Get Connectecd Tuesday Blog Hop

Welcome to  Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop. We are very happy to have you here. A special welcome to all my first visitors. If you are already a part of this hop, we are thanking you so much for your help in building Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop and making it a success. Come and Get Connected and stay Connected. With this hop, you will increase your strength, followers, readers and connect to other bloggers in which ever way you like.
This hop is now hosted by Reflexions and World Bloggers Community(a new community for bloggers world wide). 

This blog hop is for family friendly websites only.

Jill Scott's Inspirational Afro Hair Styles

I am a Big Fan of Jill Scott!!! I am captivated by her good spirit, her big bright smiles that comes like sunshine. I love her powerful voice and like listening to her music. One more thing I like about her is her  natural hair styles. This woman has rocked Afro Hair styles and has brought so much versatility to it. I find her hair styles inspiring for every natural woman.

Here are some of her styles. Which one do you like most?

Jennifer Garner Is Back and Looking Beautiful

                                                Getty image

 Just about two months after her 3rd baby, the 40 year old Jennnifer Garner is looking so beautiful. Boy, how do these people get back to  shape in such a short time? Do they just exercise or is there a secret I don't know?

 

WELCOME TO WEEKEND BLOG HOP

Welcome to Weekend Blog Hop. Thank you for joining us and linking up. We are happy you are here and hope you will always come around. We have had a great week and now it's time for us to increase our followers by Blog Hopping all through the Weekend. Come and make new friends and find some interesting blogs to follow. f
  
Link up your blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Google + page Linky Followers or Pinterest page...ollow.

Happy Hopping.

$35 Walmart Gift Card 4-Hour FLASH Giveaway

$35 Walmart Gift Card 4-Hour FLASH Giveaway 

A few AWESOME Bloggers have teamed up to give you this wonderful $35 Walmart GC! We believe in quick, small, and easy giveaways! Our giveaways only have a FEW entries to fill out and you will know if you WIN in just a couple of hours! WHAT FUN! Good luck on tonight's giveaway! See you back on Friday for another great FLASH giveaway!

 

Here are our WONDERFUL participating sites for this evening's 4-Hour FLASH Giveaway!! Check out these awesome sites when you have time! 

*NOTE: You can choose PayPal or Amazon in substitution of the Walmart Gift Card if need be.

Mama Luvs Books 

Emptynester Savings & More

Sarah's Blog of Fun

Building Carpenters 

Life Reflexions 

Miki's Hope 

Couponing 4 You  

SAHM Freebie Hunter 

Africa's Blog 

Linda's Angels

Coupons for Wisconsin

Centsible Bargains 

Extreme Personal Measures

Give Oh Giveaway

Deal Doll 

Powered By Mom

Enchanted Savings

Healthy Habits: Introducing Your Family to Red Foods.

Introduction to Japanese Food

In Japan, the color red signifies energy and power and is often used as a color for heroic figures.  This is a good description because when you include red fruits and vegetables in your child's meals, they will grow up strong like superheroes.

Red foods are packed with lots of vitamins and minerals like Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Potassium. Red foods also contain compounds called Phytochemicals, which have been shown to have positive health benefits.  Phytochemicals you might have heard about include flavonoids, lycopene, reservatol and capsaicin.

 

Make a game out of letting your kids choose one "superhero" red food to eat every day.  Our favorite red foods include:

• Strawberries - Strawberries are loaded with vitamin C, potassium, and folate.  Strawberries are best fresh, for a special treat add them to yogurt, cereal and smoothies.
• Tomatoes -Tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, potassium and Vitamin C. They taste great fresh off the vine and cooked in sauces, stews and soups. Try them with scrambled eggs.
• Red Peppers - A bright red pepper contains potassium, Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Red Peppers can be served raw as a snack or in salads, cooked in pasta and stir fry dishes, or roasted in soups and stews.
• Apples - The wonderful shiny red apple contains soluble fiber, pectin, and flavonoids. For a healthy afternoon snack, slice an apple and top with peanut butter.  Yummy!
• Watermelon - You know its summer time when you see watermelons.  Watermelons are packed with Vitamin A, Vitamin C and lycopene.  A big slice of fresh watermelon is sure to put a smile on your little one's face.
• Red Beets - Red beets contain iron, niacin and potassium. Start introducing red beets to kids in salads or roasted with olive oil and ground pepper.  Pickled red beets are also a good introduction.
• Red Grapes - Red Grapes contain flavonoids, reservatol and quercitin to help keep your heart healthy and strong.  Grapes are a great snack.  Freeze them for a hot summertime treat.
• Cherries - Cherries are considered a nutritional super food because they are loaded with antioxidants and vitamins and, they taste great! Remove the pits to make it easier for little ones to enjoy this delicious treat.

For more information on healthy habits, subscribe to Fresh Baby and get some healthy ideas for you and your family.

Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop

Welcome to  Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop. We are very happy to have you here. A special welcome to all my first visitors. If you are already a part of this hop, we are thanking you so much for your help in building Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop and making it a success. Come and Get Connected and stay Connected. With this hop, you will increase your strength, followers, readers and connect to other bloggers in which ever way you like.
This hop is now hosted by Reflexions and World Bloggers Community(a new community for bloggers world wide). 

This blog hop is for family friendly websites only.

Multilingual Children

Trilingual kids who will never be tongue-tied

News like this helps to motitvate me as an Expat Woman in my  ongoing effort to make sure that my children (who are multilingual) speak all three languages fluently  without thinking that they are getting confused.

 

It’s not just bilingualism that has been in the news lately – here is an article from the Irish Times of April 10, about children with three, or even more, languages:

“You’d think speaking three languages would be confusing for kids, but don’t underestimate their ability to absorb…

…For English speakers in particular, it’s easy to be lazy when it comes to learning other languages, and, as any mature student knows, it is hard work, so if your children have the opportunity to imbibe other languages when they are young my advice is take advantage of their good fortune. After all: Tús maith leath na hoibre. It will broaden their minds, expand their horizons and provide a lifetime of pleasure.”

The article gives first-person, anecdotal and research evidence that children with multiple languages not only experience no difficulty but even thrive in their complex linguistic environment.

Here is the story of  IVA POCOCK

You’d think speaking three languages would be confusing for kids, but don’t underestimate their ability to absorb

MY FIRST experience of trilingual children was living in Sri Lanka in 2005, where many of the kids I met spoke Tamil, Sinhala and English. I was astounded when I realised that they could also read and write in these languages, a feat requiring knowledge of three completely different scripts – the Roman alphabet, Tamil script with more than 200 letters, and Sinhalese which has more than 50 characters.

 Read the entire article here.

Halle Berry In Extensions

                                                                                     getty image 

There is a radical change in Halle Berry's look. I get easily  bored sticking to one hair style for a long time and that's why  I wear extensions sometimes. But I've known Halle for a long time with a cute short hair style and I loved it. I know we women always want a change in our look from time to time but I hardly knew it was her.

What do you think of Halle Berry's new look? Which hair-style fits her best?

Welcome To Weekend Blog Hop

Welcome to Weekend Blog Hop. Thank you for joining us and linking up. We are happy you are here and hope you will always come around. We have had a great week and now it's time for us to increase our followers by Blog Hopping all through the Weekend. Come and make new friends and find some interesting blogs to follow. Happy Hopping.

$50 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

$50 Amazon Gift Card 6-Hour SPECIAL FLASH Giveaway!!!

A few AWESOME Bloggers have teamed up to give you this wonderful $50 Amazon Gift Card as a SPECIAL Spring Break 2012 Giveaway! We believe in quick, small, and easy giveaways! Our giveaways only have a FEW entries to fill out and you will know if you WIN in just a couple of hours! WHAT FUN! Good luck on tonight's giveaway! See you back next Monday for another FLASH giveaway!

Here are our WONDERFUL participating sites for this evening's 6-Hour FLASH Giveaway!! Check out these awesome sites when you have time! 

*NOTE: You can choose PayPal CASH in substitution of the Amazon GC.

Mama Luvs Books

Emptynester Savings and More

Couponing 4 You

Miki's Hope  

Baby Gators Den

The Coupon Cluster 

Sarah's Blog of Fun 

Linda's Angels

Africa's Blog

Penny Pincher Jenny

Life Reflexions 

Peace, Love, and Savings   


Thanks for entering this giveaway, please help us share. Thanks.

Toddler Treat: Okonomiyaki

 Toddler Treat: Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese-style pancake and is very popular with kids. There are restaurants all over Japan that specialize in making Okonomiyaki. These places have special tables with a griddle built into them.  Families are seated around the griddle, they cook their Okonomiyaki and eat them.  We chose to make this dish with cabbage, green onion and shrimp, but you can use almost any shredded vegetable and chopped meat combination.    

Okonomiyaki Pancakes:

• ¼ cup Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking powder
• 1 Egg
• 3 Tbsp. Water
• ¾ cup Nappa cabbage, shredded
• 5 Cooked shrimp, chopped or ¼ cup cooked chicken, chopped
• 2 Green onions (green parts only), chopped

Okonomiyaki Sauce:

• 3 Tbsp. Ketchup
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. Soy sauce

Directions: Combine flour and baking powder in a medium size mixing bowl. Gently mix in the water and egg. Next, add the cabbage, shrimp and green onions and mix them together thoroughly.

 

Heat a skillet over medium heat and lightly oil. Spoon the okonomiyaki mixture in to the skillet to make 2 pancakes (about 4-inches wide).

Cook about 4-5 minutes and turn it over with a spatula and cook an additional 4 minutes. Both sides should be a light golden brown and the pancake will be firm in the center.

Serve on a plate and spread the sauce over the okonomiyaki. 

For more information on healthy eating, subscribe to Fresh baby

Introduction to Japanese Food

Introduction to Japanese Food

  

The people of Japan enjoy a long, healthy life.  So much so, that according to research, Japan has the longest lifespan of any country in the world.  The Japanese diet has been shown to play a big role in this long, healthy life. 

There is a lot more to Japanese cooking than sushi.  Many Japanese dishes are noted for having an umami (say it oo-MA-mee) flavor. Umami is a savory taste with meaty flavors.  Shitake mushrooms and soy sauce provide umami taste and are common ingredients in Japanese dishes.

Japan is an island surrounded by ocean waters that provide a steady supply of seafood.  For this reason, fish and sea plants are plentiful in the Japanese diet.  Japanese people do eat chicken and red meat too. 

Along with fish, common foods in Japanese meals include: 

• Brown and White Rice
• Soba and Udon Noodles
• Vegetables
• Mushrooms
• Soy Beans - edamame and Tofu
• Nori (Dried seaweed sheets used for wrapping sushi)
• Fruits

Herbs and Spices in Japanese Cooking:

Japanese dishes are enhanced using pickled and fresh ginger, soy sauce, wasabi paste, miso, rice vinegar, mirin (rice wine), chili oil and mustard.  Dashi, a soup stock made from shitake mushrooms or edible sea kelp, gives many dishes a distinctive flavor.  Dashi powder is often available in the Asian section of your grocery store.

If you are lucky to have Japanese Market in your area, stop in for a visit. Japanese products have colorful packaging and interesting shapes. All imported food products must have English ingredients label.  So while you may not be able to read the front of the package, the ingredients (and often cooking instructions) will help you discover what's inside.  

  

For more information on healthy food, subscribe to Fresh baby

Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop

Welcome to  Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop. We are very happy to have you here. A special welcome to all my first visitors. If you are already a part of this hop, we are thanking you so much for your help in building Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop and making it a success. Come and Get Connected and stay Connected. With this hop, you will increase your strength, followers, readers and connect to other bloggers in which ever way you like.
This hop is now hosted by Reflexions and World Bloggers Community(a new community for bloggers world wide). 

This blog hop is for family friendly websites only.

Gwen Stefani In A Killing Pantsuit

                                 Photo-getty image

Gwen Stefani is known for her 'Hot-Looks' and she can't stop stepping out with fashion surprises. From the front/back of the Pantsuit, you can see a concealed black side of the singers outfit but the "Elegant-Lady-Pantsuit" immediately changes to "Lady-Weapon" as soon as you look at the sides. 

She looks super sweet but can you brave wearing this?

Must Have Bridal Accessories

My friend is getting married. Some couple of days ago, we spent several hours over the phone discussing and planning her wedding. Irrespective of thousands of miles that separates us, technology  has made it possible for us to communicate very well. We talk at length on skype and shop together online. 

I found out that unlike my wedding, hers is not going to be too expensive. We have just in some couple of days discovered some amazing online bridal shops with mind-blowing bridal accessories at very cheap prices. I like the fact that we can sit at the comfort of our homes and order almost everything she would be needing for her special day.

After ordering their pocket wedding invitations and choosing her wedding dress, we wanted to make sure that she got all the necessary bridal accessories she needs. 

So we made a list of Must-Have Bridal Accessories  and here are what we came up with:

1.  A tiara 

2.  Hair pins

3.  Lingerie

4.  Shoes 

5.  Wedding Garter 

7.  The Guest Book and Pen

8.  The Toasting Glasses

9.  The Knife and Server Set

10.The Cake Topper

11. The Ring and Flower Girl Basket

12. Bridal Purse

We know that there could be things we haven't thought of and we would like you to look at the list and add some. 

What are other must- have bridal  accessories  you know? We will be happy to hear from you. Thanks.

Welcome to Weekend Blog Hop. Thank you for joining us and linking up. We are happy you are here and hope you will always come around. We have had a great week and now it's time for us to increase our followers by Blog Hopping all through the Weekend. Come and make new friends and find some interesting blogs to follow. Happy Hopping.

Book Clutch - The New Red Carpet Trend

If you want to be fashionable with more enlightened look at the same time, the new "Book Clutch" might do the magic for you. Even with their old Trashy Book Look, these Clutches are so gorgeous.
 

                                                                         getty image 

This is also recommended for any fashionable Bookworm and the likes of Tilda Swinton, Natalie Portman and Co. Because of the creativity, this is a fashion Must-Have. You can now have a Clutch with the look of your favorite book, A topic with political message or any theme you want, there are no boundaries to your choice. 

                                                                   getty image 

If you are really creative and good at DIY , you might want to make one for yourself.  If you have the make money, just go ahead and buy it just like the stars. 

I have to try making a couple of these Book Clutch for my evening outings.  I love it.

So what do you think of these new fashion trend?  Is it flop or no-flop? Say your mind.

Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop

Welcome to  Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop. We are very happy to have you here. A special welcome to all my first visitors. If you are already a part of this hop, we are thanking you so much for your help in building Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop and making it a success. Come and Get Connected and stay Connected. With this hop, you will increase your strength, followers, readers and connect to other bloggers in which ever way you like.
This hop is now hosted by Reflexions and World Bloggers Community(a new community for bloggers world wide). 

This blog hop is for family friendly websites only.

Vera Bradley East West Tote Giveaway

Vera Bradley East West Tote Giveaway

Are you wanting a new tote for the Spring? Do you need a gift to send to someone for Mother's Day? Or do you want a gift for yourself because you deserve it? 

This Vera Bradley East West Tote is a fabulous bag and so stylish. It is large size bag to carry all your needs, and it has a magnetic closure. Some people even use it as a work bag or a diaper bag. It's made of a nice quilted fabric and has several inner pockets. The winner can choose from one of the gorgeous patterns shown below:

To WIN this fabulous Vera Bradley Tote, just ENTER on the Rafflecopter below! GOOD LUCK!!

$35 Starbucks Gift Card 4-Hour FLASH Giveaway!!!

$35 Starbucks Gift Card 4-Hour FLASH Giveaway!!!

A few AWESOME Bloggers have teamed up to give you this wonderful $35 Starbucks Gift Card! We believe in quick, small, and easy giveaways! Our giveaways only have a FEW entries to fill out and you will know if you WIN in just a couple of hours! WHAT FUN! Good luck on tonight's giveaway! See you back on Monday for another great FLASH giveaway!

Here are our WONDERFUL participating sites for this evening's 4-Hour FLASH Giveaway!! Check out these awesome sites when you have time! 

*NOTE: You can choose an Amazon GC or PayPal CASH in substitution of the Starbucks GC.

Mama Luvs Books

Emptynester Savings and More

Enchanted Savings

Life Reflexions

Deal Doll

Carmen's Coupon Blog

Building Carpenters 

Wonderful Things in Life

The Coupon Cluster 

The Coupon Buster

Sarah's Blog of Fun 

Linda's Angels

Centsible Bargains

Clipping Money

Penny Pincher Jenny

Powered By Mom 

Welcome to Weekend Blog Hop

Welcome to Weekend Blog Hop. Thank you for joining us and linking up. We are happy you are here and hope you will always come around. We have had a great week and now it's time for us to increase our followers by Blog Hopping all through the Weekend. Come and make new friends and find some interesting blogs to follow. Happy Hopping.

Is Katie Holmes Pregnant?

Photo - splash new …

I haven't seen or read anything about Katie Holmes for a while now so when I saw this picture, I became kind of curious. She looks pregnant to me or is my eyes deceiving me? 

Ladies, please look well and tell me what you think?

$20 Amazon Gift Card 4-Hour FLASH Giveaway!!!

A few AWESOME Bloggers have teamed up to give you this wonderful $20 Amazon Gift Card! We believe in quick, small, and easy giveaways! Our giveaways only have a FEW entries to fill out and you will know if you WIN in just a couple of hours! WHAT FUN! Good luck on tonight's giveaway! See you back on Friday for another great FLASH giveaway!

Here are our WONDERFUL participating sites for this evening's 4-Hour FLASH Giveaway!! Check out these awesome sites when you have time! 

*NOTE: You can choose PayPal CASH in substitution of the Amazon GC.

Mama Luvs Books

Emptynester Savings & More 

Life Reflexions

World Bloggers Community

Deal Doll

Baby Gators Den

Building Carpenters

Wonderful Things in Life

The Coupon Cluster 

Sarah's Blog of Fun 

Centsible Bargains

Slimmy Love

Heidi Klum, Halle Berry and others  got some slimmy love from the Kid's Choice Award 2012. Can you imagine getting all dressed for a special event to be showered with this yucky slim? What I like about the whole scene is the good humor behind it. They all accepted the slims with big laughs. 
 

Heidi Klum and Halle Berry

Justin Bieber and Taylor Lautner

Will Smith

If you were to be showered with such slim, what would be your first reaction? Keep it real!!!

Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop

Welcome to  Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop. We are very happy to have you here. A special welcome to all my first visitors. If you are already a part of this hop, we are thanking you so much for your help in building Get Connected Tuesday Blog Hop and making it a success. Come and Get Connected and stay Connected. With this hop, you will increase your strength, followers, readers and connect to other bloggers in which ever way you like.
This hop is now hosted by Reflexions and World Bloggers Community(a new community for bloggers world wide). 

This blog hop is for family friendly websites only.

Happy Birthday

APRIL BIRTHDAY 

To all my family members, friends, fans, followers, readers, who are born in the month of April, this is a special birthday wishes for you all. 

April's Birth Flower is the Sweet Pea.
It represents blissfulness, curiosity, lasting
pleasures, playfulness and tenacity.

~Sweet Peas For Your Birthday~

I'm sending you a special gift
tucked in a vase overflowing with love,
it's wrapped around with sunshine
to warm your day
that's just begun.

With love I chose some pretty color
sweet peas for you to keep
Just imagine now..
the sweetest fragrance
breathe in so very deep.

Hidden inside is a loving promise
of blessings that endure
and heavenly smiles
to bless you eternally
so you will feel secure.

Please hold this precious gift
close within your heart,
a souvenir to treasure
as you travel
on lifes path.




May God's never-ending surprises
keep showering on your way
springing up
with eternal love
just for you today. 

  


Soft birthday Whispers from
Derry's Heart Poems © 2005