HiHoRosie's Place

Hello! Just wanted to say thanks again for the well wishes and healing thoughts. They truly helped and meant a lot to me. I'm not 100% yet (throat still hurts) but I'm way better than I was including no more pink eye . Now that Christmas has passed, hopefully you survived :) Actually, I hope you were able to enjoy it and create wonderful memories. Since last year at this time YS2 wasn’t very mobile, Christmas this year was a lot more fun and even challenging at times. Experiencing the holidays through his eyes was so fun and really made things more special. Everything was new and beautiful and exciting and well, just amazing. Nothing had to be elaborate or expensive or in mass quantity. And Santa is still some strange old guy . Our tree this year was a “toddler tree.” Meaning, there were only lights, which kept getting yanked pulled off and a few ornaments hung on the top third of the tree out of reach of a 19 month old. So even though it was sparse, it was still the hap

source From me to you: h a p p i e s t o f h o l i d a y s , e v e r y o n e ! I hope that whatever you celebrate or wherever you celebrate that you and yours have a safe and merry time! We were at a local nursery recently and saw Santa. We've been trying to get YS2 familiar with "santa" for a bit now so he knows who he is. Sorta. Well, at the nursery he spotted a doggie who was visiting Santa. He loves dogs! He was so focused on the puppy, whom he got to pet and give a kiss to (puppy kissed back - awww! [or eww]) that he didn't seem to notice Santa picking him up and placing him on his lap. Then reality set in... Merry Christmas!

Hey guys! The holidays are fast approaching! Are you ready? Are you all done with your shopping or still have last minute things to buy? Thanks to hubs, I think I'm pretty much done. Fortunately, the list was simple - not many big ticket items on there like  tv stand s (I could use one actually) or laptops. Hubs had to finish shopping and sending out packages (forget the cards this year folks, not enough time!) because as I mentioned before I've been sick. Um yeah, it only got worse. ;( I woke up Thursday morning with this horrible cold oozing out of my eyes! SOOOOO GROSS! Conjunctivitis better known as pink eye . Lovely. Hot mess I tell ya. Nothing like waking up with a goopy eye that's swollen and red. I've never had it before so I wasn't quite sure what I was dealing with. Oh how I wish I had known... I ended up having to cancel my eye appointment for that day to renew my contact lens prescription. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have appreciated me

I know I *just* posted this morning but I had one last thing to say: To my husband...I love you with every fiber of my being! You keep me laughing every day, you cheer me on, you tell me I'm beautiful even when I feel the most ugly, you truly accept me for who I am. You've been there for me when others gave up and helped me through some really rough times over this past year. YOU are my best friend and soulmate. And I thank you (and God) everyday for blessing me with Caleb. What a joy he is. Happy anniversary, love! You are my inspiration (okay, as cheesy as that sounds it's true!)

I'm sick as a dog (what's with that saying anyway?) and don't feel like doing much of anything unless I have to. I know I owe a post to update you on our little road trip (it was just overnight so not THAT exciting but for YS2 it was!) but I don't have much desire/energy to focus the time on it just yet. This all started Monday night, where I could feel the throat start to get sore. Not scratchy or tickle-y but sore from where you first start to swallow. Fortunately, it's not strep (I've had that twice in my life and it's HORRIBLE) and I don't think it's the flu unless you consider it a 24 hour flu that turns into a very, very nasty cold. Had a fever of 102+ and slept a lot the first day. But whatever this illness is, it truly sucks. Glad it's happening this week and not next week, though. It's weird being home sick from work for three days. So unlike me. I just pray with fingers and toes crossed that my family doesn't get my germs. E

source Yup, it's true. Going on a little road trip with the fam. Should be interesting with a 19-month old...am I crazy?! ha ha! source Actually, lil YS2 is great traveler but this is his first real car trip. I'll have books to keep him occupied and hopefully entertained while in transit and also quality snacks at the ready. Maybe he'll even sleep on the way. I'll update you later on where we went, what we did, and how it went. Wish us luck!  :)

Hey Everyone! How are you? Have you started/finished your holiday shopping? Not me. I've barely started. But that's par for the course with me. We do have lights up outside which absolutely delight YS2 everyday! He squeals, he laughs, he points, he dances, he ooh's and ahh's, and he's so happy seeing all the lights - at home and everywhere else. Have to say it's so fun experiencing the holidays with YS2. Seeing it through his eyes makes me so excited. He reminds me what it's all about and is making this time even more special and nothing like having kids around (whether your own or others') to help put things back in perspective and keep things simple. Not to say I still don't have things yet to do... :) Anyway, for those chomping at the bit as to who won the Oh! Nuts $25 gift certificate giveaway , well, wait no longer! The winner, selected by random.org, is #101, J ! 101. J 12/04/2010 12:25 AM 12/4 tweet #1: http://twitter.com/cappytweet/ ..

Hello Everyone! How’s your Cyber Monday going? It’s sure in full force isn’t it? I’m bombarded with ads and sale announcements and it’s driving me a little cuckoo but tis the season. :) I still need to decorate and get a tree. Soon…but I have been listening to holiday music now that Thanksgiving is over. Getting in the spirit, you know? So how about some giveaway fun? With the holidays fast approaching, snacks like chocolate, nuts, candy, chocolate, fruit, chocolate, or gift baskets are the norm (and more chocolate) - fun to give and to receive too. Well, the kind folks at Oh! Nuts  are offering one lucky reader a $25 gift certificate (good towards anything). Sweet! I have purchased from them in the past - they're prompt with shipping and I got exactly what I ordered and it was all fresh so I can tell you, in a nutshell (bahdoom boom), they're awesome. To enter: Leave a comment for each entry – if it counts for more than one, enter that number of separate comments (if you

Happy post-Thanksgiving! Hope you had a wonderful holiday (for those in the US celebrating anyway – the rest of you hopefully you had a good couple of days). Were any of you nutty brave enough to shop Black Friday ? Not me, man. I stay far far away! Too much madness and DANGER out there. Basically, I value my life and my sleep, so no thanks. source Well, there is Cyber Monday coming up. I don’t really do that either but it is safer. I’m a procrastinator. I wait till I’m in the mood to shop, or have a list, or when I know I have to. Don’t get me wrong. I love to shop but holiday shopping is a bit crazy. Here’s a gift idea if you’re looking for one. The Raw Beauty Calendar 2011 . What it’s about (info provided by Tanya, the artist ): Raw Beauty 2011: 13 Real People Gone Raw Passionate Montreal-based artist and raw foodie Tanya Wood and Halifax photographer Nick Rudnicki have teamed up to create Raw Beauty 2011: a Calendar featuring 13 Real People Gone Raw. These real subject

Remember when I brought up copyrights ? Well, a blogger friend emailed me recently about another blogger plagiarizing her. Tsk tsk. Awhile back, my friend had written a review about a product she used and then went onto host a giveaway for said product. The naughty blogger recently reviewed (I use the term loosely here) the same product but interestingly enough, her review was nearly identical to my friend’s. When called on the carpet about it, Naughty Blogger denied it all – denied plagiarizing, denied knowing my friend or her blog, etc. My friend noticed she had one less GFC follower and Twitter follower shortly thereafter. Hmm... Naughty Blogger ended up changing some of the language after the fact but there’s still some wording that’s obviously the same. Interesting she would change anything if her claims of innocence are right. While I don’t feel it’s my place to out publicly* the suspect and/or the victim here it does make me angry enough to say something, even if it's b

I recently received a few things from my friends over at CSN Stores. You know the ones who’ve got everything under the sun from kids backpacks to couches to blenders for you to choose from? Time for some holiday shopping! Personally, I don’t start until after Thanksgiving but that’s just me… I assigned myself the task of choosing something for our home and it was hard narrowing it down since there are so many things I would love. But I finally was able to decide on three things, which I will review here today. First up, a kitchen magnet. Not for the fridge but for our knives. Currently, we have a knife block but since we don’t have much counter space to begin with this just takes away more space plus it looks like bulky ugly clutter when crowded between a juicer and a food processor. So out it went and up goes the magnet bar by Mundial . It’s so great freeing up a little extra counter space and I love how handy it is. It’s strong both in the wall and for the knives; the magnets

Howdy kids! I wanted to say thanks for all the comments and compliments on my last post . Your comments mean a lot to me and I’m thankful for each one. Not just on that post but all posts. Normally, I enjoy replying back to each one but unfortunately, my time didn’t allow me to so that’s why I wanted to thanks to all of you here and now. How’s that for timing with Thanksgiving around the corner? Ha ha! But I am being serious. You all are the best! ( source ) Kinda sad though that Halloween came and went, dontcha think? I always feel bad for Thanksgiving. It comes and goes even quicker, like hurry-up-and-eat-clear-the-dishes-so-we-can-get-out-the-Christmas-decorations-and-shop-all-the-crazy-sales! Ugh. I do celebrate Christmas but I don’t like being rushed through the holidays, let alone anything else. One local radio station is already playing holiday music round the clock (totally serious – it’s 24 hours, non-stop – I have caught myself singing along so I can’t really complain all

Finally, I'm posting some pictures from YS2's first "real" Halloween. Okay, technically this is his second Halloween but he was too little last year to go trick or treating but you can see pics of his fireman's costume here . Awww! Not really a costume but close enough.   source Anyway, here he is this year dressed as The Poky Little Puppy from the Golden Seal children's books. Personally, I don't remember reading that book as a kid but Caleb loves it! And just about every other book out there. :) Trick or treat! It's always story time running around like a puppy (on two legs) Um, please excuse the scary lady pictured with the cute puppy. That would be me and I wasn't exactly camera-ready but it was Halloween so I got to be scary-looking by default. ha ha! It was hard getting pics of this active boy in full costume (there's a tail you can't see) - I mean, getting the hat on involved trickery. There were mittens and booties that lo

Have any of you been following or heard about the Cooks Source backlash? I'll tell ya, I'm not (or wasn't) familiar with Cooks Source until today when I saw some angry tweets going on about them. And on facebook I guess there's even more (haven't looked myself - I got the jist). Apparently, Cooks Source (now being referred to as Crooks Source) did a big no-no . And that is they lifted content from other sources and posted to their magazine. Based on the tweets I've seen, there's been more than one source. They believe this okay. That ANY and ALL info posted to the internet is "public domain." You can read here where and why this all started (quick read): http://illadore.livejournal.com/30674.html Wow is all I gots to say! Seriously, who in their right mind thinks it's okay to lift material from someplace, even leaving the author's name in place, and reworking the content and posting WITHOUT permission? This isn't a recipe they re

Thanks to all who tweeted, facebooked, and ultimately entered this fabulous giveaway for a double hammock plus rope kit from Trek Light Gear . And big big thanks to TLG for their generosity in sponsoring this awesome prize. Now the moment you've been waiting for: the winner of Trek Light Gear's hammock is.... 89. Heather R I subscribe to Trek Light’s newsletter entry 1 Congrats Heather! I will contact you by email and you'll have 48 hours to respond before another random winner is chosen. Thanks again to all participants and TLG!

Happy spooky Halloween! Can you believe Halloween is here?! Wow, this month flew by. This whole year is flying by and now it’s Halloween weekend. Are any of you dressing up? I’m not (zzz) but so far at work today I’ve seen a Pac-Man (which made me laugh), a scary Nun, a lady with devil horns and a red scarf (??), a ski bum (woman dress in ski clothes with a prosthetic butt), a ketchup bottle, and a woman with witchy leggings. There may have been others but with some people in the metro area it’s hard to tell what’s a costume and what’s not. Hee hee! I’m so excited to take YS2 out trick-or-treating Sunday. This is a whole new experience for him this year. He’s still not old enough to get it really or appreciate the traditions or festivities but he’ll get a taste. Well, not literally. I don’t plan on feeding him any candy. Next year might more of a challenge on that issue. :/ I’ll post post-Halloween pics when I’ve got them (*remember camera*) but here are a few from last year - he