I'm hoppin'

It's Friday so I must be hoppin'! I am always happy to have new followers and to "meet" new people. If you are new here, WELCOME! Please leave me a comment letting me know that you are a new follower and I will happily follow you back!  I am currently having a giveaway for a fun summer tote from Carmex. You can find it here !Have an awesome weekend (:

I am participating in: Hop Along Friday at Chubby Cheeks Thinks

and : Fun Friday Blog Hop hosted by Life With Twins and a Drama Queen

Grilled corn on the Cob

One of my favorite parts about summer is the produce. Seriously everything just tastes so much better! Strawberries, watermelon, tomatoes, cucumbers...corn on the cob. Yum!

Of course the nice cheap prices also help! This week I can get watermelon for .17 a lb and 5 ears of corn for a $1. You can't beat that! Fresh, yummy, healthy and cheap? Yes,please!!

While browsing through a Kraft Food and Family magazine I found a recipe for cooking your corn on the grill. Now I am not a "grill master" but my hubby was willing to make it for me.

I love how some stores put a big garbage can out so that you can shuck your corn while you are there. If you do that though...your kids miss out on the fun of shucking it. When I was younger I remember having to go outside with a garbage bag and shuck corn. It is only fair that my kids have the same memories right?!

Grilling corn on the cob is easy shmeazy. Seriously.

Here are the steps:

1. Have children shuck corn...or do it yourself I guess.
2. Rinse and pull off any leftover silk.
3. Wrap in foil.
4. Hand them to your husband.
5. Heat your grill to med. high and grill for 15-20 minutes.
6. Top with butter and whatever toppings you like...like parmesan butter.
7. Devour.

Seriously so good and my kids, who love corn on the cob anyway, just chow it down. Delish!

**Also don't forget to enter my giveaway for your chance to win a Carmex tote bag filled with Carmex chapsticks. You can find it here**

Carmex Love

Oops, a little blurry!

The other day, as our family was sitting around the table eating dinner, the doorbell rang. My kids excitedly jumped to go get it when my husband told them to sit back down it was just a package.

He looks at it and says, " It is for you, from Carmex." Then it was my turn to excitedly jump up! However, I held back until after dinner to open it.

I ripped the package open and found this fun summer tote and inside the small pocket? Every new flavor of Carmex chapstick and one of the origials.

I love, love, love Carmex. Seriously. My Carmex love dates back to my middle school years.

Well now you can get that same awesome coverage in fun flavors. Did you know that Carmex has an spf of 15? It is also water resistant for up to 80 minutes. How nice is that for when you are swimming around in the pool or ocean?

So far my favorite flavor is strawberry or vanilla. My daughter, who insisted I had to share, is pomegranate.

Would you like to win a package like the one I recieved? Of course you would!! Who wouldn't?!

Here is what you have to do:

1. Leave a comment telling me you want in, and what flavor is your favorite/what you would like to try.

2. Follow my blog.

3. Follow me (MarthaWannabe) on facebook.

The first 3 are all MANDATORY. I know, mean huh?! For bonus entries ( 1 for each item you do):

1.Share on your facebook page. Personal/"business" (if you have each it is one extra entry for each)
2. Refer people to my blog (1 entry per each person you send my way)
3. Refer people to my facebook page. (1 entry per each person who "likes" my page.

Giveaway ends 8/10 sometime in the evening (: I will post winners here and let them know on facebook.

**This is a sponsored post on behalf of Carmex. I recieved this kit to form an opinion but was not paid in any way. All opinions are 100% my own.**

Happy Homemaker Monday...on Tuesday

Yesterday was filled with laundry, errands, grocery shopping and somewhere in all that...I forgot to post my HHM. So although I am a day late, I decided to participate anyway (:

The Weather: Our weather doesn't change much here in So. Cali but when I woke up there was a pretty dense layer of fog, followed by sunshine, 70* with a slight breeze. In my very humble opinion...perfect.

On my reading pile: I started reading The Husband Project and am excited to particpate in a blog challenge based on the book.

On my tv: watching the very first Pirates of the Carribean with my boys

On the menu for this week:
Monday: Papa Johns provided dinner (for a fee of course!)
Tuesday: leftovers
OK honestly I haven't even thought about dinner for the rest of the week! :( I need to figure it out asap!

On my to do list:
  clip & organize coupons
   clean kitchen
  laundry, laundry, laundry

What I am creating: Last week I decided to spend two hours every Saturday crafting...then thanks to my daughter having head lice...I didn't do anything. So this week I am determined to get some scrapbooking in!!

Homemaking tip: "Inspect what you expect" has become my new motto in dealing with my children. They do a much better job when they know Mom will be checking their work.

Looking around the house: I see lots of little piles of clutter and it is driving me nuts. I need to put everything away. However the house is somewhat quiet as my daughter is off on a week long church camp.

From my camera: The last time I participated my husband hadn' yet returned from his deployment. But now he has! This was our family at the airport after finally getting to be with him again. We are having so much fun as a family!

On my prayer list: my Grandma who is not doing very well and my daughter who is off at camp...and of course my family.

Devotional/thought/scripture: On the chalkboard in my kitchen I have a daily reminder to my family, "Have you done any good in the world today?" It is also a good reminder for me (:

If you have a blog and would like to participate, or just want to read more, you can find more Happy Homemaker Mondays (or Tuesdays) at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

weekend family update

walking on Stearns Warf in Santa Barbara

It is amazing how life can be boring and yet busy at the same time. Maybe a family of 7 can never have a truly boring life? That is probably it...

Harmony has spent the past week preparing to go to Girls Camp. She is so excited. Being a 2nd year means that they move up from tents to cabins. Harmony listens to music from the minute she wakes up (because it plays all night) until the minute she goes to bed...because yes, her music plays all night. She constantly has her ear phones in her ears. There are no ipods allowed at GC so she is not sure how she will survive the week!

Ethan was pretty bummed that there were no Scouts this week. However he managed to fill his time, as always, with video games. The kids drive us crazy because it seems that is all they want to do. I know it is summer, but I am afraid his brain has turned to mush. He has been having a lot of fun swimming and so at least there is that!

Connor has earned a new nickname..."the Mason whisperer". He can get Mason to do anything. Calm down, go to sleep, stop crying...the kid has the patience of a Saint. I have no idea where he got it from! Connor had a tough week with earning his allowance and then spending his money on something he didn't really want. Life is full of dissapointments and hopefully he learned his lesson!

Ivan is still a Lego building, Wii playing, run around like crazy 7 year old. This past Friday our family made a trip to the zoo & aquarium. Ivan got in big trouble at the aquarium when he ignored me, and ran off to a different section. Many "safety violations" later, he said, "Sorry Mom." Ugh. He scares me. He really enjoyed the aquarium as we haven't been to one since he was little. He loved the new Jellies exhibit.

Mason hasn't let Ben out of his sight. He follows him around everywhere and asks, "what are you doing?". He loves to feel Bens whiskers (when he has them) and plays with his "scratchies". He has turned into a bossy little thing and is constantly telling the older kids to do things. For the most part they just ignore him, but it is pretty cute to see him bossing them around!

Ben is in a word...bored. He has officially checked out of NMCB3 and is now a grad student...although school doesn't start until the end of August. He is filling his time with honey  do lists. Cleaning out his garage, working on the yard and designing and building projects & furniture. He is so talented and built me a gorgeous picnic table. We have all enjoyed eating outside.

Life is good and we are enjoying the somewhat relaxed schedule of the summer.

Military Family

Kids squished into the car for a road trip to San Fran

Yep, that is our family. A military family. Having my husband gone often means that I have had to do plenty of family trips on my own.

So.not.fun.

However, we love to go places and don't want to spend all of our time at home staring at the walls (:

Not only are we a military family, but we are a larger family. Sometimes budgets don't allow for all the trips I would like to take. So what is a family to do? Well Military Family may just have the answer for you!

Military Family is giving 5 (military) families the chance to win a road trip prize package! Including over $700+ worth of goodies to help you get out the door!

Make sure to enter this awesome contest! What have you go to lose?

Jello Jigglers

Connor, my 10 yr old, has been begging for jello jigglers since I don't know how long!

It is one of those things that I see all the time BUT have just never made.

I had a few boxes of Jello and had just planned to use cookie cutters when I found this cute little mold at Wal Mart for $1!What kid doesn't like Phineas and Ferb...or parent for that matter?!

Can you tell who that purple blob is? Dr. Doofenshmirtz!

We made grape (my favorite flavor) and put them in the fridge. I think I made them a little too thick as it was really hard to get them out! Even after placing themold in warm water.

But it didn't stop the kids from eating their favorite characters (: Mason really enjoyed them if you can't tell! lol