How to stretch $100 for 4 kids' clothes... #luvcookies

It's no surprise that the prices for kid's clothing are as high as gold right now; and when you have more than 1 child, it just becomes a bit too much right? 
Well having 6+ kids ourselves and our income being extremely limited, it was very hard to get the kids new school clothes last month.  They all had to settle for one new outfit each, good thing they are used to budgets because it was not a battle.

Since moving to NY I had been sticking to the generic superstore to find quick and affordable clothing items as I could afford them. 

WELL, let me tell you...

NO MORE!!! ;)

They even had racks on the sidewalk!!!
$9.99 for sweater dresses with elbow high gloves

No matter what, I am always a proud Mom ;)

What makes you a Proud Mom?  As a Mom I think I can safely say that just about every single thing about our kids makes us proud, right?  Well I can't use "everything" as a specific answer, so I will break it down ;)

See, I have 6 kids, and that's 6 lives full of moments filled with love, smiles, tears, scrapes, and hugs.  6 little hugs when I am sad.  6 high fives when I do something I'm happy about.  6 little "thank you's & you're welcome's & excuse me's".  6 children who have been through SO much since birth, and have surpassed every expectation that both the Doctors

A "Make & Take" Party with Pedialyte Singles

Has the cold/flu bug hit your house yet? 

Have you stocked your pantry with the new Pedialyte Singles? Follow #PedialyteSingles on Twitter and Facebook to read the latest tips.  The biggest bonus is that the new singles come in a "juice box" shape so if your kids are anything like mine, they will drink it thinking it's only juice. For a long time it was a challenge with my little ones because they would associate the big bottle with medicine.

Want another bonus? It now comes in clear liquids!!! They have apple, cherry and fruit flavors.

Click here to see the wide variety of flavors and drinks.

If you have small children in your home, you know that dehydration is the biggest "bully" for them during this time.  The body fluids that the children loose during their illnesses are vital, and as my children's Doctors have recommended since they were living in the hospital as preemies; Pedialyte has always been what we turn too to prevent this bully from beating our kids.

I had an opportunity to have a "make & take" party at my house.  A few of my friends got together, we cooked easy and hearty meals that we can freeze for those dreaded days.  You know what days I'm talking about, when the kids are sick and you are worn out from being nurse and mommy.  Even worst, for the days when the mommies are sick and need that extra help.  We had a blast, we hung out, cooked, laughed and now we have the piece of mind that we have a back up plan in the freezer for "those days".  I even made the kids some "get well" baskets.  Look at the fun meals we did...

Powered by Whrrl

Here are some helpful links to make those sick days a little easier to deal with:

Essentials for a well-stocked medicine chest

A fun and easy experiment to teach about dehydration

Warning Signs & Symptoms of dehydration

Printable activities to keep kids entertained when sick

FAQs about Pedialyte

As with anything you give your children, ask your doctor's advice first.

I thought the little baskets were so cute, that I had 2 extra ones for my readers ;)

To enter
1 Entry = leave a comment telling me what you do in advance to be prepared for those sick days.
Extra and Additional entries:Follow me through GFC = 1
follow me through Twitter = 1
"like" me through facebook = 1
Comment on any other post = 1 entry per comment

Giveaway will end on 12-15-10 midnight PST.  Please leave email address in your comment so I can contact you if you are the winner.  I will post the winner on this post, announce through Twitter and Facebook, as well as email the winner.  Make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry you submit. 
All opinions and ideas are my own, I was compensated by Collective Bias for the shop, and children's gift baskets were my idea and decision.

#PedialyteSingles to the rescue....

I had a sick little bear this weekend, and the it ran through the beginning of the School week.

 Though it's terrible to see my babies sick, it's something I am very used too.   All of my babies have been born prematurely, from 22-29 weeks premature, and have come with a full package of low immune system bumps in the road, so they get sick a lot. 

Having Pedialyte has literally been a lifesaver in our Family many times.  My babies have gotten severely dehydrated and hospitalized from different illnesses, and Pedialyte has been the only thing that they have been able to have for days at a time, to replenish their lost electrolytes. I am not trying to sound like a commercial, I am just sharing with you our Family's journeys and experiences with Pedialyte. 

As the years have passed, Pedialyte has not changed much in flavor, but the way we can buy it certainly has changed, and for the better.  They have gone from:

The full size bottle

singles bottles

Freeze pops

The ECO-Friendly Powder packets!!

And now the NEW Pedialyte Singles in Tetra Paks

This has been the best idea yet!

These singles have an 18 month shelf life and are small enough for little hands to grip all the way around!!

The flavors are Apple, Cherry, and Fruit Flavor! ;)

My baby spent these last few days in bed and with a bucket if you know what I mean, without giving you further descriptions, and as I have been doing for years, I only give my Children a brand that I trust, nothing less.

Now my baby is better, returning to school tomorrow and hopefully our Family will be back to normal this weekend...

This is how this California Family rolls! ;)

Want more good news?!
Abbott Nutrition has given us a link for $1.50 OFF coupon!

http://bit.ly/bEXbq4

Want to see my Whrrl story about the New Pedialyte Singles?
Here is the link: http://whrrl.com/e/h0Bo9

Follow #PedialyteSingles on Twitter for real-time talk.
The opinions and experiences are my own, Collective Bias sponsored my shop for Pedialyte Singles.

What is your Passion?

I ask you this, because of two things:
1) I believe that many people take life for granted and don't enjoy the passion in their life as much as they should, I should know, i was like that ;)

2) I came across a contest that asks for a picture of what your passion is, so I am curious to know what yours is?


I thought long and hard what my passion is, and I couldn't come up with one word, I had too many passions and loves to choose from, then my baby, my youngest of 6, the one whom Doctors said would not make it; sat on the couch, gave me a kiss, and said
"Mommy, you're beautiful and I love you"

There it is!!!  That is my passion!! 
My Family, my children, the last 4 kids were born at 22 weeks, 24 weeks, 25 weeks and 29 1/2 weeks, they were and are miracles in themselves.  The four who were too sickly and premature to make it through their first month in the hospital, are now the same four who drive me up the walls at times, and yet, I am SO thankful that they are all here, that even at my most stressful mommy moments, I look at them and smile. 

That is my passion, it's what I live for, what I look too at my lowest points to help me go on.  I see them, I see smiles and I remember how much they weren't supposed to have been here, how much I cried and begged the Lord to let me keep them.  That I would cherish them everyday no matter what I went through.

To this day, I have kept my word. 
These are my treasures, my heart, my future,
my passion...

As I mentioned above, I have entered a contest, the theme is "Passion" and the winner will get a 16X20 rolled canvas and $100.  I have never been able to post the picture of one kids and not the rest, so this was a picture I made and we have in our living room, because it shows all of us, and what's important to us. 

July has been a month of Adventures in our house....

ok ok, I know,

EVERYDAY is an adventure with us, I get it, lol.

This month has been hard for the kids since they have spent this month of summer vacation with me in the nursing home.  In a way it has been great, they have grown a stronger bond with their Great Grampa and have heard many of the stories my Grampa used to tell me, like the one about him wrestling a 10 foot Shark in the ocean ;)

Grampa has been doing so much better, he can walk during his therapy and even do a few stairs, we are so proud of him ;)

This month My mini-me turned 8 years old!!!

Izeah (6) lost his first tooth!!!!!

Izeah's super-active-non-stop-action-driven-body has surprisingly been to "average" levels until this week, for some reason, he has gone back to that behavior a week before the new school year begins ;/  It has been nothing less than a completely wild adventure with our Family this summer.

I have taken my Grampa on a few outings this month, and I have all 4 youngest kids with me, plus Grampa's wheelchair, I am not sure if that qualifies as an adventure or just a sign of my insanity; either way I wouldn't trade it for the world ;)

Here are a few pics ;)

He wanted to show his great Grampa how brave he was, so he swished water in his mouth until the tooth popped out ;)

Happy Birthday Lily!!!!!!!!!!

2nd Annual Underwater Parks Day Event!

As many of you know, we were invited to attend The 2nd Annual Underwater Parks Day celebrations at SEA LIFE Aquarium by Legoland ;)

Let me start by telling you that it was a wonderful experience. 

We arrived on time, yes I know, it's not normal for us to arrive on time, but we did it!  We were so excited to go, we had never gone to the SEA LIFE Aquarium before.

We walked up to the entrance and we were greeted by the "ticket-taker" as my son called her lol.  She spoke to the kids, and got them even more excited.  She showed the kids some scratch off cards that they have at the entrance, she told the kids that as they go through the entire Aquarium, there are question areas for them to read, and answer on their scratch off cards.  She told them that at the end of their tour, if they turn in the card at the gift shop, they get a special "expert" badge if they get all of the answers correct.  WE all got excited, lol.

You then have to wait for a group to form and you are all let inside to a "holding area", the kids were so excited  because it just has you anticipating what's next.  In the section we went into, there is a video that plays where you are welcomed and it shows you some great clips.

The doors opens and WOW!  there is a slide and a bridge and a wall aquarium tank

The kids had so much fun, they didn't want to move along, lol.  Once I got their attention with the first trivia question, they rushed to read it, it was very nice to see them helping the little ones with the answers. 

We moved along through different sections of the Aquarium, Izeah which seems to be "soothed" by water or sea life, was just loving every single display.   They have these plaques called "Fin Facts" they teach you something about a specific sea life fact, I loved them, lol, I was so excited to find every single one throughout the entire aquarium ;)

The kids got to make a take-home habitat for an animal of their choice.

All the kids loved the different places where they can pet the different sea animals, but I think Izeah was EXTRA happy about that, he was asking tons of questions and he pet every single thing he could.  He stood there for almost an entire hour just petting a seastar.

Our local ocean conservation organizations that were there: Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation, Coastkeeper, I Love A Clean San Diego, Ocean Discovery Institute, San Diego Oceans Foundation and San Elijo State Beach.  They had booths and activities for The Underwater Parks Day event at SEA LIFE Aquarium.  They gace all of the kids a paper at the antrance to the booths, and if you got a stamp from all of the booths, you turn it in at the desk for a prize.
The kids got to make a button to pin on their shirts, see animals in jar and the effects of pollution, they got to make it "rain" on a plastic mold of a city so they can see where trash and hazardous materials end up.  They did learn, and they had a great time.  At the end of it, they cashed their stamped card for a sticker, and a bookmarker that when they are done using it, they can plant it and it has flower seeds embedded inside.  AWESOME!!!

EVERYONE LOVED the underwater tunnel, even Daddy....

They found The Lost City of Atlantis!

WE ALL had a WONDERFUL time, The entire day was a learning adventure.

When we were done inside of the Aquarium, which by the way was almost closing time, time flies when you're having fun ;)

The kids turned in their scratch off cards at the gift shop for a "expert" badge.

I can not express enough the fun the entire Family had during this event.

Want to know my Favorite part of the whole day?!?!!?

Izeah, (which if you read the sidebar, has autism) had a wonderful time, his ADHD and anxiety were completely under control that day.  The water is his "zone", staring at the sea animals for hours is so therapeutic for him,

While he was sitting here, watching the Lost City of Atlantis, he said

'Mommy, I LOVE it here, this is MY dream come true"

I just cried, he had never "loved" a place as much as this before!

If you have not visited SEA LIFE Aquarium before, please do so, I HIGHLY recommend it!

The price is extremely affordable, even for our large family, the things the entire Family will learn will last for years to come, The best part, is the wonderful memories you will have.

The SEA LIFE Aquarium definitely has my Seal of Approval!!!!

My Family received admission tickets to enjoy the festivities.

Sears, and why I love it!

So Christmas eve the family and I rushed to sears to start our Christmas shopping, I know, I manage time well, lol.

Sears provided our Family with a chance to shop at their Chula Vista location recently.  So out of all the days in the year, we went to shop on Christmas eve.  The store was as full as can be expected, families everywhere leaving things looking like the elves has a race ;)
As I looked around, in every department they had at least 3 employees organizing the areas.  Yes, we had ALL of our kids with us, so you know that from the 4 year old to the 9 year old it was a game.  As I would approach an employee I would apologize for whatever mess my children made, hoping I would not get the evil eye; I didn't! 
They were very nice, patient and helpful.  At 6pm the mall closed and what ever shoppers were left, flocked to Sears.  In the whole time we were there, every single employee was nice, and helpful. 

After several hours in their store, I was able to get each of the kids a nice brand name pair of shoes and 1 complete outfit for exactly $200.00  Did I mention I have a lot of kids ;)

The sales are amazing, and  the discounts  helped a TON!

Today I went to Sears again because in the rush of trying to wrangle the kids on Christmas eve, I accidentally grabbed 2 right shoes for the 4 yr old, funny thing is that we didnt realize it until he was wearing his shoes in public and someone mentioned it.  EMBARASSING!! lol

I went straight to Sears and told them what happened, they found the missing shoe for me, and as a Thank you and apology I recieved a 20% off coupon for my next purchase.

Yes, I do love Sears, and I will continue to buy my children's clothing there, the prices along with the quality and even the name brands make it an amazing thing for my Family.

Thank you to Sears and ALL of the employees that made our trip possible.

i hate crowds!!!

i HAd to leave my house yesterday to get food and things i needed to finish the girls costumes for their dance recitals, i hated it.

i just dont have anymore what it takes to be out right now, i was trying so hard to not have an anxiety atttack in the middle of walmart.

on a better n ote, today i finally got everything i need and for the first time in my life i am about to sew, lol.

i have to sew the garland to a belt and a bunch of other things, lol, my daughters are in a hawaiian/polynesian dance class and on Weds. they are having their Christmas show.

i will definetly post pictures of the costumes comming along, lol, or comming undone, lol.

i havent posted in the last couple of days because i had a migraine attack and i was just out of it. i did post about contests and i won one ;)

a $50 dllr off gift card of a $100 dllr purchase. i am happy!!!!!

the aftermath........

this morning as the kids went off to school, i took these pictures while i was outside...

our neighbors fence fell over so he put up a board,,,

the man across the street, was not so lucky...

that's his whole side fence on the floor.

our backyard seemed to have more shingles than the roof did,

even inside the pool and on and over the deck...

one of the 2 worst parts was the boys window...

yes, the shingle came down and broke the window,

the scariest part was that it was while the boys were in there sleeping.
the baby's bed is right next to that window too.
good thing it was nothing more than a scare.

this is what the roof looked like from my short reach, lol...

and as i look over the canyon into the city, it looks so beautiful that you have to have been here to know what a crazy day it was yesterday....

rain rain go away, please?

i woke up to get the kids ready for school and to my heart-aching pain it was raining.

now dont get me wrong, i hear how everyone says that california needs the rain, but....

my kids dont have jackets or umbrellas or rain shoes, and on top of that, we walk to and from school....

want more?
since my last 4 were preemies, and everything they went through, they all have a "not-so-strong" immune system, and they get sick soooo much during the cold seasons.

my kids have already missed almost 3 weeks since october because they have been sick,
so this morning i bundled up my Izeah with his little brothers jacket and a sweater underneath, Lily had 2 small sweaters and a sweater of mine over that, and Kiera had a thin sweater and she wore my jacket over that.

i felt soo horrible!!!!!!!!!!
and i have been sitting here looking outside all day hoping so much that the rain will stop. my babies will walk home like this, and on top of more, i have to take anthony with me since i logically cant leave him home alone, and he already has a bad cough and cold, so i know that if i take him out with no jacket he will wind up even worst.

this is my timeline i have been documenting, see why i am so worried and upset...
10am

santas bike rolled over

1120am
the poor dog didnt want to go potty, lolat noon santa had rolled back up and now the globe was rolling,
here we are at 1pm

santa looking like he keeps hydro-planing all over our lawn, our pool has raised a lot since this morning, and our front lawn is now a marshland, lol

at 3pm the school called me to please go get the kids because Izeah kept running out of class into the rain, so i asked if they could please stay until i can get a ride because i have the baby home sick and have to walk in the storm, they said, please come get them, so luckily a neighbor was outside just watching the rain, so she said she would keep an eye on my baby while i run to the school and get the kids, good thing the school is up the block and around the corner. i get to the school and they didnt even have all the kids ready for me like they said, i had to wait for them to get rounded up, after that, we ran home, the sidewalks were filled with water and went inside our shoes. we got to the house and took off soaked sweaters and shoes, and the girls hit the showers while Izeah ran straight to our little heater and laid infront of it.
we got home and this was the photo update... 345pm.

there lies our pile os sweaters and soaked shoes :(

and now our santa has had enough, him and the globe must have become unplugged somewhere, but i will certaintly not go check for electricity plugs in the rain, lol

SORRY FOR DRAGGING IT OUT SO MUCH, it was a long day and a horrible storm. its 629pm and it has not stopped. kids shoes area bout to go in the dryer and i hope so much that they dont get ruined :(