Mommy's snuggle buddy

Rob's favorite night time spot.. on my feet when I try to lay down. Such a little goof.

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Mommy's little cheeseball

I was trying to get a non-scary pic of myself to use as my facebook profile pic... However any time the light on my flash goes off it's much like a dog whistle for Robbie. My little ham simply must be in whatever picture mommy is taking lol.

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Shrine of the Heathen Monkeys

From left to right you have Aric, math whiz and butt-pain extrodinare; Brenna, aka princess fluffybrains; and Robbie aka Robzilla the Terrible. The rainbow-arsed baboon and the kitty statue stand in for Brad and myself as neither of us photographs well. It is a permanent fixture on my desk that serves to keep me wary of thuds in the night.

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Testing

This is a test post using ScribeFire for Chrome, this is only a test post. if this were a real post you'd be mad at me by now

Scrubbing Winter Away

Hello, I'm the Caffinated Kitten and I have ultra sensitive skin. Dyes and perfumes can cause very uncomfortable rashes in painful places and normally the only shelf products I can use are too expensive to keep using. For a long time I thought it was just my fate to balance the itch with sporadic stretches of comfort. I was soo incredibly wrong. With the help of my bestest friend ever, Google, I found myriad recipes for making what I needed right in my kitchen with items that wouldn't annoy my very persnickety skin. Imagine my relief!

As I read them I realized they called for all kinds of essential oils for the scents. Let's face it, good ones aren't cheap. So I took the recipes, headed to the kitchen and began experimenting. Thus far I have 2 perfected scrubs and am working on more.

My favorite is the Lemon sugar scrub. I love the scent of fresh squeezed lemon and the rind & juice contain many things great for your skin. With the help of my handy dandy new food processor and a little common sense I now have a light lemony scrub that leaves my skin so soft that newborns wail in envy. It can be used from face to toes and, best of all I think, tastes exactly how it smells.

I am currently working out variations containing honey & chamomile as well as a lemon creme "flavor". Exfoliating has never been so tasty!

Eventually I will post a few of my recipes and hope to be able to organize selling the products themselves as I know there are many out there suffering with sensitive skin held hostage by top shelf prices.

If there is a "flavor" you like to see worked out into a lotion or scrub, let me know! I like a challenge :)

Desk Troll in the Wild

It is not uncommon for Rob to decide that the best place for his baby T-Rex, Iron Man, Buzz Lightyear and Bumblebee to have an epic battle is underneath my desk. My toes are often civilian casualties in these mighty wars.

Keyword in Diet is DIE

I have found it increasingly amusing lately that all of the sudden all the diets are telling you to eat like I have for years. Using nut oils ( olive oil, grapeseed, etc) is nothing new in our house. Ditto fruit and nuts for snacking. Complex carbs emphasized, simple carbs severely limited. Natural alternative sweeteners... sound familiar yet?

What most of these don't tell you is that short term dieting leads to a long term weight battle. If you want to get that pudge off and keep it that way, you have to change the way you eat for good. Not just for a week/month/etc.


Also, counting calories isn't enough. Yes, you need to be careful not to go over the max for your lifestyle (less active, less calories). But you have GOT to remember too little is actually worse than too much. Too few calories and your body will store fat like a manic squirrel collecting nuts. Too many calories can be balanced with excersize to keep things moving along.

Here are a few simple things that you can do to make yourself healthier :

• Do not, for any reason, buy a dinner in a box or bag. They are LOADED with sodium and will make you retain water, thereby adding to your weight.


• Don't ever starve yourself. If you are hungry, eat.


• Nuts are an awesome snack rich in protein and low on the G.I.( Glycemic Index)


• You CAN fry in grapeseed oil, making your favorite fried foods a little healthier to have once in a while.


• Use whole grain or nut flours. There are many readily available that are not expensive.


• Oatmeal is very very tasty and very filling. Sweeten it with unsweetened chunky applesauce and dried fruit and you'll wonder why you made icky faces as a kid.


• Fresh fruit, no sugar added juice, and raw vaggies are not only good for you, they taste really really good.


• Drop your soda habbit. Even diet sodas keep that jiggle on your middle. Instead keep herbal tea and carbonated water on hand. Mix to your taste and enjoy a fizzy good-for-you drink.

Remember, healthy food doesn't have to taste like it's good for you. Yes, I'm one of those weirdos that actually LIKES granola, yogurt, bran muffins, etc. I think the key to that may be that I grew up having it and was never told to eat it to be healthy, I was told to eat it cause it tasted good. If you have children, the key to making them into healthy adults is to start NOW. Replace sugar and junk with healthy options that are tasty and filling. They will look to you for an example, so be one. Don't be a lump all day behind the computer, on the sofa, etc. Get up, kick on the radio, turn off the tv and play.

Not only will you all be healthier, you'll be a stronger family.

Heathen Monkeys from Hades

My children are the center of my world. There is nothing that I won't do to keep them safe, happy and healthy. That being said I seem to be a somewhat unusual parent. I limit game and tv time, don't allow them on the computer that has internet and make them do chores. They are expected to do their job right the first time. I know, I'm so mean. I even do the meanest most horrible thing ever... I don't buy junk food or soda. Their daily drink options are honey sweetened herbal tea, real fruit juice with no added sugar, whole milk or water. It's cruel. It's evil. It's why my children are healthier than 80% of their peers.

From an early age I presented them with fresh fruit and raw veggies for snacks, kept sugar to a minimum, and encouraged them to play with toys that don't require batteries. There is one tv in the entire house and I control it with an iron fist. There is also only one gaming system, also controlled with an iron fist. Because of this all three of my monsters can amuse themselves for hours with a stack of blocks or a pile of dirt. Do they have all kinds of toys that make noise? yep. They also have grandparents.. I'm sure you can see the correlation.

As both their father and I love books, we have passed that on to our children. They have an entire book case full of books appropriate for their ages. And all are well read. It's not unusual for all three to be scattered around the living room quietly involved in a book. Even Robbie, my most active heathen.

Creativity, independant thought, and personal accountability are very important in our house. "he/she made me do it mom!" is NEVER an viable excuse. And they have been taught one very important thing.. No matter what you do, do it like you mean it. Don't half ass or whine about it being too hard. Do everything like it's the most important thing you'll ever do and nothing is impossible to achieve. I'm living proof. They know that mommy is dyslexic and what it means. They also know I can read faster than just about anyone they know. My "disability" has in no way held me back from life.

This ramble was prompted by people complaining that Robbie, my 2 yr old, is just "too hard" to watch. He's active, playful, interacts and can get through just about any gate, latch or lock you can think of. He won't just veg out in front of the tv no matter what you put on to watch. He likes cookies, but much prefers grapes or apples to snack on. Doesn't really like kool-aid and will demand juice or milk. And, horror of horrors, wants to play with you, be hugged by you and told what a big helper he is when he's helping.

Because of this, I can't get a sitter for him no matter how much money I offer. Anyone that has watched him once refuses to do it again since they actually have to pay attention to the child.

Bah, wusses.

Moments of Lawl

This will most likely be repeatedly edited as I find more things that actually cause audible laughter.

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see more Hurr

BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA

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Why yes, I have been that bored...

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This even made Aric laugh...

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Steampunk Laptop?

Ok... That is freaking cool as hell... I wants one!!!!

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Oh gak

After the hideous tragedy in Tucson Arizona that recently shook us all, I had some ( very very small ) hope that people would show their humanity in a manner similar to directly after 9/11 among other things. I could not have been more horribly wrong. In less than 12 hours the news was utterly flooded with pundits and mouthpeices on both sides yapping vacuously about how the other side is at fault for what this unbalanced madman did. The worst, in my opinion, is the local sherrif using this as a political opportunity! How dare he! This massacre was carried out by a young man that he was fully aware was dangerous and directed at a person that he was also fully aware had been previously threatened and indirectly attacked. Her offices had been broken into and vandalized, among other things.

Now, all that seems to be discussed is further gun legislation ; political vitriol and how the evil meanies on the other side egged this on by saying naughty things. Get Over Yourselves!

Should crosshairs be used on a map to highlight opposing political districs? No probably not as it is in rather bad taste. Should politicians of any stripe talk about "targeting" eachother? Again, the taste issue raises it's head. Without these things being spewed continuously in a conscienceless 24 hour news cycle, would this still have occured? More than 90% likely, and here's why.. The perpetrator was severely unbalanced. To be blunt, he was batscat crazy. Did he know right from wrong? Yes, he did and left proof to that effect. He was no more influenced by the political rhetoric to commit this act than Lee Harvey Oswald.

It is a sad day when the political comedians show more intelligence, humanity and sensitivity than so called "real" journalists. Shame on the lot of you.

Here leezard leezard....

My oldest son got the movie " How to Train Your Dragon" for christmas. If you've not seen it yet, you must!! It is possibly the funniest movie I've seen in a long while. It prompted me to go on a Draconic rampage in Photoshop that had mixed results. Some projects were scrapped totally, others are still in progress and yet others may get completed but never see the light of day.

So far, this is the only one completed

There will be more to come and they will be posted into the Gallery to be downloaded for personal use.

More coming your way kids! I have rantin to do....