Happy Birthday Baby!

Happy Birthday little Aubrey!
I can't believe how fast this year has gone - I'm working on inventing a time-freezing machine that can be used to slow down childhood, so we as parents can enjoy the stages of our little ones a bit longer. Trouble is, I can't decide which stage I have enjoyed the most - we have had so much fun with each moment of Ethan & Aubrey's lives.
We had a fun day - Aubrey loved the attention from Big Brother, Mom & Dad, Uncle Ty & Auntie Misty, Grandparents & Great Grandparents. She is such a delight - our little actress. So outgoing & absolutely loves to perform for anyone watching. Her favorite is waving "hi" to everyone.

I had a lot of fun making her cake. It was very "girly" - just like her, with butterflies & flowers. I should open up a bakery someday. Cake is just like clay, but so much tastier! Aubrey's favorite part of the day (& ours) was putting hats on her head - whether bows or birthday cake, she doesn't care. I wish it was socially acceptable to smash cake on my head too... It's been a wonderful year & we look forward to more adorable "firsts" with our little Pink Princess.

25 Random things about Becca

I was tagged in Facebook & had so much fun, I wanted to share the post with everyone. So, I tag YOU! Once you've been tagged you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag me back please, because I want to know more about you.

25 random things about me:

1. My oldest sister & Austin's parents are the same age - does that make Austin weird, or me?
2. I love to paint with watercolors & would do it every day if I had the time.
3. I regularly get my butt handed to me in chess by my husband, but am able to beat him if I fight dirty.
4. I love Futurama - it is the funniest show I have ever seen.
5. If I had super powers, I would want to fly & be able to read people's minds.
6. I love to watch people. I don't naturally interact well with others, but am fascinated by watching them.
7. I am terrified of centipedes - even small ones. Working on a Hawaiian papaya farm with "finger-thick" centipedes will do that to you
8. I cant drink milk, eat Chinese food, red meat or pork - they make me barfy.
9. I would swim every day if I could. I plan on having my own pool someday.
10. I have a bizarre love of toe socks.
11. I love ferrets & will have a dozen some day.
12. I regularly stumble over & twist my words. I absolutely can't say words like "buck futter" (from Saturday Night Live) or "have a pheasant-plucking day" - I get into big trouble!
13. I am absolutely head-over-heels, completely, irrevocably, & utterly in love with my hot sexy husband!
14. If I could invent anything, I would invent a time-freezing machine so I could enjoy stages of my kids a little longer - they grow way to fast for me.
15. I want to be a painter when I grow up.
16. I was a pitcher in softball for 9 years when I was younger.
17. I grew up with boys & am a huge tomboy - though my girlfriends now that I am older are definitely the best!
18. I never eat junk food, soda or candy - except really good gourmet dark chocolate.
19. I gave birth to my two children at home with no drugs, I had a fabulous midwife & Austin delivered both of our children - he's good at catching!
20. Orchids are my favorite flower, but I can't have them in my current house because our salty water kills them - as I've proven at least 14 times so far. I have to endure the silk ones for now.
21. If I could go back to college, I would study Dietetics & become a Nutritionist.
22. I would love to live in Montana
23. I suffer from severe "buyer's remorse" & regularly put items back before checking out or return them - even if I need them, because I can't handle the sticker shock.
24. I love being outdoors - biking is my therapy.
25. I am extremely shy & hate walking into a room full of people.

I can't wait to hear from you!

Ten Thousand Dollar Toys

There is a video game called "De Blob" - Ethan loves it, the premise of the game is that this imaginary world gets invaded by the evil "Inkies" who come down & steal all the colors. They suck up each color up in little "ink-bots" & the city is drab & gray. Until the hero of the game, the Blob - who conveniently enough is a blob of PAINT, comes to reclaim & repaint the city. He smashes the ink-bots, absorbs their color & off he goes to re-color the city & its inhabitants. Now, I am not here to promote this delightful game, but as I watched my son play this, I was horribly reminded of the Consumer Product Safety Commission - they are the INKIES!!! They have descended upon us/me with the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act to suck out all the colorful, fun & handmade toys from our world.

I want to introduce you all to my new "Spring Line" of play food that will debut on Feb 10th if the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act is unchanged. This is a CPSIA-compliant set of fruit - made of course with UN-dyed, UN-treated organic cotton. Doesn't it look like FUN? Kids can just imagine the beautiful colors while they play Chef, Tea Party & Dress up. Order yours today!
Another seller on etsy.com, thetangledwoods fabulous item "ball of wool" is one of my new favorites!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19984444 .
These two toys are examples of the future of handmade toys available on etsy & at your nearest boutique.

Or if your blood is a little richer, you can purchase my Ham Sandwich Lunch set which has been unchanged, but due to exorbitant testing fees to make toys CPSIA-compliant, costs a mere $10,080. Yes you read it right that IS the cost for this Lunch Set. The new CPSIA law that will go into effect Feb. 10, 2009 will require that each store selling products for children under the age of 12 test each product in our shops for lead.

Each component will cost $70 and this Lunch Set has 24 components - 14 colors of felt, 8 colors of thread, poly fill stuffing & foam - each needing to be tested making the charge $1680. Add in the additional $350 per component for phthalates testing and that adds another $8400 making this Lunch Set that originally cost $35 to the grand total of $10080.00!!! Maybe Bill Gates can afford this toy?

So, my question is, where is our "Blob?" Who is going to come & color our world back to the beautiful fun place it used to be? If something is not done soon, if our voices are not heard this will be the future of our children's playtime as brilliantly illustrated by MiniMonster: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_list_1&listing_id=20057955

Forgive me for waxing political for a moment, but I hope for all our sakes that this law can be changed. The effects of this law will be more far-reaching in each of our lives than we realize.

Help Save Handmade Toys in the USA from the CPSIA (from http://sites.google.com/site/handmadetoyalliance/)

Please help! This will put me out of business!!!

The issue:
In 2007, large toy manufacturers who outsource their production to China and other developing countries violated the public’s trust. They were selling toys with dangerously high lead content, toys with unsafe small part, toys with improperly secured and easily swallowed small magnets, and toys made from chemicals that made kids sick. Almost every problem toy in 2007 was made in China.

The United States Congress rightly recognized that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) lacked the authority and staffing to prevent dangerous toys from being imported into the US. So, they passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August, 2008. Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in toys, mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.

All of these changes will be fairly easy for large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with. Large manufacturers who make thousands of units of each toy have very little incremental cost to pay for testing and update their molds to include batch labels.

For small American, Canadian, and European toymakers, however, the costs of mandatroy testing will likely drive them out of business.

• A toymaker, for example, who makes wooden cars in his garage in Maine to supplement his income cannot afford the $4,000 fee per toy that testing labs are charging to assure compliance with the CPSIA.
• A work at home mom in Minnesota who makes dolls to sell at craft fairs must choose either to violate the law or cease operations.
• A small toy retailer in Vermont who imports wooden toys from Europe, which has long had stringent toy safety standards, must now pay for testing on every toy they import.
• And even the handful of larger toy makers who still employ workers in the United States face increased costs to comply with the CPSIA, even though American-made toys had nothing to do with the toy safety problems of 2007.

The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of toys that have earned and kept the public’s trust: Toys made in the US, Canada, and Europe. The result, unless the law is modified, is that handmade toys will no longer be legal in the US.

If this law had been applied to the food industry, every farmers market in the country would be forced to close while Kraft and Dole prospered.

How You can Help:
Please write to your United States Congress Person and Senator to request changes in the CPSIA to save handmade toys. Use our sample letter or write your own. You can find your Congress Person here and Senator here.

Butter Sandwich

Some days you feel like a nut, other days you need a butter sandwich... At least that was Austin's idea. Indulgence? No, I don't think so. Gluttony? Try again. Maybe just a chance to be silly in front of the camera? Yes! Austin can't resist acting the clown for Ethan's, Aubrey's & My benefit. Thank goodness for goofballs - I'd go nuts!

As we wind down the semester, we are getting excited for the Christmas season. All the cooking, decorating & general jolly-ness that comes with it, makes me remember Christmas when I was a kid & want to re-create those amazing memories for Ethan & Aubrey. So far, we plan to make candy canes, go sledding (it snowed today!) & my favorite, visit Temple Square, not to mention the gaggle of family & friends parties planned. Aubrey is already such a big helper in the kitchen, she rearranges my drawers for me - who needs folded towels & ordered kitchen drawers? Thanks little Aub... ;)

Art & Aikido

...the two things we love most in this family & I am happy to report that Ethan has a love of both. We now know the perfect way to blow of his 4 year old energy! We took Ethan to Austin's Aikido dojo & spent 2 hours roughhousing, rolling, wrestling, chasing & laughing! As you can see, Daddy is the perfect wrestling partner for our little man. Ethan loves to be "Iron Man" "Spider Man" & any other kind of "Man" there is, & loves to unleash his super powers upon unsuspecting Daddy. Thankfully, this time it was a padded block.
Ethan also lovest to draw his family - you can see our lovely representation in the pic at right... Daddy, Mommy, Ethan & Aubrey. He's good isn't he? Going to be a great artist one day. He is very proud of his art, as i am - & much of it hangs in his bedroom for all to see.

Halloween Hijinx

Well, the best night of the year has come & gone... another year to wait before costumes, candy & trick-or-treating. It was a great night for the Haackes!

We started our rounds by surprising Grandma Dona at work, & then on to Grandpa & Grandma Fluckiger. It was fun to visit for a few minutes & of course get pictures taken by our famous photographer, Grandpa Arnold. We then were headed to a Halloween party at Jim & Trese's, but got lost & couldn't find their house & no phone!! So we ended up going to Grammies to trick or treat & eventually spend the night. We all had a great time! Aubster the Lobster stayed really toasty in her costume, even in the slight drizzle that was falling. She was cute enough to eat! Of course, us being Chef's that would have been entirely possible - she was already in the pot! Ethan - 'scuse me, IRON MAN, loved ringing the doorbell ("just once Ethan") & saying "Trick-or-Treat" to all my old neighbors. He didn't like the scary houses much, but he kept us safe, the sackful of candy made him feel much better about it. He loved watching Charlie Brown's Halloween & now says: "I got a rock."