Aloha Friday | 3.5.10

Been a looooooong time since I participated in Aloha Friday. I wish I could say it was a good one but I'd be lying. The stomach bug has been here all week and showing no signs of leaving. Being the only one who hasn't had it yet I feel like I am waiting to be executed. I know it's coming, I just don't know when. I'm scared

Anyway...we went looking at puppies last night. We had to get rid of Bella. We just weren't the right family for her. Our yard was too small for her and my kids were not big enough. She needed a family with a huge yard and big kids with a lot of energy. I am sad it didn't work out with her. She was a sweet dog. I have no doubt she will be adopted quickly. We went looking for something much smaller yesterday. By small I mean, at full grown it will still be smaller than my babies at birth, LOL.

My question(s) today is...

Do you have a dog? What kind?

I have always wanted a dog. My parents always told me no because my brother was allergic. When I was 14 my dad got me a Pekinese puppy for my birthday. He ran out in the road when he was 11 month and was hit by a car.

Wordless Wednesday | 3.3.10

Make It Stop! Make It Stop!

As if being Monday wasn't bad enough. Jacob woke up at 6 this morning covered in vomit. His bedroom was even scarier. I was already not feeling well myself and now I have this to deal with. He feels like he's running a fever but he won't hold the thermometer under his tongue and he refuses to shut his mouth. I don't want to do a rectal temp on him because his poor booty is so raw from the explosive diarrhea he's been having since last night. I guess it was a sign of things to come. I tried to give him Tylenol but he just threw it up about 30 minutes later. So now he's in the bath acting like nothing ever happened and I'm freaked out. Trying to keep the two little away from each other is not working out. Would it be wishful thinking if I thought it would start and end with him? I can only hope. I can't deal with that again. After the fiasco in January '09 I can't even imagine doing that again. I'd rather have kidney stones again. No seriously, I would. What we went through the entire month of January last year is what I would envision life in hell to be like. What made it even worse is both DH and I had it at the same time and Josslyn was only 6 months old, Jacob was barely 2, and Justyn had school. I want to cry just thinking of it coming back into this house. Is it bedtime yet?

Wordless Wednesday

Just Couldn't Stay Away

Just 1 post down it says I've left, and now here I am posting that I'm back. I'm back to my family blog. I miss blogging about my family, about my everyday adventures. I do not miss blogging about reviews and giveaways. Too stressful. I have way too much going on to worry about the next product to post about. I just want to blog about the stresses of having a new dog. The aggravation of having 2 kids still in diapers. I want to be able to post a couple cute pictures of my kids every now and then. So I've decided to nix the old fancy shmancy blog, and just post here. Where it all started. I like it here. I miss it here.

So what has been going on? This past summer, Rich deployed for 6 months. He left right before Josslyn's first birthday and returned right before Jacob's 3rd. Being without my better half for six loooong months was difficult but something I think we both needed. I know I did. I learned so much about myself. I learned that I could be a single parent, though I hope I never have to be, LOL.

Justyn started the 1st grade, lost 2 teeth, and learned how to give me attitude and roll his eyes. Yaaaaay!

Jacob started to talk more, eat less (didn't think that was even possible), and started to love his sister. Notice there wasn't anything about using the potty? Yea, that's because he won't.

Josslyn learned to walk, then run, then climb, the terrorize, all while eating everything in sight.

We spent a lot of time at the beach. What's the point of living in Florida if you aren't going to soak up the sun?!

Rich got home right before Thanksgiving. We had a lovely dinner at home, together, as a family.

Shortly after Rich's return he and I went to Georgia sans children and stayed in the most beautiful cabin. It was glorious, and a little scary. I couldn't imagine living in the mountains anymore. Those driveways are horrific.

We got a new puppy for the kids. She is (we think) a border collie/lab mix. She's so cute and soooo aggravating. The kids love her, but I am having a hard time with her chewing stuff. We are going to have to get wood flooring in our house because she's tracking dirt and mud on our carpet every time she comes in the house. Despite all the doggy chew toys she still feels the need to chew EVERYTHING. She is also unaware of her size and strength and how little my children are. She tries to jump on Josslyn and Jacob and knocks them down. I am thinking we may have to give her to another family that has the tolerance, because I clearly do not.

So that has been what's going on in our little family. I don't want to spill too much right now, because then what would I have to blog about? :0)

I've MOVED!!! Come join me!!! CONTEST!!!

So I recently made the switch from Blogger to Wordpress. I'm enjoying my new space but sad that I have lost all my followers. I have decided that I miss you all so much that I'm going to buy you back. Shameless. I know. At any rate I am hosting a Follow Me contest! Just come on over and follow me, leave a comment on the post linked below, and that's all.

Follow Me Contest!!!

I hope you will all return. I do miss my readers. It's just not as fun posting when there isn't anyone to read it, haha.

Aloha Fridaaaaaaaaaaaay

Aloha Friday is brought to you by An Island Life. Head on over and join in!

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is a day to take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

Man I love me some Friday! Anyway, here we go with another fun filled edition of Aloha Friday!

What kind of camera do you have?

I have a Sony Cybershot which I love, and a Canon 5D DSLR which I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! I'm sad that digital cameras weren't around when I was in school. I would have so many pictures to go with my high school memories.

Extreme Home Blog Makeover

I am thinking it's time for a new blog look. I've been researching great sites for the perfect templet. I'm going to miss my current one. I get tons of compliments on it almost daily. I just want something more professional looking and less cookie cutter cutesy. I might transfer this one over to my 365 blog because I just love it so much.

By-the-way, for those of you who love my blog layout you should check out Scrap Blog Designs by Hilary! She is amazing and super sweet. Always accommodating to me no matter what. Her blog layouts are awesome and her prices are unbeatable.

I am still in the process of layout hunting so if you know of a great site let me know. I would greatly appreciate it.

Thousand Word Thursday

Daddy's little girl.

Protect Your Wallet? Protect Yourself?

I am all for going green and protecting our environment, but what about protecting ourselves? Ever since these so called "Smart" cars have come out I can't help but wonder if people are thinking of their wallets over safety. It doesn't take a genius to see that these cars are not a smart idea at all. Sure they save you money on gas and help with global warming. You might as well just be driving a motorcycle because you are getting the same protection.

Yesterday, April 14th, 2009 the IIHS released the crash test ratings and video for 3 of the most common smart cars. It really didn't surprise me. There is just no way these cars can stand up to any sort of vehicle in any type of crash.

Laws of physics prevail: The Honda Fit, Smart Fortwo, and Toyota Yaris are good performers in the Institute's frontal offset barrier test, but all three are poor performers in the frontal collisions with midsize cars. These results reflect the laws of the physical universe, specifically principles related to force and distance.

Although the physics of frontal car crashes usually are described in terms of what happens to the vehicles, injuries depend on the forces that act on the occupants, and these forces are affected by two key physical factors. One is the weight of a crashing vehicle, which determines how much its velocity will change during impact. The greater the change, the greater the forces on the people inside and the higher the injury risk. The second factor is vehicle size, specifically the distance from the front of a vehicle to its occupant compartment. The longer this is, the lower the forces on the occupants.

Size and weight affect injury likelihood in all kinds of crashes. In a collision involving two vehicles that differ in size and weight, the people in the smaller, lighter vehicle will be at a disadvantage. The bigger, heavier vehicle will push the smaller, lighter one backward during the impact. This means there will be less force on the occupants of the heavier vehicle and more on the people in the lighter vehicle. Greater force means greater risk, so the likelihood of injury goes up in the smaller, lighter vehicle.

Crash statistics confirm this. The death rate in 1-3-year-old minicars in multiple-vehicle crashes during 2007 was almost twice as high as the rate in very large cars.

I just can't understand why anyone would want to be put in that sort of danger just to save a few dollars. If you want to help with the environment try getting a bigger hybrid car. They may not be AS environmentally friendly, but it's better than nothing.

In the video, the IIHS released, the Smartcar actually went airborne and did a 450 degree turn around. The entire front of the car was gone. Absolutely zero hope for survival in something like this if you were in a head on collision of any sort. Is it really worth it? Is it really a good idea, these cars? I am just not convinced. There is just no upside to owning one of these, in my opinion. Like I said, I'm all for going green, but not at my life's expense.

To read the entire crash test rating article visit the IIHS site by clicking the link.