Archive for Holidays

Whew! Made it Through!

Posted by html404 on December 5, 2011
in Business, Family Stuff, Holidays, Money & Finances, Shopping

Business

It was a busy four days and I only ended up working 3 of those 4 days due to my compassionate husband working the holiday craft fair for me yesterday! It was in my favor that he knew our 15 month old was really missing me too.

There was a Chicago Bears game yesterday so let’s just say the fair was not as busy as Friday or Saturday. I had as relaxing a day as I could with five children under nine (insert rolling eyes here ;-))

The business networking event and the weekend proved to be very beneficial and we met some interesting people. We are excited and grateful for the opportunities presented.

Appliance Woes Almost Fixed

We are still without an oven, at least for another week the repair man said, as he has to order the part. Hopefully it will arrive early and they can fit in an appointment earlier. How can I host a Cookie Exchange if I can’t bake cookies? I can’t, I know.

Christmas!

We are getting into the Christmas spirit around here and eager to decorate and get our tree! Just not sure how we are going to accomplish that since my mil’s car will not accommodate a tree. We took the children to cut down a live tree last year and it was such a memory making day that everyone is gung-ho to do it again this year. It was a neat family tree farm that offered fun activities for the children: candle making, wood carving, hot chocolate and more.

A Vehicle

A friend found a vehicle, we just have to decide if it is what we are looking for….beggars can’t be choosers but it is hard for us. Take on a car payment or not to take on a car payment? Buy an older car and have lots of repairs? Ugh….decisions like these are just not easy. Besides we have not even contacted our insurance to see what insurance will cost on the type of vehicle we are interested in getting. Everything costs money….

Home Life

Other than that same old same old. We cleaned the house today and did school. I worked. The girls and I are gearing up for a sewing spree hopefully starting on Friday. I have to wrap up some weekend stuff and have a couple of meetings this week before we can really get going on making some new skirts for the four girls.

Oh and if you are the praying kind, pray we find our camera. Odd request, I know but we think some little hands got a hold of it and left it in some obscure place in the house…hopefully still in tact. We need that for blogging and capturing every day moments of life so the children can look back in wonder and perhaps a little embarrassment too…..I can’t believe how many photos my oldest is embarrassed about when I was simply capturing a “moment”. Ah well, it was not my original intent to embarrass her, nor is it my intent with the rest either.

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Christmas Movies – Movie Review Monday

Posted by html404 on November 28, 2011
in Family Stuff, Holidays, Movie Review Monday, Movie Reviews

This really isn’t a review per se, more like a generic post about Christmas movies.

We started watching some Christmas movies over the Thanksgiving weekend. Some old and some new. Miracle on 34th Street starring Maureen O’Hara was one of the ones we watched on Thanksgiving. It was one of my Dad’s favorites when my sisters and I were growing up. I still remember him calling to us as he always did when he wanted us to watch something with him (like 6pm Disney World on Sunday nights). Even though we do not celebrate Santa Claus, I love this movie’s story line and the warm memories it brings back.

One of the Christmas movies my husband grew up watching was A Christmas Story with “Ralphie”. This is a movie that my husband and children like, but I could live without. I detest the language in it and think it’s crude, but they all sat there laughing through it. My oldest could not understand how I could not watch it. I was in the room but ended up working on some project rather than paying attention to the movie.

We also watched The Nativity Story about the birth of Jesus on Sunday. It is one of our favorites now too.

Of course the classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Charlie Brown’s Christmas are usually on our must-see list.

We also watched a couple of “ABC Family Night” Christmas movies. Well, my daughters and I watched them and I am glad it was my older children because they contained a lot of adult content that I would not consider family-friendly. Even my oldest said that she thought Walmart was doing a better job with family movie night…yay Walmart and P&G!

So do you have your Christmas movie favorites? Feel free to warn us against the duds too so we can avoid them!

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Appliance Woes

Posted by html404 on November 25, 2011
in Appliances, Holidays

We had a lovely Thanksgiving day yesterday. We spent the day at home relaxing and just being together. We started a new tradition of a “Thanksgiving Tea”, which the children loved! Then we made our Thanksgiving dinner. Everything was going well until it was time to bake our pies and our stove went on the blitz! We tried until bedtime to get the oven to heat up and it would not. Talk about being bummed at no pumpkin or apple pie for dessert!

Waking up before 5am this morning I got up and turned on the oven…..voila! It worked! So we had our Thanksgiving pies for breakfast, but shhhhhh…..don’t tell anyone!

Appliances are wonderful inventions. I love mine, as I am sure you do too…. except when they go on the blitz. Three years ago a couple of days before Thanksgiving our 15 year old stove stopped working and we had to buy a new one and have it delivered the day before we were to host Thanksgiving dinner!

Our appliances stayed at our townhouse since our rental provides all the appliances. We have noticed a drastic reduction to our electric bill since we still have our second refrigerator and three freezers over at the townhouse. We need get rid of two of them because they cost so much to run due to their being older appliances. Let’s just say they are not energy efficient. We are not sure what to replace them with, but we like the look of the space saver Beko fridge freezer (image to the right) because our current freezers take up so much room in the garage. With our family of ten Cheap fridge freezers provide us with extra space for food storage. If either of our houses were big enough then commercial sized appliances would probably be more practical, but neither home has a huge kitchen so they won’t work. Maybe if we ever build.

Appliances can’t live without ‘em.

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Remembering Christmas – A Revell Blog Tour

Posted by html404 on November 19, 2011
in Books, Holidays

It is hard to believe we are nearly through the month of November. We have had a beautiful fall here in Chicagoland. Now the holidays are upon us. First Thanksgiving next week and then Christmas within a month. Our family loves the Christmas season and Christmas stories. Remembering Christmas by Dan Walsh is one of those books that is all about family and what it means to be a part of one. It is a book to be read over and over again as a reminder of being a devoted son or daughter.

Remembering Christmas is not your typical, predictable romance. It does contain a few well placed twists and turns. What I liked about it is that a wealthy, successful, yet selfish son, Rick, comes back to his hometown during his mother’s time of need. He begrudgingly puts all his needs and wants on the back burner to be there for her. I admire his devotion to his mother.

I also liked that Rick’s trip home forced him to face his old hurts and repair broken relationships that should never have been broken in the first place. It is through the healing process he finds unexpected love and devotion of another kind.

This is a lovely story about relationships. Everyone could learn something from this book. It gets a two thumbs up from me!

“Available September 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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Picture Collage Maker Review & Giveaway!

Posted by Brande on November 18, 2011
in Blog Stuff, Downloads, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Giveaways, Holidays, Home, News Worthy, Products for Dad, Products for Mom, Seasonal Stuff, Techie Stuff, Technology/Electronics, Uncategorized

CLOSED! Karen won!

What if you could make your own photo collages, cards, calendars, and scrapbook at home, without fighting with your computer. Here’s your answer the “Picture Collage Maker” by Pearl Mountain Software.

I’m not the most savvy person when it comes to editing photos and making cards. But, this software is very user friendly. With this software you are able to print, create desktop wallpaper, and email.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, why not bring a collage or calendar for your host/hostess. With this program they have 16 different Thanksgiving templates to choose from. Here are a few.

After choosing a template, you click on photos. It brings up your computer files and you can choose which photos to use. Easily by dragging them into the photo and they “pop” in. No more extra step by having to download pictures first on the Internet. Then drag them. Then having to wait for them in the mail.

Picture Collage Maker also have many other holiday and non holiday templates in addition to Thanksgiving.

I was experimenting with the program. Here’s my Thanksgiving photo of my dog and cats! (If you notice the template is the first one in the above group of pictures)

This is a wonderful and easy program to use. The hardest part was deciding which template to use! I will be spreading the word to all my friends about this product. Here’s their website to download your own Picture Collage Maker! http://www.picturecollagesoftware.com . I had lots of fun, I think you will too!

GIVEAWAY:

Photo Collage Maker wants to give 20 readers a gift code to make your own Photo Collage! We are trying something new and using Raffle Copter to host our giveaways, so let me know what you all think ok?

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The Berenstain Bears Get Ready for Christmas ~ Children’s Book Review

Posted by Professor on November 15, 2011
in Books, Family Stuff, Holidays, Seasonal Stuff

Click to see a larger image of The Berenstain Bears Get Ready for Christmas by Jan & Mike Berenstain

Mike and Jan Berenstain enlighten and inspire the holiday spirit in children with a fun Lift-the-Flap Cook from the Berenstain Bears Living Lights series that teaches readers the story of Christmas!

In this new book the Berenstain Bears arrive just in time for the holidays! The family finds fun and adventure as the bears attempt to assemble the family nativity scene.

The book is from Zonderkidz; a division of Zondervan…this publishing company inspires young lives through imagination and innovation. They are a leader in Christian children’s communications that awaken the hearts and touch the souls of kids under 16 and the people who love them, from family to educators.

OUR REVIEW:

When I initially opened the package I thought…oh another Berenstain Bears book! We have so many of the beloved Berenstain Bears books that I thought it would be nice to add another to our library. I opened the book and found it was a Christmas book…but to my surprise it was not just any commercial Christmas book but a CHRISTIAN Christmas book…complete with nativity scene bile and the mention of Jesus. This was a treat because so many books have been commercialized to remove the true sprit of Christmas and are only about presents and Santa Clause. I was very happy to share this warm book with my children and inspire the true meaning of the holiday!

My children LOVED this book! My children are 7, 5, and 3 and they ALL were very excited about the book! The Lift-the-Flap feature was a hit with all of them…they all wanted to lift the flap as we read the story! My older daughter was even able to read the book to the younger ones … this was a plus! The children understood the themes in the book, which were important…they especially liked the bears putting out the nativity scene, as this is ne of our family traditions!

To find out more about the Berenstain Bears Christmas or other Zonderkids products please visit:

www.zonderkidz.com

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Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon When You Take the North “Poll”

Posted by Brande on November 14, 2011
in Baby Products, Books, Coupons, Education, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Holidays, Kids Toys, SALES, Saving Money, Shopping

Melissa & Doug want you to tell them which of their educational toys you think is the best! Just click on the image below to place your vote in the North “Poll!” You’ll Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon** to use at MelissaAndDoug.com just for voting!

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Closed FruitShare Review & Giveaway!

Posted by html404 on November 11, 2011
in Faith and Family Reviews Friday Giveaway, Food and Treats, Gift Ideas, Giveaways, Health and Nutrition, Holidays, Organic

And the winner is………comment #3…..Congrats Domestic Diva!!!

Thanks to all who entered!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last week I wrote a post (read it at this link) about a company providing fresh, organic, in season fruit saying that I was going to try them out. I placed an order over the weekend. Apparently they process orders on Monday with the expectant delivery date being Wednesday or Thursday depending. We received ours today, which is ok. I will update you if our next order is any different in the way it is processed and/or delivered.

We received our box of organic apples, pears and cranberries via FedEx from FruitShare and I have to say I am impressed by the quality and taste. Very flavorful and juicy! The children were very excited and probably would have ate the whole box had I not held them back.

Our box contained a variety of 16 apples, 6 pears (2-3 varieties) and two containers of cranberries….Thanksgiving here we come! We could easily eat the whole box in a day or two with our crew, so I am grateful for the co-op we go to on Thursdays which provides us with some fresh organic produce as well. FruitShare is a treat. They truly choose quality fruit!

In celebration of Thanksgiving coming up, for healthy living and eating we are giving away a box from FruitShare! $39 Value! This would be a great gift idea for any family on your gift list this year. And yes, they do offer gift certificates. Since we are offering this personally, we are going to choose a winner, have the winner tell us their box choice, we will place the order and have it delivered to the winner’s home. The delivery of the FruitShare box will depend upon when we receive the winner’s info.

Giveaway:

One lucky reader will win a organic fruit share from FruitShare.com

Mandatory Entry: What fruit share do you want to try from FruitShare.com
?

Extra Entries;(Please be sure and leave a comment and link for extra entries):

1 Entry: Tweet about this giveaway. Include a separate comment for each and your tweet url with your comment:

Enter to win a organic fruit share! @faithandfamilyrewv #giveaway http://bit.ly/sul4tL #organic #eatinghealthy

1 Entry: Follow Faith and Family Reviews on Twitter

1 Entry: Like/Friend Faith and Family Reviews on Facebook.

10 Entries: Blog about this giveaway and link back this post. Be sure to leave me a link.

1 Entry:For every comment you leave anywhere else on this blog, but please leave a link with your comment!

2 Entries: Follow Faith and Family Reviews on Google Friend Connect (on the our right side bar).

Details:

This giveaway will run from November 11th, to November 20th, 2011 at midnight CST. The winner will be chosen through Random.org. I will send one winner their prize. Winner will be contacted via email on or before November 20th, 2011 and will be asked for their contact and other pertinent info. Winners will have 48 hours to send me their e-mail at [ffr] [giveaways] [at] [gmail] [dot] [com] (without spaces and parenthesis). Please note: This giveaway is offered to USA only.

Thanks and have fun!

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The Number Train Giant Floor Puzzle / Twin Sisters Review

Posted by Brande on August 5, 2011
in DVDs & CDs, Fun Stuff, Holidays, Parenting, School, Seasonal Stuff, Shopping

About Twin Sisters:

“Fraternal Twins Kim Thompson and Karen Hilderbrand have always been close, and have always worked well together. This company was born out of a love for children and seeing the wonderful look of pride on their faces when they have mastered a concept, and have had fun doing it!

Kim started her career as a classroom teacher. She loved teaching first grade and would incorporate music on a daily basis. My class would sing our spelling words, clap out rhythms, march around the room – all while learning. Many phonemic awareness activities involve music, and I found this to be a really fun and effective way to teach. When I earned my masters degree in “Integrating the Arts into the Elementary School Curriculum,”
I was convinced that music was a powerful teaching tool. I began teaching third grade and while becoming familiar with my new math curriculum, discovered that I would be teaching the multiplication facts. What a challenge! I knew that using music and rhythm would make it fun and easy – so that’s what I did. Karen and I worked together and wrote “Rap With The Facts.” We recorded our first album with the help of Hal Wright, and that’s how it all began!”

Since the beginning, we have been blessed with continual growth. Our MISSION is to be The Leader in Children’s Educational Music. We have worked very hard to create excellent products that children will enjoy, and to make learning effective and fun for the lives that we touch through our music. To get a glimpse of how hard we have been working to be the leader in children’s educational music, visit our awards section. www.twinsisters.com/awards”

Twin Sisters Productions offers many children’s learning activities. The kids don’t even realize they are learning because they are having fun!

I received “The Number Train Giant Floor Puzzle”

“Young learners will quickly begin to recognize numerals, number words, and number order 1 to 20 with this all-new giant Number Train Floor Puzzle! The 6-foot x 7-inch puzzle features 27 large, sturdy laminated pieces. The Music CD includes 12 songs that teach numbers and counting. Bonus! Print the 48-page Numbers & Counting Activity Book PDF from your own computer! Practice tracing and writing numbers, counting sets, and more!”

Even though my daughter is still a little young for this product (recommended ages are 4 to 10). She really enjoys the puzzle and songs. Each puzzle piece has a number of animals relating to the current number they are on. Granted she doesn’t know her numbers in order yet, she does understand matching and is also learning about animals. I printed the activity book and that is a bit advanced for her at this time, but it teaches them number counting and writing. The music is great! I love the fact the puzzle comes with a CD, to print the activity book at any time! Most products you use the activity book once and you need to dispose of it. Great product for upcoming birthday parties, holidays, or rainy or snowy day activities.

For this product and many others, visit the Twin Sisters website at http://www.twinsisters.com/

Twin Sisters can also be found on Facebook &

Twitter!

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Patriotic Pops

Posted by Brande on July 4, 2011
in Food and Treats, Fun Stuff, Holidays, Recipes, Seasonal Stuff

From Family Fun Website & Magazine. Forget about the blueberry & strawberry cake dessert, try this one!

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/patriotic-pops-683134/

Ingredients

2 cups blue Powerade, Gatorade, or Kool-Aid
12 5-ounce disposable cups
1 cup frozen whipped topping

1 cup vanilla yogurt
12 craft sticks
2 cups cran-raspberry juice

Instructions

1. To make the pops, equally divide the blue juice among the plastic cups, then place the cups in the freezer until the juice is partially frozen, about 30 to 45 minutes.

2. Mix together the whipped topping and yogurt and divide this mixture among the cups.

3. Set a craft stick in the center of each pop and return the cups to the freezer for approximately 45 minutes.

4. For the final layer, add the cran-raspberry juice to the cups and place them in the freezer until solid.

5. To remove the pops, run warm water over the outside of each cup.

They are on my list this year! If you follow the site above, there’s a short video to explain & demonstrate the recipe also! Enjoy! Happy 4th!