Well I'll Be...

Disclaimer: No I am not getting paid to advertise...I wish!!! I use the S-word a lot in this post, but always in meaningful context and since I am an educator and don't want to be fired I am using "spit" in its place!

In the South we have all kinds of funny sayings. For instance, if we say, "Oh, bless her!" We don't really mean, "May God brings his blessings upon her." What we mean is that we have either just insulted her or are about to say something ugly about her. Like, "I swear, she is as dumb as dirt...bless her." Or, "Did y'all know that she walked in on her husband in a scandalous position with the maid? Oh, bless her heart!"

When someone shocks us or bestows upon us a new piece of information you might hear, "Well I'll be", "Is that right?", or "You spittin' me?"

Since having children I have experienced many moments where someone has told me something I had no clue about. In other words, I have said "For real?", "Nawwww", and "No Spit?" lots and lots of times. I thought I would share a few of these monumental discoveries with you just in case you are still in the dark about how we remedy some of our children's ailments.

1. Dove soap will get rid of baby acne. For real? Yes, it will.

Rub a little on the corner of a wash cloth and rub it on your darlings little cheeks. After a few days, it will be gone. If not, then it is probably eczema and you need to go get some Eucerin cream.

2. Tea bags in the diaper will relieve diaper rash. Nawwwww? It will. You put them in dry and when the little one wets the tea bags the chemicals in the urine will release some sort of healing powers in the tea.

3. Vapor rub on the feet is like a miracle. Is that right? Certainly is. For some reason, your feet are more porous than any other part of your body. Therefore, if you rub vapor rub on his little precious feet and then put on socks the vapors will relieve congestion and make them feel as if they are wrapped in a blanket of Vick's magic.

4. A wet paper towel and a plastic cup does wonders for an ear infection. No spit? Yes, spit it does. Wet a paper towel and squeeze it out just so it is not dripping. Then heat it in the microwave for about 30-60 seconds. Fold it up and put it in the bottom of the cup. Hold the open end of the cup to their little ear and the steam will loosen the pressure behind the ear drum.

5. Dandruff shampoo will cure cradle cap. Someone told me this and I literally said, "Your spittin' me?" We have never struggled with cradle cap until recently our third baby. It was scaly, greenish, flaky, and gross. It even smelled bad. Nothing we did worked. We tried fancy lotion, oil, vaseline...nothing worked.

Then my baby sitter said she had heard that if you rubbed dandruff shampoo into the cradle cap like lotion and then leave it on. And presto!!! Within a day it is almost gone.

Do you have anything that would make me say, "Well I'll be..."? Cause I will take all of the advice I can get even if I do accuse you of "spittin' me!"

Oops! I Did It Again!

Let me begin by stating that I am not a frivolous spender. I mean, I am couponer for goodness sake and a good one to boot! With that being said, I must admit to a little spending as of late much to the dismay of my also thrifty husband to the point that he keeps a spread sheet of our household spending.

And to be honest I do not normally spend money on myself. If I do, I am so cheap I rarely will buy something that cost more than $20, be it a shirt, shoes, or (my fave) a flirty summer dress. Even if I find the perfect little dress, I refuse to spend more than $30 on it. I am the same with my kids. Lord help them when they get into the Aeropostale, Abercrombie, and Hollister stage because there is NO WAY I am spending $45 on a t-shirt!!

So I have recently met my downfall...Zulily.com I am quite certain that you have heard of this

delectable site and if you have not be prepared to meet YOUR downfall! Zulily is a temptress who focuses on providing busy moms with 50-70% off boutique brand prices.

At first, I resisted...deleting the e-mails. Then I looked but never bought withstanding the temptations. But then, as if it knew my weakness, they appeared. The prettiest pair of red shoes I have ever seen. I have been looking for red shoes ever since my sister found a pair (she paid *choke* $75) and I got caught trying to steal, I mean borrow, them from her closet by way of hiding them under my shirt. And they were half off!! Regular $49.99 and on sale for $24.99! I could not resist.

Aren't they sooooooooo pretty???

Then a couple of weeks later the cutest little dresses showed up. What was even better is that they were dresses that came in all three sizes I needed for my little female munchkins, which is very hard to do once one passes 6x. I was so sad the day she moved into a different department. And then a tragic event occurred...she grew out of Carter's! A travesty!!!

So that was it. No more. I was not opening any more e-mails!! I mean it! Well...I meant for a day or two. And then came today. I opened the "Big Summer Blow Out Event" email. And what did I find? The two cutest pairs of shoes!

In both shoes they only had one size and it just happened to be mine. Then I looked at the price. They were 75% off and only *GASP* $14.99. What to do, what to do? I wasn't going to give in again. But...I did need some brown shoes. My other pairs have seen better days. One is stapled together after the super glue stopped working and the other is so scuffed up it looks like it got in a cat fight. And they were only $14.99!

So what did I do? Well...I dipped into my pocketbook, pulled out my wallet, and in the words of Britney Spears "Oops I Did It Again". I swear this is it. I am not looking any more. Well, at least not any more tonight!

Spinach Ravioli Lasagna

My fabulous sister, Leslie, shared this recipe, and it rocked our world!! The first time I served it the munchkins turn their noses up. One even said that it looked like "boogers". But being the brave souls they are they tried it: starting first with my oldest who tentatively put a bite in her mouth while her little sister waited for her to give the go ahead. And go ahead they did. They ate and ate and ate. They literally had stomach aches afterwards. And I must admit, I had to make myself stop eating it, too. Now it is our favorite dish!

Ingredients

1 bag of Baby Spinach
4 oz of Pesto (green kind) sauce
1-15 oz jar of Alfredo sauce (I use reduced fat)
1/4 cup. chicken broth
1 (18-20 oz) package of refrigerated or frozen ravioli
1/2 cup Italian cheese blend

Finely chop spinach and mix with pesto sauce. Mix Alfredo sauce with broth. Pour 1/3 of Alfredo mixture into bottom of 2 quart casserole dish. Spread half of spinach mixture on top of that. Then layer half of raviolis. Repeat layers. Top with remaining third of Alfredo mixture. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Add cheese to top and cook for another 5 minutes. Enjoy!!