Name that kid...

Which one of my darling daughters did or said the following...


* "He had a friend ask me out for him. Seriously{yes, they say it too}! I told his friend to tell him that when he could grow a pair of beach balls big enough to ask me himself that I may consider it. He so needs to grow a pair."


* Had a "virtual sleepover" via Skype.


* Said, he is such a jackdonkey!


* Was busted with industrial size rolls, yes plural, of toilet paper on her possession. I honestly had a hard time being mad at this one, after all, I was the TPing Queen back in the day! 


* Accused her Daddy of being gender confused when she caught him watching New Moon...again.


* Yelled, "Mom, she just nipple crippled me!" 


* Nipple crippled her sister. 


* Was caught well after "lights out" was called with a book and book light in bed with her.


* Watched a dog eat its own vomit because that was better than cleaning it up herself. 


* Taunted me behind her Daddys back when he "over-ruled" me. An evil grin, a silent giggle and the wrapping motion around her pinkie finger where all involved. For the record I over-ruled Daddys over-ruling! Babe and I had a good laugh over this, those girls of ours posses each of our personalities and it's hard to stay mad when they use our own game against us!  


These girls of mine keep me on my toes and I love every minute of it! 

A little more Straight Talk for a little less cash

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

I've talked to you already about our cell phone use. It's crazy! Like I said before Honey is always on her phone, Peanut texts like it's her job, Babe is on his all of the time for work and I may or may not have a slight attachment  issue with mine. I'm sure when people see us out for dinner they talk about us, we are on our phones more than we're not. I think I need to do something about that! 

Anyway, the people over at Straight Talk want me to tell you again about their incredible program. So I've made some bullet  points making it easy to see all of their benefits.

* How does cutting your cell phone bill in half sound? What would I do with an extra $200 a month? I'm thinking that's a trip a week to the chiropractor for an adjustment and an hour massage!

* Contracts. Who the heck needs those? 

* Phones by Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and LG to name a few. Smart phones are available too, check out this link, it will tell you everything you need to know and probably more.

* Unlimited call packages that include texting, picture massaging and web use for 12 months for $45! Trust me on this one, after all mom knows best!

* Free 411 calls and no activation fees. Yes, I said FREE!

*International long distance for those of you who want to  call a friend or a family member who's out of the country.

Still not sold? Well these people are! Check it out, what do you have to loose?!!?

Memories can and should last forever

I love taking pictures and preserving them for my family. The thought of my girls flipping through the scrapbooks that I have spent hours making for them makes me happy.

When I have the time to actually scrapbook my preference is old school paper and pictures in an album. But there are times when I want a small book of a certain event to set on a shelf. When that's the case I love digital scrapbooking. I also use my digital scrapbooking program to make all of my stationary, invitations and Christmas cards, I love creating beautiful cards!


I have a very unfriendly program that I honestly hate using but when I purchased it there were not many options for MAC. So when I was contacted by My Memories and asked to do a product review of their new program, My Memories Suite 2, I jumped at the chance.


I spent a couple of hours playing around with it and came up with the below pages. I'm going to go back and add pages from their past school days and continue adding throughout this year and give them each a book at the end of the year.

This will be the cover and the first inside page.

Since I like things to flow all of the pages inside will be a double page spread and the last page will match the first page with a picture of them on the last day of school. 

Well, what do you think? Both of the girls are into bright colors and cheetah print so this Princess Diva package was a perfect match. Now, if you don't like it and have nothing nice to say please say nothing at all. I'd hate to turn your snarky comment over to Vivienne for her to post on her hate mail blog!


I have good news... My Memories has given me a program to give away to one of my readers! To win all you have to do is visit their website and come back and tell me your favorite thing, the user friendliness of the website, a certain product etc. It's that easy, no flaming hoops to jump through here. I will add an extra entry if you like My Memories on FaceBook, {click here to do so} and another one if you tweet about my giveaway, just leave me a separate comment for each extra entry.


I have more good news... If you're not the lucky winner and want to purchase the program I have a promotional code for you to use that will save you $20, $10 off the program and $10 towards merchandise! Just enter MMS4Blog at checkout to receive your discount. This code never expires so feel free to share it with all of your friends! 


You. Are. Welcome!


I've included a video if you want more helpful information. I suggest letting it download then searching for what you want more information on {software screen tour, a tour of the website, information on how to create your album and information on how to use some of their tools}. 


Again. You. Are. Welcome!





Now go look around the website, tell all of your friends about my wonderful give away and come back to enter. I will close the contest on Monday, September 5th and will announce the winner later in the week. 


Good luck!

Just following up...

I had several posts last week that I thought I would just follow up on this morning.


Honey turned 17 two weeks ago and I did this post to celebrate,  I need to add another reason why I lover her so. She is full of sass and has no fear defending anyone she loves. I fear that one day it will get her trouble but in the mean time it's funny to watch. 

So when we found this shirt we had to get it!

I hate when people bring their dogs in places where dogs one don't belong and two are not allowed so I wrote this. 

While at the mall yesterday I saw this. Are you freaking kidding me?!!?

I also talked about Honey wanting a retro snapback hat. Several of you did not know what I meant by that so here is Honey's new non-ghetto, non-flatbill retro hat. It's a hot hat, it looks great on her and I paid $35 for it. Judge me if you want, go ahead but some things are worth it!

Bling cheetah and Fleur-De-Lis...oh make it stop! 

 This is a retro snapback hat, it's nothing more than an old school basic hat.

I'm thrilled to report that my lips no longer require a zip code of their own! Although I did make a horrible error when trying to sooth them. I reached into the draw under my computer and without looking grabbed what I thought was my chapstick. I was wrong, it was a glue stick! That will teach me to turn on the lights and look at what I'm doing from now on. 

Pucker up and kiss these all natural lips! I may need botox for my crowsfeet but restylane is not on my list of needs. 

No weekend is complete at the seriously house without a little softball. Like I said here Peanut is passionate about softball. She had another great weekend playing hard and being aggressive. She was a freaking rock-star at shortstop this weekend, she could use a little help getting out of her batting slump though, hopefully her batting lessons that start this week will help. It's tradition for our team to write their team name on the pitchers mound when they win the game. We played a team that was mad that we beat them so they kicked dirt over our name THREE times. Each time with the encouragement of their coaches! Poor sportsmanship is hard to handle but when I saw that it was being taught I was down right angry! Peanut rewrote it each time and would pump her chest out at the girl as if to say "I'm not skeered". For a minute I thought I was not only going to have to pull Peanut of that chick but her big sister who was getting all shades of pissed! I was happy when the umpire stepped in told the other team to back off but was disappointed when he went and cleaned off the mound. In my opinion he sent a mixed message to the girls by talking to other team but not allowing the winning team to follow tradition because of poor losers! 

This is what she looked like at the end of the day. She took a pitch to the thigh in the final game of the day then proceeded to get even with the pitcher by stealing her way around the bases and scoring the our run of the game. They may have lost but it wasn't due to lack of effort. Go number 21! 

I had fun following up, if you enjoyed it maybe this is something I will have to do more often. let me know... 

You are what you eat

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

I cannot begin to count how many times I heard my Mother tell me "One day you're going to turn into such 'n such, you are what you eat you know". Until I became a parent all I really heard her saying was blah-blah-blah. Sorry Mom!

I've learned through my 17 years of parenting that she was right. My girls act and feel better when they eat good food. The same is also true for my furbabies! I am very particular about what I feed my four-legged children, I need them healthy and happy for as long as possible. Having large breed dogs, especially German Shepherds, can be tricky sometimes, they need different things than those yippy little purse pals do! I don't feed them anything that isn't recommenced by my vet and it must have plenty of glucosamine in it for their hips. 

Feeding these 4 big babies isn't cheap, sometimes I fear I'll need to get a job to pay their food bill. Gasp, just the thought is making me itch! To help with that cost you can register with Hill's, the maker of Science Diet, and receive $30 in coupon offers. Who can't use an extra $30?

An added bonus to registering is that you will automatically be entered to be one of thirty lucky winners to receive free dog food for a year, that's a lot of kibble! I wonder if that's enough for 4 dogs? You can get all the details here Hill's Healthy Mobility Coupon. While you're there look into the Healthy Mobility Challenge, there's great stories of how feeding the right stuff, Hill's Pet Nutrition, has changed the lives of not only great dogs but their families too. I know I can tell a difference when my babies are eating healthy and Healthy Mobility food is a great way to make sure that's happening. 

$30 in coupons, a chance to win free dog food for a year and giving your dog all that it needs to live a healthy life, now that's a Win-Win-Win! 

I love when Jewel, my 10 year old has enough energy to play with Deja and Rogue! She may not be able to keep up but she loves to try! 

Now those are some healthy and happy dogs! 

 

Hill's Pet Nutrition on Facebook? Yep, they're on Facebook too, go like their page and while you're there search for me, I'll friend ya!

S is for softball on Saturdays!

Peanuts new softball team is playing in their third tournament this weekend. I'm hoping the effects of Irene will miss us and that we get a few wins today. The new team wears white pants, as sharp as they look white pants and wet red clay are not a good combination. So again, I am really hoping Miss Irene leaves us alone this weekend!

Peanut loves playing softball, she gives it 110%. When she's in she's in. You know she means business when the inside of her sports bra looks like this! 

She's super competitive, gets angry at herself {and possibly others} when she makes mistakes and has no problem getting dirty, in fact I think she enjoys it. She's a tough chick, look at the muscles in her arm! 

If anything gets past her, she is not a happy girl. She's the best short stop on the team. Butt down, glove to the ground! 

Her passion for the game always leaves me with the challenge of getting filthy white pants white again.

All I can say is that I am very grateful to my girlfriend Amy for telling me about Fels-Naptha!

I love that with a little elbow grease my my .97 bar of magic I can get her pants looking this white again. If you have a child that plays sports or just plain gets dirty having a bar of Fels-Naptha on hand is a must! I love it so much I included a bar with every uniform. 

I'll be at the fields all day today, we have games at 10:30, 1:30 and 4:30. It's going to be another long hot softball Saturday! 





I have not been compensated in any way for this post and all opinions are 100% mine. 

Friday Daydreamin'

I'm linking up again today with my girl Becca. Just in case you're unaware {believe it or not there are still a few of you} she is the creator of both The Texas Darlings and R We There Yet Mom?  


Friday Daydreamin' is a great way for me to look through old vacation pictures and go back in time. I love reliving the past...most of the time.


Five years ago we took a 2+ week vacation through California with a 2 day stay in the Grand Canyon. Babe had planned a day trip for us, it started with a helicopter ride into the basin of the Canyon, a small prop plane from point A to point B, a visit at an Indian reservation and a boat trip down the river. It was so sweet of him to go to such lengths to make sure his girls saw all they could while there but sadly the only thing Peanut saw was the inside of a white barf-bag. While her sister sat in the front of the helicopter taking video of the beautiful scenery Peanut clung to me heaving with all that she had. All. Day. Long. The genuine look of horror on her little face when she realized in order to get back to the hotel she would have to get back on the boat, the prop plane and finally the helicopter was heart breaking. It was so sad that Babe tried to pay the helicopter pilot to fly us all the way back, it was not an option.

I love how innocent she looks in this picture and her one dimple is just too adorable! 

I glad I get to do this every week, my favorite vacation picture changes each time I look through them. What about you, what's your favorite vacation picture...today? Go find it and then link up with Becca. 

Muah!

We all know the ever so famous Angelina! 

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And most of us remember Fat Albert's friend Mushmouth? 

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But who's this? 

Well if you guessed me then you're absolutely correct. That would be the after effects of not wearing sunscreen on my lips while in the sun both Saturday and Sunday. Needing something on my lips and forgetting my SPF lip balm behind I had no other choice but to use my lip gloss. Basically what I was doing with each application was applying baby oil and iodine to my lips! As a result that is what I looked like when I woke up Monday morning. I have been coating my lips almost non stop with Burt's Bees medicated lip balm and I am happy to report that the swelling has finally gone away but in it's place is a scabby, peeling, oh so sexy lower lip!  I think it's safe to say that I have most defiantly learned my lesson and will from this point forward always have SPF lip balm in my beach bag! 

I'm too sexy for my lips...

Retro? Seriously!

Retro according to my Google search is as follows - Adjective: Imitative of a style, fashion, or design from the recent past. Noun: Clothes or music whose style or design is imitative of those of the recent past.


To me retro means old, way older than "recent past", definitely way older than something I wore 25 years ago. I may be 41 but I'm not old enough, in my opinion, to call anything that I once wore retro! 


So you can imagine my disdain when my conversation last night with Honey went a little something like this.


Me: Hey I saw your FB status { i want a snapbackkk andd I can't find a cutee one i like. :{ } what's a snapback? And why do you insist on using extra letters?!!?


Honey: Really Mom, again with the letters? A Snapback is a hat.


Me: A hat?


Honey: Yes, a hat.


Me: I'm confused?


Honey: You know a snapback- she says this while simulating clipping a hat around the back of her head and never taking her eyes off her laptop- a hat that snaps in the back. 


Me: Oh... 


Honey: Yeah, I want a cool snapback but all I can find are flat bill ghetto ones. Seriously, why is it so hard to find a cute retro hat?


Me: Did you just call the type of hat that I wore when I was your age retro?


Honey: Crickets....




Seriously! Is this a case of if the shoe fits wear it? Who is off here me or her? By the way, if you value our friendship at all you will totally know that was a rhetorical question! 


Retro my ass!

I need a purse big enough for Rogue

I am so tired of seeing people carrying their little dogs over their shoulder in a purse that I could scream! Why do these people think it's ok to bring their dogs into public places? This right is reserved for those who need a service dog only not those who think they are above the rules. I would much rather bring Rogue with me when I leave, I hate locking him in his cage, but since he's not a service dog he cannot come with me. It's really that simple!


While at the mall doing some back to school shopping last week we ran into the food court to get something to drink. As we walked past Sbarro Pizza I noticed a lady holding a dog in her arms talking to the workers behind the counter. The fact that she had her dog in a public place irritated me. The fact the she had it in the food court disgusted me. The fact that the girl working behind the counter was leaning over the beverage area, where all of the on ice drinks are kept, petting the dog infuriated me! 

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To quote JK-The Hell You Say!


While the girls and I stood in line for our drinks she walked behind us with her little dog stuffed in her purse. She did nothing to hide the fact that she was breaking the law and acted as if she was doing nothing wrong. I could feel myself becoming more and more agitated with this chick so I was more than thrilled when I saw mall security approach her and tell her she would have to leave the mall.


In a very annoying high pitch whine she said, "Reaaaaallly? Come on, he's not hurting anyyyyythinnnng. Whoooo ratted me out?" He replied, "pretty much everyone in the food court ma'am, you cannot have a dog in a public area, especially where food is being prepared and served, it's against county health codes". This is when I turned around and said, if I can't bring my 90 pound German Shepherd in here you shouldn't be able to bring your little dog in here either, especially where people are eating! 


I was successful in not only sticking my nose in business that was not mine to medal in but I mortified my children to boot. Score! 


Please tell me if I'm wrong on this one. Why do people assume it's ok to bring their dogs with them where dogs do not belong? I'm gonna start searching the web right now for a purse big enough to carry Rogue around in. 

He'd look pretty BA in this dontcha think?

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On second thought carrying him around all day will be tough on my back. I think this is a better choice.

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17 reasons why I love Honey

My friend Becca from The Texas Darlings did this post in April, I knew right away I would be doing a similar post when my daughters celebrated their next birthdays. Thanks Becca for the great idea {giving credit where credit is due is not very hard!}.


Today my Honey is turning 17. To celebrate here are pictures of Honey on each of her birthdays {or very close} and 17 reasons why I love her so! 

1. Your smile is contagious! Even at one you could light up a room with that infectious smile! 

2. You're caring and gentle. Your need to take care of anything started at two. To this day you always root for the underdog, cry for the hurting and give to the needy. Your decision to work with special needs children came as no surprise. Your heart is pure!

3. Your eyes tell it all. I can tell if you're being mischievous, sincere or straight up lying to me by looking into those big brown eyes of yours! 

4. You walk to the beat of your own drum. 99% of the time you could care less what others think of you. This picture was taken while you were singing and dancing in the rain down Disney's Main Street. You were a spectacle to say the least especially when you stopped in the middle of your show to pick your nose!  

5. You are bossy love to run the show. We don't call you Julie the cruise director for nothing. To assure everyone was having a good time and singing to you just the way you wanted you conducted your own happy birthday song. 

6. You're an incredibly wonderful big sissy! From the time you were old enough to understand what a little sister was you wanted one. I'm sure there are days when you would like to rethink that request but for the most part I know you love her! 

7. You are generous. Your true desire to help others developed when you were 7. This was the first year you had a charity birthday party. I know with certainty that we will never forget this birthday! You made sure every child at local abuse centers had a birthday present to open {gifts from your friends} and you brought in cake {donated from a local grocery store}, ice cream and a full pinata {also a gift}. Being told the definition of abuse was not the same as seeing it first hand, the black and blue marks, split lips, broken arms and the Mom on crutches sent you running to the kitchen crying but did not stop you from completing your mission of given those kids {some their very first} a birthday party. 

8. You love animals. If you had your way we'd have more than we do {Lord help me!}. You loved taking Gator into the show ring and you were a natural at it. I'm sad you gave it up after he died! 

9. You're a beach bum just like your Mommy! I love that we can go to the beach for hours together and just sit and read. 

10. You're adventurous and will try anything once. I'm very thankful there's a minimum age on skydiving, I now only have 364 days until I need to worry about that!

11. You're creative. You can come up with some pretty crazy and fun ideas. Like your fish birthday. Everyone went home with a fish with blue stones and a blue bow around the bowl. I'm thinking I wasn't very popular the next day with the other Moms! 

12. You're a Daddy's girl. I'd love to say that you're my girl but I would be straight up lying. You love your Daddy fiercely and have him exactly where you want him. In his eyes you can do no wrong! 

13. You're persuasive. Whether you're trying to talk your way out of something or rallying your family and friends for a good cause you generally get what you want. When you heard that our troops over seas needed things to occupy them during their time off you jumped on it.

14. You are super photogenic and have a great sense of style! Not many people can sit on a dirty window ledge wearing yellow shoes and make it look this good.

15. You know how to have a good time. You can go from looking like a million bucks to...

...being a good sport in a flash. 

16. You learn from your mistakes. You've made your share, a few have given me grey hair and wrinkles, but you have learned and grown from them which is the true measure of a person. Everyone make mistakes but not everyone recovers so beautifully!

17. You're endearing. I haven't meet a person yet that doesn't like you. You have such a likability about you and you're comfortable, everyone just loves you! 

Somehow you have gone from this...

...to this in the blink of an eye.

I'll be honest, I'm not so sure I'm ok with it. I do know that I am proud of the person you have become and I thank God every day for gifting me on my 24th birthday with the best present ever, I am truly blessed! 


Happy 17th birthday Honey, I love you!