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Barefoot Books for Earth Day and beyond

Blogging has allowed me to "meet" so many wonderful people. Several years ago, I found Susan’s original blog and we became friends. The two of us would write comments on each others posts, we would e-mail each other and even chat on Twitter. Our oldest boys are both the same age, so we help each other virtually as we sent our boys off to kindergarten in September 2009. I also recall Susan mentioning more than once that she wanted to take a step into the business world. Recently, Susan made this dream a reality with her Barefoot Books Marketplace.

I first heard about Barefoot Books through Susan when she started to do her research. The books looked fabulous. As a teacher ,I am a book addict. I dare say I have a collection of picture books that I started when I was in college, even before I did my student teacher. My Children’s Literature course made me really appreciate the talents of various authors and the gifts that the illustrators add to their books.

Susan asked me if I would like to see and review a Barefoot Book gift set. I immediately said yes because it is always wonderful to help out a fellow mom. Just before Passover, we received a Barefoot Books box. The boys immediately wanted to see what was inside. Here is what we found:

Our Barefoot Books package

We received the Barebook Books for Baby Gift set. Here is more about it:

A perfect ‘welcome home’ for a new baby

Welcome a new baby into the world with a hardcover edition of Baby’s First Book, featuring Clare Beaton’s exquisite hand-sewn collages. Paired with a cuddly White Bunny Rabbit puppet, this gift set makes the perfect present and is presented in an eco-friendly, reusable green shopper tote with a gift tag to personalize.

Inside the book:

Teddy Bear Picnic - inside the book

My thoughts:

As someone that often needs to give baby gifts and other items to young children, I appreciate that Barefoot Books has gift sets like the one that we received. You could tell that a lot of thought went into the items that were included. The tag alone made it such a personal gift. The boys immediately claimed the rabbit puppet as theirs. Of course, we also read the book together. Each page was filled with the illustrations by Clare Beaton that allowed for a lot of discussion. The boys were able to repeat the nursery rhymes with me, tell me what the clothing was depicted, make up a story about the bears (seen above), or repeat the animal noises. There was a wealth of things that we could add to this book, especially with my two year old.

I must admit that I was partial to something with Baby’s First Book. I adored Clare Beaton’s illustrations. Not only did the author do them herself, they were actually hand-sewn. As a teacher, it looks like a felt board story was done with extra detail on each and every page. I could actually see framing some of the pages from this book in a nursery for a child. Yes, they really were that gorgeous. Beaton is a very talented artist.

When I looked over the catalog from Barefoot Books I realized something else. I had read several other Barefoot Books. Just a few weeks ago NHL took The Beeman by Laurie Krebs out of the library. We all loved the details about the world of bees and beekeeping, along with the amazing illustrations by Valeria Cis. There were other books that I also recognized.

Giveaway just in time for Earth Day:

How would you like a chance to win the Whole World Gift Set from Susan and Barefoot Books?

Whole World Gift Set - Barefoot Books

The set seen above is being given away on Susan’s Barefoot Books blog to celebrate Earth Month. Head on over to see more details about the gift set and to enter the giveaway.

Have you ever received or given Barefoot Books? If not please head on over to check them out at Susan’s Marketplace.

TheAngelForever

Disclosure: I received the Barefoot Books set complimentary of Susan to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed are 100% mine about the product. No other compensation was received. I have linked to Susan’s marketplace to assist a fellow mother in her new business.

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Ultimate Blog Party 2010

Hello and welcome to The Angel Forever! Today a fun and exciting event begins in the Blogosphere thanks to 5 Minutes For Mom.

Ultimate Blog Party 2010

This year I wanted to join in the fun of the Ultimate Blog Party 2010 for a number of reasons.

  • I felt left out with too many things going on last year. I think it was during Passover so I was a little preoccupied with that.
  • So many of my friends are participating and it will be fun catching up with everyone
  • Will be able to meet a lot of new people to become friends and network with before BlogHer in NYC.
  • Check out new blogs and have people come by my blog.
  • Of course, there is also trying to win some fabulous prizes like the Toshiba laptop, cash, gift cards to places like Amazon, Target and Kay Jewelers. A very nice perk if you ask me.

So while you are here, I hope you will check out my blog, enter some of my giveaways, leave comments on posts (makes me smiles) and get to know my family and home on the web.

My Disney Family

My question to you this week:

Are you participating in the Ultimate Blog Party? If you are please let me know your post link and I will be sure to stop by. If not, why not?

Hope to see you familiar faces and get to know a lot of new people. If this is your first time here, welcome again and I hope to see you again soon.

Please be sure to check out my Human Nature – Reach Out CD and Dove Men+Care giveaways. Stay tuned because more will be coming very soon.

TheAngelForever

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An Island Life

Aloha #94 

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A week gone by – Passover 2010

The count down begins. There are only three more Passover meals left until we can officially say the holiday is over and begin eating chametz again. The funny thing is I do not miss bread. I miss the little things. Here are a few of the items I can not wait to have again: 

  • Fiber One Bars – missing these a lot
  • Greek Yogurt – the Dannon All Natural that is for Passover is just not the same. It passes with fruits mixed in . . . or other items as I will mention later.
  • Cereal – Quinoa for breakfast is not my thing, the pilaf for lunch and dinner – YUM!
  • Gum – The Passover sugar free gum leaves a lot to be desired. It has little flavor and goes stale quickly. Really miss my Extra Watermelon Gum.
  • Cheese – The Kosher for Passover cheese is just not my favorite. The other ones we get during the year are SO much better.

No doubt, there are other items that I miss, but those were a few that came to mind. We have been eating a lot of fruits and vegetables. Broccoli stir fry with mushrooms was amazing. TechyDad also cut up sweet potatoes and put a little olive oil on them with salt and pepper. Those were delicious with chicken and quinoa pilaf.

The little guy did not eat much during the Passover Seders. The second night he devoured four giant matzoh balls. Check him out here:

Matzoh Ball time

For days, he would not eat matzoh in any other form. He would lick cream cheese off and pick off cheese when I made him matzoh pizza. Aside from slices of cheese, he would only eat "chocolate" yogurt. What exactly is "chocolate" yogurt you ask? Well, it is the Dannon All Natural Yogurt with a special mix in. The little guy was begging for his Chobani chocolate Greek yogurt and could not have it for Passover. I improvised with what we had. I took a chocolate macaroon and crumbled it up within the yogurt. Mix it all together. . . voila "chocolate" yogurt is born! This has been a huge life saver.

NHL has been a lot easier to please. He loves hard boiled eggs. I fear that he make start to cluck from eating so many over the last week. His favorite meal, aside from Aunt S’s matzoh ball soup, was the potato crusted fish fillets that we bought the boys. He absolutely loved them.

Eggs - not just for Easter

This year, we did not bake. We only had a few boxes of macaroon and the pre-made cakes that came with items we received from a gift basket. The only candy we bought were two bags taffy. No Chocolate bon-bon cookies, rainbow cookies, jelly rings or marshmallow logs. Keeping things simple, having delicious Seder food at Aunt S and Uncle M’s house, and not buying pre-packaged items was the way to go for us.

Passover Seder Foods - 2010

The week went by with a lot less fuss than I expected. How were your holidays?

TheAngelForever

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Making things sweet with Splenda

Making things healthier for our family is a major goal in our house.  We do not bake sweets too often because of extra sugar in these items. In addition to this, my mother and TechyDad’s mother are diabetic. We try to watch things because we know diabetes is in our genes. I was recently asked by Mom Central to participate in a Splenda tour to receive a free sample of Granulated Splenda No Calorie Sweetner and the Splenda Tastebook. I agreed since it was a fabulous opporunity to have some recipes to try with my family and friends that are diabetic and/or trying to watch their sugar intake.

We had Splenda packets in the house before this, but had never really used it for anything beyond adding to drinks. Splenda recently teamed up with celebrity Mom chef, Katie Brown, to offer recipes and tips on how to use Splenda in more items than you can imagine. Brown offers recipes for cookies, cakes, breaks and even smoothies.

Our sample and cook book arrived just before Passover . We wanted to try something quick and easy that did not require baking. TechyDad mentioned that we had a lot of overly ripe bananas. I opened up the Splenda Tastebook and found the Banana Strawberry Shake. It was the perfect fit since we had strawberries in the freezer. Bananas, strawberries, Splenda and fat free milk was all we needed with our handy dandy blender.

Testing out Splenda recipe

If you are interested in the recipe you can find it here. One item that I especially liked was the nutritional information was included – big kuddos for that! As you an see below, both of my boys loved it. My little guy actually drank a lot and told us he now likes strawberries. We liked it SO much that TechyDad and the boys actually made three batches of this for the entire family for a snack. It was delicious!

Taste testers approve

When Passover is over, there are a bunch of other items that look really good including the Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars. I will also be looking at other items to add to my online cookbook to make for my son’s party to bring special for the diabetic members of the family present. I know I have a lot of options with the online recipes and ones in my Tastebook thanks to Katie Brown who included not only drinks, desserts, but also side dishes, sauces, salads and salsas.

Have you used Splenda in any recipes that you liked? Please share, I would love to know.

TheAngelForever

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Splenda and received products necessary to facilitate my candid review. In addition, a donation was made in my name to the Meals on Wheels organization to thank me for taking the time to participate.

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My six year old barber

Dear NHL,

Not too long ago, a bunch of other parents were talking about how their kids had cut their own hair. I mentioned that I was worried about my two year old doing this, but thought that my first grader was safe from doing this. Of course, our scissors are WAY back on the counter where any little people would have to use something to climb up and reach for. Clearly, I jinxed all of us.

After lunch today, we packed everyone up and went to the park. Here you are on the swings having a fabulous time in the gorgeous weather.

Before the cut

Yes, I will admit your hair is on the longer side, but we were waiting to get all hair cuts in a week or so. Obviously, you did not get this memo. When we were done at the park we went to get some fruits, veggies and more eggs at Price Chopper and then back home. JSL was sleeping in the car, so you went outside to play with the kids in the neighborhood. You rode your bike, played soccer, had a super-soaker battle and used bubbles. When you were done we deposited you into a bubble bath inside.

When you got out of the tub, I dried off your hair with a towel and joked that you had wild and crazy hair. This statement will now haunt me. I left you in the living room with your clothing while I went to help Dad and JSL in the bathroom. The little guy was heading into the tub. Suddenly, you came to me and asked for help getting hair off your hands. I asked you to repeat what you said.

The chop was made

After this, things get a little fuzzy in my head because I was SO angry with you. Apparently, you climbed up onto the counter in the kitchen and lopped off a huge hunk of your hair. I saw it and immediately went bonkers. I calmed down long enough to call Supercuts to see when they closed.

Doing some hair magic

With you crying in fear of what they were going to do to fix your hair, we drove there to see what magic could be done. Of course, you flipped out when it was your turn. I think the person before you having a buzz cut with a 1 blade made you think you were going to be that hairless as well. We convinced you that it would not be that bad. Thank goodness we went quickly. The woman there was able to make it look pretty darn good. It may be shorter than you usually get in front, but, when you look fast, you may not even notice the tiny patch missing.

Supercuts saves the day

With any luck, you learned your lesson that you are NEVER to use scissors on any hair, fur or similar item. They are only to be used on paper or something else that an adult approves. Mommy and Daddy also learned that we have to hide the scissors now and they are where even I can not simply reach for them. Always remember, even when I am upset with you, I still love you with all of my hair. . . -er I mean heart.

Love,

Mommy

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If you want to participate in Dear Kid Saturday, head on over to Cutest Kid Ever by clicking on the button below.

Dear Kid Saturday

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