And the Winner is...

The winner of the Mary Kay Lip Gloss is...

Wordless Wednesday - My Pirates

Pics of my pirates before the big birthday bash, which I promise a post to come soon!

And Owen....this picture right here should show you just how much your Daddy loves you...he doesn't just dress up for anyone you know!! ; )  (Thanks MR for letting us borrow this costume!)

Rally for Real Pizza

So, do you ever get that urge for pizza but don't want to pay an arm and a leg and wait 30+ minutes for the delivery man but you don't want to fix a pizza that tastes like cardboard?

Well Freschetta has started a "Rally for Real Pizza" campaign.

"Frozen pizza shouldn’t simply taste better. It should be better. Freschetta® frozen pizzas are made with top-quality ingredients and taste-tested recipes, just to make sure your pizza will always deliver Fresch® flavor."

I Rally for Real Pizza because I want the convienence of a frozen cook at home pizza, but the taste of a restaurant/delivery pizza. I want my kids to have the best ingredients and a pizza they will eat! With working an hour away from home, I need quick dinner solutions, but also want healthy solutions. With two young kids, those healthy solutions also need to taste well. Which is why we use Freschetta!

You too can join the "Rally for Real Pizza" campaign - just go HERE and join the Rally Mosaic and submit a photo for your chance to win a free Freschetta pizza!  100 winners each week will receive 5 Freschetta pizzas and 10 winners will be selected on March 30th to win Freschetta pizzas for a year!

I may have just solved the dilemma of what's for dinner tonight!!

Disclosure: The opinions expressed in my blog posts are 100% my own.  I do occasionally receive compensation in the form of products or money for expressing my opinion.

And the Winner is...

The winner of the $25.00 Thirty One gift card is...

Mary Kay Giveaway

I'm so excited that I exceeded over 50 followers...yes I know some blogs have hundreds and thousands...but I'm happy at 50+ (at least for a bit). So to say thank you to all my old and new followers I thought I would sponsor my own giveaway!

I'm not sure I mentioned this on here or not, but I am an Independent Consultant for Mary Kay. Kinda funny if you think about it since I NEVER wear makeup, but that one time a year when I do wear makeup, I want it to feel natural and not heavy or caked. I started selling Mary Kay about 2.5 years ago and do enjoy all the women that I've met in the process.

Since my babies are so young, I try not to do parties so I can spend my nights with them. So to compensate my customers, I offer crazy specials throughout the year that are just too good to resist.

So to my 50+ followers, I'm opening this up to you as well.

So here's the deal...ALL ORDERS are 40% off the retail price. If you live in a reasonable delivery distance, I will deliver free of charge. If not, it will cost $5.00 to have it shipped to your door ($100.00 retail cost - maximum). Orders over $100.00 before discount we will have to work together to figure something out.

You can order online direct from my website, by leaving a comment, or emailing me thelacksboat@hotmail.com  When you order online, it will not show the discounted prices, make sure to leave an email address and I will contact you with the total before any charges occur.

And my thank you to my followers...a giveaway.  There will be at least one winner, if I have a lot of entries, I may increase the winners!

The winner will receive one Nourishine Lip Gloss ($13.00 value) in their choice of color (choose from Fancy Nancy, Pink Diamonds, Starry, Cream & Sugar, Beach Bronze, Sweet Raisin, or Berry Sparkle).

This giveaway is only open to residents of the US.

And the Winners are....

I'm sorry this is a day late...but we had Dr's visits yesterday followed by Chuck E Cheese....better late than never right?

The Winner of the Loveable Labels Friendship Packs is

Wordless Wednesday - Captain Pirate

That's right folks - I actually had the undivided attention of 25 5 year olds (and a few 18 mth-2 yr olds)...and I'm so glad we got a picture to document it.  It may never happen again!

I promise an updated birthday post and the winners of the giveaways.  The Thirty One Gift Card giveaway is still going through midnight on Friday, so make sure to enter!

Happy 5th Birthday Owen

A more detailed post to come....but O got his birthday snow that he wanted.  He was sooo excited when he woke up this morning....he threw on some snow clothes and headed out the door.  Unfortunately Troy and I both have to work today, but we made sure to get some sledding, snow angels, and snow balls in before leaving!

While it snowed all day Sunday (didn't start sticking until about 7pm) it was beautiful out on Saturday for his party.  60 degress and sunny!  We only had 25 kids (I think) not the 36 I was thinking...so all went well and I'm pretty sure everyone had a great time.

FYI - Don't forget to enter the giveaways (see links on right hand side of blog) 2 end tonight at midnight and there's plenty of room for people to win!!  Please make sure you leave a comment on the blog post with your favorite product from the respective companies, so your other entries will count!

Baby Clothes...what to do?

What do you do when you're kids outgrow their clothes, toys, and gear?  Do you keep it, give it to someone else who can use it, donate it, or sell at consignment/yard sales? 

If you get rid of it in some way shape or form, when do you do it?  As soon as you are done with it, or when you realize that you will not have anymore kids?

I have a whole attic full of clothes from sizes newborn to 4T as well as toys, and gear items.  I don't have a problem getting rid of the clothes, but I'm not sure I'm ready to give up the gear just yet.

With Owen, it was easy, I knew I wanted another child so I kept EVERYTHING.  With Brynnleigh, I've been giving away her clothes as I find someone who can us it, but I'm just not sure about the gear.  Now I have given a few things to friends, but I still have that "what if" twinge.

I'm pretty sure we are a complete family, but it still could happen.  However I don't want to keep all this stuff in the attic for a what if.

I'm 100% okay getting rid of clothes since you can get baby clothes fairly inexpensive and I'm okay getting rid of toys, but it's the big things, the car seat, walker, stroller, etc.

For the little things - I try to give them to friends, or those items that don't match up, I've been selling in a consignment sale.  I like it more for being able to get in to shop early vs. making money, but I have brought in some good cash which goes straight to the kids savings accounts.

So what do you do?  For those Mommas out there that know they are done...how did you know?  I will update you with what I decide next week...promise!!

Don't forget to enter the giveaways (listed on right hand side of blog)!!

~A

Wordless Wednesday - Birthday Snow?

There is a slight chance that O could have snow on his birthday.  He LOVES snow and I really hope we get one decent snow storm so he & Brynnleigh can play in it.  However, I hope that this storm is more Sunday night into Monday than Saturday into Sunday.  Owen's birthday party is on Saturday (more to come on this) and we have 36 kids (yes I'm crazy) coming...we NEED to be outside!  Then on Sunday evening, we are taking Owen to the circus, and Brynnleigh gets her very own playdate with Missy & Papa!

Here are some of my favorite snow pictures of Owen from January 2010....He was getting ready to turn 3.

In awe of the snow

Checking it all out

Getting ready for a snow slide!

LOVE this picture

Snow swinging

Don't worry, it's all white snow!

OOBB - Free Invititation or Announcement from 9 Designs

Anyone looking for some fun invitations, announcements, or photo cards? Well look no further....9 designs is your place to go.  Jenni, who is the talented owner, has graciously offered one of her designs from her shop in honor of Owen's Outrageous Birthday Bonanza!

She is super talented, and did an awesome job on Brynnleigh's 1st Birthday invitation.  I didn't get her to do Owen's, only because I was short on time and didn't have a cool picture of him to use that went along with his pirate theme, but had I asked, I know it would have been perfect.

Some of my favorites from her shop:

Jenni also has a super cool blog that you have to check out .  She has 2 super cute kiddos, and a third super cute kiddo on the way!!

Now for the good stuff - This giveaway will close at midnight on Owen's birthday, 2/20 and the winner will be announced on Tuesday 2/21.  The winner will receive a design of their choice from Jenni's shop! 

OOBB - Lovable Labels Friendship Pack Giveaway

Owen's Outrageous Birthday Bonanza is back with another fantastic giveaway!  My friends over at Lovable Labels are excited about Owen's fifth birthday as well and have graciously offered another giveaway!

One lucky winner will win a Friendship Pack which is 120 labels, 30 Sticker Labels, 80 Slimline Labels, and 10 Fun Stickies.  AND, you also get a Friendship Sampler that you can share with a friend - an additional 40 Slimline Labels!

These labels come in two different color sets -

Bedazzled

Or Majestic

These labels are dishwasher and microwave safe, waterproof, UV resistant, and Peel & Stick!

If you are unsure of their products, you can check out my review of the Mom Craft Labels HERE .  I LOVE their products and I love the fact that I know it was founded by a Mom who realized just how much of a pain it is to label EVERYTHING your child Might think about taking with them to school/daycare!

Now onto the good part...how can you win?  Open to Canadian & US residents only.

Weekly Goals 2/12-2/18

Let's see how I did last week:


* Complete at least 1 workout and 1 run  - Once again I just got the run in.  I didn't push it though, my arm was in a sling and still somewhat sore.  This week doesn't look good w/O's party, but next week I'm going to get serious with my work out...promise!

* Cut & organize coupons from this week & one past week -  I didn't even look at the coupons this past week..oops
* Review coupon deals & complete good deals - Yep...didn't do this either...but I guess that's better than knowing the deals that I missed right?

* Review, crop, and order Disney Photo Pass photos - Finally something I can cross off...of course it was done at 11:59pm on Saturday, but it still counts.  (FYI - this was only done, because the pictures expired at 12:01 AM on Sunday)

* Date time w/Troy - This didn't really happen, unless you call picking up the new car by ourselves!  We are trying to get some date time in...but it looks like it will be a week or two before we get a real night out date time.  Hopefully we can get a movie in one night after the kids are in bed!

* Reschedule dinner with LP - Rescheduled and done...woo hoo.  LP, it's been too long...I had fun with you on Tuesday, and we need to do it again soon.

*Blog - Family Announcement post (Tuesday), WW, 1-2 other posts - Watch out blog world, I'm getting more frequent!

*Blog - Continue working for giveaways - I'm not going to lie, this is tough, but I'm still trying and not giving up.  I do have two new giveaways for this week to go along with Owen's Outrageous Birthday Bonanza!

*Reading - Read 3/4 of book club book - Twenty Boy Summer - I actually finished it Saturday morning...blog post coming with my thoughts

And now, for this week - The Birthday Party Edition

* Spend some QT time with Troy

* Paint Owen's "Treasure Chest"

* Fill O's Goody bags

* Straighten the house for it's "deep cleaning" on Wednesday

* Figure out how to make a "Plank"

* Prepare Pirate flags for Party craft

* Buy and prepare the party food

* Run...no extra workout this week

* Cut this weeks coupons & organize

* Scope deals and hit the good ones

* Don't go crazy with all the party prep, or with the party in general! ; )

Easter...

So....I got a flyer from The Children's Place the other day in the mail and I feel in love with a few of their Spring items.  Of course it turns out that the dress I liked for Brynnleigh and the sweater/shirt combo I liked for Owen didn't come in either of their sizes.  So, I decided to just look around and came across these

OOBB - Thirty One - Win a free $25.00 Gift Card

Here is the first sponsor of Owen's Outrageous Birthday Bonanza - Thirty One!

Soft Wallet - $22.00

Deloris Usher (who happens to also be my Mom) has graciously offered a $25.00 gift card to one of my readers in honor of Owen's 5th Birthday.

Lunch Tote - $15.00

Thirty One is a Mom founded company based off of Proverbs 31.  They offer super cute purses, bags, lunch totes and more.  My idea of Thirty One is - Pottery Barn products at a Target price.  I LOVE their products.

Demi Purse - $29.00

The new Spring catalog just came out with the new designs and patterns, so now is the perfect time to shop for your loved ones, birthdays, teacher gifts, graduation gifts....you name it, they have something for it!

Cinch Sac - $20.00

Since Mom is throwing in the gift card (To be drawn the week of 2/20 - O's birthday) I'm going to open up a party.  You can shop directly using the link below and all orders will be shipped directly to you.  Everything is secure and online, I will have no access to your personal information.

Tote-Ally Awesome Tote - $56.00

February has an AWESOME customer special...for every $31.00 that you spend, you get any additional product for 31% off.  And even better, it accrues, so if you spend $62.00 (before any discounts) then you get 2 products at 31% off.  Most products can be monogramed for an additional $7.00 - which can also be included in your $31.00 total!

You can shop via My Party.

For every party booked (includes book and online parties) I receive a free Organizing Utility Tote (this also goes for any parties book off of your party - deal is good for the life of this catalog) This makes a super cute diaper bag!

Now, onto the giveaway....Here are the details (US ONLY - Sorry)

Wordless Wednesday - The World at His Fingertips

I was looking back on old pictures of Owen...and came across this....he had just turned two!  To me, this picture shows that Owen has the world at his fingertips....he just needs to decide what he's going to do with it, and himself.

Owen,

As you grow up, you will face many challenges and obstacles...just sit back, take it all in, and make a game plan.  If you want something bad enough, you can, and will achieve it.  Everything you need and want in life is there in front of you, you just have to figure out the right way to make it work.

Love,

Mom

Meet Trip

So, remember that Lacks Family announcement I mentioned earlier?  Well here it is...the newest member of our family, Trip (Troy named him by the way):

We have been trying to make arrangements to bring Trip home since November.  We just could not agree on the right price, until this weekend.  We finalized everything on Saturday, and brought Trip home tonight.

We were so excited to get Trip home, show him off  to the kids, and take pictures to share with everyone when we realized that I-phone pics at night are not very good.  I pulled out the camera, but those too weren't the best!

Trip has a back up camera and lots of other fun features that we just haven't figured out yet  He is a smokey topaz color with a truffle interior...basically that means he's dark grey w/a bit of brown, and some sparkly metallic colors, with a dark brownish/gray interior.

He holds two carseats with tons of room to spare...so IF we needed to add a third, or fourth we could...which means one thing....Owen & Brynnleigh can start inviting friends to go with them places! ; )  The kids met Trip for the first time, and we are so glad there is no jealousy between them.  Owen started counting seats and cup holders immediately!  Brynnleigh just jumped up in between the two seats and laughed!

Here's the low down on Trip - he's a 2012 Honda Odyssey that will be used for our family trips, and anytime we think we will have more than the 4 of us in the car.  With two kids in car seats, our other cars (4 Runner & Explorer) get cramped, especially when I have to sit between the two seats if we take anyone with us.  So yes, we bought this as an "extra" car, not an everyday car....but our other two cars are my company car, and my 11 year old 4-Runner....we would have to replace one or both eventually anyways.  We thought it was smart to get the car we wanted, and start looking to get the price we wanted before we "had" to buy a car.

I am pretty happy with the price that we got....I do know (of course it's after the fact) that I could have possibly gotten it a bit cheaper ($500) but the hassle is over, and we are all happy.  I was able to talk the dealer into adding the roof rails and cross bars for half price...so maybe that will make up for the difference.

We got the car about a little more than 15% off the list price, and well, now it's done...and I'm so glad I don't have to talk to another sales person.  Now the fun part of having a car payment again!

Oh, and guess how smoothly Trip drives?  Don't worry...I have a picture to prove it...this would be less than 5 minutes into the kids first ride in Trip....

I'm not sure why I like this so much....but check out the little "well" we have in the back to store things...how nice would this be w/some groceries...the bags won't tip over and send canned goods rolling around in your car.

Trip is the first car Troy has ever bought, and his first ever car payment.  We are looking forward to all the family memories we will make with Trip. 

And just an FYI from me....I know a lot of people don't think mini vans are cool, but I don't care.  If you could have seen the look on my kids' faces when they saw "their" van, it's worth every bit of grief we may get for having a van.  Owen is so excited that he has 8 seats and 7 (+) cup holders.  He's already told us where he wants his seat on our next "trip".  He also opened the van up and said...it's just like "RG's"...his very best friend's van.  He understands that he can now ask both Missy & Papa & MeeMaw & PawPaw to ride with him.  I don't care if I drive a cardboard box...as long as it's safe for my family....and now with this big cardboard box, I can drive my happy little family and our friends, whereever we want to go.  I'm proud of our Trip purchase...and I can't wait to see where he takes us...literally!



Weekly Goals 2/5-2/11

Last week's goals:

* Address & Mail Owen's birthday invites Well kind of...I mailed all the kids but had to order more for the adults

* Order O's party favors

* Complete at least 1 workout and 1 run Neither got done...but with good reason.  I started having extreme pain in my right elbow....come to find out it is tendonitis & bursitis.  I have been in a sling most of the week

* Cut and organize coupons for this week and 1 past week


* Review coupon deals & hit the good deals Woohoo CVS paid me $6 for me to take 6 deoderants!!

* Review, crop, and order Disney Photo Pass photos Kinda hard w/1 arm/hand

* Dinner out (we have a dinner planned with some of Troy's friends - should be fun) We had to reschedule but still got it in, and it was fun & nice

* Date time w/Troy With my arm this was tuff...we did spend some fun time together on Saturday kidless...post to come

* Blog - post WW, & 2 other posts - work on obtaining another giveaway opportunity Still working on securing the giveaway, but I have been working on it

* Reading goal - Read 1/4-1/2 of Twenty Boy Summer for Book Club I am halfway through and I like it.


Now for this week:

* Complete at least 1 workout and 1 run

* Cut & organize coupons from this week & one past week

* Review coupon deals & complete good deals

* Review, crop, and order Disney Photo Pass photos

* Date time w/Troy

* Reschedule dinner with LP

*Blog - Family Announcement post (Tuesday), WW, 1-2 other posts

*Blog - Continue working for giveaways

*Reading - Read 3/4 of book club book - Twenty Boy Summer


Feel free to add yours via the comments. Or, if other's are blogging about weekly goals, let me know and I'll start a linky!

5...really?

Yep...my first baby is going to be 5 this month...and I can't believe it.  5 is a big milestone to me...I mean he'll officially be a kid...and in a few months he will be in big kid school.  Owen is sooo excited and so ready....me, on the other hand...not so much!

In honor of Owen's birthday I am trying to get some giveaway opportunities for you guys...why not celebrate a birthday with presents right?

I am in contact with some companies but if you have any suggestions, contacts, or anything else please let me know.

So be on the lookout for Owen's Outrageous Birthday Bonanza!

~Amy

4 Kids....

Yeah right....so not want you are thinking....

More like 4 kids is what The BOAT turns into the second we walk through the doors at Toys R Us



Owen's 5th Birthday (Seriously....how did this happen?) is coming up in a few weeks, and he has asked us to get him a new Power Wheels car.  He has a truck that we got him 2 years ago...but he's outgrown it and the battery is pretty much done for.  Over the weekend we decided to go check them out to see what one he would like and how he fit in them.

Pretty cool police car right?  Yeah...he changed his mind.  He really likes the Lightening McQueen car, but it is too small and slow for him.  This is the bigger of the two Lightening McQueen cars that we have seen too.  He also tried out an ATV...



Brynnleigh waited patiently while we tried out each and every car....(Secretly she's hoping he picks out a two seater car so he can drive her around!)

Then we got bored...and went two aisles over

And we found Owen's new bike helmet....which he also loved...and we took home...because every boy needs a pirate mohawk bike helmet right?



I think I have 50 pictures on my phone of him and his helmet...he's so proud of it!  Oh...yeah and the car...he decided he liked the green dune buggie (you can see it in back of ATV pictures) and by the time we got home, he was asking for the Lightening McQueen car again! ; )

And when you have a helmet this cool...you have to have fun with it.  Random picture totally not staged.  I LOVE how we are doing the same thing!