Adventures of a Military Family of 8: June 2010

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

Guess what?! We got through our 21st 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, "like"on Facebook, networkedblogs, Etsy store, links to voting pages that you are in, contest/giveaway pages and anywhere else you want followers in ;)

The Rules to playing "Tag, you're it" are simple:
add your information to the spreadsheet "Tag" everyone else above you on the list
(Tag::add/follow the person and leave Tag comment)
Check back regularly to "Tag" new friends below you (list is open all week)
"Tag" back everyone who has "Tagged" you (remember to add/follow in addition to leaving the Tag comment)

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 ;)

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 ur ;)
Great "Taggers" who posted about "Tag, you're it!" ;)
Mz. Jazie from Step up & Stand out... For Real!

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

my daughter is showing off her skills:

"""Tag means you add/follow a person and leave a Tag comment in return"""

WNBA Action with the Los Angeles Sparks @ The Staples Center!!!!

As many of you know, my 10 year old Daughter loves to play basketball, and her basketball team won the Championships undefeated!!!
This was her first year ever to play basketball, she has a Love for it because her Daddy has a love for it ;), one thing we have had a hard time with is that she is afraid and insecure once the games start.

What better way to show my Daughter the wonderful things that can happen if she can get over her fears, than to take her to a WNBA game?!?!?!

I am so excited to say that we will be going to tomorrow night's game at The Staples Center!!!!

The very place where the Lakers won the NBA Championship!!!!!!

The Teams that will be playing are:

Los Angeles Sparks vs. New York Liberty

One of the coolest things is that since my Hubby is from NY, our Family is definitely divided between LA & NY (being that I am from LA) ;)

If you want to take your Family to see some awesome Women play basketball like no one else, while having some clean Family fun, come on down!!!

To make it even better for you, here is a great discount code for you to enjoy ;)...

Just go to TicketMaster.com/wnba and enter the promo code WNBABLOG and experience the WNBA's exciting, affordable, family-friendly entertainment!

Here is one Mom's comment:
"There’s so much energy and action throughout the whole game, these women can play ball! There was never a “down” moment during the game. Continuous music in between and non stop entertainment (dance troupes, contests, etc) throughout the game kept the crowd going and cheering. The WNBA has done an amazing job with bringing the sport to a new level every year, this year is looking to be no exception to that rule."

Catch a game before the season ends, take advantage of this offer while you can ;) Here is the link to the schedule for this season: http://www.wnba.com/sparks/schedule

If you're going to tomorrow's game, msg me, I would love to meet you ;)

Go Sparks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Repeat CSN customer because I love them...

I had such a great experience with The CSN stores last time, that I wanted to share with you again why I love them.
As you all know, out of our 6 kids, I have 2 girls, and we have never let them have a "girly" room because they were not responsible enough. Now at 10 & 8 yrs old, I finally get to give them a girl room, and one of the things I was most excited about is their vanity. As a little girl, I had a vanity and my own bedroom set, a girly-girl to the bone, and I am pleased to say that at least one of the girls is just as girly as I was, the oldest one is pretty much a tomboy like myself ;)

When hubby gave me the okay to buy them the vanity for their room, I knew that The CSN stores were my first choice. I went to www.justvanities.com and found the perfect one!!!

isn't it just beautiful?!?!?

If you have not shopped from any of their 200+ online stores, you are surely missing out, they have free shipping on almost everything I love ;)

Do yourself, your home, and your wallet a favor, and check them out!!!!

Once i receive my our vanity, I will post a review so you can see what I have done ;)

Let's loose weight & help feed America at the same time!!!!

Have you been thinking about loosing weight lately, but have lacked the motivation?
I am not going to lie, for years I have danced around and complained about my weight gains, but never was able to get myself motivated enough, well, thanks to Kroger Family of stores, and The Biggest Looser, we can ALL participate in the Pound for pound challenge and loose weight, while helping feed America!!!

You haven't heard about the pound for pound challenge? Don't worry, I will be more than happy to overflow your screen with all the details ;)
The pound for pound challenge is a program that was created to both motivate your weight loss and healthy lifestyle, but also to help end hunger in America.
For every pound you pledge to loose before June 30, 2010, The pound for pound challenge will donate .14 cents to Feeding America; enough to deliver one pound of groceries to a food bank because of you ;)

These last few days I have been feeling very bad about my weight gain, being at the Nursing home with my Grampa for almost 2 months, everyday, has taken a toll on my body. I sit all day and night with him, I drink soda all day long and eat once a day if that. My only walking is going from the parking lot in the morning, and wheeling my Grampa to Therapy everyday. So when I read about this pound for pound challenge, and reading that I can get tips and support towards my healthier lifestyle and weight loss, I will also be helping so many Americans by having .14 cents donated to Feeding America for every pound I pledge to loose.

So get it together, let's do this, together we can all start today, start a healthier lifestyle, loose weight, create a lasting bond of support, and best of all: help end hunger in America!!!!

Will you join me???
I weighed myself last week, I am 153 pounds and for my height of 5'2", the BMI calculator says I am overweight. So, I have decided to pledge loosing 23 pounds, the awesome part is that there is no time limit to loose the weight, the only time limit is to pledge before June 30, 2010.
Pledge with me!!!

As a Thank you, and an initiation to a healthier lifestyle, the Kroger Family of stores is giving one of my readers a $30 Dllr gift card.

Woo-Hoooo!!! right? ;)

Here's how to participate:

Mandatory Entry: 1 Entry

Visit the Pound for Pound Challenge website and tell me how many pounds you have pledged to loose, and what Food bank you chose.

Optional and Additional Entries:

Add @militaryfamof8 on Twitter 1 Entry
Tweet about this challenge & giveaway with link, feel free to cut and paste:
Win $30 participating in the Pound 4 Pound Challenge,I pledge 2 loose __ pnds while I help Feed America http://bit.ly/aVyS8a @militaryfamof8 ((enter the amount of pounds you pledged in the blank before pnds))
(1 entry per tweet, unlimited entries) make sure you keep @militaryfamof8 in the tweet so I can track it)
Follow This blog through Google Friend Connect 1 Entry
Subscribe to my feed reader (upper left hand corner) 1 Entry
Blog about this review and giveaway on your blog 5 entries
Become a Fan on My Facebook page 1 Entry
Comment on any other of my posts 1 Entry
Follow me on NetworkedBlogs 1 Entry
Add my button to your blog 2 Entries (on the left hand column)
Add "Tag, you're it" button for Tuesday's meme 2 Entries (right hand column)

Giveaway Ends 6-30-10 @ midnight PST, 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 24 hours to contact me with their information or I will choose a New Winner. I received the information and gift cards from the Kroger Family of Stores and General Mills, information, through MyBlog

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

Guess what?! We got through our 20th 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, "like"on Facebook, networkedblogs, Etsy store, links to voting pages that you are in, contest/giveaway pages and anywhere else you want followers in ;)

The Rules to playing "Tag, you're it" are simple:
add your information to the spreadsheet "Tag" everyone else above you on the list
(Tag::add/follow the person and leave Tag comment)
Check back regularly to "Tag" new friends below you (list is open all week)
"Tag" back everyone who has "Tagged" you (remember to add/follow in addition to leaving the Tag comment)

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 ;)

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 ur ;)
Great "Taggers" who posted about "Tag, you're it!" ;)
Mz. Jazie from Step up & Stand out... For Real!

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

my daughter is showing off her skills:

"""Tag means you add/follow a person and leave a Tag comment in return"""

Hello my friends ;)

I just wanted to stop by real quick and say hi ;)

I have been extremely busy with caring for my Grampa, that I have not even had time to blog.
My kids are on vacation, and sadly for them, they spend the entire day at the nursing home with me, while I care for my Grampa.
I have not had much internet access lately, but thanks to our favorite Occupational Therapist at the nursing home, he has given me full access to their wifi, so from now on, I will be read more often ;)

My Grampa is healing as he should, physically, but mentally he has been getting much worst. The doctor diagnosed him with dimentia, and it is getting so bad. He has become very aggressive, violent, especially with my mother and myself. It is hard for me to want to be there everyday with my babies, letting them see that behavior and abuse, but I have no choice, no one else is willing to care for him except my mother, one aunt and I. I will make sure I am there for him, as hard as it is. ?yes, last week I finally had a breakdown, it just became overwhelming for me. Having to scorn my kids because they are bored at the nursing home, and can't sit still, lol.

One day this will all be over, my Grampa has his CT scan on Weds. to see the progress of the brain hemorrhage, after that, the doctor will decide what steps to take towards the brain surgery. The staff is sure that his behavior is due in part to the brain stress going on.

Thank you for still sticking by me through all of this, thank you so much ;) I will update tomorrow hopefully ;)

Hugs!!!

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

((I want to apologize for posting late, I have been in the nursing home with my Grampa and back & forth with rehab & Doc. apptmts, there is no wifi there, so no internet access, I like being personal, so I have not posted scheduled posts, but if this is a problem for you all, I can schedule the posts for midnight from now on if you choose, I will leave the lst as is for this week))

Guess what?! We got through our 19th 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, "like"on Facebook, networkedblogs, Etsy store, links to voting pages that you are in, contest/giveaway pages and anywhere else you want followers in ;)

The Rules to playing "Tag, you're it" are simple:
add your information to the spreadsheet "Tag" everyone else above you on the list
(Tag::add/follow the person and leave Tag comment)
Check back regularly to "Tag" new friends below you (list is open all week)
"Tag" back everyone who has "Tagged" you (remember to add/follow in addition to leaving the Tag comment)

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 ;)

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 ur ;)
Great "Taggers" who posted about "Tag, you're it!" ;)
Mz. Jazie from Step up & Stand out... For Real!

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

my daughter is showing off her skills:

"""Tag means you add/follow a person and leave a Tag comment in return"""

Winner of $25 Gift card from Amex is....

Please bear with me, I am doing this from a phone, lol.

The winner from random.org is:
#11

Mary, please email me your info per the rules

Thank you to everyone that entered, I will be having a couple more super speed review & giveaways while
I am still in the hosp with Grampa ;)

Congrats Mary ;)

Come celebrate World Oceans Day @ SeaLife and be submerged in Dr. Seuss' world!!!

IF on June 5th you want something to do
or just would like to hear a WHO.

Make sure your up early to wake the Fam
with a big ol plate of Green Eggs and Ham.

Don't be late go set your clocks
and don't forget the Fox In Socks.

Forget those plans that will just fall flat
and come follow the Cat In The Hat.

When you get here don't walk you have to run, run, run
I have Hunches In Bunches that you'll have fun fun fun.

Come celebrate in a "Dr. Seussian" kind of way at the Sea Life Aquarium World Oceans Day.

On Saturday, June 5^th SEA LIFE Aquarium will celebrate World Oceans Day!!!

We’ll be celebrating World Oceans Day and the 50th anniversary of Dr. Seuss’ classic One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish on June 5 with a World Oceans Day celebration from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Families can join the festivities as an exploration diver reads the classic Dr. Seuss book underwater! They can also discover their your fish name in silly Seussian style; design a party crown with their Clean Ocean Pledge; or have a caricature artist draw them as a character from their favorite Dr. Seuss book.
Here’s a link to a more detailed description of the day.
http://www.sealifeus.com/carlsbad/whats-new_2010_05_17

What is World Oceans Day, you ask?

World Oceans Day provides an annual opportunity to celebrate our world’s oceans and our personal connection to the sea. The United Nations declared June 8 as the official World Oceans Day in 2009 but the event has been celebrated unofficially since it was proposed at Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

Why is SeaLife so special?

More than a standard aquarium, SEA LIFE provides an educational and interactive dynamic unlike any other. The SEA LIFE experience incorporates LEGO models into a child’s voyage to the depths of the ocean, presenting the wonders of the underwater world to them in a way specially designed for their understanding. Featuring play zones, fun facts and quiz trails, SEA LIFE is designed to be a child’s guide to the life of the sea.

SeaLife Aquarium is hoping that this fun and silly event, will help inspire us all to develop a stronger connection with our oceans, ocean friends, and their habitats. Grab your Family and make sure you take advantage of this great celebration ;)

As always, I completely support SeaLife Aquarium because of the affordable prices, their healthy selection of foods in the Cafe, and because each and every member of their staff has always been extremely nice and helpful, especially with my son (Autism)

Thank you so much Rebecca for everything ;)

What's better than eating yummy foods? Helping Schools w/box tops!!! ($25 GC)

OK, so we all buy products that have Box Top points on them right?
Did you know that even if you don't have School age children, or children at all for that matter, you can still help School's earn much needed money through the Box Top program?

Now I have to be honest, as a mommy of 6, and always on the go, having to remember to cut out the box top points and store them, has sometimes been forgotten, or too much of a hassle. Well, obviously I was not the only one, lol, and to help us helpers/parents even more, the box top program just got so much easier ;)

To make it even easier to participate in the program, the SuperValu family of stores (ACME, Albertsons, Cub, Farm Fresh and Jewel-Osco) joined Box Tops for Education in creating a website that not only tracks your Box Tops contribution and the school’s redemption, but also offers recipes, coupons, store promotions and more.

It's so easy, to register, just go to www.GrowingLocalLearning.com . You will automatically receive 5 Bonus Box Tops just for signing up! Cool right!?
While you're there, go ahead and browse the website where you will find a variety of great offers on your favorite General Mills brands including Betty Crocker®, Old El Paso®, Totino’s® Pizza Rolls® and Pillsbury®, you can also find recipes that will earn you even more Box Tops and you can access coupons for the latest deals at your local SuperValu store!

How much more fun can it get to help a School in need? Here's a fun and awesome fact, in the 2008-09 school year, the schools earned more than $10 million dollars from the support of everyone that cares ;)

As we all know, the budget problems have left so many schools without money for important supplies, in California, I know first hand of many Teachers that have and will be laid off, due to the California budget. Any and all the help our schools and children can get, is always appreciated and put to great use, towards our futures, the futures of our children ;)

If you do not know of a school that you can donate towards, feel free to comment me, and I can help find you some, on behalf of the Children, Teachers, and Parents, I thank you!!!

Guess who thanks you as well!?!?

SuperValu and General Mills ;)

They have offered a $25 American Express Gift Card to one of my readers!!!!

Cool beans right!?!?!

Since I have been so busy with my Grampa in the hospital, I have a short time to post this giveaway in order for you to receive the gift card, so we are going to do a super speedy giveaway ;)

Please understand these rules before entering this contest.

This giveaway will run until June 8,2010 at midnight Pacific Time.
The winner will be posted on June 9,2010 1am, as soon as I verify the entries and get the winner from Random dot org. I will post through blog post and through twitter from @Militaryfamof8.
The winner will have until 12pm (noon) (PST) to send me their info, name address and such, if I have not received the info by noon, I will draw another winner and that winner will have until 3pm (PST) to send me their info. If by that time I have not received the info, I will at my discretion pick a winner through twitter. I hope you understand that I need to have a winner selected by a certain time to be able to give the gift card to someone ;)

Now, on to the fun part!!!!

Mandatory Entry: 1 Entry

Visit the www.GrowingLocalLearning.com website and register.
It's so easy!!! You can even register/log in through facebook!!!
Leave me a comment telling me what school you chose to give your 5 bonus points too, and what do you like about the program/site.

Optional and Additional Entries:

Add @militaryfamof8 on Twitter 1 Entry
Tweet about this giveaway with link, feel free to cut and paste:
Help a #school earn $$$ from box top points & win a $25 Amex GC! Hurry,ends 6/8 @militaryfamof8 #parents #teachers http://bit.ly/bCEz8f (1 entry per tweet, unlimited entries) make sure you keep @militaryfamof8 in the tweet so I can track it)
Follow This blog through Google Friend Connect 1 Entry
Subscribe to my feed reader (upper left hand corner) 1 Entry
Blog about this review and giveaway on your blog 5 entries
Become a Fan on My Facebook page 1 Entry
Enter any of my other Giveaways 1 Entry per different giveaway
Follow me on NetworkedBlogs 1 Entry
Add my button to your blog 2 Entries (on the left hand column)
Add "Tag, you're it" button for Tuesday's meme 2 Entries (right hand column)
Tweet about Tag, you're it (1 Entry) (unlimited entries)
Play Tag, you're it (fill out info on spreadsheet) (1 Entry)
Add my giveaways to linky's 1 Entry each

Giveaway Ends 6-8-10 @ 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.

All my information and gift cards have been provided from General Mills and SuperValu through My Blog S

Glowing.... ;)

Yes, I still have a glow about being a Finalist for The Sony Style Blogger Contest, wait, who am I kidding?
A glow? it's more like bright neon light shooting straight through the ozone layer!!!

I am so happy to see that I have made it this far.

No news yet on the Grand Prize winner yet, unless I am the only one who doesn't know anything lol, so for the moment we are still sitting ducks lol.
Thank you again to everyone who supported and pushed me forward through this ;)

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

((I want to apologize for posting late, I have been in the nursing home with my Grampa and back & forth with rehab & Doc. apptms, there is no wifi there, so no internet access, I like being personal, so I have not posted scheduled posts, but if this is a problem for you all, I can schedule the posts for midnight from now on if you choose, I will leave the lst as is for this week))

Guess what?! We got through our 17th 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, "like"on Facebook, networkedblogs, Etsy store, links to voting pages that you are in, contest/giveaway pages and anywhere else you want followers in ;)

The Rules to playing "Tag, you're it" are simple:
add your information to the spreadsheet "Tag" everyone else above you on the list
(Tag::add/follow the person and leave Tag comment)
Check back regularly to "Tag" new friends below you (list is open all week)
"Tag" back everyone who has "Tagged" you (remember to add/follow in addition to leaving the Tag comment)

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 ;)

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 ur ;)
Great "Taggers" who posted about "Tag, you're it!" ;)
Mz. Jazie from Step up & Stand out... For Real!

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

my daughter is showing off her skills:

"""Tag means you add/follow a person and leave a Tag comment in return"""

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