Posts Tagged ‘dad’

We’re Back!

Monday, January 5th, 2009

I’ve been on a blogging hiatus since we were gone to Wisconsin. I really didn’t blog about it too much since I didn’t think it was wise to let the internet know that we weren’t home. However, we are back now and I am hoping to get back to blogging a little more frequently than I have been. My parents only have dial up, and that is just not worth my time to even try and do. I don’t know how my dad looks for cheap auto insurance or even checks his email. It is so slow that I can’t stand it at all. We are trying to talk him into getting DSL, so hopefully, I’ll be successful with that. I am hoping to get some of our pictures downloaded later tonight, so I can show you what fun my kids had. I am hoping that everyone had a great Christmas and got everything they wanted.

Granting Wishes at Sears

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

TThis post is sponsored, but the ideas, thoughts and ramblings are my own.

Since having kids, I turned into a big softie.   Yes, I’ll actually admit it.  I cry at things I never would have before, and I think about things that never would have crossed my mind before having kids.  I’ll be honest here — I get all teary eyed at Sears new commercials.  Their new campaign is about how one gift can change someone’s life.  Since I absolutely love Ty Pennington, I thought I’d show you what he had to say:

Okay, now that I’ve got myself composed again, I need to tell you what wishes Sears answered for my family. I was provided a $100 gift card from Sears that we were able to use this weekend.

Bill and I bundled the kids off early yesterday morning and headed off to Sears.  I luck out since Sears is actually walking distance from my house, and we actually shop their quite a bit — off the top of my head, we got a bench, our snowblower, and our lawnmower from there.  However, on this trip, we had no idea what we were going to get.  My Christmas shopping is pretty much done, so we were going to try to find something for the kids.

The first place we checked out was the outdoor decorations. Madison is always wanting more for our yard, and this isn’t something we spend a lot of money on.  Shortly after this picture was taken, Will decided to lay on the floor and talk to one of the deer that they had for a decoration.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the camera out fast enough to get that embarrassing photo of him.  Nothing really caught our eye in this department, so we headed over to toys.  Of course, there were a lot of toys to pick from, but really, my kids don’t need another $100 worth of toys right before Christmas.  Since the favorite part of any store for my husband is electronics, we headed to that department.

Once we were in electronics, my husband immediately walked towards the TVs even though we really don’t need one. Plus, $100 doesn’t really buy a TV (or at least not the ones he was looking at). Madison was being her normal hyper self running around looking at things until she saw the guitar hero bundle.  Yes, that is my whole family playing Guitar Hero in Sears.  Madison asked us if we could buy her the drums.

Now, the school district I live in has cut the art and music programs from the curriculum and will not be adding them back.  I have written many posts on this blog about how awful I think this situation is and how I feel that music definitely is a class that should not be cut.  My daughter loves to play instruments and sing.  I can’t imagine depriving her of it.  With the $100 Sears gift card, we will be able to fulfill her wish and give her the additional music support she will not be getting from our school.  Who knows — Madison may end up to be  talented singer, dancer, in a band, etc.  However, I’d love to give her the stepping stones she needs to reach her full potential.  (Plus, well, Guitar Hero is fun for mom and dad too.  Dad was all over getting it when I told him there was 3 Tool songs and Freak On A Leash by Korn.  I also need to add that the gift card paid for a portion of the cost of this bundle.  I paid the rest.)

Since we got such an awesome family gift from Sears, I’d like to extend this awesome opportunity to one of my readers.  Yes, I’d like to give you a $100 gift card to Sears to use however you like.

You can enter via blog comment, tweet or blog post:

Blog Comment:

I just need you to tell me what you think you’d want to spend your $100 on.  Head on over to Sears and let me know the item number of what you like.

Twitter:

I’ve made it super easy for you to Twitter about this contest.  Just tweet out this message:

RT @blm03 please grant my wish to win a $100 #Sears gift card – tweet to make your own wish:  http://urlbrief.com/8e0599

Blog Post:

You can also enter by writing a post about the contest and linking back to this post.  Make sure you leave a comment with the URL to your post, so I can count it as an entry.

Each tweet, comment or post counts as one registration.  You can register up to three times by tweeting, leaving a comment, and doing a post on your blog.  The winner will be chosen at random by IZEA based on all entries.  This contest goes until December 23 at midnight EST.  Good Luck!

Check out the other Izea Insiders for more chances to win:

BenSpark

Steven Sanders

Corrin Renee

Elizabeth

Laurie

Kat

Heather

Brett

Weekend Plans

Thursday, October 9th, 2008

We have a very busy weekend ahead of us.  Our original plan was to finally finish putting the basement together.  We still have a ton of crap in the garage that needs to come in, pictures need to be hung, totes need to be gone through and put away, wall plates need to be put up, etc.  However, Bill got invited to a gold outing, so he’ll be doing that all day Saturday!  My parents are coming down too, so my dad will be going with him golfing.  My mom and I will be stuck with the kids, so I don’t think we will be doing any shopping.  However, I think I may try and go into the attic and pull out the kids winter clothes.  It is October, so it needs to be done.  My only fear is that the minute I put their summer clothes away, it will get warm again.  I’m just not sure what we will do with the rest of the time.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Dirty Sexy Money Premiere Rocked!

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

Ok, if you have this TIVOd or missed watching it, quit reading right now!  If you don’t watch the show, well none of this will make sense.  I have to say that this was one of the best premieres ever!  Seriously, Nick steps back into the mess we like to call the Darling family.  Jeremy is after Nick’s wife who succombs to his kiss when he gets her drunk (though I can’t figure out why it was okay for him to kiss Karen but heaven forbid his wife does the same thing!).  Karen turns down Nick (who saw that coming?) for a kiss or more.  Now, I can’t tell for sure if Karen really fell for Simon or if they are still playing the game.  I also would love to know who he called after Karen left.  That I haven’t figure out yet.  I really don’t get why Patrick didn’t call the police after his wife hit her head?  He didn’t do it, so I don’t know why he had to cover it up.  The end of the show was the biggest surprise ever!  We all thought that they were coming for Patrick.  Instead, they arrested Letitia for Nick’s dad’s murder! Personally, I think she’s being set up.  I think this is a loose thread that the series will always have as a back story.

This is going to be a great season of Dirty Sexy Money!

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Alzheimer’s Memory Walk

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

As many of you may know, the Alzheimer Association is a cause that is near and dear to my heart. I know too many people that have had such a horrible disease. It truly steals who you are right out from underneath you. My mom figures that her dad (my grandfather) had it. I have several great aunt and uncles that have had it also. More recently, Bill’s grandmother had it. Bill and I have been together 12 years, and I never got to know her before she got Alzheimer’s. She passed away about a year or so ago, but I missed out on meeting one remarkable lady. She was blind; yet, she didn’t let it stop her. She had 5 children and she ran the Chicago division of the Guild For The Blind. She wrote many books too. I also have an uncle now that they aren’t sure if it’s Alzheimer’s or dementia that he has. His kids (my cousins) had to put him in a nursing home since he can no longer stay by himself. As you can see, this is a disease that certainly has hit close to home here.

Again, this year, the Alzheimer’s Association will be having their Memory Walk. This is the nation’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer care, support and research. They are putting the call out for people to walk and be team captains this year. The Alzheimer’s Memory Walk should be taking place in the fall somewhere close to you (they have walks scheduled all over the nation — 600 communities total). The walk is about 2-3 miles.

Please consider being a captain or a walker for such a great cause. If you are unable to do that, please consider donating to a walker who is walking for such a great cause!

Sponsored by Alzheimer's Walk