Beware of HACKERS!

I have had several friends who were hacked either through email or facebook. The hackers said my friends had taken trips to Europe, overseas, etc said they were robbed and needed help. And then once you engaged with them they then asked for money. They once even said the life of my friend was in danger.

One friend after dealing w/the authorities gave some tips:

1) DO NOT have the same password for your Facebook and web-based mail accounts (this includes gmail, yahoo, aol, sbcglobal, etc.) - she had been using a few variations of what essentially was the same password because it was easier for her to remember. It's easier that way - but not a good plan.

2) DO NOT think that your passwords are secure no matter how clever you think you've been. Chances are that the spammers ran a program which identified actual words until they hit upon a combo that worked....example: my original password for both accounts was a real word that had meaning to me and two digits that did as well. CREATE NEW PASSWORDS - don't use any real words that mean anything to you or are in any way connected to you - no pet names, no hometown names, no street names, etc. It's a pain, but seems to be the best way to circumvent the hacking programs. The IT guy at my office today suggested this: come up with a phrase that means something to you and then use the letters from each word to form your password (i.e. phrase - "my dog's name is ace"....password would be: "mdnia"....and then add numbers or punctuation marks).

Few tips from Hotmail on creating a strong password:

A strong password is one that's difficult for others to determine by guessing or by using automated programs. A strong password is an important first step in protecting your personal information. A strong password:

Contains seven to sixteen characters.

Uses three of the following four types of characters:
Uppercase letters (A, B, C).
Lowercase letters (a, b, c).
Numerals (1, 2, 3).
Special characters (` ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ + - = { } [ ] \ : " ; ' < > ? , . /) .

Isn't a common word or name, or a close variation on a common word or name.
____________________

Please be cautious! I received an email from what was supposed to be a friend of mine, saying she was in London - had been robbed, etc and was really scared. I figured out right away something was up because the email said "I came down here to London, United Kingdom." My friend would never speak that way. She's way too intelligent. The hackers will give you little clues that will help you know it's a scam. Another friend's mom's facebook was hacked into and he called her "Jenni" which is something her mom would never do. If you engage with them they could get your information - so don't. Make your passwords difficult to figure out and be cautious!

Glen Rose / Spring Roadcation - Day 5

The boys all woke up early even though their mommies wanted desperately to sleep in : ) We got breakfast, got everyone dressed, took a few photos and packed up so we could make the trip home. We had planned to go back to the nearby park - but it was a bit chilly outside - so we decided to just go home.

Here's what the boys did while Angie and I packed and got everything ready to go ....

(1) They all piled by the front door - which was the only real space for them to do anything. Andy read the paper : ); Will, Jared & Ben played on the computer; and Brayden played his DS. (2) Ok boys say CHEESE!

I bought Planet 51 for the ride home and it was enjoyable. It's amazing what a movie in the car can do! Love Angie's Odyssey (Thank you for driving Angie!). Definitely a great car for road trips : ) Angie dropped us off at the Container Store where David picked us up. It was nice to see my sweet, handsome husband. I missed him!

So - even though it was a bit stressful, it was fun! I would of rather been there than at home trying to figure out how to entertain the boys.

Angie and I talked about what would we do differently for next time:

• stay in separate rooms. it was too many people in one room. of course - they would have to be adjoining rooms so Angie and I could hang out and have a few adult beverages once the boys were in bed. we enjoyed the quite time once they were asleep where we could catch up and unwind.
• hotel w/kitchen and full size refrigerator so we can eat/cook in. too much trouble taking 5 boys out to eat.
• travel to a place where there is more to do.
• ben's request: spend more time w/him. I have to admit, I didn't spend a lot of time with my kids. I was too busy being in protective mode. Making sure we always had 5 kids and constantly counting. It was so hard w/them all going different directions to have any quality time with my boys.

All-in-all, our spring break was AWESOME! We had a great time with friends and got to have a mini-getaway.

Now ...... just ready for Monday to come and the start of school. YEA SCHOOL!

Glen Rose / Spring Roadcation - Day 4

The boys all woke up early - and were ready to go. We went and got breakfast in the hotel, then got ready and headed to Fossil Rim Animal Park.

The boys were able to do a Fossil Dig. It was neat - and they seemed to enjoy it. They even got to take home 3 fossils that they found.

(1) Andy and I - he didn't want any part of the digging at first. He was pretty grumpy; (2) Ben digging for his fossils; (3) Me, Andy and Will - digging for fossils

(1) Will concentrating on digging for his special fossils; (2) Ben digging for that special fossil as well; (3) and finally - Andy decided he wanted to join in on the fun.

There was a playground inside Dinosaur World. The boys enjoyed playing and exerting some of their energy. (1) Will, Andy and Ben swinging on the swings; (2) another shot of my sweet boys; (3) Angie went to the car to get some bottles of water, so I decided I would try and get the boys together for a pose. Took several shots b/c Ben wanted to be difficult and not cooperate with me. In this photo: Andy, Brayden, Jared, Will and Ben

(1) Another group photo of the boys: Andy, Brayden, Jared, Will and Ben; (2) Jared and Ben posing in front of one of he dinosaurs; (3) All of us: me, Andy, Angie, Brayden, Jared, Will and Ben

(1) Ben and Jared; (2) Andy. He wanted his photo in front of almost every dinosaur; (3) Will. Having him in front of this dinosaur was a must - it definitely suits his personality. My crazy Will!

(1) Me and my boys: me, Andy, Will and Ben; (2) I told andy to pretend like he was being surprised by it and he was scared that it was going to eat him. Remember he's grumpy from a 15 minute nap. But still cute : ) (3) Andy again in front of another dinosaur

(1) at the end there was many dinosaurs on the other side of the water. We tried to get a group shot, but boys wouldn't cooperate - so here's Andy; (2) Will & Andy on the outside in front of the bones of a dinosaur

On our way out ... I managed to get them to be still for one more picture. The sun was in their eyes and I think their eyes were closed - but here it is : )

Jared, Will, Ben, Andy and Brayden

Tomorrow: HOME!

Glen Rose / Spring Roadcation : ) Day 3

My girlfriend, Angie, and I had the brilliant idea to take this years spring break on the road. So - we did just that. We packed up our combined 5 boys and set out for Glen Rose to visit Dinosaur World and Fossil Rim Animal Park.

We started our trip by meeting at the Science Place on Wedneday. Which was a lot of fun. They all  had a great time. David and I have a membership and haven't really been since we got it. I had forgotten how awesome the Science Place is for little kids. We will definitely be going back more often.

Some photos from our day.....

Andy testing out gravity; Ben and Andy playing with huge bubble makers;

our 5 boys (Ben, Jared, Ben, Brayden, and Andy)

A kalidescope that you get in - it's 5 of Will : ); Andy in his fireman outfit. Will and Andy's favorite part was the dress-up area. It was so cute. They had a 'mock firestation' and they LOVED it.

Andy; Will; Will & Andy in the firetruck going to put out a fire : )

Will has said pretty early on that he wants to be an astronaut. He was pretty pleased to find a costume he could try on; Will climbing up the rock wall .... another one of his favorite things to do - CLIMB.

In the car - headed to Glen Rose ... well Cleburne actually - to our hotel.

Ben, Jared and Will sat in the back; and Andy and Brayden in the middle seats. Andy was pretty worn out from the science place so he took alittle nap; we stopped at Whataburger for lunch/dinner (Andy, Ben, Jared, Brayden and Will).

Ben and Jared; Brayden and Will; and Andy

After eating we found a cool park near-by and decided to take the boys there to exert some energy.

Is that possible with 5 boys?

Will found a tree to climb on - he loved it - as he loves, LOVES to climb;  Will at top of tree (in red); Ben climbing up (in green) and Jared (blue stripes) and Brayden (red stripes) at the bottom.

The tree was a big hit; Andy found this wavy slide and that was his favorite.

He kept going up and down, up and down .... so fun!

The next discovery for Will was this HUGE rock. He loved it and pretty much planted himself on it; Jared and Ben on the tree

Will and Andy on the rock; Will laying on top of the rock; and laying across both rocks

I didn't take my big camera - was afraid of handling it w/the 5 boys. And my Canon G9 got broken when my husband dropped it - so I had to go back to my Sony. And for some reason the flash kept going off, the camera kept switching to manual.  Didn't notice till afterward - but that's why these pictures are a bit blown out.

Will, Brayden, Jared, Ben and Andy; and my 3 handsome boys (Will, Ben, and Andy)

After the park, we went back to the hotel and got the boys ready for bed. Once they all finally fell asleep - Angie and I were able to relax and enjoy a few drinks to un-wind from our fun - but busy day!

What's on tap for tomorrow: Fossil Rim Animal Park and Dinosaur World here we come .....

Spring Staycation - DAY 2

Well .... today wasn't quite as exciting as yesterday. We had plans with my girlfriend, Angie, and her kids for today - but things didn't work out. So .... we hung around at home and tried keeping ourselves busy (it was pretty difficult).

I went to the doctor this morning because my throat and ears have been bothering me for about 3 weeks and I wanted to get them checked to make sure it wasn't something I needed medicine for. It was ok - nothing, I guess just drainage. However - my blood pressure was slightly low .... no big deal, but just not normal for me. So we decided to do bloodwork. I wanted to know my vitamin D levels as well as other levels just to make sure I'm healthy! You never know : )

I brought McDonald's home for the boys (and David) - which they were all waiting for. Our cook is on spring break too. Ha! We ate lunch and then tried to entertain ourselves the rest of the afternoon / evening.

I .... filled out my Census form! Very exciting and fun! Interesting to know I could have had 12 people living in my home according to the Census. No, thank you ... but nice to know there's the option!

Snapped a photo of my handsome husband while he was slaving away working .... Isn't he cute? I love him!

(I should of photoshopped that mess behind him or cleaned it up. But that would definitely break the no cleaning or cooking on spring staycation rule I made up. Ha!)

Boys (this is Ben) played on the computer;

Andy watched a little TV in his room with his stylish glove and hat on.

Not sure what this outfit was for - he put it on himself ....  : )

I did a little cleaning.... very little! Ben and Andy even helped. I got pretty bored of that fast. Afterall, I'm on spring staycation right? No cleaning or cooking on spring staycation : )

And thankfully today we got "Princess and the Frog" from Netflix so the boys watched that. If you are wondering why they aren't watching it on the big flat screen tv in front of them. Well .... the DVR is broken - so they get to watch it on my laptop. It's just as good, isn't it?

Overall it was a good day! A little of everything to bring our 2nd day of spring staycation to a close! Hopefully .... hopefully - tomorrow will be a bit more exciting and include more adult beverages. Afterall - it's spring staycation for mommies too : )

Stay tuned .....