Hans Brinker: A Movie Review

I just recently used my Disney Movie Rewards points to get Hans Brinker (or The Silver Skates) for free. Having three boys, I figured this would be a good movie to show them. We just watched it this weekend, and I absolutely loved it!

Even though this movie was filmed many, many years ago, it kept the boys' attention, and the lessons taught are just incredible - a lot better than many films of today. Hans Brinker sets out to earn money for his family after his father has an accident that gives him amnesia. He shows a sense of responsibility and persistence, working whatever menial jobs around town he can find. He gets creative - literally - by increasing his artistic abilities, and then tries to sell his artwork. And when those venues don't work to get the money needed for his dad's surgery, Hans finds out about an ice skating race that offers a tidy sum of prize money prize and attempts to win. What wins out above the rest is his character that stands for kindness and justice, which are the qualities that actually help him 'win' in the end. I have to admit - I was cheering for Hans from the couch. Great family flick! It can lead to some great family conversations regarding good character qualities.

30 Days of Thanks

~ I'm Thankful ~

November 1: For God's promise of the rainbow we saw today after the rainfall. Even when storms arise and floods abound, we stand assured that the whole earth will not be destroyed by flood again.

November 2: For birthday fun. Today my oldest boy turns 9, and we have family coming for the weekend for a birthday celebration! 

November 3: For paper streamers. I say I put them up at birthdays for the kids, but secretly, I like them for myself. Hang them in a doorway, then breeze through them like you're a dancer and see how you feel about them then.

November 4: For doors. Red doors. Specifically, the new Dr Pepper Red front door my husband, father-in-law, and brother installed today.

November 5: For belated birthday presents: comfy yoga pants to wear around the house (or for that rare event that I might do some kind of exercise).

November 6: For reciprocated back-rubs.

November 7: For homemade applesauce that my sick little boys can enjoy eating. 

November 8: For "Pennies from Heaven" - someone donated $200 towards our boys' school tuition. Thank you, whoever you are!

November 9: For a last-chance harvest of carrots and beets from my mom's garden. Anybody know what to do with beets?

November 10: For a quiet hide-away where I can sit for awhile and read a book uninterrupted.

November 11:  For a small plot of land where I can plant my own fruits and veggies. I will always wish for more, but at least I have space of my own.

November 12: For messages from MAILER-DAEMON@yahoo.com that let me know at least some of the contacts in my email didn't get the spam sent out by the hacker who got in.

November 13: For rainy, rainy days. They make me feel warm and cozy - like I want to just snuggle under a soft blanket and read a good book.

November 14: For reasons to leave the house, no matter how simple, and get out and about town.

November 15: For funny little boys that say things like "That is most delicious."

November 16: For a safe journey out of town - even though the four-hour trip seemed to stretch into forever. 

November 17: For homecooked meals that I didn't have to cook!

November 18: For a husband who listens to my corny ideas, does the dishes, loves to play with the boys, provides the income so I can stay home, is an overall kind and loving man. Love him!

November 19: For Blustery Days in Winnie the Pooh style that blow away all (or most) of the leaves from our yard.

November 20: For the ability to feel better (even though I'm not) so that I can take care of my sick little boy who had to come home from school early.

November 21: For a mom who puts up with our ever-changing plans about where we want to have Thanksgiving dinner. Our place... No, your place. Cedric's still sick, so our place.

November 22: For a day of hibernation. Even though I got bored and frustrated that we weren't able to have our dinner today, it was nice to be able to sit like a blob for a little while.

November 23: For a warm house and a wonderful tote-ful of boys to fill it.

November 24: That I'm finally feeling better - now I can better take care of the boy who's just getting over a fever, the boy who's just gotten a fever, and the boy who's got a runny nose. 

November 25: For surprising blessings from God to help bring in some extra income.

November 26: For cable TV. When you're sick and all you want to do is veg on the couch, HGTV makes a good companion.

November 27: For a short but cute Christmas program. Cedric got to be a cow and moo before saying a couple lines. He thought it was a bit hokey to have to moo, but we all liked it.

November 28: Sick again - but thankful that I don't have to call in sick to work. And thankful for a mom who lives close by who takes the baby to her house for most of the day and picks up the boys from school. Got lots of needed sleep today!

November 29: For Payday! Always love paydays!

November 30: For generosity! The lady at the bread shop rounded up my purchase from $13 to $20 and punched the last two tabs on my reward card, even though they don't usually round up even from $19. Next time I go in, I get to pick out 10 items from the bargain wall.



What are you thankful for?

Smokin' Hot $700 Shopilly Holiday Cash Giveaway

I have the privilege of being one of the hosts for this awesome giveaway sponsored by Shopilly. The following portion is by Amberr of Like a Bump on a Blog.  Read below, then enter to win $700!

Smokin' Hot $700 Shopilly Holiday Cash Giveaway

Shopilly makes shopping a pleasure.

 
Welcome to the Smokin' Hot $700 Shopilly Giveaway sponsored by Like a Bump on a Blog, with considerable help from the lovely Lexie Lane at VoiceBoks and Bridget at Giveaway Promote. Enjoy the post provided by our generous sponsor, Shopilly, to learn more about them, and then enter via our Rafflecopter entry at the end. It’s a cold Sunday night, and I’m huddled on my couch, flipping through never-ending channels on TV. I think I get about 400 channels, and it can be overwhelming to decide what to watch DWTS, Idol, The Voice? Luckily, my trusty DVR puts all the shows I like -- and only those shows -- in one place, where they wait patiently for me to catch up on them.

What your Shopilly Dashboard looks like

Email is a little like TV. Every day I get tons of emails from my favorite brands, retailers and flash sites. I love getting all of that information and having so many choices, but my inbox is getting a little out of control. It's nearly impossible to sort through the clutter to find emails I really care about, and I have to select and delete almost all of the marketing emails, always wondering whether I should opt out or stick around to see if something actually relevant lands in my inbox. But I've discovered that now there's a DVR for email! It’s called Shopilly. By signing up for a free account, I can ask Shopilly to automatically pull all of the marketing emails from my email inbox and put them in a fun "visual inbox" in my Shopilly account, where I can review them when I’m ready. My inbox is totally clean; it’s like a breath of fresh air. And when the time is right for me to check out my latest offers, they’re neatly collected for me at Shopilly.

Shopilly is organizing my email inbox for me, and that’s great. But it’s more than that. On Shopilly, I can also opt in to view offers from other brands I wouldn't have discovered otherwise. The way they’re presented makes it really easy to check out all of my options and to add or remove offers from my window shop. It’s like visiting my own personalized shopping mall right from the comfort of my couch. Now, where did I put that remote control? Improve your shopping life at Shopilly today and tell us what you think at contact@shopilly.com.

****************************************************************

If you're ready to enter the giveaway and make your holiday shopping even sweeter, you may do so below now! a Rafflecopter giveaway Good luck and happy winning! ;-) Please share this post with other people who might need extra shopping money this holiday season.  Feature images courtesy of Shopilly. **Post syndicated with permission, and the original can be found here: Smokin' Hot $700 Shopilly Holiday Cash Giveaway.***

In a House of 3 Boys Disclosure: I received no compensation for this publication. In a House of 3 Boys is not responsible for prize shipments. 

I Won a Gift Card! {Plus a Drawing to Enter}

I recently started a new hobby of entering sweepstakes, drawings, contests, giveaways online. Several years ago, I won a Melissa & Doug wooden doll set, and I've also just had a general luck when it comes to entering drawings. I recently read an article in All You magazine about a gal who brings in a fairly decent "income" with her winnings from spending an hour or so each day just entering these sweepstakes. She even won a $17,000 car! I figured since I'm home most of the day, I could certainly start spending some time entering contests in between household activities. I didn't know if it would pay off at all, but you never know unless you enter them, right?

I came home this weekend to find a special envelope in the mail. Upon opening, I found a $25 Visa Gift Card with this letter. I'm so excited that I've won something! It may not be much, but it's $25 more than I had yesterday! And it certainly inspires me to keep on entering!

Now if you're inspired to start trying, you can start with the one listed in the letter above:

http://www.exergen.com/gametimetemperature/

Enter to win an Exergen Temporal Scanner by guessing the Game Time Temperature (Contest rules - .pdf file). I've used one of these thermometers for years, and it's so much easier using this to take squiggly-wiggly little boys' temperatures than it is to keep a thermometer under the arm or in the mouth.

If you don't want to enter the contest, but are still interested in buying one of these thermometers, you can still visit http://www.exergen.com/gametimetemperature/ for a printable rebate.

Or check out these other thermometers:

 

Wreaths of Maine: Hamilton Plaid Spray

Hamilton Plaid Spray

My son Cedric is selling wreaths to earn money - he has a list of what he wants to get in my first post about Wreaths of Maine. We've decided to add another item to the list. When Cedric sold wreaths a couple years ago, we used the money to buy a guitar for him. Now we'd like to put most of the money he earns towards guitar lessons.  Lessons start the week after Thanksgiving! Pretty excited about finally putting the guitar to use!

The wreath for the day is the Hamilton Plaid Spray. Okay, it's not a wreath, technically. For those of you that don't necessarily want a wreath, this is a pleasant substitute. The beauty, the wonderful balsimic fir aroma in a 27" x 16" spray.

One nice thing I've forgotten to mention about ordering through Wreaths of Maine is that you can choose a week to have it delivered. Order some as gifts and have them delivered Christmas week, or order one at the beginning of the Christmas season to enjoy it all month long.

If you do order from Wreaths of Maine, please enter the Seller ID# 4570 during checkout so Cedric gets credit - Thanks!

Enter to Win $25 from Target

Head on over to Target's Facebook page to enter to win one of twenty-five $25 gift cards. Enter daily.

21-Day Self-Discipline Challenge ~ Days 4 and 5

Sunday was a very busy day for our household. My husband, his dad, and my brother installed a new front door, so things were in a bit of an upheaval all day. I got all kinds of chores done like laundry and general cleaning up, baked some pumpkins to preserve, and made some Cranberry Nut Bread (minus the nuts).

Fly-smacking took up a bit of my time also. Having no front door for a good portion of the day apparently was an open invitation for approximately 20 flies to encroach on our living quarters. Just this afternoon, I may have killed about 12 flies. Darn creatures!

Even though I was so busy yesterday, I actually did work on my challenge, though I didn't have time to post about it. So this post is for both Day 4 and Day 5.

Practical Application: Day 4 ~ Brainstorm all my bad and good habits. Then choose one bad habit to get rid of or a good habit to implement. On Day 2, I chose to sweep the kitchen floor at least once a day (and I've kept up with that - woo hoo!), and on Day 3, I decided to start keeping my table cleared of any piles - doing okay at that, though there are still supper dishes on it right now, and a small pile of papers that I will take care of now that the boys are tucked in for the night. So for this new habit to work on, I'm choosing to keep my loveseat (or My Office as it's been described) free of piles also. I tend to keep my books that I'm reading, and my couponing stuff, and my crafty projects, and this-that-and-everything near my spot on the loveseat. So I want to break myself of the habit of letting things pile up.

Mega-Project: Day 4 ~ Spent some time browsing through our belongings for some 1st Aid Kit items to add to the Emergency/Disaster Kit. Pain meds, band-aids, NeoSporin, charcoal, etc.

Practical Application: Day 5 ~ Think of an obstacle that my keep me from achieving my habit-making/breaking goal, and come up with two possible solutions. One major obstacle that I run into is that I might be right in the middle of a book or magazine article or other project, and then one of my boys needs my help, or it's time to go fix a meal, or any number of other distractions. I usually just lay my book/project down so I can pick it right back up when I next have a little break. But then, I might get onto another project... and it all starts to pile up. Solutions would be: every evening, attack whatever I've put on the loveseat and find a more appropriate place to put it; or make myself stick to only one (maybe two?) projects at a time, so there's not as much piled up on the loveseat.

Mega-Project: Day 5 ~ Looked through our toiletries for shampoo/conditioner, soap, deoderant, toothbrushes and toothpaste, floss, laundry detergent, extra combs/brushes, and such. I have a ton of sample/travel-sized items that will work nicely for a short-term disaster. I may decide to put full-size items in if there's room in the kit, so we can be prepared for a longer-term event.

21-Day Self-Discipline Challenge ~ Day 3

It's been a busy day in our household.

A busy two days!

Yesterday was spent cleaning the house because we have weekend guests and because we threw a little family/close friend birthday party for my son this evening. I did sweep (and mop) the floor yesterday, and writing up this post reminded me to sweep the floor just now. Yay for two days in a row!

Because of the weekend events, I wasn't able to devote much time to my 21-day mega-project challenge today until this evening after our visitors left and the boys got to bed.

Practical Application: Day 3 ~  There are a couple parts for today... Choosing a bad habit to quit (or a good habit to start forming), and choose a chore to complete. I'm combining the two. I'm choosing to work on my bad habit of piling up tidbits of things on the kitchen table. Usually, these items are things I need to keep track of or have quick access to. I'm going to work on thinking twice about putting things on the table and keep it clear (or at least clear it off at the end of each day). The table is cleared off for this evening... now to keep it that way.

Mega-Project: Day 3 Action ~ Gather emergency items I already have around the house. These are items like whistles, batteries, flashlights, utility knives, etc.

21-Day Self-Discipline Challenge ~ Day 2

Yesterday, I started the 21-day Self-Discipline Challenge. Here's a report on how that turned out:

Practical Application: Day 1 ~ Choose a small project to get done within a short time. My small project was cupcakes for my son's birthday today. I'm happy to report that I got those cupcakes done, and it wasn't at the last minute, late at night, or anything like that. I baked them in the afternoon during Henry's nap, and as soon as the boys were tucked in bed, I got to work, and decorated them. Nothing fancy, but I think they'll go over well. I used Duncan Hines Frosting Creations: Mint Chocolate flavor as the 'grass' - Yummy!

A herd of dinosaurs!

Mega Project: Day 1 ~ Choose a mega-project and split it up into 21 activities. My mega-project is to create an emergency/disaster kit. I think it's actually going to turn into three kits: A Home Kit for if we have to stay in-house; a second Take-Along Kit that we'd take with us along with the Home Kit if we had to leave our house; and a third Camping Kit that we'd add to the other two kits in case we found ourselves in a situation with no place to go but the woods for camping. We would have all our camping gear and such ready to go. Day 1 Action: Create a list of items to include in my kit. It's a huge list, so I'm not going to include everything here; however, if any of you are interested in what I'm including, I'd be glad to share. Just let me know! Gathering all those items seems like a lot of work, but after breaking it down into 21 days, it's a bit more manageable.

Now that I've caught up for yesterday, let's look at today:

Practical Application: Day 2 ~ The challenge is to choose something to change so that it becomes habit. Since I have a hard time keeping up with housework, I'm choosing something as simple as sweeping the kitchen floor once a day. Crystal Paine, author of 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life, actually suggests sweeping the floor after every meal, but I think I'd burn out if I had to try that. So I'm sticking to once a day, and if I get more sweeping done than that, then my floor will be just that much cleaner.

Mega Project: Day 2 Action ~ Gather bins to hold everything. I already have 3 big red bins - perfect color for Emergency Kits! One is kind of dirty from being used outside, so I'll need to clean that one. Another is holding some outgrown clothes, but luckily, I already have some other bins to which I can transfer the clothes. I have no idea where the third bin is, so I'll need to find it. I also need to track down the lids.



 

21-Day Self-Discipline Challenge ~ Day 1

I recently purchased an ebook written by one of my favorite bloggers, Crystal Paine of Money Saving Mom. Crystal's ebook, 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life, was inspired by a bout of falling off the self-discipline wagon and her trek to get back on track. She ran a 21-day series on her blog for accountability, and after a huge readership reaction, Crystal decided to turn the experience into a self-help book so that others could have simple, easy-to-follow route to a more disciplined life.

I haven't read the whole book yet... because I'm taking up the challenge to become more self-disciplined (oh boy, do I need it!), and I'm going to take it one day at a time. Another blog, Serving Joyfully, is hosting a link-up for those wishing to take up the challenge.

So here goes:

The first day's challenge is to do 3 simple things.

1. Choose a mini-project to work on that will take just a few minutes to complete.
2. Choose a huge project that I want to get done and divide it up into 21 tasks.
3. Complete the first day's task.

1.My mini-project I worked on today is to make cupcakes for my son to share with his class on his birthday tomorrow. Currently, they are cooling off, then I just need to decorate them.

2.My huge mega-project is to make a big emergency kit that can be used in case a disaster hits and we need to bunker down at home, but to make it portable in the event we need to leave our home.

3.I haven't plotted out the 21 tasks completely yet, but for Day 1, I've researched items other people put in their kits, and started making a list of things we need in ours.

I'm looking forward to getting this project done in 21-days!

Do you have something you've wanted to get done? Follow the steps along with me, buy Crystal's ebook, do a link-up with Serving Joyfully if you'll be posting about it in your blog.

I'd love to have you join me and share your steps and results along the way.