Disappearing Milkshake

So, I made milkshakes the other day. Yes, I know it's cold, but the boys love ice cream. Really, really love ice cream!

Anyway, I put Witt's Glass Dharma Shorty Straw in place and went to find him to let him know it was ready. Don't you just love these straws?!


When I came back through the kitchen (still looking for Witt), the milkshake was gone! Will had his milkshake and Nathan has his milkshake, but I still hadn't found Wittman to give him his.

My first stop was the living room, then the toy room, and then the boys' bedroom. I even went back through the kitchen again and then checked the bathroom. No sight or sound of Witt.

Then...


I found him...







Somehow he climbed up on our (yes, unmade) king-sized bed with milkshake in hand and settled himself down to watch a cartoon! That little stinker!

As a side note... yes, I am still so very thankful when I see him have dairy. :)

Glass Straws and a Taste Test

I decided that the boys and I would do a taste test of O.N.E.'s coconut waters. I've seen them at our local grocery store and always wondered about them, so last week I decided to pick up four of them. Below is our lineup: pineapple, plain, guava, and mango (with Will doing school work in his pjs. :] )


To make it more interesting, we used our new glass straws! I tell you what, those fun glass straws from glassDharma even got my picky kid to try something new! :) Here he is with the green Decorative Dots straw:


Then there were the other two little "suckers" (lol!); Witt, with his Shorty Straw, liked the pineapple and Nathan liked the mango.



Will might have been happy to oblige the tasting just get out of doing his schoolwork, though. :) His response to the mango flavored one, "I just need to get used to it."But he did take a few more sips.


Personally, I liked them all, except the mango... I don't like mangoes. I think these would be exceptionally refreshing after a physical workout.

Now, I left the room purposefully to leave the boys with the glass straws. I wanted to give them a good durability testing.


I came back to two "mad scientists" mixing, stirring, and pouring all the drinks together!






This one CRACKS! ME! UP!





While the straws held up beautifully against the two little mad scientists, the resulting drink was pretty nasty. LOL!

WANT SOME???

Swagbucks!

Have you heard of Swagbucks? It's like a search engine with prizes! The more you search, the more swagbucks you earn. Then you can turn in your swag bucks for free merchandise, gift cards, etc. (Think Starbucks, Amazon, iPods, and more!)

Today is their birthday and they're offering mega prizes! If you haven't joined I recommend you do! I'm planning on saving my swagbucks and turning them in at the end of the year for free Christmas presents!! Click on the banner below to sign up today!

GO DAIRY FREE!

I was a little leery of purchasing another dairy-free cookbook. I've got several, but find that I just like to convert standard recipes to dairy free instead of finding strange ingredients.

NoWhey,Mama wrote a positive review about this book and I began to think about it. Then I emailed her and asked her is she really liked it or "was she just sayin' she did". Isn't that just awful of me!?! I can't believe I did that!

Anyway, she reconfirmed that she liked it, so I ordered it for myself for Christmas (that another whole post in itself).

Let me just say, "I AM IMPRESSED WITH THIS BOOK!" I love it. I really, really do. The first part of the book is about making the transition to DF, the health benefits, etc. Then she goes into different substitutions and how to make your own at home - sometimes for pennies!

It's not all about DF, though. She takes into consideration some other allergies and of vegans. It is truly a comprehensive book that anyone could use. She discusses different oils, how they should be used... which "milks" taste best in different recipes... being frugal... and she does it with a sense of humor as a real person who's been there... done that.

We've been DF for a little over a year now and I have learned SO MUCH from this book in the last month. I truly wish I had the book when we first made the switch.

Let me just say that I haven't even made it to the recipe section yet and I'm recommending this book! I've perused a few recipes and look forward to trying them out, but the information in this book has been so useful and opened my eyes to other options.

If you are thinking about getting this book, I HIGHLY recommend it!

And right now you might be able to get it for FREE!! NoWhey,Mama is hosting a giveaway at her place this week for a free copy! If you don't win, however, you can always get it from the GoDairyFree site (among other places).


P.S. I wrote this review by my own free-will... I get nothing in return for it except knowing that I'm suggesting a really useful book to those on the path of Dairy-free living. Enjoy!

Pretties!

I received my Lily J Designs' jewelry in the mail (some time ago!) and wanted to share my utmost satisfaction with you!


Priority shipped and Packaged well!




Cute, cute, cute pink boxes!! (The pictures just don't do them justice.)



My pretty turquoise pendant! Can't wait to find a chain for it! Isn't it beautiful?! I love turquoise.


And this was a splurge... both a necklace and earrings! I love, love, love the pendant and get so many compliments when I wear it. I've worn it with a cream shirt and a burgundy colored shirt. It is just stunning and so much more versatile in color-coordination than I thought it would be.


My suggestion is that you head on over to Lily J Designs and do some shopping of your own! You will not be disappointed!


just an FYI... I received no compensation for this review. These are my honest opinions and I just wanted to share! :)

Paperback Swap

[UPDATE: This is not just for paperbacks! Hardbound books and audio books can also be swapped!]

You might have noticed the new button on my sidebar for Paperback Swap. I've seen it around the blogosphere and finally gave it a try. I. AM. IN. LOVE! I love books. I like to look at books, have books, hold books, flip through books, and sometimes even read books. LOL! But you know what, that can get expensive when you like to own your books. I think I've found a way to own my books and save my bank account!

Here's the basic concept:

After you sign up (currently free), you post books that you no longer want that are in good condition. Once you post 10 books that you are willing to part with, you get an instant 2 book credit (you can order 2 books from those posted). I EASILY found 10 books to part with: some were kids' books, baby info books, devo books, even a book without an ISBN. Of the 10 books I posted about a week ago, I only have 1 left here waiting to be requested!

You are in charge of paying shipping for the ones you send out (Media Mail makes it cheaper at about $2.50 - $5 per book depending on weight and size). I pay no shipping on the ones I request. It doesn't matter how much the book costs - a book is a book is a book. That makes it easy.

Even if you look at the maximum cost of shipping all of the initial 10 books posted (say $50), it would be almost impossible to find 12 books for under $50 unless you go to the library or shop yard sales regularly. Right now there are 2,150,719 books posted at Paperback Swap that I can access from my own home!

For each book that is received by another member from you, you get a book credit. Then you can swap that credit for a posted book. You pay nothing for the books you request (except your book credit).

You can also get a book credit through referrals. Once your referral posts 10 books, you'll get an extra credit (and the new person gets 2 credits).

So... if you have any interest in books, click on the button on my sidebar and go take a look around. If you decide to sign up, my email should automatically be shown as the "referrer". If not, please enter missbecky75 @ yahoo . com (without the spaces).

You do not have to be a blogger to participate. You do need a computer and some books, though!

Happy reading!

Books and Turning Off the Boob-Tube

This week's Unplugged Project is entitled Books.

This comes at a great time for us because I have just revamped our books. Basically, I sorted, did a little purging, and boxed some up for rotating them later. The boys' books were just out of control. They couldn't see a tree through the forest so to speak. So now I've got two boxes of books in the garage and two bookshelves showing books by their cover, not their spine. The rooms are less cluttered and they are excited to see books they haven't seen in awhile.

In an effort to reduce our tv watching, I took away all the VHS tapes and all but 5 DVDs (Update: I got this idea from The Toby Show via Unplug Your Kids). Once we got rid of the cable, the DVD watching began to spin out of control. I replaced the videos with books and a CD player. Now what they see is lots of learning books (ABC books, science books, work books, human body books, etc) and books on CD. I also put a few CDs of children's songs in the CD player, too.
Nathan is having fun learning the "Hokey Pokey" and "If You're Happy and You Know It...". The DVD watching is diminishing and we're getting some exercise! (Try doing the Hokey Pokey a few times without getting winded...) LOL!

I thought this would be a good time to share some of the boys' favorite books, too. Will is really into manners and behavior books right now. Jeff captured this moment of me reading Why Do You Always Say Please? to Will during our one-on-one time.



This is Nathan's favorite: Slide and Find Trucks. Instead of flaps, this book has sliding doors. It is a bit of a memory game as well as teaching different trucks and tractors, colors, and drivers (police, firemen, etc).



My favorite book to read them is Five Minute Devotionals for Children. It's a quick nightly read about one of God's creatures and then there are questions for reading/listening comprehension as well as "What do you think?" questions. It really is a cute book.



So, with all of these books available, we should be ready to Break Free of TV come April 21-27 for TV Turnoff Week! Unplug Your Kids is doing a challenge; head over there and join me!

My goal is actually NO TV that week. We've done a week without tv before so I know we can do it again. This time though, I think the kids will be a little less shocked because we've already been reducing it and I'll be a little more prepared with a few more activities. ;)

Not only is this challenge for tv watching, but for other "screen" watching as well. I'll be keeping the computer off except for nap times. I've tried this in the past, and IT IS HARD. What an addiction I have! Again, I'm hoping to have some extra activities planned to keep my mind off of it, too!

After the week is over, I'll have a post of how we did: the good, the bad, and the ugly (hopefully there won't be too much ugly).

This week, though, we'll be working on another Unplugged Project: FOOD!!! Maybe I'll have something new to add to Must Follow Recipes - wouldn't that be exciting!? :)

Don't Got Milk

Of course I have spent most of the past two days on the internet researching milk, milk proteins, soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, milk, milk, milk... Here are some of the links to interesting information I have found:

• Don't Drink Your Milk
• Living Without Milk (I ordered his cookbook - hope it's good!)
• Avoiding Milk Protein (I assume Witt's allergy is to the protein not the butterfat - hope they have a scratch test for each so I'll know for sure)

There is a plethora of information out there regarding milk allergies! I am amazed!

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

Today I went to our local Publix to see what kind of selection they have for milk-free products. I came home with Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese (it smells like cream cheese and is very close in taste with the garlic and chives in it, but the texture is a little off. I can handle it, though.) I also purchased Willow Run Soybean Margarine (I hope it lives up to the review - UPDATE: It does! Can't tell the difference! Yipee!). I also found Earth Balance buttery spread. We'll see how it goes...

I happened across the rice milk and almond milk stashed across from the cereals (of which I have read that only Special K contains the milk protein, casein). I bought some rice milk just for comparison sake (Jeff and I have decided that the vanilla soy milk tastes like a very thin eggnog; I'll let you know what we think of the rice milk when we try it). Speaking of comparisons, though, I asked Jeff to pick up two other name brands of vanilla soy milk while he was at Walmart this morning. Turns out there is also chocolate soy milk! It's really not bad at all; I don't think the boys will balk at it one bit. The milk transition is going so much smoother than expected. In fact, Will asked for some "vanilla ice cream milk" with his lunch today! :)

I also checked out the tofu section as I had read that it helps with thickening when replacing milk in recipes. I got a little overwhelmed with all the different types and flavors so I figured I'd buy tofu when a recipe specifically calls for it and tells me what I need.

I was also good in picking up some extra veggies while I was there. I love asparagus but have never cooked it myself. I bought some and think I'll give it a try while I'm learning other new cooking skills as well.

The upside to all of this is that if it had to happen, I'm glad it happened now. Nathan is still young enough that he probably won't even notice "new" food and will probably just enjoy it. Will is picky anyway, so he can just be picky about the new stuff, too. :)

It is amazing that there is another whole world out there without cow's milk. I have always just passed these items by in the grocery store never giving it a moment's thought. I never knew that a substance in milk is used for glue! yuck. I never knew that soy milk would actually be better than descent. There is so much I have to learn about this new world we've entered. Hope you enjoy the ride as we go through what I am sure will be many trials and errors!

A Mom's Best Friend

With Witt going to the ER this past week, I am once again so thankful for my top of the list, puts my mind at ease, helps a momma not to worry at night, must have baby product: The Angelcare Monitor.

Through a pad that goes under the mattress, this monitor is able to detect the slightest motion within the crib . So slight as to detect whether the baby is breathing or not. If there is no motion detected for 15 seconds, a warning signal sounds. After 20 seconds, you get a full alarm.

I have used this monitor with all three of my children every night until they were at least one (it's still with Witt as he's only 5 months). Will, now 5 years old, set the alarm off twice in his first two weeks home and the doctor prescribed a monitor that stayed on him to recorded his breathing for a month. (I think he just out-grew it because he was fine after that.)

Now, don't think this monitor is only for the extreme cases. How many of you mom's out there have found yourself in the baby's room laying your hand on him/her in the middle of the night "just to check"? And then of course when the baby's sick, you check more, right? This monitor totally puts my mind at ease knowing that the "just checking hand" is alway checking - every second of every minute he sleeps.

Can I survive without it? Yes, of course, but this is a "luxury item" I have fully appreciated with each child. I know I sound like an advertisement, but I whole heartedly recommend this to every mom with a baby; it will be your best friend! :)

Living Green"er"

Upon moving to our new town, I've gotten more active in recycling. The city offers pickup for certain items that can be recycled and I jump on the bandwagon as they say. Wow - who knew that we could fill that recycle bucket full each week?! Then again, we go through at least 3 gallons of milk during the week, and I do cook a lot with canned items. I get so many magazines and catalogs in the mail (many of which I just toss immediately). We also make a trip about every other month to recycle the cardboard that comes our way. (I love ordering online and through catalogs; getting things in the mail is something I find fun. Plus with the Southern Living at HOME boxes that come our way, we usually have a lot of cardboard.) So anyway... we do the recycling bit and enjoy it. Find recycling information for your area.

Hubby came home one day with a bunch of the Energy Smart light bulbs. They use less wattage but give off the same amount of light. Are they more expensive? Oh, yes. Do I love them? Yes! I could tell a difference in how hot the room felt the first day. Will's room doesn't get a lot of circulation and was always really warm when the lights were on - it's much more comfortable in there now. I can't say that we've seen a significant improvement in our electric bill, but there has been some. We will continue to use these bulbs and the nice thing is they are now coming in a more "attractive" style than just the curly bulb. Go grab a few bulbs for yourself and see if you can tell a difference - let me know.

Paper napkins. Ugh! Go through a fast food line and they either don't give you enough or they give you way toooooo many. When it's the way tooooo many option, I've started saving them and putting them with my regular "pretty" paper napkins and using them. I used to just toss them in the trash. I've also stopped using paper towels to dry my hands at home. I've purchased a beautiful hand towel holder and use a washable towel instead. If we could all just stop using/wasting one paper napkin each day... I don't know the stats. I'm not that far in to going green. Babysteps for me right now.

Now, for the latest improvement, I never thought I'd do it. Don't know why, maybe from feeling funny about walking into a grocery store with bags or having to tote my bags while I shop. I know, I know, those are both silly reasons. However, one day when checking out at our local Publix, they were selling these Green Bags for about $2 each. I remember watching Oprah one day (which I rarely do) and she was offering some for $10 each; so for $2 I bought two. The clerk packed my groceries in them and out I went feeling "green" and good. I had just saved the landfill from two plastic bags! When I got home I realized that I had saved it from more than just 2 bags - those Green Bags hold a ton of stuff! I felt even better.

The real test for me was now to remember to take them to the store with me, walk in with them, and ask the clerk to use them. I've done this twice now at Wal*Mart. Both times the greeter at the door stopped me to ask if I had returns and I had to explain the bags. Both times the clerk looked at me strangely, but complied. Both times I was amazed at how much stuff fits in those bags and how sturdy they are. I want more bags!! So, I go back to Publix which is of course sold out and doesn't know when they'll get more. I found the Green Bags on the internet for a bit more money , but purchased them anyway because I do love these bags. (Choose The Green Bag under the Product heading.) They've also got some produce bags that I ordered and thought I'd try.

Just yesterday I submitted my and my hubby's info to stop receiving the pre-approved credit card offers in the mail. Again, just stuff I throw out without even looking at it. You can do that, too, at the centralized service for opting out. You can choose to opt-out for 5 years or forever. Do it! Save some trees!

I must say, I am enjoying the "greener" life. I'm not the No Impact Man, but it does makes me feel like I am making a difference. (I got many of these links from No Impact Man which I heard about from a good friend's blog... shout out to Laurel!)

These are just some simple things we've changed in our lives. Got any other simple suggestions? I want to be greenerer. LOL!