Fair thee well my summer vacay!

Today is the day I dread all summer. The end of my summer vacation. Just typing it depresses me. Now don't get me wrong, I love my job. I couldn't ask for a better schedule. I work when my kids are at school, I have all the vacation time my kids do, and get paid for 12 months when I only work for 10. It's awesome, but having all of these weeks off from work to spend time with my kids, enjoy family visits, and get my house in order have been a bittersweet reminiscence of my stay at home mom days. I would LOVE to go back to those days, but sadly I can't. I don't ever think we will be a one income family ever again. I like bringing home bacon, but I miss volunteering at my kids school, having lunch with friends, and taking mom to dr appointments without having to take the day off work.

Ok, I'll stop before I get any more melancholy. My summer is over and I just have to deal with it. I'll go to bed soon and get up at the crack of dawn to gt dressed, fix hair and make up, and go to work. I'll start living for weekends again, and sleeping in on Saturdays. *sigh*

On another note, my kids will also be bidding their summer farewell in less than 2 weeks. I'm so ready for them to go back to school. They have been so bored and at each others throats for the past month. WE still have to get school supplies and a few school clothes, but we'll do that this weekend. Their lists are insane, but when are they ever reasonable?

I hope everyone has a great WEdnesday. I'll be spending mine sorting millions of papers, registering students and answering the phones on the first ring. "Good Morning Milam"! Better practice my chipper voice, I don't want people to think I wish I was still on summer vacation.

Constant Craving.

For years I went to church with the girls, minus my unwilling husband because I wanted a better relationship with God aside from the Catholic raising I had few fond memories of. I wanted my girls to soak in all they could learn, I wanted us to learn together. But I grew tired of the church we went to, rather I grew tired of the Pastor and his wife. I just didn't feel like we belonged there so we left. I never did find another church after that, my feelings of walking into another church with my kids sans my husband scared me. I hated to think of what others were thinking seeing me alone. In my heart I hoped that we would go as a family and Mike just wasn't ready.

For the past few months now he has shown more interest, when mine has been faded for quite a while. He studies his bible, and he has the girls summarizing one chapter a day. I read my bible when I hear it calling to me. I'm still learning, so baby steps are what's best for me. My husband enjoys reading his bible ( as do I), and I believe he craves it. That makes me happy that he is finding his own happiness in the Lord. Something i found on my own a few years ago, and let fade from my life for fear of judgement. I wanted the spark he was feeling again.

Awhile ago I suggested a new church to him and the time just wasn't right for one reason or another. So a month ago he suggests we try it out, and we did. We like this new church and feel it is where we belong for now. We feel that we have been brought to this church family at a time when we are both needing it the most. Every sermon and Sunday school lesson speaks directly to my heart and I feel that spark slowly burning hotter and hotter. I'm learning and understanding more than I have in along time. I am craving my relationship with God more and more and it's causing emotions in me that are unexplainable, and hard to handle. But I will continue to pray, and feed my soul. We will continue our journey as a family and that makes me happier than I have truly been in a long time.

Monopoly "Money Makes It Real" and a GIVEAWAY!!

I was so excited when Hasbro contacted me to do a giveaway celebrating the 75th anniversary of one of their most popular games Monopoly! We love Monopoly in our home and with Family Game Night catching on in homes all over the country Hasbro is will be giving away Classic Monopoly to 2 lucky Much Ado About Nothing Readers! To enter simply leave a comment about what Family Game Night means to you or what games your family enjoys playing together. For another entry simply "Like" Family Game night on Facebook by clicking here. Be sure to come back and let me know if you "Like" Family Game Night on Facebook for your extra entry.



Love to splash the cash? Indulge in a property shopping spree with the classic version of MONOPOLY! Buy streets, houses and hotels and become a respected real-estate mogul. Negotiate and haggle your way to the top. You’ll own this town in no time! Go for the hottest, priciest, most exclusive addresses on the board and watch yourself profits rocket. Wanna be a MONOPOLY millionaire? READY, SET… OWN!

Includes gameboard, 8 tokens, 28 Title Deed cards, 16 Chance cards, 16 Community Chest cards, 1 pack of MONOPOLY money, 32 houses, 12 hotels, 2 dice, 1 speed die and instructions.

For 2 to 8 players. Ages 8 and up.



MONOPOLY "Money Makes It Real"

Have you ever wished the MONOPOLY money that you collected in during the
game could be real? If so, you're not alone! A recent survey conducted by
Hasbro, showed that 60 percent of United States residents who have played
the game have imagined the cash in the game becoming real money. If the
money became a reality, more people would use this cash to pay off debt (70
percent) or buy something for their family (54 percent), before they
purchased something for themselves (40 percent). Can you imagine?

Now is your chance to tell us and you could win some cash! That's right, we
are giving away $20,580 (the total money in the game "bank") as part of the
MONOPOLY "Money Makes It Real" contest to commemorate the 75th anniversary
of the game. Visit here for more details!

So what are you waiting for? Enter the giveaway, and enter the Monopoly "Money Makes It Real" contest. Simply go to the website here, sign up ( it takes less than a minute), and say what you would do with the Monopoly Bank. Would you travel, pay debts, save for your kids education, or improve your home? The possibilities are endless.

This Giveaway will end at midnight on Friday, August 13th, 2010.

We love our pets!

I cannot say how much we love our pets! They love us too, I think ;) We have 2 chihuahuas named Penn and Teller. They are brothers and we have had them for a little over 2 years. These fur babies have completed our family and although they shed, bark and hog the bed, we can't imagine life without them. There really is nothing like a pet to teach your kids responsibility and gentleness. Our girls are responsible for feeding and putting the boys outside. They also walk, play with, and cuddle with them. Just look at them, do they not look content and comfy being our babies?



Here is a little video of the boys doing the only trick they know... cha cha! Enjoy!

Much ado reviews Spinbrush My Way!

Each package comes with more than 140 (water-safe!) stickers, including:

• Letters (pink and purple: for spelling out their name or nickname!)
• Adorable animals (puppies, bunnies, ladybugs and birds)
• Fun phrases (Girls rule, XOXOXO, Glam Girl)
• Cute rainbows, flowers, peace signs and hearts (who doesn't love those?)
• And for your little princess-- or rock star-- there are themed stickers as well!

It's been proven that kids brush 38 percent longer with a battery-operated Arm & Hammer Spinbrush for Kids toothbrush. Plus, with a $6.99 price tag and a jeweled purple on and off switch, you can't lose!


Several weeks ago I received a Spinbrush My way in the mail. I decided to give it to Maia for her birthday so Micaylah wouldn't feel left out that she didn't get one. She LOVED it. It was the first present that she "played" with. She immediately used the entire sheet of animal stickers, added her name, and rushed to the bathroom to brush her teeth! I love that she was able to personalize it her way. The spelling of her name is uncommon and we will probably never find pencils, note pads, etc. with her name on them, so she loved that we all knew that this was Maia's toothbrush.

My only complaint about this toothbrush was the battery was dying right out of the box and replacing it was a chore. The screw head is so tiny I had to use a eye glass repair screwdriver to change the battery. But once it was changed my girl was happy as a clam brushing her teeth.

Unfortunately, the Spinbrush My Way is only available for girls right now. However, if you have a little girl, she would love this toothbrush. If you cannot find the Spinbrush My Way at any of your local retailers, never fear! It is available for purchase online at their website www.spinbrush.com for $9.99. There is also a downloadable $2.00 off coupon. I was able to download and print the coupon to purchase one for Micaylah with no problems.

* The Arm & Hammer Spinbrush My Way was sent to me free for review. I was not paid to review this product.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it...

My Aunts and nephews arrived July 7th and left July 14th. After 10 long years, it was great spending time with them again. Maia immediately took to Auntie Rosine and didn't leave her side the whole week.
July 7th was Russell's 8th birthday so I had the cake waiting for him even before he arrived :)
Russell enjoying his first smore, ever. He loved them, ate 2 and still wanted more.
Jojo really, really enjoying his smore.
On Saturday the 10th I threw both of my July babies a joint bday party. Here's my birthday girl spending that money in her head. We went to Target later that day and she spent that money like it was burning a hole in her pocket.
Russell enjoyed his first birthday party.( It was his first party ever)
The kids, Kaylah 10, Jojo 9, Russell 8 and Maia 7.
Keep away boys vs. girls
The birthday cakes!
Another day we had a water balloon fight. I filled 100 water balloons and just let the kids go crazy!

These pictures are from the day they left. I took them before we all started crying. Auntie Rosine with my girls
Me and Auntie Rosine.
Me and Auntie Leo
Me, Auntie Rosine, Auntie Leo and Mom
The kids enjoying my fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn. ( I asked Russ if he liked mashed potatoes and he said " Oh yes, I had them at a restaurant before".)
These kids are definitely related!
Russ and Maia enjoying some watermelon. That poor watermelon didn't stand a chance. It was gone in 2 hours!
And finally me with the boys, Jojo and Russ. I love these kids to death, they were so sweet and helpful while they were here. We miss them all so much!


I feel like a terrible blogger! It's been weeks but I'm here now so that's got to count for something right?? My family really enjoyed my family's visit. It was a short week, but we are so grateful for the time we were able to spend together. My Aunties have not changed one bit. Can you believe they are both in their 60's? They cooked and we ate, I cooked and we ate. A lot of their visit included the kids playing and the grown ups sitting around the dining room table eating, talking and laughing. We were all sad to say good bye, but we have plans to meet up in California summer 2015 to take the kids to Disneyland. 5 years seems like a long time, but we are hoping it goes by swiftly.

It's been a whirlwind of a week!

I'm going to make this short because I'll do a more thorough update after the Aunties leave and post pics from the entire visit then. They arrived last Wednesday, which was also Russell's birthday. We of course had cake and ice cream and I cooked at home thinking they were probably tired of fast food by now. We have just been enjoying their company. I seriously have the cutest nephews. Jojo is my kind of kid. He's funny, loves to be helpful, and gets along with the girls very well. Russell is shy but loves attention. He's very sweet and can't get enough of the dogs and the girls' XBOX.

Saturday we had a joint birthday party for Maia and Russell, the had a blast and received great gifts and money that immediately started burning a hole in their pocket. Today I took mom, the aunts and all of the kids to the mall for some shopping. The kids enjoyed watching the figure skaters practice, while the aunts enjoyed the 80% off sale at JC Penny. The boys are spending the night tonight so the Aunts can do some packing and get a good nights rest. Tomorrow we will be going to the post office and then to Midland for some Chuck E Cheese. The kids are looking forward to it. We might also do some shopping at the midland mall, it's so much better than the one here in Odessa.

I hope everyone has had a restful weekend. I better go, I hear all 4 kids fighting and I think now is a good time to tuck them in for the night :) Good night.