Morning Rituals

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Almost two years ago Monte and I were married.  Immediately following our wedding and honeymoon came the Christmas season.  I love Christmas, it’s such a wonderful holiday to celebrate, but our first Christmas together was one of chaos and stress.  We were trying to figure out how to celebrate the holidays with our extended families as well as at home with our immediate family, and it really seemed to be overwhelming to both Monte and me!  Once the season had passed, we sat down and discussed how we wanted the next Christmas to go, as we knew we weren’t going to survive through another December like the one we had just experienced. 

Fast forward almost a full year and the Christmas season is upon us again.  This time, Monte and I feel prepared and ready for celebrating without stressing!  We went to the Christmas Eve service at our church, followed by Christmas celebrations with some of our extended family.  Christmas day was one that we dedicated to staying home and celebrating with our kids, and I am so glad that we did!  We were woken up early that morning by the kids who were practically bouncing off the walls to open presents!  We got everybody up to the living room, grabbed ourselves some coffee and our camera and enjoyed the morning seeing what everybody got.  The wonderful thing about this past year was that we gave each of the kids a designated amount of money to buy presents for everybody else in the family, so watching them get so excited to see their sibling or Monte and me open a present that was specifically bought for them was such a joy.  It really helped them to see the good that comes with being willing to give without expectation of receiving something in return.

Once we’re through opening presents, when all of their goodies cover the floor along with shreds of wrapping paper, we move into the kitchen and enjoy breakfast together.  We don’t have anything specific that we make, it just all comes together when we make it to the kitchen and make that decision.  The greatest part of this breakfast is hearing the kids talk about how much they wanted that gift that their sibling bought for them, and seeing said sibling truly happy knowing that their present was something that was completely desired.

There’s something beautiful and wonderful about celebrating Christmas with my family, and it is by far my favorite morning ritual.  What’s your favorite yearly ritual that you celebrate?

--

Here's the fun part!  With this review, I get to give away a $100 Visa Gift Card to one of you fabulous readers!  It's incredibly simple to enter, and you can have up to two entries, here's how:
- To enter, leave a comment about your favorite yearly morning ritual.
- For a second entry, you can: 

Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below)

Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below)

-Sweepstakes ends 5 PM PST on November 1, 2010.

The winner will be chosen using www.random.org.  To view the official sweepstakes rules, visit www.blogher.com/kelloggs-rules-12.

Make sure to visit the BlogHer Reviewer Round Up page to check out what other bloggers had to say and to take advantage of 23 more chances to win a $100 Visa Gift Card! BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page.

Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients.  To learn more about the program, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.

Bowl of Goodness

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Can I confess something to you?  Maybe it’s a little quirky, and maybe it makes me just a little bit odd, but I just love almost any food that I can eat in a bowl!  I’m a nut for soups, salads, cereals, fruit … this list could just go on and on!  If it’s in a bowl, it’s very likely that I’m going to be drawn to it.  My house has numerous candy bowls spread around it right now (some of which are hidden from the kids!), I don’t know what it is but there is just something about food in a bowl that attracts me!

It’s no secret that I love cereal – it’s very much my easy fall-back when I want a quick meal.  Up until a year ago I would have told you that cereal is my very favorite in-the-bowl food, but now I’m not certain that I have a favorite!  You see, I’ve been experimenting a little more with the type of meals that I prepare and, along the way, I have received recipes from people that are absolutely amazing – and yes, they are for food in a bowl!  One of these recipes is my mom’s Chicken and Wild Rice Soup.  By far this is one of the easiest and most agreeable meals that I make my family!  They absolutely love it and it never lasts long before it’s been completely devoured!  Though I truly do love this soup, I must admit it is still not my absolute favorite food-in-a-bowl.  You see, that award would have to go to a salad that my friend Melissa introduced me to last summer.  It is positively delicious – so much so that I have it almost every day for lunch!  The salad consists of green leaf lettuce, shredded chicken breast mixed with salsa (which I usually heat in the microwave before adding it to my salad), corn (tortilla) chips and cheese.  Melissa suggested adding dressing to the salad, but I’ve found that this flavor is full and delicious just as it is, so I leave it this way!  For as simple as this salad is, it is 50 times more delicious!  Doesn't it look amazing?!

Though my bowl is often full of fruit, cereal, soup, candy or any other snack item I may eat, this salad easily tops them all!

What fills up your bowl of goodness?   

 --

Here's the fun part!  With this review, I get to give away a $100 Visa Gift Card to one of you fabulous readers!  It's incredibly simple to enter, and you can have up to two entries, here's how:
- To enter, leave a comment about the item in your bowl of goodness.
- For a second entry, you can: 

Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below)

Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below)

-Sweepstakes ends 5 PM PST on October 25, 2010.

The winner will be chosen using www.random.org.  To view the official sweepstakes rules, visit www.blogher.com/kelloggs-rules-11.

The Secret to a Great Breakfast

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Imagine living in a home with four kids, one more on the way, an amazing husband and a very crazy schedule.  You would find yourself busy from the time your eyes pop open until the time your head hits the pillow at the end of the day, whether it be driving your kids to sports, making dinners, helping with homework, playing games, cleaning the house or one of the other hundred things that remain on your never-ending “To Do” list.  Then imagine, in the midst of all of this chaos, a break; imagine a day where you get to sleep in and leisurely make and enjoy your breakfast, get ready for the day and decide what that day holds for you.  In our home, this beautiful break in the schedule falls on Saturday, and it is always a very welcomed change!

On Saturday morning, Monte and I usually roll out of bed around 8:00am, which is a wonderful change from our normal rising time of 6:00am!  We head out to the kitchen, make some coffee, pour a glass of juice and start fixing breakfast for the kids.  Since our kids spend the entire week taking care of preparing their own breakfast, we like to treat them to something special on Saturday mornings, and that something special is almost always pancakes!  Pancake preparation is an art that Monte has mastered, so I most often leave it to him to take care of breakfast.  We spend the better part of the morning serving up pancakes to our hungry brood, helping Colin cut them up, making sure the syrup gets passed and they are all sufficiently fed.  Once our herd has moved out from feeding time, Monte and I will then prepare breakfast for ourselves and sit down to some peace and quiet.  Oftentimes Monte will sit and enjoy the remaining pancakes that our kids didn’t eat, topping them with applesauce.  He claims that this secret is entirely delicious, but in the times I’ve tried it, I most definitely have not enjoyed it!  I am not a pancake lover like the rest of my family; I don’t know if it’s because the syrup is too sweet and the applesauce isn’t enough, or if it’s just because of the sheer quantity of them that I’ve had since Monte and I were married and I moved in with the family, but pancakes are just NOT my thing!  Depending on my mood I will either make myself eggs and toast or pour myself a bowl of cereal.  I know that some of you must be wondering how I can really enjoy cereal when I eat it the other six days of the week, but I truly do!  I’ve always been a fan of cereal for any time of the day, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner, so enjoying it on our relaxing Saturday is not something that takes away from the beauty of the morning, but instead it adds to the flow.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, our secret to a great breakfast has nothing to do with what we’ve prepared or how we’ve prepared it, but rather our great breakfasts come because it’s the one morning of the week that our entire family is together and relaxed and there is practically NOTHING that can beat the feeling of harmony in our home on those mornings!

Ellis, having already finished his breakfast, is heading to enjoy his book, pajama clad and all!

Do you have a secret to a great breakfast that you can share?

--

Here's the fun part!  With this review, I get to give away a $100 Visa Gift Card to one of you fabulous readers!  It's incredibly simple to enter, and you can have up to two entries, here's how:


- To enter, leave a comment about your secret to a great breakfast.

- For a second entry, you can:

·         Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below)

·         Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below)

·         Sweepstakes ends 5 PM PST on October 18, 2010.

The winner will be chosen using www.random.org.  To view the official sweepstakes rules, visit www.blogher.com/kelloggs-rules-10.

Make sure to visit the BlogHer Reviewer Round Up page to check out what other bloggers had to say and to take advantage of 23 more chances to win a $100 Visa Gift Card! BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page.

Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients.  To learn more about the program, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.

The Morning Rush

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

This is a perfect picture of what I am faced with when the morning rush is through.  Cereal bowls stacked up by the sink and a table covered in cereal dust, all of which are evidence that my children enjoyed their breakfast in a hurry!  With our schedule starting so early since school started again, I often find that I am chilling in my bedroom watching cartoons with Colin while my older kids get breakfast and get themselves ready for the day.  It’s not that I don’t want to be part of their morning ritual, it’s more that I want Colin to continue to rest in the morning so that I don’t have a crabby four-year-old all day long!  So, once my oldest two have left for the bus, Ellis usually makes his way into my room to tie up any loose ends (i.e. have me sign off on his homework that he “forgot” to have me do the night before!) and hang out with me and Colin.  Once Ellis has left for the bus, I am making my way out to the kitchen to get breakfast for Colin and me, and to clean up from the storm that must have blown through while my oldest kids were having breakfast!

It’s not unusual to find the dishes left by the sink (as there are still clean dishes in the dishwasher and I’ve asked my kids to not empty it in the morning because they make too much noise when they do!), a cereal bag (without the box in sight) left lying on the countertop, little spills of milk on the table surrounded by all of that cereal dust.  All of this is evidence of the fact that mornings are a rushing-around kind of thing in our home!  While the kids are incredibly helpful with cleaning up, I’ve given them the easy-out with breakfast, due to the fact that I want Colin to sleep longer than he usually does, and boy do they take advantage of that!  I don’t mind the mess so much, though, so there is no complaining when you know that the kids have enjoyed their morning!

The only time that the mess is a difficult thing for me is when I have somewhere to be in the morning.  This usually means that I’ve woken up earlier than usual, got myself ready, got Colin out of bed and got him ready (including rushing him through eating his cereal!) and am usually trying to rush through cleaning the mess before I head out the door.  This ends up in me enjoying my cereal dry in a sandwich bag while we’re in the truck on our way to our destination!  I don’t mind it that way, though, as I am usually packing a lot of snacks to bring with me when I’m out and about anyway, so what’s the difference of bringing my breakfast along, too?!

Mornings hold a lot of chaos in our house, but I really do love it that way!

--

Here's the fun part!  With this review, I get to give away a $100 Visa Gift Card to one of you fabulous readers!  It's incredibly simple to enter, and you can have up to two entries.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post to enter.  To get a second entry, you may either tweet or blog about this post (including a link to the giveaway) and leave a second comment here, including the URL of your tweet or blog.  This giveaway will run from 9:00am PST (11:00am CST) today, Tuesday October 5, 2010 through 5:00pm PST (7:00pm CST) on Monday October 11, 2010.  The winner will be chosen using www.random.org.  To view the official sweepstakes rules, visit www.blogher.com/kelloggs-rules-9.

Make sure to visit the BlogHer Reviewer Round Up page to check out what other bloggers had to say and to take advantage of 23 more chances to win a $100 Visa Gift Card! BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page.

Mom's Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids' cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients.  To learn more about the program, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.