Picuture of Rufus

Some people had asked for a picture of Rufus, so I went out and took one tonight. Here is the little guy. He is really a sweet puppy but he is a puppy. I went outside tonight and he had caught a turtle and was eating it. Poor Poor Turtle. Let Rufus out of my sight for a few minutes and he goes to hunting. Brookster told him that was gross and the turtle never did any thing to him. She then asked if she was as bad as Rufus as a baby. I told her she never ate a turtle. She turned around and said I thought so. I will keep you posted on the antics of Rufus. I am so afraid that there are going to be so many more LOL.

VGNO- Winners, Games, Giveaway's

It is Friday!!! This has been a busy week. Wednesday a stray puppy came to the door. He looks like a full lab but I am not sure. Brookster of course feel deeply in love at first sight. I explained that he could belong to someone and they could be looking for him. We live way out in the country so not to many to ask. I called the neighbors no one had lost a puppy. So, for now we have adopted the dog and named him Rufus. An owner could still show up but unlikely at this point. I forgot how much trouble a puppy could get into.

He has eaten a bag of dirt, tore up one of Brookters ball's, took my potted plant out of the pot and started chewing on the pot. So as you can imagine I am ready for a drink. Tonight I have chosen to have a Frozen Margarita.

Ingredients

2 tsp coarse salt

1 lime wedge'

3 oz blue tequila

1 oz triple sec

2 oz lime juice

1 cup crushed ice

Directions

Place salt in a saucer, rub brim of glass with lime wedge and dip in salt. Mix the tequila, triple sec, lime juice and crushed ice in a blender until mixed. Pour into the glass and enjoy.

What is a party with out a game. Ann has a game

"Modern Barbie"

Use the chart to find which Barbie you are. Use the letter of your first name.

A - D = Sunscreen Barbie

E - H = Lactose Intolerate Barbie

I - L = Migraine Barbie

M - P = Blogger Barbie

Q - T = Mini Van Barbie

U - Z = Bi-Polar Barbie

I am Migraine Barbie. Which is a good name since the dog is giving me a migraine until he is trained. LOL.

Winner

Last week I was giving away a cookbook and the winner is Lizze at Infectious Chatter. Congratulations I have sent you an e-mail.

I have another contest that I would love for you all to enter. I only have 3 entries. Please Please enter.:) I am giving away the second season of 8 Simple Rules in Dating My Teenage Daughter. I loved this show and watching it again brought back a lot of memories of college days. Please go here to enter. I would appreciate it very much. I hope everyone is having a great day and will have a great rest of the weekend. Go on over to Ann's and join the party.

8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter Review/Giveaway

8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter Season 2 released on May 19th

Season One of 8 Simple Rules has John Ritter and Katy Segal in a comedy that centers around raising 3 teenagers. In the 2nd season John Ritter stars in the first 3 episodes, since sadly he passed away during the taping of the 2nd season.

Of course with this new development, 8 Simple Rules had a little change in direction:

It’s a time for healing and learning to deal with life without family patriarch Paul (the late John Ritter), as the Hennessys discover the frailties of life and the strength of the family unit. Widowed mom Cate (Katey Sagal), now finds herself in the precarious position of raising three teenagers on her own. She does get a little relief from her father, Jim (James Garner), who’s been staying at the house since Paul’s death. But the family is thrown for a loop when Cate’s wayward nephew, C.J. (David Spade), moves in and finds it hard to resist getting himself into trouble or offering questionable advice to the kids.

After a two part episode of a touching tribute to “Paul” (John Ritter), 8 Simple Rules picks right back up with the funny business (in a respectful and appropriate way).

We loved 8 Simple Rules in my house, so when we got the chance to review it we jumped at the chance.

Would you like to win a box set of 3 DVDS of season 2 of 8 Simple Rules just leave me a comment of a show that you loved to watch that is no longer on the air.

Open to U.S. addresses only. Please leave your email address so I will know how to contact you. The contest will be running until June 2nd.

Extra Entries:
1. Follow my blog and leave a comment that you are following

2. Twitter this give away and leave a comment with the link.

3. Blog about this give away and leave a comment with the link.

Thanks for your interest in this give away.

Meal Plan Monday

I have been reading so many posts about Meal Plan Monday, that I have decided to join in this week. I am trying to be more prepared where meals go so they will be healthy and save money. So here goes my first attempt at having a meal plan for the week. I will let you know how it goes next Monday.

Monday- Grilled Hamburgers and Hot dogs

Tuesday- Spaghetti and garlic bread

Wednesday- Meatloaf, potato's and vegetables

Thursday- Homemade Fish and Fries

Friday- Eat out

Saturday- Homemade Pizza

Sunday- Dinner at Mimi's

Head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie to see more Meal Plan Monday's. It is a great place to find new recipes.

Wish me luck on sticking to this schedule, but I think it is going to be a really good tool for me.



Thanks for taking the time to visit.

Outdoor play is important for kids

Brookster would live outside if I let her. When Momfluence gave us the chance to review outdoor toys we jumped at the chance. We got to review the Supersoaker. Brookster turned it into a watering gun by watering the outside flowers with it, she put water in the cats bowl and chased away bugs with it. I think this was the great because she used her imagination. I have noticed with some of friends that they do not that great of imagination. I have also noticed that those few friends do not like to play outside. They would rather be inside playing video games then be outside. I am not a psychologist so I can not say for sure that their is a correlation between imagination and outside play but I think it plays a part for Brookster.

According to Familyfun.go "statistics show that children ages 3 to 12 spend just 1 1/2 percent of their free time (about 30 minutes each week) in unstructured outdoor play." That seems like such a low number considering that research has shown that outside play leads to a number of health benefits both physical and mental. Kids learn to build forts, swing, slide down slides, climb. I will never forget the first time that Brookster was able to climb to the top of the slide by herself. She smiled the biggest smile that I have ever seen and thought she had climbed the tallest mountain. Ex cerise is important for kids and they get plenty of it by playing outside. If you are wondering what kinds of toys are good for your child to play outside with you can check out Time to Play Magazine. They review products and give opinions about them. It is a great site to find out different opinions about toys.

If you child has been playing outside and you would like for them to play more here are a few ideas from Family Fun:

Go Slowly- Alene Archer of the National Wildlife Federation's education department recommends that kids get one "green hour" -- unstructured play in a green outdoor space -- each day. But, she says, "you can start smaller, with even ten or fifteen minutes a day." Try scheduling some of that time after school and before homework, says Kuo; it just might help your child work more productively.

Try a monthly nature excursion-Periodically expand the boundaries of family outings by exploring areas "where you're surrounded 360 degrees by nature," says Lizette Castano, executive director of the Children's Nature Institute (childrensnatureinstitute.org). "Find a place that's exciting, where there are things to see -- an autumn forest, a pond filled with aquatic insects," says Joseph Cornell, author of the "Sharing Nature With Children" books and founder of the Sharing Nature Foundation (sharingnature.com). Consider combining nature watching with other activities, such as canoeing, cross-country skiing, or camping. If proximity to nature is a concern, don't worry. Richard Louv suggests beginning with "nearby nature -- a clump of trees at the end of a cul-de-sac, a ravine behind your house, or even your backyard, if you leave a part of it unmanicured."

Cultivate Curiosity -Kids are more likely to get excited about nature "when they're captivated by a sense of mystery," says Cornell. Fortunately, the natural world is full of mysteries that parents and kids can try to unravel together: Where did that seedpod come from? Whose tracks are those? "Ask open-ended questions so kids can start wondering," says Castano. That sense of wonder in nature that you kindle today can benefit your child for years to come.

Appeal to the senses- Help your kids focus on all the sensory experiences they can have with nature," suggests Castano. "Ask them to smell the plants, stick their hands in the soil to see how it feels." Try playing a game that Cornell calls Still Hunting: Find a spot and stay very still as nature returns to its normal routine all around you. What do you hear? A chipmunk tunneling through leaves? What do you see? Grass waving in the breeze? "Nature is always inspiring," says Cornell, "and it's only our restless minds that keep us from being joyfully aware of this."

It is never to late for kids to play outside. Maybe you have kids like mine that you have to make come in. I have learned by doing research for this article that playing outside is really good for kids and maybe I should let her play outside more than I do. Even though she does play out at least 1 to 2 hours a day all total. I did enjoy finding out that one of my parenting skills is right on the money by letting her play outside. Now my other parenting skills will have to be talked about in another post because no one is perfect and I have a lot of flaws. Parenting is a lot about learning and moving forward. Most importantly parenting is about loving our kids. Sometimes things get so busy for us that I forget something very important and need to be reminded. Enjoy the time I have with Brookster because she will not be little long and there will come a time that she does not want to play with me. (mommy crying now) Now go have some fun with your kids.

VGNO-Party with a Cookbook giveaway

Is is finally Friday. This has been a busy week, with the last of school activities and all. I am ready to sit back in my nice comfy p.j's and have a drink with my friends for VGNO. Cant have a party with the drink and I have a great one tonight. It is getting warm here in Tennessee so this nice cool drink is just I needed tonight. A party needs a drink, a question and a give away to make it lots of fun and tonight I have all three. Go on over to Ann's to check out some more fun tonight. Mr. Linky is down but that is not going to spoil our party. When you go over to visit leave your link to your post in the comments, and Ann will place them in the post.

Drink

Creamsicle Dream

You will need:

1 1/2 ounce Rum, Coconut

Orange Juice, enough to fill glass

1 scoop of Vanilla ice cream

Type of Glass needed:

Highball glass

Mixing instructions:

There are two different ways to mix this drink.

1. Add the Rum and Orange Juice to the glass and add the scoop of ice cream like a float.

2. Mix all ingredients in a blender then add to the glass.

I like the first way because you get some the ice cream that has not melted.

Now that we have a great drink to get the party started off to the question for the night:

Question:

What are you doing for Memorial Day?

We are staying home this weekend to enjoy some family time. DH has been working so much lately due to the storms we have been having here so the time with the family will be great. I think we are going to buy a new grill. Ours is so old I am scared to use it any longer. We love to grill out so I know we will be buying a new one soon.

The drinks have been made, we have talked about our Holiday plans. I thought tonight a great way to add to the party tonight would be with a give a way. What is a party without food. Where can you get some great new recipes for the party you ask. Why a new cookbook of course.

Giveaway

The Good Home Cookbook has over a 1,000 recipes that have been tested in kitchens across America. One of the recipes I would like to share with you tonight for the party comes right out of this cookbook p. 206. It is really good and I know you will like it for the party tonight.

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 ( 1 pound) pork tenderloins
6 slices bacon
2 tablespoons oil

How to make

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2. Combine the garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, basil, and oregano in a small bowl. Rub the seasoning all over the tenderloins. Wrap each tenderloin in 3 slices of bacon and secure with toothpicks. Brush with oil and place in a shallow roasting pan.

3. Roast for about 1 hour, until the bacon is crisp and the meat registers 150 degrees to 155 degrees F.

4. Cover with a tent of aluminum foil and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve immediately.

This recipe sound good. I am giving away a copy of the Good Home Cookbook.

This one is easy to enter just leave a comment. See I told you it was going to be easy.

I know some people like the extra entries.

1. Tweet about the giveaway and VGNO and leave the link in the comments. ( 1 entry)
2. Blog about the giveaway and leave a link. ( 5 Entries leave a separate comment for each entry)

Please leave your email address, if it is not in your profile, so I can get in touch with the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org on March 28th at 12:00 midnight central time. The winner will be notified on March 29th and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Head on over to Ann's she has a great popcorn give away on her blog and continue the great VGNO tonight. Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend and be safe.

So easy a kid can do it- Purex 3-in 1 Review

Ever tried to get an eight year old to do laundry with liquid detergent. If you have then you know you can have a suds fest or no suds at all. The liquid soap can be all over the floor, the washer, the eight year old. Now some of you may have the perfect child that know exactly how to measure the detergent. If you do congratulations and tell me how you did it. Brookster loves to help but putting soap in the washing machine does not really work very well, until now.

Purex has created a new way of doing laundry. The Purex Complete 3-in 1 system. It is one sheet that serves as detergent while in the washer and then you place the same sheet in the dryer and it is a softener and anti-static sheet. This product was so easy to use Brookster washed a load of clothes. (I video taped it and was going to do my first vlog but she got upset about it being on the web so we are not using it.)

I asked her what she liked about it and she said that it was easy "you just throw it in but the scent made her sneeze" The sheets come in 3 fresh scents Spring Oasis, Tropical Escape and Pure and Clean. We had the Pure and Clean scent. Brookster did not like the smell but she has a lot of allergies so it bothered her allergies. If they ever make it in unscented we are getting it for sure.