So I am now initiated into mom-hood of broken bones. Delaney broke her wrist at school playing "sharks and minnows." Today was the big day and she's now sporting a bright blue cast. So, I guess all I can say is that it wasn't as scary as I thought it'd be and thank goodness she's not left-handed. And now I can sign her cast. Talk to me in eight weeks!

The doctor was so great. We're lucky to have such a great pediatric group here. He kept her smiling, even with the prospect of eight weeks without softball or riding her pony. Thanks doc!

I just received this message from a MOM reader and thought that we'd better share this recipe from MOM Magazine, Summer 2009 with everyone...

"Hey MOM - your summer issue last year had a recipe for lemon-blueberry squares and they were soooo good. I kept the recipe but can't find it. Do you think you could send the recipe?" Thanks for such a great magazine, Kristen

Blueberry Lemon Squares

• 2 cups rinsed Oregon blueberries
• 2¼ cups flour
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup (½ lb.) butter
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp. grated lemon peel
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ tsp. baking powder

Directions: Mix flour and powdered sugar until blended. Mix in butter, cut into small pieces with a large fork until dough holds together when squeezed. Press evenly over the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees until crust is golden brown, usually 20 to 25 minutes. While the crust is baking, whisk eggs together with sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir in blueberries. Pour egg mixture over warm, baked crust. Return to the oven and bake until the filling is firm and does not move when gently shaken, usually 20 to 25 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and let cool at least 15 minutes. Serve warm or cool.

If it's out of season and you don't have blueberries in your freezer, try ordering frozen, dried or powdered blueberries from Sunset Valley Organics. They are delicious. With a recipe recomendation like this, I'm off to make some lemon-blueberry squares right now. Enjoy!

I used random.org to generate a random number to determine the winner. #3 was selected, which means the winner of the hair products is KarenM!

Congrats KarenM! We'll contact you and arrange the delivery of your prize!

In the spirit of MOM Makeover, I decided on a whim to have a little mini-makeover myself....I went from being a blonde to this:

If it wasn't for the beautiful and sunny weather we've been having, I would try to convince you that it was just a natural seasonal shift in my hair color, but I don't think I'm going to get away with that... :)  It's a couple shades darker than my natural, and I kinda like the change. I'll go lighter again I'm sure, but it's fun for now. Thank you to the lovely ladies at Epic Day Spa for doing such a great job!

Do you color your hair? Why or why not? Comment by 9 a.m. Monday March 8th and I'll pick one random person to win an awesome shampoo and conditioner set kindly donated by our MOM Makeover sponsors, Heartspring Wellness Center & Samaritan Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

My answer? I do (obviously) color my hair - my natural color is a mousey brown color, and all though I do have some natural blonde highlights, the overall color is pretty dull. I like having nice, fresh color - it makes me feel like a new person!

Don't forget to nominate a deserving MOM for our makeover HERE!

Kristal and Raeann were caught in the act of having a great time at KDUK's "Affair of the Heart." The event was sponsored by McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center and featured their Healthy Woman program.

There were tons of great prizes, entertainment and the best of all... chair massages! They stepped into the Oregon Imaging photo booth for a quick pic that captured it all.

Oregon Imaging Centers are located throughout the Eugene/Springfield area and provide state of the art radiology, including mammography. Their t-shirts describe what they do best: pink shirts emblazoned with the slogan, "Make Time for the Girls!" The effort is also in support of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Their goal is, "A world without breast cancer."

For more information about the Heathy Woman Program, click here.

Mia started planning her "Dora the Explorer" party to celebrate her 4th birthday a few days after her 3rd birthday party. We planned a big outdoor party, but at the last minute had to switch to indoors due to rain.

We made an "adventure" the kids had to go on to find the party (through the dark cave, through lollipop field, and finally to treasure island)

We kept the decorations and food bright and colorful "Dora" colors. We made chocolate dipped pretzel rods with colorful sprinkles:

We also made flowers and stuck little Dora character punchouts in the middle, then taped them to tooth picks for the cupcake decorations.

Our Swiper the Fox was the ingenious creation by my husband. He put a picture of Swiper on an overhead projector, and traced it onto a piece of cardboard, then colored it in.

We filled a round jello mold with water and fruit slices and froze it for the ice ring.

We made a colorful bunting with fabric scraps to hang up - a tutorial can be found in the Feb/Mar issue of MOM Magazine.

Dollar store telescopes made perfect favors and decorations!

by Krista Klinkhammer

A birthday without Wacky Cake is just another ordinary day. This is an old family recipe, and I've requested Wacky Cake on my special day for as long as I can remember. For my aunt's birthday this year, we had a virtual birthday party for her since she lives in Massachusetts. I videotaped my kids making this cake for her-I measured out the ingredients and let the kids go at it while I sat back and captured every lick of the spoon in between every stir. After it was done baking, we sang happy birthday, sliced the cake and ate it in honor of Auntie Lynn. We then burned all the footage to a DVD and sent it to her. It was hilarious…or should I say "wacky!"

Wacky cake

• 1 ½ cups of flour
• 6 Tbls. cooking oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 Tbls. white vinegar
• 3 Tbls. cocoa
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup cold water
• ½ tsp. salt

Directions: Place all dry ingredients in sifter - directly into ungreased 8x8 pan. Make 3 holes in mix. Pour oil in one hole, vinegar in 2nd hole and vanilla in 3rd hole. Pour cold water over all and stir with fork until evenly blended. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Invert to cool and remove from pan. Or frost it right in the pan. (That's what I do.)

Vanilla butter frosting

• ¼ cup soft butter
• 1 ½ cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 Tbls. milk

Directions: Blend butter and sugar, stir in vanilla and milk; beat until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency.

We're working on the Feb/Mar 2010 issue = Birthday Party Guide!

For those of us busy moms with no time to make cakes, I stumbled upon the greatest bakery EVER in Albany. She made a cake that looked exactly like this one (I took her the photo) and it was amazing! Check out Sweet Things Bakery for their cakes, cupcakes and lunch.

In the meantime, need more ideas from you to finish up the cake section for the magazine. A while back we asked MOM Blog readers, "Do you make your own birthday cakes?" Here's what some of them had to say. Add your own note in the comments section below.

raeann--I used to make my own b-day cakes. Now Dairy Queen makes them for me. She rocks!
madisynlynae0--YES! My hubby and I make them together. The biggest hit so far has been our castle cakes. My daughter requests this every year. So far we've done it twice!
momofEs--Yes I do, I figure it's my one time a year to make something special and different, especially now that my oldest can give me input. I like being creative.
alhelms-- Yes, my favorite is cupcakes made into a cake! (last year it was a big flower) Easy to hand out and fun to frost with my daughter. (and to eat of course!!)
Scrappincannon-- Half the time I make them and about half I buy them! Costco, Basket and Robbins, or New Morning Bakery.
Krista-- I do!    In fact, my son is turning two next week and is totally into trains. I got a train cake mold (the one from Willams Sonoma, have you seen it?) and can't wait to make it!
cnhrogers-- I have done both~
elizabeth-- Sometimes depending on how much time I have. I often add toys to the top of home made or store bought cakes.
vanderwal-- Of course, can't decide a favorite between a train with 10 cars or the pile of "dirt" with bugs, etc. crawling on it!!!
oddbirdd-- My twin girls are only 10 weeks old so no cake for them yet! My mom always made our cakes growing up and I plan to make b-day cakes for my girls too!
madisynlynae01-- I guess I should say I have made the cakes and I have bought them too. Making them every year would be giving me too much credit.
lzbthj-- Ice cream cakes are the only way to go.
Kassie-- I have tried and failed at many cakes. They all look better in my head than in reality. My youngest turns three on Sunday, and Costco will do the baking.
laninamialegria-- Not always but when I make them I try to do my own creations with m & m's, little kisses, white chocolate figures or lollipops.
adc397-- My mom has a great recipe for an ice cream cake that my son just loves!
lynnbos-- the latest for me is doing the Cold Stone Creamery cakes! Like them better than DQ…or i sometimes go with homemade Cupcakes(with cherries in the middle of course)
hosersgirl-- Yes I do make my own birthday cakes, sometimes my cake making mom makes them for us, and my sister has even made a cake for our family birthday parties….this last party we had it at the bowling alley and I made bowling pin cupcakes and bowling ball cupcakes….much fun!!
sabrina-- I usually make the birthday cake myself.
dhoover-- I have made birthday cakes since I was 9 years old, I am now 50. I just have always liked making cakes.
kimberlr-- I have 10 kids and 1 grandson. We have nearly one birthday a month so sometimes I will make them, sometimes my mother will make them, sometimes my 2nd & 3rd oldest will make cakes….but lately most often it seems that we have been SOOO busy with sports that we have just been buying them from Costco and adding out own special touches to them! We also do those nice little cupcake cakes from Wal-Mart. They are adorable! My answer would be a bit of both depending on how busy with sports, etc., we are!
Tammy-- My kids love homemade cupcakes. Brownies are also a big hit. I enjoy baking for them and with them so it is always a treat.
Kristal-- Are you kidding me? What Mom has that kind of time? I don't! Although I do seem to have the hour or so to get in the car, go to the store, reserve the right cupcake/cakes, drive home, go back to the store on the birthday party day to pick up the cupcakes/cake, drive home, etc….LOL…PERHAPS I do have the time… Although, it doesn't help that I am not very creative, either!
MaryWebb-- I make them sometimes, or Dairy Queen makes them. We really like those ice cream cakes. This year my 14 year old son wanted a homemade cake…so that's what we had!! :o)
jbrobidart-- When my oldest was very young I would buy the Wilton character cake pans like bunnies, Big Bird and the very favorite was a bear pan that was sitting upright and you baked the cake upside down in the oven. Then, you would take the pan off (it was in two peices and it had clamps to hold it together while baking) and sit it up and decorate it. If you were having a baby shower, you could cut the ears off and decorate the face and skin color like a baby. We loved that cake pan!! I did this until my youngest of four was born and I didn't have time to cook a cake. Walmart Bakereis are wonderful things!!

MOM Magazine reader Karen Mockler recently started her almost-3-year-old son, Shane, in Lil' Kickers at Corvallis Sports Park. According to Karen, Shane just ran and ran, and had an absolute blast. Karen also added,"The coach was awesome! And I really was impressed by the way the class was set up. He incorporated a lot of learning through very creative ways."

Looking for something to do with your child this winter? The Corvallis Sports Park Winter 2 session starts February 2nd-6th. Parents can sign up anytime before that for kids ages 18 months - 12 years old. Classes are open enrollment and the session is only 9 weeks long for parents' convenience. Learn more here!