Perspective

The last week and a half have not been the easiest. Dawson has had to work overtime almost every night, the kids have been sick - fever, cough and gagging on mucous while coughing which led to my 4 year old throwing up about 5 times, earlier this week we got water in our basement, and then I started to get sick yesterday! Because of the sickness, we had to postpone the boys' "kids party" that was scheduled for this Saturday...

You know what I kept telling myself and others - it might not be great, but there are people out there that are worse off. Some people don't have a job, their kids might be in the hospital and maybe they are foreclosing on their home. It's all in how you look at it....

PERSPECTIVE.

While I was laying in bed last night trying to get my head to feel better, I was conversing with the Lord and He brought some clarity on a few things that I have been asking his guidance on. Did it actually take me getting sick for me to stop and actually wait on Him and listen to Him? I guess that it did at the moment, and it also reminded me to take time with the Lord - which is not always easy for me to do - I let other things get in the way of that time. That is something that is going to have to change.

So, although I am not thankful that we have been "hit" with some of this "yuckiness," I am thankful that it made me slow down and think about life. I am thankful for the life that God has given to me and the family that He has given me.

Perspective. Think about it.

Oral-B Giveaway: And the WINNER is...

Since I only had five people sign up for my giveaway, I decided to choose the winner in a very scientific way. I wrote the numbers 1,3,4,5,6 on separate pieces of paper (I skipped 2 since, Emily commented twice. lol). Then I folded up the pieces of paper, threw them up into the air and let my 4 year old choose the winning piece of paper!

AND THE WINNER IS.....


#4


I will contact the winner by email!

Giveaway: Oral-B Gift Pack

Although Christmas has passed, Valentine's day is right around the corner! Many children will obtain some little sweets either from their parents or from a party at school. My children are not in school yet, but I will be giving them some Valentine candy, since they are my little Valentines! One thing that we will be sure to do is to continue to brush our kids' teeth after they eat the candy (well, maybe not RIGHT AFTER they eat it...but at least by that night!) Although I do want them to enjoy their treats, I certainly do not want my kids to get cavities ever...especially at a young age!

Thanks to a representative from the Oral-B company, I have learned about the importance of having a toothbrush designed for the stage that they are currently at and I also learned how to continue to teach my children to brush correctly. It is important to teach our children good oral hygiene, which includes correct brushing and flossing techniques, along with using a toothbrush that is designed for their current age.

EDIT: There was a video that I am not able to embed for some reason! Check out the video here that was taken at a blogger event in New York that features some great information from Dr. Jennifer Salzer, M.D., who is a dentist and a mother too.

I did appreciate the information that was included in this video. I was given a toothbrush for each of my children to "try out" and I have to agree - they really love the character that is on their toothbrush! They look forward to Pooh or Tigger "helping them brush their teeth"!

Here are a few other tips that Oral-B Stages put together to "Make Brushing Fun"

• Brush your teeth with your child to set a good example. This also helps your child to learn by watching and imitating you.


• Choose toothbrushes and toothpaste with popular kids’ characters, like Oral-B Stages, to help establish positive oral care routines with familiar friends like Winnie the Pooh or Disney Princesses.


• Sing your child’s favorite song, such as “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” for two minutes to encourage brushing for the dentist-recommended time. For older children, play a song from their favorite pop singer for two minutes.


• Making your child’s brushing routine fun will encourage proper habits early and help prevent oral care issues later in life.


• For more information please visit, http://www.oralb.com/en-US/smilestages/

To educate parents about children’s oral health, Oral-B Stages and Scrapblog.com have partnered to provide parents a unique and easy way to document key ‘Smile-Stages’ in their children’s oral health development. Smile-Stages are important milestones in children’s oral health development, such as their first smile or the loss of their first tooth. A Smile-Stage is also a specific time of year when children’s oral health is especially important, like Christmas. Now that Christmas is over and parents have all those adorable photos of their kids in their Christmas best, parents can capture their children’s best Smile-Stages moments by visiting www.oralb.com/smilestagesand creating personalized multimedia scrapbooks that can be viewed and shared online. Be sure to check it out, if you are interested in making one!

Now, for the GIVEAWAY:

A representative for the Oral-B company will be giving one of my readers with a gift pack filled with Oral-B products to try out! It will most likely look like the gift pack that is pictured above. How cool is that!

All that you need to do to enter is submit a comment which includes a way for me to contact you (either an email address or through your blog). This is open to bloggers and nonbloggers. Only one comment per person.

Comments will be closed on Friday, January 29th by 5pm. I will then choose a winner and contact that person!

They're Just Talking!

We went to the Farm Show on Saturday with Dawson's brother and his two boys, and we had a really fun time. The kids enjoyed seeing and petting the cows and the sheep...well, Smiles did not like the sheep very much - they were too loud for him. We kept telling him that they were talking to each other. So, now when Smiles tells someone about the Farm Show, he says something like this:

Smiles: "sheep...BAAAA...talking"

Besides petting the animals, the boys really enjoyed seeing the large farm equipment, sitting on the tractors, and drinking the delicious milkshakes - which are SOOOO good! It is like drinking ice cream that has melted a little bit - YUM! We had a great time and look forward to going again next year!