Adventures of a Military Family of 8: November 2010

A "Make & Take" Party with Pedialyte Singles

Has the cold/flu bug hit your house yet?

Have you stocked your pantry with the new Pedialyte Singles? Follow #PedialyteSingles on Twitter and Facebook to read the latest tips. The biggest bonus is that the new singles come in a "juice box" shape so if your kids are anything like mine, they will drink it thinking it's only juice. For a long time it was a challenge with my little ones because they would associate the big bottle with medicine.

Want another bonus? It now comes in clear liquids!!! They have apple, cherry and fruit flavors.

Click here to see the wide variety of flavors and drinks.

If you have small children in your home, you know that dehydration is the biggest "bully" for them during this time. The body fluids that the children loose during their illnesses are vital, and as my children's Doctors have recommended since they were living in the hospital as preemies; Pedialyte has always been what we turn too to prevent this bully from beating our kids.

I had an opportunity to have a "make & take" party at my house. A few of my friends got together, we cooked easy and hearty meals that we can freeze for those dreaded days. You know what days I'm talking about, when the kids are sick and you are worn out from being nurse and mommy. Even worst, for the days when the mommies are sick and need that extra help. We had a blast, we hung out, cooked, laughed and now we have the piece of mind that we have a back up plan in the freezer for "those days". I even made the kids some "get well" baskets. Look at the fun meals we did...

Here are some helpful links to make those sick days a little easier to deal with:

Essentials for a well-stocked medicine chest

A fun and easy experiment to teach about dehydration

Warning Signs & Symptoms of dehydration

Printable activities to keep kids entertained when sick

FAQs about Pedialyte

As with anything you give your children, ask your doctor's advice first.

I thought the little baskets were so cute, that I had 2 extra ones for my readers ;)

To enter
1 Entry = leave a comment telling me what you do in advance to be prepared for those sick days.
Extra and Additional entries:Follow me through GFC = 1
follow me through Twitter = 1
"like" me through facebook = 1
Comment on any other post = 1 entry per comment

Giveaway will end on 12-15-10 midnight PST. Please leave email address in your comment so I can contact you if you are the winner. I will post the winner on this post, announce through Twitter and Facebook, as well as email the winner. Make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry you submit.
All opinions and ideas are my own, I was compensated by Collective Bias for the shop, and children's gift baskets were my idea and decision.

Tag, you're it! #follow #meme

I have been a bit run down since last week, so I haven't had the chance to play "Tag" so I'm not erasing the list this week, just will let it grow until next week. Happy Tagging!! ;)

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Baskets of Cold Stone Creamery Hot Cocoa for our Troops...

Did you know that Cold Stone Creamery Hot Cocoa exists?!?

I was so happy to hear about it, and it happened to fall right into my plans for Thanksgiving. If you read my previous posts, you know all about my plans for Thanksgiving dinner right? For those of you who haven't read them, I am so happy to announce that we will be hosting dinner at our house for 25+ US Service Members who have no Family to spend the Holidays with. I always bake cookies and send them home with our guests as well as ship them to our Troops overseas. With that being said, I thought it would be awesome if I included some Cold Stone Creamery Hot Cocoa along with their goodies, it's only right!

Here is my shopping trip and our baskets the kids and I made for our guests...

Now, you didn't think I would just show you the deliciousness and not share right?!?
What kind of meanie would I be?
Thanksgiving is all about giving Thanks, and as a Thank you for being my wonderful friends, I am giving away a basket to one of you ;) Now I know it's not a huge gift basket, but it's from the heart ;)

For your chance to win

Mandatory Entry
Follow Cold Stone Creamery Hot Cocoa on Facebook and tell them Lily sent you ;) 1 Entry
(if you don't have a facebook account, you may still enter, just leave a comment below, have you tried Cold Stone Creameries Hot Cocoa?)

optional entries
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Subscribe to my feed (upper left hand corner) 2 Entries
Comment on any other of my posts 1 Entry (unlimited entries)

Giveaway ends 12-11-10 midnight PST. I will notify winner by email. Winner will have 48 hours to respond with information or a new winner will be chosen.

On a Mission to save my Marriage ;)

Well I may not be talking about all those little things like infidelity or gambling, or even the extreme love of all things sports, I am talking about the REAL bad issue, the one issue that has had me steps away from filing for divorce....

My Husband's snoring!!!!

I have lived like this for 12 years, and let me tell you a crying newborn is music to my ears compared to my chainsaw driving Husband. I can not tell you how many hours I have lost of sleep because if this, I had tried many things, but nothing has worked so far. I even tried ear plugs that airport workers use, but they hurt!

I found "Pretty in Pink" Women's ear plugs, they worked wonders!!!

Here is my whrrl story...

More check-ins at walmart

Thankful to say that I know I will stay Married to the same lucky man for many more years ;)

A classic Thanksgiving dish with a twist

This year is a very special Thanksgiving for us, we are having over 25+ US Military Service Members in our house who do not have a Family to spend it with. Thinking about my menu, I decided that instead of my usual red roasted potatoes, I was going to try something different for them,

"Roasted red yams with smoked paprika"

It is as delicious as it sounds!!

Here is the recipe:

makes approx. 6 servings

2 medium-large (approx. 3 pnds) red yams "Red Garnet,"
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil

Pre heat oven to 425 degrees
line your baking sheets with silicone liner or parchment paper.
Cut all the yams to approx. dice sized squares
in a mixing bowl, toss yams, oil, and smoked paprika.
spread the yams evenly on your baking sheets and bake for 10 mins.
using a spatula, carefully flip your yams and bake for approx. 8-10 mins more (depending on your oven)
Enjoy tender baked yams, while the outside is deliciously caramelized.

Serve as a side dish with your Thanksgiving dinner or any night of the week.
Your Family will thank you!
P.S. You can also add a little bit of rosemary for an even more intense flavor!

I do the majority of our shopping at Smart & Final and I was able to buy the red yams for .49 cents a pound!
Other items on sale are:

1. Farmer John Spiral Sliced Half Ham, Bone-In, Farmer John Logo @$1.99 PER LB.
2. First Street 8" Apple or Pumpkin Pie, selected varieties, 24 OZ. @ $2.99
3. Dreyer's Ice Cream, selected varieties, 48 FLUID OZ. @ $2.99.
4. Pepsi or 7-UP, selected varieties, 12/12 OZ., Limit 4 total @ 4 for $10 (+CRV in CA Only).
5. Crystal Geyser Spring Water, 35/.5 LT. @ 2 for $8 (+CRV in CA Only).

Do the "Smart" thing, shop at Smart & Final, for us it's our one stop shop for everything from food to tablewares.
Do you have any special meals or dishes you love to create around special occasions?

still loving my CSN sores...

As I often do, I was browsing through many of the 200+ online stores on CSN, and I came across some beautiful contemporary coffee tables. It's no secret that I LOVE shopping through CSN, they have many beautiful things and the majority of the times come with free shipping!

My favorite and new addition to my shopping cart is the Winsome Genoa Glass and Shelf coffee table, I just love it!

Weather you're looking for contemporary coffee tables or a gorgeous pair of boots, you can find just about everything under the sun at one of the many CSN stores.

Hoping I am able to purchase this coffee table, I will post a review, and it may or may not include me being extremely happy ;)

Disney Tangled in 3D advanced screening...

Last week my Family was invited to attend an advanced screening of Disney's Tangled in 3D. Needless to say we were thrilled, though I had a little bit of doubt regarding my 5 & 7y.o boys, I was obviously proven wrong, by said boys. We arrived and the kids were so excited about the giant lobby posters, they were posing for pictures and it only made the excitement for the movie all the bigger.

The movie was in 3D, so that already is exciting right?
As always my 5y.o sits next tome and it's the dearest thing in the world to hear his giggles, chuckles, and to see him reaching out for the objects. I wish I could show you ;)

Believe it or not, I have never seen Rapunzel, so I didn't have anything to compare this movie too, but I LOVED IT!

The story line was great, the graphics are amazing!!!! There were jokes, and music, as well as everything else in between. I have to be careful so I don't ruin the movie for you ;) I truly enjoyed watching this movie, now as I mentioned it was an advanced screening, the actual movie will not be released until November 24, 2010.

Make sure you take your Family to watch it, I promise you will LOVE it just as much!!!

My 10 year old Daughter wrote a post about the advanced screening as well, check it out, she gives a little more description about the plot http://bit.ly/cqLJRF

Tag, you're it! #follow meme

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Foodie Friday: Tortilla Soup recipe, homemade!

MAJOR apology to Aricka and readers, blogspot held my post hostage in drafts.

Hot....cold.....hot....cold....repeat!!! Mother Nature is again confused. But I am trying to forget that it is 80 degrees here today and pretend it is actually autumn weather outside. I am sure the minute I get too comfortable in this weather it will again rain or become terribly cold. My family is obsessed with Mexican food. Anything Mexican works for my family. Tortilla Soup is a favorite of mine because you can make it as healthy as you want. Mine is a vegetable soup base which is great if you are not eating meat. Then I add chicken in (which you can leave out) and serve with tortilla chips and lots of toppings. Everyone in the house loves soups of any kinds except my daughter, The Tortured Teenager. You can't please everyone. So she is having a cheese quesadilla tonight and not complaining about it.

Quick Chicken Tortilla Soup
1 onion diced
1 bell pepper diced (red)
1 zucchini diced
1 clove garlic minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 sm can diced chilis
1 can black beans rinsed
1 cup carrots chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 cup frozen corn
2 cups shredded chicken
1 carton chicken broth
2 cups water

Chop and drop the onions, bell pepper, zucchini, and carrots (you could add any vegetable you have that is in the bin. And if you are really out of veggies, frozen veggies work great. Just skip the browning and add to the broth.) I like to add a TB or two of olive oil to the pan first and get it warmed up. Cook the veggies on Medium High for a couple of minutes. This does make a difference in the flavor of the store bought chicken stock later. Make sure to season the veggies with some salt and pepper.

Now add the can of diced tomatoes. I only have plain but you could add the ones that have onions or jalapenos in them. Just do not drain them first. This liquid is huge in the soup. Add one can of Ortega chilis, undrained, one can black beans that are drained and rinsed 1 tsp cumin and 1 tsp oregano (all I have is dried)

Add chicken broth/stock (one carton)and make sure you shake up the box first.

Now add two cups of water. You could do more and it really would not affect the flavor. My family likes a thick soup, sort of like a stew.

Let it all come up to a boil and bring it down to a simmer. Let simmer for 15 minutes
This is when you would add in some leftover chicken. I am not big on leftovers so I have some chicken breast tenders that I am sauteing up with some garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper. I didn't measure the spices, just sprinkled it all over. You can't go wrong with garlic powder or cumin, and there is never too much in a recipe in our house.

Pour the chicken and all the juices in the pan. I hope you were lucky enough to have leftovers but if not these smell really good. The Tortured Teenager is asking if she can make a taco out of some. NO! Soup Hater!

Add 1 cup of frozen corn. I do this at the end. It just needs to heat up not over cook. Taste and make sure you have enough salt and pepper or cumin. We like a lot of cumin in this house. Not everyone likes cumin. If you are really adventurous, you could add a tsp of chipotle adobo sauce, but that is another recipe at another time...

Now, I like to put some cheap tortilla chips in the bottom of the bowl. You could make your own, but this is QUICK Tortilla Soup. This gets to the table in 25 minutes (take that Rachel Ray!) I put cheese and green onions on top of it. Ladle soup on top of it. You could put tortillas on top for appearance but I like how they get all soft from the soup and make the broth all creamy.

I dig around looking for the chips, dodging carrots!

Other Toppings you put on your soup;
Avocado
Cilantro
Cheese
Green onions
Lime
sliced jalapenos
Hot sauce!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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A wine & cheese party with a twist...

Although I have been a mom for almost 18 years, I am still not used to having my plans changed. I mean c'mon, with 6 kids, and a Husband who has been deployed as many times as we have kids, you would think I would be used to being flexible right?

nah, that would be too easy!

In that sense, I planned a nice evening for a few of our Adult friends with a Wine & Cheese party, I did my shopping at Smart & Final. I may be missing sleep, but not common sense ;)
I shop at Smart & Final a few times a week, the prices are very low, there is no membership dues, and they accept coupons!!!

So off we went to shop for our fun evening...

First thing's first right!?!?

We shopped for an entire Army, wine, cheese, snacks, food & snacks for the kids, and party supplies as well.
I was so excited, we spent way under $100!!!

Now, back to not being used to having my schedule messed with, guess what happened the morning of our Wine & cheese party?
My 8yo Daughter broke her hand during school, not a hairline fracture, we're talking about her wrist, broken :(

Let's say that she had the giggles from the pain meds ;)

SO, after being all day in the hospital, she didn't want to go home and go to bed, she asked if I could please not cancel the wine & cheese party, so we turned it into a "get well" get together for her ;)

We made another quick trip to Smart & Final, after all, Mommy was going to need some extra wine after this ;)
We bought shredded cheese and more supplies and we made homemade pizzas!

though it wasn't the day I had planned, it was nice to be able to relax at home after such a terrible ordeal, eat some good food, and enjoy some "happy drinks" ;)

We were able to do both shops for around $100!!!!
Is that awesome or what?!?!
So c'mon, do the Smart thing;

Shop at Smart & Final!

If you want to see our entire trip check out my Whrrl story

More check-ins at smart & final

All opinions and suggestions are my own ideas, no other children were harmed in the planning of this party, said 8yo will be sporting a flashy bedazzled pink cast on Wednesday, thank you CB for sponsoring our shop.

A Fiesta, Old El Paso style...

From Random.org winner is #9
I will be contacting JC, and if no info is received, I will choose next runner up ;)

JC said...: Google friend connect follower; November 3, 2010 10:58 AM

What is a great way to end a boring week of the same meals?

Have an Old El Paso Taco night!

Our Family loves the different ways we can make our own dishes while using Old El Paso seasonings. The kids love to make their own tacos, while us grown ups love the fajita kits. Every two weeks we have a Mexican themed dinner, everyone likes to help, from shredding cheese, to setting the table, it's about fun, food, and Family.

The Old El Paso website has great tips and recipes, that we can use everyday. Even some very original recipes for the kiddos...

like tarantula tacos!

How adorable right!?!?

Click here to get a coupon for .60 cents off of your next Old El Paso purchase...

Now what's a Fiesta without party favors right!?!?

One of my readers will win an

Old El Paso Family Taco Night Prize pack
it includes a packet of Old El Paso Taco Seasoning, a Cactus Chip & Dip Serving dish, a set of 3 Fiesta Chili Pepper serving dishes and a $10 gift card to purchase your taco fixings.
Fiesta!!!

Mandatory 1 Entry
Leave me a comment saying if you have a Tuesday taco night,
or if your Family does something fun or not for taco dinners.

Additional and optional entries:

Follow me on
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Leave a comment on any non-giveaway post 1 Entry per comment-unlimited
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#Win an Old El Paso Family Taco Night party kit with @Militaryfamof8 ends 11/15 #giveaway http://bit.ly/dzSC92

Giveaway ends Nov. 15, 2010, midnight PST.
I received my own Family taco night party kit and one for a reader from Old El Paso on behalf of my blog spark. All opinions are my own, and all that good stuff ;)

Tag, you're it! Tuesdays mean NEW list!...

a little apology for posting a day late, with my daughter on a splint with her broken wrist, it has been everything except for calm around here; thankfully she gets her cast tomorrow morning and I might just get some "normal" back into my life ;)

Welcome once again to

Tag, you're it!"

We are on our 38th week!!! ;)
a weekly meme where you can sign up ALL of your sites for NEW FOLLOWERS!

Blog, Facebook, NetworkedBlogs,

Twitter, Giveaways, Votes,
Clients to your Etsy and OpenSky Stores
and anything else you want.

Have fun!!!

Spread the word!!!

The more players, the more "Tags" you get ;)

Thank you to
Cammo Style Love
and
Mama to 4 Blessings
for adding my button to your Blog Hop list ;)

Remember that "Tag, you're it!" is open ALL WEEK, and a new list goes up on Tuesday's!!!
Here's the link so you can share it: http://bit.ly/aLcxTj

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