Mom Files

Braces update

Brie has been in braces for about a year and 5 months now. Last year in December, she had oral surgery to have a baby tooth removed and to expose the adult tooth that has been growing in the roof of her mouth. It's hard to believe that she still had a baby tooth in the front at the age of 15! Not only that, it would not budge!! She got the tooth extracted at the dentist and went to a specialist for the other part. She had to be asleep for the procedure. It was a rough recovery at first, but luckily she was back to normal within a few days. Now her adult tooth has joined in with the rest of her teeth and is coming along well. We have seen a dramatic change so far and it looks like we will stay on schedule and she will have them on about another year and a half. She recently had some raised fillings put on a couple of her back teeth to help control her chewing. She was devastated and thought she would not be able to eat normally. Well that was short lived. To say that you are required to watch a video on all the things to avoid with braces apparently meant nothing for Brie! She finds a way to enjoy all of her favorite foods with the exception of crunchy granola.

Thankfully her journey with braces has not been too bad. It has been really neat watching the transformation. The expense is enormous, but well worth every dime we are putting into it :)

Wordless Wednesday {Art}

I just had to share Brie's work that she created in her art class at school. Brie says that this is a girl who is depressed because her secrets got out. This is a really big piece so I might have to end up getting it custom framed. We love it!

Those are locks and keys in the tree. Cool huh?

Things that are making me so happy right now.

Today I laughed HYSTERICALLY in the car on the way home from picking the girls up from school. I am talking full abdominal pain, tears from my eyes and coughing from laughing so hard. My sunglasses even fogged up. Man, that was some good laughter!

Today William was complaining about "those meddling kids". He loves old school Scooby Doo. As a matter of fact, he loves all the old cartoons like Tom & Jerry, Yogi Bear, The Snorks, The Smurfs and more. Sure beats Sponge Bob any day!

This salad is made from baby organic greens (kale, spinach, arugula and others) dried cranberries, sliced almonds, feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. It is outstanding. It is my new favorite salad.

If you haven't tried Mr. Clean with Gain scent, you are missing out on the happiest scent ever. It is as if you accidentally spilled Gain freshness into the air. It really makes me excited to clean. Yeah, I have issues :)

Dwayne and I tried Red Moscato for the first time and really enjoyed it. I think we need to explore some other brands. I am going to make a date night reservation to try out a wine bar in our area in the very near future.

I love Coca-Cola from the 1.25 liter bottle. There is something so special about the taste from that specific size bottle. It's not the same out of the can or the 2 liter bottle.

Dwayne and I have been thoroughly enjoying watching the NBA play-offs and even the pre-game, half-time and post-game footage. This has been the most enjoyable basketball season ever! We will be so sad when it's over.

The thing that has been making me over-the-top happy lately has been the new windows we had installed over the course of the last year. We have noticed a huge difference in the consistency of the overall temperature as well as the air conditioning unit does not run 24/7. I know our light bill should be looking a lot better too. That will be the icing on the cake!

So what has been making you happy recently? Please share, I wanna know! :)

The life of the SAHM

We have less than 2 weeks of the school year left. Time has flown by. The girls have been immersed in studying, exams, SAT's and volleyball conditioning. Of course I am in overdrive as a mom making sure they have all the necessities to make their days go smoothly. I have been spending a lot less time online and a lot more time on the floor playing dinosaurs, camping, blocks and flashcards. I am really working hard at giving little Will the same head start that the girls were given. You really do get to see the big differences between boys and girls! It does seem a little more challenging getting the boy to sit down long enough to learn something new. I think he does better absorbing information as long as he is moving. This sometimes means practicing numbers while doing jumping jacks! Needless to say, I am in great physical shape!

I still go through those days feeling mommy guilt wondering if I am doing enough for the boy. At the end of the day, he displays a lot of what he has learned through his actions. He is listening and paying attention. You better believe if anyone does something they shouldn't be, William will be the first one to let you know that you are not making a good choice. Those are the times that I think he is listening a little too well :)

I already have the Summer calendar prepared and it looks like the kids will be very occupied. I have some family trips I am planning as well. This Summer, we will take day trips or very short trips to close-by cities. No big vacations for us. I just hope that gas prices will continue to decline. I am also getting back into couponing so that we can maximize our cash.

Have you started getting your Summer family calendar set up? Do you have any fun plans?

Remedies for the Spring Cold

A lot of people assume the common cold is an illness people catch during the fall and winter months. The truth is a cold is a virus that is prevalent during every season, year round. Below are some great Cold Remedies to help the entire family with the Spring Cold.

1) Make sure you drink a lot of Vitamin C. Try drinking cold drinks such as orange juice or grapefruit juice

2) Keep Cold-EEZE Oral Spray or lozenges in your purse. It’s clinically proven to shorten the duration of a cold by nearly half.

3) Try using a humidifier. These are great in the summer time because they do not add any additional heat to the room and it cleanses the air.

4) Honey is one of the best remedies if you’re having a sore throat along with a cold. Try adding honey to every day meals such as pancakes or to your ice tea.

5) Get plenty of rest. Whether you are sick or not, a good night’s sleep will always improve a person’s overall health.

I don't know about your family, but my family loves Honey Bunches of Oats. Who can resist those yummy little Honey Roasted Granola Bunches? We have tried most of the varieties and love them all. As a mom, I especially love the fact that this cereal is not your typical sugar covered cereal. The great part is there is just enough sweetness and only has 6 grams of sugar (*per serving). Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted contains 10 grams of whole grain per serving, provides *9 essential vitamins and minerals, and contains 0g Trans Fat, 0g Saturated Fat and 0mg Cholesterol. My teenage daughters love this cereal so much that they have asked to to purchase the "Just Bunches" variety to put in snack bags for them to stash into their gym bags for volleyball season. Sounds like a smart snack to me!

How would you like to win a coupon for a FREE box of any variety of Honey Bunches of Oats? I have 5 coupons to give away to 5 lucky Momfiles readers. Enter in the Rafflecopter widget below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Contest is open to US Residents only and will end on May 28, 2012. Please leave your email address in your comment if you do not have a Blogger Profile. 5 winners will be chosen at random and will be contacted via email. If you do not follow the rules by completing the mandatory entry first, all of your entries will not count. Momfiles is not responsible for any lost or stolen prizes. Good luck!

Post provided a free sample of their Honey Bunches of Oats-Honey Roasted so I could review them. However all opinions expressed here are my own.