Gone are the days where I carefully plan and schedule posts. Now I simply blog as I feel inspired by life. I have decided there is a time and a place for both.

I know I’m not alone as a mom who finds that the most joy can be brought about by the littlest things that happen each day. It can be a hug, a giggle, a story, a kind gesture or many other almost imperceptable things. But if you look close you’ll catch them.

This was clearly shown recently when CJ our oldest made a completely selfless sacrifice to try and benefit me. It was so kind, so completely loving that it brought me to tears.  I was amazed by this young man once again.  I’m so thankful for him in so many ways.

So today, I’m looking for the little things and praying that I can offer little things to everyone around me as well!

In an effort to make my home as chemical free as possible, I’ve continued to be a little frustrated as I look for just the right products to help me do this.  Often, even if I find a product that’s less harmful for my family and the environment I still worry about the chemicals that it contains.

Then there’s the deep down yuck that accumulates, especially places like the kitchen and bathroom and finding a product that works quickly and effectively poses yet another problem if I don’t want chemicals involved.

So, when I attended the EuroPro event in Sept. and was introduced to the Shark Steam Pocket Mop I was thrilled. Not only is it small and portable, but it uses steam from water only to completely clean and sanitize your home.  Comes with a variety of tools, extensions and cleaning pads (that are reusable, just pop them in the washer) to cover any cleaning project.

It’s such a simple concept but offers us so many more options without the potential for harming any of your family.  What a great product!  Check out www.SharkClean.com for all the details about this product.  It makes a perfect gift for almost any occasion (birthday, Christmas, wedding) or if you’re tired of wasting money on all those products and just want to purchase something that will last, this is the product for that.

Have you heard of Jingles the Elf? Well today I’m going to introduce you to him and to Doodle Dots, a fun mom-owned company with inspired books and products for children.

Jingles comes in a box with his very own book. He is a very curious little elf and when playing with “Magical Copying Machine” in the workshop he created thousands of Jingles.  So Santa has come up with a great plan.

He assigned each Jingle to a special child and gave each one a magical bell to report back to the North Pole with.  Jingles is sent out every December 1st to their chosen child. Every night the elf hides somewhere new, waiting to be discovered by their child.  This fun hide and seek adventure continues each night until Santa picks Jingles up on his way back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve.

This delightful little package is such a fun idea for children during the holidays.  I think that it makes for a fun family activity.

Also available from DooDots is The Giving Jar.  A beautifully illustrated story about an 11 year old boys visit to his grandparents’ farm and a lesson on giving.

Doodle Dots is offering A Frog In My Soup readers 10% off when you use the code HOLIDAY10OFF at checkout through December 15th (so hurry).

She has also offered one lucky winner a signed copy of both Jingles the Elf and The Giving Jar.  To enter to win please visit their website, take a look around then come back here and tell me why you’d like this prize.

There are some great extra entry opportunities as well of course, feel free to take advantage of all of the entries for as many chances to win as possible.…Just be sure to leave a NEW comment with each entry…:

• Become a Facebook Fan of A Frog In My Soup!!!
• Tweet It: Just tweet this giveaway with a link to this post and make sure your comment has your twitter handle in it.
• Blog It: Write a post about this giveaway (with a link to this post of course) on your own blog, make sure your comment has a link to your post.
• Stumble It, Kirtsy It, Digg It, Submit to Mommy Blips: Submit this giveaway to any of these sites and earn an extra entry for each one…and make sure your comment has your Username.

It is void where prohibited, be sure to read my giveaway policies here.  Be sure to enter by December 12th.  This giveaway is open to US addresses only.

Disclosure: I always give honest and forthright reviews and will not present something that poses a conflict of interest &/or that I do not like.  I received both items presented in order to review them and present them to you.  You can read my full disclosure policy here.

As a mom I’m busy. Running errands, caring for the house, children, husband; you name it I seem to be in charge of making it happen.

Not only is this a challenging and sometimes overwhelming task, it can also often crowd out many other things in life that keep a mom sane.

If you feel like God is far away, I can guarantee you it isn’t because He wants to be. Let me tell you though, I feel this way often and cry out wondering where He has gone.

Then I realize that all the while it was me that walked away.

If you feel alone right now I encourage you to take extra time and just wait and listen. You’ll feel refreshed, at peace and no longer be alone.

Ladies, today I’m going to challenge you with something that may be uncomfortable for some of you.

Do not parent your husband.

I could leave it at that and tell you to take what you will from it…and if that sentence is all you take away from this post, I’m great with that.

For those of you who need a little more explanation though, I’ll keep going.

It is absolutely not your job to parent, boss, reprimand or in any way try to tell your hubby how it is or how it is going to be. Especially in public.

Still with me?

It’s so important that we are respectful.  Does that mean that we cannot disagree with him?  Absolutely not.  But how we handle it is key!

What you say and how you say it most definitely reflects to others…whether it’s your children or other people around you.  You husband was created to be the leader of your home, that doesn’t mean he’s to lord over you, but to demean him is to remove that from him completely.

Some women may actually be thinking that’s a good thing, but I can promise you this…it will destroy many facets of your relationship and even your family structure.  I don’t have a technical explanation or a fancy mumbo jumbo name for it, it’s just the simple truth.

Yet another one of those things that are Biblically laid out for us…those are my favorites.  The kind of scriptures that tell us how to live and all we have to do is listen and things will go swimmingly.

and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping (Proverbs 19:13b)

Or maybe this one…

However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:33)

Of course, I could go on and on…but I won’t. Here’s the deal though, these instructions are definitely NOT to belittle you, trap you, make you feel like the lesser mate. They are completely to protect you.

Can I just admit that when I mess up and am less than lovely to my husband I think it’s me who incurs the most damage in the end.  I don’t have a husband that will degrade me or return the action at all, but the look of hurt and the knowledge of what I have just done is horrible!

Can I just encourage you to focus a bit on how you are regarding your husband this next week, especially in public and in front of your children?  If you do mess up, simply ask for forgiveness (from your hubby and God) and move on.

I pray that your marriage is blessed!

This weekend I went on a Women’s retreat to a small little town a few hours from where we live.  One of the little restaurants in the town has lots of fun sayings painted on their walls.  One of them stuck in my head and made me laugh…”Forget love, I’d rather fall in chocolate!”

I say a hearty amen to that…but, it is absolutely no reflection on how I feel about my husband or marriage.  It also isn’t that I like chocolate more than love.

Ladies, we do not “fall” into love.  Sure, there are some of us who had an instant attraction to our husband.  Some of you may have felt like it was love at first sight.  But almost without exception all married couples spent at least some time getting to know each other and laying a foundation for their relationship before tying the knot.

Let’s face it though, the butterflies we felt every time our husband walked into the room when we were dating and first married do diminish over time.  I’m not saying I don’t still get them…I do!  But to live each day expecting to feel warm and fuzzy every moment in my marriage and life is totally unrealistic!

Just as we do not “fall” into love, we cannot fall out of it.  If we are not careful though, we sometimes make choices that can cause us to grow apart.  Marriage can be challenging, difficult, overwhelming and possibly at times the situation may even seem almost unbearable.  There are many women who feel like walking away and not looking back, but the women who have guts, strength and commitment, do stick it out…and reap the rewards.

May I encourage you to look for the moments to treasure in your relationship with your husband.  Don’t look for the warm fuzzies, don’t expect him to bring home special surprises for you all the time (consider yourself very blessed if he does), and don’t expect him to romance you all the time.

As women, we tend to focus on what HE does (or doesn’t do) to show his love and be romantic.  Guys aren’t built that way though.  When things are feeling especially cold between the two of you, be honest and ask yourself what you have done lately to show your love.  The answer may surprise you.

Men and women are built so differently.  When a relationship is new it doesn’t take much for him to please you, but as time goes on women tend to look for more from their husband than he is really built to know to offer.  Remember, they really cannot read your mind or magically know what you want, need or expect, you have to actually talk about those things with him (but make sure they are realistic before you approach him).

Pray about any issues you feel the two of you have in this department, do not focus on your needs, but try to look outside yourself and make sure that you haven’t developed an attitude of disrespect, frustration, animosity, etc.  That will absolutely affect the way you feel about your marriage, and as “half the party”, that can make all the difference in the world!

I wrote last weekend about Disaster Preparedness and talked about a few recent events that had triggered the post.  As the week continued, however, we definitely saw more and more terrible disasters left and right.  The earthquakes that triggered Tsunami’s in the Samoas had not yet happened and more Hurricanes  expected to hit Indonesia.

I’m actually not telling you all of this to discourage you, but rather to encourage you.  There are definitely things you can do to help!  Remember my trip down to the World Vision headquarters?  I learned so much about this amazing ministry and what they do around the world.

It’s actually a little challenging to wrap my head around the reality of these worldwide disasters!  I do know however that World Vision is on the scene…or very close and ready to lend a hand, but I also know that the only way that they are able to do this is with your help!

Here’s just a few of the many ways you can donate to this incredible ministry AND bless the victims of these horrible disasters:

• Flood Relief fund is here
• Earthquake Relief fund is here
• Disaster Relief here
• Their donation page (for a variety of individual options) is here
• And their child sponsorship page is here if you want to sponsor an individual child

If you want up to date information on all the opportunities to help their relief efforts, be sure to become a fan on their facebook page.

There is a very fun online world for children called Pocketville.  Sign up is quick and easy…and safe.  This is another one of those websites that is truly geared for younger children and specifically asks that they NOT choose their real name as their username.

Use this code: B9GX8NUDYS to get 250 Pocketville tokens!  Expires Sept. 30th (hurry hurry hurry).  Today everybody wins!

The first time you visit you’ll be taken on a tour of Pocketville…first stop, create your Avatar.  The first great think I want to mention about this site is that it totally walks you through each step then it tells you how to get back to that area anytime.  Oh, and in case you’re wondering, this site is perfect for girls OR boys!  Just keep clicking the arrows through the hairstyles to get to a boy style…there’s even boy accessories like hats and more.

Once you’ve created your avatar, it’s time to adopt your first Pocketville pet!  Please ignore the prices on the pets your first time through!  I got very hung up on that thinking that I wouldn’t be able to adopt a pet, but your first pet is free.

Once you’ve adopted a pet there are so many fun things to do and explore in Pocketville!  Grab your kids and start having fun today.  Hurry though, this code expires on Sept. 30th!

My second day in New York was filled with events and adventures…and definitely not as life threatening since I walked everywhere I went.   Because I was in the Times Square area, I made a point to walk down toward the middle of it to take a bunch of pictures first thing in the morning.

My hubby had texted me the night before saying that the boys were totally in awe of the pics I had already sent and wanted to see more, so, being the totally compliant mom that I am (ahem), that’s exactly what I did!   Here’s a slideshow of some of the photos I took of the city while I was there…(click on a photo to see it pop up in full size!)

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Yup, you certainly did see Hershey’s Chocolate and M&M’s World!  One of the most fascinating things to me was the size and number of billboards.  They are EVERYWHERE, they are bigger than the buildings and there are so many I totally lost count somewhere along the way!  And Yes, I even have a couple pics of the amazingly cozy bed in my room!  Did you see the pink garbage truck?

The honking and crush of vehicles was constant and I was honestly in awe of it all.  It’s nothing like Seattle, I can definitely tell you that.  I do wish that I’d had one more evening there to really check out a few other sights I would have liked to have seen.  I also wish that I had connected with more of the other bloggers before the event to get to know them better.

All in all though, I had a lot of fun exploring the city with the little time I did have!

The Euro Pro event was from 10am to 1pm at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel which is in Columbus Circle.  Over the next several weeks I’ll be introducing you to all of the products that they unveiled at the event.  None of them are available in stores yet!  The Ninja Pro will be premiering in an infomercial tomorrow and the other Shark products will be appearing on store shelves nationwide over the next several weeks.  (Again, just click on a photo you want to see and it will pop up bigger for you)

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It was such a fun event and the products that we were able to see and try out were amazing!  I absolutely cannot wait to tell you about each of them, they can totally revolutionize so many aspects of your homelife.   Oh, and I’ll have far better photos for you when I talk about each one…let’s just say that iPhone photos absolutely are doing them no justice at all!

How on earth does one summarize such a busy day? I honestly didn’t get to see much of New York today, but I did get a feel for it.

My initial thoughts…drivers are definitely just as crazy as they are made out to be in movies. Primarily shuttle and taxi drivers. I had a very wild ride to my hotel from the airport. Let’s just say I am now a lot less afraid of flying than driving through New York (LOL).

The city is absolutely swarming with people. Hordes of people at every corner walking down every street. It’s amazing.

I’m in the Times Square area, so I’m truly in the middle of a ton of action.

Tomorrow will be incredible and I plan to take a lot of photos. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel is where the event is being held and it’s right in the middle of the Columbus Circle area and that is said to be spectacular.

We met some of the amazing folks from Euro Pro tonight and it just makes me even more excited about tomorrow and all the products that we will be introduced to.  And meeting Robin Miller.

Well, I’ve been up since 4:00am today and tomorrow is another early one (8am NY time is only 5am Pacific). So until then…