An ominous sky

After many days of leaking skies it finally stopped raining. We decided to visit the park, but the ominous sky told us we didn't have very much time. It was so beautiful but such a disappointment when we were wishing for sunshine.

Islam is the light

When making Maddie's Christmas list this year, I actually took her to Wal-Mart and let her walk around the toy aisle to see what she would be interested in. Every other year I have just made the decisions for her, but she is old enough now to know what she likes. She gravitated towards a baby doll that moved her arms, legs and head and talked. The doll came with a bottle and a teething ring and was very adorable. It was the Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo Doll......I know, long name. I added it to her list.

While we were up in the mountains we had reason to be at Wal-Mart for a while (this to be explained in a later blog) and as a distraction for our two year old who had been in the car for far too long we went to the toy aisle so that she could "play" with the toys. We ran into a shopping cart full of toys and on top was the doll I had on Maddie's list. I picked it up and showed it to Dan since I had told him about it but he had yet to see it. There happened to be a Wal-Mart associate stocking the shelves on the aisle that we were on and when she saw me pick up the doll she informed us that we could not buy it because they were recalling them. I asked her why and she told us because when the dolls were supposed to be cooing they were actually saying "Islam is the light" and "Satan is the king," and "vote for Obama." She told me this in all seriousness and even held the doll up for me to listen and hear the words for myself. I listened. I heard nothing but coos and gagas. I told her as much, and she explained to me that this particular dolls' battery was getting low and if I found another one with a better battery I would be able to hear it clearly.

Seriously?

We got home and looked the whole thing up and there actually is a big thing going on with this baby doll. There are articles written by fox news and recordings of the alleged pro-Islam and satanic messages posted on YouTube. Parents are crying out that these dolls need to be taken off the shelves because they are corrupting our children. I don't believe that Fisher Price is actually recalling the dolls, but retailers are actively taking them off the shelves because the public is demanding they do so. This is such malarkey!!! Does history have to continue to repeat itself?? Will we ever get wise and stop making fools of ourselves?

This isn't the first doll or child's toy that has spouted off evil or racial/religious slurs and it won't be the last....or more accurately it isn't the first or last parent who hears words that aren't really there and throws their hands up in outrage and demands action be taken so that their child won't be corrupted. People hear what they want to hear and once the first looney tooney exclaimed that Cuddle and Coo Baby was trying to convert their child to Islam everyone heard it.
Do you remember when there was controversy over the teletubbies a few years back? The purple one was ambiguous in his sexual orientation thus he was gay and parents started hearing the doll say (I really hate to use this word) "fagot, fagot and bite my butt."

But a good question to ponder is why on earth would Fisher Price make a doll that spouts off about Satan and Islam? What's in it for them?!?! Other than a waste of the millions of dollars that went into making and marketing and now not selling the Cuddle and Coo doll. What could they possibly gain from trying to corrupt our youth? You would think that a toy company would want people to buy their toys instead of boycotting them, but I can see where spreading their religious propaganda would outweigh their desire to make money and continue to be in the publics' good graces. *sarcasm* As far as I can tell Fisher Price does not have strong ties with the middle east nor do they seem to promote any religious beliefs, Christian, Islamic, Hindu or otherwise.

I don't understand why our society does this. It may be a horse of a different color but this all reminds me of book burning in the past. A small group of people decided that they dont like the content and thus books needed to be destroyed. A small group of people decide they don't like what they think they hear a doll saying and thus it needs to be taken off the shelf and made unavailable to the public. What happened to people making decisions for themselves? Since when does Wal-Mart know whats better for my kids than I do? When did Gary Rofkahr from Owasso, Oklahoma become the voice that retailers are listening to? Don't get me wrong, I understand that stores have the right to carry whatever merchandise they want, but it just seems ridiculous to me that they would make this decision based on something that is undeniably false. The Cuddle and Coo baby doll is NOT telling my child that "Islam is the light," or that "Satan is the king," (or even to "vote for Obama," which seems to only be something the Wal-Mart associate was hearing lol) it's just not.

Hopefully Wal-Mart will get wise and stop listening to crazies and put the Cuddle and Coo baby back on the shelves. I am not planning on taking it off Maddie's Christmas list, but I'm not feeling very optimistic that it will be available. Dumb. I'm gonna go now and get my old records outta storage and play them backward so that I can hear Satan.

Adios.

not so solids

I started giving baby food to Charlotte a couple of weeks ago. I thought that it would help with the pooping and at first I only gave them to her once every couple of days. I started making peaches first which is not what I would have wanted to do, but I wanted something high in fiber and sweet so that she would eat it. Peaches worked. She took really well to them and it does seem to be helping with the poop.....she has been going about every 2-3 days. I made some sweet potato baby food before we left for the mountains and had her try it by itself and she hated it! Scrunched up her face and would not open her mouth, so for now she is eating it mixed about half and half with peaches and she likes it. Hopefully she wont reject anything that isn't sweet since I started her on fruit. When I started Maddie on solids I made her rice cereal, but everything I've read tells me that baby cereal is not a good first food and basically empty calories, so I have been trying to look at foods differently and pick ones that are high in vitamins and calories. So, we have had peaches and sweet potatoes so far.....I think we will stick with those for a while since she digests them well and they help with the bowels. I'm thinking maybe winter squash next?? Since its winter and all!!

We're baaack

We got home this afternoon around 3:15 and spent some time unpacking. I hate unpacking.....even more than I hate packing, so to have most of it already done is fantastic. We had a nice trip although it was a lot of time in the car, and a lot of time in the cabin because it was cold outside.....so cold that we got snow!!! I have lots of fantastic pictures to post, but I have to do some work with them first, so patience is necessary.....but they will be very worth the wait, trust me. I'm off now to give Maddie her bath and try and warm my feet......its cold!

The mattress on the floor

I have so so many pictures that I need to get posted. And so many more that I need to get edited. I guess thats what happens I take a lot of pictures. These ones were from last week. Maddie and Charlotte were playing together on the mattress that we currently have in our den. Yes, I know that sounds white trash, but it was put in the den for my parents visit so that they could have a bed and their "own" room and then was left there because Dan's mom came to visit the weekend after my parents left. And its still there......well, because we like it. It's fun to wrestle on, and cuddle on and jump on and having it in the den and not Charlotte's room means it gets used more often.....by us and by guests as well. I don't know how long we'll have the mattress in our den, but I'm not really in any hurry to move it.

Technology

Maddie is off reading bedtime stories with her Daddy. Gotta love when the wee one goes to bed....the house is so blissfully quiet. Her and I just got finished watching old school Mickey Mouse cartoons on my iphone and it got me wondering what the implications of all this technology is going to mean for this next generation. My first memories of computers was in 5th grade and it was at school in computer lab which my class got to visit once a week. The monitors were huge, but the screens were about 6 inch squares and green. I remember playing Oregon Trail once a week and watching the horrible graphics in amazement.

Right now my 2 year old daughter can tap the screen of my iphone and play cartoons, and can back up and play the funny parts over again. She can sit at the computer and talk to her Grandma and Papa live and actually see them thanks to our webcam. She can carry around a tiny pocket sized MP3 player with thousands of songs on it and she can watch movies in the car. My goodness that would have been fantastic when I was a kid and was stuck in the back of my parents 1970s style van for 13 hours on vacation! My kids are going to have such a different childhood than I had. I don't necessarily think its negative or positive.....I can think up arguements for both.

Oh the possibilities Maddie will have as she grows and technology advances. Its going to be a wild ride!

Friday

Today it is gross outside....rainy and gray. Which made it very easy for me to roll over after feeding Charlotte and sleep till 10:00. Well, Dan definitely contributed to my ability to sleep!! Thanks honey! I went to the library this morning which is always a wonderful time. I got 6 new novels and I cant wait to get reading.....my last bunch of books was a flop, but what was I expecting with Nicholas Sparks books? I can understand his appeal for some people, but he is NOT my kind of author. There is a fragrance of wood burning outside and it makes me want a fireplace where I could build my own little fire. But then I remember that I have little ones, and the idea of mixing the two makes me appreciate the smell outside and the fact that I don't have to deal with burning wood and toddlers.

I just made a parmesan crusted grilled provolone sandwich, which I must say was delicious and ridiculously easy to make. I wish I had some home made soup to go with it, but we finished that a couple days ago. boo. Both of the girls are napping right now which should go in the record books as a miracle since I never get them both down at the same time. I should be packing right now, but I dont feel like it and would rather putz around the house and enjoy the quiet. The weather report has changed slightly for the mountains this weekend and although it still says snow on Sunday, the high for Monday is now in the mid 40s which is better than the 30s. It's interesting going away and bring all our own food with us....I don't think we've ever done this except for camping which is similar but different. We are going to make feta and sundried tomato stuffed burgers one night and I am excited. They are yummy. I'm a little nervous about the 4 hour drive with little ones, so please keep us in your thoughts. The DVD player in the van will help with Maddie, but Charlotte is unpredictable in the car. yoikes.

Well, I'm gonna go lay on the couch and read and think about needing to pack. Enjoy your weekend!