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<title>bebestages Feed</title><link>www.bebestages.com/index.html</link><description>bebestages News&#x21;</description><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><dc:rights>Copyright 2006 liz smith</dc:rights><dc:date>2007-03-21T09:28:40-04:00</dc:date><admin:generatorAgent rdf:resource="http://www.realmacsoftware.com/" />
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<lastBuildDate>Sun, 25 Mar 2007 09:31:06 -0400</lastBuildDate><item><title>Happy Spring&#x21;</title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><dc:subject>bebestages</dc:subject><dc:date>2007-03-21T09:28:40-04:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/5d8f441004b3eec3792e2cfcd412eea3-136.html#unique-entry-id-136</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/5d8f441004b3eec3792e2cfcd412eea3-136.html#unique-entry-id-136</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:EmGTzoyiMJw-kM:http://i.pbase.com/o4/78/410678/1/57537748.2.jpg"/> HAPPY SPRING TO ALL!!!!]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Easy Cheesy Meals</title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>good eats</category><dc:date>2007-03-10T09:22:51-05:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/379b5f2e856beba39691c1f474b0e14e-135.html#unique-entry-id-135</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/379b5f2e856beba39691c1f474b0e14e-135.html#unique-entry-id-135</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Oh am I ever so happy.  I'm not a cook, and I'm not creative in the Kitchen.  Most would find that a bit strange considering my dad owned a restaurant for 30+ years and cooked for us every night.  He always had me in the kitchen with him, but I just never enjoyed it the way I thought I should.  Cooking for me is a chore.  I do know how to cook, but I think that subconsciously my things often turn out bad because I don't want to do it.  So I guess I take back the whole, I'm not creative in the kitchen part.  I have cooked a mean meal here and there when I've felt like cooking.  Well let me get to the good part of this post, Kraft has a magazine out, and a great website with great EASY recipes.  Check them out, tonight I"m going to attempt the Cheesy One-Pot Chicken Cacciatore.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Great Magazine: Wondertime</title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>good reads</category><dc:date>2007-03-05T09:07:57-05:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/b779275ba431e16cc63b1316728cede6-134.html#unique-entry-id-134</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/b779275ba431e16cc63b1316728cede6-134.html#unique-entry-id-134</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I received this magazine, wondertime, as a trial and fell in love.  I must say if you come into my home, you will find 2 or 3 magazines scattered about in various areas of the home.  I used to be a glamour girl but all you will found here is, Martha Stewart, Real Simple, and a bunch of parenting magazines.  And amongst them will now be Wondertime.  The magazine, just feels and looks simple, inviting and full of great ideas and information.  Don't get me wrong I love all the other parenting magazines but sometimes they are just way to busy and have way too much stuff to focus on. Check it out, I"m not sure if Wondertime is in stores yet, but you can also check their website which gives just about the same information that is in their magazine for the month.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Creative Little Hands: Kids Craft Weekly Contribution</title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><dc:subject>bebestages</dc:subject><dc:date>2007-03-03T20:22:52-05:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/39f16c8e4cac6296b36bd16d3572a583-133.html#unique-entry-id-133</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/39f16c8e4cac6296b36bd16d3572a583-133.html#unique-entry-id-133</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Celebrate Chinese New Year. </title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>parenting</category><dc:date>2007-02-21T13:08:50-05:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/b2a4d969b7b6ea6eceede145859d5644-132.html#unique-entry-id-132</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/b2a4d969b7b6ea6eceede145859d5644-132.html#unique-entry-id-132</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Chinese New Year is here, welcome the year of the PIG (what is it?  check out this brief description here).  Introduce a new culture to your childs life.  We live in a world of so many different cultures, instead of celebrating only what you know why not learn together what other cultures have been enjoying and celebrating for centuries.  1.  A great start would be to go to your local library.  They are filled with stories, fact and fiction to get the holiday started.  2.  Enjoy a traditional Chinese dinner, if you're feeling brave cook it up, if not why not order in and set up your home for a family Chinese cultured dinner 3.  Craft it up!  Check out tomorrows Creative Little Hands to enjoy a fun Chinese New Year Craft]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Looking for great gifts? Etsy to the rescue</title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>bebefinds</category><dc:date>2007-02-20T08:33:11-05:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/ec92ce1334dbac6585f890eaddf9d2ab-131.html#unique-entry-id-131</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/ec92ce1334dbac6585f890eaddf9d2ab-131.html#unique-entry-id-131</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I love finding or even making gifts for my family and friends that you can't just buy at any department store.  There's nothing like recieving a gift thats perfect in everyway and you won't be seeing on just anybody.  I've been searching through Etsy for a while now and I always come across really great things, but lately they've just been getting better and better.  Go to Etsy.com and check it out for yourself.!  Featured here is an adorable bib and burpcloth set by bamboobaby]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Creative Little Hands: Valentines Day Mailbox</title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><dc:subject>bebestages</dc:subject><dc:date>2007-02-09T07:56:50-05:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/94409df9f4b07a8bfa8e109286eef70f-130.html#unique-entry-id-130</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/94409df9f4b07a8bfa8e109286eef70f-130.html#unique-entry-id-130</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Click here for Today's Project: Valentine Mailbox  <img src="http://familyfun.go.com/Resources/craftimages/valmailbox.jpg"/>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Taste of a SAHM vs. Working Mom</title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>toddler</category><dc:date>2007-02-08T08:21:52-05:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/7c86015a7ce95017ff248089b517287c-128.html#unique-entry-id-128</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/7c86015a7ce95017ff248089b517287c-128.html#unique-entry-id-128</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I have had the privelige of experiencing being a stay at home mom and a working mom....  It was a sad time for me, but in the long run it was the right choice at that time of my life.  My daughter was in a home daycare, she was learning lots of new things and having tons of fun.  In the evenings when I would pick her up I would sometimes experience her screaming and crying when she would see me.  She wanted nothing to do with mommy and wanted to stay with the woman who was watching her.  It was very hard for me to experience this, but atleast I new somewhere in my heart that she did this because she was having fun and happy in her surroundings.  I new she loved me because as soon as her meltdown was over she hung to me like any child would hang on their parent and I loved it.

...We were very excited, Paige was excited and we assumed life would proceed as it did when I had Paige and returned to work.  After having to leave work at 7 months, I had plenty of time to think and came to the realization that working wasn't going to do us any good.  I would be working to keep 2 kids in daycare, travel back and forth to work and lunch everyday.  So the obvious decision would be for me to stay home with the kids and wait until Paige was in Kindergarten to go back to work, I was very excited about this decision.

I have to say that at this moment in time, I've had tons of fun being home with the girls but I feel it is time for me to return to work.  For one thing Paige is of age to go to school she is 4 years old and will be attending school in September.  Rylan who is 16months now is in need of some sort of interaction with children her own age....  I don't blame myself for this it's just that Paige was surrounded by children who were older than her and she picked a lot of things up from them during her time in daycare.  Plus during the day she had the sitters undivided attention because she was there alone until the other kids arrived after school.  Anyway, getting to my point I've lost touch with the adult world, we are suffering financially which we all know can put a strain on any marriage and there are things we need and want that we just can't do right now and we hate to see our kids suffer because of it.  Freelance can only get you so far especially when you don't have the means to do anything during the day for your clients and trying to start a business is near impossible when you have two toddlers running around and the only time to focus is from 10pm on. I will continue to work on our business when I return to work but i don't expect to have it off its feet for a while.

So to all the Stay at home moms- Life is hard being a stay at home mom and I give us all credit.  And to the working moms, Life is just as hard working and having to come home and be a mom and no job is easier than the other we just learn to accept what we need to do to live a happy and fullfilled life.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Bath Body Junky: Blogjolt</title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>blogjolt</category><dc:date>2007-02-07T09:11:39-05:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/c82fb701006720e35a83e5892762a775-129.html#unique-entry-id-129</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/c82fb701006720e35a83e5892762a775-129.html#unique-entry-id-129</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Being parents we sometimes forget that we need some pampering.  The days have gotten longer the showers are no longer an escape from reality but a quick wash while the kids are screaming "MOMMY!!!!!!"  Bath Body Junky reminds us that it's easy to pamper ourselves at home and it doesn't need to be expensive.  Jenny has a few pointers to keep those puffy eyes from taking over, and this takes no time at all - just some changes in your daily routine.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The New Techno Age</title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>parenting</category><dc:date>2007-02-05T08:43:40-05:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/d68d5e7a3d10ecbbf979523e5b31c3ea-127.html#unique-entry-id-127</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/d68d5e7a3d10ecbbf979523e5b31c3ea-127.html#unique-entry-id-127</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I recently started a part time job at a computer store, and was amazed at the amount of people buying laptops for each of their children!  These laptops were bought for each child in the household ranging from age 6 and up.  Then I was even more surprised at the fact that parents are buying their 4 and 5 year olds ipods!  I even had a mother comment that they had to buy a nano for their 5 year old because she would "freak out" when she saw her 13 year old brother with one.  This was told after I suggested she buy a shuffle for her 5 year old since it wasn't as expensive and most likely a 4 year old will probably lose the ipod or just forget about it eventually.

I guess with times changing and everything around us getting more and more technological we have to expect these changes to occur.  I have to admit that even I depend on some technology to entertain my 4 year old.  She often plays games on the computer (educational ofcourse), she is also learning to read through it, but I must remind myself that technology can't take the place of a good book and a quite place.  I think the important thing here is that we have to remember that it is our job to keep our kids happy and entertained not technology.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>bebefind alert: Rody Jumping Horse</title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>bebefinds</category><dc:date>2007-02-03T08:33:30-05:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/fde6f34cc0945595b225e196834e785a-126.html#unique-entry-id-126</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/fde6f34cc0945595b225e196834e785a-126.html#unique-entry-id-126</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Oooh this is so cool I wish I had this growing up.  Remember those inflatable balls that you could sit on and jump?]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Not so great News</title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><dc:subject>bebestages</dc:subject><dc:date>2007-02-01T08:44:06-05:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/0b1ed11e754e50500b4757d9e1298662-123.html#unique-entry-id-123</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/0b1ed11e754e50500b4757d9e1298662-123.html#unique-entry-id-123</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[bebestages has taken a bit of a break, a family member, our nephew was diagnosed with Meningitis.  He is only 3 weeks old and the family is praying and trying to keep calm.  Please bear with us while we wait and please pray for little Nathaniel.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Valentines Day is making its way</title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>crafty</category><dc:date>2007-01-26T09:25:41-05:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/2305a286924fdb7b3667ea3f8004b430-125.html#unique-entry-id-125</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/2305a286924fdb7b3667ea3f8004b430-125.html#unique-entry-id-125</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Valentines day sure is making its way quickly over here.  We've got harts on the windows, cards on the table and lots of baking ideas rumbling around in our heads.  Since Valentines day isn't quite as stressful as Christmas we've decided to get what we can get to and do a project everyday.  We're almost complete with cards for the grandparents.  We'll be sewing a few pretty little things for cousins and aunts.  And all I've had to do is cut out a few hearts and the little rascal is on her way with glitter and glue, I haven't had this much fun making STUFF in a long time.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Poncho + Blanket= Comfort</title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>bebefinds</category><dc:date>2007-01-24T09:17:04-05:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/6576b2d5883d9226363bafd10f8d86d5-124.html#unique-entry-id-124</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/6576b2d5883d9226363bafd10f8d86d5-124.html#unique-entry-id-124</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="http://www.branchhome.com/images/snb_poncho_bloom_fold_02.jpg"/> <img src="http://www.branchhome.com/images/snb_poncho_bloom_fold_01.jpg"/> <img src="http://www.branchhome.com/includes/templates/branch_custom/images/branch_header_left.gif"/>

What a great idea.  A blanket thats also a poncho!  I love products that double as more than one use!  So often I like to put ponchos on my kids but they never stay on long enough and end up wrapped around their legs.  Now you can buy one thats used just for that.

Check out this adorable double use poncho/blanket!]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Creative Little Hands: Emotion Painting</title><description></description><dc:creator>loizousmith@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>crafty</category><dc:date>2007-01-21T21:06:44-05:00</dc:date><link>www.bebestages.com/files/34d8ac5239f885bcb78b6272002bdfd5-122.html#unique-entry-id-122</link><guid isPermaLink="true">www.bebestages.com/files/34d8ac5239f885bcb78b6272002bdfd5-122.html#unique-entry-id-122</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[]]></content:encoded></item></channel>
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