A pain in my....back! :)

I am so incredibly glad that I took a vacation from work this week. If I had not, I would be a miserable person right now!

VBS is kicking my rear end!

I am teaching the 4 and 5 year old class. Alone!

What was I thinking? I don't have a clue!

I really did not think that I would have 10 or more kids every night.

Alone!

Or that my own child would have a break down every night (except the first night) and scream and throw a royal fit which I have to simply turn my back on and walk away from, hoping someone else can handle it because after all, I am teaching a class of 4 and 5 year olds...alone!

Due to the overwhelming (and fabulous) amount of kids we have had a VBS this year (which is great...don't get me wrong), there is not much space for the number of kids. I had 11 tonight and definitely did not have enough table space, or a place for me to sit down.

My own needs are put to the side as I gear my attention to the kids, but when I finally make it home each night, toddler in tow, I can barely lift my 35 plus pound child out of the car and into the house without the thought that my back may actually fall off (which would be horrible and interesting at the same time!).

I have been blessed by the attentiveness of my group of kiddos. I love hearing the kids whisper to their parents, "that's my teacher," and I love hearing a group of kids yell, "I LOVE YOU, JESUS!" just because I suggested it.

If only my legs, feet and back were blessed to be without pain!

A Ladies' Man, road trip, VBS...

This weekend has been a bit of a blur for me.

Yesterday we visited the Aquarium. Jake seemed to enjoy his time there. He was a fan of the sharks and the penguins. Or maybe that was me...Jake just watched all the animals intently.

After the Aquarium we visited some friends of ours and their newest addition, "baby aya" as Jake would call her. Let me tell ya, seeing a baby who is of "normal" size is amazing to me. "Baby Aya" is 2 1/2 months old and not even to the weight Jake was when he was born. I tell ya folks, I gave birth to a 3 month old!

Today we had our regular morning church activities. I stuck around after church for awhile getting my classroom set up for VBS this week.

Once I got home I put Jake down for a nap so we would have a happy kid at VBS instead of cranky pants. When I woke him up (which hurts my soul...I hate waking a sleeping kid...and Jake hates it too) to get dinner in his belly and to head to VBS, I recognized that Jake had a HUGE blue knot on his forehead.

This was not present before naptime, so I only assume that he injured himself during nap time. Bless his heart, this kiddo must have my clumsy gene. If he can injure himself in his sleep, he's definitely my child. Seesh!

While at VBS Jake joined his class and I taught my class for the 4-5 year olds. I was actually impressed with the level of attentiveness the kiddos gave me. I hope they stay that way throughout the week!

Apparently, Jake's knock on the head has turned him into quite the ladies' man. He was picking up women left and right tonight! As he was outside playing, a couple kids and their parents were outside the fence of the play area at church. Jake stood at the fence and said "Hi!" to the girls repeatedly.

Later, one of the little girls in his class decided Jake was her boyfriend (maybe she was jealous of his moves on the other women and decided to make her move). She would take his hand and lead him around everywhere. During music class, the two danced the twist. Folks, it was simply precious.

My bruiser is gonna be a heart breaker.

Sorry girls, he's already taken...he's stole my heart!

He's home!

My little man returned last night from his 3 days of fun with Gigi and Grandpa. Jake appeared to have lots of fun.

He got to visit my grandparents, but refused to go in the room with the clock...he is afraid of it. I'm glad his daddy's love of tacky things has not rubbed off, yet. Apparently he wasn't keen on anything at that time because he also had no interest in the tractor either. Here's proof.



Later that day, after a trip to McDonalds (where the A/C was out and all the highchairs were taken), the group had fun in my aunt's pool.



The next day Gigi and Grandpa ventured to the Zoo with the two boys! From what I hear, no one was interested in sitting in a stroller, but Jake was able to enjoy seeing the tigers and giraffes, which appeared to be his favorite.

I was glad to have my little man back at home. He was much more excited to see daddy. Or at least the pizza daddy brought home for supper. Either way, he's home, unpacked and life is back in order.

Kinda.

We are going to the Aquarium tomorrow and to visit some friends and their new bundle of joy. Then I am off work next week as we have VBS at church and I'm teaching a class (I decided working full time and then going straight to VBS to teach 5 year olds was going to be too much, so I decided to use some vacation time). So I guess it will still be another week before normalcy as we know it returns.

But we will have some fun until then!

WINNERS!

The winners for my Dog Days of Summer Giveaway are:

*Drum Roll*

#18 -- aahcoffee -- Holy Discontent by Bill Hybels

and #63 -- Titus2heart -- 3 Seconds by Les Parrott

Congrats!

Thanks to everyone for participating! It was great seeing 91 comments on my blog, even if I had to give something away to get that! :-)

Fun in the Park!

This past Saturday we took Jake to a park we "found" about a mile from our house. The playground was a little too advanced for Jake, but he had fun climbing what he could. He especially loved running through the huge field and looking for birds in the trees.

WHAT??? Quite literally, WHAT???

Have you seen this commercial? The one for Listen Up V3 (which I believe stands for Volume 3, where are the other 2??).

If you haven't seen this commercial, go watch it, then come back.

I'll wait.

Insert Jeopardy theme song

Oh great, you're back.

Yes, you heard right!

You can listen in to a conversation ACROSS the street.

Or a conversation across the room.

Honestly folks, are we really that shallow of people in this country that we actually advertise for listening device so we can eavesdrop on our neighbors or co-workers?

Did you notice the couple in church? Are they listening to the minister or the two busy bodies in the back of the church gossiping during service?

Because for only $14.99 you too can be a busy body!

Hmm...too bad I'm trying to cut back on frivilous purchases!

The show will go on!

If he had to be replaced he might as well have been replaced by him.

A Precious Moment (and not the figurine)

Lately while Jake is taking a bath he will take his rubber ducks and make them kiss. He will look at me and I will make the "Muaw" kissing sound.

Then he will take the ducks, each in one hand and cross his arms around his chest and say "ug!" the Jake word for hug.

This continues on and on as long as I will make the "Muaw" kissing sound.

Have I told you that my child is precious?

Oh yeah, I think I have...well, once again, he is simply precious!

It's Bloggy Giveaway Time!!

WINNERS HAVE BEEN PICKED! COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED! THANKS TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED!
I am a huge fan of contests to win FREE things, so when Shannon introduced the Dog Days of Summer Giveaway I was all about it. I was really excited to hopefully win something from one of the many giveaways which are going on this week, but I am also glad to have an opportunity to participate with my own contest.

I was contacted by Zondervan Publishing a couple months ago to read and review a couple of new Christian non-fiction books. Well, now the time has come to do so and to put these two books up for a giveaway!

The first book is "Holy Discontent" by Bill Hybels. This book provided a lot of personal stories and accounts from the author. I personally learn by example and I often will remember an "object lesson" or story better than pure lecture. This book was great in teaching how we can take our own frustrations with the world we live in, team up together and tackle those frustrations.


The second book is "3 Seconds" by Les Parrott. This book teaches us how to pause, take a breath and then react in several different situations.


Alright, these books are up for the giveaway. I will pick 2 winners, one for each book. If you are interested, just comment on this post. If you are interested in one of the books over the other put the name of that book in your post. I will TRY to provide you with the book of you choice. I will pick a winner at 1 p.m. EST on Friday, June 27, 2007 and announce those on the blog then!


And for more Dog Days of Summer Giveaways click here.

We serve a great God!

Thanks Gigi and Grandpa!

My parents are planning to keep my little man at their house for a few days in the coming week. I am excited for Jake because he does not get to see my parents on a day to day basis as they live out of town. I'm also excited for Jake because my nephew will also be there and Jake will get to enjoy time playing with him. Plus there are plans for the group to visit the Zoo, which will be Jake's first time, go swimming at my aunt's pool, and I am certain a bit of spoiling.

What I am not excited about is missing Jake. This will be the first time that Jake has ever been away from me for entire days at a time. It's only a few days, but it is still days.

I am looking forward to the time Donnie and I will have alone, together. We need that time a lot since we didn't get to enjoy very much newlywed-ness since Jake was born 10 months after we were married. We have plans to go out to dinner and possibly a movie!

This will be a fun week for us all, but at the same time an interesting week.

Creative bathing!

Well preparing for the day without water was interesting this morning. If you have no idea what I am talking about, scroll down and read the previous post!

Hubby got up and took Jake to his parents' house and he showered and got ready there. Apparently my MIL was not a fan of his wrinkled work clothes so she ironed them. I guess it's good someone likes to iron since I am not a fan!

I only had to use 6 bottles of water while I kneeled beside the bathtub to wash my hair. I used another bottle to brush my teeth and "bathe." It's a good thing we had all that water!

Despite the makeshift bathing I feel relatively clean, which is good for me...and my co-workers!

Hopefully when I stop by home in a few minutes for my PB&J lunch I will find the water back on...at least I hope so.

If I have to call the water company again, it may not be so pretty!

Oh Water, Where Are You???

Tonight when I was preparing to give Jake his bath I realized we have no water!

I immediately got on the phone to the water company.

To make a long story short, when I set up our water here at our new home BACK IN MAY they entered my address incorrectly and said that I live in WEST VIRGINIA...where I have not lived since 1998...and not even in a town I have ever heard of.

Apparently they turned off our water today because there was not a current account at this residence and it only took me getting hung up on once and having to call back and then being on the phone for a total of 41 minutes to figure that out.

And to be told that they can't turn our water back on until tomorrow! WHAT??? This was not MY fault, this was the crazy person who set up my account's fault.

No matter how nicely or crazily I asked the water won't be on until tomorrow.

So tomorrow my poor co-workers will just have to wear nose plugs since I can't shower...which is a daily requirement for myself.

I have been eyeing the 24 pack of bottled water and that may be how I "bathe" tomorrow.

UGH!!!

So to you water company...in the wrong state...who turned off my water...and hung up on me...and kept me on hold for 30 minutes...

Just be glad I'm not PMSing.

Works for Me Wednesday -- Multitasking Bath time

While Jake takes baths I use this time in the bathroom to tidy up a bit.

Since I have to spend at least 30 minutes or more in the bathroom with him I immediately clean him up and then let him play in the tub (which he greatly enjoys).

As he is playing I use this time to clean the bathroom. This past week I have straightened and organized my bathroom cabinets. I have also been able to use this time to in the past to clean the rest of the bathroom that is not being used.

Being a busy mom every minute is precious so multi-tasking during bath time works for me!

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips visit Rocks in My Dryer.

My little reader

This was the sight I saw when I turned the corner the other day and looked into Jake's room. He had climbed into the glider with a book and was reading to himself. Out Loud.

Jake LOVES to read. When I say LOVES to read I mean LOVES! Jake will pull out a book at a time, open it page by page and read the story.

He often will actually read the story as he remembers it.

His favorite book this month is "Go Dog Go!" which he has in this picture. He also loves his "Brown Bear" book and "Mr. Brown can Moo."

These books he has memorized (and so do I) and will read them to himself. It is the cutest thing in the world!

Have I told you that my child is absolutely precious? Because if I haven't I will now.

He is PRECIOUS!

Where's the beef?

Tonight we had cravings for Arbys roast beef.

Hubby went to get the yummy food.

About 15 minutes later I get this phone call:

H: "They are out of roast beef."

Me: "What?"

H: "They are out of roast beef. I think I'm gonna go to Wendys."

Me: "What? How can Arbys be out of roast beef?"

H: "I don't know. What do you want from Wendys."

So the question of the evening is, how can Arbys run out of roast beef?

Feet, celebrities, and classic country music, all in an hour

Friday evening I had a pedicure.

Hubby gave me a gift certificate for a free one for my birthday so I took a few minutes to have some pampering.

I have had pedicures before. Prior to being married and having a kiddo, pedicures were something I loved to have done. Although my left foot is insanely ticklish I enjoy letting my tired aching feet soak in a tub of water while someone massages them, scrapes the layers of dead and dry skin off, while I sit in a massage chair and read the latest People magazine and catch up on the world of useless gossip.

Honestly, can anyone tell me a better way to spend an hour on a Friday evening? Because I honsetly can't think of one!

Prior to Friday I had not had a pedicure in well over a year. I am not one to spend much money on myself now that I have a kiddo and family and a pedicure seems to be one of those frivilous things that can be eliminated so you can pay the electric bill.

Needless to say my feet were gross. I won't go in to all the details of the shape of my feet because it's 1. gross and 2. embarassing! I have all the items necessary to perform my own pedicure at home, but that means I can't read a People magazine, or sit in a massage chair, so why would I want to do that? Plus it means I need to have more than 10 minutes of time that is not changing a diaper, picking up another toy, clipping coupons, and well, blogging!

Don't get me wrong, I have clean feet and I am not treated by a specialist for any type of foot problems, but my feet do get dry and cracked. I do try to paint my toenails in the summer months when they are displayed as I wear sandals, but other than that my poor feet are neglected.

The pedicurist, a middle-aged man of Asian decent, spent a good deal of time lecturing me on caring for my feet, which I do plan to make time to do. I am sure he gossiped about my nasty feet once I left because I know I would have!

The pedicure was as I expected. I was able to relax for a few minutes as the massage chair beat my back so hard my entire body shook. As your head shakes side to side it can be difficult to read about Nicole Richey, Jessica Simpson and Lindsey Lohan, but I managed to flip through an entire People magazine.

As I was allowing my toe nails to dry in the foot dryer I realized the store had country music playing. I guess between the massaging, reading and lecturing during the pedicure I didn't recognize the music playing, but as I sat in the quiet area of foot dryers I was able to hear the great goodness of some country music.

I have to say this made me chuckle a bit. This particular nail salon is a family operated business owned by the middle aged man of Asian decent who performed my pedicure. I found it interesting and rather humorous that the music of choice was American country music.

Now, this was not just any country music. The music of choice appeared to be classic country music. The song playing the majority of the time I was allowing my nails to dry was "Sweet Bye and Bye."

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of the song, and at times classic country, but the setting it was playing in made me smile.

Next year when I venture back to the salon for my annual pedicure and lecture I will listen much more intently to the background music. Maybe their taste will change and a little Jay-Z will be blaring from the speakers, which for some reason seems more appropriate. Why is that?

A cozy place for an afternoon nap!

We had a little visitor on our back porch this afternoon.

As I walked into the kitchen I saw this through the back door.

Isn't he cute? (or she, we didn't get that personal).

We don't have any pets. The men in the family are allergic to animals with fur or "dander" and we have not ventured into the hairless pets yet. I think that I have been banned from caring for pets which can not make their presence known to me when I allowed my poor fish to freeze to death during the 2003 ice storm.

Well my little feline friend was not so friendly and must have heard about the fish incident of 03. He woke up when I tapped the window (imagine that!) and ran off. I put out some tuna because I thought he may come back and kill all those uninvited rodents which may be lurking around these parts!

Unfortunately he must not be a tuna fan, or else tuna in 90 degree heat is not so appetizing.

(Please excuse the poor wilting flowers in the picture, the 90+ degree heat is killing them; however, I watered them soon after taking the picture and they have returned to healthy beautiful flowers, for now!)

The walking advertisement...er, blogging advertisement

As you may have noticed I have an advertisement at the top of my page now.

I thought I would join the world of Google's advertising, plus they emailed me and offered!

I'm not supposed to tell you anything about the ad or to do anything when you see the ad, but if you find it interesting then use that fake rodent thing attached to your computer and push the left button.

Anyway, I have noticed the advertisements correspond with the content on my blog. Just before I began to write this blog the ad was for Coupons, imagine that! I have also seen ads for CVS (I should get compensation for plugging them!), 4th of July activities (well after the 4th of July) and yesterday I laughed out loud when I saw the ad for oil changes.

I'm tempted to write blogs about funny things to get funny ads. I have promised, back on my 100th post to tell you about the WWE infatuation of my husband and the Valentine's day fun we had a few years ago. I wonder if that will trigger some type of wrestling ads, hmmm.

Do any of you have ideas? Of course nothing "bad," just good, clean funny ideas! Or have you had any interesting ads on your blog?

Edited to add: When I published this post the ad at the top of the page was stated "Prepare to be Shocked!" and was an advertisement for Real Age...now how did that get on there? It must have been my mention of blood pressure medicine!

Hello Doctor, yes, I think I need some blood pressure medicine

Tonight I took Jake to our local Chick-fil-a for dinner. Hubby had to work late and I needed to stop by CVS (which I won't bore you with my savings, but I had some GREAT ones today) so I decided Jake and I would go out on the town (plus I had a coupon for a free kids meal).


Jake and I ate our nuggets and then I decided to let him play in the Play land area. There was an area which was designated for toddlers which had items for Jake to turn and fun mirrors. This entertained him for about 5 seconds when he decided to climb on the slide. I thought I'd let him play for a minute. He began to climb up higher and higher, so high I could not see him in the tube of the slide any longer. I began to panic instantly. I knew I could not climb up after him or else I would be paying Chick-fil-a for a lot more than a few chicken nuggets.

I watched his shadow closely and saw him get to the top of the slide. I hoped he would just turn around and slide down, but of course he did not. He continued to crawl through the tubes, 15 feet above the ground.

Occasionally I could see him through the clear areas of the tubes and I would occasionally hear him talk or say "Mom" when he was responding to my scared calls to him to come. back. down. the. slide.

There were three little girls playing in the play land while Jake was and the oldest was probably about 5. She was very responsible and was my helper in watching Jake. I am certain she saw the terror on my face and heard the nervousness in my voice and she would occasionally say "He's in the red one" and then a couple minutes later she would say, "He's in the blue one now!" and so on.

She was an angel to me tonight! And was nearly the only thing that kept me from having a stroke as my blood pressure rised rapidly the longer Jake was playing 15 feet above the ground and I could not get to him!

After playing about 15 minutes Jake decided to begin to head toward the slide and the steps to come down out of the play land. He could not figure out the steps and again I could not get to him due to the tube around the steps, so I attempted to explain to him how to get down, which to a 21 month old who is having the TIME OF HIS LIFE, this is total gibberish.

Finally my little 5 year old friend was able to coerce Jake to the slide and down the tube. I was able to grab him at the end before he ran back up it and out the door we went. I was NOT going to let him get away from me again.

As we were walking out to the car Jake was talking and talking. I could not understand what he was saying until he said "kids" (at least I think that's what he said). I believe he was telling me about what a good time he had playing with the other kids.

He was so sweet and he was so happy playing in the play land. I guess I am going to have to get some blood pressure medicine and accept the fact that my little man is getting so big and independent.

*Sigh*

This motherhood thing is an emotional job and I'm only 21 months into it.

Works for Me Wednesday -- Fast Oil Change

It's Wednesday already? I need to get with it today!

A few months ago a friend gave me a coupon (imagine that!) for a free oil change at Valvoline. If you are not familiar with the Valvoline oil change stores let me give you a little lesson in oil changing (Ha! Ha!). Valvoline provides drive through oil changes. This entails driving up, pulling in to the station and stopping. You never have to get out of your car and the crew at the store will change your oil, check all your fluid levels and top them off and ensure all your lights and turn signals are working.

I had never used a drive through oil changing service. I have always given in to the Wal-Mart-I'm-going-to-wait-atleast-2-hours oil change service. I was impressed with the speed and service with Valvoline.

I pulled up and was in and out of the service area in 5 minutes, which is great for a busy mom!

This could have been faster is I hadn't popped my trunk instead of the hood or actually responded when they wanted me to flash my high beam lights instead of staring blankly at them like a deer in the headlights (ha, it's a pun and I know it). I was nervous...it was like my driver's test all over again!

Ok...back on track now.

I am not certain of the price of the oil change at places similar to this (remember I had a free coupon!), but I believe it is slightly more than the Wal-Mart 2 hour wait, but for time saving, the money is worth it to me! Plus, I'll spend more at Wal-Mart trying to waste time after my regular shopping is done to make up for the price difference.

Drive-thru oil changes work for me. For more Works for Me tips visit Shannon!

Another year older...another year stressed

Today is my 27th Birthday!

I am nearing 30 way too fast. For some reason this birthday is hitting me a lot harder than any in recent years. I think it has something to do with the big 3-0 approaching fast.

I still feel like the same person, but I know that I seem to get a little more uptight in my old age. And if this continues too much I am not sure I can even live with myself.

I don't know if my uptightness is because I just seem to encounter more stressful situations or acquire more responsibility which leads to stress, but for some reason I am not the carefree, shrug it off person I was 10 years ago.

I crave to be this person again. I wish I could let the stress of being a mom roll off my shoulders along with the stress of paying bills and working...you know all that adult stuff.

I guess I am not able to hide my stress anymore because this year's birthday gifts have been telling me that I need to relax. Hubby got me a gift card to get a pedicure, which I requested, I need a little pampering! My sister sent me a manicure and facial set, which I am looking forward to using and my sister-in-law gave me a neck and shoulder massage-er (spell check told me that massager was not a word, so I made that one up). I definitely need a neck and shoulder massage because all that stress hangs out right in that area.

I guess I need to get a grip and relax a little, huh?

So, for year #27 in the life of Jessica, my goal will be to relax, live life for the moment and enjoy the little things while letting the big things sit in God's hands.

Yep, I'm a mom!

Lately I have realized that I am really an official mom! How do I know? Well, let me tell you!


This week at work when I saw electrical outlets uncovered I immediately thought I needed to get some plug covers so little fingers would not find the outlets. I don't work with little fingers...I work with adults...there is NO need for plug covers!


If I go somewhere alone I go over to the passenger side of the car to get Jake out, even if he is not there.


3 out of 5 days I end up at work with some type of kid stain on my clothes.


A few weeks ago as I got Jake out of the car seat and helped him to the ground he immediately grabbed my hand. I nearly cried...he was sooooooo precious!

I don't even attempt to find television shows I am interested in on Saturday mornings. I immediately find the Disney channel.

Due to the Saturday morning cartoons I can now sing the theme songs to all Nick Jr. and Clubhouse Disney shows.

I have acquired a love for grilled cheese sandwiches!

I have "Brown Bear," "Very Hungry Caterpillar," and numerous other children's books memorized.

And my favorite, I constantly hum, "Deep and Wide," "Little Light of Mine," and "Go Diego Go!"

I may need to brush my teeth

Sometimes I am simply odd.

For example, for dinner tonight hubby stopped and picked up fast food on the way home. My order was the hamburger without onions and onion rings.

It doesn't make sense does it? Hubs hates ordering that for me, but he does...and I eat it up.

And it's yummy!

There is just something different between deep fried onions and simple plain onions, especially when those onions are on my hamburger....yuck!

Happy 4th of July!

Whew! It is only 6:25 p.m. and I am completely worn out!

This morning I used the cool morning temperatures and my time off work to trim bushes around our deck. Once I was done with that we ate lunch and then left for the parade in town for the 4th of July festivities.

That was our mistake.

Don't get me wrong, I love parades and I enjoy spending time with my family. What I don't like is that the parade was right in the middle of Jake's nap time and that does not go well. I was surprised that Jake slept for about 45 minutes before the parade began. However, he woke up and immediately began the where-am-I?-oh-my-gosh!-I-am-not-at-home screaming. The crying did not stop, except for a brief 5 minutes when the parade first began. However, he then remembered he was not at home and there were lots of people all around him that he did not know...and the screaming began again.

Needless to say we left early. I think we only witnessed about 1/4th of the parade. And what did he do as soon as we got home. Oh, no he did not resume his nap, nope...he immediately began to run and play like the one hour scream fest never occurred.

UGH!

Well, once we returned home I began to prepare dinner as my in-laws were coming over. I got the grill started and away we went...this all went rather well despite losing a steak and a hamburger, which fell through the grill slats.

The debate on attending the area's firework show is being worked out. I have a feeling we will be here at home, probably asleep, collapsed from today's activities at 10 p.m.

I hope you all have had a Happy 4th of July.

Thanks to our troops and all the men and women who have defended our country.

I'm a ROCKIN' GIRL BLOGGER!

Guinevere has awarded me with the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award!!! I am so thrilled and honored. I'd like to thank my husband for giving me time to blog....well, I won't bore you with an acceptance speech, but I want to name some other people Rockin' Girl Bloggers!

1. Jessie at Seriously Though. Jessie and I go way back, to high school days. I love this girl and her accounts of life as a new mom are honest and funny. Love ya girl...you are definitely a Rockin' Girl Blogger!

2. Janelle at Everday Stories. Janelle is the mother of 3 boys, from 5 to toddler, that is an amazing feet, especially considering she also works full-time. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. So Janelle, you deserve some recognition!!

3. Jessica at Itty Bitty Bits of Me. Jessica and I have way too much in common, I believe it has something to do with the name. Jessica is also a mom...to two beautiful little girls. She is also honest about the fun and struggles of being a mom, which is why she ROCKS!! We aren't alone in this world of raising kids...we have all the same struggles!

4. Lisa at QTPies 7. I have only one thing to say...she is the mother of 7 kids. (I think I see a theme here with my nominations!)

5. Ang at The Toy Box Blew Up! Ang was my first roommate all those years ago in college. Love ya girl! And, yes, she is also a mom, to Mikey!