I was named one of the top 100 female bloggers by the nice guy over at enkay blog.

I’m really thankful and grateful to be included with some wonderful female bloggers. and #72 is a good showing!

I just had a few people email me and IM me because my area of the country is in the news again.

The Gloucester Pregnancy Pact was bad enough. Now some teenagers from another local town entered floats in the 4th of July parade “satirizing” the pregnancy pact and going too far. This is a parade with little kids. You’ll want to pay attention to minutes 2-3 and 5-7.

I’m all for free speech and free expression, as well as enjoying a good phallic image, but sometimes the context makes things incredibly inappropriate. Yeesh - what were the parade organizers thinking?

Edited to add: another sexually-oriented article about my state - I was IM’d this link and told to have a good time on Cape Cod. lol

So, I’ve started listening to more music, having friends suggest songs that I might like. Having a working iPod is probably a part of listening to more music, as is having headphones that don’t hurt my head.

If you’ve ever dealt with Lyme or even if you just like songs about getting to know someone, check out these lyrics to a song called Ticks, and then you can blame someone who isn’t me when you find yourself downloading country music.

I’ve had to borrow neighbors’ wifi a few times, and have searched for free wifi (the city of Worcester, MA has free wifi for some cool reason, if you’re ever there for a bus layover), you’ll have noticed how incredibly dull most network names are. If you’re looking to rename your wifi, check out these suggested names.

I’m trying to see more movies, and a friend recommended old movies. TNT had sent me some information on old family-friendly movies they are running on Sunday evenings, so I’m checking those out with the kids. But the ones I really want to see are the pre-Code movies, movies before the rating system was created.

Am I the last person to discover meebo? it’s great having all of my chat programs in one place. makes it easier to keep chat windows open, too. I have to watch out and not send things to the wrong people, though…. if you want to reach me I’m mia3mom on google talk & yahoo, imacmomR on aim. I seem to have gotten past my instant-messaging phobias

In other news, there are a couple new recipes floating around, and expect some more this week as I test a new recipe or two. Couple new reviews coming, too. yay!

A dad friend of mine sent me this link. We’ve spent how much time telling kids not to put their Legos in their mouths? And now they come out with Lego fruit snacks? Are they hoping for a law suit?

Mom Central and American Standard are running a contest for parents in the Boston area, where you can win an Accuclean heating and AC system - here’s my post with more info, and the contest link. Check out their Accuclean site where you can get info about indoor air quality.

My recipes and recipe blog will be up at Wellsphere.com when their Food Allergy network next month. Check ‘em out, they’ve already got a lot of info there, and more is coming.

I’m taking a couple days off again to visit my Nana and Grandpa Bob, she is doing much better a month after her stroke, and I’m looking forward to spending time with her and cooking with her around. Here’s hoping the 2 days don’t hit me the same way 4 days hit me last time!

Sometimes the girls take sweet pictures. I have such a crush on that puppy!

The weather is finally turning beachy - yippeeeee! Watch out for more beach pics.

When you’ve been reading romantic paranormal novels for a while, there’s a point where you think you’ve seen every storyline. Prepare yourself for something new this time, a concept I haven’t seen in print in about 15 years, and an execution that is engaging, endearing, and unique. Bound To Love Her is a novel in which the worlds of the elves and the humans collide by new author Esri Rose. If you aren’t accustomed to paranormals, you’ll want to give this a try, as it doesn’t require as much of a suspension of disbelief as many other novels in this genre.

In Bound To Love Her, the elf and human worlds collide when Erin is walking her neighbor’s dog and happens upon a handsome injured man in the park. She helps him up off the ground, and ends up bringing him to her house before bringing him to the hospital with her housemate. While Erin’s housemate Jed is collecting his things, Erin brushes Galen’s hair off his face and uncovers his pointed ear, and Erin learning that elves are among us.
Read the rest of the review

I’ve had kids for more than 10 years. I haven’t taken any trips away from them, though they have spent time as a group away for me with their grandparents for a bit.

This week marks my first trip away from them. I have come to stay with my grandmother and her husband to help them as she starts recovering from her stroke. Her prognosis looks good, but every difference between “before” and “after” is difficult.

This is both one of the hardest things I’ve done and one of the easiest choices I’ve ever made. I am torn between my children and my grandmother, but being here feels very right. My heart is full.

Internet connectivity is spotty, as is email, but I’ll be back on Monday with book reviews, reviews of some new Gluten-Free/Dairy-Free products, recipes, a review of a Solar Science lab, and more random musings.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking to stock up on cool t-shirts for the summer, UneeTee is having a big sale, all t’s are $13 through June 1. The Summer-themed shirt.woot winners will be on sale Friday, Saturday, and Sunday starting at midnight Central time. You can get more than 20 shirts from their Reckoning List for $15, but the shirt of the day is $10 - shipped!

We are a family which loves to play games. Card games, board games, outside games, and other games that seem to defy description. When Parent Bloggers Network was looking for someone to test the Discovery Store game Rapelli, we were happy to give it a try. The Rapelli Game is a 15 minute game which is part of the Discovery Store’s new line of bamboo products, and is designed for kids ages 4+.

Bamboo is a renewable resource which has become popular for creating everything from sheets to flooring. Bamboo grows and matures quickly, making it easy to harvest and then plant another crop, unlike slow-growing trees. Bamboo’s versatility is well-utilized in Rapelli, the pieces are multi-sectioned caterpillars, dice, and a cylinder, all of which look just like wood. Discovery has a pop-up window which explains more about their eco-friendly products, the natural materials, and environmental sustainability. Usually the consumer is torn between wood, which is natural but requires cutting down trees, and plastic, which could contain any number of chemicals, but doesn’t use up the forests. Bamboo offers a third choice which combines the benefits of both, without the negatives of either. Bamboo grows well in China, and the Discovery Store collection of bamboo toys are made in China in conjunction with several agencies.

Read the rest of the review

Spring and Summer have arrived, so it’s time to break out the outdoor games! Gamewright has been our favorite source for games for the past year and a half, and with its new releases, it looks like that trend will continue. (and not just because they send us games for review!) We spend the winter (and evenings) playing games from Gamewright, so it is only fitting that we are playing one of their new games, Boochie, outside!

Read the rest of the review

We live in a world filled with creepy-crawlies. We’ve also become more and more aware of them each year. From dust mites to mosquitoes, seemingly nuisance pests are wreacking more and more havoc. Then, each spring moms are starting to cut their boys’ hair to make it easier to do tick checks (all our friends are nervous about ticks after our Lyme Disease issues). Other than ticks, our biggest tiny bug anxiety is about lice.

Do you remember that feeling of squickiness and shame when the school nurse found out you had lice? ick But now parents are not only worried about eliminating the lice and nits, but also worried about using pesticides on their children’s heads in order to kill off the lice. Everyone needs to comb every strand of hair, but coating the head in olive oil or mayonnaise and then a hair thingie for 3 hours seems to work, but not everyone can do that. The kind folks at MomCentral have teamed up with Lice MD to show parents that there’s an alternative to pesticides sitting on their pharmacy shelf.
Read the rest of the review

This week is Food Allergy Awareness week, and this month is Celiac Disease Awareness month. To honor both of these, we are participating on the bi-weekly Food Allergy carnival and talking about summer camp despite food restrictions

Our family has Celiac Disease, an intolerance to dairy, and LG has a severe berry allergy. We bring our own food to birthday parties, parks, and playdates, but I never wanted the dietary restrictions to restrict the girls’ access to activities. Occasionally an event is so food-centered that we can’t participate, but as food restrictions become more well-known, we can go to more and more events without risking a reaction.

Some days, it feels like our food allergies are a complete non-issue. Kids play here or in the neighborhood and they eat popcorn, we go to the park and have some chips, we hang out at the beach with some trail mix, etcetera. Some days it is an issue - my girls take some treats when they go over to a friend’s house, or they can’t stay for dinner with a friend, or there’s an activity that looks great except that it includes cooking with flour or using play-doh, or when a friend’s been eating a sandwich then puts their hand in your chips, which means you can’t eat the chips any more. Those are the hard days, and the days that keep me on my toes, keep me from becoming complacent.

Last year BG and MG went to camp for 2 weeks (check out BG in the above photo from the camp brochure!). It’s a day camp, and they had a week off at home to rest in between the two camp sessions. Thanks to their grandparents, they were able to go to a wonderful camp on an island, taking a boat to and from the island each day. To make it even more special, it’s a camp I attended for 10 years. Is it tricky to attend camp when you can’t eat a regular sandwich and need to have kids wash up after they eat a sandwich? Yes, but it’s totally worth it. Their heads are filled with memories from those weeks, and we are happy to do the prep work so they can attend.

My mother talked to the camp and counselors about the girls’ dietary needs, and so did I. We discussed lunch and snack times, papier maché (no flour/water paste), play-doh, and the need for hand-washing. While I am saddened by the number of children with peanut allergies, their existence has really helped raise awareness about food allergies and restrictions. Everyone at the camp was comfortable with the girls dietary needs and happy to help out. This was key for me - if you find what looks like a great camp, but they seem clueless about food allergies, back away! You don’t want to risk your child’s health for summer camp - find another camp.

This year they’re attending camp for 2 consecutive weeks and it will also include a sleep-over on the island. We will continue to work in advance to help keep camp safe for the girls, and I’m sure the counselors will continue to be as helpful this summer as they were last summer! First, we asked that our girls wash hands before they eat, and have their friends wash hands after they eat. This reduces the chances of cross-contamination, and is generally a healthy idea anyhow. Food sharing is a no-no at most camps now, but a reminder about that printed on lunch bags is a great idea, too.

In advance we bought a variety of favorite snacks, and plenty of snack-size and sandwich size ziplocs. This is much more economical than buying everything in single size bags, and it gives you a greater range of snacks - not everything is sold in little bags! We also froze bottles of water so they would keep the food cold and give the girls cold water later in the day. We don’t usually do a lot of juice, so it was special to have juice boxes or pouches for their lunch!

One trick for us was to include a fair amount of protein, as camp requires a lot of energy, and low amounts of protein tend to make my kids grumpy! Peanuts and nuts are safe for us, and great for a protein kick (we all love Larabar Bars Variety Pack and KIND Bar Almond & Apricot), but they aren’t allowed in most schools or camps. Instead, we added meat sticks (such as Jack Links Super Size Beef Sticks), beef jerky (such as World Kitchens Brown Sugar Beef Jerky), and nut-free trail mix (such as Enjoy Life Trail Mix Not Nuts! Beach Bash). If you’re looking to stock up, you can get great prices on allergy-safe and gluten-free treats at Amazon.

LG has an epi-pen and is the one with the severe berry allergy. She’s still too young for the day camp on the island, and I’m grateful. I wouldn’t be comfortable with having her on an island with a potentially anaphylactic allergy. We can hope she outgrows it in the next two years! I’m still working out my comfort level with having her go on field trips with people who aren’t me, her dad, or her grandparents.

What accommodations have your kids needed for camp? Check back tomorrow for a link to the Food Allergy Carnival!