Mile High Mamas was happy to give away six family four-packs of tickets to Disney on Ice last week.

To assist with their promotions, Feld Entertainment teamed up with consulting firm Mom Central to identify key “Influencers” in the community to spread the word about a discount coupon code and to hold local contests that created a buzz about the event.

The effects of their local campaign were far-reaching, even down to Haddie who fretted before the show, “But what if I fall on the ice?”

Evidently, the marketing was a bit too effective: the kid thought she was starring in it along with her Disney cohorts.

As a thank you to these Influencers, Feld and Mom Central held an event prior to the show where these families met The Incredibles, were fed a simple dinner, mingled and talked about upcoming events. My favorite part of the evening was not the show itself but when each of these moms stood up to introduce themselves.

We were not the public official who makes important policy changes. We were not the coiffed news anchor reporting the day’s events. We were not the president of a company whose decisions affect thousands of people.

We are like Paula who sacrifices her time to homeschool her children and is a part of a homeschooling co-op. We are like Suzanne, the dynamic single mom of six who works her butt off as a secretary to provide for her family. We are like Sarah who just lost her mom and yet manages to keep everyone laughing around her. We are like Barb who explained to me that her son’s gorgeous long, curly hair was to hide the scars he has received from multiple brain surgeries.

I walked away from this experience with a resonating sense of purpose for every mom out there. WE ARE ALL INFLUENCERS–in our schools, our churches, our communities and most importantly our homes.

And it’s about time we remembered that.

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

I was not going to address all the controversy surrounding HBO’s decision to misrepresent the LDS temple ceremony in their polygamy drama “Big Love” but I received a deluge of emails from readers asking about my opinion. A number of you who read this blog are Mormon. An even bigger number of you are not and my goal has always been to walk that line very respectfully and carefully.

My opinion is in line with the LDS church’s official statement at The Publicity Dilemma. Am I surprised Hollywood decided to exploit something sacred? No. As far as values go, most of us are in agreement that Hollywood is about as debase as it gets and yet we have somehow formed our society to worship these fallen idols.

A number of years ago, a friend was marveling at my dedication to the LDS church. I have not always known it was true and went through a time of great soul-searching. But once I received my own witness, I have never looked back.

This friend asked when all was said and done and I was at the “Pearly Gates” and I found out I was wrong about everything, would I regret the path I chose?

This gave me pause to think. Is being a member of the LDS church easy? No. We attend church every week and everyone is given various “callings” that range from working with the children, to the youth and adults. We are often called upon to help others in need any time of the day. We are encouraged to serve in our communities and have endured our fair share of persecution. We refrain from alcohol, drugs and tobacco and remain faithful to our spouses.

Sound impossible to some of you? My reward is simple: joy in living a pure life. I know where I came from, who I am and where I am going. I have never been a slave to an addiction and have a spouse I know will always remain faithful to me because of the covenants we made in the temple that bind us eternally. I believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, and temples. I do not believe the heavens are sealed and through the proper priesthood authority, God continues to reveal His will and Jesus Christ is the only way to return to Him.

Will I ever regret the path I have chosen, though it has not been easy? Never.

Anyone who has any religious background knows the significance of temples and has heard of Hindu, Greco-Roman, Solomon’s and Herod’s temples. When studying in Egypt at the Temple of Luxor, I was amazed to see hieroglyphics of sacred temple ceremonies openly displayed on the temple walls.

When teaching a former Master Mason on my mission in Switzerland, he revealed sacred tokens and signs that the Freemasons have passed down through the ages in their Masonic Temples.

When I lived in Jerusalem and visited the Dome of the Rock, I respected the strict code of conduct. I stood in reverence as Muslims knelt to pray five times a day during The Call to Prayer.

I regularly went to the Western Wall, a holy place the Jews venerate as the sole remnant of the Holy Temple.

I tearfully watched as they placed slips of paper containing written prayers into the crevices of the Wall.

There is beauty in belief.

For Mormons and millions of people of many different faiths, it is not about keeping “secrets.”

It is about keeping sacred things sacred.

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

I will admit there was a moment’s hesitation about including my previous post’s picture of Bode when he lost the fight with the wall after transitioning to a big-boy bed.

Or when he put his head in the opening of my brother’s chair and I snapped a picture the exact moment he realized he was stuck.

Lest you think I only pick on Bode, Hadley assures you this is not the case.

I am an equal-opportunity humiliator.

Such as when I likened their passport pictures to mini-Taliban.

Really, can you blame me?

Sometimes, life hurts. Sometimes, circumstances suck. But almost always, there is room to laugh.

And cry.

Because who wouldn’t once you realized your life would be dedicated to serving The Great Pumpkin and your mother dressed you like one.

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Huuuuuuge favor: I need your vote. My PR friend Kelly nominated Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck for best blog in 5280 magazine’s Top of the Town, which is Denver’s guide to who’s who. I would love to give all those ultra-liberal or tech-driven blogs they usually feature a run for their money. Voting is so easy. Simply go to http://www.5280.com/tot/, enter your email, verify it, go to the voting page, click on “People” on the right-hand column and “Best blog/blogger” is near the top where you can enter CrazyBlogginCanuck.com.

I would appreciate a shout-out for the best lice-infested, pumpkin-obsessed family in Colorado!

Your reward? No lice for you and enough pumpkin to go around!

XOXOXO
Amber

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

Last week, we switched Bode out of his crib into a bed. We probably could have done it earlier but frankly, why would we if he seemed perfectly content in his four-walled prison?

I was not so worried about him trying to sneak out and conquer the world at midnight like Hadley did. What I was worried about is he is a wild sleeper and flails around in all directions. I should know. I slept with him at Delta Lodge Kananaskis in Canada. Or rather, he slept whilst using me as his punching bag.

We don’t have a rail on his bed but propped up some pillows to prevent him from falling. We talked up the “big-boy bed” and I think he was just a wee bit excited.

And so were we. His transition was seamless and best of all, he has yet to realize he can get out by himself so he patiently waits for me every morning.

I’m not telling him otherwise.

But then we woke up to this on Sunday morning:

You should see the other guy.

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

I really wanted to talk about something other than our outbreak of lice. I really did. Like how we had a memorable day rollerblading and picnicking in Washington Park. How Haddie has finally returned to preschool. How the weather has been glorious and we have been playing outside every day. How sweet Bode insisted we sing “I love to see the temple” during our entire hike yesterday.

But recent developments prohibit me from doing this.

It started when my dear friend Helga (name has been changed to protect the innocent) called me prior to picking Hadley up for preschool.

Me: It is always bad news when you call at 7:30 a.m.
Hegla: I hate you.

Helga then proceeded to tell me she found a delightful little black bug that morning in her daughter’s hair. A little black bug that had taken more than a week to incubate in Alex’s hair. And where there is one little black bug, there are inevitably many more. I was tempted to tell her to keep her leper colony to herself but it was Thursday and I was feeling particularly generous. I offered to bring her some Cetaphil (our miracle cure) to her house after I dropped my non-leprous daughter off at preschool.

Remember “May?”

Well, I introduced her to “Phil.”

Which, quite coincidentally, is her husband’s name.

Phil is, quite conveniently, in a third-world country, likely spreading the disease to other Innocents. And so good friend that I am, I donned my pink shower cap and scrubbed Helga’s hair with Cetaphil.

“Amber, you really are a great friend for doing this.”
“A great enough friend to give it to you in the first place.”

Because friends don’t give friends lice.

We went about our lice bonding ritual until a rather revealing document testified what they really think of me.

So much for gratitude.

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

It’s been quite a year. When not traveling to Keystone and Park City, we have been sick. I think I could count on one hand the number of days Hadley attended preschool in February. To add to the lice outbreak, she contracted a mild case of chicken pox.

Jamie said we were officially cursed with the 10 Plagues because chicken pox = boils.

I am praying locusts don’t come next.

We have miraculously kept our spirits up and the weather has been kind. Last week during our incarceration, we explored our neighborhood. We climbed the hill of a water tower that overlooked our gorgeous valley. Raced around a BMX track, discovered hidden ponds, jumped over streams, traumatized geese, played in the pumpkin patch, hiked Red Rocks. It was a glorious week of togetherness and I relished every moment of it because there may be some major changes coming my way.

Well, “relished every moment” except for the lice part. As my friend Garritt said in response to my estimated amount of hair in my last post:

Amber. Considering I am still finding blond hair amidst my belongings (from 8 years ago??), blond hair that has “Amber” written all over it’s genetic code, I assert that the seemingly liberal estimate of Amber hair, one billion, is a rather puny and highly conservative estimate.

He ain’t kidding. Getting through my one billion+ strands of hair was no small feat. Thank you for all your kind words of encouragement. In the end, what ended up working was a recommendation from my former neighbor Lauri to go to this site. You MUST bookmark this page if you are ever unfortunate to have lice because this treatment was the turning point. It steered us away from the harsh lice-busting shampoos towards Cetaphil.

Yes, a facial cleanser was what finally cured us. Basically, you apply an entire bottle of Cetaphil, rub it in, comb your hair, blow dry, let it work its magic for the next eight hours, and then wash it out. It suffocates the lice and during the treatment period, it leaves your hair stiff and greasy-looking. Hadley donned a sundress the entire day and looked like this:

I, on the other hand, looked more like this:

Of course after The Killing Fields, we still had to clean up the carnage. We have done a couple of minor olive oil and then mayonnaise treatments and have spent hours picking the dead nits out of our hair. We will likely still find them for a while but we finally have a clean bill of health to interact with the human race again.

Watch out, world.

When you are in quarantine, you feel extremely isolated. Imagine my delight to go to my doorstep and find this from my friend Julie:

Forget the well-intended flowers. A mayonaise treatment with shower cap to a lice-infested family = love.

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

On Friday, I blubbered like a baby. It was not because of the lice infestation that pervaded our home. Or my daughter’s chicken pox outbreak.

Though those may have contributed to my fragile state.

It was because READ ON

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

Well, we’re still alive. Problem is so is our lice. I honestly had no idea what having lice entailed before this ordeal. I always wondered what was the big deal? Buy some lice-busting shampoo, wash your hair, comb it out and be done with it, right?

Oh, so very wrong.

You see, they lay these little white eggs all over your head. So, even though the actual bugs comb out easily, the only way we have been able to get rid of the eggs is to hand-pick them out because they stick to the individual strands of hair. I just spent two hours doing this on Haddie’s hair and feel like I didn’t even put a dent in them. Sadly, she doesn’t even have it as bad as yours truly.

The average person has 120,000 strands of hair on their head.

My mop has an estimated 1 billion.

Feel yourself itching just by reading this post? Welcome to our world!

And so our exile continues, at least for several more days. Thank you for the well-wishes and to my friend Lisa who sent her two children to drop off some delicious cookies.

Though refusing to come to the door and sending your children instead is kind of like sending the lambs to the slaughter, isn’t it?

We hope to reemerge with a full head of healthy hair by 2010. In the meantime, I would love to hear any advice you may have on surviving this.

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