Great Posts I Came Across This Week: August 7th

Each week I travel around the internet visiting blogs. Here are a few posts that I loved, learned from, or gave me great ideas:

Recipes:

Trendy Treehouse had a great recipe for Cheese Nip Chicken. I am always looking for a new chicken recipe.

Inspired 2 Cook has recipe for peach muffin that looks amazing. Her muffins are Sweet Peach Muffins with Brown Sugar-Walnut Steusel Topping.

Would you like to sneak a whole lot into one muffin? Lamb Around has a recipe for Cornbread Muffin with Hot Dogs and Spinach.

Great Thoughts to Remember:

Harmonal Imbalances wrote a wonderful post on remembering when you move you are Taking Yourself with You. It talks about hopes and dreams about changes you will make when you move.

Child Related Posts:

JDaniel would love to make this Yellow Submarine I found of Sparkling Adventures in Australia.

Preschool Creations has a post on how to make the cutest paper doctor's bag in their post Preschool Corner: All About the Letter Dd.

Before the Baby Wakes has a great post on fine motor skills to work on while you wait at a doctor's office or anywhere. The post is called Give Your Toddler A Job by Wendy Toone.

Our Urban Village has a great list of quick meals for children in their post called 10 Quick (Almost No Brainer) Meals to Please Kids and Grown Ups.

A Book About Home and A Home for Construction Vehicles

After being on the road July 20th thru July 26th, it is wonderful to be home. There were a few times while we were gone that I wished I could have just put my house on wheels and brought it with me the way the characters in Home did. This wonderful book subtitled Once There Was A House, A House That Was A Home by Alex T. Smith tells the tale for four friends. Each friend has dream that they want to share with the three others that share the home. When they start sharing them, they realize they really don’t want to do them together. Each one takes off to live their dream with a different part of the house. One takes the door and goes off to be a pirate. The second character named Two takes the wall and goes off to be pirate. Three goes to live underground with the windows. Finally Four goes off to the big city with the floor. At first they each enjoy their dreams. After a short time each learns that although they each have part of the house, it isn’t a home without all the friends together. In the end the characters decide to rebuild their house, add wheels to it and share their dreams with each other in their now mobile home.

I love the pictures and message in this book. The author/illustrator does a wonderful job of painting a picture of what makes true friends true friends along with what makes a house a home. As someone that lived in a condo for eleven years that I didn’t consider a home, I really appreciate the aspects of my life and house that make where I live now a home.

JDaniel has a growing number of toy construction vehicles. Some of the vehicles are small enough that they have been living in a “garage” under the loveseat in the living room. The larger toys haven’t had a permanent home. They sometimes live under the coffee table. I decided we would create one out of a cardboard box.

We headed early one morning to the grocery store to get a box while the shelves were being restocked. The clerks at our local Bi-Lo walked JDaniel and I down the cereal aisle and let us chose a box. After creating three different size doors for the vehicles to enter the garage, we sat down at the computer and brainstormed what words and signs would be needed to decorate the box. JDaniel was sure the text needed to be red and the name had to be the Front Loader Garage. His favorite sign was the one that says “JDaniel Working.”

Here are some of the signs and words he chose.

Here is how the small doors work on the front for small vehicles.

Here is the entrance for big machines and apparently big boys.

Disclaimer: Home is book published by Tiger Tales. As an official Tiger Tales reviewer I was sent a copy of this book to review. The views and opinions expressed about this book are my own.

The Orange Sign, The Wedding, The GPS, and the Deer

JDaniel is so into John Deere right now. It could be because his Cousin Charlie’s room is decorated in John Deere pictures. While we were up visiting my sister Kate’s family in the country outside of Syracuse,NY we saw a lot of orange signs. The only one that really stood out to JDaniel was the John Deere signs. I know they are supposed to be a deer crossing signs. According to JDaniel it is a John Deere sign. I am not sure if that means John Deere tractors across there or all things John Deere can cross at the sign. I think it is funny that he made that association.

The second reason we went to New York was to attend a cousin’s wedding right on Seneca Lake. It was a beautiful time for the bride and groom to share their love for each other. The food was amazing. Seeing relatives was great. What will JDaniel remember? He remembers the piñata my Aunt Sue set up and getting to throw rocks in the lake. If he had his way, he would have thrown rocks the whole time we where there. It was one way my sisters Kate and Michelle could convince him to leave mommy’s side. Each enticed him to go with them because they would take him to the rocks. While his cousins skipped rocks on the lake, JDaniel dumped, threw, and hurled them.

The wedding was almost two hours away from my sister’s house. By the time I decided it was time to leave it was getting dark. My sister Kate lent me her GPS to get back to her house. She and her family would be heading back later in the evening and were familiar with the roads. JDaniel loved echoing the GPS. The GPS would say, “Turn left in four miles.” JDaniel would say, “Turn left” for four miles. He did this over and over again. I tried singing to him and chatting with him. He decided he would rather chat with the GPS. Thank goodness this new game lost interest eventually. We discovered while driving home that the GPS does a great job most of the time. Sometimes it causes you to drive in a circle or a square. I was pretty sure at one point I needed to go straight. The GPS said to take a left. I followed the GPS. It said to take another left and then another. Yes, you are right it put me back on the same road I thought I needed to go straight on. As we made the final left, I saw a deer on the left hand side of the road. (A real deer not a John Deere) It looked like he was shaking his head at me. If he could have talked to me I bet he would have said, “I bet a GPS sent you this way. It is happening on this road more and mor all the time.”

No Go BlogHer Blog Hop

To Be Thode and Marf Mom are throwing a really fun No- Go BlogHer blog hop August 4th-7th for those bloggers not attending BlogHer is New York. It should be a great way to get to know new people and mingle. Along with the hop they are having wonderful giveaways. Click on the icon above to join the hop.

There are only two requirements in the hop. One is to grab this button above and put it on your sidebar. The second is answer the questions below.


When did you start blogging?
I started blogging on this blog last summer. I had created blogs to work with students when I was a technology resource teacher in Virginia.

Why did you start blogging?
I started blogging as a way to connect with other moms and have an avenue to share what I know and am learning about being a mom.

What is one thing you are going to do this week that is WAY cooler than going to BlogHer?
I am consigning JDaniel's clothes that didn't sell at the Angel's Attic consignment sale last week in another consignment sale called Switcharoos this week. Hopefully the remaining clothes and his tub seat will sell this time.

I really don't need to shop at this sale. I did really well last week at Angels Attic. I may stop by and look for Sunday shoes.

Share a post that you think says a lot about you or is your favorite.
It is really hard to choose a favorite post. Here is one that is fun: Ways My Toddler is Like a Bug.

Three Winners!

Katybaby won the $60 CSN GC! Watch for another CSN GC giveaway later this month. If you can't wait, head over to Sandwich 365. They are holding a $40 GC giveaway for CSN.

By Hand Giveaways won the Hudson Block Co.'s Personalized Blocks.Jennifer won the Spiffy Kids Personalized Plate Giveaway.

I have contacted all of the winners via e-mail.

The Adventures of Driving to New York and Back

I really dreaded the long car ride two weeks ago to New York from our house in South Carolina. While JDaniel and I looked forward to seeing my sister Kate’s family and going to a family wedding, the hours in the car were going to be a challenge. I drove the first leg of the trip from South Carolina to Virginia without any trouble. JDaniel read books, played on his toy computer, and listened to me sing The Digger Picks up Lots of Dirt and several other variations of the Wheels on the Bus with construction equipment as the featured vehicle. We made several stops along the way one for lunch and one for ice cream. We both needed to get out and move.

After spending the night at my friend Cheryl’s in Virginia, we headed north to New York. We made two stops then too. I let JDaniel run around the battlefield in Gettysburg. Seeing a toddler running around with a bag of fruit chews on a battlefield seemed like such an anachronism. I am pretty sure Lincoln’s troops didn’t carry fruit chews into battle. The battlefield run wore him out. He ended up taking a long morning nap. That meant I could cover a lot of ground before lunch and I won’t be singing the forklift version of the Wheels on the Bus for a few hours. He woke up just in time to eat lunch at McDonalds and run around in their play area. He was in heaven fries and climbing tunnels. After lunch, we hooked up the DVD player my neighbors lent us and Thomas the Train provided the afternoon entertainment. I learned not to stop for gas right after you start a movie or you have to go through the whole process of starting it again.

Coming back from New York and going to Virginia was a breeze. There were tons of areas with road construction. Yes, that is a good thing. Traffic may slow down, but my two year old was thrilled at getting to see his favorite equipment in action. He loved getting back to my friend Cheryl’s house. She has a toy treasure box he was allowed to explore and a wonderful pool in her community he could play in after dinner. He really thought she was the best.

After three wonderful legs of the trip, you knew something might have to happen. Well it did. I left my purse at Cheryl’s and didn’t realize I didn’t have it until I reached Harrisonburg, Virginia. Harrisonburg is about an hour in a half away from her house. It was thanks to JDaniel wanting to listen to his new music from Cheryl that I noticed it was missing before I was further away without my credit cards and cash. It would have been hard to fill up the gas tank without them. Thankfully she was home when we got back to her house and were able to get back on the road quickly after a brief lunch to try and make it home. Since it was much later than our original start time, I decided to take a different route home that was supposed to be faster. We ended up going through three rainstorms crossing the mountains of Virginia. There were several opportunities to see construction equipment. It wasn’t as much fun this time. After many hours of watching movies on the DVD player, JDaniel decided to become Harry Houdini and slip his arms out of his car seat straps. He couldn’t figure out how to get them back in and claimed it hurt to try and put them back. This doesn’t sound that bad doesn’t it? Well, the toughest part of the trip still hadn’t occurred yet. Just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina Interstate 77 was completely shut down heading south due to three tractor trailers jackknifing. It was a mess. We sat in the highway now parking lot for 45 minutes before weaving our way through traffic to get gas. After filling up, we sat on the on ramp with the overhead light on reading books until traffic started moving about twenty minutes later. By the time we started moving it was ten o’clock at night. JDaniel then fell asleep, the heavens opened up again and we started making our way home again.

It was wonderful to wake up at home. We loved visiting family and friend, but I think it will be awhile until I take a road trip without my husband. Next time I am writing out a checklist of things not to forget. My purse will be at the top of the list.

Muffin Tin Monday- Breakfast with a Swap

I am starting a month long series of Muffin Tin Monday breakfast tins today. This week’s breakfast features two animals we saw on our visit to my sister Kate’s house in New York. She took her two children, JDaniel and I to several farms as part of local farm tour event. One of the farms had cows. JDaniel speaks cow so he had a lot of fun there. Kate’s family has a dog named Justice. He really caught JDaniel’s attention.


Today’s breakfast consisted of whole grain animal shaped waffles with syrup between them. The second row contains mandarin oranges, raspberry yogurt and blueberries.



JDaniel and I were sent a wonderful set of animal cookie cutters and a toucan chopsticks as part of the Muffin Tin Monday Swap. We swapped with Jasmine. She really sent us a wonderful package. I have displayed some of the cookie cutters she sent around JDaniel’s tin today. There are 50 total. He loves the chopsticks. They are a bit of a challenge, but he is up for challenges.

Free Personalized Cards from Tiny Prints for Teachers

I taught for twenty one years. One of the reasons I think I went into teaching was because I had wonderful teachers. I remember most of them fondly. Each was amazing in their own way. The teacher that stands out most is my mom. I was never in her class per say. I was able to watch how she taught her students and cared for each of them as individuals when I visited her classroom. There was always a wonderful project they were doing that was based on books they were reading or places they were studying.

One thing she always did was start out the year by contacting the parents and children. Tiny Prints is offering free personalized cards for teachers to welcome students, thank parents, or award students for great work. If you are a classroom teacher as I was, you know the expenses of the school year are just starting. This is a great resource to have and it’s free.

Tiny Prints personalized greeting cards for teachers for FREE offer starts Monday, August 2nd and runs October 31, 2010. Teachers can access the cards at Teacher Greeting Cards and apply the code: Apple2010 at checkout.

Oh! There is going to be a Tiny Prints Teacher Greeting Card Twitter Party with the tag #makeitpersonal this Wednesday from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. ET/1:00 to 2:00 p.m. PT.

Disclaimer: Tiny Prints is randomly awarding five bloggers a $50 Visa card for letting you know about this opportunity. I would have mentioned it anyway.

Baby Potential Scientist Onesie Giveaway

Do you dream that someday your little one will grow up to be a scientist, teacher, artist, lawyer or chef? Baby Potential has the most wonderful onesies and toddler shirts with a variety of future professions. Each shirt or onesie has the profession displayed with a wonderful illustration on a patch along with the profession being embroidered beneath it. Around the collar of each is a series of stars. I love this added touch.

I was sent the rocket scientist shirt in 3T with short sleeves to review. The design and look of the shirt is wonderful. Baby Potential also sent me an infant onesie in size small with the word scientist on it. The shirt made of a thinner fabric than the onesie, but not that thin that I wouldn’t feel comfortable having JDaniel wear it. The star detail on the toddler shirt is very neatly done. I can barely see the threads from the inside of the color. The infant onesie shows more detail inside. It isn’t bad and can’t be seen from the outside of the shirt. The patch illustration is such fun.

The Baby Potential website states the following about their shirts:

• 100% fine cotton, combed for softness and comfort


• 3-button style closure, with premium snaps


• quality silk screened patch designed for repeated washings
  
• silk screened itch-free tag for comfort


• form-fitting fitted shoulder


• double-needle stitch detail reinforces the seams


• not intended for sleepwear
  

I really like Baby Potentials products. Want to know what else I like? Baby Potential donates part of their proceeds to their local Family Services Assocation. Each shirt is $15. That seems to be very fair considering what similar shirts are selling for.

Would you like to win the scientist onesie in size small ( 3-6 months)?

Here’s how?

*Go to Baby Potential and tell me something that you learn.( 1 entry)

For extra entries do any or all of the following leaving a separate comment for each entry.

*Tell me who would receive this gift ( 1 entry)

*Tell me which profession they list that you would love to have been or are. (2 entries)

*Follow Baby Potential on Facebook or Twitter. (2 entries for each)

*Write about this giveaway with a link back to it on Facebook or another social network site. (1 entry per social network)

*Enter another giveaway that I am hosting. (1 entry for each giveaway your enter)

*Follow me on Twitter or Networked Blogs. (1 entry each)

* Twitter about this giveaway with a link back. Copy and paste: BabyPotentialOnesie @JDaniel4’sMom(1 entry per day)*Add me to your blog roll. Please leave a link to your site.(2 entries)

*Add me to your blog roll. Please leave a link to your site.(2 entries)

*Add my button to your blog. Please leave a link to your site.(2 entries)

That is 10 ways to win. The winner will be chosen by using the random number generator at http://www.random.org/. This giveaway begins August 1st and ends August 9th.

Disclaimer: I was sent a toddler shirt and onesie to review. I am passing the onesie to one of you. All thoughts and opinions are my own except the information on shirts construction taken from Baby Potential's website.

Little Pim Fun with Language Review and Giveaway

I have read that exposing children to foreign languages when they are young is must easier than when they get older. JDaniel and I have been watching Little Pim’s Spanish for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers lately. I was sent a copy of Disc 2 Wake Up Smiling. Both JDaniel and I started with the same amount of experience with the Spanish language. Neither of us knew any words at all. Okay, I could count to ten and say hello.

The DVD is introduces a set of words and phrases that about things that happen in the morning a few at a time. The words are presented in vignettes of the words being acted out. An animated panda speaks the words and does the review of the words and concepts covered. A circle surrounds the concept or word being focused on in some vignettes. This was really helpful given my lack of experience with the Spanish language. I wasn’t sure until the circle appeared in some scenes what was being said.

JDaniel loved watching this video with me. I would try to repeat the words in Spanish and tell him in English what I was seeing on the screen. We watched in small doses as is recommended. I think he would have been frustrated watching it all the way through at age two. Older children may be able to watch more sections at a time than we did. The panda was his favorite part. I liked that the video has families of many different cultures and includes people that range from youngsters to seniors.

The series in offered in ten different languages I bet they have just the one you are looking for. If you are interested in exposing or teaching your child a foreign language, this would be a wonderful video series use.

Would you like to try it? I am going to pass this DVD on to one of you.

How to win:

· Go to Little Pim’s website and tell me something that you learn. ( 1 entry)

For extra entries do any or all of the following leaving a separate comment for each entry.

*Tell me who would receive this gift ( 1 entry)

*Visit Little Pim’s Blog and leave a comment. (2 entries)

*Follow Little Pim on Facebook or Twitter. ( 2 entries for each)

*Write about this giveaway with a link back to it on Facebook or another social network site. (1 entry per social network)

*Enter another giveaway that I am hosting. (1 entry for each giveaway your enter)

* Follow me on Twitter or Networked Blogs. (1 entry for each)

* Twitter about this giveaway with a link back. Copy and paste: LittlePimSpanishDVD @JDaniel4’sMom(1 entry per day)

*Add me to your blog roll. Please leave a link to your site.(2 entries)

*Add my button to your blog. Please leave a link to your site.(2 entries)


That is 10 ways to win. The winner will be chosen by using the random number generator at http://www.random.org/.

This giveaway begins August 1st and ends August 9th.


Disclaimer: I was sent a the DVD to review and I am passing it on to one of you. All opinions and thoughts are my own.