Entries from December 2007 ↓

Check out my other blog to learn more about the reading challenge I’ve decided to join.
Headed by my blogger friend Karlene at Inksplasher, the challenge runs from December 22 to March 19. Here’s the beginning of my list of books that I intend to read this winter:

Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, a non-fiction NYT bestseller about an American nurse who attempts to climb a challenging mountain in Pakistan, fails and becomes seriously ill. He is nursed back to health by villager, then promises to repay their kindness by building a school in their village. I’ve heard that it’s an uplifting story that seems like a great read for this month. That will be first book.

After that book, I plan to read Water for Elephants, a novel by Sara Gruen.

Then,

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, which is considered a classic.

More to come…please stay tuned…

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UPDATE: 1.31.08

I’m adding this one to the list: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I know, it’s a little post hype. Most people who read the bestsellers read this one a long time ago. I have to admit, I’ve been reluctant to read it after having seen the author interviewed on Oprah a couple of times. The first time I saw her I decided I wouldn’t read it, but the second time it seemed as though she was softer, more humble after her rapid rise to Oprah-style fame. So, I’m giving it a shot.

Well, at least that’s what I think…

And I hope you do, too! Cre8Buzz has been nominated for a Mashable Open Web Award in the category, “Best Niche or Miscellaneous Social Network.” So, please support this wonderful community by clicking on this button, scrolling down until you see that category and voting for cre8Buzz. It’s that easy!

If you haven’t heard about cre8Buzz yet, it’s a community of interesting people who are not primarily young folks in college. It includes moms & dads, political pundits, talented writers, photographers, hobbyists and so much more.

Cre8Buzz has opened up a whole new world to me as a blogger. It’s a world of supportive, funny, interesting people who are interested in the substance of my blogs and who will tell me what they think (good or bad) about what I have to say. I can count on the members of that community to comment on my posts, listen to my radio show and just ask me how I’m doing on any particular day.

I’ve seen nothing like it on the web. I’m so grateful to have become a part of cre8Buzz and would love to show my support in any way I can. If you have something to share, check it out and see what you think. If you’d like to join, let me know and I can hook you up with an invitation. Or, if you don’t want to join but you like what you see, please vote (just click on that button!).

Thanks for your support!!

For more info and a better description of the Buzz, you’ve got to click here to read Piper of Love’s post on her blog called, “Bliss in Bloom.”

Have you heard about this terrific tool for new moms and dads? I recently saw this lovely Australian mom, Priscilla Dunstan, describe her technique for communicating with newborns. She appeared on Oprah and shared the results of her research on the language of newborn babies. She listens to the time just before the babies start their full blown cries (what she refers to as the pre-cry) and has come up with a group of “words” or sounds that she says all babies speak.

This is fascinating! What a huge help this could be for parents of newborns!!

You can see her on Oprah’s website or you can buy her DVD called Dunstan Baby Language.

This DVD would be a great gift for families expecting a baby. It’s important to start listening for the baby language right after a baby’s birth. It’s best to listen and respond to the baby in those early months (birth to three months).

I know that when we were dealing with our first baby, we would have done anything to have a better understanding of what our baby was trying to tell us. Sure, we learned to distinguish the different cries of hunger and fatigue, but it would have been even better to respond to the baby and deal with the problems before she worked herself into a full blown cry.

Check this out. It could make a significant difference in a new parent’s life!

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Image from Google Images and Dunstan Baby Language.

My son rarely gets carried away with compliments for food or beverages (unless you count Junior Mints or really good chocolate like Moonstruck Chocolate as food). For the last several years, however, he can’t stop complimenting a certain hot beverage we’ve discovered.

Let me back up…I should start by explaining that we love hot chocolate and, while I admit to having enjoyed Swiss Miss (powder mixed with hot water) as a kid, we now tend to only have hot chocolate made with milk. It’s not because we’re snobs or have anything against Swiss Miss, it’s actually due to our kids’ deficiencies of calcium and our doctor’s urging us to find a way to get more milk in their diets. Our first few attempts were pretty much failures, because we just tried to use milk instead of water with standard powder brand. I decided to turn it into a quest…a challenge…a game to find the best hot chocolate (made with milk).

By best I don’t mean most exquisite a la Marie Belle or Moonstruck Organic Double Dark, I mean good enough for daily consumption and to have my kids asking for it day after day but not unreasonably expensive.

We went through Godiva, Trader Joe’s brand cocoa, Whole Foods brand cocoa, Ghirardelli cocoa (too chalky), Hershey, the Williams-Sonoma brand with shredded chocolate pieces that you melt on the stove (they really liked this one but I found it too time consuming and labor intensive for everyday use) and many more. Then, last winter, we received a catalog with a picture of a jar (the only brand that used a jar, not a tin or packet) of hot chocolate mix.

A friend of mine (who is a very good cook) recommended a company called Penzeys (based in Brookfield, Wisconsin) for its amazing spices. She insisted that the spices were so much more flavorful and pungent than any you could buy in a market and that I had to try them. She was absolutely right (especially about their many types of cinnamon). But I hadn’t heard about their hot chocolate until I received the Penzeys catalog.

As I looked at that jar on the cover, I had a feeling that this one might be different. It said, Penzeys Hot Chocolate Mix with a Hint of Mint. “Hmmm,” I thought. “We like chocolate covered mints, but what’s important for good hot chocolate is the chocolate flavor; it can’t have too much mint. Well, a hint of mint sounds ideal. I’ve got to try this.” I ordered one jar, as well as a jar of Penzeys plain hot chocolate mix.

When it arrived, the lid had been broken in transit and the mix was all over the box. I called and explained and expected no sympathy but was surprised by what I heard. The woman on the phone (with a lovely midwestern accent) was understanding and gracious and said they would send out another jar right away. I appreciated her kindness and proceeded to make a few cups of hot chocolate from the other jar. It was really good. The powder dissolved more fully than other brands with powder and it took much less time than the shaved chocolate (that you melt on the stove). We just heated the milk in the microwave then added a generous tablespoon of the Penzeys powder and stirred. Simple, fast and delicious. The kids gave it a definite thumbs up.

Less than a week later, the Hint of Mint replacement jar arrived. When I made the kids their cups of that hot chocolate, the rave reviews started rushing in. I kept ordering more throughout the cold winter months and we stayed with that brand the rest of the season.

Fast forward to this year. We’re back on our hot chocolate kick and went right to the Penzeys. This year, my son is so enthusiastic about this hot chocolate, he’ll stop in the middle of his lengthy, passionate description (complete with play-by-play) of last night’s football game, look at me and say, “Mom! This hot chocolate is the absolute best ever. There is no hot chocolate better than Penzey’s Hint of Mint.”

Well, there you have it. Without a doubt (and after exhaustive study), the best hot chocolate for kids: Penzeys Hot Chocolate Mix with a Hint of Mint!

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Penzeys stores are located throughout the country or you can order from the catalog or online.
($6.49 for a 13.4 oz jar or $6.70 for 1 lb. replacement bag)

Holiday shopping often leaves me wondering whether kids have too many toys. The answer is always, “YES!” I would really rather see books on their wish lists. Then I start thinking, “Gosh, wouldn’t it be great if some of their favorite characters could be in books that seem like toys?” Then I could feel good buying this sort of book/toy, knowing that they would actually spend a lot of time with it, look forward to using it and really enjoy it.

Well, take a look at this great electronic book, called the Disney Princess Talking Dictionary.

If your child loves the Disney Princesses, she’ll love this electronic book (and so will you!). Look at that electronic keypad on the right side of the book — it is so fun and inviting, the kids will go right to those buttons and push and push. You know how they always do that with these types of books? But this one will give them much more than a beeping car, it will let them spell out English words, tell them what they’ve just spelled (along with its definition) and if they push the “Spanish” button, it will also tell them the Spanish equivalent of the English word. Who knew an English/Spanish dictionary could be so fun!!?

But there’s more — the book part of this electronic book! The pages of the Talking Dictionary (just to the left of the keypad) are filled with four, five or six definitions on each page. Color illustrations accompany each definition, as well as a contextual sentence and then the same sentence in Spanish. I especially loved that last feature. With it, a child sees the word used in both an English and a Spanish sentence. So the book is great for English speaking kids who are learning Spanish as well as Spanish speaking children for whom English is a second language.

Each word, by the way, is presented in clear, black uppercase letters on a tastefully designed pink (or blue) ribbon, with a light blue (or pink) oval near it that spells out its Spanish equivalent in lower case print.

It’s a great way to interact with your child (while she views her favorite characters and has fun with those buttons). As I mentioned earlier, this book will really appeal to kids who are right at that age when they can’t get enough responsive buttons. So your child will be happy to play with it, and you’ll be happy that she’s actually learning something rather than just hearing a car zooming or a cymbal clashing.

Here’s an example: press “B” “E” “D” and you’ll hear each letter after each push. Then, a gentle push of the purple “Spanish” button would give you this: “In English, we say ‘bed.’ In Spanish, we say, ‘cama‘ ” while your child follows along in the book. Push the blue “Definition” button and you’ll hear “Bed — furniture made especially for resting and sleeping,” followed by a brief and pleasant lullaby jingle. The speakers of the electronic keypad have an average sound-quality for books of this type. So don’t expect hi-def sound with that jingle, but the words, letters and sentences are clearly spoken and audible.

Now remember, this is not just an electronic toy. As she holds it in her lap, your child will see a picture of a bed, a blue ribbon with the word “BED” and a pink oval with the word “cama” next to it. Underneath the ribbon, you’ll see the definition, “Furniture made especially for resting and sleeping” then an English contextual sentence, “Each Dwarf has a tiny bed” and its Spanish equivalent, “Cada Enanito tiene una cama muy pequena.”

This book will feel like a book to you, but to your child it will be an exciting, interactive toy. We consider this a must have for any family with a child who loves the Disney princesses. It’s a great way to introduce another language or to support an already established learning program. Why settle for a basic princess book or a doll when you can have so much more with this product?!

Oh, and we wanted to mention that we especially love the Mulan definiton, “Mulan: a heroic woman who saves her country.” My kids have watched that movie so many times! They would love to hear that definition when they push the button, followed by my reading the next sentence, “The Emperor praises Mulan for defeating Shan-Yu.”

We’re excited about this book!! It provides so much interactive fun for you to share with your child and, for those times when you have to tend to other mom duties, your child will enjoy exploring it independently. It’s quite a find!

Speaking of finding it, you can often find these electronic books in your local Target, Wal-mart, Toys R Us, Costco, Sam’s Club or BJs, but if they’re sold out, you can also buy them online.

When I went to their site (click on “Shop Now” in the lower right corner of the home page), I was delighted to find that they publish these electronic books with far more characters than just the Disney Princesses. In fact they showed 79 titles in the category they call, “Electronic Books.” Just look for that heading and you’ll see familiar names, like Dora, Diego, Elmo, The Wiggles, Scooby Doo, Sesame Street, Little Einstein and Thomas the Tank Engine. And it’s not just bilingual dictionaries.

Look at this Sponge Bob book, ideal for older kids (K-Grade 2)!

Sponge Bob’s Sea Sale

We also recommend the book called, Learn to Write with Disney Friends because it is another well made, fun interactive electronic book. With this book, your child holds a large yellow stylus (or writing instrument) as she hears spoken letters, a variety of sound effects, words, and instructions.

For example, when she presses the “Aa” key, your child will hear ” ‘A’ [whistles] ‘A’ is the first letter of apple

[crunching sound of person biting into apple is heard three times, then...]. Write the letter ‘A’ on the pad.” The voice is clear and easy to understand.

While she hears that voice, your child looks into the screen in the upper right corner of the book (or the top of the giant pencil) and sees the letter being written, followed by an animated picture of an apple. Then, as she hears the crunching sounds, the apple appears to actually have a couple of bites taken out of it, then it slides to the left and another apple slides in, gets bitten, and another until a whole apple remains briefly on the screen. You (or your child) can select either “CAPITAL” or “small” letters to be drawn on the screen.

We found it very clever that the animation takes place in what is really the eraser part of the giant pencil/electronic control board and that the pencil tip acts as the eraser tool for the writing board at the bottom (the tablet area below the pencil tip). This is really a fun, educational book that’s well designed and ready to go right when the child opens it. Great gift!

Last of all, we reviewed a Disney Sing-Along book that would be great for any young child who loves to hear short electronic tunes and loves to push buttons.

We believe this book will be best when an adult can play along with a youngster. The way it works is that you have a simple key pad in the lower right corner of the book, with only nine buttons. Your child can choose from forty tunes, each of which has a corresponding code. So, for example, to hear (and sing along with) “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” you enter the code C34 and with each push you hear a young princess-type voice responding to your touch. In the three mirrored stars above the buttons, you’ll see Ariel, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and Cinderella, alternatively. When no song plays, the stars are just mirrors, but when the song plays, the pictures of the princesses light up within the stars. Kids will love this magical feature!!

At the bottom of the keypad, on either side of the speaker, you’ll find a star button with clapping hands inside it (pushing it yields an applause sound) and a star button filled with a fireworks graphic (with majestic princessy music that sounds as if you’re about to introduce a star performer).

We recommend this book for younger hams in the family, whose little fingers would love to grab the easy to manage plastic microphone. Preschool or younger for this one.

All in all, our bottom line is that you can’t go wrong with these electronic books from PI kids. Look for them today (or buy them by clicking here) and mark one more thing off your list!

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Note: We found Sponge Bob’s Sea Sale in a local book shop. The Disney Princess Talking Dictionary (publications international, ltd.) was sent to us for our review along with the Disney Princess Sing-Along and Learn to Write with Disney Friends. We give the highest recommendation to the Talking Dictionaries.

Yes…the holidays are upon us.

Stores blare Christmas music, commuters face nasty holiday traffic, shoppers swagger through crowded shops, busy busier frazzled parents lose patience with tired kids, and families spend hours (or days!) decorating their homes. It’s a time filled with ritual and traditions. And every family has its traditions. Some families go nuts every year on the outside of their homes hanging lights and signs…we don’t get crazy with our property — maybe we’ll put a few strands of white lights here and there, hang a couple of wreaths with bows, that’s about it.

But our Christmas tree inside our house? Ah, now that’s different.

We give heartfelt attention to our trees. My mom loved decorating Christmas trees. She trimmed beautiful trees. So did my grandmother. She had two trees at Christmas time with an elaborate, magical, snowy Christmas village underneath both of them, complete with kings on horses (or were they camels?) pointed toward her fireplace which had a beautiful creche inside. She spent a lot of time putting puffs of cotton underneath cotton batting then sprinkling glitter around to make it look like a shimmery, snowy fantasy land. She had little houses, animals and figurines spread all around and then a lovely little wooden fence on the edge of all of it. When we were old enough, my sisters and I would help her assemble this (what was in our minds massive) world. It was absolutely delightful.

We don’t even try to replicate that magic, but, sort of as a tribute to my family of origin, I put some effort into our tree. I enjoy decorating it. It all starts with the search for the right tree. We go out to a tree farm and my hubby uses a wimpy little saw (provided by the farm) and a whole lot of brawn to chop down a tree.

This year, our son spied a Norwegian Spruce (super prickly but great for holding lots of ornaments). It’s a funky tree, and we actually heard another family rejecting it because its branches were a bit wild and dense. We didn’t mind. So, in a Charlie Brown (well, Linus) kind of way, we decided that was the one for us. With a little TLC, we trimmed it, removed some of the sappy branches (and the twisted weedy thing that was growing up the trunk) and took it home.

Hubby and I put it in the stand without incident and then it was up to me to do the rest. I turned on some Christmas music, got a cup of tea and just sat and looked at it — not because I was feeling contemplative and pondering all my Christmases past, rather because I couldn’t find the box of lights. I had the tree topper, so I climbed up the ladder and set it on top, then I went back through the dozen or so boxes of decorations to search for the lights. I was just about ready to give up when, almost an hour later, I finally remembered that I stowed them in the attic.

Thank you, God! I mean, I needed the lights, because it’s the first step in the system. Yes, I have a decorating system that I’ve developed after years of advice and assistance from Mom. I start with the lights (I used to do a spiral around the tree, now I just zig zag up and around it and place them in spots that will optimize the sparkle factor). Mom always said that the key to making a great tree is to put some of the lights deep into the tree (in toward the trunk) to give it depth and provide maximum twinkle. Can’t skimp on the lights.

Ornaments are another place to be generous. I try to find great ornaments each year (preferably after Christmas, to get a good deal on bulbs I wouldn’t otherwise buy) and I have a color scheme to which I am loyal — clear lights with red, gold and white (but very few white) bulbs. So when I see a special red or gold bulb after Christmas, I scoop it up, add it to the collection, and look forward to putting it up the following year.

Mom insisted that the general idea is to hang the largest bulbs around the bottom and the smallest bulbs at the top, but I save a few small bulbs to sprinkle here and there around the middle (where I need more color). The shiniest bulbs go closest to the lights to maximize the sparkle. All of this is probably basic, basic tree trimming knowledge.

So now I’ll share some of my favorite Mom tips. First, how to use very effective little trimmings called sprays.

I’m not much of a crafty gal, but this trick is worth a trip to Michael’s (or AC Moore or whatever craft stores you have near you). Mom gave us some red and gold sprays that I carefully place in those bare spots that are otherwise just big, bland sections of green (Mom also used to add feathery birds to her tree, but I chose to omit them).

Another important Mom tip: ocassionally stand back a few steps and look at the whole tree to find the bare spots and fill them in with just the right decoration. I did just that and tweaked until I was satisfied. Then, I gathered up my french ribbon (the kind that has wire on each side — I use red ribbon with gold beads on the sides) and carefully wound it & twisted it around the tree. Finally, I used strings of beads and draped them around the tree, up and down the branches like this:

Then, when I finally finished, I made another cup of tea, got a little plate of cookies and sat and looked at it.For me, it’s the most special part of my ritual. That’s the time when I reflect back on all the past Christmases, back when mom was still alive. I think about my mom and grandmother and silently thank them for all the wisdom they passed on to me. I think about the time in college when my mom took me shopping for Christmas decorations because she wanted to help me set up my very first tree (away from home). I remember marveling at her attention to detail and understanding what a difference it made.

When I spend that special time looking at our tree, I am so grateful for the many warm, loving memories. I feel blessed to have had all those years learning Mom’s tips, decorating with her, buying new decorations, laughing and singing carols. All sorts of feelings start rushing through me. I start to wish she could be sitting there with me, also having a cup of tea and some cookies. I wish I could see her beautiful, sparkling eyes as she gazed approvingly at the tree.

At this time of year, I miss my mom the most. So my ritual often ends with tears. Sometimes I cry, other times I just sit and smile. No matter what, though, just before standing up and going on with the rest of my day, I always say, “This one’s for you, Mom. Thanks.”

2007 Christmas Tree (during the day)

2007 Tree at Night

Merry Christmas!

Happy Chanukah.

Happy Eid.

Habari Gani.

Happy Winter Solstice (that one’s for you, Dan!)