Digital Scrapbooking Freebe

We have a special treat this week brought to you by Kalantza's Digital Images. These are cute little buttons that will jazz up your digital scrap booking pages. They come in a set of 54. In addition to the alphabet you'll also get the numbers 0-9 + 18 other designs. All images come on a transparent background.This set sells on their site for $5.75 but they are letting Raise Me Strong give it away absolutely FREE.

Easy Fudge Brownies

Easy Fudge Brownies

4 bars (1 oz. each) Hershey's Unsweetened Chocolate for baking
3/4 cup butter (1 ½ sticks)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 cup chopped nuts (optional) 
½ bag mini marshmallows



1. Heat oven to 350 °F. Grease 9x13 baking pan.
2. Break chocolate bars into pieces.
3. Put Chocolate and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high 1-2 minutes or until chocolate is melted. Stir mixture till smooth.
4. Add sugar, stir until smooth.
5. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well.

6. Add flour (and nuts, if desired). Stir till well blended.
7. Spread in pan and bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out almost clean.
8. Sprinkle marshmallows on top and bake 3-7 minutes. Check often so you don't burn them.
9. Let cool completely, than enjoy!!

 

 

Arrr Me Mateys!

Ahoy! It's International Talk like a Pirate Day. What could possibly be more fun than pretending to be a pirate for a day? This isn't just for this kids you know, adults should jump in too. It's the one day a year my kids are allowed to use the word "poop deck" as many times as they want with out getting in trouble.

Not savvy on pirate lingo? You can get the basics from talklikeapirate.com. And what good is pirate talk if you don't have a good pirate name? You can make up your own name for the day or use a pirate name generator like this one.

I did happen to come upon a funny YouTube video by Captain Dan and his Scurvy Crew called "Rap like a Pirate". I debated long and hard whether or not to embed the video in this blog post or not. I finally decided not to. It's funny but I'm not sure it's something I would want my youngest children watching so I'm choosing to only link to it. I hope you enjoy. (And if you find it suitable for your lass and laddies, let then rap like a pirate too.)

You can find fun pirate games online too. Check these out or Google to find your own. Need a pirate costume? No prob. You can grab your self one here.

Avast ye blokes, hoist ye main sails and enjoy International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

A classic song with a new twist.

Driving home from the kid's school in the rain yesterday, I tried to lighten the gloomy feeling the weather had over us with a song. I made this up completely on a whim but the kids loved it and had me keep singing it. I thought I would share. It's to the tune of "It's Raining, It's Pouring."

♫♪♫ It's raining, it's pouring,

the old man is boaring,

I bonked him on the head

and threw him in bed

and played X-Box til morning. ♫♪♫

Exciting Things in Store

We have a bunch of exciting things in store in the near future. I don't want to let everything out of the bag all at once but I will announce two of the changes that will happen soon.

1. We are looking at opening up a gift shop in the Oxford Hills area. A percentage of all sales will be donated to Raise Me Strong to be used as stipulated in the About Us section of our blog.
2. We will be starting a "Good Grade" program for k-12. Students will get "RMS Money" (fake money with no cash value) for their good grades. The "RMS Money" can be used to purchase items in the gift shop.

 Stay tuned for more information about these and other up coming announcements.

This made me cry......

It makes me feel good that there are still really good people in the world that would put their own lives at risk to help a stranger. People like these are who we want our children to grow up to be. (Or at lease I do.) I love how all these strangers united together to help rescue this motorcyclist.

Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookies

Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix

1 egg

1 Tablespoon flour
1/3 cup butter
Cookie Cutters
Sprinkles

1. Mix cookies as directed on package for Cutout cookies.

2. Roll dough on floured surface until ¼ inch thick.

3. Cut out with cookie cutters and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Decorate with sprinkles if desired.

5. Bake until edges are light brown.

6. Eat and enjoy once cool.

 

 

September's Giveaway Winners!!

Congratulations to our two September Giveaway Winners. Danny O. of Edgewood, Maryland and Sofrona Z. of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. They have each won a $50 gift card to Leapsandbounds.com. Stay tuned for October's giveaway.

You Are What You Do.......

I'm sure you all have heard the saying "You are what you eat." So what does that mean? If you eat well, you will be well; but if you eat poorly you will feel poorly. Well what if we take that same concept and apply it to our actions.

We've all experienced through media people of extraordinary talents. You'll probably recognize names like Tiger Woods and Yo-Yo Ma. They are amongst the top in their profession. So how did they get that way? Well, it defiantly wasn't by watching T.V. and eating gummy worms.

Here is a Bit of Humor:

 The tourist in Manhattan asks for directions: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?”

 Helpful local: “Practice, practice, practice.”

So we need to Practice. Okay. So, if practice makes perfect, how many hours of practice do we need to be among the best? 100? 1,000? 10,000? 100,000?

In Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers: The Story of Success" he addresses the idea that expertise is all about practice. As Gladwell puts it, "Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good." He suggests that it takes about 10,000 hours of doing something before you are an expert at it.

So, if you are what you do, that what are you? Our family is starting a 10,000 hour project. It's going to take up approx. 12-15 years to complete it. It of course is going to take that long because the kids are in school so during the school year they can only fit in about 2 hours of practice after school plus maybe 4 hours on the weekend. You may be wondering what we chose to be experts at. 

• Caleb chose Archery
• Mike chose Archery
• Kaleb chose Drawing
• Dante chose Drawing
• I chose Dance (I've always envied dancers and wished that I was one)

I've given the kids the option to change their mind once with in the first few months. I didn't want them to feel trapped into what they chose. After all, a passion for what you are doing is important. It will be near impossible to stick to something for 10,000 hours if after the first hundred hours you begin to loathe it. For those with a bit more time on their hands, the 10,000 hours can be completed the following ways: Three hours a day (20 hours a week) for ten years. Or 40 hours a week for five years. We may complete ours in less than the 12-15 years I mentioned above because we can invest more time over vacations. I will be sure to keep you posted.

"The way to learn to do things is to do things. The way to learn a trade is to work at it. Success teaches how to succeed. Begin with the determination to succeed, and the work is half done already." - Mark Twain, writer and humorist.

What will you and your family decide to become experts at? See below for a partial list of things to choose from:

• Chess, Singing, Mechanical work
• Drums, Cello, Trumpet or other musical Instruments
• Soccer, Baseball, Track, Football or other Sports
• Photography, Painting, Drawing or other Arts
• Sewing, Knitting, Crocheting or other Crafts
• Dance, Cheering, Karate, Gymnastics
• Penmanship, Horseback rider, Medical Professional
• Programmer, Photoshop, In-design,  Flash or other programs

The list to choose from is virtually endless. So, if you will become what you do, what will you do to become what you want to be when you grow up? For me, I will dance.

"I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen." - Frank Llyod Wright, architect.

Almost Forgot We Even Made This......

About 3 years ago Dante and I made a few videos and put them up on YouTube for my sister. I had completely forgotten about them until a little over a month ago. Here is my favorite one that we made.

In Memory of those who died in 9-11-2001

Today is the 10 year anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those who lost loved ones in this terrible tragedy. We will never forget the events of this day.

I read an blog post about someone's experience the day of 9-11 and it brought tears to my eyes even though they didn't personally lose anyone that day. Here is a link to their post if you want to read it.

I remember that day that I was at home with my ex-husband where we were living in a small trailer. His mom lived across the street and came and told us what was happening. The both of us and Kaleb (16 months old) went across the street and watch the news for hours. We saw the 2nd tower fall. I remember very clearly holding my little son in my arms and thinking this was the end of the world and that I would never get to see him grow to be a man. It was a very sad, scary day for everyone. I was fortunate enough that I didn't know anyone who lost their life in the terriest attack but my heart goes out to those who did.

Here is the link to the CNN memorial:

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-name/index.html

Lest We Never Forget.

Birthday Party with a Twist

Last night and today we celebrated my best friend's daughter Jayda's birthday party. For supper we ate burgers, hotdogs, chips and soda. Then we started a camp fire to roast marshmallows but none of the kids wanted to so instead we popped a container of Jiffy Pop popcorn in the campfire and opened a box of sugar cubes. The kids ate sugar cubes by the campfire until the popcorn was ready. Then I had the kids line up on the other side of the fire pit and I threw popcorn at them and had them try to catch it in their mouths. It was fun.

When we were done throwing popcorn at each other it was pretty dark out so we decided to play with glow sticks. I had all the kids put on white tee-shirts and pull them up to cover their faces. The adults cracked the glow sticks, poked holes in them and sprayed the contents all over the kids. It's a lot of fun. They ran all over the yard and jumped on the trampoline till almost 10pm when we sent them off to bed. (Their shirts were still glowing pretty good so we let them sleep in them.)

This morning we gave Jayda her presents. She loved them. She got a beautiful vanity mirror, 3 china dolls, a stuffed monkey and another doll.

When I had asked her a week ago what she wanted for her birthday she said she wanted to play in a pool of Roman Noodles. So guess what we did next? That's right. I cooked 24 packages of Roman Noodles and dumped them in a blow up kiddy pool. What fun. They ate some, stomped in them and rolled in them. The festivities ended with a big food fight. By the time we were done everyone had Roman Noodles all through their hair, in their shirts, smeared across their faces and squished between their toes.

Kiddy pool: free, Romen Noodles: $5.00, making a kid's birthday wish come true: priceless

Ride for Autism ~ September 24th

I just wanted to put in a plug for the 5th Annual Ride for Autism in Kennebunkport, Maine on September 24th in the morning. For more information you can check out the Autism Society website by clicking here.

Oreo Dirt Cups

OREO DIRT CUPS

2 cups of cold milk
1 package (4-serving size) Jell-O chocolate flavor instant pudding
1 tub (8oz) Cool Whip topping, thawed
18 Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies, finely crushed, divided
8 plastic cups (6-7 oz)
8-16 gummy worms
8-16 gummy frogs or bugs (optional)

 
1. Prepare instant chocolate as directed on package. Let stand for five minutes.
2.Gently stir 1/2 cup of cool whip into the bowl of pudding. Sprinkle one tablespoon of Oreo crumbs into bottom of plastic cups. Top each with chocolate pudding. Sprinkle evenly with remaining Oreo crumbs. Refrigerate at least one hour.
3. Insert 1-2 gummy worms and 1-2 gummy frogs into each cup just before serving.

Makes 8 Sand & Dirt Cups. Enjoy!

We had almost as much fun making these as we did eating them.

 

Sad Weekend that ended with a RIP

It's been kinda a long weekend for us. Friday morning Juniper (our baby kitten) started acting funny. At first she started walking funny. Then the diarrhea set in. By noon she wasn't able to walk or eat or move. My mom thought it might be feline leukemia so I looked it up and that's what it sounded like to me. I force fed her KMR every hour and by Saturday morning she seemed to be bouncing back. She could walk and tried to eat by her self a few times.

I continued to feed her KMR every few hours straight through Monday night. At some point Monday afternoon she took a turn for the worse again and I wrapped her in a shirt and carried her around like a baby. Boy was she ever a fighter. She hung on until almost 6 AM Tuesday morning where she laid down and quietly passed in her sleep. The kids took it surprisingly well. I did do. We all expected it I guess. It was still sad and we will miss her very much. She was a great kitten.

Let's get prepared.

 "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." D&C 38:30

It's really important that you and your children have a plan when and if an emergency should arrive. Not having a plan puts your family and pets at risk. It's not easy in the heat of an emergency to keep your wits about you and make sure the kids and together and safe and the pets are out of harm's way. So what qualifies as an emergency?

• Fire
• Burgular
• Earthquake
• Hurricane
• Tornado
• Car Accident
• Sevear Thunder Shower
• Monsoon
• Gas Leak
• Carbon Monoxide Leak
• Bad Injury such as Broken Bone, Head Wound
• Poisioning

The list goes on, you get the idea. Here is a scenario hopefully no one ever has to live through. You wake up in the middle of the night to the smoke alarms. You and your spouse jump out of bed, panic struck, and grab kids and run out the door. It takes a minute to two to meet up because you didn't have a set meeting place. The fire department gets called and you've been outside for almost 5 minutes before you count heads and realize little Joey is missing. You thought your spouse grabbed him and your spouse thought you grabbed him...... Don't let this ever happen to you.

Here is the same scenario replayed with a plan. You and your spouse wake up in the middle of the night to the smoke alarms. You both jump out of bed. Your spouse grabs Alex and Jenny and heads out to the big tree in the corner of the yard. You grab little Joey and poke your head in Tim's room on the way out the door to make sure Damien grabbed him on the way out the door. You all meet at the big tree and promptly do a head check. You are all there and your spouse already called 911 with the cell grabbed off the night stand.

If you already have a emergency plan for various emergencies than I'm really proud of you. I would recommend reviewing the plans often. Even as often as once a month would keep the plan fresh.

Preparedness, Lets get some.

In light of the recent Hurricane that swept the Eastern Coast, I've decided to start having Preparedness Tuesdays. Our family didn't fair to poorly. Our camper was still standing when we got back from my mom's house and we didn't get hit hard at all there. Just some wind and rain.

Over the last week though I've heard of people who were with out power for 2-6 days. Others had a generator that stopped working and left then in the dark. Some people had large trees land of their houses and others just had kids that were board to death because they had no electronics. I even heard of someone who was prepared for a disaster with a years supply of food storage. (Wheat, rice, flour, pasta etc) Yet without power they had no way to cook any of the food they had stored.

Every Tuesday for at least the next month or so I'm going to do a post on something that has to do with being prepared for the unexpected.  I already have some ideas for posts and am excited for this Tuesdays post.

I will get the Irene aftermath pictures off my camera and online in the next few days.