Mama's Musings

Thanksgiving on Sunday

Being an expat gets you all twisted up timewise. Since Germans don't celebrate Thanksgiving the way we do or even when we do, my family is obliged to squeeze our feast between soccer practice, school outings and grocery shopping. Nonetheless, we had a delicious meal with a small turkey, potatoes, stuffing and peas today. Jackson wondered why we didn't invite anyone this year. I gave him a two-word answer: the flu.  It caught me by surprise several weeks ago and through my haze I couldn't bear the thought of sociability when all I wanted to do was die quietly under my duvet.

I recovered. We played 'Flaschenpost' in which we successively whispered something into the person's ear to our left to see what would come of the message.

The guinea pigs ate themselves into a food coma. Shortly after lunch, Leah closed her eyes (as much as a guinea pig can) and snored.

We wear many hats

In this case, about ten! This was the most hysterical hat game I've ever played. Depending on the number called, you had to executve various commands. I started off with the yellow one and ended up with none!

My mother-in-law turned sixty so we had to celebrate German-style. We partied until the wee hours of the morning. This game happened after midnight.

Lobbying for the Family

This just in. There's a new wave of scrapbooking, and it looks nothing like the crop-til-you-drop crowd of the late 90's. No no. Family albums have gone digital.

FamilyLobby.com is a secure and easy online gathering place for moms who want to keep in touch and share their children’s photos and videos with grandparents, friends and other relatives. You create your own  secure family website, and the sites are not searchable by Google or other search engines, making it a safe place to share family photos and information. Sites can also be password-protected, and only family-friendly ads appear on the website.

I took a gander at the site. It's got an active forum, shop and games my kid would go ga-ga over (I'm a computer hog and only let them loose on it on weekends). The best part? It is free.

Back to School - Stop the Icky Itchies

When your kids go back to school, you want them scratching their heads because they're thinking, not because there's been another lice infestation in your kids' class. When someone told me about Lice-Free Zone Shampoo and Leave-in Conditioner, I jumped at the chance to try it out. My neighbor is a pharmacist. He agrees lavendar is one of the best preventative measures for kids. The folks at Circle of Friends told me the following:

Tea Tree, Andiroba and Lavender Oils are the key ingredients that repel lice safely and naturally.  In fact, their main components of Phenols, Ketones and Oxides create a strong disinfectant that is toxic to lice, but not to scalps.  Lemon Peel Oil acts as a natural cleanser, while Vitamin B-5 and Glycerin hydrate the hair leaving it soft, manageable and free of tangles.  And unlike those harsh, stinky and out-right irritating chemical treatments, with Lice Free Zone parents and children can actually enjoy bath time thanks to its soothing lavender scent. 

As many kids in the world are thinking about school again (and mine are finally ending theirs -- Bavarian schools end the latest at the end of July), I'm comforted to know the little critters that populate our children's storybooks won't be crawling around their scalps, too!