Holiday Accommodations

We have been talking about taking a family vacation to Orlando in the next year or two, so I have been looking into different accommodation options and more to assure we have the best vacation possible. Yesterday a co-worker of my husband was telling him about rental property in Florida. This is where they book through when they travel to Florida.

Through Thinkflorida.co.uk they provide you with an online booking service for private pool homes, town houses and condos in the Walt Disney area. Each of their units are featured with lots of pictures, floor plans and amenities of the properties. Travelling with children, then take the time and check out all their features to help you choose the right vacation home for your family. You the customer choose the property you want based on specific information on that particular property and to make things easier you book it online. And remember, the home you choose, is the home you get with Lowery's vacation homes.

I am very impressed with the Orlando Holiday Villa options. For us this will make our family vacation that much more enjoyable and much more spacious for us.

SLOW DOWN

Jack took a long look at his speedometer before slowing down: 73 in a 55 zone. Fourth time in as many months. How could a guy get caught so often?

When his car had slowed to 10 miles an hour, Jack pulled over, but only partially. Let the cop worry about the potential traffic hazard. Maybe some other car will tweak his backside with a mirror. The cop was stepping out of his car, the big pad in hand.
Bob? Bob from Church? Jack sunk farther into his trench coat. This was worse than the coming ticket. A cop catching a guy from his own church. A guy who happened to be a little eager to get home after a long day at the office. A guy he was about to play golf with tomorrow.
Jumping out of the car, he approached a man he saw every Sunday, a man he'd never seen in uniform.

"Hi, Bob. Fancy meeting you like this."
"Hello, Jack." No smile.
"Guess you caught me red-handed in a rush to see my wife and kids."
"Yeah, I guess." Bob seemed uncertain. Good.
"I've seen some long days at the office lately. I'm afraid I bent the rules a bit -just this once."
Jack toed at a pebble on the pavement. "Diane said something about roast beef and potatoes tonight. Know what I mean?" "I know what you mean. I also know that you have a reputation in our precinct ." Ouch. This was not going in the right direction. Time to change tactics.
"What'd you clock me at?"
"Seventy. Would you sit back in your car please?"
"Now wait a minute here, Bob. I checked as soon as I saw you. I was barely nudging 65." The lie seemed to come easier with every ticket.
"Please, Jack, in the car"

Flustered, Jack hunched himself through the still-open door. Slamming it shut, he stared at the dashboard. He was in no rush to open the window.
The minutes ticked by. Bob scribbled away on the pad.
Why hadn't he asked for a driver's license?
Whatever the reason, it would be a month of Sundays before Jack ever sat near this cop again. A tap on the door jerked his head to the left. There was Bob, a folded paper in hand Jack rolled down the window a mere two inches, just enough room for Bob to pass him the slip.

"Thanks." Jack could not quite keep the sneer out of his voice.

Bob returned to his police car without a word. Jack watched his retreat in the mirror. Jack unfolded the sheet of paper. How much was this one going to cost?
Wait a minute. What was this? Some kind of joke?
Certainly not a ticket. Jack began to read:

"Dear Jack, Once upon a time I had a daughter. She was six when killed by a car. You guessed it- a speeding driver. A fine and three months in jail, and the man was free. Free to hug his daughters, all three of them. I only had one, and I'm going to have to wait until Heaven before I can ever hug her again.
A thousand times I've tried to forgive that man. A thousand times I thought I had. Maybe I did, but I need to do it again. Even now. Pray for me. And be careful, Jack, my son is all I have left."
"Bob"

Jack turned around in time to see Bob's car pull away and head down the road. Jack watched until it disappeared. A full 15 minutes later, he too, pulled away and drove slowly home, praying for forgiveness and hugging a surprised wife and kids when he arrived.

Life is precious. Handle with care. This is an important message. Drive safely and carefully. Remember, cars are not the only things recalled by their maker.

May today there be peace within you. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. "I believe that friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."

PHOTOGRAPHY

Digital cameras and photography, my life seems to revolve around my family and my digital camera. I never leave home without it! Whether it's just capturing those funny moments with the kids or sporting events with basketball and dancing, family reunions, vacations or just the beautiful sunsets and landscapes, I always have my camera ready.

I have recently upgraded my digital camera from the Sony Cyber Shot 3.2 mega pixels to a Sony 6.0 mega pixels. What a difference it makes. I am pleased with my digital camera but it's still not the one I want. I am hoping some day to have a professional digital camera so that I can look into taking pictures professionally. Some of the features I would be looking for would be a super clear picture, a great zoom and a camera with an awesome flash. There are so many to choose from but I have plenty of time to shop around.

I have just seen announced, the new Nikon D300 professional digital SCR camera. This is a camera I will definitely be looking into. It has all the features I'm looking for and much more to offer. I can just imagine the beautiful sunsets captured through it.

THANKS FOR LISTENING

First of all I would like to thank Petula from It's a woman's world and Tammy from Mom Knows Everything for their concerning comments and helpful tips towards my 2 1/2 year old son who just won't eat! It's been a very hard time dealing with him when it comes to eating but guess what everyone? Ever since I took the time to do blog post complaining about it, he has been eating. Yes eating and I mean eating his meals, snacks and more. I am so excited, what a feeling! Today we took him out to McDonald's for lunch, he just loves the play park there and we ordered lunch. Hesitating on buying him anything I thought I would take the chance and try him with a grilled cheese Happy Meal. Well it definitely paid off, he ate the whole meal without me coaching him along and he kept telling us how good it was. It didn't stop there, when we got in the van he was asking for his package of fruit snacks, sure why not....well there is more, once we got home and went to pick the kids up at school, maybe 1 hour later, we went to get them a donut for a special treat for having such a great week and he ate his donut. I was shocked!!!!!!!!!!I'm not usually a complainer but I guess the moral to my story is that sometimes complaining does pay off, I wish I had done it sooner!

I LOVE PAY PER POST

In the spring of this year my good friend Kim was telling me all about making money at home online. I honestly thought she was crazy at first, it sounded too good to be true. She was so excited about posting for PPP that she was determined to get me signed up. After months of seeing how happy she was doing this and hearing about how much money she was actually making, I finally took the plunge.

I have been signed up doing blog ads for PPP for just one month now and I am really enjoying it. This is something that I look forward to doing everyday. I have earned to date $315.00, I can't complain about that for the first month and while taking opportunities I am learning so much more about different products and services out there, great travelling information and so much more. It is great! I love PPP and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to earn some extra money while making new friends along the way!

A GREAT WEEK

Well the kids have almost finished their first full week in school and everyone is happy! They love going and that makes getting up each morning so much easier. It has been busy week here at our house with getting the kids back and forth to school and spending quality time with Blake, which he just loves and yes renovations, there doesn't seem to be an end to things getting done around here. Yesterday we started Blake's bedroom, we are going all out puppies, the walls are painted and the wallpaper is up. He just loves the puppy border. Today we are putting down the new click flooring and hopefully putting his room back together. So it will be yet another busy day at the Smith house.
After school I promised the kids that we would take them around the corner from their school to Robin's Donuts for a treat for being so well behaved yesterday. I was amazed by how well they were playing with each other. It was so nice to see!
Well I must get going if I want to accomplish anything today! Have a good one!

READING TUTORS

My daughter is in the second grade and she just loves to read. Although she is reading at her appropriate level she gets annoyed and frustrated because she still can't read some of the books she wants. We thought we could help her by looking into Reading Tutors. This will help her not only maintain her reading but as well get an extra boost in the upcoming levels. I have heard that score educational centers can benefit students as well as their parents. Through this I can get a bettter understanding on how to work with my daughter at home.

UPCOMING WEDDING

My cousin is getting married this weekend and after almost a year of planning the big day is getting nearer. I won't be able to make it to her wedding because for one my husband is working and for two it's a long drive for me to take alone with four kids. I know she is disappointed right now but her wedding will go on without me. I am looking forward to seeing lots of pictures and hearing all about the cruise they are going on for their honeymoon. We never went away on a honeymoom, I am so jealous. I will have to plan a trip for the 2 of us soon.

INTERIOR DECORATING

Interior decorating is a passion for me. I can decorate a room over and over again. The whole house for that matter. The biggest problem I run into is first getting the ideas rolling. I usually get a visual idea in my head then I turn to the internet for more ideas.

If you are anything like me you want and need great home decorating tips. MyInteriorDecorator.com is a great place for those tips, tricks and ides. It is a great site and it has helped me through all my decorating challenges.

HAD TO LAUGH

I went to pick up the kids today after school as usual and I waited and waited and Kohl, my son that is in his first year never came out. So I went inside to find him and his teacher was taking him around the school in search for his missing lunch bag and sweater. It was quite a mystery we had on our hands. After quite a few minutes I noticed that the sleeve on his sweater was hanging out of his book bag, well then his teacher remembered that she had put it in there for him so that it wouldn't go missing. That worked out well didn't it! LOL anyway as his teacher went to take his sweater out, there was the missing lunch box! All we could do is laugh, all that running around and he had it on his back with us the whole time. What a way to finally get a tour of the kids school!

FREE TO DREAM

Are you a dreamer? We all have dreams, as a matter of fact we spent our childhood dreaming. That is the easy part, it's finding a way to achieve our dreams that is difficult. Just because I have a dream doesn't mean that I have to achieve it alone, ask for advise, get some help and support along the way.

There is a great new community forum where you can get connected online and tell others about your dreams and ideas and give and recieve encouragement. Now you to can dream at letyourdramsbegin.com. come join the The Dream Online Community forum where you can share your dreams and get the support and knowledge you need to make your dreams come true.

FAMILY HISTORY

My 5 year old son came home from school yesterday with homework. He is in grade primary (kindergarten) so I had expected you know the basic letters, numbers, spell out your name etc...well to my surprise we had to sit down and do a little project together. His teacher wanted to know where our ancestors came from before settling in Canada. So much for ABC's and 123's. Well we didn't get all the information last night so tonight my husband called his parents and got all his family information. His background is from Scotland, Ireland, Persia and England and I still have no idea so I will have to get in touch with my uncle who has the entire family tree history logged at his house. It will be interesting to find this out. So this will no doubt be an ongoing project for us.

NEW TIME TRACKING BOOK

With my husband taking on a new managers position at a higher level in his company, I wanted to get him a little something that he could make use of. A while back he had been given a book from the Vice President of his company and he found it to be very helpful with his job position, so I wanted to find another book that he would find interesting and beneficial for him. "All Your Money Won't Another Minute Buy" valuing time as a business resource by Curtis Finch is a time tracking book that I have recently come across that every business owner or manager should read. I am sure he will enjoy this book and I hope it will help him through his journey as a business manager.

HELP! HE WON'T EAT

IS HE GETTING ENOUGH NOURISHMENT?

My 2 1/2 year old son since day one has never been a very big eater. It is starting to worry me because he seems to be getting worse as the time goes on. My other children never had this problem and they had a little meat on their bones but not Blake he is so skinny he got himself the nickname "ribblet". I have tried everything that I can think of to get him to eat but he just has no interest. To eat a meal, forget it. To eat meat of any kind, forget it. He will however pick and pick all day long with snacky foods, yogurt!, apple sauce!, and fruit, I know don't complain about that. But is it enough. He does drink a lot of milk, he is always saying "mom I'm thirsty...hook me up to the cow!" Maybe he does get enough to eat but without him eating his meals at the table with us makes it seem like I'm not feeding him. I'm sure he will eat when he's hungry, I would just like to see him eat with everyone else so that I'm not getting him something to munch on all day long. It seems like I spend most of my time at the kitchen cupboards looking to get him something. Even cutting out the daytime snacks and only giving him his meals doesn't work, he won't eat and he will go all day like that and it's really hard to see. I hope this is something he will grow out of!
Well this is all my ramblings for now...I am being paged for a snack! LOL

HOLIDAY CHEER

It's holiday cheer throughout the year here at my house, we start shopping for Christmas right after the new year. As I come across great deals and super savings why not pick up a few gift items. We have 4 children and a huge extended family that we buy gifts for, so now you know why we start our shopping so early.

Now that we are already into September and the holiday season just around the the corner, I need to get on the ball and get a few more things checked off my list. That's why when I came across this Black Friday website I got out my list and I'm ready to go ,to the computer that is! I can save money when shopping this holiday season by buying items during Black Friday. What is black Friday you are probably asking? Well it's the day after Thanksgiving. You can shop and get great deals without waiting in line ups and you don't have to wait for the ads in your thanksgiving day newspaper, with black Friday.net, they give you the advantage by showing you all the ads before anyone else.

I am so excited! I can't wait, I plan on getting toys for my nieces and nephews at Toys R Us and Toys R Us can be found in black friday ads on the black friday website. By the looks of their list of ads, there is something there for all the kids to finish them off my Christmas list, from Barbie to Einstein, tents and slumber bags. I can already see the smiles on their faces and I'm already smiling with the great savings.

SO SWEET

I have been busy sitting here working at the computer when just out of the blue my husband comes in and brings me a plate of carrot sticks and mozerella sticks and a bottle of diet coke. He said he thought I could use something to munch on since it seemed I was working so hard. He must have been reading my mind because I was starving. I guess I should go and enjoy a bit and then get another post on here before I head off to bed.

STRUGGLING WITH MATH

School is back in and it's time for my children to hit the books once again. I am very fortunate to have such great children who love school, work hard with their work and love to see great results with their marks on their reports. Last year my son's math mark was slowly going down and this was becoming a frustration for him to have to deal with. He just couldn't seem to catch on to his work as the class progressed on ahead. This year he will be working with Math Tutors so he doesn't feel the pressure of falling behind. I have heard great recommendations about Score Educational Centers. They help children from the ages 4-14 make significant progress in a tutoring environment.

***A VISIT FROM THE TOOTH FAIRY

Well we had another visit from the tooth fairy last night. Trinity lost another tooth, it's her second in just a couple of weeks. She bit into her chicken taco last night at supper time and really loosened it up. Afterward she couldn't eat anything because of how loose it was and she was getting pretty upset so I gave it a few jiggles and out it came. She was so excited, but I think it was because it didn't take much work to get it out, not the fact that it actually came out...she is so scared when it comes to her teeth falling out (she takes after her mother). Well that's another loose tooth behind her.

***STAY AT HOME DAD'S BLOG

I would like to tell you about this great site at Devdad.com. He is a stay at home dad who just recently launched a new business which specialized in search engine marketing and web design. This is his personal blog on how he takes part in raising his beautiful daughter. As a stay at home mom I think it's great to have somewhere to go to hear a fathers point of view on raising children.
Let me tell you about this great Imac contest he has going on, It's a Stay At Home Dad Imac Give-Away, you can win a 20" Apple Imac. Go on and visit his blog for contest details and view his points in parenting.

AFTER SCHOOL FUN

It was a pretty warm this afternoon so when the kids got home from school they enjoyed one of their last dips in the pool. They had a great time and Blake even got in today so that should give you an idea how nice it was, he doesn't like the cold. Kohl, my little fish, was the first one out. He curled up on the lawn swing with his towel and almost fell asleep. He said that school tired him out today.....he did a lot of thinking and his brain was sore. I guess he will be going to bed early tonight. You've got to love the things they say and come up with. It's just to cute!

A PROUD MOM

When I dropped the kids off at school this morning I took Kohl in to his class where it is his first year I wanted to make sure he knew where to go. Well of course he did and he wasn't impressed with me for walking him in but it was a great help for the teacher because she had quite a few upset kids again this morning that needed her attention. Afterwards we talked and she was saying how mature Kohl is for his age and that he was so easy to get along with. She was very pleased to have him in her class. So I guess with having his teacher on his side he is bound to have a great year! I was so proud to hear such wonderful things about my little bundle of energy and oh yes he has lots of it!

ONE ON ONE TIME

My 2 1/2 year old son Blake is having the time of his life with the other 3 back in school. He has my full attention and is loving every minute of it. Yesterday he wanted to drive his 4 wheeler and usually it's to much of a hassle because I can't manage more than one on the bikes at a time. Having 2 of them going in different directions can get a little scaring and makes me nervous, so with it being just Blake we found a ball field hidden behind the street across the road and we headed over there and he enjoyed his 4 wheeler in the wide open, traffic free zone. We had a blast, I'm even thinking of taking the bigger 4 wheeler over with him tomorrow and joining him in the fun! I might look funny on the bike LOL but it will be worth it to see Blake having more fun. He is nothing but a little bag of giggles when he sees me on the bike. Today we are having a lazy day, the weather isn't all that nice and it's chilly so we are going to watch Garfield then go pick the kids up at school.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

The kids had a great day at school today and are looking forward to going back tomorrow. They all liked their new teachers and made lots of new friends. Blake and I waited for the kids after school to come out and Kohl was so excited to tell me about his day, the papers and coloring pages were flying everywhere. I got them picked up and we headed to the playground to play while waiting for the dismissal bell for my oldest son Jay. Well not even 5 minutes into their play time Kohl is brought over to me in tears. He had fallen and scraped his chin on the step of the slide and cut the inside of his mouth. What a great way to end the school day. He did go back and play for a few more minutes before we headed home. He is still looking forward to going back tomorrow but he said he will be more careful on the stairs. I'm sure he will be going to school tomorrow with a black and blue chin.

PICNIC WITH GRANDPA AND GRANDMA

While in Amherst visiting with Grandpa and Grandma my 5 year old son Kohl insisted that we have a picnic. Finally, Sunday at lunchtime we gathered around the patio table outside and enjoyed our little picnic feast. He helped prepare the donairs, pizza and Caesar salad. It was an overall great little picnic and he was so proud!

We all headed indoors for dessert to escape from all the flies then piled in the van for our journey back home. We had a great visit!

This has been such a busy summer for us but things are slowing down and we just have to remember to take the time and enjoy the kids. They really enjoyed all our little outings and picnics were something we did quite often this summer and I'm sure we will enjoy some more of Kohl's little picnics. Jay and Trinity are looking forward to going back to school and Kohl is looking forward to his first year in school. I'm so glad he is excited it will hopefully make it easier for me to leave...for him at least.

CANDY LOVERS

I would have to say that pretty well everyone has a sweet tooth, whether it's for chocolate or sugar candies the craving is there. esnacks.com has just made it easy for all you candy lovers to find your favorite candy without leaving the comfort of your home. You can find anything you desire at one convenient location. With Halloween and Christmas fast approaching bulk candy can be enjoyed at a discounted price.

Just to name a few of your favorites you will find at esnacks.com are the kit kats, butter fingers and bulk candies like skittles and blow pops, esancks also offers hard to find vintage candies, retro candies like bottle caps and much more. Check out esancks.com and see if they have your favorite sweet tooth candy crave.