Finding My Wonderwoman Alter-Ego

I doodled a series of stick figure pictures the other night, when I was waiting for a turn on the computer. I had been wondering how I'd ever get time to finish the various graphic & website projects I've simultaneously begun, in the variable time between getting fractious children to bed, and one of them waking up again (thus causing me to fall asleep along side him/her, for the rest of the night.)

This one's dedicated to any parent who's ever found it difficult to have quality time for themselves:

Now it's time to go. As I sit here wasting time on the computer, I'm missing out on serious quality time with the kids, quality time with the dishes waiting in the sink (still), the vacuuming, the large pile of 'too much stuff' to sort through in the bedrooms, the pantry that needs cleaning out (don't get me started on the fridge), the sprawling train tracks waiting to be rebuilt across the lounge floor (after the vacuuming), the batch of playdough waiting to be made, the overgrown lawn....

I'd like to have a Wonder Woman alter-ego to deal with the majority of this (or a paid cleaner, or a Really Helpful Teen as opposed to Really Apathetic), but who am I kidding? This is all just Normal Every Day Woman stuff. Suck it up Callie!

Mirror Mirror on the wall....

Avoiding the mirror is why it's taken several weeks to realise I once again have Trump hair. A clear sign that I should probably make more of an effort. (Or 'an effort'. In general. Truth be told.)

My weekly make up routine is to coat my eyes in black eyeliner at some point throughout the weekend, and spend the rest of the week pushing that same application back up under my eyes until it finally wears itself off. A 'mud masque' is what the Lily Bug gives me when she's been outside jumping in puddles and has squeezed my face with her hands as a way of saying 'shuush mum, don't tell me it's time to come inside yet'.

In all honestly, I barely even remember to look in the mirror before I leave the house.  Most days, I can actually have a shower and brush my teeth without flicking a single sidelong glance at the looking glass. I probably walk around with toothpaste at the corner of my mouth far more often than I'd ever like to know. Which is why ignorance is bliss.

So when a skin care product was sent out for me to review, I was slightly bemused at the notion that I now had a reason to push my face up to the mirror (you'd think a little bit of pride in ones appearance would be a motivating factor in the first place eh?)

Here I am, prior to Olay. Serious.

The product? Olay Total Effects 7-in-one Day Cream with SPF15. The back description of the packaging promised to fight the following:
1. Fine lines and wrinkles.
2. Uneven tone.
3. Age spots.
4. Uneven texture.
5. Dryness.
6. Dullness.
7. Pores

Wow. Did this product have its work cut out for it with my lined, tired, dull, dry, uneven and open pored skin!

As you can probably determine by my opening sentence alone, I'm not a skin care routine kind of person. That whole process of cleansing, toning, moisturising... even applying sunblock. Way too much effort for me. Partly because I'm deeply cynical of beauty product pick up lines, and partly because I've been existing on a combination of 4 hours sleep per night, a bucket of caffine per day and sheer force of will for so long now, I think anything that promises to fight my body's age signs is facing a losing battle.

But, I gave this product a shot. And okay... Maybe I even hid it greedily from the rest of the family, and secretly reveled in having something to put on my skin other than coffee dribbles and toothpaste.

First thing I noticed about Olay Total Effects is that it was nice to apply. It felt nice and light on my skin, didn't leave a grease slick in its wake, and absorbed quick enough for me to apply make up shortly afterwards (yes, I busted out the all-but-forgotten Shisedo Moisture Mist for the occasion. Being that I was finally at the mirror and staring bleakly at my tired tired face, I realised I needed it.)

There's another reason why I usually make no effort to wear moisturiser. In times past, I've had issues finding something that my skin doesn't react to, and that doesn't make my make up slide off my face and pool at my feet.

My lil' bottle of Olay Total Effects promised to be formulated for sensitive skin, but I'd tried 'sensitive skin' moisturiser before, and ended up with nasty itchy under-the-skin bumps all over my face and neck within a fortnight. With Olay, I was pleasantly surprised to find my skin didn't react negatively at all. Not a bump. Not an itch. Not after a week, not after three. And, my make up stayed in place over top of it. Bonus.

I was also really pleased to be wearing something with SPF protection. I HATE putting gross and greasy sunblock on my face, but my inner-goth tends to steer clear of the sun anyway so I tell myself it doesn't matter. Except for those days where I've spent 3 hours in the full sun while at the beach with the kids. Stupid inner-goth for forgetting the children LIKE to go out into sunlight with their mother. Thanks to Olay, I was able to spend an afternoon at Western Springs Park with the munchkins, and not wind up with a burnt nose. Awesome sauce.

But wait, what about those 7 Signs of Aging? Unfortunately I have to tell you I didn't have visitors stop by and jump back in shock while declaring "Callie! You remind me of that Star Trek episode where the people grow younger as they age!" But, that could be because there were no visitors...  But although my age lines are still present, I do think it helped with the dullness somewhat. I'm prone to skin breakouts once a month, but during this trial, I didn't suffer that problem.

I'm still sitting on the fence as to how effective Olay Total Effects was at fighting those seven signs of aging, but I have to admit that after a fortnight or so of applying it every day, I started feeling good about my skin. Maybe it was the power of suggestion, maybe it was my body simply feeling grateful for getting a bit of TLC. We may never know...

But, I've given you a 'before' picture, now I'll leave you with an 'after' shot. Let you decide just how effective this product was....

After Olay. Rrrooowl!

Never. Let. Go.

Dear Guy Smiley,

One part of me can't wait until you're of an age to make conversation - right now you love to talk about "Car! Car! That car! Red car! Yellow car! Look car!" but I reckon once you start slinging sentences together, you're going to be a right Well of Infinite Wisdom.

Mainly on the subject of cars I guess.


But the other part of me just isn't ready for you to grow past this age yet, because right now you're my little buddy who still reaches out a cherub hand for help down the steps, and I don't want to ever have to let you go.

Rainbow Face & Poop Hands

Make up artistry has recently become a field of interest the Lily Bug has shown some proficiency in. Since rediscovering the make up kit her big sister gave her for Christmas (it was previously tucked out of her reach, but you know how it goes when little girls have big chairs and long arms...) she has been applying make up to any thing she can pin down.

Her little brother is one of her favourite candidates for her experiments in duo-tone full-facial eyeshadow application. When she weilds the make up wand like a small baton and calls his name, Guy Smiley comes running - all big grins and dimples, crying "yay! yay! yay!" over to his place beside the mirror, as fast as his chubby legs can pedal him.

"Rainbow Face!" The Lily Bug declares his new name to be. And he loves his sparkly facial artist palette. Matches the rainbow hands he was sporting earlier in the day.

The Lily Bug loves to mix her colours until she's left with poopy brown. First she mixes the poop, and then she paints. And usually it's herself that she paints. In poop colours.

And then of course it's Daddy's turn.

The Lily Bug is very focused as she applies each brush stroke to her human canvas. And the result? A household of  zombie clowns! (Minus the Teen, who refused to take part and scowled behind a long fringe when Yours Truly tried to take a photo of her for posterity's sake. *sigh*)

Anyway, that was last week. This is the finish up of a post I began days ago and never managed to come back to.

In the past week we've gone on amazing adventures through enchanted forests, wild rugged shorelines, and lakes of boiling lava. (Or maybe, more truthfully, lakes teeming with eels and ducks and stuff.) I'll maybe do a photo recap later. Posterity and all...

I've also been busy building a couple of websites and creating graphics for people...In doing this, I've learnt I don't quite have the stamina to trudge through source code deep into the wee hours and then still function as a parent the next day, after all.

I don't know how work-from-home mums find the time to do it. Really, I don't. :/

I creep away to load up Photoshop while the kids are otherwise completely immersed in an activity, and suddenly they're jumping all over my knee. Plagued by mummy-guilt, I step away from the computer to play with them, and they don't need me any more. Can't win!


Stay tuned Smurflings, as coming up soon is my second-to-last product review. Shall it be the Pantene? Or the Olay? :)

(I know I know, you're waiting with bated breath...)

Edited to add: I came across this cute site earlier today. Love the concept - check it out!

 littlesketchers.com

'

The Sun Did Not Shine, It Was Too Wet To Play...

 Hey, why do I get the feeling I've used that line as a title before? Oops. Well moving along...

Even by my own night-owlish standards, being awake at 2.20am is quite possibly one of the most stupidist ideas I've had in a while.

Well, it's not like I planned it. It just so happened that I've found a lot of entrepreneurial inspiration today, and you know... one coffee led to another...

Today (well, yesterday now, if you want to get technical. But let's not.) I made a somewhat random decision to make a facebook page to promote the dabbling I've done in Photoshop over the past several years, in order to hopefully propagate some kind of financial gain. Eventually.

It began when I created a quick banner for my FB profile page (I'm so loving the new Timeline layout for allowing me to apply a small scrap of individuality to my profile page!) One or two people inquired about the banner, and before I knew it I was designing a business logo for the ever-so-clever Claire from FinndieLoo. Claire's enthusiasm for her home-based business was infectious, and soon I had created my own Infinite Monkey Design. Thanks to Claire's pluggage, I've already had a couple of inquiries regarding business logos and site design!

So, that is my great excitement for the year to date!

Meanwhile... What did the children do while their mother was tapping away on the keyboard and pottering about in Photoshop for a good part of the day?

First of all, it was raining outside so we put up some umbrellas.

And then, we played with trains.

We got hungry. So we sacrificed the freshly cooked batch of playdough to the Gods of Magical But Inedible Food. (Lawn clippings are also an essential to this concoction.)

I'm still not entirely sure if I'll ever get all the floury goop out of the carpet...

Then it was time to set tents and tunnels up in the middle of the lounge. It was mum's theory that the children would amuse themselves with these tents and tunnels long enough for her to finish doing stuff on the computer. (Pfft. By the time mum finished snapping photos, they were ready to use mum as a jungle gym. While she tried to finish doing stuff on the computer.)

Cooking time again. Green pikelets with nutella. Because we're healthy like that. (And that probably explains why everyone in this house is just a little on the chubby side - except the Teen, who is a coathanger.)

It was still raining. Why? Because it's summer. And apparently in summer, it rains ALL. THE. TIME. (And according to the weather people, we're meant to be stuck with this gloriously dismal weather until March?!?!)

After a day of being cooped up inside the house doing nothing, it was time to play outside. This is what the Lily Bug decided, despite the rain. In fact, she put on her raincoat poncho thingie and stood underneath the dribbly waterfall that flows from the blocked gutter outside the kitchen window.

And that was our day.

Why are you interested in reading any of this? I'm sure you're not. I'm sure that if you have read this far, you're probably trying to figure out how to reclaim the minute or so that I've just stolen from you.

But I'm sitting here at 2.43am writing this all out anyway, because I drank just enough coffee to keep me awake long enough to look at Content Management Systems, but too much coffee to be able to concentrate on anything other than the inane ramblings of the chattering monkeys inside my head. Thus, I am no fat use to anyone.

But I am going to look further into Joomla  tomorrow-ish.

Goodnight!

Come Out And Play Sunshine. We Have Just Juice...

I have promised the kids that summer is going to kick in soon. I've promised blue skies that reach into eternity. Fluffy white clouds in the shapes of dinosaurs. Orange sunsets that stretch across the horizon. I've sent them to bed each night with the reassurance of stinking hot afternoons, ice creams that melt down their arms, waterslides on the front lawn, picnics at the beach...

This perfect utopian summer of endless azure forms the basis to my happiest childhood memories. The kind of memories I hope my own children will look back upon some day.

So far, the sun has been a little slow in arriving; grey is the new blue it seems. The Lily Bug asks each morning, "is it summer yet mum?" And as much as I nodd and smile and claim that it is indeed summer, she doesn't quite believe me.

When a courier van arrived shortly before Christmas, bearing three cartons of Just Juice to review, I felt a little as if Santa had just swung by bearing the gift of the Great Kiwi Summer. In liquid form.

Summer Strawberry & Kiwifruit
Sun Kissed Orange
Farm Style Apple

These were the three flavours sent out for us to review, along with the guarantee of no added sugar, preservatives, artificial flavours or colour, and 100% of our recommended daily vitamin C requirements in a single glass. I gotta admit, I skimmed these details when I first glanced over the media release, and allowed my sun-starved brain to pause on words such as "awaken" and "summer".

The munchkins eyes lit when they saw the treasures I had stashed in the fridge. Fruit juice - that's a little like nectar from the Gods as far as they're concerned.  I was torn between wanting to rip into them there and then, and wanting to savour them - or at least give them time to chill in the fridge. Fifteen minutes chill time. That was the agreement my two inner selves came to. Summer was a-calling...

We started with Sun Kissed Orange. Not too much now kiddos, just a taste... Okay, that's good. It tastes like orange - as it should. Nice & refreshing. Not too sweet, not too face-scrunchy. Add some vodka for the adults, and you've got sunshine in a bottle right there.

Let's just have another taste and then back in the fridge it goes - this one is coming with us on our picnic.

"We're having a picnic?" asks the Lily Bug, her face all alight in excitement. Damn. Did I say that out loud? I look outside at the bleak grey sky with it's threat of rain etched upon the darkening horizon. Well...

Childhood memories resurface. Sitting on the swings at the local park with single-serve juice cartons. Ever-so-slightly piercing the straw-holes, discarding the straw and slowly sipping the juice through the tiny gap. Savouring  the very last drop. Is it the perfect weather I remember most about my childhood? Or the moments shared?

"We are now."

Thanks for the picnic inspiration Just Juice :)

Farm Style Apple accompanied us a few days later on a trip to the park.  I didn't expect to like it all that much - I'm not usually a fan of apple juice. Surprisingly, I liked it. Refreshing. Delicious. After a hot afternoon chasing children, it was so so very easy to keep almost exclusively to myself (the Lily Bug did force me to share, but only when she was within vicinity of my attempts to drink it all sneaky-like). 

Strawberry & Kiwifruit  was the least favourite amid our family. It tasted artificial. The kids handed me theirs and asked for that yummy orange again. The Lad winced and said it tasted like lolly water. Actually, there was once a time when I had some jelly lollies in a cup, and while in the midst of making a coffee, I poured hot water into the lolly cup. I had a sip. It tasted quite like this. Left for me to finish off, I thought this flavour might be an okay base to a fruit smoothie. Never got around to carrying out that theory though - I gluttoned it too quickly, despite my reservations.Greedy glutton that I am.

As Meatloaf once said, "two out of three aint bad" and that pretty much sums up our experience with Just Juice's new flavours. Do I recommend these for your next sunny picnic at the park or BBQ on the beach or to wash down a dry throat after a backyard ball game?

Yes. And no. Depending on your budget. At $3.99 for a one litre, it's just not realistic for our household of 5 on a making-ends-meet kind of income. But hey, if that's not an issue for you then yes - absolutely.

Visualise sweltering hot days - cool ocean breeze - swing ball - a tall refreshing glass of semi-frozen Just Juice - and some sunshine...   That's the Great Kiwi Summer in a nutshell, right?

Edited to add: The Lad pointed out tonight that what the juice market really really needs is a decent grapefruit juice. And none of that Pink Grapefruit nonsense. Real grapefruit juice. The kind that makes your face pucker. Hell yes. Now that would make the top of our Summer Must Have list.

My Year In Status. And The Big Bad Smell.

There is something dead under the floorboards. It comes to me in fetid wafts. But no one else can smell it, or so they claim. Maybe it's all in my mind? Maybe it's the corpse of 2011, unwashed and forgotten in its shallow grave. Or - and this is slightly less morbid but a tad more horrific - maybe the Lad has tucked a pair of his work socks behind the computer desk as a way to deter me from whittling away New Years Eve on the computer, when we have family up from the 'Naki? (I'll be off the computer soon. I just need to finish writing this one last thing...)

This is what I am thinking to myself, as the New Year pulls up the zip on the body bag of the Old Year and bounces fresh and spry into its place. 

Once upon a time, a long long time ago, I welcomed in the New Year in style. The 'soo drunk on celebratory drinks that I have no idea why everyone's suddenly cheering and kissing.. what's the occasion?' kind of style.

That was a long time ago.

And prior to those kinds of New Years, I would spend the evening looking introspectively at my previous year, and meticulously write down resolutions for the next 365 days. Then never look at my list ever again.

This year, I said goodbye to the final hour of 2011 by throwing together a new banner for my blog.

Party hard dudes.

Scowled at the fireworks let off by the neighbours. If they wake the kids, by crickey... And when the Lad wandered by and asked if I'd made any resolutions, I could only think of one thing to say.

"Something in the vicinity of where I'm sitting smells really bad. Like, dead animal bad. It keeps coming to me in drifts. Can you smell it?"

The Lad looks at me blankly. Not the answer he was expecting.

 Remembering his original question, I share what vague New Year Resolution I've come up with. It's predictable, yes. But it's all I've got. Make this year really count with the kids - it's Bree's last year before she starts school. Indie's last year before he's on the list for kindy. Maybe even Char's last year before she starts formulating ways and means to go flatting with friends - gods forbid. So maybe I should make a resolution to teach her self-sufficiency. Better late than never, huh?

Then I think, I will reflect on this last year. But it's after midnight and I've turned back into a pumpkin.  Too tired to consider much else aside from how comfy my bed will be when I clamber into it, I reflect on my year the cheats way. Thank you handy facebook application.

I put together a photo montage of the year in review.

Once upon a time, I'd stay awake to see in the sunrise. Or at least try to. Now...

"Wait, is it your work socks?" I frown at his feet. No socks. Hmm... 

The Lad stands me up, sits in my place. Sniffs my bum. Undignified, I tell him to sniff his own. Still, the stench of carcass cannot be located. Maybe it's all in my head? The Lad can't even smell it, and insists I have a ghost living in my nostrils. Or words to that effect.

I resolve myself to check behind the computer desk in the morning (the later morning) and wander off to bed.

And this is the way we see in our New Year.

Happy New Year to you and yours :)

Finding Summer

Somewhere amid the gusting easterly winds, grey sky and scattered showers, it's supposed to be summer. The forecast says 'don't make beach plans this week' or words to that effect. So I say, let's get to the beach now kids before that wind picks up some more.   If there's a summer out there, we'll find it. And drag it kicking and screaming back home with us if we must.

First stop: Nan's house. The kids chased each other on hands and knees across the lawn. Gathered flowers to show me. It became a game to see who could find the best floral treasure. Then the Lily Bug discovered Nan's yellow tomatos. Yellow! Her favourite colour. Yellow is the colour of happiness she frequently tells me. Yellow is the magical colour that made her love capsicums. And scrambled eggs. And cheese. But not yet Nan's yellow tomatos. They're not quite ripe enough.

Then it was on to the beach. We love the beach when those easterly winds turn the calm flat waters of Narrow Neck into a small-scale surf beach. Exciting, without being overwhelming. The kids ran circles around each other and practiced handstands. Buried treasure. Jumped the white wash. Technically, it's summer. The wind was warm.

The journey home had me singing crazy songs at the top of my voice to stop Guy Smiley from falling asleep in the car. Don't want him to be up all night. Of course, he went into over-tired mode and was up half the night anyway. Least it gave him some bonding time with dad who has been working long hours with little time off.  They love to play *insert random car racing game here* on the X-box together. The Lad brings out the foam mattress and duvet, and Guy Smiley snuggles down with him and makes broom-broom sounds. The novelty usually wears off after five minutes, but those minutes are gorgeous.

Guy Smiley has a dimple on each cheek. Look close and you'll see. Gorgeous it is.

So that was our Tuesday. And I'm catching up with Communal Global for the first time in weeks and weeks, & Our World Tuesday for the first time, to share it. :)

People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.
~Anton Chekhov

Hairy Mistress ya'll!

Ahhh Christmas...

In which the Lily Bug morphed into a mouth-frothing sugar-crazed addict and spent a large part of the afternoon bug-eyed and shrieking "bu-ut I-I-I Wa-a-nt More-mm-mm-more CAAANDY CAAANES!!" Guy Smiley learnt to say a new word ("lolly"), flipped out into the unhappy realm of too-much-excitement-not-enough-sleep, then spent the late afternoon lulled into calm thanks to total train set immersion.

The Teen was well satisfied with her present haul, and fortuitously rescued from the glaze-eyed boredom of hanging out with the family thanks to the arrival of a friend who had otherwise been faced with spending Christmas Day alone. (Some kids bring home stray animals, the Teen brings stray humans. It's cute. Though, often difficult to tell her we don't have enough room to keep them, unfortunately...)

I had woken several times in the night, just wishing the kids would hurry up and wake so I could see their faces as they unwrapped the gifts they'd been coveting for months. And yes, once a little voice down the hallway called out, "is it Christmas?!" it was all on. And it was fantastic.

        
 But when that initial excitement had worn off and the rustle of Christmas wrappings died down, a kind of silence followed. For the kids, it was the realisation that the surprises had come to an end. For us, it was the realisation that with the Lad's family so far away and my family so geographically close but yet so emotionally distant from each other, we lacked the camaraderie with extended family to keep the momentum of the day going.  All those weeks of anticipation had reached their peak, and now it was time to come back down. There was still feasting to be done, but there was a bit of sadness in realising a few important components of the day were missing. Namely; family. Loads and loads of family.

Next year... Next year we'll hit the beach on Christmas Day.  

Meanwhile, the Teen has gone away on holiday for a few days and unlike the rest of her family, she has learnt to pace herself on the chocolate/candy front. Thus her Christmas haul has probably loaded her up with enough midnight nibbles to last until mid-year. So... I wonder where she's stashed it? *wink wink*

Do you like Green Eggs and Ham?

Last week our household received a selection of Be Natural cereals and cereal bars to review; the arrival of which provoked an unprecedented level of ravenous excitement within the family (breakfast cereal has recently become one of those staples I've completely bypassed in my weekly Trolley Derby Dash of Terror).

On occasion, the back of our pantry has become a weevil paradise of failed breakfast cereals. It's not that I want to breed these creatures, it's just that I buy *insert bad cereal* with good intentions, find neither myself nor anyone else in the house are able to get beyond the first bowl, and it sits in the pantry waiting for me to find a starving animal to feed it to. Before long it gets nudged out of sight. From the Uncle Toby's flavoured  porridge in single serve sachets (fail) to the Vogels Cafe Style muesli (Epic Fail - and although the Teen informs me it's no longer cool to say that phrase any more, in this case, it must be said), many a cereal has become weevil fodder in our household. Thus, I have learnt to stick to the basics (Weetbix and thereabouts). And to perhaps clean out the pantry more often.

So, it goes without saying that I approached this trial with my Skeptical Goggles on...

In under a week, we have consumed the contents of everything you see in this picture. Including the wooden coffee table. Did we enjoy the product? I bought more Trail Bars from the supermarket today.

FIRST IMPRESSION: The natural look packaging is of course the first thing to grab attention.  100% recycled, the cardboard has a nice feel to it. The people who created these cereals paid attention to the details when ensuring their product comes across as 'natural'.

The first cereal we feasted our eyes upon was Pink Lady Apple and Flame Raisin. The Lad was intrigued by the word 'Flame' (for the record, he's not a pyromaniac, but he is a bloke who likes flame paint jobs on cars, thus a connection was made). The Teen liked the colours in the packaging and I liked the promise of fruit.

The box told us we were about to consume '5 whole grain flakes mixed with pink lady and granny smith apples, flame raisins with linseed, pepita & amaranth clusters'. Sounded interesting. The promise of 'whole grains' was appealing.  

Marketers, you've done your job well.

Of course, eco-friendly packaging and clever phrasing are all well and good at face value, but if the product itself lacks appeal, then all you're really left with is a pretty box and food for the weevils. So... How did it taste?


THE BREAKFAST CEREAL TASTE TEST: Fortunately, Pink Lady Apple and Flame Raisin tasted as appealing as it sounded.  Delicious - and with perfect crunch. So much so, I was tempted to sleep with the cereal box beneath my pillow so no one else in the house could scoff it before me. The Teen declared her wish to marry the cereal and have its babies. I'm the jealous type. I want to have its babies.

Clutching the last vestiges of my skepticism, I wasn't sure if we were enjoying this stuff because it truly tasted good, or because we were sick to death of runny grobbles?  So I personally had to eat a couple of bowls in a single sitting before I could properly determine the answer to that question. ;)

Yes... *chomp chomp* It's still good.

The Cashew, Almond, Hazelnut & Coconut was a favourite for the Lads (pluralised because the Teen had her Lad over on the day the courier arrived, thus he became a patron of the cereal smorgasbord). I'm not a big fan of coconut and one of the Lads agreed it was maybe a smidge heavy on the coconut, but the vote on that issue was split down the middle - the other two taste testers thought it was perfect. I definitely enjoyed this with yogurt and chopped banana.

The 5 Whole Grain Flakes had a subtle, slightly sweetened flavour, and perfect crunch. If you're a fan of cornflakes, you will LOVE this stuff because it is so much tastier. It has a higher sugar percentage than Skippy Cornflakes but I didn't find the need to add sugar as I would do with regular cornies. Also, the Grain Flakes had far more fibre. It was awesome with yogurt, and if you throw in some fresh fruit you've got Nirvana right there (I'm talking about the a state of transcendence involving the subjective experience of release from a prior state of bondage, not the band).

The most awesome thing about these cereals is that the kids really enjoyed them. I expected the Lily Bug to give them a taste and then request something else, and I expected Guy Smiley to send the bowl sprawling across the room without even trying. (He is a seriously fussy eater. Whenever he sees me coming towards him with a plate of food, I can all but hear him mutter "Sam I Am, Sam I Am, I DO NOT LIKE that Sam I AM.")

However, the munchkins sat nicely at their little table, and ate every last scrap of their Grain Flakes Nirvana with a sprinkling of Flame Raisin Stuff. Seriously, even Guy Smiley. I know right? I am officially a believer.

ON TO THE TRAIL BARS: With their 5 whole grains...

Nut & Fruit was the first cereal bar our household tried, and the initial thought was that it was too dry. However, half way through and we each collectively agreed it was not too bad. A bit middle of the road in taste, but probably nutrionally preferrable to the bars I usual buy. And the kids ate them quite happily!


EVEN THE LILY BUG'S FRIEND CALLED *DEXTER WHO IS A FUSSY ONE. YES, I HAVE TO SHOUT THIS OUT TO YOU. Because that my friends, is quite possibly amazing. One in four kids at the park did not eat this, but that one's mildly obsessive-compulsive when it comes to food so I wouldn't take it personally. As yes, yes her mother said it's okay for me to say that. I hope.

Berry was the delicious winner out of the Trail Bars. The berries were enough to prevent the bars from tasting a bit too dry. The Teen Who Usually Eats Air For Breakfast zombie-shuffled to these bars each afternoon as soon as she woke up. Cried when they were all gone. Made me buy more. Amazing.
 

Say!
I like green eggs and ham!
I do!! I like them, Sam-I-am!
And I would eat them in a boat!
And I would eat them with a goat...
And I will eat them in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And in a tree.
They are so good so good you see!

The Lily Bug's kindy has recently adopted a strict healthy food policy, and anything deemed as junk is sent home unopened.  The fact that the munchkins are happy to eat these without needing them to be slathered in chocolate, is a good thing. Compared to another brand we buy, Be Natural Trail Bars are much lower in sugar and fat (albeit higher in sodium).  Would I buy these? Already stocked up.

I do so like
green eggs and ham!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Sam-I-am

(Sorry about that, I just have that story stuck in my head.) 


End note:  Man, can I ramble.