It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

As I being typing this, it's about 7:30 on a Friday night. I sit in my living room, knowing that soon - very soon - families will begin gathering, being forming a line. They'll be setting up chairs, greeting the people in front and behind them, soon to be their best friends, and starting to figure out how to work shifts overnight.

They aren't gathering to purchase concert tickets. If only it were that lighthearted! No, they are gathering outside a middle school in suburban Chicago to wait all night outside in frigid temperatures for a chance at being among the first into the school as a part of Barrington Giving Day. Many will have their children with them, as they can't afford babysitters. They will rotate - by agreement with their neighbors - into their cars to warm up for a bit, but regardless of the weather, they aren't going to risk losing their spot in line.

This is their chance to prepare for the winter, and their chance to provide their children with at least a little bit of Christmas. For the past few months, locations all over Barrington and surrounding areas have been collecting for Giving Day. Inside the middle school's gym, there are coats and mittens, toys and games, blankets and food.

Families on free and reduced lunch in the district - and the number grows every year - are invited to the event. Those who attend are able to choose a coat per person in their family, blankets, and a toy or game for each child in the family. They also receive a box of food and hygeine products that for too many is the most they'll have in their house for a long time.

Last year, Barrington Giving Day served 900 families, including 2,500 children. The expectation for this year was north of 3,000 children. The sheer amount of stuff required to make this event possible and the number of volunteers to make it a success is astounding. While I've donated to it for the past several years, I had never experienced it firsthand myself.

This year, I was one of 100 bloggers chosen by Cepia for their Random Acts of Zhu. We were all sent 104 ZhuZhu Pets to donate to a charitable organization of our choice. For me, it didn't take half a second of thought to know which organization I would approach, and the coordinator was thrilled to have them.

I arranged to drop off the ZhuZhu Pets this afternoon directly to the gym, which allowed me to observe the setup. There were more middle schoolers and high schoolers than I've seen in a long time there volunteering, unloading items from the transporting cars and trucks (they are stored offsite until the night before the event, as the school doesn't have a storage location) and unpacking them, placing them neatly in the assigned areas.

Little Miss was proud as a button to be able to help me bring in the boxes of ZhuZhu Pets to turn over to the "Girls 4-8" table of toys (Mister Man was still in school when I dropped these off).

And holy cow was this a much bigger event than I'd ever pictured. While I knew the numbers - 900 families and 2,500 children last year - knowing them in my head and actually seeing the sheer volume of supplies needed to meet the needs of that many people is humbling. I tried to take a few photos to give you a sense of the magnitude - and this was only a small part of the locations. Wow.

I was so happy to be able to contribute (further) to this organization, and I know the ZhuZhu Pets that I was able to provide via Cepia will be truly appreciated. Most of the items donated are new, but many are gently used. And the "hot" toys like ZhuZhu Pets? There aren't too many of them. It warms my heart to be able to provide a smile to 104 children tomorrow morning.

And after seeing the preparation for this in person? Next year, I'll be volunteering my time and not just items. It is humbling to think about how much I have and how much more I can give. I can't think of a better way of spending a Saturday morning in January than to be a "personal shopper" helping them navigate through the school, selecting the items that best fit them.

Current Giveaways:
Thomas and Friends Adventure on Misty Island Mega Blocks set here
Lawry's Complete Meal Ideas Gift Pack with casserole here
The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer DVD with 2 winners here

In the interest of full disclosure, I was sent the 104 ZhuZhu Pets to donate. I received no compensation or product myself.

An Update From The Potty Training Wars

Last Wednesday evening, my husband was putting Little Miss to bed while I was working with Mister Man. I found out then that she was out of Pull-Ups. Ummm, what?

It was 6:30 at night and time for her bed. No one had bothered to mention the dearth of Pull-Ups until that point. Costco had a sale on Pull-Ups starting the next day. Thursday mornings are sheet changing days in my house.

I decided to try one more time to see if she was ready to stay dry overnight, knowing that I had a plastic mat under her sheets just in case. I explained to her what we were doing, and she repeated after me, "Body. Hey! Body! Listen up. I'm going without a Pull-Up tonight. You need to wake me up if you have to go p0tty. Got it? You'd better!" We were as set as we were going to be.

I woke her up for a p0tty run when I went to bed, and she went.

The next morning, her bed was wet. I commiserated with her a bit and asked what happened. Did you wake up all wet this morning?

No.

Ummmm you got wet after you woke up?

Yes. I woke up this morning, and I had to go p0tty and I forgot I wasn't wearing a Pull-Up anymore.

Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech.

Ummm what? Wait, you mean to tell me that you stayed dry all night long, only to wake up in the morning and wet your bed simply because you were too lazy to walk down the hall to the bathroom? Are you kidding me?

There are no more Pull-Ups.

Or there weren't. After our little discussion, she was dry on Thursday night. And on Friday night. And on Saturday night. Since then, she's wet her bed once or more a night every night, even with both my husband and I waking her in the middle of the night. So yeah, when I went to Costco today, I bought more Pull-Ups.

Score:
Little Miss 6
Mommy 0

Current Giveaways:
Thomas and Friends Adventure on Misty Island Mega Blocks set here
Lawry's Complete Meal Ideas Gift Pack with casserole here
The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer DVD with 2 winners here

It's Beginning To Sound A Lot Like Christmas - Sorta

I am funny about Christmas. I love Christmas and all my holidays, but I want to savor them individually and on my own terms. In other words, I am so anti Christmas (and Halloween and Valentine's Day and Easter and...) being shoved down my throat.

Come the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I'm generally ready to start thinking about Christmas. I'm ready to get out the decorations, find a tree and decorate it, and put on the holiday music stations on my car. I've noticed the past couple years that I'm actually not quite ready for that on Thanksgiving weekend. In fact, shhhhh, although I hosted a cookie exchange at my house on Sunday, we have yet to put up a single decoration, including the advent tree that counts down to Christmas. Oops.

I am getting into the spirit, though. Christmas music is generally a good indicator for me. I'll turn on a holiday station - fortunately one in Chicago obliged us with 24 hour Christmas music the first full week of November - beginning the Saturday after Thanksgiving. If I'm not quite ready to listen, I'll put it back to another station and try again another day. I'm not quite sure why, but eventually something clicks and I love the music again and listen to it nonstop until the stations revert to their typical fare a couple days after Christmas (or 6pm on Christmas day as one station does, sadly; I guess they need to get ready for the next holiday!).

I do adore Christmas music, and I began listening to it this past weekend. I found all sorts of old favorites from Bing Crosby singing anything to great brass arrangements on Holiday Pops to songs from A Charlie Brown Christmas (yes, there is more than one) to John Denver and the Muppets singing The Twelve Days of Christmas.

This year, I've learned some new songs. It really amazes me - especially on Holiday Traditions on XM, note the word "Traditions" - how many pop stars now must have Christmas albums from Christina Aguilara to Glee (a whole soundtrack, I'm guessing, although I don't like their treatment of my favorite from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas) to Jason Mraz and more.

I had no idea that Run DMC even had a Christmas song, but it's hilarious.



It's almost as good as my favorite songs by Dr. Elmo (ummm yes I do own that CD, why?). They're not totally G rated, but nothing in them is too terrible for a child to hear. The new song by Lady GaGa, however? Granted, I'm not a huge fan of most of the covers of classic songs that many of today's artists are making, but this... this is a different animal altogether.

I fortunately heard the song for the first - and only - time while I was alone in the car. I heard it on Holiday Traditions on XM, something I would have assumed would be safe for me to listen to with the wee ones. Nope, not so much.

From the opening line of "Light me up put me on top" which I am pretty sure isn't just referring to the star of the Christmas tree, although I can explain away innuendo to the wee ones still, I was taken aback by the song. I had to listen to the whole thing - sort of like when you see a car wreck and can't look away. "My Christmas tree's delicious" raised my eyebrows further, but again... innuendo. It isn't exactly appropriate for a Christmas song, especially not on a radio station like this in my opionion, but I'll survive.

The final straw that finalized the decision that the wee ones won't be hearing this "Christmas" song in my presence? The refrain states, "Yes everybody knows we will take off all our clothes. Yes, if you want us to we will."

That to me is not Christmas. I'll be searching for some better Christmas music this week.

What new songs have you discovered this year that you either love or hate?

Current Giveaways:
Thomas and Friends Adventure on Misty Island Mega Blocks set here
Lawry's Complete Meal Ideas Gift Pack with casserole here
The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer DVD with 2 winners here

Tasty Tuesday - Perfect Truffles

A good friend of mine talked me into doing a cooking class with her. It was chocolate and champagne, so how do I say no? I didn't, obviously. I found out later that the class was a truffle making class - mmmm yum! I'd made truffles before, but who cares. We were encouraged to bring our own ingredients to use for the truffles, which I thought was a really fun idea.

In the end, we had vanilla, orange, peppermint, Kahlua, cinnamon, salt truffles, and more. I liked most of them, but to be honest, the white truffle salt truffles I made were possibly my favorite.

Bonus? I have a lot of Christmas gifts to give from bus drivers to therapists to teachers and assistants to gymnastics and tae kwon do instructors. I'm a little afraid to do a full count. Doing presents for that many people is really more than I can afford or justify. But this? This is my solution. I am making truffles for everyone, boxing them up nicely, and passing them along. Tell me these don't look perfect?

They are super easy and relatively inexpensive, too. My friend who took the class with me? She isn't my most domestic friend, and she's going to make them again. So can you....

Perfect Truffles

Ingredients:
9 oz bittersweet chocolate (Trader Joe's has great stuff for a reasonable price)
1 T unsweeted cocoa powder
4 oz butter
1/3 c heavy cream
1 t sea salt
1 t oil - or so

Directions:
Chop 7 oz chocolate and butter into small pieces. Add all the cocoa and place them into a cmall stainless steel bowl. Heat in a 200 degree (lowest it goes) oven for about five minutes. Don't let it burn!

In a small saucepan, heat the cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour over your chocolate mixture. Let it sit for a minute or two, then stir gently. Add the salt (or your other flavoring*) and stir until the mixture is smooth and shiny.

Chill in the bowl for 30 minutes in a fridge until it is solidified enough to work with. Use a cookie scoop (#60) or a spoon to form the truffles. Place them on parchment paper or a sil pat. Chill again for another five to ten minutes.

While they are chilling a second time, melt the last 2 oz chopped chocolate gently in a double boiler (or in a microwave, checking every 20 seconds). Slowly drizzle in a little oil until it gets to a smooth consistency that is pourable but not super thin - you want it to stick to the truffles.

Use a fork to dip the truffles into the chocolate coating, roll them to cover, then return them to the sil pat. Sprinkle a little of your salt or other flavoring atop the melted chocolate and let harden.

* You can also use 1/2-1 t of a liquid flavoring in place of the salt such as Bailey's or expresso or vanilla or whatever sounds good to you. Or use 1/2 t of cinnamon, etc. Instead of dipping in melted chocolate, you can also roll them in more of the cocoa (if you do cinnamon as a filling, mix some cinnamon into your cocoa for an extra pop).

Enjoy this and more at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday with Blessed With Grace!

Current Giveaways:
$25 Build-A-Bear Workshop gift card here
Thomas and Friends Adventure on Misty Island Mega Blocks set here
Lawry's Complete Meal Ideas Gift Pack with casserole here
The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer DVD with 2 winners here

I Prefer To Think It's My Guardian Angel

This past Friday was a perfect example. My dad was chaperoning Mister Man on a field trip so was driving to school, which meant Little Miss was riding the bus instead of me having to drop her off, too. My day - the productive part of my day, that is - would start at 8:13 intead of 9am. I was rather looking forward to that extra hour.

As Little Miss's bus left, I decided to do a couple quick things around the house, emptying the dishwasher and putting away laundry, before I headed out to teh gym as I'd originally intended. I left the house at 8:33, not quite as early as I'd hoped considering the errands I needed to run later in the day.

As I drove out of the neighborhood, my phone rang. It was my dad calling. Uh-oh. School hadn't even started yet, and already my dad was having trouble with his first chaperone experience.

Ummm, did Violet by chance leave her lunch and backpack in your house or car? he asked.

I sighed and turned around in my seat just enough to see the familiar flowered pattern of her backpack sitting on the middle seat in my car. Ahhhh yep, it's in my car. I'll come drop it off, I groaned internally, knowing that I'd be pushing it to get to school and drop it off before the buses for the field trip left.

I made it to the school a little after 8:50 and just before the students headed out to their buses. I passed the backpack - and its completely disposable lunch inside - over to the school and then headed out to the gym.

I had a benefit luncheon that started at 11am. Getting in a full run and the rest of my workout (ummm in addition to the shower that I definitely needed) was not going to happen. I didn't bag it entirely though. I went to a different location of my gym and got my run in before showering as quickly as I could. I made it to the benefit only a few minutes late and had a great time.

As I was headed to the benefit, I thought about how I had a few choices about how to handle the interruption to my day. I decided to be happy that I wasn't halfway to the gym at the time or already at the gym. My gym is 20 minutes in one direction - so had I left as soon as Little Miss had gotten on the bus as I'd originally planned, I would have been either pulling into the parking lot or already working out. Even if I was only on my way to the gym, the school is 20 minutes in the near opposite diection from the gym - getting to school before the field trip had left would have been impossible.

So it was a good thing that I had procrastinated slightly in getting to the gym because I could get the backpack and lunch to Violet. It would have been nice had she not put her backpack in my car to begin with, but we'll focus on the fact that I could fix it.

And the gym I ended up going to? It turns out that it's closer to where I had my benefit lunch by a ways, so it helped me have less driving to do. And with those realizations, I was able to focus on what I could do that morning - I got a load of laundry in! I emptied the dishwasher! I ran! I got the backpack dropped off! I made it to the lunch! - and not on any of the negative part of it.

I started thinking about this as I drove to the lunch. Those days when I just miss a stoplight and have to wait? Or when I end up leaving the house five minutes later than I expect? Or when a friend calls and has me changing plans at the last minute? How many of those little changes keep me safe and sound? How many accidents or muggings or incidents have I unknowingly avoided because a little guardian angel was looking out for me?

Maybe it's silly, but that's the outlook that is going to keep me sane and happy. That silver lining exists somewhere, and I'm going to keep searching for it.

Current Giveaways:
$50 77kids gift certificate here
Little Wonders Company personalized hardcover book here
$25 Build-A-Bear Workshop gift card here
Thomas and Friends Adventure on Misty Island Mega Blocks set here
Lawry's Complete Meal Ideas Gift Pack with casserole here

I Know Myself Well

I am a thirsty person. I drink a lot of water. I know this. I used to drink it only at meals, but when I was working I got into the habit of drinking throughout my day at my desk, partly because I frequently didn't have time for a "real" lunch and at lunch at my desk, too.

I hate waste, though. And it's possibly that I'm a bit ... frugal. Ergo, I'm not about to cart around plastic bottles of water for a number of reasons. Instead, I have my own BPA free bottles of water, and they do travel with my everywhere from PTO meetings to tae kwon do to the gym to carpooling and more.

And since I drink a lot of water, it's the 40 ounce version. Ummm no, not a typo. I actually go through two or three of them a day.

I owned six of them at one time. I now have four. One got left behind at a school meeting a couple years ago and disappeared. Another I gave to my mom, although I don't believe she uses it. The other four? They rotate into use, washed every couple of days by my kind husband.

Best part? They're metal. That's the only reason I haven't had to buy a carload more.

Note that the bottle doesn't stand level anymore. And it is dented slightly near the bottom. And ummm has a huge dent near the top. Thank goodness I was thinking when I bought them!

You know, that reminds me... I should probably get a cover for my Droid sometime soon.

Current Giveaways:
$50 77kids gift certificate here
Little Wonders Company personalized hardcover book here
$25 Build-A-Bear Workshop gift card here
Thomas and Friends Adventure on Misty Island Mega Blocks set here
Lawry's Complete Meal Ideas Gift Pack with casserole here

I'm Not The Only One With A List

I love lists. I've discussed this before. Apparently these things are somewhat hereditary.

Mister Man sometimes has difficulty with transitions as a part of his autism. We've developed a number of strategies - some on our own through trial and error and some recommended by therapists - that seem to help him. The other night, we had a rather interesting conversation as I was trying to get him to move onto bedtime.

But Moooooooooom (when he breaks out the whining, you know he's really tired or hungry, and it's time to take action!) I was just about to start playing with my dinosaurs.

I understand that, Kiddo, but it's bedtime now, I calmly, but firmly explained.

But Mooooooooooom, when can I play them then?

I'm pretty sure they'll be here tomorrow, and you can certainly play with them when you get home from school. How does that sound?

But what if I forget that I want to play with them?

Really? Seriously? Reeeeeealllly? Well, if you forget that you wanted to play with them, I'm guessing it won't be that big a deal at that point in time, and you'll find something else that you'll want to do more, I explained what I thought was a fairly logical assumption. And I really did try to hold the sarcasm back; in fact, my husband commended me on it later. I think he was serious.

But then I'll forget and I won't have played with them, and I really want to play with them. Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom, he was starting to wear on me juuuust a little bit.

Well, what if you write it down on our handy dandy whiteboard so you don't forget you want to play with them tomorrow?

Mom. That's brilliant!

And it was. And he played with them the next day and was happy. The end.



Current Giveaways:
$50 77kids gift certificate here
Little Wonders Company personalized hardcover book here
$25 Build-A-Bear Workshop gift card here
Thomas and Friends Adventure on Misty Island Mega Blocks set here