Just Some Cuteness

A Simple Request

In keep with the Thanksgiving theme this week I'd like to ask you to take a moment of time and visit with a fellowette mom in need. Perri's need is twofold and very simple. First Perri needs lots of prayers. Because of the amazing group you all are I know that you can and will surely expend all your thought and prayers without hesitation!

Perri's blog is
Please take a moment or two to read her story(s) of her son Ryan. Perri was truly sent from God to look after Ryan and Ryan is truly her little treasure! Her blog posts will help explain why the prayers.

Ryan is 10 years old and he is going through some struggles. Ryan is temporarily away from home and this is where the second part of the request comes in. Ryan would like to have some mail to help get through this difficult time and help him feel not so lost. Don't you thing the second part of the need is just as easy and inexpensive as the first part? Ya, that's what I thought :o)

If you would please send a card or letter from where-ever you are sure to make one little boy very happy.
I sent a card with a letter and some pictures of Toronto and I definitely included lots of prayers!

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone and Thank you xoxo
Be Safe
God Bless

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Contributed by: The Mind of a Mom

Giving Thanks

This week begins the American Thanksgiving holiday. This is an important time for us. We visit with our families. We eat good food. We eat too much food...

Most importantly, though, we teach our kids to be thankful for the blessings in our lives. It is one of the most important parts of this holiday.

Take some time today, and this week, to ask your children what they are thankful for. You might be surprised by their answers.

Marisa is thankful for:

falling
running
throwing
hitting
hugging
kissing

Kira is thankful for:

ponies
unicorns
alicorns
pegasus
Daddy
Mommy

**That was the best I could get. Kira is too busy watching TV this morning and Marisa's extent of thankfulness reaches only to what she can do.**

I would love to hear some of your kids' responses. Leave me a comment, please, and share...

Marisa's Hair

You may have read a few days ago where Marisa took it upon herself to cut her hair. If you did, you will be well aware that this happened while Mommy wasn't home. If you have not read about Marisa's escapades with scissors, check out that link where it says "cut her hair" and read all about how my wonderful husband failed to pay proper attention to her while I was away.

I would like to say that I was way too sick to suffocate him in his sleep. He did mention something about me being nice enough not to do such a thing. In reality, I was just too sick to care.

For the past few days I have been basically living with Marisa's lopsided hairdo. I have had neither the energy nor the inclination to attempt to fix the hair. She was, after all, quite pleased with her new do. Any strange looks that we may have received from other parents were avoided by the simple fact that I've been too sick to go anywhere or do anything much at all. We did go to the zoo on Wednesday, but it was basically deserted.

Today, I decided it was time to fix the hair. I gathered scissors, clippers, and Marisa. Mind you, Marisa did a number on her hair. It was barely a quarter of an inch away from her scalp on the very back of her head. The only way to fix it.... make it short all over. I was hoping to minimize the removal of hair and just kind of blend it all together. Marisa, of course, had other ideas. Marisa is notorious for her inability to sit still. While I was using the clippers to blend the hair, she jumped and caused me to cut a valley bigger than the Grand Canyon in the midst of the back of her head.

SIGH!

The entire back of her head had to be clipped and sheared to fix that particular mistake. Oh - and don't think for one minute that she made it easy for me by sitting still. When Dad walked into the bathroom to take his shower, I quickly held up my hands to protect him from the shock. Marisa's hair is now reminiscent of the style that Kira received after her stint in the hospital. You can read about that one HERE. The biggest difference between Kira's hair and Risa's hair is that Risa now has very little hair on the back of her head. She basically ended up with the back side of her hair shaved nearly smooth. Kira at least had a half an inch of hair left on the back.

I'll take a picture and post it within the next day or two. Right now my camera batteries are dead. I need to locate that charger... It's around here somewhere.

("Marisa... where did you hide my battery charger?")

Disney On Ice Princesses ~ Give-away

I have a very cool give-away over at my blog The Mind of a Mom!!

A 4-pack of tickets to opening night of Disney On Ice - Princesses in Toronto.

This contest will close Dec 2nd/09

~ You need to leave your name and email address.

~ I ask is that you please pass this amazing give-a-way on to your friends. What a wonderful Pre-Christmas gift for your kids or just a great early Christmas gift for those with little people you know.

~ I need to know the name of the winner as the tickets will be picked-up the night of the show at the box-office and ID will be required. So if you decide to run this cool contest as a contest on your blog that's great! It's all about the name of the winner.

It's that simple!


Even if you are not a winner you can still go see the Princesses

Disney On Ice Coupon Code Details ~
The coupon code for the Toronto shows will be MCC— four tickets for $44 Monday-Friday (excluding Friday evening), and $4 off tickets for all weekend performances.
Toronto shows are running from December 18th – December 27th at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
The tickets can be purchased from http://www.ticketmaster.ca and by entering the MCC code in the “MC promotion” box when purchasing tickets.
Minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each during the week and $4 off on weekends.
Offer not valid on Rinkside or VIP seating.
Cannot be combined with other offers. Service Charges, facility & handling fees will apply.

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Post by: The Mind of a Mom

Oops

Ok. I'm an idiot.

You see, you should always pay attention to your three-year-old. And you should be especially worried when she is quiet. Too much quiet is never a good sign - you would think I would know this by now, but apparently I am a slow learner. (besides which, I really like quiet)

Shauna went to the church youth group last night (she is a youth leader) and left me to watch the girls. After bathtime, I was watching 'V' on teh intertubes while Kira slept on the couch and Marisa played. I looked over at her several times and there were no problems - she was playing with some ponies in the living room. But for about the last 15 minutes of the show, I didn't look over at her at all. She was being quiet and playing, right?

Well, sort of.

She found the scissors that she usually uses to cut paper and decided to make her hair "pretty."

She failed. Miserably.

Her hair is (was) shoulder-long and more or less all the same length. Now there is a big spot right on the back of her head that is about 1/4 inch long. This is not the best of all possible hairstyles for Marisa.

Fortunately, my darling bride chose not to smother me in my sleep last night.

Being technologically incompetent, I do not have pictures to post. Just trust me, it ain't pretty.

Tame the Monster in the Closet

There's a monster that lives in my girls' closet. It hides in there and causes havoc and chaos by tumbling the clothes around and jumbling everything together or tearing everything to the floor. I know it is a monster, because MY beautiful girls would NEVER throw their clothes around in such manner just to make a mess.

The Closet Monster also plays nasty little tricks. He takes the clothes and moves them around so that Kira's clothes get mixed up with Marisa's clothes so that Daddy doesn't know which girl wears what outfit. They frequently end up wearing the wrong shirt (too big or too little) because the shirts are on the wrong side of the closet.

After several attempts and considerable consideration, I have finally found the solution to taming the monster in my girls' closet.

SHOE BOXES

Not just any shoe boxes, though, the clear plastic shoe boxes that can be purchased at the Dollar Tree (my favorite store).

I went to the Dollar Tree two weeks ago and purchased 14 plastic shoe boxes.

I brought them home when Randall was somewhere not here because he likes to tease me about my shoe box obsession. (I use them for organizing just about everything.)

I wrote on each shoe box with a Sharpee Marker --- One day of the week and the name of a child.

          Kira Sunday                       Marisa Sunday
          Kira Monday                      Marisa Monday
          Kira Tuesday                      Marisa Tuesday

You get the idea... Each child gets 7 boxes - one for each day of the week.

Then I gathered up all the wayward clothing that our monster likes to spread all over the closet and anywhere else in the house that he is able to sneak into without being seen (which is pretty much everywhere).

I sat down with my boxes and filled them up with one complete outfit for each day. Yep - each box has socks, panties, and an outfit that will fully dress each child without thought or consideration. Everything is properly coordinated so there is no need to hunt down anything. When it's time to get dressed, all I have to do (or Daddy) is go get the boxes with the proper day written on it.

On Saturday, laundry is done. Now, instead of hanging their clothes and putting them in the closet, I sit down with all the empty boxes and refill them. Marisa's boxes get 2 pairs of panties because she is newly potty trained and might still have accidents. I will be adding an extra box for each girl soon to put all the extra socks and panties in so they can be easily found if needed. There is also a basket for the extra clothes that don't make it into one of the weekly boxes - just in case we need an extra clean outfit for some bizarre reason. 

I can even hand Kira her box and come back later to find her fully dressed. She thoroughly loves having this new found freedom.

Now for a few pictures...

      

Dressing your daughter

On Friday and Saturday night at any mall, you can find hordes of teenage girls dressed, shall we say, provocatively. Super-short skirts, high heels and low-cut tops abound.

Halloween is frequently used by teenage girls as an excuse to dress in as slutty a manner as possible. Skin-tight catsuits, hooker outfits, sexy nurse, and sexy cop costumes are roaming the streets.

I stopped in a convenience store to get a gatorade one day and found myself standing in line behind a young girl who was probably 12 or 13. She was wearing tight cotton booty shorts with the words “USE ME” printed across her butt.

Every day I see teenage and pre-teen girls wearing t-shirts with alcohol, tobacco, drug or sex advertisements emblazoned on the chest.

What is a parent to do?

I have a very few simple rules that were enforced with Angel, and will be enforced with Kira and Marisa:

- Nothing that advertises drugs, alcohol or tobacco
- Skirts cannot be so short that I can see underwear when she bends over or squats down unless she is wearing leggings or shorts underneath.
- She is not wearing anything with writing on the butt, even if it says “virgin for life.”
- No see-through tops
- In general, if the first word that comes to mind when I see an outfit is ‘slut’ or ‘hooker,’ something has got to change.
- No piercing of anything other than ears until age 16. Then we will talk about belly button if she wants to. (I will not approve tongue, nipples or nose, so don’t even ask)
- No tattoos until after age 18 and I no longer have the authority to stop it.

Things I am not worried about:

- Style of underwear, so long as it is not visible when she is dressed.
- Style of swimwear, so long as it fits properly.
- What she wears or does not wear to sleep in.
- Makeup after about age 14 or so.
- Hairstyle or hair color.
- Overall fashion style, so long as that style isn’t ‘slut’ or ‘hooker.’

Halloween (or other) costumes are on a case-by-case basis. For example, I was okay with a fairly sexy belly-dancer costume for Angel when she was 17 (especially since she wore black shorts under the sheer leggings instead of the thong that came with the costume). I would not have been okay with that same costume for a 14-year-old.

I also consider t-shirts with clever/witty/ironic sayings on a case-by-case basis. Some are okay and some are not. I know it when I see it.

I think that if you teach your daughter to have healthy attitudes toward sex and sexuality, and instill in her a large dollop of self-respect, that you will probably not have too many fights over her clothes or style of dress. A young lady who believes in herself and in her own worth does not need to get attention by advertising what she should not be selling.

Everybody is a Winner

Here's the list of those entered into my giveaway.

1) John   (12 posts in the forum)
2) Cornyman   (0 posts in the forum)

3) Petula   (0 posts in the forum)

4) Sandy   (2 posts in the forum)

5) Robin   (4 posts in the forum)

6) Russ   (1 posts in the forum)

7) Zizzy   (9 posts in the forum)


Well - There are 7 prizes and 7 entrants. There were people who commented, but didn't join the forum. There were people who joined the forum, but didn't comment. The people listed above are the ones who qualified. So what we're going to do is this...

1) I'm going to Random Generate the list to see who gets first choice of the prizes.

2) We'll go in order down that list and let the winner choose which prize they want. To do this, leave me a comment to tell me you first three choices --- IN ORDER OF YOUR PREFERENCES. If you are selecting EC credits, be sure to give us a link to your EC profile. If you are selecting something that will need to be mailed - please comment here with your prize choices and then email me at aandsparenting@gmail.com with the appropriate information. Please DO NOT leave your mailing address in the comments section. For advertisements, please email me the 125 card and the link so I can set up your ad. Also tell us which blog you want your ad to be placed on.

The prizes are:

1) 125 X 125 advertising on my sidebar - the ad will be placed directly above the Entrecard Widget.
2) 500 Entrecard Credits
3) 300 Entrecard Credits
4) 100 Entrecard Credits
5) Scrapbook Supplies Goody Bag (my camera is currently without battery power - trust me that the goody bag will be suitably impressive ... I'll try to get a picture this weekend and get it posted)
6) Set of 20 Hand Made Greeting Cards (again - picture to follow...)
7) 125 X 125 advertising at Spicybugz website - placement to be determined later. (I haven't actually asked her about this, so while I can offer the ad - I can't guarantee where she will put it... bwa ha ha...)
8) Sponsored by Eli at Business Sphere: 1,500 EC to ONE lucky winner **Thank you, Eli.**

**I never did manage to get pictures of those cards and scrapbook goodies. I am so sorry. I hope that whomever wins that will trust that their prize package will be well worth winning. **











 
Special Prizes from Sponsors. 




9) Sponsored by Cornyman: 150 EC Credits for EACH participant who a) REGISTERS in the forum, b) COMMENTS below, AND c) is ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING in the forum during the contest time. **Thank you, Cornyman, for such a generous sponsorship.**

10) Sponsored by Spicybugz: 5,000 EC Credits will be given to the person who is most active in the forums as of the end of this contest.

JOHN WINS FOR BEING THE MOST ACTIVE !!!


NOW FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT PART...

My random method of prize determination is as follows: I took out 7 index cards and wrote the numbers 1 through 7 on them (one number per card). I folded these cards into tiny bits and added them to a bowl. I then sat down on the floor with my two adorable daughters and let them pick our winners. (Actually, Dad picked the first winner so that each girl would end up with the exact same amount of cards when we were finished. Yes, it matters... Just ask them. They'll tell you. )

So here are the awaited results.

First prize winner is Number 3. (That would be Petula.)
Second prize winner is Number 2. (Cornyman)
Third prize winner is Number 7. (Zizzy)
Fourth prize winner is Number 5. (Robin)
Fifth prize winner is Number 1. (John)
Sixth prize winner is Number 4. (Sandy)
Seventh prize winner is Number 6. (Russ)

All that's left to do is give me your top 3 preferences for prizes. We'll go in order of the top winner down to the bottom. Petula - you get first choice...

How healthy is that healthy snack...

Does reduced fat mean reduced sugar?

You might wonder why we're stacking up the sugar in reduced fat foods. After all, they're not making any claims about reducing sugar. Just because a cookie is touted as low fat doesn't mean it has less sugar than its regular counterpart and a reduction of fat does not necessarily mean a major reduction in calories.

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The Reduced Fat Oreos won't help you much if you're counting calories - they have almost as many calories as the regular ones and the sugar content is the same. The Snack Cakes do have fewer calories, but a comparable amount of sugar.


Reduced Fat Oreos
3 cookies (34g)
Sugars, total: 14g
Calories, total: 150
Calories from sugar: 56

Oreo Snack Cakes
1 package (24g)
Sugars, total: 9g
Calories, total: 100
Calories from sugar: 36

Oreos
3 cookies (34g)
Sugars, total: 14g
Calories, total: 160
Calories from sugar: 56


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The portion size is a little disappointing here. This is a very small handful, but they did manage to pack in the sugar.



Oreo Candy Bites
1 package (22g)
Sugars, total: 12g
Calories, total: 100
Calories from sugar: 48



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All those little cookie wafers will last longer but in the end, they have just as much sugar and about as many calories as two regular (and much better tasting) Chips Ahoy cookies.
 

Chips Ahoy (regular)
2 cookies (20g)
Sugars, total: 7g
Calories, total: 98
Calories from sugar: 28

Chips Ahoy Thin Crisps
1 package (23g)
Sugars, total: 7g
Calories, total: 100
Calories from sugar: 28


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These cute little bite-size cupcakes are about equivalent to a half of a regular cupcake in terms of sugar and calories.



Hostess Cupcake
100 Calorie Pack (37g)
Sugars, total: 10g
Calories, total: 100
Calories from sugar: 40

Hostess Cupcake
1 Regular (49.5g)
Sugars, total: 22g
Calories, total: 175
Calories from sugar: 88


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These Snackwells may seem like a good idea, but that's a pretty average amount of sugar for two cookies, and that's the same amount of calories you'd get in two regular Oreos.


Snackwell Creme Sandwiches
2 cookies (25g)
Sugars, total: 9g
Calories, total: 110
Calories from sugar: 36

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These stats seem less impressive when you realize that this is only one not very substantial cookie. With such a small cookie, how many will you need to eat to feel satisfied?


Snackwell Devil's Food Cookies
1 cookie (16g)
Sugars, total: 7g
Calories, total: 50
Calories from sugar: 28

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When you compare these two puddings, you will find that the difference in sugar is negligible. This is not really a surprise since they didn't make any claims about less sugar. In this case, however, the fat reduction actually did make a significant impact on the calorie count.


Chocolate Pudding
Regular Pudding (99g)
Sugars, total: 16g
Calories, total: 130
Calories from sugar: 64

Low Fat Pudding (99g)
Sugars, total: 15g
Calories, total: 80
Calories from sugar: 60


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Here is another case where the low fat version has almost as many calories as the original, and the same amount of sugar.  You know the low fat is going to be dry and taste weird. Unless you're really concerned about fat, you might as well get the regular ones.


Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
Chocolate Chip (regular) (24g)
Sugars, total: 7g
Calories, total: 100
Calories from sugar: 28

Low Fat Chocolate Chunk (24g)
Sugars, total: 7g
Calories, total: 90
Calories from sugar: 28






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We really need to read the labels and decide what it is that we want to put in our bodies. Food companies spend a lot of time and money to find legal ways to persuade us to purchase their products. It's important to take the time to know what you are buying.

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Contributed by: The Mind of a Mom

Contest News

I'll be setting up for the choosing of winners later this evening.

I'll be announcing winners tomorrow.

Just wanted to let everybody know. 

Lessons Learned

This weekend has been incredibly eventful. I only have a brief moment tonight, but I want to share with you what I have learned over the past couple of days.

1) Home made costumes are far better than store bought costumes. It doesn't matter how uncreative one might be your young child will enjoy that hand made costume so much and won't even notice all the imperfections.

2) Turkey basters make awesome unicorn horns. You just pop the bulb off of the end and add glitter.

3) When using super glue, it is highly advisable to use latex gloves. This is especially true when you are gluing a unicorn horn to a headband that has fake hair attached to it.

4) You will need three times the amount of super glue that you originally anticipated because most of the first two tubes will end up on your hands instead of on the desired articles.

5) If your child is going to be a fairy for Halloween, provide that child with a bucket full of glitter so she can spread fairy dust over all her candy givers. (No, I did not do this. I thought about it after we were finished and thought how wonderfully cute that would have been.)

6) It's easier than you might imagine to ignore the buckets of candy when you're trying to lose weight and know that you shouldn't delve into the chocolate.