Whole For The Holidays

Swiped this image from HERE.

So I'm not sure why, exactly, but it seems to me that this time of year there are a lot of babies being born.  Maybe it's the spring mating season thing?  I don't know, and I don't pretend to really care why.  The thing I do care about is that during the "holiday season", we're all ready wracked with enough insanity, before we add to it the babies.  

With every pregnancy announcement and upcoming birth, those of us who call ourselves "intactivists" just get STRESSED RIGHT FREAKIN' OUT.  I swear, I have an ulcer.

Nothing says "Happy Holidays" like knowing that people you've spoken to about circumcision a dozen times (at LEAST) over the last several months, very likely just had their newly born son circumcised.  And it's not as though they didn't know the facts.  If they ignored the sea of information I gave them, the decision to cut him would have been completely based on the husband's insecurity with his own genitals.  ("What's wrong with being circumcised?  I'm circumcised!  And my son will be too!")

What really GETS to me about this time of year when it comes to circumcision is that these adults are thinking of all of the super cute little outfits they're going to buy for their son.  They're thinking of the gifts that they'll have for him under the tree.  And they'll be spending two months flipping through flyers and websites, looking for that perfect gift for themselves.  'Tis the season for giving (and receiving), right?

I have this "crazy" idea.  How about instead of worrying about which Christmas sweater you're going to buy your son, you just leave your him with the foreskin his body was meant to have, and call it even.  It'll save you $24.99, and save him a lifetime of living with your idea of what his genitals "should" look like.

How about you just forgo the circumstraint, the tearing, the screaming, the trauma... 

How about you just love your son for the person he is, without thinking that his penis was made so horribly wrong that it must be "fixed" before he goes home from the hospital because, *GASP*, what if someone was to see it intact?!  The HORROR!!!

How about this holiday season, you leave your son's penis alone.  Give him the gift of a whole, intact body. Your son's "package" came perfectly wrapped, exactly as it was designed to be. It's a gift that keeps on giving all throughout his life, and one that he'll never grow out of.  (Which is more than I can say about that ugly sweater...)

Christmas sweater...see what I mean?!
(Swiped image from HERE.)

If you need more information, here are some links.  

www.WholeNetwork.org
www.Dr.Momma.org
www.SavingSons.org
www.4Eric.org
www.IntactAmerica.org
www.CIRP.org
www.NoCirc.org
www.circumcision.org


Also, if you have any questions and need someone to talk to, please, email me, chewygranolamomma@yahoo.ca
or send me a message via my Facebook page.  (LINK HERE.)

Family Get-Togethers...Gotta Love 'em

So, as promised, I'm writing a post on some of the heartwarming moments at some family gatherings this holiday season.

Before I get too into this, I want to point out that I'm a big believer in letting things go...not holding a grudge.  I think the holidays are the perfect time to let bygones be bygones, and just enjoy the opportunity to be with family.  I'm old enough to know that when you put a large group of people together in a space normally only used by 2 or 3 people, and then add alcohol, there's going to be atleast a few things said that would have been best left in the vault.  But, like I said, I try very hard not to hold grudges.  And on top of that, I know that my husband and I are living our lives completely differently than our family members have.  We're crunchy, they're not.  And I've put in more time researching our choices than they have ever spent researching theirs (pretty sure they haven't spent one single second looking up any information to back up their opinions).  And so I can go into these family functions and normally just let their words just go in one ear and out the other.
It's only a couple of times a year I have to deal with these people...the world won't end if I have to smile and nod when every fiber of my being wants to start handing out "stupid" signs.

So, even though I am going to complain about family, I DO love them...even though they do say things that aren't very thoughtful.  I'm big enough to let it go...once I've bitched about it.  LOL



First there was the phonecall from my mom.  (Not technically a gathering, but still related to the holidays...otherwise she wouldn't have called.)
One of the first thing she asked me was "Are you still nursing that baby?"
Well, yes.  I am.  She only just turned 13 months old on Boxing Day.  I plan to go to a MINIMUM of two years, and she'll be choosing for herself when she's done.  She started solids when she was ready, she'll nurse until she wants to stop, and she'll be in my bed until she wants her own.
My mother just can't understand why I'm "still nursing [a baby that can walk]".  I think really that's her big problem with it.  The baby can walk over to me and say "bub bub" (which to her, means boob).  My mom says she thinks it's time I "stopped this silliness".
Uh...what?
Yeah.  I'll get right on that...
(or NOT.)

She started this non-stop complaining about my breastfeeding when the baby was about 6 months old.  (It was the same with my son.)  At the time I told her that the baby would have to be on formula for at least another 6 months, and she'll give me the pissed off sigh, and say "Yeah, I guess." 
Why she cares so much, I just don't know.  (Maybe because I found out after a lifetime of being told she nursed my brother, that she in fact only breastfed him for 4 months, and maybe she's upset because she thinks this is a competition or something, and she's not winning?)
I give her credit for breastfeeding at all, when clearly she sees it as something that is unnecessary and just plain "silliness".

When I told her that I was still breastfeeding, she said, "When you were little I just did 'whatever', we didn't worry about things like you do now.  I guess I'm just not one of these new moms."

It's one of those things that could have just gone without saying.  Obviously she doesn't agree with 90% of the things I do, and was the total opposite kind of parent than I am with my kids.  I honestly could have lived happily without that comment...and the tone of her voice when she said "new moms" was kind of cynical.  She thinks her way was the right way, and as her child, and a parent of three, I can tell you that it was probably the best she could do considering the environment we lived in, and the childhood she had...but it was FAR from ideal.

This isn't a contest.  I'm not perfect.  I'm learning as I go too.  But the difference is that when I see a better way to do something, I can admit that the way I was doing it was NOT the best way...and then I change things; make them better.  I don't sit with the knowledge that I'm not doing things the best I can do them, and just leave it at that.

 Anyways, clearly it peeved me right off to get that call.  For the record, there's nothing she can tell me that will stop me from letting our daughter wean on her own time.  This isn't about being a new mom, or an old-school mom.  This is about what's doing what's best for my children.  Period.

The next fun time this holiday season was going to a meal with my husband's dad's side of the family.
The house they live in is big enough for a few people...you could probably comfortably fit a small family in there.  But when you have over a dozen adults, and 5 little ones running around, it gets a bit crowded.
We showed up at 5:30pm, just like we were told to.  When we got there, it was pretty clear that everyone else had been there for quite a while.  The food was cooking, and the aunts and uncles were drinking.
As soon as we got in there, Aunt Schoolteacher was sitting at the table (which had been moved into the livingroom), and didn't even say hello.  She just got this nasty look on her face as the kids ran past her to go and see Nana.
Whatever.  Fine.

The evening was pretty much typical for the most part.  But then, before the presents were opened, my husband and I took the kids down to the basement.  My husband's uncle...Aunt Schoolteacher's husband...came down and they were discussing our family Dr., and the events that have taken place in our lives the last month and a half.

My husband mentioned that we have chosen not to vaccinate our children, and suddenly Uncle changed his tone.  What was just a completely normal conversation then turned into "Why don't you vaccinate them?"  My husband told him that I've done a ton of research, and we've decided that we're not going to vaccinate them against diseases that can be prevented, treated, or that are completely safe for children to get in childhood.
"Well, I'd vaccinate them", he said.

He went on and on about how vaccines are "preventative", and that "children need to be vaccinated to be healthy".  He made sure to say atleast a dozen times that he'd vaccinate them.

I got up and left.  I'm not going to let anyone make me feel like I need to justify doing what's best for my children.  I've done years of research on this.  I'm sure Uncle has done NONE, and so his opinion means nothing to me.

I am glad I know his opinion on the whole thing, though.  I'm glad he was a dick about it, too.  I'm glad he made it so easy for me to decide whether or not he'd be a suitable guardian for my kids.  With those words, he went from being our #1 choice as a guardian in the event of our deaths, to being stricken from the list entirely.

Anyways, after opening presents we all went back upstairs for a bit before we ate.  My son had to pee, so went upstairs by himself and used the bathroom.  When he came out of the bathroom, his pants were at his ankles, twisted.  He needed some help fixing them, and because I was sitting on the couch nursing the little one, my husband went to help.

From behind me I hear, "You'll never pass kindergarten if you take your clothes off."  I turned around to see it had been said by Aunt Schoolteacher.
I wanted to punch her.  
He didn't "take his clothes off", he had problems with getting his pants back up!  He's only 3 1/2 years old...it happens!!!

But he hadn't heard her (he was still standing upstairs), so I let it go.  I took the higher ground...even though all I wanted to do was tell her to stfu.  We all ate, and everything was fine.

After supper everyone was talking, and the kids were still pretty excited about all the new things they'd just gotten for Christmas.  My son picked up a Thomas book that had a steering wheel on it (and about a dozen buttons that each make a noise), and ran to show Uncle Mustache [which is actually what the kids call him], across the table from Aunt Schoolteacher.  He sat for a few minutes, then got up and ran off.

At that moment, Aunt Schoolteacher said to him "You'll never pass kindergarten if you run around!"

At this point I was IRRITATED.  I SO badly wanted to say "have another glass of wine you DICK!"

My husband was sitting across from me in the livingroom, and I just looked at him and said "I think the kids need to go home and get ready for bed."

It took us about 1/2 an hour to get everyone situated, and the presents in the van before we started loading up the kids.  While my husband and the kids' Sweet Auntie (who is actually their 2nd cousin, but is a little older than my husband and I), packed up the van, Uncle picked up our daughters as Aunt Schoolteacher took pictures with them together.  Not one of those photos were of them with our son.  Not one.
Clear favoritism?  I think so!

If I needed a second reason to strike them from the list of potential emergency parents, that would be it.  They have no ability to understand my son, and have no interest in trying.  (He's amazing, and it's THEIR LOSS not to see that!)

Sweet Auntie came over to our house right after this lovely get-together, and mentioned to me that she noticed how her aunt (Schoolteacher) and uncle are with the kids.  She also mentioned that she noticed that her aunt will STILL not hold the baby.  (Just recently she was offered the baby to hold, and said, "You know how I feel about babies.  I like them when they're older and I can sit on the floor with them, but I don't like holding them.")  Wonderful quality in a person, eh?  Strike three.

**If there was anything good that happened at that gathering, it was that I spoke to my MIL's daughter...a nurse.  She told me that she doesn't believe in 90% of the vaccines they give children, and that the flu shot is a waste of time and money.  She is a wonderful peaceful parent, and it's always lovely to see her!  : )


The next day, after all of this fun, we had a family gathering at the King's Buffet across town. 
My twins were tired, and refused to nap before we went.  It's pretty common knowledge that they hate the food there, so I wasn't expecting them to eat.  When we showed up, their Other Auntie (who is actually a family friend) was there already with her fiancé.  Just the way they'd sat down, my son ended up on the end of the table, on the outside...I knew it was going to be bad the second I saw it.  The baby was at the very end, and I was across from him.  

It took him about 20 minutes to get entirely bored, and then he started sliding off of his seat (he was "melting", he said...LMFAO!), and getting up and walking over to the enormous fish tank about 10 feet from his seat.
The restaurant wasn't busy, and hell, he's 3 years old.  Who cares.  No one is going to lose a limb if the boy wants to look at the fish.  But his Other Auntie kept trying to go and drag him back...only to have him run right back over there.
So, after letting her struggle with him for a bit, I switched his seat for my seat, so he was kind of blocked in by the Fiancé and the baby's highchair.  That worked for a few minutes, but he REALLY wanted to look at those fish.  So I had him climb under the table and the two of us went and looked at the fish.

Now, what's crazy here was that some of the other adults at the table with us were kind of in shock that he wouldn't just "sit still and be quiet", and that I let him get up and go look at the fish.
It seems like they have forgotten what it's like to be a kid...full of wonder, full of questions, and full of energy.  Children have this ability to find the ONE fun thing in the room and want to be part of it.  I wasn't upset in the least bit.  It kind of makes me feel good to know that my children feel free to ACT like children.  He was fascinated by those fish, and who am I to say he couldn't look at them?!

By the time everyone else was ready to leave, I had all three kids with me, looking at those fish.  We named them (all of them got the name "Spotty"), and they left happy.  THAT is what matters.  I couldn't give a flying monkey's butt if the adults at that table liked it or not.  Kids are only kids for such a short time, and it's not like they were doing anything wrong.  They were looking at fish.  That's it.

We've also had a gathering here at our house, and were to another one at my husband's Aunt's house (he has a huge family), but nothing too exciting happened at those ones.

We still need to have our Christmas thing with my mom...it was supposed to be this coming weekend, but my husband has to work, so it'll be a few weeks from now.  I'm sure THAT one will get it's own post.  My mom's house is always "exciting"...to say the least.  Stay tuned.  ; )

Gingerbread Cookies

One more recipe to put into jars.  I'm going to make up a basket of baking stuff for "Nana" and her and the grand kids can make up cookies when they visit.  This is by far the most basic gingerbread recipe that I could find online (it was found HERE).  In the basket I'm also going to put some molasses, a pound of butter, some Crisco, and a few little containers of sprinkles and whatnot.  This recipe has very little wet ingredients, so most of it can go into a jar easy enough.

Of the three recipes I've posted over the last two days (all three are going in the basket), I think that only the few things I listed above are things Nana won't have on hand.  If you make up a cookie basket, add the extras you don't think the person would have (maybe vanilla extract).

I never got to make gingerbread men as a kid, so I think we'll be making them here too!

GINGERBREAD MEN COOKIES

2 3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. shortening (Crisco)
1/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. molasses
1 beaten egg
1 tsp. hot water
1 tsp. vinegar


Mix all ingredients. Roll onto well floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into gingerbread men. Place on greased cookie sheets dusted with flour. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When the cookies are done, they will look dry, but still be soft to the touch. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on wire racks. When cool, the cookies can be frosted with the icing of your choice

Soft Oatmeal Cookies

I am going to be making up jars of the dry ingredients (layered) as Christmas gifts to the kids' grandparents.  They can paint the outside of the jars before I fill them, and make them during a visit!

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups quick cooking oats

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with a large fork dipped in sugar.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Easy Sugar Cookies

Prep Time:  90 minutes

Total Time:  2 hours

Yield:  Makes 32

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Assorted candies, sprinkles, or colored sugars, for decorating (optional)

Directions

In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic; freeze until firm, at least 20 minutes, or place in a resealable plastic bag, and freeze up to 3 months (thaw in refrigerator overnight).
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Remove one dough disk; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of floured parchment, dusting dough with flour as needed. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Using a spatula, transfer to prepared baking sheets. (If dough gets soft, chill 10 minutes.) Reroll scraps; cut shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges are golden, 10 to 18 minutes (depending on size). Cool completely on wire racks. To ice cookies, spread with the back of a spoon. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes. Decorate as desired.

Cook's Note

Use flour on utensils to keep dough from sticking: Dip the cookie cutters, and dust the spatula before transferring uncooked dough to a sheet. Rolling dough between two sheets of floured parchment will keep it from sticking to the rolling pin.

To make icing, sift 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar into a small bowl. Whisk in 3 to 4 tablespoons milk, water, or lemon juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If too thin, whisk in more sugar; if too thick, add more liquid.  *Add food colouring if you like!*


This is a great recipe to put into jars for family members.  Layer ingredients in a clear mason jar, tighten lid, and tie with a red and green ribbon.  If you're really handy, you can cut out a Christmas-themed square of material and cover the lid with it (use the ribbons to hold it in place).  Write out recipe on a small piece of paper, fold, punch a hole in the corner of the paper (you might want to fold it and punch the hole before writing the recipe!), and attach to the ribbon.

It's also nice if children get to paint the outside of the jar before filling.  It's a great (easy and cheap) gift for family members, and a great way to get grandparents to bake with the kids!  (They can make them when they're together!)

Homemade Christmas Ornaments

These are the ones my twins made...before sparkles.

I have been wanting to make ornaments with the kids for the tree, and found these recipes for ornaments HERE.  I remember making them with my mom, and we had a great time painting them after they were made.  The recipes that I've seen said 7 years+, but the twins are three, and I'm sure they'll be able to pull it off.  I'll post photos on here of the ones we've made after they're all finished.  Until then, enjoy making your own!  (If you want some of your photos put on here too, just email them to me at:  momofcutetwins@hotmail.com)

Oh, and if you make more than your tree can stand, these would also make great additions to any gift (tie on with ribbon), and I'm sure there are more than a few grandparents that would LOVE getting a few of these!  (When they're all done, write the name of the child who made it, and the year it was made, on the back.)

Happy baking!

SALT AND FLOUR ORNAMENTS

This is an excellent recipe for homemade ornaments.
The dough is very easy to work with, and once baked
the ornaments are very firm and easy to paint.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup salt
2 cups flour
1 cup water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Water-based paints

Place dry ingredients in a bowl, add the water
and oil, then stir until blended. Once the dough
holds together, make it into a ball and
knead it with your hands to make
a smooth texture.

Place the dough
on a cutting board, and using a rolling pin, roll the dough
out into a pancake shape that is a bit thicker
than you would use for regular cut-out cookies. Cut out
the ornaments with cookie cutters, design your own
ornaments using a blunt knife, or shape dough with
your fingers. Punch or carve a hole into the top of
the ornament to thread a string through to hang the decoration.

Bake at 250 degrees until hard (for one to two hours).

Once cooled, paint with water-based paints if desired,
or glue on glitter using white household glue. Thread a string
or ribbon through the hole and hang the decoration on the tree
or elsewhere in your home. These ornaments can be reused year after year.

**I should mention that I've seen this recipe several times, and it uses anywhere from 2-4 cups of flour, and this was the only one with vegetable oil.  So, do what works for you.

EGG SHELL ORNAMENTS

These ornaments are just about the most eco-friendly holiday ornaments you can make. Although these ornaments are very fragile, you can reuse them year after

They really do look cute!

year if you handle them with care.

INGREDIENTS
Fresh eggs
Sterilized sewing needle (sterilize by holding over a lit match)
Water-based paints
Glitter
White household glue
Pipe cleaners

Poke a hole into the top and bottom of
each egg. Blow into the hole at
the top of each egg (the small end) so that the insides of
the egg comes out through the bottom hole, into a bowl
below. Save all the eggs’ insides for cooking. Paint the eggs
with water-based paints, or coat the eggs with
white household glue before covering their surface with glitter.

Bend one end of each pipe cleaner into a “U” shape (so that
the “U” is about 1 inch in length). Gently insert the other end of the pipe cleaner into the
top of the egg, and use the end with the “U” to hang the egg on a tree.

Here are a couple more, found HERE:

CINNAMON CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS 

3/4-1 c. applesauce
1 (4.12 oz.) bottle ground cinnamon

Mix applesauce and cinnamon together to form a stiff dough. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness.

Cut with cookie cutters. Make a hole for ribbon. Carefully place on rack to dry. Let air dry several days, turning occasionally. If you prefer they may be baked at 150 degrees for 5-6 hours.

This one is a little different:

SCENTED CINNAMON CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

4 oz. can (approximately 1 c.) cinnamon 1 tbsp. ground cloves 1 tbsp. nutmeg 3/4 c. applesauce 2 tbsp. white glue Combine ingredients. Work 2 to 3 minutes (knead) or until smooth. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness, do not roll any thinner. Use cookie cutters (Christmas type). Let air dry for 24 hours or in a low oven bake at 200 degrees for a couple of hours until dried out. Be sure to put hole in ornament to hang it with prior to drying process.

Popcorn Christmas Decoration

Oh, and lets not forget the popcorn tree decoration!  I've never made this myself, but my husband has.
1.  Make some popcorn with any method you prefer. At least one large size bowl is needed, but that will depend on the size of your tree. Be sure to let the popcorn cool before you continue on to the next step. Better yet, use stale, day old popcorn as this will be less likely to crumble and break.

2.  Thread the needle, but do not cut the thread from the spool. It will take a lot of thread for the popcorn garland to cover an entire tree.

3.  Start stringing one popcorn at a time by inserting the tip of the needle into the center of each piece. Keep sliding it further down on the thread making room for more popcorn. It's best to slide the popcorn to the end of the thread to prevent knots. Once you feel that you have enough garland for the size of your tree tie off the end of the thread by looping the thread, pulling tightly, and going under the loops a few times. Make sure that it is well-secured, so that popcorn won't fall off, and then gently cut the thread.

*You can also alternate popcorn with fresh cranberries, or separate popcorn into a few small bowls and spray with a mixture of water and food colouring (the night before stringing to allow time to dry). I've seen it done with red, green, and white (un-coloured) popcorn, and it looks really neat!
4.  Carefully hang the garland onto your Christmas tree.

My First Christmas In Heaven

Our family lost someone very special and dear to us, very suddenly on Thursday.  The next day my husband found this poem at the house.  It is so very relevant, and I wanted to share it with you.

I see the countless Christmas Trees around the world below, with tiny lights, like heaven’s stars, reflecting on the snow.

The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away that tear, for I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear, but the sounds of music can’t compare with the Christmas choir up here.

I have no words to tell you, the joy their voices bring, for it is beyond description, to hear the angels sing.

I know how much you miss me. I see the pain inside your heart, but I am not so far away.

We really aren’t apart. So be happy for me dear ones.

You know I hold you dear, and be glad I’m spending Christmas, with Jesus Christ this year.

I send you each a special gift, from my heavenly home above.

I send you each a memory of, my undying love.

After all “Love” is the gift, more precious than pure gold.

It was always most important in the stories Jesus told.

Please love and keep each other, as my Father said to do, for I can’t count the blessing or love he has for each of you.

So, have a Merry Christmas and wipe away that tear.

Remember, I’m spending Christmas, with Jesus Christ this year.