Brandi Carlile “Give up the Ghost” Cd Review:

 

I had never heard of Brandi Carlile before this….but i must say her voice is great, and her music is amazing. I loved it! With that being said.. I should pay more attention, cause she has been featured on one of my favorite shows, Grey’s Anatomy.
Her last album was called “The Story” it made it to the Billboards top 200. She is a lot like KT Tunstall, so if you like her, your going to love Brandi!

 

On her newest Album that was in stores on October 6th… “Give up the Ghost”

Track List:

Looking Out

Dying Day

Pride And Joy

Dreams

That Year

Caroline

Before It Breaks

I Will

If There Was No You

Touching The Ground

Oh Dear

My favorite song on her new album is “If There Was No You”. I love the melody and it just speaks to me.

Check out her website for Tour Dates, she is now on tour!!

Become Brandi Carlile’s fan on Facebook HERE!

Go buy your copy today at Amazon!!!!

Now go listen to her wonderful music, cause you don’t want to miss out on this!

Thanks to One2One Network for providing me with this album for review. I was not paid for my opinion. This is my honest opinion.

Boogie Wipes Review & Giveaway:

 

 

With fall/winter coming up who can’t use a little help with the nose department? Its so hard to teach your kid to blow their nose properly and to teach them to get the boogies off good. My son always picked up on blowing his nose right away cause we dealt with allergies and was always forcing him to blow his nose. My youngest though, makes such a mess! I was very excited to review these and share with fellow moms and dads!

They were invented by two mom’s. Boogie wipes was invented in 2007 as a solution to their kids’ runny red noses. Since then they have made it into 30,000 retail stores nationwide.

Here are some of the ways Boogie Wipes are different from regular wipes:

• Made with Natural Saline to Dissolve Mucus
• Hypoallergenic
• Alcohol Free
• Moisturize with Vitamin E, Aloe and Chamomile
• Fun Scents Kids Love
• Gentle Enough for All Ages
• Phthalate & Paraben Free
  

My kids thought these were the best, cause their nose didn’t get sore when they kept having to blow it. Of course as soon as we got these in the mail we had a cold floating around our house, so we were able to get right to reviewing them! I got the a 30 count container that we kept in easy reach for the kids to use.. and some individual grape ones, which I sent to school with my to older to keep on hand if needed. They loved that they smelled like grape. (always the little things that please them) I loved that I didn’t have to go behind my kids and re wipe their nose, cause they were able to do a good job getting the boogies with the wipe. I also liked that their was so much less complaining about blowing the nose, cause it didn’t hurt them. In the occasions we got some dried on boogies, they came off easily without fuss with the wipes as well. I’m wondering why I haven’t found these before! They are a life saver and affordable!

Buy it:  From their website or these local stores… The prices range from $2.99 - $3.99 unless you go for the big Diaper cake! Plus they come in different scents.

Win it: Boogie Wipes has generously offered one of my readers (2) 30-count packs of Boogie Wipes.

Giveaway ends October 30th at 10pm EST…Winner will be pick by Random.org and they will have 48hrs to respond or I pick a new one. So be sure to leave me an email address.

To Enter: Tell me something special you do to try to make your child feel better when they are sick??

Extra Entries:
Be sure to leave me a separate comments or they do not count.

• Follow Boogie Mom on Twitter  
• Follow me on Twitter (can be found on my right sidebar)
• Follow my blog
• Add my button (3 extra entries)
• Blog about this giveaway (leave me a link)
• Tweet about this giveaway (leave me the link)

Thanks to the Boogie Moms for the opportunity to review these. I was given a product  in return for my
opinion., I was not paid to write this.

8 Years….Wow!

 

Hard to believe it has been 8 yrs since we got married. Time has gone extremely slow at times, and flown by at others. It has been a long road with a lot of ups and downs. However, we have made it and are still here….together. We have 3 wonderful, beautiful, smart kids to show for it. Our family really hasn’t changed much over the years. We still enjoy our times together, and love to spend as much time together as we can.

Since there are many things coming up this month, we were not able to do much in the way of our Anniversary. On Sunday we were able to get out and enjoy the day without kids. That was a nice break, and fun. We went to Downtown Disney (is that sad when you have no kids with you?) and saw a movie. We caught FAME….and it was really good.

After walking around and exploring the stores we normally don’t go into cause little hands will touch stuff, we headed over to the Rain Forest Cafe (which is turning out to be a tradition since we moved here) for lunch.

Then we went to Ghirardelli's for a nice ice cream sundae.

It may have not been a fancy expensive day, but it was our day and that is all that matters!

Incase your wondering the kids had a great day too. They spent it with Nana & Papa at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Can’t get any better than that right? We got home before them, and enjoyed a quiet evening… they came in about 8pm just in time for bed. They had school Monday morning (not a holiday for our schools) so they went right off to bed! It was truly a prefect day for all!!

Take Your Best Shot by Austin Gutwein (Founder of Hoops for Hope) with Todd Hillard Book Review:

Author Bio:

Austin Gutwein was moved when he learned there were more than 15 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.  He organized a free-throw marathon and now his organization, Hoops of Hope, has raised over a million dollars to build a high school and medical clinic in Zambia. If you would like to look at Austin’s Website go HERE or if you would like to know what Austin has been up to lately go HERE to read his blog.

Summary:

Discover how you can respond to God's call in your own life, whether it's in your own town or on the other side of the world.
Teen Austin Gutwein has taken his best shot several thousand times to help AIDS orphans in Africa and in the process has built a school and a medical clinic! Take Your Best Shot tells how one boy made an incredible difference in the lives of those without hope while challenging the reader to do the same.
The interactive dialogue will leave space for the reader to respond. By the end of the book, the reader will know the testimony of Austin and other teens from around the world who are committed to a life of sharing Christ’s love, and will have begun to search for God’s voice in their own lives. The book will also equip and challenge readers with information on a variety of ministries and organizations around the world to help people, animals, and the environment.
My Thoughts:
This book was truly inspiring. When you finish this book, you just want to reach out and help people. I mean if this boy, who everyone thought would just give up and walk away can do some much to help people why can’t you? I wish that more people would step up and do more. I was blown away by this book. Austin is a very unique individual and should be so proud of the accomplishments he has made. If only more were like him…. I am going to read this next to my son. I think it would be great inspiration for him to hear this, and talk about Austin’s accomplishments with our Boy Scout troop… and then come up with our Service project this year. Maybe this will inspire them to think bigger. Cause if this book does anything its make you think bigger and better….that anything you put your mind to, can be done if you are willing to work for it. Amazing story! I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good inspirational read.
Buy your copy at Amazon today…..

I want to thank Thomas Nelson Books for Bloggers for the opportunity to review this book. I was given a book in exchange for my review.

Simple Woman’s Daybook:

 

 

 

For Today October 12th , 2009

Outside my window.... it is usually hot for this time of year. We are still having 90 degree days. Looking forward to the fall days!

I am thinking.... Wow tomorrow I’ve been married for 8 yrs.

From my imagination...Lots of spreadsheets for my cub scouts, so I can track their achievements. 

I am thankful for.... my life…even as difficult as it may be some days, I’m lucky and need to keep reminding myself on the bad days of that.

From the kitchen... Not sure yet… taco’s maybe?? I have been craving them a lot lately!

I am wearing..... Shorts, a tank top, and my Croc’s!

I am reading....  a couple different books right now… I have a stack of 9 books to get thru soon. Lots of good stuff. Stay tuned for a book giveaway soon!

I am hoping.....that Rachel’s birthday goes well, and she is happy with it. She is really needing to feel special lately. This not being with mommy all day is getting to her.

I am creating... cakes. I’m practicing to prefect Rachel’s birthday cake! Wish me luck!

I am hearing.... silence, everyone is back to work this week, and its just Sage and I home.

One of my favorite things....friends! I’m so glad I have been able to make a great one down here lately. She really means a lot to me! 

A few plans for the rest of the week: Rachel has dance & Girl Scouts on Monday, Cub Scouts Tuesday, library, maybe a play date for Sage, and reading…

A picture I am Sharing.… a picture of Sage enjoying her Chinese food on one of our lunch dates. I love that I can do more with them one on one now. Still hard to always fit it in, but we enjoy it!  She loved the sweet and sour sauce!!!

Money habits:

can be hard to teach to children. I have been trying for almost the last 8 yrs. Yup, that means since my son was born. Ok, maybe not quite that early but close. As soon as he could understand what money was we have made an attempt to teach him its hard to come by. Does that mean that my kids don’t act out in the store when you tell them no?? I wish! However, we don’t hide our money issues from them. Some may think this is wrong, but its the only way we can make them understand we can’t afford things. Like when we save to go somewhere special they know it took us a bit to do that. Or when Cub Scouts offers a few activities in one month. We look at the prices figure out the cost, and tell Hunter he has to choose which one would mean more to him. Of course he is disappointed, but he knows that we can’t afford them all. By letting him choose we know he understands this.
My children save their mom in their piggy banks. Now this is hard for them, because they don’t get a lot of money. I’m not a believer in paying my kids to do chores. They do them cause they know that is how we help out as a family. So money is not something they come by often. They get it from family for birthdays, and holidays, or in Hunter’s case when he looses a tooth, and sometimes they find change on the floor, or someone will hand them some. The first thing they do is say thank you and put in the piggy bank.
Hunter has been saving his money for a year now. Yup, a whole year… and no its not a lot. After a year he just got up to $20 and he was able to go to the store and pick out what he wanted. Now for him, this was a tough year. Many times he came across books, games, Lego sets, cards, and various items he wanted. However, we kept reminding him that once the money was gone, he could not get it back. He needed to make sure this is what he wanted to buy. After thinking about it for the past month, he settled on the Batman Lego Game for the Wii! He went to Target on Friday after school and bought it. He was so proud of himself, as was I. I knew it would mean more to him cause he bought it with his own money. He is now trying to decide what he wants to save up for next! My kids only know of the Cash system… we do not use credit cards. So they get that you have to have the money present to buy it. That makes a big difference in their thinking… How do you teach your kids about money?

Happy Birthday MOM!!

 

I just wanted to wish my mom a very happy birthday today… I wish that we were able to spend it with her. I’ve been a lucky person and blessed with a great, supportive and dependent mom! I love you! Hope your day is everything you want it to be! We miss you!