Sunday, June 29, 2008

Shiny Happy Hair and...Asian food?

Kristy left a comment on my last post asking what kind of product I put in my hair. I don't need any more encouragement than that to do another product review! In fact, if anyone knows of a company looking for a product reviewer with a degree in human services (and ZERO journalism experience), but someone with quite a bit of real-world experience (SHOPPING), feel free to pass along my digits.

Yes, this product's name IS a mouthful:

"Garnier Fructis Style Water-Based Shine Wax"

Doesn't quite roll off the tongue, does it? So it doesn't score points for having a catchy name, however, it pretty much rocks in every other category. It is crazy cheap ($3.23 at Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market) and you can find it just about anywhere (I buy mine at Target). When I had short hair, I was on a constant search for the perfect pomade. Some is too gunky, some is too stringy. Some is too thick, some is too thin. Some is too dry, others too greasy. I love this product. It is a great consistency, and it doesn't weigh my hair down. A little bit goes a long way, so the jar lasts me a long time (probably two months).

When your hair is towel-dried, put a little of the shine wax on your fingers and rub together. Apply to the hair sparingly, avoiding the root area. (You want shiny hair, not the I-haven't-washed-my-hair-in-a-couple-days look). It just brightens up your hair a bit and gives you a little extra shine.

******************************************************************************

And here is one more just for fun (I am telling you...I could do this for a living if someone would pay me big bucks!)

I heard from several people that they really liked the pasta I passed along in a recent post. So here is another quick and simple boxed meal that the Horvath's have about once per month:

You can find this on the "Ethnic" aisle in your grocery store, usually in the same spot with other Asian foods like soy sauce and rice noodles. We have tried this variety, Soy Ginger, and one that is called Peanut. It comes with the noodles, sauce and topping (this one has sesame seeds) and you just add a meat (chicken, pork or shrimp) and any vegetables you might want (I usually add half a package of frozen stir-fry veggies).

Yumm-o.

(And for the grandparents...random cuteness. I know they don't come here for hair care product reveiws :-)

Sunday, June 22, 2008

4th Birthday Party...Take 2

(To see pictures from his first birthday party this year, click HERE.)

Seth's actual birthday was on June 11th, but my Dad was in the middle of wheat harvest so things get a bit crazy 'round these parts (said in my best Texas accent)! So we had a small party with just us and a few friends from home team on his actual birthday, then we had his family party today. He wanted a Tractor party, so tractors it was!

While I was busy making the cake and decorating, Steve was busy trying out his new lens before the party. Here is a picture he took of Seth, who was patiently (but excitedly!) waiting for his guests to arrive.

Decorating cakes is something that I really enjoy doing, so each year I try to branch out a little bit more.



I think Seth's favorite part of his birthday is the birthday cake. More specifically, his favorite part is when everyone sings Happy Birthday to him and he gets to blow out the candle. I love the look on his face when all this is going on. Pure joy!

The party hat Seth is wearing in this picture has been worn by both him and Caleb on every birthday so far. It says "I am _____ today!" on the front, and you just put a new number in the blank. The elastic on the band is wearing a little thin, but I wanted to see how many birthdays we could make it through with the Horvath's special birthday hat!

Seth got some fun gifts today! From Aunt Cici and Austin, he got a construction worker dress up set (a hard hat and goggles) and a chef dress up set (an apron, chef's hat, and oven mitts in manly colors of blue and red). So he combined the two for a fun, one-of-a-kind look:

Papa and Nana got Seth a new Leapster which he loves!!

I only got one picture with him all day, but he was stressed out during this photo because his new Leapster was being taken out of the box at the same time. He was much more interested in his new game than taking a picture with Mom.
Uncle Neal, Aunt Heather and Colton got him a Cars Slip -n- Slide and inflatable boogie boards to use on the slip-n-slide. Crazy fun!
Seth's cousin Colton...

Seth's cousin Austin...

We missed you Heather!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Thursday, June 19, 2008

New Product Review


I am always on the lookout for tasty, yet fast & easy, meals that my husband and two (picky) boys will eat. Tonight, I hit the jackpot! Thought I would share my great find with everyone because, who couldn't use another fast, easy and tasty meal option?

I found this on the pasta aisle at WalMart Neighborhood Market. It was $3.00 and included in the box is the pasta, sauce mix, seasonings, sun dried tomatoes AND grated parmesan and romano cheeses. If you were going to attempt this dish from scratch on your own, you would spend $3.00 just buying a jar of sun dried tomatoes!

All you have to add is:
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tablespoons butter
3/4 cup milk
(To lighten up this recipe for healthy eaters, just use margarine instead of butter and skim milk instead of whole or 2%)


It was very easy, only a few steps, and it was done in less than 20 minutes. Another plus to this dish is that it made enough for all 4 of us, and both the boys had two servings each, and we have enough left over for Steve and I to eat another meal!

I also added a small can of mushrooms and 1/2 can of italian seasoned diced tomatoes. I really didn't even expect the boys to like it with all the seasonings and the mushrooms, but they both loved it! Fast, easy, made plenty of servings, tasted great, and appealed to a wide audience of discriminating eaters.
Grade: A+

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Someone turned 4 yesterday....


This is Seth sunbathing in his new pool. It is fancy-schmancy. It actually has a SLIDE built into the pool. The Horvath's are going big time this summer :-)

We had a low key day yesterday. We are not having Seth's party until the 21st because my Dad is in the middle of wheat harvest. Seth had lunch with his Nana and had some birthday cake, and then we had a cake last night at our house.


Steve and I had talked about getting Seth something musical this year. He LOVES music. So we were going to look for a small African drum called a djembe (pronounced "jim-bay"). When I found out a really small one that was only 8 inches diameter and 12 inches tall was $50, we changed our minds! But then....I stumbled upon a beginner's drum set. I told Steve about it over the phone NOT because I thought he would want to buy it, but just because it was cute and I thought SOMEDAY we could get him one. Well.....


Caleb has figured out if he holds the symbol it muffles the noise. He does this to the annoyance of his older brother.

Our good friends Greg and Julia who are a part of our home team also got Seth a musical gift...a harmonica! It is hard to see in this picture, but he is holding it in his hand. He also took it to bed last night and fell asleep holding it. Pretty cute. I will have to post a video soon of him playing his harmonica...

My Uncle Terry, who lives in Florida, also sent Seth a great musical gift.

It has a head set microphone that actually amplifies his voice. He is officially a one-man band with drums, keyboard and harmonica!!
Then he opened his gift from Grandpa and Grammi in California.

We can't wait to try it out today! It is a dog sprinkler that shakes and throws water on the kids. How fun is that. They also sent him a rock-n-roll t-shirt that will be perfect to wear while he is playing his drums or keyboard :-) and also a cool new swimsuit that looks VERY Californian. Seth will be stylin'!

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY SETH! WE LOVE YOU!

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Seth Snoring like an Old Man


(Make sure and turn your volume up so you can hear the sound effects!)

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Last Day of Pre-School

Seth's last day of pre-school was this past Wednesday.   Here is a look back at his first day...

And here is Seth ready to go on his last day of school!

Here are some shots with him and his favorite ladies at school~ Mrs. Kassem, his teacher's assistant.

Mrs. Lerman, his speech therapist.

Mrs. Carrero, his beloved teacher. We will miss you Mrs. Carrero!


We also had a surprise visit from our friend Silas this past weekend. Here are Seth and Silas enjoying a little leisurely time in the tub!

Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures with Caleb and Silas. Caleb is 6 months older than Silas, but Silas was roughing him up a bit and kept stealing his pacifiers. So I don't think Caleb would have been too ready to smile and pose. However, we have high hopes that the two will become best buddies over our week long trip together in July to Hot Springs, AR!

Caleb has been doing speech therapy through the same organization we used with Seth. Caleb will be turning 2 at the end of July, and he has still limited his words to "Mama" and "Pa-pa" for paci. He is a man of few words. So we have someone coming out to our house once per week to work with Caleb. I use the word "work" lightly though. Caleb pretty much does everything he can to ignore her when she is trying to get him to talk. Her opinion...he is stubborn and doesn't want to talk. I could have told her that! :-)

So here are some shots of Krista and Caleb building blocks together. As long as she is cooperating with him, he will hang out with her. As soon as she withholds something and tries to get him to make a sound or say a word for what he wants, he decides he is no longer interested, thank you very much.




This boy loves to build!