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We’re Back from Duluth, Minnesota!

Posted by html404 on April 19, 2011
in Business, Family Stuff, Travel, Wordless Wednesday

I know, you didn’t even notice we were gone unless you happened to miss my reciprocal comments on your blog, which were done this afternoon by the way!

We spent the weekend in Duluth, Minnesota working as a vendor at their homeschool convention selling a nutrition curriculum and promoting our Young Living business a little bit. We did sell half our books so that is a good thing. We really enjoyed it. We were able to pick up some homeschool supplies and sign our daughter up for a satellite school for the upcoming year. More streamlining happening around here.

Photo credit: Richard I. Bong Bridge, Duluth-Superior by Travelpod Member Donstevenson (but picture choppy waves and overcast skies!)

The weather was very cold and windy. What a treacherous drive going over the bridge from Superior, WI to the Duluth conference center in our 15-passenger van and high winds! We did not get to do much sight-seeing nor did we get to play outside at their many parks due to the weather. The children enjoyed seeing the ships and waves on the water, as well as swimming in the hotel pool. Believe it or not, we did not get a single picture of the entire weekend! I am still disappointed over that one.

Wordless Wednesday Update

Last week I stumped most of you with my supplements in my Wordless Wednesday post. I started taking many of them when I was pregnant last year with Go-Go boy who is our eighth child. I had severe heartburn and struggled with a yeast infection my whole pregnancy and friends recommended Barley Green and a good probiotic during my last trimester, so those are two of them. And yes, one of them is my prenatal vitamin since I am still breastfeeding. I did not have access to a natural progesterone after the first couple of months and after reviewing Bebe-O prenatal vitamins and not experiencing constipation, I have stuck with them for extra nutrition and hopes of having baby “stick”, which he obviously did. That’s three supplements down. The others are: flax seed (great for omega-3s, fiber etc.), Omega Blue (fish oil) and Resveratol (antioxidant, longevity and I am using it for a review!)

I have to be honest and tell you that I did not take my supplements for the four days I was gone and have been incredibly tired, even after getting two good nights of sleep. So I am back on my supplement regimen, with the exception of my Resveratrol since the capsules disintegrated in the cooler when its bag got wet. My girls did not hear me when I said I was not going to bring them with us – they are pretty efficient when it comes to packing up our clan, but did not get the memo on this one since they packed up food cooler while I ran errands the night before.

Upcoming Giveaway

Would love to have some entries into a new giveaway I will be posting later today. Thanks to all who entered last week’s. The winner will be posted in the upcoming giveaway post. So stay tuned…..

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Wordless Wednesday: Mississippi River & Linky

Posted by html404 on March 8, 2011
in Family Stuff, Travel, Wordless Wednesday

When we went to the MOSES conference a couple of weeks ago, this was the view out our hotel window.

And this week’s linky….be sure to leave some comment luv too and I will return the luv, thanks!

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Need to Vent About Gas Prices!

Posted by Brande on March 5, 2011
in Community Issues, Contributing Writers, Money & Finances, Travel

Light comes on and the car dings, ugg…..There’s nothing I dislike more than having to stop for gas! Usually, I just roll in – close my eyes and fill it up. Take my little slip and get on with my day. Today my daughter and I went out. Thankfully I didn’t need gas, but looked at the prices. They went up like $.17 cents in the past few days where I live. That’s insane! Which is what inspired me to check the history of average gas prices. I got this information off of www.thepeoplehistory.com. By the way, this site has some cool information. ANYWAY! Here’s what I came up with:

1986 – $.89

1996 – $1.22

2001 – $1.46

2006 – $3.13

2007 – $3.38

2008 – $3.39

2009 – $2.73

2010 – $2.73

I had forgotten we had these insane prices a few years back.

Whew! That felt better. I’m still not happy, because I know next time I visit the gas station I don’t even want to think about it!

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Product Review! Dash Away

Posted by Bobbie Gould on August 17, 2010
in Travel

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review, while I consider it a privilege to receive free product to review this is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

Dash Away

Website Description:
To enjoy the open road in peace, you need the interior of your car to be your own personal sanctuary. And that’s where Dash Away comes in. Spray it anywhere, anytime to get super-fast cleaning with no greasy film residue and no sticky surfaces. It also smells great, better than after a professional detail. Use it on carpet, cloth, vinyl and smooth leather, because it’s incredibly effective on every surface as well as 100% safe. So no matter what kind of dirt you have or how long it’s been there, use Dash Away to make it all vanish in minutes.

Our Review

We have used other car cleaners before, but not ones that would clean vinyl and cloth. We liked Dash Away, as cleans many different surfaces and it as effective as they claim. My husband used it to clean his 1992 Mitsubishi Eclipse and he found that it took the scuff marks out and did not leave any filmy residue.

Our oldest daughter used it on the seats of our 15-passenger van and discovered that it does indeed take out stains in a matter of minutes/seconds really. However, she got a very bad headache while using Dash Away. She’s one of our most chemically sensitive children, even though she is a teenager. She gets headaches when she is exposed to strong chemicals and with some ingredients she even breaks out and her hands did get red with Dash Away. So I do want to warn you that this product probably isn’t the right product for those with chemical sensitivities, unfortunately.

My husband did not complain about the smell so he will use it to clean his car again. The rest of us probably will not be using it again though.

Here’s the warning that is posted with the product description on the website:

Warning:
CAUTION: KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN AT ALL TIMES. Irritating to eyes. Prolonged or repeated contact with skin can be irritating. Harmful if swallowed. FIRST AID PROCEDURES: Eyes: Flush with water for 15 minutes. If irritation persists, call physician. Skin: Flush with water. Ingestion: Call physician immediately.

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Update on Do Good Day

Posted by html404 on July 16, 2010
in Blog Stuff, Giving Back/Charity, Travel

Do Good Day was an event sponsored by 77 Kids/American Eagle and TheMotherhood.com that we were privileged to participate in on July 14th, 2010.

Sorry for the delay in getting our update for Do Good Day posted. The last couple of days have been crazy to say the least.

On Wednesday, July 14th, we headed out of our driveway at about 8:40am to head to the city of Chicago to one of the four Ronald McDonald Houses (RMH) located in the city. I thought I was giving myself enough time to account for traffic and construction, which is happening everywhere it seems. However, I actually did not enter the RMH until 11:00am – a half hour after the scheduled time. It took me a half hour to find parking! Thankfully, a delivery truck freed up a parking spot a couple house down from the RMH. I also took the wrong way in so I had to call my GPS husband to get me to where I needed to be from Lakeshore Dr. The children oohhed and ahhhed over the sailboats and Lake Michigan – Note to self: It’s been a long time since we took the children into the city! We need to visit more often! Thankfully, my detour wasn’t what made me late because I arrived at the house at 10:25am. It was the parking. I didn’t allow extra time for parking! Note to self: If I ever drive in the city again, allow time for parking!

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At the RMH, we baked thimble cookies and a cake for the families staying at the house. The children had fun baking, playing in the playroom, looking at books, as well as putting together about ten goodie bags for the families we met in the RMH. We couldn’t disturb the families in their rooms, but those we saw wandering in the halls we could give them the treat bags. We also wrote up encouraging notes to leave around the house, but guess what? We forgot to leave them!

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After we clean up from our baking fun, RMH staff member, Abena, shared with us a bit of the history and purpose of the RMH and then she took us on a tour of the house. It was very interesting and our children enjoyed it.

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Upon leaving the RMH shortly after 1:00pm, Abena took a photo of three of the five mom bloggers and their families in front of the RMH. Then we all headed our separate ways. We arrived back in our hometown to pass out our $77 at our local grocery store at about 2:30pm.

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You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to give away a dollar but it was! We spent about an hour at the grocery store before giving up and heading elsewhere. By the end of that hour, my husband was with us to relieve me of being on my feet. Since people were not being very receptive of receiving a dollar my husband suggested going to Walgreens, which only has one door so the innocent folks of our town had no chance of avoiding us with nine people surrounding the doorway!;-) They were much less skeptical as the children shared about their trip to the Ronald McDonald House and more willing to take the money when they found out that it wasn’t the children’s money we were giving away.

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In spite of the rejections, once the children gave away the dollars in their hands they came back for more. It was a very good experience for all of us. After all the good they did for Do Good Day and being real troopers in the heat (90 degrees!) we treated the children and ourselves to a frosty from Wendy’s!

Thank you 77 Kids and TheMotherhood.com for the opportunity to partner with you for Do Good Day!

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Kikic Glam Bags

Posted by html404 on January 16, 2010
in Fashion, Travel

I recently made a pretty frivilous purchase – at least for me. I have had my eye on and been wondering about Kikic’s Glam Bags – Luxe Reuseable Travel Bags for awhile and finally decided to splurge to see what they were like. They are an “upscale” zipper bag to carry personal products in while traveling. Definitely feminine and more attractive thant he brand name or off brand zipper bages, but very pricey. A box of 18 quart size bags retails ofr $9.95. Glam Bags are not quite as thick as the top name brand, however, nor are they thin, flimsy plastic either of the cheapest brands. So I’d probably classify it as middle of the road. They are definitely geared towards the fashion conscious female who frequently travels.

I have to admit taht I have not had the opportunity to travel with them yet or wash them extensively, but considering that they are comparable to what we usually buy to protect our clothing from spilled personal care items, I am sure that they will hold up just as well as other brands.

If Glam Bags are just the thing you have been looking for, you may purchase them at www.kikic.com