Why we use carseats...

I love to have a blog filled with the fun and joy of having and raising children but Saturday we had a very serious experience and I have to hop on a soapbox in my post for today.

I have had so many conversations with other moms who complain about their kids' car seats.  "They are so big!"  "They are so expensive!"  "My kids don't like them so I barely tighten the straps."  There are a lot of reasons that car seats can be obnoxious but I have always been a worry wart so I am way overprotective about what car seats our kids use.  Even though my four year old is big enough and old enough to use a booster seat, I still have him in a five point harness because he still fits in it (the shoulder straps can move two notches higher!) and it is way safer for him!  I wait to turn my babies forward facing and when my kids complain that the buckles are too tight I tell them if they are tight then they are safe.

On Saturday we were all driving to the grocery store and when we stopped at a red light, we were rear ended with everybody in the car.  There was no sound of tires screeching so the person who hit us was not slowing down, they were accelerating.  I screamed at the moment of impact because I felt the back of the headrest hit my head and was immediately confused as to what was happening.  I also screamed because your brain wants you to turn around and look at your children but your body is unable to move by your own doing because it is busy being moved by the force of the collision.  My four year old began to cry and continued for about 20 minutes.  He was hysterical and inconsolable.  Everyone else was fine.

The other person's speed was not "that" fast, but even a collision like that is scary, especially with all your little ones in the car.  My body was shaking and I was so scared but being the Mommy, I had to just hold it all inside because I didn't want to scare any of the children.  As soon as we pulled over, I got out and examined each kid.  My beautiful baby never even made a peep!  The damage to the vehicle is still unknown and we are taking it in today.  It's unclear how badly damaged the bumper and tailgate are.  I immediately filed an insurance claim and all four car seats have to be replaced due to being involved in an accident.  I couldn't believe that!  But I am so thankful all of my kids were in five point harnesses.

It's easy to want to move your kids up to the next car seat because it's easier or they are older or they are bigger but you know what?  I don't care!  I want my children safe, as safe as they can possibly be so I will continue to put my children into car seats with a five point harness until they truly outgrow them, not when the law says they are big enough to not use them.  I am convinced that if my four and six year olds were in booster seats (that most don't have anchors on), that they would have had injuries from the force of the impact.  A seat belt has to feel an impact before it can brace against it, a five point harness doesn't.  We have always talked to our kids about being safe in the car and I know most people around us think we are way too strict and anal, but Saturday was more than enough for me to feel justified in keeping my kiddos in the safest car seat possible.

Someone once told me when my oldest was a baby, "Remember that each upgrade in a car seat, backward to forward facing, five point to booster, booster to just a seatbelt, is a DOWNGRADE in safety."  I always remembered that and now I pass that on to you.  Please buckle your kiddos up nice and tight because you love them enough to do so!

That's all for my soap box rant today and thanks be to God for keeping my family safe!!

Thanks for reading!

Busy Mommy Blogger

Playing catch up.

Oh my gosh!  I can't believe how long it has been since my last post.  Halloween weekend was CRAZY!  We had such a blast trick or treating with the kids even though by the end of the night we were all exhausted.  Even though it is Wednesday, I feel like I am still recovering from the events of the weekend.

Here in Wisconsin, you never know what kind of weather you are going to have.  I was so happy that we had beautiful trick or treat weather.  My two year old was soooooooo cute going up to every house and saying "twick o tweeeeet!"  He didn't even care what was going in his pumpkin, he just liked having people give him something.  He also loved seeing all the other kids in their costumes and had a blast handing out candy too.  My four year old is so funny, he had a lot of fun but tired really quickly while my six year old could have trick or treated all day and all night!  The baby, well, she was purty cute in her pumpkin costume and made it almost all the way around the neighborhood before deciding she was done being on display.

All in all, it was an awesome weekend!  I can't wait to do it all over again next year!!

Thanks for reading!

Busy Mommy Blogger

Are you ready?

It's about to be one of the craziest weekends of the year.  HALLOWEEN!!  We are busy getting all of our Trick or Treat stuff ready.  Window clings?  Check.  Pumpkins?  Check.  Costumes?  Check.  Plastic candy holding pumpkins?  Check.  A fear of overly sugared up small children?  Check, check, and check.

Tomorrow we will be carving pumpkins and baking pumpkin seeds, an annual tradition at our house.  Sunday we will be going to my parents house to make caramel apples (a tradition I would like to start) and trick or treat, then back to our house for trick or treating with the neighbors.  Get ready people!  It's going to be a stressful, crazy, exciting, picture filled weekend!

Thanks for reading!

Busy Mommy Blogger

APPLES!!

Holy cow!  I am up to my elbows in apples!  Since I have so many apples and don't want to them to go bad, I have had to become creative in using them.  My kids love smoothies so for the last few days I have been making apple-y smoothies.  Here's my bare bones recipe for a smoothie that can be added to by any kind of fruit or yogurt, you could probably throw some veggies in too!!

1 - 8 oz container of Yoplait light yogurt, any flavor will do, I usually choose a flavor that meshes well with the fruit I plan on using
1 cup skim milk
1 cup crushed ice
1-2 cups of fresh sliced fruit, some of my favorites are blueberries, strawberries, bananas, raspberries, and of course, apples!

You can add some splenda if you prefer a sweeter smoothie but I leave them plain when I make them for the kids.  Also, if you like a chocolate smoothie you can add a package of chocolate Carnation Instant breakfast.  My kids also love chocolate smoothies.  If you have any favorite smoothie recipes, please send them my way!

Thanks for reading!

Busy Mommy Blogger

Go Packers!

It's another Packer Sunday and another day for Packer food!  Today we had an "orange" theme.  I don't usually stick to a theme of any sort but it just sorta worked out that way.  I made orange cream cookies, orange dip (an oniony chip dip handed down from my grandmother), and some spicy molasses drumsticks.  My mom and dad came over too and brought some cheese spread and crackers and different types of fudge. 


Turning chicken after broiling 12 min.

Putting chicken in slow cooker after broiling.



The kids were crazy for the first half hour of my parents being over.  I'm not sure why they all have to act like they just ate some pixie sticks and washed them down with Mountain Dew but it is inevitable that they will act crazy whenever company comes over because they are just so excited.


Boiling and reducing sauce from slow cooker.



Serving chicken!

 

I was able to make my cookies and dip last night and just had to make the chicken today which is actually really easy since it is a slow cooker dish.  I also like to wait until the drumsticks go on sale.  15 drumsticks for four bucks is a great price.  Everybody loved the food and the Packers won too, so all in all, it was a great afternoon! 

 

 

An update from yesterday's blog:  The kids love the applesauce!  I think I might make a bunch of applesauce and freeze it, we do tend to eat a lot of applesauce in the winter and the baby likes it too!

Thanks for reading!

Busy Mommy Blogger