Up North Mommy

Works for me: Low sugar cake

I love cake, but I don't make it much because it's not a very healthy thing to eat. But I love it nonetheless. However, when my mom came to visit a few weeks ago, she returned from the grocery store with Pillsbury Reduced Sugar Devils Food cake mix and Vanilla Frosting, both of which were made with Splenda.

It was really good. The cake was very light and moist. The frosting had a slightly different texture to it, but it was very yummy.  And it satisfied a craving that I had been denying myself because I'm trying to lose weight. But with a cake mix that has 50% less sugar, I won't need to deny myself. 

So I made another cake today, and I'm looking forward to cutting into it.

Mom blogs are the blogs to watch

Michelle at Scribbit has a piece about the power of mom blogs that was published over at Problogger. In it she argues that mom blogs are the blogs to watch, and she's absolutely right. She writes why mom blogs will only grow. However, her strongest argument is her final one. Here's a portion of what she writes:

In Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point he writes of the importance of mavens–those who are trusted for their opinions and who pass along information on what products, services and ideas are the best–and mom blogs are the maven nesting grounds. Moms want to know which products work and which don’t; they want to give an opinion on what’s worked for them and share their experiences with others and advertisers are just beginning to discover this advertising pot of gold.

Because women are generally the buyers for their homes in everything from clothing to food to minivans mom blogs talk about things that can be bought and sold, products that can be promoted and services that most households need. Proctor and Gamble, Sony or General Electric can throw up their logos on PerezHilton and that might make them look rather hip but if they can get Dooce to say she liked their stuff that’s when the sales start rolling in. You’ve heard “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world”? Well she who does the shopping then blogs about it rules the net.

Michelle's argument is entirely true. Take for example the mom blog 5 Minutes for Mom. Twin sisters and moms Susan and Janice are constantly being asked by a variety of companies who are trying to market their products to moms and their families to review products for them.  That's huge exposure for these companies that is in some ways far more effective than television advertising. Commercials are shown on the television, but there's no guarantee that people will actually see those commercials or even pay attention to them if they do. It's advertising into the unknown in many ways. However, when a mom other moms trust blog about a product and recommend it, that's an interactive advertising that is better than the passivity of television commercials.

This is definitely NOT an Up North accessory

One thing I love about living Up North is the clothes we wear up here. They're rugged, outdoorsy. Very Eddie Bauer, LL Bean, and Lands' End. But I like my technology, too. For example, I couldn't do without my TiVo. And my cell phone is a BlackBerry Pearl 8100. I love to change my theme and stuff so I can mix it up a bit when I feel like it.  Right now, I'm using the bPhone theme.  It's so colorful and looks just like the iPhone with clown fish in the background. I also ordered some fun skins to add color and to protect my phone from scratches, scrapes, etc.

However, even though I like my technology and other stuff, some things are just way over the top. Take, for instance, this BlackBerry case.

In case you're wondering, those sparkly things attached to the outside of the case are diamonds.  Take a look at the product description:

The Case-mate Diamond Case is handcrafted with 42 stunning diamonds (3.5 carats) set in 18K gold. These gorgeous diamonds are embedded in a rare gold carbon fiber leather case. With VVS1 clarity and H color, these diamonds are superior in quality. Complete with an 18K gold emblem, the Case-mate Diamond BlackBerry Case is truly a one of a kind.

But that's not all. This Diamond BlackBerry Curve Case is crafted of luxurious Carbon Fiber leather, previously available only in high end aftermarket cars (Techart Porsche) and very high end cell phones (Vertu). Case-mate worked closely with its leather craftsmen to develop this rare gold leather for this very special BlackBerry Curve case.

Did you have to pick up your chin from off the floor, too? And guess how much this little sweetheart costs.

$20,000.

Twenty thousand dollars, people!  Do you know how many gallons of gas or milk that could buy me?

Nope, that is definitely NOT an Up North accessory.

Little Man's Amish farm field trip

Today Little Man and his preschool class took a field trip to an Amish farm just a few minutes from our town. We saw calves, dairy cows, chickens, hens, and horses. I took a few pictures of the horses and the view of the farm. This farm is also certified organic as well. Mr. Schmucker said it's a lot of work, but the animals are much healthier, which means their food is healthier. They grow corn, hay, and other food items for their own use.

This is BJ. He pulls the buggy that transports the family. 

This is Doc the draft horse. He works in the fields.

Mr. Schmucker was very nice. He had two little girls and a little boy, but they wouldn't speak to us. They hung out with their dad and studied us carefully.  There must be a baby in the family, too, because there were little blue hand-made baby clothes and blankets hanging on the clothes line with the rest of the family's clothes. At first I wanted to take a picture of it, but decided not to. I didn't think it would be appropriate. We weren't there to tour their home life. We were there to see the farm and the animals.

My husband knows how to make me feel so good myself

I gave my husband some of my summer maternity dresses to give to his paralegal because she's pregnant and due toward the end of July. My husband glanced through them and said, "Are you sure she can wear these? She's skinny. I mean really skinny."

And then he looked at me like he said nothing wrong. 

I wanted to smack him.

All I could say was, "Stop right now. You're digging a hole you'll never get out of." 

Can you believe him? I know I've got 24 pounds to lose, but sheesh, he made me feel like I was completely obese.

Where did Spring go?

What happened to Spring? About a week and a half ago we had four or five beautiful days in a row. Every day was 75 to 80 degrees and sunny, sunny, sunny.  Then one morning it just went away. Yesterday, the warmest it got was in the high forties. And right now it's a chilly 27 degrees. And the high is only going to be 46.   

I want my Spring back!

What a handsome guy!

My nephew, Ryan, had prom Saturday night and my sister-in-law posted some pre-prom pictures.  They bring back so many memories of my high school dances, standing in the living room as my parents snapped some pictures. 

Anyway,  of all the pictures, I had to laugh at this one:

It seems just like yesterday that Ryan was our ring bearer in our wedding. Here's a shot of him when he was just a little guy escorting our other niece, and his cousin, down the aisle. It will be ten years ago on July 4th.

I scanned in a picture of our entire wedding party for those who are curious.

A little blog housekeeping

This is now my blog home base, so I'll be transferring my posts from Embracing Momminess over here. I'm also going to transfer my EM feed to this feed as well, so I'm hoping that means my feed subscriptions will transfer. So bear with me as I get all techy stuff figured out.

Update: From what I can tell so far, I can't automatically have my feed subscriptions transfer to my new blog, so I'm going to have to ask my readers from Embracing Momminess to resubscribe to my new blog.

Welcome to Up North Mommy

Today is the first day of my new official blog. I called it Up North Mommy because that is what I am. I'm a married mom of three kids living in Northern Michigan, which we call Up North, where we own a canoe livery and fly shop on the AuSable River. It's certainly not the traditional life for most families, but that's why we like it.

I picked the image of two Adirondack chairs by the river because it truly represents our life: relaxed, casual, and comfortable. I love sitting by the river with a cup of coffee and watching it drift by.

Life Up North is quite different from our previous life in Toledo. The closest mall is a Tanger Outlet Mall about 30 minutes away. The nearest Target store is an hour and a half away. But the grocery store, bank, post office, and gas station is just a couple of blocks down the road. We have one stop light and one McDonalds. While I'm in the yard playing with the kids, it's common to see an Amish family in their horse and buggy clop by. You'll even see a horse and buggy in the bank drive thru lane periodically.

Yesterday, after our fly shop closed for the day, my husband and oldest son took out a canoe and went fly fishing in the AuSable River. When it's nice and warm, my husband and I like to take out our two oldest to go canoeing. And when Littlest One is old enough, probably next summer, he'll start canoeing, too. 

Life is simpler.  And we like it that way.

So welcome to our life Up North.