Monthly Archives: March 2013

LG Do March Right™ Tip-Off Recipe Contest and My NCAA Game Day Recipe | #LGDoMarchRight

Alicia's Corner, Food and Drink, ,

My 6-year-old daughter has recently become interested in basketball, thanks to my Dad.   After long days of playing in the lake, playing games, and walking down Park Avenue in Winter Park, my Dad sits in his leather chair and my daughter gets comfy on the sofa and they watch basketball.  They usually watch Orlando Magic play against whoever they are playing against but they’ll watch just about any team.. I think.   I love that she knows how many points each type of throw makes and what a foul is.  She knows more about basketball than I do!

LG is dedicated to creating a great game-time experience especially for your game-day parties! That’s why LG has created the LG Do March Right™ Tip Off Facebook Page to collect amazing game-day recipes to share with all NCAA fans.  I submitted one of my favorite game-day recipes.  Why don’t you?

Playoff excitement, great friends and awesome food go hand in hand. And there’s never been a better time to share your favorite game-time recipe. If it’s as terrific as you think, you’ll see it right on their Facebook page. And when the voting starts…that’s when The LG Do March Right™ Tip-Off really takes off!

This game-time recipe has been submitted for LG’s Do March Right Tip-Off Challenge.

This is one of my favorite ‘special occasion’ recipes that mom, dad, and kids  love!  You know how heated things can get while watching a good ball game.  This snack will ensure that you and your game-day guests stay cool, calm, and collected.  Well, maybe not calm and collected but cool at least!

Very Berry Rice Krispies Treats with Raspberry Sorbet

Very Berry Rice Krispies Treats With Sorbet

Ingredients

  • Rice Krispies
  • Butter
  • Marshmallows
  • Raspberry (or other flavor) Sorbet
  • Cool Whip
  • Fresh strawberries and blueberries

Instructions

  • Make Rice Krispies Treats as usual (see below)
    • Melt 2-3 tablespoons butter in large pan on low heat
    • Mix marshmallows in and stir constantly until completely melted
    • Remove from heat
    • Stir in 6 cups Rice Krispies
    • SPECIAL – Separate Rice Krispies Treats mix into two 13×9 inch pans to make two thin layers
  • Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour – not necessary, but keeps the sorbet you are going to put on the soon to be cut out stars, from melting quickly
  • Once cool, cut Rice Krispies Treats into star shapes with a cookie cutter and put the individual stars on wax paper
  • Coat 1/2 of the cool Rice Krispies Treats stars with raspberry sorbet (substitute with your favorite flavor, ice cream, or frozen yogurt)
  • Place a star on top of the sorbet covered Rice Krispies Treats stars
  • Top with Cool Whip, strawberries, and blueberries
  • Garnish the plate with fresh fruit and enjoy immediately!

 

I hope you’ll try this recipe.  You and your kids will enjoy making it and I think you’ll love eating this tasty snack!

 

Whether you submit a recipe or not, you’ll have the opportunity to enter the LG 2013 NCAA® Final Four Sweepstakes.  The Grand Prize consists of a trip for two to the 2013 NCAA Final Four, including airfare, round trip ground transportation, four days and three nights of accommodation and tickets to the Final Four games, plus $500 spending money.

Other great prizes include an LG Washer and Dryer, LG Cinema 3D TV, a LG Optimus G and a $100 NCAA Shop Gift Card.

Hippity-Hop To Chasing Fireflies For The Cutest Easter Gifts and Crafts! | @ChasenFireflies

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Holiday, , ,

Easter is one of three times of the year that we talk to our kids about the meaning of the holiday and that we really get into decorating for.  Christmas and Thanksgiving are the other two.  Besides celebrating the meaning of Easter, kids love to celebrate Easter with Easter Eggs, Crafts, and chocolate bunnies.and parents love to dress their kids in fancy Easter clothes, right?   Luckily my husband’s mom loves to shop for fancy clothes and has made shopping for the kid’s Easter clothes her special thing, so I get to enjoy the fun stuff like decorating and dyeing Easter Eggs and what not.

This year, my daughter and I made the most adorable Easter decoration which came from Chasing Fireflies.  This is not just any Easter decoration, it’s a Shrinky Dinks® Easter Tree!  Combine a favorite holiday with a favorite craft.. imagine the amazing time we had!  Chasing Fireflies is our favorite store for Halloween costumes and other superbly adorable stuff. Whenever the Chasing Fireflies catalog comes in the mail, my daughter gets comfy and spends a while looking through it and circling everything she wants.

First Madelyn colored the Shrinky Dinks®.  This was her favorite part of the craft.  She loves to color and did a great job.  I was very impressed at how careful she was to stay in the lines and she stepped out and used green, yellow, and orange for this project!

Easter shrinky dinks craft

 

Next, I cut the Shrinky Dinks® out because I know we are going to have this tree for years and although I usually let her do every (safe) aspect of a craft project I cut the shrinky dinks out this time.

Then, we put the cut shrinky dinks® in the toaster on 350 degrees for about a minute and a half.   Madelyn watched in amazement as the Srinky Dinks® shrunk, curled up, then straightened out.  The shrinky dinks® at the top of the image below have not been baked/shrunk yet and the ones at the bottom have.

shrink dinks easter tree

 

After we baked the Shrinky Dinks®, I put the rings on each piece then she put the rubber bands in the rings.  Then we hung the Shrinky Dinks® on the Easter tree.

Last, we tied and placed the green ribbons, included in the box, onto the tree.

Chasing Fireflies Shrinky Dinks Easter Tree craft project

 

We really had such a great time creating this beautiful Easter Tree together.   All pieces shown in the images are included in the Shrinky Dinks® Easter Tree box.   This Easter project is just $18 on the Chasing Fireflies website.  For a decoration (and craft making memories) that we will have for many years, that’s a great deal!

peter rabbit spinning centerpiece from Chasing Fireflies

We also got a Peter Rabbit™ Spinning Centerpiece from Chasing Fireflies.  The centerpiece was easy to put together and I love the classic images that make up the entertaining decoration.

The Shrinky Dinks® Easter Tree and Peter Rabbit™ Spinning Centerpiece both break down to be flat making them very easy to store until next Easter.

Check out Chasing Fireflies‘ selection of adorable children’s clothing, costumes, and gifts and see their entire line of Easter crafts and gifts here.

I hope you and your kids have a Happy Easter!

This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own. I received Chasing Fireflies items for the purpose of this review.

Prepare To Spring Forward At 2:00am On Sunday, March 10th with Pajanimals Coloring Printables and Video | @SproutTV

Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Alicia's Corner, Bedtime, ,

Are you prepared for losing that extra hour of sleep when the clocks are turned forward an hour for Daylight Savings on March 10? It may not be so easy, especially if  you have young children,  who have trouble adapting  to change. But you can get ready  with sound advice and tips for a smooth and calm transition to Daylight Savings from Certified Sleep Experts from Sleepy Planet, Jennifer Waldburger and Jill Spivack, and your friends, the PAJANIMALS, from The Jim Henson Company and Sprout, the 24 hour children’s preschool channel. 

We all know toddlers and preschoolers need plenty of sleep to get through their busy days, especially as they ease into Daylight Savings.   Now, you can learn what it takes to keep your child’s bedtime routine on track with these simple tips from Waldburger and Spivack, who serve as consultants for the critically-acclaimed preschool series, PAJANIMALS, a series designed to help parents establish a bedtime routine for their preschoolers.  PAJANIMALS airs nightly on Sprout during The Good Night Show and follows the amazing adventures of four sweet, gentle and cuddly musical puppets that model the skills preschoolers need to move through their days successfully.

pajanimals bedtime help

The Night Before  – On Saturday, March 9th, turn clocks AHEAD 1 hour.
If your child normally sleeps till 6:30 AM, the next morning he/she might be sleepy until 7:30 AM.  The entire schedule – naps and bedtime – will then shift one hour later. If you’re happy about this change, great!  Just protect your child’s room from too much light in the early morning, and use white noise so they won’t wake with the birds.

If you’d rather help your child get back to the usual schedule, try the following:

  1. Set your alarm for 6:30 AM (according to the new clock) and wake your child at this time.  To them, it will feel like 5:30 AM and yes, they may be cranky and tired, but their body will soon get used to the new schedule.
  2. Put your child down at the normal nap time (if they are still napping) according to the new clock and resume a normal schedule from there.  Don’t allow a nap longer than usual.
  3. On Sunday night, put your child down at their usual bedtime according to the new time.

Additionally, Sprout.com offers many Pajanimals’ games, activities and content to help your child navigate through their bedtime routine, including:

 

There is also the fun, Pajanimals’ video “How Do I know If It’s Morning Time,” available on YouTube.

 

And more springtime fun for the Pajanimals:

Tune-in to Sprout between March 18 – April 14 for their “Spring is Sprouting” event, and catch some of your favorite Pajanimals’ episodes, including Apollo’s Special Day, Puppy Love, Share Day, The Cow’s Meow and Team Fort!  Pajanimals also airs every Saturday morning on NBC Kids!

More About Pajanimals:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Pajanimals

Follow The Jim Henson Company:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hensoncompany 

Twitter: @hensonparents

Follow Sprout:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Sprout

Twitter: @SproutTV

 

NMEDA – Helping People with Disabilities for Over 20 Years

New posts, ,

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of NMEDA. All opinions are 100% mine.

My Grandmother is in a wheelchair. Which sometimes makes it difficult for her to get around to doctor appointments, the store and just out and about in general.  We would a vehicle equipped to just roll the wheelchair in, strap it down and go. We would love to be able to get her out more. Transportation is the key to freedom and NMEDA help with that!

NMEDA stands for National Mobility Equipment Dealer Association. They are a non-profit trade association of mobility equipment dealers, manufacturers, driver rehabilitation specialists and other professionals dedicated to expanding opportunities for people with disabilities to drive or be transported in vehicles modified with mobility equipment. All members work together to improve transportation options of people with disabilities.

NMEDA_LOGO

The organization promotes and supports individual members engaged in the modification of quality transportation for people with disabilities. Membership has grown to more than 600 members with the bulk of the membership located in the United States and Canada. All members are required to adhere to the safety standards of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and to follow the guidelines set by NMEDA.

Where do we start?

I know very little about what is out there to help people with disabilities to help be transported.  But using the visit a NMEDA QAP (Quality Assurance Program) Dealer for mobility solutions locator, I can find dealerships in my area that can help with my Grandmother’s needs.

What is QAP?

Quality Assurance Program, or QAP, is a recognized accreditation program for the mobility equipment industry. The program was developed to promote quality, safety, and reliability within the industry.

All NMEDA QAP dealers offer 24 hour local emergency assistance, on-site sales and support, and they offer in-person individual evaluations.

Screen shot 2012-09-06 at 7.14.25 PM

If you buy a vehicle online on through a non NMEDA dealer, chances are you probably will not receive the same service.

For more information visit the NMEDA website or visit a NMEDA QAP (Quality Assurance Program) Dealer for mobility solutions. 

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White Cloud Facial Tissues and The Ultimate Comfort Package Sweepstakes!

Beauty & Skin Care

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of White Cloud. All opinions are 100% mine.

This weather is driving me crazy!  One day it’s 65 outside and the next it’s 43. My allergies are going crazy my head hurts and my nose won’t stop running! I think I have probably gone through 3 boxes of White Cloud Facial Tissues this week.

White Cloud, the maker of premium quality paper products from bath tissue to wipes understands that noses need hugs too.  The softness and comfort of White Cloud products means each tissue is more than just a tissue – it’s a comforting hug.

White Cloud Facial Tissues are a premium quality product without the premium price, Come in 19 different designs, so there is a design for every room, and are carried exclusively at Walmart.

For more information on White Cloud products you can Like White Cloud on Facebook and Follow White Cloud on Twitter.

What do you do when your allergies are going out of control or you are down with a cold? I drink lots and lots of tea, stay curled up on the couch on my favorite pj’s and blanket, watch movies, and make sure that I have lots of White Cloud Facial Tissues nearby!

White Cloud is giving away The Ultimate Comfort Package!

It will include:

• Set of four (4) bath sheets
• Set of four (4) coffee mugs
• One (1) pair of slippers
• One (1) bath robe
• One (1) queen-sized sheet set
• One (1) electric blanket
• One (1) tea assortment
• One (1) White Cloud Facial Tissue multipack

Sweepstakes Rules and Regulations

It’s full of soft and comforting items that will provide the soothing feeling of a comforting hug when you need it most!

For more information on the Ultimate Comfort package go to their Sweepstakes Rules and Regulations page.

 

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States (including D.C.), who have reached the age of majority in their state of residence at the time of entry. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Promotion ends 3/27/13. For Official Rules, including odds, and prize descriptions visitwww.mywhitecloud.com/Comfort-C… . Void where prohibited.

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