Recipes!

I’ve started posting on my recipe blog again…don’t know how I got so far behind.  :)  Check it out, there is a widget on my sidebar that shows the latest posts and links to the blog.  I’m not a chef by any means, I just like to share recipes that I have found that my family likes. :)

Product Review: Pledge Fabric Sweeper

I am a BzzAgent and get neat things to try out and spread the word about.  The latest product I received is perfect for me…a Pledge Fabric Sweeper!

Gee, with 4 cats, who needs one of this more than I do lol!  It’s a handheld sweeper made up of little rollers that you sweep back and forth across the couch to trap the hairs.  The handle is the container for the hairs…you can actually see the hairs pile up!  The unique thing about the Pledge Fabric Sweeper is that it is disposable.  When you see that the container is full you just toss it.  It’s easier to use than sticky sheets and less messy since you just toss it instead of cleaning it.  Another big plus?  It’s fun…now the kiddos ask to clean up the cat hair lol. :)  The brushes are gentle on my furniture…so far I’ve only seen it collect hair and not wear down the fabric.  Next time you go shopping pick one up and give it a try!

Product Review: Don’t Miss Out: Avoiding Colds and Flu

As the mom of teenagers I know it’s hard to convince them to be proactive in staying healthy.  I can make my little ones march up to the sink and wash their hands, and they have yearly pediatric checkups and stay up to date with their shots.  But when your kids hit the teen years you have less control and influence over their  health.  Mom Central notified me of a great new website and I want to pass the word on.

I Don’t Want To Miss…is a campaign aimed at teenagers to help them be proactive with their health so they won’t miss out on important and fun events.  It’s got pages for teens, parents and teachers with lots of helpful info on keeping healthy.  They are making it interesting for teens by association with American Idol.  Right now they are sponsoring a PSA contest with a former American Idol contestant as a judge.  Contestants create a video to submit that details how they are avoiding colds and flu and what events in their lives they don’t want to miss due to illness.  I know my sons love any opportunity to make videos lol!

I learned from the site that the CDC has expanded their flu recommendations to include teens.  I think this is great!  I have had the flu, and I don’t think until you have actually had it do you ever realize how debilitating it really is!  I would hate for any of my kiddos to experience it and I’m glad that now the guidelines have been updated…this means more doctors and insurance carriers will hop on board and spread the word as well.  Prevention is key, and knowledge is power!

So I encourage you to check out the site and have your kiddos look into the contest as well.  We need all the help we can get to make keeping healthy more fun!

Disney On Ice: A Taste of Disney At Home

What super timing!  We just got back from a quick stop by Disney World after a business trip with my dh, and find out that Disney On Ice will be in our hometown next month!!  Whoo Hooo.  And to make it even better, the folks at Mom Central have informed me of a great discount on tickets and I want to pass on the info.

There are several different versions in lots of different cities…to find out if one is coming near you Disney On Ice has it’s own website!  It’s really neat, you can watch videos of the various shows and pick from a dropdown menu to see if there will be one in your area.  The Disney On Ice Worlds of Fantasy will be coming to our area!  How neat that they have incorporated the characters from Cars in the show. :)

Here’s the discounted ticket offer…

Offer #1: Get 4 tickets for just $44 by entering the code "MOM" at select ticketing channels*. Offer good on all performances, minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each. Offer not valid on Gold Circle Seating, Front Row and VIP seating or combinable with other offers. Other restrictions may apply.

Offer #2: A select amount of Front Row and VIP seats have been reserved for you to buy before they go on sale to the public - just enter the code "MOM" when purchasing those seats.

Dates and cities where families can use the national MOM code are as follows:
Houston    
Disney On Ice presents Mickey and Minnie's Magical Journey
April 15-April 19
Dallas/Ft Worth
Disney On Ice presents Mickey & Minnie's Magical Journey
March 18-March 29
Sunrise/Miami
Disney On Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy
March 26-April 5
Toronto
Disney On Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy     
March 18-March 22
Kansas City
Disney On Ice presents Mickey & Minnie's Magical Journey
April 1-April 5
Denver
Disney On Ice presents a Disneyland® Adventure
March 12-March 15
Phoenix
Disney On Ice presents a Disneyland® Adventure
April 9-April 12
Chicago/Rosemont
Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic
Sept 8-Sept 13

To learn more about Disney On Ice shows touring the country this year, visit http://disney.go.com/disneyonice/ and visit ticketmaster.com to use the 4 tickets for $44 code, MOM.

Disney On Ice is always a great family outing and true to Disney standards…I know your family will enjoy it and with the discount it’s about as much as a trip to the movies!  Can’t beat that. :)

Half Day At Epcot: Full of Fun!

Okay, just how did we get our fill of Disney World with only one and a half days to do it?  Park hopping!!  We are seasonal passholders, and our tickets allow us to go to any number of parks on any given day, but Disney also has a park hopper option you can add to base tickets.  We love this, as we can not only hit more than one park a day, but leave a park if we find it to be too crowded.

We usually go to the Magic Kingdom the first day of our trips, but we were waiting at the hotel for a bus and noticed that busses to other parks were coming and going, and no Magic Kingdom bus was to be found.  That means they were super crowded!  So we hopped on an Epcot bus and our adventure began.

Isn’t that a great shot of Spaceship Earth?  A.K.A. “the golf ball” lol.  That shot looks like a postcard…I think I may make it into my screensaver.  Spaceship Earth was the first ride we hit, and we had to wait about 30 minutes…quite unusual, as it’s a continuously moving ride and normally you can just walk on.

After that we headed for Test Track and found that, at only 10:30 in the morning, they were already out of Fast Passes and the standby wait was 2 hours!!!  Forget it!  We chose instead to ride Journey Into Imagination.  Afterwards the kiddos played in the area at the end of the ride.

Ds4, stepping on the lighted pics on the floor to hear the corresponding sound.

The boys posing for a pic. 

Here ds3 is adding special effects to the pic they just posed for.  You can email the resulting masterpiece to family and friends. :)

We had ds2 snap this pic of dh and I.  Yeah, we had on coats, it was a windy, cold day!  But sunny and pretty, huh?

We headed to The Land for lunch.  They have a nice variety in their food court and the atmosphere is delightful.

Ds3 had the “see food" lol.  Actually Disney has gotten very good about offering healthy choices for meals.  There is always some fresh fruit available as well as grilled chicken and soups and salads.

Our favorite part of The Land is the Living With The Land ride.  You get a peek into the experimental gardens, always filled with abundantly growing plants.

Check out the 10 pound lemons!

Our next stop was The Living Seas, another favorite.  You get to ride clam shells to the awesome aquarium.

Check out the ray!

Outside of The Living Seas we stopped and had ourselves a Mickey Ice Cream.  Yep, 50 degrees and we were eating frozen treats.  Hey, it’s like a law that you have to eat Mickey Ice Cream while at Disney World!

With both Fast Track and Soarin’ out of Fast Passes we decided to leave Epcot and head back to check out our hotel.  But we still got a lot done and had a great morning. :)  Next post:  Magic Kingdom…at night!

Cats on Tuesday: All Packed Up

We spent the last week in Jacksonville with dh on a business trip.  The cats helped pack.

What’s that?  See the little ears peeking out on the left?

Aw, Mimi.  I sure wish I could have brought her.  I actually had a dream while we were there that she followed us to Jacksonville!  Do you think I miss my kitties when we are away lol?   My little diva, she has gotten used to me taking so many pics of her, she closes her eyes every time I pull out the camera lol.

She is not giving up!  Here she “helps” me pack the big suitcase.  Guess she is leaving a little reminder on my jeans lol.  For more cat fun head over to Gattina’s.  Happy Tuesday Cat Lovers!

What’s On My Nightstand

Wow, I can’t believe it’s the end of the month already!  I just got a shipment of books from Amazon right before we left on our little vacation with dh, but surprisingly I didn’t read at all while we were away!  For one thing, even though it’s a 7 hour drive and I could finish a whole book in that time, I get car sick.  I so wish I didn’t!  Plus, the kiddos kept me busy the rest of the time, so all I really read was the room service menu and the pool rules sign lol.

Okay, here is my current to be read pile of books.  I loved the first book in the Miss Read series so I ordered two more, though they aren’t in order, Over the Gate and Village Diary.  Then while shopping on Amazon I read reviews for The Reader (Kate Winslet just won an Oscar for her work in the movie) so I added it to the cart.  Plus The Devil in the Junior League just sounded like a fun read. :)  My purpose in ordering from Amazon was to get The Duggars: 20 and Counting.  I actually did read that before we left and I am so glad I did!  It is a delightful look into this unique family and a surprising page turner for non-fiction.  Hey, check out my Disney princesses hat hanging by my nightstand…cute, huh?  So there you go, my reading for the month.  I will hopefully get some finished and be able to provide reviews.  :)  Head over to 5 Minutes for Books for more book lover’s fun.

Home at Last: Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside

Oh, it’s so good to be home! :)  Although I haven’t enjoyed the mountain of laundry and dirty dishes…uh, can you say “room service?” lol.

We did manage a quick stop at Disney World on the way home.  That place was PACKED!  We couldn’t believe it.  We normally go this time of year for ds1’s bday and it’s never crowded.  This time we had to *gasp* stand in line…for everything!  My poor bladder was glad to get back to the hotel that night lol.  You ladies know what I mean…the ladies’ room is ALWAYS crowded and this time the lines wound out of the buildings.

So, we left Jacksonville Friday morning and headed for the World…got there around 10 a.m.  We checked into our hotel but had to wait for a room to be open, so of course we hit the parks.  This is the first time we have stayed in a moderate resort.  We normally get a good resident or passholder rate on either a deluxe resort or two rooms at a value resort.  But everything was full, so we got a room at the Port Orleans Riverside…it has two full beds and a trundle, so we could all fit.

There is no denying, it’s a beautiful resort.  We did get lost, however, as it is a BIG resort.  That is one reason why I have shied away from moderate resorts at Disney…they are so big that they require 4 or more bus stops to cover the whole area!  We came back from the parks and stopped at the west depot…at the Port Orleans French Quarter instead of the Riverside.  We were hunting and hunting for our car, and went in to report it missing, only to find out we were at the wrong place lol.  It was cool, though, we got to take a boat over to the other side and found out that the boats will also take you to downtown Disney.

Here’s our boat!  It is a very serene and scenic ride.

See?  We went under several of these neat bridges.

We finally got to the right hotel and found our room.  We were in Alligator Alley.

Here is the view from our balcony.  Of course we only stayed one night and didn’t get to enjoy the pool or boats and other amenities the hotel offers.  Personally, we won’t be staying again.  We just prefer other resorts.  It’s just that this time staying in the value resort, with two rooms at peak season pricing, was more expensive than one room in the Port Orleans. 

As with all resorts on the Disney property, the scenery and wildlife are incredible.  A cute little bunny escorted us along the path to our room and later on we saw a beaver in one of the lakes!  Dh and the boys even saw deer outside the window on a bus ride to the parks.

Well, I must get back to the dishes and laundry.  Next post will be about our first day in the parks. :)

Pool Pics

I tell ‘ya, I’m just about “pooled” out lol.  The boys and I go down and swim at least twice a day, and I’m beginning to get a little water logged! :)

The boys, however, cannot get enough.  It really is a beautiful pool, a beautiful hotel all around actually…we are at an Embassy Suites, and I would recommend it if you happen to have the chance.

The walls have murals of ocean creatures, and my youngest and I pretend we are swimming in the ocean.

Yea for floaties!

What wonderful form!  If only he didn’t have to hold his nose. :)  Dh thinks he will be finished with his work tomorrow, so we will be heading out in the morning.  There is talk of squeezing in a stop at Disney World on the way back home…guess we’ll see!  I would of course love it, but I do miss my ds1 at home…and my kitties!

Out of Order

Actually, out of town!  We had the opportunity to accompany dh on a business trip to Jacksonville, so I haven’t been on lately.  And I probably won’t be on much this week.  Two words:  INDOOR POOL.  :P

Here is ds4 on the drive down, looking pretty cool.

This is the lobby of our hotel…not too shabby!

Outside the hotel.  Dh works all day (literally, he is gone over 12 hours!) so we are left to fend for ourselves.  There isn’t anything within walking distance and we don’t have any transportation, but we’ve been exploring the hotel and grounds, and of course the INDOOR POOL.  We have one more full day of this…how will I survive lol.

4 Days Without Daddy: Day 3

Mom is exhausted trying to keep this kids occupied, so “we” decided to stay home today. :P  Other than school, we finally had a little rain shower, so the boys played in it for a while.

I was informed that the game is called “rain football.”

I kept my distance.

Just a gratuitous cute kitty pic.  We miss you daddy!  Only one more day to go. :)

4 Days Without Daddy: Day 2

Today we headed into “town” and took advantage of “free” day at some local museums.  The art museum wouldn’t let us take any pics, but they had a neat display of the local school children’s art…very impressive stuff (imo, most of it was better than the museum’s “private collection.”

Then we hit the local history museum.  There was an entire floor dedicated to a children’s discovery area, complete with forts, a boat and a port, etc.  My boys were in heaven. :)

Here ds4 is “swabbing the deck”…sure wish I could get him to do that at home lol!

They even had clothes and accessories for the boys to wear inside the little bunkers.

Other than the discovery floor, this is what interested my boys the most…turn away if you have a weak stomach or love cats…

A mummified cat.  Ugh.  They found the poor thing and figured out that it was over 100 years old.  Other than the local history, this museum also houses the (obviously) very strange collection of a local man.

They have unearthed many artifacts from sunken ships in our area.  Here ds4 begrudgingly poses by an anchor.

After the museums we walked to the shore and had a little picnic.

My boys cannot resist water!

Or trees.

I couldn’t resist taking a pic of this sign…

Hee hee!  After all this adventure we came home and I collapsed.  How come I’m the only one getting worn out???  We miss you daddy!

4 Days Without Daddy: Day 1

Ugh.  We dropped dh off at the airport yesterday.  He’s off to a training school until Friday.  The time sure seems to go slow when he is gone. :(  So, we are attempting to keep ourselves busy.  We got up and did school as usual, had lunch, and then headed out to my alma mater and walked the nature trail.

I almost lost them at the beginning of the trail lol!!  They read that sign and wanted to turn tail and run.  It says “CAUTION:  You may encounter poisonous snakes and alligators in this area.”

It’s a half-mile boardwalk, with lots of benches for resting periods…the kids stopped at every one of them. :)

Isn’t this pretty?  The two trees that have fallen over and form a sort of canopy?  There were tons of trees down and some of the boardwalk itself was still damaged (from hurricane Ivan 2004) but it kind of made it more interesting.

Check it out!  Turtles sunning themselves.

When we came to the end the kids did a little sketching in their nature journals.

Ds3 has been wishing and wishing to go to our neighborhood Chili’s restaurant.  Well, I promised him we would when dh was out of town, so I made good on the promise after our walk.

Kid’s not happy at all, is he?

He had the adult sized meal!  Ate all but that corn.

Ds4 was happy with the variety of sugar packets. :)

Okay, I think that’s been enough to keep us busy today.  We got a free redbox rental and picked out Madagascar 2 and that should keep us happy for the rest of the night.  I’m thinking of taking the boys to a free museum day tomorrow, but we’ll see how things go.  We miss our daddy!!