****disclaimer: my Mother is wonderful and this post in no way implies otherwise, it is merely meant to illustrate how life works and is not intended to slander my Mom.****

The other day we were driving to Target to pick up a few things. Jacob began his usual unending list of questions, half of which even God would have trouble answering.

One of his questions was: “can we look at the toys?”

I told him: “no, we’re going to be quick and just get what we need.”

Now, I realize he’s 4 and that the last time we went to Target he got to spend his coloring contest money so now his view of Target is skewed…he thinks he “gets stuff” at Target.

He responded: “but I want to get a toy.”

I told him: “No, we don’t get toys every time we go to the store.”

“Why,” he asked? (duh, knew that one was coming)
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…this is THE life.

Ok ladies, you may not admit it, at least not as blatantly as I have, but men (and boys) cannot seem to avoid peeing on the floor even when aiming for the toilet. It happens in my house all the time and I’m sure if there are male type persons in yours, you experience it too.

And yes….I said pee. Out loud.

So, I have the solution to your problem:

How to Keep Men from Missing the Toilet

Isn’t it funny how sometimes the most brilliant ideas are often the simplest?

…are soon parted.

My husband was hit by a woman (whom he refers to as a hillbilly) who pulled out of a gas station and wasn’t paying attention. They are telling us that it is likely that his truck is totaled because it looks like the frame may be bent. The insurance will not spend more to fix it than it is worth. We’re not thrilled about that. It was 8 years old but still running like a champ, plus he really does (or did) like his truck.

The best news of all is that the woman who hit him was not only NOT insured, she was driving on a suspended license for not being insured. I really feel sad for the 3 kids she had in the car and the 1 on the way.

And for Ed’s truck, of course….

5 Minutes for Mom has yet another series of giveaways going on. The deadline to enter is May 7, 2008. Click the image to the left for more information and to enter the contests. There are 14 all together (hence, the two weeks part). Again, entry is usually as simple as a response/comment to their contest post. You need to enter each one separately.

From their site, the giveways are:

1. For our first giveaway, we are starting off with a huge giveaway from Playskool. We are giving away THREE Rose Petal Cottages, THREE Kid Motion Easy Dunk Basketballs, and TWO Made For Me Day To Dream Soothers.
2. For our second giveaway, we are celebrating LEGO® CITY by giving away a LEGO® CITY Police Headquarters.
3. Our third giveaway is for a bébéPOD® PLUS baby seat. Comfy, fun and oh so handy - this is an essential piece of Olivia’s baby gear. This contest is open to both Canadian and US shipping addresses.
4. Our fourth giveaway is for the fun, new, creation from Hasbro - Martian Matter. Kids can mold aliens and then play with them in the spaceship. Jackson loves this super cool toy.
5. In our fifth giveaway, your baby will be hopping and bouncing when they win their choice of either the ExerSaucer® 1-2-3 Tea for Me™ Active Learning Center™ or the ExerSaucer® Mega Farm™ Active Learning Center™. This contest is open to both Canadian and US shipping addresses.
6. The sixth giveaway, will have 30 winners! We’re giving away thirty Nerf N-Strike Recon CS-6 Blasters! Do your kids want to burn off some energy? Enter to win one of these Nerf Blasters. This contest is open to both Canadian and US shipping addresses.
7. Our seventh giveaway will also have a ton of winners… 46 to be exact. We have one Easy Bake Oven to giveaway and FORTY FIVE Mix and Measure kits for 45 runner ups. (In honor of Easy Bake’s 45th anniversary.) This contest is open to both Canadian and US shipping addresses.
8. The eighth giveaway in this event is for a Step 2 Canopy Wagon. You’ll love towing your tot in this sun-smart wagon. This contest is open to both Canadian and US shipping addresses.
9. The ninth giveaway is again from Step 2. The prize is a choice of a River Run Waterpark with Umbrella or a Sand and Water Cart or a Fun Flow Play Sink. This contest is open to both Canadian and US shipping addresses.
10. Our tenth giveaway is for an award winning ride-on-toy called the Wheely Bug®. The winner can choose their style and size of Wheely Bug®. This contest is open to both Canadian and US shipping addresses.
11. In our eleventh giveaway the winner will receive three adorable doll clothes outfits from Emily-Rose.
12. Our twelfth giveaway is for all you PlayStation 2 owners. We are giving away the fun, family video game, Buzz! Jr. Robo Jam.
13. For our thirteenth giveaway, we have another huge Hasbro giveaway. This time we have a wide assortment of toys that are all under $20. They all make great gift giving ideas - so check out this contest and get stocked up on ideas for upcoming birthday buying. This contest is open to both Canadian and US shipping addresses.
14. Our final contest is for an assortment of toys, including Sophie the Giraffe, from The Funky Monkey Baby Boutique. This contest is open to both Canadian and US shipping addresses.

Go get to entering!

5 Minutes for Mom is having a series of contests in honor of Mother’s Day which is May 11, 2008. Click the image to the left for more information and to enter the contests. The giveaways include a Kodak ESP 3 All-in-One Printer and a book titled “The Mother Factor by Dr. Stephan Poulter. Entry into the contests are pretty easy and usually just involve making a comment on the particular blog post that describes the giveaway. The deadline to enter is May 9, 2008.

There is also a $1,000 prize for a motherhood inspired photo contest to show what motherhood means to you.

My entry to the photo contest:

I chose that photo out of the literally thousands of my kids and family because it shows the unpredictability of motherhood - the kind of unpredictability that inevitably, no matter how frustrated you get, makes you laugh. This picture is from 2005 when Jake was 15 months old. He is 4 now and I remember seeing him sitting there under that basket watching The Wiggles through the mesh like nothing was out of the ordinary. The look he gave me when I returned with the camera, combined with the static electricity in his hair just says it all!

5 Minutes for Mom is a great blog and resource site for moms. They have an incredible amount of useful and interesting resources for shopping, parenting, entertainment and other topics.

Currently they are running a contest to win a bike trailer, but this is no ordinary bike trailer that one would think of for the kiddies that they sit in and you pull behind your bike. This trailer is called The Caboose and is a stable two-wheel trailer bike for children or adults who cannot otherwise ride a bicycle.

For more information about the contest and the bike trailer, you can go to the contest page/post titled: You’ll want to spread the word about this very Special Giveaway…. If you are a blogger and link to the contest in a similar manner as I have done (see their post for details) you have a chance to win a feature interview and one free month of advertising on 5 Minutes for Mom.

Last month our local newspaper ran a coloring contest sponsored by a “Prevent Child Abuse Council.” It was titled “When Paerents Nurture Kids Blossom.” Our son enthusiastically entered, having won an Easter basket in a coloring contest when he was around two. He sat at the kitchen table and colored his picture without a break (well, maybe a potty break or two), and was very excited to mail in his entry.

Well, last week we got a call telling us he won second place for his age group and received a $75 gift card to Target. The winners were published in this Sunday’s paper. A four year old boy has very little concept of how much money $75 really is, but we went to Target to spend it. He seemed to understand that he could buy a few things with his card but really had trouble grasping that $75 is a lot of money but it goes fast! What an ordeal! We must have spent two hours picking out things and putting others back. We finally left with a game for his Leapster, a car from the Disney movie Cars, roller skates, a skating helmet, and knee and elbow pads. He seemed very pleased with his purchases.

Later I’ll have to recount his first experience using his new skates….it had to hurt!

The design of “What’s That Smell” is based upon a theme called ‘Night Whimsy’ by Scribblescratch. Scribblescratch is also known as Teresa and Teresa is holding a new contest over at her personal blog. Those entering have a chance at winning a lovely and uniquely designed dandelion handbag by Rebecca Weis. Teresa is willing to ship this item anywhere, so anyone can participate.

Even if you are not interested in the handbag, her site is worth checking out. Her artwork and photography are fantastic, and every new free blog theme she releases makes me consider re-designing this site based upon her new themes.

Check it out and maybe you’ll win a bag!

By the way, as an ‘Accidental Mommy’ handbags generally aren’t my thing, but that one is cute (did I seriously say that?) and I’ll do anything to NOT carry a diaper bag!

I’m sure everyone has seen this logo on the tops of cereal boxes and other food and household products. I know I have been seeing it for years but certainly never did anything with them, just threw them away right along with the rest of the box. I either didn’t have kids or didn’t pay attention because they weren’t old enough for school. A list of all the participating products can be found in the All About Box Tops section of the Box Tops for Education website.

We recently have begun to consider school for our son and are faced with the current economic crunch which some call a recession. All we know is that prices are rising and it doesn’t seem like the money coming in is keeping up with all the increases. Along with that, it seems that not a day goes by that our local paper doesn’t talk about property taxes and that the current cuts (we’re in Indiana) are going to cause a severe hardship on school budgets. Because of all this, we began to pay attention to those little pink and yellow logos and cut them out. We save them in a little plastic bag in the cabinet.

Our local schools participates in the Box Tops for Education program. You can see if your school participates by clicking the How much has your school earned? button. You may have better luck typing the school name and state in as opposed to using the zip code search. The zip code search brought up over 300 listings and did not include the particular school my son will be going to but typing the school name and state found it. Once you select the local school, you will see some information regarding the school’s earnings to date. If you register for free on the site you will be able to get some additional info regarding their goals and the contact information for the local coordinator so you know where to drop off your collected box tops.
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“How do you connect crayons back?” Jacob asked me crying because the tip of a brown one fell off.

“You don’t put them back together sweetie,” I said, half laughing.

He became very obstinate and more upset and said loudly through tears and a runny nose: “YOU CAN JUST PUT TAPE ON IT!”

I tried desperately to convince him that we could throw away the tip and sharpen the rest of it but he was convinced the tape would work.

He ran down the hall yelling “WE CAN JUST PUT TAPE ON IT!” and returned with the Scotch tape.

“It’s not going to work, we’ll get you a new brown crayon,” I said.

He looked so pathetic that believe it or not I actually caved and taped the stupid crayon. In the process I broke more of it off and the whole thing ended up wrapped in tape.

The other day he broke a piece of chalk and insisted I get some “Mighty Putty” to put it back together. I’m drawing the line there…………

Kohls.com has a fantastic price on the Chicago Cutlery 12-pc. Walnut Forged Cutlery Set.

The regular price is $219.99, most places on the web are selling it around $100 to $120. Kohl’s.com has it for $21.99.

If you have a Kohl’s charge you can use the following coupons to make it $18.69 plus tax with free shipping:
EXTRAMVC15 for 15%
MVC6008 for free shipping

If you do not have a Kohl’s charge you can use the following coupon to make the price $24.79 because they have $5 shipping:
NEW9710 for 10% off

Here is the link to the product:
Chicago Cutlery 12-pc. Walnut Forged Cutlery Set