"Ho, ho, ho!" At Hilton

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

It was the time before Christmas in the year 2009.
Any date from November 15th thru December 23rd would do just fine.
You were planning a vacation as a great, big surprise.
A trip to Branson in Missouri, that would be so nice.

But where would you stay in a month like December?
Have some family fun and a great time to remember?
For days filled with laughter and a service so kind?
When it suddenly dawned on you; the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing came to mind.

You booked one of Hilton's packages; boy, were those cheap.
It saved you some greenbacks, rather make that a heap!
Upon your arrival everyone got filled with lots of excitement.
There were attractions galore and a huge choice of amusement.

Mother and daughter wandered many stores and spent quality time.
With all of those discounts they shopped on a dime.
The young ones got flustered and thought they were dreaming.
Mrs. Claus read them stories and their eyes were just gleaming.

A loud "Ho, ho, ho!", a knock on your room's door.
Gifts and cookies by Santa; jaws dropped to the floor.
'An Old Time Christmas' was held in Silver Dollar City,
With those 4 million lights it all was so pretty.

The entire family agreed this was time spent very well.
They wanted to take advantage of the deals at the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel.
For a good time choose Hilton, that is made so clear.
Not just this season, but all throughout the year!

With Flying Colors

Date of occurrence:
May 24, 2009.
Lil' Leo is 1 year and almost 4 months old.

We had gotten the boys a little tub with chalk. Don't worry, we were smart enough to get the kind that easily washes off with a little water.

I gave both boys some different colors and showed them what to do with it by drawing on the patio. Kc grabbed the concept pretty quick, Leo on the other hand had the urge to fully examine all the different colored sticks of chalk up close and personal.

He looked at them from all sides, sampled them in his mouth, on the patio furniture, the siding of the house and himself. After withstanding a thorough testing, the chalk got his approval.

The only thing that was missing now was Opa and Oma's approval. So far, they had not been too pleased with Leo's analytics and in depth study, but that was about to change.

The little guy finally accepted that it was perfectly okay to scribble on the patio and neither use it on something else, or as a lolly pop. He gave his imagination free range and brightened up the patio and our day.

Yup, he got our approval and our praise for his artwork. He passed with flying colors. :-)

The Dirt Devil Savings Guide

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hoover and Dirt Devil. All opinions are 100% mine.

It occurred to me that I am more and more buying online. It is fast, easy on my joints, no standing in line and no going all the way up to the store just to find it is out of stock. I have found it to be often a lot cheaper as well.

Shopping online has now become an even more pleasant experience with the Dirt Devil Holiday Gift Guide. This guide presents over 300 ways to increase my savings by giving helpful tips, tricks, sites for coupons and so much more. That is really helpful and not just for the upcoming Holidays, but throughout the entire year.



I loved browsing through this guide. Every bit of it was very informative and gave me some neat tips which will come in handy next time I buy online. That may be in the near future, since I have to find a couple of Christmas gifts for my husband.

It usually is difficult to come up with a gift for men, but Dirt Devil has given me some good ideas. Even though it would seem like this would be a site mainly for women, the Holiday Deals DirtDevil.com offers include gifts for every member of the family, as well as the entire family.

Keep in mind that Thursday, December 17, 2009 is the second annual Free Shipping Day! Yup, that is what I learned from the Holiday Gift Guide, but they also pointed out more sites that offer free shipping all the time. How cool is that?!

I don't know why they call it the Dirt Devil Holiday Gift Guide; they should have called it the Dirt Devil Savings Guide!

Sing To Energize

When our grandsons were here, I used to sing along with the little songs that would come out of their toy cars, after they pushed the button.

Songs like 'The Muffin Man' and 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' seemed to be a lot funnier when Oma would sing and occasionally even dance to them. Both the boys and I got a kick out of it.

It so turns out that music lifts the spirit, enhances the mood and gives more energy. Try it; sing along with your grandchildren and boost your energy.

It is great fun and it might even be a good way to keep older children's songs alive. You could teach them songs you sang when you were young and the kids will keep you up to date with their latest 'hits'.

Don't worry if your voice does not resemble that of an angel; I can't sing either, but that might even enhance the fun. Grin.

Tweet To Make A Wish Come True

Even though we miss seeing our grand children, I am so grateful they are all well and healthy. I can not even begin to imagine how heartbreaking it must be when such a young child would have a life threatening disease, like Jacob.

The little guy is only 4 years old and has been suffering from a rare disease ever since the day he was born. His young life can be over soon, due to his condition. Wouldn't it be wonderful being able to grant him the greatest wish he has; going to Disneyland with his entire family?

Wouldn't it be wonderful to put a sparkle in those little eyes, a huge smile on his face and fill his heart with excitement, joy and happiness? We can!
All it takes is to go on Twitter and tweet the following message:
Just tweeted 2 grant a childs wish! #LeapFish donates to #makeawish foundation for each tweet. http://bit.ly/3Tj8A Please retweet!

Leapfish has joined hands with the Make-a-Wish Foundation and will donate five cents for each tweet, until the amount of $10,000 is reached to realize Jacob's dream. There is nothing simpler then to tweet-a-cause and make this little critter's dream come true.

The campaign will run from November 16 through November 27, 2009. Don't wait however; spread the tweet as soon as possible so that others can pass it on as well. The more tweets, the sooner Jacob can have his wish.

Good deeds often take little effort on our part, but they will make a huge difference in someone else's life!

Whach Ya Doing?

Date of occurrence:
May 24, 2009.
Kc is 2 years and three and a half months old.

Son in law dropped both boys off before going to work. After the usual hugs and pleasantries I got occupied with lil' Leo in the living room, while lil' Kc marched straight to the office to greet Opa who was at work.

I heard them conversing, but was not paying attention to what was said. It was probably 'men'-talk, hehe. All of a sudden Opa called out to me: "Oma, I just had the first real conversation with Kc!"

Thinking he was kidding, I answered: "Yeah, sure."
Opa:"No, I am serious. We had a real conversation!" and he told me what had happened and what was said.

Lil' Kc had come in to the office, saw Opa and with a big grin on his face he asked: "Heyyyy! Whach ya doing?"
Opa: "Hey, little man. I am not doing much, just working. What are you doing?"
Lil' Kc, throwing his hands in the air and shrugging: "I ain't doin anything."
He said it all so clear that Opa's jaw dropped to the floor.

Me: "Wow. Kc, did you just talk to Opa?"
He gave me the biggest smile accompanied with a "Yeahhhh" and a chuckle. Of course we had to celebrate that with a snack and a cup of orange juice.

With the exception of some sporadic words in understandable English, there was no repetition of any clear sentences coming out of that little mouth during the rest of the day. That's okay; we know he understands practically anything we say and tell him. It won't be long before we will understand practically anything he says and tells us.

Oma can't wait to hear what all goes on in that little mind of his! :-)

Raiders Of The Fridge

The best place is always in the kitchen and both our grand sons knew that too well. Lil' Kc would open the fridge any chance he would get, grab whatever appealed to him and take off with it. So far, he got away with a plum and a couple of chocolates.

Since I also have to keep my medications refrigerated, I didn't like for the boys to be able to dive in whenever they liked. We purchased a child safety lock to go on the fridge which put an end to that.

Somehow, food still seems to be disappearing and that is not due to the boys. You can probably imagine how frustrating it is when you have your heart set on a mouth watering snack or meal, just to find out someone beat you to it. Arrrggghhhhh!

I may pay a visit to www.FridgeLocker.com and order one of these clever, little, refrigerator storage bins. It has a combination lock, is easy to carry in case I need to go some place, even fits in the freezer or pantry and guards my meals, snacks and anything else which pleases my taste buds.

It is great for dorms, offices and any other place where the raiders of the fridge roam around. Since you can't lock them up, you better lock up your food!