Tupperware Jel-Ring and Bowl Giveaway

Upate***

ReneeG has been notified she was the winner.

One of my favorite products is the Tupperware Jel Ring Mold. As part of the Bloggy Carnival, I'm giving away a Jel Ring mold along with a set of 4 Little Wonder Bowls.

This contest is open to anyone with a U.S. mailing address. You must be 18+ to enter.

To enter the contest, visit my Tupperware site at http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka and tell me your favorite product from the "new this month" section.

To receive a second entry follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/audreyokaneko Then post a second comment letting me know your user name on Twitter and that you're now following me.

For a third entry, blog about this contest and post with the URL to the entry. Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. pacific time on October 31st.

More giveaways at the Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival!

Good luck to everyone!!

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka

Halloween Recipes

I want to thank Tammy from http://www.cookin-at-home.com/ for todays information.

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup water
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 ounces melted unsweetened baking chocolate
Candy corn
Halloween paper liners (get them at a party supply store)
Chocolate frosting

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.Combine all ingredients into mixing bowl. Mix at low speed for 30 seconds, and scrape bowl. Mix at high speed for 3 minutes.Fill liners 1/2 to 2/3 full of batter. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 10 minutes in pans then remove from pan, and place on wire racks to cool completely.

Frost when chocolate cupcakes are completely cool.

Top with candy corn to make a smiley face

Biscuit Doughnut Treats

Ingredients
1 can of store bought biscuits
Vegetable oil
Deep fryer (sauce pan will work as well)
Chocolate frosting
Orange sprinkles

Directions
Pour vegetable oil in deep fryer. Plug deep fryer in to heat.

Find a small glass or something to cut the biscuits into doughnuts. Don't discard the holes.

Place 2 doughnuts into fryer at a time. Let brown on one side then flip them over. Deep fry until golden. Place doughnuts onto paper towel lined plate to drain access oil. Deep fry the rest of the doughnuts including the doughnut holes. When cooled, top doughnuts and holes with chocolate frosting. Top with orange sprinkles.

Black Forest Twinkie Delights

Ingredients
Hostess twinkies
White frosting
Empty food coloring bottle
Red, blue, and yellow food coloring
Orange sprinkles

Directions
Add one third of a bottle equal parts of red, blue and yellow food coloring to the empty bottle...in that order. Secure the lid on the bottle. Shake the black food coloring vigorously so it is mixed. Test the food coloring by putting a couple of drops into a small amount of white frosting. Mix the black food coloring into the white frosting thoroughly. If you find that the food coloring is not as dark as you like it, add a little more red food coloring to the mixture. Top the twinkies with the black frosting. Top with orange sprinkles.

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka

Becoming a Step Parent

With the divorce and remarriage rate so high these days, there is a good chance that you just might find yourself a step parent.

I’d like to offer some tips on being a step parent:

Always remember that the child already has both a mom and a dad. Depending on the age of the children when you enter their lives, there is a good chance rules and guidelines are already established. It will help both you and the child if you support the current rules versus trying to create new rules.

Encourage the child(ren) to call you by your first name. Unless the circumstances are such that you’ll be adopting the child at a very young age and the other parent is not involved, don’t confuse and hurt the child by expecting to be called mom or dad. Should the child choose to call you mom or dad, that’s great, but until that time encourage them to call you by your first name.

Speak with the child about how they would like to be introduced. I have one friend with a step son and I did not know he was a “step” until very recently. She never distinguished him from her other children. She referred to all of the kids as “her kids” and introduced them all as “my kids”. I’ve seen other parents say “this is my daughter Amy and this is my step daughter Cindy”. Why make the distinction, unless the child has specifically asked you to?

Do not speak poorly of the child’s other parent, regardless of circumstances. You will put the child on the defensive and you will being eating away at the child’s own self worth each time you put down a parent that they believe they are a part of.

Encourage your step children to spend time alone not only with your spouse, but also with their other parent. The more a child sees your support of these relationships, the happier the child will be and the more they will see you as an ally, not an enemy.

Being a step parent is not easy and the family might need some assistance from a neutral party, such as a family counselor. Be willing to work hard at the relationship between you and your step children. Be willing to listen and be willing to make changes that will make family life together more enjoyable for everyone.

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka

Are You An Over-Protective Mom?

As a mom to two girls I am well aware of each and every danger that is out there. However, I also strongly believe that if you have a tendency to be overprotective you are actually doing your children a grave disservice.

Part of growing up and part of becoming independent does involve making mistakes and does involve dealing with the consequences of those mistakes.

I’ve seen moms say that they won’t let their children ride a public bus. I believe at age 13 they should be allowed to figure out to take the bus and if need be, take the bus with an adult their first time. For those saying, “Oh but that’s too young,” when do you think they might be ready to take this step?

I’ve seen moms who really have strong influence over who their children choose to be friends with. The moms really manipulate the situation so their child can not play with the other child. While you as an adult may see something your child does not yet see, how will your child learn to see and recognize these things if you continue to make friend choices for him/her? If your child is 8 and you’re making these choices, at what age do you believe your child can make their own friend choices? As a teen there are a lot more things to consider and look for when choosing friends. If your child has not developed this skill earlier, they’re bound to make some poor choices as a teen.

I really once again want to stress I do understand the dangers out there. I just also know that if we don’t let out children make choices and realize the consequences of those choices, they never learn the skills.

What about going out with friends? Can your child go out on a school night? It’s ok to say no up to a point. At what age do you let them learn that going out on a school night and not getting enough sleep will result in poor concentration and poor performance the following day?

I can remember getting a phone call from another mom when my daughter was about 6. My daughter had done something to upset her child. While I agree 100% that my daughter was wrong, I also believe that the other child would have done much better to have her mom coach her on how to problem solve instead of her mother calling me. The only time I got involved was when a boy tried to light my daughter’s hair on fire. This was a situation that required adult intervention. If we don’t allow our children to work on relationship problems at age 6, how will they prepare for adulthood and all of their future relationships?

As I’ve stated, I have two kids of my own. I know how much there is to worry about. I also know that I want both of my kids to develop the skills and confidence to become independent, self sufficient adults.

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka

A Demonstration

I ran across something the other day that really did not sit right with me. I thought I’d share it here. A woman shared about her weekend. She told those reading that she had taken part in an anti abortion demonstration and had brought her kids. She shared how people said very mean and ugly things that her children had to endure.

I am the first to admit that the topic of abortion is very controversial. My issue was bringing children to this demonstration.

In the past, doctors have been killed over this issue. In the past, buildings have been destroyed and burned down over this issue. This is a very controversial issue.

I really can not understand bringing children into this intentionally. Why would a mother want to intentionally put her children into a situation where they will be verbally abused at a minimum?

I believe every person has the right to their opinion and I believe every person has a right to demonstrate if they so choose. Finally I believe in teaching children to speak up and be heard, however I just can not agree with intentionally bringing children into a hostile situation that in some instances has led to murder.

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka

How to Help Young Children Learn to Budget

As an adult, I often meet other adults who struggle from paycheck to paycheck. When I engage in conversation, I find that many times this struggle is the result of not being taught to budget as a child.

I’d like to offer several suggestions on how you can help teach a young child both money management and budgeting:

Does your child enjoy buying lunch at school? Create a system/budget with them, where they are allowed to only buy 2 or 3 days per week. If they don’t buy that often, then make their budget for only 2 or 3 times per month. If you allow treats, allow money for them to buy a cookie or chocolate milk a few times. What this does is causes them to learn to make decisions with the money they have. They have to decide which meals they want to spend their allotment on. They have to decide which treat they want to purchase. They also learn that spending it all up front leaves them nothing the rest of the month. This is just a very simple exercise that even young children can learn from.

You can set up an allowance for your kids, making it clear what they are expected to buy for themselves. When you do this it teaches kids to save for the future and it teaches them that when they want something they will have to work and save for it, it won’t just come to them immediately upon wishing for it.

Take young children grocery shopping with you. Teach them how to comparison shop. Set the example of looking at prices of various brands and making comparisons between the large size and the smaller sizes. Spend time clipping coupons and using them. Again, this teaches children to look for savings and to invest time to save money.

Let children help with dinner. For example, give your child a reasonable budget to be in charge of dessert. Allow them to make the choice with their budget. Allow another child to be in charge of the main course and a third child to be in charge of side dishes. Young children begin to see how budgeting and shopping wisely can lead to savings.

These are all activities that can help you to teach your young children the value of money. As parents I think we all want our children to be financially independent as adults and these tips can help you get to that point.

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka

Children and Computers

I recently read a piece on the dangers of children and the internet. The article was very strong in keeping children away from computers and not allowing children to become reliant on ease of computer research.

I actually see things very differently. I think computers are a wonderful piece of equipment for children. I’d like to share my thoughts on how computers can help children.

As a child, I was not good at geography. Today, the internet can provide maps for the entire world. You can view any country, any continent or any one city. Each of us learns differently. For me, seeing the flat map in the history book did not help me learn. With the internet and being able to see maps with bordering countries was a wonderful way to finally understand it all. It allows me to put things into perspective when I can see how other countries compare in size to the U.S. You just can’t get this perspective from one page in a text book.

While math and I were great friends when I was in school, this is not the case for all children. Today, children do not need to spend hours in agony learning formulas that often they’ll never use again. Every computer I’ve seen has a basic calculator and you can search online for more advanced problem solving.

Over the years, both of my kids knew other kids who passed up opportunities to go to overnight camp fearful of not knowing anyone there. Today, camps are forming online groups so the kids can all meet online and chat online before they ever arrive at camp. Once camp is over the kids can email and instant message one another. When I was a teen, we had to hand write letters and postal mail them.

When kids need to do research, there are no limits. When I was a kid, I was limited by what encyclopedias were available at the local library and how current those books were. Today, our children can access up to the minute research from hundreds of sources.

While I can certainly see the downsides to computer usage, such as not learning basic math functions and relationships that both start and end online, I do believe that the pros far outweigh the cons.

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka