The Active Family

The American Red Cross has sent out notice that is facing a blood supply shortage. Due to recent storms, many blood drives have been canceled, and people are less likely to donate over the holidays, due to little or no time!

Since blood donation is a free way to help others in need, do what you can to help. If it turns out you are unable to donate for whatever reason, volunteer to help at a drive, organize a drive, or just donate time and/or money to your local Red Cross Station.

Here are a few helpful links regarding blood donation:

Blood Donation Eligibility Guidelines
What To Expect When Donating Blood

Please consider donating today, The Red Cross needs your help!

Hey all! I tried a new workout dvd today. It is another in the “10 Minute Solution” series, and this one has sections for all different body sections. Unlike the last one I reviewed, this workout requires nothing else but a clear space and a set of handweights. Technically, you could even get away without those, if you are truly just starting out, or you don’t have any yet.

I am a decided fan of these workouts, I especially like being able to pick and choose which workouts I do, and when. Since I pulled this dvd off netflix, I didn’t have the option of building my own workout, as I did with the physical dvd last time. It was a simple matter of fast forwarding to the next section. My favorite part of these workouts is that 10 minutes goes by in a flash! Does it hurt? Yes, but it is truly over before you know it. I can fit 10 minutes in, and if something comes up, I can get back to another ten some other time.

These workouts were designed with busy moms in mind (and dads-don’t want to leave anyone out!) You can fit a quick workout in anytime of day. Junior is asleep? Pop in a load of laundry, do one of the segments, and you will still have time to do one of the million other things on your list. Point is, you will have taken time for YOU, which most of us rarely do.

You can pick this one up at a great price too, can’t beat this one! 10 Minute Solution - Target Toning for Beginners

Oh well…I have been forced to give up my laptop. It has had one too many brushes with death, and it finally gave in.

A few days before Christmas, my 2 year old decided that mommy’s laptop looked thirsty. He started giving it a few sips of his juice box! I stopped him as fast as I could, and I thought I caught it in time, but alas…

I opened my laptop a few days later and found condensation on the screen. That’s NEVER a good sign!  Indeed, my keyboard was fried, and I was faced with a foreign screen asking me for the boot disk.

Now, I don’t know a whole lot about computers, but I know that isn’t a good thing.

My techie geek husband confirmed it when he got home from work, my laptop has bit the dust. He was able to retrieve mostly everything from the hard drive, and also saved the laptop memory that was had recently upgraded.Since I have all my documents and contacts. it wasn’t terribly hard to say good bye, but I will miss the portability of it, not to mention my favorite spot on the couch, cuddled up with my blanket. It just isnt’ the same sitting at the desk.

Next purchase??? A sweet office desk chair…this thing is killing me!

My kids had the best Christmas this year. No, the gifts were not overpowering the living room. They weren’t stacked up to the ceiling. We had cut back on the quantity and successfully made Christmas great with quality.

As a result, we aren’t overwhelmed with toys, but rather, the kids got what they really wanted. We spent our money on quality stuff, and a great majority are imaginative play toys, and not push button-do all the work for you toys.

I didn’t stress over who got what this year either. I knew that between us, Santa, nanas and papa, the kids were more than taken care of. It was nice to divvy up the lists and know that my kids had really put a lot of thought into what they wanted, and didn’t just write down everything they saw on tv.

I’ll tell you one mainstream toy that was a huge hit, Bendaroos. They are the wax covered strings that kids can bend into different shapes. My daughter wanted them, and I picked them up at Walgreens. I think they are her favorite toy, and the other kids are loving them too. Expensive, but well worth it.  Another good investment  her was the LeapFrog Tag. I’ll be doing a review of that toy in a bit.

Did your kids get anything outstanding this year?

I hope everyone had nice celebrations this week! My family had an absolutely wonderful few days. We had a lot of places to visit, but unlike last year, there were no time frames to see everyone, so our holidays were virtually stress free. Loved it!

Not to brag, but I was soooo good with the eating and drinking this year. I didn’t deprive myself, but I had small bites of everything, and when I went back for seconds of shrimp, I decided not to indulge in the linguine with lobster sauce, so calorie wise I was kicking it!

I also limited my alcohol to ONE beer. No wine, no brandy, and NO eggnog. Seriously, I think I avoided about a thousand calories right there! I had a bottle of water with me at all times, and I even left my diet pills in the cabinet back home! This can totally be done on my own! I do still take my fiber supplement every morning though, and I think it helps a ton.

This is the first year I will not be making a weight related resolution. I am going to continue my current weight loss goals and fitness goals, but this year I am resolving to work on personal and spiritual goals. More to come on that!

Those who listen to the news probably know that the NorthEast got pummeled with a nasty ice storm last week. My husband just heard today from a good friend of his that is in the heart of the ice storm. He has been without power and heat since Friday, and his house is only 29 degrees INSIDE! Yipes.

Thankfully he brought his family to his mother’s house where they can be safe and warm. He did talk to my husband about the damage they have received so far. There is about 2 inches of solid ice covering every inch of his property, he said it sounds like being in a war zone with all the cracking trees. The pipes are freezing, and the pipes attached to the bathroom faucet and shower have already cracked.They lost all their food in the fridge and freezer (though you would think at those temps the food would still be cold enough!) and the electronics all have condensation building up in them. My husband shrieked like a girl on that one, since they are both complete techies, and have a LOT of computer and gaming equipment. Forget the food, what about the xBox!

Our friend went on to state that they were told not to expect power until NEXT FRIDAY! A whole week! They now have a wicked commute to work, their son isn’t sleeping well in a “strange” bed, and the close quarters are getting to them all.

If you know anyone in the area, I would suggest giving them a call. It got pretty bad in western Ma and southern NH, and there are an awful lot of displaced people.

Foremost, I am a huge fan of Dave Ramsey. I listen to his podcasts, and we are following his plan to get out of debt. I am a bit of a skeptic when it comes to finances, so  I do a lot of research before jumping into things. One thing he talks about is the difference between whole life and term life insurance.

Ramsey is against whole life insurance, calling it a huge scam. He says that  it is essentially the same as putting your money into the bank, earning 2% interest, and when you die, you only recieve the amount the contract was for, and the bank keeps the rest! Term insurance tends to be a little more expensive upfront, but you get far more, and the money isn’t kept by the company, but given to your beneficiaries the  way it is meant to.

I’m still investigating all of this. I don’t believe it is a good idea to just take someone’s word for it when it comes to money. I did get a term life insurance quote for myself, and the amount was fair, but I think we will have trouble getting more for my husband, since he has type 1 diabetes. We had to work hard for the small amount he already has! It does stink though since he is the money maker of the home, so if we were to lose him I would be up the creek. I guess that is just one other motivator to finish getting out of debt and building up our nest egg faster.

I have been feeling like my weight hasn’t been changing, and my weight loss has certainly slowed. However, I’ve been noticing that my jeans have been sagging a LOT and I absolutely can not go to work without wearing a belt, or everyone gets a peek at my undies.

One day last week I had a ton of laundry to finish, and I knew I had a pair of jeans in the cantainer under my bed. You know what container I’m talking about…the one filled with your favorite skinny clothes. The ones you haven’t fit into for a few years, yet you can’t bare to throw them away? I pulled out my all time favorite pair of jeans, not believing they would fit. I figured I’d just leave them unbuttoned and throw on a big sweatshirt and finish my laundry.

Would you believe that I nearly fell over when they slid right on? When I could button them with out (too much) trouble? I’ve been wearing size 12 jeans…these were a size 8. Yup, I definitely checked! I still can’t believe they fit.

Now, I’m not so disillusioned to think I could fit into an 8 off the rack. These are some seriously well worn jeans, stretched in all the right places. But the fact that those particular jeans fit? It made me so thrilled I brought both pairs to my cardio class and showed them right off!!!!

I’m working harder than ever to lose this pesky last 30 pounds, and so help me I will do it!

Just about every blog you find lately has at least one post about how hard the economy is. Well….DUH.

I am tired of hearing about how bad it is. Technically I don’t think we’ve seen the worst yet! However, I am making a marked effort to ignore all the negativity and focus on what I am doing to make my family’s life richer.

As previously posted, we are scaling back Christmas this year, replacing easily broken and lost toys with family trips and activities. We are getting back to lost traditions, and hopefully starting some new ones.

I’ve also become quite the shopper. My friends are amazed at the savings I can pull at the stores. I get tons of emails from stores and web sites all vying for my dollar. I got fabulous Black Friday Deals, and I recently ordered some Amazon books that saved me well over 60% retail!

Not to mention the cashback I get from Sunshine rewards, I can count some serious savings! The money I am saving is going towards our activities, so the more I save, the more we do! What have you been doing to ignore the negativity?

My daughter’s birthday was last weekend, and I had purchased this guitar set for her. I ordered it online from the Disney Store, but it’s everywhere now, and with great sales.

The set comes with a play guitar and a headset microphone. The guitar itself works well, if not a bit loudly. The headset leaves a bit to be desired. I was trying to put it on my 6 year old’s head, and the ear pieces just are not meant to fit a child. Considering that is who will be wearing this I think it is poor design. Also, As I was trying to fit these to her head, I snapped one of the ear pieces off, of course it was the one that had the microphone attached.

I ended up having to wire tie the microphone to one of her headbands, and it works pretty well now! The microphone works well, and she likes to “play” her guitar alonside Daddy playing Guitar Hero.

I paid $19 for this, and I was pretty ticked about the headset. If I couldn’t make the headband work I was going to return it. Since everyone seems to be happy now I’ll let it go.

I wouldn’t buy this at full price, but if you manage to snag it on sale (I’ve seen $14) than it is a fun gift for the kids, and it does foster imaginative play.