Never Trust a Squirrel- by Olivia Pavich

Olivia got the book Never Trust a Squirrel from her Grandma. The official descroption of the book is as follows:
William, a young guinea pig, longs to experience the world outside his secure hut. Stella the squirrel's invitation to explore is more tempting than his mother's stern warnings of danger, so off he goes. He soon finds himself abandoned by Stella and pursued by a hungry fox. Thanks to his mother, the young guinea pig eventually ends up safe at home. William is adorable, Stella is nasty, but the fox looks more mild-mannered than threatening. Children will sympathize with William's need to test the limits.


Here's Olivia's version- as taken by audio from my husband's phone one night before bed:

"The day afternoon was very excited because Sonny was not very excited to trust a squirrel. So the squirrel never trusts a squirrel of the day. The day after was very excited to never trust a squirrel. So they went in the woods to find some.....woods, woods, woods and was very excited all the day long cause all the day long they were very excited of all the days of the month. Never trust a squirrel every day cause...never trust a squirell as very excited like a rabbit. The rabbit was so excited to go to the school. School was not opened. So..so...a fox came and looked for rabbits. The rabbit stepped on carpet which was very quiet."

Wow.

I'm an addict

Hello. My name is Sarah. And I'm an addict. I've been able to keep my addiction to just once per week but sometimes, I fall into a day long buzz. I'm finally ready to admit my problem......

I LOVE JERSEY SHORE.

It's back on Tuesday January 4th and I. CAN'T. BE. MORE. EXCITED.

I don't know if it's because these people make me feel like I'm extremely classy and intelligent or if I just love the way they parlayed their craziness into a multi-million dollar business. Mike "The Situation" made $10M last year alone. He trademarked his name, came out with a few workout DVDs, designed shirts and jewelry. Snooki appeared on many magazine covers and gets paid to attend club openings and personal appearances. JWOWW has her own clothing line.

WHAT? Forget college.....just get drunk on TV and you'll be made for life!

I'm just amazed that these characters are so intriguing to me. I consider myself above-average in intelligence. I don't like other trashy TV but I just can't stop watching this show. I find their antics hilarious, annoying, insulting and sometimes dangerous. I fear my children will act 30% as awful as they do.

It's like a train wreck or something. I just can't turn away.

There- I said it. I admit to loving these horrible people.

I feel much better!

Ahhh....it's finally over.

I do love the holidays but I also love when they are over.

Most of the presents are put away. A few decorations have been taken down. I like to leave my tree up for a week or two after Christmas since it takes SO much effort to put up. The kids really like the tree too so we'll leave it up for now but all the trinkety type decor is coming down in stages.

Our Christmas was very nice. We traveled but everyone still got their naps and were relatively well behaved. We received a lot of nice presents--nothing too big and not too much to return. The kids had a lot of fun seeing our extended family and the food was excellent as always. I need to unload my camera and post some new pics soon. Now that things have settled down, I should be able to get caught up with the 400+ pics that are on my memory card!

Hope you all had a nice holiday!

Merry Christmas!

Since this weekend will be super busy with traveling, I'd like to send my "Merry Christmas" out to you all today!

Have a wonderful and blessed holiday!

The Pavichs

Sometimes I just need to take my own advice

The title of my blog (Just Rolling With It) encompasses my attitude towards life. The serenity prayer "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference" is my own personal mantra.

I try not to get caught up in the "shoulds" "woulds" and "coulds" of parenting. I appreciate different points of few and different parenting styles. I try not to compare my kids with other kids. I try to understand that the "milestones" are just general guidelines and not all kids will hit them at the otherwise "appropriate" times.

I try to give my mom friends a relaxed view on parenting. I tell them not to get caught up in it all. Babies and kids will do things as they want. As long as they are happy, healthy and progressing, there's no reason to stress.

So, why can't I take MY OWN advice?

I'm so stressed out about Owen not sleeping through the night, that it's got me going crazy. I've been researching reverse cycling, exclusively pumping/bottle feeding, over feeding, under feeding, adding more solids, taking solids away etc.

Information overload.

My other kids were sleeping through the night (8pm - 6am) by 13 and 16 weeks. No problems. Owen is the only one who's been nursed this long so that's the only thing I can think of that's causing this. Some days, I want to quit just to get sleep. But what if that doesn't help? Then I'm not nursing (which I love) and STILL not sleeping. That doesn't make sense.

AH!

I'm just crazy over tired and really feel helpless. I'd like to apologize to all those mamas who I accused of overreacting when their babies weren't sleeping through the night by 6, 9 or 12 months. I feel you now.

Dear Santa: I want sleep. Consistently. For the next 18 or so years. Thanks, Sarah

Christmas Crabbiness

I think I'm just getting crabby. I sort of can't wait for Christmas to be over.

I can't stand the extra traffic and people at the mall. I just need deodorant from Target. I don't want to wait for 30 minutes to find a place to park, another 10 getting through the store, another 45 in line and another 30 to get out. At this point, I'd rather stink.

I'm sick of the CONSTANT Christmas related questions....are you ready? Are you done shopping? Is everything wrapped? What are your plans for Christmas? BLAH BLAH BLAH. It's as bad as after you have a baby and need to answer the same questions over and over and over and over and over again.

I tired of the Kays Christmas commercials. At first, I thought they were sweet. Now I'm just annoyed. No mother is HAPPY to be awake at 2:00am with a baby that's clearly not sleeping well. Maybe if you gave me diamonds I would be....I take that back. I DO like those commercials.

I want my living room back. My tree, although beautiful, is taking up the prime toy storage space in my living room so now everything spills into the middle. Ba-humbug.

I love Christmas. I really do. It's one of my favorite holidays. I just wish it didn't start before Halloween and go for 2 long months. I will be very excited to see it come and even more excited to see it go.

When did moms become the "All Knower of Where Everything Is"?

I only have two eyes. And my brain can only hold so much information.

No, I don't know where YOUR green car is.

No, I don't know where YOUR other shoe is.

No, I don't know where YOUR cell phone is.

No, I don't know where YOUR mittens are.

I can't possibly know where everything is, at anytime, all moments of the day. It's just impossible.

And I would appreciate it if you could just PRETEND like you actually looked for something before you asked me. That would make me feel a bit better---like you put some effort into it.

Not only am I expected to know where everything is, but I'm also expected to put all said items away at the end of the day.

So maybe, just maybe, I'll start stashing things in very strange places so I get some kind of entertainment value about of this "house manager" job:

Mom! Where's my green car?

 ---- check the toaster

Mom! Where's my other shoe?

----- check the fish tank

Honey! Where's my cell phone?

----- look in the shower

Mom! Where's my mittens?

----- check the attic

Much more interesting for mom......... :)

Christmas Time and Charities

I'm all about giving to charity.

Every time I'm at the store and they ask me to donate $1 to whatever charity, I'll always add it to my purchase. Every time I can put my change in a jar for something, I will. I donate hundreds of dollars of clothing, toys, home furnishings etc to Goodwill each year. I try to teach my kids how important it is to give to less fortunate people. When they are older, I love the idea of volunteering at a shelter or ringing a bell.

However....

Not sure how I feel about the Salvation Army offering credit card machines at their bucket stations. I get it. Most people don't carry a lot of cash around anymore. In a world covered in plastic (literally and figuratively), the younger generation doesn't often keep coin or paper on them anymore.

But really?

Does anyone else feel a tad bit nervous that these aren't the most SECURE machines on the planet? They are being operated by volunteers, at a temporary location, with no real way to track down any kind of fraud. I'm going to bet that 99% of the people who volunteer to ring the bell at the holidays are good people. But that 1% who might just find the temptation of getting a hold of an unsuspecting person's credit card number at the height of the spending season might be too much to pass up.

Maybe I'm just cynical but I don't trust FOR. ONE. MINUTE. that those machines are safe. Considering hackers can get into Amazon accounts when THAT company spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year instituting security measures on their website. Heck- the local Joann Fabric store had men POSING as the credit card maintenance guys, installed fake machines that collected hundreds of debit and credit card numbers then sold them off shore.

Not sure I'm gonna trust the machine attached to a bucket with a zip tie. I think I'll stop by the ATM first.

Just saying.

Why I kinda hate Rhianna

Is it just me or is Rhianna a total nympho? There's nothing wrong with liking sex but is that REALLY the only thing she has to sing about? I'm all about the fun pop songs (I mean, my favorite music is NKOTB and N*Sync) but every single song of hers out recently has to do with sex. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. I know sex sells but geez.

Here's a few snipits from her recent songs:

Come here, rude boy, boy; can you get it up?

Come here rude boy, boy; is you big enough?
Take it, take it baby, baby
Take it, take it; love me, love me
Tonight I'm a let you be the captain

Tonight I'm a let you do your thing, yeah
Tonight I'm a let you be a rider
Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up babe
Tonight I'm a let it be fire
Tonight I'm a let you take me higher
Tonight, baby, we could get it on, yeah, we could get it on, yeah
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I want you to love me, like I'm a hot guy

Keep thinkin' of me, doin' what you like
So boy forget about the world cuz it's gon' be me and you tonight
I wanna make your bed for ya, then I'm a make you swallow your pride
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Six inch walker, Big sh*t talker
I never play the victim, I'd rather be a stalker
So baby take me in, I'll disobey the law
Make sure you frisk me good, Check my panties and my bra
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I understand that the album title is Rated R, but some of these songs are on the radio currently. On mainstream radio, no less. Not so sure I love my 4 year old asking me what a rude boy is. We've finally had to give in an listen to nothing but kids music CDs in the car!!

Either way, I think she's gotta move on and give us some lyrics with more depth. I used to be a Rhianna fan before she started going all sex-crazy.

What a week!

Wowza! I have been so busy these last few weeks!

I hope everyone enjoyed the giveaways! That was so fun! I'm so happy to have been able to share some of my favorite things with you.

Since then, I've been busy getting ready for Christmas. Last weekend we had our family picture taken!

It wasn't too bad. Kellen refused to smile most of the time. And if he did, someone else had their eyes closed or hand in their mouth. We got a few Christmas pictures with the kids too. Glad we only do that once per year!

I was able to get a TON of Christmas shopping done last Friday too. I'm pretty sure I have everyone done except for a few things here and there.

Saturday we had a blizzard which made leaving the house almost impossible but I geared up with two of my girlfriends and we braved the snow to hit IKEA. That was my first time there. O.M.G. It's huge! It literally has just about everything except clothes. I bought some gift, display shelves, chocolate, art paper and toys. It was a really fun trip...nice to get out with the girls (without kids) for a day. The drive home was tough--took us 2 extra hours because of the snow.

Sunday we stayed home and I made 6 batches of party mix. This week my goal is to make some white chocolate ritz sandwiches and peanut butter balls. The kids have various holiday parties at daycare and preschool that require massive amounts of treats!

Tonight is the last dance class for Olivia. There is a recital too so I'm very excited to watch that.

That's about all to catch you up. Incredibly exciting, I know!

Rocking Green Winner #2

Unfortunately, I never heard back from our first Rocking Green winner so I have chose the 2nd winner.

Congratulations studentwannabe!

I have sent you an email!

GIVEAWAY WINNERS!

WOW! What a great turnout for the giveaways! Thanks to everyone for sharing the links and welcome to the new followers! I hope you come back to read some entries, comment and share in some future giveaways!

Now, for the WINNERS!

Day 1: Bag of Rockin' Green detergent of your choice: Christine!

Day 2: $10 gift certificate to Abby's Lane: Rikki M.!

Day 3: Lia Sophia $10 certificate and necklace: Kimberly Cuilla!

Day 4: Wildtree Pizza Party Pack: jbmthill!

Day 5: Hot Mama Handbag clutch/keychain: cmyoung!

BONUS Day: Stone of Healings Mother's Necklace: Chayla!

The winners have been notified. You have 24 hours to get back to me with your full name and address otherwise another winner will be chosen. Thanks everyone!

BONUS DAY GIVEAWAY- Stone of Healing Mother's Necklace

This is a beautiful Stone of Healing mother's necklace in Amethyst Solo.

This stunning necklace is made of gorgeous deep purple semi-precious amethysts. In between each amethyst is a delicate Thai silver flower spacer.

This necklace is elegant enough to wear for a night out on the town, but can also be casually worn around town running errands.

Amethyst helps with motivation and balance in your life. For more information regarding this stone's healing properties, please see the Healing Properties link in the lefhand menu.

This necklace is strong enough to be worn as a Nursing Necklace - it is made to withstand the tugs and pulls of a baby or toddler! The cord is 2mm waxed cotton cord and is adjustable from choker length to mid-length with special sliding knots. This clasp-free design ensures strength, safety, and durability; no worries about an especially strong tug breaking a clasp!

Just comment and you are entered!

Giveaway ends December 5th @11:59PM CST. Winner will be picked via Random.org. Please respond within 28 hours, or a new winner will be chosen.


The prize for this giveaway will be shipped by me however I am not responsible for any lost or damaged prizes. Continental US Residents only.

BONUS GIVEAWAY! You guys are awesome!

I absolutely cannot believe how well this giveaway is going! My siMple gOal was to spread soMe of the thiNgs I lovE for Christmas to my readers. I now have 100 Kind folLowers which is so Awesome! Keep Coming back plEase!

To celebrate, I'm throwing in a bonus giveaway tomorrow! Make sure to bookmark my blog to come back and check it out. (maybe you caught the hit above? hehehe)

5 Days of Holiday Giveaways- Day 5 - HOT MAMA HANDBAGS Review and Giveaway!

You are a hot mama right?

You want to be even hotter?

Hip, fun, funky gear for today's hot mama's. Hot Mama Handbags and Clutches/Wristlets, Nursing Covers, and more! Custom orders welcomed. Made in Montana in Miranda's home studio. Shipping, gift wrapping and delivery available.

I was lucky enough to win one of Miranda's Hot Mama Bags on a blog earlier this year and I absolutely love it. Hot Mama Bags allows you to pick your fabric and customize your diaper bag, cluth or sling bag. Her diaper bags are so cute, you could totally use them for a purse after your baby days are over. They would also work great as a school bag or reusable shopping bag.


Miranda is SO easy to work with. She helped me build the perfect diaper bag for having two in cloth and still leave plenty of room for my stuff. She actually rebuilt my bag twice because she wanted it to be perfect for me---and it was. The quality is top notch. The materials she uses are durable, easily wiped down and bright. I have received multiple compliments on my bag and I love knowing that it's completely unique for my needs! Miranda even threw in a keychain as an extra little surprise for me being so patient!!


Check out Hot Mama Bags on Facebook and tell her Just Rolling With It sent you!

Want one?

Buy It:
Visit http://www.etsy.com/shop/babyeverafter to order one! Mention my blog in the order comments to get FREE US Shipping on orders placed before December 10th!!!!!

Win It:

One lucky reader will win a Hot Mama large clutch with detachable strap and keychain. You get to choose the fabric!

Mandatory Entries: Please be sure to leave your email address within each comment!

1. **YOU MUST BE A PUBLIC FOLLOWER OF MY BLOG** (leave a comment)

2. **Visit http://www.hotmamahandbags.com/ and tell me which fabric you like best.** (leave a comment)

Extra Entries : (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each one)

3. Post on your blog linking to this giveaway and the featured company. Please leave a comment with a direct link to your post (1 entry)

4. Add me to your PUBLIC Blog Roll. Please leave a comment with a direct link to the URL- I will be checking. (1 entry)

5. "Like" Hot Mama Bags on Facebook!

Giveaway ends December 5th  @11:59PM CST. Winner will be picked via Random.org. Please respond within 28 hours, or a new winner will be chosen.

While the item reviewed was provided to me free of charge, no other compensation was given. All remarks are the personal and honest opinions of me. The prize for this giveaway will be shipped by the featured company. I am not responsible for any lost or damaged prizes. Canadian winners may need to pay a small fee for shipping.

5 Days of Holiday Giveaways- Day 4 - WILDTREE HERBS Review and Giveaway!

Please read the following ingredient list of two different taco seasonings:

#1- Maltodextrin, Salt, Chili Pepper, Spice, Monosodium Glutamate, Modified Corn Startch, Yellow Corn Flower, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil with BHT Added to protect flavor, Silicon Dioxide added as anti-caking agent, Natural Flavor.

#2- Masa Corn Flour, Chili Powder, Cumin, Sea Salt, Onion Powder, Oregano, Garlic Powder and Black Pepper

Which one would you like to feed your family?

For me, definitely #2. I recognize every one of those ingredient and I can PRONOUNCE every one of those ingredients! We try our best to feed our kids the healthiest products we can. Not to say we don't enjoy a trip to McDonald's every now and then, but overall, we look for organic, farm fresh, local produce, multi whole grain bread and no-antibiotic meats. The one category I never really thought about was the food preparation.

I never considered how much salt and preservatives were in a simple pack of taco seasoning, salad dressing seasoning or popcorn topping. Nor did I realize there was any natural option until I found Wildtree Herbs!

Wildtree offers the highest quality herbs, spices and culinary blends that are free of preservatives, additives, fillers and promote a healthier lifestyle. They believe in the value of making cooking a quicker, easier, more healthful project for those who are short on time, and a fun, interesting adventure for those who wish to be more creative in the kitchen.

Their products range from simple seasonings and bread mixes to full dinner packages and a wide range of cooking oils. Personally, I use the butter grapeseed oil and garlic grapeseed oil in almost ALL of my cooking. I've also made the beer bread, banana bread, cheddar herb skillet meal (my favorite) and almost all of the dip mixes!

My friend Amanda has been selling Wildtree for over 1 year and absolutely loves it. Wildtree has allowed her to stay home with her 5 beautiful children and work at her own pace. She has graciously offered to sponsor a Wildtree giveaway for you!! Enjoy a pizza night on her! Your Wildtree prize features a bottle of natural oil, a pizza dough mix and marinara sauce mix--all you need is the toppings!

**Giveaway is only valid for US readers. Sorry Canadian mamas!**
Want some?

Buy It:

Visit Wildtree with Amanda to check out everything they have to offer and place an order!

Win It:

One lucky reader will win the Pizza Party Wildtree Giftpack!

Mandatory Entries: Please be sure to leave your email address within each comment!

1. **YOU MUST BE A PUBLIC FOLLOWER OF MY BLOG** (leave a comment)

2. **Visit Wildtree with Amanda's webpage and tell me which item sounds the yummiest.**  (leave a comment)

Extra Entries : (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each one)

1. Like Wildtree with Amanda on Facebook and post on the wall "I entered to win a Pizza Party Wildtree Giftpack at http://justrollingwithit09.blogspot.com/" (1 entry)

2. Place an order with Amanda and leave a comment!

3. Tweet the following: I entered to win a Pizza Party Wildtree Giftpack at http://justrollingwithit09.blogspot.com/

Please leave me the url so I can verify your tweet-- I will be checking! (1 entry per day)

4. Post on your blog linking to this giveaway and Wildtree with Amanda. Please leave a comment with a direct link to your post (1 entry)

5. Add me to your PUBLIC Blog Roll. Please leave a comment with a direct link to the URL- I will be checking. (1 entry)

Giveaway ends December 5th  @11:59PM CST. Winner will be picked via Random.org. Please respond within 28 hours, or a new winner will be chosen.

While the item reviewed was provided to me free of charge, no other compensation was given. All remarks are the personal and honest opinions of me. The prize for this giveaway will be shipped by the featured company. I am not responsible for any lost or damaged prizes.

5 Days of Holiday Giveaways- Day 3 - LIA SOPHIA Review and Giveaway!

In the throws of mommyhood, we often lose sight of ourselves. We are SO busy providing for our kids---new clothes, new shoes, the hottest toys, running them to and from daycare, school, soccer practice and making sure they feel nurtured, loved and challenged. When we get a few minutes to ourselves, we need to take advantage and remind ourselves that we were women before we were mommys : )

And what better way to remind yourself than with a beautiful piece of jewelry!

That's where Lia Sophia can help!

If you're like me, you normally throw on a pair of jeans and a sweater and run out the door. With Lia Sophia, you can make those plain ole' jeans and sweater look fashion forward and current without any extra effort. Lia Sophia offers an array of necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets to fit anyone's style. Their pieces are affordable, durable, comfortable to wear and have a LIFETIME GUARANTEE (including wear and tear)! Where else can you get that on your fashion jewelry? I have been able to easily dress-up a casual outfit by throwing on a long necklace or going the extra mile with a matching bracelet and earrings.

Lia Sophia is offered through in-home parties and direct sales but this is your chance to try Lia Sophia for free! You can win a $10 gift certificate towards any piece of jewelry in their catalog (it will be shipped right to you) AND a beautiful natural stone necklace (no warranty offered on this piece)

Feel free to check out Melissa on Facebook and tell her "Just Rolling With It" sent you!

**Giveaway is only open to US residents.**

Want one?

Buy It:
Visit http://www.liasophia.com/melissabrich and contact Melissa to order!

Win It:

One lucky reader will win a $10 gift certificate for Lia Sophia (redeemable through Melissa Brich only) and a beautiful natural stone necklace!

Mandatory Entries: Please be sure to leave your email address within each comment!

1. **YOU MUST BE A PUBLIC FOLLOWER OF MY BLOG** (leave a comment)

2. **Visit http://www.liasophia.com/melissabrich and tell me which item you like best.**  (leave a comment)

Extra Entries : (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each one)

3. Visit http://www.liasophia.com/melissabrich and fill out the contact form and include in your personal message that Just Rolling With It sent you.

4. Post on your blog linking to this giveaway and the featured company. Please leave a comment with a direct link to your post (1 entry)

5. Add me to your PUBLIC Blog Roll. Please leave a comment with a direct link to the URL- I will be checking. (1 entry)

Giveaway ends December 5th  @11:59PM CST. Winner will be picked via Random.org. Please respond within 24 hours, or a new winner will be chosen.

While the item reviewed was provided to me free of charge, no other compensation was given. All remarks are the personal and honest opinions of me. The prize for this giveaway will be shipped by the featured company. I am not responsible for any lost or damaged prizes. You are respondsible for any tax or shipping above and beyond the certificate amount. Giveaway open to US Residents only.

5 Days of Holiday Giveaways- Day 2 - ABBY'S LANE Review and Giveaway!

Finding a retailer that still focuses on customer service is tough. Especially when shopping online. I have A LOT of online shopping experience-probably more than I should confess to : ) My go-to retailer for all my baby and mama care needs is Abby's Lane!

Their selection of products is wonderful. They carry all the major brands of cloth diapers, inserts and accessories but also carry unique items that you don't see everywhere- children's gifts, baby carriers, clothing and shoes galore! Abby's Lane offers free shipping (a HUGE bonus) on all U.S. orders and has outstanding customer service.

Abby's Lane is a family owned business started in September of 2004 and located in Northern Virginia. Named for her oldest daughter Abby, Stephanie and her husband have 3 girls and one little boy at home and focus on making parenting enjoyable and a bit closer to nature.

Abby's Lane differentiates itself from other online retailers with a program called Abby's Lane Dollars. Every dollar spent equals one "point" that you can redeem for store credit!! Getting something for free is always a plus!

Stephanie is wonderful to work with. I ordered a wetbag that wasn't in stock and she was so quick to email me to let me know of the error and offer me the option to exchange it at no cost to me! She is quick to answer questions and offer recommendations as well. You won't be disappointed when you shop at Abby's Lane (especially with the holidays coming up!)

Want something?

Buy It:

Visit Abby's Lane and check out their products and place your order today!

Win It:

One lucky reader will win a $10 gift certificate to Abby's Lane!

Mandatory Entries: Please be sure to leave your email address within each comment!

1. **YOU MUST BE A PUBLIC FOLLOWER OF MY BLOG** (leave a comment)

2. **Visit Abby's Lane and tell me which product is your favorite.** (leave a comment)

Extra Entries : (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each one)

1. Place an order at Abby's Lane and leave me the order number in your comment. (1 entry)

2. Visit Abby's Lane Blog "It's the Cloth that Counts" and subscribe to the blog. (leave a comment- 1 entry)

3. Follow Abby's Lane on Twitter. (leave a comment- 1 entry)

4. Retweet the following: @abbyslane I entered to win certificate at http://justrollingwithit09.blogspot.com/ Please leave me the url so I can verify your tweet-- I will be checking! (leave a comment- 1 entry per day)

5. Post on your blog linking to this giveaway and the featured company. Please leave a comment with a direct link to your post (leave a comment- 1 entry)

6. Add me to your PUBLIC Blog Roll. Please leave a comment with a direct link to the URL- I will be checking. (leave a comment- 1 entry)

Giveaway ends December 5th @11:59PM CST. Winner will be picked via Random.org. Please respond within 24 hours, or a new winner will be chosen.

All remarks are the personal and honest opinions of me. The prize for this giveaway will be shipped by the featured company. I am not responsible for any lost or damaged prizes. Winner is respondsible for any amount due for purchase above and beyond the gift certificate amount.

5 Days of Holiday Giveaways- Day 1 - ROCKIN' GREEN Review and Giveaway

Do you smell that?

If you used Rockin' Green Soap, you wouldn't!

When I started cloth diapering, the biggest hassle was figuring out a wash routine. There are so many blogs, chat rooms and websites with information that I was overwhelmed. Then a friend suggested Rockin' Green Soap. I found the website online and bought a few samples. I also shot Kim, the owner, a message asking for help. In that same day, she was able to suggest a wash routine that worked for my stash, for my particular washing machine and with my type of water.

The results were astounding. The ammonia smell was gone. GONE! And there were no bubbles left in my washer--everything rinsed completely clean. My washer drum didn't stink either and my inserts were bright white after drying. I was amazed. I immediately ordered a bag and have been using it for over one year now.

The best part? Rockin Green is NOT just for diapers. You can use it on ANY type of laundry. I know mamas that use it on their hard to clean items like uniforms, scrubs and stained baby clothing. You can also use it as a stain remover by mixing in just a bit of water to make a paste and scrub it in with your hands or a toothbrush. I have personally used it on carpet stains and as a presoak.

RnG comes in three different formulas to suit your water types- Classic Rock, Hard Rock and Soft Rock. The website is packed with information including a chart for multiple brands of washing machines to help customize your wash routine.

If you do use cloth diapers, Rockin Green is the go-to detergent for "Rockin a Soak!" as well. Simply fill your bathtub with warm to hot water, dump in a few tablespoons of RnG with all your inserts or prefolds and let soak overnight. Rinse, rinse, rinse, run a wash cycle and BAM- super clean, non-stinky diapers!! It's truly amazing.

And for the hard to remove smells, try Funk Rock Ammonia Bouncer. It's a new product designed specifically for those hard to remove smells. Just a 30-60 minute soap on clean diapers should do the trick!

Kim is a wonderful resource and very quick to respond to all customer inquiries, comments and complaints. My only personal complaint--it costs a lot to ship and isn't normally included in any free shipping offered by retailers. But I think that's more of a complaint to USPS/UPS than Kim : )

Feel free to visit Rockin Green on Facebook and tell Kim that "Just Rolling With It" sent you!

Want one?

Buy It:

Visit  Rockin Green's Shop and order today!

Win It:

One lucky reader will win a bag 45/90 load bag of Rockin' Green in your choice of formula and scent!

Mandatory Entries: Please be sure to leave your email address within each comment!

1. **YOU MUST BE A PUBLIC FOLLOWER OF MY BLOG** (leave a comment)

2. **Visit Rockin' Green's website and tell me which scent you like best.**  (leave a comment)

Extra Entries : (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each one)

1. Visit Rocking Green's website and sign up for their newsletter (leave me a comment) (1 entry)

2. Follow Rockin Green on Twitter (1 entry)

3. Retweet the following: @rockingreensoap I entered to win an bag at http://justrollingwithit09.blogspot.com/

Please leave me the url so I can verify your tweet-- I will be checking! (1 entry per day)

4. Post on your blog linking to this giveaway and the featured company. Please leave a comment with a direct link to your post (1 entry)

5. Add me to your PUBLIC Blog Roll. Please leave a comment with a direct link to the URL- I will be checking. (1 entry)

Giveaway ends December 5th  @11:59PM CST. Winner will be picked via Random.org. Please respond within 28 hours, or a new winner will be chosen.

All remarks are the personal and honest opinions of me. The prize for this giveaway will be shipped by the featured company. I am not responsible for any lost or damaged prizes. Open to US and Canadian residents only.

Are you ready? Giveaways start Monday!!!

Once again, I'm so excited to be bringing you a week of giveaways starting Monday! There's a little something for everyone! With all the black Friday madness, waiting in lines, fighting for parking and traffic, this should be a refreshing, easy and simple way to get something nice for yourself!

The giveaways will feature some "rockin" stuff that is just "wild". Guaranteed to be loved by "Abby", "Lia" and "Sophia" and make you into a "hot mama".

HeHeHe!!! See you Monday!

Ergo Giveaway on Applecheeks FB page!

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=469216769343

The perfect Christmas Tree

Despite the rain and cold, we loaded up the family and headed out west (I think) to cut down our first Christmas tree as a family.

Growing up, we always spent Christmas at my Grandma's house so we never had a real tree. We'd be gone for 2 weeks so our 4ft mini fake tree did it's job--spread holiday cheer without turning brown while we were gone. My husband has always grown up with real trees. So far, I've convinced him that fake was the way to go but now that the kids are a little older, I gave in and we went to get the real tree.

I must admit, it was a lot more fun than I would have imagined. The weather was crappy but the kids were so excited. We were all bundled up and walked through the rows of Frasier furs until I saw it....the perfect tree.

It stood about 9 1/2 fee tall and was full and green and beautiful. My husband asked if I was sure and that we could look around some more but I just knew!

We cut that sucker down and hopped on the tractor to drag it in.



We had it bailed, enjoyed some free popcorn and cider and were on our way home within and hour. It was just the right amount of time to enjoy the experience but not get too cold. We'll bring it in tonight and decorate it tomorrow.

I know it will be a pain to keep it watered and vacuum it's needles but the look on the kids face during the whole experience is definitely worth it. This will be our new tradition. And I SO look forward to dragging them along when they are 16 and 17 and forcing them to smile for pictures!

I love being a mom.

Why I hate Gwyneth Paltrow less

She has always been very annoying to me. I don't think she's a very good acress. I never really liked any of the movies she's been in--they are always very serious, english and happen in olden times. Then she moved to England to pretend she's English with her English husband. And I really don't like the name Apple-it's weird to me.

BUT.....she was on Glee this week and he was HILARIOUS! I've never seen her in a role like this before (maybe I missed it) but I loved seeing her shake off that "I'm better than you" attitude I always thought she had and just let loose. She's not a bad singer either. I heard that she's trying to drum up a career in country music too.

Blogger Giveaways!

Check out this set of giveaways by some other blogging mamas!
http://leatherberryfamily.blogspot.com/2010/11/all-i-want-for-christmas.html

Giveaways Giveaways Giveaways

Oh my goodness! I've been so busy over these last few days getting all the giveaways and reviews together for my 5 Days of Holiday Giveaways happening the week after Thanksgiving!! It's exciting to get the response email from a bunch of awesome vendors and I'm so excited to offer this week to you guys!! As a smaller blog, you'll have a wonderful chance of winning!

The first review and giveaway will be posted on Monday November 29th! Make sure to bookmark my blog as there will be a new one posted each day. Let me just say that the first one is totally "rockin".

Otherwise, we had a pretty busy weekend. Hubby decided to head to Mad-town for the Badgers game so my mother-in-law offered to take Olivia for the day on Saturday. When they came to pick her up, Kellen got so upset that he wasn't going, that they took him too!! So it was a day with just me and Owen. My BFF decided to stop over for a visit--it was very nice to have time to talk without any interruptions.

Sunday was chore and errands day as normal. Lots of laundry, dishes and vacuuming. It was very exciting. Not really. The worst part of the weekend? Snow flurries! Yikes! I'm not ready for the cold weather and slick roads just yet. I hope it holds off at least until Christmas. I wish we could just have snow on Christmas and then it would be spring again.

Okay- gotta get going again! Lots more to do today!

Christmas Tree oh Christmas Tree

In a state where the weather can go from 70 degrees to 20 degrees overnight, the hubster and I decided we'd put up our Christmas lights tonight. The temperature is currently 59 degrees---which is pretty equivalent to summertime for us. And it's NOVEMBER which is just crazy. We've had snow on the ground at Halloween so to have this kind of weather this late in the year is amazing.

I love Christmas. It's probably my favorite holiday. I love Thanksgiving and Halloween too but Christmas has always been close to my heart. My fondest memories come from driving from Rhode Island to Illinois to spend 2 weeks with my grandparents over Christmas break. My mom and dad would let us open one present early so we'd have something new to play with during the 21 hour drive. My dad would pull out the middle seats in our 1988 Chrysler minivan (with the wood on the side) and we'd hunker down in our sleeping bags on the floor (oh....how life has changed).

We didn't have iPods, DVD players or PSPs. You know what we did? We talked to each other. We used to play license plate bingo. We would read books and play board games. AND. IT. WAS. AWESOME.

I'm lucky enough to have most of my family and hubby's family within a 5 hour drive so we can see them relativily easy but I hope to be able to share those kinds of memories with my kids now that they are getting older. I hope they can look back on Christmas and remember listening to their parents since a horrible rendition of Bette Midler's Wind Beneath My Wings vs. what the coolest present was that year.

But this year....it will be ME singing : )

Getting ready for something good.....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. And with Christmas, comes gifts. And I would like to give you all a gift.....or maybe a giveaway? Or maybe 3 giveaways? How about 5 giveaways????


Stay tuned........ : )

About me........

For all you loyal readers out there (I think I'm up to 4 or 5 now!) I'd like to share a little bit more about me. It's weird building friendships over the Internet. I feel like I *know* some of you yet we've never met in real life---never shared a cup of coffee or gone shopping together. We should organize a blogger mixer sometime. Maybe in Vegas?? All of us who follow and comment could get together for a night of craziness. That would awesome.

Anyway, in an effort to build some of these relationships, I'd like to share some more info about ME!

HI!

Name: Sarah

Age: the big 3-0 this year. I'm a child of the 80's

Where were you born?: Peoria, IL. I lived there for a few years (the majority of my family is still there) and then we moved to Rhode Island. I lived there for about 10 years before moving to the grand old state of Wisconsin. We've been here for almost 20 years. Go Packers!

Favorite Food: I love Mexican food. Anything that has guacamole is good for me. My second favorite is probably Italian.

Favorite Music: I'm a Pop Queen. Anything Top 40. I love New Kids on the Block (old and new), N*Sync, Britney, Jason Derulo etc but I also love Led Zeppelin, REO Speedwagon and Foreigner. Pretty much anything except country (sorry).

How tall are you?: I'm 5'10" and no, I never played basketball. I don't know why everyone always asks me that. I played soccer and danced all through kindergarten up until high school. Now I just sit around and watch TV.

Are you married?: Yep. My husband and I met in college. I dated a guy in high school that I was convinced I was going to marry. The first night of college I met by hubby, called my boyfriend and broke up with him. I just KNEW I was going to marry this man! Drama ensued, lots of craziness followed and we were married in 2003. Love you honey! (although I don't believe he knows this blogs exists!)

Tell us about your kids: First of all, I never wanted kids. I know, right? I am WAY selfish--I like to buy whatever I want, sleep whenever I want, run errands whenever I want. I still do. I knew that I would make a horrible mother.
But I guess the "big guy upstairs" had bigger plans for me. A bunch of Bud Light and a few missed BC pills and my dear Olivia was born in April 2006. She was an awesome baby so I figured "This is easy!"
I was pregnant with twins in fall of 2007 but unfortunately suffered two blighted ovums. That didn't stop us and Mr. Kellen was born August 2008 (5 1/2 weeks early).
We decided we were done with kids but would hold off on the big "V" until 2010. Low and behold, Mr Owen was born July 2010--my surprise baby (I still think a certain pharmaceutical company owes me some money).
We have a very busy household but love the craziness and joy they bring to our lives. Is a #4 in our future?99% sure that's a no, but I guess we'll see.

• Miss Olivia- She's 4 1/2 years old. She's my drama queen (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree). She loves baseball, drawing, crafts, baby dolls and swimming. She's got a touch of OCD since all the babies need to be lined up perfectly before she can sleep. I also think she may be a bit of a hoarder since she's always collecting and hiding stashes of rocks, tiny pieces of paper or playing cards. Not sure where the blond hair, blue eyes comes from. I assure you, my mail person is a woman!
• Mr. Kellen- He's my little man. We were home together for about one year after he was born so he's a mama's boy. He makes the most hilarious facial expressions and is a real brute. He's 34lbs and in size 4 clothing and he's only 2! He LOVES sports-baseball, soccer, football- it doesn't matter. He can watch a whole football game start to finish. He cheers for the touchdowns and yells at the TV just like daddy!
• Mr. Owen- He's only 4 months old so we're just getting to know him. So far, he's my stoic one. He's very much a "watcher". He's very laid back and only fusses when he needs something. He always thinks twice before throwing out a precious smile or coo. I think he'll be my cautious one. While the other two are jumping off the side of Grandma's boat, he'll be calculating the water temperature and the best angle to jump at so-as not too splash too much. He's such a snuggler too!

My Dream Job- I would love to be one of those cleaning/organizing specialists on Hoarders. Or a wedding planner. Or maybe plan the wedding of the engaged hoarders that I helped organize. Perfect!

Why I started blogging- Honestly, I was so frustrated with all the politics going in the world (the horrible, horrible health care plan, the insanely high gas prices, the collapse of the housing market) that I needed a place to vent. Don't get me wrong... I have a lot of friends and family to talk to, but I just wanted a place where it wouldn't immediately argue back. I also like to enter giveaways--and most giveaways give you extra entries for having a blog. Win-win!

My blogging goal- I would love to be able to host giveaway and share the stuff that I love. I love sharing pictures of my family, talking about my parenting achievements and challenges (and knowing I'm not the only one facing these challenges) and giving away products that I love to use. I don't have a lot of money, but when some extra paypal is available, I like to buy some of these products to share with you.

There! That's about it for now. Feel free to comment if there's anything you'd like to know specifically about me. I'll answer pretty much anything : )

Happy Halloween!

So, it's not the best picture (taken with my phone in a very dark room) but the hubby and I went to our party as Mike "The Situation" and Snooki from Jersey Shore. We got hooked on the show when we were home on ma/paternity leave with Owen.

Mr. Owen was the cutest chicken on the planet! He only lasted about 20 minutes sitting in the stroller in that costume.

Olivia was a bumble bee and Kellen a monkey. I swear, she could have trick-or-treated for the entire 3 hours. Kellen was more of the "go in your house and look for more candy" type of trick-or-treater. I swear I had to wrangle him out of 3 peoples' houses. He wanted to look at their dogs or climb on their stairs. Hilarious!

We were so lucky to have beautiful weather for trick-or-treating this year. Wisconsin can be very unpredictable around Halloween. I've gone out when it's been snowing, sleeting, raining and 75 degrees. This weekend is way about 50 degrees but so sunny. A perfect fall day and a Packer's win no less!

Applecheeks Giveaway

Applecheeks Cloth Diapers is having a giveaway on their blog!

http://blog.applecheeks.com/

Technology

I work in IT so I'm pretty familiar with technology. I would like to think that I know how to use it.


That being said....sometimes I get so annoyed with technology that I yearn for the days of corded telephones, cassette tapes and real conversations.

Here are my recent technology rants:

The automatic spell checker/my-phone-thinks-it-knows-what-word-I'm-trying-to-type-feature. I wanted to comment "Nope" on a FB status but instead my phone, in its all knowing power, changed it to "Mole". MOLE! What the heck does that have to do with anything? Clearly my phone did not READ the status update to be smart enough to know that commenting simply "Mole" made absolutely no sense. For whatever reason, it thought "Mole" was much more appropriate. Stupid phone.

The automatic toilet flusher. Can we GET any lazier? Do THAT many people forget to flush these days? Why don't we have automatic full body sanitizers hanging over the doorways for those people that never wash their hands? And the worst is when everyone assumes the auto-flushers are working properly and don't check to make sure they have done their job. That just takes us back to square 1 x 100. Gross.

Sensored stop lights. You know the ones that can sense when a car is waiting and then changes the light? That works great when it's 2am and the lights change instantaneously at an otherwise dead intersection. It does not work great when an entire line of traffic is stopped because one guy wants to cross the intersection. Maybe it's just my deep rooted road rage and overall hatred of the WI-DOT, but why can't these have timers for the busy intersections? Nothing is worse then getting up to speed only to slam on your brakes at the next intersection only a few blocks away.

Cappuccino machines. I understand that the directions say to stop pressing the button when your cup is 2/3 full but then you get a huge gush of un-flavored hot water and that makes the drink taste bad. Why can't they just program them so you can hit the 12oz, 16oz or 20oz button and it will fill it with that exact amount of cappuccino? Like they have at the fast food places? I'm tired of burning the H E double hockey sticks out of my hand when I try to squeeze in those last few ounces of sugary goodness then get blasted by the overflow.

Bluetooth headsets. Trust me, you DO look dorky. Nuff said.

But then technology allows me to spew all my rantings over the internet for all to read.....and that's pretty awesome. HAHA!

Rockin' Baby Sling Giveaway on Takin' Care of Twins Blog!!

Carrie is so candid in her experiences of raising twins. She's sponsoring a giveaway for a sling to make carrying those twins so much easier!!!

http://www.takingcareoftwins.com/2010/10/rockin-baby-review-and-giveaway.html

Halloween Spirit Week

It's spirit week at daycare this week. The kids think it's the coolest thing since sliced bread.

Today is Crazy Hair Day. Everyone keeps saying Kellen looks like a mini-Ronald McDonald!

Olivia also had her first day of dance class on Monday. I scored the cutest tutu on eBay (3 more coming!) and she changed into her outfit immediately after daycare even though class didn't start for an hour!

Both spirit week and dance class were two of my favorites things growing up. I also went all on on the theme days. I think I'll have to post some old pics of me during high school homecoming spirit week!! I was in dance class from 1986 until 1991 and it was so fun! I hope she sticks with it. I'm totally okay with dance during the winter and softball during the summer. It's a good mommy/daddy split for activities!

My Frugal Fun Life New Blog Giveaway!

I found this mama from diaperswappers.com and swoop in every once in awhile to see what thrifty ideas I can steal from her. She just moved her blog to a bigger hosting platform and is celebrating with a giveaway.

Please include in your comments that you came from the "Just Rolling With It!" blog!

http://myfrugalfunlife.com/

Abby's Lane Giveaway on Coupon Mommy of 3's blog!

I love Abby's Lane and order A LOT from them. Here's a great giveaway from Coupon Mommy of 3 sponsored by Abby's Lane!

http://www.couponmommyof3.com/2010/10/blueberry-one-size-cloth-diapers-from.html

Wordless Wednesday- Time Out

Kellen went into time out for being sassy

Guess the joke's on me

Dear Owen

I love you. I love your pudgy cheeks, your tiny toes, your little smiles.


I love your coos and giggles. I love your serious face when you're really concentrating on something. I love the look of wonderment on your face when someone new comes over or you hear a new sound.

I love the way you hold up your head and move your feet, knowing there's so much more to life than sitting still--wanting to crawl NOW and working those little muscles for all those future movements.

I do love you....lots and lots and lots.

BUT

I DON'T love this sleep pattern. I know you think it's AWESOME to get up and want to play at 2:30 in the morning, but I do not. Mommy needs her sleep. She has very, very, very important things to do at work and I can't do that when I'm laying in a pool of my own drool because I've fallen asleep, narcoleptic style, on my desk.

Clearly, you did not get my love of sleep in your DNA. I could sleep all day, every day. I can sleep through a movie (yep, done that). I can sleep through a hurricane (did that too). I can sleep through a stand-up comedian (he was SUPER un-funny). I can sleep almost anywhere (except an airplane).

I see that you would prefer to be awake.

I've nursed you, rocked you, swayed with you, carried you, put you in the Ergo, let you cry, bounced you, cuddled with you, bottle fed you, sang to you, let you watch tv and put music in your crib.

Next step--cough syrup, alcohol then maybe anestesia.

Whoever coined the phrase "sleep like a baby" never ACTUALLY HAD A BABY.

But I still love you.....lots and lots and lots.

The Weekend is over- THANK GOODNESS

My throat is very sore today. It's the kind of sore you get when you've gotten home from a concert where you did nothing but sing for 3 hours straight. And my ears hurt too-like from the crazy huge speakers at a concert. My body is aching, like it would from dancing at a concert all night long. And I slept like crap-like when you can't get your body or mind to calm down from a night of entertainment.

You're probably wondering what concert I went to, right?

Too bad, I didn't go to one.

My throat, ears, and body hurt from the horribly horrible weekend I had with my children (or the spawn of the devil as I called them many times over the last 72 hours).

Is it seriously possible for two children to NEVER STOP FIGHTING? Even Chuck Norris would have been impressed by the shear endurance these kids showed by NEVER ONCE letting up on each other. If it wasn't yelling and spitting, it was hitting and wrestling. Nothing I did could help. I was ready to sport some black-n-white stripes because all I did was referee all day long.

If Olivia had a toy, Kellen wanted it. If Kellen was sitting in a chair, Olivia wanted to sit there. If I was taking Olivia shopping, Kellen wanted to go. At one point, they were fighting over who was going to wear a pair of my shoes they found in my closet. Someone kill me.

Add to that my sweet angle Owen not closing his eyes ONCE for 48 straight hours. I swear this kid was on a delayed high from the 2 Mountain Dews I drank after waiting 100 years in line at Target on Friday(see prior post). He slept for 6 total hours last night. I don't know how he survives.

I came home from buying Halloween costumes and my husband says to me "I've had it. If I stay here any longer, I'm going to burn this house down. I'm going downstairs. You deal with them". I was gone for 47 minutes.

I'm still fuming about this weekend.

They got up this morning and acted like nothing happened. They both got ready for daycare without any major fights, sang along to music on the drive over and even hugged each other goodbye when they split to their respective rooms. Like nothing had EVER happened.

That's what you have to love about kids. They don't hold a grudge (well, at least not until the tween years, I hear). I feel incredibly guilty for having yelled at the all day and even caught myself calling them names (yeah, right, like that helps mom!)

I think it's time I re-read 1-2-3 Magic--this is getting ridiculous.