Following our night at Disney on Ice and realizing that they don’t know the Disney Princesses, we made a new list of must-see movies:

1. Aladdin (Disney Special Platinum Edition)
2. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
3. Mulan (Special Edition)
4. Beauty and the Beast
5. The Little Mermaid

I’m a little overloaded on the must-see-once-a-day shopping sites. You know, the ones that announce a different sale each day at amazing prices. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a huge list that I scroll through each morning over coffee.

Here’s a new one, just launching this month: Totsy. Go ahead and check out the private sales for moms and kids. You’ll get 40-70 percent off fantastic, quality lines. Today they’re featuring discounts on Kettler, My Vintage Baby, and Zigo. I even have an invitation code for you:  JustPrecious, just then fill in your contact information and get started shopping.

Just in time to finish start holiday shopping.

I realized this last night at Disney on Ice: 100 Years of Magic in Philadelaphia. About halfway through the first act, I was narrating the story of Beauty and the Beast to Middle, my four year old son. He was amazed at this enormous monster that the audience loved. “Why,” he asked, “does everyone “boo” the “normal man”?” There was total confusion, too, when the candlestick, mop and teapot started singing. Of course, it ended happily with the Beast turning into a handsome prince, but that part went way over Middle’s head. He never realized that Beast becomes Prince.

I wanted to relax and enjoy the rest of the show quietly, but following Belle’s story, several other princesses and handsome princes greeted us with a gorgeous couples skate. As I introduced each to Middle it occured to me: my boys  know every action-adventure animated feature by Disney. They can repeat Buzz and Woody’s script. They tell you what Dash will do 3 scenes ahead of the scene on the screen, and they’ll summarize Marlon’s search in the  most detailed description. But they have no idea who the princesses are, much less their stories.

Not knowing Disney’s Princesses didn’t stop them from loving the event. From the second Mickey and company skated out onto the floor to open the show to the finale when every child in the packed Wachovia Center felt a character truly waved good-bye to him personally, my boys (even my babysitter who, of course, knew all the princesses) were captive to the enchantment that is Disney. For two hours we were all lifted to that magical world where life happens around us, the stories take us in and we sit in awe unable to wipe smiles from our faces. I can’t fathom a person in the arena who wasn’t enchanted last night.

As we were leaving, my sitter asked Middle what his favorite part was?  “The cotton candy.” (Good, because it was $10 and I had to get two since someone in marketing oh-so-cleverly attached a crown with ears to each bag of cotton candy… and there was no way to get by with just one crown with ears.)

“Okay,” I asked. “What was your favorite part on the ice?”

“The Incredibles!” Big, my 6-year-old shouted.

“Ummm… Yeah, The Incredibles!” copied Middle.

About 30 minutes into our car ride home, when I thought they were all sleeping, Middle whispered, “Mommy, do you know when Mickey came out in the very beginning on ice skates with all of his friends?”

“Of course I do,” I whispered back.

“That was my real favorite part,” he said. And with a smile and his crown with ears on his head, he drifted to sleep.

We recieved tickets to see Disney on Ice: 100 Years of Magic from Feld Entertainment. If you don’t yet have tickets and have a 3-8 year old, you should. Buy your tickets at www.comcasttix.com with coupon code MOM for four tickets for $44 for Monday through Friday matinee shows, and  $4 off Friday night and weekend shows.  At least four tickets need to  be purchased for the code to be valid. My favorite part was the Mulan segment (which also had to be summarized), followed closely by Toy Story because my boys were so in awe of what was in front of them.

Searching for the ultimate in gifting for a baseball fan this fall? If he’s a fan of the Phillies or Angels, there is no better, nor more unique gift than a personalized baby baseball glove from Nokona. The glove can be personalized with up to 23 characters on the top, and a date below. The glove has always been one of Precious Personalities top baby gifts, but in October its a gift for making memories. Buy it for the fans for the holidays, a birthday, or a celebration of a great season. It makes a great coach’s gift and its a perfect host/hostess gift for the family that goes all-out with Playoff Parties this fall.

Currently, only red and pink are available. We’ve sold many to Yankees and Dodgers fans in the past, but both Navy Blue and Light Blue are on an undetermined backorder. Pink makes an ideal baby girl gift. And red has been a top pick for boys, especially fans of the Philadelphia Phillies and the LA Dodgers.

No need to personalize with a baby’s name and date, you can order the glove to say “COACH JOHN” or “SUPER SEASON”. Or celebrate a win with “WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS.” Personalization options are nearly limitless.

Looking for something a little less red or pink? Precious Personalities also sells a Personalized Bat and Ball set, which we reviewed here.

First, I need to tell you that my kids LOVE Popcorn Shrimp. Which, you can pull off really easily at a lot of restaurants. Especially when you get Chinese (order Sweet & Sour Shrimp with sauce on the side.) So, tonight, I ventured out a little. I convinced them that Shrimp with out the popcorn is still Shrimp. And they’ll like it just as well.

Tonight’s dinner is a very big adaptation from Real Simple October 2009′s Creamy Rice with Roasted Shrimp. In fact, they may be annoyed that I’m linking to them. Because I made a lot of changes. Biggest adaptations: get rid of the Arborio rice because I just simply saw no point in spending $6+ on a fancy box of rice. And delete the garlic. Because I don’t cook with garlic. Of course, you can toss some in and cook with the onions if you want to. Oh, and the RS recipe calls for cooking the rice with white wine. I only have red in my house right now. (It was a fun weekend.)

Ingredients:

1.5 cups uncooked rice (I used Minute Brown Rice)
1/2 large Mayan onion
1.5 cups water
1 lb bag cooked, peeled, deveined frozen shrimp (thawed)
2 pts grape tomatoes
about 1 teaspoon each celery salt, basil
about 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper
1 Tablespoons EVOO

Get Cookin’:

In a sauce pan:

• chop onion and saute in 1 Tablespoon oil (about 5 minutes)
• add water and bring to a boil
• stir in rice, then reboil. Simmer for approx. 5 minutes
• After cooked, the rice will be a little dry. I added about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water, stirred and replaced the lid. If you want more flavor, add chicken or veggie broth instead of water.

In a large rimmed cookie sheet:

• toss (gently) tomatoes, shrimp, 1 tablespoon EVOO and seasonings. I eyeballed it and did a sniff test. (yes, sniff-testing works around here).
• Place in the oven for 20 minutes
• Serve over the rice.

Star power?   Upon smelling (about 10 minutes before dinner) Middle announced: “Yum! I’m gonna love this dinner!” (Gosh, I love this kid. He’s a miracle for my self esteem). The kids loved the shrimp. We’re talking 4th helpings. I probably should have used 2 pounds instead of 1. The tomatoes literally bombed with Middle. When they “exploded” in his mouth, his mouth opened. You can imagine. Big was cool with them. He only liked the ones that “explode in your mouth.” The rice, of course, was a hit. The huz and I liked dinner. The tomatoes and shrimped mixed nicely.  3.5 stars out of 5. (I couldn’t give it a 4 due to Middle’s response to the tomatoes.)

Note for next time: Add a few more shakes of the seasonings. And take the 20 minutes to go to the store for a bottle of cheap white wine.

See, I have plans for this blog. I love what I’ve started, and now its going to get bigger. For some time now I’ve been toying with an idea.

I love cooking. And, if you knew me when, you’re mouth might’ve just dropped. Creating a hole in the floor. Especially if you were my cooking partner in 7th grade Home Ec. Right Nikki and Mel? Because back then, Stir Fry was difficult for us. And a cream sauce. Oh. The cream sauce. That’s when I realized there’s a difference between 2 cups of salt and 2 tablespoons. Home Ec didn’t go well for me.

And in college, well, thankfully, the sorority houses at SMU include cooks. Several. Oh, how I loved Dorothy and Effie. So, yeah, I didn’t learn to cook in college. Unless you count the spiral pasta with ranch dressing Kris taught me to make in our kitchen on South Padre Island over Spring Break. That was about all we ate. The whole time. Could be because we were barfing up McD’s fries. You’ve been there, right?

But I digress. See. I became a mom. A mom who desperately wanted to cook healthy and creatively for her children. So, I subscribed to a few menu lists and started to learn. And in the past 5 years I’ve placed desperate phone calls to my mom asking where to find rice vinegar in the grocery store. Another time I called my college roommate and asked if I could substitute parsley for cilantro because WTH is cilantro? Yeah, that would have been a terrible salsa, right?

So, why start a cooking column? Because in 5 years I’ve learned more than the fact that cilantro is a necessity in salsa. I’ve learned to substitute, estimate and create. I’ve learned how to plan meals for a week. And I’ve learned how to create meals my kids will eat, some. I’m not using any fancy tactics a la Jessica Seinfeld or The Sneaky Chef.  My kids eat the meals I make them because, 5 years ago, and even today, there was, is, no choice. If its on your plate, you eat it. Period. And then you tell me if you like it.

That’s right. We (We? Who’s We?) I make one meal per night. That’s it. You eat it. Or you wait ‘til breakfast.

Okay, so the plan. Start looking for my new Just Precious Is Cookin’ posts. There will be several each week. Some will address organization. Others will talk about products and foods. But, mostly, they’ll feature recipes I’m using and how my kids, my husband and I like them. And how easy or hard it was to cook them.

Enjoy!

168 hours. That’s 7 full days. Its also 10,080 minutes. 604,800 seconds. It’s a long time.

It’s how long you sit and grieve when you sit Shiva.

I’ve never sat Shiva.  I can’t imagine my family sitting Shiva. Is a family full of ADHD actually expected to sit that long? (A good question to ask Rabbi).

Sitting Shiva with my family would no doubt bring about arguements. It will start with stifled anger (that’s me.) I’ll be fuming on the inside over something one of my sisters will inevitably say. But I won’t be able to sit silently for long. No, it won’t take long for me to mumble something likely sarcastic under my breath. That comment will get a giggle and an eyeroll from one sister while the other will either hear and understand it and undoubtedly reply with an angry comment back or not “get it” and need to know what was said. Which will only spawn further anger until we are entering M-family War #7584. Which will last the remaining 164 hours of Shiva.  

I wonder, though, is this a part of the Plan? Should sitting Shiva distract you as your regular family relationships kick you out of your mournful state so that you realize, quite quickly, that life does go on as usual?

Because, the days when we someday sit Shiva or mourn a lost family member together, I don’t expect my family’s own culture to disappear just because we’re suddenly embracing our Judaism. Sure, Mom will expect us all to be on our “best behavior” but a week is a long time to smile fake smiles and endure strangers’ embraces. I’m certain that, just like Tropper’s characters did, my sisters and I will argue, push, pull and distance our selves. But a week of mourning will also force upon us a time of togetherness. Time that we’ll have to spend working together. Time where we’ll have to face our differences and previous angers of our youth. What else is there to do with 168 hours?

This post is written in response to Jonathan Tropper’s This Is Where I Leave You, the SVMom’s Blog Book Club selection, which members received for free to read and discuss on our blogs. Read more responses to the book at http://www.svmomsblog.com/.

phillies image – Bing Images

A quick shout out: GO PHILLIES!!!!!

So, I’m on the phone with Paula, a PTO mom who is running tomorrow’s Fall Festival at our preschool. Unfortunately, her son has strep, so while she is still running the Fall Festival, she won’t be there. Together, we brainstormed a simple few ideas:

1. Paint a Fall Festival Banner with apples
2. Pumpkin Patch in the sandbox
3. The Wonder Mini-Pumpkin (to the tune of The Wonderball)
4. Autumn Handprint Wreath
5. Face Painting

6 different items on sale each week through fall: 25-40% off some of their hottest items.

This week’s specials: 

Mom Agenda Spirals: 35% off
Box of Silly Word Games:40% off
Our Baby’s Album: 40% off
Got Kids? Get Organized!: 30% off
School Years by MomAgenda: 25% off
‘Nspire Brag Book: 40% off

We all love a discount, right?