If You're Going to Be A Bear...

That's Fudge above, at LEGO KidFest, "eating" at the Krusty Krab. MmmmmMmmm! Fast food, even with LEGO. A couple of years before I was pregnant with Fudge we moved to a more organic, less processed food approach and literally changed our selection of many of the basics we realized were not good for us environmentally, moving to an organic version- cleaners, soaps, personal care products, cosmetics, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, etc. Ooh, about that deodorant, don't ask my friend April about our trip to FL and the only one I packed was my natural mineral salt rock. Score: Florida in August- 1, my pits -9 zillion. Ripe is the only word to describe that nastiness! After Fudge joined us, we were still consistent with our approach but I've noticed over the past year or so that we've slipped away from our roots. And my parents, well, here's how it goes down...go to Nonna's and have a cookie, have some pudding, have some BooBerry cereal. Not all on the same day necessarily, but go to Nonna and Poppy's and sneak in the crap food. Yes Mama, if you are reading this, he has crap food here at my house too. Yes, I know you fed him a chicken breast sandwich afterschool today :)

And it's right around the same time that I am thinking to myself that I have got to do something to lose this weight. I'm a go big or go home type of girl; our saying around here is "If you're going to be a bear, be a Grizzly!" Well, it's Grizzly time.

I shared with the hubs and Fudge I've been really thinking about this and I'd like for us all to recommit- and I found just the tool to do it. We're taking the 100 Days of Real Food pledge. Ok, ok, I positioned it as 100 days with Fudge and the hubs, but really, it's a permanent lifestyle change I want us to get back to. Fudge's response was "No more Trader Joe's Fiber Bars?" And the hubs response was, "can I just start it in 100 days?"

We don't have an offical start date yet; negotiating that around here takes more skill than the Treaty of Versailles, but let me just tell you what the hubs did this evening. He came home with 2 liter of Coca Cola, a bag of fried chicken tenders, pepperoni, sausage crumbles and a bunch of other crap. WTH? "Well, we haven't started yet!" No we haven't, but how are we ever going to start if he keeps bringing crap like this into the house??? So I said, ONE WEEK, and if it's not gone in one week it's in the trash can. The man cannot stand for ANYTHING to go to waste, so I see a lot of junk food in his future.

So come, follow us on this journey...it's sure to be an entertaining one and this is a wonderful way to stay accountable to our pledge. The clock is ticking to his one week deadline! Anyone else want to join us?

Sleepover Follow-Up

I've received a few questions- what did you do about the sleepover? How did things go? Hell was going to freeze over before Fudge was sleeping over; I think that much was clear. I put the hubs up to calling the parents to share that Fudge would not be able to sleep over, but he'd still like to help [name] celebrate his birthday. Per the hubs, the mom seemed a little bristly about it, but agreed.

The big day arrived (two days after the invitation was sent home) and the hubs took Fudge over to the house with strict instructions- DO NOT LEAVE HIM. The poor birthday boy- only Fudge and one other little boy showed for the party. What happened next is truth is stranger than fiction. As one of my girlfriends would say "you can't make this shit up!"

I'll leave you with the short and edited version: Fudge came home later in the evening, the hubs in tow, to tell me, "MAMA, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!" They had SNAKES, and GUNS (Airsoft rifles, per the hubs, that looked just like an assault rifle and a sniper rifle) , and LIZARDS! I looked at the hubs with the "are you kidding me look" and he just shook his head and said, "you were right." And that it was a good thing he stayed because he knew as soon as they took the first of three pythons out of a plastic container in the laundry room that the Pilot would have left track marks in the driveway.

In the spirit of really trying to be nice, and being totally speechless, I eeked out a "go wash your hands Fudge. NOW."

Oh, and I take no issue with the Airsoft rifles- we let Fudge shoot one in a very controlled environment in a riflery course at summer camp last year, but adults shooting them off in front of kids at a birthday party? I don't get it.

What Would You Do?

This parenting thing is ever-rewarding but rarely easy...more like figure it out as you go, use common sense, give unconditional love, inspire wonder, pray and repeat, repeat, repeat.

Fudge came home today with an invitation for a birthday sleepover this weekend...for a kid we barely know and parents we've never yet. My girls reading this who know me well know exactly what went through my head when Fudge beamed at the invitation ("Not only no, but oh-hell-no!"). Of course I couldn't say that, so I was much more sedate with "let's take a look at what you have there." Fudge does sleepovers with a couple of best buddies and family- we don't have issues with separation, bed wetting, etc, so the experience for him has been positive so far. I fully recognize each kid develops differently and not all on the cusp of 8 are ready for a sleepover- totally respect that. But what about this sleepover party business?

I took the direct and rational approach: I'm sure so and so is a very nice boy and has nice parents, but we don't know them and we're not comfortable with a sleepover. Part of the party is being held at a local event site and I told Fudge we would take him and stay so he could participate there and wish his friend a happy birthday, but that's about all. His response shocked me..."ok Mama." No pleading his case, only one alternative suggestion ("you could call and introduce yourself and meet them"), but then Fudge said, "Yeah, I really only stay with like-a-family or best friends." I certainly don't think I'd handle it as well at almost 8 years old. As a parent I'm challenged with how to communicate that yes, we should be making new friends (and not being exclusive or "cliquish") and at the same time denying participation in another kid's party as visions of sleepover disasters and news clips run through my mind.

I'm confortable with my decision, discussed it with the hubs when he got home, and we're all on the same page. Poor hubs- I told him he was the lucky winner of calling the parents and letting them know how Fudge would like to participate in celebrating his friend.

Back to the title of the post- what would you do? Have you been in a similar situation? What was the outcome?

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Fudge has the sniffles and woke up grumpy since he couldn't breathe through his nose.

Fudge: "Mama, I need an inhaler!"

Me: "Oh, where did you learn about inhalers?"

Fudge: "GOONIES!"

Ah, that explains it.

"The Yolk's on You!"

Fudge has this shirt I'm not crazy about (no, I did not buy it for him). It has a picture of two stick figures, one with egg on him, and the shirt says "The Yolk's on You!" Really, I hate the stupid shirt so it's usually "lost" or still in the dirty clothes, etc. Well, this time, the "yolk's" on Fudge.

We've struggled to find a breakfast he likes but we've landed on a homemade smoothie which I've slyly been making with almond milk...and his Ovaltine last night was with almond milk...and tonight, when I was out of regular milk, he got a cup of straight up almond milk. Drumroll please, HE LIKES IT! We are using Silk Original Almond Milk with 50% more calcium.

The smoothie? 1 cup almond milk, one fresh banana, one scoop Designer Whey vanilla protein powder, 2 Tbsp. peanut butter. Blend and serve- well over 20 grams of protein and almost 50% of calcium for the day.

Healthy, quick breakfast ideas from your home?

A Little Change Goes a Long Way

Someone, ahem, recently reminded me that is has been "ages" since I've blogged...and for me, I guess it has- LAST MAY! As you can imagine, there is quite a bit of living and adventure packed into the last eight months. Brief highlights include a new job (same company), a Disney cruise (divine), a visit to Universal Studios/Resort, turning 37, adventures in Lancaster, PA, Fudge starting 2nd grade, my brother moving to Florida, hosting Thanksgiving, Christmas with the family, and soccer, soccer, and more soccer. Oh, and basketball too. Whew!

So why the photo of a bucket of money? We have an old water cooler bottle that sits in our living room, somewhat hidden behind a chair. The hubs and I throw spare change in there and when we're really living on the edge, paper currency too. I'd say that Fudge throws money in there too, but who are we kidding? He hoards in his piggy bank, which is fine by me. We recently took advantage of Fudge's late January semester break, combined with a wicked good offer from Disney, to head down to see the Mouse and friends for about a week. I decided it was time to trade in the water cooler funds, so I transferred it to a beach bucket and off Fudge and Poppy went to the bank.

Any guesses? Once we weeded out the Mexican pesos and Kuwaiti paper currency (I can explain Mexico but Kuwait? I have no idea.) we had over 36 POUNDS of coins in that beach bucket. Fudge came home from his trip to the bank looking like a little mobster fanning out his cash- about $300! Not a bad jump on spending money for the week, and now the cooler sits empty waiting to be filled up again to put a financial dent in a future adventure.

Where else can a little change go a long way? I've got two major challenges before me this year- getting my home/schedule organized and getting the # on the scale down. Both are really posts of their own, but I've asked myself, what small steps, when added up, make a big contribution? For my JMU grad school buddies "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts!"

On the homefront, OCD me is excited that my dad has agreed to build a closet in some wasted space in our master bedroom, which will mean "his" and "hers" closets...as in not-sharing-a-closet-with-the-hubs-anymore! Really, is it Christmas already? Now I just need to get the room cleaned up enough that this work can be planned and started. I also had my favorite bubba cabinet maker out to draw up some sketches for cabinets/shelves flanking the fireplace, and I just anted up the bucks (ouch) for my first Erin Condren Life Planner. I thought my level of anticipation for this planner was just not normal, but I've found online I'm in very good company as I wait for this beauty to arrive. The tipping point for me being willing to give it a try, beyond the rave reviews, was the offer for $20 OFF through February 28th- just use promo code XOXO20.

What changes are you hoping will go a long way in 2013?