Just thought I’d share this drawing my daughter did one morning while she was waiting on mommy and daddy to get up. She’s been very generous and let us sleep in a bit over Christmas Vacation.
I’m a proud mommy! Happy New Year!
Share Your New Year’s Resolutions
December 30, 2011 By 564 Comments
Resolutions just don’t last more than a week for me. Instead I like to try to just make small changes in my life that I know I can do. Which if you think about it, is probably the same as a resolution. It’s just the way I think about it. If I think of it differently I can make the change, a gradual change instead of a cold turkey change. Does that make sense because I’m getting funny looks from my husband as I write this post.
My Goal for next year is to get to know people at church. You may not believe this but I have severe social anxiety and being around people is really hard. Going on blog trips for 3 years now has helped me a lot, but even blog trips the numbers are usually small so it’s just like a small group of friends getting together so it’s a lot easier. Plus they are usually fun. I’m not saying church isn’t fun, I really like going to our new church. It’s my favorite church ever, but I’ve still had a hard time getting to know people because I feel so anxious.
I’ve been attending for a year and a half and I still don’t know very many people. My husband and I have started by getting a little more involved. Putting yourself out there is the only way to meet people right? Plus my kids would live up at the church if I let them. They ask to go to church every day, I never liked church that much. So that’s my main plan for 2012. My Blog Goals I would love to increase my numbers and stay active in the blogging community. That would make me really happy! Oh and get a sponsorship to BlogHer that would be nice too!
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What Do You Think About The Movie? I Don’t Know How She Does It
December 30, 2011 By 16 Comments
I love watching movies and as a mom that works at home I don’t have a lot of time for them. My husband and I might watch a little TV before bed, but when I say we watch TV we’re either watching 45 minutes of a movie, or an episode of Star Trek on Amazon Prime. Neither one of us have a lot of time to watch TV. The holidays have given me a little more time to watch a few movies. So I’d love your help in deciding if I should watch a certain movie or not. I’d love to know what you think of “I Don’t Know How She Does It” Have you seen it?
Anchor Bay Entertainment and The Weinstein Company are releasing I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT on Blu-ray™ and DVD on January 3, 2012. The highly relatable romantic comedy stars Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City) as Kate Reddy, a wife and mother trying to balance her career and her family life with hilarious results! The film also stars Pierce Brosnan (Die Another Day), Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine), Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men”), Kelsey Grammer (“Boss”), Seth Meyers (“Saturday Night Live”), and Olivia Munn (“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”) and is directed by Douglas McGrath (Emma, Infamous). Bonus features include a conversation with the bestselling author of the book, Allison Pearson and much more!
I love the actor line up. Sarah Jessica Parker is so cute, and Pierce Brosnan is so hot. Ok, he’s nice to look at and even better to listen to. I love that accent. What are your thoughts? Is this a good rental or purchase?
Tasty Treat: Family Fudge Recipe
December 30, 2011 By 21 Comments
This cold and holiday season has me completely lost on what day it is. Turns out it’s Friday not Thursday so here is our Tasty Treat Thursday By Summer, a day late but not lacking in chocolate or yumminess.
Summer’s Family Fudge
My parents have passed down a fudge recipe to me called “See’s Fudge”. They told me it was chocolate store, which wasn’t so big in the 1980s. Now See’s seems to be in every major mall area. I don’t really know where the recipe came from but my parents always made the best fudge; I, on the other hand, have not made this fudge successfully in the 9 years I’ve tried UNTIL this year thanks to marrying my parent’s ingredients with directions from Weight Watcher’s fudge (as recommended by a friend).
Here is how I FINALLY made successful fudge this Christmas:
This is the sugar, evaporated milk, and butter. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly,
This is the chocolate, marshmallows, vanilla, and nuts.
Family Fudge Recipe:
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
5 fluid ounces evaporated milk
1 cup butter
18 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
10 ounces of marshmallows
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts (as desired)
Directions:
1. Grease an 8×8 pan.
2. In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar, evaporated milk, and butter. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes.
3. Stir in chocolate, marshmallows, vanilla, and nuts. Remove pan from heat and stir until smooth.
4. Pour mixture into greased pan and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. Cut and serve.
About Summer:
Summer is very active in our Local MOMS Club chapter, she is the mother of two adorable active boys, and is always thinking of ways to help others. She is a friend, a wife, and always busy as all mommies are. She is very active on Facebook, addicted to Geocaching and very interested in organic and green living while cooking up a storm
Our Favorite Little Point & Shoot: The Sony DSC-WX9 Cyber Shot Camera
December 29, 2011 By 12 Comments
I always joke about being remembered as the blogger with the big camera. I remember meeting people as I started traveling for MomStart and then people would say Oh yeah, you’re the blogger with the big camera. You see, I have a Canon 50D and I love it, but it’s huge and heavy, so I’m always looking for a little point and shoot camera that meets my needs but I’m always disappointed. Until I met the Sony DSC-WX9 Cyber Shot!
Sony’s DSC-WX9 Cyber-shot camera is as lightweight as it is functional. With easy-to-use features like automatic snapshots it is truly user-friendly and portable, perfect for those “mini-photographers” out there. This rechargeable WX9 prides itself on a high performance video mode, with features such as “Sweep Panorama” mode and a “Superior Auto” mode and has an ultra, high-resolution 921,000-dot screen for crystal clear images. The WX9 starts at $199.99 and comes in red, silver and black.
That’s the sales pitch and here’s what I like:
The Sony Cyber Shot takes great shots and works faster than any other point and shoot we’ve ever tested. My kids are used to the instant camera and getting them to sit still for other cameras is impossible. I love that we’re still able to capture them with this camera. I also love how small and compact it is. I can put it in my purse. The kids can carry it and they can take really great photos with it all by themselves. My husband’s favorite photo now is this one that my daughter took with the Sony Cyber-Shot.
Plus Miles took this one
The camera also performs very well at night. While I was out of town they all went to Bellevue for the snow, and captured great shots of the fun and sent them to me so I could see what they were up to. For low-light environments, the back-illuminated "Exmor R" CMOS sensor delivers stunning performance and increases sensitivity by 2x to reduce noise. With a built-in backlight correction feature, this camera intelligently analyzes the image and adjusts its settings automatically.Intelligent Sweep Panorama™ HR mode reaches beyond the traditional wide angle lens in incredibly detailed high resolution.
Basically the AUTO on this camera is amazing. The Auto on the Sony Cyber Shot is better than the AUTO on our Canon 50D.
For my husband it’s great that it has the stabilization he has really shaky hands. The Optical SteadyShot™ image stabilization uses a built-in gyro sensor to detect camera shake and automatically shifts the lens to help prevent blur without sacrificing image quality. In addition to the stabilization is the Anti-motion blur mode. When set in Anti-motion Blur Mode, the DSC-WX9 captures six images in a fraction of a second with higher shutter speed and combines the data from all six to create a single image of extraordinary detail and dramatically reduce subject blur, beyond the capability of traditional cameras.
The Sony WX9 Cyber Shot actually takes great HD video too. you can transfer full 1080i clarity and smooth motion. You can record crystal clear movies at the highest resolution available with capabilities for 60i in 1080 AVCHD. This provides stunning, fast motion video with less distortion for playback on your HD TV.
Here’s what I don’t like.
Of course with any smaller point and shoot it’s going to be slower, but it is the fastest I’ve ever used
I also dislike the red eye that it seems to pick up and it doesn’t charge over USB, we think it should.
Overall we’re very happy with the Sony Cyber Shot! My husband loves this camera and whenever he LOVES a piece of technology I feel that’s a HUGE stamp of approval because he stays up to date with all things techy!
We received a camera to review from Sony.
Giveaway Jingle Link Up Your Giveaway & Have it Tweeted Find Out How!!
December 29, 2011 By 7 Comments
Sorry guys, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve been able to post this. I’ve had a few complications with Mister Linky and I finally got them resolved so we’ll be back in business with Giveaway Jingle from now on and Wordless Wednesdays will be back in January. YEAH!!!
You’ve got a giveaway, I want to know about it! Oh, and if you list your giveaway on Mom Start Facebook page then I will tweet it out to all of my twitter followers. If you could link directly to the giveaway you want me to tweet that would be very helpful, even more helpful would be for you to leave the exact thing you want tweeted. But whatever works for you! . I’m currently at 18,159 followers and growing all the time! Cool? I hope so!
I’ve got a few giveaways you might want to check out too!
New Cold-EEZE Oral Homeopathic Spray Review
December 29, 2011 By 8 Comments
By: Ashley: This is her experience with Cold-EEZE your experience my differ!
If you’d like to talk about hilarious coincidences in timing, I’ve got one for you and it involves the new Cold-EEZE Homeopathic Spray. Just a few days before Christmas, I was with my son in his room when the music turned a little eerie, everything froze, and a deep booming voice said “You’re getting sick.” Okay, so maybe it wasn’t exactly like that, but if it was a commercial, it would have been. The next part is even better. The mailman came to my door carrying a package. As I grabbed a tissue to catch a sneeze on the way to the door, I accepted my fate. I ripped into the package from the mailman and what did I find? New Cold-EEZE Oral Spray was in my hands just waiting to help fight my sickness. Talk about timing, right?
Cold-EEZE (you might know as lozenges) now comes in a handy spray. This homeopathic treatment helped me combat the common cold, at least I felt like it did. It contains zinc gluconate which is the same active ingredient in the #1 pharmacist recommended Cold-EEZE Lozenges. The Parent Tested Parent Approved (PTPA) Organization also gave Cold-EEZE its seal of approval.
Back to my movie-esque story… I can honestly say that I used Cold-Eeze Oral Spray and my horrible cold (head congestion, mild fever, achiness, headache, sore throat, THE WORKS) did not last as long as my colds usually do. I have to admit that I only used the spray 3 times as the taste just wasn’t for me. I honestly think that Cold-EEZE Oral Spray is what helped me get my last minute shopping finished, Christmas Eve dinner on the table, and actually enjoy some of Christmas with my family.
After trying Cold-EEZE Oral Spray when I actually had a cold, and seeing (better yet, feeling) the results for myself, I would definitely recommend it to a friend… like all of the MomStart readers.
Disclosure – A product was provided to me free of charge by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the writing of this review; however, opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.
About Ashley:
Ashley has a background in teaching Kindergarten and working with children K through 8th grade. She is now a SAHM and active with our local MOMS Club chapter. She writes her own blog at Momicles.
Act Fast $100 AMEX Gift Card Flash #Giveaway **ENDED**
December 29, 2011 By 34 Comments
I don’t know how much you guys follow me on Facebook but I’ve been thinking about ways to increase my Facebook interaction. Not just my personal page but also my Fanpage. I know that my activity level has been quite low with the holidays and it’s been low because of a few other things, but that’s all fixed and I’m ready for ideas!
Jeana at Deals4Dummies set up this fantastic flash giveaway using rafflecopter. I’ve only used it two times in the past and I’m starting to like it more than I used to. A Flash giveaway ends quickly. This one will end in four hours so act fast. Jeana will be picking a winner and posting it on her site. I’ll also update this post but probably not until tomorrow!
Enter to Win
100.00 American Express Gift Card!
To Enter:
Follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter Form.
Thanks to Deals4Dummies for organizing and hosting this giveaway! This giveaway ends 12/29 9:01 PM PT
Prize: $100 Amex Gift Card to be snail mailed to winner
Giveaway Start: 12/29 8pm EST
Giveaway End: 12/30 12:01am EST
= 4 hour FLASH giveaway!
For The Love Of Doctor Who: Doctor Who Timeline Infographic
December 28, 2011 By 18 Comments
I saw this on Facebook, my SIL liked it and posted it on her page and I just LOVED it. I’m such a geek for Doctor Who! We even started watching Doctor Who from the very from the very beginning on Amazon Prime with 15 minute episodes that take an entire season to get through one story line. The 1963 Doctor played by William Hartnell was the very first Doctor. We loved how the music is pretty much the same, it’s just been updated a little bit.
Then watching old fashion Doctor Who led to our Star Trek original series addiction. We took a break in Star Trek to watch part two of Season Six part 2 of Doctor Who for BBC. So in all my geekiness, I present the Timeline of Doctor Who!
Via: CableTV.com
Who is your favorite Doctor Who?
Super Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things by Cy Tymony
December 28, 2011 By 11 Comments
Review By Summer:
My husband is an engineer and loves to tinker around the house with his dad when they either visit us or when we visit them. My oldest son (almost 5YO) is following in his footsteps and we fondly call him MacGyver once a week for his “inventions”. I’d say 50% of these inventions are LEGO created, but the other half are from things found around the house.
Do you have a child like my MacGyver? Cy Tymony, the author of SUPER SNEAKY Uses for Everyday Things, was also a child-MacGyver; he spent time reading comic books; studying sciences –auto mechanics, electronics, video and audio technology, computer science; learning and practicing martial arts as well as security and survival techniques as a child turning him into the Renaissance man he is today.
Tymony has crafted mainly projects that can be completed in just minutes using common items already found around the house. For instance, turn paperclips into batteries, levitating picture frame, an alarm, or games like foosball or vibrating football. Other inventions include Radio-Controlled Car Projects, Flying Disc, Mini Boomerang, Electrical Generator, and Wild, Wild Vest among many other inventions. If you want a taste for the types of projects you and/or your child would be in for than you should check out Tymony’s Free Projects and Super Gadgets.
Super Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things is the eighth book in this “sneaky” series. Cy Tymony has also authored SNEAKY Uses for Everyday Things, SNEAKIER Uses for Everyday Things, SNEAKIEST Uses for Everyday Things, The SNEAKY Book for Boys, The SNEAKY Book for Girls, Sneaky Science Tricks, and Sneaky Green Uses for Everyday Things.
About Summer:
Summer is very active in our Local MOMS Club chapter, she is the mother of two adorable active boys, and is always thinking of ways to help others. She is a friend, a wife, and always busy as all mommies are. She is very active on Facebook, addicted to Geocaching and very interested in organic and green living while cooking up a storm
