Hey Everyone!

My name is Kiera Ethington, I have been a member for a little over a week now and finally found some time to do my intro!

I'm so excited to be able to be a part of this mommy blog, I've been checkin' in on it every so often since day one and think it's a really fun idea!

I am Cassi's sister (how I knew about this blog), and she has given me some great recipes to try that always come from here..so I should actually say thank you for some great dinners/ desserts to all of you!

I just have one little baby boy, so I'm just new to the mommy thing! I live in Arizona and my husband helps run his father's Dairy farm, mostly raising the baby calves. hm.. maybe he should be a part of this! jk! I did a lot of sports in High School, but nothing really stuck! I sadly do not have much in the way of hobbies either :( I just love being around friends and family, love having fun and feel great when I accomplish something! I got an AA in general studies and my mom and I are actually going to school for Interior Design together!

My baby is almost 3 months and I have loved every second of his life, good the bad and the ugly, I love it! I can't wait to learn from all of you and get great advice (I get so much from Cassi already) and I hope to be able to find stuff to contribute (and apologize if it takes me awhile to get good at it, since it's all so new!) But I do love being a mommy so hopefully that's a good place to start!!

SLEEP Please!!

Here is my first post in a very long time. I am at wits end with my 10 month old, he will not sleep through the night. Edward is so different from my 3 year old, the things that worked with Will just do not work for Edward. He takes two naps a day and falls asleep fine at bedtime, but at least once a night he wakes and when I pick him up he just cries and cries for about two minutes in my arms. It is worrisome and frustrating at the same time. Can anyone give me any insight? A good book or tecnque? It would make my night!!!

Weekly Ingredient: Pasta

Tomato Soup:

(All ingredients are to size of family... it's a very easy recipe)

Salad Macaroni Noodles (the elbow less ones)

Tomato Juice

Parmesan Cheese

Salt and Pepper

Directions:
Cook noodles to your liking. Add in tomato juice and heat through. Season with cheese and salt and pepper.

Voila!

There's really a trick to this. It never tastes as good if you try to add other things to it. My mother-in-law raised 13 children on this recipe and she swears they wouldn't touch it if she tried anything new. My husband still loves it... and he's 31.

-cannwin

I am...

Katie. Also, I am so in love with this blog!

I've been a follower of the blog for quite a while (well, not officially, I've been more like a stalker, then the other day I became a follower) and sweet Bridget invited me to contribute, and I am so excited about it! I hope I have as many neat things to contribute as you all do.

Anyway, who I am. My name is Katie, and I live in Utah. My husband and I are both attending school ... I'm just working on general's right now, with a million ideas of what I want to major in, so basically no plan whatsoever, and my husband is a Military Science major, enrolled in the ROTC. We have two little girls, and they keep me very very busy! When I'm not being wife/mommy/student (or ... maid/chauffeur/housekeeper/court jester/doctor/cook/cheerleader, etc. etc. etc.) I love to read, sew, cook, and attempt new crafts! My favorite hobby is writing, and I love to spend time with my family and friends! I'm excited to be a contributor, and excited to learn more tips and ideas from you all!

Thanks Bridget (and the administrators who I don't really know but hope to get to know!) for letting me be part of this!

Good Deals

Free Baby Blanket
Babies One Step is giving away a free baby blanket with a cute stuffed animal, until March 15, or while supplies last. Isn't it cute? There are 3 to choose from, and you do have to confirm your e-mail to get the freebie. There's definitely one headed my way. Click Here for the free blanket!

Signing Time DVD's Deal
If any of you have ever watched the signing time dvd's or want to encourage sign language with your baby or child, the signing time dvd's are a great way to start. Best Buy has 2 different gift sets that have 3 dvds on sale for $14.99. These are normally retailed at $60, so this is an awesome deal!

How do you fight?

Ok, this may seem strange, but with the changes in the economy, and all the people around us loosing their jobs, I have heard many a couple who have fought. With the numerous families in our ward out of jobs, there are at least 2 couples who are separating.
Usually fights seem to be about something that builds, and builds until too late. So, my question is: How do you fight with your husband?
I have recently read an article explaining that instead of starting the fight with "You never, You always, and You can't" start with "I feel, I think, or You seem to be upset"
The worst thing we can do when times get tough is turn on our spouses. We are in it for eternity, and who wants to spend eternity with someone they don't like here on earth? :)
How do you disagree, then make things better. Do you ever go to sleep mad? How do you work through your differences? How do you let your kids know that you are not mad at them?
I know there are a lot of questions, but maybe we can talk this out and help someone!

Sing, Sing a Song

I'm pretty sure that when I introduced myself I didn't mention how old my kids were. Well, my oldest (a daughter) is seven turning eight this year and is about the most precocious creature I've ever met.

A great example of this is her hearty participation in the choir at church. Several months ago the choir leader announced that anyone was welcome to come no matter how old they were. My darling little girl looked up into my eyes with hope.

"Mom! Does that mean me?"

So she started going. Now every Sunday after church a friend of ours (whose also in the choir) will watch out for her and bring her home.

Yesterday they sang and I nearly burst with pride and love. There are around 10-15 people in our little choir (I didn't count, I'm estimating here) and she is the youngest member by about 20 years. I would have paid money for a picture of that, but I'm left with a mere memory that I'd love for you to imagine to yourselves.

It was our Branch Conference and all the Stake leaders had come from some great distances to be there. When the time came my little girl grabs our friends hand and practically drags her up to the pulpit. People shuffle around to get into position with my little one in front and coming no further than waist lines on everyone around her. She clasped her sheet music and began singing as loud as she could (which of course you couldn't hear at all with the adults).

I was told later, after church, that it caused quite a stir amongst the assembled leadership and many comments were made to various Branch members about "that little girl in the choir."

I LOVE IT!

I haven't pushed her in any way, I haven't forced her to go when she didn't want to or anything and yet of the three little ones that started going she is the only one that has stayed on.

I wish I could find my sons niche, find what it is that he wants to do that bad. Maybe it will come out sooner or later.

How about you? Do you have any memories of doing grown up things at a young age? Or do your kids do anything you're particular proud of?

I remember doing a lot of giving up when I was young and I admire my daughter for her perseverance.


-cannwin

Hello, Hi. Hi, Hello. Yes... Yes... I'm New Here.

Well, I spotted this blog on my friends list and thought I'd poke in, then I realized I might be able to catch a chance at posting in a group setting. I was excited and immediately took the opportunity.

I love, love, love to write. For years I avoided it and then one day I realized that I had taken part of my soul and buried it in the ground like the parable of the talents. That's the day I started writing my first manuscript, which I kept hidden from my husband for about a year and a half. Finally he discovered it and has been encouraging me ever since. I must admit that I find many other things, as a mom, to do besides write stories and blogging has begun to fill that writing need.

So, I've got my own blog as well as this one... cannwin.blogspot.com. I am a mother of three and a half children (four in July) and my belly is already to the point where a doctor the other day said I looked like I had about two months left, I could have lunged across the room at her. In reality I guess if I sucked in it would go away, but that takes sooo much effort. :)

We currently live in spectacular South Dakota. A national secret that has yet to be discovered by those prolific Californians that everyone seems to blame rising house prices on. My husband did his undergrad in Civil Engineering at Arizona State University and then after working for a year or so realized that he wanted to do something more productive for society.

So he decided to go to Law School.

And in August of 2008 we moved here.

In the midst of all that he was also an Officer in the Army National Guard and served a tour of duty in Iraq when my oldest two were 10 months and 22 months. He was gone for 18 months and that experience has forever altered our marriage, in some ways (many ways) for the good and in others (not as many) we struggle more than we used to. Our idealistic perception of a relationship was pretty much forced from us at an early stage.

Some other oddities about my family are as follows:

1. We've been married 8 1/2 years.

2. Our two oldest children are what is known as "Irish Twins," meaning they are a year apart (actually a year and two days).

3. My husband wants very badly to name our next son Barnabas so I'm, naturally, praying for a girl.

4. My hatred of laundry is second only to my desire to avoid toilet cleaning and I have been known to pay my children to do these chores for me.

5. I'm known online as Cannwin but if you must know my name is really Charity.

I hope everyone enjoys my style and comments freely (and frequently). If you have any questions or curiosities feel free to ask I'm sure I've left something out. Have a great day.

Italian Bread

We LOVE this bread, I make it a lot, and it is great when you are having company or to take to someone's house as a potluck.

Italian Bread

1 ½ c. warm water

1 Tb. yeast

2 Tb. sugar

1 tsp. salt

3 c. flour

EITHER:

2 tsp. Rosemary

1 ½ tsp. granulated garlic

1 tsp. crushed thyme

OR:

1 ½ Tb. basil

1 Tb. oregano

Mix ingredients with dough hook til smooth (in the bosch). Raise 1-1 1/2 hrs. or til double. Punch down. (Olive oil on hands helps with this part.) Form into either 1 large or 2 small balls and place on cookie sheet sprayed with Pam (dough will be sticky, don't worry, just form the balls as best you can). Let raise another ½ hr. Bake @375 degrees for 20 min. Remove from oven and brush top with olive oil. Serve warm with olive oil and balsamic vinegar or not.

One Hour Craft

I LOVE crafting. Let me tell you, I’m NO expert, I just love working with my hands, seeing something that I created with my hands, and I love the feeling after I complete a project and it actually works! J So, I thought it would be fun to start a little craft corner on the mommy blog. My hope is that I can find and post crafts that EVERYONE can do, that are simple, in-expensive, only take about an hour, and FUN! Remember to have fun and get creative!!

This month, we’ll be making placemat bags. These are great bags that are perfect size for lots of different things. I’ve used them for gifts, my favorite is to make a little church bag out of it, add tissues, gum, a scripture marker, etc. I’ve also used them as my everyday purse, and they hold up great, plus you can have one to match every outfit.

Some tips

• place mats are inexpensive, so watch for them to go on clearance, at the end of each season.
• My favorite place to buy placemats are places like Pier 1, Marshalls, TJMaxx, and even Target!
• When you are buying a placemat for a purse, you want to keep it pretty thin and flexible, something that will go through your sewing machine easily.
• Handles can be either ribbon or plastic. You can find handles at any craft store (look for coupons!). I like the cute bamboo ones, but ribbon works just as great, is less expensive and you can also embellish with it.
• If you want to get fancy, you can add a snap or button closure…. Maybe not for beginners, but definitely easy and fun.

So, let’s get sewing!! This is the place mat I chose, it is from Macy's, cost 5$ and is a GREAT sturdy, well-made place mat. Plus I loved the colors!

First, decide how you want your handles. And decide if you want any embellishments on your bag. We will sew both of these on first. After I laid it all out, I first sewed on the brown ribbon, just for an embellishment. Then I sewed on the little bow, and then started on the handles.


Here are the handles sewn on.....

Now, fold your bag inside out, or with RIGHT sides together. Line up the edges, and sew up the sides, about ½ inch from the outer edge. Don’t forget to back-stitch at the top where your bag will be opening a lot.

After the sides are sewn up, we're going to make square corners. It is easy, don’t get scared. Leave your bag inside out, hold your bag upside down and put your hand in so that your fingers (your 3^rd finger) are in the corner. Now, with your other hand, pinch your bag on the seam so it makes a little triangle. Here is where you will sew; it makes it a little easier to sew if you push the seam open, like the picture below. Do the same on the other corner.

AND....fold your bag right side out, push out the corners, admire your work, and TA DA!!! You are done! Now, fill it with all sorts of goodies, post a picture and let us all admire your fabulous crafting!! We want to see everyone's unique styles and different ideas, so please post a picture of what you did!!

To see more examples from other contributors click here

Munchies

I've heard several times before that the healthiest way to eat is to have lots of small meals/snacks throughout the day to keep your metabolism going. But I have trouble finding good snacks. It's not that hard for me to find something healthy to make for breakfast, lunch and dinner but it seems like all the quick "snack" foods out there are just plain unhealthy. Or at least... all the good, not majorly overpriced snack foods are! So I'm wondering... what healthy things do you guys snack on? And not recipes (unless they are really easy) but rather things you can grab out of the fridge/pantry and enjoy whenever you have the munchies.

Hi! I'm Andrea!

My name is Andrea Paulsen and I am a stay at home mom with our Daughter Mykl who will be 4 in July and we are expecting baby #2 (another little girl) the 2nd of May! My husband and I own our own Window Washing Company here in Idaho and that keeps us super busy. I also sel Mary Kay and then to top it all off, we manage rental properties! We are currently living in Shelley, Idaho but that is only for 9 more days and then we are moving to our new house in Idaho Falls!! We are super excited to have iour own place and not have people living in apts under us!!! I love to cook, scrapbook, take pictures, blog, and be a wife and a mommy! I am super excited to join this blog and share some of my thoughts and ideas as well as bask in everyone elses as well!!!

Winners!

Well we barely got over 50 comments so that means 2 winners!! 

And after consulting random.org the winners are...........................

Comment #11

Calise-
Valentine's day is also my husbands birthday, so we are celebrating at a cabin with his family!!
We are excited to get away, and to have a lot of fun playing rockband (what he is getting for his big day!)

and

Comment #40

Justin and Jess-
Last year on Valentines day Justin and I actually saw P.S. I love you, good movie! I don't know what we are doing yet. Justin has not yet informed me. But I am sure that it will be a romantic few days for us since our 2 year anniversary is 3 days later on the 17th. I love those few days o' love for us!

Congrats Calise and Jess!  Email MommyDiariesAdmin@gmail.com and let us know if you want the necklace/earrings or the dvd!  First person to email gets the first choice.

It was fun reading what everyone's Valentine's plans were!  We hope you all had a great holiday!!

Valentine's GIVEAWAY

***CLOSED***

It's almost Valentine's Day! We thought we would celebrate by giving a little something sweet away! So here's what your playing for:

This handmade Red and White Necklace and Earrings OR this PS I Love You DVD. Both are brand new. Here are the rules:

• Only one entry per person. To enter just leave a comment telling us what you are doing for Valentine's this year.
• If you are/become a "follower" of this blog you automatically get an extra entry.
  
• Giveaway ends Saturday night, Feb 14th (Valentine's Day) at midnight (central time).
• Winner will be announced the next morning using Random.org. Make sure you check Sunday morning to see if you've won!
• If you win email us at MommyDiariesAdmin@gmail.com within 24 hours to claim your prize.
• If we get over 50 comments we'll pick 2 winners, so spread the word!

Good Luck! And Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Dinner

Well, my hubby and I have only celebrated valentines once.... I mean really celebrated where I planned a special meal, we ate it after our little boy was in bed, candles, chick-flick movie, everything. I even made a "mix" for our ipod that had all romantic songs on it. So, that one time it was really fun and we decided we need to do that every year, yet somehow, it just slips away from us and we just end up saying things like "We should watch a movie tonight" ( thinking that just because we said something it makes it different from every other night that we watch a movie.) My goal is to try to start celebrating the smaller holidays more, in simple ways. So, this year, so far, we've made heart shaped cookies, decorated them, wrote notes to dad on a whole bunch of paper hearts and taped them to our door, and we are making valentines tonight. Then tomorrow we are doing activities at playgroup, and Saturday we are celebrating with cousins.

I think we did pretty good this year.... now, I'm sure I've kept you all on the edge of your seat wondering what that one meal I made was...... here you go:

SCONES! They were delish. We made scones (the easy way, with Rhodes rolls), and had navajo tacos, and some with honey of course. We also had sparkly Italian soda in pretty glasses with floating cranberries. And for dessert, I think we had some sort of ice cream and brownies. It was yummy, and I even used my nice dishes for it!

In need of help

I am looking for reccomendations for a backpack. Ella has outgrown the Bjorn and we want to be able to take her out hiking and playing this summer. There are so many different backpacks out there with such a huge price range. I am willing to pay more if it is worth it, but I don't want to just go get the most expensive one and assume it will be comfortable for the adult, child, AND easy to use. Does anyone have any suggestions or ones they really liked or didn't like???

Also, I friend of mine started introducing her 9-month old to a potty and now that he is 13-months he is starting to use it. Any suggestions here. . . .methods for potty training, good potty seats, etc

Chicken Danielle

This creamy, wine infused dish makes a romantic dinner. Served over pasta, and filled with tender chicken and sauteed mushrooms, it is a great all in one meal when served with a salad. It takes a bit of work, but tastes restaurant quality.


6 tablespoons butter, divided
1 (10.75 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
¾ cup heavy cream
6 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
½ tsp chopped fresh rosemary
¾ cup Marsala wine, divided
¼ tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 (12 oz) box cooked linguini pasta

1. Melt 4 Tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to skillet. Cook until halfway done and golden brown on both sides, about 4-7 minutes each side. When browned, remove chicken to a 9x13 inch baking dish. Set skillet aside, reserving drippings.
2. In a separate skillet, melt the 2 remaining Tbsp butter over medium high heat and sauté mushrooms. Add ¼ cup of the wine and stir; let reduce over low heat for 5 minutes. Set mushrooms and drippings aside, keeping warm.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
4. Add both cream soups to reserved chicken drippings. Mix soups well with drippings till no lumps remain. Heat skillet back to medium high heat. Slowly add cream, stirring constantly. Add remaining wine and rosemary and thyme. Simmer till bubbly, then add mushrooms and stir.
5. Pour sauce over chicken breasts. Cover with foil and bake for 30-45 minutes.
6. Cook pasta according to package directions. Add a little butter or oil to prevent sticking.
7. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta.
Serves 4

Cake pops

This idea is from the bakerella blog. It is a little messy but easy and cute. So, the basic idea is this:

*Make a packaged cake mix (red velvet is fun for Valentine's Day) according to the box instructions.
*Let it cool completely.
*Crumble the entire cake into a large bowl and mix with a whole canister of frosting (Cream Cheese is best, but anything works).
*Shape mixture into balls (or hearts) and freeze for an hour or so. You can add candy sticks to make them into pops or just leave them like this for a more truffle like treat.
*Right before you take the cake shapes out of the freezer, melt some candy melts. (You can get these at craft stores. i even saw them at WalMart.)
*Cover each cake ball in melted candy coating and pop in the fridge to harden the candy.

So, there are a million ways to make these about the cutest thing you have ever seen. Check out the Halloween ones for proof of this. Over and out!

JELL-O Knox Blocks (Jigglers)

Ever since Thanksgiving we have been enthralled with Knox Blocks. I've also done it for preschool and I'm going to do it at our upcoming annual Valentine's Dress-to-Impress Kid's Dance Party! Each child gets to stamp out their own heart JELL-O jiggler. I love that they are mess free!! I also love to see how excited the kids get for them.

YOU NEED:
4 c. boiling water
9 oz. JELL-O (any flavor) p.s 9oz=3 small packages or 1 1/2 large packages
4 packages Knox-unflavored gelatine (1 box has 4 packages in it)

THEN:
Mix everything together slowly with a wire whisk. You can scoop out the bubbles if you want to...or not. Pour into 17x12x1 cookie sheet. I put the cookie sheet mostly into the fridge and then pour the liquid into it to avoid spilling it in transport. Chill until set--I always make it the night before. Let the kids cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Hint: Dip cookie cutter into water every so often to help with cutting. Finally, get ready for lots of smiles and laughter.

Kid stuff blog

I found this blog and it looks pretty neat. She is a stay-at-home mom and she rates kids stuff and posts her reviews. She is currently having a baby einstein dvd give-away.

http://babesandkids.blogspot.com/

Immunizations

The controversy surrounding immunizing our little ones is fierce these days. I hate getting caught up in stuff like this, but with a new little boy in my house I can't help it. I have read a few books lately that have made me strongly think about creating my own immunization schedule for Collin. Don't get me wrong, I think that immunizing our children is very important and Collin will be fully immunized when he starts school. When I discussed this with my pediatrician he only said "there isn't any proof that they harm children". Well that may be true but there are a lot of mothers with sick kids who say otherwise. Something is causing these little ones to suffer, hopefully someone will figure out what it is. But until then, I can't help but be cautious. Have any of you delayed your child's immunizations? Does anyone have a good delayed schedule to share? I have Collin's 2 month appointment this week and I want to have a delayed schedule printed out to review with his dr. I will share what I come up with if anyone wants to know. Just wondering if I am the only one worrying about this these days.
I did see this staggering statistic yesterday for those friends of ours in Minnesota. 1 in 81 children have autism, this is the state with the highest number! To check out what the statistic is in your state check out this link ( Autism statistic ).

IT'S A ....

GIRL!!!! We are so excited!!!! This has been a totally different pregnancy so I was sure it was a boy, but apparently that doesn't matter. We are so excited to get out our bows and cute girly things again!!! We stopped at Target and bought her a cute dress, that Mikelle picked out, to bring her home from the hospital in. We are thinking of naming her Alexis and call her Lexi, we are stuck on a middle name, we like the tradition we have started of using family names as middle names but are having a hard time finding one we agree on that goes with Alexis. All I can say is she is a cutie pie and I can't wait to hold her in my arms and smother her in kisses and see her interact with her sisters!!!

Quiet Bag for Church

I have a question for all of you crafty people here. I have given myself a goal for the year that I will make something new (a craft, not just food) once a month. Last month I made a cover for my keyboard, and this month I would like to make a bag to take to church. Rather than having to take the diaper bag, I'd like to make a cute quiet bag with books and toys that is only used on Sundays. I'd also like to make a quiet book with different activities on each page. You know the kind, right?

Now my question is this. I've been looking online for patterns or just examples of some bags and books that I could use as a basis for making my own. I haven't been able to find what I'm looking for yet. Do any of you have any ideas? Whether it's for the bag or the book, either would be very helpful! Also, have any of you done this already? Give me ideas of what is good to have in the bag!

Cottage Cheese

Well, I couldn't think of an actual recipe I have that calls for Cottage Cheese, besides lasagna, but I don't make that.... so I thought I would tell you what we like to eat with cottage cheese.

Here are our favorite cottage cheese combinations:

 - cott. chz and blueberries (my son's fav, just a bowl of frozen blueberries and some cottage cheese!)

- dip potato chips (the good and salty plain Lays) into cottage cheese

- pears and peaches are a must!

- okay, this one is a little weird, but we like it.... we put a little spoonful of cottage cheese into our mac 'n cheese.  I think it is really yummy!

- we like to dip just about anything salty into cottage cheese, wheat thins, pretzels, and ritz crackers

I know this isn't too exciting, but we do like cottage cheese and eat it often!