Rye Bread?

I have always had very vivid dreams.  Recently I dreamed we were packing up after one of Awsumb's little league games.  It was snowing!  He was separated from us and as I started walking around trying to find him I realized we were at my high school campus.  A moment later someone says to me, "You're the graduation speaker and you've been asked to speak on rye bread" and pushes me on stage.  While walking up to the stage I came up with this...

Apparently your high school theme this year has been 'Rye Bread.'  I don't know much about rye bread, except that I guess it's used to make Reuben sandwiches. Actually I am not even sure what makes up a Reuben, but I think it's pastrami, mustard, sauerkraut on rye bread.   I am not even sure I like Reuben sandwiches, but they always sound good.  At any typical sandwich shop you would order one,  it's probably oversized and over priced.  So it's probably best to share it with someone. 

And that's pretty much how life works.  You're not going to like everything in life.  But you might enjoy it anyway if you find someone to share it with.


Yes, I totally gave this speech in my sleep!  Woke up and thought, they that's not a bad thought...

Anyone want to split a Reuben?

2012 Brain Freeze Rally

 7-Eleven is kicking off summer early this year with

FREE SLURPEE DAY!

Wednesday, May 23rd

11am to 7pm

(at participating stores)

THE GOAL:

10 free Slurpees!

That's 71.1 ounces of Slurpee per person!

THE RULES:

Only ONE Free Slurpee per 7-11

You must get a different flavor than the one before

(but may repeat flavors over the course of the event)

You must finish your Slurpee before we get to the next 7-11

And of course, obey all traffic laws!

And that leads us to

THE CHEER:

"Suck for your lives!"

Which you will find yourself yelling

as you chase other cars loads of kids

around town trying to get the last of

the FREE Slurpees cups
before they are all gone!

Join us to see how many

FREE SLURPEES
it takes to
FREEZE YOUR BRAIN!

RESULTS:
Free Slurpee Day
was totally trumped by baseball
 as we had a game scheduled. 
So I pulled my son out of school a bit early...
2 1/2 Hours, 2 ipod playlists,
probably more in gas than it was worth,
 to get two 10 year old boys 10 Slurpees
After which they had a baseball game...
yeah, sick tummies anyone?

Click to see previous

Free Slurpee Days

 2010 and 2011

Special K Krispy Treats!

I have never really cared for Rice Krispies.  But I do like Special K and always have it in the house... so one day when I needed to take a quick treat somewhere I made these up and am now sharing my famous secret recipe with you!

Wendy's Special K Krispy Treats

Ingredients
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 package of jet puffed marshmallows (must be jet puffed!)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 cups Special K
• 1/2 package of Reese's Peanut Butter chips

1. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and vanilla, stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

2. Add Special K and Reese's Peanut Butter chips, stir until all coated and Peanut Butter chips melted.

3. Using buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly into casserole

4. Cut into squares and serve with large glass of cold milk!

5. Try not to eat the entire pan, or hide all the evidence so your family doesn't get jealous!

Optional: Drizzle with chocolate as pictured above

How do you make Rice Krispies Treats?

2011 Brain Freeze Rally

"SUCK FOR YOUR LIFE!"

Sadly, Summertime Lime was no where

 to be found on the Seattle Eastside,

but Watermelon Lime is a new favorite of mine!

Kenneth is so busy at work that he just couldn't get away from the office and missed Slurpee Day this year.  So I took Awsumb and his friend Trevor.  We hit 10 Slurpees in 2hrs 40min... by the end Awsumb's friend thought he was going to be sick!  So I didn't push it!

(I have to upload a snap of the boys off my other camera)

We spend the evening at a big Summer Baseball BBQ, but did manage to get Kenneth at least ONE FREE SLURPEE before the day was over... Although we went to a store that was out of free cups they let us fill a small!  SCORE! 

SLURPEE ART!

Awsumb and SEV!

Sev and Even!

By Awsumb and Wendy

My sister Katie was so anxious to get started

 she went just a few hours after midnight and turned up with

THE FASTEST TIME and

The MOST Free Slurpees

15 each - before sunrise!

PRIZES:

Reloadable 7-11 Gift Cards and

 INDUSTRIAL SLURPEE STRAWS!

 GROUP HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Lowe and Grant Families

We hope the rest of your summer is

WILD!

(click to read our KILLER UNO RULES)

Click to see pictures from 2010 Brain Freeze Rally

Did you get your FREE SLURPEE?  Don't forget to mark your calendars for next year!

7-11 Free Slurpee Brain Freeze Rally!

It's that time of year again! 

 Are you ready for the

THE 2011 BRAIN FREEZE RALLY?

 Each July 11th, 7-11 offers
Free 7.11 oz. Slurpee's!

THE GOAL:

10 free Slurpees!

 

That's 71.1 ounces of Slurpee per person!

WHEN:

July 11th, of course!

12:00am-12:00pm
(at participating stores,
many don't start until morning hours)

THE RULES:

Only ONE Free Slurpee per 7-11

 You must get a different flavor than the one before
(but may repeat flavors over the course of the event)

You must finish your Slurpee before we get to the next 7-11

And of course, obey all traffic laws!

 

And that leads us to

THE CHEER:

 "Suck for your lives!"

 

Which you will find yourself yelling

as you chase other cars loads of kids

 around town trying to get the last of

 the FREE Slurpees cups
before they are all gone!

 

THE PRIZES:

THE FASTEST TIME

THE MOST FREE SLURPEES

THE BEST SLURPEE CUP ART

The Person or Group who gets

THE MOST FLAVORS

(You will need photo proof of each flavor)

Alienade, Berry Blaster, Summertime Lime, Blue Lightning Blast, K23 Battle Fuel, Crystal Light Strawberry Banana, Peach Dragon Fruit, Mountain Dew White Out, Snow Fruit, Purple for the People, WICKED Apple, 5 React Fruit, Barq's Rootbeer, Goji Berry Cherry, Coca Cola, Crystal Light Peach Mango, Dr. Pepper, Fanta Banana, Fanta Blue Raspberry, Fanta Wild Cherry, Fanta Kiwi Strawberry, Fanta Orange, Pina Colada, Mountain Dew Free, Mountain Dew Blue Shock Freeze, Pepsi

Join us to see how many
FREE SLURPEES
it takes to
FREEZE YOUR BRAIN!

Click here to read about our 2010's Epic Slurpee Adventure

Click here to read about our 2011 Brain Freeze Rally

2010 BRAIN FREEZE RALLY!

7-11 Free Slurpee Day

This sounds a little crazy, but this is typical

of the silly things we like to do around our house.

Each July 11th, 7-11 offers free 7.11 oz. Slurpee's.

So we spend the evening of July 11th

driving around trying to get 10 free Slurpees.

 That's 71.1 ounces of Slurpees per person!

Gotta have a good soundtrack!

7:11 PM

It took us about 6 hours, with a break for dinner at the lake

and we went to over 21 stores
 in our area to find locations that still had
the free 7.11 ounce cups!

The rules:
You must get a different flavor each time

and you must finish your Slurpee
 before you get to the next 7-11.

Not very convenient!

 This lead to the cheer of the night,

"Suck for your lives!"

As we chased other vans full of families and teenagers

around town trying to get the last of

THE FREE Slurpees before they were all gone!

What are some crazy summer traditions you have?

Summer Cravings! Lime Cream Vanilla?

OK, it really has been a long rainy winter here in the NW and it doesn't look to end soon. Because as we all know the sun doesn't come out up here until July 5th.   After 13 years the rain and clouds are really getting to me this season and I worried I might be depressed.  Turns out I am not the only one.  It's been much colder here and apparently the weatherman has charts to prove I am not crazy! 

And so I continue on... chasing bits of blue sky in hope of feeling that sun on myself.  In the meantime, I am officially diagnosing myself with scurvy because the only thing I seem to crave lately is lime....

 All this time I thought there was nothing better than nice cold Coke and Lime!  Until one day antique shopping with my Dad we stopped at a 7-11 to let Awsumb pick out a little treat and what do I find....

SUMMERTIME LIME!  The new Lime Cream Vanilla Slurpee!  I don't even like Slurpee's but the boys do and in the summer I will occasionally get a small one.  Well, my obsession led us to a late night hunt this weekend for a 7-11 in our neighborhood that is carrying this new flavor.  And boy was it worth it!  YUM!

And you know what this means... It's will be my number one flavor on the 2011- Free Slurpee Day - Brain Freeze Rally!  That's right, mark your calendar's, it's coming up.  July 11th Free Slurpee Day at 7-11. Contest rules coming soon... (click to read about 2010's Epic Free Slurpee Run!) We hope your family will join us as we see how many free Slurpee's it's takes to freeze your brain!

SUCK FOR YOUR LIVES!

So today we stopped for lunch at Taco Time, which just happens to be the chosen restaurant in our area to debut Coke Freestyle.  Have you tried these new soda dispensers?  What's not to love about a high tech - touch screen soda machine with over 100 choices.. mix and match for unlimited combinations!

So as I am trying to convince my son to try a Lime Rickey (Sprite, Grape Syrup and Lime) it comes to me... A Lime Vanilla Diet Coke...  2/3rds Diet Coke and Lime, 1/3 Diet Coke and Vanilla!  PERFECTION!

What's your favorite soda combination?

Festivus - The Holiday Created by High Expectations

Why is my son perched on top of a stool set upon the coffee table in the living room? FESTIVUS! Or at least and anti-version of Festivus... Let me explain...

The high expectations of the holidays stressed out George's father on the popular TV show - Seinfeld, prompting him to start his own holiday called Festivus, a holiday in which you told you family members all the reasons why you were disappointed with them... and don't forget the dreaded feats of skill!

You might have figured out that I have high expectations for those around me. I leave no room for failure and expect everyone to do better than their best. While I do believe parents and teachers should hold their students and children to high expectations I realize lately I may have taken things too far.

As the school year came to a close, Awsumb's school teacher continued to remind me what a good boy Awsumb is and that he didn't need strict punishments. As all the children his age, Awsumb's big life lesson for the year was learning not to talk back. This included not arguing and simply doing what he was told, even if it didn't make sense. This also included being able to take criticism from teachers, coaches and parents without loosing his temper. During the year a few harsh punishments were dealt as Awsumb struggled to learn this life skill.

These punishments were given out of pure frustration for not being able to help Awsumb learn to deal with conflict in a better manner. Although it was comforting to know that many parents with kids this age were dealing with the same thing, we have always expected more from our son. From the time he was a baby we have expected him to behave like a mini adult. And because Awsumb is such a wonderful little boy, sometimes it's hard to remember he is just a kid.

Determined to break a chain of abuse from my own childhood I spent a lot of time during the toddler and preschool years reading about positive parenting. I could not simply do what had been done to me, because I knew years of belittling would break my child's spirit. Practicing positive parenting techniques helped me teach my child proper behavior by my own example and giving him positive feedback and even reward for his success. But as a child grows out of those days of simple parenting techniques are often set aside for bigger punishments and lectures.

This summer we have spent a lot of time working with Awsumb. Reminding him what a valuable part of our family he is and letting him know that his responsibilities and place in this house are important to us and to keep our family happy and healthy. After a particularly good week we realized Awsumb had really been showing us his true spirit. He has grown to fill the high expectations we have set for him as his kind heart and happy attitude have been on display for all to see. We are so proud of his efforts, but also realize that much of this is simply because of the positive feedback he has been feeding on, encouraging him to grown and shine more each day.

And so last night we decided to celebrate ANTI-FESTIVUS. I placed a stool on the coffee table in the living room and I asked Awsumb to climb up as Kenneth and I praised him for some of the wonderful things he did this week. We also thanked him for the fun times we shared working and playing with him. And of course our little boy just ate it up! We ended with our family cheer, "Try, Try, Try!" I think this will leave a more lasting impression on him that any punishment we could have given him for arguing and talking back.

Which brings us to...

7-11 Free Slurpee Day

2010 BRAIN FREEZE RALLY!

Click to read about our Epic Slurpee Run

What sort of positive parenting techniques do you use for your school children?

Do you celebrate any made up holidays at your house?

Twinkie Deconstructed

A while back I saw an Andy Rooney segment about the ingredients in Twinkies. One of them was the byproduct of jet fuel! (Insert video here! First one to find it wins a prize.) So when Kenneth put the book Twinkie Deconstructed on my Ipod I was excited to read it. The author decide to research the topic after his children asked him to explain the ingredients list on Twinkie package.

When it comes to Twinkies, and all process foods, shelf life is crucial. "Shelf life is the holy grail of packaged food," said Ettlinger. "In order to get shelf life, you give up something: fresh eggs, fresh cream, fresh butter…So you need to not only extend the shelf life with the product you're making but you have to replace those eggs with emulsifiers, you have to replace the butter with flavors or colors. You have to replace them with things. That's why the ingredient list starts getting long."

This book goes through the ingredient list one by one throwing out a few funny tidbits along the way. Did you know the creamy center of Twinkies used to be banana flavored? During WWI when bananas became scarce they began making the cream vanilla flavored. (Cue music: We have no bananas today.)

Do you remember that commercial from the 80's that asked kids to explain how the cream got into the center of Twinkie? My favorite was the kid that said, “It’s just born there!” I remember other kids having Twinkies in their lunches as school. But I don’t have many memories of eating Twinkies. I don't really care for that thick coated feeling they leave in your mouth. Do you wonder what that's from? This book explains it for you. Maybe I would like the banana flavored Twinkies? I prefer yellow Zingers!

Another book I recommend is Candy Freak. Kenneth and I listened to this on a road trip years ago and loved it so much we sent it to everyone as birthday gifts that year. It was especially fun to listen to on the road because we would scour gas stations through a few different states looking for specific candy bars. It is also a very interesting story about the history of Mars, Hershey, etc. Check it out!

Anatomy of a Gummy Bear

When did Gummy Bears become a food group? Since I have been a parent these 8 years I have not been able to understand the concept of Fruit Snacks? I see people regularly include these in their child's meal and count it as a "fruit" or feed them to their toddler thinking they are providing a nutritional snack.

Do they realize they are just feeding them Gummy Bears? Would they just give them a bag of Gummy Bears? I don't think so... but if Kellogg's puts it in a cute shape and calls them "Fruit Snacks" all of a suddent they are O.K.? I feel like this is just one more way our kids don't understand where our food comes from, or even what it is.

Let's compare their nutritional value. First lets start with the serving size. A bag of basic Gummy Bears claims 22, while Fruit Snacks have limited the package size to 10. So, for this comparision I cut the serving size of the Gummy Bears in half.

Gummy Bears / Fruit Snacks
Calories 75 / 80
Carbs 17g / 21g
Sugars 11g / 14g
Protein 1.5 / 0

Seems clear to me. What's the difference? At least with true gummy bears you get a bit of protein, probably from the geletin? OH, I admit I am leaving out the 100% daily dose of Vitamin C that is included in Fruit Snacks and not in Gummy Bears? It still doesn't make sense to me. Especially when Gummy Bears on high on the list of dental "No, No's" .... AND have you ever eaten a Fruit Snack? They are gross, their texture is all wrong. I am not even a candy person, but Gummy Bears are much more pleasurable. So why does every grocery store have an entire 3-4 foot Fruit Snack display?

Have I ever purchased Fruit Snacks? Yes, to go along with a party theme as a treat! Join me and next time buy GUMMY BEARS instead!

Just a rant I have been dying to share since he was first served Fruit Snacks in his Church Nursery Class. And I was reminded of this when I served my son some Haribo Gummy Frogs as a treat during his living room camp out today!

To see more fun work by Jason Freeny click here...

OCD Conundrum

As my son would say, "It's a TRUE KNOWN FACT that..." there is an average of eight spider legs in every candy bar.

Yes, it must be a true fact because I heard it on TV the other day. Well, I of course, cannot stop thinking about this. What I want to know is where are all the bodies? Is there a serial spider killer out there somewhere... hiding the evidence in candy bars? And if so, where does he hide the bodies? Or even worse - if one spider has eight legs, does that mean there is a WHOLE SPIDER in every candy bar?

For some reason I can stomach thinking about eating spider legs (for the record- I haven't eaten a candy bar since I heard this) but eating a spider body! YUCKY!!

My mind just keeps going around and around on this issue. I just can't stop thinking about it. But, what's worse is that it pops up at the wrong times... for instance, just as I am about to drift off to sleep I think about a snickers bar and those eight little spider legs hidden amongst the peanuts and all that caramely goodness. Then I start thinking about spiders crawling around the chocolate bar factory, then about the ones living out on the deck, then about the ones living in our walls, then I am convinced I feel one on my leg! Then I throw off the covers and wake Kenneth up. But, mostly I am terrified of dreaming of spiders.

Sweet Dreams...