My three little darlings surprised me today! They got a wonderful cake with their visiting Grandma and woke me up with a delicious chocolately breakfast! We took lots of pictures to commemorate the occasion… anyone want to see??

After that we went to Church for a really great sermon!

Next we were off to Bugaboo Creek for a late lunch. We had a great time and a wonderful meal. The moose kiss off is a great tradition in our family.

We were back by 4:30 as it started getting dark and played tea party with Little C and Miss N.

Miss L was busy practicing her standing skills which was so adorable since she has no business standing at her 6 months!

We also had Miss L in her ballerina costume for creative play while she was serving us tea.

Bed time rolled around and we were happy to put the kids down after a long day.

We watched 60 minutes and Amazing Race but my mom put her foot down on Desperate Housewives (thank goodness for DVR). Right now we’re watching our homes finale… Cold Case.

Night night everyone.

My favorite season is spring!! I have LOTS of decorations for spring and Easter. One of the reasons for my favorite season being spring is Easter! Easter is so fun and such a wonderful time to teach children about faith and values.

We always make a big deal about our Egg Hunt but I am especially excited about this years event because I will invite many kids from around our neighborhood for an all out hunt-til-you-drop event, hopefully hooking up with other direct sellers of kids stuff for this!

Spring is also great because of the hope for a wonderful growing season. Buying seeds is thrilling to me, I’m new to it, but just love the idea of something growing from such a small seed. There is such a time investment into the garden and as a gardener we just hope it will all pay off. The thought of wandering in a lush and vibrant garden makes all the rainy days and nights worth it… not to mention the humping and digging!

This is a post for the Blog Carnival on www.momgadget.com race ya there!

As many of you in the blogging world may know, there are people out there being payed to espouse a certain viewpoint (positive or neutral) about a product. Bloggers are connected to advertisers big and small through blogging pimp companies.

I applied to one and was told my blog is not old enough, must be at least 90 days old, so boohoo for me, no money… FINE

I was upset because I didn’t realize all the other ways there are to make money with my blog. I am so glad I didn’t clog my blog to make a quick buck. Why do I say it will clog your blog? Because unlike ads on the side of your content, these ads are coming from your own fingers and mingled in with your content.

Consider it product placement for blogs… a stroke of genius for the marketer, but a losing situation for the blog reading public… how will we ever know why someone is blogging about something, that they really mean it, or that they are getting paid to have a positive or neutral view, notice negative is not an option.

Oprah was talking about truth in America, how can we know who is telling us the truth? From the news, movies, t.v., internet advertising, site directories, shopping sites, it’s not about the product or the service. I learned from my new direct sales venture with Barefoot Books that I cannot compete unless I PAY per click to get listed high enough in the search engines. This is ANOTHER way for big business to squeeze out the little guy. Sure, we can have our own websites, deliver personal service but it is increasingly hard to reach the customer.

Anyway, I will share any strategies I come up with to get out there and make money from home without clogging your blog or comprimising too many morals.

Have you often wondered how to connect to other people with the same interests?

I often have.

I started this blog about a month ago, and had a gazillion questions. I’m sure there are others out there that feel the same. I would like to make blogging my living so I can stay at home close to my kids. I also wouldn’t mind having one more, but that takes money and resources in our day and age.

Anyway, while looking for places to find information, tips and tricks… I cam across http://momgadget.com/forum/index.php As you can see from other posts, we are a pretty active community, albeit new, with our very own blog carnivals.

If you’re looking to connect with other bloggers visit the forums…

After much thought, I’ve decided to move any Salvation posts to another blog. It just doesn’t fit in to this blog at this time.

I’ve replaced shopping for the “S” in my Life Salad and will post future Salvation type posts in my Write to Me blog.

thanks for following this blog’s growing pains.

This is for the Blog Carnival on http://www.momgadget.com

I do not believe in past lives in any way, but… I do see echoes of another life form in my life, specifically the
BEAR.

I think I have a lot in common with mama bears. I take care of my little cubs and like to hibernate. In northern climates, like Maine, bears can sleep up to 7 months of the year. I’m really feeling good about that because I love to sleep! Of course bears don’t have the internet or diapers to change. I don’t get a chance to sleep, but I can tell you what I’ll be doing in September of 2011 when my youngest is in Kindergarten.

I also like sweets like I’ve heard bears do, especially jelly donuts… although I don’t care for honey at all. In general I’m most like the bear because I’m cute and fuzzy on the outside, but deadly and fierce on the inside. Part of this mix of fuzzy and deadly is based on habitat. Growing up in Queens, and having my first jelly donut in Christopher Walken’s parents’ bakery on Broadway, you get that wonderful rush of the baker handing you the delicious jelly donut (this was before Dunkin Donuts made it more cost effective to buy 12) and then stepping out onto the busy, dirty street. The parallel is uncanny isn’t it?

Another parallel is “our” public persona, whoever is doing the pr for bears is right on. Most people have owned a teddy bear at some point in their lives, some people hold onto them, like Thurston Howell III did on Gilligan’s Island, well into their adulthood.

Some personified cartoon versions of bears include:

Bear on Franklin
Little Bear
Yogi Bear
Smokey the Bear

Check out the other posts on this topic…
http://casualkeystrokes.com/2006/10/20/in-a-former-life-i-must-have-been/

I am totally addicted to Baby Gap! Please please create a bigger size 12-18 months!

Baby played herself to sleep on her 6 month birthday!

This is totally out of hand! Can they leave that poor woman alone. She has her new baby to think about. She must be feeling so bad about her son, can people on this planet have a little respect and stop sensationalizing the death of her son!! Celebrity gossip is totally out of control and needs to stop in my opinion.

Life is what you make it and what you do for the people around you.

I’ve been thinking a lot about priorities. What you do with your time communicates to the rest of the world, and most importantly, the loves in your life. If you prefer to spend time working and playing, or watching t.v. instead of reading, on the internet instead of giving that back massage. All the things we do are choices.

Our family has two scheduled eating out opportunities. The first is at the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. This is where Big B and me stock up on our meat cravings. The Mongolian barbeque and king crab legs make taking a family of 5 out to dinner for under $40 (including 15% gratuity) not only affordable but desirable. The kids get a decent meal of chicken, rice, fresh fruits (melons being their favorite), ice-cream & cakes.

The second scheduled eating op is pizza night. This schedule changes according to my husbands graduate classes. For $11.99 for two large one-topping pizza’s, I go ahead and indulge myself. It just makes sense to me thinking about all that time saved, buying/cooking an entire meal can be alot of work.

In addition to that, I save time by buying fully-cooked rotisserie chicken once a week. Then I just have to make some side dishes and we’re ready to eat.

It’s important to me to spend time with my family, to really be there in the moment. Cooking is important and enjoyable in small spurts. Giving myself a few outs keeps my sanity and sends the message to the loves of my life that they are the number one priority.