Suburban Bliss:: Birth Control Via The Written Word

Did They Eat It: Simply Potatoes® Mexican Corn & Potatoes

This post is sponsored by Simply Potatoes.

I try to make a meatless meal each Monday. The kids like to moan and groan about this forgetting of course that pasta is meatless, as are pancakes and half the things they both like to eat. 

I've come to enjoy the faux whining about having a meatless meal. 

This is a dish I've made before but I've since adjusted it enough to feel confident to call it my own recipe. 

You'll need a bag of Simply Potatoes Diced Potatoes with Onion. I tried to hide the bag before anyone saw the onion included, but truly the onion adds so much flavor I was happy I was "forced" to buy it with onion already included. Guilt free!

You also need a 14.5 ounce can of black beans (drained) and 10 ounces of frozen corn (thawed). I really like the Fire Roasted Frozen Corn from Trader Joe's. Highly reccomended. 

 

 

Place the corn and black beans in a large-ish microwaveable casserole, mounding the beans and corn to the center.

 

In another bowl place your diced potatoes and a half teaspoon (more or less depending on your love of spicy foods) of chili powder. I've mentioned before I often have a weird reaction to potatoes. Not eating them, thank God, but when I wash them and touch my face at all, I end up with a crazy allergic-like reaction. This makes dinner less than pleasant. Of course it's lovely to do nothing more than tear open a package and dump it in rather than spend 10-15 minutes scrubbing and cutting potatoes while avoiding touching my face. If you're Logan you roll your eyes here because how hard is it really to not touch your face for 10-15 minutes. I answer that YOU'D BE SURPRISED. 

 

I used Chipotle Chili Powder because I had it on hand, (there it is, in my hand) but regular chili powder works just as well. 

 

Place the potatoes around the outer edge of the dish, leaving the majority of the corn and beans in the middle.

 

Cover the whole thing with salsa and place in the microwave covered with plastic wrap. Lift the corner to allow the dish to vent while it's cooking. It takes between 10-12 minutes to cook, put shredded cheese on top and melt it in the microwave for a minute or two. 

Serve. Sit back. Watch to see what happens next!

Did They Eat It? 

Logan: I always like this dish, and the onions were not that offensive though I mentioned I was concerned. 
Max: Uh huh, uh huh, keep it coming. 
Maddie: I will eat any of the potatoes and the beans and the corn you didn't get cheese on. (*But Maddie, you like grilled cheese sandwiches! And Pizza? Why do you forsake this cheese.*) Sorry, not eating it!
Me: I love this dish. It's filling, tastes good and is actually very inexpensive to make. I had it on the table in under 20 minutes. I highly recommend playing around with the type of salsa you use, I think the right salsa adds a lot of flavor to the dish. 

RECIPE:

Mexican Potatoes Corn & Black Beans

1 Package Simply Potatoes diced potatoes with onion
1 14.5oz can black beans (rinsed)
10 ounces frozen corn (I prefer fire roasted corn from Trader Joes) (thawed)
1/2 tsp chili powder 
1-2 cups salsa of your choice
2-3 cups shredded cheese (cheddar or a taco mix is very good)

Mix the black beans and corn together, place in a large microwavable casserole dish mounding to the middle of the dish. 
In another bowl mix together the chili powder and potatoes. Place around the edge of the dish.
Cover entire dish with salsa.
Cover dish with plastic wrap, venting the corner. Cook on high for 10-15 minutes. Turning dish once halfway through the cooktime.
Remove dish from microwave and add cheese. Put back in microwave for 2-3 minutes to melt cheese.

Serve!  

GIVEAWAY!

Simply Potatoes is giving away free product to two commenters on this post! To enter, please leave a comment. One entry per person, comments close Friday 4/8/11 and two winners will be chosen at random. 
Thank you Simply Potatoes!

The winners of the first Simply Potatoes Giveaway were Robin and Meghan. Congrats!

*Comments are now closed, winners announced soon!

Did They Eat It: Simply Potatoes® Irish Boxty

This post is sponsored by Simply Potatoes.

I've had Boxty, a sort of Irish potato pancake, at various local pubs. There are many different versions, some more like a pancake, others a little more crepe-like stuffed with beef or vegetables. I went with a rather simplified version knowing Max and I at least would like it as we're both big latke fans.

Also, I felt a little bound by my Irish heritage to make this dish given this folk rhyme.

Boxty on the griddle,
boxty on the pan,
If you can't bake boxty
sure you'll never get a man.

I don't know how I managed to get a man without making Boxty, perhaps because he's mostly Italian and French. Here's the recipe I used from the Simply Potatoes website.

First you're going to take a couple slices of bacon, chop it up into smallish pieces and cook it up. I used 4 or 5 pieces because we're a very naughty family that really enjoys bacon. Of course we just found out Logan has a moderately high cholesterol level...oops!*

*Don't ask him about his cholesterol level because it makes him really angry. Secretly he's livid I don't have high cholesterol since I barely pay attention to what I eat and think running is for chumps.

You're also supposed to have 1/4 cup finely chopped green onions sauteing with your bacon but as we all know that's not going to fly in this house.

Next you need 1 cup of Simply Potatoes mashed potatoes and 1 cup of Simply Potatoes shredded potatoes. Because I have a very unreliable food processer, I typically have to shred potatoes by hand. Shredding potatoes by hand is troublesome because my potatoes usually come with a side of my skin mixed in. 

I also find drying my potato shreds an enormous waste of paper towels and my patience.

But look! None of my skin, blood or excess water. (Not pictured: me not cursing my potatoes.) 

Mix one cup of mashed potatoes and one cup of shredded potatoes together in a bowl, then add a bit of cheese.

Add a cup of all-purpose baking mix

Then add milk and an egg...and mix until just combined. 

Now fold in your bacon and here's what you've got...a pretty lumpy mix. 

I used the same cast iron pan I cooked the bacon in, but wiped out the pan to remove any burned bits. I didn't need any reserved bacon grease because I have a very well seasoned cast iron pan I inherited from a chef friend. 

Drop 1/4 cupfuls of the batter into your heated pan and flatten into a nice disk. 

I highly recommend inheriting a well seasoned cast iron pan from a chef friend if you can. Look at these perfectly browned lovelies after about two minutes on one side. Just make sure your pan doesn't get too hot, because the middle of your boxty won't cook quite right.   

You can find the whole recipe here.

Did They Eat It?

Logan: Like a savory breakfast for dinner, excellent! Also, please don't write about my cholesterol. [oops]
Max: "So it's like an Irish Latke? And it has bacon? And it's a pancake? I'm sorry, why wouldn't I like this?"
Maddie: "I'm pretty hungry and my middle name is McGuire, okay I'll eat it. But don't even try to tell me that stupid rhyme* to make me eat it."
Melissa: It's breakfast for dinner, all in one pan. I ate mine with a bit of sour cream and it was sublime. I'm not sure how my family lives without sour cream as a part of their experience. Well, that and onions but alas...they seem fullfilled.

*The other version, Maddie's a feminist: [EDITED! Sorry!)
Boxty on the griddle,
boxty on the pan,
If you don't eat boxty,
You'll never get a man. 

GIVEAWAY!

Simply Potatoes is giving away free product to two commenters on this post! To enter, please leave a comment. One entry per person, comments close Friday 4/1/11 and two winners will be chosen at random. 
Thank you Simply Potatoes!

Let's Panic About Babies: A Winner!

We have a winner! After removing all duplicate comments, sorry everyone, it looks like Typepad had its period yesterday, I had 133 comments to pick from. 

Random.Org picked, Jana! Commenter #47! Watch your email Jana, I'll be in touch. 

Yesterday Eden and Alice let me know they have an additional book to giveaway with a bonus. You're going to love that bonus, and the story I'm going to tell you to lead into that bonus. I'll be doing that giveaway on Friday, so stay tuned. 

In the meantime, I'm working on some new "Did They Eat It?"s...including one...a miracle. EVERYONE ate it and it wasn't something lame like chicken nuggets. 

This is a post full of suspense isn't it? Sorry! Tomorrow For Sure. 

Let's Panic About Babies: Giveaway! [Update]WINNER!

Surely you've heard my friends Alice of Finslippy and Eden of Fussy got together and wrote a book. The book is called Let's Panic About Babies and as the mother of two former babies I can tell you it's important to panic about them. Otherwise you're unprepared for the lasers that will shoot out of their eyes and liquify your brain.

The book is officially released today (!!!) so you need to pick one up immediately. Having read it myself I can tell you two things: if you're knocked up...you are in so much trouble and if you like witty, sarcastic writing (think The Onion), you'll love this book.

Unfamiliar with the Let's Panic style? Check out their website to be dazzled. 

Win It! St Martin's press has graciously given me a copy of this book to read and another to give away. Wonderful! 

Please leave a comment (with email address!) below to be entered to win (one entry per person). I'll choose a winner tomorrow and one of you will be the lucky recipient of hilarity...and knowledge, babies are serious business.

 

[Update: We have a winner! Thank you everyone! I get to do another giveaway though! Watch!]

Sponsored Post & Giveaway: Streamlining

Thanks to Windows Phone 7 for sponsoring this post. See the end of the post for details on a Windows Phone 7 giveaway.

Windows invited me to participate in their campaign about doing more with less. 

This is a theme close to my heart because I hate excess, especially excessive stuff. Just ask my husband, who owns 5 different pairs of running shoes I beg him to filter through and purge daily. Five. He only has two legs. 

Ask my son who's been known to inventory his room before heading out to school lest I dispose of the tiny bits of crap, er, treasures he collects. Bottle Cap collection? Check! 

Ask my daughter, in the throes of tween-hood and madly passionately in love with hoodie sweatshirts. She has no less than 9 and seeing her dresser overflowing with hoodies, makes me feel anxious. I realize that's an illness, however, who needs NINE of anything?

In the past couple of years we've downsized almost everything in our lives. I mean, aside from bottle caps, hoodies and running shoes. We moved to a smaller house, we shed a car (along with the payment and insurance) and we've ended up completely debt free. Except for my student loans....for the degree that I'm not even using. We'll pay that off too, maybe when it's time to start paying for our kid's educations.

Moving twice in 4 years means I've been able to keep excessive stuff (aside form the aforementioned stuff) to a minimum. Our first move started with an enormous purge of stuff, I tell all my friends the best way to clear clutter out of your house is face paying someone to move it. I used to see my basement as a storage container. Now I see it as a big bunch of stuff I'm going to have to move eventually, makes it exceedingly easy to keep the clutter to a minimum.

I also decided last year I don't like paying bills. Frankly, I don't even like to think about what I'm paying to various service providers, it makes me anxious. Yes I realize our financial planner just died reading that, he can take over my bill paying if he'd like. I set up everything, except our rent, to be paid automatically and billed online so I have no paperwork coming in. At one point the cable company stopped taking their money due to a banking snafu and I'll be honest, when the cable was turned off I had no idea and was stunned to hear my bill was past due, "But I told you to take the money?" 

Apparently that doesn't count. 

Do you want a Windows Phone 7? Of course you do, and you don't even have to view my nostrils to get it! Leave a comment (25 words or more) below telling me about the most cluttered part of your life, make sure to include your contact information.

This giveaway is brought to you by the new Windows Phone 7. Less MIA. More PTA: Learn more about Windows Phone online and see it in person at local T-Mobile stores today. 

Read the official eligibility requirements and contest rules before you enter. Important highlights: The contest is only open to residents of the United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. There are over 50 other sites participating, so you can enter there as well. Good luck!

 

Sponsored Post & Giveaway: "First!"

This post is brought to you by Quilted Northern Soft & Strong®.

I just recorded this video while Lucy paced the floor behind me. Lucy thinks I'm talking to myself when I speak at all when we're home alone and Lucy doesn't like crazy people who talk to themselves. 

 

PS: You guys are so nice to me, will you come live in my bathroom and tell me I'm funny and cute each morning? Thanks!

PPS: Don't come live in my bathroom. Too weird. 

GIVEAWAY!    

Make your own video, tell a story, or leave a comment in the comments section below, and you could win a year’s worth of toilet paper from Quilted Northern, plus a $50 Visa Gift Card. 

Please join the conversation at www.facebook.com/QuiltedNorthern, on Twitter @QuiltedNorthern or YouTube at www.youtube.com/QuiltedNorthernTV and help make the taboo talkable.

UPDATE!

Winner!
SarahL who shared her family's euphemism for...uh...#2. "I'm going to let go of the past!" This has quickly worked its way into the Summers' Family Lexicon. Hilarious.

Thanks everyone!

Sponsored Post & Giveaway: "I'm Done!: A Tale Of Bathroom Terrorism"

This post is brought to you by Quilted Northern Soft & Strong®.

A video post! How novel, now you can see my teeth, my temporary teeth made of gum and also the dark recesses of my nostrils (sorry!).

This video is about my son and his resistance to wiping his own butt. I still have nightmares and the soundtrack is "I'M DOOOOOOONNNNNNE!" (*At one point in the video I notice it looks like my underarm is wet and I touch it to check. JSYK, it wasn't wet, just a symptom of a webcam distortion.)

 

GIVEAWAY!    

Make your own video, tell a story, or leave a comment in the comments section below, and you could win a year’s worth of toilet paper from Quilted Northern, plus a $50 Visa Gift Card. 

Please join the conversation at www.facebook.com/QuiltedNorthern, on Twitter @QuiltedNorthern or YouTube at www.youtube.com/QuiltedNorthernTV and help make the taboo talkable.

 Update: See the winner here!

The Dog Park!

We took Lucy to the Dog Park tonight. I'll admit I've been known to go to dog related events even when I didn't have a dog simply because watching dogs have SO MUCH FUN makes it impossible to remain unhappy. I think everyone should just sit around watching dogs having fun at least for the rest of the month of April. 

Luckily now I do have a dog so on a Monday night I can take my dog to the dog park. At the dog park I can watch her run around and have a great time sniffing butts. Without a dog that would be deemed, you know, a little odd. Now I can watch dogs sniffing each other's butts all I want. 

No really ALL I want.

But the butt sniffing at the dog park isn't really the part I love.

It's not even really the chasing either. Although she's pretty agile to watch.

And it's not watching Lucy make new friends, tentatively.

Sometimes, really tentatively. 

It's not even watching Lucy run around with my little boy, though that's a pretty lovable part.

No, the best part is watching my dog so happy. 

Watching her running around the park with so much joy makes me think of the first time I pushed my kids on the swings, their shrieks of laughter and pure joy at this new experience. 

Lucy at the dog park is pure joy. I'm glad I had kids first because if I hadn't had kids people might say, "Oh dogs are nothing, just wait until you have kids."

It's true raising a pup is a lot less complicated than raising kids. Lucy can grow up and still be a good being without ever flossing her teeth. Still, it's fun to relive those intense moments of simple happiness again with our dog. Without another college education to pay for. 

The other really great thing about the dog park? 

Exhaustion.

This post is part of our It’s Good To Give series, which is sponsored by Milk-Bone.  Check out their Canine Assistants program, which helps people with disabilities and get involved by sharing photos of your own dog on the Milk-Bone Flickr stream.

Bike Rides With Lucy

It's been pretty dog heavy around here recently. Well, if we're being honest it's been a pretty dog-heavy year. 

Lucy is getting a lot more comfortable with us. She's acting like a puppy a lot more often and is absolutely dying to wrestle with Socks the cat. I'm constantly looking for ways to wear her out because I sort of want to kill her if she isn't worn out. 

I mean I still love her, just look at her, but she gets pretty annoying when she's bored.

Logan has taken her out for 1 or 2 runs, apparently his runs are very specialized and can't include dogs for the most part. However, she loves running. I like to think of half our walks as runs without the actual running. Her whole body strains to go faster. 

I read about the Walky Dog bike leash and told Logan I'd get it for him to put on his bike. That way he could incorporate the dog into his hobby! He took to this idea like he took to the idea of getting a bike trailer or a jogging stroller so the kids could join him while he pursued his hobby. Logan's hobbies though are very important however so he poo-pooed my idea.

Taking Lucy for 3-4 walks a day is you know nice but not great for time management and since I'm never going to be a runner I decided to get the bike leash for myself. I asked Twitter if they had any feedback about this particular gadget and no one did. But Scott from The Dog Outdoors chimed in offering to send us one to try.

Internet, you're pretty okay. Even though sometimes you call me a fat drunk who doesn't love my kids. Maybe you were just having your period.

The installation process was super simple, just a doo-hickey around the bike seat pole that allows the straight bar to be easily attached and removed as needed. Inside that bar are springs which absorb any pulling the dog may do. 

Lucy, God love her, believes she would like to eat your dog's face when she is on a leash. Once off a leash she just wants to play. So when we see a dog and she's on a leash she pulls pretty hard. She's only 40 pounds so it's not too difficult to control. 

However, if I was holding a leash and trying to balance on a bike I would easily be pulled over. The springs absorb the pulling a great deal and also act as a self corrector. 

I also like it because the bar is totally neutral. I'm constantly being told that my fear is being transferred through the leash because I'm afraid Lucy is going to eat another dog's face off. But she reacts exactly the same to other dogs with the emotionally neutral Walky Dog leash as she does with my anxious leash. 

The only time we had any trouble with the Walky Dog was when Logan tried to take a picture. You can see how troubling that is for Lucy above. She sort of jerked backwards and yanked the (not attached tightly enough) bar backwards throwing herself on the ground behind the wheel. So that was nice. Cameras are TERRIFYING.

Lucy is a lot like me in many ways. She's slow to warm up around people, doesn't like cameras, she doesn't particularly like being handled by strangers, and she hates the phone. However, she likes running and no matter how fast I go I can't seem to wear her out. Running as fast as you can for an extended period of time is against my Personal Mission Statement (except if something predatory is chasing you).

I'm so happy to help her get some of her energy out while not having to take up running. (Something I briefly debated.)

Next up, Dog Park!

Thank you Scott and The Dog Outdoors for our new Dog Wearer-Outer!

Warm, Fuzzy & Always Right.

When I put my mind to something, it usually gets done.

For example a few years ago I said to Logan, "This house has sucked our will to live long enough. We are going to sell it."

Oh he balked at the idea, "There's too much work to do!" "The market is terrible! Nothing's selling!"

But I ripped wall paper off walls, burning my hands in the process, I peed in a port-a-john on the driveway and showered at the Y, I painted miles and miles of trim.......and in the end we sold the house.

I've wanted a dog for a long time, at least as long as Maddie has, but I knew dogs were a lot of work so I would sort of throw the idea around in my head and then remember that I could barely handle the two kids I have.

Except finally this winter the idea came into my head and I realized everything sort of fit. It was time to get a dog.

The only problem was Logan.

Logan's reasons for not getting a dog at this time were as follows:

1) The cost.
2) The cats might not like a dog.
3) It will be hard.
4) He is a mean, cold person who is dead inside*

*I made that one up.

What Logan forgot though is how persuasive I am once I get a bee in my bonnet. So over the next seven days I waged a campaign to break down his defenses in regards to a dog.

My friend Alice found Lucy (then Princess Mia) on Petfinder.com when I threatened to just come and take her dog Charlie.

Finding Princess Mia upped my passionate pursuit of a dog for our family. She kind of caught my attention quickly. I can't explain exactly why, other than I am an obsessive person and she just looked like the kind of dog I could picture in our lives.

I systematically broke down each of Logan's points for not getting a dog.

We promised Maddie she would have a dog at some point in her childhood. We didn't say, "But only if it's not hard."

The cats were an unknown of course and I have to tell you cats who urinate in the house are a deal breaker for me so if they freaked, I knew I'd have trouble. I researched introducing dogs to resident cats and shared numerous links with Logan who, I suspect, didn't read a single word.

As for the cost of dog ownership, I admitted our budget is often quite slim with little wiggle room. However just the month before Logan's company gave back the 10% pay cut he'd gotten about a year earlier. Not that a dog costs 10% of our income to own, but I'd had getting the housekeepers back in our lives at the top of my ToDo list once we got our pay back. I agreed, to get a dog, I would forgo the housekeepers. I figured dogs can help clean. So far, this hasn't been the case.

Things got a little tense at certain points in the dog convincing process, mostly because I told the kids I was thinking it was time to get a dog and this resulted in Logan feeling "ganged up on".

To this point I countered, "Well hop on board Team Dog!"
(He wasn't amused.)

By that weekend Logan had agreed to visit Princess Mia/Lucy at an adoption event. I thought he'd melt at the sight of her, but he didn't. He was lukewarm at best.

However, he did agree to take her on for a "trial run" for a couple of weeks.

Two weeks later we adopted her officially and he still "Didn't Want A Dog"
Here he is not wanting the crap out of that dog:

(He is not breastfeeding the dog, but man, it looks like it.)

We've had Lucy for just over two months now and we're all pretty enamored with her. She's the perfect dog for our family at the perfect time.

The other day Logan said, while holding Lucy in his arms like a baby, "How did you know this was the right dog for us?"

And I said, "Well, it's just that I'm always right."

This post is part of our It’s Good To Give series, which is sponsored by Milk-Bone.  Check out their Canine Assistants program, which helps people with disabilities and get involved by sharing photos of your own dog on the Milk-Bone Flickr stream.

Giveaway Update + New Giveaway!

Elizabeth was the winner of the Custom Toy Portrait giveaway I had a few weeks ago. Here's what Jennifer came up with. It's cute, you should definitely get your own. Thanks for the giveaway Jennifer!

I got an email yesterday inviting Maddie and I to a Mother-Daughter event next week. And unlike a lot of the events we get invited to, this one was actually in my area so I may possibly be able to attend. How novel. Also it isn't a tea party where Maddie and I have to wear matching Laura Ashley sailor dresses so I'm even more pleased.

Here's the event information:

Rosalind Wiseman – the best-selling author of Queen Bees & Wannabes, the basis for the hit movie Mean Girls – will be in town hosting a workshop filled with mother-daughter bonding, but also an interactive discussion about confidence, friendships and how to navigate those sweat-inducing “moments”. She will also be signing copies of her books, which you and your daughter will receive at the event.
Rosalind Wiseman’s Girl World Tour is presented by Dove go fresh
Date:                  Thursday, March 4
Time:                  7-9 p.m.
Location:           Hillsdale Middle School (in Northville)
Tickets:              $40 per mother-daughter pair
Event Details:  http://rosalindwiseman.com/events/girl-world-tour/

So far Maddie as a tween hasn't been all that different than Maddie as a Preschooler, she's always been a bit....moody. But now that we're in middle school I find myself cringing waiting for the day there's a frenemy or a mean boy or a broken heart. This will be good bonding for my girl and me.

Dove has given me a pair of tickets for this event (including copies of Wiseman's books), one parent, one daughter, to give away. If you're in the area (the event is in Northville, MI) and have a daughter between 8 & 14 years old, leave a comment for a chance to win.

I'll close comments on Monday at noon (ET) and choose a winner at random later that day.

Hope to see you there! Maddie and I will be in our matching sailor dresses. You can't miss us.

UPDATE:

We had 9 giveaway entries, and the random winner is:

 

Number 8!

Karen says, "ME ME ME! I have four children. My youngest child is my only daughter. I need this! She's 10 going on 17!"

I'll be in touch Karen, congrats!

And the Winner Is

Wow, I loved hearing all your creative names for your lovies!

So the winner of the Custom Toy Portrait by Jennifer Maher is:

Comment #130, which belongs to Elizabeth. I will be in touch with the information you need!

Thanks everyone for entering!

Custom Toy Portrait Giveaway.

My mom's brother has never been married or had kids, he's that bachelor uncle people have. You wouldn't expect him to know what kids want for Christmas but some of my favorite presents came from him growing up. How did he know that Bennetton rugbys were what all the cool kids were wearing that year?

This year my uncle brought a remote control car Max hasn't stopped playing with and for Maddie some t shirts from a store I would never buy t shirts from because you can get a t-shirt from Target for a lot less. (See this is why you need an uncle.)

Maddie got this bear from my Uncle for Christmas when she was two. She has loved Teddy from the minute she got him. He's a cranberry red with a white silky ribbon. She's always put her index finger into the loop of his bow tie and while sucking her finger rubbed up and down in that little loop.

What's amusing about this is I also sucked my index finger until I was in 1st grade and I used my cotton baby blanket the exact same way. I'd make a small loop and run my other index finger up and down the soft loop.

It sounds a little silly but seriously try it, I totally get why I loved that.

I love Teddy and I love that Maddie has loved him for almost all of her life.

A few months ago I came across Jennifer Maher's custom toy portraits and she made one of Choppable for us. Here he is in our home. 

We put him in the bathroom to scare our guests, but suprisingly hardly anyone says anything about it.This is the view from the toilet (don't worry the lid was down.) Isn't that terrifying?

But I guess everyone just wants to be polite.

I had been meaning to order a real portrait of Teddy so Maddie will have a piece of artwork for the rest of forever. Jennifer contacted me a couple weeks ago and suggested I do a giveaway for my readers and in exchange she sent me this!

We all win! But if you win you'll win an 8x10 custom toy portrait, valued at $100.

To enter the contest leave a comment below. Comments will close on Thursday 2/4 at midnight. I'll choose a winner randomly from all the entries. (Duplicate comments will be deleted!)

Shutterfly Contest Winner!

Whoa, it's Monday but with the kids out of school and Logan off of work, I feel like it's Sunday.

Many apologies for the delay getting the contest winner announced. 61 of you made books and they were all awesome. Logan even made one for his parents, but I didn't enter that into the contest.

 

#12 was Jessica O with her book of her little guy.

Jessica, email me at melissa.summers@gmail.com to collect your prize.
Thank you to Shutterfly for sponsoring Suburban Bliss and to all of you for entering to win!

Shutterfly Photobook Ideas:

I'm giving away a Shutterfly prize package, as you may recall.

I created a book of pictures to give as a thank you for letting us stay at a friend of a friend's cabin.

To enter this contest you need to create a photo book and share it with me. You don't need to buy your book, you just need to create one and show me. Maybe I'll order it. Which would be super awkward you know trying to explain to my friends why I have a photobook full of people I don't really know on my coffee table.

I thought I'd share some photo book ideas with you as inspiration for your own creations.

Jim at Sweet Juniper has made lots of books for his kids because, you know, he's like that. Here are two he created for Shutterfly.

This one's a Greek Mythology Alphabet

Here's his latest contest, about food! Enter this one and maybe you can win TWO prizes!

Maggie Mason at Mighty Girl made this great book about Hank's Feelings. I wish I'd done this when my kids were little, at this point my book would be full of "Maddie Is Feeling Annoyed By Her Mother's Existence." Enh, you know, she's always been that way.

Liz at Say Yes To Hobeken created this book of words for her little guy, also named Hank. Apparently it's a law to name your kid Hank if you live in San Francisco.

Kristen Chase at Cool Mom Picks made this book for her husband returning from a military deployment. I love this one because it shows how you can use scans of your kid's artwork and incorporate them into a  book.

 

Party Perfect is one of my favorite blogs. If you're someone who gets party invitations from me, please don't go to that site. I copy her parties, you'll be disappointed. She made her own word book and it is an amazing use of this program.

Go! Create! Then Share It at my share site to enter the contest (password is goober if you need it) You know you've been meaning to do this.

Shutterfly Giveaway!

As part of a media buy on this site, Shutterfly asked me to make a photo book using their incredibly easy photo book creator.

I decided to collect pictures from our trip up north in October, to put in a book for the owners of the cabin we stayed at. They live in Arizona and don't get up to the cabin as often as they'd like. We thought a book of pictures of the cabin i full autumn glory would be a nice treat for them while they lay by their pool in the winter and laugh at us suckers who still live in Michigan.

Since Logan and I like taking pictures we made it our goal to spend our trip taking pictures, reading, and having sex.

Which I know is an awkward thing to bring up, but come on we're all grown ups. No, what's awkward is seeing the couple who own the cabin at a party a few years ago and gushing about their magical cabin. How calming and relaxing it is. Then mentioning, "Hey! We conceived our second kid at the cabin."

Just so you know, it's considered socially awkward to tell people, "I had sex in your bed."

Live and learn. They let us go back so I guess they didn't mind that much.

We collected our favorite shots, deleted the ones of Logan peeing in the woods, and came up with a collection of pictures that capture the cabin and the surrounding area very well. You can see the entire book here, but here are some of my favorite pages.

 

 

I'd like to say I designed these pages, but I didn't. I just picked a layout and stuck the pictures where I wanted them. 

I think our book will make a memorable thank you gift, and if we're lucky it will secure us a few more visits to the cabin. If I promise not to mention my marital relations.

You should definitely make your own book. 

Here's what's included in this Shutterfly Prize Package:

2 7x9 photo books
25 greeting cards
25 stationary cards
1 calendar

Here's how to enter:

Go to this page at Shutterfly and create your own photo book. After you've created a book, share it at my Shutterfly Share Site (click the "Add" tab in the upper right hand corner).

[Edited To Add: Password, if you need it, is 'goober']

CONTEST EXTENDED!

You have until 12:00am (EST) on Monday, December 21st, 2009 to share your photobook at my Share Site. The contest winner will be chosen at random from those entries and announced by 2pm (EST) on December 21st, 2009.

Good Luck!

Sandisk Slot Radio Giveaway: Winner #3

And the number is:

 

I hate when the Randomerator picks a higher number because then I sit there and count each one because my comments are unfortunately not numbered. Last time the winner was number 20-or-something. Much easier.

Our winner is Amanda! Well Amanda #2....

 

Congrats Amanda and I'll be in touch.

Thanks again to Sandisk for sponsoring this giveaway!

Sandisk Slot Radio Giveaway #3

All right kids, it's time for the final Sandisk Slot Radio Giveaway. You remember Slot Radio don't you? Let's refresh.

The slotRadio™ player is a small, stylish, portable music device that comes bundled with a slotRadio™ card preloaded with 1,000 handpicked songs featuring artists from Billboard®'s charts, and professionally arranged into a variety of genre-themed playlists.

The die-cast aluminum player also features a 1.5” OLED screen for viewing artist and song information, a FM radio and even an integrated, handy belt clip for hands-free listening.

Additional 1,000 song, genre-specific and themed slotRadio™ cards. Digital music has never been this easy – just feast your ears!

For this giveaway tell me the best concert you ever attended. Your comment is your entry, here are the rules.

Here's mine:

We saw Belly and Radiohead as one of our early dates. I'm not sure it was the music that gave me a tingly happy feeling (since I'm not much of a music person) or the anticipation of Logan kissing me. But either way it was the best concert I've been to.

You can enter until 12am EST Friday August 14. The winner will be selected randomly from the entries and announced later that day.

Thank you to San Disk for sponsoring this giveaway!

....and the winner is me. And Buffy.

Oh hey. I'm just sitting around on Vieques having my mind blown over and over and over.

I'm lifting my head out of my Midwestern Mouth Gaping (Lizards? Bats!?) to announce the winner of the Sandisk Slot Radio contest.

The winner is #37 Buffy!

Hooray! I will have your radio in the mail just as soon as I get home.

When they drag me off this island by my hair kicking and screaming.

Sandisk Slot Radio Giveaway #2

Remember last month when you told me all about your dads? It's time for my second Sandisk Slot Radio Giveaway.

The slotRadio™ player is a small, stylish, portable music device that comes bundled with a slotRadio™ card preloaded with 1,000 handpicked songs featuring artists from Billboard®'s charts, and professionally arranged into a variety of genre-themed playlists.

The die-cast aluminum player also features a 1.5” OLED screen for viewing artist and song information, a FM radio and even an integrated, handy belt clip for hands-free listening.

Additional 1,000 song, genre-specific and themed slotRadio™ cards. Digital music has never been this easy – just feast your ears!

"Feast your ears...." nom nom nom nom.

For this giveaway I'd like you to tell me about your summer travel plans in order to enter and since Summer Travel doesn't rub any salt in the wounds of my tragic childhood, I thought I'd share my plans with you.

This summer we have some budget savvy travel plans, like most everyone. Right now I'm in Puerto Rico with Maggie Mason checking off an item on her Mighty Life List. (Thank you frequent flyer miles!) Logan is heading up north to a friend's parent's place for a guy's weekend where he will mostly eat his favorite wings at Peegeo's and play video games. 

As a family we're heading up to the cabin of a friend where we've been going, well since I was 15 and babysitting for my pseudo-family. It's up north on Grand Traverse Bay and one of my favorite places on earth.

We're going camping with a bunch of families from our elementary school in August. We did this trip last year and survived, in spite of the rain. PS: Rain ruins camping. I am hoping against hope that rain will not be a part of our trip this year.

We're also going to stay up with our friend's Tom and Leslie at their parents place up north. The place we stayed last year and were nearly mauled by a bear. Not really but if that bear figured out how to open the door and climb the stairs and find us, then we would have been mauled. It was a close call!

Tell me your summer vacation plans, even if you're staying close to home. Your comment is your entry, here are the rules.

You can enter until 12am EST Friday July 10. The winner will be selected randomly from the entries and announced later that day.

Thank you to San Disk for sponsoring this giveaway!

Evaporated Milk

As part of a media buy on Suburban Bliss, The American Cancer Society asked me to write about one of the ways cancer has affected my life. Unfortunately cancer has come into my life in many ways, but this one seemed most fun to write about.

Growing up, my mother had this habit of buying the same thing over and over. Sometimes that item was a loaf of bread. Every time she drove past the market she'd have to run in and grab a loaf or ten of bread. You just never knew when you'd need to make sandwiches for the entire state of Rhode Island, she liked to be prepared.

Other times she'd get it in her head that she needed something you very rarely have a use for like, evaporated milk. And for a couple of months, she'd grab a can or two each time she ran to the market. The evaporated milk, sat in the cupboard for months, years. In fact I don't even know how long it was there. Could have been from 1973 and no one would have been surprised. That can was just a part of the pantry landscape after a while. Granola bars, flour, salt, cereal, evaporated milk.

My grandpa got cancer in his late 70's. I don't remember what kind of cancer it was, it really didn't matter all that much. Like all the kinds of cancer, it was the crappy kind. He got increasingly sick over time, and eventually required a nurse to come live with him.

One day while my grandpa was particularly sick, my brother and I were at home while my mom was at work. My brother had the can of evaporated milk in his hand, and we pondered why it was there. Could we even remember a time the evaporated milk was not in the cupboard? Why were there three of them in there? Had we ever seen our mother use evaporated milk for anything?

Each question resulted in more questions. My mother is a little jumpy and in our family we like to prey on the weakest one. It's how we love.

We do little things like put rubber snakes in the microwave or hide someone in the back seat of the car to scream "Boo!" while she drives. Just funny little tricks meant to toy with her heart and keep her, you know, aerobically healthy.

My brother called my mother at work. "Mom! The nurse just called from grandpa's house. They're having an emergency! They need 6-10 ounces of evaporated milk immediately!"

Without skipping a beat my mother went into what I call her 'Crisis Mode', this is how she gets whenever something really bad happens, when there's an emergency of some sort. "Okay," she said, taking a long cleansing breath. "Go in the cupboard next to the oven. On the middle shelf, next to the cereal and near the flour, there are three cans of evaporated milk. Take them out and tell me how many ounces each can is. There should be enough there."

Apparently, she didn't pause long enough to consider what kind of cancer-related health emergency could possibly be addressed with 6-10 ounces of evaporated milk. But for a few shining moments she believed she'd bought that evaporated milk for a good reason. All the teasing we'd done about the evaporated milk would all be worth it now. She was having the last laugh, now that we were facing a health emergency and her evaporated milk would quite possibly save my grandfather's life.

For those moments, before my brother and I started laughing hysterically, my mother thought she cured cancer with three cans of evaporated milk.

Winner Sandisk Slot Radio Giveaway #1

I loved reading your dad stories. I sat outside laughing, in the car laughing, in my living room laughing. So many excellent Dad Gags™. Only occasionally would I read one and start to cry a little and not at the ones you'd think I'd cry at. I'd cry when someone remembered how awesome it was to go to breakfast with their Dad in the morning, sitting at the counter. It is so easy to give your kids at least a few nice memories of you, if you're a douchey dad reading this. Just take your kid to breakfast once in a while okay?

When Max was a baby Logan used to take Maddie to R&J, a little soda fountain/grill a couple blocks away from where we live now. He did this because I don't handle sleep deprivation very well and sleep deprivation with a 2.5 year old, let's put this plainly. If they didn't go SOMEWHERE in the morning I may have killed them.

R&J had a fire years ago, and when we'd walk by 4 year old Maddie would ask when they were going to open up again. They couldn't re-open, some sort of insurance fraud issue, and now it's a Thai place. Maddie is 10.5 and she still says, "I wish R&J was still open."

Logan suggested they go to dinner together at the Thai place....we all had a good laugh over that one. Mrs. Pickerson doesn't do Thai.

Also reading your stories reminded me of this one my friend Jean told me about her wedding day. She and her father, one of those really good ones, were getting ready to walk down the aisle and as the doors open and they started walking he turned to whisper in her ear.

"They're all looking at me...."

Save that one for any walking down the aisle you have to do in the future.

And The Winner Is:

Sandisk Slot Radio Giveaway

I've had ads for the Sandisk Slot Radio running on this site for a week or so. Sandisk sent me a slot radio to try out...it's kind of exactly my speed. Preloaded with music (because I am really not wild about searching out new music) or if I'd prefer, I can add my favorite music to it.....perfect.

The slotRadio™ player is a small, stylish, portable music device that comes bundled with a slotRadio™ card preloaded with 1,000 handpicked songs featuring artists from Billboard®'s charts, and professionally arranged into a variety of genre-themed playlists.

The die-cast aluminum player also features a 1.5” OLED screen for viewing artist and song information, a FM radio and even an integrated, handy belt clip for hands-free listening.

Additional 1,000 song, genre-specific and themed slotRadio™ cards. Digital music has never been this easy – just feast your ears!

Sandisk gave me a few of these slot radios to give away and I get to give the first one away this Friday, just in time for Father's Day.

I have this problem with Father's Day in that it's one of those days that tweaks the part of me that is pretty sad/mad/disappointed that I had such a monster as a father. Yes, I'm one of those people...with father issues. sigh.

While brainstorming what I could do for this contest Logan and I thought it would be fun to have you guys share a dad-related memory in the comments, but then Logan said, "You have to share one too....that's rude to expect people to share when you don't." But my dad memories all suck and this will turn into a big Sad Trombone festival, so let's just skip mine.

However, I'd like to hear your favorite father memory in the comments. A most embarrassing moment, a favorite gag your father liked to pull, the best gift you ever gave him for father's day, why your husband is a great dad. Anything goes...well, within the rules. 

Good stories about dads make me really happy.

You can enter until 12am EST Friday June 12. The winner will be selected randomly from the entries and announced later that day.