April, 2010 | The Angel Forever

Monthly Archives April 2010

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Thoughts of Disney, Spring and being outside

Posted on April 20, 2010 8:21 pm by TheAngelForever

This spring has been wild and wacky, weather wise and beyond. So many things going on here there and everywhere. One minute, we are outside in shorts, the next, bundling up to stay warm. Of course, the cooler days allowed me to finally break out the coat that I got while attending the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. I love this since it reminds me of all of the amazing people that I met and the good times at Disney World. It will be actually be sad to put it away until the fall. Here I am enjoying a cooler day outside. Please excuse the frizzy, wind blown hair.

When you look around outside, the flowers are coming up and trees are showing their glorious spring colors. This one was taken outside of NHL’s school. Not the best picture, but like the rest, taken on the fly with my cell phone.

Like the insects, my kiddos are confused. One day they are able to play outside in the sun without a jacket, the next it is rainy or windy and time to stay inside. JSL is definitely antsy. At almost three years old, he begs to spend time outside. Once the laundry was done today, I took my allergy medicine and we played before going to pick up big brother. We bought some new chairs and I sat and did this while soaking up some much needed vitamin D:

I was able to finish another knitted cloth all while watch this:

Days like this make me thankful for the time at home with my boys and the simple things in life.

Categories:
allergies DisneySMMoms flowers and plants fun jsl knitting photos sahm weather

Mrs. Prindable’s Gourmet Apples Review

Posted on April 19, 2010 5:36 pm by TheAngelForever

Back when TechyDad and I were distance dating, we used to meet up at an outlet where they had a place that specialized in candy coated caramel or chocolate covered gourmet apples. We used to split them and they were amazing. The place has long since gone out of business and nobody around here does anything like that. Thanks to MomImpact, I now know about Mrs. Prindable’s. When I was asked if I would like to try one of their apples I immediately said yes.

About Mrs. Prindable’s:

From their website:

Mrs. Prindable’s starts with a handpicked, extra-fancy apple, grown especially for us. Delivered fresh from the orchard and with the utmost care, it is gigantic in size, crispness, taste, and juiciness.

The apple is dipped-by hand-in creamy, smooth caramel cooked that very day. Using only the best all-natural ingredients-butter, sugar, cream, vanilla-the caramel is prepared in copper pots in small batches.

Why small batches? It enables us to better monitor the quality and consistency of the caramel, ensuring that each layer is up to the soft and creamy standards that make our caramel so famous.

Now coated in velvety caramel, the apple is hand-rolled in the finest nuts and toppings. Sometimes it is covered in premium pecans. Other times they are coated in large cashews. Now and then it’s chocolate cookie and cream pieces. From time to time it is rich toffee that becomes the final layer. Maybe, even, it’s dipped or drizzled with milk, white or dark chocolate.

Who determines the final toppings that our expert chocolatiers hand-apply to this apple? You do.

Each gourmet caramel apple ordered from Mrs. Prindable’s is made to order to ensure freshness and delivery without delay.

Mrs. Prindable’s apples come in two sizes and are certified kosher. They have have jumbo and petite apples available. The jumbo apples can weigh up to 1.5 pounds and serve 8-10 people. The petite apples are 8 ounces and serve 1-2 people. Both sizes are available in eight classic gourmet flavors that include:

Dark Chocolate Delight – apple dipped in creamy caramel, rolled in chunks of chocolate and doused in premium dark chocolate
Triple Chocolate – an apple surrounded by caramel along with milk, white and dark chocolate (this is what we received)
Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Almond – apple with peanut butter chips and bursts of dark and milk chocolate team up with whole almonds
Milk Chocolate Walnut Pecan – an apple hand-dipped in caramel, rolled in pecans and walnuts and smothered in milk chocolate
Milk Chocolate Toffee Walnut – an apple is hand-dipped in caramel, rolled in walnuts, smothered in milk chocolate and coated with Ol’ English Toffee
Dark Chocolate Cashew – an apple hand-dipped in caramel, rolled in cashews and smothered in dark chocolate
Dark Chocolate Splendor – an apple dunked in dark chocolate, covered with nonpareil-coated dark chocolate drops and topped with dark chocolate shavings
Milk Chocolate Pecan – an le hand-dipped in our caramel, rolled in premium whole pecans, and smothered in milk chocolate

Mrs. Prindable’s offers their apples, along with gift baskets and items for all occasions. Right now there are great ideas available for Mother’s Day.

What we thought:

The day after Passover we were sitting down to our traditional pizza dinner when we heard the doorbell. The boys were wondering what it was. I told them I had a feeling it was a delivery with a very special apple in it for us. NHL immediately asked what kind of special apple. I told him it was going to be a caramel and chocolate covered apple. I left the table and went to the door. From this point on, my 6 and 2 year old boys were telling me that they loved me. They learned quickly that it was a chocolate apple and they wanted me to share. Yes, even at their age they have mastered the fine art of kissing up. While the boys finished their dinner, TechyDad and I opened up the box to reveal what was inside. Take a look:

The pizza quickly took a back seat and the boys were chanting for some of the Mrs. Prindable’s apple that we received. TechyDad worked on slicing up the apple and getting them ready to serve.

Below are the two boys eating them. We also took video (will share that another day) because they gobbled it up so quickly.

I am not a big chocolate fan, but, oh my, this apple was delicious. The Granny Smith inside was sweet, juicy and fresh. The caramel was rich, creamy, and still gooey (that’s a technical term). I must admit, that was by far my favorite part. The combined chocolates tasted almost like the apple was coated in an extra special fudge and drizzled with white chocolate on top. I think this is what sold the boys. My three chocolate addicts loved them. Before you knew it, the four of us consumed what should serve 8-10 people. Shhhh. . . . remember, it was after Passover and we were celebrating the fact that we were done with matzoh for a year. Another huge perk to us, the apple was certified kosher. This allowed us to use our big knives and not rely on plastic to slice through it.

I know that we will definitely be getting more apples from Mrs. Prindable’s and it is something that I can send to our relatives that keep Kosher without a worry in the world.

Thank you Mrs. Prindable’s for making such a mouth watering delight!

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign for MomImpact on behalf of Mrs. Prindable’s. My family received a Triple Chocolate Gourmet Apple to facilitate our candid review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are from my family.

Categories:
food glorious food jl jsl my boys nhl photos Product review TechyDad yummy

Ultimate Blog Party ’10 – The After-Party

Posted on April 18, 2010 6:16 pm by TheAngelForever

On Friday, April 9, I asked my readers if they were going to be joining in on the fun of:

That Aloha Friday question of the week also served as my official UBP10 post for the online festivities. I stayed up the evening it went live to put up my link and waited patiently while 5 Minutes For Mom were working out a few server issues. When the post finally was working properly, I linked up my #UBP10 post, put my Twitter name in and left a comment. My post was well into the 80’s within seconds, but I was the 13th comment on the post. During the week long event, over 2,300 people linked up on the original page. Now Janice and Susan are keeping the fun going. They are asking people to join them with the Ultimate Blog Party 2010 After-Party.

During the week, I spent time visiting many new blogs and meeting people on Twitter. Here are a few of them in no particular order:

Jolly Green Mommy – Another teacher, turned SAHM who also happens to be Jewish and have a love for Disney. Love all of her toddler projects to do with the kids and kosher/vegetarian vegetarian menu ideas.

From the Same Nest – Written by two sisters about their lives as wives, mothers and sharing the items that they create in a humorous fashion. They had a hilarious UBP10 post that really caught my eye.

Kelly’s Lucky You – Another Mom that went to DisneySMMom that I wish I had met. Kelly writes about many topics including winning contests, getting free samples and getting the best value for your money.

There were many others, but these are three that came to my head right now. I must admit, I am a little tired right now. I went to sleep early last night (before 11) because I was not feeling well. At about 12:20, I woke up and heard TechyDad going to check on the boys. At about the same time, my cell phone did a beep or two from text messages. I looked quickly and saw it was a Tweet coming in. Seconds later another. This time I could see it was a mention (@TheAngelForever). Suddenly, I saw person after person congratulating me for being the Grand Prize winner of the Ultimate Blog Party 2010!

I yelled to TechyDad to see if his computer was still on (mine was off – go figure). He said it was, so I told him why. We went to check and see what was going on and sure enough, there I was listed as the Grand Prize winner. What did I win?

The funny part, the post just 24 hours before was a wish list of practical things I would really like. Check it out. . . item #2 (the first really just for me):

New Laptop – My laptop is on borrowed time. It is almost 5 years old and the letters are worn off (stickers have not helped either). Plus, the fan makes a horrid noise from time to time.

TechyDad and I both laughed that I should make a new blog post immediately with a wish for a big winning lotto ticket! Well a girl can dream, no?

Thank you again to everyone for coming by my blog, I hope to see you again soon – remember I love comments. Janice and Susan, thank you for the fabulous party. Seriously, I am not just saying that because I won the Grand Prize. I feel honored to have met you both at DisneySMMoms and enjoyed my chat with Susan that Friday after the conference. Now I will be able to finish my Disney posts on the snazzy new computer when I get it.

Categories:
Blog Hop bloggy friends DisneySMMoms jl looking back me moments TechyDad web fun

Journey Through the Body

Posted on April 17, 2010 3:55 pm by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

Today, we decided to head out of the house early. Daddy and I wanted to take both of you to the Journey Through the Body. We had heard about it many times in the past, but for one reason or another had never gone. We arrived just after it opened for the day.

We immediately ran into the first exhibit all about the intestines and kidneys. NHL, you were fascinated with how long the intestines in our body were. Then you and Daddy both were able to touch real kidneys.You thought it was gross and squishy (not my kid)!

Meanwhile JSL, you were not a happy camper.You were not sure if you wanted in or out of the stroller. Of course, I think a lot of this had to do with the costumes that were wandering about. There is just something strange about wandering cows, chickens, grapes, bananas, apples, peas and corn. From here we went into the main area that housed most of the other displays and things. In here, both of you learned about the heart, lungs, food pyramid, brain, teeth and more.

After we finished in the main room, we went upstairs to learn about the ear and bones. You were both mesmerized by the walk though ear/hearing display. As a science teacher, I loved all of the hands on activities. It was geared perfectly to kids like both of you and the volunteers there were amazing.

When we got back home, both of you took our the hospital masks and things to use with your doctor kit.

Perhaps a career in a medial profession will be in your future. Remember to always follow whatever your dreams are and you can make them come true.

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.

Categories:
Dear Kid Saturday Educational fun jsl nhl photos weekend

The wishful spring thinking list

Posted on April 16, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Spring has sprung and my mind has been wandering lately about things that I would like. Not sure why this seems to happen now, instead of in December when I am being quizzed about birthday and Chanukah presents. I guess it just means that I see more items between December and the spring that make my mind race.

Here is a list of a few more realistic items that I would like. I say realistic because I will not put the Disney Alaskan Cruise on this list. Nor will I add in being a member of Disney Vacation Club (DVC). This girl will continue to dream about those for now. Another wish that will remain empty is a treadmill. I know I would use it, that is not the question. My issue is where to put it in our small house, Please add bigger house in another school district to my larger wish list. A treadmill or elliptical machine would fit in the upstairs room, but we really want to start utilizing that space for a play room/work area now that the boys are older.

So here is my list:

Swing set – Would love to have something in our yard for the boys to use. Sure, there are a lot of parks close by, but having something at home would be amazing. Before this could happen a tree or two (with berries) would need to be removed from our yard.
New Laptop – My laptop is on borrowed time. It is almost 5 years old and the letters are worn off (stickers have not helped either). Plus, the fan makes a horrid noise from time to time.
iPod Touch – I think it would be a great tool to have when out and about since we do not have iPhones or Blackberry phones. Of course, I would love a Blackberry, but the added $30 a month per phone is a bit much at this point.
Bike – When growing up, I loved to ride my bike. My bike is still at my parent’s house, but I do not think I would like it now. It was the 90’s style with ram horn handles and I am not into that these days. It may be great for TechyDad and I to get bikes for our anniversary to get out and exercise more as a family.
Season Passes for Six Flags – We had them last year and used them 3-4 times which paid for the expense. The boys love going to Wiggles World and it truly is fun for the entire family.
Membership to Weight Watchers – Pure lazy behavior here. I need to get back on track. I have had success with the online plan, but it is a little more than we can afford right now thanks to home repairs that are needed and saving for nursery school in the fall.

So my Aloha Friday question for you today:

What is on your practical wish list and why? Do you have any suggestions on bikes for TechyDad and I to get? We do not want to spend a fortune, but do want something that will last and give us enjoyment.

Please be sure to check out my National Geographic Little Kids and Human Nature – Reach Out. Stay tuned because more will be coming next week.

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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.