Family Musings

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of FRESCHETTA® . All opinions are 100% mine. Social Spark sent me a coupon for a single slice of pizza. I thought it was a bit odd since I'm used to seeing whole pizzas sold at my grocery store. But, when I went to the store the next day, I found out that Freschetta now sells pizza by the slice! So, I used my coupon, bought a slice, and had it for lunch. And you know what, it fulfilled my desire for pizza. The crust was chewy. and the pizza was cheesy (because I picked the Six Cheese Medley flavor). Overall, it was a satisfying lunch once I added an orange and a tall glass of cold water. FRESCHETTA® By the Slice  comes in 4 different flavors: Six Cheese Medley BBQ Recipe Chicken Vegetable Medley Chicken, Spinach, & Mushroom This product is too expensive to serve for an entire family. And not big enough to throw in the oven for those nights when my husband is "bachin' it." But, the serving size is bi...

This post brought to you by Pier 1 . All opinions are 100% mine. Window shopping is something I like to do when I get to leave the girls at home and have some time to just browse and plan. Window shopping is also something I have to do when it gets towards the end of the month and we still have a week left until payday (being paid once a month stinks sometimes). With gas prices being the way they are, I'm doing more window shopping online these days. And browsing  Pier 1  online is kind of fun. There are tons of different ideas for seasonally appropriate decorations .  Fortunately for my decorating sense, most of  Pier 1 's furniture works indoor or outdoor. I've actually had 2 wicker chairs (similar to this wicker chair ) hanging out in my living room for several years. They were meant to be put outdoor on a patio, but living in FL, our outdoor entertaining season is pretty small. And now that I live in a condo, I don't have any out...

Crispy Tilapia with Mac & Cheese As reported last week , Kara has challenged me to prepare the majority of my family's meals in The Bag Holder. After using the BH for 7 days so far, I am definitely liking it more than expected. I've posted several updates on my Facebook page so far as well as some photos and videos. You can check those out over there, but for those of you not on Facebook, I'll try to recap my experience as well as share some new details. Items Made So Far: Riffed Chicken Enchiladas Maple Chicken Beef Fajitas  with homemade Tortillas (also made in the BH) Crispy Tilapia Mac & Cheese BLT Bowtie Salad Omelettes In A Bag  ( video of Charlotte helping ) Chocolate Dream Freeze  ( watch my video ) Baked Oatmeal (my friend Cyndi's recipe) Cupcakes (mixed in the bag, and then frosted in fresh bag) Deviled Eggs Muffins (mixed in the bag) Life meant I veered slightly from the original menu a couple of nights, so here is wh...

The Jesus Storybook Bible is my favorite children's Bible. It tells the story of the Bible from a biblical theology perspective, showing how the WHOLE Bible is meant to teach us about Jesus and God's redemptive plan for the world. Sally Lloyd-Jones did an amazing job with this interpretation and it is meaningful to children and adults alike. Recently, on the Jesus Storybook Bible Facebook page , they shared 4 videos that are temporarily available on Facebook. They are readings from the book with moving graphics based on Jago's illustrations in the book. I know that in about a week's time you won't be able to watch these videos, but until then, I hope you and the kiddies gather around your computer to watch and hear the story of Easter. I know Charlotte and I will be snuggling up tomorrow to watch these. The Servant King A Dark Knight In The Garden The Sun Stops Shining God's Wonderful Surprise And if you have extra time and want to see Charlotte...

Inspired by a previous post where I shared the results of a Google search for " Charlotte Needs ," I decided to repeat the idea for Mary, just to find out what she might be needing right now. Here are my 13 favorite results: Mary needs the lamb in school : Really? She doesn't even go to school yet! Mary needs Facebook:  Daddy has already taken care of that and has created Mary's Facebook page. I'm still not sure why though. Mary needs saving: So true, but we don't expect her to make that kind of decision just yet. Mary needs sleep : Every day. About 14 hours of it too. She gets 12 or so at night and then another 2 while she naps. Mary needs coffee : I think they got Mary mixed up with her momma on this one. Because I'm the one who needs coffee. About 3 cups every morning. Mary needs shadows : I guess if we think about this in the bigger picture it makes sense. If Mary gets her shadows, it means she is also getting sunlight. And that's an importan...

Last August, I posted about a new strategy we implemented for encouraging our daughter to eat her meals in a timely manner . The positive feedback I received from friends both in the comments and on Facebook were encouraging. What I appreciated even more was the comment that my friend Babs left for me. I started to address her concerns in another comment, but it was getting lengthy and I thought that others might benefit from seeing more of the discussion. Babs wrote, "It's definitely a sound approach since she knows she has the option for it later. But these days I often wonder where dinner time went when it is over in just 15 or 20 minutes. How long was she taking and what was she doing while she was dawdling. So many people these days don't even realize they've eaten because the goal was to get it done, not to enjoy it while it was happening...gee, kind of a lot like life in general :) I'm not dissing the idea, thinking of motivators (charlotte's) an...

A nice lady named Kara issued a challenge to me. And I love challenges. You see, Kara invented something called The Bag Holder . When I first saw it, I thought, "it's basically a plastic bowl. What's the big deal?" Kara believed it was a big deal, so she pressed on and tried to show me why it was better than a plastic bowl. She said it could completely make over the way I approached cooking and cleaning my kitchen. This was her baby and she wanted me to believe in it like she did. So... Kara challenged me to cook the majority of my meals for 2 weeks using The Bag Holder (TBH) and see if I changed my mind. She even offered to pay for the groceries and give me a free TBH. So tonight, the challenge began. I've picked out 10 dinner, 6 lunch, 4 breakfast, and 4 snack recipes that I will be making over the next 2 weeks to see if TBH is all Kara says it is. Tonight I made Chicken Enchiladas , creating my own riff on the version on TBH's website based on what I ha...

At this point in the photo challenge, I'd like to share with you some pictures of something I've already done, but that I want to do again before I die. I'd love nothing more than to take my family to China and share with them all of the beautiful and amazing things I was able to see. Plus, I know there is so much still left to explore that we could discover together as a family. Click here to view these pictures larger What do you want to do before you die? Do you have a bucket list?

The majority of the arts and crafts I create are riffs on something I saw somewhere else. My Spring wreath is no exception. While browsing the home arts at a local shop ( The Barn , if you must know) I saw a wire wreath with butterflies floating on it. I really liked it and knew my papercrafting friend Amy (of Dearie Designs ) would be able to help me get my planned replica just right! While discussing wreath forms, we happened across 3 old frames with very old Anne Geddes type pictures in them. Not our style at all. But they were free and would be more interesting than a more traditional round wreath. So we popped the glass and pictures out and contemplated how to cover the frame. I had 2 ideas - twine and ribbon. Then, the twine wrapping commenced. Let's just say that I don't wish this part of the project on anyone. It took me nearly 3 hours (with a few interruptions from the littles) to wrap the entire frame. And I didn't even both with the corners. At the end o...

Here's some random meme I found about remembering how my first born child came to exist in this world... well, just the part about my pregnancy and her birth, not the stuff at the very beginning of her existence. :) 1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yes 2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes 3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Excitement 4. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 29 5. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Home pregnancy test on the 1st day I could possibly know 6. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? My husband 7. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Nope. I like surprises 8. WHAT WAS YOUR DUE DATE? August 13, 2007 9. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? No. I did have heart burn though at the end. 10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Ice cold fountain beverages or Slurpees. 11.. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? I don't think anything did. I was the happiest pregnant woman I've ever known. 12.. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S GENDER? Charlotte is a girl. Thank goodness too because that name w...

Every now and again I write a blog post but for a variety of reasons, decide not to publish it at that time. I was looking through my draft posts this morning and found this one from about December 2009 (3 months after Mary was born). I went to the mall this morning  again and experienced pretty much the same thing that I wrote about at that time. I figured it was okay to share the story now and don't really know why I didn't a year ago. ************************************ When I was checking out at a local department store the other night, the impeccably dressed, stylish, and decidedly size 6 cashier asked me, "Did you find everything you were looking for?" To be polite I affirmed that I had, rang up my small purchase, and moved on. But.... here is what I really wanted to say: "No. I didn't. I was unable to find a single piece of clothing in this store that didn't make me look like the cow I have become. I not only weigh more than I did 3 years...

Thanks to mad networking skills, I've got another guest post to share with you today. This time about traveling with children. I love hanging out with my own kids. But I don't always love traveling with them. It's hard work to do my same job somewhere else without all of the usual comforts of home. I've taken them on a 12-hour car trip to TN, away for staycation over a holiday weekend, and even to Nicaragua. I won't pretend the trips were easy, but they were worth it.  I'm not sure if there will be the time or the money for a family vacation this summer, but this post from Sarah sure makes me want to try! *********************************************** Can you still holiday with younger children?  With a toddler or young child in tow, a lot of parents are dissuaded from holidaying because of the potential inconveniences that such a commitment might bring. Holidays are however an important part of any healthy lifestyle, an opportunity to relax from the stress...

Almost 2 months ago, I did something really crazy. I warned y'all in this post on February 26th . I finished the Disney Princess Half-Marathon. With 2 equally crazy girls. Alisa, on the left, who was 5 months pregnant at the time and Kelly, on the right, who flew out from CA to do this with me!   We each had a tutu to fit our personalities. Mine was very full with sparkly ribbon and lots of beads (top left). Kelly's (bottom left) was definitely non-traditional and more Tinkerbell colors than princess colors. Alisa's was pretty classic with soft pinks and white tulle. Her length was really long and classy looking. I was 10th from last in my age division and the slow walker bus was nipping at my heels, but I did finish the race. And I don't care that I was almost dead last. I finished it. And that is what was important to me. Along the way, I tweeted like crazy. I had to do something to keep my mind off the fact that I ought to be at home sleeping, but instead, I ...

This is a compensated post written by me on behalf of Walgreens . All opinions are 100% mine. I'm a bargain shopper. I rarely pay full price for anything. But when I do, I usually buy the store brand. There are very few things where the store brand isn't as good as the name brand. And for me, multivitamins is one category of products where I feel the national store brand is as good as the name brand. I recently received a free bottle of  Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products  to try out. I didn't mind using a generic product because this one is backed by Walgreens pharmacists. That's a lot of pharmacists putting their seal of approval on a product. And if you aren't happy with a  Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products , they offer a 100% back guarantee (I think Walgreens does this with make-up too! Another plus in the Walgreens column for sensitive-skinned me.) One thing that I looked at when comparing this vitamin to a ...

Yeah, I know. I'm so far behind on my blogging it isn't funny. No excuses other than I've been living the life that this blog is about. For St. Patrick's Day fun during Spring Break, we went to the Central Florida Zoo with my mom, sister-in-law, and niece. It was a perfect day to be outside and enjoying the beautiful weather that we in  Florida get for about 5 days each Spring and Fall. Now, are you ready for a barrage of photos???? These are all SOOC (straight out of the camera) and completely unedited. Before you get into the actual zoo, there is a lovely outdoor picnic area. We had some time to play around here while we waited for everyone to arrive and get their tickets. Yes, she is reading that sign. ;) Charlotte was not in a terribly cooperative picture mood. She just wanted to get to the animals and splash pad. I probably bribed her with some lame treat to get this smile. All of Charlotte's talk about animals meant nothing once she saw these...