I don’t often talk about my love of chocolate …. sometimes I could even be called a chocoholic .  So when Mom Central offered me an opportunity to try out Ghirardelli’s® new line of Luxe Milk™ products for free, I said yes as quickly as possible!  I mean really … creamy milk chocolate and other natural flavors made by Ghirardelli … that’s a great combination!

Ghirardelli® offers 5 different flavors for you chocolate lovers out there: LUXE MILK Solid, LUXE MILK, Hazelnut, LUXE MILK Almond, LUXE MILK Crisp and LUXE MILK Duet. It was a challenging review to get through as they FORCED me to try these 5 chocolate bars (LOL). My very favorite flavor is the Duet, it’s a combination of milk chocolate on top and dark chocolate on the bottom … totally up my alley!!! YUM!

Ghirardelli® has a great website at www.Ghirardelli.com and I highly recommend you hop on over there and check it out!  You can even order great products and gifts right there! Or, if you’re looking for a treat as you’re out and about doing your Christmas shopping you can find them at your local Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Borders, and Linens N Things and will soon be in Target, Blockbuster, and Cost Plus stores.

Enjoy!!!

This contest has ended, and the winner is …. #119, Catherine KingChuparkoff. Congratulations Catherine, be sure to check your email for a message from me .

As you all know I have 6 sons, so getting mothers jewelry made to reflect all of them is nearly impossible.  I have rarely found any shops (online or off) that offer me the flexibility to customize for all 6 children. So, when Becci, owner of Something 2 Brag About® emailed and told me about her products I was very excited!

Becci was so fun to work with and the process was amazingly simple!  I emailed her with my son’s birthdates and she took care of the rest by creating a beautiful “Love My Family” bracelet with all 6 boys represented in it!

The bracelet has 6 large 8mm Swarovski Crystals in all my sons’ birthstones, several fun channel set crystal beads, sterling floating beads (these really are a surprisingly fun addition, I love them) and bali silver accents with a chain extender for the perfect fit.  I even love the way that it “clasps”, it is easy to get on and has a cute flower in the middle of the loops.  It also has the cutest “I Love My Family” sterling charm on it.

I cannot tell you enough how special this item is to me!  To have it quickly and beautifully made to me by a WAHM who took every care to make sure it was right was an unbelievably great experience!

Here’s what Becci shared with me about her shop and products:

Something 2 Brag About® is a unique showcase of jewelry pieces from many hearts. Inspirations made into creations… My family and yours… Designs my customers, family & friends have allowed me to turn into lasting keepsakes. It is about the connection between you and your loved one’s. Whether it’s a hand stamped personalized charm or a hand beaded name bracelet for a new mother, an adopted child, a generation’s creation for grandma or remembrance of a loved one even a four legged friend… We pride in original designs from your heart. You design it! And I will create it!

Something 2 Brag About® offers many wonderful heirloom quality products, but one of the most creative, fun and unique items I found in the shop were her delicate hand blown glass flower rings!!!  So pretty and offered in tons of colors.

Becci has offered my readers a discount of 15% off so that you can go Christmas shopping at Something 2 Brag About®!  Just use the code: INMYSOUP to take advantage of this offer (expires January 1, 2009).

She is also offering one VERY lucky reader a $40 gift certificate … WOW!  To enter, you will need to visit www.Something2BragAbout.com and take a look around the site.  Come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite product is and why.  You will need to make sure you enter by November 11th.  This contest is open to residents in the USA and Canada.

Each year we gather pumpkins to decorate our front porch.  We have always gone to the same local farm (which, incidentally, is owned by a couple who taught my hubby at school in Junior High LOL).  The kids love this tradition and although it is a little difficult right now with the twinkies, we did it anyway!  Having a rare opportunity, I gathered all the boys together quickly and grabbed a couple shots of them, here’s my favorite …

Left to right: Lion, Monkey, Bugs, CJ, Salesman & Tater!

Yesterday was one of those days … you know, the kind where things just start going downhill and try as you might, you can’t seem to turn them around. Yup that kind. Looking back the day may not have been as terrible as it seemed at the time, but while living in the moment I was overwhelmed!

A day that felt like everything I tried to accomplish was doomed from the start!

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

So many scriptures remind us to remain in Him and to walk closely with Him. Incidentally, yesterday I didn’t have a chance to read the Bible and my prayer time was brief prayers sent up through the day. Granted, it isn’t that EVERY time I forget to spend time in the word that I have a horrible day … but all too often they do seem to go hand in hand.

If you’re having a bad day, I encourage you to go to the scriptures and just read a bit.  Finding a little quiet time before the Lord can be just the answer to turn your day around .

Blessings friends!

I have officially begun my shopping!  As I have received a few review items, I’m definitely thinking of even more great ways to continue getting everything I need, but today I started at Amazon.com.  I’m currently helping my Mother-in-law get a jump start on her shopping as well, so putting two electric guitars for the twins in the cart was definitely first on the order of business.

They are NUTS about music and Bugs walks around the house all day and all night (and you think I’m joking) saying “I’m a rock star” and playing whatever he’s claimed as his guitar for the moment.  He even has a special face for it (I’ll have to get a photo for you it’s very funny).  Ok, so one major item down …

Next up, buying for the older three is getting challenging.  With the number of children we have in our little tiny house, buying gifts or giving gift lists to family can be a big challenge.  So, this year I’m leaning toward a fun creepy crawly bug maker or the new Space Alien maker - I think that my 9 and 10 year olds will love that one!

I have a long ways to go and if I end up doing more shopping for my MIL, it may take me a while to get around to my own shopping. I have some great shops and giveaways to share with you in the coming weeks that will offer you very creative gifting ideas for all your Christmas shopping! Helping to keep it simple and fun … the way it should be, so you’ll definitely want to be on the lookout!

Have you started shopping yet??? What are the hot products on your childrens’ lists??? Creative ideas?

Have you heard this great new song by Natalie Grant?  I know that with the upcoming elections and the current economic issues in our country, many families are discouraged and even fearful! I really want to encourage you with this song today and pray that as you listen to it you are VERY blessed!!!!

My favorite lyrics from the song:

Sometimes the sun stays hidden for years
Sometimes the sky rains night after night,
When will it clear?

But our hope endures the worst of conditions,
Its more than our optimism!
Let the earth quake, our hope is unchanged.

MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a word that strikes fear into the very soul of most moms! So when I was contacted to share information about MRSA and about the site Stop MRSA Now!, I instantly said I’d love to!

MRSA is a type of Staph infection that can be found primarily on the skin or in the nose and it is VERY resistant to antibiotics, rendering it what is commonly known as a “Superbug”.  Unfortunately, the biggest problem with MRSA is that it is responsible for a disturbingly increasing number of deaths in the US.

The more traditional form of MRSA in the past has been Healthcare Associated (HA-MRSA) - in other words, people were getting it from hospitals and other health care centers.  A newer form of MRSA is called Community Associated (CA-MRSA) has begun to spread in public places like gyms, locker rooms, schools and homes!

Obviously it is very important for all of us to spread the word on the actions we can take as moms to prevent and discover MRSA before it gets carried away!  Here are the suggestions for preventing MRSA:

• Scrub up - Wash hands frequently with soap and warm water for at least 15 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand rub sanitizer.
• Wipe it down - Use a disinfecting bleach solution to wipe down and disinfect hard surfaces. (1 tablespoon of disinfecting bleach diluted in 1 quart of water).
• Cover your cuts - Keep any nicks or wounds covered with a clean, dry bandage until healed.
• Keep to yourself - Do not share personal items, like towels or razors, that come into contact with bare skin.
• Use a barrier - Keep a towel or clothing between skin and shared equipment.

For kids who play sports (especially football and hockey), extra precaution should be taken to make sure that the athlete stays healthy: shower after sports, if any of their gear is shared is should NOT touch their skin directly (always wear a tshirt underneath) and that they DO NOT share towels!

Signs to look for are:

MRSA, like other staph bacteria, can cause a skin infection such as pimples, rashes, abscesses, boils or what can look like a spider bite. These infections are usually warm, painful, red or swollen.

The very best thing we can do is educate ourselves on this disease, how to prevent it and what to look for! For even more information I truly recommend that you visit www.StopMRSANow.org and definitely get their MRSAPlaybook - a pdf book that gives you lots of information that you can keep on hand or print it out and distribute it to your child’s school, daycare, church or even the ladies in your playgroup.

Start by teaching your children how to wash up and making sure that they have hand sanitizer available to them all day at school as well as carrying some in your purse or diaper bag is a GREAT place to begin!  By being proactive with our families and in our community we are helping save lives!  Please join me and share this information with everyone you know!  You can blog about it, talk about it, email about it - letting people know about the website.  You can even send them to this post if you need a place to begin.

I could go on and on about the woes of technology!  I know that all of you have experienced them before, but for someone like me (I know that many of you are) certain technology issues simply DO NOT work. Here’s my current list … if any of you have a solution for me, please feel free to SHARE!

• Computer … most of you know that my laptop has been acting up most of the time I have had it.  Unfortunately the company finds it necessary for me to give up my one source of livelihood for at LEAST 2 weeks as I ship it to them to work on.  If it isn’t one thing, it’s another with this machine.  As most of you also know, the only thing I CAN have is a laptop, and we desperately one (or so) for our children as well.  But at this rate who wants to spend the money on a machine that has to be replaced in less than a year????  I just want one that will WORK!!!  I’m tempted to go with a MAC!
• Video Camera … this could kind of go back to the computer issue I suppose.  I have a great little camcorder!  I love it!!!  It is a Canon, it is small, it is convenient and it works.  But I cannot get the video onto my computer!  I desperately want to start transferring video from all these random cassettes sitting around my house onto an actual DVD that my kiddos can actually watch!
• Digital Camera … this one is almost as bad as the computer issue.  I had a digital Kodak slr a couple of years ago, but all my photos where a flash was used turned out waaaaay too bright.  So I returned it and got a much cheaper Nikon.  I don’t love that most of the photos are blurry and although I love photography and great photographs of my kiddos and nature, I’m feeling like a flunkee!

That’s enough for now!  I truly am looking for suggestions here folks!  If you have a great computer, Digital Camera or Video camera I’d like to know about it!

Oh, and in case you’re interested … the one piece of technology I have and LOVE is my iPhone!!  That’s right, we splurged on our anniversary and got iPhones! Now if only AT&T actually worked at our house (like Verizon DOES) we’d be good to to LOL!

Taking a moment for Tater’s soccer season .

The Mega Design Giveaway has ended, I have chosen a sequence of winners and will be contacting them one at a time to get their choices!  Be on the lookout for an email from afroginmysoup at gmail dot com!