It's Swagbucks' 3rd Birthday!

Have you signed up for Swagbucks yet?  Today is their 3rd birthday and they are giving out lots of codes for free Swagbucks!  Hurry and sign up to get your free stuff!

Pirose Nursing Cover {Review}

One of my favorite parts of having kids has been being able to nurse them.  However, one of my least favorite things is having to nurse them in a public area.  It doesn't happen very often, but once in a while we find ourselves at a place where there is just no quiet, private place to go.  For these occassions, I love having a nursing cover.  When I was given the opportunity to review the Pirose nursing cover by Reno Rose, I thought it looked like a great idea!  The Pirose cover is a very lightweight unique cover that can be very fashionable as well as functional.  Besides being a nursing cover, it can be worn many different ways as a scarf, shawl, head band and stroller or purse accessory, and comes in three different sizes.  You can also check out this You-Tube video for more pictures of it being worn.

(Clearly, this picture is not of me.  I may look a little more stylish and cuter wearing my new scarf, but only a miracle could make me look that good after four kids!)

What I like:  I love that it is so versatile! It can be worn instead of taking up room in the diaper bag.  I received the Gwendolyn for review and it is a beautiful flowery pattern on very lightweight material.  I like how light and breathable it is and doesn't seem to bother Peanut when it lays on her head.

What I don't like as much: Peanut likes to be able to look at me when she is nursing and the Pirose doesn't allow that very well.

If you are a nursing mom or plan to be in the future, I highly recommend the Pirose cover!

If you are interested in purchasing a Pirose cover for $35 you can do so HERE. You can also check them out on Facebook or Twitter.

This is a MamaBuzz review.  My new scarf was provided by Reno Rose Inc for this review.

Tasty Tuesday - No Knead Bread

Ok, so I'm at it again.  Trying out bread recipes.  But this time, I may have succeeded in finding one my family really likes!  And this one is so easy, even your kids can make it mostly by themselves!  This is really tasty with soups and stews and I usually double it to make a larger loaf.

No Knead Bread

3 cups flour- I've used all white and a mixture of white and wheat, both tasting equally delicious
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)
1 1/2 cups warm water

Mix together until blended. Cover and let rise for 18 hours (yes that's right 18 hours!). Turn onto a floured surface. With wet hands or spatula, fold the dough over a few times and shape into a ball. Gently pick up and place in oiled bowl or a flour dusted cotton towel. Let rise about 2 hours. When you have about 15 minutes left, turn on your oven to 450 degrees and place a covered baking pan (I use my big soup kettle) in the oven to preheat.  Remove the pan after 15 minutes and sprinkle cornmeal on the bottom of the pan. Pour dough into the pan and replace lid. Put into the oven and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake for 15-20 more minutes. Cool on a rack.

Linked up with:

5 Little Bunnies {Review and Discount Code!}

My munchkins love books.  They love looking at them, being read to, and listening to recordings of books.  I like reading with them too, but sometimes it is nice to get somethings done while they are listening to a recording.  So when I received 5 Little Bunnies book and CD from Twin Sisters Productions for review, I knew we would all like it.  It is a board book of the Five Little Bunnies and the CD has a read along for the book plus 19 other fun kids' songs.  The kids have loved listening to it!  Some of the songs they are familiar with and some were new to us, but have quickly become songs they know and sing along with.  We have really enjoyed reading and listening together, but I also find the kids sitting on their own with the book reading the story.  Lovebug hasn't figured out when to turn the pages yet, so I love it when Buddy or Sweetie sits with him, helping him turn at the right time, and listening together.  They also love dancing or doing hand motions to many of the songs. The Five Little Bunnies book is a board book and if your kids are like my and tend to break destroy things with amazing speed, you probably appreciate board books as much as I do.  The suggested ages for this book are 0-6 and I think that is pretty accurate since all of my kids have enjoyed it.

Here is a little info about Twin Sisters Productions:

For over 23 years, Twin Sisters Productions has been dedicated to producing quality educational and inspirational music resources for children, families, and educators. Founded by fraternal twins, Karen Mitzo Hilderbrand, and Kim Mitzo Thompson, Twin Sisters Productions has continued to expand its product line to include CDs, read and sing-along books, floor puzzles and educational workbooks, all with the purpose of learning through music. These products have received over 160 awards for educational excellence and creativity as well as classroom and family fun, thus reflecting Twin Sisters Production commitment to producing educational audio of the highest quality and value. These awards include nine RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) certified Gold albums and one Platinum album. With thousands of songs that teach and over 26 million albums sold, Twin Sisters Productions positions itself as the leader in children's educational music.

If you would like to hear a sample of the songs, you may do so HERE and if you would like to purchase the Five Little Bunnies book and CD please go HERE.  Twins Sisters has offered my readers a 30% off discount on their site, good through March 31, 2011, using the code FIVEBUNNY.

This is a MamaBuzz Review.  Thanks to Twin Sisters Productions for providing this book to me for free for review. 

Winners!

Thank you to everyone who entered the Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari and the Paws and Tales giveaways!  I used random.org to pick the winners.

There were 16 entries into the Dragon and the Turtle giveaway and this is what number random.org gave me:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

1

Timestamp: 2011-02-10 03:33:54 UTC

Entry #1 is:
Jamie~ Lynn said...
Michelle... you are such an organized blogger! I love it! My most adventurous and memorable times as a kid usually involved a camping trip up in the mountains and Sean or Moose... one of my trustee horses!:)
 
There were 11 entries into the Paws and Tales giveaway and here is the number random.org gave me:
 

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

6

Timestamp: 2011-02-10 03:34:48 UTC

Entry #6 is:
Maureen said...
We have several Veggie Tales, and a new Boogbooga Land video!

Congratulations! You will have 48 hours to respond to my email or I will have to pick a new winner!

Tasty Tuesday - Taco Soup

Here is another one of the few meals that Buddy loves and will actually eat seconds of.  It is also really tasty on a cold rainy day!

Ingredients:

1 lb hamburger
1 can stewed tomatoes, undrained
Corn (I use approx. 2 cups of frozen, but you can also use canned)
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can tomato sauce
1 pkg (1/4 cup) taco seasoning
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 can pinto beans, undrained

Brown the hamburger in a large pot.  Add remaining ingredients and let it simmer for a while.  Or you can put the browned hamburger and everything else into the crock pot and cook on low for a few hours.  Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, and crushed tortilla chips.

That's it.  Easy peasy.

Linked up with:
Raising Olives

Old Jeans Turned Rice Bag

My hubby goes through jeans like you wouldn't believe.  But he rarely wears them out.  Somehow he usually manages to catch them on something and rip a large unrepairable hole in them.  And then he sews them up with baling twine and gets a few more uses out of them.  (Baling twine is like duct tape, you can fix just about anything with it!)

Since the hole is usually around the pockets or zipper areas, the legs are still in great condition.  After throwing out a few ripped pairs, I thought there must be something I can do with these and began saving some of them.  One day I ran across a tutorial for making rice bags to heat up and I thought to myself wouldn't the leg of one of those jeans be perfect for that?  I finally got around to trying it out and thought I would share it with you!

First you will need to cut off one of the legs as close to the back pocket as you can get.

My first attempt was to just sew the bottom closed and then fill with rice.  Unless you have a super strong needle in your sewing machine though, you will break your needle sewing through the seams. (Just ask me how I know that!)  So instead I cut the seams off to get two pieces like this:

Next you will need to put the pieces together, right sides facing each other, and sew 3 sides closed.  You will have a long tube with one of the short ends open.  Turn it right side out and dump in about 1 cup of rice.  Then you will sew across the tube to keep the rice in about a 4 inch section.

Keep adding a cup of rice and sewing across until you get to the end of your tube.  If you want all the sections the same size, you can measure and mark them before you add the rice, but I just eye-balled it and they all turned out fairly close to the same size.  Then just tuck the end inside and sew across one final time.

On the next cold night, just pop it in the microwave for about 5 minutes and then tuck it into your bed to keep you toes toasty warm!

I made one for each of the kids and they love having them in their beds at night to keep warm!  I also used a few 6 inch square scraps to make a couple hand warmers.

So I made a small dent in my pile of ripped jeans.  Any other good suggetions?

Please check out all the blogs I link to HERE.

Blessed Be the Name

The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1:21

It has been a difficult week in the community with the passing of Cash and Melanie.  It reminds me to be so thankful for the blessings God has given me in my life.  I know our children belong to Him and He can take them to their eternal home with Him anytime he chooses, but it still a struggle to understand why He chooses to call them home and leave us here without them.  After my brother passed away several years ago, my brother-in-law, who was only 5 or 6 at the time, said we don't need to be sad, God has his house ready, ours isn't ready yet.  So simple, but so hard!  Please continue to remember these families in your prayers in the coming year.  After a few weeks, life seems to go back to normal for the rest of the world, but they are still daily reminded of their loss.  I would encourage you to remember the day each one passed, jot it down by your prayer list or mark it on your calendar.  Each month as that day comes up, remember to pray for them as they mark off another month without their loved one.  Thankfully we can know that this is not the end, though.  When God calls us home, we will be reunited with our loved ones and spend eternity worshipping our Creator with them!

Paws & Tales: God Cares For You {Review & Giveaway!} CLOSED

Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers, we had a movie night last week, complete with popcorn, comfy pillows and blankets, and the new Paws & Tales: God Cares For You DVD.  It is based on the Paws & Tales radio show, which the kids have listened to and enjoyed.  They also loved this movie!  It has two episodes on it.  The first is The Good Shepherd, in which C.J. and Ned get to take care of sheep and discover that it is not as easy as it seems it would be.  The second is A Good Foundation, in which they attempt to build a clubhouse and learn the importance of starting with a good foundation.  The kids have watched it several times and it is now one of their favorites! Ned is their favorite character. Hubby and I really like how they are learning good biblical concepts while they are watching and think that this DVD does a better job of fitting this in with the story than a lot of other biblically based movies do.  You can also pop the DVD into your computer and print off some coloring and activity sheets for the kids and some tip sheets with questions and Bible verses for discussion after the movie.  I really appreciate having the tip sheets to be able to see if the kids are grasping the important concepts of the movie.  The Paws & Tales site also has some fun games and activites that the kids enjoyed trying out.  We can't wait for the next movie night with another fun episode of Paws and Tales!



Tyndale was kind enough to include a giveaway for one of my readers as well!  The winner will recieve a certificate for Paws & Tales: God Cares for You which can be redeemed at your local Christian bookstore or be sent by mail to order it from Tyndale.  This giveaway will end at noon (or whenever I get around to it!) on Wednesday, Feb 9, 2011 and then I will randomly draw a winner.  The winner will have 48 hours to reply to my email or a new winner will be drawn.

To enter the giveaway please leave me a comment letting me know your kids' favorite biblically based movie or radio program.  Please leave your email address so that I can contact you if you win!

For an extra entry, follow or subscribe to my blog (see the left column) and leave me a seperate comment letting me know.

For more information about Paws & Tales: God Cares for You, please visit Paws &Tales or Tyndale House Publishers.

I recieved this DVD free from Tyndale House Publishers to review.  All opinions are mine and I get to keep the movie.

God Gave Us the World {Review}

God Gave Us the World is part of the God Gave Us series by Lisa Tawn Bergren.  It is about a little polar bear who is curious about all the other bears when he discovers that not all bears are polar bears just like him.  His mother takes him on a trip to a special museum exhibit, "Bears Around the World," to show him that other bears look different, eat different foods, and live in different places. She explains to the little bear that God created the world and each bear has a special place in it.  The book also finishes up with talking about how we need to take good care of God's world. It is beautifully illustrated by Laura J. Bryant.

My kids loved this book and wanted to read it several times!  I think the book does a nice job of explaining that our God is creative and wanted to create a variety of bears.  This was easy to turn into a discussion with the kids about how He created people different also.  We haven't read any of the other books in the series, but after reading this one we will definitely be checking them out soon!

If you wish to purchase God Gave Us the World for $10.99, you may do so here.

This is a MamaBuzz review. The product was provided by: Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for free for this review.

The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari {Review & Giveaway!} CLOSED

The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari by Donita K. Paul and Evangeline Denmark is a cute book about Roger the turtle and Padraig the Dragon as they go on a camp out at Mount Sillymanborrow.  They are excited about camping out all night, but as night comes, it brings some strange and scary noises.  They are determined to spend the whole night outside and discover that they can help each other get past their fears to accomplish this.

I thought this was a really cute book about friendship and helping each other be strong and courageous.  Buddy really enjoyed it too, but I think it was a little bit hard for the younger kids to understand.  There were a few unfamiliar words and phrases.  Even though there is nothing in the story about prayer or God helping them be strong and courageous, there is a short study guide in the back that includes verses and how we can encourage each other.  I also found The Dragon and the Turtle and Donita K. Paul websites that have more fun to expand on the story.

If you wish to purchase The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari for $11.99, you may do so here.

Waterbrook Multnomah sent me two copies of this book, so I have one to giveaway to one of you guys!

To enter, simply leave me a comment telling me what your favorite adventure (real or pretend play) was when you were young.  Please leave your email address also so I will have a way to contact you if you win. 

For an extra entry, follow or subscribe to my blog (see the left column) and leave me a seperate comment letting me know.

This giveaway will end Feb 9, 2011 at noon (or whenever I get around to it!), when I will randomly pick a winner.  The winner will have 48 hours to reply to my email or a new winner will be drawn. Open to US resident only.

This is a MamaBuzz review. The product was provided by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for free for this review.