The Oh So Fashionable Chain Letter

Tell me, who wouldn't be tempted by the promise of $800,000 mailed to you daily within the next 90 days? I would love to receive the cash, even if it was in $1 increments. And I guess I would then be forced to buy a MUCH larger handbag to tote it around in.

Thats right folks, I have been chain lettered, and lo and behold, I am breaking it as we speak. I have gotten this particular one 3 times in the last 4 months. Twice from the same woman. Who apparently has not made her mountain of cash, or she wouldn't be sending the letter so often. On the other hand, maybe it is working so incredibly well for her that she does it once a month.

I am tempted, but I have researched the heck out of it. Apparently this originated from some man named Dick Hollman. He was broke, at his wits end, car in the process of being repo'd when he stumbled unwittingly upon the proverbial cash cow. He started THE LETTER. Sending it to 200 people with 6 names on it (which apparently is what makes this one SO DIFFERENT!) you send a $1 to each of the 6 names, drop the top name off, add your name to the bottom, and sit back and watch the cash flood your mail box. And it looks to be a teensy bit illegal. A scam if you will.

I am trying at this moment to find SOMEONE REAL who will tell me about their experience with it. Just out of curiosity. Because, while it may have worked for one person, there is no guarantee it is going to work for anyone else.

Holiday Spirit Abounds In My House

I LOVE Christmas. Its one of my favorite times of the year, and even living in the armpit of America can't take that away. I love the decorations and the lights. All the yummy Christmas treats add to my joy! Although I prefer to bake and give it away. I have been in and out of blogging lately, getting everything prepared for Thanksgiving gave me plenty of material, but no time!
Then today I came across the 5 Minutes For Mom Christmas giveaway!



It ends today, but you STILL have time to check out the prizes and enter some of them too! There are so many great items, and all useful!


So Thanksgiving, loads of fun. I got to make all my favorites, Turkey, cranberry stuffing, mashed potatoes full of sour cream and cheddar cheese, rolls, and OH the DESSERTS!! Chocolate Cream Pie, Double Layer Pumpkin Pie, Strawberry Pretzel Salad, and a Pumpkin Roll. And Train Junkie had his traditional bowl of Thanksgiving Mac and Cheese. Just like the kind the Indians introduced to the Pilgrims. And I thank them every time he asks for a healthy bowl full or processed cheese and starch.

Little Guy, of course, ate EVERYTHING I put in front of him. Although you would never know it to look at this kid.

All in all, it was a good day, a little sad since hubby is deployed, and we really miss him. But every day I mark off on the calendar puts him a little closer to us. I am so thankful that I have a wonderful family and a loving hubby, sweet kids, and good friends. We are very blessed in spite of a lot of things. And I am especially thankful that even though hubby is deployed, he is someplace OTHER than Iraq...

You Likey The New Look??

I have been trying to add Google Adsense to my blog for sometime now, but could never get it to work. And a friend of mine has been telling me how she makes a couple hundred extra dollars a month with the Firefox dowload button, (yeah thats it over there on the side, go ahead, download it!! You get faster intenet and I get a $1!)so I decided to try and install it. Now as most of my friends already know, I am slow in the bloggy knowledge department. All that coding makes my brain feel like MUSH!
So I emailed my good friend who designed my original look for help. She tried, got the same results I did and that led us to decide to CHANGE my whole look!!
And since I am in PINK overload since having a sweet baby girl, this is what we came up with.
I appreciate my dear friend for coming to my rescue and revamping my look! Thanks!

The Next Crocodile Hunter?

To all my 8 readers, I apologize for being MIA for so long. Our days around here have been filled with spending time together and staying on top of keeping my house clean.
This deployment has been hard on my Little Guy so I have been trying to keep him occupied and feeling loved. The time is going by quickly thankfully. And after much waiting we know where we are moving next July! We are heading North, which makes us REALLY happy. I have missed living where there are actual seasons. Its so nasty and hot here in the armpit, although it has finally gotten chilly. This time next year, there will be SNOW in our front yard. Both the boys are excited about making snow angels and going sledding. And a White Christmas!
The other night we were winding down from a busy day and I decided to turn on Crocodile Hunter for the boys. Its one of their favorites and since I have been so disappointed by not seeing an alligator here, this is how I get my fix.
Steve Irwin was tracking a 9 ft croc and Train Junkie was getting very excited. His eyes were dancing and there was a big grin on his face. The camera panned and got a good close-up of the big reptile and my 3, almost 4 yr old leaned forward and with awe in his voice said "Ooooooh isn't it BE-UT-Tiful?? Hes my BAAAAYBEEE...."
Ummmm what?




Oh, and here is a new pic of The Princess and Little Guy!



Can someone please explain to me, why it is SO easy to go overboard buying little girl clothes?!?! I have to control myself daily!

I meant to take a pic...

I have been the lucky winner of two contests the past couple of months from some of my wonderful bloggy buddies. The first one was to win an adorable apron set from the Pinks and Blues Girls, the sponsor was Carolyn's Kitchen and I won a FABULOUS Dorothy Apron!




The other thing I won was at the 5 Minutes For Mom cyber shower. They had so many of their sponsors contribute and give not only great gifts to the new mama's but great prizes too! This is who I got a pair of Flip Hops from! They are these absolutely too cute for words bunny slippers that look like flip flops. And as soon as I get a spare moment to paint my toenails, I will take a pic and share with you all!!

Making Money!!!

Part of what I wanted to do while hubby is deployed is make enough money to pay down our debt quite a bit. I figured out how much I needed to make a day and then did research to try and figure out how to do it. There are a lot of scams out there, I can tell you that. I have been writing articles on Associated Content and make money when I do it, and if people view my writing, I get paid for that too. And I know I could make a whole lot more there if I would sit down and write more articles.
I have been selling books on Amazon, but I don't plan on buying more books to sell, I just list ones we have already read so thats not going to be a continual source of income.
The other thing I have been doing is completing offers on a website called Cash Crate! If you go and fill out offers, most of them are free, then they pay you. I have done it once already and made a small amount. But this time I am seriously going at it and have been doing the free trials that you cancel before you get charged for them. It doesn't take a lot of time to do, and to me its worth it to be able to make some extra cash and stay home with my kids! So if you want to make some money, and help me out at the same time (I get a percentage based on what my referrals make!) Then PLEASE click on this link I got my first referral today, so please go check it out!!!

Missing

This year has been a rather rough year for our family. What with friends being diagnosed with Cancer, as well as my dad, a close friend of ours lost their new baby, one of my best friends moms had a brain hemorrhage, and now today, hubby deployed for 6 months. This will be our third, and it just doesn't get any easier. My Train Junkie is taking it well for now. But my Little Guy was so sad. He kept talking this morning about how we were going to get to say Bye Bye to Daddy and watch his ship go Bye Bye too. But on the way out this afternoon, he fell asleep. And once Little Guy is asleep, its HARD to wake him up. We tried and tried but just could not rouse him. Hubby kissed and hugged him anyway. On our way back to the house, through the DREARY pouring rain, Little Guy woke up. And immediately asked, "Are going to say Bye Bye to Daddy and his boat?"
All the tears I had tucked away came welling up in my eyes. Not so good when its already a monsoon outside! I had to explain to him that we did, he was asleep, and while we tried to wake him up, he didn't want to. I told him how Daddy had kissed and hugged him goodbye. Poor Little Guy began to cry in earnest. "I want to tell Daddy Bye Bye, Mommy!!!" Man, there was NO stopping my tears at that point!
I know that we don't have it so bad, Hubby's not going to Iraq or any place like that. He will be dealing with drug boats though. And half way through, he will be home for 2 weeks. So I keep telling myself, its October now, he will be home in December for a visit. Then out again and back 3 months later. We can handle that. But its still tough. Its hard to be a suddenly single mom with a 3, 4, and 2 month old. It makes things a lot more work. Going to the store becomes a HUGE task. Theres no one to give me a break when I get tired, or don't feel well. Its entirely left to me to kiss boo boos, put kids to bed, feed, clothe and plan activities. Thanksgiving will just be us. Kids birthdays will be just us. And thats tough. I know God is looking out for us, and will help us through this deployment. Just like He has in the past. He will sustain us. And hold us close to Him.
It will still be hard, and we will still be sad and lonely.
Today, we are going to make the best of it. Its rainy and stormy outside. So the boys and I are going to get in our jammies. We are going to watch movies, pop popcorn. I am going to make blueberry muffins, chocolate cupcakes, eat ice cream and drink hot cocoa. And try our best to forget the world outside.
If you think about us, pray for us. Leave me an encouraging comment! I know this won't last forever, but when its piled on top of all the pain of this past year, I think it just was the proverbial straw.