Happy Belated New Year!! What a year full of FIRSTs...Lindsay's first day of school, Marissa's first day of her LAST year at school, Josh's first day on his own taking care of his diabetes by himself...and he did an awesome job....Katelyn started reading her first book series, my old Nancy Drew books...

My plan was to start the new year, with the intent of blogging everyday...and I am a little off by a couple weeks, but I had to sort through what EXACTLY I wanted my blog to be about, the things I wanted to share, what direction I wanted to go with it and then I would just run with it so without further ado...this blog will remain about the FAMILY and family reviews...I wanted to start a healthy living/recipes blog, a home/garden blog, and on the side my hobby for custom cakes/cupcakes. I know it sounds like alot, but I've had A TON of time off, and now that I'm back and without more time to dedicate to blogging, I feel I can offer my readers information for their reading pleasure!

More to come....Here are a couple pictures from the Holidays and a picture from a field trip I took Josh on to the Science Museum.

Here are some cool links I found via Pinterest...

Source: ginnys.com via Christine on Pinterest

Source: wonderfuljoyahead.blogspot.com via Christine on Pinterest

It came to me as no surprise that the first winter here in Arizona, my skin got dry, and itchy, even the familiar crocodile skin with those troublesome patchy, flaky areas. Having moved from California, where there was more moisture on the coast, I now had to face living in the Southwest extremly dry desert climate. To make matters worse, and even though our winter temperatures can be mostly mild compared to the rest of the nation, it does sometimes get very cold, which effects my skin too. Truth be told, I always carry lotion with me. What I am looking for in a lotion is to help my skin stay moisturized and soft, overall. One thing I also look for is if the lotion has a strong scent. I've found that these types of lotions cause a flare up in my allergies, so I prefer lotions that have a light scent or no scent at all.

Keri offered to send me some of their lotions to review, so I accepted.  They sent Keri Luxurious Deliciously Scented Nourishing lotion . It is total Skin indulgence with Shea butter, Apple Extract and Vitamins A,C and E.

Keri Lotion^® has been recognized for more than 50 years as a great lotion that has provided continuous moisturization for generations. Because everyone’s skincare needs are different, Keri offers a line of hand and body lotions to meet the needs of your specific skin.  Each lotion is formulated with the Keri^® Hydro-Deep^® technology, which penetrates the skin with a unique blend of moisturizers to lock in long lasting moisture protection, helping to keep your skin looking – and feeling – its best all day long.

Keri^® Lotion helps you surround yourself in continuous moisturization.

Get All Day Soft, All Day Smooth^TM with Keri® Lotion!

The Keri^® Hydro-Deep^® Technology penetrates skin with a unique blend of moisturizers to lock in long lasting moisture protection helping to keep your skin looking and feeling its best. Keri^® Lotion is available in five different varieties, ranging in price from $5.99 to $7.99, tailored to meet the needs of individual women’s skin:

·       Keri^® Original – Enhanced with five essential moisturizers, this product is daily dry skin therapy for smooth, healthy looking skin.

·       Keri^® Advanced – This non-greasy, lightweight formula is fast absorbing for silky, soft skin.

·       Keri^® Shea Butter Conditioning Therapy – Provides a conditioning therapy that penetrates deep into skin to nourish with naturally rich Shea Butter.

·       Keri^® Basic Essentials – Made with Aloe Vera and Vitamin E for a lightweight formula that provides optimal hydration.

·       Keri^® Luxurious – A total indulgence for the skin, with a light apple scent and Vitamins A, C and E.

Keri^® Lotion is available at Walmart, Rite Aid, DrugStore.com and other retailers nationwide ranging in prices from $5.99-$7.99.

I fell in love with this lotion. It's very hydrating, without leaving a greasy residue, with a light scent of fresh green apple. I've been using it everyday, especially on my hands and my feet, I noticed they looked and felt smoother and softer. My skin truly felt indulged. Being a mom on the go, the one thing about this lotion, I noticed how fast it absorbed in my skin, so I could apply and go without wiping any lingering excess before I headed out the door.

In addition here is a $2.00 OFF coupon from KERI.

Win it: Thanks to the generous folks at Keri, one (1) of my lucky readers is going to win a bottle of Keri Luxurious Lotion!

Mandatory Entry:

Just mention in comments before midnight, (EST) on 010/29/11                 WHY you need Keri. That’s it!

A random winner will be selected and notified via email shortly thereafter.

The winner will then have 2 days to claim their prize.

Please leave me a valid email address in this comment so that I can contact you if you win. If no email address is left, the entry will be disqualified.

Please leave a seperate comment for each entry!

Extra Entries:

1. Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to where I can find it!

2. Subscribe to my RSS feed !

** Please leave a seperate comment for each entry and remember to leave a valid email address in one of the entry comments. Winner has 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.

This giveaway is open to Continental US and Canadian residents only. 

***Please note that I received no form of monetary compensation for this post. I did receive a sample of the product to try in order to write a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own and were not influenced in any way. ***

One word to describe this morning was WHIRLWIND!

It's Parent Teacher Confrences this week, and like the chickenpox back in the day, you wanted all your children to be exposed to it, so you got them through it all the same time.

Same thing with this morning. First was Lindsay's. She's doing really well. Again, I remember Kindertgarten we needed to know our ABC's by the time we were sent off to 1st grade. Now they are needing to be able to count to 50 and know all their ABC's by December before Winter Break (Christmas Break)!

Then Josh had his. The last two years with his Diabetes and me working and going to school, had been really tough. This year I have to say he's doing so much better, and it really does show. From his handwriting, and his general feeling about school and learning. He does need some improvement with Math and comprehension, but we are getting there. His teacher said she knows he's doing his very best. Which made him smile.

Katelyn's went just like I expected it too. She's doing wonderful. The only surprise I got was that she's reading books way below her grade level, when both her teacher and I know she has read books at and above her level, so we're just going to check to make sure she's choosing books that suit her better.
So with one conference right after the other, after the other, OH did I mention this was BEFORE school even started.....Then I had to go home and get the children ready for school. By the time I got back Today I help in Lindsay's class, I went straight to there.

A couple more random things. I joined PINTEREST which I am just loving checking all the crafts, recipes, and photos out. Has anyone else checked it out?? What do you think??

So far I am making these Pumpkin Cupcakes

Source: myyellowsandbox.blogspot.com via Christine on Pinterest

and this SPOOKY BANNER to decorate for Halloween from Create and Dream Scrapbooks

Wishing you all a SPOOKTACULAR DAY!

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend.
Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer
So my question is . . .

• If you could travel anywhere TODAY, WHERE would you like to go??

 

For Josh's Birthday he chose to go see CARS2, instead of Transformers. I'm glad he did, because we had a blast. The movie isn't just a fun movie with lots of laughs, which had Josh saying, "WASABI" all night long, but I loved the whole James Bond spy movie theme it portrayed. Plus  I am a sucker for Happy Endings!

Star race car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship on the road from Radiator Springs to exciting new places when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world's fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage!

Information courtesy of Disney

On Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D™, DVD and Movie Download November 1st. Pre-order your copy at Amazon.com

Cilantro-Lime Chicken in a Green Chili Cream Sauce

One of my favorite foods are chilis, especially green chilis. It must have something to do with the time I spent in New Mexico. I am absolutely in love with green chilis. If you are looking for a quick and easy dinner, than this Cilantro-Lime Chicken in a Green Chili Cream sauce is delicious and don't worry about it being too spicy, because the chilis I use are very mild. It also helps to remove all the seeds, that are responsible for all the heat of the chili.

I don't know where I found the recipe, but I've made my own adjustments.

1.5 lbs chicken
1 Anaheim chili, seeded and diced
2 Tbls. butter
1/2 red onion
1/4 cup of white wine
3/4-1 cup heavy cream
1/8 cup cilantro
1 lime

First I sauteed the chicken in the the butter until it turns golden brown, about 7 minutes until the temp of the chicken reached 165F. Then I added the onion and the chilis to the pan. If  you need to add more butter that's fine. I love butter. Saute the onion and chilis until they are soft. I then add the wine to deglaze the pan, and then I added the cream. Finally I shredded the chicken, (you don't have too) and added it to the cream sauce. Garnish with lime.
For the rice I just made a pilaf and added some tri color peppers to it.

"He promised her a new and better life. Out in Arizona, underneath the blue never-ending sky!" -Sedona, AZ

What amazes me is, all this time I've spent blogging, I never realized the impact it has had on my children. In participating in Wordless Wednesday, it never occured to me that my love of photography would rub off on Marissa. She loves it, and has such a passion for it that I couldn't help but share one of my absolute favorites she just took on a trip she took with her friend to Sedona.

Happy Wordless Wednesday all!

Today I started thinking that Halloween is just around the corner. About this time of year, I have my children start thinking what they want for their Halloween costumes. Katelyn this year wants to be Cleopatra. If you are like me, I'm looking for really cute costumes, at a reasonable price.

Keeping that in mind, I was really pleased to find this perfect website Just Kid Costumes. Navigating your way through the website couldn't be easier, they list plenty of specific costumes. You can get very creative, with over 3,000 costumes and accessories to choose from including superheroes and Disney Princesses. I even found a super cute Cleopatra costume. Some of the costumes are around $30, but there are ones for under $20.

Just Kids Costumes offers a fun app called the Dress-Up room. All  you need to do is upload your child's photo to the app and then you can see what they would look like dressed up in their favorite costume. It also makes sharing those photos easy with your friends on Facebook!

Look for Just Kids Costumes in the October 2011 Parents Magazine. Oh I almost forgot the best part, shipping is a FLAT rate of $4.95 AND you recieve a FREE Gift with purchase ( and who doesn't like getting things for Free) A Halloween Activity E-BOOK.

SOMETHING FOR MY READERS!Just Kid Costumes is offering readers 10% off of their purchase of ALL PRODUCTS if you purchase by Oct. 16th, 11:59 PST..So today be sure and head on over there and pick out your child's costume! 

Here's your 10% discount code: BLOGGER10 *

For this review I was offered an entry into a contest.

*All products are eligible for this discount. Coupon is good through Sunday, October 16th at 11:59pm PST. Merchandise total of $8.95 must be after any coupons have been applied. Discount does not apply to shipping, or sales taxes (CA only.) Coupon will be reflected as a 10% discount on the merchandise subtotal on the checkout page. Coupon cannot be combined with other coupon offers. Coupon is non-negotiable. Not valid for prior purchases. JustKidCostumes.com reserves the right to cancel any order due to unauthorized, altered, or ineligible use of a discount

GOOD MORNING BLOGOSPHERE!!

There are no words to fully express how I have felt being gone from blogging, these past few years, and how incredible it feels to be back visiting with you all. Although I haven't truly disappeared off the face of the planet. I've kept up, by reading blogs and interacting on Facebook.

To catch all of you up, TIME has just flown by, it's extremely hard for me to believe, but Marissa my oldest is a senior in Highschool, planning to attend NAU. She has a passion for the arts; digital/B&W photography, ceramics, and painting.

Joshua is now in 6th grade. His diabetes so far this school year has been amazingly under control, opposed to last year, which was a very difficult one. He's active in sports like he has always been.

Katelyn is 8 and in 3rd grade. She's in student council and is still my Sunshine.

My little Lindsay is 5 and started K. She absolutely loves her teacher and school, and keeps questioning me on Saturday if this is a school day.

For me, while I've been working 25 hours a week, going to school, (with plans to graduate this spring), and this year I feel a weight lifted off me with Josh's diabetes. The nurses at his school are amazing. They help me feel like Josh is in excellent care. Not having to worry has encouraged me to get back into blogging.

WHAT exactly have I been going to school for?? Actually I am wanting to start a personal chef business for families that have special dietary concearns, or a small catering business. As ALL of you know I LOVE to cook.

To help me get back into the blogging groove, I am keeping up with ALL the blog posts I used to write about, of course our family, and cooking, as well as crafts/decorating, product reviews/Giveaways and see if I can get Marissa to help her mother with some guest posts on photography.

As always, I am looking forward to catching up with all of you, and am so overjoyed to be back in the blogosphere once again.

This hasn't been a FUN Monday after all!! Here I am, just temporarily, until I transfer to my new server. I'm trying to catch up with you all, I've just been frustrated with my hosting company. They kept telling me my blog would be back up by morning, and when I called to talk to them in person, they had no idea when my site would be back up, and instructed me to 'Submit a Ticket' if I was having technical difficulties. In my opinion what kind of customer service is that. They were absolutely NO HELP what so ever. And even had the nerve to charge me for my monthly hosting fee. My brother said it could be weeks maybe months before they get it back up. I called a new hosting company and it could be a couple of days, or by next week. On a positive note, I am learning some techy stuff as I go along. So what have I been doing, since I CAN'T post, ACKK!!! I am in withdrawls, and besides FUN Monday, I have a post, but it can wait until FRIDAY, what I've been up to. I will leave you with a name and you can GOOGLE it if you want to , "Amy Butler". As for things going around the house, Lindsay learned a couple new words, she can say 'Socks' and she can say, "Good Girl" and "P Butter"! You all have a great day tomorrow!

Thirteen things that begin with "A"

1. Apple Crisp-

2. Antonio Bandaras-

3. Albuquerque-Not only because it is home to the World Famous International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta every year in October, but because of the gorgeous sunset display of the Sandia Mountains.

4. Apricot Jam-

5. Acapulco- This is the only beach I have been to on the Mexican Riveria. Besides it's gorgeous beaches and international restaurants, the most amazing thing I saw were the La Quebrada Cliff Divers.

6. Asparagus-

7. Arial-from the Disney movie "The Little Mermaid"

8. Victoria Secret's Dream Angel perfume

9. The movies "Are We There Yet", and "Are We Done Yet"

10.

The following is a sponsored review by: BabyBlogs.

BabyBlogs Is the Easy Way To Share Baby Photos to help announce the birth of your precious new addition, or a way to cherish the memory of your older children's birth stories. If you are looking for a great way to create an online photo journal of your baby to share with family and friends, that is very simple to use, doesn't cost a thing, with adorable premade templates. Then BabyBlogs is the answer that you are looking for. There are templates for baby girls, and baby boys, there are Easter and Christmas templates and ones for special seasons. Along with some cool templates with animals, like cows under a moon, and a frog, I'm sure you'd find one perfect for your little one.

There is no HTML codes to know, editing your title and posts you can do in a flash, changing your template and creating more pages is as easy as 1,2,3.

Here's a sample page for you to look at. You can have your own Baby Blog up in less than a minute. You just create your own private page URL, pick your template, upload your photos and write your journal. It's that simple.

I would recommend this as a great way to post an online photo journal without publishing a complete blog.

Thursday 13 Things that if you knew me, You'd know this About Me!

1. I love the Ocean. My favorite part is through walking through the surf, holding hands with the one I love while watching the Sunset.
2. I love to cook, simple, but nutrious food, that the family can get together at the table and relax and talk about their day. Now this doesn't happen every day at our house, but I love when it does.
3. I love my family, my husband and my kids to pieces.
4. I love pretty flowers. Thanks to Green Thumb Sunday, there is hope for my brown thumb yet!
5. I prefer cats to dogs. I like dogs too, it's just that Cats purr and can fit in my lap better, when I pet them.
6. I love to travel. Somebody says, "Road Trip!" I'm all packed and Out the Door before you can say, "Let's Go!"
7. Both my husband and son are Type 1 Diabetics. I'm very proud of my husband for stepping up and being a fine example of how you take care of yourself for our son. I just pray for a cure everyday. It just kills me to see them go through what they go through on a daily basis. Sure they try to maintain a normal sense of blood sugars, but it's gotten easier with technology. Seriously though it scares me half the time taking care of my son because he is so young, and he can't tell me all the time how he's feeling, if he's low, or if he's high.
8. I'm closest to my Grandmother.
9. My father passed away almost 10yrs ago at 52, and it was real hard for me, because he was the second closest person to me. He taught me to listen to people, and you really don't know a person, until you walk a mile in their BOOTS!
10. I've wanted to open my own restaurant. I like to eat. I love the idea of entertaining, so I'd invite everyone I'd know, just to come in for a good meal and a good time.
11. I love to do things with the kids, like finger paint, going to the library and feed the ducks,just listening to them. This is a good one. After watching CARS, my son asked me if we could go on Route 66! So I thought we'd cruise that one day!
12. I'm really starting to like taking pictures. PIC OF THE DAY!
13. What is one thing if we knew you, what would we know??

Picture provided by Lucianne

As nice as it is to Get Away, it is always so Nice to come HOME! We had a great visit with my Grandparents. My husband got me a new digi cam for Christmas, so I'll post pics later as soon as I figure out How to upload them to the computer. The funnest part of the trip was taking the kids about 20 min North towards Jerome,AZ up to play in the snow. It wasn't fresh snow, but they got to have their snowball fights. My grandmother had a couple little patches of snow up at her place, but most of it had allready melted. My favorite part of the trip was just spending time with her. I like helping her in the kitchen, and playing cards with her. With the pics I'll post more, but There is No Place Like Home! Hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year! I don't know about you, but I must be extremely technically challanged. I spent a couple hours going over the new camara's manuals on how to upload pics, and finally gave up. My husband came home and had it all ready in less than a minute. All he had to do is flick one switch! Argggggg!

I'm also starting Project 365 which I first saw over at Local Girl's last year, but decided I'd wait until New Years to start mine. Here's Pic 1! Let me know if you start one too, and I'll come over and visit yours.

It's Pass the Torch Tuesday-Classics Week!

One of my favorite PTT posts was written from Kelli.

10,000 Miles in Blue Streak.

She writes about what is her greatest memory about her mother.

Here is one of my own favorite posts about my daughter Marissa, and why she is my Right Hand daughter.

Pass the Torch Tuesday Guidelines: Every week, we share simple and stupendous times kids MAKE US PROUD. Just write about CATCHING A KID BEING GOOD, or if you’d prefer to share your story in comments, that’s fine as well! Complete guidelines and former PTT links are HERE .

Everyone have a Happy New Year!

Here's to another great year full of good times, laughter and love to all my good blogging friends!

I'll see all of you in 2007! Myspace Layouts

We've survived Christmas vacation so far, so good. Now we are off to find some SNOW! Some of our Christmas plans were remade. My grandparents who live in Prescott, AZ, were going to stop by and visit us on their way back from CA. They were visiting my Aunt and Uncle,my cousins, and their new Great-Grand baby who was born a little before Thanksgiving. My grandmother hasn't been quite diagnosed Type 2 diabetic, she's more borderline right now, just taking care of herself by monitoring her diet, wasn't feeling well, so we made plans to do our Christmas gift exchange with them this weekend. It's been raining the last couple days, so I'm hoping Sunday morning the kids will get to see Snow. They've been wanting to make a snowman and have snowball fights and maybe do a little sledding, so will just have to see what Jack Frost has planned. We should be back sometime later Sunday evening. What are your plans for this weekend? Do you have anything planned for New Years?

#124

Appetizer

How do you usually celebrate on New Year’s Eve?

I usually make some appetizers and finger foods. Call all my family, wishing them Happy New Year. The kids try to stay up, while we watch the Ball drop on TV. One year I'd like to go to New York to see it for real.

Soup

Name one thing unexpected that happened to you in 2006. Lindsay was born. Katelyn was supposed to be our last one, so having Lindsay was a very nice surprise. Salad

Where was your favorite place that you visited in 2006?

Our trip to Las Vegas. If I could afford it, I'd like to go once a year. Not to gamble, but just to do all the touristy things.

Main Course

What resolution is your top priority for 2007?

Eating healtier at lunchtime. Thanks to Candy Minx for offering her great lunchtime tips. It's not that I'm trying to diet, but eating out gets expensive, and I would like to eat better things for me than french fries and hamburgers. Dessert

Using just three words, describe 2006.

BUSY, Fast, Fun

Still hungry for more, check out these other great places to dine HERE!

For those of you who didn't play FF, I'll ask you

Where was your favorite place that you visited in 2006?

Thirteen Things I'd like to do in 2007!

Thanks to GoofyGirl for this cute TT Header!

1. I'd like to take the kids on more outings. More trips to the library, fun museums, join a Mom's club.

2. To read more. I'd like to try and read a book a month!

3. I love to cook. I'd like to get the family involved more with cooking dinner. Right now I cook 2 large meals for leftovers the next day, and then 2 regular meals, and leave one night to eat out, but.....

4. Lunch time is when I eat too much fast food, because I'm on the go from about 10:30-5:30, and have very little time for me to have a healthy lunch. So, I'd like to try and eat less fast food.

5. Start making scrapbooks for each of the kids.

6. I'm going to be looking in to Homeschooling Katelyn, possibly Josh too next year! For Katelyn because she would be a late starter in K, because of her late birthday, and I don't want her to miss out. Josh because of his health, I'd like to find a Mom's group of Juvenille Diabetics, so he could have some friends who also are learning to deal with the same thing.

7. I'd like to start drinking less Diet Pepsi, and more water. I'm not giving up my Coffee.

8. I'd like to try and be more patient with the kids and my husband. Have more laughs and fun!

9. Be more organized!

10. Take a room in the house a month and do something different with it! I'd like to paint our bedroom, fix up the bathrooms, put wood flooring in my daughter's room, just some examples.

11. This should have been #1, before the kids go back to school, I'd like to take them up to where the snow is. Katelyn's never seen snow, and Josh was 6mos old the last time he saw it. Maybe make a snowman, just depends on how much snow we see!

12. I'd like to take the whole family camping this coming fall, up North to Pinetop,AZ!

13. To have a more Peaceful Year, my whole family. We've had some situations, where we all could have had a little more patience and understanding, maybe even compromise more, or just to let it be!