What do Disney’s new flick Tangled and a Ponzi scheme have in common?

Nothing. I just chose to include them in the same post.

I have oodles going on before my mother-in-law flies in to take care of the kiddos while Jamie and I go on our cruise aboard the Norwegian Epic.

In the midst of the chaos, the kids and I attended a prescreening of Tangled, which hits theaters next week. Read what we thought of it and why I have more in common with Rapunzel than I care to admit (and it ain’t a good thing).

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Almost two years ago, Denver was caught up in a scandal when it was revealed Bishop Shawn Merriman was involved in a $20 million Ponzi scheme. There were many victims but no one was more blindsided by his betrayal than his own wife and four children.

The press obsessively followed the trial and conviction but his poor family stayed in the shadows. I recently found out that his resilient now-ex-wife Andrea started a blog and is an amazing, powerful and inspiring writer.

I asked her to guest-post at Mile High Mamas this week and guaranteed, you’ll be as mesmerized by her worst nightmare as I am. In our three-part series, Andrea shares how she learned the horrible truth, the day the Feds came to confiscate everything and where she is today.

Go. Read. Comment. And thank your blessings for an honest spouse.

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On Tuesday, I was having a rough day due to some frustrating news I received. As I was moping around, I got a note from my friend and former BlogHer roommate Loralee.

If you’ve never read her blog Loralee’s Looney Tunes, be sure to check it out. The girl is laugh-out-loud irreverent and has had her share of trials such as losing her son Matthew (which she blogs openly about). It has been wonderful to watch her blog grow from near-obscurity to one of the most popular mommy blogs.

Anyhew, Loralee had emailed to let me know I had won her Favorite Things birthday contest.

This was amazing for a few reasons:
1) I rarely enter contests

2) I rarely win contests (well, with the exception of a little one that sent me to the Olympics).

3) I won a treasure-trove of darling products (check them all out here) that included A GUSSY Tote Bag ($68), Saucy Frocks Apron ($35), A ribboned-hemmed skirt by Prairie Mama ($40), “Sweet & Simple Birdie Necklace” by Lisa Leonard Designs ($58.00), Rosette Cuff by Allora Handmade ($16), Petal Pusher Posy from The Pleated Poppy ($15), Filigree Verdigris Brass – Barcelona Earrings, and last but definitely not least, The FIRST edition of Where Women Cook out on Dec.1st!!!! ($16) (This magazine is a project Loralee is actively involved in so you know it’s good).

Best news of all? I was no longer down-in-the-dumps. So, if you ever want to cheer me up?

Materialism works wonders.

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

The media and blogosphere are abuzz in the wake of the suicide of Rutgers college freshman Tyler Clementi after his roommate secretly broadcast his encounter with another man.

This is an extreme and tragic example of cyberbullying and it makes me wonder 1) Do the two students who committed the crime have a history of bullying and if so, when did it begin? 2) What is our role as parents as it pertains to bullying and/or disciplining other people’s children?

My children are still young–ages 4 and 6. These issues are surfacing and I have been torn as to how to react. Does stepping in overstep our bounds when the boundaries are different with each person? Two recent examples:

A few weeks ago, my son Bode had his second soccer game. His team played another that looked like they had been playing together from birth. Not only were their skills beyond their age but they were almost a full head taller. Undaunted, Bode’s team members played their little hearts out despite being pushed, shoved and kicked the entire game. One red-headed boy in particular on the opposing team was the instigator for much of it.

Following the game, they had a friendly kick-off so all the kids who had not scored during the game would finally have their chance. They stood in line to wait their turn and at one point I looked up to see Bode crying. And noticed the red-headed boy kicking the crap out of his calves and punching him in the back.

I didn’t think. Instinctively I tore out to the field like a mama bear protecting her young. I yanked Bode away, bent down the kid’s level and very slowly, deliberately said, “You. Do. NOT. Touch. My Son.” His reaction? He sneered at me.

His mother, not seeing his trespasses but witnessing the aftermath raced out to the field as well. “What’s going on?” she asked not accusingly. I informed her, upon which she asked her son to give Bode an apology. After refusing, she took him off the field.

The drama unfolded in less than a minute but its echoes still resonate with me. Was I in the wrong to so deliberately confront her son? Though she reacted quickly, shouldn’t she have forced an apology? Where is the line when disciplining other people’s kids?

I have mulled these questions over in my mind to ascertain my line. Mine is I would never strike or even touch another person’s child. However, if they are causing bodily harm to mine, that is when I step in. There are some parents who react beyond that and some who do not react at all to their bullies musing, “kids will be kids.” The problem with everyone’s “lines” is they are all different.

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

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