Day 3- 1/3/13 - Bloom

This year instead of making a resolution, I made goals and a plan for the new year.  I had so many things to include, but I picked my four most important.  So here goes...

1.  Do a load of laundry, fold, and put it away immediately at least every other day.

2.  Keep fresh flowers in the house.

3.  Practice patience in all aspects of my life!

4.  Organize, organize, organize!!!

Now, some of you might say that #2 is silly but look at these pictures!  Flowers are beautiful and it makes me happy to get a bouquet every week or every other week.  So, I included it in my top four because it's important have random things in your life that make you happy.

 

 

 

Day 2 - 1/2/13 - Puppy Love

We have 2 labradoodles, Sparky and Jazzy.  Today's picture is of the older one, Sparky.  He is about six months old and totally goofy.  He has a fun personality and is very funny looking also.  We recently got him trimmed up.  My husband thinks he looks ridiculous and likes him better fluffy, but I think he looks cute. 

Karen

Day One - 1/1/13 Crafty Kids

My kids wake up at 100 mph and ready to craft.  My daughter would craft 24/7 if I let her.  Today my kids cut up paper and made confetti for their stuffed animals birthday.  (It is always one of their stuffed animals birthdays.)  I have a little problem with being indecisive so I made a collage of pictures for today.  I loved their sweet faces, little hands and crafts all organized in the awesome new buffet we got from Ikea!

Karen

2013 - A New Year and a Fresh Start to My Blog

Happy New Year to All! 

Last year for my birthday/anniversary my husband bought me an awesome Canon Rebel T3i.  I LOVE it!  I had also been taking an awesome photography class for moms called Momtography with Amanda Star Photography.  I learned so much about my camera and how to take pictures, in addition to having a ton of fun!  I'm really going to miss the classes this year!

Anyway, back to the fresh start.  I have decided to make this blog into a display for my 365 days of photos.  I have learned a ton but still have lots of room to grow.  Mom always told me practice makes perfect.  So I'll be practicing daily and showing you how it goes.

Here are my promises:
1.  There will be a ton of pictures of my kids!
2.  I will probably get behind, but I am going to do my best to keep up and make it up if I get behind on posts.
3.  I will have fun doing it!

You must promise me:
1.  You won't be too critical.  (Remember I'm still learning!)
2.  You will comment if you like it.
3.  If you don't have anything nice to say, you will say nothing at all.  :)

Sit back and enjoy!

Karen

Conversations with My Kids

Background:  My husband is a coffee addict.  He prefers expresso because it's stonger.  Our current expresso maker was on the fritz.  Gasp!  I ordered a new one and it came in yesterday.  Patrick was helping Daddy put it together and we were talking about coffee.

P:  Mommy, do you like coffee?
Me: Yes, but I can't drink it.
P:  Why?
Me:  Because it makes my heart beat to fast.
P:  Why?
Me:  Well, because my heart's a little different.  It's doesn't always work quite the way it should.
P:  So it's broken.
Me:  Kindof.  But I'm okay, Buddy.  Don't worry about Mommy's heart.
P:  Do you still love me?
Me:  OF COURSE!  Why would I not love you?
P:  Because you have a broken heart.
Me:  (Smiling and lots of hugs and kisses).  I will always love you broken heart and all, sweet boy!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS AND FAMILY NEAR AND FAR!!!!

Love to all!

Special Edition ~ Tastefully Friday :)

Hi Everyone!!! It's that time of year again for holiday parties and gift giving! Why not make Tastefully Simple part of your Holiday Shopping!?


In the spirit of the holiday, I've decided to create Black Friday deals just for you! No crowds, just stay in your PJ's and have a nice hot cup of Oh my Chai or Butterscotch Kisses while you shop for all your Holiday Needs!


From Midnight on Friday, November 25 to Midnight on Saturday November 26, I will be giving special discounts to all orders placed through me. Here are the rules:

• Offers do NOT apply to party orders or previous purchases.

• All orders MUST be place through email or messaged to me on Facebook. Since this is an offer only through me the discounts will NOT be applied to online orders placed on my website.

• Please only email or message me orders between 12 AM-8 AM and from 8 PM-12 PM. Please do not call with orders during those times as I will most likely be sleeping.

Here are your Black Friday Special Offers:

12 AM – 4 AM –15% off all Tastefully Simple products

4 AM – 8 AM – 10 % off all Tastefully Simple products

8 AM – 12 PM –5 % off all Tastefully Simple products

12 PM – 4 PM – 5% off any 1 gift set, 10% off gifts sets if you buy two,

                           15% off if you buy 3 or more gift sets

4 PM – 8 PM – 5 % off all Tastefully Simple Products

8 PM – 12 AM – 1/2 off shipping



*** Also any orders over $25 will receive a free Essential 4 recipe book, Itty Bitty Chai Tea Drink Mix, or an Individual Garlic Garlic. After I have received your order, I will contact you about payment. You may pay through Paypal, send me a check, or give me a credit card over the phone.



All orders will be processed as part of my fundraiser for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and all profits will go towards the charity. So, not only are you getting some shopping done and getting a discount, but you are also supporting a worthy cause!

Loss

Since, I started my campaign to raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (see blog post here).  I am overwhelmed with the number of people who have contacted me and shared with me their stories of loss.  Many of my friends have been affected by suicide.  Some have lost siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, and even their pastor to suicide.  Some have family members and friends that have attempted suicide and lived.  This fundraiser has taken on a whole new meaning.  Even if I don't raise a ton of money for the charity, I have people talking - talking about how it feels to be affected by suicide, sharing the love they felt for their loved ones, and simply seeking comfort in someone else who has been through the same thing.  I find this so comforting and at the same time heartbreaking that so many of my friends have suffered similar losses.  I find it sad that many feel ashamed to talk about it.  We've got to try to as a society remove the stigmas of mental illness and encourage people in crisis to seek help before it is too late.   

90% of people who die by suicide have a diagnosable and treatable psychiatric disorder at the time of their death.  

I humbled by the kindness and genorosity of others that I have seen in the past few days.  In the chaos of life, we all have so much to be thankful for. 

Out of the Darkness Fundraiser for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Many of you already know but to those of you that do not, two years ago I lost my older brother to suicide. He was a brother, friend, son, husband and father to three beautiful kids. It was a devastating loss to me and my family. The day before Thanksgiving two years ago was the last time I heard my brothers voice and he ended his life less than 2 weeks after. This is always a difficult time for me. This year, though, I have decided that I am not letting my sadness and grief consume me but instead do something positive with my pain. I have organized a multi-vendor fundraiser to raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (www.afsp.org). The AFSP does a lot to support families that have lost a loved one to suicide, research on mental illness, and suicide prevention. The fundraiser began Saturday, November 19, International Survivors of Suicide Day, and runs for 1 month.


Every 40 seconds someone in the World dies by suicide. Every 14.6 minutes someone in the United States dies by suicide. Nearly 1,000,000 people make a suicide attempt every year. 90% of people who die by suicide have a diagnosable and treatable psychiatric disorder at the time of their death. These statistics are frightening, and I hope that our efforts through this fundraiser can help at least one family not have to suffer the same pain my family has.

So, I need your help. If you are on FB please "Like" my page Out of the Darkness Fundraiser for AFSP and if you are willing I would really appreciate it if you shared the page on your wall.


If you are unable to support the cause financially, please show your support by sharing information about this fundraiser on your blog, on FB, Twitter or with friends. Spread the word.

If you would like to contribute to the cause by shopping here is a list of the participating vendors.  Here are all the participating vendors: 


Tastefully Simple by Karen Keene
-Donating 100% of the profits back to the charity
-Order at www.tastefullysimple.com/web/kkeene2 and search for the AFSP fundraiser at checkout where it says Find Host/Event


Little Laws Prints
-Donating 20% to the cause
-Shop online at http://www.littlelawsprints.com/ and use code AFSP at checkout


AVON
-Donating 20% to the AFSP
-Go to www.youravon.com/jpeveto, click on Online Events to place an order for AFSP, and use the code INMEMORY at check out


31 Gifts
-Donating 10% to AFSP
-Shop at www.mythirtyone.com/simek and select the AFSP fundraiser


Scentsy
-Donating 12% to the charity
-Order online at https://nicoleslawson.scentsy.us/Home (no code necessary, just order online)


If you have any questions or problems with ordering contact me at klkeene@tampabay.rr.com .


Also don't forget you can still order the Serenity print through Little Laws Prints with 100% of the profits going to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

If you are interested in making a direct donation to the charity, email me for more information. 

Thank you for your support!

Tastefully Tuesday ~ Teacher Gift Ideas

Great Teachers Gifts…


Still wondering what to get for your Christmas teacher gifts?  Check out these cute ideas using Tastefully Simple products!

How about something they’ll really love … FOOD!

What better way to enjoy their holiday break than with one of these unique and different ideas from Tastefully Simple.



1. Place a Nana’s Apple Cake and two apples in a gift bag or basket. Attach a note that says,
“Thanks a bushel!”


2. Place a box of Perfectly Potato Cheddar Soup Mix in a soup bowl and attach a note that says,
“You are souper!”


3. Place a box of Truffle Fudge Brownies and Creamy Caramel Sauce in a gift bag. Attach a note that says,
“You’ve earned your brownie points for being the best!”


4. Place a jar of Corn, Black Bean Salsa and a bag of Blue Aztec Chips. Attach a note that says,
“Arriba, enjoy your holidays and have a fiesta!”


 5. Place a Rhubarb Strawberry Fruit Spread or Tripleberry Fruit Spread and Absolutely Almond Pound Cake in a gift bag.  Attach a note that says,
“You make learning Berry Fun!”


6. Make a spicy gift using Fiesta Party Dip Mix. Attach a note that says,
“You make learning extra Spicy!”



 If none of these ideas appeal to you, check out this great holiday gift finder. This is an awesome interactive gift finder with Tastefully Simple! Put in the name of the person you would like to give a gift to. Answer some questions about them and voila!!! The perfect gift is selected!!! 




To make a purchase, please visit: http://www.tastefullysimple.com/web/kkeene2,

In a World of Pure Imagination...

I love the way my kids are so imaginative.  Saturday morning they decided to be astronauts.  Our exercise equipment became space stations, they figured out ways to make each other float, they became friends with space aliens,  and they did it all without arguing.  Love this kind of play!

So then later Patrick went out to "go to work". 

And finally there's not much that is cuter than a little girl stompin around in her Daddy's huge boots!

 

Blinded by the Light

Sorry, things have been a little slow here.  I've been having major eye issues this week.  Turns out the new astigmatism lenses I started wearing a few months ago do not let enough oxygen back to my eye which resulted in me having inflamed irises in both eyes.  I have been experiencing a lot of burning and stinging recently and MAJOR light sensitivity!  So, I've had to have my eyes dilated for the past 48 hours straight and put steroid drops in my eyes every two hours.  So not fun!  I go back to the eye doctor on Friday to see if things have improved and discuss a new lens.  This has got me thinking maybe I want to discuss Lasik! 

For now I'll leave you with a picture of me in my shades with my two sweet babies!

Such a Sap

Hi, my name is Karen and I am a trash TV junkie.  Really after teaching all day, taking care of my own kids, and dealing with every day life, all I want to do is lay in bed and watch something mindless.  That's exactly what I do.  In the mean time, I get totally sucked up into these people/character's lifes and become emotionally invested.  I was catching up on some DVR'd TV the other day and found myself sobbing not once, but three times!!!


First was The Little Couple.  (It's kind of funny I watch this in the first place because I have always been a little freaked by little people.  This show is helping me overcome this.)  If you watch this show, you know that they have been suffering with IVF, egg retrivals, and wanting desperately to start a family.  After having so many friends go through this I know how emotionally and physically stressful this can be.  Well, the episode I watched, they did the embryo transfer to their surrogate, waited their 10 days, and then celebrated with their surrogate when the found out they were indeed pregnant.  Tears rolling.  So happy for them.  You can't help but go back to your own moment of finding out you were pregnant.  Such a joyful time!!!

Then the screen goes black and it says 6 weeks later.  My stomach just dropped.  The next image was Jen and Bill holding hands.  Tears came again.  The couple came on to explain that they had lost their baby.  As a mother and as a woman who has experienced a miscarriage, my heart just went out to them.  It is such a devasting loss.  The pain is so strong and so real.  Just seeing their faces brought back all the memories of my miscarriage and how upset I was.  The pain is not as strong for me now that I have 2 beautiful, healthy children but the emotions and the memories are still there.  Jen and Bill had a great positive attitude and are ready to try again.  I pray that they are successful this time around.



The next round of tears came from Glee.  Yes, I am a Gleek.  Puck is my favorite.  I mean, what is not to love about this guy!  But when he sang "Waiting for a Girl Like You" to his daughter, I lost it.  So beautiful and touching.  Songs have so much power and the words took on another meaning with a father singing them to a daughter.  Loved it!!!!

So, today I'm off to work on Mount Wannafoldsomelaundy and catch up on more DVR'd shows.  I'm getting prepared this time around and bringing the tissues with me. 

Lesson Learned - Doctor's Offices

I must start this off by saying that I absolutely love our pediatrician and the care we get from him.  BUT...  I HATE the waits we have every time we go to see him.  Patrick had a follow up appointment for two enlarged lymph nodes on his neck.  It's been over a month now but they are going down in size after 2 rounds of antiobiotics, and they don't seem to be painful to him anymore.  Anyway, back to the story, we got there about 15 minutes before his appointment and quickly got called back to be weighed, temperature taken, etc. but then waited one hour and a half!!!!!!!!!  This is RIDICULOUS to me!  I had both kids with me they were tired, hungry, and bored.  I pulled all my tricks out of my limited supply of tricks in my purse.  We played Eye Spy until we had spied everything in the whole room, pretended the bed was a big truck and drove all over the county, read books from my Kindle app on my phone, shared the one pack of fruit snacks from the bottom of my purse, sang songs, and told stories.  After an hour and 15 minutes, I gave up.  I let them scream and be crazy.  I figured the louder they were, the quicker they would get us out of there.  Well, my plan backfired because I had to listen to them scream and be crazy for another 20 minutes before we were seen.  UGH!

Lesson Learned - I may have to quickly pick up the kids right from school after work to go to the doctor.  From now on, I will have a Doctor's Office wait survival kit in the back of my van.  This will include Ibuprofen for Mommy, lots of snacks, books, crafts, a few toys, and notepads and pencils. 


PS- Forgot to mention that Patrick needed a booster on one of his vaccines which led to major meltdown, pinning him down, and lots of crocodile tears.  In the end, we all survived!

Tastefully Tuesday - Artichoke and Spinach Warm Dip Mix

One AWESOME product ~ Two GREAT recipes

The Product:
ARTICHOKE AND SPINACH WARM DIP MIX

This product is awesome made as is with an 8 oz block of cream cheese and one cup shredded swiss cheese and served with chips or our Bountiful Beer Bread.  You get 2 packets in a box for double the enjoyment.  But, I have found 2 recipes that I especially love to use this product with.

The Recipes:



ARTICHOKE & SPINACH CHICKEN POCKETS
Submitted by Dawn Dean (GA)

Ingredients

Artichoke & Spinach Warm Dip Mix
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup cooked chicken, shredded
2 (8 oz.) cans crescent rolls

Directions

Mix first 3 ingredients as directed on package; stir to blend. Add chicken, blend; chill for two hours. Put crescent roll dough on a flat surface and smooth out seams with a rolling pin. With a pizza cutter, cut dough into 12 equal squares. Place approximately one tablespoon of chicken mixture in the center of each dough square and bring corners together into the center. Pinch seams to close. Repeat with second can of dough and place pockets on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 24 servings.
 
 


CHICKEN AND POTATOES
Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef
Ingredients

4-6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
4 potatoes, cubed
10.75 oz. can condensed cream of chicken soup
10.75 oz. milk (use the soup can to measure)
1 packet Artichoke & Spinach Warm Dip Mix

Directions

Put the chicken and potatoes into a greased slow cooker. Whisk remaining ingredients together; pour over chicken and potatoes. Cook for 8-10 hours on low. Makes 4-5 servings.
 
Buy one box and make both of these great recipes.  To order go to, www.tastefullysimple.com/web/kkeene2.