Tag, you're it!!! (new list starts on Tuesday)

Yay, we got through our 8th week of Tag ;)

It has been fun, I appreciate everyone who played along ;)

If you don't know what "Tag, you're it!" or "Tag Tuesday"
is, simply put, it's a game of Tag ;)

You "Tag" your new friends and they "Tag" you as well.

(instead of leaving "following from..." comments which is what prompted me to start "Tag"
since I heard many friends say they didn't like how impersonal that sounded)

The Special "quality" about "Tag, you're it" is that through this game,

you can post the url's to

your blog, twitter, facebook, networkedblogs, Etsy store, links to voting pages that you are in, contest/giveaway pages and anywhere else you want followers in ;)

Today is Tuesday, New blank list goes up,

The Rules to playing "Tag, you're it" are simple:
add your information to the spreadsheet
"Tag" everyone else above you on the list
Check back regularly to "Tag" new friends below you (list is open all week)
"Tag" back everyone who has "Tagged" you (remember to add or follow in addition to leaving the Tag comment)
One thing I do have to bring up, PLEASE be kind and do not erase or change peoples information, I occasionally have to fix url's :(

Here is the Spreadsheet

Also, if you can, help promote the word ;)

The more people know about Tag Tuesday,

the more people will Tag you ;)

here is the link to this page:

http://bit.ly/c0wsLR

I included the link in case you want to post on twitter or anywhere else & need a shorter link ;)

A BIG thank you goes out to
Stacie at Simply Stacie for always playing and posting "Tag, you're it!"

If you posted about "Tag, you're it!", pls send me a comment and I will post your url here for this and next week ;)
Great "Taggers" who posted about "Tag, you're it!" ;)Ms. V from Vixen's Den
Mz. Jazie from Step up & Stand out... For Real!

Thelia from The Scarf shop by TheliaKady from Take a Mom's word for it
and just in case you really have to have a button ;)

my daughter is showing off her skills:

(I did hear and notice that many people are not "Tagging" back, we are going by the honor system, so please "Tag & be Tagged" lol)

it's 4am and I'm tired :(

later today I will explain my day ;)

I have been up all night trying to fix my cell phone, it drowned today :(

I checked boxes so I could approve a lot of comments at once and I accidentally hit reject.

I want to apologize to everyone who's comments I erased.
Lack of sleep is just not a nice thing, lol

Have a great night and day everyone ;)

Winner of $25 Gift Card to Kroger Family of stores!!!

Thanks to Random.org, the winner of The $25 Gift Card to Kroger Family of Stores is:
#127

Kathy Rambousek said...
daily tweet
http://twitter.com/LKARambo/status/11055615372

LKARambo at comcast dot net
March 25, 2010 3:03 PM

Thank you very much to everyone who entered, Congratulations to Kathy.

please email me with your info so I can have your prize sent to you ;)

Winners of EASe Video Game & Music CD!!!!

Thank you for participating and for spreading the word about the wonderful effect this game had on my son.

The giveaway ended and thanks to Random.org, the winners are:

For the Off Road Video Game, the chosen number is #5

5. Kyle and Therese said...

    I blogged about ease website and your blog with contest information.
    February 23, 2010 5:30 AM

For the Music CD #1, the winner chosen was #12:
12. Missy said...

    I'm following you on Twitter.
    March 21, 2010 10:59 PM

Congratulations to both of you and thank you for playing.

Next week I am posting the review and giveaways for 2 other Video games and Music CD's, I hope that you will all be as interested as I was to see the results ;)

FREE Expo Day at PETCO Park! March 27, 2010

Are you in Beautiful San Diego or close enough to spend a GREAT day in it?

Come out and join us for this FREE event!!!

SDSF EXPO DAY AT PETCO PARK
brings together over 150 hands-on science activities and 12 stage performances for
kids 3 to 93.

Here are just SOME of the fun things you can do...

- Build an underwater robot
- Finger-paint with algae
- Study microscopic worms
- Meet exotic reptiles, birds, bunnies, dogs and more
- Build a bug observation kit
- Take an x-ray image of your backpack
- Separate components of grape Kool Aid
- Experience a live 3D video broadcast
- Learn about the aerodynamics of paper airplanes
- Test-drive “Moon Shoes” and learn about space colonization
- Make a video of what YOU would tell to E.T.
- Discover how worms are used to compost
- Conquer Mad Science’s magnet bridge
- Find out how to protect our local bat population
- Play Galactic Games with Mar Vista Middle School
- Build a watershed and become a certified water monitor
- Discover how microbes are used to clean up water
- Take a look into the world of optics and electricity
- Explore the chemistry and science of what we eat and drink- - Find out about the billion-dollar molecule- Learn about advancements in Battlefield Medicine
- Take a look into the world of optics and electricity with NAVAIR

Not convinced yet???

Schedule of Performance

Get ready, there will be about 15 live stage performances at our Science Spectacular stage at PETCO Park on Expo Day, Saturday, March 27th, 2010.

Some hightlights include:

Bring science to life with a display of impressive reptiles in "Close Encounters of the Cold Blooded Kind."
You CAN do the Rubik's Cube speed tournament
Councilmember Sherri Lightner with a special announcement
The Science of Magic will be revealed as objects disappear before your eyes
Dry ice will be used to create bubbling potions to produce a large-scale theatrical effect
Sing along as you increase your science knowledge with the Galapagos Mountain Boys performing their scientific inspired folk songs about the Big Bang, star formation, cosmology, anthropology
and more!

Just reading the Facts makes me so Excited to be in this Beautiful City!!!

Winner of Dapper Snappers Toddler Belts Giveaway......

Congratulations to

#61 !!!!

True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 75 Result: 61 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

fancygrlnancy said...: tweet http://twitter.com/fancygrlnancy/status/10906123405 bwneyes100 AT Hotmail DOT com; March 22, 2010 8:08 PM; An email is going out as well, please email me with your choice of colors and your information for shipping,; thank you so much to EVERYONE that participated!!!

The InfluenceSD Finalists were Announced,THANK YOU!!!!!!

Thank you so much for everyone who voted for me ;)!!!

The voting closed at 3p.m and the Finalists were announced a few minutes ago.........

Adventures of a Military Family of 8

is a

Finalist for Blog of the Year!!!!!!

If you don't remember what it was about, San Diego is having an Awards Night for The Social Media. My Daughter called it "The Grammy's for the Internet" lol

Several Categories were given such as:

Agency, Blogger of the Year, Business, Gov./Politics/Edu, Non Profit, Sports, Lifestyle, Restaurant, Community and Nightlife, Blog of the Year, and Traditional Media.

Once the Voting ended on March 24 at 3pm, the top 5 nominees of each category will move to round 2.

In Round 2 a panel of Judges will decide who the Winner of each category will be. This will take place on April 7, 2010 at Anthology.
If you're in San Diego, and you want to join everyone for a fun event, you can still buy your tickets, click here

Here is the Link to the Announcement Page click here
BLOG OF THE YEAR

The Friarhood

New Brew Thursday

The Britney Henry Project

Adventures of a Military Family of 8

Diego on a Dime

Congratulations to all of the Nominees and to the Finalists!!!!!
Thank you so much to my Hubby for all of his support!!!
Thank you so much for your votes and for making this Night possible for me!!!!!
Congratulations to my Bloggy friends ;)
La Jolla Mom, San Diego Bargain Mama, Mama Mary Show, Diego on a Dime !!!!!!!

News Coverage by NBC San Diego

Event Details

The 1st Inaugural #influenceSD Awards. We invite you to join us.

#influenceSD launched to unite San Diego's social media champions.

· More than 350 nominees in 12 categories

· Nominations and voting closed March 24th at 3 p.m. PST

· Top 5 finalists moved on to the judging round and winners announced April 7th

· Awards event at Anthology features music by Krys Justice, Beyond Category and more

· Local personalities like Sam the Cooking Guy and more to present awards

Evening includes:

· Access to stroll the red carpet

· 7pm pre-show entertainment by Southern California R&B recording artist Krys Justice

· Amazing food and drink specials. Come try to the Twitter-tini

· Cash bar

· Mixing & mingling with San Diego’s socialites

The Sponsors for the night are:

Clutch Powers 4D Movie Premiere at Legoland California

On Friday my Family was invited to attend the Premier of a SUPER FUN new

4D movie at Legoland California,

"The Adventures of Clutch Powers" in 4D ;)

Opened March 20, 2010

When there’s a job to be done, or an adventure to be had, you can bet that Clutch Powers will be there! Follow Clutch and his team in this edge of your seat 4-D action-packed show!

The kids LOVED the cool looking glasses, lol

The Adventures of Clutch Powers in 4D at Legoland California
was released to the Public on March 20, 2010.

You don't know who Clutch Powers is? GASP!!!! and you call yourself a Lego fan ;).

The movie was awesome it had action, comedy, action, suspense, action, drama and umm.... oh yeah action.

All that in 4D.

My family and I had the greatest time.

I sat and watched my youngest son react to every 3D moment as if he was in the movie, I heard giggles as people heard him screaming and ducking from flying Legos.

To be honest I caught myself reaching out a few times trying to catch falling Lego's, it was so fun!!

The effects were great; when the wind blew in the movie you felt it in the theater. They even had snow falling!!! Yes I said snow.... I would recommend every child take their parents to see Clutch Powers and allow them to find the inner child in themselves.

It's a fun filled experience for the whole family to enjoy.Have Fun and enjoy your 4D experience.

Our Family had a GREAT time, if you have never seen a 4D movie, picture a movie super "cooler" than 3D and it includes elements ;)

Hearing my baby scream and giggle and moving out of the way of flying Lego's was so much fun!!!

I highly recommend that you add Legoland California to your Spring Break or Summer Vacation!!!!

Make sure that you catch the 4D movies while you're there, I promise that you will Love it as much as we did ;)

If you do not have a Legoland near you, don't be so sad!!!

The Adventures of Clutch Powers is on sale now on DVD, of course it's not 4D, but it's better than NOT watching it at all!!! ;)

After the movie, we got to enjoy the Beautiful Legoland, Ca park, and I have to tell you that SOME grownups loved it more that SOME kids lol...

Thank you so much to Legoland California, and to Clutch Powers for giving us such a great time!!!!!

Free Potty Training Video from Huggies

Pull-Ups® Big Kid® Central
Get a FREE Interactive Potty Training Success DVD!

Have you been looking for a way to make potty training easier?

Finally there's a potty training approach that's flexible and fun. You can tailor it to fit the way your child learns best, so you can keep your Big Kid® engaged from start to finish.

No matter what your child’s phase of training, you’ll love the Pull-Ups® Big Kid® Central Potty Training Success DVD. You’ll discover techniques, tips, songs and games to help you and your child succeed. Order your free copy today.

Available while supplies last.

Click Here to Get your Free Copy

Tag, you're it!!! (Tuesday's mean new list)

First of all, I would like to thank and apologize to my Tag players for not posting last week, my Grandfather passed away and I did not have the mindset to blog

Yay, we got through our 7th week of Tag ;)

It has been fun, I appreciate everyone who played along ;)

If you don't know what "Tag, you're it!" is,

"Tag, you're it" or "Tag Tuesday" is simply put,

a game of Tag ;)

You "Tag" your new friends and they "Tag" you as well.

(instead of leaving "following from..." comments which is what prompted me to start "Tag"
since I heard many friends say they didn't like how impersonal that sounded)

The Special "quality" about "Tag, you're it" is that through this game,

you can post the url's to

your blog, twitter, facebook, networkedblogs, Etsy store, links to voting pages that you are in, contest/giveaway pages and anywhere else you want followers in ;)

Today is Tuesday, New blank list goes up,

Remember "Tag, you're it" is open throughout the entire week, so feel free to continue to check it and "Tag" new friends

The Rules to playing "Tag, you're it" are simple:
add your information to the spreadsheet
"Tag" everyone else above you on the list
Check back regularly to "Tag" new friends below you
"Tag" back everyone who has "Tagged" you (remember to add or follow in addition to leaving the Tag comment)
One thing I do have to bring up, PLEASE be kind and do not erase or change peoples information, I occasionally have time to look & fix url's but not often lately :(

Here is the Spreadsheet

I added new spaces on the Spreadsheet for you to enter Url's if you need votes for something and 3 rows for you to enter giveaways as well ;)

Also, if you can, help promote the word ;)

The more people know about Tag Tuesday,

the more people will Tag you ;)

here is the link to this page:

http://bit.ly/blKjkb

I included the link in case you want to post on twitter or anywhere else & need a shorter link ;)

A BIG thank you goes out to
Stacie at Simply Stacie for helping promote "Tag"

If you posted about "Tag", pls send me a comment and I will post your url here for this and next week ;)

and just in case you really have to have a button ;)

my daughter is showing off her skills:

Our 1st through 3rd weeks we had 17 players,
after our 4th week we have had 48 players and still increasing, Woo-hooo ;) let's see if we can double that this week ;)

(I did hear and notice that many people are not "Tagging" back, we are going by the honor system, so please "Tag & be Tagged" lol)

What's better than Ice Cream? FREE Ice Cream!!!!!!

I have GREAT news ;)

Tomorrow is Free Ice Cream Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's ;)
Yayyy!!!!! right?

Tomorrow March 23, 2010 from 12 p.m-8p.m
Ben & Jerry's will be giving away FREE ice cream cones to their wonderful fans ;)
Click Here to find a Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop near you!!!

I have taken my children the last couple of years, its a GREAT way to be able to treat my children to some DELICIOUS ice cream and be able to afford it as well, lol.
Last year News Anchors were "working" the lines and serving ice cream as well, all donations went to Charity.

How awesome is that? Free ice cream and donations going to Charity!! Yayy!!!!

Thank you Ben & Jerry's!!!

I miss my friends in Blogland ;)

I wanted to stop by and wish everyone a GREAT Sunday!!!

Yesterday Hubs invited me to go play miniature golf while the kids were at Grandma's ;)

Though a great part of me wanted to stay home and be depressed, I agreed, it was fun, then we stopped by his friend's Wife Birthday Party, She is so sweet and nice, first time in years that I have met a friend like her, I am very glad that we went. After a couple of hours I started to feel too depressed, just thinking about my Grandfather's passing, so hubby and I left with the excuse that we had to pick up the kids :/ I just didn't want to make her special day sad by telling her why I was so sad :/ Keitha if you're reading this, my bad for fibbing ;)

When it was time to go get the kids, my mom called me to tell me that she was keeping the kids longer so she could make them dinner, for hubs and me to go eat out, so I did the unthinkable......

I let hubs talk me into wearing a dress for the #InfluenceSD Awards Night I haven't worn a dress in over 4 years, lol.
I got an email saying that I am one of the 5 Finalists for the award, so I kinda-have-to be there, lol.

So I let myself get excited about the Awards Night, because the 5 finalists will be reviewed by the Judges and they will pick the winner.
AAAhhh as I went on the site right now to check my status and get the link, I saw that I am now in 6th place, so bummed out now, lol. 5th place or higher is in the Finals, ok so now I won't set my heart on that dress, lol.
There are 2 more days to vote, so I guess I can hope, if not, I'll still be ok :)

in case you do want to vote for me this is my post about the Nomination and this is my update lol and/or you can click here to go straight to the voting page. You can only vote once per computer, if you voted twice it takes a point away, but if you re-click the arrow, it will give the point back, lol.

A very Dear Friend of mine, mailed me a Bible on Friday. I never had a Bible before and I am very happy ;) It came at such a perfect time in my life, with so much "life" happening around me right now, it's nice to know that I have GREAT friends and now a Bible ;)

I hope everyone has a wonderful spring break, hopefully I will be here tomorrow to blog ;)
We went to a preview of a 4D movie at Legoland California that I have to share about ;)

hugs!!!!!

A Baby became an Angel and A Soldier payed the ULTIMATE price...

This last week has been a whirlwind of bad news....

The passing of my Grandfather hit me like a ton of trucks, cause bricks wouldn't seem so right compared to the hurt I feel.....

I learned about Baby Layla Grace loosing her battle with Neuroblastoma Cancer. link here
May the Angels in Heaven keep her smiling ;)

Remember the article I wrote a couple of days ago about Baby Penny beginning her battle with Neuroblastoma? I read their blog today, She has been put on Life Support

Yesterday while I was trying to keep my mind busy from not thinking about my Grandfather, I read a post that broke my heart all over again...

As a Military Wife, the BIGGEST fear, other than something happening to our children of course, is loosing our husbands, especially while deployed.
This 23 year old Strong Woman, is living through that nightmare; on Sunday, her Husband lost his life while deployed in Afghanistan. They have a new Baby Girl. Her Blog is called "A little Pink in a World of Camo" The title of her post where she Bravely broke the news to friends and readers is called "I Will always be a Marine Wife"

My heart hurts for these Families, it has been a hard week, to say the least. Lives have been lost, and changed forever.

A Baby became an Angel,
a Soldier payed the ULTIMATE price for his country,
and a Baby is fighting for her life while on Life Support.

My Prayers are with everyone tonight, that no more bad news come for a LONG time, Please make sure you tell the ones you Love, that you Love them, as with my Grandfather, it's something you can never fix, and it's something that I will have to live with for the rest of my life.

a quick update

hi,
i am so sorry for not posting the Tag, you're it new sheet, and for not giving the update about my daughter's entry....

My grandfather passed away yesterday, i am not doing so good.
I'm sorry.

If you want to continue using the Tag page that is up, go ahead, if you can please vote for my daughter, there is 14 hours left in the competition, the link is here

you do not need a facebook account to vote..
you can vote once per email address

Prayers and Pennies for Penny...

Not so long ago, I had the honor of following a fellow Blogger who's baby had cancer, Beautiful Layla Grace had Neuroblastoma, unfortunately she lost her battle, and she is now an Angel.She is now an Angel.

As our hearts still hurt for the Family, I learned about another Family that is going through the same type of cancer experience, with their 11 month old baby.
Meet Aaron and Carina, parents of Baby Penelope, Penny for short.

Stemming from a bump on the head, like many kids get, Penny's parents noticed a few days later that her eyes had turned black, scared as you can imagine, they took her to the E.R, after many tests, and pokes and tears with fears from Penny, they learned that Penny has Neuroblastoma.
After an MRI, Doctors learned that she has Stage 4 Neuroblastoma.

The tumor started in her adrenal gland and spread to her spine, it is the height of 3 vertebrae and is surrounding her spine 360 degrees.
Not bad enough yet thought the cancer monster, and through her spine the cancer entered her blood stream and then spread to the bones in her skull, as well as her Liver.

On 3/1 Penelope underwent a bone marrow test. They extracted bone marrow from her pelvis in two locations. Once the results came in on 3/2, we were informed that the cancer had also spread to her bone marrow.

"After all of that excitement, we once again noticed that Penelope wasn’t using her legs at all. Even when she was upset – she’d flail her arms, but the legs didn’t move at all. We notified the doctors of this – then everything went haywire. Within 5 minutes we had the head oncologist, neurologist and anesthesiologist were all in the room poking and prodding her. Shortly thereafter, they confirmed that Penelope had lost sensation and use of her legs – pretty much from the knee down wasn’t working.
We knew ahead of time that she had tumors inside of her spinal cord, but all had been well so they hadn’t done any surgery – just started chemo to try and shrink the tumors. But, now it was serious. If they didn’t get the tumors off of her nerves she could lose the use of her legs permanently! Now – Carina and I are FREAKING OUT!! Not only does she have life threatening cancer, but even if she beats it there’s a chance that she’d be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life! At this point in time Carina and I are just hanging on by a thread. I’m two seconds away from just falling apart altogether and Carina looks like she’s already there. My Mom was here – so she helped me shake it off and get focused on what we had to do next, then I helped Carina to do the same so we could get Penelope through this.
It’s been only 20 minutes since the doctors confirmed her loss of leg function,
The surgeon informed us that they were going to aggressively attack the tumor in her spine. This was far from the original plan, but it HAD to happen. He said it would take between 2 1/2 to 4 hours for the surgery. They did a laminectomy on 2 1/2 of her vertebrate so that they could access the tumor within her spine and remove as much of it as they could. With any luck, this would help to restore the function in her legs."

Thanks to everyone blogging and "twittering" and "facebooking" Pennies for Penny got media attention, her story was on San Diego News on Channel 6.

Here is a piece of a post Aaron put on his blog, these parents are going through so much, and also make sure that they keep everyone in touch, and respond to comments ;)...

thank you again to everyone for your overwhelming support and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE spread the word about Penelope and this site. We received a bill for 1 CT scan yesterday – it was the CT scan done when she first went into the ER. They charged the insurance company $10,900 for the scan – of which I get to pay 40%. Since then she’s had 2 MRI’s, a bone scan, two nuclear medicine scans, a bone marrow biopsy, two surgeries, 7 rounds of anesthesia, daily X-rays, 1 cycle of chemotherapy, countless meetings/reviews with Dr’s, and 12 days inpatient. On top of that we were informed that once we’re released she needs daily GCS-F shots. A 10 day treatment of these shots costs $1,500. So, we’d need two 10 day cycles per month, since she’ll get chemo every three weeks and be inpatient 3-5 days after. Of course, this medication is NOT covered by our insurance.
So – add Pennies4penny on your Facebook and your twitter – tell your friends, neighbors, people at the grocery store – anyone you can. The biggest gift you could give Penelope is spreading the word of her condition.
Thanks again everyone, talk to you all soon.
Best
Aaron

To help raise funds for Penny's medical bills, there will be an online auction that will be held next Friday, March 19th beginning at 6am PST. As importantly as we need you to share the news of the auction, we need you to show up and BID. We have some really awesome donations gathered with more to come.

Auction items that are already confirmed:

Family 4 pack of passes to Legoland CA
Build a Bear prize pack
Beautiful pendant from The Pretty Peacock .
Haircut GC’s to Pigtails & Crewcuts in Chula Vista, CA (courtesy of www.sandiegobargainmama.com)
A $250.00 GC to aden + anais.
Creative Memories PicFolio Quick Kit (courtesy of www.SuzyQHomemaker.com)
A Creativity for Kids prize pack
A croqueted baby blanket made by Becky Kremkau
A Skitter Toy
A (not even released to the public yet) TuTu from Three Peas Co.
Three prize packs from SprigToys.com
Dinner for 4 at the Mediterranean Room in La Valencia Hotel.
Coupons for 1.5 hours of bowling, shoe rentals and snacks for six at Kearny Mesa Bowl.

The auction will run through the weekend and close Sunday March 21st at 9pm PST.

If you tweet about Pennies 4 Penny, please use hashtag #pennies4penny
You can follow Pennies 4 Penny at @pennies4penny
The blog Pennies 4 Penny link is here

If you want to "sport" this awesome button is support of "pennies4penny" grab it and the site ;)

Orange County Movers

The Real Estate market has been hard on many homeowners and renters alike.
During this stressful time you need to be able to count on a reliable moving company,
one that is An Accredited Business with the BBB and a member of the CMSA.

This company is Licensed, bonded and Insured, with every employee in uniform, and company has own worker's compensation Insurance for their employees.

If you're in San Diego or Orange County check out their website Orange County moving companies,
to check out their google maps page, go to Orange County movers.

This is a paid post

Next Direct Children's Model Competition for 2010 on Facebook

That's the name of the competition I entered my daughter in.
I realized that in the rush of trying to post her voting link since the contest ends in 3 days, I FAILED to mention all the details of the competition.

I apologize for that.
Well this is not just a competition to see which child is the cutest, there are perks for the Winner.
The child that wins the competition,

gets a 1 year modeling contract with Wilhelmina Models,
Be the US face of Britain's most loved brand of clothing "Next Direct"
and the BEST PRIZE is....
A $100,000 Education Scholarship

The Scholarship would ensure that at least 1 of my children will definitely have a chance at a College Education. I wish so much that I had know about this contest sooner.

Part of me feels so down that I know she doesn't stand a chance in making the top 50, but a big part of me has hope ;)
The top 50 finalists will be flown to Universal Studios to be interviewed for the winning spot.

I was saddened by some posts I read where moms are giving out gift cards in exchange for votes, and other moms are in groups that do daily voting to ensure that group of children will make it through, i know that as a mom you want your child to win this competition, but as a person who tries to be as fair as possible, it downed my spirits a little to see that.

I was happily surprised to see that Lily is on page 83 out of 155 pages, since I just entered her yesterday ;) She is still hopeful, though I have constantly been reminding her that it will be okay if she is not chosen.

Thank you very much for your votes, if you voted for her, continue to vote for her, and or will vote for her ;)

Here is the link to vote

just in case you really want too ;) lol

Remember, you can vote once a day per email address ;)

I fixed the problem

I am waiting for the company to respond to the problem, but I think I was able to change a few things on the url and fixed the problem with their vote button.

thank you so much and sorry for the trouble ;)

here is the link to vote for her ;)

click here

here is the link to my previous post about her wanting to enter the contest ;)

click here

My daughter wants to be a child model....

A few days ago, I was reading an article on a contest to find a child model for a company, Lily was laying on the couch with me and she saw the article, she read everything about it, and asked me if I could please enter her picture from the Father/Daughter Dance.

After thinking about it for a couple of days, I sat her down and explained that I would enter her if she understood that it was a contest for votes, and since she was going to enter the contest so late, she might not have a chance anymore and that I needed her to know that it had nothing to do with people liking her as a person, she understood and agreed. So in keeping my word to her, I entered her in the Child Model contest.

We want as many people as possible to have a say in choosing the young model who'll become the face of NEXT DIRECT in the US. So a public vote (through Facebook) will decide the 50 entrants whom we will invite to our fabulous live final at Universal Studios, LA, on the weekend of April 24th and 25th, 2010.
The deadline for entries is 7am (ET) on March 15, 2010 . . . and voting closes at 7am (ET) on March 18th, 2010.

She chose the picture and she chose to have her full name listed instead of her nickname, meaning it's under "Liliana" and not "Lily" oh dear, she's changing names already, lol. One of the many reasons why I decided to enter her is because this contest DOES NOT allow pictures in bathingssuits, or pictures containing poses that are too mature for the child's age, it's all about capturing the "spirit" of a child. I'm all for that!!!

So if you think that she should have a shot at being one of the 50 finalists, please vote for her ;)

Here is the Link

I got a few comments that some pages have the vote button not working, I have emailed the company and I am waiting for a response. thank you and sorry for the trouble if it's too much work.

Remember that you can vote once per email address, daily ;) Thank you so much in advance ;)

Father Daughter Dance ;)

Giving you a little info about a future post, my computer finally died and is unfortunately holding ALL of my pictures HOSTAGE!!!!

I never saved a single picture anywhere else, and now I am paying for it :(

I wanted to show you all of the pictures that the girls, and their Daddy took of the night. I did however manage to save a few to my photobucket account, because I was in the process of making a slide show, thank goodness for those moments when I had absolutely nothing to do, lol.

Well I am going to do my post, lol, and we will pretend that these are ALL of the pictures I have of the night, because I want my old computer to know that I am not sitting down waiting for her to let me off of the hook ( let me off the hook? yes, i told you I would tell you the story soon, lol)

So on February, my "little" girls were given a surprise by Mommy, one that I had secretly conned Daddy into muahahahaa lol

see, in 11 years that Daddy has been in the Military, he has never taken Mommy to a Navy Ball, or had ANY pictures with the Family in his uniform, none of my begging has worked either, SO I decided that I was not going to let this pattern continue.

My Daughters are SUPER proud of their Daddy, the fact that he is in the Navy is so "cool" to them ;) Like their Mommy, they too have begged for pictures with Daddy in uniform and have lost the battles, lol.

Let's get one thing straight, this 5'3" shy blogger lets a lot of things slide, but when I become determined about something, it happens ;)

Thinking about the fact that we will be moving from California soon, I thought that it would be great for the girls to finally get to go to the Father/Daughter dance escorted by a "Sailor" (giggles)

I asked hubby if he could buy the tickets for the dance, but to keep it from the girls because I wanted to surprise them, after a lot of "mummbing" he agreed, I decided not to tellhim that it was MANDATORY Uniform attire for the evening ;) I know, I'm bad, lol.

He took one day off of work and we went and bought the girls their dresses, keep in mind it's still a surprise to them. A week before the dance, I asked hubby if he had his uniform ready

Daddy= "I'm not wearing a uniform are you crazy? I'll find something to wear"

me= "umm, hun, it's formal service member attire"

Daddy= "like a suit?"

me= "no, like "dress blues" (dress blues is the name for the Navy formal uniform)

daddy= "what!!!?? you didn't tell me that, I would have said no"

me= "you bought the tickets, didn't you read the writing on the bottom? it says "Navy= Dress Blues"

daddy= "man, if I read that I wouldn't have said yes"

me= "oh, I thought you knew"

muahahahaaa I know, I'm a bad girl, lol. I am ok with me going without the memory of my hubby in his uniform, but if it's something that my daughters will treasure, I will make sure it happens, lol.

Daddy got his uniform ready, and the day of the dance I surprised the girls and told them they were going out with daddy, they would find out where too, once they got there. When they saw their dresses and Daddy in his uniform, they were SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!

When it was over, daddy and the girls stopped at the grocery store and bought different treats to go into home made sundaes, "Daddy's idea of a perfect ending to a perfect night ;)

Ta-Dahhhh, here are the pictures.....................

Here are the girls in our extremely "un-mowed lawn" lol, think of it as a "forest setting" ;)

Here they are with Daddy

Party-pause for "cheese"

Dancing just like Daddy ;)

Kiera with her "1 bring home item" she conned daddy lol

Lily always being Lily, lol

AaAaaaAaawWwwwwwww...

I hope you enjoyed being part of this memory ;)

Disclaimer, none of daddy's feelings were harmed in the plotting of this event, at the end of it, he admitted being happy he did this ;)

YAYYYYY I'm in third place

I just checked the #influenceSD page, and I am currently in third place, Thank you so much to all of you that have voted for me ;)

The Dinner and Award event will be for the top person in each category, I am third in Blog of the Year , even if I don't win, I want to say thank you so much, it means so much to me that you think I deserve this award ;)

For those of you who did not read my post about being nominated, one of the reasons that winning this award would mean so much more to me is because since we are moving out of San Diego, to know that while spending my entire life here, I get to leave with an award like this to show me that I did make somewhat of an impact while I was here ;)

The last day for votes is in March 23.
psst, if you haven't voted for me, but you want too, go ahead you know it will make you feel better, lol.
but remember, you can only vote once per i.p address, if you vote more than once, it will take one point away, if that happens, just click again to vote and it will put the point back. To vote click on the arrow next to our picture in this link

Hi!!!! ;)

Hello my beautiful friends ;)

A very quick update, lol. So I have been struggling with my computer as many of you know, so that explains part of my absence lol.

The other thing is that if you remember from my previous posts, the news of having to do a "Military Move" due to orders from Cali to the East Coast, has sent me into an even worst depression than I already was in :( In my Hubby's own way, he has been trying to make me smile and be happy, he took a few weeks of "Leave" (vacation in Military terms) so he has been home with me and Anthony (4 yr old
) while everyone else is in school ;)
This does help, I guess, because it keeps me from being home alone, which if you remember from before, I even did a week in bed because I was just so severely depressed, I just have not completely come to grasps with the whole move thing, but I guess I will have no choice in the near future, lol.

This takes me back to the hubby trying to make me smile subject, lol.
The entire last 2 weeks, he has "made" me get out of bed, and gotten me out of the house as soon as I am dressed, lol. He has taken me shopping everyday, even if it's just for lunch and a window shopping trip, lol.
I do complain about leaving the house, and I know I should be happy that I get "made" to go shopping, lol, but a huge part of me just can't stop thinking about how sad I am about the whole situation.

I will post later about the gifts he got me the mornings he snuck out of the house while I was asleep, lol

I thank you so much for the BEAUTIFUL comments you all have left me, they have made me feel so loved, thank you ;)

One thing I will ask you for, if you or anyone you know has a child on the Autism spectrum, a child in special Education, children with: ADHD, ADD, ODD, PDD, or Sensory Processing problems, please pass onto them the link to my giveaway for the Video Game and Music CD for Sensory Processing. It did wonders for my son, and I will have 2 Different Video Game and Music CD giveaways soon as well. This Game helped my son focus so much, with letters from Teacher and Principal that noticed a change in his "focus", I want other Families to be able to have a chance to see if it can help their children as well ;) I promise it's not for popularity that I want people to know about this, I know how good it made him feel, and I know how much I cried when I noticed the difference in him, I want that for other parents
PLEASE tweet or RT for me, or just pass out the link ;) http://bit.ly/aSo7FQ

Win your choice: Game or Music CD for children w/ Sensory Processing probs or Autism @militaryfamof8 Enter http://bit.ly/aSo7FQ #autism #aut

I have the Best Friends in Blogland ;)

HUGS!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel good today ;)

Tag, you're it! (Tuesday's means new list!!!)

Yay, we got through our 5th week of Tag ;)

It was fun, I appreciate everyone who played along ;)

If you don't know what "Tag, you're it!" is,

take a peek here at the first post

or read below for instructions

"Tag, you're it" or "Tag Tuesday" is simply put,

a game of Tag ;)

You "Tag" your new friends and they "Tag" you as well.

(instead of leaving "following from..." comments which is what prompted me to start "Tag"
since I heard many friends say they didn't like how impersonal that sounded)

The Special "quality" about "Tag, you're it" is that through this game,

you can post the url's to

your blog, twitter, facebook, networkedblogs, Etsy store, links to voting pages that you are in, contest/giveaway pages and anywhere else you want followers in ;)

Today is Tuesday, New blank list goes up,

Remember "Tag, you're it" is open throughout the entire week, so feel free to continue to check it and "Tag" new friends

The Rules to playing "Tag, you're it" are simple:

add your information to the spreadsheet
"Tag" everyone else above you on the list
Check back regularly to "Tag" new friends below you
"Tag" back everyone who has "Tagged" you
One thing I do have to bring up, PLEASE be kind and do not erase or change peoples information, I occasionally have time to look & fix url's but not often lately :(

Here is the Spreadsheet

I added new spaces on the Spreadsheet for you to enter Url's if you need votes for something and 3 rows for you to enter giveaways as well ;)

Also, if you can, pls help promote the word out ;)

The more people know about Tag Tuesday,

the more people will Tag you ;)

here is the link to this page:

http://bit.ly/bB0sfb

I included the link in case you want to post on twitter or anywhere else & need a shorter link ;)

A BIG thank you goes out to
Stacie at Simply Stacie for helping promote "Tag"

If you posted about "Tag", pls send me a comment and I will post your url here ;)

and just in case you really have to have a button ;)

my daughter is showing off her skills:

Our 1st,2nd & 3rd weeks we had 17 players,
our 4th & 5th week we had 48 players, Woo-hooo ;)
let's see if we can double that this week ;)

(I did hear and notice that many people are not "Tagging" back, we are going by the honor system, so please "Tag & be Tagged" lol)

Reminder:GREAT GIVEAWAY for EASe Video Game & Music CD

I wanted to take the time to remind you of the GREAT GIVEAWAY that is going on!!!

This Review and Giveaway is very dear to my heart, it helped my son Izeah SO much!!!

If you take a few minutes to read the review, you will see how happy I was to see the reaction he had to the Video Game, the help it gave me with his focus, and how much he LOVED it!

Vision Audio Graciously has given my readers a chance to win THREE different Video Games and THREE different Music CD's, a total value of over $300 Dllrs (including S&H)

This Review and Giveaway is for

The EASe Off Road Video Game and EASe Music CD #1

This Giveaway ends March 17, 2010

Please be sure to enter this giveaway (click here)

and please pass this post of Review & Giveaway to Families of children on

The Autism Spectrum, ADHD, ADD, ODD, PDD,

ANY AND ALL Sensory Processing Difficulties

I will post the review & giveaways to the 2 other sets soon.

Please make sure you don't enter the giveaway on this reminder post,

the giveaway post is: click here to enter

Dapper Snappers Toddler Belt Review & Giveaway

As you know I have kids in all age ranges, lol, but the two youngest are the ones I constantly had to be reminding to find the belt, pull the pants up, and even hear songs from the other kids :

"I see london , I see France, I see "so & so's" underpants!" lol

As many of you know, Izeah has sensory Issues, and many days even the lightest of touches bothers him so much. I can not get him to wear traditional belts, since they are too hard, or too tight, or too stretchy, or he just simply can not unbuckle them fast enough when he has to go, and yes, I have been called to the school many times to take him a set of clothes to change into. So for a couple of months now, I send him to school with no belt. His pants sag since his weight has been going down lately, once he comes home i start with the constant nagging about having his pants pulled up, until he gets tired and changes into his pj's.

I had an opportunity review Dapper Snappers, and I was so excited!!!

Why? (you ask)

I'm glad you asked, lol, See, Dapper Snappers are not your traditional front-buckle-accident-calling belts, lol.

Dapper Snappers is a company that makes awesome Toddler belts. Since Izeah has been using his Dapper Snapper, he hasn't had any accidents while wearing pants that need belts. He is able to go to the potty and not have to worry about having an "accident" because he couldn't unbuckle his belt in time. As a mom of little ones, I HIGHLY recommend Dapper Snappers because not only does it avoid your child the embarrassment of an accident, but it gives them the pleasure of knowing they are "big kids" and can go potty without worries ;) As an extra reassurance for moms, there are no more: "pants on the ground"
The Dapper Snapper:

Is recommended for ages 9 mo-5 yrs and one size fits all.

*Eliminates the need for adjustable waistband pants.

*Does not need to be removed for diaper changes.

*Does not impede potty training.

*Is adjustable to 4 sizes.

*Components (snaps, thread, elastic, everything), are made in the USA.

*Is invented by a mom!

*Is CPSIA compliant

Perfect for children who are potty training, children who have a hard time with the buckle belts. They have Dapper Snappers in all colors, for boy and girls!!! It's just too cute.

A Dapper Snapper is a toddler belt that you can put on the back belt loops of your child's pants, no more potty accidents because they couldn't get the belt off in time, no more struggles with undoing the belt to change a diaper.

Just snap the Dapper Snapper to size that is perfect for your child, and that's it!

AWESOME!!!!

Dapper Snappers Definitely have Two Thumbs up from this mommy ;)

Dapper Snappers has a discount code for 15% OFF of your purchase!!! COOL!!!

If you want to take advantage of this great offer, go to the homepage here and when you put your order in,

enter the code: MM815off expires 3/31/10

Guess what!?!?!?!? Dapper Snappers has offered a lucky reader TWO Dapper Snappers in the color of their choice ;) I know, I was excited as well, lol ;)

Here's how to enter:

Mandatory Entry (1 Entry)

Visit the Dapper Snappers website, and tell me what two colors you would choose if you win ;)
(if mandatory entry is not entered, all other entries from you are invalid)

Optional and Additional Entries:

Add @militaryfamof8 on Twitter 1 Entry
Add @DapperSnappers on Twitter 1 Entry
Add Dapper Snappers on Facebook 1 Entry
Tweet about this giveaway with link, feel free to cut and paste:
Win 2 free Dapper Snappers Toddler Belts at http://bit.ly/cysl7x @militaryfamof8 @DapperSnappers
(1 entry per tweet, unlimited entries)
make sure you keep @militaryfamof8 in the tweet so I can track it)
Make a purchase from Dapper Snappers 10 Entries
Follow This blog through Google Connect 1 Entry
Blog about this review and giveaway on your blog 5 entries
Become a Fan on My Facebook page 1 Entry
Follow me on NetworkedBlogs 1 Entry

Giveaway Ends 3-22-10 @ midnight Open to US & Canada residents

Leave me a separate comment with url to your posts, including twitter, for each of your entries. for example if you posted on your blog, leave me 5 separate comments, makes sense? PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS OR THE URL TO YOUR BLOG IN YOUR COMMENT IF YOU LEAVE A COMMENT AS ANONYMOUS.

Winner will be chosen through Random.org, I will Post and E-mail the Winner. Winner will have 48 hours to contact me with their information or I will choose a New Winner. I received one Dapper Snapper in exchange for my honest review, this review was made possible by Mom Made that

Who doesn't like FREEBIES?!?!? ;)

As you may noticed, I have not posted the freebies in a few weeks,
luckily my friend Jennifer at Review Retreat has been doing Freebie Friedays and allowed me to copy her post, lol ;)

I hope you can enjoy these ;)

Here is this weeks edition of Friday's Freebies:

✫Beauty/Hygene/Personal✫

Crest 3D White Strips

Olay Total Effects Body Wash

Loreal Shampoo

✫Food/ Drinks✫

Vitamin Water

True Lemon

Nescafe Sample Coffee Pack

Eight O Clock Coffee

Ideal Sweetener

✫Miscellaneous✫I