What's in a Name?

Another mommy blog I belong to had an interesting conversation going about "naming conventions". I loved reading everyone's responses so I thought I'd ask the S&S girls... do you have a method to naming your children? Do you look for a certain type of name, whether it be ethnicity, meaning, time period, etc? I'd love to hear how your children got their names...

For us, we wanted names with family ties, that aren't too trendy and somewhat old fashioned (we like to call them classic!). Of course, it seemed that right as I got pregnant the old fashion names made a comeback and several of the names we like are becoming quite popular. Olivia is one that we really love and will probably never use! Our little girl is named Cecelia Shannon. Cecelia is my great grandmother and Shannon is the name of Scott's older sister who passed away when she was only 2.5 months old. I love that we have stories to share with Cecelia regarding why her name is so special. I hope that as she learns about the two great women she is named after that she will feel a special bond with them and be proud to carry their names.

Abundance

I just finished reading "A New Earth" by Echart Tolle. You may have heard of it from Oprah. My sister recommended it to me and I really loved it. There were so many moments where I thought, "Wow, that is so true", or "That totally makes sense". He definitely put new ideas into my mind as well. I haven't had a chance to watch the Oprah podcasts along with it, but if you have time and are interested, that is highly recommended from my sister.

Here is an excerpt that really hit me. Perhaps it can give you a little extra inspiration this week:

"Who you think you are is also intimately connected with how you see yourself treated by others. Many people complain that others do not treat them well enough. 'I don't get any respect, attention, recognition, acknowledgement," they say. 'I'm being taken for granted.' When people are kind, they suspect hidden motives. 'Others want to manipulate me, take advantage of me. Nobody loves me.'

Who they think they are is this: 'I am a needy little me' whose needs are not being met.' This basic misperception of who they are creates dysfunction in all their relationships. They believe they have nothing to give and that the world or other people are withholding from them what they need. Their entire reality is based on an illusory sense of who they are. It sabotages situations, mars all relationships. If the thought of lack-whether it be money,recognition, or love-has become part of who you think you are, you will always experience lack. Rather than acknowledge the good that is already in your life, all you see is lack. Acknowledging the good that is already in your life is the foundation for all abundance. The fact is: Whatever you think the world is withholding from you, you are withholding from the world. (emphasis added) You are withholding it because deep down you think you are small and that you have nothing to give.

Try this for a couple of weeks and see how it changes your reality: Whatever you think people are withholding from you-praise, appreciation, loving care, and so on-give it to them. You don't have it? Just act as if you had it, and it will come. Then, soon after you start giving, you will start receiving. You cannot receive what you don't give. Outflow determines inflow. Whatever you think the world is withholding from you, you already have, but unless you allow it to flow out, you won't even know that you have it. This includes abundance. The law that outflow determines inflow is expressed by Jesus in this powerful image: "Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap."

Another Blog to Share

Is it still "favourite website June"? Cause I found another one to share... for all you with little girls, this is a fun blog! www.shedoeshair.blogspot.com. Its a collection of photos of fun hairstyles for little girls. My daughter is still mostly "hair impared" though I like to hope that I'll eventually get to do fun things like this!! For now, we just use ky-jelly to stick homemade bows to her head! One day though, one day, I'll be able to put her hair in pigtails! Hopefully before she goes to kindergarten... :D

SYTYCD

Just curious if anyone watches So You Think You Can Dance on Fox. So far this is the best year yet!

Biggest Loser Challenge - Track what you eat

I know... it seems that no one likes to track what they eat. With weight loss, knowing what you are eating is vital!!! We tend to think that we eat less than we actually are.

So this week's challenge is to track what you eat. Every. Single. Thing. Write it down.

You don't have to figure out the calorie amount. The challenge is to track every single thing you put in your mouth as well as the quantity (handful, 1/2 cup, etc.)

Let's see if becoming more aware of what we eat will help us break through the plateaus... or jump start a loss!

(I know it is hard, I know it isn't fun. Do it anyway.)

How did everyone do with the push up challenge?

Wednesday Weekly

Are you a side sleeper, back sleeper, or belly sleeper?

Biggest Loser: Week 6 Weigh In

Half way mark... where's everyone at with their weight loss? What's working for you and what isn't? What changes do you plan on making in the next 6 weeks to get closer to your goal?

Hurry great deal ends soon!

I have found this great deal on babycenter.com! There is a section that offers great deals and free stuff and there I found a deal for diapers.com. Right now, if you spend 50$ or more, your shipping is free and you get 10$ off your price! So, I have already done this once and it is awesome. I got 220 size 2 diapers (luvs), a pack of little swimmers and a box of nursing pads for 41$ shipped right to my door! (It was 51$ before the 10$ off) I would spend over 50$ on that at walmart and have to drive there! You can only use this discount once(for new customers) so this time I have to be sneaky and have my mom order it and have it delivered to her house and just pay her. Still worth it to me! Diapers.com has lots of stuff like diapers, wipes, toys, pacifiers, everything for baby! It says the deal is expiring soon, so hurry up! When you are placing your order on diapers.com, once you have reached 50$ your free shipping comes automatically but to get the 10$ off you need to type in BCENTER in the promotion code box. Hope this helps someone save a little money and a trip to the store!

Awesome Website

I don't know if you girls are familiar with www.simplemom.net, but she is AWESOME!! I absolutely love her blog. She always seems to be writing about stuff that totally pertains to me. And sometimes, I wonder if she's Mormon! :D She just did a serious of articles about money management that I thought were awesome. She talks a lot about Dave Ramsey and his plan for a debt free life. I highly recomment checking her out, and let me know what you think of her blog!

Play Dough recipe

I made play dough for the first time with my 20 mos old this week, and it was a huge hit! I wasn't sure if she would be old enough, but she definitely was. After all, you don't have to be very old to make a mess! And actually, as far as the mess factor goes- it wasn't bad at all. Super easy clean up and no staining! I even enjoyed it. I would be intently shaping animals and stuff, without even realizing it! Anyway, there are tons of simple recipes out there. I just looked for one that I already had the ingredients for, and found one in a recipe book one of my previous wards had compiled. A couple of you gals requested the recipe on my personal blog, so I thought I'd just post it for all of you!

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups salt
5 tbsp. cream of tartar
3 cups water
4 tbsp oil
(I added food coloring to make it a fun color)

Mix ingredients in pan on medium heat, and stir until thick. Cool on cookie sheet.

I know there's lots of fun recipes out there for things like "flubber" or silly putty, or even different kinds of playdough. Feel free to share if you have one you love!

Easy Mac!

My daughter asks for mac'a'noodles practically everyday...twice a day. But I get a little sick of it. I have resisted trying Easy Mac because it seems more expensive and frivolous but I've seen how easy and convenient it is. So, when it was on sale this week, I got some. So worth the money! the only problem is she actually could eat a package and half or more at one sitting! If you have a noodle fanatic like mine, it is so worth it! If you haven't tried it, go for it!

S&S Make Over

Sugar and Spice has gotten a make over! Hopefully everyone likes it, and finds it easy to view, but if you have any problems, PLEASE let me know!! I'm still new to this whole html thing, so there could be some bugs, but I'd be happy to fix them.


Let me know what you think, and most importantly, what needs to be changed!

Biggest Loser Challenge: Push ups!

Alright ladies!!! How did the 10% challenge go? Who did it?

I have a confession - last week was so busy I didn't even remember I issued the challenge until Sunday. Nice. After that, I tried to cut my calorie intake by 10%. That meant eliminating an extra 150 calories a day. I'll just say that I love those 150 calories. They were hard to give up.

This week's challenge is to do push ups. I learned this at an aerobics class we had at my church building. Instead of doing them on the floor, we did them against the stage. Stand away from the stage about 3 feet (maybe less for shorter people), place hands a little more than shoulder width apart on the edge of the stage. Do pushups - your chest should almost touch the stage as you lower. Do 3 sets of 10. The further out your feet are from the stage, the more difficult the push up.

I thought this was a great way to do push ups. For some reason it is less intimidating than a floor push up. It was easier for me to have correct form (make sure your bum isn't sticking high in the air! You should keep your body as straight as possible).

So the challenge is this: when you are in the kitchen, waiting for water to boil, food to warm up in the microwave, whatever, do these push ups against your kitchen counter. Really try and push yourself (hahaha, no pun intended) - don't just do one or two, but try at least 5 at a time. Do these throughout the day, when you are in the kitchen.

Report back next week. CAN WE PUSH IT??? YES, WE CAN!!!

Wednesday Weekly

How do you like to celebrate the 4th of July?

header

Does anyone want to design a new header or anything else to "spice" up S&S?

Biggest Loser: Week 5 Weigh In

Week 5... next week will be our halfway point! How's everyone doing?

Youth Fireside Part 2

Thanks so much for the feedback everyone has given so far. I really like the idea of an anonymous Q and A session. One of the things I've decided to incorporate is a list of suggestions for fun and creative dates. I hear stories from friends and fam out in Utah all the time about creative dates they have gone on, but that's something that simply does not exist out here. Kids pair off and get serious and exclusive really young here. Dating consists of watching movies (unsupervised) at each other's houses! So, I'm hoping that you guys can tell me about some of the dates you went on before you were married, or dates you have heard of, so I can help the youth learn the right way to date! Thanks again for all the help!

More Book Club Questions

Alright... So far, here are the suggested books I've pulled from the comments. If you have others in mind please let me know!!

* A Thousand Splendid Suns
* Persian Pickle Club

I know a bunch of us have read different Jodi Picoult books (19 minutes, Plain Truth, My Sister's Keeper) and I'm wondering what you girls think of reading books like that for book club? I know some of them have a little bit of foul language so I didn't know what your thoughts are on reading those type of books. To be completely honest, I'm a speed reader, I skim books so more often than not, I don't realize there is swearing unless someone else points it out to me... I know that not everyone is that way and I don't want to choose or suggest books that will offend anyone, so let me know what your thoughts are! And of course, keep suggesting books.

I think for now we will all read "These Is My Words" in June, to discuss in July, so we have a little bit of time, but the faster we can come up with a list the better, so we can all get on the waiting list for the books!

Happy Reading everyone!

Youth Fireside

Help! My husband and I were chosen by the youth to do a youth fireside at the end of the month. Apparently they think we are "cool." I'm flattered to be chosen, but quite afraid they're going to be disappointed. While my husband and I are very content with our little life, I don't consider us to have exeptionally exciting lives or life stories, nor are we necessarily especially hilarious or entertaining people. We're just...average! Anyway, we were told we could do the fireside on ANY topic. Ugh. I hate not having guidance! The YM president did say it might be nice to gear it towards dating since we were a couple. I know a lot of you have callings, or have had callings with the youth, and I am hoping you might have some ideas for topics that have been a hit with the youth, and on how I can make it a fun, interesting fireside-yet something they can benefit from! I don't just want to "talk" at them. I was trying to think of a game format, or a Q and A session, or something to switch it up a little! HELP! I have to uphold this uh,"cool" image!!! lol

Alright Twilight Fans...

I just finished "Eclipse", book 3 in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. I put a post about it on my personal blog and was surprised that people were either fans of Jacob or fans of Edward, having never discussed the books with anyone before. So now I'm really curious. Who is it for you? Jacob or Edward?

Plagiocephaly (aka "Flat Head") in Infants

I had to attend a mandatory inservice on this topic last night, for work, and I found it really interesting. I apologize if this is information you've all heard, but I know I've had a few friends go through it with their children lately. And I figured if I'm a neonatal nurse, and a mom, and I can still learn from it, than hopefully some of you can as well! So this is info, in my own words, but taken from a lecture given by Vicki Caine, a Physical Therapist from Pediatric Rehab.

Since the "Back to Sleep" campaign, there has been a large increase in infants with flat spots on the backs, and sides of the back of the head. It can range in severity, and in the most severe cases you may have seen these babies wearing helmets. There can be other medical causes, but back sleeping is the largest contributor. What really made this stand out to me was when Vicki pointed out that the newborn brain is literally growing 24/7. If the head is lying against something, the brain can't push the skull out in that area, so it pushes it out in the areas that aren't lying against a flat surface instead. When you put that into perspective with how much a newborn sleeps in a 24 hour period, and that most of them lay in the same position when sleeping, all of a sudden it makes perfect sense why flat spots are so common.

Research has shown that sleeping on the back is safest. So what can we do about it? You can encourage your baby to look to both sides by switching up what sides you give care from. (Most of us tend to always change diapers, bottle feed, etc. from a certain side.) Don't always lay them with their head at a specific end of the crib, changing table, etc. Also, limit time in bouncy seats, infant carriers, and swings, as they are still putting pressure on the back of the infant's head. When you are holding your baby, try to snuggle them upright, or at least so their bellies are against you. It's okay for your baby to sleep on their belly if you are right there! One suggestion she made was to carry your baby around in a sling against you, in an upright position sometimes instead of always putting them in a bouncy seat or swing. Last but not least, we all know the importance of tummy time! Don't give up, even if your baby hates it. Try to make it a fun time, by getting on the floor with them, putting toys and a mirror in front of them, etc.


Sorry if that seemed like common sense, but I thought it was a good reminder! My little one wasn't a baby that was content to lie still for long anyway, but I will definitely use these tips with the next one!

Potty Training

So I know we recently had a post about potty training but I have more questions. My son is only 22 months and today he went potty on the toilet 3 times! I didn't think that I was potty training him yet! I still am not sure. Do you think that I should potty train him? What are some ideas you have to help me out? Also I thought boys took longer to potty train because they don't gain control until they are a little older, has anyone heard that before or know anything about it? Any comments and answers to questions would be greatly appreciated!!

Book Club

Alrighty Book Club members... we've been running into a problem recently! We are all waiting weeks or months to get ahold of book club books! Aubrey had an awesome idea so I thought I'd post it... she suggested we come up with books more ahead of time so that we all have chance to place them on hold, get a copy, then read it!! So, if you are part of the book club, and even if you aren't... please leave a comment with the name or names of books you want to read. Then we can make a list of the books we will be reading in the upcoming months, and we'll (hopefully) all be able to get a copy with plenty of time to read it and think about it, before discussing!

Biggest Loser: Challenge - 10%

Alright ladies!!!! How did the Core Challenge work for everyone? Strengthening one's core is very important to overall health and fitness - it influences our posture, our form, and strengthens our tummies and backs.

I have been thinking for a bit about what kind of challenges to make. Coming up with 12 challenges is a challenge!!

This week's challenge is about 10%. I challenge each of you to do something 10% more or 10% less for an entire week. Here are some examples:

• Eat 10% more veggies and fruits
• Increase your cardio workout time by 10%
• Consume 10% fewer calories
• Sleep 10% longer (unfortunately this usually means going to bed earlier rather than later)

You decide what the activity is - just make sure you keep the 10% rule.

Would you go?

I just moved back to the state where I went to high school. I graduated ten years ago. I never thought I'd be faced with this dilemma since I lived all the way in Minnesota. But I'm here now and there's a ten year reunion coming up. I haven't been even tempted before this week but now I'm starting to feel guilty. I didn't enjoy high school. I survived it. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way (and I know I need to get over it-it's been ten years!) but I don't have a strong desire to rub shoulders with a bunch of people who I wasn't that close with. There will be a few friends there and definitely some people I wouldn't mind seeing but I'm just not that enthralled. It's made me curious. If you were in the area, would you go to yours?

ps-I already RSVP'ed so there's no turning back, I was just curious if my feelings are common.

Wednesday Weekly

What's your favorite flavor of pie?

Book Club for June

Okay, so just so you know I haven't totally forgotten about our book club discussion for These is My Words this month...I just have one problem: I've been on a waiting list for this book for the past month and a half at my library! So...I can't really discuss it yet. Hopefully I get it soon and you all will forgive me as being the worst discussion director for not reading my own book yet...

Also, I'm not sure who regularly participates in Book Club who hasn't picked a book yet. So...if you would like to pick the book for July...just let me know and I'll edit this post to announce the book chooser. :) Thanks ladies! :)

How to Achieve Your Childhood Dreams

Have you heard of this guy? He was on Oprah today and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My Mom told me about him being on NPR a few weeks ago but I forgot his name and never looked him up. I was so glad to stumble on his inspiring talk today.

At his "last lecture" he shared "How to Achieve Your Childhood Dreams". It always strikes me how often these bits of wisdom are really just taking us back to the things we're taught at church every week. Be honest. Be grateful. Love your parents and families. Repentance was even in there as he talked about apologizing and trying to make things right. What also struck me was how at peace he was with his fate and his current status. He has three kids under the age of 5! I'm not sure I would be that secure and I admire him for it.

Enjoy his thoughts!

Foil

I just received a forwarded e-mail about foil that I thought was interesting. Something I didn't know!

"I've been using aluminum foil for more years than I care to remember. Great stuff, but sometimes it can be a pain. You know, like when you are in the middle of doing something and you try to pull some foil out and the roll comes out of the box. Then you have to put the roll back in the box and start over. The darn roll always comes out at the wrong time.

Well, I would like to share this with you. Yesterday I went to throw out an empty Reynolds foil box and for some reason I turned it and looked at the end of the box. And written on the end it said, "Press here to lock end". Right there on the end of the box is a tab to lock the roll in place. How long has this little locking tab been there? I then looked at a generic brand of aluminum foil and it had one, too. I then looked at a box of Saran wrap and it had one too! Ican't count the number of times the Saran warp roll has jumped out when I was trying to cover something up."

Biggest Loser: Week 4 weigh in

Claire is on vacation today... walking around Disneyland!!!

So - How did we all do this week?

Shout out to Michigan

Aren't a bunch of you from Michigan? Or at least went to school there?

My brother has decided to go to law school in Lansing, MI. He and his wife will be moving there at the first of August. I am wondering if anyone is from the area, and if you could offer any tips, advice, etc. that I could pass on to him. He lives in Cedar City, Utah right now, so it will be a long drive of a move!

Anyway, any tips relating to relocating would be great. Any information or just plain excitement to share would be awesome, too. He is excited to be fairly close to Chicago and Toronto. He is big into music/concert going and he says that nearly every band that comes to North America stops in one of those two cities.

Released and oh so sad!

Anyone ever get released from a calling and just felt so bummed about it?? Yesterday I was released from my calling as first counselor in the Young Women's Presidency after serving in that calling for 3 and 1/2 years! I knew it was coming at some point, but I just wished the end would not come. I have grown to love the young women so much! Watching them come into young women's as shy, timid beehives and now they are so grown up as mia maids and laurels! I know all their little quirks and their talents and which young men they like and what they like to do on the weekends. I truly think of the girls as my close friends and am truly going to miss spending every Wednesday with them and listening to their testimonies and thoughts on Sundays in Young Women's!

I know the Lord has a new calling planned for me, and I am grateful for my time I got to serve the girls, but I am still quite sad about being done. Am I crazy weird or have any of you felt this way??

Biggest Loser: Challenge to work your core!

How did last week's challenge go? Did all that positive self talk make a difference? It did for me. Sometimes I feel like I just get so busy I don't even think - and that includes about choices I make about my health. All that positive talk helped me remember more often about why I am trying to manage my weight better. It really helped me with keeping my motivation up.

SO this week's challenge is another physical one. We are going to work our cores!!! The challenge is to do the following exercises at least 4 times (basically every other day). It should only take you about 10-15 minutes. That means you can totally do it while you watch the news or your fave TV show. The workout says you need dumbbells, but I think it can be done without (if you don't have any).

15 minute standing dumbbell workout

Wednesday Weekly

What is your favorite animal?

Favorite Websites June-Cooking

This morning I saw a cherry lemon trifle on the Today show. I soooo want to make it! And I love that I can search online and find the recipe for it!  

Here are a bunch of recipe sites I love.

Martha Stewart-I love her recipes and I love the Everyday Food recipes even more!  The Everyday Food ones are more simple, and well, realistic for a simple cook like me!

Domestication in Progress-This is from our very own Skipper and the girls who contribute to this blog make some yummy yummy stuff! Everything I've tried has been fabulous!!

Allrecipes.com-I have to give a shout out to the one that I found first. I love this site! I went on a long search for yummy, CHEWY, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and found a bunch on this site that I then tried and came up with my own variation.  And now I want to go make oatmeal cookies!!!

The Pioneer Woman Cooks-I love her step-by-step approach and photos that make cooking a little less intimidating.  And she's funny!

The Foodees-Another where everything I've tried is good!

Internecipes-I have to admit, I'm always tempted but have only tried one recipe from this blog. But I still love looking at it and getting inspired.  

When seasons change, I get in such cooking ruts.  It's like I can't transition between winter casseroles and summer grilling without some personal trauma and these sites seem to help inspire me a bit! Enjoy and share if you've found some really good ones!!

...and in case you want to make the lemon cherry trifle too, here's the recipe! :)

Potty Training Help For a Friend of Mine

A friend of mine (Amanda Ball, for those of you from MSU) is looking for some help potty training... I told her I'd post her note on here, in hopes that you girls will have some advice for her.

Amanda wrote...
I've been forced - yes forced - into potty training my recently turned 2 year old son. He's decided that he doesn't like to wear diapers after he's "gone" in them and my baby girl has decided they are fun toys. I'm sure you can imagine what sorts of things have happened with that. So I would like to know what sorts of things worked when you potty trained your kid, or kids. Any and all advice is welcome!

Baby Ultrasound

I had my baby Ultrasound today and I am having A GIRL!!! I don't even know what to do with a girl! It will be fun though to have a boy and a girl. Anyway, here is a cute picture of her little foot.

Biggest Loser: Week 3 Tips

I was at Deseret Book the other day and picked up two books about weight loss. One is called "30 Days to a Healthier Family" by Peggy Hughes. Its filled with tips, advice, activities, and recipes for helping the whole family become healthier. Its an awesome book. The other one I picked up is called "Tip A Day Guide for Healthy Living" by Melanie Douglass. It has 365 tips for improving your health one day at a time. I haven't read all 365 tips yet, but as I've skimmed the book I found several that I really liked, and thought I'd share...

* Find the best workout music... find music with the "BPM" (beats per minute) that matches your activity level. BPM is the number of beats that occur in every 60 seconds of a song. Find the BPM by counting how many beats you hear in 15 seconds of music, then multiplying that by 4. Or, if you use iTunes, you can view the BPM by right clicking on the menu.

- 115 BMP... slow walking, strength training

- 125 BMP... elliptical training, stair climbing, walking 3-4 miles per hour

- 135 BMP... power/fitness walking (4-4.5 mph), moderate cycling (60-70 rotations per minute)

- 145 BMP... jogging (5-6 mph), fast cycling (75-80 rotations per minute)

* Healthy grocery store shopping... the fresher, the better. If you shop for foods from the outer aisles of the grocery store (meaning the frutis, veggies, low-fat dairy, lean meats and 100% whole greain breads) the meals you cook will be much healthier. Venture into the inner aisles to pick up things like healthy, whole grain cereal, brown rice, a few cans of beans, and maybe some whole-wheat pasta (yummy!!). Melanie recommends spending at least 80% of your grocery budget on the "outer" aisle foods. Then make sure you use the fresh foods you buy.

**I tend to do my grocery shopping at Sprouts, the local "farmers market" style grocery store. It has cut down on my grocery budget, since I'm not paying to have my food processed, and we have been eating much healthier.

* Melanie talks about her husband's point of view... "If fruits, vegetables, and whole grains really are so great- and God has told us they are healthiest for us- then why didn't He make them taste better?" (pg. 9). I loove Melanie's response. She says "I have a theory on this. Satan works hard every day to decieve us. Infiltrating our food supply with foods swimming in calories, fat, sodium, and sugar is a subtle yet powerful way to get us down. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains did taste superior to any other food at one time- before our taste buds were introduced to the food of the 21st century." (pg 9).

I thought that was a very interesting take on food and unhealthy vs healthy eating. This week has been a hard one for me. I have NOT made very healthy choices. And I've felt awful for it. I was dreading stepping on the scale this morning, because I was sure I had gained a ton. I also felt weighed down, sick to my stomach after over-indulging in yucky (but oh so yummy!) foods and I haven't had the energy I want. An interesting contrast to the past two weeks when I've done so good, and made so many healthy choices. When I make healthier food choices I have energy to play all day long with Cecelia. I have energy to clean my house. I put more thought into my appearance which makes me feel better about myself. My mind is more aware and alert... all these wonderful things that I'm sure my Heavenly Father wants for me. So, after making this realization, I am once again committed to cutting out the junk in my diet.

What tips have you come across? What words of wisdom do you have to share with us all as we try to live healthier? And how did this week go for you girls?

Biggest Loser: Week 3 Weigh In

June is here and we're at the end of our 3rd week already!! As a group we've lost 14 lbs already!! Great work ladies. So, what's the damage for this week? How much closer is everyone to fitting in their skinny jeans and string bikinis? (Totally kidding on the string bikini thing... at least for myself!)

Bugspray for children

Does anyone know the guidelines for what kind of bugspray to use on children? Are there certain chemicals you should or shouldn't put on their skin? Or do you know of specific brands that are recommended? It's mosquito time in MI, but it's so hard for me to put chemicals on my little one's skin!

Peanut butter Cookies

So maybe I am just out of it and you all have seen this recipe but I hadn't. I had a friend make Peanut butter cookies with some preschool students that I worked with this past semester and the recipe was so weird. It was a cup of sugar, a cup of peanut butter, and one egg. Well apparently the recipe worked so today I was craving peanut butter cookies but I wanted a fast recipe so I typed it in online and found the recipe she used. I made the cookies and they are so good and really fast to make! If you like peanut butter cookies you have to try these! So here is the recipe:

Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies (1-2-3 Cookies)
* 1 cup sugar (you can cut this down to 3/4 cup, if you prefer)
* 1 large egg
* 1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)

1. Combine sugar and egg in mixing bowl, stirring till smooth. Add peanut butter and mix in thoroughly.
2. Roll into walnut-sized balls.
3. Place the balls on ungreased cookie sheets at least 2" apart.
4. Flatten with the tines of a fork.
5. Turn 90 degrees and use fork again to create cross hatches.
6. Bake 10 minutes at 375F (or till done). Let cool in pan for 1 minute before removing to cooling rack.

Favorite Web Sites June

So, I like the themed months and I was thinking that for June we could all share any websites that we absolutely LOVE. Ones that are good for managing finances, good for finding deals, good for finding information, etc. I know that there are lots of websites I love, so I was wondering if anyone else had some.

Here are my favorites:
craigslist.org - This has been discussed on the site before, but I just can't get over how much I love this site and the deals that I find on it.

yodlee.com - I mentioned this in a money saving May comment. We LOVE this site. It's like the program Quicken...but its online for free. We use it for managing our finances, budgeting, keeping tabs on our credit cards and investments, etc. It's AWESOME!

zillow.com - This site is great if you're planning on buying or selling a home...but also if you want to spy on your friends and see how much they bought their house for. ;) j/k We don't really spy...too much. Anyway, this website is great! It lists just about every home in the US and you can see the house's details, selling history, the amt. of property taxes that the current owners pay, and what the estimate of the house's worth is right now. It also shows whether or not the house is currently on the market or not. It's a GREAT site. We love it!

stepheniemeyer.com - This is MUST for any Twilight fan (btw: have any of you read the 1st chapter of Breaking Dawn? If so, discuss it with me! I'm dying for other people to read it). Seriously, Stephenie has some cool stuff on here like outtakes and extras to her books that are really entertaining to read. :)

That's it for so far. Maybe this is a dumb idea...but I'd love to hear of any other hidden websites that people love that I've never heard of! :)

Happy June Everyone!

Is it just me, or is this year just flying by? I just about had a heart attack when I realized that today is June first. I could've sworn that it was just barely Christmas, and here its the beginning of summer already.

What fun plans do you all have for the summer? Any cool vacations or fun activities planned?