Picture Imperfect

Dog food review and giveaway!

Our beloved dog, Oscar the Pug, is 7 years old in the Fall. He’s had a rough few years with the birth of 2 kids in our house, being unintentionally moved from the top of the attention chain, right down to the bottom. He’s lost a lot of lap time, walks around the block (not that he needed it much anyways, he’s a lazy fat pug! they don’t like walks longer than 5 minutes and faster than 2km/h).

While he has become somewhat “neglected”, the one area we don’t miss out/skimp on is his eating. With two kids who throw food on the floor and “drop” food to feed him, we need to be really careful about what and how much he is eating. From the time he was a puppy, he’s been fed a high quality dog food by Eukanuba (small breed maintenance). But when I was approached to try out a new line of food from Iams (also from P&G, the makers of Eukanuba) I was on board!

P&G Pet Care has introduced prebiotic pet food formulas to help maintain a four-legged family member’s gastrointestinal health. It features the prebiotic FOS (fructooligosaccharides), which stimulate the balance of gut microflora (species of good bacteria) which in turn promotes a stronger immune system to help fight disease.

So, the verdict? I’m sitting here listening to him hoover it down like a vacuum. Now, granted, he’s a pug and would wolf down anything that even slightly resembles food but we’ve been giving the Iams prebiotic food to him all week and he loves it.

If you’re looking for a good quality food, look no further! I had no idea what to look for on dog food labels since we’ve given him the same food since he was born. Check out Iams.ca for more information including what ingredients to look for when looking for a healthy dog food.

Want to win a 17.5Lb bag of Iams ProActive Health for your pooch? Simply leave a comment below with the name/age of your dog(s)! The winner will be drawn on Monday, May 24, 2010. Enter now!!

* I wrote this review while participating in the Iams Blog Tour by Mom Central on behalf of Iams. I received a voucher for a bag of Iams ProActive Health to facilitate this review and a $20 gift card as a thank you for my participation.

A couple years ago my husband noticed that when I hung the laundry out on the clothesline, I omitted my undies and wanted to know why. I told him that I just didn’t want people to see them so I hung them in the laundry room.

He told me that I was crazy and that nobody looked at the clothes on the clothesline and besides, our one neighbor beside us was around 80 years old, why would she look?

Fast forward a few months…One day he was out in the backyard and the old neighbor beside us said to him that she heard he and I had split up. Apparently the old neighbor behind us told her (the old neighbor beside us) that my clothes/underwear were never on the clothesline, just his…so I wasn’t living there. Apparently we were separated!! I said SEEEEEEE????? Old people, geez. Nothing better to do but track my undie washing.

At our new house, there’s quite a bit more space between houses so the neighbors can’t really see up close what’s hanging.

So….Do you hang your undies?

I am a packrat. There. I said it.

I am horrible at getting rid of things that are still in good shape, can still be used sometime, somehow, somewhere. I do not keep anything that is broken etc. but if there’s nothing wrong with it, I have a hard time parting with it. I have gotten better at this over the past couple years, with having kids which brings in a whole new load of crap that I’ve needed to make space for, and also moving houses. When we moved, as I packed items, if I didn’t have a place for it in the new house, it went. I either tossed it in the garbage, put it in the donation pile, or got rid of it on Freecycle or usedottawa.com (if it had any value and was worth my time).

The other day I decided to go through all the clothes that I own since I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I had bins of clothing in my closet, stuff that I hope to fit into again one day. I took every item I own and dumped it on the bed and tried each item on one at a time. If I didn’t instantly like how it fit/felt/looked, gone. I had a ton of items to donate by the time I was done…but…I had wayyyyy more items to put back in my closet. I am EMBARASSED at how much clothing I own.

24 sweatshirts. Various hoodies, non-hooded one, zips, no zip, casual, dressier (can a sweatshirt be dressy? lol). But 24? Ridiculous. And I won’t tell you how many pairs of jeans and capris that I have. Le sigh.

I read the other day over at One Frugal Girl about the concept of throwing out 50 things. She refers to an article that is based on a book “Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life”. The author states that you should follow these four rules when clearing out the clutter:

1. Rule No. 1: If the item, memory, job or even person is weighing you down, get rid of it.
2. Rule No. 2: If the thing is not contributing something positive, let it go.
3. Rule No. 3: If it takes you a long time to decide whether something needs to be tossed, throw it out.
4. Rule No. 4: If you’re afraid to throw out something, get rid of the fear.

I am going to try it. I’ve done something like this before and it worked, to the point where I was scrounging the house to find things to get rid of. I think #4 is my weakness. I don’t have many emotional attachments to items but simply fear getting rid of them…what if I need it? A paperclip? Buy a new one? I am frugal and figure why would I throw something out that I’ll end up having to turn around and buy again? In reality, I’ll probably have that happen only a few times and the stress of clutter is worth much less that the dollar value.

So, starting tomorrow, I am going to find 50 items a week to donate.

Could you do that? Do you have 5o items you could part with?

This post was inspired by Capital Mom.

I have 2 very different versions of what a perfect day would entail.

1. My DREAM day:

I would wake up at 9am after 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
I would sip orange juice and coffee while eating fresh fruit and yogurt while sitting pool side.
I’d then head off to a massage, pedicure and hair cut.
I’d read a book in a lounge chair…all.day.long.
I’d be served dinner…baked salmon, ceasar salad, garlic bread, cheesecake, coffee.
I’d have a hot bubble bath.
Rinse.Repeat.

And yeah, because that’s a total dream…notice there were no kids or jobs anywhere in there….maybe when I’m retired?

2. My REALITY perfect day

Wake up at 730am
Drink my coffee without having to get up every 30 seconds to get something, stop the boy from head butting his baby sister, get more milk/water/cereal
Go for a run/bike feeling the warm sun on my face
Watch the kiddos laugh at each other
Have dinner made for me, dishes done, floor Swiffered, and laundry put away
Massage

What’s your idea of the perfect day?

And I’m going to tag the lovely Beach Mama on this…I bet she has a lovely perfect day in mind!

I’m really being tested lately by my 2 year old. I feel like such a broken record, harping on him for doing things he shouldn’t be doing.

I feel like I have a top 5 saying list:

1. “You need to be gentle (with your sister)”
2. “I said ____and you are not listening.”
3. “Do you understand?”
4. “You do it, or I will do it for you.”
5. “C, come here. Come here. I said come here. Come here now. Hello?”
6. “C, NO!

I think my problem is that my expectations for good behavior are too high. I mean, he’s 2. Is it too much for me to expect him to be calm all the time? Come when I say so on the first request when he is playing with his trucks?

He really is a good little guy, and he says please and thank you. He’s 2! Manners! Makes me so very proud.I just hate how I’m always talking so negatively to him, trying to get him to be on good behavior. I DO praise him when he does good things, high 5! He loves that.

Do you have any tips on how to not come across so negative and harping while making sure that he is behaving?

UPDATE: Congrats to Claire who won the $100 in gift certificates!!

We always joke around our house that whenever my husband takes vacation time off work, we always end up spending money around the house because he always has to be doing something. It costs us money for him to take time off! But the end results are always worth it!

Five years ago we bought our starter home – a 1960’s bungalow where every room was a different shade of pink, except for one room that was baby blue. Most of the house was original decor  and my husband re-did alm0st everything in the house. All during his vacations!

A year and a half ago, we sold that house, made a pretty penny, and upgraded to a brand new house where not much needed to be done indoors except for finishing the basement (which the hubby did because we were quoted $18,000 by the builder for them to do it – heck no! Now, the outside – that’s where all the work needed to be done. The house is on 1 acre and was all dirt and rocks.

Our plans for this year are to work on the outdoor landscaping – grass, flowerbeds, maybe a bigger deck, more trees, etc. We don’t have much extra money with me being on maternity leave so we’re going to stay stay home often on a “reno-cation’! If funds were unlimited it would include an in ground pool and desk/landscaping.

The lovely folks at Royale are hosting a Renocation contest. Prizes include $13,000 to spend on a home renovation in any way the winner chooses AND an 11-day, $7,000 Royal Caribbean cruise for two on the “Jewel of the Seas.” An additional $5,000 in prizes will be given away to secondary winners in the form of 15 weekly prize packs from the Royale Luxury Bath Collection that include a personal heated towel rack, new luxurious towels, and premium Royale robes. Enter to win on the Royale website

I’m also hosting a Reno-cation contest here on my blog where you can win:
1.A $50 Cara Restaurant gift card, accepted at Swiss Chalet, Montana’s, Milestones, Kelsey’s and Harvey’s
2. A $50 Home Hardware gift card

To enter to win (CDN only), simply leave a comment below telling me about your dream ‘reno-cation’.

For extra entries (leave a separate comment for each):
1. Follow my blog
2. Tweet about my contest “Win $100 in gift certificates (Home Hardware and restaurant) @canucklehead_ http://bit.ly/bG5A4H @MC_Canada #Royalerenocation”
3. Follow me on Twitter

I am participating in a Mom Central blog campaign by writing this post and will receive a gift certificate for taking part.

I was asked some questions on Formspring, so here they are along with my answers!

• If you had one more kid, boy or girl, what would you name him/her?
It would probably be Drew (boy) or Avery (girl). Since that will never happen…we’ll save those names for future pets.

• How much time do you spend online each day? Do you wish you could cut back?
I spend way too much time on-line. The laptop is always open on the kitchen island and I have the sound on so I can hear when I get an email, tweet, etc. I’m always checking Facebook, I’m addicted. And now that I have my iPod Touch, I can even lie in bed while nursing the baby and keep up with the goings on. I DO wish I spent less time on-line….but I do know that I’m not neglecting hat needs to be done around here…..kids, housework. They call, I am there. We play together alot, but it’s also good for them to have independent play time.

Hubby asked me last week why I spend so much time on my computer and I replied, I don’t know. But later that night it came to me…I’m home all day with 2 kids…it’s my social outlet. He goes to work, talks to people (even if it’s people he doesn’t like!) but I can’t do that. So I talk/read/interact with others on-line. I won’t lie, I miss the socialness of work.

• What message would you want to put in a fortune cookie?
“You Like Chinese Food” – That’s an actual fortune I once received! Well, duh. I’m eating it aren’t I? Not really a fortune, but still funny.

• What celebrity would play you in a movie about your life?
Hmmm…it would probably be a B-list celeb…my life is so boring!! But I’d love to see Julia Roberts as me!

• Who inspires you the most?
I really can’t say there is anyone specific…but I do admire people in general people who seem to have it all together and are genuinely kind.

That was fun! Go ahead and ask more in the box over there!

I may be totally out of the loop, but I just found out about SwagBucks, a program that pays you to use their site to search the internet (instead of using Google). I read a lot about it because I didn’t want to waste my time to make 50cents in one year and it looks really promising, so I signed up.

You redeem your Swag Bucks for gift certificates and the best part is….Canadians can do it and redeem at Amazon.ca!!! Free books! Movies! I’m in!

Anyways, if you are interested, I’d really appreciate if you used my account as a referral.

All you need to do is click on this link to sign up. Totally free. And all you need to do is use them as your search engine. I did a few tests and got the same results as if I was using Google (they are powered by Goggle!).

http://swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=1517965

Let me know if you sign up and what you think! I’m curious to hear your opinion and how much you win!

….and I don’t mean Vegas! Hubby is going for the Big V tomorrow.

We both know that we are done having kids so it’s the right thing to do. We’ve got the “Million Dollar Family”, what more could we ask for? Two kids is perfect….if we had another, we’d:

Need a bigger car/truck -there’s no room with the dog in one seat, lol
Need a bigger house – we only have 3 bedrooms
Need more money – daycare is expensive, yo!

We made the appointment in October at #2’s one month appointment. Hubby was the one that brought it up to me, mentioned it to the Dr, booked the appointment. I love that it wasn’t me pressuring him to do it.

Why the rush? #1 took years and fertility meds to conceive….#2? Conceived her when #1 was 9 months old and I was still breastfeeding. I know BF’ing isn’t birth control…but assumed I’d need meds again. So…we don’t want a repeat of that!

Or do I? I’m sitting here thinking about…what if? What if we (I) do want another? I know I’m just being silly….but it’s so final. Done. Done. Done. I’ve given away the baby clothes, but you can re-buy those if you need them again…

I read about FormSpring.me last night…not sure I really understand it but I signed up anyways. Looks like it’s a way for you to ask me anything you want and I can answer it all in one spot!

So, go ahead….ask me anything! What do you want to know about me? What do you want me to write about on here?

http://www.formspring.me/canucklehead