Sit and stay a-Weihl

Something To Think About Saturday

2011-07-16T13:09:00.000-04:00

I'm going to have to take this image that I made and mount it on an Arts Cow canvas to hang on my wall. We always seem to want more, more, more. I know I'm guilty of it occassionally. Time to gather that which we can actually take with us and hold fast.

Summer Sunset

2011-07-11T21:32:00.000-04:00

I didn't Photoshop these or use any other type of manipulation. Just my little 'ol camera a week ago.

These photos are an example of the reason I have *BIG* dreams to own a place right on the shores of Lake Michigan or Lake Superior. I can just imagine lounging in a beach chair watching a gorgeous sunset like this.

Until it becomes a reality, I'll keep dreaming.
Ahhh...

Jillian Grad (TESTING)

2011-03-21T13:33:00.001-04:00

Preppy Penmanship Pink Graduation Announcement

To view our top graduation card designs, click here.

View the entire collection of cards.

Just Because...

2011-02-25T12:19:00.002-05:00

This quote is getting a bit over-used, but who cares. I still think it's funny. I'm currently reading the book, "Pride And Prejudice And Zombies". The same Jane Austen story with a bit of brain munching mixed in. Zombie's are all the rage, and I'm sooo buying into it. I guess my 12 year old son and I finally have something in common!

Disney Trip!

2010-12-16T12:52:00.001-05:00

Oh yeah. Ohhhhh yeah. We had a fabulous trip to all the Disney World parks! 4 parks. 6 days. FUN.

ShutterFly Rocks!

2010-12-07T21:32:00.000-05:00

Try it! It's free to just insert your photos and create a project. I guarantee that you will want to order when you see how gorgeous your project can be!

They have high quality cards, books, calendars etc. I made a photobook awhile back of my trip to France. It turned out beautifully, so I ordered a second one. I love how I can design a photo card and see how it will look before printing. Plus, they have lots & lots of designs, colors, fonts etc.

You can even upload a digital scrapook layout if you roll that way. Make your own scrapbook that is bound and beautiful.

Go check it out! And if you're lucky, you might just receive one of my own Christmas cards if you are on my list! If you don't get one...well....I guess I just don't like you that much. KIDDING!!

With Love Chartreuse Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly.com for elegant Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Another Opportunity To Help!

2010-10-08T13:11:00.003-04:00

My friend Forrest has made it into the top 100 for his Pepsi Refresh project! He now has another chance to make his project come to life! The top *10* ideas will win $25,000!

Please think about voting for his Liberty Swing project. He wishes to buy and install this unique swing for people with disabilities in the West Michigan area. This swing would allow people with disabilities to join in the same fun that other children do at the park. A swing that holds a wheelchair! What a fantastic concept!

And a *bonus* for you......
Vote for this project and win goodies from my friend Megan at Shabby Blogs!

Shabby Blogs Give A Way

You know her and love her blog backgrounds, so go vote! Then post on her blog that you have voted and you just may win some super shabby goodies to decorate your blog! Tweet or Facebook about it for more chances! Put the widget on your blog and get yet another chance! Do it! You know you want free stuff! And along with winning free stuff, you are helping others to better their lives. Thank you!

2010-09-04T17:15:00.000-04:00

You can vote once a day....

This simple act of kindness could bring joy to so many young people with disabilities!

PLEASE VOTE!

Something To Think About Saturday

2010-05-08T17:52:00.000-04:00

I admit that I'm preoccupied with losing people since so many in my life have left this world lately. It scares me to think that someone I love and care about could be gone in a blink. I never want my children to think that I haven't loved them. From the moment I knew they existed, I loved them with every fiber of my being.

I promise to love each and every person that is in my personal world for as long as I exist and beyond.

Pinky promise.

2010-04-28T13:37:00.003-04:00

Le Mans

2010-04-23T13:33:00.002-04:00

I promised that I would blog about my trip to France, so here goes!

I will have to do it in more than one post because truthfully, we took over 1,300 photos on this trip. No, I won't bore you by posting all of them! ;)

My stomach was in knots before this trip because I would be 4,000 miles away from my children and I was soooo worried about Ava. I wouldn't be close enough to just come home if she needed me. It was killing me inside knowing I couldn't calm her or comfort her when she needed me. But...everything went fine! Sure, there were times when she was a bit sad and the older girls had a hard time getting her to calm down and go to sleep at night. But all in all, she was fine.

And I can't let the post go by without *THANKING* my family and friends for taking over for me. I appreciate their willingness to help and the love they showed my children in our absence. My mind was actually more at ease knowing my children we being cared for to the full extent. You know who you are.....THANK YOU!

Ok, our trip to Le Mans was beautiful! I actually enjoyed being in this small town MORE than I enjoyed Paris. Le Mans is full of history and rich architecture. So beautiful. It made the nauseating plane trip well worth it (That's right, I felt sick during the whole 8 hour flight).

We were picked up at the airport in Paris by a nice man from the company Rick was doing a presentation for. Jean Luc was funny, helpful and a good driver ;) And noooo...we didn't drink the wine pictured. Wine is served with pretty much every meal in France though. A glass of wine is cheaper than a glass of soda. No one was offended that we didn't drink alcohol. They just expected that we would drink the soda instead and were always prepared for us at meal time. How gracious of them!

The first night we were on our own for dinner. Instead of taking a taxi to a restaurant we decided to eat at the hotel.

There is no Diet Coke over there. It's Coca Cola Light. I wish it were caffeine free, but it was not. They don't drink soda out of the bottle either. Glasses are always served. Even at the mall food court, we were given plastic cups to drink our soda.

Jillian told her high school french teacher that she would try pate'. It was poultry pate', but the menu didn't say which kind. Duck? Goose? Who knows. Needless to say, she didn't like it. We all tasted it and no one really liked it. We did, however, have some the next night at a different restaurant and it tasted much better. Speaking of Jillian, having her along was a big bonus! She can understand french better than any of us, so she was able to decipher the menu's and also speak to people on our behalf. She isn't fluent, but it was a much easier trip having her along! Thanks Jillian!

Rick had duck filet and it was tender and tasty. He did complain that there wasn't enough food to fill him up though. He complained about this during the whole trip! No wonder french people are so skinny. There are no super-size meals over there!

I had filet de boeuf saisi au sautior with creme au bleu. Basically, it's a beef filet with bleu cheese dressing. The steak was chewy, but the rest was good. (blurry...sorry about the photo)

A close up of my bleu cheese dressing. There was some dark chocolate served with it under the little ceramic cup. Mixed together, it as pretty awesome!

This bread was delicious!

On the first full day in Le Mans, Rick left to do business, so Jillian and I here on our own. We had a taxi drop us off at the Saint Julien's Cathedral. It was been built in sections starting in about the 1100's. It has such beauty. It is in the old town part of the village.

Here are some of my favorite photos inside the cathedral.

This is the Menhir right outside the cathedral. Some called it the "bellybutton" of the city. It's 5000-7000 years old! Some say it is a rock of fertility. Needless to say, I stayed far far away from it.

In the same square as the cathedral was a cute recycle shop with beautiful European clothing, handbags and goods that are made from old leathers etc.

Here is Jillian enjoying the cute shop. You can see the cathedral steps in the background.

I bought this cute little pouch made from an old belt and some soft leather. I couldn't speak french, so I didn't ask the lady what the leather was from.

Isn't it sweet? I love it. And only $7 euros.

The lady was nice and was sweet enough to even call us a taxi so we could head back to our hotel later. But before we went back, we walked around the cobblestone streets snapping shots. Between all the museums and stores were homes. I bet it would be super expensive to live in one.

Overlooking a river, you can barely see a wall. The Roman's built this wall by re purposing stone from Roman baths. Lots of history in this town! We didn't venture down to the water because we were a bit worried

about getting lost since it was our first day.

Also in the above photo are stone arches with beautiful flowers and grassy areas in them on both sides of the road.

Here is a closer look at a couple of the arches. At night they are lit up and so gorgeous. I'm sure there is some significance to them, but I'm not sure what the story is behind them.

Flowers growing right out of the stone wall. I didn't see any planter. How cute!

Cutest flower shop EVER!

We found a museum garden. Too bad it's so early in spring that not much was going on. I bet it's fabulous in the late spring/summer. I'm not sure if we were supposed to be in here or not, but we did it anyway.

Later that night, we were picked up at our hotel and taken to a business dinner at this place. Earlier in the day, Jillian and I walked by it and I mentioned that it looked expensive and I wouldn't be taking her there for lunch!

We ate a business dinner with people from *6* different countries. We all spoke at least some English, so I was in awe to be smack in the middle of all kinds of interesting conversations! There were people there from Spain, Russia, Bulgaria, Denmark and of course France and the USA. Earlier in the day, Rick did presentations for other countries that mostly spoke french. There were even more than 6 countries represented! Awesome. All the people were there for the lawn care industry.

I really wanted to take photos during this dinner, but it didn't seem to be the right thing to do. We ate raw salmon, prawns, steak etc. We were treated like royalty throughout this whole trip by the company that invited Rick.

Well, that's it for the first 2 days in Le Mans! I'll post again, because there is SO much more including our visit to Paris and the Louvre!

Oo-La-La

2010-04-03T21:25:00.000-04:00

I never thought that I'd go here! I promise to blog about it. Pinky promise.

Inspiration From....You?

2010-04-01T00:38:00.005-04:00

Before I get into the real reason I'm posting today, I thought I'd show one of my very favorite things in my house. It possibly IS my favorite piece.

Years ago my sister in-law and I ventured into an antique shop south of town. It was huge. I like antiques, although my house isn't full of them by any means. But this beauty caught my eye. An old narrow window shutter.

Here is a close up look.

I wasn't sure what I would do with it, but I liked it enough to shell out a whole $4 for it. Actually, there were *2* of them. What was I thinking by not getting that 2nd one?! I am totally kicking myself for not having a matching set.

Just look at the beautiful old metal!

I didn't even care that part of it was painted and the other not. Still adorable to me.

Anyway, I thought I could use it to store mail or something in the slots, but then thought better.

<<<< After receiving inspiration by looking at this in the Lillian Vernon catalog, I decided to put my own spin on the idea.

I had the smaller frames leftover from an ugly wire wall hanging thingie, so I thought I'd put them to good use. They already had the eyehooks on them to boot. So all I had to do was buy some ribbon to hang the frames from the shutter. Works for me!

I don't know about you, but I'm a sentimental person. So I thought that placing photos of my grandparents homes in the frames would be just the thing to make me smile whenever I looked at them. I had visited my grandparents on both sides of my family up in Michigan's Upper Penninsula many many years. These old homes are important to me in my memories.

The photos weren't of when my grandparents actually lived there because they have been gone for many years, but the houses were still special to me, so I sneakily snapped photos when we visited the area one summer. I even have a photo of my grandparents old cabin in Canada, plus a photo of some waterfalls that are nearby that cabin.

Anyway, the purpose of showing all this is because I like to decorate with things that have meaning. I like that I had some inspiration for this project. And I like that I found the adorable shutter really cheap!

So, now I have a new project. It's not an antique, but like the shutter, it was cheap ($6) at JoAnn Fabrics. And I know I want to do something special with it, but I have no inspiration! It's been sitting here for a few months and I have only a vague idea of what I should do with it! What is it you ask? Well, it's this......

It's a big 'ol "W"!!

It's made of papier mache' and is begging me to do something with it. I can hang it with a hook or it's also free-standing. So what do I do with it?!!

It's big- like 2 ft.x 2 ft. tall kind of big.

My only thought is to print out photos of my family and make a collage on it. A sepia-toned collage. I'm all about senitment, so wouldn't photos of my family be just what it needs? Or not?

HELP! I could really use some inspiration here. Please! I want to hear your ideas. If I don't get them, I might possibly go mad. You don't want me to end up in the loony bin do you? ;)

{Let Them Eat Cake}

2010-03-28T21:42:00.001-04:00

I finally did it. I had been wanting to make the cake balls and cake pops that I had seen on Bakerella's website for an eternity (or so it seemed!).

They are fabulous! I had never seen such a thing before and was excited to try them. My friend Leslie was just as excited and next time I want to make them together. Baking + Friends = *FUN*

Anyway, after hearing about a mexican dinner fundraiser for my friend Steven, who has bone cancer, I decided to make the cake balls/pops for the bake sale portion. Steven has to travel to Chicago (about a 3-4 hour drive) for treatments, so this fundraiser was to help with those expenses. I was hoping they might fetch a little higher price than a chocolate chip cookie so that we could gather as much donation money as we could for Steven & his family. From what I heard later, the fundraiser was a complete success! A lot of people spent many hours planning it and they pulled it off beautifully. I enjoyed cooking, baking and serving for this event. It really feels good to serve others in their time of need. Heaven knows I've had friends and family serving my own family in our time of need, so I'm glad that I was able to repay a little of what was done in the past for myself.

Anyway,I didn't make the cake balls/pops too fancy, but I hear they flew off the table, so I must have done something right! Next time I would like to make different fun pops. Maybe flower shaped or Hello Kitty shaped. That would be fun! Aren't they cute? Bakerella is the queen of baking!

Anyway, if you're wondering what a cake ball/pop is, here is the low-down.

I baked a boxed cake mix in a 13x9 pan. Let it cool and then broke it all up into pieces. I thought that might feel liberating, but truthfully, it just felt....wrong. I felt like I ruined the cake! Haha.

Next, I mixed all the cake crumbles with a can of cream cheese frosting. This is a messy process, but nonetheless FUN. I rolled most of them into quarter sized balls. Some I made extra big. The small ones where pop in your mouth-able, while the larger ones were meant to be eaten with a fork. Well, actually, you could just take a big 'ol bite out of those too. Doesn't matter when it's so tasty!

Next, I put them in the fridge to firm them up. To go faster, I froze some of them (I'm always behind and late for events!). For the cake pops, lollipop sticks were inserted and then dipped in melted chocolate or white chocolate coating. They turned out cute! I wrapped them in cellophane tied with a twisty and they were ready to sell.

The cake balls were dipped, finished off and placed into a small cupcake liner. Or a big liner for the monster ones.

I made double chocolate balls and pops. And red velvet balls dipped in white chocolate. Next time I might use a home made cake mix instead of a store bought one. I think they would be tastier made from scratch.

Of course I HAD to try one....

....or 5.

Mmm....delicious!

SlingRider & Wendy Bellissimo Baby Slings Recall - Product Recalls - Parents.com

2010-03-24T13:31:00.001-04:00

Yes, I own one of these. It's a pretty black toile one. I bought it on Ebay.

I only used it *one* time. I felt like I was smothering Ava. She was cocooned in there toooo much. It's been sitting in her bedroom closet on a hook for almost 3 years. I kept saying it was a waste of money. I was going to re-gift it to someone, but then I thought....duh...if Ava was too squished, why would I hand it over to someone else?

They are offering replacement products. Tie carriers (these are really cute), shopping cart covers (I already have a black toile one of those and totally love it), and an activity gym. Ava is too old for the gym and carrier. So I guess I'm ordering the gym anyway and giving it as a gift.

I was also looking at the Infantino website and saw that they had several other things that have been recalled over the years. I'm wondering if Infantino is a good company to buy things for our precious children! They obviously don't do enough research before putting our children at risk.

SlingRider & Wendy Bellissimo Baby Slings Recall - Product Recalls - Parents.com

Snow Much {FUN}

2010-03-14T00:43:00.004-05:00

Since it's starting to look like spring is upon us, I thought I had better squeeze in a little post about *sNoW.

Ava was kind of small to be out in the snow last year, so this year was super fun for her. She had a new coat, boots, snowpants, gloves etc.

She looked the part!

So off she went to play with Molly.....

....and Jillian.

But soon it was getting too cold & dark, so it was time to come in.

But Ava didn't want to of course.

How did she go so quickly from this.....

To this??!!!

*sigh*

Something To Think About Saturday

2010-02-27T00:00:00.001-05:00

This is me....deal with it.

2010-02-21T00:01:00.000-05:00

Compassionate Service!

2010-02-19T11:47:00.001-05:00

My brother is an art teacher in the Upper Pennisula of Michigan. He and his students have designed ceramics to sell at the local mall in Marquette. They have already sold over $300 worth and plan to keep selling. After which, they will donate their earnings to Haiti relief.

I'm kind of proud of my big brother! He gets his compassion from my Mom (I miss you Mom!)

Here is the article. I'm posting this for keepsake purposes!

NEGAUNEE -- A group of students are trading their talents for any relief they can get for victims of the Haiti earthquake.

By using their own art skills and what they are learning in class, Negaunee High School art students, under the direction of their teacher, Gene Bertram, are selling the ceramics they are making in class to collect donations.

All of the money collected will be donated to the Red Cross and will go exclusively to providing relief to those in Haiti.

As of Saturday morning, after two days of selling, the group had raised more than $300.

"The generosity of Marquette County is just, they're there and they're here for us, here for the people of Haiti, too, so we're kind of proud of that," said Bertram.

Bertram said they plan on keeping this fund-raiser going as long as they can.

If you'd like to pick up any pottery and make a donation, the students are usually in the Westwood Mall on Fridays and Saturdays, or you can stop by Negaunee High School during the school day as well.

In Your Face!

2010-02-16T02:10:00.000-05:00

God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another.

-William Shakespeare

Something To Think About Saturday

2010-02-06T15:40:00.000-05:00

There is an upside to every event. I just wish I trusted myself to see it every time.

Something To Think About Saturday

2010-01-30T22:27:00.000-05:00

Fairfax Rocks!

2010-01-27T20:32:00.002-05:00

And now......the rest of the story.

But I sure can't tell it in full because I waited too long to blog about it. Lesson learned! :(

On our first day without my hubby (who was doing business), we ventured to the big mall in Fairfax. It has most of the same stores we can find locally, minus a few (like H&M!), but we had a blast anyway.

Macie found "her" store and we found some really good sales on denim shorts that she needed.

We don't have any gelato places around our hometown (that I know of), so finding Piccomolo was a treat! We tried a mixture of Chocolate & Snozzle Berry. So delish. Just look at this cute little cup and spoon! I noticed that the bowl was sturdy so I kept it. I use it to put little snacks in for Ava. And it's dishwasher safe!

Bonus!

After we walked all over the mall (I think I'm in love with Pottery Barn Kids by the way), we ended up at one of my top 3 places to eat!

CHEESECAKE FACTORY!

I had to eat my fav dish...orange chicken. I wish... WISH... WISH we had a CF near by!

Macie didn't want anything off of the lunch menu, she wanted a decadent appetizer called Deep Fried Macaroni & Cheese.

Look at this thing!

Here's a peek at the insides. Ooey, gooey goodness! The total calories for this appetizer are over 1700. Ouch! Good thing Macie can afford the calories! She did share a few bites with the rest of us. She didn't even finish it. She brought it back to

the hotel and ate it later.

The perfect ending to this lunch was a big fat piece of Banana Cream Cheesecake. A person can't go to Cheesecake Factory and not get cheesecake can they?! I was shocked that none of my children wanted a piece for themselves (shocked and happy cuz the prices ain't cheap!). I ate a few bites of this baby and shared the rest with my dh later.

Back at the hotel.....

Shopping is hard work. Zzzzz.

And here is my "rip-off" of the day! Ever shopped at Fuzziwigs store? Might want to think twice before you do. Ava was getting a bit fussy, so I thought I'd just grab a small Dum Dum sucker to keep her occupied. You know what they are...cheap, tiny things that the bank gives to your kids when you go thru the drive-up window. Well.....

I go to pay for the thing and the lady tells me my total is....get this.....83 cents! Wha?! For DUM DUM?! Yes. 83 cents. I certainly hope Ava enjoyed it *sigh*.

So after we did all that shopping and eating, we took a little rest and went out to dinner with Rick and a business associate. We ate SO much food during this trip! After eating out every day for lunch and dinner, I was glad to eat the breakfast that was offered at the hotel each morning so that I could get unlimited fruit and yogurt.

During our stay, we were eating our breakfast and noticed breaking news that Senator Edward Kennedy had died. Being in Washington D.C. at the time, we all felt a little more patriotic than usual. It was kind of a sad day. We left the area before he was buried at Arlington though.

Next we headed to Lancaster, PA. Rick went ahead with a business associate and I drove with the kids. I figured it would be a long drive on unfamiliar expressways, so I wasn't looking forward to it, but it was a snap. The speed limit was low most of the way, so people weren't driving like crazy zoomers. I was expecting it to be like Chicago or San Diego, but nope, easy peasy. Plus, it was only a little over 2 hours, not even close to the 4 I had expected.

The first night in Lancaster, we ate at a family style Amish restaurant. We shared a table and food with another family. Molly & Ava are pictured.

(Please excuse my lack of photograpy skills. Not everyone can be H.A. ya know!)

Brycen & Macie with their fake smiles! They really hated it when I dug out the camera.

Dinner consisted of fried chicken, home made noodles and brown sauce (this was my favorite!) and lots of other side dishes. We had home made bread with different butters (like apple butter) and spreads. The idea of family style, is to pass the dishes around, sharing with the other family. There is no menu. We ate what we were served. Just like Mom used to make us do!

Dessert was peach pie, shoo fly pie and cracker pudding.

Ava with her Shoo Fly Pie. She and I were the only ones who actually liked the pie. I'm surprised because Rick usually likes most pie! It was sweet (sickeningly). I usually don't like molasses, but this was mild and delicious.

And here was the Cracker Pie. Made with soda crackers, sweet milk and coconut. The coconut made me NOT want to try this, but I did. It would be great without that ingredient. Ick.

Back at the hotel, the kids enjoyed the pool.

All and all, it was a nice trip. I really missed Jillian, but I plan to take her next time we do something as a family. I understand that she wanted to work and her job was new, but we made memories this summer. And memories with family are important, so next time, she will be joining us. Before we know it, the kids will be grown up and on their own. I want to make as many memories with them as I can before this happens.

And there you have it. A family vacation slash business trip. I promise to take more interesting photos next time. I guess I get to busy living the moment that I don't remember to document it good enough. Oh well.

Peace out!

Washington D.C. Trip!

2010-01-20T22:14:00.001-05:00

I'm such a dummo! I totally forgot to blog about our PA/Virginia/Washington D.C. trip. I started, but failed totally. I did do a post about Hershey, PA, but that was it!

So.....here are a few highlights of our trip. Again, Jillian had to work at the amusement park, so she wasn't able to join us. I really felt a bit off kilter without her there. Someone was missing and it was noticable to all of us. :( Next time I'm making her skip work and be with us. Who knows how many trips we will have left with all of us together? Jillian is already almost 17 and soon will be off to college.

Ok, so here we go....

Remember, this trip was in August, so it was warm. I like summer, but don't love it. I do, however, love that I was able to spend time with my family even if we were dripping with sweat occassionally!

On our first full day in Fairfax, VA, we traveled a bit east to the Washington D.C. Temple in Kensington, MD. We were sealed there 20 years ago, and we had not been back since. It was a special experience seeing it again and it brought back many memories. It also was super fantastic that we could show the kids where we were married so long ago. It was a beautiful day outside.

<<< Still sad about Jillian missing in this one.

<< Due to remodeling, they had to make the reflection pool smaller, but I didn't notice much of a difference. It's still as beautiful as ever.

<< There was a gorgeous Hubble Space Telescope photography exhibit in one of the rooms of the visitors center. You really had to see it for yourself to appreciate it. I really felt small compared to so many stars a many light years away.

<< Miss Ava. I pretty much cry every time I see the Christus. How can you not?

<< Brycen at one of the interactive areas of the visitors center. Push a button and hear the story of Lehi.

<< Molly with a replica of the golden plates.

<< Way up on the wall, there were many scriptures to help individuals & families remember why they are here and what we should be striviving for eternally.

<< A sister missionary took our photo. I can't help but think there are a few of us missing. Perhaps 2 of them were there in spirit.

<< In the parking lot were many islands of grass. Right in the middle of the lot, surrounded by parking spaces was a sweet fawn! It wouldn't let us get too close, but again, a reminder of the beauty of nature and what HF has given us.

<< About 20 mins away from the Temple, is Washington D.C. itself. I have to admit that at first I was very frustrated with this place! It's so hard to navigate, people are everywhere and there is NO parking. Ok, so yes, there IS parking, but it's usually very far away from where you want to actually be. Trying to get around this place was taking it's toll. Tempers were flaring and exhaustion was high. We did find some parking near the Jefferson Memorial (pictured), but it was a long walk to actually get there. I needed the exercise though right? If it weren't so hot that day, it would've been much better. The memorial was nice, but truthfully, I could've done without that one. What might have been nice was the paddle boats seen in the water. It was only $4 a person for a 1/2 hour ride. Why didn't we do it? I don't know.

<< So after awhile of trying to find parking and figuring out where to go, we broke down and looked for a tour bus. Why didn't we do this to begin with?! It was heaven! It didn't cost that much either. We settled on, A Taste Of DC Tour. Since most of our day was taken up by aimlessly driving around, we were thrilled when we found this quick 2 hour tour. It started at Union Station which was awesome to be in! Huge and sooo many people! Fancy stores, eateries etc too. When the trolley tour started, we were able to drive by many many sights, hear an experienced driver tell us interesting facts (did you know you can't use your cell phone while driving in DC? I'm shocked we didn't get a ticket in the mail from one of the many cameras at the traffic signals!) and stop at the Capitol (pictured from our trolley) and the White House. We had plenty time to visit these places before hopping back on the trolley. It was sooo worth the money for this tour. Next time I will plan better and take a longer tour or maybe even a DC at night time tour. They even have segway tours! But only for ages 16 and up.

<< Kids at the Capitol. If I'm not mistaken, the veranda above the kids is where President Obama was sworn in.

<< Wish I knew what they were thinking.

<< Throwing pennies & making wishes. I love those trees in the backround.

<< On the Capitol lawn taking a rest. It sure was hot that day. Look at that poor lady in the background! Hot & tired I assume.

<< A zoomed in photo of the White House thru the fence. We weren't able to get close at all. A person can't even drive near it. The street is closed off. We had to walk from a different area. Police are all over. Some people were reprimanded for getting off the sidewalk. Security seemed really tight to me.

<< Not a very appealing view behind Macie, but this is all you get when you visit the White House. Heck, the squirrels can get closer than we can. Walking around the entrance gets us closer, but trees block the view, so there is no real good view.

<< The fence around the White House has this pretty iron finial every few feet. I love it. I wish it were a better photo so I could cut it out and digiscrap with it as an element. Time to get the Canon fixed!

Well, that does it for our first full day in D.C. When I get a chance, I'll blog a little bit about our Virgina stay. Fairfax was only about 20 minutes from D.C. to the west. Lots to do in this area!

I need to remind myself to blog sooner because I've forgotten some things, so this post wasn't as good as it could've been. Next vacation (in April!) will be documented sooner!

Something To Think About Saturday

2010-01-09T00:00:00.002-05:00

Sometimes you just have to laugh about it.

Twenty-Ten?

2010-01-01T14:13:00.002-05:00

A very happy 2010 to you all!

Question of the day: Will you pronounce it, "two-thousand-ten" or "twenty-ten"????

I prefer the long version. Twenty-ten just sounds strange to me. Something to get used to anyway.

I have lots of goals to accomplish this year. But the first thing I plan to tackle is organizing and cleaning my bedroom closet. It's become a dumping ground for everything that doesn't already have a place. I won't even show you a photo of it because it's so embarrassing! I cleaned off my desk 2 days ago and believe it or not had a full bag of garbage after I was done!

Time to get organized!!

Heaven forbid I die tomorrow and those left behind have to clean up my messes all over! I wish I had The Container Store nearby. It would really help with the mountians of stuff that I have.

What are your goals for this new year? I wanna know!

2009-12-31T02:24:00.002-05:00

Gimme a big 'ol hug and make it all better!

...this.

Ava, after tripping a little bit and bumping the shower enclosure:

"Shower hurt me! I got a boo-boo on my skin. I need a sticker(bandage)."

I just love toddler talk.

Something To Think About On Christmas

2009-12-25T14:34:00.001-05:00

I'm grateful for the gift that Jesus has given me.

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-12-19T01:52:00.001-05:00

Missing my sweet son.

~Whatever~

2009-12-07T20:23:00.007-05:00

I'm at the point that I feel like just saying, "Whatever" to everything and everyone. I guess I have a short fuse lately (although I can hide it quite well). I just feel like giving up on sooo many things!

I can't please anyone (especially myself). I can't get everything done in one day. I'm no super-mom and I'm no super-wife. I'm not the best friend in the world and I avoid some of the people I love the most. When does a woman start menopause? Now you say? Or is it just the middle age blues? Am I middle aged at 41? I guess so. How did I get this way??

Welcome to the pity party!

♫ It's my blog and I'll complain if I want to. ♫

I am only partially done decorating my house for Christmas. Not that anyone would notice anyway. I'm too lazy to put up outdoor lights. I haven't wrapped gifts or care to. I haven't even started Christmas cards. And just now I put a new Christmas blog header on my blog just to test it, and next thing I know, the program shut down on it's own and I wasn't finished tweaking it. So I guess the header stays unfinished because I don't have the energy to do it all over again!

And how about the family? I have 3 girls who are "moody" if you know what I mean. One boy who has been missing his hockey practices for several reasons (car related, illness related) so he can be grouchy (plus he keeps running out of socks because MOM can't keep up on the laundry). One daughter who likes to put her fingers in her poo and then run down the hallway with said fingers on the walls. And one husband that puts up with all of it and needs more attention than he is getting.

There is much more, and I will spare you the details, but let's just say that my poor pillow must think I'm the biggest freak for screaming into it so much lately.

To top it all off, I can't get Blogger to let me change the color of my font.

Whatever Blogger, WHATEVER.

What A Deal!

2009-11-30T20:27:00.008-05:00

Need an inexpensive gift? A beautiful inexpensive gift? Look no further!

Check out these gorgeous antique looking clocks at Deseret Book. The price? Only $2.99!

That's right...$2.99! The normal price was $19.95.

Um, there is one tiny catch to it. These have a sweet sentiment printed on them , but there is a misprint. :(

But take a look ^... it's a tiny misprint. Truthfully, it doesn't bother me a bit. I bought one (or a few!) myself. I haven't received mine yet, but I've ordered from Deseret Book before and have always been pleased with their products. These clocks are 10 inches high with a 6 inch face. Good sized!

Now if you don't want the misprinted one, no worries. They have other clocks with different sentiments on sale for only $9.98! How about one that says, "Families are Forever"? Or one that says, "Time spent with family and friends, is time well spent."? Cute.

Plus, there are several other things on sale and clearance.

Annnnnd....if you spend $50, you can use this code (9GGDIR) to get $10 off your order. It doesn't expire until December 24th. And yes, this includes sale and clearance items! The only thing it doesn't include are the Willow Tree products, gift cards and church distribution items.

Happy shopping everyone!

EDIT: 12/01
Hurry! Use this code (insider1201) to get free shipping on an order of $25 or more! But hurry....it expires at midnight tonight! (I don't think you can combine coupons, but you could try)

A Grateful Heart

2009-11-26T14:03:00.004-05:00

5 Things

2009-11-24T00:54:00.003-05:00

I totally love Megan's frames! Thanks Megan!

There are so many things I am thankful for that there wouldn't be enough shabby frames to cover them all! So I've decided to just narrow it down to 5 (but squeezing my family of 7 into 3) and then maybe, just maybe add more and occasionally post them.

For now, my 5 are (not in any order at all since I love all of my family equally of course...)

1. My beautiful girls
2. My cute as can be son
3. My patient, loving, hardworking hubby
4. The blessings that the Temple gives me. Because without that and the Gospel, I wouldn't be able to keep #1,2 and 3 forever.

And a random #5. I have really been soaking up the beauty of nature this past year. I've been trying to take time to appreciate all that Heavenly Father has given me to view, smell and feel in each of the seasons. One of my greatest pleasures is to look up at the night sky and enjoy each star. Another is to breathe in the smells of nature and concentrate on the smallest things that are so intricate and complicated, yet to some, so insignificant. Have you ever just sat and looked at a spider web? I can't get enough of a beautiful sunset or a rainbow. Sappy and cheesy? Maybe. But now that I'm older, I guess something is telling me to dig deep and really pay attention to the world that Heavenly Father has given me. I'll never know when He might just call me home and I want to have appreciated as best I can, what He has given me today.

Black Friday @ Amazon!

2009-11-23T00:00:00.001-05:00

It's here!

Today is the day!

You know, I'm not a fan of Christmas commercialism starting before Thanksgiving, but I AM a fan of starting the gift shopping as early as I can!

I shop at Amazon every year because I can really find some great bargains. Actually, I'd say 75% of my shopping is done on Amazon every year. Most items have free shipping if your order totals $25 or more. I'm over 1/2 way done with my gift shopping this year and I already have Amazon boxes all over my house.

Shopping for toys? Try the Amazon outlet! I click on the button that is 70% off and can find hundreds of toys that are cheaper than in the stores. Amazon can be tricky though....sometimes they have things that are rediculously more expensive. Do a little research if you're looking for a specific toy and then check out Amazon to see how they compare.

Amazon also has some rebates etc. that make it soooo worth buying from them. Recently I saw Guitar Hero 5 bundle for $98.99 at Amazon PLUS they give you a $40 online store credit. PLUS, they had a code to get another $20 off the order. Total for Guitar Hero 5 bundle....$38.99! What a steal! Sadly, I did not partake of this deal and now the $20 off coupon has expired. But you can still get the bundle with a $40 credit on future orders, so it's still a great deal.

My advice for saavy black friday shopping, is to check out bfads.net. You may have heard of this site, but just in case you haven't, they give shoppers a sneak peek at Black Friday ads from major retailers like Target, Best Buy, JC Penney etc. Sign up for their newsletter and they will send you deal info every day in your email inbox. That's how I found out about the Guitar Hero 5 bundle deal.

Now, if you're planning to check out the Amazon early Black Friday deals, could you please click thru the banner at the top of this post, click the Amazon ad banner on my sidebar or use this link?? ----> Amazon Black Friday

I would be every so grateful!

Happy Shopping Everyone!!!!

And here is another one just to be safe! :)
http://www.amazon.com/b/?node=384082011&tag=sitandstaawei-20

2009-11-22T12:35:00.000-05:00

What are YOU thankful for today?

Coming Soon...

2009-11-20T14:55:00.005-05:00

A special direct link to Amazon's Black Friday Sales!

Keep a look out.....

Everyone loves a sale! Especially one with low low low prices and ~free shipping~.

Did I mention that the prices will be LOW at Amazon? And hey, it won't be JUST on Black Friday! Amazon will be starting their Black Friday sale on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23rd! Deals all week. I hope I get some yummy goodies.

So come back here first thing Monday (meaning I'll have the link up at midnight) and there will be a direct link to the sales.

Did I mention that I get a percentage of the sales if you click on my link?? :) You would be helping my children's Christmas by just going thru my link to do your shopping. Plus, I'd love you for it and you would receive big blessings for helping me out *wink*.

Happy Halloween from....some of us.

2009-10-24T13:11:00.003-04:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Wish I could've had all my family in this one, but 2 are missing. I'll make them be in the Thanksgiving one. Hee hee.

Here are direct links in case you can't see it above: Kids only: http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/SHvQElzE1zshAiE6

Some of us:
http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/7ZAA9FKCl5CRqx9h

Whose Got The Virus???

2009-10-22T20:13:00.003-04:00

Meeeeee!

No, not THAT virus. ;)

My computer has several annoying viruses and it's keeping me from blogging. I have to use my daughters slow computer or my hubby's laptop and they don't have all of the functions I need or want.

So for now....no bloggy bloggy for Leanne. Hopefully I can get it fixed soon. McAfee didn't catch the viruses (I think one of my kids clicked on something accidently), so I tried to also download Avast and now my computer is totally locked up. Not sure why. I know Avast is good.

Anyway, see you after it's back to good health!
(and we are sick in my household by the way....wish there was an easy fix for that)

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-10-10T15:23:00.004-04:00

I know this phrase has been a round for a while. And perhaps it's a bit over-done now, but that doesn't make it any less true.

I can't even begin to count how many times this phrase has been said or could have been said in my life lately. Sometimes we just can't get around or change certain things. They just are.

It's all in what we DO with this thing that is happening. It is what it is, but how are we going to react to it? Something to think about for sure.

Try it Tuesday.....Arnold Select Sandwich Thins

2009-10-06T14:56:00.007-04:00

Can you say, DELISH?! Arnold Select Sandwich Thins are superb!

I didn't even know they existed until I saw my friend Holly in the store with some in her cart. See what I get for going off Weight Watchers? I'm sure I would have tried them by now if I were sticking to the plan.

Anyway, these artisan bread thins are super high in fiber (5 grams) and have only 110 calories and 1 gram of fat. Whoopeee! 1 WW pt! They also have NO trans fat and NO high fructose corn syrup. They are also cholesterol free. Nice.

They come in these flavors:

-Multi-Grain

-100% Whole Wheat

-Whole Grain White

and

-Seedless Rye

ALL of the varieties have the same amount of fiber, fat and calories. I love this. Sometimes I get sick of eating the same thing. It would be nice to eat white once in awhile while getting the same amount of fiber as whole wheat.

I have tried the Whole Grain White and the Multi-Grain. They are both fabulous. Wal-mart sells them for $2.67 and Meijer for $3.19. I can't wait to try the rye!

Sometimes breads that are high in fiber taste like cardboard.

Not these!

They taste great. Yes, they are thin, but they are perfect for a sandwich. A big plus, I might add, is that they are PRE-SLICED! It makes it so much better in my opinion. Nothing like fighting with an english muffin or bagel when it has to be sliced. That gets on my nerves. The Arnolds sandwich thins are good to go! Easily taken apart.

My favorite way to eat these is with some roasted deli chicken, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato and some Laughing Cow light swiss cheese. And of course I toast the whole thing. Mmm.. Oh and by the way, if you haven't tried Laughing Cow Light Swiss (a spreadable cheese), then you need to git ur fanny to the nearest grocery store deli and grab some!

I also like these sandwich thins for breakfast. Scramble up some Egg Beaters and the Laughing Cow cheese on the sandwich thin and I'm good to go! I also like to add some bacon when the mood strikes.

There are so many lunch/breakfast possibilities for these thins that I get excited just thinking about it. I bet kids would like to have 2 mini pizzas for an after-school snack!

I even saw a photo (on google images) of one piled high with chocolate chips! Umm..I don't think I'll be trying that any time soon.

What else can I say about these? Just that I wish I had found them sooner. Now all I need is my own panini maker instead of heating up the oven for my lunch!

P.S...I wonder if Arnold Sandwich Thins are the same as Pepperidge Farms Deli Rounds? They seem to be about the same in calories, fat and fiber, but which tastes better? I better find out!

Nursery Rocks!

2009-09-30T21:56:00.005-04:00

I think the nursery in our church totally rocks. Probably more so than other ward nurseries if I do say so myself! We have a wonderful nursery leader that goes out of her way to make it an enjoyable class for the littlest primary kids in the ward.

She has a really cute bulletin board up with all the children's photos and she always teaches them lessons that, as a parent, I would want my child to learn. Look at this cute crown she made for all the kids! It's durable too! Just what a 2 year old needs. And it's an sweet reminder that she is a child of God.

I love that our leader gives the kids handouts that will help reinforce what they have been taught. They bring home things that they can either play with or look at to remind them.

We also have a fabulous music leader that sings each week with the children. I can hear them when I'm next door teaching my own lessons to the older kids. They sing and then Ava comes home and sings them for me and with me. So fun!

Many thanks to all the primary teachers and leaders in my Ward!!! Oh, and the presidency isn't too bad either....*wink*

Try it Tuesday.....riceworks Gourmet Brown Rice Crisps

2009-09-29T15:16:00.004-04:00

I found a yummy treat! I'm always thinking of ways to add brown rice to my children's diet. They don't like it. Because it's brown. Simply because of that fact. Me? I love brown rice! I prefer it over white. Not just because of the nutritional reasons, but I just like it. It tastes good. It's really not that much of a difference in taste as the white anyway in my opinion. But it does have a bit of a different texture according to my kids. So they won't eat it. Well, I bet Ava would.

So I see this new chip at Wally World a few weeks ago. riceworks Gourmet Brown Rice Crisps. And yes, the riceworks is spelled all lowercase and as one word. They look like a tortilla chip but I could tell they were smaller.

riceworks crisps have all these great benefits:

-Natural ingredients

-No preservatives or artificial flavors

-Wheat & Gluten free

-No transfat (0 grams)

-33% less fat than regular potato chips

-Vegan & Celiac friendly

-No cholesterol

-Kosher certified

-Zero sugar

The FDA claims that diets rich in whole grain foods such as brown rice and that are low in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers.

Great! But how do they taste? So I picked up the Salsa Fresca flavor. We all really loved these! I knew that because these were brown rice, they would probably be a bit more dense than a regular tortilla chip and I was right. They are kind of small, but still good sized and satisfying.

So then a week later, I pick up the Sweet Chili & later on the Sea Salt flavors. We love them all. Even my husband said they were really tasty. None are too strong in flavor. They are just right.

Now let's talk fat & calories.....

10 chips (remember, they aren't big) or 1 ounce have 140 calories, 6 grams fat, 1 gram fiber, 0 sugar, 2 grams protein and 110 mg salt.

I like that they have protein and at least 1 gram of fiber. I'm not too thrilled with 6 grams of fat and 140 calories. But like I said, they are more dense so they are filling. Plus with all the nutritional benefits, I'd say I would choose these over tortilla chips any day. Crush and sprinkle them on top of tomato soup...mmmm. They are still kind of a junk food though....It never says if they are baked or fried, but I'm guessing fried in canola oil.

In a dream world, these would be just as tasty if they were baked. Why promote a heart healthy chip and then deep fry it? I think baked would be better for us all. Just my opinion.

Besides the Sea Salt, Salsa Fresco & Sweet chili flavors, these brown rice crisps also come in Parmesan & Sundried Tomato, and also Wasabi and Baked Cinnamon flavors. I wonder if they really mean baked when they say Baked Cinnamon. I doubt it. I'm sure I'll get around to trying them all eventually.

One small set back for me- Sometimes I get a tiny allergic reaction to certain foods....raw carrots, banana, avocado and now brown rice crisps. My tongue itches! Weird, I know. But yes, my tongue itches a little bit after eating a few of these crisps. I love bananas and raw carrots, so I usually just put up with it and will with these crisps.

Now go ahead and buy some of these for yourself and let me know what you think.

Oh, want a coupon for $1 off a bag? Here is a link. Plus, you can learn more about this product at their site.

Would you like to read about the health benefits of brown rice? I found some great info at this site...

Benefits of brown rice

Winner!!

2009-09-28T09:59:00.008-04:00

Oh this has been F-U-N! There were only 5 comments, so I didn't think I needed to use a random generator to choose a winner. Instead, I asked Ava to help me!

She's only just turned 2, so I knew she wouldn't be able to read the names and then say, "Hey, I want my friend Nancy to win." or something like that (not that we didn't want Nancy to win, mind you). Ava was perfect for this since she is totally unbiased! So I scribbled everyone's names on slips of paper and folded them up. Then asked Ava to choose one.
Choose one? Only one? She couldn't do that. She had to have them all.

Ok, so now what? I tried a few times to explain to her that she only needed to choose ONE. Nope. Doesn't want just one, she wants all the pieces of paper. If there were only a few people signing up to win, I would have said OK! We have 3 winners! But there were 5 and I decided that we had to just choose one.

Sooooooo.....finally Ava decided to give ONE paper back to me.

I decided that this one paper would be the winner....

Congratulations Rachel!! Now just tell me which scent you would like of the Glade Fragrance Collection candles! Here is a link to the website to help you choose. I'll do my best to find the scent that you like. I also need your address, so send me a Facebook message.

This was fun! I might do another sometime!

It's kind of funny that the very same day I picked a winner.....I WON a give-a-way!! How random is that?!

Tick Tock....

2009-09-27T14:59:00.004-04:00

The time is running out! Don't you want to win a *free* Try It Tuesday product?

Tick tock...tick tock....tickety tock....

Leave me a comment by midnight tonight to be eligible!

Don't forget to let me know which product you would like to receive and how to reach you.

Free is good. So sign up now!!!

Give, Oh Give-A-Way!

2009-09-23T00:38:00.006-04:00

I did it. I've joined the *give-a-way* bandwagon!

Would you like to receive your very own Try It Tuesday product? For freeee?!

Just say yes. You know you want to.

Here's how it will work.......

Leave me a comment telling me which product that I have reviewed that you would loooooove to have sent right to your doorstep. You can find the Try It Tuesday products by using the search box or clicking on the label cloud on the right hand side of my blog. You'll have to scroll a bit to find it. If you are already a follower of my blog, you probably have a product already in mind!

Make sure when you comment, that you leave me a link to your blog or an e-mail address so I can contact you. If I already know you...no worries! Chances are, I know you anyway because my blog is teeeny tiny in the blogger world. Which, I might add, doesn't bother me a bit.

RULES:
There.. are.. no.. rules.

LOL. Just kidding. I had to say that. Anyone watch the movie, "Rat Race"??

Ok, maybe not. *sigh*

Anyway, there is only one rule. If you do not live in my town, you cannot choose a product that needs to be refrigerated or frozen. Sorry...that's just too much work for moi. If you don't even know where I live, then make it easy and just choose something that needs no refrigeration okay? Thanks!

Oh, I lied. There are 2 rules. The winner needs to "try" the product and then e-mail me to let me know how they liked it. Sort of a mini review if you will. If you would include a photo of yourself actually using the product.....well, then you become my new best friend. (although a photo isn't really necessary....and who needs another friend to annoy you anyway?!)

So go ahead and leave me that comment! You know you want to.

Just make sure you do it soon because this give-a-way lasts only until *Sunday, September 27th.* On Monday the 28th, I'll pick a weeeeener!!

Try it Tuesday.....Schick Intuition Razor

2009-09-22T00:00:00.003-04:00

This will be a short review, because I didn't like this razor and don't care to waste too much space about it.

I received a free Schick Intuition razor. I love free. I'm glad it was free because these things are just under $10 and the refills (you get 3) are almost as much. It comes with a cute suction cup hanger that works perfectly. That's the only thing I liked.

The razor itself is not easy to handle. It's big, bulky and wide. It kept slipping out of my hand. Not cool.

There is a moisturizing soap built up all around the blade. This is for convenience so they say. No more using a separate soap or shower gel. It's built right in! Nice concept, but it misses the mark. First of all, I couldn't really tell where I was shaving and because it was built in, it was almost 'too' smooth and again, I couldn't tell where I was shaving. It's hard to explain, but the few times I used this razor, I came out with streaks that weren't touched. Nothing like having rows of hair down your legs. Pinstripes! Nice. Not.

The soap only lasted about 4-6 shaves and it wore down unevenly. The soap on the bottom...closest to my skin, was gone before the top part. Not very useful. Wasteful even. Plus the razor lasts longer than the 'soap', so I had to use my own shave gel anyway. My Bic Soleil razors last much longer than this one too.

Why did they send me an Intuiton recently, when there is a new one called Schick Intuition PLUS?? Weird. Looks like the Plus verison is the same price, but it's handle is narrower and there are 4 blades. Duh Schick! Couldn't you have thought of that before?
I doubt I will even try the Plus version (unless it's free!).

Feel free to argue with me on this review, but I feel that this razor just isn't very useful to me. I'm glad I didn't waste any money on it.

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-09-19T15:15:00.001-04:00

Elements & paper by Nicole Young Designs

View the short video, "What Matters Most" here. It's only a minute and a half out of your day. Make it worth it.

Try it Tuesday.....Hershey Goodies Straight From The Factory!

2009-09-15T01:05:00.024-04:00

I know, I know. It's about time I got back on track with Try It Tuesday's! Summer is always busy and I just haven't had the energy. Plus, I have to fight with 4 kids to use the computer on summer days. One computer doesn't really work for 5 people.

Anyway, we went on a trip with the hubby (he had business) last month and stopped in Hershey, PA! What can I say about this sweet town?! It's cute, it's quaint and smells sooo yummy. I'm not kidding. We rolled our windows down and could get nice, big whiffs of cocoa coming from the Hershey Chocolate Factory. The whole town is centered around the highly popular chocolate. Even the street lamps are shaped like Hershey Kisses!

The street names are just as sweet.

Before I get to the review, here are a few more photos that I took while we were there. Please bear with me on the pictures...I'm not so great at taking them from a moving vehicle!

Heading into town from the east (we were in Lancaster, PA first), we were greeted by a yummy sign.

It's kind of hard to see, but the bushes spell out, "Hershey Cocoa". The real factory is behind it.

Don't get me wrong, it was fun for the kids (Molly is in the photo above). But I was a bit let down because I really wanted to see the whole process in action. Instead we got to look at fake candy bars being made. *sigh*

And fake cocoa beans rolling down the conveyor belt.

One fun thing about this tour, was that it wasn't a walking tour. We rode in a fun car (of course I didn't take pictures of that part because I just didn't think of it! Duh) that took us along and spun us around to see things. Ava especially enjoyed the cute cows with their moving heads singing about how the chocolate couldn't be made unless milk is used.

After the free tour (which we took one more time after this I might add) we watched the cutest 3-D movie! This wasn't free, but $5 for kids and $6 for adults wasn't too bad. I thought it was just going to be 3-D, but it was interactive too. We had great fun watching Ava try to grab the floating Hershey Kisses and Milk Duds, while we also got sprayed with sweet smelling cocoa, sprayed with 'milk' (water) and confetti dropped on us all while our seats wriggled and things felt like they were tickling our legs! Great fun I tell ya. I felt like we were at Disney for a bit!

We could have gone on to a chocolate tasting adventure show, but time wouldn't allow. Those shows filled up quite fast. We did get to see a Reeses Nascar race car though which thrilled Brycen. Doesn't he look thrilled?

There were plenty of other things to do in Hershey.... like take a trolley tour, go to the Hershey Museum, learn how to make chocolate etc. But time wasn't on our side. Plus, it was expensive and a man who worked at Chocolate World said the kids would get bored because most was geared towards adults. And to think I believed him and and we didn't do any more fun things! Later, I heard they were still fun for kids and that we just should have atleast gone to the museum. Oh well. Next time.

While in Hershey....well, everywhere we went in PA actually...I saw the most beautiful homes. They love to build with stone and I love to gawk at all the beautious architecture! There were a few mansions right on the main drag in Hershey that were SO lovely, but I couldn't get a good shot of them. I did, however, get one of this small stone home. It's not a great shot, mind you..but it shows some stone that I just loved! I could have just walked all along this main road if hubby would have let me. Even in the rain! Yes, it rained all day while we were there. :( Our oldest daughter, Jillian couldn't come with us on this trip because she had to work, but we brought back a large personalized Hershey Bar for her to munch on. Speaking of candy, the Hershey Chocolate World really pushed the shopping! The main area is one big store with anything and everything you would want to eat, wear, play with or cook with. Anyone up for some tiny Hershey Kiss shaped salt & pepper shakers for $15?! They did have some cool vintage looking tins and vintage looking shirts, but we passed on them. Actually, the prices on candy weren't too bad. No mark up in the price...they were the same that I pay at Target. I thought for an attraction, they would have sky high prices. But I guess they really don't need distributors with the factory so close do they?! Ok, on to the Try It Tuesday part! After both the free tour and the 3-D movie, we were given little treats! They were both new products, so I thought they would be perfect to review. After the 3-D movie, we were given Twizzlers Sweet & Sour Filled Twists. Below is not a great photo. Sorry. I know it's out of focus, but atleast you get to look at the beautiful sarong (is that the right word?) of the person behind the candy.

These taste lemony (yellow) and cherry. The insides are a soft candy that packs a punch! I'm not much of a fan of the sour part, but my kids loved them! I'm not sure if they are in stores yet, but when they are, I'm sure kids all over will like 'em.

After the free 'factory tour' (blech), we were given little handfuls of the new Hershey Chocolate Meltaway. I have no idea if these are out either, but I doubt they will make much of a hit. I wonder if they are a limited edition. They remind me of the Hot Chocolate flavor that was out last winter. They are tastier than the Hot Chocolate, but like their Meltaway name, they melt away *in*your*hand*. Once you take them out of the foil, don't wait too long to actually eat it. The soft center makes them melty all right.
And there you have it. Our small little jaunt to Hershey, PA. Next time I go, I'm going to visit Hershey Gardens plus I'm staying at one of their hotels and soaking in a chocolate bath!

More to come about the rest our east coast business/vacation trip! A little Fairfax, VA, Washington D.C. and a small trip to the Washington D.C. LDS Temple!

This sign on the factory tour building explains that it's a free tour. I was expecting to see 'real' chocolate being made in a 'real' factory. Nope. Not gonna happen. The whole thing was a fake tour.
We are now entering Hershey's Chocolate World! Inside is the free factory tour, shopping, eateries, a 3-D movie etc. Plus the theme park is right next to this building below.

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-09-12T00:59:00.007-04:00

Paper & elements by Vera Lim.

Time to get my house in order.

A Brand New Year

2009-09-05T21:05:00.004-04:00

The 2010 Mutual theme for LDS youth is......

“Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:9)."

Each ward will receive a dvd entitled, " A Brand New Year: 2010 Youth Celebration"

The DVD is a special resource being prepared to strengthen youth and enhance Young Men and Young Women activities planned for 2010. I believe it's mostly youth speaking and testifying about what they have learned and how following the standards have strengthened them. Learn more about the dvd here.

I love this! I wish we had special DVD's to introduce the theme when I was a leader in YW. Sometimes I think the youth need to see that a lot of effort and prayer goes in to the themes. After all, it's what the Lord wants the youth to know, study and live right? What they learn is an armour of sort. Things to protect them inside and out throughout their lives. This theme will help them realize that everywhere they go, Heavenly Father goes with them and will not abandon them. I hope they listen to this counsel, because at one time or another, we all feel alone. It helps to know that we don't actually have to feel that way.

Just my 2 cents :)

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-09-05T17:27:00.007-04:00

Paper by Stacey's Scraps

Ribbon & button elements by C.W. Pickett & Co.

Trailer Park elements by Shabby Miss Jenn Designs

I'm not saying that my vacation was a failure by the above quote. It was actually quite fun (sometimes). But don't all vacations have some sort of discomfort? Whether it be the heat, bugs, family squabbles or too much "going & doing" crammed into one day. There are usually 'downs' to go with the 'ups' right?

I'll be blogging about the vacation/ business trip we took last week as soon as I can. First, I have to get some kids off to school and learn the new online Quickbooks. Plus all of my other responsibilities that life demands. After that, I can get back to the fun stuff....blogging, digi-scrapping, etc!

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-08-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-08-22T00:00:00.001-04:00

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-08-15T01:51:00.003-04:00

Elements by Maelia Design & Jamie Dell Scraps. Paper by Maelia Designs.

I Heart This

2009-08-09T00:42:00.002-04:00

My daughter, Jillian, left this comment on the Nauvoo Temple Facebook page.

Jill Weihl >>>Nauvoo Temple: Our stake went to Nauvoo for our Youth Conference..I went already twice before..but this time was soo much more spiritual.We got to go into the temple, as our "familes"--youth and a married couple.For being Sixteen, i never felt a more spirtual experience, it was like I was in the jail while the prophet was murdered..I love being a member, although I have trials, I know that pioneers made the temple for a reason..-Jillian. Muskegon,MI.
Yesterday at 11:04pm · Comment · Like

Sometimes I really heart Facebook.

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-08-08T14:20:00.002-04:00

Paper by Helly

Elements by Carolina Pessoa & Maelia Designs

Pick up your feet people!

Give-A-Way

2009-08-07T00:23:00.004-04:00

Well, I guess the give-a-way will be put on hold since I see only one person is interested! I suppose no one likes free stuff. Pffft.

Edit: Ok, so I'm thinking maybe tucking information about a freebie into a Try It Tuesday post is easily missed??

So here goes again....

I'm toying with the idea of a GIVE-A-WAY! There would have to be rules of course. I can't possibly send something that needs to be frozen to Iowa. Should I join the bandwagon and do this?

There Is Beauty All Around...

2009-07-31T12:44:00.008-04:00

I had Jillian take pictures of some interesting things going on in our yard this season.

I love this white Veronica plant...but who is that visitor?? My in-laws bought me this plant when we first moved into our house 7 years ago. They even helped me plant it as well as several others. It's been white for the full 7 years until now. All I can think of is that seeds must have blown and I DO have a purple Veronica. BUT, the purple is really far away from the white. Waaaay across the yard. And why only 1 stem that is purple? I don't know, but I'll enjoy the show while it lasts.

I love pansies and I usually see them growing in the cracks of my sidewalk each year. But this year, they really went to town! I have them all over. I don't have the heart to get rid of them just because they aren't in the actual garden. They are beauteous no matter where they put down their roots!

Ok, not a garden photo, but a cute one anyway. Ava climbed up in the computer chair and took a little snooze. She doesn't look too comfortable does she?!

Jillian also took this one while on a boat on Lake Michigan over the 4th of July weekend. I'm not a fan of summer, but I am a total fan of a view like this!

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-07-25T00:02:00.002-04:00

Elements by Sarah Bennett & Jamie Dell

I agree J.D.!

Pursue the Steady Course

2009-07-23T13:51:00.004-04:00

Word art by Sugardoodle.net

"While standards generally may totter, we of the Church are without excuse if we
drift in the same manner. We have standards—sure, tested, and effective. To the
extent that we observe them, we shall go forward. To the extent that we neglect
them, we shall hinder our own progress and bring embarrassment to the work
of the Lord. These standards have come from Him. Some of them may appear a
little out-of-date in our society, but this does not detract from their validity
nor diminish the virtue of their application. The subtle reasoning of men, no
matter how clever, no matter how plausible it may sound, cannot abridge the
declared wisdom of God."

--President Gordon B Hinckley, "Pursue the Steady Course", Ensign, Jan. 2005, 5

Leanne's thoughts: I really think ALL of the youth of the church need to read this quote. Heck, some adults do too. Maybe it should be read out loud in a statement kind of way. I don't mean in a lesson (although that is still a great idea), but as a message all by itself to be pondered over. Sometimes we need a 'to the point' message that has a tinge of bluntness in order for it to hit home. Saying that neglecting the standards can bring embarrassment to the work of the Lord, is quite to-the-point don't you think?

I think most youth would try harder to honor the standards if they really took a moment to sit down and think about the reason behind the purpose of those standards. It's so easy to get caught up in what is 'cool' and let some things slide. I like an 'in-your-face' approach sometimes. Of course a touch of love would be added so as to not offend. I think Pres. Hinckley's quote was a perfect blend of both.

I know that when teachings were put in my head strongly as a youth, I listened and thought about it that much more. That's why I really enjoyed going to stake youth activities. They always seemed to be well planned with a purpose. Now, as an adult, I need to make more of an effort to attend the adult stake events. What am I thinking by not attending some of these?! As parents we expect our youth to attend their youth activities so why wouldn't I want the same for myself?! Hypocrisy? Ugh. I vow to get better!!!

For the strength of youth and adults!!

Something To Think About...on any day

2009-07-22T00:01:00.000-04:00

Elements by Vera Lim & Enchanted Studio Scraps

Try it Tuesday......Garnier Nutrisse Nourishing Color Creme

2009-07-21T00:49:00.010-04:00

*Help!* I really need some guidance when it comes to home hair coloring kits. I'm in a place right now that has no room for a trip to the salon. I have to color my own hair. I don't have very much gray, but I'm past the point of just being able to rip those suckers out. I have to color. I have very dark brown hair so every gray shows.

I used to be able to get away with just buying a root touch-up kit. It would cover the gray and I'd be fine. Not any longer. I need the whole sha-bang. I've only used 3 different kits so far.

Today I used the Garnier Nutrisse Nourishing Color Creme. I chose it because it was on sale for only $4.99 at Walgreens. I love sales. I can't bring myself to pay twice as much without atleast trying the one that is on sale.

I grabbed the Dark Chocolate flavor.....I mean color....hee hee. I don't usually stray from food Try It Tuesdays do I??

The first thing I noticed about this brand is that it has fruit oil concentrate. Hmm. What will that do for me? Hopefully hold the color longer? The oil has avocado with vitamin E and fragrant grape seed oil. Well, I don't know exactly what those will do for me, but the scent is fabulous! I always thought that hair dye had to be smelly. That's just the way it goes. Not. This is a great scent. I'm used to my hair stinking for the first day or so and this is a nice change. The scent alone would make me want to buy it again. I'm not saying it's as nice as a perfume, I'm just saying it's a nice break from the normal strong chemical smell that hair dye has.

The cream was easy to put on my hair and stayed without dripping. I was able to pile my hair (which is quite long) on top of my head without it falling all over and dying my shoulders. I don't like hair nets or plastic hair covers. They make me feel especially old. I don't know why....it's just how I roll ok?

Anyway, the wait time is a little long. I had to sit with the coloring on my hair for 1/2 hour. But since it stayed in place so well, I guess I didn't mind the wait so much.

It comes with a one time use conditioner and was easily rinsed out in the shower.

I can't say how long this color will last since I'm just trying it for the first time today. But so far, so good. It's shiny, smells good and looks pretty good so far.

I would really like to hear of more opinions about home hair coloring kits. I could use a little advice as to what works well, has lasting color and shine. HELP ME! I think for a while I'll be doing this task on my own and not the salon. I like to stick close to my own hair color since I actually *like* the dark color. I primarily use the dye to cover the gray. I'm not much for changing my hair color to suit my mood. I guess I'm not that daring.

Anyway, if anyone has a good brand that they stick with that might be helpful to me, I'd love to hear about it. And you never know...you might just be rewarded. Yes, I'm thinking of doing a *~GIVE AWAY~* sometime soon! Who wants a Try It Tuesday product for freeeeeee???? Just think about it.....a Try It Tuesday of your choice sent right to your doorstep!

I'll fill you in later if I decide to join the give away bandwagon! Should I?

Oh hey...today is my sister AND my brother's birthday! I'm giving a shout-out to wish both Michelle & Lee a

*vErY HaPpy BiRThDAy*!!

EDIT: Ok, so I had to add an update about this coloring product. It's been only about 2 weeks and my gray roots are already showing. NoT HaPPy! I don't think my hair grew that fast. I think the color didn't stay in on the gray as well as it should have. I'm wondering if I need to ever use this product again. Someone else weigh in will ya? I really need to know what other brand works for gray hair.

G&G Time

2009-07-13T00:21:00.018-04:00

We spent a little time with Grandma & Grandpa today. I thought I'd share a few photos. Grandpa brought over his Trikke. Brycen had a *blast* riding it!

First we watched from the window as Brycen learned how to ride the Trikke, but I just haaad to get out there and snap some shots. So much fun!Quality time with G'pa.

Look at the smile on his face! I love that HE was loving it.

I guess Grandpa rides his Trikke on the bike trails here in town. He received this fun bike from my sister in-law Sheryl for his Father's Day gift. What a cool gift it is! And unique.

Ava and Grandma watching from the window.

What a sweet picture huh? You know I'll be digi-scrappin' it!

Sunday was a good day to spend with family. I love making new memories!

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-07-11T13:41:00.001-04:00

Element by Kris Mazy

2009-07-10T13:14:00.000-04:00

Macie had hernia surgery this week (July 8th). She did great! She was quite groggy coming out and felt a little light-headed. But she recovered just fine. She has been resting and enjoying her down time since the surgery. I'm proud of her for going into this with a positive attitude. After the surgery she still had a great attitude. :)

~Addicted~

2009-07-08T00:32:00.005-04:00

I just can't stay away from the digi-scrappin'! Scrappin' has gotten in the way of Try It Tuesdays, cleaning my house and kissing my husband. What am I to do?! I need an intervention or something.

Queen of Random??

2009-07-06T11:14:00.045-04:00

Today I might be the Queen of Random....because I've got tons of random pictures to share from random events. I'm so bad at keeping up with the events! I guess posting the pictures this way is the only way to document them since I'm so lame!

Get comfortable because this is a loooooong post!
Here we go.....

February 2009. Kind of blurry since I took this one with my cell phone. I thought it was so sweet that Molly wrote this on my van for me. BUT...when she got mad at me an hour later, poof! It was gone. Can't win 'em all.

-sigh-

Rick & I used one of our date nights to head to Detroit for a Red Wings game. It was a blast on St. Patrick's day! Although it looked more like Christmas with people wearing a sea of green hats/jersey's and then the usual red shirts for the Red Wings.

Red Wings triumphed 2-3!

I forgot the camera this night, but was still able to document the event with my cell phone. Molly was the narrator for her 6th grade choir musical Aladdin! She would speak while the show took place to the left (not showing) and the choir would sing behind her. She was very sick that night (swollen glands, fever) but the show must go on! We were very proud of her.

Another one taken from my cell phone. Rick had several Hurricane machines ready to go! It was awesome to see so many built in one place. His dream is on it's way to become a reality!

Ava just being cute.

On my Dad's 82nd birthday. (Left to Rt) My niece Kara, sister Sheri and Dad.

Ava & I in the spring. I love the green grass!

Ava loves the spring flowers. May 2009

Brycen received a trophy from his school reading program in May. He put in a lot of effort this year in the program. He worked hard on spelling too. Most tests were A's & B's. A big effort for a guy who would rather do math!

A rainbow blessing.

*sigh* My kids had a marker fight. I'm pretty sure they were permanent markers too. May 2009

Jillian and Brycen being goofy. Don't ask me why, but my kids thought it would be funny to put paper bags over their heads and get cars to honk at them. Weird!

Jillian was super glad to be out of school and head to the beach. June 14, 2009. We sure are lucky to live only 10 minutes from the big lake.

Molly's 1st year at Girls Camp! June 2009

Macie (middle), Jillian and friend Giselle at Girls Camp. This was Macie's 2nd year and Jillian was a YCL.

During Girls Camp this year (and last) the youth were able to volunteer their time to work on the old ship LST 393 by doing some interior painting. It's docked in Muskegon. Of the 1151 LST class ships built in WWII, this is only one of 2 remaining. (We are so lucky that girls camp is right here in our neck of the woods by the way.)

Doesn't Molly look totally stoked to be able to do this project?!

Molly really had to reach to paint. She came home with paint in her hair. Heck, she still might have paint in her hair!

Jillian with Ava t the Ward ice cream social in June. Ava loooooved the swings! Boy, did she ever cry when we had to leave!

Jillian and the GR stake went to Nauvoo, Ill. for their Youth Conference at the end of June. One of the most beautiful Temples! A few years ago, we went to Nauvoo ~3~ times in one summer! One of my favorite places. I'm so glad Jillian got to go again.

The beautiful view from the city of Nauvoo overlooking the Mississippi river.

I'm not sure who these youth are, but the kids had to pull these handcarts for about a mile so that they could get a glimpse of what the people of Nauvoo had to go through when leaving the city with whatever belongings they could handle. So many people had to leave much behind.

Jillian at the Carthage Jail near the visitors center.The jail in the back round. The statue is of Joseph & Hyrum Smith who were killed by a mob at the jail.

Carthage Jail, Carthage Illinois. The top window is the the one that Joseph Smith fell out of after being shot.

Not sure who this girl is, but here is the infamous bullet hole in the door. I wonder how many people have touched this? Can you imagine?

Typical Jillian :) And her friend Melissa on the bus ride home.

Poor Austin .....he fell asleep so some girls put paper in his mouth. Jillian insists that she didn't do it...she only took the picture. Hmmm.

Bubble fun! July 1st. Ava kept wanting to put the blower part right up to her mouth. I'm sure it didn't taste so great.

June 30th. I liked the pose in this photo.

June 30th. Jillian at the Wasiura's condo for Martin's birthday. She is trying to look studious, but look at the reading material she chose! haha.

4th of July fireworks in Montague/Whitehall this past Saturday.

I realize this one is super up-close....this is because that IS how close we were!!! No zooming needed! Sometimes it felt like they were going to come right down on us! We are lucky to be invited every year to my friend Liz's house which has THE best view of the White Lake fireworks display. I'm not kidding or exaggerating. Even the house next door doesn't have as nice of view. It IS THE BEST VIEW. Sometimes we have to crane our necks straight up in the air to see the larger fireworks. The kids have to lay on their backs in the pool. We sit on her huge deck and enjoy. Everyone (about 50 people?) brings a treat to share and the kids play in the heated pool. It's enjoyable for all. Plus, I get to see friends that we usually only get to see when they come from out of state during the summer months. I really appreciate that Liz invites us every year. She is a really sweet person.

I have more pictures but I think you would get really bored if I posted them all. I'll try to be more diligent in posting photos, but really, I spend too much time digi scrapping and Facebooking! I know, Bad Leanne.

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-07-04T19:48:00.002-04:00

Elements by Dream Big Designs

Try it Tuesday.....Owl's Nest 3 Cheese Italian cheese spread

2009-06-30T11:45:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I couldn't find an image for the 3 Cheese Italian cheese spread, but the Vermont White Cheddar container looks the same with a diff name. I really would like to try the white cheddar too. Actually, I'd like to try the whole crazy line of this cheese spread!

The inspiration for trying it was the New York Style Focaccia Sticks that I had tried a couple of weeks ago. Find that review HERE.

I was looking for a cheese spread to eat along with the Focaccia Sticks . I was bringing them to a *FUN* get together at my friend Caity's house. (It was a nice, relaxing night by the way...lots of laughter. I needed it. Thanks Caity!)

I stumbled upon Owl's Nest 3 Cheese Italian spread at my local Meijer in the deli section. $3.49 for a 10 oz. tub. I really love cheese, so a spread with 3 cheeses really appealed to me. It contains Romano, Parmesan and Asiago cheeses.

The Focaccia Sticks are a *4* cheese bread stick, so we were cheesing it up that night!

Taste? Well, I really enjoyed it. It was creamy and smooth. The container says it can be a dip, but I thought it was more of a spread. A little thicker than a dip. It can be spread on a cracker, pretzel or whatever you choose.

Eaten alone and this cheese spread is quite strong. As a matter of fact, little Ava just dipped her pretzel in it and made a funny, yet cute squinty face! Don't get me wrong, it isn't that strong. There is no strong smell etc. But I would suggest eating it on a cracker or something else and not eaten alone out of the tub.

If you are looking for low fat, go somewhere else. This crazy good cheese is also crazy fattening. 2 tablespoons has 100 calories and 8 grams of fat. Combine that with the Focaccia Sticks and you have a fattening little appetizer. On the bright side, the Owl's Nest cheese spread can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 60 days after it's opened. You can also freeze it, but it will be crumbly after thawing.

Owl's Nest spreads come in these yummer sounding flavors:

3 Cheese Italian
Horseradish
Mozzarella Garlic
Port Wine
Cheddary
Vermont White Cheddar

Don't they all sound delish? Get out there are try them!

Oh, and I hate to do negative reviews, but 2 people that tried this cheese, really weren't into it. One was my hubby and he isn't a fan of strong cheese. He also thought it was a bit dry but I have NO idea where he gets that. It's creamy goodness to me. A little goes a long way.

My 13 year old daughter Macie, loves the stuff, but she loves most anything (this coming from a girl who had therapy as a toddler because she wouldn't let food touch her mouth!). She dips Deli Style Pretzel Crisps. We bought the garlic flavor. Yummo! They were excellent with the Owl's Nest cheese spread. The pretzel crisps also have the Good Housekeeping seal of approval.

Oh, Owl's Nest has a store locator on their website if you want to find it in your location.

Oh, and on the personal side, look for a 'catch-up' post to come soon. I haven't posted much lately, so I have some random photos to share. I'm failing as a journal blogger lately. I guess life gets in the way too much. And Facebook! I Facebook waaaay too much. Why? I dunno. You tell me ;)

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-06-27T20:17:00.004-04:00

I love this quote. So, so true.

But sadly, sometimes you CAN see something with your eyes and still be deceived. I'm talking about how the media portrays a situation that is quite possibly not even the actual situation at all. Money and ratings seem to be their only goal. It seems as though once something gets blown out of proportion (Hello? Swine flu???) it can turn into a big fat messy tornado that destroys all it can.

My new philosophy is this the simple adage we always hear- Don't believe everything you hear or read. Aaaaand be careful about judging what you see unless you were right there when it happened.

I really do.

2009-06-21T00:00:00.004-04:00

Frame & elements from Simply Tess.

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-06-20T17:08:00.002-04:00

Try it Tuesday....New York Style Focaccia Sticks

2009-06-16T12:28:00.003-04:00

Have you tried the newest product from New York Style brand? Focaccia Sticks come in 3 flavors: Roasted Garlic Herb, Rosemary Sea Salt and Quattro Formaggio. I picked up the Quattro Formaggio at my local Wal-mart for $2.48. I was intrigued by the ingredients in this one. Parmesan, Romano, Cheddar and Blue cheeses. The blue cheese hooked me into buying it. Weird how they spell it Blue, but isn't it really "bleu"?

Too bad I can't really differentiate between the cheeses. The blue/bleu cheese could be non-existent because I don't really taste it. Good gimmick, but please add more bleu cheese!

Here is what the company says about their new Focaccia sticks:

Focaccia Sticks are a tasty new snack from New York Style. These unique
snacking sticks are made from real focaccia bread at a traditional bakery in New
York City. Twice-baked for a hearty crunch and lightly seasoned with natural
herbs & spices, they are delicious snack right out of the bag or
to serve at parties with your favorite dips and spreads. They also add crunchy
flavor to your favorite soup or salad.

I loved that they are baked!

These sticks are about 2 to 2- 1/2 inches long and about 1/2 inch wide. You get 3 pieces for 70 calories, 4 grams fat, 7 carbs and 0 fiber. I think there's kind of an ouch factor for the fat grams given the size of the pieces. Eat 6 of these and you're consuming 8 grams of fat. See? Ouch. Plus, there are lots of broken ones in the bag, so good luck trying to count calories.

But I DO have to say that these are yummy. They are crunchy like a crouton yet more dense. More satisfying. I ate them with dip and it was yummo. I ate them with no dip and they were yummo. But my favorite was to dip them in my Wolfgang Puck soup. Extra yummo. Personally, for me a few goes a long way. I can get by with eating 3-4 of them.

Speaking of dip.....New York Style brand has a section of recipes on their website here.

New York Style also makes these:

Bagel Crisps (I looove these!)

Pita Chips

Pretzel Flatz

Crispini Flatbreads (never tried those but they are next!)

Plus, I hear they make a biscotti. Hmm.

It seems like everything New York Style brand makes is perfect for a party. GNO anyone??

EDIT: Speaking of bleu cheese.....a hint for the locals: Hobo's has the *best* beach bread with hot melty bleu cheese. Mmmm. Check it out.

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-06-13T14:04:00.005-04:00

Try it Tuesday.....Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M's

2009-06-02T13:29:00.007-04:00

Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M's? I should have known it was that time of year. Remember the Cherry M&M's and the Razzberry M&M's? Yep, Limited Edition time. This time the candy is tied in with the 2nd Transformers movie coming out soon.

The check-out girl at Walgreens asked me if I'd like to try these M&M's along with the Snickers bar that has a yellow nougat center (not appealing to me at all). I decided to try the Strawberried M&M's because I looooove the little round critters and could pretty much live off them if need be. Not the strawberry ones, but the plain milk chocolate ones, the peanut or the almond ones. Mmm.

Ok, review time. Surprisingly, there is only a hint of strawberry in these. I tasted it at first and as I ate it, I noticed that he strawberry gives way to the peanut butter taste. So by the time you eat a few, you are pretty much only tasting the peanut butter. If you want to savor the strawberry part, eat only one or 2. I'm not kidding. Oh and don't expect a 'real' strawberry taste here. These aren't gourmet..they are M&M's.

The check-out girl said there was NO milk chocolate in these, so I was a bit skeptical about just eating pb with strawberry. I was expecting it to be like a pb & j sandwich. Wrong. And the check-out girl was wrong. There IS milk chocolate. Sooo much better.

So basically these M&M's look like regular PB ones...bigger than average sized M&M's. They come in red, yellow and brown (like the colors matter to the taste!) and the yellows have red speckles (again, it doesn't matter, so why am I bringing this up?) I'm thinking the strawberry taste might be in the shell or the milk chocolate, but there is more pb than either of those, so the pb tastes overpowers the strawberry. Hence, like I said before, there is only a hint of strawberry. Seems to me, the razzberry was the same with only a hint of the taste. Personally, I like it that way.

I like them (not enough to fall in love), and Jillian thinks they are good, but like me, she prefers plain M&M's. Molly wouldn't even try one at first! She thought they sounded icky and truthfully, I cringed a little when I saw them too. I forced Molly to try one (shocker that I had to force a kid to eat an M&M!). Quickly, her hand shot out for more, so I'm assuming she likes them. The other kids aren't around, so ya snooze, you lose. :)

Rumor has that there are also Limited Edition Coconut M&M's coming out this summer or are already out. I dislike coconut with a crazy, don't come near me with that stuff passion, so I won't be trying these. You wanna try them? Knock yourself out, but don't even look at me while you're eating them or I will barf.

This past week I also tried Jet Puffed Mallow Bites. Did you know they made these?? My friendly Target had them on the shelf in a little reclosable zipper bag for $1.49. Do you like those milk chocolate covered bunnies that are sold at Easter? It's just like eating those! Tastes exactly the same. Only it's your average mini marshmallow dipped in milk chocolate. Mmm. Delish! Eat them straight out of the bag or plunk a few in your hot cocoa. I loved it in my cocoa. It was a cold rainy day, so hot cocoa with a few (or zillion) of these hit the spot. The Nutrition Facts state the calories/fat etc for 2 servings per bag, -OR- they know what pigs we all are, so they included the nutrition facts for the whole bag. 1/2 bag (24 mallows), 130 calories, 5 grams of fat. Entire package? 300 calories, 11 grams of fat. Hmm. Something wrong with those numbers. That's more than double the 1/2 bag. Whatever. Better to weigh it using grams to be more accurate. If you're not counting fat and calories, it doesn't matter does it?! Just go out and get some of these and ENJOY. :)

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-05-30T01:13:00.003-04:00

I had to do a goofy one this time. I needed the laugh.

2009-05-29T12:46:00.003-04:00

Hmmm...
I'm just testing this new siggy. I'm not sure if I like it or not. You might see several different signatures until I find one that I really think is me.
Thank you to Megan, for posting a tutorial on siggy's. I've done others in the past, but I like her easy peasy way of explaining it.

Ava Turned ~2~

2009-05-24T16:03:00.009-04:00

Whoa baby! This is my ~6th~ post in 6 days! That's a first for me!!!!

I love this new blog frame from Megan! These are a few recent photos of Ava that were taken in March & April. No, she isn't on the bottle any more. She went cold turkey in March and never looked back. Yay!

Ava turned *2* on Saturday! I still can't believe that Heavenly Father sent her to us. Isn't that weird to say? I look at her every day and think to myself how lucky we are to have her here. We really thought we were done with kids. Brycen was my last and he was already 9 by the time Ava was born. I just figured our family was as complete as it was supposed to be. Delightfully, I was wrong!

She has been a complete joy! I guess I'm realizing how busy I was when I had the others. Macie, Molly and Brycen are all a year apart. I didn't really have time to enjoy the baby years like I am with Ava right now. Having 4 kids ages 5 and under was soooo tiring. 3 were in diapers at once. Jillian was just entering Kindergarten, so they were all home most of the day. And how much can a 5 year old do to help Mommy anyway? Now...I'm not saying I didn't enjoy those years with the kids. I'm just saying that it flies by so much faster when busier. I wish I had taken more time to just slow down and soak in all the moments.

This time around, the 4 older kids are SUCH a big help! They have all done their share of changing diapers and I have built-in babysitters. I have alone time with Ava while the kids are at school. It's nice to be one-on-one with her. Things aren't as busy when there is only 1 small one at home. I feel like I have all the time in the world to enjoy her.

Whew. 2 years old already. I wish I could freeze time!

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-05-23T23:47:00.002-04:00

Merriam-Webster meaning of Commence....
: to enter upon : begin
: to have or make a beginning : start

Congratulations to my niece Jackie and my nephew Nate on their 2009 high school **GRADUATIONS**

The tassel was worth the hassle! (I hope! *snicker*)

Don't Check MY Spelling!

2009-05-22T00:00:00.000-04:00

This is what I'm shouting at myself. Have you ever realized that you have been spelling a word (or 2 in my case!) WRONG for your whole life???

I just realized I've been spelling the word, Background, wrong! I've been simply spelling it, Backround. Geesh.

Several years ago, I realized I was spelling, Grateful, wrong too. Of course simple old Leanne was spelling it, Greatful. Geesh again.

Now I'm wondering what other words I've been spelling wrong! With Spellcheck everywhere these days, you would think I would never have any spelling errors.

Now I'll be paranoid that you all will see my many faults with each post. Eek!

Spellcheck, you are now going to be my *new* best friend.

P.S....have you ever wondered what the most often misspelled words in the English language are? Hint, misspelled is one of them. Check out alphaDictionary.com. Did you remember that the words, a while, were separate? Or are you still spelling it, awhile? Sometimes, I'm guilty as charged on that one. Now when it comes to the words, a lot, I never fail. It isn't spelled, alot. Nope. I remember learning about that one in school.

alphaDictionary.com even has memory medicine to help you remember the correct way of spelling a word.

Now, if I could only remember what I was taught about grammar! -sigh-

Prom Dress Make-Over!

2009-05-21T00:00:00.004-04:00

If you're the Mom of a daughter who is going to Prom this year, you may have noticed that there are practically ~NO~ dresses out there that are modest. They are either strapless or have spaghetti straps.

Finding a modest dress is pretty much impossible unless you order it from an online store or search for one on Ebay. Most of the online stores that Jillian and I had found were over-priced, so that left Ebay. Still not much to choose from that she liked.

Having limited funds, we decided to shop for a dress that was immodest and then give it a make-over.

In the past, she has gone to 2 formal Christmas dances. We found a dress both times that needed altering. Luckily she chose dresses that were either black or had black on it. So we were able to just buy a black shrug to cover her up. I sewed it onto her dresses. Both still looked adorable. See?
Anyway, for Prom, she wanted something other than black. We found an adorable bright pink dress at JC Penney that was, get this.....over HALF off! We only paid $39.99 vs. over a hundred dollars for a dress from other stores in the mall.

So this dress had a spaghetti strap that went around her neck. Not modest at all.
Because it was so pretty, sparkley and *cheap*, we decided to snag it and deal with the immodesty somehow.

We didn't know what we could do with a bright pink dress. No shrug was going to match perfectly. Cripes, I couldn't even find a pink shrug anyway. We also didn't think that a black or white shrug would look as nice as something that was the same color of the dress. So I searched online for alternate ideas. Boy, I love the Internet. How did we ever live without it many moons ago?!!

I found a website, ModestProm.com. They had several ideas to alter a Prom dress. The pattern I chose to use is here.

So easy! Or so I thought. No, actually, it was easy, but I'm not much of a seamstress, so I lacked confidence thinking I might not be able to pull it off.

With help from my Mother-in-law, who sewed the edges all the way around the 2 pieces (thank you again for that Mom!), and a few tears of my own because I thought I might not get it done in time, I was able to accomplish the task.

Here are some before and after photos. Please excuse the immodest looking one that is just for demonstration purposes.

Presto change-o.
Though the sleeves weren't perfect, I believe it actually made the dress look better. Plus, I'm really proud of Jillian for making the choice to be modest in the first place. She gave me no arguments (even 2 years ago she didn't) and ended up looking beautiful. Of course I had to make a digital layout based on her "choose the right" choice. :)

I suppose I better give a shout out to our friend Sharon (who just had a beautiful baby girl last Thursday!) for doing Jillian's hair. She did an excellent job and must have been tired that night because she did 2 different girls hair for Proms in one day. All while standing for hours when she was 9 months pregnant! Sharon rocks! Here's a photo of the back of Jillian's hair.

Cute huh?

Now if dress makers could only raise that bust-line a bit! -sigh-

Lanie's Layouts

2009-05-20T00:00:00.003-04:00

Elements by Maelia Designs, Jaelop Designs, Delicious Scraps

Paper by Maelia Designs

Ok, so I made this layout last week and I really like it, BUT I feel like it's missing something! What is it missing? Am I missing some sort of element? Or, am I just being too critical? Don't answer that one.

I'm new to this whole digiscrapping thing and I can't afford Photoshop, so I strictly work with my own cheap program and now I'm starting to use Paint.net. Paint.net is a free program. I like it, but man, I'm lame when it comes to learning it. I certainly need to use tutorials all the time to use it! It is supposed to be close to using Photoshop Elements, but I have no idea if it actually is because I've never used PE.

All I know is that I really like digital scrapbooking and I really need to figure out what the heck is wrong with my camera so I can take more pictures! I've been using Jillian's, which is fine, but I'd really like to use my own since it's a Canon EOS. I think I could get better quality photos to work with if it actually functioned.

Anyway, here is one more layout that I did recently. I loved

that I found word art that goes perfect with it!

Elements by: Digi Designs by Nicole , Jaelop Designs. Word art by Digi Vickie

Oh, by the way, all the elements, paper and word art I used in these 2 layouts were free! You know i luv freeeeee.

Try it Tuesday.....Hockey Dessert Recipes!

2009-05-19T00:30:00.015-04:00

You probably have forgotten all about my need for recipes when we were feeding the San Antonio Rampage back in March right? I was begging for dessert ideas because I thought I had to make the one and only dessert for the whole team and their coaches. Well, as it turns out, we had several desserts there..not just mine. Whew. What a load off my mind. I thought I was a goner when thinking they would only have MY desserts to choose from! Beep, beep, back up. In case you forgot, my nephew Michael, is the head athletic trainer for the Rampage and since they were coming to MI to play the Grand Rapids Griffins, he asked us to help with a meal for the whole team and coaches.

Anyway, I ended up making Neiman Marcus Cookies, Peanut Butter Fudge, Baby Food Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting and 2 Texas Sheet Cakes with Hot Fudge Icing. Besides that, there was also Cherry Crisp, Pistachio Salad, Snicker Salad (also called Caramel Apple Salad), German Chocolate Cake, Apple Pie, Blueberry Pie as well as several other things. So do you think these big boys had a lot to choose from? Oh yeah they did. But do you think they actually ate much?! No! I was shocked. Perhaps it was because they had just lost a hard fought game against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Or maybe it was because the season wasn't done and they didn't want to gorge themselves on sweets. I dunno. But one thing I DO know...it wasn't because the desserts SUCKED.....because they totally ROCKED!

I made enough cookies to feed the team about 10 times over, so I shipped the leftovers off with them (after I pried them from my nephew and brother in-laws hands first). I also gave the fudge to a player, only to see them left on the table. Ouch. Maybe those kind of did suck. I also walked out to their big 'ol bus with the steepest stairs imaginable, with 1 of the left over Texas Sheet Cakes. So I'm hoping that some of our hard work paid off when they ate them on the road.

Ok, so who DID eat a ton of desserts?? The tubby old coaches! Ok, they aren't tubby or old. But they could be by the way the enjoyed the desserts! The highlight of my night (besides seeing my much missed nephew) was when I over-heard one coach say how moist and delicious my Baby Food Bars were! Yesssss. Mission accomplished.

Oh, and are professional hockey players from outer space? One guy was really having a hard time opening a jug of milk! He was fumbling with the plastic ring around the cap. Leanne comes along and quickly twists the sucker open for him. There ya go dude. -Smirk-

Ok, I'm rambling aren't I? Sorry. Not only is this a Try It Tuesday post, but it's a journal entry about the meal we provided. My sister (my nephew Michael's Mother) outdid herself. She bought and cooked about 13 pot roasts! She also made the best yeast rolls (about 100 of them or MORE). She worked really hard and I'm proud of her. Her roasts were tender and perfect. With some friends and family help, she also had mashed potatoes and gravy plus veggies etc. It was all a lot of work (mostly for my sister), but I know it was worth it. We all had a good time and loved watching the game and being able to cheer for BOTH teams. I'm sure we will be hosting a dinner for them again next season.

Here are a few pictures of the day, but don't expect much. We took lots, but they accidently got deleted off the memory card. I had to snag these off Facebook. Here are a couple of hopefuls that were on a trial basis for the team. The girls were especially happy to get their pictures taken with them because the player on the right is Justin Kinnunen. He used to play for our local hockey team, The Muskegon Fury. Plus, he is from the upper penninsula of Michigan where my family lives. Surprisingly he had my older brother for his High School art teacher! Small world.

This is just a picture of the scoreboard (is that the right word?) showing the Rampage & the Griffins scores during a break.

This is NOT a Rampage player! We're traitors! lol. We still love the Griffins, but this player especially. This is Justin Abdelkader. He is Macie's science teacher's son. He learned to play in our town at the same rink that Brycen is learning to play in right now, so we are very proud of our local boy. Especially since right now he is playing for the Detroit Red Wings! He was called up to play during the play-offs. Go Red Wings!

Ok, that's all I have to show. Lucky you because it would have bored you to see more pictures.

So are you finally ready for a couple recipes to, "try"? I'll post some of mine (minus the pb fudge) and my nieces recipe for her Snicker salad. By the way, she HAS to make this for every family event or she gets a tongue lashing! It's the best. Not healthy, but nevertheless, the best dessert! She uses a huge bowl. Imagine the biggest bowl that Tupperware has to offer. Even with a bowl that big, there usually isn't too much left over at family events. For THIS event, however, I was able to take some home and savor the flavor the next day. Mmm.

Here is her recipe. (Thanks Michelle for posting this on Facebook for me to snag for my readers)

Snicker Salad/Caramel Apple Salad

5-6 apples (cut into bite sized chunks)
5-6 Snickers full-sized candy bars
1 lrg. pkg. dry vanilla pudding mix
1 lrg. tub Cool Whip, thawed

Chop up the 5-6 apples into bite size chunks. My sister likes to do red and green apples at Christmas. Cut up 5-6 Snickers full-size candy bars into bite sized chunks. The cutting will take longer than you think! Add the large package of dry vanilla pudding mix to a large tub of thawed Cool Whip topping. Don't make the pudding, just dump it in and stir it well. (...some people I've talked to make the pudding, but Christi's mom-in-law told me specifically not to!) Then you fold in the apples and chunks of Snickers. Chill and serve. Refrigerate any left overs - not likely there will be any though!
Note: this recipe will not make enough to fill the big Tupperware bowl, but it's still a lot of salad.

Neiman Marcus Cookies

(You know this recipe....it's from the urban legend story about the lady who was forced to pay $250 for the recipe at the store....this isn't the recipe for the cookies that the store actually DOES sell, but it's a darn good recipe regardless....read the silly fabricated story here.)

(Recipe may be halved):
2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal and blend in blender to a fine powder)
24 oz. chocolate chips ( I use Ghirardelli!)
1 tsp. salt
1 8 oz. Hershey bar (grated)
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
2 tsp. vanilla
Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet..Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies

Leanne's Notes: I do not use the nuts because my hubby is slightly allergic. They are fine without them. DO NOT and I mean it...DO NOT forget to blend the oatmeal to a fine powder! This is the ingredient that makes this cookie fabulous! I tend to keep blended oatmeal in my pantry at all times to add to any chocolate chip cookie recipe. Also, you can do it without the Hershey bar if you want. Sometimes I use it, some times I leave it out. They are still delicious.

Baby Food Cake

I was given this recipe a billion years ago from my sister in-law. It's always moist and the cream cheese frosting makes it especially delish.

Grease and dust with flour, a jelly roll pan or use half of the following ingredients for 13x9 pan.

Combine & beat:
3 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. oil

Sift & add:
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt

Add 1 medium jar of strained carrots, applesauce & apricots.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes using the toothpick method to check for doneness.

Frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting. Enjoy!

Texas Sheet Cake
This recipe is lightened up a bit. I found in the Cooking Light magazine, but don't let it fool you. It's still really fattening and high in WW points!

Grease and flour a jelly roll pan. You may also use a 13x9 pan instead. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Preparation:

Lightly spoon 2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 cups flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine 3/4 cup water, 1/2 cup butter, and 1/4 cup cocoa in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add to flour mixture. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended. Add buttermilk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs; beat well. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 375° for 22-27 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack.

Hot Fudge Icing

Combine 6 tablespoons butter, 1/3 c. fat-free milk, and 1/4 cup cocoa in a saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Gradually stir in 3 c. powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Spread over hot cake. Sprinkle cake with pecans. Cool completely on wire rack.

Leanne's Notes: The cake recipe also calls for 1 tsp. cinnamon, but I don't care for it that way, so I omit it. The pecans are optional for the icing also. I never use them because of my hubby's pesky allergic reaction. Plus, Brycen hates nuts!

Well, if you're still with me, you deserve a medal. This was a looooong post. Sorry! If you are interested in making any of these desserts, please let me know how well you liked them. I promise I will post a much shorter Try It Tuesday next time!

Something To Think About Saturday

2009-05-16T23:01:00.005-04:00

For Randa, but it's also for ME!

Sometimes we just like acting like a 2-year old when things don't go our way. We want to stomp

our feet and scream 'til our face turns a nice shade of crimson.

And guess what? I'm thinking that sometimes that's ok !! Vent that frustration! (when no one is around however....or they might think you're the biggest *freeeeeak*on earth.)

But don't do this every time you have a problem.

Only when it's a BIG one and you're really ~super~ frustrated. Go ahead and scream into the pillow for a few seconds......................

But then take this advice.......never........ ever QUIT. Don't give up or things will never......ever get better. Scream a little and move on.

*Note to self.......do this or go NUTZ! :)~

Bye Bye???

2009-05-14T19:13:00.004-04:00

Ok, my title was misleading. I'm not going anywhere. But I hope the Ducks are!!

Game 7 ELIMINATION TIME!! Go Wings! EDIT: And they did it! 4-3 Wings! Bye bye to the Ducks. Rock on Red Wings!

YouTube Of The Day :)

2009-05-10T23:53:00.002-04:00

This is grrrreat. I love it!

You won't be able to get it out of your head!

Oh yeahhhh...his Mom must be proud.

Free Chix from KFC!

2009-05-05T21:45:00.005-04:00

Oh boy. I love chicken and now I can eat it for free from KFC!

You've seen the commercials for their new Kentucky Grilled Chicken. Now go get your own 2 piece meal for Freeeeeee.

Here is the link.

Hurry. Don't waste time. The link could just stop working because so many people are downloading the coupon. Plus, the download will disappear on Wednesday, May 6th at 11:59pm!

Hurry! YUM! :)

Try it Tuesday.....Alexia Crunchy Snacks

2009-05-05T00:00:00.000-04:00

Have you tried these yet?! I didn't even know they existed! I spied them and had to grab them because truthfully, I've never met an Alexia product that I didn't like.

I am a huge fan of the Julienne Fries with Sea Salt and also the artisan breads. Mmm. Those are in the frozen line. I had no idea they had any products in the other aisles! Oh happy day!

I was in the chip aisle of all places when I saw the Onion Strips Crunchy Snacks & the Waffle Fries Crunchy Snacks. While in the chip aisle, I wouldn't expect to find this product. I'll tell you why......

The Savory Seasoned Onion Strips are TRUE, REAL onions! Just like you eat out of the oven only crunchy! Seriously, Alexia has me amazed and pleasantly surprised! I bit into one of these and it's like eating an onion ring from a restaurant! You know, the kind of place that serves a basket of them with that horseradish dip! Can I hear a YUM?! A coating with a real onion inside!

Yes, they are crunchy and probably deep fried. Yes, they are cold and not warm like the ones from a restaurant, but they rock! If I had some of that horseradish dip, I'd be in heaven.

Alexia says both the Onion Strips & the Waffle Fries are 100% natural and zero trans fat. There are no artificial preservatives, color or flavors.

Here are the nutritionals for the Onion Strips:
Serving Size: 28g 1 ounce (about 18 pieces)

Servings Per Container: 4.5
Calories [per serving]: 150

Calories from Fat: 70

Daily %
Total Fat 8g 12%
Saturated Fat 0.5g 3%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat
Monounsaturated Fat
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 200mg 8%
Potassium 80mg 2%
Daily %
Total Carbohydrate 18g 6%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Sugars 2g
Protein 2g
Daily %
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 0%
Iron 2%

Ingredients

Wheat Flour, High Oleic Canola Oil, Corn Flour, Modified Food Starch, Spanish Onions, Cornstarch, Salt, Less Than 2% Of: Dextrose, Egg White Solids, Malted Barley Flour, Spice, Sugar.

Contains: EGG and WHEAT

Now for the Waffle Fries....again real potatoes! I chose to buy the Classic Ranch flavor and that might have been a mistake. Don't get me wrong. They are still good. But there is something about them that doesn't thrill me. I think it's because it has a little bit of spice or something. I feel the heat a bit. I don't like heat very much, so this isn't my favorite. I wish I had just tried the Aged Cheddar
Waffle Fries. The fries are cool looking with the cross cut look. They are thick and dense. A real potato and not air filled at all. I guess you will have to be the judge on these though. I'm sticking with the Onion Straws.

Here are the Waffle Fries nutritionals:
Serving Size: 28g

Servings Per Container: 5
Calories [per serving]: 140

Calories from Fat: 60

Daily %
Total Fat 7g 11%
Saturated Fat 0.5g 3%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat
Monounsaturated Fat
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 200mg 8%
Potassium 190mg 5%
Daily %
Total Carbohydrate 18g 6%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Sugars 0g
Protein 1g
Daily %
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 2%
Calcium 0%
Iron 2%

Ingredients

Russet Potatoes, High Oleic Canola Oil, Modified Food Starch, Less Than 2% Of: Buttermilk Solids, Citric Acid, Cornstarch, Dehydrated Parsley, Dextrin, Distilled Vinegar Powder, Enzyme Modified Butterfat, Garlic Powder, Natural Flavor, Onion Powder, Potassium Chloride, Rice Flour, Salt, Spices, Sugar, Xanthan Gum, Whole Milk Powder, Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate (To Promote Color Retention).

Contains: MILK

Oh, I forgot to mention that they both come in different flavors other than those I mentioned.

Onion Straws come in:
Jalapeno
Savory Seasoned

The Waffle Fries come in these flavors:Aged Cheddar Cheese
Bold & Spicy BBQ
Hot Pepper
Classic Ranch

A yummy all natural snack that tastes just like they came from your favorite restaurant. Yes, they are a bit high calorie, high fat, but eaten in moderation, they are a yummy treat.

I'm interested in hearing what others think of the Alexia brand. Have you tried the brand? Did you like it? What appeals to you about the brand?

Tell me and I might just reward you.

Ok. No, not really. Hee hee. But that does give me an idea. I've never done a give-away. Maybe I'll think about doing one. What would I give away?? I guess it would have to be a Try It Tuesday product wouldn't it? *wink*

I love me some Jillian!

2009-04-30T16:33:00.005-04:00

I'm having a really bad day, so I have decided to do what makes me happy. I made a layout using photos of my much-loved daughter Jillian :)

Boy, digiscrappin' is FUN!

I'm learning!

2009-04-29T22:12:00.005-04:00

I know this is small potatoes to so many people who are talented in the digital scrapping world (read- MEGAN!), but I'm finally taking baby steps in learning how to make my own stuff.

Here is my first paper! Weeeee!

I have no idea how to share it so that others can use it, but it's kind of a common type of paper anyway, so no biggie. I'm just excited that I could actually make something of my own. A small accomplishment. Oh happy day. :)

Not too Shabby!

2009-04-28T12:40:00.004-04:00

Instead of trying a food or cleaning product on Try it Tuesday, I want you to "try" a new website instead!

I have to plug my sweet friend Megan's website! She is, and always has been, a very talented person! (I thnk she gets that from her Mommy).
She has her own ~new~website that has the most shabbilicious *FREE* blog backgrounds! Holy cuteness! You have to check it out. She also has the most awesome blinkies and buttons for your blog....all free. I have a couple on my sidebar already. How sweet of her to offer her talents up to the rest of the bloggers of the world.

Here is a quote from her website, Shabby Blogs:

Your home may be where your story begins, but your blog is where your story is told. Here at Shabby Blogs, we believe everyone deserves to tell their story in style!
Now get on over to Shabby
Blogs today and enjoy a new shabby blog background that is just your style! Megan is
adding new things all the time. Don't delay...make your blog more YOU today!
Oh, and notice that I'm using one of her backgrounds myself for this blog. Guess what it's called? Yep, it's called, Leanne! Megan is so generous and thoughtful. I can't say I'll keep using the same background long though. Megan has fabulous taste. And with so many backgrounds to choose from, she makes me want to change mine every day!
I love Megan. -sigh-

Try it Tuesday....Glade Fragrance Collection Soy Candles

2009-04-21T00:54:00.008-04:00

Glade soy candles are part of The Fragrance Collection. As I've said before, I am a Bzz Agent and they frequently send me free products in their kits to sample and then review. This campaign for the Glade soy candle has been one of my favs so far!

For starters, they did an awesome job presenting the product with a pretty box with the information tucked into a vellum envelope. It even had fancy envelopes to share coupon cards with my friends. Those envelopes even had little scratch 'n sniff type smellies. But do you think I took photos of all of this? Of course not. This is me after all.

-Sigh-. I always mean to document things through photos and then forget. My nice camera is still broke, so I've been using Jillian's Canon. I'm sure she is just thrilled that Mom steals her camera all the time.

Anyway, if you would like to see what the packaging "looked" like, check out this person's review. See? She was was smart enough to take photos before she talked about her Bzz kit.

Anyway, this kit was beautiful. I think they did a great job on presentation, but was I going to base my opinion on presentation alone? Nope. I tried to be neutral...at first.

You had me at hello Glade! I couldn't help but love these candles from first look. I'm mean, really...just look at it!
Cute as a button! A nice looking, solid, 3 wick candle in a glass jar with a cute tin lid. Beautiful.

The scent that was sent to me (hee hee) was the Currants & Acai. It was wonderful! Very aromatic before I even lit it. Of course I had to light it right away. Especially since we had a flood in our basement recently and I was still trying to cover up the musty smell. The candle sure worked. Yes, it's just about the same as a Yankee or any other high end candle. This includes both the long lasting scent as well as the look. Plus, soy candles win me over most of the time anyway.

Here are some of the reasons that I will buy these candles again and again....

First of all, the are soy. Meaning noooo sooty smoke.

Second, they are strong smelling. I tested them against my Woodwick candles. What I do is go to the opposite end of the house away from the candle burning. I start walking and note where I'm at when I smell the candle. (yes, my house is long...one candle will NOT fill my whole house with it's aromatic smell). Sooo...the results are this. I notice the Woodwick about ONE step before the Glade soy candle. Not too shabby!

Third, like I said before, the soy candles from Glade are upscale looking. I just love that tin lid.

Fourth, they have over 90% natural ingredients.

Fifth, I don't have to head to the mall or gift shop to buy them! I can just head on over to Wal-mart or Target.

Actually, my sixth reason should be the second. They have *gReAt* fragrance choices:

Lotus Bamboo--lotus notes with a touch of citrus on a bamboo base.

Currants & Acai -- Tart red currants combined with the tanginess of the Acai berry.

Sheer White Cotton -- Floral, fruity and woody notes, including freesia and lime. (I bought this one! It's fabulous)

McIntosh Apple -- The crisp scent of fresh picked apples, crisp and juicy, yet slightly tart.

Earthly Awakening -- Nature-inspired fragrances for a mellow and soothing scent.

Orange Vanilla -- A favorite treat of fresh oranges with a rich, creamy vanilla.

Seventh, yes, there is a 7th! You can pick up these Glade soy candles in 2 different sizes. A 10 ounce (the one I received, about $8.99 each) that burns up to 35 hours, or a smaller 4.9 ounce that burns 26 hours (about $5.99 each). Now, don't expect the smaller one to be as cute. It has a plastic lid. :( Oh, and the Glade Fragrance collection also has reed diffusers in the same scents. Mmm.

Now for the one drawback. You did expect a drawback didn't you? Ok, maybe not, but here it is. Some stores have these candles in their grocery aisles (hello Wal-mart?!) and they get shuffled around and the cute tins get dented & scratched. Not so cute anymore. I was also at my local Meijer store where they have these candles in with all the other candles away from the grocery aisles. Did I find dented tins? Yes. Plus some scratched ones too. I suppose grocery chains don't take the care that a gift shop would. I also could not find all of the scents in one place. I never even saw the Lotus Bamboo or the Orange Vanilla. I'm dying to try the Orange Vanilla.

Now for some *AWESOME* news for YOU! Nope, I'm not going to offer you any coupons, although I did receive some in my Bzz kit. The following deal is much better.

I stumbled upon a way for you to get 2 of the small size Glade soy candles for ~FREE!~ Oh wait, did I say free? I meant, free PLUS get a some money back from Target! Go to Target and you will see they have a sign by the Fragrance Collection of Glade soy candles that says buy *2* 4.9 ounce candles at $5.79 each, get a $5 gift card. Well, I also have a link for a printable coupon! Buy those candles using two of these coupons that are good for $4 off of ANY Glade Fragrance Collection soy candles. Put all that together and you have *better* than free! Weeeee! You must do this before May 1st, so don't dilly daddle. Hurry and print those coupons and get your fanny over to Target pronto. No, I haven't tried this deal yet, but I plan to tomorrow. :) By the way, does anyone ever really say, "dilly daddle" anymore? Geesh.

EDIT: Ok, well, it seems that the $4 off coupon has expired. I'm disappointed because it was still working when I posted this. But...not to worry...I still have some $3 off fragrance cards that you may use. Just let me know if you would like one and I will mail it to you. Leave me a comment and let me know if you would like one. Even with a $3 off coupon, you still get a good deal at Target :) Oh, and I know Ebay has some Glade coupons that might save you a bit too.

2nd EDIT: All of the coupons for the Glade soy candles are spoken for. Thanks everyone!

Sit and stay a-Weihl

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