I have known since childhood that I have a special condition. It is the condition that renders me directionally challenged. In simple English, this means that I can not find my way out of a paper bag with two hands and a flashlight.

I can remember having nightmares as a child of being behind the steering wheel of a car, peering over the top, and barely being able to see out the windshield. But, you know what the scary part was? NOT that I was only seven or eight years old and didn’t know how to drive, but what petrified me was not knowing which way to go!

I still get turned around at church after almost two years. Getting from Bible class to the auditorium for worship, I have a record of about 50% on making a wrong turn.

I’m the type that Googles driving directions, prints them out, and drives with the paper in my hands on the steering wheel. (I turn the paper whenever I make a directional change.)

When the elevator doors open? I look around the elevator for the best candidate to follow because I have no idea which way to go upon stepping out!

That’s why I was a touch nervous when Chevy assigned me the task of using OnStar in the Chevy Malibu to get myself to a destination I had never been to before.

Madison and I chose to go to the Dallas World Aquarium which was over an hour away in downtown Dallas. Where there are one way streets! Gulp!

I very nearly printed out a map in usual fashion so I could hold it on the steering wheel. I refrained though, and trusted OnStar.

The verdict? I am in love.

If I weren’t already happily married to a hunka hunka burnin’ love and it wouldn’t be really weird and slightly creepy, I would marry OnStar.

We had only one little hiccup at the end of our journey when my new love led us to a dry cleaners in a strip mall, but I forgave him. I get world aquariums and dry cleaners mixed up sometimes myself, so after a few moments of exasperation (and relief that we weren’t on a schedule and weren’t made to be late) we got back on track and ended up at precisely the place we were aiming for!

I even made it all the way home without getting lost, too!

At the end of our journey, Madison reminded me that I did marry OnStar 25 years ago, but he was at work that day. My husband just happens to be a genius at directions. He always knows which way to go and never leads us down the wrong path.

Now, if I could just convince him to live in my rear view mirror, my life would be perfect.

My Madison (15yo) has been wanting to visit the Dallas World Aquarium for a couple of years and we finally got the chance to do it this week!

I only took baby Peyton (2 mo) and Madison, and we had a nice day of enjoying one another AND the many creatures at the aquarium.

We saw this sloth hanging around.

Here is a cool spotted ray, but the neatest part about him is what is underneath. Do you see the people down below? They are walking through a tunnel with water and swimming creatures all around!

Here are some shots of what we saw while we were in the tunnel.

We just happened get down there just in time for feeding and it was awesome to watch them gobble up their lunches!

We had a marvelous time!

One of my most favorite things about the new Chevy Malibu is the remote start!

Remote Start on the Chevy Malibu from Connie on Vimeo.

On scorchingly hot summer days (are there any other kind in Texas?) I love that I can start the car from inside the house or the grocery store and it will be cooling off before I even get in!

The car remains locked and the engine can not be engaged until I get in and place the key in the ignition, so there is no chance of some young hoodlum jumping in and taking off before I get there.

And wouldn’t that be something that would happen to me? Why, yes I can picture it now. But, alas! Picturing it is all I will have to do because Chevy has made sure that can’t happen. And I would like to thank them for that. Because I hate being on the six o’clock news.

You know what I don’t hate, though? Being interviewed on Good Morning, Texas! That’s right! Smockity made it to the small screen! Check it out!

Are you ready for a giveaway extravaganza? I have teamed up with seven other bloggers to offer you some fun prizes that include:

• $40 Amazon gift card
• $25 Alice.com gift card
• an ADORABLE hand made tote bag
• an oilcloth apron
• AND MORE!

Just for fun, we are doing the giveaways in the form of a scavenger hunt.  Look around our blogs to find a cute li’l green stuffed Froggy hiding and you’ll leave a comment on the post where you found him and then hop (get it? Frogs HOP!) over to each of our communities to leave a comment there telling us where you spotted Froggy.

Start out in Blog Frog’s community to see the great prizes and for the official rules and enjoy hopping around snagging prizes at these blogs:

• Raising Olives
• Hoosier Homemade
• She Saved
• Tatertots and Jello
• Our Homeschool Home
• iGoBoGo
• It’s a Blog Party

Remember, leave the comment about where you see Froggy (hint: SCROLL DOWN!) on the post where he is hiding AND in my community.

Have fun!

I have been asked a few times how I train my little children to sit quietly in church. 

Before I answer that, I would like to state for the record that I am not a licensed psychologist, doctor, or plumber. The methods we use within our family work for our family (most of the time) and generally make us happy.  We do not think we are smarter, holier, or happier than you are if you don’t do things the same way.

Now that I have that out of the way, here are a few of the things we do to train our little children (ages approximately 15 months+) to sit quietly through a church service of an hour or more.

• Practice at home. We routinely have read aloud time when we expect everyone to sit quietly and listen. We occasionally accompany this, when we see the need, with practice standing to sing or pray, or turning to a particular song in a song book.
• Provide a picture Bible and a doll or one other small item for them to hold and look at while they are listening quietly.
• If the child is disruptive during the service, take them out to a quiet place. Have them sit in your lap without getting down and with no toys or books. Make sure they understand that they may go back inside and look at a book or hold a dolly when they are ready to be quiet.
• DON’T provide too many activities or distractions. This will only teach them to expect to be entertained. See my post on children in church to read what we do provide during worship.
• Keep them in the worship service with you from the beginning. If they don’t expect to be going to a room full of toys or play type activities, they will conform more readily to what everyone else in the assembly is doing: worshipping reverently.
• Don’t give up. There will be times when little children balk at sitting quietly. Continue your at home practice (daily if needed) and soon they will understand what is expected of them.

What about you? How do you handle children in church?

This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday.

There are some exciting things coming soon here at Smockity Central! 

• On a certain, undisclosed day this very week, in my Blog Frog community, FOR ONE DAY ONLY, there will be a multi-prize giveaway with multiple chances to enter! The prizes will include an adorable stuffed animal, a t-shirt, a premium Blog Frog membership, $40 in Amazon gift cards, and a handy dandy oilcloth apron.   If you do not like prizes and chances to win free stuff, by all means DO NOT check my Blog Frog community!
• 4 Moms, 35 Kids is returning with a bang! On Thursday, August 5th, we will resume our weekly posts with an “Open House”. Each of us (The Common Room, Life in a Shoe, Raising Olives, and Yours Truly) will be posting pictures of our homes. We will begin with the entry and outside to welcome you into our homes, and YOU ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE, TOO!  There will be a linky on each of our blogs so you can link up your entry/outside photos as well.
• In honor of World Breastfeeding Week next week, and because I am going on my 8th year of breastfeeding, I’ll be posting some tips and links to help breastfeeding mothers have a successful experience.

What else would you like to see at Smockity Frocks? Are there any features or series you would enjoy reading here?

I was recently contacted by Renee at MadeOn Hard Lotion to ask if I would like to try one of her hand made lotion bars. She calls it “beesilk” and for good reason!

She makes the bars with beeswax, shea butter, and coconut oil, so they are all natural. The bar is softly scented by the beeswax, so that it smells of honey, and it is super silky on the skin.

I love the way the bar makes my skin feel luxuriously soft!

Renee would like to give away the 3 pack dry skin care package above, which includes a family size lotion bar, a pocket size lotion bar, and a lip balm.

You can enter up to three times to win this package.  (Please, leave a comment for each entry.)

• Simply go to her hard lotion site and have a look around. Then come back here and tell me which essential oil you would add to a lotion bar if you were ordering a custom one. (Scroll down and look on the left side bar.)
• Tweet this giveaway.
• Post about this giveaway on Facebook.

We are loving the sun roof on the new Chevy Malibu!   And, being the good mother that I am, I let my kids hang out of it at every opportunity.

I’ll miss you when you’re gone CM!

How to Order Fast Food From a Chevy Malibu from Connie on Vimeo.

If you ever find yourself in the predicament of having only one diaper in the house (because you are the Mother of the Year type) and that diaper has the tabs ripped off because that one diaper is one that the girls have been playing fast and loose with on their baby dolls, and say it’s Sunday morning and you are running late (Mother of the Year again), you can duct tape the diaper on the two year old and it will hold up all the way through Bible class and worship services!

And if you have a smarty pants 13 year old son, he will take a picture of said diaper with your cell phone just for documentation.

But if you are a technological dunce, you will not know how to download the photo onto your computer.

Not to worry, though. If you are also a smarty pants and that is where your son gets it, you can doctor up a stock photo to illustrate your Mother of the Year status.

This post is linked at Works For Me Wednesday.

I was recently provided with this prize pack for myself and one to give away from General Mills and Nickelodeon, through MyBlogSparkTM. The prize pack includes a box of  Trix cereal, a Penguins of Madagascar DVD, and 2 penguins to launch.

My kids immediately scarfed down the cereal (okay, I helped) and started launching penguins. Those suckers can FLY, I don’t care what marine biologists say!

If you would like to win this prize pack, simply leave a comment on this post and I will draw a winner at the end of the week.