Try it Tuesday....Oreo Snack Cakes 100 Calorie Packs

These 100 calorie Oreo Snack Cakes are supposed to be the lighter version of Oreo Cakesters. I like the texture. They are soft. No frosting in the middle tho. Just lines of frosting on top of them. There are cakes in each 100 calorie package and 5 packages to a box. I paid $3.99 at Meijer.

So why am I always disappointed with anything that says Oreo on it??! These are more like yucksters than cakesters. Is it because they are low calorie? Does that have to mean low taste too? I've tried Oreo cereal and it's terrible. Oreo pudding is ok, but really doesn't taste too much like Oreo. The 100 calorie Oreo thin crisps are good, but they taste nothing like an Oreo. They only thing that tastes like an Oreo cookie, is an actual Oreo cookie. When will they ever get it right? Come on Nabisco!

I have yet to try the Oreo 100 Calorie chewy granola bars, so maybe I'll give it one more chance. I guess the reason for my big disappointment, is that I really like Oreos and so I expect any product with the Oreo name on it, to taste like an Oreo. Is that asking too much?

Speaking of Oreos....a little humor here. I have to admit, I sometimes used to watch the Roseanne show. I mostly liked to watch them because of Jackie. I think Laurie Metcalf was the best comedic actress ever on a sitcom (next to Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe on Friends). Jackie was much funnier than Roseanne. Anyway, the episode, "Let Them Eat Junk" has my favorite Jackie moment. AND it's all about Oreos! This YouTube is 7 minutes long, but the Oreo part ends at 2 minutes. Watch Jackie throw a fit over Roseanne feeding Jackie's son Andy Oreos while she babysits. Warning: there are a few swear/crude words, but it's hilarious that Jackie calls the family a bunch of Oreo eaters with Roseanne being the Oree-ohiest of them all. Quit watching after 2 minutes because the rest isn't as funny and is a bit more crude.
PS...you will have to pause or turn off the music at the bottom of my blog before watching the YouTube.

Youniverse

My friend Leslie sent me a link to take a Personality Test on Youniverse. It's pretty cool and actually is pretty close to who I am in some ways. Take a looksee at mine and then go try it yourself at Youniverse. They also have other quizzes to take. You can discover what kind of traveler you are, which famous star that you match, take a quiz about your well-being, explore the way your mind works, or see what kind of movie buff you are and so on. You can even network with your friends and other people, but I'm not really into that, although it's a cool idea.

PS...Are you getting sick of my music when you log on my blog? I'd like a quick poll from people to see if I should can the music. I like it, but it can get a tad annoying, so let me know if you think I should chuck it. Thanks!

Something To Think About Saturday

Got Milk?

When I saw this in my local newspaper, I thought it must be a joke at first, but it's not. Here is what I read....

PETA asks Ben & Jerry's to use breast milk
1 day ago

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Ice cream made from breast milk? That's what the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream to consider making.

The Virginia-based nonprofit group sent a letter to company co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield on Tuesday asking them to use human breast milk instead of cow's milk in their products.

PETA said the health of consumers and cows would benefit from the switch.

Ben & Jerry's spokesman Rob Michalak said the company applauds PETA's creative approach to bring attention to an issue, but believes that a mother's milk is best used by a child.

If you want to read the actual short letter that PETA sent to Ben & Jerry's, then look here....PETA


So, let me get this straight....to make it easier on the poor cows and because cow's milk is meant for baby cows, Ben & Jerry's should switch to human breast milk even though human breast milk is meant for human babies. Hmm....Doesn't make much sense to me. I think if I were to give away my breast milk, it would be better to donate it to a child who could benefit from it for health reasons. Read this article about how donating breast milk can save an infants life at BreastFeeding.com.

You can either agree with me or disagree on this mommy milk-ice cream subject. I don't expect everyone to see my views on everything I blog about, but this issue just seems silly to me.

You know you're fat when....

....... your teenage daughter leaves you a note on top of the brownie container to remind you to pick her up after school!

-sigh-

Try it Tuesday...Dawn PLUS Hand Renewal

I love this dish soap! I found it as usual at Target. I bought it at the same time that I bought the Dial Yogurt Foaming hand soap. Again, my friend Pam brought it to my attention.

It's a bit pricey at about $3.64 for a 22 ounce bottle, but it will go on sale like most products do.

This is what the website says about Dawn PLUS Hand Renewal:

With new Dawn PLUS Hand Renewal, you can transform the look and feel of your hands in just five dish washes. Side by side comparisons show that within five uses of Dawn PLUS Hand Renewal, skin feels softer and more beautiful.

Don't just use a dish soap that's mild on your skin-try one that actually improves the look and feel of it! Dawn PLUS Hand Renewal is great for hand care and you'll still get the excellent grease fighting power you've come to trust with Dawn.

Dawn PLUS Hand Renewal comes in these scents:

-Pomegranate and Splash with Vitamin E
-Lavender and Silk with Vitamin E
-Aloe Vera Scent

I bought the Lavender and Silk after a tough choice between that and the pomegranate. Both smelled refreshing and pleasant.

Now folks...I'm the kind of person that washes her hands a zillion times a day. That's how I roll. I don't like dirt or germs. No, I'm not obsessive compulsive or anything. I just like to feel clean. Since I have a one year old, I also change lots of poopies during the day. Yes, I like to wash my hands in the bathroom sink using the Dial Yogurt Foaming Soap (that I recently reviewed) or Bath and Body Works soaps, but I also have a pump built in my sink in the kitchen. If I need to wash my hands, I frequent the kitchen sink plenty of times during the day.

Because I'm a crazy hand washer, I get dry dry skin. Especially in the winter, but they are still dry throughout the year. So when I saw the Hand Renewal soap and it said I should have smooth skin in 5 days, I thought I'd try it.

It actually works! My hands are nice and soft. Of course we already knew that Dawn cleans dishes well. And now there are no worries about having dry itchy hands due to frequent hand washing or cleaning of dishes. I clean plenty of pots and pans, so I think I'll keep using this dish soap. I'll report back in the winter to let you know if it's still keeping my hands soft.

As you can see from the photo above, there is a sweepstakes you can enter at the Dawn website. Sign up and you might win some jewelry or atleast a free bottle of Dawn PLUS Hand Renewal dish detergent. Here is the link to sign up for the sweepstakes.

The Dawn website also has a link for a $1 off coupon for the dish detergent, but you have to give your address. It's from the Home Made Simple website. I get their newsletters monthly. At the Home Made Simple website, you can sign up for $27 worth of coupons in booklet form. It will include the $1 off for the Dawn PLUS Renewal. Here is the link for the coupons: Home Made Simple . And yes it's free. I enjoy the newsletter because they have great tips and coupons as well as some freebies once in a while.

Next week I'll be reviewing the new 100 calorie pack of Oreo Snack Cakes that I found at Meijer. I knew they would come out with this sooner or later!

*EDIT* It is now winter...January 3rd to be exact, and I thought I'd weigh in on how well I think the Dawn Hand Renewal is treating my hands. Ok, I can't say I use the Dawn to clean dishes after every meal, but I use it everyday atleast. Sometimes to wash my hands and sometimes to clean dishes individually. Not a sink full of dishes. Anyway, usually at this time of the winter season, my hands are so dry and cracked. Sometimes they bleed. Not this year so far. They aren't super soft, but they are much better than usual. I still need to put lotion on my hands, but not every day like last winter. So I'd say that Dawn Hand Renewal is doing a good job of softening my skin. I bet if I used it more, it would work even better. Did anyone else find the same results?

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These cookies are made with whole oats, fiber (3 grams in one cookie) and good fats. Yum.

Allergen info:
Contains wheat, almond, pecan, soy, and milk ingredients. May contain other tree nuts


Steal your free cookie here.

Something To Think About Saturday

Oh my. If troubles can be like this, then I used to be guilty of allowing an over-sized child slurp away right out in public.

Good thing I've matured enough to realize that problems get worse over time if you don't fix them. Sometimes they even seem bigger than they are because we let them fester. Time to get over it or be stuck in it right?

Try it Tuesday......Pringles Restaurant Cravers

Wal-mart is the only store to sell these limited edition flavors of Pringles. The Pringles website makes no mention of these flavors. They also fail to mention anything about my favorite Honey Mustard flavor. Wal-mart is also the only place that sells the limited edition Honey Mustard.

I hear there are these flavors of the Restaurant Cravers:

Cheesy Fries
Onion Blossom
Mexican Layered Dip
Slow Cooked BBQ
Mozzarella Sticks with Marinara

There could be more flavors, but since they don't advertise them on the Pringles site, I really wouldn't know until I actually see them on the shelves.

My photo above shows that my family tried the Onion Blossom and the Mexican Layered Dip. Not shown is the Cheesy Fries. We tried those, but the can came up missing when I went to take a photo of it. Macie tends to sneak food to her room, so I bet I would find it in her mini snack station if I looked hard enough. Her snack station is the outside edges of her bunk bed inbetween the mattress and the wood! I'm always finding wrappers, cups, boxes of crackers etc. For such a skinny person, that girl can EAT!

Anyway, here is what I think of the new Pringles flavors:

Onion Blossom: I liked these. They are a bit spicy because the horseradish flavor. It seems to be prominent. I love dipping deep fried onions in horseradish dip at restaurants. Mmm. So this one is something I'd buy again.

Mexican Layered Dip: Not a big fan. Too much jalapeno flavor. It's ok, but I doubt I'd buy them again. Especially since they are still in the cupboard mostly full. I guess everyone in the household feels the same as I do.

Cheesy Fries: These are good. Cheesy, but not too cheesy. I don't taste much else. They kind of taste like a plain old cheese chip to me, but I'd buy them again. My kids said they taste some potato-ey flavor that resembles french fries, but I didn't really taste that. Then again, they are a potato chip! Duh.

All of these new chips really have to be taste tested by you instead of taking my word for it. I tried to eat them at separate times so that the flavors didn't run together. I tried them in the morning so I could get a fresh perspective before I ate anything else. But I still think you will have to be the judge. I can't wait to try the other flavors offered, but my local store only had the 3 above.

Wanna know what flavor I think they should have made? Creamy Spinach dip! Mmm. That would be a good restaurant flavor. I could eat a bowl of that dip myself. Making it into a chip would be something I'd drive across town to buy from Wally World. Yum, yum, yummo!


Seen in an Ad: Pumpkin Spice flavored Hershey Kisses! Target is the only store exclusively selling them. I don't like pumpkin flavored anything, so that will be something someone else can review for me. Last year Target had the Candy Corn flavored Hershey Kisses, but I don't think I ever got around to trying them. Maybe I'll look for them again this year.

And speaking of fall and Halloween....While rummaging in the basement, I found Brycen's old Bee costume. It's soooo soft and cute! Another Target find. I think I'll put Miss Ava in it this year since she looooves The Bee Movie. At only 15 months old, she can sit thru probably half of it. Yes, I am a bad Mama letting her watch t.v. She loves it tho! She only watches it when Brycen does since he likes it too. I think she will make a cute little buzzing bee for Halloween. It will be her first year to actually do any trick-or-treating. Fun!

P.S.....I forgot to publish my blogoverary post, so if you feel like scrolling, there is a little blurp just below this post on September 15th. My blog has turned 1! Weeeeee!

My 1st Blogoversary!

Yes, today is my blogs ~1 year ~ birthday! Or should I say my blogoversary? I couldn't find a good graphic for a blogoversary, so we'll say birthday.

It's hard to believe I have been blogging my views, reviews, photos and silly website advertisements for a whole year! Are you sick of me yet?! I hope not cuz I'm not going anywhere for a loooong time. I'm a blogoholic.

Don't laugh at me

I found this silly site called, Yearbook Yourself. You can upload your picture and then see yourself in different school pictures from the year 1950 to the year 2000. You can tweak each photo and then save it. Yeah, like you would want to save it! I only saved mine to put in a blog post so everyone could see what a dork I would look like.

1952

1958

These are awful aren't they???

1966

1968

1972

1986


Whew! Aren't those pictures hideous?! Funny, but terrible.

The Yearbook Yourself site didn't have my graduation year...1987, so I thought I'd add my REAL senior picture and I promise it's not so scary.......

Boy, I wish I were that thin again.

So who is next to yearbook themselves so I can see?

Something To Think About Saturday

I love this quote that I found! It reminded me of a few times when I thought people didn't like me, and I had heard others say they thought these people were a little rude and stuck up. But then I got to know them and realized it was just their personalities that made it seem like they were stand off-ish. They weren't as bad as I had imagined them to be.

Another time, I had met a lady and thought she was a quiet and a tad strange. But I was prompted to get to know her better and now we talk a lot. We spend time together and I've realized that yes, she is a bit different, but she is still my friend and we still have some non-strange things in common. Ok, now all of my friends are going to wonder if I'm talking about THEM! Keep guessing girlies....it could be you...hee hee.

Try it Tuesday......Archer Farms Flavored Spring Water

Well, I have no picture of the Archer Farms flavored Spring Water because there doesn't seem to be any on the net! I threw away all 8 of my bottles because I just assumed there would be a photo. There are photos of the Archer Farms Fortified Water bottles tho.

But I didn't try the fortified water! Ugh.

Archer Farms is exclusively sold at Target or Super Target stores. I've already reviewed this brand and have enjoyed most of the foods/drinks that I've tried. I really wanted to try the flavored water when I ran across them. The 2 flavors that I picked up were, Lemon Raspberry and Blueberry Tangerine. Mmm. Sounds yummers! The water packs come with 4-20 ounce bottles for about $2.99. The water is clear and no sugar. 0 calories. That's my kind of drink!

I love my water cold, so I promptly refrigerated them.

First, I tried the Lemon Raspberry. Wow. -Insert sad face here-
I didn't taste any raspberry OR lemon. What's up with that? How disappointing.

I thought it might be a glitch in my taste buds, so I opened the Blueberry Tangerine. Same thing! It didn't taste anything like blueberry OR tangerine! What a rip.

Either my taste buds are deceiving me, or this flavored water is totally screwed up. Did I get old water that had been sitting on the shelf long enough to change the flavor? I can't even describe what the flavors really tasted like. They were both sweet, but no real distinct flavors.

For such a great brand and a nicely designed bottle, I would expect better flavor. Has anyone else tried this water? I'd like to hear what others think about the same water. Now, I will be trying the fortified water soon. I refuse to give up on Archer Farms! The fortified water has flavors like lychee and also lavender. Sounds intriguing doesn't it?

I did find a website that has video reviews on the Archer Farms flavored water, but I can't get the videos to work. Here is the link anyway in case you're interested.

2 negative reviews in a row. Sorry!

Next weeks should be better since I am going to review the new Pringles flavors that Wal-mart is now selling. They are called Pringles Restaurant Cravers! Some of the flavors are Cheesy Fries, Onion Blossom, Slow Cooked BBQ and Mozzarella. They sound delish and they are still only $1 a can. I think Wal-mart might be the only place that sells these flavors, just like the Honey Mustard that my family dies for. I know a lot of people don't like shopping at Wal-mart, but I am at a point in my life that I have to save as much money as I can. Wal-mart has cornered the market on low prices, so that's where I tend to shop the most. I do, however, go out of my way to shop at the Wal-mart furthest away from my house because it's newer (meaning cleaner) and I can always find a parking spot. The Wal-mart closest to my house is always jammed with cars and jammed with people so I have to wait in loooong lines to check-out. It's worth my gas to go a little further I say.

Anyway, until next week....happy blogging.

Something To Think About Saturday

I know that Gov. Palin meant this from a political standpoint since she is Sen. John McCain's new running mate, but there are plenty of other ways to apply it to our lives.

My first thought was to liken it to our compassion for others. We may have it in our hearts to help someone, but until we act on it, it just stays there doing nothing. We might feel inadequate to reach out and help someone. Perhaps we may feel like we might fail them. But we will never do any good if we don't try. In my opinion, one of the reasons we are put here on this earth, is to love and help one another. We are built to help.

Compassion is just one way to look at this quote...what else can we compare this quote to? Talents? Taking a class to better ourselves? You tell me! I'd love to hear someone elses take in this quote.

Try It Tuesday......Starburst Gummi Bursts

Liquid Gummies...hmmm. The kids begged me to buy this on our last grocery store trip. Truthfully, I was only able to try about 4 pieces because the bag was small and I have sugarholic kids. But I did try to vary the flavors.

I loooove Starburst candies. I love the original flavors of Starburst Candies. I even like the lemon. Mmmm. I thought I would love the Starburst jellybeans that came out a long time ago too. But I didn't. I was expecting the jelly beans to actually "taste" like Starburst candies. But they didn't.

So along comes the Starburst Gummi Bursts. Do I even dare to hope that they would taste like the original Starburst candies? Don't bother hoping, because surprise, surprise...they tasted nothing like them. It was just like eating Lifesaver Gummies. Except that there was a liquid center in the Starburst Gummi Bursts. I did like the liquid center. It wasn't too overpowering and tasted good. But each flavor was just like the Lifesavers to me, so I wasn't very impressed. Bummer.

If I had sum up the Starburst Gummi Bursts in one word, it would be......ordinary.

Sorry for the negative review. Maybe I set my expectations too high. This review is all my personal negativity...and perhaps you might like them. So go ahead and try the candies...If you like Lifesavers Gummies, then you will adore Starburst Gummi Bursts. :)

Beep...the kids can't come to the phone right now...they are back at school! Whoo hoo!

It was back to school day on Tuesday for the Weihl kids. They aren't little any more, so not all of them would let me take pictures in their school clothes and back packs (oh, I'm sorry...according to my kids, they are called,'tote' bags).

Like Holly's post, here is how Macie really felt of Mom taking photos.

And here is one where I forced her to smile and act like she was luvin' every minute of it.
Notice that she is matching from head to toe! She really likes the turquoise color along with brown. We didn't notice that her outfit matched her tote bag perfectly until later in the day. Too funny.

Here is Molly in one of her new outfits.
She is the only one who actually enjoys getting her photo taken.


Jillian would smile for the camera, but didn't want her whole body to show. -sigh-


Brycen ran to his room as fast as he could to avoid Mom's need for documentation, so there are no pics of him this time.


I won't show the picture that we took of Ava today because I didn't realize until later that she had a small amount of gag-me-with-a-spoon dog poo on her nose! She found a little pile of the disgusting stuff in M&M's room today. Ew. Anyone want a min-pin who can't be trained for nuttin'? Blech.

At least I'll always be able to find some poo for my famous p sandwiches or p salad though right? Ugh. Sorry. It's been one of those days.

No Try it Tuesday today

I know. I'm lame. Just call me lame-o-Leanne-o. I didn't do Try It Tuesday today. In my defense, today was the first day back to school for 4 of my kids and I'm tired. Seems like all we've been doing lately is running around, tying up loose ends for school. Plus, we have other events going on this past week that have gotten a lot of my attention. Not to mention the fact that I have done 3 Primary sharing times in a row, PLUS I will be doing it again this week!

How about a Try It Thursday? Check back on Thursday and I'll have a post. Not sure what I'm going to try yet, but I will figure out something bloggable ok?

Good Mail!

Wow! I have received my very own Good Mail! :)

Nikki was kind enough to send me a crazy cute note card along with my very own Good Mail labels!
Yay! She said she picked the colors because they match my blog. How sweet!

THANKS NIKKI!

What a nice gesture! Now I can spread some luv with my own Good Mail labels :)

For those of you who don't know what "Good Mail" is, take a look at Nikki's blog post. You will have to scroll down a little bit (taking a look at her fabulously designed living room pics first of course) to the part about Good Mail. It's a sure fire way to brighten someones day. You can even follow the link to a friend of hers that sells Good Mail labels (she started the fun trend).

Thanks again for the G-Mail Nikki!