While hunting for that perfect “My face has baked too much in the sun and now I need some moisturizer” cream, a friend recommended Estee Lauder’s Hydra Complete Multi-Level Moisture Creme.  With a name that long, it must be worth it…I have to say thus far, I’ve been pleased.

The Hydra Complete is just that – complete – I feel that it smooths, soothes, and lessens fine lines around the eye and mouth area better than any other facial moisturizers that I’ve tried.  The smell is pleasant, it is non-greasy, and a little goes a long long way, making the cost more economical long-term.

On the down side, I could see this not working for one of my close friends who is super sensitive to anything with fragrance in it.  To put fragrance in a moisturizer that is designed to be used on the entire face seems a bit odd to me because it is SO pleasantly scented that I just have to believe there was a fair amount of fragrance added to this recipe, thus increasing the chance of inflammation and irritation.

This didn’t happen to me, per se, but I could see it being an issue.  Other than that, I give this product an overall positive rating and plan to have it be my “permanent” moisturizer.

I have always had a problem with my boys wetting thru their diapers during the night. Every single night one or both of my boys peed thru and I would have to change bedding , wash them up, and spend time cleaning up.

I tried moving them up sizes in diapers, but that didn’t work. I was totally at a loss, my first daughter never had issues like this, and overnight diapers never entered my mind for some reason.  My wife went to the store and came home with them one day out of the blue, she is a fricken genius. These things will hold my kids bodyweight in liquid. I swear, in the morning, my kids can’t even stand up they weigh so much.

We have not had another issue since we started using these diapers, no matter what you put in them. They are pretty expensive, about $22 for about 60 of them but they are so worth it. I was getting tired of all the extra laundry and cleaning. Anyone having this problem should definitely give these a try, you can’t put a price on less laundry.

When my kids were born we received a letter in the mail from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library asking if we would like to receive books in the mail for our kids. It doesn’t cost anything and you get one book a month for each kid from birth to age 5. I looked it up on the internet and it was a real offer, besides you only needed to call a number and say “yes I want books” to get them. We called up and asked for the books, a few weeks later got two books in the mail. One for the boys and one for the girls, I guess they thought four was too many.

The books were the same so you don’t get different books but they do come. Every month we get two books free of any charge and they are very good books to read to your kids. I think this is a wonderful program and you can never have too many books for your kids. They are all hard cover books well written and illustrated, well worth the money (free) and come right in your mailbox. I give the second book away to the neighbors; after all I don’t need the spare. I don’t know what the criteria for getting these books is but I think it’s great and worth looking into for anyone who likes to read to their kids or are trying to get your kids to read.

Experts agree that clutter is costly. It’s costly not only in the amount of time it takes us to find the things we need, but also in hurt feelings among family members who don’t like clutter. They may want to entertain but feel they can’t because your house is too cluttered. When you remove the clutter you’ll have an organized home and a happy family, and you’ll enjoy your home much more.

If you’ve had clutter in your home for very long you may have become “clutter blind”. You may not even realize how bad it is but your family members may become irritated and resentful because the clutter is keeping them from inviting guests over or being able to find what they need.

Clutter does more than just wear on your family’s emotions. It may become a way to avoid dealing with what is going in your life – a way to insulate you from something that has hurt you. Some people hold on to clutter because they’ve had tragedies in the past and are afraid to let go. Let go, however, is necessary if you want to reclaim your home, your family, and your life.

Many people with seriously cluttered homes may want to clear the clutter from their homes. However, they are overwhelmed by the amount of “stuff” and don’t know where to start. Starting to de-clutter is often the hardest thing. After getting started, they then have to face the task of letting go.

Families that have a lot of clutter to live with may experience any of the following:

* Frustration and anger over the amount of clutter
* Family battles over getting rid of things
* Shame or guilt to the point they won’t let anyone come into their home
* Depression and feeling stuck in a situation of their own making
* Feelings of being overwhelmed by the clutter and life

After the clutter is cleared away you may find that you feel relief, appreciation for the items you’ve kept, appreciation for your family and home, clear headed, able to make decisions, more focused, and productive.

There will also be less tension and fighting among your family members. Everyone will be able to relax more than when the clutter took over the home. You’ll also be amazed that you’ll actually have more time for your family because you won’t be wasting so much time looking for things. What’s more, you and your family will be able to actually invite friends over without fear of embarrassment or being ashamed because of amount of clutter in your home.

Clutter makes your home unorganized. When you are able to let go of the clutter and organize your home you’ll be amazed at the transformation that takes place. You’ll have an organized home and a happy family, and you’ll feel much better about yourself.

It has been nothing but muggy and 80+ degrees in our state this month.  The 80 degrees I can deal with, but when it’s humid on top of it, that just makes me irritable.  We’ve had several birthday celebrations, weddings, graduation open houses, and other events to attend this month.  A friend suggested a nice cool way to dress up (I was complaining that I couldn’t bear to wear yet another dress suit or pair of pantyhose).

She suggested long two-piece summery dresses.  She’s been picking hers up at various department stores on sale or even discount department stores.  There are some nice ones online too.  For the price of under $40 one can typically find a silky-feeling, lightweight material in a tank style floor length sundress, my favorite.  A typical second part to this dress is a short sleeve, lightweight floor length dress that can be unbuttoned all the way.  The one I ended up using had a slit on both sides that went up pass the knee, allowing for plenty of air flow and kept me nice and cool.

I didn’t have to wear pantyhose because the dress was so long.  All you saw were my sandals and then as I was walking a little flash of leg, but you’d have to be looking really close to realize I wasn’t wearing the pantyhose.  I found this two-piece lightweight dress solution to be a lifesaver as many of the above-listed events we attended were outdoors in the hot sun.

It left me open to alternatives such as wearing just the tank dress, just the overdress, or both.  I could show up wearing both and depending on how hot/humid the day became, I would take off or put back on the overlay dress.

This two-piece idea had other benefits as well, I spilled some guacamole on my dress and was able to take off the outer layer and just wear the tank dress underneath.  It is also a more economical choice as my dress that is the tank part is bright coral – all solid.  My overlay dress is solid black with big bright coral flowers.  Two dresses for the price of one! Now you can’t beat that.

I love it when my food feeds me and entertains me.  Recently, my dear friend Lauren turned 24 (she looks 12…no really, she looks 12).  For her birthday, her husband decided to “surprise” her by gathering a few of her closest couple friends together to go out to dinner and then play glow in the dark putt putt golf (different, but awesome).

The Ukai Japanese Grill:

We had a total of eight people in our party, which is the perfect number for Ukai.  The Ukai has two sections of the restaurant.  A section dedicated entirely to sushi (I will not eat sushi, not even vegetarian sushi) and a section that is made up of several tables that have a grill built right into the center of the table with seating all around the grill.  A chef stands beside the table and prepares your food, very flamboyantly, right in front of you.

I was super-impressed, I think the very tasty and strong bahama mama beverage I was drinking went a long way to my over the top response.  The chefs all wear tall hats with a deep carve out in the center.  At first I thought this was odd, but not after I saw them take “scraps” from the cooking (empty egg shells, etc.) and “flip” them up into the air and catch them in their hats.  Man, this is better than watching a puppet show! They also do “tricks” with the food that is quite entertaining…throwing an egg up in the air and having it come down on a knife like a sword, somehow smashing the egg all over the grill but keeping the shell out of the rest of the food…I mean that takes a surgeon-like talent to do that.

I also saw one chef make a volcano out of a whole onion simply by carving a hole in the top and setting it on the grill and then he kept spinning it this way and that until it worked up an internal steam.  Once it got hot enough the onion steam shot out of the top just like a volcano.  All entertainment antics aside, the food is super fresh, super delicious, and soothes any “kitchen” fears one might have as everything is prepared right in front of you.  You have your choice of steak, chicken, scallops, shrimp, lobster, sushi, etc. prepared just about any way you want it.  Tons of fresh veggie selections and intriguing appetizers like the one my spouse and I had: Spicy Tuna Poppers.  These are crab, tuna, and cream cheese stuffed jalapeno poppers that are deep fried and then drizzled with chipotle garlic mayo and teriyaki sauce.  The combination of all of those flavors is just to die for.

So if you want to have a great meal and be entertained at the same time, give an Ukai style grill a try.  Word of advice: wear something lightweight to the restaurant, maybe even sleeveless as it gets quite hot being so close to the grill.

My friends finally convinced me to start playing golf. They seem to really enjoy it and I need an escape to help me relax. My wife bought me a gift certificate last year for golf lessons and the driving range but I didn’t have any clubs. My friend gave me a set of clubs and agreed to put up with me until I get good.

On father’s day we went out to play and I learned one valuable lesson, I am so bad at this game that it may take me years to be even be average. I haven’t had an opportunity to go get lessons yet but he had better be really good if I have any chance of not embarrassing myself next time I go out. My friends have been patient and very helpful but I feel bad when they have to play with me.

I do really like playing, it is relaxing, and a calm way to spend a couple hours. I am happy they got me out to play and look forward to being out on the course and not getting laughed at.

My family went to the Zoo last week and they were offering a season pass for $50. The cost for my family to get into the zoo is $23, so in two visits it pays for itself. Not to mention that it gets you into over 100 zoos and aquariums in united states for free and others at a discount.

I looked it up and there are about 20 or 30 Zoos and aquariums within a few hours of here and would make a great day trip for the family. I love to take my kids to the zoo and I personally love aquariums, I could spend days there and still not want to leave. I hate to spend money for gas at inflated prices but it is still a cheap way to spend the day with my family.

Just pack some food and some diapers and off you go to a great learning day for your kids. Even if it costs me a tank of gas and a few souvenirs, I figure for about $80 we can have a day to remember. At least my wife and I will, my babies might not.

I was just telling my husband the other day that I am growing weary of committing to watch t.v. shows that end up getting canceled.

I get all attached and in tune with the characters and bam! The show is canceled.

On such show that has gone under the knife is “The Unusuals” which I’ve posted about before, it is a funny cop-drama about NYPD and the various antics they put up with from their various suspects and victims.

Sadly, the last and final episode that aired was probably one of the best I’d seen.  Now I will never know if Delahoy (Adam Goldberg) got his brain tumor treated or if he died from it.  His partner (former LOST actor Harold Perrineau) Detective Leo Banks – will he actually die at the age of 42 as he’s always expected? Or will he live to see 43? Or will he just end up back on the LOST series now that he is out of a job for this show?

I think Mr. Perrineau is a very convicning, fine, talented actor, as are/were many on The Unusuals.  I wish them all the best and hope to see them pop up soon on another series in the near future.

Next week we have to take our kids to the developmental assessment clinic. It is a clinic that evaluates children born premature and how they grow and develop. Our oldest daughter went thru it and now all of our quads are being checked as well. My oldest because she was born at 26 weeks and the quads at 29 weeks.

Every 6 months you go into the hospital to be checked by a series of specialists that see if your kids are developing correctly and on time. They put you in a room and send doctors in one at a time to check on gross motor skills, fine motor skills, growth, and health for 2-3 hours.

I don’t like these days, the doctors test the kids for a short period of time and make a judgment on them from that. The kids are usually kind of grumpy and short tempered because if being in a room for so long and are not allowed to eat or drink the whole time. They never test well because of this and I hate hearing them tell me how my kids are doing on this information, not to mention the information is clearly not accurate if everyone goes thru the same torture. The only reason we go thru this is hopefully the information they collect may help kids in the future, because it really sucks.