The good news:

The kids and I are road tripping to Utah in this glorious Lincoln MKT.

The bad news:

I have to give it back next week.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog

I have Crested Butte travel tales and oodles of fun summer activities to share.

But this heat is sucking the life out of me. The house is too hot so I don’t sleep. I’m too tired to workout, clean or write.

Bode’s birthday party is Friday and I haven’t even started planning it.

I’ll be back just as soon as summer is over.

Or whenever I find an ice bath.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog

Last week, I received an email about local moms staging a “Nurse In” as a protest to the Colorado Rockies’ response to a nursing mom.

And I have to admit I almost hit the “delete” button.

It’s not that I don’t believe in breastfeeding in public because I do. Nor am I one to usher women’s rights under the table, which is what the woman promoting this Nurse In claimed it was all about.

It just seemed like such an extreme response to something I thought had already been smoothed over.

A bit of background: Colorado Springs mom Sandra Snow was seated in the nosebleed section at a Rockies game. Her baby needed to eat so she moved back to a closed-off section to nurse her. Sandra was allegedly being discreet by covering up when a Rockies usher told her she was not allowed to nurse her baby there.

A manager later came over and told Sandra because of the many cameras and “perverts taking pictures” it would have been more appropriate to feed the baby in the family restroom, which, it turns out, is nothing more than a toilet.

If I was Sandra, would I have been ticked? You betcha.

But do I think this has been blown way out of proportion? You betcha.

First, Sandra was somewhere where she READ ON

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog

I’ve got the kindergarten blues.

And no, I don’t plan to put my sorrows to rap music.

I have a major decision I’m trying to make but I need as much feedback as possible. Please weigh-in!!

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With summer break on the horizon next week, I can almost say I survived my daughter’s first year of kindergarten.

And am fretting about my son’s entrance into it.

Why would I do such a thing when he is only 3? The reason is simple: I already feel pressured to make major decisions on his behalf. When he was born in July of 2006, I figured he was well within the range for the mid-September cut-off for when he could attend school. I enrolled him in our local preschool last September and he has loved it. He is doing great learning the alphabet and is at the top of his class of 3 to 5-year-olds in math.

It’s a good thing, too because I am counting on him doing our taxes in a few years.

He still has one year left of preschool and then I planned to enroll him in kindergarten the following year. Until all the naysayers started pressuring me.

“Do you really want READ ON

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog

A few months back, I begged, pleaded and practically prostituted myself with Mom Central to be part of their Frigidaire campaign. Select moms would receive various appliances to review and I was thrilled to be named a part of Team Dishwasher.

My new dishwasher arrived the day before I left for the Olympics and I knew it would be put to the extreme test: my husband (who loathes doing the dishes) would be left in charge of doing that which he hates most in the world.

He survived…thrived, even. I was delighted to come home to a sink NOT full of dirty dishes.

I took over dish duty and put it to the test. I LOVED the open layout of the dishwasher and that it uses 41 % less energy and 40 % less water than was used just 10 years ago.

Because, believe it or not, I was doing dishes way back then.

But in the middle of my euphoria, it stopped cleaning the tough dishes. I hemmed and hawed and finally contacted Mom Central.

“Send us a photograph or your fully-loaded dishwasher,” they advised. I did so and they forwarded it to Frigidaire’s product team to assess the issue.

Turns out, the issue was me.

This should not be a shock to any of you.

From loading the dishes in the wrong direction to inadvertently blocking key spray areas, it was revealed that I do not know how to load a dishwasher.

After following the team’s instructions, my dishwasher is fully functional and glorious again. For any future problems, I now know the root of the problem:

“User Error.”

So, let’s hear it. Whether it’s TVs, computers or new appliances, have you ever messed up and tried to blame someone else?

Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and received a Frigidaire Dishwasher to facilitate my review.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog

If there is anything a mom needs, it’s the ability to save and conserve energy.

I just never thought it would happen with my dishwasher.

As you know, I’ve been a part of Frigidaire’s Team Dishwasher. I had the opportunity to replace my non-functioning one with a glimmering stainless steal dishwasher that actually works.

When you know how to properly load it.

And yes, I failed Dishwasher Loading 101. More on that in my next post.

Good thing I’m not being graded.

Here is some exciting news on behalf of Fridaire and a link that will help you save money: their new line just received the EPA’s prestigious 2010 Energy Star award for their “Swap and Save” Energy Star Promotion. The award recognizes Frigidaire’s commitment to smart energy management and its efforts to share the importance of energy efficiency with a wide audience.

We hear about energy savings all the time but honestly, it seems like a lot of trouble and cost to replace current appliances with more efficient ones.

Frigidaire has made it easy with www.Frigidare.com/ecosavings. You can calculate potential cash and energy savings by swapping out old appliances. I’ve calculated it with several of my other appliances and I promise you’ll be surprised with the results!

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As a reminder, Jennifer Garner’s campaign to support Save the Children, called Spin & Win. Log on to www.maketimeforchange.com to play Spin & Win for a chance to win prizes including a new time-saving Frigidaire Affinity washer/dryer. Plus every day you take a spin, Frigidaire donates $1 to Save the Children as part of their $250,000 commitment to this worthy cause.

It’s a win-win for everyone!

Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and received a Frigidaire Dishwasher to facilitate my review.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog

Why is this group of glorious women utterly astonished?

Hint: It’s not in amazement over my ability to hike in the snow, uphill both ways, pushing an 80-pound stroller.

After all, that was last week’s adventure.

Head over to Mile High Mamas today to see my Clark Kent-esque transformation.

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I wanted to give a shout-out to some of my travel-writing besties: The Vacation Gals. They have been nominated as finalists in the 2010 Bloggies, a huge and well-deserved honor!

I first connected with these fantastic family travel writers on Twitter. I met co-founder Jen Miner on a media trip of the Olympic Peninsula and I swore her cohort Kara Williams to secrecy last fall when I took her on my favorite secret hike outside of Denver.

These great ladies were really supportive of my bid to win the Microsoft Office Winter Games contest and wrote a generous post about me.

Now I’d love to return the favor. They need your help so please just take a minute to vote for them. Then, take a few more minutes to poke around their site and glean some of their great tips on family travel destinations. I hope to contribute more to the site just as soon as my life calms down.

Finally, make them promise to bring me along on their next adventure.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog

I’ll admit it: Martin Luther King Jr. Day comes and goes without much fanfare at my house. Even worse it that I almost forgot about it. Now that Jamie runs his own web development business from home, holidays are overlooked.

Not this year.

Be sure to head over to Mile High Mamas today to check out the list of celebrations and activities you can do with your children to commemorate this important holiday.

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As a sports enthusiast, I have been a part of numerous teams over the years but none like this: I am a proud member of Frigidaire’s Team Dishwasher.

What can I say? Life changes when you’re a mom.

We built our home five years ago. And from Day 1, I H-A-T-E-D our new dishwasher. From its screwy layout to its utter inability to wash dishes.

You know. The entire reason it was placed on this planet.

After five years of thoroughly rinsing every dish that was placed in there and only being able to use the most expensive detergents to clean them, I am getting a new dishwasher and will be occasionally blogging about it.

I was selected by Mom Central to be part of the Frigidaire Test Drive. Frigidaire introduced more than 250 new appliances in 2009, all designed with the idea of creating more time for moms. Standing behind its claim, Frigidaire offers a “More Me-Time Guarantee.” Moms will save a minimum of eight hours a month or their money back.

I’m not too worried about the time guarantee. I’m just looking forward to less tirades.

Starting today, you can log on to www.maketimeforchange.com to play Spin & Win for a chance to win prizes including a new time-saving Frigidaire Affinity washer/dryer. Plus every day you take a spin, Frigidaire donates $1 to Save the Children as part of their $250,000 commitment to this worthy cause.

Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and will receive a Frigidaire Dishwasher to facilitate my review.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog

Welcome to the new (and hopefully improved) Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck!

In honor of a new year, my blog is getting a facelift. I am still working through some bugs but I’d love your feedback thus far.

Regular blogging will resume next week.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog

Has it really been almost a week since my last confession posting? I’ve been busy. Really busy. Busy not sleeping due to the blasted time change, busy wrangling children, busy with travel.

Yes, my friends I have been in Motown where I came face-to-face with $100,000 crash dummies.

Not to be confused with some of my former flames.

They would definitely not be worth that much.

So, come on over to Mile High Mamas and find out what babies and b*oob jobs have in common.

I promise it’s not what you’d think.

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In March 1996 I was hit and run over by a semi-truck while driving on the freeway. I obviously survived. I should not have. My car was broadsided by the semi and after a deadly pinball machine game, I wound up splattered against the median. The semi’s tire tracks mere inches behind my seat.

An experience like that forever changes your perspective on car safety. I was fortunate to be wearing my seat belt, a fluke because I was a carefree college student who rarely wore one. I have no doubt it saved my life.

Since having children, I have researched the best car seats. I always have them professionally installed by the fire department after hearing staggering statistics that 80 percent are done incorrectly. But I have to be honest: I have never really considered how safe my car is. I drive an SUV that was built in the last five years. Price, reliability and consumer ratings were my utmost concerns when purchasing it. It has safety measures like airbags for the front seats but never once have I thought about the backseat, generally viewed as a safer place to be but without protective measures in place.

Until now.

I was invited to attend a Ford safety event in Michigan last week. Even though I have worked with Ford in the past, I thought it was strange they would fly out a handful of perky mommy bloggers to a press conference that was dominated by brooding automotive journalists.

And yes, we did stand out just a wee bit.

Then Ford unveiled the auto industry’s first-ever inflatable seat belts, which are designed to enhance protection for rear-seat occupants in a crash (basically, a backseat version of airbags). This groundbreaking new technology will make them a champion among parents. The reason: Our children are often seated in the back and are the ones most vulnerable to head, chest and neck injuries.

The room was abuzz after the announcement. This technology has been in development for almost 10 years and these automotive dudes were excited. Ford had a sample inflatable seat belt and I gave it a try. The seat belt itself appears normal but its rounded edges are more comfortable than traditional ones. It inflated like an airbag upon impact and spread the crash forces over five times more area of the body than conventional seat belts, reducing pressure on the chest and helping control neck motion.

The moms banded together to pepper the safety technical leader, Srini Sundararajan, with questions. Yes, he said Ford had thoroughly tested it with all kinds of car and booster seats. Yes, they had experimented with it in a number of different positions, such as when children are slumped over sleeping or they twist the seat belt. No, it is not currently available but will launch on the 2011 Ford Explorer.

Then one of the moms hesitatingly whispered to me, “What about breast implants? How will it impact them?”

I brazenly stepped forward and asked this question of all questions. To his credit, Mr. Safety Man did not flinch and assured me the seat belts are perfectly safe for breast implants.

I can guarantee that question was never posed by any of those brooding automotive types.

In the end, I was given a greater appreciation for automotive technologies and the years of experimentation that are for our safety and benefit. I was especially impressed with Ford, which was the first company to develop and launch seat belts (1955) and airbags (1985). I later toured the safety lab and witnessed various Myth Busters-esque crash tests (and even performed one myself).

Anyone who has known me more than 10 minutes will find humor that I, of all people, was entrusted with such a responsibility.

And I’m also impressed with their latest technology:

Ford’s Rear Inflatable Seat Belts: Friends to Both Babies and Boob Jobs.

I think I may have clinched their next marketing campaign.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog