Bookworm Baby

As a mom and pregnant woman I am really in love with babies right now and as a lover of books of just about all kinds I couldn't help but fall in love with this picture.

You can find lots more wonderful pictures of baby Mila's daydream pictures HERE.

It's Good To Be Home!

After several weeks of vacation it feels SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD to be back home again.  I will post more as soon as I get caught up with everything here but today will be filled with grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, and everything else that piles up while you're away.

BTW, I am pregnant, 12 weeks along.

Bath Towel Coverups from Crafterhours

I found this through UCreate another favorite blog of mine and these are SOOOOOO cute that I'm just going to have to make some while I'm out here on vacation.

check it out HERE

Extended Vacation!!!!!!

Oh, the perks of being a SAHM!!  I'm off on a long vacation with my kiddos, DH will be meeting up with us about halfway through, I'm visiting all my family out west until the 20th of July.  I'm going to really try to get a few posts in while I'm out here but I'm not delusional so I'm not making any promises.

Needing a Little Love Today

I've been feeling pretty awful for just over a week now, I'm sure it's because of my hormones since I miscarried last month and I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant again but I don't dare takt the test only to miscarry again since this would be my 6th, I just can't seem to keep it together today.  I'm already crying and I HATE crying, there no logical reason for it, everything is going well in my life except that I feel like crap and my house is falling apart because of it.  I'm usually messy anyway but I haven't had a single clean dish in days and I haven't eaten well in more because everything seems gross.  Luckily my kids are wonderful and they seem to just take what they can get and give me lots of love no matter what is going on.

My poor family has had to deal with my short fuse for a while now and if I am pregnant it will only continue until I get past the worst part of the MS.  I know it will get better, but it feels pretty overwhelming right now.

Thanks for listening to my pity party and whine.

I Can't Wait For Game Night!!!!

I'm SO excited for my Game Night party, I just got the package today and I've decided to turn it into three nights since, I'll be travelling to see both my family and my in-laws for the next 6 weeks starting on Monday.  I had to open the package as soon as I got it and I'm so excited about the new "Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It", it's still got the great stuff from the classic game but know you can also bet on whether of not you think the person will know the answer and can even buy a wedge with your chips if you want, which is good for me because there is always one wedge that I just can't seem to get.

I also got the Electronic Catch Phrase and Taboo games, along with plenty of great snacks to get the party started, I plan on having some fun prizes for the winners too, who doesn't love prizes.  YEAH!!!

I can't wait to do more of these kinds of parties from House Party, they have so many great ones, like the Bulls Eye BBQ, Febreze Set and Refresh, Kraft Foods First Taste, etc. (I think DH will really go for the PS3 Party.)

Freckles and Reflections

I love, love, LOVE that my DS has inherited my "sun freckles", that is, they only show up when we've been out in the sun a bit.  They are very light but they are so sweet to me.  DS is such a sweet clever little guy, he has an amazing ability to figure out a way to get what he wants, either by moving things to climb up, creating a tool that will do the job or "negotiating" with Daddy and me to get it for him.  Although it doesn't always turn out the way he want's it to, I really love his ingenuity, persistance and imagination.

Here's my sweet Little DD with her serious thinking face on, her personality fascinates me, she can be SO serious and so silly, she's the one most likely to run around with underwear on her head to make us laugh and yet she has these quiet moments when she just sits thinking for a minute.  She also ADORES her brother, she's the early riser and when he finally get up in the morning she runs up to him yelling his name and gives him a big hug.  (*sigh* heart melting) 

I feel like my life didn't really, fully begin until these precious babies came into my life, I had no idea how full my life and heart could be until they came in and burst it wide open.

Free Stop & Go Printable Game

Here is today's free download.

(The link no longer works but if you send me a request I'd be happy to send the file your way.)

Free I SPY Game Page

I SPY

I have been making things to keep my kids busy during the ALL DAY plane trip in a week and you can benefit.

My kids and I love I Spy, the books, the computer games, everything.  This page is ideal for my 19 month old DD who would really struggle with overlapped or too small images.  Just click on the picture to take you to download the file.  I'll be posting other free activities throughout the rest of the week.

(The link doesn't work any more but if you leave a comment with your email and I'll send you the file and then delete your email so no one can send you spam.)

Unexpected Savings

I forgot to mention my FAVORITE way to save $ at the grocery store last week but then you might not have believed me then either.  So here it is!

Online Shopping and Delivery:

Who would think that by adding convenience and paying for it you'd actually save money too?  But you do when you have you groceries "shopped" for you and even delivered.  How, do you ask?  Well, by NOT BUYING all those little extras that you would buy if you were AT the perusing the aisles while you shop for what you really need.

Did you know that a study was done on our grocery shopping habits and they found that the average trip to the store for just milk, eggs, and bread, which should cost you $5-12 costs $30, that's THIRTY DOLLARS, simply because we always pick up extra stuff we don't need but it looks good, it's on sale and why not?  None of us need those extra things and that extra cushion around our middles and on our backsides that come from them.

I have been having my groceries delivered or at least done drive through pick up at the store since my son was born almost four years ago, at first I didn't use coupons or any of my other tips from last week on top of my groceries being delivered but I saved almost half of my bill from before and still got plenty of snacks and "extras".  Now that I've added more ways of saving money, I've been able to lower my grocery budget and actually buy more food than I had before.  I have a pantry that is always full with a small stockpile of the things I use the most, I never had extra left over before, and I don't have to constantly ask myself what I'm going to fix for dinner or stuff my kids with candy and treats to get them through a trip to the store.

Fashion Inspiration

I get inspiration from a lot of different people, some famous, some personal friends, some great bloggers as well and it's from this category that I want to share one of my favorite fashion inspirations, Disney at Ruffles & Stuff  makes and wears such wonderful things for both her and her daughter.  Here are two examples:

Transformed Tank

Shirred Shirt Dress

Aren't they just wonderful?  She's such a great example of taking inexpensive, and even thrift store, finds and turning them into gorgeous, fashionable clothes you're very proud to wear and feel oh so beautiful in.

The Way We Learn

There are seven different ways that we learn according to Howard Gardner of Project Zero at Harvard University, all of us learn well with one or two while others may be really hard. Arming ourselves with this information we can help our children learn how to become better at learning anything by teaching them simple concepts using as many of these ways as possible.

The "Seven Intelligences" are:

• Verbal/Linguistic
• Logical/Mathematical
• Visual/Spatial
• Body/Kinesthetic
• Interpersonal
• Intrapersonal

Although everyone learns well through the KINESTHETIC, or learning by doing, very few of us learn well with verbal lecture and since most teachers still use lectures to teach for our children to succeed in school they are going to need to get better at VERBAL LEARNING. You can also help them learn how they can teach themselves through other methods so that they aren't hindered by an instructors teaching method. We can give this gift to our children as we teach them by using all seven ways and paying close attention to what they respond to best.