Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

The monkey family and I don't have family in our state so we were lucky enough to have been invited by friends to have Thanksgiving with them. The past couple of years we'd been celebrating Thanksgiving alone, which was still pleasant, but not quite the same as being with a larger group. My mom always had extended family over to our house for Thanksgiving and would prepare a large elegant meal. This was one of the few times we got to eat in the formal dining room. My mother is also a really good cook. I'm not sure why that didn't get passed on to me. Dadda monkey would say I inherited her nagging trait, but that's another topic entirely. This Thanksgiving I'm especially thankful for having friends nearby who have welcomed us into their home. It will feel more festive this year to dine with others and the monkeys will have other kids to play with as well. Dadda monkey is hoping they'll have the football games on. I'm also thankful to have people taking their time to read these posts. Wherever you're spending this holiday, I hope you enjoy it. Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Changing Tables

Normally, my blog is about products that work well for me. This time it's just the opposite. When we found out we were expecting Bro Bro monkey, we wanted to save some money on furnishing his nursery. For Monkey girl's nursery, we went to Babies R Us and bought the Babi Italia crib and dresser and we haven't had much trouble with them, but I thought they were a bit expensive for what they are.

So after shopping around, we bought the Da Vinci Kalani crib and the Storkcraft Aspen 3 drawer dresser. The crib's been fine. The dresser/changing table is another story. We've had it about a year and it seemed fine at first, but a couple of months ago, we started having problems with the drawers. It got so bad that I finally stopped using the middle drawer completely. However, that seemed to compound the problem with the changing table's stability because now the whole unit is unsteady and falling apart. We're not able to use it at all anymore. The interesting thing is they don't appear to sell that particular piece anymore.

I'm now in the market for a new dresser for Bro Bro. I'm trying to decide between the Da Vinci Kalani dresser to go with his crib or shopping at a regular furniture store for a dresser in a similar color to his other furniture. You already know how much I stress over making these kinds of decisions so I probably won't do anything until after the holidays.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Facebook

I have a separate personal Facebook page, aside from the Mommy 2 Monkeys Facebook page. I've considered deleting it, but it does help me keep in touch with friends and family who I wouldn't otherwise correspond with as much. The problem is, so many of the posts irritate me. I think I'm a little high strung and opinionated anyways so it's not difficult to get under my skin. I don't typically take offense to the people personally, it's just certain posts that bother me and make me wish they would put some more thought into what they type.

First off, I am not of the texting generation. I don't like the abbreviations (it takes me 10 minutes to figure out half of them) and I really feel it detracts from the English language and writing skills. I know that subject is up for debate, but that's my opinion. We've actually had text options disabled on our cell phone plan. I hate seeing LOL being used as punctuation. 'I just made dinner, LOL.' Was it really that funny? If so, maybe you should be elaborating on what made that so darn funny.

Secondly, I've never been a fan of chain letters (or in this case posts). I remember getting postal chain letters occasionally as a kid and throwing them away, while secretly wondering if I'd really have 10 years of bad luck (or whatever other consequence) for doing so. They moved to email and now to Facebook. I still ignore them, but I'm no longer concerned about any impending doom. It doesn't help your cause when words are misspelled or the grammar is off. English certainly wasn't one of my stronger subjects, but numerous, blatant mistakes bug me. If you're a sister (or third cousin-in-law once removed) and proud of it, great, boast about it in your own words. I'll take my time to read it then, but seeing it copied from place to place demeans it a bit. If you're a fan of chain letters, great, to each their own. Just be aware, I'm not going to re-post it as my status and I probably won't even read it.

Third, do your own research. It's really easy to read something on the internet and copy and paste it for everyone else to read. Snopes is great for fishing out stories that may be less than true. I'm also not going to put a whole lot of credence into some rumor being half-wittedly posted around Facebook. If that's not the case then I apologize. After all, everyone is entitled to their opinion and free speech.

I love being updated with what's going on with everyone's personal lives and those posts rarely bother me. Additionally, if you check out your facts (which I will inevitably double check), I don't mind being informed of important current issues. Several weeks ago, I posted about an alumni family with some personal problems. They weren't asking for money, but more for verbal support. I hesitantly posted about it, but kept having second thoughts about it because I didn't want to come across as pushy, overbearing, or out of line.  Even with this post, I really don't hope to ruffle anyone's feathers. It's more of a personal rant and I'm sick so that makes me a bit more overzealous. Overall, I've found Facebook to be a great tool, but one that also irks me from time to time. If I end this with LOL, will that help lighten the tone of it?

I'm going back to bed now until Dadda monkey gets home with some toast and tea. I hope everyone's Thanksgiving week is off to a better start than ours.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Funtastic Playland

I'd never heard of this place until recently, but Funtastic Playland has over 13,000 feet of indoor play space. I haven't been yet, but I'll be going to check it out soon. There's a 2 story pirate ship, castle, monster truck, and more. I love finding out about new places to take the kids. I'm especially interested since they have a designated toddler area. If any of my San Antonio friends are interested, there's a deal of 2 weekend passes (includes 2 drinks) for $9 or 2 weekday passes (including 2 drinks) for $6.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Potty Training and Toothbrushes

It's no wonder my daughter can't get on board with potty training. Her Mom is apparently dense. I've been leaving the kids bathroom door open so that she can have access to her potty chair. Since we started leaving the door open, we've gone through about 10 additional rolls of toilet paper because Bro Bro monkey thinks it's fun to unwind the rolls. Additionally, we've bought many new toothbrushes because Monkey girl loves her toothbrush so much, she goes in there, grabs it, and plays with it everywhere (including in the toilet). Yesterday a light bulb finally went off in my head and I've moved her toothbrush to the medicine cabinet and the toilet paper is not being put on the holder anymore. I blame the unpredictable weather and the stress of family visiting on my Mommy fog recently. I just hope this potty training thing starts to stick soon.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Cards Direct


With the holidays approaching, my thoughts have turned to preparations for this festive season. I've already begun buying gifts and now my attention has turned toward getting our holiday cards. Cards Direct is a fantastic source for this task. They have some beautiful Christmas cards, but I think we'll be getting the photo cards this year. I personally have my eye on this one (assuming we can get a good photo of the monkeys together):

I love a lot of their snowflake/snowy designs as well, but it seems silly coming from south Texas. This one is cute too if you get your photos printed separately:

There really is a great selection of holiday photo cards to choose from. Cards Direct offers personalized greeting cards for business and/or personal use. They have over 2,000 designs in categories such as holiday cards, birthday cards, thank you cards, photo cards, baby shower invitations, birth announcements, and more. Additionally, the online ordering process is simple and convenient. Don't you love getting things accomplished while still in your pajamas?

I'm going to have to remember they have birthday invitations as well when it comes time for Monkey girl's birthday in the spring. She'd adore these birthday tea party invitations:



Cards Direct has generously offered one of my readers 25 cards of your choice (up to a $50 value). Please note that your code will expire December 31st.

How To Enter:
(The first step is required for your first entry. Any steps after that reward you with an extra entry.) Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

1. Tell me which design you like for either holiday or birthday cards (either the description or a link).

2. Become a follower of my blog, Mommy 2 Monkeys, and leave a comment on this post that you've done so.
3. 'Like' the Mommy 2 Monkeys Facebook page and leave a comment on this post that you've done so.
4. Follow me on Twitter and leave  a comment on this post that you've done so.
5. Place my button on your blog/website and leave a comment on this post that you've done so.

This giveaway will remain open until November 22, 2010 at midnight central time. The winner will be chosen using Random.org. I will post the winner on my blog and also email the winner (please make sure your email is visible on your profile or post it in your comment). The winner will have 72 hours to respond to my email or I will choose another winner via Random.org. Good luck!

Disclaimer:


Mommy 2 Monkeys hasn't done business with Cards Direct yet so a review was not possible. Mommy 2 Monkeys was provided with the opportunity to hold a giveaway for my readers through Cards Direct in partnership with Global Influence. I will be provided with some cards for my personal use. No other compensation was received and the views expressed here are my own. 
 

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Dogs at Play signs

Some of you may remember my review of the Dogs at Play sign I put on my fence. I recently got an email from Doginyard.com saying you can buy their signs through Amazon in the Home, Garden, and Pet section. On top of that, they're 30% off until November 14th with free shipping by entering the code DOGSIGN7.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Family Visits

Sorry for the short hiatus, but we had family visiting from Florida. We love when family comes to visit since we don't have any nearby, but afterwards I feel like I need a staycation. We did a little running around town and surrounding areas and also did some routine things like going to Little Gym and our weekly play group. The kids were also happy to have new people to play with. Even though we did a pretty thorough cleaning of the house before they came, we're going to have to do a lot of picking up since we've been so busy while they were here. The kids found plenty of free time to pull out toys, food, clothes, etc... As for now, I'm off to bed for a good night's sleep. Hopefully, the monkeys will sleep in a bit tomorrow morning. It's just wishful thinking...