My love of music...

I have to say, one of my favorite things to do is dance with Hunter in my arms in the kitchen. A couple of days ago I was listening to the Soundtrack to French Kiss - which has a wonderful assortment of French music - it's so fun to spin and see his face smile and to just dance around and be silly. He resists it at first -- when he was smaller and younger, there was no resistance -- but then he gives in to the fun of twirling around in circles.  Dancing with him is one of the best things on earth!!!

My son loves music.  I've created his own playlist on the ipod.  He asks regularly if a particular song is his music, "is this my music?"  he'll ask.  His playlist has adult music, not kid music, the Beatles, U2, Jack Johnson, KT Tunstall.  All fun, upbeat music you can move to.

Hunter's Artwork

I have a dining room table covered with Hunter's artwork.  I have read so many articles about how to only save a couple of pieces for every month.  I find that even hard to do.  I don't want to throw it out (oh the guilt!!!), but then how to save it and what to save becomes the issue. 

As we approach the new school year...I am left with the issue of last year.  I absolutely must get a handle on last year's artwork before he starts another year of making art every single day.  Now, mind you, I am not complaining about his artwork every day.  I love that he does it and walks in the door with such pride about what he's made.

So, I've committed that this is the week.  I am going to go to the neighborhood craft store and buy something that I can use to store his artistic creations by year.  Hopefully as he gets older, he can help me choose what to keep.

Things that make me smile

Everyone's kids do the funniest, cutest things.  It's the nature of children.  They are goofy as they are learning how to live life.  Lately my son, Hunter, has been saying "good job mom" to me.  It's really funny, he changes the tone of his voice and gets all serious.  I'm wondering who is saying good job to him -- I can only think it's at camp.  Not a bad thing to be learning at camp.  Yesterday he said "good job mom" and "way to go" as I was making a chocolate cake for a friend's birthday.  When he said "way to go" he did a little thumbs up.  Now, today, we've been doing "thumbs up" to eachother when Hunter accomplishes something - as a way to communicate "good job, way to go". 

I love this new learning he's doing.  It makes me smile.

It can be overwhelming!

I am trying to be healthy, feed my family lots of fruits and vegetables, but what are the right ones to feed them? Do I buy Organic or do I buy conventional. I have just read two articles about fruits and vegetables and their nutritional values and pesticide levels (http://www.nehealthadvisory.com/2010/06/how-to-buy-the-right-fruits-and-veggies and http://www.nehealthadvisory.com/2010/06/fruits-and-vegetables-frozen-versus-canned). It's hard to manage all of the information. There is so much to manage, yes, it may be organic, but has it lost it's nutritional value because it is coming from CA and I live in GA and that's 3,000 miles and weeks on a truck being exposed to air toxins, gasoline fumes and has been picked before being ripe so that it will last a couple of weeks on the transport and not be rotten before arriving in the store and landing in my kitchen. And now, you need to eat 43 peaches to just get the nutritional value you used to be able to get from eating 2 and that same peach now has 4,000 some odd pesticides you ingest into your system.


IT'S NO WONDER CANCER AND OTHER UNEXPLAINABLE DISEASES ARE ON THE RISE. IT'S NO WONDER FOOD TASTES DIFFERENT THAN IT USED TO.

So, I try to be a responsible mom and do what I can do.  Buy healthy food and wash it, peel it and get educated on the many ways to have non-toxic things in the house.  It's the whole picture and you do what you can without going crazy.

Breakfast for Hunter

Why is it that I think my 3 year old would want the same breakfast every day?  Yet, I am surprised and slightly annoyed when he decides he wants something different.  It is partly because he usually does want the same thing every morning.  In the winter, he ate oatmeal and raisins like it was going out of style.  In the spring, it was O's cereal with strawberries.  Then we added blueberries.  This morning, he wanted something else. 

He opened the freezer and was CERTAIN that there was something in there that he wanted for breakfast.  I was hoping he would not find something bad for him like the frozen blue popsicle I had not let him have back in late May (I don't yet understand why I have not thrown that away...I'm just asking for trouble I do realize).  However, much to my surprise and delight he found the one thing that I would be happy to serve him.  Frozen peaches from last summer.  They were sooooo yummy.  But what to make with them.  Hmmmmm.

Well, I had some 'on the verge of too ripe' bananas I needed to use (or freeze), I had some strawberries that were on the verge of being also too ripe.  I had a smidgen of yogurt left in the container that was also on the verge...  So, I thought, SMOOTHIE.  I turned to Hunter and told him I had a super yummy drink I was going to make with those frozen peaches!

He got super excited!  And boy did he have fun drinking it.  I just know that tomorrow, he is going to want another smoothie.  And I will happily oblige.  What more could I want than my kid drinking a smoothie in the morning for breakfast?  If only I could eat so well (which I did this morning as I shared in the smoothie drinking).

Wow! Already it's summer!

I feel as if Spring just flew by -- well, it practically did.  My parents came to visit for 2 weeks at the beginning of April... and then we had the Easter egg hunts...

and then it was Hunter's 3rd birthday, and the making of the dinosaur train birthday cake. 

I feel like I woke up and it was the middle of May.  This is the last week of school.  He has two weeks off, then a few weeks of "camp" and then two weeks off and then another 3 weeks of "camp".  I am "" camp because to me it seems like more of what he is already doing, but there are themes for each week. 

I am trying to be "the best parent ever" but I feel my life, and Hunter's life, is just flying by.  It's hard to just stop and catch my breath and see what Hunter is doing.  He's now 3 and it was a month already since his birthday!  It seems like just yesterday and so long ago.  Next thing I know, he'll be 18 and going to college. 

Breathe, inhale, breathe it all in, soon it will be gone.  How can I get it all on video tape?  Any parent out there yet able to download their brain's video onto a flash drive?  That's what I want to do -- save it all and be able to watch it again and again.  It's all too precious.

More about sugar, this time High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

Ever since watching Jamie Oliver's TED talk ( http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html ) I have been completely re-inspired to feed my child/family well.  For the most part, we sit down every night for dinner with a good well, rounded home cooked meal (6 out of 7 nights cooked by my husband! Thank you, honey!)  When I am food shopping, I read ingredients and do not buy foods that have HFCS added (a problem when buying graham crackers for my cheesecake), and am just continually surprised and frustrated by how many foods contain HFCS (well, and just regular corn syrup too).  But HFCS is REALLY, REALLY BAD FOR YOU.  Here is a link explaining the reasons when compared to sugar:
http://www.grist.org/article/researchers-yes.-hfcs-is-much-worse-than-table-sugar

It doesn't go into the chemical reasons why it's bad for you (like the process of creating HFCS leaves Mercury residuals). But it is still a very great eye opening study, and well grounded regarding the impact of HFCS on your body and fat.

Here are a couple of my reasons why I know HFCS is bad for you (it's my cynical reason - not grounded in any true factual evidence):  1.  Why would you believe the Corn Refiners Association and their evidence stating that there is nothing wrong with HFCS?  That's like saying not brushing your teeth won't lead to gum disease.  That's what we would call a non-objective study.
2.  Again, why would we believe Pepsi-Co and their study refuting there is any harm done to humans and obesity, etc by drinking soda.  Again, that's what we would call a non-objective study.  I don't care that they have a doctor (hired by them) to state on Nightline (watch the video at the end of the article) that he finds there is nothing wrong with HFCS.

Seriously, we are supposed to believe people HIRED by the people making these products that indeed, there is nothing wrong with them, contrary to a study done by doctors with no connection to anyone or any company?  Seriously?  My belief is with the evidence and the non-biased doctors.

Today I was Supermom.

Today I was supermom...started with oversleeping, then breakfast with Hunter.  Getting him ready for school, thank you that today I didn't need to make his lunch, and good thing I just look like a normal mom that rolled out of bed to get her child to school and we don't have to make sure we look "dressed" to drop him off and pick him up.  I look like all the other moms (love that).  I get him out the door into the car and off to school (yay, we're not late!).  Get home, make coffee, and figure out what to cook for dinner tonight for our friends.  Love my new Ina Garten cookbook...decide on Chicken Picata.  Now what you will soon discover is that I am the baker in the family.  I bake the banana bread, the cupcakes, the cheesecake (all of which I'm REALLY good at), I am not a cook.  I make lasagna (which to me is baking), I make (baked) ziti, I make casseroles...which to me is like baking.  I am not a cook.  That is my husband's department. 

A few weeks ago I declared Friday night my dinner night, to give my husband a break.  (I supposed Friday ought to be his cleaning day to give me a break -- but I digress).  So, I've decided what we're having even though I've never made it before, how hard could it be?  Pound the chicken breasts, dip in flour, dip in egg, dip in bread crumbs, put in pan, put in oven....oh right then there's the sauce..., in hindsight, maybe not so easy.  Also making broccoli and wild rice.

Anyway, I went grocery shopping, then vacuumed the house, cleaned the bathrooms, picked up Hunter, took him to park for 1 1/2 hours (because I said I would yesterday), played at home with Hunter before his nap, then naptime.  Ahhhhh, naptime.  I love naptime.  Quiet.  I finished vacuuming, cleaned the rest of the house including two sets french door windows, showered, poured myself a glass of wine and started to make dinner! Thanks to husband for prepping the sauce, so that when I needed the ingredients, they were right there.  Guests arrive, house looks great, all is well.

whew! end of day! success all around!!!  Glad that I don't need to be supermom all of the time.  It's exhausting!

Enough already! I'm tripping over the toys!

Tonight as I was walking out of the family room, I literally stuck my foot into a toy.  It is one of those rolling bumblebee toys for toddlers.

Hunter left it in the entrance to the family room.  I stepped my big size 10 foot through the handle bar (somehow!) and took a step all while walking and balancing my computer in one hand as I used my other hand to catch my fall twisting my ankle going down onto our cement floor. 

Yes it hurt, but seriously what would have hurt WAY more was if my computer had slipped out from its precarious spot balanced in my left hand....but no, my guardian angel who watches over my computer didn't let it fall (thank you very much).  My ankle hurts a bit, but I can get over that.

So, the point...seriously WAY TOO MANY TOYS RUNNING AMUCK IN MY HOUSE.  I think they are breeding somehow. 

Not needing any sympathy, but wanting a "wow that was close" from my husband, he says instead that it looked funny from behind.  He didn't know that I was holding my computer precariously.  I'm sure it did look funny.  I'm still on the high that results from knowing I somehow just saved $700+ by not dropping my laptop.

I don’t like green, I like blue and orange

This morning I was telling my nearly 3 year old son Hunter that tomorrow we have to wear green to school, throwing in “if your Irish” at the end. He says he doesn’t like green, he likes blue and orange. Then he asks, “What’s Irish?” in his cute nearly 3 year old voice, almost intelligible. I begin to explain what Irish is.


But here’s my question…why do we need to in preschool, celebrate everything? Hunter has been bringing home artwork that is all about pots of gold, shamrocks, green this and green that.

Are they learning anything at all about the country? About who St Patrick really is/was? Does anyone ever bother to learn about why we have St Patrick’s Day? Or are we just playing along…by wearing green, making green cupcakes and cutting out green 4 leaf clovers? I’m just asking.

And if my son doesn’t like green, but likes orange and blue, do I dress him in green just to have him not stand out and be the only one not wearing it? Does it make me a bad parent if he doesn’t?

Sugar

Have you seen Jamie Oliver's TED talk? (http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html)

First, who is Jamie Oliver you might be asking.  He's a chef who has made a name for himself by not being flashy, but very down to earth and cooking food using produce right from his own garden in his backyard.  He's English.

Second, you also may be asking, what is a TED talk?  "TED (taken straight from it's website ted.com) is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader."

We Americans have a problem with sugar.  Maybe our context about sugar is that it makes problems go away...to quote Mary Poppins "a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down"...don't like the taste of regular milk?  Just add some sugar and chocolate to it and kids will drink it.  My philosophy, if they don't like the regular taste, just skip it and give them some yogurt instead (for the vitamin D, etc)...good concept initially, but then you have to contend with the added sugar in the yogurt!!  Sugar is in everything we touch.

I'm trying to be a good mom, by staying away from sugar.  But it's hard...there are the looks and comments to deal with from other parents and strangers.  People don't know how to deal with it.  We decided to not get Hunter hooked on juice.  He's a milk (yes, he drinks the real thing...organic, not sugared) and water kid.  No juice for him.  I don't make a big deal about it if he has some occassionally but his teachers know not to give it to him.  Also, he's a no sugar kid...except on special occassions is he allowed to have a cookie, cup cake or ice cream.  Sometimes the special occassion is that we are at a friends house and their daughter is eating ice cream as her after dinner treat.  So Hunter will get to have a small tiny amount.  He knows it's a special thing.  He announces it to the world if he gets to eat a cookie, cupcake or treat of any kind. 

Really, I am doing this because by today's standards, the level of sugar usage in our lives is unnecessary and out of control.  And, I think it's really bad for us to be exposed to it at the high levels that we are.  Have you ever read the ingredients on all of what you buy?  I keep being amazed at what I am NOT buying because of sugars, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup (which is just awful for you, seriously bad, and it seems like it's in everything).  I believe in "sugar in moderation".  For example, in the cake you bake (and make from scratch, not from the box) so you know how much sugar (and can cut down on the suggested amount) you are putting in.

Now I see as I write this, the cascading effect of all of this.  I could write a post just about baking...which I probably will...and how no one bakes from scratch anymore.  We are blind and oblivious to the ingredients we are putting in our bodies because we don't make anything that doesn't come out of a box anymore.  The art of cooking is going by the way side.  People are buying mash potatoes in a bag, ready for you to pop in the microwave and steam.  DO YOU KNOW HOW BAD THAT IS FOR YOU?  First, there's the microwaving that is, in itself, controversial regarding toxicity and killing any nutritional value in food, then there's the microwaving plastic which is a huge no-no in the "that's toxic" world...and I could go on and on...but it leads me to the question of "why does one need to do that?"  Can't you just make mashed potatoes?  They aren't all that hard to make.  So you eat 30 minutes later than normal. 

I'm with Jamie Oliver on this one...we, Americans, need a food revolution!  First order up:  cut down on the sugar!!!