EcoMom Review and GIVEAWAY

As a reviewer for EcoMom products I am thrilled to tell you about their new program, the EcoPass.  The EcoPass program allows my readers to purchase a $99 annual membership, which provides for a 15% discount on every order, as well as free shipping with No $50 minimum requirement.  The EcoPass literally pays for itself in as few as four orders and costs about $8.25 per month! Hurry though, the deadline is October 31, 2010...here's the discount code you will need to enter, SBBL628.

EcoMom has many Eco-friendly Baby Products, I was surprised by all that they have to offer.  I was also excited to see that the product I would be reviewing for EcoMom was Smartypants Gummy Vitamins.  I think it's important for kids to take vitamins, but one of the reasons that I loved these so much was the fact that I could take them too, if I wanted.  See, since I had hyperthyroidism and the goiter was so huge in my neck (we're talking softball size), I had a hard time swallowing vitamins.  I had to buy the chewable kind.  Even with the "orange flavoring" they still tasted chalky, so I loved the fact that these were like chewing gummy bears, only they were vitamins instead.  Much better tasting.  I loved that!

*Disclosure: As a reviewer of EcoMom, I received the Smartypants Gummy Vitamins for review purposes only.  I was not compensated in anyway.  The opinions herein are my own and were not influenced by Smartypants or EcoMom.

As part of my review, I was also given the opportunity to offer a giveaway on my blog.  EcoMom is sponsoring a $15 gift certificate to their stores for my readers.

To ENTER the Giveaway:  Head over to EcoMom and tell me what you would like to purchase with the gift certificate. 

For extra entries (worth one entry each):

*Follow EcoMomCEO on Twitter (twitter.com/EcoMomCEO)
*Become a fan of EcoMom on Facebook (facebook.com/ecomom)
*Sign up for EcoMom's newsletter
*Follow Adventures In Mommy Land
*Like Adventures In Mommy Land on facebook
*Follow Adventures In Mommy Land on Networked Blogs
*Follow me on Twitter (jfamilyofeight)

This giveaway is open to all U.S. and Canada residents.  Winner will be chosen using Random.org and will end October 31 at 12:00 a.m. EST.

Good Luck!!

Crapity Crap.....

*The other day, I used a gift card at the pharmacy and there was a dollar left on it.  The cashier said
"There's only a dollar on here, do you want me to throw it away?"  I said, you want to take a dollar out of your wallet and have me throw it away? Heck, it's a dollar...that's like a whole candy bar or something.  Give me my card lady!

*It drives me batty when I'm treasure hunting (thrift store shopping or yard sailing) and someone follows me around commenting on the stuff that I'm carrying. I hate that, makes me feel like if I put it down for a second that they are going to swipe it. LOL! Back off lady, I saw it first!

*Speaking of thrift stores, I absolutely have to use hand sanitizer after I'm done shopping in those places. I feel so germ-y until I use it, even when I haven't touched anything.

*Yesterday, I took the boys trick or treating at Walmart.  Afterwards, I took them to Bob Evans because Amanda was working.  She treated them to a sundae and a kids' meal and me to a cup of coffee and a piece of pumpkin cheesecake (hmmm, yummy).  I met one of Amanda's supervisors and she told me they all love Amanda and that she does a great job.  Does a mom's heart good to hear that!  So, then I did my mommarazzi sneak attack, and took pictures of her working  - Hahahaha! I showed her and she said "I so hate you right now."  I said "Good, that means I'm doing my job right."

*This morning Nathan told me I was the prettiest, "sparky-est" mommy evah....I thought that was sweet.  Then I looked in the mirror and I really was all sparky-est - with glitter all over my face. LOL! I'm glad this wasn't one of my errand running days! 

Happy 13th Birthday Sarah and Zachary

Yes, I am now the mother of FOUR teenagers.....God, help me (I'm not kidding)!  In preparation of this post, I was looking at some old pics of when I was pregnant, their birth and when they were little babies.  Those were some trying years. 

When I was pregnant with them, I was sick for months....I almost miscarried them....I was on bedrest....the doctor threatened to hook me up to an IV fluid drip, because I couldn't keep anything down.....then I went into premature labor at 30 weeks....was life flighted to another hospital where the doctors there stopped the labor, but made me stay on bedrest for 2 plus weeks....I wasn't allowed to get out of bed to even use the bathroom.....when they did any tests like amnios, bloodwork or ultrasounds, I was either wheeled in a wheel chair or carted in the hospital bed. 

(holy smokes - twins!!!)

(I think I was 4 months pregnant here)

(I got to stand for the first time in weeks, while they got the bed ready for me....right before their birth at 32 weeks, they were 8 weeks early)

During their birth....I had to have an epidural in case of an emergency c-section (thankfully, I didn't need one)....was carted off to the operating room.....had 2 doctors and 4 nurses for me, another doctor and 2 nurses for each baby and a small army of interns in the room....was lucky enough to give birth to Sarah with no complications, only to turn around and have double the trouble with Zachary.  He had his cord wrapped around his neck twice. 

Not many people know how we chose the name Zachary....it means God hears my prayers.  After Sarah was born, Rich asked one of the doctors, what would happen next.  Would I have the other baby or would the placenta from Sarah come out.  She said the baby and then both placentas...only Sarah's placenta came out first.  The next thing I know the doctor gives Rich a concerned look....Rich started praying in my ear....and an intern started pushing on my stomach to keep Zachary from flip flopping anymore than he already had.  Rich said Amen, and Zachary was born, 45 minutes after his sister.  God truly did hear our prayers.

(Could this O.R. get any more crowded?)

After the twins were born I was allowed to take a shower and since I was on bedrest for so long, I ended up passing out in the bathroom.  All I remember is pulling the emergency cord on my way to the floor and hearing running footsteps coming towards me.  I woke up in bed a couple hours later.  I guess I can't ever make anything easy LOL!

The best thing about the whole process, for all the mixed blessings and trauma we went through was that the twins went home 2 days later.  The cortizone shots they gave me while I was hospitalized to help develop their lungs worked.  God is good and he hears our prayers!

They were little munchkins - Sarah weighed 5 pounds and 1 ounce and Zachary 4 pounds and 13 ounces.  They wore baby doll clothes or those little baby nightgowns for the first few months of their lives.  Amanda and Anthony loved their baby brother and sister. 

The funniest thing that happened was while I was on bedrest, my mom had asked our church family and friends to help us by making meals, cleaning the house, playing with Amanda and Anthony and keeping me company.  Shortly after bringing the twins home, I was carrying them both down the hallway and tripped.  In order to catch myself from falling with both babies I stuck my foot out to catch myself and my foot came down sideways instead of flat.  I ended up with a hairline fracture right below my pinkie toe.......So, my mom had to call all the church people back to help again LOL! At least this time, they got to hold the babies when they came to help.

(I walked around with this face for months LOL - Sarah had colic)

They were inseparable when they were babies.  We would lay one baby at one end of the crib and one at the other and by morning they would be slumped on top of each other.  Later, they figured out how to crawl out of their cribs and crawl/walk across the dresser between their cribs and get into each other's beds. 

It has been so much fun having twins.....double the trouble.....double the blessings!

I can't tell you how many times, I had to scrub poop off of their bedroom walls, because they would play in their diapers and smear it on the walls.  Or how I wore a path in the carpet walking the floor at night because it was the only way to keep Sarah happy.  Or how every night like clockwork, Zachary would wake up at 1 in the morning for his mommy and me time...it was the only time his sister was asleep and not needing extra attention.  He patiently waited for his mommy time.  Or how Rich was afraid to hold Zachary for fear of breaking him (Zachary was only as long as Rich's hand to his elbow).  Or how I once had to clean toothpaste, toilet paper, dental floss and smeared soap in the bathroom....Or sweep up baby powder off their carpet.....Or eggs off the kitchen floor.   Or how clingy Sarah was and laid back Zach had been.  Or how many times they tried and succeeded at locking me out of the house.  Double the trouble indeed.

I can tell you how many times my heart melted or broke watching them cheer for each other at baseball or basketball games....or how they comforted each other when they were sad...or how they always had each other's back when someone tried to pick on them....or how they leaned on each other for support.   How they still love to cause trouble and be sneaky and hang out with each other.  Double the blessings.   Rich once wrote a long time ago, about how much he knew I wanted twins and how nothing made me as happy as the day I found out I was pregnant with them...How happy and thrilled I was being pregnant with them....How I would of given anything for them.  How I endured months of bedrest and pain and how much I worried about them...How grateful I was, we were, that they were born healthy.  That they were totally worth all the pain, discomfort, tears and joy.  He couldn't have said it any better.  They were and they are worth it.  I love them, and even though I know they are growing up (and going to leave me someday), I am so lucky that God gave me my double blessings and I wouldn't change a thing!

Happy 13th Birthday Sarah and Zachary....We Love You!

Shout Product Review

"Go Play".....these are two little words my kids hear quite a bit, that are often followed by "Outside".  Fall is the perfect time of year for playing outside...the weather is cooler, but not too cool yet, which means they can play longer during the day.  There is also lots of fun to be had during this time of year as well, raking leaves and jumping in them, going on a scavenger hunt looking for leaves, acorns and pinecones, etc. 

I'm always looking for ways to entertain my children and that's why I thought adding the 52 Nature Activities card set was a great thing to include with the Shout products.  I saw some new activities reading these cards that I never would of thought of doing.  And because of Shout, I don't ever have to worry about stains from all the outdoor playing that they do.

Being a mother of six means I see lots of stains....I change laundry products all the time, depending on what coupons I have and the sells.  But the one thing in my laundry room that remains the same since I became a mother has been Shout.  I have been using it for years and I love it.  So, I was excited when Growing Tree Toys asked me to review Shout.  At first I thought what does Shout have to do with learning toys.  But, then I realized that not all toys are meant for indoor play, alot of toys get played with outside and therein means kids can get dirty while playing.

I was delighted when I opened my box of Shout products.  As I said, I have used the stain stick and spray for years, but one thing I had never tried before was the color catcher.  When you have a big family such as mine, there isn't always time to sort the clothes before you throw it all in the washer (not to mention the times when the kids help with the laundry).  The color catchers have become a huge time saver for me and they will definitely become another constant in my laundry room.

Check out Shout's Facebook page for more fun fall ideas....http://www.facebook.com/shoutlaundry

*Disclaimer: As a reviewer for Growing Tree Toys, I received the Shout products and 52 Nature Activities card set free for review purposes only.  I was not compensated in any way.  The opinions herein are my own and were not influenced by Shout or Growing Tree Toys.

Aaaarrgghh! Spider!

Nathan and I recently read the book Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks.  It is a cute little book about a spider that wants to be a family's pet.  He tries to show them that he will keep himself clean by getting in the bathtub (but the mommy rinses him down the drain).  He tries to show them he will keep himself fed (but the family sweeps him and his webs out the door).  Then he decides that maybe he should just be an outside pet, and he spins lots of sparkly webs all over the family's trees.  They think it looks pretty, so they decide to make him their pet.  He's so happy that he decides to surprise his new family again .... and well, I don't want to ruin the ending for you, so you'll just have to read the book yourself.

Nathan and I made some sparkly webs of our own and a spider to live in the web.  I took some huge orange construction paper and gave Nathan the glue.  He made a web with the glue and then he used some silver glitter to make it sparkly.

Sure, I could have let him use a glitter glue pen (to help keep things neater), but where's the fun in that.  Half the fun of crafting is making a mess! (That's my philosophy, anyway) 

For the spider, I folded a sheet of black paper in half and traced his hand (don't trace the thumb).  I cut out the hand print and opened it to show Nathan that his spider now had eight legs.  He glued wiggly eyes on the face and then glued the spider to the web. 

Linking to Read Explore Learn....

I'm A Guest Blogger on Multiples.... and More Today

Many months ago, I found a site called Multiples...and More (a blog site dedicated to parents of twins, triplets and more).  Even though most (if not all) of the blogs on their reading list was parents of younger multiples, I requested to join as well.  When they accepted me and added me to their blog list, they asked if I would be willing to write some guest posts about being a mother of older twins on the premise of helping  mothers of younger multiples. 

I, in no way consider myself an expert, told them I would love to write some articles for them.  It took me months to decide what to write about and even more months to get the thoughts out of my head (nasty case of writer's block {{{shudder}}}).  But I managed to submit a post about twin bonding and school...and whether twins should be separated or not. 

Well, guess what??

Multiples... and More featured my post today!!! How super cool is that?! Me on another major blogging site! Not that I'm being braggy or anything (please don't think that way)...I'm just so excited to see this blog grow so much....It's exciting! Even though I still don't get tons of comments, I do have tons of readers (looky loos are just as important, you know!).

By the way, they have my blog listed as Half A Dozen Kids (one of my emails), instead of Adventures In Mommy Land....which isn't a big deal, since the link still comes here....But the words are all mine....the kids are, as they say, all mine too.    Go and check out my post....And say Hello this time!

Five Little Pumpkins

Nathan absolutely adores this book (and to tell you the truth, I do too).  We've read it so much that Nathan actually has it memorized.  Nicholas said "Hey Mommy, Nathan can read." I don't think he realized that he wasn't reading the book, just reciting it word for word.  The illustrations are so bright and vivid and fun.  This book has quickly become our favorite Halloween book.

Because he loves the book so much, I decided to do a little craft with him.   We painted some egg cartons orange for the pumpkins, used green craft sticks for the fence, foam stickers of leaves, a moon, witches, ghosts, bats, etc.  Everything that he saw or read about in the book.  His little project turned out to be quite the masterpiece and he was so pleased with himself when it was finished. 

Both boys decided to make some Halloween scene pictures with more of the foam stickers.  They used paper plates, basically because they were just sitting there on the table.  I didn't mind, since together the plates and stickers only cost me $1.89 and bought me a few hours of quiet from them hahaha.

*Disclaimer: I received the book Five Little Pumpkins for review purposes only, as a reviewer for Tiger Tales books.  I was not compensated in any way.  The opinions herein are my own and were not influenced by Tiger Tales.