Mommin' It Up!

December 16, 2011December 15, 2011

Warming up Winter

Winter is my least favorite season. I know I am a total buzzkill, but I hate snow. Sure, it looks nice, but what it does is keep me and the kids cooped up in the house and make it dangerous to drive anywhere! I hate cold even more. I really, really, really, hate being cold.

So, every winter, every dang nervewrackingly-cold day, I try to warm things up for myself. From the practical to the comfortable, I am always trying to keep things above freezing in my life! Here are a few ways I try to get my warm on:

Pre-heat the car. I cannot stand to put kids or myself in a freezing cold car. In the winter, I make a mad dash out in the cold ten to fifteen minutes before we have to leave so the van will be nice and toasty and frost-free before we leave!
Cloak myself in fleece. I likes to wear the warm snugglies in winter, and I like my kids to have them on too! I wear fleece-lined clogs in the house, fleece PJ pants, a nice fleece pullover, you get my drift! The baby lives in fleece PJs all day long, he can get away with it!
Cook up some WARM comfort food. In my house, winter is the season of slow cooked soups and stews. I have several beloved recipes that I never get sick of and make again and again. But, they are all really simple.

When I want a warm comfort food that’s more than simple, I turn to the frozen foods department at my grocery store. I don’t cook lasagna, meatloaf, or pot pies, so I gotta go to the experts! When I want a creamy, flaky, delicious pot pie, I go with Marie Callender’s.

Now I’ve had Marie Callender’s pot pies dozens of times, but I reviewed one for this post, just to *ahem* remind myself how awesome they are. It was just as good as ever! Filled with yummy meat, veggies, and with lots of choices of flavors, they are a great time-saving solution for that busy time of year when it just happens to also be f-f-f-freeezing cold outside. I especially love the Creamy Parmesan and Cheesy Chicken pot pies. Mmmmm…they are delish! Food like that keeps me very warm on the coldest of days.

So, those are some ways that I warm up winter. I will definitely be employing them again as the cold and snow rush in. How do YOU warm things up for your friends and family?

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I was compensated for my review of this product by Marie Callender’s and the Motherhood. All opinions about the product are my own.

December 16, 2011December 15, 2011

SLEEP

I don’t know what to do with Sam. It’s 10:01 p.m. and he is not asleep. In fact, he’s making some sort of ruckus in his room, one I’m sure does not in any way involve his bed, but that he is even in his room at all is an improvement over where we’ve been for the last hour.

Scratch that, he’s right here in front of me.

I’m losing patience, Andy’s losing patience, this is a recipe for disaster.

He used to be such a good sleeper! I’d read him a book, sing him a song, lay him in his bed and he’d be out. Now? Not so much.

I suppose the trouble started when he moved into a real bed instead of his crib. I hated to move him, but for the love he was three and a half and way too big – he couldn’t turn over! Now it’s like someone slipped him an espresso 15 minutes before bedtime. He instantly has all the energy in the world and bounces off the walls. It’s so hard to settle him down.

This evening, at about 7:30 when we were finally sitting down to supper, he said he was tired and looked like he could hardly keep his eyes open. I knew I should just put him to bed, but I wanted him to eat something. Of course, he found his second wind and now it’s off to the races.

I honestly think the solution is to get him to bed earlier, but when we don’t darken the door until 6:00, it’s really hard to have any kind of semblance of family or relaxation time (or even dinner and a bath) and have him in bed by 7:30.

Now he’s in bed, but repeating “I can’t go to sleep in my bed” over and over.

I am about to shoot myself.

HELP. How can I get my good sleeper back?

December 15, 2011

My Favorite Gifts from Lands’ End

Clearly, it’s no secret around here that we LOVE Lands’ End! And I love giving Lands’ End for Christmas. One of my very, very, very favorite things to give is a personalized Lands’ End tote. That’s what I got for Sophie’s teachers and therapists last year.

If you are at a loss for what to give those on your list, you still have TIME and Lands’ End has some great suggestions in their Our Favorite Gifts section. Lands’ End let me choose a gift from that section to review, and I am giving it to someone special this Christmas who I hope is not reading this post! It is this amazing Diamond Quilting Wool Down Vest!

This is just so nice, it’s hard to even put into words. Let’s just say I am a SUPER-UNSELFISH person for giving it as a gift! It’s quilted wool plus the lightweight down fill makes is super-warm as well as super-cute. And the faux fur hood is adooorrrable. It’s temperature rated for 5 to 25 degrees so it’s ever-so-functional as well! I love it!

Here are some other great “favorite gifts” I’d suggest:

Needlepoint iPad case: you can get this for ME! Because I want it!! Isn’t it cuuute?? And I haven’t gotten a case for mine yet!

Sea Salt Caramels: please put these in my stocking!

Houndstooth CashTouch Scarf: nothing makes me happier than a good scarf, and the softness of CashTouch is to DIE for! This is a definite sure-to-please!

Lands’ End is pretty much having constant sales these days, and you can have your gifts shipped fast to get here by Christmas! Hop on over to Lands’ End’s website today and get gifting!

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Lands’ End sent me the Wool QuiltedDiamond Down vest for review. All opinons about it and all the products mentioned are my own.