American Public University

I had my oldest two kids when I was fairly young.  I was 17 when I had Chase and 19 when I had Blake.  I graduated high school 6 months after Blake was born, I had fallen slightly behind being a mom but I did finish with 40 credits which i thought was a great accomplishment since I only needed 30 to graduate.  I was very busy being a mom so did not move forward onto college or university at that time I thought I would wait until both kids were in school.  Little did I know that when Blake was 6 and I was just starting to think about going to school since both boys were in full-time we would be blessed with our little princess and then just a short while later or newest prince.  So now here I am again with two young kids and putting off school.  By the time they are both in school full-time I am going to be too old for school and a career.

American Public University is the solution to my time constraint issues.  I can go back to school, do my courses online while the kids nap, or Lee has them and I can feel like I am going somewhere in my life again.  As a mom being able to do all this stuff from home without the worry of babysitters, schedules and the such is truly a lifesaver.  Want to hear some great things about American Public University (APU), great because I want to share it with you.

Flexibility APU is very flexible in its school schedule.  Unlike a traditional university it offers classes on a monthly basis instead of doing it by semesters.  There is the option for accelerated programs and of course flexible courses that allow you to be a parent and student at the same time while meeting the delicate balance that lies there.   APU courses are 100% online, allowing students to obtain degrees from anywhere in the world – on their time, their schedules.  APU offers more than 100 online degrees and certificates in subjects ranging from homeland security to management and liberal arts to help students gain the knowledge and skills they need to advance their careers

Affordable We all know that planning for our kids future is to be our top priority when our kids are born but what about our futures?  APU understands this and has taken all this into account.  APU’s tuition is amongst the lowest in the country for accredited online universities.

Do you like your mailbox?

Ok I know super weird question right haha, but it is an honest one I promise.  We bought our house a little over a year ago and had a list 10 miles long to do on stuff we wanted/needed to change and improve.  Now the list is down to 9 miles so as you can guess we are not getting very far haha.  The big things on our list was redo the fence in the backyard (not done), paint the outside of the house (check), reside the house (not done that is waiting), reshingle the house (not done we have all the stuff as soon as it cools down some we will do the roof).

Then there was the little things like change the light fixtures, paint the stairs and railing, get a new mailbox and none of that was done yet either, in a year I failed and could not even get to a store to browse through the mail boxes.  We have looked online but have not really found one that we can both agree on.  We have a few things in our criteria that it just seems like no mailboxes meet.  It has to be house mounted, sturdy, waterproof and we cannot decide if we want metal or plastic, one thing is for sure though we do NOT want another wooden one.

We have a wooden mailbox right now and when the mailman delivers our mail it sounds like someone throwing a baseball at the side of my house when he closes the mailbox lid, it is a terribly loud noise and not pleasant at all.  I guess we will keep hunting for one but in the meant time if you wanted to share with me the mail boxes you all have then maybe we can find a new one before I am too old to care what my mailbox looks like haha.

This post was brought to you from your friends at http://www.mailboxixchange.com/

ShopWiki Great Online Shopping

As you all I know I recently went through the joyous pain of buying a new stroller.  Because I live in a relatively small city there is not much for choices locally for me just to go to the store and pick it out, which means I had to pick one out online and trust that when it arrived that I would love it.  I did a ton of research on tandem strollers to try to decide which style/brand I wanted.

Do you know just how many different styles of double strollers there are out there?  Yeah neither did I until I was trying to buy one lol.  Did I want one that was side by side, front to back, a single seat with a standing area on the back for the older child, a single stroller with an optional double kit on the back for another child the possibilities are endless.  It took me what felt like forever to weed through the possibilities to get down to three choices.  Then I had to narrow it down from there only one.  Did I want a jogging stroller or a lightweight stroller or did I just want to make them walk haha.

I did finally make my choice though and I went with Baby Jogger City Micro and I have been so happy with it, I do need to pickup a rain cover and perhaps the optional glider board once it is available but other then that we are really satisfied with our purchase.

ShopWiki is about more then just the strollers though I assure you.  ShopWiki is great for shopping because they seek out every store on the internet, think of it like Google crawling the internet to find every website.  ShopWiki does this and finds stores whether stores pay to be listed or not.  Traditional shopping sites only show you stores that have paid to be listed which we all know sometimes is simply not enough.

If you have not already check it out, I don’t think you will be disappointed.

This post has been brought to you by your friends at http://www.shopwiki.com/

The Wiggles Are Coming, The Wiggles Are Coming

I feel like a little kid on Christmas Eve.  I am super excited to tell you that The Wiggles are coming to my hometown.  Even more exciting is I get to take my kids to see it and I know they will absolutely LOVE it.  Maddy and Holden are both enthralled with The Wiggles, if I am trying to get some stuff done and they just won’t stay out of the way all I have to do is put the wiggles on and I know I have a good solid 30 minutes of silent kids watching tv rather then harassing me.

Why are The Wiggles coming to my home town you ask?  Good I am glad you asked, we are just one of the many stops on The Wiggles! Wiggly Circus tour.  The tour is going through mostly Canada but the wiggles are currently on tour through Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland.  I highly recommend you check out their tour schedule, see when they are close to you and go and check it out, I bet it is a wiggly good time.

The tickets are sold at different price points which vary depending on where your show is so you need to check the ticket prices relevant to your location.  I can tell you that for my city there are three different ticket levels, we have the

• Wiggles VIP section are limited, and will include the best seats in the house, an exclusive gift along with a coloring activity sheet and a chance to dance along with the Wiggles themselves!
• Hot potato seats which will include a coloring activity sheet.
• Standard ticketing which I can only assume is further up in the bleachers

About The Wiggles (taken from their site)

The Wiggles are children’s entertainers that have rewritten the book about how children can be entertained with song and dance.

Sam (Yellow), Murray (Red), Jeff (Purple) and Anthony (Blue) and the characters they have created are now a part of the lives of so many children.

The names Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, Henry  the Octopus and Captain Feathersword the friendly Pirate are as recognised by children as The Wiggles themselves. Fashion or fad does not drive the pre-school entertainment scene; it is an area of entertainment where integrity and longevity are the treasured hallmarks of success.

Celebrating their 19th Year in 2010, The Wiggles have created a catalogue of music, television, video and film that have proven to be modern classics. The Wiggles have always been a touring band, which in part explains the success they have enjoyed. They have kept in constant contact with their public and the public has responded to the music and characters they have created.  The Wiggles is an Australian success story that cuts across all demographics, and has now to spread across the world stage.

The Wiggles perform over 200 shows annually across four continents. The Wiggles are seen on TV in over 110 countries worldwide.  Fans in Canada can catch The Wiggles weekdays on Treehouse.  The Wiggles have sold more than 24 million DVDs and videos, eight million CDs and eight million books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

You can also follow the Wiggles on Twitter @ItsWiggleTime or become a fan of their official Facebook page.

I will be attending the show when it hits my city on October 21st and will be sharing the show with you here after we attend.  I am so excited.

If you don’t know who The Wiggles are then you are missing out and I highly recommend that you go and look at the TV schedule and check it out, if you have young kids you won’t be disappointed they are interactive, sing and dance everything any kid wants in a tv show.

If you are able to I highly recommend you check out Wiggle World at one of these three Six Flags locations.  Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Great America and Six Flags New England.  When we were in Chicago we went to Six Flags Great America and caught The Wiggles show there, then Maddy spent hours riding the rides like The Big Red Cars, Dorothy’s Rosey Teacups and the Big Red Planes as well as playing on the S.S. Feathersword pirate ship and having an overall blast, she had more fun there then in any other section of the park.  Here are a few pictures of her enjoying herself.

Carley and Maddisyn on the Big Red Planes

Carley and Maddisyn on the Big Red Cars

From left to Right: Mylee, Maddisyn, Abby and Avery on Dorothy's Rosey Teacups

I cannot wait to share the pictures from the Wiggles Wiggly Circus with you all.

Flavorful Low-Sodium Family Meals

We love Mrs. Dash in our house, you can find many different varieties of the spice in my cupboard at any given time.

Something as simple as Pasta and Chicken can be spiced up with just some Mrs Dash seasonings.  I love to look through and follow the recipes on the Mrs Dash website and wanted to share with you this one which is one of our families favorite because of the great flavors and mine because of how easy and quick it is to cook on nights when the kids have been particularly trying or when we have to go on the run which is about half our week lol.

5 simple things you can do to keep your childs smile bright

I have four kids so we have a lot of teeth to keep clean and healthy in our household.  I try to avoid any unnecessary trips to the dentist with them because sometimes that can take a whole lot of time and money that I don’t want to nor need to spend as long as I make sure my kids and I both work hard to keep their beautiful teeth intact and their smiles amazing.  I have to say that we have had some unfortunate incidents in the past that have caused teeth issues, like my use of formula in Blake at bedtime causing him bottle rot and we had to have some of his teeth removed, no parent wants to ever go through that trust me.  There is lots of things that we as parents can do to help our children learn at a very young age how to preserve and take proper care of their teeth.  Here are my 5 simple tips to keep their smiles healthy and bright.

1. Schedule regular dental checkups starting at an early age.  Maddisyn is three now but we started her dental checkups/cleanings at 2 years of age.  All three kids will go together and have their teeth counted and cleaned, they all seem to handle this very well because I started them all very young on this and although i am terrified of the dentist I do not project that onto them so they are relaxed and at ease when there.
2. Brush after every meal, the boys even take a toothbrush with them to school to brush after their lunches.  This is a simple thing that does not take them long at all and they simple finish their meals and then go to the washroom to brush their teeth before heading off outside to play.
3. If they cannot brush then we chew a piece of sugar free gum instead.  Sometimes when you are travelling or rushed brushing is not an option for you, but carrying around sugar free gum all the time does the trick when needed.  The biggest fight we have here is what flavor of gums I should buy when stocking up, although I can tell you without a doubt that I go to Trident first and foremost.
4. Help them time when they are brushing their teeth so that they do it for the proper length of time, even at ages 9 and 11 I stay with Chase and Blake in the bathroom to ensure they are getting all their teeth.  We have the boys brush for 2-3 minutes depending on how much horsing around is going on.  Maddisyn does not do so well with brushing because of her little mouth but we have special teeth wipes that we use in her mouth instead which do the same job.
5. Teach your kids how to floss, flossing really helps to get all the gunk between the teeth out thus providing a more shining smile.

These are my simple tips to brighter, healthier smiles.  What do you do with your kids to make teeth brushing fun and easy?

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Trident blogging program, making me eligible to get a $25 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Canadian Idol Contestant arrested on Terrorism suspicion – Khuram Sher

Can you believe it?  Just in 2008 he was singing for Sass Jordan and the other Canadian Idol judges and now he has been arrested for suspected terrorism.  Sher was born in Pakistan but had been in Canada since 2005.

There was three people arrested in total.  His two accomplices were arrested in Ottawa and he was arrested in London this morning.  The three men were allegedly part of a domestic terrosim plot that the RCMP had been tracking over the last two years.  Does this mean that while he was singing for Canadian Idol he was also planning an attack?

Charges against the three include committing an act for terrorism purposes, providing or making available property for terrorism purposes and conspiracy to commit a terrorist offense.

What in the heck has is this world coming to?  I sincerely hope that people will wake up, give their heads a shake and realize that nothing is worth all this death, turmoil, war and fighting.

Plum district

Hi there!

I wanted to tell you about this great new deal site called Plum District.  They feature a new local deal every day for savvy women and their families that makes their lives easier and more enjoyable.

If you’re new to the district, they’ll give you $5 off your first purchase in the next 7 days.  Pretty awesome, right?

Just go here to check it out!!! MY REFERRAL LINK

GlassesUSA – buy your glasses online and save $$$

I have four children, two of my four kids wear eye glasses, my husband and I both wear eye glasses so I am not optimistic that my other two will not need eye glasses at some point in their first few years of school.  I have my fingers crossed that they will not but I am sure that they will and that makes me extremely sad.  I am much happier though now that I know they can get cuter styles then when I was a child.  You can even buy them online, a totally new concept from when I was much younger as well.

My prescription glasses cost us a ton of money because I need to have special lenses because my eyes are so bad, I hope my kids eyes never get as bad as mine are.  Did you know though that now you can buy eyeglasses online?  This is a new concept for me and one I am sure is not as scary as it sounds.  GlassesUSA sells their eyeglasses online, I have never tried them and thus cannot provide personal opinion on them but I know that they sell for a fraction of what glasses cost in store.

I just bought the boys new glasses but I will be needing some new ones soon, and even with having to get the more expensive lenses from GlassesUSA I would be saving myself about $200, so I guess I am willing to give it a shot if I can save money.  I can always use the Try-It Mirror first to see how I feel about the glasses and if when I get them.  If you don’t like the glasses from them GlassesUSA has a 30 day return policy and you can return for exchange for another frame of equal value or get a complete refund (excluding shipping costs).

I highly encourage you that if you are looking to save money consider purchasing your glasses online.  As a special promo GlassesUSA wants to give my readers a 10% discount off their next purchase.  Simply enter the code mommy10 when prompted during the checkout process.  I also highly encourage you to check out their facebook fan page  http://www.facebook.com/GlassesUSA

Back to School Uniform Time

Our kids are heading back to school here in a couple of weeks and do you know what that means?  New school uniforms, new school items, new school shoes, new backpacks.  ARGHHHHHHHHHH that my faithful readers was the sound of my wallet crying out because of all the money spent on all the school supplies for our two happy to go back boys.

I wanted to share with you again as a reminder about the French Toast Contest.  You could win 15,000 for you and your school.

Parents, tell us what makes your child unique in 300 words or less. Include up to 6 photos or a video that shows your child, in their school uniform, doing what makes them unique!

The final day to submit an entry is September 15.  On November 1, French Toast will be posting the 10 finalists and the public will be able to vote for the grand prize winner – who will win $10,000 in cash and their school will receive $5,000 in vouchers from French Toast. The grand prize winner will be announced on November 30.

I highly encourage you all to stay up to date with all that is going on with French Toast by joining their facebook and twitter pages.

Good luck to everyone who enters the contest!!!!

Next Page »