He came into our house just a few short weeks ago. Majestic is a Red-Eared Slider. My son is already in love.

Did you know turtles can live 40-50 years? Yeah I didn’t either.

I told my son that it was very likely that his grandchildren would be enjoying this turtle as well.

 Not Your Momblog, High Impact Mom, Colorado Moms, Resourceful Mom

Rajean Blomquist, BrainFoggles, Zensible Mama & Rachel Ferrucci

and link your own photo stories

 Other Wordless Wednesday places to link up:

 

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a dinner sponsored by the Kids LiveWell program from the National Restaurant Association.

Those of you who read my blog or follow me on Twitter know that I am pretty lucky when it comes to my children and their eating habits. My two oldest children love to drink water and my youngest drinks milk like crazy. Juices are always 100% juice and my kids just generally stay away from things with a lot of sugar.

All three kids love grilled chicken and vegetables. It is not at all tough for me to get my kids to eat healthy food and while they do appreciate the occasional dessert, they are pretty easy going kids when it comes to food. I am definitely lucky.

Kids LiveWell is a fairly new initiative started just last year by the National Restaurant Association.

ABOUT THE KIDS LIVEWELL PROGRAM

The National Restaurant Association launched the Kids LiveWell program in collaboration with Healthy Dining to help parents and children select healthful menu options when dining out. Restaurants that participate in the voluntary program commit to offering healthful meal items for children, with a particular focus on increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains and low-fat dairy, and limiting unhealthy fats, sugars and sodium.

The Kids LiveWell program benefits both restaurateurs and guests. Participating restaurants get third-party verification and promotional materials for qualified meals and individual menu items. Parents and caretakers get accurate information to help them make informed decisions about their child’s meal.

A KIDS LIVEWELL MEAL

Kids LiveWell Nutrition Criteria for Full Kids’ Meals (entrée, side option and beverage):

• 600 calories or less
• ≤ 35% of calories from total fat
• ≤ 10% of calories from saturated fat
• < 0.5 grams trans fat (artificial trans fat only)
• ≤ 35% of calories from total sugars (added and naturally occurring)
• ≤ 770 mg of sodium
• 2 or more food groups (see below)

Kids LiveWell Nutrition Criteria for Side Items:

• 200 calories or less
• ≤ 35% of calories from total fat
• ≤ 10% of calories from saturated fat
• < 0.5 grams trans fat (artificial trans fat only)
• ≤ 35% of calories from total sugars (added and naturally occurring)
• ≤ 250 mg of sodium
• 1 food group (see below)

Full meals must include two sources & sides must include one source of the following:

• Fruit: > ½ cup = 1 star (includes 100% juice)
• Vegetable: > ½ cup = 1 star
• Whole grains:  contains whole grains = 1 star
• Lean protein (skinless white meat poultry, fish/seafood, beef, pork, tofu, beans, egg):  > 2 ounces meat, 1 egg or egg equivalent, 1 oz nuts/seeds/dry bean/peas = 1 star (lean as defined by USDA)
• Lower-fat dairy (1% or skim milk and dairy):  > ½ cup = 1 star (while not considered low-fat, 2% milk is allowed if included in the meal and the meal still fits the full meal criteria)

RESTAURANTS PARTICIPATING IN KIDS LIVEWELL

The program started with 19 brands participating. To date, there are over 87 brands with an impressive total of 15,000+ locations.

For the complete list, go here.

GET SOCIAL WITH KIDS LIVEWELL

Follow Kids LiveWell on Twitter

Like Kids LiveWell on Facebook

For more information on the program and participating restaurants, visit restaurant.org/kidslivewell or healthydiningfinder.com.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

This is so incredibly exciting. Now you can download the app the pick the perfect Kids LiveWell participating restaurant.  The free app is available in the Android Market and iTunes app store. To download the app, visit: www.restaurant.org/kidslivewell.

Check out all of the restaurants near me:

Disclosure: I received compensation from the National Restaurant 

Association’s Kids LiveWell program for my time reviewing 

and writing about their program. The opinions expressed are 

solely my own.

My Kids are obsessed with the backup camera on my new car. They are constantly asking me to take pictures and videos of them on the camera.

Here are a few:

Not Your Momblog, High Impact Mom, Colorado Moms, Resourceful Mom

Rajean Blomquist, BrainFoggles, Zensible Mama & Rachel Ferrucci

and link your own photo stories

Spring is here! In my house that means Spring cleaning. This year we are cleaning our digital house as well as the house we live in.

Doesn’t that just sound like a novel concept?

It never really occurred to me to clean house digitally but it is certainly something that I needed to do. Check this out:

That number is pretty overwhelming to me. I have been wanting / needing to clean out my Inbox for some time. It is really out of control so if you are reading this and wondering why I haven’t emailed you back, now you know!

My digital clutter was affecting my life. Here are a few of the first things that I did, as suggested on the Trend Micro Ending Digital Clutter page:

ON YOUR COMPUTER

• Clear your browser’s cache.
• Uninstall programs you don’t even use.
• Regularly empty the Recycle Bin and Temporary Internet Files folder.
• Avoid hoarding programs.

WHAT IS DIRECTPASS?

Keep up with all of the Digital Joneses families here.

Disclosure: The Digital Joneses Study will include gadgets for myself and my family. Although we have been provided with these products to help evaluate the challenges within the study, the opinions, thoughts and statements expressed on this blog remains our own and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Trend Micro.

We are defintiely raising little foodies. My children love to cook as much as we do and they love helping us come up with new ideas for dinner.

This past weekend we went to the Farmer’s Market to do some research and to get some dinner inspiration. We can and have spent hours in this place.

Where else can you buy a pinata, caviar and beef tongue all in one place?

Rajean Blomquist, BrainFoggles, Zensible Mama & Rachel Ferrucci

and link your own photo stories

It has been a few weeks since I have participated in Wordless Wednesday but it has been a seriously crazy few weeks for me.

A few weeks ago, I did something a little different. I am so used to being behind the camera but for  a few days I stepped out in front of the camera and starred in a Windows Phone 7 webisode/commercial.

Totally out of my comfort zone but seriously a lot of fun. I had the pleasure of working with a great group of people who made the 12 or so hours we spent shooting really fun.

I wanted to show you what my view was from in front of the camera as I grabbed the phone and took some shots of them taking video of me. This is what it looks like from the other side!

Sorry about the lighting or zombie effect in a few pictures. There were lights all over the place so it was hard to get a clear shot at times.

Much needed refreshment!

For more inspiring photos, check out: The Bonafide Life, Better in Bulk, Shanamama, From Dates to Diapers,

Not Your Momblog, High Impact Mom, Colorado Moms, Resourceful Mom

Rajean Blomquist, BrainFoggles, Zensible Mama & Rachel Ferrucci

and link your own photo stories

Other Wordless Wednesday places to link up:

To be clear, this is not a sponsored post (although I do have some posts coming up about the phone and its capabilities). Of course all of these pictures were taken with my new Windows Phone 7 Nokia Lumia 900. If you haven’t checked out this phone yet, you should. It is really a beautiful picture and a great phone overall. CNET thinks so, too giving it 4 out of 5 stars.

Last month, I shared the fabulous news about my family and the new project that we are working on:

We are a Digital Joneses Family! What’s Your Security IQ?

I even linked to an online security quiz that you could take and if you haven’t yet, I highly recommend it.

This month we are talking about online safety and our children. All three of my children (ages 9, 7 and 5) LOVE being on the computer.

They are on several online networks. They are Skyping their grandparents. They are playing games. They are using Netflix. They truly are digital kids.

As a result, I am tasked with…well…being a parent and as a parent, I want to know at all times what my kids are doing. So I sat down with my newly turned 9 year old to find out what he knew about online safety.

ME: Do you know what cyberbullying is?

SON: Yeah…it is when someone is mean to someone else online.

ME: Do you know anyone that this has happened to?

SON: YES! I SURE DO!

ME: {surprised} Who?

SON: It happened to Freddie once on iCarly. There was an entire show about it. I know all about cyberbullying.

ME: Ok…{a few moments of stunned silence} Well what about people talking to you online? Has a stranger tried to talk to you online before? Anyone you don’t know?

SON: YEAH. In Club Penguin all of those other penguins are always trying to talk to me. It is annoying. They need to concentrate on their game and not chatting to me.

ME: {exasperated sigh}

SON: I do have something to tell you about all of this though.

ME: {excited that he might be getting it just a little} What is it?

SON: Punch buggy, no punch back. RED! It is right there. I GOT YOU!

ME: {another exasperated sigh} {probably one more exasperated sigh}

SON: And one more thing mommy….I know not to talk to people online. I know not to go to any websites you haven’t checked out first. I know not to click anything that pops up on my screen. I also know not ot buy anything online without asking you first.You have told me all of this before and I remember.

ME: I am proud of you, H.

SON: Yeah ok. Now can we go watch iCarly or something?

While I am pretty sure that my son grasps the concept of online security because it is something that we talk about often, I also know that it is something we need to keep talking about so it stays top of mind with him. We talk about it with our younger daughters as well.

Find the complete questionnaire with questions for kids of all ages here.

IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT ONLINE SAFETY WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR CHILD

- Talk to your child. Do not depend on your child to come to you. Open a dialogue, ask the hard questions and make they certain that they answer you.

- Download the “How to Start a Discussion With Kids about Online Safety” from Trend Micro today and put it on your refrigerator. This gives you a great place to start when it comes to talking to your kids about online safety.  Check out General Internet Safety Tips for Families as well.

- Monitor your child on a daily basis. Check out what they are doing when they are online and ask them to show you.

- Check out the program from Trend Micro called Online Guardian for Families. This program monitors your kids online activity 24/7. Each child gets their own passcode and you can set permissions based on age. You can filter out adult and inappropriate content plus protect against cyberbullying and predators. This software works with many social networking websites and tt shows web browsing history, wall postings, messages, photos and chats. In a nutshell, it keeps them safe.

Find out what we thought of the the security software from Trend Micro: Digital Joneses: Trend Micro’s Titanium Maximum Security Software

Keep up with all of the Digital Joneses families here.

Disclosure: The Digital Joneses Study will include gadgets for myself and my family. Although we have been provided with these products to help evaluate the challenges within the study, the opinions, thoughts and statements expressed on this blog remains our own and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Trend Micro.

A few weeks ago, I was sent the Lysol No Touch Kitchen System to use in our household.

Now I love automated things and soap is one of those things that always end up with a yucky looking container because of my kids. That doesn’t happen any more.

ABOUT THE LYSOL NO TOUCH KITCHEN SYSTEM

Lysol created a revolutionary automatic, hands-free dispenser with a multi purpose formula that:

• Powers through grease on dishes
• Cleans tough messes on surfaces
• Kills bacteria on hands as it gently cleanses them

The starter kits are available in Sparkling Tangerine and Shimmering Berry. The starter kit includes: one dispenser, one 8.5oz refill and three AA batteries. Refills are available in 3 great scents: Sparkling Tangerine, Shimmering Berry, Sunkissed Lemon.

My entire family loves this thing. We use it constantly and have already had to purchase refills for it. The scents are great and it has never failed to dispense which is always a bonus.

One of the cool things on the Lysol site right now is the Undercover Kitchen System Challenge.

This challenge lets you pick a person and walk through a virtual kitchen to see where germs are left. Then you have 15 seconds to guess all of the place where you might find germs.

I took the Undercover Kitchen System Challenge and got a 6 out 8 right. I knew just where all of the fingerprints were located but couldn’t quite get to them in time.

For a chance to win a No Touch Kitchen System with a year supply of soap complete these two steps:

• Share theUndercover Challenge with your friends below
• Tell us that you did AND tell us your kitchen cleaning challenge below

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Lysol. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules

It doesn’t seem like it was nine years ago when you rushed into this world. You were early. That would be the last time you were ever early for anything else.

You came into this world six weeks early, in fact. You weighed just over four pounds. I wasn’t ready. You didn’t care.

My water broke and you were in distress. Not only were you coming but you would be joining this party fast. I still vividly recall the crisis mode that the entire hospital staff went into when they said that they had to get you out right away.

I recovered from emergency surgery but you did not. At least not right away. You really weren’t ready to come out so you had to have help breathing and eating.

The hardest day of my life was leaving that hosiptal and not getting to take you home. I cried in the parking lot for 30 minutes and would not let your father drive away. He held my hand and cried too.

We vowed to do whatever we could to get you home. We spent hours reading Dr. Seuss books to you. Holding your little hands. Feeding you minute amounts of milk. We would hold open your mouth and squirt milk into it. You had a certain amount that you had to eat each day before they would let you come home.

Two weeks and one day after you were born, you came home and you made our family complete.

Your baby nickname was Charlie Brown. Sorry, but this too big of a noggin not to have a nickname.

Nine years later, you have made my life infinitely better just by being in it.

I frequently tell you to stop growing. To stay just like you are forever. But the truth is, as much as I want you to stay like this, I also want to see you grow. I am excited for you and your future.

Dude, in case you get any ideas, your school did this to you, not me. Although I still giggle every time I see this picture!!!

I frequently tell you that I cannot believe you are having another birthday. Then I jokingly ask, “Now how old are you going to be again? Eight?”

“Nine. NINE,” you say in your not-so-inside voice, “I AM GOING TO BE NINE!”

You say nine, I say a million.

A million times I have told you I loved you.

A million kisses I must have planted on your lips, you face, your head, your hands, your feet. Although you don’t let me do it that much anymore, I still cherish the million that I have stolen so far.

A million times my heart just stopped watching you grow up (too fast in my opinion) and discover the cool, new things that this world has to offer you.

A million tears I must have wiped away (yours and mine) along with the booboos I have bandaged.

A million claps of my hands when cheering you in soccer, swimming, Scouts, acting, baseball, basketball, karate and more.

A million times my heart has swelled with pride of the amazing young man I am raising. I often get little glimpses into your future and I just know that you will have a good life.

I am wishing for a million more of all of the above. It will never be enough but I will take it just the same.

Happy Birthday, Huntly!

We love spending time in pet shops. We don’t buy anything but we love seeing what animals they have.

This is a local, small pet store that supports the community and offers AKC puppies (no puppy mills here). The employees are fabulous and all clearly pet lovers.

This place is awesome!!

They were talking to each other!

They have private pet cubicles where you can play with a puppy.

Look at all of the pretty colors!

Look what is on this sleeping lizards back. HIS DINNER!

Pretty sure I am going to have a not so great dream about this guy tonight.

For more inspiring photos, check out: The Bonafide Life, Better in Bulk, Shanamama, From Dates to Diapers, 

Not Your Momblog, High Impact Mom, Colorado Moms, Resourceful Mom

Rajean Blomquist, BrainFoggles, Zensible Mama & Rachel Ferrucci

and link your own photo stories

Other Wordless Wednesday places to link up: