We don't have a pet for a variety of reasons, number one being because we just never got around to getting one. Actually that's not really true we did get a puppy if you recall the last time my hubby went to war, it was the day he left. Only problem was my girls were TERRIFIED of the puppy, they wouldn't even come down the stairs if the dog was in the house. After the first night I knew they weren't ready, I had an agreement with the original owner that I could bring him back. Course I had all types of doggy ikk to clean up throughout the night, I found out two days later the dog had died of parvo. Could you have imagined what that would've done to the kids?

I grew up with a ton of animals, but after having to take my mother cat and her kittens to the pound and later our family dog that ended up with mange to be put down I never wanted another pet. When we got married I told the hubby I never wanted one, he agreed. Growing up he was forced to clean up after his mom's dog, a dog that wasn't allowed to be played with. When our son was 2 we talked about getting a dog, we said we'd wait until he turned 3 but got pregnant and didn't want a dog near the baby and said when she turned 3, etc.



My 4-year-old daughter, BabyGirl desperately wants a puppy. She wants one so bad that she has her own already, she's fake though. No I'm not meaning some stuffed animal, but she has her own make-believe or imaginary dog that she plays with. She tosses it balls, has named her Butterscotch and many other things. You can find her playing with her dog in her room or even outside. I know kids have imaginary friends, but pets? PLEASE tell me this is normal.

Labels: dog, dog gives birth to green puppy, fake, imaginary, make believe, make-believe, pretend

Russ has announced the release of their newest summer 2008 Shining Stars and he's ready for all those Fourth of July parades. What's his name? He's the American Eagle! This little guy even has a password that when you head to Shining Star website you'll be able to enter and register, inside you'll find all types of games. You'll get to choose a constellation for your little eagle to call home.

Isn't he the cutest? I am loving this new patriotic Shining Stars Eagle. As ya'll know we are a patriotic family and when I got the news that this Eagle was going to be released I just had to share him with everyone. As you can probably tell by the picture this little guy is adorable but extremely soft, which makes cuddling very easy to do.



Can you tell these two love the little guy? They are even hugging him together, I just couldn't pass on that picture. The only problem will be who gets the bird, maybe I'll have hubby sneak him off to work and sit him by his Marine Corps plaques. I think this is wear the bird really should go. Or should I just let them love on him a bit longer? Maybe I'll even sneak with it to put on my desk.

You can enter to win your own Shining Star American Eagle here. I just had to add it when I saw there was a contest for it. You know me and my contests.

Or if you don't want to way you can order your own at Shining Star American Eagle $14.99 from Amazon.

Labels: american eagle, patriotic eagle, RUSS, shining star, shining star american eagle

What's your favorite movie snack? Well we've been watching movies all summer and with a special thanks to Orville Redenbacher, we were able to try out some fabulous popcorn. The Orville Team & ConAgra Foods teamed up and sent my family a nice popcorn gift basket. Course we knew we'd watch "A Plumm Summer" as well as many other movies with the use of this bowl. But now they think it has to be full of snacks all the time.

Inside the giant popcorn bowl was two bags of popcorn and some coupons for more. The popcorn was their new Smart Pop and Movie Theater Butter. I LOVE extra butter on mine so the movie one was my favorite. Course I'll be going out and getting their kettle popcorn next time, I just love the sweet stuff. What's your favorite type of popcorn? Or what do you put on top?

Happy WW!

Labels: orville popcorn, popcorn, wordless wednesday

It's giveaway time, feel free to drop a comment to let everyone know about your giveaway, or email me at homemom3@gmail.com

A Bookworm's Diary is giving away Review & Giveaway : Bugaboo Shoes. The winner gets their choice of Josie, Sherry or Otto pair of shoes.

Marijke wants to give away two
Pregnancy System, 3 in 1 Video over at Wombwithin.com. Head over, this ends July 1.

Christine over at From Dates to Diapers is giving away Fun in the Sun Gift Pack from Aveeno. This would be really great for those planning on travel or staying home.

Jane over at FilmGecko has three different DVD giveaways for you: Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book 2 or the The Spiderwick Chronicles, which is what my kids want.



Momreviews.net is having a week long giveaway, so don't miss it.

Over at Seven Dogs and a Baby they are giving away the Army Wives Season One DVD. Man I want this one, I just LOVED this show.

5 Minutes for MOm is giving away 2 Hanes $50 GC, which is perfect for the new school year.

Labels: book giveaways, dvd giveaways, june giveaways, toy giveaways

We are in the stages of Potty Training so ENJOY! Well he knows something goes in the potty at least.

Labels: wordless wednesday

Over the weekend we decided to try out a restaurant out here a second time, while we loved it the first we weren't sure if it would be good again. Habaneros, which is a very busy Mexican food restaurant and has been loved for the past 12 years. Inside are painted walls with little funny scenes of like a pepper fishing but the fish have hooked his book. Worms are escaping from his can and heading back to the water. Inside the bathroom you can hear a plane fly over you and no there isn't one. My girls love to hear the plane so no matter what we always stop in the bathroom.

As for what we ordered, well I just had to have my Frozen Strawberry Margarita. I never drink these at home but treat myself when we go out to a sit down restaurant. For dinner I ordered the Habey's Platter which comes with a TON of food. I was just after the enchilados but since I knew one of the kids would be hungry I should get something bigger. They did and of course they loved it.

SoccerBoy ate a 1/2lb cheeseburger, BalletGirl ate plain cheeseburger and BabyGirl ate cheese quesadilla and some of my enchilado. Little A showed us that he really loves the beans, so much that he tried grabbing a handful instead of letting us feed him. Eeek!

Our server was great, she kept refilling drinks without us asking and brought them before they were empty. I know this is their job but it doesn't always happen. Plus she seemed very friendly. All in all it was a great meal and experience and we'll definitely be going back.

Labels: Habaneros, lees summit, restaurant

Okay, as we are all dealing with summer it normally comes with summer plus kids. Am I right? Now that summer hit you are trying to figure out how to get them to:

Activities for your kids:
- get their chores done
- read a book
- keep them busy

Am I right? Well my good friend, Char, has created a "Camp Weary Parent" to keep your kids busy all summer long. But she also updated her chore list from last year and it is up at Casual Keystrokes. What fun things do you do with your kids to keep them busy?

We play games:
- board games
- dot games
- card games
- video games

If the weather permits you may even catch us outside:
- going for a walk
- playing tag
- playing with water either by swimming pool or water guns/balloons

Remember just because you are grown up it doesn't mean you can't have fun with your kids this summer. Let yourself be a kid and show them how much fun you can really be.

Labels: summer activities, summer fun

Now if that didn't get your attention nothing will. I honestly thought about blogging about this on another of my blogs but figured it dealt with families so why not do it right here. I was shocked and disgusted today when I was reading my local newspaper. Why?

Second to last page is a small article about "Third-Grade Girl is Granted a Divorce." Yes, I know this is another country and culture but as a mom I worry for that little girl and others like her. This is disgusting. The little girl in question is only 10 years old, one year shy of my oldest son, so I can't help but picture my own children as I read this article. Nujood Ali has already lived a life that no child should ever have to live. She comes from an impoverished family in which decided to marry her off to a man 3 times her age. THREE TIMES! Heck, let alone just marrying her off at such a young age.

She did try to get her mother and father's help when the man (3 times older) beat her and had sex with her. RAPE, CHILD MOLESTATION, etc. (my opinion) Yes, I know this was arranged but the CHILD had no choice in the matter. Her parents refused to help her, it would be her aunt that would help. Her aunt that gave her money to get on a bus and get to the city to find a judge, the judge that would eventually grant her a divorce.

When this story originally broke many child brides came forward to get help, the people had an uproar and they tried making Yemen raise the limit to 18, but they refused. But maybe someday this will change because of a little girl named Nujood, who believed in what she wanted and she wanted to be a child. Today she is living back at her parents house and her dad has agreed never to marry any of the girls off, she states she just wants to get an education and become a lawyer.

The little girl was waist-high, so small that the lawyers, clerks and judges hurrying through the courthouse almost missed her.

As lunchtime arrived and the crowds of noisy men and women cleared away, a curious judge asked her what she was doing sitting alone on a bench.

"I came to get a divorce," 10-year-old Nujood Ali told the jurist.

Now lets learn a bit about her own family, her unemployed father had two child brides and 16 children now. I can see how he never thought it wrong to send his own daughter away, not when he married two probably the age she was. Her father states he did what was best and never took money for her. But does that make a difference, when she needed them the most they refused to help her. He was too afraid of his family's honor to help his daughter. Could you even imagine that?

Labels: child bride, yemen

Here's my Wordless Wednesday, the kids are just LOVING this little pool. Course Little A thinks the sun squeaks like his bathtub.

Labels: pool, summer, wordless wednesday

What would you do if the UPS man just dropped off 20 boxes at your front door? Okay, these boxes were not anything you ordered. You were asked to look at one item but got a ton of them instead. What would you be thinking?

I just had this happen believe it or not and I must have looked dumbfounded. Kids came in telling me the UPS truck had pulled up to the house backwards. Not normal for just dropping one thing off. I start walking out but SoccerBoy beats me outside and comes running in, "Mom you've got 20 packages."

I'm laughing, "Okay what's the joke?" As I exit the house and look down I see he's NOT joking. Umm, wait you can't leave these here. But he's gone. Now inside my house sits 20 boxes with 40 products inside. Oh this is NOT happening.

Now I like getting packages in the mail, but this is just too much.

Labels: UPS, UPS delivers, UPS man

Homemom3 seems to be working once again. Let me know if you can't view something please.

I am experiencing some technical difficulties that I'm going to try to iron out in the next few hours. Wish me luck, I'm no html wizard.

For those that DON'T know I bought a laptop late last year, it's an 'Avertec' brand and I just have to say it SUCKS! I normally don't write about a product that sucks but let me explain why and MAYBE someone can help me.

First, it seems that every time I turn it on it shuts itself off within an hour. This as many of you already know is an issue. How is one to get any work done when it is constantly shutting off? Why is it shutting off?

- Some have told me that it turns off because the bottom gets too hot.

- Another told me it was because I have too much electricity going through it, something about the recharger. This is the same recharger that came with the laptop though.

Here's the facts:
It's less than a year old
the recharger (square part) does get extremely HOT when it is plugged in.
the bottom of the laptop is hot
the keys have lost the letters on DFLKJNCF and shift.
this is the type you don't need a mouse (built in) but that part is fading too.
I do all my work from this thing so when it is off I lose money

Any help?

Labels: Avertec, Avertec shuts off, avertec sucks, laptop

Don't ask me how this one got started because I couldn't tell ya and I'm just blaming that pregnant Barbie I got her on her birthday four years ago.

I caught part of a discussion between the three oldest yesterday and this is how it went:

They were talking about how long each have known each other and BabyGirl got upset that she didn't know her sister longer than her oldest brother did. So they tried explaining to her why.

BalletGirl: You weren't around.
BabyGirl: Yes I was, I'm always around. (hide laugh)
SoccerBoy: No, you were dead. (what the heck?)
BabyGirl: No, I wasn't. I'm alive...see?

BalletGirl: No she was in daddy. (okay I'm completely lost here and not sure what the heck they are talking about now)
BabyGirl: No, I was in mommy.
SoccerBoy: Oh, that's right.

Here I am trying to figure out how they think she was inside daddy, EVER. Then it dawns on me, SoccerBoy knows about sperms and such. Eeek.

BalletGirl: No BabyGirl, you were in daddy and then you went in mommy. (huh? how does she know this)
BabyGirl: Umm, no, mommy gets pregnant not daddy. (as if you should know look)
SoccerBoy: No,she's right.

I'm ready to pounce but now I'm curious what BalletGirl knows and sit quietly.

BalletGirl: See daddy takes off his shirt (eek, all radars pointing to stop), Mommy takes off her shirt. (fire, fire, eeek, stop the talk, don't know how, wait must know what she knows) Then daddy and mommy get their belly buttons together and transform into each other. (HUHG??!?) Daddy transfers you into mommy's belly and then mom gets fat and pregnant and then gives birth.

I'm seriously not trying to laugh, but can't hold it in when BabyGirl starts singing the song "Transformers, robots in disguise."

Me: So, BalletGirl, Daddy and mommy transform into each other?
BalletGirl: Well, yeah, daddy gets fat and begins the baby and you take over when your tummy connects.
Me: Why do you think that?
BalletGirl: you and the baby have the umbilical cord, daddy doesn't. The baby has to get out of him to you, you are the only one with it. It's like pushing a button mom, daddy pushes your belly and you get the baby.

So there ya have it folks, it's daddy that's pregnant first.

The Barbie in question is the pregnant one that has the magnetic tummy that comes on and off. You push a button on her back and the tummy drops with baby inside. Geez, I thought that doll would teach her about mommy having a baby in her tummy.

Labels: baby talk, mommy transforms into dady, sex and the baby

Seems that BabyGirl may actually be allergic to spaghetti sauce. How did we figure this out? Well after dinner she normally turns in and for two nights she woke up to a sick tummy and ended up beside the toilet. I know you moms get that. But on Saturday I was feeling a bit quesy, so much that my body was burning up and I had the tummy flipping going on. We figured she either got this or can no longer have sauce. Last night we gave her soup instead, no pasta, no sauce. She hasn't got sick yet. My tummy seems better, wondering if it wasn't some sort of bug or if it was the fish sandwich I ate at McDonald's (very possible) Will keep ya updated on BabyGirl's process.

As for everyone else, we stayed home and played LOTS of Scrabble. At first it was Soccerboy, Daddy and myself. Later, BalletGirl would join us and finally it would be BabyGirl as she curled up inside my lap. I think she just wanted to snuggle and I love those snuggles.

As for Little A, he's learned to open the screen so we now keep the glass door locked since he needs strong hands to open that. UGH. This kid is really smart and persistent. He's the type that will watch you do something and immediately try it out once you are out of the room. He's still taking his diaper off and even pooped in the potty this weekend. His potty chair should be here this week, I ordered it through amazon last week. Here's a pic of it, if you have one please let me know what ya think:

Labels: allergic, allergies, Fisher-price fun to learn potty, potty chair, sickness, spaghetti