Archive for December, 2011
Dec
20
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Maggie O’Neill, McClatchy-Tribune
The grilled meat-and-cheese sandwich on the box of the Heavyweight Calphalon Panini Pan and Press looks so scrumptious that it might be a sign of the potential culinary fun you are about to have.
This 9-by-12 nonstick pan does so much more than help you make just a panini, or grilled sandwich, although if you follow any of the recipes included in the box, you’ll probably end up with something delicious. Don’t just think of melted cheese sandwiches when it comes to this panini maker. Think burgers, fish and whatever else you want. Nothing is truly off limits when it comes to the versatility of this set.
The bottom of the pan has ridges so that when you use the lid, or “press,” to add pressure on...
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Dec
19
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Lisa Pemberton, McClatchy Newspapers
December is a busy month for our family, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
In addition to attending holiday parties, school music programs and watching claymation Christmas movies, we also need to squeeze in our family’s favorite seasonal traditions. Here are a few:
CUTTING DOWN A CHRISTMAS TREE
I grew up in a timber town. My dad was a logger when I was a little girl, and my husband worked in forestry for several years. Some might say a fresh Christmas tree is as much about our family’s Northwest heritage as it is about holiday traditions.
I admit: I’m intrigued by artificial trees, which can stay up longer, are more economical in the long run and...
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Dec
19
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Marla Jo Fisher, The Orange County Register
Santa Claus is coming, and that means my kids start behaving as if they’ve been taken over by alien pods. In fact, I have to periodically run a fingerprint check to make sure they’re actually mine.
Suddenly, they’re polite, well-mannered and helpful. They smile a lot and offer to clean up their rooms without even being asked. If you’re a parent, you know this is usually a sign of impending trouble: They’re getting ready to ask you to buy them a pony or invite the entire baseball team for a sleepover.
At Christmas, of course, they just want to make sure the Big Guy will deliver.
While shopping this year, I’ve seen some chocolate “lumps of coal” that I was tempted as...
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Dec
18
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
nameberry.com
It was quite a year for celebrity baby names, but then again, you could say that for every recent year. Some stars this year mined old-fashioned sources of inspiration, while others went wild with inventions of their own. Here, the Nameberry Awards for the best, the worst, the weirdest, and the wildest celebrity baby names of 2011.
The Nelson Eddy Memorial Award goes to …
REX HARRISON, son of Niki Taylor.
Rather than being tributes to bygone stars, these seem to be lucky — or unlucky — accidents. Celine Dion appears to have inadvertently saluted stiff 1930′s operetta star Nelson Eddy with the combined names of her twin boys, while Niki Taylor (possibly unknowingly) paid tribute to Rex Harrison, the star...
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Dec
17
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Jenny Schafer, Celebritybabyscoop.com
Annabeth Gish has been entertaining audiences since the tender age of 13 in classic shows such as “The X-Files,” ‘’Mystic Pizza“ and ”Brotherhood.“ And not to mention the hit TV series, ”Pretty Little Liars.“ The 40-year-old actress’ latest role was alongside Pierce Brosnan in A&E’s four-hour miniseries, ”Bag of Bones,” based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel.
In a conference call, the mother-of-two — who plays Brosnan’s wife, Jo, in the series — opened up to Celebrity Baby Scoop about her sons Cash, 4, and 3-year-old Enzo, balancing career and motherhood, her love of the horror genre and her belief in the paranormal.
Question: Tell us about “Bag of...
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Dec
16
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Amanda Dundess, Care.com contributor
Maybe you had a baby this year. Maybe you accomplished potty training. Maybe you slept through the night for the first time in two years. Whatever you’re celebrating or hoping to leave in 2011 you suddenly have a new struggle: finding a great babysitter on this very busy night.
When Gina Linss and her husband Alex were invited to a New Year’s Eve party last year, they were pretty excited.
“It was going to be a really fun party, like the kind we used to go to before having kids,” says Linss. But then the couple realized they had a problem that they never encountered in those pre-kids days: No sitter.
“All of our babysitters had plans of their own,” says Linss. “Even my mother-in-law wanted...
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Dec
16
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
McClatchy-Tribune
“The Carpenter’s Gift: A Christmas Tale about the Rockefeller Center Tree”
By David Rubel, illustrations by Jim LaMarche
$17.99, Random House
This 48-page picture book written by David Rubel in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity, with illustrations by Jim LaMarche is set during the Depression, and features Henry, an 8-year-old boy whose out-of-work father sells Christmas trees. He gives a leftover tree to construction workers building Rockefeller Center before Henry and his dad go home to their cold and drafty one-room house. The construction workers decide to help them out and give the family a new warm home.
To mark the moment, the boy plants a pinecone and years later, the tree is selected...
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Dec
15
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Priscilla J. Dunstan, McClatchy-Tribune
I was born into a large family, and trying to make my pocket money cover gifts for 10 siblings was tricky. By using the local discount store, you can help your older children create wonderful gifts for their younger siblings, and maybe get a few ideas for “Santa.”
Tactile children love to be part of the action, and any gift that allows them to participate will delight them. The gift doesn’t even need to be a “toy” as such, but could be inexpensive household items, such as spoons, bowls, dust pan and brush sets really, anything allowing the child to help alongside you. If you’re baking a cake, your tactile child will feel joyful to help with his own measuring cups; if you’re sweeping the outside...
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Dec
15
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
McClatchy-Tribune
Powercapes is the perfect gift for your little one who has a powerful imagination as their superpower.
You can design and personalize the cape, and get accompanying masks, t-shirts and cuffs. And each custom cape for kids is less than $25. You can pick from a variety of colors, with different logos such as a lightning bolt, heart or star. You can even add in glitter for that extra POW!
Create a whole family of superheroes by coordinating costumes for everyone anyone, ages 2 and up. See all the options at www.powercapes.com....
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Dec
14
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Traci Arbios, herdingsquirrels.com
I’m operating on less than 4 hours of sleep. Whenever I close my eyes, my mind quickly fills with strained images from the day before.
The look on her face. The door closing. The quick way the words “You’ve been laid off” were uttered.
It’s unreal, the sudden public understanding that what you do — all you’ve done — for an organization are complete non-issues. The days of awards and successes are long past. Nobody there remembers those days anyway.
The cruelty simmers under the surface; I’m a number. A line on a budget. Tears well in my eyes as I think of the kids; the house; college tuitions; survival. The tissue box lays mockingly across the room, forgotten. Try as I might,...
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