My Struggle With Working and Being Mommy

As a single mom, I don't have the opportunity to stay home with my kids.  I love my kids so much and would absolutely love having the chance to be home with them. 

This morning as we were getting in the car, my son saw my bag of oatmeal that I was bringing to work for my breakfasts that I just heat up in the microwave.  The bag has oatmeal, brown sugar and cinnamon.  It is a simple and extremely inexpensive breakfast.  My son saw the bag and immediately started talking about how much he wanted some oatmeal. 

I wish I could have gone back in the house, made oatmeal and honored his wish of having oatmeal.  Unfortunately, I couldn't do that.  I had to get to work and rush out the door and drop the kids off to get to work on time.  How my heart ached.  I told him I would make him some on Saturday.  He was so happy and delighted in the thought of having oatmeal on Saturday. 

Some days I feel like a total failure.  I have always wanted to be a stay-at-home Mommy.  At work I struggle with that desire and yearning to be home with my kids.  When something goes wrong at work, whether it be a mistake I might make or a cranky, bipolar boss, I immediately think of how great life would be if I could just stay home with my kids.  When at home, I think of work and something I might have forgotten to complete.  It is such a struggle at times.  I know I shouldn't let this consume me, as I have to have a job in order to provide for our little family.  Oh the struggles!

Sometimes You Just Wanna BOUNCE

Okay huge, extremely fun giveaway gone on right now over at WTwo of a Kind Working on a Full House.  You HAVE to check this one out.  Do your kids love bounce houses?  There is an awesome giveaway from Bounce Houses Now for what better than a bounce house!!!! 

Bounce Houses Now is giving one reader $500 towards the Bounce House of their choice. 

They have some amazingly fun bounce houses.  Make sure you check out Bounce Houses Now online.  You must see these incredible bounce houses. 

My kids would FREAK out if we won.  Okay, who the heck am I kidding? 

I WOULD BE THE ONE FREAKING OUT. 

I have this secret obsession with bounce houses and fun.  What can I say?  I am just a big kid who doesn't want to grow up.  What fun is growing up?  ;) 

Stupid Blogger!!

Is Blogger down yet again????  It is so frustrating trying to enter giveaways when you can't leave comments.  Why, oh why does Blogger have to do this to me?

Running Total For Christmas

This is my running total for Christmas for my kids so far:

Jack:

• Hook the movie (won online)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Tutles DVD set(won online)
• Cars Toy Laptop (won online)
• Monsters Inc. DVD(won online)
• Arthur and the Invisibles DVD (mixed won online and overage out of pocket)
• Arthur and the Invisibles 2, 3 DVD (won online)
• Batman DVD 4 pack (won online)
• Stash of 14 Chevron Techron cars (yard sale) 
• Car Rug (yard sale)
• Veggie Tales Live DVD (won online)
• Crocodile Hop Game (won online)
• Cars Shirt and puzzle prize pack(won online)
• (2) Mater toys (received for free)

                               Jack's Total: $8.19

Bug:

• Taylor Swift's Fearless CD (won online)
• Taylor Swift's Self Titled Album  (won online and a little overage)
• Taylor Swift's Speak Now CD (won online)
• A Flip Camera (won online)
• Cheaper By the Dozen 2  (won online)
• Enchanted DVD (won online)
•  Build-A-Dream Playhouse (Castle) (won online)
• Judy Moody Book (won online)

                       Bug's Total: $1.38

TOTAL SPENT OUT OF POCKET: $9.57


I feel so accomplished and at peace.  Have you been preparing for Christmas?  If so, how well do you feel about your preparations?

A Christmas Wish...

While we were on our way to our family reunion this month, we stopped at Kmart in St. George, Utah.  I was on a quest to find a disposable camera since I hadn't brought my camera with us.  While in the electronics department, my daughter excitedly showed me a digital cameracorder thing that looked pretty neat.  She said how she wanted one and I told her she would have to save up for it.  She told me she was going to ask Santa for it.  I always tell my kids they can ask Santa for TWO items.  That is the rule in our house.  It works pretty well for us.  She informed me she would ask for that and one of the Taylor Swift CD's. 

Imagine my excitement when I entered a contest for the worst vacation story ever, and I WON!!! 

The prize- a Flip Camera!!  :) 

Don't you think Bug will be ever so excited when Santa honors her  Christmas wish?

$100 Visa Gift Card Giveaway

Head over to Eighty MPH Mom where you can win a $100 Visa Gift Card!  You read that right!  A $100 Visa Gift Card.  What could you use this for right now in your life?  Christmas shopping?  School shopping?  Something fun?  Day to day purchases?

M&M Giveaway

A really great giveaway is going on over at Daddy Forever.  What is the prize you ask?  Well, how would you like to be the lucky winner of a $150 gift card AND some personalized M&M's?  I know I surely would love to win this.  I just love M&M's and always have since I was little.  Check out the giveaway and make sure you enter. 

Question for My Readers

How often do you enter giveaways?  What is your strategy for winning?  How do you go about entering?  What have you won in the past year from entering giveaways?  Anything cool?  Please share.

Still Preparing and Wrapping Up :)

So today I was looking around on Amazon and stumbled on a little deal they have going on.  They are giving a $30 gift card if you sign up for their credit card.  Yes, I know that credit cards can be bad for some people.  However, for me I think it will be okay.  I am responsible with my purchasing and pay it off in full every month as to not incur interest.  I decided to sign up for one.  And it got my mind thinking. 

I also had a gift card for $20.00 to Amazon that I won on a blog giveaway, in addition to one for $10.00.  So $60.00 in total for free.   Here is what I purchased for my kids:

• Hook the movie.  My kids saw this last weekend and have been begging to watch it ever since.  This morning Jack informed me that he was going to ask Santa for it because he really liked it.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles DVDs with all 4 movies.  Jack really likes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I know that he will love it, because he also informed us in the car this morning that he was going to ask for that.  (I tell my kids they get to ask Santa for two items.)
• Taylor Swift's Fearless CD for Bug.  She really loves Taylor Swift's music and I know she will love this.  In addition, I purchased the other two CD's by Taylor Swift, Her Self Titled Album and Speak Now.
• Cheaper By the Dozen 2 was purchased.  Both kids love this movie.  And I will just grab the first one from Walmart for like $5.00, unless I win something online. 

            Subtotal of Items: $61.38

            Shipping & Handling: $7.93
            Super Saver Discount: -$7.93
            Promotion Applied: -$0.00
            ------
            Total: $61.38
            Gift Cards: -$60.00
            ------
                              Total for this Order (out of pocket): $1.38

I also won a $50 gift card for Toys R Us on a blog a little while back. I decided to purchase my son a toy laptop in hopes that he will LEAVE MINE ALONE!  ;)  I know he will also really like it.  So this is what I found.  If you look it is only about $30.00.  I thought long and hard and calculated something else I could get until I checked out and realized they wanted almost $13 just for shipping that one item, as the item is discontinued and they won't allow shipping to the store for free shipping.   I decided I wanted to get it that bad, so I continued and purchased it.  I have about $7.00 left for Toys R Us, but I am not sure what I can get for that. 

My previous tally was $8.19 total for Christmas spent.
So as of right now, a grand total of $9.57 out of pocket!!!

I kind of think I am about done with Christmas shopping for my kids, unless they change their minds on what they want for Christmas. 

Knowing my luck, I could totally see them changing their minds. hahaha  Oh the joy of kids!  

I am pretty dang proud of myself though.  It is only July and I am pretty much done with their shopping.

Pretty Pink Momma

We all know that the holidays will be here before we know it.  Kind of scary huh?  Well, if you head over to Pretty Pink Momma right now, she is having a great giveaway out of appreciation of her readers.  Take the time to look around her site while you are there and enjoy. 

Giveaway, Giveaway Here Is A Great Giveaway

Right now if you go to Locate Utah Homes they are having a great giveaway for a $25 Visa Prepaid Gift Card.  I know a lot of you could use that at this time.  Heck, I would really appreciate this for myself.  I swear every time I go to the mailbox, there is always some bill there that I wasn't expecting at all.  Enter for the giveaway and enjoy.

Flip Camera Giveaway

Right now there is a Flip Camera Giveaway going on over at Living My MOMent .  Check it out and enter.  I could definitely use this.  My daughter has been saying how she wants a video camera now.  Happy entering.

$100 {Giveaway}

Head on over to Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls for a chance at a $100 gift card.  I know for me, that would really help on Christmas for my kids.  I would purchase the Taylor Swift CDs for Bug, the Lightning McQueen toy laptop for Jack and hopefully be able to find some great deals on some Pogo Sticks for them as well.  Check out the website and enter her giveaway.

HELP!?!?!? I NEED YOUR HELP

Help!!!?!?!?  

I need your help everyone.  Please head over to this website and vote for my story.  It is story #2:

Story #2 S Lang


My kids and I went on a trip after so much hassle to get a rental car. We were finally on the road and had been driving for what seemed like to my kids FOREVER. We went on the turnoff and drove a while toward our destination. Then I hit a deer! In my rental car!!!! Only the deer didn’t die, it started bucking at the car after we hit it. My kids were screaming. I was frazzled and in shock. I threw some items out the window toward the trees and the deer got spoofed I guess. I dialed to get ahold of the rental car company and lo and behold, there was no service out there on my phone. It was getting pretty dark and I didn’t know what to do! So I grabbed the kids out of the car and put the hazard lights on. We walked a mile back and there was some old guy at the gas station who said he would check it out. I talked to the rental car agent and they asked me to take pictures of the car and email them immediately. The guy looked at the car and said that it would work just fine. So off we went to continue our adventure. When we finally got to our destination, our family couldn’t believe what had happened. We got to bed, woke up and my son threw up all over me. It turned out that he came down with a pretty bad bug and was sick all weekend. L The day we were heading back home, my daughter somehow managed to get the same thing and without me knowing. While we were driving, she threw up all over in the back seat. L Remember, this was a rental car. I couldn’t pull over fast enough. So disgusted and frustrated, I started crying. My daughter started crying thinking I was mad at her. I cleaned the back seat as best I could and gave her a bag to throw up in if she needed it on the way back. Next thing I know, I had to pull over to throw up. Let’s just say the entire ride home was a horrible scene between her and I throwing up.

All you have to do is write something like:  I vote for story #2  because it is funny/sad/scary etc.  I would really appreciate all your help.  You can only vote once.  Please spread the word.  I really want to win this so I can win the prize for my daughter.  Please!?!?!?  I will love you forever and ever  ;)
http://www.alittlebiteoflife.net/2011/07/awesome-summer-giveaway-vote-for-worst.html

Arm & Hammer Giveaway

So right now if you head on over to The Mommy-Files you can enter a giveaway for a $25 gift card which is being sponsored by the makers of Arm and Hammer.  Make sure you follow her blog while you are at it.  Do you use Arm & Hammer toothpaste?  I have used their brand of toothpaste before once.  I was pretty satisfied with it.  :)

Frugality and Comfort

With Summer here, what temperature do you keep your house at?  I must openly admit that our house is rather, uncomfortably warm.  I just can't bare the sight of the electric bill.  In order to keep us more comfortable, we take cool baths in the evening in an effort to cool ourselves down.  Yes, our water bill might be a tad bit bigger than it normally has been, but it is much less than running the air as much.  I just got my bill for power and it was $60.00.  Last year, it was about $125-$150 or so.  We still kept it pretty warm during the summer last year as well.  This Summer we have been keeping it even warmer.  What does your typical power bill run during the summer?  What do you do to keep yourself comfortable yet frugal?  Would you keep your home warmer in order to save?

Updating Christmas AGAIN

Okay so I have been updating the stash of items I have set aside for my kids for Christmas and have made some adjustments.  I am quite certain everyone is going to be so over hearing about my Christmas plans since I have been talking about it so much lately, but this keeps me on track and focused. 

This is what I have set aside for Christmas for my kids so far.

Jack:

• Monsters, Inc. DVD, which he has been begging for for a long while now. This is such a great movie, if you haven't seen it. I highly recommend this to anyone, and not just if you have kids. I must confess that I absolutely LOVE this movie.- I won a GC online and got this for free.
• Batman Movies 4 pack since he is such an avid Batman fan- I won a GC online and got this for free.

• Arthur and The Invisibles 2 - I won this online on a blog (New Age Mama) and I know he is going to love it. Free

• A stash of 14 Chevron Techron cars that I found at a yard sale, various styles for only 25 cents each! $3.50 total

• A car rug  that I scored at a yard sale as well, for $2.00! I couldn't believe it when she told me that price. It looks like it has been hardly touched.

• Last year's Lego finds. One was at a yard sale which if I remember right was only $3.00. One was given to us when their grandma was cleaning out their shed and I set it aside for when he was a little older. $3.00 total  I decided he is still too young for Legos.  I came to this realization after seeing him chewing on some really little Barbie toys.  Really son????

• I decided since I got the 2nd movie to the Arthur and The Invisibles, I would get the first one with some left over money on a GC from Amazon that I won on a book blog a couple weeks back. (I decided to purchase used books vs. new, so I was able to buy 2 books and this movie instead of just the one book I would have been permitted to had I purchased brand new.) The overage was exactly $2.69.

• I won a Veggie Tales Live DVD online and will give it to him. 

• I won a game from Mom and More's blog and know this will help him significantly.  We need to work on colors and numbers together.  I think this will be great for him.

       So far the total for Jack is $8.19!



Bug:


Enchanted DVD- I won a gift card online and bought this primarily for her for Christmas. She has been wanting this movie for a while now. Every time we check it out at the library, she throws on her dress ups and sings her little heart out. It is so precious! So this was free.

I entered a giveaway on Hip2Save  for a Build-A-Dream Playhouse and won a little while back. I was so excited, as I knew my daughter would absolutely love it. I picked the castle. It is sitting in the garage hiding. So free.

Bug's Total is $0.00!



So a total of $8.19 spent so far in all.

$25 Visa Gift Card

Head over to Eighty MPH Mom where you can win a $25 Visa Gift Card!  You know how much we all love those awesome gift cards.  :)  With Christmas right around the corner (or so it seems to me) this could definitely come in handy!  Check Eighty MPH Mom out right now. 

$20 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

There is a $20 Amazon gift card giveaway going on at  Peace Love and Poop.  Who couldn't use one of those right about now?  I know I surely could!  With the high probability of me losing my job this month, I would love to get my Christmas shopping done early.  Go to Peace Love and Poop and enter the giveaway.  Happy Entering!!

S.I. Money Savers

Right now S.I. Money Savers is having a giveaway for (2) $5.00 gift cards from Amazon.  Could you use this?  Do you shop on Amazon frequently?  What could you use these gift cards for at this time?  I would most likely purchase my daughter a Taylor Swift CD and put it aside for Christmas.  I know she would absolutely love it.  Head over to S.I. Money Savers right now and enter for your chance to win.  :)

Lego Pirates of the Caribbean Sets Giveaway

Head on over to akronohiomoms right now and you'll find a great giveaway for Lego Pirates of the Caribbean Sets.  Have you seen the movies?  My kids LOVE Jack Sparrow.  Johnny Depp is such a great actor, I must admit.  Who doesn't like playing with LEGOs when you are young?  Even young girls can enjoy them.  I am sure you will want to enter this.  Head on over to her site and enter!

Christmas is so Close, yet so Far Away

Christmas is so close, yet so far away.  Have you started your shopping already?  Any great buys?  I have been doing pretty good at winning items online, which I am saving for my kids for Christmas.  I have also hit up a few yard sales and found some good items.  I think I am doing pretty dang good.  Today I have been brainstorming what other items I would like to get.  Here is my brainstorming list:

• My daughter likes Taylor Swift's music.  I must admit that there are some really good songs she has.  So I would like to get her CD's for Bug.  Speak Now Album is the one I think she would like the most, though she doesn't have the other two either ( Fearless and Taylor Swift ).  
• The movie Cheaper By the Dozen with Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt is such a great movie!  Even though I have seen it plenty of times, my kids and I laugh every time we see it.  We have requested it from the library and the movies tend to all be pretty scratched lately, so we don't get to enjoy the movie.  :(  So I would love to get this.  It really is a great film to watch as a family.  I must admit there is no way I could handle having 12 kids!  hahaha
• I also liked Cheaper By the Dozen 2.  Enough said.  
• My son won't leave my computer alone lately.  He wants to do everything I am doing.  I know that I should be so flattered that he wants to do everything I do, but maybe he she get his own?  So since he loves the movie Cars, I found this laptop and I know he would love it!   A Lightning McQueen laptop for him to learn and enjoy all on his own. 
• I would love to get my kids a pogo stick each.  Did you ever have one growing up?  My grandparents had some at their house and we would go out there for such a long time competing with each other to see how many bounces we could go in a row without falling or knocking into something.  It would also be great exercise for my kids.  Let's face it- my kids tend to be full of energy!  As a result, they can tend to bounce off the walls at home and not want to go to bed when it is time.  These would help wear them out!  :)
• My daughter loves the movie Tangled.  She received it for her birthday.  I would like to get her a shirt with Rapunzel on it.  I know she would absolutely love one. 
• With the Cars2 craze lately, I see my son excited in the store with all the merchandise.  I would love to get him a shirt with the Cars2 characters on it.  I know he would be really happy!
• My son likes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I know he would love this pack of movies of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . 

Those are what I have come up with so far.  Of course, that could change by Christmas.  This is just a list from brainstorming. 

So what items are you brainstorming for Christmas?  Or are you not even worrying about Christmas right now?  I know I might be crazy to already be preparing now, but it is much easier for me this way.  How many people do  you shop for for Christmas?

Blessings Abound

Blessings About Mommy is currently having a great giveaway for $25.00 Visa gift card !!!  :)  Head on over Here to check it out.  What would you do with a $25.00 gift card?  Right now, I would use it toward my kids' Christmas presents.  My daughter loves Taylor Swift and I would buy her latest album and set it aside for Christmas.