Ice Princess the Chef!

Today I asked Ice Princess if she wanted to help me cook dinner. She said yes and ended up cooking most of the meal(with my guidance, of coarse!) She made chili, cake and corn bread. She was so proud of herself too(and she should be)!!

Here are some pictures I took of her:



stirring the chili



standing in front of the cake she made her dad :-)

Car Seat Safety

About 9 years ago, I started researching car seats. Ice Princess was starting to outgrow her infant seat and it was time to move her into a convertible seat. I found this great web forum on Parentsplace, an i-village wbesite that was all about car seats. The parents and car seat techs there were VERY helpful. Before long I was hooked! I clearly remember the day we purchased Ice Princess' car seat. We got it home and installed it. Dave was less then happy with me, because I was being very picky about this installation. I think it took us over a 1/2 hour to install that thing! He was NOT happy with me and at that point was not buying into my new obsession. :-) Before long, he was ALMOST obsessed as I was!

Anyone who knows me knows I am still pretty particular about my kids being in seats. My kids aren't babies anymore but 2 of them still need seats. By Utah law(as of May 2008), children are required to be in a booster seat until they are 8 years old, but age should never be the deciding factor. A child should not move out of a booster seat until they pass the 5 step test. Speedracer is 7 Ice Princess is 10 and they both still rides in booster seats. Booster seats will be in our cars unti they both pass this test.

Booster Seat 5-Step Test

Did you know most kids need to ride in a booster seat from about age 4 until at least age 8?
If your child isn’t using a booster, try this simple test the next time you ride together in the car.



1. Does the child sit all the way back against the auto seat?
2. Do the child's knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat?
3. Does the belt cross the shoulder between the neck and arm?
4. Is the lap belt as low as possible, touching the thighs?
5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?



If you answered “no” to any of these questions, your child needs a booster seat to ride safely in the car. Kids like boosters because they are more comfortable, too!



Before they moved into booster seats, they rode in 5 point harnessed seats. When they outgrew their infant seats, they moved into convertible seats. A convertible car seat can be used rear facing and forward facing. There are many different convertible seats on the market, but my youngest son used a Britax Marathon convertible seat until he was over 6! He did use a booster starting at 5, but I ended up moving him back into his Britax seat so I could keep him harnessed longer. He outgrew that seat by height when we was 6 1/2 years old. The most important thing about convertible seats is finding one that fits your car, your child and your budget the best. Always choose one that will allow you to keep them rear facing the longest. Rear-facing is the safest way for a child to travel, so the longer you keep them rear-facing, the better!



After they are too big to rear face, it is important to keep them harnessed as long as possible. Some parents think if a child outgrows a convertible seat, they are ready for a booster seat. That's not always the case. Many kids will outgrow a standard convertible before they are 4 and 40 pounds. Most children are not mature enough before the age of 4 to ride without a harness. Heck, the reason I moved my youngest back into his 5 point harness was because he was having a hard time sitting correctly in his booster seat. He was 6 at the time! The best rule of thumb is to keep your child harnessed as long as you possibly can.



Our children are the best gift given to us... do all you can to keep them safe! If you are ever unsure of what type of seat your child(grandchild, niece/nephew, ect) should be in or if you are wondering if you have the seat installed correctly, please contact your nearest fitting station. There will be certified car seat techs who can help you.

The National Highway Safety and Traffic Association(NHTSA) can help you find a fitting station. Follow this lik for more information!

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cps/cpsfitting/index.cfm

Ice Skating Videos

We went skating on Wednesday. It was the 3rd time this week and I had hoped to go yesterday also, but we ran out of time. This week, we were able to skate for free on Wednesday, so that is ALWAYS a bonus and definately something we take advantage of whenever possible. If at all possible, we never pass up free ice time! :-)

While we were at the rink, I decided to try and film Ice Princess skating. She's improved quite a bit and I wanted her to be able to see herself skate. She's obviously never seen herself do some of these things and I think it is helpful for her to see her own skating. I also figure this way, I can show her how she has progressed! I'm going to post the videos here so that everyone can see the progress she is making. :-) Her coach is very pleased with her progress and told us she was the only skater who actually improved while she was gone on vacation! Ice Princess worked very hard while she was gone, so I am not surprised she improved!

Here's her Scratch Spin. She still needs to work the kinks out, but this is not bad for a little girl who has finished up through Basic 8 in the USFSA program! She can do it from back cross overs also. She learned this spin 3+ weeks ago. This spin is still a work in progress! It will get better and faster.



This is her sorta sit spin. LOL! She's only done this a few times and this wasn't her best one. She's just begining to learn this spin. With more practice and time, she will improve her form and the spin will look much prettier then it does right now. :-)



Ice Princess' spiral! She does spirals well for her level. This isn't her best spiral and it isn't perfect, but it's definately pretty good for the level she is at. :-) I'll try to cature one of ehr better spirals another time. :-)




Dave and Speedracer on the ice...

Ice Princess' Progress

Over the last few weeks, Ice Princess has been working very hard. She has been working on her scratch spin and her sit spin. She's been working on her basic skills too. She is trying very hard to improve and I think it is showing! Her coach was out of town, so it has been awhile since Ice Princess has had a formal skating lesson. On Wednesday, she will see her coach for the 1st time in about 3 weeks. I am hoping her coach will be surprised and that she too, will see some improvement since the last time she saw her!

Ice Princess has been skating about 3 times a week and during those sessions, she has been practicing more then playing(this is GREAT!)! When she is not on the ice, she is jumping and spinning off ice! Just recently, she has started to use her roller skates and is trying to practice in those too! She scared me on Saturday as I watched her try and do a Waltz Jump in quad skates on our front lawn! Her roller skates are not well made and offer her ZERO support! I was terrified she would fall and hurt her ankle!

The past Saturday, we held a garage sale. The main reason for doing so was to try and earn money to help pay for Ice Princess' new skates. Ice Princess is begining to learn some Freestyle elements which require a better boot and blade combination. Not to mention, Ice Princess is currently OUTGROWING her current skates! Those parents who have children who figure skate, will know how expensive boots and blades are! I am hoping her new set will last her about a year. One can hope, right? LOL! Anyway, I am happy to report that our sale was successful! Ice Princess' new skates should arrive ANY day!

Ice Princess will also be competitng in 2 months. She will be moving up a couple of levels which is exciting to me! She has beautiful psirals for her level, so I am excited to see her do them in front of some judges!

One of these days, I will buy a camcorder and record her while she practices. She has improved so much over the last month! Next week, she will begin her Freskate 1 learn to skate class. She is so excited!

Falling Behind!

SO much has happened in the last 3 weeks! I kept waiting because I wanted to add pictures from our trip to Idaho. Since I used a FILM camera instead of a digital camera, I still do not have pictures, so I decided I would post now and add pictures later.

Overall, we had a great time. We visited with family and the kids had a BLAST with their cousins. Spielberg brought a friend and everyone got along and enjoyed eachother's company.

The firework show in Idaho Falls, was pretty spetacular! It wasn't Ocean Shores(our usual 4th of July location!), but I.F. does put on a nice show! We were able to spend time together as a family and in all honesty, that is probably the best gift of all. It isn't so much about the location as it is about the time we get to spend with those we love, right?

We had planned a day trip to Yellowstone, but those plans were foiled when we "lost" some money. We ended up driving home and went to the Hogle Zoo in SLC. We enjoyed ourselves eventhough we all wanted to be in Yellowstone!

Most of the pictures on my camera are from our day at the zoo! Once they are developed, I will share some with everyone.

The summer has been busy and this week(the 21st-26th), Spielberg will be at Boy Scout camp! He was so excited! This is the first year he has been able to go and now Speedracer is counting the days until HE is 12, so he can go to scout camp too! LOL!

Sorry for my random rambling, but since it had been awhile since I last posted, I figured I had best update!