Multi-Tasking Monday

I am starting my own theme for Mondays as I have so much to share…

First, my vlog for Monday Mingle, hosted by Eighty MPH Mom.

The questions this week were:

Do you have siblings?  Did you want more or less siblings when you were growing up?

What was your wedding song?

Did you do anything special for Valentine’s Day?

Tell us something special about your spouse/partner

Here are my answers:

Then I need to give you my Mamavation update.  I am down another 2.3 lbs this week (which is absolutely amazing considering all the awesome food we had at Blissdom).  I have not been able to walk outdoors because there is 4 feet of snow on the ground but the hubby and I did a lot of unpacking/cleaning so I am assuming that is where I burnt off most of the calories.  I continue to drink ice water and the occasional glass of juice with club soda.  I know that staying away from soda is really helping with the weight loss.  We have switched completely to whole wheat bread (still getting a little complaining from the family on this) and brown rice in my quest to make the switch to whole grains.

Last but not least is my Bible in 90 days progress. Confession time:  I am behind AGAIN.  Having the hubby, kids and 3 dogs cooped up in the house with me all week, after falling behind while at Blissdom, has me still in Job when my #b90days gals are in (one of my favorite books) the Psalms.

I have a plan to catch up (that is how I caught up the last time I was behind) and with the kids (hopefully) going back to school tomorrow I can get back in to my normal routine.

I also need to say that it was amazing to meet so many other women going through the challenge.  Some of us got together for coffee Friday morning at Blissdom and sharing our thoughts, struggles, insights and more was incredible.

That is all for this fine Monday morning!  Head over here to see my menu plan for the week and to enter to win some money saving coupons.

Made for relationship

Today I listened to my friend Amy talk about friendship on her radio show.  Coming home from a weekend like this leads one to think about friendship, about connection, about how our Creator intended for us to be in relationship with others.

Relationships that allow us to take off our grown up hats and put on our play time hats (or boas and beads as the case may be)

Relationships that allow us to relax.  To lean back into the knowledge that we are accepted for who we are in this moment.

Relationships that allow us to celebrate each others success without thought of competition or glory.

Relationships that make our hearts smile and our spirit sing

~A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words~

Author Unknown

Today I am thankful for my friends.  What are you thankful for?

OxiClean Review

As you can imagine, with adolescent boys and a hardworking hubby, there is a lot of laundry getting cleaned at the Smallwood residence.  When I was offered the opportunity to review OxiClean Max Force Power Paks I heartily agreed.  I wanted to see for myself if a product could really get rid of the grass stains from a family game of football, the mud stains the hubby gets on his work jeans and the food stains my youngest gets on the sleeves of his shirts from using his sleeves as a napkin.

I like the convenience of these power paks.  You simply toss them in the washer when you put in the detergent.  They dissolve in the water (warm water works best).

I did find that I needed two packs per load to get the stains out but that just may be because my family of testosterone is really tough on clothes. They come 18 to a pack so that means that a bag would get me through about 9 loads of laundry (aka a week in this house).

You can also pre-soak your clothes with the Power Pak to remove tough stains.  The company recommends soaking for 1-6 hours, depending on the stain.

All in all, these little Oxi Clean power paks can stand up to my mountain of laundry.  Pretty impressive in my book.  This is a brand new product so watch your store shelves come mid February for your chance to purchase them.

**I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of OxiClean and received a sample to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Mamavation Monday

Last week, I had my friend Katie guest post about her campaign to be one of the mamavation moms and I am happy to report that she won!!!!! Congrats to her.  She really put in a lot of time and effort and I am very proud of her.

But, back to my weight loss/get healthier journey:

I have lost 2.6 lbs in the last week!

I have walked everyday (even in the rain, I have a pretty umbrella)

I am drinking water like it is fine wine!

What I want to add this week:

Add in a workout video at least twice a week (and do workout video when children are not home so that I do not get made fun of during double time on Tae Bo) I’m sensitive (ha!)

Think I can do it?  We shall see!

For more Mamavation motivation, check out Bookieboo.com.

Green glasses? Who knew…

I was recently offered the opportunity to review the new Airwear ® lenses in my glasses.  The review opportunity came at just the right time, as I had just been given a new (and much stronger) prescription at the opthalmologist’s office.

What I like about Airwear ® lenses:

They are truly light weight.  They are up to 30% lighter than standard lenses and after almost three weeks of wearing them I have certainly noticed the difference.

They are thinner than standard lenses.  The Airwear ® literature says that these lenses are up to 25% thinner than standard plastic lenses.  This is another claim that held up. I have horrible vision and have always had thick lenses that protruded from any type of frame. These don’t! Honest!

You would think that being thinner and lighter, these lenses would not be as strong as standard lenses.  Wrong! These lenses are virtually unbreakable and 12x stronger than standard plastic lenses.  In addition, these lenses provide 100% UV protection against harmful UVA and UVB rays.

Airwear ® is concerned about the environment. This means that not only are the lenses lightweight and strong but they are also recyclable. They are manufactured using 100% recycled water as well.

Be sure to watch the video for my full review and check out Airwear’s website for more information.

Thank you to Mom Central and Airwear for this opportunity.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Airwear and received a pair of Airwear eyeglass lenses to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Where are you Christmas?

Last year, on Black Friday, Jared and Matt (OMGosh, look how much they’ve grown just since last year) were decorating our upstairs tree.

This is what it looked like when they were finished (this is the tree they are allowed to decorate, hence the ornaments almost touching the floor- ack!)

So, you ask, where is this year’s tree?

IT’S NOT UP!  You see we are moving in 12 days so the hubby mandated suggested that we just wait till we get to the new house to “drag out all the Christmas stuff” (that was a direct quote, blasphemous I tell you!)

Where are you Christmas?  I need stockings, trees, ornaments, candles, Advent calendars and my nativity scene!

12 more days, 12 more days.

For more Wordless/Wordful Wednesday posts visit here and here.