Confessions from HouseholdSix

Christmas Shopping

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:38:00 +0000

Yes, I said it - Christmas shopping. Ever since Aaron was born preemie 3 years ago, and I was done by November 4, I've really enjoyed getting done early and sitting back during the rest of the holiday season. I know a lot of bloggers are doing gift guides, but I thought I'd just take a minute to mention some things my kids have received that have been tried and true toys that have gotten hours of play.

Leap Frog - We have a Leapster a Didj, and a Tag now for each of the boys respectively. As babies, they had the drum, activity table, alphabet ball, Baby Tad, and various other toys. This is one company we have been loyal too over the last 8 years since we've started our family. What I like as a parent about Leap Frog over VTech is that the toys aren't nearly as loud, and most have two different volume settings.

Lego - Last year after we moved, Zach got to move into the real Legos. Before that he had the Duplo blocks. The Duplos have now been handed down to Aaron. The Star Wars Lego sets are Zach's favorites. Both boys have spent countless hours building, demolishing, and building again with their respective Lego sets.

Crayola - The boys love to color and draw. I always hit the back to school sales to stock up on fresh crayons, markers, colored pencils, and paper for them. I grew up loving to draw and color myself, and no other brands are just the same as Crayola.
Melissa and Doug - Their wooden puzzles and magnetic behavior chart have served us well over the years.

Matchbox - The cars have been great. The tracks usually end up getting taken away for misuse in our house. The boys love their cars, and they need more like they need a hole in their heads.

Books - Both boys love to read. Zach's current favorites are Star Wars books and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Aaron's favorites are the board books with the spots to feel.

These are the tried and true toys for our house. The others get played with for awhile, and then get cast aside only to be pushed to the bottom of the toy box and forgotten.

Escape from Adventure Island - Review

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:08:00 +0000

Escape from Adventure Island is JumpStart's sophomore release for the Wii console. After reviewing the Pet Rescue game, I was excited when I was offered a copy of Escape from Adventure Island for my 8 year old to test (we kept our copy too).

As I've mentioned before, our JumpStart journey began when my oldest was in the 3-4 age range with the Reader Rabbit series. I've always been a fan of their software as a fun way for my kids to feel like they're playing video games, when they're actually learning as well. As a blogger, I like the new Wii titles so I no longer have to share the computer as frequently.

Escape from Adventure Island is rated E for everyone, and the age range on the game is 5-9. I really do think it fits these age ranges. There were skills on there my 8 year old son was easily able to complete and had done in previous grades in school, as well as some of the things he's working on now, and things hes not yet covered. With each of the games, there is a menu to choose which skill and at which level to work. This makes it very easy for your child to tailor the game to their own needs, or you as the parent can help them. My son was getting frustrated with me because he kept choosing easy skills and level 1 and I made him choose harder ones to challenge himself a bit.

Overall Zach really liked the game. I honestly couldn't get much more out of him than, "This is fun!" I did notice Zach kept looking for the games like the Manta Ray one where you go through and fly through the right answers and zap the wrong ones. As a parent, I liked that game as well as Egg Nest because maneuvering the flying and rolling the eggs into the nest helps to develop his hand/eye coordination. Something my son needs to work on, and being that he's not sports inclined, games like Escape from Adventure Island is a good way for me to sneak this skill in without him knowing.

The only drawbacks I see are that for an experienced gamer, the graphics are a bit basic, but I don't think the kids really care. Since the game is geared towards kids, all that matters is that they like it. And, the load times on some of the games seemed slow. Again, this was something that I noticed more than Zach did, so the load times weren't so long to where he was getting impatient. All in all, definitely a better showing that Pet Rescue in our opinions.

Now, if you're interested in a giveaway, there is one on the JumpStart blog. It's a good one too!

From JumpStart:

The theme of the contest is “Time to Escape!”

We want to hear how your family uses imagination to escape the everyday and turn life into an adventure! Tell us your story for a chance to win.

Prizes

50 winners will receive a copy of JumpStart Escape From Adventure Island
3 GRAND PRIZE WINNERS will receive a family Escape Pack (over $1000 value)!

1 Nintendo Wii Console
1 copy of JumpStart Escape From Adventure Island
$250 in spa gift certificates
1 JumpStart branded flip camera
3 lifetime JumpStart memberships (1 for winner, 2 to share)
500 virtual coins for JumpStart.com
4 JumpStart pirate hats & 4 JumpStart kids T-shirts

There are two (2) entries per household - one story and one Tweet. All the details can be found on the Time to Escape contest page.

*Confessions From HouseholdSix is not running this contest. All rules must be followed on the JumpStart site and entries made there.

**Graphics in this post provided by Jumpstart.

Tragic

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:46:00 +0000

What a tragic loss we in the Army family suffered at Ft Hood yesterday. As a spouse, it sends so many thoughts through your head. The first thought is always "This could have just as easily been here." It really could have happened on any one of our posts, and that is what is so scary. It also dredges up the incidents at Ft. Bragg in the 90's, the Army War College in the early 2000's, and even the shooting in the PX at Ft. Lewis this past summer.

As details emerge as to who the person was who carried out this attack, it raises some interesting questions and topics for discussion. One is why didn't the authorities do more if he was already on their radars? Will this improve mental health care for all in the military since this was a person who had counseling before? Did he just send our country's attitudes and suspicions towards Muslims back to the aftermath of 9-11? Why is this another alum of Virginia Tech who carried out such a violent attack?

For now our thoughts are with the soldiers, families, and civilians who all live, play, and work at Ft. Hood.

Wordless Wednesday - Birthday Boy

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:58:00 +0000

Aaron is 3 today. We've come a long way from that night at 35 weeks pregnant when my water spontaneously broke. In 3 years I think he's had enough clothes to outfit a small town going from preemie sized sleepers to size 5.

Our little jaundiced baby shortly after we got home from the hospital, held by big brother.

Now, a rough and tumble 3 year old. The only remaining effects of his being preemie are the reflux, and asthma. I consider us lucky.

Slow

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:21:00 +0000

Life here has been slow lately. We took the boys to Chocolate World Sunday to get Aaron's birthday chocolate bar. He's not a cake, muffin, or pie eater, so we got him what he likes best. As soon as we pulled up and he recognized it as Hershey, he says "Chocolate?" He knew. Our trip there was uneventful. We were going to do the trolley ride, but we got there at 10am, and they didn't start until 11am. It's hard to kill an hour when you're just there for Chocolate World. We left (love the free 2 hour parking), and by the time we took the scenic route, Olive Garden was open for lunch in Harrisburg.

Lunch was an experience. Aaron was in rare form. We've entered what I call the Mofo 3's in full force. We were *that* family with the loud kid Sunday. I hate being *that* family. I'm glad it doesn't happen all that often. I'm also glad he settled once the breadsticks came so we didn't have to get our food to go. Aaron was being cranky because he wanted food. At least we were in a good place to fix that. Then during our meal I had to explain to Zach about not scratching our butt and not blowing our nose at the table. It's so much fun having boys sometimes.

Tomorrow I'll have pictures of Aaron for his birthday for Wordless Wednesday. He's gone from preemie to giant baby in 3 years. It's amazing. This is my disclaimer for anyone who gets tired of kid pics on Wordless Wednesday.

Trick or Treat

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:09:00 +0000

Our town and most of the surrounding towns had trick or treat last night. We had a good time. Our neighbors had a get together beforehand, and then we all scattered to take the kids out. We were out of candy by the time we arrived home at 7:15pm and the candyfest started at 6pm. I really liked how the police blocked off our neighborhood and the kids could pretty much roam free without worries of being hit.

Here are my two goblins. Zach chose to be an Army man, and I knew if I bought him the outfit, I'd have to get Aaron one too. Zach went around the neighborhood with some friends, so at least they didn't have to be seen together. As soon as I put Aaron's costume on him, he says, "Go work? Go work like Daddy?" It was cute. The best part is they both crashed and slept in this morning.

Kids on Age

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:53:00 +0000

Z: "Mom, how old are you?"
Me: "I"m 29 for about another month, why?"
Z: "Some of the other kids don't believe me when I tell them that."
Me: "What kids?"
Z: "The boy next door. He says you're 40's or 50's like his parents."
Me: "Zach, I've told you he's a little jerkface that you don't need to be hanging around. And just because his parents are probably close to the ages of your GRANDPARENTS doesn't mean that I am too."
Z: "Well how old are grandma and grandpa?"
Me: "MY parents (my in laws are considerably older) are 47 and 53. I'm willing to bet that's about how old most of your friends' PARENTS are. "
Z: "No way???? Yeah, most of my friends' parents are OLD."

So now I expect some phone calls while he tells all the other kids how old their parents are because his grandparents are the same ages. I'll be laughing on the inside while playing serious parent on the outside - maybe. I might laugh on the outside. Depends on the parent and how much of a little heathen their child is.

Wordless Wednesday - Fall Leaves

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:01:00 +0000

Let's Try Parenting

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:15:00 +0000

Am I overly crazy because I expect other people's kids to adhere to some form of decorum? You know, I thought living on an Army post that the kids would have some basic manners and self control. I was sorely mistaken. Some of the same kids who my husband just reprimanded a few weeks ago for throwing apples were knocking and running over the weekend. Not only did they knock and run once, but they were dumb enough to wait for me to turn off my porch light and do it again. Little did they know I was lying in wait on the other side of the door ready to chase them down - which I did. Then I made them do the walk of shame to their parents.

All the parents had to say was "It was all in good fun," and "Did you apologize?" Seriously? That's it? Maybe I'm from a different time, but if a neighbor brought me home, there were consequences. Not only that, but they don't know who's on the other side of that door. I have anxiety issues about stuff like that because in high school I'd get these phone calls from a familiar voice I couldn't quite place saying all kinds of nasty things to me or detailing what I wore to school that day. They even would talk about watching me walk home from school. When we got caller ID to see who it was, it turned out to be the next door neighbors' 20-something son who still lived at home. So excuse me if I'm a little jumpy, especially with a husband in the field for the weekend. Not to mention I had a 3yo trying to get to sleep. Are they going to deal with my child when he can't sleep because their kids are little assholes?

What really appalls me is it's not the teens in our neighborhood. It's the kids in the 8-12 range that have this sense of entitlement, attitude issues, and general lack of respect for others. What are these kids going to be like as they get older? Of course I suppose I shouldn't really expect much from people who can't even keep their cats and dogs where they belong. If people can't even follow leash laws, then why would they pay attention to their kids' whereabouts too?

Pak Nak Giveaway

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:59:00 +0000

For those of you who enjoyed my post about how I used Pak Naks for kids' organization, I have a giveaway for you! Three (3) winners (chosen by random.org of course) can win four (4) Pak Nak designs of their choice. Anyone who reads this post can enjoy 20% off their Pak Nak purchase right now by using the code PAK20 at checkout.

Here's how to win:
1. Go to the Pak Nak site and come back here and tell me your favorite design. You must do this one to qualify.
For additional entries:
1. Follow @householdsix and @PakNak on Twitter and tweet "You can organize with Pak Naks too. http://tiny.cc/PBHRq " up to 2x per day. Leave the link to your tweets here.
2. Blog about this giveaway linking to either this giveaway post or the organizational post, and to the Pak Nak site.

Good luck to all entrants. C0ntest closes at 11:59pm EST on November 7th. Winners will be announced November 8th.

Kid Organization - Pak Nak Review

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:09:00 +0000

I decided I needed to reign in the Toys R Us throw up in my living room (thanks grandmas, grandpas, and various aunts and uncles). First I cleared out the kids' play corner. Then after putting together a nine square organizer, I put back on the shelves the books that were currently favorites. Man do they read a lot! Not that I should be complaining, but every time I tried to put a book away in a box it got pulled back out again.

Then I put together four of those fabric bins. I wanted one for trains, one for cars, one for Fisher Price and Little People, and one for train tracks (yes, we have that much track). I thought about getting a label maker, but My 2yo can't read. That wouldn't do me any good if I want him to clean up his own toys. So I enlisted the help of Pak Naks. Now, they did send me a couple samples to try, but then I ended up going back to buy many more on my own. I got the wheel with flames for the cars, the circuit board for the trains, the frog is for the Fisher Price stuff (for their Freddy Frog character), and the Monkey is for the train tracks. I was concerned that with the Velcro dots that hold Pak Naks in place that my 2yo would be constantly thwarting my labeling system. He only did it once or twice, then was able to leave them alone. Now I can say, please put the cars in the car bin, and he knows that's the one with the wheel. It's great! The same process is easily repeated for the other toys.

I also ordered the boys each a few Pak Naks in a certain character. I let my 8yo choose his. He chose the robot. We use the puppy for my 2yo. I have labeled other things this way for them. I have shoe bins by our back door, one for each family member. The boys not only each have their own color bin, but also their own character to label where their shoes go. I also got a two drawer organizer for hats and gloves, and labeled each drawer, one for each boy. Getting ready to leave the house is much easier now, as well as coming home. The boys are fairly good about putting their shoes and accessories back where they belong.

So just beyond being cute and decorative as I'd seen Pak Naks advertised for on other blogs and on their site, you can also use them to help organize your home and keep the kids organized.

*Pak Naks are not recommended for children under 4 years of age.

If you're interested in trying Pak Naks for yourself, check out my Pak Nak Giveaway ending November 7.

Converted

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:10:00 +0000

I've been converted. I've been seeing a chiropractor. I have to admit, I never thought seeing an actual chiropractor was necessary. I always thought having my doctor who was a DO crack my back was good enough. I used to have my doctor crack my back fairly frequently in high school because between carrying a backpack all day that weighed half a ton and playing sports, I was beating up my body and my back hurt.

Fast forward through college and my 20's. I didn't think about getting my back aligned in college because it didn't hurt. Later after I started having kids and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, I figured it was all par for the course. Then a few weeks ago I got a migraine that lasted a week despite my migraine meds. This caused all my muscles in my neck and upper back to tighten up and cause me some back pain. Well, cause more back pain that usual. I decided I'd call a chiropractor. I didn't just call anyone. I did my research locally first.

Once I started seeing the chiropractor I didn't think I was that bad off. I figured a session or two and my back would be feeling a lot better. It was. They also took x-rays of my neck. Did you know that your neck naturally curves forward? It's supposed to. Mine is straight up and down, and starting to curve backwards. It's no wonder I get so many headaches and my neck muscles are always tight. For all the mumbo jumbo I thought chiropractics were, you can't fake an x-ray. I was sure it was mine because I could see my molars and my one filling LOL. But sitting there, I was shocked. I had to watch a video before that appointment about the neck and spine and how it should look and how it looks when it's misaligned and what can happen. While I was watching the video, I honestly sat there thinking "Oh that's not me." Little did I know it was.

After two weeks of care, I'm beyond thrilled to have legs that are closer to being the same length again after being blown off for four years about how one leg was suddenly a half inch shorter than the other when it never was before. I can really tell a difference in my lower back with that already. I had less fibromyalgia pain that first week. I'm not sure about this second week because our weather has gone from the 30's to the mid 70's in a matter of days, and that makes me sore and achy. I've also noticed my knees ache a little, but I think it's because everything was so misaligned and they compensated for so long they're learning the right way to function again. My trigger points are also a bit tender, but I can feel them loosening some.

You might be wondering, "But I heard once you go, you need to keep going." I'm sure that's true. My thinking on that idea is this: once your body is aligned properly, it hurts when it's out of alignment, so you want to go back for those maintenance visits to keep everything aligned and working as it should.

I would also suggest that if you choose chiropractics to do your research like you would with any other doctor before you make an appointment. As with any doctor, a good chiropractor will not push you to do anything you're not comfortable with like buy the supplements they may have in their office.

Am I saying go out and go see a chiropractor? No. You need to do what's right for you and your medical conditions if you have any. Speak to your primary doctor first. What I am saying is it's my opinion that there's more validity to the practice than when I arrived for my first appointment.

Perception

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:23:00 +0000

I just want to take a moment to say that situations are all about perception. Refreshing one's blog over and over and over and over again all day long switching from one IP to another may not be considered stalking by traditional definition. However, when you have a person who has had unwanted physical contact with one person, and can't seem to take no for an answer when many other bloggers tell this person, "No" in reference to running reviews and giveaways on their blogs, then when I write about this person and see IPs in an area they're from refreshing over and over and over and over again, sometimes every few seconds ALL day, I feel threatened. From anyone else, you're right, it's not really a big deal. They're probably just watching the train wreck unfold as it happens. For someone who has proven that when a woman says, "No," and they can't seem to understand that no means no, the threat no matter how perceived becomes very real.

I also have to add that given this person's seemed pattern of behavior that other women are telling me, I do not feel that calling my blog "Confessions from a Household of Sex" was a Freudian slip or a typo. Again, it's perception. I am severely offended by having my blog demeaned in that manner, and I am not a person to get offended easily.

To My Readers..........

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:49:00 +0000

I just want to let you all know that if you have commented on my Eden Fantasys review and have gotten an e-mail as a result from Drew at Eden Fantasys, I'm sorry. I had no idea he was doing this until today when one of my friends and loyal blog readers brought it to my attention. Please know I had nothing to do with this, and I'm appalled that a PR rep would farm e-mails from a blog review. There will be more to follow on this matter soon.

School Pictures

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:53:00 +0000

I always hesitate to purchase the packages from LifeTouch that the school offers. Their photographers seem to have always missed photography 101. In Kindergarten my son had art class before pictures and they had his whole shirt in the picture complete with white paint. In the first grade Spring pictures they used too much of a gaussian blur, a filter, a PS action, something, and it was blurry and my kid looked stoned. Every.single.frikken.year. he comes home with that fake smile.

This year I told my son to say an "M" word like "Monkey butts" to elicit a more natural smile. The photographer waned him to say "cheese." Evidently an argument ensued between my third grader and the adult photographer, and my son refused to smile because he wasn't going to fake smile because Mom said he'd "better not." This is the resulting photo, and I'm keeping them because the story is hilarious. I laughed so hard when my son told it, I cried.

Chili's Follow Up

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:48:00 +0000

We went to our local Chili's last week for the first time in a few months. Since the new general manager had taken over, kids' night disappeared, and there was a large turnover in waitstaff - not for the better. With the 2 for $20 promotion they're running, we thought we'd go give them another chance. We missed the Chili's of days gone by. We went in on Tuesday night. That used to be kids' night. The place was dead on a night when it used to be PACKED. I'm talking people waiting outside for tables packed. Our waitress sucked too. The bartender waited on us more than our waitress did. And yes, that's how slow it was - the bartender had time to wait on us. I tipped the bartender, not our waitress for this reason. It makes us sad how a restaurant that was once running so well at the front of house, and was such a pleasant experience, is now just as mediocre as all the other chain places around.

Blogger Ethics Setback

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:43:00 +0000

OK, so I didn't enter the Samsung washer and dryer contest at Twittermoms. Why? Two reasons. One being that every time I've researched washers and dryers, Samsung ends up on the bottom. Second, it was a popularity contest. I HATE begging for votes. In the interest of full disclosure, have I entered contests at Twittermoms? Yes, one. I entered one sponsored by Chili's in the spring. Do I have an account with Twittermoms now? No.

So Samsung paid Twittermoms a nice fee to run this contest for them. They post the contest, and then it all goes to hell. People using automated comments to increase their chances of winning, the person running the contest at Twittermoms and PR at Samsung blowing off those who e-mail with concerns of cheating, and then lumping those who were whistle blowers in with the cheaters. I'm not sure how it can "sadden" a person when someone brings cheating to light. I guess it's because then the people running the contest actually have to grow a pair and do something about it. Boohoo. Nothing in life worth doing is easy.

So, instead of disqualifying the automated comment offenders, it was decided there would be a random draw - after the contest was already under way. Some say this is illegal. I'm not sure on that, so I'll let that part play out how it may. Then, a week after the contest winner was supposed to be announced, the random winner is finally announced with very little flourish.

The winning blogger doesn't have the badge for the contest on her blog as stipulated in the rules, but I also see where people had issues with the button code and that was never addressed. Like that's a shocker. It seems Twittermoms can't address and fix any of their issues in a timely manner. Their ethics in running this contest just set bloggers WAY back in the fight to prove that not all of us are douches just in it for the free stuff and money to be had. Thanks for that.

As for Samsung, I'm disappointed in their company that even once all these issues of cheating and ethics were brought to light, their contests with Twittermoms weren't pulled. Oh wait. Was that because they had a contract with Twittermoms after paying them to run the contests for them? At any rate, I won't be buying any Samsung products any time soon, not only because I've seen their quality go downhill, but because they seem to back cheaters.

If you're interested in more takes on the issue, visit these fellow bloggers:
Babes and Kids
Blog 4 Mom
The Shopping Mama
Night Owl Mama

I'd also like to point out that three of us who have posted so far are military wives. It's not good to alienate the military community. We're pretty tight knit and have a wicked word of mouth.

What's Wrong with this Picture?

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:24:00 +0000

OK, so I forgot to take a picture, but there are signs at ALL our local grocery stores saying Eggo is out of some of its brands nationally. How does Eggo run out of waffles? Can anyone tell me this? Better yet, explain this to my 2yo son who wants the "yelllllooooowwww waaaafffffflllleeesss!" And this is screeched in my ears at 6am because I'm out of "yellow waffles." Waffles is what Eggo DOES. Hello! Kellogg's! Get some damn mini waffles in the stores post haste.

This is as bad as the time my husband went to a Chili's restaurant and they had run out of hamburgers on a Saturday night. When burgers and ribs are probably your top sellers, how do you run out? Not only run out, but run out on a weekend. Think o fall the sales lost.

My personal favorite is our local hoagie place. LOVE their subs by the way. They're the only place outside Erie I've been able to get a decent Italian hoagie. But if you're a hoagie place, and that's what you sell, HOW DO YOU RUN OUT OF HOAGIE ROLLS????????? Just sayin'.

Have you ever had something like this happen to you?

Wordless Wednesday - Jelly Babies

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:38:00 +0000

As seen in my grocery store.

Bodliy Function Police

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:38:00 +0000

Nothing screams living with a 2 almost 3 year old boy more than "Ahahahahahahaha Daddy farted!" complete with finger pointing. This occurs for every offending family member.

Then there's the times he sneezes and if you don't say "Bless you," within his time frame he says "Bless you," until you say it, getting more insistent, then after you comply, he sweetly says "Thank you." This also happens after you cough.

I love living with boys.

Eden Fantasys Review

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:52:00 +0000

Updated: Yes, I agreed to review a sex toy. I'm not a prude. This should have been a fun review. Unfortunately I found out commenters on this post were being e-mailed without my knowledge by the PR rep. Commenters who don't have review blogs. Commenters who have already told this company, "No" at least once before. Then other situations with this person came to light with other bloggers. I cannot now in good conscience recommend this company until they remove this person from working with the public at the very least.

The good people over at Eden Fantasys were kind enough to let me have one of their products to try out (no I didn't send it back). For this review, I tried the Pleasure Ball, and it lived up to my expectations. As an Army wife, I'll admit, I have what I call BOBs, or Battery Operated Boyfriends, for when my husband is away. Let's face it, a woman has needs, and when your husband is gone for 18 months or even a week, sometimes a girl needs a little help, ya know?

When I tried the Pleasure Ball, I have to admit I didn't do anything sexual with it. The ball is the perfect size to fit into the palm of my hand. With three different vibration settings, I set out to work on the kinks in my neck. It was magic. It also worked on my aching feet. I haven't tried it on my husband's shoulder where he has bursitis yet, but that's on the agenda. It's wonderful as a massage tool. I think it's safe to assume based on my experience with other vibrators that it works well for what it's originally intended for as well. The pleasure ball is also waterproof for your bath or shower pleasure.

Now, you may be wondering why I chose to review a vibrator and not use it for sexual pleasure. My point was to show women who may be shy about sex toys that there are other uses for them, and you need to choose one that works for you and your needs. Eden Fantasys is a good site to start with because they have a very extensive inventory. There's something there for everyone.

ETA: I was asked by e-mail about the waterproof feature. I honestly hadn't tried it, so I gave it a shot during my shower this morning. I have to definitely recommend the Pleasure Ball for shower use. The vibrations were drowned totally out by the running water if you're looking for privacy, and the ball glided over my skin much more smoothly than it does without water. The vibrations out of the shower aren't any louder than any other vibrator I've encountered if that's something you're worried about as well, but as busy moms with kids, if you're looking for that time out while you shower, the kids will never know with the Pleasure Ball.

*Photo courtesy of Eden Fantasys site

Fiber One Yogurt Review

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:26:00 +0000

Thanks to the generosity of My Blog Spark and Pssst! by General Mills I was able to try the Fiber One yogurt to see how my family liked it before we bought it. Well, I use the terms "I" and "family" loosely. My son Zach is the only yogurt eater int eh house. I think it all tastes like sour milk. Zach tried the vanilla Fiber One yogurt since it was the only flavor we could be sure didn't have any fruit chunks in it. The boy cannot have chunks in his yogurt. He won't even eat the ones where you can stir in sprinkles and cookie bits. The vanilla Fiber One yogurt smelled like vanilla frosting when I opened it. It was creamy when I stirred it for him. Being 8 he could've done this himself, but I wanted to see the yogurt too. Zach said the yogurt was "OK," then the aftertaste hit. He didn't like it, and didn't want to eat any more of it.

When I went to the store to get our package to try, I don't remember the exact price, but I also don't remember the price being significantly higher or lower than the other brands of yogurt.

I also sent some coupons to my friend Lisa to see if Zach's opinion was a fluke. It wasn't. She agreed it was creamy and tasted good at the outset, but the Fiber One yogurt had a funny after taste. Lisa tried the Key Lime and peach flavors. She said the peach had a good amount of fruit in it, but they key lime tasted like smoked limes. Lisa also had her 12 year old son try the yogurt and he came to the same conclusions.

Consensus: The yogurt would be pretty good if they get rid of the aftertaste.

Blog Awards

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:47:00 +0000

I've had some blogger friends who were kind enough to award me with some awards. I'm beyond flattered.

From Mrs. Zee: Best Blog Award

Dos it get any better than this? Someone thinks I'm the best (besides me).

The rules:
1. Post the award on your blog along with the name of the person who awarded it to you and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award on to 15 other blogs you have recently discovered and think are great. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they've been chosen.

From Leah at Funny is the New Young: Kreative Blogger
The rules:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award.
2. Link to that person’s blog.
3. Copy the logo to your blog.
4. List seven things about yourself that your readers might not know. Hm...
5. Nominate seven new recipients of the award.
6. Post links to their sites.
7. Leave comments so they know they’ve won.

Seven things my readers might not know? That's tough since I'm so open here. Let me try to come up with some.

1. I'll stand up for what's right, but I really don't like confrontation.
2. I'm easily distracted. If I don't write tasks down, they don't get done. Plain and simple. It's not that I'm blowing you off, I just have no short term memory.
3. I love the look on people's faces when they think I'm so much older and then they find out I'm only 29. This usually happens because my husband is older and people assume I'm his age.
4. I love my kids, but there are just some days I wish we just had a dog even if I am allergic to them.
5. I have an uncle who died this year back in March. I just found out a couple weeks ago. I found out because my dad told me when a lawyer contacted him about finding someone to settle the estate. My family is next to the definition of dysfunctional in the dictionary.
6. I've never fit in with my peers.
7. In social settings women get irritated because their husbands will converse with me about current events because I can hold my own. The women in these settings tend to shun me because I try to talk about more than just poopy diapers and soccer practices. Having a brain sucks sometimes.

From Krystel at Army Wife 101: One Lovely Blog

The rules:
The only rule I could find for this award was to pass it on to 15 blogs I've newly discovered.

Now for the nominees (in no particular order). These aren't necessarily blogs that are new to me. They are all blogs I have bookmarked and read on a regular basis. From what I can tell (And my intuition is almost always right), these are all good, kind people and their blogs are worth following. Whether these people choose to put the awards on their blogs is up to them. I'm just spreading some love to my fellow bloggers.

My Trendy Tykes - Love the humor and sarcasm.
The Diary of a Poshpreneur - Her personal posts are so moving.
Ordinary and Awesome - Sara hosts Mostly Wordless Wednesdays and does awesome blog designs over at her other blog, Subjective Beauty.
Mommy Goggles - Tanya is one of the nicest bloggers I've come across. She does awesome product reviews and giveaways. I love reading about her family life in between the reviews.
Telling Dad - Don't forget to also check out Greg's other ventures The Sweet Dreams Fund and Womb to Bloom.
Womb at the Innsane - Kadi would give you the shirt off her back if you asked for it. A blogger who tells it like it is.
Chefdruck Musings - A foodie blogger in Columbus. I love reading about her family's adventures in food and life.
Creative Junkie - The more humorous side of parenting. I don't think I've ever left without laughing.
Fever - Almost always a thought provoking post, but a lot of laughs too.

Friday Random

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:31:00 +0000

Today I'm going to let y'all in on my exciting life as of late, and feel free to tell me how you've been in the comments. I want to hear about you and yours too.

- We're still fighting the good fight against allergies and asthma here.

- We're barely into football season, and I'm still burnt out form playing fantasy football last year. Can't we just take a whole year off?

- I ordered pizza for dinner last night. Thought it was handy to order online. My receipt said 30-40 minutes. 55 minutes later I'm calling the pizza place saying "WTH? Where's my food?" Manager says, "That time isn't accurate we've been telling people 45-60 minutes." "That fine, but you have my phone number. You could have called when you got the order and told me that time wasn't accurate. (dipshit)" So now I have a credit to a crappy pizza place because he wasn't willing to budge and do a refund. It was a credit on my next order or cancel my order, and we needed dinner since it was on its way at that point. And by the way, this was our local Papa John's (We ONLY ordered from them because Jigsy's doesn't deliver out here). With my track record with restaurants lately, I'm convinced it's a sign for me to go to the grocery store and cook at home.

- Speaking of cooking at home, will someone please tell my fibromyalgia that it can't render my body achy and useless at 4pm? The hours between 4:30pm and 8pm are my most active with dinner and getting boys to bed.

- And while we're speaking to inanimate objects, can someone also speak to Mother Nature and tell her that I've had enough with all the various warm and cold fronts already? It's wreaking serious havoc on my body, migraines, and sinuses.

- Zach informed my husband and I that the neighbor kids hate us. It's because when we're outside we make them follow rules if they're by our house. Or maybe it's because my husband yelled at them for throwing apples in the backyard, and almost hitting our patio table - the glass top patio table. Or maybe it's because there was a group of them hanging out in our front yard when none of us were outside and he told them to go hang out in their own yard, and when they just stared at him in disbelief he had to reiterate that he was serious and they finally left. Where the hell are their parents? That's a rhetorical question, don't answer.

That about sums it up for me. Tomorrow we might take the boys to breakfast and then to the football game at the college where my husband works. My husband is the cadre member overseeing the canon crew for the game tomorrow. We'll see what the weather and moods bring in the morning.

What are your weekend plans?

Wordless Wednesday - The New Lawnmower

c_a_griffiths@yahoo.com (Amanda) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:34:00 +0000

This cracked me up. Walking into Home Depot this is what we see. Someone bought a new riding lawnmower, but had to take the keg off the back of their truck to load it first. Welcome to Pennsyltucky.

My favorite part about all this is how clueless they were that I took the picture. I love cell phones with cameras. By all appearances, I was an uninvolved mom texting while walking into the store with my family while in actuality, I had one eye on my 8yo, my husband had secured the 2yo, and my husband and I were conversing while I was snapping the pic.