I’ve come full circle in my attempts to figure out my blogging style.  I’m going back to my first and original blog.  KISS-keep it simple stupid… right?  so if you are a friend, reader… you can find my blogging updates in the future at my family blog:

www.brighamandkarmel.wordpress.com

I’ll try to stay there with just one blog so as to not confuse the matter any further.  Merry Christmas!

After our November American Mothers meeting, one of our presenters, Tamara, posted to our AMI blog a fantastic article on family work and it’s importance.  Here’s a link so you can have a look-it is sooooo worth your time to stop and read for a few minutes!  FAMILY WORK (read it-read it-read it)

Here’s the family raking a few leaves yesterday.  Brigham saw a professional leaf removal crew using this method of dumping the leaves into buckets and stomping them down prior to dumping into leaf bags.  We tried it and it is an amazing trick-and lots of fun too!  We love our family work time!  Check out my family blog for more photos.

Here are some things that we talked about at our November meeting: (thanks Danielle for the great post to our AMI BLOG!)

Last night my ward had an enrichment night on sack lunch ideas.  Here are the notes from the meeting.

A few things to consider…

• Will they have a microwave?
• What can they open? (Paper bag, lunchbox, Tupperware?, Thermos?)
• What can they eat? (Choking hazard? Allergies?)
• Are you looking for… health? Convenience? Saving money?

Presentation

• Smaller can be easier to eat; less intimidating (Can I eat that WHOLE apple?)
• Orange cut up “soccer mom” style
• Ants on a log: celery, peanut butter, raisins
• Carrot curls (after the peel comes off, keep peeling and pile the peels into a baggie-great option for braces)
• Peanut butter in apple core
• Cut out sandwich with cookie cutter (special occasions)

The SANDWICH

• Try different breads: tortillas (wraps, quesadillas), bagels, pita, English muffins (pizza!), rolls, crackers, grain breads, bread sticks
• Refrigerated sandwich filling: for multiple kids: chicken pieces, cheese, mayo, pickle pieces
• Different fillings: pastrami, sprouts, butter or ranch or mustard or cream cheese in place of mayo, pickles, tuna, egg, peanut butter, pepperoni
• “Grilled” sandwich?
• Different cuts: diagonal, straight, many pieces for little kids
• Pancakes with jam in the middle
• Bagel and cream cheese
• If sending tuna-butter the bread first and the tuna won’t soak into bread

Dips

• For crackers, pita, veggies, etc.
• Hummus, ranch, honey, etc.

Food safety

• Prevent food poisoning! – Certain foods are more vulnerable than others
• Keep hot things hot, cold things cold
• Frozen juice box or bottle of water for cold
• http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Keeping_Bag_Lunches_Safe/index.asp

Personal touch

• Will they help make their lunches? They might eat it if they feel included.
• Note, joke, picture, sticker

Idea for balance: include drink, fruit/veggie, protein, grain, dessert (optional)

More ideas

• Pre-bought: mini carrots, string cheese, yogurt, vegetable sushi, jello, applesauce
• Fruit leather
• Hummus and chips
• Dried fruit: raisins, craisins, etc.
• Burritos
• Jerky
• Quick breads made in mini-muffin trays (freeze 4 in mini zip locks-ready to go)
• Pasta salad, leftovers
• Granola
• Strawberries & chocolate chips
• Rice cakes/crackers, popcorn, pretzels
• Different fruits: bananas, grapes, cherry tomatoes, etc.
• Cut up apples (put into zip baggie and then suck out air using a straw-will prevent browning)
• Boiled egg in shell (can buy mini salt packets at Sam’s club)
• Hot pockets: buy or make your own (use biscuit recipe for crust)
• Bake a variety of desserts, pre-bag and freeze for quick access
• Baby food jars make great, no-leak containers (apples sauce, juices, dips, jellos, salad dressing)

Thanks to my good friends, Ingrid and Michelle, for both sending me information on FOCA.  I do like Obama’s energy and charisma, but his liberal views scare me just a bit.  I’m very concerned about how the tides will turn with abortion beginning January 20th.  Follow the link below and let your voice be heard to support Life!

For those of you who don’t know… the Freedom of
Choice Act (FOCA) is a piece of federal legislation that
would effectively eliminate every and all bans on abortion,
nationwide. This includes parental notification and
partial-birth abortion. The FOCA even leaves the door open
for legalizing live-birth abortions. President-elect Obama
has made it clear that one of the first things he intends to
do as president is sign the FOCA, (see the following link
for more info). Please take the time to go to the website
below and sign the petition to fight this act.
http://www.fightfoca.com/

As you may already be aware, a movie recently released, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” is in theaters throughout the state.  As a result of the controversy that the title has raised, the title has been modified to “Zack and Miri.”

This film was originally deemed as an NC-17 film and was to be restricted from local theaters as an NC-17, but was reduced to an “R” rating by the persuasion of the director without any editing or censorships to scenes.

Due to explicit content, Megaplex Theaters have chosen not to show this production at their theaters.  Westates Theaters commented on their hotline that they were “excited” to have the movie at their theater and to be the only theater to be showing the film in the area.  Broadway Center Cinemas of Salt Lake City claimed that they were “happy to get it [the film].”  Carmike Theaters called it, “just a comedy.”

Click below for a link to a content analysis of the movie.  Warning: Text descriptions contain explicit content.  No explicit images are shown on this site.

http://www.kids-in-mind.com/z/zackandmirimakeaporno.htm…

Please contact your local theaters by clicking on the links below and express your disappointment to them that they have chosen to show this movie in your area.  This is a brazen attempt to mainstream p-rnography into family theaters.  In addition to extremely explicit content, the movie features 194 F-words.

We have provided a form letter, as well as theater contact info below to help you.  Please feel free to add your own comments as well.

To Whom it May Concern:
As a patron of your theaters, I was deeply disappointed to learn that your company has chosen to show the movie, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” in my area.  Not only does this movie mainstream pornography into family theaters, but teaches youth and children that making pornography is a safe and acceptable occupation.  The explicit nature of this film holds no place in my neighborhood, particularly where children will be attending movies with their families while “Zack and Miri” is playing across the hall.
Please reconsider the showing of this film in your theaters.  Your decision will influence my choice of theater in the future.

Theater Contact Information:
List of theaters in Utah by area: http://www.utahtheaters.info/

Westates
http://www.westatestheatres.com/contact.htm

Broadway Center Cinemas
tori_baker@saltlakefilmsociety.org

Cinemark (13 Utah locations)
http://www.cinemark.com/contactus.asp

Carmike
film@carmike.com
webmaster@carmike.com
http://www.carmike.com/Contactus.aspx

Here is a photo of my wonderful brother Mike, who just welcomed his sixth child last week.  Luckily, he was home for the event.  Thanks Mikey for serving in the Military and for all of the sacrifices that you and your family make for me and my family and our nation.  Love you!  Thank you!

Here’s the latest op-ed I sent to local newspapers on behalf of the Parents Television Council.  They are avid news and media advocates as a way to spread their message.  Let me know if you see it printed in any newspapers because they frequently print it and don’t let me know.  Luckily I have friends and neighbors who read the editorials and let me know when my name pops up.

Fox, Foul Language and the First Amendment

On October 21st Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating Officer of News Corp.,was given the Media Institute’s “Freedom of Speech” award. In accepting the award, Chernin boasted that Fox will “fight to the end for our ability to put occasionally controversial, offensive, and even tasteless content on the air.” He also claimed that fining indecent content on broadcast TV will somehow automatically lead to the overthrow of the democratic process in American politics.

Limiting political speech is not what is at issue. What Chernin and his fellow media bosses truly oppose are any limits whatsoever on indecent broadcast TV content. This was made manifest back on August 1^st, when ABC, CBS and NBC filed briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court to defend Fox’s claim that airing the “F-word” and “S-word” during two Fox awards show broadcasts was not indecent and should not be fined.

With the Supreme Court scheduled on November 4^th to review a lower court’s ruling that the use of the”F-word” is merely a “fleeting profanity” and that the networks should not be fined for airing such language, the broadcast networks are doing everything possible to ensure that their “right” to blare offensive programming over the publicly-owned airwaves into American homes meets with no opposition.

My shiny sink!  I had to take a photo because it only looks like this for a quick second about once a week…. and to recommend one of my favorite websites: www.flylady.net.  Check it out as well as the book, Sink Reflections.  I’m a fan of flylady’s methods and ideas although I’m usually a failure at applying them.  Leave me a comment with your favorite home organization, cleaning or mom in general website! (then go shine your sink-it feels soooo good!)