Ask an Organic Food Buyer...

Hey moms, I was wondering if their are any nutritionists, or just those interested in it, out there who have info on buying organic. I am trying to make an educated decision on whether or not it's worth my money. If you have and articles, or studies, etc. that you know of, could you post them? Or just leave them in a comment? Anything is appreciated!

Tasty Treat

I am always looking for healthy/fun snacks for my kids...so I thought this might be a useful category to have! Feel free to post any of your favorite snacks too!

I found this basic recipe online years ago...but tweaked it enough over time that I now consider it my recipe! Give it a try...and the beauty of this one is that you can switch it up to whatever you like or what sounds good at the moment!!! Granted it's not the healthiest thing out there...but it's whole grain, slightly filling and I know what ingredients are going into it - no crazy preservatives or anything!!!

Chewy Granola Bars

Ingredients:
4 ½ cups rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
½ cup butter – melted
2/3 to ¾ cup honey
¼ cup brown sugar

Add-ins…these are some combinations that I’ve liked.
- Chocolate chip (1 cup) and marshmallows (1 cup) - my kiddo's favorite!!!
- Chocolate chips (1/2 cup) and peanut butter chips (1/2 cup) - my favorite combo! :)
- Craisins, coconut, chopped almonds – really good! Add in a ½-3/4 tsp of cinnamon with other -dry ingredients!
- Cinnamon and raisins
- Anything that sounds good.

Mix together the oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in any add-ins. Melt butter and stir in honey, vanilla and brown sugar. Pour over oat mixture and mix well. Press mixture into cookie sheet (or just a 9x13 inch pan if you want really thick bars). Press mixture in firmly! Bake at 325 for 18-22 minutes (less time for thinner bars, more time for thicker bars). I press my bars down again after I take them out of the oven with a spatula. Let cool for 10 minutes in pan, and cut into bars. Let bars cool completely in pan before removing. They’ll crumble if you take them out too soon or don’t press them firmly enough!!!
You can wrap them individually or place in an airtight container. They also store well in the freezer. They actually taste pretty good frozen too!

Sewing Help???

Has anyone ever sewn a baby shopping-cart cover? And if you have...is it easy? And where did you get your pattern? I'm thinking it's about time that I move my almost 1 year old out of his car seat when we go to the store (don't worry...I have shrimpy kids so he's totally fine in there still, but I know the ideal containment will have to come to an end sometime!!!) But my search for the cart covers has been maddening...they're either totally ugly (why don't they make cute stuff for boys?) or they're SOOOOOO expensive! So, I'm planning on putting my sewing skills to the test and trying it out, but I just don't know where to start!!!

I've found these instructions on etsy...shopping cart cover instructions. Or should I go purchase a real pattern from a sewing store??? Or should I just wing it and make up my own??? Any advice???

FHE Idea

Here is a fun and easy Family Home Evening idea. We first did it when Jachin, my oldest, was 2. He then requested the same lesson every Monday for 6 weeks. We have to do this lesson at least twice a year, but every time we add more details. First tell the story of Samuel, the Lamanite. If you have access to the picture it helps. Then choose someone to be Samuel, tie a blanket/cape around their shoulders and have them stand on a "wall" (we chose our couch). Then "Samuel" tells the people of Zarahemla to repent. The "people of Zarahemla" aka the rest of the family throw jumbo marshmallows at Samuel (trying not to hit Samuel, but it doesn't hurt if one goes astray). The treat at the end is, of course, marshmallows.

Etsy

Has anyone tried to sell something on Etsy.com? How did it go?

Girl's Hair

I have a two year old girl who has long hair. She gets compliments all the time about how beautiful her hair is, but there is a problem. She will not let me do it, even brush it. Sometimes I can sneak in a comb when she is eating. If she is really into a show I can do her hair and she doesn't even notice. At what point to I give up and chop it all off? Or do I let her go around like a rag-a-muffin with food, snarls and who knows what in her hair?

Anxiety help?

Ok gals. We seem to be having a severe issue with Brigham (4) with anxiety. Since Adam's return from Iraq (now 3 months ago), he has had a really (and I mean, REALLY) hard time anticipating typical routines like bath time, bed time, soccer, cleaning scrapes, etc. Literally, he freaks out screaming and yelling and fighting me for as long as I would last, I'm sure. I've tried prepping him verbally, but honestly I'm just sick of the FIGHT every single time. He's always fine once he's into it, it's just getting him over the anticipation, I guess.

Do/did your 4 year olds have a hard time with this? Any ideas on how to help him?

Another Special Time Idea!

This is a little addendum to the "Kid Date Night" post earlier. It's such a great idea to give kids their own time with us parents. I just thought I'd add my own experience and thoughts.

My mom and dad had something similar to a kid date night but called it a "Special Time" for me and my sibs all growing up and we LOVED it. The only difference was that, because there were 4 of us, we each got a "special week" of each month. During our special week, if we went to the store with my mom, we got a special treat. One of the nights of the week we got to stay up and have a "special time" with my mom and dad where we got to pick a game and treat. Then my parents would write us a little note in our "special time notebook"(one of which I still have and treasure!). And all during the week would be my mom's designated time to think about just us, and focus on our needs- whether it was replenishing our clothing, helping us with a certain school project, praying for something specific for us, etc. Not that she wouldn't do that at other times during the month! But, that week she just had it scheduled in to do those things for each of us- so noone got overlooked.

Make sense? Just thought I'd add these other ideas as options to the Special Day idea. We do this with my 4 and 2 year olds and they love it. They also love their Daddy Daughter Dates on the weekends. Usually this is just going to the pet store to look around, and then getting a treat. Or going to a park with ice cream. Or even just going to the store and picking something out. They just crave that one-on-one attention, and I can tell it's really good for their daddy-daughter relationship. That's all for now!

Happy Cards

This has been a great discipline tool for Brig-and me-because it is an immediate discipline that's not tragic (because time out just doesn't work anymore). It makes me feel less mean, too.

So he starts each day with 3 "happy cards." If he disobeys or is sassy or tells a lie, he loses one card for each instance of poor behavior. If he loses all 3, then he loses whatever is important to him that day (which is decided before the removal of the last card)-a particular toy, outside privileges, his one TV show.

Adam has added a reward component that we're trying out-Daddy cards (Brigham wasn't really at the level for this until recently). For each day Brigham keeps all his happy cards, he gets a Daddy card. If he has 5 by the end of the week, Adam takes him to do something fun.

Kid date night

This came from my cousin Tricia Weinert in a comment but I love the idea and I need to make some categories so I'm moving it:

The latest great idea that I've heard and tried came from the magazine Family Fun. (A great magazine with LOTS of fun ideas, crafts, foods, birthday ideas, physical movement, articles etc.) The idea was to assign a special night of the week to each child. We are going do this every week so we don't forget. So we put most of the children to bed and the child whose special night it is gets to stay up a 1/2 hour past their bed time. That child gets one on one time with both of the parents. We play games or whatever the child wants to do. We were trying to do date nights with the children once a month but we were always forgetting and this seemed like a great way to spend quality time with each of our children.

General Conference Bingo

This was a spin I had off the usualy bingo game for Brigham to pay attention during conference, that worked SOOOO well. We even let him put candy in repeatedly when he heard something more than once. He actually made it through 3 sessions with it!

Running question

Ok, runners, I miss running. BUT, when I run, my right knee starts to grind between the knee cap and tibia, and then goes into sharp pain that lasts for a few days afterward. Any suggestions?

What works for your baby when it won't stop crying?

Welcome!

I know so many of you who are such SMART mommies, I thought it would be fun to exhibit all the smartness in one spot. After Elder Ballard's talk today in Conference, I thought we could make a spot to talk about the good, bad, and ugly and to just be supports for each other. We need all the help we can get!

I thought of having a few categories to keep on a regular basis, let me know if you think of something else:

Busy hands equal busy minds
Baby advice
Ask a. . .(teacher, nurse, super cook, speech pathologist, health nut-LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW A LOT ABOUT)
Hobbies, hobbies, hobbies
Mommy Spa (ie, just for moms)
Tricks of the trade
Resources (send me any links you like)

Let me know your ideas-this is meant to be a free for all post!