I’m pretty sure there comes a time in every blogger’s life where they aren’t entirely sure what they will share or even if they should. Although my blog started so small, I know that now there are many that actually read it and I want to make sure that the things I share are an encouragement not a downer.

That said, life happens. I have found it necessary occasionally to put down the blog and pick up my kids. That would explain my absence last week. They needed me…and…well…you didn’t so much.

I am so close to feeling normal again, it has been very nice. We still live in our cramped little house as a family of 8 and that still makes me a little crazy from time to time but the laughter has come back and that’s what I love.

Depression is an ugly word and can do very ugly things to a person’s life. I won’t (and don’t) talk about it often here because it is so heavy and in many ways just too personal and even difficult to explain. I will say this though, as a mom of so many my biggest frustration was wanting things to be back to “normal” for my kids!

But I digress….I really just wanted to say thank you to all of you for hanging in there as things have been fairly inconsistent. This week there should be yet another great giveaway for all of you to participate in so I will talk to you all again soon.

Until then, be blessed and hug your family!

In case you are wondering what I’ve been up to over at Mom Central Food…today is your lucky day (if you haven’t been wondering, please bear with us).

If you are finding meal planning to be more than a little challenging, then you are in luck. I shared some great resources {in book form even} to help busy moms out!

Also, for those of you who love good food and other great recipe sources, be sure to check out my post highlighting KraftFoods.

While you’re there, and since I forgot to tell you all what I wrote about last week, there’s a post about Ellie Krieger {food network star and registered nutritionist} and my very own yummy mocha recipe.

Happy health and cooking ladies!

Just a little Froggy Family update for all of you…

• The Heathens Twinkies are finally starting to get some hair….are their hair cutting days over? Refer to the next update.
• Apparently they did not learn their lesson from the aforementioned shaving of the heads due to cutting off their hair at the scalp with scissors. The threat that CJ will get to cut their hair if they do it again is becoming less threatening to them apparently as Bug has attempted to cut his hair yet again (even though he hardly has any still) .
• Lion is once again going through a stubborn stage, if  you happen to see his occasionally docile self…please send him home to replace the strong willed version I currently have here.
• CJ…well he’s still growing and he eats like there’s no tomorrow… and that’s all I have to say about that. 
• The Salesman is…well…still the Salesman! He’s always got a question, answer, solution or plea. You never know which will strike so you’d best be on your toes at all times. 
• Tater has not broken his glasses…which for anyone who knows him is a feat in and of itself.  He is going through a bit of middle child syndrome right now and little brothers are very frustrating when you are 10 (just so you know). 

So, such as it is, there you have this week’s update. Oh, I recently took all 6 of the boys to the dentist but that deserves it’s very own post because it was such a glorious event!  So, until next time…please enjoy the moment.

Life is such an interesting complex mix of events isn’t it? We’re still dealing with far too many illnesses and injuries to count, but i’m trying to also find the fun little things mixed in. This has been a huge challenge for me as the natural course of things when you are in the midst of depression is to see the negative and feel overwhelmed.

That said though, I am definitely trying to make a purposeful attempt at finding at least one good or funny thing each day. To move out of a state of negativity for even a little while and remember all of the blessings and happiness we can have in life if we only put our minds to it. Attempting to get myself into a holding pattern of sorts that includes positivity each day.

Seeing these things in the past hasn’t usually been much of an effort, just a natural course of each day in life, but that was before depression overcame me. I still don’t love sharing about it much but it’s a huge part of what i’m dealing with in life right now so although I won’t focus on it, I’m also not going to pretend it doesn’t exist.

I would love to move past this, to suddenly feel normal again and go on with life like depression never entered the picture. But I’m still on this road of overcoming and it’s a process I cannot avoid or dismiss. Finding the little things in each day is a small step for me to see the brightness and beauty of life again.

Again, although that’s something that was everyday 6 months ago, it’s an effort now. Finding humor in the crazy things the kids do and say… yeah, trying to get that back too. If you are dealing with any form of depression or feeling overwhelmed, I’d like to encourage you to consider taking this approach as well.

Throughout the day remind yourself to look around and find something good, allow yourself to be amused by something that happens or spend a moment doing something fun to make a good thing happen in each day.

I hope and pray for continued blessings for all of my readers and would like to thank all of you who have offered me such wonderful support and encouragement as I move forward and leave depression behind.

Wow, another year has come and gone and here we are… one full decade into the 21st century. I sincerely hope that your 2009 was a great one… and that 2010 is even better.

We’ve had an interesting few months, if you happen to have noticed a serious decline in frequency of posts, you are not mistaken.  Between the holidays, illness and far too many injuries, I found myself needing a break (don’t worry, it’s only temporary).

Do you have fresh goals or prayers for the new year?

For me, they are fairly simple… to remain sane and get my house under control (lol). I’m also praying for less injuries and the health of my family.

All in all though, I wish for you and your family the greatest of years in 2010.  Blessings to you all!!!

I’m telling you ladies, I have never been happier with a line of products than I am with these great Shark and other Euro Pro tools!  Taking the industry to a new level by helping you keep your home safer and greener, the steam products that Shark offers are second to none (at least in this mom’s opinion).

Getting rid of chemicals and environmentally unfriendly products from my everyday cleaning has been a daily endeavor of mine for about 2 years now.  I’m not always successful and honestly do appreciate convenient supplies so finding a combination can be a challenge.

Since we were heading into cold and flu season I was immediately intrigued by the use of steam cleaning for most if not all household purposes, better yet, getting my hands on some of these products to use for myself was amazing.   Not only is this Steam Mop incredibly simple to use, it only uses tap water… that is the cleaning product!

The pads work hard on all the grime and thankfully there are several options with this mop! You can choose the rectangular mop head or the triangular mop head each with at least two reuseable microfiber pads.

Combines the power of steam with an absorbent microfiber pad to clean floors better than traditional mop-and-bucket or chemical cleaning pads.

The forward mopping motion automatically pumps out steam only while you clean to loosen, lift and lock in dirt, grime and chemical residue.

Uses ordinary tap water.
No messy, toxic chemical additives make it environmentally-friendly and safe for most floor surfaces, including marble and sealed hardwood floors.

Cleans a 1,000 square foot floor space with only one pint of water, compared to four gallons used in mop and bucket cleaning.

Cost-effective mop includes two reusable, machine-washable microfiber pads that are ready to be reactivated after every wash.

The steam dries floors instantly, leaving no messy water or chemical residue behind.

No wringing or rinsing; simply plug it in, hold the ergonomic hand grip and push the mop around the floor all in one easy step.

At less than 3 pounds, there is never any strain on the back.

Ready to use within 30 seconds, the Steam Mop is simple, effortless and effective.

Available nationwide at fine retailers or online at www.sharksteammop.com.

Suggested retail price: $79.99.

So, add it to your gift list, or go grab one the next time you’re at the store… you won’t regret it!

Disclosure: I received a Shark Steam Mop to review for myself in order to present a complete honest review to you, you can see my full review policy here.

Better late than never right?  Well, we have a sick little one here this week so I’m multitasking even more than usual!

Anyhoo, here’s this week’s layout..

Using 4 Shades of Blue’s The Weekend Getaway kit.

Tip of the Week…

This layout is a pretty good example of “white space”.  I have a few others that actually display it even better, but this one is, I think, a little more reasonable in the amount of space that isn’t used on the paper.

A traditional White Space layout is simple, leaves a lot of the paper untouched, doesn’t necessarily use a lot of elements (which is hard for me with my CT layouts because I like to use as many elements as possible to show off a kit).

There are a lot of scrappers that take that rather literally by using neutral colors where everything sort of just blends into the page.  Either way works, just depends on the look you’re going for.

If you have children, that statement may make you nervous. When they say they have a couple things to say or a couple questions to ask it can turn into about a hundred.

Well, never fear, I actually do only have a couple of quick and fun things to share with you today!

Community: Want to take the discussion further?  Well, I just opened up a Blog Frog community for A Frog In My Soup.  It’s a simple little thing really to just take the discussion further.  I will be starting topics there based on my “life” posts (marriage, parenting, etc).

If you scroll down a little and look in the sidebar under Frog Mom Recommends, you’ll see “My Community” and the Blog Frog logo.  Please feel free to chime in on any of the posts that you want.  I will begin presenting a link to the community in those posts that are taken to discussion.  You are still MORE than welcome to leave a comment and I will still respond to all of them here!!!

Facebook Fan Page: A Frog In My Soup has been a Networked blog for quite some time now and although we have a nice following there, we also now have a Facebook Fan Page just for you!  You can follow us there now too and earn extra entries on all giveaways just for being a fan!

That’s it…yes, really!  Hope you stop by and join in!

As if having my blogoversary yesterday wasn’t enough excitement, our little Tater turned 10 the end of last week and I’m quickly approaching the 1,000 post milestone.

First though, I wanted to take a moment and say to my Tater how very blessed we are to be your mom and dad!  We love you so much, you are so sweet and caring, but I love your fire as well.  You are such a complex little man and I love you for it!  Press on son and remember to “do the right thing”!

In other news, next month sometime I will officially publish my 1,000th post!  Pretty crazy huh?  Three years blogging plus 1,000 posts!  Since I just posted so many “looking back” links to old posts in my Blogoversary post, I’ll try and come up with something creative again for that one.

This week will find some great giveaways (yes, that’s plural) and encouragement.

That’s right, I’ve been blogging for 3 years!  I started blogging on September 27th, 2006.  Today, I’m going to look back through these great years of blogging to point out lots of really great posts that you really should check out if you are a newer reader.

So, prepare for a crash course through A Frog In My Soup! Here’s just a sneak peek at the changes in the boys from then to now…

THEN…

(Kit: Artful Mess by 4 Shades of Blue)

NOW…

(Kit {Dream On} & Template {365 Bundle 2} by Sweet Tomato Designs)

At the end of this post, you’ll be able to see the incredible journey my sons have taken in the last 3 years in the form of a fun Blogoversary photo gallery.  Be sure to read on for all the highlight posts from the last three years! (more…)