Everybody Needs An Uncle Leo

Seriously, my kids LOVE their Uncle Leo.  And why shouldn't they?!?

He plays tag with them.

He wrestles with them.

And he makes funny faces with them.  

My brother knows how to have fun with my kids.  And they will always know him as one of the best uncles ever.  That's pretty cool in my book.

Trade It Tuesday

Something a little different today.  Today's Trade It Tuesday is about SHOPPING AT COSTCO!

Yesterday at my lunch hour, I ran into Costco.  I used to shop at Costco for lots of things (although I learned early on in my marriage that taking Darrin with me to Costco became very costly, so he was best left home). But once we went Feingold, I found there were very few things we could buy at this mega store and I stopped going. 

However!  I was pleasantly surprised yesterday at how many products Costco now carries that cater to the Organic/All-Natural market.  So I thought I would share with you some of the items you can buy at Costco that don't have hidden artificial ingredients.  Here is what I bought yesterday:

Costco now sells Organic Valley Milk in the gallon size!  The Kirkland brand Maple Syrup is an awesome price.  Those Philippine brand Dried Mangoes are one of my kids' favorite snacks and how they usually get their fruit servings since so many fruits are off limits for Ben.  Lia loves the Kirkland brand Real Sliced Fruit, but I have to give them sparingly to Ben since they are Stage 2.  Did you know the Krusteaz brand Pancake Mix is all natural?  And we always have Simply Lemonade around our house. 

Also, I LOVE the Annie's Roasted Garlic Olive Oil (it used to be Consorzio brand).  I use it on everything - sauted veggies, as a base for chicken, over pasta mixed with Parmesan cheese.  Of course, somehow the bottle I bought yesterday broke in my car and now my car smells like garlic olive oil. 

Luckily I'm Italian and practically wear this stuff as perfume anyway.

I also found that Costco carries Kirkland brand Organic Peanut Butter, which reads all natural.  And they carry Kirkland Free & Clear laundry detergent. 






Other products I saw yesterday at Costco:
Annies Mac & Cheese
Bumble Bee Tuna
Kirkland Nuts (Almonds, Walnuts, Pecans)
Honest Kids juice boxes
Cliff Mojo Bars & Z Kids Bars
Kirkland All Natural Vanilla

There were many more all-natural products, but I'm going off memory right now from walking briskly up and down the aisles during lunch hour. 

Costco is doing a pretty good job with organic produce, too.  I was very pleasantly surprised at how many products I could buy for my family at Costco versus even one year ago.  It just shows that as consumers we vote with our purchases, and stores like WalMart, Target and Costco are listening!

Yee-Haw

Saturday night was the PTA's Country Fun Dance at Ben and Lia's school.  Since half the PTA is made up of my bunco girls, I knew this event was not to be missed.  Of course without alcohol, it wasn't nearly as crazy as the average bunco night, either.

In any case, Darrin and the kids and I saddled up our horses (not really), put our boots on (that part is true), and moseyed our way around the hay bales and into the school playground.  The PTA did a fantastic job of decorating for the event, it was adorable!  Most people bought a tri-tip dinner, but of course the Kimbles always bring their own food - so at least we didn't have to stand in line for dinner.  I guess that's another good reason to be a Feingold Family!

However the kids were having too much fun to eat anyway.  (And Darrin and I hired a sitter so we could go have a nice quiet dinner at our favorite local restaurant after the dance.)    I think Ben's favorite part of the evening was gathering all the free candy (M&M's, KitKat, Snickers) and handing it out to everyone else since he couldn't eat it.  I was pretty proud of him, because he didn't even seem tempted by the contraband candy - and I didn't even need to give him the backup approved candy I had brought just in case.

Here are some of the snapshots I took before it got too dark for my camera.

Josh and Isabella, but where's Darcie?

I'm always jealous of people that have kids who pose and smile for the camera.  My kids, well they don't. 

The gang enjoys tri-tip dinner. 

I told Shawna she would regret this pose with her meat.  Ha! 

Besties.

The bunco girls who came to the dance:  Shawna, me, Carla, Melody, Melissa and Sarrah.  But where's Darcie?

Father-Daughter Dance

Shawna with her other piece of meat.  Cooper!

Oh, THERE'S Darcie!  And Adam. 

Me and my babies.  

The kids loved the Country Fun Dance.  I liked supporting my girls on the PTA.  I am very thankful that they spend their time helping to better our school and to promote and coordinate activities like this one that make our school feel like a community.

When the dance was done, we rounded up our posse and galloped home, just as the sun was setting over the prairie.  I reckon' this here Country Fun Dance was a huge success.

Inappropriate Parts

We've been cracking down on "potty talk" in our house lately.  Not easy when you have a seven year old boy in the house.  My kids know I won't tolerate talk about poop, butts, farts, pee, you name it. 

On the way home today with just Lia and I in the car, Lia broaches a sensitive subject.

Lia:  "Mommy, I need to tell you something but it's bad."

Me:  "Ok, is it a real story or make believe?"

Lia:  "It's a real story, something that happened today.  But I better not talk about it."

Me:  "Lia, if its something real and you aren't telling it as a joke, then it's okay for you to tell me about it."

Lia:  "No, Mommy, I can't tell you, because it's bad.  Somebody did something bad today."

(Now I'm thinking, oh boy, what happened, this is concerning!)

Me:  "Lia, you can go ahead and tell me about it. You won't be in trouble."

Lia:  "No, Mommy.  Because it didn't really happen to me.  Someone else saw it."

Me:  "Yes, Lia.  You need to tell me about it."

Lia:  "Well I saw somebody's inappropriate parts.  But they didn't show ME, Mommy."

Me:  "Okay, who was it? You won't be in trouble for telling me, Lia."

Lia:  "It was ##### (boy in class).  But it wasn't his butt Mommy.  But I can't tell you any more.  It's bad! I saw it while he was sitting."

Me:  "Lia, was it his ### (boy private parts)?"

Lia:  "No, Mommy, it was his UNDERWEAR!"

Do you think by the time she's in high school that this will still be the biggest scandal?  One can only hope!

Family Time

Looking through my pictures of my cousin Emily's wedding weekend, this one had to be one of my favorites.  In this picture are my Dad and Carrie, my husband, my brother Leo and his girlfriend Rachael, and my sister's boyfriend Evan (my sister was busy with bridesmaid activities). 

This picture is not of anything special - I think it just illustrates how much fun we have together as a family.  Look closely, everyone is smiling. 

All weekend, hanging out with this group, I would stop in my tracks and think about how great it was just to have us all together.  For a tight-knit group like us, this year has brought many changes:  my parents are away for a year sailing the Great Loop, my brother is working in Las Vegas, my sister's boyfriend was deployed for nine months, and recently my sister moved to San Diego.  Each of these moves have been for great reasons (other than Evan's deployment), but it doesn't mean I don't miss my darn family every now and then. 

In an Italian family, where grudges seem to run rampant, I feel truly blessed and thankful that my parents, my siblings, and the new people we introduce into our clan, all share true respect and love for each other.  I'm not sure there is anything that could ever break that bond.  And Good Lord, do we know how to laugh!

I love you, my family!

Oh, and I love this picture too (Dad in Leo's sunglasses):

Emily's Big Day

This weekend my cousin Emily got married to Shar in a beautiful wedding at the Hotel Figueroa in Los Angeles.  The Moroccan themed hotel was where they shared their first date, so it was a perfect location for them to say their vows.  Unfortunately, the venue was very dimly lit, which meant my camera took almost no good pictures of the bride and groom or the party. 

However, with or without photo proof I can say the following:

1.  Emily has to be one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen. 
2.  That wedding dress?  Gorgeous!
3.  Every time I saw Emily near Shar, she had the most beautiful and happy smile on her face.  Just as a bride should.
4.  We partied until the early morning hours, learned to dance "Persian", had a ball with our extended family and enjoyed every minute of Em and Shar's wedding day. 

Here are the few photos I did capture (mostly outside while the wedding party took pictures inside), mixed with a few iPhone photos pieced together from the group. 

My sister CJ (a bridesmaid) and my cousin Em, getting ready for the ceremony.



Me and D



My Dad and Carrie

My brother Leo with his girlfriend Rachael.

My cousin Joey's daughter Emily, flower girl and niece to the bride.

Uncle David and Aunt Patty

Emily with my Dad

Emily with Leo, who must have stolen a hat from one of the waiters.

My sister CJ with her love Evan



My cousin Jeff, CJ, and my cousin Joey.

It was so great to spend some time with our extended family.  When we were kids, this group would get together for every birthday, holiday and Italian Picnic.  But since we've gotten older we hardly ever see each other anymore.  What a treat it was to relax and enjoy our time together celebrating Emily and Shar's union.

To Em and Shar:  You two have something special - the ability to make each other laugh.  As long as you forever keep that, I have no doubt your love will continue to grow with every passing year.  Much love to you both as you begin your journey. Shar - welcome to our crazy family!
  

Following Instructions

I left the babysitter a note tonight:

And apparently, so did Ben:

Pretty sure she followed my instructions.  I'll find out in the morning if she followed Ben's! 

Almost A Decade

Today Darrin and I celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary! 

It doesn't seem possible that nine years have flown by - but I look at our seven year old son and our (almost) five year old daughter and am reminded that it really was quite some time ago when we said our vows.  Marriage to my best friend has been everything I ever dreamed it would be, and I love him more today than ever before.  Happy Anniversary, D!

Stacked Decks

I don't know if anyone even reads my political blog posts.  I'm sure an issue about construction isn't very exciting for many of you.  But if you give a minute to the issues I discuss, and then think about how issues you care about are similarly handled by our local governments, then I hope that I can turn you from a possibly passive voter to someone who gives a damn.

Getting fed up is how great movements begin.

It is my humble opinion that the PEOPLE currently have little to no voice in our government.  Our elected officials are beholden to those who fund their campaigns, whether Democrat, Republican, Tea Party or Independent.  Unions and the LARGE corporations (think, Wall Street, AIG, GE, Bank of America) have almost unlimited funds to throw their weight around Washington and in our local state and community governments.  Time and time again I see elected officials vote for the most insane things with no regard to taxpayers, not because they believe in it, but because they were pressured by the unions/corporations that fund their campaigns.  Reason and logic never prevail in these situations, when average people or small businesses try to explain to the politicians how these policies kill jobs and hurt our communities.  I sit in meetings wanting to scream - as a mother, a wife, a taxpayer, a business owner HOW CAN THESE DECISIONS MAKE SENSE!??!

I once heard that small businesses employ 80% of the workforce in our country.  Who is the voice for these small businesses?  Who is the voice for the voters who fall squarely in the middle between liberal Democrat and staunch Republican?  Give me a candidate who represents those voters and they will absolutely have my vote.  Unfortunately small businesses and mainstream America can't afford to fund a campaign, so we end up with politicians funded by the big companies with highly paid lobbyists - and the result is policy and regulation that grants favors to these special interests on the backs of small business and average taxpayers. 

Last night at the Regional Transit Board of Directors meeting, our company lost the opportunity to bid on $2.5 BILLION in work on the South Sacramento Light Rail project.  Due to the actions of four Directors who controlled the majority of the votes, the $2.5 billion project will completely exclude non-union contractors.  Why would they do such a thing?  Because they are elected officials in the City of Sacramento who are beholden to the labor unions that helped fund their campaign.  Without citing any justifiable reasons for the discrimination, despite lots of testimony as to how PLAs limit competition, increase costs and discriminate against the 75% of California that is the non-union construction workforce, these Directors upheld the PLA on the South Sacramento extension.  And poof - $2.5 billion is no longer available for our company to bid or our taxpaying workers to build.  (I would like to thank the six Directors on the RT Board that understood and spoke openly about the discrimination and incredible cost of a PLA and voted against it.)

If you think it's bad at the local level, it only gets worse at the State level.  Last week, at the very end of the legislative session, the unions sponsored and got approved several horrible anti-democratic gut-and-amend bills (bills that started as something completely different and were made into pro-union bills at the last minute). 

The gut-and-amend bill that makes me the most angry is Senate Bill 922 which basically tells voters and local governments that they are too stupid to make the right decisions.  SB922 stops state funding for public projects in any city/county that bans discriminatory project labor agreements.  That's right, if a local government decides to pass a ban on PLAs so that projects are open to ALL contractors, or if voters approve a ban on PLAs in their community, they will no longer receive state funds for construction projects.  This bill was in direct response to our ballot initiative in the City and County of Sacramento to ban PLAs. Knowing that the voters would ban PLAs as they have done overwhelmingly by ballot initiative in several other cities, the unions went to the legislature, who owed them for the campaign funds, and effectively took away the democratic rights of voters and local governments in our state. This bill was passed directly down party lines - Democrats voting for it, Republicans voting against it.

Tell me, why do we have local governments or ballot initiatives by the voters if the unions can overrule them in the state legislature? 

I was accused last night at the RT Board meeting of not representing the workers, since I myself am a contractor.  Like those two things are mutually exclusive! I take considerable issue with this accusation, because in fact, I represent the 200 workers that we employ in our company that should have the right to work on government projects, the 600 some apprentices that are indentured in our non-union apprenticeship program that are excluded from working on a PLA project, and I represent the 75% of the construction industry in California that chooses not to belong to a union.  I volunteered last night to represent considerably more workers than the union lobbyist that was speaking in favor of PLAs.  

In this state, more than many others, the decks are stacked against anyone who bucks the union system. While this can make a person feel completely powerless at times, there are times when we also win our fight to expose PLAs and government waste, and the politicians make the right decision. I will continue to fight for the small businesses and the people of our community because I am passionate about doing what is best for the industry, I believe in democracy, and I believe in the power of informed voters.  And I know that as more and more voters become aware of the special interests that are currently controlling our government, we will do more to replace these beholden politicians with people who truly want to make a difference in the direction of our country. 

And that is what leads to really great movements.  That is the hope and change that I am looking for.

Cake Pops And Legos

With how busy we've been lately I did not plan very well to have a birthday party for Ben.  I know, bad parenting moment.  So this week I threw together a birthday party, inviting people at the last minute and hoping they didn't have other plans.  Luckily, a few of Ben's friends were able to join us after (and between) soccer games. 

Ben had an absolute blast in any case.  The kids spent the day swimming.  The adults spent the day hiding in the shade of an umbrella and drinking sangria.  Ben was given several different sets of Legos, which he loves, and the boys spent all evening putting them together. 

Ben originally told me he wanted a Scooby Doo / Pirate cake for his birthday.  This caused me quite a bit of anxiety because while I'm a pretty good baker, I am HORRIBLE at decorating cakes.  And there is no way I could buy an all natural Scooby Doo / Pirate cake at a store.  So I got the crazy idea to try cake pops instead, and when Ben saw a picture of them online as I searched for recipes, he was totally on board. 

They were pretty fun to make, and after several batches I finally got the hang of it and made much less of a mess.  The picture below is from my first batch, which is why the chocolate is running down the stick.  Thankfully, the pops were a hit with the kids and the adults (and with our dog Trixie who got to eat the ones that fell off the stick)!  Recipe below. . .

Thanks so much to those who were able to make it with such last minute notice, and for making Ben's Lego dreams come true! Thanks to my cousin Denise for giving me her cake pop tips.  A big GIANT thank you to my bestie Shawna for coming over early to help me get ready for the party.  And a big thank you to my other bestie Kate for helping me clean up this morning.  You girls rock! 

Cake Pops

Ingredients:

1 box cake mix, bake as directed

1 can frosting

1 bag chocolate chips, or melting chocolate

cake decorations (such as sprinkles, nuts, marshmallows, peanut butter chips, etc.)

Lollipop Sticks

Styrofoam

Directions:

Bake the cake according to the instructions.  Cool completely.  In a large bowl, completely crumble the cake.  Mix in 3/4 to 1 container of frosting, until mixture resembles play dough.  Form into golf-ball-sized balls and place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Put lollipop sticks into cake balls, freeze for 30 to 45 minutes.  Meanwhile, melt chocolate chips using double boiler.  Dip frozen cake balls into chocolate, letting excess drip off.  Add decorations and stick into Styrofoam to let set.  Place in refrigerator to help cool. 

Tips:

1.  Make sure you have your Styrofoam to let your cake pops set.  Or you could use a lot of friends to sit around and hold them while they set.  But it's hard to fit your friends in the refrigerator.   

2.  Use a little frosting or chocolate on the tip of the lollipop stick before inserting into cake ball, to help the lollipop stick stay secure. 

3. Use a little shortening to help thin the melted chocolate. 

4.  Let the melted chocolate cool a little bit before dipping the cake balls - this will help prevent the constant dripping off the stick onto the Styrofoam (like you see in my picture above!).

5.  Keep your husband and children out of the kitchen while you make these or the cake pops will disappear before you can finish the batch. 

Products I used:

To save time, I did not make my cake or frosting from scratch, but you totally could.  Instead I used these products, all found at Whole Foods, and all are all-natural. 

Cake Mix: Dr. Oteker Vanilla and Chocolate (I keep these on hand all the time, just in case.)

Frosting:  The Frosting Queens, Vanilla and Chocolate

Melting Chocolate:  Guittard Real Milk Chocolate Chips (These are AWESOME!  They blow Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips out of the water. Try them in your chocolate chip cookies.)

Decorations:  Let's Do Organic Sprinkelz, Chocolatey & Confetti; Sunspire Peanut Butter Chips 

Stage Fright

Lia told me that she doesn't like standing up and saying "Good Morning" to her teacher, Mrs. P.  Lia was also very uneasy about Share Day and wanted nothing to do with it.  These jitters caught me by surprise, because Lia appears to be anything but shy. 

On our vacation last week, Lia was the self-appointed greeter of every boat going past ours while we were docked.  To EVERY boat she would wave frantically, yell various greetings and try to elicit a response from the other boaters.  She would call out things like: 

"Hello there!  YOU, in the blue shirt!  Hello!"

"Hi everyone!  I'm saying hello to you.  If you have other friends, tell them hello, too!"

"Hey, guy with the hat on - HELLO!"

Seeing a cute little four year old yelling out greetings, generally got the response Lia was looking for, meaning people smiled and waved back. 

Walking along the sidewalk to the beach, Darrin called out to some fishermen, "What are you guys fishing for?"  They answered and Darrin said to them in passing "Well, good luck!".

After that, to the next ten groups of people we would pass, Little Miss Lia would smile, her bright blue eyes lighting up, and say "Well hello there.  Good luck today!"  and "Hi!  I hope you have good luck with your walking!".

Needless to say, this girl has no phobia of talking to people.  Which is why I was very surprised yesterday when she did NOT want to do Share Day.  But I told her I'd put her new buddy in her backpack, just in case she decided to go for it. 

And what do you know, Lia reported last night that she did Share Day, and she is not afraid of it anymore.  That's my girl!

Trade It Tuesday

This week's topic:  SOAP!

No, you can't eat soap.  Even the all natural kind.  But did you know that the artificial ingredients in mainstream soap can harm your kids as much as if they ate it?!?  Products that make contact with their skin, or get into their system via scents can cause issues for our babies.  For this reason, Feingold families switch to all natural, unscented, products when they first start the program.

The biggest things you want to switch are hair and body wash, hand soap and laundry detergent because they make direct contact with skin.  But if you clean your house when your kids are home you will also want to trade out bathroom cleaner, floor cleaner, etc.  I'll cover cleaning products in a future Trade It Tuesday post.    

I've tried a number of different products since we started Feingold, and there are some I love and some I can't stand!  Below are a number of my products of choice:

Laundry Detergent:  Use any product that is "Free and Clear".  I use Tide or All depending on what's on sale at Target.  But even Costco makes a free and clear Kirkland detergent.  This is one category (unlike food) that you don't have to pay extra for the good stuff!  I also use Bounce unscented dryer sheets.  It does take some getting used to the fact that your laundry comes out smelling like. . . .well, clothes, and not fragrance.  But trust me, these products work - even on Ben's clothes which are covered in whatever he was eating/using/touching.

I've tried many products for the dishwasher and my favorite are these Method Unscented Smarty Tabs.  They work fantastic and can be found at many different places, including Target.  

Hand soap is a big deal, and most that you find in the store have tons of artificial fragrance in them.  This soaks right into your kiddos' hands!  My favorite all natural hand soap is by Seventh Generation and again is unscented.  It is a great price and usually pretty easy to find at Target.  They also have a few all natural scented flavors, but we stick with this one below.  

Hand sanitizer was pretty difficult for me to find, and I ended up ordering it online on Amazon.  This is the product we use and I stock Ben's daycare and his classroom with a bottle (especially since he can't use the nasty pink soap in the school bathroom).

There are a number of choices these days for all natural, scented and unscented bath products.  In fact, there are so many more choices now than even a year ago when we started Feingold.  I've experimented with a few products from Toys R Us (now that they carry a whole section of baby products), Target, Henry's (Sprouts) and Whole Foods.  Below are a couple of my favorites.

California Baby can be found at Target, Toys R Us, and many other grocery stores, including Whole Foods.  

 The BabyGanics line is carried at Toys R Us and there are a ton of products, including shampoo/body wash, hand soap, bubble bath, hand sanitizer, cleaning products and more.  The price is reasonable, too.  I really like this line of products and they are cheaper than the California Baby products.  They also sell giant refill bottles to help minimize the cost.

I like the Vanilla Tangerine scent of the Nature's Baby Organics products, but I can't use tangerine on Ben (Stage 2).  I like the shampoo and conditioner for Lia's hair, however.  I find this brand at Sprouts and recently noticed that Bel Air started carrying this line as well.

There are A TON of all natural products in very mainstream stores these days.  It is very easy to find a soap product that will not harm your babies while you are cleaning them.  Soap is just one more piece of the puzzle for keeping our kiddos in a chemical free environment!