No Shopping Day!

I suggest a no SHOPPING DAY!

Resist.

... play games...

maybe go for a walk or a hike...

hanging out as a family is the order of the day!!

Apple Dumpling Gang

The Apple Dumpling Gang is a Disney film, (1975) about a gambler named Donavan (played by Bill Bixby, think Incredible Hulk) who is tricked into taking care of a group of orphan children. These precocious kids eventually strike gold during the California Gold Rush.

Tim Conway and Don Knotts (pure comic geniuses) are a team of not-so-bright gangsters who try to steal the gold, but later are offered the gold by the children. This movie is sweetly hilarious! I look forward to sharing it with my little ones this holiday weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving

The Giving Chest Winner!!!

Here are your random numbers:14


Congratulations williamsboys!!! You are going to love this book! I'm so excited for you and your boys!

Pogo Sticks

Last year, as an impulse purchase, we bought a couple of pogo sticks for our kids for Christmas. It ended up being one of our best toy purchases ever.

The kids, all of them, love them. And when we have friends over to play, they always end up jumping with one of the sticks.

This one is available at Dick's Sporting Goods for $35.

Cheryl&Co

Cheryl&Co is a bakery, founded in 1981, that offers fresh baked cookies, desserts and gifts! They are located in Ohio and they ship anywhere in the US and Canada. AND... they offer free shipping to any APO/FPO address... as a way to show support for the US Military! Love that idea!

Everything on their menu looks DELICIOUS and so tempting. In my perfect world, I would have a bakery right on the corner of my street!!!

Snoopy Loves the USA

This is a darling 2008 Hallmark Keepsake Ornament. I love it!

I love Christmas and all that is Christmas. And I have a definite weakness for Hallmark Ornaments. Click here to see all the new ornaments for 2008.

Blog Jokes

Stadium Seats

High School soccer season is about to start. Actually yesterday was our daughter's first scrimmage game! With two kids on the high school soccer teams I'm going to be at a lot of games.

It is crucial to have good stadium seats for the almost two hour games. My qualifications for a good seat are easy... 1) it must be thick enough that I don't feel the frigid cold of the bleachers, 2) it MUST have a back (not just a pillow to sit on), 3) it must not tip over when I lean back and 4) it must not cost a fortune!

My new favorite sporting good store... Dick's Sporting Goods... had these great seats! And they are only $25 each. Plus, I used a $10 off a $50 purchase... making them $20 each! Yea!!

This is what the Dick's Sporting Goods website said about the seats: The GCI Outdoor™ Bleacher-Back™ seat offers fully reclining back support for sitting on bleachers with a nylon adjustable strap and a 2-in padded seat cushion. The folding design and carrying strap make it easy to transport, and it includes an oversized storage pouch for holding a wallet, keys, etc.

P.S. These seats worked great inside for volleyball season as well!

Hugh!

Hugh Jackman, 40, was just named People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive.

My favorite Hugh movies...

Kate and Leopold

and

The Prestige

and I liked Someone Like You!

Did you know that he had a 'voice' part in Flushed Away and Happy Feet? How sexy is that?

Oral Fixation Mints

I love all the varieties of mint tins that are available. It seems that everyone sells their brand. I was at a Liz Claiborne store this weekend and they have a tin of mints... seriously, everyone has their brand on mint tins!

I love these mints from Oral Fixation. They have some great flavors (see their website, or below) and I love that the tins are so thin. They are the perfect size for business cards!

I think this gift pack is a fun idea. Six tins in a slipcase for $15. The six flavors included are:

Mojito Mint (lime mint cocktail)
7 Deadly Cinnamon (hot cinnamon)
Sugar Free Tibet (wintergreen)
Night Light (caffeinated chai)
Spare Mint (spearmint)
Classical Peppermint

The other flavors available are:

Mimosa Mint (Orange Mint Cocktails) NEW!
Antioximints (Green Tea Mints) NEW!
Jasmints (Herbal Jasmine Mints) NEW!
Fabulous Fruit (Very Fruity Tropical Mints) NEW!

"Mr. Finnegan's Giving Chest" Giveaway

I love Christmas. I love children's stories. I love books!

Combine the three and I'm hooked.

Add Dick Van Dyke and I think I'm in heaven!

"Mr. Finnegan's Giving Chest" is a wonderful Christmas story that teaches about the spirit of Christmas... the giving and serving others part that is such a wonderful tradition of the Christmas season.

The artwork in "Mr. Finnegan's Giving Chest" is remarkable. It was created with state-of-the-art 3D imagery. Dick Van Dyke's likeness is the title character - Mr. Finnegan. It is such a close likeness it almost looks like a photo.
Who would like a hardbound copy of this wonderful book? Leave a comment here by midnight, Tuesday, November 25 for a chance to win this for your library... or to use as a great Christmas gift for someone special in your life.

Did I mention the book includes a CD recording of Dick Van Dyke reading the story?? So fun!

Click here for more information about the book.

Good luck!!

Spoon Sisters

I recently discovered a fun website with unique gift ideas. The Spoon Sisters has almost 29 different categories to help you find the perfect gift! Right now they are offering $5 off a $50 online purchase. The code for this discount is GIFT and the offer expires 1/15/09.
This may look just like the bag that you carry home from the pet store, but don’t be fooled…this plastic goldfish is not swimming in water, it’s embedded in clear, glycerin soap shaped like "water in a bag". I love this idea as a hostess gift, or a thank you gift to a babysitter!! Click here for more info.

With these long handles, the Dipping Spoons are perfect for getting in to spice jars. It's always a balancing act to get in to my spices that I buy from warehouse stores... and these spoons would be perfect. I love them!

National Adoption Day

Foster kids across the country will be celebrating today! Hundreds of kids will finally have a family to call their own today! Yea for adoption!

Today is the day to support the effort to finalize foster care adoptions, honor adoptive families and spread the word about kids in need.

Of the half million children who enter foster care each year, 129,000 of them are currently available for adoption.

For more information about National Adoption Day, visit nationaladoptionday.org.

I Love Adoption

I'm adopted! And I'm an adoptive mother!

I love adoption with my whole heart!

To say that I'm grateful for adoption would be the understatement of a LIFETIME!

Happy National Adoption Month!!!

Arizona Heart Gallery

The Arizona Heart Gallery is an all volunteer run organization with a simple mission... to take professional, heart-reaching photographs of the most vulnerable children in our communities... the foster children who are waiting (and waiting) to be found by their forever families.

November is National Adoption Month and Arizona Heart Gallery will have two different exhibits. Click here to see the schedule of exhibits here in Arizona.

Please take a few minutes to look at the pictures.

Hot Vanilla

Turn the classic hot-chocolate treat on its head by serving up steaming mugs of this vanilla-flavored tummy warmer -- topped with dollops of chocolaty cream.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup of whipping cream
1 tablespoon of chocolate syrup
Dash of cinnamon
1 cup of milk (per hot vanilla)
2 teaspoons of sugar (per hot vanilla)
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (per hot vanilla)

1. Start with the topping. In a medium bowl, whip 1/2 cup of whipping cream until it's frothy. Add 1 tablespoon of chocolate syrup and a dash of cinnamon, then continue to whip the mixture until everything is well blended and peaks form. Makes enough to top about 6 drinks.

2. For each hot vanilla, microwave 1 cup of milk and 2 teaspoons of sugar in a mug for 90 seconds. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Top with a dollop of chocolate cream, a drizzle of chocolate syrup, and a dash of cinnamon.

Recipe from Family Fun magazine.

Veteran's Day

Freedom is never free. ~Author Unknown

***********

I think there is one higher office than president and I would call that patriot. ~Gary Hart

This Place is a Zoo

My husband wants a boxer puppy for Christmas... I think I found one.


But wait... my 7 year old daughter wants a Chihuahua for Christmas... What is a mother to do? A mother that has said for the last 20 years that she won't be getting a dog... she isn't a dog person?

I think I found a solution. Both of those adorable, lifeLIKE puppies above are actually
stuffed animals. They look very realistic when their tummys are moving in and out like they are really breathing. These breathing puppies come with their own blanket to lay on and a cardboard carrying case as well as a certificate of adoption and a care manual. They are $32.50 each and you can purchase them at This Place is a Zoo. I love it!!! What an amazing idea!

Perhaps your family is more exotic... and you need something a little more grand? Check these guys out...

This ostrich is 30" tall and is $99.

The granddaddy of all stuffed anmials is this guy... when sitting this gorilla measures over 28" tall and retails for $299.00.

Be sure to check out This Place is a Zoo. It looks like they might just have every animal you could think of!!

The Winners of the Stephen's Hot Cocoa Giveaway are...

Kim and Nathan and she wrote...
I love hot chocolate! It would also make a great Christmas gift. Mmmm :)

AND

Jen O. who said...
Sounds interesting. I'll try it whether or not I win. ;-)

Congratulations Jen and Kim!!!! I enjoyed a cup of Chocolate Raspberry last night... y.u.m.m.y.

And a big thank you to Stephen's Hot Cocoa for this great giveaway!!

Here are your random numbers:5 and 6
Timestamp: 2008-11-06

Horrible (and funny) License Plates

I found this funny blog called Horrible License Plates. It will definitely make you smile... and probably even laugh! Enjoy!!

Vote

Did you know...

I recently read three interesting tidbits that made me smile...

Try it, You'll Like It What gives you the urge to experiment with new things, like an exotic food or a different hair color? Research from University College London shows that taking chances fires up the same part of the brain that is activated when we eat chocolate or win money.

Need Help? Just Ask The next time you need a helping hand, don't be shy about asking. Researchers at Columbia University found that people are twice as likely to help as you'd expect. In part, that's because it's awkward to say no, says study author Frank Flynn, Ph.D., now an associate professor of organizational behavior at Standford University. But most of the time people actually like being asked. "The truth is, helping others feels good," says Dr. Flynn.

Fight Stress with Fun Video games aren't just for kids anymore. It turns out they're actually good stress relievers for grown-ups. Playing puzzle-based video games, such as the kind that sometimes come pre-programmed in your cell phone for just 15 minutes may ease tension and improve mood, say researchers from East Carolina University.

My take on all of this... anyone want to come over and help me with laundry?? I'll provide the chocolate and a wicked game of Wii tennis?

Family Circus - from the 70s