Farewell

Bad news bears, everyone:  our blog has reached a stopping point.  I've had a great time sharing and blogging, but I don't have the commitment to keep it up like I once did.  I'm still going to be blogging, but not here on The Case of the Missing Cheerios.  If you'd like to check out my new blog, which is up and running, scope it out at http://reasonsforwaking.blogspot.com/

I'm also going to be spending a lot more time on my novel.  Hopefully you can look forward to that getting published eventually, but I have to finish it first!

Again, thanks for your support and thanks for reading!  Keep on being rocking parents and people, and I hope to hear from you all on my new blog.  Toodles! 

Mom hobbies~priddymomma

Me as McGonagall

Hey guys!  I’m getting totally excited about Halloween coming up.  We’re having a Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Halloween party on Halloween this year.  I have BIG PLANS, DUDES!!  I’ll share a picture or two afterwards.  My husband and I also got the chance to begin putting in some trails on our property.  I’m crazy excited to get to work on them.  Now we can enjoy so much more of our place!  Aahhh!  I’m crazy.  You can say it.

The Great Hall at the Halloween feast, complete with "live" bats

This week, I’m discussing mom hobbies.  Actually, I really want to cross off the mom and just call it “hobbies”.  The issue is that you won’t have the same kind of hobbies as a mom that you did when you were not a mom, so I guess the mom stays.  And at this point, I’m sure you can tell I am completely hyped up on caffeine while typing like a psycho.  IT’S TRUE!!  YAY!  (I’m running in circles only a little)

So…what was I talking about?  Oh.  Hobbies.  You need hobbies.  Going through life not excited about doing anything is super lame.  I’m excited about this party, for instance.  It is sort of a hobby of mine to throw elaborate parties.  Weird, but it makes me happy to see people surprised at the steps I took to set something up (and on a budget too!). 

I also like to sew.  I don’t make time for it often, but I always make time around Halloween.  I make my kiddos’ costumes (they want to be Elsa and Superman this year).  Not only do they turn out better than anything you can pick up in the store, but they are often times much cheaper.  And again, I have the excuse of sewing, which is great.  I sometimes make time before Christmas as well if one of the gifts is hand made. 

 

Confession:  No sew!  Princess Cheerio was 1, and I procrastinated.  Still not purchased costumes though (except the wings, because ain't nobody got time for that).

Singing is the hobby I make the most time for, but mostly because I can multi task as I sing.  I can sing while washing dishes, cooking, cleaning, and of course the old stand-by of singing in the shower.  I love to dance, so I try to make time for Zumba once a week. 

I love working in the yard, so I make sure I have time to do outside chores on nice days.  I like to read, so I plan my day around my book if it happens to be really good.  More than once I have turned down invites or activities because a book I have been itching to get my hands on is released that day or the day before.  IF THEY ARE TRULY YOUR FRIEND, THEY WILL UNDERSTAND!  I have no idea why I’m shouting.  Must be the coffee. 

OH NO!  My coffee is gone!  The horror!  Time for a refill. 

Drat!  Hubby turned off the coffee maker.  He will pay for this!  (I won’t remember by the time he gets home)

Crap.  Microwaved old coffee and burned my tongue.  Why doesn’t spell check recognize “microwaved”.  That’s a term, right?  Or maybe we can just call it “nuked”?  It recognizes that, but only because it is morbid.  Is there another term you use?  WHAT IS THE PROPER TERM??!

Anyway…um…I have no idea where I was.  Have a hobby!  Right.  I don’t even know where I was going with this whole concept.  That’s a lot like life.  Stop.  Breathe.  Okay.  New paragraph.  Maybe just ignore this one.  Of course, now you can’t because you read the whole thing.  Ha ha!  Sucks to be you.

If you don’t make time for your favorite activities, you will end up hating everyone and being bored out of your mind.  That is an opinion, obviously.  When you were a kid, you were probably pretty happy most of the time.  I believe kids are happy, because they spend large amounts of time doing exactly what interests them and not worrying about what they should be doing most of the time.  If they want to spend hours building legos, by gum they will!  And should something like hygiene or chores get in their way, a meltdown will occur.  Grumpy adults are just the grown up versions of these kids, meltdown included (hence the grumpy).  We would all feel a lot better if we took time to play our legos. 

See ya next week, Cheerios Parents!  Peace!

P.S.  Please take a moment of silence for 9/11.  Take a moment to appreciate the magnitude of what happened that day.  God bless.

Being more than just a mom~priddymomma

Hey guys!  Hope you all are having a fine week.  I'm late posting again!  Sorry!  I’ve put in long hours catching up on some long neglected yard work.  I also found some poison ivy.  Happily, I didn’t discover it with my limbs.

This post is for the ladies.  I’ll be discussing being more than just a mom.  Sorry to all our male readers.  I would love to give you some advice on being more than just a dad, but unfortunately I’m not qualified, gender-wise.  Hopefully you will find that some information in this post pertains to you as well. 

Parenting is one of the most rewarding experiences in the world, arguably the MOST enjoyable.  It is also one of the hardest.  Just like any activity in life, you can overdo it and burn out.  You must take breaks to recharge if you expect to perform at your maximum potential.  It is a very important job, and you do your best if you are relaxed, recharged, and refreshed. 

The trouble is that modern parents are often so busy that they struggle to find time to spend with their kids, let alone finding time for a break.  It just isn’t a priority.  My number one piece of advice is to MAKE time.  Jot it down in your appointment book and keep it as faithfully as you would for one of your kids’ appointments. 

My second tip is to get enough sleep.  Being tired adds to frustration and chaos, and your body needs time to repair itself and to fight off illness.  Yes, moms notoriously have little sleep, but what I’m telling you is that if you have the opportunity to sleep, seize it.  Being well rested will make a huge difference in your life, and in your kids’ lives.

 

SO not a mom...

“But Heather!  This is great advice and all, but I thought this post was about being MORE than just a mom!  You are just giving me parenting tips!”  Am I?  If you have a spare moment to yourself and you are exhausted, what are you going to do?  Uh-huh.  You bet your booty you will be napping.  “Me time” does not equal “sleep time.”  And new mothers, it doesn’t equal “shower time” or “pee time” either.  You need real legit “me time”. 

After you have cleared room for yourself in your schedule (and even an hour a week will do wonders), do something that makes your soul sing.  Taking a fitness class might be your idea of joy or maybe your idea of hell.  Don’t force yourself to do something you won’t enjoy.  That is a crappy way of giving yourself love.  Take the opportunity to do something worth it for you. 

Here are some suggestions:  bake, cook, garden, read, take a long hot bath, sing, swim, bike, run, play with your dog, go for a walk, hike, draw, play a video game, dance, sew, craft, meditate, go bird watching, try a new food, shop, hang out with a friend, play a sport, scrapbook, grab a coffee, watch a movie, catch up on your favorite tv series, plan your dream vacation, paint, check out an art exhibit, visit the fair, assemble a puzzle, etc.

In order to be more than just a mom, you have to learn to know yourself outside of being a mom.  It is perfectly okay if you have no idea what you enjoy anymore.  Great!  It means more experimenting and intrigue as you take yourself on dates to get to the bottom of who you are when you aren’t surrounded by children.  Yes, your kids may be everything to you, but that doesn’t mean they are everything you are.

Childhood hobbies~priddymomma

Hey guys!  Hope you have had a lovely week.  My family had the opportunity to visit the State Fair on Monday.  Fair season is definitely one of my absolute favorite things about summer.  My husband and I met during high school marching band, and every time we visit the fair, it takes me back to a time when we were first falling in love... 

 

Our band uniforms were sexy.  You can say it.

Enough of that mushy stuff!  You didn’t come here for that, I’m sure.  You came instead to read about what hobbies I encourage in my kiddos!  (Sure you did.  No arguing.)

I home school my kids, and I don’t currently have them enrolled in anything like dance or karate (though I’d like to enroll them in both eventually). 

 

 

My son loves to read and learn facts.  One of his more recent interests centered around pumpkins.  I thought it was kind of strange and out of season, but go for it!  We ended up working together to plant a pumpkin patch, which is doing really well and should yield 24 or so pumpkins eventually.  He can tell you all about the life cycle of a pumpkin, and all without me teaching him a thing.  I love the library.  

My daughter is interested in bugs and being outside.  When she isn’t looking at plants and insects through a magnifying glass, she’s trying to convince me to take her outside so that she can do just that.  She’s very observant (and argumentative).  She also loves to draw. 

 

I believe that kids will pick up on what their parents really love to do as well as going on to develop their own interests.  Cheerio Champ has lately developed a keen interest in the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.  He can blame me for that, and my latest interest in “Jesus Christ Superstar”.  Both of my kids enjoy yoga (blame me) and tai chi (all hubby’s fault).  They have music and reading in their blood.

 

exercising with dad in our home gym

I guess to summarize:  I encourage my kids to follow their hearts.  That’s a great hobby/life goal.  If they get it into their heads they want to be acrobats, while I’ll probably have a heart attack, I will encourage their dream and do the best I can to support them as they pursue it. 

To be fair, they DO often fight over our hula hoop...

What hobbies do you encourage in your kids?  What hobbies have they picked up that they can blame you for?

See ya next week! 

Teaching your children to read... ~Tori~

Sorry for the long absence. You guys are probably wondering what happened to me on here, and whether or not I ditched the blog! Just to clarify, I didn't. There's been a lot going on lately, not just for me, but for all of us on The Case of The Missing Cheerios.
My own personal thing has been I recently found out I'm pregnant! Hubby and I have also had side business things going on, and we've been crazy busy with getting back into the school routine (and all that comes with it). But hopefully I'm back for good now.
Anyway, now it's on to the actual post for this week. LOL

First on to reading success is of course learning letters.

The alphabet is important and you can start working with your children on the alphabet early on. For my kids they both started learning at the age of two. With books, flash cards, games, etc. My oldest son learned all his capital letters with ease. The lowercase were a bit more difficult for him as he did (and sometimes still does) gets his b's and d's mixed up. But we've been told that's pretty normal. For him reading doesn't come as naturally. He has speech trouble and so pronunciation of words comes pretty hard. For this reason we got him a reading tutor, his school works on reading, and we work on reading at LEAST 30 minutes a night at home. I can't even tell you how greatly he has improved in just a year's time by doing this. And he's only been in tutoring for a few months. But working closely and constantly with your children is the key to success. Read them a book and give them the option to read it for you. Don't always expect your children to pick up a chapter book and read it to you right away. Every child is different and it's important to pick what level your child is at and not try to go way over-board. That will lead often to frustration and hate for reading. Lucky both my children love to read, and look forward to it.

My youngest son can already read some of the more basic words. He is 3 and knows words like: it, and, the, he, she, is, etc. He also knows all his capital letters, and most of his lowercase. He also needs some help with speech but mostly it hasn't affected his reading in a bad way. He just has trouble with his lower i's and l's getting them confused sometimes. But we are working on it, and just like his older brother he loves reading regardless.
We all spend about 20 minutes a day as a family taking quiet time to read also. It's not always easy to fit that in to our schedules. Sometimes we don't get around to all of us getting to read, but for the most of the week we try to fit that time in daily. We believe it's important for the kids to see us turn off the televisions, radios, computers, etc, and sit down with a book. In a technology filled world books can often go unseen these days. It's pretty shocking if you ask me but sadly true.
So after all my prattling my best advice is to work with your children daily on reading. After all we are our child's most important teacher. Start with the alphabet, go to sight words, beginner books, progress from those to your child's level as you go. Have your children help you read the books, let them read to you, have them express their thoughts on books. Let them identify with characters, explain the setting, tell their favorite parts, etc. Play word, letter, and even book games. (Pinterest is filled with ideas for these if you need some).
And eventually it will come. Be patient, make it fun, and your children will learn to love books. Even though my boys have some trouble they LOVE books. They love reading time, and they get really into it. It's wonderful.

Teaching your children to read~priddymomma

Hey guys!  Sorry this is late, but at least I’m actually posting this week.  I’ve had a ton on my mind and on my plate (and I don’t mean overeating, though I’m sure there was a bit of that too).  My best female friend is getting married tomorrow!  (my best friend is my husband, just to clarify.  I always feel like I’m a liar or cheating on him or something if I call her my best friend, so I call her my best female friend.  I’m weird like that)  I’ve been helping her out, getting nails done, crafting on my dress, freaking out a little about being in front of people while wearing said dress, putting candies in tiny tin hearts, etc.  It’s been interesting. 

So…on to it then!  This week we’re teaching kids to read.  By “we’re teaching kids to read,” I mean “we’re talking about the steps to reading success.”  And by “we’re” I mean “I’m”.  Just in case you didn’t figure that out.  As I mentioned, I’m weird.

Cheerio Champ could read by age three.  By two, he had mastered the alphabet, but he’s out of the ordinary in that regard.  Princess Cheerio knows most of her letters and is two years old.  I had an extraordinary advantage with teaching my kids to read.  Cheerio Champ just loved mastering the alphabet, and it was quite literally all

he did for at least a month.  In fact, his second birthday was alphabet themed, as he wasn’t interested in anything else.  Because Cheerio Champ is an excellent reader, he has taken to reviewing the alphabet with Princess Cheerio at least once a day with letter magnets.  He gets something out of it too.  We have two sets, and he likes to spell out words with them. 

• Suggestion 1:  obtain one or two sets of magnetic alphabet letters.  We like the nice ones offered by Melissa and Doug.  Totally awesome company.

Kids should be exposed to many different sources that have the alphabet.  Books that focus on individual letters are great.  “Richard Scarry’s ABC Word Book” and “Dr. Seuss’s ABCs” are great examples.  Cheerio Champ really liked flashcards.  Princess Cheerio enjoys alphabet blocks.  We even have a wall hanging toy (purchased by my mother.  I’m not sure why I felt the need to clarify that) that has Velcro letters and pictures.  The best way to conquer anything is by repetition.  Try watching Sesame Street!  Draw letters in the sand!  Anything!

• Suggestion 2:  repetition by many different sources

After children master the alphabet, the next step (or to teach simultaneously if you are ambitious) is to learn the phonetic sounds each letter is responsible for.  http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/index/play.htm?f is a great website for you and your child to play around on.  There are really cute songs available for teaching phonics, as well as videos on the market.  I highly suggest Rock N’ Learn DVDs for phonic sounds. 

• Suggestion 3:  teach phonics

Teach sight words next.  I really like Preschool Prep Company products.  “Meet the Sight Words” 1 and 2 are great for beginners.  (The next couple DVDs teach digraphs and blends, which can be worked up to and are great for kids that can make out simple sentences and just need help pronouncing combinations of sounds)  Cheerio Champ loved flash cards.  Sight words flashcards are widely available at supermarkets, convenience stores, and dollar stores.  They are usually to be found near the books and magazines, but occasionally near art supplies.

• Suggestion 4:  teach sight words

After that, work with your child on simple sentences that contain sight words they have learned.  Move on and slowly introduce more complex sentences and gradually work up to paragraphs. 

• Suggestion 5:  teach simple sentences, working up in complexity towards paragraphs

• And now, my number one suggestion:  READ TO YOUR CHILD EVERY DAY!

 

To be fair, this is a song book and I think they are singing, but STILL!

I’m not saying you are the worst person in the world if you miss a day or two.  I’m just saying that the more they are exposed to books, the more they will learn to love them.  Show them that words have meaning, pointing to pictures in the book as you read the words that describe them.  Read simple books and more complex books.  They will enjoy either.  Don’t feel like you have to read every page if they lose interest.  Let them skip around in the book.  Talk about pictures even if they are not an essential part of the story, “That man has a big blue feather in his hat.  Isn’t that silly?” Read yourself and invite your child to sit near you with a book of his or her own.  If you show them that reading is fun and important to you, they will be more likely to pick up on it and read for a lifetime. 

Alrighty folks, that’s it for me!  If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them.  And I’d love to hear if you have any other suggestions for teaching kids to read or requests for topics.  Don’t forget to like us on facebook!  Have a great week, everyone.  :)

Beauty tips for busy moms~priddymomma

Hey guys!  Welcome back!  The topic this week will be beauty tips for busy moms.  My disclaimer:  I am not an expert.  I don’t even have a beauty channel on youtube.  That being said, here are my top ten tips:

1. Pick what you want to have shine.  There are mouths to feed and a house to clean!  You don’t have the time (or reason) to get dolled up to the nines.  Pick a piece of you that you want to look awesome (skin, lips, eyes, hair, nails).  Make it awesome.  Three products or less, people!  We’re on a time crunch here.
2. Lips:  if you have gross peely lips (you can tell I’m all over this beauty terms thing), use a toothbrush (preferably not one you brush with or regularly use for cleaning) or washcloth and a bit of Vaseline to have smooth lips again. 
3. Eyes:  Use liquid eyeliner or I guarantee you will have to reapply/do corrections more than you want to.  Avoid neutral colors or anything brassy if you are a new/sleep deprived mom.  They make your eyes look heavier, so you will just look more exhausted.  White eyeliner on your lower lid makes you look fresher and draws attention away from any unsightly bags. 
4. Skin:  exfoliate, cleanse, and hydrate.  Use a skin brush or washcloth to exfoliate skin.  Use a face mask (they sell them at the store in single use packets) if desired.  Then hydrate your face with lotion or whatever other face hydrators they have on the market. 
5. Hair:  wash.  I suggest investing in some really good shampoo and conditioner.  It truly makes a difference.  Air dry to prevent damage if there’s time.  If not, either ignore the fact your hair is still wet, or blow dry.  Good luck having time to style.  If you’ve showered the night before, chances are you have a nest of evil in the morning.  Wet it down as if you are going to wash it and go from there.  New moms, I highly suggest purchasing dry shampoo for days your in-laws announce they will be there in five minutes when you a.) just got the baby to go to sleep b.) have spit up on several items of clothing you are currently wearing   and c.) haven’t touched the house in several days, so also no clean laundry .  At least your hair won’t be terrible for all those pictures you know you’ll end up in.  I also suggest a shorter cut.  It’s tough to make time for yourself, and brushing your hair when it’s long is such a chore while being exhausted.
6. Prevention.  No matter how tired you are, before bed you should always brush your teeth and wash your face.  Cavities, bad breath, and breakouts are bad news bears.  Removing that makeup (assuming you had any on by whatever time you got to bed) at the very least saves you a step in the morning.
7. Don’t be lazy about hair removal.  Tweeze, wax, or otherwise get your brows done regularly.  Shave your legs, even in the winter.  Do it regularly, even if you have to jump out of the shower after only one leg to get the baby.  Do the other leg the next day.  (Totally not kidding.  It happens).
8. Eat well.  What you eat can affect your body size and shape, as well as your complexion.  It will also affect your energy level, and no one looks their best while exhausted.
9. Exercise.  It might be tough to fit it in, but even if you have to squeeze in squats, lunges, sit ups, etc. in five minutes segments throughout the day, you’ll feel better for it.  It will make a difference in your posture if you are strong and in your confidence if you’ve worked out (which is about the sexiest thing a woman can have on, btw).
10. Get enough sleep.  Stop laughing.  New moms, don’t shoot me.  I understand your issues.  Moms of older children, if you have the choice, choose to get to bed instead of watching another episode of your favorite show.  There is such a thing as beauty rest.

Thanks for reading!  If you’d like to request a topic, we would love to write on it for you!  Comment below, or email us at thecaseofthemissingcheerios@gmail.com  Fan us on facebook!   https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Case-of-the-Missing-Cheerios-blog/317836935013256

Dinner Menu~priddymomma

Hey guys!  It’s that time again.  This week, I’m sharing what my family has on the dinner menu. 

We have recently decided on the paleo diet (read:  we eat like dinosaurs/cavemen).  Paleo cooking avoids gluten, which is awesome for our two kiddos with gluten sensitivities.  It also avoids preservatives, dyes, etc. and concentrates on whole foods, which we wanted to do ourselves.  We’re not religious about it, and I hate anybody that implies I’m not allowed a potato now and again.  (I will offer a disclaimer:  you will never again want something like McDonald’s once you’ve been eating real food.)

Anyway, here is our menu for the week:  (all meals are paired with fruits and vegetables, based on what we have at the time) **sometimes I change days around.  As I’m typing this (Tuesday), we just finished eating Thursday’s dinner idea.

Friday-Grilled Cheese

            We do the grocery shopping on Fridays.  By the time we’ve done that, we aren’t in the mood to do elaborate cooking, dinner is already behind schedule, and we’re in a hurry to get the kids to bed.  GF bread for the kids, potato bread for us, sharp cheddar cheese all around.  We often throw something like tomatoes, onions, or pickles on the sandwiches.  If you’ve never had a grilled cheese with pickle slices, you are missing out!

Saturday-Quesadillas

            We had our annual backyard campout this weekend.  We decided quesadillas would make a great food for the campout…or for inside if we got rained out.  GF flour tortillas for the kids with corn tortillas for us.  Cheerio Champ just had cheese on his, but Princess Cheerio had black beans, cheese, and avocado.  Hubby and I also enjoyed green onion, salsa, beans, avocado, and cheese on ours.  Campfire quesadillas are awesome.

Sunday-Taco Salad

            As I mentioned above, we had our backyard campout.  We planned to have Walking Tacos for dinner, but we ended up packing up the camp due to thunderstorm threats.  Inside, we made up taco salads.  Frito chips, ground beef with seasonings, lettuce, mozzarella cheese, tomato, salsa, avocado, black beans, onions (green and white onions), hot sauce (for those interested), lime wedges (for drizzling), and GF ranch dressing (mostly for me).

Monday-Lemon Dill Salmon

            Spray a piece of foil with olive oil cooking spray, lay down a piece of salmon fillet (I buy frozen and thaw either in the microwave or in the refrigerator), put down a few pinches of dill (fresh or dry), add salt and pepper to taste, and a couple of lemon slices.  Fold up into a packet, and place the packet on the grill or bake in the oven at 350°F for 15-20 minutes.  Open carefully, as steam will cause a burn if not handled properly.  I got this recipe from “Eat Like A Dinosaur.” 

Tuesday-Greek Turkey Burgers

            This is sort of a pain to make, but we keep making it because it is delicious.  You take one pound of ground turkey, one cup of shredded zucchini, one small diced onion, ½ cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley, 2 large eggs, and one Tablespoon of olive oil and mix them all together in a big bowl.  Add 1 Tablespoon dried oregano, 1 Tablespoon Spice Hunter Greek Seasoning, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and ½ teaspoon sea salt and mix well.  You’ll want to use your hands.  If you have long nails (like me), you can use disposable gloves.  Here’s where it gets interesting:  you now form the mixture into six patties.  Now, traditional patties would have something gluten-esque to hold them together.  Here, the eggs and zucchini are meant to do that for you.  The trouble is, until they begin to cook, they are fairly useless.  Don’t expect to be able to move your patties with relative ease.  Also, I recommend making 7 patties.  It just jives better.  Heat some olive oil in a large skillet (about two Tablespoons) over medium heat, cook patties for 4-6 minutes on each side, until golden brown around the edges, and then drain on a plate lined with paper towels.  Devour.  I’ve subbed out the parsley for basil and cilantro, and they are still really tasty.  Feel free to experiment, but I don’t suggest using dried for it.  I think you would be disappointed. 

 

Greek Turkey Burgers recipe came from this book.

Wednesday-Beef Roast with Chimichurri Sauce

            I got this recipe from Rebecca on mynaturalfamily.com.  It’s a crockpot recipe.  Actually, it’s two recipes.  First, you cook your roast.  Then you need to make up the chimichurri sauce.  Pick a pork or beef roast.  I suggest a 3-4 pound roast for the standard crockpot.  I also don’t care much for pork roasts, so we usually use a beef roast.  Rebecca suggests cooking the roast for 24 hours or so.  Unless your roast is frozen, I don’t really think that is necessary.  I put it in for 8 hours or so on low.  I suggest using nonstick spray on the crockpot.  Next, add your roast and sprinkle with salt.  Close the lid, turn it on low, cook for approximately 8 hours.  Easy!  The sauce is meant as a topping.  Take an herb (basil, parsley, etc.) and measure out a cup.  Mix thoroughly in a blender with 3 cloves fresh peeled garlic, ½ cup olive oil, 2 Tablespoons lemon juice (or just happily squeeze fresh lemon slices into it to taste), 1 tsp salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and ½ tsp The Zip.  I don’t use The Zip, but you certainly can.  I had to look it up to even know what it was.  It’s composed of things like cumin, cayenne, etc.  I just add those Mexican types of spices until I’m happy with the results.  Then you just drizzle it on your roast.  You can also use it to top any other type of meat or eggs or whatever.

Thursday-Waffles, Eggs, and Sausage

            Breakfast for dinner!  The kids loved this meal before we went paleo, so we still have it occasionally.  GF waffle mix is fairly easy to find, and the meal is always a hit (and usually quick to make and eat!).

Thanks for reading!  Bon Appétit :)