I know its been well over a month since our blog was updated! All of our mamas have been very busy with life and their little ones. I’m sure you understand. I hope we will be able to pick things back up as we all settle in our back to school fall/winter schedules.

I am happy to see that we have many views every day, despite a lack of updates. I hope you all enjoy going back over our previous posts, keep the questions and comments rolling in. We love to answer questions and will do so at every opportunity!

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My husband and I made the choice to only have one child. We don’t plan to have another child and we never really did. I will be the first one to admit that this decision was more in my hands than my husband’s. He confessed to me that he would like to have a little troop of boys to play with. However, he also understands what is within our emotional, physical, familial and fiscal means.

Yes, I included three things there and took into consideration more than just money. Let me explain.

I will start with the most obvious and easiest to explain; the fiscal means. Children are expensive. I know everyone always says that you just find a way. I am certain that is true, but I want to be able to provide comfort and safety to my child and I don’t want to have to worry about finding a way to pay for bills as well as my child gets older. To be honest, I also want to be able to do things with my child. I want to be able to sign him up for activities and sports and fun classes. I remember growing up and it was hard for my parents. There were times when we did not have enough and I know it caused a tremendous amount of stress on my parents. This stress was transferred between my parents to anger and eventually down to us. So, really, fiscal readiness can affect emotional readiness as well.

Speaking of emotional factors; to have multiple (or really any) children, you have to be emotionally balanced. You don’t want to show favoritism, drown your children in your personal drama or teach them bad emotional habits. Children are far more cognizant of their parent’s emotions than parents like to think. How you deal with your problems affects them directly. Your stress, tension, anger, happiness, etc all filter down to them. While I do think my husband and I are more than able to handle more children in our emotional state, it is not the only factor to consider. I have written before about my basic fear of motherhood. This is not going to go away because I have multiple children. In fact, it will probably only multiply and produce more fears.

I also have to take in account that I have three sisters who are much younger that my parents adopted. My mother has already had cancer once and it looks like she may have cancer again. If anything happens to my mother I will be the one who has to take care of my adopted sisters as well as my biological sister who is mentally disabled. This is a familial responsibility that will add to emotional strain and makes it difficult to consider having more than one child. There is the real possibility that I will have to raise additional children in the future. Cancer is something that causes a huge amount of emotional burden which brings me to my own physical limitations.

While I am (relatively) young and healthy, there are issues I know I will have to address in the next few years. I am BRCA2 positive. For those who don’t know, this means I am 96% likely to get breast cancer. It also makes it highly likely I will get Ovarian Cancer (which is worse than breast cancer because it is far harder to detect). This means that I have to think about these things and the fact that I plan to have preventive surgeries to help prevent this from happening in the next few years. By 35, I will have my ovaries removed (that is three short years away) and by 40, I will have a double mastectomy and reconstruction. This puts a time limit on when I can have more children and also a consideration about the ages of my child during my recovery. I want to be healthy for my family and not get cancer, so these are things I think about.

So, after serious discussion with my husband, we decided that we were going to be a single child family.  All decisions we have made are negotiable. We are allowed to change our minds, but so far, this is the decision we have made. This is part of what it means to be emotionally stable and responsible. Having the ability to change our minds and decide if maybe we are willing to have another child.

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2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 -2 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

Heat oil in a large skillet.
Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned.
Remove chicken.
Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium Heat until well mixed and dissolved. (Sometimes I will thicken with a slurry of cornstarch and water, so there’s more “gravy.” If you just cook it without it turns into a beautiful glaze.)
Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve over hot rice.

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I find that my photos can be like that too. Not always the best, but when you love what you do it shows.

Taking photos of four very busy boys is rough. If one is looking away another must run away. So i had the inspired idea to make the shoots more fun. When i try to pose them, its not quite so much fun. The kids hate it. Being told to look and smile. So i went the other way. I themed my shoot and set them free(ish) Don’t get me wrong, i still told them to stop, smile, look here, pose. But i was more lenient with them.

Here are a few photos from our fun shoot. I hope you see them and are inspired to do your own themed shoot. It took us less then 20 minutes to build the teepee and paint them up. And less then 45 minutes to take their photos before they were set loose in the tub.

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You will need Chicken breasts, 1 per person ( or 1/2 per child) Cubed
Seasoning to taste. I use a local Alaskan Seasoning which is similar to Mrs Dash and seasoning salts ( but without the preservatives )
Onion
Green pepper
Potatoes, 1 per person cubed.
Carrots.
Shredded cheddar cheese. ( optional)

Cube your potatoes and pre cook. I do this by tossing them in the microwave with some olive oil. This softens them up and makes them cook faster.
While those are pre cooking, cube your chicken and dice up your veggies.

Create a foil packet. I do this by using two layers of foil and folding the bottom over the top. Place your raw chicken, potatoes and veggies in a bowl. Toss with olive oil and seasonings. Mix well and put inside your foil packet.

Bake in the oven at 325 till chicken is cooked through. In my toaster oven it took about 35 minutes.
Optional When you chicken and potatoes are cooked through, sprinkle with cheddar cheese and allow to melt.
Serve your awesome and easy meal.

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One way to help everyone out, we are going to be featuring some back to school re-useable items on the blog here over the next couple weeks.

Today i am featuring a shop called Bagitconscious ! I am lucky enough to be holding the bag right now.

Each bag has two layers. An inside later that is water resistant and food safe. No PVC, no phthalates, no BPA, and no lead are used in the products. And an outer later which is adorable cotton. This bag is a large 6.5 inches by 6.5 inches.

I could easily pack my children’s lunch in this bag. Either a sandwich or a handful of pretzels. Apple slices or grapes.

Not only does she have re-useable snack bags, but she has some other really fun products as well!

Like these re-useable recycled cotton lunch bags.

and this oh so cute market bag!

I could spend all day drooling over her creations!

Now Bag-it has generously donated this bag to us to giveaway for you! So please enter! Also if you cant wait, she has give us a discount code to use on her etsy shop!

Terms and Conditions of the discount code.

She is offering a 10% discount to you, our  readers for reusable sandwich, snack, lunch bags, canvas market totes and cutlery pouches.
Mix and match options and sale items will not qualify for discounts since their prices are already reduced.
Please enter code “MamasBG8/12″ on etsy checkout and the amount will be credited back to your paypal account after checkout.
The discount will be good until August 24th 2012 so catch it quick.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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On either side are my pots of potatoes. You can see my chicken wire keep the neighbors puppy OUT of my plant post!. The only thing left growing in my tiny self planters is onions. Such a bummer, but its the way it goes sometimes! At least ill have potatoes at the end of the season!

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The down side to play-doh? Well, to begin, it costs money. It costs gas to get to the store, brainpower to deal with all those insane people at whatever store you choose and the time it takes you to get your child (and mine is a toddler!) ready to go, properly strapped in to their car seat (I am STRICT about making sure everything is done right and I double check my work, sometimes triple), into the store, back into the car seat… It’s overall, a major PITA. Maybe some of you have this toddler travel down, but I am a frazzled mess and prefer to never leave the house without an accomplice. Even if you order online you have to pay shipping and wait for delivery, and I hate waiting. Reason two, the packaging generates waste. Another reason? We have no idea what is in there. Sure, it’s labeled non-toxic, but what in the crap is in it? Hasbro claims it is primarily made of flour, water and salt. Leaves me wondering about what the secondary ingredients are. Preservatives? Something has got to keep it from going bad in the time it is on the shelf to whenever your kid leaves it to cake into your brand new rug… According to their patent they use a preservative and other other assorted ingredients. Also, they spell dough improperly. That just makes me mad and is a whole other rant about how children should be exposed to proper spelling instead of the common-mistake-branding-atrocities.

Alas, there is an alternative. Make your own! Pinterest led me to Craft Gawker which led me to adelynn STONE the blog where a fantastic DIY play dough recipe is shared with pictures. It looked easy enough and I had all the ingredients (can anyone say free?!) in my kitchen, so I just followed the directions and made some awesome play dough! I used neon food coloring but SafeMama says you can use beet, spinach or carrot juice to add for fun colors. According to adelynn STONE, this dough will last 6 months if stored properly, in an air tight container. I would bet it has a shorter life span if you use the juice for coloring. Don’t let it get too hot, I did and the kneading part ended up being a little painful!! All turned out well anyways though.

I must say my toddler was not too interested. I think he kind of got his feelings hurt when he took a bite and it tasted not so good, he spit it out and wouldn’t touch any more of it. My husband and I had a great time playing with it though! When we were done I stored it in some old tupperware dishes I had and put it up for another try.

Please go HERE for the recipe, it’s pretty simple!

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Enter the marble jar. I went to joanns and we each picked out a fun colored bag of marbles that you put in your fish tank, or crafting jars. We picked sea green, red, green and blue. Yes the colors matter! Then at home we dug through my various saved glass jars ( lids optional) until we had three jars the same size. One for each of my three older sons. We put their name on the jars and and each boy got 5 marbles to start.

At first they were overjoyed! We are earning marbles which earns us STUFF. So they did chores, asked to help, and were diligent in earning marbles. Within a day they were back to throwing fits and fighting. So we began to take a marble away when they acted out. This worked to keep them acting better. But still that abstract STUFF appeal wore off. The fights began, the complaining, forgetting their chores. Basically it wasn’t working anymore.

So stuff had to equal SOMETHING. My husband and I hashed it out. Each marble is equal to 1 minute on their video game ( on a rainy day ONLY) and each marble is worth 25 cents. So if they want a gum ball at the store, they have to trade me a marble. If they want a candy, they need to trade me 4 marbles. Yes one lolly pop is worth 4 marbles. I still take a marble when they act out. But now they are starting to understand that when they act good, im happy to hand them a marble ( IN THEIR COLOR! Because they will tell you YES the color matters! ) But when they act out, i will take one away. But in trading them for actual goods, in a sense, these marbles have become actual money to them.

I frequently get a fountain soda when I’m out and about. The kids always want a slushy. Sometimes i say yes, sometimes i say no. But now Ive decided that the marbles are equal to quarters, Ive told them they could trade me 4 marbles for a slushy. But only when I said they could have one, not an every day trade. This idea was awesome for us. They love getting slushies. They pour out their marbles and count me back 4. Tears will come when they don’t have enough marbles and they quickly scamper to find a chore they can do to earn enough to get that coveted prize.

Im also printing out sheets with trade values. For instance, a movie ticket for a child is 7 dollars. So they need to trade 28 marbles to go see a movie. If they want popcorn, they need to trade me 35 marbles.

I believe this is teaching my kids a good reward system, one that will take away when they misbehave. I also believe its teaching them the basics of money. And nothing beats the smile on their faces when they get a marble. Except maybe trading those marbles for a prize.

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For the next 8 weeks I am challenging myself to become 25% more active. I am doing this for myself and for my family (and for the health insurance rebate). My company is doing a health initiative. It was optional, but those of us who signed up got a pedometer to track how active we are. We also got a list of activities and how many steps those activities translate into in steps. There were two ways to participate in this challenge: you could sign up by active time (for exercise, sports etc) or you could go with the number of steps. I chose a blend of the two. I am not doing this to lose weight. I am actually back down to my pre-pregnancy weight now of about 135lbs. I am doing this for my health and to help counteract my sedentary lifestyle.

So, I want to challenge everyone else out there to look at your activity, either in time spent doing something or in steps. See how active you actually are.

Usually you want to exercise at least 30minutes a day. Exercise being something that stimulates your cardiovascular system and muscles: walking, running, swimming, sports, weight lifting, etc. Or you want to set a goal for the number of “steps” you take every day. 2,500 or less steps a day is considered very inactive. Up to 5,000 is considered inactive or “average”. Up to 7,500 steps is moderately active, up to 10,000 is Active and anything above that is considered Very Active. I have a personal goal to reach on average 8,000 steps a day.

Now, there are activities that count for extra steps: housecleaning (75-140 steps per minute), yoga (100 steps per minute), mowing (135 steps per minute), washing the car (75 steps per minute). I have a massive list of these, but on average, an activity is anywhere from 50-200 steps per minute. Sports count as more obviously.

Just by wearing the pedometer for a day, I am encouraged to walk more, use the stairs (200 steps per minute), and just get up from my desk and be more active. Even just a walk around my building helps. I do this a couple times a day and it not only helps me focus more on my work, but also helps me to be active.

What are your goals for activity?

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