Happy Birthday April Babies

Aries

March 21-April 20

Sun Sign: Aries

Sign: The Ram

Ruling Planet: Mars

Gender: Masculine

Element: Fire

Quality: Cardinal

Compatibility: Taurus and Virgo

Non-Compatibility:Leo, Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius

Some Famous Arians include: Leonardo da Vinci, Elton John, Marlon Brando, Casanova, Wilbur Wright.

Taurus

April 21-May21

Sun Sign: Taurus

Sign: The Bull

Ruling Planet: Venus

Gender: Masculine

Element: Earth

Quality: Fixed

Compatibility: Aries, Taurus, and Scorpio

Non-Compatibility- Aquarius,and Sagittarius

Some Famous Taureans include: Queen Elizabeth II, Cher, Barbara Streisand, William Shakespeare, Sigmund Freud, Eva Peron, Socrates, Malcolm X,.

Cutest Kid Ever

                                             This is Lily

Lily is 4 and lives with her two Mommies and big sister Gabby.  Some of her favorite things are, swimming, gymnastics, playing outside, making art, and spending time with her family.  Congratulations Lily for being our Cutest Kid for the month of April!

Recipe for the week

     If your from the Western part of Pennsylvania, chances are you grew up on Ham BBQ.  I'm talking about some Isaly's Chipped Chopped Ham and Kens BBQ sauce on a big ole Kaiser bun.  If not...well I feel sad for you cause it's BANGING!  When I moved to the other side of the state near Reading, people had no idea what I was talking about.  Now that we're back on the East side we eat it pretty often.  Ang had never heard of it either, but after her first bite she was hooked!  Her mom and brother came to visit us last summer and I made it for them.  They loved it.  So the other day someone gave Ang a recipe and swore that the sauce tasted the same as Ken's.  I was highly skeptical, so I made it.  Hardly the same as Kens, but after I tweaked it a little it was pretty close.  So if you don't live around her and can't get your hands on some of Kens sauce, try this.

2 1/2 Tbs. Grape Jelly
1 Tbs. Mustard
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Cups Ketchup
salt and pepper to taste
2lbs. Chipped Ham
Mix your sauce in a crock pot and let it cook on high for about 20 minutes, just until ingredients are well blended and sauce is hot, add your chipped ham and cook on low for a half an hour.  That's it.  Serve on your favorite bun and add cheese if you like.  It's not Kens, but it's pretty damn close.

How can we be a family?

     One day, when Logan was around 4, he asked me, "Mama, how can we be a family?  There's supposed to be a mom and a dad."  Looking into his his big brown eyes, I tried to figure out the best way to explain it to him.  I said," Well honey, you have a mom and a dad, but a family is made up of a lot of people and everyone can't live in the same house.  There are all different kinds of families, some kids live with grandparents, some live with aunts and uncles, some with brothers and sisters, some have two moms others have two dads and some kids only have one parent.  Your family is special because you have two moms.  One mom is great, but TWO! Boy you're a lucky kid to have two mommy's that love you.  Most kids only get one."
     Logan loved my answer.  Now he tells everybody,"My two mom's".  He knows our family is different than most of his friends, heck ALL of his friends, but he doesn't think it's strange at all.
     One night at cub scouts, all the kids had to draw a picture of their family and then sit in a circle and describe what they drew.  It was Logan's turn and I am standing in the corner with all the other parents, mostly dad's and thought to myself, here we go.  The cub scout leaders are aware of our lifestyle but I didn't know if the other parents knew or not.  I could feel myself holding my breath as Logan began to speak.
     "This is me, this is my mom, this is my little brother Wyatt and this is my other mom Ang."
One of the other kids says, "WHAT?"  Real loud, and another one says's, "Yeah Logan has two moms."
As I'm looking around at the other parents to see their expressions, the cub scout leader says, "well that's ok," and they continued on.
     I'm not sure if any of the parents noticed or not,  I don't see how they couldn't or maybe they already knew.  Ang and I have both taken him to meetings and most of the time we all go together.  It's still strange to me sometimes trying to figure out ways to tell people.  It's not exactly an easy conversation to start because you never know how people will react. I mean straight people don't say,"Hi it's nice to meet you I'm straight."  If people don't like it, that's ok with me.  I don't need any one's approval to feel good about my life.  I only hope Logan and Wyatt will not have to suffer the loss of friendships because their parents don't approve.
     Ultimately I know it's going to happen someday,  but instilling kindness and having an open mind to all people is what we try to teach our boys.

75 degrees in March.......We'll take it! Erie Zoo here we come

While most people I know were partying it up on St. Patty's day... shouts out to my fellow Irishmen... we were not.  Now don't get me wrong, I love green beer just as much as the next person, but alas we had the wee ones this holiday.  So we decide to go out and soak up the sun at the Erie Zoo.  I cannot say enough good things about this place.  First of all it's cheap!  At this time of the year in the off season it's only $4.00 for kids and $7.00 for adults.  Even during the regular season it's cheap.  This zoo is Awesome and our kids love it!  They have a train ride, a Merry Go Round, a petting zoo, playgrounds and picnic areas, a craft center, and so much more.  We spent a good 3 hours there, took a cooler and left it at a table, no one bothered it.  They also have staff all around the zoo with animals you can pet, bones of animals you can touch, and they will give you a little lesson on the animals, what they eat, and how they live.  This is a nice little zoo to spend the day at, not too big for the little ones who can't walk so far.  We have been there 3 times so far and will definitely be going back!  Thanks to the staff at the Erie Zoo, you guys do a great job and we just love ya for it! 

Polar Bear 

 Train set

 Rhino's

 My favorite, the baby Giraffe

Skull of a Giraffe

Merry Go Round

Kids playground

 Kangaroos

The Train

Just a quick Helpful Hint

If you have kids in school or daycare, I'm sure your dreading the day that note gets sent home saying someone has lice.  Help keep your kids safe by using this one simple tool.
12 drops of Tea Tree Oil in your shampoo bottle.  Ask your local pharmacist where you can find it, most stores carry it.  Lice hate Tea Tree Oil, even if there is an out break your child will be safe.  We have been using it ever since Logan started preschool.  You do have to be careful when rinsing not to get it in their eyes.  We fold up a washcloth for them to cover their eyes with.  Hopefully we never experience lice and we hope you don't either!

Another Yummy Drink

                                   My Grandmas Homemade Wine
                                    getting people tipsy since 1960
In a big soup pot combine:
4 cups sugar
3 1/2 quarts (14 cups) of hot tap water, stir to melt sugar
1 small cake of Fleishmann's yeast, break up into pot
Add 1 thawed can of Welche's  frozen Grape Juice
Stir
Funnel in a wine bottle to a 1/2 inch below the neck, top bottle with a LARGE balloon, and leave bottle sit for 25 days, starting with the next day after you make it.  Pour into a new bottle, filtering out the sediment.
And most importantly---------don't forget to send me a bottle!!!  LOL

Cutest Kid Ever

                                            This is Madeline

She will be 5 next month, she loves her Doggie, her Mommy, big sister Danielle, and her Aunt Marg.  Her favorite things are Gymnastics, The Fresh Beat Band, hanging at the beach, Fairs and Parades, playing outside, and animals.  Rock on Madeline you are definitely one of the Cutest Kids Ever!

Thank you Danielle for this picture it was my favorite!

Happy Birthday March Babies

     A little astrological info for all of you horoscope lovers out there.
Pisces- February 19- March 20
Sun Sign- Pisces
Sign- Two Fish
Ruling Planet- Neptune and Jupiter
Gender- Feminine
Element- Water
Quality- Mutable
Compatibility- Aquarius, Pisces, and Virgo
Non-Compatibility- Cancer, Scorpio, and Capricorn

A few famous Pisceans include- Jean Harlow, Alexander Graham Bell, Buffalo Bill Cody, Albert Einstein. Michelangelo, and Elizabeth Taylor.

Aries- March 21- April 20
Sun Sign- Aries
Sign- The Ram
Ruling Planet- Mars
Gender- Masculine
Element- Fire
Quality- Cardinal
Compatibility- Taurus and Virgo
Non-Compatibility- Leo, Gemini, Libra and Aquarius

A few famous Arians include, Leonardo da Vinci, Muddy Waters, Elton John, Marlon Brando, Harry Houdini, Casanova, and Johan Sebastian Bach.

Just a quick FYI

     If you live in our area, and are a WMS (Walmart Shopper) head towards the toys.  In the middle of the isle they have a HUGE clearance going on right now.  We had a birthday present to buy for a party on Sunday.  It was originally $29.00, we got it for $7.00.  Everybody loves a good bargain!