It's always the little things that matter

Today was a full day for me. I drove kids all over the place, ran errands, picked kids up, took one to the doctor, potty training and teaching boy, dropped girls to practice and then picked them up~ Well it was something like that. I know I must drive about $10-$12 worth of gas each day. It's worth it though. I love the time I spend in the car with the kids. We talk about serious issues, crack jokes and talk about the most random things! The highlight of my hectic day today was when William thanked me for each meal I gave him. Then he thanked me for teaching him his school lessons. He is so compassionate (all 3 of my kids are). I am a proud momma. **Now back to cleaning up the 50 million toys he left all over the place and the mountain of laundry that is stalking me**

Oooh Goody!!!

I was so very excited when I was offered the opportunity to review some of the new items from Goody. I believe you can't ever have too many hair accessories when you have girls in the house. My daughters love playing around with different hairstyles and they are lifetime users of Goody products. We have tried the off-brand in the past and always regretted it. Goody is the only brand that has been able to hold up well to the girls' thick, biracial locks. It's also the only brand of elastics that will hold my long, heavy hair. Goody has a new Spring Collection called Modern Organica and it is available exclusively at Target. This collection offers all things glamorous, girlie and earthy at the same time. They have your everyday elastics, barrettes, headwraps, headbands, bobby slides and more. We received the following items from the Modern Organica collection as well as a headband that did not make it in the photo but instead on a 14 year old girl's head! I personally loved the "Freshly Picked" bobby slide (pink flower). I have plans to wear it with a sweet little black dress I bought last month for my next date night.

I am loving the Ouchless cushion brush and Detangling comb. The brush has a unique comfort gel grip handle to make brushing more comfortable. I love the retractable cushion pad that makes for an "ouchless" hair brushing experience. The comb will be living in my shower caddy. I love that the teeth are slightly flexible to be more gentle on your hair. I also love me some ponytail holders without the metal. Our hair will break those types on the first wearing!

Lastly, the girls were going nuts for the reversible headbands and the double sided snap clips. I did not even know anyone made reversible clips! These are going to be perfect for the girls during volleyball season to help hold all the stray bits of hair and look cute at the same time :)

I know that Goody hair accessories have been a must-have for me since I was a little girl. I have passed that on to my own girls. I always feel like I get my money's worth when I purchase the Goody brand. Be sure to check them out on Facebook and Twitter.

Question: Are you a Goody girl too?

Disclosure: I received items for review and all opinions are 100% mine as always.

A Father's Love | Book Review & Giveaway (closed)

Contest Closed
Winner is #4 Kristin~ Congratulations!

I had the pleasure of reviewing the book called "A Father's Love" written by David Goldman. A lot of you might have followed the story of David Goldman going on a 5+ year crusade to bring his son home from Brazil. This book started out as a love story from a movie and then into a nightmare. Thankfully there was a happy ending for Mr. Goldman and his son Sean.

I am not a reader at all but I read the entire book in 3 days. It really captured my heart and opened my eyes to so much to things that I did not know about child abduction overseas. Mr. Goldman wrote this book in great detail and with such grace and dignity. The way he handled himself when dealing with the authorities was amazing. As much as his world was shattered he somehow managed to keep it together. I am not so sure I would have been able to handle things like he did if anyone took my child away from me. In this case it was his own wife.

"A Father's Love" was the perfect title for this book because that is what you felt from each page you turned. If you are interested in purchasing this book you can find it here. It is available in hardcover, audio CD/audiobook or Kindle Edition. I really enjoyed reading it and I think you will too. Be sure to have a tissue box next to you just in case! I admit I did shed tears, I was really moved.

I am pleased to be able to host a giveaway for one Momfiles reader to win a copy of A Father's Love. I think this would make a great Father's Day gift!

To enter: Please leave a comment letting us know if you followed the David Goldman story.

For additional entries you can Tweet, mention on Facebook, add the Momfiles button to your blog or follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook. Just leave a separate comment for each entry method to count.

Contest is open to US Residents and will end at 9:00 PM EST on May 24, 2011. Please leave a visible email address if you do not have a Blogger Profile. Winner will be chosen via random.org and will be contacted by email. Good luck!

Disclosure: I received a copy of the book for review purposes and all opinions are 100% mine as always.

Parents are the first teachers

Today I am making these sentence strips and other random tidbits as part of William's daily learning activities. He has shown a lot of maturity with his memory and vocabulary so it is time to step things up. I plan to hang some of these in his room so he can read them out loud every morning when he hops out of bed. We did something similar with the girls and I really think it helped.

One very important thing we feel every child needs is to have self-confidence. Why should a child not feel like he or she is the best? I feel like the old school teaching methods I used for the girls were a success so I am doing the same for William. I am still playing with the idea of home schooling him. We shall see!

Pedigree Ambassador dog food trial {update}

Hey there, I wrote a post a couple weeks ago about our dog Milo participating in Pedigree Ambassador dog food trial. I wanted to share a few updates about his progress so far. I am so thankful that we have had a very smooth transition from his old food. He seems to be enjoying his Pedigree small breed formula a whole lot. I even decided to take a handful of his old food and a handful of the Pedigree to see what he would do. He sniffed his old food from one hand and then sniffed his new food in the other. Milo snuck a couple morsels from the Pedigree hand! I was surprised and did not think he would know the difference!

Milo loves to catch some rays!

I haven't noticed any changes thus far regarding his coat or his dental health as yet. Thankfully he has not been sick and has had his usual potty routine. That makes me happy since I was worried about him having digestion issues that sometimes comes along with a change in food. All in all, he is doing very well with the Pedigree small breed and I will be posting again with any new updates. If you are thinking about switching food for your dog I would recommend you give Pedigree a try. Here's a coupon to help save a few bucks. Did you know Pedigree was on Facebook and Twitter? Be sure to follow them for great tips and advice for keeping your dogs healthy and happy.

I wrote this review while participating in an Ambassador campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Pedigree and received dog food to facilitate my reviews and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Playing at the park with the family

We all had a great time at the playground today. Dwayne was trying to take a few photos and William did not want to cooperate. Of course if I was a 3 year old surrounded by slides, monkey bars and swings I would not want to stop for photos either!

I love these kids! :)