Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Infestation

When we decided to have children we didn't really think about all the things that come with having children. We thought about the financial aspect (and failed, by the way), childcare, how I would work and hubby would finish school, clothing, diapers, furniture, how to baby proof the house, how the cats would react, how we would focus more on being good, healthy role models. All that sort of stuff. Not once did we ever think about what the kids will give to us. Sure they would give us love and fill our lives with joy we couldn't imagine until deep into the experience.

But my god do they like to share GERMS. And germs I can handle... colds, ear infections, fevers, puking... those all suck, but fairly easy to deal with. Don't get me wrong, they are all stressful and no mom or dad is happy to see them affect their little ones.

Do you know what else children share? BUGS. I'm not talking about beetles or ants... I'm talking the big L word. LICE!

My daughter is not in daycare or school. Where on earth she caught LICE from, well, you know as well as I do. Not a flippin' clue! Thankfully bugs are the one thing my daughter was gracious enough not to share with the rest of the family, because I did NOT sign up for this when I had her. I didn't think about her being school age and having to deal with the inevitable lice infestation, because, well, my daughter will never be school age. She will stay my little girl...right???

Ok, back to reality. Sunday morning, while eating breakfast, I looked up from my iphone (teehee) and saw a BUG hanging from one of the strands of my daughter's bangs. WWHHHHAAAAAT??? Yes, a bug. A big yucky lice attempting to feed off my daughter's scalp. Not on MY watch! After treatments and picking, we got ALL of them *fingers crossed*. As of tonight there is not a single louse, nit, or egg on my precious girl's head. Of course, they wouldn't be able stay on, we've greased up her head so well. I'm so glad she is such a good sport, happily announcing to her grandma "I have bugs in my hair!" and sitting nicely with cookie and icing while we combed out her hair many times.

I am still shuddering a little and thinking I can feel creepy crawly bugs in my hair, but I know we did well. We caught them early and killed them GOOD!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Mommy and Me Monday


Somehow we all survived a stomach bug that hit our house last week and managed to get outside to enjoy the teasing spring weather! This is the FIRST time I went down the slides with both kiddos. I have a feeling this Spring/Summer will be full of many fond memories!!



Mommy and Me Monday at Really, Are You Serious?
Hosted by Krystyn

Friday, March 19, 2010

Wait... Come Back!

This week has been fantastic. The weather was clear and nice, the kids were able to get outside every day, sometimes multiple times a day. Wednesday they spent 2 hours outside in a row... Bliss!! It is amazing how some warmer weather (and by warmer I mean in the 50sF) can change your attitude. Even Ben is enjoying the weather. It is wonderful to see him toddle around the yard and playgrounds, deathgripping his little football, and pointing at everything that is new to him! His world is completely different this Spring and he's loving it! Even our flowers are starting to grow.

But alas, it isn't lasting long. Cooler temps and snow are in the forecast for this weekend. That makes me sad... but thankfully Spring really is arriving soon and after a few weeks we will be able to say goodbye to the cold temperatures for awhile!

I want to say good bye winter coats!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Mommy and Me Monday


My sweet boy on his first birthday back in January, opening his birthday present from Grandma Luisa. I know you rarely see photos of me... I love the idea from Mommy and Me Monday... Just discovered this... Thank you!


Mommy and Me Monday at Really, Are You Serious?
Hosted by Krystyn

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Salmon Patties


This is another super easy recipe, and it is good for last minute dinner idea since I always have these ingredients around. I normally hate fish... like, really hate fish. But for some reason canned salmon and tuna I can handle if prepared well.

1 can red salmon (I prefer red over pink... better quality in my opinion)
1/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs, plus some extra
1 egg

Combine salmon, 1/3 cup breadcrumbs, and egg in a medium bowl. Form into patty shape, about 5-6 patties. Sprinkle some more breadcrumbs on a plate and coat each side of the patties. Cook on a skillet, lightly brown each side. I love to serve mine with any flavor of Near East rice blends or couscous. In the photo, I served with the brown rice pilaf.

My son prefers to serve his...well... on his head.



Saturday, March 13, 2010

3 Reasons I Love Icing

1. It tastes yummy... DUH!
2. Easy to make
3. If you color it green, it will promote pea consumption with toddlers.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Crock Pot Thursdays - Italian Sausage Subs

I love super easy recipes, especially ones that require minimal preparation. This is definitely one of those recipes!

1 Package Italian Sausages
1 red pepper, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1 (26oz) jar pasta sauce
sub buns
slices provolone cheese

In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook sausage until brown. Place in slow cooker. Add peppers and onion. Top with pasta sauce. Cover and cook on low 4 to 6 hours until sausage is fully cooked. Place in buns, top with peppers, onions, sauce and cheese.

I'm making these for a pot-luck we're having Friday, so I will triple the meat and double the veggies. Yum!!!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Litter Bugs

I try to be a good role model for my children. I try to teach them about being environmentally friendly. I recycle, I try to re-use things like egg cartons, plastic bags, cardboard. I use cloth diapers 50% of the time. Obviously there is a LOT more I could do for the environment and to teach my children, but I figure this is a good start.

One lesson I have taught my daughter is to never throw trash on the ground. This lesson as obviously sunk in. Since all the snow is melting, we can now see the ground. Which means she can now see all the trash...everywhere. Do you know how heartbreaking it is to hear your 3 year old daughter say "what's that mommy? Is that trash? Oh No! Trash goes in the can not on ground!!" And she doesn't say it once. In typical toddler fashion she says it over, and over, and over again. It BREAKS MY HEART every time she says it. If you ask her how it makes her feel to see trash on the ground, she says "sad".

How hard is it to hold onto something until you see a trash can? I don't think it is terribly difficult. If you can hold onto your McD's cup to drink your soda, then you can hold onto it a few minutes longer until you see a trash can.

Today we went to a mom and child play group program at the local pre-k/kindergarten school. It is only 2 blocks from our house so I decided we would walk. The entire way there my daughter talked about the trash on the ground. We couldn't walk more than 6 inches without seeing a bottle, wrapper, or paper bag on the ground. We could have filled a trash bag with how much we saw on each side of the road.

I have been left in a sad mood all day because of what I saw this morning. People who do not care one little bit about our planet, who are too lazy to pick up after themselves, and who think whatever is the most convenient action for them is the best, make me sick.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Lemon Berry Muffins


This weekend I received the new Penzey's spices catalog. Although I do not buy their products I do quite enjoy them (my mom will buy them and mail them to me! Have I mentioned how much I love my mommy???). Often I will save a few of the recipes included in the catalog, but usually don't get around to trying them. This one definitely stuck out and I made sure to try it. I am not a huge muffin fan, but the kids are, and this recipe is a nice way to use up any berries that might be getting old in the fridge.

I changed the recipe to make it a bit healthier. Since we try to stick to Weight Watchers points system, I had to tweak the recipe, also I did not have some of the ingredients, so I changed it for what I did have in the house. They turned out pretty good!! Here is the recipe I did:

2 1/8 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 6oz container fat free lemon yogurt
1/2 cup applesauce (can use oil if you prefer)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
6-8oz berries (any berry, alone or mixed; about 1 1/4 cups total)

Struesel topping:
(I cut this in half.. if you don't mind extra calories and want more of a topping, double the topping recipe)
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp cold butter

Preheat oven to 375F. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Stir together yogurt, lemon juice, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into the well and stir until moistened. Fold berries into batter. Spoon into lightly greased muffin pans (or into muffin cups) until 2/3 full.

For Topping: combine flour, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. Cut the butter into the mixture until crumbly. Spoon evenly over the batter in the muffin pans.

Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden. Remove from pans and cool on wire rack.

Yields 15 muffins.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Do You Think You Can Sew?

Today I picked up 2 big bags of fabric from a fellow Freecycler. Not sure what possessed me to get it, seeing as how I have only sewed a few holes and buttons in my entire life. But I am so very very glad I did. I promptly went out and bought a Sew EZ machine from a Jo-Ann Fabrics store. Obviously, having never sewed with a machine in my life I wasn't about to spent $300 on a LOW end model!! EEK!!

Anyway, I figure I could give cheap-o machine a try and if I actually CAN sew, I will justify the purchase with the hubby later on. So, having a cheap machine, no good scissors (or else failed cutting fabric back in kindergarten), and absolutely NO idea about patterns or how to move the material through the machine, etc.... I made my first project! I OBVIOUSLY need to practice... a lot before I make anything fancy shmancy for my daughter, like a dress or skirt. But I think if I keep trying I might just get the hang of this!

Oh, and my daughter thinks her new pillowcase is the coolest ever. That makes my heart melt!!


Crock Pot Thursdays - Weekend Chicken

So I thought I would try something new... I love posting recipes here, but I also love my crock pot. I think if I tell myself I want to post a new crockpot recipe every Thursday I will be more likely to use my crock pot that week!

Here's a new recipe I tried. I bought a cookbook awhile ago that is published by Lipton, so all recipes have some form of Lipton dried soup in it. This particular recipe I changed around a little based on what ingredients I had lying around the house.

2 lb chicken breast, cut into smaller pieces
2 14oz cans diced tomatoes, seasoned, undrained
8oz sliced mushrooms
1 package Lipton Golden Onion Soup Mix
1/4 cup dry red wine
(I had 1lb small potatoes that needed to be used up so I cut those up and included them in the recipe)

Place mushrooms at the bottom of the crock pot. Place chicken on top. (Place potatoes on top of those... or any other veggie you wish to add.) In a separate bowl combine tomatoes, soup mix, and wine. Pour into crock pot.



Cook on low 8 hours, or on high 4 hours.

I realized at dinner time that pasta would have gone well with this dish but didn't have time, so I heated up some leftover brown rice we had in the refrigerator. Salad was also served with dinner.


EDIT:
fyi, this tasted so much better with pasta. And I realize that adding potatoes was super weird. Would have tasted great with a green veggie in it!!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Not one of my better days

Today was not a good day. Started with baby waking at 2:30am, back to sleep at 3:30am. Toddler woke at 5am to pee, her calling out to us woke baby. I tell husband that I have to sleep, so he lets me, but I have to pee. I sit up and sploosh. Blood. Awesome. I have my period, but this was just absurd!!!

Laundry goes in the wash.

By 5:30 husband has showered and we're sitting down to breakfast. 7:15 head out the door to take husband to work. Decide that it is a good time to go to Target to get new pillows. Baby sleeps on the way (there goes hope for a nap). Get there BEFORE the store is open. Get 2 new pillows, toy for baby (using gift card from my wonderful sister! thank you!), and easter candy. Kids whine all the way home, get home, have to pee.

So, after I pee I wipe and feel something ODD. As well as some minor cramping. Fan-Fucking-Tastic. My freakin IUD has come out!!!

Baby naps all of 20 minutes in the afternoon and all our moods go downhill from there.

The only plus that happened today was I refuse to get the IUD back in because it hurt so dang much the first time, so husband finally called to get screened for a vasectomy. Woohoo!

Ironic that the IUD falls out 9 months after I had it inserted. Almost like my body is programed to expel all objects after 9 months. Ha!! But seriously... why. Why do I deserve to have that happen?

Tuesday, March 2, 2010