Living in the NW suburbs of Chicagoland, we have the privilege of access to many recently built, safe, fun playground areas. But, it was a real treat when driving across Iowa last week (we took Hwy 20 just about the entire way) to stop at a few parks with old school play grounds. I would highly recommend this when traveling, by the way. We stopped just twice for about 45 minutes each. One time at lunch so we could eat a picnic. It made the 9 hour drive bearable for the kids (and, therefore, me)!

Anyway, along the way, my kids got to see what a merry-go-round and teeter-totter were, among some other classic metal toys. They had a blast! I will say, it was more work though. I had to be much more attentive when they played on them, and often they needed assistance to get on or stay on or get down! So, I can definitely see the advantage of today’s more “parent-friendly” play areas, where I can sit on a bench and just watch. Don’t get me wrong, I like to interact with them at the park, too, it’s just nice not to have to be stressed out about it!

We had our first trip to the ER while I was on vacation visiting family in Iowa. Thankfully, it was nothing serious. The kids were horsing around just before bed time and Charlie hit his head on the wall. I told them to settle down then decided I better get there pjs and get them ready for bed … before someone gets hurt. As I am coming back from getting the pjs, I hear Charlie hit his head again. This time on a wall corner. I didn’t think too much of it until I approached him and he turned around … A big, fleshy gash on his forehead. Yikes! There was quite a bit of blood and we decided the best way to treat it is to take him to the ER. The poor kid has had enough going on with his head that he doesn’t need a big scar on his face before he’s reached two! Anyway, the ER was close and we didn’t wait long. We were in and out in about 45 minutes. A dr “superglued” the cut with liquid band-aid. I was relieved he didn’t need stitches. And the glue was great. I didn’t have to mess with cleaning or bandaging the cut for almost two weeks. There were quite a few comments about me being in the ER a lot with “this guy.” Sigh. I hope they are wrong!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

In case you are wondering where I am this week, I’m on vacation! Nothing fancy, but the kids and I are heading out on a 8-plus-hour drive (not so relaxing but you do what you gotta do) to NW Iowa tomorrow to visit some family and friends. We’ll be staying at a cottage in the Lake Okoboji resort area with my parents so I’m sure we’ll spend some time at the beach. Most of all, though, I’m taking a vacation from the regular routine … and just getting out of the house! I’ll be back next week. :)

A foursome in California practices polyamory–the belief that people can love several partners at once with everyone’s blessing. Originally two couples, the wife from one couple became pregnant with the husband from the other when they were temporarily living together. They then bought a house together and recently signed legal documents making them equal guardians of the child. Read more: Four better or four worse for marriage of four

I’m starting to think we do need to legally define traditional marriage. Read more on the implications of allowing a new definition: http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=8089

One of the most unique gifts my four-year-old received for her birthday was the Mind Blowing Science kit from Scientific Explorer. We opened the box the day of her party, on her birthday, and did the first two experiments. I was concerned at first whether it was going to be too complicated or take a long time or that there would be too many things you had to supply yourself, and so on. But it’s not! It’s so simple and actually pretty quick, and my daughter loved it. She was giggling at the foam and bubbles as the liquids changed colors. I actually had fun, too. It was a great project to do together while my younger son was napping. I’m actually looking forward to tackling it again and finding out what the next project is!

Anyway, I definitely recommend it as a birthday gift idea for a boy or girl, ages 4 and up!

The men and women who serve our country deserve our gratitude. Don’t hesitate to give them thanks–without any awkwardness–by using sign language. Simply put your hand on your heart and pull your hand down and out, bending at the elbow. The Gratitude Campaign allows you to say thank you quickly and easily without even having to approach. Learn more: www.gratitudecampaign.org/

Every day since last Thursday, Avery has asked earnestly “Why my kitty not coming back?” I know it’s a difficult concept for her to understand, I barely understand it myself. So, I can’t complain that she’s not “getting it” even though it’s frustrating. I just feel so sad for her when she asks because she just wants to hold or pet the cat or have her sleep in the bed with her, especially when she is stressed or sad about something else.

Overall, I think it’s a good experience. It allows us to talk seriously and to share our emotions. It’s a hard lesson to learn so it’s good to have an opportunity now, with something we can think rationally about. I do feel sad for the kids though. They really did enjoy having the cat around.

As far as birthday parties go from a parent’s perspective, my daughter’s celebration today was a disaster! I planned an outdoor party. Well, planned is too strong of a word, although I had put some thought into it. She requested a “bouncy” party and after I figured out what that meant (she wanted a hippity hop ball for the kids to take turns on), I came up with a few ideas. Mostly, though, we were planning on just having the kids play in the yard with our outside toys, including a lot of balls, a ball pit, bubbles, a couple exercise trampolines, and a sprinkler ball. The Saturday before her party, we had the good fortune to snag a 13-foot trampoline from a neighbor through Freecycle.org. I was so excited! This was the main event we had been waiting for, and it fit perfectly with the theme. So, at this point, I had high expectations. what could possibly go wrong? Rain! Sigh. We were fortunate that we were able to have kids jump on the trampoline and even play with the sprinkler ball for the first hour or so before it really started to come down. They played with the sprinkler ball and in the pool some (although we found a tear so the water disappeared rather quickly and was replaced by a muddy, grassy soup). So, the kids had a great time anyway!

Goody Bags
I filled pink goody bags with a bouncy ball, ball-shaped chocolates (suprisingly filled with carmel) I found at Woodmans, Tootsie Pops, smash balloons and random candy.

Avery has always, and still does, love animals. From real life to plush to hard plastic, she can’t get enough. So, it was fitting that her second birthday had a jungle animal theme.

Colors
Dark and light green

Decor/supplies
Jungle pals invites and thank yous from the party store
Zoo Pals plates and plasticware
Generic animal paper cups from Woodmans
Light green table covers and dark green napkins
Light and dark green balloons with alternating curly ribbon
I also placed hard plastic animal toys around the edge of the deck and scattered among the food.

Food
Lemonade mixed with generic Sprite
Teddy grahams
Goldfish crackers
Party peanuts (I think I was thinking “elephant food”)
Jungle animal fruit snacks (Sam’s Club brand)
Veggie tray (for the moms)

Cake
I had fun this year making animal cupcakes. I made white cupcakes and decorated them with frosting and candies. The monkey is two shades of chocolate frosting swirled with a knife, with junior mint ears, half mini-marshmallows for eyes and details done with a black gel writer. The bear is white frosting with brown sugar dusted on it, with a half-marshmallow nose, jelly belly eyes and I can’t remember the kind of candy I used for ears but it’s brown with white centers, I cut them in half. The pig is white frosting with pink jello (any flavor will do), half marshmallow nose (don’t forget the black nostrils with the gel writer) and raisin eyes. I think I used pink jelly beans for ears but something else might work better.

Activities
I turned a paper box into a monkey toss game by cutting out a monkey-shaped face from scrapbook paper and drawing the details on, with the mouth being the opening. I used some green scrap fabric and rice to make bean bags. We didn’t have an official game but the kids had fun tossing the bags at the box.

Also, my neighbor friend generously served as our face painter, providing whiskers and black noses to the girls who were brave enough to try it (not the birthday girl)!

Goody bags
I bought green goody bags at the party store, and filled them with a sheet of animal stickers, plastic rings with animals, jungle pals pencils, bubbles and random candy.

We put our cat down yesterday. No matter how you feel about animals, it’s always hard to see them go. Friday was an “interesting” cat. I’ll never forget the day I brought her home about 8 years ago (I adopted her through someone I worked with at the time). I pulled her out of the box in a slow, dramatic fashion in order to present her to my husband. The process accentuated her long, skinny body, so we had a good laugh. But what usually got the attention of first-time guests to our house was her six-toed front paws. Both these things made her odd, but she was a good kitty (already 8 years old so she mostly just liked to cuddle) and we enjoyed having her. For the most part, she stayed far away from anybody but me and Matt (she loved to sit in his lap while we watched tv). The past year or so, she was much less likely to hide though. After 15 years of being freaked, I think she just got to the point of not caring anymore. Avery especially bonded with her the past couple months. Friday would sleep with her during naps and go to bed with her at night (although she wouldn’t stay very long), and the kids enjoyed petting and playing with her. We knew she wasn’t diong well (we found out in September that she had a thyroid condition). By the time I finally got the guts to take her to the vet, she was all skin and bones. To top it off, she was having accidents on a daily basis, so we knew it was time for her to go. Avery wants to add: “I love my kitty.”

Goodbye, kitty.

Avery’s birthday is coming up so I thought I would post some birthday party ideas from the past couple years. For her third birthday last year, she picked a Finding Nemo theme.

Colors
Green, aqua and orange

Decor/supplies
Finding Nemo invites and plates from the party store
Aqua table cover and napkins
White generic cups with blue wavy lines
Orange plasticware (I also had some leftover zoo pals plasticware with dolphins)
Orange/green plates/cups from the dollar store for adults
Orange/green/aqua balloons with aqua ribbon
Fish/flower confetti (cut from scrapbook paper) in orange/blue/green
I had Nemo and Flounder (from The Little Mermaid) plushes that I used as centerpieces on the table as well.

Food
Blue raspberry kool-aid mixed with generic Sprite
Multi-colored goldfish crackers and goldfish pretzels in votive bowls (like fishbowls)
Juju fish from Woodmans and gummy clown fish from Candy World
Finding Nemo fruit snacks
Carrot sticks
I also made Aquarium Cups, but as the reviews go on the Krafts site, they didn’t work out that great because the Jell-O was too dark. I used halved grapes and gummy clown fish and juju, which worked though.

For the lunch, my husband (thanks, hon!) made octopus dogs (Hot dogs were cut in half and then sliced halfway up into eight sections. When boiled, they curl up like tentacles. Very cute!) and shells and cheese macaroni.

Cake
I kept it simple. I made white cupcakes, spread them with aqua frosting and topped it with clown gummy fish or Nerds (like aquarium rocks).

Activities
I borrowed a scrapbooking flower punch from a friend to punch a bunch of flower shapes in the theme colors. I also purchased a box of multi-colored straws, which had blue and green and orange straws in it. I cut them into one-inch sections. I provided blue Sugar ‘n Cream yarn, and moms helped the kids string the straw and flower shapes to make a lei. The kids were young so it was rather difficult for them but they liked them (at least the girls at the party did). I also hid five or so orange “Nemos” I had cut out and had the kids “find” him.

Goody bags
I found goody bags with the theme’s colors in wavy stripes (looked kinda like seaweed) at the party store. Filled it with a sheet of Finding Nemo stickers, leftover plastic rings with dolphlins and turtles etc. (from her second birthday party which was animals), bubbles and random candy.

The menu at Fradillio’s was the object of a lot of laughs Memorial weekend. There also was a phonetic spelling for gyros, “yee-ros,” so we had a lot of fun with that, too.

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com and 5 Minutes for Mom.

From Planned Parenthood’s Obscene Profits by Michelle Malkin.

Read more: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichelleMalkin/2008/06/04/planned_parenthoods_obscene_profits