$20 Cold Stone Creamery Gift Card *GIVEAWAY*

$20 Cold Stone Creamery Gift Card *GIVEAWAY*

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NEW EIGHT-LAYER ICE CREAM CAKES

One lucky reader will win a

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ps- I know this post was longer, had pictures and didn't send you to a separate giveaways page, but I misunderstood the rules of my ad host, and goofed.  Don't worry, all comments are numbered in my email so you all have the same chance in the hat as before.  It's just that any new entries have to jump over there now.  No biggie, but I wanted to be honest with y'all!

I hugged Cliff Clavin

While I was at the Chicago Toy and Game Festival this weekend, I ran into a really nice guy!

JOHN RATZENBERGER!

I kept my cool and asked if he wouldn’t mind taking a picture with me.  I got a fellow MommyBlogger to take the shot for me, and then I totally lost my cool and hugged him really hard and gushed about what big fans we are of his work with Pixar. 

My dad is going to faint when he sees that I hugged Cliff Clavin!

Yep. I’m posting about our toilet.

My husband is probably going to want to wallop me for posting pictures of our toilet on the internet…

BUT!  I have a reason…a really cool reason!  You see, this innocent little toilet holds a secret!

Did you see it?

There is a POTTY SEAT built RIGHT INTO THE LID of this bad boy!  We recently had to replace the existing seat, and Xiris found this seat by Beamis.  It’s called NextStep and comes in both round and oval shapes to fit any size bowl! 

The little seat is held up magnetically and is easy for the Chaos Twins to lower.  I don’t worry about germs, as I chlorox wipe the seats daily.  I think it’s so much better than those soft plastic seats, as those get tossed on the floor by the next adult who goes in – and those things are a pain in the butt (haha!) to clean. 

Second Sibling Syndrome

Lately I’ve been racked with guilt.  Not a terrible guilt, but a “Mother’s Guilt.”

You see, we’ve come to the point in our child rearing that there is a distinct difference between the personalities of the Chaos Twins.  No longer are they so similar that I think they are, in fact, twins.  LittleMiss is strong willed, and for lack of a better term – a girl.  She knows how to manipulate, scream and tantrum until she gets what she wants.  SpacePirate is quieter, more thoughtful and as strong as an ox. 

Okay, well, where does the guilt come in?  Simple:  Second Sibling Syndrome. 

SpacePirate is now doing all the things that at just over a year and half ago, his sister was doing.  Being defiant, being purposefully contrary, doing everything he can to stay out of bed at night.  Here’s where the guilt comes to full steam.  There is not nearly as much yelling, fussing, screaming, fighting, timeouts and such on my part.

Why?

I’ve already been through it all with LittleMiss.  I have now added to my “parenting knowledge” the fact that the yelling, fighting, threats of punishment and timeouts do nothing in the grand scheme of things except give me a raging headache and cause the offender to scream and cry and argue in return. I’ve learned that it’s all now just about his testing the boundaries, exploring his sense of self, and just being a toddler.  So I skip all that stress for what ultimately worked in the end… redirection, extinction, letting him come down from bed but completely ignoring him (because he’s just looking for the attention in the first place), even bribes!  After all is said and done the same goal is reached, just in a more sane, less head-achy fashion.  Don’t get me wrong, there are still plenty of timeouts, threats of punishment for SpacePirate, but I am not crying in the end and, usually, neither is he.

And I feel GUILTY for this.  I feel bad for LittleMiss.  Does she see this?  Is she noticing that I just ignore what little brother is doing, instead of yelling at him?

Am I wrong in feeling this way?  Is this normal?

This “Guilt” has been consuming my thoughts of late and I really just can’t shake it.  I think that some of it has to do with the fact that I suffered from Second Sibling Syndrome.  I was the first and had to endure the yelling, screaming, tighter rules – and then got to watch as my kid brother got rules that were more lax, getting to do things earlier than I was, easier punishments, and the like.  In the end, we’re both well adjusted adults and the teenage years were better (in a sense) – so why does it bother me so much?  

Lots of Thankfuls (30.7 to 30.16)

I have no idea what is going on with Blogger these days – my pre-posted posts are not showing up at the times I set for them or they are just getting completely lost altogether.  I don’t know if it’s the blogging software I am using or Blogger itself, but it’s getting damn annoying!  There are even a couple of reviews that are lost that I am in the process of rewriting.  ARGH!

So- I’ll just have to rewrite my Thankfuls because I am thankful

30.7    Today I was thanking the heavens for Red wine.  Both the kids are sick and when they are both super super whiney, my head about explodes at the end of the day and I just can’t take anymore.  Red wine makes it feel better. 

30.8    Birthdays!  YAY! Today I was thankful for German chocolate cake and birthday candles, even if the kids were so very very sick that they couldn’t participate.

30.9    Sunny days, even if they are cold and winter is starting to set in.

30.10   I’m thankful for the fact that my kids will run up to me at completely odd and random times to tell me that they love me.

30.11   Thank You McDonalds for having PlayPlaces, even if they are germ-ridden cold factories.  When the weather is frightful, and the kids have been cooped  up due to colds of their own – THANK YOU for being a place to get our wiggles out!

30.12   Chocolate.  Thank you!  I love you Chocolate, and I shall never ever be unthankful for you.  My hips might disagree, though.

30.13   I’m thankful that my husband realizes that I need time away from the children and tells me take all the time I want on Saturdays after my Weigh-Ins.  I run errands in peace, sit and enjoy coffee, wander stores aimlessly all in the name of decompressing.

30.14   I’m thankful for having a man who knows how to do things!  This weekend he climbed in the attic to repair and replace vent baffles in preparation for blowing in more insulation in the attic.

30.15   Treating myself to a little something completely unnecessary but very, very pretty.

30.16   Finding little pictures tucked into my bed, in my silverware drawers, all drawn by a little girl who has learned to write and is learning to draw details on things.  There was a recent instance of drawing her little brother that makes me giggle…

Yarn and Power Tools

The other day I was wandering the aisles at Joanns and I noted that you can now buy an electric ball winder.  And it was stupid expensive! 

Then I remembered that Xiris made me an electric ball winder years ago!  Do you see it?  It's genius, really. 

Watch: 

 My sweet husband saw that when I was winding lots and lots that my arms got tired, so he "adjusted" my winder to be automatic with the simple addition of a drywall screw.  He screwed it in just at the top of the handle.

 Attach a drill and go at it.  Just be sure that you don't drill faster than your swift can turn!

What do you think?  Will you be doing this to your ball winder?

Moon Dough #review

The Chaos Twins were recently sent the new Moon Dough Barn set to play with and review. 

What exactly is Moon Dough?

Moon Dough, made by Spin Master, is an amazing new molding compound unlike anything you've seen before! It's soft and marshmallow-like, cleans up easily, and never dries out, so you can use it again and again. It's also hypo-allergenic and wheat-free. Best for ages 2-4.

     

The Chaos Twins Review:

• We love it.  It’s fun!
• The barn makes the cutest little animals
• WOW!  Mom never lets us play with messy stuff!
• This feels like Marshmallows… does it taste like it? *
• Ooops.  It’s all over the floor.  Let’s step on it!
• HEY!  My sheep came out with no head!  COOL!
  • you do have to press the dough in pretty well to get good molded shapes.

 

Mommy’s Review:

• Containment is an issue.  This stuff spreads faster than wildfire.
  • Luckily it cleans up easily enough and doesn’t smear like other doughs.  There was no color transfer on table cloths or carpets.
• The dough that comes with the set is plentiful, but there is nothing to store it in – which is weird to me. 
  • moon Dough says it never dries out, so you really don’t NEED anything to store it in, but when it comes to clean-up time, it’d be nice to have somewhere to tell the kids to put it.
• The refill packs for the 8 great colors are a bit pricey ($4 each at Target)
• The handle on the barn for turning out the animals doesn’t stay on very well and I had to stay nearby to repair it and prevent “Mommy I broke it” melt downs.
• The stuff spreads like wildfire!
• We learned the hard-way that the dough sticks to NON-STICK things like silicon molds and mats.  I gave the kids some silicon candy molds and ice cube trays to play with and the stuff was basically in there permanently.  There is no mention of this in the literature that comes with the Moon Dough, but the website does mention it.

 

In all, my review is spilt right down the middle.  The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE playing with this stuff, but I don’t like cleaning it up.   There aren’t any pictures of the kids actually playing with it, as they were sans clothes (my laundry saver when faced w/ potential messy things) and I was having to be very hands-on to keep the handle on the Barn.

 

* regarding eating it: The Dough is non-toxic, wheat-free and “hypo-allergenic” according to the box.  There are numerous reminders to not ingest the dough, but kids are kids and when making pretend cookies, someone inevitably puts it in the mouth to pretend eat it.  Because our LittleMiss does have a food allergy, I called the hotline from the website and learned of the impressive list of things that ARE NOT IN Moon Dough. 

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This is an FTC Compliant post and my Disclosure Policy applies.  I was provided the Moon Dough Barn by the TeamMom network for the soul purpose of a review.  All opinions are honest and my own.

Thankful 30.6

I can’t believe I am going to say this:  I am THANKFUL for 6am Saturday morning weigh-ins.

I must really be nuts.

Any crazy THANKFULs out there today?

Welcome Home

If I ever go anywhere again, I want to be welcomed home just like this.

Wow.  And there is even a Kaiser Chiefs song there towards the end.  Awesome.

If TMobile didn’t suck so much around here, I’d probably sign up for them after these FlashMobs.

 

you know what?  I think I am going to go sit in an airport and stay there until this happens to me.

Thankful 30.5

I am THANKFUL for a husband that will help with a sick Chaos Twin in the middle of the night.

Also:  if you like giveaways, check this out:  I entered Crissy’s Can’t Wait til Christmas Lenovo Laptop Giveaway and hope to win a $799.00 IdeaPad!

Pop on Pals #review

No matter how hard I try, the kids seems to collect toys at an alarming rate.  I don’t really have a problem with the collection part, it’s the fact that the toy gets played with for all of about 20 minutes, fought over for an hour and then they lose interest in it and it ends up in the Toy Graveyard (aka the basement). 

We’ve found a toy that they actually like and play with on a daily basis (even dragging it out of the basement after a Mom-Mandated “Toy Time Out” for not cleaning up after themselves).  The Chaos Twins were recently asked to review the new Pop On Pals Amusement Park Playset and they LOVE IT.

 

What is a Pop on Pals Playset?

This ultimate amusement park comes to life with lights, sounds, music and more! Pop your Pal in five different activation points for lots of action/reaction play. Show off your strength on the strong man striker. Ride the roller coaster. Win the milk toss game. Swing on the dragon swing and spin around in the musical Ferris wheel.

Package Includes – 1 Pal (who varies), 3 Themed Pop on Rings, 1 Amusement Park Play set

 

Their favorite part is the rollercoaster! Zoooooooom!  Wheeeeeeeee!

The themed Rings allow your little one to change the Pals “clothes” and become a different character.  For this playset the rings can switch our Pal to an Arms Up Thrilled RollerCoaster rider, a HammerSwinging Midway Gamer, and a sweet little girl.

 

The kids don’t have a complaint at all about this toy – they really are pleased with the Pop on Pals Amusement Theme Park Playset.  Mommy, however, has one little issue.  This is supposed to be a “Deluxe” playset, and it is almost there. A set of this size is easily playable for two kids, as seen here, but it only comes with one Pal and at a $35 price tag, that’s a bit of a  bummer.  Two Pals and 3 Theme rings would have been so much better.  So this isn’t a set to get as a starter, in my opinion.  In all honesty, the kiddos didn’t even notice really, as they ran and got some Weebles, Little People and DuploMen and they had just as much fun as the Pal did!
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This is an FTC Compliant post and my Disclosure Policy applies.  I was provided the Playset by the TeamMom network for the soul purpose of a review.  All opinions are honest and my own.  If you do choose to purchase the playset via the link above, I may get a few pennies as an Amazon Associate.  Thanks!

Thankful 30.4

I am so, so, so THANKFUL to have an hour and twenty-five minutes to MYSELF twice a week.  It has really started to save my sanity and I am so glad.

How about you?  What’s your THANKFUL for today?

Thankful 30.3

Today I am THANKFUL for my relative health. 

My kid brother and his wife are dealing with some major life-altering health drama, and I am thinking of them constantly right now.  There is nothing I can do to help except offer my hand whenever/wherever it is needed.  I have something going on, but it majorly pales in comparison to what is going on over there.

What are you THANKFUL for today?

Thankful 30.1 and 30.2

Care to join me in a month of posting just one thing a day that you’re THANKFUL for?  My post for yesterday got lost in blogging limbo somewhere, so today is a double shot.

1.)  Thankful for my family.

2.) Thankful for the imagination of little ones.  Even in my 2-day unshowered state, same “house clothes” as yesterday, I am always a Princess to some little one.  I may need saved one second by a SuperGalatic SuperHero with Extend-o-Arms, or I may need to dance my cares away the next. 

 

How about you?  What are you going to be THANKFUL for today?

Hoo am I?

Here are my Answers!

1. What is the most physically painful thing that has ever happened to you?

I have never been really hurt, I have a weird pain tolerance thing.

 

2. What would you name your next child or if you don't have any your first child?

We won’t be adding to the chaos here, but if we had another girl: Violet.  boy: William, James or Shaun.

 

3. If you could add one feature to your car, what would you choose?

Remote start for the winter… oh, and better gas mileage

 

4. If you named your house (or car or computer) what would you name it?

I call this place ChezChaos.  All my cars have had boy names (Moby, Dodger, Aragon, Karmine and Beast), and my husband thinks I am a super-dork for this.  The computers all have names too (all chocolate related names!)

 

5. What is your dream occupation?

My immediate answer is anything that will pay me enough to cover childcare for two kids and gas to get there.  If it puts a little extra dough in the coffers, then EVER BETTER.  Ultimately, I really loved teaching high school and I miss it dearly.  In the only in million years kind of sense: I’d love to own a space where I had craft supplies of every type and lots of room for people to come and just hangout and craft.  Coffee during the day, and late night hours with wine and munchies.

Can you read this?

Its Japanese, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me what it says.

edited to add:  here is the painting in question.