Review: Kroger Meals

Hey there, Lady Hurricane here,

So, there is this really great website that I am a part of called BzzAgent where I get to honestly review products, free of charge, and get coupons as well to pass out.  The product that I was chosen to try this last week was Kroger Skillet Meals.  I was sent 3 free item coupons, for Kroger Skillet Meals, Kroger Garlic Bread, and Kroger's Fresh Selections Salad Kits.

First, it was very difficult to even find the Kroger Skillet Meals in our local Fred Meyer.  We eventually asked for help, but the only person we saw that wasn't helping someone already was the produce clerk, who helped us look and then asked the store manager for us after searching for the frozen foods clerk.  The store manager was very nice and helpful too!  He lead us

right to the Kroger Skillet Meals and asked if we needed any additional help.  The only complaint I have is that the selection at our store was terrible. I was really hoping for a pasta dish as it pairs well with garlic bread (I made baked spaghetti to go with it instead), but all they had were chicken or beef fajitas. They did, however, have a wonderful selection of the Fresh Selections Salad Kits and that was the highlight of the meal!  The garlic bread was nice and soft, but we prefer the WINCO brand's taste around here.

Now, because we prefered the salad to everything else, let me RAVE about it real quick!  First, the price was awesome!  It was less than $4 (but I got mine free), and it comes with everything you need to have a restaurant quality salad in the comfort of your own home.

We chose the Caesar Salad Kit and it included the lettuce, croutons, cheese and dressing.  Now, if you're like me, I love that my salad at a restaurant comes tossed.  It's so much nicer than just dumping the dressing on top of the salad mix and hoping that you can evenly distribute a nice coating.  So, I was a mild genius and tossed everything into the bag and shook it up!  Viola!  Beautiful :) It worked great!

The Garlic Bread was nice and soft, softer than most garlic breads that I've had before, but I'm not certain they can sway me from my tried and true fresh baked bread from our local grocer.  This Kroger Garlic Bread is located in the freezer section, and the instruction were really simple to follow.  Remove it out of the package, split it, and put it on a cookie sheet. Simple and delicious!


The Chicken Fajita Kroger Skillet Meal was good; I enjoyed it, my husband thought it could use more chicken though and less veggies, but he's a meat and potato type guy.  The flavors were good, and it wasn't too spicy (I'm a wimp!).  It paired well with tortilla chips and salsa, we had our own family Mexican Food night.  Unfortunately that's the one item we didn't get a picture of, I guess we were just too hungry and excited for the free food.

Now, even though I got this all free, it didn't sway my opinions.  Like I said, the salad we will probably buy again, the garlic bread not so much, and if our store had a larger selection of the skillet meals, we would try others, but we might buy the fajita ones again in a month or two.

Hope you enjoyed my review!  Now, go out and try that salad!! It's great. I mean it!

Oh, and a photo of my baked spaghetti, just because, yum. 
  

Have a great Monday!  What's for dinner at your house?!

-Lady Hurricane

National Adoption Month: From Foster Parent to Adoptive Parent

Our next featured story of adoption is from a person I've (Lady Hurricane) always grown up looking up to. I remember when they adopted their first in 2001, my siblings and I weren't too sure about not being our aunt's favorites anymore, but in the end it ended up being a fantastic blessing! Here it is, it's just a short little blurb about her journey, and I hope someday she shares some of the fantastic stories she has of being a foster parent, and an adopted parent as well!

"Here is a sampling of my journey as a foster/adopt Mama. I was 43ish, a remarried widow, neither of us had children and we wanted children in our lives. After much investigating, my husband and I decided to adopt, then we decided that adopting through the state would be the best, helping our own communities children. We have adopted our 5th child, 3 girls and 2 boys and have fostered numerous kids and some respite care. We have given up our foster license, because it is too tempting to adopt any more that come our way. There is some kind of challenge on a daily basis, but the payoff is tremendous, experiencing their triumphs and sharing their other "life stuff". I would do my life over a million times."

Brian and Sandy have five children, Autumn, Alexis, Hailey, Jordan and Albert. This family photo was taken right after they adopted their youngest, Albert.

Also -- Autumn, their oldest had this little note to add:

"Thank you mom and dad for bringing me into the family! Who knows what life would have been like if you hadn't; for all of us. Love you!"


I really hope you enjoyed this weeks blogs.  If you have an idea for a guest blog, please don't hesitate to contact us! Here's a link to our Facebook! Also, I especially hope that you enjoyed our spotlight on National Adoption month!  Do you know of anything else that's coming up that you'd like to see us do a spotlight on?  Go ahead and comment, e-mail, or Facebook us!  We would love to hear your thoughts and opinions!

Until next time!
-The Naptime Bloggers

National Adoption Month: How We Were Lead to Adopt our Boy

Welcome back to Sunday at The Naptime Bloggers!  We're really excited to introduce you to our next Guest Blogger, Jamie!  Yesterday, Saturday, was National Adoption Day, which is why we chose our next blogger!


Jamie is a licensed mental health therapist working as a full time mom right now. She has been married to her wonderful husband for 8 1/2 years. Her favorite hobby is running with her border collie (and now pushing a stroller).
They are featured today on their adoption agency website at HERE where there is a video from their first visit which can also be found HERE and a link to their personal blog is HERE!



I hope you watch the video from their first video, and definitely check out their blog!
Without further plugs and ado, here is their story...

Last year my husband and I were talking about our New Year's goals on New Year's Day, I said I had a desire to become a mom this year. We discussed the possibility of doing foster-adopt through DSHS as we wait for our referral from Ethiopia which we had started on.

On January 3rd, we got an e-mail from the coordinator from the Ethiopia program checking in. We called her back right away. During this conversation, we mentioned that we are thinking of adopting another child before we adopt from Ethiopia since it was going to be a 3 year process. We also spoke of how we were considering other countries as well. She was excited about this idea and mentioned some children that might be available form China and Taiwan and said we were the ideal couple that Taiwan looks for since we are young without children.

The next day, we received an e-mail with a referral for our son!

At first, I felt like I didn't want to read about him or look at the pictures because I didn't want to get too emotionally attached and excited too soon. I was sort of confused and shocked because I have been preparing for a African daughter and there was a picture of an Asian boy.

We talked to our small group about this referral and got some good feedback about becoming parents and trusting God and taking things one step at a time and to put faith in God.

After reflecting and crying for a couple days, we came to the conclusion that he was put before us for a reason. I sort of felt some relief that God chose him because of feeling so much pressure in the decisions that come with adoption such as which gender, country, age, family history and disabilities. This was all decided by God for us.

The hardest part was waiting and trusting God in this process. The first time the birth mother got our information, she didn't approve us. Which was a huge shock! So, my husband (who I learned will do anything for his son) and I flew to Taiwan hoping to meet her. Unfortunately we didn't get to meet her, but we did get two days with our son. We knew he belonged with us from the day we met him.

We had to wait in anticipation for two weeks for the birth mother's social worker to meet with the birth mother to show her pictures from our visit, letters from the doctor and our full homestudy. We got the news we were hoping for! The birthmother approved us!

5 months later after both governments got the paperwork they needed, we got to finally return to Taiwan to bring our son home!

The theme of trust has come into my life after going through this. Waiting was probably the most stressful time in my life. While in Taiwan both times, this is the verse that I focused on and now have it hanging in our son's room, "Trust The Lord with all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding, but in all of your ways follow him and He will make your path straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

Even though being a mom is not easy and is way more exhausting than I thought, I am so thankful for the son God gave us to care for and thank him every day for bringing us together.

I really hope you enjoyed this weeks blogs.  If you have an idea for a guest blog, please don't hesitate to contact us! Here's a link to our Facebook!  Also, I especially hope that you enjoyed our spotlight on National Adoption month!  Do you know of anything else that's coming up that you'd like to see us do a spotlight on?  Go ahead and comment, e-mail, or Facebook us!  We would love to hear your thoughts and opinions!

From all of us here at The Naptime Bloggers,

Have a wonderful Sunday!  See you tomorrow!

It's the most wonderful time of year!

As a parent, you always want the best for your child(ren). You want them to do and be better than you. I honestly don’t think this desire ever goes away. And not only do you want your kids to do better, but you also want to give them the world. It’s a hard balance to give them everything they want, without spoiling them. And I don’t think that feeling ever goes away either J

My husband and I not only want to give our children the best we possibly can, but we also want to instill in them a compassion for others. To look past just their own needs, and into their neighborhood, city and world, and see what they do to give to others. And to know that this world is just not about themselves.

Now that our oldest is 4, we are looking for things to do to get her involved in our community. And this is the perfect time of year to start!
Since she is still fairly young, and also has a little sister who wants to copy everything she does, we want to start with things they both can do. And maybe even start a new winter tradition for our family.

I have thought of a few things that are age appropriate for the girls to get them involved! Going to the store and letting the girls pick out some canned goods that can be donated to a local food bank. Or even calling ahead to see what they are in need of most, and getting that as well. We will also be going through the girls’ toys to donate some, plus it makes room for the new toys they will be getting for Christmas. We also don’t want to forget about our 4 legged friends! I am sure your local animal shelter is in need of food, or even cat litter, because I know ours is! Going to the pet store and letting the girls pick out things to donate, taking them in, and maybe even spending some time socializing the animals- I KNOW this will be a rewarding experience for our girls.

You could also get your children involved with picking out a gift for Angel Tree, visiting a nursing home- because some of those people don’t have family at all, and I know would LOVE getting to spend time with others. Writing letters or drawing pictures for our service men and women overseas. Being a bell ringer for the Salvation Army.

There is seriously an UNLIMITED amount of things you can do to involve your children in giving back to the community. So many learning and teaching moments can take place during these times of giving to others. Instilling these kinds of values in our children will never go to waste, and might even make for a brighter future for all, all year long.

-Lady Bug

F M N

    Hello again Blogland!  I was asked by a friend to share one of my family events with you all.  I wish I could take credit for the main idea, but I can’t.  At my house, we have Family Movie Nights, or FMN for short.  In 2012, my family took our first Walt Disney World vacation.  (Best money spent EVER!)  For 2011 and part of 2012 while we were counting down the days until our arrival, we decided to start a tradition to help pass the time.  I’m a member of a Disney message board called DisBoards and that is where I got the initial idea.  

    Basically, we choose a Disney film (new or old, long or short)  and theme  a night’s events around it.  We will prepare themed foods and snacks, put up decorations, make crafts, sing songs, dress up, and just spend some time together as a family.  Don’t get turned off or feel like you aren’t up to the challenge.  The one rule we follow for these is that we try to do them as inexpensively and as simply as possible.  I’m talking, low budget ($10-20 or less) and a quick and easy cleanup.  With some planning ahead and a few trips, usually to the dollar store, you can start FMNs of your own!

   Thus far, I think we have done...Jurassic Park, The Sword In The Stone, Sleeping Beauty, Brave, Monster’s Inc, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hercules, The Lorax, The Haunted Mansion, Batman- The Dark Knight, and The Muppets to name a few.  Let me tell you, my kids have really enjoyed these movie nights and it has been great time for us to spend together as a family.  It was also a great way to introduce the kids to older Disney characters from our childhood before we saw them in the parks on vacation.  I know, I know, some of these were not Disney films, and that is okay too.  Let me give you all an example, just to set you on the right track…

    Our first FMN we watched The Sword In The Stone.  It is DH’s favorite Disney movie and turned out to be a big hit with Monster and Bear as well.  We did this on a Friday night so it didn’t interfere with the school schedule and the dinner we had on this night was planned ahead as part of our meal plan.  I printed pictures of the main characters and hung them around the living room.  I also typed up a menu so there would be a list of all the themed food.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had Merlin’s Moat Water (Ginger Ale with a few drops of green food coloring),

 Sir Kay’s Roast Chicken (a simple rotisserie chicken from Wal Mart) ,

Wart’s Squire Squares (roasted potatoes cut into cubes),

Excalibur Cakes (home made rice krispie treats wrapped in fondant and dusted with gray cake glitter to look like a stone and topped with a fondant wrapped brownie dusted with blue cake glitter to look like snow, stabbed through with a sword toothpick for Excalibur) ,

 Mad Madam Mim’s Monster Salad (just plain salad we made and I taped pictures of the creatures that Mim turns into in the film around the sides of the bowl),

 and Arthur’s Royal Crowns (jello jigglers cut into crown shapes).  This may sound complicated, but I assure you it wasn’t.  Dinner was great, everyone ate up during the film and we all enjoyed singing the magic words and bursting into giggles every time we got tongue tied.  That night wasn’t perfect by ANY means. The jello crowns fell apart, the rice krispies were too hard and the whole Excalibur Cake was WAAAAAAAAY too sweet to even eat, but we really enjoyed hanging out together.  We also had coloring pages that I printed offline and we colored together at the coffee table while we watched the movie.  I’ll make sure to put up some more of my family’s FMNs to share some great ideas and some epic failures in later posts.    

    Look into doing your own Family Movie Nights!  Check the internet for different ideas.  The Disney Family website has lots of resources and printables as well.  Coloring pages are all over google and make a nice quick craft to do together.  That night was done, mostly, with things that I had on hand.  When all was said and done, I had spent maybe $4 for the cake glitter and gotten a priceless evening with my family.  It may seem like a lot to do, but really, don’t be discouraged.  Big or small, your kids will appreciate the fun you provide for them and your family will benefit from the time spent together.  

-Lady Imagine

 

Dreaming Big

Today DH and I were talking about how our son has figured out how to get around things we tell him not to do and he's only 8 months old.  For instance, we have a barrier so that he can't get to the baseboard heaters, and today he got on his tiptoes and walked along that barrier so he could get back behind it, where he isn't supposed to be. Which led us to the discussion of how intelligent he is, and how he is great at problem solving already, and that led us to the topic I'm going to post about today; dreaming big for your little one.

Even before we had conceived our baby boy, we were talking about the dreams we had for our kids.  Signing them up for different lessons and classes, the opportunities we wanted to provide for them, and the things that we did when we were younger that we didn't want to happen to our children.  A few things that we agreed on, no matter what it is that our son wants to try, be it an instrument, gymnastics, football, baseball, dance, whatever it is, we will support him 100%.  We know that he won't succeed in everything he does, but we want to give him the chance to fail and find his niche.

I am one of those people that thinks things should go as I plan them, luckily for our son, my husband is more of a go-with-the-flow type person.  I have HUGE plans for our sons life.  I want him to go to the new high school in the area that allows kids that excel in math and science to do just that, and it offers great summertime programs at a place in town that has a lot of engineers.  However, I also want him to be enthusiastic about music, like his mama, an excellent reader like his daddy, an awesome football player so I can cheer him on, a doctor so I can brag, and an honest politician (ha!).  Thankfully, I have a semi-level head, and when I don't my husband can bring me back down to earth.

The great thing though?  Whatever he chooses to do, I'm determined to stand behind him, and I can't wait to watch his journey.

What are some dreams you have for your children?

Until next time,

Lady Hurricane

Stretch Marks or Tiger Stripes?

Entering motherhood means entering into change. Everything changes in every aspect of your life the moment that little creation begins growing in your body.

I heard it every time I turned around: "You're body will NEVER be the same!" "Enjoy being skinny while you can, because it will be impossible after you have kids!" "You'll never get your butt back!"

I could have backhanded some of the people who shared these lovely insights with me. Not because they were wrong, but because they said it with such unkindness. The things they said WERE true, to some extent, but these things need to be shared with love. Especially when you are speaking to a hormonal ball of crazy wrapped in six layers of irrational.

I want to share with new moms and remind moms that have been around a time or two (or five) how our bodies have changed or will change, and why THAT IS OK!

My face is one of the places I notice quite a bit of change. I'm getting older, although I'm by no means old. I thought acne was a thing of adolescence. I thought it would disappear with scrunchies and Boy Meets World. It didn't. I break out worse now than I ever did in highschool. I blame hormones. Also, the fact that I get to wash my face about as often as I pee alone.

My face doesn't have the copper glow it once did when I could make weekly trips to the tanning salon. I never went a lot, but I liked looking like I had blood flow to my head. When I stopped tanning because I, frankly, had no one to watch the kids while I went and layed down for 15 minutes, I would have people ask me if I was feeling ok...(and let's face it, if I DID have 15 free minutes, it wouldn't be spent driving to the tanning salon)

I don't care if you breast fed or not, your boobs will NEVER be the same. I did nurse, and I know that takes an even bigger toll. Remember a long time ago when your breasts sat perky on your chest like a couple of ripe grapefruits? (Some of you may have been blessed with something more the size of canteloupe, sorry, I can't relate on that one.) No longer is that the case. Instead, you have tube socks that have an origin somewhere around your mid-chest and hang down to just below your rib cage if left unbridled.

Your belly? Ahhh. I know a woman who just had twins, and she has her 6 pack back after only 3.5 months. She rocks. I do not. I gained too much during my pregnancies. I got stretch marks. I am thin now, but my tummy isn't tight and toned. I have sagging skin and stretch that will keep me out of a bikini for the rest of my years.

My poor booty also faded away, just like "they" warned me it would. It got REALLY big during pregnancy, then, along with my sanity and sleep, it drifted away, never to be seen again.

My toes...Oh I remember the days when I used to sit in a massage chair and have someone rub my feet, gently sanding off any trace of a callous. These days my toes are covered in 4 month-old lime green nail polish and callouses I could scrub the stuck on macaroni off my floor with. They get trimmed when it is no longer comfortable to put on my shoes, and filing them is out of the question.

My finger nails are in a little better shape than my toes, simply because I can see them. They don't EVER get polished, but will get the occassional filing when I realize I'm scratching my kids during diaper changes. I can grow them to a decent length, but they are usually all varieties of lengths thanks to breaking one here and there while doing dishes, giving baths, opening barbie boxes and being a pack-mule.

Ok. So you get it. Your body has changed or will change. You will never be the same. When these women shared this with me, they simply left it at that. The part they left out is that IT IS OK!! It is ok to have more zits than you used to, to be pale, to be saggy, to be out of style. All of that is ok because you are a MOM! Being a mother is the hardest job I have encountered, and I don't know a single mother who would disagree with that.

I'm NOT saying that you shouldn't take care of yourself. I run. That is my "me" time. I do it for my health, for my sanity, and for the exercise. I do it because I love it. It is the one thing each day that I allow myself to do for ME. That is important. You cannot put yourself at the bottom of the priority list. That being said, there are some things that you have no control over, and things that WILL end up at the bottom, or not even make, said priority list. AND THAT'S OK!

The reason it is ok is because I have two gorgeous baby girls that bring more joy to my life than a six pack EVER could. They brighten my day more than a tanning bed. I focus on them, not on my zits. I'm no longer concerned about my nice tight rump, I'm making sure their's are clean.

I'll leave you with this last thought:

Until next time,
Lady Runner