Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July to all Have a great time and remember the reason that we celebrate. The wonderful meaning behind the 4th of July is freedom. Salute to those men and women in the armed services that are helping to make sure that freedom is an assurance.

Frosted Banana Bars

I bought bananas the other day at the grocery store and found that they were not the best. I used most of them then found that I needed to do something with the rest. Here is the recipe that we used.

Frosted Banana Bars

1/2 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
FROSTING:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3-3/4 to 4 cups confectioners' sugar
Directions:
In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in bananas.
Spread into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool.
For frosting, in a bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Gradually beat in enough confectioners' sugar to achieve desired consistency. Frost bars. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 3-4 dozen.

This recipe was shared with me by my daughter and she found it on the Taste of Home website.

Homemaker Monday can be found on the blog 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven also listed at Make Something Monday @ Jolly Mom's blog and @ blog Go Graham Go and at Make Do Monday located on the blog Ann Kroeker also listed at Cook It Wednesday at Thrifty Mama also listed on the blog 3 Sides of Crazy

Little miss Match

win a weeks worth of Little Miss Match Socks. They are adorable and there is no need in worrying about matching socks. You can win these socks over at the blog MomStart. You have til July 22nd to enter the great contest

win some rufflebutt

The blog Two of a Kind Working on a Full House is hosting a great giveaway sponsored by Rufflebutts. The prize up for grabs is a woven pair of bloomers in the color grape. Now let me tell you our school colors our purple and white and these would be great for my granddaughter. However, if you want a chance to win you can head over to the blog Two of a Kind Working on a Full House before July 20th for a chance to win.

Does Your little one need new shoes?

If your little one is needing new shoes there is a fun and great way of getting them a pair. You see you can win them a pair. The blog Busy Mom is hosting a giveaway for vincent shoes. There are many varities available to choose from so head over there check them out and then enter the giveaway @ BusyMom.com You have until July 23rd to enter this great giveaway.

win a polka dot blanket

The blog Just for Me and You are hosting a specially soft contest for a delightful blanket. The Polka Dot Mama is offering one of Just Me and You blog readers a chance to win a blanket of their own. You have til July 9th to enter the contest.

Free Boss Cologne

If you are like me you are always looking for great smelling products. Well now there is a great giveaway for BOSS orange cologne. If you would also love to get some then visit here

Chance win pair of Baby Legs

A blog that I frequent quite often is hosting a giveaway where the prize is a pair of baby legs. In fact there will not only be 1 winner but 3 winners. If you would like to be one of those lucky winners head over to the blog Piece of Me and enter to win. You have til July 14, 2009 to enter

YardSaling

The season of summer brings with it wonderful yard sales as well. As one of the notebook experiences on the blog Mom Advice I located a wonderful tip post on yard saling.

Note Book entry June 10, 2009:

Original poster: Nesting Place

I found tips for both those wanting to sell as well as those looking for sales. How wonderful for them both to be in one article. I planned a trip to yard sale with several friends and found many great bargains. Had many prices reduced and lots of fun.

For more notebook experience post visit the blog MomAdvice.

Great 4th of July recipe

BarBQ Bean Bake

lb hamburger
onion, chop
1/2 c catsup
1/2 c barbq sauce
1 t salt
4 T mustard
4 T molasses
1 t chili powder
3/4 t pepper
2 can kidney beans
2 can pork n beans
2 can butter beans
1/2 lb bacon

Mix all Dump in crockpot cook 1 1/2 hours

Two Of A Kind blog Baby Bash

There is a baby bash going on over at my friends blog Two of A Kind Working On A Full House. The first contest is for a great recaro car seat. Wow what a great way to start things off. If you want to participate in this contest head over to the blog Two of A Kind Working On a Full House before July 20, 2009.

Thousand Word Thursday July 2, 2009

My son having lots of fun at camp playing one of the many rec games that they learned lots of lessons.

Thousand Word Thursday photos can be found on the blog Cheaper than Therapy

Little Miss Match Sale

Little Miss Match will be having a sale to celebrate the 4th of July. For a limited 5 days you can find products as low as $4. This sale is truly worth taking a look at. Savings could mount up to 75% off the original price. Hurry though the sale ends July 6, 2009.

Every Mommy Needs This

From one time or another every mommy will need a time out. The blog The Mommy Files is hosting a giveaway where the prize is a tee just for that mommy who needs a time out. The contest is sponsored by the makers of those great time out spots and of course the Mommy needs a time out tees. You have until July 15th to enter so head over there and sign up

First Juice Review and Giveaway

Today was a special day we received a package which contained first juice. Yeah, we were going to have a taste test and the little ones would be included in on the fun. There were about 10 of us in my kitchen and we loved it from the taste to the container it was great. The following is the review I wrote about one of our all time favorites first juice

First Juice the best juice in the world that you can give your child. Research shows that young children’s healthy eating habits can forward to healthy eating patterns when they become adults. Parents can help growing toddlers foster healthy eating patterns by focusing on nutritious and healthy foods during the early childhood years. It is a lifestyle choice to eat healthy and if a parent chooses that lifestyle for their child then first juice should be a agent within the diet. As parents, we have the most influence on our child and by making good decisions for the child we can teach them that eating healthy is the correct thing to do.

Because I am a diabetic but also a mother, grandma, and aunt when I was introduced to first juice I instantly fell in love. However, it was not until I was sent a sample of products to try that I knew exactly what I had fallen in love with and my first instinct was correct.

If you are like me and want to be sure your child's diet is healthy and first juice can help this idea become reality.

1. First Juice is a simple juice made up simply of fruit and vegetables with purified water mixed in. The smaller 8 oz bottles include 43% of juice and the larger bottle contains 49%. That is a great percent in this reviewers opinion. Reading the ingredients on the label states that only fruit, water, and vitamins are the ingredients :D does that make you feel good and if you are a label reader like me that is not always the case when examining food to serve your family
2. By serving First Juice long term healthy habits can be fostered. Most of us remember what our mothers or grandmothers served us when we were little and it is in most cases what we will serve to our children and grandchildren therefore the habit of healthy foods is fostered through early learning patterns. I have to say that we serve our babies juice from an early age and why not continue this pattern through toddler years to foster it into older years.
3. Our family loved the juice. The teens in this family even loved it. A bit apprehensive perhaps when they read the word carrot on the label but they loved it. That is where we found out that That is where we received a lesson of our own and found out that the first carrots were purple, white, red and yellow and not orange. We all know that if you take a child to pick out a juice they love the colorful juice so this is great that they come colored from the fruit and veg tables in them and not from color additives. I have to say that as a diabetic I was glad to find a juice that had 1/2 the calories of a regular serving as juice and thus knew that the sugar level in the serving was less than most juices. I also know that mothers of little ones often dilute the juice they give their toddler to decrease the amount of sugar in the serving however with first juice this is no longer needs to be the case. First juice is created with 50 percent of the sugar of other leading juices. In addition first juice has built vitamins A, C, and D plus calcium that will help your child's nutrition.
4. We love the great 8 oz. spill proof reusable sippy top first juice bottles. These are really cute and we could not believe their construction as well as being BPA free not much more you can ask for. As parents of 6 children and many little ones that still toddle around the house we love these sippy top bottles. They will not drip even if held upside down and the child will not spill and you will know that they did drink all of their juice because it will not spill out.
5. The 32 oz first juice bottles are great as well and fit great in the door of the fridge where we can use as necessary. These would be great to fill up the sippy top bottles or to pour straight out and into glasses if more of a serving is desired. The great flavors that First Juice is available in is banana carrot, blueberry purple carrot, peach purple carrot and apple carrot.

Why don't you try some first juice and find out for your self what your little one thinks about first juice.

First Juice wants to offer a lucky winner 4 coupons for Juicy Juice.

Mandatory to win you must let me know what flavor would be your favorite?

Extra Entries: (after answering the above question)

• follow first juice on facebook (3 entries)
• follow first juice on twitter (3 entries)
• follow my blog on twitter (3 entries)
• twitter about the contest (1 entry each time you twitter) leave link in comment
• blog about the contest (5 entries) leave link in comment

Contest will run starting today through July 15, 2009. Please remember email in comment or on blog and each entry deserves own comment. Have fun and Good luck

Outdoor Wednesday July 1, 2009

Pictures from our recent vacation. Want to see more outdoor pictures? Head over to the blog A southern Day Dreamer

Sports night at camp

looking for more wordless wednesday check out the blog Jolly Mom

Picture of girls in front of sign in Alabama

visit Country Girl City Life to see more

Special Exposure: camp

Rec time at camp was very special because the kids learned how to rely on each other. This is a great skill that they needed to learn in life

for more special exposure photos head over to the blog 5 minutes for special needs

Wordless Wednesday: my girls

for more wordless wednesday visit the blog 5 minutes for mom

Wett Giggles

Bath time at my house is always one looked forward to for the little ones. Oh the end of the day bath often seems as if it is never coming but it is. When the bath is as refreshing and fun as the Wett Giggles makes it there is no reason to not have tons of fun during a bath. You may ask why, let me tell you.

Take a look at all the fun creatures that adore these bars of soap. No matter what your preference is there will be a Wet Giggles Pal that you can have fun with.

We received the Hamlet Wett Giggles. I was very surprised that the bar of soap and creature was that large. Wett Giggles truly pleases me with the cute little package they have created.

Inspiration behind the Wett Giggles creations comes from the son of the Wett Giggles creator. The idea was to give a fun way that would hopefully lead to better hygiene skills. The glycerin hand made soaps contains essential oils and Shea butter. The fun farm animals named after Shakespearean characters double as nail brushes.

You can buy the fun Wett Giggles character soap directly from the Wett Giggles website.

Watery Wednesday for July 1, 2009

This picture was taken during our visit at the water park.

You can find more watery wednesday here

Ruby Red Tuesday June 30, 2009

I knew exactly where this picture was going when I took it. Who would have known my boys would both be wearing red shirts on the day that we left for the trip? Here they stand in front of the Alabama sign. If you are from Alabama would love it if you would give a shout out.

for more ruby red pictures or to add your own head over to the blog Work of the Poet

Temporal Thermometer Giveaway

The blog Thrifty Minnesota Mama is hosting giveaway for an exergen thermometer. I want one of these so badly they look so great and I believe that one of these would be great for my granddaughter. Lots of ways to enter to win the contest. You have until July 14, 2009 to enter the contest. Believe it or not that is only a little over 2 weeks away.

Wupzey Review

The wupzey is a sanity saver for parents of little ones. The little ones who love to feed their selves and often make a mess while doing it. The wupzey not only saves the floor but time for the mother who has her hands full.

My granddaughter is a little 10 month old princess that can make a grand mess if you allow her to. She does not care how messy she makes just that she gets to do it her self. She does not like to have the food fed to her and often turns away when you try to feed her with a spoon. She would much rather eat finger foods that she can feed to herself. Oh what a mess this makes at times. The wupzey now helps to control that mess that would otherwise end up on the floor. The only shortfall is that now we need a controlling agent to keep her from throwing the food. LOL

The Wupzey, was designed by a mom with an independent child. This child like mine loved to eat by their self. Well after many times of cleaning the floor and growing tired of the mat that lays on the floor and the work that goes with it set out to find a solution. The solution she located is the wupzey. The wupzey is easily attached, detached and can fold up on the highchair. Best of all it is machine washable so when needing a bit of cleaning can simply be thrown into the washer.

You can find the Wupzey sold at retail stores such as Sears and BabiesRUs by following this link

http://www.wupzey.com/retail.html Along with the wupzey you can locate lovely bibs and cover ups created by the makers of Wupzey.

Tent Giveaway

Yes that is right they are giving a lovely tent away. The host of this blog is Peanut Butter and Smelly's Dad and you can enter to win a great Eureka tent. There are lots of extra entries available. Enter before July 20 for your chance to win. Good Luck

Then after getting something to stay in try to win something to go on the floor. The blog "Deal"ectible mommies is hosting a giveaway where you can win a rug for the floor. Contest is sponsored by CSN rugs. You have til July 11th to enter contest.

A third blog is hosting giveaway for the cute Jack and Lilly shoes that will be walking on that carpet if you are the winner. Head over to the blog Thrifty Minnesota Mama and enter to win a great pair of shoes for your little one. The contest ends July 13, 2009. Good Luck.

Random Thoughts for Tuesday June 30

Random thoughts for today is making travel plans oh there is so much to do. Packing, renting the car, reserving hotel rooms etc... Takes allot of time and money but it can be done. I am looking for a wonderful time and I wish you all the same. After all the 4th of July only comes one time a year. My hope for you is that you have a wonderful 4th of July weekend.



Graphics for 4th of July Comments

To Do Tuesday

This week has been great hubby missed us while we were gone so house was cleaned thoroughly when we came back home. But I still have to

grocery shop

pack for weekend giveaway

have lots of fun on trip

come back home do all the laundry over again

short week we are planning on lots of fun

to list your to do list or see others head over to the blog crazy adventures in Parenting

Giveaway for great handmade item

If you like handmade items the blog The Lawelin Family is hosting a giveaway for a great etsy shop known as Simply J Crochet. Wonderful, handmade item of your choice from the Simply J Crochet etsy shop will be awarded to the winner. You have until July 20, 2009 to enter and win.

More cool giveaways

The blog MomStart is hosting a giveaway for street surfing wave. Wow this would be so cool for someone special in my life. My nephew has currently started liking skating and this would be great if I won. Enter before July 31st before chance to win.

Pauline's Handmade Brittle

One word to describe this review is "DELICIOUS!!" Oh they were so good and Pauline was wonderful about sending a great assortment to try out. While I love most sweets chocolate I can take or leave. So it was fun to see what one was my favorite as well as to share a few (not many mind you) pieces with the ones I loved. The grand homemade taste truly shines through the terrifically tasting brittle.

Paulines Handmade Brittle started out as a family recipe and has grown to where many many people love it. The Delicious brittle is still made one batch at a time like it has always been made. There is no need to change what is all ready perfect. What's even better is that Paulines Handmade Brittle is available in containers of various sorts. Many sizes of boxes and bags can be found on the website available for purchase.

Pauline also has many dessert mixes available for purchase on the website. How delicious they all look. Take time to visit Pauline Homemade Brittle website and see how great they will be. So whether you are looking for Pauline Homemade Brittle or another sweet dessert mix Please visit Paulines website and see the wonderful items she offers.

Creating a great example

I have been away creating memories with my children and my son in law was creating an example of a great model for his daughter. Matt ran in the torch run for MD a project he works hard for.

I am using this for my make something Monday post and if you have something that you made please list it at the blog Go Graham Go

Sports for Kids

Every since my children were little we participated in sports. Now that they are in high school we they continue in sports in school. The younger generation continues to take on young Junior little league programs. This was so fun and can be for your child as well. The group Responsible Groups. com wants children to have fun, follow the rules and become as good at demonstrating good sportsmanship skills as well as talent.

Whether you have one that is just a spectator sitting on the bench or have a teen that loves group sports you can help them to learn great sportsmanship. Here is a few ways to keep the game from becoming a fight and remain fun for the players.

Remember that you can be friends with those that you play against. They are your friends before, during and after the game. All though you face off this does not mean that the fun has to stop.

The game itself is what you are playing to win not beat your opponent. If the skills to play the game is addressed then the emphasis will remain on the game not on those they play against.

The third top reason is that if you happen to loose a game there will always be another chance down the road where you can impress others with their skills

Always remember to keep the fun in the game.

Please leave comment on this post for extra entry in any giveaway on my blog. I would love to hear how you create good sportsmanship with your child

Happy Homemaker Monday June 29 ,2009

What a wonderful week we had last week and now to share with you all about what I expect this week to bring.

Weather in my neck of the woods
expected to be a bit cooler but I still know it is hot summer time

One of my simple pleasures:
spending time with my husband you know I realized while away on my trip that I missed talking to him daily about the little things in life

On my Bedside Table:
it has lots of goodies from camp and travel that I need to look through

On my TV:
morning talk shows

On my To Do List:
call daughters college
laundry
straighten house
cook supper

Did not try any new recipe last week as I was not at home

In the Craft Basket:
preparing items for sunday school

Looking forward to:
this weekend the 4th we will spend time with granddaughter, daughter and son in law YEAH!!!!

not alot of blogging done last week so can not share favorite

Lesson Learned past few days:
grew closer with many young ladies from the church we had a great great time

On my Prayer List:
the youth as they go back to life, my granddaughter as she is a bit under the weather today

devotional:
we are reading items from church camp and then will be looking for some other great resources for our teens

Gathering At The Well

Of course we have all seen them they are around the world in every aspect of the world. Who or what are we talking about? Mean girls, the topic for Gathering at The Well for today is mean girls. What do you do when you come across a mean girl? Here are some questions you may consider answering.



What do we do when we come across a mean girl?

As a Titus 2 woman, how can we raise our daughters to not be a mean girl?

Looking back, can you remember a time that you were a victim of a mean girl... how did you overcome?

Looking back, can you remember a time that you WERE a mean girl... what changed you?

I do not believe I react in the same way as I used to when I come in contact with a mean girl. Perhaps it is maturity that has changed this. I seem to talk to them more just spite their meanness. It seems to me if they are mean there has to be a reason and if that can be found out who knows perhaps a friendship can be spawned. Other times, I walk away and leave them alone if the conversation seems to have no hope.

I raise my girls to feel about others emotions and to care about what is going on in thier lives. I have also taught them if them to stick up for each other and those within their personal groups if a problem arises that does not seem changable. Teasing is often a bad source that we have come in contact with.

I was never a mean girl since I tried to always be a friend to everyone. There have been times in life both as an adult, teen and child that I have came in contact with mean girls. As I said avoidance or striking a converstaion with the mean girl is the thing to do.

want to read how others handle this? Head over to the blog At The Well

Menu Plan Monday 6/29/09

Menu Plan Monday a great way to find out what others are having as well as share what you will be serving is a meme located on the blog orgjunkie.com. Please stop by there if you are looking for some interesting new recipes or meal ideas.

Breakfast:

Monday and Tuesday will be finishing off what is in the fridge then we will start having:

fruit, biscut/gravy, sausage links, milk

fruit, omelets, sausage patties, milk

weekend will be away from home and with daughter she is planning the meals for the trip

Lunch:

again Monday and Tuesday will be finishing off what is in the fridge then we will start having:

chicken patty sandwiches, chips, fruit

ham and cheese sandwiches, fries, fruit

weekend will be away from home and with daughter she is planning the meals for the trip

Supper:

again Monday and Tuesday will be finishing off what is in the fridge then we will start having:

shrimp, baked potatos, fruit, banana pudding

pork chops, mashed potatos, fruit, apple pies

weekend will be away from home and with daughter she is planning the meals for the trip

More Camp Pictures

Here are a couple of great pictures from our camping experience. Notice the bit of yellow in each of them if you will. The first of the teens while doing rec and the second of a view out of a bus window

for more Mellow Yellow visit here

Youth Camp Pictures

Here are a couple of great pictures from the camp experience. The first is one of my great friends working with a few other counselors attempting to step along the boards. The second is the entire youth group inside of the Florida state sign.

For more great blue monday pictures visit the blog Smiling Sally