It has been awhile since I’ve done a product review for 2 reasons.  First, I was saving my $20 Amazon compensations to put toward my camera.  I purchased my camera in September.  Second, I haven’t seen much pop up in my inbox that interested me.  I only do review products that are useful and relevant to me or stuff that I want to try.  It isn’t always sexy but it is stuff that I find useful.  Today: lightbulbs.

I signed up to review the Sylvania Supersaver Halogen light bulbs because I don’t like the CFL light bulbs that I’m supposed to use because they are greener.  I use them in some places because I know I should.  I know they are better for the environment, cheaper to use, and last a long time.  BUT I can’t stand the light they give off.  It is so harsh and unpleasant.  I use them primarily in outside fixtures, garages and basement fixtures, and lamps with warm colored shades.  The warm shades soften the light enough that I can handle it.

When I saw the Sylvania Supersaver Halogen light bulbs fit at least 2 of the 3 aforementioned criteria (no one has suggested to me that they last longer than regular light bulbs), I said “Sign me up!”.  Did you know that regular incandescent light bulbs will be phased out in the next 4 years?  As a result, we should start seeing some new lighting options pop up in our stores.  I received 2 Sylavania Supersaver Halogen light bulbs in Soft White to try out.

The bulbs are mercury free and use between 22 - 33% less energy than incandescent bulbs.  The bulbs they sent me were 43 Watts to replace a 60 Watt bulb.  (They are available in 28, 43, and 72 watt as well as a variety of flood light wattages.)

I took them one out of the package and compared it to a regular light bulb.  Looks pretty much the same - the bulb portion is a tiny bit smaller.  The left is the new bulb and the right is a 60 watt incandescent bulb.

I put one in my favorite little lamp.  I know these photos probably aren’t a fair representation because so much is dependent upon my camera and your computer screen but if nothing else you can admire my cute little lamp.  The one on the left is the Sylvania Supersaver Halogen bulb and the one on the right is the 60 watt incandescent bulb.  These photos are straight out of my camera with no editing other than sizing them down and adding the watermark.

Bottom line: I notice very little difference which is a good thing in my opinion.  The new bulb is a little bit brighter and a little bit whiter than my incandescent bulb but I only am aware of it because I was looking for differences.  The bulbs come on immediately unlike the CFL bulbs that tend to hesitate before they blink on.  They are fulling dimmable and they use a bit less energy.  They are a bit pricey compared to incandescent bulbs (cheaper than CFL the last time I bought them but it has been awhile so I can’t swear to it) starting at $4.29 a 2 pack.  They are currently available for purchase at www.sylvania.com/HalogenSS and at Menard’s and BJs.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of SYLVANIA and received products necessary to facilitate my candid review. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

In my previous post, talking about Tessa losing weight, I included a photo of Tessa and Steve.  Tessa is obviously not paying attention to the camera.  Here is the next photo on my camera.

She wanted some ravioli.

I’m constantly trying to snap photos of the girls together.  It results in many photos of the back of heads or 1 child and the foot of the other as she runs out of the frame.  I keep even the less than stellar shots just as proof that they grew up in the same house.

Less than a minute before I snapped this photo, they were sitting next to each other, heads together, playing.  I turned the camera on and they scrambled.

And many moments happen when I am home alone with the girls and can’t really snap a photo.  Most mornings I end up with both girls on my lap at some point.  It always makes my heart melt a little.  And then one starts kicking the other and it all goes to hell.  I tried to capture it one day - this was the best effort.

Sometimes I settle for the back of their heads to capture a moment.  If I had tried to get them to look at me, I would have interrupted the story and still likely wouldn’t haven gotten anything but the back of their heads.

Just so you know mom - I really do try to get photos of them together.  I will keep trying - promise.

We (we being my MOMs Club) went to watch the dough become donuts at Krispy Kreme this week.  Sabrina thought it was all very cool.  Well truthfully, Sabrina spent about .3 seconds paying attention to the donuts being made and the remainder of the time was spent shoving a chocolate iced donut down her gullet, followed by the free sample chocolate ice cream cone they brought around for the kids.  (The moms were overjoyed to find another source of sugar being offered to our children just before nap time.)  And to top off the sugarfest, they gave the kids balloons.  Sugar + more sugar + balloons x 10 toddlers = much screaming and running amok.

After leaving SugarFest 2010, I decided to inflict take the girls to see Daddy.  Then we headed home.  Sugar crashes were hitting hard.  I was doing my best song and dance routine in the driver’s seat to keep Sabrina from falling asleep.  If she gets even a 5 minute car nap, it is all over for naps for the day.  We pulled into the garage.  I got her out of the car and handed her the balloon and then headed to the other side to get Tessa.  As I close Tessa’s door, I hear Sabrina saying she can’t find her balloon.  She was standing in the driveway.  I stepped outside and saw a small red speck in the sky.  Not understanding what would happen, she had let it go.  I explained that it flew away and I couldn’t recover it for her.  She sobbed and sobbed and sobbed.  She told me it broke her heart.  I felt awful for her.  The first boy who makes her cry that way better run and hide.

In completely  unrelated news, we returned to Tessa’s pediatrician for a weight check and blood work last week.  She managed to lose 3 ounces** in the 4 weeks since we had been there despite shoving high calorie food into every chance we had.  So they took blood (insert rant about making a momma hold down her baby while they stick the needle in her arm repeatedly because they keep blowing her veins).  Lots of it.  The syringe they filled was almost the size of her forearm.  They tested for celiac’s, liver function, and a boatload of other things.  (Boatload being the medical term used by her doctor.)  We got the results yesterday.  Everything came back normal.  So we return next month for another weight check and a conversation about what, if anything, might be next.  Bottom line: she is either fine but petite or there is something wrong but we haven’t figured out what yet.  Helpful, isn’t it?  But at least we know what isn’t wrong and I choose to believe until someone proves to me otherwise that she is just fine.

**I will admit the weight loss is the first time I’ve really thought perhaps there was something wrong.  The %tiles don’t bother me so much but she shouldn’t have lost weight with everything we fed her.  So despite my bravado, I’m kind of on the fence about whether or not there might be something wrong.

I’ve always liked Sandra Bullock.  She just seems sweet and gorgeous and funny and down to earth.  Or maybe she just plays that woman in the movies.  Whatever.  I haven’t loved every movie she has made (Miss Congeniality 2? I would like those 2 hours back please) but I tend to enjoy her movies.  Steve and I went to see The Blind Side.  I LOVED the movie.  Loved.  I cried through much of it and walked out telling Steve we had to buy it when it comes out on DVD.  I’m sure part of it is my bleeding heart tendencies and social worker past.  But those things aside, it was a great movie.

I don’t watch award shows.  I find them dull and an aggravating celebration of the excessive worth placed on the ability to be pretty and pretend well (this is where I would go off on a tangent about how teachers, social service workers, and other under appreciated professions should receive gobs of money and acknowledgment but I’ll skip that today - I like movies and think acting takes talent…I just think we place too much value on it).  But I will admit I like to look at the photos of the pretty dresses the next day.  Meh - I’m fickle…so sue me.

Anywho, I did turn the Oscars on last night for about 20 minutes before going to bed.  And I caught Sandra Bullock’s acceptance speech.  It made me cry.  For anyone who wants to see it, you can click here to watch it.  She dedicated her oscar to “the moms that take care of the babies and the children, no matter where they come from.”  (The movie is about a woman who takes in a homeless teenage boy.)  Amen and bravo.  Foster parents (and those who do it informally for kids in the neighborhood who need love) are my heros.

She also thanked her mom for not letting her ride in cars with boys until she was 18 because she probably would have done things she shouldn’t have.  And she thanked her mom for teaching her “that there’s no race, no religion, no class system, no color, nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else.”  She had a smart momma.  And I love Sandra Bullock even more after her speech.

I read about other kids having strong opinions about their wardrobe choices.  Until now, Sabrina has only offered the occasional opinion.  I usually let her wear what she wants if she expresses a preference but it doesn’t happen too often.  Today, she had a strong preference.  And it was very pink.  Pink sweatshirt, pink leggings, pink tutu, also pink sparkly shoes.  (Also picture the ponytails and sunglasses she added.)

Tessa has already learned that taking the girlie items will get a reaction.  In her hands here are the play lipsticks and nail polishes from the vanity.  Not seen is Sabrina running behind her yelling “Tessa, no!”

We went to a consignment sale yesterday.  Sabrina spotted a play vanity and promptly sat down.  She played with it for almost 10 minutes before I finally decided to buy the stupid thing.  She happily played with it all afternoon at home.  So I’m thinking we definitely have 1 girlie girl.  Tessa seems interested it only to imitate her sister and to look in the mirror and wave at people behind her.

Love the Charlie’s Angels hair flip:

And she was painting her nails just like Aunt Rusty did:

This non-Donna Reed momma made her pink heart cookies while she was napping and I believe that made it an almost perfect day in her book.  I love that a betty croker mix along with some powdered sugar and food coloring can make her so happy.

This past weekend, I think Steve got a little peek into what it will be like to live in a house full of females.  He didn’t marry a girlie girl but we seem to be raising at least 1.  The jury is still out on Tessa.

Steve loves hockey. Loves it.  And he had been waiting for 2 weeks for the final hockey game of the Olympic games.  USA playing Canada - winner takes home the gold.

He ended up watching the game through the interference of tutus and sparkly fairy wings.  Thankfully, he is a good sport about such things.

I’ve been trying to capture more photos of the girls together.  As you can see above and below, they aren’t easy to get in the same frame and forget about looking at me and smiling.

Tessa took a header off the chair about 5 seconds after I snapped that one. But look how stinking cute she is!

She will occasionally give me a smile when I point the camera her way.  But she seems to have inherited Abuela’s tendency to squint her eyes and make a face when she smiles for the camera.

And she doesn’t get the whole “rocking horse” thing.  She thinks it is a scooter like she has for outside and scoots all around the first floor of the house on it.  Watch your toes!

I went searching for a copycat version of Ruby Tuesday’s White Chili a few years ago.  I don’t think I found it but I put this simple version together after combing through a variety of recipes.  I posted this recipe once before but when I went looking for it, I realized it was 2.5 years ago.  It is so good, it deserves repeating.

This is a great recipe for using up pantry items.  It is easy, yummy, filling, not horrible for you, and warms you right up.

(Not all ingredients pictured.  I had already started cooking when I thought to take this photo.)

White Chicken Chili

3/4 lb chicken cooked and cut up into bite size pieces or shredded (I prefer poached breasts but you could use any chicken you like cooked however you prefer)

1 sweet yellow onion, diced

1 can 4 oz green chiles (if you like heat, also add 1 can chopped jalapeños - if not, leave them out)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

generous hand full of fresh chopped cilantro leaves (I didn’t have any so I used a couple of squirts from the refrigerated tube pictured above - is a decent substitute for fresh..you can find it in the produce section near the fresh packaged herbs)

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper (adjust according to taste…less if you don’t like heat)

6 cups of chicken broth (3 small cans or 1.5 cartons)

3 cans 15oz great northern white beans - drained (you could substitute 1 can of garbanzo beans in place of one of these if you like a variety)

1 can of corn (more if you like - I used 1 can and 1 small box frozen)

1 cup shredded cheese (I used medium…but any mildish cheese would be fine) Optional

(If you know me, you know I don’t dice anything…I throw it all in my food processor because I is lazy and because I don’t like onion or pepper/chile chunks.)  Throw the diced onion, minced garlic, chiles/peppers, cilantro, cumin and cayenne pepper  in the bottom of your soup pan with a little bit of olive oil and saute for a couple of minutes.

Take 1 can of the white beans and puree in the food processor with a cup of chicken broth until smooth. Add to the soup pan (this will thicken the soup base). Add the rest of your chicken broth to the soup pan. Add the chicken chunks/shreds, can of corn (drained), and other 2 cans of beans. Simmer for 20 - 30 minutes. After the chili is done, add a cup of shredded cheese and stir until melted. If you don’t want to add the calories/fat to the soup, don’t add the shredded cheese - reserve it for garnish for those who want it.   A dollop of sour cream is also a nice addition to each bowl.  And Steve likes to crush up a few tortilla chips on top of his.

A lot of folks don’t bother with a blogroll anymore.  I don’t use mine much any more - I read through Google Reader most of the time.  As a result, it has been sadly neglected.  I did a little house cleaning.  I decided that there was no reason to categorize folks by country of adoption any more.  We are all just moms now.  And I weeded out some.  I took out those who went private or hadn’t blogged yet in 2010.  If you resume blogging or go public again, please let me know.  Thankfully, I am able to stay connected with a lot of folks who quit blogging via Facebook.

I read a lot of blogs that aren’t listed here.  I’ve branched my reading out to include random mommy bloggers, food bloggers, and even a few crafty/decorating bloggers.  I’m not sure if I will take the time to add all of those links.

Random cute photo (Tessa’s head looks ginormous in this photo for some reason):

We had such a fun Mom’s Night Out with my MOMs Club.  There is a new(ish) business in our area that lets you bring wine or another beverage of your choice and then walks you through doing your own painting.  It isn’t quite paint by numbers - but they do hold your hand and break every thing down into simple shapes and tell you approximately how to mix your paint colors.  You can do your own thing or follow them precisely or some combo of those 2.  You can choose what night to do it based on the painting they are featuring.  I did not choose this painting and probably wouldn’t have based on the other choices I saw.  But it was loads of fun and I kind of like my painting.  I don’t know if it something that is available in a lot of areas but check it out if you see it in your town.

For locals click here for the link. They also have locations in AL and a couple other places.