Brotherly love

It usually all starts over some kind of game, be it on the computer, playing the Wii or even just running around outside.  Child #1 -- his talking is making me lose  #2 -- but I wasn't even talking to him  #1 but it is bothering me, can't concentrate, you made me miss and on and on..... #2 -- gets frustrated and hits #1, who responds by saying I am going to kill you--#2 -- Mom, he just said he was gonna kill me.  Me to #1--that is not a nice thing to say to which they respond --- I wasn't really going to kill him, just want to hurt him some, again my reply is that is not something that is nice to say about your brother and if you two can't work this out you are going to lost the privledge of whichever form of play they were participating in.  Which will stop the argument for all of 30 seconds and the cycle continues. Take the offending game away or turn it off and they are all I'm sorry and give hugs, grab a book and go off to have an imagenery adventure in their room.  Sometimes I think they actually play and act better without all the gizmo's and gadgets we have around the house.  What is it like at your house??

Mothers Day ideas and Treats

Do you always wonder what to give for Mothers Day?  Or are you looking for gifts to leave hints to your loved ones about.  Look no further than 5 Minutes for Mom, besides all their usual fun posts, ideas, chats they have a wonderful Mothers Day Giveaway going on, stop by and check it out.

Book review and Giveaway

Are you looking for a good book to read, I have one for you.  I had seen this book reviewed on several YA book blogs that I belong to, I had even tried to win it a few time, but alas did not ---however after the author emailed me and we wrote each other back and forth a few times,she sent me a copy of the book.  It truly lived up to my expectations and I enjoyed it so much, that with the authors permission I went out and bought a copy to giveaway to you.  Are you ready to hear what the book is, the title is Willow by Julia Hoban and here is a brief overview of the book.

Seven months ago, on a rainy March night, sixteen-year- old Willows parents drank too much wine and asked her to drive them home. They never made itWillow lost control of the car and her parents died in the accident. Now she has left behind her old home, friends, and school, and blocks the pain by secretly cutting herself. But when Willow meets Guy, a boy as sensitive and complicated as she is, she begins an intense, life-changing relationship that turns her world upside down. Told in an arresting, fresh voice, Willow is an unforgettable novel about one girls struggle to cope with tragedy, and one boys refusal to give up on her.
 
Whether you are a grownup who likes YA fiction, or someone who falls into the YA category, or even if you may have never read YA before, don't let the age category this book has been marketed to keep you from wanting to delve into this book, it truly has something to offer every age reader.  We can all relate to unexpected losses or tragedies in our lives and how people develop different ways of coping with the aftermath of such events, this book explores what has, for the most part been a "taboo" or definately misunderstood coping mechanism and brings it to the forefront.  What would you do if confronted by the events that occur, or how do you cope with your emotions, these are all great discussions that can come from reading this book.  I have one copy to giveaway to someone (US residents only please) and I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.  Please leave a comment below why you would like to win this book or what you are reading now for entry by Wed May 5th, midnight EST and I will let Random.org pick the winner.

Did you have fun???

I know that I did, this was my first time at the Ultimate Blog Party hosted by 5 Minutes for Moms, so many great blogs to visist and new friends to make -- not nearly enough time to look thru them all.......I am still looking thru them.  Three new blogs that I found that have now become some of my favorite places to visit are listed below.

            Allergy Kid Mom -- always looking for new information and parents or kids to share peanut allergy information with, and that is exactly what her blog does, some really great food product reviews.
            Milk and Honey Mommy -- What a wonderful blog, full of all kinds of things, family tidbits, beautiful photographs, yummy souding recipies, homeshool tips and ideas if that is for you and a great writing style.
           Thanks, Mail Carrier --  Had to check this one out at first just for the name, but stayed because it is well written with a great sense of humor, great giveways and review posting and just made me smile.

There are so many more new ones that I am now following and enjoying that I would not know about if it had not been for UBP 2010, -- I am still finding new ones thru the links and I can't wait for next year!!!!

Easter Fun and Surprises

Everyone looked nice and clean but you have to check out the next picture............
This was the first time Alexa had let me fix her hair in a very long time, I think it turned out pretty good for the first try, got the design from the blog The Story of a Princess and her hair.

The next part of the day was our annual Easter Egg hunt, hidden by Grammy -- which for the first time in a long time was able to be held outside 'cause we had beautiful weather.  All 30 eggs (plastic not real) were discovered, but the best part was when Alexa went for one near a pile of leaves next to the Gazebo, reached down for the egg and ................this leaf......or what we thought had been a leaf but as you can see turned out to be a really ugly tree frog jumped right at her, scarred her to death -- wish we had caught a pic of her reaction but we were just able to get some of the frog after the fact.  Who knows what will happen next year?????

Getting ready for Easter Day

Easter was a fun day -- the night before we dyed our eggs, I even got in on the fun, take a look below for pics of the kids, my eggs and what they left out for the Easter bunny, they were kinda disappointed Easter morning that the Easter bunny had eaten their eggs and not taken them home to show to his/her family....but he did leave them a nice Thank You note:)

these are my eggs aren't they pretty????

This is what the Easter Bunny got to eat, hard boiled and specially decorated eggs, carrots and orange juice-, does that sound YUMMY to you.

Come join the party

This is my first year participating in the Blog Party and it is turning out to be alot of fun, great new people and places to read about and some great prizes that you can win too!!!! I started this blog primarily to share scrapbooking pages I have made with family and friends but am hoping to expand it more into sharing about daily life and the world around us thru our families eyes and more of the things we like to do, maybe even host some giveaways in the future. A little about me, I am married with 3 kids who keep us busy, mainly with dance related activities. Our daughter is on a competition team and the boys dance as well. Currently we are waiting to hear whether or not our youngest gets into the gifted and talented program for school next year, should find out sometime in
May. Waiting for spring to fully settle in and hopefully avoid the full out humidity of summer for awhile.

So many great prizes to choose from:
Of course my first choice would be the grand prize --Toshiba Satellite
My other top choices would be US17 --by Tasra // US18--goodie basket for Mom//US 78 9 piece Avon
//US 101  Human Touch Foot and Calf Massager //US7 tupperware prize pack
Other interesting prizes I would enjoy:
US4,6,10,20,28,31,32,35,53,55,61,66,73,74,80,87,88,97,107,110,112,113,114
USC 3,4,6,10,15,19,25,27,32,36,37,40,44,48
And I am sure there are some I even missed, any prize would be appreciated, no longer need baby/toddler prizes as my kids are 6,7 and 11 years of age.

Can you say..........CUTE

Well I'm not talking about me, but I am talking about him... Travis Wall from SYTYCD is definately coming into his own as a teacher and choreographer. My daughter got to attend the NUVO convention this year and of course I went along, who could turn down a picture opportunity like this.