Saturday, April 24, 2010

Our First Giveaway!!!!!

So, here in the goober household, we're attempting to go green.  It's all about baby steps.

One of the first changes we made is using reusuable bags to shop with.  But, I have a hard time with it, because there's alot of the time I'll stop off at the store for just a few things on my way home from work, and I never remember to keep bags in my car.  That and there's not alot of place to toss a bunch of bulky folded up bags.

But then I found these.

Flip and Tumble shopping bags.

Love them.

I just got my order in the mail today.  And the Chef and I have been playing with them.

I mean, c'mon.  They are fun!

I got 12 of them, plus 5 produce bags.  There's 2 different bags.  One is called the 24-7 bag, and I think it's my favorite.  The other is the shopping bag.

Both types of bags come in a rainbow of colors, and can hold up to 25 pounds.

Both bags come in a ball.  It's easy to open the bags (just simply unwrap) and simple to close them, they just tuck back into the back the pocket.  I'm going to toss them all in the back of my jeep in the cargo hold and we'll see how I do remembering them :D.

The produce bags come in a set of 5.  They are mesh drawstring bags.  I think these will be sooo much better than trying to find those plastic bags theat never open when you need them to at the supermarket.

How would you like to win these 2 Shopping Bags for yourself?


First, go to flip and tumble's website and tell me what color bags you would buy.
This must be done first for any entires to count.

Additional Entries:
-Purchase anything from their website, come back and tell me what you bought, and receive 3 extra entries.
-Become a follower of this blog
-Become a follower of mjtsmami on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway.
(leave the permalink of your tweet in your comment)
-Post about this giveaway on your blog.
-Comment on any other post 

Giveaway will close on May 2nd.

This is a giveaway sponsored by me only.  I purchased the bags myself, and am offering the giveaway.  Flip and Tumble will appreciate your business if you decide to buy bags, but it wouldn't matter to them if I disappeared into thin air.  Just so you know.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Conversations with a Goober.

In the car this morning on the way to drop Chef off at work:

Sweet Nut to Spawn: That's not how you do it, remember what I told you the other day at Home Depot?

S: What ARE you talking about, we didn't go to Home Depot.

SN:  Yes we did, we went to look at flowers for planting outside, oh, you were at school.  Mommy do you remember what I said about Sonic? (they were playing Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games on the DS)

Me: No, I'm sorry, what was it?

SN: C'mon mom, you know!

Me:  Know what?

SN: Papi, do you remember?

Chef:  No, sorry.

SN:  Well when Sonic, oh look at that!  It's a dog!

S:  And what about Sonic?

SN: What are you talking about?

S:  Sonic

SN:  Did you win?

S: No, I got Second, but you said something about Sonic, remember?

SN:  ...

S:  Sweet Nut?  Hello?

SN:  Hi!

S: rolls his eyes and goes back to playing his game.

...This is a common conversation with Sweet Nut.  He reminds me of Dog from the movie Up.

And this next conversation makes me sad.

Me:  Spawn

S:  What?

Me:  How was your weekend with your dad?

S:  Ok

Me:  Just ok?

S:  Yep

Me:  What did you do?

S:  You know, stuff.

Me:  What kind of stuff?

S:  We hung out, I played with my brother, you know GUY stuff.

Me:  Oh.  Ex-cuuse me.  You had fun then.

S:  Yeeesss.  I said that.

He's 7.  Aren't we able to hold conversations?  And guy stuff?  Geesh.  He's becoming a teenager way to fast!

And so Cute Boy isn't left out...the doctor doesn't want him having any milk until we're sure this virus is gone.  And he's not happy.

CB:  Mommy, I wana milk.

Me:  How about tummy juice?  (Gatorade)

CB:  How bout milk?

Me:  Water?

CB: Milk

Me: Remember the dr said no more milk until your tummy is better.

CB:  Dr said milk make tummy betta

Me:  No silly.

CB:  I have milk in bug boy cup, no baba?

Me:  No milk.

CB:  But I no fro up today.  Tummy betta.

Hope you all have an awesome day!

*knock on wood*

I *think* hope that the virus that has been plaguing Cute Boy for a week now is gone.  *Fingers Crossed* He's got a cold that Spawn brought home from school, but I can deal with a cold.  Maybe.  As long as I don't get it.

Anyways.  That's taken up most, no make that all of my week.  Stupid virus.  Cute Boy is mad at me because he can't have any form of milk right now though.  And like I said before, he's slightly obsessed with pink milk.  So, we're having fun with that.

In other news I got a bunch of wooly mail and mama fluff this week!  Woot Woot!  I got in an order from a coop for Mosaic Moon yarn.  Yum.  That'll be turning into some hats and possibly sweaters sometime before winter.  I hope.  And I got in my Pink Lemonade mama cloth stash form another coop.  Double Yum.  I think I got in a total of 10 pads and liners.  Yay!  I went to take pictures, but apparently, as is a common occurance in my house lately, Sweet Nut found where I hide the camara (just for this reason) and stole the batteries out of it for his Wii controller.  So I need to go and get batteries, maybe I'll do that tomorrow.

It's late, so this post is going to be all over the place.  Bear with me.  I can't sleep, so you get to put up with me. :D

Do you like giveaways?  You know, putting in your name to possibly win something for nothing?

The you need to click here.  I've known Jess at My Silly Monkeys for over 5 years now.  OMG.  That's a little sad that it's been that long already!  Anyways, Jess and I met on a message board for pregnant mamas due in June 2005.  We became friends, even though we've never met IRL.  Her boys are close in age to my boys...with the exception that she's got 4 monkeys, and I have 3 goobers.  And she just had a baby girl!  (There's hope for me yet!).  Jess started her blog awhile ago...I really don't remember when.  But she's got the awesomest (is that a word?) giveaways!  You seriously need to go check it out.  She's got one going on right now for a Guidecraft Toy Box.  This toy box looks awesome!  But I want to win it so you shouldn't enter that one :P  Really though, check out www.mysillymonkeys.com.  (And if you win the toy box, remember to share :D)

I'm also working on a makeover...blogwise.  So if things look different the next time you come by, don't be skeered.

Night All!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The World Needs Heroes...

I'm reminded of this often.  It's the Archdiocese of NY's new slogan, if you will.  And my brother has a shirt that he often wears that has it on it.

I've been thinking about it alot lately.  Yes, the world does need heroes.  I'm thankful that my brother answered a call he got a long time ago.

You see, one of the common questions I get asked when I tell people that my brother is in the seminary, is when did he make his decision?  Is he SURE this is what he wants to do with his life?

I can't remember exactly how old he was when he made his decision.  I want to say around 3rd grade or so?  But he knew.

We come from what alot of people would call a deeply religious family.  My grandfather went to Mass daily.  My great aunt is a Dominican Nun.  Both my brother and I went to Catholic School, me from Kindergarten through 12th grade, my brother from Kindergarten through 2nd Grade.  We were both Acolytes or Altar Servers, in fact I was the first girl server in our parish.

That's where our similarities end though. I began questioning my faith sometime in high school, my brother's grew stronger.

Golden Boy has always had it easy at home.  9 times out of 10, I'd get blamed for whatever he did :P.  But in school, he didn't have it so easy.  He's classified as learning disabled.  It takes him longer to learn things, and he learns differently than I do.  Looking back now, I think this might have been part of the reason why he had it easy at home, because all day in school was a struggle.

You can't tell by looking at him that he's different.  And really, he's not.  Catholic school didn't have the resources to help him, and our public school wasn't the best place for him either.  My mom tried to home school him for a year, and I helped with some subjects she had a hard time with.  Then they found the Crossroads School.  This was the perfect fit for him.  Small class sizes, and individual attention.  And they taught to the student, not to the test.  Golden Boy excelled and ended up getting accepted to Landmark College in VT.  Again, another perfect fit for him.  My mom had become his advocate, and when college neared, she looked all over for schools who helped kids like Golden Boy.  Landmark is a 2 year college, and it gave Golden Boy the experience he needed to help him excel.

He's now in Iona, and doing great.  He's getting good grades, and enjoys school.

Backtracking for a second, I knew Golden Boy was "different" when he was around 9?  When most normal kids are playing house, cops and robbers, he was holding "mass" in his room.  He made up his own bulletins.  He put up a prayer schedule.

Golden Boy was thrilled when I moved out, because it meant that he could have my room and his room could be his "rectory".  So, yes, he got the Call at a very early age.  And accepted it.

In high school, he entered the Cathedral Prep program at the seminary.  It's a weekend program for high schoolers who are thinking about entering the priesthood.  Golden Boy looked forward to his weekends at the seminary and I believe sealed the deal that this was what he wanted.

I am proud of him.  It's taken him alot to get to where he is right now, and it's going to take alot to get to where he wants to be.  But, I truly believe that he'll get it.  I am 110% sure this is what he wants with his life.

Anyways, back to the world needing heroes...it DOES.  And not just priests!  We all can be a hero, even if it is just to one person.  And it doesn't matter what faith you are, we're all needed, just the same.  Whether is the homeschooling mom raising her children to be the best that they can be, or the seminarian answering his call, whether it's a person donating to help pregnant women and infants in places that need help, or a cub scout den donating food to the food pantry.  What can YOU do to be a hero?

And if you'd like, check out the videos at NYPriest

Monday, April 12, 2010

Not Me Monday!



Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not bribe Sweet Nut to let Cute Boy pick out a DVD after lunch for quiet/nap times by telling him that once his pukey, poopy sibling went to sleep he could have an ice cream cone.  Nope.  Not me!

I did not spend 10 extra minutes in the produce department this morning while Chef was at home with the mini goobers trying to find bananas, and then ended up needing to ask the stock boy where the heck bananas were.  Nope, Not Me! 

Who would then spend the next 15 minutes wondering why the heck they put the bananas in the back of the produce section near the onions, and not up with the rest of the fruit.  Not me!

Who would tell the minigoobers that they were getting smiley face sandwiches for lunch, that Mom usually makes with fruit faces, and then make them with fruit rollups?  Nope not me!

Who has told Sweet Nut he's going to be sold to the circus because he's so silly, that now anytime Spawn or Cute Boy ask where we're going, he says "To the circus, because Mommy is going to sell me to them" with a huge grin on his face, and totally excited about the prospect.  Not me!

So what haven't YOU done lately?


Sunday, April 11, 2010

Just another normal weekend, right?

Rashes, scrapbookin', throwing up...just another normal weekend for a mom.

Friday, Cute boy woke up with a raging red rash all the way around his neck and down his chest and shoulders.  Ped says it looks like poison sumac.  Yay.  Now we get to try and find WHERE he got it from so noone else gets it.

Saturday, after determining that the baby goober was indeed, ok, I went to an all day scrapbooking crop.  I used to scrapbook when Spawn was a baby.  Got one page done in Sweet Nut's book and stopped.  Found this awesome group on meetup back in the fall and this was my 3rd all day crop with them.  It was a blast, and I got quite a few pages done.  Somehow I'm missing pictures of Spawn's 3rd and 5th birthdays (I can't even remember what we did for them...bad mom.), Sweet Nut's 3rd birthday (hoping my mom has some, because I made a rocking cake for that party!) and Cute Boy's 2nd birthday...I might have been slacking and not taken pictures that day...  But the goobers and the chef were pleased with the new pages I did accomplish.  I have 4 books right now-one family one, and one for each of the goobers.

Came home with the mini goobers last night since Spawn was at his dad's, and got them ready for bed.  Chef came home, and I went to lay down with Cute Boy.  About an hour or so later I was woken up by that sounds that every mom dreads, and followed by the through 'Oh please, not on the bed!"  Knowing that the 3 year old probably didn't make it to the doorway, much less the bathroom, I just prayed it was on the floor.  Chef, came running in hearing retching, with a garbage can from the other room, paper towels.  Not only was the boy covered in it so was the blanket and the bed.  Blech.  We cleaned it up the best we could, sprayed the mattress and laid down a bunch of towels...because when Cute Boy's stomach is not cooperating, it's not a one time thing.  Dealt with the tantrum because we took "The Blanket" away because it was covered in puke.  He slept on and off for the rest of the night and I slept next to him and Chef was on the floor.  We got good at it though because the other 4 times he retched, we caught them with a towel or the garbage can.

Sunday, Cute Boy exclaims that his tummy is all betta and the itchies aren't so itchy today, so we drive Chef to work, and brave the grocery store to pick up his script cream (because they pulled up the wrong name in the pharmacy and said they needed to redo the script yesterday) and pick up some milk and stuff.  While we waited for the people in the pharmacy, Cute Boy declares that "My tummy hurts"  and he wants Spawn to take him to the potty.  Spawn looked less than thrilled, but said ok to avoid the tantrum we both knew would ensue.  They came out of the restroom, and Cute Boy declared himself all betta again, and Spawn said all they did was wash their hands?

Came home and the goober blessed me with 2 blowout diapers in less that 20 minutes.  This was bad because 1.  He decided that he needed to go potty, so I told him he could go without realizing the diaster that was hiding in the diaper.  and 2.  I had barely just gotten the clean diaper on and the bathroom clean.

BLECH.

After cleaning that up.  Again.  Cleaned myself up, and made some sandwiches for lunch.  Cute Boy downs his applesauce and then announces he's going to bed.  He was out like a light.  Still is.

Fun times in the Goober household this weekend.  Fun times.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Getting Involved in the World Around Us

Update:  Please please PULEASE go to MckMama's blog mycharmingkids.net, if you feel moved to help.  She's giving away a free wifi iPad to someone who donates to Compassion's Child Survival Program through the link on her page.  It's all about Barking Less and Wagging More.  

So, I read blogs.  I enjoy it.  Apparently you do to.  I mean, I didn't hold a gun and tell you to read this did I?

And I'm in awe and inspired by the ones I read.  I take suggestions from them and try and use them in my home and life.

One is a friend of mine.  She's a SAHM of 5 boys.  She homeschools.  She lives her faith.  Daily.  And she answers my questions :P.  She's part of the reason that I've come home to my Church.  I strive to be a bit like her.  She blogs about her boys, she blogs about things they are doing in school, she blogs about how she's celebrating the Liturgical Year.

Another is a person that apparently people either love or love to hate.  I happened to stumble on her blog via a sidebar link.  She's just a normal person.  She loves her husband and her children.  She has problems and she has celebrations.  But, recently, she's been inspiring, to me anyways.  MckMama and her husband left their children home and made a trip to Kenya with Compassion.  The things she describes that she saw are remarkable and unspeakable.  The living conditions of the places she visited shock you.  But the smiles in the pictures of the children are moving.  She helped many children get sponsored through Compassion.

Currently, we are not sponsoring a child.  We keep going through the lists, and wonder how do you chose just one?  We've been talking about it with the boys, and we'll be doing at least one from Southern Mexico, which would allow us in the future to visit.  Please, if you feel the need to help, go to Compassion's webpage and see the faces.  That's what sealed the deal for us.

Compassion is also starting a program to help pregnant mothers get the care they need and the change to feel God's love.  It's called the Child Survival Program.  Too many children are dying when they don't have to.

By being inspired to live our faith, and having the chance to share with our boys what MckMama has shared on her blog has reminded the Chef and I that there's things we can do to help.  It's helped us be able to teach our boys to love thy neighbor and to help when needed.  MckMama and I might not be of the same faith, we might not agree on everything, but she has inspired me to get my family WANTING to help.  I could just send a donation and be done with it.  But, I want my boys involved.  I want them to know that while God is Great, there are people suffering in the world.  I want them to be moved to help because it's what the Lord wants, not to impress anyone.

It's a hard lesson to learn, and it's one that I needed to be reminded.  I think that that sidebar link showed up just at the right time.

God works in mysterious ways, my friend.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

So, it's finally happened.

I didn't think I'd ever have this problem.  I mean c'mon I have 3 boys.  There's not much to cut.

But Sweet Nut has done it.

He cut his hair.

Now if you know Sweet Nut at all, you know he hardly had hair at 2.  Seriously, he has the slowest growing hair ever.  Cute Boy's grows like a weed.  Spawn's grows normally.  Sweet Nut's takes f.o.r.e.v.e.r. He get it trimmed around the back of his neck and around his ears twice a year.

This is at 1 year...not much there at all.
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This is him on his 2nd birthday. (Note: he hadn't yet had his first hair cut yet...or a trim for that matter)
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At 3.  Poor Kid.  After waiting forever for hair to come, he's got curly hair like mommy.  Lucky he's cute.
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This is him at Halloween this past year.  It hasn't changed much.
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So the other day, he was playing quietly in the living room.  Yeah.  I know.  That should have been my first clue, right?

So, he's got a few super short spots in the front.  His dad is supposed to be taking him to get it cut so he doesn't look like he was attacked by a weed wacker.  It's actually not THAT bad, but his dad was not happy.  He thought I did it on purpose.  Men *eye roll*


Anyways, pictures of the haircut to come soon.  If my computer decides to cooperate with me, that is.