Musing Mommies Podcast Episode 113 Tuesday July 5th, 2011

Do you ever suffer from constipation? I don’t necessarily mean the kind you are thinking – this is not an ad for Activia or anything… This week on the Musing Mommies podcast, the MuMos, Kim and Dawn are talking about getting it out – “it” being a variety of things, from poop to words, and all of the frustrations in between. Listen in as we discuss potty training/learning/frustration and those oh so cool signs from beyond.  And why does Dawn use the term “crack whore” and “5 dollar hooker” in a matter of minutes?? Well, you will just have to fire up the podcast to find out.

Until next time,

~Dawn and Kim

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A couple of weeks ago while I was in Seattle with my husband. I had the opportunity to drive a VW Jetta Wagon TDI. I wanted to share my experience here.

This car was a great ride. It drove smoothly and was very comfortable. I was really impressed by the layout and how user friendly it was.

There was a huge sun roof, which was great especially in the Seattle area. The cloud cover made it really nice to view the tops of trees and such out of the roof!  Although the sun roof extended through the back seat it only opened fully for the front seat passengers.  I know my kids would be trying to stand up and look out had it gone all the way back. So I think that’s a good feature to have for families.

This car came with the Sirius radio. I have never had an occasion to play with one before. I loved it. Picking my own style of music for my mood was a pleasure.  It unfortunately didn’t work in the tunnels but since there was no traffic at the time, it wasn’t a huge inconvenience.

The back seat didn’t have much leg room when the front seats were pushed back. So if you have a long legged driver, the back seat passenger might be a bit uncomfortable. But if there were smaller children in car seats, this might not be such a problem.

I really like the back “wagon/trunk” space. It was pretty roomy and also had a shade to cover contents riding back there. And I think that would come in handy if it were really hot out.  We also started out with a full tank on Friday morning and when we returned it on Sunday morning it was only at half a tank. We drove a lot that weekend too.

Overall I really enjoyed this vehicle. So if you are in the market for a great on gas comfy ride check out the VW Jetta Wagon TDI.

~Kim

The other night I invited some of “the girls” over, including MuMo Dawn, to watch the newly released “The Haunted Airman”. Since Robert Pattinson won most of our hearts with his Edward portrayal in Twilight the movie, it’s the least we can do to watch his other movies. Right?

This movie is not what I would consider a good movie.  I’m sorry RPattz.  But I will say that I think he is really a good actor.  Just because the story line wasn’t the best doesn’t mean that RP didn’t shine.

This is a movie about a wounded war vet that is haunted by his dreams. He often sees things that aren’t actually there.  His girlfriend isn’t what we think she is.  His Doc is a bit creepy to say the least and the other patients, we’ll they seem fairly CRAZY.

In short, this movie isn’t very good, but if you need an younger RP fix, rent it, turn the sound down and gaze the screen when RP is on.

~Kim

Ok, I am going to chime in here. I agree with MuMo Kim about the movie – blech.  The only way it was remotely enjoyable was because the gals were there too laughing and making funny comments.   And as for RP, well I am so very sorry but from what I have seen of him so far I am not entirely sure he’s that great of an actor.  Maybe he will get better with experience, but in this performance, well, honestly, he was Edward.  It was the same character! And maybe that had a lot to do with the story line, but take out the constant cigarette smoking and the accent in this film and I half expected Bella to walk in the door at any moment.

JMO. Sorry Kim.

~Dawn

Spaghetti with Artichoke Hearts and Tomatoes ala The Pioneer Woman!

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
1 14.5 ounce can artichoke hearts (quartered or whole), drained
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken broth, more as needed
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste
1 pound thin spaghetti
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped chives or other herbs

Cook spaghetti till al dente. Drain and set aside.
Melt olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Add artichoke hearts and tomatoes. Stir and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stir in cream and chicken broth. Add salt and pepper to taste (do not undersalt!) Cook over low heat until heated through, then turn off heat.
Place drained pasta in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1 cup Parmesan. Pour sauce over the top. Add chopped chives. Toss lightly to combine and coat; add a tiny bit of reserved pasta water if sauce seems too thick.

This was taken from The Pioneer Woman’s website HERE there are great step by  step instructions there WITH awesome pictures.

I thought this dish was a VERY tasty easy and crowd pleasing one.  The kids ate it up and I even had it for lunch the next day and it was still just as good maybe even better

*I used half and half instead of Heavy Cream.  It didn’t get as thick as the pictures on her site did.

I give this recipe 5 out of 5 stars!!!

~Kim

Since reading and becoming OBSESSED with the Twilight Saga, I’ve started to become really interested in the young adults fantasy fiction genre.

Fantasy Fiction as defined by Wikipedia:
Fantasy fiction features stories set in fanciful, invented worlds, an alternate and more fanciful version of our own world, or in a legendary, mythic past. Fantasy fiction stories generally involve magic, mystical elements, or supernatural creatures. The genre’s relatively loose definition means it includes a large number of works in styles ranging from pseudo-mythological epics to more deliberately modern works, and includes works which also fall under other genres, such as horror fiction, comedy, action-adventure or Romance. Some works generally classified as fantasy fiction also include elements of Science fiction, and with many works revolving around psychics, ghosts, etc. being easily classified as either, some bookstores and critics tend to categorize the two genres together as speculative fiction.

I am really diggin it!

Books I’ve read (actually mostly listened to in audio-book form):

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

This is the first book in a three book series written by Cassandra Clare. It’s a book about a teenage girl who finds out that there is more to her mother than she knew. It involves demons, shadow hunters(demon hunters), werewolves, vampires and the like. It has a little love, fighting, angst and exploration.

Clary the main character has a best friend named Simon. She meets Jace, Isabelle and Alec in the in the beginning of the book and soon her life starts to change and unravel.

I very much enjoyed this and had a hard time turning off my ipod! So as soon as I was done, I got the second book.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes

This book starts up where the previous one left off. In this book more fantasy comes to life meeting the Faerie folk.  We also dive deeper int the shadow hunter world and find out more about the lives they lead. Clary finds our more about her mother’s past and the people she’s met. There are love triangles, secrets, vampires, and fighting.

I went right back and purchased the third book. I couldn’t wait.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Glass

The third book is where it really comes to fight. Good vs. Evil, Father vs. Son, downworlders vs. Shadowhunter.  It’s a very exciting climactic climb to an ending you won’t believe!

There is going to be a book about one of the characters to come out next yr. I’m looking forward to it.

So if you enjoy this Genre or are looking to try something in this genre, I’d recommend going with this series. And if you are a Twilighter and are looking for something to fill in the time until New Moon the Movie comes out try out the Mortal Instruments series.

~Kim

Literally.

I am a ChapStick fanatic.  Lunatic.  Addict.  No matter how I try to get rid of it, I can’t do without it.  And if you ask me what the best one out there is; the Classic Spearmint. It covers better, lasts longer and makes my lips softer than the other flavors/scents.  I’ve tried them all, tried the competitors and tried the crazy off brands and nothing comes close.

I used to be a lipstick/lip gloss girl.  I had my favorites and I wore something on my lips all the time.  But then I had kids and after trying to wipe gooey, colored lip prints off of my baby’s bald head a million times I gave up on anything with color or thickness.  The ChapStick was the perfect solution – I didn’t mind it getting on my kids and if it did it was easy to wipe off.

So now I am addicted. I have tubes everywhere; by my computer, my nightstand, the bathroom, my diaper bag and usually my pocket.  I used to leave them in the car but since global warming I had to stop. Melted ChapStick is not fun for anybody.

But one day not too long ago I decided I wanted an alternative, something with a little color, to keep in the diaper bag (in case I forgot my ChapStick).  So, I had a coupon for $1 off a CoverGirl Cosmetic (have to be thrifty about it!) and decided to give the CoverGirl LipSlicks Lipgloss a try.  It was inexpensive and looked light enough to help ease me back into the world of lip cover.

I have to say, while it feels nice on and has a nice, subtle color, this stuff stinks. Literally! It has that old school, plastic, petroleum smell that went away when scents entered the cosmetic marketplace in the 80′s.  I hate putting it on, but being my frugal self, I refuse to throw it away.  So it sits in my diaper bag for those ChapStick-less emergencies, and hopefully one day I will use it all up so I can toss it.

So tell MuMo Dawn, what is on your lips?  Is there a product you swear by? Can’t live without it? Must have it on you at all times?

I really want to know!

~Dawn

Disney-Pixar’s Movie UP! What a cute movie for me.  I’m surprised at all of the different emotions this movie brought out in me. The only thing I can say that I didn’t enjoy was the dreams my kids had because of it.  Dogs chasing kids isn’t my idea of a good movie. The graphics of course were great.  The actors voices also great.  Cute premise, but it seems a little too grown up for my kiddos.  So I’d have to give this one a 3.5 out of 5 only because I don’t think it’s kid sensitive enough.

Yeah I would have to agree with most of what you said Kim.  Of course, being a Disney/Pixar film, it was a feast for the eyes!  The voicing was awesome and the story pretty cute too.  However, I really think a lot of the movie was lost on the preschool set.  And, as Kim said, the dogs were kind of scary – I was actually surprised that my wee one didn’t have nightmares from it. I think the majority of the “funny” parts were so directed at the adult viewers that the kids didn’t get it.   But, overall a cute flick that will surely entertain the kids if mom and dad need a break. I’d wait for it to come out on video though. But if you are a cryer like I am, you might want to watch it alone first.  I did tear up a few times, and that was even with the distraction of my squirmy 1 year old!
~Dawn

It’s that time again!! Time for a GIVEAWAY!!!

You know you want it, you know you HAVE to have it!! Everyone could use cold hard cash – right?!?!

OK, so we’re not giving away CASH exactly.  But this is close enough!

Musing Mommies Kim and Dawn need you.  We really NEED YOU!  We need you to stop by iTunes and give the Musing Mommies podcast a review.  Say as much or as little as you want.  Tell us you love us; tell the world we have changed your life for the better.  Tell us that you need us to fall asleep at night, or you need us to finish your laundry every week, or say that you can’t enjoy a Thursday night without your Musing Mommies fix. Tell iTunes surfers that Musing Mommies is the most awesome podcast EVER!… Or you can just say you really want a chance to win

A $25 VISA GIFT CARD!!!

Because, when you leave us a review on iTunes sometime before Saturday, July 4th, your name will be entered into our drawing.  You! Could! Win!

Musing Mommies Kim and Dawn will draw the lucky winner and announce their name on our July 6th podcast.

So what are you waiting for?!?

Click HERE to leave Musing Mommies a review on iTunes!!

GO!

and, THANK YOU!

Kim and Dawn

My husband brought to light a few things about organization and I wanted to share it with you. Here is what he had to say:

Getting Things Done (GTD), the famous book by David Allen, has some really good ideas about organization. It is a bit of a business book, but many of the ideas translate over into mommyhood. One of the key principles in GTD is that you need a system in which to write down all
the things that you need to do. You must trust the system to hold this information, so that you don’t have to hold it in your head, which creates worries about dropping the ball.

When you are playing with the kids or relaxing, you don’t need to be thinking about all the things you need to get done. You just need to be enjoying the moment, trusting that your handy dandy system knows what needs to be done. This means you need to write down a task list. Each task needs to include the very next action required in order to move forward toward completing the task. This allows you to break tasks down into actionable components.

For example: Task: plan birthday party, Next action: ask daughter what theme she wants. This allows you to take baby steps toward completing tasks. You make progress and get a sense of accomplishment without having to worry about forgetting a task.

The real key here is to WRITE THINGS DOWN. If you try to remember everything, you are guaranteed to forget something. Put your mind at rest. There are tons of task lists and note taking programs out there. You may want to look at evernote.com, which has a free note taking application which keeps your desktop (mac or PC), internet tasklist, and iphone all in sync. Microsoft OneNote is also a great choice. Microsoft Outlook is an extremely popular tool for tasks too. Find something that works for you and start making lists. Remember you have to trust your system in order to put your mind at rest.

To purchase this book just click on the photo above!

Thanks Eric for this awesome info.

~Kim

MuMo’s Dawn and I took our boys on a field trip to a local grocery store. I had no idea that they did that type of thing and for FREE! It was really kind of neat.  The kiddos got a cute crown to wear. Then the big H.E Buddy came out and took pictures with us and shook hands and even let the kids tickle him/her.  We set out on our tour through the produce department where we sampled some fruit and talked about the fresh foods we saw.  Then we went on to the bakery, fish market, cheese deli, and the fresh tortilla area where we got to see how they make the hot delicious flat breads! All along the way there were samples for the kids and parents to taste, which was good because when we left my son was full!  We had to leave early because of previous obligations, but maybe Dawn can fill us in on what happened after that.  Either way, I give it a big thumbs up!  So gather some of your mommy friends and kiddos and set up a tour through the supermarket.

Yes! This was a cool thing for the little ones! The “tour guides” were really great about trying to get some educational stuff about nutrition and eating/living healthy as the kids got a detailed tour of some interesting parts of the store.  After Kim and her son left, we made our way over to the lobster tank and the kids got to touch a real live lobster! Then we gathered up everyone and got to go into the walk in cooler where they keep the milk and yogurt.  We locked all the kids inside and left for margaritas! haha! Just kidding…

After the cooler, the guides taught the kids to say(scream) “Thank You For Shopping at HEB!!!!” and as we walked back to the front of the store we stopped at every frightened freaked out uninterested happy customer we saw.  At the end the kids all got a goodie bag with an activity book, a pencil, sticker, magnet and a photo of the whole group with H-E-Buddy.

It really was a fun trip and a neat way to spend an hour or so exploring the store.  I definitely recommend it. Oh, and my kiddo, two days later, is still wearing his crown…

~dawn

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Episode 8, May 18, 2009

Sum, sum, summertime, sum, sum, summertime!

Summer is coming! And that means summer vacations.  And when there is vacation, there is usually travel. And we all know that traveling with kids is TOUGH!

Well guess what? The Musing Mommies Dawn and Kim are HERE FOR YOU!! We have all the tips, all the tricks and all the car games you can handle! We know what it’s like to be trapped in the car for hours with a child; learn what we did to make those drives, flights and rides more tolerable.

Once you have your travel plans made, sit back and relax and find out the straight dope on all those As Seen On TV products.  Do they really work??? Kim and Dawn give their reviews of many of your late night favorites.  Put away the credit cards and forget about the easy payments until you hear what we think of these “amazing” items!

The podcast link is below. Enjoy!

Kim and Dawn

PS. And just when you thought things couldn’t get more silly, take a look at this video for the Bullet Express…

The Bullet Express – YOUTUBE Video

Links and Info: [Momsminivan][Travel Checklist][Car Seat Tray][AsSeenOnTV][Home Sanctuary]