Still Not Spackling the Kitchen Walls

Here is a picture of a huge tub of what I like to call SPACKLE. It's just a fun word to say. Try it.

It theoretically covers gashes in walls and other non-pretty spots made by wallpaper stripping. THREE layers of wallpaper, to be specific.

I say THEORETICALLY because you have to actually open the tub and use it for it to work. I can't seem to get around to doing that. Maybe that will occur during Labor Day weekend, when Aron is home and we have no plans.

Perhaps I will have some lovely pictures of spackled wall for you next week, readers. Wouldn't that be awesome? Aren't you excited? Will you be thinking of me spackling all weekend long and anticipating Tuesday's post? I know you will!

Review of Dr. Max Powers Stretch Mark Intensive Treatment

 

This is what I love about my little side job of blogging and reviewing: I get cool products to try out and then I let you know what I think of them ... honestly.

Alrighty, so we all know I have five children. That's five full-term pregnancies, folks. That's five nice, normal, healthy pregnancies where I gained an appropriate amount of weight with each kid, give or take 10 pounds! I've had nurses tell me I don't have very many stretch marks for having so many kids, but they are still there. You just have to smoosh my stomach around below my belly button and you will find them. I did take a BEFORE shot, but for a change I ain't sharin'. Let's just say I'm not at my fighting weight.

So of course I applied to review this product. Below I pasted how the product website bills this cream ... more of something for weightlifters who get stretch marks on their arms and shoulders than for preggies and post-preggies, but I figured it was worth a shot. I'm not convinced that a stretch mark is a stretch mark is a stretch mark ... a little stretching on the arms slowly over time is maybe not comparable to a belly stretching over weeks, then doing it again a couple of years later. But what do I know?

From the product website:
This treatment is designed for those who are prone to stretch marks on upper arms and shoulder areas. The cream has been formulated to provide nutrients and vitamins to skin that promotes elasticity and collagen to prevent and reduce the appearance of these stretch marks associated with increases in size.

Weightlifters may experience stretch marks due to the over stretching of skin leading to a breakdown in elasticity. A scar forms on the skin leading to what is commonly known as a stretch mark. Striae is the medical term for stretch marks caused by a sudden change in the size of the body, such as pregnancy, rapid muscle bulking, or adrenal gland disorders. While most of the marks are permanent, there are ways to reduce and prevent them from occurring. 

Okay, so I gave it a shot over the course of a few weeks. I didn't apply it three times a day like it said to do for my kind (breeder), but I was applying it at least once a day. It did seem to somehow lighten my stretch marks. If I'd had breast stretch marks from being pregnant and nursing, I would've used it there, too, but I don't have that particular variety. In the interest of TMI, I do have stretch marks on my hips from growing too fast when I was like 12-13 years old, but I didn't try the cream there, either. At the price of only $14.99 for the jar, it's really worth a shot. Besides, you need to be moisturizing your body anyway.

So ... I recommend this for PREGNANT WOMEN ... preferably pregnant for the first time and in their first trimester. It's the same cost as some of those other tummy rubs for pregnant women, and it's ORGANIC and smells good and rocks. And it's in a 2-ounce container, so you can carry it with you and put it on whenever you want.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Moshi Monster Monday: MISS KRISTIN'S STASH!!!

You asked for it, and I got the recon photos for you of Miss Kristin's STASH! Back here I blogged about where my kids get most of their Moshi Monster cards and figures and other stuff. But I could have kicked myself because I didn't get photos! So here they are! We love Miss Kristin! And let's not forget Mr. Kristin, who can always be found holding down the fort and making dinner while the deals take place.

First you are let in the house with a secret password. Then you are led up a dark corridor, at the end of which you will find a wall full of books and a floor full of toys.

The magic desk where the Amazon.com and eBay sales take place.

She also deals in Littlest Pet Shop.

Doesn't she look shady? This is a rare photo of Miss Kristin dealing Moshis to my son. He might be  handing her a hundred-dollar-bill for all I know. She is most generous and fair and I can never repay her for the cool stuff she's procured from the United Kingdom to resell to Moshi-poor children in America. This woman is a saint in my book.

The Coolest Pool on Earth

Just a few quick shots of Jordan's swimming pool in her backyard, where we try to make it on Sundays in the summertime. Lately it's been chillier at night (in August?!) so the kids make it inside the back door to ... yep, sit and watch Disney on the boob tube. Kids. Sheesh.

Back to School Time: Target Bins Rock!

I know, it seems like all I do lately is write about products I like. Some of them I get for free and write about for free and then beg the company for one to give away, some companies pay me for my time to review their product and want my honest opinion, some stuff I just write about that I bought my very own self. This post is about the THIRD variety: stuff I bought all by myself with the help of my man's paycheck.

So I went to Target = TROUBLE FINANCIALLY. My husband starts to call me after about an hour of being in Target because he knows there just went like 200 bucks. Well, it was back to school time, so whaddya expect?

Well, I did make a splurge. These great bins. I got 5 cuz I gots 5 kids. Theoretically each kid will keep their own crap stuff in their own bin. So far it's working ... if I find something of theirs, I put it in the correct bin. Sometimes they pack up their bin if we are going somewhere so they have something to do all ready to go. They were $8 each and worth every penny. Below, stuffed with school supplies.

Little Sam even got one ... he picked this one out with the cool design. He's such a little model. You'd think we'd been taking pictures of him since seconds after his birth. Wait, that's all my kids. Don't look at my perpetually messy desk behind the sweet kid.

What do you do to stay organized ... homeschooling or not?

When Was YOUR Last Tea Party?

Do you want to know the political parties I most identify with, by the way? The Fiesta Party, the Cocktail Party and the Tea Party, but not the one you're thinking of.

Have a great weekend!

Thankful Thursday: My Husband

Yeah, I know my husband isn't like a PRODUCT that I am thankful for, and I am definitely not doing a giveaway of him ... this week (check the left side of the blog for current giveaways and sometime you might see my husband listed on there ... just kidding!).

I just wanted to take a post to say how thankful I am for him! He's been out of town for about half the year. We got to go to Wyoming with him for 5 weeks (see Wyoming under Categories and you can see all the fun we had), which was AMAZING, and we are so thankful for that. He worked long hours there, but we got to have him all to ourselves on Sundays.

Anyway, he is home now and we didn't really have any good Turf Wars like we usually do when he's been gone a long time and Momma's been runnin' the show (The Kerrie Show, you know). Having him home has taken so much of the load off of me ... I'm more pleasant to be around because I have someone helping with the kids and with the house and watering the grass and garden and taking the kids on long bike rides and someone to confide in. My best friend is back.

Lately we have been talking about the future ... do we want to move to a place with some land? How much will that cost? How much will it cost to replace the roof ourselves (meaning him and some friends with some pizza and beer)? New windows? How much fun will we have working side by side this winter tearing down wallpaper and spackling/sanding walls and painting the entire main level? Will we want to kill each other or kiss each other?

Is it wrong that I think it's so hot when he does things like wash our daughters' hair in the sink after getting the gum out?

I love you, Aron. Are you happy that I'm posting about  how much you rock instead of posting about giveaways all the time?! It's all for you, baby!

Christmas Lists in August

Tent ... well, I'm entering giveaways so maybe Santa will bring one
Cool dresses ... Santa shops at Goodwill, right?
Dog ... check. Coming in October and not from Santa
Wyoming trip ... I wish.
Hairbrush ... yeah, she really needs like 10 of these. Keeps losing them and has this fine hair. I'm thinking dreadlocks.
Another doll like Laura ... it's an American Girl knockoff, so that's doable
Moshi comic book ... better get to writing and illustrating that because they don't exist yet.

What's on YOUR Christmas list?

Moshi Monster Monday: Web Sites to Check Out

Congratulations to Amy L. and Tami S. for winning the Moshi Monsters cards and figures! I'll be contacting them via email today to find out where to send their prize package! If you're disappointed that you did not win, just hit the left side of the blog for many more giveaway opportunities! I like participating in cash giveaways most definitely and there's a Kindle/Keurig one coming up, as well as some fun baby stuff.

Today's Moshi focus is going to be on cool, fun or helpful web sites that will help you with your game or just let you have fun checking out Moshi Monsters.

Michael and a pal playing with their Moshi Monsters figures. I call this Moshis Unplugged because they aren't playing the online game!

Head here for the Moshi Monsters game. I have a free membership but it's VERY limited. For $5.95 per month per kid they can have unlimited play, catch unlimited Moshis and have access to all the cool missions and the entire map of the joint. It's not just a video game; it helps kids with reading, math and with logic.

SuperCheats has many Moshi codes for getting cool stuff when you play the online Moshi Monsters game

Moshi Wikia is super informative about all things Moshi

Feel free to add your own helpful sites in the Comments section and I can put those in another post!

Taking Kids to the Cemetery, Talking About Death and Spirits

Today marks 30 years that my Great Aunt Eva June Michael Wilkerson has been dead. In her honor we are going fishing because she loved to fish with her husband. She didn't have any kids but was the best mom ever, if you know what I mean. My daughter Eva is named after her. My son Michael is named after the whole family ... there were 7 kids in my grandma's family.

Yesterday we had to go to the Scout shop, which is up the street from where my mom works. She works at a florist. I decided to visit her and get some flowers and take a trip across town to Aunt Eva's grave. It was a last-minute adventure. Here are some pictures!

I have some funny videos to upload to YouTube soon ... of the kids yelling at each other to get off the headstones and me saying, "They are dead. They don't care. Just stay on our family's headstones because they know our kind of crazy."

Eva's grave. She was married to Max, who was her second husband. Like me, she was married to a real jerk the first time around and found her true love the second time.

All my kids hanging out with Eva and Max, who loved kids! So many things I could say about Eva, but the things I remember the most are that she was a great cook, worked as a lunch lady, worked at Russell Stover so she knew what every chocolate was by looking at the top, ate Tic Tacs and always let me sit at her vanity and put on her red lipstick and powder my face. And she loved flowers. And ornery kids. And cussing.

This picture makes me think I should have named Sam "Max" instead ... Sam and Eva are so close. But I didn't want the same initials on two kids since I write about them all the time in shorthand. Goofy me! Yes, Eva is wearing boy clothes today.

This is the headstone for my mom's cousin, who died in a car crash when she was 14. My kids and I talked about it and how the headstone says, "She is not dead, she is just away."

Me and the naughties. We had a lot of fun at the cemetery, if you can believe it. We were surrounded by lots of family ... I took lots of headstone pictures. My grandma is the last of her brothers and sisters for many  years now.

Little Eva hanging out with Aunt Eva. Are you shocked that she is standing on the headstone? Guess what? When you walk anywhere in a cemetery you are walking over dead bodies. Last week one night while we were praying in our bedroom, our bathroom light randomly went out. The light bulb was fine. We think it was Aunt Eva messing with the lights. We choose to not be freaked out by stuff like that and are happy to know our dead family members may be watching over us ... including my dad's grandma (Nanny) and Papa Guy and Max and Aron's grandparents and more. It's comforting to us.

This is Joel POUNDING AUNT EVA. Okay, so she used to get little kids in a hug and pat their back and say, "I'm gonna pound you!" So we all pound our kids now and Aunt Eva needed to be pounded.

I later told Michael thank you for coming along with me on our little journey and he says, "I didn't really have a choice." Yep, that's the Michael family humor in him = ornery! One last weird note: my grandma has these dolls called Pickaninnies ... it's like a racially bad word, I know. These are the cutest little black dolls ever and they are the only thing I have spoken up about wanting to have when Grandma dies because they were Aunt Eva's. Here's the thing:

There are 3 BOY dolls and 2 GIRL dolls, just like my family!*

*Yeah, I know I could still get knocked up and all that, then I'll just have to hit eBay to buy more of them to make the set like my own family. That's me ... always thinkin'. Now I know my mom is crying over this post and my dad is passed out on the floor with me mentioning having another kid. Gotta go. My work here is done.

Thankful Thursday: Oliver's Labels

I have been given a rockin' product to review once again. They are called Oliver's Labels and they are so cool! Below is a picture of one of the labels on my laptop. You can see that it says "if found, visit oliverslabels.com" then you enter the number at the top of the sticker to get contact information for the owner. Try it! You enter your information and then Oliver's Labels lets ME know how to get in touch with you to retrieve it!

Here's a picture of  one of the small, name-only labels on Michael's new homeschool bin. These are great for things you might send to school with your kids or put on other things where it's okay for your kid to be identified by name if his stuff gets lost. I put "McLoughlin" on my labels because I couldn't just pick one kid's name to put on. You, being normal and probably not having 64 kids, would probably get, say, a set of labels with your daughter's full name on them and a set with your son's full name :-)

Here are just some of the uses I came up with around my own house for these great labels, which come in many different sizes:

1. Put them on/in shoes
2. Makes the tagging of camp clothes simple
3. Coats/jackets aren't lost for long (we find so much stuff like this at the school across the street when we go play at the playground)
4. One less step in your life will be checking a lost and found bin for your kid's stuff ... you just wait until Oliver's Labels contacts you and lets you know where the thing is. Or someone can just bring that jacket to your kid's classroom instead of letting it rot in the lost and found bin.
5. Special dolls
6. Put them on the tags of stuffed animals
7. Put them on your kid's shirt when you go to a crowded place for easy paging, especially if your child is very young
8. The designs may be cute, but I'm telling you many adults need these things (you saw my laptop!)
9. Get some of the labels that say ALLERGIES or NO NUTS to protect your child from a potentially bad health situation.
10. Leave your ideas in the Comments section!

Check out Oliver's Labels at their website, on their Facebook fan page, and on Twitter! Free shipping on orders over $30. With so many cute designs and fonts and more, there is something for everyone! Next I want to see this company make labels with a tracking device so my kids will stop asking me where everything is :-)

 I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. 

Vintage Barbie Fun: My Teen Son Is Going to Kill me for Posting This

I die when I see this vintage black Barbie dress and also the vintage tutu.

These are pictures of my 3 boys plus my 2 girls and their friend playing with the vintage Barbies my mom has gifted to me. She gave them to my girls, but I have claimed them until they are older. I will probably keep a few of my favorite outfits because they are my only link to decent fashion! Mom, who knew your GRANDSONS would also be playing with the Barbies?!

You gotta love the huge fish ... from my mom's husband to the kids. It's like a huge pillow and they love it.

Tackle-It Tuesday: Homeschool Bookshelf

Every Tuesday, I tackle a different project around my home that's been bugging all of us!

Here's a picture of my messy bookshelf from over 2 years ago. You have to hit the link to see it. Then hit this link to see the AFTER shot from then. It obviously did not stay that way because we are discussing it again. My excuses include (cue whining): I have a lot of kids; I'm a homeschooler and we have a lot of paper; I'm a writer so I'm a creative type and don't like to clean; my parents made me their only child slave so I am rebelling against my husband daily by not picking up. Didja like those?

So here she be last weekend. Don't get me started on all the stuff on the walls and the floor. We like to draw and create and save stuff, but not in a hoarder way.

Moshi Monster Monday: GIVEAWAY! Cards and Figures

Because I want to indoctrinate a child in your life into the Moshi Monster lifestyle, (assuming they have not already fallen in love with these guys!), it's time to do a giveaway!

You can find similar cards on eBay for $10/3 packs, and figures go for at least $2 each depending on rarity, so I'm calling this giveaway an $18 value for each prize package, and I'm giving away TWO MOSHI MONSTER PRIZE PACKAGES!

Sorry about the sideways pictures ... it's good for your neck to turn it from time to time. Enter using the handy dandy Rafflecopter below. This one goes on for a week! I'll announce the winner next Moshi Monster Monday! Good luck!

 This giveaway is over :-( Check the left side of the blog for more giveaways!

The Waterinator

So last week on Facebook I was talking about how I never set up the sprinkler outside like my husband does (and his quest for a sprinkler that doesn't break is another post and I'll let him write that one) because I would leave it going for days on end before remembering to turn it off. I woke up the other morning and it had gone all night on my precious baby tomatoes and I was lamenting that fact. So my friend Angela Vawter, who is a total GENIUS, came up with this drawing. You put a helmet on a kid's head, attach it to a hose and the rest is green lawns and productive gardens! Ah, suburbia.

The "You Bow, Girl!" is a business our friend Caroline Horton has, so Angela had to give her some love by putting one of her bows on the helmet! We also have a friend who has a tutu business (what is it about Catholic women and their little at-home businesses?), so my son Sam not only has a bow on his helmet but also is wearing a tutu. (And we call my mother Tutu, which is Hawaiian for Grandma).

Thankful Thursday: Moxie Tonic Blog Buttons

Okay, so turn your attention to the left-hand side of my bloggy and you will see some cool buttons that say things like "Subscribe", "Twitter", "Facebook" and so on. These are my (said in a snooty voice) social media buttons. They let fans and friends connect with me, subscribe to the blog via email or RSS feed, give me Klout (blog lovin'), check out my YouTube videos and more!

How cute is this?!

The cost? Only 4 measly bucks.

Where did I get them?

HERE, at MoxieTonic's Etsy shop. Tell her Kerrie sent ya!

I heart them. They were easy to install. They make it easy for people to connect with me. Every blogger should have them! She has other options, like round buttons, banners, signatures and does custom orders.

I give them 5 kids out of 5.

Don't forget to check out my 4-day giveaway of a 3.5 ounce tube of Noxicare valued at $19.95 HERE!

Wordful Wednesday: Unexpected Beach Trip

Holy crap, my kids are cute. Who knew they would be so cute? Anyway, one night I went to pick up Joel from a Scout thing like 40 minutes away since we are all weird and don't like him to stay the night places like that without his dad. It was at a cool lake, so we drove around some and found the beach and had a little beach fun. The kids had fun splashing around and the night was gorgeous. I love to be a spontaneous mom when I can!

Tackle-It Tuesday: Kitchen Junk Drawer

Every Tuesday, I tackle a different project around my home that's been bugging all of us!

I don't know about you, but I am digging Tackle-It-Tuesday! It's the only way to get me actually working on projects that need to get done. You know how you do dishes and laundry and cooking and stuff like that DAILY? It's so refreshing to do a project that you know you won't have to revisit for months! I can do basic upkeep on these Tackle-It projects whenever I encounter them, and they (probably, hopefully) won't get out of hand!

So here is our drawer in our kitchen. Can't find a thing. It got to the point where we couldn't even fit the other white tray in there! What is all this stuff, anyway?

Moshi Monster Monday: Miss Kristin the Moshi Dealer

I have to take a Moshi Monster Monday to discuss the supplier of some of the Moshi Monster Madness.

Her name is Miss Kristin. She buys Moshi stuff from England and resells it on Amazon ... and to little kids.

I like to call her the Moshi Monster Dealer. She started out by giving the kids freebies, you know, like a drug dealer.

Then they were hooked.

That's when I started floating her fives and tens for Collector's Guides and rare cards and figures.

Then the kids started going over to her house to check out her new shipments of Moshi goodies and they would take their own money to buy things.

To call her a dealer isn't fair. She is a very generous person and would give them everything. But I didn't feel right having them take all that stuff for free, so I make sure they make nice negotiations and deals. I think it's good practice for them in the future.

Anyway, we love our Miss Kristin and wanted to give her a shout-out today!

Thanks, Miss Kristin, for being the supplier of all good things Moshi!

Today is the last day to enter the Anytime Costume giveaway! You or your kid can be almost anything for Halloween because Anytime Costumes has so many choices!

Backyard Blow-up Pool Fun

*UPDATE September 2, 2019 and two years ago today we discovered our dream house in Peculiar, MO with a pool in the backyard that stays open until October! See blog post here!

We love summer. We love the pool. We get a $100 pool pass for our entire family for the whole summer ... such a great deal for 6 different pools open from 12-8. There are times when we don't want to pile in the car to go to the pool, and there are times when the kids would like to play in the water before noon and after 8 p.m. Enter the annual blow-up swimming pool. Well, it's plural (pools) this year!

Yeah, it cost too much and it's teeny tiny, but the little ones like it and it keeps them busy! It's two different pools connected by a hippo slide!

I originally bought this one, and we decided to return it because it was too small. In July, though, it was hard to find a big rectangle one, so I broke this one out while Aron was traveling so we'd have a pool fun center.

The McLoughlin Pool Fun Centre. Notice how the grass around it where we drain the pools is high and green and the rest of the yard is dying :-)

Why don't we get a big old pool for the patio that's like 4 feet deep? Well, for one we don't want our entire patio taken up by it. And maintenance is a horror. And water freaks me out since I only have 3 who can swim currently.

Thankful Thursday: ANY Costume Review

Are you ready for Halloween?

Okay, so this women's costume came in the mail recently from Anytime Costumes for me to review. I got to pick the costume I wanted, and figured I was getting too old to dress all sexy like a go-go girl like I wanted to. So I went with the more refined Jacqueline Kennedy First Lady costume.

Here's the deal: I NEVER dress up for Halloween. It's a miracle that I get all 5 of my kids in costumes for Halloween, frankly. I always WANT to, but getting away to go shopping is a pain, plus I don't like shopping. Plus what could I be? I'm a slightly overweight mom ... what to wear? One year I was a clown, but that was when I was super pregnant and I borrowed that costume from a friend. So here is what came in the mail for me:

I have not had time to go get gloves and the purse and the sensible shoes, but that will come in time. I'll post me in those later. For now, here is me in the costume because it's always good to see a  real person with a costume on versus a model on a package.

Photo taken by my professional photographer 11-year-old son Joel

The only thing I don't like about it is that the skirt is so thin that I'm going to need a slip, just like they used to wear in the olden days. The front is covered fine, but the back is thinner so you can see my undiepants. I think if I drop a few el bees (lbs. = pounds) that I can pull it off. I also need to dye my hair black and cut it off. Nah, ain't gonna happen. I'm pretty sure no kid is gonna know who I am, but that's cool. I know I am The First Lady.

Wordless Wednesday: Ladykiller

This is Samuel. We call him Samwich sometimes because that's what his siblings wanted him to be called when he was in my belly. Funny how we ended up calling him Sam when he was born. Here is his birth story, the little poop. He was born with poop in his lungs and was swept away from me pretty fast. He could have died. He has been a daredevil ever since and gives me mini heart attacks daily. I think I have my hands full with him. Then you toss his sister into the mix (Eva) and you have a real mess-making, trouble-making tornado. So much for WORDLESS Wednesday! I don't think I could ever BE wordless!