Mama Pajama

Sticky Post:

Looking for Thursday Thirteen? Just scroll down.  Also, for those of you who are into sports (of all kinds), you might want to check out my husband's new blog (Chris' Sports Angle).  Click here to check it out! 

GameStop

I have to admit, I have always been a video game lover. I was definitely hooked on PacMan and Space Invaders as a kid (which seem so antiquated now!). Then we moved on to the Nintendo, and all of the gaming systems that have since evolved over the past twenty years.  I especially love the new Nintendo Wii. The sports games that require realistic movement are my favorites. These make you feel less guilty about spending time playing, since you're also getting exercise at the same time. 

GameStop is my favorite place to find the latest and greatest video games.  They have such a knowledgeable and friendly staff. Plus, they actually refuse to sell mature-content games to children that are not yet at the appropriate age. I love that! Since kids change their minds about games about as often as they do about which activities in which they want to participate, it is sometimes difficult to figure out which games are really worth buying. This is why GameStop offers a trade-in program that lets you bring in the old games and get credit towards new titles or even systems! This makes enjoying video games a lot easier on the family budget.

This morning I found a fantastic new game for the Nintendo Wii. It's called 'Top Spin Tennis'. It lets you use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers in a way that matches the movements players would make on a real court. It's so cool! You can choose from ten different venues around the globe, and over a dozen licensed tennis stars to be.  Other options include singles, doubles, exhibitions, tournament, and more.  The possibilities are endless.  I can't wait to get good at it so that I can finally say I beat Chris at tennis! 

 

Buster's Surgery Update

   We just heard from the Vet Surgeon that Buster's bladder stone was successfully removed. He had told us this morning that he might end up needing a more complicated surgery due to the location of the stone(s) but he ended up not needing that.  I never thought we'd be spending this much money on a dog...but he's part of the family.  At least this was a problem with a clear solution. We are going to pick him up tomorrow morning - coming off of pain meds, I'm sure. That should be interesting!  Poor B.

What Happens on the Golf Course...

If you are headed to Las Vegas any time soon, you should check out LasVegasGolfing.com.  They feature tons of great Las Vegas golf vacation packages. Not only are the featured locations the hottest spots around, but they can be found at unbeatable prices!  I don't know about you, but that's just what we're looking for!  I found terrific deals at courses like TPC Las Vegas, Siena, Angel Park, Revere, Paiute and Tuscany.  I think it's really cool that now we can play on courses designed and played by some of golf's greatest players!  You should check out this site to find Las Vegas golf specials .You will be shocked by how little you'll pay to play the game you love in Las Vegas!

Buster's Surgery

Well, tomorrow Buster is having his bladder stone surgery. Today he went for an ultrasound (they couldn't see the stones on the vet's x-ray) and we were able to see the actual stones.  Hopefully, everything will go smoothly.  Cameron is so attached to Buster now. I really think he'll be fine. He's a tough little dog.

Choice Checks

Are you looking for a place to find high quality business checks at great prices?  Or, have you been searching for a variety of accounting software programs and check accessories? Well, if so, I have the perfect website for you.  Choice Checks offers all of this and more.  One of their most popular products are the Versa Check refills.  This is because they offer all the hard to find designs. VersaCheck refills are compatible with almost every accounting software package on the market today, including Quicken, QuickBooks, MS Money, Simply Money, MAS90, MYOB, MY Checkbook, and more. Check out their site today!

Thursday Thirteen: My George Michael Concert Experience

Oh yes.  I finally got to see my musical soulmate live and in person.  It was everything I thought it would be and more.  His voice was crystal clear, the band was amazing, and I lost my voice screaming and singing to every single song. Even Chris agreed that this was an awesome concert.

My husband bought me tickets after we saw him on the American Idol Finale.  I hadn't heard that he was touring in the US until that night...so there was simply no way we weren't buying tickets that very same night - Happy Birthday to Me!!!

I have loved George Michael through every step of his career. (My very first .45 record was Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.) I was a seven year old dancing to his Make It Big album (cassette tape). I ran out and bought Music From the Edge of Heaven when it was released in the US. My friend and I had the video of George singing "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me" with Aretha Franklin on a VHS tape that we watched over and over again until it fell apart. I was a preteen loving the Faith Album.  But, Listen Without Prejudice is my favorite of all. Every single track reminds me of different times in my life - and hearing him sing Waiting (Reprise) at the beginning of the concert gave me chills.  I also had an unexpected reaction to I'm Your Man. I started crying! (picture the teenage girls falling apart over the Beatles in the 60s)  But I quickly pulled it together - reminding myself that I'm now a 31 year old stay-at-home mom. 

As an adult, I have bought each of his newer albums as they've been released. I still haven't found a song I don't like!  I wish he had played a few songs that weren't on the concert playlist (Waiting for That Day) - but then again, I'd probably want him to sing his entire repertoire and that's just not practical for a two hour concert. 

I've followed his entire career, but I'm not obsessed with his personal life - just his music!  His voice is incredible, and he really gets down while singing. I'm talking about the shameless, fantasticly fun kind of dancing that makes you want to get up on the stage and join him....but don't worry, I didn't. 

Here are my 13 favorite songs that George sang on July 14th in Houston. (I ranked them with #1 as my favorite) In case you want to hear/watch the song, click for a youtube link!

13. Feeling Good

12. One More Try

11. Flawless

10. Father Figure

9. Too Funky

8. Everything She Wants

7. Amazing

6. Faith

5. An Easier Affair

4. Star People

3. Hard Day

2. Waiting (Reprise)

1.Fast Love - I'm Your Man

Fun at Granny and PawPaw's

Cameron had a really fun weekend at Granny and PawPaw's. We brought him over on Sunday and he came home on Tuesday afternoon.  He fed crackers to the ducks, rode the riding lawn mower, and played with all of the cool toys at their house - enjoying every minute of it.  Can you tell?

Friday's Feast

Appetizer

When was the last time you had your hair cut/trimmed?

Since I have such a simple hairstyle, I cut my own hair pretty often.  But the last time I went for a real haircut was three years ago.

Soup

Name one thing you miss about being a child.

I miss summers of swimming and bike riding all day.  Watermelon, strawberries, and chlorine....the smells of summer!

Salad

Pick one: butter, margarine, olive oil.

I love olive oil! We use it in a lot of dishes.  Chris even likes to pour it over sunflower seeds....it's so good for you!

Main Course

If you could learn another language, which one would you pick, and why?

Spanish - It's the most practical. I wish I remembered more from high school. 

Dessert

Finish this sentence: In 5 years I expect to be…

In five years I expect to be the mother of an eight year old that is walking around and happy.

Great Deals on Glasses

Do you still need new glasses?  If you haven't heard about ZenniOptical.com you should check it out right now.  They offer prescription glasses online from only $8! Their secret to their cheap prices is that they only sell their own manufactured frames directly to the customer.  There are no middlemen, which means you save big!  Check out Zenni on Fox recently. 

Grass Gazing

We have been so lucky this year with getting just enough rain to keep the yard looking good. We have only had to water the grass a few times since May.  I hate watering the grass. It just feels wasteful.  Plus, when the grass gets too thick, it makes it hard to cut.  (Chris also triple fertilized the backyard, so that might be part of the problem.)  He's been having to cut the backyard twice a week so that the mower doesn't die on him.   

Tough Economic Times

It is so discouraging to see so many homes going into foreclosure. I often wonder about each family, and what they are going through in these tough economic times.  We are trying to watch our spending and conserve gas as much as possible. Chris even traded in his Accord for a Corolla. (It gets awesome gas mileage by the way!)  A few years ago, we didn't give gas mileage a second thought.  But with prices on almost everything continuing to rise, we're trying to be as careful as possible with our money.

Leather

I absolutely love leather. I love the look of it, the feel of it, and especially the smell of it.  Chris bought me a new leather purse for our anniversary, so my closet smells like brand new leather now. I love it!  (Yes, I know this might be weird.)  I want to find Chris a new wallet, since his is on it's last leg. I found a bunch of nice Johnston and Murphy leather accessories online. I don't have to worry about keeping it a secret, because I seriously doubt that he'll be reading this post!

Too Much Information

It is truly amazing how much memory computers come with today.  But, if your computer is running too slowly, you might need to buy memory for it.  This is a good alternative to purchasing an entirely new central processing unit.  You can actually order it online fairly easily and inexpensively.  If you're interested in buying memory, you won't have any trouble finding it!

A Cell Phone Technicality

Have you ever wondered if you could use just one phone with different cell phone providers? Well, with an unlocked phone you can do this. An unlocked cell phone can be used with various GSM-compatible carriers across the globe.  So, an unlocked cellphone can be used within the United States with T-Mobile, Cingular/AT&T, and other companies as well.  The phone must just support the frequencies of the specific service provider. Got it ; )? 

Summer's Sensational Strawberries

 

One of my favorite things about summer is all of the delicious fruit that comes into season.  Strawberries top my list of tasty treats.   While I love plenty of desserts made with strawberries, I prefer to eat them right out of the carton. They are perfectly sweet and delicious just the way they are!   

Did you know that California provides 88% of the nation's strawberries? I was surprised to learn this myself.  This region is experiencing an incredibly bountiful harvest this year. With over 35,000 acres of fields across California, the growers will be picking nearly 6 million crates of delicious, ripe strawberries this week to deliver to grocery stores nationwide.

So, wondering how to best take advantage of all these strawberries? Whether it is making fresh strawberry shortcake for a backyard barbeque, dipping them in whipped cream, or just grabbing some as a quick, sweet afternoon snack, strawberries remind us all of long, sunny summer days.

Here are a few fun strawberry facts that you might want to share with your kiddos:

• If you lined up all of the strawberries grown in California in one straight line, they would wrap around the entire Earth 15 times!
• Guessing game! There are about 200 seeds on the outside of each strawberry.
• California harvests over a billion pounds of strawberries annually.
• One acre of land (about the size of one football field) grows about 50,000 pounds of strawberries - that's the same weight as 4 elephants!

For us moms, it's worth knowing:

• Strawberries contain powerful antioxidants and rank second among the top ten fruits in antioxidant capacity: one serving of strawberries contains more Vitamin C than an orange.
• Strawberries may help reduce the risk of heart disease, fight some types of cancer and lower blood pressure.  Not bad for a little red berry!
• Don't forget! The antioxidants in strawberries also aid in memory performance and may help prevent Alzheimer's disease by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation, two key factors that can cause age-related diminished brain function

Looking for strawberry recipes? You can find hundreds of them here.  Looking for something fun and educational to entertain your kids this summer? Check out Strawberryville. It's a website just for kids that's full of interactive games, activities, and kid-friendly recipes.

Wordless Wednesday

Recycline Preserve Toothbrushes

Most of us are doing what we can to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  But do you ever think about what really happens to that stuff we leave in the recycle bin at the end of our driveway?

Well, you'll be pleased to learn that Recycline Preserve has figured out a way to take recycled BPA and phthalate-free plastic (think yogurt cups), and re-recycle it into fabulous, eco-friendly toothbrushes!  What a fantastic idea, right?

What's really cool, is that when it's time to get new toothbrushes for the family, you can print out a pre-paid postage label from Recycline's website, send the used toothbrushes back to them, and the plastic will live on as a deck, picnic table, or boardwalk!  They even make Preserve Jr. toothbrushes that feature animal colors and shapes.  What a wonderful way to teach your kids about eco-friendly habits! 

You can find Recycline Preserve Toothbrushes at your local Target store for only $2.04. Feel free to download a coupon! Check out Recycline Preserve's entire line of recyclable products. 

Time to Trick Mommy...

Cameron's PT brought out these parallel bars about two months ago. Since then, he loves to walk back and forth across them several times a day.  He especially likes it when there are two people (one on each side) to cheer when he makes it across. But, when it's just the two of us, I have to crawl back and forth to catch him (which he finds hilarious).  You can see him playing his little game with me.  He starts coming one way and then decides to turn around and go the other way to "trick mommy".  Little Stinker. 

New Glasses

Could you use a new pair of glasses?  You can find really stylish prescription glasses online at zennioptical.com.  Their prices start at just eight dollars a pair!  With prices like that, you might be able to get multiple pairs!  They even have sunsensor, tinted sunglass, bifocal, and progressive lenses. Check out their site today!

Air Buster

"Live from the Astrodome....in Houston Texas....it's Buckin' Bronco Buster....." - that's Buster's cue to find that toy and play this game. He's been doing this for the past six years.  I have pictures of him doing this when he was a tiny little puppy.  Too bad they aren't digital, or I'd post them.  Chris plays this really rough game with Buster at least once a week, and Cameron never gets tired of watching it.  But, it is too hard on the arms for me to do it with him!

Answers to "Name that Future Star"

1. Courtney Love

2. Madonna

3.Mick Jagger

4. Halle Berry

5.Jennifer Lopez

6. Demi Moore

7. David Duchovny

8. Julia Roberts

9. Phil Collins

10. Pamela Anderson

11. Robert DeNiro

12.Jennifer Aniston

13.John Lennon

Need Health Insurance?

Unfortunately, the United States still doesn't offer any type of universal health care.  For the most part, we still have to depend on our employers for health coverage.  Hopefully things will be getting better in the coming years. So for now, it is very important to make sure that you are getting the right health coverage for you and your family.  If you are looking for health insurance in California, Kaiser Permanente can give you quotes on individual, family, and small business health care coverage.  You can get quotes for Kaiser Health Plans all across the United States.  If you need coverage, you shouldn't wait any longer!

Somewhere over the .....

 

Last week when we were out taking Cameron for a bicycle ride, this gorgeous rainbow appeared in the sky. You can't really see it, but there's another faint rainbow above the one that is more visible.  What a beautiful site!

Working from Home

I am always trying to think of something I can do from home(besides blog ads!) to earn extra money. I would love to write a children's novel one day. I also love to draw, although I don't have any marketable skills in that area.  So, I was thinking about putting together gift baskets for different occasions.  This would be both fun and interesting to me. 

Home Theater

Chris and I were talking about how cool it would be to have our own home theater. We like our TV and everything, we were just thinking about how neat it would be to have one of those media rooms that make you feel like you're at the movie theater. Since we mostly rent all the movies we watch, this would be pretty awesome.  Maybe we could even find theater rope to guard the entrance.  OK, maybe that's going a little too far....

Naps are Good for Everyone

I've been meaning to post this picture of Cam that I took the other day. He likes to hug something when he falls asleep (like this ball, his train, or a book).  This particular ball is tricky because it plays music and moves by itself. So as soon as his eyes closed, I had to hurry up and turn it off without waking him up. It worked the second time. 

Free Forum Hosting

Are you interested in fast, secure, and reliable forum hosting?  Did I mention that it is absolutely free?  You will be able to have unlimited posts, forums, and members.  Plus, there are no limits on the growth of your forum. You will not need to buy a server or pay for web hosting.  In addition, you will not have to install anything.  They handle the technical aspects of running a server and managing software so that you can focus on what is most important to you - running your Free Forum.  Check out ProphpBB's top forums today! You will be so glad you did.

Got Sunscreen?

My sister-in-law is giving me a hard time because of this picture.  Yes, my child is covered in sunscreen.  And yes, the water is cloudy because of it.  But, I just don't want him to burn!  His skin is just like mine...so he's just going to have to be slathered up every time he's in the sun!

Summer Safety Tips

With all the fun that summer brings, it's also important to think about safety.  The folks over at Mommy Docs want to make sure everyone knows the following tips that can keep the whole family having fun in the sun!

• Have a Sun Protection Strategy: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends sunscreen with a minimum Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 15.  Look for products that provide "broad spectrum" coverage to protect against both UVA and UVB rays.  Use this sunscreen routine with your child--daily application 30 minutes before going outside and reapplication every 2 hours (or sooner if swimming, toweling off, or sweating).  Creating a routine will establish good habits for the future.  In addition, don't forget a wide brim hat, sunglasses with 99-100% UVA/UVB protection, and sun protective clothing.

• Keep Pests off Your Little One: In the summer, many insects can bite or sting your child.  For pesky mosquitoes and ticks, consider a DEET containing insect repellant.  Apply sparingly to exposed skin (avoid backs of hands and around the eyes and mouth) and/or to clothing once a day. As the percentage of DEET goes up, the duration of action increases. To prevent unnecessary exposure, always use the lowest percentage that will last for the planned length of time spent outdoors. Never go above 30% or use on children under 2 months old.

• Keep the Pool Cool and Clean: Small yard pools provide a great way for kids to have fun and cool down when the temperature rises, but they can also harbor germs, such as bacteria.  To keep the pool free from unwanted "swimmers," after each use disinfect it with bleach by cleaning with a solution of  ¾ cup regular bleach to one gallon of water, then rinse well and dry thoroughly.  Safety must: Always supervise children regardless of age when they are around any water; whether it's a bucket, a small backyard plastic pool, or the local community pool.

• High Heat Means Hydrate: Excessive heat exposure may cause your child to experience a heat-related illness such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion, or even heat stroke. How to prevent this: take breaks in the shade, avoid playing outside during peak sun exposure hours, and drink, drink, drink!  Make sure your child is taking in plenty of fluids before he become thirsty.

• Rid Rashes and Relieve Itchies: Running through the yard in bare feet, taking a nature walk on a trail, and picnicing in the park are some of the joys of warmer weather.  But all of this outdoor activity can expose your child to a host of plants including those which cause poison ivy, poison oak or poison sumac.  If an allergic reaction occurs, ask the pediatrician about an oral antihistamine and/or a topical skin care product such as a steroid cream or calamine.  If the rash is extensive, looks infected, or is not getting better, call your doctor right away.

You can find all of these safety tips at MommyDocs.com.  Check out their site for even more helpful information!

Can I Help You?

Here's a shot of my three boys on the "bridge".  Cameron has started crawling up the stairs.  When he get to the bridge, he can see the cars on the main road.  So, this is wonderful motivation. The therapist told us that stairs are the very best thing for Cameron right now to build strength all over. As you can see, Buster likes this spot too.