WE WILL BE CRUISING IN STYLE ON THE BEACH

I know winter is still here and the snow continues to fall but I can't help thinking ahead to the summer months. One of the biggest things we look forward to as a family is spending it together on our family vacation at the beach. This is when we spend 2 full weeks camping and many full days on the beach. What could we do differently this year to make our stay at the beach more interesting and adventurous? I know I have mentioned getting the kids to try water skiing but I think it would also be fun to get out there and cruise in style on the beach with a beach cruiser! At first my oldest son laughed at me and thought I was a bit crazy until I showed him the chopper beach cruisers, now he thinks he wants one. It's funy how quick they can change their minds when they see something they like.

CruiserStyle.com offers many different styles of cruisers and I think that multi speed would be a better choice over the single speed cruisers. They have cruisers for women, men and children along with many accessories and parts. This website has a great selection of cruisers and will be adding more to their selections and I think thechopper beach cruisers will be a great seller!

ARIES - The AggressiveOutgoing.

Lovable. Spontaneous. Not one to mess with. Funny. Excellent kisser EXTREMELY adorable. Loves relationships, and family is very important to an Aries. Aries are known for being generous and giving. Addictive. Loud. Always has the need to be "Right". Aries will argue to prove their point for hours and hours. Aries are some of the most wonderful people in the world.

ANOTHER GRRREAT AWARD!

Petula from It's a Woman's World gave me a grrreat award. Isn't it cute! It's perfect with Valentine's Day just around the corner!

Thank you Petula !

Now I will pass this cute little award on to Jocelyn, Anna, Jenn, and Matt ...Don't forget to pass this along to others!

MAKING MORE PROGRSS ON THE FAMILY ROOM

It seems like every spare minute we can find we are down working in the family room trying to get it finished by spring. The walls are going up rather quick and the crack filling is getting done but slowly because we want it done right. We aren't sure if we will just paint the walls or use a textured paint to help hide any mistakes that might show through but if it is done right then paint should be all we will need. Hopefully by the end of the weekend we will get the primer put on the walls which will help make it look better.

The fireplace in my computer room is still waiting to be finished. I am going to put ceramic tile around the electric insert and add some decorative mouldings around as well. For now Blake will have to enjoy the heat the way it is right now. (he gets standing in front of the heat from me)

TRYING TO FIND A SECOND VEHICLE

Now that things are getting even busier with the kids in sports and with my husbands busy work schedule we are still looking into getting a second vehicle to make things easier for us. Now with renovating the house it is making it tight on the budget so we are looking for really goood Car Prices to help save. I am hoping that this will make life a whole lot easier with less trips back and forth that we are now doing with sharing our one vehicle. I am sure with taking our time and looking carefully we will find the best quote to help fit our budget. Hmm, so who will get the new car? Me or him!

GROUND HOG MEME

I was tagged by Tammy to do this Groundhog day meme. Lets just see what I can come up with here...

5 reasons I love/hate the Groundhog.

After listing 5 reasons (no rules in listing reasons),

tag 5 people plus giving credit to the tagger.

1.How can a groudnhog determine whether or not spring will arrive early? Have they really proven this..

2.Why a groundhog? I never could figure this one out. Nothing cute about them...

3. I love it when spring arrives early!

4. I hate having anextra 6 weeks of winter (be honest who doesn't)

5. I like how it give sthe kids a day to look forward to. They have fun predicting what's going to happen...will he see his shadow or not?

I guess here in Cape Breton we just watch for the ice to come in land with the current to melt. Then we know spring is on it's way...( no ice yet) this is our first winter here so I am waiting to see how true that one is LOL

Now I will pass this on to Darlene, Jocelyn,Jenn Matt, and Petula !

SNOW ON THE GROUND...

Tired of the snow yet?

I was quick to get up and look out the window this morning as I heard the sound of the streets being cleared of the snow. The ground was covered with white fluffy snow and the tree branches were covered as well. It was so pretty to wake up to the blanket of white snow then I quickly turned on the radio before waking up the kids and unfortunately for them they did have school today. Hubby got them off to school then came home and shoveled the driveway with his little helper Blake as I sat here at the computer looking out the window at the snow. According to the forecast we are expected to get quite a bit of snow in the next two weeks along with a majoy storm as bad as the one we experienced in 1992. It was bad and we were stormed in the house for a week. Everything was closed and the roads were shut down also. What a week and my mother was pregnant and only a week away from her due date. What a time...A couple of weeks later I went to Florida with my grandparents. It was a nice break from all the snow!

FINDING CHEAP AUTO INSURANCE

Getting your first vehicle can be pretty exciting but one thing that makes it harder for people expecially new drivers is the cost of getting auto insurance. As you get older and more experienced your insurance rate should drop but for new driver and young drivers it comes with higher rates and this is what my parents are finding out with my sister. Now you are probably saying I want cheaper auto insurance! Well you can get quick, easy and cheap auto insurance with the help from Costulessinsurance.com. With Cost U Less Insurance you can compare quotes and get auto insurance quotes fast in 2 minutes or less, just click, buy and save. When we moved here from another province we ran into some issues with finding cheap insurance rates and it took some time to get the best rate comparable to what we were paying before. Nobody wants to pay more for insurance if you can get it cheaper.

Cost U Less has been in the insurance business since 1980 helping people get cheap auto insurance. Really who isn't looking to save money. Cost U Less is located in Northern California and is expanding all over the state. It's time to save so get your free quote from Cost U Less and lets see how much you can save. I know for my parents they will be looking for good, cheap auto insurance quotes before to long with my sister turning 16 in a few weeks. She will be looking tino taking her drivers exam.

MAKING PROGRESS WITH OUR RENOVATIONS...

We have been spending as much time as possible on getting the garage/family room renovations finished. We have a lot of work still left to do but everyday we are getting a step closer. We are looking at around $1300 to frame in the garage door and have a window installed so that will be the first window to get done in the near future. If the other windows have to wait until fall or next spring then so be it. The walls are coming along and Matt has started the crack filing and what a mess but the kids can still use the room at least until he starts the sanding. With Matt being off this weekend I'm sure we will get a lot more accomplished.

SAY IT WITH VALENTINE'S DAY FONTS

It is getting close to another day to celebrate with Valentine's Day not too far away! I don't know about you but I love changing my templates and using new Valentine's Day fonts to go with the holiday and special occasions that I take the time to celebrate. Not only will I be looking for some great Valentine's ideas but the kids will be wanting to make Valentine's cards for their friends as well. One of the problems I find myself in is finding a website that offers great fonts and templates and if you are wondering the same then check out FontMarketPlace.com.

Here you will find different fonts available that are specially priced and templates for Valentine's Day cards, invitations and other great projects. Right now Font Market Place is intorducing The Ascender Valentine's Kit that contains five true type fonts that are suited for Valentine's Day and also year round. Don't just send someone just any Valentine's Day card make it personal with new fonts and templates designed for special occasions like Valentine's Day! Search through the website to get fonts by occasion, by project, by personality, fonts by language, type , style and more. They also provide hot fonts, new fonts and custom fonts. There is somthing for you and it will make great changes to your cards and projects. This Valentine's Day don't say it without Valentine's Day Fonts!

Press Release:

FontMarketplace.com introduces Valentine's Day Fonts Specially-priced set of fonts with matching Microsoft Word templates for St. Valentine’s Day cards, invitations and other projects.

Elk Grove Village, IL – January 29, 2008 – Ascender Corporation, a leading provider of advanced font products, today announced a new collection of Valentine fonts available exclusively from its FontMarketplace.com website. The Ascender Valentine's Kit contains five Valentine-themed fonts matched with five expertly-designed Microsoft Word templates. The software package is available as a convenient digital download with a special price of $9.99 at http://www.fontmarketplace.com/font/ascender-valentines-kit.aspx?ilbcode=679

"Valentine's Day is an important holiday to express love and friendship, and it's important to use the right font to project the image or personality that best captures your sentiments.” said Bill Davis, Vice President of Ascender Corp. "

The Ascender Valentine's Kit contains a fresh set of distinctive fonts and unique templates that can be used to make attractive Valentine cards, invitations, flyers, scrapbooks and many other projects." The Ascender Valentine's Kit contains five TrueType fonts that are well-suited for Valentine's Day and all year-round. They are matched with an original set of professionally-designed Microsoft Word templates for a variety of Valentine's Day projects including cards, flyer, postcard and invitation.

The Ascender Valentine's Kit is priced at $9.99 with a single user license and is available for immediate download from http://www.fontmarketplace.com. The price represents a savings of almost 60% compared to buying all five fonts individually. The Valentine's Kit is available with an automatic installer for Microsoft Windows XP or Vista, or as a compressed .zip file for Mac OS or other systems.

FontMarketplace.com features affordably-priced professional-quality fonts packaged individually and in sets. The website offers a wide variety of popular type styles from text and display to script fonts, and an assortment of multilingual fonts, all displayed in creative ways to showcase the fonts in use. The FontMarketplace.com website was designed to make it easy for first time font buyers and creative enthusiasts to browse, download and install fonts. All of the fonts are Certified TrueType fonts, developed and tested by the font experts at Ascender Corp.

About Ascender

Ascender Corporation is a leading provider of advanced font products. Ascender's founders are font industry experts and have been involved in developing many of the most important and influential fonts used in computers and mobile devices. Ascender provides multilingual, custom font development for a wide range of customers including creative professionals, enterprises and hardware & software developers. Ascender also provides fonts for download to graphic designers and consumers through its font websites and mobile phone software with ringtones, wallpapers & themes.

Contact:

Bill Davis

Ascender Corporation

25 Northwest Point Blvd, Suite 225, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007 USA

Phone: (847) 357 0730

http://www.ascendercorp.com/

http://www.fontmarketplace.com

KIDS ARE HOME FROM SCHOOL...

Bare with me today please, I won't be able to do much blogging today with the kids home from school. It's an in service day for the teachers so a bonus day off. Things are getting crazy around here and Trinity's friend just came over for the day...this wasn't planned so it could be interesting and I will have to talk to Trinity about it later on. Hope everyone has a good Tuesday!

BIRTHDAY WISHES !

Happy Birthday Jenn! I hope this day is as special as you !

HELP JAMIE COME HOME!

***AFTER READING THIS POST, PLEASE CONSIDER COPYING IT AND POSTING IT ON YOUR BLOG-THE MORE EXPOSURE THIS GETS, THE BETTER***

She tries to sleep, but she can’t-the noises coming from the only bedroom in the trailer are too loud, too embarrassing. Rolling over she faces the wall and hopes that her father will finish what he’s doing and that her step-mother won’t make any more noise.

She’s living every teenage girl’s nightmare.

It’s bad enough that she was torn from her friends in Kentucky-but living here, in this cramped, dirty trailer with no privacy and no indoor shower is the icing on the cake. Fitting in at school was out of the question-her father made sure of that by not allowing her to socialize outside of class & eventually, she woke up one morning knowing that she would no longer walk the halls of freedom, but instead would be taught in the very trailer she slept in.

It’s probably for the best, she thinks-if anyone ever found out that they make me wear hand me down underwear I’d be the laughing stock of the state anyway…

She wishes she could move home-to her real home-with her mother and sister in Connecticut. There she would be nurtured and cared for, and allowed to be a teenager…allowed to have opinions and ideas and to cut her hair the way she likes it.

But she knows she can’t. He’s making sure of that too…

Jamie wants to come home.

Many of you know Linda from Are We There Yet? And perhaps you know that she has two daughters, Amanda and Jamie. Amanda lives with Linda here in CT and Jamie lives in Florida with her father and his wife.

Life for Jamie is not going well.

Jamie is living a lonely life in a cramped, dirty trailer with guardians who won’t allow her to be an individual. She is not allowed to have friends. She can’t choose her own music or movies and she can’t even cut her hair. She has to shower in a common area of a camp ground because her “home” doesn’t have a shower.

She is homeschooled by her stepmother-a woman who is not qualified to take on such a task and Jamie is, for sure, behind other kids her age academically. No doubt, she will also fall behind socially as well.

Though Jamie has expressed to her father that she wants to move to Connecticut to live with her mother, he will not allow it. His reasoning is that Linda is not a good mother.

His reasoning is bull shit.

When Jamie visits, it is easy to see that she flourishes. Her smile is bright and it’s clear that being allowed to smile and laugh and to be a little quirky is the reason. Anyone who reads Linda’s blog knows that she is a caring and attentive mother who strives to give both of her children what they deserve.

The man that Jamie and Amanda call Dad is not a good man. He remarried and is completely wrapped up in his new marriage and does not care what happens to Jamie. If he believes that Linda is a bad mother because Amanda has blue hair, then I wonder what he would say if she were to cast her daughter out of her life simply because she was a little different…

Of course, Linda would never do that-but he did. Amanda lived with her father at one time, and was sent back to live with Linda because she didn’t “fit in” to the family he wanted to create. He no longer speaks to her. Now tell me, how can a man who disowns one daughter ever be a better parent than one who loves unconditionally?

He can’t.

And that’s why Jamie needs to come home.

Being a single mother who makes “too much money” (read: she makes over the poverty level) Linda does not qualify for financial assistance for legal aid, and therefore is having trouble getting a lawyer’s attention. In CT, courts consider a custody award as subject to change until the child involved grows up, and in most states proof of a "change in circumstances" may overturn an earlier award. This flexibility is intended to allow for the correction of poor or outdated decisions.

Jamie has vocalized to both parents that she wishes to move. Her dad has vocalized that it will never happen. Linda made a promise to Jamie that she would do anything in her power to get here home.

But she needs our help.

On the sidebar at Ms Maggie Moo Talks 2 U is a magic button - this magic button allows you to donate to the Get Jamie Home Legal Fund. The faster you click, the faster you will help change the life of one little girl who very much needs a new life.

Please help. We’ve seen in the past that every penny helps…even if you can only donate $5, please consider doing it.

Jamie needs to come home.

I Love My Bottled Water

I remember as a child growing up, when I wanted a drink of water I just went to the kitchen sink and filled my cup. Things have changed drastically over the years and today most of us by bottled water for drinking and not only for the better quality of the water but for the convenience of it as well.

o premium waters begins with the highest quality of water that is created by a 10 step purification process. O premium waters is the Home and Office Bottle Water Delivery Company based in Arizona and is the fastest growing company in the world. Don't just settle for tap water anymore from your home, get the best with o premium waters.

WHAT HAVE I JUST GOT MYSELF INTO?....

So it's Friday night and the kids are obviously home from school and as usually Jay made plans to hang out with his friend Matthew for the night and this week I guess it's going to be here. No big deal I can handle those two. So before he gets here I had to take Trinity and Kohl to Hip Hop classes tonight then finally arrived back home. Ring...Ring...So I answer the phone and it's Taylor for Trinity. Yep another sleep over! So it's going to be a full house and hubby is working until 10:00pm. But again I can handle things. (who am I kidding here) I am expecting both kids to arrive shortly so I am going to get blogging finished up and get the computer shut down for the night. You know what can happen when to many kids get at a computer....CRASH! Wish me luck..I'm going to need it :0)

Call Center Phone Systems

Before I became a stay at home mother of four I worked in a call center. Now that was quite a few yars ago and many changes have been made to the phone systems since then. Now, many of the call canters are moving ahead of the curve and with the Call Center VoIP Phone Systems it's making things clear. This phone system is an amazingly user friendly phone system that is designed for small business organizations. With Nimbus VoIP it also creates a virtual environment that offers many features that no other phone system can provide. There are no contracts required and no per minute charges. This system is making things easier and clearer for many call centers.

A MORNING WITH DADDY!

RICE KRISPIES TREAT...

With my husband only going to work today at noon it gave him some time to spend with Blake. A while back Matt bought a Rice Krispies Kit so they tackled this project earlier this morning. I left them alone so that I could get some work done on the computer and by the sounds of things they had a great time! When they were done Blake shared a nibble with me but that was all I could have. Yummy :0)

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD

Every time there is an election there are always many opinions being given and lots of talk about the election and who is running to be elected. Well here is a new way to look at Elections in 2008, it's done your way! Now you can talk about elections 2008 using Qlip media's QlipBoard technology. Leave your comments on video, audio and share with other interested people. Make you voice heard in 2008 with ElectionQlips.

Press Release:

QlipMedia (http://www.qlipmedia.com) has just launched the public beta version of ElectionQlips (http://www.electionqlips.com), a new destination to discuss all that is Election 2008. Readers can share their comments with the community and leave comments on Presidential Election themed video posts using their recorded voice, free-hand drawing, and images to let everyone know what they think and how they feel about every point in the posted debates, ads, punditry and stump speeches.

As the nation’s attention increasingly focuses on the outcomes of the ongoing primary elections and the general election to follow this November, viewers of ElectionQlips can stayed tuned to all the exciting action, including voice and video comments of their fellow citizens. And anyone can bring their wit and wisdom to bear on the debate of the moment, commenting to their heart’s content with their own voice and images.

The blogosphere has always been about giving a voice to common ‘netizens’, while democratizing the dissemination of the news and opinion. But heretofore that voice has been confined to the two dimensional world of the written word. The broad appeal of video has added a third dimension, a layer of contextual relevancy just not possible with the written word alone. Blog commenting has been similarly constrained by the same technical barriers. ElectionQlips brings multimedia blogging full circle, giving blog commenters the ability to post live, multimedia comments right on the videos they’re viewing in their own voice, using their own doodles and images.

• 100+ million blogs in existence

• 1.5 million blog posts per day

• 1 blog with multimedia commenting capability

ElectionQlips users can take their election debate with them by sharing the link and embedding the player anywhere. On the video timeline, it’s easy to bring out all the facts with every detail of the debate through point-by-point analysis. The density of comments at every point let’s one see what’s hot and what’s not in every debate.

The goal of ElectionQlips is to make it possible for everyone to participate in any debate, discussion and controversy using their own voice. Commenting on blog posts is a common enough, ElectionQlips gives an edge over other contemporary election blogs, especially with respect to sharing your comments and opinions.

About QlipMedia:

QlipMedia makes QlipBoard, a tool that combines videos and images with drawing, highlighting and adds your voice is the easiest way to talk about anything and turn any video into an instant discussion room. ElectionQlips is produced by QlipMedia, Inc. and designed by OuterJoin. For more information, visit http://www.qlipmedia.com/

A CHEQUE IN THE MAIL...

It has been a long wait but today it came to an end when we received a cheque in the mail for $500. A while back McDonalds had their Monopoly game going on where you collect game pieces. Blake and I were putting in our codes off the games pieces on the interenet and voila, we won $500. I couldn't believe it! So after the long process of getting the information to the company and waiting a few months our cheque arrived. This should keep a few bill collectors happy. They will get their money first thing Monday. We are getting one step further a head slowly but we are getting there. Now lets just hope for hubby's bonus and a good income tax return.

A Wedding in Vegas

I have never been to Las Vegas but I can only imagine what it would be like. A city lit up with brilliant lights and I would love to experience one of the many Las Vegas Shows. My sister and her fiance are planning their wedding and there has been talk about going to Las Vegas and she wants us to go along with them. I'm sure it would be fun and quite an experience!
To make sure that a trip ot Vegas would be an experience to remember I looked into a website that is one of the largest travel providers in the country specializing in Las Vegas. Here I found Las Vegas Shows and Las Vegas Hotels at the best prices!

AN EXCITING MONTH FOR HUBBY...

Now that February is here it is the start to some exciting days for a lot of men and maybe even some ladies out there...This is the month that the NASCAR races start and since my husband is a big NASCAR racing fan you can probably guess how our Sunday afternoons and some Saturday evenings will be spent. My husbands NASCAR driver is Kevin Harvick so we will so how he does this year. My son likes Jimmie Johnson now that Mark Martin isn't driving full time anymore. Let the races begin!

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW ME?

Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your blogging friends.

Okay, here's what you're supposed to do...

Copy this entire list of questions and change all the answers so thatthey apply to you. Then tag and pass it along to other blogging friends. Let's see how well we can get to know one another!

1. What is your occupation? Stay at home mom
2. What color are your socks right now? wearing pink slippers
3. What are you listening to right now? Curious George on tv
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Grilled cheese sandwich yesterday for supper
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Nope
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? pink
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? my dad
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Absolutely
9. Favorite drink? diet cola
10. What is your favorite sport to watch? not my favorite but I watch NASCAR with hubby
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yep and I need it done again
12. Pets? Nope
13. Favorite food? Chinese
14. Last movie you watched? Aquamarine with my daughter
15. Favorite Day of the year? Christmas without a doubt
16. What do you do to vent anger? yell, then blog
17. What was your favorite toy as a child? My collection of cabbage patch kids and ponies
18. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Spring
19. Hugs or kisses? Hugs
20. What kind of pie? Homemade Apple pie
21. Do you want your friends to email you back? Yes
22. Who is most likely to respond? Jenn
23. Who is least likely to respond? Kim
24. Living arrangements? own our house
25. When was the last time you cried? It''s been awhile to give specifics
26. What is on the floor of your closet? junk
27. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to?Kim
28. The friend you have known the shortest amount of time that you are sending this to? Jenn
29. Favorite smell? flowers oh and there is nothing like the smell of a baby!
30. What inspires you? Many things. My hubby, my children, my friends etc....
31. What are you afraid of? walking alone at night
32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese
33. Favorite car? Our Montana SV6 van
34. Favorite cat breed? anything soft and cuddly
35. Number of keys on your key ring?3 (van, house, mom and dad's house)
36. How many years at your current job? Mom for 111/2 years and blogging for almost 1 year
37. Favorite day of the week? Thursday...I love watching my daughter dance
38. How many provinces have you lived in? (3) New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia
39. How many countries have you been to? 2

I am tagging, Jenn, Kim, Petula, Jocelyn and Darlene

Making Plans for March Break

It is getting closer to that time of year where many families get to enjoy some time off for March Break. I know for my older children they are really wanting to go to Sea World but until my youngest is a little older we will be holding off on that trip. I'm sure they can hang in another couple of years and we have fun plans arranged for them again this year that will put smiles on their faces and lots of fun to be had by all.

If you are planning on taking a trip to Orlando, Florida take the time to enjoy Orlando's most popular attractions for both adults and children. To get a special limited time offer of a 2nd DAY FREE pass with the purchase of Sea World Tickets visit Orlandofuntickets.com Make this March Break one you and the kids won't forget and enjoy the fun!

GETTING TIRED OF WINTER YET?

So here we are today, February 1st. Where did January go? As the days go by the closer spring will arrive. This winter for us here in Cape Breton wasn't bad at all. We got a bit of snow, which never lasts and a few really cold days with windchill but over all I say "When is winter going to hit" As I sit here and look out my window I see the grass, nothing left for snow but the banks from the snowplows, the hills for sliding are quiet so what does this mean for the ski hills. Jay has a ski trip with the church youth group on Feb 9th so hopefully with the expected snow for tonight it will help out at the hills. Now as for my father in Moncton, oh how he is tired of the snow and shoveling. He says it seems that as soon as he gets things cleaned up he's back out again. I was talking to him last night and he was cursing the snow that is forecasted for later on tonight. Sorry dad I wish I could be there to help to give you a break from the mess.

How has your winter been? Quiet, messy ,cold....