Jump Start World Software- Review and Giveaway

I recently received the opportunity to review jump*start World 1st Grade. It is designed to help build math, reading and critical thinking skills in children. The software comes with the first two missions and over 80 learning games. You can subscribe to get a new adventure every month.

Guess who the biggest fan of this game is. Cody, my 12 year old. Hope-Anne comes in at a close second at age 11.

The child chooses a character to be and the can explore the area. Their goal is to be the best JumpScout leader, accomplished through winning the learning games. The games build their consist of math and reading skills as well as having an art and music studios for creativity skills. My children especially enjoyed their character getting a pet. They teach it tricks and feed and care for it. It is designed to develop children's nurturing side.

Parents can monitor their child's learning with the progress reports feature. Making it even easier is having the reports sent to your email.
You need to have Windows XP or Vista and a broadband Internet connection for this game.
I love how my kids jump into this game with so much enthusiasm, even though they are older. Trinity is just turning 4, and she has been able to play the games, too, with some help. Even though my older kids know all the educational parts, it is still an enjoyable game for them. That says a lot for the quality of the games.

I would be in trouble if I gave our copy away, but I am going to give one lucky reader one.

I have a brand new, unopened copy to give away.
You can enter through December 8th. I will announce a winner on December 9th in the afternoon/evening.

All you need to do is leave a comment!
However, if you would like a second entry you can blog about it the giveaway and link to this post. Let me know in your comment, or in a second comment.

Shipping is on me, so I have to limit it to the US, Canada (because I love you bloggy friends!) and the US military with an APO or FPO, because I love you guys ever so much!

I am the Queen of car repairs!

Ok, maybe not. But I have figured out our car troubles on a pretty steady basis lately. I haven't done any repairs though.
I griped about the car problems yesterday and how Kaytlin had called about the break light coming on.
I got in the car last night and I'm thinking, why would a brake light come on? It never comes on when we need new brakes. Only when the emergency brake is on. Yessiree, bobbo, I figured it out! Kaytlin had somehow accidentally knocked something under the brake lever and it had lifted just enough to make the light come on.
I not only laughed at her out loud in my car, I made up a little song about it.
No, I am not going to sing it and put it on my blog. I am having enough trouble with the whole google slapping that I don't need to drive traffic away with my horrible singing voice.
Don't try to flatter me either. One, it won't get you anything, and two, I know the truth, my own babies have covered my mouth to shut me up.

Microsoft Student Review

I was given the opportunity to review Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2008. Are there any products I review that I don't like? Yes, but it is NOT this one.

I played around with the features a bit, then I brought a couple of children into the mix. We had some competitions going to see who could get the tests (disguised as games) correct with the least amount of tries. The games, which are all educational, are limitless. I really have no idea how many there are.

We played a game about matching animal sounds with their animal. Easy, right? Do you really know what a Panda sounds like? How about a whale? Or a mountain goat? It gets more difficult as you play. There are all sorts of gross and icky bugs to learn about. We enjoyed all the different games teaching about states, such as jigsaw puzzles, match states with flags or capitals.

So there are lots of fun things. But what about the real stuff, like trigonometry? OK, I have absolutely no idea what trigonometry is, other than some sort of math, so I put my brilliant 18 year old son on the task of testing the software. He was none to keen on giving it a try if I liked it.

Pretty soon I heard some things coming from his reluctant body. "Hmm!" "Whoa." "No way!" "Sweet! It just told me two ways to solve this problem!" "Ha! I finally found a problem it couldn't solve!"

After an hour he walked away and gave me his verdict. Decent. That means it is beyond fun and helpful and is full-fledged awesome, for those of you who do not speak teen.

There are math tools, science help, search areas, help with several foreign languages, graph learning, and even several very wonderful tools for learning to write essays and many others works. I plan to use it to learn to write better blog posts. But I can't promise anything.

My final verdict is that this is amazing and worth far more than the $49.95 retail value. This would be great for your struggling student or your dedicated student. Or for your average blogger!

You can purchase Microsoft Student, which comes with a 75 minute tutor.com trial, for download instantly or the order the discs.

Seriously, Stop Already!

Are you all sick of our car saga yet?
I am!
Recap:
Van is dead.
In laws car is dead.
Teenagers' car is dead.
Geo got fixed.
Escort got fixed.
Geo's check engine light came on 2 days after getting fixed.
We got that checked today. Some sort of vacuum issue??? Still driving it.
Kaytlin drove the Escort to her orthodontist appointment today. Called me just now to say "If the brake light comes on, is that bad?"
ARRRRGGGGHHH!
When is it going to stop!?!

Good news is that Devon is going to work on his essays and then go take his test! Small victories! And the counsellor returned my call and he may not be doing as badly as we thought. It "looks" online like he is only going to fail one class.

Johnny Depp Movies

Johnny Depp is such a good actor. I love his quirky rolls, who else could pull them off so well?
My favorite movies have been Benny and Joon and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.
In Benny and Joon he played a very eccentric boy named Sam who falls for a mentally ill young woman while staying with her and her brother. I love how he treats the young lady in the movie, she's a real person.
In Pirates he is so overboard in crazy, but so lovable, too. A lovable villain. I love it when he says "Why fight when you can negotiate." He is so manipulative, but also loyal when it comes down to it. I was cheering when Elizabeth pretended to seduce him while the ship was being attacked and then chained him to the ship!
His role of Jack Sparrow in the Pirates movies is my all time favorite character of Johnny Depp's.
He has a new movie due to come out in December called Sweeney Todd. It is about revenge. He plays another eccentric character with deep anger and desire for revenge. You can visit the official Sweeney Todd movie site or visit Sweeney Todd on MySpace to find out more about the movie and watch a trailer. The movie is rated R.

What was I thinking?

Sam has not been sleeping since his one magnificent night of sleep. That means I have not been sleeping.
Hope-Anne wants to have a sleep over tonight for her birthday. I'm tired. I have the three boys I babysit over today. I need to clean the house. I need to write some reviews and posts. I need to get Devon to school to take a test that he refuses to take.
I'm ready to CRY!!!!
I really don't have time for the sleep over. No other night will work, though.
Devon made incentive day, which means he has good enough attendance that he can skip finals today. Except that he is not doing well in school right now and one teacher said he HAD to take the test no matter what. He refuses to go because he doesn't feel it will do any good. He feels defeated. He will pass the class if he goes.
Not sure I will have any hair left tonight.

Thursday Thirteen #45

Thirteen Things Great Contests to Enter 1. Amanda is having a giveaway of the most adorable pair of Reindeer hair clips from SimplySweetBowtique.com that I have ever seen. Ends December 5. 2. Jason’s Random Thoughts is having a different sort of contest for Canadian money, via paypal for internationals. Three ways to win, all through commenting. Ends December 31. 3. Andrea at The Laughs Will Go On is giving away a Tummy 2 Tummy babywearing DVD. Ends December 3. 4. Boston Mama is giving away 5 Brain Candy DVD’s about the 5 senses. These are for the littlest kiddos. Ends December 23. 5. From Dates to Diapers is giving away some stocking stuffers for your little girl. Ends December 3. 6. Mellissa’s Idea Garden is giving away the Numero Uno book ever written for parenting teens! For Parents Only, by Shaunti Feldham and Lisa A. Rice. I have a review up on my blog about the book. Fantastic, fantastic book. A must read for all parents. Ends December 5. 7. Artistic Blogger is also giving the book For Parents Only away! 8. Boutique Café is giving away an apron from Sommer Designs. Ends November 29. 9. Girl on a Mission is giving away a copy of Deceptively Delicious cookbook. Ends December 13. 10. Booksplurge is giving away several books, all I have personally read, own and HIGHLY recommend. 11. Homeschoolers, there is a great Holiday giveaway with 20 winners, awesome prizes! Ends Dec. 8. 12. Mom Logic is giving away Born Free baby bottles to 200 people. 13. Design Mom has a few giveaways this week. Kodak Easyshare 5300 All-in-one Printer, Baby Linen Gift Set from Spongy Feet, $200 of Scrapbooking Goodies from Glitz, and Jewelry from Blue Poppy Design, all end today, Thursday, November 29. She is also having 4 giveaways tomorrow. Don’t forget to check back in with her!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

For Parents Only

When I was asked to review this book by Shaunti Feldhahn and Lisa A. Rice I was thrilled. I gained so much insight from Shaunti's book For Women Only. I was really looking forward to finding out what our teens are thinking.
However, I had no idea that it was going to change my parenting forever. Right from chapter one. By the time I was done with chapter 2 I was apologizing to my 18 year old son, Drew. I wish I had known the things I learned in this book before he became a teenager. It would not have changed his actions, but it would have made our relationship so much less strained.
I remember doing the things I did as a teen, but I really can't grasp the feelings. This book helped me to see the reasoning behind things that I forgot about.

Drawing on a nationwide survey of teenagers, Shaunti Feldhahn and Lisa A. Rice answer tough questions such as:

• Why do teens rebel?
• What do moms need to understand about the “tough and tender” boy who values respect over love?
• What do dads need to understand about their daughter’s need for affirmation?
• What are the six biggest pet peeves teens have about their parents?

When we understand these things it frees us to communicate with our teens in healthy ways rather than constantly butting heads, possibly damaging relationships permanently.
Don't we all want peace in our homes? Especially during the holiday season?
I cannot recommend For Parents Only: Getting Inside the Head of Your Kid enough. It is a must-read for all parents. Buy this book for all parents you know when their first child turns 10 so they can be prepared! You can purchase For Parents Only on Amazon.


Author Bio:
Shaunti Feldhahn is the author of For Women Only and numerous other books, with sales totaling nearly one million copies. A nationally syndicated newspaper columnist and public speaker, Feldhahn earned her master’s degree at Harvard University. She and her husband, Jeff, have two young children. Lisa A. Rice is the associate editor of Christian Living magazine, the mother of two teenage girls, and a screenwriter and producer.

Watch for a give-away of this book in December on my contest blog: The Good Stuff.

For the hot rockin' babywearing mama!

There are so many slings and baby wearing options out there, but I just had to spread the word on the newest craze in baby wearing.
Mom's who like to rock out have a hard time wearing that baby at the same time.
Now you can wear your baby in the hip and trendy new Guitar Sling. Now you can wear your baby and play those old 80's songs at the same time!
The strap goes under the baby's bum and it fits babies who can sit unassisted up to 25lbs. The Guitar Sling comes in two colors, black or red, with a variety of slip on covers. You can also customize it with stickers of your choice.
Of course, rockin' out in your pajama's and unwashed hair is optional.

(for you crazy people out there who have no sense of humor, this is a joke, and the pic was taken on a camera phone.)

Are you shopping online?

I am doing a lot of my shopping online this year. Partly because we are short on vehicles, and that makes shopping in secret rather difficult. But also because it is convient to me to shop that way. I have a few online gift certificates to use, and stores that take paypal are only online, so that is working to my advantage.

Christmas is coming fast and it is getting close to time to get orders in so they will get here on time.

If you are going to shop online, don't forget to still be frugal! I am using CouponChief.com as much as I can. Many times the amount you save actually pays for the shipping costs, and when you add in not having to drive and spend gas money and eating out, well I think I am coming out ahead.

One of the gifts I want to buy for my brother in law, Dean, is a Swiss Army knife with a little external hard drive. I looked up deals on Swiss Army knives and found Swiss Outpost has 30-50% off on knives, including the one I want to buy for Dean, which is 30% off.
I think everyone knows we are Best Buy fanatics. Don't buy any Playstation hardware or games without checking for the coupons because you can get a free $10 gift card with select purchase on software and all hardware!

CouponChief.com

If you sprinkle when you tinkle revisited

Well, tonight I discovered that Donnie won't be able to take care of ALL the sprinkling on the toilette with his incredibly effective threat.
I ran as fast as I could so I wouldn't pee myself walked into the bathroom tonight and found not one, but TWO cats drinking out of the toilette at the same time. And there were drippings on the seat.
Now, that is not usual, they normally drink out of their water dish. However, Sam decided that his little Dori bath toy wanted to go swimming in their water dish. Despite their love of all things fish, they passed on the water and found the toilette water more appealing.
I really don't think they will care if Donnie watches them use the bathroom. Not much of a threat when it doesn't embarrass them at all to drink from there.

Wordless Wednesday~ Sue Yourself

Crazy car issues

Well, instead of trying to be in three places with 2 cars I had to figure something else out. Donnie has to work, and Drew has to go see his recruiter for his DEP call, he missed last months, it isn't optional. So I called about Kaytlin's orthodontist appointment. We were able to switch it to Thursday morning. Works great! Kaytlin doesn't have school that day, and she needs some adjusting on the wires that are poking her, so she would need a longer appointment. That would have meant two appointments and the office is not close to us at all.

See how God works it all out? I don't even know that Donnie will make it home tonight in the crazy Geo, but if he doesn't then I know God will work something else out for us.
The Geo seems to be working fine, its the pesky Check Engine light that bothers me. We've been told not to worry about that because there isn't much to go wrong in the Geo by other Geo owners, but I still worry. Those lights usually cost us $$$$.

Christmas shopping ideas

You Are Socks!

Cozy and warm... but easily lost. You make a good puppet.

What Crappy Christmas Gift Are You?

Hey, I LIKE socks! Turns out even Devon likes a great pair of toe socks, lol. I thought he would think they are too girly, but he loved them. Socks make great stocking stuffers. Wallyworld has some really funky socks, too.

One of MY favorite gifts is jewelry. I am not big on silver, but Kaytlin is. I have ordered from this company a few times over the last 3 years. The quality is excellent, and it really is "free" with $6 shipping. Fast shipping, I might add. They feature 4 items at a time for like 15 minutes and then a new item replaces it. So keep going back to find something you love. You have to pay shipping on each piece (which is more than fair because these are about $50 avg pieces), so it doesn't matter if you want to try to get a couple pieces at the same time, don't wait, it will be gone.

Paypal is having a Holiday Sweepstakes for using Paypal to pay for things at approved stores. Getting a paypal account if super easy and is very safe, we've had one for years and years. Some of the vendors you can buy from and get in on the sweepstakes are Tiger Direct, Avon, The Discovery Store, Uncommon Goods (the cool alarm clock!) and many, many more. If there is a paypal option on a store you are shopping at and you use it, you will be entered for the sweepstakes, which is an AMAZING package!

Cute As a Bug has the cutest and funniest shirts for kids. Born 2 b blogged is a cute one! Amy at Domestic Crunchy Godess owns that store and Attached At the Hip store, too. I love her cute clothes there, too. The Jesus was a cloth-diapered baby coffee mugs and tote bag are so cute! I know, those are presents for me, but hey, how else am I going to give hints?

Amazon is a great place to shop, too, if you know what you want. I'm lost searching for something for Devon. I have no idea what to get him that is reasonable. I am looking at this futuristic game of Risk, which Drew played with some friends and loved. Or Axis and Allies for the PC! He'd like that.

And for that trendy person who has everything already.... A personalized 12pk of Jones Soda! You upload a picture and come up with a quote for the back side of the label. It is so cool. I think it would be more fun to have different pics on each bottle. But if you were getting married or having a major anniversary or birthday, these would be awesome for a party.

Sleep! Precious, sleep!

Samuel SLEPT last night!

Do you get the significance of that? I got to sleep! I did! Sam went down about 11pm last night and woke at 3am-ish, he wasn't up long, and then stayed down until 6am-ish. Yeppers! And then he didn't get up until after 9am!

I think I got so much sleep last night that there may be some crazy amount of posting going on. And maybe some cleaning around here. Maybe. I have been working on the cleaning already, but I may just get something done today.

Or torture the kids. That sounds like more fun. Torture the kids and do some online Christmas shopping. I'll post some great gift ideas and places to find things later today.

Bloggy business, no, really, it's free!

Let's bring this meeting to order. (bang, bang) (that's the sound of the gavel hitting the table)
First order of business is how do we make our blogs known to people we know that haven't found us online?
I'd like to present a good way to spread the word. Give out a business card to your contacts. I know, us bloggers are broke, especially with all this Google slapping. But I found 100 FREE business cards, all you pay is shipping.
As a matter of fact, I have business cards made with my blog information, and I enjoy giving them out. They are nice, professional, and make me feel important.
Meeting adjourned! Now go finish up those turkey leftovers.

Thank you, Ooprint for making this post possible.

Funny Christian Comedian

I was visiting Jessica over at Don't Give Him Crackers and she linked to this guy, Tim Hawkins. Oh, funny stuff! Reminds me of a Brad Stine impersonator, but after I got over that, I laughed and laughed. The boys were busting a gut, too.

I don't know why the other video wouldn't work, so I just removed it. If you read in my comments, Jeannie commented that Manwich is already doing this, lol. I think I have heard that commercial but I thought it was funny. Donnie started to think this video sounded blasphemous, but then he thought it was funny. It is just fun. Now it sounds controversial, and it isn't. But you should head over to Godtube and find Tim Hawkins other vids, especially the bedtime prayers.

New blog title

Yep, that is us. The Car Killers.
We just put another $400 into car repairs. We got the Geo Metro running. Donnie started driving it to work instead of the Escort, which has more seating for us.
Drew got into our youth pastor's vehicle and it died.
Then the check engine light came on in the Geo yesterday.
This is getting so frustrating! We need 3 vehicles tomorrow. Drew has to go to one town about 30+ minutes West of us. Donnie is going 50 miles South East of us, and Kaytlin needs to be 30 minutes South of us. Fun, huh? And someone has to take the Geo and hope nothing happens. Because we don't have a choice to get it fixed before then. No time and no money until Friday.
I think if we can manage it Drew will drive Kaytlin to her orthodontist and they will run to Drew's Recruiter after that and hope to get there on time. Or, I may have to drive Donnie to work in the morning, an hour each way, and then Kaytlin can go pick him up after her appointment, though she will have to hang out for a couple of hours.

Speaking of Santa..

I'm doing some Christmas shopping online and I found some great gift ideas! These cool wheeled alarm clocks are so funny! If you hit the snooze button it will roll off the night stand and find a place to hide when it goes off next. Nothing like a little game of hide and seek to get you moving in the morning! Drew and Devon both want it, lol.

How about some his and hers key holders? That is funny! I love that they are silver looking and bathroom symbols. We are always losing our keys at my house, so I'd need two sets so Kaytlin and Drew would have a place to put their keys, too.
But, if Donnie is reading my blog, which actually happens on occasion, I would love to learn to knit! There are beginning learn to knit kits out there, or a beginning book to make dish clothes and some knitting needles and yarn. (but ask your mom so you get the right yarn.)
I think I've mentioned how I have won a lot of things and that I am able to give them as gifts or to buy gifts with the gift cards. That is making my shopping so much easier! Plus I have been earning money in paypal and doing some online shopping. I can't say what parents are getting or what some of my kids are getting because they read my blog. I got a fantastic set of necklaces made from scrabble tiles and put in matching painted tins, I might give one away. Then there was a Hannah Montana DVD. A couple of great books I am giving to my boys, and some that I'll give to some sister-in-laws. There was a great Hanes give-away that I am going to be able to give a LOT of clothes to Hope-Anne for Christmas and her birthday, and some shirts to Sam and my nephew Austin. I earned another shirt for Austin for a review. I won a great bracelet from sherswares.com that I had made for my soon-to-be born niece. I earned an Amazon gift card, and hopefully will soon get another one, that I can use to buy gifts! Also another Best Buy gift card is coming, I think I may use as a gift card gift instead of spending it. Trinity is getting the Learning Tower I won as a birthday gift.
My friend Jody is starting a business soon cutting metal into great designs, and I'll be ordering a couple for family with last names and designs. I'll post pics when she gets started, and hopefully she will get a website up so I can share that.
I know there is more, but I can't think of it. I'm good like that, you know.

Is Santa Claus coming to your house?

Have you been naughty or nice? Will there be lumps of coal in your stocking? I'm hoping for a nice, sparkly pair of diamonds for my ears this year! Think Santa will agree that I've been that good? Nah, me either. I'll be getting coal this year.
Do you want to thrill your children? Send a FREE Letter from Santa to them this year! You can fill it in to personalize the letter to your child and it will be emailed to you. Then you just print it out and make your fake envelope for your child. Wouldn't that be cool to receive?

Thank you, Identitydirect for making this post possible.

Isn't it about time for some pictures?

These are Sam's 1 year pics.







He is just so cute!








A little man!






Isn't this funny?






This is cute, too, with the Pooh theme.














This one is my favorite, though.

He wasn't really in a great mood, since we had to wait for almost an hour and a half to START, even with an appointment. But he came around and smiled anyway. He had JUST grown out of his size 3 shoes and I couldn't get them on him for the pics! LOL I still haven't bought him size 4s, though. I need to get on ebay and do some searching, I think. I have some paypal for it.

A Google-Slapped Contest!

I may just have to jump on this bandwagon! I am going to link to several posts about the Google fiasco. But here is a great outlook on the situation.
Snoskred at Life in the Country in having a contest to celebrate her page rank drop. She also wrote Is Google The New Terrorist? Which is an excellent article. More Bad Press For Google. And Say Goodbye To Google Today.
I liked Wendy Piersall's post Mommybloggers seem to have been hit. And Worried about Google PR drop? Don’t be! from skeetsstuff.
More links:
Anti Vote Baiting (Beta) - make sure to read the first comment left by Aaron Wall - “As the weak and poor are kicked and beaten down they have no voice or energy left to speak.” - We need to keep speaking!
Google vs. Innovation - “In trying to understand Google’s business practices, I’m now leaning towards the word slimy. hard to believe that has happened.” - Slimy is right!
My Google Drop… - Jennifer mentions another search alternative - Live Search - might be worth checking out.
Webfetch - Another search engine option mentioned by Diddums in the comments on the previous post.
ASK Away - Ask is another option for searching.
The Next Microsoft: Google is learning too well from the master.
What is IZEA RealRank™?
The Thing About That Thing
Introducing The Google Condom
Google Spam Cop Opens Can Marked Whoop Ass
GOOGLE Equals HYPOCRITE! Google Stock Drops Sharply
PageTank - Have you been hit by the PageRank hatey stick?Official: Selling Paid Links Can Hurt Your PageRank Or Rankings On Google
Google, Paid Links and White Fuzzy Bunnies
Why Googles Link Crackdown Is Just Designed To Create Panic
Is Google Going to Expand its Punishments of Paid Links?
Act out your sophisticated affiliate link paranoia
A Slippery Slope: Google Owns a Search Engine Optimization Company
Penalized for selling text links?
Google, What Do You Want Me To Do?
Why The Debate About Paid Links Was Over Before You Knew What PageRank Was
Sweeping Everything Under the Rug
Alternatives To Google
Staying Alive In The Google Game.
How To Beat Google At Its Own Game?
Google Pagerank Again
Hit By the Big Handed Google?
If Your PR Has Not Been Demoted, You Are Square.
Dumping Google Adsense Seems Inevitable
Is Yahoo Becoming a Better Source of Search Engine Traffic?
Is Google Now The Big Ugly?
Google- YOU’RE not Transparent…You Hypocrites.
PageRank Becomes Worthless
Google Shooting Itself in The Foot
Another Round of ‘Google Spankings’?!?
A Wordless Wednesday that really says it all
Chuck Norris Wants His Green Bar Back
The Great Google Bitch Slap
PR Going, going, gone: What now?
Google Gone Ga Ga

Ok, I've been Google slapped, too.

I made reference to Google's page rank system, having had no issues with them personally, but they have been dropping people's ranks left and right for doing paid advertising. Paid advertising is NOT against their policies, however, if you link to a site directly it will boost their page rank unless you tell the "bots" not to follow the link. So, if you link to someone and it boosts their page rank, then you will be dropped to 0. Make sense? They base the ranking off links, so you can't be paid to link to someone. Why not? Linking is how you get visitors. Visitors is how you make money. Advertising is how you get visitors, so paying someone to advertise will get visitors. And when you are popular you will get more money. Why wouldn't you pay bloggers to link to you to get higher ranking so you get more customers? Why does Google care?
If you don't have a product you won't make money and page rank wouldn't matter anyway. Is Google slapping the advertisers? Nope, just the stay at home moms who want to earn some extra money to make ends meet. Why not go after the people paying for the links? Because then the people with the money will not care about page rank anymore and they will stop paying Google to advertise for them. Google wouldn't want to bite the hand that feeds it. The moms are not going to make a dent in Google. They can terrorize us into not advertising. But the thing is, if I have too low of a rank to get paid advertising, I couldn't care less about Googles ranking.
Since I have to start at the bottom again, why would I keep my blog here on a google blog?
Google is a bully, terrizing the internet into submission.
I have the links to be a PR3, but I am a 0. And the only way to get my rank back is to tell Google I was a bad girl and beg for forgiveness. Seriously. There is not way to ask them to check into it without filling out a form, and that form is ONLY for saying you did something wrong and have fixed it. It says if you are not admitting fault for violation, not to fill out the form.

How do you make your blog higher in the search engines?

I don't want to lose what I started blogging for, but I need to make it pay for my time, too. So I am doing paid advertising. In order for the ads to be worth my time I need to have a higher ranking blog. I have searched and searched on what I need to do in order to get the higher paying opportunities. (which means having to post less often!)
There are two major ranking systems and one new one on the scene. Alexa is the major system for getting the really high paying jobs, but it is not a fair ranking system. They only measure the traffic to your blog by people who have the Alexa toolbar installed. And that is a majority of technology people. Well, I do some technology posts, but mostly not. I don't have a large webmaster and tech audience. But I need the ranking!
The other major ranking is page ranking from Google. I have no problems with Google. Their system can be simple or complicated. But there is a lot of press going around about Google "slapping" people for getting paid outside of Google ways. People with high ratings were being dropped low with no apparent reasoning. And silence from Google. I have not been slapped and I do PPP. I wonder if it has more to do with the "no follow" that I don't understand at all.
Then there is PPP's new ranking system called Real Rank. That one seems like it would be better on some levels, like it won't slap you for offending them, and it records all traffic on your site. However, you have to have tools installed in order to be ranked yourself.
For some reason it is believed that you should have your own domain name to get better ranking. I'm not sure why the "blogspot" confuses the system, but I'm going to switch. There are advertisers who will not even let you to look at their opportunity if you don't have your own domain name.
I don't want to start over on a new name because I will lose the ranking I've already worked hard to get.
I found a way to keep this blog and host it on my own domain name, so that is what I am going to be doing. Then I keep my old links which will redirect to my new site. And soon the new site will have its own traffic recordings and I can turn my ppp blog over to the new address and get better opportunities. At least I am hoping it will work!

My most risque post ever!

The other night Drew, Kaytlin and I were going to go do something and on the way I told Drew he is a Dork. He said that technically he isn't a dork because a dork is a whale's genitalia. Ok, now I haven't heard that one, but since Drew is extremely intelligent and very knowledgeable about science subjects, I went with it. "Haha! You're a whale pe**s!" You know, like a real mature mother. He said he should have known better than to tell me that. Yes, you'd think he'd know better by now, he is 18.
I did let it go, eventually. Because I am mature like that.
Yesterday I called Samuel a dork. And Donnie said "Don't call my son a dork." And I said something along the lines of "Oh, that's right, he can't be a dork because a dork is a whale's genitalia." Then I told him what Drew told me and how I thought it was funny to call Drew a whale's Pe**s.
So Donnie says "Well, he is the size of a whale's pen**s."
Oh my word, I about died laughing! There were tears.
Drew wasn't as amused.
He pretty much didn't even respond.

OK, just so you know, a dork is not a whale's genitalia, in spite of about 20,000 websites that will tell you so. Even some science "experts." You can read about it here, and don't forget to read this* (it looks like a bad picture, but it isn't, according to urban legends, but I am linking because of the ridiculous story, be warned!), because I about died laughing at this one!

Sisters of the Quilt Review

When the Morning Comes is book two in the Sisters of the Quilt series by Cindy Woodsmall.
"Fans of Beverly Lewis and the Amish genre will be thrilled to discover this new author.." Tamera Alexander
That quote was on the back of the book, and I was skeptical. But I was more than surprised as I read the first book, When the Heart Cries. I read it cover to cover and then grabbed When the Morning Comes because I had to know what was going to happen to my favorite characters! I am a huge fan of Beverly Lewis, and I am thrilled to discover Cindy Woodsmall's writing!
Book one is about an Amish girl who is raped and her trials living in an Amish community. She can't tell anyone after her parents because they hide everything. She had no idea what had happened to her and her parents explained it to her. She got pregnant from that rape, and she hid it from everyone. The consequenced of deceit caught up to her, and she fled.
Book two picks up with her fleeing her little Amish community and her fiance, whom she thought had left her. She goes in search of a family secret and finds some peace and happiness, but later has to go back and face her past and help her sister. She dealt with her rape, found peace, made a new life for herself, and is happy in spite of what life had dealt her. But the book leaves you wanting more as it ends with her heading home.
I cannot wait for book three!
You can purchase the book here.
I am going to be giving away a few copies of the book on The Good Stuff blog soon.

Who is that man?

Well, I finally found out who I'm sleeping with. Donnie and I had several hours without children. We went to our friends' house to see what was wrong with their computer, had a great time visiting. Then we went to Best Buy so I could spend the $50 gift card that I won. I debated buying Christmas presents with it, because I am cheap like that, but I never buy anything for me to enjoy. So Donnie encouraged me to buy what I really wanted: Guitar Hero 80's music! I totally rocked! (after 1 song my arm was sore, and after 4 my thumb hurt like it is going to blister, and lets not mention that I had to strum with the thumb that is supposed to be in a sling... but the sling got in the way, so it went bye-bye)
From there we went to Panera Bread for lunch with the gift card I won for that! Oh my goodness, do I love their wild rice soup in a bread bowl! And their french baguettes are to die for! But you knew that already.
Then we went back to our friends' house to work on the computer more, and visit a bunch more, of course. But Sarah and I were in a hurry, we had someplace to go tonight.
We went to a scrapping event, where we sat and made our Christmas cards! I need one more embellishment from Walmart then I will be ready to send my cards! We were there until close to midnight.
I had a great day! (of course how could a day that starts out with green bean casserole for breakfast be anything but great?!)

Live Free or Die Hard

AAMCO is having a really awesome promotion going on! You can enter to win a 4 day trip to Hollywood, California to spend the day with the stunt double from Live Free or Die Hard.
It includes round trip airfare and 3 nights at the 4* Renaissance Hollywood Hotel for two, a Die Hard goody bag, breakfast, and one person spends the day with the stunt double. The hotel is close to several neat attractions and has a rooftop pool with a great view!
Wouldn't that be fun? We love the Die Hard movies. I would be excited to just get the movie! But to get to go to Hollywood and spend a few days in a fancy hotel, just Donnie and I, that would be so neat! He could check out the stunt double stuff while I go sight seeing, because he hates all the touristy things, but he loves stunt things and action packed movies.
All you need to do to enter is sign up for a coupon for a free oil change with a $50 repair. (remember our car troubles? Yes, $50 would happen fast for us, and we need an oil change.) AAMCO can fix my van while I'm in Hollywood, wouldn't that be a dream come true?

Date day tomorrow!

Donnie has been working 6 days a week lately, and when he has his one day off, it is on Sunday. So he spends half of his one day off working on the A/V stuff. It is such a praise that some wonderful men have stepped forward to learn the system and relieve him lately. (which means he has to relinquish that creative control he had, lol, he likes things his way)
Today Donnie was on call, thankfully he got a call, which gave him the hourly pay, even though the customer wasn't there when he called back! So he was still able to celebrate with us. But tomorrow he is off work and not on call and no church activity!
What should we do?
I think we are going to spend the $15 Panara Bread gift card I won and then spend the $10 birthday money Donnie got from my parents to maybe help pay for a movie. If there is anything out there on the big screen we BOTH want to watch.
We will not be doing the Black Friday shopping thing, though.

Free Solitaire & Mahjongg CD

I love Solitaire and Mahjongg! CDEarth is offering their CD 1001 Greatest Solitaire and Mahjongg Games for free for trying their Software Library Club.

The Solitaire CD is a collection of all the best computer versions of solitaire and Mahjongg. The solitaire classic games like Aces Up, Canfield, FreeCell, Baker's Game, Golf, Klondike, Pyramid, Scorpion, Spider, Forty Thieves, and Yukon are included plus special solitaire games like Streets and Alleys, Castles in Spain, Tarok, Hanafuda, Three Pirates, Tower of Hanoy, and Zodiak.

The Mahjong games on this CD include games like Arrow, Tiger, Twin Temples, Bridge, Cross, Diamond, Castle, Columns, Dragon, Floating City, Hidden Woods, Labyrinth, Lattice, Maya, Owl, Pantheon, Pyramid, River Bridge, Scorpion, Flying Dragon, Snake, Fortress Towers, Seven Pyramids, Stairs, Stonehenge, Taipei, Temple, The Great Wall, and Kyodai.

For trying out their family friendly Software Library club with a free 25 day trial, you will get this CD and another one of your choice for free!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful day with Donnie's family today. Samuel and Austin are both walking all over, but both look way too little for it. We were shocked to see that Sam is taller than Austin now. Strange. I'm pretty sure Austin will be taller, though. Daphne is pregnant with a little girl, and her belly is swelling ever so cute. Grandma and Grandpa with every one of their grandkids around them. Die-hard bachelor Uncle Dean was here. He is so good with kids, plus, he works for Best Buy, so the kids look forward to his Christmas presents more than anyone else's. Yep, he buys their love and devotion.
They asked the kids for Christmas lists. Cody made his. Games for the Ps3 or Xbox 360. Umm, we don't have either system. Knuclehead.
Even cool Uncle Dean isn't going to spring for those for Christmas, lol.
We played some Quelf. It just isn't as much fun without friends, I think. They didn't get as into the game as my friends did. But we still got some giggles out of it. Especially when Trinity wanted to play, and she wouldn't let me read her card. I started to read it and she was repeating my words as fast as she could trying to pretend she was reading it without my help and would I just knock it off. She pulled the card away from my vision and "read" the rest of the card. Which was apparently written in gibberish. I'll have to write the company about that one. Trinity is the only one here who can read gibberish.

Free Homeschool Courses!

The K-12 Free HomeSchool is a beta testing of curriculum for free. They have sponsors who pay for the tuition for core classes and greatly reduced electives, up to 75% off. The cost is a small shipping and handling fee, and feedback on products and curriculum.
The courses are Biblically based, which is so important to me in a homeschool curriculum.
You can upgrade your program for a fee and get unlimited teacher help. In Minnesota that is one way to be able to homeschool without a degree, having a teacher over seeing the curriculum.
Everything is either down loadable or on a CD that if loaned out for free for the class. Included is also the software for tracking your students homework and grades.
I would like to look into this for Hope-Anne and Cody, but they want parents and students who do not have online learning experience. Our public school online is nice, but not Biblical, and we have little control over it.

Sweet Spot!

Sam has been such a grump. He is getting teeth, probably his molars, and has been drooling, snotting, feverish and biting.
I took pity on his misery and nursed him after going over 24 hours without it. (I may have been a mite full and needed relief, too)
I nursed him a bunch through the night. This morning at 8am he wanted to nurse, and I fought it, but gave in. He bit me. So I cut him off. Teeth and a bad mood do not mix with my b00bs. Well, he was furious! How dare I?! He was throwing himself all over the bed. Flopping this way and that. Finally landing himself across my neck. So I grabbed his hips and started pushing around like the chiropractor does, and I shoved into this spot and he stopped crying instantly. No, I mean it, INSTANTLY! Within 30 seconds he was SNORING. Donnie is a witness.
We now call that "The Sweet Spot."

Another thing to be thankful for!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday Thirteen Thankfulness week

I started to write this last night, but Sam was so grumpy that I couldn't get anything done. And I am glad I had to wait because I am just giddy today and over flowing with thanks and Praise to God for his goodness! Now I have to list it.

1. I am thankful to God for His goodness and mercy and love and answered prayers. He always provides what we need when we need it. I know, sometimes bad things happen, but God can turn them for good, and I believe that all our cars dying over and over and over this year have been for our good. Character issues, probably

!2. I am so thankful for my friend Sarah. She brings me so much joy and laughter and support. I don't think I've ever had so much to laugh about since in the last year. Thank you, God for putting Sarah in my life!

3. I am so thankful for my friend Jody. She is always, always there for me and I have the deepest feelings of being rooted in family with her in my life. I know she'd fight for me even if I didn't know about it. And Jody, I know some of the the help you've done without me knowing it, Thank You! Thank you, God, for giving Jody's friendship to me.

4. I am so thankful for my friend, Jeannie. Jeannie brings me peacefulness and calmness. We laugh and get crazy all the time, but there is something about Jeannie that lets me know that I don't have to be worked up, God will make things work. Maybe maturity, I don't know, but I feel more grounded with her in my life. Thank you, God for bring Jeannie into my life.(pause to stop the crying I've been doing since I started!)

5. I am so thankful for my friend Sheree. She has been a rock in my life for 10+ years. She is like my sister that chose me. And you can't replace that. Thank you, God for Sheree in my life!

6. I am really thankful that my husband's parents moved 3 blocks away. (no, they didn't move out of our house, the were 3 hours away) I am glad because we have been able to help each other out and it is so nice to have family near by. I have really been blessed.

7. I am thankful for my husband. He drives me crazy, we miscommunicate all the time, but he loves me no matter what. And we are equally yoked. And he's gullible. Makes it fun to tease.

8. I am thankful for all of my children. The bring me the most pain and most joy of all. I use this blog to laugh at all the horrible and stupid things they do, but really they are such wonderful children. And I am blessed by them. I know they will all serve God.

9. I am thankful for my home. I have a love-hate relationship with my house, but recently we were looking at not having it, but God stepped in and answered our prayers. Miraculously the mortgage company changed our rates and kept the 2yr ARM from bring our mortgage up so high we couldn't pay it! It wasn't even a refinance! We just said we couldn't handle that payment and they said "Let us rework it" and they did! It isn't even adjustable anymore.

10. I asked some friends to pray for a friend, earnestly and strongly without knowing why, the other day. And this morning I found that half of her needs were met yesterday! I am thankful for praying friends. I know they would do that for me, too.

11. I am thankful for traditions. We have our Thanksgiving traditions, and we'll be eating them today. Like Lefse! A Norwegian delicacy! OK, not a delicacy, but so delicious!

12. I am thankful for my parents. My parents are both still alive, and they are really supportive. They think we are nuts for some of our beliefs, but they have never disowned us, even for having 7 kids and homeschooling like freaks.

13. I am also so thankful that my dad, who isn't normally all that thoughtful, asked his sister to let me have their mom's nativity set. He knows I don't have anything from either of his parents. And he knows that the nativity set is something that I would cherish even without it coming from my grandparents. I am just blown away by that. Maybe I can part with my broken Christmas ornament now.

Dang it! I'm crying again!

There are more of you who read my blog that I know and love in real life, and I am glad to have you in my life, too. I don't know when I have ever been so richly blessed with friends.And I forgot to say I am thankful for Quelf, which we shall play today with unsuspecting relatives! Yeehaw!I can't stop crying!

LED Lights

I love the new LED lights. They are so much safer for the holidays and they are also better for the environment and for your electric bill. Some electric companies even offer discounts for buying LED lights this year.
I think they would make great wedding lights, too. If you have an evening wedding and light up outdoor paths, or even hang them all over the ceiling inside, it would make for a magical look. Especially wonderful for a fairy tale wedding.
Can't you just see dancing to soft music with twinkling lights glowing like stars in the sky? How much more romantic can you get?

6 down.....

584 to go!
Oh, that is things to clean. By the time I get through 6 more down, there will be 896 left to clean. It is a losing battle. I cleaned the coffee table and end table. We have glass tops so we have to clean glass and wood and arrange magazines. I went to put the cleaners away and dish up supper. I came back and Trinity, who had helped me clean it, had taken half the papers and magazines out and had them spread all over the living room and put toys on the tables and stuffed animals and babies on each section of every couch. The throws pillows are not on the couches, either. Plus some other messes. So, with having to re-clean that, when am I going to be able to finish organizing the toys, fold and put away laundry, do the dishes, iron the table clothes and get the table decorated? Not to mention mopping the kitchen, bathroom and hallway. And deal with a sick boy. Sam is a cling-on. He is teething big time and has an ear infection and I stopped nursing him.
(oh, problem figured out, he isn't gaining weight because my milk is little more than milky colored water, no cream at all.)
And I think this post sets the record for the most "and"s in one post.
And I don't care. I am thankful for the word "and."

Unique and Cool gift card idea

If this isn't the neatest idea for a gift card I don't know what is! I took a picture and uploaded it, then I sized it where I wanted it and framed it, then selected it.
I think most people could appreciate a Visa gift card because they are not stuck with whatever store you think they would want to buy something from. Visa is so universal.
Or you can pick from their many great cards that are already designed. They have many great designs for Christmas.

I can't believe I forgot!

I actually HAVE a Wordless Wednesday picture and I FORGOT it was Wednesday today! Crazy, huh? Is 5:20 too late to participate? I think I will save it for next week. I have been so busy today and will be tomorrow, so I won't have time to go looking at other people's WW either. Bummer, because I love it. And my picture amuses me. Donnie doesn't get it, but I think its great.

OK, so I swept and mopped my living room today. And then I sorted through the toy boxes because we have an over abundance of toys in here and I should remove some of the things my nephew shouldn't play with, he is Sam's age. (they are WAY more protective and careful than I am)
It started snowing big time this afternoon! The kids were so excited to see the huge flakes coming down. Trinity has been eating it, as usual.
Cody didn't believe me how cold it was outside today. Probably because I haven't even gotten dressed yet. But he came in the house and wanted gloves. They are in the glove box. "Where's the glove box?" Oy! I have had gloves and hats in a wicker box by the front door for almost 3 years. So, he traipse from the back door across the kitchen, through the hall way, through the carpeted part of the play area in the living room, across the seating part of the living room to the front porch. With muddy snow on his shoes. There was screaming. And then there was cleaning.

Dreaming of house hunting

This is a hard time to buy or sell a house, especially selling. I see a lot of houses just sitting there for months on end.
But I can dream! I love my house and area, but I also love to find other houses to look at. Donnie would love a cabin in the woods or on a lake so he can hunt and fish and relax on weekends.
I would like something farther away to travel to in order to get away from it all here, but not to just sit around relaxing, and certainly not hunting and fishing.
Maybe Boulder Colorado or Orlando, Florida. Someplace with exciting activities and tourist traps, for sure!

Sleep, Sleep, Where are you?

I am getting so tired of not getting my sleep. I don't think it is Sam's fault, I know something must be bothering him to keep waking him up so many times. Unless maybe he really isn't awake when he fusses.
Last night was better and worse. He woke up less, but fussed longer and louder. Instead of several times an hour, he woke up every hour.
He fell asleep at 12:02, yes, I was watching.
Woke up at 2:05. Cried for about 2-3 minutes.
Woke up at 3:05. Cried for a few minutes.
Woke up at 4:05. Cried for a few minutes.
Woke up at 5:05. Cried for a few minutes.
Woke up at 7:05. Cried for several minutes.
It is almost 8, so I expect him to wake up soon.
It is weird, because I have been nursing him all those times, which number more than above, to get him back to sleep quickly. But yesterday I cut him off, and he didn't ask to nurse at all through the night. Maybe he wasn't looking for it before? He did take a bottle 2 of those times last night, but only a little bit of it.

We are done nursing now. He asked to nurse last evening, and he was cranky because he is getting sick, but as I was trying to undo my nursing clip he bit me through my bra so hard that it wasn't milk, but blood coming out. I was in agony for a long, long time last night. I am pretty sure the neighbors heard me scream. Maybe even the next block. My kids were pretty sure I over reacted a bit, until I offered to show them the blood as it dripped out of me.

So, Donnie says that we should have Drew sleep upstairs for a week so we can let Sam cry it out in his crib at night. Oh, no. Not gonna happen. I know people do that, and the kids do learn to sleep in the crib without crying. But I can't do that. Not because my kids are spoiled, but they are only little once, and you can't undo damage. Can you imagine being constantly touched, lovingly caressed all over by your mom while in utero, and then being forced out and into itchy clothes, and then not even being able to be touched? Even if they are older, I think how here is this little guy who just needs his mom's loving hugs and singing and he is plopped in a crib to cry and cry alone until he passes out in exhaustion. What is he thinking? "Why won't mommy come get me? Doesn't she love me anymore? I just want my mommy, where is mommy? Mommy! Don't you love me?!" No, I can't do it. I know that sweet baby is not in that crib thinking how he can manipulate mom with his crying. They do eventually learn to sleep alone, I'm not going to torture them when they don't understand.
If you do it that way, I'm sorry, but I just can't, and I don't judge you for it, but my heart breaks for my child crying for me. If I can meet my child's legitimate need, I will.
8:06, Sam is crying. Gotta go!

Hey, can we slow the train down?

Thanksgiving is coming way to fast! Stop this crazy thing! There is no way I am going to be ready. It is Tuesday night and I haven't even thought about a grocery list yet. I have the turkey thawing and a pie ordered, but that is it. My house is taking a million times longer to clean than I want, but if the kids would actually HELP we might get somewhere, but they must tag team on taking my flap or something, I just do the rounds yelling at them for not working and the other kids not being yelled at skip out of the radar and stop working. Right now I could show you Hope-Anne playing with some sort of string instead of cleaning the stuff I swept out of from under the love seat. I should time her. She caught me watching and started to clean again. And called me evil for blogging about her. And told me not to type everything she says. The wire is still in her hands, though. I think she's waiting for me to stop watching her so she can go back to playing with it. LOL
On the bright side, Drew is actually doing a great job. Devon is driving me nuts, and Donnie is going to get it when he gets home. He is home just as I typed that, so I should go chew him out for the 23 soda cans I took out of his "corner" of the living room and under the love seat.
I asked him to guess how many cans we found of his and he guessed "15" with a very guilty face. Umm, no, 23, and there was one of mine, but he did sneak one of mine when he was out, so it was probably his.

The Mist By Stephen King

Years ago my mom started me reading Stephen King books. That is probably where I get my love of being scared silly, and scaring the kids silly.
One night, while my infant brother slept in another room, my mom, my cousin Nicky and I were reading a Stephen King book aloud. I can't remember what it was even called, but there was a man walking in the mountains and a dog started playing with him and as he traveled up the mountain the dog started jumping in front of him and growling, trying to stop him. Eventually he started to leave and something happened and the dog jumped between him and whatever was going to attack him and was growling.
Right at that moment my mom's dog started growling something fierce! We started screaming! We were just petrified. No one else was home, and we were in a bedroom and couldn't get to a phone. We were so afraid of whatever would make a very happy dog growl so fiercely in the hallway that we were to scared to even go check on and grab the baby!
Nicky and I were just teenagers, but my mom should have run for the baby, wouldn't you think?
That is kind of what happens in The Mist by Stephen King. A mist surrounds a grocery store and it is too thick to even get to the cars, much less get anywhere. Eventually they figure out that something is in there and their true characters start to come out. It is almost more frightening in the store than out of it.
The trailer for The Mist scared me. I wasn't sure I could even handle watching the movie. Donnie thinks it looks great, so we'll have to go see it together, and I know he will leave with bruises and nail marks on his arms. I would NOT go see the movie with my mom, though. Sorry, mom, but I know you too well!

Whew, this is going to be a crazy week!

I can barely blog! OK, I made time yesterday because of some high $ posting, thanks for still reading, but I barely have time for it this week. I bet most people don't though. (I'll make time today, too, I'm sure!)
Today is my Moms Of Munchkin's group. We are going to start reading The Five Love Languages of Children. That should be really interesting. I haven't thought about the kids' much lately. I know what Hope-Anne's are, her's are obvious.
Then, I have time to get home, feed the kids, and get a short nap in for Samuel before bringing him to the Chiropractor. Which I hope actually starts working soon, because he is sick with something now, and he is sleeping even worse than he was. Devon stayed up and held him until 2am. That sounds weird, but Devon is a night owl and offered to because he wanted to be up watching TV, and Samuel sleeps best in Devon's arms. His arms are like a car ride or something, maybe just boring? LOL Devon has a touch. Sam has been sleeping on Devon daily for over a week now.
I think I will also try to make a run out to get my stamping supplies today so Sarah and I can start making our Christmas cards tomorrow. Oh, I can get Drew to pick them up. He drives right by on his way to and from work! Sarah, you want me to get Drew to get your's too? (I asked Drew, he said sure thing)
Somewhere in there I need to actually plan Thanksgiving meal, make a list, and go shopping for the food, too. Seriously, it is Tuesday and other than having a pie made at the cafe Kaytlin works for, I haven't done anything. My in-laws are bringing the other pies and sweet potatoes. I don't think they trust me after last year. I didn't follow tradition and made a delicious dish with fresh sweet potatoes and cranberries and pineapple.... no marshmellows. HAHA!
I better go, I have a phone call to make about child care this morning, and I have to actually get dressed before M.O.M's group. And probably get Trin and Sam dressed, too. And pray that Trinity doesn't share her new skills she learned at play school with my churchy friends' children. (the sticking her tongue out at us is going to get her hurt pretty soon)

Ouch! Where does it hurt?

My father-in-law, Phillip, has always been an extremely hard working man. Farming all his life. Whatever he had to do, he did it. He would go without brakes in his car to make sure the kids were taken car of.
In the harsh cold of Minnesota winters, Philip would go to work outside day in and day out. Sometimes he was doing typical farming, sometimes he was on the turkey farm. He lost a finger to an auger accident when he was a young man.
Over the years, the cold and hard work took its toll on him and his body started to rebel. Arthritis and gout settled into his joints and crippled him slowly. Now, at nearing 80 he is unable to open jars, zip and button his own clothing, and even needs a special tool to turn the key in the car. He can't even clip his own toenails. His feet are so misshapen with arthritis and gout that he can't wear regular shoes, we have to find wide, large slippers with hard bottoms for him. But since you need to have warm winter boots in Minnesota we've had to buy several sizes too large in order for him to get them on, much less walk without pain.
If you look in the picture, his hands are so bad he can hardly even hold his own grandchildren.
Phillip needs something to help with the pain so he can be more mobile. I believe Freeze It will help him. When he isn't in pain he is able to walk faster and handle the grand kids sitting with him. He would feel so much better and less of a burden if he didn't need everything done for him anymore.
You can buy Freeze It Gel or Freeze It Sticks. I think the sticks would be best for Phillip because he wouldn't have to rub it in with his hands and could reach more difficult places.
You can use Freeze It® for:

• Sore Muscles & Muscle Sprains
• Back, Shoulder, Neck Pain
• Arthritis, Painful Ankle, Knee, Hip & Elbow Joints
• Muscular Strains