Updating Site!

I just wanted to let you know that I am working on updating my background and changing some things. So, if you see some crazy stuff going on that is why. This will probably take me a few days so please bare with me.

I do apologize for the lack of post. I have been readjusting since we got back from vacation. There has been so much going on since before we left and got back. 

Thanks!

Reading Eggs Online Reading Program Review!

Reading Eggs is an Online Learn to Read Program that will have your kids begging to do school. I am gearing up to start kindergarten with my 4 1/2 yr old this new school year. So, what better opportunity to help out the process then try Reading Eggs?

I have to say my daughter loves it. She begs me to do school as she calls it. She will do a lesson and beg to do more! They have cute games that help them learn the sound and letter. The one thing that was a little hard for my daughter was learning to use the mouse on my laptop. I have a wireless one so I ended up getting my extra wired one and plugging it in just for her. 

I know a lot of people let their little ones play on the computer early on but I don't encourage that with my little ones. So, she had to learn how to use that. But once I changed it out for her she caught on fast. 

Now Reading Eggs is not just designed for little ones it is got a wide age group. It is different based off your age. They have Reading Express which is for 7-13. I personally can't believe how fast my little one is picking up on everything. My 3 yr old sits beside her and has picked up recognizing the letters and sounds. She will tell her sister it's that one. It is so cute watching them. 

I would definitely recommend Reading Eggs to anyone that wants to help their child to learn to read. Or if you have one that doesn't like to read this might help them love to read! I am happy I tried it. I know it's going to pay off when this school year comes. As she gets upset if we don't have time to do it!

*This product was provided to me free of charge for purpose of this review. This is my honest opinion of this product and no monetary compensation was received for my opinion*

Happy Birthday to ME with a 6 Layer Chocolate Cake Recipe!

In honor of today being my birthday I decide to make myself a cake. I usually never make a cake for myself or have a birthday cake. Now, that my kids are older they could make me a cake but I have never pushed the issue.

My grandma use to make this awesome 7 layer chocolate cake when I was little. It was my favorite! So, instead of calling her up and bothering her since she fell and broke her left hip the day we got back I did some digging. I do plan on getting her recipe I just know how much she needs her rest.

This recipe only got me 6 thin layers I image if I doubled it I could have 12 thin layers or 7 moderate layers. 

Basic Yellow Cake

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

3 cups of flour sifted

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

If you use self rising flour omit the baking powder and salt. 

Beat butter at medium speed with and electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix at low speed after each addition until blended; Stir in vanilla.

Pour batter into 6 greased 9 inch round cakepans. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Fudgy Icing

2 cups sugar

1/3 cup cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup margrine

7 oz evaporated milk 

Melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat without boiling. Add sugar, cocoa, vanilla, and evaporated milk. Stir well and bring to a boil. As soon as it boils time for 5 minutes. Then immediately remove from heat. Ice cake as it will harden into fudge the longer it sets. I personally let it cool some before otherwise it is super running. Depending on how long you wait to frost your cake you might need to double the recipe. Since I frosted mine while it was still runny I had plenty of icing. 

*HOT* $2 off Crystal Light Coupon

Crystal Light has their Mocktail Spring Madness BFF style going on now after the last craze! I love some Crystal Light! I like Raspberry Ice and Wild Strawberry the best so far. I am up to trying new flavors though.

But right now their is a $2 off any one Crystal Light Coupon on their Insider facebook page! You just have to become BFFs with 2 of the girls. If you haven't already BFFed one already. Hurry as these coupons never last! 

Also, you can score two packs of Crystal light free at Winn Dixie this week using 2 of these coupons. 



(All posts may contain affiliated links. Please see my disclosure policy.)

Waterproof Bible Review and Giveaway!

As many of you know we went out West to the Navjo reservation for a camp meeting and vacation. So, I was excited to take on this trip a new Bible. I got the KJV Pink and Brown Floral Waterproof Bible. The pages of this Bible don't tear like the ones in a normal Bible would. The pages are thick and durable. I dropped mine by accident in the dirt and let me tell you it got dirty! There is no grass out there it is desert. So, I had to clean up my Bible with some water. Boy did it wipe right off and brand new. 

I didn't have to worry about the words being wiped off or the pages tearing. It is nice to be able to read your Bible and drink a cup of coffee without having to worry about spilling something on your Bible and it staining it as well. This Bible is definitely my outdoor camping Bible for sure!

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*This product was provided to me free of charge for purpose of this review. This is my honest opinion of this product and no monetary compensation was received for my opinion*

Laser Vein Surgery Before and After!

As many of you know I had Laser Vein Surgery done back in February. As promised I want you to see how bad my leg looked before and what it looked like after till now. 

Here is how bad my varicose veins were before I had the surgery. This is from having 6 kids. My varicose veins were all pregnancy related and I can name which kid gave me which ones. 

See how ugly the look! But not only were they ugly they started hurting with the last two. I guess if you have restless leg you can relate to how it feels. Now the surgery itself wasn't as bad as I expected. They only gave me Xanax which was to calm you. Then they did injections   which was like little stings. But I was thinking much worse. Those injections numbed the nerves so I didn't feel the laser they put in my vein. They did 2 incisions. He said that the laser gets up to 200 and something Fahrenheit. I couldn't feel a thing. 

After the surgery the wrap you leg in a compression bandage that you can't take off for 3 days. Then you have to go walk for 1 hour with no stops. So, make sure you go to the bathroom before you start. The first night was fine for me. The second night I was in a little pain but I took 500 mg Motrin and was fine. You do have to walk for 30 minutes twice a day and every hour you have to walk around for 5 minutes. 

I have to say I was expecting a lot worse then what I felt. Here is what my leg looked like after the compression bandage came off.

Right below my knee those dark veins BB-ed up. The doctor said they would go away over time. But a friend of mine said a year. I didn't want to wait a year so I decided to try a experiment of my own. A friend of mine is a herbalist and she mentioned Dr. Christopher's Bone and Tissue. I have been using it every night for a week and a half now and it has gone done tremendously. 

Here is what my leg looks like now.

As you can see the darkness right under the side of my knee is still their but if you could of felt and saw the bb-ed veins you would be impressed. But you can see how great my leg looks now compared to what it was. It bothers me some from time to time. I still got spider veins in my ankle but it is nothing like it use to be. I am going to keep using Dr. Christopher's Bone and Tissue and see how long it takes to completely disappear. I think I need to rub it on  more than once a day but I keep forgetting to so at bedtime was the easiest to remember. 

I will keep you updated on the progress of that little bit disappearing! So, if you are thinking of having laser vein surgery I would so recommend it! As you can see my results are wonderful. The ones they thought wouldn't go back due to the elasticity being weakened did. I was impressed and so was the doctor as sometimes you have to go back for injections I did not!

Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler Giveaway!

A Cuisinart Griddler is being given away by the schedule 80 pvc fittings company, PVC Fittings Online! Enter now for your chance before its too late!!
(details)

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(All posts may contain affiliated links. Please see my disclosure policy.)

Not So Wordless Wednesday Grand Cayon!

As many of you know we went out West to the Navjo reservation for a camp meeting and vacation. We got to go see the Grand Cayon! Here are a few of the pictures from their. Next week I will share Cayon De Chelly!

Our Family!

This is us at the beginning of our Grand Cayon Tour! We had a blast! I hope you enjoy the pictures. Below is a picture of the Colorado River running through the cayon. It was breathe taking looking at all of God's creation!

Daddy love

The little ones enjoying the view.

Daddy love

See the rock that looks like a battle ship!

Blog Hops!

I am hopping back on the board of blog hops again so join me over at:

Conceive Easy Review!

I don't know if many of you know but I had my tubes reversed back in May of 2006. I had never had to try to conceive before as my older kids were not planned. Then I had my tubes clipped and burned in June 2001. 

I then met my wonderful husband now and I thought I was done and didn't want kids. But low and behold the Lord changed my heart. I never realized how hard it is to try and conceive till I had my tubes reversed.  I know many women struggle with this very thing. It is hard when you want a baby so bad. 

I have tried herbal remedies and I will tell you they do work! I have used some before and gotten pregnant. I received the kit pictured below. 

In this kit it included 1 bottle of Conceive Easy's Months 1&2 , 10 ovulation test sticks, 10 early pregnancy test sticks and a bonus of 10 ovulation test strips and 10 early pregnancy test strips. 

After taking this for a month a did notice a increase in my cervical mucus. I did like using the ovulation test so I know when I ovulated. I have known before when I did as I use to temp. So, I was right on when I normally ovulate. I have been in tune with my cycles since we started ttc many years ago. 

If you have had problems getting pregnant I strongly advise giving this a try before finding other resources. I am still hoping that we will be pregnant in the next 3 months as I would love to have a spring baby. 

(All posts may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy.)

Similac SimplySmart Bottle Review!

I recently received the Similac Simply Smart Bottle! I have to say I love this bottle and so does my baby. This bottle is perfect for mom's that breastfeed and/or formula feed. The nipple is designed to be more like mom so it is easier to transition from breast to bottle. It has a intellivent system that minimizes baby's air intake for less fussiness and gas. It also has a smartclose which reveals a blue shield when the top is secure to prevent leaks and assure that the bottle is closed.

If you are a formula feeding mom and use powder this feature you are going to love! It has a easy mix innovated mixing device that hooks inside the bottle reducing clumps and bubbles. I loved this feature even though I breastfeed only. I did try it out on a friend's baby that uses powdered formula. I was impressed! Most people put the powder in and shake which most the time causes clumps and tons of air bubbles but not with this. Another great add on is the Similac On the Go Powder Cap! It is a unique cap that holds enough formula for a 8 oz bottle. 

This bottle is available in 4 and 8 oz sizes and a variety of nipple flow rates! It is also BPA free! 

I have to say that this bottle is one of my baby's favorite. She is bottle picky being breastfed. I love how simple and easy this bottle is to use. I did use this on my frozen breastmilk after it was dethawed as it had some clumps of fat in it. It helped mix them in. 

*Disclosure: I received a free Similac SimplySmart Bottle compliment of the Similac brand. No monetary exchange took place.*

I am BACK!

We just got back this morning at 3:30 am from our trip out west! Let me tell you it was BEAUTIFUL! I really wasn't ready to come back but you have to come back to reality sometime. We had a great 

time and I got lots of pictures. We went out to the Navjo reservation as a church group. But we decided to come back on our own. Some of them were doing more site seeing in other places as they had longer vacation time. Not us my husband has to be back at work Monday. It took us 2 days out and we decided to drive it straight back. It took us less time plus we went interstate much faster then the way we went out there. 

I will be posting pictures soon and more giveaways. Right now I am trying to catch up on laundry! It seems like it is a never ending pile with 9 people and a week of clothes. While we are getting unpacked my husband decided to get back working on our back porch. I tell you that man never rest! But I sure do love him.