All posts by NerdMom

headlines

Cuffs for Doodles

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Writing on your desk is wrong! It is very wrong! But should a kid be arrested for it? Well, a 12 year old in New York was arrested for it. Along with some other children who were accused of putting stickers on the wall. I understand that there is a need to punish for graffiti but isn’t this taking it a bit far? This is all in the name of zero tolerance.

Now I am not a stranger to seeing zero tolerance in effect. Being raised with in the Clovis Unified system here in Central California I got to see it from the front row. I remember being in high school and watching a kid get hit and then get suspended for pushing the aggressor to the ground. I remember a girl being threatened with expulsion for giving a friend Tylenol and it being “drugs” (even thought the school could take you to get an abortion). I even remember a kindergartener being suspended because his hair was to long.
So what do you think of zero tolerance. I guess abstractly the line has to be drawn somewhere but cuffing and arresting a 12 year for writing “I love my friends Abby and Faith. Lex was here 2/1/10 :)” seems to be going a little far.

Food

Meal Plan Monday

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Can you believe that February is almost over? I can’t. Well, here we meet again for this week’s food. There were some great meat sales this weekend at Von’s so I am planning on doing a little freezer cooking this week in conjunction with the normal food;).

Monday: Pasta Bake with Pork Shoulder, Spinach and Alfredo
Tuesday: Bacon Wrapped London Broil, Sweet Corn Muffins, Broccoli
Wednesday: My twist on an Eggplant Pasta (I will post my version if we like it;)
Thursday: Crispy Chicken Thighs (this time I will measure so I can post the recipe;)
Friday: Tuna Pasta

headlines, politics

Political Tidbits: Twittering and Cougars

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Just a couple of interesting things on the political horizon. Not a lot to analyze but interesting all the same.

Apparently there are rumblings that John Cougar Mellencamp may end up running for Senator Bayh’s seat. I don’t know if this will happen of it the Democratic party in Indiana is just trying to get publicity.
Then, at an appearance yesterday Sarah Palin put her foot in it.

When asked what she felt the greatest threat to America is currently, audience members in the crowd piped up with cries of “Obama!” According to CBS, Palin was quick to respond with, “See, they said that, I didn’t. Just you watch now, too, because somebody will be here with their little Twittering thing, and it’s going to be on the Internet any minute now.”

Those at Mashable took this as a swing at Twitter but I don’t really think it was. I think it was a swing at those people who tweet things that aren’t necessarily true just to cause a problem. Sarah Palin seems to be very comfortable partaking in different social medias so I don’t think she is writing Twitter off.

So what do you all think?

Christianity, church, life, Wordless Wednesday

Be a World Changing Family!

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Today at MOPS we had an awesome speaker who spoke on being a world changing family. Shelley was awesome. Not only did she talk about some great ways to change the world with our kids (Operation Christmas Child, making sandwiches to give to the homeless, etc) she also brought treats!!! She made the adorable cookies herself!!!

But is it hard to be a world changing family, especially with younger kids? I don’t think so. The focus is to teach them to be generous and to care for others starting at a young age. The best way I can see to change the world is to show it God’s love. So start involving your kids (or start serving someone yourself) in showing love to others and that alone will change the world.
I think of the joy my kiddos have gotten putting change in the Salvation Army buckets. Or helping me take food to a family with a sick mom or a family that just had a baby. I love the idea of just making bagged lunches and handing them out to people who need them. I don’t know where you live but around here we seem to have people begging on every corner. You can also do canned food drives, collect change for your local Pregnancy Care Center or just about anything. Just do something no matter how small.
It isn’t hard but it is intentional.
That was a word that Shelley used a lot, intentional. This doesn’t just happen but you have to do it. Shelley had a great idea we might start doing. She has a friend that takes all of her kids’ artwork down to the convalescent home. I might have to start doing that. Between church and what the kids just make at home, we are swimming in the stuff. To think it might brighten someone else’s day and not have to go in the recycle bin (at least so soon) makes me happy.
So what do you do with you kids to make them World Changers?

Pray for Shelley and her family! They are a world changing family in a big way. They have sold their house and will be moving their family down to Colombia to preach God’s Word. They are not already in the ministry (her hubby is a teacher) and their kids are young (4 girls ages 10-6). So this isn’t convenient but they were called by the Lord. So I ask you all to keep them in your prayers!
Updated: I was asked why I would consider this a WFMW. I can say that for many years I was looking for ways to help my kids serve others. I think there are some really good ideas on how to get your kids active in showing generosity and love to others!

Food

Chocolate Cream Pie in Minutes

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When I was a kid Lyons restaurant had a chocolate cream pie that my family loved! You could go in an order out a whole pie (like Marie Callendar’s or Baker’s Square before I had heard them) and my family did for all major holidays or treats. Then we discovered a Dream Pie Recipe on the Dream Whip box! Dream Whip is a powdered whipped topping. You can change it up by adding different types of extracts (like orange, peppermint, or almond) but NerdDad likes it plain. I love that I keep most of these ingredients in the pantry. It is super easy, super quick!

Ingredients:
2 packets Dream Whip (half a box)
1 tsp Vanilla
2 small boxes Instant Chocolate Pudding
1 3/4 cups Milk
Chocolate Shavings (as desired)
1 prepared crust (I use graham cracker crusts or oreo crusts, premade)
Process:
Put vanilla, Dream Whip and 1 cup of milk into a mixing bowl. Mix on high for 6 minutes or use a whisk attachment on a stand mixer for 3-4 minutes. You are looking for peaks. Then add the remaining 1 3/4 cups of milk, pudding and some of the shavings. Start blending on slow until mixed. Then beat on high for 2 minutes (scrapping down the sides as needed). You need to make sure that you see an even color. Then turn out the filling into the pie shell. Sprinkle the remaining shavings on top. Then place the pie in the fridge for a couple of hours to firm up.
That is it! I told you it was super easy!

Food

Meal Plan Monday

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I hope everyone had a delightful Valentine’s Day! NerdDad and I aren’t big on the Valentine’s Day but it is fun none the less. Let us get to this week’s food plan!!!

Monday: Bacon Wrapped Tri Tip steaks, Beer Bread, Broccoli
Tuesday: Pork Shoulder Roast, Zucchini Corn Cakes, Broccoli
Wednesday: Beef, Asparagus and Pasta in a Butter Garlic Sauce
Thursday: Spaghetti with Spinach, Garlic Parmesan Bread
Friday: Boboli Pizza, Broccoli

FRN, kids, music

Curious George 2 Soundtrack: Review and Giveaway!

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My kids were so stoked when they saw me open up this CD. They absolutely love Curious George and frankly, who doesn’t love Curious George;)? My whole family had really enjoy A Very Monkey Christmas so we were all looking forward to Follow that Monkey!

I know that many of you parents are groaning, “Not another kids cd”. Well, this Curious George CD is a little different. The music is a little more mature than you might expect. The music is still fun but not as bubbly as many silly kids cds. My kids all like the CD but didn’t think it was as Curious Georgey as the other CD but really good (their words;).
So how would you like to win a copy?

Win it!
How would you like to win your own copy of Curious George 2: Follow that Monkey soundtrack? Well, I have 1 to giveaway to a reader in the US!

To enter:

* Just leave a comment telling me your favorite thing about Curious George!
* A random winner will be selected and notified on March 2nd.
* The winner will then have 3 days to claim their prize.

To earn extra entries, you may do one or all of the following. Each one counts as an extra ticket but you must leave a separate comment for each one.

* Subscribe to my feed (if you already do, that counts).
* Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here.
* Subscribe to my Twitter and then Tweet about this!
* You can tweet everyday for an additional entry, just make sure to leave a comment for each time!

If you want to see more giveaways pop over to Making Money Keeping Money to see more giveaways on Contesting Monday

This post was written for Family Review Network as part of a program for 429 Records, who supplied the product for review. All opinions expressed in this post are 100% mine.