to something you've stated? I know I've done that often, in fact this afternoon I'm going to count how many comments I've had total. I saw someone recently shout they reached 100 comments, I've no clue if I have.


80%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Mingle² - Online Dating

Labels: addiction, best blog, blogger, blogging

It was bright outside.


Remember the post when I told ya that I was going to get getting my husband a birthday gift? It was going to be the Marine Corps Ball photo of us made into a 16x20 canvas photo. Well I corresponded with CanvasOnDemand quite a bit over the assignment.

Let me tell ya, these people (Jon especially) are GREAT, they've got EXCELLENT customer service and I should know. First, I emailed them my picture and waited for a response. It took less than a day. I was called to make sure it was me sending it, which I LOVED. But there was a problem, the picture wasn't right. :( I was so bummed thinking I wouldn't get to do this at all now.

Eliza-
Can you send a few others?

I sent about 5 more photos, but in the end all were bad. My cell phone doesn't take great photos of photos that are in picture frames. Yes, it was in the frame as it wouldn't come out. After figuring this out I emailed Jon again:

Could I mail a pic by chance? Or would ya be able to send them back?

I was really hoping they wouldn't respond stating that it would be best to find someone else. Instead I got an email right back:

Eliza-
I love the idea of mailing a picture.

This included an address but I'm only showing you bits of the discussion.

Sounds great, is there a certain size? I have a few regular shots from a camera that I had developed.

Eliza-
I would recommend sending a 4x6 or an 8x10. I would also be happy to send you a mailing kit if you'd like. It would probably give us another day, but it would make it very easy for you.

Now tell me that that isn't a great company when they are wanting to make it easier for YOU, not them. Two thumbs up in my opinion. The mailing kit came two days later and I mailed it back right before the 4th of July weekend. Which I thought would mean that it would be stalled. I got it a few days later. It took so long to write about this as I needed a photo of it and my phone had died on me. Sooo, here it is.



Yes, I know this isn't the ball picture, it never worked. But we found a picture that did work and one I'll treasure forever. See, this is my Papa and he passed away three years ago and I never got to say goodbye. The last year of his life he battled with old age on top of having Leukemia (sp), so this was one of the wonderful shots I found of him before it hit him to bad and there is just something about this picture. I LOVE it, Little A never got to meet this wonderful man but now he'll always see the picture of him...that is unless his Papa (my dad) takes it from me.

This would definitely make a great anniversary gift for someone. Or a great housewarming or wedding gift, imagine getting a picture like this for a newlywed couple to put in their first home. If you want to surprise someone with something wonderful, CanvasOnDemand has my vote.

Labels: anniversary gifts, canvas, canvasondemands, painting

Harry Potter comes out at Midnight so who here is going to be up and waiting in line for it? Anyone going to a Harry Potter Party? I see many parties around the United States, any outside?

My son will be joining me tonight (okay both will, but the youngest will be sleeping), it just so happens our party is going to be here on base so I don't feel weird about taking him. They even want us to show up in our pajamas, course not me but my son insists he will. It should be a fun night. I doubt I'll get my book EARLY as I preordered it through Amazon. But it was worth it, at least I know I'll be getting a copy. Not to worry I'll give it a week before I review the book and when I do I'll post that it is a spoiler like I did with the movie. Sound good? This way I'm not ruining it for anyone, only those that want to know.

Since it is Friday I'm adding the little linky at the bottom, if ya stop by my blog please let me know. I WANT to visit all my readers and MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog only let ya know the last 5-10. :( I love ya'll, thanks for stopping by.

While your leaving a linky don't forget to stop by these two blogs and leave comments? Every Friday they have a "Comment Friday": Casual Keystrokes and Blog About Your Blog.

Labels: fun friday, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, linky love

This is another fun one, not much work, simply copy and paste everything below into your entry and add five more people. Don't forget to add yourself.

You just copy the list down below on your blog, hence creating link backs for your blogging friends and then click the RSS feed link to subscribe to all of them. Then you add yourself and up to 5 other bloggers and their feeds to the list before you publish it on your own blog. Show your friends some link love. Just imagine if just 10 people would do this and then 10 more after them. That would get your blog 100 extra link backs and 100 extra feed subscribers!

The Original List:

Subscribe to The Prize Blog

Subscribe to JohnCowdotCom

Subscribe to BobmeetsWorld

Subscribe to LifeisRisky

Subscribe to TheKingKongBlog

Subscribe to My New Hustle

Subscribe to GadgetTastic

Subscribe to Life of Browie

Subscribe to Disregard Me

Subscribe to Everybody Go To

Subscribe to Brian Vaughan

Subscribe to Fuery

Subscribe to Sam Breadstone

Subscribe to I'm not just a mom...I'm a Home Mom

Subscribe to MomGadget

Subscribe to Essential Keystrokes

Subscribe to Domestic Divapalooza

Subscribe to Blog About Your Blog

Subscribe to Garry Conn

Labels: feedburner, feeds, RSS feeds

Every week I come here and post that I'd love to hear if any winners are out there because of entering one of the contests/giveaways that I have. Every week the inbox goes empty....except this week. Woo hoo!

Mom of Heathens:

Did I tell you that I got one of the five Acacia books you posted about last week? :)
I can't wait to get it!!

That's right folks, someone besides me has one in a giveaway listed here at I'm not just a mom...I'm a Home Mom. Once again if you win, let me know so everyone can see it does happen, plus ya get a link to your site. If ya have a giveaway send me an email and I'll post it here or if ya don't want to host it I'll gladly do it. The email is eliza_ferree@yahoo.com. Enjoy the rest of your week!

If ya like my giveaways would ya kindly let others know by Digging it.

Giveaways/Contests:

Camy's Loft has two book giveaways going on, one is All Tea in China and the other, The Potluck Club Takes the Cake!.

The Opinionated Parent has two giveaways, Amazing Places: National Parks card game and Share Square.

Tartuffe Reviews is giving away one copy of The Light-Bearer's Daughter.

Terra Pass is having a Book giveaway, the book is Storm World by Chris Mooney. Good luck!

LA Weekly is giving away one copy of 300 DVD

Blogger News is handing out The Factory Girl DVD.

Movie Web will be giving away one copy of The Two Coreys, actually more than just this prize too.

Sweet Hacks had a computer crash and lost all entries to their Xbox 360. I know SoccerBoy is begging me to sign up for this one.

Celebrity-Babies (a favorite gossip site of mine) is giving away a Creepy baby shirt. It's a BUG shirt!

Design Mom gets some of the neatest things on her blog and today she's doing a Svan Bouncer Giveaway.

My Mom Shops is having another giveaway and this time it's for a File Tote that actually looks pretty, not plain and brown.

Monica Ricci has two contests going on over at her blog. One winner will get the Dymo Letratag Labeler and another will win half-day closet organizing session with her.

Do ya like to knit? If ya do then you'll love Wendy Knitt's newest book giveaway. The book that's up for giveaway is The Celtic Collection, by Alice Starmore.

Untwisted Vertex is having a New Logo Contest the prize is whoever wins gets to their permanent link in the footer.

Make Money With Kassper is giving away 50+ backlinks and part of the entry is writing about his website in which he is always trying to make money online and talk about our favorite post of his, which happens to be Get in Google Top 10 post. I must add that this is one great way to get in the top 10.

A few sites that lists giveaways/contests:

My good friend MomofHeathens (as I call her online) has opened up another blog that she is dedicating Mondays and Fridays for giveaways. So do'n't forget to visit Onorach on Friday to see the wonderful giveaways she's got listed. She's left Tuesdays and Thursdays to me.

Kailani over at Island Review lists a couple giveaways per day.

Money For Online has listed 10 different giveaways that aren't on this entry.

Contest Blogger tries having a new contest a day on their site.

Labels: book giveaways, DVD giveaway, gc giveaway, giveaways, july giveaways, movie giveaways

All about me:

1 I have blue eyes, but you can sometimes catch them turn green. (normally when I'm at my happiest moment, going to a fair, cheering at a game, etc)

2 I have hair to the bottom of my back, but I once had it cut so short ya would've thought I was a guy. Never again.

3 I hate cartoons, I've never liked them...not even as a child.

4 Think #3 was strange, I hate kool-aid with a passion. Haven't drank the stuff since I was 5 and got sick.

5 I dehydrate fairly easy, as a child I was rushed to the ER room for dehydration. My biological mother believed that spending the day at the pool did not mean ya had to come in the house and drink water...there was plenty at the pool. Pregnant with my first child I was rushed to ER again for dehydration and they explained for some reason it'll come on quickly with me.

6 Okay, ya just read #5, I honestly hate water. Go figure right?

7 My original hair color (not counting when I was born) is blonde hair. Dish water blonde is what it is really called. I hated my hair in high school, colored it a few days after getting married. (red by the way)

8 The child that looks the most like me is BalletGirl.

9 The child that acts the most like me is SoccerBoy.

10 I have four children, not three. I know many people think I've only got one, two or three. Now ya'll know. Growing up I never thought I'd have a child.

11 My father died on my 18th birthday and somehow lived through that. (he was only dead for a minute or less, not entirely sure of that story) He woke up in a comma and when he came to he was a full blown diabetic (needles and all) The doctor told me by the time I turned 25, I'd be a diabetic. I'm not yet, but am worried about it constantly.

12 I have pierced ears but never ewar earrings.

13 I dream that one day I'll be living in a log cabin, by a creek, far from everyone and lots of property. Lots not forget I need the internet as well and I'll have many books to my name.

Okay that's my thirteen, I've been tagged twice for MeMes so now to go look for the links to post here. Here are my 5 tags and ya only need to do 8 things about you....

Momto3
dnrlee
amadisonmom
andrewm
michele84

Don't forget about my Tuesday Giveaways or today's (which will be posted later)

Labels: 13 Thursday, Thurday Thirteen, Thursday 13

I have always dreamed of having my very own hot tub, but in the military ya can't. Okay that's not entirely ture, you can in the military but you must live off base. Those that live on base can't even have a large pool, so having a hot tub is out.

Hot tubs can be a lot of fun for a couple to rekindle their romance. Kids love hot tubs (under the supervision of an adult of course), they love splashing around and using their scuba gear. With all that being stated hot tubs can be a great way to relax and most people originally get one because of this reasoning. I mean imagine coming home from a VERY stressful day at the office and slowly dipping your foot into your hot tub. Ahhhh, so calming. For you moms out there, myself included, ya'll need a little break and while ya can't go on a trip to Hawaii or Paris you can go on a trip to your own spa.

Having a spa though means keeping it clean, there are all types of chemicals you can get to do this. Another great thing is their Hot Tub Covers. Hot tub covers are a great way to keep in the heat over night, also a great way to keep falling debri out of the tub. My aunt had a hot tub that happened to lay beneath a very large tree, she forgot to put the cover on it one night and the next day we were fishing leaves out. Ikk.

At the Cover Guy there are a ton of different types of hot tub covers, large ones, small ones, ya name it. The great thing about these hot tub covers is you can have them in hot regions or cold. So don't worry, just make sure ya order the right type. If anything shall ever go wrong with them they do have a 5 year warranty. The covers can run anywhere from $299-$400.

Do these hot tub covers sound good to you? Well TheCoverGuy actually delivers in the US and Canada. Get on the phone and place those orders!



This is a paid posting brought to you by Payperpost.

Yes I'm sure this title threw ya, but it's thrown me as well. So, which is it? Have you become one of these or are you one of those that can be both? I've thought a lot about this subject lately, even more once Char posted 3 reasons why Moms need a life. I'm sure Char didn't mean to make us think too much on the subject, but I was already thinking about this for some time and figured I'd blog about it instead of making some lengthy post that should be on a blog and not a comment.

As a child you can't wait to grow up and go on dates, get romanced, meet boys, date some more, dress up and all that other fun stuff. As a teen you can't help but want to put on make-up, by nice things for yourself, maybe treat yourself to a spa every now and again, date, etc. As an adult you buy things for yourself, make yourself look really nice, probably spend an hour at the least in front of a mirror, etc. Every one of these meant spending quality time with friends and hanging out at the mall or some other equally fun place. But the moment you become a mom it changes.

Have you noticed the change? Sure, when ya got married (if ya did) you noticed your friends stopped hanging out with ya more. Ya may have moved and had to meet people all over again, but then they move (at least if you're in the military) and it all starts over. Now in the beginning of a relationship/marriage the spouse/boyfriend seems to be in this "I've-got-to-win-her-over" phase. Know what I mean? (now this isn't all men but I'm sure ya'll have seen it)

The "I've-got-to-win-her-over" phase is the buy gifts, see her as much as I can, kiss-kiss, hug-hug, do anything that makes her happy and IN-LOVE-WITH-ME, go to movies of her liking just to be with her. Slowly that changes, at least for me it did. He hates romance movies, and honestly I think most guys do. Flowers don't come every weekend, instead that is replaced with a bag of diapers/milk or the occasional paperback book.

When ya become a mom, many things change. Ya stop hanging out at the mall, it is replaced by story hour at the local library. Instead of those fancy shoes that you've been dreaming of or the suit of your dreams ya put that back on the shelf to buy the toys you just spotted and you know your kids will love. Am I right? Man, I don't know when the last time I bought MYSELF something I REALLY wanted to wear. Instead I end up grabbing from the bargain aisle (I KID YOU NOT) at walmart. My kids will have clothes, good clothes, they'll have toys, books, etc. Myself? I seem to have lost myself somewhere down the road.

When did it happen? When did I stop becoming a woman and simply slipped into becoming JUST a mom. I know, I know, being a mom is great. I agree, but sometimes us women want to be more than just a mom. Sometimes we actually want to be recognized as someone with class, someone that looks beautiful (pretty even), not someone that looks just like a mom. Being a mom is great, but we like to be women too. We want you (men) to look at us and WANT us, even if we aren't available. We want our MAN to want us and think how wonderful we look. But somehow in the middle of all this, we've lost ourselves. How?

My hair goes clear down to the middle of my back, it's gorgeous, but ya never get to see how nice it is, as it is always placed in a pony tail or half pony tail to keep it out of reach of the children. It's easier. Make up? Ummm, I don't own make-up. I know it's shocking! But recently I looked in the mirror and decided I want some. Wow! Where did that WANT come from? When did I decide I wanted to become a woman again?

Is this just an age thing? Or is there more to it? Have any of you moms experienced this? I'd love your opinion. I am a mom, first and foremost (hope I spelled that right) but at the same time I do want to be a woman. I want to be pretty, I want things for me too. Is it too much to ask for this late in the game?

Is a Mom just a mom, or can a mom be a woman too?

Labels: mom, mommy, mommy bloggers, woman, women

I thought with this being close to "Christmas In July" this would be a great shot. No, this obviously isn't current but look at that expression. BabyGirl had a ball that year and was shocked Santa had arrived.

Oh don't forget to stop by the giveaway list.

Want to play?



For more Wordless Wednesday participants please visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Labels: babgirl, christmas, christmas in july, wordless wednesday

Okay being in the military means we are constantly moving, which if ya don't want to live on the base ya must look for a rental...unless of course ya want to buy your own home. When we first moved to North Carolina we searched everywhere, we moved here right during winter break which meant there wasn't much in the way of homes for rent or to buy. We lived in hotels/motels for three months. It wasn't a lot of fun, hey ya'll try living in a one room hotel room with two kids, an infant, you and your spouse.

Shouldn't shock ya that we jumped at EVERY chance we saw, and probably why we ended up with a crummy trailer in the end. I really wish I would've came across Rentals.com during that time. At Rental.com the one during the renting out can purchase a slot on their site. There are three different prices: $39, $59 and $99.

with $39 ya get the standard advertisement, which means you get the basic what the other two get:

Unlimited pictures (now you can show off your designer home)
Unique ad URL (if ya got a blog this can really help)
Easy-to-use ad management tools

$59 means ya get 50% more people to look at your site. Of course that means the top of the line listing goes to $99. So if you are looking to rent out your beach home for the summer this would be the site. Don't think just because ya missed the beach time means you are out of luck, think about Christmas time. Do you have a cute little house that can bring great holiday memories? This would be the place to list them.

Now I've never rented out my home, never had my VERY own home. But my aunt did and I know the trouble she dealt with just putting it out there. She always complained when she couldn't find someone to rent it to.

Labels: payperpost, sponsored post

It's Tuesday again and I know ya'll are waiting anxiously for the listing. Remember if ya'll ever win let me know so I can link ya. Got a giveaway/contest I'll post it up here so everyone can know. Don't want to put it on your site but want to give something away, contact me and I'll do it for ya. You can contact me by emailing eliza_ferree@yahoo.com. place giveaway in the subject line though so I know. Just to let those of ya know that have books or products, having giveaways is a great way to add traffic to your site.

Okay stop twisting my arm, here are the contests/giveaways: (BTW- someone asked if all of the listings on Tuesday/Thursday Giveaways are just giveaways. They are giveaways/contests that you can win. There is no guarantee that you will, kind of like the lottery but better chances.)


Giveaways
It's Christmas in July over at All Aboard Toys and they are giving away a $500 GC to their store. Who will the lucky winner be?

I'm not To Obsessed has a giveaway going on, this time it's a Metrowrap Giveaway. Walk freely around town like the celebrities do, with your baby in front of you.

Fluffy Flowers is having a 7 day Harry Potter giveaway. These are some really cute items too. Good luck! Will you be reading the book when it comes out?

Ars Geek is having another giveaway and this time it is for a $399 Wicked Laser. This isn't just some toy laser that your kids can get at the gas station either.

The Opinionated Mom is giving away Unicorn Playscape! and the Amazon Hop game.

Baby Talkers is giving away one nesting pillow. You must read the rules to enter though, there are many ways to get those entries.

Books:
15 copies of Build the Best Data Center for Your Business

3 lucky moms will win Pig Wig" and "Snake Cake" when they enter this book giveaway

Lee and Low loves their readers and is giving away 3 copies of George Crum and the Saratoga Chip by Gaylia Taylor.

Romance Author Giveaways:

Anna DeStefano is having a Funky Purse giveaway

Shirley Jump is giving away one signed copy of PRETTY BAD.

Tanya Michaels is having a book giveaway. Sign up for her newsletter and you can win a book and summer set.

Harlequin American Romance Authors is having a monthly giveaway and one lucky winner will get a book. Will it be you?

Suzanne McMinn has a book giveaway on her blog once a month. Be sure to enter and don't forget to leave her a comment.

Movie Giveaways

My kids begged me to win The Last Mimzy after they watched it, so I'm adding the contest here as well.

DVD Fanatic has a large collection of Movie Giveaways, of course they had The Last Mimzy Giveaway, but they've also got Reno 911: Miami.

DVD Talk is giving away 5 copies of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog DVD

A Mom's Review is giving away a copy of Winnie the Pooh.

DVD Corner is giving away one copy of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

With The Simpson Movie coming out I've found two more for ya'll. Here's the first one where you can win five Simpsons Movie prize packs and the second one five Simpsons Movie prize packs.

Labels: book giveaways, DVD giveaway, gc giveaway, giveaways, july giveaways, movie giveaways

You Are Marge Simpson

You're a devoted family member who loves unconditionally. Sometimes, though, you dream about living a wild secret life! You will be remembered for: your good cooking and evading the police Your life philosophy: "You should listen to your heart, and not the voices in your head."

I thought this one would be perfect with the upcoming release of "The Simpson's Movie. What Simpson are you?

Labels: Bart, Homer, Lisa, Maggie, Marge, quiz, The Simpson's Movie

A Career Meme

Bokjae over at Listening..Learning..Living has tagged me on this Career Meme. Ya know it is kind of strange, Bokjae (not sure if that is your name) you are exactly 12 hours from my time. Weird isn't it, that we are all connected as if there were no time differences?

I'm going to be honest, I had many dreams of what I wanted to be when I grew up before getting married. So this should be a very interesting meme, now it is time for me to dream again. The rule is to tag 5 people, read first before finding out who got tagged and I'm adding one more (I had previously done 6 but the last one never showed up).

Here is how to play: If you had the opportunity to do a 1-year internship in a company or field completely unrelated to your current career or specialty, what would be your top 5 choices?

My top 5 Choices :

1. Prosecuting Lawyer - Yes, I know it takes many, many years but I'd love to put some of those bastards away. Growing up I took three years of Mock trial, one year of Criminal Justice and lets just say many years dealing with courts. I would love to see some of those wife/husband beaters, child abusers, child molesters put away for life...or worse. (sorry about the foul language but this stuff upsets me deeply.)

2. Coast Guard - It was one thing I was actually getting ready to do except I didn't know how to swim and would never pass that test. Read my 8 things about me to learn more about this. (coming up next)

3. Monkey Trainer - Yes, I have always loved monkeys since I read a book on a woman that raised them in her home when I was a little girl. I had so much of an interest that before I got married I actually had a dream and in that dream I was married and inside the basinet was a baby monkey. (no clue what that meant.) I had wanted to study Zoo-ology until my father said we'd never have the money.

4. Journalist - The closest I've come to this was the summer before my senior year, I got a job as a stringer. I only got a few assignments but loved getting the taste of having my writing in the paper, as well as the pictures I took. I think it would be great to sit beside someone that wrote articles about accidents, crazy things, the fun pages for kids, etc.

5. A Farmer - I know this is a lot of work, especially after reading my friend, Gayla's Family Blog. Currently she's at a 4-H fair for her prized Hens. I always dreamed of owning land, a barn and living far away from everyone with my own animals.

Now I would like to tag and know more about:

MomGadget (Gayla)
Casual Keystrokes (Char)
EMoms (Wendy)
AMadisonMom (Colleen)
Special K Family (Toni)
Life With Heathens (told ya I tagged ya, just had to input it all the way. I forgot the < in it.)

Have Fun! I can't wait to see what ya'll either wanted to be or wish to be.

Labels: blogger, Career, career meme, coast guard, farmer, journalist, meme, monkey trainer, prosecuting lawyer, zoo

Blogathoners

Okay for some reason this didn't show up. Here is what it said.



Wanted: FOR THE RECKLESS GROPING of an OVERRATED EXTRA TESTACLE
Reward: $2100

Well, geez, can ya blame a girl? hehe I want a link to all ya that have blogs wanted. :) Take the test here.

Labels: quizzes, wanted, wanted posters

While waiting in the parking lot to leave, BalletGirl totally flips out.

"Mom, look, look a cowboy."

I'm a bit amused, "I see him."

"Mom, get dad to catch him."

I'm a bit confused and look at her, "You want your dad to catch ya a cowboy?" I did remember back from my youth...as a teen...wanting to catch my own cowboy.

"Well, yeah," she says this as she looks at me like it should be obvious. "Dad catches the cowboy so I can ask him for his horse..."

I interupt her, "You want a horse?"

She shakes her head, "No I want to ask for his horse so dad can kill it and BBQ it."

I'm disgusted, I can't even speak.

"Mom, remember those delicious steak sandwhiches dad made? I want another one."

Ewwwwwwww. So my daughter wants to catch herself a cowboy to eat his horse.

Labels: BalletGirl, cowboy, steak

While reading some sites this morning I came across a Gerber baby food recall.

Gerber has recalled the Organic Baby Cereal due to choking hazard. The baby cereal clumps as well as their organic oatmeal cereal.

This is their 8-ounce boxes, if ya have any call Gerber at 1-800-443-7237 or 231-928-3000 to get a refund.

CODES:
organic rice cereal UPC code is 15000 12504
organic oatmeal cereal UPC code is 15000 12502


Source: Reviewing BabyGear

Labels: baby food recall, food recall, Gerber, gerber organic oatmeal, gerber recall

Wow, Friday the 13th. So what will ya'll be doing today to celebrate? I'm sure ya'll know me well enough to know that I plan on renting movies. Soooo, any recommendations? Of course it there are any new ones out there that I haven't watched I'll definitely be grabbing those up but I'd like to rent some old ones as well. Toss out your suggestions.

Oh and since it is Friday don't forget to sign my little linky so I can visit you this weekend and others can find your site.

Want another chance to leave comments? We've got two blogs that on Fridays they have a "Comment Friday." Casual Keystrokes and Blog About Your Blog

Labels: blogaboutyourblog, blogging, casual keystrokes, comment friday, comments, friday the 13th, fun friday

It may be just a Friday 13th to many of us, but this is one lucky day for Char. Let's all head over and wish her a Happy Birthday.

Visit Char at Casual Keystrokes, don't forget that it is also Casual Friday so any comment is good today.

Happy Birthday Char!

Labels: casual keystrokes, Char, happy birthday

Okay ladies and gentlemen I bring you 30 giveaways for this week. Honestly if ya count each one there are more than 30. If ya'll win let me know. If ya have a giveaway let me know and I'll post it here and I'm more than willing to host giveaways on my site. Feel free to email me at eliza_ferree@yahoo.com.

Giveaways

Camy's Loft is giving away 4 copies of In Between and don't forget to read the interview. You can still enter to win Murder by Mushroom, the name alone makes ya wonder.

Genius Types is still having their giveaway of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Mama Rant is giving away a copy of The Blood of Flowers or Barefoot, head on over to her site to read the rules.

In a Shoe is giving away one copy of Deep Down to one lucky winner.

The Swivet is giving away 3 copies of Acacia by David Anthony Durham.

Me and the other Three is giving away one copy of When Heart Cries.

Reader Views is giving away one copy of 6 different books to giveaway. Head over to find out what books.

Win a HEDVIG tote bag, all ya need to do is answer the question: Who inspired the name of the bag?

Linsey over at Facipiers and Stinky Toes is having another Mustard Sprout giveaway.

http://thebestofetsy.blogspot.com/2007/07/julys-free-giveaway-contest.html">BlissByHeather goodies giveaway which include: wristlet purse, a reversible trendy fit hairband and more.

Mr.Gary Lee is having an iPhone giveaway.

Mamanista is having a Miracle Blanket Giveaway. Your baby is begging ya to enter.

If ya didn't win baby clothes giveaway.

Now I forgot to mention this one last time so I'm mentioning it now Lindie doll giveaway Which doll is your favorite? Tell us and you could win the doll of your choice. My favorite is Lttle Joey.

Skimbaco is giving away one custom made Children's Eternity Necklace.

LA Avenue is giving away a PlayStation 2 Game System.

I swear Blog Critics love their readers and this time they are giving away a Dating Tip Kit which will include: $20 Fandango gift card, a comb, bag, make up and everything else you'll need on that date.

DVD giveaway inside this package is: The Astronaut Farmer, Carlos and Oscar: Life is Crazy Good!, The New Adventures of Superman, Esther Williams Vol. 1 and Classic Musicals from The Dream Factory Vol. 2 giveaway.

Wild about Movies has a huge collection of movie giveaways.

Isaaceda has a survey for ya to fill out and you'll be entered in the giveaway.

Ya know ya loved them and now you can win The Beatles, okay you can win them but you can win the book, "Ticket to Ride by Graham Sclater." All ya need to do is answer this question: Name the instrument that author Graham Sclater played as a musician in Hamburg.

Matthew at Blog About Your Blog is having a Day Planner giveaway.

Complex is giving away Jordan Shoes, just fill out the form to win.

Scribbit is having a Saturday Giveaway (I'm hoping this one wasn't last saturday) to celebrate her birthday. Women, this one if for you... I mean who can pass up jewelry, especially when it is a ring and smokey quartz ear rings. Don't forget to enter her July's Write-Away Contest. All ya need to do is write about "My Most Adventurous Moment."

Ben over at Benspark is having a contest and you can Win an XShot from BenSpark. Go to his blog to read the rules.
I've recently spotted this guy showing up everywhere and now he has a contest. It's John Cow, no not John Chow! Sign up for your chance to win iPhone, PS3 or a Wii giveaway.

You didn't think John Chow would let that slip by did ya? John is giving away the world's thinnest laptop mouse.

Bella Sugar is having their Thursday giveaway and this time it is Caudalie Instant Foaming Cleanser.

Celebrity News Live is giving away one copy of the Kelly Clarkson CD.

Mom2momlounge is giving away Baby Signing Time! DVD prize pack. This one has 2 DVD's and 2 Cd's, now your baby can learn sign too.

With The Simpson Movie coming out I had to find a giveaway or two for ya. Here they are The Blog Nut and Beat Lawrence.

I'd also like to point ya towards OpinionMom who also has a little list of giveaways and she even mentioned my site with such a sweet compliment. (I just had to give her a link.)

Would ya like to sponsor me in the upcoming blogathon? It is July 28th and it is 24 hours, my cause is for "Hope for the Wounded Warriors".

Labels: blogathon 2007, book giveaway, book giveaways, dvd giveaways, hope for the wounded warrior, jewelry giveaway, july giveaways, wounded warrior

13 Things going on In My Neck of the Woods

1. Ft. Bragg tightens its base

2. Radiowaste found in water at Camp Lejeune I so didn't want to hear this. Ikkk, that's why I stick with drinking bottled water.

3. Convicted killer Marcus Shrader dies in prison- parts of town had signs about this all over town.

4. German shepherd tracks man with Alzheimer's- Wow, the dog found the guy! That's why these dogs are awesome!

5. Ex-N.C. House speaker gets 5 years- See not everyone with power stays outta jail.

6. Grand Jury Fails To Indict In PlayStation Theft Death- Yep, they actually killed over it.
7. 26th MEU Returns- Always great to see a troop come home, but at the same time it is said because another must leave.

Don't think our tiny town area didn't do Harry Potter either. We love em' just as much as anyone else.

8. "Harry Potter" tickets selling rapidly in New Bern- Midnight showing, sold out by 3p.m.

9. Not yet reported because the base paper only comes out on Thursday mid-morning. Harry Potter sneak preview maxed the theater with 1,200 people on Wednesday afternoon. Show didn't start until 6:30 p.m., they let us all in by 5p.m. The first person arrived in line at noon, and no it wasn't me.

10. 3 North Carolina Towns made it on the top 100 Harry-est towns in USA

11. Marines test humvee fire extinguishers- No they weren't playing around, they were testing them out.

12. 5-year-old pins rabid fox during North Carolina family cookout, protects brother- Isn't this cool? He saved his little brother.

13. Wounded warrior takes life in stride- and that's why I'm doing the Blogathon for "Hope for the Wounded Warriors." If ya'd like to sponsor me for it, click the link.

Labels: 13 Thursday, Thurday Thirteen, Thursday 13

Today is a Gayla's 40th Birthday!! Happy Birthday Gayla!! I couldn't post this on her site for some reason so I'm posting it here. Gayla won't be online much today as JK Rowling knew it was her 40th and decided to help her celebrate by releasing the Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix. I hope she has a blast today!

Why don't ya'll head over and wish her a Happy 40th!

Labels: 40th birthday, birthday, Gayla, happy birthday, momgadget

Adventures in Babywearing is having a really cool giveaway and it is one I'm always talking about. She's giving one lucky winner a Podonbutai, for those that don't know...a sling. To learn more about the sling you can click the following link. All Natural Mommies/podonbutai. To win ya must post about it on your site TODAY!

Labels: giveaway, podonbutai, sling giveaway

Fun in the Sun

This was taken a few years back, around the time that there were only two kids and we were living in the Hot, Hot, Yuma, Arizona.

Don't forget my site over at 451press called, "Tom Cruise Watch."

Want to play?



For more Wordless Wednesday participants please visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Labels: wordless wednesday

My honest opinion is the book was soooo much more better, but only because the book told so much more of the story. At the same time it was really neat to see the book unfold before my eyes and see what everything/everyone looked like.

Harry Potter spent the summer away from everyone he loves dearly, especially his new-found-godfather, Sirius Black. No one communicates with him all summer long. When he does come back he must now deal with why no one talked with him, rumors and once again he's being kept in the dark. Harry's getting frustrated with everything, especially when the school begins to become the Ministry of Magic instead of Hogwart's. Harry knows V is back and must convince everyone else. Will he be able to convince them before it is too late?
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DO NOT GO ANY FURTHER UNLESS YOU WANT TO READ ALL ABOUT THE MOVIE....
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DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YA!
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To begin, Harry is sitting in an abandoned park on a swing with Dudley and his pals once again giving him a hard time. Dudley makes one mistake and talks about Harry's mom and Harry is at his throat with his wand, suddenly the sky goes dark, wind picks up and the crew take off running. Harry and Dudley run too, it is funny to see Dudley keeping up with Harry. Harry and Dud run down into an alley where they meet up with two Dementors. (When reading the book I had imagined many homes and an alley between them, like behind houses)

Dudley is a nut case after this, more or less stunned into silence. His aunt and unlce are furious with him and to top it off he's given a notice that he has been expelled....right in front of his Uncle. Harry is taken away during the night to a secret society where he meets up with all his old friends, Sirius Black and the Weasley family. He's a bit about that no one had written him all summer long and he had to stay with the Dursley's. Once again before Harry has anytime with his friends he's whisked away to go to a hearing in regards to his expullsion(sp) in front of the Ministry of Magic. Dumbledore arrives just in time & Harry is off the hook.

Everyone at school is giving him a hard time because the paper keeps writing things that aren't true about him. That being said he does seem to have the girls falling for him. (Lovegood, Cho and it seems Hermione) Harry does get a kiss from Cho during the show and Lovegood grabs a hold of his hand once. Hagrid has been missing in this one, he comes back briefly all bloodied & ask the threesome to watch after his brother for him. His brother is a giant, which was one place he'd been this whole movie.

I got a little ahead of the movie, upon arriving at school he finds out the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is one lady that tried to have him charged during the hearing, Dolores Umbridge. She passes out thick books to the kids all about boring stuff and NO SPELLS. She's insistant that Harry not talk about what happened at that HE lied about everything. When he doesn't he gets in trouble and must write sentences...in his own blood. Ikk. Slowly this teacher starts taking over the entire school, changing rules, terrorizing the students and she even tries firing some of the teachers. Paintings on the walls come down, new rules go up in their place. No more singing, no music, no magic, Weasley's stuff is banned, etc.

During this time, Harry and a few others gather a small group and they start practicing their own defense magic behind secret walls in the school. Eventually they get caught and Dumbledore is replaced by Dolores. But before they can arrest Dumbledore he lifts up his arms and the Phoenix takes him away. hehe. Some time after this the Weasley twins decide it is time to fight back and fly in during a test bombing the place with fireworks that are really lovely and chase Dolores out of the school with a make believe dragon.

Harry's been having dreams and sees Sirius in serious trouble. This is during the fireworks and takes off to find him, only to get caught by Malfoy's group and Dolores. He's able to give warning to Snape though to help Sirius. In the end there is one lsat battle where they are fighting, Malfoy's father is about to attack Harry and Sirius comes to the rescue saying, "Don't touch my godson!" During the battle though Sirius dies and goes after the chic that does it, but once he hears Voldemort he can't finish her off. Voldemort and Dumbledore fight until finally Voldemort disappears but not before he makes remarks come out of Harry's body. It ends with all the kids headed back home for the summer.

Labels: Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter Movies

Okay first I'll tell ya we did make it and in my next post I'll talk about the movie and spoilers. Due to the spoilers I'm letting ya'll know ahead of time, course if ya already read the books like me it won't be spoilers.

We left here around 3:30p.m. drove by the theater saw two REALLY long lines and decided to drop off DVD at the rentals. At this point I ruled we weren't going to see it as the crowds were long and it would always be. Hubby turned around and drove up, "Let's get out." I sat there looking at him as if he were dumb. "The line is long."

He just walked towards the line, over his shoulder he yelled, "Aren't you a fan?" I hurried up and got the kids out of the car and walked over to join him in line. The line wrapped both sides of the building and began going around the road. Ikkk. After half hour he asked if I wanted him to go get food so the tikes wouldn't complain. Of course I did, it'd be cheaper and we woulnd't have to jump in line the moment we finally got in.

We were allowed in at 5:30, one hour before the movie began. Woo hoo!!! The refreshment line? Oh that went up the stairs and down and was like that until an hour into the movie. Believe it or not it wasn't that bad inside once the movie began. Woo hoo! Remember last time I was not pleased at the screaming children, hey I have four myself and I can keep them quiet.

All in all it was a good movie,

it didn't have much death in it or fighting but it was still good.

At least that last part is what my son said.

Labels: Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter Movies

Well we are getting ready to head out of the door so wish me luck. Why? Remember when we tried to catch "The Transformers Movie" for free on the base and were too late for the line? Well this time it is the "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" that will be free. If I get there before the line is too long. I'll be there for two hours prior to showing.



Okay, well won't be posting much but be sure I'll let ya'll know if I was able to get in or not.

Labels: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter Movies, movie

Howdy ya'll, how was your week? Did ya enjoy the 4th? I loved it, my favorite fireworks are the spiders.

Want to support me in the upcoming blogathon, here's my link. My cause is for the "Hope for the Wounded Warriors," they are always helping the wounded build homes, buy wheelchairs, help with expenses, etc.

Giveaways/contests:

5 Minutes for Mom has two different ones going on. Win the Scanalizer or try winning the Fat Proof Your Family.

Kailani over at Island Life is giving away a retractable MP3 Earphone with Swarovski Crystals, stop by here to win. Don't forget to vote for your favorite bloggers in her 2007 Bloggy Hoss Elections!

The Opinionated Parent has two different giveaways, one of which I hope to win. The Animal Den & At The Zoo With Alex Book. The second one is asthma friendly®” toy chihuahua.

Colleen has two giveaways going this month. Win an Philips 512MB MP3 Player the booby prize is Clean DR Screen Cleaning Kit by leaving a comment at her GeekySpeaky link or the other contest is at Simple Kind of Life and you can win a $50 GC to Buy-Rash-Guards.com and the booby prize is $10 to Circuit City.

Don't forget about the Boston Mamamas Giveaway for their birthday they are giving away something to one lucky winner every day in July. For today's giveaway you can win The Baby Daze, which is an organizer to help you remember what ya did that day.

The Parent Bloggers Network is giving away a $50 GC to CVS.

Remember when Mr.GarryLee had that contest about the messiest desk and someone would win some nice speakers? Well now he's giving away a FREE Apple iPhone, so if ya weren't able to get one before you can now.

Brandon Hopkins is giving away an ipod shuffle to win just post a link in your blog to his and link to his sponsor free business cards.

BellaSugar is giving away a whitening kit, all ya need to do is leave a comment.

This giveaway is more of a contests in which you must post a link to your favorite "Dirty Story" (not that kind) and link to the contest. One lucky winner will receive Klean Bath and Body set.

Blog Critics is giving away a copy of The Simpsons Movie as well as a few other items.

Want to win more DVDs? Over at Hollywood.com they are having a movie giveaway of the following movies: HairSpray, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix prize pack, 'Evan Almighty' Sweepstakes and Breach giveaway.

Murder by Mushroom by Virginia Smith and you can still enter her other giveaway The Book of Jane.

Over at A Chelsea Morning, she is giving away Debbie Macomber six-book series giveaway.

So Many Books Blog is giving away a copy of Midwife of St.Petersburg.

Over at Emenang is giving away Three volumes of Sudoku book. Good luck!

Overwheled with Joy is hosting a giveaway of her own, it is called, "Pay it Forward Giveaway Exchange. Sign her linky and if you are the winner of the book giveaway you read the book and host a giveaway of that book on your site when you are done.

Mama Bright is jumping in on the Pay-it-forward Exchange and offering up Bygones by Kim Vogel Sawyer.

Home with Heather is doing this as well, her book offer is Redeeming Love by Francine River.

Baseballs and Bows (I love that title) is giving away 3 Seconds by Dr. Les Parrott.

Deena Books still has her book giveaways for the summer going on, don't forget to enter her $10 GC giveaway as well. This week she's offering one lucky reader Miss match.

Gather.com is having their weekly The Great American Book Giveaway is giving away one copy of each of the following:

Past Perfect by Susan Isaacs
Town & Country Handbook for Hosts by Adam Bluestein
Einstein by Walter Isaacson
Healthy South Indian Cooking by Alamelu Vairavan
The Talent IQ by Emmett C. Murphy

Money Matters 101 is giving away 5 copies of Doing Business in China by Ted Plafker.

3 winners will win the first 3 volumes of The Books of the Cataclysm (US Versions) by Sean Williams.

Cali McKoys is giving away a copy of Money Memoir in honor of her 500th post.

In honor of her recent release, "NO GREATER LOSS" Diane Carter is giving away a copy of CAPTIVE DREAMS by Angela Knight and Diane Whiteside or the book, 6 RAINER DRIVE by Debbie Macomber.

Dear Reader is giving away 20 books, drop her an email to find out more.

I believe this is the biggest giveaway I've listed to date. If you ever have a giveaway that you want me to list please drop me a comment. Oh and if ya don't want to host it on your site you can send me an email and I'd gladly do it here for ya. Remember to let me know if ya ever win something, I'd love to post a link to your site.

Wanna digg this story? Digg it

Labels: blogathon 2007, book giveaway, book giveaways, DVD giveaway, giveaways, july giveaways

I recently got asked to review a product for MomGadget called DaysAgo, it was a very useful one at that.

It’s tiny, it’s simple and it should never be left on a shelf. I was asked to review the Days Ago product and when I read what it did, I couldn’t pass it up. Of course I want something that tells me...

Read the rest of the review of DaysAgo. I have another review there of The Fairy Chronicles, which I LOVED.

While I've got ya here, why don't ya go and read Gayla's Interview over at Weblogs. Don't forget to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY, her birthday is the same day as the Harry Potter Movie release.

Labels: daysago, momgadget, product reviews, reviews

In the recent news update they have stated that they believe the body is female and that of Kelly Nolan but it'll be about a day or two before they make any official statements.

Cell phone technology helped in the search.

Labels: body found, cell phones, Kelly Nolan, missing girl

The update just came on and so far they really aren't saying much anything else that I haven't already wrote about. However, Schuster Rd. will not be available for the next few days as the investigation continues.

Still no clue if the body was female/male.

Labels: body found, Kelly Nolan, missing girl

At 12:00 p.m. EST a news conference was held on TV, and it is basically everything I just posted about in my last entry.

They began combing the area around 0430, Nolan's family was there some time between 7-8 a.m. but they left before the body was found. Currently no news on if the body is in fact Kelly Nolan, they aren't even stating if it is male or female. When asked if the family has come to ID the body, Joel Despain's reply was, "Which family?" I'm wondering now if it wasn't Nolan's body that they have found.

They found this area (only a few miles from the area where the bartender last saw her) by tips and such from the past 10 days. This has NOT been the only place they've searched, just one that was decided to do more extensively.

It was 0845 Central time when the body was discovered. The area will be secured for the forensic team to go through and find any/all evidence, currently the body is still where it was found.

Will update as I hear more reports.

Labels: body found, Kelly Nolan, missing girl

21-year-old Wisconsin girl, Kelly Nolan, went missing on June 23rd (Friday) after leaving a bar. There are reports that her older sister got a call from her in the early morning hours of that Saturday but no one knows what was discussed. Some state she simply ran away but I have a feeling it was foul play.

Apparently she had left the bar and was actually walking home with the bartender, no one knows why she was being walked home by him. Maybe he wanted to be a gentleman and make sure she got home safely. They ran into another guy that insisted he knew her and the bartender allowed him to finish the walk. It wasn't until two days later that the bartender called police to tell them that he had seen her and realized she was the missing girl.

This morning there is a lot of coverage going on in a wooded area in Oregon, Wisconsin. Yellow tape is wrapped around the area and they just announced they found a body. No one knows yet if it is her body, honestly I hope not, I hope for a happy ending for her. Either way though someone did not have a happy ending. A conference will be held at the top of the hour, so I'll be tuning in.

Lets keep this girl in our thoughts. I haven't been able to get away from the t.v. in the hopes that they had finally found her. I'll continue to post throughout the search.

Labels: Kelly Nolan, missing girl, Oregon, Wisconsin

Okay, I really don't hate cell phones, but sometimes I do. When we first got my cell phone I had no clue if it was good or not. I wasn't very internet savvy at the time, if I would've been or even if I would've thought it I would've looked up reviews or reviews of the phone company. Instead I took the cell phone that took pictures, sure it cost a little more but I'd been hearing about them everywhere. What type of phone do you have?

Anyways, long story short the phone started messing up before the contract was up. I went in but customer service told us the plan wasn't up, if I wanted to though I could buy a battery for it for $60....it cost $70 to buy a new one. Okay, is this a scam or what?

For a while it shuts itself on and off, by itself. On the 4th it died completely, everything gone...all pictures and everything. I hope that one day I can retrieve everything on my little phone but in the meantime I can't. My suggestion to you is to go and read reviews of cell phones before you purchase one. I have talked to several neighbors around me and they all complained about the same company. I just wish I'd known ahead of time.

Labels: cell phones

I'm going to be taking part in the Blogathon 2007 this year. For those wondering it begins on the 28th 0600 and ends July 29th (hubby's bday) at 0600. I will be up for 24 hours, posting blogs every 30 minutes. Now, just to figure out what exactly I'll be posting on.

All money will go to Hope for the Wounded Warriors Fund, if you'd like to sponsor me, here is the link. Sponsor Me. If ya don't want to sponsor my cause there are many more over at the list.

A bit on why I've picked my cause. First, it helps those that have been wounded in war. Last school year, my daughter had a wounded warrior in her class all year long helping out. She became very close to this guy and we all saw him heal. They also recently started making homes for these guys, special homes that need wheel chair access as well as many other things. It's a great cause that I'm happy to take part in.

Will you be doing this?

Labels: blogathon, blogathon 2007, blogging, hope for the wounded warrior, wounded warrior

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) is selling up quickly, ya might want to get yourself a copy before they are all sold out! Currently the counter at Amazon shows 1,087,964 Muggles (human folks, without magical powers) have pre-ordered the book. I'm one of those million that have joined in. You have until July 17th, to pre-order the book, which only gives ya 10 days.

That's right, this year I will not wait in super-long lines just to get the book. Last time was a mess and it was just the base, I don't even want to know what it looked like off base. EEekkkk! Will you be going to a Harry Potter Party? I know many stores do this, I've never made it to one and looks like I'll miss this last one as well. Probably better off I missed it, especially since I'll have all four kids with me.



But I've been thinking back to all the fun things we've done in the past. For SoccerBoy's 7th Birthday we had a Harry Potter Themed Birthday party and boy was it fun. I had the pinata in the shape of a wizard's hat, a Harry Potter cake, a jelly bean contest, we played ground Quidditch with brooms and little sponge balls, we were decked out in team colors all around and throughout the house. The kids enjoyed watching the movie and of course everything present was H.Potter related. Throughout the years he's still loved Harry Potter and the love was passed down to the two girls. Now, we haven't yet bought the Barbie dolls, but I still plan on it eventually. You haven't seen them? You are missing out. We've had Harry Potter clothing, stickers, board games, video games, cards, playing cards, and of course our ever growing collection of the DVD collection.

The book? Of course I have them. I may be a homemom that rarely leaves the house because she hates to shop but that doesn't mean I haven't learned the secret that all home moms know. The secret to shopping online, this is one home mom that LOVES Harry Potter. Will I be getting the book? Heck yes and I'll probably be out for the entire day once I get it. Be prepared, this will be one blog that only has quizzes on the day the new book arrives.

Labels: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

BalletGirl turned 7 this morning so we would all like to wish her a BIG, GIANT Birthday greeting. This morning she got to choose where she ate breakfast and of course she picked Golden Corral (her favorite place, besides CiCi's in the world) and they even sang to her. She's already opened her gifts included Littlest Pet Shop toys, jumping rope and a Razor Scooter. That's one happy girl. 07/07/07 sounds like it would be a great day to buy lottery tickets.

BalletGirl-
Ya came so bright and early in the morning, we almost didn't make it to the hospital....boy would that have been a story to share with ya. We love ya honey.

Love Mommy

Myspace Glitters

Labels: 07-07-07, happy birthday, lottery tickets

I watched the most disgusting youtube video today, at least to me it was disgusting. Have ya'll ever heard of that hot dog competition they have every year? I'm sure the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute would be a bit embarrased if they had been viewing this. This made me wonder what popular chefs would think. I can picture how a chef from a culinary institute would've felt, I mean they didn't even savor a bite, course that is the whole object. With hot dogs all ya do is boil them in water and place them in a bun and make these people dip them in water (yuck) and swallow. (oh gross!) Chefs would prefer you took the time to taste everything that went into a bite, and if given a chance they'd love it if they got to tell ya how they made it.

Food has definitely became a popular subject among t.v. viewers and I'm not just meaning for when they are actually watching t.v. they eat. Reality shows are getting involved as well as many food shows with popular chefs. My daughter tunes in all the time to watch Rachel Ray, I like Emeril myself. I have a brother-in-law that wants to go to a culinary school and I think I have a daughter that is going to take after him. I must add he does make some GREAT meals....bad thing is he lives FAR away.

For those of you that REALLY have to see these men eat .... stuff their mouths of hot dog here is the video:

Labels: emeril, food shows, hot dog competition, Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, rachel ray

44% GeekMingle² - Free Online Dating

I'll be honest, I stole this from Gayla who stole it from Char, but it's a lot of fun. I actually thought I'd end up more geek but I guess not. My kids can go to sleep happily now.

BTW- I'm slowly getting over my focus problem.

Labels: computer geek, quizzes

There will be no giveaways today. Why? Well I'm a bit stressed and just can't seem to focus. It seems to be one of those days where I wish I had one of those nanny agencies near me or family members. Have ya ever felt like that?

Like what huh? Ya know, like ya just need a little break? I know I'm not the only one that has ever wanted a few minutes...okay about two...maybe three hours away from the kids. Am I? Finding a sitter for four kids isn't easy though and no one would really want all four unless it was for a LOT of money. No, my kids aren't bad, but there are four of them and in our area everyone has four kids or more. I just can't seem to ask anyone to watch them because I feel having 8 in a house would be too much. Hubby also works two jobs so can't ask him.

This past friday I wanted so badly to be near my family, I knew they'd let the kids spend the night. This has been a great summer, honestly but there are just some days where ya just want that tiny break. Living near family would definitely do that, ya know someone is always wanting to have your child sleep-over. Heck, my sister wants me to fly my kids to her...I can't do that one though. But if I lived by her I'd be more than willing to drive them over for a night. lol.

Oh if I could find a sitter I think I'd take an hour long bubble bath, go to a coffee shop and drink a frap while reading a magazine and maybe do a bit of "Me" shopping. Hmmm, hiring a maid would be nice too. I don't think a nanny agency would do that, I think they only watch kids but I hear there are also maid services out there. Does anyone do this?

I promise to have Tuesdays Giveaways up and I'll probably post some over the weekend but today I think I'm going to veg in front of the t.v. Believe it or not I've been on this computer off and on today but can't seem to focus. Like I said, I need a break. lol.

Labels: babysitter, nanny

13 Things I don't Want to See

1- Kids running around in the back of a moving vehicle- I see this all the time while driving. Kids are out of their seats and moving around in the backseat. I always want to scream (as we are driving by) Your kids need a seatbelt.

2- Smooching in public- No, I'm not meaning a simple hug and kiss. I'm talking those that need to SERIOUSLY get a room. I know ya'll have seen them out there.

3- Cell phone drivers- Yes, I know we all have them but does that mean that we have to have one hand on the wheel as the other is holding the phone next to our ears. NO! Uh, put it on speaker phone or get one of those hands-free devices.

4- Kids on Skateboards- Okay, skateboarding is cool and all but DON'T drive down the center of a road when cars are coming up upon ya.

5- Tagging- No, I'm not meaning the internet game or kids playing tag. When I say tagging I'm meaning those spraypaintings all over our buildings. It just makes the place look like trash.

6- Judgement eyes- yes you can spot them. I know when I'm being judged and unless ya know exactly everything behind what I'm doing...Don't do it.

7- I hate to see a line- I'm talking any kind of line, a line to the check-out...I mean who doesn't right? A line to a movie I'm excited to see, that is until I see the LINE goes all the way around the building.

8- I hate to see that stupid demon mail or whatever it is called- Ya know the little email that comes back to tell ya the email ya just sent out can't go to whomever it is because either they don't exist, are too full or something else.

9- I hate to see that my soap opera has been pre-empted. Yep, happened again this week, Tennis took over Days of Our Lives. Yes, I'm a soap addict and proud of it. Ask me whatever about DOOL or Passions. hehe

10- SOLD OUT- I hate to see this, whether it is for a movie I'm waiting in line for or a movie I've been waiting for it to hit DVD at the DVD store. This makes me so sad, I've yet to watch Premonition.

11- I don't like seeing my child in pain- This means any type of pain, small or large. I know it'll break my heart the first time one of my kids fall for a boy/girl (remember I have 2 boys and 2 girls) and their heart is broken.

12- I hate my street- When I say this I'm not meaning the street itself, but the kids. The kids on this street do NOT watch out, they'll run, ride bikes, walk, stop in the street and chit chat...knowing you are behind them pulling out. They don't care! Tuesday Morning I walked out front to find that our street had been hit with newspapers. Kids tore apart the newspapers and a bike and left all the parts all over the cul-de-sac. Errrrrr! Makes it really hard to drive outta here. Oh and ya must watch for skateboards, the kids think it is a game to slide them through cars to see if it gets hit. Kid you not.

13- I hate to see no comments- Getting comments on my posts is like getting a package or snail letter in the mail. Come on ya'll know what I mean...everyone feels this way.

Labels: 13 Thursday, Thurday Thirteen, Thursday 13

Myspace Glitters


Today, we will be headed to the town festival around 3 and then watch the fireworks. I hear someone by the name of Danielle Peck is suppose to be performing tonight. I really hope ya'll have a safe and Happy Holiday. Don't get too much sun out there!

Labels: Danielle Peck, fireworks, Happy 4th of July, Happy July 4th, Independance Day

The Flower




Happy WW! Happy 4th of July!!! Don't forget to enter the Giveaways or to stop in and visit me over at Tom Crusie Watch.

Want to play?



For more Wordless Wednesday participants please visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Labels: giveaways, wordless wednesday

Book Giveaways
Over at Felicia's blog, 5 winners will receive 20 books. All you need to do is answer what ya want out of this site, if ya like it, what can be changed, etc. The most important thing is she wants honesty.

Camy's Loft is giving away a copy of The Perfect Blend and you still have a chance to enter in the drawing for A Family Forever.

SFSigal is giving away a copy of Ragamuffin by Tobias Buckell.

This one is for Aussie's only:
Relz Review is giving away Miss Match by Erynn Mangun

Girl's Life is having a book giveaway every day this summer. Enter to win.

Riley's Reviews is giving away a signed copy of Soul Song by Marjorie M. Liu. All ya need to do is answer a few quick questions. Good luck!

DVD Giveaways
Wild About Movies is giving away a copy of Sweet Land, Stargate SG-1: Season 10 DVD Box Set, and a few other dvd giveaways

Pinks and Blues Girls is having another giveaway, boy do we love these. The Body Shop/Vera Bradley contest and to Sheena’s The Body Shop Consultant site are having a great giveaway where you can win the Vera Bradley Nantucket Navy “Little Betsy” purse that has 6 pockets, bodyshop's coconut butter and a coin purse.

The Opinionated Parent has done it again and this time they're giving away a Naughty Spot and for those restless nights they are giving us a chance to win our very own Siente to put us to sleep....errr that should be our kids.

Want to have a little bit of farm fun? Head on over and enter yourself in the Cow Patty Bingo and you could even win yourself $50 cash. Oh and to get an extra entry you just need to link to one other article from the blog that is your favorite. Mine happens to be .... 11 Mistakes Your Blog Makes In Bed. I mean do you know what your blog does wrong, and the title alone grabs your attention.

The Parent Blogger Network is giving you a chance to win $50 GC to CVS, all you need to do is head over and read their post "The 24-Hour Pharmacist - Campaign Launch" and comment. Don't forget to stop by the reviewers and read what they thought of the product.

Boston Mommas is celebrating their 1 year anniversary and giving their readers all types of rewards. Head over to read the list of awesome prizes there are just too many for me to list.

Web Petals is helping a friend promote a book, so this contest the winner will receive their choice of a shirt, tote bag or sweatshirt with the cool logo of the book on the front. All you need to do is leave a comment telling who your favorite hero is.

Don't forget to head over to Mod*Mom for her July 4th Giveaway, there'll be lots of prizes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You've heard all the celebrities checking themselves into rehab, well now you can check yourself into a drug rehab too. Don't let drugs destroy your family, get the help you need today. Just because you aren't doing illegal drugs, doesn't mean you don't need help. At Cliffside Malibu you will be staying at a beautiful resort right on the beach, so when you are tired of looking at walls you'll get that fresh escape you need. However, you do have to be over 18 to stay. Before ya think it's too cut off from the rest of the world, you do have internet capability but you will be away from the crazy life of the world.

Labels: book giveaways, dvd giveaways, giveaways, july giveaways

BalletGirl will be turning 7 on the 7th. Kind of weird, I just realized over the weekend that she will be turning 7 on the 7th of the 7th year. Talk about a lucky number, 7 has ALWAYS been lucky for me.

07/07/07 hehe, maybe we should do something at 0700 right?

Besides that she is extremely excited because ... well.... because it's her birthday and what little kids doesn't like that. But she hasn't expressed an interest in anything, nothing at all. So I'm currently trying to find her something, the one thing she told me today she would like I can't get. Why? Because it doesn't come out until the fall. She heard that there will be a Hannah Montana barbie doll and that's the only thing she's asked for. Akkk right? Kind of reminds me when all BabyGirl wanted was Doodlebops.

Well this little girl is so eager to grow up she wanted to run away over the weekend. I guess she'd seen something on one of her teeny bopper shows and wanted to try it. So much that she actually packed her bags and told her brother and sister what she was doing. She sooo didn't get what was going on. I had to ask why she was running away, ...

"Well to live on my own. To be grown up."
"That makes you grown up?"
Shaking her head as if I was dumb, "uhhh, yeah mom."
"Why do you want to move out? Don't ya like it here?"
"Yes."
"Is there a reason you don't want to live here?"
She stood silently thinking, "I won't have to eat anything GREEN ever again."
This made me bust up laughing and she did seem upset. "Okay but how will you eat?"
"Work." She said this as she shrugged her shoulders like it was obvious.
"But you have to be 16."
"Oh."
"How will ya eat?"
"I...I...can I stay with you, Mom?"

This of course put a smile on my face and up the stairs she ran to unpack her bags. Boy I do love this age, but I wish she'd stay young and innocent forever. I don't want her to become a teen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Experencing a bit of a draft from up above? Maybe your hair line is starting to show a bit more than you like, or you are starting to go bald in places that embarrass you. Don't feel bad over at Dr/ Shapiros Hair Institute they are working on making a hair transplant Florida. This way you won't have to worry about those spots that everyone MAY or may not be looking at. Feel good about the way you look and it'll improve your job performance. Get yourself a hair transplant today and smile when ya look in the mirror.

Labels: 07/07/07, birthday

Oh would ya please vote for me! BIG GRIN. There are two contests that I'm currently in the running for. I know for a fact this works because Elizabeth over at Table4Five is always winning something new...and getting them in the mail.

On WhoGets I'm known as.... Homemom3, yes I know it's the same everywhere for me but at least everyone knows me. Right? Follow the links below and vote for me, you'll find the vote for contestant button near the top of the entry.

Flip Video Camera- if I win this I'm going to do a giveaway for the site. You could be the lucky winner.

Scorpion King DVD- Hubby's birthday is this month and thought this would be cool.

If you are on WhoGets let me know so we can be friends and vote for one another. Or if ya want I can refer a friend, just give me a shout.

Labels: contest, flip video camera, giveaway, prizes, scorpion king dvd, whogets, whogets.com

Truth is the crying has STOPPED! Woo hoo, I can sing again. Okay, not really, I haven't sang in over 9 years and don't plan on trying now.

Our little tooth monster, aka Little A, finally got that second tooth in. Granted right now it is only showing tips of it, which reminds me of a little glacier floating around in a big ocean. So for now all things teeth will be pleasant...that is until one of them bites down on me. Ewwooowwwww!

Any recommendations? Don't tell me not to let him do it, he's 3 months old and doesn't understand. I have bought a bottle and plan on switching back and forth a few times a day to save myself a little pain.

I still can't believe how big he's gotten and he actually understands so much. At least I think he does. He's three months old now, will be 4 months on the 14th at which time he'll be getting more shots. I'm sure he's going to hate the doctors after that, not to mention me.

His favorite things: my cell phone, keyboard, his blanket, gameboys, and of course....my hair.

I recently discovered that if he is upset I can flip the phone on and he expects daddy to talk. At least that's what I think he believes as many times daddy calls when he's upset and I have him talk to the little guy. This always makes him happy so the last few times daddy wasn't home I opened the phone beside him and he got excited, of course the downfall was daddy wasn't on the line and he got upset. I've now recorded daddy's voice so when this happens I simply open the phone and grab the recording of his voice and play it. Awww, heaven!

If you place his blanket on him he grabs at it as if he's pulling it up to his chest, but instead he growls at it and starts sucking on it.

Keyboard- a recent discovery of his where he likes to grabs the keys. Gameboy is the same way, it has a color on it and he can touch the buttons. His older brother always makes it noisey for him and he loves it. Hates it though when it shuts.

My hair, hmmm do I really have to explain? He pulls I make funny noises.

(updates on the other three to follow)

Labels: baby, blankie, four month old, grabbing hair, infant, teething, three month old

Well I had GREAT intentions on seeing Transformers the Movie, however luck was NOT on my side. For some strange reason I actually thought I could get in to see the movie if I showed up half an hour early. Let this be a warning to ya'll, ya MUST show up at least two hours for a sneak preview of a movie.

Tips on going to the movies with kids:

1. Make sure EVERYONE is ready to go an hour before ya'll plan on leaving. This means to actually load up your vehicle with all necessities, including the diaper bag and any jackets that may need to go. No, this does not mean to pack your kids in the vehicle an hour before ya go. Ya'll may laugh at that last part but I've seen this actually happen.

2. Do one last trip to the bathroom before getting in the car. I can guarantee if ya don't the kids will have to go the minute you get seats. Now if ya have a spouse or another adult this may be a good thing as one can save seats while the other ushers the kids to the bathroom. Never have children go to the restroom alone, ya never know what could happen. Last year a parent did this, the child slipped on an ice cubed and cracked her head open. No one knew who she was or who her parent was, they had to wait for the mom to become worried and go looking.

3. Feed those kids before ya leave, your best bet is to do it 30 minutes before you are due to leave. Why? haha, do ya really need to ask? This is one way of making sure your child doesn't have to eat everything in sight. Sure a bucket of popcorn is a great snack but if they don't eat prior they will surely eat the entire bucket and still complain of hunger pains.

4. If ya are showing up early for a movie decide how long is best. For a sneak preview ya probably want to get there two hours before a movie. Now this may not be the case for a movie offbase but for military theaters it is your best bet. Transformers sold out (even though it was a free showing) spacewise two hours early. In fact most people that watched the first movie (not sure what that was) actually stayed in.

5. Bring something fun for the kids to do. This can be a book that mom can stick back in her purse, a gameboy, etc. This way you aren't always hearing (I'm sure you'll hear a little bit) "I'm bored."

I hope these small little tips save your sanity for the next time you go to the movies with your kids. Remember, if the movie is going to be EXCELLENT or everyone has been waiting for it...show up REALLY EARLY.

P.S. Harry Potter & the Order of Phoenix will have a SNEAK PREVIEW on the 10th of this month. I guess I'll be there at lunch. (show begins at 3:30)

Before ya ask, no I didn't get to see the Transformers, but we did see Shrek 3.

Labels: christmas movies, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, sneak preview, The Transformer Movie, transformers, transformers movie

This is just a test post to see if this works.



Okay now to see if this shows up on another page I'll be happy. But if it shows up on the homepage I've done it wrong.

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Does anyone know if one can use the click this link to read more would work on blogspot blogs? If it does how?



I know the above is normally the link to read more but not sure if that is just for wordpress. Chris from 451press told me that with the html from above it would work on 451 blogs but not sure about these ones. In any case I want to start using it as my page takes forever to load and I was told it would load faster if I could do this.

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