We’re so excited it’s Halloween! The kids are getting together with friends, Trick or Treating and watching the World Series. It doesn’t get any better!
Have a great day with your children!

Cookie Dough Dessert

Here’s a yummy recipe that my family loves.

Ingredients:

• 2 eight ounce packages of Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese (softened)
  
• ½ cup of sugar


• 2 eggs


• 2 1/2 tsp. of vanilla


• 2 twenty ounce chocolate chip cookie dough packages (frozen for ½ hour before starting) – brand matters not – cookie dough is cookie dough!
  

Recipe:

• Preheat the oven to 350*


• Take the cookie dough out of the freezer and slice.


• Place slices on the bottom of a 9x13 dish.


• Once you have covered the bottom, add the filling on top of the cookie dough – the filling is the rest of the ingredients whipped together.


• Now take the remainder of the cookie dough and slice it - covering the top of the filling.


• Cook for 50 minutes, cool for a while and refrigerate overnight.
  
  Voila!
  
  Just pulled mine out of the oven and can’t wait until tomorrow!
  

Pulling My "Socks" Out!

I despise laundry! And what makes it worse – dirty, smelly, wet socks turned inside out and thrown in the hamper. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, “put your clothes in the mudroom and make sure your socks are turned the right way”. I’m actually sick of hearing my own voice say the same thing over and over again. When will everyone else get sick of me saying it over and over again? Putting my arm (up to the elbow) in sock after sock is driving me up the %$#*@ wall.  It’s not like I can even teach them a lesson – guess who pays the price?  That’s right! The mudroom will stink and kids will be wearing yucky socks in desperate, time-crunch times (all the time!).

I’m seriously thinking of putting a money jar on the washing machine, laying the gross socks on the floor and charging admission into the washing machine. What sounds reasonable in getting my point across? $0.50 a sock? 

I'll keep you posted on how much I collect before my children figure it out.  Maybe I'll get a night out with my savings plan and won't feel so bad about doing laundry!

Going crazy,
Neurotic Mom

Mom's Monday Morning Kickoff!

This video is only 16 seconds, so pay attention!
Watch the mama panda 12 seconds in...



You know that mama panda is thinking, cant' I eat just ONE meal in peace?!?

Kindle - Easy, Affordable & Convenient

My husband’s birthday was yesterday and he loved his gift. I bought the Amazon Kindle for him. For those of you who see something cool that someone else is using and think it’s the greatest new thing out there - only to realize that it’s been around for a while and so many people have it already – this is the perfect gift for someone or treat for yourself.

The thought of having books downloaded to a comfortable, easy to read device seems crazy. eBooks at the touch of a button. Who comes up with this and offers it to everyone on the planet? Amazon.com. Not only can you download books – but newspapers, blogs, magazines, etc. Now you are able to read a book review in a magazine or online, talk to a friend and get the name of a great book and have it in your hands in a minute. A Kindle enables you to read a segment of a particular book for free and then if you want the entire book you can download it in 60 seconds. How is this possible? What does it mean? Travelling with books at your fingertips – reading anywhere – your own personal library! The Kindle can hold 1,500 books!

For book lovers this is a great invention. For children who have forgotten a book at school but have a project, no need to worry.

Now all of my boys want their own Kindle. Sorry. We will share my husband’s until I get one of my own. It’s at the top of my Christmas list. I can’t wait! I think it’s a great gift for kids going off to college. But right now I think it would be too much for my children to have access to an on-line book store. It’s also important to me that my kids hold a book in their hands at this point. They are so enamored with technology, would it help them to read even more? Not sure about that. I am going to try to hold off a bit longer for my oldest so he appreciates holding a book a little more.

Another great feature of the Kindle is changing the font size. Those who are far-sighted can easily change the font size. Years ago, my mother-in-law had macular degeneration. She loved to read. She had a projection screen that was similar to what we had in school in the “old day’s” that projected a book . She held the book under the light and turned each page. We thought it was the greatest thing out there and it was at the time. Look how far technology has come!

The Kindle has to be one of the hottest items out there and if you're thinking of it as a present around the holidays, I wouldn’t wait.

My two cents,
NeuroticMom

BRUUUUUCE!

I had the distinct pleasure of attending my first Bruce Springsteen concert, ever, Monday night at the Philadelphia Spectrum (his 3rd night in Philly).  What a blast!  He played for over 3 hours and never showed signs of tiring.  

We bought our tickets last minute and were shocked to see that we were a mere 6 rows from the stage on the left.  Wow!  What a great venue.  I think any seat in the Spectrum is excellent... too bad it’s about to be torn down.  But I digress...

Hard to believe The Boss is sixty years old!  His voice sounded great AND, he is in amazing shape... tight black jeans, tight t-shirt - nary an ounce of fat (If you got it, flaunt it :)

He played the entire Born to Run album plus a bunch of extras and wrapped up the show with one of my faves: Rosalita!  You can see the entire playlist by clicking here.

Still Dancing in the Dark,

TechnoMom

MOM'S MONDAY MORNING KICKOFF!

Swine Flu: To Vaccinate, or Not To Vaccinate: That is the Question

I have three children.  They fit into the age group demographic of who should get the H1N1 vaccination.  They are not obese.  They are not prone to respiratory illness.  They are in excellent health.  (Am knocking on wood).

This swine flu vaccination scares me.  I’ve heard too much:  “It hasn’t been properly tested”  “It was rushed to market”   and on the flip-side: “If the strain had been detected earlier it would have been included in the ‘normal’ flu vaccine anyway”  “It is 100% effective” 

Whoa.  My head is spinning.

Do I have my children get it-- and risk a future side effect?

Do I not get it-- and risk my athletic, sports-loving boys lives??

I just read an article in The Washington Post.  This stood out to me:

About two-thirds of the deaths occurred in children who had other health problems. Ninety-two percent of those children had illnesses involving the nervous system, such as cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, and 59 percent had more than one such complication. Eight deaths, however, occurred among children older than 5 who had no high-risk medical conditions. Two of those children were obese.

That, right there?  That SCARED ME.  Because I know, in the grand scheme of things, there are millions of people who get it and don’t die.  But can you imagine?  Your otherwise healthy rambunctious child gets the flu... fever... under the weather... then hospitalization... then death??

I feel sick just thinking about it.

I won’t be lying awake at night all winter hoping that my children will avoid the swine flu.

I will rest secure in the knowledge that they are protected against it. 

I will be vaccinating my children. 

How about you?

Surviving,

TechnoMom

Raining (Blah, blah, blah......)

Most of our games are cancelled today because of the weather. Hope it’s sunny wherever you are.

We are taking the day to catch up, regroup, watch television and play a cool card game called Phase 10. Don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but it’s a lot of fun and easy. All ages seem to love it. We all love it (ages 40, 40, 15, 13 & 10).

TechnoMom and her husband introduced us to it a few years ago. We were on a trip to Mexico and played whenever it rained. We drank, laughed and were entertained for hours. The kids were home with grandparents!

It’s impossible to find a game that we all like and want to play at the same time. Let’s be honest – it never happens. But for some reason Phase 10 works. We verbally heckle each other and laugh! The kids think we’re cool, at least when we’re playing this game. In their eyes we are so not cool 95% of the time. Little victories are worth it!

I found Phase 10 at Target for under $10. Let me know if you like it.

Making Memories,

NeuroticMom

Launch Day

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