Thanks for visiting There's Just One Mommy! Keep up with all the latest posts on our Facebook Page.
My son loves to drive his miniature construction vehicles through dry rice. It’s a nice alternative when playing in the sandbox isn’t possible.
With Memorial Day coming up this weekend, I thought I’d try making patriotic rainbow rice. (I’ve seen several “recipes” for colored rice out there. I did something very similar to the one found at Blog Me Mom. The only difference is that I stirred the food coloring into the rice instead of shaking it. Next time, I’m letting the kids shake it up before I pop it in the microwave for those 10 seconds!)
Once I had the rice colored, I set out the invitation to play…
I pulled out the outdoor play kitchen stuff from when we do mud pies, and they started spooning rice into various containers.
At first they tried keeping all the colors separated. But eventually it was a spoonful of red, followed by a spoonful of blue…
And, of course, after a while, the construction vehicles made an appearance!
I have to say, just by adding color to the rice, it became a whole new level of excitement for both of my preschoolers! This is something we will definitely be doing again!
Because I spent all of Wednesday looking for my camera.
I knew I had seen it on the kitchen counter the day before. I also knew that if I had moved it, it would be in the T.V. room — waiting for me to upload pictures of my son’s birthday party.
After searching the living room, kitchen, T.V. room, and my bedroom, I told the kids whoever found it would earn a treat. They were just as clueless to the camera’s whereabouts as I was.
As the day dragged on, I thought about all the memories currently stored on the camera’s memory card. There are trips to the pond, Easter egg hunts, museum adventures, and even a short video clip of my son’s first Christmas stored on that card.
Each and every one of them is a moment that I treasure, a reason to be thankful.
What would I do if those moments were lost forever?
Yes, I know the camera was just misplaced, but thoughts of those in Oklahoma, who have lost so much weren’t far from my mind.
When my husband came home, I searched the house again. He asked where I might have sat it, and I searched the T.V. room a little harder.
I found it behind the couch.
No, I didn’t put it there. I have a feeling a certain 4 year-old decided it was in his way on the couch and tossed it back there.
I’m thankful I found it when I did.
I was able to capture a moment of cuteness before the end of the day.
And that is the last thing I lost. (I’m sure, with a little help, something else will be missing tomorrow!)
I’d love to hear about the last thing you lost.
And, if you have your own Thankful post, be sure to link up with us!
This is a sponsored post written on behalf of Chick-Fil-A.
***
Do you follow a daily routine?
Most of us do. Especially if you have younger kids. Routine is almost a must for them.
I even find myself stuck in a routine of what I eat. It’s the same breakfast every morning (except when the husband makes his pancakes).
Even when we go out, I “play it safe” and order something I’ve had before.
Please, tell me I’m not the only one!
Chick-Fil-A wants to help us step out of the box with some tasty new menu options you can feel good about eating. They have 3 new salads and my favorite — a new wrap — all under 430 calories.
Ready to try something new?
Chick-Fil-A has generously offered to give one of my readers 2 Chick-Fil-A coupons to try one of their new salads.
Take a moment and take the “Are you a starter?” quiz below and let me know your results in the comments.
U.S. residents 18 and older only, please. The winner will be chosen via Random Number Generator. Hurry! This giveaway ends at noon Saturday, May 25, 2013. For my complete disclosure policy and giveaway rules, click here.
This is a sponsored post written on behalf of Chick-Fil-A. They are supplying the giveaway prize. All opinions are 100% my own.
The flowers are super easy! We chose to use some fancy scissors with a scalloped edge to trim the top of each coffee filter. You could totally skip that step if you want to.
Then, all you do is open up the coffee filter, pinch the bottom part and wrap a green pipe cleaner tightly around the bottom. (I had to help my youngest to make sure the pipe cleaner was good and tight.)
My daughter was thrilled to have her very own bouquet!
Our second craft out of coffee filters was a butterfly.
First we folded the coffee filter accordion style.
Then we cut along the seems and opened it up to make the wings. (Our filters were cone-shapped. For regular filters just fold the filter in half and cut a triangular wedge from each side to form wings.)
We glued a clothes pin onto the “wings” to make a body. Then we added google eyes and hot glued sparkly pipe cleaner for antennae.
They both have been having fun flying their creations around.
I think they would be super cute on the refrigerator, too! You just need to glue a magnet onto the back.
Over our married years he has tried several different foot lotions and creams (per my request), but none of them seem to do much good.
So when Dermagist contacted me and asked if I’d like to review one of their products, I jumped at the chance to receive a complimentary bottle of their Foot and Heel Revitalizing Cream. (Yes, I received this lovely bottle FREE for writing this review.)
My husband has had an opportunity to use it for the past 2 weeks.
The results?
His feet are definitely less scary!
What his feet looked like BEFORE…
After!
You’ve seen the results… But what is the product like to use?
First, I have to say I love it’s smell! You can definitely smell the eucalyptus in it. Love it!
Want to hear what my husband had to say? “It absorbs into the skin faster than previous products I’ve tried. It has kept my skin from being so dry. It smells good and it doesn’t feel greasy, unlike many products.”
Want to try Dermagist’s Foot and Heel Revitalizing Cream for yourself, or maybe one of their other skin care products?
Dermagist has offered a giveaway to my readers to try a Dermagist product of your choice!
Interested? Enter the giveaway below!
U.S. residents 18 and older only, please. If you have won a Dermagist giveaway in the past, you are not eligible to win. For further giveaway terms, please check our entire giveaway guidelines.
(As mentioned previously in the post, I did receive a bottle of Dermagist’s Foot and Heel Revitalizing Cream to review. This did not affect the opinions in my review.)
With my son’s 4th birthday this week, I’m turning the prompt to the day of his birth and his entry into our family, a day I am forever thankful for.
***
“You look a lot slower today,” my mom said when she met my daughter and I outside the doctor’s office that day. Holding the hand of my 19 month toddling little girl, I looked up as we slowly made our way toward her, and smiled.
“Yes, I have to say he is making it a little hard to walk lately,” was my breathy response as we entered into the building. To say it was hard to walk was an understatement; that little one had been so far down for the last month or so that it wasn’t just hard to walk, it was hard to sit, or do pretty much anything.
I was scheduled for my weekly ultrasound, something we’d been doing the last couple months. As of yet he hadn’t let us see his face, or given us any indication if the doctor’s concerns were warranted or not. And, at this point, I was pretty sure we wouldn’t get any answers until he entered the world.
This time around he wouldn’t do the “practice breathing” that babies are supposed to do at that stage. The doctor assured me it was probably nothing, but she wanted me to go next door to the hospital for closer monitoring for a bit.
I sent my mom out to lunch with my daughter and headed to the hospital.
That’s when they told me I was having contractions every 3 minutes and was 4.5 cm dilated. (I am pretty sure my doctor HAD to have known that!)
My first response?
Seriously? This rocks! With our first child I had been induced, and the 19 hours seemed to drag on quite painfully… If I was already 4.5 cm and didn’t even know I was in labor, this was going to be cake walk!
I called my mom and told her what was going on. (So thankful she met me at the doctor’s that day!) And then I waited for my husband to arrive so I could tell him the news.
I was so laid back about it all, that once we got a room, I told my husband to go get some dinner.
It was all going good, until the doctor suggested breaking my water.
“Do you want an epidural before we do this?”
I laughed. The contractions were so mild compared to the ones I had had with Pitocin, that I figured we should just go for it.
It took about 2 contractions after that before I looked at my husband and said, “Maybe I’d like that epidural after all…”
The nurse came in, told me that the anesthesiologist was with another patient at the moment, and then she checked my progress.
“10 cm, this baby is coming, now — you don’t have time for an epidural.”
Things are pretty much a blur after that. My original doctor had gone to deliver twins, so a doctor I’d never seen before came in and said she was going to deliver.
I closed my eyes during a contraction, opened them, and my original doctor had returned and was telling me to push.
Unlike my daughter’s entry into the world, my son was silent. I got him on my chest for just a moment, long enough to see that he was definitely bigger than his sister’s 5.5 pounds. Then they whisked him away to get him to take a breath.
His entry into the world was so fast, we were both in shock.
The two hours he was in the nursery being monitored and getting extra oxygen crawled by. When they finally brought him back, I counted every finger and every toe. “You’ve got little monkey feet!” I remember saying when I saw how far apart his little toes spread out. (Yes, that’s how he got his nickname here on the blog!)
Life has never been the same since that day, and I am forever grateful.
***
You’re turn!
Leave a comment telling me what you are thankful for this week!
Have your own thankful post? Or maybe a birth story you want to share? Link it up below!
