Jumpin-Beans

Well, this feels kind of crazy! For AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, I have worked on New Years Eve. Actually, I have worked for pretty much all holidays/celebrations... I am 30 years old and I have had a job since I was 15! But, that is not the point! Last year, the job I had for the previous 10 years decided to shut its doors, with NYE being the LAST night of Diggers... (Diggers is the name of the place I worked at!) I was 7 months pregnant and when I got off of work (this time around 11:30 ish ) I headed home to ring in the New Year with the hubby and his sons... It was a nice change to be able to spend time with my husband... but it SUCKED that it was the LAST night I would ever walk into Diggers. You know, that was my family! I moved up there at the age of 19, got a job immediately and that "job" became a second family/home. They were there through it all... Birthdays/Death/Marriage/Pregnancy Anyways, I could ramble on forever about that... All I wanted to say was that with ...

Wordless/Wordful Wednesday... For more, visit 5 minutesformom and sevenclowncircus

So, today is Tuesday... Randomness it is then! To start with... If you have not seen MY SISTERS KEEPER, you should definitely watch it! Have the tissues handy! I love Jodi Picoult . Her books are great! ( I will post about all of that soon!) Moving along, I do not know about y'all , but I watched the hangover the other night with my little brother, I was LAUGHING OUT LOUD, like, for real! It was too funny! Now, this movie is not for everyone, so do not go and rent it just because I said so... but for some of you, YOU WILL LOVE IT! Speaking of not for everyone... Have you heard all the hoop-la over this new show on MTV, called Jersey Shore? Well, we watched it the other night... I hate to say it, but come on now... These people are killing me! They say it is supposed to be all about "the Jersey Shore" and representing "Italian Americans ", Ummmmmmmmmmmmm I DO NOT THINK SO! My family is Italian, my husband is Italian... This in NOWAYWHATSOEVER represents ...

I sa id I was NOT going to get online today, but as you can see... Merry Christmas to you all! I hope that everyone is having a safe and happy holiday season! Today, its FRIDAY! Aloha! Head on over and say hey to Kailani ... Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday. In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends! What is ONE thing that you are thankful for today? Big or Small? I am thankful for my husband. Although he is in Afghanistan right now, he made it a point to get online today to tell us Merry Christmas! I miss him like CRAZY! Merry Christma...

I love being a mommy! Talk about a great gift! For more, visit 5 minutesformom and sevenclowncircus

I was recently sent , A Christmas Carol Special Edition: The Charles Dickens Classic with Christian Insights and Discussion Questions for Groups and Families, from FSB Associates. I have to tell you, I really enjoyed it! I have read A Christmas Carol before, and yes... It is one of those books that I have always liked... But, this particular edition gives you more of insight as to the Religious man that Charles Dickens was. All throughout the book, you will find notes in the margins explaining the Christian background/meaning of what he was saying. Also, at the end of each "Stave" you have discussion questions. This book would be perfect for a book club or a Sunday School Class. I also think that this would be perfect for a family to read together to get into the "Christmas Spirit." With just a few days until Christmas, I would love it if all of you went to get this book to add to your family library! I know that we will treasure this book through ...

This past weekend, I had my stepsons over so that we could do Christmas with them. I am telling you, they are growing so fast! I know that they love getting to see how fast their baby brother is growing too! It is crazy to think that Christmas is ALMOST here! I am so excited for the fact that it is Broxtons first Christmas... BUT, it also makes me sad knowing that Marc will be missing it all. While the boys were here, we SKYPED their dad so that he could see them open their Christmas present. I went ahead and gave them the clothes we got them for Christmas the night before... Saved the best for last... Yep.. We got them a Wii ! I have to tell you, that is a pretty fun game! I am ready to go and see what all games they actually have that go with it. Have you played a Wii before? I love it! Where was this when I was younger? I had the plain old Nintendo.. Please, please tell me you remember that... Duck Hunt, Mario Brothers, the boxing game and who can forget...

It is Friday! Time for a visit with Kailani : In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends! My question this week: What do you drink... Coke or Pepsi? Me? I am Coca Cola Girl! Aloha!

Okay, I have to admit... I love lotion... and shower gel... and lip balm... I once applied to work at Bath and Body Works. I do not have to tell you that I am so, SO glad that I was not hired! I think I would have spent my whole paycheck on the products. No, that would not have been good. That does not stop me though! If I am ever out, I always have to stop and look... and sometimes purchase! You can never have too much. Well, you probably could! But, I do not think so! Enter J.R. Watkins! In 1868, Watkins was founded in Plainview , Minnesota. Mr. Watkins produced an all-natural liniment for tired and achy muscles. Get this, he was SO CONFIDENT in his product, that he even offered THE FIRST money back guarantee! By the turn of the century, business was booming. Watkins then became the J.R.Watkins Medical Company, selling perfumes, salves, and even spices! All of the products were all natural! Today, J.R.Watkins is an international product! I...

The VERY next day after I took this picture, ALL of the leaves were gone! Happy W/W! For more, head on over to 5 minutesformom or SevenClownCircus .

Hello! I hope everyone is having a great day... Christmas is right around the corner! I just wanted to share with you the WINNER of the Gift Certificate from the Homestead Company Comment Number 50 is the winner: One Southern Girl said... Blogged #3 http://osggiveaways.wordpress.com/2009/12/12/homestead-company/ Congrats, I will be emailing you shortly!

So, it was kinda sorta like Christmas came a bit early for us! LoL , I heard the knock at the door and when I got there... I had a nice, BIG box waiting for me! I immediately opened it and realized... I am loving Mom Select! Broxton and I were in for treat! We found Holly and Hal waiting for fun! Holly and Hal are from Build-A-Bear. We also got a book telling all about the adventure that Holly and Hal went on! They are just the cutest things! Broxtons eyes got SO BIG when he saw that the lights on Hals antlers lit up! We had family over this weekend and I have to tell you... All the younger ones were talking about how they wanted Hal and Holly at their house. We even got a Temple Touch Thermometer to check out... I have to tell you, I am the mom that really likes this kind. I was always so worried about the whole taking the temp. and this makes it so much easier! You can even take it while they are sleeping and not even bother them... Makes for a better...

I hope you all had a chance to read my post about the VIVABOX I was able to review... Well, Tina with VIVABOX just sent me a code for you to get 10% off of your entire order... and, she says if you order before Dec. 22 you will get it for Christmas! The code is : viva09 Hope you enjoy!

I do not know about you all... But, I forget things, VERY QUICK! So, I just wanted to send a reminder out today for a couple of things... First off... Do not forget that my giveaway for the $40 Gift Certificate ends tonight... Also, do not forget to come hang out with me tonight as I help co-host a Twitter Party for Bea's Gift Basket! Check out my post about all the wonderful items she offers. (It is my fist time co-hosting a Twitter Party. I actually attended my first party last week, talk about FUN! I hope you can join... even if it is only for a little while!) Hold up! I just found out something pretty cool! If you order a Gift Basket from Bea's ... She is doing a contest! From now until December 18 th ... Order a gift basket and you are entered to win a free gift basket! It just keeps getting better! Hope to see y'all tonight at the Twitter Party!

Just wanted to share with you that Kushies is having a pretty good sale going on right now! It ends on December 17 th , so you want to hurry on over! The sale is on their ZOLO toys line and some are 50% OFF! Talk about a great deal to finish your Christmas shopping! Head on over now!

So, My dad is loving life right now! LOL, I just got the BBQ VivaBox for review. I am not sure who is more excited about it... My dad loves it! Had I known about VivaBox beforehand, I would have TOTALLY got him one for Christmas! Have you ever heard of VivaBox? Let me fill you in... Talk about a great concept! VivaBox is THE perfect gift... and it keeps on giving! Say you have someone like my dad... He loves, make that LOVES to grill... You get him the BBQ VivaBox. When it arrives, he opens it to find 3 wonderful, yet totally different spices. That was nice and thoughtful, but wait! There is more! Now, he can pick, YEP, I said PICK the other part of his present! There is a gift card enclosed. You choose between more spices from Urban Accents OR some YUMMY meat from Omaha Steaks! We are going with the meat! My dad and I agreed, the presentation was very nice! It comes in a very nice and sturdy box, once you open it, the spices are nicely displayed with the ...

Working with Tyndale Media Center, I received a complimentary copy of The One Year Did You Know Devotions 2 book for review. This is the COOLEST thing! There are silly facts or bits of trivia posted for each day in the year. Underneath the paragraph explaining the information... There is a Bible verse that explains it and relates it to the biblical message. This book targeted for the 6-10 year age range, but I tell you what... I wake up excited to read what is for that day! Yesterdays trivia... How did Spam get its name? You want to know the answer and how it relates? Head on out and buy one so that you can find this out ... and SO MUCH MORE! I can not wait until Broxton is older and I can share all of this with him! It is like a mini-Sunday School lesson for each day! I really like the concept. If you think about it, all kids LOVE trivia! This way, you get their attention with the fun trivia/facts... and then you teach them important information wit...

It is time for a bit of Relaxation! It is ALOHA FRIDAY! Head on over and see Kailani In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends! My question... Do you "twitter"? I just started a few nights ago... Seems pretty easy so far, I am just not brave enough to get it on my phone... Not sure how that works, would it go off with every tweet? I do not think I can handle that! (I am @jumpinbeans09 if you want to follow! Have a great weekend!

Guess what?! I am FINALLY on twitter... Yep, I made the BIG leap! ( Go ahead and follow me, you know you want to... and it will make me smile so BIG feeling the love!) @ JumpinBeans 09 Okay, Okay... Enough about me.. Want some really great news? Remember when I told you about all the great things at Bea's Gift Baskets? Well, Can you say... P-A-R-T-Y?! Yes, you are invited to a twitter party! This Monday, December 14 th at 8 PM EST. What am I talking about?! The fact that I just invited you to hang out with us! There will be fun questions, great conversation... and oh yeah, AWESOME PRIZES! Now, that I have your attention... Okay, back to the prizes... Here are just a few: Two Gift Baskets from Bea’s Gift Baskets and Gifts Ciao Italia Five Ingredient Favorites cookbook Food To Live By Organic cookbook Cooking up Holiday Fun Christmas Ornament $10.00 Starbucks Gift Card A pack of Holiday Ring Pops A coupon for a free pack ...

Okay, so Joanna TOTALLY called me out last week with my Wordless Wednesday not being Wordless... So, this week, I am linking up with Wordless Wednesday at 5 minutesformom and Wordful Wednesday at Angies Circus! This is a picture that my hubby sent me from Afghanistan. Do you notice anything?

It is Tuesday... So, randomness it is! Check out the Un Mom for more! First things first... With Marc being deployed, I really, really HATE the fact that postage keeps going up! Luckily, " Price of First-Class Postage Will Not Change", but the price in shipping will! I spend, on average, $12 a week on mailing him stuff. Not that I am complaining, I just wish that they could give a military discount. I do LOVE the fact that he can mail a letter home for free, mailing a box will still cost.. But, at least a letter is free... I think I forgot to tell you, I took Broxton to Sams to get his "official Santa" picture... I know, we have a snapshot with him, but with this being his FIRST CHRISTMAS, I wanted the whole, Picture Package deal... Yep, I was "that mom!" First of all, Broxton wanted to check out the tree, play in Santa's beard... Anything and everything, besides look at the camera! So, I turned into "that mom"...

--> With the holidays fast approaching, I wanted to share a great website I stumbled on… http://www.beasgiftbaskets.com/ They are based out of North Carolina and the basis of the company is the love of making gift baskets filled with love! They are a web based business with customer service that is rare these days. Please take a look at all that Bea’s Gift Baskets has to offer! If you are looking for ANY gift basket, Bea’s has it! The holiday baskets come in a variety of sizes and at different prices to meet anyone’s budget. I particularly like the “Home for the Holidays” basket. This seems to have a little of everything:Just a sample of SOME of the items inside: Fudge, Coffee, Cocoa , Salami, Cheese, Cider not to mention the cute keepsake basket! For the one who loves Christmas Decoration:I suggest the Seasons Greeting Holiday Sleigh. Besides all the yummy treats inside, it comes nicely packaged in a decorative sleigh. Keep this to reminisce thr...

Christmas MEME Here are a couple of questions about me pertaining to Christmas...Enjoy!!! 1.) Have you started your Christmas shopping? I can thankfully say, I AM FINISHED! I think that this is the first year I have been done so early! I had to pat myself on the back for that one! 2.) Tell me about one of your special traditions. We go to my moms side of the family for Christmas Eve... As we leave, my grandad tells us to watch for deer. We get home, open our gifts to each other... Go TO SLEEP! Wake up on Christmas Day and go to my dads side of the family for Christmas lunch. 3.) When do you put up your Tree? Never really have a set date, just whenever we get around to it... 4.) Are you a Black Friday shopper? NO!!!! I can not deal with the madness, I would get shot, because I can NOT keep my mouth shut! 5.) Do you Travel at Christmas or Stay home? Travel, but last year stayed home.. Due to me be pregnant and my work schedule 6.) What is your funniest Christmas me...

I recently received the Holiday Gift Pack from MomSelect . ( I will post more about all of the WONDERFUL contents soon...) I just wanted to share this one first. If you read my previous post about a sweet little boy, Ward Wright.... You will agree that this was perfect. You see, Wards family already decorated for Christmas for him to be able to fully enjoy it. I emailed Wards Aunt Jen and asked if she thought Ward might like this... How about, Ward loves.... CHRISTMAS and PIRATES!!!! So, Broxton and I loaded up and went to give Ward something to help count down the days until Christmas. The Playmobil Pirate Advent Calendar is too cute! It says it is recommended for children ages 4 and up. (Perfect for Ward!) What exactly is it? Well, starting on December 1st, each day you open another box with a special toy inside. As the days wind down to Christmas, you continue building a scene! Then, after the holidays are over, you still have the cool set to play ...

I recently received a copy of The Recipe Club: A Tale of Food and Friendship by Andrea Israel & Nancy Garfinkel from FSB Media. I really enjoyed this book, I thin k one reason I did so was because it was different from most that I read. It is about these two girls who are friends and decide to start a "Recipe Club ." The story is basically told through the correspondence of letters through the years. It starts with today, and as we all know, the art of letter writing is dying, so of course it is through email. Then, it back tracks to actually tell the story and that is where the letters come in. They would send a letter and with the letter a recipe that just so happened to be named by what was going on in the letter. The recipes seem pretty good and I know I will be trying some out! Chocolate Chip Cannolis , Starry Night Scampi, Confetti Spaghetti... those are just a few of the recipes that are shared in this book. I did have a hard time relating with eit...