Friday Fun: Adventures in "Reading"!

I absolutely love it that Anna has gotten to the stage where she will attempt to "read" books to me at bedtime, or "read" them together. The other night, as I was getting ready for bed, I found Anna already relaxing and waiting for me (shocking!) and reading to herself.

Chillin' with her new book

 

New Recalls - Yikes!

We now interrupt our otherwise fun and thought-provoking messages for this important recall update. I got an email about this yesterday - it concerns Banzai inflatable slides.

 

Perhaps you, like me, haven't reached the level of success with which comes your own real, in-ground backyard pool, for which you may want a slide like this. If you have - you rock! If not, your kid may go to a friend's house or other event where they have one. Just in case, please be aware of the danger of side deflation that causes injuries. This kind of thing can happen with those large inflatable slides at summer fairs and carnivals as well.

For more recall news, please see this list of the major recalls issued in 2011.

Photo of the Week: My Buddy

This week's Photo of the Week comes from Mother's Day. We actually celebrated a day early so that I could prepare for an important seminar/ presentation coming up on Monday. So my Mother's Day was largely spent in my basement "fun room," which has, ironically, also turned into my home office. Kind of ridiculous, isn't it?

I worked swiftly and in quiet surroundings for awhile....until Anna became so upset that I was down there that she insisted on coming down too and keeping me company. And I do mean insisted. She really is my little sidekick. It brings to mind the song in the TV Commercial for the toy "My Buddy" when I was a kid: "My buddy, my buddy, wherever (s)he goes, I go....."

I told her she could stay with me if she played with her games and toys and understood I was working. She agreed. Then thirty seconds later, she asked, "Can you play with me, Mom?" Somehow, I knew this would happen.

So we played for a little while and then went upstairs, grabbed the iPad, and brought it down for her to watch Pink Panther cartoons while curled up in a chair in sweats and comfy slippers. It's clear who got the better end of this deal!

But after that, my work - companion and all - went swimmingly. And I enjoyed the company.

We've Come a Long Way, Baby!

As everyone knows by now, last week President Obama made history when he became the first United States president to voice support for gay marriage.

I know, I know - detractors will say he did it as a calculated move to help his re-election efforts. Except that doesn't entirely make sense, given that we LGBT folks can be a political hot potato. Many moderate and even liberal politicians are (pardon the pun) closet supporters of gay marriage but don't have the guts to express that publicly for fear of not being re-elected.

Photo from chinasmack.com

Then again, it's always been hard for people in high places to stand up for civil rights at first, hasn't it?

Happy Mother's Day!

We here at My Life With Pie would like to wish all you hard-working, amazing moms out there the happiest of Mother's Days! Enjoy some well-deserved time for YOU and celebrate all you do to take care of and raise your wonderful kids.

Couldn't ask for a sweeter Mother's Day present!