:: My Monday + A Giveaway ::

:: Well, this is what we faced early this morning ::

:: The boys received a new Canucks hockey stick -- we heard them playing with it and thought "oh, isn't that nice that they are playing so nice and not fighting?" --- yeah. Jacob was the one who instigated this one, and told us just that. When Mr. L headed down the stairs to see why they were laughing so hard and came across the two culprits, Jacob said I gave Cole the eggs and he hit's 'em real hard. Mr. L didn't laugh. He disciplined the kids and I laughed and cleaned up the eggy mess. The coach and hockey player had time out in their rooms while we cleaned up the floor ::

:: I had to Lysol the floor and then steam clean it twice with my steam mop to get all the egg up - oy! And that was just the start of the most terrible Monday we've had in a very long time. My mom called this afternoon to see how I was; I said you don't understand, I'm sure she understands though! Our kids are going through a very busy time of toddler-hood and it ends up in hurt feelings, broken toys, too much time spent in time out, and usually a black eye or bruise. It's all a season, so I can laugh about it -- but heaven help us if this carries on much longer! ::

:: So since today has been trying on me, I thought it would be a good day to give something away. It always feels good to give something away and concentrate on the blessings I have {instead of the marks in my fresh painted walls from the 'coach'}...ahem. So all y'all have to do is write a little comment and you could be entered to win this hard cover copy of Family First by Dr. Phil McGraw. When my parent's were going through their books that they were giving away they found it and my Mom thought I could give it away {thanks Marm!}. Apparently my parents read it and since we're all a lost cause {just kidding} they don't need it for reference. I will say that obviously they read it in a tropical climate as I found some sand in the back binding -- Sand & tropical climate not included in the giveaway ;) ::

:: Now, I'll leave you with the sweetest little picture of my boys. They have wanted to sleep together the past few nights and the other night when we were going to bed this is how we found them. What fun little guys they are, the coach and the hockey player...I am blessed. I have to tell you the first thought that entered my mind when I saw all the eggs on the floor was "crap, I should have bought some eggs when I was in the states last night!!" apparently the whole event was not half as amusing to Mr. L :) ::

:: Happy Monday Y'all -- The cut off for entering the contest will be Friday night @ 11:00 pm ::

:: Coupons are for Sharing ::

:: Most of my girlfriends know that I can't help getting a good deal, and one of the places I hit when I go down to Bellingham is Big Lots - It's a place that buys extra lots of products from bigger stores that have bought too much to sell. So we save on their products because they buy them for such a good deal. Most of the time I get our hair products from there (except the boys are bought from Dollar Tree in Bellingham), plus our 'oxi clean', clothes detergent, snacks, cereal, tooth brushes, and any other random items that I find are a real good price! ::


:: Well, if it's not a good enough deal to get name brand items for 45% (average) off the regular retail price, Big Lots has a coupon out until the end of January - the only catch is you have to become a member of the "Buzz Club". The coupon is for 20% off your total order - Now that's a coupon! ::

:: Find the coupon here ::

:: Here is the link to the weekly flyer as well --- I think we're going to make an emergency (ha!) trip to Bellingham sometime this weekend....now if Hobby Lobby could just come to Bellingham, we'd be set! ::

:: Why? ::

:: Okay, so this is a random {very random} post about a discussion Paul and I have had over the past year or so... ::

:: This conversation consists of him not understanding why us as women {okay, maybe not all of us, but most of us} can talk about dating/relationships, weddings , homes & babies even after we've done all of these things. He thinks that since we've dated, wed, bought a house & now have kids...why on earth I want to re-live, watch someone doing these things on t.v. or converse about it with a girlfriend! I tried to explain to him in this way; if you owned your dream car {Porsche 911} would you still want to look at other cars, talk about them, hear new info about them, sit in them, try it on for size, watch about them on t.v.? He said it wasn't the same ::


:: I lost the discussion - because I didn't want to fight the issue ::

:: However, for me as a girl {but not an overly girlie-girl}, I love to hear, watch & talk about all these things that we look forward to as women --- is this just me and Mr. L or do y'all have the same stupid conversations in your house?

:: Can't wait to hear what y'all have to say! ::

:: XO, *Shawna ::

:: Family First ::

:: While on my quest to start off my year right and taking my word of the year into account (more on what that is later) -- I went down to the crawl space and took out a few books that I wanted to read through again ::

:: Cause I really have so much time for reading. Ha! ::

:: I do actually make time for reading; I really really really love to read, and I'm one of these people who actually marks up my books and highlights them as I go along ::

:: One of the books I pulled out was Family First by Dr. Phil -- Now I don't, nor will I ever put all of my trust in another human or take every ounce of what they say to be 100% applicable to my life - however I do think that some thoughts and ideas from an outside source is sometimes welcome, especially when it comes to raising a family ::

:: Here is a quote from his book that I read last night, this is truly how I feel and reading this book just gives us the tools to bring our kids up on the straight and narrow path that we are called to walk ::

It is time that as parents we say, "hey, I do not surrender, I do not give up. I will not be intimidated by all the forces tugging on my children and family. I will not accept that disconnected children are just 'how it is' these days. I do not accept the epidemics of oral sex, drugs and alcohol in the middle and upper schools. I do not accept a child that appears 'deaf' when I say, 'pick up your toys and don't hit your sister in the head anymore.' I will not continue to parent out of fear that my kids won't like me if I require more from them behaviorally, academically and spiritually as I teach them that relationship-building is important in life. I will not feel guilty and go into debt trying to keep them in designer clothes and toys/activities from preschool on up! I am not charged with being their friend, I am charged with being their parent, their protector, their teacher and their leader. I will 'rise above my raisin', if necessary, to break any family legacy that may be contaminating how I lead my family and deal with my children. Give me the specific tools, guidance and techniques and I will work to socialize my children in a way so that they become immune to the many seductive promises of instant gratification, false realities and provocative lifestyles of today's fast paced world. I will not let the television or Internet 'babysit' them as I communicate only through emails, pagers and cell phones. I will instead plug in the old-fashioned way and prepare them to deal with the distractions that assault them and blur their vision of self. I will create the pride, unity and loyalty and 'team spirit' that is so critical to a phenomenal family."

:: What a stinkin' great statement, and I totally feel that we as parents are called to do just that. Now if anyone knows what 'rise above my raisin' means, I would love to know - cause just in case y'all forgot I was born in the North but I've got roots somewhere in the South - I'm sure of it! ;) ::

:: The other book that I pulled out was Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson, I have yet to crack that one, but in a few weeks I'll probably post a bit about that one too...do any of you have a great 'self help' type book (other than the Bible) that you could share with me? ::

:: Understandable ::

:: I'm trying to get things done today, things that have been on the "to-do" list for weeks now...it is the 19th of January for crying out loud... ::

:: But my kids are not napping today, last night they didn't go to bed until 10ish, this is all from being out WAY too late on Saturday night, we're now paying for it. Long naps in the afternoon, then no sleep @ 7:00 like normal - I don't really care about them, but I (& Mr. L) need them to be sleeping for 7 pm. So it's easy to understand that I may not get all the things completed off my "to-do" list and that includes blogging ::

:: Because I will be busy cuddling the little gaffer who just fell off my desk because he was dancing a little too crazy to I Gotta Feeling, by the Black Eyed Peas - due to lack of his daily nap. Hopefully all returns to normal tomorrow, but probably it won't. Ha ha ha, at least y'all understand! ::

:: Fly Beau, The Bachelor ::

:: Oh my goodness...the past few weeks have been quite the wild ride with this Bachelor & all his girls! ::

:: I still have (at least until tonight) my eye on Tenley, Ali & Elizabeth --- However all that changed tonight! More on that in a moment ::

:: We obviously all saw the gong show that was last weeks news...Rozlyn being asked by Chris to leave due to her having inappropriate relations with a "staffer". We don't know what this means, but obviously since she didn't fight Chris on the allegations, something improper happened! I felt bad for Jake and for Rozlyn (kinda!), it was a horrible train wreck! ::

:: So this week, I have to admit that I missed the first 3/4 of the show as I was out at a meeting and then dealing with my babes when I got home ::

:: At any rate, there was plenty of action that I did catch! ::

:: There was the amazing date that Jake took Ella on, in the helicopter, to the aquarium and then his surprise...which wasn't such a surprise, her son joining them - it was lovely, but so predictable :::: Then there was all of the issues surrounding Vienna, I didn't really like my first impression of her and it still stands - she doesn't seem true to me, but Jake gave her a rose (that's part of the show I missed) -- I don't think she'll last through next week ::

:: Oh, and sweet Tenley, sharing her heart with Jake, just lovely. Then she had to go and loose points by calling Vienna out after Vienna apologized to the girls..not cool Tenley. But you still gots my vote ::

:: OOpps, apparently it wasn't Tenley that called Vienna out it was Ali...sweet sweet Ali! ::


:: Ali, sweet, sincere, lovely, Ali - not only do I love your name, but I love that you are true to yourself, much more than any of the other girls in that house. Now hopefully he likes you as much as I do! ::
:: Elizabeth, I think you're beautiful, but obviously a little slow. What was all this come here, come here, go away, go away stuff with Jake? Don't play games, you're too beautiful to play around with guys, if you need power over others, become a teacher...don't do it to your man. It's no good for your ring finger, it stay empty forever! Ps. if you don't want to kiss, talking with such vulgar language on a stage in a comedy club will definitely confirm that wish - best of luck to you - bye bye ::

:: Now about, Melissa or was it Michelle??? I don't even remember her name now...and I don't have a picture of her, but oy, she was a crazy!!! She needed Jake to kiss her, he gave her a peck and she was all over him - yuk. She wanted it so bad. He wanted nothing to do with her. She told him that if he didn't want her there, that she would leave. She left. Good-bye ::

:: Here's to next weeks drama...I love it when it get's to the mid point in this show, it always starts getting really juicy once the first 12 are gone and the real battle starts! ::

:: Now we'll return to regular broadcasting, er, I mean posting ;) ::

:: Victoria's Birthday ::

:: We went into the City to join with our family celebrating Victoria's birthday, she's all about the Wiggles so she had a Wiggles cake, a big bouncy castle and we heard Wiggles playing all over the place ::

:: What a great time the boys had celebrating with you Victoria - Happy birthday to YOU! ::

:: Fly-Beau, The Bachelor ::

:: So as you I'm sure guessed, I saw the season premiere of "The Bachelor" On the Wings of Love {what a corny name!} with Jake. Let me just say that Jake is lovely, he's sweet, sincere and a little bit of a loner {this worries me a bit}. At any rate, he's an all around good guy, not sure what the producers were doing by setting him up with a whole bunch of girls that were less than classy {can I just say landing strip!?!?} and filled with plastic {don't get me wrong, I have no problem with plastic..it was just everywhere on the screen on Monday night!} ::

:: So here is my synopsis, Jake is great, some of the girls not so much...he knows what he wants and he wants a wife. Now I don't know if he really knows what that means or looks like, but that will be determined in the next few weeks ::

:: My top picks for the girls {in no particular order} are these three {sorry the pics are so small, my computer revolted while I was uploading them}, you can find full size ones here ::

:: Ali, 25, Advertising Account Manager -- she's home sweet home ::

:: Tenley, 25, College Admissions -- She's easy {not like that!} but she's confident and sweet, yet perfectly humble - I really like her, she's from Oregon - I have lovely girlfriends that live in Oregon, their just good girls! ::

:: Elizabeth, 29, Nanny -- She's the girl next door on steroids, not sure how confident you would have to be as a wife/mom to hire her as your Nanny! Yikes! ::

:: It'll be a bumpy ride to remove the baggage on the runway of love for this Fly-Beau, but once the runway is clear for take off, it'll be a lovely smooth flight! ::

:: Oh, and did you hear about the scandal on set with one of the producers and girls in line dating??...ah, the drama of living real life on t.v. - nobody said it would be peachy! ::

:: 243 ::

:: 243, that's how many posts I have to weed through to get up to date on my google reader. Seriously lovelies, I am so way behind it's not even funny! Let alone, the 6000 things I want to write about and post here - but that's what January is for, catching my breath, at least that's what I'm trying to do! :::: I'm going to do a brief review of my thoughts on the bachelor {new season started tonight} but I can't promise it will be highly detailed. I just don't have the time, but you'll know who I'm pulling for and who I'm throwing in the gutter {don't worry most of them have their own flotation devices so they won't drown!} ::

:: And like I said, I'll be updated {and back-dating} my posts about our birthdays {all three of us} our celebrations for Jesus' birthday & maybe I'll even get our Las Vegas post posted {all the way from June!}. In between all that I'm busy trying to line up all the wedding cakes I have this upcoming Spring/Summer as well as trying to pull Mr. L away from his job so we can take a few family vacations ::

:: Happy New Year Y'all - I have GREAT expectations of what 2010 is going to look like, and I'm sure by the end of January I'll come up with a key word that I want 2010 to be for me, so stay tuned for that, I know y'all are on the edges of your seats - I'm sure! ::

:: Today I'm off to take the biggest little boy to school, run to Costco and pick up a new day-timer...I did get my much desired Blackberry for Christmas, but I just can't do life without a paper trail, so I'm going to have to get one. I've tried Lovelies I really have - but it's now the 5th of January and I already feel lost without my best friend, I mean, day-timer ;) ::

:: Happy trails today and if you're still living out there in cyberspace please let me know you stopped by, I love visitors and the comments! ::

:: XO, *Shawna ::

:: Merry Christmas! ::

:: Ha Ha Ha --- I can't believe I'm doing this but here I am wishing y'all a fabulous Christmas and it's January 5th 2010! Oh well, my intentions were to have posted this a long long time ago, but I was too busy doing plenty of other things, of which I hope to update y'all very soon ::

:: Love to you all and Happy New Year! ::