I think the photos speak for themselves! Winter fun is snow forts!
What are your kids’ favorite winter activities?
Archive for Uncategorized
YoYummy Yogurt from Green Mountain Creamery
I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms Meet(SM) program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms Meets(SM) blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacturer of the product.
Our family loves yogurt. It is a great breakfast, snack, dessert or base for a smoothie. We tried a new line called YoYummy from Green Mountain Creamery comes in a bright, portable pouch perfect for traveling and portion control. It is available in four flavors: strawberry banana, mixed berry, cotton candy (flavored with fruit!) and strawberry. Our kids loved it…and well…so did we! It is creamy and delicious. Our children were asking for more!
YoYummy’s whole premise is that it’s made with pure rBST-free Vermont milk and real fruit. We love that it does not contain any artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. Plus, it is said to have 10% less sugar than the leading national kid yogurt brand. That’s definite bonus considering how much sugar most of us eat.
Facts About YoYummy Yogurt
• A good source of calcium, and is rich in vitamin A and D.
• BPA free packaging.
• 1.5% low fat. (We love whole yogurt too!)
• Kosher.
• Free of high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and is naturally gluten free.
• YoYummy is available at Wegman’s, Costco, Hannaford, Stew Leonard’s, Fresh & Easy, and Sprout’s Farmer Markets.
• The retail price for YoYummy is $4.99 for a 4-pack, $9.99 for a 12-pack, and $1.29 for single pouches.
I really cannot say anything negative about YoYummy since we enjoyed it so much, except maybe where it is available. We let our Costco membership lapse so currently it will be hard for us to find it in our area.
If you would like to learn more visit yoyummykids.com (includes coupons and fun coloring pages too!) or their social media pages:
Facebook: facebook.com/GreenMountainCreamery
Twitter: @grnmtncreamery
Pinterest: pinterest.com/gmcyoyummy/
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New Swiffer Sweep and Trap #NewFromSwiffer
This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks/Swiffer.
Our family of ten creates a lot of dirt. I mean a lot of dirt. It is extremely hard to keep the house clean. Add living on a farm, forget it! We’ve tried many different cleaning products, but ever since we had laminate flooring at our townhouse we’ve used and gone through a lot of Swiffers over the years. When you let children help clean…ah…things happen…lots of things…especially breakage. Now, here at the house we are renting we have a combination of laminate, ceramic tile (cold in winter!) hardwood floors in the bathrooms, kitchen, front entry way and our main farm entrance at the side of the house, which is the reason I was interested in trying the new Swiffer Sweep and Trap.
I like the new Swiffer Sweep and Trap for light traffic areas and quick mop ups. It is perfect for the bathrooms and our front entry way. It does not get the corners very well without some maneuvering.
Even though we were using the dry Swiffer sheets for cleaning, my sheet was damp when I took our photos as I had just rinsed it out to reuse for the purpose of this review. As you can see the sheet was picking up dirt…
And the trap was picking up dirt…the sheets are very easy to put on the Swiffer via the two little hole at the top and two on the bottom of the trap flap. The sheets can be reused too if you wash them but do not put them in the dryer, just hang them to dry and they last longer.
The trap easily comes off to discard the dirt…
By the squeeze of the two grey buttons.
The Swiffer Sweep and Trap is light weight and easy to use and just hit the shelves at Walmart today!
For more information about the New Swiffer Sweep and Trap visit:
Website: http://www.swiffer.com/products/swiffer-sweep-trap
Program Hashtag: #NewFromSwiffer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swiffer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Swiffer
Do you have a favorite Swiffer product? If so, what do you like about it?
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Chicco NaturalFit
“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Chicco. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and as a thank you for participating.”
Chicco is a brand name that I have come to trust and love. They sell a multitude of products designed with babies and parents in mind. Their new line of bottles and pacifiers, Chicco NaturalFit, go above and beyond to keep babies happy. Their advanced feeding and soothing system grow with your baby as your babies feeding style is constantly changing.
Their NaturalFit bottles come in three distinct nipple shapes. The first stage is Squeezing and the nipples are designed for newborns. The nipple is actually angled so it is easier for a newborn to drink. Because of the way it’s positioned the nipple will always be full with milk so it is almost impossible for baby to swallow air. This is super important since babies swallowing air can lead to an upset tummy, which means the baby may be cranky. I noticed the nipple is also very soft and flexible, similar to a breast. This makes it easier for moms who decide to breast and bottle feed. These nipples come in two flow categories, newborn and medium.
The second stage is Transition and the nipples are designed for babies around four months old. The nipples are more upright since babies have better neck control. My favorite feature about this nipple is it has three different flow positions. One nipple can adjust to three different flows; slow, medium, and fast. This was amazing to me! When I have purchased bottles in the past I would have to be constantly buying new nipples to go with how my baby was eating. Sometimes I would even have one faster flowing nipple for lunchtime when she was super hungry, and then another slower nipple for bedtime when she was relaxing and just enjoying her nighttime bottle. Trying to keep track of all of the nipple flows was a pain in the butt! This nipple you simply place in the baby’s bouth with the flow number you want closest to baby’s chin. That’s it! It is way less nipples to keep track of, and very easy to use.
The third stage is Sucking and the nipples are designed for babies around six months old. The tip is more elongated to encourage swallowing and to help with the muscle development. This nipple is available in fast flow and a Y-cut flow for introducting thicker liquids. For my daughter, she is 9 months old, we used the fast flow. It seemed a little faster than what she’s been using, but she didn’t seem to mind. She finished faster and had an easy time holding onto the bottle. She thinks she’s a big shot and likes to hold her own bottle on my lap.
Their NaturalFit orthodontic pacifiers are also great products. They are BPA free and Latex free. Their designed with soft silicone and they have tiny ridges and grooves at an angled shape. They come in a variety of colors and sizes based on how old your baby is.
Overall I was really impressed with Chicco NaturalFit. Their design and genius adjustable flow nipple are something I would highly recommend to my mommy friends. These products are now available in store and online at buybuy BABY. For more information on Chicco NaturalFit check out their website:
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Week #11 Saturday Top Five Laughs – Join the Blog Hop!
Once more we have joined The Mommyhood Chronicles for Week #11 – for us – in the Saturday Top Five Laughs of the week.
5. Our oldest daughter asked our Amelia Bedilia to quiz her on some of her school work. Well, Amelia Bedilia could not read her sister’s handwriting so she improvised, substituting it with mumbo jumbo. The problem? Her older sister could not understand what she was saying and was of no help in the quizzing process. Oh dear Amelia Bedilia, we love you because you make us laugh!
4. This photo doesn’t do the newspaper justice Amelia Bedilia style of bagging but it gives you an idea of what it should look like and shouldn’t look like. I can’t remember what happened or how but Amelia Bedilia, B and I just cracked up on Wednesday over Amelia’s bagging style. Thankfully she saw the humor in it too.
3. We found “Luigi” a gift from Italy in our big bag of oats and our three year old throwing pennies at him/it.
2. This morning Miss Moo broke out of her stall and plowed down my husband’s wall of hay he built to reduce the cold and wind. Naughty little cow!
1. We had a little girl in our home who claimed she couldn’t find her school work all week. Guess where her brother found it this morning? In the laundry basket. Still not sure how it got there and no one is fessing up to anything!
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Winter Wonderland – Wordless Wednesday
This is a photo of our friend’s pretty lane a week before Christmas. We went to her house to pick up eggs since none of the hens we have left are laying. Sniff. Sniff. Anyhoo….I just had to stop to take a photo of the winter wonderland.
It’s been bitterly cold the past few days. All the animals have been hunkering down in the barn.
How’s the weather where you are?
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Motivation Monday is Back!
It has been a long time since I did a Motivation Monday post. Let’s see when was the last time? Wow, back in August! The purpose of Motivation Mondays was originally explained here, which was to help me get motivated and get more done. Since that time I have become more busy but still need motivation to stay on track towards my goals.
I have a lot to do now that the new year is here. It’s easy to get overwhelmed if I think too much about it. I have to take one thing at a time and do things one day at a time.
Here’s what I *think* I am looking at for this week and possibly the rest of the month with slight variations:
– Teaching my five year old to read. Hubby is home so he’s helping.
– Getting the children back on track for their school work. It’s always tough after a break. Gotta shake off the lazies.
– Cleaning
– Organizing and reorganizing my office, again! Getting ready for tax time….again.
– We need to make some farm decisions – how many chicks to buy, will we buy pullets from the hatchery in March, what seeds do we need, how many plug trays will we plant or buy to get our veggies started, will we take on an intern and worker shares this year? Are we raising turkeys, if so, how many? Will we add any other farm ventures? Will we do any farmers markets? How will we meet our goals?
– Apply to more VA jobs. My goal is to take on one client for 10 hours per week or two clients for 5 hours each per week. This will help us in replacing my husband’s income, just in case he cannot find a job.
What about you? Do you have a list of to-dos or goals for the week?
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No One to Trust
I haven’t been reading much lately but I did have the privilege of reading No One to Trust: A Novel (Hidden Identity)
No One to Trust is about the Abernathys, a married couple whose marriage takes a completely different turn when Kyle turns out to be someone else entirely!
As life takes a dangerous turn for the Abernathys they learn quickly who they can trust and who they cannot trust, though Summer Abernathy feels she has no one to trust, including her husband.
I could relate to some of the trust issues the characters, especially Summer, struggled with. It is very hard to be hurt by someone you care about and not know who you can trust or if you can ever trust that person again.
No One to Trust: A Novel (Hidden Identity)
is about learning to trust again, especially God, and learning to forgive so you can trust again. I think my issue is unresolved forgiveness hindering my trusting people again.
I really enjoyed this “candy” read because I couldn’t put it down until I read the whole thing! I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
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Week #10 Saturday Top Five Laughs – Join the Blog Hop!
I took some time off over Christmas so I broke my straight run of posts for the Saturday Top Laughs but I enjoyed the time off! And now it’s time to laugh with the Goulds again! Once more we have joined The Mommyhood Chronicles for Week #10 – for us – in the Saturday Top Five Laughs of the week.
6. My husband was messing with the garbage cans at the end of the driveway on garbage day, when our three year old saw him from our front window he started calling, “Daddy!” Then it changed to, “Robert!” which came out more like “obert”. I proceeded to ask him what my name was and he goes, “eesa”. It was cute and now he hasn’t called us by our names since. Recently I taught him our real names but it was like one time so I was surprised that he remembered our real names, then again he does hear us calling each other by our real names.
5. Robert celebrated his birthday recently and the girls made him two birthday desserts but only one was ready to eat in time. He said the next morning he had a bad dream (I call it a birthday nightmare) that mice came and ate his chocolate chip cheesecake during the night. He woke up with relief to find out the cheesecakes were just fine. 
4. Kittens climbing across Miss Moo’s back.
3. Kittens sitting under Miss Moo’s udder to catch the drips of milk in the morning.
2. Padfoot, our goofy Newfie, jumping to catch snowflakes!
1. Our children started calling my husband “Vader” after watching Star Wars over the Christmas break. Our 14 year old daughter, B, discovered “Vader” is the alternate spelling of the Dutch word “Vater” meaning father. Darth Vader means “dark father”. B and O even decorated their dad’s birthday dessert accordingly. B’s been calling me “Mater”, latin for mother.
That’s as good as it gets this week. How about you, what laughs have you started 2014 with? Or what nicknames do your children come up with for you and your husband?
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GS Preschool Games for Android
Most of you who are regular readers know nearly all the apps on my cell phone are educational. Our children love to go on my phone to play with the apps. They also love it when I change the apps by downloading new ones. GS Preschool Games for Android has a cool little app our children have been enjoying the past couple of days.
GS Preschool Games has ten different activities children can enjoy and learn from:
- Jigsaw puzzles
– Match the Objects
– Solve the Maze
– Memory
– Burst the Balloons, which teaches letters, numbers and colors
– Count the Objects
– Compare the Objects
– Find Odd Items
– Find the Correct Count
– Scratch the Pad to Paint – while doing this activity our three year old son passed me the phone and said, “Scratch Mommy”….it took me a minute to figure out what he meant!
The characters are whimsical and fun. Not to mention attractive to a little one’s eye, as the colors are bright.
GS Preschool Games app is easy to use. Simply choose your activity with a click and then swipe and click to play. The skip button allows children to skip and choose a game based on his or her interest at that moment.
One thing I noticed while doing the balloon activity is when you earn your sticker for clicking the correct balloon, the pop up has this pause and there is barely enough time to catch the rest of the balloons as they float up and off the screen.
Even our five year old and seven year old had fun with this app. The app is recommended for ages 3-6. My daughter who is seven said it was fun and it has rewards. They love earning something for their effort. It’s very motivating for them as they learn and play. However, we could not figure out if the stickers led to more activities or bonus features or if they were just a reward pop up with an encouraging word. We are inclined to think it’s the latter. After a few activities within a game they do get to choose their own animal sticker reward.
Each game contains approximately 16+ individual exercises within that category, providing ample fun and entertainment for children at home or on the go. One thing to be aware of is a parent does have to be involved and read the instructions to a child who does not yet know how to read.
This app is available for yours and your child’s educational pleasure for Android here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.greysprings.games
and is also available for iOS as well:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gs-preschool-games/id726944785?mt=8
Enjoy!
