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Mom Confessions - Popcorn for Breakfast, anyone??

There are so many things I feel bad about as a parent. But I realize more and more that guilt is wasted energy. I think I need to purge my feelings of complete parent failure.

When you have 3 kids - the game changes. You are outnumbered and out witted pretty much every day of the week. When I head out to the grocery store with all 3 girls in tow - people tend to stare like the Duggars just walked in. I haven't had a good night's sleep in years, but I remember it fondly. And many mornings I walk into work with a big toothpaste stain on my shirt from having to physically hold down my 2 year old and brush her teeth.

I work full time. My day usually starts at 6. Or 6:30. All depends on how many times I hit the snooze button before finally managing to crawl out of bed. I usually have to remove a few little kid body parts first. A foot in my face. A knee in my back. Yes - most nights they sleep with me. Why? The hell if I know.

CommentaThon - 50 Comments in 7 Days!

I am going to promote a little in this post. I just had an amazing week! I participated in a CommentaThon and I loved it!


I got to read such a variety of blogs. So many stories out there. Some made me cried. Many made me laugh. Some made me think...What a freaking awesome idea!!


How does it work?


Well it's all thanks to Blogelina. Tanya is the girl behind the curtain of this wonderful site. You will find everything you ever needed to know about blogging on her site. This site has truly helped me in a thousand smalls ways. 

25 Ways to Save Hundreds Each Year

Stop buying bottled water. On average a 24 pack of bottled water is $3.99. If your family goes through even just 1 pack per week – that equals $207.48 per year. I purchased a water pitcher with a filter for $18.18 on Amazon. I purchase a new filter every 3 months – which runs me about $6 dollars for a total cost of $24 per year. Add that $24 to the $18.18 I already spent and my total cost for the year is $42.18. So I just saved $165.30 by eliminating the cost of buying bottled water.

Saved: $165.30 per year 

Savings Trips 9/12/2013 - CVS and Walgreens - $134.39 Worth of Product for $57.80!!

The amount of stores, savings, coupons...it's endless. I regularly read the Krazy Coupon Lady's blog to see what store match-ups are going on each week. A match-up is matching what the store has on sale with what coupons are available. 

The Krazy Coupon Lady features every store under the sun it seems...and there is tons of great information, resources and links. But I am going to keep it much simpler. Each week I will feature of few of my own shopping trips - what coupons I used and how much I saved. Simple trips that you can make today to the store(s) and snag the same savings I did. I am not going to break down every store and every item on sale. But I will definitely share some awesome deals and savings with you all as often as I can - and keep it as basic and easy as I can. 

I shop in Virginia - and the stores I frequent the most are:

My Daughter Was Born With A Cleft Lip - Our Journey - Part One

I have been struggling with the right words and the right way to start this series. I think because in a lot of ways this topic is hard to discuss. Because there have been really hard moments. But of course the joy…the best moments always outweigh the bad.

If your child is born with a birth defect, you are instantly haunted. Haunted by every moment of the past 9 months. Wondering why this happened? What went wrong? What defining moment changed it all?

I didn’t know I was pregnant those first few weeks. Makayla wasn’t planned. I was 21 years old. So I knew there had been a few glasses of wine and a few cigarettes those first few weeks before I knew.

I thought about the fact that I dyed my hair when I was 6 months pregnant. I thought about going on that teacup ride at the carnival. It wasn’t a fast ride…but??

You analyze every second because deep down you feel overwhelmed by the guilt. Because for you it’s not really what went wrong…it's what did you do wrong?

All The Things We Do Wrong - Fun and Surprising Facts

I came across an article a few weeks ago. It was all about how to apply your make-up – and I realized I was doing it all wrong. I had my “duh” moments as I continued to read the article. And then I started to really think about all the things we do day in and day out. And then I wondered how many other things I was doing wrong? Surprisingly (Not surprising at all) I was doing many things incorrectly. And you may be, too.

Mascara – I LOVE MASCARA! It’s one of the few make-up products I spend a little extra for. The best mascara in the world for me is Benefit Cosmetics They're Real Mascara.
You can snag it from Amazon for around $26.00 dollars. Which is obviously pricier than your drug store. But this mascara gives me the WOW effect I love. And it lasts a long time – it’s doesn’t get gunky and gross as quickly as cheaper brands do.

Now how to apply it? First off don’t pump the wand in and out of the bottle. It makes the mascara dry out faster. You should just twist the wand around inside the tube. Wipe any excess mascara off the wand when you remove it. Start at the base of your lashes and sweep the wand up and down, applying 2-3 coats.