THE BUSINESS OF BEING BORN

http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/trailer.php

We are having a free viewing of this movie here in our area. It can also be seen on Netflix.

Synopsis of Movie:

Birth is a miracle, a rite of passage, a natural part of life. But birth is also big business.

Compelled to explore the subject after the delivery of her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to question the way American women have babies.

The film interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system. When director Epstein discovers she is pregnant during the making of the film, the journey becomes even more personal.

Should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?

Banana Bread Friday

Marlena and I love to bake. She is getting better and better at it. It makes a BIG mess but as long as I remind myself of that in the beginning, it's OK. Half of the ingredients end up on the counter top or the floor but I just add a little here and there. It always comes out pretty tasty and the benefits out weight the negatives. We used this recipe this time, http://spinningsugar.wordpress.com/2007/03/13/worlds-best-banana-bread-no-kidding/
but we added about 1/2 cup ground flax seed to the mix and brown sugar to the top before baking.

Peeling the bananas

Mashing the bananas

The measuring and mixing is one of her favorite parts. She has to try everything that we put in it. I tell her every time that she is not going to like the salt or the baking soda but she wants to try it anyway. I think she likes the part where I give her sugar to get the taste out of her mouth.

Yes, I let her crack the eggs. Am I crazy?! Yes, a little bit. She does a really good job though and we always use a separate bowl. I fish out the shell before we beat the eggs. Today there was only a very small piece.

The finished product minus a few slices because we had to sample it before we could even think about taking a picture. Fresh out of the oven with some cream cheese and a glass of milk. As Dora the Explorer would say, "Delicioso!"

All You Single Ladies

So cute that I had to share.

September Weekend

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Get your own

We had a great September Weekend! We got to go to an arts festival and to San Antonio. Small family trips are a nice get away when you can afford a big vacation.

Recreating Dora

Halloween is not to far off. We are working on a Dora Halloween costume. I could have bought one for less then it is to make but once I started I now have to finish. Scott and I were discussing her outfit the other day. Dora wears a pink shirt, orange pants, yellow socks and white shoes. I told Scott that it is obvious Dora dresses herself because what mom would let there child out of the house like that!

Pink shirt- check
Orange shorts- check
Bracelet- working on it

We used Crayola Model Magic for this project. I decided to use the white version and paint it to save on money but it does come in different colors. This is very light weight. I found instructions on the Nick Jr website http://www.nickjr.com/crafts/dora-bracelet.jhtml and they suggested using Polymer clay (such as Fimo or Sculpey) but I thought this worked great. You can also find a printable bracelet that would have worked great but I found it AFTER I already started this project.

Marlena painted the different pieces for the bracelet.

The finished bracelet. Now on to Dora's Backpack.

Tutu Weekend

This weekend my sister came to visit and we made Tutu's for our girls. I loved this craft because it required minimal sewing and very low cost. I used the two websites below for instructions. Our girls loved their skirts. I want to try it again but make it a little longer this time.

http://pupsikstudio.blogspot.com/2008/01/tutu-tastic-tutorial.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7aSPMEn7S0&feature=related

Craft Time

$1.00 crafts at Micheal's are great! Marlena had a great time painting her alligator. We took it to the library to show it to the librarian.