Photos, photos, photos!

We took the boys to a Suns game this weekend. It was Noah's first Suns game and only Connor's 2nd or 3rd. Connor is so weird about basketball - he loves watching it but associates it with really, really loud noises. His cousin Jalen plays basketball and Connor HATES the screaming buzzer noise. We continue to try and rationalize with him that the noise is way worse at Jalen's game since it's in the tiny gym but he just wasn't buying what we were selling. Anytime we talk about going to a basketball game he puts his hands over his ears and talks about it being too loud. We surprised him with the Suns game so we didn't have to deal with it this time. We didn't tell him we were going until we put his new Suns shirt on and he handled it ok :)

Super excited waiting for the light rail. We take the light rail lots when we go to things downtown (unless they are at the ball park obv). It's just so nice to park somewhere and take the rail into Phoenix. No parking fuss, saves on gas, etc. Plus, Connor loves riding the train. This was Noah's first light rail experience, though I rode it a few times when I was pregnant with him.

clearly, he was thrilled about the first ride too

Noah did love watching the game though


this is a typical picture. Connor annoyed by all the picture taking and Noah trying to escape
this would have been a really great pic had the weirdo guy on the right not yelled Cheeseburger at the last minute, distracting bear. Thanks random guy, enjoy your beer.

Awesome parenting tip #345: Make your own baby gate so you can enjoy watching the game

it's been sicko central in the Barnes household, so there are lots of otter pops, or popsis as we call them, going on. Here's Connor teasing Bear with his. Bro love, gotta love it.

so cute. sadly, right after this pic was taken Connor let go of Noah and he fell over.

photographic evidence of why germs spread like wildfire in our house

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win some free Purex with Zout - you can enter up to three times and the contest ends this Friday!

Purex Complete with Zout Review & Giveaway!

Today I got my first product since becoming a Purex Insider - me likey so far. I thought they'd send me a sample size and expect me to review it but no...full size Purex Complete with Zout thankyouverymuch. Super thrilled.

So thrilled that I pulled some of our constantly multiplying laundry out and started a load up. We don't really use fabric softener that often since I have two little boys with sensitive skin. We just usually use a free and clear detergent and then toss some free and clear type of fabric sheets in the dryer and call it a day. My laundry is going now so I'm anxious to see how it worked.

The first thing I realized is how yummy it smells. Since I normally use plain free and clear products I miss out on the smell. This is the Fresh Morning Burst and it smells somewhat berry to me. Very good, and not too strong. I can't handle when laundry has too much smell to it so I like this, as it's not too overdone.

I didn't have any tough stains to test this out on (shockingly) but it did get out some ketsup and some paint that connor came home with on his khakis so I am a pleased mama so far. I'm actually looking forward to testing it out when they bring home something serious like blood or grass. The product works as a pretreater too so it does double duty in that way.

So I've heard of Purex of course and I've heard of Zout but this is the combo of the two products that promises to clean your clothes and take on your toughest stains. With two dirty little boys I know tough stains for sure. (I just wish it could do something about jeans with holes in the knees!)

The product contains three enzymes to fight the stains:
1. Protease: works on protein based stains like grass & blood - both common in my house
2. Amylase: handles starchy stains like chocolate & tomato sauce - again, common stuff here
3. Mannanase: works on guar, which is more common than it sounds (but just as gross). It's in ice cream, salad dressings, bbq sauce and lots of other foods. This stuff is sticky which is what makes it so tough to get out of fabric
(don't be too impresssed, I took this info straight from the Purex fact sheet they provided me with so that I'm actually giving you accurate info)

GIVEAWAY - Purex gave me two coupons to give away here!! Hooray free stuff :) Each of the coupons will get you a FREE bottle of Purex complete with Zout Cleaner so be sure to get your entries in by Friday, March 18th at midnight. You can enter 3 times, so read on:

MANDATORY ENTRY METHOD

1. Visit Purex.com and in a comment come back and tell me what you think of the Purex Crystals they are bragging about. This is a brand new, not even out everywhere product. You must actually click through to Purex using THIS link, otherwise this entry will not be valid.

OTHER ENTRIES (to be done after mandatory entry)

2. Become a follower of this blog (see top right hand corner of blog). If you are already a follower, give yourself an extra entry by posting that in a comment.

3. Tell others about the giveaway via Facebook, Twitter, or your blog and leave a link to your post in your comment.

That's it, simple. I'll be randomly selecting the two winners and will notify you that you're entry was selected. I'll post the winner on Saturday the 19th and you'll have two days to contact me to claim your prize. Doesn't get much easier than that. Be sure to enter all three ways for the best chance to win :)

Thanks for checking in. I'm excited about this Purex thing. A way to try new products, let the manufacturers know what I think and give away freebies to my friends and those who read my blog!

Friday's Dose of Brilliance

Hey It's Free - Today’s site is pretty great. I've already linked to it before here. It has multiple postings each day of free giveaways on various sites. The guys who hosts the site is pretty funny as well. Today I submitted forms for free shampoo, a notepad and a razor. I am aware that my list did not read like: free car, free house, free trip to Jamaica but like the website says, “hey, it’s free”. Enjoy :)

F-R-E-E that spells free!

Tax day really sucks this year for us. Every year for as long as I can remember we’ve gotten a huge chunk of cashola back. Add a house to the equation and it’s even more. Add Connor and it’s even more again. Last year we decided that we’d rather have the money in our paychecks than get a huge chunk in the spring refund. So, we changed our withholdings and didn’t factor something or other in. Our goal was to just about break even, or get a small amount back after taxes…oops. We owed $1500 this year which is sad, sad news.

But, I found this article online today that made me feel a wee bit better. It’s about all kinds of free giveaways or discounts for today, April 15th…tax day. Enjoy. If you know of more offers and freebies put them in the comments so we can all indulge!