.png)
Grandma MJ, to Ethan, on date night:
"Ethan, aren't you eating?"
Ethan: "No....I ate yesterday."
....and I will.
Soon.
{Lola, in 'lake gear' with Daddy}
This giveaway was so fun. I'm already looking forward to the next one!
Random.org chose the winner of the $60 gift card, and she is....
Heather!
"I would purchase some kitchen items. I need to replace a few gadgets so this would be great."
{savingmoney2@yahoo(dot)com}
Heather, I will email you to get you your gift card. I hope you enjoy spending it on those gadgets!
Thanks for entering, everyone--have a great week!
It's the last day to enter the giveaway!
Good luck to each of you, and thanks for entering and spreading the love. I think maybe this blog will see more of the likes of these giveaways in the future....
Happy Friday!
{Did you come over to enter the giveaway for a $60 gift card? You can head over here to do that!!}
********************************************************************************************************************
Cameron: "Why are you in a hurry, Mommy?"
Me: "Because, Cameron....I'm trying to get ready as quickly as I can. I have my Bible study in just a little while."
Cameron: "Oh! Well.....it must be your lucky day."
{Did you come over to enter the giveaway for a $60 gift card? You can head over here to do that!!}
********************************************************************************************************************
When subjecting my children to an hour or two of shopping--especially grocery shopping--I am not ashamed to admit that I sometimes do resort to bribery.
"If you boys are really, really good in the store today.....Mommy will give you a special treat when we are all done."
Okay. So maybe I'm a little ashamed to admit it.
*sigh*
The other day, after a particularly grueling Wal-Mart trip, I told the boys I would get them a treat for being so good* in the grocery store while Mommy shopped.
*as good as can be truly expected from a six-, four-, and three-year-old who are being subjected to two hours in a grocery store
So, we headed down to one of our favorite ice cream spots in town.
On the way there, I realized something, and panicked.
This ice cream stand, unlike most of the rest of the world, does not take a debit card.
And I had no cash.
Oh no. Nononononoooooo.
*rack my brain*
I quickly came up with a solution I was sure would work. I decided to stop at a gas station, get some gas, and pay for my purchase with my debit card--then ask for a few dollars of cash back.
I picked the one gas station in the tri-county area that does not allow cash back on any purchases.
Blerg.
I got back in the car, feeling a bit defeated. I told the boys the situation.
"Boys, I am so sorry. Mike's Chill only takes cash, and Mommy just spent all I had at the grocery store! They don't take debit cards....I feel terrible, but I have no way to pay for any ice cream!"
Colin--who is joyfully learning the art from his Mommy--looked at me in desperation and said {in this high-pitched, shrieky voice he gets whenever he realizes something may not be going his way}:
"Well, can't we just give them a coupon?!"
*loud thunder rolling*
Ethan {who loves loves loves his blankie and is very attached to it}: "Mommy? Daddy? I think I need to go get my blanket...I think it might be scared of the funder...."
{Have you entered the giveaway for a $60 gift card yet? Don't forget to do so here!!}
It's here!!
Recently, I was contacted by CSN Stores to do a giveaway right here on my blog.
If you're anything like me, you may never had even heard of CSN Stores!!
When I checked into what they had to offer, I was floored. They offer over 200 stores on one site, which I thought was super convenient. You can find everything from upholstered headboards for your bed to school supplies! You can search their site by category, particular brand names, or price.
When I asked in an earlier post what kind of items you would be interested in, many of you answered: Shoes!
CSN offers a great variety of high quality women's shoes, for what I thought were very good prices. They also offer a few of the other things you all suggested : kitchen tools and supplies like bakeware (I am totally coveting several items on this page for use in my zucchini bread baking!), and lots and lots of children's items, from furniture to gear to educational toys!
CSN has offered one of my readers* a chance to win a $60 gift card to their site, good for ANY of their merchandise. Here are the ways you can enter to win:
Since:
I've gotten several requests for this recipe over the last couple of days, so I thought I would share!
This recipe is super special to me, because it is the recipe my Grandmother always used. I follow it exactly--it's never as good as hers was, but it is still the best I've ever tasted. Each time I chomp into a piece, I always think of Grandma Franzi.
Now, for our family, I double the recipe, then double it again to make eight loaves. I bake it all at once, and I've never had any problems. For me, it is a big time and energy saver to do it this way. Two loaves at a time and I would be baking all day long! I have gotten to where I no longer even glance at the recipe, and I can have eight loaves prepared, in the pans, and baking in under 20 minutes.
I've baked a lot of bread!
After baking, I cool the loaves in the pan for a few minutes, then remove and cool the rest of the way on baking racks. Once completely cool, I wrap the bread in one layer of heavy-duty foil, then one layer of Press-n-Seal, then package two loaves into a good gallon-sized freezer baggie. They keep all winter, and taste almost as good as they do when they are fresh out of the oven.
{don't mind the date on the baggie--I reuse them!}
If your children are anything like my boys, they love a trip to the pool. We are deep in the heart of swimming season here, and my boys practically beg me each day to take them somewhere to be in the water.
Unfortunately, trips to the pool have confirmed that my boys seem to be prone to swimmer's ear.
Blech and phooey.
I had swimmer's ear a few times growing up, and I remember it being one of the most painful things I have ever experienced! It has proven true with my boys, as well--even touching the outside of their ear will send them into tears.
However, the score at our house currently is: Home Remedy--3; Swimmer's Ear--0.
When Cam came down (in both ears) just a couple of weeks ago, it was Friday night around 6 p.m. I knew I wasn't going to be able to get him in to our doc for a couple of days, so I Googled "home remedy for swimmer's ear". I came up with some doozies (everything from "stand on one foot and bounce until the water comes out" to "blow smoke in the ear" to "go to the doctor because nothing else works"). I got a 'recipe' that has worked wonders for us, so I wanted to share in case anyone else struggles with this problem with their littles!
Mix:
~1 tsp. white vinegar
and
~1 tsp. rubbing alcohol into a small bowl.
{You can use more or less of this solution, but you need to mix fresh each time and it needs to be exactly 1/2 and 1/2. The alcohol will evaporate, so the solution does not keep. This mix is enough to do all three of my boys, both ears.}
~Microwave for about 4-5 seconds (mix is very cold when going into the ear--poor Cam found that out the hard way).
~Drop solution into child's ear (I used a straw to deliver) and let it sit for a few seconds. I had my boys lay on their sides and stay that way for a couple of minutes, to make sure.
~Repeat a few times a day until pain in gone--for us, it took about three days of consistent drops.
Apparently, the vinegar kills whatever infection may be beginning to form in the ear, and the alcohol dries up the water that is trapped. I also have begun using a few drops of alcohol in each ear every time we come home from swimming, simply as a preventative measure.
I hope it works for you as well as it has worked for us!
***Remember that giveaway that I talked about a couple of weeks ago? Yeah....I'm still working on that! It's going to be soon, and it's a good one--a $60 gift card to a site which hosts over 300 online stores. I am so excited--stay tuned for this one!***
A couple of days ago, I looked out the window and saw this:
Of course, I immediately wondered: What on earth?
"Colin? What are you doing, buddy?" I said.
My trip this week was awesome! I wanted to share. *grin*
Posts
All Comments
