New Year Traditions

I heard once about some research that was done that explained that children raised in a home full of traditions had a stronger identity. With this in mind, I have tried hard to keep family traditions alive as well as adopt new ones that Marc and I deem fun/worthwhile.

I spent some time living in Asia and New Years is a BIG deal there. Some traditions I picked up from over there include:

Making lanterns; Lucy holds her's up and says, "It's my Chinese".


The giving of red envelopes. In Asia they are filled with money. I plan to fill them with other little treats until my children are a bit older.

We also plan to eat Chinese Food for New Years as well, but my favorite tradition by far is how they clean everything so you have a fresh clean start with the start of a new year.

Lots of entertainment for a very low price

We made salt dough a few days ago and Lucy and I have been having fun with ever since. We even gave it as a gift for her little neighborhood friends. Major hit!


Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of fine salt
• 1 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup of water (may add more)

Instructions:

• In a large bowl, combine the salt and the flour
• Make a well in the salt/flour mixture and add the water
• Knead until smooth and shape into a ball
• When not in use, wrap in plastic or store in an airtight container

Save Money

If you go here: it will show all the deals in your area-whether you need a coupon for them or not. Pretty handy site!

Training for Primary Teachers of Children with Disabilities

We videotaped a training I did that aligns with my thesis on training Primary Teachers on how to work with children with disabilities. If it can be helpful for others to use, please feel free to pass it along. http://education.byu.edu/media/index.html?video=352

Morning Sickness?

Unisom TABLETS with Vitamin B6 works like a charm (as advised by my Dr. when I was pregnant).

Additional tips:
1) I was usually fine with only 1/2 a tablet, but you can take a whole one if needed
2) Take it right before bedtime or you will be super sleepy
3) When you think you might be ready to go off, do it on a day you don't really have to be anywhere in case you're still sick

Happy Turkey Day

Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Pancakes
2 cups flour
2 T sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs--separated
1/4 cup melted butter

Sift together dry ingredients. Combine milk, egg yolks, vanilla, butter and pumpkin puree. Stir into dry ingredients until just blended. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter. Pour onto hot, oiled griddle about 1/3 cup at a time. Cook until tops bubble and turn and cook other side.
http://wilkinsonquints.blogspot.com/

Free Christmas Cards

50 Free 4X8 Christmas Cards!!! .
Check on the website Freebies 4 Mom and you can find info here:
http://freebies4mom.blogspot.com/2009/11/50-free-photocards-shipped-free-too.html

Then go to:
http://www.seehere.com/ and get started. You just enter the promo code freebies4mom-1109

My sister-in-law, Jayna, did this and she said it totally worked!

Live like no one else . . .

I cannot say enough good about Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover book. It has changed and continues to change our family for the better. If you've never really known how to be smart with your finances, (all the way from getting out of debt to smart investing) this book is a fabulous resource and it is very user-friendly.

Free Chore Chart

This is so great and you can personalize it just for your child:


http://www.modecokids.com/index.php/2009/10/21/free-printable-chore-chart-for-kids/

Going to Disneyland?

My sister is a pro at Disneyland and she is training me well in her ways. Here's a few tips I have learned so far:

1) Hotel: go on Priceline.com here you can state the area you want to stay in, the type of hotel you're comfortable staying in and you set the price. We got a $120 room for $40!

2) Tickets: buy them on ebay-we got our one day hopper passes that cost about $98 for $53!

Cheap Kid Supplies

I knew about Oriental Trading Company from being a teacher, but I thought maybe some Moms might know about this valuable resource. You can get all kinds of great party favors, crafts and toys for kids here. It's also a great resource to buy crayons and glue from.

They are always giving out free shipping so wait for those deals before your order. I would advise figuring out what you want to buy for the next while and then buying it all at once. We even ordered what we gave out for Halloween through them (glow-in-the-dark bouncy balls) and it was a huge hit. Happy Shopping!

Huggies win!

Granted this experiment has only an n of one, but I still thinks it's pretty valid. Lucy kept waking up to a wet bed. We thought she just needed the next bigger size of diapers so we bought those, but the bed would still be wet. After changing multiple wet sheets, we finally switched from Pampers to Huggies and she has been dry ever since!

Puj Tub

This tub seems ingenious:

Puj just announced they are giving away 100 of their tubs.

Read all the details here. I totally entered, you should too. May the best Mommy win ;)

No more cold toes

I used to loathe crawling into bed and having to wait for my body to warm up the blankets. I would literally shiver as Marc would hold me so I could heat up. I often pleaded for an electric blanket, but the problem was my sweet hubby is like a furnace who would certainly over-heat with an electric blanket on.

Well, being the loving husband that he is, he did some investigative work and found out you can buy electric blankets with dual-climate control!!! Were we the only ones who didn't know this?

Now I set my temperature at my setting, Marc generally doesn't turn his on at all, and I LOVE the moment I crawl into my toasty warm bed. It is heaven and we should have done this ages ago!

VOTE TODAY

great gift

My friend has made these and she says they work out to being about a $1 a piece to make! Great Christmas idea!

Today only!

text OPRAHSHOW to 242424 and they will text you back a code to get 50% off everything at Payless Shoes. I just did this and Christmas is looking good!

SUGAR

Marc and I have sworn off sugar for the month of October (which has actually been a really great thing), but I think one of the first things I'll be tempted to make will be these delicious sugar cookies:

http://blonde-designs.squarespace.com/blonde-designs-blog/2009/9/8/beehive-and-bumblebee-cookies.html

Way cheap flights!

Southwest is having a major sale for the next 72 hours. Click here to get your deal too!

Just made this for dinner

and it is yummy!

Peanut Chicken Curry

Ingredients

1-1/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken
breasts, cut into bite-size cubes
1 tbsp. peanut oil
3/4 cup lite coconut milk
1/4 cup Jif Creamy Peanut Butter
1 tbsp. ketchup
1 tsp. McCormick Hot Madras Curry Powder
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
Salt to taste
Cooked Rice Select Jasmati Rice
Suggested condiments: chopped cilantro,
shredded coconut, sliced green onion,
slivered radishes, chopped peanuts, cucumber
slices

Directions

Prep time: 10 minutes, Cook time: 15 minutes
Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and brown on all sides. In a separate bowl, whisk together coconut milk, peanut butter, ketchup, curry and red pepper; pour over chicken. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through to an internal temperature of 165°F. Season to taste with salt. Serve warm over cooked rice, accompanied by bowls of condiments, as desired.
Makes 4 servings.

Let's Play Favorites

Favorite ______________ in the area:


Restaurant: Gloria's Little Italy
Treat: Sugar or Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie from Smart Cookie
Thing to do: Gallery Stroll
Place to shop: Sweet Pea Boutique (ok, this one is in Tooele but worth the trip)
Muffin: Provo Bakery's bran muffin
Kid friendly place: Thanksgiving Point Farm Country

Little bow ties

Going to have to make some of these for my little man (won't it be perfect for Christmas time?). Find out how here.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

Another yummy treat that is perfect for this time of year:

-Clean out a medium sized pumpkin
-Add chili (homemade or 2 cans worth) into cleaned out pumpkin
-Put lid back on the pumpkin
-Bake on cookie sheet at 350 for about 45min-1 hour

ENJOY! I think we're going to make this an October tradition.

Diaper Rash

Bag Balm is my #1 recommendation for a cure. You can buy it at lots of places (even Nordstroms), but I think the IFA stores have the best prices.

Pumpkin Cookies

Jackie reminded me of one of my favorite cookie recipes:

It is so simple and DELICIOUS!

1 box spice cake mix
1 large can of pumpkin
1/2 to a whole (depends how much of a fan you are) bag of dark chocolate chips

Mix the above 3 ingredients together, drop on cookie sheet, and bake at 375 for about 12-15 mins. THAT'S IT! And they are moist and delicious. Perfect for this time of year.

This sounds yummy

Chicken Bundles

These end up on the menu nearly every month. They are fun for the kids to make and they love how they taste.

8 oz cream cheese, softened (I usually use fat free to make it a little healthier)
2 cans chicken
1 tsp dried minced onion
salt and pepper to taste
2 cans crescent rolls (reduced fat work well too)

Combine cream cheese, chicken, onion, salt and pepper. Mix well. Open crescent roll cans and lay dough triangles out on the counter. Place a large scoop of the chicken mixture on each triangle. Fold edges of dough around the chicken mixture and pinch together so that there are no holes. Place bundles on a cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 13 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes 16 bundles.

Optional: to make this dinner a little fancier, use sliced green onions in place of the dried onion and add one can of mushrooms (diced) to the chicken mixture. Dip each bundle in melted butter and roll in Italian bread crumbs before placing on the cookie sheet. Serve with a chicken gravy made from one can cream of chicken soup mixed with a half can of water.

Another variation: instead of making "bundles", make "pillows"-- fuse two triangle dough pieces together to make a rectangle. Place a large scoop of the chicken mixture on each rectangle. Fold over and pinch edges. Makes 8 pillows.

From: http://wilkinsonquints.blogspot.com

A Family in Need

This is our friend's brother-in-law:

Naki Family Donation Fund

Naki Maile passed away unexpectedly on Friday, October 16, 2009, leaving behind his beloved wife Abby and daughters Line, Malia, Lose, Eli, Eva and Ane

Naki was a tremendous husband and father. Taken from her blog, Abby tells in her blog the type of person Naki was and what kind of life they lived together.

"Who knew back in 1995 when Naki and I met that we’d find ourselves living in Happy Valley, Utah, with our 6 crazy, loud, and beautiful girls. More often than not you’ll find Naki coming from or going to work, at church, playing with the girls, helping mom with the girls, or falling asleep sitting up."

Naki was very active in services activities, church duties, family life and sports. He played football for the BYU Cougars and developed many life-long friendships there. The site below was put together by some of those friends to help raise money for those precious 7 girls he's leaving behind.

DONATE BY GOING HERE
(no amount is too small)

Truly a Miracle

The Ped Egg works like nothing else I have ever tried for my dry feet. In literally ONE application, my feet were more beautiful than they have been in years (even compared to times I have had professional pedicures). This product gets my full endorsement! I found mine at Wal-Mart.

Old Navy

Old Navy is having their additional 1/2 off on Woman's clearance items right now. Children's and Men's should be coming soon!

Educational

Click here to access a bunch of free and easy to make educational activities, books and file folder games for kids of all ages.

Make your pictures into coloring pages for FREE!

Go Here and at the top of the page click the link "Go to Crayola.com". Go to Lights Camera Color and "enter code" link, then you'll need to login or register. Once you do so, type in code PR24QCHT .Now you can start uploading your photos. You can upload and save five photos at a time, but after printing, you can replace any of the saved files with a new uploaded image. Keep in mind, though, the code will only give you 24 hours of access!

Shoulder Bag

Click here for instructions on how to make these super easy bags that are a hit with just about everyone! They make great gifts too. You only need 1 and 1/2 yards of fabric total (3/4 for the lining and 3/4 for the outside).

Baby Leggings for $1

Christine pointed out this great website on how to make these super cute, super easy and super cheap baby leggings! I am totally making some for Lucy!


photo from: http://obsessivelystitching.blogspot.com

Clean Hands

Great tip that Christine found:

Hand sanitizer cleans marker smudges off kids' hands

Greg discovered that hand sanitizer cleans up more than germs:

My 2-year old son was coloring with markers and, as you can imagine, managed to get just as much marker on his hands as he did the paper. After he finished coloring, dinner was ready, so I decided to wait until after we ate to get his hands cleaned up. I thought I would just put some hand sanitizer on his hands and he would be fine to eat. I was pleasantly surprised when I finished rubbing the sanitizer on his hands to see that they were perfectly clean. The marker was gone. I then remembered how alcohol is good at removing pen marks from furniture, among other places one would not want ink (I once had to get ink off of my computer monitor with alcohol). Instead of using rubbing alcohol on a child's hands, hand sanitizer does the trick.

http://www.parenthacks.com/2009/10/hand-sanitizer-cleans-marker-smudges-off-kids-hands.html

Little white shirt

Just got one of these for David. You cannot find a good Sunday shirt in baby boy sizes and these are onsies so they'll stay tucked in. I LOVE it! Thanks for the tip, Becky (such a great sister-in-law).

charmedlifeclothing.com

Quiet Book

Jackie made this and I am totally inspired to make my own. Here is the free pattern.

Suggested Amounts of Basic Foods for Home Storage

Suggested Amounts of Basic Foods for Home Storage
(Per adult for one year.)

Grains (wheat, rice, corn, rolled oats, spaghetti)	400 pounds (181 kg)	72 #10 cans (wheat)
Legumes (dry beans, peas, lentils)	60 pounds (27 kg)	12 #10 cans (beans)
Powdered Milk	16 pounds (7 kg)	4 #10 cans
Sugar or Honey	60 pounds (27 kg)	10 #10 cans
Cooking Oil	10 quarts (9 liters)
Salt	8 pounds (3.6 kg)
Water** (2 weeks)	14 gallons (53 liters)

**It is impractical for most families to store a year's supply of water. Fourteen gallons per person is a suggested minimum reserve.

Source: http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,2006-1-1116-1,00.html

Artisan Bread Recipe (5 min. prep)

Annie's Recipe

3 cups warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast (2 packets)
1 1/4 Tbsp (not a typo) salt
5-6 1/2 cups flour

Mix all together with a wooden spoon in a large tupperware bowl that has a lid. Let sit for 2 hours (covered but not sealed). Put in fridge until ready to bake.

Use flour to shape into 4 grapefruit size balls. Place on cookie sheet and let rise for 30 mins. When 30 mins is up turn oven on to 450 degrees and wait for heat up. Sprinkle flour on top of loaf, score with a sharp knife.

Bake for 20-25 mins. Place 1 cup water in a pan in oven on lower rack during cooking.

Dough can stay in fridge for up to 2 weeks. I like to make it then pull out 1 ball at a time to bake when I want it. So easy and so yummy!

In Case of Emergency

Marc and I have done a pretty good job of getting our food storage ready in the event a need may arise so we are now focusing on other items that would be helpful to keep on hand. After brainstorming, we asked ourselves what would be something that if we ran out of it, we would go that day to replenish. The answer quickly came: DIAPERS! Then we tried to think of where we could put all those diapers. The next answer came: CLOTH DIAPERS!

I shopped around and the ones from this website seem to be the best bang for your buck. I know there are much better cloth diapers that exist, but if you're just wanting to get some decent ones "just in case" these with plastic pants (that the site also carries) ought to do the trick. Happy shopping. Oh, we thought about 2 dozen would buy us enough time in between washings if needed.

Snapfish Sale

Snapfish is having a sale on their most popular gifts (40% off). I just went on and made a photo book for David from the day he was born (I made one for Lucy too so I figured I'd better be fair). The code is: POSTLABOR

Protect your kids

I just signed up my family's addresses through a free service provided by the State of Utah called the Utah Child Protection Registry. Like the do-not-call list, once an address has been registered,senders of messages that advertise prohibited products or services (like gambling, tobacco, pornography, and alcohol) are required to remove the contact points from their mailing lists within 30 days. (thanks Norman)

Register HERE

Dress up your mirrors

My friend Jordyn "framed" her mirrors in her bathroom and they look amazing! I have a feeling Marc will soon have a new project on his hands ;)

Before:

After:

Slow the flow

Get a free water survey done on your yard. You can sign up for one here. http://www.slowtheflow.org/watercheck/default.aspx

Thanks, Julie

Jam with A KICK

We made some delicious peach jam last night and then added one tiny sliced habanero pepper to the batch. It was so yummy. My friend, Ellie, uses the jam over a block of cream cheese with crackers as an appetizer. You'll be surprised at the whole new flavor you will get from it.

Go vote!

Primary elections are being held today for various municipal offices. You may find information about candidates, polling locations, and voting hours by visiting http://gva1.utah.gov/elections/polling.aspx . Please pass the word to your neighbors!

Udder Covers

I heard about this and bought myself one. Wanted to get this up before the deal is off:

I found this awesome deal at www.uddercovers.com. You can get a free nursing cover (a $32 value) when you enter the promo code "charm" All you have to pay is shipping/handling ($8.95). Feel free to post it on your blog of ideas.

Bre-

Major Restaurant Discounts

This tip comes from Becky on a way to save big with restaurant gift cards. This is what she has to say about it: "I just used this to buy four $10 gift cards for restaurants in the area, and I paid $1.60 total for the 4 of them. Not bad!"

Click Here for the link. This just might come in handy for Christmas ;)

Yummy homemade spaghetti sauce

Something to do with all your tomatoes:
This recipe is from Karen Noyce, Rachelle Simmons' mother.
This makes 4 quarts, so you'll probably double it or quadruple it like I did, depending on how many tomatoes you have.

12 c blended tomatoes, peeled
30 oz tomato paste
3 chopped yellow onions ( I put these in the blender as well)
3 bay leaves (remove after)
3 tsp oregano
1 tsp fennel
3 tsp basil
3 TBS salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp lemon juice

Mix all together except lemon juice. Simmer 2 hours or more until desired thickness is reached. Put 1 teaspoon lemon juice in each quart jar. Ladle in hot spaghetti sauce. Put on lids and adjust rings. Process.

Canning Peaches

The basic idea (so easy):

1) Skin and de-pit your peaches
2) Place them in quart jars (wide mouth works best)
3) Add warm sugar water to each jar of peaches (like 4 to 1 ration of water to sugar).
4) A boiling bath in your canning pot for 20 mins
5) Remove and let cool
6) ENJOY

Heartburn?

Just a little cap full of Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with a glass of water will do the trick. It tastes awful, but totally works. I learned this from my Mother-in-law back when I was dating Marc and it has saved me through two pregnancies.

Just Bleach It

This post will be way too simple for most, but I think it will come in handy for some. Every time I would stain something, inevitably someone would say, "Just bleach it". I never really knew how this would work. I tried several methods, but was never happy with the end result. I finally came up with the following plan and it works great (if you have a better way please feel free to share).

-Start your washer running with hot water.
-Add about 1/2-1 cup of bleach
-Add clothing you want bleached
-Wash
-Tumble dry
-Enjoy a new looking article of clothing

This doesn't just work on whites. I have been pleased with the results on pastels as well. Good luck!

Potty Training

This tip comes from my friend Danielle. She said that the best advice she got when it came to potty training was, "Don't. Your child will do it when they are ready." With this she stopped a year's worth of struggling with her daughter and when she was ready (at age 3) the process handled itself.

The following 3 things . . .

A good bib

A safe highchair

and a yummy Popsicle

Can buy a mother of a toddler a good 15-20 minutes of time when needed

What I really leanred in college

I think we all could share a story or two from our college day's living conditions. One particular house I lived in was really bad. I could go on and on, but by saying that you couldn't shower when we ran the washing machine, or else you would have backed up yucky water in the tub probably paints a pretty good picture.

Another lovely thing about this house was the mold on the bathroom ceiling. We concocted all sorts of plans on how to get rid of it (one plan included rain jackets and brooms), but then JEN moved in and with the magic of water and bleach in a spray bottle, she sprayed all the mold away! It was amazing. No scrubbing needed.

Pink Fig

These patterns are adorable!

Greener Eating

My friend started a blog with lots of yummy and VERY healthy recipes: http://www.greenereating.com/

Chick-fil-A

Thanks for the tip, Kelly:


On Monday, Sept. 7 (Labor Day), Chick-fil-A stores nationwide will be giving away a free chicken sandwich to any customer wearing any sports-related apparel. The promotion is tied in with the Chick-fil-A Kickoff football game, in which the University of Alabama and Virginia Tech will face off. The game will be broadcast on ABC.