Month: December 2007

Categories
Contests

December Group Writing Project

This writing project has ended. Please view the full list of wonderful entries at the December GWP Finale, and subscribe to MamaBlogga to find out about the next group writing project!

After the six previous very successful and fun Group Writing Projects, we’re gonna do it again. It’s time for the December MamaBlogga Group Writing Project!

In honor of this time of year, the theme for the December Group Writing Project is “The best time of the year.” You can finish that thought with whatever reflections you’d like: on this holiday season, on the best time you’ve had all year, etc.

Feel free to go in any direction that appeals to you. Even if you don’t choose to participate, you can encourage others to participate!

  • Your post can take any form as long as it reflects this theme—this includes anything from serious to sarcastic, about your children, your future children, your pet, etc.
  • You can participate with a blog post, a podcast, a video, a page on your website, etc., etc. If you don’t have a website, contact me and I’ll be happy to publish your entry here on MamaBlogga.
  • Only NEW posts (i.e., posts have not been published prior to 10 December 2007) are eligible. Posts must be submitted through the submission form before Sunday, 16 December 2007.

Why participate?
There are lots of reasons to participate! All entries that meet the guidelines will be listed and linked to here on MamaBlogga. This an opportunity for you to discover new blogs (and for others to discover yours!). In July, I came up with five ways to get the most out of the GWP.

And, of course, there is one more incentive: one lucky post author, drawn at random, will receive a $30 gift certificate to Amazon.com (to be announced Monday, 17 December 2007).

Finally, we’d appreciate it if you linked to this post or to the guidelines/submission form on your entry post so that others can learn about the project and participate.

Now get writing!

Categories
Kids/Parenting

The naked truth

I was hanging out with two of my sisters a few weeks ago and we walked into Borders books. One of the greeting card displays near the front had the classic (cliché) card with a picture of a nakey baby’s bottom (oh, I can’t wait to see the Google traffic for typing that one).

One of my sisters said something about how cute that was.

I muttered, “I see enough of that already.”

Categories
Random

The dumbest line from a Christmas song is . . .

There are some beautiful songs that celebrate the Christmas season out there. They celebrate the birth of our Lord, the time we get to spend together as families during this holiday season and the beautiful, universal themes of peace on Earth, good will to man.

And then there are all those other songs. Some of them are fun to sing, some of them are really obnoxious. Some of them make you want to scream.

And some of them just don’t make any sense. Here’s my favorite example of a line from a Christmas song that makes no sense whatsoever, in or out of context:

Christmas comes this time each year.

Um, yeah. . . . And Thursday comes this time each week. Thanks for the lesson immemorial about . . . the calendar.

What’s your favorite dumb line from a Christmas song?

Keep your eyes peeled! The December GWP is coming next week!

Categories
Random

Marshmallow Treats

I have no idea where this recipe came from, but it’s a great new twist on “crisped rice desserts” (because I’ll bet the term “Rice Krispie Treats” is trademarked. . . . Oh crap.).

Anyway, it was a recipe that my mother had us make, oh, probably 10+ years ago, back when we did crafts/treatmaking each night in December. This was one of the first treats we made.

Ingredients
Marshmallows (big ones, not teeny ones)
Caramels (unwrapped)
Crisped rice cereal

Directions
Melt the caramels in a saucepan (or, if you want to use the microwave, a bowl will do). Pour the crisped rice cereal into a shallow dish or bowl. Place a sheet of waxed paper next to that bowl. Once the caramels are good and melty (don’t you just love the precision of this recipe?), dip one end of the marshmallow first into the caramels, then into the crisped rice cereal, then place it on the
waxed paper to cool. Repeat until you run out of something.

someone elseI don’t have any pictures of these, but at right is a picture from a similar (but much more involved) recipe from AllRecipes.com. The picture has added food dye to the caramel.

I also think these would be good if, after dipping in the crisped rice cereal, you dipped them in chocolate. Or before. Or instead of the caramel. Chocolate…..

Part of Scribbit’s Winter Bazaar and
2007 Christmas Confection Collection

Categories
MetaBlogging

Protect your family and your blog

We’ve discussed blogging privacy before (and let me say that the discussion was way better than the post that sparked it!). But there was something I should have mentioned the last time around in protecting your family’s safety and privacy.

I know that many of us don’t feel comfortable using our children’s real names, or posting photos of them on your sites. But if you’re really worried about something bad happening to your family because of your blog, this is the number one issue that I think you need to take care of.

If you have your own domain (i.e., thisismyblog.com instead of thisismyblog.typepad.com), get private registration. It costs extra, but I think it’s worth it.

What is private registration and why would I want to pay extra for it?

Private registration means that your name and address (which you supplied when you registered your domain) will be kept private from anyone who searches for them. If you don’t use private registration, anyone can find your name and address if they have your domain name.

I know you’re wondering how they do this. It’s called a whois look up (pron. “who is”). Whois.net is just one of dozens of sites where you can look up domain registration info.

When I look up, for example, Marketing Pilgrim, the Internet marketing news blog I work for, I am directed to a page where I can find this (his old office address):

Registrant:
Andy Beal
6512 Six Forks Road
Suite 502B
Raleigh, North Carolina 27615
United States

This goes on to add his telephone number.

Now, if I look up my domain, I get:

Registrant:
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States

(Note that the fact that this company is located on Hayden Road has nothing to do with my son’s name. Eerie, though, don’t you think?)

Through my domain registrar, private registration costs about $7 a year. I don’t think that’s too much to pay for that modicum of privacy, do you?

Categories
Kids/Parenting

The Hayden World News

My little boy is twenty-two months old now! As we approach the two-year mark, I often find myself surprised by my little boy, how much I’m finally beginning to accommodate to being a mother—and how much further I have to go in that regard. I sure did think I’d have a lot more figured out about motherhood at this point—I supposed that just goes to show you how much we all “know” about raising children until they come along.

Hayden has had some fun firsts lately, so let’s share!

Hayden at the Pacific

First “catch”
No idea how this one happened, but the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Hayden caught a ball that was thrown to him! Don’t worry; he’s not an athletic prodigy. He just got lucky. I don’t think, however, that he was nearly as impressed with himself as I was.

First trampoline ride
Every once in a while, Hayden got up the courage to attempt to jump while holding my hands (or Daddy’s). But mostly he was content to sit on the trampoline at my sister-in-law’s house and be bounced, giggling all the while.

First “jump”
A few days after we arrived home from our trip, Hayden was ready to attempt to jump on his own. Now, it’s notoriously difficult to learn to coordinate your feet to leave the ground simultaneously. Again, Hayden’s not an athletic prodigy (yet, I guess I should say), but he did get both feet off the ground, if just barely. Even better was his landing. Almost-two-year-old + first jump + footie jammies + tile kitchen floor < happy ending (but he was fine!).

Hayden loving up one of his Christmas presents

First canines
Hayden has gotten his first (and second, third and fourth) canines in the last month or so. As always, we’re hoping that this means an end of grumpiness.

First day without naps
Hayden went an entire day without a nap at my sister-in-law’s house. Too much excitement with all of my husband’s family there, I guess. As long as we kept him eating, he was pretty happy. Though his stomach was tight as a drum when we finally put him to bed (at about eight, which is later than his usual bedtime. He cried a high-pitch cry for about 90 seconds). This has not set a precedent, however.

First time blowing bubbles in the tub
But he seemed to enjoy watching me lean into the tub and blow bubbles just as much.

Hayden likes to play with bubbles!

First time opening a doorknob
This one I didn’t discover at first. Hayden had been out of the room for an awfully long time, so I went looking for him. I got about ten feet and I could hear running water. (You can bet the water wasn’t the only thing running at that point!) Hayden had opened the door to my bedroom—and turned on my bath. The tub was half full of water! We were just happy he didn’t try to climb in (although we weren’t very happy that he apparently stuck Ryan’s phone under the faucet).

That’s my boy!