$1.50 buys...

Here are, in my opinion, the two greatest things you can buy at Wal-Mart for the bargain barrel price of only $1.50. The first being TWO POUNDS of animal crackers/cookies. They're a good tasty treat and decently low in sugar. That huge honkin' bag lasts about two months at our house. And number two, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I know you are all fans. One of those suckers lasts at least two months, I would say. I like to use it until the very end, until it's disintegrating, crumbling, and unable to fulfill it's magical promises of cleaning. And you also get two of them. They say good things travel in pairs...

P.S. I apparently need some more lessons from Colleen on how to space my pictures appropriately. It's hard to get this done while the bean is napping. I'm just stoked I even know how to upload them. Cool.

maybe we should buy stock in Kraft....

dipping my pizza in ranch is delicious.. but its also SO fun to play with..
and lick off my fingers

Buy more Ranch!!!
How do I get this bottle open?!

In case you wanted to floss...

the box is hidden in Jim's top drawer of his nightstand because Kate keeps taking it out of the bathroom, unraveling it and telling us she is flossing.

why why WHY!

i was at the gym last night and went in to take a shower.. the showers are so pretty and nice at Life Time.. but then I almost threw up. There was a HUGE wad of black hair on the shower floor and a bandaid on the shelf.... WHY do people do this? Why would you think its ok to just take off your bandaid and leave it in the shower.. why would you comb your hair and whatever and leave a nasty ball of hair.. that is obviously way to big to fit down the drain.. now people have to shower with it and then some poor girl who works there has to come and clean it up with her hands! ick ick!
my stomach hurts now.

Consignment Sales

Hi Ladies,
I thought I would post the consignment sale dates that I know of so far. I think there are a couple more that I don't have dates for yet but as soon as I get them I will post them too.

Take 2- Sept 12-15th. Located one block north of 90th and Maple.
Ava Bella-Sept 20-23rd. Located at the Holiday Inn Central 3321 S. 72nd St.
Omaha Parent's of Multiples sale-Oct 6th (Sat) from 10-2. Located at UNO in Sapp Fieldhouse.
Reruns R Fun-Sept 21-28th. Located 84th and Brentwood.

Okay, there you go! I know I am missing one...it is the one that is located at the soccer center out on Giles street. I can't think of what it is called. As soon as I get the info on it I will pass it on.

Thank you Jami and your magic booger eater

I would like to post a consumer report/thank you letter to Jami Carey.
I have a cold/sinus thingy. I am stuffed up... really stuffed up.
Monday night I was very stuffed up and I don't sleep good when I have to breathe out of my mouth all night and it was a bad night of sleep.
Jami told me about this great stuff called Vicks Sinex. IT ROCKS!
I sprayed some in my nose and within a minute my snot packed nose was clear and I could breathe and it lasted all night! I don't know how it eats the boogers...it burned a little when I sprayed it in there so maybe that is the boogers being eaten. who knows. i am not a nurse.
Everyone needs to run to Walgreens now and buy some. I just wish we could use it on little kids.. not until they are 6yr old.

Spotlight

Yeah, so I had my 4 minutes in the spotlight and yes, I'm a dork....but I thought you'd get a laugh.. Some critiques of myself. I say UM way too much, and what's with the screwed up facial expressions. And does anyone else notice how she doesn't really seem to be listening to my responses? Especially since she then asks me the questions I've already answered. Oh and LOVE the I don't know answers. Yuck!

www.mamasource.presskit247.com Click Media Coverage and I'm the top interview!

Oh, and why didn't I tuck my hair back? Would love any comments you have!!!

A Small Tribute to Trip Dog.

Last summer, whenever we walked Trip, our little next-door neighbor Blake (now three) would always shout, "That's Trip!" On our Christmas card, it said "To Trip's family" as that's what Blake calls us. He always waves frantically to me saying "Hi Jami! Hi Antono-nia!" whenever we're outside. Jay came in laughing last night after mowing and said that Blake waved at him and said, "Hi Trip!" Now that's a fine man to be mistaken for, Jay. Fine indeed.

(Trip is currently vacationing at Grandma and Grandpa Rossitto's house and is unable for comment at this time.)

Born Free? Born "I'm out 24 bucks" is more like it!

Attention all of my friends of childbearing age...I'm here to tell you a little story about those "Born Free" bottles. My girlfriend from San Francisco sent me an e-mail a few months ago about our Avent bottles containing the chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) in its plastic (#7 on the bottom). BPA in a high enough dose can mimic hormones and can cause all sorts of problems: low sperm count, prostate and breast cancer, ADHD, yadda, yadda, yadda. I refused to give into the hype and told Jay, "I'm not getting worked up about this. If BPA were really that harmful, there would be word about it on the news and they'd be pulling the bottles from the market." Sure enough, THAT NIGHT on the World News, they had a report on BPA in baby bottles, and how there is legislation to try make it illegal for bottles to be made with it.

Crap.

So I sent Jay off to get these stupid "Born Free" BPA-free bottles from Whole Foods. Just wanted you to know that I like that they're supposedly more safe for Antonia, but they suuuuuck! AND, they were like, twenty-four bucks (with tax) for two bottles. They have some dumb thing that screws in under the nipple that's a total pain in the ass to unscrew and clean (supposed to help with gas...okey dokey), the nipple is almost impossible to unscrew, in part probably because you have to screw it on so tight in the first place so IT DOESN'T CAUSE YOUR KITCHEN TO HAVE A FOUR INCH FLOOD OF MILK BECAUSE THE DAMN BOTTLE LEAKS SO MUCH WHEN YOU SHAKE IT!!!! Yep, they totally suck. And, not to mention, they look like five-year-old bottles that someone had previously peed in. Nice. Avent my old friend, I miss you.

Where is it?

Ever have a morning where you are trying to put on your bra.. and you are reaching behind your back trying to put the little hook through the eye... and its just not working.. you try a couple more times... then you take it off and check to make sure that the hooks didn't mysteriously fall off when you washed them (even though you are suppose to hand wash them, but who really hand washes their bras anyways) but the hooks are still there so you try it again... and then you think that maybe you will start wearing sports bras or maybe you will look for those training bras that hook in the front bc Lord know I could fit into those JUST FINE..
yeah.. it was one of those mornings.

Pay it Forward

Has anyone ever been in the drive through line and told the person at the counter you want to pay for the person's food behind you? My mom did it once a couple months ago.. I think it is so cool. I think I am going to do it. I was reading in Real Simple to do it in the grocery store as well. If someone gets behind you in line and they only have one thing, offer to let them go in front of you and tell the cashier to put the item on your bill.. How nice. :) I think it would make me cry. :)

On "The Big Idea" tonight...

I saw this on "The Big Idea" tonight (the show I am completely addicted to on CNBC.) and I was literally saying "yeah....YEAH...oh my gosh, YEAH!!!" (get your mind out of the gutter, I wasn't saying like that!) I was saying it because why didn't anyone this of this before? This gal, Kerry O'Brien has made MILLIONS on (you're not ready...) underwear called "commando c.y.a.", and nipple stickers called "low beams" (which is hilarious!), and silicone inserts for your bra to give you lift called "cleavage cupcakes" and even inserts to make you a cup-size bigger called "takeouts". She said these are more "today" than things we had in the past. Even the names are more "now". And that she was having repeat customers not because they were insecure about themselves in regards to the cleavage cupcakes or the takeouts, but because they thought if it as making themselves better, like putting on makeup. Clever!
I was cracking up. But what I most loved was the Commando underwear - no seams, no elastic, no lines! This is serious. Better then a thong...which is what caught my attention. Yesterday I wore white pants to work and even though I wore a flesh colored string thong, you could still see some lines, from the elastic, and where it meets up near my hip. What else could I do with those white pants but go underwearless (which I WON'T/CAN'T do! ...sorry Jami.) So imagine my surprise when I see this show tonight. You have to check out this website. I am so intrigued to just try a pair! Let me know your thoughts...and WHY couldn't I have thought of this!?! I would be RICH - cash money yo!
http://www.herlook.com/

oh yeah

1. Whenever I see some water in a bowl or something and the table gets knocked and it makes those little ripples.. i ALWAYS think of Jurassic Park.. do you remember that scene?
2. I love when Kate comes into the bathroom and talks with me while I am going to the bathroom sometimes.. I do not like it when she gets a hold of the dental floss.. then we get cavities.. its a mess.

A small tribute to Jay, RN

So you know how Jill wrote about loving to be around people who she could learn from? I don't want to toot my own horn, but beep, beep. If that's the case, wanting to learn, you should come read the paper with us some night.

Northern Ireland has been at civil war for the last forty years? Really? Jay can tell you about it.

Global warming isn't entirely due to our awful treatment of the ozone layer, and in fact, the earth naturally warms and cools itself in cycles, a few hundred years at a time? Who knew? Jay did.

Young America jumped too crazy, too fast on the sub-prime housing market, and now 4% of them are being foreclosed on, and this, in essence, is affecting Britain's economy as well? Who would of thunk it? Jay. That's who.

I'm kidding around just a little. He talks about this stuff totally unassuming and not "hoitey toitey" at all. I honestly had to close my gaping jaw as it hung open in awe as he told me about that Northern Ireland bit. It's just cool to learn stuff I would otherwise have no idea about. All I'm saying is the boy likes his CNN. And I like him. :)

Oh no, I didn't !!

Look at the new high chair/shopping cart cover I got for Antonia! (Huge props out to Erica for suggesting e-bay, by the way.) It should be here any day now. Gone are the days of plopping her carseat into the shopping cart, only to make room for five items, and here are the days of accompanying me for the huge, honkin' month's-worth-of-groceries trips to Wal-mart! And no more Bumbo seat taking up two-third's of our table when we're out to dinner. For-real high chair, here she comes!! Swings in the park? Your germs are no match for our super cool cover!

P.S. Yes, I probably paid a stupid amount, but she'll get a few years out of it, so totally worth it in my mind. And, it has three pockets. Three. AND a toy loop. Feel like throwing your toy into the produce section? Not so fast My Dear, as the handy dandy toy loop is here to save the day. Too fabulous. Business cards? I have them. (I like to share the love...)

Moron..

Has everyone read this story or probably heard it on the news? This guy sent his girlfriend flowers and is now suing 1800flowers bc they sent a thank you note to his house and his wife found out...... He said on the Today show this has caused him mental anguish bc lots of people are calling him now and talking bad about him behind his back and this is all the flower companies fault.. please go read this.. I was listening to this on the Today show this morning getting SO mad while I was driving.. what an idiot and what a waste of time and money!
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/20247816/

The Hills

Did anyone else besides Nici and Jess watch the Hills season premier tonight! Love this show.. Can you believe Spencer and Heidi! He is such a loser.. what was the store he was buying her ring in and where did he get all that money! Arg!

I'm late! I'm late!

First off, I heart you guys all so much. You are the bestest friends and each and everyone of you inspire me everyday and have made me a stronger woman. I learn from each of you and it has been so fun reading all of your posts.. I think we should each do 10 more.. if not more than that!
I think since I am tardy I shall do 20.. I know you are all heaving a big sigh of relief as I am so interesting and you are all dying to know more about me.. hehe. totally kidding.

1. My family and friends are the most important things to me. It has been a LONG time since I have gone a day with out talking to my mom and Jim and I make it a point to say "I love you" to each other many times a day and everytime we hang up the phone.. for the most part. :)
2. The sweetest sound to me right now is hearing Kate talk. Ecspecially when she says things like " Hold me Mommy" or when I drove out of the garage this morning and didn't realize my passenger side mirror was so close to the garage door and I busted the mirror off and Kate says " Mommy bonked car!" nice Jill.....
3. I pick my nose everyday. Just once usually to get some of the big ones out that a kleenex can't get. Don't judge!!! Has anyone ever noticed that after you have been outside a lot the boogers get harder and crustier?
4. I love popping zits.. Ok I am done talking about gross things.. for a minute
5. I am not a fan of cleaning either. Every once in a while I will get into a mood to clean, but not usually. but of couse.. I love it when things are clean and organized.
6. I love the water. There is something so relaxing about it. Whether I am listening to it, seeing it, or out on it. Jim and I have a goal that the next house we move into will be a house on a lake.. maybe Ginger Cove.. years from now!
7. I love to travel, but after a week am always ready to come home. I always get ideas in my head that I could just move anywhere, but I know I would miss my family too much.
8. I love to learn. I like having useful and pointless information stored in my brain. I would love to go back to school and get my Masters... some day.. maybe. For the time being I love reading and talking to really smart people and picking their brain.
9. I like to make people proud of me. I am the third in my family, but there is a big gap inbetween my older brother and me and I have all the tendencies of a first born. I love to please my parents and people in general. I hate getting in trouble and I like to make people happy.
10. I think communication is the hardest part of being married. I think it is amazing how the longer you are together the more you start to think the other person knows what you are thinking. It is something Jim and I both have to be conscience about every day to make out marriage strong and still have to remind each other amongst life and kids and the hecticness.
11. I have huge wish to be really artsy and creative. I would pay big money to be able to paint or draw or sing or take pictures like Colleen and other prof. photographers.
12. I also have a huge desire to have a really cool backyard/landscape/garden. I am planting a garden next summer people! I will give you all tomatoes from my garden! (bc jim and I don't like them. :)
13. I also have a huge desire to finish reading the WHOLE bible. Jim and I started to when I was pregnant and both have gotten distracted since she was born.. I am still stuck in the Old Testament, but have found these cool study guides at Parables that take you through each book and ask questions as you read. I love it!
14. As I am on that topic, I want to be closer and closer to God. I want Jim and I to continue to pray together and have Him be the center of our marriage.
15. I love watching movies and love even more watching movies in bed.. with popcorn.
16. I really want to do a vacation with all our friends.. renting a beach house in North Carolina and having a clam bake on the beach.. something like that.
17. I love reading/getting magazines. Its relaxing.. but man they take up a lot of room in your mailbox! :)
18. I have to second.. or maybe third the laughing point others have made. It is one of my favorite things to do. I love laughing with people, making others laugh and having a good time. It makes me happy.
19. I am silly and I know I can be immature at times. But I don't care and you need to have silliness in life so you don't get too stressed and take things too seriously. Of course I am professional and serious when I need to be.. but you get the point. :)
20. I don't like math too much and I HATE when people use military time.. sheesh! ( I just did payroll this morning and hate when people use military time on their time slips.. you are NOT in the army people! It is confusing!@$@#$@

Ok. I am done and this post is probably going to take everyone an hour to read.. sorry about that. I just got to typing and thinking and.. there you go.

Wanna sign it?

While we're waiting on Jill's reply...Thought I'd fill you in on what we've been up to today......look at my baby! Good ole boys...jumping off the couch one minute, breaking their foot the next. He has to have this on for 4 weeks...GO FIGURE..we're going on vacation the day after tomorrow!!!

Erica's Turn

Okay, here goes...

1. I love my bubba (that is Cory) more and more every day. He is my best friend, my companion, my rock.

2. I can't even put into words the love I have for my babies, Eliana and Anessa.

3. I miss Anessa so much it hurts, and I would give anything to have one more chance to hold her in my arms and look into her eyes.

4. A lot of people think I am crazy, but I LOVE to workout. The harder the workout the better! Bring it on!!

5. One of my goals is to run a marathon someday....maybe start with a half!!

6. I jumped out of a plane at 9,000ft in the air. It was amazing, but I HATE heights and would NEVER to that again!!

7. I love a clean house!

8. My family and friends mean the world to me and I would not be who I am without them.

9. I have an obsession with the Soap Opera, General Hospital, I DVR it everyday, and never miss an episode!

10. I have been saved by the grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; lest any man should boast."

There you have it, the 10 things in my life that I love, hate and I couldn't live without...that was hard. I have like 8 more I could list right now!

What about Colleen?

My turn: (this is kinda hard)

1. I love love love my family-Husband (love you honey, 4 years today!!!) sweet, wonderful boys Jack and Leo, Mom, sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, and all of Johns family (super lucky there)

2. Miss my dad every day of my life. And with that SO sad that my kiddos will never ever get to know who he really was. He was my hero.

3. Of course I enjoy taking pictures, but weird thing was I never thought of myself as artistic growing up because I can't draw a HORSE at all! I always thought I was more crafty.

4.Laughing is one of my favorite things to do along with surrounding myself with people who make me laugh and laugh with me.

5.Being a good friend is important to me as well as a good listener. I love all of you.

6. I used to think of myself as a bit of a dare-devil (when John and I were dating I told him we were going skydiving as a gift) but now I'm really scared of heights..I'm not even sure I would jump off I high-dive. (we never went by the way)

7. Hate spiders and driving at night. Still check toilet seats when I sit down, check the shower head (should never have watched arachnaphobia) and have horrible visions go through my head of crashes when driving at night.

8. I'm proud of myself and John for what we have accomplished in our lives thus far together and on our own.

9.I really wish that time didn't fly by so fast or that we could add a few "secret" hours into each day that didn't count and didn't go against time (a little pocket if you will) that I could use for whatever I wanted to.

10. I hate hate hate cleaning and all there is to it...I envy those of you with spotless houses who love cleaning..but I really don't find joy in it. I do see Jami's point of feeling less stress when it's clean and organized because I do too..and I feel stressed when it's messy and unorganized..but I really hate cleaning. Especially the floors and the bathrooms. I would also like to be able to afford a cleaning person once a week. Maybe someday...........

Last August...

For the record, we are blowing last August out of the water when it comes to blogging, ladies! WAY TO GO! You should go back and read some of the old ones we have from last year...ahhhh the memories (and the poop stories). We're funny girls!

What about me...

Okey-dokey. I'm taking Nici's cue and writing my top ten loves, or things about me. I still think Nici's a pretty eloquent writer, and her answers are always awesome, but I'll try to make you proud, Nic!

1. I love Jay, the super-fab love of my life, and am proud of our totally open, no holds barred, tell-each-other-anything-or-everything style of communication and marriage. I finally figured out if you're with someone you love sooo much that you never want to hurt them, that it's a very easy relationship to have.

2. I'm floored every day by the love I feel for Antonia. It's a love so big that it hurts.

3. I had a few crappy friends early on in high school (before Mel and Kate and all of them came along). Now I smile at the blessings God gave me in all of you girls! God couldn't have sent me more beautiful, sweet, and roll on the floor hilarious creatures! I am so honored, blessed, and humbled.

4. I itch the inside of my nose quite frequently which more than likely constitutes to most people as picking it.

5. If someday I go back to work on a more full-time basis, I've honestly thought about becoming a professional organizer and starting my own business.

6. I'm so organized and clean, because I find it super calming. Not having order in my house stressses me out to no avail.

7. I saw The Phantom of the Opera at Pantages Theater in Toronto, and I know almost every word of every song in it. Sometimes I'll sing it to Antonia when she's fussy and she'll actually listen super-intently. I'm actually a tiny bit decent, but NEVER sing in public.

8. I couldn't stand Lindsay Lohan way before it was cool.

9. I think I would honestly want to date all of you if I were a guy. Cool, huh?

10. My lower belly skin is still pretty stretched out from pregnancy~probably past the point of "bouncing back"~but I'm still so proud that it did such a great job holding my sweet little bambino!

NEXT!! :)

What about you...

So the challenge was given to me to write 100 things about myself...in one sitting...likes, dislikes, who I am, what I want to be...just stuff that makes me, me. Can you do it in one sitting? 100 things? I challenge you to do 10 here. Do it...now...10 things...GO!

1. I love being a wife, sister, daughter and friend.
2. My biggest hope right now is to be a mom someday (a great mom!)
3. I love all things on sale: food, clothes, just bargains in general.
4. I wish someone would come clean my house each week.
5. I love to eat, travel, see new things.
6. Spending time with friends and family is the best.
7. I LOVE TO LAUGH, and hanging with those that make me/let me laugh.
8. I hate when I feel inferior or insecure, but on the flip side, I love feeling included and sure of myself.
9. Having "great ideas" is the best...and following those ideas through is even better!
10. I don't like the fact that I am already almost 32 :( Where does the time go?

--I liked this because it was like Jill's list of "100 Loves"...which I am still not done with!! But this list can encompass all things about yourself, not just the loves. It would be interesting to write this each year or every 5 years, and look back to see how your life changes or priorities change. Can you imagine your list at age 20? Age 50?


ps: I figured out how to change the "posted time"...go down to "post options" and it's on the right...whoo hoo!

Leggies

Oh yeah. I wanted to tell everyone my conclusion on those shaving creams..

I used Veet. It came with a bottle of the gel stuff and a little fake razor you use to "shave" off the gel and your leg hairs.

1. The bottle of stuff was like 8 bucks. whoa!
2. It did NOT smell like flowers like the box suggested it would.
3. It took a while to apply it all over my long ass legs and I am thinking I could only get two uses from one bottle. :( sad face.
4. Then I had to wait 3 minutes.. no longer than 6 min.
5. I got distracted watching some make over show on HGTV and when my legs started to burn a little I noticed it had been 11 minutes.. not good.
6. I quickly jumped into the shower and "shaved" off the gel...and my legs hairs.. hopefully
7. My legs were left VERY soft and only a few spots had some hair left that I got with the real razor.
8. My leg hair grew back in a day and a half.
9. NEVER again will I buy that crap.
10. Hello again Venus razor.. old friend. :)

Bad Blogger...

I have been a bad blogger lately.. I have been busy at work and then our network has been down at work too.. and now I am suppose to be packing for our Ozark trip tomorrow afternoon. We are headed off to Osage beach in the Ozarks for some trip Jim won through work. It is free and there will be free food and booze! I plan on reading and laying my butt on a lounge chair and hopefully it will not be raining!
I am off to pack.. and I am still giggling a little bit about the tampax story from that Bossy girl. hee he

Bossy...followup...

I made it into a link (for Jami) :)

http://iambossy.typepad.com/i_am_bossy/2007/07/bossys-product-.html

Google is WAY better than Yahoo search, for the record!

Bossy

So I was on that sk*rt website Jill e-mailed us a while back. I was dying laughing as I read this Bossy gal's review of the new Tampax tampon. I don't know how to get links highlighted all cool like Nici does. (Maybe grab a pen and paper and copy it?? I swear it's worth it.) I was on the floor when I got to the enormous dog part. For those of you who will take the extra two minutes to look it up, slip on a pair of Depends and have at it!

http://iambossy.typepad.com/i_am_bossy/2007/07/bossys-product-.html

Just for you Erica!

"WE LOVE YOU BLAKE!"

Turn on your sound!
Here's the "311" snippet...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3897837923751211835

And some beatbox ...so you can practice at home!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2267649594471535326

Omaha Auditions are coming up next week!!
http://www.americanidol.com/auditions/season7/omaha/

Dust Bunny Manifesto

I cleaned. I cleaned hard, my friends. I cleaned every slot of every window blind in the house...eleven sets of blinds, and approximately two-thousands slots. I vaccumed and wet dusted each and every window well. I dusted the fan blades. I dusted all of the floor boards which encircle each and every wall of this entire house. It wasn't in a single day this was done, rather over the course of one harrowing week. I have "Summer Cleaned", and it was hell. The dust bunnies never stood a fighting chance. They tried to take me out, but I persevered.

I am a woman.

I am victorious.

I am a fighter.

I am so tired, I could barf.

Coolest Guestbook in the WORLD!

This is what all the brides want!

I need.. I need!

I just wanted to post quickly that I am sad.. and have been sad for a while that we do not have an IKEA store here in Nebraska.. let alone any state that is touching us I think! CA has 8 stores.. yet. we have none.. You can't even get a catalogue delivered in the mail. It is all online.. but there are SO many cool things in the stores that you can't buy online. http://www.ikea.com/

I also wish we had the grocery store Trader Joe's. It looks cool. http://www.traderjoes.com/

I do... again

I thought these two wedding ideas were so cool....

where can a girl buy a surfboard?

I think this is the "COOLEST" guest book thingy i have ever seen and i am SO bummed I never thought of this when we got married.. the polaroids would probably get expensive.. but everyone could take one and write a little memory or advice next to their picture.. i think it rules.. Colleen - you should suggest this to your brides.

I am SO thirsty!

Can we go to ZGallerie and buy these awesome cups for the next time we hang out.. maybe bunko or something.. these are rad...