Stride Rite Outlet Closing!

Well, I haven't been there, but according to my Mom the Stride Rite Outlet at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets is closing!!! Don't have to many details about the closing, when or why. But my Mom picked us up 4 new pairs of shoes for about $7 or $11 each.  No returns, but we stocked up on some bigger sizes for her to grow into. Also haven't seen the shoes yet, so I am not sure what they have left! But if your in the area check them out!

Recipe of the week: Singapore Five-Spice Stir Fry

Needed a quick and easy dinner (as usual). I had purchased Chinese Five Spice for another recipe that I never made, so decided to search for a stir fry recipe using it. I found Singapore Five-Spice Stir Fry on the web.  Here is my version of their stir-fry.



Sauce:
1/2 cup Orange Juice
1 tablespoon flour
3/4 teaspoon Chinese Five spice powder
1/4 teaspoon  crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons honey

Stir Fry:
2 cloves garlic
2 chicken breasts (bite size pieces)
1 bag frozen stir fry veggies (I used thai style for this recipe)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup uncooked rice

Directions:
1. Cook the rice as directed and keep warm.
2. In small bowl, combine all sauce ingredients and mix until blended. Set aside.
3. In large skillet or wok, heat olive oil, add chicken and garlic, and cook over medium high heat until no longer pink.
4. Add Veggies and cook until tender (4-5 minutes)
5. Add sauce, cook and stir 2-3 minutes until bubbly and thickened.
6. Serve over rice.  (or pasta if desired)

I have tried several recipes for stir fry sauce, and this one was my husbands favorite.  Although, it didn't taste much like orange juice, for some reason little 'ol pregnant me could not get over the orange juice smell, and it was a bit spicy. But overall pretty good and really easy to make! Check out the actual recipe for an alternative to the frozen veggies! 

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Merry Christmas!

Had an exciting week of Christmas celebrations! So thankful for all the time we got to spend with everyone!

Due to all the excitement/traveling all week long, we have made the tradition of staying at home in our PJ's on Christmas! And what a great day it was!

Baby girl slept til 11!!! Opened her presents, ate, and watched a little TV snuggled in her "bed".




And then it was back to bed for her! And she napped til 6:30!!! (and well so did Mommy). We then had amazing steak salad dinner!


And my child actually ate all her steak, cucumbers, egg, and applesauce! I offered her a Christmas cookie for dessert and she turned it down?!?!? (pretty much the only thing we don't have in common, cause I ate 1/2 the cookie jar for dessert, but definitely justifies the parenting choices that I made when we started solids forever ago).

We had a great Christmas week! We are so blessed and so thankful for the relaxing day with my little family!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

"God Gave Us Christmas"

Bought the book God Gave Us Christmas by: Lisa Tawn Bergren on Amazon.com a few months ago and it somehow got buried in the sea of Christmas stuff in our office.

As I was wrapping the final Christmas presents this morning, with the help of a cute little 2 year old, I found the book and we stopped and read it. WHAT AN AWESOME BOOK! We have been very wrapped up in Santa, and Santa's bringing gifts,  and lets name his reindeer, etc.  It was so cute to read this book and have her ask me, "Mommy, where is God?"  (the bears go looking for God in the story).  Also a great reminder for Mommy of what Christmas is really about.  Favorite quote from the book that is perfect for Christmas Eve:
"'Santa Claus reminds us about many good things like generosity and care.  But it is God and Jesus that we celebrate most come Christmas.  We always want to thank God for giving us Christmas.'"

Also discovered as I ordered this book that Lisa Tawn Bergren has written many similar books, the next one I plan on ordering is "God Gave Us Two" :) :) 

Snakes, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails

You guessed it! It's a boy! We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday and learned that we have a healthy baby boy on the way! Very excited! Although, Alissa still insists she's having a baby sister!!!

So glad that we decided to have the ultrasound.  We aren't great with surprises, but I also feel such a different connection with the baby and being a little bit of a "planner" I feel that it calms me down a little being able to prepare for Baby #2.  As I plan things like nursery decor, double strollers, and baby carriers, my husband is already planning his 1st motorcycle trip with his baby boy! :)

"C" is for Cookie!

The past two days have been filled with relaxation and COOKIES!

Spent Sunday night making some chocolate chippers(as we call them) with my little family! Babygirl loved helping and kept asking to help me more! The hubby was even a participant (and managed to drop the mixer and 1/2 the batter on the floor)!


But either way we had fun making them, and even more fun eating them!









Today we drove to my Mom's for our annual cookie baking with friends! For as long as I can remember, I've been baking cookies with my 2nd family at Christmas! Unfortunately this year one of our helpers couldn't be there :( We found a temporary replacement...




She took her job very seriously, and sat for an hour helping unwrap Hershey kisses, without eating or even asking to eat a single Hershey kiss. (she did however eat quite a few cookies!)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Christmas in Disney

Just got home from our amazing vacation in Orlando! Gave us a nice little break right before Christmas, and brought us home in time to stress for the next 9 days about the million things that need to be done!

But we had a fabulous time with family, friends, and Minnie Mouse!

Breakfast with the Characters at the Beach Club Resort

And we can't forget her absolute favorite part....meeting Snow White (wish we would have had more than 1 day at the parks so we could have found all the princesses)

So thankful for the time I got to spend with my family for the holiday! With baby #2 on the way, I am not sure when we will get back down there.  And Alissa had an absolute blast with her cousins!

Animal Kingdom Lodge, where we spent 2 nights!

Love all the great memories with my family!

Christmas in Disney, December 2008 (with Alissa in my belly)

Christmas in Disney, December 2011 (with baby #2 in my belly)

Paper Chain Christmas Tree craft

Crafts don't happen much at our house, at least planned/organized ones. So decided to plan a "cute" Christmas craft. We had watched Bubble Guppies for the first time on Nick Jr. and loved it, so when I found this craft on their website, I decided it would be fun to try. I am also pretty much artistically challenged and it seemed like it was on my level! :)

She had fun with it, but there weren't to many steps that she could really do on her own. She ended up putting the glue on the rings...



She also helped tape all the Bubble Guppy ornaments on the tree...




We had fun, and we now have a cute little ornament for our craft closet!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Recipe of the Week: Alphabet Pasta Tomato Soup

Thought the Eden Organic Vegetable Alphabets looked fun and yummy, so we decided to try them out.  I used the recipe on the back of the box to make this tomato soup.  You can also find the recipe here.  Here is the slightly modified to fit my fridge/pantry version of the soup!

Alphabet Pasta Tomato Soup


1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 cup onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup carrots, diced

1/3 cup celery, diced

1 1/2  vegetable broth

2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes 

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon Sea Salt, or to taste

1/2 cup Eden Organic Vegetable Alphabets

Directions:
1. Cook the pasta according the package, rinse, drain, set aside.
2. Heat the oil in medium soup pot.  Saute the onions and garlic for 2 minutes.
3. Add the celery and carrots and saute for 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Add the basil, oregano, black pepper, sea salt, and tomatoes. Mix, cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
5. Puree 1/2 of the tomato/vegetable mixture and pour back into soup pot.
6. Mix in the pasta and simmer 1 to 2 minutes until pasta is warm.  

Soup was very yummy, unfortunately, I'm not really a tomato based soup fan, and found out neither is my toddler.  But my husband loved it.  Now just have to send him to work everyday this week with his container of alphabet soup so we don't waste it all! :) This recipe makes a lot of soup so I will probably freeze some! Would go great with a grilled cheese sandwich! 

Also,  The recipe with the noodles also calls for soy, which I didn't add. That would probably add a little bit creamier texture to the soup. 

"Giantly" disappointed

We grocery shop at Giant in Exeter regularly, mostly because they were the closest grocery store (besides Wal-mart) that I could find when we moved here.  So since then we continue to shop there.  They have a nice organic section, and produce is USUALLY pretty good.  The store is new, large, and always clean! And I usually earn a ridiculous amount of gas rewards points each month.

There is also a Giant in Lionville, next to our My Gym class.  So this week instead of driving 30 minutes home from My Gym and another 20 minutes to a different Giant, I decided to stop at the Giant in Lionville to grab a few produce items and somethings for dinner.  I can honestly say almost every produce item I picked up to buy was not fresh.  The lettuce was brown, strawberries just about on their last day, and blueberries moldy.  The store is also so much smaller than the Giant we normally shop at, they didn't have a few of the items I was looking for.  One thing they did have going for them was their customer service was great at checkout.

But overall I left very disappointed....Anyone have suggestions for a great grocery shopping experience where I can get everything in one place??

Leftovers anyone??

Oh wait, there aren't any!!! So apparently dinner was pretty good tonight, and both the hubby and I were definitely looking for leftovers! Next time I will remember to double the recipe!

Broccoli Chicken Divan

1 lb. chopped fresh broccoli

1 1/2 cups cubed, cooked chicken breast

1 can condensed cream of celery soup

1/3 cup milk

3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon melted butter

2 tablespoons dried bread crumbs 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2. Steam broccoli for 5 minutes or until tender

3. Place cooked broccoli in a 9 inch pie plate.  Top with the chicken.  In a bowl, mix the soup and milk, and pour over the chicken.  Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese.  Mix the melted butter with the bread crumbs, and sprinkle over the cheese.  

4.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly brown.  

Guess it was good! 

Here is a link to the recipe I modified slightly.  I also added some spices to the chicken and soup! Broccoli Chicken Divan

3 Day Sale at Pottery Barn Kids!

Best Sellers Weekend Sale: Save 20% on the Kendall Furniture Collection at Pottery Barn Kids! 3 Days ONLY!

• Dressers
• Nightstands
• Beds
• Bunkbeds
• Crib 
• And more....

We just so happen to be looking to furnish another Nursery! The crib is not convertible to a bed which is the only downfall for us! But if your looking to upgrade to a full or twin bed, or just need a new bedroom set, this set looks nice! 

Check it out at on their Website!

Disney On Ice: Dare to Dream VALPAK SPECIAL!!!

Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly.  Show dates are Dec 22-Jan 1.  (Coupon is only valid on certain tickets, and only on shows from dec 26th-dec 30th, and only for a limited time)

Get tickets for $15, EVEN LOWER LEVEL!!! Use the code: VALPAK before picking your tickets!

Comcast  click on this link to purchase tickets!

Disney on Ice click here to find out more info about the show!

Found this ValPak coupon in the mail this month! Decided these tickets would make a great Xmas gift! Hope she enjoys it!

Recipe of the week: Chicken Noodle Soup

My husband's fire company had a Chicken BBQ during the snowstorm Halloween weekend.  We had purchased tickets for friends and family who ended up not making it to the BBQ, so we ended up with ALOT of extra chicken.  Didn't want it to go to waste as we are not great at eating leftovers, so I decided to make some chicken noodle soup, thankfully we have a gas stove! Here is the recipe that I used.

Ingredients: 

1 tbls. butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

4 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth

1 can vegetable broth

1 lb. chopped cooked chicken breast

2 cups coooked noodles (egg noodles recommended, but I didn't have those) 

1 cup sliced carrots

1 cup cut green beans
1 baked potato (would have used more if I had them)

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

The result of cutting apart the chicken!

Directions:

1. In large pot over medium heat, melt butter.  Cook onion, green beans, and carrots until tender, 5 minutes.  

2.Pour in chicken and vegetable broths and stir in chicken, noodles, carrots, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.  

3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes before serving.  

I used slightly more of all ingredients to make a larger batch of soup because I had ALOT of chicken.  Turned out great, husband loved it! The chicken had a smoked flavor to it from the BBQ which I am not a fan of, so I didn't love it as much.  But it was a great way to use up leftovers from the fridge! Here is a link to the recipe that I used, but modified slightly.  

14 weeks and counting!

Well, we've arrived at the 2nd trimester! It's been a long few weeks of exhaustion, nausea, and really busy schedules! I'm still wondering how with my last pregnancy, I drove an hour each way to work, taught thirty 10 year olds all day, and still felt great through the whole pregnancy! Now all I have to do is chase after a 2 year old and find myself nodding off during storytime before her nap!

I spent a few weeks feeling nauseous and not being able to eat, and then feeling nauseous because I didn't eat anything! But now at 14 weeks, I am starting to feel a little better, eating more, and have a little more energy.

However, week 13 also brought a whole new challenge with it! I have been having some severe hip pain to the point where I can't stand, walk, or roll over. We see the chiropractor regularly and it has been helpful with sciatica, but not so much with the hip pain. He helps me with muscle stretches and I have been doing them on my own at home. My nighttime routine now includes ice on my hip and lots of stretches. I just ordered a lumbar support belt which hopefully might bring some relief. Was not expecting this kind of pain this early in the pregnancy. Anyone have this problem and have any advice, I am up for trying anything???

With that said I am also "growing" much quicker than I did with my first pregnancy, so that might have something to do with it! Here is a belly comparison!

14 weeks pregnant, pregnancy 2,  11/9/2011

16 weeks pregnant, pregnancy 1, 3/23/2009

A day out in Chester County!

My girlfriend was kind enough to share some great kids activities in Chester County with me today! Here is a little bit of info if your looking for free, fun, fall entertainment in the area!

We started at Springton Manor Farm in Glenmoore.  They didn't have to many animals out because their Fall season ended on October 28th, but we were still able to see sheep, goats, horses, and cows up close! It is a beautiful park and was a beautiful day! Many families were taking advantage of the great fall foliage and getting some photos done!














We then made our way into Downingtown to play at Kerr Park. What a great park for all ages! It was a day off of school for most kids so it was pretty packed, but the kids had a good time and got out lots of energy!

Since I also learned that THERE IS A Wegman's in Downingtown, I of course had to stop there on my way home and pick up so amazing food! Oh how I wish we lived closer!!!! Wegman's, I miss you!

And to top off the day, baby girl fell asleep in the car, and is still sleeping so Mommy has some time to sit down and rest her feet for a few minutes! Woo hoo!

My BFF gets married!

My best friend got married on Saturday in a beautiful ceremony and reception at her parents house! I was honored to be her matron of honor and my baby girl was so excited to be a flower girl! Had such a blast at the wedding and so happy for the newlyweds!

Daddy and the cute little flower girl

My little family! 

My gorgeous BFF and her Daddy

Check out Michael Cali's Blog  for more amazing photos of their wedding day!!!

It's Electric!

And we finally have it at our house!!!!! Sorry for the hiatus in blogging! We have been without power for 8 days! We finally got power back Saturday night and I am so so thankful!  We are so lucky that we had a generator so we were able to save all the food in BOTH our freezers and be warm and somewhat comfortable at home for the week.  We did have to splurge on a new generator after we realized the old one stopped running our heat and spent one night in the cold and dark.  There are a few things I have learned from this experience!

1. I could actually live without my microwave and not having it actually made me cook healthier food!
2. We all have way to much clothing! I had already been behind on laundry and we still had plenty of cute outfits to wear for the whole week and beyond! (since I am still catching up)
3.  My child and I will survive without showers everyday! I had been completely on a shower every day schedule, until we couldn't shower at all and realized we survived and were not completely filthy! Might be on the shower every other day schedule from now on!
4. We live on the wrong end of the neighborhood! (The other 1/2 of our street got power back after a day or 2!!!)
5. Our local fire company has many dedicated volunteers that deserve to be recognized more often!

Soooo thankful for the hardworking people who got the power back to us.  I know they spent alot of time away from their families and without sleep to get our power back.  I am still amazed at the devastation caused by the storms in our area.  Thankfully our property only lost a few small trees, but it wasn't the same for all our neighbors! God bless everyone who is working hard to get things back to normal!

Hubby working hard on the clean up

The Big News

We are expecting baby #2 on May 9th! We are so excited/nervous/anxious about having our 2nd baby.  Our first has been such a blessing and I could never have imagined all the joy she has brought to our lives! For a long time we had really planned on only having one little girl, as she was a little bit of a challenge as an infant (or we really just didn't have the knowledge we do now).  So we decided to let God take over and if it was meant to be it would happen. And it did! Very quickly! I can't say it was a surprise because we weren't "not trying", but I definitely didn't expect to get pregnant as quickly as a I did.  But either way we are completely overjoyed and I can't wait to be a mother of 2!!

We had our first appointment with our midwife last week, a different group of midwives than I had with my daughter.  I am hoping for a little bit different birthing experience than I had the first time around. I am hoping, now that I am a little more educated about everything, things will go a little smoother than before.  I have been given the OK so far for a VBAC and I am so completely excited about that.  Not only was I given the OK, but the new midwife did not understand why I would have needed a c-section with my first pregnancy.  So excited! We will see how things progress! But in the meantime, anyone have VBAC experiences or 2nd baby experiences to share! I would love any info! 

Recipe of the week: Cheddar-Baked Chicken

This week's month's recipe (sorry totally slacking on the blogs lately) is yummy chicken! I actually didn't find this recipe online, I decided to use one of the many cookbooks I have that I rarely open! This one is from the Easy Chicken cookbook that I got for $4 at Marshalls and has so many great recipes in it!

I can't really take credit for making this one, my husband actually did most of the cooking for this meal! :) And it was yummy! If you need a quick and easy dinner this would be it!

Cheddar-Baked Chicken

1 tbsp. milk
2 tbsp. mustard
1 cup grated Cheddar
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. chopped fresh chives (we used the dried version)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 400. Mix together the milk and mustard in a bowl.  In another bowl, combine the cheese,  flour, and chives.

Dip the chicken breasts into the milk mixture and coat evenly.  Then dip them into the cheese mixture to completely coat.  Place on cookie sheet and spoon any spare cheese coating over the top.

Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown.


We were definitely scrounging for dinner options, but we added some sweet potato french fries and some cauliflower!  

Ok, so the picture in the cookbook looks so much better! 

ooopppss, we made to many

Yes, I found the "ooopppss, we made to many" shelves at Wal-Mart.  And yes, I said "shelves".  They actually had 2 full carts full of baked goods that had a use by date of today.  They just happened to have pumpkin cream cheese loaf cake for $1.94! Brought it home, helped myself to a piece, saved one for my hubby, and decided to freeze the rest of them individually so I can pull one out whenever I'm hungry for one! I wish I would have thought of freezing them while I was at Wal-Mart and I would have bought more!

Girl's night

Had a great girl's night with my baby girl today! Shopping at the Philly Outlets and dinner!

Found her shoes for her Flower girl dress! $11 at Stride Rite (gotta love buying white shoes as winter is starting)

Found nothing for me, which is usually how shopping works these days!

But we had a yummy dinner at Ruby Tuesday! Love their white chicken chili and baby girl loves their grilled chicken, mashed potatos, and green beans! Yum! My favorite part is that we both have leftovers for lunch tomorrow!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My Monday Night Rant

Monday night was finally here....Monday's are not the best days for us, we have a busy morning and of course on this particular morning I forgot my free iced coffee card at home!!! Then on the way to our class my tire pressure light came on AGAIN (see previous post).  Came home and spent my free time cleaning up pounds of dog poop in the backyard. So at 6:00 when my husband came walking through the door just in time to eat dinner I was definitely happy to see him.  Of course by that point I had forgotten it was Monday and he would be walking out the door a few minutes after he finished stuffing his face with dinner.  My husband has Fire company drill night every Monday.  Oh yes the joy of being the wife of a volunteer fire fighter! 

So after he graced us with his presence for just enough time to eat dinner, he was off again.  And he chooses these words to me as he walks out the door..." I need to go help them clean up".  He picked the wrong words at the wrong time! I was in the middle of vacuuming up dog hair (his dogs that I adopted when we got married) for the 4th time this week, the dishes from dinner were overflowing the sink, the dishwasher needed to be emptied, the laundry needed to be folded and put away, and the lawn needs to be mowed, not to mention the fact that our 2 year old is running around asking Mommy to play with everything! And he NEEDED to go help them clean up after he spent all day Sunday at a fire company fundraising event.  Well all I could think is how about you help me clean up! (which he will be to tired to do when he gets home, and tomorrow, well he'll be back at the fire company for their monthly meeting after work) 

Which in turn leads me to my rant about Volunteer Fire companies.  Not only are these VOLUNTEERS there for their community at a drop of a hat to rescue you from your home, car, tree or to save your home or car they work their butts off to raise money so that they can have all the equipment they need to properly do their jobs! So much of their time AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILY is spent fundraising so that they can get up to date equipment or get more training so that they are better prepared to help YOU. My husband spent his day Sunday away from his family to raise money for his fire company, just to spend Monday night away from his family cleaning everything up that they used on Sunday.  And I will admit although they are all doing something good for the community it is so frustrating that it takes so much time away from his family, not to mention the fact that it is above and beyond the 10 hour work days he works already. I realize now that so much of the frustration that I have could be relieved if more people had the mind set that my husband does and puts so much time into helping others. I wish that I was able to help more, but haven't been able to be very helpful while chasing a 2 year old around. But in my pre-mommy days I spent many nights after work at the fire company carnival and other events volunteering and helping them raise money. Even if it is not going through fire training to become a fire fighter, you can help your local volunteer fire company by volunteering for fundraising events, even if once a month, or once a year, you being there might mean that a firefighter can spend a little more time with their family.  It would take so much pressure off the guys and gals that work so hard on their fire fighting duties it seems unfair that they also have to take on all the other duties also.  So if you are able call up your local fire company and find out what you can do! End rant.

Sleeeeeeep!

For the past few weeks baby girl has been having a hard time falling asleep. We usually go through our whole bedtime routine of bath, stories, rocking, music, and into her crib. She usually would fall asleep about 10-15 minutes after we put her in her crib without a fuss! Although there is still no fuss, she rolls around her crib for a good hour or hour and a half before she falls asleep!!! I am starting to feel so bad for her! We have pushed bedtime a little later to make sure that she is definitely tired, and she is usually visibly tired and asks to go in her crib, but just cannot fall asleep. And no matter how much later we put her to bed she is still up at 7:30 every morning and then seems exhausted by 10 AM. Starting to worry she isn't getting enough sleep!

Naptime hasn't been as bad, but I am currently listening to her roll around in her crib trying to put herself to sleep and it's not going so well!

Any suggestions???? I know she probably gets this from me since I cannot fall asleep at night either , so I guess I could use a few suggestions for myself too! We both need some sleep!!!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Free Iced Coffee at DD

Pumpkin coffee on a cold rainy Monday morning was just what I needed! (even if it is iced it still tastes awesome) Found this Free Iced Coffee Mondays card in one of our coupon packs that we get in the mail! Glad I decided to go through the mail instead of just throwing it away! My husband lovingly left the card on the counter for me to use instead of using it for himself. ( he forgot it running out the door this AM) :) lucky me!! Check your mail!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I've got an App for that!

Tonight I realized that my daughter is pretty much addicted to my Iphone App, Tozzle.  I have had games and apps on my phone for her for about a year now and we only use them once in awhile in dire situations like really long lines at the grocery store! But ever since I purchased the full version of Tozzle she BEGS to "play games on Mommy's phone!"  And out of the whole page full of games I have for her she now only picks Tozzle!!!!

For those of you not familiar with the App since it is fairly new to me, here is the description from the apple website:
Looking for something entertaining but also educational for your kid? Then Tozzle is the perfect App for you! This puzzle app is built for children from age 2 - 99.
It keeps your toddler entertained and he/she learns to improve shape recognition and motor activity.
Choose from 39 different puzzle pictures, all including funny sound effects.
It's really easy to use. Just let your toddler pick one out of 39 colorful, child orientated puzzles and let him / her solve it by drag&drop. Once a puzzle is solved your kid can play around with the sound effects by tapping on the figures. 
An exit button on the bottom left brings you back to the selection menu. 

This program was tested by several toddlers and we took their suggestions seriously to create a funny but educational app for them.
If a child can't find the right place for a piece, a helping arrow appears after the third try so every child can solve every puzzle.

Look forward to relaxed car rides, you´ll never again have to drive AND entertain your kid, you can concentrate on driving while your child is having fun with Tozzle! 

If you want to see Tozzle in action, just search for "Tozzle" on Youtube.
I guess if you want to see how it works check Youtube! But your child is given a picture with pieces missing and they have to drag and drop the pieces in the correct spot. 
Here is a screen shot from apple.com also: 

 I am AMAZED at how fast my daughter was able to pick up on where the pieces go! Some of the puzzles are pretty tricky and every time you add a piece, another empty one appears! But she LOVES it! And I highly recommend it for $1.99! My husband searched his phone (he is not fortunate enough to have an Apple product) and unfortunately couldn't find it in his list of Apps.  But check it out for your Toddler if you haven't already! Older kids might even like it too! 


Here is our "Top 10 Favorite Iphone Apps for Toddlers" if you are interested in some other Apps.  


1. Tozzle 
2. Monkey Preschool LunchBox
3. Zoodles (we only have the free version, but she loves the movies on it) 
4. Barney Game Pack 
5. Sprout: Dress Chica
6. Wheels on the Bus
7. Alphabet Animals-Talking ABC Cards 
8. Toddler Teasers: Shapes 
9. Sprout Player
10. 123 Animals Counting Lite (The full version is probably better, but we haven't splurged yet) 


What are your favorite Iphone Apps for Toddlers or Mommy's of Toddlers?? Would love to hear from you! 

Beef with the Toyota dealer!

Spent my morning sitting at New Holland Toyota for inspection and oil change. We have also been having trouble with our tire pressure light since our last service we had done there. The tires were overinflated the last time and since then the light goes off randomly throughout the week. So we have had it back to them 4 times since and they have replaced the whole computer system to try to fix it. So today they tell us they found a nail in one of the tires and they patched it. (only took them 4 checks to find the nail) So I assumed that would fix the problem, but of course before I pulled in the driveway the light was back on again! Thankfully they are coming to pick the car up next time! So frustrating that it has taken them sooo many tries to fix something they broke in the first place!! And everytime we have been back I have waited 1-2 hours with a 2 year old! So thankful that my baby girl is such an angel and was so good the whole time we waited there! As soon as our free service vouchers are gone you can bet our business at New Holland Toyota will be too!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My two cents....

Of course I was up last night at 4 AM, again! Couldn't fall back to sleep so I started watching NBC and their Meet the Press: Government's Role in Education that was part of their Education Nation programming.  Although I was only 1/2 awake, I did catch bits and pieces of the special.  There was also more information on the Today Show this morning in which they had teachers voicing their opinions in a town hall type meeting.  

Being a teacher, I of course, got sucked into both of these.  And they both got so many thoughts flowing through my head I decided to blog and share my "two cents" on Education today.  

The Round Table debate focused on should the Federal Government be as involved in Education, and I was very surprised when several people talked about Federal Education mattering less than the ADULTS in a child's life at home, in school, and on the playing field.  There were several times throughout the debate that they referenced all adults and not just teachers.  I was so happy when I heard this! For a long time, as a teacher, I felt very responsible for EVERYTHING my students were learning.  I was very hard on myself when some students were not succeeding in my class.  However, when I became a parent, my views on this changed, slightly.  I know as a teacher it was important for me to provide an environment for all my students to learn and be successful.  But in order to do that I needed my students to come to my classroom with background knowledge and skills to learn new things.  When I was teaching I never really thought of any of it as parents responsibility, but now after 2 years of being a "teacher" to my child I now realize how incredibly important the parent's role is in our education system and in the future of our country.  The round table also talked about character education and teaching social and emotional skills to kids so that they can become better learners in a classroom environment and how "teaching to the test" didn't allow time for these skills to be taught to students.  And I found that in my classroom that was often true.  So many students had so many other things "on their plate", emotionally, physically, mentally, that they could care less what the 5 steps of the scientific method are or how to multiply two digit numbers because they were worried if Mommy or Daddy was going to be home that night, if Daddy was going to yell and hurt mommy, or will there be anything to eat for dinner that night.  And that I believe is where family plays an all important role in the education of our nation.  If these students come to our classrooms with the burdens of their home life, it isn't that they can't learn, but our role as a teacher now becomes the role of the parent for them emotionally and less about providing them with knowledge and skills to be successful but more about providing them with skills to simply survive!  

I know I spend ALOT of time with my daughter.  I am fortunate to be able to do that.  I have found throughout my time at home with her, how everyday moments and activities can ALWAYS become learning experiences.  I am NOT writing this to toot my own horn, but many people often ask me how much I work with her on things like alphabet or number recognition (she just turned 2), and I can honestly tell you I don't sit down and say ok today we are going to learn to count to 20.  If a parent takes the time to play and spend time with their children they will find how easy it is to incorporate so many skills like those into everyday life.  My opinion is that parents don't spend enough QUALITY time with their children, and I believe it is because of what our society has become. "Family night" for some families has now become turn on the TV and sit on the couch together! I know that the economy is terrible and many parents need to work one, two, three jobs to support their family.  But I also know that some of those same parents will then use their free time on a Saturday night to be out to dinner, bar, on vacation with their friends.  I know this is not true for all families, and I know that parents need nights to themselves too. But I feel that, that time will come, right now your responsibilty as a parent is raising your children, not pawning them off on someone else to do it for you.  

I know that there are problems with Federal and State Education, and schools now do "teach to the test" which I absolutely hated as a teacher, but I also feel that MANY of the education problems our country has stem from the lack of parent responsibility for their children.  There are many stay at home and working parents out there, that have dedicated their lives RIGHT NOW to raising their children, and they do a phenomanal job at it. Every moment they have with their children is spent with their children and not doing whatever it is they feel like doing that day. Over the past 2 years I have heard so many comments about how I need to leave my daughter more often and have time for myself.  I am sorry, but I didn't choose to have children to have time for myself! My time is now set aside for raising my kids, and maybe occasionally having a night out with my husband (which I feel also helps in raising kids).  My child is not perfect and I am not the perfect parent, but my child is my FIRST priority in my life.  

I could write a book about this, and again this is just my OPINION.  And I know there are exceptions to all the situations I talked about.  There are so many great parents out there, who work really hard to do everything for their children.  It is not always about spending EVERY minute with your child, but spend QUALITY minutes with your child! 

Sunday Funday

Or in our case, Sunday pajama and fun day! Since the start of football, we have kind of had very lazy Sunday's! We managed to make it outside to enjoy some of the beautiful sunshine this morning! But as soon as naptime rolled around, I decided to park myself and my bag of popcorn in bed watching a football game! It was kind of nice to stop worrying about dishes in the sink, laundry on the floor, dog hair everywhere and do some mindless TV watching!

I did also spend a lot of time "observing" playtime tonight, which reminded me just how incredible the mind of a child is! I am so amazed with my baby girl's imagination and how well she does "pretend play" all on her own. So funny to watch some of the things she comes up with or turns her toys into!
For example:



Her favorite pretend play activity: The tea party. ( note her bears "drinking" their tea) and of course her baby had to have some tea also!

She amazes me more and more everyday! I am one proud Momma and so thankful I get to watch her learn and grow everyday!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Recipe of the Week: Mac and Cheese

I had a large container of Fage greek yogurt that was about to expire, so I did an online search for a recipe I could make using the leftover! Although I found a bunch of desserts I was really surprised when I found a recipe for Mac and cheese and the reviews were actually good! So I decided to try it! Tasted much better than it looks! :)

Fage Mac and Cheese Link

• Ingredients
• • 8 ounces Elbow Macaroni
  • 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1 cup Onion, finely diced
  • 1 cup Red Pepper, finely diced
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 cup Butter
  • 1 ½ cup Whole Milk, warm
  • 1/2 cup FAGE Total Classic
  • 1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 10 ounces Cheddar Cheese, grated
  • 1/2 cup FAGE Total Classic
  • 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
  • 2 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated
  • 2 ounces Feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1/2 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
  
  
  Directions:
  1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add elbow macaroni and cook for 4 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.
  2. Warm the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté for 3 minutes. Add red pepper and salt and continue cooking until vegetables soften. Remove from heat and reserve.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2 quart casserole.
  4. Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add flour, stir and continue to cook for 2 minutes or so. Gradually whisk in warm milk and yogurt, whisking constantly to keep smooth. Add nutmeg. Bring to a low simmer and remove from heat. Stir in 10 ounces of cheddar cheese. Whisk until smooth. Add remaining 1/2 cup yogurt and Tabasco. Combine macaroni, onion mix and cheese sauce and transfer to prepared casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
  5. Combine remaining cheddar cheese, feta and bread crumbs. Remove casserole from oven and top with crumb/cheese mix. Return to oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling.

  
  

  I actually really enjoyed this recipe! It was easy to make and was really good! Has a "different" taste then normal mac and cheese because of the onions and peppers, and has a little bit of a kick to it (note the hot sauce). But I would definitely make it again!

Time to make the donuts!

Decided to spend some time in Emmaus today visiting with my Mom. It was such a gorgeous day so we went for a long walk through downtown Emmaus. Stopped and had a slice of pizza for lunch, and as we walked past the Emmaus bakery, I just had to stop!

This is quite possibly the largest donut I have ever seen!!! And so good. I would describe it as a cinnamon bun with really sweet chocolate icing. Soooo gooood! A little pricey, but so worth it once in awhile! :)

My baby girl turns 2!

After quite a busy birthday week, I finally had a chance to sit down to write/read blogs!

My "little baby" turned 2 this week! I still can't believe she is 2! We had such a great week of celebrating! My husband was able to take off work for her birthday so we planned some fun activities for her! We started the day at My Gym (see our favorite places for more info). My Gym is one of her favorite places and we had a scheduled class. She of course had a blast and it was great that her Daddy got to see all the new things she has learned to do!

Birthday hat!

We came home ate a quick lunch and decided to head to Lancaster County to the Hands on House. Took us a little longer to get there than we had expected and we got a late start, and we didn't quite realize we were in the middle of one of the worst floods in history! But we made it there and we had a great time! It was a bit smaller than I expected it to be, and it definitely required alot of parent supervision/explanation for a 2 year old. But the few exhibits/activities they had were pretty cool! We played for awhile, until we were told that their parking lot was flooded and we might want to think about getting our cars out soon. (Glad they warned us about this, cause they weren't kidding). An hour was about a perfect time for us to spend there anyway.

MY favorite part of the Hands on House, the giant Lite Brite

The machine shop

We then went to the Park City Mall to kill time for a little bit before meeting my brother and sister in law for birthday dinner at Bird in Hand Buffet. The food was so yummy, baby girl was a little to tired to even eat anything, but she of course made room for her cupcake. They sang Happy birthday to her too! She loved it!

Cupcake!

I think she had a great day and had a ton of fun (at least I hope she did). It was definitely exhausting, but so worth it to see her smile all day! Happy Happy birthday baby girl! Mommy and Daddy love you! :)