Talk Straight 2 me!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Gone are the days of using a pay phone or leaving Mom and Dad a hand written note as to where you are! As a result many of us are faced with multiple cell phone bills. Not being able to get in contact with my girls any time makes me a bit crazy but that luxury comes with a price tag!

I have gone from 2 cell phones to 3. From only 2 of those users being texters to all 3 texting. Honey texts   like it's her job and Peanut is quickly approaching the same status. It's a beautiful thing! The bills can be enough to cause a bead of sweat to form on my upper lip!

"I need a new phone" is something that I dread hearing especially when I'm only half way through the 2 year contract. Man, I wish contracts where a thing of the past. Lucky for me they are!

Look what I found...Straight Talk 2

1,000 minutes...1,000 texts...30 MB of web data...those crazy expensive 411 calls are also included...all for $45 a month...SIGN ME UP!
Now there are a few stipulations and most phones are reconditioned and start at $10 but that includes a mp3 player, camera and more. I don't know about you but that's more than my 11 year old needs!

Does all of this sound too good to be true? Yeah, I thought so too. Go check it out for yourself, I've given you several links to choose from below, you can call me and say thanks when your cell bill comes in!

hook, line and sinker
call a friend
everything you need
mom knows best

Return from R&R

So I've been back from paradise, other wise known as North Captiva Island, for 3 days and I'm so ready to go back! It was such an incredible little vacation, we were surrounded by beauty, good friends and lots of laughs! 

This was our home away from home for 5 days, Casa La De Da. It was a 2 minute walk to the beach, had one of only a handful of pools on the island and 5 full baths-a real must with all if the girls we had in tow!

Our days usually started off like this, 9 Mommies and Daddies setting up camp for the day at the beach.

Peanut was a real Jacques Cousteau. She found the biggest conch I've ever seen, along with a huge hermit crab, sand dollars, countless intact clam shells, crabs, a seahorse and was able to swim with a manatee! Of course anything still living was left behind as it should be.

Honey, being the oldest of the girls {they ranged from 7 to almost 17}, needed a little away time. I found her camped out on a sand dune reading! 

One of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen! The timing of the pelican flying by was uncanny.

Drift wood, perfect shells, natural sponge and sea urchins where a common sight.

We took the boats to cabbage Key for breakfast {$300 thank you very much} one morning and the girls had to hang their dollar bill on the infamous restaurant walls. Several thousand dollars falls off the walls each year, it can be inches thick in places, and it is all given to charity! 

This was the night the ladies snuck out for a few drinks. The bar was closed at 8:45,  at least I got a great picture of the full moon.

Hanging out on a sandbar hoping to see some more friendly sea life.

My beautiful girls enjoying our last sunset.

Honey said she was going to go the entire time with no makeup, blow dryer or flat iron and she did it! Now all I need to do is convince her she doesn't need them ever.

No cars are allowed on the island. The big girls could of cared less, they had golf carts!

I've had a bust few days and have more craziness coming this week. It's a good thing one of my besties is here for a brief visit...lunch with Natalie tomorrow! 

This is the life!

I'm still in paradise!

Yesterday while floating in the water a seahorse came to visit us. That is something I have never experienced in all my years in Florida. It was the coolest thing I've ever seen. It wrapped it's little tail around Peanuts finger and once we were all done looking at him she unwrapped him and he swam off. Hopefully the pictures we took with the underwater camera will turn out!

Less than five minutes later we had another visitor. This guest was quit a bit larger, like 600 pounds larger! Again we were just floating in the water when a manatee came up for air right in the middle of us. It was like he wanted to get in on the conversation. I've seen manatees before but never while I was in the water. This gentle giant hung out with us for close to an hour, he had no fear of us what-so-ever. Several times we actually touched him. The water was murky, courtesy of the full moon, so we were unable to see him until he was just inches from the surface. I actually stood on him twice which truth be told freaked me out just a little. Again, I hope the picture turn out!

I love this island and the friends we are here with. This is most definitely something we will be doing again!

If I had an extra $10,000...

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PBM Products for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

There is no need for me to worry about baby formula any more...thank you Jesus! But my Nephew and his wife will be making the decision about what to feed their sweet little girl in just a few more months. 

Yes, that's right I'm going to be a Great-Aunt. Again! They already have two boys so I am thrilled they are having a girl! 

It really does seem like just yesterday I was mixing a bottle for Honey, now she's talking a language I barely understand. Dual enrollment, PSAT, SAT, ACT, college applications, out of state tuition, BA, Masters, apartments... all I'm hearing is I need more money, that's not enough, time for a loan, second mortgage and we're broke! It's really starting to freak me out! 

Luckily for my nephew, and other new parents, there's a new program that Parents Choice has just launched that is going to help one lucky winner remove $10,000 worth of stress when this time comes for them. All they need to do to enter is go to Parent’s Choice Infant Formula Savings Sweepstakes  and fill out a simple form. That's all it take to  enter the sweepstakes. 

It's been a while since I've had to worry about formula, as a result I don't know a thing about any of it  but what I do know is that I wish I had the choice of a equally as nutritious formula for half the price almost 17 years ago! It would have been nice to run into Wal-Mart grab my Huggies and formula and come out with a enough change for a Route 44 Diet Dr. Pepper! And when Peanut was little and pitching a fit big enough to make some rude woman yell "shut that kid up" ordering it online at www.walmart.com would have been even better! 

Entering was easy. Yes, I said entering. I needed to check things out first so I entered Honey. Shhhh,  I don't think they know she gave up her bottle a long time ago! If you want to enter you need to jump on it, it ends  August 1, 2011. Once you've entered you'll be given the opportunity to earn more entries by sharing the information with friends and family, for once being a big mouth could be a good thing!

What do you have to loose other than a possible $10,000? 

OH, you're welcome!

Extra Extra Read All About It!

I have WWTKW news...


Today will be my last Wednesday co-hosting this fabulous link party. 


Thank you for at least pretending to be sad!


There are a lot of variables that go into hosting/co-hosting a linky and I guess I just didn't see them all very clearly. I am leaving because I simply do not have the time, or the desire to make the time-it is summer ya know, to give WWTKW 100%. I don't like doing things if I cannot do them to my full capability, it makes me feel guilty and that is not what this linky was meant to do. 


Mamarazzi, Janette and Impulsive Addict are all wonderful ladies and I have enjoyed working with them! They know how I feel about them, I can only hope the feeling is mutual. 


Mamarazzi and I are still hosting our monthly vlog, which is a good thing because I love her smile and her laugh! Her blog is a well oiled machine and will hardly even notice my absence although I hope she does! 


Janette will keep juggling a job, a blog, a husband and her beautiful children {I do not know how she does it all}. Janette, I'll be by when I can, I don't want to miss the arrival of that new baby girl of yours!  


Impulsive Addict will keep doing what she does best, if she ever gets out of the pool long enough to do it. And she will always, always be one of my very best IRL friends! 


That being said I will still be answering this weeks questions so before you head off to answer your questions and link up here are my answers to Mamarazzi's questions...


1.} Which activites make you lose track of time? Hands down the computer. Whether it's my blog, email or Facebook I can loose hours sitting in front of my computer!


2.} Is there such a thing as perfect? Well, clearly there is and Babe was able to recognize it...he did marry me!


3.} When do you feel most like yourself? When I am surrounded by my family and best friends. They know me and my heart better than I do most times. They know what every eye roll and smart ass comment means. They see me without my hair a mess and no make up on and they still love me! 


4.} Describe your life in a 6 word sentence. Never a dull moment & {not a word} loving it!


5.} Share one of your most beloved childhood memories. I don't know that I have just one. I really had a perfect childhood. But if I had to choose one thing it would be that my parents took us on a family vacation every year. We would load up the green station wagon, hitch on the pop-up camper and head off for 10 days of family fun. I am such a lucky girl, God has blessed me more than I deserve!



There it is, my last WWTKW as a co-host. I'll be linking up when I can and look forward to seeing you when I do! 

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I should be so embarrassed!

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I hope you're prepared for todays vlog, it's gonna be a good one!

I love doing the monthly vlog with Mamarazzi. Maybe it's because I'm a wee bit narcissistic and like to be on camera, whatevah!  It's fun to let y'all see who I am almost live and in person and I enjoy seeing and hearing all of you. 

I promise you will think I'm a horrible mother at one point {maybe more} during this video. I also promise that I am not as big of a bitch as it seems. Peanut had been driving me insane all morning, I had asked for 5 minutes to take care of the video before we made our rainy day plans and well, you can see how well that went...

Thanks again Mimi for this months challenge! If you have a suggestion for August's vlog let us know, it could be you getting all the credit next month!

It's the little things that thrill me sometimes!

I'll admit it, I'm a packaging whore. If a company puts together a package that looks good I'll buy it. If it promises to do something fabulous, even it it's something that I highly doubt, but it's presented in a cool way I'm in! I am a marketers dream girl!


Take this for example. I have oily skin and it always looks shiny in pictures so I need to wear a flat foundation primer under my make up. I also have yellow bags under my eyes and red spots around my nose and cheeks {how my husband has willingly kissed me good-bye every morning for almost 19 remains a mystery!}. This product says it will balance out all of those skin colors and prime the skin at the same time, so I bought it! Does it work? Kind of. Honey actually likes it more than I do, but it looks really cool in my makeup bag!  That's all that really matters anyway right?

credit

Then there's this.  A self tanner where you can dial in the amount of color you want! How cool is that? Will it make me Oompa-Loompa orange? IDK but again, it looks cool! 

credit

This last product I just had to have! It is super cool {yeah, I said super cool when talking about a zip lock bag, cuz I'm a big dork}! Multi use ziplock bags. Shut The Front Door!  I seriously love these things! 

I know, I know but really sometimes it's the little things that get me through the day!

All opinions are solely mine and I was is no way compensated by any of the above companies.

Humpty Hump

All right! Stop whatcha doin' 'cause I'm about to ruin the image and the style that ya used to...


It's Wednesday Hump-day and that means it's time for WWTKW. I guess you could always...


drink up all the Hennessey ya got on ya shelf...


but really this is way more fun. Plus all the cool kids like Janette, Impulsive Addict , Mamarazzi and I are doing it! So grab the button below, make sure to give a shout out to each of the above hostesses, post to your WWTKW post not your blog and just try to make it through the day without singing The Humpty Dance, I dare ya! 


Janette, with a little help from her friends Home Sick Cajun {question #1}, Living the Lindicious Life {questions #2}, A Bunch of my Nonsense {questions #3} and Nine-Ninety-One {question #4} want to know...

1.} Name five of your favorite blogs that you're reading.
2.} When you were a young child or teenager, did you have an idea of how many children you wanted and what their names would be? Did you follow through on your ideas?
3.} What is the silliest thing you fight with someone over? {could be your spouse, siblings, parents, co-workers etc...}
4.} What is your favorite scent that other's may not find very nice? {ie:gasoline, sweat from your sweetie, etc...}
5.} Thoughts on plastic surgery? Had it? Want it? Regrets?


Now before you race off to write your post here are my answers...


1.} I will be honest with you {my honestly is one of the reasons you love me right?}. I'm a big fat bloggy loser lately. All of my must reads on my sidebar ------------------------------> 
and I'm doing good to get to those on a regular basis, adding more just seems like an impossibility. It's summertime, the beach is my girls are calling my name what can I say! 


2.} I remember that I was going to have a dark haired, black eyed little girl named Samantha Jo, after my        Pop-Paw, Samuel Joseph. Sadly, my old hag of a big sister beat me to it and now I have a beautiful dark haired blue eyed niece named Samantha Jo! 

Here I am with my two sisters and said niece.

Sammie and I with the Stiff Cowboy, what can I say, he couldn't help himself! More crazy pictures of that trip can be found here and a video here.

3.} I really only fight with my kids and that's almost always about them fighting. Does anyone else see the asshatery in that?!!?


4.} I was going to go with the smell of snowmobile or school bus exhaust in the winter but in my attempt to always say it how it is I'll fess up and tell you it's my dogs paws. 


5.} If it makes you feel better about yourself and no one gets hurt in the process than I say hell to the yes! I haven't had botox in about 2 years. I think I'm about due, the crows feet around my eyes and wrinkles on my forehead agree! Trust me, if I hadn't spent all our money on a new kitchen I'd be sporting a nice, round, perky pair of boobies with some fresh botox! If I don't wear a bra 24/7 my eyes get all dried out, you know from my saggy ta-tas pulling my eyes down...


Just one more thing before you leave. Please, please, please {yes, I'm begging} enable your pop-up comment window it really makes commenting so much easier. If you don't know how here's one more link it will help you every step of the way.


MUAH and happy Wednesday Humpty-Hump 
Hump-Day Y'all! 

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Don't be embarrassed!

I cannot believe that it is already the 4th of July! With all of the craziness that has consumed me the last week or two I let it completely slip up on me. I even failed to bring any decoration down or set out my 4th of July plates and napkins, you know how I love my seasonal plates and napkins. I know, I know, the horror! 


We have made some wonderful new friends through Peanuts softball team and we are spending the day with them. Wait for it...AT THEIR HOUSE!  I cannot even begin to tell  you how nice it is to not be the one doing the entertaining for once! Don't get me wrong I love to have my friends over, having a house full of the people I love makes me happy but this will be such a treat! 


Like I said it has been really busy here. Things haven't slowed down since the first week of June and I seem to be forgetting a lot. 


* I almost forgot Peanuts half birthday. Who am I kidding, I did forget until I overheard her saying to someone on the phone that I had forgotten. Yep, no need to enter the 2011 Mother of the Year contest, I already have it in the bag! I put something together last minute {she has no clue it was thrown together} and will share that later this week. 


* I also forgot all about July's VLOG. I usually vlog my vlog reminder but I've decided to save you all the pain and suffering of seeing me in my current state, I'm fresh from the pool with wet hair and sunburned cheeks. You.Are.Welcome!


July's vlog is right around the corner, on the 12th to be exact, and thanks to Mimi at Living in France Mamarazzi and I have a great theme this month, most embarrassing moment. Following suit with that the show and tell portion is to share something that you would be embarrassed by if someone found it in your house. Think can opener in the closet or can of soup in the office {I love you Natalie} not something in the nightstand. Well, I guess you can think that if you want but that's not what Mimi meant...or maybe it is! See you all on the 12th!

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Happy 4th of July!