Win Free Ice Cream!!

I read a blog called We are THAT Family. You can go there today to enter for a year's worth of FREE ice cream!! Way cool. While you are there you can sign up for her newsletter that is coming out in August. I think it'll be interesting.

I think you'll enjoy the blog. I've found it entertaining. Go check it out.

Free Dr. Pepper

Check this story out! Dr. Pepper is going to give everyone a free Dr. Pepper. I won't be staying up late so I can be the first to get my free Dr. Pepper. But, I think we all should go to the Dr. Pepper site and get our coupon Sunday.

Speaking of Dr. Pepper, our house is divided. Robby and Sadie are "Peppers" and T.S. and I are Coke drinkers. My whole life, Nonnie was a Coke drinker, too. She also loved a Hershey bar. She'd keep both in the fridge (she even let us put peanut butter and marshmallows on our candy bar--you should try it). Now that she is in the nursing home, she has been preferring Dr. Pepper and Butterfingers--go figure.

As a kid, I remember we were in Ruidoso one year at an art festival--we got to take the Pepsi challenge. I chose the Coke.

Robby really likes the Dublin Dr. Peppers that have real sugar in them. He also swears there are really 23 flavors like they advertise.

One other thing--shouldn't the band "Guns'N'Roses" be retired by now and possibly in a nursing home?

Spelling Help

Check this out! You can enter spelling lists and then your child can play games with the words. Just found it today, but we are going to give this a try. Maybe Sadie will WANT to study instead of HAVE to study.

Annie Get Your Gun

While spending a leisurely morning reading the paper online, I thought that this was interesting. My grandmother had been telling me for weeks that they were "sold out of guns" in Amarillo. Last night on the news they mentioned that people were not only buying guns, they were stock-piling ammunition because there was rumor that the new president would increase the tax on ammunition by as much as 1000%. So, I Googled "gun sales up." Apparently sales are up across the country. Some say because of the president-elect, some say because of the economy. This brings the idea of a "well-armed militia" to a whole new level.

I think all of the concern is a little over the top. I imagine most of the people buying guns already have a few. I've always asked my husband why we need more than one (that's a whole different post in itself.) Should we be concerned that so many people are purchasing guns? If they don't already have a gun, why do they need one? Should I drop by the gun shop when I go to town today? Maybe we should build on to the house so we can stock-pile ammunition. Have you bought your gun today?

Random "Stuff" on the Internet

Important note: I do not endorse this product. I actually think "stuff" like this is bad for you.

I really don't know how I find this stuff. Actually, I do, I spend too much time on the computer. But, while reading a really good blog I noticed on the Twitter thing on the side that you could get Free KickButt Amped Energy Ballz at a site called Totally Free Crap.Com. (I know this is a G-rated blog, but this cracked me up.)

So, let's tackle this one thing at a time. If you go to the link for the energy ballz be sure and have your sound on. They promise to tone your mind and body--maybe this is the secret we've all been searching for. I don't know why it cracked my up so much, but it did. Maybe this is a sign that my mentality is sinking to the level of the 4 year old and 2 year old I spent the day with.

Now for the serious stuff. The Free "stuff" Site has some interesting things on it. I had seen where people were getting free Starbucks and Krispy Kremes for voting today. I briefly wondered how these people knew about the opportunity. Now I know. I didn't scope it out since we don't have either store in Happy. This might be a site to keep an eye on.

Play and Feed

Who knew I would become a champion of so many causes? You'll notice a new spot to click on the right. You can go to this site and play to earn free rice for the United Nations World Hunger Program. I wouldn't necessarily call it playing so much as studying. I'm always looking for something to keep my brain working above a 4 year old level. At this site, you can study everything from vocabulary to chemistry and geography to foreign languages--all while making a difference. Does your child need to practice multiplication? Set them up here and they can help feed hungry people all over the world while they learn. It's worth a look.

Visit the North Pole

Okay, I'm the first to admit that it drives me nuts that Christmas decorations, etc. are in the stores and we haven't even gone trick or treating yet. I always feel like Thanksgiving is skipped over. But, I found a site today that is worth a look, even if it isn't even December yet.

You can go here and visit the North Pole. Play games, read stories, write stories,write a letter to Santa. (Santa will write you back) All kinds of stuff awaits you. There is even a quiz you can take to see where you rank on the Naughty or Nice list. What caught my eye today, though, was the "Good Deeds Calendar." You can print one out for the month of your choosing. It is pretty much what I call a chore chart. It has several things your kids probably are doing or supposed to be doing every day. The kids are to keep track of what they do and leave the calendars under the tree for Santa to see.

Brilliant!! Instead of saying--"Santa might not come if..." You can just say, "What do you think Santa will think of you good deeds calendar?" What a fun thing to do as a family as you head into this hectic time. Keep track of your good deeds--emphasize the positive.

Have fun at the North Pole!

Campbell's Soup and FFA

You may have noticed in the side bar that you can go to the Campbell's Soup site titled "Help Grow your Soup" and click on the Red Barn to support the National FFA Organization. I'd encourage you to check the site out. Campbell's is doing some neat things in conjunction with the FFA. One thing that caught my eye is the projects to preserve old barns. There are some really neat pictures of old barns.

Speaking of FFA--Robby has almost finished buying all the pigs his kids need. The BBQ bus traveled to a Firestone opening on Saturday. After that, Firestone reserved the bus for the Tech-tu game. We are so excited, the bus is great advertisement for the Happy FFA program and all of the great people who helped fund the project. I believe Firestone is even going to make a donation to the chapter and possibly fund a scholarship. Needless to say, Robby is thrilled.

Christmas Gifts

I'm always on the look out for Christmas gifts. I like to start shopping and planning early. Today while watching TV, I found the perfect gift, and it will work for EVERYONE in the whole family. It is called a Snuggie--it is a blanket that you wear. It actually looks like something I might like, but the commercial cracked me up.

• It is one size fits all--they showed it on adults and children. The kids looked like they might be missing arms, because the sleeves were so roomy and long.
• It's buy one get one free (you have to pay the additional processing fee--which is probably $19.95--I didn't catch that, the print was too small)
• Comes in 3 colors--aqua, red and blue.
• Walking around in their Snuggies, everyone looked a little like monks in a monastery . The people in the commercial even wore them to keep warm at a football game. Excellent idea, but again--monks at a football game is a little strange.
• I can see Robby and Cody now in their Snuggies. Let me know which color you want, guys.

If any of you already own a Snuggie, I hope I don't offend you. Like I said, it really looks like something I might like. Also, if you already have one let me know, I don't think anyone needs two. I'll have to get you something else for Christmas--maybe a Chia pet or the booklight that is free with the Snuggie purchase (gotta stretch those dollars).

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is breast cancer awareness month. This month your click for free mammograms counts DOUBLE. So what are you waiting for? Go Click.

What Have You Learned?

UPDATE: October 13--The last few times I have tried to go to the website mentioned in this post it has been unavailable. Sorry if I've led you on a wild goose chase!


Yesterday I ran across this website titled "Things I have learned in my life so far." You can illustrate the thing you have learned and send it to this site and they will post it. Very interesting and hard to stop looking at all of the things people have shared. (a few, but not many, were a little weird and not really for young eyes)

My favorite was, "My attitude, my choice and I'm choosing happy."

The sight got me thinking/wondering--what have I learned in my life so far? (have to check back for a future post for that nugget of wisdom)

What have you learned in your life so far? Please leave it in a comment or email me (to do that you must know me and already have my email address). I'll try to compile our own list of things we've learned.

Have you clicked today?

Every morning I have a computer routine--check e-mail, click for free mammograms, fill out entries to win extra boxtops, read the paper. Did you know you can go to this site and make one click to help fund mammograms. Right now they have a sponsor that will donate free mammograms if they reach a certain number of clicks. I have the site bookmarked--it only takes me a few seconds (okay maybe 1 minute) to go and click.

What a great way to start the day--by feeling like one click is making a difference. So, have you clicked today?

Happy, Texas USA

UPDATE (10/03/08): The last few times I have tried to go to this site it was unavailable. Sorry if I led you on a wild goose chase.

Yes, there really is a Happy, Texas and yes, we're "happy in Happy" most of the time.
My friend, Rowdy, has put together a cool site with lots of info on/for/about Happy. I told him I'd plug it, so check it out:
http://happytxusa.com/default.html

On the family note, it is pig sale time again which means I'm either home by myself or a single mom a lot. We are excited this year because Sadie will be purchasing as well. T.S. did go to the sale today--we are putty in his hands sometimes. Robby is going to have a lot (60+) of pigs on feed this year, so it will be another fun, busy one.

Bragging

So, you need to go to my sister's blog and see the beautiful pictures she has just put on the title spot. She is way creative with photo shop elements (I don't even know what that is) and she is an outstanding photographer. I am very proud of her.

As for what we did today, T.S. and I bought lamb tights--pretty much stretchy t-shirts for lambs. How crazy that we are buying clothes for the lambs!! On top of that we picked pink and purple, because T.S. knew that is what Sadie would want--and it was. Now I'm wondering if the lambs (they are boys) will know they are wearing girl colors. Will they be embarrassed? Will this cause gender confusion? I'm not sure how you put the t-shirt with four leg "sleeves" on the lamb. It will probably be interesting. T.S. and Sadie are very intrigued that the "shirts" also have a hole in the belly for the "boy part." I'm hoping it all lines up correctly. I know you will all be on the edge of your seat waiting for the report. Definitely more to come...

Cool Site

Check out the Merriam-Webster page. It features a dictionary (of course), word of the day and many word games. The cool thing about the word games is you can solve them online or print them out. Good for those of us who need some brain stimulation and a fun learning tool for kids.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/