The queen of the jungle

Kiddieokee

2011-04-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

Please vote for Marissa!

http://www.mix969.com/pages/kiddieokee/vote-entrants.php?ag=&gid=3#9

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

2011-04-06T09:02:00.000-07:00

Still Alice by Lisa Genova was an interesting read. I finished it about a month ago. This is a book about a woman Dr. Alice Howland, a psychology professor at Harvard. She is out jogging one day and forgets how to get home. Somehow manages to find her way home and chalks it up to menopause "forgetfulness". She doesn't tell anyone just yet. She travels a lot for work and does public speaking. It gets harder and harder to do. Rapidly she declines, then finally a diagnosis, early onset Alzheimers. She's barely 50. This book breaks your heart for not only her but her husband and daughters. She is able to laugh at herself sometimes, but ultimately this is a sad circumstance to be in. This book haunted me for days. I learned a lot about alzheimers, how it progresses, how it affects families and lives of those that are affected.

Marissa singing Jar of Hearts

2011-04-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

Mio Liquid Water Enhancer

2011-03-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

I recently was able to get a free sample of this off of Facebook. I got Fruit Punch flavor. There are several others to choose from: Berry Pomegranite, Mango Peach, Sweet Tea, Strawberry Watermelon. I think they run about $4 each, for 24 servings. You just add a squirt to iced water, stir and it's ready to go.

I am enjoying it as I write this and plan on buying it when I run out of my free sample. It'll be great in the summer, or to add to a water bottle. It's 0 calorie, sugar free.

Mio

Maci's Marvelous Munchables

2011-03-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Maci got her own blog! She has been bugging me for weeks now. So we got her set up. Check it out! She would love followers and recipe suggestions. It's theme is kid friendly recipes.

http://marvelousmunchables.blogspot.com/

The Hunger Games Trilogy

2011-03-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins are my favorite books of 2010. I'm a big fan, a big big fan! I loved the Twilight Saga too. These stuck with me like the Twilight books did. I think of them a lot. I want to read them again. I can't wait for the movies. These are addictive.

The genre is young adult/science fiction. Normally I would just pass these up. But I heard the buzz about these and finally reserved them at the library. I'm so glad I did. I was sad when I finished them because I just wanted the story to keep going.

The characters are very real. The story is very imaginative and futuristic.

If you are fan of these, tell me what you thought about them. Are you super excited about the movies?

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls

2011-03-10T20:49:00.000-08:00

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls. I didn't have high expectations, a memoir by someone I've never heard of? But I liked the title so I picked it up at the library.

All I can say is WOW. This is a story worth telling. Jeannette Walls is a fantastic writer and storyteller. There are no lulls to this book. It is just super interesting the entire way through.

I wanted to scream at her parents for being so selfish and self centered throughout, but you don't come away with hatred for them, you just feel utter disbelief. The dad is an alcoholic, a dreamer, that's where the title comes from. He's super smart but can't stay anywhere long enough or work long enough to make anything happen. The mom is an educated teacher, but doesn't want to teach, she wants to do art, she wants to paint. She can't be bothered with working and she can't be bothered with really taking care of anyone but herself.

It starts when Jeannette is in NYC as an adult, seeing her homeless mom on the street and ignoring her. She is living in a fancy apartment. So at first I'm like, ok, why is your mom homeless? Then she starts her story. It starts when she is 3 and burns herself cooking hotdogs on the stove in a trailer. Let the adventures begin. They start in the desert southwest and end up in CA, Nevada, Missippi. They have no possessions and when they get them, they leave them behind to move on to somewhere else. When they have money, they eat steaks, when they don't the kids dig out of the trash at school for food. It's really horrific at times what the kids have to go through, no running water, no heat or electricity. But through it all is a story of the sibling bond, coping with selfish parents, living in dire conditions and living the nomadic life with minimalist parents who don't believe in food stamps or government assistance but are ok with letting their kids go hungry and without clothes or proper shelter. The parents simply fend for themselves for the most part, the kids all sort of take care of each other, this bond will eventually help most of them overcome the odds.

Anyway, READ this! You won't regret it. It stuck with me. I appreciate good writing. Jeannette Walls has a true gift! This is a fascinating, unbelievable and incredible story.

My First Giveaway!

2011-03-10T07:45:00.000-08:00

Do you like getting free stuff in the mail? Here's your chance!

365 TV-Free Activities You Can Do With Your Child by Steve and Ruth Bennett.

This is from my collection, not new, but I'm easy on books and we don't smoke, so it's clean. I am moving so my junk is another person's treasure. This book is actually pretty cool. It has different activities, crafts, games, outdoor play, indoor play, recycled household material uses, science, creative, fantasy play. LOTS of ideas!

To enter, leave a comment about what your favorite things to do with your kids are. I will choose the winner at the end of month using a random choice system. Good Luck!

Cheesy Baked Pasta

2011-03-10T05:41:00.000-08:00

Meet Chef Maci, my 8 year old daughter. She wants to be a baker when she grows up. We are making an easy baked pasta dish. I normally make this with Ziti or Penne, but I just had Macaroni on hand.

Here's the recipe:

Cheesy Baked Pasta

1 lb of ground beef
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder or fresh garlic clove (2 cloves)
1 jar of spaghetti sauce

2 cups cottage cheese or ricotta
1 egg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (grated or freshly grated)
1 tsp italian seasoning or oregano
1 tsp garlic powder

8 oz. Mozzarella Cheese, slices or shredded

1 pound of pasta, cooked, drained.

Brown the meat, add salt, pepper, garlic powder.
Add the spaghetti sauce, simmer on low for 10-20 minutes.

Mix the cottage cheese, egg, parmesan cheese, italian seasoning and garlic powder, set aside.

Cook pasta, drain and rinse.

Use a 9 x 13 pan, ungreased, layer sauce, noodles, cheese mixture, keep layering until it's done, top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Serve with steamed brocoli and garlic toast.

Picture tutorial:

Gather all the ingredients

Brown the hamburger

Add the spices

Continue browning the hamburger

Add the spaghetti sauce to browned meat, simmer for 20 minutes or so.

In a bowl, add cottage cheese

grate the parmesan

about 1/2 cup

One egg

Spices

Combine cottage cheese and parmesan

Add spices

Add egg

Stir

Until well combined, set aside

Cook up some pasta

drain and rinse pasta

Start by layering some sauce, then add noodles, about 1/3 of each.

Add 1/3 of the cheese mixture

Spread the cheese mixture evenly

Another layer and then another.

Top with mozzarella cheese, slices or shredded.

Cover the entire top

Bake 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. I wish you had smellavision, it smells so good in here!

The Oil Cleansing Method

2011-03-09T12:51:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago I had heard about the oil cleansing method for the face. I have been using a bar of soap to wash my face which is extremely drying, so I'd add a moisterizer after. Anyway, I thought, the oil cleansing method sounded very interesting. The premise is that oil dissolves oil. So it sounds crazy but it really works! I don't care what kind of skin you have you should try this. There are different oils to use. But basically the recommended oils are Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Castor Oil, and Sunflower Oil. You can use any natural cold pressed vegetable oil. The castor oil is found in the laxative section of your grocery store. It has anti-inflammatory properties so it's great if you have acne prone skin.

Here are suggested ratios of oil to use:

Oily Skin: Try a blend of 30% Castor Oil to 70% Sunflower Seed Oil.

Balanced Skin: Try a blend of 20% Castor Oil to 80% Sunflower Seed Oil.

Dry Skin: Try a blend of 10% Castor Oil to 90% Sunflower Seed Oil.

Here's how you do it:

With dry face and hands, take a quarter sized amount of oil and rub in small circles around your face and neck. Massage for a few minutes.
Get a washcloth wet with really warm/hot water, so it's sort of steamy, but be careful not to burn yourself.
Apply the washcloth to your face and neck, let it stay there and let the steam work into your pores, a minute or two, this is great to do in the tub, lie back and relax.
Repeat steps 2 and 3.
Wipe face with washcloth removing excess oil. You will be amazed how clean your face feels! Not greasy at all.

I have super dry skin in the winter with an oily t-zone. At first I was just using Extra Virgin Olive Oil, but added a little castor oil to the mix as suggested.

Don't waste your money on expensive facial products, try this and you will see how awesome it is!

For a full article on this go here:

oil cleanse method

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2011-03-08T08:53:00.000-08:00

The Help by Kathryn Stockett was a fantastic read! I really enjoyed it. The characters were engaging, the storyline was interesting. It's about a maid Aibileen who works for white women, raises their kids (in the book she's raising her17th white child) in Mississippi 1962. She is good enough to raise a white woman's child but not good enough to use their indoor toilet. Skeeter is a white woman who was raised by a black maid. One day her maid Constantine leaves with no explanation. Skeeter misses her dearly because she was like her mother. Her own mother won't tell her anything about what happened to her. She just wants Skeeter to get married and live a traditional life as a wife/mother. Skeeter wants something different. She becomes a writer, she gets an advice column in the local paper for household chores. She knows nothing about any of that because she grew up with maids who did all that. So she goes to the obvious source for the advice column, a black maid, and this is how she becomes friends with Aibileen. Aibileen and Skeeter become fast friends, each helping the other with strength and courage to do what is right and to help change the extreme racist beliefs of the time.

I could not put this book down. I laughed out loud and felt sad, scared, all the emotions the characters felt. It really brought you to another world and I love books like this.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

2011-03-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

I made my first batch of homemade laundry detergent back in December. I've been using it for over 3 months now. There are various recipes, but this is the only one I've tried. I LOVE it. I absolutely love it. For the soap, I used 1 bar of Zote and 1 bar of Fels Naptha. But you can also use Ivory apparently. Any soap that isn't too perfumey. Total cost to make 2 batches was less than $10. I have about 1/4 of a box left, so I'd say that lasted me 4 months for a family of 4. So roughly $2.00-2.50 a box or for me about $2 a month (I do a good amount of laundry). This isn't a scientific recipe, you can add a little more or less and experiment. I also think this is good for sensitive skin. It's very mild, has a light scent of the soap you choose.

I use this in my HE machine with no residue or issues. You only use 2 TBS of product, a little goes a long way! Keep an bar of Fels Naptha on hand for pretreating stains too, it's great stuff.

Powdered Laundry Detergent Recipe

1 bar Fels Naptha Soap or Zote Soap (finely grated) (I have used both Zote and Fels Naptha with great results). To grate the soap, you can use a cheese grater or a food processor, in tiny portions because it's very hard.
1 cup Washing Soda (I found this at Fry's (a Kroger store) only, it was hard to find, but Ace Hardware might have it. It's super cheap, like $3 a box.
1 cup Borax

Mix well and store in an old powdered detergent box or airtight container.
Use 2 tablespoons per full load.

For different recipes, check out this website, they have liquid versions:

http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/

Recycle an old soap box and scoop

Haan Slim and Light Floor Steamer

2011-03-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

Haan Slim and Light Floor Steamer is wonderful. I have this Floor Steamer. I've had it since July 2010, so far so good. I LOVE it. I have never had cleaner floors. They stay clean longer I think because there is no chemical residue to stick to dirt. I only have to steam my floor every 2 weeks to keep it clean. In between I sweep. This is super easy to use too. You just fill the water tank with filtered water (I use the water from my fridge dispenser). Turn it on and wait for it to heat up. You have to sweep first, this does not have a vacuum on it.

But seriously, I walk around barefoot all the time. I used to have black feet from the dirt on my floor. Now my feet aren't ever black on the bottom!

The best prices I have seen on this is either QVC or Amazon, Amazon has a slightly higher price, but has free shipping.

Swagbucks

2011-03-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

Let me tell you about Swagbucks. I LOVE Swagbucks. What is it?

Swagbucks is a portal for searching, shopping, games, surveys, etc. The goal is to accumulate swagbucks. 450 swagbucks will get you a $5 Amazon gift card. You can get other things but the Amazon gift cards are the best reward by far. I have accumulated $90 in Amazon Gift Cards since beginning this in November. I'm addicted.

So I'm promoting it shamelessly in hopes of getting your referral. Because each referral I get will get me more Swagbucks. I get my referral's search swagbucks each day.
Here's my referral link, or you will see a box on the side, just click on it. :)

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/ldanowski@cox.net

All you do is sign up, what you do with it is up to you. I spend about 10 minutes on it in the morning, 10 minutes in the middle of the day and 10 minutes in the evening to get minimal swagbucks.

Here's how you get swagbucks:

Most of these are under the Earn key:

Do the daily poll, it gets you 1 swagbuck a day, but that's 30 each month!
Use the toolbar, this requires downloading it. It's a good thing because it reminds you to get Swagbucks! You get 1 swagbuck per day for using the toolbar.
Go through NOSO offers, skip and go to next offer and in the end just punch in the saying and you will get 2 Swagbucks.
Go to the Survey page: You will get 1 swagbuck. If you can get in on a survey, you can get 50-100 swagbucks, usually the surveys are about 10-30 minutes long and can be a little bit fun.
Do a search, I normally do 3 searches a day, you can plug in the word, pickle or poop, or do a serious search like Real Housewives of NJ. Just keep plugging into it and searching til you are rewarded with 7-11 or more swagbucks. Once you get rewarded you can't do it again for a few hours, that's why I do them every 3-4 hours or so.
Watch SBTV, you fill up the bar and you get 3 Swagbucks. This used to be worth 5 swagbucks and you could let it run while you did other things, now you have to actually watch the videos, but the videos are interesting and it fills up 10 percent each time you watch a video.
Do the Groupon, Social Living, Mamapedia, etc deals when they come up. They have some good ones like CVS, Barnes and Noble, Red Box. You do it through Swagbucks, you get the same deal, but you also get swagbucks, like 100 or more.
Do the Special Offers, at least look at them daily and see if there is anything free to do or a great deal that also rewards swagbucks.
Last but not least, look for codes, you will find them in the blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, on the Tool bar. There are many cheat sites to find these, but they frown upon using them.

Anyway, if you have any questions, I'd love to help you get started! This is in no way a scam! It's awesome! I was able to buy a bunch of stuff off Amazon recently and still have money on my account. I adore Amazon, books and all the stuff they have to offer. It's the perfect place to shop and free shipping if you spend $25 is awesome too.

HOT

2009-07-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

It's been HOT here. I don't like HOT. I like warm, that's ok. But HOT I don't like. Warm to me would be 90-105 degrees, that's easy to deal with and pretty comfortable. Lately we've been reaching 110+ and it's just horrendously HOT. Even with our dry heat.

It makes everything hard. Yesterday I went and dropped my daughter off at golf. It's the worst time of the day trafficwise and heatwise. I decided to go to the store on the way home. I don't know why when it's this hot you don't get hungry. So I get there to the store, get all my groceries and put them on the conveyer belt, get up to the debit machine and start digging in my purse for my wallet. Oh crap! Wallet isn't in there. Where is it? The Wal-mart clerk rolled her eyes and said, "That's interesting!" all sarcastic as she's bagging my groceries. I forgive her because the heat makes everyone grumpy. So I tell her to bag it all up and I'll go try to find my wallet. Meanwhile I'm freaking out, "Where's my wallet?" I drive home, look in the house, look upstairs.... Then I realize my daughter had it earlier when I asked her to put my change back in it. We stopped at Tastee Freeze for dipped cones earlier in the day. Ok, so relief floods me (I know it's got to be somewhere), but still I can't find it. Finally I look in the center console of my car. There it is. Why she put it there I have no clue. Kids! So I drive back to the store, go in and pay and unload it all. Whew! Meanwhile it's HOT and my head is hurting, heat exhaustion? Yes, probably. I get the cold stuff put away and get an ice cold drink and take a short break turned on Phinneas and Ferb and watched with Maci for a bit. She was my big helper throughout it all so we split a Vitamin Water.

So today it will be HOT again. And tomorrow, HOT again... Thank goodness for AC and swimming pools.

Rumpledoodles - a great name for a nice cookie

2009-07-04T12:00:00.000-07:00

Calling all Heffalumps! These are pretty good. I made these the other day and they were gobbled up. Except Maci doesn't like raisins so next time I have to make her a raisin free batch. But Marissa loved these. What's weird about this recipe is that it doesn't have eggs in it and the dough is sort of crumbly. But hang in there, once they bake you get a nice crunchy, chewy wonderful cookie, sort of granola-ish. This recipe was originally off the Disney Channel, but several years ago. So I can't find a good link because it was linked to the old Pooh bear show.

Rumpledoodles

1 cup Rolled Oats
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Flour
1 cup Coconut
1/2 cup Raisins
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 tablespoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoons Molasses
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons Boiling Water

Instructions:

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.
Grease 2-3 Cookie Sheets - I used parchment paper so no greasing required.
Mix the Rolled Oats, Sugar, Flour, Coconut, Raisins, Cinnamon, Baking Soda, and Salt in Large Mixing Bowl.
Melt Butter in Sauce Pan or Microwave. Add Molasses and Water Into Melted Butter.
Pour the Butter Mixture Into the Flour Mixture.
Stir With a Spoon Until Well Mixed.
Drop the Dough Onto The Cookie Sheet With a Teaspoon or Small Scoop.
Bake For 12-15 Minutes. I only had to bake for about 10 minutes so watch the first batch closely.
Remove From Oven And Cool Or Eat Warm With Your Favorite Heffalump.

Look who found the laundry pile!

2009-07-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

First Tee

2009-07-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Joe took the girls and a friend to a water splash fun day sponsered by First Tee the other day. It's always a fun day. I can't recommend First Tee highly enough! A wonderful organization!

Afterwards Joe drove up South Mountain and took a few pictures. They turned out pretty cool!

San Diego Trip

2009-06-29T06:58:00.001-07:00

Some pictures! Grandma H. was brave enough to take 4 grandkids to San Diego. They had a fun. time. I think Bret had a few complaints (he's 13) but everyone else enjoyed themselves immensely.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

2009-06-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society I just finished this up last night. I'd say out of 5 stars I'd give it a 3.75. I enjoyed this book. I feel like a better person for reading it. But at first it was hard for me to get into. It's a book about many characters which you get to know through their letter writing. So at first I found that a little overwhelming. It's also very smartsy fartsy, talks about classic literature alot, which doesn't always interest me. But the core of it, the characters, you do come to care about. It takes place after the German Occupation of a little Island called Guernsey. The people of Guernsey come to life slowly and their stories come out and some of the hardships they endure from the war. I found it riveting in the end. I also found that I still care about the characters after I read the book. Which is a very good thing. A charming little book.

Koolaid Play Dough

2009-06-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we made Koolaid playdoh. I am trying to let my girls get in the kitchen more and get a hands on experience. So I thought this would be a great activity to do that. Which it was. We chose blue, red (cherry) and lemonade, as our "flavors". Primary colors so they could mix and make other colors with them. I think cherry turned out the best. The lemonade one was too light so we ended up adding a few drops of yellow food coloring. This makes a really nice soft dough. It doesn't leave a salty residue on the table or your hands after playing with it, it doesn't dye your hands either. It was sticky at first so does require some kneading with some flour to get the sticky out, but once you do that it's perfect. This was a wonderful activity. I think we spent about 20-30 minutes making the 3 colors and then they played with it for about an hour after that. It was messy and there was flour on the floor but it only took me about 10 minutes to clean it all up. So it was worth it. We got our playdoh paraphernalia out - rolling pins, cookie cutters, etc. When they were done with it, I put the dough in ziplock baggies and put it in the fridge. I don't think keeping it in the fridge is required, but thought it might be nice to play with "cold" dough on a hot summer day.

What you'll need:

1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
2 Tbsp cream of tartar
1 envelope unsweetened Koolaid - 2 packets for more scent.
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
a few drops food coloring can also be added for more vivid colors.

1. Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar, Koolaid and water in medium saucepan. Stir in oil.

2. Mix over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until mixture forms a ball in the center of pan. Dough will start darkening in color.

3. Remove from pan {caution: will be HOT}. Knead until soft. Use a little flour to prevent sticking.

4. Store in airtight container or ziploc bag.

Not recommend for eating as it probably tastes gross.

Marissa's Art

2009-06-22T06:20:00.000-07:00

I love being creative and have always made sure we have paints, crayons, markers and tons of art stuff. I always regret it after because the mess can be incredible. But art in childhood and adulthood is important to me. Marissa has made me go "Wow" lately with her creations. She seems to have the Danowski art gene.

Dreamy Draw

2009-06-22T05:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Joe and I got up at 6:00 AM and drove about 20 minutes to hike one of the trails at Dreamy Draw Park. We did the 202 trail, it's an easy 1.5 loop that has some small up and down hills. Very serene and beautiful, but also made me sweat (because I'm out of shape) and got my heart rate up. It was neat to see horseback riders and lots of people with their dogs moving so early in the morning. It was an awesome way to start the morning!

Here's a picture of Joe, I doubt he even knows I took it. We each had our iPod's/MP3 players on, but low enough to still talk to each other. But I guess at one point I was talking LOUD.

Bon Voyage!

2009-06-19T05:18:00.000-07:00

My girls left for San Diego yesterday with Grandma and the cousins! I'm so excited for them. But I truly am sad to be apart from them. I miss them terribly! Today they will be at Sea World and dining with Shamu.

Here are some pictures upon leaving, one is of Bret before they left. They watched the movie Firehouse Dog while waiting for Grandma to get here, it's Bret's twin, Josh Hutcherson.

I will add more pictures when they get back. I told them I need tons of pictures!

Gran Torino

2009-06-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Joe and I watched Gran Torino last night. Clint Eastwood still has it. We laughed quite a bit at his tough "I don't give a crap" attitude. Don't get me wrong it wasn't a funny movie, but it had lighthearted moments in it. He befriends a kid who is in danger of getting mixed up in a gang. I guess he was 78 when this movie was filmed. Hopefully not his last film.