In Need of a new Clotheshanger

In the past decade I have had a few different clothes hangers in my room. They have been large, took up space, and parked in front of the television for maximum exposure. I have loved them all and called them by different names, such as treadmill, bike,and stepper. They have held clothes for many months, and then we realize that all along we should have been hanging our clothes in the closet where they belong. We then get rid of our monstrous clothes hanger. It seems though that every time January comes around that I want a new clothes hanger. John Mark just gently reminds me that clothes really do belong in the closet and that gym memberships are much cheaper.

Worst S'mores Recipe on Record

It has been nice here the last few days...today in fact it is the 70 degree family which I just love and makes for a perfect January as far as I am concerned. Rebecca was lamenting that it wasn't a little colder because then John Mark could light a fire in the fireplace and she and her buddies who are spending the night tonight could all make s'mores.

I love s'mores! They are awesome anytime of year as far as I am concerned....let's just fire up the grill and cook it outside over those flames....is what I was thinking....until I heard Rebecca still talking away (whoops I had tuned her out it actually hapens more often than you think.

"I just love how melty the marshmallows get on top of the chocolate and grahamcrappers"

grahamCRAPPERS!?!

did she really just say that?

"Rebecca, honey did you just call them grahamcrappers?"
"yeah, cuz that's what they are right?"
"No, honey....that would be graham crackers...with a "k"sound...not a "p" sound. If we ate your recipe I guarentee no one is coming round for seconds."

It dawns on her what she had said.....and she starts giggling..."eeeeeeewwwwww, mom that would be disgusting!"

Remind me never to eat her cooking

I have burrowed in waaaaay deep

This morning I woke up with a dull pain in the middle of my eyes, and John Mark took one look at me and seriosuly gasped. I mean really who looks great first thing in the morning? But to actually get a gasp from your husband was a little to much! I made my way to the bathroom mirror and saw my sinus cavities on either side of my nose had blown up to slightly the size of Nebraska. I opened my own mouth to gasp, and my jaw popped....yes it popped! I had clenched it so tightly overnight that it had to pop to open.

I was looking way beyond the pale and I just wanted to crawl back into bed. My head hurt my teeth hurt because as much as you people can rant and rave at me I still have not scheduled that root canal that I was supposed to have had in November....and whatever was dancing around in the air obviously does not agree with me. In other words today I was a mess!

Thank heaven John Mark kicked into high gear for all of us. I got Regan bathed and dressed while he showered and ran out for breakfast (we covet breakfast tacos on homemade tortillas from a local tex-mex stand in the mornings). He then packed up the girls for school, and sent me back to bed with some benedryl and an aleve to help with any pain. I woke up briefly to read yet another wonderful chapter in Heidi's book and went back to sleep again til lunch time.

It was just one of those days...not really sick, but just needing some major burrowing back in bed and sleep. I awoke refreshed and ready to take on the challenges of the rest of the day....and I promise tomorrow I am going to schedule that root canal!

ARD Tears

Yesterday was Regan's annual ARD meeting....which I believe the acronym stands for admission, review, and dismissal. What it means is the annual meeting where we plan the goals for Regan's next year. These include all her school based therapies (PT, OT, RT) and what her classroom goals are, and what we are going to do about her standardized testing. These meetings are long and tiring....but also emotionally exhausting, and every year I cry.

I can't help it. It is difficult to sit in a meeting about your child and hear how she really is in class and what they are adapting for her, and how she can handle 7th grade to some extent, but she has "issues". Basically it is hard to have you child judged so every year I desperately look around for the closest Kleenex box and get ready for all the straight shooting, because I know we are planning the best possible strategies for her success...it is just the parts where she falls short remind me that she really does have some learning issues and social issues along with her cerebral palsy.

I hate the ARD meeting, but I like the goals and strategies that come out of it. Maybe next year I'll skip the assessment part and just ask to be called in for the goals.

Co-Host on BlogTalk Radio

I am super-psyched today to be co-hosting The Classy Closet show with the owner of The Classy Closet, Jen. Today's topic will be parenting girls VS. parenting boys and should be loads of fun. It is being broadcast live from Blog Talk Radio at 11:00 am CST. If you would like to pop in and listen that would be awesome! If you can't make that time period then you are more than welcome to listen at any time because it will be posted in the Blog Talk Radio/Classy Closet archives. Come back by and leave me a comment and let me know what you thought!

Vaseline Clinical Therapy Review and Giveaway

A few months ago I developed a weird dry patch of skin on my stomach.....some sort of eczema. Not a big deal, but awfully itchy and persistent. I was trying several different lotions around the house (mostly B&BW stuff) that just didn't work. Well I had gotten in on this campaign for Vaseline Clinical Therapy lotion and I thought to myself...if this doesn't work I am going to have to talk to my doctor next time I go on and have a prescription written out. Within a week of using Vaseline I have had no more dry itchy patch, and definitely no reason to mention it to my doctor.

Vaseline started in Kodiak; one of Alaska's many small towns, that has a population of 6,000. Due to the location, Kodiak endures an extremely icy climate leaving many of its residents with dull, dry and cracking skin. This very reason is why Vaseline thought the demographic would be perfect to demonstrate the effectiveness of Vaseline Clinical Therapy lotion.

Vaseline turned to Petal Ruch, a voice coach and 50-year-old mother of four, who tried the product and felt it really worked, to start a word-of-mouth campaign for new Vaseline Clinical Therapy Lotion. If she liked it, she could then freely "prescribe" it to anyone else she thought needed it. Through word-of-mouth, her experience spread to more than 600 townspeople—including 39 cousins, a Russian music group, a knife maker, police detective, owners of fishing vessels, and many others-- whom also discovered that Clinical Therapy works.

Clinical Therapy Lotion provides 60% more moisture than a prescription lotion, and is available without a prescription. It comes in two varieties ~ lightly fragranced and unfragranced.

Through most of the year I have more oily skin brought on by the fact that I live n the South Texas Coastal Plain with tone of humidity and mild winters. But my elbows...and of course the strange odd dry patch both are very grateful to Vaseline for this extremely effective lotion.

Now I would like to share the amazing results with two of my lucky readers by giving away two bottles of Vaseline Clinical Therapy lotion to try for yourselves.

This Giveaway is open to US residents only. It will end on January 17, 2009 at 12pm

Entry 1: Leave a comment with a way that Vaseline Clinical Therapy will help you
Entry 2: Leave a comment if you are a follower of my blog or become one
Entry 3: Leave a comment if you Stumble this post with your stumble name
Entry 4: Leave a comment if you Twitter this post with your twitter name
Entry 5: Leave a comment if you post about this giveaway with the URL to your post

I would like to thank the Family Review Network for this wonderful opportunity.

Life of a Pajama Junkie

Ok it is no secret among the people who know me best......I love pajamas! I would absolutely go Hugh Hefner and lounge all day and be completely comfortable and happy. Why do they not make clothes that feel as comfortable as my pajamas feel. I do have my favorite brands though.

I love Vera Wang's pajamas at Kohl's. These are my everyday favorites. In fact I own the pair that are in the picture! I probably have about five pairs that I just wear out during the winter months. They are that smooth brushed cotton that is just so comfortable. For the summer months I love PJ Salvage little spaghetti strap nighties in that same brushed soft cotton.

I am a pajama fiend...much to my poor husband's dismay who groans every time I squeal with delight at a new pair. Any of you pajama companies out there needing PR...I am your gal!