Martha Stewart breakfast scramble

Martha Stewart’s Protein-Packed Breakfast Scramble

Ingredients

• 1 large egg, plus 3 large egg whites
• 4 ounces soft silken tofu, drained
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), chopped
• 1 scallion, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced

Directions

1. In a bowl, whisk together egg, egg whites, and tofu; season with salt and pepper.
2. In a small nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high; add bell pepper and scallion whites. Cook until scallion has browned, 3 to 5 minutes; transfer to a plate. Add egg mixture to skillet; cook, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula, just until set, 2 to 3 minutes. Top with bell-pepper mixture and scallion greens.

She’s Losing It: Measurement Update

Shauna’s Measurements

	Jan 12	Feb 25	Change
Left Arm	12.75	13	-0.25
Right Arm	12.25	12.5	-0.25
Chest	41.5	40.5	1
Waist	37	34	3
Hips	42	42	0
Left Thigh	24.5	24	0.5
Right Thigh	25	24.5	0.5
Left Calf	14.25	14	0.25
Right Calf	14.5	14.25	0.25
		INCHES LOST	5

Here you can see my measurements. Starting on 1-12-2009. And where I am now!

I am so happy to see this because I am feeling so much better these days and look better too (right Kip?) The pounds have not come off yet – but they will come off soon, I know it!

**Note to self: Those child-bearing hips may never get smaller.**

**Second Note to Self: Should the chest really be shrinking?**

Laci has been so diligent with me. If you have to ability to get a personal trainer – I completely recommend it. I have so many things in life that important to me right now…Responsibility and time/energy demands out the wazoo…I wouldn’t be sticking to this if it weren’t for her!

**Note to local readers…ProActiveWorX is having an Open House TONIGHT from 7pm-9pm – Stop by to see the Facility, Meet the Trainers & Enter for Door Prizes!**

When Shauna isn’t working out or keeping this website up, she writes rambles on about her life at Blah Blah Blog.

How to Fly on a Plane with a Toddler

With spring break and summer approaching, airline tickets are reserved with thoughts of pleasant vacations dancing in our heads. And then the thought occurs…

Crap! I am traveling with a toddler.

*insert ominous music here*

Traveling with a toddler can be like buying a lottery ticket. Rolling the dice on toddler behavior can cause even the calmest parent’s hearts to skip a beat.

There are the obvious suggestions of scheduling trips around naps, packing snacks, binkies, extra toys, activities, etc. Those are all good and should be investigated.

As the mother of three boys I want to introduce you to what we have come up with after years of experimentation:

The rolling car seat.

We learned early on that a car seat on the plane is a MUST. Our children were conditioned to sit in a car seat after hours/days/months/years of car travel. The ONE AND ONLY time we traveled on a plane without a car seat and with that child in our lap we vowed to never travel again…

After recovering from the trip, we reconsidered and evaluated where we had gone wrong.

The car seat is a must.

So, this is the latest contraption. It is a large luggage cart with wheels that the car seat can be strapped onto with one strap. It is important not to make it too complicated because about 50% of the time you will be required to dismantle it through security.

This allows you to strap your toddler into the seat while negotiating the airport. It gives you an extra hand to tote all the toddler stuff you need. The bonus is that the toddler is strapped in so he won’t be lost in the airport.

I usually wheel the toddler/carseat down to the plane assembled and take the carseat off at the plane entrance. Most plane aisles past first class will not accommodate it’s width.

The first thing I do when I find our seats is to install the carseat and strap the child in ASAP. The less time they realize that they can walk around the plane, the better.

The other recommendation I have is to prime the child. For weeks leading up to the trip I talk about how we will be on a plane.

How he will sit in his seat on the plane.

How he will fall asleep in his seat on the plane…

And when it works, it is PURE MAGIC!

I am on a Roll

For your math convenience:

Print this handy, dandy toilet paper conversion table and take it with you shopping next time.

You might also want to take your calculator.

You might also want to take a baseball bat to hit your head repeatedly.

Or you could just use your shoe.

Can I just say…..WHY CHARMIN?

Why is it necessary to produce 8 products that are actually just one product in variable sizes?

It is like they invented their own world over there at The Charmin and things just got out of control.

First they invented the regular roll. I may have not done proper research for this ground breaking piece of crap investigational blogging, but I don’t find an accepted world wide standard for toilet paper roll size (metric or otherwise).

So, they just named it.

Then they thought…gee, I think it would be great to have something a twice the size,

and then two and a half times the size

and then FOUR TIMES THE SIZE.

Stop the madness Charmin.

Next thing we know we will be carting home big wheels of toilet paper the size of truck tires that are 64 times the size of the fictional regular roll.

Then they went on to price each roll differently.

Then they went on to package each roll differently.

Then they market their product to mommies that are suffering from sleep deprivation and can’t do advanced math in their heads standing in the paper product aisle at Target supervising three children who are independently making their own selections of plates, plastic spoons and cartoon character decorated paper towels while screaming loudly and calling for a game of hide and go seek.

OH! And once you do choose your mega package (not to be confused with the mega roll which is 4 times the size of a regular roll)…it WILL NOT FIT IN THE CART. Just carry it under your arm while wrangling the three kids and pushing the cart (do I need to draw a picture?).

Conspiracy?

Octuplets…

There has been a lot on the news about the octuplets that were recently born in California.  I want to start by saying that I am amazed how far we have come with fertility medicine.  Not to mention, the amazing ability we now have to care for TINY newborns.

As the mom of more than the average 2 kids, I can appreciate any person’s desire to have a large family.  I am one of those that never thought I would have more than two kids, but somehow found myself surrounded by little munchkins.  If all things were perfect I would have a few more.  I obviously have no issues with big families.  I think you should have as many children as you like….

That is…as many as you can truly support and take care of.  The mother of the octuplets said (in what little of the Ann Curry interview I have seen so far) that people are upset because she did this as a single mom.  Let me just come right out and say that I do not think THAT is the major issue here.  Most people I have talked to have the same issues  I do.

(Nadya Suleman, the woman who gave birth to octuplets in January 2009.  Photo from www.time.com)

She already had six small children that she could not support alone.  Before people harpoon me by saying that she has said she never has been on welfare.  OK….she lied, but even so, she lives with her parents.  She stated that she will get by with help from friends, family and her church.  So, because she decided that six children was not enough she willingly took the risk to have multiples and is leaving it up to those around her to “help her out”.  We all get help from time to time from friends and family.  We get help with babysitting on occasion or a small loan to help us out from a parent.  But is it OK to continue to knowingly have children that you can not afford?  Is it OK to expect that others will help you out on a continual basis because you chose to do this? Not only that, but to take such a huge risk as to have multiples that could possibly require extensive care that, based on what has been released about this mother, she can not afford?

Here is the one thing I can applaud her for…not turning to selective abortion once she found out she was carrying multiples.

Having 14 kids is a great thing if you can support them and take care of them yourself.  But, having them for selfish reasons and then relying on others is not something I can support.

Cross posted at Frazzled LaShawn

Mommy Goes to Poker School

How does a stay at home mom of three little boys end up at WSOP Academy?

My amazing weekend adventure started over a month ago when during our 17th anniversary dinner my husband handed me an envelope. I opened it and read that I would be attending the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Tournament Academy and then tried to contain my excitement in the super fancy restaurant. It was nearly as hard as sitting quietly at a poker table when holding pocket aces.

*deep calming breaths*
*control body movements carefully*

The poker school was last weekend at WinStar Casino. It was a two day seminar of lectures, labs and a tournament. The academy professors were three professional poker players: Greg Raymer, Michael Gracz and Bernard Lee. The 35 or so academy students were from all over North America and I was one of 9 women.

My favorite part was the poker lab.

The poker lab was a frightening and educational experience. A poker professional would sit down at a table full of students, deal a hand and then watch the play. At the end everyone would flip over their cards and one by one defend their play.

Holy crap.

Let me just say that this was not only an eye-opening experience about how I play, but was a bit shocking to see the thought processes of other players.

So, how did I fare? Before I give you a few tips that I picked up, I want to mention that I was very proud of myself for not bursting into tears at any point during the weekend.

There is no crying in poker.

So here is how it went.

Michael Gracz gently reminded me that King – Jack is really not a premium hand even if it is suited after I called an all-in bet out of position and lost…

Greg Raymer commented I might have over-raised at 5 x the big blind…

Bernard Lee sat next to me for about 30 seconds during play and identified a huge tell…

I figure if I can remember my position, my cards, the pot odds, the implied odds, the reverse implied odds, the number of outs, the rule of 2, the rule of 4, how my opponents play, any tells they show, the amount I should raise, the amount I should re-raise, when to check, when to check-raise, when to fold, what cards are good in which position, how each of these elements might change at different levels of the tournament and recall this all within a 5 second pause after I look at my cards with a straight face and without moving my hands then I should be good.

Really good.

Until that time it might be in my best interest not to wear my WSOP Academy baseball cap when playing in tournaments…

She’s Losing It…Pressing On

Well, I have been at this body transformation for exactly 1 Month!

I started on January 17th.

I am going to be really honest. This past month has been tough. My trainer is amazing and if it weren’t for her – I would have given up already. But – don’t lose hope in my – I had a good day yesterday. Let me explain:

When I started this journey, I can remember saying to Laci, “I will transform quickly – trust me…I always have.”

It is a month later and I am exactly 160lbs. The exact same weight.

We have been training 3 days a week. The workouts are tough. I am eating much better than I was (not perfectly, but much better). Drinking more water. And so on and so on. This weekend, I started thinking, maybe I am just getting older. Maybe my body doesn’t work like it used to because I am 29 (sheesh, I have tons to look forward to if 29 is giving me this much trouble.)

Laci will even come to my house to train me in the backyard when I am being a slacker.

Then, yesterday came like a beacon of light.

I had an appointment with Dr. Ozzi – you may remember him from our initial appointment in Week 1. I finally got my blood work done and he evaluated 3 PAGES worth of stuff in my blood. (“Stuff” is a pretty big medical term I like to use.) Based on his evaluation, there are some internal things that are keeping me from getting the most out of my workouts and diet. He has put me on about 6 different vitamins that will help my “insides” to work with what I am doing on the outside.

I am so anxious to see if this makes a difference in my results. Please keep cheering me on – I need every bit of it right now! As if those bikini pictures weren’t enough motivation.

Shauna Callaghan
Burbmom.net Founder

When Shauna isn’t working out or keeping this website up, she writes rambles on about her life at Blah Blah Blog.

Academic Redshirting

Flower Mound and Highland Village Parents Waiting to Launch Kindergartners

Sam Van Ooven and his twin sister Anna were newborns when their parents began discussing kindergarten placement.

Like many well-educated couples, Steven and Laurie Van Ooven knew that their kids’ late July birthday would likely make them some of the youngest children in their class–and perhaps put them at a disadvantage academically and socially when competing with chronologically older peers.

So by the time their twins were five, the decision was almost a no-brainer: Following an additional readiness assessment, the siblings would do an “encore” year of preschool at Trietsch Enrichment Center in Flower Mound before moving on to kindergarten. This would give the siblings time to mature before taking on the rigors of an elementary-school curriculum.

“I think we almost decided at birth,” Mr. Van Ooven said. “They were summer babies. And since we had a boy coming, well, it was something that was pretty straightforward.”

Sam and Anna have plenty of company.

Six percent of all children eligible for kindergarten under state statutes in the Lewisville Independent School District are held back by their parents–a practice nicknamed “academic redshirting” by educators.

While that number is comparable to those in other communities nationwide, it is noteworthy that more than half of all children redshirted in LISD live in the affluent communities of Flower Mound and Highland Village, said Kathy Haule, the district’s Early Childhood Supervisor.

This means that on average, every kindergarten in these communities has at least one or two children who might be upwards of six and a half years old–a whole 18 months older than his or her classmates.

“I moved here from another part of Texas three years ago and it wasn’t even an issue, but it is quite a big topic here in LISD,” said Ms. Haule, whose position was created to coordinate the district’s pre-K and kindergarten programs.

Meanwhile, national experts are at odds over whether or not such practices help or hinder individuals.

“The research is mixed,” said Donald Easton-Brooks, an assistant professor of Teacher Education and Administration at the University of North Texas in Denton who has studied redshirting. “If you’re an impoverished community where parents can’t provide meals, then schooling…would be beneficial. If you’re a child in an affluent community, I don’t know how delaying a child would be a benefit.”

Moreover, Easton-Brooks worried about the societal impact on ethnic minorities, who are far less likely to be redshirted than their white peers and thus are competing with significantly older children. Pitting such children against one another is simply unfair, he said.

He said one thing is clear: The trend will continue–and escalate–especially in communities like Flower Mound and Highland Village where parents have the money to make choices.

READY OR NOT?

Currently, 125 of LISD’s 3,810 kindergarteners who started school in the Fall of 2008 have been previously redshirted, though parents’ reasons for doing so isn’t clear from district data, Ms. Haule said.

While the district does not currently keep track of redshirting trends, it seems as though more families become more concerned about kindergarten readiness when the district moved from half-day to full-day kindergarten in the 1990s, said Dean Tackett, a public information officer for LISD who served as an elementary school principal for 17 years.

“Parents began worrying about the demands and the endurance needed,” Mr. Tackett said. “When you’re in the suburbs, parents want kids to be stronger, faster, brighter.”

Despite interest in the topic, the district’s policy is in line with state laws and thus administrators encourage those with children who turn five years old by September 1 to enroll them in kindergarten, Ms. Haule said.

“Our official position is that any child legally of the age has a right to be education,” she said.

Still, many practitioners throughout the district including Ms. Haule encourage families to assess their children themselves for signs of readiness, consult with preschool teachers, day care providers and pediatricians before making any decisions.

Brandi Valor of Flower Mound talked to her daughter’s preschool teacher then opted to redshirt Isabelle, who was born August 13, based on the belief that she needed time to master academic fundamentals.

“Our daughter has always excelled socially, with her vocabulary, her conversation skills and the like,” Ms. Valor said. “We felt the extra time to master her letters and numbers would be time well spent. We want school to be a fun, exciting experience for our kids, not something they have to struggle with.”

Marion Greer of Lewisville was sure her “sweet, sensitive son” was ready academically for kindergarten even though he had a late August birthday, yet she was concerned he didn’t quite have the social skills necessary. Thus, she held him back.

“It was the best decision we’ve ever made–he bloomed in that extra year,” the former kindergarten teacher said. “I truly believe allowing students to have maturity when starting school is the greatest gift we can give.”

She added that the benefits have been long-lasting: Not only did he have a positive kindergarten experience, but he also excelled in first and second grades and is performing well now as a third grader.

While parents like Ms. Greer often make such observations, early childhood education advocates aren’t so sure children who are redshirted gain anything from it.

“There is no research to support the idea that holding a child back helps them in school–even if the kid is young,” said Jerlean E. Daniel, the deputy executive director at the Washington-based National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Ms. Haule, of LISD, countered that even if there is an advantage early on, “the bottom line is that any gain the child seems to have socially or emotionally going in seems to diminish by middle or high school.”

She added that “research shows that academic gains…begin to even out by third grade.”

Furthermore, Ms. Daniel contends that some of the very children who parents aim to help are actually hurt by redshirting.

Families have to ask themselves, “is my six-year-old going to be bored (academically) or really far ahead in terms of life experience?” she said.
If so, hanging out with five-year-olds is going to be a drag, Ms. Daniel added.

Furthermore, children who are bored often become behavior problems, she said.

ASSESSMENT KEY

The best thing to do, then, is to assess the individual child and remember that kindergartens include a diverse group of students, said BeLinda Nickel, who has served as principal of Heritage Elementary School in Highland Village for 11 years. “Some kids come very, very prepared and others don’t know letters or have number recognition.”

This is expected, she said, and addressed by kindergarten teachers who aim to help all children gain the knowledge an skills needed to move on to first grade.
Moreover, a child who has a strength in one area will likely have a weakness in another, added Robin Macke, the principal of Wellington Elementary School in Flower Mound. Thus, a student who has mastered the alphabet can work on learning to sit quietly during story time, she said.

Remember, too, that age won’t change a child’s personality, she said. Those who are shy might always be shy–and they’ll gravitate towards others who are quiet, too.

“If you can rule out possible learning issues…and everything else is intact, bring ‘em to me,” Ms. Macke said.

As a mother of six children, she admits this is easier said than done.

“The hardest thing,” Ms. Macke said, “is to stand back and say ‘It’s going to be fine.’”

————————————————————————
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Julie Blair is a freelance journalist based in the Dallas area. She has written about local, state and national education issues for more than 10 years. Ms. Blair is also the author of the book “Building Bridges With the Press: A Guide for Educators.” Julie writes a personal blog, Chocolate Covered Pajamas.

Brotherhood Against Girls

For some reason, probably do to lack of distractions, the minivan has become the place for conversation. The boys feel free to express opinions and pelt me with questions whenever we are in the car.

Often they carry on conversations between themselves and when I try to interject something it is met with a trio of “MOM! We are talking!” It is super cute and I might admit to tormenting them just a little because they deserve it.

They have been a little obsessed with the whole boy-girl thing. We have had discussions about why girls don’t spend the night at our house. We have had further discussions as to what girls have exemptions from this rule, i.e. cousins, mommies, grandmas, aunts, babysitters, etc. And even further discussions revolving around what happens in families that have SISTERS.

SISTERS has been a hot topic in the van with many questions revolving around who has sisters, what sisters are like and how weird it would be to have one. The boys are in the ewww-y girl stage so usually this conversation degrades into one of them calling the other one a girl and defensive screaming ensues in stereo.

Reid (5): Mommy, can a boy have a sister?

Me: Of course, many families have both brothers and sisters.

Can a boy marry his sister?

No honey, brothers and sisters can’t marry.

Why not?

It is complicated, but it is better to find a wife you are not related to…

Ryan (7), interrupting: It is because they are from the same family and have the same germs.

They have the same germs. I don’t know why I interject my opinion. They figure these things out pretty well on their own.

Real Housewives Showdown

Real ‘burb housewives versus the real housewives of OC and NYC.

The much anticipated hit series The Real Housewives of New York City returns to the Big Apple for a second season of drama with everyone’s favorite Manhattan ladies. Premiering on Tuesday, February 17 at 11 p.m. ET/PT, (immediately following the season finale of The Real Housewives of Orange County) The Real Housewives of New York City follows six glamorous women as they balance motherhood, demanding careers and a fast-paced social calendar in the most exclusive areas of New York.

So what do they have on suburbia?  Let’s find out!  Join us for a LIVE chat on our connect site as we watch the premiere on Tuesday, February 17th at 10pm from our cozy living rooms.  After the premiere, Click below to log on and join the virtual party next week!

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