Other Uses for Toothpaste

1. Clean your sneakers with this and an old toothbrush.
2. Fill nail holes.
3. Polish jewelry (not pearls.)
4. Lightly use to buff out scratches on watches, phone screens, cds, dvds.
5. Take the itch out of insect bites.
6. Dry up acne.
7. Stain remover (Do not use whitening paste on colored clothes.)
8. Clean food smells like onions from your hands.
9. Stains in cups or glasses
10. Dirty car headlights
11. Remove marks from walls and floors.
12. Get rid of bad smells from baby bottles.
13. Clean grout
14. Remove scratches on leather
15. Buff chrome faucets & steel sinks
16. Clean ivory
17. Treat a burn
18. Clean glass shower doors
19. Polish silver
20. Clean Your Iron
21. Exfoliate your face
22. Dry Out Poison Ivy
23. Remove Skunk Smell
24. 
    

Tips & Tricks...Do They Really Work?

I love this trick! Not only does it work, but if you drop part of it in the milk, you have the fork there to dig it out! :) Wish it worked for chocolate chip cookies too.

W4MW ~ Reading Gateway Award Winning Books

The purpose of the Gateway Readers Award is to promote literature, literacy and reading in Missouri high schools, and to recognize authors and illustrators of books that are favorites of Missouri students in these grades. Each year, Missouri students in grades 9-12 vote for their favorite book from a list of nominated titles. The Gateway Readers Award is awarded to the author of this book by the Missouri Association of School Librarians.

Here is a list of the Gateway Award winner or nominee books I've read:

1. Shift by Jennifer Bradbury
2. Right Behind You by Gail Giles
3. Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott
4. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
5. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
6. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
7. Fake ID by Walter Sorrels
8. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

Every one of these books have been really good & not the normal story. Being able to pick up a book w/an award symbol on it & know it will be good without reading the reviews, always works for me!

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Works for Me Wed ~~ Easy Adaptable Cobbler

In the summer, we LOVE cobbler & ice cream. I mean, you gotta do something with all this fresh fruit that's in season, so you might as well make it into something YUMMY!

I love this recipe we stumbled onto for blackberry cobbler. The first time we made it, it vanished like a rabbit in a magic show, in less than 24 hours. The other day I found a dozen peaches in our fridge & my daughter was leaving for a week, so I knew they'd go bad. So I used that & some blueberries instead of the blackberries in the recipe. YUM!

Easy Blackberry (or whatever) Cobbler

• 4 cups fresh blackberries
• 1 large egg
• 1 c sugar (I do half sugar, half splenda)
• 1 c all purpose flour
• 6 Tbsp butter, melted (try to keep it off the top of microwave..irks my hubby)

Preheat oven to 375° Place berries in 8" dish sprayed w/cooking spray. Stir together egg, sugar, & flour in a medium bowl til crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit & drizzle melted butter over top. Bake for 35 mins or until lightly browned & bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

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Works for Me Wed ~~ Chocolate Ribbon Pie

This super simple VERY YUMMY pie recipe...Another winner from Kraft!

Chocolate Ribbon Pie

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W4MW ~ The I'm Bored Edition

Here is how I solve summertime boredom:

New board & card games

And a list of fun things we all want to do!

No Ice, No Salt, No Problem!

Crofton Ice Cream Maker
$ 19. 99 each

• makes 1.5 quarts
• no ice or salt needed
• removable gel bowl included
• transparent lid with ingredient feeder
• anti-skid rubber feet
• recipes included
• two-year manufacturer’s limited warranty

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We bought this from Aldi's 2 weeks ago & it is SO easy to use, easy to clean & makes delicious ice cream! We made the strawberry already & cannot wait to try out new recipes weekly throughout the summer!

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Free DirecTv preview of Showtime Works for ME!

Free Preview Begins: March 25, 2010 (Thursday)
Free Preview Ends: March 28, 2010 (Sunday)

Channels 537-542 & possibly 547 & 549

Credit: freepreview.tv

Free movie channels + a DVR to record them Works 4 Me!

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Having certain meals on special days...

Corned beef, cabbage, red potatoes & green milk for dinner it is!
Menu planning is easy on some special days & easy menu planning is AWESOME for me!

For more Wordless Wed posts, go to 5 Minutes for Mom!

Coming Soon!

Great reading challenges that get me to sit down & relax always work well for me!

For more Wordless Wed posts, go to 5 Minutes for Mom!

Free TV channels always works for me!

Free Preview of NHL Center Ice

Available to DirecTV subscribers

Tuesday, March 2 - Sunday, March 8

Credit: freepreview.tv

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Rimmel Nail Strengthener w/Lycra

I use this stuff on my nails all the time now. I make sure to use it as a base coat when I paint my nails. I have really seen a difference in the length & strength of my nails.

Cover Girl Lash Blast Mascara

I don't even know what to say about this stuff. It is easy to apply. There's no need for a mascara comb afterwards. It makes my lashes look thick & long. Oh & that funky shaped handle? It's great for getting undereye mascara off without smudging the rest of your work.

Great stuff!

Long lasting nail polish works very well for me!

I originally bought this nail polish because it was the only brand I could find that was carrying a royal blue during basketball season. Royal blue is one of our school colors & my daughter is on the team.

So I came home, put it on, & ran off to the game. Not only did I love the color, it was SO easy to apply. Not too thick, not too thin, nice even coverage & color. I was even more excited that it lasted so long. I had to take it off because the tips were still painted, but I could see white around my cuticles where the nails were growing out. That NEVER happens to me! I spend ALOT of my time cleaning & typing, so I rarely have color on the tips of my nails.

Did I mention this polish is less than $3 at Walgreens & often goes on sale buy 1 get 1 free? I'm in love!

Long-lasting, beautiful, easy to apply, inexpensive nail polish defintely Works for Me!

WFMW~~Word of Mouth Movie Reviews

I have a tivo & I rarely watch anything in real time now. The only downfall to this is that I never see movie preview commercials. So I depend on word of mouth from others on what the movie is about & how good it is.

Today I'm going to give you a few movie reviews that we've watched lately. Since my husband is having surgery today that will keep him down for awhile, I'll probably be posting more soon!

The title will link to the Internet Movie DataBase page to each movie & the rating will link you to the Kids-In-Mind webpage that tells you why the movie is rated like it is.

Night at the Museum 2
Rated PG
Amy Adams, Ben Stiller

We watched this movie at the theaters. It was a good movie, very educating in history like the first version. It wasn't as funny as the first, but it was an interesting movie for this family of 4.

Four Christmases
Rated PG-13
Reese Witherspoon, Vince Vaughn

Even with all the big name stars in this movie, I would not watch it again. It was not funny like the ads suggested. It was a depressing view of 4 weird familes at Christmas. The only good thing I can say is if you are dreading getting together with family for Christmas, watching this movie will probably make you feel alot better about your own family.

GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Rated PG-13
Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid, Sienna Miller

My daughter wanted to watch this movie & it was rated tame enough, so I got it. It was a really good, action packed movie. The sophisticated spy technology reminded me of James Bond style tools of the trade. It had a good plot, lots of action, was a great movie!

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
Rated R
Denzel Washington, John Travolta

This movie had a great plot & twists I didn't see coming at all. It was action-packed & very suspenseful. BUT It was FULL of VERY bad language. My friend's DVD player has a language filter & I told her not to even bother watching this movie because after the filter, there wouldn't be anything left.

Transformers
Rated PG-13
Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Rated PG-13
Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox

My husband picked up this movie, not knowing I didn't watch the 1st one. So I watched them in reverse order, but they were still both good movies. Lots of action, not a ton of foul language, but if you are watching with kids, you should check the rated link to review the sex scenes.

The Proposal
Rated PG-13
Ryan Reynolds, Sandra Bullock

It's been awhile since I've seen a decent romantic comedy, but this one didn't disappoint. It was funny & romantic, & while disliking Bullock's charactor in the beginning, I felt sorry for her too. I'd watch this again.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Rated PG-13
Jennifer Garner, Matthew McConaughey

Great movie, easy to follow plot, wonderfully complex charactor you love & hate. Warm fuzzy finish.

Impact
Rated NR
David James Elliot, Natasha Henstridge

A meteor shower strikes the moon & changes gravity. Suddenly the moon is being drawn to the earth, soon to crash if something doesn't stop it. Good plot, interesting topic. Decent movie.

Fast & Furious
Rated PG-13
Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster

Great action adventure movie, alot like the original. Defintely will watch this again!

Race to Witch Mountain
Rated PG
The Rock, AnnaSophia Robb

Good plot, action adventure. I don't know how true it is to the original movie though.

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Squeezy Sour Cream works well for us!

We love BBQ chicken nachos. The night before we had them last, I made the comment that it would be really neat if sour cream came in a squeeze bottle. The next day when my husband ran to Walmart to get something, he grabbed a plain cheap squeeze bottle.

How cool is this? And it was SO simple when we drizzled it over our nachos that night!

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Works 4 Me Wed~~Best Summer Recipe Edition

When I saw this week's topic, I racked my brain trying to come up w/1 summer favorite. Until I realized that summer recipes for me, means something that doesn't heat the house. Ok, I can do that! Here are some of our favs!

Shake it up Chicken Caesar Salad or Chicken Alfredo
(Grill that chicken outside!)
BBQ

Crockpot recipes:
Velvety veggie cheese soup
Cheesy Crockpot Chicken
Stuffed Green Peppers
Taco Soup
Mac & Cheese Soup
Chicken & Rice Soup
Incredibly Easy Potato Cheese Soup
Leanne's Cheesy Cauliflower Soup
Tuna Melts (tuna salad sandwiches cooked in sandwich maker)
Steak & Potatoes Soup

Desserts:
Slow Cooker Apple Crisp
Apple Cake in Crockpot

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Cheap prescriptions works for me!

Our family is a pharmacists' nightmare. Unless, of course, he owns the pharmacy or has stock in his company. Then we are the family that will be sending his children to college.

Did you know many stores are offering discounts for prescriptions now?

Kmart & Target have coupons in their ads about once a month that offer a $10 gift card on new or transferred prescriptions.

Walmart offers tons of prescriptions for $4 a month or $10 for a 90 day supply.

Schnucks offers free antibiotics & discounted generics $4 -$10.

There are many other stores that offer discounts & deals, so please do your homework!

We prefer Walmart because they have a very easy automated phone system for refills & the pharmacy is close to the garden center doors, so it is usually quick to get in & out.

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Vinegar works for me

This is not the first W4MW post with this title. But I promise it is a different topic. I could make a million posts on this subject. Hmmm (thinking noises)

Anyway...

This time, vinegar is working for me in the dishwasher. I live in an area with VERY hard water. I use vinegar in the rinse aid dispenser of my dishwasher & have banished water spots FOREVER. MUAAAAA

Sorry, but vinegar makes me feel like a superhero... what do you think about the name "SuperScrub"?

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Works for me Wed: "Mom I'm bored" edition

I'm always happy when things are timed just right.

I just finished making a summer todo list after reading MomAdvice

& Whatever's posts about this project.

I took a 12x12 piece of white cardstock that comes as page fillers in scrapbooks. I had to line it all up just right cuz I'm anal OCD picky like that.

I used all different colors to make it stand out when we tape it to the white coat closet door.

There is stuff on here for everyone. I tried not to let it get out of hand, so it IS possible we can complete everything on this list this summer. Some of it may straggle into the beginning of the school year, but that's ok.

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