The kids are grown, now what?: December 2012

Monday, December 31, 2012

Disney's Oz The Great and Powerful Road to the Emerald City Sweepstakes

Disney's Oz the Great and Powerful opens in theaters on March 8. I am so excited for this movie and not sure that I can wait that long!

Hot White Chocolate with Chocolate Marshmallow Whipped Cream

We have had bitter cold in South Dakota lately. Nothing warms me up better than a mug of hot chocolate. I wanted to change things up a little so I made a cup of Hot White Chocolate. Then to make it even yummier I made a Chocolate Marshmallow whipped cream that I so delicious you will want to eat it from the bowl!

Lucky 13 New Years Give Away Event

Welcome to the LUCKY ’13 New Years Giveaway Hop hosted by BloggerPR! In order to kickoff 2013 with a BANG, BloggerPR decided to organize an event to celebrate the new year with some amazing prizes! Each of our participating bloggers is giving away a prize valued at $20 or more. This event will run from December 29th until January 12th, which gives you plenty of time to hop down the linky list below. Good Luck & Happy New Year!

Cuddletunes is the world's only teddy bear that helps to keep families connected. The bear is adorable and has an MP3 player built into it. The MP3 player has up to 3 hours of storage. Fill it with messages to your child, music your child with love, read stories and record them for your child. All you need to do to update the MP3 is to log into the Cuddletunes web site.

Link up your giveaways. Please have them in the following format:

Great Prize US 4/2 Leave me a comment after you link up!

Enter some giveaways!

Have fun!

The Cost of Healthcare

I injured my back 8 years ago. I had to move a car and it wasn't running so I had no choice but to push it. I had just a vague ache after I was done moving the car but the next morning I was in agony. It took me nearly an hour to inch myself out of bed. I went to the hospital and they diagnosed it as a severe sprain. After a month of pain meds and muscle relaxants I was still in pain but now my leg would suddenly go numb and I would just drop. It was time for an MRI.

End of the World Giveaway Linky

It's the end of the world as we know it! Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But one thing is for sure and that this is a holiday weekend. Let's get the giveaways started early!

Disney Pixar Monsters, INC. 3D

Do you know what opens in theaters today? Disney/Pixar's Monsters, INC. in 3D. I love Monsters, INC. I am especially in love with Boo. She is too cute for words. I am so excited about seeing it on the big screen again and this time in 3D! I have some Monsters, INC. fun for you! First check out the trailer and then print out these awesome activity sheets!

Sweet & Salty Snack Mix

In my family, the holiday season means that we make treats to give to our friends. One of the things I like to do is prepare a sweet & salty snack mix and put it into holiday snack bags or some type of holiday container. Everyone loves a good snack mix and something sweet & salty will satisfy almost everyone!

Sunday, December 16, 2012

A Broken Heart

We as a nation are suffering from a broken heart following the loss of so many innocent lives. This is not a story about gun control laws. This is not a story about right versus left. This is a story about mental illness. To make it about anything else would be a crime. My friend Wendy suggested that I read this article by Liza Long. It is a sad but true reality for many mothers. If you have not read it yet, then go read it. I will wait.

This is a giveaway like no other! You will not believe the PRIZES we have for you!! We're giving away multiple prizes including Gift Cards, KitchenAid Mixer, Keurig Mini, a Dyson, and a believe it or not...a 3 month paid internship! This is a full 3 week event with prizes all throughout! Make sure to keep coming back to not only do daily entries but to check the winners list!

Way Back When...

Way back when in the days of old and the internet was in its infancy, there were not a lot of great internet service providers. In fact there were 3; AOL, GEnie and Prodigy. This was in the days that dinosaurs roamed the earth and to access the internet you had to have a dial-up modem.

Mixing in the New Year - KitchenAid Give Away

Mixing In The New Year!

KitchenAid Stand Mixer Giveaway!

Happy New Year From Grandma Juice & The Kids Are Grown!

Can you believe it's the end of the year already? Doesn't it seem like each year goes by just a little faster than the last one? In just 2 short weeks, the holiday fuss will be over and life will be back to normal. Whatever 'normal' is on your street, we know one thing for sure! Everyone has their eyes on a new KitchenAid Stand Mixer to whip up some fabulous new dishes this coming year. RonMel Events is at it again! For this super special giveaway, we've asked the coolest bloggers we know to help you get Mixing In The New Year in style! Yep! 1 very lucky winner will receive a brand new KitchenAid Stand Mixer! We know it's something on everyone's 'Wish List'. And, we aim to make sure someone gets to cross that one off!

Having kids means there are a lot of sticky situations. When my kids were little it wasn't a regular day without one! Meal time and craft time always seems to be the stickiest and messiest of time of the day. Using a men's button down shirt as a cover up during meal time and craft time kept most of the mess off their clothes and then I would use Wet Ones for their hands and faces.

Have you finished your gift shopping yet? I am almost done. I have only 2 people left on my list. Now it's my turn to dream about gifts that I would like to appear at my house.

Thank you for following these pages.

Link up your giveaways. Please have them in the following format:

Great Prize US 4/2 Leave me a comment after you link up!

Enter some giveaways!

Have fun!

The Fear of Things to Come Book Tour & Give Away

I was such a weird child. As you know, holiday time means that more catalogs arrive in the mail. When I was a little girl we received wonderful catalogs that became my wish list. Some of the catalogs had toys, others had books and the best always had Gift Hampers filled with gourmet food that I was dying to try.

Chicken Stew and Dumplings {Gluten Free}

Chicken & Dumplings is a big part of your life if you are married to a Southerner. I gave them up when we went gluten free. When I saw this recipe in Best of Bridge Slow Cooker Cookbook: 200 Delicious Recipes (The Best of Bridge), I knew I had to give it a try! The dumplings were perfect! They were light and fluffy and delicious. Give it a try and let me know what you think! Of course I made some changes to match the ingredients that I have on hand. This recipe reflects the changes that I made.

Sin City Rules on TLC

Did you have a chance to check out the newest reality show on TLC? If not and you like watching train wrecks then you HAVE to check it out! Read the blurb about the show from TLC:

Can You Help Me Stop the Bullies?

My friend Sadie over at Slap Dash Mom has a post about her daughter who has been bullied at school. The school REFUSES to do ANYTHING about this. We as parents, as humans need to come together to stop this before this child becomes another statistic.

Check out Jenelle's Video and then read her story at the link below.

Can You Help Me Stop the Bullies? - UPDATED 12/7 - SlapDashMom.com:

'via Blog this'

Zoobies #GiftGuide

There are 3 things that every child wants, comfort, fun and something of their very own. That's where Zoobies comes in. Zoobies aims to fulfill these wants with their 3 C's mission.

I love gifts that give back. In this season of giving it's nice to buy gifts that do something besides please the recipient.

There are certain foods that I think of as Foods of the Gods. Bacon, Lobster and Avocado are a few. Give me a ripe avocado, a squirt of lime and a sprinkle of Kosher salt and I am in heaven.

Wacky Weekend Giveaway Linky 12/7/12

Link up your giveaways. Please have them in the following format:

Great Prize US 4/2 Leave me a comment after you link up!

Enter some giveaways!

Have fun!

Fashion From Midnight Velvet #GiftGuide

I like pretty clothes. I am a plus sized girl living in a town that for some reason services only teeny tiny stick girls. There are two places in town to shop for plus size clothing, neither one of those places has a very good selection. Needless to say, when I want something nice to wear I look online.

Did you know that Lego has been around since 1949? The first time I became aware of Lego was during a trip to a New York museum in the 60's. At the museum (I can't remember which museum) I saw wondrous displays of impossible things made with Lego. I was mesmerized.

Are you an oenophile? An oenophile is a wine lover. I am an oenophile! Last month I told you a little about The California Wine Club. This month I received the holiday shipment from The California Wine Club and I am in wine heaven!

Rainbow Monkey Hanger Kickstarter Campaign

I found the cutest hangers! They are called Rainbow Monkey Hangers and they are so cute that I wish my kids were still little because they would have loved using these! They have a Kickstarter campaign going on. They hope to come up with the funds so they can start producing and selling these cute hangars. Check out this video:

One of my favorite web sites when looking for recipes is My Recipes.com. They have recipes from some of my favorite magazines. It's a wonderful resource for any level of cooking expertise.

Take Control of Your Finances in the New Year

One of the things that happens to us during the holidays is over spending. I love gift giving and usually end up going way over budget. I found a free program that will help me take back control of my finances! It's a series of educational emails and it's free! Click the image to sign up.

I love cooking with wine. Wine brings so much flavor to food. Traditionally, Coq Au Vin is made with red wine so I was very intrigued by this recipe that uses white wine. This recipe is adapted from America's Favorite Food: 200 top-rated recipes from the country's best magazines.

A Letter From Me to You

Do you remember the day we met? It was over by that strangely phallic statue in Scoville Park. I was sitting on one of the benches talking to Jimmy and you stopped by. You quickly became my sanity, my protector, my world and the love of my life.

Skincerity Give Away

Bobbie from Blog with Mom reviewed Skincerity, a night time breathable Masque and discovered that it is not only useful for anti-aging but also works well at healing scar tissue. Bobbie had knee surgery earlier this year and began using Skincerity, a night time breathable Masque on her scar. She saw definite improvement. Make sure you check out her review!

Short Ribs are one of my favorite cuts of beef. They cook up so tender and full of flavor. The meat just falls off the bone. It is comfort food that is perfect for a cold winter day. Short Ribs tend to be expensive but I tend to hang out in the clearance meat section and I jump on any expensive cuts of meat that suddenly become affordable! This recipe serves two but can easily be doubled for more.

Since our income doesn't always meet the demands of our lives, saving money can be difficult. But we try. One of the easiest things to do is never pay with exact change. We save all of the change we receive in a jar. You would be surprised at how quickly it adds up. Once the jar gets full we wither cash it in or start a new jar. If we keep adding new jars we find that in a few months time we have a couple hundred dollars with almost no effort.

World AIDS Day 2012

More than 25 million people have died from AIDS since 1981. There are approximately 33 million people currently living with AIDS worldwide and 3.4 million of these people are children.

Last Christmas I shopped at Novica for my daughter's gift. Then I shopped there again for my birthday and a few other days during the year. I am in love with Novica! The products they offer are all handmade by artisans all over the world. Each gift comes beautifully gift wrapped with a card from the artist.