Family * Travel * Food

Yep, I'm the mean mom

Today marks the first official day of Summer break for the girls. Most of the nicer parents let their kids sleep in as late as they would like. Not this mean mom. I expect both teens to be up no later than 9 AM. I remember the days when Dwayne and I were first married (even right before) when his grandmother was still alive. She would start knocking pots and pans around and also turn up the volume on the TV to wake us up. I will never forget how each and every day she would tell us that young people have no business staying in the bed late. That made no sense to me at the time. She would express how important it was for us to do something, be productive. After all, we were young, healthy and energetic. Why waste it sleeping until noon? I think from listening to her tell us these things for 2 years that it somehow got stuck in my brain. I have the same feelings about young people getting up and getting out early. My kids tell me all the time how their friends get up at 1 in the afternoon! No way, not my kids. Thankfully my girls are pretty good at getting up and at 'em. I do have some days that I give them a free pass to stay in bed longer but for the most part they still get up out of habit. Call me old-fashioned~~ That I am!
Shelly, Mom Files
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Chili’s Triple Dipper Contest & $20 GC Giveaway

**Contest Closed**
Winner is #250- DMackee~ Congratulations!

I went out yesterday afternoon with the daughters for a "girls-only" lunch. We tried out the new Triple Dipper appetizer from Chili's. You get to pick 3 appetizers that come with dips all on one plate. We ordered two Triple Dippers~ Boneless Buffalo wings (2), Chicken Crispers, Big Mouth Bites (tiny cheeseburgers), Spinach & Artichoke dip, and Fried Cheese. I told the girls we would start off with the appetizers and then we can always order something else if we were still hungry~Yeah right! We were pushing ourselves to finish it all! My personal favorites were the Boneless Buffalo wings, the Spinach & Artichoke dip (with the best tortilla chips I have ever eaten) and the Big Mouth Bites burgers were awesome! They had so much flavor packed into those itty bitty burgers!
Chili's is running an awesome sweepstakes on their Shout Out To Eat Out site. They will be giving away a $20 Chili's gift card daily and have a grand prize of a $333 gift card! All you have to do is fill out some simple information and then upload a photo of yourself into your choice of a "trio". How do you like me as one of the Three Musketeers? I thought it was hilarious!

Giveaway- How would you like to win a $20 Chili's gift card? (One winner)

*Mandatory entry: Go here and type Momfiles in the blank field. Easy huh?

For additional entries:
~ Let us know what 3 appetizers you choose for your own Triple Dipper?
~ "like" Chili's and Momfiles on Facebook
~ Follow Chilis & Shoutout2eatout and Momfiles on Twitter
~ Tweet this giveaway and leave the link to your Tweet (once daily):
Win a $20 @Chilis GC @momfiles http://tinyurl.com/3gcyjm5 and enter @Shoutout2eatout for daily drawings!

and

At @Chilis Good Things Come In 3's! Check out @2Wired2Tired http://bit.ly/linkyrave for 200 chances to win in the #tripledipper linky rave!

~ (3 entries) Create your terrific trio here and comment with the URL link
~ Opt-In to Chili's email club here (You'll receive a free appetizer certificate too!)
~ Follow Momfiles via GFC and/or grab my button

This giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end at 9:00 PM on June 12, 2011. Please leave your email address if you do not have a Blogger Profile. One winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted by email to claim prize. Good luck!

Now onto the Chili’s Good Things Come In 3′s Linky Rave Giveaway Event! Hop around to as many of the blogs below as you wish, read their Triple Dipper review and their Good Things Come in 3′s giveaway rules, and enter to win a $20 Chili’s Gift Card on each blog!
Even more fun..there’s no limit on winning for this event. You can win more than one giveaway! Click the button below...


Disclosure: I received a gift card to help facilitate my review. All opinions are 110% mine as always!


Shelly, Mom Files
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Sometimes I just want to say....


I am sure some of you will not be surprised to know that this post is about my dear husband Dwayne. He gets these ideas in his head sometimes and because I am a great wife, I humor him. We live on a pond and he LOVES to go fishing as often as he can. Our pond has all kinds of fish in it although we have never eaten any out of there before. I took him to the store so he could buy some new fishing supplies. He was going to wait until it cooled down a bit this evening to see if he could catch anything. That was all he was supposed to do.

How about an hour before he went out there he starts rummaging through MY kitchen looking for items to cook fish with. He went on and on about how he was going to catch the fish and get it straight into some hot "grease" as he calls it (country ain't it?). I'm sorry, when we lived in Miami we used to catch fish and eat it all the time. Here in South Carolina, we just go up to Publix or Kroger and buy it ready to cook. I will spare you all the gross details of his stanky fishes he caught. I cleaned the 3 fish he brought in and cooked them. He sat at the table feeling like a King, bragging about his catch. Then all of a sudden things got quiet. Very quiet. I asked him if everything was okay. He looked at me out the corner of his eye and said next time he wants fish he will just send me to the store to buy it. I just giggled a bit and almost said "I told you so". He knew he lost this one. I am going to talk about him for a very long time. Sometimes men get into this "manly-man, I want to conquer the world" state of mind and as a good wife you just have to let them have their fun. I am quite certain Dwayne learned his lesson! Now I am off to go get the fish funk out of the air :)

Shelly, Mom Files
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Time to get it together

School is officially out for the Summer. This does not mean anything to me since my kids still have busy schedules. Chardie got a job at the law firm her dad works at a couple days a week. This should be a great experience for her and I am sure she will learn some valuable life lessons along the way. Both girls have volleyball twice a week. They also have 3 books each to read over the break that have assignments to go along with it. They have tons of other reading and writing~ AP European History for Brie and AP US History for Chardie. They both have doctor, dental, orthodontic, orthopedic and chiropractic appointments in between. Something tells me they won't have time to breathe!

I am going to have to buckle down and get William potty trained (I hope). It has been so up and down. Still no poo-poo in the potty yet. I just try to go with the flow and encourage him. I keep telling myself not to stress out and that he will get it [one day]. I also really need to have a more organized teaching style. He is learning how to use the computer mouse but I still prefer to teach him the old-fashioned way with paper and pencil and out of books. I do not think I will be putting him in pre-school. If I did, it would be for "other people" who think I should. I am going to buy some colorful bins to pack away all of his random toys so he has a neater area to do his school work. I will refrain from frequent social networking and more than likely fewer blog posts. My kids are the priority and they need me now more than ever. I also want to have some fun time with them before school starts back. We have a couple short out-of-town trips planned as well as some pool time at a friends house as much as we can. The Summer will be busy but we will be sure to take time to enjoy it.

So is school out in your neck of the woods? Do you have any big plans?
Shelly, Mom Files
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Father's Day The Greener Good way {Giveaway}

** Contest Closed**
Winner is #91 Melissa R~ Congratulations!
Father's Day is fast approaching!

In honor of Dad's special day, The Greener Good will be giving away a handmade picture frame made out of recycled bicycle parts (a $36 value) to one lucky winner per day during the week leading up to Father's Day. To be entered to win, post a photo of yourself with your dad on The Greener Good's Facebook page . I think any dad would love this rugged and manly picture frame!

There will also be coupon downloads available on The Greener Good's Facebook page for a FREE solid shampoo bar (while supplies last) and recycled bicycle chain bottle opener key chains to be given away sporadically. I love the idea of the shampoo bar since it can be used from head to toe and there will be no spills like traditional bottled products. Great for travel, camping or even everyday at-home use.



My friends at The Greener Good have also offered a one lucky Momfiles reader the chance to win a pair of Tuba Herringbone Men's sneakers valued at $60! They are made from natural fiber, recycled plastic and other renewable resources and come in 3 colors (black, charcoal and rock grey). They come in sizes 9-12 including half sizes! I think they are very stylish and rather cool. They are a cross between preppy and sporty.


*Mandatory: To enter just let us know what Greener Good item do you think would make a great Father's Day gift?

For additional entries:
~ "like" The Greener Good and Momfiles on Facebook
~ Enter The Greener Good's Facebook contest by posting a photo of yourself and your dad on their wall (3 entries) Be sure to leave a link to your photo.
~ Follow The Greener Good and Momfiles on Twitter
~ Tweet about this giveaway (once a day) and leave a link to your Tweet:
Enter @momfiles to win some eco-cool men's shoes from @TheGreenerGood http://tinyurl.com/3o4bmkq #fathersday #green #giveaway
~ Follow Momfiles via GFC
~ Grab the Momfiles button and place it on your blog

This giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end at 9:00 PM EST on June 15, 2011. One winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted by email to claim prize. If you do not have a Blogger profile then be sure to leave your email address in your comment. Good luck!

I have received no compensation for this post and all opinions are 100% mine as always.
Shelly, Mom Files
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