And so the craziness begins

Find the original post (posted 01/06/2010) on Sticky Fingerprints

n our church, children are baptized at 8 years old. This is a huge milestone in a child's life, and one that family and friends come to celebrate and show their support. Our oldest son (child #2) recently celebrated his 8th birthday and will be baptized this Saturday afternoon. The actual baptism will be held at the church, but following the baptism we will host a luncheon for the family and friends that attend. We are so excited for our son and for the chance to gather with family and friends, but with five children...a house gets pretty messy...and quickly!

Trying to stay on top of the mess can be a daunting, and almost impossible challenge. Just keeping up with the basics like dishes laundry and a quick surface clean can take more hours than I have in a day so when it comes to deep cleaning, the job requires a lot of time and effort! With guests coming this weekend (and some arriving from out of town to stay with us as early as Thursday) it is time to hit the ground running for a deep clean (or at least a sorta deep clean...). If you don't see posts in the next couple of days, please know it is because of the mad cleaning going on around here! Look for photos of our cute son all dressed up in his cute suit and with family and friends this weekend!

Wish me luck!

5 Cities that Ruled the World

Please find original post (posted 01/05/2010) on Sticky Fingerprints


5 Cities that Ruled the World introduces us to the history and reign of the cities of Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London and New York City. Author Douglas Wilson uses a unique religious point of view to explain and document how each city came to rule; why each was successful in it's vie for power; and, excluding New York, the cause of their fall from power.

I truly enjoyed reading a history book written from a Christian perspective. Through our years of schooling, we usually cover history from a purely worldly perspective, which often seemed to me to be lacking in depth. While I always enjoyed reading about the history of our world, it was often hard to connect my beliefs with the history. This book helps to make that connection.

I highly recommend this book to history buffs and regular Joes (like me) alike.

I did have an episode of self discovery while reading this book, though. I discovered that while I can blaze through a work of fiction in a matter of hours or days, non-fiction has to be read in bits and pieces. It seems that I cannot sit for hours at a time, engrossed as I usually am with a novel. Having said that, I truly enjoyed this book, and I know that my husband is glad that I have finally finished this book so he can take his turn with it.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for providing a copy of this book for review. No other compensation was provided. Purchases made through links to Amazon will result in compensation.

An Era is Ending

Find the original post (posted 01/02/2010) on Sticky Fingerprints

The day has come that I have dreaded for a long time. I knew that it was coming...but I was hoping that we would hold out just a little bit longer. But alas, today it happened. #5 figured out how to climb out of his crib...Thus ending regular naps, easy bed times and babyhood in general. He is a full fledged toddler now, and will be moved to his big boy bed (luckily we have the lower bunk of a bunk-bed ready for him).

Baby's new bed:

It's an end of an era. Time is marching on and my baby really is growing up! Then again, this puts me one step closer to being completely diaper free, and that will be heavenly, indeed.

Photo is from Ikea.com

Remember to check out my new blog!

Read my welcome post found here!

I would love to have you all join me over at Sticky Fingerprints (and choose to follow through friend connect, we will have fun together, I am sure)! I have a couple new posts that I will share here as well, but to read everything first, be sure to follow Sticky Fingerprints!

Thanks for reading!

New Year, New Site!

I know that yesterday was supposed to be the site launch for my new site, but 2010 decided to surprise my family with a stomach flu! So, I am a day late, but here it is: Sticky Fingerprints! I so excited to be able to share this new blog with you and hope that you will all follow me as I start this new adventure. Here is what you can expect to find on Sticky Fingerprints:

-Random thoughts…yep, you will get to know me better
-Some of the craziness of day to day life in a family of seven
-Activities and recipes to share with your family
-Product reviews. I want to help you find great products for your family!
-Giveaways! I will be working hard to find opportunities to have fun giveaways for my readers!

When you get there, please follow me through Google Friend Connect and on Twitter to stay on top of all things Sticky Fingerprints!

For the next couple of months I will be posting both on Sticky Fingerprints and here on More Thoughts With Chris, but only entries at Sticky Fingerprints will be valid for giveaways! Thanks for your understanding and I look forward to sharing this new adventure with you.

Problem solved!

Remember this post from a couple weeks ago? I shared with you a new favorite movie, and in the process lamented the terrible state of my copy of Jane Austen's novels. My last reading of Persuasion was the straw that broke the camel's back and the back cover came off completely. Trying to read a book that thick without a back cover is quite difficult, so frequent visits to the world of Jane Austen were our of the question.

During the chaos that is Christmas at my parents (you really should have seen all of the gifts under the tree...needless to say we were all spoiled) I unwrapped a heavy rectangular gift. Inside was this:
A beautiful new copy of Jane Austen's Novels! This photo really doesn't do justice to the color and embossing on the cover. Thanks Mom and Dad for reading my blog and picking up on what I would really love to find under the tree!

Purchases made through links to Amazon.com will result in compensation.

The Most Important Meal of The Day

We've heard it since we were children, magazines and newspapers continue to shout it from the rooftops, but for some reason we like to ignore the old adage, and continue to skip breakfast. I may skip breakfast some mornings, but I make sure that my children get breakfast every morning. I have felt some guilt in the past that their breakfast is rarely homemade and usually consists of a bowl of cereal with milk, but not anymore!

Research has shown that those that eat ready to eat cereal for breakfast consume less fat, less cholesterol and more fiber than those who do not.

Other benefits of choosing ready to eat cereal for breakfast include:

• Ready-to-eat cereals, including presweetened cereals, account for only 5% of sugar in children’s diets.


• Ready-to-eat cereal is the No. 1 source of whole grains in a child’s diet today.


• More frequent cereal eaters tend to have healthier body weights and lower Body Mass Index measures.

General Mills recently announced that they will begin to reduce the sugar per serving content of all of their cereals that are marketed to children under the age of 12 to single digit numbers! In past years General Mills has also been increasing the content of vital nutrients and decreasing the sugar content of their cereals. Actions like these help me as a mother to feel better about choosing cereal as my children's breakfast on busy school mornings.

Right now General Mills is offering a coupon for $1 off one of four of their cereals. Click here to print yours.

If you would like to read more about cereal and children's health, you can go to the General Mills website where they provide you with more data.

This post is part of a program by My Blog Spark. I received coupons, online coupon link, and information from General Mills through MyBlogSpark. Any opinions expressed are completely my own.

Yummm, Potato and Ham soup!

Do you have leftover ham sitting in your refrigerator? It tasted wonderful on Christmas day, but your family is tiring of ham sandwiches...what are you to do? The frugal mommy in you can't bring yourself to throw the ham out so you are searching for a way to use up your leftovers. So far in our home we have made: scalloped potatoes with ham, a ham and egg bake with cheese and green onions, and finally tonight I made this yummy potato and ham soup!

I had grabbed a 10 lb bag of potatoes at Wal Mart the other day (I couldn't pass it up at $.98) so I already had those on hand. I figured a ham and potato soup would be just the ticket on this chilly evening so I pulled up the Swag Bucks website (are you searching with Swag Bucks? I have been lately and have already earned three $5 Amazon.com gift certificates!) and searched for recipes. I found one that sounded both easy and tasty and decided to give it a try. The recipe is one created by Paula Deen for Smithfield ham. You can find the recipe here. I did make some adjustments to the recipe which I felt would add to the flavor. Here are the changes that I made:
-Instead of just water for cooking the potatoes I used a combination of canned chicken broth and water (2 cans broth and 1 can full of water)
-I increased the amount of ham to about 3 cups
-While the potatoes were cooking, I diced a small onion and sauteed it in about 2 Tbs of butter. I cooked until soft and slightly browned and added them with the butter and ham
-Instead of salt I used a very tasty Garlic Season-All from Cow Camp Seasoning Company.

You definitely want to give this one a try! My three year old ate two bowls full at dinner tonight! (So did my almost 10 year old, but she can eat more than any young girl I know, so that isn't saying much!) Happy Leftovers!

I received no compensation for this post. However; if you do choose to sign up and start earning at Swag Bucks, I will earn additional rewards.

Christmas Morning!

Sorry to be a bit late in posting Christmas morning photos of the kiddos! They had a wonderful morning and then were spoiled rotten by their aunt and grandparents in the late afternoon. Here are photos of each of them Christmas morning:

Number 1 showing off her Stocking!
Number 2, thrilled with his skate ramp!
Number 3 digging into the candy in his stocking
Number 4 showing off his new skate boardg
Number 5 playing with his new "Kick It" (aka soccer ball) on his new rug (Thanks to CSN stores and Chocolate Fingerprints for the rug, as I won it back in July in a blog giveaway!)
I hope that you all had wonderful Christmases as well. The best gift I received this year was the smiles on my family's faces and time together! Here's to a wonderful new year too!

Deal Alert! Little Ceasars pizza $3.99

Are you tired of spending time in the kitchen now that the holiday craziness has come to an end? Head to littleceasars.com and print your coupon for a large Hot-N-Ready pizza for only $3.99! I would call that a great after Christmas present! Coupon only good today (December 26th) and tomorrow (December 27th) so hurry on in before the deal is over!