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Phineas and Ferb Halloween Surprise

Posted on November 5, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

The two of you love Phineas and Ferb. It seems to be something that both of you can agree on. While shopping with Papa one day, we spotted Phineas and Ferb Halloween Shirts. They were too funny and bought immediately since they had your sizes.

When both of you were home from school, I wanted to take a photo of you wearing the shirts. Of course, this ended up in a comedy of errors. Here are some of the photos that I used in another post.

Photo Out Takes

When the shirts were bought, it reminded me that I had put away a special Halloween card for the two of you to share. Yes, since it was unique and fun – you were both to share this card. After I tried to take the photos above, I turned on the video and captured the two of you figuring out what was inside the envelope.

Capturing this moment for Daddy to see was fun. NHL, I caught the start of you singing along. Soon after, both of you were singing and dancing with the Busted song as we got your costumes ready to head out for some trick-or-treating.

The two of you showed me once again, it’s the little things that make you happy.

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.

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Dear Kid Saturday fun holidays jsl laughs nhl photos video

The Great Veggie Dilemma

Posted on November 4, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Confession time. I have one child that is a fantastic eater. NHL is eight and has almost always been good about eating fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious items. Sure, there was a small point in his toddler life that he refused a few things here and there. When he was little, he would order broccoli and mushrooms on a pizza as toppings. Yes, he would request broccoli as a side dish.

Enter JSL, a four year old picky eater at best. Daily battles over what he can eat and what he will not eat happen. Where NHL will give things a “no thank you” try and usually like it, JSL will go on a hunger strike. His preferences will change from day to day, so TechyDad and I never know what preferences we will face. Chicken nuggets that he devours one day, may be tossed to the side three days later. We simply never know. We are able to get him to eat other protein sources. Nutritional drink supplements, cheese, PB, and sometimes Greek yogurt if we stand on our head.

Where we get to a stumbling block are fruits and veggies. JSL will not eat grapes, strawberries, or most other items. While cherry picking, he ate some in the orchard, but declared they were gross afterward. Apples are hit and miss, as are bananas. About the only way he loves fruits are in a smoothie. We can do that from time to time, but they are not as easy to do on the fly.

Vegetables rarely pass by JSL’s mouth in a whole or recognizable form. SERIOUSLY! He used to eat cucumbers and possibly some other items if we could bribe him. Not any more. We have attempted those recipes where you hide items in them, but they are quite time consuming thanks to making vegetable purees. Oh and most of the time he would not touch them anyway.

While out shopping the other day, I needed some pasta. I usually purchase whole grain pasta since it is the healthier option. Something caught NHL’s eye. He saw the colored vegetable pasta from Barilla. I told him to pick one out. He selected the Piccolini that has zucchini and spinach.

The other night, we made that with the Ronzoni Garden Delight we already had in the house. Both have a full serving of vegetables in each portion. What did the picky eater think? That photo above is JSL devouring the pasta. It may not be a solution, but it is a good alternative to have when we are going to serve the kids pasta.

So my question to you this week:

What food items do you battle with your children over or did you refuse to eat when you were a child?

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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 linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #176

Categories:
Aloha Friday food glorious food jsl nhl photos TechyDad vent yummy

Darth Vader and Jedi Tigger

Posted on November 2, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Categories:
Disney fun holidays jsl laughs my boys nhl photos TechyDad Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Tales – Personalized Kids Book w/Giveaway

Posted on November 1, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As a little girl, I remember a Chanukah gift that I received. It was nothing flashy, it did not require batteries, but it was extremely special to me. What was it? It was a book that someone bought me that had me as a main character in the book. It also had other fun details about me and was amazing. I often wondered how this book was made. I do believe that book is still at my parent’s house because I adored it so much.

I have often wanted to get a personalized book for the boys, but never knew where to order one. Thanks to Family Review Network, I connected with Just Kids Gifts to review and giveaway one of their books. Not only do they have personalized books for children, they also offer children’s personalized music CD’s, photo DVD’s, and music DVD’s.

When the book arrived, I asked JSL to come onto the couch to read it with me. When we started, it just looked like a typical book to him. Here is the cover of the hard cover book:

Since he is into trains, he jumped onto the couch and even big brother, NHL, came over to listen. When I read the front page of the book, the boys attention was even more intense. This is what they heard:

Once JSL stopped jumping up and down, and singing that this book was just for him we continued to read The Train With No Name. This is the summary of the book from Just Kids Books:

The little track tester isn’t important enough to have either a name or an engineer…That is, until your child steps in and helps the little track tester to save the circus train. This educational book helps teach about compassion, helping others and most of all, they’ll learn that you don’t have to be big to be important!

As a parent (and educator), I really liked that the book taught a lesson. By using JSL’s name it held his attention and made him think about what the author was trying to get. At four some of it may have gone over his head, but NHL (8) completely understood the point. With older children, not only will they love seeing their name in the book, along with friends, there is more to talk about afterward.

I know that if we have a holiday, birthday, or other gift for a child – we will be checking out other possibilities from Just Kids Gifts (they are also on Facebook). Thanks to their quick service, and great customer support I highly recommend them and will be purchasing more in the near future. I also love to support a business that is run by parents (to an 18 month old) and located in NY. We may have to get NHL his own book since he was so jealous of the one JSL received.

Giveaway:

Thanks to Just Kids Gifts, one lucky reader will have a chance to win their own personalized book.

Rules for Giveaway:

MAIN RULE – What personalized book would you select for the child on your holiday gift list and why?

The following Bonus Entries may also be done. Please be sure to leave separate comments for each that you complete below to make sure you get the right number of entries.

1 Bonus Entry – Follow TheAngelForever on Twitter
1 Bonus Entry – Follow Just Kids Gifts on Twitter
1 Bonus Entry – Tweet the following about the giveaway (May be done three times a day, but at least an hour between each Tweet): Enter to #win a @JustKidsGifts personalized kids book from @TheAngelForever http://bit.ly/uNOcGq #Giveaway
2 Bonus Entries – Stop by The Angel Forever on Facebook to say hello and leave me a comment on a status message. Let me know you have done so here.
1 Bonus Entry – Subscribe to my RSS feed (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment.
1 Bonus Entry – Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from the months of October/November. Leave a comment here to let me know which one. This Bonus entry may be done twice per day.
3 Bonus Entries – Add my blog button to your website and/or add me to your blogroll. Be sure to leave a link with the location.
1 Bonus Entry – Head over to TechyDad’s blog and say hello to him. Let me know where you posted a comment. May be done once a day.

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today November 1, 2011 and ends at 10:59 EST on November 14, 2011. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. residents only.

Disclosure: This post was written for Family Review Network & Just Kids Gifts who provided the complimentary product in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are 100% mine. Just Kids Gifts is also providing the giveaway item to one reader.