Smitten in the Kitchen

Just in Case you Ever Wonder {Review}

When I was asked to review a children’s book written by Max Lucado, I jumped at the chance. I love the way that Max writes; it’s so flowery and creative.  I knew that a children’s book written by him would be amazing…and I was not disappointed!

The book is called Just in Case You Ever Wonder.  It is about  how your child is very special and how there is no one else in the world like him. They…

Britfield & The Lost Crown

Even though I am not a child, I like reading children’s books.  I fact, I read Lemon chapter books often.  Even though she’s not old enough to read them yet, I think it’s important to read books like this to her so she hears bigger words to learn.  It helps grow a love of reading as well!

I was asked recently to read and review Britfield & The Lost Crownby C.R. Stewart.  I thought about it for…

All Manner of Things

I am an avid reader that reads quite a few books a month, but I am very picky about which books I love. I was introduced to Susie Finkbeiner via a friend. I was a little apprehensive as I’ve become picky about the quality books I read. But I quickly devoured her ____ books. In return, I bought her other books and Susie rose to one of my favorite authors. When I found out that she was having…

Sorry it’s been so long since I have written!  It’s been crazy here lately.  I cannot believe it’s already my 41st birthday!  What craziness!  Where does time go?

As I have told you before, every night we do Bible and story time with Lemon.  She loves hearing about God and talks about him often.  You should hear her pray!  Her faith is strong too; it seems a majority of her prayers have been…

Lately, Lemon has been asking these questions.  She truly believes in God, but she keeps asking where He is.  She doesn’t understand that he is everywhere.  When I was asked to review this book for y’all, I jumped on the chance, as I knew that it would be a good book to explain to Lemon about how God is everywhere.

  This book reveals that God is all around us even though you cannot see the physical God.  He is in the gentle wind, he is in fluffy clouds, the art of a rainbow.

The illustrations by Lucy Fleming is truly amazing!  I love how they’re whimsical, sweet, and calming.  I love the mixed media talent she used to illustrate how God is everywhere.

The poetry rhymes are great for nighttime reading. I love how we can read this book at night right before bedtime, leaving her final thoughts before sleep be about God.  It’s a short book, but an impactful book.  I especially love how the book ends by saying that the love that you show for others is how you can show others about God too.

  Would you like to win a copy of this book?  It is a great book to add to your child’s collection, or someone special in your life.  Click on the photo below to enter!

7 Items to Buy at a Thrift Store {Lifestyle}

My husband has had a love for thrift stores for as long as he can remember.  He has always liked finding what was someone’s trash and made into treasure again.  (He also loves to save money—he’s very thrifty!)  I don’t remember going into a thrift store until I was in my senior year of college.  With limited funds, I couldn’t believe how far my money went there!  Now, when I need to find ways to…

Homemade Sauerkraut {How To}

We all know that gut health is the best way to keep ourselves healthy.  It is core to boosting immunity and increase nutrients absorption.  We could take a magical drink or swallow a pill that will help with our gut health.  But, my way is fermentation.  Fermented foods, like sauerkraut have so much more healthy probiotics than anything on the fermented foods have been even attributed to alieving…

Stress Free Holiday Season

There was a time very recently when I didn’t like Christmas time at all.  Sure, I loved that it was about Jesus’ birth and loved the lights.  However, I hated the stress. I hated the pressure to find the perfect gift for family members.  I hated the commercial holiday being forced down my throat.  Most of all, I hated how the holiday made people mean, angry, selfish, and rude.  People aren’t…

When God Meets You in the Wilderness {Inspiration}

Elijah needed a break.  He spent himself both emotionally and spiritually and, physically, could not go on.  So, God told Elijah to go to the wilderness.

Elijah had told Ahab that there will be a drought for the next few years and will end at Elijah’s word because Abah was evil in the eyes of the Lord.  He married Jezabel and began to worship Baal.  He also made an Asherah pole that angered the…

Christmas Countdown {How To}

When you have little ones, the wait until Christmas is an unbearable one.  They don’t quite get time yet and even an hour seems like a year.  To make the time go by quicker (or at least without a million “Is it Christmas yet?” questions), I have made an easy Christmas countdown. As a result, it makes the long wait to Christmas a bit easier.  It’s quite simple to make as well! I add slips of paper…

For as long as I can remember, Lemon has wanted to go to Disney World.  I suppose she got the idea from commercials and ads in her magazines, as well as watching all the Disney movies.  However, we just couldn’t get up and go there.  We just didn’t have the funds, nor were we going to go into debt over it.  We told Lemon we would save up for it, though!  During one visit, Lemon declared to the Child Life worker that she wanted to go to Disney World “really really really bad”.  The Child Life worker mentioned Make a Wish.  The worker mentioned something about Make-a-Wish Foundation.  She saw the look on our faces and said that it wasn’t just for kids who were dying—many people thought that.  I was interested in finding more about it—after all, the worst that could happen was that we would get a no and we would be right where we started.  Due to our schedule, I didn’t pursue it for a while.  However, one random day a few months ago, we got an email from our local chapter that Lemon was approved for a wish!  I was quite shocked!  It turned out that THREE separate people at the hospital submitted her to the foundation—the Child Life worker, her doctor, and a social worker.  (Lemon is well-known and well-loved at the hospital!)

Of course, Lemon told the volunteers that she wants to go to Disney World.  After a few meetings and a long wait, we got to go to Disney World in October.  Do you know how hard it is to keep a secret like this for 7-8 months??  It’s so hard! 

She was so excited when we finally told her!  Lemon is with her cake someone made for her.

*Please note that each Make-a-Wish chapter does things differently.  Also note that each family will do things differently.

  Day 1: Flight & Give Kids the World

We were treated like royalty from the time they picked us up for the airport in a white stretch limo!  (Despite someone on our street stuck her head out of the window into the cold rainy air to yell, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” at us when we were getting in the limo…). They let us go through security right away (which was painless, even with the meds we brought).  They even let us board first, go into the cock pit, and pick our seat first.  The pilot even went and bought us donuts and mentioned Lemon over the intercom!  

She did so well on the plane!  She watched her show on her Kindle for the 3 hour flight.

We were greeted at the airport by a Give Kids the Worlds greeter, who was super nice!  MAW rented us the BEST van! (A van for 3 people?)  By the end of our trip, we wanted to keep the van!

Give Kids the World

This place is for all wish kids (MAW or not) who’s wish is for Disney World.  It was created by Henri Landwirth (a survivor of the Holocaust) for children like Lemon as a place where children and families can go and forget the worries and stress of their illness and hospitals.  This special resort as individual villas and a hotel building, a spa, two pools, a large dining place, a special playground, rides, an ice cream place (open all day), movie theater, etc.

When we first got to the village, we went to personalize Lemon’s star.  They put the star up in this special building called the Castle of Miracles.  There are well over 100,000 stars up!  Lemon’s star was put up in the new tower called the Star Observatory.

Afterwards, we went to the spa, and she got her nails, hair, and a temporary tattoo done.

That night, we went to a save, fun Halloween party (each week, they have various parties at night, including a Halloween and a Christmas party).  She found the music a bit scary (with the lights), but we made it better with ice cream!

Later in the week, Disney sends over various Disney characters so kids who are too sick or tired to go to the parks can see some characters! She even went horseback riding twice.  The girl was in high heaven!  She had to ride Ginger twice.

  Day 2: Epcot

Boy, did I make a mistake planning this day!  I planned on going to Epcot for a couple of hours, then going to Hollywood Studios later, based on what people have said about Epcot (it is small, it is boring, there’s not much to do, etc.). We ended up spending most of our time at this park!

{Now, please note that Lemon’s main wish was the meet the princesses.  Thank goodness for the app My Disney Experience as it shows you where each character is located!  Seriously, if you go to Disney, Make-a-Wish trip or not, make sure you have this app on your phone!  (It also shows ride wait times, keep track of tickets and photo passes, as well as locations of food and restrooms at all Disney parks.)}

We spent at good 8 hours in this park walking around and getting to the princesses! I really liked meeting Elsa and Anna.  Lemon even taught Anna how to do exploding fist bump (as this was the only princess she didn’t hug as it was the first princess she met) and Elsa taught her how to build a snowman.

I learned a big lesson this day to make sure I HYDRATE a ton before you go, especially if it’s hot!  It was 95º that day and I started to get really sick shortly after arriving.  My body just wasn’t used to the heat and humidity that day!  I’m so thankful that we bought plenty of bottled water and had our cooling towels.  (The other days, I made sure I drank a lot before we left for the parks, and I was fine.)

Seeing all the countries was really cool!  It was a little homeschool lesson in each country as we saw a bit of each countries first hand.

Surprisingly, Lemon didn’t like the Frozen Ever After ride.  She claimed she liked all the singing, but she didn’t like it was a water ride.  (You ride in little Swedish boats, and there is a little flume ride at the end she didn’t like at all.)

Genie Pass

Thanks to the Genie Pass that all the people who stay at Give Kids the World get to use in the parks, we got to go to the front of all the lines for the characters.  There was only one (Jasmine) that made us wait.  (They may have forgotten about us.) For the rides (here and other parks), they let us go to in the Fast Pass line.

Day 3: Magic Kingdom

This was a red letter day for Lemon!  Besides meeting the princesses, she wanted nothing more than to see the castle! She was in such awe of it!

Once again, we met so many princesses, including her absolute favorite, Rapunzel.  They had fun talking about Lemon’s shirt (which had Rapunzel on it), Pasquale, and other things.  She taught Lemon how to pinkie swear!  (For what, I have no idea as Lemon doesn’t remember!). Lemon asked Cinderella if she still had her shoe, which Cinderella showed her that she does!  Lemon was so impressed!  Tiana wanted to trade Lily’s special glitter Minnie ears for some magic from Mama Odie.  Lily spoke Spanish to Elena of Avalor, which Elena spoke Spanish back!

We did do a few rides—she loved Dumbo and the teacups!  I loved the Dole Whip.  Yum!  I want another one now.  I wasn’t a fan of how there were SO many people there that it was hard to maneuver.  I kind of feel like there should be a cap on how many people are allowed inside, but maybe that’s the grinch talking.  This was the only time I felt that way.

We realized just how much Lily’s terrified of water when she cried the whole time on It’s a Small World ride, which is a VERY VERY long (boring) ride!  Time crept by on this ride!

Our day ended off on a high note with the spectacular fireworks display behind Cinderella’s Castle!  The tram ride back was a doozy, but we did it and we are all accounted for.

  Day 4: Universal Studios

Today was Mama’s day as she (me) is such a big Harry Potter fan!  Lemon really is too as I read book 1 to her and she’s seen all the movies.  

Wizarding World of Harry Potter is so awesome!  Even Jay said it was like being in the movie.  He, not a HP fan (but probably saw all the movies) could appreciate it all.  We explored Diagon Alley, explored the joke shop (Lemon got a sugar quill that actually writes!), had a frozen butterbeer (I highly suggest the frozen version!), then took Hogwarts Express to Hogsmede.  (We had a golden pass that we could go between the two Universal parks, and pretty much skip the lines too). The train ride had interactive windows “outside” and the ones to the isle of the train that looked like the Harry, Hermione, and Ron defeating a dementor.  That scared Lemon a little.

We spent so much time exploring Hogsmede, we stayed there until closing!  We had dinner at Three Broomsticks (I had fish and chips and another frozen butterbeer for the class…which the butterbeer gave Lemon a bellyache), shopped, and explored the little gems. We even saw the frog choir preform!

Make sure you stay for the Nightime Lights at Hogwarts!  It’s short, but really cool.

An insider’s note:  the huge souvenir store near the exit of the Island park has TOY wands for HALF of what a real wand costs!  The wands at Ollivander’s Wand Store were so expensive, and not a toy.  For a 4-year-old, he has to be a toy.  We got an awesome wand that lights up at the end.  Plus, I don’t feel bad if she accidentally breaks it.

Day 5: Hollywood Studios

This was partially daddy’s day as he’s a Star Wars fan!  Lemon is NOT, as you can see.  I think she’s kind of scared of the characters.

What she REALLY wanted to do was go on the Slinky Dog ride in Toy Story Land!  We made sure we went to Toy Story Land first and do this ride.  She wanted to do it because she saw it on TV a lot and thought it looked so fun!  However, when she got off, she told the worker sternly, “I did NOT like that ride!”  Haha!  She thought it was too fast for her taste.  It didn’t traumatize her, thank goodness.  We went on the Alien Swirling Saucers, which she loved, as well as Toy Story Mania.  In fact, we came back to Toy Story Land towards the end of the day and went on those rides again (sans Slinky Dog).

We got to catch a few shows, which was pretty cool!  We really enjoyed the Frozen Sing Along.  Erik, one of of the historians was especially funny.  It even really snowed at the end!  (Foam). Lemon was thrilled about that!

She was really happy to finally meet Olaf too, as well as Mickey and Minnie.

  Day 6: Universal Studios (again)

Before we went back to Universal Studios to explore the places we missed the first time, we had a special photoshoot with Capes and Crowns.  They were at GKTW for this week only and let everyone there (who wanted one) have a special photoshoot.  Of course, Lemon picked Rapunzel.  She wanted Daddy to be Flynn and me be Mother Gothel.  (What?!). We should get our photos soon!  Check out the amazing work they do on their website.

When we got to the park (and walked a million miles to get to the park….They gotta fix this problem…)  We went on the Minions ride because she fit the height for it, but it scared her so bad!  It was an interactive 3D roller roaster ride.  Poor thing was crying and there was nothing we could do.  Luckily, after we found a good section that was geared for her age, Curious George.  The problem was, it was a small water park and we didn’t have a bathing suit!  Oh well, it’s a good thing it was hot!

We also went to an animal show nearby.  They let us stay after and meet one of the dogs.  Lemon was a bit hesitant at first, but he was such a good dog that she eventually pet him.

When we were heading back to the Island, we ran into Doc from Back to the Future!  Daddy was beyond excited, as you can see.

We ended the day by doing all the rides in Dr. Seuss’s section.  Good thing, as it rained a lot when it got dark!  Always bring ponchos!

  Day 7: Leave 😦

We were so sad to go home!  Even though it was hot as Hades that week, it was so nice to be away from the worries of her illness, and from life itself.  It was great to focus on us as a family.  A few things to consider:

Highly recommend a stroller if your kid is 7 and younger and can fit in a stroller.  It is hot there and there’s a lot of walking.  It will help prevent an overtired meltdown.  Plus, it was great to have something to put our stuff under and not have to hold.

Bring LOTS and LOTS of bottled water!  It’s a lifesaver!

Bring ponchos!

Finally, don’t over plan!!  Just plan the basics and let the day plan itself.

Let me leave you with Wizard Lemon:

Bob was a lawyer for 25 years before he gave up his law firm to write full time.  He wrote a book called Love Does in 2012.  Instead of keeping the profits of the book, he gave it all away to change the lives of children in Uganda, Nepal, India, Iran, Somolia, and Afghanistan. In 2018, he decided to release a version of Love Does for children.  Love Does for Kids is basically a kid version of the adult version of Love Does—it’s full of stories about how God is entwined in our lives.  He talks about the crazy adventures he has had throughout his life, and how God can fit in.

Lemon enjoys the stories at night—she often picks this book to read for our highly reading session.  But, what is more, is that us adults enjoy it too!  I often hear my husband quietly comment about a truth Bob has written about God that hits home.

If you are looking for some way to add more God into your child’s book time, this book is it.  I’d say from ages 4-12 would really enjoy this book.

This book is for kids, big and small.  This book is about the. New kingdom Jesus invites us all to be a part of—a kingdom we can enter only if we are just like kids.  In the kingdom of heaven, we are all becoming a little more like children and a little more like love—and learning more about what love does.

Homemade Mac and Cheese

Though we did baby led weaning with Lemon and she ate everything during that time, even green vegetables (gasp!), once my daughter become a toddler, her food pallet allowed two things:  Carbs and fruit.  If it’s a carb, she will eat it! (Mac and cheese included, of course!)  Of course, she does eat some other things, like cherry tomatoes (only from our garden), baked fried okra, hamburgers, and a…

Garlic Parmesan Roasted Carrots

Here is another installment in what you could bring to Thanksgiving that will impress even the pickiest of eaters!  Do you need a last-minute side to add to your table but you’re unsure what to make?  Are you tired of the same-old recipes you’ve been making year after year and are looking for a new recipe to add a kick to your menu?  I made these roasted carrots when I had a huge influx of…

CSB (in)courage Devotional Bible & Giveaway {Review}

Real life is messy.  This Bible will help you find God in the midst of it.

This Bible came to me at the right time (of course!).  We have been going through some tough things right now.  This Bible is full of devotionals that can help your encourage your walk with God.

As I have said before, I own a lot of Bibles, including the She Reads Truth Bible and the CSB Study Bible for Womenis just as…

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar

Guess what?  American Thanksgiving is coming up!  Ah, I guess you knew that.  If you are food lover or a foodie, Thanksgiving is an amazing time.  All the food prep and cooking, it is a feast for the senses!  It’s the time to show off your skill!  For the next month, I am going to post some of my favorite recipes that would be great for you to make for your Thanksgiving meal.

Are you looking for…