Thursday, August 28, 2008

Print Your Pictures!!

Are most of your images still on your camera, your hard drive or your photo card?

Here is a great deal from Walgreens Photo Center...50 prints for $5. Hurry the offer ends on August 30. You have to order 50 prints and type in the coupon code GETFIFTY. You can order up to 5 times per account.

Here is another coupon I just got in email from Walgreens and it can be used at the Photo Center too. http://www.walgreens.com/hotbuys/default.jsp?ec=hn583_getcoupon

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

What we learned yesterday…




On the way to meet my very competent and responsible babysitter at dance class, she called in a panic. She told me that my youngest daughter, Morgan, had locked herself in the car and she didn’t know what to do. The car was running and the air conditioning was on, which is fortunate since we live in Texas and the temperature in a car in the summer can reach 120 degrees easily. I arrived about 1 minute after her call and found her frantic and my daughter crying in the car seat. I immediately called the local police department whose phone number my husband had programmed into my cell phone. After a brief description of what was happening and our location, they told me that someone would be there soon to help.

So we waited and tried to calm Morgan through the glass of the car window and encourage her to release herself from the car seat, but being so small she didn’t have the strength to push the release button on the harness and she didn’t know how to loosen the straps to wiggle herself free. By the time the first police officer arrived, Morgan had calmed herself slightly and I had found out how this ordeal occurred. Apparently, Morgan thought it would be funny to lock the door after the babysitter got out of the car to get her bag from the trunk. However, the babysitter didn’t realize the car door had shut just enough for the door lock to engage and Morgan didn’t realize the consequences of her practical joke.

At the sight of the officer the waterworks began again. I don’t think I have ever felt so helpless in my life, watching my baby cry uncontrollably in the back seat of a locked car. Usually, when one of my daughters is hurt or sad, I am right there to pick them up and dry their tears. To myself and my little Morgan, I was completely useless at this moment.

As we waited for the second officer to arrive with the lock out kit, I wished I had taught Morgan to release her car seat harness or loosen the straps. So heaven forbid, she would ever have to in an emergency, she could do so quickly and calmly. Once the lock out kit was put to use, Morgan was freed from her “not so funny” practical joke.

My oldest daughter describes this day as a disaster. It certainly felt that way at the time, but I always try to find the value in difficult situations. So what did we learn?

My babysitter learned you can’t trust a three year old. Both my daughters learned that they shouldn’t touch buttons just for fun as unknown dangers could ensue. I learned, I need to be prepared for emergencies as well as to prepare my daughters.

As moms, this could happen to any one of us. Make sure your kids know how release or loosen their car seat harnesses in an emergency. Also make sure that they know how to lock and unlock the doors of the car and teach them that the buttons and locks are only for grownups to use unless it is an emergency.

Getting it together


I think I constantly strive at this concept. Always trying to clean up, clean out and get things organized. Why is it such a struggle for me? For everyone? (Well, maybe it is just me.) One of my biggest problems is forgetfulness. As all moms know we live a life of constant distraction. The minute we set out to complete a task, here comes the pitter patter of little feet to stop us in our tracks. Not only do we loose our train of thought and abandon our current mission, we are off solving new and entirely different problems brought forward by those little people in charge…our kids.

I am always looking for ways to help my family stay organized. Last year, I started with the old fashioned calendar on the fridge. I bought the Mom’s Plan It Calendar because it came equipped with a handy magnet, stickers and a pretty cool pocket to hold all those extras like appointment cards and birthday party invites. But any calendar would work just fine, a start is a start, right.

First, I gather up all the school, work, and activity calendars we have, get last years calendars for birthdays and anniversaries, and all those little doctor appointment cards and any party invitations we have on hand. Then I sit down and write everyone’s events in the calendar. For recurring events like dance class or soccer, I use a sticker instead. It saves your writing hand and reduces the time it takes to complete this task. On a weekly basis, usually as I go through the school folders and mail, I add any new events or appointments to the calendar.

Having this right at eye level in the morning has been a tremendous help. My husband and I both check it before we pack up the car for school and work.

Please share your time saving tips!

Tip: Your calendar didn’t come with stickers? Assign each family member their own sticker and place there sticker on the calendar to indicate they have an engagement that day. This especially works well for toddlers and pre-readers. They know to look for their sticker.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Are you a Hannah Montana Fan? Not really, but my kids are.


Ok, so I do just LOVE almost all things Disney, but Hannah Montana I could live without. If you ask my oldest daughter Kaylee, she is a big fan, but she knows her HM viewing time is strictly limited.

But for those of you who just can't get enough of this little pop star, here's a cool website I found through a regular Disney Insider publication that I get through my email. It has lots of great information about the parks, the Disney store, and upcoming releases and movies, etc.

In this great email publication, I came across this link for Hannah to give your BIGGEST Fan a wake up call before school. It is sponsored by Wal-Mart. So if you are interested...try it:

http://www.hannahmontanacalls.com/

Enjoy!

I did it!

Wow. I can't believe I finally got around to starting a blog site. I have been wanting to do this for a while now. Just never had the time nor energy to figure it out. Well today is the day, and I did it!!

Why, you may ask. Well I am not quite sure myself. I think I just wanted to have an outlet to share my thoughts, ideas and feelings. I know sometimes these get losts for us moms who are always on the go whether we run a company or a household. In any event, I hope you all find this helpful yet entertaining and a place where you can share and comment as well.