Some Homespun Christmas Gifts

I thought I would post some of the ideas that our friends came up with this year, I LOVE LOVE LOVE that they are crafty, homemade, and personally done. Not that I don't like all our commerical gifts, but what a fantastic balance we had this year. I am really happy with the way Christmas turned out, the kids weren't spoiled with too many toys and enjoyed Christmas. You know its a success when your mother turns to you and tells you that she is so impressed (I think I even got it on tape!) that the kids took time to play with each toy, instead of ripping through them. It took us a looong time to get through the presents because the kids had to open and play with each one, and that made me really happy. It was savored, appreciated, fun, probably my most enjoyable yet. And the fact that they still both get excited about clothes LOL. (let's just say there is a certain younger family member in our extended family that has received clothes and literally tossed them to the side without a thanks. Much to our collective horror lol)

On to some of our wonderful gifts..

Homemade reindeer pot by Brandy's youngest daughter, hot chocolate, homemade soap by her eldest daughter, and a donation made in everyone's name to Heifer International.

Amanda's "Movie Night In", I just made up the name but I think thats the concept lol. Popcorn and hot chocolate in pretty tins for a movie night, and an adorable homemade decoration.
And part of Beckies, homemade marshmallow snowmen on sticks, very cute. The kids ate the chocolates that were in there too LOL! Then some homemade decorations as well as color-it-yourself ones too.
And of course the t-shirts that Melissa made, but those are on the kids blog cause the kids are in the pictures, so I won't post it here.

I am still pouting that we couldn't make it tonight to Calgary, glad we didn't as Mr K just woke up with a hacking fit at 9:30. He is sleeping with me in our room with the window open a crack and the humidifier going, nice cool,moist air for him to breathe in. I don't think Jen would have appreciated that in her house LOL. Good damn thing I bought myself a pair of fleece pj's from Superstore, I am toasty in there with him.

Hope you are all having fun without me. Send pics! Maybe I will be down for New Years.....not that we ever make it to midnight HA!

Merry Christmoose to Me... Merry Christmoose to Me....

My Boxing Day spoils...and only some of them LOL! I won't bore you with other pics of my new decorations. But I did buy new, non-shatter decorations for the tree and oh so adorable stuff!I went at 7 to the St Alberta Walmart and stood in line for an HOUR because they had two!!! cashiers on.

My additions to my weird moose addicted-collection.

And I was Supermom for Mr K today, he has been wanting this Christmas train since he saw it, and I promised I would go back Boxing Day (its $40 regular and I am too damn cheap) and buy it with a giftcard of his if he got one. (and hey, Mom benefits because I get to put it around the tree next year) And Nana did give him one, so I bought him this and Shrek 2. He has the croup (ugh) so we are staying home and missing our Calgary party (inset big sad face here please) We will head down when he's all better, but still, I hate to miss the party.


That's about it, did some shopping for my sister, bought myself Angel Season 3....managed to dick away the day until 3, can't believe Ivy lasted with my mom and I. We will be doing a whole lotta nothing waiting for Kade to get better and hoping that Ivy doesn't catch it. Blech.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

You can't have Christmas without some good ol' Boney M. Enjoy the flashback!

Happy Yule!

Happy Yule everyone! We had a nice relaxing time at our open house last night, a shame that solstice can't always be on a weekend or an official day off.

Christina putting her "snow" on the Yule Log. Next year we are going to make real ones, and I am going to try baking one like hers. I would like to make real ones to decorate, and the kids will be old enough to participate.

These are going to be part of my Christmas presents next year for sure, this was from Mr K's preschool teacher and I though they were so simple, yet adorable. Hot chocolate with medium sized marshmallows, thus the "snowmen" in the soup.

Looks like I need an exterminator. Damn mice got into the Yule log last night...


Crap, there's one on my keyboard right now! Hmmm, how to get rid of it?


No problem too big as the saying goes.
Seriously tho, Mr K was the "mouse" into the Yule log with his fingers lol and Amanda made the mice, cherry bodies dipped in chocolate, hershey's kiss head, almond sliver ears then the face. SO adorable and really damn tasty!

Soldier Bear Toys

To be honest I ignored these in my email yesterday, that and the Christmas candles that were recalled due to fire hazard this morning ( um DUH?) but I looked at the "Soldier Bear" toys name, thought they were literally soldiers and thought oh, no one I know would have soldiers, nevermind. Then I went and looked over all the recalls this evening, and well, crap, someone might have these.

Toy Description	Style	UPC
Wooden Pull-Along Learning Blocks Wagon (alphabet blocks in a wooden wagon)	6320	834162002158
Time Teacher (magnetic shapes & clock in pull cart)	6231	834162002646
Wooden Riding Horse	6349	834162003698
Vehicle Playset (blue military vehicle with action figures	1007	4895130810072

Come on, I KNOW you all have the Military/Guerilla warfare playset above, you just don't want to admit it. Better return it.

Fisher Price _ _ _ _ S My Angora Goat

You can fill in the blank, go on, be creative! I can think of 2 words that fit...

(Told you I was going to blog this Erin!)

So this morning, whilst having my second or third cup of coffee, my friend Erin pings me on Messenger asking about the Fisher Price Medical Set that Consumers Reports tested and declared lead infested, cause she had picked one up for Christmas. Good enough, I go back thru my archives (remind me to start tagging posts so they can be found), send her the link to the page.

She pings me later while on the phone with Fisher Price. She is asking about the recall that was done in ONLY Illinois. The woman on the phone said:

" it's ok because it was an independant study done in Illinois and it's only unacceptable to them "

Then Erin proceeds to tell them that its um, unacceptable to HER as well! So Fisher Price is now sending her a lead free medical kit. Which, for future information and I didn't know this, only just happens to be a different color. Its obviously the one color they are having issues with.

I guess too, the woman just sounded incredibly unconcerned about it, so this obviously is the line that they are feeding people when they call about this. That was your best PR attempt Fisher Price? Its OK because our standards are LOWER?

Um. Yah. I think I just wholeheartedly added them to my boycott list. The amount of lead in that toy set is ONLY unacceptable to Illinois, who have actually, for children's safety, PULLED it off their shelves.

So for all of us who don't live in Illinois, we have to live with lower standards. Oh, unless you CALL Fisher Price and tell them that you find it otherwise. Then you get a replacement.

Un-fucking-believable.

Link to the original article HERE

Boxing Day Blues

Argh. I was complaining to Mike this past weekend that by the time Boxing Day rolls around, there' isn't going to be anything worth shopping for. I have been scoping out stores trying to find my Christmas moose (yes, my obsession, I *try* to buy a new one yearly) and there is NOTHING out there. Walmart is almost stripped bare, there are no outside decorations left, perhaps one row of tree decorations and that's it. Superstore I walked into today, and EVERYTHING is 50% off! Since when does everything go on sale a WEEK before Christmas? And we aren't talking the usual Zellers 30% before Christmas that they have done for years, these be Boxing Day prices!

BAH Humbug. Ok, I was really glad to buy the train decoration that Mr K has wanted for 2 years now, the one that has the steam and wheels moving by way of flashing lights, I picked it up for 25 bucks today at Superstore, and he was SO excited. This train is on the roof of a house on Candy Cane Lane, and he has loved it since he saw it two years ago, man, maybe even 3 years now, and then we just saw it again on our lights tour. I'll give you one guess where he wanted to put it! (wanted being the key word, its in the house actually, it won't make it outside, never mind the roof this year!)

I digressed, I really did. Whoops. I was ranting. But seriously, I used to look forward to going and getting my decorations every year on Boxing Day. The year we were building this house, I went to Zellers, picked up a tree, ALL the decorations I now have on it (or did since the Princess has smashed so many), my two large moose , and I am sure more, I went a little nuts knowing we were moving in here. That was only 4 Boxing Days ago, and now I can't even find anything a week before. Sigh.

I know its all about the Almighty dollar, they just get in enough stock to make a killing in November and then there's nothing else brought in. But I am just not into electronics and crap on Boxing day, the point is to go and pick over the Christmas remnants (which used to be vast and plenty) and get some good deals.

Blah. I usually love Boxing Day, and look forward to it every year, but I don't know what this year will be like. I will be shopping anyways, but..sigh. I feel grinchy for the first time this year.

SO! Nothing like some good ol' un-edited Christmas Vacation to cheer me up!

Sunday Night Non-Aggravating Craft #3

This one is a hard one, but not aggravating.

1) Walk over to freezer.
2) Remove chocolate truffle that took almost 2 hours to dip and decorate with teeny stars.
3) Stuff in mouth.
4) Relish the fact that my only craft tonight is perfecting my truffle savoring experience.
5) Follow with well earned glass of wine.
6)Repeat

Bakefest '07

Wow, I spent the entire day Saturday baking, and I was still baking (in theory, I DID cook the fingerpaint lol) that night. But it was the whole damn day, either something was cooling, or setting or in the oven.....crazy!

I attempted 3 new recipes, Mint Chocolate Covered Ritz, Chocolate truffles and Chocolate Oreo Fudge, all from my Kraft magazine. And for us at least, they all score a 5/5, and I would make them all again. That's a miracle around here.

Mike keeps trying the Ritz and saying " I just expect that the NEXT time, they are going to be gross, because mint chocolate covered Ritz are SO WRONG!" (insert lip-smacking and crunching noises here). " I don't understand why they taste so good!" Yah, about 15 later, he still hasn't found that "wrong" one. They are so incredibly tasty tho, hard to believe its Ritz crackers. Also an incredible pain in the ass to make, one at a time, dipped in chocolate. Speaking of pain in the ass, the recipe for the truffles fools you into thinking they are easy because they are two ingredients. NOT! After spending an hour and a half rolling them, then dipping them in chocolate, I disagree. But oh, they are fantastic tasting and will be a Christmas staple in the house from now on.

Some of the treats....this one is all purtied up for Mike's boss, from left : chocolate truffles, Mint Chocolate covered Ritz (I know, but they are fantastic!trust me! They are good enough to send to the big boss!) and shortbread. Under the truffles is a layer of chocolate Oreo fudge. Drooling yet?

The another tin for one of my friends...
And this picture is cute, Mr K took it, and its so funny, cause its HIS view of the island....makes me laugh because this is exactly what he is seeing when he looks up there, my little short stuff. See that Halloween muffin wrapper on the left peeking out from behind the sprinkles? Everyone's truffles are in them this year, so have a good laugh at it! I bought them and forgot to use them for cupcakes, and voila! I needed something to put my truffles in! I was too lazy to go to the store for Christmas ones.

Because we are going for dinner tomorrow night for Melissa's birthday, I wanted to get everyone baking and kid's presents wrapped and ready to deliver while almost everyone is there. Nothing like leaving it for the last minute, but really, I hate stale baking and do it fresh every year. I never freeze my Christmas baking, its always done right the day before. ( I am insane.) I hate frozen stuff, I am weird, I can taste the difference. That said tho, the baking I took on this year have to be frozen because they won't last long, and so far the fudge and truffles taste great frozen! Not that I am eating it out of my freezer, nuh-uh, not me. I wouldn't be eating truffles like they are chocolate ice cream bites...

I hope everyone had a more restful weekend than I did, cause I am ready to freaking DROP. I am so excited to go out for dinner tomorrow night with everyone, I can't wait.

Homemade Fingerpaint

Today, besides baking up a storm, (I will post that tomorrow) I made homemade fingerpaint, which is part of Mr K and The Princess's gifts to their friends this year. It seemed to turn out really well, and what I loved is that we can give it to all their friends, even the young ones who eat everything, in fact, its perfect for kids just learning how not to eat their craft supplies! Completely non-toxic, I don't even think it would upset the stomach. Can't taste that great tho....

One batch fills 4 baby food jars, so I made 4 batches in all. Very easy, there's some yellow left for the kids are we are going to use it tomorrow, but I tried the blue myself tonight and it worked like it should lol.

The jars and the snowflake flannel are from the reuse center here, which was also a godsend for all my baking tins (I think I took about 15 and there were STILL tons left) . Very excellent place for crafters, and we took note of everything they accepted as well so we can get rid of what we don't use. I attached little cards with the ingredients listed on them, and one of them has the recipe for the older girl on our list, but if anyone else wants it, it follows below this picture.

Original Fingerpaint

Ingredients

1/2 cup cornstarch
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups cold water
food coloring

Directions

In a medium pan, mix all the ingredients together to make the finger paint. Cook over low heat 10 to 15 minutes. Keep stirring the finger paint mixture until it is smooth and thick. After the finger paint has thickened take the pan off the stove and let the mixture cool.

After cooling, divide the finger paint into storage containers depending on how many colors you would like. Add a few drops of food coloring to each container. Stir the coloring in to the paint to determine the shade of color. You're ready to finger paint! Cover tightly when storing.

Speaking of Ingesting Things: Mincemeat Tarts

Yes, time for my annual treat for Mike, his mincemeat tarts. Pretty easy. Thank the gods for pre-made no-name tart shells (I was impressed, all hydrogenated free this year!) and President's Choice 5 fruit mincemeat.

The only hard part is defrosting about 12 tart shells, rolling them all together, then taking a baby food jar and cutting out the circles for the top. So the direction are: put mincemeat filling into frozen shells (always frozen for any tarts), cut out tops, put on tops, bake at 350 till brown. Then let Mike proceed to eat them till he's sick, forget about them until next December. Repeat.

Now There's Even More Ways For Your Child to Ingest Lead!

Kids Jewelry

Description: This recall involves the Codeena Princess children’s jewelry. Only jewelry with item numbers KS1367SS and KS1369SCP are included in the recall. The item number is printed on the back of the packaging. The children’s jewelry sets were sold in a variety of sets including pink or white pearl-like necklace, bracelet and earring or ring combinations. Some sets have studded charms dangling on the bracelet and the necklace.

Sold at: Discount stores nationwide from September 2005 through August 2007 for about $5.

Lion Teether
Hazard: The plastic nose can detach, posing a choking hazard to young children.

Incidents/Injuries: Infantino® has received eight reports of the nose detaching, including one report of a child gagging on the bitten off nose.

Description: This recall involves Infantino® lion teethers. The yellow and orange plastic teethers have date codes 6116, 6129, 6158, 6137, 0606, 0806, 0906, and 1006. The date codes are located on the back of the lion’s head, above the Infantino® logo. Lion teethers with other date codes are not included in this recall.

Sold at: Babies “R” Us, Pottery Barn Kids and other specialty stores nationwide from June 2006 through December 2007 for about $5.

Dollar Store Toys...

Hazard: The recalled toys contain excessive levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

Description: The Baby Bead & Wire Toys are colored wires and colored beads that can slide on a natural wood platform. These bead toys have item number 903419 and date code 71 printed on the back of the packaging. The Speed Racer Pull Back & Go Action! Cars are yellow with black stripes and white with red stripes. Item number 873820 and date code 77 is printed on the back of the packaging.

Sold at: Dollar Tree, Dollar Bill$, Dollar Express, Greenbacks, Only One $1 and Deal$ stores nationwide from March 2007 through October 2007 (Baby Bead & Wire Toys) and from September 2007 through November 2007 (Speed Racer Cars) for $1.

From US Consumer Product Comission

I know my titles are sarcastic, but really, at this point I am not shocked. I just hope that nobody has these toys... and you can subscribe by email to the above site as well. Nothing like your recalls with your morning cup o' coffee to start your day!

Have Patience....

For some reason, for each post I put up, I have to specifically chose to "allow" comments, not sure why I have to click that option EVERY TIME I post now, but I am trying to change it. So for those who wondered where my comments are, its just that I forgot to enable them on that specific post. I went back and re-did the last three that I forgot... PITA.

Simply Scrumptious Shortbread

Since I am not making it for everyone in their baking this year, Mr K and I made some shortbread spur of the moment tonight. And we had a fantastic time screwing around and experimenting with it. I usually do a cookie press, but saw on Jane's blog that she used an icing bag and tip to make swirly round ones. A lightbulb went off above my head when I saw that and my brain went "oh..ooooohh...oh MY! The fun I am going to have with THAT!!" I had all the materials needed from my cake decorating supplies.

And boy did we ever!

Snowmen, letters, candy canes......

A truck! A Train! A Reindeer or two!
Ok, I can't draw a train most days, not sure how I managed this masterpiece, our shortbread train! Mr K thought I was Supermom for this one. Indeed, I am rather proud.
Most of the cookies didn't break, but the reindeer's antlers were too fragile and any that were too thin were delicate as well. The secret is to make them thick and they won't break as easily....oh. but it was just so much fun doing it! Like drawing, but with cookies!

Sunday Night Non-Aggravating Craft #2

I'll post this, because some of the other stuff just doesn't count as non-aggravating :) Cleaning out baby food jars and getting the glue off them IS annoying!!

Homemade gift tags/cards. I chopped some of my olds cards that had just the beautiful square on the front, then cut out a matching back from the inside. Nicely enough, they say "Blessed Christmas" on the top inside, just happened to work out that I could reuse some of the print as well. Hole punch them in two spots, run ribbon thru and tie with a bow. I used metallic pens to write my messages inside. And they look a million times prettier now than just the plain card.

Hallelujah!

Why am I posting a pic of dragon toys? Well, lads and ladies, I went to the Goodwill this afternoon to find some jeans (double freakin' hallelujah, I found 2 pairs!) and of course Mr K has to look through the toys. Actually, scratch the double, its a triple Hallelujah, he found a recycle truck that is always the boy's favorites while playing in the sand, so there's another to squibble over ;)

I digress. Can I introduce to you one of The Princess's presents, good ol' TupperToys. Made in the US of freakin' A!

Dance of joy....dance of joy.....I don't know if they are STILL made in the US tho, they say 1992 on them. Not only are they awesome fun and adorable (I remember those old elephants etc) but they aren't made in China.

Ahhh I have something other than socks for her!

BTW of course you have already guessed I will email Tupperware and ask where the products are made now..

Some info: (come on, do I still have to cite my source??)

Tupperware was known, at a time when women came back from working during World War II only to be told to "go back to the kitchen", as a method of empowering women, and giving them a toehold in the post-war business world. The tradition of Tupperware's "Jubilee" style events continues to this day, with rallies being held in major cities to recognize and reward top-selling demonstrators, managers and distributorships.

On May 9, 2007 Tupperware announced Brooke Shields as the celebrity spokesperson for Tupperware’s "Chain of Confidence" campaign in the USA. The campaign invites women to celebrate the strong bonds of female friendships and the self-confidence derived from those relationships.ChainOfConfidence.com serves as an online community where women can share their confidence stories with one another and join an online discussion about the importance of female friendships and confidence.As part of Chain of Confidence, Tupperware is donating over one million dollars to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to sponsor SMART Girls—a program dedicated to promoting confidence in young girls ages 8-17.

I was beginning to get beyond frustrated this weekend. I literally spent a half an hour in the doll aisle reading boxes. Mike had to take his tire in to get fixed so I can time to spare LOL! I think the Walmart worker thought I was a crackpot. Both sides, every doll. Not ONE that wasn't made in China. In another aisle I found some Crayola markers made in the US, and some sparkle glue made in Taiwan. Deee-pressing.

What really made me sad is there were some horses (oh, she loves her horses) that kids can literally sit on (up to 80 lbs) and pretend to ride. So the Princess is sitting on one and just looooving it. She kept trying to take it back off the shelf, and its bigger than her. Soo cute. She's trying to tuck this damn 3 foot horse under her arm and take it home. Sigh. You know, you just can't win. Damned because you buy your children possibly toxic toys or damned because you can't get them what they really want to play with.

Where did my angora goat run off to.....

More Lead....

I have too much time on my hands lately. All The Princess wants to do is nurse Alllllll freaking day, so here I sit.

Anyhow this article depressed me, here's part of it:

The red blood pressure cuff is part of the Fisher-Price Medical Kit, a classic toy that has been sold for several years. We found high lead levels embedded in the red plastic arm band as well as on the surface of the arm band, which we determined could easily rub off on the hands of a child playing with the toy. Based on the levels of accessible surface lead we measured, we estimated that a child could potentially receive a dose of more than 15 micrograms of lead per day through foreseeable hand-to-mouth contact while playing with the toy. That amount could potentially increase a child's risk of accumulating a blood lead level that exceeds 10 micrograms per deciliter—the threshold established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that generally triggers some form of intervention by doctors or public health officials.

Although we discussed our test results with Fisher-Price and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), neither took immediate action. Fisher-Price contends that the toy "is fully compliant" with all federal regulations, which CPSC confirms. But the federal regulation for lead in toys places limits on only paint and surface coatings. There are no federal limits on lead in plastics such as PVC. That’s a huge gap in the regulations that can leave children at risk for lead exposure. Congress is currently working on federal legislation that will close the gap and, if passed, will regulate lead in all children's products. Consumers Union has been supporting this effort, (ok, you gotta click on the words "supporting this effort" and go laugh at their video!) which promises to reduce children's risk of lead exposure.

Rest of Article

So some of my children's plastic toys, (besides whatever freaking Bisphenol A (BPA), might be in them, don't get me started on that), now have unregulated lead levels. Are you kidding me? Please tell me that we have better standards in Canada, actually, don't bother, cause all these toys are coming here anyways.

This site is interesting Public Interest Research Group .

I need to get The Princess watching TV or something, I am THIS close to retreating to my own commune with angora goats and sheep for clothes, a couple packets of organic seeds, dig a well and build a big effing compound fence.

I will not read anymore today...I will not look anymore today.....I am going to watch Dora in her lead-paint empire of splendor.

What Was That You Lead? I Mean Said???

Yah, another lead recall. Which we have in the house and used with Mr K to potty train him. I take some consolation in the fact that he hated it LOL and we used it as a step stool with the lead part hidden. Still. I mean, its a POTTY. I can't even have a potty without lead in it?

I'll send away for my stupid permanent clear protective cover and see what it is. I am curious what *CHEAP* measure they have come up with. A cover to cover it and not a recall of the whole item....let's see how that pans out.....

Recall info here



Edited to add: Alright so I ordered my plastic piece. Shipping time is 8-10 weeks. EIGHT TO TEN WEEKS!! Do they even comprehend what that is to a potty training mom? That's not the usual 4-6 mailing weeks, thats almost DOUBLE! How many moms are going to have to go and buy another potty, because odds are that if you are serious about that plastic piece (not me, I just wanna get a look at this shitty plastic solution so I can be even more disgusted at the company) you are in the middle of USING the damn thing!! Right....cause ANY mom who is in the middle of successful training is just going to stop dead and wait 10 weeks.

Paper Globe Ornaments

I saw a picture of these on someone's blog, but not a tutorial. I have searched, found that OF COURSE they are a Martha craft, but they aren't in her archives, they are from December of last year darn it. So, I attempted them anyways, and I am hoping that once Amanda looks at these, there is a tutorial in her book, because they just didn't work out exactly how I wanted.

You can tell how its put together from this pic. I used scrapbook paper and brats left over from all the wonderful stuff Cori gave me last year. (LAST year Cori ,sheesh!!)

But they don't hang like I want them too, too oval.
Then we made another one, and Miss I decided to grab it and squish it, during which I shrieked, then SHE shrieked:

"Mommmy! Its a beeee-ooo-tiful bucket!!"

And so it is my girl....they make very nice, adorable baskets as well!



I think I need to try stock paper, more firm, colored on both sides and I might get the right sphere shape out of them....but here's the concept anyways, great concept, just need to fine tune it! Hopefully someone has a tutorial somewhere!!

If Your Ovaries Aren't Tingling, You're Lying

Auntie just had to steal a picture of her girls from their blog....


I'd nag Mom about not updating more,but I think I will cut her some slack LOL. Which, by the way, leads me to my congrats to Kandice for breastfeeding TWINS for the last 9 weeks and still plugging away. I know how much damn hard work this has been for you, and you have had persistance that amazes me, the patience of a saint, a thankfully amazingly supportive husband and I am SO proud of you and what you have accomplished. You're my hero!

(insert Wind Beneath My Wings Music)

Oh crap there go those tears welling up again. I think I cry all of December....its a yearly thing. Mike reminded me yesterday that I cry when I hear my favorite Christmas songs. Emotional basketcase.

Hahahaah I added the blurb about Wind Beneath my Wings and now I am laughing again.