February 2009 Archives

Written by guest author Debbie Yocum on the topic "Generations of Recipes":

Debbie Yocum
Guest Author

When I was growing up, my mother would make the best apple pancakes. On a Sunday morning we would hear her in the kitchen with the blender going and we knew that we were in for a treat.

Apple Pancakes

2 teaspoons of melted butter
2 teaspoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
3/4 cups flour
1 apple quartered (with the skin still left on)
1/8th of a tea spoon of cinnamon
1 cup of milk

You need to add everything but the flour and the baking powder to the blender and run it on low speed until everything is blended. Then you add the flour and the baking powder and run the blender at high speed. Grease the skillet and then pour the batter onto the skillet. The batter will make 8 to 10 pancakes and they are actually more like little crepes than pancakes. My mother's parents were Scandinavian so crepes were more common in our house than the traditional pancakes and they are so good!! They are easy to make too.

Octuplets mom Nadya Suleman has failed to accept an offer for around-the-clock care of all 14 of her children made by "Angels in Waiting," an organization that provides individualized care by pediatric nurses and other professionals.

A week ago attorney Gloria Allred and "Angels" founder Linda West-Conforti offered Suleman and her children free medical and emotional services, as well as a place to stay and 24-hour care.

The offer included 12 caretakers for the children - which would normally cost approximately $135,000 a month. At the time the offer was made Allred stated that if Suleman didn't accept it, all 14 of her children could end up in foster care.

Allred and West-Conforti will hold a news conference today at 2 p.m. in Los Angeles to discuss the offer and Suleman's failure to accept before the deadline of Thursday at midnight. Allred will also comment on what she believes should happen next.

Best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert, the final lecturer in the UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center's 2008-2009 Arts & Letters Lecture Series, will speak at the Palm Springs High School Auditorium at 2401 E. Baristo Drive in Palm Springs Thursday, March 12 at 6 p.m.

Gilbert's recent book, "Eat, Pray, Love," was published in over 30 languages and has more than 4.7 million copies in print.

Tickets are $35 and it is open to the public. For information call 760-834-0590 or visit www.palmdesert.ucr.edu.

For those dads out there looking for budget-friendly activities to do with a baby Greg Bishop, founder of Boot Camp for New Dads, has some suggestions.

Bishop, whose non-profit orientation program for dads-to-be operates in more than 260 hospitals, clinics, schools, fire stations and churches throughout the U.S. and internationally, shared these ideas in his most recent book, "Crash Course for New Dads: Tools, Checklists and Cheat Sheets."

• Take a tour of your home with baby in a front carrier, letting him or her grab things within reach.
• Sing songs together. It doesn't Sing songs together. It doesn't matter if it's a lullaby or rock 'n' roll as long as it's repetitive and sung with enthusiasm.
• Give him/her "airplane" rides through the house or yard.
• Create some tall buildings with blocks then let him/her knock them down.
• Put baby in a carrier and go on short hiking adventures.
• Build an indoor obstacle course with pillows and sheets for tunnels that baby will enjoy crawling through.
• Start a kitchen band with pots and pans and spoons and really make some noise.
• Play "hide and seek" with toys to teach him/her how to find his/her hidden treasures.
• Encourage your little artist with crayons or non-toxic finger paint. Spread newspaper on the kitchen floor and cover with drawing paper.
• Bring the bath and beach toys into the tub along with a colander and let baby have a blast sinking ships and making "rain".
• Make funny faces together while looking in a mirror. Use shaving cream to give baby a mirror beard and moustache.
• Make junior an instant sports fan. Watch your favorite team together on TV and practice doing the wave.

See more on Bishop at www.DadsAdventure.com

Always on the hunt for a great bargain? Families everywhere are scaling back, but we all still need new things sometimes. Savvy Chick Kids put together a large consignment sale last October with 50 consigners and found it was a popular event.

So from March 27-30 the second sale will take place at the Riverside Community Church and 100 consigners are already signed up. Check out www.savvychickids.com to register as a consignor or hit the sale in just a couple weeks.

Ed Doud, father of Nadya Suleman, mother of 14 who has garnered so much media attention in the last several weeks, had a sit down with Oprah.

Doud, now divorced from Nadya's mother, Angela, told Oprah that Nadya wasn't herself during her interview with NBC's Anne Curry. He said she had been taken from the hospital at midnight to a secret location so she hadn't slept and was still medicated.

Oprah responded by saying that many news outlets including her show had vied for the opportunity to interview Nadya at that time and that someone had chosen that path. And, she said she thought Curry did a fine job of being sympathetic and open to her.

Doud replied that he knows his daughter well and that while she may have appeared in control to viewers, in his eyes she was not in control.

He also stated that she wanted more children in spite of already being a mother to six for religious reasons and because she trusted her doctor.

The NBC interviews aired on the "Today" and "Dateline" shows Feb. 9 and 10. Nadya Suleman gave birth to the octuplets Jan. 26 and was released from the hospital Feb. 5 after a more than two month stay.

NBC responded to Doud's comments with a statement to the Associated Press saying that Suleman was not taken from the hospital and that the interview took place at the time of her choosing.

A video of octuplets mom Nadya Suleman arguing with her mother Angela over the birth of eight more children when she already had six at home was recenty released by gossip Web site www.radaronline.com.

Angela Suleman tells her daughter, "you should have considered your six other chidren" before going through IVF again.

Nadya argues that it's in the past and you can't go back. She was unwilling to destroy any of the embryos when she found out there were eight.

A former boyfriend has also come forward stating that he wants paternity tests to see if he is the father. Denis Beaudoin told ABC's Good Morning America that he had donated sperm to Nadya Suleman before she had any children because she had asked him to.

Every family has its recipe collection, but some are more organized than others. Riverside resident Valerie Vinson was given her grandmother's collection last year and it is filled with handwritten directions and neatly-labeled envelopes full of magazine clippings from a different era.

Mark Zaleski/The Press-Enterprise

Valerie's paternal grandmother, Ira Ivan Vinson passed the collection to her daughter (Valerie's aunt) Madeline Currie, who then passed it to Valerie.

"I didn't know my grandmother very well ... my aunt remembers ... she tears up thinking about it," Valerie said.

Ira Ivan Vinson was born in 1902, married in 1920 and died in 1981.

She could have collected the recipes anytime during her life but ... it seemed to me that they were mostly from about 1940 to the 1960s, Valerie said. The recipes in the book from the 70s and 80s were collected by Aunt Madeline.

"I think people LOVE old recipes," she added. "I posted some photos on MySpace and a stranger I didn't even know wanted me to type up all the recipes for her or post them!"

Mark Zaleski/The Press-Enterprise

Here's a sample from the collection:

Quick Dropped Doughnuts
By Doris Tisdale
Home Service Center

For about 30 small doughnut balls you'll need:
Flour, enriched, 1 1/2 cups
Baking powder, 2 teaspoons
Salt, 1/2 teaspoon
Nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon
Cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon
Sugar, 1/2 cup
Milk, 1/2 cup
Salad oil or melted shortening, 1 tablespoon
Egg, unbeaten, 1
Fat for frying (vegetable shortening, lard or salad oil), 5 to 6 cups

Frying temperature: 365 degrees
Frying time: 3 to 5 minutes

Before you start to mix: Put enough fat in deep saucepan (3-quart) so that melted fat or oil will only half fill it. Place over medium heat, clip thermometer on side of saucepan and set basket in place. At 365 degrees it browns in 60 seconds.

1. Sift flour onto waxed paper; measure, add baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Sift again. Keep an eye on your thermometer while mixing batter.
2. Measure sugar, milk, oil or shortening into small bowl of electric mixer; add egg, beat about 1 minute at medium speed. Or use hand beater until well blended.
3. Add flour mixture all at once and beat at low speed about 1/2 minute; scrape bowl with rubber scraper and beat 1/2 minute. Or stir with spoon until well mixed.
4. Quickly drop 5 spoonfuls of batter (about 1 teaspoon each) into the hot fat at 365 degrees. Dip teaspoon in the fat each time and push the batter from spoon with a spatula.
5. Turn at once with metal spoon. Fry until browned, turning several times. Drain doughnuts in basket about 30 seconds; then on absorbent paper. Repeat for all.

Thanks for sharing Valerie!

Do you have a chef in the making? Jr. Chefs of America is looking for cooks ages 10 to 18 to join their team in the Webisode Cooking Contest.

Contestants should submit their own homemade cooking video by April 17 and winners will be announced May 11. Winners will include Master Jr. Chef, 2nd place and Runner up.

Entries will be judged on food presentation, knowledge of recipe, knowledge of technique, personality, quality of video, overall Jr. Chef presence.

Videos should be 2 to 7 minutes long (no longer than 8) and must be submitted on DVD. Contestants must also submit a written list of the tools used, the ingredients and the steps in the recipe. A hard copy of the DVD and text version of "how to" - no e-mail submissions will be accepted.

The video should explain how to prepare one simple kid-friendly dish and can include cooking tips.

Go to http://www.jrchefsofamerica.com/webisodecontest.html for a complete list of rules.

The submission should be sent to:
Jr. Chefs of America
4130 Cahuenga #305
Universal City, CA 91602

As part of a monthly workshop for girls ages 10 to 13 women engineers will be highlighted Saturday, Feb. 21 at 11 a.m at the Taco Bell Discovery Science Center.

NASA

Jackie Jaron

"Exploring Engineering" will feature Jackie Jaron, an aerospace systems engineer who worked for NASA, JPL and Northrop Grumman. Jaron will share her experiences flying on the "Weightless Wonder" during college, working with astronauts in NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory and designing a vital piece of a satellite currently being developed to monitor the Earth's poles.

In addition to Jaron's talk, six other women engineers from the Orange County Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers will be on hand to talk about their experiences and to offer advice for those considering a career in the engineering field. These guest speakers include:
Kathleen Curley - Process Engineer, Fluor Corporation
Courtney Cleary - Process Engineer, Fluor Corporation
Dalia Guizar - Aerospace Engineer, The BoeingCorporation
Michelle Tuchscher - Engineering Specialist, Seimens Building Technologies
Paola Charvira - Piping Materials Engineer, Fluor Corporation
Shannon Pollock - Systems Engineer, The Boeing Company

The lecture, which is open to the public and free with admission to the musum, will be followed by a hands-on workshop and luncheon for girls age 10 to 13 who register in advance. For more information and to register for the workshop, visit www.discoverycube.org.

Nadya Suleman, mother of 14 including the octuplets whose births recently caused such furor, has announced she will not have any other children. And, her mother, Angela, has made conciliatory statements toward her daughter, saying once she saw how hard her daughter has been trying to care for the newest eight grandchildren, she could no longer maintain the hard feelings.

"You can resent your daughter for just so long and then you see that she's trying so hard to take care of these children," Angela Suleman said in a CBS "The Early Show" interview posted on the network's Web Site. "She's a very good mother ... but then she had a good example.

"My goodness, these are my grandchildren. They're so tiny and fragile. I'll have to be there for them, you know, like I was for the others," she said.

The Killeen Furtney Group that had been providing publicity services for Suleman made a statement Saturday that the Los Angeles-based company would no longer act as her publicist due to death threats. The Group's president Joann Killeen stated that Nadya Suleman told her Wes Yoder, president of the Franklin, Tenn.-based company, Ambassador Agency Inc., would be representing her in the future.

However Yoder released a statement Monday saying his company was not representing the mother of 14.

Yoder's company provided publicity for the pastor Rick Warren and set up book and music deals for the McCaughey septuplets about a decade ago.

Written by Heather Parenti in response to the entry "Brown releases statement on alleged altercation":

The issue of pop-culture icons being caught doing something disreputable is common in our lives. I believe it should be discussed and explained to a child at an early age. We are in a culture of looking toward pop-culture for our identity. This is unhealthy. As a mother and psychotherapist, I encourage children to seek there own identity away from pop-culture and within their hearts and minds.

Humans make mistakes. People are not always raised with strong values. Some famous become famous because they needed to escape a tough life of violence, abuse, and poverty. Some famous people were not raised with a strong moral base. I encourage people to not be influenced by what happens in pop-culture. I encourage kids not to have role models but to be their own forces in life.

I grew up with famous people around me. My husband deals with sports figures. We do not shield our son from the mistakes of these individuals. In doing so, we encourage our son to make good choices and be aware of the negative influences around him.

The "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series has a new book coming out. "Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms," will be released March 24 and contains stories by Lynne Spears, Jodi Picoult, Jillian Reynolds and many more moms in the spotlight.

In her story, "A Mother's Intuition," Britney Spears' mother Lynne Spears wrote about the sixth sense every mom possesses. "It's our job as moms to act on that sixth sense we have, the one that tells us something is not as it seems," she wrote, recalling one of Britney's first pageants. "The pageant lived up to my fears, and then some. The mothers were appalling backstage, fussing over their daughters and backstabbing the other contestants. I put her in the wrong dress (it didn't even fit properly) and the wrong kind of socks. Britney ended up placing near the bottom, and the poor little thing was in tears."

Jodi Picoult wrote about a different type of day, that of a working mom. In "The Second Shift," she recalled her struggle transitioning from a nine-to-five writing schedule with a nanny to help with the kids, to no nanny, no nine-to-five, trying to write only when her husband, Tim, came home after six.

"Some things you just can't do with three kids who are awake," wrote Picoult. "You can't drink a cup of hot coffee - someone's always tugging on your leg. You can shop for groceries, but it becomes an Olympian event."

She admitted something came of her role as a full-time mom. "I stare at my computer, where I am supposed to be mulling over the plot and characters of a new novel," she wrote. "But I find myself thinking instead of my own children, characters who have taken the story of my own life and have given it twists stranger and far sweeter than in any fiction."

The book will also include stories about:

• How Liz Lange raised her children while building a maternity clothing empire


• How bestselling author Jane Green left an unhappy marriage, became a single mom and embarked on a writing career


• How Wendy Walker wrote her first novel from the backseat of her minivan


• How Melora Hardin of NBC's The Office helped her daughter overcome a fear of heights


• How grateful husbands stand in awe of their do-it-all wives

Last weekend the alleged altercation between R&B singer Chris Brown, 19, and singer Rihanna, 20, hit headlines, shocking many fans. Although rumors of the couple's volatile relationship had circulated in the past.

The first response to the incident from either party was released yesterday in the form of a written statement saying he was "sorry and saddened" over his alleged assault of Rihanna.

"Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired," he said. "I am seeking the counseling of my pastor, my mother and other loved ones, and I am committed, with God's help, to emerging a better person."

The allegations remain vague over what took place in the early hours of Sunday, Feb. 8. The couple was in a rented Lamborghini and an alleged altercation took place shortly after midnight. Rihanna received hospital treatment for her injuries. Brown voluntarily surrendered himself to the police later that day.

TMZ reported that Rihanna herself made the call to the police after a short period of unconsciousness. They also said she was left with a bruised and bloody face and bite marks on her arms and fingers. TMZ reported that Brown will almost certainly be charged with felony domestic battery.

Brown's statement also said that "much of what has been speculated or reported on blogs and/or reported in the media is wrong."

Rihanna's father, Ronald Fenty, stated that she will speak out at some point and he hopes "she will stand up for women all over the world.

Rihanna is currently residing in her native Barbados.

Written by Frank Dagonese, grandfather of "Bachelor's" Naomi Crespo in response to "'Bachelor' mom inspired by daughter" entry:

Unfortunately, the Bachelor production of ABC Network presented a one-sided view of Naomi's family. But sensationalism is what sells newspapers and boosts TV ratings! Had her step dad, grandparents, and uncles been invited to the Elsinore caper (like in the case of the Canadian family interview) there would have been a more balanced expose' of a typical American family.

"Frankly Speaking" Dagonese
(Naomi Crespo's grandpa)

Update on Weekly Topic:
http://blogs.pe.com/moms/2009/02/octuplets-grandmother-isnt-hap.html
http://blogs.pe.com/moms/2009/02/it-would-take-a-village.html
http://blogs.pe.com/moms/2009/02/suleman-denies-receiving-welfa.html
http://blogs.pe.com/moms/2009/02/worried-about-octuplets-needs.html
http://blogs.pe.com/moms/2009/02/donations-site-goes-up-for-oct.html

When octuplets mom Nadya Suleman chose to emplant six more embryos to add to her family that already included six children she didn't pick the best timing. When others across the nation - especially California - are cutting back, clipping coupons and trying to hang onto their jobs (or looking for new ones) her choices led to a new bill from Kaiser Permanante sent to the state's Medicaid program that could be in upwards of several million dollars.

The fact that she receives a couple thousand a month in food stamps and SSI payments didn't increase her popularity among most of the public either. And, when that amount rises further when the newest eight of her 14 children are added to the cost, the public may like it even less.

In the latest news released yesterday it was said she is receiving death threats. Her publicist said she is staying in an undisclosed location with her older children. The octuplets remain are still under observation in the hospital.

Followup to "'Bachelor' visits Lake Elsinore" entry:

It was tough for Lake Elsinore mom Joanne Fruin to see her daughter Naomi cry when "Bachelor's" Jason Mesnick failed to give her a rose at the end of Monday's hometown episode.

"Watching her get upset and cry upset me," Fruin said in a phone interview. "It's important to me for people to know how inspirational she is in my life."

Fruin didn't know about Naomi's "Bachelor" application until she had gotten her first interview. Naomi was living with her sister in Austin at the time and had applied as a joke because her friends kept saying she should try it.

"She said she wouldn't go on the show unless it was someone who would really interest her in real life," Fruin said. "By the third interview she was sure."

When it got down to the hometown dates, the Fruin family didn't plan much.

"I'm very spontaneous about things," she said. "I wanted to make it fun for him and knowing it was on television, we wanted it to be entertaining."

The dead dove portion of the show was an afterthought. Fruin remembered being a child and burying pets or birds like this one.

"As a kid at heart, I don't need too much persuasion to have fun with some role playing," she said. "I wanted to see how Jason would do with a eulogy ... how spontaneous he could be in a situation like that. Our family always plays. I wanted to be sure it was up his alley."

Naomi is one of five children who grew up between Lake Elsinore and Rochester, NY. She graduated from Cal State San Marcos with a B.A. in Media and Communications and was offered a job just before filming began on "The Bachelor" as a flight attendant with Compass Airlines.

The airlines said the job would still be waiting for her and it was, Fruin said. "Naomi is going to go places. I've always know that in my heart since she was a kid."

Written by guest author Debbie Yocum on the topic "Too Many Children?"

Nadya Suleman made a very selfish decision to have more children and now she is in denial about it. The problem is that she now has 14 children to take care of and there is no possible way that she can do that by herself. The fact that she is even thinking about going to work to support them is nuts. We have a large family and we know from first hand experience that you cannot do everything yourself. You have to have help. I know the amount of laundry I do each day, the amount of groceries we have to buy. Nothing with a large family is easy or cheap but you can't go to work with 14 children at home (8 of them babies) and that is just basic common sense.

Debbie Yocum
Guest Author

I watched the Dateline program last night and it detailed her personality. I felt so sorry for the rest of her family. Her mother and her father look like good people that are doing everything that they can for their grandchildren. Her 6 children stated that they don't want more babies in their home but they obviously did not have a say in any of their mother's decisions.

Nayda did not have brothers and sisters and she is telling the world that because of that she came from a dysfunctional family? How is it then she can have children without a father in the home and not expect them to feel total dysfunction in a fatherless family of 14 children? We have to stop listening to her because the more we listen to her the more frustrated we get with her. She does not make any sense and we have to acknowledge that.

You cannot go back in time now and change anything that Nadya has done. What is done is done. Now you have to go forward with the best interests of the children in mind. Unfortunately we as taxpayers are going to have to step in and help, not only with our tax money but some of us with our time. Nadya is lacking basic common sense. Look at it from this direction though, how is she that different than the corporate CEO's on Wall Street that are excessive in their lifestyles? She is no different than they are. The CEO's of Bank of America, Citibank and Wells Fargo are spending more of our money than Nadya will ever have to spend.

Her decision to have a large family to satisfy a need that she has is not much different than the decisions that are made by the CEO's that are spending our money to fill a selfish need that they have. It seems that we are taking out our frustration at excessive greed out on Nadya to a certain extent. I know in her case it is more than just about money because small children are involved so it becomes a moral issue beyond the financial one. I see the basic lack of common sense is key here because it has become an epidemic. Greed has become the name of the game these days and we as taxpayers are tired of being the responsible ones to pay the price.

Nadya Suleman, mother of octuplets and 6 older children now has a Web site up and running for donations. Currently unemployed but contemplating a master's degree in counseling, she lives with her parents and collects $490 in food stamps.

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Jonah

Josiah

Makai

Maliyah

Nariyah

Noah

http://www.thenadyasulemanfamily.com

In interviews with Anne Curry on the TODAY show Monday and Tuesday she continued to defend her choice to bring eight more children into the world as a single parent of six children - three of which have special needs. She said on the show that she has a son who has autism, another child with ADHD and a third who is developmentally delayed in learning to speak.

"I personally do not believe I'm irresponsible," the 33-year old told Curry on the show. "Everything I do revolves around my children."

Suleman said she was married at age 21 and had an ectopic pregnancy that was terminated. She learned at that time she had various problems that would prevent any other pregnancies - except through in vitro fertilization. Each of her six older children was conceived through the fertility treatments.

Last year she went back to the clinic and her doctor, Dr. Michael M. Kamrava of the West Coast IVF Clinic in Beverly Hills, where six embryos were implanted. Two resulted in twins, making eight total infants born Jan. 26.

NBC's chief medical editor has said the bill for delivery and care could run $1.5 to $3 million. The Los Angeles Times reported that Kaiser Permanente has already asked Medi-Cal to pay the bill.

Suleman admitted on Dateline Tuesday night that she is also about $50,000 in debt. When Curry asked how it wasn't selfish to bring children into the world she can't afford Suleman replied, "Because I know I'll be able to afford them when I'm done with my schooling."

Curry also spoke with one of the older children, Suleman's 6-year-old, Amerah, if she thought eight more siblings sounded like fun.

"No," Amerah said.

When asked why not, she replied, "Cause there's gonna be a lot of crying."

Curry then asked if she thought her mom would be OK with all the kids all the time and Ameriah replied, "She's gonna be stressed out all the time."

See the original blog entry about the ongoing Octuplets Mom talks here.

Written by guest author Bonnie Woodrome on the topic of "Too Many Children?"

Bonnie Woodrome
Guest Author

I agree. She was selfish in her decision to create the children and then to keep all of them. The children will be punished for her poor choice. The general public does not want to cover her expenses through government programs, because she is abusing the system through irresponsible choices. This, in turn, only hurts the children. They will be the ones to miss out on health care, dental, maybe even food, because mom made some bad choices. How do you punish the mom without hurting the kids??

Also, a huge concern is in the development of the children. With there being so many in the womb, how many will suffer from developmental disease? I find it difficult to raise two healthy children- How can one mom and grandparents take care of 14 kids, especially if any of the children have special needs? I do not know if the intent on the mom's part was for financial gain or fame, or if there is something deeper than that, but I am truly concerned for the well being of her children.

Nadya Suleman, mother of the octuplets born last month and six other children, gets $490 a month in food stamps according to her publicist, Michael Furtney.

Suleman denied being on welfare during an interview with Ann Curry on the TODAY show. In response to questions about this statement, Furtney said that Suleman didn't consider the food stamps and SSI to be welfare - because these programs are designed to help people in need.

She also denied the statement that she had the octuplets because she hoped to make money off her story, reiterating that she just wanted a big family.

NBC chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman estimated the cost of delivering the infants and caring for them until they are able to safely leave the hospital to be between $1.5 million to $3 million.

Original post: http://blogs.pe.com/moms/2009/02/octuplets-mom-talks-about-chil.html

Written by a local dad John Bender:

Don't try this at home!

How many times have you heard that said while watching TV with your kids? I guess my family has heard it so often that it has become meaningless.

My two teen-age boys read somewhere that it's impossible for people to put a spoonful of cinnamon in their mouths and hold it for a minute.

They scoffed at the idea and decided to challenge it last night. And the older boy thought he should film it with his cell phone camera.

I thought the two knuckleheads were doing the dishes until I heard the resulting hilarity. (and the dishes still aren't done)

See for yourselves: Video: Mouthful of cinnamon (WMV - 500k)

John Bender, of Moreno Valley, is an overwhelmed father of two teen-age boys

Naomi, one of the final four bachelorettes on ABC's "The Bachelor" brought single dad, Jason Mesnick, to her home town of Lake Elsinore to meet the family.

In tonight's episode Jason visited Jillian's hometown in Canada, then Grand Rapids, Michigan to see Molly, then Naomi in Lake Elsinore and lastly joined Melissa in Dallas, Texas.

Coming from a divorced family, Naomi worried how her parents might behave for the hometown date and they were described by the show's host Chris Harrison as the "wackiest hometown in 'Bachelor' history."

"Naomi's family was something I did not expect," Jason said. "Her mom is one of the most unique people I have ever met."

Mesnick had previously admitted that he worried the 24-year-old flight attendant might not be ready to settle down with a family.

"She's gorgeous and beautiful and fun," he said. "She's the free spirited one ... but is she really ready for my life? I don't want to be the one to clip her wings."

Naomi's family was pretty free spirited as well. Her mom, Joanne, kicked the meet off with a hoola hoop contest. And then she told the story of the dead dove. A dove had been killed by hitting the windshield of her car and she had saved the bird's body in the refrigerator for a graveside ceremony on the family date.

Naomi was a bit embarrassed - "Please God, kill me now. This is embarrassing."

Jason was asked to give a eulogy and they buried "Rosie" the dove in the backyard.

Naomi's dad, Hector, who actually looked a little like Jason, pulled him aside for a talk. He talked about his Christian faith and explained that the "most beautiful example of love is Jesus."

Joanne then stepped in and pulled Jason off for her own talk where she explained that she believes in reincarnation and said she felt that he was a related soul. He looked a bit worried, but kept the familiar smile in place.

She mentioned also that she saw a maternal side in him and that she believed he had already spent at least one lifetime as a mom. She believes that Naomi was a temple priestess.

After the date, Jason said he thought Naomi's family was "really fun ... out there in some ways." He did enjoy watching her with all the kids and admitted that made him really think about what it could be like for them together with his 3-year-old son Ty.

At last the two-hour show came to the part where he had to make a choice. "I know that in the end I'm going to hurt someone I really care about and I don't want to do that," he said.

Molly got the first rose.

Jillian the second.

Then Melissa got the final rose.

The girls whispered, "I love you" to one another and Naomi made a graceful exit.

"I loved your family ... I just think in my heart we're in different places," Jason told her. "I think you'll conquer the world ... you're incredible."

"I put myself out there and I'm glad I did," but go figure I put myself out there and now I'm going home," Naomi said. "I never wanted to have my heart broken again ... I never wanted to feel the way I do right now. I have no idea where I go from here."

Written by guest author Maura Ammenheuser on the weekly topic "Octuplets mom speaks:"

My first reaction to the octoplets' birth was that it was amazing, a miracle, truly a joy. Later when I learned the mother already had six kids, I was flabbergasted and thought, frankly, that she's nuts. That's because I know I personally absolutely could not manage more than the two children I have. I do feel some women have a special gift with children, however, and if they want to mother a big brood, more power to them.

Maura Ammenheuser
Guest Author

But when the details started coming out about how this woman hasn't finished the schooling she needs to earn a living, that she's living with her mother, the father isn't in the picture to raise the children and that she apparently wanted a huge number of children to fill some kind of void in her own psyche, I got rather alarmed. It would take two parents, an enormous income and an entire village of relatives, to tweak the popular phrase, to raise 14 children in a way that ensures every one of them is well taken care of, physically and emotionally, and here this woman is attempting it with very little support system.

It is morally indefensible to deliberately bear children when you know you can't afford them -- certainly these children will become a financial burden on the mother, the grandmother and probably on the public welfare system as well, if that hasn't already happened -- and they may well become more than their mother can handle from an emotional and psychological perspective. I wish this mother well and hope she is more up to the challenge than we give her credit for, because those kids will need far more than it appears she is able to provide them.

While mother of 14, Nadya Suleman, expects that God, her parents and volunteers will find a way to provide for all her children, her mother, Angela Suleman, doesn't feel the same.

"The truth is Nadya's not capable of raising 14 children," she said in an interview posted on www.radaronline.com. She also said her daughter's compulsion for more children is a burden and called her actions "unconscionable."

The Associated Press

Ed Suleman carries one of his grandsons from a school bus in Whittier.

Angela Suleman said she is already struggling to look after the first six children. She told the media that the children are in bunk beds, are being fed in shifts and that their clothes are piled all over the house.

Nadya Suleman's publicist Mike Furtney said his client has been away from home for nearly two months, so she shouldn't be held responsible for the home's condition.

But as a parent, I have to wonder why she hasn't been home for two months spending time with the older kids and getting ready for the next eight.

She has been spending time with the media. The "Today" show recently aired the first images of the octuplets as Suleman toured the cameras through the Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center showing off the six boys and two girls.

Suleman admitted during the interview that she wasn't sure which child she was addressing some of the time, but they were labeled with a letter A through H, which helped. The infants are expected to remain in the hospital at least a month.

http://blogs.pe.com/moms/2009/02/octuplets-mom-talks-about-chil.html

Readers will have the chance to get together to discuss two books thanks to a grant obtained by the Riverside Arts Council that will fund a program called The Big Read.

The Arts Council is among 208 libraries, municipalities and arts, culture, higher education and science organizations that received grants to fund the program.

Juan Felipa Herrera reads with Riverside resident Kai Ninete, now 7, at the main library.

Created by the National Endowment for the Arts, The Big Read is an initiative to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment among adults and children.

The grant provides the opportunity for readers to discuss one of 23 book selections from American and world literature.

The Riverside program will focus on "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya in conjunction with Riverside author and UCR professor Juan Felipe Herrera's "Crash Boom Love."

The first event, to be held Wednesday at the Riverside Public Library, will kick off the initiative with a book discussion with Herrera, snacks and free copies of both books for participants who register for the discussion to follow on Feb. 25.

The Feb. 25 discussion will take place in four library branches simultaneously -- Arlington, La Sierra, Orange Terrace and Main. It will be facilitated by students of Herrera who will compare and contrast the two novels.

Herrera, who grew up as the son of migrant farm workers in the Central and San Joaquin valleys, lived simply but with a great deal of music, reading, storytelling and a love of language.

"Many of his books are somewhat autobiographical, including 'Crash Boom Love,' " said Marion Michell-Wilson, executive director at Inlandia Institute. "It is a novel written in verse ... one of the few examples of a novel in verse in Chicano literature."

The book has many parallels to "Bless Me, Ultima" and in each discussion event the two stories will be compared and contrasted.

"You don't need to be a published author in order to lead one of these groups, being someone that simply has a love of literature is enough," said Patrick O'Brien, executive director of the Riverside Arts Council.

The Arts Council received the $10,000 grant to fund Riverside Big Read and has partnered with Inlandia Institute and the Riverside Public Library to stage the event.

"It's something we're very excited to be a part of," O'Brien said. "There's a real energy that is going on throughout the country about this."

Anne-Imelda Radice, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services in Washington, D.C., said The Big Read has supported more than 500 public library partnerships.

THE BIG READ
Discuss "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya and "Crash Boom Love" by Juan Felipe Herrera at two Riverside events:
Kick Off
Where: Riverside Public Library, 3581 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside
Citywide Discussion
Where: Riverside Public Library, 3581 Mission Inn Ave.; Arlington Library, 9556 Magnolia Ave.; Orange Terrace, 200100-B Orange Terrace Parkway; La Sierra Library, 4600 La Sierra Ave., Riverside
When: 6 p.m. Feb. 25
Cost: Free
Register: 951-826-5213, www.riversideca.gov/Library/events.asp

The mystery mom who gave birth Jan. 26 to octuplets is no longer a mystery, but she's not getting the warmest welcome. She is now a single parent to 14 children - all of which were implanted with in vitro fertilization.

Nadya Suleman, 33, told NBC that all 14 children have the same biological father who is a friend. She is not currently employed, but plans to pursue a college degree in counseling to support herself and her family.

NBC

Nadya Suleman, left, speaking with Ann Curry in New York, in Suleman's first interview since giving birth.

In quotes from the NBC interview posted on its Web site, Suleman said her decision to be a mom so many times over had to do with what she felt was missing from her youth.

"That was always a dream of mine, to have a large family, a huge family, and I just longed for certain connections and attachments with another person that I really lacked, I believe, growing up," she said. When asked what was lacking, she responded saying a "feeling of self and identity ... I felt powerless. And that gave me a sense of predictability. Reflecting back on my childhood, I know it wasn't functional. It was pretty dysfunctional, and whose isn't?"

When she decided to have another child she said her fertility expert told her about risks to the mother and babies with extreme multiples. But she didn't want to have only one or two embryos planted and instead had six embryos implants - two of which led to twins.

Risks for the children include bleeding in the brain, intestinal problems, developmental delays and lifelong learning disabilities. The octuplets were born nine weeks premature, but all are surviving.

The U.S. fertility industry has guidlines that require no more than two embryos be implanted for women under age 35 "in the absence of extraordinary circumstances."

Is it right that an unemployed, single woman who is already the only parent to six other children would dramatically increase the risk of multiple births by having six embryos implanted? (it is unclear how the fertility industry guidelines were circumvented)

Share your thoughts.

Updates:
http://blogs.pe.com/moms/2009/02/octuplets-grandmother-isnt-hap.html
http://blogs.pe.com/moms/2009/02/it-would-take-a-village.html
http://blogs.pe.com/moms/2009/02/suleman-denies-receiving-welfa.html
http://blogs.pe.com/moms/2009/02/worried-about-octuplets-needs.html
http://blogs.pe.com/moms/2009/02/donations-site-goes-up-for-oct.html

The Riverside Dickens Festival will kick off tonight (Feb. 6) with a ball and then a whole host of Dickens related activities all weekend long - rain or shine!

This 16th year of festivities will include activities for the entire family - even the itty bitty members with plays, street performers, food vendors, music and more. This year's theme is "A Nickel's Worth of Nickleby."

Paul Alvarez/The Press-Enterprise

Brandon Puett, left, and Madison Moore rehearse the production of "Oliver Twist" for the festival.

Area youth have been involved in the celebration since its inception and this year is no different. Visitors can enjoy the one-act play "A Christmas Carol" performed by Citrus Hills Intermediate School in Corona on Saturday and "Nicholas Nickleby" performed by Martin Luther King High School in Riverside Sunday.

The Citrus Hills production is performed in a unique way, broken down into individual scenes with students rotating parts, said Annmarie Weaver, Dickens Festival president. "There are 60 to 65 students involved in the play ... All the character parts are performed by several different students so everyone in the class is involved. They all get to play a part."

Riverside's King High won the Dickens Festival high school drama contest, so they were chosen to perform the festival's theme of Nickleby.

The youngest Dickens fans will find plenty of activities in Oliver's Alley, which has expanded since its introduction last year. In addition to its usual Victorian crafts and games, the Alley will host afternoon tea for children age 12 and under.

"Children will be taught Victorian manners and etiquette and then served cookies and cider," Weaver said. Costumes will be available so participants can dress for the occasion.

UC Riverside's California Museum of Photography will photograph children in costume, said Carolyn Grant, one of the festival's founders.

Visitors to the Riverside Metropolitan Museum over the weekend can also see antique printing presses on display from the International Print Museum in Carson.

Kids can make invitations or posters, Weaver said. "There is a lot to do each day and its very family oriented."

Riverside Dickens Festival
Where: Downtown Riverside
When: Feb. 6, 7 and 8
Information: 951-781-3168, www.dickensfest.com

Children's Tea Parties
Where: Oliver's Alley
When: 11 a.m., noon, 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Feb. 7 and 8
Cost: All Oliver's Alley activities are free
Reservations: 951-781-3168

FamilyFun magazine offered these stay-at-home vacations tips for thrifty and fun vacations:

Pick a theme
Beach Day - Ukulele music, rum-free pina coladas, tissue paper leis
Spa Day - Elaborate hairdos, homespun nail salon, foot massages
Dinosaur Day - Natural history museum, dino books, fossil kits
Olden Days Day - Shun electricity and light candles, roast marshmallows
International Day - Cultural immersion for a day, look up traditional music, crafts and customs

Book a Room at Your Own "Home-tel" by transforming your room into a hotel for the night.
Bathroom - Transform with nice hand towels and fancy soaps
Bedroom Doors - Give each child a "Do Not Disturb" sign to hang
Service - Offer turndown service, complete with wrapped chocolates on pillows
Room Service - Offer a room service breakfast menu
Agenda - Slip an agenda of the day's activities under kids' doors every morning
Nightlife - Plan some evening entertainment with Basement Olympics or a picnic dinner by the fireplace

Get the kids' input and plan out an entire day creating an itinerary of activities just like any regular vacation.
Source: Feb. 2009 issue of FamilyFun magazine

U.S. championship and Olympic silver medalist skater Sasha Cohen will be among the performers when the Smucker's Stars on Ice tour comes to the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario Sunday, Feb. 8.

The 23rd season of the show also will feature world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Jeffrey Buttle and other championship skaters.

"I toured last year and I was invited to come back," Cohen said in a phone interview. "We have a very similar cast from last year ... we're all glad to be here and have this chance to be creative."

Founded by Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton, the show began its 40-city national tour Nov. 29. The tour will conclude April 11 in Portland, Maine.

This year's theme, "On the Edge," will showcase the Olympic skaters' abilities to push their bodies to the edge, as they would in any high-level sporting competition.

"There are a lot of group numbers in the show; it was a lot to learn in a short time," Cohen said. "But it's a lot of fun doing it with your friends instead of alone."

Skaters will perform to a broad spectrum of music, including soundtracks from Beethoven, Big and Rich, Dave Kos and Celine Dion.

'SMUCKER'S STARS ON ICE: ON THE EDGE'
Where: Citizens Business Bank Arena, 4400 E. Ontario Center Parkway, Ontario
When: 3 p.m. Feb. 8
Cost: $25, $45, $75 and $120
Tickets: 909-244-5500, www.starsonice.com

Written by guest author Debbie Yocum on the topic Sibling Rivalry Madness:

Debbie Yocum
Guest Author

In our household we have two girls and four boys. My 6-year-old boy and 8-year-old girl are devoted to each other and would do anything in the world to make sure that each has what they need. If my daughter gets invited to a party she wants to know if her little brother can come too. It works the same for her little brother because he wants to include her in everything he does too. Their love for each other is intense but unfortunately the word love does not describe the feelings that they have for each other when they are sitting in the back seat and the verbal fighting begins.

"He is looking at me mom," she says. "No I'm not. She is looking at me mom," he says. "But he was looking first," she whines. "But he was looking first," he repeats."Don't copy me!" she yells at the top of her lungs, only to be followed by "Don't copy me!" from the other side of the seat. About that time is when the seat belt comes off and she leaps over to his side of the car and then the physical war starts.

The older kids have their own variations of the same type of conflict. It seems that they fight in pairs of two. The oldest boy (17) and his sister (15) used to fight a lot more when they were younger but now that he can drive he usually just does his best to stay clear of his sister by leaving the house when he feels that he is going to be involved in some type of conflict with her. In the age of texting she lets him know how she feels by sending him a text which he can ignore if he wants to. My 14-year-old and 10-year-old seem to fight without even listening to what the other is saying. They both shout at the same time so the argument gets over fairly quickly and they go back to playing like nothing happened.

What will they be like when they grow up? Will they be friends? Will they grow apart? Families are so complex. I have 2 sisters but I only talk to one of them on a regular basis. I love the relationship that my sister and I have. She is my best friend. I know of other families where there is the same type of relationships; some members are close and others are distant. Why? Does it start as friendships that just click sometimes where others fail? Is it because some family members are just more loving or loyal than others? Is it jealously over attention from the parents?

Sibling rivalry plays a part in what we will be like as adults because it is from those relationships that we learn how to share and how to communicate among other things. Hopefully those relationships will thrive as we age because the benefit to that is having a best friend for life.

Research says 36 million acts of sibling rivalry occur each year. Sometimes I think at least half of them take place within the comfort of my own home. With two children only 20 months apart in age, it sometimes feels like I've got twins (with one who thinks kid years are like dog years - she's 7 going on 28).

We can't walk to a car without it being a race, eat a meal without them choking down their meals to prove one or the other is the "better eater." If there was an award for being the best air-breather, they'd both be hyperventilating right now.

One of our favorite bedtime reads is "You're All My Favorites" by Sam McBratney. In the story there are three little bear cubs and each begins wondering if Mom and Dad might like the other cubs better. The girl cub worries Dad might like the two boy cubs better since they are boys, one boy cub worries because he doesn't have the same coloring as all the others and the youngest doesn't like being so small.

Despite my promises that one child is my "favorite girl in the entire world" and the other is my "favorite boy in the entire world" the rivalry remains fierce.

Dr. Sears, author of "The Discipline Book: How to Have a Better Behaved Child From Birth to Age Ten" suggested these tips to stop the fighting and promote sibling harmony:

1. Foster a team spirit - The home and family is where kids learn how people treat other people and that everyone a group has individual rights. Learning the spirit of group sensitivity is a tool they'll use often in life.
2. Promote empathy - Helping kids get behind the eyes of another person and think first how their behavior is going to affect that other person helps them really understand the Golden Rule - "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
3. Set limits - Give clear messages about how you expect your kids to behave toward each other before the arguments become a way of life. Offer calm verbal reminders such as "That's a put-down," when one sibling belittles the other. Be watchful for aggressor-victim roles.
4. Hold family meetings - Sometimes parents don't realize behavior that what might seem like good-natured teasing is really hurting a child. Family meetings are a good place to air these feelings.
5. Humor is the best medicine - When Dr. Sears' children wouldn't quit squabbling, he told them, "If you two want to fight like animals, I'll build cages for you in the backyard. I'll call one of you a cat and one of you a dog. I'll put out a little cat food for one and dog food for the other..." The kids, of course, thought this was hilarious. Or in another case a young child said, "I want to be a baby too." So Mom said, "OK, you can be a baby today." She then gave her a bottle of formula which put the young girl off the idea of being a baby with one little taste. Soon enough she was out riding her tricycle. Humor disarms and can catch children by surprise so they can see when their actions are insensitive toward one another.

For more tips go to www.askdrsears.com.

MainStreet Theatre Company will take the children's book classic "A Year with Frog and Toad" to the stage as a musical at the Lewis Family Playhouse at the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center in Rancho Cucamonga beginning Feb. 7.

Following the storyline of the book by Arnold Lobel, audience members will watch friends Frog and Toad as they plant gardens, swim, rake leaves and more through all four seasons. During this time, they learn some important life lessons about love and friendship.

"The show is geared for anybody that has had a friend," said Dennis Kyle, who will play the part of Frog. "The story is based on the friendship of Frog and Toad, who are very different. It has a lot of comedy, but it is also very touching."

"The Year with of Frog and Toad" is Reggie De Leon's fourth production with MainStreet Theatre Co. De Leon will play the part of Toad. "I love working there; it's a great place," he said. "The name, Lewis Family, is very indicative of the experience you'll have.

"The designers have kept close to the book," Kyle said. "There are a lot of earth tones; greens and browns and some bursts of color."

The storyline takes place in a swamp and starts out with a dusting of snow during winter.
"The set does all sort of tricks. It snows, leaves fall and flowers pop out of the floor," said director Craig Belknap, director. "The designer has scaled the swamp so it's from Frog and Toad's perspective."

Character costumes use are suggestive, using color and texture to convey character identities rather than masks or intricate costumes. The characters never leave the stage and simply change clothes when transformation is required.

"I think that'll be fun for the kids. They'll actually see the transformation," Belknap said. "That kind of set up is more like a Broadway production."

Frog will be dressed in greens, Toad in browns, he said. The snail simply wears a gigantic backpack. "It's important to me to make sure that even though we're playing frogs and toads, the message is all about friendship," Belknap said. "A hard Disney head on top would destroy that ... so the designer created simple clothes that evoke an image of that animal."

"The music ranges from jazz and blue grass to country and pop and different styles in between," Kyle said. "It's all really charming."

'A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD'Where: Lewis Family Playhouse, 12505 Cultural Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga
When: 1 and & 4 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 4 p.m. Feb. 7; 1 p.m. Feb. 8; 1 and 4 p.m. Feb. 14
Cost: $16.50
Box Office: 909-477-2725, 877-858-8422