Yahoo for Yahtzee

Here is another idea from my fabulous sister. A super cheap way to have fun with the fam.

"We have been playing a lot of Yahtzee recently. I bought a set of five dice at Walmart for $1.24 and have been printing off the score cards from the internet. That's all you need."

Click Here for the score card.


Have fun! (If you have any other fun family ideas or games please share!)

Updated Blogger Editor

Just in case you don't already know...
There is a new editor for blogger. Just click the settings tab, then the basic tab. Scroll to the bottom until it says "Global Settings" and click the radio button for the updated editor.
You can read about the new improvements HERE
Happy Blogging!

Halloween Costume Ideas

Originally, I sat down to try to compile a link list of cute Halloween costume ideas, especially for the kids. I failed. I failed big time. I can't even find anything that has cute ideas. If you have found a site that has even one good Halloween Costume idea send it my way. I think the internet search for this category is so frustrating because "Halloween Costumes" is such a popular search. It makes it very difficult to wade through all the junky sites to find something good. Please let us know if you have found one! OR share your idea here. I'll post a few things I've done in the past 

Last year the kids were Super Why and Princess Presto. I made both of these costumes by adapting other patterns. The mask was made out of cardboard, hot glue, and fabric. The logo was downloaded and printed on iron-on paper. Throw some capes on and you've got reading super heros!

Here we have a tinkerbell complete with wings from the dollar spot and pom poms attached to her shoes.(I know its not a very good picture but I didn't have many to choose from)

The first kids costume I ever made. Just black pants and shirt with 4 pairs of purple socks. (One for babies feet, one for babies hands, and two pairs for the other legs. Body suit was sewn out of purple fur and four black legs were attached at the sides. Pretty easy as far as sewing goes.

And my personal favorite-The Ewok. This was the best and the easiest costume I've ever made (No sewing involved as long as you can find a bear outfit). Its just a bear costume (from Children's Place I think) with a burlap hood that I fashioned. I just added a few little decorations with beads and leather strips and there you have it-an Ewok.

Ok-If you have a good idea or know where we can find good ideas, post them here!

How Do I Start?-Photography

This is from my good and talented friend Rachel. Thanks Rach!

"I've always been a picture-taking person. I have a terrible memory and taking pictures helps cure me of that. But I didn't realize what poor quality my pictures were, nor did I care, until I had kids. Then all of a sudden, my point-and-shoot that only shot literally 3 times per minute, became less than sufficient. I got so frustrated with that camera, which also craved batteries every other day, for missing so many precious moments of my kids. I needed a camera that could do quick continuous shots. I also realized that standing in line at Wal-Mart with 2 kids to edit all my photos on their little machine just wasn't going to work anymore. I had a lot to learn!

Like a lot of people, I first found inspiration through a friend. She took my kids out on a photo shoot one day. Her results, compared to mine, were amazing. I told myself I wanted to learn how to do that. But I had no idea that so much time and money goes into learning how to take the kind of pictures I wanted to! Baby steps...

I started with the camera. So many people prefer a point and shoot because they are much more convenient, but my opinion is that if you care enough about quality pictures, you'll bite the bullet and start lugging around an SLR camera anyway. Its been so worth it to me! I have a Nikon D-40. It's a great starter camera and very lightweight for what it is. Before I spent the money, I did tons of research to help guide me to the right camera for me. Once you have an SLR camera, its so easy to keep it in auto. The difference between your point-and-shoot is already lightyears! But if you really want to learn how to use your camera--after all you did invest a lot of money-- then its fun to start learning about the manual settings. You'll have so much more creative control, like being able to focus on your subject while blurring the background. Once you learn how to take good pictures inside your camera (and the more expensice camera you get, the more cool stuff it can do), then its fun to learn how to edit. This is still my weakest area. I use Photoshop Elements, Google's Picasa, and Paint.net. There are several ways to edit, and my next goal is to learn how to apply "actions" to my photos. But again, that's where things start to get expensive!

The best advice I can give is to really be passionate about learning. Figure out how your camera works. Hardly a day goes by where I don't take a round of pictures. Even if we're not doing anything exciting, I just take pics to experiment. Practice with your camera is the best way to improve. I also talk to anyone I know who has photography expertise and is willing to share. Even if its only for 5 minutes, I always learn something. I've talked to all the guys at Best Buy and Ritz (hey, that's where they can show you stuff on your camera, and its free). I am constantly inspired by other mom photographers, and look at their blogs often. I have read the camera manual, and the one from Ken Rockwell, a few times. I also have read one book. There's so much more I'd like to do, like take a real class, but for the moment, I'm trying to learn all I can for free.

Here is a list of things that have inspired and helped me:
www.kenrockwell.com- great info on equipment
www.thepioneerwoman.com/photography- great photoshop tips
www.jordankrogmanphotography.blogspot.com- amazing pictures
www.photographybybrinn.com- she offered an online class that was great! its over now, but all the info is still there. leave a comment on her blog if you'd like an invite.
www.sheenaspics.blogspot.com- really good at working with light
Photographing Children, by Ginny Felch and Allison Tyler Jones
My camera's manual
Practice, practice, practice!"

Requesting Recipes

I just got a request from Cassie
"...calling for healthy recipes that the whole family will love....and especially the little people. I would love to get some new recipes that others use or recipe blogs they might follow. I need some fresh recipes to work from. I feel mine are getting a little over done."
OK-now some of you might not want to actually get out of your chair to get a recipe to type but I think you should. If we all do it we can have a bunch of recipes on here. I know I can use some fun new recipes and I bet you can do. So....Get up and get one! We'll be waiting right here when you get back...
Here is one I like to make. The kids like it because its "peanut butter noodles" and I like it because its quick and you can keep all the ingredients on hand.

Thai Peanut Pasta
Linquini

1 lb. cooked and cubed chicken
Pineapple chunks drained
Handful of snow peas
Sauce:
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. peanut butter
1/4 tsp. crushed red peppers
2 T lime juice
1 garlic clove
1 T soy sauce
Cook pasta, and then drain in colander. Put snow peas and chicken cooked and cubed in colander. Put back in pan and add pineapple, and add the sauce.
Sauce:
Heat chicken broth and peanut putter until PB melts. Then add other ingredients and pour on pasta. 


And here is one more that I love. Its from a Rachel Ray 30 minute meals cookbook and its perfect for the fall. (For those of you surprised that I like a chili recipe-notice there are no beans!)


Manly Man's Chili
2 Tbl corn oil
1 large onion
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs ground sirloin
Montreal steak seasoning
1/2 bottle beer (6oz) (I just use beef broth)
14 oz beef broth
6 oz tomato paste
1 1/2 Tbl chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2 oz smoky bbq sauce
2 oz hot sauce (3 Tbl)
6 oz smoked cheddar cheese

Heat oil, saute onion and garlic 3-5 minutes.
Add beef and brown. Season, add beer and reduce by half. Stir in broth, paste, chili powder, cumin, bbq sauce, hot sauce. Simmer 10 mins.
Top with fritos and green onions. 

Face lift

Collectively Genius will be getting a face lift over the next little while. Be patient as I play around with it! Thanks!

Silver Biotics

I got this from Jennifer. Anyone out there know anything you can tell her?

"Silver Biotics. Has anyone heard of it? I am looking for more info from people who like it and those who don't.
Silver Biotics is an over the counter biotic. The labels says "Doctor Recommended, Natural Alternative: is a non-adaptagenic and may be used everyday as your natural solution to support your body's immune system for a healthier you. Supports your immune system's defense against colds, sinus, throat, skin, ear, respiratory, yeast gastrointestinal, and food poisoning." It cost $20 for an 8 fl. oz bottle and 1/2-2 tsp is a recommended dose for children to adults and a child could drink the whole bottle and not overdose. YET, it claims to kill bacteria for UTI's, Strep, Pink Eye, Staph Infection, and even Swine Flu faster and more effective that prescription anti biotics. It is ingested but can also be applied to infections or dropped into eyes, etc.

My attraction to this product, if it IS safe and DOES work is that it's cheaper than a doctors visit. I hate paying $30 to go to the doctor when I KNOW they have pink eye, or strep, or a UTI, etc.

Does this really work and can I use it to cure the things I KNOW my kids have instead of going to the doctor? What do you think?"

How Do I Start?

Is there ever anything you ever want to learn how to do but don't know how to get started? I feel that way about a lot of things. So...I decided I'm going to start asking people to tell us how they got started. First up is how my sister started learning Photoshop Elements (See the post below). Coming soon...photography.
Let me know if there is anything you are interested in and I'll see if I can find someone to tell us how to get started.

How Do I Start?-Photoshop Elements

From my sister Abbie:

"Digital Scrapbooking in PSE (Photoshop Elements)

I started digiscraping about three years ago after a friend of a friend showed us both the very basics of making a digital layout. There are many things I have done since then to learn more. The most helpful have been tutorials on the internet. Shabby Princess has several tutorials, but I would especially recommend 'Creating Your First Layout Using Photoshop Elements' as a great place for a very beginner to start.

http://www.theshabbyshoppe.com/tutorials/software_tutorials.asp

By the way, Shabby Princess has the best free downloads out there. Check them out.

http://www.shabbyprincess.com/downloads.asp

Jessica Sprague also has really good free tutorials. Here is a link to the index (she also has great free stuff at the bottom of this index). I went through each tutorial and learned a ton.

http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/photoshop-friday-index/

Jessica also teaches great online classes if you want to learn even more. I have taken several and think they were well worth the cost.

http://www.jessicasprague.com

Jessica also has several books published by Creating Keepsakes called Computer Tricks for Scrapbooking. I have two and would like the third.

http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/issues/Computer_Tricks

I used to subscribe to magazine called Digital Scrapbooking that had good information and layout ideas, but they no longer publish the magazine. I think you can browse past issues here:

http://www.digitalscrapbooking.com/issues/index.html

I also checked out a few books from my library system on PSE that helped me learn a few more things about Elements in general, especially the organizer. An organizer with tagged items is a must for a digital scrapbooker. My library didn't have any books on digital scrapbooking when I got started, but I just checked again and they now have a Dummies book and several others that might be useful.

Also, there are many galleries and other places out there where people show off their work. I think they are great places to get ideas.

And last but not least, just experiment and play around with the program. Check out all the options under each menu. Try out all the different kinds of adjustment layer and photo effects, etc. You can really learn a lot that way."

Ziploc Omlet

Cindy sent me this yummy idea. I have actually seen this before but I forgot about it until she sent me this email. Once, when I was camping, some people camping near us made these. If everything is prepared before, all you need is boiled water!

"Have guests write their name on a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag with permanent marker.

Crack 2 eggs (large or extra-large) into the bag (not more than 2) shake to combine them.

Put out a variety of ingredients such as: cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.

Each guest adds prepared ingredients of choice to their bag and shake. Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.

Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes [we did 15 minutes]. You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. For more, make another pot of boiling water.

Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed.

Nice to serve with fresh fruit and coffee cake; everyone gets involved in the process and a great conversation piece.

Imagine having these ready the night before, and putting the bag in boiling water while you get ready. And in 15 minutes, you've got a nice omelette for a quick breakfast!!!"

Homemade Electrolyte Drink

Electrolyte Drink
1 quart water
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp table salt
3-4 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt substitute (can be found in the grocery store near the salt)
Mix well. Can be flavored with lemon juice or sugar-free KoolAid.
If someone is having trouble keeping down any fluids, this can be spoon fed. Some will prefer it cold, others just room temperature.

Icky Sicky

Last week I was sick. Really sick. I barely left my house for seven days and I couldn't accomplish pretty much anything. Needless to say, my house was trashed and I was so far behind on my to-do list. Plus we missed out on a lot of end-of-summer activities. I'm not sure what I had but I think it was some kind of flu. Who knows? So this post is my warning to you-Don't get sick! And if you do I have a few tips that might make it a bit easier on you. Its really just best to prevent it from ever happening though. Here is what you can learn from my horrible week and maybe it can help you! (You probably already know all of this, so its really just a reminder.)

Wash your hands (and your kid's hands) all the time! Before eating, after using the bathroom, after changing diapers, etc. You get the idea.
If you can't be by soap and water, make sure you stock up on hand sanitizer. (Buy tons now because last year when the swine flu started going around it was sold out everywhere.) Keep a big thing of it in your car or your purse. Every time you get back in the car from being somewhere-use it! After every store, after church, after being at a friends house, after school, after shaking people's hands, etc. It may seem like a pain but I promise being sick for a week is a bigger pain! Note: if you are putting hand sanitizer on your kids hands make sure you watch them until it is dry on their hands. It can be very dangerous for them to ingest.
Of course, there are flu vaccinations too but that is a personal decision so I'm going to leave that up to you to research and decide.

Now to prepare in case you do get sick...Here is what you will want on hand because you won't want to go to the store when you are sick.
Make sure you have...
Adult and children's Tylenol (if you have kids) to keep fevers down.
Cough drops
Kleenex with lotion in it. Your nose will thank you :)
Your drink of choice when you have a super sore throat (mine is orange juice).
You may want some NyQuil or DayQuil but I can't really take that stuff because it makes me feel all weird inside.
Already prepared food-freezer meals, lunchables. You won't want to prepare food for your family if you are sick. You'll want to stay out of the kitchen as much as possible so you don't spread your germs.
An electrolyte drink in case there is vomiting or diarrhea involved. My sister sent me a recipe to make your own electrolyte drink which I will post next.

Ok-now its up to you to try to keep your family healthy as much as you can but be prepared just in case sickness strikes. And remember its very important to stay home and away from others so you don't spread it around. I wish whomever passed it to me had done that! (If you are sick don't forget about grocery delivery. Its often free for first timers.)

If you do get sick you can borrow the mantra that I used-"This too shall pass." It helped me feel a little better :)

And for your convenience, here is the link to the CDCs website about the H1N1 flu (swine flu) so you have somewhere to reference if you suspect you may have it.
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/general_info.htm

Coupons Link List

I've added more links to my Coupons Link List and will just keep it as a post like my other lists. Just click on the link the says "The List" under Coupons Link List to access it. Simple as that. I love link lists. How handy are they?
Old Navy Weekly
Coupons.com
Savvy Shopper
Pinching Your Pennies
Fabulessly Frugal
Betty Crocker
Eat Better America
SmartSource
Grocery Smarts
Printable-Coupons
P&G eSaver
Red Plum
Target
She Spots Smart
Summer and Tyson blog

Craft Link List

I'm really into compiling link lists right now (if you can't tell). Asking you is seriously the BEST way to get great links. So today I'd like to make a crafty blog link list. Here are a few that I know of. What are your favorites?
http://www.homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/
http://www.ohdeedoh.com/
http://vintagericrac.blogspot.com/
http://www.craftpad.com/
http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/
http://www.oneprettything.com/
http://www.skiptomylou.org/
http://familyfun.go.com/
http://crapivemade.blogspot.com/
http://thirtyhandmadedays.blogspot.com/
http://todayscreativeblog.blogspot.com/
http://littlenannygoat.blogspot.com/
http://sometimescrafter.blogspot.com/
http://theidearoom.blogspot.com/
http://inchmark.squarespace.com/
http://inspiredliving.squarespace.com/
http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/ 
http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/
http://www.twigandthistle.com/blog/