Call me a sinner...

**Note: please don't read if you are easily offended on the topic of religion! Not trying to offend.. just writing my point-of-view! :) **

So now that the kids are getting to "that age" where a decision has to be made, Brandon and me had the big talk about what religion we were going to raise our family. This topic has been semi-wearing on me since they were born. Brandon and me both went to Catholic school growing up. We were born, raised, and married Catholic. So when Leo and Carm were born, naturally we had them baptized in the church. I wasn't sure why we did this. Neither of us go to church. We tried several when we got married, but realized that none of them were a good fit for us. But I guess we just felt that maybe as the kids got older we would end up succumbing to being church-goers and put the kids in CCD. Because....... well, again, I really don't know why! (enter guilt I suppose). This is where I believe I can be categorized as *gasp* a sinner!!!

Because the thing is, church is, well, BORING. There - I said it. B.O.R.I.N.G. I may get struck by lightning for saying it, but I just don't like it! Even as a kid, my favorite part of mass was communion because I knew the end would soon be following. I had so many daydreams during church. I loved watching the other parents trying to shush their kids by pulling out coloring books, dolls, games. I fidgeted, swayed, stared at Christ just hanging there.... just to keep my eyes open. All the while going through the mechanical motions of being a Catholic in church - like programmed robots.

As a small child growing up in Catholic school, on the contrary, was wonderful. We attended a school that was a real community. My parents were really involved, we knew everyone there. It felt good to be a part of it. And yeah - at one point I actually did want to become a nun! I really did enjoy religion class and enjoyed the thought of giving back. But we moved, joined a new church, and it never was the same. And as I have grown I have come to see the hypocrisy of things - the cover-up for some horrific occurrences - the greed - the man-made rules and the reasoning behind them, etc. I know people who still feel guilty eating meat on Fridays during Lent - and they haven't set foot inside a church for years!

During our class to baptize Carmela, one of the parents asked if instead of giving a donation to have their child baptized, could they possibly offer some type of service if they did not have money. The answer was a resounding "No". My response to that: Yuck. Seriously!!? And there are lots of things like this that really bother me. Another is the fact that the church doesn't support surrogacy or IVF. Because somehow that is interfering with God's plan. But apparently cancer treatments, medications, hospital visits, etc., are not interfering with God's plan (which to me is plain hypocrisy right there - you get cancer - you were meant to die - get chemo and you just screwed up God's plan too!). But apparently the church has the right to decide which man-made technologies are accepted by God and which are not. I mean, really? And you know, I am by no means bashing Catholicism. I know a lot of people who get a LOT out of being a part of it. I think the reason for religion is to give you guidance in life to be a good person and live a good life. And no matter what religion it is, if you can get that from it then it is a very very good thing. For me though, it wasn't cutting it.

My main reason for not wanting to send the kids to CCD is that we don't go to church. How can I send them somewhere to learn something and then not follow it myself? Hypocrisy of course! The old "Do as I say, not as I do". No, I won't do that to my kids. So my next thought was no religion at all. Which doesn't seem right to me either - I believe we need something to help us teach them or guide them through life. So my NEXT thought was, okay, instead of going to church on Sundays, we would spend the weekends (or at least a few times throughout the month) doing volunteer activities as a family or participating in non-profit organizations. This, I thought, would give the kids their moral and ethical backgrounds to make good decisions as people and feel good about doing decent things.

This is when we came across Buddhism from a person we work with. Buddhism???!! Weird - we can't possibly be Buddhists. That's just.... weird... right?! But the temple we came across was putting their weekly discussions on podcasts so Brandon downloaded some and made me listen. And they were, to my surprise, interesting! Captivating. To the point that I wanted to listen to them again just to really understand the messages being spoken. We decided to meet with the main Buddhist monk and explain our situation to see if it would indeed make a good fit to our beliefs. And it's just really odd - it is everything I wanted to teach the kids in a package. Everything we were looking for in a religion. And it's really not a religion. It's taught as a way of life. You can be as involved, or as little involved as you like. There is no guilt - no expectation of money (which ironically makes me want to donate more!) - nothing like that. If something they are teaching doesn't make sense to you, you are taught to question it and not follow it. Their goal is to teach you how to be happy and plainly be a good person and live a good life by giving back without expectations in return. It's the only "religion" that has never had blood-shed or persecution attached to spreading the following of it. The only religion where the founder (i.e. Buddha) never claimed to be a god or be any different than any other human being. They don't pretend to know the answers in life, just to give you something to follow. And you can still believe in God, believe in heaven, whatever it is that helps you get by. We also asked about holidays - curious what their take would be on celebrating things like Christmas and Easter. Their response to this is that you can still celebrate throughout the year, just make the holidays about celebrating family and make them times to focus on being together. Which, really, is what we were doing anyhow!

This specific temple also had a kid's program once a month, which was so perfect! The room the kids program was held in though was fairly small and they could only have so many kids at a time in there. I saw kids having to be turned away and thought how sad that was, so I offered to teach a second session a month. This is great for me because it forces me to really research and learn the Buddhist beliefs and principles. And I LOVE getting the chance to work with kids. They are so cute and innocent and I think the teachings of the Buddha are wonderful for their little growing minds. We do a little yoga, a meditation with a story, and a craft at each class.

Me and my Buddha Kids showing off their handmade lanterns

I can't know for sure I am raising good kids. I think as parents we strive to do the best we can, and then we sit back with our fingers crossed. There's no right way to parent that will end with a successful adult. Will they grow up and make good choices? Will they follow the path of a giving and loving person? I can only give them the pieces - when they are older it will be their job to put the puzzle together. For now I am just hoping that Buddhism might act as the glue :)

Product RAVE: Zoku Popsicle Maker...

When looking for Christmas presents this past year, I wanted to find a "group" gift for my niece and nephews that they would all love, wouldn't take up too much space, and something they didn't already have. I found the PERFECT gift! It was so perfect, I actually bought one for my own kids too :) Something I wouldn't want to live without: the Zoku popsicle maker from Williams Sonoma. I love it so much, I thought I would create a post about it!

So, in the package you get the unit itself, six popsicle sticks, six drip trays, and a small orange knob-looking thing that loosens the popsicles once they freeze to remove them from the unit.
The best thing about this product is that you can instantly make really healthy popsicles cheaply that the kids think are super special treats (i.e. when they beg for ice-cream, I say "Let's make popsicles instead" and they always think it's a great idea!). You keep the unit in the freezer for at least 24 hours, and when you are ready to make the popsicles you take it out, fill it up and wait usually about 9-10 minutes and Presto! You have three delicious popsicles! You can make up to 3 batches in a row, so 9 total, without having to refreeze the unit. When you are done making the popsicles you don't even have to wash it - just put some freezer wrap over the top and stick it back in the freezer for next time!
Here's the process outlined:

My lovely Carmela modeling some of our favorite juices to use! My favorite place to go is in the produce section at the grocery store near the fruits. They usually have a whole rack of natural drinks and when they are on sale they aren't too expensive at all. Plus you can get a ton of popsicles out of one bottle of juice - each one only takes maybe a quarter cup of juice.
Any "Naked" drink will work, or smoothie drink - and here we also used some Mott's Medleys fruit/vegetable mix apple juice. You can use any liquid as long as it has some sugar (natural or added) in it which prevents it from sticking to the unit, and as long as it isn't carbonated (you can let carbonated drinks such as root beer go totally flat and then use them if you want).

Here is the unit shown in our freezer. It takes barely any space at all, as you can see I have it shoved next to some frozen broccoli :) It's good to keep some freezer wrap on top just to avoid getting ice crystals on the inside too.

And sir Leo holding it to give some child-size perspective on size. Just don't let them touch (or lick) the top of it right after you take it out of the freezer. Think a Christmas Story with the flagpole - not funny when it's your kid and it's his tongue frozen to the top. Now, being the super safety-conscious mom that I am, this has never EVER happened to MY kids, so of course I actually wouldn't really know. I am just assuming it wouldn't be a good thing for you moms who don't watch what your kids are doing- lol :)

Here are a few of the sticks, drip trays, and remover tool.


So you just pop the sticks in, carefully pour in the juice, and wait about 10 minutes. The really fun part of this 10 minutes is the game you can play that we like to call "If you touch that one more time before it's ready, you don't get a popsicle!!!!!". My kids like to stick their fingers in just to "check" if it's ready. This is frustrating. If you must, place the unit on top of the refrigerator until it is ready. Or outside. Or lock it in the bathroom. Again, I have never had to do this with my children because they ALWAYS listen to me, but I just wanted to throw some tips out there for the rest of you.

Screw the knob-thingy on the popsicle stick, turn it a couple times, turn it back and take it off. You can see the popsicle separate from the inside when you do this. Then just snap on the drip trays and pull out the popsicle, and enjoy the next several minutes of quiet as your kids lick away their frozen creations. (as a side-note, please disregard Carmela's Dora underwear and lack of pants in this picture... I'm saving my "Adventures in Potty-Training" for another post another time!)


Here is another one I made just to show some variation. Part of the fun of it is you can make all kinds of different popsicles. This one I layered with all three juices. You can also add really thin slices of fruits (although this is slightly difficult to fit them in the compartment that the stick goes in). But we have successfully made ones with banana, strawberry, and kiwi slices. Plus they look all professional when they come out!
Liquids we have used for popsicles:
Apple Juice
Orange Juice
Pudding (just use it when it is soupy before it thickens up)
Carrot Juice
Kool-Aid
White Grape Juice
Strawberry-Banana smoothie drinks
Green-Machine (a combo of green fruits and veggies)
and my absolute favorite: Starbucks bottled Mocha Frappuccino - mmmmm
I suppose you could do spiked ones too using juice jacked up with vodka, but I suggest waiting till the kiddies are sleeping for that treat :)

Drinks that have NOT worked:
Plain black coffee (it didn't work because there was no sugar in it)
Root Beer (we didn't let it flatten out enough - any carbonation won't work)
NOTE:
When the popsicle doesn't work, you have to let the whole thing completely defrost and dry out, then you can stick it back in the freezer.

Cost:
$49.95 plus tax, available at the Williams Sonoma website (plus they have lots of fun accessories to go with it if you want - although I haven't tried any of them yet).
However, keep in mind that the unit basically lasts forever and you will never have to buy popsicles again!! So worth it in my mind - would make a fantastic Easter basket gift too!

I know I'm not much of a salesperson, but I jut wanted to spread the word on something I think is great!