A Wrap Up...

Sorry guys, I have been waaaayyy busy with the start of the new school year.  I know, I know we got home on Friday from our crazy vacation and I haven't posted any pictures or anything.  I think I just needed some down time.  As  I mentioned it was a vacation for the books and I spent the weekend relaxing.  We spent more than a week away from home and that's exhausting in itself.  Not to mention....an excessive amount of vomit, a busted lip, an earthquake, an almost really bad accident that resulted in an Urgent Care visit, an electrical current through a pool, a bad reaction to medicine AND a hurricane evacuation....it's definitley enough to wear you out.  So....as I said, I have been regrouping and preparing for another crazy school year.  We didn't get as many pictures as I had wished, but I will post some in the next few days.

A few more things to wrap up....my Carmex giveaway ends on Friday.  Please enter if you haven't.

Also, aside from birthdays and my monthly letter to Gage, I will refrain from posting anything other than pictures for the month of September.  Last year, I took a 'September Break' in order to get a little more organized at the beginning of the year and to spend some time with my family, now that I seem to have less of it.  I enjoyed it and will do the same this year.  I'm pretty sure October will be here before I know it and I'll be back in the saddle.  Until then, I will still read blogs when I get the chance, but am really going to try to limit my screen time (computer) and spend more time with myself and my family.  Plus, it's football season so I'l have plenty to do! Talk with you soon!  And don't worry, I'll still post pictures of Gage!

Also had to get rid of the rainbow, I felt this background said 'Fall' a little better.  Now I gotta get working on a new banner as well.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Today is the last day of August, my 3rd day back at work and the 2nd birthday of a little cutie named Baby Girl.  I began reading Life with the Ardies over a year ago and remember thinking just how did this woman do it.  Heather is not only a mom, a full time worker, but she's also working on her doctorate....I can barely clean my house!  In any case, I loved hearing about Heather's adventures, but I also love(d) seeing pictures of her little cutie pie.  So head on over to their little piece of the Internet and wish Baby Girl a very Happy  Birthday and find out how Heather manages to do it all.

And please don't forget to enter my Carmex giveaway!  Only 2 days left!

Don't Forget....

to enter my Carmex giveaway!  I promise I'll write more soon.

We're Back.....

And it was a vacation for the books!  OMG.....I will post later the interesting details.  Right now, I'm relaxing and watching the news forecast.  Both my parents' houses are in the line of fire.  Prayers for minimal flooding and wind damage would be appreciated.

And we're off again....

This time to visit with Nana and Grandiddy in my hometown of Chesapeake, Virginia, then off to the Outer Banks again to enjoy some more beach time before reality sets in and I'm back to work.  See next weekend.....

Some birthdays while we're gone....

Today is Malisa, my matron of honor's middle child's 2nd birthday.  That was a mouthful!  Happy Birthday Theo!

Tomorrow is Kelly, my best friend from high school's birthday!

Then on Thursday, my niece, Ianna turns 7 and Malisa (see above) celebrates her birthday as well!

Happy Birthdays all around!  Enjoy the last remaining moments of the summer!

**Also I'm featured this week over at Friendly Friday sponsored by Frugal Novice, Thanks, Mail Carrier and Healthy Home blog.

Carmex Summer Review and Giveaway!

To end the summer I am hosting a giveaway sponsored by Carmex.  I am reviewing two new flavors of their lip balm.  One lucky winner will not only win one of each of the new flavors, but also a super cool  waterproof roll-up picnic blanket, plus a clear Carmex Moisture Plus Lip Balm. 

Back when I was in college, I used to carry around Lip Smackers attached to my keys.  Anyone else remember the Lip Smacker key chains (late 90's??)  If you asked anyone, they could always tell it was me coming because they heard my keys dangling as I put on my chap stick.  Or you can ask my college roomie who could always tell what I was doing in the dark (putting on chapstick before bed) because she could once again hear my keys dangling.  In any case, I LOVED chapstick/lip balm, etc.  If you read my review from last December, you'd remember that although I have always loved lip balm, I don't care too much for colored lipstick.  So I was super excited when I got my letter from Carmex last month that said I would be trying out new lip balm that wasn't colored, but was flavored instead! 

I received their 2 new flavors, Lime Twist and Vanilla!  Yummy!  I have to say I personally prefer the 'taste' of the Lime Twist, but both are oh so nice and smooth on the lips.  Again, I have rough lips and often am very picky about my lip balms.  Both of these really hit the spot. They have 3 new moisturizers that aren't found in the Carmex original lip balms.  (and I already love those!)  They both also have SPF 15, which of course is very important this time of year.  I tried them out last week at the beach and am happy to report the SPF worked!  My only disappointment is that I don't get to review these in the Winter to see if they hold up to the opposite elements as well!  I think one of my favorite parts is also the tube they come in.  They don't just slide up like regular lip balm, they make this clicking sound that makes you think you're really moving the balm up and are not going to end up with a big mess at the end.  Both of these products, as well as other items in the Carmex line are available for purchase at Walgreens, Walmart and my favorite, CVS!

Now it's your turn to try out these totally cool new products! 

One of my lucky readers will win the following package including the Lime Twist click stick, the Vanilla click stick, the picnic blanket and the Moisture Plus Lip Balm.

This could be yours!



And as you can see, Gage immediately took to the blanket. It was very odd, he knew exactly what it was and wanted to open it right away.  He then proceeded to want to lay on it every day for the rest of the week.  And as you can see, it's a pretty good size. This side is felt-like where the back is a canvas (the black material seen in the picture above). These really are nice blankets because of the way they roll up and are easy for travel!

Because I'm going on vacation for the next week and a half, this giveaway will start today and run through Friday, September 2nd.  I will notify the winner on September 3rd.  Please leave one comment for each entry. 

1)  Tell me your favorite brand of lipstick/lip balm and why it's better than the rest!

2)  Follow me by GFC.

3)  Comment on any of my other posts

Good luck!

*Although Carmex did contact me and send me these products to review, the above thoughts and opinions are all my own!

Wordless Wednesday- Happy Anniversary!

August 17, 2007

Do you want to be in the Guiness Book of World Records??

If you live somewhere in the vicinity of Maryland, you can be!!  If you guys remember, about a month ago, I posted about an event Gage and I attended at the Strathmore- an outdoor concert series.  Now they are having a super cool event next week on August 24th called UkeFest 2011!  This is back by popular demand and is one of their most popular annual summer events!  UkeFest  is a "tribute to the quirky ukulele [and] will feature live performances from local musicians and our attempt to convene more than 851 ukulele players to perform in unison and nab the title of World's Largest Ukulele Ensemble."  I definitely think it would be totally cool to be in this, or even just watch it.  If you visit UkeFest 2011's page, the chords and lyrics of the 2 songs are featured and they have a 'pre-strum' practice before the show.  Here is the invitation if you are interested.
So if being in the Guiness Book is an item on your bucket list, or you just want a cool experience before the summer ends, check this event out! AND if you do, please let me know.  We're going to be out of town next week so we will unfortunately miss it.  I will let you know though that when I was little, my Mom had a ukulele and I even learned to play a few songs.   Below are some pictures from last year- UkeFest 2010.

Looks pretty cool, if you ask me.

Happy Birthday to 2 wonderful little ladies!

Today I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to 2 little ladies whose Mommy's blogs I read every day.  These ladies also share with Gage having their birthday on my lucky number, the 14th! 

Happy 2nd birthday to Ava and Happy 4th birthday to Katelynn!

If you head on over to more than a MOMMY, you get your fill of awesome pictures of Ava and her big sister, Alana, plus you get to read some pretty witty things from their mom, Jennifer.  This was one of the 1st blogs I started reading almost 2 years ago.  It's pretty easy to get hooked!  So head over and wish Ava a Happy day!

Over at Our Family of Four- The Kubeczka Family, Jamie prides herself in her web design and photography skills.  She has the cutest subjects ever!  I have to say I am pretty amazed sometimes how she seems to do it all.  She recently traveled to Vegas and posted some pretty awesome pictures.  Never thought I was the Vegas type, but she did a good job selling it.  Visit her site and tell her beautiful daughter, Katelynn, Happy Birthday!

Ahh...what a beautiful day!

Today is sooo pretty, it makes me want Fall.  This morning was in the low 70's...it didn't even hit 80 degrees until around noon today.  It is so welcoming after the month of July being in the 90's every day.  I always say I love summer, but days like this make me think Fall is actually my favorite season.  Gage and I played outside for more than an hour this morning and I didn't even think twice about how hot it was or when I needed to put sunscreen on him, etc.

Gage is currently going on hour 3 of his nap today.  I think the last 4 days at the beach took a toll on him.  It was super relaxing and we literally did NOTHING aside from go to the beach, eat and nap but the travel I'm sure wore him out yesterday.  We didn't even get home until his bedtime last night.  The beach is always welcome though and this week was no different.  Tuesday was pretty hot but it was cooler each day after and Gage had a blast playing in the sand.  ha...I took ZERO pictures though, we are going back on Wed. and I figured I would just enjoy the time relaxing and hanging with Gage instead of snapping more pictures.  We have pictures from the beach in June and I know we'll take a ton next week.  Nana got some too, I might try to steal a few from her.  Stay tuned for a unique post tonight about how you could be in the Guiness Book of World Records!

Wordless Wednesday: Are you ready for some football?

Gage is all ready for the Fall!  Go Hokies!

Happy Birthday Auntie Ann!

Today we want to wish Gage's Auntie Ann a very Happy 25th Birthday!  Hope you have a good day!  See you in a couple of months!

And we're off....

You can find us in the good ole OBX 'til Thursday!  Here are a few pictures to hold you over until then....



Like my new 'do?

Lovie Bear does!

It's been a few days....

Not really sure why?  I'd been pretty good about blogging lately.  Usually I have more to say at the beginning of the week because of the weekend and then trail off at the end.  However, this week I don't have much to share.  Thursday Gage and I visited the zoo with my bestie from college, her sister and her little girl, Lauren, Gage's future girlfriend.  Unfortunately, I got zero pictures.  I'm kind counting on Jennifer to send me a few.  It was harder than I thought to push an empty stroller and to chase a toddler around a zoo- I didn't have any time to take pictures.  We have been there several times before so I didn't really need to take any of the animals, but I'd like to have gotten a few of the kids.  Thursday afternoon after nap we went swimming at a friend's pool.

Friday, Daddy was off work and I went in to work for a few hours.  We're supposed to go in a few days over the summer and usually in my case that doesn't happen often, so I thought I'd get a few things done before we ventured to the beach this week.  Yesterday was a pretty laid back day and we took advantage of tax free shopping to buy Gage some new Fall clothes.  This morning we went one more place and later on we might go swimming.  All in all, pretty much the most UNeventful weekend we've had lately.  Gage and I have been so busy during the week these days that it was nice to not do anything this weekend.  And as always, we're off again tomorrow.....headed to the beach for 4 days with Nana and Grandiddy.  After tomorrow it's supposed to be cooler weather, so we're looking forward to it.  I'll try and get up a few posts  before I leave.  Have a good week.  Stay cool!

Oh, I did get to run twice this week!  C25K, what?  Yeah, I know, better late than never though.  I still have my 20  min. run to do by Wednesday.  I'm seriously doubting that one's gonna happen, but we'll see.

Wordless Wednesday- 1 year ago

And I thought he was cute then..

Colonel, the snake....or make that Kernel

Gage has an aversion to ALL stuffed animals, except his Lovies and Elmo.  (Gage really has an aversion to EVERYTHING lately, but that's a different post.)  In any case, he loves to point and name Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Abby, etc. every time we see their cute little stuffed faces in a store, but if I so much as pick up the creature, he begins to incessantly say 'No, No, NO, NO' louder and louder until I put it back and we move on.  He also likes to point out other stuffed animals, at the library or such....'oppisant' (elephant), 'dog', 'bear', 'camel', but again if that thing gets one centimeter cloer to him he freaks out.  Fair enough.  I mean some stuffed animals are pretty creepy.  AND one less thing we have to buy him, or so we thought.

Last Sunday when we were in the mall, we went into the toy store with all the Elmos, Abbys, etc. and we proceeded as normal, he named them, pointed, I touched them, he screamed.  In the back of the store there were stuffed snakes, which for some reason I have always wanted to get one for Gage- we see them each time we go to the zoo and he used to not be scared of such.  So of course, Luke being Luke said look Gage snake and proceeded to pick one up and shove it in Gage's face.  I tried to stop him, because I knew of the fit that would follow, but instead Gage reached out and grabbed on to the snake with his recent death grip and hugged that snake as close as he could while the tail spilled over his stroller on to the ground.  He kept saying 'cuddle, sneak' and proceeded to rub his face against the snake and snuggle him like his Lovie.  It was unbelievable.  How is he scared Sesame St. characters, stuffed bears, etc., but he loves a stuffed snake?!?!   Which by the way is a corn snake, hence the name Kernel.  Here are a few pictures of right after I bought Kernel.  Every night since he has cuddled with Kernel in his crib and sometimes dragged him around the house with his tail dragging behind.  Kids....

This picture doesn't do Kernel's length justice...

Sorry for the blurry Blackberry pics

Background....

Any thoughts on the disco ball background?  I usually like to change the backgrounds up every month because I get bored, but I kinda loved the rainbow one!

Happy 2nd Birthday Jake!

Our good friend Jake turns 2 today!  His party was on Saturday and was super fun!  We wish him the best of days!

Nothing better than chocolate cake and Cars!