You Know You Are Tired When...

Olivia was a tired little girl and she fell fast asleep on the floor! School can really wipe a girl out :).

Wordless Wednesday- Swing those legs!

You can find more Wordless Wednesday at 5minutesformom.com

Robin Hood * review *

Robin Hood

Academy Award winner Russell Crowe and visionary Director Ridley Scott (Gladiator) reunite for the untold story of the man behind the legend. In an age of oppression and shameless tyranny, an outlaw becomes the unlikely hero that saves a nation and inspires generations to fight for freedom. In this thrilling action adventure, "Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott are at their most entertaining since Gladiator" (Dan Jolin, Empire UK). Also starring Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett.

MY REVIEW

I thought this was a great movie. I loved Russell Crowe as Robin Hood and Cate Blanchett made a fabulous leading lady. There was a ton of fairly intense battle scenes but it was actually a relatively family-friendly film... as long as the kids are old enough to not be bothered by the fighting. My kids are a little young for it still though. There was no bad language and no sex scenes which was nice for a change. The storyline was great and totally kept my interest the whole way through. This version of Robin Hood is not nearly as much of a "chick flick" as the  version I was rather obsessed with in my younger years but it was a very enjoyable way to spend a couple hours!

Thanks so much to Universal Studios Home Entertainment for sending me a review copy of this DVD.

Mythbusters : Science of Sports Kit * review *

Thanks to Team Mom we were given the chance to try out the Mythbusters Science of Sports kit.

Product Description

Ages: 9+
There will be lots of variables to test in the myths Jamie and Adam included in this kit, which try to prove some of the crazy stories the guys have heard about sports. It might seem that the outcome in sports comes down to which team has the most luck or which athlete has the most talent. And sure, both of those things are important. But science plays a major role in sports as well. You couldn't score a goal or hit a home run or throw a touchdown without it. What do you think will happen when we start using our brains and not just our muscles?
Includes string, mallet, ping-pong ball, baseball, rubber ball, chart, sticker sheet, marker, clear tube, face paint, stick, activity guide.

My kids are all a little young for this kit so there was a lot of parent-coaching going on but they still had a ton of fun. The Mythbusters kits are very hands-on and both of my sons enjoy science experiments... Olivia enjoyed watching and getting in the way ;).  The kit contains several different myths to test- ranging from very simple to more involved experiments. The instructions are  very easy to read and follow with step-by-step, kid friendly directions.

Mythbusters kits are perfect for kids who love science but I suspect most kids would have a good time with them.

You can find out more at http://www.giddyup.com/.

Thanks so much to Team Mom for giving me the opportunity to review this product.

Fantabulous Comment!

I wrote a post yesterday about the antics of my daughter Olivia and I got the best comment and I want to share it with you all. It made me laugh out loud and I totally needed that!

(If you haven't read the post from yesterday Disaster: Thy Name is Olivia you might want to do that before you read the comment because it will make a lot more sense that way.)

Here is the comment from  lfhpueblo 
who blogs at After All We're A Family ...

Mini Poem: Olivia At Three
Olivia the Terrible Two's
have nothing on you.
What is a poor Mommy suppose to do?
Crayons and marker drawings everywhere they are not suppose to be.
Must my little artist's expressions be so giftedly free?
Olivia the carpet isn't hungry
and it doesn't eat raspberries,
and doesn't need a drink of pee.
Marker's don't get sleepy and need to be in your bed,
especially with the caps off of their heads.
Oh these terrible three's this Mommy does dread,
but through the dessert even the Israelites were lead.
So continue to give me strength Lord I ask,
because being Olivia's Mommy is my task.
I really do love her my precious girl with blonde curls,
but all these Olivia antics have my head and clean-up body in constant whirls.
Lord give me strength today
to know Olivia will grow out these disasters some way.

 

 (I took this picture of Olivia at church tonight)

Thanks so much for the awesome comment Lauralee! I am most impressed :)

Disaster: Thy Name is Olivia

This is my beautiful daughter Olivia.

She looks so sweet and innocent doesn't she?

But don't let her looks fool you. She is a walking disaster dressed in pink.

This is a partial list of the things she has done in the past two days:

1. drew with red crayon on the wall of the boys' bedroom

2. drew with blue crayon on the chairs

3. drew with red marker on my couch, loveseat and chair

4. tore the pages out of two books- one was her little princess bible which she had taken outside to show her friends and then tore pages out and threw them on the ground for some unknown reason, and the other was my pink pocket bible that I have had since I was 13. That bible managed to survive all of my highschool years, a trip half way around the world to Nepal, 6 years of post secondary education and 11 years of marriage. But one afternoon with my 3 year old and it is toast. Apparently she has it out for bibles this week.

5. peed on the carpet

6. squashed juicy red raspberries into my carpet

7. drew with permanent marker in about 15 of my books

8. tossed the picnic lunch I made for her and the boys all over our yard for the birds to eat

9. slept with a bright pink marker... with the cap off... putting bright pink marker blotches all over her jammies, sheets, comforter and pillow.

10. removed all the folded clothing from her drawers and put them back unfolded in random drawers just for fun


I think I'll stop there because the list is depressing me. It's a good thing she is so darn cute and constantly says things like "I wuv you mommy" and "you're the bestest mommy in the whole world".

Ironically she wasn't angry or doing a tantrum during any of these events. She was "just playing". And of course she apologized frequently. "I sowwy mommy. I so so sowwy".  Hard to resist that kind of apology.

Sigh.

I will not miss the 3-year old ability to create disasters wherever they go.

Someone tell me why I bother cleaning this house again?

Work at Home Careers for Moms * guest post*

by Alexis Bonari

Being a mom is a full-time job, but if you’re motivated to earn some extra money for your household, you can start considering home job opportunities. There’s a wide variety of needs when it comes to seeking people who work from their homes, so job ads often cover a range of skills, education levels, and experience. Most of these jobs also allow you to have a flexible schedule so you can take care of life’s little emergencies while still earning some supplemental income. However, there are several things you should keep in mind before you start looking for home-based jobs.


Are You Ready to Work from Home?

You might want to read through these tips for preparing to start a career at home to make sure that you’re ready to take on the extra demands on your time and energy. It may also help to become more aware of the variety of opportunities open to you, both good and bad.

• Be prepared to cut back on any time you devote to helping your family and neighbors with any issues that might compromise your work time. Many people assume that stay-at-home moms are available to help them run errands or watch their sick children from time to time, but if you’re working, that won’t be the case.
• Make sure you have an appropriate work space. You’ll need some peace and quiet, plus Internet with an acceptable speed and a personal computer and phone that will be available to you when you need them.
• As a mom, you already have a busy schedule. It will be advantageous to block off some work time because things can keep coming up and you’ll seldom find yourself discovering that you have extra time to devote to work.
• Consider hiring a babysitter or assistant to watch your younger children while you work. You’ll still be within reach in case of emergency, but you’ll also have time and space to yourself so you can complete your work. A simple cost-benefit analysis can help you decide whether or not it’s worth the money to hire a babysitter.
• Don’t let scams get the best of you. If you start searching for jobs, be wary of opportunities that require you to pay a fee before you can start working. When in doubt, run a search for the name of the company plus the word “scam” to see if there have been any documented problems.

Where to Look for Work at Home Jobs


Try WorkAtHomeCareers for no-cost, pre-screened jobs that you can do from your home. There are new listings every day including everything from online survey takers to programmers and analysts.

At WorkAtHomeJobs, you can search for a job by title, skills, desired pay, and date the ad was posted. You can also browse by category or check out the “Latest Work from Home Jobs” toward the bottom of the page.

If you try the Worldwide Work at Home website, you can check out job categories like clerical, transcription, customer service, telemarketing, writing, translation, teaching, and finance jobs, plus an “other” section that includes even more options. With these resources, you should be able to find a home job that suits your needs and uses your skills.

About the Author:

Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is a passionate blogger on the topic of education and free college scholarships. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

Olivia and school

I thought it was about time for a little update on how Olivia is doing at school.

She still hates it when I drop her off. I mean REALLY hates it. She clings to me sobbing, begging me to not leave every time. It sucks.

BUT she recovers very quickly and enjoys the rest of her day. I totally had Doug spy on her to make sure!

When we pick her up from school she is extremely happy to see us and relieved to be going home...but also full of happy stories about her day. She really does enjoy school but would prefer it if I were in her class :).

I am praying the drop-offs get easier soon because I hate leaving her like that.

And I am absolutely LOVING having two whole days a week on my own. I can get a ton of stuff done in the hours the kids are at school... it is amazing. Alone time is a beautiful thing my friends.

Oh, and just to keep things interesting Olivia decided to "help" me with the laundry tonight.

There was a load in the washer and she decided to open the door, take some of the partially washed whites out and put a pen and several black socks and shirts in. She also dumped a whole bunch of extra soap in. Luckily she couldn't figure out how to turn the washer back on!

Never a dull moment in my house :)

Tinker Bell and The Great Fairy Rescue * review *

I love Tinker Bell. I have always loved Tinker Bell. There is just something so wonderfully whimsical about fairies and their world! I have passed my love of the fairy world on to my daughter Olivia. She is only 3 but she is already quite enamored with Tinker Bell and her friends.

When Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue arrived at our house Olivia was over the moon with excitement. But you know what? My boys (ages 6&8) were thrilled too. All three kids immediately sat down and watched the entire movie from start to finish.

I asked them what they thought of the movie and here is what they told me:

Aiden: I love that movie! It was really funny and cool.

Owen: Tinker Bell always gets into trouble and it is so funny! And this time the kid got to fly too. I want to fly. 

Olivia: I wuv Tinker Bell. She is bootiful and she has pretty wings and the fairies can talk to the animals and fly and wear pretty dresses and have pretty wings and I liked it when the human girl got to be friends with Tinker Bell. Can we go to the fairy house mommy?

We have since watched Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue dozens of times. It is beautifully animated. The details are amazing. I really enjoyed the movie too!  I really think the animators did an incredible job making the fairy world look exactly how a child would expect it too. Brilliant.


We love this movie and I am sure the vast majority of kids (and grown-ups for that matter) would love it too.

If you go HERE you can find some very cute Tinker Bell crafts and games.

Save $10 off your Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue Blu-ray Combo Pack!

Thanks so much to Walt Disney Home Entertainment for sending me a review copy of this fabulous movie!

Wordless Wednesday- Yum!

Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner review

There are very few cleaning products that I can honestly say I love... but the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner is definitely one of them. It is brilliant. I basically hate cleaning the bathroom... I have a thing about bodily fluids. I hate them. Passionately.

But for a person who hates bodily fluids as much as I do I certainly have to clean up a lot of them. Anything that makes that disgusting job less disgusting is a hit with me.

Product Information:

The Scrubbing Bubbles® Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner provides a 360-degree clean, three times a day (no flushing required) by automatically spraying a powerful cleaner inside the toilet bowl, tackling unsightly toilet rings, lime scale and hard watermarks. Simply clip onto the toilet rim, add a new cleaning solution refill approximately every 30 days and the Scrubbing Bubbles® Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner does the dirty work for you.

I found the product incredibly easy to install... seriously... my 8 year old could have done it. It took about 2 minutes to install and it has been working beautifully ever since! We have two bathrooms in our house so it was very easy to see the difference it made. It has completely kept the toilet bowl sparkly clean with no effort from me whatsoever.

I have a husband and three children. Usually I have to scrub my toilet bowl at least 3 times per week. Not having to do that has been positively delightful.

Now if only we could get it to clean the rest of my bathroom it would be perfect!

Thanks so much to Scrubbing Bubbles for sending me this product to review.

down for the count

I have been rendered useless today by another migraine... so I am posting these pictures of my adorable daughter and my incredibly helpful husband who totally took care of everything today while I stayed in bed. Thanks Doug. I love you.

The Case of the Missing Jewelry...

I am going out with "the girls" tonight (YAY!) and when I was getting ready a strange thing happened. I opened my jewelry box and discovered that ALL of my necklaces were gone. I wasn't overly surprised though because I know a certain little girl who loves playing dress-up princess with my stuff. I have found my jewelry around the house before... I don't have anything particularly valuable so it isn't a huge deal. I can usually find one when I need it. But not tonight! Where did they all go? Couldn't she leave one behind for me to wear tonight?

When I asked her if she knew where they were she just smiled and say "sowee mommy".

Gotta love her.

And the world keeps turning...

My husband took this beautiful picture of he and Olivia on their daddy-daughter date... you can read about it on Doug's blog but I just really wanted to share the picture with you all because I LOVE it.

Today was Olivia's second day at junior kindergarten. She loved her first day (Tuesday) and we ended up playing "school" pretty much constantly yesterday. She was all excited to go back today UNTIL we arrived in the parking lot of the school this morning. Then the tears started. She didn't want me to go. By the time I handed her off to her teacher she was sobbing and grabbing on to me begging to go with me.

Leaving her like that truly sucked.

But when we picked her up she was perfectly happy - as I knew she would be. Although tonight she did tell me she was never going back to school again. Luckily she doesn't have school again until Tuesday... which is especially good considering she is coming down with her first cold of the season. Goody.

Aiden seems to be doing great at school... not so great at home. It takes a lot of effort for him to behave appropriately all day long so by the time school is done he is too. There is a lot of angst that comes out at home. Although I am VERY thankful he is managing to function at school it is a little rough on us.

Doug and I attended the first meeting of a new support group for parents of Autistic kids in our town. It was great. It is always nice to know you are not alone!


And of course he is also getting his first cold of the season. He has started the horrible croupy hacking cough that I hate. Asthma sucks.

Owen is struggling a bit too. He doesn't seem to be doing as well at school this year and that makes me sad. He says he likes his teacher and his class and school but every morning he still asks to stay home. I think there is going to be some testing done with him to see if he has ADHD like his brother (certainly a possibility) or something else that is causing him to have a rough time.

I ran in to his teacher from last year and asked her what she thought and she said she was VERY surprised that he was having any trouble at all. He adored her and she had no problems with him. Go figure. She said she would think about it and get back to me if she came up with any ideas or suggestions. Owen says he misses her but still likes his new teacher. I am sure everything will be fine. But wow... I am just not used to getting phone calls home about Owen.

On the up side I am LOVING having two whole school days per week BY MYSELF at home. Silence is a beautiful thing people. I am truly amazed at how much I can get done in 6 hours of uninterrupted time. Oh alone time, how I've missed you these past EIGHT YEARS. Never leave me again!

Wordless Wednesday- Olivia's First-Day-Of-School Artwork

You can find more Wordless Wednesday at 5minutesformom.com !

so funny....

Olivia's First Day of Junior Kindergarten

So today was my baby's very first day of school. She was sort of excited but mostly just concerned that I wouldn't be going to school with her. She was scared that she would be left all alone.

 

I let her choose her own outfit- of course. She went with a "pink" theme. She wanted to wear her pink fluffy coat but it was crazy cold out this morning so she had to change into her blue winter coat.

She brought "bunny" with her to keep her company but she still seemed a little lost on the playground.

They start the kids out slowly in junior kindergarten so she will only have 7 or so kids in her class today but on Thursday the full class will be there.

She seemed less scared of her teacher today than she was at the orientation so that is a good thing!

She did NOT want us to go.

This is how we left her... we kind of snuck out but I am betting she wasn't too pleased once she realized we were gone.

Now here I sit in a completely kid-less house... it is bizarre!

My baby is growing up.

Tea Partying With Grandma

NutraSea Kids * review *

We are regular vitamin takers in my household so when I was given the chance to review a couple NutraSea products I was happy to do so. We tried the products for 2 weeks and here is what we thought!

Overview - NutraSea Kids 200 ml

For a healthy heart, improved mental function and healthy bones and teeth.
NutraSea Kids is a pharmaceutical quality fish oil with a balanced EPA/DHA ratio making it an ideal food supplement for optimal health and well-being. NutraSea Kids also contains GLA, and omega-6 which has been scientifically proven to be beneficial for early childhood development. When taken alone GLA offers little benefit, however when combined with adequate intake of EPA the beneficial properties of GLA are enhanced.

NutraSea Kids with a delicious very berry flavour is formulated especially for children 2-13 years of age. NutraSea Kids exceeds the CRN* pharmaceutical quality & purity standards and is certified by PURE CHECK third-party verification.

I love the idea of this product since we all take vitamins daily but unfortunately once my kids had tried it the first time it was a big struggle to make them take it again. When I asked my boys what they thought this is what they said:

Aiden: " It smells really good like bubblegum but it tastes horrible and I hate it. Yuck."

Owen: " It tastes a tiny bit ok like gum but it feels yucky in my throat."

Owen was more willing to take it as long as it was followed with a large beverage of something he loved immediately after but Aiden flat out refused. Olivia just said "I don't want to take medicine" over and over again every time I tried.

My kids will happily take the kid-sized capsule fish oil vitamins and it is way less of a struggle so I think we will just stick with that. 

Overview - NutraSea+D 200 ml
For a healthy heart, brain function and healthy bones and teeth.
NutraSea+D is a pharmaceutical quality omega-3 supplement with added vitamin D3. With a balanced ratio of EPA and DHA combined with 1000 IU of natural vitamin D3 it's an ideal supplement for optimal health and well-being in a delicious apple flavour.
Ascenta's unique green tea antioxidant makes NutraSea+D the most stable and freshest tasting product on the market.

I tried the NutraSea +D for adults and I must admit I was not impressed either. The bottle said it had an apple flavour but I must say I could barely even taste a hint of apple. The taste really wasn't the problem though... it was the oily-ness of it. It was just hard to get down. I tried putting it in a drink but it just made the drink nasty.

I really wanted to love this product because I think it is really and truly a good product... I just think my family is a bit to texture-sensitive and none of us could really handle the oily feeling.



“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of NutraSea Kids campaign and received NutraSea samples to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

House : Season 6

House : Season Six

Get ready for a full dose of medical mysteries with 21 episodes of the riveting drama series, House. Hugh Laurie is joined by James Earl Jones (Star Wars), Laura Prepon (That ‘70s Show) and David Strathairn (The Bourne Ultimatum) in guest appearances as he returns to his Golden Globe®-winning and Primetime Emmy® Award-nominated role as Dr. Gregory House. In this brilliant sixth season, House finds himself in an uncomfortable position—away from the examination room. As he works to regain his license and his life, his coworkers deal with the staff shakeups, moral dilemmas and their own tricky relationships with House. And when House returns more obstinate than ever, Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital will never be the same again.

Starring: Hugh Laurie, Lisa Edelstein, Omar Epps, Robert Sean Leonard, Jesse Spencer, Jennifer Morrison

MY REVIEW

I have been a fan of House for the past several years but I have definitely missed a whole bunch of the episodes... life seems to get in the way of TV watching sometimes ;). House : Season Six was great and I have loved watching it on DVD. I adore watching TV shows on DVD because I miss nothing! I can stop it when the kids need my attention and I can press play when I have a few minutes of time to watch. Love it.

I find House thoroughly entertaining. I suspect it would be hard to jump right in on Season 6 without seeing any of the previous seasons... but it probably wouldn't take too long to figure it out. It is an all around great drama with hefty doses of humour. I would not consider it a particularly family-friendly show... I wouldn't want my young kids watching it... but for the most part it is pretty tame.

The bonus features on the DVD set are great. I LOVED "Before Broken: An Exclusive Original Short" and the Episode commentaries were fascinating. This is definitely a show worth buying on DVD.

Thanks so much to Universal Studios Home Entertainment for sending me this product to review.