Redbox

Redbox: Thx Redbox 4 my free DVD! Enter 4 ur chance to win daily prizes at http://bit.ly/uqDw4a *Please remember the FTC requires you to mention that you received a free sample courtesy of Smiley360 when sharing.

Redbox

Redbox: Thx Redbox 4 my free video! Enter 4 ur chance to win daily prizes at http://bit.ly/uqDw4a *Please remember the FTC requires you to mention that you received a free sample courtesy of Smiley360 when sharing.

Smiley360.com

I am a member of Smiley360.com a place where you can be heard and be happy. As a member you get the opportunity to accept missions to complete and then you share the info with others by giving feedback. I have currently accepted a mission for REDBOX, I get to rent a movie for free and then share about  my experience. Through time and mission completions the offers get better and better.
 I suggest you check it out http://smiley360.com/242620.cfm

Awwwww

Halloween House Party

Last night I hosted my first House Party for Houseparty.com and I have to say we had a great time. I created some goulish delightes.

1 Package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 jar (8 oz.) prepared salsa

1/2 cup guacamole

2 Tbls. sour cream

Blend salsa and cream cheese in a food processor.

Spread cream cheese mixture in bowl.

Smooth guacamole over top leaving a boarder.

Place sour cream in a sandwich bag and cut off a tiny corner of the bag.

Pipe sour cream in circles over guacamole.

Run the tip of a knife through sour cream to make "spider web."

Serve with tortilla chips.

2 cans (2.25 oz.) sliced black olives, divided

1/4 cup chopped roasted red pepper, divided

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 clove garlic, minced

8 (6-7 inch) flour tortillas

16 slices deli roast turkey

Reserve 48 olive slices, 48 pieces red pepper and 1 Tbls. cream cheese.

Chop remaining olives and combine with remaining cream cheese, red pepper and garlic in a small bowl; mix well.

Spread 2 Tbls. of mixture on each tortilla. Top each with 2 turkey slices. Roll up tortillas and trim off uneven ends. Slice each tortilla into 6 3/4 inch pieces.

Using reserved cream cheese, attach olives and red pepper to make roll-ups look like eyes. 

2 (2L) bottles citrus flavored soda

1L Sunny Delight

12 scoops vanilla ice cream

Pour soda and Sunny D into a large punch bowl. Add ice cream and stir.

Caution:

The ice cream creates quite a bit of foam when mixed in and the foam could spill over.

2 Tbls. flour

1 Tbls. plus 2 tsp. cajun seasoning, divided

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4-inch strips

1 1/2 cups cornflake crumbs

2 Tbls. chopped green onion

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 red pepper cut into triangle shapes

Dipping sauses

Pre-heat oven to 350. Lightly grease baking sheet.

 Place flour and 2 tsp. seasoning in large resealable food storage bag. Add chicken and shake to coat.

In a large shallow bowl mix cornflake crumbs, green onion and remaining Tbls seasoning.

Dip each chicken strip into eggs and then into crumb mixture. Place strips on prepared baking sheet.

Bake 8-10 min or till chicken is no longer pink in center.

When chicken is cool enough to handle cut a slit in end and place pepper triangle inside. 

Serve with dipping sause of your choice.

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

1/8th cup chopped chives

1/3 cup finely chopped cucumber

2 Tbls. chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. curry powder

strips of fresh veggies

Beat cream cheese in bowl till fluffy; blend in sour cream.

 Stir in chives, cucumber, parsley, onion, garlic and salt.

 Add curry powder.

Spoon into serving bowl; cover and refridgerate 1 hour or untill serving time.

1 package creseant rolls

1 pakage turkey dogs

mustard and poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 375.

Cut dogs in half and wrap each with 1/2 creseant roll.

Bake for 12-15 min.

Place dots of mustard and poppy seeds for eyes.

Sharing Smiley360 Mission

Sharing Smiley360 Mission: I signed up for Smiley360! http://smiley360.com

All Mom's Deserve Flowers

These are a few favorites from my flower collection.

 I really love taking photos of flowers because they can be used to brighten a bare wall in any room.

Halloween Photos

Halloween 2009

Mom's Photo Inspirations

I took these photos Feb. 26th, 2010  on a great family trip to Stinson Beach, CA

Downy Unstopables

I recently took place in a try and tell for Vocalpoint ( a survey website). I was sent a sample of Downy Unstopables (Fresh sent), they are little sent beads you add to the washer before your clothes go in. These little beads pack a lot of punch I could smell them through the packaging they were mailed in. I chose to try them out on my bed linens. I really enjoyed the aroma coming from my laundry room, while my sheets were washing, and slowly spreading throughout the house. I had a friend stop by while this was going on and they were very impressed by the smell as soon as they came in the door. I informed them it was the laundry and their response " I wish my laundry smelled that good".

I love to pull hot sheets from the dryer and smell the freshness, this load was better then ever before. I put the sheets on the bed and wanted to crawl in to the alluring aroma ( it was 11am ).  My home smelled fabulously fresh and all I had to do was the laundry.

One week later and my bed sheets stilled smelled fresh and clean, even with my husbands nightly PKU sweats, like I just washed them. I would highly recommend these to anyone who needs a laundry pick me up. Caution to those sensitive to perfumes these little buggers are strong.

Mom's Reviews

We all use random products around the house and if you are anything like me  you like the opinions of your friends when it comes to picking the right products. This area of my blog will give you my opinions on the products I use and why I like to use them. I'm open to trying new things and will share these experiences with my readers and friends. Your feed back is greatly appreciated...

HouseParty.com

I joined a new website HouseParty.com. As a member I can fill out applications to host a House Party based off of there theme. After the party I let them know how it went and share this information with other members. Cool stuff for someone like me who loves to entertain. I have applied to host a Halloween House Party and a Sabra Taste Discovery House Party. I chose to apply for parties I was interested in, but members have all kinds of parties to choose to apply for. For example video game parties, household product parties, kids parties and TV, Music, Video parties.

I was invited to a House  Party on September 24th 2011 by my girlfriend Stefani. The party theme was B the Chef with Chef Boyardee and I was impressed. HouseParty.com sent her a party pack with goodies for the party like a chef hat, gifts for guests, recipes to choose from and other directions. The goal of this party was to try Chef Boyardee products in some new recipes using there products as a base. The food was better then I expected it to be and my children, surprisingly, enjoyed the food.

I think this whole House Party thing is a great idea and rcommend it highly to any moms out there who like to entertain. Check it out at www.houseparty.com and maybe some day you could share your HouseParty experience with me...

Living with PKU

My husband, Ryan, was born with PKU (Phenylketonuria). PKU was initially discovered in 1933 because of a mother persistent in finding someone who could help her two mentally retarded children. One doctor even referred her to a phychiatrist to help her with her "delusion" because she described the penetrating and peculiar odor of her children's urine. A doctor in Norway, Dr. Asbjorn Folling, verified the presence of the urine odor, and it was identified as a chemical compound called phenylpyruvic acid, from which PKU gets it's name. Dr. Folling tested hundreds of mentally retarded children and adults and found that PKU was an inherited condition that only occurs when both parents are carriers of the disease. With years of research and studies the amino acid phenylalanine, found in normal food proteins, was the culprit and a phenylalanine-free mixture of amino acids was created to replace this normal food protein.

PKU gone untreated as an infant will lead to severe mental retardation and behavioral issues.

As a child Ryan was on a strict diet until he was about nine years old. Then the doctors believed that children would grow out of the disease and at that age his diet became much harder to control. A rapid decline in school was to follow with many behavioral issues, by his teenage years he was getting into trouble with the law. This decline took it's toll on his family, friends and most of all him. He dropped out of school in the 9th grade and hit the streets. His life became a daily struggle to survive. In the past year I have done great amounts of research on PKU and we have managed to control his diet much better, unfortunately there are still limits to what we can do without insurance he can't get the very needed formula of good proteins. We do our best but unfortunately we still have to deal with some issues of an improper diet.


Problems of untreated adults with PKU include (but are not limited to) those listed below:

Behavioral and Psychological Problems

• hyperactivity
• irritability
• inability to sit
• sleep disturbances
• pacing
• psychomotor agitation
• temper tantrums
• uncontrollable attacks of rage
• short attention span
• erratic or aggressive behavior
• poor ability to follow directions
• poor ability to learn new things
• psychotic behavior
• destructiveness
• self-injury and self-mutilation
• autistic-like behavior

Neurological Problems

• mental retardation
• seizures
• tremors
• muscular hypertonicity or hypotonicity
• whole body repetitive movements
• spastic paraplegia, quadriplegia or tetraplegia

Other Problems

• eczema (can involve large areas of the body)
• sensitivity to sunlight and very light skin (due to excess PHE inhibiting melanin formation)
• body odor identified as "musty" or "pungent"

Needless to say every day is a journey for us and I know we are not the only family out there dealing with PKU. I wanted to share a bit in hopes that I may have viewers living with the same thing and I wanted to reach out and say you are not alone. I have good days and some not so good but living with PKU has taught me to be Patient, Kind and Understanding. 

Tahoe Sands Resort

On Sunday September 11th, I was invited to attend a sales presentation at The Tahoe Sands Resort, at 10:00 am. I showed up 15 min. early and was welcomed by a friendly front desk clerk. We were invited to enjoy some coffee and to help ourselves to the free Sunday brunch they put on for owners/ guests.

The relaxed atmosphere was quite comfortable. About five min. after 10am we were greeted by a gentleman by the name of Chad ( sales rep). Chad only does one on one presentations so we had his full attention (plus in my book). The presentation began with Chad informing us that in no way whatsoever would there be any high pressure. They pride themselves on having thousands of happy families that have joined their program because they see something spectacular. No Pressure, We Promise.

We were informed of the time-share opportunities available and then given a tour of the facilities. First stop the pool (82* temp all year), spa and dry sauna. Then across the street to see the two bedroom cabins. Newly remodeled on the interior nice Pergo flooring, full kitchen with glassware, dishes and pots and pans, fridge, oven, stove, etc. Dinning area, living room, 1 1/2 baths, TV in every room (sleeps six). Next stop a studio, small kitchenette, bathroom and a Murphy bed that pulls out of the wall. Last stop was a one bedroom cabin settled right next to the lake with a great view.

Unfortunately for my family they don't have a unit large enough for eight or we would of signed up. Their finance man, North Shore Resort Realty, Inc., meet with us to discuss pricing and he carries all the financing himself. Buying in to the resort was defiantly reasonable. Your purchase includes 7 days a year in their resort with the ability to trade, rent or bank your week for future use.

The financials were so involved that I would recommend giving them a call if interested and set up a sales presentation. If my family was smaller I would of jumped at the opportunity. As a mom I enjoyed the relaxed environment, there were lots of families playing out on the large green grassy area in the middle of the resort and the beach has some of the softest sand ever. What a great family place!!

Tahoe Sands Resort

6610 North Lake Blvd.

Tahoe Vista, CA 96148

The Lasik Vision Institute

I had a free consultation today at The Lasik Vision Institute. I'm happy to find out I qualify for surgery. I have been wearing glasses for over 25 years. The thought of being able to see without corrective lenses is very exciting. The Institute was very thorough in examining my eyes. The appointment took about two hours all in all. I wish they would have given me a heads up on dilating my eyes, before the appointment, but other then that the experience was quite pleasant. I'm going to be scheduling an appointment for surgery sometime after February 2012 ( need that tax return). I will share my surgery and recovery results as they happen. Hopefully by next summer I will be out on the boat with my family free of contacts and/or glasses...

Make-up Recomendation

I recently tried Mineral Simplicity 100% All-Natural Mineral Cosmetics, I was surprisingly impressed. The product was easy to apply and I didn't feel like I had anything on. My skin tone evened out nicely and looked natural.
As I've said I work for SportClips cutting men's hair. Men are not known for noticing the little things, but they sure did notice my face with Mineral Simplicity. Several of my regular clients have made comments like "you look younger" and "why are you glowing today?". Well the only answer I have is this new make-up, Mineral Simplicity, and I LOVE IT.

Cooking club of America

Today I joined The Cooking Club of America. I love to cook and this club has all kinds of great cooking info. Recipies and recommendations from real people who have tried them out. There are oppertunities to test products for free and then provide vital reviews to other members. I will be sharing my experiences with you as they happen...

Check out their site www.cookingclub.com

Mom's Fish Bowl

Just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. Being a mom is my first job, and a full one it is. I have six kids a step-son almost 14( 8th grader), a daughter 13( 8th grader), a son 10( 5th grader), a step-son 10( 5th grader), a son 7( 2nd grader) and a son 5( kindergarten). Yes it's true, 5 boys and a girl.

The first question most ask me is "How do you do it?"..... with Patience, Kindness and Understanding.

The second question "How can you afford it?" Well, I work part-time as a hair dresser for Sport Clips and I spend about 2-3 hours a day on my computer. My girlfriend (lucky me) owns MommyEnterprises.com a great stop for all kinds of info and free stuff. There are lots of opportunities to make money right from the comfort of your home to be found on the internet.

So, I have started this blog to be able to share with other mom's any and all wisdom I have aquired through the years. The good, the bad and most of all the future....