Friday, August 31, 2012

Boo at the Zoo w/Scooby-Doo - Insectropolis Bug Museum

I had the opportunity to take my children to this event last year and they loved it - definitely something fun to do!  Before the event while waiting in line, the characters even came around for pictures with the children.
Ozane's Bug Museum hosts Halloween Family Fun
Boo at the Zoo with Scooby-Doo
 

 
The Mystery of The Missing Gold Beetle

The Scooby gang visits the Bug Museum for Halloween. While on a tour, they discover that the sacred gold beetle is missing. Where is it and who took it?  Help uncover clues as you explore our spooky exhibits escorted by one of the Scooby gang.  Meet up with Scooby at the end when you solve the case! 

:: Fun for all ages. 

:: Advance tickets are recommended, Please call (732) 349-7090.
Please know which night you need tickets for when you call.

 Dates Available
Friday, October 12, 2011  5-8pm
Saturday, October 13, 2011  5-8pm
This is an Evening Event     
$8 per visitor (regardless of age) 
**This is a special event, no coupons, free passes, group rates or discounts apply.** 

Visit the Insectropolis website for more information:  Insectropolis

Insectropolis is located at
1761 Route 9
Toms River, NJ 08755


DIY Lego Block Costume - SO easy!

lego costume


Oh my goodness - you are going to wonder why you never made this costume before - SO easy and SO cheap to make!!!  Gotta love a good deal on a costume - there are some expensive ones out there.  So I suggest start making your own!  This is a great way to recycle an old cardboard box into something really special that your children will enjoy!  If your children love legos, they will love this costume for trick or treating.  
This would also make for a great family costume - each family member could be a different color lego. 

Follow these instructions to turn a plain old cardboard box into a costume with all the right angles.

STEP 1: Cut off the bottom flaps of a box (ours measured 16"W × 29"H × 11"D) with a utility knife. Tape down the top flaps.

STEP 2: To create head and arm holes, trace a dinner plate on the top of the box and saucers on each of the box's sides, and cut out with the utility knife.

STEP 3: Lay the box flat on its back. Using wood glue, affix eight round 2"H x 4"diam. craft boxes (should only be a dollar or two each at your local craft store) — without their lids — in two vertical rows along the front, as shown. Make sure the bottoms of the craft boxes face out.

STEP 4: Once the glue has dried, spray-paint the entire piece glossy red. If necessary, coat multiple times for a brighter color, then let dry.  Make sure to get spray paint that is suitable for cardboard/paper.


Special thanks to Country Living for this fantastic idea!


DIY Angry Birds Costume


What a great idea for any children who love the Angry Birds games!!!   This awesome DIY costume idea is actually pretty easy to make and your kids will LOVE you for it!  All of the instructions and pictures on how to make it can be found at this great blog - check it out:
THANKS to Shana at the above blog for sharing this costume idea!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Easy Mexican Lasagna




Special thanks to American Family website for this great recipe!  Very yummy, and super easy!

Ingredients:
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 3cups chopped cooked chicken breast (you can use canned chicken if you'd like)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can fat-free cream of chicken soup
  • 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can fat-free cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 (10-ounce) can enchilada sauce
  • Vegetable cooking spray
  • 9 (6-inch) corn tortillas
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) low-fat shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • Toppings: shredded lettuce, nonfat sour cream, mild chunky salsa


  • Directions:
      Cook first 6 ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
      Stir together chicken and mushroom soups and enchilada sauce in a saucepan; cook, stirring often, 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
      Spoon one-third of sauce into a 13- x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray; top with 3 tortillas. Spoon half of chicken mixture and one-third of sauce over tortillas; sprinkle with half of Cheddar cheese. Top with 3 tortillas; repeat layers once with remaining chicken, sauce, Cheddar cheese, and tortillas, ending with tortillas. Sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese.
      Bake at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes or until lasagna is bubbly. Serve with desired toppings.
      *To lower sodium, choose reduced-sodium soups, canned tomato products, and cheeses.

    Tuesday, August 14, 2012

    Happy Hour at Dairy Queen


    To all of my Toms River area peeps - Monday through Friday from 2 - 4pm, the Dairy Queen on Fischer Blvd. (where the old Foodtown was and Burger King is) has Happy Hour - meaning you get delicious ice cream treats for 1/2 off!  Pretty much everything on the menu is included so stop over there one day and treat yourself to something cool on these hot summer days!  Enjoy!

    Wednesday, August 8, 2012

    25 Rules for Mothers of Boys

    Wow - wonderful words to live by for any of us who are parents of boys.  I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did.
    Special thanks to Tabitha Studer at studerteam.blogspot.com for allowing me to share this amazing article! 

    25 Rules for Moms with Sons


    1. Teach him the words for how he feels.
    Your son will scream out of frustration and hide out of embarrassment.  He’ll cry from fear and bite out of excitement.  Let his body move by the emotion, but also explain to him what the emotion is and the appropriate response to that emotion for future reference.  Point out other people who are feeling the same thing and compare how they are showing that emotion.  Talk him through your emotions so that someday when he is grown, he will know the difference between angry and embarrassed; between disappointment and grief.


    2. Be a cheerleader for his life
    There is no doubt that you are the loudest person in the stands at his t-ball games.  There is no doubt that he will tell you to “stop, mom” when you sing along to his garage band’s lyrics.  There is no doubt that he will get red-faced when you show his prom date his pictures from boy scouts.  There is no doubt that he is not telling his prom date about your blog where you’ve been bragging about his life from his first time on the potty to the citizenship award he won in ninth grade.  He will tell you to stop.  He will say he’s embarrassed.  But he will know that there is at least one person that is always rooting for him.


    3. Teach him how to do laundry
    ..and load the dishwasher, and iron a shirt.  He may not always choose to do it.  He may not ever have to do it.  But someday his wife will thank you.


    4. Read to him and read with him.
    Emilie Buchwald said, “Children become readers on the laps of their parents.”  Offer your son the opportunity to learn new things, believe in pretend places, and imagine bigger possibilities through books.  Let him see you reading…reading the paper, reading novels, reading magazine articles.  Help him understand that writing words down is a way to be present forever.  Writers are the transcribers of history and memories.  They keep a record of how we lived at that time; what we thought was interesting; how we spoke to each other; what was important.  And Readers help preserve and pass along those memories.


    5. Encourage him to dance.
    Dance, rhythm, and music are cultural universals.  No matter where you go, no matter who you meet – they have some form of the three.  It doesn’t have to be good.  Just encourage your son that when he feels it, it’s perfectly fine to go ahead and bust a move.


    6. Make sure he has examples of good men who are powerful because of their brains, their determination, and their integrity.
    The examples of men with big muscles and a uniform (like Batman and LaMarr Woodley) will surround your son from birth.  But make sure he also knows about men who kick a$s because of their brains (Albert Einstein), and their pen (Mark Twain), and their words (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.), and their determination (Team Hoyt), and their ideas (The Wright Brothers), and their integrity (Officer Frank Shankwitz), and fearlessness (Neil Armstrong), and their ability to keep their mouths closed when everyone else is screaming (Jackie Robinson).

    7. Make sure he has examples of women who are beautiful because of their brains, their determination, and their integrity.
    The examples of traditionally beautiful women (like Daphne Blake, Princess Jasmine, and Britney Spears) will surround your son from birth.  But make sure he knows about women who are beautiful from the inside out because of their brains (Madame Marie Curie), and their pen (Harper Lee), and their words (Eleanor Roosevelt), and their determination (Anne Sullivan), and their ideas (Oprah Winfrey), and their integrity (Miep Gies), and fearlessness (Ameila Earhart), and their ability to open their mouths and take a stand when everyone else is silent (Aung San Suu Kyi).

    8. Be an example of a beautiful woman with brains, determination, and integrity.
    You already are all of those things.  If you ever fear that you are somehow incapable of doing anything - remember this:  If you have done any of the following:  a) grew life b) impossibly and inconceivably got it out of your body c) taken care of a newborn d) made a pain go away with a kiss e) taught someone to read f) taught a toddler to eat with a utensil g) cleaned up diarrhea without gagging h) loved a child enough to be willing to give your life for them (regardless if they are your own) or i) found a way to be strong when that child is suffering…you are a superhero.  do not doubt yourself for one second.  Seriously.

    9. Teach him to have manners
    because its nice.  and it will make the world a little better of a place.

    10. Give him something to believe in
    Because someday he will be afraid, or nervous, or heartbroken, or lost, or just need you, and you won’t be able to be there.  Give him something to turn to when it feels like he is alone, so that he knows that he will never be alone; never, never, never.


    11. Teach him that there are times when you need to be gentle
    like with babies, and flowers, and animals, and other people’s feelings.

    12. Let him ruin his clothes
    Resolve to be cool about dirty and ruined clothes.  You’ll be fighting a losing battle if you get upset every time he ruins another piece of clothing. Don’t waste your energy being angry about something inevitable.  Boys tend to learn by destroying, jumping, spilling, falling, and making impossible messes.  Dirty, ruined clothes are just par for the course.


    13. Learn how to throw a football
    or how to use a hockey stick, or read music, or draw panda bears (or in my case alpacas), or the names of different train engines, or learn to speak Elvish, or recognize the difference between Gryffindor and Slytherin, or the lyrics to his favorite song.  Be in his life, not as an observer but as an active participant.


    14. Go outside with him
    turn off the television, unplug the video games, put your cellphone on the charger, even put your camera away.  Just go outside and follow him around.  Watch his face, explore his world, and let him ask questions.  It’s like magic.


    15. Let him lose
    Losing sucks.  Everybody isn’t always a winner.  Even if you want to say, “You’re a winner because you tried,” don’t.  He doesn’t feel like a winner, he feels sad and crappy and disappointed.  And that’s a good thing, because sometimes life also sucks, no matter how hard (as moms) we try to make it not suck for our kids.  This practice will do him good later when he loses again (and again, and again, and again, and again…..)  Instead make sure he understands that – sometimes you win – sometimes you lose.  But that doesn’t mean you ever give up.


    16. Give him opportunities to help others
    There is a big difference in giving someone the opportunity to help and forcing someone to help.  Giving the opportunity lights a flame in the heart and once the help is done the flame shines brighter and asks for more opportunities.  Be an example of helping others in your own actions and the way your family helps each other and helps others together.


    17. Remind him that practice makes perfect.
    This doesn’t just apply to performance-based activities (like sports and music) but also applies to everything in life.  You become a better writer by writing.  You become a better listener by listening.  You become better speaker by speaking.  Show your son this when he is just young enough to understand (that means from birth, folks – they are making sense of the world as soon as they arrive), practice trick-or-treating at your own front door before the real thing.  Practice how you will walk through airport security before a trip.  Practice how you order your own food from the fast food cashier.  Practice, practice, practice.


    18. Answer him when he asks, “Why?”
    Answer him, or search for the answer together.  Show him the places to look for the answers (like his dad, or grandparents, or his aunts/uncles, or his books, or valid internet searches).  Pose the question to him so he can begin thinking about answers himself.  Someday, when he needs to ask questions he’s too embarrassed to ask you – he’ll know where to go to find the right answers.


    19. Always carry band-aids and wipes on you.
    Especially the wipes.


    20. Let his dad teach him how to do things
    …without interrupting about how to do it the ‘right way.’  If you let his dad show and teach and discover with your son while he is growing up, some day down the road (after a short period of your son believing his dad knows nothing), he will come to the realization that his dad knows everything.  You will always be his mother, but in his grown-up man heart and mind, his dad will know the answers.  And this will be how, when your son is too busy with life to call and chat with his mom,  you will stay connected to what is happening in his life.  Because he will call his dad for answers, and his dad will secretly come and ask you.


    21. Give him something to release his energy
    Drums, a pen, a punching bag, wide open space, water, a dog.  Give him something to go crazy with – or he will use your stuff, and then you’ll be sorry.


    22. Build him forts
    Forts have the ability to make everyday normal stuff into magic.  Throw the couch cushions, a couple blankets, and some clothespins and you can transform your living room into the cave of wonders.  For the rest of his life, he’ll be grateful to know that everyday normal stuff has the potential to be magical.


    23. Take him to new places
    Because it will make his brain and his heart open up wider, and the ideas and questions and memories will rush in.


    24. Kiss him
    Any mother of sons will tell you that little boys are so loving and sweet.  They can be harsh and wild and destructive during most of the day.  But there are these moments when they are so kind and sensitive and tender.  So much so that it can cause you to look around at the inward, reserved grown men in your life and think, ‘what happens in between that made you lose that?’  Let’s try to stop the cycle by kissing them when they’re loving and kissing them even more when they’re wild.  Kissing them when they’re 2 months and kissing them when they’re 16 years old.  You’re the mom – you can go ahead and kiss him no matter how big he gets – and make sure he knows it.  p.s. (this one is just as important for dads too).


    25. Be home base
    You are home to him.  When he learns to walk, he will wobble a few feet away from you and then come back, then wobble away a little farther and then come back.  When he tries something new, he will look for your proud smile.  When he learns to read, he will repeat the same book to you twenty times in a row, because you’re the only one who will listen that many times.  When he plays his sport, he will search for your face in the stands.  When he is sick, he will call you.  When he really messes up, he will call you.  When he is grown and strong and tough and big and he feels like crying, he will come to you; because a man can cry in front of his mother without feeling self-conscious.  Even when he grows up and has a new woman in his life and gets a new home, you are still his mother; home base, the ever constant, like the sun.  Know that in your heart and everything else will fall into place.

    Tuesday, August 7, 2012

    FEEL GOOD ABOUT THE FOOD YOU FEED YOUR FAMILY

    Most of us do not cook from scratch anymore and let's face it - we are a sauce from a jar, soup from a can, chicken shaking generation. Packaged foods do make our life easier, but they are also expensive, loaded with fats, salts, and preservatives, and just not as tasty as homemade.


    By using our unique herb & spice blends and mixes, you can provide very healthful meals that taste great, are quick and easy to prepare and do not have the hydrogenated fats, preservatives, artificial flavors and additives in the packaged food you find in the store. 


    Wildtree was founded on the premise that food should be natural, nutritious, delicious and easy to prepare - all at the same time. Our products are made with the finest ingredients available and contain no preservatives, additives, MSGs or dyes. We are also a Peanut and Tree Nut free facility.


    Check out my website for more info., to order products, or even to find out about hosting your own tasting party where you will earn TONS of free and 1/2 price delicious healthy food!

    If you are looking for extra income, there is no better time to join Wildtree than NOW - with a limited number of reps in the NJ area, it's a great time to get in with one of the fastest growing direct sales companies today!  Contact me for more information - I would be happy to help you get started!



    Quick & Easy Pizza Dough
    Flax Seed Beer Bread


    Wildy Blueberry Jam

    Wicked Good Slow Cooker Sauce

    Saturday, August 4, 2012

    Pringles cookie container



    I found this on pinterest, and since I am always looking for great ways to reuse stuff, I had to repost this great idea!!!  Reuse your pringles containers for cookies!!  What a great way to give someone a gift of cookies.  

    Simply clean out your pringles container, then wrap with some pretty paper, fill with yummy cookies, and wrap with a bow!  Viola!  A beautiful and delicious gift for your friends and family.
    And depending on the occasion, you could use any paper you want - think red and green for Christmas cookies, pastels for Easter. etc.

    Besides being beautiful, the cookies are neatly stacked so they won't break and the clear cover gives people a view of what their tummys will be tasting!