Goodness Gracious Great Balls of....

So - a couple of weeks ago - while perusing the interwebs while avoiding all the stuff I should have been doing instead with nothing better to do I somehow stumbled upon...
Goodness Gracious Great Balls of....
THESE!


I'll tell you what...to me - they look like dog toys...but when I read about them - I was intrigued.

According to their website you can use little to NO detergents in your laundry when you use these magic balls...there are tons of other advantages too - (did you read them? Go ahead...I'll wait!)

My first thought was...our crusty towels...I swear, we aren't terribly dirty people - but our towels-it seems we are buying new ones every year...ours feel so heavy and um, crunchy? Even after washing and drying them...Tide and Bounce...aren't those supposed to give you cuddly soft towels, bedding, etc? Not around here they don't...

According to what I've read - giving my laundry a few cycles with the complete laundry system and I just might have soft bath towels again...could it be true?

Another thing that really had these things stuck in my head is our little boy. Every winter for all of his life - he suffers from terribly dry and itchy skin. He has a prescription for a cortisone cream but he is so miserable a lot of the time...He scratches until he draws blood: his back, and his backside...and his ankles and behind his knees...
We spend a lot of time trying to lube him up with all sorts of different moisturizing creams, lotions, etc with little success.
Removing chemicals from our laundry certainly couldn't hurt this cause either...

***And, not only did Jen from Mystic Wonders, Inc send me a complimentary Lip Balm - which I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with and will be purchasing multiples of...she also sent some Wonder Goat Milk Soap which I cannot WAIT to try out - because it looks like it might be just what our little guy needs?

ANYWAY - about the balls...
I did lots of googling about these balls and found no bad reviews - everyone was raving about them...
I'll admit that I have been a little bit skeptical - can these really work?

The complete laundry system MUST work for a price tag of 49.95 right? I mean, people would be demanding their money back if they weren't satisfied right?

How long would it take you to recoup your costs if you aren't buying laundry detergent and dryer sheets for every load of laundry you (or in our house - my husband!) do?
We thought about asking for this for Christmas as a family gift - but felt bad asking for something with that price tag...even though it would be a great gift -and one for the whole family....

but then...we'd have to wait a whole 'nother month...and that is IF someone was willing to spend that much on us...

So, I took a chance and contacted the company regarding these fancy little contraptions...and within an hour - I had heard back from them...willing to send me, FOR FREE - a complete laundry system to try out and talk about with you all!!
I. was. ecstatic! I. AM. ecstatic!

You guys...(20 of you! That's two more people who want to come back for more since the whole Christmas card debacle!) This could potentially change your lives forever!!
We have our first loads of laundry in the washer and the dryer as I type this...I cannot WAIT to see the results.
I know it's going to take a little while to get a few loads in of each of our items, but after our towels are washed and dried a half a dozen times, might they be worth using again?

Don't worry - I'll be back to share with you what we think - but what I want to know now is...
What do you think? Would you try this? Are you a skeptic or a believer? Would you pay $50.00 for this set?

Leave me a comment (or shoot me an email!) and let me know what you think...
Is anyone on YOUR Christmas list going to get a complete laundry system?

Time for voting again...

So, I tried to get a pic of the kids...AND the dog in a pic for this year's holiday cards...
This is how I did...




How DO those folks do it...and make it look so easy?
Anyway - this gang - All 18 (::GASP!:: EIGHTEEN FOLLOWERS! AMAZING!)
this is where you come in...

I have finally narrowed down the pictures for the Holiday Card - I scoured all the different sites and none of them had a layout I really loved with three, maybe four pictures...
The hubs could care less, they all look pretty much the same to him (and to you all too I am sure!)
~ but his favorite isn't my favorite...

Which brings me to my question - which one is YOUR favorite?
I believe if you click on the picture it will actually make it big enough to see -

Option 1

Option 1A (ridiculous - yes, I know!)


Option 2


Option 3

Option 4






Option 5



Option 6



OR....Option 7?

Please feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email...your feedback is appreciated!

And yes, I DO know that things don't have to be this hard...but if you know me, this is how I roll!

xoxo

Pump Up The Jam...

I had the opportunity (finally!) to take the kids to PUMP IT UP!

We've been meaning to go there FOREVER but just haven't gotten the chance to go yet - but finally, after setting up a playdate with some of our creepiest friends...we finally went!


The big slide was a little bit more intimidating than our little guy at home!


But all the kids seemed to have fun!



I even ended up going down it once - I had planned on meeting H up at the top to go down with her but she went down herself before I had a chance - so I went with Cole instead...but - for some reason - a half a dozen slides later - H was afraid at the top...

THANK YOU NANCY for going down with her for me!

It was fun...but a little, um...scary? for me! HA!

Thankfully they have stoppers at the bottom to catch people! I should have taken some video of the kids going down...what a RIOT! (next time for sure!)



They had soo much fun stuff for the kids - I really should think about booking a birthday party there - the problem is...people ALWAYS say they are coming with their kids and then back out on us last minute - so it would be a bunch of Mommy and Daddy's friends hopping around the bounce houses and slides for two hours...

wait...that could be pretty fun....


D and J playing ball -

H and a few of her little boyfriends (8.5 kids on this playdate and H was the only mobile girl!)

The highlight of the playdate...the only other creeplet girl on the playdate! Baby Grace! (that is, unless of course, the baby taking up residence in B's belleh is a girl!) One of the other little guys - 2 year old C just got himself a brand new baby sister (born on MY birthday) but she made her debut a little early and weighed in at under 2 pounds...it's going to be a little bit before she gets to join us on these excursions - but she will...and she'll be keeping up with all these boys I just know it!

I wish we could have gotten 4 year old B in this picture with his friends - but as I've been learning myself - photographing 4 is tougher than any other age! He wanted nothing to do with us...and were it not for Grace - I bet H wouldn't of either!

H was pretty smitten with that baby - and it's hard to believe that she got a chance to hold her with all of us other baby hoggers around - (or is it the other way around?) but she did - and she was pleased as punch...
And she was kind enough to let some of the others have a turn...

But she promptly got her back!

Sadly, we didn't realize until we got home that D never got a turn to hold little Grace. He was so upset talking about how he didn't get to hold her - I chalked it up to him being tired...but when Daddy arrived home from work - and H excitedly told him about the baby and her barbie - D, on the verge of tears AGAIN, retold the story of how he didn't get to hold her.
Poor little guy...he loves babies too!
We'll just have to make sure to canoodle and snorgle her before she grows up on us!
See you soon Baby Grace!

Walk Softly & Carry a Big Stick ~

Walk Softly and Carry a Big Stick...

Isn't that some infamous saying?
If it's not - it should be - we live by that around here...

And speaking of big sticks...We had another birthday in our family...

You can read Bosco the Wonder Dog's Story by checking out LAST YEARS BIRTHDAY BLOG POST
He did it, another year!

This time - the big SEVEN...That's getting up there in dog years...and it's starting to show for our old dog...nothing major - just that he can't hop up onto our bed with the speed and grace he once had...now it's a pretty big deal - and you can bet your ass if he gets up there - he for SURE ain't getting down anytime soon!

Bmann's birthday came and went with pretty little fan fare this year...

But we still make time to throw some extra special sticks around and play a little tug-o-war!







We still love him so... Most of the time...when he's not stealing pancakes off the table or ______ (fill in the blank with pretty much anything you want here!)





Happy Birthday Boscarelli - Here's to (GULP!) seven more!

Happy Halloween...

Does anyone else struggle with getting a pic of their kids together?

ACK!
Is this really the best I can do?


When it was REALLY Halloween - we dressed the kids in their costumes...which like usual...was a bit of struggle - H was going to be a snow princess - wearing a fun dress up dress - AND NOTHING ELSE - but it was quite chilly on Halloween this year - so a thin felt dress just wasn't going to do...

So...we dug out the costume that she had LAST year - that she refused to wear on Halloween - and we put it on for THIS year's trick or treating festivities...thankfully, it fit...(see the part where she didn't want to wear clothes underneath)

So...here we go!
Halloween 2009!

(Why yes, he IS holding a lighter! Thankfully, even his mother can barely work the thing - so it was ok for him to hold it while I fired off 200 pictures with not a one of them BOTH looking at me at the same time!)

We warmed up with some bicycle races around the house...

And just like last year - Our little friend E joined us as Yoda this year...

and the kids had fun going to a very small hand full of houses...

But then preferred to be loved up next to the bonfire with our favorite friends and neighbors...

Where they stayed until someone fell asleep cuddling at the bonfire - last year it was D! This year, H!

Not sure how many more years we'll be able to pull off this low key, hang out and enjoy drinks by the bonfire thing...but for now - for now it's pretty darn awesome!

It's Tuesday...and there's a 7 involved...

Well, it's a Tuesday...and while it's not the 7th...it is the SEVENteenth...and today you have a remarkable opportunity to make a difference!



Today, when you make a donation to The Liz Logelin Foundation -

GIVEMN.ORG will MATCH those donations!!

For those of us who don't have a lot to give, this is a fantastic opportunity to really make a difference! Every $$ dollar $$ counts you guys - let's help make the holidays - and all the rest of the days to come - a little less burdensome on those who have lost a loved one...

Because we can't afford not to!

So I finally did it...I finally booked us a family trip to the Happiest Place on Earth!

That's right folks...The Gust Gab will be hitting the road for a trip to Orlando Florida this winter! It's something I've wanted to do forever...it's been ::GASP:: twenty years since I've been to Disney World! And when I find my pictures from that trip in 1989 around here somewhere - I'll be sure to share them with you!! You won't be disappointed I promise! HA!

And now that I have my own kids...it's about time right?

When Rob and I made the decision that we were done building our family at two kids...I vowed that we would begin traveling with the two happy, healthy kids that we have...
Well, we went all the way to Duluth last month! Whoopeee!

(North Dakota doesn't count either..well, at least not the Red River Valley when we go home to see our families~maybe one day if we venture further West than Fargo!)

So...here we go!! A real live vacation! Getting on an airplane and everything!! We had some frequent flier miles to use -though with the changes with NWA and Delta I didn't get as much out of them as I had hoped...
::Shrugs::

Can we afford it? Nope! But we can't afford not to in my opinion. Life is too damn short and you just don't know what lies around the corner...I refuse to wait for the perfect time because really, what is the perfect time?

So this winter...when my SAD is in full effect, when the weather outside is frightful, this party of four will be hopping on a plane bound for Sunny Florida...
Taking in seven days of what has to be better than what Minnesota has to offer us during that time right?

I tell you, I've been very overwhelmed thus far in my planning process...it started with the airline thing...trying to book reward travel on the hubs account and then my account...and then trying to book a paid ticket on the same flight as those...which apparently was unattainable via the web...but thanks to a friendly ticket agent and a ridiculous fee - she was able to book us all on the same flight! Sheesh!
Then there were the lodging options...um, WOW!
Seeing as how we won't be spending a ton of time at our hotel - I wasn't too concerned about getting a big fancy resort...(the hubs and I prefer to pack our car with camping gear and just *go* on our vacations...this one requires a little more planning!)

And while online one night researching booking options...
Disney dangled a moderate resort for the price of a value resort...so I went for it...after spending several hours reading different threads on the resort we booked - I am confident I made the right choice...now if I could just stop reading my other travel emails and stop comparing other options...
it's done...stop second guessing yourself!

The other stressor...our first born...He's saved us a lot of money over the last seven years in terms of vacations...we haven't done a lot of out of towning that we could have done because we've had to figure out plans for him...
Thankfully, our neighbor friend Betsy has agreed to watch Bosco - It really works out wonderfully, he gets to stay home where he is free to lounge around on the beds, the sofas, the cool kitchen floor...while hopefully not being too big of a pain in the ass for her...
This will be the longest time I've ever been away from him in the seven years he's been our first born! Sad, I know - he's a pain in my ass a lot of the time but I do love him! I know he'll miss his siblings terribly while we're gone! No pop tarts, pancakes or chicken fries to eat?
Maybe Betsy will humor him and give him a special 'kid' treat once in awhile?

Anyway - I'm super excited...The airline is booked, the hotel is booked...tickets to the Disney Parks are ours for the taking...
It's going to be amazing...I just know it...

One of my girlfriends asked me if I had any pointers for her as she was thinking about suggesting Disney to her hubs...I had all sorts of great advice for her - you can't afford not to, life is too short, your kids are great ages, they are only little once, etc etc...but when I brought that up to the hubs...his answer was short and sweet...he said something like...tell her just to book it - like you did -then he doesn't have a choice!
um, oops?
I know the hubs is going to have a great time too - Maybe not as fun as joining his buddies at the Phoenix Open but whatever right?

Now...off to put a dozen memory cards on my Christmas list because you just KNOW I'm going to be a nutburger there with my camera!!

Halloween Partyin' and a Daycare Update...

So after the punkin' carvin was finished...I had to wrangle the kids into costume to head over to the daycare Halloween Party...
unlike years' past - at our new daycare - the Halloween party is a really big deal for the kids AND their families who all come as well -

Our 'traditional' shot of the kids on the table with the pumpkins...

Q~Isn't that the very same costume that H wore in 2006 when she was just one year old? And again in 2008?
A~Why yes, yes it is! Thanks for asking!! I purchased the costume as a 2T when she was just one - knowing we'd have to put it over her clothes because October 31st in Minnesota is traditionally quite cold...Even though it is definitely NOT still her size - she insisted on wearing it! Just as she did LAST YEAR!

Q~Isn't that the very same costume that D wore last year too?
A~Why yes, yes it is! Thanks for asking! He did not know what he wanted to be this year. We looked at costumes often at multiple different stores. Finally, with about 12 hours to spare he informed us he wanted to be a vampire, and a bat.
Well, sorry Scooby...you're out of luck! Thankfully, this one still fit...again, because we bought just big enough to put over clothes last year...


She was all smiles as we headed out to the daycare party!

I knew the party was going to be a big deal, but I didn't know just HOW big a deal til we got there and saw just how many kids from now and then enjoying the Halloween Party!

No wonder they ask the parents come to help out and run some of the games the kids partake in!

(yep - definitely the last year for this costume! stay tuned for Halloween 2010!)

A little Fireman picking out a prize after playing ring toss...

And check this out..you ARE seeing double! D and his little buddy were BOTH Scooby Do this year!

There was face painting...

And the two little girls with the same name had matching Rainbows...

It's amazing to see all of the princess/fairy type costumes...Guess we know what's big with the pre-k crowd this year huh?

H with one of her two 'new' providers...

Which brings me to this...We've now been at daycare for two weeks since I called them to talk about H's insecurities...and things are going remarkably better. In fact, they are like night and day different for our little H - Thank GOD!

The first couple of mornings there were minor anxiety issues...H asking me if I talked to both of the providers again, did they know she didn't want to be outside alone, etc etc...and after knowing that things were CHANGED and CHANGED FOR GOOD - the drop off tears ended...Hallelujah!

And that folks...

That is why I never shut up...I couldn't just sit back and let our little girl be miserable...if having an uncomfortable conversation for fifteen minutes will change the life of one of the most important people in my life, which in turn changes the life of ME...what do you have to lose?

What are you waiting for? SPEAK UP TODAY!

I do need to say THANK YOU to each and every one of you who read my last post about daycare and offered me words of support whether it was via Facebook, Twitter, or Email - there were only a few of you who left comments here, but dozens who emailed me or spoke with me directly and I am so very grateful for this village of folks out here getting me through my days...

Knowing that I am not alone, not a failure, not completely off my rocker crazy...is a tremendous lifesaver.

So to each and every one of you reading - whether you had a horror story of your own to share, a story of how you trusted your own gut and pulled your child(ren) from their situation and saw immediate change, or those that offered me just a pat on the back for speaking out...THANK YOU!

I cannot tell you how grateful I am for each and every one of you!

xoxo