Reasons to smile...

    My family was delighted when we learned we would be receiving free ice cream! As a Mom Central blogger I am happy to participate in the Dreyer's Slow Churned blog tour!

    We had not tried the Slow Churned ice cream and were pleasantly surprised to find a wide variety of flavors to chose from! More than 20 iconic choices!  Dreyer's Slow Churned ice cream is made with the same quality ingredients as regular ice cream, but through a slow proprietary process the same creamy taste is created with half the fat and one third the calories!

   Peanut butter cup was our choice! It was delicious! It tasted just like regular ice cream! I felt good about serving my family Dreyer's Slow Churned ice cream as a "better for you" alternative! The comparisons speak for themselves! One serving of Dreyer's Slow Churned Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream is 120 calories and 4.5 grams of fat, compared to 150 calories and 8 grams of fat in Dreyer's regular Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream!

Operation Smile

    This summer, TV personality, actress and model Brooke Burke has partnered with Dreyer's® Slow Churned Light Ice Cream to give away more than 25,000 free scoops of ice cream…turning scoops into smiles!

Support with a Smile:

• For every “ice cream smile” photo uploaded to Dreyer's Facebook page $5 will be donated to Operation Smile, an international children’s medical charity.

• The goal is to give away more than 25,000 scoops of ice cream, capture 25,000 photos of ice cream smiles before summer’s end.

• These efforts will help deliver more than 500 reconstructive surgeries to children around the globe suffering from cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities.

• Of the photos submitted, ten lucky smiles will be featured in a Dreyer’s Slow Churned print ad.

• One lucky picture will win a coveted spot on the cartons of a Slow Churned limited-edition flavor, being re-introduced to store shelves in early 2013.

Ready to Scream for Free Ice Cream?

The campaign kicked off June 6 with Brooke Burke handing out the first scoop of ice cream at The Grove in Los Angeles. From there, the Reason to Smile team (and the Slow Churned photo booth) travels to:

• August 2:  The Slow Churned SocialLuxe Lounge, New York, NY

• August 10—12:  Denver County Fair, Denver, CO

Can’t make it to an event?  Log on to Facebook.com/Dreyer'sIceCream to receive a full-value product coupon, redeemable at all participating retail accounts and upload a smile to support the cause!   

Upload your smiles! We did!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Dreyer’s / Edy’s. I received a coupon to purchase product samples and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Catching up...Whew!

    What a crazy past few days! I have been super busy and fallen behind on my lil blog hobby! Having my husband home for the Holiday was awesome! I love spending time with him, and it always helps to have the pilot and co pilot on board!

     On the 24th we opened the front door just in time to see the heels of the FedEx man....on the step was our brand new Hoover MaxExtract 60 carpet cleaner! Woot Woot! We cleaned carpet all day Tuesday with new found carpet cleaning vigor! Thank you again to Mom Central for allowing me to participate in this great campaign! Review coming soon!

Stay tuned also for the July Birchbox!

  I have been given a wonderful opportunity to participate in history! My hometown is eagerly awaiting the dedication of a brand new temple! Our family has been privileged to watch this process from the ground up! A mural made of thousands of mosaic tiles is being created as we speak by many, many artists! I was blessed to be given one of these tiles! 

Whew!

   When I finally had two minutes to check into blogger land I was surprised to find I had received two   wonderful awards from Melissa at Figuring it Out as we Grow!

 I am honored! For the Versatile blogger I need to list seven random facts about myself....

1) I really really hate spiders! Who loves them right? Gross!

2) I am in a funky Black Eyed Peas phase?! Probably because I can get an awesome run in while jamming to their beats!

3) I am a enrolled member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska....barely

4) I love Big Brother and Days of our Lives...Guilty pleasures! SHHHH! Don't tell!

5) I am OCD about my emails!

6) I believe in second chances and the power of perseverance

7) I am really stoked about race training....who am I? I hate exercising... but am digging this race training schedule! I maybe even have the hubs thinking about joining me:)

Now ten questions for the Sunshine blog award...

  1.) What would you most like to change about yourself?

Wow! What a question...Hmmm! I am overall fairly happy with who I am, however I would like to be a little less empathetic at certain times and with many situations. I often get taken advantage of because I have a overly soft and "yearns for peace" heart.

  2.) What is your theme song?

For me this changes often as life situations and new music that hits home is constantly changing. Right now there are a few. The Fighter by Gym Class Heroes because the words just get to me! On some days it is Little Miss by Sugarland or Stronger by Kelly Clarkson. On angry days its The sound of Madness by Shinedown...see! Too many!

                    
   3.) One part of your life, a memory, action, etc. that you wish you could surgically remove from your brain?

Can I keep the lessons learned? If so I would surgically remove the images from age seventeen to twenty four when the reign of terror finally ended!


    4.) What generation do you wish you’d been a part of?
I love being alive now, but have always thought myself to be of the Victorian era..


  5.) What was your favorite childhood toy?

My Cabbage Patch doll!

  6.) What is your favorite household chore?
All of them! I love cleaning up after everyone else! I love changing poopy diapers and washing dirty nasty dishes! Um...a favorite household chore? OK... Fine! I sorta enjoy carpet cleaning with my new Hoover!


  7.) Do you twitter?
 Yup!


 8.) Any goals?
Many! Finishing my education! Becoming the bestest review blog available! Enjoying this time with my fast growing little ones. Living each day like it is a new and fresh start...I could really go on forever!


  9.) Do you really drink margaritas all the time?
I have not had a margarita in ages! Margaritas remind me of my honeymoon in Vegas! Good times! We are going back in March for NASCAR and to celebrate our fifth anniversary! Perhaps I will partake then!


 10.) What’s the ugliest car you’ve ever driven?

 My ugliest car was also my favorite very first car. My little "Super Ru" That car could go places trucks could not go! It was awesome!

Yikes that is a lot of info about me! I now have to dash to work and will post my nominees soon! Thanks again Melissa!

                                                                      Loressa

 

Wordsful Wednesday...

'New York Med' Goes Where No Camera Has Gone Before | Video - ABC News

Did you watch NY Med last night?

    I personally had been waiting for this on pins and needles! I have been a Dr. Oz fan since the Oprah days! Because what he does is fascinating! Years ago  I was over half way through an associates degree in medical assisting when my life began to totally fall apart. Last week the premiere of a medical television show stopped me in my tracks and took me back, forward and beyond....

    If the stars align I will be heading to school with my baby. This time after my LPN. If you are not watching NY MED check it out next week! Awesome!

Happy Wednesday!

   

The self proclaimed queen of multitasking...

    My daughter just came into the living room and busted up laughing...

  "What?!"

   Truth is I know exactly the cause for her glee...With one ear bud in blasting out to my iPod, one bud out to listen for the baby. The treadmill cranked to an impressive 4MPH Woot Woot! My laptop rigged to the dash. Blog open in one tab, work open in another. A thirteen page aging report in my left hand.....people pay your bills!

    I feel pretty accomplished and the Killers are just sounding too awesome today!

Turn it up Momma's

Finito! And an awesome feature!

   Baby K's nursery is being featured!

   Stop by I Heart Pears and look around this beautiful blog for many great shower and nursery themes and ideas! Thanks Elise!

 Sweet Baby K's room is finally done! I was having so much fun I had to force myself to stop! Once I had the branches touched up I went back through with a few different shades of brown for shading and added glitter to random areas! I kept all of her Well Child exam records and I was able to chart her growth from birth on the trunk of the tree!

 One final touch was this book mobile. With some floral wire, hot glue and ribbon I created a unique corner look. I hope she enjoys this for years to come!

Silver Slipper...My amazing little sister!

A kid with a dream! 

 That is what she calls herself! I am so proud of my sweet little sister! Maggie began playing the piano at the age of ten and she is amazing! Her talent will move you to tears! Now she is taking on the world!  Please show your support and move the word about her fundraising efforts!

Just For Fun Hop #2

    To celebrate the beginning of  six weeks of 10k training I feel the need to hop! The annual festival in my hometown is fast approaching and the 6.2 mile road race is once again calling my name! This week I will begin  working on the speed of my mile! 

Wish me Luck!

     Let's hop! This is a follow friendly hop! New followers leave a comment! Feel free to link up your blog, Twitter, Pinterrest....whatever! Please share this hop! The more the merrier!

My first and most likely LAST mural...

A room makeover has been a long time coming!

    We knew that Sweet baby K would be our last baby! On random days...and they are getting fewer! We muse about trying once more for a boy...those days are few! Because she was our last little one we decided to have some fun with my pregnancy and we did not know her gender until birth (well I knew but played along into the hope that she would be a he) On the off chance we would welcome home a little boy I decorated the nursery in a unisex theme. Now that I know my little girl and know her bright little personality I have been cursing my brown and green choice. I looked and pondered forever as to how I would change it...

Adorable!

   I had been wanting a tree of some kind but could not find one I liked! My friend was within hours of cutting a vinyl tree for me on her silhouette when I found this beautiful baby girl room at" Unique baby gear ideas " I loved it so much that I started painting that afternoon!

A funny thing...

I set to work by first priming my chocolate brown walls with a white latex paint. Then...painted it back to the original lavender color my husband had painted the room with. He found this slightly amusing!

I started my tree by free handing the trunk and branches.

Then went back through to clean it up...

Instead of painting flowers I used double sided scrap book paper to create these cuties! A button center!

To spare myself  extra work and to save some of my original effort I  used the green strips to create a colorful tiled look.

I just need to finish touching up the branches! I am so excited!

Will post the final pics soon:)

                                                                           Loressa