looking back | The Angel Forever

Category Archives looking back

Retro Candy Treats

Posted on November 11, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Over the weekend, I was away with my parents for a family bridal shower. Before we came home, we stopped at a local store to get some items to bring back home for the boys. As I passed down an aisle with sweet goodies, something caught my eye. This is what I saw:

So many sweet memories of having Charms and Original Charms lollipops (not the ones w/bubble gum in the middle). When in Hawaii and stuck on a road thanks to lava flow, the Charms in my purse helped my mother as her sugar dropped dangerously low. When I saw these, I had to get them to bring home for the boys –er for all of us.

So my question to you this week:

What sweet or other treat from your childhood would you love to find to share with your family now?

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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 #177

Categories:
Aloha Friday family food glorious food looking back photos yummy

The Humidifier Saga

Posted on November 7, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Our doctor has been telling us to us a cool mist humidifier with the boys to help them when they are sick. For years, we have tried humidifier after humidifier and they have never worked. Each time the doctor tells is, we have to remind him that we are THE ones that are the joke of of the humidifier industry.

A while ago, my Aunt T needed to downsize a humidifier to one that she would be able to refill on her own. She knew that we were having issues and gave it to us. We had never set it up until Sunday. When I got back home, the little guy was miserable. So TechyDad hauled out the humidifier and tested it out in our bathroom. Check out what happened.

Why yes, it actually works. Not only is cool mist coming out of the humidifier, but the water level goes down after a short amount of time. So now with any luck, we can set this up with the boys for tonight to help the little guy who is so stuffed up. For now, JSL is intrigued with the “smoke” that is coming out of the machine.

Do you have a cool mist humidifier? I would love to know what you have that works. We may purchase another for use in a different room.

Categories:
doctor jsl looking back sick kid sickness TechyDad vent

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.

Categories:
books gift ideas giveaway jsl looking back nhl photos Product review Tuesday Tales Web business

Snowtober 2011

Posted on October 30, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Snow in October is not unheard of in the northeast. Of course, IF we get snow it is not usually able to be measured. On Thursday, we were lucky enough to get just under two inches of snow. Thanks to some warmer (40 degree-ish) weather, it melted quickly on Friday.

As I write this, we are bracing to see just how much snow we get during what they are calling the great Snowtober storm. Originally, we were told the storm would begin here at about noon on Saturday, but the reality was that it started at about 4:00 and looked like this:

Prior to that, it had been very dry and the sky was even really blue early in the day. Then, at about 5:00, it started to really stick on the ground. Here is another photo of outside in the front of our house.

Of course, snow in October worries a lot of us because we remember another winter weather event that happened not too long ago. On October 4, 1987 we had a bad ice/snow storm. The trees were still covered in leaves. Old trees fell and pulled down lots and lots of power lines. I was in elementary school and there were no classes for a week. During that time, we lived with my grandparents because our house had no power and they did. It was an adventure that I will never forget and hope not to live with my boys.

So excuse me if I am not around much Sunday and beyond. Depending on how much snow we get, I may not be able to get online.

So how is the weather by you? If you live in the line of the storm please let me know how you are making our by you.

I know we are lucky compared to some areas. This just makes me wonder – what is the rest of the “winter” season going to toss our way. Clearly Mother Nature gave us a major trick before Halloween.

Categories:
looking back milestone photos weather weekend winter

Disney Anniversary Dreaming Again

Posted on October 24, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It has been almost two months since we had to cancel out 10th Anniversary trip to Walt Disney World. TechyDad and I had planned a five night stay in Orlando without the kids. When we finally decided to splurge and go to a location for our ten year anniversary, Disney just seemed natural to us. A magical honeymoon and subsequent trips back with the kids made it a quick and easy choice. We were going to bring the kids to stay with Bubbe and Grandpa while we went to Disney alone. Then, as I wrote after the case Mother Nature had other plans.

Looking back at the trip that never was makes me sad. I see people Tweet and talk about restaurants that we had advanced dining reservations for. What was harder at the time, I saw pictures from people at the parks Labor Day weekend and the Magic Kingdom was decked out in fall decorations. Each time I saw a picture, a piece of my heart crumbled more and more. Of course, as time moved past the trip, I was ok. I knew that we made the right choice. We were responsible adults. Then, as school started, there was no time to dwell on what could and should have been. I was focused on getting the boys back into the swing of things. We had to adjust to nursery school five days a week and life in third grade.

Now, it is almost November and my heart is heavy again. I long for a time to get away with TechyDad.

We are trying to see if we can figure out a time that will work for us to get away. It will probably have to wait until the kids are done with school because their crazy schedules really do complicate things. Nothing is really set in stone yet, but I think about it often. I wonder when we may finally get a chance if we will be able to get reservation to California Grill in time for the fireworks. Will we be lucky enough to snag a time to eat at other places that were on our agenda? I suppose only time will tell. Until then, I know that we were safe during the storm, and that we will one day have a magical adventure to our favorite destination again.

P.S. I am not the only one that wrote about our trip that never was. TechyDad also did a Travelogue of the Trip That Irene Canceled – Part 1 and Part 2.