Free Power Crunch Protein bar

I don't have a picure of this one... but head to this website and sign up for your free protein bar!

Enjoy!

The Zombie Years...

Oh boy, do I have these days, or weeks, sometimes... YES! It's been happening more and more in the past two or so weeks. K2, our 4-year-old, has some large tonsils. Something that we were unaware of until a recent school physical at a different office than our usual pediatrician.

I believe the doctor's words were "Holy cow! Her tonsils are HUGE! They're even bigger than most adults!"

Great. Of course my immediate questions were somewhere along the lines of "Is it something more serious like cancer?".

After being told that they were likely just large, and may or may not effect her, she moved on, with simple instructions that if they seemed to bother her, call and ENT and see about getting them taken out.

She's been fine until about two weeks ago, when the weather turned cold and her nose got stuffy. He snoring is out of control, we can hear her in our room down the hall. But, what's worse is she is struggling to breath at all. Because of this, she keeps waking up and making her way into our bed. After the first night of her flailing her arms and legs to fight for her breath, I called the ENT.

The first appointment was 10 days later. I took it. We're now 4 days away from that appointment, and still getting a visitor in our bed every night.

This is making for some very sleepless nights for The Hubs and me, but we understand that this is just what K2 needs right now. Because I stay at home during the days (and work part time in the evenings), I try to always make sure The Hubs gets a full night of sleep. This, however, has resulted in me stumbling around the house for the first 2-3 hours of the day, even after I've gotten K1 and K2 dressed, fed and dropped off at school. K1 has even been known to look at me as I hand her her school uniform and say "Mama, you'd better get some coffee."

Touche' kid, touche'

FREEBIES START HERE

As you may have noticed, I have a mad crush on freebies. They're a great way to learn about new products, and they tend to come in quite handy.

1) They're great for traveling. Little packets of shampoo and conditioner, lotion, and baby wipes fit great in an overnight bag, and you aren't running much of a risk of a broken bottle soaking all your belongings in strawberry sunshine shampoo. Bonus, almost all samples will fit into a Ziplock bag for added protection.

2) Spoil your guests. I don't have too much company at my house (who wants to come stay in a house with three girls ages five and under, and a pregnant lady), but my mom has a crazy amount of visitors (and she loves it). She has two guest bathrooms (well, they are guest now, they used to be for my siblings) in her downstairs. In each one, she's put a hot pot, a couple of coffee mugs, tea bags (some are free samples I've given her), and a basket of free samples of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, tampons, pads, baby wipes, deodorant, toothpaste and floss. All items she got free as samples.

3) This one parent's will definitely appreciate. My girls, even the two year old, are obsessed with brushing their teeth. I used to line up all of their brushes and put a dab of toothpaste on each and send them in to brush. Now my five year old has requested that she's old enough to do more things herself. Of course she is, she has been for a while, but my doing it has been easier, faster, and much less messy. The four and two year olds are following her role, with even my youngest telling me "My do it myself". This resulted in half of a full size tube of toothpaste being squirted onto the counter, into the sink and onto the faucet (all of which were quite shiny after their toothpaste scrubdown).  Toothpaste samples come in great here. They are smaller which are easier for little hands, but more importantly, only so much can end up in the sink!

The possibilities are endless!

However, if you're going to turn freebie hunting into a full time habit (I spend an hour or so each morning while I try to enjoy my coffee), I will suggest making up a completely separate e-mail for this purpose. Because, let me tell you, you WILL get follow-up e-mails from the companies you request freebies from. Now, don't completely ignore these e-mails... some of them will come with printable coupons, and those can be pretty good!

Some companies will also tell you to confirm your freebie through a confirmation e-mail. They want their products in your hands, so they'll usually tell you to check your e-mail for this. 

All of the freebies you find on my blog will be 100% free, no shipping costs or promises to buy more in the future etc., UNLESS I post otherwise in the post. I won't share a freebie with you unless I've completed it myself to make sure it's 100% FREE!

Happy Freebie gathering! They'll all be posted on the Facebook Page, so make sure to follow!

The land of fall

Who else loves fall? It is by far my favorite season. I got married in the fall, I love it so much! 

Who wouldn't be happy living in a land of beautiful, crunchy leaves, bonfires, hot cocoa, and big, soft, squishy sweaters? If anyone knows of such a land, please, by all means, share the knowledge! 

Free Sample of Cottonelle

Get your Free Sample HERE!

Free Zing Sample

Want a Free Sample of Zing? Click HERE!

Free Vaseline

Get your Free sample Here!

Free Kotex Sample Pack

Wouldn't you LOVE to get one of the following sample packs for FREE? Click HERE to get yours!

 

U by Kotex®
Ultra Thin Pads

Includes:

• 1 CleanWear® Regular Pad
• 1 CleanWear® Heavy Flow Pad
• 1 Security* Regular Pad with Wings
• 1 Security* Long Pad
• 2 U by Kotex Barely There® Liners

U by Kotex®
Click® Tampons

Includes:

• 2 Click® Regular Tampons
• 2 Click® Super Tampons
• 2 U by Kotex Barely There® Liners

U by Kotex®
Maxi Pads

Includes:

• 1 U by Kotex Extra® Regular Maxi Pad
• 1 U by Kotex Extra® Long Maxi Pad
• 1 Security* Regular Maxi Pad
• 1 Security* Overnight Maxi Pad
• 2 U by Kotex Barely There® Liners

U by Kotex®
Full Size Tampons

Includes:

• 1 Sleek® Regular Tampon
• 1 Sleek® Super Tampon
• 1 Security® Regular Tampon
• 1 Security® Super Tampon
• 2 U by Kotex Barely There® Liners

Free Emergen-C

Get your FREE sample of Emergen-C HERE!

Free Centrum VitaMints

Free Vitamin Sample here!!

Free Zest Fruit Boost

Fill out your mailing information at this link and you just might get a coupon for a FREE full sized bottle of new Zest Fruit Boost!

Free Poise Sample Kit

 Alright ladies, we all know the need for a liner or pad at some point in our lives! Get a free Panty Liner set (above) or a free Pad set (below) from Poise!  Just click here: https://www.poise.com/samples-and-offers/samples

Watch your Mouth!

More often than I'd like to admit, I find myself remembering this quote just a few minutes too late.

   I don't want to be the mom who loses her cool and snaps at her kids... But I am.

   I don't want to be the mom who yells when I should be counting to ten before I talk... But I am.

I don't want my kids to only remember me as a mom who yells... And I won't be.

I just need to keep that quote, and the meaning behind it, in the front of my mind!

Proud

How amazingly cool is this?! How amazingly sad is this?

Gotta Love Chevron

Ok, actually, you don't. But, after seeing these items you just might! I personally have never been a chevron lover. It just didn't appeal to me and I figured it never would. I was wrong.

Now, don't go thinking that I'm going to paint a room, or even one wall of a room, in this oh so popular pattern, but I'm open to a blanket or pillow! 

I went Etsy cruising and found this quilt:

at Bear Monkey Designs 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/161897632/chevron-yellow-and-grey-baby-quilt

Her whole shop is pretty great looking and there are several items I'd love to have, that blanket being one of them!

I also really love this one:

from Sweet Pea's Market. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/170952040/chevron-crochet-blanket

Soft and sweet in these colors, but I'll bet a sports lover would go nuts having one in their team's colors! 

Clearly, I like the chevron pattern best when there is an accent color thrown in!

The Happy House

What will your kids remember about their childhoods? What will they remember about you, their parents? What will they remember about the way you acted towards them?

Sometimes, I really have to scale back my frustrations with my little fawns. I often tell my older two fawns that they need to check their attitudes...and I need to start taking that advice too sometimes. 

It does get frustrating when you've finally scrubbed every last spot and splatter off of the kitchen floor, only to have one of the kids squeeze ketchup all over the floor, ...and table, ...and wall, because they were trying to get their own while you're nursing the baby. 

After finding this 20+ year old newspaper clipping in my mother's jewelry box, I've been able to 'check my attitude' a little better. 

Now, when ketchup goes flying or soap ends up all over the bathroom sink, I do my best to thank my girls for doing their best to help themselves when I couldn't. When they are upset with themselves for spilling, I remind them (and myself) that they are young and still learning how to do so much!

I'm often amazed when I think about how much a child actually learns in his or her short first four years. I have to remind myself that there is still SO much for us to teach them. But, I want them to remember not only the things I taught them, but the way I taught them. 

I want my house to be the happy house.

Cool Whip Cookies

This morning my girls and I made cookies again. I'd gotten a recipe from my mother in law for Cool Whip Cookies. Very easy, very yummy, and lots of variety available!

All it takes is:

1 egg

1 8oz container of whipped cream (Cool Whip or any brand will do)

1 cake mix, any flavor (oh think of the possibilities!!!

Bowl of powdered sugar.

We used a yellow cake mix to make our this morning. I'd made these once before with a spice cake mix and discovered a little trick... 

Put the egg in your mixing bowl first, then the cool whip, then the cake mix. (Last time I started mixing the cool whip and cake mix before adding the egg. The texture ended up really weird.) 

I used my smallest scooper to drop a scoop into the powdered sugar, then just shook the bowl around to coat the dough ball. Worked well and much cleaner than my last batch when I rolled it around by hand! 

Put them in a greased cookie sheet, and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Let them mostly cool on the tray. 

One batch made this way made close to 4 dozen yummy cookies!!! I plan to try these with some mini chocolate chips mixed in, soon!