I don’t remember the last time I really disconnected from the internet, my phone, and all other distractions and just spent some good old-fashioned time with my children.  Well, today was a day to do that, and it felt so refreshing, and REAL.  I also brought along my camera to catch some fun pictures of the kids in action.  We played in the yard, talked to the horses, and even went on a “journey” (which really just consisted of going across the road, and over the fence into an empty field) albeit a short one.  This afternoon of playing, memory-making, and talking with my four children was just what I needed, and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to spend the time with them.

They were all trying to jump at once, an almost impossible feat to capture, but still fun.

Sorry, with a drama-queen daughter, there are tears, and quite often, so I had to share this photo of her.

It really is difficult to capture a good picture of all four of them at once!

My 3 boys, sweet and cute.

Have you ever had a day where you wake up and feel like a fog has been lifted?  Or like suddenly your eyes are opened for the first time in a long time?  I’m having that kind of day today, a reckoning of sorts.  All of a sudden I am motivated to accomplish tasks that normally are invisible to me.  I cleaned my nightstand off, and for such a small piece of furniture, it sure contained a lot of junk.  To be exact, 14 magazines, and 12 books, oh yeah and a couple of sippy cups.

Now I’m on a mission to find a piece of paper that I’ve misplaced.  I’ve got the feeling that if I don’t find it something in me won’t let me rest until it’s found.  And to be honest, I wouldn’t have lost the stupid piece of paper if I had taken care of it in December, yeah I’m also a procrastinator.  Gosh, this blog is really bringing out all of my weaknesses lately. I’m heading off to track down a single sheet of paper, but hopefully I’ll be back…..

And, I threw in the picture of my son just for the heck of it, has nothing to do with this post, lol.

Anyone have a clue where I should look for this piece of paper?  And, does anyone else ever have random days like this?

Banquet has been a household name for quite some time, and is known for quality food products for families.  I’ve been out of town quite a lot recently, and I was really happy to leave my family with some Banquet lasagna for dinner.  My husband said it was simple to heat up, and it was also yummy.  The kids ate every bit of the lasagna, and I’m sure my hubby helped them finish it off as well.

The Thanks a Million program is something that was recently brought to my attention by Banquet and I really think it’s a great opportunity.  If you purchase any participating Banquet products you have a chance to win $100,000 or other cash prizes!  Sounds like a good fringe benefit in addition to enjoying Banquet meals.

For additional information about Banquet frozen meals, and the Thanks a Million Program, visit this site.

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

Okay, I feel really guilty.  I visit other blogs and see beautiful pictures of children smattered throughout the posts of my fellow “Mom” bloggers.  I very rarely post actual pictures of my kiddos, and I do take photos of them, I promise!  So, today I’m just going to share some fun pictures of my four kids from the past couple of months….just for fun.

It’s that time of year again to start our annual March of Dimes family team fundraising.  The kickoff luncheon last week was nice, and it brought about some inspirational stories.  But, I am really struggling to get in the mood to raise money this year.  This is the sixth year to participate in the March of Dimes with our family team, Seth’s Supporters.  Seth is one of 7 ambassadors this year, so we really need to get on the ball.  Hopefully I’ll have a sudden burst of enthusiasm soon.

I’ll post more on my story of Seth’s premature birth and his four month (yeah I said 4 MONTH) stay in Children’s Hospital.

Throughout the trials of my life I’ve often turned to retail therapy to sooth my woes.  And more often than not, the act of purchasing something did more to pacify my anxieties than shopping itself.  I remember so clearly, spending every penny of my weekly $86.00 paycheck from Founda’s Chinese Restaurant, where I spent my high school evenings working.  I purchased everything from earrings to clothing, to fast food, and occasionally I even filled up my tank with gas, back when it was less than a dollar a gallon.  I started retail therapy at a young age, it was the bane of my existence at times, and dulled the aching pain I was hiding from.

I don’t exactly want to make my life sound as if it was horrible because it really wasn’t.  My parents didn’t get divorced when I was a kid, in fact this year they’ll celebrate their 36th anniversary.  I didn’t suffer through any traumatic events in my childhood that caused me to be emotionally scarred.  But still, it was there.  It started as a cloud, a rather dark, dreary cloud, somewhere in my mind.  I don’t know any other way to describe it.  At the time I was so unaware that it was abnormal, I figured that everyone must have the same cloud, the same weight on their mind.  The thought never entered my mind to tell my parents that I was “depressed” because I didn’t even know what that word meant.

I went through school, church, all the motions were there, and I would be willing to bet that few of my friends ever knew the demons I fought daily.  There were times that I contemplated life, and the pure exhaustion that overcame me would start to gnaw at my mind.  It didn’t feel worth it at times, and I can honestly say that I tossed ideas around in my brain quite often about if I should stay or go.   Thank God I got to a point in my life that I could live, and I started to live with purpose.  I had my first child at a young age, and in all truthfulness, I think having that little boy changed my life for the better.  I had more of a reason to rise every day, and actually be productive.  Where was my retail therapy during all of this time? Oh, it was still there, it had just hushed to a whisper.  Now it was expressed through paper food-stamps that provided me with shrimp, pasta, and various other ingredients from the local grocery store to cook intricate recipes found in cookbooks, and Woman’s Day magazines.  Even during these times, I still sought my old refuge, the point where the paper or plastic departed from my hand to the cashier’s.  The high that was better than any drug could induce.

More on my retail therapy to come…..

First of all, please don’t judge or hate me-a lot of people are alcoholics, drug addicts, or gamblers, I’m none of these, I’m just a grossy.  I am an extremely lazy housekeeper.  I don’t particularly like cleaning, and apparently it shows, I guess I’ve been obliviously living in squalor.  Most people assume that I’m exaggerating, or being modest by not bragging about my well-kept home, when I warn them of my “messy house.”  Um, they assume wrong, I’m not kidding, I’m not exaggerating, I am being DEAD SERIOUS.  My house is dirty, cluttered, and quite frankly it’s kinda gross.

My house is running rampant with children, (did you think I was going to say roaches, or mice, nope surprisingly not here, lol) four of them to be exact.  The one bathroom our family of six shares is high on the ick factor, just imagine, 3 preadolescent males (oops, I counted my husband in this one) utilizing the same facilities, day in and day out.  I think you get the picture, it’s not pretty at all.

I am mortified to share this information with anyone, let alone my readers.  But you know what they say, admitting your problem is the first step, right?  So, this is my step forward, I WILL post some “after” pictures very soon.  This is my form of accountability, I have to get control, or I will go insane…….more so than I already am.

*Disclaimer-I promise I used to keep a spotless house, a long time ago, and I think that depression, and a feeling of a lack of control has contributed to my messy home, I am open to any/and all advice on organization, housekeeping, etc.

As a chronic victim of heartburn, I am all for a remedy of that irritating painful feeling that is brought about after consuming a meal.  I personally have tried the chewable antacids, along with other medications, but I’ve found that Prilosec OTC is pretty much the only thing that cuts out heartburn all day, and keeps it from even starting up period.

Prilosec OTC is the proud sponsor of the “Everything You Do Without Heartburn” Program.  This opportunity allows individuals to sign up and apply to become the official face of Prilosec OTC.  The premise behind this contest is to show how much more you can participate in while being heartburn-free in thanks to Prilosec OTC.  I love this project, and I think it’s a great idea for those that suffer from heartburn to weigh in on how much more than can successfully participate in while taking Prilosec OTC.

Find out more information about Prilosec OTC, as well as sign up to receive a free sample on their site.  Also, see if you would be a perfect fit to enter the Prilosec OTC contest.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Prilosec OTC. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

I feel so incredibly lucky/blessed to have attended the Mom 2.0 Summit in Houston this past weekend.  The opportunity panned out that I was able to attend the conference at no charge in exchange for volunteering in any capacity necessary.  As it turned out, I really didn’t even end up doing much as far as the volunteer job went, (it was all pretty much under control) but I’m so thankful that Dwan invited me along!  I roomed with Dwan, Erica, and Rachel, pretty much some of the best roomies a girl could have!  Also, the Four Seasons Hotel in Houston was beyond NICE, really fancy, marble bathrooms, large rooms, the works, definitely a luxurious place.

I was really impressed by the diverse group of people in attendance at Mom 2.0 Summit, bloggers, experts in many fields, PR representatives, and more.  I met some really wonderful folks, and have some fun and promising possibilities for the future of my blog, as well as for the future of my life.  And the panels, and keynotes were priceless, I could probably write numerous posts just on all of the information I took away from Mom 2.0!

Another highlight of the weekend for me was meeting Heather Armstrong (Dooce) and Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess), they are so sweet, funny, charming, and they both just happen to be two of my personal favorites.

If I didn’t come away from Mom 2.0 Conference with anything else, I just want to come away with the fact that I am a person of value, and I do need to learn to be true to myself.  The more conferences I attend, the more I learn to thrive, and be happy with my true self, and a special thanks to some friends who remind me of that fact as well.   And as a side note, I ordered myself a book by Gretchen Rubin (who happened to be one of the fabulous keynote speakers) entitled The Happiness Project, which I am already starting to internalize, and put into action in my life.

More on Mom 2.0 in the near future….

We received the new Barbie Sing-Along DVD recently, and my children have worn it out by watching it so much!  The DVD features several cute songs from various Barbie movies from the past few years.  Each song features the scene in which the song was played during the movie, and provides a guided karaoke style lyric listing along the bottom of the screen.  My daughter loves the songs from Barbie and The Diamond Castle the best, she already had those memorized, but she still loves to watch and sing along with all the others as well.  I’ve even caught my older sons singing along and getting caught up watching the DVD as well.

This Barbie DVD is perfect for any child who loves Barbie movies, and it would be make a wonderful gift, as well as something fun for the whole family to enjoy! Look for this DVD in stores for an extremely reasonable price!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Mattel. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.