Butter Crunch

This is something we would eat every Christmas. My husband's grandmother made it every year. This is the first Christmas without her, so we made it in her memory.

Here's the recipe.

Butter Crunch

In large pan, cook:

1 cup sugar
1 cup white Karo syrup
1 lb butter

Bring to rolling boil for 10 min
- Add 2 tsp vanilla at end

In large bowl, mix:

1 box (17.5 oz) Rice Chex
1 cup coconut
2 cups pecans (halved)
1 cup sliced almonds

Mix sugar mixture with dry.
Spread out on way paper to set up.
Store in plastic zip bag.

Happy Holidays

I'm still pregnant! LOL! 40 weeks and 5 days today. My body seemed to be getting prepared last week. Unfortunately, on Brigham's 6th birthday, as well as my guess date, the entire family came down with a stomach bug. All of us except our birthday boy. What a great gift for him. That seemed to put my body on hold.

We are now down at my in laws and parents for the holidays. We had Christmas at Brent's parents house yesterday. Today we are going to my parents house.

Hope you are all having a great week.

32 Weeks 4 Days

I'm really feeling pregnant now.  I've only gained 16 pounds, but feel so much bigger.  I've made it to the stage where I'm sad that my birth journey is almost over. However, I'm to the stage where I also hurt all over. My abdomen, back, legs, crotch, constant acid reflux, can't sleep b/c my arms and legs cramp and fall asleep, my left leg went numb today when taking my son to the bathroom today at the gas station, etc... I don't want it to end, but then I can't wait.   LOL!

Xlear SparX Review

I was chosen by Moms Meet (greenmomsmeet.com) to review Xlear SparX candy and tooth gel. I received the Fruit, Berry, and Citrus flavored candies, as well as the Natural Bubble Gum and Strawberry Banana flavored tooth gels.

This was the first time I had ever heard of the Xlear SparX products. What I like about them is that they are sweetened with xylitol (a plant-based sweetener) instead of sugar or other sugar free products. All the Xlear SparX candies are also free of artificial colors and flavors.

I want to write a little about xylitol, because it is a sweetener I had no knowledge about until the last year. Xylitol is a naturally occurring plant-based sweetener. It does not interfere with the body's blood sugar levels or insulin production, which makes it a great choice for children and adults on a sugar-controlled diet. Xylitol is also dentist recommended, and has been proven to improve dental health and strengthen tooth enamel.

When I opened the box and saw the samples I was excited. I love trying new, healthy products. The tooth gel was a special treat since it is not just sweetened with xylitol, but is fluoride free. We only use fluoride free products in our home, including filtering it from our drinking water.

I opened each candy container first. Who wouldn't get excited over trying candy? I was a little apprehensive at first. I have tried several "sugar free" candies and products. In my opinion, they always leave a bad aftertaste in your mouth. I've never been a fan of natural sweeteners sugar alternatives due to that, as well as the health risks associated with many of those.

I was fortunate enough to only have my 10 year old daughter in the room with me as I was able to sample the candies and taste the tooth gel (which is also safe to swallow) without fighting off all the other kids. We both tried 4 of each candy flavor, and a small drop of each tooth gel. I was very surprised at how good they tasted! The candies are small, but the flavor spreads through you mouth. They are not chewy, but do not explode into powder when bitten. The tooth gel was easily squeezed out of the tube. A great texture. We both wanted more, but I decided to get more "reviewers" opinions. As a mother of 7, I have plenty of people to help try the products out.

For the candies:

My 14 and 10 old daughters, 4 year old son, and I all liked Citrus best.

My 8 year old daughter liked the Berry flavor over the others.

My 5 year old son and 2 year old daughter liked the candies all equally.


For the tooth gels:

My 14, 10, 8, and 5 year olds liked the Strawberry Banana flavors best.

My 4 and 2 year olds preferred the Bubble Gum flavor.

My 1 year old had no preference. He just wanted to eat them all.


The biggest issue I had with the candies and tooth gels were that my kids wanted them all the time. LOL! They wanted candy because it was so yummy (I agree). My 8, 5, 4, and 2 year olds came running with their toothbrushes. Then wouldn't stop brushing their teeth. I would say that is a good problem.


I feel these are great products. My kids love them. They taste great. I would definitely tell my family and friends about Xlear SparX products. I would even be more likely to buy these over other products due to the taste and health factors. Especially the tooth gels. It is hard to find a good tasting, natural, fluoride free toothpaste for kids. This is the first we have found that all of my children enjoyed and said they would happily use.

I give Xlear SparX candy and tooth gel my parent and child stamp of approval. It passed in our family with flying colors. This will be a product found in my house from now on.


For more information about Xlear SparX products, go to Xlear.com or find them on Facebook at Facebook.com/xylitol.experts



Disclaimer: I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms Meet program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms Meet blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacturer of the product.

30 Weeks and 4 Days

The last few days have been crazy. Hormonally, I'm everywhere. Happy one minute, then upset. Sometimes I just can't stand the thought of anyone even touching me, at all. My poor Jacob is finding out that he can't squirm and pinch all over me all the time. He hates being sent to the floor from my lap, but it's that or pull my hair out.

I've been trying to clean lately. Nesting I guess. I got almost all of the back room (our future bedroom, and where I plan to labor) cleaned out. Unfortunately, my right hip joint has been acting up. I can work for an hour, maybe two or three if I'm lucky. After I rest, I am limping for the rest of the day. Sometimes the next as well.

Acid reflux has hit hard again. It's been pretty good this pregnancy. The last month or two I've had almost none. I've had trouble sleeping the last two nights, using my Bumbo pillow to prop myself up and curl around like a body pillow. I did end up sleeping sitting up on the couch half the night lastnight. A big roast dinner just before bed didn't help things. Won't do that again.

Other than that, things are going great. Baby is active, kicking and rolling right now. I did misplace my RRL leaves, but found them today. Weight has been stable. I need to keep up with my fluid intake.

Family news:

Brent is in another play. He's so excited. I thought about trying out for the part of the pregnant lady, but being a few weeks from my due date, I decided it would be more stress than I needed. Plus, I see it as Brent's away time. Where he can "get away" for a bit.

Abby has found she likes to read. YAY!!! She has been so insistent she "can't read". However, she read 79 pages in a book I found for her the other day... All in one day! Can't read! Whatever! LOL!

She also went to the park with Hannah today. They were gone for 15 minutes when they came back. Abby somehow ran into a pole, bloodied her nose and whacked her front left tooth. Thankfully, so far her tooth looks fine, and her nose as well. She "killed" her front baby tooth as a little one (around 2). Knocked it on a free weight, abscessed it, and when the Dr pushed on the spot on her gums above it, it killed; turning it grey. I told her of she did that again, she can't get a new tooth.

Hannah has made a couple friends. Jenny and Destiny. It's really perked her attitude up.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that we bought a school bus last week? Yep. Our van officially died a few weeks ago. We found a cool black school bus on Craigslist and bought it.

That's about it for now!

A Busy Weekend

We're getting ready for our biggest weekend of the year. Saturday and Sunday we will be selling kettle corn at the Weston Applefest. We go through about 500 pounds of popcorn in those two days! It is CRAZY! What an incredible and fun event though! This will be our third year working this festival. Then, excitedly, we get to also set up at the first annual JCPenny Fall Festival in Hamilton on the 20th. What fun to actually be there for the first year! For those who have never seen how kettle corn is made, here is a video of Brent popping it up. It is not our "official" look, since this was just in the front making some for the family, instead of in the trailer for a festival.
You can follow us on Facebook at Kansas City's Best Kettle Corn or on Twitter at @KCBestKettleCrn.

27 Weeks

Here is my official announcement.

Tomorrow I will be 27 weeks into my pregnancy. I am excited to say we are expecting our 8th baby on December 20, 2012. The fun part is that is also Brigham's 6th birthday!

The kids are very excited. We told them a couple weeks ago, when my tummy was popped enough that it could not be mistaken for much other than a "Baby Bump".

Brent's Grandmother, Joyce, passed this year. I feel strongly that this baby is a girl. I talked with Brent about names. That I want to name her after Joyce. After talking about it, he came up with a name I really love. So, if we have a girl, the name might be Joy Christine (Joy C).

If we have a boy, that's a different story. I have no clue. Boy names are drawing a blank, which is another reason I "feel" this is a girl. Every time I am like this, the sex is that of the names I think of.

I just wanted to update what all is going on lately.

Our 8th baby, 5th home birth, and 3rd unassisted birth.