I don’t know if it is because I am getting older or because I am less active than even a year ago, but it seems like every part of me stopped working properly. I am only 33 years old and have always been a fairly active person, working one or two jobs and mostly staying busy. In the last few years I have noticed more aches and pains, plus weight is becoming an issue.

I have always been a big guy but about 2-3 years ago I noticed that it was becoming harder to stay at my current weight and even harder to take weight off and it is getting worse. That isn’t even the bad part, since I quit my job to be a stay at home parent things are falling apart at a regular rate.

Since I have been home I have gained 50 lbs (was 80), found out my knee is destroyed, got carpel tunnel, possible diabetes, and I am losing eyesight in my right eye. They still don’t know why that is, it’s a medical mystery. This has all been in the last 18 months. I do know I need to start working out or something to make up for the loss of activity and keep adjusting my diet to something healthier and better for a slower lifestyle.

Being a stay at home parent of five kids you would think I stay very active but the truth is the opposite. Most of what I do is sitting and playing with my kids not up and moving around like when I had a job, ultimately becoming less active. I do a lot with my kids as well as keep my house clean and do most of the cooking but really as busy as I am most of it is up and back down without much long term work involved.  I have got to find a better way to handle my new life or what will I be like in another 2 years, 5 years?

It seems a little ignorant on my part, that I spend as much time as I do online (blogging, webpage/graphic design work) and have never thought of doing my shopping that way. I don’t know why I never considered it in the past but I am quickly changing my way of thinking.

I generally am a very educated shopper. I do my research on products I am buying and go to many different stores to find the best prices. I apply this method to all my non consumable purchases big or small. Little did I know that if I just looked on the net instead of leaving the house I would have saved a great deal of time.

When the quads were born I found that I had very little time to leave and go do my shopping like I needed. I started doing my research online and getting price points from websites before I went to the store for a purchase. I kept finding that the prices I found on websites were a lot cheaper than in stores, so finally I broke down and ordered a dvd burner from an online store for $24.95+ free shipping. The same burner was at a national chain for $10 more and I needed to drive a ½ hour to get it, it was at that point that I started to change the way I thought about shopping.

From then on I have found everything I needed online for cheaper than in the stores and I don’t have to spend gas or time to go get it. I still advise doing your research on products and looking around for the best prices and shipping details (they can vary greatly), but for the most part they are honest and reliable. As a family we do a lot of shopping on Ebay for things that don’t have to be new, and we also like Amazon.com for things that do. Most things arrive in 2-10 days depending on what you choose for shipping and they both have a good return policy if something is not what you expected or broken. I cannot imagine going back to store shopping after discovering this wonderful new world of shopping bliss.

I am in love with a new skin cleanser I found.  The Aveda All-Sensitive Cleanser.

I’ve been on the hunt for a while now looking for a sensitive cleanser for myself and for my 5-year-old daughter.  She has recently shown great interest in cosmetic things (I wonder where that comes from?)

While I’ve only allowed her to wear a small amount of mineral makeup once to a daddy/daughter dance, I could see no good reason why I should discourage her request to wash her face at night like Mommy.

So my hunt intensified, now I had to find something safe for my skin and ultra safe for hers.  I came across the Aveda All-Sensitive Cleanser and have been quite pleased with it.  It isn’t oily, the bottle is easy to handle when your hands are wet and the little pump at the top of the container can be operated by both me and my daughter.  So far, neither of us have had any kind of reaction and the cleanser has done a great job of removing makeup and playground residue while leaving skin soft.

I am comforted by the fact that Aveda is making a product that works on my skin and the gentle, sensitive skin of a child, thanks Aveda!

I always thought that my family was pretty normal until I met my wife’s family. Between spending the last 10 years with my wife’s family and having my own kids I see that my family was a little off and I have a whole new definition of what family should be.

My dad’s family is very distant and spends little to no time together except for holidays. Good ol’ dad I think would have preferred to not have any kids, and except for needing someone to help him out, he would prefer to have any family at all. My mom’s family used to spend time together until my grandmother died and then everyone went their separate ways. Our one family turned into a bunch of little families all living separate lives, calling each other once in a while to keep up on family gossip.

My wife’s family, on the other hand, is very close and spends a great deal of time together. Her mom’s family and dad’s family all get together and for the most part everyone gets along and enjoys being around each other. Her family has definitely had some Jerry Springer moments (some that I still don’t understand) but in the end they all love one another and are a very forgiving close knit unit. I still have a difficult time understanding them, but after having my own kids I see them a lot clearer than I used to. They are a family unconditionally and it gives me hope for that my kids are going to grow up knowing that there is always someone who’s got your back.

Not too long ago I wrote a blog about my wife and her need to buy stuff from infomercials or “as seen on T.V.” stuff from the store, this is one of those products. First of all, when you order it they say “when you buy one sweeper, we’ll throw in a second sweeper for free, just pay S&H.”.  I don’t understand infomercial math, $35 + Free = $70? I must have forgotten to carry some number to somewhere else, anyways, back to the product.

Let’s start out with the good qualities, ………….. done. All joking aside this thing is light, handles ok, and runs on batteries so no need to plug it in. Now the bad stuff, first of all it feels like you are sweeping with a plastic model car on a stick, fragile and just rolling across the floor. That great battery runs for about 5 minutes before it starts to die and the casing cracked the first time I charged it. It also doesn’t pick up like it says, most stuff falls back out and the cups that are used to hold the debris wouldn’t hold 10 cheerios. I also tried to use it on dog hair like the commercial and had to stop 3 times to clean the brushes on a 2×4 area rug.

Overall this might be the biggest pile of crap I have ever purchased, I cannot think of a single use for this product besides holding up my basement wall. They do collect a lot of dust so that keeps it off other stuff, that’s good too. Oh and on a side note, if anyone is looking to buy a very slightly used Swivel Sweeper, I’ll sell you one for cheap and throw a second in absolutely free.

Prepare and marinate the night before for a delicious and quick meal the next day.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breast halves, skinless and boneless
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup lime juice
3 cups orange juice
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, crushed

Cooking process

• In a bowl add the chicken breast halves, lemon juice, lime juice and orange juice.
• Sprinkle mint leaves and honey over it.
• Cover the bowl and place it overnight in a refrigerator.
• Preheat the grill for medium heat and coat it with oil.
• Lay the chicken onto the grill and cook for 6 to 8 minutes each side or till the properly cooked.

There comes a time for every Mommy Blogger when you want more than a bland default design on your blog.  You might try a cute free design but those are used on hundreds of other blogs and still won’t give your blog a distinct look.

One way to achieve a unique and memorable look for your blog is to hire a blog designer to create a custom header or layout.  Hiring a blog designer can be intimidating and frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Here are 30 questions to help you select the right blog designer for you:

• Does the designer work on your desired platform (WordPress, Blogger, Typepad)?
• Do you want a complete custom package, only a custom header or just a seasonal tweak to your current header?
• Do you already have a style in mind? If so, has the designer used that style before?
• Do you own images for the designer to use or will you use her images?
• How many columns do you want?
• How large do you want the header?  3/4 of your screen or a small narrow bar?

• Will the designer install the new design for you or email it for you to install?
• Will the designer (re)install any widgets for you?
• Will the designer provide future support in case something goes wonky?
• Will the designer provide support for free or for a fee?
• How many revisions will the designer do without charging extra?
• How much communication can you expect (and do you want) from the designer during the process?
• How will the designer communicate with you (email, IM, telephone) and which is your preference?

• Will she refund part or all of your money if you don’t like her work even after the revisions?
• How much money are you willing to spend?
• Do you like knowing your fee is going to a mompreneur or do you prefer to support a good cause (like a charity or adoption costs)?
• How long are you willing to wait for the design to be completed?

• How long has the designer been working on blogs?
• How many blogs has she designed?
• Does the she work with any partners or will ONLY she be designing your blog?
• Does the designer have a degree in graphic design or is she self-taught?
• How did she learn? Books? On-line tutorials? Classes?

• Do you like the examples in her portfolio?
• Does she have any clients who didn’t like her work?
• What do her previous clients have to say about working with her?
• How much feedback did she provide during the design process?
• Did she work to fit the design with the personality of their blog?
• Was she easy to work with or tempermental?
• Did she respond to emails, IMs or phone calls quickly?
• Would they use her services again?

Now it’s time to use these questions and search for the designer that’s right for you.
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Stephanie is a work at home mom who enjoys writing about blogging, family life and home management.  Her current projects include a blog internship, a bloggy book club, teaching her son to read and potty training her daughter.

I know everyone and their mother have heard of and most likely burned a Yankee Candle. I just want everyone to know how much I love these candles and would recommend them to everyone.

My wife and I are big fans of candles and have a pretty large collection in our home. We have seasonal candles, holiday candles, single and double wick candles, and even wax tarts for the rooms we like to change the scents in regularly.

We have tried pretty much every kind of candle there is and none of them hold themselves to a Yankee Candle. They all have some major character flaw that just makes them not worth the money, Some burn too quickly, run out of scent too fast, burn unevenly, or just cost too much.

I have yet to find a candle that burns as clean and smells as good the last time you light it as it does the first time. Not to mention have you ever seen so many different scents under one label? On top of that they are now making soy candles at are supposed to burn better than regular wax candles. Sure you can buy cheaper candles and you can buy candles that may be of equal quality for about $10-$20 more, but the fact remains that in my opinion, you just can’t compete with a Yankee.

The future is apparently now, I was watching Fox morning show the other day and they had a company on that builds flying cars. Wow, real flying cars, I must be dreaming.

It is not exactly what I think of when I think about flying cars, The Jetsons, Sci Fi movies, GM commercials, but they are cars that fly. They look kinda like a VW bug with wings that fold up. You still need an airport to take off and land, It’s not like you can just liftoff from a street to get by traffic. You can however, drive it to and from the airport when you’re not in the air.

Personally I think it is false advertisement, it is not recommended to use for everyday driving , and not meant to be used for flights of any real distance. What the intended purpose of this plane/car hybrid is to drive to the airport, fly around for 20-30 minutes and then drive home. It is meant to save you money on hangar fees (it fits in your garage) and give people another option for affordable flight.

This Plane is in no way affordable to the average middle class flight enthusiast, it costs $194,000 dollars. You can buy a regular 2-4 seat plane that can travel a good distance and quite a few years of hangar fees for that much money. The prices of “fixed wing” aircraft range from $20,000(build it yourself) to $200,000(very nice 6 seat plane), but basically you can get a plane, fees, and maintenance for many years, all for less than $194,000.