Our Thirst for Sports

It's no secret that my family loves sports.  This season alone, my oldest three kids are involved in sports.  

Claire is in softball, she's the one on the base.

Iain is in baseball and soccer; that's him on the pitcher's mound.

Ellis is in soccer.  That's him catching his breath in the middle of the picture.

It's true that I am, by all definitions, a Sports Mom.  In this role, I have learned the importance of relying on other moms for advice and guidance on how to manage life as a Sports Mom.  One mom that I consider myself to be very privileged to have learned from is Stephanie Hamm, the mother of professional soccer player Mia Hamm.  I recently participated in a conference call with her in which Stephanie offered many wonderful pieces of advice for myself and the other Sports Moms on this call.  We also got to view the amazing video of Stephanie's story, and I highly recommend that you check it out here: Stephanie Hamm.

One of the most important responsibilities of being a sports mom is ensuring that my kids eat a balanced diet and get the proper hydration they need before each practice and each game.  I thought I was doing a good job.  Once I learned the steps toward proper hydration, however, I realized that it is way more than the simple steps that I've been taking.  I have been doing my best to make sure that my kids have a balanced diet, which is a very important thing for athletes.  I also send them off to each practice and game with a Gatorade in hand, knowing that they'll need it for hydration.  I really, truly thought that was enough.  I recently learned that it's not.

Gatorade is nothing new to our family (and no, I'm not just saying that because this review is sponsored by Gatorade; that statement is completely true)!  Thanks to our Costco membership, Gatorade comes at a pretty decent price, and it's something that is ALWAYS overflowing in our beverage refrigerator (yes, we have two refrigerators, the refrigerator in our basement is dedicated to beverages).  During the sports season, this refrigerator is taken over by Gatorade!  Throughout the year, we will have maybe 10 bottles of Gatorade in the fridge at one time, but when sports season arrives, we dedicate two entire shelves of the fridge to Gatorade, totaling around 50 bottles!

Having so much of this much loved beverage helps me to keep my kids perfectly hydrated, right?  Well, not completely.  Unfortunately, the things I've learned in this past week reflect on the fact that I'm not preparing my kids to fuel and hydrate themselves before a game.  Don't get me wrong, they go to the game with a Gatorade in hand, sometimes two.  Drinking this during their games is a great way to keep them going, but I recently learned that there is so much more to fueling and hydration than just drinking during activity.

Did you know that 70% of athletes show up to games and practices dehydrated?  70%!!  That's pretty extreme.  Upon learning the reasoning why, I realized that my kids are very likely included in that 70%.  In order to be properly fueled and hydrated, you are supposed to be drinking a beverage up to four hours before athletic activity, and you are to continue drinking during that activity.  I thought I had it down when I was sending my kids to their sports with a Gatorade in hand, little did I know that their hydration should be taken into consideration long before I drop them off!

According to the experts at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI), there are other factors that contribute to their performance on the field, including the level of sodium they have in their body, as well as the level of carbohydrates (carbs).  Along with your beverage, you should be taking in carbs three to four hours before you exercise. Again, this is a way that I have learned that I am not properly preparing my kids for their sports.

Sometimes it feels like there is so much to know, and yet you wonder where to turn to find the right answers.  Well, Gatorade understands the needs of Sports Moms and has created a website specifically for us!  You can visit that website here.  This site provides information for Sports Moms, as well as stories of women just like us, trying our best to support our children in their every endeavor.  The "Gatorade Moms" site has so many helpful articles, I really do encourage you to check it out!

I know that I've learned far more about helping my kids perform their best through this website and I hope that you will make it a favorite of your own as well!  You will find a lot of helpful information when you Visit the Official site.

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As part of this review, I have been selected to give away a $100 gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods!  It's easy to enter, so please play along.  Here are the official rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry
methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment
on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on
this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about
an alternate form of entry.

The giveaway will run from Wednesday, June 1, 2011 through Thursday, June 30, 2011.


This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.


You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. 

You can also check out the rules online: Visit the Official Rules. 

Make sure to stop by the Prizes and Promotions Section for more chances to enter!

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?

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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?   

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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?

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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!

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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.

Weekend Mornings

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

There are few things I enjoy in life as much as I enjoy Saturday mornings.  Saturday is usually the break in our routine; it is the day when we get to change things up and enjoy relaxing just a little more than usual.  I absolutely refuse to set my alarm clock on Saturday mornings, thus allowing me to enjoy the morning as I wake up to the sound of the birds chirping outside … or my children getting antsy for Monte and I to wake up and making lots of noise to make sure that happens!

Regardless of how or what time we wake, the one thing that is always consistent about Saturdays is that they are our pancake or waffle day!  Monte will start cooking a pan of bacon, as well as the pancakes or waffles for the kids.  Since I am not a pancake fan, as the syrup is too sweet for me, I typically will start my day out with a cup of coffee and help Monte serve breakfast to the kids. 

Having all four kids enjoying breakfast at the same time often causes someone (usually Colin!) to say, “Daaadddddd, I’m ready for my next pancake!” as the next batch is still cooking.  This is one of many sounds that are common in our home on Saturday mornings.  The remaining sounds are those of the newspaper shuffling as the kids read it, slurping of milk and the scraping of forks along plates, as well as the happy chatting of our kids.  Our home is rarely a quiet one, and Saturday mornings are definitely no exception!

Once the kids have finished eating and have put their dishes in the dishwasher, I start cooking breakfast for Monte and me.  Our breakfast usually consists of eggs, bacon (for Monte) and toast.  This is one of my favorite parts of the weekend, as it allows Monte and me to have some quiet time alone while enjoying our breakfast.  Sometimes we will read the paper together and work on the crossword puzzle, and other times we just enjoy each other’s company in silence.  This is the perfect picture of Saturday morning in our home, and I treasure it completely!

Sunday morning seems to bring with it a more mid-week feel, as we are all usually rushing to get ready for church.  Typically, we resort to the easiest breakfast we have on hand: cereal!  I’m thankful for all of the many varieties of cereal that are offered, as it would end up being something that we would easily tire of if it were always the same. 

Our weekend breakfast routine varies from our mid-week routine just slightly; what does your weekend breakfast routine look like?

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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 September 28, 2010 through 5:00pm PST (7:00pm CST) on Monday October 4, 2010.  The winner will be chosen using www.random.org.  To view the official sweepstakes rules, visit www.blogher.com/kelloggs-rules-8.

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.

Quality Mornings

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

I have a secret to tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anybody else, okay?  Okay.  Well, the truth is quality mornings at my house are few and far between.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy having quality time with my kids in the morning, and it’s not that I don’t try to make morning a time for us to enjoy being together; in fact, I think it’s more the fact that we are all in a hurry to get going and to get our day started that keeps us from spending a bit more time together.  Half of us (myself included) are not morning people in the least, while the other half are happily milling about the kitchen, singing a tune or chatting unendingly, which creates a very interesting dynamic in our home!  I guess the quality in our morning is the fact that the non-morning people are able to refrain from yelling at the morning-loving people!

Whatever the case may be, mornings at our house are simply a time when we’re all just starting to function and we’re moving very robotically to get the few tasks on our list accomplished.  My two oldest children wake up the earliest and are usually enjoying breakfast while I’m getting ready for the day.  I think eating breakfast is the part of their morning routine that helps them to wake up, as they are much chattier and louder (often having to be quieted, as their youngest brother is still sleeping) once they’ve finished eating.  Their younger brother, Ellis (our third child), is usually awake and watching cartoons while they’re having breakfast, though on a rare occasion he will come upstairs and eat with them (though he is definitely one of us who needs more time to wake up, so it is truly a very rare occasion!).  Since he and his older brother share a bedroom, he is woken up when the alarm goes off at 6:00am.  We’ve finally got him in a routine of enjoying a little down time in front of the TV when he wakes up before he starts his day; this ensures that he is going to start his day on a much better note, having been given the chance to fully wake up before going through his morning routine, and it guarantees that he won’t wake his youngest brother earlier than necessary!

For my school age children, there is not much time allowed for us to spend together in the mornings, as we are all set in our routine of going from zombies to our happy selves!  Due to this fact, it is often the case that the kids get themselves breakfast in the morning, most frequently enjoying a bowl of cereal, and get out the door to the bus stop.  Thankfully, we are able to make up for our mornings before bed, as evenings are often filled with family time and each of our kids still gets tucked into bed with hugs and “I love you’s”.  For now, this quality time is perfect for our family.

When is the best time for you to find the quality time we all need?

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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 September 21, 2010 through 5:00pm PST (7:00pm CST) on Monday September 27, 2010.  The winner will be chosen using www.random.org.  To view the official sweepstakes rules, visit www.blogher.com/kelloggs-rules-7.

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.