The New Year's Countdown has begun. What will you be doing to ring in the new year? Can you even believe 2008 is here already? This has been a quick year for me, hopefully though 2008 will be a better one. I'll be writing a few posts today that reflect on this past year, how this blog has formed, the people I've met and a few other things.

Tonight, I'll be with my family and to toast in the New Year I'll probably visit with my dad since we are in town. Our original plan was to leave tonight but I think it'll be safer this way. What do you think?

How many of you will watch the ball drop? How many of you will fall asleep? Both have happened to me in the past.

Labels: 2008, New Year's Eve, the countdown

This story makes me sick, no we may not be military but anyone that lies about the death of a military person or father is sick. In case ya haven't read the news a little girl wrote an essay explaining why she should win the Hannah Montana tickets, in the story she wrote her dad died while fighting in Iraq. Long story short, he didn't, it was all a lie her mom put her up too. This is so sick, I can't believe how they would even lie about something like this. There are children all over that are losing their daddy in war and you don't see them taking that event and doing it, in fact I bet they'd feel bad but they don't do it. It's sick, sorry but this was wrong. I wonder what type (if any) of trouble they'll get into. As of right now they've lost the tickets and I believe everything that went with it.

What do you think of it? Should they lose all the Hannha Montana items? How far do you think this has gone, what do you think should happen?

Labels: hannah montana, Hannah Montana tickets

I wanted to take a moment to let all my readers know that my blog is getting a face life, or should that be a blog lift. My good friend, GarryConn has helped me redesign Homemom3 and I think you all will like the changes. Let me know what ya think. Garry has many sites, GCDC is all about teaching his readers how to make money and in just the last weekend I have done that. Woo hoo! Thanks again Garry.

Labels: bloglift, facelift, garryconn.com

WE have been traveling from North Carolina to Missouri and now to California. Everything has been fine until about 10 minutes ago, the car began flashing:

reduce engine power

I have a 2007 Chevy Uplander, if you have one or have any clue what this means please let me know. Thank you very much.

I'll be on aim elizajane2004
and yahoo messenger as a_lady_poet
or email at homemom3@gmail.com

Labels: chevrolet, chevy, chevy uplander, uplander

I wanted to inform all my readers about a diner I visited last night off the I-70 in Limon. It's a small place, looks cute from the outside called, "Oscar's Bar & Grill," as you enter on the right side is the bar, immediately in front of you is a salad bar and on your left is the dining area. We waited a few seconds before anyone noticed we'd entered the diner and were quickly seated by a very nice man. Things seemed good until we placed our drink order.

I had to change our son's diaper (9 months) and got up to take the girls to the bathroom. Another couple warned me there was no area in the bathroom to change him. This is fine as I'm use to sitting down and doing it. However the issue was once the two girls and I walked in one bathroom stall was broken, the other being remodeled and the last one...well not so clean. The girls were quick of course and we hurried up and left the bathroom.

Back at the table the waiter had brought us too many drinks, which we had to explain that only two got sodas while the kids were lemonade. They weren't happy, but he'd wrote it down. Immediately I began to get a feeling about the place but wanted to try it out and see. The table felt very dirty too and there was still trash on the floor, being beside a truck stop I figured they were just busy.

The menu, lets just say I order "A Fish Called Wanda," (halibut) at $15 and the hubby order prime rib that cost $34.00. They brought my meal first and placed it down in front of me and left. They were gone until the hubby and kids got their meals, which was a good 5 minutes or more. I of course had no silverware the entire time. There were only three families in the diner at the time. So, once I could sink my teeth into my meal it wasn't worth eating. The mashed potatoes were lukewarm with cold spots in them, the steamed veggies were slightly warm on the outside and cold on the inside and the fish....well let's just say I took one bite and was disgusted. It had fat or something all through it, either way it was a meal that I barely touched. My husband's prime rib looked great, it was huge...but one bite and he said, "ice cold and nasty." It was a medium done.

Before we left we got to witness one of the other waitresses talking to herself about the customers. She was iritated and didn't want to be there, one family had complained that their food was cold and wanted it heated or remade and she got all upset and started talking back. (as far as I know you please the customers) well another family came in on her section and as she was passing me she tells herself, I'll swipe the table but I won't wipe it and they can deal with the trash under it. The family was disgusted, it was a hubby wife combo with a little girl. They quickly moved to a somewhat cleaner table after she walked away. All in all, I say this place sucked, it was overly priced, tasted like crap and wasn't clean. Best part was they didn't want to be there, from what the one waitress said there was one cook and the three minors were being waiters for the family section and serving in the bar.

So let this be a warning to you, the "Oscar's Bar and Grill" in Limon, CO is not somewhere you want to stop.

Labels: bad diner, Oscar's bar and grill, review

I loved JAKKS and so do my kids, as you may remember they sent me a number of products to review this past year. One of which I haven't blogged about yet but has been a great time spender is the Spongebob TV game controller. There is a 90% off sale on the following games:

WWE PPV Wave 15 Action Figure Case $84.50

WWE Ruthless Aggression Wave 27 Action Figure Case $92.40

Batman Plug & Play TV Game $14.90 (I got mine at $3 yesterday)

WWE Ruthless Aggression Wave 26 Action Figures Case $83.20

WWE Classic Superstars Wave 14 Action Figure Case $66

Labels: 90% off sale, day after christmas sale, Jakks Pacific

Entertainment Earth has a huge year end sale on Littlest Pet Shop toys. So, if you have little girls these are probably something they've been begging for and now is your chance to stock up.

Littlest Pet Shop Mini Spring Egg $5.40
Littlest Pet Shop Cat with Scratching Post $5.40
Littlest Pet Shop Magic Motion Pets Wave 2 $30
Littlest Pet Shop Magic Motion Pets Wave 2 Set $15.90

Labels: 2007 sales, after christmas sales, littlest pet shop sales, year end sales

For the next day I'm going to be blogging all about sales that I've found at stores and that are available online. I see many liked it when I posted the hours of stores and which stores open on Christmas so I thought you'd enjoy. Once this is done I'll get back to blogging like normal. I really hope you enjoy the sales that I have found. If not the regular program will be after Christmas sales.

Labels: christmas sales, day after christmas, stores open

Since we are in hotels we needed to do a quick check to see what stores are open on Christmas. We already know that our tiny town is basically closed all day, except for the gas stations. Phew! Not sure about IHOP yet but if they are open that's where we will have Christmas Dinner.

But for others out there here is a quick list of places that MIGHT be open:

Starbucks - Ya need this to wake up and they know it.

DC Liquor stores - I don't want to say this is obvious but I can see this one being open.

Grocery Stores- If they are open they will most likely be closed after lunch so hurry over.

Now most of these stores are up to the district manager on whether or not they choose to be open.

Labels: christmas, open christmas, open christmas day, stores

Labels: Merry Christmas

For those that have the All Night Walmart, you better make sure. Tonight, our Walmart Christmas Eve Hours is only until 6 p.m., if you haven't got your toys, or other items by then you are out of luck until after Christmas day. Hurry over now!

Labels: christmas, walmart

We called the 1 800 number from the Norad Tracker site and found out that Santa, or St. Nick, will be passing through Missouri between 9 pm and midnight. The kids now know for sure they must be in bed by 8 pm. and that is Santa's official word. I love this thing, I had never tried the Santa Tracker before this but you can bet I'll use it every year.

When will Santa be passing over your place?

Labels: norad tracker, santa claus, santa tracker

I have one more toy from Jakks, Barney Line to review after the Barney Musical Cell Phone. Every child (baby or teen) wants to have their own cell phone especially if they always see mom and dad on one. Am I right? So, it shouldn't surprise ya that Jakks created a Barney cell phone for kids. It's a flip too, just flip it open and let them push all the buttons. Barney's theme song plays on them if you push them all. Each button plays a different tune of the song and it'll also say what number it is depending on which mode you have it on. Your child can even create their own song and have it played back to them.

It's a really colorful phone, the only problem is it is really low. At first I thought it was just us and that maybe the battery was low so we replaced it but it seems it is a low cell phone. This is great for parents, they won't get a headache from the child playing it constantly. However, if you have children like mine it'll quickly be placed down if they can't really hear it.

Labels: Barney, barney musical cell phone, Barney review

Since we've been discussing Christmas and secret santa I thought a Charlie Brown moment was only acceptable. So here it is, every year we watch this so far we haven't yet but I plan on renting it if I have to do so.

Labels: Charlie Brown, christmas, Linus

Only a few hours away from where I am, the Secret Santa struck again just yesterday. See his goal for December is to give out $20,000-$25,000 to those that REALLY need it. He is passing out $100 bills marked Secret Santa stamped on them. I find this amazing no matter how ya cut it. This is something people need to see this holiday season.

The latest person was a lady down on her luck in an abuse shelter. She hadn't wanted to get out of her bed and when she did only 15 minutes later she was greeted by the Elves. They gave her $100 and she cried and told them her story. She was so happy to be able to give her three kids presents but upon hearing this one of the elves heard her story and quietly placed another bill in her hands. Isn't that sweet?

I can't wait to pick up the paper today and read what good deed this Secret Santa has done. I'm beginning to think I'm going to like Missouri, especially if there are more people like the Missouri Secret Santa and elves out here.

Labels: missouri santa, secret santa

My friend Angela over at Domestic Divapalooza sent me the following YouTube Holiday Greeting. I loved listening to the 12 Days and thought ya'll would enjoy it, it put a smile on my face. Thanks Ang!

Labels: 12 days, YouTube

Over at NetAudioAds they are wanting to make you money by having you sell audio ads on your site. All you need to do is post about it, link it to your page and every time a visitor comes by and hears it for 5 seconds you get money. It's that simple. I'll explain more later but I wanted you all in on the secret, I learned about it through DayJobNuker.

Hurry up and sign up before everyone else does. NetAudioAds Sign up Page

Labels: make money, netaudioads

It's close to Santa taking his reindeer and a sled full of toys around the world. Are your kids beginning to ask when Santa will be here? I know mine are asking nonstop, especially since we've been in and out of hotels. However, I've found a fun way to show the kids where Santa will be and has been on Christmas Eve. There's a thing called the Norad Tracker and it actually tracks Santa on Christmas Eve. Isn't that cool?

The Santa Tracker, aka Norad Tracker has been around since 1955. They have images, maps and even a 1800 number for you to call. Let your kids hear Santa.

Labels: norad tracker, santa tracker

We are pulling into our Storage area now and unloading the car. Next stop Walmart to buy more clothes since we don't have warm items. I'll keep ya'll posted since after that we'll need a hotel room, and a place to live. Wish us luck!

In case you've been following along with my journey, no, we were not in the 32 car pile up. We stopped just before it happened, had we kept going and we would've been in the mess. We've been driving through the aftermath for about an hour, it is frightening to look at these cars as we pass. Cars all over the side of the road for at least 40 miles. I do hope no one weas too badly injured. I read that one person was killed in the 32 car pile up on the I-70. The storm hit quickly though and I think it was unexpected.

If you had family in this horrible mess my thoughts are with you. I do hope everyone stays safe this holiday season.

Labels: accident, car pile up, I-70

Jakks sent me a bunch of Barney toys to review and I must say my favorite happens to be the Barney Sing With me Barney. Barney sings three songs with your little one. I like the fact that the kids (yes all of them) know the songs and sing with him. It seems to keep Little A entertained, keep in mind these were his first ever Barney toys or sighting and since they sent us these toys we also bought a few Barney movies.

The Barney Sing with Me comes with a little microphone that your young one can pretend to sing with. Yes, BalletGirl has already began using that and pretends to be Hannah Montana. BabyGirl likes to copy Barney as well and just loves the songs, especially "If Your Happy and You Know It."

As for me, I love it. Ya'll know we've been in the car left and right and we learned that if we keep the microphone with us we just push the button and Barney begins to sing. So, if you don't have one of those driver seats for your baby's carseat Barney will work perfectly and he makes them laugh. The other two songs Barney sings is "Boom Boom" and "The More We Get Together."

Whether you are going on a road trip or just getting a gift for your child the Barney Sing with Me is worth it. We love Barney!

Labels: Barney review, Barney Sing with Me

It seems there is a jolly old man passing out presents in the form of Ben Franklin. That's right, Larry Stewart lives again. While Larry actually passed away last year he did pass out a lot of money while he lived just because it was Christmas time. Larry did want one thing for the "Secret Santa" to be carried on and he asked one friend to do it.

Did he continue on the dream? Yes, recently many people have been surprised by a man going from state to state passing out $100 bills. So, if you happen to be eating at a fast food restaurant, in a bus station or at the mall and some man wants to give you $100 or even $200 he is for real. Take his money, it is his gift to you. Isn't that sweet?

That last sighting was in Kansas City, Missouri (which is where we are headed) where he befriended Susan Dahl who happened to have been homeless for the last few months and had just been on a long 10 hour bus ride. The one thing she wanted...to get back home to family. He gave her $100 and I'm guessing she is there by now. This is a man on a mission. Many thanks to him and to Larry Stewart for becoming Missouri's Original Secret Santa.

Labels: Larry Stewart, Missouri, secret santa

That's right, woo hoo! We are off, the military has signed all the right papers and we'll be leaving the base in approximately 10 minutes. Ten minutes we will be exiting the gates of Camp Lejeune and entering life as civilains.

You know I won't even tell ya what we went through yesterday to get to where we are now. Let's just say I got a phone call from who I thought was just a friend of the hubby. That friends asked how things were going. It was the wrong time and I told him exactly how I felt and thought about things. That friend ended up being a higher up, he didn't like hearing all of what I said. Next thing I know is he's making phone calls and my hubby comes out and tells me lots was going on.

Found out a few minutes after he entered the next building that "someone" had called around and said something. Hmmm, I wonder who that was. Thank you to my new "friend." This morning he checked in, got the papers signed and we are off.

Thanks to the military for keeping that roof over our heads. I'm sure in a week I'll cool down and talk a bit more on this but at the moment I'm just happy to be leaving the gate.

Okay we are off. I'll keep ya'll updated and I'll be online all day. Feel free to im me.

a_lady_poet@yahoo.com <--yahoo messenger
elizajane2004 <--AIM

18 more hours to get to our destination.

Labels: getting out, moving

I'm going to take my giveaways a bit different today, I heard that google hates anything with more than 10 links in it so I'm going to try to do 5 links instead but they'll be in categories (not for this one though).

Now I know the holidays are upon us and the last thing we need it to have to purchase one more thing. What do you think of gift certificates? Oh, these are my absolute favorite because I get to choose what I want.

Cootie Hog is giving one lucky winner a $10 Target Giftcard. At the CootieHog she talks all about her kids and t.v., this is definitely a blog I can visit all the time. You'll just love reading her threat to call Santa, I think we've all been there.

I LOVE shoes, however my feet are just too big, but I have found a place that talks about shoes and I don't have to be ashamed. Over at the ShoeBlog there is a $100 Coupon to Barefoot Tess. Doesn't that sound nice, you can go shopping for shoes and no one has to know your size except them and you. Woo hoo! I totally want this one.

Kailani over at Island Life is giving away a $25 GC to Mymommybracelets.com which has some very cute bracelets for mom as well as younger females.

Remember if you have a blog giveaway going on let me know and I'll add you.

homemom3@gmail.com

Labels: gc giveaways, gift card giveaways, gift certificate giveaway

This is more of a part 2 from the other day. Well, he went back to work and you can imagine what happened. Things just aren't going as planned. Now, not only have they messed up but they've messed up MORE. Instead of fixing the wrong date of us getting out they put it for a month before, yes last month. Ummm, we are still in, we still want this money for this month. FIX IT! Needless to say, hubby is even more stressed than he was.

You'd think for someone that wanted us out, we'd be given our orders all wrapped nicely with a bow. Not fighting with every building possible. But we are and hopefully we'll be out of here by friday. If not we will be living in the car for a day and waiting for them to pay us and let us out whenever that happens to be. Yes, I'm frustrated now.

Labels: getting out, military

MegaBrands sent me some of their Hottest toys to try out and let me tell ya these things have helped keep me sane behind these four walls. What did they send? Well a few things but I'll tell ya about two of them now.


MegaBloks Maxi System is a 24 piece mega blocks that are big enough for the little fingers. BabyGirl claimed this one immediately but lately her younger brother, Little A, is using them. Inside the bag comes a few cards that have illustrated pictures of things your little one can create. Some of the things she made was a small castle, a dog and a robot. Not only are the blocks fun but they come in a handy little reuseable zip up bag, which is perfect for traveling. This would make a great Christmas gift for ages 1 and 4.

Next up is my favorite as I'm a big fan of CARS. MegaBrands has created a CARS Mack & McQueen . My only true issue with this is it isn't Mater, yep I'm a huge Mater fan and really hope that they come out with one. Whether you are getting the Mack & McQueen lego set for a child or an adult it makes a great gift. Perfect for children as they are bigger than the normal lego and great for a collector of any age.

Mega Brands has a ton of new products coming out, take a look and see if there is something you want to get for Christmas. These make great gifts and stocking stuffers.

Labels: cars, lego, Maxi System, megabrands

Don't forget to enter Thor Schrock’s Secret Classroom Blog Contest this ends December 31st. Wouldn't it be nice to make some real money from your blog to begin 2008 off with? My fingers and toes are crossed that I get it, but I'm willing to let ya'll know about it. :)

(more giveaways coming today since I haven't posted them in a while)

Labels: blog contest, Thor Schrock

I'm going to rant a bit so if you don't want to read just skip this entry. I am so pissed right now that I could SCREAM! ERRRRR! It is one thing to be booted from the military...okay we aren't getting booted but we are getting out. I'm not doing details and no nothing bad he just didn't pick up the freakin rank. After so many years if ya don't do it you are kicked to the curb. That's all fine and dandy, we have a job and we are eventually moving there. However, other things are happening. Things just keep happening and I'm feeling like I'm going to lose it.

&*&(**&^#*&!))#

Yeah, I'm mad and decided to write down my words to express my feelings. Yes, we had a house over our heads. It was a hosue that constantly complained to them about because we were sharing it with the bugs. Bugs that had infested the building, so much that no one is going to be moving in with us. So much that they are looking at giving us back a month of rent (BAH) for it. So much that they told me I didn't have to clean the rest of it because they were too disgusted to stand inside and were ashamed that they hadn't realized how bad it was when all they'd do was give me bait traps. Yes, we lived in a rent free place so I am thankful. I know a good thing when I've got it, I had lived off base and saw that life.

I'm pissed and that's that, I'm just so mad right now. I just found out that instead of leaving on time they are now planning on keeping us an extra week. Where the heck are we going to come up with the funds for that CRAP? Are they going to give us the money? No, haha, they'll probably laugh us out the door. But they keep giving us the freakin run around. This is ridiculous....if you don't want someone in the military don't keep them hovering around like a freakin dogs begging for scraps. The thing is we have to wait around for our money. Oh, I'm upset. My kids won't be getting a christmas this year as we won't have a home. Yes, we could have a christmas if we are in a hotel but we can't bring everything with. We had planned on getting to our area by christmas this way we could toss items inside our storage and have a small christmas for the kids. Not now. Ughhh, talk about stress.

Currently hubby is fuming, me I'm writing my fumes and we are not sure what the heck we are going to do. He's hoping things get fixed tomorrow but he thought they would yesterday too so not sure. I mean what do you need to do to get out of the military. They didn't want us, so why are they doing this? Geez, I loved the military (honestly I always will but pissed right now) and am in confusion right now. Here's a question....the military is begging for people, but the ones that want to stay in are getting pushed out. So what's the deal? Those getting out are being made to stick around but they don't want to house us?

I'm not even sure if I'll post this as I try not to post things like this but it is part of my life and I need to scream it.

Holiday shopping can be a lot of fun, especially with kids. Right? Oh you know you love to pull your hair out, chase after the little rugrats and find the littlest hiding under the clothes rack. Oh but the best of it yet is actually having them along as you pick out their Christmas gifts.

Okay, we all know this isn't the case but who are you going to get to watch your kids? Sure, one is one thing but what happens when you've got two, three or four? You could always divide them amongst several different houses or pay for a relative to fly out and babysit your kids for a couple of hours....or find a sitter in your area. Maybe one that doesn't really know your kids.

Over at Care.com they take all the hard work of looking for a babysitter and place it all on one page. Currently in my zipcode we have 20 sitters in the area. Head to the website at Care.com and type in your zipcode and how many miles you are willing to look. Quickly the site compiles a list of names and addresses of people. You can look up babysitters, care givers, pet sitters, etc....even tutors.

Click on one of the little bios and read up about them. I've found one that is a stay at home mom of two and much more. Things you'll find in each person:

Profile of the person - Their picture and a brief bio.
Profile details - age, how many years experience, how many willing to watch
Additional info - this might be if they are religious, smoke or nonsmoker, etc
Experience in what - this goes with what age children they are good with and for how long. maybe a list of places they've worked.When they are willing to work and what they'll do.

It's a great source to find a sitter, whether you need one long term or just for a few hours to go shopping. Check it out and let me know what you think. Keep in mind some zipcodes aren't on here, but that's only because they are new and need word of mouth.

Labels: care.com

The Barney Dance & Play Guitar was the one thing that drove the UPS Man nuts as you recall. While I love Barney I can actually understand how it could do that. But lets look at the guitar, this is a great way to introduce music to your child and with your favorite Barney Songs. Unlike the Barney Sing with Me, the Dance & Play Guitar actually plays 5 songs.

The one thing I don't like about the Barney Dance & Play Guitar is that there is NO turn off button. Trust me, in a car where you are driving across country and every time you hit a bump you hear "" it starts to get on your nerves, especially if the baby has finally fallen asleep. Now with that being stated, this is also a toy that each of the children seem to love. All Little A has to do is move it or pull down the button and he gets to hear Barney sing and a smile flashes across it face.

Labels: Barney, Barney dance play guitar, Barney Sing with Me

I LOVE the Christmas season, full of sugars and white stuff that falls from the sky, unless you are like me and have grown up in the desert and was transported to North Carolina where our area hasn't seen it since we've moved here. Hmmm, maybe it is just me that makes the white stuff go away. Guess that means NC will have a white Christmas afterall. But above all I think I love everything you can do with Candy Canes.

So I decided to google it, yep I went and looked up candy canes online. Go ahead and try it, look up candy canes online. You'll find this page. I had no clue that google did the sidebars of search pages. Did you?



As far as things go I like to do the little mouse craft for kids using the candy cane as the body. Dip a candy cane inside a hot chocolate

Labels: candy canes

I am coming to my dear readers with a question because I'm sure many of you already have at least one of the above. Which do you prefer and why? The iPod or the MP3 Player?

My husband asked me what I want for Christmas and I couldn't think of anything except one of these, now of course he'd like to know which one I'd like more. It was just this past year I learned what an iPod was and it was all because my son wanted an iPod dog for Christmas last year and my sister broke down and asked me why I'd say no to it. Funny to learn about technology through your kid but I'm not asking him which one I should get for Christmas, instead I'm asking you.

So spill the beans please, iPod vs MP3 Player? Which ones suck, which work great and then which between the two. Do you have regrets or all praise?

Labels: ipod, MP3 player

Yesterday we officially handed over the key to the house. What does that mean? Well for us it means it is just about over, military life that is. The housing office came to inspect the house but due to an infestation we didnt' even have to clean. Course they tell me the day before inspection. Eeeekkk! Let's just say I wasn't very happy this past week, another reason you didn't catch me blogging, instead I was stressing.

Stressing over: getting house prepared for inspection, trying to take the last few things with us and not forget them, get kids out of school, make sure one of us was back in time from errrands to pick up kids, baby duty of course, writing ....well that last part didn't go as planned. Very sorry to all my readers and of course the list goes on.

But the house is now done, keys handed over and no longer have to worry about that. Instead it feels strange, at the moment I have no forwarding address. I ask you....does this mean I am homeless? A week before we moved out we began staying in hotels, we are in a very nice one, which I'll review later this week. But I still could not get packages, letters or xmas cards. So my kids ask if we are homeless and I have no clue. Am I?

Hopefully we begin our journey to our new life at the end of next week. Cross your fingers and wish us luck, it's going to be a LONG 6 weeks.

Labels: homeless, moving, moving day

Remember me mentioning a guest was coming that we hadn't seen in a while? I'll give you a clue as it isn't actually a person. He's just celebrated his 20th Birthday, he makes kids laugh and sing and he's purple. I'm sure you know by now....yep it's Barney the Purple Dinosaur. Jakks sent him to me.

It was three days ago actually, our first night in the hotel. (yes, we are now in the hotels) We had just pulled up on our street but right in front of us was the FedEx guy, I had a gut feeling it was our surprise visitor. As the truck pulled up to the house I was afraid he'd think no one lived there anymore and leave. I quickly rolled down the window and yelled out we were there.

Turning around the guy smiled, "This is yours?" I looked, smiled back and replied "yes." I mean who else would it have been, ya know what I mean. I could hear the music playing from inside the box and told my husband it was indeed Barney. The FedEx man must've heard because he replied, "If I hear that thing one more time I swear I'll shake the box." lol. Apparently any turn he made the guitar went off and we live in a very windy town.

I LOVE the Barney doll because even in the car if I'm sitting up front and the baby cries I just push the microphone and he plays. But I'll review all the toys later in the next two weeks. Here's a list of the items we received.

Barney Guitar- Barney Dance and Play Guitar
Barney Doll- Sing Along with Barney
Barney phone- Barney Musical Cell Phone
Barney Airplane- Barney Push and Go Vehicles
Spongebob 3 Game Controller- There are lots of different games besides Spongebob.

Since I have ya hear don't forget to sign up for the Barney Sweepstakes.

Labels: Barney, Jakks Pacific

My husband has been coming home a lot this past week and asking that one question, "What do you want for Christmas?" Myself, me, huh? I hadn't thought of myself this year, so I'll have to get back on that. But what about him? What do I get him for Christmas.

Ladies, I went online and looked at several blogs to see what "MEN" talk about and it seems men want basically the same thing.

Plasma TV- Yes it is out with the old boxes and in with the light, flat screen tvs. Men, like big, bigger is better especially while watching the big game or their favorite Star Wars episode.

- Panasomic
- Samsung
- Pioneer

GPS Navigation System- Remember, they like hunting on their own, we women only frustrate them. I do agree with Phil though, he makes perfect sense. What did ya'll think? You didn't read it? Well go now and read Phil Lerman's post on Why a Man will Listen to his GPS Navigation System over a female giving him directions. It's really good and will help you understand men better. Plus the next time he gets lost you can blame it on the "other" female telling him what to do. It works out for both of ya.

- USG all in one
- BOYO
- Lincoln Navigator

Home Theater System- Ya know when the SuperBowl is on in 2008 there is going to be a party at your house, let him be the guy everyone wishes to be. Plus, this is a bonus for you as you can listen to all your shows better or even play a bit of dance music.

- JVC
- Samsung
- Pioneer

Power Drills- Every man needs a good set of his own power drills. No ladies, this isn't something he can just borrow from the neighbor. He doesn't want to ask to use someone else's power tools, he wants them to ask him. Would you ask another lady to use her curling iron, dishwasher, oven, etc? Exactly. Get him his drills and make him feel like the man on the block.

- Black & Decker
- DeWalt
- Bosch

Video Games- I don't care what he says, your man wants the XBox 360, Nintendo Wii or the Playstation 3. If he tells ya he doesn't he's lieing to you, I'm sure if you purchased him one of these beauties you could catch him late one night playing. Course if you do make sure they come with plenty of games. Besides the machines listed above here are some HOT items to get your man.

- Super Mario Galaxy
- Brain Age II
- Wii Nunchuck Controller with games such as baseball, tennis, etc.

Well that's the top 5 items I have seen every man blogging about. That or to have a few extra dollars on their account to buy some domain names. But I'm sure this list will help you figure out something. If you don't see it listed here and your male friend has been hinting towards it why don't you drop a comment here so other ladies can get an idea of what to get their man for Christmas. It isn't always easy getting gifts for him.

Labels: gifts for him, home theater system, plasma tv, playstation 3, top 5, video games, wii, xbox

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have Phil Lerman for you. Phil is the bestselling author of "Dadditude: How a Real Man Became a Real Dad," and we'll be doing an entire week with him. (Yes, I'll still have giveaways, but you might have to scroll below the first post on my blog) Today he'll be talking all about GPS and men. Ever wonder why men like those GPS navigation machines but hate listening to us women? Phil will explain it and it all makes sense, I guess I can no longer get mad at my hubby for getting us lost now. I understand. :) Thanks Phil.

Don't forget to check out Phil's book, "Dadditude," where he'll explain Dadspeak and the Mother's tongue. I can't wait to get my hands on it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi there everybody. I’m Phil Lerman, author of the recently published “Dadditude.” I was very excited when Homemom invited me to do a guest blog today. Heck, when you’re a stay-at-home dad, you’re happy for ANY excuse to relate to other grownups. When I go out for business meetings now, I find myself sitting at lunch with clients and saying, “My, what a pretty tie! Did your mommy buy that tie for you?”

I noticed that Homemom was wondering why guys hate to ask directions, and can’t stand when their wives start to try to navigate – but we love our GPS tracking systems in our cars. After extensive research (I asked my wife and my friend Scott, who are a woman and a man, respectively), I have your answer.

My wife, the sociobiologist, says that all our behaviors can be traced genetically back to our caveperson days. My friend Scott, the real estate guy, needs to find lots of addresses in neighborhoods he never goes to. Me, I just get lost a lot. So here’s how it all fits together.

Men navigate by numbers and directions. We like to focus directly on our prey, and hit it without distraction. This comes from the days when we were hunters: When you’re chasing the mastodon, you can’t be looking around at the trees.

Women navigate by landmarks. They look around a lot as they navigate. This comes from your days as gatherers, when you had to notice all the berries on all the different trees. If you got too focused, you missed the berries.

Men say: Go three blocks. Then turn left. Women say: Go down to the Starbucks. Then turn left. Men say: There’s a Starbucks there? I never noticed. Women say: That’s because you are an idiot. (Women say that to me a lot, actually).

This is why women are better shoppers than men: You love malls because you can gather there. Lots to look at. Men hate them because they are too distracting. My favorite mall would be called the Black Shoes In Size Eleven Triple-E Mall. I’d go, I’d get my shoes, I’d come home and watch football.

And this is also why men and women can’t give each other directions.

You could take all the street signs down in your city, and women wouldn’t notice. They’d get home via landmarks. Men, on the other hand, would wander aimlessly for days, asking each other, “Is this, by any chance, Seventh Street?”

Which is why we love our GPS. It speaks in a woman’s voice (we always set it to the woman’s voice), but it gives directions like a man. Go two-point-three miles. Then turn LEFT. The map is, delightfully, devoid of all landmarks.

And unlike my wife, my GPS does not need to turn the map upside down when we are headed south.

I’m not saying our directions are any better than yours, mind you – just different. I actually heard my wife give her friend directions to our house the other day, like this: “Keep driving until you see that store that used to always have the red dress in the window. Turn left there.” What’s more amazing, the friend arrived for lunch, on time.

I think that once you accept that we speak different languages in all sorts of ways – giving directions, for example, or say, raising the children – then you can start to translate for each other. And maybe learn each other’s languages a bit. That’s what I try to do in Dadditude: It’s a humorous look at parenting, but I also like to think of it as a translation device for parents. A way to learn to speak both distinct languages, the Mother Tongue and Daddy-speak.

If you can master that, you can even, probably, give each other directions without going crazy.

You can read more about Dadditude, or order the book, at Phil Lerman’s website, dadditude.com – or you can just go there and listen to the cool music.

Labels: Dadditude, gps, gps systems, guest blogger, Phil Lerman

Did you know Barney has been around for 20 Years? I'm talking about Barney, the purple dinosaur. You know the one that sings, "I Love You." I remember when it first came out, my cousin would watch it nonstop and it would torment us teens. Yes, I was even one of those that sung the "other" Barney song...ya know no more purple dinosaur.

However, things changed when I had my first son (10 years ago, wow) and I saw the magic that the Purple Dinosaur, known as Barney had on children. Not only did he stop my child from crying but he entertained him and taught him things. I loved him. We had went out that first Christmas and bought everything Barney. He had stuffed Barney dolls, the tiny ones, one big ones and of course several toys. Any time a new Barney VHS came out we bought it, same with the CDs. Yes, it was VHS back then and not DVDs.

As the years passed one child would out grow Barney, but still watch the movies when they were popped in. We haven't bought many new items lately and the tapes were all destroyed from wear and tear so our youngest hasn't had the chance to meet Barney yet. But hopefully he will soon. Who knows maybe I'll find a Barney to stick under the Christmas tree.

For those that don't know there is a new "20th Anniversary Barney doll" and movie. I do plan on looking more into this.

Labels: Barney, Barney 20th Anniversary, Barney Purple Dinsaur, Jakks

Next week Homemom3 will have a Guest Blogger. Yes, I know I've never done that but I thought it sounded like fun and something the Professional Bloggers would do. Hey, I don't consider myself a professional until I can make $500 a month at least. Before getting sidetracked let me introduce you to our guest.



Our guest is.....Phil Lerman, author of "Dadditude: How a Real Man Became A Real Dad." I thought Phil would be a great mix for this blog as many of my readers are moms that are trying to understand dads. Right?

Well Phil's book is sure to help us out and this week he'll even have a post on GPS and men. Remember earlier this week I mentioned I had no clue why men were so willing to purchase a GPS for cars and listen to it instead of their wife/girlfriend. Well, Phil has an answer and it had me and my husband cracking up.

So gang, please welcome Phil to our little circle.

Labels: Dadditude, guest blogger, Phil Lerman

I know it is Friday but I thought I'd list this giveaway anyways. Hey, with $1000 cash as the 1st place prize wouldn't you? I am entering Thor Schrock’s Secret Classroom Blog Contest.

Want to know more? 1st prize is $1000 paypal cash, 2nd is Joel Comm’s Secret Classroom DVD Set, 3rd A 22″ Wide screen Acer LCD Computer Display. I'm really hoping for one or two. Really want #2 but would buy #2 if I got #1 and buy some things for the new house. :)

While reading his blog you'll come across a way to make 200 myspace friends and not just by going and befriended every Tom, Dick and Harry out there. Drive traffic to your site, make money online with products and without. Thor is wanting to help you, he feels really lucky he was able to get in on the "Next Internet Millionare" that now he is giving back. So remember to read his posts and sign up for the contest. Who wouldnt' want to win these prizes.

Labels: giveaway, secret classroom, Thor Schrock

Ohio's gas station ghost

Possible Scam Alert

Black Friday Ads Thanksgiving Specials

Word World Giveaway

Baby Grace Revealed

Funny Body Parts

Some of these were thankful to Google Trends while others were just a hit. Which ones did you enjoy the most? What were your most popular posts for November?

Labels: ads, most popular posts

Have ya won any of the December Giveaways I listed earlier this week? Let me know and I'll place a link from my blog to yours. If you have a product that you'd like to get noticed let me know and I'll email with ya and work out the details. What did I miss your blog giveaway, drop me an email at homemom3@gmail.com and let me know. I'll gladly update this post.

GIVEAWAYS:

Celebrity-Babies is having a Baby Kaed Diaper bag giveaway. Hurry on over and sign up for the other giveaways, this is day four so there are a few you may have missed.

Hostess with the Mostess Blog is having an Ultimate Giveaway and this post will help you win some great stationary.

It's December and you know you want some delicious things to eat so Serious Eats is giving away a seriously delicious giveaway for you. But you must tell them what your favorite New York Brunch is.

Matthew over at Blog About Your Blog is having a Christmas Giveaway sponsored by NeverBlueAds. The prize? 1-3rd will get $100 cash from NeverBlueAds, Fourth Place Website Review on this blog by Adsense Tracker, Fifth Place 25$ from Blogging4Everyone, Sixth Place Website Review from Nspeaks, Seventh Place Website Review from SelectIndex, Eighth Place Featured Blog Spot on A Links Blog. Hurry up and get in the mix. Hope this works Matthew, I know I want to win these are some nice prizes. :)

Sophisitshe is having a giveaway sponsored by Kangaroodle where you can win gift certificates.

The Opinionated Parent is giving away a Downtime Sleep Hat.

A Readable Feast is having a holiday giveaway.

Char is giving away an American Girl outfit, this would be the perfect stocking stuffer for a girl that already has the doll. Check out Doll Diaries and look around at the other dolls at the site.

B5Media is having a Christmas Giveaway where you can win PAYPAL cash. Hurry over and read the rules.

Don't forget to stop by and sign up for the Barney Sweepstakes! Did your kids ever watch him?

UPDATE: Sabrina over at Breeni Books has a giveaway where you might win one of the following books, How Big is Your God, Down to Sunless Sea, Do Not Open

Labels: book giveaways, contests, december giveaways, gift certificates, toy giveaways

Ya'll know we are moving soon, so you shouldn't be surprised to hear that most of our furniture is either in storage or sitting on the curb. Our house had a few bug issues and we want to start new with most of the items. Lots of the furniture had to go, the living room furniture (couches), dining room furniture, some tvs but that was because someone got water on one. We will need some kids furniture but that's more to make the room then anything else.

Right now our street corner looks really funny. We've got desks, computers, filing cabinet, library shelves, etc all out there. Even if we wanted to bring some of this stuff it was forgotten when we were loading the uhual and must stay behind. One such item is the crib mattress but that shouldn't be hard to replace. Right?

I figure we'll be in hotels for at least two months, hopefully not that long but I know how long we were out here. We'll get by with what is already in storage and then we'll hit up all those after new year's sales or tax sales. Thankfully we are moving during that time right.

So, what's hot out there or comfortable? The couches we had were hand-me-downs so this will be new for us. Kids beds are already out there, BalletGirl has always loved her canopy and BabyGirl is still in her toddler bed....for now.

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Bush furniture has some great quality furniture at low prices. They've got everything you need and some things you may just wish you had like the Anna Vanity and Bench set or the desks. I'm in love with the Birmingham corner desk. Isn't it a beauty? Bush has everything a writer, or blogger would like in their home office. If you see something you like they've got a special christmas deal for you, free shipping.

Labels: furniture

Mother Talk recently sent me the newest book from Andrea J. Buchanan, "The Daring Book for Girls." This book is great, it'll bring you back in time when things were so much simpler and safe. The moment I got this book I quickly opened it up and was reliving moments of my childhood.

"BalletGirl, come here!" I yelled from the tv room, and of course she quickly ran in. I flipped open the book and began reading to her. She's more of a cheerleader and always going around doing those hand slapping games (looks like pat-a-cake) and I knew she would love them.

Remember those jump roping songs like "Cinderella" or even "School?" Not sure if you remember, well let me refresh your memory:

Cinderella
Cinderella, dressed in yella
Went upstairs to kiss a fella.....

School
School, school, the golden rule, spell your name
and go to school.....

That's not the only thing that Daring Book For Girls has, there's a how to section where you can learn to make a friendship bracelet, cartwheels and knots. There's a history section that I know will come in handy. My favorite section is the greek and lation roots, I always loved this in high school and now my son seems to enjoy this and the greek mythology. Yes, even though it is a Daring Book for Girls it has things that a boy will read too.

It's a fun way to spend an afternoon with your children by reading from a book and telling them which ones you use to do. Trust me, it'll be like the years never passed and they'll probably want to try a few after you are done reading. Now, if you don't want the Daring Book for Girls for your son, you can always purchase the Dangerous Book for Boys. Thank you for this opportunity to review a book that'll be used frequently in my home.

Book recommendation: Girls ages 8 to 12.

Here's a little clip of them on the Today Show

Labels: book review, book tour, Daring Book for Girls, MotherTalk

Since we are on the topic of toy shopping I thought I'd post a few coupon codes and information that has hit my inbox. I do hope someone can use them, I will be on the road during this time otherwise I'd take total advantage of these.

ToysRUs- Free shipping on $50 or more orders. 60% off on deals every Monday, online only orders. SHIPSFREE - Free shipping

LeapFrog - 25%off site wide, so hurry on over. Plus, free shipping on order of $50 or more. $5 shipping on orders under $50, hey it beats going out and shopping at the stores. For more Leapfrog Toy Coupons visit this site.

AllAboardToys.org has 50% off their CARS merchandise (Katie, this one's for you). Thomas the Tank is at 50%off, Legos and more.

Labels: christmas deals, sales, toy coupons, toys

(He's a safe one)

If you are one of those parents that have become scared to shop for Christmas toys for your children then there is a site for you. Just this morning on the news I saw a site called www.healthytoys.org which lists all the toys around the world and the ratings of each one. So before you head out shopping for toys, run your toy list through Healthy Toys and find out if they make the cut. Get your son or daughter some safe toys this holiday season, at least you know they haven't been recalled.

Visit Healthytoys.org and find out if you have any toys with chemicals, lead paint or anything on them.

Labels: christmas toys, healthy toys, healthytoys.org, safe toys

This is the last month of 2007, boy has it flown by. Have you began that Christmas shopping yet? Yes, I know a lot of you wait until December to do it, I do too. Well, here are a few December Giveaways for you, who knows maybe you'll win some and have some great stocking stuffers for someone.

Giveaways:

Fantasy Book Critic is giving away Dragon Harper.

Star Seeker is giving away a copy of Nirvana Unplugged

Daemon's TV is having a Christmas Prize Pack giveaway. Win a Holidays in Handcuffs poster, tote and a 25 Days of Christmas poster.

Celebrity Baby Blog is giving away Baby Emi Jewelry

Classy Mommy is giving away Barney DVD set, my kids always loved Barney. I'd love to win this for Little A.

Challies is having a Christian book giveaway.

The Mommy Spot is giving away a Ineeka organic green tea

Ars Geek is giving away another of their famous laser lights.

Don't forget to stop by Spoiled Pretty for their Spafinder gift certificate

Labels: book giveaways, december giveaways, dvd giveaways

First, I wanted to take the time to thank David from Ramble On for his help in indexing my blog. I had it indexed but to show the name of my site only, David helped me get it to show the title of the blog entry. I've now got more pages indexed then I had before.

If you are looking for help on your blog you may want to try heading over to the "Bloggers Message Board." This is a new forum or message board just for bloggers. Sujects include all things blogs, blog ads, bloggers wanted, blogs for sale, make money blogging, wordpress, tech stuff to your general chit chat. Oh and don't forget the weekly prompts from Christine over at ChristineSenter.com these are a lot of fun. The bloggers message board has become like a family to me and I check daily for any updates. I hope ya'll enjoy it as much as I have.

A few examples of what you'll see at Bloggers Message Board:
- how to install google analytics on a wordpress blog
- micro niche finder vs Niche Inspector
- celebrity blogging
- creating a niche
- writing prompts

Labels: bloggers message board

Why is it that a man will not ask for directions, or even take directions from a female, however he will buy a GPS for cars that tells him where to go and in a female voice? What's the difference between a GPS and a female?

For those that don't know a GPS is a device that tells you where you are and how to get somewhere step by step. It does come in handy if you are in a city you've never been in and suddenly have no clue how to get to a certain place. GPS for cars now comes in iphone form, cell phones, for cars as well as software. The GPS for cars is already on my husband's christmas list and I did ask him the same question. His response, "a car won't say, I think, or tell you you went the wrong way." But I still want to know....why will a man listen to a computer instead of a woman? Is my husband right?

Labels: gps, GPS devices, GPS for cars

I got a Kajeet phone, the Sanyo Kantana, to try out for my son, however instead of letting him use it I did. I know shame on me but I needed to have a phone while the hubby drove across country. I wondered if it would work for us or not and let me tell ya The Kajeet did and it helped my husband get back home from California.

First, a bit about the phone, my Kajeet phone is slim and blue and looks chic. I love it! It slides easily into my pants pocket or into my purse. I haven't used every feature, but I have used a ton of them.

Worried it'll cost too much? Don't be, here is a breakdown of the kajeet plan.

.05 per text
.10 per minutes
.25 per pic sent via phone
.35 per day

You can email, text, talk by phone, download ringtone or wallpaper, play games, take pictures with the awesome digital camera inside the phone. There are no contracts, if you want to continue use you have to add more minutes with a credit card. No long terms, or termination fees and your monthly fee is only .35 a day.

As you can see this is a price that is cheap. So, if you are looking for a way to show your child a bit of responsiblity get them the Kajeet. You know they'll love ya for it. What child wouldn't want their own cell phone. They'll look at it as a cell phone, you'll look at it as a moneysaver. Why a money saver? Just look at the cost. Once the minutes are gone they can easily be filled back up through the parents wallet using a credit card.

What's a wallet? With the Kajeet, when you sign up you get the child's account and the parent gets an account. Each has their own password, but a parent can go in and check how many minutes their child has used, who they've called and how fast they are using them. Honestly I've found it hard to use it up quickly, the hubby and I used this phone for the past week and a half and I'm down to $25 but we used this every single day. We checked in with each other via phone calls, I looked up places for him via google on my computer and quickly told him directions and we texted.

Before I end this I wanted to say that I do plan on keeping this phone and giving it to my son, SoccerBoy, once we get to our new phone/school. I never want to worry about him like I did hear. With the constant fights, I always worried until he got home. This way he'll be able to quickly call me up or text me to tell me he's on his way, or if he'll be late. Plus, he's going to hit those teen years here shortly and I'm sure he'll want to text with friends or call them. He's already excited that texts are cheaper.

My phone costs $99 but it comes with minutes of talk time. There are 6 different phones you can choose from. Nokia 6165i cameraphone, Samsung m300, LG LX150 flip phone, LG225 camera phone, the Sanyo Kantana II (pink)and of course my Sanyo Katana. Will your child be getting one inside their stocking this year? You can purchase these phones through the links here or at Target and Best Buy. Stay connected this holiday season.

Labels: kajeet cell phone, kajeet phone, kajeet.com, Sanyo Kantana

Come on, we all need a bit of a laugh every now and then. YouTube has been buzzing about this wedding video. No, it's not just the usual first dance, click and watch. What crazy thing did you do at your wedding? When I tossed the bouquet a man caught it, when I had to throw it again it broke in two. Yep, pretty awful. Our best man said, "...and may you have many, many kids." Today we have four, thanks Chuck. :) I love them all dearly though. When it came time to cut the cake, of course we both slammed it into each other's face...too bad he was wearing his blues and it was a chocolate cake and my wedding dress was pure white. The best part was a joke someone pulled us, as we were leaving we saw a ticket on the car. Thankfully it was a prank and not the real thing, but you should've seen his face.

Labels: wedding, wedding video, YouTube

I just saw on the news that FedEx will be raising their rates up 5% at the beginning of the new year. So, get those packages out and use them while you can. I get many packages in the mail here, many of which are from FedEx, I'm guessing that next year it'll be DHL or USPS. Who do you use?

Labels: FedEs, mail, packages

The kids and I were talking about the toys that are going to be HOT this year so I've compiled a list they gave me and one of my own. Hope this helps ya out. Feel free to enter my store and have a look around.

Kids' List:
Hannah Montana Doll that Sings
EyeClops
Nerf Dart Tag Deluxe 2player system
Guitar HeroIII
Bio Bytes Tank and Refills
Littlest Pet Shop Whirlaround Playground Bonus Pack
Fur Real Butterscotch Pony
My Little Pony So Soft Play N Carry Skywishes
Cabbage Patch Kids
Playskool Busy Ball Popper

My List: (I compared stores)
Spiderman
transformers
Cars
EyeClops
Air Hogs
Hannah Montana (she's hot this year and will be for some time)
FurReal Friends
Littlest PetShop
Playskool (they're a brand we all know and love)
Elmo (will he ever be out of style?)

Labels: top toys 2007, toy guide, toy list, toys, wish list

Remember the death defying man that would do just about anything? Evel Knievel died yesterday at the age of 69. He didn't die doing any of his stunts, instead liver failure got him.

Evel Knievel was known for his famous stunts, he'd jump over 13 buses on his motorcycle or through a hoop of fire. I remember the time he was doing the skycycle which had rocket-powered jet packs to help him cross the river in Idaho. Yes, some stunts he did didn't go as planned but he always put America at the edge of their seats.

Kneivel leaves behind four children, one of which is following in his father's footsteps. Evel Kneivel will forever be known as "America's Legendary Daredevil" which I think is the perfect way to remember him. Will you be something daring today?

Labels: daredevil, Evel Knievel, stunts