What I'm Listening To...

I must confess that my 12-year-old son is the one who introduced me to this band.  But then again, he is slowly becoming cooler than me.  The band is Royal Tailor and I can't get enough of their catchy tunes, mesmerizing rhythms, and soul-stirring lyrics.  The best news is that their debut album is only $7.99 on iTunes.  Check them out and let me know what you think.

What Are You Watching?

Every night after I put the kids to bed, I take a hot bath or shower, lather on "Bath & Body Works" Night Blooming Jasmine lotion, and park myself on the couch for the next hour or so.  I love my stress-free alone time in the evenings with a good book, magazine or television show.

My new favorite show this season is "No Ordinary Family."  I didn't watch it from the beginning but was soon caught up by the commercial promos.  I don't usually get into Science Fiction drama but this show is simply captivating!  It keeps me on the edge of my seat in great anticipation of next week's episode.  Even if you're not a SciFi buff, I would recommend giving this show a shot.

I've mentioned before that I enjoy the show "Parenthood." It's still good but I think it's lost some of its Wow Factor.  I think the parents of Haddie are pushovers and need to show her who is in charge.  If my daughter ran away from home and moved in with her grandmother, I would have pulled her back home by her hair like a cave woman.  (Well, not really but I wouldn't have been nice about it.)  I also don't care for how the characters of the show think it's weird to attend church or believe in Heaven.  I just had to get my two cents in on that subject.  But I really love the decor of each home, especially the outdoors around the grandparents' home.

I've fallen out of love with "Glee."  I thought the first season was well written but this season is just blah in my opinion.  It seems like the theme of every single episode is homosexuality.  They've made their point that Kurt is gay and people are mean to him because of it.  I think it's time to move on.  But I must add that I hope Finn and Quinn get back together.  I think Rachel is too annoying.  I'm still watching, but I won't remain faithful if it doesn't start getting better.

And of course, there's "The Office."  It's the funniest show on television since "Friends" or "Seinfeld."  Man, I still miss those!  I think I would still watch a show about six 50-something Friends hanging out in a burnt-out coffee house. 

Anyone watching "American Idol" this season?  I said I wasn't going to, but my DVR recorded it automatically so I had to watch it.  I must say, I love Steven Tyler on the show....he's hilarious!  I love how he randomly bursts into song and how he doesn't like to be mean to people.  That was unexpected, based on his image.  I think they sent entirely too many people through to Hollywood.  But they'll all be gone the first day or two, I guess.  I'm also glad that all three judges have musical talent.  It's hard to take a judge seriously when he or she doesn't have any musical experience.  And also, I'm so glad it's back to three judges.  Adding a fourth was torture.  I did a lot of fast-forwarding.

So, what are you watching?

This is a Clean Post

I realized today that I have a slight obsession with good-smelling cleaning products. I stand in the cleaning aisle at Wal-Mart and study each bottle. If possible, I remove the lids and smell away. I have tried dozens of different products, tying to find the best scents. Here is my list of current cleaning products, for anyone out there who is smell obsessed like myself.

• Swiffer Dust & Shine Furniture Spray- Gentle Breeze scent. Newly discovered by me, I've taken to dusting daily simply for smell purposes. Sometime I'll even just spray it in the air to get more fresh goodness out of it.

• Fabuloso Multi-Purpose Cleaner- Lavender scent. Mopping the kitchen floor is almost a joy! I said "almost!"

• Cascade Complete Dishwasher Detergent- Fresh Rapids scent actually smells good while my dishwasher is running! Although it doesn't work well any more, which is another story.

• Softsoap Hand Soap- Pomegranate & Mango. So long, Bath & Body Works hand soaps! I think the Softsoap company has one up on you here!

• Snuggle Fabric Softener- Sweet Blossom & Pomegranate scent. I buy it in both liquid form and dryer sheets. It doesn't make laundry more fun but it helps take some of the stink out of it!

• As far as bathroom cleaners go, I've tried them all. I like most of them the same, as long as they don't have too strong of a bleach smell. One I totally hate is Kaboom by Oxy Clean, even though I loved Billy Mays. I guess he died before he could convince them into making it smell better. The current bathroom cleaner I'm using is Scrubbing Bubbles, which "easily removes Soap Scum" with "Orange Action."
  

• And lastly, I adore Palmolive Aroma Sensations dish soap, Lavender scent. It's the only dish soap I'll buy.

You would think that someone so obsessed with cleaning products would be a total neat freak and have a completely spotless house. You go right on ahead thinking that!

"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing." ~Phyllis Diller

(All of these opinions are completely mine. I have not been compensated in any form by any of these companies.)

Still Shutterflyin'!

Yes, you might say I'm addicted. I just received my fifth digital scrapbook from Shutterfly.com! This album is a collection of Christmas pictures from 2004 to 2009. Santa Claus visits my Grandma's house every Christmas Eve. So I have one album that shows how the kids have grown from being scared to death of the bearded man, to loving and hugging him, to looking too big to be sitting on his lap. It also makes me very anxious for Christmas to arrive again.

And while I'm at it, I must admit that I've already started working on my next album. It will be a review of 2010. I've started uploading pictures but still have dozens left to add. 2010 has been very good to us so this will be my fattest book yet. Who knows what the album after that will hold...

My Favorite "Bow-tique"

In a home with two little girls, we have our share of hair bows lying around the house! This photo only represents a portion of our hair bow stock! I must have a bow to match every outfit the girls wear. And if they have matching outfits, they must have matching bows. Big Sis wears big, fluffy bows while Baby Girl usually sports headband bows (she's still a little hair-challenged).

Most boutiques charge a fortune for custom handmade bows. But I finally found a website that has beautiful bows of all colors and styles at an affordable price - BrynnBella.com! We've been shopping there for about 5 years, ever since Big Sis had hair! The bows hold up extremely well; some of these are several years old. I've even washed them when they've gotten covered in hairspray and gunk. I highly recommend checking this site out. If you have little heads of hair running around your house, you won't be sorry!

Lovin' Shutterfly!

I just ordered my fourth digital scrapbook from shutterfly.com! I think I am addicted to this website! I made a book once from Snapfish that couldn't compare to my Shutterfly books. I won't use that website ever again.

The first book I made was to commemorate an awesome day trip we took as a family. It was small and had a cardboard cover but I still loved it. So I started making hard cover books to document my memories. I decided to make one every summer because we usually do so many fun things. Also, all my kids' birthdays are in the summer. I also made one of Baby Girl's first year instead of a flimsy scrapbook like her siblings have (which are falling apart). My next project is to make one book that spans several Christmases. I love this activity because there is NO MESS! This is definitely my niche!

Weekend Fun

I know it's Tuesday but we had a very fun weekend this past week! We had a couple different events which were outside. I love outdoors in the summer but can't stand mosquito bites! They are drawn to me for some reason. I have two bites it very bad places: one on my face and one on my behind. (How is that even possible anyway???) The one on my face just looks like a zit but the one on my posterior is quite embarrassing in public!

This is a picture of something I find to be a summer necessity! It's Benadryl itch stopping gel. I really think it works well! This is actually our second bottle. It's not great for sunburn, in my opinion, but it works amazingly well on those pesky, itchy bug bites! If you hate mosquitoes as much as me, this might be a product you would find helpful. Happy summer!

Glee

I hate to admit this publicly, but I love Glee. I just started watching the musical series because I wasn't captured by it at its birth along with the rest of America. I decided to see what all the hype was about and turned on an episode. I was immediately taken and haven't missed an episode since. I am so happy that they're starting at the beginning over the summer. Things I didn't understand before finally make sense. So if you haven't jumped on the wagon yet, give in and join the rest of us "losers." You'll be glad you did!

Raising Sextuplets

I am thrilled that Raising Sextuplets is back on the air! I am always amazed to see how people care for and live with multiples. I have four kids of my own (not all the same age!) and there are times when I feel like I could completely lose it. But I think these parents do a great job of keeping their cool with the given situation. They are an inspiration to me and their show makes me take a step back to look at and appreciate my life.

I was never a fan of Jon & Kate. I was greatly bothered by the way she treated her husband. And we all know how that turned out. But I see a totally different relationship with Bryan and Jenny. They seem to truly love one another and support each other in their hectic lifestyle. I think their character blows away the others who have tried and failed at a similar show.

So God bless Bryan and Jenny. They're going to need it! Although one look at them lets you know how blessed they already are.