My Husband's Christmas Gift

	My Husband's Christmas Gift Posted by Jerold Austin I was looking for a great gift to give my husband for Christmas when I came across http://www.giveadish.com/. I hadn’t thought about getting him satellite TV for Christmas, but it was a genius idea. I will be getting him a gift that I will also benefit from. I would normally feel bad about doing something like this, but this year I feel like it’s fair. Last year he got me a vacuum cleaner and a flat screen TV for our bedroom. I was angry at first, but realized these were things we wanted for a while so I wouldn’t make a big deal about it. Of course, I would have preferred jewelry, but I couldn’t complain. I told myself that the next time I had to get him a gift I would get something that I would like too, to let him see how it feels. I know he really wants a camcorder, but I’ll get no use out of it. If I get satellite TV I’ll have access to all my movies and shows, but so will he. Maybe I’ll actually teach him a lesson that will make our Christmases better for years to come.

Be More Organized at home

HomeRoutines is a great iPad app to help you be more organized at home.

Using the iPad 2  is not only fun but increases your productivity at home.  One way to organize your day and manage your tasks is to use HomeRoutines.  Home Routines, a daily to-do list, is a favorite iPhone or iPad app among many stay-at-home moms.  HomeRoutines will help you manage the repetitive jobs that are part of all our lives, particularly the ones related to housework. HomeRoutines is the app to get control of those recurring tasks, and keep them from cluttering up your email, your calendar, or your big to-do list.
You can give yourself a daily goal, follow daily routines, plan your most important task of the day (I like to do this one first), look over what you have accomplished for the day, and manage cleaning tasks using focus zones.  If you have ever followed the FlyLady, Home Routines will certainly replace your paper fly journal.
A great feature for those forgetful moms(or those who lose track of time) is the reminder. You can set HomeRoutines to remind you to check your list, and there is even a handy timer built in.
After trying out HomeRoutines, I decided I  need an iPad2 just to organize my life.  I have a Droid Global, but those apps don’t seem to compare to iPad apps.

Creative Playtime with Play food

Creative Playtime with Play Food

Preschool is vitally important to a child's growth and development.  Children use their imagination, increase hand-eye coordination and learn more about the world around them from quality classroom supplies.
Classroom supplies are not just paper, books, crayons and glue sticks.  Art supplies, blocks, dramatic play, kitchen sets and food, activity tables and even playground sets are all part of the preschool environment.   Even preschools that cannot go outdoors in the winter, have an abundance of materials to keep little minds and hands busy.
 

Children love imaginary play, especially when they can pretend to be grown ups.  My son spent hours at the "kitchen" section of his preschool.  He loved to come up with new foods to serve his preschool classmates.  He pretended that the whole classroom was his restaurant and first he was the cook, then the server.  He even asked his friends for make-believe tips.


Visiting the local children's museum was a favorite weekend activity.  The kitchen section complete with cash register, oven, sink, refrigerator and cafe tables was always packed with creative kids. 


 Are your children using their imagination with creative classroom supplies?  Give them some play food and see what they come up with!

Meet Elly, Proud Mommy of 3 Boys

Meet Elly:

Eliane ( AkA EllyFilho ) She is Christian, A Mom to 3 Boys. A Wife to her Pastor and her Wonderful Husband Chris, A True Lover of Music, and Photography, on top of that, she is a full time employee to a Pest Control company… blogging from The South Shore MA. She loves doing stuff with her family and hanging out with her friends. 

Eilly loves to try out new products and blog about them. She blogs for her children to have a piece of their history saved. She likes to talk about parenthood, she shares her day to day life, health tips, Giveaways, Freebies, Coupons, recipes and product reviews and  photography.
Please visit her blog: Proud Mommy of 3 Boys

PM: Thank you so much for agreeing to do an interview today.  How long have you been blogging?

E: I started blogging in 2005 and I deleted my blog because it was in Portuguese only.. I started again in 2010.

PM: What time of day do you blog and why?

E: It depends what I have going on.. If I'm not too busy at work, I'll blog from there, usually around 1pm (that is my lunch time.) If work is too busy, I blog from home usually late at night around 10pm when I'm ready for bed.

PM: Do you have a posting schedule?

E: No. I try to post every other day, but it doesn't always work out that way.

PM: What's the biggest mistake you have made in blogging?

E: I'm not sure there are any one biggest mistake.  I'm sure there are a lot. I don't consider anything I have ever done a mistake but just a learning experience.  

PM: What is your favorite part of blogging?

E: I Love blogging it's a place where I come to express my feelings sometimes and sometimes just a fun way to get to know other people and for people to get to know me and the things I like .. And of course i love it when people read and comment.

PM: Do you belong to any other blog communities other than MBS? 
E; Yes I do. I belong to Blog Frog, Triberr, Lifetime Moms, Cafemom, One2One network,  Business 2 blogger, Sheblogs.org, and Role Mommy.com

Friday Freebie From My Memories

Creating memories is so enjoyable.  Keeping them organized so you can re-live those memories is the hard part.  My Memories gives you the freedom to create pages without the stress and hassle of dealing with stickers, photos and glue sticks.

Do you feel like you need more variety of pages and elements?  I am excited to offer new quick page with design elements free every week!

Use the link below to get your freebie for this week.

Freebie page 2: http://mymemories.us1.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=2db59f577e9668b002ca5c0af&id=88bc97b190&e=a4700b07b8



The special My Memories coupon code for all my readers is also available! If you use the coupon code  STMMMS73582 at My Memories upon checkout, you’ll receive a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store – a $20 value!

Do you wear your baby?

Do You Wear Your Baby?

Baby Slings and wraps are the most natural and comfortable way to carry your baby.  Baby wearing has been shown to make mommy and baby more happy.  I know my son loved to be carried around, close to my heart, for hours in a baby sling carrier.  He didn’t cry as much.  He felt so secure, wrapped up close to me.   And it made me feel like the best mom in the world.  

After speaking with several mom friends, I found we agreed on the fact that babies cannot be spoiled.  Babies thrive off of bodily contact. It keeps them calm, regulates body temperature and reduces fussiness. These  tiny human beings  have no way to communicate their basic needs except through crying. If they are crying, they need something.  They need mom or dad contact.  Slings have been used for hundreds of years and are a wonderful, natural way to provide many benefits to your child. 

Baby wearing is the right choice. It also creates a soothing experience not only listening to mom or dad’s heartbeat, but also mimicking the motion of being inside the womb for 9 months.  Just the simple walking motion is very soothing to a fussy baby.  The less crying and fussing your baby does, the happier everyone will be.

Be happy, wear your baby today!

Yoshi Thursday

My son needs to start his own Yoshi Fan Club.  He is desperately trying to find a Yoshi costume for Halloween, but they are either not available or over $75!  Crazy Yoshi fans!

So, I need your help.  Do you have any ideas on how to make a Yoshi costume?  Or, do you know where I can find one?

After all, how can you say no to this cute thing?

Too Much of a Good Thing Book Giveaway

Wigglebottom Book Giveaway from The We Do Listen Foundation

I recently received and reviewed my autographed copy of  Howard B Wigglebottom Learns too Much of a Good Thing is Bad, by Howard Binkow. 

Meet Howard B. Wigglebottom, a cute and mischievous bunny with lopsided look how much of a good thing is too much.   It's Howard's Birthday and he can eat and do as much as he wants.  After all, if one is good, two is better, isn't a whole bunch of  a good thing the best?  Howard learns over and over that this logic isn't necessarily  true.  (Read more here)


The We Do Listen Foundation is generously giving one of my readers an autographed book of your choice.
The We Do Listen Foundation site has many activities for children such as games, coloring, posters,songs, animated books, along with their hardcover books for sale.  

Howard B. Wigglebottom has nine different books that you can add to your own collection including:
Howard Learns To Listen, Listens To His Heart, Learns About Bullies,Too Much Of A Good Thing Is bad and more.  If you can't wait to win, visit their site to buy them all.

To enter to win:
1.  Visit  http://www.wedolisten.com and select which Howard B. Wigglebottom book you would like to win.
2.  Follow Pamela's Pen with Google Friend Connect

Please comment on my blog with the name of the book you would like to win and your email address so I can contact you when you win.

For extra chances to win:
3.  Like Howard B. Wigglebottom and Pamela Pen's on Facebook
4.  Post the link to this giveaway on Facebook
5.  Post the link to this giveaway on Google plus
6.  Post the link to this giveaway on Twitter

Remember to post back to my blog how many postings you have done.
The Giveaway starts now and the lucky winner will be drawn on November 1st.  The winner will have 48 hours to respond.
The We Do Listen Foundation  will send the lucky winner in the US or Canada an autographed copy of the book of your choice.

Good luck and Happy Reading!

Book Review: Can You Have Too Much of a Good Thing?

Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns too Much of a Good Thing is Bad

Written by Howard Binkow
Illustrated by Susan F. Cornelison

Meet Howard B. Wigglebottom, a cute and mischievous bunny with lopsided look how much of a good thing is too much.   It's Howard's Birthday and he can eat and do as much as he wants.  After all, if one is good, two is better, isn't a whole bunch of  a good thing the best?  Howard learns over and over that this logic isn't necessarily  true.

Things That Must Go!

Thanks to Brae at I am Not a Volcano, I am jumping on the Things That Must Go Monday link up.
Here are 5 things that bug me that really need to go:

1. My head cold, I can't breathe, smell, or taste anything.  How am I going to eat chocolate?
2. Spam email.  How do emails I send end up in there but not the "Search Singles Online,"
3. Cold Coffee: Why can't someone invent a cup that keeps your coffee hot while you are trying to blog?
4. Needy kid:  I just bought him a very expensive Wii game and he still wants more parts to go with it.  He thinks his parents are made of money.
5. Toys, books and DVDs: My son is 8, why do we still have Bob the Builder books, Elmo stuffed animals and crib mobiles hanging around the house.  We finally were able to get rid of his Littlest Pet Shop stuff, with his permission.  The other stuff, I bag or box up when he is at school and he never knows the difference.

 

Faith over Fear Monday: Guest post by Jen Miller

Faith Over Fear: HOW TO: Truth 1
a thought from Jen Miller

God will press, press, press within me a Biblical mantra that He wants me to 'get' - not just as a concept in my head, but as a reality in my day-to-day living. Recently, the mantra has been "faith over fear." He also presses, presses, presses me to continually pour like water into others whatever mantra He's pouring into me. We can see how sharing with others is part of getting "faith over fear."

I've been extraordinarily fearful recently, due to various circumstances punching me in the gut, unexpectedly.  Aren't most gut-wrenching circumstances in life unexpected?  Out of left field?  Knocking the breath out of us?  Knocking us down?  Rendering us to our knees, pleading with God?

Does the "other shoe dropping" ever end?  Not in this life!

Happy Birthday Mr. Webster (Dictionary)

Today is Dictionary Day

Dictionary Day is in honor of Noah Webster, considered the Father of the American Dictionary. Noah Webster was born on October 16, 1758.

The objective of this day is to emphasize the importance of dictionary skills, and seeks to improve vocabulary.

Webster began to write his dictionary at the age of 43. It took him 27 years to finish it! In addition to traditional English vocabulary, it contained uniquely American words.

How many times did your mom or dad tell you to "look it up in the dictionary" if we couldn't spell something.  That always confused me.  How could I look it up if I couldn't spell it.

I remember having a dictionary by my side when I was trying to read a book for my Literature course in college.  So frustrating to have to look up every other word.  Now we can use online Dictionaries such as:

• Dictionary.com I love the word of the day and quote of the day. They also have a thesaurus, translator, flash card for kids. Word Dynamo and a reference section.  They have a daily crossword and a crossword solver.  My big 'ol dictionary didn't have any of that stuff!  Dictionary.com has a free Android only app.
  

5 Reasons Why You Need to be Pampered

Why you need a pamper basket

Yes, it's true!  We all need to be pampered!  Pampering can mean anything from a foot rub, a bubble bath, a massage, alone time or receiving a gift basket of pampering goodies.
A pamper gift basket includes: a beautiful wooden basket, shower gel, body lotion, bubble bath, a natural fiber sponge, bath salts, potpourri, comfy bedroom slippers and more.

1. You deserve it! Snickers said it best, "You deserve a break today." 
2. It relaxes you!  Stress can be overwhelming emotionally and physically.  A relaxing body rub or foot massage helps melt the stress away.
3. You need time for yourself!  Sometimes, if you are lucky, the only alone time you get is in the bathroom.  And that's only if you have a lock on the door.  If you are a mom, you need time away from little bodies that so generously hang on your every word and movement. 
4. It refreshes you!  You can attack new ideas and projects with vigor and originality.  As a women, when we are refreshed, we feel more feminine and able to be a better wife and mother. 
5. It increases your self esteem!  You feel more confident when your body is well taken care of. Being more confident increases your creative energy potential.  Stuck for an idea, take a break and get pampered!

 Husbands, sisters, moms, friends, send your loved one a gift basket today so they can be pampered like you know they should!
There are many types of gift baskets, you can find the perfect one if you look.

Friday Freebies from My Memories

FRIDAY FREEBIE

Creating memories is so enjoyable.  Keeping them organized so you can re-live those memories is the hard part.  My Memories gives you the freedom to create pages without the stress and hassle of dealing with stickers, photos and glue sticks.
Do you feel like you need more variety of pages and elements?  I am excited to offer new quick page with design elements free every week!

Meet Artistic Angela!

Come along with me to the land of Bold, Elegant, Quirky, Fun button bouquets and jewelry!  Come visit Angela at Angela's Artistic Designs.  

PM: Welcome Angela!  I love your creative blog!  Can you tell me a little about it?
AD: As an alternative to traditional flowers, my daughter asked me to create a button bouquet for her wedding.  I did, she loved it and so did everyone else!  My business was born creating bouquets for every theme, color and style.  Button bouquets are perfect for centerpieces, brides, flower girls and decorative accents.  They are elegance that lasts forever! 

I've been creating since I was a child.  Glue and glitter are my favorite toys!  I'm very tactile so everything must feel good to the touch for me to enjoy working with it. 

My careers have been mostly creative including hair stylist, make-up artist, pre-school teacher, window decorator. 

My current goal is to support myself through my art - in all the forms it takes! 

Just ask the Kids: Crazy with Christopher

Welcome to Just ask the Kids!  Meet Christopher, age six: 

Thanks to Kenya at Here's the Thing for helping Christopher with the questions!

P: What a great picture! 
K: This was taken this past year. We were getting ready to dye eggs and he wanted to put on his one and only Halloween costume from age 4. We don't participate in Halloween but they were having a party at his pre-school that year so I didn't want him to be left out. Anyway as you can see, he has outgrown the sleeves.

P: Tell me 4 things about yourself, please
C: Ahhh, good grief.
Well, I can do a lot of swimming things that’s really familiar. I can swim very deep in the water without any help.  I can run super fast. I can build very large things with legos, that can spin, that are 3 inch tall.
I like to play with my toys and electronics.

P: Do you like school?
C: Yesssssssss (sigh)

P: What do you want to be when you grow up?
C: I’m thinking about being a fighter jetter or a pilot but I don’t really know. Uh, I wanna be anything.

Meet Rina from CuteCoconut and her CUTE family

Welcome to Pam's Pen!  Thanks so much for letting me interview you!  I am delighted to learn more about you, your family and CuteCoconut!  CuteCoconut, the mommagazine for every young mother in the motherhood world, is a unique and  fun place to visit.


PM: Can you tell me a little about yourself?  Love the family party pic, by the way!
RS:  My name is Rina Shelomita and I am a mom of two adorable toddler boys (three if you include my husband in the list). I quit my job as a hotelier one year ago to join my husband residing overseas. We are Indonesian who are now staying in United Arab Emirates. Dubai is the most well-known city (emirate) from this country but we are staying in Ras Al Khaimah, an hour from Dubai. I am a day dreamer, love new things, very easygoing, a musician by heart and a food-venturous. Currently I have been enjoying my role as a stay at home mom, but I never plan to quit my career forever. There will be a come back for me someday, but for now I am just embracing my SAHM shoes to the fullest. My hobbies include reading, watching movies, shopping and drawing/sketching. Many of times I am caught up watching video music on YouTube for hours. Coffee is one of my guilty pleasures and not like others, sleeping is not the thing I fond of. Unless I get really really tired!

PM: I love your Mommagazine, CuteCoconut. How did you come up with that idea?
RS:  I wanted to write a book and get it published, but I am having trouble with concentrations and not being able to keep my interest in one subject for too long. I always ended up getting bored in the middle of a story that I was writing and kept changing my story into a new one. So after filling up my laptop with unfinished stories, I decided that writing books is not for me. I think I am more suited to a magazine because it can have various subjects and it does not have to be all lengthy materials that can bore me. That was when the mommagazine came into my mind. I chose mommagazine because motherhood is a very wide field to explore and everyday there is always a new subject to learn, new information to share or anything at all to talk about. The name cutecoconut does not have any meaning at all. It was just a word that first popped up in my mind when I was buying my domain.

Twitter Tuesday!

Welcome to the Twitter Tuesday Blog Hop! I’m so glad you’ve stopped by and I hope you enjoy yourself! Here are the rules for this hop:

1. Link up your blog
2. Link up your Twitter Profile
3. Leave a comment letting them know you stopped by from the blog hop
4. You must "like" Mom Blog Society, and our co-host Pamela's Pen, The Gleeman's Baby and and Little Miss Nerd Girl.

Good look and watch those numbers change!

Follow Mom Blog Society On Twitter

5 Minute Review of 5 Minutes for Mom,

 Review of 5 Minutes for Mom

5 Minutes for Mom,  gives moms "5 Minutes  to read, relax and connect with other moms online.
We're here to inspire, encourage & empower you."  This mom blog combines product reviews, giveaways and blogger directories to build community.   They have 5 sister sites 5 Minutes for Parenting, Faith, Special Needs, Going Green and Books.  Love the idea of community with a personal mom blog touch.  It's a big site but it feels like a few moms getting together to take a few minutes for themselves.  They even have games you can play in 5 minutes. 

Fun Friday, more animal antics

Fun Friday returns!

Fridays are made for fun.  Everyone looks forward to the end of the week.  Time to relax, visit friends, share some laughs and food.  I hope you get  a laugh, chuckle, giggle or snort out of this one:

Tickle your funny bone with my Fun Friday post.  Yes, we can see Friday, it is here!

If you agree that Dogs Rule, visit my First Fun Friday post.

Happy Friday!

Hashtags are our friends!

Why use Twitter Hashtags?

Twitter hashtags are created by putting a “#” in front of a word or phrase, without spaces. The idea behind hashtags is to get people using the same one when talking about a specific topic: using #momblogsociety to form a discussion around Mom Blog Society, for instance. They were created organically by the Twitter community to better categorize tweets.

Some things to know:

Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category.
Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet.
Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics.

4 Reasons to use Hashtags

Get Connected on GFC Mom Blog Society Hop

Welcome to the Google Friend Connect Friday Blog Hop! I’m so glad you’ve stopped by and I hope you enjoy yourself! Here are the rules for this hop:

<a border="0" href="http://www.momblogsociety.com/" _mce_href="http://www.momblogsociety.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/mQQFhS8rcpgsVQkk-ehWl6F-E6Jjr9XNxKKl3KSqxNOMOKrAlS8AeiGWtXNwjJ1SQTKuNOucz87NTobF-Du5iyb5T-0zbWCp/gfchop.jpg" _mce_src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/mQQFhS8rcpgsVQkk-ehWl6F-E6Jjr9XNxKKl3KSqxNOMOKrAlS8AeiGWtXNwjJ1SQTKuNOucz87NTobF-Du5iyb5T-0zbWCp/gfchop.jpg"/></a>

1. Link up your blog
2. Make sure you have a Google Friend Connecton your blog.
3. Click the links posted by members below and then subscribe to their blog.
4. Leave a comment letting them know you stopped by from the blog hop
5. You must "like" Mom Blog Society, and our co-host Pamela's Pen, The Gleeman's Baby and Little Miss Nerd Girl

Good luck and watch those numbers change!

Trouble on Earth Day Book Review

Trouble on Earth Day, by Kathy Stemke

In our ever changing world, we are urged to "go green" every where and every way we can.  Trouble on Earth Day, written by Kathy Stemke and illustrated by Kurt Wilckin, teaches children what they can do to help the earth stay green.  Stemke's cute and fun book isn't just for kids, it is full of activities and crafts for teachers or home school parents to use with their students.  The book pulls the reader into one family's creative ways to Rethink, Reuse and Recycle. 


Meet Shelby Squirrel,  winner of the Earth Day Poster Competition.  Shelby is so excited to win  a 1st place ribbon in the contest, her enthusiasm bubbles over to her whole family.  


Dad Squirrel finds old clothes to make a quilt.  Mom Squirrel finds some nuts to make a wreath, even though Shelby thought they were useless.  Then Shelby makes friends with a sad bluebird and uses her rethinking and reusing skills to build him. a nest after his home was reduced to a stump.

Go Pink for Breast Cancer

Manhattan Sunrise

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Almost everyone knows someone who has been affected by a friend or loved one who has been diagnosed with breast cancer.  One of the best ways to show someone you care about them this month is to send them a beautiful bouquet of pink flowers. Sending flowers to show you care is one of the best ways to show your support when you can't be there. 

The color pink represents all things feminine and girlie. It reminds us of baby girls, cotton candy, innocence and to some, hope of new life.  
The pink ribbon represents breast cancer and hope for a cure in the future.  The pink ribbon reminds us all to be thankful for our health and mindful of those who have breast cancer.  Pink reminds us to hope for a cure, one mother, grandmother, sister, or friend at a time.

We can promote Breast Cancer Awareness, one bouquet of flowers at a time.  Won't you join me in sending pink flowers to a breast cancer survivor?  It could be your mom, sister, aunt, grandmother or best friend. 

Pink is one of my favorite colors, so it was hard to narrow it down to just 2 bouquets. My top two favorite bouquets that are available for international flower delivery are shown.  Remember, flowers can be delivered anywhere to show your love and support for that special person!

Awestruck

Don't forget to keep your beautiful flowers fresh as long as possible.  Using the additive packet that comes with the flowers should keep your pink beauties gorgeous for as long as possible. 

Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop!

Welcome to  Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop. I'm very happy to have you here. A special welcome to all my first visitors. If you are already a part of this hop, I'm thanking you so much for your help in building Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop and making it a success. Come and Get Connected and stay Connected. With this hop, you will increase your strength, followers, readers and connect to other bloggers in which ever way you like.

This blog hop is for family friendly websites only.

This week, I'm featuring Pamela of "Pamela's Pen" Congrats Pamela

Feel free to grab the button if you want.

Each week, I'll be featuring a new guest host. If you want to be featured, grab the button and send me a message and you might be my next pick. Grab our Button:                           Get Connected and Stay Connected!!!
<a border="0" href="http://life-reflexions.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r430/mattidw/Reflexions/gct_edited-1-1.png" /> </a>

Here are the rules:

1.) Follow Reflexions  the host on Google friends connect.

2.) Follow the guest host - Pamela

3.) Visit and read some great blogs and follow the ones you like.

*  It would be nice if you follow at least the two blogs that are linked up before you, that way, everybody will get followed. Thanks.

If you are a new follower please leave a comment so we can follow you back....

It's good to be you. Just Me.

Does your car have a name?

Name Your Car Day is today. Does your car have a name? Lots of people name their cars. People with big boats, name their boat, and we think nothing of it. So, why not name your car or truck!?
Every carhas character and personality. We spend a lot of time in our cars, and caring for them. So, its only fitting that each car gets its own name.


Selecting a name should be made with care and consideration. Give your car a name that properly reflects its character. What you name you car should be a proper reflection of its character and performance, and your desires for your car. In general, guys names are for guys' cars, and girl names are for the cars that you ladies drive. Aside from that, selection of a name is wide open. But, be careful....cars have feelings, too.

Here are some of our thoughts in selecting an appropriate name for your car:

• Don't select wimpy names. That might give your car a personality complex and it will perform accordingly.
• Do give a strong, aggressive name to sports cars and cars with powerful engines.
• Sleek, sexy feline-like cars savor names that begin with "lady".
• Old junkers are proud just to be around. You can call them just about anything. Try "Tramp", or "Old Yeller", "Old Blue".
• Pick names to reflect your personality.
• "Pickemup" trucks must have country names.
• Don't give common names (like Joe, Mike or Sue)  to luxury cars. They beam over names like Reginald, Archibald, and Crystal. 

Does your car have a name?  I name my pets, chickens, geckos and turtles, but never my car.  Do you think I should?  Here he or she is (well, mine is really much dirtier and has a NH license plate):

Just ask Lilly, Featured on Mom Blog Society

Every week on MBS, we interview the members children.  Brae from I am not a Volcano, graciously helped Lilly answer my questions and sent me some gorgeous pictures. 

Meet Lilly Craig, Brae's 6 year old sweetie. Thank you Lilly for answering some fun questions for Just ask the Kids! 


P: If you could be any animal, what would you be?  Why? 

L: A giraffe. Because I like giraffes. They're very pretty. I would also like to be an elephant because they can spray water out on someone.

P: If you could have any animal as a pet, what would you pick?
L: If I could have any animal, I would pick a giraffe.


P: What do you want to be for Halloween?
L: A scarecrow. My mom's making my costume.


P: Does your Mom or Dad make you do chores?
L: Yes. I have to clean my room and clean the living room. I have to put everything where it belongs. Mom doesn't like it when I just shove stuff in my closet or under my bed.  I have to put my dirty clothes in the laundry and sometimes I have to watch my baby brother, Teague.

To read the rest of the interview, please visit Mom Blog Society's page Just ask the Kids

Finding my weight loss wardrobe at thrift stores

Guest post written by Lisa Stevens I've always admired the vintage look when it comes to fashion, but I always had trouble finding things in my size when I would go shopping. Sizing has changed a whole lot over the years and that means that a lot of the vintage clothes are simply tiny as a result. Well now that I've been working out and lost a bit of weight, I thought that it would be a neat idea to get a lot of my new wardrobe from vintage and thrift shops. But because I generally couldn't wear many of the clothes at those places, I didn't know about many of them in my area. So I went online to find some good shops to check out. While I was doing that I came across some stuff about clear tv. After I read through it some I decided to change over my home TV service to it. It's a little weird trying to figure out which size you are at some of those stores but I think that I'm past that stage now. I found a couple of dresses that look very Betty Draper off of Mad Men, which is a great look.

Meet Ladonna, Mom Blog Society Mastermind

Today I have the honor and pleasure of interviewing, Ladonna, the mastermind of Mom Blog Society, a Knowledge Base for moms...by moms.

Ladonna, thank you for letting me interview you today.  I have really enjoyed being part of Mom Blog Society!  Mom Blog Society is the best place to network, learn and make new blogging friends all over the world. 

P: How long have you been blogging?
L: I started blogging in 2006, my first blog was called Pajama Careers. I had a personal crisis in my life and ended up taking the blog down. But my main goal has always been building a blogging community, hence Mom Blog Society.

P: Do you have more than one blog?
L: No  (When you visit MBS, you will see why she doesn't have another blog:) )


P: What is your favorite part about blogging?
L:  I love the community of bloggers. I love to mingle and learn things from the vast knowledge of bloggers.


P: What do you think the ultimate goal of any blogger should be?
L: I think everyone has a different goal. But, blog for yourself, from your heart and enjoy what you do.


P: What made you decide to start Mom Blog Society?
L: I’ve wanted to start a blogging community for as long as I can remember.  I love meeting bloggers, reading their posts and getting to know people from all over the world.  There are so many bloggers out there that don’t get the recognition they deserve.  Mom Blog Society is designed to give bloggers just that, recognition,. We feature as many of our members as we can. We hope this gets them the recognition they deserve.  (My blog has been featured on MBS many times.  My followers have increased, my traffic, and my Alexa ranking has gone down!  I definitely feel recognized, thanks to MBS)

Dogs love Halloween Mart too!

Halloween Mart doesn't forget your pet!

Every year I promise (or threaten)  to dress my Border Collie up for Halloween.  My wants our pup to wear a costume similar to his Kids Halloween Costume. One year I bought the funniest chicken costume, but apparently I didn't read the size chart.  The large was for a large small dog, not a 50 pound dog.  But, a friend of mine has a 20 pound dog that it fit perfectly.  Jack was the cutest chicken dog in town that year!

Peanuts, milk and playdates

Playdates with the Food Allergic Child

By Lisa Natcharian

Doesn’t it seem as if EVERYONE has food allergies these days?  Between the peanut-free table in the school lunchroom, the gluten-free snacks you need to bring for the team after soccer, and the kid down the street who can’t eat cheese, it’s getting harder and harder to feed other people’s children.  When once we could casually invite a friend to stay for dinner and know that if he didn’t like mac ‘n cheese, we could throw on a hot dog and everyone would be happy, now it’s almost too dangerous to try to be hospitable.

So what CAN you do when you are entertaining a food-allergic child in your home?  The first thing you want to determine is whether your little friend has anaphylactic allergies or food sensitivities.  The well-known peanut allergy is the type that can cause a severe reaction after a very minor exposure to the food.  If a child could possibly get hives, have trouble breathing, or feel his throat close up if he comes near a certain food, his mom will very likely be right on top of that, and probably won’t feel comfortable with you feeding him.  She will also probably leave you an Epi-Pen in case of an emergency, along with her cell phone number, her beeper number, directions to the nearest hospital and probably the keys to her car (just kidding… trying to make the point that with severe allergies, you won’t be at a loss for what to do…not trying to minimize the severity of anaphylactic reactions in any way).

Mommy Morning Survival

How Do I Survive My Morning Routine?

Another great guest post by Rebecca at

  http://dvrdame.blogspot.com/

Every day starts the same. The alarm goes off with a kick to the arm. Yes, my four year old son still sleeps with Momma and Papa Bear. Crawling out of my bed, as if I have a hangover, I quickly groom myself in ten seconds flat. I wouldn't call it grooming, but more like washing my face with whatever was next to the toothpaste.

Quickening the pace I start breakfast before little Mateo starts to cry. The next twenty minutes are a blur of food, clothes, shoes, toothpaste, and a hair brush. After rushing to my son's preschool, which thank God is like two minutes away, I get home to eat my routine breakfast of oatmeal with apples. For the next thirty to forty minutes I salsa my tush to a zumba DVD. I'm sure I look ridiculous as I stumble with the same steps that I've done for almost a year now but hey it's fun. With a speedy shower I'm on to my daily, insert yawn, chores of grocery shopping, and cleaning.

What can YOU do with Peaches?

Thanks to one of my readers, Happy Grandma from The Happiest Family on the Block , I researched her suggestions for peach butter and peach freezer jam.  The peach butter requires canning, which I am capable of, but hate doing.  The peach freezer jam is much easier!  If anyone has a better recipe for either, please let me know!

Recipe-Peach Butter

• 18-Ripe Peaches/4 lbs. (a little on the soft side is o.k.)
• 1/2 Cup-Water
• 4-Cups Sugar
• 1-Cinnamon Stick
• 1/8 tsp-Nutmeg

• Peel, halve, and seed peaches -You can do this by hand or by blanching in boiling hot water for a few minutes,  transferring to an ice-water bath. Then peel. This makes the skins very easy to remove without losing any pulp.
• Place in sauce pan over medium/low heat-At this point, use a potato masher to crush the peaches while cooking

Once the liquid pools have evaporated you can continue with the next step, or transfer pulp to a food mill or processor for further mashing. (we prefer the food mill)
Once to desired pulpiness, bring to a rolling boil, stirring frequently to prevent scorching.

• Slowly stir in sugar
• Add cinnamon stick and nutmeg
• Let simmer over rolling boil at medium/low heat and stir by scraping the bottom very frequently to prevent scorching. This should take about 30 minutes or so. This is a great time to get your water bath canner and jars ready!
• Check for readiness by dipping spoon into mixture to check its slump.
• Ladle into 1/2 pint or pint jars, and process in a hot water bath for 10-15 minutes.
•  

from  http://www.scissorsanddrumsticks.com/2011/07/simple-delicious-peach-butter/

Easy Peach Freezer Jam

Ingredients:

• 4 cups peeled, crushed fresh peaches
• 1/4 cup fresh strained lemon juice
• 1 package (1 3/4 ounces) powdered fruit pectin
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 5 1/2 cups sugar

Preparation:

Measure peaches into a large kettle; add lemon juice. While stirring with a wooden spoon, slowly add the pectin. Let stand 20 minutes; stir every 5 minutes to blend pectin with fruit. Add syrup and blend well; add sugar and blend well. Cook over low heat to about 100°, just warm to the touch. Do not allow mixture to become hot. Pour jam into jars to within 1/2-inch of top. Cover jars at once. Let stand until jelly consistency. Store in freezer until ready to use. Store in refrigerator once jar has been opened.
Makes about 8 half-pint jars.
from: http://southernfood.about.com/od/jamsjellies/r/bl80711a.htm

One more fun (not edible) thing you can do with peaches:
Make a Peach Pit Monster!






Materials you need:

• Peach pits, clean and dry
• Paint and paint brush
• Googly eyes in different sizes
• Glue
• Playdough

If you don’t have googly eyes on hand, your child can draw eyes on paper or cardboard and cut them out to glue on their monster instead.

How to make peach pit monsters:

1. Paint the peach pits. Add glitter if you’d like and let dry.
2. Glue on eyes and let dry.
3. Make feet by creating balls out of play dough and pressing the pit into the dough. Let dough dry over night to harden.

That’s it! Your child can glue on other accessories or have fun painting your monsters different colors.
I’d love to hear about the fun you make with peach pits!


From: http://www.projectsforpreschoolers.com/make-peach-pit-monsters/