If you are in the market for a Britax Car Seat, The Land of Nod has a deal going with free shipping and a FREE $25 gift card with purchase.
Ends July 1, 2008
I don’t know about you, but when I hear the letters “RV” as in recreational vehicle, this is what I picture:
Cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation.
Not necessarily in a bad way though. RV’s intrigue me. I’ve never been in one that I can recall and I’ve seen some on TV that are nicer than my house! Eventually we plan on getting one so we can pack up the family and drive all over the country. Because tents are evil. Bugs like them.
Anyhow, did you know some RV’s have bathtubs, toilets and sinks like a regular bathroom (I’d hate to be driving behind one….)?
New RVs, especially the higher end ones will put you in the lap of luxury. Check out one for only $760,000: 2008 American Coach American Heritage! For us normal people you can get a pop-up pull behind your vehicle kind for under $10,000. Probably no potty or kitchen, but still kinda cool!
In any case, RV’s.com has all kinds of new and used RV’s and Motorhomes listed on their site and the cool thing is they provide detailed information and even interior photos. It is a great resource if you are in the market for an RV or Motorhome.
Sign up for their newsletter and receive a coupon by mail for a FREE full-size bottle of Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce.
The coupon does come, I got it recently.
Oh and the sauce is pretty good!
I have pretty much worked since I was 15, at least when I wasn’t going to school. After college in 1995 (gasp) I started working a full time professional job and did that until November 2007. That is when the hard work really began.
In November 2007, right before the birth of my daughter, I became a stay at home mom. Basically it is everything I thought it would be, but it certainly has presented some challenges that I never expected.
First, I can no longer use “a hard day at work” as an excuse for my behavior. Sure, full time mommy is not easy, but seriously - I don’t have to deal with anyone else except 2 people that I have complete and total control over (snort). But at least I no longer have to deal with clients and weather and deadlines and all the rest of the stuff that goes along with it.
Second, at the end of the day there is no longing to “finally get to see my kids,” it is all about trying to get Daddy to take them so I can have a few minutes of peace. Or at least go to the bathroom - finally.
Also, there is an extreme lack of adult interaction and conversation. It’s no wonder so many of us have taken to our computers and created a world of blogging friends.
And finally (and I say finally for the purpose of this post…I could go on for days) there are a number of words that describe bodily functions that I never would have even spelled out loud in the past that now get used practically hourly in my vocabulary.
Here are a few other observations I have made since becoming a stay at home mom:
All in all, though, I think I’m adapting pretty well. My kids get outside as much as possible, we visit parks and have even ventured out to Chuck E. Cheese. They haven’t made any complaints about my presence in the house and I enjoy that my job is taking care of my kids.
If I could only get the stains out of my shirts and get Abby to stop pulling my hair, then it would almost be perfect!
This post was written as an essay for entry into a Makeover contest where you can ENTER TO WIN a FREE $10,000 makeover from Artefill! Sign-up and entry are easy and the essay just has to be 500 words or less about change in your life. You must be 35 or older though! We’ve all experienced change, go write about it for a chance to win a makeover.
We decided to spend our “stimulus refund” on enlarging our patio, adding a sidewalk to the backyard, and a putting in a pad for a shed. We are one of those families ignoring the current state of rising prices and spending our rebate on something we don’t actually need. Not really a frugal decision but one we are quite happy with.
Below are some photos that show some of the progress.
Make sure you check out all of them, my son has invented a unique past-time!
This weeks blurb is about:
My Life at Ninety: Looking Back and Moving On.
My Life at Ninety is the personal blog of “Grandma Julie” and contains the wisdom, experience and stories of a neat lady.
From her “about me”:
I am 90. A grandma so many times over. To borrow a line from a song, I have lived my life with no regrets. Not all of my life is a bed of roses. The joys that came into my life made me thank God I am alive. The pains I went through made me all the more want to savor the joys of living.
Grandma Julie is one cool lady! Her blog is eloquently and beautifully written and contains the wisdom of her years. I love the stories from when she was younger and her perceptions of today. Go visit Grandma Julie at My Life at Ninety: Looking Back and Moving On and get lost in the nostalgia and marvel at the life experiences. You’ll be drawn in to her world and not want to leave!
Have you ever had one of those moments with your kids where you stop and look and are hit with the reality that time passes way too fast?
Today I put Abby in her high chair to give her some of her favorite snack, some blueberries, and I turned and looked at her and noticed how much higher she sits in the seat. I also noticed how much more steady she was sitting up instead of leaning to one side like she seemed to do just yesterday.
And now as she sits up in her bouncer that she is way too big for, and leans over the side and plays with the carpet I realize that she is almost 7 months old. Soon her main goal will be to crawl and then walk and then run away from me rather than be held by me. I’ve already started to notice a bit more independence when she plays on the floor with her toys, or lets someone else besides Mom entertain her.
As much as she has NOT been an easy baby, I’m pretty sure I’m going to miss her being a baby. I am going to miss the adorable way she shakes her hands even when she doesn’t have a rattle in them, almost like she’s testing to see if there is anything there and the way she imitates me when I blow raspberries in the air at her or squeal.
I’m not usually this deep and introspective, as you could probably tell, but this morning it really hit me hard. We have a little chant around here that goes something like this:
“no more babies”
“no more babies”
“we don’t want, no more babies”
My son and I chant that at Abby when she is particularly crabby (you know, most days) and although we mean it, and she is our “last” baby (not kidding, no way, no how, no more), I think there will always be a part of me that will yearn for, if not another baby, the days when mine were babies.
In the end, this post really did end up being an “Accidental Mommy moment” because I never would have thought I’d experience these kinds of thoughts over anything other than a cat.
I have no idea what is going on in this picture, but I actually like not knowing. It’s like they have a secret joke or something fun they were sharing that only they know about.
I have this afghan that my Mom made that I keep on the back of our couch in our living room. It’s the middle of summer plus I like that afghan to remain where I put it, on the back of the couch.
Inevitably, Jake removes it and I find it in a pile on the couch or the floor.
Today I found it that way again and our conversation went as such:
Me: “Jake, I told you to leave the afghan alone.”
Jake: “I didn’t do it.”
Me: “Well then who did?”
Jake: “I didn’t do it.”
Me: “You must have.”
Jake: “Pablo did it.”
Oh, Pablo did it.
By now you should be wondering who Pablo is.
He is one of the characters on The Backyardigans.
So, in trouble for not telling the truth is balanced out by extreme creativity?
What do you think?
We are giving away a $10 Best Buy gift card to one very lucky person (and rest assured I myself cannot enter) who simply does the following:
HOW TO ENTER
It’s pretty easy!
EARN ADDITIONAL ENTRIES
You can earn an additional entry for each of the following activities:
Please make a separate comment for each additional entry and be specific as to what you did to earn the entry in your comment.
Any comments that simply say “enter me” or something like that will not count. Please indicate that you have or are already subscribed to our emails.
Entries will be received until Wednesday July 11, 2008 at NOON Central Time and is open to US and Canada. Winner will be chosen at random by Random.org.
Good luck!
a-poopin’ and a-eatin’
still a-workin’
aaah…now just a-chillin’
A Bookworm’s Diary is having a Bugaboo Shoes Giveaway!
Details to enter are below:
Blog - A Bookworm’s Diary
Giveaway URL - Review & Giveaway : Bugaboo Shoes
Prize - Bugaboo Shoes has generously offered the winner a choice of Josie, Sherry or Otto pair of shoes.
Ends - July 14, 5 am CST
Eligibility - US (International readers may enter but if chosen as winner, will have to pay shipping expenses)
If you enter, tell them Kim@What’s That Smell? sent you!
