Why I Love Being a Mom

Comments like this: "Mudder, I'm crabby. I stayed up too late. That not been a good idea." Followed my much tears...so honey, while it was awesome that you took Amelia out for some daddy time at the hockey game, we are all paying for it today;)

Why I May Name My Firstborn Son "Dyson"

About a month ago, I pulled my vacuum cleaner down on my head. Well, to be more specific, my upper left arm and shoulder. This left me with a nasty bruise and an essentially non-functioning vacuum, and a little dilemma: purchase a relatively inexpensive vacuum and run the risk of having to purchase another one in a few years when I began experiencing the famous "loss of suction". Or blow all my hard-earned garage sale money on the raved-over Dyson. As you can probably guess, we went for a Dyson, the decision being tipped by a well-timed 30% off Kohl's coupon. So here's why I love my new toy:

1) My much-vacuumed living room carpet resulted in a full canister of crud my first time through. All that lurking in my carpet?

2) I can stand at the bottom of my stairs and thanks to the super-long and stretchy hose, reach the attachment all the way to the top...I have a 4-story house, which amounts to 7 separate staircases to vacuum. I can vacuum them all in about 15 minutes, as opposed to 30-45.

3) Super easy to empty the canister, and I don't have to touch any dirty filters.

4) The carrying handle is placed in a really comfortable spot...it's not so awkward to lug up and down those 7 sets of stairs.

5) The gorgeous vacuum cleaner lines criss-crossing my newly rejuvenated carpets.

6) It has a 5-year guarantee, and you can bet that if I do experience "loss of suction", that guarantee will be coming in handy.

And the Winner is....I Don't Know, But it Sure Hasn't Been Me!

The Shopping Mama is giving away a really cool PishPosh Mommy purse organizer.

Annie's Home is giving away Skoy reusable paper towels. These are so cute and colorful, and do away with the waste and expense of paper towels! Plus, they work better. No more ripping and tearing!

MomStart is giving away a ringsling from Keiki Kuddlerz.

Pick Me Please!

Sweeps4Bloggers is giving away:

5 copies of the book Fixer-Upper by Mary Kay Andrews. We're in the midst of remodeling ourselves, so I'd love to take a look at this book.

Organicare Fresh Fix hydrating facial spray, with the scents of lavendar and green tea.

5 copies of the fun chic-lit book Italian for Beginners.

Haircare or Bar Soap from Save the World

Etsy it Up is giving away a key fob from Sweet Irie.

Piece of Me is giving away your choice of Hapari swimsuit.

I Heart Giveaways!

A Pocket Full of Buttons is giving away adorable and practical reusable snack bags from Birdy's Boutique on etsy. A reusable snack back is basically a fabric zip-lock bag, usually closed using Velcro. I love ours because they aren't the suffocation hazard that plastic baggies are, and they also work great for other small items, like hair ties and crayons.

Buy By Mom is giving away a chic bottlecap necklace by On a Whimsy. They also offer really cool monogrammed market totes.

Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House is giving away a booster seat from Mutsy.

Gobs of Giveaways is giving away a pack of Bummas cloth wipes. Our cloth wipes have gotten a lot of love, so we could really need some new ones.

Delaney's World is giving away a copy of the book Julia and Julia.

"Big Kid Room Blog Party"

I love blog parties, especially when fun prizes are involved. I'm super excited about Jolly Mom and Go Graham Go!'s upcoming Big Kid Room Party, as we're in the process of redoing Amelia's room to better fit her "big girl" personality. I can't wait to check out all the giveaways and ideas! Check out the button on my sidebar for the link.

Giveaways

Sweeps 4 Bloggers is giving away 5 sets of Putty Buddies swim plugs. I'd love to try these on Amelia, as she always has earaches after swimming.

Jamie's Precious Peas is giving away a necklace from one of my favorite jewelry sites, Twisted Silver. Their jewelry is unlike anything I've ever seen before, and is always on my wish list.

Giveaways of the Day

Barefoot Mommies is giving away a wet bag from Planet Wise. Wet bags are great for cloth diapers, but also for wet swim suits, dirty clothes, etc...

Piece of Me is giving away a Maddison Ave soy candle. I love that their essential oil candles can be used as lotion or massage oil.

Pays to Live Green is giving away a really cool compost bin from Earth Machine. I already have a compost bin, but this one is sooo cool and easy to use. You can always use another composter, right?

A Caution and an Inspiration

I periodically receive emails from the culture review site Plugged In, and the one they sent out today really grabbed my attention. Each email newsletter reviews new movies and video games, and features culture-related quotes to help its readers understand trends in culture that pertain to Christ and morality. I find the newsletters really handy when I'm planning a movie night with my youth group girls, as they go through movies step-by-step, pointing out positives and negatives along the way. Anyhow, today's featured the new movie Bruno, follow-up to the grossly vulgar Borat (which I have not seen, but the TV previews alone were sickening). Apparently, in Bruno, a real life youth pastor is duped into thinking he is counselling a homosexual man interested in finding a way out of the lifestyle, when he is in reality being filmed for the movie, in hopes of catching some humiliating footage. Plugged In conducted an interview with this youth pastor, Jody Trautwein, that I found really inspiring and hopeful. It seems that "Bruno" didn't get any footage that could be used to mock either Trautwein or Christianity; rather, the producers were amazed at Trautwein's patience and kindness, and the message of salvation comes across loud and clear in the clip. A thrilling example of God using for good what was meant for harm! While I do NOT recommend anyone see this movie, especially after reading Plugged In's review, I am excited about the possibility of millions of people catching a glimpse of the true Gospel in a completely new and unexpected context. I do, however, recommend you read the interview and pray for protection for Trautwein as he has been placed in the public eye for standing up for Christ, as well as for the hearts of the movie-goers going into a movie looking to fill their minds with filth, but surprised by a ray of truth.

A few Giveaways

Sweeps 4 Bloggers is giving away 5 copies of the book The Film Club, a memoir about an unusual strategy an unemployed film critic takes to teach hi s son. They're also giving away copies of the book on CD Swimsuit. Also, Faces by Martina Cole.

Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls is giving away an adorable kiddie-styled cool air humidifier from Crane. I'd love to get the pig or frog for my girls!

Mom Reviews is giving away a B is for Bob reggae-style kid's CD.

Where Have I Been?

1) Praying about hosting a foreign exchange student this year, then making phone calls and filling out paperwork in order to qualify for said exchange student! The whole family is super-excited to hopefully welcome Sheila from Denmark into our home next month. Amelia keeps asking when she's coming, and asked me when we were at an auction on Saturday whether we were in the "country" where Sheila lived...because we were out in the country.



2) Supervising the painting of our house...our painters surely don't need supervision, but I'm not missing out on the opportunity for adult conversation for a few short weeks! We decided to paint our old "farmhouse" light blue with white trim, and I'm loving it so far.



3) Outside in the kiddie pool enjoying my girls and the sunshine and trying to keep cool with no air conditioning.



4) Biking! I finally got back on my bike after a ten year break following a serious biking accident in high school. B and I have enjoyed biking around the lake and to Dairy Queen, taking turns pulling the girls behind us.



5) Various road trips...little county fairs, auctions, etc...in the summer I just get the bug to go driving!



6) Gardening...we have a huge yard, which means huge weeds. I've spent a lot of time on my knees in the backyard lately, it's never-ending. We also tried a vegetable garden again this year, and it is growing out of control! I'm so excited to soon be picking the tomatoes, peppers, and squash that are ripening as we speak, but I think the girls are most excited about the carrots and onions.



In the midst of all that, I've not been online much, which means that my life is pleasantly full of more important things...I'll try to post a little more often, but we'll see...