Keeper of the Cheerios

Win A Jonas Brothers Build-A-Bear Dog!

Miranda — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:20:26 +0000

Is your little girl a Jonas Brothers fan? My daughter is and she was so excited to find out that www.buildabear.com now has a super cute JONAS stuffed dog for all the Jonas Brothers fans out there. We spent a small part of our summer watching the first season of the Jonas Brothers on Netflix with my daughter and she’s been a fan ever since. When our JONAS dog arrived she was thrilled and couldn’t have been happier. This Build A Bear dog is 16 inches of complete awesomeness! We love it’s velvety soft printed fur and the pretty colors. It comes with a JONAS dog tag that can be removed if your daughter wishes to wear it. This is a great gift for any little girl that loves the Jonas Brothers!

Thanks to Build-A-Bear Workshop® you can win a JONAS stuffed dog of your own for the little Jonas Brothers fan in your life!
Loading…

Contest ends November 22nd at 11:59 pm PST. Winner will be announced here and contacted via email. Open only to residents of the United States with a United States mailing address ages 18 and over. One entry per person per method per a day. Additional entries available, see the form for details.

*Product was provided for free for review from Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Don’t forget to vote for Keeper of the Cheerios in the Divine Caroline Love This Site Awards!

10 Reasons Why I Can’t Sleep At Night

Miranda — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:00:58 +0000

As part of Mama’s Losin’ It Writing Prompts this week I’ve decided to write about the top 10 reasons I can’t sleep at night. Sure, I’m exhausted but exhaustion doesn’t always lead to sleeping.. at least not for me. Here’s just a few of the reasons as to why I’m always exhausted anyways.

My husband is snoring or making weird mouth noises and smacking in his sleep… this irks me tremendously but I patiently ask him to roll over at least 4 nights a week. But now I know why my mom preferred to sleep on the couch when my dad would snore. It’s never ending and they always roll right back into that annoying position that led to the snoring in the first place.
The alarm clocks going off for at least an hour every night between 1-2 a.m. Yep! That’s what time my husband has to get up and that my dears is why I never get a full night’s sleep.
I keep having these freaky dreams about bugs on my walls and spiders in my bed. No joke. At least twice a week I dream about freaky little bugs running across the walls by my head. I’m guessing this stems from the time there really was a spider crawling on my wall right by me as I leaned against the wall while I sat on my bed about a month ago. I’m suddenly remembering why I used to pay someone to spray a spider barrier around my house.
My kids have a bad dream, talk in their sleep, or wake up at the crack of dawn because they think it’s time to wake up. My son thinks if he’s up then everyone else should be too.. even if it is 3 in the morning!
Sometimes I can’t sleep because I can’t fall back asleep after my husband’s alarms go off for an hour.. so I get up and check my emails, play games online, check my ebay page, eat. You know, the usual things people do in the middle of the night. LOL
Sometimes I lay in bed worrying about money, life, health, etc. My husband calls me the eternal pessimist, maybe I am.
Sometimes I lay in bed dwelling on all the things I have to get done. I often wonder at night how I’m going to write up 5 reviews or giveaways, take the kids to school, pick them up, go grocery shopping, go to 2 appointments AND get my house clean all within 2 days. Dwelling on it certainly doesn’t help me. Maybe I should just sleep and quit thinking about it so I have the energy to actually get it done. Easier said than done though.
My cats keep me awake sometimes. Sometimes they’re running through the house like crazy psychotic little furballs and sometimes they like to puke on me or around me! I’ve spent many MANY minutes of my life cleaning up cat puke in the middle of the night. Remind me again why I like cats?
I’ve spent the past week sick. I can’t breathe and it keeps me from sleeping. Unless of course I remember to take the Nyquil. I love Nyquil. If only I could sleep that good ALL the time!
Sometimes I can’t sleep because I have 5 blankets on me and I get too hot. That’s my fault. Sometimes I can’t sleep because my husband has cranked down the heat to under 70 (what he calls 75) and I’m so cold my goose bumps have goose bumps which is why I sleep with 5 blankets. Often times these are the nights he likes to steal my blankets and then accuses me of taking up the whole bed because I tried to scoot closer to him with my ice cold feet.

I’ve come to the point where I’m accepting the fact that I’m never going to get a truly good night’s sleep again. I can live with it. Do I like it? No! I seriously miss the teenage years where I could sleep all night and into half the next day. I know I’m not alone though.. I look out my window sometimes while I’m awake in the middle of the night and see lights on every so often in the homes around us. What keeps you awake at night? Is it your kids? Your pets? Your husband? All of the above? Or do you sleep like a baby and wonder what’s wrong with the rest of us?

No related posts.

The First Day of Preschool

Miranda — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:11:26 +0000

Today was the first day of preschool for my son.

It sucked.

I hated it.

I even cried a little bit when nobody was watching. I felt really lonely.

Monkey handled it very well but mommy? Not so much! It was the longest two and a half hours of my life.

BUT today was the first day EVER that I got to go to Target without having the only child that’s crying in the store. I actually got to walk through the store without people staring at me due to the wailing siren that I call my child. It was nice and quiet and I left without having a raging headache. I imagine I can get used to this whole two and a half hours of quiet time fairly quickly. I’ll just need a few days and something to keep my mind off the quiet that surrounds me.

Come drop off time my little guy grabbed the aid’s hand and walked right to his class with her. No tears.. just a happy “BYE!” as he left me. I’m glad he handled it so good. A good part of what I hated the most today though was that after picking him up from his first day at school he wasn’t able to tell me about his day. He isn’t able to tell me what they did or how he felt about it and that is really hard because I’m naturally a worrier. As parents we often take for granted those little things. I know I did. I didn’t realize with my daughter that was a moment to be cherished and remembered forever until it was something that my son didn’t have. I’m really thankful that he’s finally in a school with people who are able to equip him with a way to communicate with us. This is a great opportunity for him and even if I shed a tear every day for the rest of the school year after dropping him off I’m extremely happy for him. I’m looking forward to the day when I can ask him how his day was and he can actually tell me.

Now, a question for all of you moms who’s children are all in school… what do you do with yourselves? I feel so “lost.”

I Wanna Treat! Our Halloween

Miranda — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:39:52 +0000

My kids had a blast on Halloween. They were both extremely sad when it was over. My daughter was a beautiful garden fairy and my son was a completely adorable dragon. We had a fun night of Trick-Or-Treating and enjoyed the nice walk through our neighborhood.

My daughter and I worked with my son for a few days leading up to Halloween to try and help him say “trick or treat” but he insisted on saying “I wanna treat” to everyone and that’s what he called the whole experience. It was too funny and so innocent that it was totally cute.

Did you all have a nice Halloween weekend with your children? I can’t imagine my son was the only little one saying something funny that night. Did you catch your kids doing or saying anything that made you laugh? I’d love to hear it.

Letting Go; My Three Year Old Is Heading To Preschool

Miranda — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:40:53 +0000

I consider this a huge blessing for my son. You see, this isn’t just any preschool. This is a preschool for children just like him with hearing loss and they provide them with the necessary equipment to ensure they’re hearing their teachers like amplification systems, a plan and goals set by his teacher specifically for him, and a speech therapist comes into the school to work with the groups of kids twice a week, and that’s just a portion of the things they do for these chidren. What does this mean for us? Well, it means that my son is going to learn how to communicate with us and his friends. It means less frustration for him. I’m thrilled for him!

However, like any mom getting ready to send her “baby” to preschool my heart is breaking. I know it’s only for a couple of hours a day and only 4 days a week and I should just suck it up and go on with life.. and I will. But for now, I’m a little sad. I’m dreading the first few mornings of saying “goodbye.” I’m dreading the fact that if he hates it he won’t be able to really tell me so and why. I’m dreading the fact that if he hates it he’ll cry when I leave him with his teacher in the mornings… seriously, he knows how to work that lip! Here’s a picture for example:

I know many of you might be wondering why I have a picture of my son crying. Well, he wasn’t too happy while at his sister’s surprise party that we had over the summer and I wanted a picture of him. Usually the camera cheers him up too so I thought it was worth a try. Well, okay, I really wanted to remember his crying face too. You know what, I have no good excuse, I just thought it was kinda funny because he was being a total drama king and he knows how to play us. I’m also a complete sucker who falls for the lip that usually comes after the crying and tears.

Do you see my problem now? I can’t just leave him if he does that… well, I guess I’ll have to and I’ll hate every bit of it. I suppose “But he was crying” won’t be a good enough reason for him to miss school. Once again, I’ll have to suck it up, be strong, and just leave him there. I know he’ll be in good hands.

On the other hand I’m REALLY excited to have him in a school that is so proactive about making sure that he has everything that he needs to learn to begin with and that they’re so on top of things. They’re also sending a speech pathologist to our home to work directly with him and to show us what we need to do specifically to help him reach his goals. Is that not totally awesome?! I’m really excited for him.

I’m thrilled for him, just sad for me. What will I do with myself while both of my kids are in school? I just need to prepare my heart for this coming Monday when I have to let my youngest baby go.

Little Hearing Aids, BIG Expense, and a BIG Blessing

Miranda — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:50:45 +0000

We originally thought we’d have to spend upwards of around $6,000-$8,000 for my son’s hearing aids. I know, my jaws dropped too! Can you see why I was in a panic? We don’t have that just lying around! What parents do? We were excited when we were told by my son’s audiologist that the hearing aids she was recommending to us were more like $3,000-$4,000 and did everything we needed them to do. Excited yes, but still worried about where we were going to find the money. $3,000 or $8,000 it’s just not there! We are also well aware that our insurance covers nothing when it comes to his hearing devices. Isn’t that crazy? It seems really dumb to me.. like hearing is just optional and learning to speak is not necessary? We were just really thankful that our audiologist’s office provided us with loaner hearing aids until we could afford to get our own. My guess when that would be? Ummm, right after I win the lottery! LOL

In the middle of one of our appointments a couple weeks agomy son’s audiologist told us that someone had donated a certificate for a pair of hearing aids. We didn’t really know what that meant.. we didn’t know if they were used or new or what. She was busy and there wasn’t a whole lot of time to ask questions so she said she’d talk to her supervisor but she THOUGHT she could sell both of the hearing aids to us for $1,000. Of course we jumped at the chance so imagine my surprise when I got a phone call from her asking what color we wanted because these were indeed NEW hearing aids that she was ordering for my son!

But this is how I know that God has been by our side this entire time… yesterday I took my son in to the audiologist’s office for another hearing test and to get his very cool new blue hearing aids and was shocked to hear that she got it approved to sell both of them to us for only $600 total! In the land of hearing aids that is a smoking hot deal! It was crazy how this all worked out for us.

Now if only the ear molds didn’t coast $150 every time he has to get new ones due to a growth spurt! However, I feel like I can’t complain because this is such a HUGE blessing. I know lots of you were praying for us and I wanted to share this awesome update on my son’s hearing loss journey and thank you for your prayers.

Wordless Wednesday- Perfect Bribery

Miranda — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:36:57 +0000

I should have known that when my kids were BOTH being quiet that they were up to something. But thanks to my daughter I now have the perfect bribery for when my son is older.. I can see it now, “One more time and I’m going to put that princessy dress up picture in your senior year book!” Yes, it’s perfect! However, my husband was not nearly as amused as I was. Whatever, boys make totally perfect princesses too! LOL

As always for more Wordless Wednesdays visit 5 Minutes for Mom and Seven Clown Circus. While you’re here be sure to add your URL to the mister linky below! Happy Wednesday!

Make A Rainy Day Fun With Kidorable! Win A Children’s Umbrella

Miranda — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:22:12 +0000

It’s been raining A LOT here lately! Of course, it is that time of year and I’m sure there are states getting it even worse than we have. But my son hasn’t been bothered by all the rain even in the slightest because now he has the chance to use his super cool new dinosaur boots, rain coat, and umbrella from Kidorable. When these showed up I was instantly in love and my 3 year old was so excited he kept screaming “Whoa! Whoa! COOL!” and couldn’t wait to show his dad when he came home from work. Now when it’s raining (and sometimes even when it’s not raining) my son doesn’t want to go anywhere without his umbrella and he’s sure to let us know if we’ve forgotten, too! LOL It’s so sweet. Obviously my son thinks very highly of his Kidorable Dinosaur rain gear and so do I. The quality is outstanding and it’s honestly some of the cutest rain wear I’ve seen, especially for boys which can sometimes be hard to find. I don’t think they’re overpriced either which can be even harder to find. In fact, most of their umbrellas are only $13.50 and their super cute knit hats for this coming winter are only $11.50. Not only do they sell adorable rain wear for children but they also sale hats for both summer and winter, gloves, scarves, bookends, towels, backpacks and more! With a wide selection of fun products it’s easy to please the little ones in your life and making dealing with unpleasant weather just a little more fun.

A few of my personal Kidorable favorites include:

Would I buy more Kidorable products? Yes, like I said, they’re high quality and completely cute without being overly priced which is hard to come by sometimes. The details on these items is what make them so much fun. I’m so in love with the dinosaur hat I’m hoping to be able to buy one for my son’s stocking for Christmas along with the fun dinosaur gloves. I really like that the Kidorable products are unique and that they’re made with kids in mind.

Want to win an umbrella of your choice? Kidorable has graciously offered one of my readers the chance to do just that!

WIN IT! (mandatory first entry) Visit www.Kidorable.com and tell me what your favorite item is.. or better yet what your child’s favorite item is.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES (optional):

Subscribe to Keeper of the Cheerios via email or RSS
Blog about this giveaway
Vote for Keeper of the Cheerios in the Divine Caroline Love This Site Awards (parenting)
Follow us on twitter @cheeriokeeper
tweet about this giveaway on twitter with: Win a Kidorable Umbrella of your choice on Keeper of the Cheerios! http://tinyurl.com/yzj8mww @cheeriokeeper
Add our button to your sidebar or add us to your blog roll

Be sure to leave a separate comment for each method of entry.

Contest ends November 8th at 11:59 pm PST. Winner will be announced here and contacted via email. Open only to residents of the United States with a United States mailing address ages 18 and over. One entry Per Person per method of entry.

*Products for Review were provided by Kidorable at no cost to us.

Clorox Toilet Wand Winners!

Miranda — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:04:26 +0000

Congratulations to our 3 winners! You’ll each be getting a Clorox Toilet Wand System! Happy cleaning!

1. Julie who said, “I hate having to carry the brush from bathroom to bathroom, which is why I’d love the toilet wand.”

2. Steph who said, “I hate the germs! I’d like to win this because I know it’s more sanitary than a toilet brush.”

3. Rebecca who said, “I hate cleaning the toilet and the floor around the toilet! My fiancee isn’t always the best at aiming I guess. I think I need to put up one of those signs: ‘We Aim To Please, You Aim Too Please!’ haha..lol. I think that this would make my job a lot easier. I hate toilet brushes (they get gunk stuck in the fibers)…so this would be so much more sanitary!”

Demi Lovato’s Theme Song For The New Tinker Bell And The Lost Treasure Movie

Miranda — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:31:53 +0000

I don’t know about you but my daughter is EXCITED about the new Tinker Bell movie! She LOVES Tinker Bell! So, for all moms of little girls like mine I thought you’d like to watch this cute music video of Demi Lovato’s theme song (whom my daughter is also completely infatuated with), “The Gift Of A Friend”, for the new Tinker Bell film. The lyrics celebrate the power of friendship which is something I think all little girls will love.

Do you “pick” your child’s friends?