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Five Foodie Fun Facts For Friday #1

07/11/2014 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Food encompasses our lives and is typically on our minds the majority of the day. Of course our loved ones always have a place in our thoughts, but don’t you ever think about what to feed your loved ones? See, you can think of food and loved ones simultaneously.

Sadly, too many people only view food as something they eat and either tastes good or not. There is so much more to food than we realize and it affects more than our taste buds. From skin, hair, mind, how we function and recover, etc. food is a major player.

If you haven’t noticed, I’m a huge advocate of real food and try my damnedest to limit packaged products. Sure, there are many healthy packaged options, but whole foods trump all.

I could go on forever, but I’ll save that for another day and another post. Today, I’d like to start the first of a series of fun facts revolving around food. Some may be funny, some may be serious, but hopefully all will be of interest.

Going Mom and I went out last night to use her Mother’s Day gift I got her to attend a BYOB painting class. The chosen item to paint was a jellyfish and I’ll be sure to share our pictures soon.

For now, enjoy these facts and please feel free to share your own in the comments below. Happy Friday!

1. Broccoli and cauliflower are the only vegetables that are also flowers!

2. Onions, apples and potatoes all have the same taste. The difference in flavor is caused by their smell. Pinch your nose and try it – they will all taste sweet.

3. Lettuce is the only vegetable never sold frozen, canned, or processed in any way, it’s only sold as fresh lettuce.

4. The meat from a fast food hamburger can come from up to 100 different cows.

5. Best for last…..The largest living organism is a mushroom in Oregon’s Malheur National Forest. It has been growing for 2,400 years, killing trees along the way. The giant fungus covers 2,200 acres with an average depth of 3 feet into the ground.

Stay tuned for the second installment of foodie fun facts if for no othe reason than the joy of knowing it’s Friday!

And, of course I have to share a photo of Avery. Here she is working on her pull ups.

Then she just came over to say “hi.”

Life, Parenting

4 Things Babies and Firecrackers Have in Common

07/04/2014 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans, and Happy Friday to all others! Both great things, and both reasons to celebrate!

We’re heading down to G-Ma’s to celebrate the 4^th of July weekend with Uncle Preston (if he’s around) and G-Ma’s boyfriend, Paul. This will be the first time Avery gets to watch fireworks, and we’re not too sure how she’ll act. Any tips?

Growing up, I remember getting tremendously excited around New Year’s and the 4^th of July because that meant fireworks!! When I was old enough, I would have my own yard sale trying to sell anything from some of my old books to jewelry I thought my mom would never miss.

For some reason, some boy sitting in the front yard with a few things laying on a blanket never got me very far. I earned some money, though, but mainly out of pity from the neighbors. I even tried my shot at a Kool-Aid stand which earned a bit too. Same reason…..pity.

With my earnings, I’d ride my bright neon Huffy bike to the firework stand nearby and spend it all on whatever I could afford. The stand owners were parents to one of my friends, so they’d always toss in a few extras.

I couldn’t afford the big fireworks, my sympathetic mom helped there, so I mainly came back with a lot of Black Cat firecrackers. Probably for the best since trying to ride bike while carrying several artillery shell fireworks would be ill-advised.

Not 30 minutes after arriving back home and I’d be out of my hard earned fire ant disrupters. Man, for such a small thing, those firecrackers are pretty potent!

One day, while Avery was screaming because I set her down for a second, I reflected upon my past obsession with firecrackers and came up with 4 things they have in common with babies. I figured 4 is a good number for the 4^th; see how intuitive I am?

1. Both are small but loud. When compared to an adult, babies are small, cute and (usually) cuddly, right? Likewise, a firecracker pales in comparison to the enormous fireworks you’d see at a major firework display. Despite their small packaging, babies and firecrackers can and do create quite a racket.

The firecrackers are self-explanatory; you light them and they go “boom!” Babies do a great job at creating loud noise with just their vocals, or by grabbing anything nearby and banging it on anything else nearby.

Although, unless you have one of those strands of 50,000 firecrackers set to explode one after the other in sequence, babies tend to make noise for longer periods. And, unfortunately, it’s not on cue by lighting a fuse, it’s all on their terms!

2. Both are good at exploding. While firecrackers themselves explode, babies tend to create explosions by other means. But, after either one “explodes” you have a mess to clean up.

The paper wrapping and any remnants from an unfortunate toy might be scattered across the ground, while babies leave their aftermath inside a diaper, on the floor, up their back, in the tub, in the car, in the…well, you get the idea.

3. Both have a short fuse. You ever try to light a single firecracker? Those things explode before you can turn the other way after lighting, and a lot of people, me included, just light and throw them quickly as they explode before touching the ground. Not safe or smart since you eventually have one go off in your hand which feels far from good.

Babies, on the other hand, can be as happy as a clam at high tide for one moment, but if you so much as take your attention off of them to scratch your head, they can go irate! This happens to Going Mom and me frequently; we’ll have Avery laughing as we coo at her and make funny faces, but we stop to talk to each other and WHAM! she’s crying.

4. Both need to be tightly swaddled/wrapped. We haven’t swaddled Avery in months, but when we did, it had to be a tight wrap. If it wasn’t tight enough, she’d get her arms free and thrash around like a short circuited robot. For a firecracker to work as intended, it needs to be very tightly wrapped around the powder inside.

If you’re celebrating today, I hope you have a fun and safe time wherever you are. Happy 4^th of July!!

Can you think of any other semblances with babies and firecrackers?

Life, Parenting

5 Pet Products You Can Use for Babies

06/28/2014 R.C. Liley 3 Comments

We have a full blown crawler on the loose! Geez, once they catch on to something, they waste no time doing that something for-ev-ER!

I know we asked for it, but of course we weren’t actually prepared. Avery is crawling everywhere and anywhere she can.

Before, we could set her on a blanket after changing her diaper as we go wash our hands in the bathroom next to the nursery, now she just crawls to us while in the bathroom!

Guess I’ll be vacuuming and mopping a lot more now!

Yep, I love watching our little girl being so proud to move around more, but that means I really have to watch her. It used to be fairly easy when all she could do was roll and maybe thrust, but now if I take my eyes off of her for a second, she might be across the room or climbing something dangerous.

The other day I was vacuuming in another room while she was on her blanket playing in the living room when all of the sudden the vacuum just turned off. I went back in the living room to see she had crawled and yanked on the cord. She was nowhere near the socket (thankfully!), but needless to say, no more cords around when she’s down!

We have a gate for babies ordered and on the way, but I’ve been wanting something else that’s portable to bring into the garage for when I work out or when we go to G-Ma’s. In my search, I kept seeing pet playpens show up, and at first I just waived them off, but then I started thinking; maybe that would work for babies too!

This mode of thought led me on a search for other pet products that could double as baby products too. The only downside might be that you’ll have a jealous pup to deal with. Here are my top 5 “baby” items that might have you heading to your nearest pet store.

1. Pet Gate – I know, this one is obvious, and most are even marketed with “for baby/pet” wording, but it’s in pet stores and is highly recommended for both baby and/or pet. I’m sure many use these gates to keep their babies and pets separate…..for their pets’ safety!

2. Chew Toys – Teething baby? No problem! Of course, make sure the material is safe and not coated in anything toxic to babies. Here’s a great rope chew toy made with all natural materials and dyes, and the product description even mentions it’s great for teething puppies. Hey, puppies are babies too! Plus, your child is sure to love having a cute snowman to chew on.

3. Portable Pet Playpen – The reason I started looking for other baby products posing as pet items, some of these look and transport better than ones specifically for babies.

This one on Amazon costs about $45 after shipping, but the Summer Infant Portable Playard is $99.95.

Both have carrying cases and setup in seconds, but the pet playpen weights less than half of the Summer Infant one. Just saying…

4. Toy Ball – Every baby should have a toy ball; they’re great for developing motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Why not a ball made for dogs? This one I found online from Only Natural Pet is eco-friendly with all recyclable materials, mint-scented, and easily washes clean. Plus, there is a glow-in-the-dark option which I think a baby would enjoy more than a pet and it’s made in the U-S of A!

5. Pet Beds – C’mon, you can’t say you’ve never looked at those cozy beds with plush side bolsters and seriously considered trying to curl up in one. How cool would this be for your baby and/or toddler? They would love it! This one from Only Natural Pet is eco-friendly, resistant to liquid, dirt, and oil, and reduces the spread of bacteria and allergens. I think it’s better than our mattress!

Of course there are other pet items that might work for babies like leashes and harnesses, but I’m not sure how safe that would be.

So, next time you’re looking to get something for your growing baby, consider perusing the aisles of the nearest PetSmart before heading to Toys ‘R Us. If you have a pet and what you buy doesn’t work out for your baby, at least you know it won’t go to waste.

Have you ever let your baby play with or use a pet product?

If not, would you ever consider doing so?