Pure Imagination

Dear Gene Wilder

  Dear Mr. Wilder. I thought about this "fan mail" while my son wasn't sleeping last night. My name is Bella. My son William just turned 17 months old and never did I imagine you singing "Pure Imagination" could be such a great lullaby. My handsome son is feeling under the weather and was over tired and not feeling well most of the early hours of our day. My husband turned on Pure Imagination on his Itouch and it instantly calms my little man. He stops crying to listen and hold the Itouch. I bet you didn't expect it to be such a hit 30 years later either!

Signed Sleepy and Delirious in Alabama...

My favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

A cookie with a funny name from Europe,


My mom made these twice a year it can be very labor intensive. My grandfather was from Norway so it was a tradition

You will need to buy a Krumkake iron

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dgarden&field-keywords=Krumkake+Iron



Krumkake Recipe

http://scandinavianfood.about.com/od/cookierecipes/r/krumkake.htm

Difficulty: 2 (1=easiest :: hardest=5)

Serves/Makes: 4



Ingredients:

3 large sweet potatoes

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup milk, cream, evaporated milk or coffeemate

1/2 cup butter

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup butter

1 cup pecans - chopped


Directions:

Combine first 7 ingredients and pour into greased casserole.

Mix brown sugar, flour, butter and pecans until crumbly and sprinkle on top.

Bake 30 - 40 minutes at 350degrees F.

Level:BeginnerPrep Time:20 MinutesNutrition Info

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/4 cups (2-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; set aside.





2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in peanut butter chips. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.





3. Bake 8 to 9 minutes. (Do not overbake; cookies will be soft. They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling.) Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4-1/2 dozen cookies.



PAN RECIPE: Spread batter in greased 15-1/2x10-1/2x1-inch jelly-roll pan. Bake at 350°F 20 minutes or until set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack; cut into bars. About 4 dozen bars.



ICE CREAM SANDWICHES: Prepare CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES as directed; cool. Press small scoop of vanilla ice cream between flat sides of cookies. Wrap and freeze.



HIGH ALTITUDE DIRECTIONS:

-- Increase flour to 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons.

-- Decrease baking soda to 3/4 teaspoon.

-- Decrease sugar to 1-2/3 cups.

-- Add 2 teaspoons water with flour mixture.

-- Bake at 350°F, 7 to 8 minutes. Yield increases to about 6 dozen

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs

3 ripe bananas

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

How to add more moist-ness to your Banana Bread

http://www.moist-banana-bread-recipes.com/2008/09/how-to-add-more-moist-ness-to-your-banana-bread/

ZUCCHINI BREAD

'

INGREDIENTS

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups white sugar

2 cups grated zucchini

2 teaspoons spiced rum

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F ( 165 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and nuts; stir into the egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until done. .

When toddlers are quiet are they always in trouble?

have been putting off dental surgery for years. When my dentist (who I just LOVE) told me to do it. My husband was deployed and I only had to wait a few months for him to get home. Well when he got home I got pregnant so I couldn't have any dental work done while I was pregnant. So it got put off. Finally I had to get a new referral and the surgeon went into retirement *ugh*... Then we retired and didn't have dental insurance... Now we have insurance so I made some calls... Actually only one to find the right place that took my insurance. GREAT! They didn't even need a referral from my dentist they will do all the leg work. How often do you get that?




So I made my long awaited appointment. Called my husband and decided to investigate why my 15 month old was so quiet...

I was looking everywhere for him. I am 99.9% sure that anything he can get into is mostly baby proof although he finds ways.... Like climbing on the dining room table and opening baby gates.... But the baby gate has a bungee cord. The other baby gate is just around the TV so I would have saw that... No baby... Anywhere. I freaked for a minute. Hung up on Husband and there William in his bouncy chair from his infant swing next to the couch, He was sound asleep.... When toddlers are quiet they aren't always in trouble. Sometimes they just pull off their PJ's and find a place to zonk out.

Our first year

We had such an adventure our first year. William is growing leaps and bounds he started walking right before he turned 11 months old and now he runs "marathons." Especially when there is an IPOD ITOUCH involved or a phone.

At William's last doctors appointment he was 30 inches long and weighed 22 lbs.

He can clap, dance in circles, run, climb... inquisitive is a word to describe my "destroyer of worlds" My quote for him is if I can't eat it I destroy it lol.

Milestones

• Plays social games such as pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo and so-big.
• Bangs two blocks together.
• Has vocabulary of one to three words. He isn't talking much but he may try Mama and Dada. He also tries to say bye bye. He does pretty good at saying Bottle and Bus.
• we are weaning him onto the cup. We had some difficulty with whole milk so we are on lactaid.
• Waves "bye-bye."
• Feeds himself or herself. He doesn't like baby food much anymore because he likes to feed himself. He's pretty good with a spoon, fork, and even a hair brush.
• Points with a finger and displays a precise pincher grasp when picking up small objects.
• Loves music, rhythms, and rhymes
• He still loves to run away while naked butt and diaperless. He doesn't like to stay still long.
• He rubs his tag blanket (that is a Minky) type to go to sleep. You can tell he was nursed just by the way he goes to sleep <3
• He usually takes two to three naps a day. He gets up around 5-6 am and goes to bed around 7-8 pm. He usually wakes up from a wet diaper. He doesn't like his diapers wet and will push his butt in the air so he doesn't lay on it.
• Has fun opening and closing cabinet doors.
• "Dances" to music
• Interested in books and may identify some things
• May understand some simple commands
• Fearful of strangers although the seperation anxiety is getting somewhat better
• Pushes away what he doesn't want
• Prefers to push, pull and dump items
• Pulls off hat and socks
• tests parental responses to behavior
• Identifies self in mirror
• he engages in gibberish conversation
• uses cup without assistance... Addicted to a bottle though.
• Every morning he runs and gives me my morning hug.

Bye Bye School Bus

When we moved into the neighborhood my neighbor has a 3/4 year old and a 10ish year old. The little boy runs to "Greet" the day and say "goodbye" to his sister. Its more like Bye Sister.... Bye. Come back don't leave!! Its so adorable and I often thought to myself YUP this is what's going to happen to me. Well its a short walk to the bus stop at the end of the road and you can see it from my house. On the right hand side there is a house where in the past year. We have never seen anyone there, anyone leave, anyone come except to mow the law and take care of the newspapers that pile up. I think there were a few Christmas lights. So we joke its going to be one of those houses that will be mysterious as our children grow and they will make stories up of this house at the bus stop.

This year Rick carries William out to the bus stop and we always stay out there with Skylar for her protection. Last year Skylar would play with the 10 or so kids out there. Now she just stays with William. The boy next door still screams for his sister and William waits for the bus to arrive. For the 5 or so minute wait they run around on the sidewalk or up and down the mysterious house's drive way. Its steep so it can be quite a challenge for my diapered fat thighed boy lol. Then as she departs on the bus he does a sad wave and gets real quiet. Then its just him and I for the day.

At 2:45pm its time for the bus to arrive again and we walk to the bus stop (Will & I) to greet Skylar from her day at school. He runs down the side walk to the bus stop and gives an excited wave and sister a big hug when she gets off of the bus. Sometimes he points to the bus and calls out to it. Sometimes he gets distracted by the Military Planes or Chinooks. Everyday she asks to go to a friends house and hte days that I permit he gets so confused that the big bus came and still he doesn't have his sister.I figure soon he will be the little boy at the end of the side walk screaming for his sister.... Maybe the boy next door can help chime in.

10 months

Milestones this month*

•He can walk while holding onto furniture.

•Baby can stand alone, possibly for about a minute. He's afraid.

•She drinks from a cup.

•Baby plays pat-a-cake or waves good-bye. Waves when he is really excited

•She understands the meaning of "no." He understands but he doesn't listen and he just laughs

•He knows the words out and off lol

•he expresses herself with gestures and sounds instead of cries.

•Baby can roll a ball to you.

•he uses gibberish in a conversational way.

We carefully vaccinate.

I have been reading "movements" and information from all types of studies on both sides of the debate.

It all boils down to WE DON'T KNOW!

We don't know if in a decade or two decades they will find something wrong with the vaccines.

We don't know if we will suddenly find ourselves sick from a vaccine.

We don't really know what causes Autism we barely have an isolated gene to figure it out!

BUT what I do know is GOD DON'T MAKE JUNK!

He gave us an immune system and we are supposed to be able to fight diseases. If you get the Chicken Pox Vaccine or the various Influenza vaccines... YOU CAN STILL GET IT!

Not to mention the Chicken Pox one might give you shingles as an adult which is more deadly than it is to children. So would you rather your child have Chicken Pox? I have had it several times I am alive. Ok its not so bad! I swear.

I don't get and I don't give my kids the Infuenza Vaccine or the H1N1 vaccine because its okay to have the flu. Build your immune system. Take Vitamin C. Now for those who have weakened immune systems or Asthma then yes! I think it becomes a personal choice for that particular person and their family.

My personal choice to carefully Vaccinate my children. What do I mean? When William goes in for his 6 month shots, he is actually closer to 9 months. Why is this important? Because he's heavier and hopefully better able to tolerate 5 vaccines. We have a higher risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder in my house. I know they don't believe that Vaccines are to blame. But yet the US government has settled out of court with some people on the matter. Do we ReALLY know? They have barely isolated the gene that is responsible for Autism. They THINK it may be genetic, or could be genetic. Since we don't know the cause I basically say you know what we don't know! So why just assume to FDA knows best? Do your own research, make your own opinions. Don't let people bully you into vaccinating or not vaccinating. You can get waivers (I think it may be harder in the Military.)

Some vaccines do have harmful perservatives in it!

Speaking of the Military. I know when the H1N1 crap was so scary (when is the last time you heard of that?) someone said well if they say its okay it must be okay. Wake up and smell the coffee! The Military has been poisoning soldiers for years. Agent Orange? They think Gulf War Syndrome was caused by Chemicals in the air. But face it the Military doesn't like to own up to mistakes. They ignore any sign of bad PR.

My final point is this. Doctors are just well educated humans, Scientists can you guess it? Yes Well eduucated humans. Politicians... well LOL they are human too! As a parent or an adult you have to make your own educated decisions concerning your family and yourself. If doctor says this is the only treatment then I would be the one to research it till I could tell the doctor what my findings are. Second guess them! Question them! Don't just take their word. This goes with vaccines too. Do the research if the risks out weight the benefits then second guess it. Trust your instincts. Believe in your own body and its ability to fight off disease.

oh and yes feel free to open a discussion in my comments, but be respectful...

I am willing to see your side of the studies too.