Free Asthma Book for Children with Asthma

Thanks to Bargain Briana for sharing this! Go here to receive your free copy of Breathless Bethany Buttercup. While there, you can also sign up to receive information from the Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics.

As a mom of a child with allergy induced asthma, I can tell you that I am 100% behind research that helps give my child a chance to breathe without complications and I'm pleased to see a book out there to help children and parents deal with this issue!

She's a songwriter now!

Reagan made up a little song while trying to go to sleep the other night:

Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight, everyday, everyday, everyday.
Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight.

LOL...I guess all she feels like we put her to bed too much!

It's Spring!!

On Monday evening, I took advantage of Daddy reading books to Reagan, to get out her spring clothes and hang them in her closet. Normally, hanging up ALL her clothing is a daunting task and I was enjoying listening to the children's books and watching Reagan and Daddy interact. About 1/4 of the way through, Reagan asked me what I was doing.

"I'm putting up your spring clothes," I replied.
Reagan begins bouncing up and down on her knees: "Spring! Yah, yah, yah! Spring is here! Spring is here! Spring is here!"

LOL! You can tell she's a northern kid that's been couped up all winter!

"Aww, that's too bad"

We were attempting to go to sleep last night and Reagan was NOT cooperating. In fustration, I mentioned that by now, her friends Joseph and Catherine had already been in bed for TWO hours. Reagan looked at me and Daddy and said "Aww, that's too bad!"

Little Stinker!

Some new pictures!

This is perhaps the best gift I've ever been given! It was my "Valentine's Day" gift from Reagan (although she didn't realize it was that at all! We were at the library courtyard, she was running around with friends and found a piece of a dried hydrangea that had fallen off..so she picked it up and brought it to mommy! "for you"....my heart melted...Then she decorated this old relish jar for me to put it in...It's proudly displayed on our bookshelf!


This is Reagan and her friend eating their Valentine's Day peppermint hearts! Yummm!!


Reagan climbed up in her Daddy's chair one afternoon and said "I'm relaxin'!"


One of Reagan's ABSOLUTE favorite books, and has been since she was a baby, is a book with all kinds of shapes and textures in it..she calls it her 'sticky banana book' because one of the pages is all about fruit and it has "sticky" bananas! So, we decided to make her a sticky banana fruit face! See the raisins on the grapes for the eyes!? It's just like the picture! Too fun!


Ok, yes, a lot of our projects revolve around food..I'm southern...go figure! This is Reagan making green jello jigglers for St. Patty's Day!


Here's Reagan wearing her Rose Petal Cottage apron and making blueberry muffins! And yes, that's all her artwork on the wall!

Oh and in case you were wondering about the big toothy grin-grimace on her face...she refuses to take any pictures now without saying "CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!" and grinning as big as she can!!

Best Deal Ever!!

I am so proud of this!! I got all of the items below at Walmart on Thursday for (drumroll please....) $4.75!!!!!!!!!! THAT INCLUDES 7.00% tax people!!!!!! Wooohooooooooo!

Free Time??

A woman on my discussion board brought up this question, and wow, does she have a point! Have we ever seen a President of this country with so much free time on his hands??? Appearances on late night television, taking time to make out his basketball brackets, drinking with his buddies and so forth and so on.

In the (paraphrased) words of a Duke coach, 'maybe he should be focusing more on the economy and less on sports.' Yeah, except every time he opens his mouth, my investments fall just a little bit more..pretty soon I expect to be in the negative range.

The thing is, if we're in such an economic struggle right now, why is he not spending more time focusing on that? And another thing---according to reports earlier this month, Obama's staff was just so concerned because he was feeling overwhelmed and not sleeping much (um, yeah, you idiot, you signed on to be President of the United States..it's not exactly a 9-5 job nor is it a job for a so-called 'community organizer'!!)--yet he has time to go focus on sports and television?

And let's not forget that he was apparently SO OVERWHELMED by the so-called economic crisis, that he could not give British Prime Minister Brown a proper welcome....let's say that again...BRITISH PRIME MINISTER....our biggest ally!?!?! We can't give them a proper welcome...?!?!? Because we're too tired...and then a little later on, we're ok to go out drinking with our friends and do a basketball bracket?

Yeah, that shows great priorities as our President...and clearly shows (once again) that Obama was NOT ready to take on this job.

Before I end this...can I just say that I am SOOOOO sorry to anyone who might be British and is reading this blog? You deserve so much thanks for standing beside us than you are clearly getting...and the American people realize this. We are deeply embarrassed for the way our President has responded to you. ...and even more deeply embarrassed over his pathetic movie gift. Sorry guys...truly I am....I can only say, *I* didn't vote for him!

Small town America...

I love living in a small town. You run into people you know everywhere, you know the shop owner's names, the center of life revolves around the library and the downtown businesses. Life is good.

But I have one better than that.

Life is REALLY good when the weather finally gets nice enough that you can walk from your home to a pizza shop downtown, have some INCREDIBLE homemade pizza and then leisurely walk back home and put your pleasantly tired child to bed.

THAT is life in small town America. THAT is pure Heaven!

Happy Spring!

Today is the first official day of Spring for 2009. Thank God! We could use a nice stretch of warm weather. To celebrate, Reagan and I have some fun stuff planned!

First, breakfast: I thought I'd make her egg-in-toast, which I've never made before, using a flower shaped cookie cutter. (Note: and yes, as a germaphobe, I *WILL* be making sure the egg is COMPLETELY cooked..unlike the link above..although I do remember gooey egg yolk as a kid and it was ...drooool..soo good....however, now I know..ick, what germs are there!)

After that, we're going to do some crafts together--making a spring 'windsock', painting a flower pot, planting some catnip for the cats, making paper plate umbrellas, making cupcake liner flowers and enjoying some spring time songs. We're also going to make a trip to the library for some 'springtime' books and perhaps fly her Pooh kite..if it's warm enough!

Somewhere in there, we'll make smoothies and apple 'ladybugs'. She should be nice and worn out by the time bedtime rolls around (which will be nice for Daddy...I'll be at the office!)

Proctor and Gamble have earned me as a customer for life!

I really do enjoy most of the Proctor and Gamble products on the market, but after trying the new Always Infinity, I was left with some bitter consumer disappointment. I decided to contact the company and let them know how I felt and to tell them that their product needed some major tweaking (in my humble opinion). A day hadn't even gone by before I heard from them to tell me that they were sending a refund to me.

How great is that? A company that obviously wants to please it's customers offers to refund your money on a product, that yes, you did use, but you really disliked. Because of their handling of this problem, they've definitely earned me as a continued customer.

Now, I'm not saying that people should go complain about products they dislike just to get money back. That's so dishonest (for example, I've heard that some people are taking advantage of the Carter's company and their refund program for their 'tagless' line..this is NOT how capitalism works people!!) But if you're genuinely unhappy with a product, let the company know. The same goes for things you enjoy too. I've contacted many companies just to let them know I loved their new product! Remember, companies like getting compliments as much (if not more) than we do..and it ensures that products we really like stay on the market for a while!

More Reaganisms!

Reagan spent Saturday evening playing with her grandparents while Mommy and Daddy went on a date for their anniversary. On the way home, Reagan spent the entire time chatting with us on a range of different subjects...she's such a cutie and a smartie! I love how we can just have conversations with her on pretty much anything now!

Here are a few highlights from our conversation!

Reagan: (we had been talking about forrests!) There's a forrest at Papa's house.
Mommy: Yep, there sure is. Daddy played there when he was a little boy. Maybe you can play there in a few years when you get older.
(Quiet for a few seconds..noticable pause!)
Reagan: I DID IT!!!!!
Mommy: What did you do???
Reagan: I got older!!

*******************

Reagan: I want a baby sister!
Mommy: Uh, ok, well, we're working on that. Maybe after your next birthday..you know, when you get a little older.
Reagan: (pause again!) Ok, I do dat first!

*******************

Reagan: What's dat sound?
Mommy: It's the song on the radio.
Reagan: I like that song.
Mommy: (turning radio up) Can you hear it better now?
Reagan: Yeah.
Reagan: I cold Mommy.
Mommy: (messing with the heater) Is that better.
Reagan: Yeah.
Mommy: Are you comfortable?
Reagan: Yeah.
(Pause)
Reagan: Dank you.

Awwww...doesn't she make your heart melt!?!?!?

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Hope everyone has a GREAT St. Patty's Day! Here's what we have in store:

Green jello snacks! Unfortunately, I don't have any St. Patrick's Day cookie cutters, but I do have spring ones..so we're going to have tulips, some other type of flower and butterfly jigglers!

Fun St. Patty's coloring pages! You can print them here! And we're making a cute green puppy out of a shamrock!

We were going to do a St. Patty's treasure hunt, but that was a little too ambitious to come up with late last night..however it's something to keep in mind for next year! I just have to gather the materials ahead of time..chocolate coins, multicolored tissue paper!

And finally, for dinner, we'll be having "Scalloped Cabbage"--recipe below:

Scalloped Cabbage (can be made into a main dish by adding meat, see notes)

2 qts of cabbage (one small-medium head of cabbage--ON SALE at Kroger thru Wednesday for 19 cents a pound!)
1 can cream of celery soup
1/4 cup milk
1 cup cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsps melted butter
salt and pepper, to taste
ground beef, turkey or chicken-optional

Boil cabbage in salted water for approximately 5-7 minutes. Drain.
Add cream of celery soup. Mix in milk, cheese and salt and papper. (If you are making into a main dish casserole: Brown beef and mix into the cabbage mixture.)
Melt butter in microwave and toss with bread crumbs.
Put cabbage mixture in baking dish and cover with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 til mixure is bubbly and cheese is melted.


Oh, and just in case you ever wanted to know, here is where you can find out what "Erin Go Braugh!" means!

Out of the mouth of babes.....

Yesterday while reading the newspaper, Reagan was fussing about not wanting to watch cartoons, so Josh said, 'why don't you read the paper?' ;) Reagan looked at him, and very seriously said "no daddy, it's bad!" LOL! Boy did she hit the nail on the head! Most of the items in today's paper are horrible stories of deaths, the failing economy or just some other liberal b.s. about how we are supposedly NOT heading towards socialism (suuuuree.......did anyone else in America even READ their history books or do any sort of research at all? Guess that went out with our parent's generation.....)

Happy Anniversary to us!

Happy 6 year anniversary Josh! I love you so much!

Where's Cockroach??

This was the first question out of Reagan's mouth when she saw the new Wall-E plush at the Disney store yesterday...complete with a puzzled, not too happy look on her face. I think I may have snorted right there in the middle of the Disney Princesses and Cars toys!

Not what you'd expect to hear from a child right? Well that was before the ever cute Cockroach made his debut as Wall-E's twinky-lovin' best friend.

So, hey, if there are any Disney Execs out there, you should really get on this! The kids of America demand a Cockroach buddy for their Wall-E's! (And here's a pic for those of you who haven't seen Wall-E....sheesh, where have you been!?)
**PICS OF REAGAN WITH WALL-E and EVE TO COME LATER!**

Cheaper Italian

Head over here to register for $2.00 off Bertolli's New Oven Baked Meals....can you yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummm?????

Reaganisms!

It's been a while since I've posted some cute Reaganisms..and it's mostly because by the time I've gotten to the computer, I've forgotten them!! :( Argh! Anyway, here are a few from today!!

Reagan got her MMR today. Unfortunately. I was planning on holding off until she had a few weeks to recover from being so very sick. And honestly, I wanted to wait til she was about three. HOWEVER, there have been some reported cases in our city and so, I felt it was important for her to get immunized NOW. Obviously the shot hurt, and afterwards I took her to Burger King for macaroni and cheese (which was her special request!) While waiting in the drive-thru, she said in her very hoarse voice (from screaming and crying!) "Never duuue dat agin. (shaking head) Never duue dat agin." Yes, I did very nearly cry...talk about breaking your mother's heart!

******

After a nice nap and some Tylenol, Reagan woke up and wanted to play. I decided to do some laundry! And found her tools (Handy Manny) that had been missing for a few days! She immediately decided that her old crib needed to be fixed. So we went into the old nursery and she begin 'fixing' the crib...she said "Ok! Need Stretch (the measuring tape)" and she began 'measuring' the crib. I asked how tall it was and she answered "BIG" :D Then very solemnly she said "It's as tall as Reagan." Yes, I was rolling!!

*****

Today Reagan asked me 'why do we have storms?'...SERIOUSLY. I was a little flabbergasted...as I wasn't expectingt this type of a question from my 26 month old. I tried to answer it as best I could without getting too technical..but wow. Just wow. Every day she amazes me!

Recipe Review

Check yesterday's post for a link to "Farmhouse Chicken"...OH MY GOSH!! SOOOO GOOOOD!!! Josh loved it. Reagan mostly picked at it (as usual!) and I thought it was absolutely delicious. Tonight was a huge leftover tonight and I actually think tomorrow might be as well! We still have a ton of food in our refrigerator from the last two days of cooking. So nice to be on top of things for once!

Reagan and I also made Banana Bread today. I used one of my favorite recipes from Martha Stewart. If you ever get a chance to look at her website, just look up 'banana bread' and then use the recipe that calls for 1/2 cup of sour cream! Amazingly enough, while helping, I let Reagan try the sour cream and....she loved it! She won't really eat the banana bread, but she thought the sour cream was divine...go figure!

Any great recipes anyone else wants to share?

Trying to get back into the swing of things....

We are STILL sick around here. Apparently whatever we have does not like to let go of you once it has hold. Meanwhile, we've taken our weight in cold medications and drank about a half gallon of honey, and I'm sure we've used at LEAST 10 boxes of tissues (can we say 'ouch?!') I've lysol-ed the house and opened windows and done everything I can think of....I hope we're on our way to a much deserved period of good health!

In the meantime, it's Menu Monday...here's whats on the menu for this week:

Breakfasts:
Yogurt and fruit
Muffins and eggs
Toast and cheesy eggs
Cereal

Lunches:
Tuna sandwiches and chips
Salad and soup
Leftovers
Fruit salad with cheese and crackers

Dinners:
Chili (we had this tonight..yum!)
Pizza and salad
Farmhouse Chicken and vegetables
Grilled chicken with green beans (and bacon! YUM!)
Broiled Tilapia Parm and vegetables
Baked potatoes and salad
Leftovers

Snacks:
Fruit
granola bars
cheese and crackers
Muffins--maybe blueberry with the last of the blueberries we picked this past summer!

I also hope to have another baking day by the end of the week...we'll see how we're all feeling by then!

I stand corrected!

And I blame the cold medication (or the hot toddy, whichever) $152 divided by 90 lbs is $1.68 per pound as brought to my attention by my 'liberal adversary'...let it never be said that I don't retract incorrect statements. I still stand by the statement that most uber-libs are whackjobs ;)

Meat..it's what's on sale.

Today, since I'm still sick, I sent Josh to run an errand for me. His mission: to purchase enough meat to fill our freezer and feed our family for the next eight months. I pleased to say, he accomplished the job and I spent an hour repacking chicken breasts, ground beef, roasts and sausage.

Now, why on earth would anyone want to purchase enough meat to feed their family for that length of time? Well, because it saves money (and with Barack Obama as President, who knows if I'll be able to afford groceries two months from now...). Actually, it saves a LOT of money! I was able to purchase all of the following for $152--and some odd cents:

30 lbs ground chuck
30 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
20 lbs of chuck roast
10 lbs of hand ground sausage

That's 90 pounds of meat people! Not only that, but it's GREAT meat...it's from a little market where my in-laws live, and it's delivered straight from the Amish, who produce wonderful food without any crap added to it...and I don't have to worry about recalls from meat packing plants!

If you divide this up, I spent, on average, 59 cents PER POUND for meat...59 CENTS people! That is huge! The last time I purchased ground beef from this store was in September of last year....and we just used the last pack a week ago!

I very much encourage people if they're able to, and find a great meat sale, stock up..I won't have to add meat into my budget for another eight months! There are also some other great ways to reduce your grocery budget when it comes to meat:

1. In casseroles and soups, use less meat than is required in the recipe...a casserole that lists 1 lb ground beef can actually taste just as great and feed just as many people with 3/4 of a pound.

2. Use meat extenders--For spaghetti, I usually use 1/2 pound of ground beef and a can of black beans (even better if you buy them dry and use them). My family actually likes it better this way...and I get more fiber and nutrients into them! (Oh, and did I mention it's cheaper!?) (Or you could just make spaghetti with pasta and sauce...but we're not a big fan of that!) Or grind beans up and mix with meat for hamburgers!

3. Use every bit of the meat you do buy and plan to do so! Leftover chicken breasts? Chop it up and put it in a pot pie for the next night's dinner or make chicken salad for sandwiches for lunch the next day. I very much encourage keeping a tupperware container in the freezer and putting bits of leftover meat and vegetables in it and making a soup when it's filled (wonderful idea from the Tightwad Gazette!). Reuse, waste less, spend less, and eat healthier!

4. Look at meat for other options as well. I've seen tons of sales lately for chicken quarters sold in ten pound bags at .49 cents per pound or .59 cents per pound. Not only can you boil that and get off every scrap of meat and use it for a variety of things: fagitas, casseroles, chicken salad, etc, etc, etc; but you can use the skin and bones as well. From just two or three of the chicken quarters you can create a HUGE pot of stock--and that will well cover the cost of the actual chicken! Here's an easy recipe:

Bones from 2-3 pre-cooked chicken quarters, as much meat as possible removed and the bones broken (explained below)
fat, skin from the chicken
celery (you can even just use the leaves if you prefer to eat the rest of your celery!)
onion
black pepper
a little bit of salt
Water to fill your large pot.

Put this on low-med and let it simmer all day. At the end of the day, let cool, strain and put in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, remove any fat that has come to the top. Put in tupperware containers or plastic bags and freeze. Use in any recipe calling for chicken stock or broth.

**The reason you want to break the bones is so that the marrow comes out and flavors the stock**

Hopefully this has given you some great ideas to save on meat too!

Update on us!

Ugh. What a week. Reagan has been really sick..in fact, she's been to the doctor three days in a row and they were thinking about admitting her to the hospital. Yesterday she had an uber-dose of antibiotics in the form of a *very painful* shot and today she's doing much better than she previously was. However, she's still one sick little girl. I feel so badly for her....she just cries from the pain of the continued hacking and coughing and she's on nine different medications. I hope she'll be back to normal in a few days, after finishing off her medications. Please keep her in your prayers.

In the meantime, I have become rundown and sick as well...although no where even close to how sick Reagan was. But we've been eating takeout food every single night and a mountain of laundry, dishes and tissues have been piling up. As soon as we feel better, Reagan and I are going to be making casseroles for the freezer just in case anything like this happens again, we can eat good, nutritious food!

As for the adoption, it has been cancelled. Josh decided he could not go through with it...he had reservations about loving a child that wasn't 'ours'...I did some research and apparently this is VERY common, especially for males. However, since it's not something he can just overcome, we decided to officially cancel. Which means we lost a nice chunk of cash and I was really angry, hurt and disappointed, but I'm moving forward and trying to pursue other options.

So that's it from us at the moment. I'll try to catch up on blogging in a few days. In the meantime, I hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of spring.

Sorry for the lack of posts...

Things have been a bit hectic around here lately..more to come later!