The Girls Say....

Posted by Stitchblade | 12:53 PM Dec 25, 2008


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Merry Christmas!

Posted by Stitchblade | 6:29 PM Dec 24, 2008

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I've said it many times before, and I'm saying it yet again! Times are tough and we all need to watch what we spend.

Safeway
and its family of grocery stores (Vons, Dominick's, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Pavilions, Carrs and Genuardi's) are helping Moms make this season a bit easier. Shopping with Safeway's Club Card offers us the opportunity to earn gas rewards whenever we grocery shop, buy prescriptions, and even gift cards.

You can earn double PowerPump Gas Rewards for every $100 in gift cards purchased with your Club Card at Safeway stores. You can pick up gift cards from over 300 retailers, restaurants, sports and entertainment companies (including Best Buy, The Home Depot, Macy's, iTunes, plus many more!).

To find a participating store near you, go to www.Safeway.com/PowerPump and enter your zip code. You can use the giftcards as presents or for your personal use to receive the extra benefit of double gas rewards at the pump. The offer of double PowerPump gas rewards on gift cards will only be available through the holidays.

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Girls Are So Touchy

Posted by Stitchblade | 7:50 AM

I'm a mother to three girls. One of those girls has apparently come in to puberty quite early. She is 10, she is growing like a weed!

Its a funny thing with girls. You really have to be careful of what you say to them, because everything is taken the wrong way. For instance, the other night J and I commented on her outfit, telling her the outfit she was wearing was getting way too small. She freaked, like freaked in a way that would lead to her binging on cheap diet pills if I hadn't nipped it before it was out of control.

I had to explain to her that we just meant she was getting taller. Taller meaning shirts get shorter and jeans show much more butt crack than anyone should ever have to see. We both realized at that moment......from here on out anything we say to her can totally affect her body image. This is definitely a topic that I need to read up on and prepare for. Girls have it so rough with the way they change, so I am going to continue to try to make sure all of my girls are 100% comfortable with themselves

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READ KIDDO READ

Posted by Stitchblade | 8:14 PM Dec 22, 2008

As I have mentioned before, I LOVE books! Thankfully my kids love books as well. Morgan is in the 5th grade and is reading at about a 10th grade level now. She used to hate to read, I'm so glad that changed. She devours books daily! I keep a lot of books in our home and we visit the library quite often.

One of my favorite authors is James Patterson. He is the man behind Read Kiddo Read. Read Kiddo Read was designed to help you find great books that will make your child want to read! They have reviews on books that are separated for the appropriate ages and types of books.

  • Great Illustrated Books
  • Great Transitional Books
  • Great Pageturners
  • Great Advanced Reads
I have all girls, so I can not attest to this on a personal level.... but I hear that boys are harder to get into reading for pleasure than girls are. I noticed on the site they is a list called Almost Can't-Miss Sure Shot Books... For Boys.

If you give your kids great books that they enjoy reading you will get a kid who loves to read. The Read Kiddo Read site can help us all pick out some great books to help our children along.

James Patterson has also been writing books for all ages, beginning with the critically acclaimed Maximum Ride series. The series debuted on the New York Times bestsellers list at #1 and remained there for 12 straight weeks!

I want to thank Mother Talk for letting me in on this great site so that I could share it with you!

Oh and this post is not complete without me telling you what my favorite James Patterson book is. It is called Suzanne's Diary For Nicholas, and I highly recommend you check it out. Be forewarned...this one requires tissues.

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Ultimate Party Meatballs Recipe

Posted by Stitchblade | 8:04 PM Dec 19, 2008

I know you all probably have all kinds of holiday family dinners to attend. This requires you to think of something to prepare and take! It's not like your busy enough right? So how about something easy this year?

Heinz and Ocean Spray have teamed up to bring you a great easy recipe for this years holiday season! Their Ultimate Party Meatball recipe only has 3 ingredients and 2 steps! How much easier can it get?

Ingredients:

  • 1 16-ounce can Ocean Spray® Jellied Cranberry Sauce
  • 1 12-ounce bottle Heinz® Chili Sauce
  • 1 2-pound bag frozen, pre-cooked, cocktail-size meatballs
Directions:

Combine sauces in a large saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth. Add meatballs. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until meatballs are heated through, stirring occasionally.

Makes 30 appetizer servings.

Want it even easier?????? Of course you do!

Slow cooker Preparation:

Place meatballs in a slow cooker. Combine sauces and pour over meatballs. Cover and cook 4 hours on HIGH.

Heinz and Ocean Spray have many other recipes, entertaining tips, and even a sweepstakes! The grand prize is $3000 to throw the ultimate party. I know you love to party!

I would like to thank Mom Central for sending me this awesome recipe to try out! It was a big hit with my kids and I will be making it again for Christmas Eve!






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Christmas, is it almost over?

Posted by Stitchblade | 2:00 PM Dec 18, 2008

Ok so I am almost done with my gift shopping. I still have to go get my oldest daughters BIG present. She is going to be so excited to finally have her own computer. It's a pretty big deal.

Jeremy was the hardest to shop for. I had thought about scrapbooking about the band so far, but really just didn't have enough time. So I decided to order one of those photo books. I just did it a few days ago and he was quite suspicious of the questions I was asking. Oh well. Well, when I hit the order button it said 2-3 weeks for delivery....say what? But I just got an email confirmation last night saying it would be ready to pick up at the local store in 2-3 days. That's awesome! Totally made my day to find that out.

I have been working my fanny off catching up on custom orders and finally got caught up and everything mailed in time. I have also been working hard with the new graphics portion of our business. The .com has been purchased and the new site should be up soon! So exciting! As well as the band web site being worked on and it will be up very soon as well!

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$100 Lands' End Gift Card!

Posted by Stitchblade | 9:04 AM Dec 17, 2008

Lands' End really wants some mom opinions! You can give them yours by completing the Lands' End Sun.Life 2008 Survey. The survey consists of 22 multiple-choice questions. Upon completing the survey, your name will be entered to win one of five $100 Lands' End Gift Cards. To be eligible to win, you must complete the survey by midnight (CST) on Friday, December 19th.

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Check Out This Diaper Lottery!

Posted by Stitchblade | 8:19 AM Dec 15, 2008


CottonMamma has some items in stock, and along with it a fantastic lottery! If you win, you ONLY cover the shipping! This is a first quality diaper. Here is the description for the listing.

Jolly Bums Diaper In Peach - XL Lottery

This listing is for one Jolly Bums Diaper, for the cost of shipping only! Just a fun listing from me to you! It's that time of year when gift-giving is fun! So take a chance, enter your name & you just might have another gift for your little one or a friend for a nominal cost.

You will receive one AI2 (all-in-two) style diaper in a peach color. This diaper has a waterproof outer & a snap-in soaker. This diaper is best suited for day-time wear. Other snap-in soakers may be used to enhance this diaper for nighttime performance.

This diaper does NOT require a cover. The outer layer is PUL (polyurethane laminate) and is a waterproof barrier.

The soaker you will receive is the old-style Jolly Bums soaker. It is composed of organic cotton fleece and topped with microfleece.

This AI2 does NOT have a sewn-in soaker component in the shell.

Please see below for diaper sizing:

Small-12-16 waist, rise 15
Med- 14-20 waist, rise 17
Large-16-22 waist, rise 19
XL-18-25 waist, rise-21

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Baby Einstein Holiday Blog Tour

Posted by Stitchblade | 12:51 PM Dec 11, 2008


You know, I had never watched a Baby Einstein DVD. My girls had never watched one either. We have had Baby Einstein books, which are among some of the favorites here at our home. So of course I wanted to see what else they offered.

I was super excited to be chosen to participate in the Baby Einstein Blog tour hosted by Mom Central. It was the perfect opportunity to see first hand what was so special about Baby Einstein.

In our package we recieved the following:

  • 10th Anniversary Baby Mozart DVD
  • Baby Einstein Board Book
  • Lullaby Classics CD

We are currently listening the the Lullaby Classics CD right now and you know....it's REALLY peaceful and relaxing. Maybe I should place this in my room at night to help relax this tired mama. The girls, however are dancing! It's looking like a 4yr old and 2 yr olds version of ballet. I would have to say they are loving it and so am I. I mean I am typing while my kids listen to music that I can actually stand! That means I am able to concentrate! WOW! I must get more of this thing called Baby Einstein!

The board book was the first thing the girls ran off when the package arrived. Ms. Emma is 2 and has claimed the book as hers. Ms. Lauren (age 4) also loves the touch and feel book. She enjoys showing me how the fur turns different colors depending on which way you rub it.

The DVD was another hit and one I actually enjoyed. A nice change from the overly obnoxious children's shows on TV. Sorry...this mama can't stand a doodlebop, there for no doodle boppin a bops in my house. The DVD was not too long! That is great, because I like TV in small intervals for the kid's so they are not just veggin' out on the tube for hours. This is a great length for some evening relaxation to wind down before bed time.

I was also sent some DVD viewing tips and I would like to share a few of those here with you.

DVD Viewing Tips

At Baby Einstein, each DVD is designed to reinforce parent-child interaction by providing visually interesting, entertaining content that you and your baby can watch together. Whether the theme is art, music, or barnyard animals, each DVD offers an opportunity to cuddle, share, talk, or sing along with your baby. The DVD can also be a jumping off point for more parent child interaction during your everyday routine.

Talk! Talk! Talk!

From the moment we say that first hello to our new baby, we begin developing our little one’s language. So, when you’re watching a Baby Einstein DVD, you don’t have to be quiet. This is a chance to create little stories.


From the Video Theme to the Real World Scene

Whenever there is an opportunity to link what you have seen on the DVD to other experiences in baby’s life, make that connection. For example, if you watched a DVD about animals, you might say, “Oh, look. There’s a BIG fish on the screen. Do we have another fish in our house?” And off you go to look at your gold fish. This kind of activity shows baby that something we see in one place can be seen in other places too.


So hop on over and check out Baby Einstein and Mom Central!

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I Want A Huge Bathroom

Posted by Stitchblade | 1:08 PM Dec 10, 2008

I'm bored so I'm posting about what I would like to have in my dream bathroom. I have more than one sort of bathroom I would like so for now I will just cover one. I want a tub like this:
I want one of these Kohler faucets:


On a Vanity like this but not those colors! Oh and not those lights or mirror.....I just mean the vanity itself with the drawers and cupboards:


Dude, I would spend all day in there. Throw in a comfy chair and some books and I would be in Heaven! Ohhh maybe a fireplace? Yea that would rock!

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I've Won A "MAJOR AWARD"

Posted by Stitchblade | 9:55 AM Dec 9, 2008


Ok, I didn't win this rad lamp, but I was awarded a blog award! Tracy from One Retro Mama gave it to me!

The award is for PROXIMITY and it's explained this way:
"This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."


This is my first blog award! Woohooo! Now I get to award 8 others! Who will then award 8 more, and it will go on and on.

So...here are the bloggers I award!

'Cuz I Felt Like It for being 100% real ALWAYS! Everything you read on her blog is truly 100% her and I love her.

Christi's Creative Side for being a very talented STRONG mama!

Hello Jobi because she is RAD and her kids are RAD, she just needs to update her blog!

4 Girls and a Marine truly a great person and new to the blogging world

Blah Blah Blah Blog I love reading her posts, just check out her newest one about her dog for sale!

Dinker and Giggles She always posts very imformative blog posts and reviews, check out all of her giveaways that are currently going on. She is also a great person!

SWift wOrds is local to me and she is also a poet and an awesome mama

Five J's this is a blog that I just started reading. This mama does a lot and there is a TON of great stuff over there!

Now go check all these great people out and give them some love!

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Why Do We Have Such Bad Luck?

Posted by Stitchblade | 6:48 AM Dec 8, 2008

So my last post was about how awesome everything seemed to be lately. Well today, not so awesome. I am sitting here worried about J. A few weeks ago he fell off of a roof while working. This sucked really bad because they had just started the job and yea it sucks because falling hurts.

He worked through the pain and after a few days was feeling a bit better. His arm still hurts and it has this funky little bend to it. Today he woke up having trouble breathing. Its all on the side that he hit when he fell. I am worried that he cracked his ribs and maybe in his sleep something shifted. He still went to work, but the look on his face told me he was in a lot of pain. I wish we were built with a little pain pump built in. Give that baby a push whenever you felt crappy. Really though, I never take meds, so I would probably never push the button on it.

I'm half asleep, only have had 1/2 cup of coffee. I have a lot to do OFFLINE today, so hoping to get all of mu puter stuff done this morning and SHUTTING this thing off to get stuff done the rest of the day.

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This Week Is Tree Time

Posted by Stitchblade | 8:52 PM Dec 7, 2008

I really can not wait. J is picking up the Christmas Tree this week. This year all 3 girls will be able to help decorate. I know they will have such a blast. Now my deal is getting everything ready for the tree to arrive. I need some sort of moving services to help get it in order for me. Anyone want to volunteer? This is our first Christmas in this house and I hope that it is a nice and memorable one for my girls.

This week was quite a full one. We had a surprise birthday party for J. Its funny because I had this planned before I knew about the one they had for me, so all of our friends were like ugh 2 in a row??? HAHAHA! Some good friends showed up and we all had a good time.

Before people arrived Morgan and J built a massive dog house for Morgan's dogs. Complete with porch and all. It still needs to be shingled and painted. It was a great weekend and I think it's going to continue to be awesome for us through this Holiday season.

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Speedealer and The Misfits

Posted by Stitchblade | 10:25 AM Dec 5, 2008



So yesterday was J's birthday and last Friday was mine. We decided that we would go see the Speedealer Reunion show! They played with The Misfits and we had an awesome time! I met some new people, got a few bruises, and a few pictures. One of the girls I met got her camera knocked out of her hands and lost her memory stick! How bad does that suck! This was after she had taken MANY pictures. So the night goes on and the show is over. We were all standing outside in the back and met Dez Cadena (of Black Flag fame). As we were standing outside a guy came up and had the memory stick that had previously been lost in a sea of craziness. Rad! Here are some of my photos from the night.


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Revolution Money Exchange

Posted by Stitchblade | 10:14 AM

No FEES, great alternative to paypal! RME cards are now accepted at many stores! Click on the button below or in my side bar to sign up!

Refer A Friend using Revolution Money Exchange

MoneyExchange is an easy and secure way to send and receive money online for FREE.
  • FREE to register for an account
  • FREE to add money from your bank account
  • FREE to send money
  • FREE to receive money
  • FREE to request money
  • FREE to electronically transfer money to your bank account
The following is taken directly from the Revolution Money Exchange site:

About Revolution Money

Launched in 2007, a new payment network – Revolution Money – was created to deliver significant value to both consumers and merchants through two products, RevolutionCard and RevolutionMoneyExchange. The RevolutionCard eliminates costly interchange fees for merchants while simultaneously providing consumers with enhanced PIN-based security, identity protection, and periodic merchant discounts and incentives. MoneyExchange offers an easy and secure way to send and receive money online between accountholders for free. The accounts are issued by First Bank & Trust, Brookings, SD, Member FDIC and part of the Fishback Financial Corporation. These products are leading the transformation of the payment industry by providing secure, easy, and instant payment solutions to everyone.

Revolution Money is based in St. Petersburg, FL and is part of the family of companies within Revolution, LLC, which was founded by Steve Case to drive transformative change by shifting power to consumers.

With series B venture capital funding from Citi, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Revolution LLC, and a world-class Board of Directors, Revolution Money has strong financial resources and leadership to compete and grow.

Board of Directors


Ted Leonsis,
Chairman

Vice Chairman, AOL; Owner, Washington Capitals

Steve Case

Chairman, Revolution LLC; Co-Founder, AOL; Former Chairman, AOL Time Warner

David Golden

CFO, Revolution LLC; Former Vice Chairman, J.P. Morgan

David Pottruck

Chairman, Eos Airlines; Former CEO, Charles Schwab

Frank Raines

Former Chairman & CEO, Fannie Mae; Previously head of OMB

Larry Summers

Former Secretary of Treasury; Former President, Harvard University

Jason Hogg

Founder, President and CEO, Revolution Money



Stores that accept RME:

ABC Liquors
A.J. Wright
AutoZone
Barnes& Noble
Belk
Bed Bath &Beyond
Big Y
BJ's Wholesale Club
Bloomingdale's
Buy.com
Chico's
Circuit City
Claire's Stores
CVS/Pharmacy
David's Bridal
Dillard’s
Dollar General
Duane Reade
Family Dollar
Famous Smoke Shop
Food Dynasty
Finish Line
General Nutrition Centers
Giant Eagle
Gordon Food Service
Harley Davidson
Hobby Lobby
Hollister Co.
Home Goods
Hy Vee
iGourmet.com
Kay Jewelers
Key Foods
KOHL'S Department Stores
MACY'S
MAPCO Express
Marshalls
Meijer
Murphy USA
Murphy Express
Nordstrom
Office Depot
Office Max
Party City
Pharmacy Express
Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Phantoms
Price Less Foods
Publix
Rainbow
Ray's Food Place
Rent-A-Center
Ryan's Restaurant
Shipley Energy
Shop Smart
Shoebuy.com
Skechers USA
Talbots
The Andersons
Thorntons QuickCafe & Market
T.J.Maxx
Tom's Stores
Tractor Supply Company
U-Haul International
Urban Outfitters
Verizon Center (Washington Capitals)
Village Inn
Wachovia Center
Walgreen's
Whole Foods
Wilson Farms
WinCo Foods
Winn Dixie

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2 more Norton PC Tune Up's For Grabs!

Posted by Stitchblade | 11:03 AM Dec 3, 2008

Since my computer was dead I had to take it in to be fixed up. I am back! Wooohooo! Anyhow, since I was not online to promote the giveaway I have 2 more to give away! Post here! First 2 responses get one!

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