Wordless Wednesday

by Linda A Kinsman, Wednesday, October 31, 2012
fall berries

Happy Halloween- For some

in , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Tuesday, October 30, 2012


It is so sad but true: Mother Nature is going to wreck another Halloween for some. Our hearts and prayers go out to all who have been affected by Hurricane/Tropical Cyclone Sandy. 

I was thinking about how blessed we are here in middle Tennessee, where the worst thing that will happen is that my daughters will have to wear their winter coats to go trick or treating.  Actually, we go trunk or treating at our church.  



pumpkins
Courtesy: dreamstime.com

If you have never tried trunk or treating, I highly recommend it. Trunk or treating is a fun, safe alternative to walking or driving in rural neighborhoods like ours.  We just bring our pumpkins, decorate our trunk, (but you don’t have too) bring candy and walk around the parking lot. Our church sets up a big grill so you can B.Y.O.M. (bring your own meat), so it’s a real family affair.  One of the best things about this option for me is it allows teens to stay with families and have fun too.   

Speaking of teens, did you know that about 19% of Americans surveyed by Nextdoor.com  think that 13 is the cut off age for trick or treating? I don’t agree because I know how my 13 year old daughter would feel if she were told she was too old to participate.  She is still having fun being a kid! Why rush her into growing up? 

What do you think is a good cut off age? 

I’m thinking by the time my daughter turns 16; we will have to brainstorm an alternative. Maybe she would rather host a pizza party/candy exchange. Maybe she will volunteer to help out at the trunk or treat event at church. We have time to sort it out. 
 I would love to hear what you do with your older teen!  For now, my family will go out and enjoy ourselves for a few hours. 

Does your family celebrate Halloween? 

Whatever you and your family do this Halloween, please stay safe, watch out for those fast moving kiddies and remember to smile and have fun in the moment. Treasure the memories you are making! 








Cherry Tomatoes Tasty Herb Roasted Bites

by Linda A Kinsman, Friday, October 26, 2012


All summer long my family and I have enjoyed the bounty of 2 Cherry Tomato plants. One, a yellow cherry was so sweet it was like candy and the other, a Christmas cherry bought for the girls was a tart, tangy bite of summer heaven.

We spent many a happy afternoon harvesting.  One for the basket, one for us. Is there anything better than popping a fresh from the vine, warmed by the sun cherry tomato right in your mouth? Nope, it is pure bliss I tell you!

But by the time the first part of October rolled around, I was looking for a way to preserve some of that heaven without having to buy or borrow a dehydrator. That’s when I came across a wonderful recipe posted on thetanglednest.com. I took her idea and like most recipes, I modified it to suit my needs.  Here’s what I did:
Rinse Cherry Tomatoes
Half
If desired you can scoop out the seeds with a small melon baller. (I opted not to do this step because there was hardly anything left by the time I got the seeds out.)
Spread them out cut side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper if you’ve got it on hand.
halved cherry tomatoes

 
Spoon Olive Oil/Herb Mix over tomatoes. (Recipe below).
Sprinkle with Sea Salt and a dusting of fresh black pepper.
 
salt peppered cherry tomatoes
 
The smell of the Olive Oil/Herb mix had my hubby asking me what I was making, and my daughter thought I was making my homemade Marinara sauce. That was before I had put these beauties in the oven, so be prepared for these tomaotes to go quickly when they come out of the oven!


Roast in a 300 degree oven for 30-45 minutes, or until colored & dry just a bit, not dehydrated. I baked mine for the full 45 minutes, checking every 5 minutes after 30 minutes. Don’t bake more than an hour.
 
herb and garlic bites


If you are lucky and have enough tomatoes on hand you can cool these and them pack them in freezer jars to save a bit of summer for later. I didn’t get that chance, but these tomatoes have a long refrigerator life, staying yummy for several days as we nibbled away on them.  These Tasty Herb Roasted Bites are an easy way to preserve your bounty.
Enjoy!
 
Olive Oil/Herb Mix Recipe:
1/3 cup Olive Oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. chopped Thyme or Oregano or Basil or a combo.
Fresh black pepper to taste



The Enchanted Truth Book Review and # Giveaway

in , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Tuesday, October 16, 2012


The Enchanted Truth by Kym Petrie- A modern-day fairy tale for grown-up girls.





Summary:

In this humorous and insightful tale, a modern day princess finds herself single and asking for magical intervention to change her sorry love life. Rather than casting a spell to bring Prince Charming to her rescue, a savvy fairy godmother gives the tenderhearted damsel an unexpected gift. By entrusting her true thoughts and desires to an unlikely confidant, the young royal soon discovers that the person who could make her life everything she dreamed it would be has been with her all along.

As author Kym Petrie herself realized, every woman needs a froggy friend and a secret journal—and enough adventures with the girls to keep her heart pounding and her mind racing. Life is meant to be about happy beginnings . . . you can never have enough of them.
Hardcover, 40 pages
Published September 18th 2012 by Greenleaf Book Group
Category, YA
Courtesy: Goodreads.com


My Review:

The Enchanted Truth is a simple, feel good gift book that would be a perfect gift for a teen or young person searching for that perfect boyfriend or Mr. Right.  It’s got a young reader vibe to it which I attribute to the rather abundant use of descriptive character titles throughout.
 It is a short story at only 40 pages, so it’s a quick read, taking me only 10 minutes to complete. It’s cute and funny, without being too over the top in the self-help department, which is why this book was written. To help a friend who was caught up in a disappointing search for Prince Charming.
Even though I found my own Prince Charming decades ago and having been living happily ever after, I put down The Enchanted Truth with a smile and took away this simple but powerful message from page 36:

“It’s the magic of inner spirit that makes ones dreams come true”. 

Don’t we all need to remember that message? That we have the power to help ourselves?
That one message alone is important enough for me to happily recommend The Enchanted Truth to teens and up.

Buy It: 

Purchase The Enchanted Truth at Amazon


Win It:

Would you like to win a copy for yourself or to give as a gift? Then please enter my giveaway below.




My WAHM Plan Disclosure: I received a copy of The Enchanted Truth for my review and to host this giveaway. While I was compensated, all opinions are 100% mine and were not influenced in any way. My WAHM Plan is not responsible for shipment of prize.










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Almost Wordless Wednesday

by Linda A Kinsman, Wednesday, October 10, 2012


Summer has faded in to Fall, I will miss you:

summer fruit



But I can't wait for more of:

marshmellows and cinnamon please

Doing my Part for No More

by Linda A Kinsman, Monday, October 08, 2012

Have you heard of No More? I hadn't either until last week when I received an email from Mom Central Consulting inviting me to lend my voice to this new initiative to get parents talking about an uncomfortable subject, physical or sexual abuse.

As the mother of two daughters,  I feel it is my duty to help in any way I can.

Below is the message from Mom Central that led me to act. Perhaps after you read it, you will feel led to help this worthy cause as well.


It's every parent's worst nightmare: finding out (or worse, not finding out) that their child has been a victim of physical or sexual abuse. These issues are uncomfortable to talk about and frightening to imagine, but they are happening. Studies show nearly 1 in 10 teenagers will experience physical violence from a dating partner and 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys will experience sexual abuse in childhood, more often than not, from someone they know.

Our failure to talk about these issues, to recognize the warning signs, and to create supportive environments in our homes, schools and communities where victims are able to come forward are all reasons why they continue to happen. We are all bystanders to the violence and abuse that goes on in our circles of influence and it's time for that to end. 
Mom Central is proud to announce that we are partnering with a new initiative to help get parents talking about these issues and put them into the national spotlight. It's called NO MORE. NO MORE is a powerful new symbol, like the red AIDS ribbon or the yellow "support our troops" ribbon, designed to bring everyone together - prevention organizations, celebrity advocates, and moms and dads like you who want to make a difference - to raise national awareness around domestic violence and sexual assault for the first time.
We hope that you will join us and lend your powerful voice to spreading the word. We will no longer stand by while these victims - potentially our children, friends and co-workers - suffer in silence and fear. 

Mom Central is joining the ranks of NO MORE's early adopters and contributors who include actress Mariska Hargitay, teen pop singer Jasmine Villegas, the SR2 Motorsports NASCAR Team and marketing minds from Google and Facebook.


My WAHM Plan is proud to join them by posting this badge.

no more


Click it to visit the No More website where you can download the free NO MORE toolkit, with logos, fliers, postcards and information on the many ways you can use the symbol to raise awareness.  

Thank you.

CampusBookRental.com #Review

in , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Thursday, October 04, 2012

With one daughter in middle school and one in elementary school, I thought I had a few more years to think about college tuition, courses and books. I was happy to stay in the here and now, setting aside what we could for college and praying for partial scholarships.
Sound familiar?

Then a few weeks into the school year, I had a conversation with a teacher at my daughter's middle school that changed my way of thinking completely. This teacher shared her knowledge on higher education, college entrance procedures and costs.
She offered advice on helping us prep for high school and college beyond AP classes. Yes, my daughter is only an 8th grader, but we must have our eye on her college needs now. As this teacher told me, if you wait until 10th grade, you are behind!



review

That’s why I am excited to have the opportunity to share with you a resource that not only helps college bound families save money on books, they offer a scholarship as well. I invite you to check out CampusBookRentals.com.

Here are some perks of renting texts books with them:
Save 40-90% off bookstore prices (I compared prices on this book and I can save 50%).
Free shipping both ways
Can highlight in the textbooks
Flexible renting periods


They also support a charity that is near and dear to my heart: Operation Smile.

charity




This is from CampusBookRental’s website:

"We have teamed up with Operation Smile, an out of this world, awesome organization, that performs life changing cleft lip surgeries on children whose families could not otherwise afford it. The long term Improvement in quality of life for the children that receive these surgeries is almost incomprehensible. We have committed to donating enough money to cover a minimum of 1,000 life changing surgeries. We hope to beat that number, but it's a significant commitment. Like Big!

So for EVERY book rented this year, we will donate a portion of the proceeds to Operation Smile with our sights set on meeting and exceeding our goal of 1,000 lives changed. So add that extra book to your cart, and consider this goal as you go back to school this year. CampusBookRentals.com supports the children of Operation Smile, and we thank you for your support.

You can read about our commitment here:
http://www.operationsmile.org/ways_to_give/other-ways-to-give/shop-to-benefit.html"


I am thankful I have this resource for the future needs of our daughters. I hope you find this review helpful. Please visit CampusBookRental.com to learn more and share this with family and friends who have college bound kids.




Disclosure: I was compensated for this review, however all opinions are my own.









DentalPlans Giveaway

by Linda A Kinsman, Monday, October 01, 2012




Welcome to the DentalPlans.com giveaway hosted by Life With Two Boys and Mom to Bed by 8!


I am happy to be a part of this giveaway because I know just how expensive trips to the dentist can be!

Did you know that your child’s dental costs make up nearly 20% of his or her total health care expenses? Well, get ready to discover a great dental insurance alternative to help you save 10-60% on most dental care procedures... DentalPlans.com!



If you’re not familiar with DentalPlans.com, think of them as a discount club for dental care at more than 100,000 participating dentists across the country. To help people without dental insurance take a bite out of rising dental costs, individuals and families can visit DentalPlans.com to compare 30+ Discount Dental Plans by ZIP code.





DentalPlans.com Quick Facts:

  • More than 30 plans to search for, compare and view sample savings.
  • Savings at more than 100,000 dentists across the country.
  • Savings of 10% to 60% on most dental care procedures.
  • Savings on orthodontia, cosmetic and pediatric dentistry with select plans.
  • No annual limits, health restrictions, paperwork hassles or waiting periods.
  • Most plans activate within three business days.
  • Plans start at $79.95 per year for individuals and $129.95 per year for families.

One lucky reader is going to win a one-year individual or family discount dental plan (individual plans start at $79.95 and family plans start at $129.95) of the winner’s choice.




This giveaway ends on October 15th at 11:59pm EST, open to US residents (excluding South Dakota and California), ages 18+.


Enter using the Rafflecopter form below. Good Luck!
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Disclosure: I received no compensation for this publication. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. My WAHM Plan is not responsible for sponsor prize shipment.








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