In June of this year a new company opened it’s doors online and welcomed visitors. Fortunately, for me, they found my site and wanted to know if I would be interested in helping them promote theirs an I am ever so grateful.

I’m not sure how it is in your home, but if it’s anything like mine, the nursery was decked out and as the children have gotten older, the decor changes. Of course it does. The kids are no longer happy with bunnies and suns and the like. But for me, someone with no interior design capabilities, I’m unable to look at the kids’ rooms and know exactly what to hang on the walls.

Soon, it’s not going to matter for my daughter because her walls will be filled with every poster she can find of Zac Efron, the Jonas Brothers, and Hannah Montanna, but we have some time before that happens.

There’s nothing I love more than to see art hanging on a wall. I appreciate it even though I couldn’t tell a Monet from a VanGough but that’s okay. Prints, watercolors, paintings, photos, it doesn’t matter. It all spruces up a room.

Magic Pumpkin Art serves a purpose more than just decorating a room. Magic Pumpkin Art stimulates your child’s imagination with delightful children’s wall decor featuring enticing designs and content that is expressive and creative. Each print from Magic Pumpkin Art is a substantial cotton canvas stretched over a wooden frame. From adventurous safari prints to wall art for the sports enthusiast, or pretty, floral designs for your young lady, Magic Pumpkin Art will be enjoyed for years to come.

Purse - Kid's Girl's Theme Wall Art and Nursery Decor, 12"x12"

And it’s so true. Here’s the one that Samara will find under the tree this year. Don’t you think that’s fabulous? I do. In fact, I have a hard time deciding which one is my favorite on the site, but this one ranks right up there and I can’t wait to hang it up, along with another one that I will order and see how it looks on her wall.

I’m sure it’s going to brighten it up more so that it is now, and for a little bit, I can keep the wall clear of the latest heart throbs. (Although, I’ll let her keep her NKOTB poster up.)

Magic Pumpkin Art is also a Mom owned business and in today’s world, we’re seeing more and more mothers in business. We’re smart women and just because we have families, it doesn’t diminish that. It also allows us a way to make money at the same time as being there for our children. I don’t think there’s anything cooler than that and a far cry from where our mothers were years ago.

So why is Christine Vogensen, mom to a busy two-and-a-half year old in business?

“I’m looking for some great art for my kid’s room…” That’s what I said to my girlfriend as we walked around the mega mall. It really bothered me that I couldn’t find any great art for my kid’s room. That’s how I started Magic Pumpkin Art. I was a mom with a problem. My child is bright, curious and creative. I wanted to give him something fun to look at in his room that we could enjoy together for years.

Problem solved with Magic Pumpkin Art.

So now you get a chance to have some of this fabulous art for your child’s room! All you need to do is visit Magic Pumpkin Art’s Website and take a look around. Make sure that you check out “Being a Girl is Fun” because those are some of my favorites. After you’ve done that, come back here and leave a comment on this post letting me know which one is your favorite. I’ll draw the winner on Monday, November 24th and that lucky commentor will win a print of their choice from Magic Pumpkin Art.

That simple.

You don’t have to be a blogger to win, just make sure that I have a valid email address for you so that I can notify you if you’re the winner and the winner will be chosen at random.

Want another way to win? Blog about the contests going on over here and link back. Post another comment with the link to your post and you’ll be entered to win again. (And while you’re posting about the great giveaways going on here, how about posting about The Housewife’s Holiday Gift Guide giveaway that’s going on too? Might as well share all the love!)

Now go look.

You’re going to love what you see!

Until next time…

That is very important to me as when it’s July, I want to be hot, wearing my capris (I don’t wear shorts hardly ever) a tank top and any kind of open toed shoes that I can find.  When it’s December, I’m expecting to be all bundled up because it’s cold outside.  And Spring and Fall should be the transition phases in between and serve as a reminder of the season before and the season approaching.

The first time I moved to Roanoke, I was Samara’s age.  I was getting ready to enter the fifth grade and we moved here from Fort Drum, New York (near Watertown… about 45 minutes from Syracuse) and it was commonly referred to as the arm pit of the world.  I don’t know if it’s gotten any better in the last twenty-two years but it sucked then.

After living in upstate New York, having arrived there from Texas, I had gotten used to the cold temperatures and all of the snow.  Summer lasted for two weeks and spring and fall were fairly short as well.  It was just winter.  At least, that’s how I remember it in my mind.  For someone who despises being cold, it was horrible.

The snow drifts were bad as well and I can remember many afternoons that my younger brother and I would step off of the bus into a driveway that was clear when we left for school that had now drifted over and I would have to help him get into the house.  The driveway wasn’t that big, but big enough that a 9 and 7 year old thought they were trekking through the frozen tundra just to get into the warmth of the house where our mother would hang up our snow gear, provide a snack and ask us how our day was.

So after a winter of over 230 inches of snow, we moved to Roanoke shortly before school started.  The very first day school was cancelled due to a hurricane that had blown through, or rather, just the wind and the rain left over from one.

When my brother and I figured this out, that they cancelled school for rain, we were estatic.  Even though there were hundreds of inches in New York, we managed to miss only a half day of school.  This was going to be great.

And Roanoke is still like that.  The threat of snow will often close the schools and send everyone on a mad dash to the grocery store.  It’s almost as if they can’t handle the snow here, but we’ve gotten used to it since I’ve now lived here off and on for the past 22 years.

We’ve also gotten used to the mountainous terrain that will cause some areas to be a little more icy or covered with snow than others and since the counties shut down, if one school has to be closed, they all do.  We’ve had to watch for school closings and delays even if there is no snow in our front yard.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sent my children to the bus stop to wait only to learn that the mountain was hit harder and schools were closed.

They are not happy to have stood in the cold waiting for the bus, but enjoy the time off.

As a child I enjoyed the snow days and delays and still today, I look forward to them.  I guess I should say that since I started working from home, I’ve enjoyed them.  Now, I’m just like a little kid when the snow starts in the early afternoon or evening and we’re glued to the TV to see if the county will be cancelled before bed.  If it is, that means that we can all sleep in.

So last night, when they called for snow, all of us got a little excited.  It’s rare for us to have snow before the first of the year and it’s been decades since we’ve had a white Christmas, but this morning when we woke up, there was snow on the cars, the rooftops and the yard.

“But the roads are clear mom,” Matthew said with a frown on his face.  Knowing that I needed to go and wake the sleeping beast also known as Samara I looked at him, somewhat hopeful.

“Well maybe the mountain got more.  Check the closings.”  And then I shot up a prayer.  I really didn’t want to deal with Samara this morning so a closing, or even a delay would have been wonderful.  She’s not a morning person, nor am I, however I can hold it together a little bit better than her.

The TV had many closings listed across the top of it’s screen while Matt, Ann, Al, and Meredith reported from the Ends of the Earth, and we waited patiently as the closings were scrolling.  Alphabetically listed, when we hit Pocohontas and Pulaski we knew that if Roanoke was affected it would be soon and both Matthew and I were on the edge of our seats, hopeful that we could just chill out for a little longer this morning.

Yes, it was a long shot, but if we were going to get snow this early in the year, it would be nice to reap a reward from it other than how pretty it looks covering the exterior of the house.

Sadly, we went right from Radford to Smyth with no mention of Roanoke so Matthew and I both arose from the couch and headed to take care of what we needed, I to wake the beast and he to get in the shower.

But the beauty of snow is that all I have to do is tell Samara that it snowed and she bolts out of bed to see what it looks like outside and to run to the TV to see if her presence is required at the elementary school.

Just like I expected, she sprang from the bed and raced to her window.  Her face lit up when her eyes focused long enough to realize that yes, it was white outside, and she flew past me to the living room to check the listings.

“You’re not delayed or closed, Sam.  Go get dressed.” I said.

“This stinks,” she said as she sulked back to her room.  But it didn’t matter, she was at least awake.

So even if we didn’t get to sleep in this morning due to the wintery weather, the morning wasn’t quite as bad as I was expecting.

Until next time…

I have this little review blog that’s been neglected a little bit.  And it’s sad, really, because I love that blog.  I love the design of it, I love the look of it, and I just love to see it but I’ve not been posting things, even though I have tons of things to tell you about.

For example, did you know about the 30 Days to Natural that’s being put on by Clorox?  No?  You should check out what I have to say on it, because when I signed up for the site, I started getting lots of ideas on how our family could be a little more green.  That’s always a good thing.

And did you know that there’s a new Barbie movie out?  If you’ve got a daughter that’s into Barbie or know of someone on your Christmas list that would love a little Barbie under the tree, then you should read my review on Barbie and the Diamond Castle.  It’s definitely something worth checking out.

Oh and you know how I used to do giveaways and stuff on the review blog because I think it’s loads of fun?

Well they are back.

In fact, I’ve got three lined up for this week alone!

Yes, I’m serious and the first is up today and you can win a $25 gift certificate to Barefoot Books!  Seriously, check them out.  I loved the ones that were delivered to my house and so did the youngin’s.  I’m definitely going to be ordering from there this Christmas for the kids on my list!

And also up this week, I’ll have giveaways for games from Nintendo DS, more books, and art for your kidslet’s rooms! (this post will be live tomorrow!)

It’s definitely something that you don’t want to miss, especially with the holidays right around the corner!

And we’re going to see if we can beef it up a little more going forward, so make sure you stop by and check it out.  Enter, spread the word, and leave comments.  Because you can’t win if you don’t leave comments.

Oh and one more thing.. if you’ve got your own business and you want me to review your product or website, I would absolutely love to.  Simply contact me and we’ll get the details squared away!

Until next time…

And every year, Christmas seems to creep up on us earlier and earlier which is very hard for me to deal with because I know the only reason that it’s happening is to pad the pockets of retailers and make the rest of us stress out even more.

Christmas items were popping up before Halloween and November 1st, gone were the pumpkins, ghosts, and witches and here were the holly berries, snowmen and Santas.

Friday night while watching TV there was an ad for breakfast with Santa… on the 15th of November.  Um, hello?

Could we get through Thanksgiving first?  I really have no problem with the items for sale, the decorations being out for purchase in the stores.  I get that.  People need to stock up to decorate their homes, but for the love of Pete, why are we having breakfast with Santa before we stuff ourselves with the first of many turkeys?

And why is Santa already at the mall?  Doesn’t he need to be home at the North Pole so he can have Thanksgiving Day Dinner with Mrs. Claus and all the elves?

Seriously.

My children are already begging to put the decorations out.  They are seeing the rest of the world preparing for Christmas and I refuse.  There are radio stations that are already playing Christmas music all day long and I just won’t listen to it.

The Christmas season starts on the day after Thanksgiving here in our humble abode and I refuse to let it start one minute earlier.

Now, all of that is null and void when it comes to shopping.  I do shop year round, or at least try to.  I’ve picked up a few things however, I’ve got more to buy and I’ve been perusing the internet and searching for gifts that those on my list would enjoy.  Fortunately for me, Jo-Lynne made it a little easier.

She’s launched the Housewife’s Holiday Gift Guide and she’s put alot of work into it, so if you get a chance, pop over and check it out and for pete’s sake, grab the button and put it on your site so that you can be entered in the drawing.  We spent enough time making it work, so it would make both of us happy.

Really.

Alright, go.  Shop.  But wait to see Santa or put your decorations out.

Samara has reached the age where she’s obsessing over the cutest boys that are on the big screen. Which, I think I’m okay with. Obsessing over real life boys? Not so much.

Anywho, a while back I told you about the contest that 77Kids was having in which you got a private concert by the Jonas Brothers and guess what?

No, we didn’t win. Which I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’m not sure I could stand Samara if we had actually won and she got to meet the Jonas Brothers.

However, she can still see them in concert and since I have to go through the torture I thought that I would share with you the same information so that you, too, can experience them with your child.

The Jonas Brothers concert will stream one-time only, this Sunday November 16th at 3 p.m. EST at the 77Kids.com site. Afterwards two Jonas Brothers’ songs from the exclusive show will be available for extended play through November 30th.

The online experience will include all the excitement of a live concert. Fans can visit the 77kid gallery at 77kids.com to choose between fourteen “kid cool” characters that best represent their style. The 77kid character will walk the red carpet and join the crowd on concert day. Fans can also select different camera angles, including a “Nick Cam,” Joe Cam” and “Kevin Cam”, throughout the 40-minute show and post messages on the Jonas Brothers message board.

I know. You can hardly contain your excitement, right? Actually, this sounds really cool and will give Samara and I something to do, together, and that’s something that I’m always trying to find, because she and I have different interests.

And because I find this 77 kids concept so amazing, I thought I would share a little about the line, by American Eagle with you (because my daughter is also very much into clothes)

77kids by American Eagle offers small sizes with great big style for kids 2-12. Play on. And on. Our clothes are backed by some big-time guarantees, with free shipping and free returns. Everything is super comfy and soft. Plus, we’ve tested our line and guarantee it through 77 washes.

77 washes. Isn’t that amazing? Because as often as Samara changes clothes on a daily basis and as often as clean clothes end up in the dirty clothes hamper, I’m thinking that these would be great for us.

But I can’t fathom doing 77 loads of laundry. I shutter at the thought.

Anywho, check out the site and the concert if you’ve got a Jonas Brother fan in your house… or just to see who they are. For teenagers, they’re kinda cute. And watching Samara go crazy over them reminds me alot of my NKOTB days.

Except, I’m sure I wasn’t that crazy…

Until next time…

You should go look at it.

And tell her how awesome it looks.

Because I swear I thought she was going to be bald when all was said and done.

But Jo-Lynne posted yesterday about how she’s gotten away from the community of blogging because the business of blogging has gotten in the way and it really hit home for me.  I’ve spent so much time working on designing blogs and moving blogs and dealing with people who want me to do reviews and the like (not nearly on the scale that Jo-Lynne has) that I’ve not been around to see any of you… even to the people who are on my “must read” list.

Speaking of Jo-Lynne pulling her hair out with all that she’s been working on, let me tell you something.  She’s got a gift guide that’s going to be launched Monday, I think.  And moving her blog has it’s perks, as in, I’ve seen it.  You don’t want to miss it.  Seriously.

I’ve not twittered.  I’ve not read blogs.  I’ve not really responded to comments left here.  And I feel so out of the loop.

I don’t like it.

There are many of you that I have formed friendships with throughout the last two years and some of those are solely by way of comments, which is odd, but it is what it is.  I have come to wonder how your families are doing.  I’m wondering what all of you are up to.  And eventually, I’m going to come back to the land of the living and start making my rounds again.

I promise.

I just need about another week (or two) to get everything under control in the casa de Jacobson and then I can return to normal, or what I think normal is, because my world has been flip flopped upside down since football started in late July that I’m not even sure what normal is anymore.

But I know that I have to get back into the things I love and away from the things that are stressing me out, especially when they are things that I bring on myself.

And I love the relationships that I’ve built with you all.

So while I spent 80% of the time that I am awake online (ok, so maybe it’s not quite that much), I’m still very disconnected.

And I don’t want to be.

Until next time…

We spent Saturday at the Renissance Festival and were very careful all day to make sure that we were constantly counting heads and that if someone were to take off with a kid that they made sure we all knew who had who.

It was impressive, really.  I thought that to myself several times throughout the course of the day.  Of course, I was, I’m sure no help with more than one at a time as I was exhausted, but I managed to not be one of those that would wander off.  I figured the three other able and willing adults had enough on their plates with the children that they really shouldn’t have to worry about me too.

I know, I’m so freakin’ considerate. And really know how to make an impression.

We wore the kids out Saturday.  Shoot, who am I kidding?  We wore all of us out on Saturday.  And when we went to bed Saturday night, the plan was to get up early for church and make the 8:30 service and then head out to ride horses.

Now, I don’t know about your family and how early you get up, but I was a little worried about my crew.  We struggle making it to the 9:45 Sunday School class, but I knew that I could do it.  Turns out, I didn’t have to.  It was decided while I still lay in bed getting my beauty sleep, which was much needed, that we were going to skip church and head out to the horses.

It was probably for the best as we would’ve spent the entire service repenting for all the sins we committed trying to wrangle six kids, and me, and get us out the door on time and to service in one piece.

And so we went and rode horses.  The boy’s sister has a horse, Luna.  She’s huge.  That’s who I got to ride.  And all the kids got to ride and get a little lesson but only after they worked a little, as in they had to brush the horses and clean their hooves and sadle them.  Neither one of mine complained and Sam really got into it.  Of course, there was also a boy there her age, so I’m sure that helped a little.

In fact, I think I’ve heard more about him than I did the actual horses since we’ve arrived home.

When we had had our fill of farm fun, we gathered all the kids and headed back to the house so that we could gather our stuff and hit the road.  About halfway there, the boy gets a phone call from his sister in which she asks him to count kids.

“I’ve got four,” he says.  They only had one.  The whole time they thought their oldest was with us and we thought he was with them.

And we laughed.

Now, we only laughed because he was left not at some random farm, but at a friends’ and the friend was bringing him home later.  This could’ve been a whole lot less funny than it was.

But we did determine that our lesson for the day was when Mary lost Jesus at the Temple.

See?  Even when we don’t make it to church, God still shares with us a lesson. 

And I think people who know me best will not be surprised at all by this story, and a little bummed if I didn’t have at least one when I returned home.

So there you have it.

The story of the lost kid… the one that got left behind.

Apparently that initiative didn’t apply to us.

Until next time…

But today is Veteran’s Day which means alot to me who comes from a long line of military.  I know that I have mentioned several times the heart that I have for those men and women serving and their family members whether they’ve ever set foot on the battleground or not.  I have a huge love for my country and will tear up at just about anything that involves our country.

Today was no different as I sat through my fifth Veteran’s Day Program at the elementary school.  This one was a little different as it was the first that I wasn’t watching both of my kids perform.

But I was still looking out for two kids and trying to snap as many pictures as I could, although they are horrible.  I’ve never gotten good pictures at these performances because the kids are always singing to the Veteran’s on the stage.  This is the one show where they are not performing for the parents.

But as I sat there, in the front row, (and please don’t think I’m one of those mothers that gets there early to get a good seat so that I can take awesome pictures.  I’m not.  I’m far from it.  I’m the mother that is flying around the house trying to get dressed 15 minutes before it starts and calling her friend to ask her to save her a seat because I’m running late… again.  I have awesome friends), I started thinking about the way my life has changed from where it was awhile ago.

The boy has his kids full time.  Therefore, I’ve been able to spend lots of time with his kids and he with mine and in turn, they’ve spent alot of time together.  So as I was sitting there, I was looking out for my youngest and the boy’s oldest.  It’s so convenient that they both go to the same school, don’t you think?

Things are going well with the boy so I can’t help but think futuristically.  Don’t worry, I’m not getting ahead of myself, but I firmly believe that if you can’t imagine a future with someone that you shouldn’t be dating, so I’m always thinking ahead making sure that I like what I’m picturing, and it’s no secret, I like it.  This weekend was a huge glimpse into the future and I didn’t run for the hills, nor did he, so that’s a good sign.

But as I was thinking about the age ranges of our children, the oldest 11, almost 12, and the youngest having just turned four, it dawned on me that if this continues to go well, I’m not washing my hands of the elementary school next year as I had originally planned.  For the past five years, I’ve looked at the year 2010 as my last year of elementary school as an elementary school parent.

However, it’s highly possible that I’m going to be in that school until 2016, which, if you’re not good with math, is another seven years.  It’s also a year after my oldest graduates from high school and I’m having trouble even imagining that.  I mean, he’s only in his first year of middle school now.

So it’s highly possible that I’m going to watch, over the course of my lifetime, a minimum of twelve Veteran’s Day programs.  Seeings how I already know the format and all of the songs by heart, I’m hoping they change it up a bit in the future years.  But they did add a new song this year, so we’re at least moving in the right direction.

And through the course of all this math that I’ve been doing in my head, and once I got confused enough, I sat down and mapped it out in a nice, tidy excel spreadsheet, because apparently I feel as if I have nothing better to do today, and realized that the youngest of the four will graduate from high school in 2023.

In 2023, I’m going to be 46.  Ok, so that’s not so bad because I was going to be 40 when Samara graduated, but I always saw 40 to be young enough to have my fun.  Of course, I had also resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t really date or get serious with anyone until after the kids were grown and gone.  Oh my God has a sense of humor.  Always changing things up on me right as I get comfortable with things.

And for those of you who are over 40, it’s not that I think 46 is old.  I don’t.  When I was 15, I thought 46 was old, but it’s not really old.  I just pictured myself different at 46 a few months ago, before my world got turned upside down.

And after I realized that we were going to have years where at least one of them was in every school level and that there would be years where they would span from elementary school to college, I realized that should they all go to college?  That’s twelve years of college tuition, four of those years, there will be two in college at the same time.  And seeings how we all know how much college is going to cost by the time that rolls around, and how long it takes to pay off loans, I can see a tuition payment happening every month until I’m dead.  Not that it wouldn’t be worth it, because it would be.  It’s not like I’m going to pray that none of them go to college, however, perhaps I won’t push as hard for any of them to be doctor’s or lawyers unless I can find some rich family to marry them into.  (You know that I’m kidding, right?  Good.)

Perhaps I can pay off my student loan before I have to start paying on Matthew’s.  And I’m beginning to think that there’s never going to be any money for me to go back and get my master’s.  Not that I need it, I just want it.

The Lord will provide a way, though, should it be what He wants me to do.  Truth be told, getting a master’s degree served no other purpose than to challenge me in different ways and to prove that I could do it.  It’s just one of those things that I’ve always wanted to do, for me.  Not to enhance my job, not to make more money, although with twelve years of college tuition, maybe I should think about that… heh.

Anywho, I share this because I thought you might get a kick out of it.  A few have asked me to share more about the boy, and I will, over time.  If I shared everything about the boy that I wanted to share, you all would get grossed out and get sick of hearing about the boy.  Because I could easily take this blog from my ramblings and insanity and make it all about the boy.

But the really funny part about all of this, the looking that far down the road to see what I’m getting myself into, is that I am so not freaking out.

I am, however, making plans for all four of them to start working now.

Until next time..

Four kids in the car was out of control.  I don’t know how we thought it was going to be.  I guess we thought it was going to be a cake walk or something and then his sister?  My goodness!  I should get a medal or something for putting up with her!  Seriously.  The things I could tell you…

I’m totally kidding…  Seriously.  (His sister reads sometimes so I thought I would bust her chops.)

But no, really.  The trip was excellent.

The drive down was a cake walk for the most part, short of the four year old punching the eleven year old and some squabbles over which movies were going to be watched.  And the entire weekend was much the same.  And the boy’s family was enjoyable.  I liked them alot.

My children, for the most part, even behaved.

On the outside looking in, I don’t think passersby knew that this was the first time that we had ventured on the road with all of them.  I don’t think people at the restaurants or truck stops thought that either.  It was pretty seemless and I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend, better children, better family members, better weather, better activities, etc.

You get the picture.

It was nice.  We’ve even been invited back which is rare for us.  ::grin::

So, anywho…

I guess you want a few pictures, don’t you?  Ok, ok, I’ll share just a few.

Samara waiting for her turn to bungee jump

I know it looks like Matthew wasn’t with us much of the trip, but he was always with the little ones herding them and corralling them.  But he was there.  See, there he is herding and corralling.  He so good with little ones.  I don’t know where he gets his patience from because it’s certainly not me.

But I have to tell you, despite the fact that we did really well, the four of us managing the children who outnumbered us, we did manage to lose a kid.

No, I’m not joking.

I’ll save that story for another day.

It’s definately one that we’ll be joking about for awhile.

Until next time…

…with ALL the kids.

…all four of them.

…in a van.

…for three hours.

And while I think that I should be freaking out right about now, knowing that in just 7 hours, I’m going to be in a car with 5 other people, in the passenger seat instead of driving, and maintaining the entertainment of four as opposed to two, I’m not.

I’m actually really looking forward to it.

We’re going to his sister’s house where there are two more kids.

For those of you who struggle with math, that’s SIX kids… all under the age of 11.

When people learn of this, the first question they ask is “Are you crazy?”

And I smile because yes. Yes, I am.

Until next time…