Sunday, September 6, 2009

3 years ago

3 years ago today my life changed forever.
3 years ago today I experienced the most physical pain I had ever felt.
3 years ago today I felt the most joy and amazement I had ever felt.
3 years ago today I was part of a miracle.
3 years ago today I became a mother.

Newborn


1 Year


2 Years


3 Years

Happy Birthday Ohlen!!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Amazon.com is such a Tease

So I love love Amazon.com. Especially the part where if I order more than $25 I can get free shipping, and most of the time I am getting stuff for cheaper than in a regular store. But recently I preordered a game for the DS. Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (logic puzzles and brain teasers - My favorite) I have been trying to wait patiently for it to arrive. The game came out August 24th and for whatever reason they didn't ship it for a few days after that. So I've been anxiously watching the Track Your Packages page. And this is what I found this morning....

Track your package
Date Time Location Event Details
August 31, 2009 03:24:00 PM --- Arrival Scan
August 29, 2009 12:52:32 AM Campbellsville KY US Shipment has left seller facility and is in transit

Soooo it was in KY the 29th, and yesterday it arrived... SOMEWHERE. Was it in OH? My town? Just over the border? In a different state? I'm hoping this means that it will be here today, but I'm not holding my breath... It does make going to the mailbox all that more exciting.

There's a time to be silly, and a time to be serious

Saturday, August 29, 2009

I like Google

I remember back a few years when I balked at using Google's search engine. I always used Yahoo! and I thought it worked just fine. Then slowly, I started to be turned. Jonathan started using some of Google's services and really liked them. Then one fateful day my Yahoo mail account started dropping emails. And they switched interfaces, and I didn't really care for the change. So I made the switch to Google mail, and I haven't looked back. I really enjoy Google mail, and I have started using some of their other services.

Google Reader: Once again, I was a little wary of this at first, but I've really come to enjoy it. Basically you enter all the Blogs that you read and when they are updated you can read the updates all on Reader, instead of going to each of the blogs separately. The downside, of course, is that you don't get to see the layout of each blog - but if you click on the name of the blog, it will open in a new tab. In the picture below I have it showing all items, but usually I just have it show new items. I just didn't have any new ones when I took the screen shot.



Google Documents: Another great product. Here you can save documents, spreadsheets, or presentations. You can share these documents with anyone else with a google account, and give them set permissions within each file. Jonathan and I use a shared spreadsheets for various different things. I keep my Christmas Card list with addresses on there. We have a spreadsheet with a list of all the places we would like to visit. I have a spreadsheet of what articles of clothing I have for Ohlen for the next couple sizes so I know what I still need to get for him. The nice thing is that I can view those documents from any computer I sign on to.



Google Calendar: This is one that I really like, but don't use as much as I should. It's very easy to input activities onto the calendar. You can enter detailed information about where the event is taking place and how long it will last. There is also a gadget in Google mail that inserts a box on the right hand side that will show the next several upcoming events. This makes the calendar even better, as I don't always go to Google calendar everyday, but I do check my mail every day, so I always see what is coming up on our schedule. I have a feeling this will be really nice once we start having the kids involved in more activities.




You should be able to find all these products, and more at Google.com. There are many more products, but these are the ones I use the most.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Blog Hop - Funny Videos

These are old news, but two of my favorite You Tube gems. Both induce giggles. (In me anyways.) Enjoy.







MckLinky Blog Hop

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Look a Likes

One of the fun things for me as a parent is to compare my own baby pictures with my kids. And then to watch as they grow and change. Ohlen looked alot like me and my dad before he turned a year. Now that is is almost 3 he looks much more like his daddy than me. And Noah is starting out the same. He especially has my hair. After it is nice and clean and dry it will curl up on the sides, and on the top, much like mine used to. Here's some fun pics to compare. :)



Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Blog Hop - Favorite Recipe

So this week's Hop is another Recipe hop.

My current favorite recipe isn't for something to be eaten. It's all about playtime. It seems that every time my son plays with Play-Doh there is always less and less of it. So I found this recipe online somewhere (Wish I could remember where to give credit to someone, but I really have no idea). He loves playing with it!

Homemade Play-doh

2 c flour
2 c warm water
1 c salt
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp Cream of Tartar
Food coloring

Mix all, except food coloring, and stir over low heat. Dough will begin to thicken. Cook until dough pulls away from sides and isn't sticky. ** Make sure that the whole ball of dough is cooked, otherwise the play-doh does turn out a little sticky**
Turn dough onto clean counter and kneed vigorously until smooth. Divide for coloring **I usually make three different balls** Make a hole in the center of each ball and add food coloring. Experiment with different dye mixes to get some fun colors. :) Work dough until the dye is worked through the whole ball of dough. ** If you are me... this can get really messy...**



MckLinky Blog Hop

Friday, August 14, 2009

My Growing Boys

My boys are getting so big, time is just slipping by. I recently took milestone pictures of them both. I have yet to take either of them to a professional photographer, so I figure, why start now. :)

Ohlen Paul


Almost 3 years old

Right around 30lbs and 3ft. (wow quite the time for threes)

Loves: Playing with the neighbor kids, riding Uncle Royce's tractor, Daddy's motorcycle, playing with Play-Doh (brand new love that will be awesome for this winter.), applesauce, being read to, asking Why?, asking any other questions, his little brother Noah, his Grandparents, his aunts and uncles, going to church, riding his "big red bike", taking baths, hot dogs, and Chocolate.

Hates: Coming in from playing with the neighbors, getting splashed with water, not being able to "openin the band aid", and being woke up before he's ready.

Noah Reuben





A little over 3 months old

Right around 12.5 lbs and 23 inches

Loves: Playing with Daddy, being tickled by Mommy, smiling at Ohlen, his nippy, sleeping at night, and colorful links.

Hates: Wet diapers and being offered a bottle when he isn't hungry enough. :)


And an extra picture of them both. :)

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Alice.com

Recently I discovered a site called Alice.com. It is a site where you can buy household products, like cleaning supplies, cosmetics, hair care, baby items (diapers, food, etc.), pet supplies, stamps, and more. Best part is that shipping is always free.

So for the good points of the site. Before I used the site I did a recon mission to Walmart to get a good price comparison. I found that in most things they were pretty close in price. Alice.com was actually cheaper on most Gerber baby items, name brand cleaners, and some name brand hair care supplies. They also sell stamps with no mark up price which just saved me a trip to the post office.

The package got here in about 2-3 days - very quick I thought. Everything was packaged nicely. They put a strip sticker over the lids of all the liquid type containers and put them in a plastic baggy together. They send along a packing list that also includes the price you spent on each item.

Coupons: Usually I will clip some coupons, but I usually forget to use them - or there just aren't any for what I usually buy. Plus we don't get a Sunday paper where most of the really good coupons are. Alice.com gets coupons from the companies and automatically applies it to your purchase. I love that part! I got some Aussie shampoo for a little over $2 because there was a $1 off coupon for it. And there were lots of products that had coupons.

The site is also very easy to use. I didn't have any problems navigating, ordering, or paying.

The downside. If you usually go with store brand purchases, those will still be much cheaper. For example, I use store brand formula, which is about half the price of the name brands - this still holds for the Alice.com site. Now if you are buying Similac anyways, then it would be a great place to buy because I'm pretty sure the price between site and store are just about the same. There are some items that are more expensive on the site - you have to do some research to figure out your best deals. I guess you also have to figure in the cost to drive to the store, and how much the convenience of shopping from home is worth.

Also, you have to order 6 items (except for your first order) at a time. This might be a downside if you really only need one or two items, and you need them pretty soon.

Some other features of the site. There are some other features that I really haven't used much. There is a tab that will show you how much of your money has been spent on a certain category of items, eg. baby items vs pet items. The site will also remind you to purchase items on a regular basis. You set up the time frame when you order the item. Most of my items defaulted to 4 months, except for the diapers which wanted to be set at 2 weeks, I think. You have complete control over how long before you are reminded.

So to summarize. I really love this site. If you usually shop for name brand items, this site could really be a time saver for you, and maybe even a money saver. I love that they apply savings directly, without any effort from you.


Oh and in case you were curious, my first order included: Pledge, Windex, 2 packs Luvs Diapers, Aussie shampoo and conditioner, Suave kids shampoo, mousse, 3 rolls Paper Towels, Stamps, Gerbers Rice Cereal, Ritz crackers, Comet, index cards, envelopes, Always pads, and Arm and Hammer Toothpaste. My total (before tax) came to $59, with $6.65 coupon savings. I figure that's pretty good, especially considering that the stamps and diapers make up almost half the cost. ($25)

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Blog Hop - Wiener of Density

Today's Blog Hop mission is to post some favorite pictures. I decided to go with 2 more my favorite pictures that involve a story about Kaiser, our wiener dog. He's been called the Wiener of Density. :)

When we were in our first house Kaiser was just a puppy. We also had a black lab, Amy, who was an inside/outside dog. One day she was inadvertently left inside while I was at work. And this is what I came home to....





There was a dog bed that was destroyed. There were at least 2 spots of pee. 2 or 3 gaming controllers were chewed up. A skein of yarn was tore apart. I think there is more... but all I know is, Kaiser was trying his hardest not to look guilty...




MckLinky Blog Hop