Check out my view!

So my good friend {read:sistah} Laura commented that I'm not blogging enough... At all.

So... I thought I ought to show you all what I've been up to this summer...

We spent a great month with our cousin Ashley from California. We took her to parks, went swimming, saw matinee movies, rode "Roaster-Coasters", and laughed a LOT! I'm so glad she was able to come and get to know these crazy Northern relatives of hers!

After the Fourth of July, Fritz tried to stay focused at Washington Intensive Wrestling camp. It was an intensely tough week of training, perhaps a little much for his barely First Grade body! Poor kid even fell asleep in the car on the 2 1/2 minute drive home three days in a row!

Itty-Bitty turned nine, so we planned her a backwards birthday. We made her pinata from a leftover snack box -covered in scrapbook papers and about 50 sheets of fringed tissue paper- and filled with more than 5 pounds of candy! We decided to serve a lunch  meatloaf "cupcakes" with pink mashed potato "frosting" along with "Corn on the Cob" cupcakes. Surprisingly, the meatloaf was a huge hit!

Itty recieved another exciting gift on her birthday.... a new baby cousin!!!! His name is Jamari Lee and he is absolutely adorable - and not at all underloved! Checkout our little "Pajamas" and all of his adoring big cousins!

So.... now that it's finally gotten decently warm up here in the Great White North, there is one last view that I am particularily grateful for.... the lake by my home! Ahhh the peace.

I hope you enjoyed this (seriously condensed) photo-recap of our summer!

Stay cool and don't forget the SPF!

Crazy Week... or two.

I've been SO exhausted. We have been running, running, running.... non-stop for three weeks. Fritz started wrestling and has two practices a week, plus an all day tournament every Saturday. The first two hosting schools were 35miles and 99miles away.  And weigh-in was at 7am! UGH! Add to that the typical weeknight activities: two piano practices, Activity Days for church, and various school and church randomness. See why I'm exhausted?! LOL

We also spent a few nights "in town" getting ready for Nana to leave for her time in California to visit her mother. Then we had to pack her.... and worse, say goodbye to her. Fritz was very sad. He said he isn't going to even sleep in her bed because she won't be sleeping there. Aww :-(

So... instead of whining on and on all night about how tired I was... what do you think I did?!

No. I am not that smart. I didn't go to bed....sillies.

I signed up to be a First Responder at Digitals a scrapbook community and store! It's really very simple and a lot of fun! AND the best part is that I HAVE to use my digiscraps and ScrapbookMax! So..... I've been up several late nights making some LO's (lay-outs) and posting them on the forums... and responding to other posts. I also got a great deal for a printed photo gallery book and was up WAY too late designing one for my mother with all of my family's GREAT new photos! Happy Birthday Nana! I'm having it shipped to my Grandma's house, so it will get there on her birthday.

So.... what have you been up to?

Birthday Boy

My boy turned six last week, however, we were so busy recovering from his first wrestling tournament that I didn't have time to post the pictures.

I designed his birthday party invitations using my ScrapbookMax! software. The elements are from the Grungy Boy SBM pack. I thought it looked just boy enough.... maybe a little Western Outlaw. I printed them at our local photo kiosk in 4x6 and put them in an envelope. I thought they were cute, but I was surprised (and pleased) when a mom called to RSVP and told me I should sell cards and crafts at our community Farmer's Market!

After I did the shopping and began thinking about the party decor, I realized how packed my week was going to be! I started the week of the party out with a fun little craft I found on In Between Laundry (don't you just love that name). I didn't read the directions very well.... shocked? yeah, me neither. And instead of buying a wire wreath form, I bought a grapevine one. Oh well, you can't see it, except from the back - through the glass storm door. We used 125 assorted balloons. I blew some up, and tied those on for fun. Then I tied a bow and attached my guy's picture with another length of ribbon. We had these great pics taken a few weeks ago and I was so excited to be able to put this one in the frame!

Next it came time to decide on how to decorate the cake. I knew I was going to be too slammed to bake a cake myself. We had three wrestling practices, Achievement Days for church, two piano practices, choir practice, and prep for our first tournament. I'm exhausted just remembering it! Instead, I headed to the grocery store to try to avoid buying a comic book themed cake. We found a brightly decorated ice cream cake that would be perfect for my next project.

I found this mini cake bunting project over at The TomKat Studio. They had great printable letter flags, but I decided to make my own using craftfoam and stickers. I also used my own paper straws. I had intended to do the little windmills on my cakestand too, but the cake was square! So I thought of making a little banner.... but again, time.
So, we kept it simple! I love birthday parties like that!

I took the bunting off after the party and cut the straws, then I hung it on Fritz's bedroom door. He actually jumped for joy when he saw it! LOL

At the party, the kids made masks from craft foam and decorated them with foam stickers and pompoms. They were so pleased with themselves. We played a few games and unwrapped birthday presents. For goodie bags, Fritz picked out some whistles, mini arcade games and tops. Then I printed off magnetic bookmarks from Controlling My Chaos here. I know they are for Valentine's Day, but I used only the construction guy and the green monster ones.  Even the girls liked the "boy" bookmarks! These are great little favors, just print them (again 4x6) at the photo kiosk and attach self adheisive magnetic tape to the backs. Viola!

So, there you have it, a quick and simple birthday party that's sure to please everyone - including the over-booked Momma!

AND THE WINNER IS......

I'm sorry I haven't gotten this out until just now.... You know how mornings are. My children seem to have a flair for the dramatic - surprised?! LOL

Anyway, as you may have noticed, our sponsor changed their name - or rather - went back to their original name, actually. They are now and forever known as Prefense - "because Prefense is the best defense". I have to agree with that statement. Our family has been surprisingly un-sick since we started using Prefense. And my mother, I just have to tell you, it's amazing! Normally she would be on a bazzillion antibiotics and anti-asthmatics this time of year.... NOPE! She's only taking her regular inhalers and allergy meds....I'm so pleased!

So. Without futher adieu, I want to announce the winner, because I am so excited to be helping another person find the healthy joys of this wonderful product!

And the winner is...

#12 is Hiann88

                She said:

                "hiann88- I Follow Single Life with Kids! on Facebook"

Congratulations Hiann88! The team at Prefense will be emailing you for your contact information shortly.

Thanks again everyone for participating, I will be hosting more giveaways, so please stay tuned!





Science Fair Blues

Sister Suzie has a Fifth Grade Science Fair project due the week before Spring Break.

Great.

No Problem... Except, there are a MILLION AND ONE rules for the stupid thing and I.can't.stand.complicated. BUT.... being the good, involved, uber-savvy mom I am, I immediately snapped my fat mouth shut attitude in check and set to work finding experiment books for kids on our local library website. I think we checked out seven or eight.... we ended up coming up with an interesting twist on a time-honored classic.



Setting up the experiment
(don't mind the date-stamp LOL)



THE POTATO CLOCK!

We looked at diagrams online and I was pretty sure we could set this puppy up with NO PROBLEMS! HA!

Every explanation I found listed two frustrating pieces of needed equipment. A 1.5-2v  LCD clock, and alligator clips. Now, these are fairly commonplace items... not hard to find at your local hardware or big box store. Except, based on the comments of the type of batteries used, I assumed we needed a little tiny travel clock. And based on the *ahem*not-so-helpful-employee*ahem* at the hardware store, the alligator clips are FLIPPING HUGE! HA!

This meant that tonight's initial set-up of the project took significantly longer than my estimated "throw it together, 30mins - tops" exclamation, and included a tantrum or two... mostly by me. I know. I'm hanging my head in shame. Despicable.

The up-side to this wildly, adventurous scientific journey is that we FINALLY got the stupid rigged circuits to work and Sister Suzie is well on her way to a decent grade - despite my ineptitude!

Here are a few pictures of her work.



Set #1



Set #2

In-home Science Center

Momma's Vegetable Beef Stew

When I was about six years old, my mother took me to a few Weight Watchers meetings...

No. This isn't a weight loss post...

Although, it does bring up the thought that I really SHOULD try that sometime...

To lose weight, I mean. Hmph.

ANYWAY! At one of those meetings -at least- they gave out a recipe for a garden soup that is now one of my MOST FLAVORite foods ever! Honest. We make it a lot during the cold months, and living up here in PacNW, we have lots of cold months! It is an extremely easy and inexpensive meal to make.

While I couldn't find the original WW recipe, this is a similar vegetable soup recipe found on a blog called A Veggie Venture. It calls for vegetable broth, garlic, onion, carrot, cabbage, tomato paste, green beans, basil, oregano, and salt. I like my soup to have a little more body, so I have always added yellow crookneck squash and zucchini. We never ate cabbage in my house as a kid *shrug* so, instead of that, we use quartered Brussels sprouts. Trust me. I adore Brussels sprouts in this soup... my kids actually ARGUE over who gets the MOST in their bowl! Seriously. I'm not just sayin' that to get props. No, really.... ah, well, thanks!

So, my typical recipe includes: canned stewed tomatoes, onions, green beans, cauliflower, corn, carrots, garlic, potatoes, Brussels sprouts, crookneck squash, zucchini,  home-made salsa, vegetable broth or bullion, salt/pepper/Italian seasonings/crushed red pepper flakes and a 4-6 oz bone&skin-less chicken breast diced or shredded. This means that by the "old" standards, this soup is more accurately dubbed - 4point Chicken Veggie Soup. I don't care.... I don't count points... I just LOVE this soup!

Today, I didn't have any vegetable broth.... or chicken stock. So instead I used some left over roast beef stock that my mother and daughter had frozen late last month. (They took all of the meat and veggies we had left and mixed them with a gravy my eleven year old made from the crock pot juices! It was awesome for her first 'from scratch' gravy) To make it taste better with the beef, I omitted the salsa. I have a fabulous loaf of fresh French bread ready to break open and sop up the tasty broth at lunch! I can't wait!


Here is my Vegetable Beef Stew recipe:

3c reserved roastbeef pieces and gravy - including vegetable pieces

1 Onion -diced 
3 Carrots - rough chop  
3 Cans stewed tomatoes

1lb fresh Green beans - snapped to size 
1/2 lb fresh Brussels sprouts - halved

3 small Zucchini and 3 small Crookneck squash - cut in half, chopped rough

4 medium potatoes- quatered, chopped, boiled with salt

1 cup water   
Seasonings to taste (basil, oregano, thyme, salt, cracked pepper, bay leaf) 

Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, for at least 1 hour.  Serve and enjoy!

I'm linking up with these parties:

edited to avoid unintentional copyright infringements

Wordless Wednesday - Itty-Bitty's Native American Plank House

 Our prototype

 Itty-Bitty and the start of her Plank House

The Alligator means 'courage', the Frog is for 'energy',

and together they make a 'man strong enough to hunt' -- or so she concluded.

Native American Plank House, complete with "totem pole"



Linking up to these blogs today:

Magnetic Bookmark Craft-lift *Freebie*

Last week I read this post, from Controlling My Chaos, about her great magnetic bookmarks. They are digital images and Jill made them to print on 4x6 photo paper. She used magnetic buisness cards (you could use promotional magnets too). I was instantly in love! So, when we had our first bookclub meeting, I let all of the girls make some.... they doodled theirs on cardstock.

*I forgot to take pictures of the creative process.... DANG!*

I used a roll of magnetic tape and had mixed success, the polarity was a little sketchy. The girls had a great time and made at least two... the idea was to share one with Mom, but I've yet to see mine!

Anyway, since I am trying to learn how to use my ScrapbookMAX! software, I decided I needed to make a set of my own. I decided it would be fun to have a special one just for us mommies at our next meeting.

Now, I'm not very good at all of this, but I'd like for you to be able to use these yourself. If you click on the image below, and save the picture, it should print well to a 4x6. Could you please leave me some feedback - either way - if you tried it. Thanks so much!

I'm linking to these parties:

My FIRST Giveaway!!!! Ends 3/2/11

When you are a mom, you learn to love hand-sanitizer. It's a necessity ... diaper changes, spit-up, runny noses, mud-pies, shopping carts, McDonald's play-lands... yes, a necessity!

However, when you are a mom with kids who have skin conditions, alcohol-based sanitizers are not always the best choice. My family suffers from a condition called Icthyosis Vulgaris, basically it means that their immune system goes a little overboard and creates WAY too many skin cells. This increase in skin cells means that their skin is dry, flaky, and itchy. Its really rather frustrating... as well has guilt-inducing, because it is a hereditary disease. I have it, my children have it, my mother and grandmother have the same symptoms. My mother also has extreme eczema on her hands that causes dry, painful splits on her fingers and open sores on her palms.

Most hand sanitizers are alcohol-based. Most need to be reapplied several times a day to remain effective. Every store bought hand sanitizer we've ever used has caused her hands to burn and sting.  Well, until this one.Prefense Foaming Hand Sanitizer is a silica-based product that does NOT contain alcohol. It coats the hands with a germ fighting barrier that lasts through up to 10 hand washings. TEN! Isn't that amazing!

I originally found Prefense on I'm a Lazy Mom and decided to buy it, to see if my mother could use it without pain on a daily basis. We have used it since November of last year and she applies it every day with out pain. Even when her hands are terribly broken out, Prefense actually soothes her skin.

"Great," you say...

"What does that mean," you say, "What kinds of germs and bacteria does it kill?"

Well.... let me tell you a few of the organisms, germs, and other nasties Prefense has been proven to kill. Staph, Strep, Ecoli, Drug-resistant MRSA strains, Herpes-simplex I & II, Influenza, and many more! I know! A-MAY-ZING!

So, it's 100% Natural; NO Alcohol; Softens and soothes dry, itchy hands; It kills more viruses, organisms, fungi, spores, and germs than I can pronounce; and.... AND!!! You only have to apply it ONCE a day.... that's a savings of $1.12/day when compared to popular alcohol-based sanitizers!

I purchased my first bottle to experiment, I tell you what, I will not be purchasing any other brand of sanitizer-EVER! We are hooked, we love PREFENSE! And even better, we want YOU to love Prefenz too!

I am using my first giveaway to give a MONSTER 8oz bottle of Prefense to one lucky reader!!! Because I'm new at this... and because I don't want this to be TOO complicated... Here are your entry options! Please leave one comment for each entry.

***This Giveaway will end Wednesday, March 2nd, at 11:59pm. Winner will be notified via email, so please leave me a valid email or link your profile.***

• *REQUIRED* Follow Single Life with Kids! via NetworkedBlogs or Google Friend Connect (located on the sidebar)
• Follow Single Life with Kids! on Facebook
• Follow Prefense on Facebook

So. That's it.... Simple. Easy. Stop reading this and get to it already!

*UPDATED* Disclaimer: I was not paid to give this review. I recieved one(1) free 8oz. bottle of Prefense to use for my review and the company has agreed to send one(1) 8oz. bottle of Prefense to the winner, directly. My review is based on my own opinions, gained through personal use of a product I previously purchased for use in my household. I am not a medical professional, please seek professional advice if you have any symptoms I described above.

I'm A Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinner!!!!

HOORAY!

Kari at U Create sent me an email last night to tell me that I won the random draw for her Say It On The Wall $50 giveaway. Can.You.Believe.It.????

I posted earlier that I was following Texas Type A Mom in her quest to enter giveaways... what you don't know is that I was saying to myself, "I need to enter eleventybillion, because I never win those things..." Well my dear readers (all 6 of you!) never say never!

So, $50... in vinyl... that's like good chocolate for my walls!!!!  Here are a few of the things I am looking at purchasing:

This is the HIL-AR-IOUS saying that I commented on for the contest.

Those of you who know me personally, you KNOW how true that is! LOL and at $10, I think it will be the perfect little tongue-in-cheek hanging for our front door.

I also really like this one - for my girls' room ($12)

And this for THE Boy's room ($15)

I've been looking for something to go over our piano... something about practice... angels... music.... blessings... I don't know...

Maybe this ($18)

That could fit on a 12x12 tile if I aske for it resized a bit.... or I could ask her to widen it a bit and increase the font.

This one is a great one as well ($8.75)

As you can see, I've got a decision on my hands. Which ones do you think I should get - Yeah, I know you are going to say *ALL of them* but really, I only have $50!

Visit Sayitonthewall.com and tell me which ones are your favorites as well!

Don't forget to follow her blog too!