Tasty Tuesday: Lemon Pillow Cake

Lemon Pillow Cake

Prepare a box of white cake mix. Pour into a greased 9X13 pan. Take Lemon pudding ( either from a can or some that you have prepared) and put blobs on top of the cake. As the cake bakes, the cake will bake over the pudding. Bake the cake as directed on box.

Once the cake cools top it with this:
1 container of lemon or vanilla frosting (add lemon juice to vanilla) mixed with 1/2 to 2/3 a container of cool whip
Mix frosting and cool whip to together.

This makes a really yummy summer dessert.

It must be refrigerated if there happen to be any leftovers.

Meg's Note:
A cool variation although I haven't tried it would be to use a chocolate pudding with white cake and vanilla icing or for even a more death by chocolate combination, chocolate pudding with chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

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Things I Found Useful: Nursing Pillows

I have mentioned some things I have that I found were worth having around with the baby.  Two things that I really enjoy are my nursing pillows.  They are both made by Jolly Jumper.

1. The Boomerrang Nursing Pillow.

I use this pillow all the time.  It is my go to pillow for nursing.  It is soft and comfortable ( my son is next to me asleep on it).  It positions him just right for latching on and keeps him on my lap when he falls asleep.  The cover is able to come on and off every easily ( which is a good thing since my son is a puker).

I also used this pillow while I was pregnant as it was comfortable to lay on..

2. The other nursing pillow that I like is the Baby-Sitter Pillow.  I only used this one a few times for nursing as I found it stiff and not that comfortable to use.  However, I love it for right now as my son is learning to sit up. It provides great support to him.  He is still able to move around, but I don't have to worry about him falling all the way back.

My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Review and Giveaway

One of the many things I have wanted to do for Benjy is to create a scrapbook of pictures that we have taken of him.  I have a scrapbook and have bought some paper and stickers.  So far I have gotten exactly one page done. I get started on working on it and then he wakes up so scrapbooking the traditional way is just not working well for me.  My Memories contacted me about doing a review of their digital scrapbooking software.  I immediately replied back after checking out their website as this seemed like a good solution to get some scrapbooking done.


This program is available by download or hard copy disk.  As we get more and more digital, a download only copy appeals to me as I don't have to worry about where I put the CD.  As long as you are logged into your account, the ability to download the program is available which is handy if your computer crashes and you need to re-download it.

The set up of the program took a few minutes.  Once the program was set up, I had the option to start scrapbooking right away.  The program comes preloaded with quite a few papers, embellishments, templates, and books.  On their site they also have quite a large selection of free kits to download which change often.  For kits to purchase that vary from quick make pages to full out design kits, the prices range from 84 cents to $7-8.  I find this to be very reasonable as from looking at kits in scrapbooking stores, the prices seem to be quite similar and that is for a one-time use product only.

Within 5 minutes of downloading the program and the extra kits, I had already created a scrapbook page.  I choose not to use a template, but use different design elements to create it.  The background of this page is Funky Polka.

I choose to use shapes on my picture to get the nice oval.  The words I put in using both the text feature and the word art tab.  I used embellishments to get the flowers and the stitching that goes across the top of the page. It did not take me long to make this page and I think it looks pretty cool.

The program is very straightforward to use.  As shown in the picture above, adding different elements to your page is very easy to do.



One of the things I really like about this program and digital scrapbooking is that there is an undo button.  This  makes life so much easier.  If you do something and it doesn't look right, just hit undo.

This is what the full program looks like when it is open.

Since this program also has lots of templates for those that are not as crafty or do not have the time to design their own pages, I thought I would also share a few examples of those.

Why yes, that is Bacon in a Santa hat.  

This examples shows journaling.  It is a picture template that I used to create this one. I had to add the background page and all the text.

This one here is a quick page.  All the design elements are provided.  You just need to add your pictures underneath and use this as a frame.

This program is designed for both a Mac or Windows.  I am currently running Windows XP, and it is working well..  My computer is 5 years old and runs it quite easily.  It only stalled once,  and I think that is because I had too many things running at once.  

Once you are done your creation, you can easily have them printed out.  There is an option for you to print them yourself or upload it to them and have it printed that way.  They have many templates that are in book form so it is very easy to make your own digital scrapbook and have a paper copy of it as well.

Overall, I really enjoyed using this software.  For me personally, I prefer not to use templates and just use all the design features on my own to create pages.  The great thing about this software is that it offers you choice.  You are not limited to only using templates or doing it all on your own.  I made the new banner for my blog using this software.

My Memories also has a Youtube channel to demonstrate different aspects of their program http://www.youtube.com/user/MyMemoriesSuite

My Memories Suite Scrapbooking Software retails for $39.95 USD.

Would you like your own copy so you can start making digital scrapbooks?

Go to My Memories  and use this promo code STMMMS49904  . This will get you $10 off the software as well as a $10 coupon to use in the Mymemories.com Store.

OR

 You can win a copy below by entering the giveaway using Rafflecopter.

Our First Date Night

With a new baby in the house things have changed. No longer are we able to get up and go anywhere at any time.  Things need to be planned more and since we bring the baby everywhere we go, things need to be packed mainly changes of clothing and diapers.  So we planned our first date night without the baby.  The Cheif's mom was coming over to baby sit Benjy.  We would be gone only 5 hrs, but I pumped 9-10 oz to ensure he would not go hungry.

So we said goodbye to the baby and left to go out to dinner and do a bit of shopping.  The hour long car ride was nice as I was able a) drive and b) sit next to the Chief.  We had lots of good conversation on the way there. We went to Montana's and both of us ordered ribs. I love ribs, but eating ribs when you have a baby that often wants to be held is not easy so I took the opportunity to eat them. They were finger-licking, get sauce everywhere good.

After our meal, we went over to the mall where we bought Benjy his new carseat and books for him with a giftcard I had one from the local health unit.  Then we went to Walmart and bought things like shampoo.  Very Thrilling.

After that we proceed to drive home.  This time the Chief drove.  When we got home, Benjy was asleep on the couch and began smiling in his sleep when he heard our voices.

Unfortunately, he did not have as good of a time with his Memere.  He very much wanted me and refused to take a bottle.  He cried for 4 out of the 5 hours we were gone. His Memere held him the whole time and I can't imagine it was pleasant to hold a crying baby for that long. He was happy in his bath, but started to cry again.  Unfortunately it was rainy out so she couldn't even take him for a walk to get a change of scenery.

I think he is used to his night time routine of nursing and did not find a bottle to be an acceptable alternative.  He does takes bottles occasionally, but I think I am going to have to give him some bottles more often to get him used to it.  So the Chief and I decided that will be the last date night for a while.  We have gone out during the day and he was fine so we will have to stick to date days.

Guest Post: TV and Children's Imagination

Jes, a mother of 3, over at Here We Go Again wrote this post about what changes were caused by removing TV in her home.


Almost 4 months ago my husband and I decided to remove all of our television sets from our home. We still have them in our possession, just not accessible on a daily basis. I thought it would have been hard to go without a television to entertain my two younger children as I home schooled my oldest. I have since found that, yes it has been much more difficult to home school, but that is far outweighed by the growth of their beautiful imaginations.

I had a habit, of allowing my children to watch TV when they wanted. It was always educational, so I figured that it wouldn't have been doing them any harm. I was a wee bit off the mark. While my children were excelling intellectually, they were suffering tremendously imaginatively.

They did not play house, did not make up voices, nor did they play with their dolls or teddy bears. They were just existing.

I had allowed their imaginations to become null and void, in exchange for an easier life for myself.

Once my husband and I came to this startling revelation, we decided to take action. So we took the TV's out. It was also hampering our relationship, as we no longer had conversations extending past the time of the next show's start.

My house is now a whirlwind of activity. Some days Spiderman even comes to stay with us, while other days I have wild Indians running through my living room. I've even had the Transformers visit. My son also has the ability to be an excavating machine. With his bare hands.

I've heard Mickey Mouse having conversations with the teddy bears, Peter Pan's shadow has visited their bedroom. Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater call on them often as well.

Each of the Disney Princesses have called and asked for me personally on their cell phones! How many parents can claim that?

They have been stranded on an Island, and lived in the caves (their bunk beds with blankets enclosing them). They have been daddies and a mommy to many dolls and bears, and they have even befriended bumblebees when camping. My oldest named them Aura and Maynor.

So when people tell me they think I'm crazy for taking my televisions out of the house I smile and say that I am.

Introducing Solid Foods

Up until this point, Benjy has been only drinking breastmilk.  He has not had any solid foods and other than a bit of formula at the hospital, he has been exclusively breastfed.  Benjy is 5 months old and is showing many of the signs for starting to eat real food.  I am following the World Health Organization's suggestion to hold off solid foods until 6 months.


I don't think I have mentioned this in much detail, but Benjy seems to have a sensitivity to dairy.  If I have any in my diet he spits up a lot and has very mucousy poops.  Since I have cut it out and done my best to avoid it, the amount of spit-ups and mucousy poops has gone way down.  This is another reason why I am apt to wait a bit longer to start him on solids to avoid him having any long term allergies.

Most of my experiences with babies' starting food has usually been with pablum or jars.  Although jarred food is good for when you are in a pinch, I plan on making my own food for him to eat so I know exactly what is in it. Another concept that has me interested is the concept of Baby Led Weaning.  This method of weaning a baby is essentially allowing them to eat small finger foods right from the start of the process.  As I still have a few more weeks until Benjy is 6 months, I am going to continue to research it and see if this method is right for me.

Do you have any suggestions on a good way to introduce solid food?

 

Under Construction

I started playing around with the settings and everything is funky right now so bare with me while I try to fix it.