Don't Forget!

Don't forget that today is Week 1 of our new Spotlight Saturday Blog Hop!  We would love for you to join us for the blog hopping fun.  Have a fantastic weekend!

Spotlight Saturday Blog Hop #1 **Update**

It's Spotlight Saturday Hosted By

Between the Lines, Survey Junkie, and Kindred Spirit Mommy

<center>" href="http://www.betweenthelines-kel.com” target="_blank"><img src="http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab13/jacquiblogger/LINES%203/Spotlightanimated2.gif" /> </a>
Welcome to our new blog hop with a twist!  Every week swing by to link up your blog and one you want to spotlight!  Did you find a new blog you liked this week?  Is there one you visit on a daily basis?  Well, simply link up your Spotlighted blog right under yours.  We will Spotlight our favorite blogs of the week in spots 4, 5, and 6.

How it Works

1) Link up your own blog.
2)Link up a blog you want to spotlight for the week.(ex. Spotlight: Crazy Daisy)
3) Follow your three hosts.
4) Grab our button and post it on your sidebar or a Spotlight Saturday Post.
5) Follow as many blogs from the list and leave a comment so they know you stopped by.
6) Return the favor by following blogs that followed you.
(Be aware that URL's cannot be duplicated so please have a second spotlight choice in mind. If your blog's URL has already been spotlighted, just add one you'd like to spotlight. )
**Update: Don't forget to leave a comment for the blog you spotlighted so they can come join the blog hopping fun!

Giveaway Ending Tonight!

Don't miss your last chance to enter the fun giveaway from My Lip Stuff.  This giveaway is open worldwide!

Enter Here and good luck!!

Fill-r-Up Review and Giveaway

Have you heard of Fill-r-Up? If not, you are in for a real treat. “Fill-r-Up is a customized gift basket service and retail store located on Manhattan’s Upper Ear Side. The company is the brainchild of Amanda Poses who, as an event planner at a top fashion company, was often looking for gifts for VIP clients and events. In her quest to provide original, high-end gifts, she found the products never seemed to measure up to the high quality items her clientele was accustomed to.”

At Fill-r-Up you can find gifts for anyone on your list, for any occasion. Although their personalized gift baskets are quite a treat, don’t forget to browse through all their a la carte items too. They carry fun and thoughtful gifts for the old and young alike. Ashley, from Fill-r-Up, was kind enough to send me a “Blue Quilted Bag” to review. This bag was just what I was looking for to take on my family vacations. This cute, stylish bag has a waterproof lining inside, so it makes a perfect toiletries or make-up bag. For those of you with small children, it would be a perfect little bag to store food and bottles. And since you can personalize the bag, it would make a perfect baby shower gift!

Fill-r-Up also offers a great variety of party favors and stationary items. These great products can also be personalized. And unlike other stores, the personalization is included in the shown price. While you are checking out their fun website, don’t forget to join them on Twitter. A few times a week they ask a trivia question for their followers to answer. After you’ve answered five correctly, you receive a prize. And if you live in the New York City or Bridgehampton area, they also reveal secret words that earn you surprises from their store.

The wonderful people from Fill-r-Up have offered one lucky reader of Between the Lines a chance to win their very own Blue Quilted Bag, retail value of $28!

Mandatory Entry: Visit Fill-r-Up and leave a comment about an item you’d love to have or give.

Extras: (Remember each entry must have a separate comment and an email address is needed to contact winner.)

~Follow Between the Lines (3)
~ Subscribe to my email (5)
~ Grab my button and leave a link of where it’s displayed (5)
~Add me to your Blogroll and leave a link (5)
~Follow me on Twitter (2)
~ Follow Fill-r-Up on Twitter (2)
~ Like Fill-r-Up on Facebook (2)
~Tweet this giveaway leaving me your link. (3x a day not back to back) (1 entry each)
~ Enter any of my other current giveaways (1 each)
~ Grab my Twitter Hop or Blog Hop button and leave a link (3 each)
~Blog about this giveaway and leave me a link (10)
~Make a purchase from Fill-r-Up (10)

This giveaway will end on August 14th @10p.m Eastern

*This giveaway is open to US only. Winner will be chosen randomly. An email notification will be sent to the email address provided by the winner. The winner must respond within 48 hours. Failure to do so will result in being disqualified and a new winner will be chosen.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary bag in exchange for my honest review. The opinions & thoughts expressed are my own. I received no other compensation for my review nor was I under any obligation to give a positive review.

Fabulous Food Friday with Food Songberries

Welcome to Fabulous Food Friday! While exploring the blogosphere, I realized that there were many great recipes to share. So every Friday, I am going to try to feature an awesome blogger with their great recipe! Today’s feature blogger is Carol from Songberries. When you get a chance, swing by Carol's delicious blog. I’m sure you’ll find a recipe or giveaway you love!



I'm Carol from Songberries (http://songberries). I'm a baker at heart. Cakes, cookies, breads. . . these are the things that really catch my eye. I'll cook for sustenance, but my joy comes from baking!

I've recently started doing reviews and giveaways on my blog, you'll find them on the upper right corner. Poke around a little, you'll find crafts, sewing and decorating and you could even find a new idea for dinner!

3/4 cup strawberry puree, room temperature (follows)
1/4 cup milk, room temperature
6 large egg whites, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/4 cup cake flour
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a sheet cake pan with Pam.

In small bowl, combine puree, milk, egg, vanilla and mix with a whisk until well blended. In another bowl whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a mixer at slow speed mix the dry ingredients and the butter until combined and resembling moist crumbs.

Add liquids and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until fluffy and well mixed. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for 1 more minute. Spread the batter into prepared pan.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cake then frost.

I wanted to make a strawberry cake with fresh strawberries, but I couldn't find a recipe for what I wanted. I wanted fresh strawberries and no strawberry Jello. So I put my thinking cap on and came up with this recipe. I made it in a sheet cake pan because I think a thin piece of cake with a nice covering of frosting is yummy! I made a nice strawberry cream cheese frosting for this cake, and I think it turned out a winner.

Strawberry Sheet Cake

Strawberry Puree

2 cups chopped strawberries

1 tablespoon sugar

Sprinkle the sugar over the strawberries and let sit for about 2 hours. I didn't want to wait that

long, so I put them in the microwave for about 1 minute. Microwaving it kind of gets the juices to come out faster. Dump it in the blender and puree. Measure out 3/4 cup and save the rest for the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

4-5 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons strawberry puree

8 oz cream cheese, room temperatur

Beat strawberry puree, cream cheese and 4 cups of powdered sugar until fluffy. Add more powdered sugar to get the desired thickness. Spread on cooled cake.

Spotlight Saturday Blog Hop is Coming!

Spotlight Saturday Hosted By

Between the Lines, Survey Junkie, and Kindred Spirit Mommy is starting tomorrow!

<center>" href="http://www.betweenthelines-kel.com” target="_blank"><img src="http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab13/jacquiblogger/LINES%203/Spotlightanimated2.gif" /> </a>

Welcome to our new blog hop with a twist!  Every week swing by to link up your blog and one you want to spotlight!  Did you find a new blog you liked this week?  Is there one you visit on a daily basis?  Well, simply link up your Spotlighted blog right under yours.  We will Spotlight our favorite blogs of the week in spots 4, 5, and 6.

How it Works

1) Link up your own blog.
2)Link up a blog you want to spotlight for the week. (ex. Spotlight: Crazy Daisy)
3) Follow your three hosts.
4) Grab our button and post it on your sidebar or a Spotlight Saturday Post.
5) Follow as many blogs from the list and leave a comment so they know you stopped by.
6) Return the favor by following blogs that followed you.
(Be aware that URL's cannot be duplicated so please have a second spotlight choice in mind. If your blog has already been spotlighted, just spotlight someone else.)


Don't forget to link up tomorrow!!!
And don't forget to check out Wacky Jacqui's Designs. Jacqui not only designed my lovely blog, but also our great new blog hop button! 

Tricky Trivia

How fast can a flamingo fly?

Take a guess in the comments below.

Giggles! Music to My Ears!

The last few days, my girls have been going at it.  Despite being best friends, their arguments have been escalating.  I think the main reason is the heat.  I have been keeping them cooped up most of the last few weeks because it is just too miserable to go outside.  Of course, they had fun with their friends at camp last week, but that was only for three hours a day.  And a few days ago we went out in the early morning to play with sidewalk paint, but besides that, it has been inside.  With a heat index hovering 110, I figured they'd be safer battling each other rather than the sun.  Yesterday, I had just about had it with the arguing and whining.  I almost lost my temper, but I decided to use a different tactical approach.  I ran at them, snatched them up, and began spinning them and tickling them.   The house was soon filled with the sounds of giggling girls and all the tears had dried up.  

My youngest daughter, ran to get the camera off the table, all while laughing hysterically.  She likes to take pictures of everything, but to catch her sister in a fit of laughter made her day!  Of course, my older daughter had to have a turn after that, so the tickling had to start all over again.  What do you do to distract upset your children?  Grab a latte, put up your feet, and join the discussion!

Tricky Trivia

What was the original name for Tokyo, Japan?

Take a guess in the comments below!

Fun With Sidewalk Paint!

Yesterday, a bunch of moms and I took our kiddos over to destroy decorate our friend's driveway.  She actually invited us over to make our own sidewalk paint and a real big mess.  I'm not sure if I could have been so brave, but we all had a lot of fun.  To start our fun, the kids mixed 1/4 cup of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water together.  Once they had it all mixed together, we added some food coloring.  It was that simple! 

 The kids used foam paint brushes for their masterpieces (although some of the younger kids were content with just pouring all of it out at once).  When they were done with their painting, they had fun at the water table, blowing bubbles, and sneaking inside our patient friends house.  Thankfully, my kids are a bit older and I didn't need to chase them everywhere.  And to our brave friend...Thanks for having us all over!

Blogmania Feature Shop: La Dolce Vita

It is time again for another sneak peak at an awesome Blogmania Sponsor. La Dolce Vita is fun Etsy shop full of wonderful scents. At La Dolce Vita you will find a great variety of Bath and Body Luxuries. With over 400 different fragrances, you are sure to find one you like.

All products from La Dolce Vita are made especially for you. To keep their products fresh, they wait until you place an order before making it. This also gives you the opportunity to customize your order. Although they have a huge variety, they are willing to work with you to create the perfect scent for you.

La Dolce Vita carries Body Parfaits, Sugar Scrubs, Soy Candles, Body Frosting, Body Lotion, and much more. As an awesome Blogmania sponsor, La Dolce Vita will be donating a few items to Between the Lines’ gift pack. I’m not revealing any of the prizes just yet, but swing on over to La Dolce Vita and check out all their wonderful scent choices. If you make a purchase, email me at betweenthelines-kam@hotmail.com  and it will earn you ten extra entries to any of my current giveaways.

Tricky Trivia

Rapper LL Cool J's name is short for _______________.

Take a guess in the comments below.

Camp: Part Two

Last week, I hosted a week long summer camp for my girls and their friends.  I've already talked about Monday and Tuesday, so today I'm going to finish up with a summary of Wednesday through Friday.  All in all we had a fabulous time.  I'm hoping that some of what I taught them or reviewed with will keep their brains in shape an ready for school to start in a few weeks.

Making Ladybugs out of Apples, Peanut Butter, Pretzels, and Raisins

Finished Caterpillars and Making Butterflies

On Wednesday, insects were our theme.  We started out by learning about different types of honey bees and how they live their lives.  They used a microscope to look at the different parts of the bee and to get a close up view.  They later used what they learned about parts of an insect to make an ant out of pretzels, marshmallows, icing, and mini M&M's.  Following along with the bees, we colored and cut out a hive with the letters -ee on it.  On the back of the hive we fastened a circle with letters on it.  We used the hive to practice -ee words, such as bee, fee, tee, tree, flee, etc. 

 We continued our insect theme, by using The Very Hungry Caterpillar to explore the life cycle of a butterfly.  We began by using clay to make an egg.  After the egg, we used a pipe cleaner, penne noodles, and circles cut out of construction paper to make a caterpillar.  Following the caterpillar, we used a Bendaroo to make the cocoon.  And finally, we used a butterfly pattern and Popsicle stick to make a flying butterfly.
During our insect theme, we also painted flower pots so we could plant seeds for the insects.

On Thursday, our theme was pizza.  I used the pizza theme to introduce fractions to the older group and review shapes with the younger group.  We used the Melissa and Doug Pizza, Veggie,  and Cake set, to practice our fractions in a store setting.  For example, a customer may order 2/5 of the French bread and the baker had to serve them the correct order.    This was probably the girls favorite game of the week. 
During pizza day, we made pretend pizzas out of foam shapes, as well as real pizza out of bagels and toppings.

Making Pizza Puzzle

Making a pizza out of shapes

On Friday, our main topic was money.  We learned the names and values of the penny, nickle, dime, and quarter.  We also learned the names of the presidents that live on those coins.  To practice counting and sorting of money, I had an egg hunt for the girls.  Each egg was full of different coins.  In teams of three, they raced to find their eggs, sort their money, and help me count the value.  We brainstormed reasons why we need money, how we can earn money, and why we should save money.  Six out of the nine girls thought the most important thing to save for was Disney World!  Two wanted to save so they could go to the beach.  And one wanted to buy herself a waterpark.  I wonder if the moms can figure out which their child chose?

Coloring a Penny While Singing our Penny Song

Practicing our Ballet Routine

Throughout the week, the girls also worked very hard to learn a ballet routine and earn money into their own piggy bank.  On Friday, they performed their routine for the moms and used their money to buy prizes out of the treasure box.  Thanks girls for a great week!

Recipe Corner: Angel Chicken Pasta

I love creamy pasta! This yummy recipe is one that my whole family will eat and that is a huge plus in my book. Just don’t tell my hubby there are mushrooms in it! I hope you enjoy and to check out some more great recipes, swing over to Crazy Daisy’s place for her Tuesday Taste party!

Ingredients
• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
• 1/2 cup white cooking wine
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed golden mushroom soup
• 4 ounces cream cheese with chives
• 1 pound angel hair pasta

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in the package of dressing mix. Blend in wine and golden mushroom soup. Mix in cream cheese, and stir until smooth. Heat through, but do not boil. Arrange chicken breasts in a single layer in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour sauce over.
3. Bake for 60 minutes in the preheated oven. Twenty minutes before the chicken is done, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Cook pasta until al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta.

Tricky Trivia

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = ______________________

Take a guess in the comments below!

The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks Review and Giveaway

I am so excited to introduce you all to an amazing new virtual world for kids. The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks is an exciting game where kids can journey around the world, travel through time, discover and meet historical figures, hunt for missing objects, play fun and challenging games, purchase their own island where they can build their own house and invite their new friends, buy new costumes, and own some exotic pets. Travelers will help Wiglington and Wenks solve the mystery, while exploring secret locations (more locations as a member). And as big as their world is now, Wiglington and Wenks have many new locations they will be adding soon.

“Probably the most massive virtual world for kids to date, The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks features more than 100 fun-filled educational real world and imaginary locations from the past, present and future. Parents can look forward to a safe site for their children where they will be learning about history, geography, landmarks, famous people, inventions, the environment, animals and more. And for the children, they can expect hours of fun-filled exploration.” As a parent, I love the amount of safety features that are included with your membership to Wiglington and Wenks. Kids can chat with each other, but only through already provided sentences.

In my opinion, The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks is geared towards children from 3rd grade and up. However, with my help, my girls have enjoyed it immensely. The basic idea behind the virtual world is an easy enough concept for them to grasp. They know they are looking for the missing historical figures and their objects. They can easily travel and search on their own. My 6 year old can even read the history and factual information to her sister. The part they have some trouble on is the enrichment games. Playing the games earns you virtual money. And of course you need virtual money to buy costumes, clothes, islands, houses, decorations, pets, etc… So Mommy plays the games, and the kiddos spend the money. Kind of sounds like the real world, huh!?! Besides the missing historical objects, there are other hidden objects that you can collect. You find these objects by simply clicking on objects in your surroundings. Sometime, a pop up box will appear giving you factual information and other times it will say you’ve collected it.

The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks also offers a spin-off game that my kids love. It is called Carto’s Magic Maps. My youngest daughter, who is the queen of I-Spy, could play this game for hours. She loves searching the scenes for the hidden objects. The entire world of Wiglington and Wenks is free to all, but in a limited format. By becoming a member, you earn the right to travel to more locations, enter secret rooms, and even buy different costumes and pets. The fun folks from The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks have offered 5 lucky readers with the chance at a free one month membership. But don’t wait to win! Go sign up today! You can always upgrade later!

Mandatory Entry: Visit The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks and tell me one thing you learned.


Extras: (Remember each entry must have a separate comment and an email address is needed to contact winner.)

~Follow Between the Lines (3)
~ Subscribe to my email (5)
~ Grab my button and leave a link of where it’s displayed (5)
~Add me to your Blogroll and leave a link (5)
~Follow me on Twitter (2)
~ Follow Wiglington and Wenks on Twitter (2)
~ Add my Twitter Hop Button and leave a link (5)
~Like Wiglington and Wenks on Facebook (2)
~Tweet this giveaway leaving me your link. (3x a day not back to back) (1 entry each)
~ Enter another one of my giveaways (1 each)
~Blog about this giveaway and leave me a link (10)

This giveaway will end on August 9th @10p.m Eastern

*This giveaway is open to all. Winner will be chosen randomly. An email notification will be sent to the email address provided by the winner. The winner must respond within 48 hours. Failure to do so will result in being disqualified and a new winner will be chosen.

Disclaimer: I received a 3 month membership in exchange for my honest review. The opinions & thoughts expressed are my own. I received no other compensation for my review nor was I under any obligation to give a positive review.

Date Night

From Wikipedia

This weekend, my husband and I went to the Alamo Drafthouse.  The Alamo is a movie theater, but it is also a restaurant and bar.  We love going here because we can get dinner and watch a movie in half the time.  And when you have two young kids, it is too hard to justify going out on a 5 hour date.  This time we watch Leonardo DiCaprio's new movie, Inception.   It was definitely a good movie with excellent special effects.  The only problem with it is the ending.  I don't want to give it away, but my husband and I can't agree on what happened at the end.  If you've seen the movie, I'd love to hear what you think happened.  And so we don't spoil it for anyone, let's just say...Yes, he did  or No he didn't.  If you've seen the movie, you'll know what it means.  Grab a latte, put up your feet, and join the discussion!

Tricky Trivia

In Kentucky, it is illegal to carry____________in your back pocket.

Take a guess in the comments below.

Silent Sunday

Bowling With Friends!

Simple Sunday Twitter Hop

Welcome to the New & Improved

Simple Sunday Twitter Hop .

Hosted by Survey Junkie, Between the Lines ,

Its Me Melbie & Crazy Daisy.

With this weeks Guest Host Shibley Smiles.

<center><a href="http://www.betweenthelines-kel.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1020.photobucket.com/albums/af324/staycee413/Twitwith4blogs.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br /> </center> Grab a cup of coffee & join us every SundayYou can gain new Twitter followers, find some great blogs & bloggers in the process.
Have Fun !!!
Plus every week we will draw a random guest host to fill our #5 seat :)
How it Works
1. Follow blogs 1 -5 ( we will follow back )
2. Add your Twitter URL ( not your blog url or giveaways)
3. Snag our new button to use in a post about the Simple Sunday Twitter Hop
4. Follow as many ppl. as you would like & follow everyone back that follows you :)
( This is not a giveaway linkup & anything other than your Twitter url's will be deleted ) Link up every Sunday at 12:00 am est !!