Three Quick Reviews – Michael W. Smith, Educational Books and Diapers

Here are a few random reviews I thought I would share with you this holiday season …

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I have always been a big fan of Michael W. Smith’s Christmas music, so when asked if I wanted to receive a free copy of his latest holiday album to review I was all over it. The name of the CD is “It’s A Wonderful Christmas”.  It is backed by a 67-piece orchestra and it was recorded at London’s famed Abbey Road Studios. I think you will find the music simply beautiful.

Click here to preview for yourself the magic this CD contains.

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Brighter Minds Media also recently sent me a package. Of the items I received, by far my favorite was the 30 Minute a Day Learning System: Grade 1 workbook. Even though Keri attends public school and I am more than pleased with her teachers, I still like to supplement her education by teaching her things at home. This book has been a great tool to add to our learning library.

The 30 Minute a Day Learning System also has workbooks available for Preschool and Kindergarten age kids.

Brighter Minds Media also sent me a few PBS Kids books, Fruit Salad and Imagination Vacation. These weren’t my sons favorite books to look at, but they did hold his attention for a few minutes.

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Free diapers and wipes? Who can argue with that, especially when your husband is still in graduate school. Pampers recently contacted me and asked if I would like to try out some of their products. Since Pampers was my favorite brand of diaper for my now-six-year-old daughter, I readily agreed. After all, I like the fact that Pampers “has a line-up of 4 complete stages of diapers and corresponding wipes, individually designed to offer specific benefits for each stage of a baby’s development.”

Unfortunately, I have come to the conclusion that Pampers and boys do not mix very well. Granted my little man is in size 6 diapers and he drinks a ton and therefore pees a lot, but both the Cruisers and Baby Dry overnight diapers we tested caused us quite a bit of grief. More often than not, it seemed like Cory would leak through his diaper resulting in not only more diaper changes than usual, but also more changes of outfits and sheets in the crib.

Even though I have liked the Pampers potty training wipes, the Kandoo kind, I think I will stick to the other diaper brands I prefer for boys – Huggies or Kirkland Signature. If we ever have another little girl and Costco decides to carry Pampers, then I will definitely be switching brands.

Guilty As Charged

Apparently, Cory’s preferred medium isn’t always paper. His hands remind me of the chimney sweepers from Mary Poppins.

At least he enjoyed himself and was quiet for a whopping 10 minutes!

Our Christmas Giving Tree

At the beginning of November our family started a new tradition where each night we added leaves to our Thanks Tree and Giving Tree. This experience was such a raging success that we decided to implement another new family holiday tradition, a Christmas Giving Tree.

Every night we add a paper ornament to our paper Christmas tree. You are probably much more creative than I am and can come up with a more festive tree – my tree is very basic. However, you get the point .

On the ornament we list an act of service we did that day. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. It could be as simple as smiling at your neighbor or saying “I love you” to a family member. It is a wonderful way to remind everyone daily what the holiday season is truly about.

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For more Works-For-Me-Wednesday ideas, please visit Shannon of Rocks In My Dyer. For more Christmas activity ideas, check out Scribbit’s Winter Bazaar.

House Of Brussels – The Chocolate Variety

If you know me, even if you just barely met me, then chances are pretty good that you know I am a hot chocolate connoisseur. Hot cocoa and I go together like red and green at Christmas time. I adore my brown liquid gold.

Recently while shopping at Costco, I stumbled across the House of Brussels Gourmet Drinking Chocolate – Extra Dark (71%). I figured I would give it a whirl and let me tell you, it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Seriously. It isn’t even a wimpy powder mix. It is little pebbles of chocolate that you melt in a pan with milk. Personally I like to add a little bit of sugar and vanilla and then top it with some real whip cream. Pure heaven.

You must try it. I hope they have it in your local area, otherwise I will feel sorry for you. I even stocked up on an extra tin so I can enjoy it throughout the entire winter season. Talk about dedication.

Allergies and Menu Plans

Allergies, me and the State of Washington – we don’t mix very well. For whatever reason, since moving to the Pacific Northwest, my allergies have become a year long annoyance. I am sure it has something to do with the 3 M’s that thrive here: mold, mildew and moss.

And instead of being plagued with the typical watery and itchy eyes, sneezing and congestion, my allergies in this region of the country make their presence known through killer sore throats. Unfortunately, often times these will turn into upper respiratory infections. Ugh.

Needless to say, this Thanksgiving weekend could have been better. All well, at least I felt relatively healthy on the actual day of the feast . Thanks John and Laura for being fabulous hosts!

On to the menu plan …

Monday: Swiss Chicken Bake and veggies (This is a carry over meal from last week. It is a great dish to prepare if you are looking for ways to get rid of leftover stuffing and turkey.)

Tuesday: Tacos and fruit

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Honey Balsamic Chicken, baked potatoes and veggies (I haven’t made this recipe yet, but my friend Liz says it is extremely tasty.)

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Sloppy Joes, fruit and veggies

Sunday: My Day Off

For more dinner ideas and Menu Plan Monday participants, please visit Laura of I’m An Organizing Junkie.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy and memory filled Thanksgiving. And don’t forget, the calories don’t count today … let’s just make that the entire weekend .

We are overly excited to hang out with our good friends on this special day and indulge in an over abundance of delicious foods. I just hope 2 year old Cory gets the memo that Thanksgiving is not supposed to be a repeat of his behavior the day before – a no napper, cranky and inconsolable terror. If he doesn’t get the memo, our warm welcome might not be there anymore.

One Thanksgiving tradition my husband and I started when we first got married, is on or before Thanksgiving day we like to set a timer for 3 minutes and brainstorm the myriad of things we are grateful for. It is insightful to see what makes the list every year and what new things come to mind based on the experiences we have recently encountered.

Here are a few things from my list:

• My caring and supportive husband.
• My miraculous children.
• All my family and friends.
• Time.
• My health.
• My eyesight so I can read.
• Good books.
• My faith.
• Hope.
• Forgiveness.
• Freedom.
• Sleep.
• Warmth.
• Giving and receiving service.
• My home.
• Modern medicine.
• Exercise to keep my sanity in line.
• Most technology.
• Love.
• Light.
• Learning.
• Scriptures.
• My Savior and His remarkable Atonement.

Menu Plan Monday – Nov. 19, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

My mouth is already watering as I sit here and think of all the delicious foods I am going to be able to indulge in on Thursday – turkey, stuffing, homemade rolls, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, green jello, candied yams, pumpkin pie … I can hardly wait.

And of course I am excited to see our fabulous friends who are hosting the special dinner. Maybe they will be kind and send us home with a little bit of leftovers if they have any extra. After all, one of the best things about Thanksgiving … besides giving thanks of course … is eating all the scrumptious leftovers. Being raised in a family of 11, our leftovers always seemed to go within a few days. You had to act quickly if you wanted to partake of seconds and thirds on the days following the big feast .

Last week for Menu Plan Monday, I decided I wanted to start utilizing the older food that was in our pantry in preparation for us moving sometime next Fall. This week the item will be tuna fish.

Monday: Santa Fe Chicken Salad leftovers

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Tuna Casserole and veggies (I promise this is not a scary recipe. There are no raisins or carrots in this dish, but there is some curry. Yum!)

Thursday: Our Thanksgiving Feast

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Swiss Chicken Bake and veggies (This is the perfect meal to make if you have a lot of leftover stuffing.)

Sunday: My Day Off

For more dinner ideas, especially for the days when at 5:00 in the evening you still have no idea what to make, please visit Laura of I’m An Organizing Junkie.

Scheduled Down Time With The Kids

“The amount of children-and-parent time absorbed in the good activities of private lessons, team sports, and other school and club activities needs to be closely regulated. Otherwise, children will be over-scheduled, and parents will be frazzled and frustrated. Parents should act to preserve time for family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, and the other precious togetherness and individual one-on-one time that binds a family together and fixes children’s values on things of eternal worth.” ~ Dallin H. Oaks

More often than not, by the time my early evening witching hour ensues and Rudy gets home from a long day at school, I don’t want to do anything except escape my mothering duties and go hide in my bedroom. There are always plenty of things I can find to do in that relatively quiet space – read, blog, nap, pay bills, etc.

However, I have found if I don’t emerge from my self-imposed exile quickly enough, I set the stage for a not-so-pleasant bed time routine. Because I am busy doing other things, I start getting the kids ready for bed late and I then end up in that dreaded hurry mode. That is exactly what I have been trying to avoid these last few months.

Luckily I have a remarkable husband who is very kind and supportive. Several nights a week he will get the kids completely ready for bed. However, when this happens, I find I miss out on some quality family bonding time that can take place as we settle down for the night – chatting with the kids about their day, snuggling and reading stories and scriptures and just spending relaxed down time with each other.

In this particular case, I need to stop over-scheduling myself with unnecessary tasks during the hour or so before the kids go to bed. That is going to be my new habit.

I am the first to admit, though, I am not aiming to do this every night. After all, I still need to preserve my sanity .

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If you want to learn how to smartly save money, associations, resources and time in your own life, then visit Lara The Lazy Organizer.

“T” is for Tentacle

Like both of her parents, six-year-old Keri definitely seems to have a passion for learning. She recently created this little masterpiece just for fun. With pride in her voice, she eagerly told me what she drew to represent each letter sound.

I am amazed at the complexity that exists in the minds of little children.

The Challenges of Infertility

By nature I tend to be a proactive person. Normally if there is something bothering me or causing me a lot of stress, I like to try to do what I can to find a solution to the problem. However, not all of life’s dilemmas can be tackled with this approach, especially when it comes to infertility. In this case there is absolutely nothing that can cure the heartache of knowing what you want, but no matter how hard you try to reach it, it still alludes you.

In August when I went to a doctor’s appointment at a Women’s Health and REI Clinic, I was sorely disappointed when I was told by the doctor, whom I really like, that I had already exhausted all the conceiving tricks she had up her sleeve. Granted there is still in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination, but both of those options cost a considerable amount of money … especially for poor college students. It is also hard to know if this is the route to go for us since getting pregnant is only half my battle. The other half is trying to figure out how to keep my body pregnant once it does successfully get to this point. Five miscarriages later and we are still at it.

Now please don’t get me wrong. Even though I still desperately want another newborn babe to cradle in my arms (I don’t feel like our family is quite complete) at least I feel abundantly blessed and watched over by our loving Heavenly Father. After all, He has already sent me two miraculous little ones. I do not take them for granted. I know it was a combination of medical technology and prescriptions (Clomid, Prometrium and Heparin/Lovenox shots), understanding the unique way my body works and divine intervention that got these two precious souls safely to our home.

One book that has been a huge help in my attempt to bear children is “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” written by Toni Weschler. It is phenomenal … and it’s not just for women looking to get pregnant. It also contains a lot of other information on how and why a woman’s body works the way it does. There is more to making a baby than just having s*ex. You need to know when you ovulate and this book easily explains how to get the timing right – understanding your cervical fluid and your basal body temperature are crucial components.

I know the information this book gives is relevant and useful, especially since most of the couples who I have lent this book to, couples who were battling their own infertility issues, were able to conceive once they had a better grasp of how things worked. I just wish it were this easy for all of us. Sure knowledge is helpful, but sometimes that doesn’t always produce the desired results. That is when it will be by faith that you are made whole.

I am deeply grateful for my faith in God because there are many days where I don’t feel like I can endure any more grief and heartache that comes from traveling the infertility road. On these occasions I know without a doubt that the Lord is lending me His strength, in fact I know He is holding me up by His “omnipotent and righteous hand” as I attempt to learn to overcome the trials He has lovingly given me. He also sends me packets of spiritual sunshine and peace; He always seems to know when I need them the most.

Above all I am grateful for the knowledge that some day all the pain and suffering I have endured will be made right. That is the glory and glad tidings of the Atonement. That is what is meant when it says in the scriptures, “beauty for ashes.”

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For more information on infertility, please visit Morning Glory and Lei who graciously host Woman to Woman.

Menu Planning From The Pantry

Hopefully by this time next year, my husband will finally be done with his more than 10 year stint of college and graduate school – Hallelujah! He will be adding a PhD to his two bachelors’ and master’s degrees.

Since we only have about a year left in our current apartment, I want to make sure I start utilizing all the food in our pantry because I don’t like having to waste things when we move. No matter how hard I try to stay on top of things, it always seems like there are items in our pantry that were purchased, then never used and now they have long been forgotten.

In order to avoid having to throw these things away, every week I am going to base at least one of my meals on a food item I need to use up. This week the item is from the fridge, Feta Cheese. I recently rediscovered this fun pasta salad that requires Feta Cheese. It is really quite tasty.

Monday: Feta Cheese and Chicken Pasta Salad and fruit

Tuesday: Sweet and Sour Meatballs, rice and veggies

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Chili Mac Skillet and Fruit

Friday: Clean out the fridge day

Saturday: Santa Fe Chicken Salad and fruit

Sunday: My day off

For more dinner ideas, especially for the days when at 5:00 in the evening you still have no idea what to make, please visit Laura of I’m An Organizing Junkie.

Feta Cheese and Chicken Pasta Salad

At first I thought this pasta salad had an unusual combination of ingredients, but when I finally hesitantly tried it, my mouth was pleasantly surprised. This meal is easy to make for a simple family lunch or dinner, and it can also be doubled or tripled and served at a large gathering.

Feta Cheese and Chicken Pasta Salad

1 large tomato, diced

1 pepper, diced (green, orange, red or yellow)

1 large onion, diced

1 cucumber, quartered

1 cup frozen peas (cooked through, cool, but not hot)

1 lb chicken (I prefer using chicken tenders), thawed

1/2 cup to 1 cup Feta Cheese

16 oz package spiral pasta or similar shaped noodle, cooked

Italian Dressing

Catalina Dressing

Pepper

Salt

Lemon Pepper

Follow package directions and cook pasta. Pound thawed chicken with a meat tenderizer. Place chicken in a greased skillet (I use PAM, but you can use oil or butter) and season with pepper, salt and small amount of lemon pepper. Add 1 tablespoon or so of Italian Dressing. Cook each side of chicken about 7 minutes or until done. Remove from pan to cool. Slice the chicken.

In the same skillet, place the diced onion and pepper. Splash equal amounts of Italian and Catalina Dressing to flavor the mixture, start out with small amounts. Cook until the peppers are tender crisp, about 3-5 minutes.

Add chicken and vegetable mixture to cooked pasta and stir thoroughly. When the meal is ready to serve, add remaining veggies and cheese. Add more dressing to taste … I prefer adding more Catalina, but not Italian.

Since I like to keep the pasta salad for leftovers, I don’t add any Feta cheese, cucumber, tomato or extra salad dressing to the main dish. I add that at each individual serving. I typically use 2 tablespoons of Feta cheese for each serving.

Enjoy!