Good News and More Good News

I GOT A JOB!!!!

I am so excited! After 7 months of unemployed stress I got a great job!!  I even get three more weeks off to get my stuff in order because I do not start until the 19th.

The hardest part is that I have to go to Atlanta for 3 days for training before starting in the uptown Charlotte office, but the best part is that I HAVE A JOB!!

Not to mention it is near Big J's school so pick up and drop off will be on the way instead of out of the way. In case you missed it Big J goes to a charter school that does not bus.


And the More Good News....

MY HUBS GOT A JOB!!

Yes it is a two for one deal!! He was supposed to start today, but unfortunately hurt his back so does not start until the 14th.

Now we are working on figuring out what our schedules will be, pick ups, drops offs, mornings, evenings, and all the other things that go along with being a working parent. (Oh that sounds so good again). Don't get me wrong I love my children but we both need to work to live and I enjoy it and have missed it.

Now we have to work out how the Hubs will manage for the time I am in Atlanta, but we know it will work out.

I want to thank all my readers for your words of encouragement and prayers. It really helped me stay positive during the bad times.

Its the Hump Day (Whatever) Hop

Link up your Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Giveaway, Networked blogs or Blog Frog links HERE

Rules:

1. Follow your hosts  Mommy Only Has Two Hands  and Unexpected Motheron the linky form, which could be twitter, blog, facebook page, Network Blog or Blog Frog, depending on what you link up below.
2. Retweet/facebook, Friend Feed, Dig, stumble, whatever this hop. You can do this with my tweet button in the top left corner of this post or with the sexy bookmarks widget at the bottom of this post. The more people who know about this, the more fun it is...and the more followers.
3. Follow who ever follows you! Of course you might have to initiate a follow by following people on the linky.

If you follow me, leave a comment below and I will follow you back. 

Capezio & Wisharoo Duckle Dance Sweepstakes and Giveaway

So what is the Duckle Dance? 


It’s a little bit of ballet, a little bit of tap, and a whole lot of whatever you want it to be but, most importantly, its moving and grooving family fun for all!  Check it out yourself by viewing the Duckle Dance promotional video at www.WisharooPark.com/duckledance!  Don’t let the smooth moves and solid steps by the video’s dancers intimidate though as they are trained pros!

Get in on the Sweepstakes Fun:

The Duckle Dance Sweepstakes Presented by Capezio and Wisharoo Park is open now through September 1st, 2011 for video submissions.  It presents countless opportunities for preschool dancers’ Duckle Dance videos to spiral out over the Internet as the next viral video stars.  In keeping with Wisharoo Park’s mission, the promotion is intended to encourage children to 'get moving' and help them build confidence and self-esteem, encourage innovation, and above all have fun! 

Parents: Watch the below video with your kids or at www.WisharooPark.com/duckledance! Then record your kids performing their very own version of all or any part of, the Duckle Dance -- either to the ballet or tap music provided at the entry site and have their parents capture their performance on video.  

Click here to enter (SWEEPSTAKES ENDS: September 1, 2011 at 11:59 PM ET) for a chance to win one of twenty Capezio and Wisharoo Prize packages or one of five $500 DanceScholarships!

Giveaway

One lucky The Trials of Big J & Little J reader will win a Duckle Dance Gift Package ( $104 arv)

•           One Pair Capezio Daisy ballet Shoes.  Retail Value: $18.00

•           One Pair Capezio Jr. Tyette Tap Shoes.  Retail Value: $25.00

•           One Capezio Logo Drawstring Backpack.  Retail Value: $8.50

•           One Limited Edition Do the Duckle Commemorative T-Shirt.  Retail Value:  $12.99

•           One Wisharoo Park 2-Disc 13 Episode DVD Set.   Retail Value:  $19.99

•           Six Wisharoo Park Wish Star finger puppets.  Retail Vaile: 19.98

I received a Duckle Dance Gift Pack in return for a post on my blog. Regardless I only promote items I believe in and that I feel my readers will enjoy.

Kindergarten - Unofficial First Day

So the charter school that Big J is attending had what they call staggered entry for the kindergarten class. This means that they split the incoming kindergarteners into 4 groups and each group attends one day the week before school official starts. Big J's day was today so we were up at 6:30 and getting ready for (GULP) Kindergarten!!! Where oh where did the time go?? (The official first day is Monday the 22nd.)

I was good and although a little sad I did not cry. I know that this will be great for her and she will have a blast learning and being with her new friends. I guess I am only worried because she does not know anyone. Because we choose a charter school (which is not near our house), none of the children she attended daycare with will be going. Not that it really mattered because the three children she did play with the most in and out of daycare are not going to the local school anyway. Two are in other districts and one is going to a private school.  Although we are all having a BBQ this Sunday as a "kick-off" with a bunch of families from our old daycare.

I have to say this is all weird to me because I come from a small town where there was one chose of Elementary, Middle and High school and one only. If my parents wanted me to go to another school they would have had to drive me at least 30 minutes to get there. Needless to say that was not going to happen, not when they worked in our town!

I actually began looking at schools over a year ago and my husband thought I was crazy, but now he tells me how smart I was because I knew the deadlines way in advance and what needed to be done. Plus I got Big J a spot in the exact school we wanted, which seems like a great fit for her.

I am so excited for my baby (big) girl and am actually counting the minutes to go and pick her up from her first day of Kindergarten!! I will post later to let you all know how everything went.


Does anyone else have children, a child that is starting Kindergarten or has started already? If your children have been going to school for awhile do you have any traditions you would like to share? I am looking for something special to do on the first day and last day of school every year.

Waiting for Mommy to do her hair. 

Costume Discounters Review - Little Red Riding Hood

I love Halloween! It is by far my favorite holiday, I mean candy, being able to dress like anything you want, pumpkins and did I mention the candy??

Last year Little J was not very happy with her costume so this year I decided to go with something different and since she loves playing dress up with her sister I thought why not the Lil' Red Riding Hood Infant Costume from Costume Discounters. I have received costumes from them before and I was not disappointed this time either. The costume is very good quality, especially the hooded cape which was very soft and velvety.

The minute I took it out of the package Little J had to try it on.

Close up of the cape 

Look at that smile, I think she loves it 

No matter how hard I tried I could not get her to look at me so I could take a full on shot. 

Of course Big J had to get in a picture too. 

Litte Red Riding Hood not your thing for halloween? Don't worry Costume Discounters has a ton of infant halloween costumes to choose from, and girls, boys and adult costumes too. Big J already has her  costume picked out too. (I think we are going with Arial this year) 

We received a free Little Red Riding Hood costume from Costume Discounters in order to review. All opinions are my own and 100% honest. 

FoundIt Review and Giveaway

With Big J starting Kindergarten tomorrow (gulp) I know that things will get lost all the time. Not to mention that we have a lot of electronics that we carry around with us that would be very expensive to replace. While I know that some people who find lost items are not nice enough to try to find the actual owner I want to be able to assist the kind samaritans who actually want to return lost items. It steps FoundIt!

What is FoundIt?

We all lose stuff. At FoundIt, they help us get it back. That's it in a nutshell.

They know how it feels to lose something important. So they started FoundIt™ as a lost and found that connects the Finder and the Owner (the FoundIt™ member) instantly. They are a lost item retrieval network. It works great for anything that's easily lost but hard to replace, like phones, and laptops, keys and cameras, jackets and tennis rackets. (All while keeping your private information private.) It's a simple way for people to return your lost items.

When you sign up for an account, they'll send you labels/stickers with your unique FoundIt ID. (You only need to register once; the ID is yours for life.) Then, if you ever lose something with your FoundIt ID in a taxi, on a trail, or in a restaurant, the good people who find it have a simple way to get it back to you. Visit their website to see how it works. 

They believe in your privacy and being honest and up-front with their members. They'll never sell, rent or otherwise abuse your trust or your information. No ads or sneaky cookies. No following you around town to see what kind of ice cream you buy. (In case you're curious, they love strawberry.)

What I received:

MacDaddy Family Package — $24.99

• 4 years access to FoundIt Network
• Set of 62 stickers
• 2 key tags
• 3 bag tags
• 1 luggage tag/ID card
• 2 round tags (pet tag)

 Stickers 

Tags

The stickers hold up well on items, even ones like my cell phone that go in and out of pockets and my purse. I also like the fact that I do not have to list my address and name on my items. This is especially important when it comes to the safety of Big J & Little J. I always remember hearing that you should not put certain information like name, address and phone number on your child's information because someone could use that to gain their trusts. Now the stickers just have my code on it. This way when someone finds a lost item they go the the FoundIt website and put in the code. The person who finds the item then can choose how they want to be contacted back about returning the item; phone, e-mail, text or even a simply anonymous note saying something like, "I found your phone and left it with the coffee shop manager.". I would then get an e-mail or text message from FoundIt alerting me that my item was found. Privacy for all parties involved.

Where to purchase:
Visit Foundit.net to purchase one of the three packages. (Prices range from $7.99 - $24.99)



WIN IT!! One lucky reader will win the MacDaddy Family Package from FoundIt. To enter please use the Rafflecopter entry form below.

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Attending MBA programs in Colorado, Worth it?

I received my MBA in October of 2010 after going online for two years in an accelerated program after great debate on whether it would be worth the time, money and effort.  I decided that it would help me in my career and would be worth struggling while working full time and raising a child. I even was pregnant and gave birth while attending classes online.  (I did take 6 weeks off)

That is the best thing about MBA classes now they are created for students who work and have families. Which means you have options to go online, nights, weekends or normal daytime hours. You even have the option to take accelerated classes, like some MBA programs in Colorado. I choose an accelerated online degree, which meant that classes were 6 weeks and professor’s expected 20 hours of work a week. This was a struggle because I worked full time and was raising first one child and then two children, but it was very rewarding when I got my diploma.

Thankfully I decided to get my MBA because 4 months after receiving my MBA I was laid off and found myself searching for a new job. While I have not have any luck yet, my MBA does get me noticed and I have had companies reach out to me because of it. The right job has not come along yet but I know that when it does my MBA will help me land it and advance in my career faster.

I am participating in a blogger campaign for a sponsor who represents mba programs Colorado and was compensated.  All opinions are my own and 100% honest. I did obtain my MBA in October but did not attended mba programs Colorado. 

Stressed and Scared

I have debated about posting this for a couple days now but I need to get it out there because it is really affecting me and my family.

So as you may know I lost my job at the end of February after 3 1/2 years due to the organization restructuring and eliminating the position.  What sucked was that they had laid off about 50% of their staff and people (including me) were starting to feel comfortable again. Then BAM, one Thursday I get invited to a meeting with my boss, I get there and he says we are going to HR for the meeting. At that point I knew but a part of me was still hoping. Then I hear: Your position was eliminated, take this and read and sign then call back next week to come get your stuff. Here is the door.

Thankfully I get unemployment but since my husband has been unemployed for a long time and does not have an income it is just not enough. Now we are lucky we get food stamps and WIC for Little J but even that will not cover the bills.

My mom and step-father have helped us a lot and we were able to get some work a couple months ago to make some extra money but now it is rent time again and we are stuck. My husband is trying to sell his computer which (due to the first one breaking and being under warranty) is new and still in the box. However we have had only low offers and are starting to panic. We love our apartment and have put a lot of work into it, recently in Big J's room and do not want to move. If we have to move I am not sure where we will go, we thought we could live in a extended stay hotel but they are still to much money and the monthly ones are no children allowed types. Plus we would have to pay for a storage unit because we have a lot of stuff that we do not want to lose.

Ok I already feel a little better after typing this but I am so stressed that it is making me sick. I just want to bury my head and sleep but I know that I cannot do that. I have two wonderful girls that need me. I am trying to stay positive and be thankful for what we do have but I am so worried and scared of what is going to happen.

My husband does have some leads for jobs, but his background check always holds things up because NH takes forever and he has lost jobs in the past because of it. I also have a lead and hope I will get an interview on Monday and perhaps land a job soon, but I though that I had one last month and that did not end well. You can read more about that here.

Thanks for letting me rant and get this off my chest.

Eversave Offer - Kiwi Magazine

I love magazines and Kiwi is one of my top!

Kiwi Magazine Today's Save:$6 for a one-year subscription to KIWI magazine and more Expires 11:59 PM - Aug 13, 2011