Are You Afraid of the Dark?

On my cousins blog I noticed her little girl was having a hard time sleeping because she was afraid to be alone in her room at night. I thought I would post the problem on here and see if the "collective genius" had any genius solutions! Anyone have a good method of helping children not be scared at night?

Friday's Faves-Cleaning Supplies

I thought it would be great if every Friday we share our favorite things from a certain category. If everyone can share the things they love, the rest of us can know what we are missing out on! Today's fascinating topic-cleaning supplies. I've been doing a whole bunch of cleaning recently in preperation for moving and I LOVE Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser. It really does get most things off of the walls, doors, and baseboards. Look at the following pictures for an example. My sweet boy thought he would draw on the wall the other day. Sigh. Just when you think someone knows better. (In case you are wondering it is basically a sign meaning "No Girls Allowed".) Well, as soon as it was discovered I handed HIM the magic eraser and he cleaned it off himself. It works on crayons and even gets most scuffs off of baseboards and the bottom of doors. Its fabulous!
OK now I want to know what you can't live without!

The Rhythm is Gonna Get You

I am doing a super long run on Saturday and I need your help with my playlist. I can't find enough songs to fill the time. Any suggestions? Its okay if you don't work out-Just send me your favorite song that pumps you up and makes you feel good!

Old Navy Weekly

For those of you Old Navy shoppers that don't know already....
You need to check out www.oldnavyweekly.com for fabulous deals. I've been told to check it on Thursday or early Friday mornings for the best deals. They sometimes have "$75 off your purchase of $100 or more." I know a lot of you know about it already but I had to share, just in case.

FHE Ideas

From Stephanie:
"I am totally failing on having FHE at our house. Diego will be 3 next month, and I feel like it's time to try to get into a routine. I'm wondering if anyone has any quick and easy FHE ideas, or books that they've enjoyed with this age group. One cool idea I've heard is to use the Gospel Art Picture kit which have quick summaries on the back of the pictures. Then you just pull out a picture, read the quick summary, and you're done. I love this idea because it doesn't involve much planning. The kit is $35 or something though, and I haven't splurged for it yet. Any other great ideas out there?"

Grilled Pizza Recipe

Many people have asked for the recipe Derek uses to make grilled pizza so here it is. Just in time for the long weekend. Hopefully everyone has nice enough weather to barbecue! (This recipe was from the Wall Street Journal.)
Pizza Dough
Yield: Enough dough for 4 12-inch pizzas or 6-8 personal pizzas
Prep Time: 30 minutes to make the dough, plus 2 hours and 40 minutes to rise
(Note: If you don't have a standing mixer, knead the dough by hand.)

5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
Olive Oil

• Place 5 cups of flour and the salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment.
• Sprinkle the yeast over 1/2 cup of warm water (105 degrees to 110 degrees) in a small bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes, then add 1 1/2 cup cool water and pour over hte flour. Mix on low speed until the dough comes together. Scrape down the bowl, and continue to mix until the dough is smooth and tacky but not sticky-wet, about 10 minutes (add more flour if dough is sticky.)
• Place the dough in a large oiled bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Press the dough to deflate and knead once. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 40 minutes. Deflate again and evenly divide into 4 to 8 pieces.
• After rising, the dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 hours before grilling. Let the rounds sit out at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before proceeding.
• Here the recipe says to use hardwood lump charcoal but we just put ours on the gas grill because that is all we have.
• Invert a cookie sheet and generously grease it with olive oil. Place a dough round on top and flattenit with your hands until it is an even disc about 1/16 inch thick.
• Lift the dough by the two corners closest to you and drape it onto the grill. Grill until the dough puffs and has grill marks.
• Using tongs, flip the crust over onto the cool part of the grill. Brush the top with olive oil and add toppings.
• Rotate the pizza often to make sure it evenly browns and does not burn.

My favorite toppings:
1) Grilled Pizza with Tomato, Basil and Prosciutto
This is my favorite kind but is also the most expensive. Here are the ingredients to make two 12-inch pizzas.

1 cup shredded fontina cheese
2 tablespoons finely grated Pecorino-Romano cheese
3/4 cup chopped canned tomatoes in heavy puree
2 finely minced garlic cloves
16 roughly torn basil leaves
12 paper-thin slices of prosciutto

Top with garlic and cheese. Spon dollops of the tomato sauce over the cheese and drizzle with olive oil. After the cheese melts, remove from the grill and add basil and prosciutto.

2) Barbecue chicken
This one is SOOO easy! You just grill a chicken breast then dice it. When the dough is ready you spread barbeque sauce, mozzerella, chicken chunks, and pineapple.

You really can top them with anything you want and it makes a great pizza! A fabulous alternative to the old hot dogs and hamburgers when you want to have a barbecue.

Blog Questions For You

Okay all you blogging geniuses out there-I've got a friend who would like to know how to make a photo slide show and post it on her blog. Anyone know how?
And on that same note, anyone know why my layout keeps disappearing? I did it the same way as my Kellerspace layout and that one is still there. Very curious.
Anyone else have any blog questions? I know there are some of you out there with questions and some of you with the answers!

Plumped Breasts?

I usually buy this bag of chicken at Costco. I would prefer to buy the not-frozen chicken but never do because I always thought it was way more expensive.....Until....

....Derek sent me this link to an article in Wall Street Journal.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124148395729085669.html

I guess I had never actually read the package to realize that some chicken is pumped with up with salt water, up to 8% of the weight in my bag of chicken can be salt water!

If you read the front of the bag it says "All Natural Ingredients" but I have never wondered why my chicken even has ingredients except CHICKEN. This "plumped" chicken has about 10 times as much salt as a normal chicken breast. In the article it says most plumped chicken has as much salt as fast food french fries per serving. AND there are two servings in each breast. So if you eat a whole one yourself, you are ingesting some serious sodium.

Also, get this:
The chicken companies make about 2 billion a year off of the salt water they pump into the chicken. Once its in the chicken they are essentially selling it by the pound at chicken prices. Who knew?

And in case you are wondering here is how the price breaks down:

The fresh chicken is $2.99 /lb but is not plumped with salt water.
The frozen chicken turns out to be about $2.61/lb but when you consider that not all of that weight is actually chicken (figuring 8% is salt water) the actual chicken costs $2.84/lb. Not too far off the unplumped chicken plus its not as good for you.

Now that I know this, I noticed that other things are plumped with salt water too, like this fish.

The article also has many other things to watch out for. Did you know that if a package says 0 trans fats that it doesn't necessarily mean there aren't any? The manufacturers get to round down. So sometimes they can manipulate the service size so that there are .49 grams of trans fats and then they get to say there are zero! If you truly want to know if there are trans fats you have to read the label and look for ingredients that say "partially hydrogenated oil, hydrogenated oil or shortening." If the food contains any of these ingredients it can't be completely trans fat free.

I could go on, but if you want to know more the article probably does a better job of explaining this than me!

Did you know this already or is it just me that doesn't read the package? Anyone know of any other secrets or things to watch out for in our seemingly "healthy" processed foods?

Too old for Tuck-in?

In case you didn't see the comment:
This is from my friend Desiree about her boys that are ages 11 and 7.
"Anyone have an opinion on whether or not I should continue to "tuck" my kids in. I do every night. BOTH of them. But Jared says they are too old, and some nights I am annoyed with the process and agree... but mostly enjoy it. Advice on the matter?"

Up With the Birds

This is my bed. It is very comfortable. It is empty nearly every morning by 6:00am. So sad. :(
My children are early risers. I complain about it a lot. It wouldn't be so bad but it just gets old that is every day, weekends and holidays!
I would love to know what time everyone else's children get up. Mostly to know if I can feel sorry for myself or not! But also I think it would be interesting for all of us to see what other kids are doing.
Here are the approximate sleep schedules of my children:
They both go to bed between 7:30pm and 8:00pm.
Eliza (age 2) wakes up at least once in the middle of the night to pee
Tyson (age 4) randomly wakes up sometimes in the middle of the night also.
They wake up between 5:30 and 6:30am.
Eliza naps between 1:00pm and 3:00pm.
Tyson and nap don't even belong in the same sentence because that would be a small miracle if that ever happened.
I seriously wonder all the time if this is normal. I know other people with children who wake up early but is it normal or the exception?
Any more tips out there for getting children to sleep longer in the morning?
The Baby Whisperer has a method called "Wake-to-Sleep" where you gently wake the child up an hour or so before they usually wake up. They are supposed to go right back to sleep because they will still be tired. This will start their sleep cycle over and, if all goes according to plan, they should sleep longer that morning. If you do this for several nights she says they will start sleeping longer on their own without your intervention. I have tried it a few times and they do sleep longer on that day but I've never stuck with it long enough to see if I can permanently change their sleep. Has anyone out there tried this before? Just curious.

But...yawn...I'm too tired

Most days I feel like a slug by lunchtime. I usually am so tired that I don't have much motivation to make a good lunch. Afterward, I drag myself up the stairs and put Eliza down for a nap. Then I read with Tyson for a little bit until all the words start slurring. Tyson then usually watches a movie while I go crash. I don't need to sleep for long but I always lament the time I spend zonked out while my kids are otherwise occupied. I could get so much done during this time! So I decided to do a little research about how to get more energy. Thought I would share with you my findings, because I think I'm not alone here. At least I tell myself that so I don't feel super lazy!
(Disclaimer: This is just what I read on the internet, which means it might not all be absolutely scientific and 100% factual. )

Lets start with DIET:

• Eat several small meals and snacks throughout the day instead of three large meals. That way your body has a steady supply of nutrients and you will avoid overeating (which can make you drowsy).
• Eat foods with low glycemic indexes-their sugars are absorbed more slowly. These include whole grains, high fiber vegetables, and proteins.
• Make sure you have enough Vitamin C and Vitamin B12. A deficiency in both will cause fatigue.
• Don't smoke-nicotine is a stimulant which raises your heart rate and your blood pressure and can cause insomnia.
• Use caffeine sparingly-it is also a stimulant that can give you a temporary fix but could leave you more fatigued in the end. It can also cause insomnia (not to mention addiction!)
• Drink Water!!!! The first symptom of being short of fluids is fatigue. You can skip sugary drinks (like juice and soda) and cut out the sports drinks unless you are participating in a demanding endurance event. Water is what we need to drink to be properly hydrated.
• Other foods that can make you tired: Turkey, milk, foods high in fat, alcohol, and just plain overeating.

Now lets move on to SLEEP:

• Get 8 hours of sleep at night-if you can. (Babies and children sometimes are not cooperative in this arena) Going to bed earlier sometimes is the only option some of us have.
• Take a power nap in the afternoon if possible. (Yes! This is a relief to me.) Our bodies are designed for a quick nap in the afternoon because we naturally get tired then. But keeping it between 15-30 minutes is the key. Longer naps can be harder to wake from and they can also interfere with night time sleep.

And now to EXERCISE:

• Exercise a little every day. Even if its just a 15 minute walk. It helps you to sleep more soundly, gives your cells more energy to burn, promotes better oxygen circulation, and helps to release epinephrine and norepinephrine (a hormone that helps you to feel energized).
• And this category-I will just call SIMPLIFYING:
• Reduce stress-Stress induced emotions can be very draining.
• Avoid being overworked-ha!
• Disorganization and chaos can waste energy as you try to navigate through it.
• Being around negative people can alter your mood and being in a negative mood makes you tired.
• Technological tie-downs-Being available 100% of the time through phones and email-take a break people!
• Having too much stuff-Its too hard to actually use and maintain all that stuff we collect.
• Being angry-Count to 10 and learn to forgive.

Last but certainly not least is MEDICAL ISSUES.

• Many physical problems can cause fatigue. To name a few: infections, diabetes, thyroid disease, anemia, depression, and pregnancy. In fact, one website I looked at gave 2704 medical reasons for being tired. If you try all the other tips and still are chronically fatigued it may be time to see a doctor.

No more dragging myself through the latter half of the day. I am going to start right now to try to improve my energy. Who's with me?! Anyone else have anything they do that helps?

Here are the sites I used to get this info:
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/sym/fatigue.htm
http://www.healthmad.com/Health/Energy-Zappers.40735
http://ezinearticles.com/?Five-Foods-That-Can-Zap-Your-Energy&id=1366918
https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/HEALTHbeat_060706.htm#art1
http://www.ehow.com/how_4510647_get-more-energy-naturally.html

What's the "Deal" with Coupons?

I have run into some coupon websites recently and I have been honestly amazed at some of the extreme deals to be had. Free toothpaste, 50 cent mouthwash, and $60 in groceries for 33 cents? This is crazy! The idea is intriguing to me but here is my problem. I don't have any idea what most of the websites are talking about. They have their own little lingo and I don't know what it means. For example: "04/26 RP $3.00/2" or "Use TWO $1/1 from 5/3 P&G".
Does anyone know of a place beginners can go to learn the lingo?
Also, anyone recommend some good coupon sites?
I was also wondering if anyone who is into this can tell us if it is worth it? Do you really save enough money on the stuff you need to make it worth the time and effort? Do you buy a ton of stuff you wouldn't have otherwise spent money on because it is such a good deal?