mommy's reviews

Well, I apologize for the lack of posts this week. It has been hectic around here and I have been crazy busy. I hope to be back to blogging soon but until then, how about a picture of some of the snow we had over Thanksgiving??? We are getting alot of snow now but this picture was sooo pretty. Have a great weekend! :)

We had a dog several years ago and fortunately, never had to deal with many Holiday issues. Lily was a beautiful Golden Retriever who was curious, rambunctious and VERY energetic. We had a 13 month old child in the house when Lily became our dog and because of the age of our daughter, we completely gave up on having a Christmas tree. She (my daughter) was so busy, I didn't have time to keep her away from a tree. So, we never had to deal with training Lily or my daughter to keep out of the tree. Other decorations were strategically placed above reach of little hands and paws and we always enjoyed a stress free holiday. For those of you who have four legged friends around your decorations, I have some tips to share with you on how to keep them safe during this very busy and joyous time of year. These tips are thanks to DOGTV . 1.   Don’t turn your pooch into a holiday decoration – avoid putting lights on the lower branches of the tree Source: We Heart It 2. Pups get chilly...

My children love to snack and I find that the biggest snack times occur after their afternoon nap time. Why they need a snack at this time I don't know but when I break out the snacks, they are pretty happy campers. I try to find healthier foods for them to snack on but around here, that is not always easy. So typically, I try to find healthy snack bars that will fill them up with good stuff, rather than junk that will leave them feeling empty. So, recently I was invited to try out some soy protein snacks and I actually found out about some companies that I had never heard of before. One of them - MorningStar Farms , I had heard of before and their Veggie Burgers are to die for!! I haven't had a veggie burger in a very long time and seeing this company's name made me hungry for them once again. If you have never heard of soy based products before than this post should help acquaint you to some of the companies and products that are out there that make some del...

So, how many pranksters read my blog?? Do you like to play practical jokes on people? My daughter pulled one on my hubby recently and he just about died. It was late at night and he had not yet come to bed but she was still awake. I quickly ushered her into our room and snuggled her waaaay down under the blankets on his side of the bed. When he came in to go to bed he shuffled around the room and then proceeded to pull the sheets back. He saw Hannah's big eyes peeking out from under the blankets and yelled and jumped all at the same time!! I honestly never thought it would scare him like that and that is the reaction you always dream of getting but goodness, it was very funny. Now, I walk around on pins and needles waiting for his payback. HA! Playing clean and fun jokes on others can be fun and the holidays are the perfect time to exercise a bit of humor...especially during gift-giving time. Recently, I became acquainted with a company called Prank Pack and what this company...

We are currently in December which means that a lot of college students are looking forward to a new semester and putting the old one behind them. That means one thing...it's crunch time and also it is time to start shopping for new college textbooks . Ok, I am a college graduate and have an Associates Degree in Administrative Assisting. I remember my college days very well and the one thing that seems to be an issue for any college student is money. I never had any. Ha ha! I worked two jobs and made it through about 1 year of college by paying cash. However, the cash soon disappeared no matter how hard I was working and I ended up getting loans. Yuck. Anyway, I think the biggest financial drain of college besides tuition was having to buy books. Books that seemingly were never used and just sat in the book bag, only opened on a few occasions. That drove me nuts. I spent hundreds on books and never really used them. Many of them were in brand new condition at the end of the semes...

Hey everyone! From time to time I share a recipe here and love to share the especially easy ones. My time is limited and sometimes I need something quick and simple to throw together in a pinch. Well, in looking for a quick dinner roll recipe , I came upon this goodie. 30 Minute Dinner Rolls . Ooooooo...I was VERY excited and they turned out fabulous and really did only take about 1/2 hour!!! So, without further ado, here is the recipe! 30-minute Dinner Rolls 1 cup + 2 TB warm water 1/3 cup vegetable oil 2 TB active dry yeast (I used rapid rise yeast and it worked very well too) 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1 egg 3 1/2 cups flour Preheat oven to 400F. Mix water, oil, yeast, and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer and let it rest for 15 minutes. Add the salt and egg, mix thoroughly. Gradually add the flour. Divide into 12 equal pieces, and shape into round balls. Place onto a greased baking sheet (I used a well-buttered cookie sheet) or silipat and let it rise ...

I have been waiting allll year for you to come! In case you haven't noticed yet, I LOVE winter! I love the cold, the snow and the feeling of snuggly warm blankets wrapped around me. It is a wonderful time of the year and I hope that this December is the best one I have ever had!! :) Happy December everyone.  :)

Hello dear readers! Here we are on Thanksgiving Day 2013! Hard to believe... :) I wanted to wish all of you a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends. Hope you have a WONDERFUL day full of fun, food and plenty of opportunities to count your BLESSINGS. Enjoy your day and thanks for being such wonderful readers...I am thankful for YOU! :) ...and a bit of Thanksgiving Day humor for you...love this! :)))

As I sit here in my dining room I can see that snow is beginning to fall. All over the news there are snow warnings for our area tonight through Thanksgiving day and OH how I LOVE snow!! For those of you who dislike snow, well, we are going to get a bunch of it here and if you live in the area - you will get some too! JOY! Seriously though, I do love winter and also love the snow. Before hubby and I were married, he took me skiing. I had never been before and was very excited about getting to try it out. All of my coworkers were wishing me luck and telling me not to break anything and it was a huge joke that I would come back from skiing in a body cast. Well, skiing was nothing like I thought it would be and I didn't wipe out too much. One thing that really surprised me was how hot I became when skiing. The sun reflecting off the snow proved to be pretty unforgiving too as I had a mild sunburn when we got home that day. Who would have thought I would have a sunburn in the middle ...

The Holiday season is rapidly approaching, and for a lot of us that means it’s ROAD TRIP time! Long trips can be taxing on your vehicle, which makes it even more important that it’s kept in tip top shape before you take-off. We always like to have our vehicle get a good once-over before we go on long trips and that often alerts us to issues we might be having with our car. The question is... do you know what it takes to keep up with your vehicles needs? How “car competent” are you? I thought I was VERY car competent until we tried to replace our windshield wipers last night...what a nightmare!! Here are some really quick tips for you to take a look at before you hit the road to celebrate the holidays with loved ones...  Our friends at NAPA AutoCare Centers have created a quiz for you to test your Car Competency before you take the trip. Test your knowledge on basic auto care maintenance, and download some pro-tips along the way. We asked some of our ASE Certi-fied Technicians ...

One of the things we love the most about our house is the view from the backyard. We live in a town, just outside the city limits and we also live in a housing development. HOWEVER, our home is located on the outer loop of the development and we have a huge brush covered field behind us. It is inhabited with deer, foxes and other wildlife. Our children have seen more wildlife here than they did at our other house and it is SO fun to teach them about different animals. We have just begun hunting season around here and the deer are showing up all over the place. They are being scared out of the woods into the open areas and we have been enjoying seeing many deer behind our home. We do not have any foliage for them to eat as far as gardens go and we do have arborvitae trees around our property line which supposedly are deer repellent trees so they stay out of my yard for the most part.  If you are having issues with deer invading your property and devouring  nibbling y...