Merry Merry Christmas!!!

Well...after a long twenty-four hour drive we finally made it to Florida. We are spending a lovely two weeks with my sister's family for Christmas. Nice to get away from the cold and snow...even if it's only for two weeks. I just wanted to wish all my loyal followers a very Merry Christmas!! Wishing everyone all the best for the holidays and hoping that the new year will bring you much joy and happiness. Health and wealth to us all!!

Winner of the FabulousSavings.ca Give-Away!!!

Drumroll please.....

Thanks to Pamela from FabulousSavings.ca for choosing a winner! I would love to congratulate Cari of Can I get the Recipe? for being my first ever Give-Away winner!!! Hohoho Merry Christmas!! Please send me your full name and address so we can send out your prize. And you never know...it might even come before Christmas! Wouldn't that be fantastic?!

FABULOUS Give-a-way!!!

I am soooOOooo excited!! I am hosting my first ever give-away!! Whoohooo!

I'm so happy to be able to offer something to my loyal followers. FabulousSavings.ca is a fantastic free online coupon and discount site for Canadians and they will be presenting a $50 Walmart Giftcard to one of my Canadian readers. (My apologies to my international followers.)

Here are the rules:

1. It is open to Canadian residents only.

2. You must visit their site (http://www.fabuloussavings.ca) and answer the following by leaving a comment on my blog:

"Name a FabulousSavings.ca exclusive coupon merchant featured on the homepage & list the discount offered."

3. Become a follower of Screamin' Mama. Please let me know once you follow me.

4. Earn another entry by becoming a follower of my other blog Fork in Food. Please let me know once you've become a follower.

5. Maximum two entries per person. (1. Comment and follow Screamin' Mama 2. Follow Fork in Food)

This contest will be open for two weeks. Give-away closes by 12pm Tuesday, December 21, 2009. Good luck and happy holidays!!!

All time low!!

I've been crazy busy the last two weeks. My daughter was sick all last week and I had to plan a huge birthday party for my son and daughter this past weekend. Of course all the hard work paid off and the party was a hit. Just look at my cute cupcakes. Check out Fork in Food for my instructions on how to make them.

However, there is a price to pay for success. It's called laundry. Last night when I went up for my shower I realized that I couldn't find any clean underwear! I was too exhausted to run down to the basement (plus it's also where the boogey man lives so I refuse to go down there after dark) so I rummaged through my drawers and what did I find? A swimsuit bottom. Well it looks like underwear and feels like underwear, doesn't it? So I slipped them on after my shower and no one was the wiser.

In fact, I kinda liked wearing them and since I was still too lazy to go down to the basement in the morning, I wore them all day today. It was sorta like wearing a girdle all day. It really did keep my tummy all sucked in...and there were sexy black. Ok...I know...I know...I'm reaching now...so please don't tell anyone...it really was my all time low...

By the way, if you are reading this tonight...stay tuned because tomorrow I am offering a FABULOUS Give-away!!

Christmas Wreath - 10 minute craft

I can't believe I'm already making Christmas crafts. I have to confess the only reason why I'm putting up my Christmas decorations today was because I felt guilty about leaving my Halloween decorations up until yesterday.


As I was digging out all my holiday decorations I came across some things I bought from Michael's and the dollar store. Materials that I was going to use last year but never got the chance to make.


This wreath literally took ten minutes to make and looks great. I just took a grapevine wreath, sprigs of silver holiday sprays and some blue ornaments. I didn't even need glue!

Just cut up the sprigs into smaller portions and insert into the wreath...securing them in between the tight twines of the wreath. Spread out evenly.

After I just hooked the ornaments on with their original hooks and pinched the end to secure them. Voila!! A pretty, sparkly wreath to put on your door.

Happy Halloween!!

I have to admit Halloween is so much fun. I'm sitting here waiting for the first kids to arrive. My kids left about fifteen minutes ago and now I have some peace and quiet.

It was quite chaotic trying to get them out the door. Where are the hats? Are you warm enough? They think they can just run out in a sweatshirt when it's only 6F outside. Go to the washroom! Bag big enough? Where are your friends?

I have to admit I've been laughing more than usual lately. The boys have been perfecting their nerdy behaviour and they have done a pretty funny job at getting it right.

It's has been pretty exhausting though...

I spent three hours Thursday night making cupcakes for the kids' class parties. It's fun decorating but by the end I didn't have any enthusiasm left...I just wanted to finish the job and go to sleep. I won't even show you what the last ones looked like...

Handcrafted T-shirt Tote

I was browsing the Martha Stewart site tonight and came upon instructions on how to make a t-shirt tote. It looked to be super easy so I immediately searched for a t-shirt. Funny but I had a t-shirt exactly like the one on her site. Here is the finished product. It took me literally two minutes to make and looks fabulous.
The only confusing thing about her instructions was how to place the bowl so I've taken a picture of step 2.

I love reusable bags and this is such a great idea. A great way to recycle old t-shirts or ones that no longer fit. Happy sewing!!

Goodbye Victor?!!

I am still in shock...

My friend just sent me a link to CNN...

Victor Newman is no more...

Can you believe that?!!! I've been watching The Young and the Restless since I was twelve...that's almost 28 years!! The Young and the Restless revolves around Victor Newman...his manipulating ways...his love affair with Nikki...and feud with the Abbotts. Mind you I'm not sure which category he falls into...he's certainly not young and is he really restless?

I will most likely continue watching Y&R more out of habit but it will definitely not be the same without the old guy. I don't even like his character but getting rid of Victor would be like getting rid of Katherine Chancellor. It's just unthinkable!

Boo to Sony Executives!!

Here's the link for those interested in what happened to Eric Braeden.

The Sandwich Generation

I've been so busy lately. Hubby is away this entire week so I've been playing single mom. Keeping up with the kids' schedules and my dad's medical tests has left me this week a wee bit tired. It's funny but I had been looking forward to this school year. My baby is finally in grade one...in school the entire day...but instead of having all this free time I have been busy taking my dad for tests and doctor's appointment and I just found out my mom needs cataract surgery. I'm thankful that I am able to be there for them and not have to worry about the dragging the kids along but it's still stressful. My parents are not considered old by modern standards but things come up as they age.

My sister actually referred to us as the sandwich generation...sandwiched by young kids and aging parents. Now we are the ones worrying about everyone else...safety of our children and the health of our parents. Lately I've had quite a few sleepless nights worrying about my dad. Funny how tables have turned since I'm sure he spent many a night staying up worrying about me. I pray that the tests will show that things aren't as serious as they intially seemed to be. I'm hoping my sandwich will be filled with some healthy sweetness and a lot of meat. Enjoyable and memorable.

What's that stench?!!

For the past three days I've been driven from my home by this terrible stench. It started after lunch on Monday and I thought it was the canned Wedding soup I made the kids. I scrubbed the kitchen and threw out all the garbage but I would still catch a whiff once in awhile. The next day it got a bit worse. I searched around looking for stagnant water in my planters. What the heck could it be?!! It killed me that I couldn't figure it out. Finally as I sniffed around on my hands and knees like a hound dog I narrowed it down to my fridge and freezer area. However it wasn't coming from inside...it was outside. Strange. We didn't have mice in the house but I couldn't rule it out. I made my husband pull out the fridge and freezer but we didn't find anything.

This morning the smell literally drove me screaming from the house. Imagine the worse case of bad breath...rotting meat...dead animal...it literally made me light headed and nauseous. I couldn't even function! I ran to Sears to look for a manual since I misplaced mine but all they could recommend was to call a Sears repairman at $100 minimum. As I always say, poor people have to be resourceful so I ran to the closest book store to try to figure out what the heck could be happening to my fridge. No luck there! Not one book! However the saleslady there recommended an appliance parts store so I ran over there hoping to get some free advice. They were so nice and explained that there was nothing that could give my fridge bad breath.

I forced my hubby to pull everything out again and we finally figured out that it was the stagnant water coming from the drip pan. Can you believe that there is no way you can take that thing out to clean!! Two hours later, a cut finger and my body so sore from contorting myself to get to that darn thing. We did our best...I'm hoping that will be the end of it...but will keep my fingers crossed just in case. I really don't want to call the repairman!