Juice Box Dreams

Book Review: Bare Naked Lola by Melissa Bourbon Ramirez

2012-03-26T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hi Dreamers,

Here is a book review of a fun chick lit mystery I highly recommend!

Bare-Naked Lola by Misa Ramirez / Melissa Bourbon Ramirez

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Sacramento Royals have a problem and turn to Camacho and Associates, a local PI agency to solve it. Manny the boss knows just who would be right for the job. Dolores “Lola” Cruz. Lola’s first undercover assignment as a full-fledged PI is a stretch for even this confident, fun-loving muchacha. She loves to Salsa dance however, Cheer dance she is not so sure, but that is what is looks like she will be doing. Hopefully she can keep it a secret from her family and her “maybe” boyfriend Jack. This mystery will ask Lola to push the envelope, bear her inhibitions, and who knows what else. How far will she go to get the clues and solve the case?

OHHHH Lola! This was my first Lola Cruz book and I am happy to report that the feisty chica has a new fan! I am in love with that character. Bare Naked Lola was a fast, funny, and entertaining read! This page turner kept me guessing though out the book! Having missed the previous two books I was leery thinking I would be lost, but Melissa Bourbon Ramirez brought me up to speed in no time.

I love the characters! Lola the smart, sassy spitfire, The zany Cruz family that can’t seem to stay out of her business, Manny the mysterious ex-cop PI with the hots for Lola, and Jack the sizzling boyfriend with a loco ex-girlfriend with a fatal attraction-esque tendencies. The author has done a great job developing endearing characters that are real with less than perfect characteristics that are easy to relate too.

I would definitely recommend this book!

I’m off to get the first two Lola books!

Viva La Lola!

*I was given an ARC of this book through NetGalley. Thanks

View all my reviews

Cookin’ up something Kool…

2011-07-17T01:19:00.000-05:00

Anyone else hearing “Mooooommmm, I’m booooooored!!” Ugh! I can only hear that so many times before I have to bust out with something super cool, in this case Kool, to do.

My daughter is a huge Playdoh fanatic! Problem is, it dries out so easily when the lid isn’t sealed perfectly. So instead of going and buying some more, we made our own! Super easy, gives them something different and creative to do, then they spend HOURS playing with it.

I’ve tried several different recipes, some sticky, some stinky, some too hard…Here’s the recipe I use:

Mix 2 3/4 cups of flour, 1/2 cups of salt, and two packages of Kool-aid (the same flavor), in a bowl. Mix one tablespoon of vegetable oil with 2 cups of boiling water, then add to the flour mixture. Now stir, stir, stir! Then I put the mixture on a floured surface and knead it. If it is still sticky, add more flour and keep kneading until it isn’t. The dough is pretty hot at first, so I knead it until it cools, then let the kids have at it. I let them help me count the ingredients and measure. The more they are able to do, the prouder they are of their “creation.”

This recipe makes quite a lot of dough, probably about 5-6 times the amount of a typical Play-doh container. You could probably half the recipe and be just fine for one or two kids. This last batch we made with some friends and made seven different colors! Red, blue, green, orange, pink, purple, and yellow (kinda, the yellow was more of an off white). We broke each batch into five parts and it was a little more than your “typical” amount of Play-doh. We store ours in a zipper type zip-loc bag (if they’re young, make sure it’s a zipper type, so they can get it sealed all the way). It lasts forever if it’s kept sealed up, the salt is a great preserver. Here’s a few pictures of our Kool day:

Our masterpieces:

A frog on a lilypad

A sea turtle in an aquarium

A cow

And fruit and veggies…made by me of course. Is that applause I hear????

I know many people may have kiddos with food dye allergies which will make using the Kool-aid a no go. So I came across a website that uses natural colorings. I mean come on, it’s no fair to have to play with “dough colored” dough! I have not tried any of it yet, but am very excited to give it a try!!!! Here’s the link to it: Natural Dye for Homemade Playdough. If anyone gives it a try let me know how it turns out!!

Until next time, be a dreamer and….

Doing the Doggie Paddle

2011-07-06T14:57:00.001-05:00

I have a 6 1/2 year old daughter, who, for the majority of her short little life, is scared of water. Which is a real drag in the summertime!

It started when she was little, she had so many ear infections that she was terrified that water was going to get in her ears and it would hurt. So, for 6 1/2 years I have struggled every summer to get her to swim.

She has always hated the water wings and little baby floaties. I can’t stand life jackets in regular pools because they are always up around their necks.

One day she was visiting her cousin. They went down the road to her cousin’s Grandma house to play. When I picked her up she was happily swimming in the pool. I went over to my sister-in-law and asked her how the heck she got L to swim in the pool! She said that her mother in law have these, what she called them, “life belts”. Well, when L got one on….she was a little fish! I immediately asked SIL where to get one….she said, “Don’t worry….Nanny already is online buying her one”.

So here it is……the Aquajogger….

It wraps around their waist and buckles in the front. It is adjustable…..and I LOVE IT!! It is made out of lightweight material, so I can just snap it on my swim bag and go. The best part is that it goes on her waist so it does not bulk up a lot around her face. When it is on and the child is swimming it looks like this…

It is mostly used for water aerobics class for adults. But it is also a good tool to help kids learn how to swim.

*****THIS IS NOT A certified nor intended to be used as life saving equipment********************

Until Next time…..

Have great dreams……Juice –Box style…

When Life Gives You Lemons… (or hot weather)…

2011-07-02T16:26:00.000-05:00

I LOVE a nice, cold, refreshing glass of ice tea in the summer time, well, anytime really! But in that ice tea I also love fresh lemon slices. Sometimes my lack of motivation to get out the lemons (if I remembered to get them at the grocery store), the cutting board, and knife gets the better of me and I enjoy my iced tea just a little less without my beloved lemons. :-/ What, you have the same problem? If so, I have a solution for you! And if not…well, read on anyhow, you certainly can benefit from storing one more creative bit advice in your already overflowing library of fabulous ideas.

Lemon cubes! Easy and quick to make, and GREAT to have on hand!

1) Get lemons and ice cube trays. FYI: if you want to fill both trays, you need more than six lemons. I had six.

2) Juice lemons. One ice cube tray, at least the kind I had, takes about two cups to fill it up. My lemons ended up giving me about 1 1/4 cups of lemon juice. I added 3/4 cup of filtered water to it to make 2 cups.

3) Fill up your ice cube trays(s)…after the lemons have been taste-tested for ultimate lip puckering-ness!

4) Freeze. After they are frozen I like to remove them all from their trays and place them in a ziploc bag. Then they don’t get that “freezer taste” to them. Then you can easily grab one or two and drop ‘em in your ice tea…or lemonade, or water, or make a nice Arnold Palmer with a few cubes and some sugar.

Always finding ways to make things easier…and cooler around here! Got any fabulous summer tips? I’d love for you to share them with us at juiceboxdreams@gmail.com!

Have a great 4th of July weekend! Maybe you can make some lemon cubes for your festivities! Until next time, be a dreamer, and…

Did you say FREE….

2011-06-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

Everyone loves a freebie so hear you go…

Freebie- Free Sample of Dove Daily Conditioner!! GetItFree.us – Coupons, freebies, gifts, and more

I love this site you can get Facebook updates with free items and this one in particular I wanted to pass on because it is promoting Dove whose hair products I love and which is a company that I always to support.

Dove has a wonderful mission focusing on positive body images and how mothers can help their daughters to grow up feeling beautiful and confident. Sooo two great things in one

Until next week…..

Product Review: Suave Kids® Morning Hair Tamer

2011-06-27T14:37:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone hope you are having a great week, our summer is flying by!

Today I’m going to review one of our new favorite product at our house. (BTW I wasn’t paid or given anything for reviewing this product.)

Suave Kids® Morning Hair Tamer.

While picking up shampoo for the kids I noticed this bottle claiming a quick fix for cowlicks and bed hair.

My son is cursed with multiple cowlicks (4 actually) because of which I have made him keep his hair really short. At the start of the summer he begged me to let him grow it out and I gave in.

Now I don’t believe every product claim on the market but for under $2.00 I thought what the heck!

I am so impressed. The Morning Hair Tamer is the best product I have found for taming those pesky cowlicks. It’s also great for bed head is better than applying water because it gives kid's hair a fresh look as if they took shower. Has a great light orange smell and doesn't make the kid's hair look weighed down or as if they have a lot of product on their hair. It is not sticky alcohol free and hypoallergenic.

I will say Coiln has a double crown cowlick that won’t be tamed, anybody have any advice on taming it?

Go out and buy some Suave Kids® Morning Hair Tamer and save your kiddos from wild bed hair and untamable cowlicks.

Red, White, and Glue….

2011-06-25T04:06:00.000-05:00

…paint, paper, and glitter too!

Fourth of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. I just love the beauty of the fireworks displays, everyone celebrating this great country, cookouts and homemade ice cream with friends and family. After I became a parent I love the 4th even more! Seeing the fireworks thru your children’s eyes = AMAZING!!! The awe and wonder of it all…

Now fast forward a couple of years and we have moved from Missouri, a place full of green; green grass, green trees, and plenty of water and humidity to keep things safe from fire during the celebrations to the desert of New Mexico, a place quite the opposite; dry, no rain, no water, oh, and did I mention DRY?!? I was under the impression that we initially had a firework ban around here, but I saw fireworks for sell in Walmart this week, as well as advertisements by the city that there will be a big display. And as much as I LOVE fireworks, this year will be about teaching my children the importance of respecting the land, putting safety first, and how we sometimes put aside the things we want to benefit those around us… by not taking chances of starting any fires with fireworks.

So, if you’re like me and can’t spend the next week shooting off fireworks with the kids, let me help you with a few fun and crafty ideas that I have found:

Here’s an easy one you can do with kids of any age. I found this Fireworks Art on the Better Homes and Garden website. You squirt some globs of diluted glue onto a piece of black craft foam, take a straw and let the kids blow the glue into shapes that resemble fireworks, then sprinkle with colored sand or glitter. For those of you who just cringed at the idea of having sand or glitter in the house, this might be a fun outside project. The rest of us, we can just tell ourselves our floor and table is a little more festive!

Here’s another fun, kind of similar, project. This Salt Absorbing Fireworks Art I found on a fabulous blog I Can Teach My Child. For this project you draw firework shapes with glue (trying to use a continuous line of glue without stopping) then sprinkle with salt and shake off the excess. Next you’ll mix some water with food coloring and let the kiddos drop it onto the salt drawings with a medicine dropper. The salt absorbs the color and spreads. Super cool!!!

This Firework (also from the Better Homes and Gardens site) is made from chenille pipe cleaners. Cute each one in half, dip the end in glue and glitter, and wrap in the middle with another half to keep them all together. Bend and shape them, tie it on a string, and KaBoom! A fabulous firework decoration! I also thought of attaching it to a stick or dowel to make a wand.

And who can have a holiday without the help of Martha Stewart??? She gives you super easy instructions to make this awesome Table Display.

You most definitely can’t make 4th of July crafts without creating a Flag! Here’s a very easy and oh so cute idea using crepe paper!

Need something fun for the kids to wear? This Hand-some Eagle Tee from Disney’s Family Fun website is ADORABLE! But then again, isn’t anything created from your child’s handprint??? And this shirt looks waaaay less time consuming than the shirt I made for my daughter last 4th of July!!! Of course I have some pictures of that as well… :

And I saved the best for last….DESSERT!

A Cake Truffle Flag!!!! If you know me, you know I loooooove cake balls; making AND eating them! And this idea….LOVE IT!!!! The kids also love making (and eating) them. If you don’t know what a cake ball is, please crawl out from under that rock and start doing some googling! First get yourself over to Bakerella’s site at bakerella.com and learn how to make a cake ball. Then scoot on over to My Juice Cup and check out her very creative 4th of July cake pop ideas.

Hope you all have a fabulous, festive week getting ready for the 4th! Until next time, be a dreamer and…

Homemaker in Heels, one of my favorite blogs.

2011-06-23T00:00:00.000-05:00

I am packing up for a reunion to Utah and as all moms know packing and planning a trip is oh so fun. So in the interest of time I am sharing one of my favorite bloggers creative idea that I plan on trying very soon.

A sunburst mirror project that came to $1.00 gotta love that!

Please take a look at her sight Homemaker in Heels and see her creative and sooooo cute idea.

Until next week…

Cream Cheese and Strawberry Coffee Cake

2011-06-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to a play date and did something that I hardly ever do. I made something from scratch!

See, I am not a baker, cook, or griller. I am just a eater and someone who cleans up the mess. I HATE cooking. I hate the planning out part of it. I hate the actual cooking aspect of it. I hate sitting there hoping that I didn’t screw it up royally and everyone will be like…. “That is Ginna’s dish…don’t eat that!”

I know how to cook…..I just don’t like doing it. Fortunately for me my husband is an awesome cook. Thanks to him my family will not starve nor live solely on PB&J or take out!

But yesterday I thought, Hey let’s try something new and I will actually make something instead of buying it!!

So this is what I made!

Cream Cheese and Strawberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1 8 oz. package Cream Cheese

1 Cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup strawberry preserves

Sifted Powdered Sugar

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, granulated sugar, and butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add half of the flour, the eggs, milk, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat for about 2 minutes or until well mixed. Beat in remaining flour on low speed until well mixed. Spread batter evenly in a greased and floured 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Spoon preserves in 8 to 10 portions on top of batter. With a knife, swirl preserves into batter to marble.

2. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly on a wire rack. Sift powdered sugar atop. Cut into squares; serve warm. Makes 24 servings.

I guess considering people ate it, didn’t get sick or secretly throw it in the trash it was a success!

Bonus…..If I can cook it so can you!!

Until Next time….

Have great dreams…..Juice- Box Style!

Summer Bucket List

2011-06-20T11:01:00.001-05:00

Wow I feel like I haven’t talk to you in ages! We have had a whirlwind start to summer. My kids have already done 3 camps and visited Grandma and Grandpa. I am hoping things will calm down now and we start to enjoy the rest of our summer.

Just before summer began, I came across an article about making the summer count and how the author posted a list so it was a visible reminder of the things she wanted to accomplish with her family. I thought what a great idea, so I got to work coming up with my own Summer Fun List. Using Word and the multitude of fonts on my computer I came up with this:

We have a ton of things to accomplish by the end of the summer but I think we can do it! I have told the kids if we don’t make it is ok. It will give us something to shoot for next year.

The kids are super excited about the list and to make it even more fun we are putting stickers on each completed task.

I hope you guys are having a great summer, we sure are!

Peanut Butter and Jelly…AGAIN?!?!

2011-06-19T00:27:00.000-05:00

Does anyone besides me ever dread the clock nearing noon? Some days my mind goes blank when I am trying to figure out what to fix the kids for lunch time. We try to eat healthy around here so I work hard to not make corndogs, pizza, and mac n cheese a lunch time staple, and I don’t want the kids to get tired of peanut butter and jelly (although, if you are like me as a child, the amount of times you ate peanut butter and jelly for lunch was probably in the triple digits!). Giving the kids a variety of different lunches takes several things; time, energy, preparation, and a little creativity. The most important of these seems to be the one in which I am most lacking…preparation! You need to prepare menus ahead of time so that you have things on hand from your shopping trip, which means you aren’t scrambling around last minute, realizing you have nothing, and end up popping corndogs in the oven, or making a pb&j…again. I thought with many kids out of school for the summer, there might be some mommas out there who aren’t used to having to fix lunches everyday.

A while back I found an AWESOME blogger who has helped me add a ton of fun to our lunches around here: she’s the Muffin Tin Mom!

This blogging momma makes muffin tin meals. What is a muffin tin meal you may ask. It is exactly that, a meal served in a muffin tin. Any kind of muffin tin; 6 hole, 12 hole, 24 hole mini, silicone muffin cups, paper muffin cups, etc.

Now that you know what it is, you may be asking WHY on earth would you do this? As she states in her blog “Serving a meal in a muffin tin to kids has many benefits including: breaking up the lunchtime routine, serving foods in smaller more manageable portions for little mouths and introducing them to new foods in a fun and interesting way! It's a win for you: They eat. It's a win for them: It's fun.”

And let me tell you, it IS fun!!! You can go with certain themes for your lunch in a muffin tin; shapes, colors, transportation, animals, oceans…the possibilites are endless. I The kids get so excited to see what we can come up with each time.

Here is a photo of a lunch I made my kiddos. Whenever I serve them a muffin tin lunch, before they can eat it, they have to tell me what is the same about all of the food in their muffin tin. This day it was that they were all the same shape: CIRCLES!

(from top left: vanilla wafers, avocado, veggie dogs, organic yogurt with mint chocolate chips in a circle, kiwi, and sliced string cheese.)

Here are a few other photos that others have shared of their muffin tin lunches:

(an ocean theme…and you don’t even HAVE to use a muffin tin. AND, how CUTE is that banana octopus!!!)

(a build your own spaghetti tin!)

( a princess theme)

(that’s right! The Very Hungry Caterpillar!!!)

(Five Little Monkeys)

And here’s a picture I found of lots of great Muffin Tin lunch ideas:

So if you are craving a bit of creativity for lunch, hop on over to Muffin Tin Mom's blog and get some great ideas!!! And as always, be a dreamer and…

Grandma’s Fruit Sherbet

2011-06-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

With the temp hitting 100+ day after day I was trying to come up with a refreshing treat and remembered my favorite dessert as a child, Grandma’s Fruit Sherbet!

My grandma would make this and on hot Sunday afternoons and we would enjoy it on her front porch listening to the latest small town news. Some days I would love to bring back those simple times but I can least I can share the memories with my kids and this yummy treat!

Grandma’s Fruit Sherbet

2 cups sugar (I cut this to 1 and it was still plenty sweet)
2 cups Hot Water
Juice of 2 lemons
6 oz. of frozen orange juice thawed and undiluted.
2 bananas chopped
16 oz. jar of maraschino cherries chopped

Dissolve sugar in hot water then mix remaining ingredients. Pour into containers to freeze (grandma used a foil loaf pan). Stir while freezing to distribute fruit. Take dessert out 30 min. prior to serving.

Until next week…

Infomercials…..

2011-06-15T10:01:00.001-05:00

Okay I admit…..I am a little obsessed with infomercials.   When I was younger I loved watching them. I always wanted my parents to buy whatever was on TV, but they never did.   Probably because they didn’t have credit cards and that was before debit cards, or maybe because most of it is junk…..

One time when I was in High School I was at a friend’s house.   This infomercial came on for a cleaning product.   My friend and her father were begging the mom to call and get it. Then to my surprise the mom whipped out her wallet, picked up the cordless (wow haven’t said that in awhile), and called the number on TV.    I could not believe it….here was someone who actually called and got something from the infomercials!!!

Now I have an almost 7 year old that is obsessed with the things, and they have gotten worse and more frequent.   Lily will come up to me and begin a conversation like this….

“Mom…..you know that spot you have in your carpet…..well if you get on www. some company .com, and order there product it will come right out!”

“Mom…..I have to have *fill in the blank*…(pillow pets, bendaroos, aqua sand..etc) please go online and get it!”

“Mom….I think you should get Kaboom Foamtastic to clean the tub….it turns colors when it is clean…”

The best thing now days is that if you wait long enough those products will come to retail stores!   Heck Wal-Mart usually has a whole aisle of them!

Recently I was in Wal-Mart with my son killing time while my daughter was in gymnastics. We went down the infomercial line and I was just looking at the products trying to find one that I could not live with out.
Then I saw it….

The GYRO BOWL!

I have been seeing these infomercials forever now!   My daughter is obsessed with getting one, and since I have a 2 year old son that throws EVERYTHING I was pretty curious about it also!

When I first saw the infomercial for one I went online and looked at the reviews.   It was pretty much all positive feedback, except for everyone kept on saying that the company took 8 or so weeks to deliver it. That is why I decided to wait until it got to Wal-Mart.

Here I was in the aisle…..looking at the product…..looking at my son…..looking at the price ($12 and some change)…..you know what I did……I threw it in the cart.

Then I went to checkout. I noticed some of those little cartons of goldfish crackers by the checkout so I decided to buy some to immediately test it out!

I went to the car and ripped it open like I was some crazy 6 year old at Christmastime!   Found the goldfish and filled it a little bit and gave it to my 2 year old son. When I finally got home I looked at the bowl and it seemed to have all the fish in there.

Later on when my husband got home I realized I left it in the car so I went out to get it to show it to him.   I was like…

“Look babe…..look at the cool thing I got for Chase!”

All the time spinning it just like the infomercials….

“Look….it spins and spins and it doesn’t fall out $$$$!”

Okay….see that sentence I just wrote? See all those dollar signs I put????

That is the exact moment that ALL OF THE GOLDFISH FELL OUT!

Of course….darling husband starts laughing and I, feeling like an idiot go to the laundry room and grab a broom. When I got all of them swept up I looked at the bowl and found the problem.   One of the fish got caught in the rim of the bowl….not allowing it to turn therefore having them spill out. I thought that maybe I had put too many in there, so I refilled it this time only putting in about half as much. Gave it my son….same thing happened. Fish got caught….spilled! Then my DARLING son just looked at the bowl and took his hand and started scooping the fish out of it on the floor……sigh….boys!

I am not sure if the reason that it was having problems is that the fish were too big????   All the infomercials have cheerios…but what if your kid doesn’t like cheerios? Mine doesn’t so I didn’t have any to try….

Basically…..it is a cool thing to play with, however for the purpose that it was intended for…me and the Fonz give it two big thumbs down!

Hope this saves you some time and money!

Until next time…..

Have great dreams…….Juice Box Style!

Alternative to the Party Piñata

2011-06-09T00:01:00.000-05:00

My kids love a piñata but I hate the worry and expense so I found a solution that I tried at my son’s party and it was a huge success.

Put candies and little toys inside balloons and let the kids pop them to get their goodies! Everyone gets the same treats and a chance at popping and no one gets hurt. Unlike the piñata where it breaks before everyone gets a try and someone always seems to get hurt.

I put medals in ours to tie in with the Space Shuttle theme, there is plenty of room for candies and little prizes.

Stretch the opening and shove in the prizes and treats.

Blow up the balloons and you are ready!

Pass out the balloons for one big POP or divide the party into teams and do a relay race where the kids run get the balloon. Then they have to pop it gather their goodies and run back so the next child can go. Either way it is loads of fun!

Until next week….

Summer Reading

2011-06-08T00:00:00.000-05:00

Summer is here! For some of us that means we get to read a little bit more. I remember the days before I had children and I could actually sit BY the pool and read a book…..now I just run around and make sure that everyone is alive and has sunscreen on, while making sure my stretch marks don’t show!

But I love books……I always have! I wish I could have more time to read like I used to, the invention of face book and the DVR did not help this!

I am the type of reader that if I find a book I like, I tend to reread it. I will go into a library and I am seriously drawn to the shelves where my favorite books are. They are like friends calling to me…. “Pick me…..you know that you will like me!” It is not that I am opposed to reading new books…..but every once in awhile I just have to read one of my old standbys.

That is what I have for you today……one of my old standbys!

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik

This is what Amazon has to say about it…..

Five friends live through three decades of marriages, child raising, neighborhood parties, bad husbands and good brownies-and Landvik doesn't miss a single cliché as she chronicles their lives in this pleasant but wholly familiar novel of female bonding. When Faith Owens's husband is transferred from Texas to the "stupid godforsaken frozen tundra" of Freesia Court, Minn., in 1968, her life looks like it's going to be one dull, snowy slog-until the power goes out one evening and a group of what appear to be madwomen start a snowball fight in her backyard. These dervishes turn out to be her neighbors: antiwar activist Slip; sexpot Audrey; painfully shy Merit; and widow Kari. They become fast friends and decide to escape their humdrum routine by starting the Freesia Court Book Club, later given the eponymous name by one of their disgruntled husbands. As the years pass, Audrey and Merit get divorced, Kari adopts her niece's illegitimate baby, all five of the women find work outside their homes and they even smoke a joint together. Their personal dramas are regularly punctuated by reflections on political milestones ("First Martin Luther King, Jr., then Bobby Kennedy. As if we didn't have enough to worry about with this stupid war...").

This is what I have to say about this book……

Yes….we have seen this story line before. Group of women….kids….husbands…..friends…ups…downs…etc. It is not a ground breaking plot line by any means.

But what I truly love…..okay what I am truly jealous of…..is the location of this book. NOT the fact that they live in freezing Minnesota….but the fact that they all live on the same cul-de-sac. This is a story about 5 women that live on the same little cul-de-sac from the early 60’s all through the end of the book in the 90’s.

They start out by having preschool kids, toddlers, babies and being pregnant, and by the end of the book they are talking about their kids in college, getting married, and having kids of their own. I love the idea of being able to just walk out my front door and have a cup of coffee with a dear friend that just happens to live next to me. Or how about being able to say “Hey, since you are outside could you keep an ear out for my baby while I get some milk?”.

I am not stupid….I do realize that if you have women close together for periods of time they tend to have fights and issues…..which is addressed in this book.

Still…..I am willing to chance that. I want to live in a place like that. Where they have neighborhood circus and to have a book club….well that would be icing on the cake!

Every time I read this book, I long to find a neighborhood like that…….maybe someday I will….

Until next time…..

Have great dreams……Juice Box Style!

Dog Days of Summer

2011-06-07T06:30:00.001-05:00

Our school is out for the Summer! While it’s not quite the Dog Days of Summer yet we want to be prepared and not bored this summer. So after surfing the web and reading my favorite blogs I found many great ideas. Check out all that I found…

This first website has tons of inexpensive ideas. It is also categorized for your convenience. Check out squidoo and their great ideas.

Next hop on over to Oopsey Daisy to keep your preschoolers occupied. Every Friday she features a summer camp for the lil ones. Great activities that are based on a children’s book. The first book featured is Where the Wild Things Are. Oopsey Daisy has sooo many cute ideas for monsterously fun activities.

My girls love drawing and creating….with pens, crayons, markers, paint and CHALK. So we will be trying this homemade recipe from Mad Maggie for sidewalk chalk. Sure you can buy chalk for just as cheap but I think the girls will get a kick out of actually making the chalk they will be drawing with.

Years ago when my husband and I first got married he went on a grilling kick. He grilled every dinner we had that summer (great for me!) He tried grilling all types of food. Then he wanted to grill pizza….Pizza? You can’t grill pizza! Well, I had to eat my words! You can grill pizza and it’s fantastic! Check out this recipe for a great grilled pizza!

Lastly, this idea comes from Tatertots and Jello blog. Last summer her and her daughters participated in a Flip Flop Exchange. Each girl received a pen pal. The pen pals were located throughout the United States. Each girl was to send her pen pal a pair of flip flops and goodies to go with. I’d love to do this! I also thought if you couldn’t do pen pals that just a good old fashioned Cookie, I mean, flip flop exchange amongst friends would be a blast!

If you have any fun, cost effective ideas for the summer please share.

Until next time…..

Rise and Shine: Boring Breakfasts No More!!

2011-06-04T02:50:00.002-05:00

Ever feel like you get in a rut for breakfast for the kids? I’ve got an easy solution to spruce it up a bit! Thanks to a heads up from a friend, I saw this FABULOUS clip from a Rachael Ray episode. It’s how to create pancake art. Now, for you who are mumbling and shaking your heads right now, trying to tell me how artistic you are NOT…just wait. This is beyond simple, does not create a mess, takes only seconds longer than regular “boring” pancakes, and makes your kiddo light up with excitement!

If I knew how to insert the video clip from the show, I would place that right here, but since I do not…just click here and it will take you to it!

What you need: pancake batter (homemade, box mix, it doesn’t matter!), griddle, spatula, and a squeeze bottle.

The squeeze bottle I use is from Wilton. I found it at Hobby Lobby in the candy making section. 2 bottles for $2.99.

First step: Fill the bottle with pancake batter.

Next: Draw. No really, just draw on the griddle with the batter and make something fabulous!

Lastly: Flip, and serve to you eagerly awaiting pancake piranhas (at least my kids can eat their weight in pancakes!)

Here are a few pictures of pancakes we have created in the past:

a cowboy boot. Now, you never heard me say I was a great artist, nor do you have to be with a three and five year old!

a flower (hopefully that one was obvious! )

a spider and spider web…my son likes to get tricky with his requests!

a house…another request from my son.

Pancake bears. I cut a big marshmallow into thirds for the mouth area, and added mini chocolate chips for the eyes and nose. However, you could use a variety of fruits or nuts for those as well. (I served them with a side of caramelized bananas.)

just added sprinkles for a special Valentine’s Day flare!

served these with a super SWEET surprise!

Just in case you are wondering if it would be worth the little extra creativity once in a while…let me assure you, it IS!! If you don’t believe me, ask my kids:

I think that’s a big YES!!!

I only have one warning to make you aware of…once you do this, regular pancakes get this: “Awwww mom, why are you making boooorrrring pancakes?!?! I like it when you make the cool pancakes!! Here, I know where the pancake bottle is, let me get it for you…”

Hope you enjoy getting artsy in the kitchen, and seeing the glisten in your children’s eyes as they ask you to make the “impossible” and then thank you when you do!

Until next time, be a dreamer and…

Flashback Friday ~ Back to the Future Pizza Hut Solar Shades!

2011-06-02T23:02:00.001-05:00

Marty! What in the name of Sir Isaac H. Newton happened here?

Who doesn’t love Back to the Future? And of Course my absolute favorite is Back the the Future II. I remember my 12 year old self thinking how cool they made the future and couldn’t wait till I got my own hover board! Where the heck are they? They have 4 years to get them out on the market!(BTTF II is set in 2015.)

At my house we were big fans my sister even had the Delorean Power wheels.

One of the best things I remember was the promotion Pizza Hut had for Solar Shades. There were 4 different styles and of course we had to have them all! My sisters and I pretended to be punk rockers with them. We wore them everywhere and ~~thought~~ knew we were so cool and totally awesome for sure!

This style was my favorite! And the really cool thing is that my sister Julie came across them at my parents house the other day so we can pass our punk rock legacy down to our children.

If you ever owed a pair of these things (or even remember them), let me know in the comments.

ABC’s and 123’s new desks for my twins.

2011-06-02T00:01:00.000-05:00

I picked up 2 old school desks for $5.00 each at an antique shop. I was so excited to get them home and transform them into decks for the twins rooms.

First I had to clean them up and scrape off the gum! Holy cow I had no idea kids really did this but there was tons of gum. I think these kids were training for the gum chewing hall of fame! GROSS

Next step, I removed the desk plates which were in great shape so I planned on leaving them as is.

I sprayed the desks with my new favorite product, Rustoleum Hammered Texture spray paint. It covers very well and hides imperfections on the wood and metal, I love it!

After the paint job I reattached the desk and since the frame is all metal the twins used magnets to decorate. The kids love them I’m sure they won’t go off to the college dorms but for Kindergarten they are perfect!

Until next week..

In one ear……..out the other……

2011-06-01T00:02:00.000-05:00

Summer vacation is here! Which means 3 months (well really 2 1/2 these days) of children being out of school. Summer camps, vacation bible schools, vacations, pool, park, sleeping in….etc. etc. All sounds wonderful!

But what about the last 9 months??? I mean your children were in school for the last nine months being taught exciting and new stuff. For 9 months I have worked with my daughter on spelling words, math problems, reading, writing…..you name it. Now I feel that without a little reminder…..all of this will just fall out of her brain…..not all of it…..but realistically some of it will.

Me and the family were out shopping the other day and the hubster wanted to go into Barnes and Noble. As we were in there I saw a display of these books….

I was intrigued…..but I was also being pulled by a 6 and a 2 year old toward the back of the store! So after reading and taking away tons of books from my 2 year old….hubby decided that he was done. My DARLING son decided at that moment to throw a fit and me being mom decided to walk out of the store with him and let hubby and daughter check out.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that hubby had bought my daughter the books that I was looking at! They are called Summer Bridge Activities. They go from entering Kindergarten all the way to entering 8th grade. I LOVE the format. They have a schedule that breaks the whole summer down. Each day the child works on 2 pages at the most. It is all review of what they should of learned during that year. They also have ideas of what to do out of the classroom…..so to speak…..to help with the lesson. At the beginning of the book they have goals that can be made, appropriate reading lists, and even reminders of being physically active in the summer months.

Daughter LOVES it!!!

As I said…..I bout this at Barnes & Noble…..

However they do have a website…..and I am sure that you can find it on Amazon as well.

Until Next time….

Have great dreams…….Juice Box Style!!

GPS in your Camera or Phone

2011-05-31T06:50:00.001-05:00

I guess I’ve always known there is a GPS system in my phone and it maps where my pictures are taken but I guess I never really thought the entire process through. I hope you have. If not watch this video and make sure the pictures you are posting on your blog or facebook or wherever are safe. I received this from a friend of mine several months ago and thought I’d share it with you today.

Until next time….

App Love ~ Hipstamatic

2011-05-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

Digital Photography Never Looked So Analog!

Ok so I am a Techy-nerdy chick so when I hear of a cool app for my IPhone I just have to check it out. This one is awesome!

Hipstamatic is a photography app that all the cool kids are playing with! This app allows you to change lens, flashes, and films for photos with different effects. I am loving the eighties retro vibe I am getting on these pics! For $10 I have the most rockin analog camera on planet.

With this glorious app you can shoot awesome pic, upload and share with your friends on Flickr and Facebook in a manner of minutes. You can even order these awesome shots straight from your iPhone. Pretty Handy Dandy if you ask me!

Specs:

Cost at time of review : $1.99 (plus $.99 for each of the 4 add –on kits)

I have much love for this app. So check it out!

(P.S. No one paid for this post I just LOVE the app!)

The Sunday Shot #4

2011-05-29T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hello all! It is my turn at the wheel to feature something that I liked this week, and since summer is knocking at our door, I decided to pick the following!

Root Beer Float on a Stick!!!

A great idea from Smile Monsters!!

Doesn’t it look just yummy?????

Also……she had this other wonderful drink to try out….

Also…..she had this great kids craft that my kids would love to make and watch!!

Thanks Smile Monsters for the great ideas!

Until Next Time…..

Have great dreams……..Juice Box Style!

Tiny Fingerprints…

2011-05-28T03:21:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small,
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and walls.
But everyday I am growing,
-I'll be grown up someday,
And all these tiny handprints
Will simply fade away.
So here's a final handprint
Just so you can recall,
Exactly how my fingers looked
When I was very small.

Most of us have seen, have helped make, or have received a cute little handprint with a poem similar to this. The sweet, tiny handprints melt our hearts and bring a tear to our eye. We make one for grandparents, aunts and uncles, anyone who has a special connection to the child. Everyone needs a tiny handprint! But, everyone only needs one tiny handprint (well, at least every couple years…those handprints do get bigger…). So, if you’re running out of cute ideas that will make the family members “oooh” and “ahhhh” on special occasions, let me help you out:

Ed Emberley's Complete Funprint Drawing Book

My kids received this from the Easter Bunny this year (thank you Easter Bunny, you know who you are!) and boy, oh boy, do we just LOVE it!!!!!!!! This past month has brought several birthdays and a graduation in our family, so we have used this book to make many cards lately (another pro to having young children…you rarely need to purchase cards. Having the children make them is (1)a great art project on a rainy day (2) saves $3-$6 per card (3) is a much more heartfelt gesture. Trust me, the grandmas and aunties LOVE homemade cards!).

This book, actually two books in one, shows step by step how to make dozens of little works of art by using a fingerprint or thumbprint (and an ink pad of course) and simple lines. There are animals, people, vehicles, plants, flowers, etc. My five year old son now thinks he is a drawing genius with this book! He has no problem following the steps on his own. My three year old loves it as well, although she does still need some drawing assistance from me after she has made her fingerprints. For under $7, it’s a GREAT deal!!

Here’s a sample of some of his work in his book. He breaks it down so nicely so that the children can see exactly what comes next. Under each step he shows the child what the next line(s) will look like.

Here’s some pictures of what my daughter made (with my help in making some of the lines:

And here is the artwork my son was able to complete on his own following the book:

(the deer he made from the book, the balloons he added on his own since it was a birthday card!)

We have had tons of fun with these and they were a hit with the family members. Still captures the tiny fingerprints, but lets them put some personality into it as well. This same artist, Ed Emberley also has several regular drawing books as well; Make a World, Animals, Faces, Trucks and Trains, and several others. I think I might get once soon for J since he seems to be really loving the book we have now.

Hope you enjoy making some tiny fingerprint art with the special kids in your life! Oh, and just in case you are wondering where on earth you have heard the name Ed Emberley before (like me, it was nagging at me for days until I Googled to see if he had other books), he wrote the popular children’s book Go Away Big Green Monster.

Until next time, be a dreamer and…

Flashback Friday’s…Slap Bracelets!

2011-05-27T01:10:00.000-05:00

For many of us slap bracelets are a bit of Déjà vu. I mean, how many of you were in elementary school and had your slap bracelet confiscated by the teacher because you wouldn’t leave it alone and do your work? I’m not saying that happened to me on a regular basis or anything, I was just curious… Or at recess spent your time huddled in a circle seeing who could toss up the bracelet in the air and have it come back down to slap around your wrist the most times in a row? And of course they were all in the coolest neon colors to match our wonderfully vibrant clothes.

(jog your memory any? And yes, the one on the left IS a NKOTB slap bracelet (NKOTB = New Kids On The Block if you aren’t familiar with that shorthand.)

Now, fast forward a couple of decades… “Hey mom, look at this!” That’s right, I go into Claire’s to get my daughter some earrings and my son has found an entire bin of slap bracelets! I, I mean HE, was so excited. Who am I kidding, I was stoked!! So of course we bought a few…for the kids. So we get home and what do I hear, “Hey mom, look what I can do!!” Yep, must be genetic, my son is also a pro at the famous “toss n’ slap”! He throws it up in the air, and WHACK! comes back down right onto his arm. What can I say, I’m a proud momma!

And let me tell you, the choices now are endless: furry, fuzzy, animal print, customized with your name on it, some even have a little stuffed animal on them. Now, maybe they had those back in my day too, but all I remember having were the neon colored laminate bracelet that would almost leave your skin wrinkled with the amount of sweat that accumulated underneath the thing. My sons favorite is of course camo, my daughters is a soft minky zebra print.

But check out some pictures of ones I found just perusing online:

Pretty fun, right?! BUT…even more fun is the newest version of the slap bracelet: the Slap Watch.

this one even holds an iPod nano!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane. And I have to say I’m pretty pleased with the newest versions of these fabulous flashbacks!

Until next time, be a dreamer and…