Courtyard Hounds "Amelita" CD Review #CYHAmelita

*Disclaimer - I participated in this campaign for One2One Network. I received a free copy of the CD to facilitate my review. By posting, I am eligible for incentives. All opinions stated are my own.

I always forget how much I love listening to music until I get the chance to do a review on a new CD.  So I was super excited to get a chance to review the new Courtyard Hounds album Amelita - the second album by sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire of Dixie Chicks fame. 

After weathering the Dixie Chick controversy, the sister duo are building a following of their own by showcasing their unique songwriting, vocal and instrumental abilities.  

Amelita is definitely different than what you've heard from these sisters in the past.  This album is a clear statement of who the girls are as artists, defining their sound as a band with songs that are personal, yet familiar and widely relatable.  Amelita takes a different perspective than Robison and Maguire took with their debut album in 2010.  Emily credits the time that has passed since her divorce for the difference in moods between their first album and Amelita. 

“I’ve been freed of all of those time-heals-everything kind of things,” says Robison. “Now, I’ve opened up to other ideas and ways of looking at life and the world. I think it’s not only a more hopeful album, but it’s more… well fun.“

There are definitely some fun tracks on this new album, but a few too many ballads for me.  After a while the ballads all started to sound similar and kind of melt together, so none of them really stood out as stellar.  Part of that I think is due to the fact that neither Emily or Martie have really powerful or dynamic voices.  Not that they can't sing, they definitely hold their own!  Their sound is a softer, more earthy, folk sound, reminiscent of Sheryl Crow.  Their harmonies blend beautifully, but it would be nice to hear one of them bust out and really wail once in a while, just to change things up.

 

The tracks I did like tended to be a little more upbeat, like "Sunshine" and "The World Smiles". Both are catchy tunes with a nice beat that left me feeling a little brighter as I went through my day and every song on the album features some amazing instrumentals.  I love the little hint of mandolin in "Sunshine".  But my favorite song from this album is "Phoebe".  Musically, "Phoebe" delivered the ride I kept waiting for from some of the other songs.  It was edgy and fast and really showcased the sisters country/bluegrass flair with twangy harmonies and raucous riffs coming off of banjos and fiddles, guitars and whatever else the girls know how to play!  They really put it all out there on this track and I wanted more of that.  Sadly, the song was written as a tribute to Phoebe Prince, a western Massachusetts teen who committed suicide in the wake of bullying.  So while I love the arrangement, the song definitely has a darker side.

All in all, Amelita is a nice album.  It showcases the range of talent Emily and Martie possess, both lyrically and as musicians.  I think their sound definitely sets them apart from who they were as part of the Dixie Chicks.  And it seems like the sisters are in it for the long haul, according to Emily Robison:

"We’re a band, not a side project. We like our sound, and we’re going to continue to do this, and share something new this time around." 

 I look forward to hearing more from them as they continue to develop their sound and identity as the Court Yard Hounds.  

You can follow Courtyard Hounds on Twitter and Facebook and if you want to learn more about the sisters, you can follow Emily Robison and Martie McGuire on Twitter.

Amelita Track Listing

Sunshine

Amelita

The World Smiles

Aimless Upward

Guy Like You

Rock All Night

Phoebe

Divided

Gets You Down

Watch Your Step

The Road You Take

The Courtyard Dogs started touring on August 1st, so you can catch them on the road or you can buy Amelita on iTunes or at Amazon.

NERF SUPER SOAKER /Simply CHEETOS® House Party Review

So I spent my birthday this year watching the boys and their friends soak each other with Nerf Super Soakers and eating Simply Cheetos Natural Cheese Puffs, courtesy of House Party! Actually, it was a great way to take my mind off of the fact that I am one year away from being middle aged. I cannot believe I am almost eligible for an AARP membership! I don't wanna talk about it anymore.

Sooooo...back to topic of the party. Which is way more fun to talk about than my age!  Our weekend looked like this:

Party pack from House Party!

 

The Water Warriors (minus two, who arrived late and missed the photos!)

Spray the shaving cream off your teammate's shower cap!

Ready for some serious spray action!

Drew the short straws and wondering how to escape

The boys were all very happy with the new Nerf Super Soaker models, which have one pump action and good distance.  They like the Shotwave Blaster model the best, because it has a removable water cartridge, which makes refilling easier and faster. Less time at the water trough means less chance of getting sprayed while reloading and a faster return to the front lines to soak opponents!

BTW...there are some really good sales going on right now on the Super Soakers!  Toys R Us, Walmart and Target all had some pretty low prices on all of their new Nerf Super Soaker models!  Worth the price to get the family outside and moving! 

Between games and water wars we enjoyed snacking on various veggies and fruits, as well as Simply Cheetos Natural White Cheddar Cheese Puffs. OK...I won't lie.  I love Cheetos.  I hardly ever buy them because they are basically just orange colored, cheesy corn flavored chemical air,  but I love how they melt/crunch in my mouth.  I was skeptical that a "natural" Cheeto could even be manufactured, let alone made to taste good.  Well, I'm here to tell you that the natural, white cheddar version of Cheetos is a worthy substitute for the orange version.  The taste is not as strong, but the texture is pretty much the same and I absolutely LOVE that the new version is truly all natural.  No dyes, no preservatives.  Not all the kids liked the White Cheddar flavor, but most loved the new Cheetos and gobbled them right up.

I can honestly say this Nerf Gun Super Soaker party was the greatest way to spend a birthday!  It did my Mommy Heart good to see my boys running and laughing and playing in the summer sun and I felt younger just being out there with them!  Can't wait to get everyone together to do this again!

**Disclosure:  I was not compensated for this review.  I won a Nerf Super Soaker/Simpy Cheetos Party form House Party and received Nerf water guns and Cheetos to facilitate the event and review.  As always, the thoughts and opinions in this review are mine and are always my honest views.** 

Cascade Platinum Pacs Review and Instagram Contest #MyPlatinum

Disclosure: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Cascade. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating. 

Some people love to clean.  I am not one of those people.  While I like the results that come from cleaning the house, I find tasks like laundry, dishes and cleaning bathrooms mundane and boring and worst of all...ENDLESS!!  I can clean the whole kitchen, walk away for 3 minutes and come back to a plate, a knife with jelly on it and a half a glass of milk sitting in the sink that I just emptied!  AAUUGGHHH!!   Thank freaking GOSH for dishwashers!

When I moved into this rental house, the dishwasher that was here looked like one of the first models ever made and sounded like a Mack Truck was driving around our kitchen every night.  I would load it with dirty plates and start it up, then cross my fingers that it would actually clean them.  The results were a crap shoot.  Some days I won, some days I lost. 

Then one day that beastly dishwasher died and I rejoiced aloud about the new replacement that arrived a week later!  It was shiny and new and I was sure I would never see a dirty dish come out of that dishwasher after running a clean cycle again. 

I was wrong.  On more than one occasion I have opened my new dishwasher after a two hour cycle to find my plates covered with "washed food particles or my drinking glasses covered with a hazy residue.  So...I concluded it must be a detergent problem and not an appliance problem and started experimenting with dish washing soaps and tabs. 

The Review

As luck would have it, I was asked to review new Cascade Platinum Pacs this month!  I know!  The timing could not have been better.  Now that my kids are taking more responsibility with the dishes, I sometimes find that in their desire to speed through the chore of loading the dishwasher,  the rinsing of dirty dishes doesn't always happen like it should.  Ok, fine.  I never rinse the dishes either.  But at least I knock off the big chunks.  Cascade Platinum Pacs are our new best friend, as they are specially formulated with an increased enzyme power that eats through food particles better than anything I have tried so far.  There was not one speck of food left on anything in that dishwasher when we emptied it after using the Platinum Pacs.  Not. One. Yay!! 

The other thing we noticed immediately after using the Cascade Platinum Pacs is that our dishes come out sparkling and shiny!  Platinum Pacs contain surfectants and chelant/polymer systems that  prevent hard water spots or hazy film on glasses or silverware.   My dishes look almost new again! I love not having to apologize to my guests while I wipe the spots off the drinkware before serving them a beverage!  How unappetizing is that?!

Gail Simmons, Top Chef judge and editor of Food-Wine Magazine, agrees that perfect presentation is an important part of entertaining and she has partnered with Cascade to share her thoughts and ideas on how to beautifully present your culinary creations.

  

I love Gail's comment about impressing with a Platinum Presentation, because it's something I kind of struggle with:

“The easiest recipes pop with unexpected, gourmet presentations. Drizzle bright sauces on sparkling white plates or layer desserts in crystal-clean glassware. Keep your presentation sparkling with Cascade Platinum, which keeps dishes perfect for anytime entertaining and impromptu guests.”

Cascade "My Platinum" Contest

With the advent of social media, everyone can post great photos of their best kitchen efforts these days.  Food photography is everywhere! To celebrate the launch of their newest product, Cascade is holding a 4 week Instagram contest encouraging fans to upload photos related to the weekly contest themes listed below for a chance to win a $10,000 Kitchenaid Kitchen Makeover! I know, right?  $10,000 could do a lot for my poor little kitchen! 

Week 1: (Week 1 is over) My Platinum Plate (Entry Period: 6/3-6/9) - Show us your best dish styled from the sparkling plate up!
Week 2: My Platinum Bite (Entry Period: 6/10-6/16) – Show us your best bite and most creative use of sparkling silverware!
Week 3: My Platinum Clink (Entry: 6/17-6/23) – Show us how you serve up creative concoctions in sparkling glasses. Cheers!
Week 4: My Platinum Table (Entry Period: 6/24-6/30) – Show us your sparkling tablescape for your most special celebrations!

You do need to register before you enter, but it just takes a few minutes to that.  And you will need to upload the photos to Instgram and use the hashtag #MyPlatinum” as well as tag @MyCascade.  More information about the contest can be found on the contest’s official page.

A Life Well Lived and Some Other Stuff about Life and Death.

This is a post about death and dying and life and living.  I know.  I'm sorry.  It's where I'm at right now.  It's what is happening in my world.  So I am using my blog to process.  Because I can't afford therapy.  I will not be offended if you stop reading right now.  Maybe you don't feel like crying.  But if you do need a good cry, this might be a good post to read.  It's making me cry.  But I tend to do that a lot these days.  So now that you have been warned, stick around or don't.  Either way, it's all good.

I think I mentioned in a previous post how ironic I think it is that I am dealing with end of life issues at the very same time that I am trying to create a rebirth for myself and my family.  As I contemplate the marks left on communities by those who are leaving us, I am still struggling to find my place in the world. As I feel sadness for the loss of people close to me, I feel joy and gratitude for those who have been sent for me to raise and nurture.  One day finds me holding a dying man's hand, 

 

while the next finds me helping very much alive and overly-excited boys make a lemonade stand to earn money. 

The emotional toll this juxtaposition has taken on me is exhausting, mentally and physically.  My brain keeps trying to process deep life and death concepts that make me think about my own mortality and my own happiness (or lack of) and other complicated stuff that causes me pain to think about.  Not liking it at all.  At. All.  I keep trying to shut it all out by just focusing on living in the moment and enjoying each moment for what it is.  Except some moments are kind of painful.  Like watching someone you love pass away. 

For a few weeks now I have been watching my step-grandfather deteriorate and face the end of his life. Because he is 100% coherent and aware, it has been tough on him to deal with a body that refuses to give up the fight to live, even while it is shutting down and cannot support him any longer.  It has been tough on his family too, to watch him struggle to die with some kind of peace and dignity.  We were hoping it would be an easier passing for him.  It would have been nice for him to go to sleep one night and not wake up.  The phone call I got tonight indicated the further breakdown of his bodily systems and I was told that he may not make it through the night. Even now though, during these last hours, he is experiencing much discomfort and frustration.  I hate that this is how he has to experience death.  

I have been blessed over the last month to spend some days sitting with him as he winds up his time here on earth.  He is an amazing man.  He has some incredible stories about growing up in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl years, about working for the Civilian Conservation Corp during the Depression and about surviving D-Day on Omaha beach during World War II.  He lived through some of the worst times this country has seen.  

Despite struggling to endure and survive some really tough and sad situations, my grandfather never dwells on the negative aspects of his experiences.  If he mentions the pain or negativity at all, it's kind of in passing and then he quickly moves on to the valuable lessons he learned from what he went through. He is seriously one of the most positive, upbeat people I have ever known.  The last few weeks of visits haven't brought much conversation from him.  It's painful for him to talk because he can't breathe well.  But I talk to his nurses and others who stop by to see him.  In spite of his weakened state, he offers them a smile or a quick hello.  They offer hugs in return.  Even the cook came out of the kitchen to see if her "favorite guy" wanted anything special for dinner.  There is never an unkind or impatient word about him from anyone in the facility, or for that matter, in his life. They talk about his humor, his enthusiastic attitude, his positive outlook and his ability to remember names.  He leaves a lasting impression of all that is good about humanity on everyone he meets.  

 

When he married my grandmother after she left her horribly abusive first  husband, he changed not only her life, but ours as well.  He opened his heart and his home to her and her family without hesitation.  It was his idea to invite my grandmother's mother to live with them instead of living by herself halfway across the country as she started to suffer from the effects of a stroke.  And even though he loves Idaho, he was happy to relocate every winter to Phoenix after they retired so my grandmother could be closer to us.  Her life was so much better because he understood the give and take required to have a happy marriage and he understood that her family (no matter how messed up he thought we might be) was part of the package.  He never judged us.  He accepted us and did his best to love us. I am going to miss him an awful lot when he's gone.  Strength of character, a positive outlook, a kind heart and resilience will be his legacies.  I hope I have learned enough from him to emulate him even just a little as I continue my own earthly journey. 

There's so much more I want to say about Grandpa Russ, but I don't have the words tonight.  I just know that I'm a better person for having known him.  And I know when he is reunited with my grandmother in Heaven, he will have nothing but great things to say about his life here on earth.  Even the dying part.  I know he will find a lesson in all that suffering.  I hope I can say the same thing about my struggles some day.  

Until then, I will say thank you to a great man who served his family, his country and his God well.  

Chuck Norris Bonding Time

My boys are struggling to get along lately.  They seem really impatient with one another.  The constant bickering is WEARING ON MY LAST NERVE!!  So it was kind of nice to hear laughter coming from the bedroom area last night.  I stood quietly outside the door to my youngest son's room so I could eavesdrop.  They were singing this:

Baby, you are Chuck Norris

Show us all your awesome fists

Make the bad guys fly fly fly

Roundhouse kick them to the sky sky sky

Bam Bam Bam

Chuck can swim right through dry land land land

He can shoot down any plane

by pointing and just saying bang

Cause baby he is Chuck Norris

Behind his beard there is a fist

Makes a cyclops cry cry cry

By punching him between the eye

Then the laughter took over.  They were laughing so hard they couldn't sing anymore.  And my heart was instantly lifted.  My sons were bonding. Over Chuck Norris jokes.  Which I find hilarious.  Because I am actually kind of fascinated by the man and the myth that is Chuck Norris (I think it comes from the fact that my Grandma used to make me watch Walker Texas Ranger with her all the time).  

I'm not obsessed with the guy, mind you.  I just think he's one interesting and bad ass dude.  I have on occasion talked about my affinity for Chuck when the boys wondered why I was watching Lone Wolf McQuaid on TV one Saturday afternoon.  My fondness for the Chuckster must have rubbed off on my children.  Glad to know my influence is being felt in this house.  Otherwise I might have had to break out some roundhouse kicks.  For a fat girl, I am very flexible.  

By the way...feel free to use my boys awesome song lyrics next time you sing karaoke to Katy Perry's Fireworks.  It'll be like a musical roundhouse kick to the face of your audience.  You're welcome. 

P.S. - Little known Chuck Norris fact:  Chuck Norris can roundhouse kick you in the head so hard that 30 years from now your descendant will suddenly sustain a concussion while walking down the street. 

Firebird Raceway FINAL EVENT SPECTACULAR Giveaway!!

WINNER UPDATE

Here is the random winner of the giveaway for a family 4 pack, as chosen by random.org:

Congrats Sports Mama!!  Check your email for details on your tickets!  

I have some good news and bad news to share today.  Don't worry, it's not tragic, crying kind of news.  But let's do the bad news first so we can get to the good stuff (trust me, it's really good stuff!). 

I am sad to report that after 30 years of hosting all kinds of car racing events and monster truck shows, Firebird Raceway is going out of business! Raceway officials have chosen not to renew their lease.  There was no word on whether it's an issue with the economy or whether the parties involved could not agree during negotiations. Either way, another source of entertainment in the Valley of the Sun is disappearing.  

So what's the good news?  Firebird Raceway wants to go out with a bang, so they are focusing on making their last events really amazing and affordable!  They have generously offered a $10 discount per ticket to the FINAL (Final, final, final) EVENT (Event, event, event) SPECTACULAR (Spectacular, spectacular, spectacular)!  Did you get that awesome, booming announcer voice echo thing I just did right there?  I know...I'm pretty creative. 

The Final Event Spectacular is an auto enthusiast extravaganza filled with legendary monster trucks like Bigfoot and a 30-ton fire-breathing, transforming T-Rex that eats cars and airplanes - ROBOSAURUS!  The event will also showcase Funny Cars and Jet Dragsters speeding down the raceway at 300 miles per hour.  Kids will love the Kids Zone, which will be full of interactive games and inflatables to keep them busy. This event has something for the entire family!  My husband took the boys a few years ago to one of these show and they had the BEST.TIME. EVER!  Robosaurus was a huge hit, the funny cars and dragsters made a big impression as well.  They talked about the show for days!  

Just follow these instructions to get the discount: 

• Step 1: Select your tickets through this link, you may choose either pit side or spectator side, general admission or reserved. 
•  Step 2: Click "Apply Discount" to your tickets in your shopping cart and enter "MOMMYSAURUS" in the discount box Step 3: Select "$10 off Ticket" from the drop down menu and click "change discount". 

Remember to apply the discount for EACH of your Adult tickets!

Want more good news? Win a Family 4 Pack to the Final Event Spectacular at Firebird Raceway!!  Since the show is just a few weeks away, this will be a fast contest, so I have time to get the winner's info to the event coordinator so you can get your tickets!

Here are the contest details:

Leave a comment below telling me what you think your favorite part of the show will be: Monster Trucks, Robosaurus or Race Cars.  Winner will be chosen at random.  Contest is open to Phoenix Metro Valley residents only (and surrounding cities) and will end on Saturday March 23rd at 12 midnight MST. 

For extra entries you can:

• Follow I Am Boymom on this Blog, Twitter and Facebook
• Tweet about the giveaway
• Share this post on Facebook

Be sure to leave a separate comment for each item you do so I can give you an entry credit for each effort you make!  Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

  

Nurturing the Soul of Your Family - 10 Ways to Reconnect and Find Peace in Everyday Life by Renee Trudeau (Book Review)

There have been occasions here on my blog where I have probably shared too much about my emotional issues and how they affect me and my family.  I'm an over sharer.  I know that about myself and have tried to reign it in, but sometimes the need to offer "too much information" overwhelms me and I find myself spewing emotional baggage again.  This is a book review.  But it's about a book that has tapped into some pretty raw emotions for me.  So I'm warning you now.  I might spew.  Just so ya know.

Recently I was offered the opportunity to review a new book by Renee Trudeau called Nurturing the Soul of Your Family – 10 Ways to Reconnect and Find Peace in Everyday Life.  The last few years have been incredibly trying for my family for many reasons, which some of you know about, but I won't go into any of that here.  The stress has taken it's toll.  The atmosphere in our home was not a happy one and I felt an immense amount of guilt every single day for not being able to overcome the trials and for not being able to change the way we function as a family.  I could not bring the peace and feelings of love and security to our home that we all wanted and needed.  I felt broken and stupid for not knowing how to create a different experience for my family.  

Well, this is my year of change.  My year to be "fearless" in my pursuit of peace, happiness and family unity.   The fact that helpful tools like Renee's book keep finding their way into my life tells me that I am on the path I am supposed to be on.

I should admit that I was all "Here we go...another parenting book" when I first cracked it open (or rather when I first brought it up on the computer screen. I opted for the digital copy cuz one less thing to clutter the coffee table). The first thing I noticed and appreciated when I started reading Nurturing the Soul of Your Family is that Renee shares some of her own life experiences as she offers advice to her readers.  Sometimes it's easier to follow "expert" advice when you know that the advice comes from a person who has actually lived through some of the same trials  with which you are dealing.

The book starts off with an introduction that calls for a "new way of being." Renee invites us to live an awakened life by slowing down so we can nurture our hearts and souls, as wells as those of our family. She invites us to 

"think of our loved ones as a carefully chosen collective of souls who have joined — not by accident, but intentionally — for an important reason: to support one another’s collective growth."  

Now, my religion teaches that we chose to come to the families into which we were born, so this concept is not at all new to me.  Sometimes I question why I would choose the family I chose or why my boys would choose me as their mother, but I always believed the concept to be true. But I guess since my mind and heart have been much more open to change this year, that statement really slapped me in the face!  All of the sudden I realized that these people that I share my house with are NOT THE ENEMY!  We were not conjoined as a family for the sole purpose of inflicting pain and grief on each other.  We came together to love and support one another.  

I know there are people who are reading what I just wrote and going, "Duh. How screwed up are you that you think of your family as the enemy?" (Pretty screwed up.  But that's beside the point.  Plus I'm fixing the screwed up part, which is why I'm reading the book.)  I don't think of them as the enemy, but sometimes when I have to fight the kids tooth and nail over chores and homework or my husband can't handle life events and retreats and does nothing to help fix the event, it FEELS like I am at war with them. And I hate fighting and contention.  I grew up with lots of fighting and contention and I despise it.  It makes my soul hurt. But enough about that...back to the book review.

Toward the end of the introduction, Trudeau poses this question and then follows it with ten chapters to help us find the answer:

"Each family has its own beautiful, unique essence or sacred connection. Just as we need to tend to the emotional well-being of any relationship in order for it to thrive, we have to consciously nourish and nurture our family’s sweet,tender soul. What type of daily care, feeding, and love does your family’s essence need in order to grow strong and soar?"

The chapters cover a wide range of topics that include: 

• self-care
• healing
• dealing with life in a digital world
• nature as an anti-depressant
• spiritual renewal
• spending more time together
• celebrating family culture
• making choices
• asking for help   

I found the three workbook type sections at the end of each chapter to be particularly helpful:

• "Pat on the Back" gives readers the chance to reflect on what they are doing right.
• "Putting It In Practice" asks questions that help the reader create a plan of action
• "Imagine a New Way of Being"  - a journaling exercise designed to help you envision what’s possible for you and your family.

Nurturing the Soul of Your Family – 10 Ways to Reconnect and Find Peace in Everyday Life is a great book for anyone looking to bring more peace and balance into family life.  It's not preachy or negative. Renee doesn't spend all kinds of time telling you what you are doing wrong.  Instead she offers realistic and achievable steps to help readers facilitate the change. I hope other readers get as much out of the book as I have.  And major thanks to Renee Trudeau for giving me some of the tools I've been looking for to create the family I want!

ABOUT RENEE TRUDEAU

Renée Peterson Trudeau is an internationally-recognized life balance coach, consultant, speaker and author. She is the founder of Renée Trudeau & Associates and Career Strategists and the author of The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal.  Renée speaks and leads life balance workshops and retreats for Fortune 500 companies and writes for numerous publications.

For more information:

• Visit Renée’s website.
• Follow Renée on Facebook.
• Follow Renée on Twitter.

**Disclosure:  I received a copy of Nurturing the Soul of Your Family to facilitate this review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own honest opinions.**