To Do List, Old habits are Hard to Break

Today is just a quick list of things I want to do to prepare for Superbowl Sunday, hopefully I get them all done.- Post here (check, once I hit publish)- Clean out my fridge and give it a good washing.- Make my vision board of what I think and want of "ME"- Do a load of laundry- Have BabyGirl read to me from her two books (Dad and Sam & Rags)- Kitchen & Dining roomEarlier this week, in doing my

Bloggy Giveaway: The Change Your Life Challenge

This book has come at just the right time, I've already been reading about how to improve your life and stuff like that and this is definitely a gem. Brook Noel, the author gives you step-by-step instructions on how to get more organized, out of debt, etc. You know taking the small steps to get what you want in life, to be happy, healthy and have the money you wish for. Not to mention how to have

~*Where I Blog*~

Hello dear blogging friends! It sure has been fun hopping around blogland seeing where everyone blogs, so I thought I would join in on the fun. I blog from our dining room.

I tried to create one pretty area on my desk. The teapot belonged to my Mom...I added the "fake" violets. The little saucer is for my glass of water or nice steaming cup of hot tea. I don't want to end up with a water mark on the wood. The little picture was a thrift store find.
I also keep a jar full of some sweets...right now I have Smarties Love Hearts...who knows what will go in it when it's empty.

If you haven't posted where you blog, why not join in on the fun? I'd love to see where you all blog. Thanks again for stopping by, as always I love to hear from you.

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Thank you all so much for your sweet comments on our family vacation. We had a nice time, but was gone non-stop...I think I needed a vacation from the vacation!

Love, Kim

Wordless Wednesday: My Daughter

Wow, this picture just reminded me of a younger version of me. Course she is much prettier. Love ya BalletGirl! Happy WW! Have you ever looked at your child and seen yourself?

~* Vacation Post *~

I posted the first part of our vacation...you'll need to scroll down after my "New Barn Doors" post to read it....Thanks!

Inspirational Quotes

I thought some of ya'll would like to read some inspirational quotes to help you achieve those goals. Here are a few I discovered and am writing all over the house:Dream Quotes:- Your vision will become clearonly when you look into your heart ...Who looks outside, dreams.Who looks inside, awakens.~ Carl Jung (1875-1961), Psychologist ~- If you don't know where you are going,then how will you

Make Your Dreams Come True

I know there are a ton of moms and dads out there that are desperate to make their dreams come true. But did you know it is easier to achieve this than you know? I didn't really think it was that easy, but as I have been following along with the "The Secret" and Laws of Attraction I've been getting more and more inspired. (Currently I'm taking the 100 Day Reality Challenge, my first step is to

How to Contact Me

Someone wrote me on twitter and asked me, "I know what sites you socialize but how do I contact you to chat?" Here is a few ways you, or anyone can contact me and I'm always online...unless of course I'm sick, sleeping or the computer is broke.Email: homemom3@gmail.com or elizajane202@yahoo.com or eliza_ferree@yahoo.com (yes I have three but it helps sometimes)Chat: Google Chat: homemom3@

I Socialize...Do You?

As a mom I feel it is very important to socialize, for me that is the internet. Hey, I'm just not that social butterfly that leaves the house. But since I'm online and always talking to other "mommy bloggers," publicists, advertisers, etc. I thought it would be very important to begin socializing on those "social sites."How do you socialize or get yourself out there and none? Do you just stick

4 Degrees and Freezing

Actually I'm here to state that my garage was actually 45 degrees, we pulled the van out and now it is 4 degrees outside. The funny thing is the sun is shining and the snow looks out of place. Once again it isn't really snow but a "light dusting" as the people out here call it. Sorry ya'll the white stuff is just that SNOW and COLD.I'm a desert rat and no longer ashamed to call myself that, once

Win a Cartier Love Collection and More

Okay this contest is NOT on The Life of a Home Mom, however I love the people that are doing it and they've done several giveaways here before and on other sites. So I felt great to share with you their newest one that is perfect for Valentine's day and not something everyone is going to go out and get for their love.What is it?First you'll have to commit a selfless act of love, hmmm, that should

~*New Barn Doors*~

Hello blogging friends...it's taking me a lot longer than I thought to get all of my pictures together and organized for my vacation post, so I thought I would go ahead and show you several pictures of our new barn doors...I think they turned out great! They were custom made by a wonderful carpenter named Fran...thank you, Fran!

Hopefully, I'll have our vacation post done soon...stay tuned and thanks for stopping by...I appreciate your visits as always!

Love, Kim

Bawling My Eyes Out

BabyGirl and I have been bawling our eyes out over a gosh darn movie. What movie you ask? Well one I found in the Redbox last night, it had a cute little girl on it and a beautiful horse. I thought oh you can never go wrong with that. Sure enough I was sooooo wrong. This movie has done nothing more than make me cry every few minutes. But it is a good cry, so for those of you that haven't seen it

I Found My Dream Home

Okay, many of ya'll know I'm doing a dream board, also known as a Vision Board. My house has been drawn and today I actually came across it. Or at least one that really, really looks like it.But there is one catch, it isn't my home. But it could be and no it isn't for sale. HGTV is actually giving it away this year. You know HGTV gives away one house every year, this year it happens to be in

~*Our Trip to Florida - Part 1*~

I'm so sorry this has taken me so long to get this post written. I really didn't think it would take me that long, so I'm breaking it up into several posts.
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The First Day: Thursday, January 15th, 2009

My family and I headed off to Orlando, Florida, leaving a bitter cold Pennsylvania behind! We were taken on vacation by our employers, the Swanks. I can honestly say that we work for the nicest people ever! We stayed at the Old Key West Resort...it was such a wonderful place to stay. (I also want to thank all of you who said a prayer for us as it was our first time flying. I didn't think it was too bad, dh didn't mind it, but doesn't like to sit near a window and dd LOVED it and is ready to fly again!)

This is my daughter, Emily, Me and my hubby, John. The weather was a little chilly for the first several days...it finally warmed up on Sunday to 70 some degrees, but I still had to wear my jacket.No, I'm not actually going to ride this bike...it was bolted to the wall, but I thought it looked so sweet there along the wall.
Our first evening was spent at the Magic Kingdom. Here are some shots of the castle...it's so very pretty at night...sorry for the blurry pictures.

These next two pictures were taken while we were walking through the castle...aren't they beautiful? So sorry for the glare...I'm not that good at taking night time pictures.

We ate at the Crystal Palace...it was a yummy buffet. There were so many cute Disney characters there...Eeoyre stopped at our table for a picture.

We had a great evening our first night. We ended up only riding on one ride and that was Space Mountain. I rode it with my Dad back in 1975 and I must stay it is still very scary! Later we went to La Nouba - Cirque du Soleil on Main Street Disney...that was one fantastic show and I highly recommend it to anyone going to Disney. You have to see it to believe it! We got back to our room at 11 p.m. We were very tired, but happy.

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The Second Day: Friday, January 16th, 2009

The next day we got up bright and early to head to Animal Kingdom.

This is the tree of life and it is H-U-G-E! The trunk of the tree has various animals shape in it...you have to see it appreciate it! If you look closely at the next picture you'll see that it's a woman...she was covered in folliage. She was a contortionist...it was fascinating to watch her. Let's just say that a lot of people didn't realize there was a person in there and would jump when they realized it was a human being!
The mountain peak in the background is the ride called "Expedition Everest". It's a rollercoaster. Our daughter rode on it and said it was terrifying!
My husband loved the Kilimanjaro Sararis ride...you take an open-air vehicle on an expedition through an African-style savannah where giraffes, gazelles, elephants, rhinos and lions roam freely. This was my husbands favorite ride since it was on the ground and slow-moving!


We ate at a restuarant called the Tusker House. It was all-you-care-to-enjoy carved meats, salads and desserts--all with an African touch. The food was excellent...especially the chocolate cake made with chocolate from Africa! This is a picture that I took looking up from the area where the food buffet was. It felt like you were in a village.

We went to see the show Flights of Wonder, which was about various birds...it was amazing. This bald eagle was beautiful...I wish I could have gotten a picture of her face. She turned her head just as I was taking the picture.

We had a great time at Animal Kingdom. In the evening we went to Hollywood Studios.

We didn't ride anything while we were there because we had dinner reservations ant the Brown Derby Restaurant, home of the famous Cobb Salad (it's delicious). I enjoyed this Grapefruit Cake...very yummy!

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Just looking at this makes me terrified...it's the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror!

I loved this guitar for the ride "Rock-n-Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. It was so detailed.

We had an enjoyable day, but was so tired. Tomorrow we are headed to Epcot.

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Thank you all so much for coming by to see our vacation pictures. I'm going to work on the next post for the remainder of our trip!

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Also, thank you sweet blogging friends for your kind comments on the new barn doors...I appreciate your visits so much! Have a great day.

Love, Kim

We Have Heat!

Okay, for those that didn't read my post earlier I finally told ya'll we haven't had heat in this house for over a month. Now with that being stated we did go out and buy those heater things to keep the rooms warm and when that didn't work we stayed in hotel rooms. OUCH! But the hotels were very much enjoyed and a needed break.Today the heater man came and fixed it, apparently my blower wasn't

My Story Tag

A dear friend of mine, Janet from NC, wrote on her myspace blog this tag and I'll tag a few of you at the bottom but for those I don't tag please do it and link at the bottom (in the comments)My story - Finish the sentence:Hi, my name is:Eliza aka Homemom3Never in my life have I been to:out of the countryI hate it when:I'm late to anything. (Yep I'm one of those people that if she/he knows

~* I'm Back *~

Hello sweet blogging friends...oh how I have missed you all so much! It's going to take me a few days to get settled back into my routine and when I do, I promise I'll be back to fill you in on our adventure!

Love, Kim

His First Date

Okay, this past weekend was SoccerBoy's very first, first date. We've been calling it a mini date since it was more of a trial thing and everyone plus the girlfriend went to the movies. Hey, we went to see "Hotel for Dogs" and it is a kid friendly movie so we just had to take the other kids and if I was bringing them I'd need the help of the spouse. Right? lolI did get to talk with the girl's (

Inkheart Winner

The winning number (selected by the kids) #68.Miranda said...Brendan has some really great movies! I'dlove to go see this with my hubby and my kids. Inkheart looks like an amazingfamily movie! Congratulations! You are the winner of the $20 Fandango Gift Certificate, now you can go watch Inkheart and come back here to tell me all about it. email me at homemom3@gmail.com.

Superbowl Winner

The hubby picked the winner and he chose because this was the first person to pick the right teams. He also said, well see she has five boys and a husband, she can definitely use it. So here's to:Teams-Steelers against Cardinals, Steelers with the win. Roethlisberger forMVP.posted by Molly C. : 2:03 AM Congrats goes out to Molly C., please email me at homemom3@gmail.com to get this package sent

McDonald's: Where's the Beef?

Okay, normally I don't post about what I eat....but sometimes I do. This time it is about McDonald's and I'm not impressed. I'm sure with the growing economy we all know about the shrinking items, but to reduce the size of the meat?I went in and ordered a Big Mac (not something I normally do) and my son ordered a Double Quarter Pounder, his turned out bigger than mine. But more amazing was the

~* So Long *~

for now dear blogging friends...we are getting our bags packed for a fun filled family vacation...see you all when I return.

Love to you all,

Kim

Wordless Wednesday: Daddy Pic

I've heard some of you want to see what "Daddy" looks like, he's not one to take pics so here is a shot of him. Hey you didn't really think you were going to see his face now did you? But you can see Little A. Isn't he cute?Don't forget to enter the NFL Giveaway and the Fandango Giveaway on my site. Happy WW!

Teen Texts 14,528 in a Month

EEEk, this would be possibly a parents worst nightmare, at least when it came time to the first phone bill. Right? Imagine getting your teen a phone and a month later getting a 440 page phone bill and finding out your teen text messaged 14,528 times.The bill would be enormous right? Not if it was semi-planned. Thankfully this father thought ahead of time and got the unlimited text message service

~* Tweaking *~

Thank you all so much for your sweet comments on my last post...I didn't know there were so many "RED" lovers out there! I've been doing a little tweaking since my last post. I added the candle holders, sugar bowl and place mats. I'm pleased with it...I did some shopping in my own home to find these items which was even better! I love moving things around as I know many of you do, too.

I decided to paint the frame of my Susan Branch print...the frame was oak and I painted it RED.

This apron was the inspiration for my next phase of tweaking...

I took the colors from this apron and tried to incorporate them into what I displayed on my Amish made hutch...I still think it needs some tweaking...again, I used things in my home that I had stored away or were used elsewhere.

This is something new I put together...I found the cheese dome awhile ago, but didn't put it with a plate, until I was looking through several that had I stored away...I love the red and the delicate flowers.

My dear friend, Josie gave me several old cookie cutters for Christmas. I bought this jar and added them, along with others that I had.

The green platter belonged to my dear Gram...she used the green and white dishes at Christmas. The orange juicer is old, too...it belonged to my Gram also.

Thanks for stopping by to look at my "Tweaking"...I appreciate your visits and kind comments as always. I also can't even begin to express how thankful I am for all of your prayers for our trip to Florida.

Love, Kim

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My friend, Linda, from Meadowbrook Cabin Primitives passed this award onto me...thank you so much, Linda. I'm awarding it to all of my dear readers and followers!

"This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers' aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!"

Inkheart Giveaway

Brendan Fraser's new film, Inkheart. Based on the best selling trilogy by Cornelia Funke, Inkheart is a family-friendly fantasy adventure that sends a father and daughter on a quest through worlds both real and imagined. It's in theaters nationwide on January 23rd.Prize: $20 Gift Certificate for FandangoRules: Leave a comment on why you'd like to see Inkheaert or talk about the book written by

XLIII Superbowl Giveaway

How many of you are having a Superbowl Party at your house this year? How about adding some supplies to that party that don't even cost you a thing but will make it look like you spent a ton of money. Well you can if you enter this XLIII Superbowl Giveaway.Pepsi has teamed up with The Life of a Homemom and wants you to know that they would love for you to upload a video telling the new President

5 Miniute Crash Course in College

Well a few of you emailed asking how that first class for college went. Lets just say it was a crash course, literally. I got there and the teacher showed me really quickly how to access the site in which the class would learn on Saturday. That's it. She said all they would be doing is the site and assestment on it. So I drove all the way down there to see the instructor for 5 minutes and to go

My M&Ms makes Great Gifts

I was recently asked to review some chocolate, hey why would any woman say no right? Thanks to My M&Ms and MomCentral for this opportunity. But instead of just trying them out myself or having the kids and hubby try them I had the hubby take one package to work. When he got them at work they didn't last long. Several had comments:- These are neat.- Nifty.- Interesting- Where'd you get these?-

College Starts Early

Well since the hubby has Army duty this weekend (feels strange saying that) I would miss my first class. I quickly shot her an email to let her know this morning and she wrote back that I could actually attend tonight. So my first day of College begins early. Currently we are at yet another red light, hopefully carma will be with me and help me get there before class starts. Yes, I'm the type of

~* For The Love of...Red *~

Hello sweet blogging friends...I've finally returned from a much needed break! I hope you all are well and enjoyed the holidays. We had our Christmas dinner on the 27th of December...my dh's side of the family has grown and since his nieces are now married and have families of their own, we decided to host a meal at our home on a day other than the 25th. There were 18 people all together. I remember the days when I fretted over cooking a meal for a few people...my how times have changed!

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I wanted to give a fresh, new look to the kitchen, so I had dh take the leaf out of our table...I love a round table! I found this great table cloth at TJ Maxx yesterday...I love the fact that it has both red and burgandy in it.

I love how it looks on the table.
I also wanted to show you my new Paula Dean coffee pot! I LOVE the color. I was actually on the lookout for a new tea kettle, but every one I found looked so modern...I'm definitely not a modern gal. I spotted this beauty and knew that it had to come home with me.I think my new favorite color is now red...oh no, I hope that doesn't mean I'm going to start painting things red...dh will not be happy...LOL!

I finally changed the saying on my chalkboard...since valentine's day is just around the corner, I decided to add hearts and a Bible verse about LOVE.

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Thank you so much for stopping by...I appreciate the New Year wishes you left for me and my family...that was so sweet. I'm so sorry that I haven't been around to see all of you. My time on the computer has been so limited and it will be again, too, as me and my family are going to FLORIDA from January 15th through the 19th! We are so excited....we're going to Walt Disney World...please say a prayer for us...we've never flown before and I have a few butterflies.

Love, Kim

Tried Amazon Associates and Bombed out

I've been using Amazon Associates since 2001. I won't lie to you though, I haven't earned much from them. Before anyone asks I've only made between $50-100.00 from them. I know others have stated they get that a month. Got any secrets? How about another program that offers this same type of stuff? I'm always eager to try things.In the next few days I'll mention those things that worked for me

New Year of Changes Coming ...

Oh the crisp winter air has blew in the New Year and boy is it full of changes. Changes I'm not so sure I'm ready for and some I think has been just waiting for me to take. I'm stubborn though, I'm not one that likes change. I like to stay the same and just sit back and watch things go by, but I think it's time to flow into the course of the wind and just close my eyes and believe the winds will