Great Butter Flavored Popcorn without Dairy

I thought I would give bland popcorn a try with just salt one night, as my husband and I were going to be out that night and I didn't want to worry about my son getting into his sister's movie snack and having a reaction. I used white corn kernals and popped them on the stove old-fashioned style with corn oil. As I was adding the salt I recalled how I have added corn oil to other things like mashed potatoes to mimic the butter taste. I drizzled the corn oil on the hot popcorn and mixed it in like a tossed salad. The popcorn tasted great! My mother, who loves real butter, raved about the popcorn and now we have it all the time and my family seems to like it better than the old microwave movie-theatre butter stand-by.

Food Allergies - Vitamin Warning

I just found out that Children't vitamins can contain milk in them. It should have, but it never occured to me to check. My son had been taking a daily multi-vitamin which he needs with all his allergies and was reacting alot to uncommon things. I discovered there was milk in his multi-vitamin by chance it struck me to look at the ingredients.

Rainy Day Ideas #1 - Free Paper Dolls

Since Spring is coming and there are sure to be many rainy days, I will be posting Rainy Day Ideas. My girls craft/project addicts, anything they can cut or glue makes them happy.

Free Paper Dolls

Take an American Girls Doll catalog - or any catalog for that matter, but the AG one will be easier - have your child pick the doll she likes best. Cut out the doll and glue it really well on some thin cardboard. (I save the cardboard that comes in tights or underwear packages) While the glue is drying, find outfits in the catalog that will fit the doll you chose, cut them out remembering to also cut tabs to fold over the shoulders and around the arms/legs of your paper doll. You can find outfits off of similar sized pictures of dolls and just cut the head off:) When I did this our paper dolls were taking a while to dry on the cardboard, so I used a hairdryer and it worked great. Once the paper doll is dry and glued on the cardboard, cut the paper doll out and let the fun begin!

When words aren't needed

This morning I had a wake up call of sorts, a wake-up call with no sound. My 3 year old, Paris had a hard time waking up due to the time change and losing an hour. I had been up in the middle of the night with Jack and tired myself. Jack was crying so I got him up and peeked my head in Paris' room to ask her to come downstairs. "Oh can you carry me?" she crustily cried. "No, I'm already carrying Jack, come on you can do it." "Oh will you hold my hand down the stairs?", she requested. "Sure, I can do that." We got downstairs and I asked her to get dressed while I got Jack changed and fed. Paris continued to whine and cry, not budging from where she had plopped herself on the couch. After a little coaxing and a few threats she finally got dressed while very noisily protesting. Then it was time to eat and she didn't like the way it was prepared, how you go wrong with Fruit Loops (again I was tired and not worried about nutrition) I'll never know. At this point she had been fortold her future of going back upstairs to bed and maybe her bum smarting a little on the way if she didn't eat. And again I was distracted by making lunches. Then I noticed the noise had stopped. I looked over in Paris' direction and I see her face - happiness, tears gone, a smile travelling from ear to ear. Her sister Elise was giving her a big bear hug, arms wrapped all the way around her, holding her tight - not saying a word. As the day has progressed, I reflect on this more and my failure to see what Paris needed the moment she awoke so tired. I have had to ask how did Ellse know what she needed? The answer to that disturbs me more. Elise is our 6 year old who is a year behind her twin in school due to health and developmental challenges, she is a bright little girl but has trouble expressing her emotions properly sometimes if at all. Aaron and I often realize she may be left out or left behind at times. She is the most generous soul who won't demand what she needs. She once (at 4) gave a whole pack of Smarties, with tears in her eyes not saying a word, to her her little sister who dropped hers - because that is what she thought I meant by "can you share some". And now today I find myself remembering all the times she has come into the kitchen to watch me cook and I tell her to back up from the heat - cause the girl just doesn't have spacial understanding - but I don't hug her or ask her to keep talking to me from a distance. Or the times she comes and just stands next to me and stares at me with those big brown eyes with nothing really that makes sense to say and I really don't know what she wants but I'm a little uncomfortable with how close she's standing to me. I think she showed me today by her own empathy what she so badly needs. I can tell you there is one little Kindergartener who is going to get a huge bear hug herself today round about 12:05 PM when school gets out and hopefully everytime she needs to be near me.

All the things I needed to learn for life I learned from my kids....

1. If it looks like poop on the floor it probobly is

2. If you can't see it or hear it but you know it is there, you should find out about it
(this is how #1 happens)

3. All animal analogies can be turned on you, such as...Monkey see, monkey do, When pigs fly (have you ever seen an 18 month old throw chunks of ham?)

4. All baby analogies are not to be believed - have you ever tried taking candy away from a baby?

5. In addition to what goes up must come down, what goes in must come out

6. Sticks and stones may break your bones and so will I if your words hurt my kid

7. Dirt do hurt if it gets in your eye or you track it in on your mother's clean floor

8. Close only counts in horse shoes - this one is true, much to my children's dismay and mine, it does not count in potty training and I have yet to find anything else in their world that it does

9. If you don't want something repeated and traced back to you as the source - don't say it - like s@#% when you're driving and someone pulls out in front of you

10. Don't ask a question that you may not want the answer to (most kids think being fat is a good thing)