Ahhh... It's Over!

Well Christmas has come and gone, and I survived it. I hope all of you did too. This year was so much better than last year. Last year, my husband almost died from appendicitis and had to have major surgery so he was in the hospital for 10 days during Christmas.

More importantly, the kids had a better Christmas. They had both their parents and they got to do a lot of fun stuff. Last year everything was put on hold because Chris was sick, so they missed out. This year we got to go to the parade and the Festival of Trees which is always a fun time.

Now we're off to the New Year! So many things are going to be happening. I'm going back to school and have decided to change my major to Criminal Justice with an emphasis in Forensics. Also on January 11th I'll be turning 33! I'm super excited, and welcome the changes.

B2B Book Review: Sleeper's Run by Henry Mosquera

Betrayal, the CIA, political thrills- this book has it all, even a little romance. Sleeper's Run is the Jason Bourne series meets The Manchurian Candidate. Fast paced and action packed this political thriller is hard to put down. This is a direct reading from the back cover:

'War on Terror veteran, Eric Caine, is found

wandering the streets of Miami with no memory

of the car accident that left him there. Alone and 

suffering from PTSD, Eric is on a one-way road to

self-destruction. Then a chance meeting at a bar begins

a series of events that helps Eric start anew. When his new

job relocates him to Venezuela- the land of his childhood-

things, however, take an ominous turn as a catastrophic

event threatens the stability of the country. Now Eric must

escape an elite team of CIA assassins as he tries to uncover

an international conspiracy in which nothing is what it seems.'

I have to say this isn't a genre that I normally read, but I really liked it. I will definitely look for future books by Henry Mosquera. For his first novel, he's off to a great start! Others agree as he received at 4.11/5 stars at Goodreads.com.

* I was provided a book to review and keep as well as financial compensation. All views are strictly my opinion and unbiased.*

Smart & Savvy with BeeSavy.com!

Who likes to shop? This girl!! As a mom of three, it's extremely important to find great deals. At BeeSavy.com I can do that and more! Instead of going from store to store, wasting time and gas, I can use the BeeSavy comparison shopper. Here I can compare prices on millions of products from hundreds of stores, all with a click of the button! Not only can I find the best price, it also shows tax, shipping costs, and any available coupons.

Not only will you find the best deal at BeeSavy, you'll also get paid to shop! When you make a purchase through BeeSavy you receive a cash back discount! Now how awesome is that? The percentage of cash back offered varies from store to store, some stores rather than a percentage give a flat amount in cash back. Either way that's money in your pocket!

There's also another way to get cash back at BeeSavy. All you have to do is refer people, using your unique code, to sign up for free. For each referral, BeeSavy will pay you 40% commission on all of your referrals' cash back... FOREVER! They will also pay you 10% commission for all of the people they refer, up to seven levels! Once your balance reaches $10, you can choose to have BeeSavy mail you a check or deposit the money right into your PayPal account. I love this site! Head on over to BeeSavy.com and check it out for yourself and if you like what you see, sign up - it's free!

Crouptastic!

My daughter, Stella, has been sick all week with a really bad cough. After missing her fourth day of school and as usual unable to get into the doctor's office, I ended up taking her to Urgent Care. After waiting three hours in the waiting room we finally made it back to an exam room where we had to wait almost another hour for the doctor to come in. To me, that is completely ridiculous. There were people who didn't even look sick getting seen before her and there was no mistaking that she was sick by looking at her. After waiting FOREVER, the doctor in less than five minutes, said she had Croup.

Flash forward to today. My son was fine all day today, and then he laid down to take a nap. He slept for almost two hours and when he woke up he was barking like a seal and had a 101.5 fever. This time we went to the emergency room since Urgent Care was already closed. We sat in the waiting room for maybe 15 minutes and then went back to a room where the doctor was already waiting for him. Diagnosis: CROUP! Freakin' Crouptastic!!

It really boggles my mind how we were in and out in under a half hour at the ER and had to wait at Urgent Care for the better part of a lifetime. Alek's prescription took longer to be filled than his visit to the ER! It's not that it makes me mad per say, it's just that they don't understand how difficult it is to have a very sick kid waiting for that long while having to wear one of those stupid face masks. If they were that afraid she was like Typhoid Mary then why didn't they get us back to a room right away? It was especially awesome when the receptionist decided to tell me that I really needed to make Stella keep the mask on. Really lady? Why don't you wear one for four hours and see how you like it! Hopefully this doesn't last long considering they are both on several medications.

Book Review: Defending Jacob by William Landay

Is your child capable of murder? This was the question that Andy Barber had to answer in a fantastic novel Defending Jacob by William Landay. Read from the back of the novel:

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and their son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters the New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son ischarged with the murder of a fellow student. Every instinct Andy has as a parent rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He's his father. But, as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own- between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he's tried to bury and a future

he cannot conceive.

This book was absolutely fantastic, could not put it down! I had never heard of the author before but he has already been added to my must read list. His other two books are The Strangler, a Los Angeles Times Favorite Crime Book of the Year, and Mission Flats, winner of the Creasy Memorial Dagger Award for Best First Crime Novel and a Barry Award nominee. I highly recommend this book, it forces you to think of some very dark questions no parent could ever conceive of thinking about their child.

Shave for a Cure!

Every year, 160,000 children worldwide are diagnosed with cancer. Cancer is the number one disease killer of children in the United States and Canada. Research is the key to saving lives. The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a charity run by volunteers dedicated to finding a cure for childhood cancers. 

On March 17th, 2000, executives John Bender, Tim Kenny, and Enda McDonnell used their company St. Patrick's Day party as an opportunity to benefit kids with cancer. 20 people stepped up and agreed to shave their heads with the hope of raising "$17,000 on the 17th". They reached their goal and then some. They ended up raising over $104,000!

This charity quickly grew into the world's largest volunteer fundraising program for childhood cancer research. The St. Baldrick's Foundation has funded more grants for research than any other organization except for the U.S. government. Since 2000, more than 189,660 volunteers, including 17,200 women, have shaved their heads at events in dozens of countries and every U.S. state raising over $117 million for cancer research.

Kelly McCausey, editor of Mom's Talk Network, is on a mission to raise $5,000 before Black Friday. On November 25th, 2011 if the $5,000 goal is met she will have her head shaved live via streaming video! So open your hearts and your wallets and make a donation today! To make your donation please click below:

Donate Here!

Paranormal Activity 3

I'm a huge fan of horror movies, so is the rest of my family for that matter. Hubby took me to see Paranormal Activity 3 over the weekend and it scared the crap out of me! By far I think it was the best one, Hubby thinks the second one was. Something I thought was interesting about the previews on TV for this movie is that none of them were actual scenes from the movie. I thought that was pretty cool because I hate it when you spend $20 to go to the movies and the previews showed the best parts of the movie. I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone so I don't want to say to much but I highly recommend seeing it if you are a fan of the horror genre!

Hubby and I also watched The Human Centipede 2 this weekend. WARNING: This absolutely is not for anyone under 18 to watch or if you have a weak stomach either. The first one was horrifying enough but the second took it to a whole new level. It was one of those situations where you are just speechless because there are no words to describe the horror, disgust, or grossness of what you just saw. If you can stand the disgusting nature of this movie then watch it because there is nothing more gross than this movie!

Book Review of This Is US: The New All-American Family

A couple of weeks ago, I won a copy of This Is US: The New All-American Family by David Marin from a contest hosted by Goodreads.com. I just finished reading it tonight and thought I would share my opinion on it.  This is a direct quote from the back of the book:

"Heartbreaking, funny, and inspiring, This Is US, chronicles Davis Marin's quest to adopt three siblings stuck in the social services system, adjust to his new role as a father, and create a better life for all of them."

After reading this I thought to myself, why can't there be more men like this guy? Tired of waiting for the wife and white picket fence opted to make his dreams of a family come true by fostering and adopting children on his own. This guy should be made into a saint! This was an extremely touching book as well as sad. It's also very eye opening. I knew that there are a lot of children in the foster care system but I never knew how many were awaiting adoption and how few actually get adopted thanks to the ridiculous hoops prospective parents are put through. This book should be required reading for anyone going into social services as a career as well as for the parents who are seeking to foster and/or adopt. This isn't normally my usual genre of reading but it was still a really good book...a little slow in places but it was forgivable.                                                                         

A+ Kids!

Yesterday and today I attended parent/teacher conferences. Last night was Hannah's, who is in 6th grade this year. I was so happy and proud to learn that she is doing fantastic and is receiving mostly A's! Tonight was Stella's, who is in Kindergarten this year. To be honest I was a little worried about her. When she was in preschool, the teachers had told us that she wasn't ready and that we might want to wait until she turned six to enroll her in Kindergarten. We did follow their advice and I am so glad we did because she is doing fantastic as well! Her teacher even said that she is doing better than quite a few of the other students in her class. I can't express how proud I am of my kids and I'm so glad all our hard work is paying off! Now all I have to do is get my son into a preschool so that he can also strive for success!

Finding a preschool for Bub-bub has been tough because I don't have the money to pay for it and they all seem to be really expensive. One place wanted $116 a week and then on top of that I would have to pay daycare too because it isn't a full day program. There are some free preschools around me but they are only 2 hours a day and they aren't exactly close to my house so by the time I  got him there and came home it would be time to go back and get him. I just can't justify the waste of gas or time. Of all my kids he needs the preschool experience the most, especially the socialization aspect of it because he can be a bully when around other kids and he doesn't get his way. I feel bad for him too because he hears his sisters talking about all their friends and the stuff they do while at school and he feels left out. Hopefully I will get it all figured out soon.

Worst Luck EVER!!

So last Saturday hubby and I were lucky enough to have a sitter for all three kids OVERNIGHT since forever ago. I was so excited we were going to go watch the UFC fights over at my girlfriends house and then go out for drinks with a friend of ours. I loaded the kids up and started heading for Grandpa Joe's house via I280 when at 60 mph, I had a blow out and got stranded on the side of the highway with three kids at dusk. Luckily Grandpa Joe got there quickly and the tow truck as well. It ended up only delaying us about an hour since hubby had to come get me from his dad's house when he got off work.

Fast forward to tonight, after working 14 hours, hubby locked his only set of car keys in his car! So now I have to call all over trying to figure out the cheapest way to get in his car. My father-in-law has also had bad luck tonight too. His mini van wouldn't start tonight! I hope tomorrow is a better day!

Trick or Treat!

Tonight we went out to eat with my father-in-law at The Maid-Rite. For those of you who don't know what a Maid-Rite sandwich is, thinks sloppy joe's without the sauce. They are delicious and super easy to make in a crock pot. The restaurant is pretty cool too, it's 1950's & 60's rock and roll themed. There are old 45 records everywhere and pictures of famous actors and actresses on the wall. The kids meals come in these cardboard classic cars, my kids love them.

Afterwards, Grandpa Joe treated my kids to their Halloween costumes at Walmart! My Bub-Bub is going as Scooby-Doo whom he is addicted to right now, Hannah is going as Hello Kitty, and Stella is going as a Baterina ( a ballerina bat). The kiddos were so excited when we got home, they all tried on their costumes and protested when I made them take them off to get ready for bed. Walmart had an awesome selection of costumes this year and they seemed better quality than previous years but still cheap, each kids entire costume was $20 or under!

Maid-Rite Sandwiches

Crock pot

1-2 cans Coke or Pepsi

1-2 lbs. ground beef

1 cup diced onion per pound of ground beef (optional)

 Hamburger Buns

Desired condiments

1) Brown the ground beef and drain fat.

2) Put meat in the crock pot and add onions and 1 can of pop

3) Set crock pot on low and cook for however long you want but I recommend @ 3 hours so the meat absorbs the flavor of the onion and pop, it can be cooked all day though just make sure it doesn't dry out by adding more pop as needed.

4) Serve on hamburger buns with whatever condiments you like!

The Beauty of Oxygen

I've had a few brushes with death over the years, near miss car accidents, heart failure all of which were very scary. Let me tell you it's a whole different level of scary when your whole family has a brush with death, including your pets. Last night hubby and I were watching TV in bed, we had just put the little ones in bed with a movie when someone began pounding on our front door. I got up and nervously went to the door because it was pretty late and we weren't expecting anyone to come over. I asked who is it and the response was "Fire Department!" I immediately began to panic and flung open the door. The fireman told me that I needed to get everyone out of the apartment as quickly as possible because they had found extremely high levels of carbon monoxide throughout our apartment building. He told me to open all the windows before exiting but I needed to get the children out immediately.

We ended up waiting outside for about an hour and a half before the levels were safe enough for everyone to go back inside. Come to find out it was a faulty furnace upstairs that was the culprit. I thank god that the girl next door and the people upstairs were home because it was their carbon monoxide detectors that alerted them to the situation. We had a carbon monoxide detector but my son broke it and it was just one of those things that I forgot to replace when we were at the store. Needless to say I high tailed my butt up to Walmart at 2:30 a.m. to buy a new carbon monoxide detector. So hopefully the Kidde Carbon Monoxide Alarm I purchased will save our lives when needed!

Out of the Mouths of Babes.....

Some people say that children should been seen not heard, well I think that they just didn't have the little comedians my kids seem to be. This is going to be on going post and I will periodically add to it. Here are a few things that have tumbled out of my kids mouths:

1) My daughter Stella talks in her sleep quite a bit. One night she was asleep on our bedroom floor when out of nowhere she blurts out " My butts scared!" Hubby and I busted up laughing. We still tease her from time to time when she seems scared.

2) My son, who's 3, has not quite mastered wiping his own bottom  yet. One night after finishing going to the bathroom, he called for my husband to come in to wipe him up. From the other room I hear my son ask my son ask my husband " Did you hear the smell from my butt?" and then hear my husband laughing and saying "Yeah buddy I hear it smells awful." I was laughing so hard tears welled up in my eyes!

3) One day my daughter and I were at Walmart and I noticed that some items had been added to my cart that I didn't put in. I asked "Did you put this stuff in here?". She said "No mommy. Maybe a goblin did it." She was so serious when she said it I really didn't know what to say so I just started laughing.

4) My son is a biter. When he gets mad or frustrated he is most likely going to bite you. Now that he's getting older it's not as frequent but still inexcusable  behavior. Every time it happens I ask why did you bite? And as of lately he looks up at me and says "It was an accident mommy, I'm not lying." Now he got this from me. I have been trying to explain to my kids that accidents happen, everybody has them, and that they need to forgiven and you move on. Well I guess I can say that I got my point across!

What Next?

   Ever have one of those days where you wonder what could possibly happen next? Well I've had 6 months of that. It started when my husband got appendicitis and almost died over Christmas. It seems that ever since one thing or another has gone wrong. The latest thing to happen is I got a flat tire right down the street from my house. I left my car on the side of the road overnight waiting on a tow truck to take it up to Walmart to have it fixed when they opened. At 4:30 that morning I get a call from the Davenport police department. Apparently someone driving past, saw a group of men standing around my car and thought it was suspicious, so they called the police. The police showed up and discovered that they were trying to break into my car and syphon my gas. The officers came and picked me up and brought me down to my car to make sure all was as it should be and that I had the same amount of gas as before. All appeared to be as it should... until I went to get gas on my way to work today. I'm standing filling my car when all of a sudden I look down because something doesn't sound right and I'm standing in a lake of gasoline that has just fallen out of the underneath of my car!! So as of right now my car is at Firestone and I'm waiting to hear what those idiots ended up doing to my car. I seriously am hoping that it was them that broke my car and not just God having a go at me.
   On a different note, I thought it was ironic that when I signed in to write this post, that Amazon had this link for Adele for me to put up because this is what I was listening to while I waited for my tow truck. I love this CD it is very relaxing and helped make a crappy situation a little less crappy by calming me down. So if you haven't picked this up yet or you have never heard it before you should really get it because it is an awesome CD! I would also like to thank my first follower, deb126, for following me you're awesome!

Newbie!

So here we go..my first blog post!

Here's a little about me. I'm 32, married, and have three kids ages 11, 5, and 3. Currently we live in Davenport, Iowa in an apartment with our three dogs, two cats, ferret, and ball python. See where the chaos comes in? My husband and I both work with special needs individuals and I am currently working on getting my CNA license. I enjoy spooky stuff whether its books or movies the scarier the better. As a matter of fact I just reached out to a local paranormal society in hopes of joining their investigative team! I will definately share my stories with this particular interest. What else? I love entering online sweeps and this is how I actually got started with my blog. Now not only do I enter sweeps but I'm really starting to grow an interest in doing reviews like  a lot of other bloggers. I'm hoping that a veteran blogging diva will take me under her wing a perhaps mentor me on how to start because I really have no clue, seriouly I bought a book... Blogging for Dummies. It is helpful,  extremely overwhelmingly helpful with all the information, I don't know where to begin. So please someone take pity on this newbie! Peace and love to all....