Whew! Christmas is over. What takes such a big toll on your budget, you sanity and your time is blown away in a matter of minutes while the kids rip open their presents, scurry around searching madly for batteries and try to figure out their new toys without bothering to look at the damn book. All this with barely a "Thanks, Santa." But you know what? It's worth it. We had a very nice, small Christmas at home. The kids got what they wanted (Thank you, Grandma!), and I loved watching their faces light up and spending the morning just watching their excitement as they played with their new stuff.

That being said, I must confess that for the last couple months that I've been trying to work from home without the help of part-time daycare, I've nearly pulled my hair out on a daily basis. I gave up my two day a week sitter in an attempt to save money, and I'm beginning to wonder if I gave up my sanity with that decision. If you have kids, you know how expensive daycare can be. If you don't, you might be interested in this information on the costs or raising children. Playing blocks, watching endless pre-school TV and BEGGING Brady to, "Please, go potty." have just about sent me over the edge. Add that that the chaos that comes when the 10 and 13-year olds come home, and I'm usually ready for a drink by the time they're in bed. Except I'm too tired to get up and open the bottle. You see, Bil's started a new job. The pay is actually a bit less, but the benefits are better. The hours keep him away from afternoon until late. So this change in routine has taken a bit of a toll on mama.

But just the other day, I saw a post on Facebook that led me to a blog I had never visited before, Girl on Saturday. The post was about how poor Karen is now known as "Penis Mom" by the parents and teachers at her kids' school, but that it's okay because she took a stand against ridiculous gender stereotypes and was a role model for her kids. Karen is pretty cool. So cool, in fact, that I took a look at her other posts. Each one spoke to me and conveyed a lesson that I needed to learn or to be reminded of. I was especially moved by this post that gave life-changing advice on surviving the first few years of raising kids. Karen reminded me that, though parenting can certainly be mind-numbing, it can also be some of the best moments of your life. She emphasized what's important, and I intend to keep those things in mind when I'm thisclose to having my next breakdown. If you feel like you just can't take one more second of the mind-numbing routine that has become your life, please head over to read Karen's advice. I guarantee it will help you out.

As a blogger, I am sometimes lucky enough to be able to try out some of the newest, coolest things on the market. I know, I am SO lucky! When those products happen to be games or toys, my kids think I have the coolest job on earth. Over the last few months I've tried out a few new Wii games, and the kids have been thrilled. Here are the games we're loving at our house right now.

Skylanders Spyro's Adventure

Image from Skylanders website

This game is just so cool. Every time the commercial comes on TV, my three-year old just goes nuts, saying, "It's Spyro Skylanders! We have that!" The reason he's so gaga over this game is that it is so different than any other game on the market. Skylanders Spyro's Adventure is an interactive game. It comes with a "portal of power" and figures that kids can use to customize their game. The player can choose which character to play as simply by sitting that particular guy on the portal. Each character has different strengths and abilities, so players will need to be strategic in their choice of character to play. Isn't that awesome? My kids just love this game.

* product provided

Just Dance 3

This game is just FUN! I bought the kids Just Dance 2 at the beginning of the year, and I have to say that I enjoy it just as much as they do. But Just Dance 3 is one that they seem to like even more. This one seems to have newer, more modern tracks that the kids really like. They hate it when I pick an '80's song to dance to. They call my music "ancient tribal music." Nice, huh? Some of their favorite songs to move to are:

• Black Eyed Peas - Pump It
• Cee Lo Green - Forget You
• Jessie J Featuring B.O.B. - Price Tag
• Katy Perry - Teenage Dream
• LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem
• Taio Cruz - Dynamite

But don't worry, parents, they are still tons of songs for us old folks, too. There is a total of 51 songs! You definitely get your money's worth for this game. Just Dance 3 offers the traditional dance mode, as well as the Just Sweat feature, which I like. There are new features for the Just Sweat mode. that allow you to monitor your progress on the dashboard and choose your program. There's also a new 4 player dance crew mode where each person can have a chance to shine. If you don't want to choose each song individually, it's easy to just choose one of 13 available playlists and go from there. You can even get competitive by racking up stars to unlock up to 30 special song modes. I love the convenience. It's fun! Did I mention that? If you want to get Just Dance, you can head to retailers such as Toys R Us or order online from Amazon.

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

ABBA You Can Dance

This game is hysterical for the kids. For those of us who are old enough to remember when ABBA songs were cool, it's so much fun. If you love disco and ABBA, you'll love this game. Even if ABBA isn't your thing, you'll have fun. Trust me, even my cynical children had fun dancing to songs like Dancing Queen, Take a Chance on Me and Mama Mia. What I really like about this game is that the dance moves are fairly easy to follow. In case you don't know me, I'm not exactly graceful, and I really don't have much rhythm. But even I can do this game. It's rather aptly titled You Can Dance, I'd say!

What is most cool for a former choir geek such as myself is that there's a karaoke mode. That's right, not only can you dance - you can sing, too! Up to two friends can join in the song. I believe you will need microphones meant to plug into the Wii, and these don't come with the game. We just happen to have one from our Glee karaoke game. See, I told you I'm a choir geek at heart. If you are a true ABBA fan or are just nostalgic, you'll love this game because it uses actual footage from concerts, videos and photos. Takes you back.

Truthfully, I'm kind of cheating on this review. I was supposed to have an ABBA dance party in my home with my friends. I tried, I really did. My pals on Facebook all sent their regrets. Everyone was up for it, but this time of year just isn't good for this type of get together. Everyone was headed to family or work holiday events. But I will have that party after the New Year, and I'll be sure to post about it here. I have to do it - Clever Girls and UbiSoft sent me a disco ball! Can't wait to get together with my pals and hang out just being goofy. There will be pictures. Maybe. I have a feeling these pictures could be a bit embarrassing! Stay tuned for my party post in January. In the meantime, head out to Toys R Us or go online to Amazon with these coupon codes and order this game with discounts. You deserve some Wii dance fun, too!

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

A sorority sister of mine recently brought this young boy's story to my attention, and I just had to pass it along. Max is a 13-year old boy who is currently in the hospital fighting leukemia. When asked by a nurse what he wanted for Christmas, Max told her "I want to get 1 million Christmas cards." One million cards is an awful lot, but it's not a lot when you consider that it only takes a moment to drop a card in the mail.

My kids' grandparents lost a daughter to leukemia at the age of 5. She also wished to receive cards. Of course, there was no internet then. An aritcle was published in the local paper, and Valerie soon received an outpouring of cards. This kind of outreach means so much to a child who is ill and is separated from the outside world in the confines of a hospital. I know it made Valerie very happy.

So let's all pitch in and help Max get his Christmas wish. Just send your card to:

Mighty Max Low

c/o Greg and Bambi Low

P.O. Box 111

Neola, IA 51559

Visit the Facebook page set up for Max and send a wish as well. Happy holidays to you and yours!