Betsy Bailey

It’s a common problem, yeah? How to help our kids resist the temptation of the Internet when it’s supposed to be bedtime.

I remember when my kids were little and we parents would ask each other: Would you ever let your kids have a TV or computer in their room? My answer was always an emphatic NO. But here we are in this crazy age, barely a decade later, and my kids are gadgeted to the hilt with wifi-enabled devices: Nintendo DSi, iPod Touch, netbook. For the purposes of entertainment, who needs an actual TV or wired computer anymore??

For awhile I had a policy of collecting all the devices at night and redistributing in the morning. But that was back in the day when the only gadget they owned was a Game Boy, and those were not wifi-enabled.

So this was Scott’s brilliant idea: Our household wifi access is controlled by MAC address (every wifi enabled device has one)…

1. Wifi is open to any device from 5 am – 6 pm

Hey, if the kids want to get up at 5 am, I do not have a problem with that!

2. Children’s devices lose wifi access at 9 pm.

Yes, they hate that. (And when their friends come to sleepovers here they are appalled. Ha!) But they have gotten used to it. I kind of wish we’d decided on an earlier time in the first place, but for now this suffices.

3. Scott/Betsy devices never go down.

My husband would love to take our net access down as early as 6 pm. But he realizes that would be cruel and unusual punishment. Maybe someday I will be strong enough! But for now I really look forward to a little Words With Friends each night before I turn out the light.

Motivation

Even if the kids turn up with a wifi-enabled device that they’ve borrowed or have been gifted with, they won’t have wifi on it after 6 pm unless they give Scott the MAC address.

Those extra three hours prove very motivational in their desire to make full disclosure about devices. From the parental point-of-view it’s a beautiful system. And so far none of my kids are quite geeky enough to cross cyberswords with Scott and subvert this system.

Click to see my photojournal of our camping trip to Horseshoe Lake

February 14-15, 2009: Mesquite campground at Horseshoe Lake, Verde River.

Highlights of this trip:

• The Brazaletes Pueblo ruin at the summit of St. Clair Mountain was extremely fascinating. One of the most extensive ruin sites I’ve seen (that hasn’t been developed for public interpretation, that is).

• First time camping since Scott made the dinette modification. Compared to the bench seat we had previously, the dinette is SO family friendly. The set up is much roomier and the layout is far more conversational. I liked that there was room for the hubby, a tween and the toddler to sit there while I prepared a meal and served it to them at the table. When we had the bench, there wasn’t a lot of room for other people to sit on it while I was cooking – knees in the way. And, of course, no table, so I was handing the food out. We always had to eat outside. While that is usually something we WANT to be doing, since we’re camping, after all, it was pretty cold on this trip  (got below freezing at night) so we were glad to have the dine-inside-where-it-was-warm-and-comfortable option.

• HM fell into the river once while climbing out onto a tree from the beach at our campsite. Completely drenched, from head to toe. Later, after she was dried off and in dry, warm clothes, the dog dragged her into the water’s edge from the muddy beach. Not as wet this time, but much muddier. I think HM learned her lesson and now understands why I always harp about using the gentle leader!

• It was cold weather for falling into the freezing cold river (like HM did… twice!) or sitting at icy concrete picnic table, but it was the PERFECT temperature and conditions for hiking and exploring, which we managed to do a lot of on this trip!

I often joke with Scott that I’m really NOT that great of a cook. My food is good because I’m a good recipe-picker.

The Internet helps so much with that, especially when you can review hundreds of consumer reviews as part of the evaluation process. These reviews also include useful tips and recipe modifications that may better suit my preferences.

To that end, now that I’m making bread dough all the time (and it makes an awesome pizza dough, too) I was on a quest for the perfect homemade pizza sauce. I found this little gem: Exquisite Pizza Sauce by Angie Gorkoff .

4.5 stars and 641 user reviews can’t be wrong, yeah?

Here’s my adaptation:

Sweet and Spicy Pizza Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 6 fluid ounces warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (or 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in bowl and allow at least 30 minutes for flavors to blend.

2. Spoon and spread 4-5 tablespoons of sauce onto each pizza crust. Add cheese and toppings. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with herbs like oregano or basil. Bake in oven (convection, if you have that option) preheated to 450F for 10-15 minutes.

Makes enough sauce for two pizzas. We like to double the recipe, heat up the extra and use it as a pizza or breadstick dipping sauce.

Homemade pizza tips

1. One of the commentators at All Recipes offers this suggestion – brilliant! If you make pizza regularly, mix up the following dry ingredients:

• 2-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2-1/2 teaspoons dried marjoram
• 2-1/2 teaspoons dried basil
• 2-1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• salt to taste

When you’re ready to make pizza, add one tablespoon of this mixture to the regular recipe.

2. Did you know that if you carefully sprinkle the shredded cheese on the bare edges of the pizza crust, that will anchor ALL the cheese to the crust so that it won’t slide around (and right off the slices) when you slice the pizza? Scotty taught me that one just tonight. He worked his way through college at Pizza Hut, so he would know.

Ohhh, Jason Mraz has a new album out. First song I heard off of it made me think of my wonderful hubby:

Lucky
Jason Mraz featuring Colbie Caillat

Do you hear me,
I’m talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I’m trying
Boy I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard

I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

They don’t know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I’ll wait for you I promise you, I will

I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we’re in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

And so I’m sailing through the sea
To an island where we’ll meet
You’ll hear the music fill the air
I’ll put a flower in your hair
though the breezes through trees
Move so pretty you’re all I see
As the world keeps spinning round
You hold me right here right now

I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
I’m lucky we’re in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

Jake with his new “iPhone” – I had gotten a protective sleeve for my phone – I keep dropping it augh and this cardboard representation of the interface was part of the packaging. He carried that around with him for days. Cardboard/paper is his favorite toy.

I just LOVE these next shots – got them just last night after dinner… my boys in the kitchen.

“Playpen”