Things you THOUGHT would Never Happen to You

I don't know what got me thinking about this, but it's on my mind tonight so I thought I would blog about it. Since having kids, I have learned to never say never. I think any parent who reads that is probably nodding along. I mean one thing I said I would NEVER do is let my child on a trampoline because I believe they are dangerous. Nevertheless, they went on one, had a blast and I can't help but wish I had one in my backyard! Never say never.

One thing I never in a million years thought I would experience or be a part of is sending another human being to prison. I know that it is not my fault that he is in prison. It's his fault totally but I'm still the reason he's there. A few years ago I was shopping in Target and a man copped a feel as he walked by me. I won't get graphic but let's just say...he got WAY too friendly and it was apparent it was on purpose. I alerted store security, police were called, surveillance video's were watched, and charges were filed. Come to find out, the entire thing was caught on tape AND the suspect had JUST gotten out of prison on previous sex offender charges. His record, according to police, is a mile long.

So while I know, and am happy, that this sick individual is in prison, I still can't help feel weird that someone is in prison because of me. The DA congratulated me on coming forward. Told me that there is no telling what he would have done had I not come forward, etc etc. Proud is not how I feel (I don't think)...I don't even know if I can put into words what I feel.

His parole is up in about a year. I have sent in all the pertinent papers to help get his possible parole denied. Since he has several prior sex offender charges, the likelihood of him getting out before 2017 is slim to none. I often times find myself wondering what this man thinks about in prison. Does he hold a grudge against me? Is he saying my name over and over so when he does get out, he can make me pay? (yes I know I've watched WAY too much television, but I still can't help wondering that).

Again I don't know what made me start thinking about this, but it is on my mind. But it is definitely one thing I thought I would never be thinking about in regards to me.

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POLL: Children's Bedtime

Who in your house does bedtime...

A. Daddy by himself
B. Mommy by herself
C. Mommy and Daddy together

Please answer in a comment either A, B, or C and then tell us a little of your family dynamics...does both mom and dad work jobs outside the home; is mom a SAHM; is dad a SAHM...thanks!

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Drink Well. Live Well. Your Motto for 2009!

No no I am not talking about alcohol here! I'm talking about something we all grew up drinking as kids. Milk. Growing up, I remember watching the milk mustache commercials and looking forward to seeing who the next "milk mustache" model was going to be. Wasn't Kermit the Frog a milk mustache model once? Anyway I found this little tidbit on the www.whymilk.com site to be very interesting...their have been over 250 faces endorsing milk over the years! That's more than any other beverage out there!! Can you name some from back in the day?

The whymilk.com site has many useful tools...some of which I already knew like information on milk helps recovery after a hard workout, but I would have to say my most favorite part of the site is their recipe section and how to beat the heat this summer with cool drinks that are milk based. What a better way to cool off this summer AND get the calcium we need to grow big and strong (yes, I know I sound like a commercial!)!!

I recently tried this recipe on my son, the Strawberry Sunrise Breakfast Smoothie. It was SOOO good! He loved too. Zachary is not a big breakfast eater so having alternatives for him to eat (or drink in this case) is a major plus. Especially since he is starting Kindergarten next year and I do NOT want to send him off to school without something in his stomach. I can't wait to find some more recipes that we can try!

For those of you that must drink soy milk (like my daughter) I did make the smoothie above substituting soy and she liked it! I did use the vanilla soy milk as opposed to the plain so it had a slightly different taste, but she like it! So for those of you that do have to substitute because you or your children have a dairy allergy or because you just choose to drink soy, know that at least one of the recipes substitutes nicely!

Be sure to check out www.whymilk.com. There is a lot of information on that site as well as a section where their are periodic contests. Also, don't forget to leave me a comment with a favorite milk mustache model you remember from back in the day. Enjoy and remember, milk does a body good!

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Are you Looking for a Preschool?

It's that time of year again...the time to start looking for a preschool for your 3 or 4 year old children. It's so hard to believe that my daughter will be 3 in October. But what is even harder is the fact that she will be going off to school this September as well. I know the statistics about how great preschool is for children, but I think there is a part of me that is not ready for my baby to be grown up enough to go to school. However, the fact that I have found such an awesome preschool really does help tremendously.

If you are looking for a school that is very low in cost per month, BUT offers a warm and loving setting for your children to socialize with other children while learning preschool skills such as shapes, colors, letter recognition, number recognition, writing their name, etc then look no further than Academic Pathways Preschool in Livonia.

Academic Pathways Preschool in Livonia is a non-profit cooperative preschool. What that means is, the preschool is run solely by a board made up of parent volunteers and the parents of the children in the school. If a family chooses full co-op status in the school, the mother or father (or grandparent) is required to work a few times in the classroom a month AND hold a job in the school (plan parties, scheduling, etc).

We are hosting several Open Houses this summer so you and your children can come down to the preschool and see the school and meet our teachers! Here are the dates for the Open Houses:

• Tuesday, July 14th 10-12pm
• Thursday, August 20th 6-8pm
• Thursday, September 3rd 6-8pm

If you are unable to make it to an Open House, check out our website at www.academicpathwayspreschool.com. All the information you need is right there on the website...monthly tuition prices, info on our babysitting swap program, etc.

We hope to see you at the Open House!

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Mini Vacay Yesterday!

Yesterday my husband and I, along with our kids, drove up to just past Grand Rapids to hang out with my husbands family at a beach on Lake Michigan. It was SOOOO much fun. I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun we had. My kids were CAKED in sand, hot, cold (water was freezing), tired, but had the time of their life. They are already asking when we can go back. And you know what, so am I!

This was our daughters first real time to the beach. We took her when she was about 8 months old, but she has no memories of that. Every time we turned around, she was laying on her stomach on the sand. She loved to just wiggle around on the sand. Our son...he spent his day digging a hole that his entire body could fit into up to his waist! I'm sad I didn't get a picture of it. He dug a pretty large hole!

Here is a link to the exact beach we were at. If you are around this area, you should definitely check it out. It cost $6.00 to get in and that's it! We brought a picnic lunch (more like a feast lol) and really enjoyed the day.

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Scrapbook Saturday 7/11/09

Hello and welcome to my very first edition of Scrapbook Saturday! For my first edition, I wanted to focus on the people who feel they don't have time to scrapbook. Because guess what...I am here to tell you that you do have time to scrapbook and the best part is, you can finish this album in one afternoon AND get the benefits of a scrapbook and journaling your story without spending an arm and a leg on all the stickers and embellishments that you don't have time to mess with.

Creative Memories offers a line of albums, their Picfolio Milestones that gives people the look of a scrapbook without all the fuss. You simply slide your 4x6 pictures into the sleeves, add your journaling boxes and you have yourself a very basic scrapbook that not only looks nice, but it tells your story as well. And that's the important part, telling your story so that your family and friends can enjoy it for years to come.

I know, for me, it was very important to start scrapbooking and become a Creative Memories consultant because I wanted to make sure that my children had all our memories in albums and journaled so they can read them over and over with their children, etc. It makes me very sad when someone says they have no memories from their childhood. I don't want that with my children.

So head over to my Creative Memories site (www.mycmsite.com/leahkanaan) and check out the Picfolio Milestones Album Kits they offer and leave me a comment with your favorite kit and what you would scrapbook with that kit.

Being that this is my FIRST Scrapbook Saturday I am going to offer a small scrapbooking prize to the first person who orders from my site (www.mycmsite.com/leahkanaan). Be sure to mention it in the comments if you do order so I can get you your scrapbooking prize!! (Order must be over 10 dollars to qualify).

Also, if anyone would like to host a get together, let me know! We can work out a Virtual Get Together and you can earn Hostess Rewards for free products when you reach a certain amount for total sales.

Just one more thing! Creative Memories is celebrating their 22nd anniversary this month! So for the first time ever, Creative Memories is offering interested people the opportunity to sign up to be a consultant for just $22!!! Check out my website for more details...I would love to have you apart of my team!!!

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Only 20 More Days!!!

Only 20 more days until I get a 4 day, kid free break! I can hardly wait!! So where am I going? Only to one of the best cities in the U.S! Chicago! I just won't get to go shopping, which I'm sure will make my husband happy (and our bank account!). I will be attending the Creative Memories convention.

4 days, kid free, adult conversation, and much much more! I can't wait! I got awesome tickets to ride the Mega Bus for only 10 dollars! You can't beat that. A tank of gas would cost much more than that! You should definitely check the Mega Bus site to see if you have that option where you live.

I can't wait to come back and show all my friends and family all the cool new things Creative Memories has to offer! I'm sure it will be awesome stuff!

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Winner of Interactive Book - Webscene

Hi all...it's that time again...time to announce another winner!!! The winner of the Interactive Book - Webscene is...

#1 Kristy!!!

In all the contests that I have done, I have never had random.org choose number 1!!!

Congratulations Kristy! An email has been sent to you. You have until Thursday evening to contact me with your shipping information and the prize option you have chosen. As a reminder, you have the choice between:


The Busy Preschooler's Guide to Learning- fun activities built around the 26 letters of the alphabet, with step by step help to guide parents in how to use everday situations to teach 105 skills their kids need before they walk in the kindergarten door (Retail value $60)

OR

THREE (3) KA Readers - beginning readers that use a new kind of storytelling where kids see an animation unfold at the close of every chapter! Online activities help parent's assess a child's reading and comprehension (Retail value $60)

Congratulations!!! If for some reason Kristy does not respond, I will make this a live contest.

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The Bella Allergy Saga Continues

So if you've been reading, you know that my daughter is allergic to milk and that she had a reaction to eggs this weekend as well. I took her to her GI doctor today and they confirmed that we should avoid eggs. They also want me to take her to a new allergist out of U of M that specializes in Food Allergies. Her GI doctor is concerned that Bella may have other allergies that we are not aware of. So she wants the food allergist to do a patch test with her. So I should be getting the phone call from that office with the appointment time. Cross all your fingers that we don't find anything else that she is allergic to. Especially wheat. I think I would go label reading crazy if I had to find things that were wheat, dairy, and egg free.

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Walking for a Cause...Wanna Help?

This evening we had to take my youngest to the ER. We went to dinner and she ate something that we figured would be OK for her to eat. She is allergic to milk and all milk proteins. Normally we ALWAYS check the nutritional content...for whatever reason, we didn't this time :( Shortly after eating, Bella started complaining that her throat hurt and that she couldn't drink her water. I looked in her mouth and her throat was all red and blotchy looking. She also had some hives forming.

Her reaction to milk in the past has always been diarrhea, upset stomach...etc. Though we have been told that her reaction can either get worse or better. It looks like it is getting worse. So anyway, we took her to the ER and they told us that we definitely did the right thing by bringing her in. Thankfully she was OK. They gave her some benedryl, watched her for a bit and told us to give her Benedryl for the next 4 to 5 days every 4 hours. However, the interesting part...there was no milk in her food. The culprit...eggs. Which I had already been suspecting an egg allergy and was going to bring it up to her GI doc on Monday. Now I think I have my answer.

So with all of that said, I was told about an awesome food allergy website, The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network. Once on the site I saw that there was a walk to help find a cure for food allergies. I immediately registered me, my husband and both of our kids to participate in the walk. The walk is at Kensington Park in Michigan on October 3rd.

Here's where you all come in. On my side bar over there on the right ----> you will see a button that will take you directly to my donation web page that is set up through The Allergy Food Network. Any and all donation is greatly appreciated. I've never participated in a walk like this, but I cannot think of a better cause to walk for. So many children are developing food allergies. It's scary. So please help my family reach our goal. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

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