For those of you who have been wanting to take the plunge into digital scrapbooking I am offering a $10 gift certificate for one lucky reader to go shopping at Bits 2 Kits!

The gorgeous digiscrap pages that I have been designing for the last several months have all featured art by SAS Designs… Sarah (the lady behind the SAS) is the owner of Bits 2 Kits and I want all of you to have a chance to work with her inspiring kits.

If you truly are brand new to digital scrapbooking she even offers many great basics and the $10 gift certificate will truly get you off to a great start.  I am even happy to help the winner choose the perfect kits for their needs. If you don’t have a program that you can use to create digital layouts I can recommend several and most of them are wonderful for organizing, editing and sharing your photos too.

Feel free to browse through my DigiScrap Gallery right here at A Frog In My Soup to see many of the kits I have worked with by SAS Designs… but Sarah releases new kits almost every week along with great extras and more.

Here’s a couple of very fun layouts I did recently using her kits…

Featuring SAS Designs’ Flowers In the Sunshine Kit

Featuring SAS Designs’ Yummy Berries Kit

In this case I featured my niece in both, but in just a bit I’ll be uploading a page using Flowers in the Sunshine with photos of my twins… just to show you the versatility of most of these kits!

So, it’s time to enter… to do so, please leave a comment and tell me about your favorite summer photograph and how you’d like to make that a lasting memory!

Want extra entries (of course I do that!)? Here’s what you do, just make sure you leave a NEW comment for each new entry!

• Become a Facebook Fan of A Frog In My Soup!!!
• Tweet It: Just tweet this giveaway with a link to this post and make sure your comment has your twitter handle in it.
• Blog It: Write a post about this giveaway (with a link to this post of course) on your own blog, make sure your comment has a link to your post.
• Stumble It, Kirtsy It, Digg It, Submit to Mommy Blips: Submit this giveaway to any of these sites and earn an extra entry for each one…and make sure your comment has your Username.

It is void where prohibited, be sure to read my giveaway policies here.  Be sure to enter by July 6th, 2010.  This giveaway is open to US addresses only.

Disclosure: I always give honest and forthright reviews and will not present something that poses a conflict of interest &/or that I do not like. I love SAS Designs and I am blessed to be able to be part of her Creative Team and work with her kits for free.  I am, however, providing this gift certificate to one lucky reader to get them started, SAS Designs and Bits 2 Kits are not personally sponsoring this giveaway. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Bug: “Mommy look.”
Me: “uh huh sweetie” (not really paying attention)
Bug: “Watch me Mommy, watch me” (in his happy little voice)

At that moment a light bulb went on. Not only did I realize that I needed to drop everything right then and there and listen to one of my little 4 year olds, but I also realized that we all need to be noticed.

Whether we realize it or not, there is a definite need to feel like you are important to someone in life. As a mom, I need to recognize those great moments to offer my boys my undivided attention.

Not only is this good for their emotional well being, but it also shows them how much I love and respect them as a human being. It’s something they crave… it’s something we all crave… and for now it’s something that they mainly receive from mommy and daddy.

Down the road though, I can only hope that our example of showing them love through these moments of undivided attention will also make them realize just how much that need can be filled by turning to God.  Without Him, that and many other needs we have as humans will never be filled, we will always feel empty, never satisfied.

With 5 brothers to contend with my children definitely have to learn to share the spotlight (so to speak). But among all the other little ways I can show them how much I love them, I’m honored to get the opportunity to spend a few moments getting a glimpse into their little brains by just listening.

I went in for minor surgery on Tuesday. It honestly wasn’t a big deal and I have felt very good all week despite it, as long as I don’t overdo. Add to that the insanity that is called ‘signing up a child for high school’ though, in addition to daily life with 6 boys and things definitely feel a little more nuts.

As we head out of summer and into yet another fall/school year I am gathering many many very fun ideas and products to share with all of you. So, after taking a lot of time off from blogging this summer I am definitely looking forward to the exciting things I have planned for you very soon.

I am going to be featuring a couple of weeks of giveaways and now is definitely the time to start spreading the news! Next week we will be having a Back To School Bash. The fun thing is, this bash will offer great items and ideas for kids AND moms!!!

Then two weeks later I will be offering several super fun and exciting products and ideas mainly for the grown ups (though there might be a few items for little people thrown in as well)!!  Feel free to join in the festivities during my Hooray for Fall Week!  I’m so looking forward to it and hope that I can squeeze everything in to the one week for each that I have alotted.

Here’s your chance to get a jump start on extra entries!

1. Have a blog? Mention my Back to School Bash (August 30 – Sept 3) and/or my Hooray for Fall Week (Sept. 13th – Sept 17th).  Once the giveaways come around for each event simply leave a separate comment with a link to your blog post as an extra entry.
2. Tweet it! If you use twitter, feel free to tweet about these events to let everyone know with a link back to AFrogInMySoup.com and in addition to the extra entry you usually get for tweeting each giveaway you’ll get yet another entry for any giveaway you choose to enter.
3. Share on Facebook! yep, if you choose to let your friends on facebook know about these events with a link back to the site you will get yet another entry.

These options offer you an additional three entries PER giveaway that you choose to enter during both giveaway weeks! (yes you are welcome to cheer). Until I have a better way for giving each of you lots of entries with one submission I am afraid that you will have to leave a separate comment for each qualified entry for each giveaway.

Not every review featured during those weeks will offer a giveaway, but there are some amazing products out there that I simply felt you all should know about.

The heart begins beating less than a month after conception and continues (of course) until the day of our death. It is one of the most incredible muscles of the body and was perfectly designed.

It is what we refer to not only for it’s technical life giving aspect, but also in regards to relationships, love, feelings, and much more. I guess you could say that much of our lives rotate around the heart.

When the heart begins to fail… both physically and relationally it is a major wake up call. In the physical aspect we have been thrown a few curveballs lately.

As we begin to tackle a major heart condition with my Father-In-Law as well as a problem with high blood pressure for my husband it has made me think about the relational side of the heart as well. For my husband, we are hoping that a simple diet change will solve the issue. For my father-in-law however, many tests and at least one surgery are staring him in the face.

Through it all I have realized how easy it is to let things go. Not just physically, but relationally as well. I love my husband more now than I did the day we were married, 17 years ago. But I’m realizing that even I have been very lacking in the romance department (I know…gasp!).

When we were first married I told him I loved him all the time, kisses weren’t few and far between. So many years later I know we have fallen into that comfortable place of just dwelling, living life day to day and not realizing that we don’t say how we feel out loud very often anymore.

So, I will continue on with what needs to be done in our now even busier every day lives, but with a little reminder of the importance of sharing the other matters of the heart as well.

One adventure at a time.

One child at a time (ok two in the case of the twins).

One moment at a time.

Breathe.

Sometimes being a mom feels like a balancing act. Ok, a lot of the time. There are little lives in our care and we are totally responsible for the health and well being of those little people (or not so little as the case may be).

I can’t tell you how many times that thought alone has overwhelmed me. I in my totally fallible humanity, have been put in charge of the lives of 6 boys. To help shape and form who they become and to prepare them to enter society when they get to that age as a socially responsible person. WOW!

As if that isn’t enough, our culture has us hopping to and fro. One activity turns into two then there’s the next season close on it’s heels or overlapping completely.

Breathe.

As another school year quickly approaches we find ourselves in a muddle of activity that sometimes may cause us to lose sight of what we are really doing here. So fellow mommies…. it is time to stop and breathe!

Feel better? Yeah, I thought so. Don’t run off yet, I’m not quite done.

I would like to encourage you to stop throughout the day each and every day and … yep, you guessed it … breathe. Why? you may ask. Because as you take that moment to breathe, I want you to also remember what you are doing as the mom of the children you have been given to parent and raise.

Not the purpose that the world and our culture tells you to live up to.  But rather the purpose that boils down to simply being a mom and raising your children.  What does that mean to you?

I am asking a few questions today… these are questions that I also ask myself a lot lately and some of them may not be easy to answer but I think you will find the challenge refreshing and possibly eye opening.

If you would like to leave a comment and answer these questions, you are welcome to of course, but the point is to simply get you thinking “outside the box”. I will leave you with one last question…

What legacy do you want to leave with your children? This can apply to how you parent, your goals in parenting, the kind of person you hope to help your child become, or any number of things. Just don’t forget to cherish each moment, and breathe.

There has been some sickness thrown in this last few weeks and as all moms know that definitely puts us behind a bit.

I’m currently struggling a bit as I realize just how close back to school is. I’m not so sure I’m ready for the end of summer just yet. August always seems to feel much more like a precursor to school starting than it does part of summer break.

It’s definitely time to start gearing up for school though so I hope to offer some thoughts about that over the next few weeks. as for the question of when I will resume regular posting… I anticipate everything returning to normal the second week of September.

Until then I will definitely try to offer a few things each week for all of you to chew on as well as a few giveaways. Talk to you soon.

In a couple weeks my soon to be high schooler and soon to be junior higher will be going to summer camp so there doesn’t appear to be an end to the busyness in sight and that’s ok. We have cut a few things out this year just for the sake of sanity so it isn’t as bad as it could be.

August holds not only Summer camp for the oldest two, but minor surgery for me and high school registration and the beginning of football practices for CJ.  Just dealing with one child entering High School will definitely be enough for me this year. Next year, Salesman will be entering Jr High (it starts in 7th here) and the twins will be entering Kindergarten so I’m definitely glad we don’t have everyone with big school changes all in the same year (phew!).

Meanwhile, I have definitely not been writing here much (and thanks so very much to those of you who are faithful readers and have noticed…you guys are the best!!!) but I think you will all agree that the opportunity to hang out on a blanket in the sun with my kiddos is definitely a worthwhile adventure.

I have so many reviews/giveaways to offer all of you and I am sorry I’m so behind! But never fear, I’ll have a full week of them coming soon and I think you’ll LOVE what I have to offer!

So as I enjoy just being a mom, I hope you are having a great summer filled with little daily adventures too!

I’m talking a little more about this next week at Mom Central Food but I wanted to share some thoughts here as well. Here’s an amazing breakfast cookie recipe from Food Network, but there are tons more to be found as well.

Breakfast Cookies

(Ellie Krieger, Food Network)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup (1 small jar) strained carrot baby food
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup bran cereal flakes
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup walnut pieces, lightly toasted in a dry skillet for 2 minutes, until fragrant and chopped

Directions

Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium-sized bowl.

Combine butter, oil and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed, scraping down sides if necessary, until sugars have dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute.

Add egg, carrot puree and vanilla and beat an additional 30 seconds.

Add flour mixture and beat an additional 30 seconds.

Add oats, flakes, raisins and walnuts and mix over low speed just until incorporated. Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive than traditional cookie dough.

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Using between 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter, form a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving about 3 inches between cookies.

Wet hands and use palm of hand to flatten cookies until about 1/4-inch thick.

Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

This series has won 5 Emmy awards and personally I love not only the stories but the characters and graphics as well. Teaching character development to children ages 5-9 your children will love these videos.

Be sure to visit their website for more information about the show, episodes and to purchase dvd’s. I love having these on hand to entertain the kids because they are in shorter segments but I can play them anytime.

Giveaway

One lucky reader will win their very own copy of Auto-B-Good: Shifting to High Gear! To enter, please visit their website and look around. When you’re done come back here and leave a comment telling me what you like most about the series.

Want extra entries (of course I do that!)? Here’s what you do, just make sure you leave a NEW comment for each new entry!

• Become a Facebook Fan of A Frog In My Soup!!!
• Tweet It: Just tweet this giveaway with a link to this post and make sure your comment has your twitter handle in it.
• Blog It: Write a post about this giveaway (with a link to this post of course) on your own blog, make sure your comment has a link to your post.
• Stumble It, Kirtsy It, Digg It, Submit to Mommy Blips: Submit this giveaway to any of these sites and earn an extra entry for each one…and make sure your comment has your Username.

It is void where prohibited, be sure to read my giveaway policies here.  Be sure to enter by July 6th, 2010.  This giveaway is open to US addresses only.

Disclosure: I always give honest and forthright reviews and will not present something that poses a conflict of interest &/or that I do not like.  A copy of Auto-B-Good was sent to me in order for me to offer you with an honest review of their product. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

I know that for us, a day-cation is all we can usually pull off with a family of 8.  As I was doing a little writing this week for Mom Central Food, I had yet another fun summer adventure idea that is so simple yet memorable that I had to share it with you.

This week, my posts at Mom Central Food are very Fruit and Summer focused.  One of them is about Smoothies and offers a great Blueberry Banana Smoothie recipe, and the other is all about making homemade popsicles.

But here’s the super fun part, you can create an amazing experience for your children just centered on making them fresh homemade popsicles. How? you may ask….. Here’s how to create a Fruity Summer Adventure for your kiddos.

• Find a local farm that has a u-pick area. Check for season information so you know what berries are available when.
• Tip: Go in the morning, fairly early with well fed children that aren’t desperate for a nap. This also avoids being caught in what can often become unbearable heat if you aren’t careful about your timing.  Make sure to still bring sunblock and hats for all.
• If you aren’t familiar with picking berries, most farms will have an employee that can tell you where to go to find them and even basics on how to pick them.  If you don’t bring your own containers for the harvest you pick, most farms will have them available there. Tip: Keep in mind that what you picked gets weighed before you pay so although this is intended to be a fun experience for the kids, don’t let them pick the field dry (hehe).
• Once you get home from berry picking {tip: you will have some very colorful and sticky little ones so you may want to bring along wipes for the trip home}, you will want to start by cleaning the berries thoroughly.
• From here you simply process the berries as needed. If they are for smoothies, lay them on a cookie sheet and stick them in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours until firm then move them to a gallon size zipper bag for storage and return to the freezer. If you are using them for popsicles you can simply store them in a container in the fridge until you are ready to make the popsicles {tip: best if you can use them within a day or two for freshness}.

The best part about all of this is that the kids were involved in the process from start to finish.  They can help with not only the berry picking, but consider taking them to the store with you to pick out the other ingredients (if necessary for the intended purpose), and even have them help (or watch) you puree the fruit and make their treat!!!

Kids love this and they love being involved. It makes them feel important and “big”!  They are far more likely to try anything that they have been involved in the creation of, so for picky kids that aren’t used to what you are making this is a great way to try new things.  You can’t go wrong when you know what’s in your children’s food.

Overall I think this is a fantastic way to create a very fun and memorable summer experience for your children.