Cute And Easy Easter Crafts

Easter is coming up, and with it, Spring Break. Johnny has the entire week before Easter off, as well as the Monday following Easter. For the past several weeks, we have been hard at work making homemade Easter gifts for his classmates.

Instead of a lot of candy, we opted to make pom pom baby chicks, and popsicle flower stakes.





To make the pom pom chicks, you will need yarn, pipe cleaners, google eyes, felt and glue.

To make the body of the chick, wind the yarn around a sturdy book. The more yarn you wrap, the poofier the chick will be, and the larger the book, the larger the chick. Wrap until you have a good thickness on either side of the book. I originally used a board book and wrapped about 100 times to get enough yarn, then was worried about having enough yarn to make chicks for all the kids. So I switched to a soda bottle. About 75 wraps gives a nice sized chick body. Johnny helped some with the wrapping, but I did most of it, because this step was sort of boring for him.



Carefully slide the yarn off the book (or other object), then tie another piece of yarn tightly around the middle of the bundle and knot. Use scissors to cut the loops, then give the ball of yarn a good shake. Trim any uneven ends to shape the ball.



Insert a pipe cleaner through the center of the ball and bend to form legs. Bend the very ends of the pipe cleaners to form feet. Cut beak shapes from the felt and glue on, then add googley eyes.

Here's a tip for gluing the beak and eyes--the felt will absorb the glue quickly, so use a lot. It's also easier to apply dots of glue directly to the yarn and then position the eyes. This step was also incredibly messy, but Johnny loved to do it while Maureen looked on.



Once the glue is dry, you can manipulate the pipe cleaner legs to make the chick sit up.







To make the popsicle flowers, you'll need colored popsicle sticks and glue. Use two green sticks for the stem and eight sticks of another color for the flower. It's easiest to glue the flower part together separate from the stem, and then attach the stem.





Each child is getting a clay pot, a packet of basil seeds, a Reese egg, a pom pom chick and a popsicle flower.



Then I wrapped them up in a bag and attached labels that are made with white cardstock and a dollar rubber stamp that I got at Michael's with flowers on them.



Voila!

Happy Easter and Happy Spring!

One Unhappy Cat

Jameson managed to scratch a big hole in his face last week, and by Sunday, had done the same thing to the other side of his face. His ears are fine and he doesn't have fleas, so I have no idea why he's scratching, but whatever the cause, the wounds couldn't heal because he kept reopening them with his claws.

I clipped his toenails and that didn't help. I cleaned the wounds and applied an antibiotic ointment, but he just groomed himself until it all came off. So on Sunday night, I went over to work to get him an E-collar.

It's a nice, soft flexible one, so he's not bashing into the furniture, but he hates it anyway. He struggled when I put it on him and then ran away looking supremely pissed off.

I found him later, on my bed, looking grumpy.





After awhile, he got more comfortable with it, and even came to sit with me on the couch. And he figured out how to eat with it on.



Johnny called it a cat hat. My husband said I'd better watch out, because Jameson might jump on me and bite me in the middle of the night. I say I'm safe. The thing is, the e-collar rustles when he moves. If he tries to sneak up on me, I'll hear him coming.

I'm sort of wondering if I should take it off overnight. It would defeat the purpose, but knowing Jameson, I'm a little afraid he might get caught on something and strangle himself.

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Shortly before Maureen turned one, we switched her to cow's milk from formula. In that same week, Johnny was finally 100% potty trained and hasn't worn a diaper since.

We breathed a sigh of relief because the formula was costing us 50 dollars a week and I was tired of changing diapers for two kids. These are things that fall into a category I call "Parenting Milestones of Joy." These are milestones that may be completely welcomed, or they might be milestones that are bittersweet. Such as when a child is able to walk steadily enough and fast enough to no longer need to be carried everywhere. It's a little hard to watch them grow up so quickly, but it's a relief to the lower back area of the parent.

We've got years before we hit a couple of the big ones. Both kids won't be in school full time until fall of 2012, leaving me with some daytime hours to work more or just enjoy the silence of an empty house. And while Maureen still needs her daily nap and I'm not looking forward to her giving it up anytime soon, eventually she won't need to sleep during the day and we won't have to take naptime into consideration when we go places or schedule appointments.

People always say to enjoy them while they are little because childhood is over in a flash and I really agree. It seems like just yesterday that I became a mother for the first time and here Johnny is staring down five. We probably won't have any more children, for a lot of reasons, and that makes me feel like I need to pay extra attention to all the things they do. At the same time, I'm looking forward to the years ahead and eyeing all that baby and toddler gear we have and thinking about what to do with it all.

Here's one thing that's approaching that I can guarantee I won't miss at all.

Maureen is considering potty training. She's been talking about the potty and observing Johnny in the bathroom and sitting on the potty for sometime now. She's aware of when she needs to go, and hides when she wants privacy. But until last week, she hadn't actually done anything in the potty. I think I'm going to wait until it gets a little warmer and the kids are in shorts and sandals and less restricting clothing before really making an effort to potty train her. But she's ready, I'm ready and I can see a future in which we have no kids in diapers. And I'm wondering what to do with the changing table. It's so exciting, I feel like dancing. Or maybe singing. No diapers, La La La! Suck it, Pampers, La La La!

What about you? What were your Parenting Milestones Of Joy?

Ladies And Gentlemen, Children Of All Ages!!!

Last night, we attended the circus and we had SUCH a blast! Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey are at the First Mariner Arena until April 5th, and if you don't already have tickets, I would highly recommend getting them. They are worth every penny.

We arrived early to attend a Meet And Greet event hosted by MomCentral and Feld Entertainment. We had snacks and the kids got to meet some of the performers. Afterwards, we headed into the arena for the pre-show All Access event, which starts an hour before the performance. It's free and definitely worth it to get up close with some of the performers. Maureen was a little overwhelmed by the crowd and all the noise, so my husband took her to our seats, but Johnny enjoyed watching some of the animals and checking out the motorcycle that was parked on the floor.

Maureen dives into the pretzels and chips.
Johnny was a little nervous about being close to the clowns, but was happy to pose with this more glamorous performer.

Of course, he had to sit on the motorcycle.



Once we got to our seats, my husband got the kids their very first cotton candy. (And yes, I let them eat it. Pick your jaw up off the floor.)

Enjoying the blue sugary goodness.



The show was absolutely amazing. I loved every minute of it. Don't forget that the show changes every year, so no city sees the same show twice. The kids loved it too.

My husband liked the guy who hung by one foot upside down, 40 feet above the floor, and Maureen liked the trapeze artists. She kept pointing and saying, "Mom, they're going to FALL!" She also liked the "ele-fumps." Johnny changed his mind about ten times about which was his favorite part, but the seven motorcycles that tear around inside a giant metal ball was a huge hit with him.

Of course, I loved the tigers, but I think the motorcyclists were the best part. I felt like I needed to cover my eyes or something, it was that crazy. And I also liked watching my husband nearly have a coronary when he found out that cotton candy costs twelve dollars.

But hey, it comes with this nifty hat!


Both kids managed to last through the entire performance. I was thrilled because I wasn't sure if Maureen was too young, but she really loved it. It was well after ten PM when we got home though, so if you've got kids in school, I'd recommend choosing a Friday night. Parking was also easy, the arena has a garage.

The Greatest Show On Earth moves to Fairfax, VA in April, and across the country after that. You can see it in Phoenix, Chicago, Miami, New Jersey, Sacramento, and many other cities.

Don't forget that MomCentral is offering a special deal on tickets for the show.

Offer #1: Get 4 tickets for just $44 by entering the code “MOM” in the MomCentral promotional box at www.ticketmaster.com. Offer good on all performances, but a minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each. Offer not valid on Gold Circle Seating, Circus Celebrity Seating, Front Row and VIP seating or combinable with other offers.
Offer #2: A select amount of Front Row and VIP seats have been reserved for you to buy before they go on sale to the public - just enter the code “MOM” when purchasing those seats.

Thanks again to Feld and MomCentral for this wonderful opportunity!

And The Winner Is....

Congratulations to Dominique, commenter # 8, who said, "In 1976, I went to see the circus in Baltimore. I was 8 or 9. It was the bicentennial and I remember all these white guys riding white horses wearing huge red white and blue "indian chief" head dresses with giant floating ostrich plumes. At that young age, I remember noting the irony. My favorite part was always the trapeze ladies and I became one 10 years ago at the San Francisco School of Circus Arts. Now I'm a single mom in Baltimore again and would like to take my 3 year old." Dominique and her three-year-old will get to enjoy the circus this Wednesday.

Enjoy yourselves and congratulations!

If you're still interested in attending the circus, don't forget to take advantage of the great deal being offered by MomCentral and Feld Entertainment. You can get the details and show dates and locations here.

Menu Plan: Lent Version

Normally, I cook at least two meatless meals per week, but now that it's Lent and I need to make meatless meals on Friday, I'm having a hard time coming up with stuff that I feel like cooking and eating. So this menu plan has no absolutely meat free recipe in it, but I'm thinking we can make the stromboli's heavy on the veggies and that will count.

We're having a party on Saturday and I'm sure we'll have leftover corned beef for reubens. Other than that, here's what we'll be eating.

**Coconut Curry Chicken--This is a new recipe that is done in the crockpot. I'm generally not a fan of curry, but everything else in the recipe sounds delish, so I will probably just decrease the amount of curry a little. Bread, salads and steamed veggies to go with it.
**Turkey-Chickpea Burgers--This is a Clean Eating recipe that uses chickpeas as a binder and way to up the fiber content. They were not only delicious, but both kids ate them. We have ground beef in the freezer, so I'll use that instead of ground turkey. Homemade fries and veggies on the side.
**Bean and Ham Soup--We have a ham bone in the freezer that I'll use to make this hearty soup. Bread and salad to go with it.
**Make Your Own Stromboli--I have a new recipe for whole wheat pizza dough that I'm looking forward to trying, and I think I might recruit Johnny for the kneading portion. Salad on the side.
**Chicken With Quinoa--This is a recipe I spotted on Little Stomaks and it looks so good. I love quinoa, but have a hard time finding new ways to cook with it. Steamed veggies and cheese straws to go with it.

What are you eating these days?

The Case Against Judgement

This week, writer Hanna Rosin has the Internet alive with buzz about her article in the April issue of Atlantic Monthly, entitled, "The Case Against Breastfeeding." In it, she addresses one of the key issues in The Mommy Wars and wonders if breastfeeding is the 2009 equivalent of the vacuum cleaner, tying women to the house, keeping them from their careers, goals and equality with men. She also delves into some of the research concerning the benefits of breastfeeding and whether or not breast milk is a magical elixir that produces smarter and healthier babies.

I was dismayed by Rosin's piece, because I felt like she managed to portray all breastfeeding mothers as nasty, cliquey, judgemental bitches who only nurse because it's the cool thing to do, and because I felt like she chose the medical studies that proved her point and skimmed over those that disproved it.

However, I was also dismayed to read a number of blog entries and dozens of comments from women who were exactly what Rosin talked about--nasty, cliquey, judgemental bitches who use breastfeeding as the ultimate good mother litmus test, and who neglected to realize the importance of treating others as decent, loving people worthy of respect.

Being respectful of others doesn't mean you have to change your ideals or completely rearrange your life or inconvenience yourself for someone else. Being respectful of others doesn't mean you loudly and vehemently defend your actions when you haven't been challenged. Being respectful of other moms means understanding that not everyone agrees with you and being okay with that.

I respect a person's right to be uncomfortable with breastfeeding. I respect a person's right to wish that all breastfeeding mother's would use a blanket. I even respect a person's right to prefer naked boobies in a magazine over nursing boobies. I may not agree with you, but I respect your right to have those opinions. And I will be discreet. This does not mean that you can change my mind or that I will go feed my baby in a filthy bathroom. It means that you go your way, I'll go mine, and we'll be fine. It means that you bite your tongue and I'll bite my tongue and we'll agree to disagree.

Purposely doing something to ignite someone else's ire? It's just bad manners. The breastfeeding mother who sits down next to a bottle feeding mother, spoiling for a fight? Bad manners. The old woman who gives the stink eye to a breastfeeding mother who is completely covered? Bad manners. The woman who stands in a crowded room and makes eye contact with as many people as possible before whipping out her breast and making a big production of nursing without a cover? Bad manners. Celebrities who compare public breastfeeding to masturbating and radio DJ's who call lactating women "sows?" Bad manners.

My mother-in-law is uncomfortable with breastfeeding. Her first child, my husband, was born in the early 70's, when practically no one was breastfeeding. She's a private, reserved, prim and proper woman, no more likely to wear a plunging neckline than to flop out a boob in public. She never said a word to be me about being uncomfortable, but I could tell. I could tell by the way she skittered out of the room when I needed to nurse. I could tell by the way she averted her eyes. And because I respect her, I was discreet.

I never used a blanket, but I also never exposed my breast. Not only did I not want to make any around me uncomfortable, there were people I just didn't want to see my boob. Like my dad. Or my boss. Or the creepy guy who lives down the street and leers at me when he says hi. So I was discreet. My baby got fed in the manner I wanted, and no one was offended.

Please do not misunderstand. I'm an advocate for breastfeeding and I think it's important. But, in this case I also think a little sensitivity and tact can go a long way. If a woman is breastfeeding and is completely 100% covered up and someone has a problem with the mere notion that she is breastfeeding, that's too bad. Not my hang up to worry about. But even if the law says you can parade down the street topless with a baby attached to each nipple doesn't mean it's advisable to do so.

I believe in breastfeeding and I believe that all women should be educated and empowered to make the best decisions for their families. But does that mean stepping on a woman's feelings and alienating our fellow mothers all for The Cause? Of course not. Because the only person a woman needs to justify her choices to is herself.

If you want to do something, push for better maternity leave, increase public acceptance of breastfeeding in public and make it easier for all women to express milk at work, regardless of where she works and how much money she makes. But, in my opinion, being In Your Face just isn't going to cut it when it comes to doing those things. Instead, quiet perseverance, constant education and a sense of pride--instead of combativeness--would be more effective.

I've done both. I nursed both kids as long as I could, and when my milk dried up, I switched to formula and fed them that way. I was lucky enough to never encounter someone who judged me for bottle feeding and received nothing but positive feedback when it came to nursing in public. That's something all women should be able to do. Nursing moms should be able to feed their babies without being scowled at or tossed out of public places and formula feeding moms should be able to pull out a bottle and not have to explain why she is doing so. Yes, my thyroid disease meant I could no longer produce enough breastmilk to feed my babies, but I shouldn't have to explain that to anyone.

First and foremost, we're all women, we're all mothers who are in it for the good of our children and that's something even the most strident of soldiers in the Mommy Wars should remember. A little respect--from both sides--goes a long way.

Happy Blogoversary!

I realized the other day that my two year blogging anniversary had quietly passed. It's hard to believe that it's been two years already! I started this site with this post about Maureen's birth to keep friends and family members up to date on my kids and what they were up to, and it's really morphed into so much more.

I have to admit that I didn't really know what I was getting into when I decided to have a blog, and I probably should have done a little more research into it. Perhaps I would have chosen to use code names for my kids, or been a little more choosy about what photos I posted. Regularly, I think about making this blog private and starting another, but decided I might lose a lot of my readership that way. At some point, I do plan to go back, post by post, and make sure there isn't anything that needs to be removed or edited, but as I have written over 800 posts, that will take some time.

For my next year as a blogger, I'd like to hear from you about what sort of topics you would like to see here. Of course, this site remains about my children and our life together, but I'm not against publishing something that my readers would like. So if you have suggestions, constructive criticism or requests, please leave me a comment or send me an email.

Also, be sure to pop over to API Speaks on the fourteenth of every month to read my words on Attachment Parenting and making it work in your life. My March post isn't up yet, but it should be soon. I also recently guest posted on breastfeeding with thyroid disease at Mommy News.

I'd also like to draw your attention to two polls that are in my right sidebar. In preparation for upcoming posts at API Speaks, I'm gathering information on pumping and breastfeeding, and breastfeeding and the size of your babies. Please take the time to vote.

I am also looking for guest bloggers to fill in the blanks on weeks when I'm really too busy to post. I'd like to address the topic of family structure. Did you purposely have one child, or is your family considerably larger? Are you childless by choice or suffer from infertility? Does your family have the average of 2.4 children? If you are interested in discussing the reasons behind the size of your family, please contact me so we can talk details.

Finally, I've switched my blogroll from a basic list to the new element available through Blogger, and I think it inadvertently dropped some names from my list. If you used to be on my blogroll and no longer see your blog listed, leave me a comment so I can fix it.

Happy Blogoversary to me!

Summoned

One day, a couple of years ago, I reached into my mailbox, and when I pulled out the bundle of bills and magazines, my heart sank. I had spotted the corner of an envelope with a familiar greenish tint--a jury summons.

Crap! Who was it for?

As it turned out, it was for both of us. Hidden in that stack of mail was a summons for me and a summons for my husband. We had both been summoned to circuit court on the same day.

Obviously, that wasn't going to work. Instead, my husband requested a postponement, eventually reported for duty, and served two days on a jury for a criminal trial.

As for me, I wanted to be excused, because Maureen was under a year old and was still being breastfed. I blogged about it here.

I was eventually excused, but it was only temporary. Last December, I received another summons and this time I didn't qualify for an excusal because I didn't have a child under one year. My service was rescheduled at my request and last Monday, I headed to the courthouse.

Because I had such a low number (#72), I didn't have to wait long before the first group was called for jury selection. Eventually, I was made alternate #1 for a civil trial. The trial lasted four days, and on the last day, juror number one was excused and I took her place, also becoming jury foreperson.

MY IMPRESSIONS
The whole process was interesting, but there were also moments of mind numbing boredom. At one point, while on a break from some particularly dry testimony, the jurors all gave each other "permission to poke" in case one of us actually fell asleep.

I know that jury duty is a civic responsibility, as well as being crucial to our justice system, but it was a huge stressor as far as arranging childcare.

My MIL came on Monday and Tuesday and my husband also used a vacation day for Monday to make sure Johnny got to school. In addition, I also missed a day of CPR training. I had to rely on another mom at school to pick Johnny up and take him to ice skating and school and also bring him home again. My mom babysat as usual on Wednesday, and she cancelled a sewing class to be available on Thursday too. By Thursday night, Johnny had had enough of being cared for by others. He asked, "Mom, will you be here tomorrow, please?"

If it hadn't been for the childcare inconvenience, I wouldn't have minded going at all. The other jurors were nice, the judge was great, the lawyers and courthouse employees were all pleasant. I enjoyed being downtown and it was nice wearing something other than scrubs or jeans and sweaters.

SUGGESTIONS
Pack light--If you have a low number and it's probable you might have to go through jury selection, or even serve on a jury, you'll be up and down a lot. If you leave the building for lunch, you have to haul all your stuff with you. Instead of a huge heavy hardback book, take a paperback or a couple of magazines instead. My bag got progressively lighter over the four days I was there.

Consider MTA--I took the bus each day and the savings in cost was huge. The bus costs $1.60 per way, while parking downtown, even with a jurors badge, was anywhere from 18 to 25 dollars per day, depending on the garage. Compensation from the court is 15 dollars per day. In addition, it was nice to sit back and listen to music and let someone else drive in rush hour traffic.

Expect to pay for WiFi--If you're taking your laptop with the intention of working, it costs 6 bucks a day.

Overall, the experience was a good one. I'm glad I did it, but I'm also glad to be at home with my kids. And hopefully I won't see that green envelope in my mail again anytime soon.

Menu Plan: Looking Forward To Home Cooking

I spent most of this week serving jury duty, and as a result, we ate out a lot. I used my 15 dollar compensation to get lunch each day. One day I had McDonalds, another day I had a substandard salad from a food court, I treated myself to a more expensive meal another day, and the last day I had a much better salad at a sandwich place. Since we didn't know exactly what time I would be home, I also didn't bother making plans for dinners at home. So one night we had Panera, pizza the next night. On Wednesday I made eggplant for my husband and we ate leftovers the last night.

After all this take out and restaurant food, I'm looking forward to eating home cooked meals again and having more control over what goes into them.

Our next few meals will be:

**Grilled Chicken with Barley--I was surprised to hear recently that a lot of people have never had barley, except in canned soup. I love it for it's ease of preparation and versatility. If you have nothing else on hand, barley is always good mixed with some vegetables and cheese for a hearty, healthy meal. This chicken recipe is easily prepared and very light. Salads and steamed veggies to go with it.
**Spinach and Black Bean Egg Rolls--Using much less oil than take out egg rolls, this meat free version is much healthier. Baked zucchini sticks on the side.
**Salmon with Dill Sauce--Since this is Lent, and we don't eat meat on Fridays, I'm resolving to try to eat salmon again. It's one of the healthiest fish you can eat, but a lingering pregnancy aversion has kept me from cooking it. Bread, couscous and salads to go with it.
**Meatloaf--Safeway had lean ground beef at a good price last week, so I bought a 3.8 pound package and divided it into 4 bags. I'll serve it with mashed potatoes and salad, and steamed veggies.
**Balsamic Chicken Breasts--This recipe couldn't get any easier, and I love that I have all the ingredients already on hand. Italian green beans and bread on the side.

What are you eating this week? If you observe Lent, what are your Friday meals usually like?

How Soon Do Kids Need To be Educated About The Ways Of The World?

A few days ago, my husband and I were discussing our day and Johnny kept interrupting. John finally told him, "Can you wait? I'm trying to talk to my wife." I don't know if Johnny has never heard the word "wife" before or what, but he seemed confused.

"You're not talking to your wife, you're talking to Mom!" So we explained that we are married, so that makes me the wife and John the husband.

"I want to be a wife!" he said, so we had to explain that since he's a boy, if he gets married one day, he'll be the husband.

"Can I get married to Maureen?" he asked. More explanations.

Finally, he seemed satisfied and we resumed our conversation.

Later, he brought up a classmate of his and said, "Mom, one day I'll get married with her and I'll be the husband and she'll be my wife." So I told him that, yes, if he happened to marry his preschool classmate, she would be his wife.

Then he brought up another classmate and asked if they could get married, but this time the classmate was a boy.

This time, I hesitated before answering.

For one, I didn't feel it was age appropriate to explain that if he wanted to marry another male, he wasn't allowed to by law. In addition, although we are practicing Catholics, I personally have no objection to homosexuality and I didn't want to tell him that boys can't get married to boys because that's not what I believe.

What's more, even if I did intend to teach him that being gay is a sin, I'm also just not really ready to address the subject of what exactly it means to be married. Although we have answered his few questions about babies and where they come from and why Maureen has different parts than him with simple, age appropriate explanations, we are waiting until he is a little older before offering more mature, in depth explanations.

I think it's unlikely that him asking this question means that Johnny will be gay. I think it's absolutely not a sexual thing, and that he doesn't grasp what it really means to be married. I think he asked about this boy because he is his friend. He is about a year older than Johnny, so Johnny gets what I call "big boy envy." He likes and admires this boy, but it has everything to do with being four and nothing to do with eventually being gay. At this point, I think that he doesn't differentiate between a friend who is female and a friend who is male. All he thinks about is that they are both his friends.

So all I said was, "Four year olds can't really get married. You have to wait to pick someone to marry until you are grown up." At some point, we will have to discuss the fact that sometimes boys like other boys and sometimes girls like other girls, and exactly what that means. Just not yet.

What do you think? At one point is it necessary to discuss issues such as this with a child, and how would you have answered?

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far

Johnny thinks potty humor is funny. In fact, he makes up nonsense words so he can continue to talk about potty stuff in public and not get caught.

So perhaps he has inherited this tendency from me, because when I saw this skit on SNL last weekend, I laughed so hard I almost fell off the couch.

Enjoy!

The Greatest Show On Earth!

When I was a kid, my brother's preschool class went to the circus. I had to go to school that day, and I remember being insanely jealous because the circus had a "unicorn" and I so wanted to see it.

My favorite part of the circus was a toss up between the acrobats and the big cats. What skill! What bravery!

The circus is coming to Baltimore this month, and this is your chance to go.

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

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® proudly presents Over The Top

Baltimore show dates: March 25 through April 5

Baltimore location: 1st Mariner Arena http://www.baltimorearena.com/

Washington D.C. Show dates: March 19 through March 22

Washington D.C. location: http://www.verizoncenter.com/

Fairfax, VA Show dates: April 8 through April 19

Fairfax, VA location: http://www.patriotcenter.com/

Offer #1: Get 4 tickets for just $44 by entering the code "MOM" at select ticketing channels**. Offer good on all performances, minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each. Offer not valid on Gold Circle Seating, Circus Celebrity Seating, Front Row and VIP seating or combinable with other offers. Other Restrictions May Apply.

The tickets can be purchased from http://www.ticketmaster.com/ and by entering the MOM code in the MomCentral promotional box when purchasing tickets.

Offer #2: A select amount of Front Row and VIP seats have been reserved for you to buy before they go on sale to the public - just enter the code "MOM" when purchasing those seats.

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

In addition, I have FOUR tickets to give away for the opening night of the circus, which is Wednesday, March 25th at 7:30 PM at the First Mariner Arena in Baltimore. In order to enter this contest, leave me a comment and make sure I have your email address so I can send you details on how to pick up the tickets, should you win. I'm sorry, but these tickets are ONLY good for opening night and cannot be used for any other date. The contest will close at midnight on Sunday, March 22nd, so I can choose and notify a winner.

Good luck!

March Is National Nutrition Month

March is the American Dietetic Association's National Nutrition Month, which is an entire month devoted to helping you make good food decisions for your family.

My kids are pretty good eaters, and since nutrition is a personal interest of mine, I think most of our main meals are very healthy. However, my personal stumbling block is snacking and grabbing meals on the go. Think about the last time you made a less than healthy food choices and the circumstances associated with it. What were the reasons? Emotional eating? Too busy to take the time to sit and have a meal? Did you skip a meal and end up starving?

Nutritious snacks are especially important for kids. Healthy snacks provide energy for learning and concentration. Below are some ideas for better snacks from Andrea Astrachan, consumer advisor for Giant Food.

**Child-size fruits that are easy for small hands (clementines and grapes are great)
**Nuts, raisins and dried fruit- 100-calorie snack packs of dried fruits are a perfect size!
**String cheese
**Nonfat and low-fat yogurt and yogurt drinks
**Applesauce and fruit cups
**Whole-wheat pretzels
**Popcorn
**Baby carrots or cut veggies
**Pudding and gelatin

Also, be sure to check out Giant's expanded line of Nature's Promise organic and natural foods, including quinoa and bulgur, pita chips, fat-free yogurt and more. You can still eat healthy for less!

Also, this is last minute, but anyone in the DC area may be interested in attending an event at the Bethesda store with the US Department of Agriculture to teach people how to use the USDA’s MyPyramid, the basis for Giant’s new Healthy Ideas program. The event will feature Dr. Robert Post, Deputy Director of the USDAs Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion and Andrea Astrachan, Consumer Advisor for Giant Food.

What:
Giant Food and USDA’s MyPyramid event to promote healthy eating by teaching healthy shopping
When:
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Time:
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Where:
Giant Food
5400 Westbard Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20816
Speakers:
Dr. Robert Post, Deputy Director of USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
Andrea Astrachan, Consumer Advisor for Giant Food

How about you? What are some of your tricks for encouraging healthy eating in your family, and what are some of your kid's favorite snacks?

Praise Or Punishment?

Last week, I mentioned that Johnny is in a bathroom humor phase. I hadn't really decided exactly how to deal with it, and was for the moment, ignoring the frequent references to poop and pee and butts and farts. Unless the references were directed at someone else (such as, "Hey! You're a toot!") because name calling is not allowed.

A few days later, I decided that I was tired of listening to discussions about turds while I was eating and opted for Mumple's big-people-don't-talk-about-bathroom-stuff method. The children were informed that I was making a new rule and that I didn't want to hear the word 'turd' again. Or else.

I assumed that would be the end of it, but I should have known better. Johnny is not the type of kid to just accept rules. He has to bend them, test the waters, ask questions, look for loopholes. The kid is a weasel. The kind of child who offers to unwrap a piece of candy for me to be helpful, but is really doing it so he can take a bite of it before handing it over.

He immediately asked, "If I can't say turd, can I say bape?" He's also in a phase where he makes up nonsense words and then laughs at his own silliness.

"Bape," which rhymes with grape has replaced turd. He taught it to Maureen, because she burst into tears the other morning and sobbed, "Oh nooooooo.....bape in diaper!" Sure enough, she needed a change.

When I told my husband about the new word, and it's translation, he laughed. John says that Johnny has followed the directions, and he isn't saying anything about turds. And no one will know what "bape" means unless they've been told.

I'm torn between being impressed with his ingenuity, and being annoyed at his flaunting of the rules. He's still talking about poop; he's just using a code word instead.

Somehow I'm not surprised. I should have known my little weasel would have found a way to compensate.

Preschool Science Project: A Lesson In Not Waiting Until The Last Minute

The students in Johnny's preschool class are working on science projects and Johnny will be presenting his today.

The purpose of the projects is two-fold. For one, this is a great age to get kids interested in science before they start school full time and are graded on it. Also, the kids will be explaining their projects to the rest of the class and getting used to speaking in front of a group.

Johnny's project was learning about how rust forms and then watching the process at home.

Since he is four, the explanation was simple. Certain kinds of metal react with water in a chemical reaction to form rust.

The sheet with the instructions for his project said to put steel wool into a bag and watch it rust. The directions said steel wool is known for how quickly it rusts, so I figured this would be a easy and non-time consuming project, bought some Brillo pads at Safeway and waited until last Thursday to think about it. Something prompted me to consider a trial run while Johnny was at school, so I wet down the steel wool and popped it into a bag and waited for it to rust.

Except nothing happened. For hours later, it looked exactly the same as it did when I first put it in the bag. Ack! A closer look at the box of Brillo pads revealed the words "Resists Rusting." Double Ack!

I turned to the Internet for some advice. According to one site, steel wool rusts quickly, except in the presence of soap. My fellow moms at MomsLikeMe recommended getting a cheaper version of steel wool. Another site said I could get plain steel wool at any hardware store.

I sent my husband to Walmart in search of soap free scrubbing pads, which they didn't have, but he came home with the cheapest thing they had. I thoroughly rinsed out a couple of them, cut off the edges, and popped one piece into a plastic bag and put another piece into a bowl with water. It took until the next morning, but both pieces finally rusted, and I was able to repeat the experiment with Johnny.

In addition, we took a walk around the neighborhood and peeked into our garden shed for other examples of things that rust.

Such as the pole to a stop sign.

Or a fire hydrant.

Or poles that sustain water damage.
Or sidewalks stained with rusty water. Maureen chose this moment to hug Johnny. Too bad the background is so ugly.
We found this rusty medallion thingy in the Square.

In this picture, Johnny shows the rusty shovel and the non-rusty hand rake.

And the rustiest thing in the shed, a bulb planter.


Johnny learned about rust, and I learned to not wait until the last minute to do school projects, no matter how easy they seem. And now I have two boxes of Brillo pads to use up. I'm glad I decided to do the trial run, because if I hadn't and Johnny watched the stupid things NOT rust, I think he would have lost interest pretty quickly.

Snow Much Fun

It's no secret that I'm SO done with winter. But today was just a tad more fun, winter wise.

I'm generally not a fan of snow. I loved it when I was a kid and got to stay home from school. But as an adult, snow just complicates things. The kids might be off, but I'm still expected to show up for work. And a forecast of snow means I have to battle the masses at the grocery store and scrape ice with freezing fingers.

School was closed today, but I was off work anyway. I did my grocery shopping on Saturday, so we have plenty of milk, bread and toilet paper. And the snow wasn't the kind that freezes into hard crust AND I managed to snag a parking spot in front of the house, so cleaning off the van was pretty easy.

Plus, my husband was so thrilled with our first decent snowfall this winter that he came home from work at lunchtime to take the kids outside.

Maureen didn't last long before she got snow down her coat and wanted to come in, but Johnny and Daddy went sledding at the park. I forgot to send the camera with them, so no park pics, but here are a few from the yard.





















Now, as far as I'm concerned, winter should be over. We had some snow, and it is welcome to melt tomorrow. Happy snow day!

Menu Plan--Cleaning Out The Cabinets

It's that time again, when every time I open my cabinets, the odds and ends spill out. I've gotten tired of tossing panko and noodles and lentils and stuff back into the cabinet and slamming it shut, so it's time to use up some of this and a little of that.

This week, we will be eating:

**Smothered Round Steak with Egg Noodles--This easy crockpot recipe was a huge hit last time I made it. It won't be egg noodles this time, it will be whatever sort of pasta we have in the pantry. Salads and steamed corn on the side.
**Bean Tacos with Spanish Rice--Safeway had canned refried beans on sale, so I bought the fat-free kind to make meatless tacos. We also have black beans in the fridge because I accidentally opened the wrong can when cooking dinner one night last week, so I might throw those in too. The spanish rice is fast and easy and tasty, although I use less cumin than called for so the kids can tolerate it. John has also requested guacamole to go with this.
**Lemon and Dill Bulgur with Broccolini--Ami at Writing: My Life mentioned this dish on Twitter last week and it sounded SO good, I decided to try it. My mind was made up when I managed to find bulgur at Safeway too. I'll probably keep the feta cheese it includes on the side, because John doesn't like a lot of feta and I do. Salad to go with it, and maybe sliced strawberries.
**Spicy Chicken with Cheesy Rice Pilaf--This chicken recipe doesn't get any easier, and the yogurt in the coating keeps it nice and moist. The rice pilaf will use up a partial bag of rice in the pantry. Salads on the side.
**Eggplant Parmesan--I'm sorry to say I still can't bring myself to like eggplant. It's such a pretty purple color, it totally looks like it should taste good! But, alas, I don't like it. This dish will be for my husband, and the kids and I will eat leftovers. Salad and bread to go with it.

What are you eating this week?