Introducing the First of My July Sponsors!

Hey there!

My name is Erica. Wife. Mother. Aspiring Photographer. Blogger.

Mind you, I’m not paid to do any of it professionally, but still I manage to do it all.

I blog over on “OurLifeUnrehearsed” where essentially,
my blog has become my scrapbook about our everyday life happenings.

Some things in life can be planned for but each moment in life is unrehearsed.

I hope you take the time to stop by to join us in embracing life-
the good, the bad, and every moment in between. 

So my laptop just took a shit.

I've only had the thing about 3.5 years (which yes, is ancient in the computer world).  No idea what the heck happened.  Turned it on today and just started to check my blog email and BOOM! Blue screen.  I try to restart it and nothing happens!!!  Ugh! 

But....thankfully, thankfully, thankfully, I had just backed up my docs and pictures about 2 weeks ago.  You can bet your ass I'm thanking the sweet Lord above right now.  Granted, any pics in the last two weeks I've uploaded aren't on there, but I think I can get over that considered the other 5,000+ are. 

Anyway, on a positive note, I had a fantabulous birthday.  The hubs let me sleep in, brought me breakfast in bed (hello cinnamon rolls!), we escaped for a couple hours and saw Bad Teacher (hilarious by the way), and then Thad and the hubs took me out to eat.  We came home, chilled out for a bit, put the little man to bed, and snuggled down for a couple more movies.  (Yeah, we're on a movie kick...lol.)  It was probably one of the best days I've had in awhile. 

Oh and no worries, I'll be posting the winners of the giveaway shortly.  I promise it'll be done before the end of the weekend.  It's just going to be a little difficult since I don't have my laptop and I'll have to use our ancient desktop to get things done. 

p.s. Let me know if you see any awesome deals on laptops.  My dad's a computer nerd, but I can't get home to drop this bad boy off for a couple weeks (and I personally think it's gone to laptop heaven)...soooo any laptop sightings would be appreciated.  Oh and I'm a PC. ;)

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday, to me!!!

(It's my Golden Birthday.)

And to celebrate the awesome day of my birth, 

I'll be giving an awesome little prize pack away,

courtesy of moi. Stay tuned...

Also, be on the lookout for 2 upcoming

 cloth diaper reviews and giveaways! 

Oh and don't forget to enter my current giveaway!

And if you'd like to give me gift, please, 

don't send money, jewelry, or spa gift certificates (although I wouldn't return to sender) just click vote. ;)

p.s. I'm 28 if you really must know...lol, when did I get closer to 30 than 20..oh wait, when I turned 26.

And to quote Meredith Grey: 

We're adults. When did that happen? And how do we make it stop? 

I'm sorry, but I have to vent.

Warning: You will probably find this whole thing silly and quite ridiculous, but if I don't vent to someone (and my husband was still asleep), then I'm going to scream.  Just warning you.  

I hate (ok, hate is strong word, but I really really really dislike) people who go back on their word.


Example:  This last week I emailed a lady about some cloth diapers she was going to be selling at her garage sale.  She told me they'd be priced at $10/each.

Ok, so I decided to check it out.

I get to her garage sale and she tells me that if I buy all of them, she'll sell them to me for $5/diaper.  Not bad, but I had another lady in talks and she was willing to sell me 28 diapers for $100 - obviously the better deal.  So I told S (garage sale lady) about this and she said that if her diapers didn't sell she'd call me (I gave her my numbers) and she'd honor the $3 price.  Awesome, right?

So I waited and waited, secretly hoping they wouldn't sell.  I even emailed her and told that'd I'd be glad to give her $4 as a way to meet in the middle (even though she said she'd honor the $3), so I thought I was being nice.

I wait and wait and wait.  Finally, I email her Saturday:

I hope you're having a great Saturday.  I was just curious how the sale went and if you had any cloth diapers left.  Thanks!

No reply until late Sunday night.  Which is fine...lol, I'm not upset about that.

I have 16 left and they are $8 each.  Will be on Craigslist until sold. 

Wait a second?  Didn't we have an agreement? (Granted, just her word, but you get the point.)  So I email her back.

Thanks for getting back to me.  I guess I'm just a little confused.  When we talked Friday you had said if you had any left that you'd let me know and honor the $3 price (after you had offered $5 if I bought them all and I told you about the other lady selling 28 of them to me for $100).  Now, I did email you letting you know that I would pay $4/diaper for them if you had any left instead of $3 and that way we'd be compromising; after all, I'm not completely unreasonable.  Are you not going to honor that price then (which obviously would be $4 now, not $3, since I offered to pay $4)?  Let me know.  Thanks! 

I thought it was polite and got to the point.  I just explained the situation (in case, you know, she talked to a billion people about diaper deals or something).  I wasn't upset or anything, just wanted to know if she was going to honor the price.  Shit, I don't know, maybe "she" took it the wrong way.  Please read on to find out why I said "she"...

This is the response I get this morning. Broken into two emails, I'm guessing someone hit the send button too early.

I am sorry that you misunderstood me when I said that there was no way I would sell them for $3 when I spent $21 for them.  Before my garage sale they were going for $18 each on craigslist and the only reason I dropped the price was to get a drawer cleaned out.  I have several people 

Asking about them at the $8 price so I don't care to continue "negotiations" if you will, for you to get something for nothing.  Thanks for the time but consider them sold.

Ok, I'm sorry, but this pissed me off.  First off, don't lie to me.  I obviously found your ad (and about 15 others) on craigslist and you've never posted your diapers for sale for $18.  In fact, if I search it now, that supposed listing still doesn't come up.  Secondly, I'm not even mad about the price (I get it, you don't want to honor the price for whatever reason), but don't be an ass.  "I don't care to continue "negotiations"" - um....I'm sorry, maybe you should have thought of that before you posted your stuff on craigslist.  Part of that process is negotiations, if you can't handle that, then don't sell your shit on there.  Ugh.

And the kicker: the husband wrote the email from his HTC phone and signed his wife's name.  How do I know this --- oh I don't know, maybe because when you email from your phone your signature is automatically added to the end of the email and it says "C**** P***** sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint." Seriously dude?  Grow the fuck up.

Sorry if you didn't care for my post, if you agree with the seller, or think the whole thing is stupid, I don't really care.  I just wanted to vent and get this off my chest.  So if you read it all, thanks.  Oh, and I do feel better. =)

p.s. I know that this whole thing is not that big of deal in the scheme of things, but shit like this just pisses me off.  When I give my word to someone I mean it.  If my husband doesn't like it (which clearly her husband didn't), well I guess he's shit out of luck.  While we are married and share a lot of things in life, I am still capable of making my own decisions..negotiations included.

So I'm pretty effing awesome.

Yep, you see that?  I made it.  I actually.sewed. that thing!

It's ok, laugh at me.

Ok, ok, enough.

You see, I don't sew.  I'm pretty sure that besides my attempt at making a sleep sack (which was like...oh um, 5 sizes too big) this past winter, I haven't sewn anything since middle school Home Ec.

Now besides fighting the stupid bobbin and having issues figuring out how to get the zipper foot to work, it wasn't too bad.  In fact, I'm pretty damn proud of myself.

So on that note, I present to you :::drum roll::: a wet bag!!!  For the cloth diapers we're going to be using on the go.  I figured I'd give it a shot and if it didn't turn out I'd only be out $10 (I still have a lot of fabric left).  So, yay to me!

Just don't check my seams.

Don't forget to enter the Anti-Aging Moisturizer giveaway!  

With 10 winners, your odds are great!

and 

Vote for me! Please, just one little click. =)  

Strawberry Pizza!

I get those Parenting.com emails and I remember printing this off sometime this last year.  Of course, I have a habit of printing recipes and then shoving them in the cupboard...anywho, I found this last night when I was looking for the hub's chili recipe.  Lol, he was planning on going to the store to get chili ingredients...I just added a few things to his list. ;)

These are amazing!!! Perfect for summer with the lightness of the sugar cookies and sweetness of the strawberries.  I highly recommend giving them a go!

Here's the recipe.  I just copied it from the Parenting website.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 2 minutes
Bake time: 10 minutes
Yield: 24 cookies

* 1 package (18 oz) ready-to-bake sugar cookies
* 1/4 cup strawberry jelly
* 12 Tbs light strawberry cream cheese
* 6 large ripe strawberries, chopped
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies as directed and let cool for at least 10 minutes.

2. While cookies are baking, heat jelly in a small pot over low heat until liquefied, about 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. Spread each cookie with 1/2 Tbs cream cheese, and top with chopped strawberries. Brush melted jelly on top. (Garnish with a mint sprig if you'dlike.)

Per serving: 144 calories, 7 g fat (3 g saturated), 155 mg sodium, 13 mg cholesterol

Vote for me! Please, just one little click. =)  

Wal-phed, my answer for allergies.

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

My dad has allergies.  My sisters have allergies.  Me?  I didn't have allergies until I was in my 20s.  It was a mean trick I tell ya.  Now, I've tried quite a few over the counter (and now behind the counter) allergy meds before.  Some knocked me out, some didn't do a darn thing, and some of them made me feel like my brain was rolling around in my head...thankfully, when my allergies hit with a vengeance last fall, my mom recommended Wal-phed.   It cleared my head, didn't make me drowsy (for once), and made the unbearably high pollen count a little more manageable.

I'm a pretty big fan of Walgreens.  They're right down the street from me, open 24 hours, and I can usually get some killer coupon deals matchups every week.  When I can't, I can rely on the fact that they have some amazing generics.  The best thing about them, I can rest assured that they are pharmacist recommended, most contain the same ingredients as the leading brands, and are 100% satisfaction guaranteed.  Every purchase of Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products also supports the Walgreens Way to Well Fund™.  The Walgreens Way to Well Fund provides free preventative health tests as well as other health and wellness services and education to local communities.

 

Several bloggers are also giving away Walgreens gift cards.  Please see the link for a complete list of giveaways.

A bittersweet end...

to my email account.  Lol, no, seriously.  How many of you remember when email was the only way to communicate with your friends?  Before chat, before IM, before cell phones, text messages, etc. we had email.

Many moons ago I created my very first email account.  h*******k@hotmail.com  Yep, pretty creative huh?  I wasn't iluvdanzandvolleyball (this was a classmate's) or domer13 (because his name was Jeff), nope, mine was my last name. (My dad was pretty upset he didn't get it first...sorry pops!)

Anyway, on December 24, 1998 (yeah, pretty sure I was a freshman in high school), I became an official card carrying member of Hotmail (seriously, Hotmail will tell you when you signed up...kinda creepy).  So for the past bazillion years, I've kept it.  Simple enough for job applications and unique enough that a million people wouldn't be confused by all the hasenbank's out there.

Well, lately (and I mean like the last 6-12 months) Hotmail and I have been fighting.  You see, he's slow.  He's not performing.  He's getting a little gun shy and freezes up on me.  The time had come to end our long, tumultuous relationship; he got me through first loves, break-ups, pen pals from Spain, lost long relatives, and bill payments.  And while I'll miss the old geezer, I've moved on.

Farewell Hotmail.

Plunkett Pharmaceuticals Review & Giveaway! *10 WINNERS*

Recently, I was given the opportunity to review two fabulous products from Plunkett Pharmaceuticals, the Advanced Collagen Lift Moisturiser and Refirming Eye Cream.  As you may or may not know, I'll be celebrating my golden birthday this month on the 28th - and yes, that means I'm closer to 30 than I've ever been.  To say I'm mortified, well...that's an understatement.  Needless to say, I was ecstatic to review a couple anti-aging products.

The first product I opened and applied was the Advanced Collagen Lift Moisturiser.

SPECIAL FEATURES: 

• Collagen microspheres expand in volume to fill lines and wrinkles to provide instant plumping and line reduction

• Matrixyl 3000 stimulates collagen and elastin production, reconstructing the skin’s support matrix

• Long lasting wrinkle reduction after 4-8 weeks

• Light and non greasy, perfect under make-up

• Suitable for most skin types

BENEFITS:

• Instant plumping and smoothing of lines and wrinkles

• Firms and smooths by increasing skin’s own collagen

• Delivers intense hydration to the skin

And no, this isn't me. ;)

I'm not gonna lie and I don't have to make this up.  I'm pretty much in love with this stuff.  It's has a bit of a floral scent, but it feels like body button for your face.  My skin felt amazing after using it - more moisturized than it has felt in a very long time.  I was able to apply this at night and in the morning before putting on any makeup.  It also made my skin look very smooth underneath my makeup powder.  Have you ever put on moisturizer only to have it make you look greasy 15 minutes into wearing it?  Yeah, that doesn't happen with this.  My skin looked younger and fresher than it has, well, since before Thad was born...lol.  Pregnancy and childbirth (oh and motherhood) can take it's toll on your skin, this moisturizer will help bring some life and vitality back to it.

The second product I was able to try was the Refirming Eye Cream.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Fine textured and deeply penetrating

• Unique triple action

• Argireline relaxes tissue under the skin

• Pentacare tightens and smoothes skin surface

• Rosehip oil softens skin and stimulates collagen

• Fragrance free

BENEFITS:

• Unique Argireline + Pentacare action smoothes and firms skin

• Both immediate and long term wrinkle control

• Deeply hydrating and soothing

• Can also be used around mouth to reduce fine lines

 

I was probably more excited to try this eye cream than I was the moisturizer.  (Lol, don't tell me you haven't searched your face for crow's feet...I know you have.)  It truly wasn't until after I had Thad that I became very aware of the aging my skin had taken on.  One of the biggest things I noticed was the wrinkles and puffiness around my eyes.  Now granted, that could have been caused the by the non-existent sleep you get with a newborn, but it bugged me either way.  I began using the eye cream the same day I started using the moisturizer and I have to say, I seriously think it makes a difference.  I look more awake, alert, and heck, maybe even a little younger.  All of that does a lot for the self esteem, trust me.  

You can purchase both of these products online from Chemist Direct and/or Pharmacy Online.  (Plunkett's online store is currently under construction.)  A 1.7 fl. oz. jar of Advanced Collagen Lift Moisturiser retails for $59.95 and a .5 fl. oz. tube of Refirming Eye Cream retails for $19.95.     

TEN lucky readers will a 15ml tube of 

Advanced Collagen Lift Moisturiser of their own!

5 Winners from the United States and 5 Winners from Austrailia

*Please add US or AU to each entry.*

Mandatory Entries: (This must be done for any extra entries to count.)  

Follow my blog publicly via Google Friend Connect and tell me why you'd like to win.

Extra Entries:  

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.  If an entry is worth two, please leave a separate comment for each.  The mandatory entry must be completed before any extra entries will count.

• Follow Plunkett on Twitter. (1 entry)
• "Like" ELF: A Family Blog on facebook. (1 entry)
• Follow @elffamilyblog on Twitter - leave me your username. (1 entry)
• Tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link.  (1 entry)
• Post my button on your blog and leave me the link. (3 entries)
• Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link. (4 entries)
• Subscribe to ELF: A Family Blog and verify your subscription. (4 entries)

*Please add US or AU to each entry.*

Giveaway will end on June 29th at 11:59 PM CST.  Winners will be chosen using random.org and emailed.  Winners will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.  Please leave your email address or make sure it is public in your profile so I can contact you. 

Don't forget to vote for me! 

No, this won't count as any extra entries, 

but I love to feel the love.  =)

Disclaimer: This review is based on my personal experience and is my honest opinion.  I was given the product(s) mentioned above to review at no cost.  No other compensation was received.  A special thanks to Plunkett Pharmaceuticals for providing the products and prizes.

I want water!

This is Thad's new thing.  When he wants something (or if he's trying to make you laugh) he yells out super loud.  He's always been a talker, but lately he'll do this to you and if you do it back, he'll yell again.  Pretty sure he thinks we're having a conversation.  This was shot last week at dinner.  He was getting mad that I hadn't given him any water.  Enjoy!

Back from the boonies.

Well, I survived...lol, no seriously.  This was the.worst. car trip I've taken with Thad.  In the last few weeks he's hit about a bazillion milestones and has no desire to be strapped in his car seat for a few errands around town, let alone for 2.5 hours.  After two stops, ice water (in a cup and a bottle), walking around, cuddles, and lots of praying, we finally made it back to my parent's house.  It was a long ride.

The hubs stayed here since he had to work, so it was just me and the little man.  While it was nice to visit my parents and some of my extended family, I can't say I have any desire to strap Thad down again any time soon.  Oh, lol, sorry!  The reason for the whole trip?  My grandma (and only living grandparent I have left) just turned a whopping 87 years old!  Yeah, on top of that, she's had 9 open heart surgeries (yes, you read that right, 9), breast cancer, diabetes, and some kind of sinus crap that they had to cut open her forehead and scrape out years ago.  Seriously, I'm not sure how she's the last grandparent I have left...lol, but I'm thankful she's here!

Grandma  -  Circa 2005

On another note, I just want to wish a very fabulous Happy First Father's Day to my wonderful husband!  You are amazing!

Well, I'm off to pick up the house, start some laundry, do some dishes, etc., etc., etc.



Ask me tomorrow how much I actually got done. ;)

July Sponsors Needed!

ELF: A Family Blog is excited to announce advertising 

spots available now for the month of July! 

I am super excited to start advertising on ELF: A Family Blog! Maybe you've seen my little ads over to the right? Well, if you need an inexpensive (ok, cheap) way to reach a wider audience for your Etsy shop, blog, or business I am currently offering ad space for as little as $4.00 a month + sponsorship post + twitter mentions (@elffamilyblog).

Here is a little more information copied from my PR page.

SPONSORSHIP

All reviews and giveaways will be given an optional FREE 200 x 100 pixel ad space on my left sidebar.  You are responsible for sending me the appropriately sized image and I will link it to your business page.  This will be good for 30 days unless other arrangements have been made. 

If you are interested in advertising only, the following size ad space is available. 

$4/month or $10/3 months

$6/month or $15/3 months

$8/month or $20/3 months

All sponsors will receive an exclusive sponsorship post (including a description of your site/business/shop, any links you may want included, and any photos you want shown) as well as twitter mentions from me @elffamilyblog.

Please note:  

• Larger ads will always appear above any smaller ad.  
• All payments will be processed using PayPal.   
• All payments must be received before advertising begins.
• I am not responsible for ad design, but I can code the image to be linked to your page.

If you have any further questions, comments, or would like a list of companies that I've worked with and/or statistics on current readership, please feel free to contact me.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Wordless Wednesday: Daddy's Man Toys

It's final.

Yep, we've decided.  We're switching to cloth.  I know I've talked about it before, but I've had it.  Thad has had a ton of diaper rashes lately and then they turn into yeast infections.  I've tried air, baths, creams, and I'm just tired of seeing the little guy in pain.  His poor little boy parts are so red and swollen some days and it's all because of too much moisture.  While it's been happening a lot more since he's been sleeping through the night on his belly, it's just happening too much for me to be comfortable.  Oh and did hear the cost of diapers was rising?  Yeah, I'm not cool with that.

So tomorrow I'm taking Thad and the hubs out the the only cloth diaper store near us (in the city over from us) and we're going to get our hands on some cloth diapers -- literally.  I plan to touch and feel all the cloth diapers I can so that I have a good idea of what I want.  Some of you gave me great information the last time I asked about them and I'm grateful for that.  I'm also grateful for a friend I have from high school who happens to be cloth diapering her daughter.  She has been invaluable when it comes to asking questions and getting prepared.  While I still feel a little lost, I'm a mama on a mission.

I plan to document the switch here so every now and then you'll find some updates on the process, my thoughts, mistakes, ups and downs of switching from disposable to cloth.  Now don't worry, I'm not going to start preaching to the choir.  I respect your right to diaper your baby how you see fit.  However, I will be reviewing cloth diapers and products of that nature -- so if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer them.

For now, I'm curious.  How many of you are cloth users?  How was your transition?  If you don't use cloth, have you ever considered it?  Have any of you ever used Nicki's Diapers or any other online store - if so, what's your favorite?

Alexa Ranking

How many of you are familiar with Alexa?

Well, I'd heard of it months ago, debated on installing it, and then didn't.

This last week I installed it.

I'm not sold yet.  Right now my site is ranking like 5 million something.  Mmmm...I should work on that.

So...if you haven't yet installed the Alexa toolbar and are interested in getting your site out there for whatever reason (PR, exposure, business use, or just to be able to tell people how much traffic you have), I suggest installing it.

Oh and if you get bored - because you have insomnia or your DVR is all caught up - feel free to post a review of my blog on Alexa.  Right now I'm feeling pretty small in this big, bad, world wide web.

Mom Blog Monday Blog Hop!

Are you a Mommy blogger? Do you blog about your kids? Do you blog about great things for Mommies?

 Do you wanna meet other Mom Bloggers?

This blog hop is hosted by The Not-So-Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom , Luxury Living Frugal Style, and So Easy Being Green!

Rules?

All we ask is that you follow So Easy Being Green, The Not- So- Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom, and Luxury Living Frugal Style.We are the first three on the linky!Then follow spot #4 which is the featured blog! Be sure to leave us a comment so we can follow you back!

We would LOVE it if you'd grab our button and put it somewhere on your blog or in a blog post! This would help us spread the word. However, you aren't required to.

This week's featured blog is....

Dat's So Cute

Hi!  I'm Bobbi a stay-at-home mom of 2, soon to be 3, all boys, living the life.  It truly is crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way, I think I would be bored.  My blog is a huge part of my life.  It is like one of my kids.  I love and take care of it, and hope it does well.  I share a little about everything on it.  Recipes for food and drinks, crafts, photos, stories of life and I have a little help on Mondays from two of my favorite guys, my wonderful husband Steve and my cousin Barry.  They bring a man's point of view for all of you lovely readers.  I love blogging and have loved meeting some truly amazing bloggy friends on here.  I hope to continue to meet and entertain you for you to keep coming back!   With Love, BJ

This is a Blog Hop! 34 entries so far... you're next!

---

1. The Corrals: Derek, Megan, Dane, Knox	2. Roller Coaster Ride	3. Our Growing Garden
4. Celebrating Family	5. The Penny Wise Chick	6. Mommies 2 Cents
7. Just Moms Blog	8. A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING	9. Life As A Lake
10. Around My Family Table	11. Books Your Kids Will Love	12. Dats So Cute
13. Duely Noted	14. The Not-So-Secret Confessions	15. NEPA MOM~ I blog about NEPA
16. Thanks, Mail Carrier	17. Always Just A Mom	18. The Not-So-Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom
19. ** CREATE WITH JOY **	20. Baby Steps	21. Frugal and Coupon Crazy
22. So Easy Being Green	23. Moore Babies	24. Luxury Living Frugal Style
25. Know When Youre Going In Circles	26. Tiffs Blog	27. Times for Keeping
28. ELF: A Family Blog	29. Lindsays Family Reviews & Giveaways- I ALWAYS FB!	30. Debbie Does Coupons
31. Home of OHM	32. Racing and Saving Mama	33. Creating Designs
34. Moms Bookshelf & More

You are next... Click here to enter
This list will close in 1 day, 0 hrs, 10 min (6/14/2011 12:59 AM CST)

Seasonal Stay at Home Mom

So, I've become a stay at home mom (SAHM), well a seasonal stay at home mom.  There are times I question being a teacher, and no, it's not because of the ornery little shits I teach (I say that with love), but rather for all the drama and politics involved anymore.  (This is a whole different post, so don't get me started.)  But, I don't question those 6-8 weeks I get off in the summer.  This year, I'm lucky enough to become a SAHM.  That being said, I almost feel a little lost.  While I spent time with Thad this year after work, during the weekends, and even on breaks, it's really different when you know you'll be home for the next couple months and it's you and your little man together all day long.

Many times I wouldn't get to pick him up until about 4 o'clock and then we'd spend the next couple hours just playing, eating dinner, and getting ready for bed.  On the weekends, we often ran to the grocery store, Target, etc. and just had things that needed to get done.  Now, we're together 24/7 and I feel like the little guy gets bored.  Seriously, how much time can one spend hanging out at home with the same toys, books, etc. without getting a little tedious.  I mean, should I be using flashcards with him, talking to him all day, showing educational programs (not that he'd watch, he doesn't even notice the tv).  Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE the fact that I'm able to stay home with him.  It's just sometimes I think I'm a little inadequate in the parenting department, well...at least I feel that way.  Maybe it's just a switch and I need to get used to it.  Either way...

I need some advice.  So, fellow SAHMs, what on earth do you do all day with your child?  HELP, this seasonal SAHM needs some ideas!

p.s. I was vacuuming the other day (yes, I vacuum my hardwood floors...you should see my house during shedding season) and I came back into the living room only to find Thad doing this...

I think I can. I think I can.

Please ignore my spit up. =) Climbing made me burp.

Babywearing Daddy

So the hubs and I decided go and check out the flooding that is just starting to hit the area.  If you watch the news or have heard about the Missouri River flooding, you know what I'm talking about.  We live in southwest Iowa and part of our city will be affected by the flood waters.  The towns just north of us and south of us are going to be even more affected.  In fact, Tuesday we helped prepare sandbags in one of the towns.  Anyway, today we decided to check out what was hitting our area so far.  We know the levy is still holding along the river (we looked on Tuesday) but right along the interstate there are small creeks and rivers that flow off the mighty MO and into our city.  These pics are from the park around the bluff from us.

But first....the babywearing dad!!!

Lol and yes, he has a jacket and no socks on. ;)  That's daddy for you.  No worries, it was in the 70s.  

Now onto the flood....

This is normally a parking lot.

Picnic area.

This is the underpass that would lead to a residential area just on the other side of the bluff from our house.

Yep, that's a grill.

Baseball field.  The dugouts are almost completely submerged.

This is a road that surrounds our lake.  Oh and that's not the lake, those are just flood waters from the river.

Swimming in the road.

Sandbags on the tracks.

p.s. You see that shiny, new, large brown button above this post??? You should click it.  Really, you should.  It would make this mama a very happy lady.  =)