Baby's First Visit with Santa Claus

Last year I had some lofty goals of all the things I wanted to accomplish for the Christmas Holiday.  We had a full house, with family visiting from across the country; the first time for us to host such a gathering, so I wanted everything to be perfect and amazing.  I made homemade candies, baked cookies, prepared stockings, baked cakes, and even made Beef Wellington from scratch (okay, I didn't make the puff pastry, but still...).  The one thing I really wanted to do, though, was take my daughter to visit Santa for the first time.  Unfortunately, with all the hoopla I had instigated I ran out of time, so this year I made it a priority.

I started prepping my daughter for the occasion by reading A Night Before Christmas to her every night, and watching Christmas specials during the day.  I wanted to get her familiar with the character, Santa Claus, so she would have some fond feelings toward the poor old guy before I got her too close to his lap for the first time.  I thought I was on a roll when my daughter started pointing out Santa whenever she saw his likeness whether in a book, on a tree, or in someone's front yard.  So, as the day for her picture with Santa approached I was feeling pretty confident.  You know, visualize it and it will be...yeah, right.  Some battles were just not meant to be won.

After getting really excited, because my daughter was pointing Santa out in the mall from afar, and happily pointing and shouting, "Santa!"  I realized at once, there is a huge difference between seeing pictures of a friendly old guy in a bright red suit, pointing at him from afar, enjoying stories told of his daring adventures, and actually having your mom effectively abandon you by dumping you off in the old guy's lap.  Several failed attempts at cheering the screaming baby later, I realized this was not, in fact, a failure but an opportunity to make a memory.  I now have a picture of my beautiful baby girl screaming herself silly in Santa's lap while good old Saint Nick smiles beatifically into the camera.  Priceless...

Technology Dude

Contributed by Cameron Hodge
I don’t know much about technology but when I moved here my family helped me out. My brother had me look into wireless internet providers Loveland because he said it’d be easier and more mobile and my mom got me a dish for the backyard so I could get all the channels I wanted. I just didn’t know there was so much to think about when it came to moving into a new house and getting all hooked up with the 20th century – there’s something to be said for being blissfully ignorant! I love that my family’s so sweet and that no matter what I’m doing with my life I know they’ll be there to support me. Having special needs has been tough but I’m living a normal, functional life and I can thank my family for most of that – I couldn’t have done any of it without them and that’s why I’m where I am today. I love my family and I appreciate every sacrifice they’ve made for me in my short life!

Cranky, Cranky

So, we made the move from the crib to a new 'big-girl' bed last Thursday night.  Since then my nights have been a long series of interrupted sleep interspersed with worried sleeplessness.  So, cranky, cranky?  I don't know if that applies more to me or my daughter!

I have read that toddlers need about 12-14 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period, and I know I am one of those people who must have at least 8 hours of sleep to feel human.  So, neither one of us is operating at our best.  For baby girl this manifests as emotional outbursts that I imagine must be what tantrums and the 'terrible twos' look like if you have given birth to the spawn of Hyena crossed with a Banshee.  For me, the sleeplessness has manifested itself in a much shorter fuse than normal, and I have found myself exiting the room and throwing things after particularly trying interactions with a baby girl who has found new ways to break the sound barrier with her screeching.

I am anxiously awaiting the moment when my daughter realizes her own new twin bed is just as cool as her sister's bed, and is just as safe as mommy and daddy's bed.  Until that moment, however, please send some prayers for patience my way, and some good sleep vibes to the baby girl!

Looking Forward to Spring Break

Yeah, so I know it's a little early to be looking forward to Spring Break, but I can't help it.  My stepdaughter is attending college in Florida and we have decided to go pay her a visit! 

I have always wanted to go to Florida, but a plane ticket to Florida from Nevada is almost as much as one to Europe!  THis small factoid has prevented me from thinking too seriously about such a vacation, but now is the time!  So, to offset the expense of traveling half way around the globe to Orlando (ok, slight exaggeration) I have been looking for less expensive ways to entertain two teenagers, two adults, and a toddler.  Crazy, I know! 

Today, though, I stumbled across a great place that has FREE admission and parking!  It's the Tampa Electric (TECO; http://www.tampaelectric.com/manatee/) Manatee viewing center.  They have a beautiful elevated walkway through the mangrove and tidal forest out to the bay where herds of manatee flock during colder months to take advantage of the warmer waters spilling out of the electric company's facility (clean waters, BTW) into the  gulf coast waters.  The manatees are there from mid-November until mid-April, so if you happen to be in the area stop in...if not they have interactive webcams on their site (I just spent over an hour watching the manatee swim around on these cool cams).

Anyway, just thought I'd share one of the FREE family activities to be had within an hour's drive from Orlando and all the hubbub of Disney World.  Also near here is the Clearwater Aquarium where they house and rehabilitate the now famous Dolphin, Winter, from a Dolphin's Tale.  They also have sharks, turtles, and other critters too!  So another inexpensive option, and it's fully approved by my Marine Biology majoring Stepdaughter! 

Can't help but smile

I realize I am not the only mother who loves her daughter.  I also realize I'm not the only mom who gets to stay home with her baby girl.  And I'm probably not even the only one who is brought to tears by her feelings of gratefulness and the knowledge she is one of the luckiest women in the world to have the opportunity to watch her beautiful offspring blossom and grow.  Maybe it's just PMS talking, but I find myself sitting here, watching my baby girl marveling at the wonders of colored pencils as she works so diligently on coloring her Peter Rabbit coloring book, and I'm smiling so fiercely I can feel the tears tickling my eyes.  I never realized love could be this profound.  I give thanks this holiday seaon for my beautiful daughter, my amazing husband, and this opportunity the universe has graced me with.  Ok, I better stop now, the tears are threatening again...

Ugh, I have a headache...

So, today is apparently my day to bitch. I am feeling a little sorry for myself, and concurrently finding ways to procrastinate. It is more than half way through the month of November, and you may be thinking that I would be stressing about the upcoming holiday, but that's not it. This is National Novel Writing Month, and I have challenged myself to complete a novel in one month just like thousands of people around the world. At this point I am way behind.

I started off the challenge behind, as I didn't actually start writing until the 9th of the month. Why, you might ask? Well, I finally found the time and freedom to put my thoughts into some semblance of order on the 9th, because my husband was on vacation, without me. He was on his dream vacation, a weeklong trip to Phoenix, Arizona for the Nascar races. You can probably imagine this isn't my thing, so I was more than happy to let him drive off into the sunset with his brother. Surprisingly, his being gone also gave me the time and space I needed to start putting words on the page. By the end of the week, though, I was feeling exhausted. Being the sole provider of child care for the week, especially since my daughter is teething, and wakes up throughout the night, made he crave my husband's presence once more. I think I thought that if he were home I would be able to step away from the childcare duties a bit and focus on writing.

Alas, I was so wrong. Not only does my daughter want mommy's attention all the time, but apparently my husband does too! God forbid, right? I know I should count myself lucky that my husband still craves my company and affection, but seriously, sometimes a woman just needs some time just for herself, especially when she has a writing goal to achieve! So, rather than pitching a fit and throwing a tantrum, which is what I really really really want to do, I asked my husband to let me take some time this coming weekend to leave the house and find a quiet place to write. Guess what? Hubby agreed. So, now rather than complaining and feeling sorry for myself, I guess I have to face facts and realize my Hubby is one in a million!

Still, though, I wonder why it is that I can't find any solitary space within the walls of my own home any more. I lament this loss, as I used to find it very peaceful and relaxing in my own home, and now I feel as though I have to leave home to find that same peace and relaxation. I am so looking forward to rediscovering those peaceful moments at home. Anyone out there have any suggestions for taking back your peace at home?

Wonder of Wonders

Have you ever purchased a product and been somewhat underwhelmed with it's performance?  Heard all kinds of hype and realized there was no way any product could possibly live up to the marketer's promises?  Well, who hasn't?  And I bet there are countless blogs out there vomiting words, complaining about one failed promise or another.  It might surprise you then that this post is completely unsponsored and unsolicited, because I have found a product that not only lives up to it's claims, but that has surprised me by being even more amazing than advertised.

I am talking about Crayola's Color Wonder markers.  I purchased them, because I knew my baby girl would draw all over the whole house if she could, so the appeal of a marker that would only stain their special paper was undeniable.  Granted, I bought them for her before the recommended age, so what happened next is probably my own fault.  My daughter cleverly separated all the markers from their caps and lost them in random crevices and corners in the house.  I didn't even start looking for them for several days, realizing my investment in markers was down the drain.  After all I have never found a single marker that could survive even a couple hours uncapped before it dried up completely.

Imagine my surprise and absolute glee, then when I finally built up the courage to dig those markers back out of their respective hiding places, and they still worked!  I have no idea what the chemical content of these markers is, and I'm sure it's probably not something you want your kid eating.  They also put warnings on the package to ensure you don't let your kids draw on furniture and things as they can't guarantee the markers won't stain things other than their paper, but, so far baby girl hasn't destroyed anything in our house with them.  I do keep a close eye on her when she's using them, though, as I don't want her eating them, but at least I know that if she lets them roll under the couch without their cap, I don't have to find them within an hour or so!

Ahha! Oh, Oops. I'll just tuck that back in there...

It seems to me that people who really enjoy reading often have a deep love for tea. At least this is something I have observed among the people I know well. In my family, though, this love runs deeper, we have an ancestral drive to embrace the romance of tea, at least on my mother's side of the family.  (She even has one of those uber fancy brass tea cozies!)  So, when we took a vacation to Vancouver, British Columbia it was absolutely imperative we visit the Murchie's Tea store.  I don't know how many of you are familiar with Murchie's Teas, but apparently they are one of the finest purveyors of English teas.  Mom was beside herself with glee.  She was going to actually be able to walk into a Murchie's store, smell the teas, touch the teacups, and buy her favorite Earl Grey Tea in BULK!

I, on the other hand, am not so devoted to one type of Tea.  My cabinet is filled with all sorts of flavors and provenances of tea, but I was more than happy to experience the wonders that awaited me in Vancouver's Tea Mecca.  So mom and I excused ourselves from the company of male companions and drove on over to Murchie's.  Mom wasted absolutely no time hunting down her Earl Grey, and waited breathlessly while the shop girl filled a plastic sack with shovel fulls of tea leaves, then carefully tied off the top of the bag with a simple little twist tie, and stuffed it all into a large brown paper bag with the Murchie's Tea logo in a subtle green print.  I purchased a couple of samplers of traditional English Black Teas, and a sampler of fruit and vanilla flavored teas.  We left the shop with a feeling of contentment, and achievement.

This story would have had a completely happy ending if it weren't for that pesky border guard.  As we crossed back into the United States to catch our flights out of Seattle the Border Guard decided that a group of five adults in a rented mini van looked mighty suspicious.  He asked us where we had visited while in Canada, and we told him Vancouver.  He then prompted us to unlock the back of the van and proceeded to dig through our baggage.  You could almost hear his smirk as he noted a bag my mother had purchased on Vancouver Island.  "Just Vancouver?"  He asked, with obvious interest.

"Well, we did go over to Vancouver Island too for the day."  I responded.

He Smiled, and unzipped mom's bag.  You could almost see his eyes light up with glee as he opened the brown Murchie's bag.  "Ahha!"  He pulled out that bag of tea as if he had already received the commendation for the biggest drug bust of the year.  Imagine his surprise when he opened the bag to investigate and discovered all those lovely leaves were merely tea. 

Now, none of this should have effected my mother's attitude toward tea and Canadian Border guards, but that lout had absolutely no respect for either the contents of that precious bag, or the people who had purchased them.  Unknown to us, as we would assume you would take with other people's property, he just shoved the bag of tea back into mom's bag without even making an effort to close it back up.  When mom got home her tea was all over her bag full of souvenirs.  Coating everything in a fragrant layer of Earl Grey dust.  Ever since, my mother has not been able to look at loose tea without a pang of regret and anger at The Man.  Note to our Political Leaders:  Don't be too careless with other people's property, you just might find yourself facing revolution. 

Violence Aversions

I like to think I am an open minded person, and that I am honest with myself, but sometimes, I realize I am full of it. What brings on this sudden jaunt into self-examination you might ask?  My stepson has requested a gift for his upcoming birthday that gives me an uneasy queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.  He wants an Airsoft gun so he and his friends can go out in the fields and play war games in which they shoot each other with paint pellets while dressed up in fatigues and armed to the teeth with various weapons of destruction.  Why should this make me queasy, you might ask?  After all I am addicted to playing World of Warcraft, and I love watching action packed adventure movies filled with explosions and car chases!  So what is this feeling of unease that creeps up on me anytime I see young children and adolescents begging for toy guns and video games full of war related action?  Am I a complete and total hypocrite?  In some cases, yeah, I think I am, but I have a justification.  Games in which children learn to glorify war and the slaughter of other human beings eventually desensitize them to violence.  They have no idea what war really looks like, what human bodies lying in battlefields in various stages of death means.  War isn't glorious or glamorous, and it most certainly isn't fun.  Just ask any one of our service people who has been forced to experience these things.  There is a reason many of our veterans suffer from mental health issues and Post Traumatic Stress. 

Why then do I play games like Warcraft?  I think I justify it to myself because the story is one of Good versus Evil, and the lines are distinct.  There is no distinctly obvious Good versus Evil in Human conflict (well, maybe that could be argued when dealing with psychopathic leaders who engage in genocidal policies).  Either way, allowing children to begin to believe that devaluing human life simply because "they are the enemy" isn't good enough.  So, no.  I won't be buying my stepson an Airsoft Rifle with which he can engage in armed combat with his "enemies", but I will admit you will still be able to find me battling ogres and dragons in Azeroth. 

Waxing Sentimental

I spent about 40 minutes on the phone with my mother this morning.  I have to admit the call was somewhat inspired by a post by a fellow blogger who had reviewed a company that offers bulk products direct from the growers or farmers.  The only caveat to what would be an amazingly great program for any dollar crunching family is that the products are only sold in bulk (40 pounds at a time) and at limited community events.  I didn't care, though, it sounded good to me.  I am always looking for cheaper ways to provide my family with foods that are closer to nature than the stuff we commonly purchase through our grocery stores.  But the sheer quantity that one has to purchase of a single food item is a bit intimidating. 

This topic, of course, got Mom and I reminiscing about the "good old days" when Grandma would put up fruit and vegetables in the growing season so we could enjoy the deliciousness of food picked during the best seasons throughout winter and early spring.  Canning, a lost art if you asked me.  And possibly one we should consider reviving.  Just think of how much we spend on products annually that we have NO IDEA of what they actually contain.  It would take a degree in chemistry to actually understand the ingredients labels, and an additional one in BioChemistry to understand what those ingredients do to our bodies.  Granted the initial expense of setting your kitchen up to Can is intimidating, but it got me thinking.  We all have communities of friends, right?  And we all have friends who eat, right?  What if we were to take a hint from our granparents and work with our communities of friends and loved ones and invest in our families' future health together? 

How fun would it be to get a group together to hit the farmer's markets and invest in bulk products, then have Canning Parties?!  That way no one person would have to face the entire expense of buying all the ingredients and equipment by themselves, and several people could get together to share the actual work of cutting, prepping, sealing, and separating!  I'm starting my group today!  Let me know how your group gets going and what you are working on canning.  I am thinking that I will probably start with some orange marmalade, cinammon apple sauce, and salsa...mmmm, salsa!  Happy Canning!

Transitioning From Crib to Bed

As a first time mom, there are so many questions about when it is appropriate to do certain things.  Currently I am facing the challenge of moving my daughter from her crib into a bed.  I have read many contradictory views on when it is best to make this transition; anywhere from 18 months to 3 years!  So, now it becomes a question of what are my needs as a parent, and is she still safe in her crib?  My daughter is very tall for her age, so even though she is only 20 months she can put her little foot all the way up on the top of the crib rail.  She is also a problem solver, so I am having waking nightmares (otherwise known as irrationally rational parental anxiety) about her stacking up her stuffed toys and blankets and rocketing herself right over the edge of her crib to land catastrophically on her noggin'.  I will also be having surgery in a matter of months and will be unable to lift her in and out of her crib for 6 weeks during my recovery period.  So.  It's time, regardless of what the latest pop psychologists might be saying about leaving babies in their cribs until they are three.

That being said, any insights or comments on your own experiences with the transition from crib to bed would be greatly appreciated!  I am going to need all the help I can get!

Crackle Nail Polish Review

This is a sponsored post, but the opinions and content are my own.

So, I bought some OPI Crackle nail polish last Spring, and it has been sitting in my medicine cabinet ever since.  Why, you ask, would I spend $8.00 or so on a bottle of nail polish then allow it to languish in a dark, medicinally scented space for months on end?  Well, I have to admit I had a somewhat traumatizing experience involving the misguided application of said product while on a plane heading for Boston.  A very bleached blond with an unfortunate nose and Austin Powers teeth was very good naturedly adoring our baby girl from between the seats of the row in front of ours.  While this didn't faze me in the least, as our baby girl is very easily adored, what gave me pause (and a few heart palpitations) was the grotesquely colored talons protruding from the ends of this young woman's fingers.  Apparently her manicurist, in her eager desire to show off the new Crackle polishes, had encouraged this young woman to pick out a couple of colors and try out this fun new product.  Unfortunately the young woman chose a lime green for the base coat and gold crackle for the top layer.  The resulting effect was that of a diseased lizard.

Now OPI has always been one of my favorite cosmetics.  I find the quality of their product to be consistent and their polish tends to chip, peel, and bubble alot less than other polishes I have tried.  So, with my sense of loyalty to the brand having recovered sufficiently after several months of respite, I decided the Halloween season would be the perfect time to crack open my bottle of Silver Crackle polish.  In the spirit of the Holiday, I started with a base coat of black polish (courtesy of Revlon), allowed that layer to dry, then applied a single layer of crackle polish.  As the crackle layer dried it did, indeed, begin to crack, revealing the underlying polish color.  With the black paint peaking through the silver, the effect is pretty cool, but I can't imagine it would be a look I would want for every day.  I think the key to getting a good effect out of this product is to choose your colors and your occasion well.  Green and Gold...no go.  Black and Silver, good for the Halloween season, affecting a Rock Star aura, or reverting to Goth-hood.  I also thought a deep red with either Silver or Gold would be a good effect even for the Winter Holiday season.  Regardless, I don't think this is a look likely to become a fashion staple. 

Let Them Eat Cake!

I have created a monster. It all started with my and my brother's annual joint-birthday dinner. I purchased a box of ultra fancy cupcakes from a local bakery, and proceeded to share said cupcakes with my 19 month old daughter. Apparently the appeal of delicious dainties isn't limited to the refined tastes of adults, who knew?

Now, she will occasionally request, "cake?" in the sweetest little voice you can imagine. My heart melts, and through a veil of guilt, I think frantically of ways to provide the requested cake as expediently as possible. I realized, just this morning, as I gave my baby girl Eskimo kisses, I could give her cake and not have to nominate myself  for the worst parent of the year award. Heck, I could even use cake as a way to sneak a few extra veggies past my girl's yuck-detector!

I give you my grandmother's Chocolate Zucchini Bread!

Mix all ingredients together:

3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup nuts, chopped (usually walnuts, but almonds or pecans work well)
2 cups flour
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 tsp cinnamon


Pour the ingredients into 2 well greased and floured loaf pans, and bake at 375 until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean.

To make this recipe even healthier use a cup of no-sugar-added apple sauce (not sugar-free as that implies they added some yucky fake sweetener). The oil in these types of recipes is really only there to provide moisture.

You now have TWO loaves of delicious "cake" chock full of veggies, antioxidants (courtesy of the real chocolate), and even a little protein and healthy fats from the added nuts! If you want, you can freeze one loaf for later, or you could always share it with the neighbors...might earn you some free babysitting brownie points.

Searching for Snacks

As a member of our modern society I have come to realize that alot of what drives us is convenience.  We want quicker everything, and we are certainly willing to pay for this convenience, monetarily at least.  The question, however, is in what other ways are we paying for convenience? Well, the answer couldn't be more glaringly obvious: our health.  With over 70% of our Nation's populace being considered over weight, and the concurrent increases of weight related illness; diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, cancer, it becomes apparent we are paying a much higher cost than we really like to admit.  What frightens me the most, though, is that as adults we can make these decisions for ourselves.  We can choose to sacrifice nutrition for convenience, but what about our kids?  Stop to think for a moment.  The food choices we make for ourselves are also the food choices we are making for our kids, the food choices we are training our kids to make for themselves.  Now, don't get me wrong, I am as guilty of this as the next person.  I am starting, though, to make small changes here and there to try to get my family back on track.  If you've been keeping up with my posts, you will notice that I have become a strong proponent of home cooking.  No, I don't mean opening up a box of hamburger helper.  I mean getting back to our roots and making real food.  Granted, I am still a slave to modern convenience, so I am not going to make my own pasta or tomato paste, but the point is to try to get as close to scratch as possible.

So, today, I am going to share a recipe that my mom discovered in a 2009 Good Housekeeping magazine.  At first, I have to admit, I thought these would taste like cardboard, after all, there is hardly anything in them to add flavor besides natural ingredients!  Who'd have thunk it?

Granola Bars
adapted from Good Housekeeping

Ingredients

• 2 cup(s) old-fashioned oats (I like the rolled oats from the bins at Whole Foods, they are heartier and chewier than the overprocessed quick oats)
• 3/4 cup(s) toasted wheat germ
• 3/4 cup(s) chopped walnuts (or whatever, I know some ppl are sensitive to walnuts)
• 3/4 cup(s) dried cranberries (or cherries, pinapple, coconut, just try to get dried fruits that are sugar and sulfate free, yes they are more expensive, but SO much better for you)
• 2 tablespoon(s) packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon(s) ground cinnamon (you may omit this if cinammon won't mesh well with your fruit choice)
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1/2 cup(s) honey
• 1/2 cup(s) vegetable oil
• 2 large egg whites

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Spray 13" by 9" metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line pan with foil, with ends extending 2 inches over short sides of pan; spray foil.
2. In glass pie plate, spread oats; microwave on High, in 1-minute increments, 4 to 5 minutes or until fragrant and golden, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature.
3. In large bowl, combine oats, wheat germ, walnuts, cranberries, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in honey, oil, and egg whites until well mixed. Transfer to prepared pan. Using wet hand, press into even layer.
4. Bake 32 to 35 minutes or until dark golden. Cool in pan on wire rack.
5. When cool, use foil to transfer to cutting board. Cut lengthwise into 6 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into thirds. (You should have roughly 4 1/4" by 1 1/2" bars.) Store in tightly sealed container at room temperature up to 1 week, or in freezer up to 1 month.

Okay, so I LOVE these, and they keep really well.  I have also tried mixing up the flavors a bit.  My personal favorite at the moment is to get dried pinapple, shredded coconut, and chopped macademia nuts and make Hawaiian style Granola Bars, just leave out the cinammon if you are going to make this combo.

Happy Snacking!

Options for Healthier Eating?

So, it seems my last post on the potential hazards lurking in the foods we feed our kids hit some nerves out there in the e-world. We are all desperate to find ways to keep our kids healthy, and we are all trying to make ends meet while rushing from one commitment to the next.   So what is a caring, responsible, well-informed parent supposed to do to keep our kids from becoming toxic waste dumps?  Well, I hate to say it folks, but we are going to have to start, gulp, cooking!  The ONLY way to make any sort of dent in the amount of toxic crap our kids are exposed to is to ensure we are giving them the best quality food items available to us.  Now, don't think for a minute that this in any way guarantees our kids will be toxin free.  After all, we have ensured that no source of nutrition is safe since we have thoroughly polluted our environment, but we can do as much as possible to mitigate the damage.

One recent experience I had while making cupcakes brings this idea to the forefront and demonstrates just how simple this solution really is.  Instead of making everything from scratch, I had purchased a cake mix and a tub of frosting from the grocery store.  I had splurged too, no store brands found their way into my cart that day, no siree.  I bought name brand everything.  The cake turned out somewhat less than ideally, as it was a lot less dense than I would prefer, but it would suffice.  The frosting, on the other hand, was atrocious!  I could taste the chemical afterburn in what should have been a simple vanilla flavored frosting!  Ugh, yuck, spew, nasty!  Even though I had planned on sending the majority of these cupcakes with my husband to his officemates, I couldn't do it.  I didn't want my reputation as a decent cook to be tarnished by the gruesome chemical aftertaste of that frosting!  So what is a girl to do, you ask?  MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN FROSTING!  Seriously folks, how hard is it?  So I softened up some butter (yeah, butter, have you read what is in margarine?  can you pronounce any of it?  do you really want to eat it?),  I grabbed powdered sugar off the shelf, and I took some REAL vanilla out of my cabinet and whipped up a batch of frosting in about 3 minutes.  Wow, that was a real investement in time wasn't it?  NOT! 

After reading about cellulose, a common ingredient found in baked goods as a replacement or filler for flour, which is nothing more than a wood pulp byproduct...mmmm, we are eating trees...I decided to read the boxes of cake mix I have on my shelf, and guess what?  Cellulose, yep, they are filled with cellulose and other crap that has no place in your kids' stomaches!  Go ahead, open your cupboard and see what other evils lurk therein.

Let's start a revolution, or perhaps a devolution as this is how our parents and their parents cooked, let's get back to scratch.  Let's tell Archer Daniels Midland that we are sick (literally in some cases) of them pretending they give a damn about our health, and hit them where it hurts.  Restock your cabinets with the things our mothers and grandmothers kept: flour, honey, molassas, sugar, whole oats, real grains, cocoa powder, vanilla, butter, eggs.   Let's stop eating the crap they put into those shiny, pretty packages and make our own food!  After all, the packages probably have as much real nutritional value as what's inside them!

Besides, what kid doesn't like getting up to their elbows in flour and licking the beaters?  Who knows, you may just discover that the most fun you have with your kids is in the kitchen.  After all, it used to be the heart of the home.

Carcinogenic Kids?

If you, like me, tend to read alot you have probably come across at least one article filled with warnings about the potentially carcinogenic additives with which the food industry is filling our bellies.  The truly frightening aspect of this, though, is just how many products produced specifically for kids are chock full of these risky chemicals.  Food dyes, preservatives, flavorings, and additives put in to change a food's texture or to make it more palatable for kids are filled with things we, as parents, would never knowingly feed our kids.  For example, natural citric acid is harmless and is added to all kinds of things, but what about artificially made citric acid?  Apparently it can contain sulfuric acid, molds, and sulfites that don't get fully filtered out during the production process.  Scary huh?  What about artificial sugars? Researchers indicate that the new wonder-sweetener, Splenda, is now being found in our water supplies because it isn't broken down in the body and is a potential environmental hazard.  Crazy, right?  Think that's scary, look in your pantry right now and see how many items contain Caramel Coloring.  If the carmel coloring in your food item is made from sugar, it's not a big deal, but since many companies are opting to reduce the cost of their production lines because of our slow economy, they might be replacing the more expensive Caramel Coloring with an artificial one that is potentially carcinogenic and they don't have to specify whether they are using natural or artificial Caramel Coloring on their ingredients labels.

So what is the solution?  Spend more money.  Unfortunately, feeding our kids healthier options is expensive.  Look at the difference in price between GoGurt and YoBaby yogurts for example.  GoGurt is generally half the price of YoBaby yogurt, but I pay it.  Why?  Look at the ingredients lists.  GoGurt is filled with dies, artificial flavorings, and additives designed to change the consistency of the yogurt, whereas YoBaby is made from Organic milk, Organic fruit purees, beet juice for coloring, and live active yogurt cultures.  Another food item I really like in place of the kid-hyped snack bars are Lara Bars, which are made of ground dates, natural spices, and nuts.  How can you go wrong with that, and they taste like candy bars!  If you watch for them, they often go on sale at your local grocery store, our Smith's has them on sale right now for 10 for $10.  Granted they aren't cheap, but they are filling and they reduce the overhead of mom-guilt you might be feeling when you give in to your kids' desire for a cartoon character sponsored fake food.

Another option, is, of course to feed our kids only fresh, homemade foods.  This is probably never going to happen, though, as most of us live a very busy lifestyle and convenience is important to us.  All we can do is work to make sure we give our kids the best we can and avoid as much poisonous food as possible.

Desert Dinotopia

Don't laugh.  I am a total Dinoholic.  I love everything Dinosaur.  When I told my mother that the Jurassic Park series was one of my all time favorites, she spent the next half hour reading off a list of movies she felt were much more worthy of my adoration.  Seriously.  Hey, I told you NOT to laugh!  Oh, well, I guess I asked for it.  Admit you are a total geek, and you get what you paid for, sigh.

Well, the point of all this is that my poor stepkids and my daughter are doomed to be forced into sharing excursions involving good old fashioned dinosaur hunting.  So, I guess we are super lucky to live in the Southwest.  Just today I read there is a paleontologist by the name of Mark McMenamin who believes he has discovered the lair of the mythological Kraken!  And guess where?  Right here in Nevada!  Color me totally psyched!  Apparently Mesonychoteuthis, otherwise known as the colossal squid, was a critter that hunted the seas that covered northwestern Nevada during the Triassic period.  This beast would have been over 100 feet long, more than large enough to gorge itself on the Ichthyosaurs, Nevada is famous for.  Which, surprisingly I did not even know about until I read the article about McMenamin's Kraken.

The Berlin Ichthyosaur State Park lies 443 miles north of Las Vegas in Gabbs, Nevada.  While this is a VERY long drive, I think it will make an excellent road trip for the family on some future three-day weekend.  Or, since my stepson has suggested we rent a Camper for a family vacation some time, perhaps we could take in the Ichthyosaur park on our way north toward the California Redwoods, or up to Lake Tahoe.  I don't really care how or when it happens, but this is definitely going onto the family vacation must do list!

Falling

At the beginning of this week my husband and I spent the afternoon playing in the swimming pool with our baby girl.  It was a cool day for Las Vegas, barely 100 degrees!  The pool, however, was a luxurious 85 degrees, and our daughter giggled hysterically as her daddy whooshed her around the pool, both of them screaming "weeeee," as I doggy paddled close by and smiled beatifically.  So imagine my shock and surprise when we are suddenly thrust into Autumn...Fall has fallen, and while I will miss daily soakings in the pool, I am super excited to get back to my favorite season.  After all, who wants to spend much time outside when it's over 110 degrees?  Now the daughter and I can wear our cute Fall jackets to the park, we can cook and bake without melting, and we can now buy those specialty items that only come out this time of year!

One of those specialty items I have come to adore and tend to stock up on I discovered when I was pregnant with my daughter.  I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and while this wasn't a huge deal for me, as I was happy to make adjustments to my life to ensure my baby would be healthy and happy, it did force me to rethink and reinvent some of the flavors of Fall.  One of the delights I had come to look forward to was Carribou Coffee's Carmel Apple Cider.  If you have ever had one, though, you know as I did that this concoction was chock full of a diabetic's worst nightmare; sugar, sugar, more sugar.  So, having grown up in a household where my father was diabetic, I hit the grocery stores searching for the sugar free apple cider's we had often had when I was growing up.  Imagine my surprise when I couldn't find it anywhere.  I was so heartbroken, it was Autumn and I wanted my hot apple cider!  Miraculously, the Tea Gods were smiling that day, as someone had placed a package of Bigelow's Apple Cider herb tea on the shelf right next to where the Sugar Free Cider packages should have been, so I thought, ok I will give this stuff a try.  I bought the box of tea and found some sugar free caramel syrup in the coffee aisle and went home with not a little trepidation, but I was desperate.  Imafine my surprise then when I discovered that even without the added caramel syrup, this tea was AMAZING.  Since then, every year I search out the Bigelow tea display praying that they have again created their apple cider tea.  I always buy several boxes since good teas need not be limited to a single season! 

The best part, of course, is that this is an herbal tea.  No caffeine means I can sit in front of a crackling fire in the evening and sip my tea without fear or being kept up all night.  It also means I can have more than one cup and not get the jitters.  Best of all it means I can give some to my daughter every once in a while with no guilt, and guess what?  She loves it even without the caramel syrup! 

And, no, Bigelow isn't paying me for this plug...I just really love this tea...in fact, I'm sipping (ok, slurping) some as I type.

Halloween the Prequel

Every year I wander the aisles of grocery stores, craft stores, big discount warehouses and big box stores looking for fresh ideas for my favorite holiday, Halloween. What other time of year offers as many opportunities for reckless self-expression and creativity?  Last year was my daughter's first halloween, and prior to that I had always gone with the standard halloween trick-or-treating fare; chocolate bars, suckers, etceterras.  With a new little one prepared to dress up in her fuzzy green and purple monster suit, though, I started having sugar-pusher guilt.  What else do you give the little ones who come calling on Halloween that won't get you pegged as a wicked witch or get your house egged?  Luckily our discount warehouse had Disney playing card decks last year featuring classic kids card games, so I picked those out as our non-sugar gifting option and they were a hit.  The kids loved comparing who got which game and which favorite character.  I caved, too, though, and also provided a candy treat to go along with the card game.  This year I was thinking of doing something similar and have been perusing options on the internet.  I came across a site selling cheap stuffed animals, and thought this might be an option.  I realized just how much I spend on candy each year, and figured I might as well offer somthing a little more substantial and permanent instead!  Besides, who can feel guilty about giving out stuffed animals?

Another important part of Halloween, of course, is the decor.  You have to set just the right scene for your Holiday guests.  I have to say our neighborhood does a great job on this one.  There are always the giant inflatable Halloween decorations, skeletons dangling from trees, ghosts hovering over yards, and spiderwebs everywhere.  Decorating can be super expensive, though, so I usually try to buy stuff on sale at the end of the season, but then I run into the problem of having a lot of mismatched stuff, or I don't get the decorations I really wanted since they are already sold out.  Again I have turned to the internet for some help in this situation, and found some great Halloween decorations clearance!  I especially like the Skull with the 8 part brain model...not only is it fun Halloween kitsch, but it's educational to boot!  My husband will probably kill me, but I just can't say no to cool Halloween decorating ideas so this one is definitely being added to my stash.  I also really like the prepacked decorating sets, as they give you alot of stuff to dress up the house and you don't have to think too much.

Finally, the most important aspect of Halloween?  The costume, of course!  This year, my daughter and I have been reading alot of Olivia books, and that crazy pig gets into some fun jams, so I am thinking that maybe I'll dress up the little one as Olivia, so tell me what you all think of this Olivia costume.  I think it's super cute, and since the ears are on a headband I might actually be able to get the baby to keep them on for long enough to take a picture.  Other options I have been considering are Rapunzel, since the baby is obsessed with that movie, a fairy, or a Transformer (yes, she loves the Transformers too, cuz they are more than meets the eye!)  The hubby and I will probably just dress up as boring old parents this year, but who knows, maybe I'll keep cruising the internet and see if I can't find something inspiring!

Anyway, Happy Halloween planning!  I'll let you all know if I find any other nifty places, ideas,or  inspirations for the greatest Holiday EVER!

Motherhood Metamorphoses

There was a time, not too long ago when I could watch gore filled screens with ease, think up horrifying scenes of torture and bloodshed filled with both sinister overtones and wryly twisted humor for novels and short stories.  Then a strange and wondrous thing happened.  I got pregnant.  All of a sudden I could no longer stomach any type of violence, not even PG TV-show violence.  If there were children involved with the story I couldn't even listen to the voice track.  This was a strange feeling for me, seeing as how my library is well stocked with horror novels and I am a certified monster aficionado.  Luckily, since the baby was born these aversions had diminished somewhat, and I haven't had to totally change my reading habits , but I have had to alter my movie viewing preferences as I still cannot stand watching modern R-rated horror.  Thank goodness PG-13 can still be terrifying without the gore, though, so I still get my fill of adrenalin filled, heart-thumping good times.

The unfortunate thing, though, is that I am still struggling with overcoming my reluctance to go back into that darker place in my mind where evil lurks and fills pages with my twisted imaginings.  Every time I try to go there I find myself thinking of my little girl, and wondering if a mommy who writes these terrifying things won't somehow affect a change in their child.  After all, people always tell you to surround yourself with positive thoughts and energy if you want to evoke positive changes in your life, so what happens if mommy spends hours a day immersed in thoughts of darkness?  Do you invite negativity in?

This is my current quandary and source of writer's block.  I have ideas for stories floating in my head that I really want to put down on paper, but I keep stumbling and struggling with my fear of returning to those dark corners of the mind to find the motivations and desires of my characters.  Is there a solution to this problem?  I imagine there probably is, but for the moment I will just keep free writing and chipping away at this block, until I find a place where being a mother and being a writer of horror fiction can come to some compromise.

Hitting up flea markets abroad

Guest post written by Kathryn Winston

I love to go to flea markets while I'm at home a lot and actually get a lot of things for my home there. But I also make sure to do the same thing while I'm travelling. You can find some really interesting things at other flea markets far from home.

It's kind of funny to see how the stuff sold at flea markets varies by area. Before I went on a recent trip to Europe this summer, I used my Clear Kitsap to look up some really good, tourist-friendly flea markets abroad. I came up with all kinds of info and made sure to set aside time in our schedule for going to flea markets.

I went to this one particular Paris flea market that I just loved. I found all kinds of amazing things there and wished that I could buy alot of the home furnishings there. But you can't put a bookcase in a suitcase to fly home. It unfortunately doesn't work that way. However, I did get some great costume jewelry there.

Cooking 101

I love to cook, and I have ever since I was little. I locked my grandmother out of the house and spread cornflakes all over the place in one of my earliest culinary experiments. Since then I have learned from various sources, my grandmother, my mother, friends, relatives, a job as a short order cook, another as a caterer, cookbooks, cooking shows, etceterras. So I always figured that one day, when I had kids of my own I would teach them to cook too. After all, the kitchen is the heart of the home for a reason. Who knew that my foray into teaching the next generation would actually also be a lesson in overcoming stereotypes, for me.

I have two stepchildren that are now in their teens (one in college) and an 18 month old baby, so I have had numerous opportunities over the years to share my culinary expertise with the younger peeps in my life. Unfortunatly, up until now, I always assumed that it would be my stepdaughter that would glean the most from our time cooking together so I offered more opportunities to her in the kitchen than to her younger brother. Little did I know that he was watching, paying attention, and gaining an interest in the culinary arts from a distance, particularly anything to do with baking. I think, for him, it started with a cake competition for cub scouts.

My husband was supposed to be the one to help our boy with his cake that day, but dad had football to watch, so his solution was to make a simple cake and frost it...done. Oh NO, said I, no way. To me that was a total cop-out, how could a simple frosting coated cake ever hope to catch anyone's attention? So I took hold of the reins and created a campground scene complete with a camfire, campers, popcorn ball pine trees, and bears hiding in the woods. Needless to say the cake earned a ribbon, got gobbled up quicker than you could say, "and the award goes to," and our boy was so infatuated with the cake that he demanded we take multiple pictures of it. I was pleased to be able to help him create something he was so proud of, especially since we only get to see the stepkids on every other Holiday, occasionall on long weekends, and a week or so over the summer.

Eventually I would come to find that our son was in the habit of baking on his own pretty often. Mostly he made cookies, but as we know, those are a standard of dessert deliciousness! I also learned that he was infatuated with the show Cake Boss on TLC. So, imagine my surprise when on Spring Break he and his sister came to visit and when asked what he wanted to do over his break he tells me, "I want to try making Marshmallow Fondant." Ok, I say, we can do that! After all, we had the perfect occasion for a fondant covered cake, his sisters' birthdays are close together so we were planning on having a party for the two of them. So together we made a red velvet cake, and I showed him how to make real buttercream frosting. I did not know how to make the marshmallow fondant, so our boy showed me how. He had learned from watching cooking shows, but had never had the opportunity to try it. He did a bang-up job, and even made a couple colors and used cookie cutters to cut out stars. The cake was very pretty, and it tasted yummy.

I learned that day that I should have been more unilateral in the opportunities I provided to my kids. My stepson has turned out to be the one who enjoys cooking and crafting and doing things creatively, whereas his sister is the one who has grown up loving math and science and could care less about cooking or making things. We have no idea, just looking at our kids, what they will be inspired by, so why not offer them everything, discourage them from nothing (unless it's dangerous), and encourage their every dream. You never know, they just might teach you something!

Get thee to the Vortices

You wake up every morning to the same routine. You stare at the alarm clock and think, really, I couldn't have at least slept until the alarm actually went off? Then you lie there trying to force yourself back into sleep, but you know your sweet little angel or angels will start to stir at any moment and more often than not that means your ears are about to be assaulted with baby wailing. Ugh, not again. Is this what life has become? An endless cycle of sleepless nights, listening to your partner sleeping soundly beside you as you try to catch a few moments of REM sleep between the sweet sounds of their snoring and your baby's sobbing? You find yourself going through the motions more and more automatically; shuffle to the bathroom, pee, wash hands, brush teeth, sigh disgustedly at your reflection and opt for a pony tail again, grab a marginally clean pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt out of a random pile, shuffle into baby's room, coo at baby, change baby's diaper, dress baby as if he or she is going to a talent show, feed baby. Wash, rinse, repeat. Somewhere in the night, I am not sure which night, you lost yourself and became the mombot.

Fortunately for most of us, though, there is a way to reverse the mombot transformation and regain some of our former fabulousness. While some may need a major intervention ala What Not To Wear, I have found that you don't need Stacy and Clinton to pop out of a closet and steal all your clothes to help you find yourself again. You will need either a supportive and understanding partner or a friend or relative who is willing to help out. Why you ask? Because what you really need is TIME AWAY! What? That's allowed? YES! Most emphatically, YES! While there is a lot to be said for a couple's retreat for the beleaguered parents to get away, I firmly believe that mom's bear the brunt of the emotional and physical care of the children in most cases (I do admit there are always exceptions to this rule), and need time to get away BY THEMSELVES.

Unfortunately this is extremely hard for many caregivers to do for many reasons. We feel guilty for leaving our children behind, because we are afraid they will feel abandoned. We feel guilty for leaving our partner alone with what we know is a heavy burden of taking care of the kids. We worry what other people will think about us for leaving our kids alone at home while we go off to have fun. We worry that something could go wrong while we are away. Most of all, though, we worry that no one else will be able to take care of our babies as competently as we do. We have to remind ourselves, though, that in order to keep being good, competent caregivers to our children we first must take care of ourselves and make sure our heads are in the game. We owe it to ourselves, our partners, and our children to make sure we do this, because otherwise we may find ourselves turning into evil mombots.

One way I love to recharge is to go someplace for the weekend, or even for an overnight trip. I like to pick someplace close to home so I feel like I can get back if there is an emergency. Once I took a 24 hour vacation and stayed at a Casino Hotel, had dinner at a swanky restaurant, gambled a little, had a few drinks, walked around, and had room service and spa treatments the next day! The ultimate for me, though, is a weekend getaway to Sedona, Arizona. This area is supposed to be filled with mystical energy and vortexes of healing power. I don't know if there is any scientific evidence to back the energy claims, but I do know that when I am there I feel such a deep sense of peace that I feel instantly recharged. There is also a sweet little coffe shop with an amazing view of Oak Creek Canyon that sells Harney and Sons teas that make me so happy because they are sold in little silk sachets and just feel extra special.

Find places and opportunities like these near you, doing things you love to do for short Mommy-Getaways. Believe me, you not only deserve them, you need them! In fact, your family will probably thank you for it since you won't be nearly as scary.

Forget Chuck E. Cheese...There's a New Sherrif in Town

Maybe there is something intrinsically wrong with me, but even as a child I never really cared for Chuck E. Cheese's little menagerie of mechanized mayhem. Granted that may very well have stemmed from the fact that we could never afford to play many of the games, which made the entire experience rather pointless seeing as how the food they provide there is about as flavorful as a grease smeared piece of cardboard. So, I warned my daughter, in-utero, that I would rather be dragged slowly across a cheese grater than host a birthday party at Chuck's den for demon children. But, really, what other options does a parent have for entertaining the younger crowd? Not many, you say? Well, you are wrong! Thank goodness!

Luckily for you and me there are ingenious people who have realized that places like Chuck E. Cheese's are torture pavilions that serve as monetary vacuums for your average family and now there are other options. For example there are indoor bounce zones where kids can jump around on trampolines until they are exhausted, small local shops that specialize in "fantasy" parties where kids can play dress up, be rock stars, have tea parties or whatever, but all of this pales in comparison to the ultimate gift to both parents and tots: Max Brenner.

If you are lucky enough to live in a city that has a Max Brenner chocolatier/restaurant you are in for a treat! All I really need to tell you about Max Brenner is that his restaurant is about CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE! I know right? Where's the bad? The kids' menu items include things like "Escaping Pasta Robes with a Self Vanishing potion of tomato sauce" and "Melting Marshmallow Crepes" and desserts like "The First Chocolate Burger in the Whole Universe"! I had a blast just reading the kids' menu. Then there are the great, scientifically inspired serving items, icluding chocolate sauce filled syringes and beakers of hot chocolate! But if this is all sounding a bit too syrupy sweet for your adult taste buds, never fear, Mr. Brenner has provided an amazing menu of savory dishes to act as the perfect counterpoint to your overindulgences in his sweet temptations.

Granted this little outing to Max Brenner is not exactly going to be easy on the budget, but if you keep the party small and order smartly you can easily enjoy Max Brenner's on the same budget as a much less gourmet experience at a place like Mr. Cheese's. My recommendation would be to peruse the online menus before you go and have a plan for ordering before you get to the restaurant. Also, you should know that there is nothing on this menu that can be eaten by one person in one sitting, unless that person has the appetite of a Sumo Wrestler, so order family style!

Http://www.maxbrenner.com

The Road To Hell

We read the books, the parenting magazines, the websites filled with the opinions of innumerable child psychologists and "experts" and we tell ourselves we will do everything they tell us to do for our little princes and princesses.  After all, we don't want to screw up our kids the way our parents screwed us up, right?  We drive down the road and scowl at those parents who have the DVD players running 24 hours a day in their mini vans and scoff at their clear neglect of their childrens' developing mental capacities.  Until, that is, our child suddenly learns how to employ the most sinister sort of emotional blackmail known to mankind; the tantrum.  Kicking, screaming, writhing, tortured agony that can clearly only be resolved by an hour's worth of brainless Disney movie indoctrination, and we cave don't we?  Of course we do, we are human, and there is only so much choked sobbing, and snot dripping angst that any one good-intentioned parent can handle. 

How, then, do we mitigate the damage?  Great question, and so far the best answer I can come up with is to be sure to pick movies that have characters you approve of.  If, for example, you have an impressionable young girl-child and you don't want her to grow up sighing like Scarlet O'Hara and thinking that a woman's only recourse in times of strife is to find a rich man to save her then you don't put in Sleeping Beauty or Snow White.  Instead try a movie with a strong, smart female character like Rapunzel in Tangled or Tianna in the Princess and the Frog, a couple girls who spend just as much time rescuing the boys as the boys spend getting into trouble!