JumpStart Get Moving Winner

And the winner of the free JumpStart Get Moving Wii game is...comment #41

twifanheather said... 41 Following your blog!

Congrats!!  I will be sending you an email shortly.

If the winner does not claim the prize within 48 hours after I have sent an email, I will pick another winner.

Thanks for entering everyone!

Why?

Can someone explain to me why women's sized clothing has to be bright bold pattern s or look like it belongs on a 75 year old woman?

Can someone explain to me why you are not able to find hardly any petite length pants or even shirts in women's sizes?  Are there no fat, short people out there in the world other than me?  Some of us don't enjoying having to hem up every pair of pants we own.

I wish I was talented and could be a clothing designer...maybe I could make all my own clothes instead of just having to alter everyone else's.

Rant over...for now....

Cupcake in a jar

Oh my gosh people, check this out it looks so yummy.  I might actually attempt to make this for teachers/day care providers this winter.  It is a cupcake in a jar.  Thank you cakies for this wonderful idea!!

Homemade Baby Food

Yummy, squash!!

With baby number two, I decided to attempt to make my own baby food.  I read all over online and everyone made it sound super simple.  My first attempt was green beans.  They turned out kinda watery and a little too chunky.  I might save them and use them when baby is a little more of a skilled eater.

My second attempt was with butternut squash.  This time I do believe I can declare it a total success. 

The process really is simple.  If I can do it, anyone can.  Of course, I did buy a recipe book of sorts...I needed to have the directions in black and white right in front of my face while I was making the food.  The book that I used is called The Basic Baby Food Cookbook, which  I found on Amazon.  It is the absolute basic on how to steam, process and freeze your baby food.  Also, it is sorted by the age that your baby should eat certain foods, and lists the different minerals and vitamins your baby is getting when eating each food.

So, how do you do it?  Here's the abbreviated version.

Steam your fruit or veggie until well done....way more soft that you or I would prefer.  Do not add any seasonings to the food.  You can use either fresh or frozen foods.  Don't get rid of the water in the pan from steaming the food, it has some of the food's nutrients in it and you will add it to your food when you process it.

Next, let the food cool.  When it has cooled, remove skin if needed and then put in your food processor or blender.  Add about 2 ozs of the reserved water to begin with and start processing.  You may need to add more water, just make sure to do it slowly.  I found out the hard way that adding too much water is not very cool. 

If you have a baby new to eating baby food, you may want to strain the food before you freeze it.  To freeze, just put the processed food into ice cube trays, tap them on the counter to get any air bubbles out and put in the freezer.  Once they are frozen,  you can put them into a freezer bag, and label them with the food and date you made it.  It is good for 3 months!

To serve, put a cube or two into a small bowl, cover it and put it in the fridge overnight.  It should be ready for you the next day.

Looking to Promote your Giveaways?

Are you looking for some new places to post your giveaways to get the word out about them?  Go check out Giveaway Scout.  All you need to do is post a quick blurb about their site (like I'm doing now) and then fill in the information they need.  They will then scan your new postings and post all of your giveaways!  Sound too good to pass it up?  Head over there now and check it out!

Jump Start Get Moving Family Fitness Review and Giveaway

Anyone who knows my family knows that my son loves video games. He would play them every waking hour of every day if we let him. As a just barley 5 year old, it is hard to find games for the Wii that he can play. One that he always wants to play is Wii Fit, but if we let him play it, he quickly gets frustrated because he is too light and the game does not always recognize his actions on the balance board, and many of the other activities are far too advanced for him. So, imagine my excitement when I found out that JumpStart was going to be coming out with a Wii Fit for Kids, so to speak. It is called Get Moving Family Fitness and it was designed with the help of fitness expert, Brook Burke.

What better way to make sure your kid is getting exercise while playing video games? This will be especially beneficial during the upcoming, long and cold Iowa winter!

There are many activities that kids can choose from, including games like Volleyball, Basketball and even things like Dodge ball and Pinball. And of course, since this a JumpStart game, your child will be able to design their person, or the "Jumpee", choosing hair, eyes, clothing and more!

The only issue we have ran into is that sometimes Caiden had a hard time getting his Jumpee on the game recognize his movements, but I have a feeling he just may not be doing the movements exact enough. It might also help if we had the Wii Motion Plus.

All in all, I think this is an excellent game for your children to keep them moving, especially when they aren't able to get outside! Get Moving can be found in stores for the low price of $29.99, which is a great price for a brand spankin' new Wii game! And if that isn't a good enough deal for you, how would you like to win one for free? Yep, FREE!!!

All you need to do is head over to JumpStart's website and then come back and tell me one fact about Get Moving that I did not mention in my review. You must do this step to be entered into the contest.

For additional entries you can:

1. Add my button to your side bar and leave me a link to your blog in your comment;

2. Follow me on blogger or twitter;

3. Subscribe to my blog;

4. Send an email to at least 5 of your non-blogging friends to tell them about the giveaway, and copy me;

6. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a link to your tweet in the comment (you can do this once a day); and

7. Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with a link to your post

*Please leave a separate comment for each of the items you do

This giveaway is open to bloggers and non-bloggers. If your blog profile is private, or you’re a non-blogger, please leave an email address in your comment or your entry will be disqualified.This contest will end at 10:00 p.m. Central Time on Monday, September 13th. Good luck everyone!

Disclosure: I was provided a free copy of this game for the purpose of this review. I am not expected to return the game.

A month of firsts

The month of August has been a month of firsts in my house, all of which have been fun and exciting! We started off the month with Caiden's first birthday party with friends and his first trip to Chuck E Cheese. Unfortunately, only one of his friends was able to make his party, but that didn't dampen the day for him. They both had a blast playing games, climbing in the play area, dancing with Chuck and getting in the ticket blaster booth to catch a bunch of free tickets. It was a ton of fun and we will be going back again!

In the middle of the month, Caiden had another first...and this one was a BIG one. Caiden had his first day of Kindergarten on a Thursday. The day before we found out which teacher he had and which classroom. He actually got the teacher he wanted, which I was shocked about. He also got to meet the other Caden in his class. We dropped off all his supplies, I filled out some paperwork and we were ready for the next day. I didn't sleep very well that night, worried about his first day. He was so excited to go, I dropped him off at the before/after care that morning with no tears! On Friday the other half of the new Kindergartners had their first day, so we didn't go back until Monday. Well....Monday was harder. He loves Kindergarten, but he isn't so fond of the before and after care as of yet. I think it is just overwhelming for him. What can I say, he takes after Mommy. Meeting new people is tough and it stinks to be somewhere where there are a ton of people you don't know. Of course, every night when I come get him, he is happy and having a good time. Every day has gotten better and Friday was a pretty quick and painless drop off. Then comes the weekend and two days of not going. We'll see how this Monday goes.

Bennett had a first this month too. He got his first try of baby cereal. Why so late you ask? Only because it took so long to get his 4 month check-up done. By the time we made it to the doctor, he was 5 1/2 months old! But he really likes it and does very well with it, as long as he isn't tired. Caiden took a few pictures of Bennett's first bites for me.

Finally, our whole family made our first trip to the Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley, IL and the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, IL. Then when we were done, we stop and visited uncle Garett and aunt Jen's house. It was a busy but fun day!

If you have made it through all of this, CONGRATS! It has been a busy month for this busy Mom. Hoping to post a little more often now, but that remains to be seen!