The Allison Show

As you know, I love photography and take TONS of pictures of the kids.  I am always looking for different ways to edit them or make them look more professional but I don't have CS3-4- or 5 so it is a challenge.  Then I got Paint It by Corel!!!  It is so easy to transform a snapshot into a work of art!!  The kids love seeing their pictures changed into the different styles.  There is 10 painting sytles plus differnt brushes, pens and Fairy Dust (my personl favorite!) to add special effects to your pictures.  Painting Styles: ~Oil--applies a combination of short dabs and longer brushstrokes to produce the color and texture of oil paint ~Impressionist--applies short and very visible brushstrokes to create the illusion of movement & light ~Modern--applies bold brushstrokes and adds vibrance to colors to produce an abstract reinterpretation of a photo ~Illustration--applies a wide variety of brushstrokes to produce an illustration-style paint...

As you know. I love photography and most custom photographers offer large (11X14 and bigger) canvas to their clients.  I have been looking online to find a company that will let me make my own canvas.  Most sites are really expensive!!  But then I found Canvas People !!  They have an awesome deal going right now: You get $25 off your canvas and FREE Shipping!  I try to only order stuff online when a site is doing free shipping.  Now I am going to try to get a picture of all 5 kids so I can order my canvas!!

Have you seen the Saturday activities Toys R Us has been hosting? They had a Bakugan event, a Crayola Art Explosion as well as a Thomas the Train birthday bash. They also held a Lego building contest! I love when someone else comes up with ideas to help me keep the kids entertained! So we decided to make a family fun day out of it and head over for the Lego contest. Only hubby and my oldest son were going to enter, but I was not going to sit around the house all day while they went and had fun. While the “big kids” were playing with Legos, I strolled around the store trying to keep the rest of the children from driving me nuts after they were upset they couldn’t play with the Legos. I grabbed a couple of booklets that were lying on the register upfront for the kids to read. They love being able to hold things when we walk around stores. The booklets turned out to be guides on  educational kids toys .  The toys are geared towards children with autism and other developmental d...

I hate house cleaning. However, every year (usually around springtime) I get into a cleaning frenzy! Well this year, “Spring Cleaning” hit me a little late and it was more like Pre-Summer Cleaning. This year I also decided to include home safety with my cleaning. So I checked and changed all the batteries in our smoke alarms. The alarm upstairs did not work even after I changed the battery so I went o Wal-Mart (the Happiest Place on Earth…Err make that the Cheapest Place on Earth) to buy a new one. While I was there I decided that I should buy two fire extinguishers : one fire extinguisher for upstairs in the kitchen and one for downstairs in the laundry room. I also bought new filters for my air conditioning vents. Then I went home and had Hubby install all the stuff I bought. After changing the filters, Hubby suggested that we call someone to come out and clean the central ac/heating vents and ducts. The old guy that came out was crazy!!! It took him 4 hours to do. Wow. So now that...

My hubby is a huge fan of UFC and MMA. (for the uninitiated MMA is mixed martial arts). The last time we watched a match, there were two women fighting. Watching them made me realize that they both could easily kick my ass. Now, I am not a wimp but this did get me thinking about being able to protect myself. As a woman in the twenty first century, I felt the need to better prepare myself and learn a little self defense . At first glance, my schedule is already hectic enough, between going to school full time, raising five kids, taking care of Hubby, and trying to find a few spare seconds for myself, I do not really have the ability to attend a martial arts class. I began searching the internet to see what different options were out there. I thought maybe I could have someone come to my house for private lessons, but quickly realized that would be way too expensive. So I kept looking for other options, and found all sorts of different how-to videos on the web. There were videos on You...

In a few hours, my hubby will be on his way to Dark Mountain in North Carolina for a weekend long mountain biking camping trip with the boys.  And no I don't mean our sons.  He is leaving me home alone all weekend with all five of the kids!!  On the bright side, I would rather stay at home with all the kids and be able to sleep in my nice, comfortable queen size bed, than sleep on the hard rocky ground in camping tents   with a bunch of smelly, sweaty, drunk guys!!  Oh yeah I'll take the kids alone over that any day.  And don't even get me started on cooking on a camp stove or over a open fire.  The last time I went camping, was in July 2007.  My hubby and I went with another couple to the La Jolla Indian Reservation in California.  It was supposed to be a nice, romantic (no kids) getaway, but the reality was that it sucked!!  First off, it rained.  Did you know that not all camping tents are waterproof? G...

Lately Mason has been throwing fits at night when I try to put him in his bed (a portable crib in my room).  If I let him fall asleep on my bed, then move him to his bed then he is fine.  But I can't just nurse him and place in his bed.  He stands up screaming and trying to climb out.  My hubby's mom suggested we buy a mobile to put on the crib but since it is a portable crib it is mostly mesh and there is no way to connect the mobile to the crib.  However we do have a ceiling fan in my room and it is almost directly over Mason's bed.  So imagine how excited I was to hear about Fandangling !! They make mobiles that velcro to the blades of a ceiling fan!!  they offer different set for babies, kids, and tweens.  I decided that Mason would like the puppies so that what we went with.  The Fandangling is super easy to attach.  You take a little square of velcro and peel off the sticky backing and affix to the end of the fan blade.  Then...

The winner of my Treasure Chest Pet Giveaway is #2 Shay!!  She said "I love the monkey! Gabe is a hoarder too, Lord help us both!!  lol"  The winner of my WAT-AAH Giveaway is #18 Gigi!!  She said "I'm following you on Networked blogs. Georgiana O."  They both have 48 hours to respond to my email or random.org will choose new winners.  Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaways and Thanks for reading my blog!!

Title: Thumbing Through Thoreau: A Book of Quotations By Henry David Thoreau Authors: Kenny Luck Illustrators: Jay Luke and Ren Adams Publisher: Tribute Books Published: April 19, 2010 ISBN: 978-0982256541 Summary:  "On July 4, 1845, when Henry David Thoreau moved into his cabin on the shores of Walden Pond, he was probably unaware that his abode in the woods, and the impact and influence of that endeavor, would forever echo through time. Thoreau was an uncompromising idealist; an ardent maverick who criticized his fellow man. He urged that men and women ought to live more simply, and more deliberately. "The mass of men," he famously wrote, "lead lives of quite desperation." Yet the scope of Thoreau's message is much wider than social criticism. He speaks of spiritual transcendence in Nature and the unbounded potential of the individual. Thoreau is a dreamer and he speaks to dreamers. In a word, shun dogmatism and demagoguery; see beyond the immediate conv...

Jeannine!! She said "follow you on GFC."  She has 48 hours to respond or random.org will choose another winner.  Thanks for reading and entering my giveaways.

Oh my goodness.  Have your heard of or checked out CSN Stores ?  They have over 200 different stores that sell everything you could ever want!  When Ashley told me I could pick whatever I wanted...well within reason (LOL) I was so overwhelmed.  But then I got a great idea and went and checked out their section of outdoor toys.  And that's where I found it!!!  The perfect addition to the backyard: a 36" trampoline!!!!  The kids have a swing set, tree house, climbing wall, slide, soccer goal, playhouse, and lots more but they all wanted a trampoline.  Since the little boys are well, little, I didn't want a huge 12' foot trampoline because I knew they would try to climb up on it and get hurt.  As soon as the box was delivered, the kids were excited.  I hadn't told them I ordered it, so they had no idea what was in the box.  As hubby was putting it together (putting the legs on, and the outter cover)the little boys were fu...

Since this is almost (we were here Summer 2005) our first summer off the West Coast; Hubby and I have decided to take the kids on a real vacation.  We have taken them on weekend camping trips and to the Colorado River.  They have been to Disneyland (well the oldest 2 have) but we have never been anywhere east or south or north of Tennessee.  A friend of mine goes to Orlando every year for a week and she suggested that I should look into Disney World Packages .  They offer packages that fit into anyones budget (which is great since we have lots of kids and not so much money!).  They also offer ticket packages to multiple theme parks in Orlando.  Which is also great because it allows us variety since the kids would get bored very easily.  They also have great hotel and resort villas at a super price.  We are thinking about renting a 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath villa so that everyone will have their own space and we (adults) c...

is #45 ♥Heather♥!!  Her post said "Your button is on my blog! #1 my3lilbirds.blogspot.com"  She will have 48 hours after I email her to respond or random.org will choose another winner.  Thanks for entering my giveaway!!

So this year for Father's Day, I was looking for something a little different and unique.  My hubby doesn't work where he needs to wear a tie (LOL How did that start as a tradition?), he has all the tools he needs, and the kids made him homemade cards.  On another blog (can't remember which one.  Sorry!) I saw a giveaway for a wooden Height Chart.  I went to their website to check thme out.  I was so excited!!  this is the perfect, unique gift that I had been looking for.  The site is called WoodGroove  and they sell all kinds of wood gifts.  And the best part is that they personalize them!!  I am a sucker for personalized gifts!!  Thery have quote plaques that say different quotes like "All About Me" or "Eat, Sleep. Shop".  They also offer a custom plaque.  As soon as I saw it, I knew that that was what I wanted.  I contacted Kristen and told her that I wanted a custom plaque.  I wanted it to say World's Greate...

This is my 11th "Schools Out...Now What?" post.  Have you heard of Pillow Pets ??  They are the cute stuffed animals that open (they have a velcro strap) to a pillow.  I was super excited to do a review of these (I had seen the commercials and the "other" [read cheap and poor quality] brands) so I wanted to see these in person.  I decided that Cody would be the lucky kid and we decided to order the cow.  When we first moved to TN, last July, Cody would cry in the car so we always pointed out the cows and other animals we saw.  He still love cows so this is the perfect pet! I was scared of 2 things: 1) Mr Cow is white (mostly) and 2) Cody is kind of crazy and I worried that he would rip the velcro strap trying to open/close his pet.  My worries were for nothing!!  I can easily clean Mr Cow - Cody dripped red G2 on him and I got it off a couple days later. (I spot cleaned him but on another blog she said she threw him in the washer) and the pillow...

This is my 13th "Schools Out...Now What?" post.  Are you looking for a fun and educational activity for your kids this summer?  Then you should check out the Make Your Own Chewing Gum kit By Glee!!  It comes with everything you need to make 50 pieces of gum.  Inside each Make Your Own Chewing Gum Kit you'll find: chewing gum base (containing natural chicle), confectioner's sugar, corn syrup, natural cinnamon and cherry flavors, a pan for softening the chicle gum base, instructions and the story of chicle.  My kids thought it was funny that chicle comes from tree sap.  First you place the corn syrup in boiling water so that it gets hot.  Then you melt the chewing gum base.  Then you combine the 2.  Trying to combine them is like trying to mix glue into ABC gum, very hard!!  LOL Then you knead the gum until it resembles bread dough. Then you spilt the "dough" into 2 peices and add flavoring to each peice.  The kit comes wit...

This is my ninth "Schools Out...Now What?" post.  Hi My name is Allison and my 9 year old Blake is a hoarder.  (...Hi Allison)  He has so much junk ( It's not junk it's my stuff and I need it!) on his bed that he SLEEPS on his bedroom floor. He says he is putting stuff up there so the little kids don't get it.  I was thrilled when I found Treasure Chest Pets !!  They look like a stuffed animal but they have hidden compartments to store your stuff in!  Blake got the Treasure Chest Monkey.  They are also available in: Accessory Chest Dog, Media Chest Bear, Accessory Chest Pig, Treasure Chest Cow, and Media Chest Horse.  The monkey's head connects to the body with a magnet and can be removed to use as a pillow.  With the head off, you can open the body to reveal the treasure chest.  The top of the head also has a zip up pocket to store more important things.  Blake loves his monkey!!  He puts all the stuff he doesn't...

This is my eighth post for "Schools Out...Now What?" Are your kids obsessed with Silly Bandz ? You have no idea what I'm talking about? Well they are silicon "rubber" bands that come in tons of fun shapes and designs.  My 1st and 3rd graders (OMG!  They are now 2nd and 4th graders!!!) came home with a couple before school was out, that they had received from friends. My hubby wasn't a big fan but today the kids were BORED!  So we decided to walk at the mall (free AC!!) One of those "stuff your own animal" stores was selling the bandz for $4.99 for a pack of 24.  The kids had been really good so we decided to let them pick out a pack to share.  They couldn't agree until I pointed out the dinosaurs.  Sold!! The kids love them and they are a cheap bribe. We gave each of the kids (the ones that are over 3 or almost 3) two to wear and play with. I figure they will spend the rest (Ok realistically, they will probably last a couple weeks) of summer...

This is my seventh "Schools Out... Now What?" post.  So while your kids are running around having tons of fun this summer it is important that they drink lots of water to stay hydrated.  What? Your kids don't like to drink water? They say its boring? Not anymore!! Have you heard of  WAT-AAH ??  They are changing the way your kids think about water.  They just started a new advertising campagin (pictured) Don't Drink______- Drink WAT-AAH!! My kids loved it when I pulled out the 4 different colored bottles: Blue : {Brain} The first premium water with added electrolytes to encourage faster rehydration and cooling down Orange : {Power} The first premium water with magnesium to help bone growth Pink :  {Body} Natural spring water, absolutely free of sugar Green :  {Energy} The first premium water infused with oxygen for increased metabolic function and energy They all taste the same (This tastes like water-said my 4 yea...

This is my sixth "Schools Out... Now What?" post.  Today we decided to take the kids to the local Children's museum.  Here in Johnson City, TN it is called the Hands On! Regional Museum.  Back in CA we had a Children's Museum but we never went because I always took the kids to the "real" museums like the Natural History or the Art Museum.  Here are some of the fun things the kids got to do! The museum has a grocery store, bank, an abandoned coal mine with tunnels to crawl through, bubble table, art room; actual plane, tractor, and car; and tons more!  The kids have an awesome time!!  You should check and see if you have a local Children's Museum!  They are cheap and super fun!!

This is my fourth "Schools Out... Now What?" post.  We were at Walmart the other day looking at all the summer splash/pool toys and we saw that they had a new Toy Story 3 Slip N Slide for only $5!!  We couldn't pass up that kind of deal so we bought it!  Here are the results!

This is my third "School's Out... Now what?" post.  This isn't really for the kids but without this product your kids would laugh at you and you would get mad and thats not good for anyone! Have you ever had a baby (specifically a boy) pee on you?  Did your older kids almost die laughing?  (Can you tell I have had all of the above happen?) Well now thanks to Bummas  that will never happen again.  Well my kids will probably still laugh at me but at least I won't get peed on to provide them with giggles. What are bummas you ask? Well they are "are small, soft, luxurious, ecofriendly baby-sized cloths made especially for drying baby bottoms, as well as blocking those surprise squirts."  They were created by a Mom out of necessity.  They are sized 5" X 7" and made of 100% cotton woven velour terry cloth.  They are washable, durable, and (best of all...Ok maybe not but still) made in California!!  They come in packs of 10 and there are 5 ...

This is my second "Schools Out...Now What?" post.  I CAN"T believe that he is one already!!  Wow time is flying.  We just had a small (well I guess with 8 people that is a good sized party LOL) party at home for him.  I made vanilla cake and added in some chocolate chips and frosted with chocolate frosting.  I made a 9" cake for Mason and a dozen cupcakes for the rest of us.  He got 2 books, an airplane, stacking/nesting squares, $20, and some bath toys.  He also has a couple of packages on the way from family out of state.  He wouldn't eat the cake but loved the frosting!!  It was really funny because he grabbed the "1" candle and was using it like an utensil!! Here are the pictures!

This is my first "Schools Out...Now What?" post.  I decided that since my daughter was moping around bored (I Hate my room!!  There is nothing to do!) I would have her Guest Post her review of the toys she got. Have you seen Pawparazzi ??  They are really cute puppies and cats that come with a carrier/purse, a leash, mini notebook, and a mini magazine!  They have 6 different ones: Lexy and Roxy (they are both out of stock), Toby, Daisy, Indy and Misty.  Kayla received Toby, who is a black cat. They also sell super cute outfits for your pet!  Kayla received the day at the spa outfit. Day at the Spa outfit comes with a robe, slippers, a bag, a towel, and a sleep mask.  They also sell: Dream Birthday, Flower Fairy, and Winter Holiday. They also sell accessories such as pet beds and a hotel for your pet to visit.  Kayla received a pink pet bed but they are also available in leopard print. Now I am handing it over to my guest poster: Kayla (who i...

Since most schools are now on summer break, and I have all 5 kids at home, I decided that we should have a week long event to help come up with activities, art projects, and GIVEAWAYS!! to keep your kids entertained and busy.  But first a sneak peek!! Have you heard of CSN stores? I hadn't until another blogger was doing a giveaway.  They are amazing!  They sell housewares, sofas , mountain bikes, and outdoor toys!  I am so excited to be doing a review/giveaway of a 36" trampoline!!  I know that will keep the kids occupied for many hours outside! I have my fingers crossed that I will receive it in time to include in "Schools Out...Now What?" but if not look for it very soon after that! Come back everyday for the next 2 weeks for giveaways, activity ideas, receipes to cook with your kids, and much more.  If you have some great ideas for fun activities please leave a comment here or email me!!

Congratulations to #16 Jessica!!  She said "I follow you on FB."  Thanks to everyone who entered! Keep watching, I'll have some great new things to giveaway soon!

And the winner is #7!!  Aubrie said "I love tablecloths! My favorite is the dusty rose."  I will email her and she will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Thanks for entering!!