GB Savers has been keeping me pretty busy lately. (In fact, it's almost starting to feel like a job. Too bad I don't get paid!) Anyway, I have a giveaway up over there for a 6 cup Hamilton Beach Food Processor. Just wanted to let you know you are ALL invited to enter! Well, as long as you live in the US or Canada. :)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
An Invitation
GB Savers has been keeping me pretty busy lately. (In fact, it's almost starting to feel like a job. Too bad I don't get paid!) Anyway, I have a giveaway up over there for a 6 cup Hamilton Beach Food Processor. Just wanted to let you know you are ALL invited to enter! Well, as long as you live in the US or Canada. :)
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Pool Passes and Fevers
Thursday night we headed over to the local pool and bought our swimming passes for this year. They changed the system from little metal tags with numbers that you sew onto your suit to picture ID cards. Which meant for a family of 7 (Roz didn't come) it took a good long while for the lady at the pool to input our info and take our pictures.
After checking out ourmugshots lovely photos we all took a dip in the pool. Thanks to the warm weather the water wasn't nearly as cold as we had been expecting. The boys had a great time. JD and Hayden hung out with me in the baby pool area while Wesley, Eli, and Justus went with Jerry in the big pool.
Saturday, while Jerry was transforming our deck from this:
to this:
I took the three big boys back for another swim. I barely got situated in the shade and read a couple pages of my book before they were back complaining they were cold. Eli actually said it hurt it was so cold! After warning them a few times that we were going to leave if they didn't get back in, I finally gave up and took everyone home.
Within a few minutes they were all napping and feverish. No wonder the water felt so cold to them! So we took it easy the rest of the evening and passed out Tylenol as needed. JD and Hayden had a the same thing (one day fever) earlier in the week... it must have taken a few days for the germs to work their way through to the big boys.
Eli's fever broke early this morning. I know because he was in bed with us due to a middle of the night thunderstorm. He was burning up when he first joined us but when I woke up a little bit later he was feeling much cooler. Justus slept in and woke up with a fever, but was in good spirits. They hardly touched their breakfast, but appetites came back for lunch and everyone was happy to get a popsicle for dessert!
We're glad that whatever it is, it appears to be short-lived and that it happened this weekend and not next when Grandpa John will be here for a visit!
After checking out our
Saturday, while Jerry was transforming our deck from this:
to this:
Looks good huh?!
I took the three big boys back for another swim. I barely got situated in the shade and read a couple pages of my book before they were back complaining they were cold. Eli actually said it hurt it was so cold! After warning them a few times that we were going to leave if they didn't get back in, I finally gave up and took everyone home.
Within a few minutes they were all napping and feverish. No wonder the water felt so cold to them! So we took it easy the rest of the evening and passed out Tylenol as needed. JD and Hayden had a the same thing (one day fever) earlier in the week... it must have taken a few days for the germs to work their way through to the big boys.
Eli's fever broke early this morning. I know because he was in bed with us due to a middle of the night thunderstorm. He was burning up when he first joined us but when I woke up a little bit later he was feeling much cooler. Justus slept in and woke up with a fever, but was in good spirits. They hardly touched their breakfast, but appetites came back for lunch and everyone was happy to get a popsicle for dessert!
We're glad that whatever it is, it appears to be short-lived and that it happened this weekend and not next when Grandpa John will be here for a visit!
The Least Mentioned Family Member
There is a member of the Shown family that doesn't get talked about much on this blog. That would be our dog, Buck. He is almost 11 years old and showing his doggy age. Two weeks ago he suddenly lost his vision and started to run into things. When I let him out one night he couldn't find the door to come back in. We gave it a day or two to see if it would continue. It did.
We had no idea what could be causing it. His eyes are a bit cloudy but have been that way for some time and I figured it was just aging. Jerry took him to the vet (I didn't want to be the one to get any bad news or to make any major treatment decisions). It ended up that he was diagnosed with diabetes (his blood sugar was over 600).
While the diabetes is treatable, he will probably never fully recover his vision. He went in last Monday for a full day of testing. I had to dust of my RN skills and have been taking his blood sugar and giving insulin shots. Buck, thankfully, doesn't seem to mind. It's still a work in progress with regulating his dose (he is still running in the 400's).
Not knowing I was a nurse, the vet was concerned about our ability to test and give shots at home (we set them straight on that). We, on the other hand, were concerned more about the cost. As much as we love Buck we just don't have room in the budget for several hundred dollars of vet bills each month.
The bad news is the diagnostic tests weren't cheap, but the good news is the actual monthly maintenance isn't nearly as bad as we thought it would be. Thank goodness for cheap syringes from Wal-mart and free glucose meters from CVS.
I don't know if it is just wishful thinking or if Buck is just getting used to it, but it seems he is getting around better now than he was even a week ago. I have to call the vet again tomorrow with an update on his numbers and we'll go from there.
We had no idea what could be causing it. His eyes are a bit cloudy but have been that way for some time and I figured it was just aging. Jerry took him to the vet (I didn't want to be the one to get any bad news or to make any major treatment decisions). It ended up that he was diagnosed with diabetes (his blood sugar was over 600).
While the diabetes is treatable, he will probably never fully recover his vision. He went in last Monday for a full day of testing. I had to dust of my RN skills and have been taking his blood sugar and giving insulin shots. Buck, thankfully, doesn't seem to mind. It's still a work in progress with regulating his dose (he is still running in the 400's).
Not knowing I was a nurse, the vet was concerned about our ability to test and give shots at home (we set them straight on that). We, on the other hand, were concerned more about the cost. As much as we love Buck we just don't have room in the budget for several hundred dollars of vet bills each month.The bad news is the diagnostic tests weren't cheap, but the good news is the actual monthly maintenance isn't nearly as bad as we thought it would be. Thank goodness for cheap syringes from Wal-mart and free glucose meters from CVS.
I don't know if it is just wishful thinking or if Buck is just getting used to it, but it seems he is getting around better now than he was even a week ago. I have to call the vet again tomorrow with an update on his numbers and we'll go from there.
Big Boy Bed
This week saw the end of an era at our house. For the first time in 8 1/2 years we took down the crib and put it in storage. JD moved to the toddler bed. I seriously think the crib to bed transition has gotten easier with each child. Hayden didn't have any trouble and neither did JD.
For a few weeks now JD had been putting himself to bed and getting himself out by climbing over the side of the crib so I guess it was time.
For now JD will stay in his room by himself. We might do a little rearranging later this summer. The boys room is (hopefully) going to be getting new carpeting sometime in the near future and we'll change things around then when we have to take apart beds anyway.
And, yes, the crib is only going to basement storage. We would love to bring it up for a new little Shown sometime if it works out that way!
For a few weeks now JD had been putting himself to bed and getting himself out by climbing over the side of the crib so I guess it was time.
For now JD will stay in his room by himself. We might do a little rearranging later this summer. The boys room is (hopefully) going to be getting new carpeting sometime in the near future and we'll change things around then when we have to take apart beds anyway.And, yes, the crib is only going to basement storage. We would love to bring it up for a new little Shown sometime if it works out that way!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Garden 2010: June 13
I took the pictures of the garden last weekend. What a difference a month makes! (See first garden post of the year here.) We've had a few problems this year. Although they weren't interested at all in the garden last year... the birds are taking more than their fair share this year.
We've seen them in the garden plucking lettuce leaves. They've pecked holes in my strawberries. I strung up some pieces of foil pan to help scare them off. It helped some. We love birds and bird watching but we're going to have to draw the line at watching them peck and ruin all our hard work.
The strawberries survived the transplant with no problems. The herbs are HUGE, about 4 times the size they were last year! The heirloom plants we got from the UWGB sale are doing well (except for the one I put in a pot).
The weather has been cooperating the last couple weeks with just enough rain. We haven't had to water, which is nice and saves us on the ol' water bill. I have been wanting to get a barrel to collect rain water from the roof to help during the dry stretches but haven't found a free barrel anywhere yet.
I'm about to head out to make our first radish harvest. They are ready to go! I'm looking forward to some freshly harvested lettuce salads later this week! How is your garden doing?
We've seen them in the garden plucking lettuce leaves. They've pecked holes in my strawberries. I strung up some pieces of foil pan to help scare them off. It helped some. We love birds and bird watching but we're going to have to draw the line at watching them peck and ruin all our hard work.
The strawberries survived the transplant with no problems. The herbs are HUGE, about 4 times the size they were last year! The heirloom plants we got from the UWGB sale are doing well (except for the one I put in a pot).
The weather has been cooperating the last couple weeks with just enough rain. We haven't had to water, which is nice and saves us on the ol' water bill. I have been wanting to get a barrel to collect rain water from the roof to help during the dry stretches but haven't found a free barrel anywhere yet.
I'm about to head out to make our first radish harvest. They are ready to go! I'm looking forward to some freshly harvested lettuce salads later this week! How is your garden doing?
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Fresh Taste of Summer House Party
This past Friday I hosted a Fresh Taste of Summer House Party. I ended up with 11 guests and we had a great time canning salsa! Ball was nice enough to send everything we needed (for free!) except the fresh veggies.
These House Party parties are a pretty neat concept... it the newest form of advertising... getting products into people's homes where people can try them out and spread the word. If you ever get invited to one, you should definitely go... there is nothing to buy... just free stuff and fun! Consider signing up to host a party too... you get to keep all the free stuff the companies send you!
My friend Candy brought some super cute cookies that went well with my Fiesta theme! Not only were they cute but delicious as well! (Thanks, Candy!) If you've never had your cookies turn out that cute don't feel bad, Candy is a pro.
Many hands make like work! It's true. With the assistance of many helpers, this batch of Zesty Salsa was made a lot faster than the trial batch I made myself. I hope they can all come back the next time I can something!
Everyone got to take home a goody bag full of coupons and freebies. And two guests won extra prizes!
I have a few leftover coupons for the Ball Blue Book ($1 off) and Canning Discovery Kit ($2 off) if you are interested let me know and I'll mail them to you. With these coupons you can give canning a try for under $20!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
2010 Bellin
What do Jerry and Roz have in common with Jared (of Subway fame), The Biggest Loser's contestant Cathy Skell, and over 18,398 other people? They all ran the Bellin 10K this morning. La Force (the company Jer works for) had the honor of highest corporate participation percentage for the 4th year in a row. As an extra special treat La Force was treated to a free Subway lunch and a visit from Jared on Thursday.
Jerry has been training for several weeks now. Roz, of course, is young and didn't train one bit. They left bright and early this morning. I literally stumbled outside half asleep to take these pictures...
Once I was awake I got the boys up, fed, and out the door to be in place to watch the race leaders run past the half way mark at about 8:15am (that's got to be a record of my own!). We watched and waited patiently and cheered Daddy on as he went by about a 20 minutes later. Roz followed another 20 or so minutes after that. (Jer and Roz ended up in different "waves" so they left the start line at different times and were not running together.)
The weather sort of cooperated. Thankfully, it was NOT hot (actually it was a little chilly as a spectator). It didn't rain hard but lightly misted... just enough to get everyone a little wet. Wet enough that we headed home as soon as Roz went by instead of watching a bit longer.
I didn't get any shots at they ran past me, but I'll post the official finish line photo links when they're ready. Jerry finished in 1:05:48 and Roz in 1:13:41!! Good job you guys! You have until June 11, 2011 to recover!
Jerry has been training for several weeks now. Roz, of course, is young and didn't train one bit. They left bright and early this morning. I literally stumbled outside half asleep to take these pictures...
Once I was awake I got the boys up, fed, and out the door to be in place to watch the race leaders run past the half way mark at about 8:15am (that's got to be a record of my own!). We watched and waited patiently and cheered Daddy on as he went by about a 20 minutes later. Roz followed another 20 or so minutes after that. (Jer and Roz ended up in different "waves" so they left the start line at different times and were not running together.)
The weather sort of cooperated. Thankfully, it was NOT hot (actually it was a little chilly as a spectator). It didn't rain hard but lightly misted... just enough to get everyone a little wet. Wet enough that we headed home as soon as Roz went by instead of watching a bit longer.
I didn't get any shots at they ran past me, but I'll post the official finish line photo links when they're ready. Jerry finished in 1:05:48 and Roz in 1:13:41!! Good job you guys! You have until June 11, 2011 to recover!
Fun with Dry Ice
I occasionally take surveys of one kind or another to earn a few extra dollars. Every so often I answer the questions right and actually get to try a new product. Last week I received a frozen meal to try. It arrived in a small cooler packed with dry ice.
The last time we got a package with dry ice I just put it in a bowl with some water to show the boys the "fog". Not being one to waste a learning opportunity, this time I went online and searched a bit to see if we could be more creative in our experiments.
So we tried this dry ice experiment with soap bubbles. Sites listed various (more complicated) methods to create bubbles but we found that if you just put some good soapy water in with the dry ice and gave a few blows you'd get plenty of bubbles. As you will hear... the boys thought it was great!
We also chopped a few chunks off to see if we could blow up a balloon. We could. The kids were pretty impressed and asked to draw a face on the balloon! The hardest part about this experiment was finding a bottle with a mouth big enough to get the dry ice in but small enough to stretch a balloon around!
Actually, the boys were impressed with all the dry ice fun we had. It's good to know it doesn't take much to entertain us!
The last time we got a package with dry ice I just put it in a bowl with some water to show the boys the "fog". Not being one to waste a learning opportunity, this time I went online and searched a bit to see if we could be more creative in our experiments.
So we tried this dry ice experiment with soap bubbles. Sites listed various (more complicated) methods to create bubbles but we found that if you just put some good soapy water in with the dry ice and gave a few blows you'd get plenty of bubbles. As you will hear... the boys thought it was great!
We also chopped a few chunks off to see if we could blow up a balloon. We could. The kids were pretty impressed and asked to draw a face on the balloon! The hardest part about this experiment was finding a bottle with a mouth big enough to get the dry ice in but small enough to stretch a balloon around!
Actually, the boys were impressed with all the dry ice fun we had. It's good to know it doesn't take much to entertain us!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
House Party!
A few months ago I signed up with House Party to see if I could try some products for free.
This what their website says:
A few emails came after I signed up, but it was nothing I was really interested in. Then I got an email for a party that I really wanted! Jarden Home brands, the makers of Ball and Kerr, were going to be sending canners and supplies for a canning party. So I applied. I was super excited when I found out that I was chosen to be a party host!
I've canned a few times in the past. I would have canned all those jalapenos from last years garden but I ran into a problem. When we moved to this house we inherited a glass top stove and my old enamel canner (that I got at the thrift store for a few bucks) is not safe to use on my new stove. I researched a bit online and several sites said you can't can at all on a smooth top stove so I pretty much gave up. When I saw that this party included a canner that works on ALL stove types... even glass tops... I was so excited.
Friday night my host package arrived and it was better than I expected! This is what I got:
My guests will get:
I made a trial batch of the pepper jelly this morning. It went well! I haven't tasted it yet but it sure looks good! I still can't believe they sent me all this great stuff for free!
If you are interested in learning more, here are a few links for you:
This what their website says:
A House Party™ is thousands of parties across the country, hosted by people like you. Each event is sponsored by a leading brand and focuses on something cool that the sponsor wants its best fans to experience firsthand and share with their friends.Once you sign up you get emails about upcoming parties that you can apply for. If chosen, you will be a party host. The company sponsoring the parties sends you their products and you invite your friends. There is nothing to sell. Companies are using these parties as a new type of advertising. (You can read more about how it works here.)
A few emails came after I signed up, but it was nothing I was really interested in. Then I got an email for a party that I really wanted! Jarden Home brands, the makers of Ball and Kerr, were going to be sending canners and supplies for a canning party. So I applied. I was super excited when I found out that I was chosen to be a party host!
I've canned a few times in the past. I would have canned all those jalapenos from last years garden but I ran into a problem. When we moved to this house we inherited a glass top stove and my old enamel canner (that I got at the thrift store for a few bucks) is not safe to use on my new stove. I researched a bit online and several sites said you can't can at all on a smooth top stove so I pretty much gave up. When I saw that this party included a canner that works on ALL stove types... even glass tops... I was so excited.
Friday night my host package arrived and it was better than I expected! This is what I got:
- Elite Stainless Steel Waterbath Canner with Canning Rack (it's beautiful!)
- Ball 4-piece utensil set
- Ball Canning Discovery Kit (see below for a description, it's really cool!)
- Ball Blue BookGuide to Preserving (2 copies)
- Plus coupons to get 4 cases of jars free, pectin for the recipes, and a demonstration chart
My guests will get:
- Reusable grocery bags
- Coupons for them and to give their friends
- Ball Fruit Pectin (to make their own jam/jelly)
- A jar of salsa and a jar of peppy jelly with the recipes
I made a trial batch of the pepper jelly this morning. It went well! I haven't tasted it yet but it sure looks good! I still can't believe they sent me all this great stuff for free!
If you are interested in learning more, here are a few links for you:
- Ball's website Fresh Preserving has all sorts of great canning resources and recipes
- The Ball Blue Book is the best canning guide (Walmart sells this for under $6)
- Ball's Elite Stainless Steel Waterbath Canner can be used on all types of stoves... including glass top!
- If you want to try canning but don't want to invest in a canner you can get a Ball Canning Discovery Kit which includes a how-to booklet, 3 jars with lids/rings, and a special basket that turns any stock pot into a water bath canner! (Wal-mart sells these for $10)
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