Works for me Wednesday -- Shout it out!

My son is a messy eater. He is constantly getting food on his clothing, even when he is wearing a bib. I believe that is his goal during most meals! And if you know me in the world outside of blogging, I don't want any comments on how this could be genetic or anything!

Since he is such a messy eater we had several shirts and even pants which were stained beyond repair. Or so I thought!

I have used Dreft spray on his clothes in the past, but this was not getting out the spaghetti stains or any stains really. So a few weeks ago I decided to purchase Shout!

I used it that day to wash Jake's clothes. I sprayed all the clothes which were stained, which I believe were ALL of them and then I allowed them to sit and soak in the Shout for about 30-45 minutes.

Then I washed them and voila! they were clean. He had a couple of shirts which had dried in stains...ones which did not come out the first time around and had been thrown in the dryer. Those stains were even removed.

Trust me, I will now be using Shout on all of his clothes.

Shout! works for me! For more Works for Me Wednesday tips visit Shannon!

Thanks for visiting...hope you stick around!

Lately I have been very amused with the google searches which have landed people on my blog. I've been contemplating a blog on this for quite a while, but when I saw, this one, "arbys where's the beef" I decided it was time to finish that blog! Then I saw this one, "arbys roast beef pregnant," which I believe landed on my blog due to a comment from the original arbys post. Thanks for the inadvertent blog traffic qtpies7! :)

Of course my blog gets several hits looking for things such as "Target and any form of Target and coupon, Kandoo coupons, Pampers Coupons," "printable $5 target pampers," and "CVS ECB." If you are here looking for those things, click on the links or check out my button on the side for Vickys Deals and go get you some deals! :)

I have also become an expert in oil changes. HA! HA! I have received plenty of hits on the blog for "how to change oil." Sorry folks, you're at the wrong place if you are looking for that. But if you are looking for "chevron oil change coupon," or "valvoline oil change" I might know a little bit of something about that!

And to the person who asked "what rodents like chocolate?" I have an answer, the one that was in my kitchen! Apparently the person who was looking for "sonic rodent" was either looking for one of these or this little guy.

If you want a "clock that shows the innerworkings" here's one for you, but beware, toddlers are not fans of said clock!

If you want to calm down the toddler, especially during nap time, then a "crib aquarium" is for you.

Or if you need a break from the toddler and you live in Lexington, KY and are looking for "dinner and movie in Lexington, KY" you have most definitely visited my blog. I think I might contact them to get a portion of their proceeds since I have apparently recommended them to nearly every person in Lexington!

If you ever want to know the mystery of "Supposedly or Supposebly" your guess is as good as mine! I'm not much help, but thanks for visiting!

But if you want to hear a funny song or two, perhaps a "funny iowa song" or "funny nascar songs" you have found the right place!

This post, caught some rather random searches, "pedicure song," "classic country blog," and "pedicure ticklish."

If you are still with me after all this linkage, here are a few more fun ones!

baby shower envelope games

west virginia pepperoni roll recipe, well, it's mine anyway!

I need to brush my teeth

1 year birthday cupcake


Jake and Gigi (which in actuality is a jewelry website).

It's my blog and I can brag if I want to!

As I have said before Jake is an avid reader!

His favorite toy is a book, or lots of them.

Tonight before he went to bed I stacked up all of the books he had pulled out in the last hour. There were about 24 out.

(he is approaching the stack fast, it toppled over about 10 seconds after this picture was snapped)

An hour later there were at least 30 or more books out. We keep a large supply of books in our living room so Jake can read anytime he wants. Plus he has just as many in his bedroom, which I believe are all on the floor right now. He has something against anything staying on a shelf.

And he will read, all by himself. He will sit down with a book, open all the pages and tell the story, aloud, to himself. I love watching him.

He will leave several books on the coffee table, couch, fireplace, floor, open to a page. He will never close the books and often will leave 4-5 books out on the coffee table open to a specific page.

If you look closely on this book you can see 3 books on the table behind him open.

For some reason, Jake thinks that I am the only person in the house who knows how to ACTUALLY read a book. He will not ever take a book to Donnie to read, but will always bring me books, upon books to read.

He will grab my hand, open it, and then shove the book in my hand.

I'm glad he's a reader and loves books. I think it makes him "smart." I love watching him build his imagination!

I hope this phase never ends.

Aquarium Fun!

I love this picture! If you look close you can see a shark coming right up to the window to see Jake and Donnie.

One of Jake's favorite activities was playing the drums at one of the exhibits. I think we may have a future percussionist!

Oh Rhonda...you've got mail!

Rhonda must have moved with us.

At our last home, we received mail for Rhonda, who also had our last name. I would continuously indicate on the mail that Rhonda did not live at our address; however, we continued to get her mail.

I even called the post office three times and we still got Rhonda's mail. Usually it was just her junk mail.

Thursday we got another piece of junk mail for Rhonda. AT OUR NEW ADDRESS!!

I can't believe that Rhonda moved with us!

This time it was a Lillian Vernon catalog.

And today we got another similar catalog, for Rhonda!

I guess when I completed our change of address for Jessica and Donnie, somehow Rhonda's name jumped on there too.

Although I don't believe I put it there.

Rhonda, whoever you are, if you want your Lillian Vernon magazine you probably need to check with the post office.

My lessons of the week

My brain is not allowing me to coordinate a nice planned out post today, so here is a list of things I have learned this week (while I am on vacation being a SAHM and teaching VBS).

1. My life is dictated by Jake's nap time. We have to be home by 1 p.m. or else trouble starts brewing. Plus, I can sit down, watch TLC and blog. Or I can nap myself.

2. Getting up at 8 a.m., even when I don't have to, keeps me motivated and moving for the rest of the day.

3. After standing in line at Macys for 10 minutes with a cranky toddler who is ready for nap time can lead to discovering new games that make said toddler laugh (like reclining the seat of the stroller so he "falls").

4. Having two carseats in the back of my car makes me nervous (I am taking my nephew to VBS this week).

5. I absolutely love the feeling of having little stress since I'm not at work, where it appears the majority of my stress comes.

6. When my little man wakes up at 11:20 p.m. experiencing a night terror, which lasts for over 30 minutes of pure screaming, the only thing that will calm him down is to turn on "Family Guy." It works like a charm (we have used it more than once to calm him down during night terrors).

7. When the little man experiences a night terror and ends up sleeping in bed with me, the next morning feels like I never went to sleep...I'm exhausted!

8. And my favorite, VBS and PMS do not mix!

Works for Me Wednesday -- Trusting your instinct with medical issues

Today's Works for Me Wednesday Theme is Parenting Advice. I was not planning on posting as I have only been at this motherhood thing for barely 22 months, but as I was reading some of the other posts of great advice I thought of something, so here goes!

One thing that I have found helpful is to always trust my instinct, that motherly instinct is often right. This has been especially important for us when dealing with doctors.

Jacob's peditrician is fabulous and listens to all of my concerns with great care; however, when he wanted to wait and see how Jake's torticollis worked itself out or to wait and see how his head shaped, I felt that waiting was not the best answer.

So, being the cowardly self I am, I left the appointments waiting, thought to myself about what the doctor said, researched on the internet about specific things and then called when I had a concern that waiting was not the best answer. The doctor was always responsive to my concerns and referred us to the next step along the path of treatment.

I may or may not have been right. We could have waited to start physical therapy or waited and avoided unnecessary other appointments, but it comforted me to know that something was happening and at least we had other opinions and solutions.

This also proved true when Jake needed glasses. I recognized that he would not make eye contact when he was up close and low and behold he needed glasses.

So, don't be afraid to speak up. Trust your instincts. You are your childrens' number one advocate, they rely on you.

For more Parenting Advice visit Rocks in My Dryer.