connecting north oak cliff families for over 80 years MAR 2008

Babbling with Brooke.A FEW WISE WORDS FROM OUR RECPTA PRESIDENT

The moms have been asking each other about activities and classes for babies. Here’s one I found...Play Wisely is a new baby activity class of-fered by ASI Gymnastics, Like High-lands branch at Greenville Avenue and Forest Lane, 972-671-5510.

Play Wisely is the new way to play for babies and toddlers, featuring The Directionality MethodTM, a patent pending system for enhancing natural learn-ing and movement ability. Babies acquire fun and amazing new baby skills. They play together pur-posefully, and have fun that lasts a lifetime. You get the chance to know your baby better. These classes develop attention, recognition, and memory skills, in addition to developing balance, coordination, and mobility skills. Featured in Dallas Child Magazine in September, and on Good Morning Texas WFAA Channel 8 in October. Website: www.asigymnastics.com/playwisely

Baby and Toddler ClassesBabies 1 (Early Sensory Skills)4-8 monthsTurn on and tune in!

Babies 28-12 monthsLearn to move and move to learn.

Toddlers 112-18 monthsFirst steps and first words.

Toddlers 218-36 monthsKnow and go skills.

–Brooke Wise, President, RECPTA

RECPTA Restaurant Review

Cafe Italia (on Davis at Bishop)TRACY AND PAUL WEHRMANN

The long…

Tex-Mex is nothing new to Oak Cliff. But Dal-Ital? That could be a good description of what is being served up at Café Italia in the Bishop Arts District, a relative of the restaurant of the same name on Lovers Lane west of Inwood.

The menu is an interesting mélange of Italian restaurant staples (bruschetta, lasagna, risotto), variations thereon (smoked salmon manicotti, hazelnut gnocchi), and bold, Texas-influenced of-ferings (osso buco tamales, collard green agnolotti, chicken-King Ranch pasta).

Of the staples, the Calamari is exceptionally tender. The Tagliatelle Otto formaggio al Tartufo is very similar to a thick alfredo and comes with the same rewards (flavor) and penalties (calories and fat grams). The pizzas are a solid choice as an entrée, an appetizer, or for the kids.

In the variations and Dal-Ital choices, the mus-sels steamed in Shiner Bock are outstanding and

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The RECPTA Event of the Year:

Rockin’ for Rosemont, The Auction You are coming to the Rockin’ for Rosemont auction and party benefitting the Rosemont Elementary School Arts Programs aren’t you? It won’t be the same if you’re not there! The event will be held this Friday, April 4, 2008, from 7:00pm until midnight at the Salon Las American on 1004 For Worth Avenue, across from The Belmont Hotel. Tickets are only $25 per per-son! You get all kinds of big fun, food, and bands for that miniature price.

Rockin’ for Rosemont will feature a silent auc-tion and live auction, as always. New this year is the Wine Pull, a raffle of sorts where every ticket wins a bottle of win worth over $20. There are some choice wines in this pool! Food and drink will abound.

This year, the event features many of our own Oak Cliff bands including: Floramay Holiday Band, Goodwin, Happy Bullets, Happy Campers, Lucky Pierres, Trinity River Whalers, and Fabsville.

THE KESSLER SCHOOL. OPEN HOUSE THURSDAYS 9:00AM TO NOON.Our Pre K Level I and II program reflects the belief that children are active learners. That builds meaning and understanding through full participation in their learning environments. This child-centered program combines high expectations for each child with respect for individual development.• National Academy of Early Childhood Programs & SACS Accredited• Enrollment for the 2008-09 school year begins December 1, 2007• Low Student to Teacher Ratios• Pre K – 4th Grade• Before & After School Care

To arrange a tour, please call 214-942-2220. Currently accepting applications for mid-term enrollment in Pre-K Level II, Kindergarten, and 1st grade.

info@thekesslerschool.com www.thekesslerschool.com

TIrene Ellis, CTC214.942.4841irene@kesslertravel.com

@kessler travelCRUISES & LAND VACATIONS

www.kesslertravel.com• Cruises

• Spa

• Groups

• Romantic Getaways

• Packaged Tours

• Ski/Golf

• international Travel

• family

• customized private

tours

, MCC

Are you ready to buy or sell your home? Contact Heather Vest of Abio Realty for the highest level of personal service! Heather is a Cliff Dweller, a RECPTA mom and wants to be your choice Realtor. Cell (817) 996-1953 hlvest22@gmail.com

The mini-mart in my attic.LEA ANN STUNDINS, EDITOR OF THE NEWSLETTER

This is what a combination of a few slow free-lance months, a big income tax bill looming, and the 5th grade science fair will get you. As Quinn ran his own “The Elasticity of Bubblegum” sci-ence fair experiment, I decided to run one of my own called “The Elasticity of the Grocery Budget”. We’ve all read about the price of groceries going up with the price of fuel. We’ve all cringed as we put a gallon of milk in our shopping cart that now costs $4. I decided that I’d run an experiment to see if I could do more with the less that I have and win the mommy science fair.

For years, I have faithfully clipped coupons and used them where I could, saving probably ten to fifteen dollars on my $140 a week grocery bill. And I thought “hey, I’m doing pretty good.” But at the beginning of February, I dove whole-heartedly into researching the world of the “coupon mom”. And it is a world you know, with websites, books, and blogs. I googled the websites, I read the blogs. And I learned that the only thing these moms like better than getting sixteen boxes of Betty Crocker Cookie Mix for .14¢ each, is bragging about it on-line. Much to my surprise, I learned that I liked reading about it. And then trying to do it myself.

I apologize to the moms I’ve accosted in the mom’s day out parking lot, shoving coupons in their faces. I humbly thank all those who have contributed their Sunday circulars to me during the course of this experiement. I sit here sipping my free coffee and nibbling on my free chocolates as I write. Did you know free food tastes way better than food you had to pay for?

And slowly being a coupon mom has become an addiction. I guess I could have picked a worse addiction. Karl says this is a much better than gambling, drinking, or watching “Wheel of For-tune”.” He and Quinn crack up at how giddy I get when I come out of Tom Thumb having paid $17 for $84 worth of groceries. Feverish look in my eye. Confident walk. Rushing to put it all in the trunk of my CRV before the store manager comes run-ning out screaming that it was all a mistake.

I started getting my weekly grocery bill down to $120, then $100, $75...each week it got smaller and smaller, while I still bought every single thing

I wanted AND more. (This is how I came to have a mini-mart in my attic). Open that door and you hear George Burns telling Gracie “Don’t Open That Door!” in your head. I have at least a dozen of each of the 6 different cleaning products that will be used to clean my house for the next year. Sham-poo and toothpaste until Quinn hits high school. And then there’s the stuff I never have allowed myself to buy. You know, the extravagant stuff. Like fancy chocolates, grapefruit body wash, flavored teas, and cheese already cut into little squares. I have all that now, and am thoroughly enjoying it all. And by the way, I got all that stuff free or nearly free. I started my research with internet coupons. These are readily available, easy to print again and again, and there are many sites to get them.

www.eversave.comwww.coupons.comwww.smartsource.comwww.coolsavings.com

And if you have a moment to spare, go to the websites of your favorite products, find the contact us or consumer affairs email. Email them to tell them how great you think they are, and ask them for coupons. They will usually mail them to you, or email you a link to some. Most manufacturer’s seem to have printable coupons on their websites already. Even the organics. Every item my family uses on a regular or ir-regular basis, I now have at least 5 of. And all of it took only 6 weeks to stockpile and cost me no more than what I was already spending per week. Often less. This week, I only had to buy fresh fruit, milk, and meat. (and by the way, the milk and the meat were organic AND I had a coupon for both). So for those of you who only go organic, I say go here:

www.livingnaturally.comwww.eatbetteramerica.comwww.organicvalley.comwww.organicprairie.com

Print yourself 6 or 7 Muir Glen Organic Tomato Products coupons for $1.00 off 1. Take them to Kroger, or WalMart, or Whole Foods for that mat-ter. Print out an Organic Valley Milk coupon while you’re at it, and get $1 off a half gallon of milk. Sign up for their Mom club, and they’ll send you a packet of coupons. Go to Whole Foods and take

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a handful of the Mambo Sprouts coupon books at checkout, and cut out the $1.50 off a half gal-lon of milk. But go to Kroger for the milk, it’s .70¢ cheaper.

Do you have a CVS card in your purse, just sit-ting there not working for you? Did you know you can get buy stuff at CVS with THEIR money not your? The program is called “Extra Bucks”, which are CVS money that prints out at the register when you buy certain items advertised in either the monthly deals book from the store, or the weekly deals circular from your Sunday paper. And, at CVS, you can use your manufacturer’s coupons you’ve cut out from the paper or printed on-line ON TOP OF the CVS deals, often making them free. Next week, on of the deals is to buy $25 of certain baby items, and get $10 extra bucks. With this deal you can buy 3 packs of Huggies diapers (which you are already going to have to buy for the little pooper in your house) and that register will cough up $10. And they will be on sale for $8.99 anyway. If you’ve got 3 Huggies coupons, add those in. And, before you go, card and coupons in hand, go on-line to one of my favorites:

MINI-MART, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

www.iheartcvs.com

or google CVS printable coupons, and print out one of the $4 off $20 coupons floating around out there on the internet. Now you’ve knocked down your purchase by $7. Now, since I’ve been playing this game for 6 weeks, I’ve accumulated about $35 in extra bucks, and they love me for coming in the store a couple times a week (even though my aver-age out-of-pocket has been around three dollars or less), so the register printed out a $10 off $50 coupon for me last time. Here’s how I’m doing the baby items deal next week:

Buy:5 packs of diapers for 8.99 each (44.95)4 Gerber Graduates snack for 1.59 each (6.36)Total: 51.31

Coupons:$10 off $50 (from register tape)5 $1 off Huggies manufacturer’s coupons (from Sunday paper two weeks ago)2 .75¢ off Gerber Graduates anything (from ebay)$15 extra bucks (from three weeks ago)$14.97 extra bucks (from yesterday)$3.50 extra bucks (% back from Feb spending that totals and prints out a register quarterly)

What I pay:Nothing.

The secret to CVS it to buy items that you will need anyway that are having extra buck back deals. You may not need this now, but you will...tooth-paste, shampoo, cookies, paper towels. We all use this stuff. I never pay for it now. Then, go on-line to print out $4 off $20 coupons. Plan your purchases using the circular and only spend $20 each trans-action. Find or print out manufacturer’s coupons for the items to “stack” on top of the deal. After your first transaction of $20, use what extra bucks you get to make your next “deal”. After about three to six weeks of playing this game, you get to the point where you never use your own money. It’s crazy, I know. But it works. I triumphantly contem-plate my stores of plenty as I lather up with my free grapefruit body wash every morning. I’m sure there will be some of you who do not want to invest the energy or time to do this. So, can I have your Sunday Coupon Circulars? Seriously, can I? To those of you who want to know more, next month, I’ll tell you how to “do” Walgreens and Kroger, using ebay as your tool. Happy shopping. or email me with questions at leaann@dallas.net

Survival of the Mommiest

Surviving the Road to ParenthoodCarrie Zaboroski

I always enjoyed laughing with the sitcoms that trivialized the trials and tribulations of parent-hood – knowing we’d be there someday. However, I never anticipated that the road to parenthood could be so long or so bumpy for so many people, myself included. As a child of the 70’s & 80’s, I grew up I wanting it all…a challenging career, a great house, and of course a loving family. During my childhood, I was surrounded by stay-at-home moms, and into my teen years all around me were empowered women getting out there in the work force, even in math and science careers. When I was well into gram-mar school, my mom went back to work part-time as a computer program analyst – I wanted to be just like her and have the perfect balance of career and family! With my parents’ encouragement, I excelled in school and pursued academic studies in Architecture. I graduated with my Masters degree

in Architecture at the top of my class, landed a job a top Historic Preservation Architecture firm, be-came licensed in a mere three years, and was run-ning high-profile projects just a few years into my career. My friends that I’d known since kindergar-ten became Veterinarians, Accountants, Engineers, and Doctors. We girls had the career thing down!I met Ray at A&M when I was nineteen…we fell head over heels in love from the beginning! We were married four years later, and after eleven years of marriage, I still count my blessings that we found each other in this crazy world. He is my best friend and strongest supporter…and he still makes me feel like the most beautiful, wonderful woman in the world! Shortly after we moved to Dallas in 1999, we found the perfect neighborhood for us…thanks to one of my best friends who lived here in Winnetka Heights. After several months of poking around, we found OUR house. It seemed a little big and at the high end of our price range, but it would be okay because we were going to fill it with children and would need the space. (Neither of us wanted to move after a few years as the kids got bigger, and since we had already “started try-ing” it wouldn’t be long, right?)

We were cruising along and enjoying life as DINKS, but after several months (and then years) we began to wonder – we had the careers, the house, and each other, but where were the chil-dren? We enjoyed impromptu happy hours and suppers with friends, exotic vacations, and lazy weekends, but then the holidays would roll around – that’s when I’d lose it. Mother’s Day was the worst. For most, Mother’s Day is filled with pam-pering, sweet handmade gifts, and cherished time with loved ones. However, this can be a difficult time of year for those who have suffered through years of infertility, or who have lost a mother or worse, a child. To me, it felt as if the commer-cials were mocking me. They seemed to run for an eternity and I could never change the channel fast enough! It was bad enough that I had lost my mother to cancer when I was 20 years old, but stack infertility and hormone treatments on top of it, and you get PMS on steroids! I really thought that if I heard “Just relax and it will happen” one more time, someone was going to have to put me in a straight jacket. But the topper was that, I believe I actually once told my sweet husband that he could divorce me and marry another woman who could bear his children. I was seriously loosing it – this was the low point.

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For those of you faced with fertility challenges, I feel for you. No one will be able to say anything to make you feel better. So just do your best to be patient with upsetting comments or questions, and try to develop a coping mechanism – humor usually worked for me. Therapists never really did much for me…I’d go a few times, but what I’ve found through the course of mourning vari-ous losses is that I just have to work through my pain by means of a creative outlet, which is gener-ally writing. Through this self-therapy, I learned that I was blinded by my misery and had ignored the fact that surrounding me were many loving mothers and children! I mean I knew it, but I didn’t know it. We decided to take a break from hormones, charting, and doctor appointments for about a year. I had brought up adoption before, but we began to seriously consider it only after we had exhausted our tolerance for medical treat-ments and had taken time to grieve. We both had to be ready, and though I thought I was ready a year after trying, Ray needed much more time and really, so did I.

Our adoption process started in January 2006 with a one hour informational meeting. In July we attended an all-day seminar and began our home study. Our case worker made this process very easy for us and we completed it before we went to Italy in September. We were approved and were made an official “Waiting Family” in November 2006. At that point, we got the room ready (well, finished the construction) and gathered the bare essentials, leaving everything in boxes - we didn’t want to get our hopes up too quickly, since they told us the average wait time is 6-9 months.As life has its way of leading you where you need to go; in January of 2007, I was offered a position with Rebuilding Together - the non-profit with whom I’d been volunteering the last couple of years. This new job was something that I could do mostly from home, and would be part time – man-aging home repair projects. While it was a difficult decision to leave my work and my colleagues at Architexas, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for my life goals and for our future family - albeit a little early...or so I thought! My last day at Archi-texas was January 31, 2007 and my first official day with Rebuilding Together was February 5, 2007. Also at the end of January, we had (again...prema-turely, or so we thought) found a car to replace my “non-practical” convertible. It was scheduled to be ready for pick-up on Friday 2/9.

Just after a business-related conference call on Thursday, February 8th, I received a call from our case worker. She had a match...a birthmother had selected us from our profile and the baby was born two weeks ago! I instant messaged Ray ask-ing him to close his office door and call me. Ray was expecting bad news while he was dialing, but thankfully the conversation went something like this:

Carrie: “Are you ready to be a daddy?” Ray: “Well, yes.” Carrie: “Jenn called…they have a baby.” Ray: “Oh..OH..OH!”

Ray decided to cut his day a little short and come home. We called our case worker again, asked questions, laughed, cried, and finally set up a time to meet our new baby. We were going to be parents at 12:30pm on Friday, February 9th. (At that time we didn’t know if our baby was a boy or girl...I wanted to be surprised.) That Thursday afternoon was filled with phone call after phone call on three different phones, not to mention instant messaging at the same time. (For those of you, who have biological children, imagine making the announcement that you’re pregnant and that you’re going to the hospital all at once!)

The next day at 8:30am, Ray’s mom and stepdad arrived from Houston...no, they didn’t fly on an airplane, but they did fly up IH-45 in their truck and apparently didn’t sleep that night. (They were just a little excited to meet their first grandbaby.) While the grandparents began the spoiling routine – AKA a trip to Walmart – we left around mid-morning to trade in my convertible for a Passat Wagon. We also had friends shower us with vari-ous hand-me-downs, picked up a few boxes on the way, and then we were off to meet our baby!!!We arrived at the adoption agency full of emotion, and of course had to fill out a mountain of paper-work before we could meet our baby. During that process, we found out that “it” was a “he”! Then the moment came to meet him. Wow...I’m not sure how it happens in the hospital, but it was the most amazing feeling in the world! I was in tears at how happy this moment was and how I would always remember every detail!!! He was perfect in every way. Ray and I just kept looking at each other...grinning, crying, and feeling completely terrified. (I even needed help changing the first diaper – he was just so tiny!)

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Our son was born on January 24, 2007, weighed 7 lbs 0 oz, and was 19.69”. He was welcomed home on February 9, 2007 when we named him Frank Louis Zaboroski. Frank was in foster care in the interim with two incredibly loving families. (He had to be moved from his fi rst family’s home due to an illness in the house.) Fortunately, we had the opportunity to meet both of his foster mothers and they were very helpful on offering us loads of information! (Frank’s favorite blanket is one that his 2nd foster mom made for him.) We took our son home that joyous Friday afternoon and wondered, “What are we supposed to do with him now?” Well, instincts, along with the help of books, family, and friends have certainly guided us along the way and here we are now having recent-ly celebrated Frank’s fi rst birthday!

Home Remedies

First Aid CuresJEN LOCHRIDGE

ALTOIDS: Before you head to the drugstore for a high-priced inhaler fi lled with mysterious chemi-cals, try chewing on a couple of curiously strong Altoids peppermints. They’ll clear up your stuffed nose.

GATORADE: Did You Know that drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately-- without the unpleasant side effects caused by traditional ‘pain relievers.’

COLGATE: Did you know that Colgate toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns.

Best Kept Secret – Spread it around.North Oak Cliff Library StorytimeFree storytime with craft, songs, stories, and more. All conveniently located in our neighborhood. Friday mornings at 10:15. On Tenth Street.every

wednesday is mother’s

day! When you dine with us on Wednesdays, RECPTA moms, you get a free rose with your dinner, just for being you. And your little ones will go home happy, full, and covered in the best rice in town.

Buena Vista Restaurant and Club1804 Fort Worth Avenue

Dallas, Texas 75208214 742 6911

Mauro Cianciulli - He’s a HANDY GUY who can help you with your repairs/improvements at home, both big and small. Competetive pricing!! Bravissimo work!! 214-886-5355

Quick, this toddler’s making me crazy! Your sweet small child has just learned the word “done” and likes to say it and stand up 2 minutes after you’ve gotten them into the tub. We have just discovered that those colorful plastic letter that you stick on your refrigerator, also stick to the bathtub. Now we can’t get Luka out of it. We spell funny words that have sounds to make after spelling like cow (then say moo), puke (then make a throw up noise), bubbles (then smack a handful of bubbles from the tub on top of your head). The sillier the better. Clean and alphabetic.

Send your “This Toddler’s Making Me Crazy” ideas to leaann@dallas.net. Help your fellow RECPTA moms cope!

TA DA! I finally made it!NEISHA SIMPSON, SUNSHINE BABY REPORTER

2008 Babies since February:Sylvie Bee Grodach Carl Grodach and Danielle LangstonBig Brother Otto February 4th, 7lbs 8oz, 20”

Ruby Madeline Taylor Dave and Yolanda TaylorBig Brother TrippFebruary 11th, 5lbs 7oz

Keiran ShrollDean Shroll and Aja OlsonFebruary 27th

Ella Katherine StewartChris and Denise StewartMarch 5th, 8lbs 7oz, 19.5”

Collin Peter Lochridge Brett and Jen LochridgeBig Sisters Sarah and EmmaMarch 6th, 8 lb 11.2 oz, 22”

Meals provided by: Debby Jewesson, Martha In-grum (2), Sarah Tilly, Veronique Padalecki, Eliza-beth Moore, Laura Trubey, Cambria Kennedy, Lori Richards, Gretchen House, Malena Lipscomb, Tori Fowler, Carrie Lackey, Michele Morgan, Shelly LIne, Jennifer Thrailkill, Jennifer Castro, Lea Ann Stundins, Ashley Bull (2), Lisa Chapa, Veta Red-mond, LeeAnn Derdeyn, Ashley Shultz, Neisha Simpson, Laura Pulis. Thank you mommies!

the broth is worth soaking up with bread. The Pro-sciutto Pepper Poppers have quite a kick, with the filling of goat cheese and smoked gouda providing a different flavor to the standard stuffed jalapenos. The Pasta Sofia is dumplings stuffed with a mix-ture of chicken, cheese, and peppers topped with a jalapeno-cilantro pesto cream sauce, whose flavor is surprisingly mild, partially due to the pasta cas-ings being a bit too thick. The Chicken-Fried Pork Tenderloin is generously breaded but worth try-ing, especially since it comes with yummy creamy poblano pepper jack grits.

The atmosphere is upscale and dominated by a wall of plates bearing the photos of famous Tex-ans. They had the good sense to build in outdoor seating (and covered at that!), one of the few things generally lacking in the Bishop Arts area. The pric-es are pretty high, with appetizers going for $7.95 - $14.95 and entrees from $12.95 - $32.50. The ef-fort is made to be kid-friendly (even bringing pizza dough as a form of edible sculpting clay), but our experiences varied greatly in this regard. There is no children’s menu, which may result in some wait staff confusion when ordering for the young ones. Café Italia features a full bar and is located on the northwest corner of Davis and Bishop, in the for-mer La Familia grocery store.

…and the short of it. Menu items we actually tried and what we thought of them. Rated as poor, fair, good, or ex-cellent.

White Sangria: Fair

Red Sangria: Good

Prosciutto Pepper Poppers: Good

Calamari: Excellent

Mussels Steamed in Shiner Bock: Excellent

Pasta Sofia: Good

Taglietelle Otto Formaggio al Tartufo: Good

Chicken-Fried Pork Tenderloin: Excellent

White Pizza: Excellent

Pound Cake Nutella Sandwiches: Fair

Mascarpone Cheescake: Fair

Bread Pudding: Excellent

ITALIA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1