Singing to a different iTune

When I use to co-op for IBM, I swear (I know, a bit harsh) I would never get a Mac...and I haven't. Apple, ha...I laugh at thee.

Then I worked for Nokia, where, for years I was loyal to their phones...mainly because I got them for free, but also because I believed they were great phones. That was back in the day.

After Nokia, I tried my darndest to stick to a Nokia phone but golly gee whiz, they were ugliest thing out there. Then the clouds parted and my (cellular) vision cleared and voila!...the iPhone appeared, almost as if sent from angels above, a thing of beauty and yet, practical.

Yes, iLuv my iPhone! Let me count the ways...

1. It is user friendly (Wesley and Laina know how to use it...although I'm not sure if this is really a good thing.)
2. Built in GPS, maps, navigation
3. It has so many darn good apps...most of which are free. I use Trailguru for my running which tracks my mileage, time, avg speed, route, etc.
4. Pay bills, netflix, facebook, weather...
5. iPod
6. Games (educational and not so) for the kids - good for keeping them busy, aka quiet, when necessary.
7. Lastly, it's a phone...but this is definitely not the selling point. The actual selling point is everything in ONE device.

I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea. Those of you with an iPhone understand and those without one, should get one, so you can understand. All I'm saying is that I'm liking Apple at the moment. I can't say that iLuv Apple YET...they still have that Mac thing that I haven't jumped on the bandwagon with...but I have to admit that I am now an iPhone junkie.

Here are some moments captured with iPhone usage.

Like father, like son.

Running with my iPhone.

Spring Toy Cleaning

Maybe I've been watching too much HGTV or maybe I'm just sick of tripping over toys everywhere I walk around the house, but this morning I decided to be adventurous and clean out the kids toys. This involved going through every nook and cranny to get a toy car here, a puzzle piece there and piling them all on our living room floor. If you could've seen the disaster that was our living room, you would have been appalled...or amazed that it could have fit in our house. So these are toys that they have accumulated since they were babies minus the ones I've given to my sisters and friends, and the ones we've donated before. OK, so maybe they have too much...maybe.

At this disastrous moment, Scott wakes up and proceeded to tell me that the kids definitely don't need any more toys. Yeah, you can jump to that conclusion from first glance, but kids need to update their toys to more age appropriate ones. Wesley can only play with a rattle for so long.

We managed to consolidate most of their toys into 2 boxes, one for each. The rest will be donated or given away. Here is a pic of the almost end result. We're not finish...we had to take a break.

Amazon Oh Amazon

What would I do without Amazon.com? Suffer terribly...truthfully. Amazon is an amazing one-stop online shop for EVERYTHING!! Let me give you some examples of my recent experiences.

As you know, Wesley suffers from food allergies...of every kind. I use "suffer" loosely...it's not like he's starving or crippled or whiny. Well, I take that last one back. He is whiny, but I don't think it's wholly attributed to his eating inadequacies, but more because he's a 3-year old on the verge of being 4 and trying to get his way.

Anyway, back to my original point...Wesley has to have special foods that don't contain wheat, milk, nuts and egg. Very limiting but we have found ways around it...me being the creative person that I am - ok, i get my mom to make his food but that's beside the point. We have found these special cookies from Enjoy Life Foods that he loves, but only specialty stores like Central Market or Sprouts carry. Well, our local Sprouts ran out of them, but then lo and behold - do a search on Amazon and whoop, there it is! AND less expensive. Cha-ching! I felt like I hit the jackpot, so 12 boxes of them go into my Amazon shopping cart.

Example #2 - I've been hesitant to buy new running shoes, mainly because of my New Year's resolution to not buy new clothes or shoes for 3 MONTHS. (I'm sure I wasn't in the right frame of mind when I made this commitment.) But since I'm fully commited to running a marathon in April - yes, I signed up, will talk about it later - I decided I better go ahead and get some - in order to break them in, of course. My current Saucony running shoes were $80 and that's on the low end. Since I knew what I wanted, I went to my personal shopper Amazon and found a higher end pair of Saucony shoes, regularly $125, for $57! You've got to be kidding. OK, the the color was not great and you pay more for the premium colors, but I was not worried about making a fashion statement when I run - yes, that is true, I know it's hard to believe. So in my shopping cart it went, but then Amazon informed me that if I spend $100 total, I get $25 off! Who can pass up a deal like that? I found another pair of high end Saucony shoes reduced over half. Free shipping and my total came out to $91! It's like 2 pairs for less than the price of 1! Amazon, I love you! Here are my beloved shoes...the colors aren't horrific.

Example #3 (and this is my last) - There was a period of time when both my kids were in diapers (oh, how I don't want to relive those moments). If you're a parent, you know diapers are not cheap...or anything else for kids for that matter. I turned to Amazon for help and it saved me. You can set up a subscription for diapers (and many other items) for weekly, bi-monthly, monthly, etc. delivery. Diapers at your doorstep! Never again do you have to lug large boxes of diapers around the store. Oh, and did I mention that you get 15% off of their already low rates? Yes, it's cheaper than in the retail stores. (I sound like an advertisement.)

Did I mention that it's 24-hour shopping in your pj's, underwear, whatever? Long gone are the days of dragging your kids around in the store, having them throw tantrums because you won't buy them a toy, you beating them in public...now you can beat them in the comfort of your own home...AND in your underwear! Just kidding, I don't beat my kids (often enough). Just in case CPS is reading this...I REALLY am kidding!

Sorry if I got carried away. I just wanted to share my little secret. Most of you probably use Amazon but don't realize the full potential of Amazon. And no, I do not work for Amazon, nor know of any friends or family that do!

Taco Mama

"Taco Mama" for President...at least from the eyes (and mouth) of a 2-year-old. Laina's lack of vocabulary has created a much more interesting name for our new President. Barack Obama became our 44th President on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009. I know you all know that already, but you probably forgot that I forget easily so I'm putting it in here for my sake.

I was impressed that Wesley knew that Barack Obama was our new President, whereas Laina just likes saying "Taco Mama". I think it sounds more like "Rock-a-Mama" but Scott insists it's Taco Mama. I give him this one since he IS from this country.

Here's a video of the kids' quiz on the President.