We had a pretty good Thanksgiving. Unfortunately for us since we are a military family (which will come to an end in January 2009!!! Yeah!!!) we are between 10-15 hours away from both our families. It doesn’t make it easy to go home for the holidays. This was the first Thanksgiving since we have been married (3 years) that I made a turkey. My hubby’s family for the first two years would come to visit us and his mom would prepare the turkey. And last year we got to spend Thanksgiving with my family. It was an eye-opening experience for me. I told my hubby that if I didn’t love chicken as much as I do that preparing the turkey would have made me become a vegetarian. I did manage to get over that whole preparing the turkey once it was nicely tan and cooked. I was shocked and amazed that for my first time preparing a whole Thanksgiving dinner that I got it all done by the time we had planned on eating dinner. Our tradition is to start the day with the Macy’s Day Parade on the tv and we bring Thanksgiving to an end by watching Home Alone. All in all it was a great day. We didn’t dare venture out on Black Friday. I stayed in my pjs and joined the CafeMom Black Friday online party. Yesterday was my hubby’s going away dinner for work since he is getting out of the Army. We went to a local brewery from 2-4. I spent most my time walking Little Monkey around the lawn while my hubby hung out with his co-workers. After everyone was good and frozen we went to Longhorn’s Steakhouse for dinner to meet up with the rest of his co-workers. It was a little tiring considering that Little Monkey just wanted to get out and run all over the restaurant. Little Monkey ate his bread and some french fries before everyone got there so he was done for by the time food came out for everyone else. So for entertainment we let him color, put forks in my drink, and just tried talking and distracting him as best we could. I’ve had worse experiences at a restaurant with him, so this time was really that bad. I don’t know if I am getting used to it or if he is getting better. Either way it would be nice to enjoy a dinner every once and a while without having to wrangle a toddler. Today we are just hanging out at home. We have been watching Little Monkey attempt a rain dance while watching Blue’s Clues. That is pretty amusing.
Archive for November, 2008
I reviewed this collection for Busy Mom If you like what you see be sure to check out this link for the coupon code for these products.
Searching for a stylish, yet functional diaper bag after having her first son led designer Hedvig Bourbon to take matters into her own hands. Each product is hand sewn with love and you can tell with the clean and precise stitching.
Lucas Diaper Bag: This Diaper Bag does a great job of looking like your every day tote, but made with mom and baby in mind. It has unique straps are designed to hook around the handles of all strollers. For a quick change to carrying tote, there is a leather shoulder strap included that hooks into the stroller’s hanging straps. There are two deep pockets in the front of bag for storage and one large pocket in the back of the bag that holds a changing pad. Inside the diaper bag there is a pocket for your cell phone, a deep zipper pocket, a cleverly placed clip for your key-ring clip (because there is nothing worse than having to dig around your bottomless pit of a diaper bag for your keys), and two deep pockets for diapers, wipes and bottle.
Amelie Stroller liner: Looking for something to protect your stroller from getting dirty. Why did I not know about this product? I have yet to figure out how to take apart my stroller to wash the seat cushion from the fruit snacks and crackers that have been matted into the cracks of the seat cushion. The front of the Amelie Stroller liner is 100% cotton terry velour with cotton canvas for the back lining. Canvas ties keep the stroller liner in place. There are multiple bounded harness openings. It is reversible and designed to fit the harness of most strollers.
Judabee Pouch: The Judabee pouch is a necessary item for those nights out on the town when all you need are diapers and wipes, but you don’t want to carry a bulky diaper bag with you. Simple and fashionable need not be understated. With a solid color fabric on the outside, the Judabee pouch opens up to a decorative interior fabric with two pockets for diapers and wipes. The wrist bracelet is made with the decorative interior fabric. The Judabee pouch uses metal magnetic snap enclosures.
Santo Clutch: The Santo clutch is so pretty that you almost don’t want to use it for it’s main purpose of changing a diaper on it. The Santo clutch has similar features of the Judabee pouch with two pockets for diapers and wipes and wrist bracelet for carrying. The Santo clutch takes the Judabee pouch one step higher with the being able to fold out into a changing pad.
Posted by Barely Domestic Mama at 08:11 AM No Comments
LABELS: Product Review
Guess who got her blog listed at MomDot??? Me!!! Sooo awesome! You can find me on page 7 of the Mom Blogs. I am still slightly overwhelmed at all the things going especially I guess because of the holidays there is so much going on all around. I am loving all these contests especially with money being so tight this year. I just need to remember to keep checking in.
MomDot is a mom blog listing site that is run by mommy bloggers, trisha, alicia, and bridgette.They run contests weekly, reviews on awesome (and not so awesome) products for family and kids, and talk about their lives. But more importantly, they feature bloggers and mom boutiques to give them an avenue to get thier name out there, also assisting in google links! You can head out and list your blog for free and talk to them about doing an interview about you. Head on over and see what MomDot is about!
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LABELS: Uncategorized
I make homemade gingersnaps whenever I make my pumpkin pie dip. I do this because the first time I made my dip, the recipe suggested buying gingersnaps to go with the dip. I have tasted packaged gingersnaps…they were so hard I thought my teeth were going to come out while eating them. So I thought I would give baking gingersnaps a whirl. They are sooooooo much better than those boxed gingersnaps. Thanks to the Food Network for this recipe! This is always a hit with the little ones.
Gingersnaps
Cook time: 10-12 minutes
Makes about 36-40 cookies
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups of flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
2 tbsp granulated sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and grease cookie sheet (I use air-insulated non-stick cookie sheets, so I can skip greasing the cookie sheet.) Cream the butter with the brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and egg. Beat until smooth. Sift the flour with baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until well blended. Pinch off a little of the dough and roll into 1-inch balls. Dip each ball into the granulated sugar and arrange sugar side up on prepared baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cracked on top.
Another favorite place to get my recipes is allrecipes.com It allows me to get good recipes and see what members rated the recipes. I can also see what members did to make the recipe taste better.
Downeast Main Pumpkin Bread
Cook time: 50 minutes
Makes about 24 servings
Ingredients:
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
(Suggestions from another member that I applied: splash of vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice)
Directions:
Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 7×3 inch loaf pans. (I made one loaf and a dozen muffins.) In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water, splash of vanilla extract and sugar until well blended. In a seperate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until blended well. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for about 50 minutes. (My muffins were done in 40 minutes.)
Posted by Barely Domestic Mama at 08:11 AM No Comments
LABELS: recipes
Wow. I can’t believe I haven’t posted since last Tuesday! I guess I have been a little busy. Tonight we are going to the my hubby’s unit’s Thanksgiving dinner. In case you forgot or just came across my blog for the first time, my hubby is in the army. I didn’t think I was going to go at first because…well…I’m not a social butterfly. I tend to try to hide behind my son at big events or gatherings. I am going because this will be the last military event that we will be attending since my hubby will be outprocessing from the army in the next two weeks. It seems like we have been a military family forever, but it really hasn’t been that long. This has been the longest I have been away from my family and friends…hopefully we can move closer to home in the future. I have been a military wife for 3 years. I will not miss that life. I get too highly attached to my friends and then they get moved around…it’s not fun for me. Anyways, so for tonight I made my famous pumpkin pie dip (well made famous by the guys at hubby’s work – they all really like it), home-made gingersnaps, and pumpkin bread (thanks to Allrecipes.) I will post pictures and recipes tonight or tomorrow morning. It all tastes so yummy that I am having a hard time holding off until tonight!
Posted by Barely Domestic Mama at 03:11 PM No Comments
LABELS: Uncategorized
I’ve been busy arranging some contests at Busy Mom. I am so excited that I could help. These are my first so jump in and join the fun!
Here are the contests that I got organized, but there are others on there you should check out to:
ingrid & isabel – win a Bella band and an Everyday Cami
See Kai Run – winner’s choice of shoes from See Kai Run, Eleven, or Smaller
Make sure you follow the Busy Mom blog. The follow this blog link is on the home page.
Posted by Barely Domestic Mama at 07:11 PM 1 Comment
LABELS: Uncategorized
Click this link to find out how to join the party.
Sponsored by Babypop and Chic-covers
Day Five – (November 18) Karen:
Do you volunteer during the Holidays? What organizations do you donate your time to? How do you teach your children the true meaning of the holidays?
I haven’t donated my time or money for the last two years. I really need to get back into that spirit. I quit my job to be a stay at home mom. Prior to me having Little Monkey, I was in charge of organizing our yearly Christmas donating event. It wasn’t mandatory and it wasn’t exactly from the company. It was from us the people who worked for the company. I loved organizing and getting it together. I worked with our military base to help provide a good Christmas for a military family in need. I also have this great charm about me that even though you weren’t supposed to see the family you were helping because it was anonymous, somehow we always got a family that didn’t mind over-excited Christmas elves (which was usually 4-5 employees including myself because we always had a lot of stuff to deliver) bringing the stuff to their home to meet them. There is nothing better than seeing tears of joy from a mom who didn’t think she would be able to provide much of anything for her family for Christmas. And the best thing was is that we shopped for the whole family – mom, dad, and kids! I would really like to start a Christmas tradition with my family to help somehow during the holidays even if my hubby keeps complaining that we are a family that is in need…I don’t think we are as bad off as he imagines.
VIP BLOGS to visit are Parent Reviewers , Mom Most Traveled, Mommy Zabs, MomStart, HipposToes, Run DMT
Posted by Barely Domestic Mama at 06:11 AM 6 Comments
LABELS: Uncategorized
Click this link to find out how to join the party.
Sponsored by Bottlewise and Glow Mama
Day Four (November 17): PinkAmongBlue
What is your favorite Holiday recipe, describe your Holiday table, biggest holiday cooking disaster
This is actually the first year that we will be together without any extended family around for Thanksgiving. For the last two years, my mother-in-law would take over my kitchen. Last year I fought my way in my kitchen and made Puerto Rican style yellow rice and flan. Everyone loved it. I am still learning my way around the kitchen. We haven’t done anything special for Christmas either. Last year we were with my parents for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. I’m planning on making my pumpkin pie dip my specialty for Thanksgiving. The recipe was posted up here last week. I’m looking forward to starting our own traditions this year.
VIP BLOGS to visit are Parent Reviewers , Mom Most Traveled, Mommy Zabs, MomStart, HipposToes, Run DMT
Posted by Barely Domestic Mama at 08:11 PM 3 Comments
LABELS: Uncategorized
Busy Mom is having a contest for See Kai Run shoes along with other great contests they are having this month.
If you want to win shoes for your little one, click on 
to join the contest fun. The contest ends on December 10.
Posted by Barely Domestic Mama at 08:11 PM No Comments
LABELS: Uncategorized
Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz…
You Are a Bette!
You are a Bette — “I must be strong”
Bettes are direct, self-reliant, self-confident, and protective.
How to Get Along with Me
- * Stand up for yourself… and me.
- * Be confident, strong, and direct.
- * Don’t gossip about me or betray my trust.
- * Be vulnerable and share your feelings. See and acknowledge my tender, vulnerable side.
- * Give me space to be alone.
- * Acknowledge the contributions I make, but don’t flatter me.
- * I often speak in an assertive way. Don’t automatically assume it’s a personal attack.
- * When I scream, curse, and stomp around, try to remember that’s just the way I am.
What I Like About Being a Bette
- * being independent and self-reliant
- * being able to take charge and meet challenges head on
- * being courageous, straightforward, and honest
- * getting all the enjoyment I can out of life
- * supporting, empowering, and protecting those close to me
- * upholding just causes
What’s Hard About Being a Bette
- * overwhelming people with my bluntness; scaring them away when I don’t intend to
- * being restless and impatient with others’ incompetence
- * sticking my neck out for people and receiving no appreciation for it
- * never forgetting injuries or injustices
- * putting too much pressure on myself
- * getting high blood pressure when people don’t obey the rules or when things don’t go right
Bettes as Children Often
- * are independent; have an inner strength and a fighting spirit
- * are sometimes loners
- * seize control so they won’t be controlled
- * figure out others’ weaknesses
- * attack verbally or physically when provoked
- * take charge in the family because they perceive themselves as the strongest, or grow up in difficult or abusive surroundings
Bettes as Parents
- * are often loyal, caring, involved, and devoted
- * are sometimes overprotective
- * can be demanding, controlling, and rigid
Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy
Posted by Barely Domestic Mama at 02:11 AM No Comments
LABELS: Uncategorized
