A Booster Seat That Fits In Your Bag!

Last week was Child Passenger Safety Week and what better way to get into the spirit than to talk about why my daughter is still in a booster seat!

Goddess is a tiny girl and I am driving a tiny car. She is only 40 pounds and under 4 feet tall so I have been keeping her in a  Booster seat much to her dismay because while she is embarrassed and wants to be like her brother, he is much, much bigger. She keeps asking if she can be without a booster when she is his age and I tell her that it has nothing to do with age. I think parents take their kids out of the booster seats way too quickly. Yes, it is easier to manage switching cars, you have more room without them BUT...none of that matters to me if the child is not safe. It is all about safety for me when my kids are in the car. 

Pros:

It is small
Completely portable (remove the air, fold into carry bag and go.
Light weight, I could fold this and put it in my pocketbook
Easy to use and lock into place with car seat belts
Reasonably priced

Cons:

I always get a mouth full of regurgitated air. Wish there was a way to push pump it up. What the heck am I doing wrong? 

We truly love this and it is perfect for my Goddess who was starting to get embarrassed when her friends asked, "you are still in a car seat?"

A Day In The Village of Warwick

A day in red for Ruby Tuesday in the Village of Warwick, NY

Did You Get Your Halloween Costume Yet?

We cannot wait until Halloween, I have to give you a tour of Goddess' room soon. It has been decorated since last weekend and she did the rest of the decorations this week.


Now we need to settle on Halloween Costumes, Candy, Decorations and More because this year we are also doing a Trunk Or Treat where you decorate the trunk, park in a lot with others and kids trick or treat. LOVE IT!

Goddess wants to be a vampire again and Handsome a football player. Hope I can find what they are looking for.

Our Hurricane Sandy Video

I know it's late but...

Nuts? Balls? Testicles? What Do You Call Them?

I am writing this after reading Baby Sideburns posting on Facebook about a post on People I Want To Punch In The Throat's blog.

This past June I was approached by one of Handsome's teachers. She wanted to me talk to my son at home about something that had happened in school. Apparently, my innocent 3rd grader, has some not so innocent classmates in his class and because of this; his father and I had to have a conversation about his "testicles".

During a discussion in class, kids were discussing things they like. Someone liked watching horror movies, another kid liked his collection of army guys, my son, sitting in a room with many therapy items said, "I like balls." My literal boy looked around the room when it was his turn and glanced at the first thing he saw. He saw balls, many colorful balls. Sounds innocent enough right?!

No! What happened next was that all the boys started laughing, my very literal son got very defensive and the teacher than asked another boy to explain to him why they were laughing, I guess she was too nervous. Whatev, so from another 3rd grader with an adult in the room, my son was told that it is a part of the body that is inside his underwear, "the two things that hang down". Ummm...

OK...so let's see:

My innocent son who was literally talking about balls, the kind we bounce, throw, play with in school, gym class, etc., was laughed at because he didn't know that some kids don't know the literal name for them as my son does.

A teacher, instead of reprimanding the kids for laughing at another child's favorite toy decides that it is more important to fill my son in on the "other" word for testicles. AND..she not only fills him in on it but decides that it should be explained by another child.

Ummm...excuse me if I am wrong but why was my son expected to know this in the 3rd grade?

Why was he made to look the idiot of the class because he didn't know the slang term for a body part?

Why does a teacher get to decide when my son should learn slang? WTF?

UGH...still pisses me off to think of this.

There was also a tiny discussion about what we call our friends. I say my girlfriend; Teresa, Clarissa, Diane, etc. BUT when he said someone in school was his boyfriend, again, he was made to look stupid.  Boy and Girl speak can be very confusing for an innocent, literal child.

8 Days In And Already A Sick Day

Well, we are off to a rough start this school year. Handsome already had his first sick day.

We both have a sore throat, stuffy/runny nose, and a sever cough that has left him wheezing and me hurting. Oh my aching back!

Thankfully we got through the past two days with the help of Boogie Wipes. As a FHE Insider I received a beautiful box filled with Boogie Wipes and Boogie Mist. Did you even know there was a mist to help those sensitive stuffed noses? I didn't until we opened the box.

Sitting on some brand colored tissue paper and filler were two bottles of Boogie Mist, 2 packages of Boogie Wipes and some pocket sized Boogie Wipes single samples.

Handsome and I have gone through about half a bottle of spray and one whole 30 pack of wipes but you would never see on our nose that we are sick. Both noses look perfect. No chaffing, redness or otherwise.

We love the smell and how they treat our nose with complete sensitivity. The mist works great too. Plus it comes with a Fresh Scent or Grape Scent Schnozzle. Kids will not mind these nose drops, one bit.

With the kids back in school, the weather being completely unpredictable, and cold season coming, I expect we will be replenishing our supply of Boogie Wipes rather soon.

The kids and I highly recommend you have Boogie Wipes on hand. Your kid nose will appreciate it!

Wizard of Oz Celebrates 75th Anniversary

The 411 by Goddess:

(Typed by mom, dictated by Goddess)

We were outside sitting on the steps when Mommy brought this book out to me. I have watched the movie with her and love it. The book was easy for me to read and only needed help with a few words.

We love the pictures which are all from the movie. And although two of them seemed blurry we really liked how colorful they were.


The 411 by Maria:

This was one of my favorite movies growing up and love that my daughter shares the love with me. I love watching it with her and she finds it hard to believe that I was only able to see it once a year during Easter when it was aired on television.

The Wizard of Oz is celebrating it's 75th Anniversary this month. You will be seeing loads of Wizard of Oz memorabilia. McDonald's will even have the characters in the Happy meals.

Why I love this book is how the author managed to break the book down to make it very child friendly.  We don't get to know too much about each character but all the components are there which makes it a great way to introduce this timeless classic.

Also, the layout is wonderful. Classic storybook form with lots of photos and typeset to make the book even more stimulating for children.

ReThink The Way You Do Tea!

I am not a big fan of sodas, ice teas, juices, I love me some fresh water. It is one of the best things you can do for your body but I AM a fan of any company that knows there are many people in this world who DO love their flavored drinks and MAKES them better. Better tasting and better for you!

My kids do not drink anything sugary. We even limit their juice consumption. However, Goddess especially, is a sweetaholic and I know once she can drink soda on her own, she will be addicted. SO, she doesn't fall off the wagon when she is allowed to purchase her own drinks,  I allow the occasional soda when she eats out. Maybe twice a month she is allowed her favorite drink but what I love about Tea Of A Kind is that we are training kids to not NEED all that sugar they get in so many drinks right now.

Tea Of A Kind is exactly what I think of when I think of flavored drinks. Water with a touch of flavoring and nothing else. No weird aftertaste that actually leaves me thirstier than before I took the drink.

The the flavoring of Tea Of A Kind is sitting up in the cap and when you twist it open, the specially designed cap releases all of that natural flavor so you get the freshest drink possible.

Here is my little demonstration of how this works:

Dark Musicals Trilogy Book 3 Hyde by Laura DeLuca - REVIEW

 

The 411 by Maria:

This is the 3rd book of the Dark Musicals Trilogy (you can see my others here and here) and this time our talented duo Justyn and Rebecca have the staring roles in a Dinner Theater's musical of Hyde in Cape May with their friends Carmen and Tom.

These two kids brought together thanks to their love of musicals and Phantom of the Opera just can't stay out of trouble but this time they are not only boyfriend and girlfriend but engaged to be married.

Is it their talent or beauty that makes people around them lose their mind? I am not sure but trouble has a way of following these love birds.

With Justyn apparently getting into his character, more and more by the day, a theater ghost who always seems to show up at just the right time and surprises and mysteries to solve, our heroine Rebecca finds herself busy and holding a secret that will change their lives forever.

These books are a fun read, with twists and turns along the way and by the end you will have thought everyone was the killer until the moment it is revealed. Laura is a great story teller who loves her characters and will make you fall in love with them as well.

Son's Of Anarchy Season 5 - It Just Keep Getting Better!!!!

Are any of my readers SAMCRO's or SOA fans? If you don't know what these two acronyms are, you haven't been watching the FX's hit show now going into it's 6th Season!
 

The 411 by Maria: 

I have always said, I knew this show was really good because I while it was a male dominated show (well except for the ballsy women on the show and their are a few especially my favorite Gemma), I wasn't attracted to any of them BUT still loved it. Well, there is Opie but that's a story for another time.

For my friends who have not watched I have compared this to The Sopranos on motorcycles.  It is a fantastic show that you will love, love, love if you haven't already joined the masses of fans.

Season 6 is set to start tomorrow, September 10th on FX. BUT...do not start watching it if you are not caught up. This show definitely warrants you piggy backing all the episodes until you are up to date. We are always a Season behind at my house. Find a friend who has all the seasons on DVD, get them from your library or order them from Amazon. Catch up. It is so worth it!!

This is a show not about motorcycles or bad people, well, OK it is about that too but it is mostly about the PEOPLE and how they deal with things, and the situations they are put in.   It is about family! It is about friendship! It is about life and how even the smallest ripple creates waves. In the end they all want to be good people and in a strange way they are.

Season 5 had me crying my eyes out.  This is one of the best seasons so far. Creator Kurt Sutter, Aka husband of Katey Sagal (Gemma), is a mad, messed up genius who is obviously a master story teller. Without giving away too much of the Season. This is the season. The actors really know their characters and each character is intricate to the storyline.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the addition of Jimmy Smits. Always good to see a familiar face on a show I love. AND....Gemma...hello girl, you are something else.

OK...let's talk about Gemma for a moment. Katey Sagal is amazing as Jax's(the main character if there really is one), overbearing, secretive, antagonizing, she will mess you up mother. There is NO Peggy Bundy when I watch SOA and it was one of my favorite shows. This woman can act no doubt about it.

OK...wait...I could go on and on...watch the show. The ending of this Season requires a lot of tissues.

Momma Said There'd Be Days Like This

Oh I wish you were here Mom. Wish you were here to tell me that everything is going to be OK. That life has a funny way of screwing things up and making it all better again. Wish that you were here to take the kids for a few hours so I could actually think about my next move instead of shoving it all down and almost erupting into a panic attack. The attack didn't happen because I have become a maven of shoving that shit down and not allowing it to surface. I can push things under the rug better than anyone I know. It is engrained in me from way back.

This morning, I felt that first flutter in my chest, the moment when I knew my heart would skip and my breathing would become irregular. It started and I said out loud, "NOT TODAY" and swallowed. Took a deep, cleansing breath and moved past it.

I reached out to Teach to ask if he was in the office or in the field because I thought maybe if he could just talk to me, it wouldn't resurface. He answered my text that he was in the field and where. I told him that it was OK that I was fine. He said wait a moment and called. He obviously doesn't know what a panic attack is because for a moment he didn't want me to drive and asked if I could call my girlfriend Clary to come over. I explained it was OK. I was definitely fine.

The panic attack may have stemmed from a call with my Dad. We talked a bit he asked about my week, I gave the 5 cent version and he said, "I knew something was going on and you needed me to call. I wish your mother was here for you. I wish she was there to help you because she would know what to say to make it all OK."

He added some things about a difficult time that my parents went through, things I knew already but he really didn't know what to say except to tell me that he hopes I can move past this and that everything will be OK. I am sure everything will be whichever way things go. BUT...don't we all have days like that where we feel that no matter what life is just HARD? Relationships are HARD. Financial Issues are HARD. Sometimes shit happens and life is HARD.