Wordless Wednesday - Straw

How do you get a baby to use a straw? Give her a smoothie!

Check out more Wordless Wednesday posts HERE or HERE.

My Two Cents - Choices or maybe Barbie Tattoos

I started writing my Two Cents topic on choices then couldn't make a choice on where I wanted to go with it....this is as far as I got...

Over at Tutu's Bliss the Two Cent topic today is choices. I am a pretty indecisive person. I cannot decide where I want to eat when we go out or what movie to see when the choice presents itself. But I CAN readily tell you where I do NOT want to go or do NOT want to see. So where does that leave me? Nowhere.

And that is it. I guess I have no strong opinions on choices :) But I do have strong a opinion on tattoos on Barbie Dolls. Just so you know, I have two tattoos. I have no problem with anyone having tattoos...even covering their bodies. I wouldn't mind a bit if my child's teacher, coach or pastor had one. I have nothing against them and I wouldn't mind my daughters getting them WHEN THEY ARE 18. So why are they selling Barbies to our girls that come with tattoos?

After MUCH reluctance we let our 6 year old (and therefore our 3 year old as well) have Barbies. I grew up playing with them and looking back thought that they put too much emphasis on outward beauty (or, at least, the world standard of beauty). What made me change my mind? When they play with Barbies they are really engaged in fantasy play. They are creative. They are playing with each other. They are making things up. They are making beds, cars, and boats out of tinker toys for their dolls. They are learning to make choices (the pink skirt or the blue one :) All of these are great things for a CHILD to do. So why are we making them grow up so quickly?

Our kids should be allowed to be kids. In my opinion tattoos are not a part of being a kid. Thong panties on a Bratz doll is not allowing kids to be kids (we draw the line at Bratz). Why on earth do we want these things to be the norm for our little girls? Do we really want our precious little princesses to grow up so quickly? It's going to happen eventually. I would like to have to wait until she's 16 (yes,probably 16, because it will still happen before I really would like to) to deal with tattoos. That's my two cents. What do you think??

Tempt My Tummy Crock Pot Baked Beans

You haven't tried a good baked bean until you have made them from scratch. Canned baked beans have nothing on them. Really. And because they are made in the crock pot they are very easy! AND because it's getting nice out....don't you want to BBQ this weekend?

This is enough food to feed 8-10 as a side dish. I always double the recipe and often freeze a bunch so we have them handy for quick weekday dinners. Feel free to use soaked dried beans.

Crock Pot Baked Beans

3 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 medium onions, chopped finely

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1/3 cup ketchup

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp dried mustard

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 pound of bacon - I use cheap bacon as most if it gets thrown away.

Drain and rinse your beans, and add them to the crock pot. Add onion and brown sugar. Pour in the molasses and ketchup. Add spices. Stir to combine.Lay slices of uncooked bacon over the top of the beans.Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours, or high for about 4. I discard the bacon after cooking, but you could salvage the meaty parts and leave them in there.

Visit Blessed with Grace for more Tempt My Tummy recipes!

On Thursday visit Gayle at The Grocery Cart Challenge for her Recipe Swap

Also on Thursday is Slow Cooking Thursday at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom.

On Friday Overwhelmed with Joy and Favorite Ingredients Friday is featuring side dishes.

I'm multi-tasking this week :)

Not Me! Monday

I did NOT spend over an hour searching for the missing new shoes on Friday. I did NOT think I was losing it because there was no way a brand new pair of shoes, still in their box, could go missing. I know where everything is in the house. How could this happen? They were NOT exactly where we put them but buried under mounds of socks. I did NOT check there initially and completely miss them. UGH.

Mimi did NOT spot a tube of toothpaste in my bathroom and ask if it was Colmate Togal (her pronunciation). When she flipped it over she exclaimed, "It is! Now your teeth will be clean and healthy. Good job mom." My kids were NOT sick so they did NOT watch enough TV to fill two lifetimes. Hench the quick absorption of marketing ploys. Kudos marketing people, you now have my three year old hooked on your product. We did NOT have our PJ's on all day Saturday AND Sunday.

It was NOT a perfect weekend for Mark to be away at a tournament. Sick kids = no fixing real meals and nothing but TV. WooHoo (I did NOT just get super excited about being completely lazy)! I did make homemade pizza crust and did NOT each pizza each night. I did NOT justify it because I put flax seed in the whole wheat crust making it completely healthy. That can erase the pound of cheese I added, right? Not to mention eating the entire thing by myself.....

Go over to My Charming Kids and Not Me Monday to see what others have definitely NOT done this week! It's a bit freeing :)

Daddy Daughter Dance

Our church puts on a fabulous Daddy Daughter Dance to teach girls how to expect boys to treat them - by looking to their daddy for example. It's a big deal. There were over 1,200 daddys and daughters this year. My girls look forward to it and talk about it months ahead of time (and afterwards).

Aloha Friday - unlimited supply

It's Friday, which means that over at An Island Life it is time for Aloha Friday. In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that they take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So on Fridays we take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, she asks a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. Then everyone else asks a simple question of their own blog for others to answer.

If you were allowed an unlimited supply of something for the rest of your life, what would you choose?

I would choose books. I would never grow out of them or get sick of them. If my tastes change there are plenty of books to choose from. It's something that costs enough that when I buy them it's a splurge and I could pass them on to others when I am done.

Enjoy your weekend! Check out my giveway for my 100th post HERE :)

JumpStart Review and Giveaway! 100th post!

Hey there everybody! Today is the SITS Spring Fling - and the end of this giveaway! Go check them out here and link up! They are giving away a prize every hour AND they have a Mister Linky up full of other blog giveaways too!

I started in November of last year and finally made it to my 100th post. Fun stuff! I thought it would be a good time for a giveaway and Knowledge Adventures has generously offered one of my readers a 3 month membership to JumpStart.com. The free games are fun but the membership gives you so much more to explore. Here's my review of the JumpStart site.

For more than 15 years, Knowledge Adventure has set the standard in kid’s software by creating the finest educational products for use in the home and the classroom. In addition to their CD games, they’ve launched a beta version of their first browser-based virtual world at http://www.jumpstart.com/

We had been given a few of the earlier JumpStart CD games awhile back and have loved them. The graphics were not the best (they are from 1995) but the games keep the kids interested. Also, the very best Chick-fil-A toy that was ever obtained was a JumpStart Artist CD that both of my older girls LOVE. So when I was contacted to review the new on-line version, I couldn't wait to see what was in store. I was not disappointed.

Kids can create characters called Jumpeez that are their little players in the on-line world. This is what my 6 year old likes to do the most.....in fact, after about each of the different games she plays she goes back to change her Jumpeez. If her Jumpeez is going to be in the water (they swim!) she will change her into "swim wear" if she is at the arcade she is going to get a different look altogether. You can do this with different pets, robots, etc. as well. It's a fashionista's dream.

My three year old likes to move all around the park just exploring. You don't have to be playing a game to find little surprises. She loves to play with the dragon or adopt animals and then make them dance. She is so excited when finding new things, which seems to happen all of the time. We discovered the interactive map a few days after we had started and realized we hadn't even scratched the surface of what is there. There are a ton of different areas to explore - with more under construction due out later this year.

You can set up an account for each child so their individual settings, prizes, points, etc. are saved. And then they can tell if you have been playing under their name ("Mom, did you adopt a purple Elephant named Fluffy and make it wear a pink zebra striped hat?....."Umm, yeah, that was me.") My kids really weren't concerned about getting the most stars, although they did think it was neat to get one. There were some games though that they would do over and over in order to get the most points.

There is a section for parents with discussion boards, articles and newsletters. As a subscribing member of JumpStart you have access to all the JumpStart 3D Virtual Worlds - play any product whenever you want! This alone is well worth it. I think the best part about it all is the mobility. When we go to Daddy's work or to Grandpa's house, they can still play.

GIVEAWAY INFO: To enter the contest simply put a comment on this post (make sure I have a way to contact you if your profile does not contain your email address).

Additional entries (leave each entry as a separate comment):

1. Blog about this giveaway.

2. Follow my blog.

3. Subscribe via email to my blog.

4. Add my button to your blog - the HTML is on my side bar

You have until Tuesday, March 10 at 8:00 PM EST to comment. I will email the winner, who will have 3 days to respond. I will give your information to the JumpStart representative, who will sign you up for the membership. Simple!