Saturday, July 3, 2010

We Have A Winner!



Out of 154 entries, random.org chose #67 as our winner!  Congrats to Megan!  She won with the comment, "I'd pick the Hula Salt and Pepper Shakers because my husband loves things that remind him of Florida."  Megan has 48 hours to claim her prize or I will randomly select a new winner.  Thanks to all of you who entered and keep reading Between the Lines! 

Relay for Life: Recap

The Relay for Life event was amazing! Not only did the remarkable ladies in my group and I raise about $1,600, but the area as a whole raised $284,953! What a great achievement for such a small community. That huge number wasn’t even the greatest news of the night. A fellow Mom’s Club Member has been fighting bravely against breast cancer. And when I say bravely, that is a huge understatement. At the start of our walk, she announced that she was officially cancer-free!! Lisa, you are an astonishing woman. I’m so happy I’ve had the chance to meet you!


This year was our first year to participate in Relay for Life as a team. The theme of the Relay was Mardi Gras, so everyone had a lot of fun decorating their tent. The awesome people from Country Bob’s donated 500 free bottles of their delicious All-Purpose sauce to the Relay participants. They also gave away three prize packs to some lucky winners ( I hope you all are enjoying your new cook book and sauce)! We even had the concession stand put out some bottles for people to put on their hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken.


Our tent site was designed to give mothers with small children a break. We had a changing station (with free supplies), a feeding station, an art table, and free snacks and drinks for the participating children. I was so happy to see so many children participating in such an important event. We even won the Rookie Team of the year for our fun tent site! To go along with the babies, Mardi Gras, and Country Bob theme, one of my teammates made a cut out picture of a baby holding Country Bob sauce. It was a big hit. Everyone wanted to stop and get a picture. Check out some that we took of ourselves.



Thanks to all of you who supported us this year for Relay. We truly appreciate your generosity. A special thanks to Country Bob for the donations. The sauce was a big hit! And a HUGE thank-you to all my teammates. It was so wonderful to have such a great group of ladies to work with. We Rock! :)


Tricky Trivia

How many muscles does a cat have in each ear?

Take a guess in the comments below!

Friday, July 2, 2010

I'm Featured On Crazy Daisy!

Crazy Daisy Button


I was so excited when Jasey, from Crazy Daisy invited me to visit over at her yummy blog.  She not only has wonderful recipes of her own, but hosts Tuesday Tastes every week for all of us to share our recipes as well!  Swing on over to Crazy Daisy and check out my feature.  While you are there, don't forget to vote for your favorite recipe of the week.  There is a link at the bottom of my feature.  I entered my Fruit Trifle and Cream Cheese Brownies, but there are a lot to choose from (of course I'd love it if you voted for me ;)!

Fabulous Food Friday with Pumpkin Tart

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 Andrea from Pumpkin Tart. When you get a chance, swing by Andrea’s delicious blog. You’ll definitely find something you love!

PhotobucketHere’s a little blurb from Andrea herself:

Hi Everyone! I'm Andrea from Pumpkin Tart. I'm relatively new to blogging. Pumpkin Tart won't celebrate it's one year anniversary until August, but I've loved nearly every minute of it so far.
I started my blog with the intention of providing recipes inspired by the flavors of Autumn, my favorite season.  The tastes of pumpkin, maple, caramel and cranberries inspire me to no end. Autumn recipes are comforting like a favorite quilt and always bring with them memories of family and friends and sweaters and bonfires. Of course with these languid days of summer pressing down on us, I can't help but offer up plenty of lighter fare as well.

Bridging the gap between Summer selections and Fall favorites is the apple. Apple Pie on the Fourth of July is as American as....well you know! With that thought in mind I came up with this fun variation of the traditional Apple Pie...an Applesauce Pie. This recipe is delicious and appropriate for any season. It has a consistency similar to a pumpkin pie but tastes fresh and light. Serve it with a scoop of homemade ice cream and you'll find yourself in dessert nirvana!


Applesauce Pie

1 3/4 cups all natural applesauce (no sugar added)
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat just until combined (don't over-beat). Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn down temperature to 350 and continue baking another 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes befrore transferring to refrigerator. Let chill for 3 hours before serving.

Blogs, Blogs, Blogs

When I started blogging 6 months ago, I had no idea how big the blogosphere was. I thought my journey was going to be fun, but lonely. Of course, I knew my parents would read and maybe a few close friends would humor me, but I thought that was about it. How surprised was I to find that there was an entire world living in cyberspace. A world full of friendly bloggers from countries everywhere. These past six months have been so much fun and I’ve loved getting to know you all while reading your blogs. There is such a vast variety of blogs to explore. I am always learning new things and gathering fresh ideas. I’ve discovered there are Book Blogs, Inspirational Blogs, Cooking Blogs, Review Blogs, Mommy Blogs, Crafty Blogs, Business Blogs, Writing Blogs, and Funny Blogs. I can’t really decide which type of blog I love the best. I learn so many tidbits from each of them. My Book Blogging friends are always there with a new book recommendation. Between them and my mom, I am never without a good read. My Inspirational Blogging friends are always there to brighten my day and to remind me of an important Bible verse. My Cooking Blogging friends…well…they may have contributed to a few extra pounds on my hips, but it was worth it! I love all the great recipes being shared. Hopefully, you’ve all tried a few of mine too. My Review Blogging friends, especially Survey Junkie, have been so helpful in sharing insight into the review/giveaway world. I am so glad that I’ve had an opportunity to add it to my blog because it is so much fun. My Mommy Blogging friends have been there to show me, that it is not just me. There is a whole world of moms out there that are sharing in the same joys, fears, fun, and frustrations. My Crafty Blogging friends never cease to amaze me. I’ve always thought I was creative, but boy was I wrong. These ladies are outstanding. My Business Blogging friends are inspirational. They have shown that you can take a dream and make it a reality. My Writing Blogging friends give me hope. My dream is to one day have my stories published for the world to see. My Writing friends are facing the same ups and downs. Although many have yet to be published, some have seen their dreams come true. And finally, my Funny Blogging Friends are always there to share a laugh. Do you have a favorite type of blog? A blog that you just have to share? Grab a latte, put up your feet, and join the discussion!

**Don't forget to check out some of links in this post.  There are some great blogs out there! :)  If I didn't link up to you, it doesn't mean I don't love you, just that I ran out of room.


Tricky Trivia

Oscars given out during World War II were made of _________________.

Take a guess in the comments below.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Deer, Skunks, and the Poconos (with discount code)!

Did the title catch your attention? Skunks and Deer are just a few of the fun things we encountered on our vacation to the Poconos. Although I will admit that I enjoyed one more than the other. :) For those of you who missed last week’s post, my hubby and I went on a solo vacation to the Pocono Mountains. We had a great time on our own, but missed the kids dearly. We caught ourselves many times saying, “The girls would love this!” But never fear, we took lots of video and pictures for the kids to enjoy.


Cove Haven Resort had been on our possible honeymoon list ten years ago. We had requested a brochure way back then and have been receiving emails ever since. Last month, we got an offer that we just couldn’t refuse. Half off our stay! So with the kids happily at my parents’ house we began our journey to Pennsylvania. When we arrived, the first thing that we noticed was that there were more deer than people. Since we are used to vacationing at Disney World, this was a big difference. At least we wouldn’t be waiting in line for any activities, right?!?


Check out some pictures from our room suite. Our suite had a living room area with couch, coffee table, dining table, TV, and heart Jacuzzi tub. I made my poor husband clean the tub with Lysol. I figure if I’m on vacation, I don’t need to worry about germ lurking on the tub.


The bedroom had a king size round bed, a fireplace, walk in closet, and bathroom. Those who know me well, know that I always bring my own sheets and pillows to hotels. I know it is ridiculous, my hubby laughs at me all the time. But again, if I want to relax, I need this extra barrier against who knows what (and I don’t want to know, so please don’t tell me). The round bed made this a little difficult, but I ended up figuring it out.


Through the bedroom door was a private pool and steam sauna. The pool wasn’t very big, but it was definitely relaxing. The entire suite was wired with a Bose sound system, so it was nice to listen to music while floating in the pool. This was my favorite part of the suite because the acoustics in the room were amazing. I had fun singing out loud knowing that no one could hear me. My husbands’ favorite part of the suite was that it had no windows. Therefore, when the lights went out it was pitch dark except for a tiny hint of light coming in through the vent in the living room area. This vent was also where we were so lucky to have a friendly skunk spray his lovely scent into our room. Stinky!


The resort, as a whole, had a cruise like feel to it. All the activities, entertainment, and food were included. They had silly trivia games, BINGO, and sport tournaments. My hubby and I actually participated in the Ping Pong tournament and CSI game. I’m happy to report, that we won both! We were so excited to win our medals that we shared with the second place team both times. I figured if we had two for each girl, we didn’t really need the other ones. What am I going to do with a Poconos medal?


Our favorite part of our trip was just hanging out and doing activities together. Since there really weren’t many people there, we usually had buildings to ourselves. We went ice skating twice with not a single other person on the ice. We played ping pong, air hockey, basketball, tennis, archery, bocce ball, table shuffle board, mini golf, pinball, and gin rummy. We also went swimming indoors and outdoors and ate a lot of food! The food was delicious and all you can eat! Now I am happy to say that we stuck with one helping, but one helping included appetizer, main course, and dessert. That’s a lot of food for me. But I was happy that dinner gave me a chance to dress up for my hubby. I don’t think I’ve worn a dress in about three years except at my brother’s wedding. My new dresses went perfectly with a new necklace that my mother-in-law got me from Red Envelope.




 



 

 

We had a great time, but were happy to head home. On the way home we got stuck on I81 because of an accident. We must have been stopped for about an hour. People were getting out of their cars to walk, stretch, grab a drink from their trunks, and have a smoke. The funniest part of the trip happened when the traffic started moving again. Our lane started moving, but the lane beside us wasn’t moving. At first we didn’t know why, but we heard a lot of honking. Finally, we passed a man sound asleep in his car. Chair back, mouth open, completely out! We thought it was hilarious, but the people trapped behind him weren’t so happy! What are your favorite vacation memories? Grab a latte, put up your feet, and join the discussion!

Red Envelope has offered Between the Lines readers a discount code.  The code is PRESENTS10.  Have fun browsing their site.  They have a lot to offer!

Tricky Trivia

Which metal is liquid at room temperature?

Take a guess in the comments below!

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Blogmania's Scavenger Hunt Begins Tomorrow!


 Don't miss out on all the fun!  The Blogmania Scavenger Hunt begins tomorrow!
 
Have you heard of Blogmania? Did you participate last April and win tons of prizes? Well this September, Blogmania will be back bigger and better than ever! Blogmania will feature 175 blogs participating in giveaways over $100! Thanks to our fabulous sponsors, September’s Blogmania total is over $19,000 in prizes!! Just email me if you have any specific questions. I don’t want anyone to miss out on this great opportunity. To kick off the Blogmania event, we are going to have a Scavenger Hunt.! The Scavenger Hunt will run from July 1-30. Everyone will have a chance to find hidden things in our participating Etsy Sponsored Shops. Everyone who finds all the hidden things will be entered to win $100 to the Etsy shop of their choice, courtesy of the Blogmania participating blogs. There is a lot of fantastic things you can buy with $100! Don’t forget to come and join us in July. This is a scavenger hunt you don’t want to miss! 

Do you want a sneak peak?  Visit The Clever Mommy Chronicles and see all the amazing sponsors that are participating in the hunt!

Yumnuts Review and Giveaway!

Whenever I am craving a salty snack, I tend to reach for the nuts. Cashews are my favorite, by far. So you can’t imagine my delight when I discovered Yumnuts Naturals. Yumnuts specializes in 100% natural dry roasted cashews. There are no added oils or artificial ingredients. They are also gluten and cholesterol free. Yumnuts are better for you and taste amazing!


I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to review a few of the many Yumnuts flavors. My absolute favorites were the Sea Salt cashews. The flavor was outstanding ! You could easily distinguish the difference in the salt. I’ve recently turned to sea salt for daily cooking, and I find just a little pinch gives such a bold flavor. I have already ordered a few more bags from their online store. This time I may share with my family.


I was also sent a sample bag of Chocolate Yumnuts. The taste was delicious and unexpected. Typically when eating a chocolate covered nut or fruit, the sweetness of the chocolate dominates all the other flavors. The chocolate cashews from Yumnuts are not dipped in milk chocolate, but rather dusted with cocoa powder for a hint of sweetness. It is no surprise that these were my girls’ favorites.


The Spicy Cajun Yumnuts were a bit intimidating for my family. I have young girls, so at the mention of the word Spicy, they refused to try it. My father-in-law and I however, enjoyed the sample. The Spicy Cajun cashews are covered in a special blend of salt, spices, paprika, garlic, onion, and sugar. The addition of sugar offset some of the spice to make it a sweet, yet spicy treat.

The last sample we tried was Chili Lime cashews. These babies are so hot, that they had to put a warning on the bag. Growing up, my mom made all of our meals pretty spicy. So I was sure that I would love these cashews. My father-in-law dug in first and was in love. So I grabbed a handful and popped them in my mouth. Big Mistake! My mouth was on fire!!!. Of course, my father-in-law, who actually likes things spicier than my mom, loved them. I think he was really happy that they were to spicy for me because he got to take the rest of the bag home.

Yumnuts also make Honey and Coconut flavor cashews. I’ve ordered mine from Amazon and I can’t wait to try them. Now I know you are all probably salivating by now, so let me give you the good news. The generous people from Yumnuts have offered one lucky reader the chance to win a variety pack of Yumnuts. The variety pack include one bag of chocolate, one bag of toasted coconut, one bag of spicy Cajun, and one bag of sea salt.  If you can't wait and want to order your own bags, visit their online store and use the code NUTS25 (expiration is 7/31/10) for a 25% discount.


Mandatory Entry: Visit Yumnuts and sign up for their Newsletter (become a Yumnut).


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

~Follow Yumnuts on Twitter (2)
~ Follow Yumnuts on Facebook (2)
~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)
~ Enter another one of my giveaways (2 each)
~Tweet this giveaway leaving me your link. (3x a day not back to back) (1 entry each)
~Blog about this giveaway and leave me a link (10)
~Make a purchase from Yumnuts (10)


This giveaway will end on July 16th @10p.m Eastern

*This giveaway is open to US and Canada 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 cashews 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

Tricky Trivia

The symbol on the pound key (#) is called an ________________.

Take a guess in the comments below!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Winners!

We have three winners in the Pocket Referee giveaway!  Our first winner with comment #5 is Ilovethesecrazykids.  "I follow Between the Lines."  Our second winner with comment #46 is carrielarry. "Your button on my blog."  And last but not least, our third winner with comment #24 is fdigsby. "You could keep one at Grandma's house."  Congrats to our winners!  They each have 48 hours to claim their prize before we will randomly draw a new winner.  Thanks to all that entered and keep reading Between the Lines!

Summer Learning Series: Measuring with Blocks


Every child loves summer. Summer is a time for playing outside, swimming in the pool, and hanging out with your friends. Unfortunately, summer is also a time when kids lose a lot of what they learned during the previous year of school. As an elementary school teacher, it was frustrating to watch my students struggle at the beginning of each year with objectives that they had mastered the previous year. As a parent, I want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to my children. This summer, I will be setting aside a little time each day for some fun learning activities for my kids. Starting in June, check in each Tuesday if you are looking for some activities for your kids. I will be posting a few things we did the previous week to share. Also if you are interested in doing the same thing, I would love to link up with all you creative moms out there! Just shoot me an email and let me know you are interested. (betweenthelines-kam@hotmail.com ) Let’s work together to help our children have a fun, but educational summer!

Lately, my girls have been really intrigued with “how big things are”. So last week, I introduced them to the ruler. I taught them how to measure various objects in inches. After teaching them the basics, they wanted to measure everything! Since they are only 4 and 6, I stuck with whole numbers. However, if your child is older and more experienced with rulers, you can easily change the activity to include half and quarter inches.


While the girls were building towers with their blocks, I made note cards with various levels of measuring instructions. Some of the note cards were really easy. For example, make a tower that is bigger than 4 inches. Even my 4 year old could follow the easy cards. The medium cards were still easy to follow, but more difficult to achieve. For these instructions, the girls had to measure to an exact inch. Both girls understood how to find the exact measurement on the ruler, but it took some time and patience to find the right combination of blocks that would work.

The hardest level of cards were a little difficult for my 4 year old, but a fun challenge for my 6 (she had more fun trying to get her sister to guess the right amount). The hard cards challenged the girls to find a measurement that was in between two lengths. For example, build a tower that is taller than 6 inches and smaller than 8 inches.

After they got used to using the ruler, we made a game out of it. Each girl would pick a card and race to build their tower to the correct measurement. The first person to win three rounds, was the winner. They had a lot of fun and are still walking around measuring everything!

Recipe Corner: Fourth of July Fruit Trifle

Last year, I made this yummy Berry Trifle for our Fourth of July Block party. It must have been a big hit because at the end of the night, the bowl was empty! This dessert is easy to make and light on the stomach. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 3 cups cold milk
• 1 (9 inch) angel food cake, cut in cubes
• 4 bananas, sliced
• 1 container of fresh blueberries
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen strawberries, thawed
• 1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions

1. Prepare pudding with milk according to package directions. In a trifle bowl or other glass serving dish, layer half the cake pieces, half the pudding, half the bananas, half, the blueberries, half the strawberries and half the whipped topping. Repeat layers. Cover and chill in refrigerator 4 hours before serving.

Tricky Trivia

Babies start dreaming ________________.

Take aguess in the comments below.

Monday, June 28, 2010

An Awesome Giveaway From Misikko!

I would just like to start my review with…WOW! Who knew that a professional flat iron would make such a difference for my hair? For years I’ve been using a cheap metal flat iron with only so-so results. Every time I did my hair, it was a gamble. Would it end up straight or frizzy? With my new Corioliss Classic 1” Ceramic Flat Iron from Misikko, I no longer have to take that gamble. Each and every time I’ve use it, my hair has looked straight and smooth (not even any fly-aways)!



 

I love that the Corioliss Classic 1” Ceramic Flat Iron has adjustable heat and an on/off switch. Depending on your hair type, you can adjust the heat from 140 degrees to 410 degrees. And it heats up in about 6 seconds! I have found setting the dial right in the center works best for my hair. For my daughter’s thin hair, I set is on the lowest setting and was still able to curl it. I wonder how great our hair would look if we had one of Misikko’s great professional hairdryers???

Besides flat irons and hair dryers, Misikko has many other great products. They have various brands of makeup, including Skincare’s Instant Plump Lip Shine that I would love to try. Misikko also carries hair care products including Bio Ionic’s Nano-Ionic Conditioning Large Round Hair Brush. This brush would make a perfect addition to my new flat iron!

 
Not only are Misikko’s products high quality, but their customer service is also outstanding. Check out this package that they sent me. My Corioliss Flat Iron came with a heat proof mat, white roses, white candles, and a little bag of goodies!


Now I know everyone wants their own Corioliss Classic 1” Ceramic Flat Iron. Right!?! This flat iron normally cost $200, but it is on sale right now for $89.99 (I do not know how long they will be on sale.). And on top of that they offer free shipping on all orders over $50. But if you feel lucky, the great people from Misikko are offering one reader of Between the Lines their very own Corioliss Classic 1” Ceramic Flat Iron!!!!!


Mandatory Entry: Visit Misikko and come back and tell me which product you would love to own.


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

~Follow Misikko on Twitter (2)
~ Join Misikko’s Newsletter (3)
~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)
~Enter another one of my giveaways (2 each)
~Follow me on Twitter (2)
~Tweet this giveaway leaving me your link. (3x a day not back to back) (1 entry each)
~Blog about this giveaway and leave me a link (10)
~Make a purchase from Misikko (10)


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

*This giveaway is open to US and Canada 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 flat iron 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.