Wordless Wednesday | Aging

2011 South Carolina Junior Scholar | Briahnna Ismail

Yesterday evening we attended an awards ceremony in honor of the elite group of the 2011 South Carolina Junior Scholars. The recipients of this award perform at the academic top 2% of the state and also had high scores on the Fall PSAT. We are so proud of Briahnna for achieving this top honor and you would not believe the amount of mail we receive from so many colleges and universities from around the country. Go Brie!!

Boys like to spit huh?

I have discovered over the past week that William enjoys spitting for no reason. He will make spitty sounds and start laughing. I am feeling like he is going back to the baby days. I try to get him to stop and he still does it. I can't figure out what caused him to start this. I had a couple men doing some home improvement work on my house and I asked them if their sons did it. They immediately said "oh yeah" Then they go on to tell me that it doesn't stop. Eww!! I was so disgusted! The girls never did anything like this so I guess it is a male species thing. Gosh, boys are some gruesome little creatures :p

OMG {Oh My Gray!}

I was in the bathroom washing my face with my hair pulled back in a ponytail. After I dried my face off I looked in the mirror and shrieked! I could not believe how much silver I was seeing. I normally have like 8-10, but this many?! So many people tell me I don't look old enough to have teenagers but they might change their mind if they see this! I guess I better get used to it since I have vowed never to color my hair. Yep, I'll be silver and sexy or as my hubby says I will look like one of those hot older chicks ;-)

The Greener Good | Review & Giveaway

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I recently had the pleasure of receiving some wonderful green products from The Greener Good. The Greener Good is the ultimate resource for going green. They provide products, services, and educational opportunities for those interested in greening their homes, lives, and families. The Greener Good product offering includes home, lawn & garden, home improvement, cleaning, apparel, body, baby and pet products. I checked several items that I thought were so unique and I am so loving the bamboo tops and skirts.

I received a Recycled Canvas Eco Tote Bag along with the matching Eco Key Fob, a container of OXY-Boost Ultra-Concentrated Destainer & Deodorizer, a bar of The Laundress Wash & Stain Bar, and a packet of The Laundress Stain Solution.

I will say that the Canvas Eco Tote Bag is so impressive if you see it in person. It is HUGE and actually has pockets inside. The quality is top notch and I really love the way it is designed. This would be great for day trips or even as an overnight bag. The key fob is perfect for having your ID card for work or school easily accessible as well as the zipper pocket to store debit cards, business cards, cash etc... Of course I have a teenagers who called dibs on these items~ We'll see what happens with that!


I was very excited to try out the OXY-Boost since the container said "earth health & pet friendly". If you are an animal owner you know how important it is to be extra cautious with what cleaning agents you use around them and on their washable items. I read up a bit on the OXY-Boost and found out that it is a safe alternative to traditional chlorine-based products. Its safe to use on most washable fabrics and is compatible with other household cleaning agents. Also, it produces no harmful by-products which negatively affect the environment. Unlike chlorine bleach, which can merely cover up a stain, Oxy-Boost attacks and breaks down organic stains to totally remove them from the garment. I decided to give it a try on my 3 year old's sneakers. They were covered in dirt, dust and grass stains. I threw them in the washing machine along with some other shoes and I was so pleased with the result!

Check out these before and after shots. His shoes look brand new again!



I am also in love with The Laundress Wash & Stain bar and how cute is that name?! I really like the scent and lather (just like a bar of soap) and the way it worked on my husband's shirts. I used it to scrub the collars and cuffs and was very happy with how clean they came out. I hate to sound like a cleaning geek but I found it really relaxing and fun using the Wash & Stain Bar!

For more information on The Greener Good products and nationwide shipping, check out www.thegreenergood.com.
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The wonderful folks over at The Greener Good sent me a container of the OXY-Boost Ultra-Concentrated Destainer & Deodorizer, a bar of The Laundress Wash & Stain Bar, and a packet of The Laundress Stain Solution (retail value of $20) to give away to one lucky Momfiles reader.

To enter (Mandatory): Check out all the neat stuff The Greener Good has to offer and come back and let us know what item/items you liked or let us know what steps you are personally taking to "green" your life.

For additional entries (leave a separate comment per entry method):
~ "like" The Greener Good and Momfiles on Facebook
~ share this giveaway on Facebook (once daily)

~ Follow The Greener Good and Momfiles on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway (once per day) Example: Enter to win some awesome #green laundry products from @thegreenergood over @momfiles http://tinyurl.com/4jspzff #giveaway

~ Follow Momfiles via Google Friend Connect
~ Sport the Momfiles button on your blog

This giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end on April 3, 2011 at 9:00 PM EST. Winner will be chose via random.org and will be contacted by email. If you do not have a Blogger profile then be sure to leave your email address. Good luck!

Disclosure: I received products to try out and all opinions are 100% mine as always.

Wordless Wednesday

DiGiorno Pizza Giveaway {Closed}

Winners are #91 Kimberly and #31 1stopmom~ Congratulations!

I have some extra coupons for FREE DiGiorno Pizza (up to $10 retail value) left over from my last party that I would love to share. I want to give 2 readers 1 coupon each for a FREE one and also 1 coupon for $4.00 off (close to free!) All you have to do is tell me what your favorite DiGiorno variety is or which one you would like to try.



If you would like additional entries you can:

~ Follow Momfiles and DiGiorno on Twitter
~ Tweet this giveaway (once daily) Example:

I want to win FREE @DiGiornoPizza coupons from @momfiles http://tinyurl.com/45lktys #giveaway #pizza #contest

~ "like" Momfiles and DiGiorno on Facebook
~ Sport the Momfiles button on your blog
~ Follow Momfiles via Google Friend Connect

This giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end on April 1, 2011 at 9:00 PM EST. Winners will be chose via random.org and will be contacted by email. If you do not have a Blogger profile then be sure to leave your email address. Good luck!

I did not receive any type of compensation for this post.

Reason #582 why I hate spring

Most people want to go into hiding during the winter months. Not me. That's when I am thriving the most and feeling very upbeat and energized. Spring is the worst time of year to me. I have been so sick for over a week now because of the pollen clouds. It's just not right when you see cars driving next to you and it feels like you are driving on a sandy beach. It's just that bad. I wash off our cars each morning and it does not make a difference.

Dwayne's car is black so his looks even worse. I have never wanted to see rain as badly as I do right now. I'm talking 2-3 days non-stop.

On another note, if you are an allergy sufferer I suggest Allegra-D! It has been a lifesaver for me.
Has spring sprung in your neck of the woods?

Car seat safety rules make my head hurt

I have seen it everywhere today- CNN, Headline News, e-newsletters, Facebook and Twitter. The American Academy of Pediatrics announced a new car seat policy. This one really has me scratching my head. The new AAP Car Seat Safety Guidelines suggests you keep your child in a rear-facing safety seat until age 2. Although this does not apply to my now 3 year old, it still concerned me. There were so many comments for and against this policy. I almost wonder if I did the wrong thing by flipping my little guy's seat when he was a year old. After all, I did it with his sisters and everything was fine. Then I read through some of the comments where moms were saying their 3 year old was still rear facing! I was also reading where a child should be in a safety seat until they are 8 or 4'9". Wow, I guess I better tune up my skills since so much has changed since I had the girls! It looks like William will be in a car seat for a long time. Maybe I need to consult with the Car Seat Lady. What are your thoughts?

Happy Birthday William!

Today we celebrated Little William's 3rd birthday! He had a blast and was very lucky that I got to host a Houseparty.com party courtesy of Digiorno Pizza on his special day. The party was in a sports theme and Digiorno provided coupons for the pizzas and also serving items including plates, a pizza cutter, spatula etc.. and a fun basketball game complete with "bam-bams" and scorecards. Our guests all had such fun eating yummy pizza with boneless Wyngz and playing some competitive basketball.

We had 4 varieties of Digiorno pizza including the traditional Four Cheese, Pepperoni, Supreme, and my favorite mushroom, spinach and garlic. Oh they were delicious!

The Boneless Wyngz were the big hit with all the guests. I was skeptical at first thinking they would be more like chicken nuggets but they were in fact the real deal. We had honey barbecue and Buffalo sauces to toss the chicken in. I mixed both sauces and the result was so good!

William was so thrilled about having his birthday cake that he started to sing the Happy Birthday song before the rest of us!
He got some fun gifts!
His grandma bought him a Pillow Pet frog. He doesn't get the concept of it as yet but he sure loves standing on it!

Aww a new magnetic doodler. No mess drawing and writing is good for me!

His favorite gift was his new fishing pole from daddy. He spent hours this afternoon out in the back yard fishing and caught a few crappie and a small bass!

This little boy had a blast with the balloons and he has worn himself out from the day's activities. He should sleep quite well tonight....I know his momma and daddy will :)

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Wordless Wednesday

Check out William's hand shield against licking. He will tell Milo "No licking Miwo!"

HERSHEY®’S Track & Field Games | Giveaway

{Closed}
Winner is #17 John S.

Now that winter is slowly winding down and the weather is warming up this is the perfect time for families to get up and get moving! It's important to encourage your children to be active so you can help them gain an appreciation for a healthy lifestyle at a young age.

Since 1978, The HERSHEY®’S Track & Field Games has helped more than 10 million children get active and learn valuable lessons such as sportsmanship and hard work. Now in its 34th year, HERSHEY’S Track & Field Games hosts thousands of boys and girls, ages 9 to 14, in nearly 4,000 North American communities. They will compete this spring and summer in track and field events ranging from the standing long jump and softball throw to a variety of running and relay races – and all at no cost of entry. All you need is a pair of shoes!

To program culminates each year with the HERSHEY’S Track & Field Games North American Final Meet in Hershey, Pa. Held each year in August, the North American Final Meet hosts 450 outstanding young participants in a fun and exciting, all-expenses paid weekend trip to Hershey. During the weekend, participants tour the world’s largest chocolate factory and visit Hersheypark amusement park, among other exciting activities.

To further encourage physical activity among kids and families, Hershey is teaming up with the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program to collect old, worn-out athletic shoes to be recycled into Nike Grind, a material used in creating athletic and playground surfaces, as well as select Nike products. Program participants will be invited to bring used athletic shoes to state and provincial meets, which will then be recycled into Nike Grind. A HERSHEY’s Track & Field Games playground will be awarded to a participating local community as part of the program’s work with Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program. Since its inception in the early 1990’s, Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program has recycled more than 25 million pairs of athletic shoes into Nike Grind.

To learn more about HERSHEY’S Track & Field Games, and to find a local event in your area, please visit www.hersheystrackandfield.com. I checked out my area and there is one at my daughter's high school!
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To help get you started you can enter to win HERSHEY’S Track & Field Games prize pack, which includes a drawstring backpack, visor, water bottle and rubber band shoelace stoppers.

Mandatory: To enter just leave a comment sharing how you keep your children/family active. Be sure to check out the site to see if there is a track meet in your area.



For additional entries: *Please leave a separate comment per entry method for each entry to count.

~ you can "like" Momfiles on Facebook
~ share this giveaway on Facebook (once daily)
~ follow Momfiles through Google Friend Connect
~ sport the Momfiles button on your blog
~ Follow Momfiles on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway (twice daily):

Get active with a HERSHEY®’S Track & Field Games prize pack from @momfiles and #myblogspark http://tinyurl.com/47ofaxg

Giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end on March 31, 2011 at 9:00 pm EST. One winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted via email. Good luck!

The Hershey Company provided me one prize pack to keep and one to give away, as part of the MyBlogSpark program

William + School = HAPPY!

William's favorite thing to do these days besides fishing is going to "school". He loves when it is time to practice his alphabet sounds and words on the computer. You would not believe the squeals and excitement that comes out of this kid over lesson time. I hope this love for learning is here to stay.
**Please pardon his tongue chewing!

Brie's braces

Let me tell you something~ Teenage girls are the WORST beings on earth to photograph. No photo is pleasing to them. Then again I feel the same way about myself. Okay, well here is the updated photo of Brie with her braces. She continues to do well and I am so mesmerized by how quickly her teeth are shifting! I'm not sure if this is all in my mind but it seems as if her confidence has boosted a bit since getting the braces. I am also in such disbelief at how mature my baby girl is getting. She goes to high school next year :( I guess at least she will have straight teeth before junior year. She's so excited!

I'm a simple gal

I am very different from most of the women I know. I don't care for fancy things and get more out of little things (even free things) any day. My sweet husband reached into an envelope he received at his Post Office box and handed me this:

I was trying to remember if I signed up for this freebie. He then reveals that he signed up for it! I was so impressed by this~I told you I was simple! This really brightened my day. I know he is going to get me for this post and also the free advertising!!
HE'S SO SWEET!! <--and still quite the manly man :)

Lately...

I have not been writing much. I have not had a whole lot to say. I have felt like savoring moments with my kids who are growing up way too fast. I am realizing more and more each day that my kids will need me less. I was on the computer several weeks back and William was nagging me to do something (I can't remember what it was exactly). I told him to give me a moment that I was working. A week later he sees me on the computer while I was on Facebook. He asked in that sweet baby voice "Hey Bawbi, you working?" It was that moment that I realized I was spending too much time on the daggone computer. And not just the computer, the smart phone too. Facebook, Twitter, email and text at my fingertips. I felt so much guilt and have vowed to do a whole lot less of that nonsense. After all, why do I need to know who "checked in" where and how many people hate the weather, the world, is in a relationship but it's complicated, etc... All of that does nothing for me and yet I got sucked into it. I have not been posting much on the blog because I have been living life physically. Some days I wonder if I even want to keep the blog. I have noticed so many other bloggers feeling the same way lately. Oh well, I guess I'll just go with the flow and see what happens from here....

And why should kids pay attention?

I took this photo yesterday after seeing an adult ditch their shopping cart next to the cart return area. My guess is that it would have taken an additional 8 seconds to have successfully put it up in the right place. Behavior like this astonishes me. It's lazy and inconsiderate. This person had an older child with her. I guess that child will learn that doing things like this is okay. I know that this is a little thing but children learn from little things. It's our job as adults to be a good example!
These same "parents" are the first ones to try to start a fight with teachers when they hear their child is not listening or following directions in class. Sorry, I just had to vent my frustrations~ Thanks for listening, I feel better now!

WTH? Wednesday

I just had to share one of my latest WTH moments. This happened yesterday as Dwayne and I were walking to the check-out area in Walmart. We see this older Indian couple walking toward us. The wife was looking at something on the aisle but the husband was looking over at us. He was staring with his mouth wide open. I know that look all too well since I have been seeing it for over 20 years. Any time Indian people see me with Dwayne they have a problem with seeing an Indian girl and a black man together. I tell you, I have only felt racism from my own people my whole life. I have always gotten those comments about marrying a black man. How sad!! Oh well, the funny part is just as the man was staring us down Dwayne stared back with that "gangsta" look. How about dude just put his eyes to the ground in shame! Bahahaha!!! I guess he got told!!!!!!!!!!

So what's your WTH moment of the week?