Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

  • I need to find cheaper ways to have fun with my kids

    Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

    I was determined that yesterday would be a FUN! DAY! OUT OF THE HOUSE!  As opposed to a typical Saturday which finds me on my computer all day while the kids play 14 bazillion hours of Rock Band, Oblivion, and Halo.

    We started out in the morning heading to a nearby comic book shop for National Free Comic Book Day. Kaitlyn was in her best geek chic t-shirt, the one from ThinkGeek that reads “Come to the dark side, we have cookies-V”  The comic book store had a table set up with piles of comics, and we could each take five. I grabbed a Simpson’s comic and one from Cartoon Network. The boys scooped up Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and Darkhawk.

    I wouldn’t have had to spend anything, except there was an artist there selling his own comic ($3.00) plus a really cool drawing of Hellboy ($5.00), and he was chatting with Ryan about how Ryan can learn more about how to draw and writing down his email address and the title of a book Ryan should get, PLUS he’s a blogger, so I caved in and handed over the cash.

    From there we went in search of something to eat and ended up at a place called The Pita Pit. We had THE BEST pita sandwiches we had ever had. Mine was turkey,bacon, and mashed avocado with feta cheese and vinegar and oil dressing, YUM. (Three sandwiches, four drinks, $18)

    We came home and did a bunch of housework, then Kaitlyn and I took a nap. When we got up, I took Ryan and Nathan plus Nathan’s friend Forrest to Maggie Moo’s for ice cream. We had never been there before. And seriously? The best dark chocolate ice cream I have EVER HAD (3 regular ice creams, one shake, a malt to take home to Chris, $25)

    From Maggie Moo’s we went over to Schuler’s bookstore where I wandered around for a good hour looking for something to read.  I kept waiting for the perfect book to jump off it’s shelf and land on me.  I picked up half a dozen titles, flipped through, put them back.

    I ended up buying Heather Armstrong’s “It Sucked, and then I Cried“, and when we got home, sat down and read two thirds of it without stopping.  Even though the topic of the book-her first pregnancy, how hard the morning sickness is, how hard it is to deal with the expanding body size, her relatively easy labor, and then those loooooong first few months with a newborn when you would kill someone for a few more hours of sleep- is not unique, it’s the way she writes it. Plus the book has a section of color photos of Leta as a tiny baby, SO cute (one book, $24)

    So, $75.00 for one day of “fun”.  And looking at that list, I see that yes, I could have said no at the comic store, taken the kids home for PB&J,  skipped Maggie Moos and thus the bookstore.  But we had fun together too. So I think I’ll give myself a pass on the guilt today and just remember we had a fun day, albeit an expensive one.

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    8 Comments » Filed under: Being a Mom, Family

  • Hello from the Nestle Culinary Center!

    Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

    cross-posted from MomCooks:

    stouffers_logoYesterday, Nestle flew me to Solon, Ohio to attend a day-long conference and roundtable discussion on the topic of Let’s Fix Dinner. This morning we started out in the Nestle Baking Kitchen meeting with Jenny from VeryBestBaking.com and eating fresh-baked cookies (YUM). Then we moved into their Culinary Center which is like a huge kitchen with grills and a wood-fire pizza oven station and people chopping and grilling and mixing.

    There is Pecan-Crusted BACON, people. I am in heaven.

    We’ve only been here an hour and I’ve already been reminded of just how loyal I am to the Nestle brand. I’ve mentioned before that the only acceptable chocolate chip cookie as far as my husband is concerned is ones made with Nestle Toll House Mini Morsels.

    Other products made by Nestle include Carnation Condensed Milks, Libby pumpkin, Pria bars, Powerbars, and of course, CANDY. There’s a little tray sitting in front of me with mini butterfingers and nestle crunch bars.

    BACON COATED IN BROWN SUGAR, ROLLED IN CRUSHED PECANS, AND BAKED. NOM NOM NOM NOM.

    We’re having presentations from a psychologist, an expert on raising teens, Antonia from last season’s Top Chef, and our moderator is a famous Cleveland newscaster. Pretty cool.

    I’ll be twittering regularly today with the hashtag #letsfixdinner if you want to keep an eye on those.

    I NEED MOAR BACON.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/table4five/

    6 Comments » Filed under: Family, Stouffer's Let's Fix Dinner event

  • What’s the rudest comment you ever got about your parenting?

    Friday, February 13th, 2009

    When Kaitlyn was ONE MONTH OLD, my Great-Aunt Anne took a look at her during the family Christmas party and said:

    “her ears really stick out. You should tape them to her head at night to help push them back”.

    This was Kaitlyn at one month old:

    kaitlyncloseup

    Her ears did  NOT stick out! Chris and I laughed it off and then when we got in the car to drive home, looked at each other and said “what the heck was she talking about?!?” We think her ears are PERFECT, thank you very much.

    I want your comments on this post, please. What was the rudest thing anyone ever said to you about your parenting? Did they criticize you for not piling twelve blankets on your already-warm-enough infant? Act shocked because you were breastfeeding your 13 month old? Accuse you of starving your kids because they were skinny despite eating constantly? Let’s hear your stories!

    And, to read more incredible “rude comments” stories, visit the TwitterMoms “Oh, No YOu Didn’t” Contest, sponsored by Care.com.

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    14 Comments » Filed under: Family

  • A Family Visit

    Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

    This past Sunday we visited Chris’ sister and her family at their house which is about a two hour drive away. It was our first time visiting them at their new and gorgeous house.  We had snacks, gave presents to the kids, went to dinner, it was a nice visit!

    The kids were thrilled with their gifts- Ryan got the ROFLcopter t-shirt from ThinkGeek and a Nuttin’ But Stringz CD, Nathan got the Star Wars game for his Leapfrog Didj, and Kaitlyn got a cute MegaBlocks piano and a “Come to the Dark Side, We Have Cookies” shirt from ThinkGeek.  My SIL also made us a wonderful gift basket with homemade Organic Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread, two mugs, a jar of her homemade hot cocoa mix, and two framed photos of her and Chris dancing at her wedding. I forgot to take a picture of it!  I did take photos of everyone while we were there though:

    Nathan, J., and Ryan. J. doesn’t usually look so serious!

    boys

    SIL, Chris, and MoMo the cat.

    chris-and-alisa

    My brother-in-law:

    chris-c

    Beautiful Holly the Golden Retriever. She’s a really good dog.

    holly

    Kaitlyn really likes this MegaBloks piano!

    kaitlyn

    My super-cute nephew “P”. Kaitlyn barely remembered him but loved playing with him (and all his toys!):

    parker

    Me and my nephews, who I was going to hug whether they liked it or not:

    me-and-boys

    Kaitlyn asked me several times today if we could please go back, I told her that her Aunt would love it if the next time we went, Kaitlyn was potty trained. So at the dinner table, Kaitlyn announced that we were going to see Auntie (SIL’s  name), but that she had to be potty trained first. Hey, whatever works!

    10 Comments » Filed under: Family, I love the Holidays

  • Two Reasons I’m Glad We Bought Rock Band 2

    Saturday, December 27th, 2008

    1.  Because Kaitlyn LOVES drumming.  Earlier tonight she picked up the drumsticks and yelled “I WANNA ROCK”. How awesome is that? Plus, I got this photo of her which totally rules:

    kaitlyn-drumming

    2. Because one of the things you can do in Rock Band 2 is give your band a name, and Ryan named his “Teh Rofflewaffles”. Their motto? “Rock Hard. Eat Waffles”. And if that isn’t awesome, I don’t know what is.

    edited to add: Please stop by MomReviews and check my review of “Eagle Eye“, out on DVD and Blu-Ray today!

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    8 Comments » Filed under: Being a Mom, Family