Confessions from Householdsix

Dinner With Warriors

Amanda — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:18:32 +0000

As a military family these days, it’s hard not to know someone who was wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan, or someone who gave that ultimate sacrifice. We’re waging one of the longest wars in our nation’s history. It’s touched so many lives in so many ways, military and civilian. Dinner with Warriors is a cookbook that “is a unique collection of recipes and inspirational stories from heroes of the War on Terror. The purposes of the book are first, to raise funds for some of the organizations out there that help today’s American Warrior and their families, and second to introduce America to a few of her heroes. All of the net proceeds from the sale of this cookbook will be donated to a few hand selected organizations that assist the heroes, and their families, that were wounded or fell during OIF and OEF.”*

Each book is $16.50 + s&h. There’s a widget on the Dinner with Warriors site where you can purchase your copy.

Dinner with Warriors also has a Facebook page.

*From the Dinner with Warriors website.

**I was not compensated for this post. I posted this to help get the word out so that hopefully people will buy the book and more money can be raised for charitable organizations that help wounded warriors and their families.

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Autism/Asperger’s Blog Hop

Amanda — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 11:19:10 +0000

I know I haven’t written much about having a child with Asperger’s lately, but that will be changing as we start Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy this week. We met with our therapist, and did they “Hey, this is who I am, and this is what I do,” visit. The boys LOVED him. This past week, we met and discussed a therapy plan. As a parent who’s been struggling with no real support for 9 years (it took us almost that long to get a correct diagnosis for our oldest son), it’s really hard to not want to work on everything at once. We know we have to take it one behavior at a time, and we are just so excited to have the help we need – finally. I’m sure there will be more as we go about our journey.

In the meantime, I found this Autism/Asperger’s blog hop that I wanted to share. If you’d like to see what we’re up to, please stop back.

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Crayola Green Back To School Essentials

Amanda — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:25:08 +0000

With back to school shopping in full swing, parents are trying to fulfill the yearly supply list. I know that as a parent, even when crayons, colored pencils, and the like aren’t on the list, I still take advantage of the back to school sales and stock up for our household stash. This year, you can buy the same Crayola products but feel better about what they’re doing for the environment. Crayola is using solar power to make crayons, markers from recycled bottle caps, and colored pencils from reforested wood.Speaking of the colored pencils, for every tree used, one of the same species will be planted in its place. If you’ve already bought Crayola products, you may have noticed some changes to the packaging. For example, the marker barrels are now black instead of white. This allows for more recycled bottle caps to be used. If you’d like to learn more, you can watch this video:

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Wordless Wednesday – My Two Boys

Amanda — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:00:54 +0000

I pulled this out of some old pictures I was sifting through.

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The Hershey Story

Amanda — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:49:04 +0000

Last week after Aaron’s GI check up (we’re STILL trying to find the cause of his issues), we took the boys to The Hershey Story (since we were up that way and all). We wanted to take advantage of their participation in the Blue Star Museums program before it expires Labor Day (free admission for military families – look for a museum in your area). This was our first visit to The Hershey Story, and it was way more than I expected it to be. We’ve already learned quite a bit about the life of Milton Hershey from our many visits to Chocolate World and doing the trolley tour there. The Hershey Story expanded on that knowledge. As part of the experience, for a very small fee, the kids did the apprentice program. Zach got a scavenger hunt type booklet. He had to find an employee to stamp each page as he completed it. At the end, he received a gold coin. Aaron got a booklet that was more like the I Spy books, and at the end got a sticker with his name on it. The boys then had their picture taken together and printed out as a newspaper page.

There was also a section where they showed various advertising campaigns where you could make your own candy bar wrapper, and e-mail it to yourself or someone else. A picture of Aaron trying to use one of the wrapper makers, and a wrapper I made:

Some pictures from our day:

*Neither Hershey nor Blue Star Museums sponsored this trip. We took it on our own volition. Hershey doesn’t even know who I am, although it’d be awesome if they did.

MultiCam Uniforms

Amanda — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:33:47 +0000

The Army has unveiled the new multicam uniform. On the US Army’s Facebook page, most people seem to be focused on the look. Sure the uniform is fugly. It looks like the Army went to Cabela’s or Bass Pro and bought off the rack. To me, it makes our soldiers look like a bunch of deer hunters headed out to the woods. Looks don’t really matter as long as the uniform is functional for our soldiers. After reading the article on the Army Times site, my concern is the logistics of this new uniform.

From what I gather, the multicam is exclusive to Afghanistan. The uniform is supposed to breathe better, and prevent the crotch blow outs so many have had with the current ACUs among other features. The new uniforms are also insect resistant. And this is the quote from the article that bothers me the most: “The treatments will last for 50 washings, which should more than cover the 120 days this uniform is designed to last.”

You mean to tell me the Army made a uniform for deployed troops that is only made to last about four months? Who’s the genius who came up with that idea? Can the life of the uniform be extended? Can they be treated with insect repellent after the 50 washings? These are questions left unanswered. Based on my 10 years as an Army wife, my best guess is that they want troops to get new uniforms every 120 days. If this is the case, is the Army going to issue them, or do the expect soldiers to pay for them? If soldiers have to pay, are they going to increase the uniform allowance for the enlisted soldiers to reflect this need? What about officers? Sure they make more money based on rank, but we have bills too. If these are priced like previous uniforms, we’re looking at about $50-$60 per uniform. Can you afford that every four months? Will the Army give the officers an allowance for uniforms now? Don’t forget, the Army holds the National Guard and Reserve soldiers to these same standards when they don’t necessarily make as much as their active duty counterparts. I can tell you for a fact that when my husband was a M-Day soldier (what civilians think of as 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year), it would’ve been a decision between food or uniforms.

Beyond the cost, how are they going to get all of those soldiers new uniforms every four months? That’s a lot of cargo moving around to get lost, not make it to its destination, etc.

While the Army is showing off its new pattern for the multicam, I honestly don’t care. I want to see the logistics for how all of this will play out. With at least five uniform changes in my time as a spouse, it’s getting expensive to be in the Army.

Walmart Box Tops Winner

Amanda — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:00:40 +0000

Here is the winner drawn by Random.org. Congratulations!

Vickie Bartlett says:

August 14, 2010 at 7:56 am (Edit)

tweet https://twitter.com/vlbsweeps/status/21144413450

*If prize is not claimed in 48 hours, a new winner will be drawn.

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth

Amanda — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 12:21:47 +0000

Do your kids love to read? Do they love to read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series? My nine year old son does. He loves the series so much that I broke my policy of buying paperbacks and got him the whole series in hardback. His paperbacks were so worn from being read over and over and over again that I knew he needed books with more lasting power. The release of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie was a big deal in our house. My son was excited when he got to go to the theater to see the movie rather than waiting until it was on TV like we normally do.

With the holidays approaching, my kids are already telling me things they’d like to put on their Christmas Lists. On my nine year old’s list is the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book that comes out in November (this time I’ll be smart and just buy the hardback first).

From the press release:

“I feel like everything in the series has been leading up to the fifth book, which is about change and the different ways Greg and his best friend, Rowley, deal with it,” said Jeff Kinney. “To me, this book is the lynchpin of the series, and I’m excited to be writing it.”

This new book follows the momentum generated by The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary, a nonfiction book with all new material by Jeff Kinney that, with over 2 million copies in print, has topped the Wall Street Journal’s nonfiction bestseller list since last publication. A second movie is due in theaters March 25, 2011.

“Since April 2007, Jeff Kinney has written and illustrated two books a year,” said Charles Kochman, executive editor of the Wimpy Kid series. “Despite the demands of making the second Wimpy Kid movie, Jeff has been working hard to ensure his fans have a new Wimpy Kid book this year, and to remind readers with Book Five why they fell in love with Greg Heffley and Rowley Jefferson.”

The title of book Five has since been released. It will be called Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth, and is available at various stores for pre-order now to ensure your copy for the child with the book on their Christmas list.

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Wordless Wednesday – Morning Breakfast

Amanda — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:46:45 +0000

Aaron wakes around 7am, and immediately asks to go outside. Since I got the netbook, I indulge him, and take my tea, and he takes his tea and muffins, or breakfast du jour, and we eat, then I check e-mail and blog while he plays in the water table and sandbox. It’s been good for the days where it gets hot later on in the day. He gets to play outside before it gets too hot, and I don’t have to sit outside when it’s too hot to make me feel like I’m melting.

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Menu Planning

Amanda — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:18:27 +0000

Now that we’re getting back into the swing of work and school for my husband and oldest son, I need to really start menu planning again. After a summer of cooking on the fly, my mind has been rebelling against the thought of organizing an actual weekly plan. As I sat and thought, I tried coming up with my Sunday hors d’oeuvres for football. Generally my easiest day of the week to plan. Nada. I knew a trip to the book store was needed.

I spent over an hour in Borders this weekend. First I found a few cookbooks by Rick Bayless. I’m really looking forward to trying some authentic Mexican recipes. The book I got, Authentic Mexican 20th Anniversary Ed: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico, has some basic sauces and recipes as well as some of the more complicated. I’m really just looking to get our Mexican fix at home since right now to get decent Tex-Mex food it’s about a 45 minute drive (depending on traffic), and a $50 check. Needless to say that it’s a once in awhile treat.

Then I stumbled onto Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2. There’s a recipe for Chili’s chicken enchilada soup that I want to try.It has a recipe for their salsa as well, but it uses canned tomatoes. I prefer a fresh tomato salsa, so I’ll stick to my own recipe. There are so many more recipes we’ll try as well. Lots from Chili’s (back when they were good), Olive Garden, and a few from IHOP.

Lastly I found The Military Wives’ Cookbook. At first I picked it up out of sheer curiosity. A military wives’ cookbook? Really? And it has a pink cammo cover. Honestly, as I picked it up, I was thinking how over done the pink cammo thing is for military spouse stuff. We do get tired of cammo. Then I opened it up. I saw recipes for teas and coffees (does anyone do these anymore? I haven’t been to one in 10 years), buffets, family style dinner, and more. What really caught my attention, and the reason I bought the book is that there is a recipe for beef bulgogi, and yaki mandu. My husband often talks of how he misses these dishes from his tour in Korea. I’ve tried finding recipes for them in Asian cookbooks, but they’re as varied as the recipes for meatballs. I figure in this Army Wives’ Cookbook, the recipe is what the soldiers who have been there remember.

School starts in two weeks. That’s how long I have to kick myself in the ass, get a menu plan going, and work out the major kinks so we’re running smoothly at dinner time when school starts. At least that’s my goal by starting to plan now.

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