Whimsically Plucky

He Has His Father's Eyes...

2012-02-10T17:06:00.002-05:00

...and his mother's flawless logic.

Today I allowed all the children to chose a piece of candy to eat. Max chose a Heath bar. As he opened it, he said: "I'm going to make a healthy choice and do something that's good for me. I've chosen a Heath bar because if you add an L, you get Health!"

From Rainbow to Grayscale

2012-02-07T18:44:00.002-05:00

Recently I caved in to cute puppy-dog eyes, hands folded under cute little chins, and cute little begging voices, and allowed Max and Faustina to have real birthday parties this year. In the past, I have allowed the kids to choose dinner (either at home or at a restaurant) but rarely will I actually throw a party. In this household, we have birthdays in January, February, March, April, May, June, August, and December...thinking of having that many parties makes me want to take a nap.

However, Faustina and Max both agreed to invite a small number of guests (Max invited only two, which was very easy for me!), and I figured it wouldn't be too hard on me because they are old enough to run off and play on their own without having every moment planned and observed by me. (TRANSLATION: I was able to curl up on the couch and crochet while the boys made The Super-Car Of The Future out of LEGO blocks in the room next to me).

Faustina chose a spa party, which was overwhelming to me. I chatted with a friend who did a spa party in the recent past and she gave me some great ideas. Armed with this new confidence in my ability to throw such a party, I sat down to write a shopping list when Faustina popped up out of nowhere and said she'd changed her mind and she wanted a rainbow party instead. Max, who was the Phantom of the Opera for Halloween last year, chose a Phantom of the Opera party. It came as a surprise to Max that it is not exactly easy to find Phantom of the Opera themed goody bags, games, and party favors. I decided to use a black and white theme instead and allowed him to decorate his own cake with a piped Phantom mask.

Faustina got a swirled rainbow cake that I made using this online tutorial and the recipe for White Cake from The Joy of Cooking. Max got a black and white cake that I made using this technique (which I am eager to try with lots of different colors of batter!).

Faustina had a bright orange tablecloth, purple forks, yellow plates, green cups, rainbow-colored ice cubes (made by freezing Kool-Aid), and little custard dishes full of Skittles (I even separated them by color, reminiscent of the way my friend Shelly and I used to obsessively organize our M&Ms before eating them). Max got a white tablecloth, black plates, black and white napkins, black forks, chocolate milk, and custard dishes full of yogurt-covered raisins and chocolate-covered peanuts.

Faustina and her guests made pipe cleaner creations and butterflies out of coffee filters. Max and his guests played a life-sized board game, which I created by taping 4x6 cards to the floor and making a 10" die out of a cardboard box.

Good times were had by all, and I - surprisingly - am not dreading the next birthday party. Maybe that's because the next birthday in the family is Veronica's, and she's too little to have friends or choose her own fancy dinner, but it's probably because Max and Faustina are so sweet (and so are their friends).

Conversations With Cuteness

2012-02-03T18:15:00.001-05:00

GUS: Hey, where's Max going?
ME: He's going to walk down to the mailbox.
GUS: Oh. Whew. I thought maybe he was going somewhere else, like the Jurassic or Triassic Era.

The Problem With Comfort Food

2012-02-01T20:48:00.003-05:00

Sometimes, when the sky is gray and the air feels bitter and cold, your immune system decides to pack its bags and head to Florida, leaving you with a runny nose, a headache, and, if you're really lucky, a stomach bug that starts in one kid and eagerly makes its way through the rest of the family as the week drags on.

Yes, now that you mention it, I am speaking from experience.

On weeks like this, I am usually able to keep my spirits fairly high, because I am Super-Mom. I don't mean I keep a Super Clean House or have a Super Organized Homeschool: I actually have the superpower that allows me to tenderly care for six vomiting children but never catch the stomach bug myself. I'd knock on wood, but I think it's bad luck to be superstitious.

Despite having this super ability and being able to stay optimistic while tending to various Disgusting Messes, by the end of the week, I'm ready for some serious comfort food.

The problem? Comfort food usually takes a really long time to make. Maybe I am comforted by the wrong types of food. I like hot baked potato soup that has simmered on the stove for an hour or so to achieve perfect thickness. I like a slow-roasted slab of beef with homemade gravy and steamed vegetables. I like roasted chicken that has been marinated, seasoned to perfection, and cooked in the oven for the majority of the afternoon. Let me ask you this: Does ANYONE EVER feel like spending all day cooking after doing 15 loads of bedding laundry every day because Disgusting Messes have frequented every child's bed?!

I decided to do the "smart" thing: While I was at Target forgetting to buy diapers (but thankfully remembering to buy detergent), I decided to grab some TV dinners. I got salisbury steak with a side of macaroni and cheese. My mom makes awesome salisbury steak with ground beef, French Onion soup, and lots of other deliciousness. The beef is separated into 4oz-ish ovals and served with a generous helping of gravy. My mom's macaroni and cheese is made with layers of mostaccioli, white sauce, and freshly grated Parmesan and fontina cheeses, and is nothing at all like the stuff you get out of a Kraft box.

...the problem? The salisbury steak only vaguely resembled some sort of meat product and there was macaroni EVERYWHERE, especially in the watery stuff that I think was supposed to pass as gravy. I am NOT comforted, especially because this experience made me realize that I'm a Great Big Snob. Guess I'll go marinate that chicken after all.

Conversations with Cuteness

2012-01-31T14:37:00.002-05:00

Is this Veronica's first Conversations post? What a big girl.

VERONICA, BRINGING ME HER EMPTY CUP: I want some more please Mommy.
ME: Oh, you do? You should be going down for a nap now that you've had your milk.
Just then, Clare started to cry from her crib.
ME: Uh-oh, is that Clare?
VERONICA: No, mommy, it's a sippy cup, and I want more milk in it.

Conversations With Cuteness

2012-01-30T10:56:00.003-05:00

Max saw me opening my bottle of fish oil capsules and he gasped.

"Are you going to eat those pills?"

"Yes, I am," I replied, bracing myself for the unpleasant smell of the large capsule.

"I'll go get the bucket," he said, rushing from the room to retrieve the yellow bucket that he's been keeping by his bed in case the stomach bug strikes again.

"That's not necessary," I said, holding back a smile so I didn't appear to mock his helpful gesture. "I'm not going to throw up."

"I thought you said you throw up every time you eat those."

"No, you're thinking of liquid chlorophyll. I used to have to drink it when I was pregnant with Gus. It made me really sick because it tasted so bad."

"But the fish oil is gross, too...?"

"Yes. Sometimes I want to gag a little bit, but I take them anyway because they're really good for me."

I swallowed both pills as Max stood by, horrified, both hands covering his mouth. When all was said and done, he slowly put his hands down and looked at me in awe.

"Did you even chew it? Did you just swallow it whole?"

"Yes, I swallowed both of them whole."

Max shook his head slowly and muttered, "I just don't understand why they have to make them so gigantic."

I'm with you, buddy, I'm with you.

One Hundred Fifty Nine

2012-01-30T09:30:00.004-05:00

159. Any guesses as to what that number represents?

It's not the amount of my monthly bill to the hospital that has seen us for so many ER visits over the past year (although it's pretty close).

It's not the number of minutes it takes me to get through one homeschooling day (it takes me much less time than that).

It's not the number of yarn skeins that are neatly wound and stashed away in my yarn closet (I actually have way fewer neatly wound yarn - but I have a whole lot more tangled blobs of yarn that have been hastily rifled through time and time again).

Give up? 159 is the number of socks I paired today while my husband and children watched a movie downstairs.

Every time I do laundry, I find at least one mateless sock. It even happens when I do a load of linens. Sneaky little critters, socks. When I find a single sock, I don't go crazy trying to find the match. I simply drop it into a laundry basket with dozens of other singles, and about once a month I dump the entire basket onto my bed and make as many matches as I can. I have never counted the results before, but I did today.

159. That means I folded together 318 socks with their mates. That also means that I have more than "dozens of singles" as I mentioned before. (I have never been good at guessing distances, amounts, or money, which makes me terrible at those "guess how many jelly beans are in this jar" games.)

So, you may be thinking (in your most polite tone, of course), you don't write anything for almost half a year and when you finally return, you write two printed pages about laundry. Huh.

Hey, this is a family blog. I'm a mom of six. I do a lot of laundry. I show my love for my children by meticulously sorting through their socks and finding the mates. Fact: women are notorious for having twenty-eight pairs of shoes that are identical in every way except their slightly differing colors, but men are now notorious - at least to me - for having the most ridiculous socks EVER. I had at least a dozen men's socks, all black, to be matched. In fact, based on what I said above about being bad at guess-timating, maybe it was more like 6,430 socks. They were all black, all the same length, but all ever so slightly different. One had a gold stripe on the toe and no logo. One had a red stripe and a red logo. Then there was a red stripe with a gray logo. This is madness!

All this being said, I do hope to write in this blog more regularly. My babies are growing up quickly and I need to have a place to store my memories of them. I can't store memories in my head anymore, it's full of socks.

Whaddya know

2012-01-29T18:30:00.003-05:00

Has it really been months since my last post?

Yes, I suppose it has.

And am I really ringing in my grand return with a post that is so short, it doesn't even constitute a paragraph?

It appears to be so.

More to come...

When Analogies Backfire

2011-08-17T13:53:00.003-04:00

I have noticed that my blog is a little Gus-heavy lately. I guess he is at that age when everything he says is cute, hilarious, embarrassing, or a combination of the three.

Today he asked me why we should love God more than anything. I told him it's because God is the one who made everything. I decided to give him an analogy using the corn chowder I had made for lunch. The kids loved it and polished it off.

I asked him: "Gus, which one do you love more: me, or the corn chowder?"

He took a moment to think about this before finally answering triumphantly: "CORN CHOWDER!"

I figured he must have misunderstood so I sought clarification.

"Corn chowder? Are you sure?"

"Yep! Corn chowder!"

"...you love corn chowder more than me?!"

"Yes! It was so yummy, Mommy!"

"...but I am the one who MADE the corn chowder."

"I know that, Mommy. That's why I still like you."

It made me wonder how Gus would have fared as an apostle of Jesus. That kid questions everything and if you try to turn it around on him, he surprises me every time. When Jesus said, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden," I can imagine Gus's reply: "...but what if it was very foggy?"

DID YOU KNOW...

2011-08-15T16:10:00.001-04:00

GUS: Mom, an ostrich is a grown-up geese.

Gus Know What's Up

2011-08-01T10:27:00.002-04:00

The kids recently discussed how Grandma L. "always says yes." Today Grandma L. was supposed to come over to watch the kids while I ran some errands, but I had to do some Babysitter Juggling and she is now coming a different day. Grandma B. is coming today. I explained the change of plans to the kids.

"Which grandma is coming today?" Gus asked.

"Grandma B.," I replied.

Gus normally responds with one of the following:
1. "Is she the bicycle grandma?" (She has a motorized bike.)
2. "Is that your mom?"
3. "Do you mean the grandma with our car?" (When we bought a new van, we sold the old one to my mom.)

Today, his answer was: "Oh, you mean the grandma who says no sometimes? ...why are you laughing, Mommy?"

Ten Things I Learned in Berkeley Springs, WV

2011-07-30T12:25:00.004-04:00

Never assume that a drive through will be a "quick lunch option." In our case, it added a half hour to our trip.

It's a little nerve-wracking to go out with small (and pale) kids during a heat advisory while the sun is beating down, but 99 degrees is surprisingly do-able when there is shade, a strong breeze, and cool water running over your feet.

Large (~ 4') water snakes can be seen drifting with the light current in the springs where kids wade and adults dip their feet.

...if such a snake were to drift by, it would be a bad idea to put your hand anywhere near its mouth. (I learned by watching, not by doing. The bitee was not in our party.)

The same little boy who will change his entire outfit if a single drop of liquid lands on him doesn't seem to mind wading up to his belly in the spring while fully dressed.

Rainbow sherbet is amazingly refreshing on a hot day.

Kids have special timers on their bladders that allow them to go seventeen hours straight without visiting a bathroom even once; however, as soon as their mom is scooping that first bite of lasagna onto the fork, the chorus of "Igottagotothebathroom" begins.

Never get behind a vegetarian in line for a salad bar.

Berkeley Springs and Cacapon State Park were fun when I was a kid, going there now with my dad and stepmom, sister, husband, and kids, was an absolute blast.

Clare: ER Star

2011-07-25T10:06:00.003-04:00

Clare got sick last week.

I don't want to go into detail because:
1. It's gross.
2. I had to go into detail approximately 25,935,341 times over the weekend as I explained it to one baffled health care professional after another.

Clare had everyone stumped. When I took her to the doctor for a weird rash, three different doctors looked at it before they decided to run a CBC and declared it a viral exanthem (I found a link that doesn't have any pictures that might upset the sensitive viewer). I was told to make a second appointment if she got worse.

The next morning, she got worse. She looked terrible. She was listless and covered in unusual red blotches. I was able to get an appointment that day with a doctor (unheard of!) and, long story short, that doctor had her admitted to the ER for dehydration. Poor little Clare-Clare was sick, tired, and refusing to nurse.

Clare hated the needles, the rush of nurses and doctors, and the extremely uncomfortable temperature-taking. However, once things settled down, she became quite content to be cuddled and look at herself in the iPhone camera.

After a long stay in the ER, the doctor felt it would be best to admit her to the hospital. Poor, poor Clare. I just knew she would have this sad, lethargic baby face the whole time we were there.

I knew she would be positively miserable. I knew she would hate every single second of it. I knew she would tense up whenever the nurse came into the room and cry whenever they touched her.

I didn't know that Clare would instantly fall in love with every nurse who looked at her. She greeted them all with her great big toothless smile and flapped her arms in greeting. When one of the ER nurses had to come up to run a new IV, Clare screamed and wriggled her little heart out during the procedure, but as soon as it was over, she cooed and giggled as the nurse baby-talked at her.

I also didn't know that Clare's room would be right around the corner from fishies. Clare loved looking at the fish and was puzzled when she tried to grab one but was met with cold, hard glass.

As you can see, she was really suffering.

Clare spent three days and two nights at the hospital with some of the nicest and most knowledgeable doctors and nurses that walk this earth. Clare was especially buddy-buddy with a nurse named Ann, who told us her confirmation name is Clare. Kindred spirits!

Clare was an ideal patient - good-natured, cute, friendly, cute, squishy, and cute - but she's glad to be home, safe and sound (and hydrated).

Late Nights and Makeup

2011-07-19T19:02:00.005-04:00

That's right, you read right. I haven't blogged in months and my big return to the blogosphere is about makeup. You weren't looking for depth here, were you? No? Good. Let's get started.

I live with a small person who is really really cute during the day, but really really cute and wide awake during the night. Her favorite pastime is sneaking in a quick nap at 10:00pm so she can wake up at 10:30pm and play for the next several hours straight. Of course, playing alone at 1am is BORING, so she needs me to hang out with her. I'm afraid she holds all the cards here: she sleeps in our bedroom, and if I put her in the crib, she cries. Loudly. If I put her in our bed so she can play and slobber on things (usually me), she turns until she is perpendicular to me, then gives me a gentle massage with her feet. No, wait, that's not correct. She pummels me half to death with those cute chubby stompers. Baby feet: they look sweet and delicate, but they hurt at close range.

After hours of enduring being pummeled while thinking delusional thoughts ("She's probably going to go to sleep any moment now! She must have worn herself out by trying to kill me with her feet!!!"), she finally begins to wear down. At this point I don't even want to know what time it is, but I accidentally see the clock as I roll over to wrench my hair out of her mouth and try to get her to sleep. Usually the clock says one of those things that you only want to see when the sun is up. I can handle 2:00 when the sun is up. When the sun is NOT up, though, 2:00 is no good.

Sleep comes eventually for both of us. Sometimes I can even get her to sleep in her own bed without waking up as I walk her clumsily across the room, tripping over a laundry basket in the dark and using my awesome Mom Ninja skills to right myself without falling (or dropping the baby).

Then, what seems like five seconds later, the alarm goes off and it's time to wake up for the day. I pass the mirror as I tiptoe out of the room without waking the adorable little sleeping angel who is so darn cute that I could never get mad at her for the little foot-shaped bruises that adorn my spine. The reflection is a little scary. I look like I was up until 2am being attacked and chewed on by a baby or something. No worries: I have makeup to cover up those dark circles under my eyes. Some of you who have known me for many years may remember when I sold Mary Kay for a brief time. I managed to paint my face fairly well when I did shows, but honestly, I couldn't do it without looking at the how-to book. I never learned how to put on makeup because I never cared to wear it. In fact, I only keep it around for emergencies such as this, when I am having a Tired Day (or a Grouchy Day or a Greasy Day or a The Baby Clawed My Face And There Is A Thin Red Stripe Across My Cheek Day). I quickly dab on some foundation, focusing on the under-eye area, and blend it gently with a light touch. I add a little blush and, in a last-minute decision to go all-out, I put on a quick layer of ChapStick and clear mascara. I bet you didn't know I was such a wild woman! When I was done, I looked like an overtired thirty-year-old with slightly lightened dark circles under the eyes. Not bad! Not good, but not bad!

In fact, it was a definite improvement over the previous day, when I accidentally fell asleep with mascara on and woke up looking like an overtired thirty-year-old raccoon with slightly darkened dark circles under the eyes.

Framing Faith: A review

2011-05-25T12:25:00.012-04:00

Tribute Books invited me to be a stop on their blog tour of the book Framing Faith: A Pictorial History of Communities of Faith. I am doing this without monetary compensation. I received a PDF copy of the book for my review.

Framing Faith: A Pictorial History of Communities of Faith is a collaboration of author Sarah Piccini, photographer Ivana Pavekla, and students of ARTS Engage.

As you know if you've read even one of my blog posts, I am not here to write reviews. However, when Tribute Books gave me the synopsis of this particular book, I couldn't say no. Having both Czech and Italian heritage, I was particularly interested in reading about the rich heritage of the churches built when European immigrants came to the area. It was humbling to read of the sacrifices they made: It may be hard to tithe sometimes, particularly when the economy is poor, but these families made so little and still gave so much in order to contribute to the building of these churches.

The book is short (the 96 page PDF included the index, acknowledgements, and title pages) but packed full of full-color photographs. My understanding is that the author recruited students to assist with the photography, which I think is a great concept - it's neat to see different photographers' idea of which pieces of the church should be immortalized.

Quite honestly, many of the architectural styles of the churches photographed didn't "do it" for me. In some cases, the statuary and grounds of the church were lovely, but the altar itself was very plain. This isn't the fault of the book, of course, but my preference is to see a beautiful church with an even more beautiful and ornate altar. Most of the churches, though, are beautiful, and the photographs highlight both the vast sanctuaries and the intricate details of the churches. I was particularly struck by Immaculate Conception, which has an unassuming exterior but gorgeous woodwork inside the sanctuary.

Photography is not my field of expertise by any stretch, but I did find that a few of the photos had awkward composition. Most of the photography is amazing; only a scant few photos had me turning my head and trying to figure out what, exactly, I was looking at.

My favorite highlighted church was St. Mary of Czestochowa in Scranton, Pennsylvania. How sad that the church literally rose from the ashes when the original building was destroyed by fire, only to be closed (presumably permanently) in 2009.

I loved reading the stories of how these churches were founded. I would have liked to know why they closed, but I'm assuming that the goal of the author was to bring these churches to light and focus on their heritage rather than to go into detail on their closing. I'd also love some more information on some of the more ambiguous photographs (why is there an old red phone booth outside Our Lady of Czestochowa?! Maybe it just ended up there somehow, but I imagine a fascinating background story!).

Overall, this book would be a welcome addition to my coffee table, if said table were not already occupied by a half-dozen My Little Pony toys and yesterday's forgotten sippy cup. It was both inspiring and sad to read about the churches that were built with so much love and sacrifice but have since closed. I appreciate the opportunity to review this book and thank Tribute Books for their consideration.

You Can See Why I Was Confused

2011-04-15T16:52:00.004-04:00

Gus has been complaining about a stomachache lately. In addition to that, when I ask him to do something - no matter how simple that "something" may be - his response is usually: "...but I'm afraid I will fall."

In Gus's Toddlerese accent, "I'm afraid I will fall" comes out sounding like "I'm afwade I wiww saw."

Today he came upstairs after playing and went straight to his bedroom to lay down. He asked me, "Can I has moe gween stuss?" (TRANSLATION: "Can I have more green stuff?" TRANSLATION OF THE TRANSLATION: "Can I have more Ginger Ale?") I had given him Gween Stuss to settle his stomach and it seemed to help. I said I would give him more Gween Stuss at dinnertime.

"But Mommy," he said, "what wiww be foe dinner?"
"We're having Party Rice," I said, cleverly putting a fun name on the cheesy rice casserole that used to solicit groans and complaints, but is now accompanied by singing and dancing around the house. After all, you can't have Party Rice without having the Party.

Today, though, Gus is NOT in the mood for rice, no matter NOW fun it is. He stuck out his lip, furrowed his brow, and declared: "I HATE zat sood." ("I HATE that food.")

Max interjected: "Gus, you shouldn't say that. That's not very nice at all."

A moment passed before Gus finally said, "Mommy, I'm so so sowwy."

"Awww, thank you, Gus," I responded, but that wasn't the answer he was looking for: out came his lip again, and he haughtily said, "NO, MOMMY, I'M SO SO SOWWY."

"Um, okay, what are you sorry for?"

"I'M SOWWY! I'M SOWWY! I'M SOWWY!"

Max jumped in. "I think he's sorry for what he said about the rice."

"NO. I DID NOT SAY ZAT. I said I am SOWWY. It means I SAW a wot." ("a lot")

"Ok...you saw a lot? I see."

Gus heaved an exasperated sigh and tried again: "NO, Mommy. I don't saw a wot. I SAW a wot." At this point he was clearly frustrated but was also giggling at the complete ineptitude of his ridiculous mother, who somehow confused the words "saw" and "saw."

Finally, though, it clicked. Stuss means Stuff. Sun means Sun, but also Fun. Faustina's name, as far as Gus is concerned, is Susstina. At that point I remembered that SAW also means FALL.

"Gus, are you saying you're dizzy? ...you fall a lot?"

He giggled. "Yes! I saw a lot! So I am so so sowwy."

Well, there ya go.

R.I.P., Refrigerator

2011-04-12T11:51:00.006-04:00

A couple weeks ago, our refrigerator kicked the ice bucket and went to that big refrigerator warehouse in the sky. I hate to say that it did not go quietly into that good night: it went out kicking and screaming while dragging our perfectly good fresh meats and produce along with it. I didn't realize something was amiss until I opened a newly purchased package of boneless chicken thighs, only to fill the kitchen with the nauseating scent of rotten meat. Thinking it was a fluke, I grudgingly threw away the chicken and took out some pork, but was met with the same unpleasant smell.

The online shopping began. The good news: Sears was having a sale and we found a refrigerator that was bigger than the dead one, but fit into our space with an entire 1/8" to spare! (As it happened, Vince ended up taking a saw to the side of one of our cabinets; turns out SOMEONE *cough* could have measured more accurately.)

The bad news: The earliest possible delivery date was ten days away. I thought waiting ten days for a baby's due date was bad...try doing it with a refrigerator when you have a family of eight and no safe haven for milk.

Needless to say, our menu plans shifted slightly. I had gotten rather used to a certain type of food and had to make quite a few changes to avoid using refrigerated foods.

The foods I was used to:

things that involve toasting almonds
things that sound best when pronounced with a French accent
things that embrace the "food trifecta" - that is, a protein, a starch, and a green vegetable
things that involve twenty minutes or so of prep using a skillet, a slow cooker, or a Dutch oven
things that are plucked out of nature and placed directly into the store for my purchase

The foods I made when the refrigerator died:

things that involve gratuitous use of condiments
things that are all the same color (e.g. a breaded chicken patty on a bun with French fries)
things that give you the urge to brush your teeth immediately after eating
things that were plucked out of natured, processed to death, stripped of all nutrients, and smashed into an unrecognizable patty before being shoved into a cardboard box that has cut-out coupons on it

This is not to say that there is something wrong with eating that sort of food every once in a while. I have a package of frozen breaded fish in my freezer right now because SOME PEOPLE (uh, me) don't know how to prepare a fresh fish, and a slightly burnt breaded fish patty is as close as we'll get to seafood around here. And yes, there was a cut-out coupon for tartar sauce on the back of the box. However, when I had coq au vin on the menu for my birthday dinner and instead ended up serving Kraft mac & cheese using milk that was past its prime, it was a little depressing.

Fortunately, the Refrigerator Fairies came nice and early on the promised delivery date. Later in the day I went shopping to refill our fridge. UNfortunately, we had spent a fortune on restaurants and convenience while we were fridge-less, so I didn't have much of a budget. What I did manage to buy, though, fits exceptionally well in our brand new refrigerator.

R.I.P., old refrigerator. I'd say you'd be missed, but...well...nevermind.

I Always Knew She'd Bring Them To Their Knees...

2011-03-31T22:15:00.004-04:00

Of course I'm biased, but I think Catherine is beautiful, and I always knew she would one day bring the boys to their knees.

She has those striking blue eyes...

...and she knows how to be as cute as possible, always making sure to tilt her head cutely to the side when posing for a picture...

...and lifting her foot behind her when she's happy.

Yes, it's true, she's a sweetie, and a pretty one at that. Of course she will bring the boys to her knees.

It's just that I expected her to do this figuratively when she is older. I didn't expect her to do it literally by crawling around on the floor near the customer service desk at Best Buy while an unsuspecting teenage male employee walked by.

Always one to look for the silver lining, I was happy to see that Catherine stood rigidly by my side for the remainder of our visit. She was mortified for a moment but got over it quickly. The employee, however, will probably henceforth be known as "that guy who flew three feet after tripping over that poor harmless child."

Menu Plan Monday

2011-03-28T18:34:00.002-04:00

Click the banner to see many other menu plans at OrgJunkie.com
This week's plan is easy: I'm using whatever meat I already have in the freezer and working around that.
Mondayleftover spinach salad with toasted almonds and dried cranberrieschicken chow mein
Tuesdaypork tenderloin with cranberry gravy, smashed red potatoes, green beans (slow cooker meal)
Wednesdaysalad - probably the same yummy spinach salad, that was good!oven "fried" drumsticks, peas & rice
ThursdayMorrocan chicken over brown rice (slow cooker meal)
Fridayfish & chips
Saturdaysteak (not sure what kind yet, we have a few different ones in our freezer), roasted potatoes, broccoli with cheese sauce
SundayThat's my birthday dinner - I can only assume I won't be cooking! :)

A Glimpse

2011-03-14T19:06:00.002-04:00

Today my mother in law took 5/6 of the kids for me so I could rest. As Vince was leaving for work, he encouraged me to lay around, knit, and watch TV (I believe his exact words were: "...you know, sick person stuff"). For a while that is just what I did. I lay in bed for a while with Clare, watching her kick and squiggle; once she wore herself out, she nursed to sleep and I lay her in her cute little bed. I ate my breakfast while standing in the kitchen, knit for a while, streamed some old TV episodes via Netflix, and snacked on dried fruit and nuts. I had a late lunch around 1:30, knit some more, and made myself comfy on the couch while the sun streamed in through the window. The house was quiet and my husband specifically told me to do "sick people stuff," which clearly does not involve laundry or dishes, so I had the day to myself. I wasn't feeling well enough to go out, but the house was so peaceful.

But as the afternoon droned on, I realized: staying home all day in peace and quiet is not all it's cracked up to be. I don't think I'll ever be one of those "sit on the couch and eat bonbons while watching my stories" kind of people. They were only gone for a while, and I wholly appreciate that my husband and his mom worked together to help me out, but I really missed the kids! I have a long way to go before this is an issue, but wow, I am not going to take the empty nesting phase without some kicking and screaming.

A Lesser-Known Holiday

2011-03-07T16:29:00.000-05:00

I was explaining Fat Tuesday to the kids over breakfast after we discussed what we might give up for Lent. Several hours later, Max approached me and said he was planning on giving up "all treats that are made of food" (in other words: sweets), but since Lent starts on Wednesday, that means he won't get to celebrate Junk Thursday with everyone else. It took me a minute to realize that he meant Fat Tuesday and had mixed up his words.

Give The Girl A Pony!

2011-03-05T09:17:00.002-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I have lived the dream. I'm the mother of six kids eight and under, my youngest is an exclusively nursing two month old baby, and I have a cold, but last night I slept for nine hours straight. This means, of course, that little Clare slept for nine hours, which deems her worthy of anything her little baby heart desires. I guess she's a little young for her own pony, so I'll give her what I know she really wants: lots of extra kisses (especially on her chin, that makes her make those cute little "hehhhh" sounds preliminary to a laugh).

From there to here, from here to there...

2011-03-03T11:07:00.007-05:00

...Seuss Day celebrations are everywhere!

T'was the second of March in two-thousand-eleven
Vince went to work, leaving only us seven
Seven Seuss fans left alone on that day -
That marvelous, Whimsical, Pluckulous day

We started the day with a boring ol' breakfast
And I offered the kids a hint of a premise
Of what frabjous things they might think, do, and eat
Then their breakfast were done and they got the first treat:
A story! A story of red fish and blue
I read to them and gave them fishes to chew
But that wasn't all, no - that wasn't all...

The Lorax was next, a story of trees
And a Once-ler who ruins them all to make Thneeds
The kids made their own marshmallow-y pretzel-y trees
And gobbled them up just as fast as they pleased!

They traced 'round their hands and drew a nice scene
Somewhere the Lorax lived, somewhere that's green
They pasted their hand on and glued little puffs
Sweet little puffula truffula tufts

The Cat in the Hat show played on the TV
While I tended to a squish-ular, cute-ular baby
They had some playtime then I made them some lunch
And after their lunch, they started to munch
on Bread! They chose butter side up or side down -
(Like the Yooks and the Zooks who all lived wearing frowns)
- While discussing the silliness of having a fight
Over which kind of buttery bread was just right

Then with brains in their heads and with shoes on their feet
They were off to the next thing, which really was neat
They all played outside and we read some more, too,
Of the Places They'll Go and the things that they'll do
We read through the wind which was terribly cold
And the kids sat quite still without being cajoled!

For dinner we had - as I'm sure you could guess -
Something that looked gross, but oh, I digress
We had ham, and the loveliest bread that you've seen,
All served with a helping of eggs that were green!

The kids ate it up and, like a Seussical Yink,
Washed it down with "ink" (really, milk) that was pink.

(When Vince saw the green eggs, he looked quite ill,
But clearly he ate them or they'd be there still)

While viewing my pictures, be kind, if you're able,

And ignore all the mess and the crumbs on the table

It's quite hard, you know, to keep the house neat,

When your day is packed full of great Seuss-worthy treats!

Do you celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday?
"If you never did, you should. These things are fun. These things are good."

What Animal Eats Sharks?

2011-02-28T14:38:00.003-05:00

According to Gus, animals will eat any animal that is smaller than them.

Ergo, dogs eat cats. Horses eat goats. Mice eat butterflies.

He likes to play an "animal guessing game" wherein one person thinks of an animal and the other person tries to guess what that animal is.

Today he approached me and asked, "Would you like to play my animal guessing game?" I agreed. He wanted me to choose the first animal so I chose a cat and he started guessing.

Is it a monkey? No.
Is it a turtle? No.
Is it a shark? No.

After a few more guesses, Gus grew frustrated and cried, "Mommy, I give up!"

I told him that my animal says "meow" and he giggled as he realized it was a cat.

"Okay, Mommy," he said, "now it is my turn to think of an animal."

I gave him a moment to decide and then started guessing.

Is it a dog? No.
Is it a bird? No.
Is it a horse? No.

I asked him for a hint. His eyes grew wider as he said in a very serious voice, "Your hint is that my animal eats sharks."

"It eats sharks, huh?"

"Yes. It loves to eat sharks."

Knowing Gus's logic, I was aware that his animal was bigger than a shark. During this game he often chooses a dinosaur as his animal, so, thinking I was smarter than I actually am, I guessed dinosaur. He burst into a cute little giggle.

"Mommy," he said in the parents-don't-know-ANYTHING tone that my kids have perfected, "dinosaurs do not eat sharks!" He collapsed into giggles as I watched, trying to look cool even though I had just been shown up by my three year old.

I threw in the towel. "Alright, Gus, what is it?"

He gave me his best Very Wise look and said, "It is a whale. With a lot of teeth."

There you have it, folks...whales eat sharks.

Lent Is (Almost) Here...

2011-02-28T11:18:00.007-05:00

....and I am in the process of figuring out how the kids and I will observe the season.

I have found many excellent ideas from Lacy on Catholic Icing, who has created a Lenten Link-Up so bloggers can share their Lenten ideas. The post (along with links to other great blogs) is right here.

In the past, we have done a Lenten Cross. I got the idea from this article posted on Domestic-Church.com (scroll down to the Lent and Easter heading in purple and look for The Lenten Cross). I affixed 40 pieces of velcro to a huge piece of poster board in the shape of a cross. Then I cut 40 unlined 3x5 index cards in half and drew a little picture on each one. Each picture has an accompanying Bible verse (the image of the stone, for example, correlates with the story of Christ being tempted in the desert). Every morning, I would pass around the card of the day so the kids could look at the picture while I read the accompanying verse. The kids took turns putting the card on the cross. Theoretically, on Holy Saturday, the cross is filled up with little picture cards. In our case, I went into premature labor during Lent, and the remainder of the season was spent commuting to and from the NICU to visit baby Veronica (which is a highly appropriate name for a Lent baby, if I do say so myself). The kids thoroughly enjoyed doing the Lenten Cross while we were actively doing it daily, though, and I hope to do it again now that I've unearthed the link with the Bible verses on it.

We have also done a Lent Bucket. I buy peanut butter in massive quantities, and when one of our gargantuan peanut butter jars was empty, I cleaned it thoroughly inside and out, and attached a label saying Lent Bucket. Whenever I caught the kids doing something good, or making a sacrifice (no matter how small), I wrote down their good deed on a slip of paper and let them put it in the Lent Bucket. That in itself was a great activity. The kids liked hearing me call out their name and following it with "you get to put something in the Lent Bucket!" rather than the usual "you're not allowed to put your spoon in your ear" or "please stop licking your shoe" (and yes, I took those gems from experience). The Lent Bucket itself increased their self-esteem, motivated them to make little sacrifices for each other, and encouraged me to look for their good deeds instead of their bad ones. On Easter Sunday, I removed all the slips of paper and read all the good deeds that had been done over the past forty days as the kids listened proudly with great big smiles on their faces.

The following year, I adapted the Lent Bucket slightly by allowing the kids to put a coin in the bucket every time they were caught making little sacrifices. Basically: they made a small sacrifice in deed; I in turn made a small financial sacrifice by using my own money for the jar. On Holy Saturday we counted the money in the jar and on Easter Sunday we made a donation to the poor box in that amount. I don't know that the smaller kids understood this thoroughly, but I think the bigger ones made the connection that their sacrifices helped other people. That foundation of knowledge came in handy when it came time to explain how our prayers help others, particularly the souls in Purgatory. I am planning to do the Lent Bucket again this year with coins (which means I have to make a lot of PB&J sandwiches over the course of this week).

One last thing: The kids have enjoyed making and using Sacrifice Beads as St. Therese did when she was a child. We used ten pony beads, a miraculous medal, and a small crucifix found at a Catholic bookstore. The kids carried their beads around in their pockets and discreetly slid one bead whenever they felt that they'd made a small sacrifice. If I caught them making a small sacrifice, I'd whisper "move a bead" and they'd happily do so. Our shared goal was to move all ten beads over the course of a day, but often the kids would move all ten beads and then move them back again because of all the little sacrifices they'd made during that day.

And - of course - we will do the Stations of the Cross every Friday as a family, using the Way of the Cross for Children book that my mother in-law and I collaborated on and offer for free on our church's Religious Education website. It contains all fourteen Stations of the Cross coloring pages that I made for the website, as well as simple devotionals that are meant to be led by an adult and followed by children.

Most Honest Pajamas EVER

2011-02-24T21:17:00.002-05:00

I found these pajamas at Target and couldn't resist buying them for Veronica. Some of the writing is hard to read in the picture; it says "Being cute keeps me out of jams."

Ain't that the truth. You know all those magazine articles and parenting book authors who say you can't spoil a baby? They haven't met Veronica. She is Daddy's little princess and she knows it. But she's not a spoiled brat - just a sweet spoiled "I can do anything and get away with it" kind of kid. ♥

PSA: Never Take Preschoolers Out In Public

2011-02-24T18:09:00.003-05:00

I decided to be Super-Mom today and take some kids to Target without back-up (i.e. Vince). Faustina and Catherine were at Girl Scouts. Some people might think, "You went to Target with four kids?! You must be crazy!" To me, though, it was practically a vacation. I had ONLY four kids with me! Clare was in her sling, and Gus and Veronica shared one of the giant carts that is meant for two kids. Max walked alongside and I let him have some time in the toy aisle, just to look. I remembered that I needed mints because one of my supplements has a nasty aftertaste; a mint afterwards helps cover up the taste. Something about being in the candy/mints aisle reminded Gus that we have too many healthy things in our house.

"I don't think we have too many healthy things," I responded, very stupidly taking the bait. "Healthy things are nice to have."

Gus gave me a very knowing Look. This Look usually precedes him saying something very cute or something very embarrassing. In this case, it was the latter. In the loudest voice he could muster, he announced: "Mom, we can't have too many healthy things. Because if I get too many healthy things, it will make me poop."

Oh. Thanks, Gus. Next time I'll just buy the stupid candy bar that he was obviously angling for and spare myself the trial of hearing Gus loudly talk about body functions in public.

Good To Know

2011-02-18T19:47:00.000-05:00

Gus: Are you my buddy?

Faustina: Of course. I'm always your buddy.

Gus: Even when I'm grumpy.

Faustina: Yes. And even when I'm grumpy, too.

Cameras Make the Baby Sad

2011-02-17T02:10:00.002-05:00

Once, when I was a nubile young parent who diligently stuffed a diaper bag with essentials (diapers, wipes, diaper rash ointment, bulb syringe, saline solution, burp cloth, change of clothes, plastic bag to hold soiled clothing if necessary, receiving blanket, infant Tylenol, neatly folded ring sling), I was given advice by well-meaning strangers and family members about child rearing. Most common advice: don't blink or you'll miss it.

During this phase of nubile parenting, Vince and I had a photo session with my dad. I don't remember the occasion, but I do remember my dad's sage advice: "Don't bother trying to photograph or record anything. Kids stop being cute as soon as they see a camera." Vince and I laughed but I also had a flashback of watching The Fog with a friend, and feeling so terrified that she and I had squeezed ourselves into the corner of the couch and were hiding our faces behind our hands. My stepmom walked in with a camera and we scattered like two little birds (uh, bad analogy...some birds don't scatter). The point is: We knew there was a camera coming and some innate thing within us told us to avoid it at all costs.

So imagine my complete lack of surprise when I realized, at some point during the infancy of each of of my children, that it is nearly impossible to catch the first smile on film. I'm looking down on my sweet little baby and my sweet little baby is looking back up at me. Suddenly my sweet little baby's face bursts into the biggest, happiest grin imaginable. I don't bother to suppress an exclamation of "Awwwww!!!" But when I get the camera, suddenly Cute Smiley Baby becomes Most Maudlin Baby To Ever ~~Walk~~ Lay On The Face Of The Earth. The camera looms over them like a big black cloud. It is not to be trusted.

I've been working with Clare, though, to get a picture of this smile that lights up the entire world. As usual, though, when the camera comes out - no matter how stealthy I try to be - the smile is replaced by a furrowed brow and little concerned lips in the shape of an O.

Today, I got the best of her. That's right, I am smarter than my eight-week-old baby. To be fair, said baby keeps me up at night a lot, so even a very small mental accomplishment is worth celebration.

As she kicked and squiggled in her little bassinet, smiling up at me with that cute baby grin, I held the camera above my head and a little to the right. She was distracted by looking at my face and didn't even notice the camera.

Of course, because I wasn't looking through the camera at the time, I got a couple pictures like this:

Then I missed the smile, and got this:

But then, I got this!

...and this!

...and - be still my beating heart - THIS!

As you see, it is possible to catch a child on film being cute. My dad didn't think it could happen, but now I see that it can. However, if you'll note the time stamp on this post - 2:10am - you'll see that such a feat has its cost. (Take MY picture, will you? Well, ma, I hope you don't like that sleep thing, because you're not gonna do it tonight.)

P.S. I think it's worth mentioning that, five kids later, my diaper bag now contains two or three diapers (possibly in a size that one of my kids actually wears) and a lollipop that one of my kids put in their mouth for three seconds and then gave me to hold for some reason. However, it doesn't matter what is (or isn't) in my diaper bag, because I never actually remember to bring it with me.

Trevor, Ambrose, and Ambrose

2011-02-16T11:30:00.004-05:00

Meet Trevor.

Pretty cute, huh? Trevor frequents the monstrously huge¹ pussywillow bush outside of my bedroom window.

Now meet Ambrose.

Ambrose is Trevor's little friend. If you're not bird-savvy, Trevor is a Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) and Ambrose is a Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor). My kids can't pronounce Cardinalis cardinalis or Baeolophus bicolor, so I've named these little guys Trevor² and Ambrose³.

Trevor and I go way back, you see. A couple weeks ago, I was minding my own business, getting some laundry from my bedroom, with the curtains wide open to let in some light. That's when I saw Trevor, peacefully perched on a branch just outside my window. I've always liked cardinals, and I stopped what I was doing for a moment to watch the little guy and listen to his chirpy song.

Suddenly and without warning, Trevor turned towards the window and flew right at it.

Hey, Trevor! I thought we were friends.

Enter Ambrose.

Ambrose had been hopping around on some branches far from the window, but after Trevor's erratic display, Ambrose didn't want to be outdone. He took a flying leap towards the window, too.

Several acquaintances suggested that Trevor saw his reflection in the glass and became confused. Some suggested taping a picture of a predatory animal on the outside of the window to scare him off, which would, of course, involve the opening of the window. As I have dealt with more than my fair share of insane birds flying into my house when I open a door or window, I opted to close the blind instead. It worked for a while, but the next day, I opened it again to let in more light. I can't stand for my room to be a dark cave with no sunlight. It wasn't long before I peeked outside and saw this.

It has now been exactly two weeks, and Trevor is currently sitting on my bedroom windowsill. Ambrose is still fluttering around in the branches. I saw another Tufted Titmouse in the branches today and Faustina suggested I name him Ambrose, too, since we can't really tell them apart. Trevor, Ambrose, and Ambrose may be permanent springtime additions around here, unless Trevor can find a nice lady to calm him down.

Even when I close the blind, I often hear a little tap and the flapping of wings that means Trevor is near. He might have some unresolved anger issues. Or maybe he's just a birdbrain.

¹ It is taller than a two-story house. Yowza.
² Bit of trivia: the meaning of the name "Trevor" is "from the big settlement."
³ Ambrose means "immortal," which does not bode well for me.

Childlike Humility

2011-02-15T13:29:00.006-05:00

I was on the computer, doing some part-time work for the church.

Veronica, sitting near me, "reading" a book.

Max and Faustina, playing Wii Sports after diligently (and without complaining) finishing their chores for the day.

Gus, in the bathroom for the twelfth time today, trying to earn another gold star sticker for going in the potty like a big boy.

Catherine, acting as his helper in hopes of earning a gold star for herself as well.

Clare, sleeping soundly, right across the hall from the bathroom.

There was a bang, and a scream. Maybe "scream" isn't the right word for this situation. The noise I heard could be better described as "the shriek of a thousand banshees." I went to the scene of the apparent crime, and I'll be honest with you: I was checking up on things more out of annoyance at the kids for screaming while Clare was sleeping, and less out of concern for their well-being. I admit it. When I got to the bathroom, I saw Catherine sitting on the closed toilet, not allowing Gus to use it. I asked her (calmly, I might add, so I get SOME points for that) to get down so Gus could use the bathroom. She did not. I gave her the ultimatum: "If I have to move you myself, you will go to time out." She gave me the patented Catherine Grouchy Face and stayed put. I picked her up, her kicking and screaming the whole time, and plopped her on the floor in her bedroom, unable to keep myself from noticing how clean the floor was after the girls had spent time cleaning there this morning. Catherine was told that she'd come out when I came and got her, which means she sits there until I've cooled down enough to talk to her without yelling. She glared at me. If looks could kill...yikes. She has that glare down pat. I'd hate to be the guy who breaks her heart someday.

At least ten minutes passed. Gus was quiet, Clare was (miraculously) still asleep, and I had taken some deep breaths and possibly eaten a chocolate bar. (It was a Luna bar, so it was healthy...ish.)

I went back to the girls' bedroom, bracing myself for the inevitable battle or at least a silent glare as Catherine refuses to speak to me. When I peeked in the door, though, I saw Catherine, sitting on her bed and quietly coloring on a notepad with some markers she'd gotten for Christmas and stashed in her drawer. She looked up at me and said, "Hi, Mommy. I'm drawing you a picture."

And that was that.

Now put yourself in her shoes. You've been caught doing something wrong. You've been punished. And when your punisher comes to find you, you greet him with a smile. Sound likely? I didn't think so. I never thought I'd strive to be more like the little girl who stubbornly planted herself on the potty and refused to let her brother in - the same little girl who frequently throws herself on the floor in a full-blown tantrum over practically nothing, and can administer The Look Of Death to anyone who crosses her, and leaps out of nowhere to tackle her little sister just for the fun of it - but here I am, hoping to emulate my four year old daughter in her humility.

Valentine's Day = Sweets

2011-02-14T13:54:00.003-05:00

I don't want to make anyone feel bad, but today, I am the coolest Mom in the world.

We have leftover homemade casserole in the refrigerator. It's healthy. The kids could live without it, to put it mildly, but I think it's good. Did I heat it up for lunch today? Noooo. Today the kids got Kraft macaroni and cheese with hot dogs, which I touched with my hands despite my severe aversion to touching (or eating) hot dogs in order to make little hearts with cupids' arrows shooting through them.

I'm not sure what the kids liked more: the hot dog heart, or the toothpick that held them together. Once they ate their hearts, the kids used the toothpicks to spear individual pieces of macaroni and cheese. Needless to say, lunch took a little longer than usual.

Afterwards, I whipped out the big guns: cupcakes with red sprinkles baked into them, covered with chocolate frosting, ready to be decorated.

Note the girls' Valentine's Day shirts. Faustina's says "horse-loving girl" and has hearts on the bottom.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Forgive me, I'm a perfectionist.

2011-02-14T13:44:00.005-05:00

The last blog entry I wrote was on December 18, almost a week before my baby was born.

I'm a perfectionist. I didn't want my first postpartum entry to be anything other than a perfectly detailed account of baby Clare and her sweetness. I was so set on this perfect account that I decided I'd rather write nothing at all than do injustice to her birth story.

Now, here I am, eight weeks later, with a sad, lonely blog, and I've decided to turn my back on perfection just for now.

That said: I'd like to introduce Clare Anastasia.

After my c-section with Veronica, I was nervous to be pregnant again, but I was fortunate to be under the care of a very competent midwife. Clare was born at home on December 23, 2010.

She weighed 9 pounds, 8 ounces, and a majority of that weight is held in the biggest, softest cheeks a mother could ask for.

She looked tiny to us at birth, but next to Veronica, she doesn't look so small. Veronica is only a scant ten pounds bigger (and two years older) than Clare.

She was baptized into the Catholic Church on January 23, 2011. She wore an heirloom baptismal gown and a bonnet that I knit for her.

She's a sweetie. Sometimes she stays up until 3am (ergo I stay up until 3am). Sometimes she cries if anyone except me holds her. But she's tolerant to being held while I knit, and she loves when I lay next to her so she can kick her feet and punch her little fists as hard as she can and smiles up at me.

Welcome to the outside world, little Clare!

Conversations With Cuteness

2010-12-18T17:45:00.002-05:00

Yes, I'm doing two of these in one day. Such is the blogging style of a woman who is ten months pregnant.

FAUSTINA: (says something under her breath to Catherine)
CATHERINE: What did you say?
FAUSTINA: Sheesh, can't you hear me? I think you need ear glasses!

Conversations With Cuteness

2010-12-18T17:44:00.000-05:00

MAX: There are four people, and five sandwiches! That means there's an extra sandwich.
ME: There are five people.
MAX: No, there are four: me, Faustina, Catherine, and Gus. Four people.
ME: What about me? What am I?
MAX (very exasperated): You're a mom.

Dr. Max

2010-12-07T15:42:00.002-05:00

I've been monitoring my blood pressure lately, as it has been a little high during my prenatal appointments. The kids are now familiar with my blood pressure cuff (or my "blood crusher" as Gus calls it).

Max made a movable claw out of his Legos and said it could be used as a blood pressure cuff.

"Hold out your arm," he instructed in his most doctorly voice. I did, and he gently grabbed my arm with the claw.

"Interesting," he said.

"How is my blood pressure? Is it good?" I asked. He inspected the claw.

"Well, I think so, but let me just see. It looks like you might have too much blood in your arm, but don't worry, there are some things we can do to fix it."

"Oh, thank goodness!" I exclaimed. "What sort of things?"

He looked at my grimly and replied, "The best thing you can do to make your arm have not too much blood is to let your son play Wii. It's better if you do it right away."

Oh, Max!

Conversations With Cuteness

2010-12-02T19:04:00.002-05:00

MAX (as he made a Lego creation): Should I make a motorcycle or a bike?
ME: How about a bike?
MAX: Bikes is easy.
ME: Bikes are easy.
MAX (without missing a beat): Making bikes is easy.

Mom's Little Secret

2010-11-22T10:48:00.002-05:00

Max is on to me. I didn't think he'd catch on, but he's a smart kid; I should have known he'd begin to suspect.

Last night I pulled up my shirt to scratch an itch on my belly, which, by the way, is enormous. Max happened to pass by and he noticed a tiny scratch on my stomach. He pointed to it and said, "Is that a crack?!?" He looked highly suspicious. I told him no, it's just a scratch.

I don't think he believed me.

He later accused me of sending him and the other kids to their grandma's house every time I go into labor so they won't find out my secret: I go to the hospital and then my belly cracks like an egg so the baby can hatch.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how babies are REALLY made.

Conversations With Cuteness

2010-11-17T11:13:00.003-05:00

Catherine: When the new baby is born, what are we going to do with Veronica? Give her away?

Halloween Festival

2010-10-31T15:07:00.003-04:00

Every year since Vince has been working at CARFAX, we've attended the annual CARFAX Halloween party. Every year, that is, until this year, when Vince came down with a virus and stayed home from work for a week. He ended up going back to work on the day of the party, but he was still feeling pretty rough, and it's a long drive for me to make with all the kids by myself, especially at the end of the day when I'm already tired.

The kids were so disappointed that they couldn't go to the party, so I decided to do our own "festival" at home in our basement. For something that I planned at the last possible minute, it went surprisingly well and we all had a lot of fun.

First we did a fishing game. I set up an old plastic clothes rack, draped a sheet over it, and hid behind it with a box of prizes and fish made out of construction paper. The kids stood in front of my makeshift fish tank with a fishing pole made out of a thin branch, some yarn, and a paper clip for a hook. The kids were instructed to cast their line and wait for four tugs before pulling up their catch.

Each fish was labeled with a number that corresponded to a prize box (that counts as remotely educational, right?). The kids chose a candy box (filled with mini-candy bars, a Tootsie Pop, and a couple Tootsie Rolls) or a toy box (filled with mini animals, Care Bear socks, and glow sticks for the girls, and plastic cars, Star Wars yoyos, and glow sticks for the boys). They got two turns each so by the end of the game they had candy and toys. And chocolate faces. And sticky lollipop fingers.

Gus caught a fish!

He chose a toy box after identifying that the 4 on the box matched the 4 on his fish (see? math!).

After we went fishing, we had a Cupcake Walk. We pushed a button on one of Veronica's toys to make music (Max's idea!) and when the music stopped, everyone had to stand on a colored square of construction paper. I then randomly chose a colored scrap of paper out of my hand and whoever was standing on that color won a cupcake. To make things slightly more interesting, they had to look on the back of the construction paper to see if there was a picture of a spider or a web. I can't believe I didn't photograph my cupcakes, but half of them looked like spiderwebs with a little bug stuck in them, and the other half looked like spiders with cherry Twizzler legs.

While they were busy chomping down on cupcakes, I quickly arranged them together for the only group picture of the night. Here they are: Max the ghost pirate, Gus the knight, Catherine the blue fairy, and Faustina the Giant Purple Sparkly Winged Unicorn with a Sparkly Rainbow Mane. Have I mentioned lately that Faustina is all girl?

Finally, we did a scavenger hunt. The kids followed clues to find...well...more clues, along with mysterious boxes of felt pieces labeled "mouths" and "noses" and "eyes". At the end of the hunt, they found a little stack of felt puppets and learned that the mysterious body parts were for making funny monster puppets. Again, I didn't get a picture - turns out that after running after kids on a scavenger hunt, Vince and I are both too tired to go all the way upstairs to retrieve the camera. They had a blast, though, and their puppets are priceless! I'll have to photograph them later for posterity.

Catherine found this clue in our NEW VAN!!!! ...but that's a story for another day. :)

I Blame Nesting

2010-10-29T09:26:00.002-04:00

NORMAL: Getting out of bed at 7:00am

LESS NORMAL: Trying to fall asleep at 7:00am after a night of insomnia

NOT NORMAL: Tossing and turning all night while fretting about the fact that there is dust from the lint trap on top of the dryer and the inside doors of the washing machine and dishwasher could use a quick wipe.

CLARIFYING MOMENT THE DAY AFTER THIS HAPPENED: It would have been easier to just get up at 1am and go clean those things than it would have been to stay up all night thinking about them...but that is DEFINITELY not normal.

The Whimsically Plucky School of Parenting

2010-10-23T21:32:00.008-04:00

I have had a very educational week. Oddly enough, all of my educational experiences involved Gus. Hmmm...

It started on Saturday when my dad and stepmom treated us to a day at Great Country Farms. Their farm features a cow train (which Veronica loved to watch as it rolled past), a playground, fresh apple dumplings (yummmm), pig races, and - of course - a giant mechanical pumpkin-eating dinosaur named P-Rex.

Lesson #1: Teaching Preschoolers

Class Location: The Pig Races

The first heat involved three little pink pigs. The second heat featured two black and white potbellies. In the third heat, they tried to trick us by sending out two goats instead of pigs. I turned to Gus, who was watching from my dad's arms behind me, and said: "Were those really pigs, Gussy?" He laughed and said, "No, those aren't pigs! They're just little horses!"
The Moral: Spend more time identifying farm animals with Gus.

Lesson #2: Financial Skills

Class Location: The Van

After our fun day at the farm, we went to the parking lot and my dad held a "door prize" drawing for the kids. They were each given a ticket with a number on it and when he read their number, they claimed a prize envelope. Each envelope contained a $10, but one envelope - Catherine's - also contained a small comic strip, so she earned an extra special $1 with a Harley-Davidson logo in place of George Washington's face. Even Veronica got a prize envelope.

I put Veronica's $10 in my purse. Catherine gave me her $10 bill to keep safe because her pockets were shallow and she didn't want to lose it. Max and Faustina put their $10 bills directly in their pockets. Gus climbed into his seat and his $10 bill mysteriously disappeared until the next day, when I told the kids to keep their eyes open for money in the van so we could take them to the toy store and spend their "winnings" from Grandpa. As we pulled in to the toy store parking lot, Max started yelling excitedly that he had found Gus's $10 bill wedged under Catherine's seat.

The Moral: Three year olds do not know the value of a dollar - and they REALLY don't know the value of TEN dollars. Next time, I will keep his money in my purse, too.

Lesson #3: First Aid

Class Location: The Parking Lot Outside The Farm (i.e. A Giant Field With Cars In It)

Back to the farm....as we were leaving the country store and heading back to the parking lot, my dad noticed some candy necklaces for sale. My deprived children have never had a candy necklace before and he bought one for each of them (excluding poor Veronica, who probably would have handled it better than Gus did, if you'll excuse my foreshadowing). We got to the cars, had the prize drawing from Lesson #2, said our goodbyes, and piled into the van. Side note: every time it's time for my kids to pile into our minivan, I especially long for a full-sized van. It's a crowded, messy affair, full of whining and crying (and that's just me). Gus recently learned to buckle himself in but ~~every once in a while~~ almost every time we have to go somewhere, he decides to sit backwards in his seat to be silly and it takes f.o.r.e.v.e.r for him to actually turn around and get buckled. He's way out of reach for this big ol' pregnant mama, so Vince and I decided to sit in the front seat and wait it out instead of trying to climb over the kids in the middle to get to Gus in the back. Finally, FINALLY, he was buckled. Vince was just about to back out when Gus cheerfully made his announcement: "I have candy in my nose!"

For those of you who do not know Gus, he spends a great majority of his day making up things that he thinks will make us laugh. This particular statement made us laugh, but unfortunately, he did NOT make it up. Vince said something along the lines of "oh, okay Gus, that's nice" but Gus insisted: "No, I actually do have candy in my nose." Ohhhh boy. After waiting for ten minutes for him to get buckled in the first place, I told Gus to get out of his seat so we could take a look. Sure enough, there was a little white candy from his candy necklace wedged firmly into his right nostril. I laughed nervously and then wondered what exactly the treatment for this situation would entail. I mentally calculated how much a trip to the ER would add to our medical bills. Good ol' level-headed Vince instructed Gus to breathe out as hard as he could while Vince covered his mouth. Something came out, but it was not candy. (I took this opportunity to look for tissues in the van.)

Vince called his brother - a doctor - to ask for advice. He wasn't sure how much of an emergency this was. Did we have to go to the ER, did we have time to go home and drop off other kids, should we call an ambulance, would the candy dissolve, would it get further wedged in his nasal cavity and require surgery.....? Fortunately, Vince's brother was able to come to his work phone and told us that if we brought Gus into his ER, he would have a parent cover the non-candied nostril and blow hard into his mouth as if administering CPR. Vince went a little pale and I started crying. Vince was probably wondering if he could stomach the result of this treatment (i.e. being smacked in the face with the contents of Gus's nose, which would hopefully include candy but would definitely include other unpleasantries). I was trying to figure out how we could administer this treatment to Gus without attracting a crowd full of people who would probably assume that we had an unconscious kid and would probably call 911 superfluously. As I tried to calm down and Vince tried to brace himself for what he was about to do, Gus sealed his lips, furrowed his brow, and started breathing hard through his nose. After five or so breaths, he did one big HARD breath and SHOOOOM - the candy flew out of his nose and hit the ground in front of him. I could barely contain my excitement ("It's out, it's out!") and I am pretty sure I heard a big sigh of relief from Vince. After a quick clean-up with a tissue, Gus was good as new, and the candy was covered in various disgusting things as it lay in a particularly muddy spot in the parking lot.

When Gus saw the dislodged candy, the first thing he did was point at it, look up at me with those big puppy-dog eyes, and say: "Is that too dirty to eat?"

The Moral: I don't think I'll leave the house with Gus for a while.

Menu Plan Monday Tuesday

2010-10-19T11:34:00.004-04:00

I'm excited about my meal plan this week. I think the nesting instinct has finally kicked in after months of feeling exhausted if I so much as lifted a finger, and I'm taking advantage of my newfound energy to make all the meals that I love.

Monday
"Hungry Man" Stew, which I think should be renamed in the cookbook to "Hungry Mom" Stew because I'm the one who loves carrots and beans. The men in the house would rather do without both of those. It is a stew made with ground beef, carrots, kidney beans, and brown rice. The recipe calls for ground red pepper but I shy away from spices because of my own tastes as well as Gus's sensitivity to those things. Instead I add onion and garlic when I'm browning the beef, splash in a little Worcestershire sauce, and let Vince add his precious Cajun seasoning later.

Tuesday
Baked Potato Soup, a regular on my menu. In the fall, I sometimes secretly add some peeled and chopped apples to the mix. No one seems to pay much attention when I make that change, but there is a very subtle difference. I got the idea when I went to a friend's annual New Year's Soup Party and one of the guests brought delicious potato soup. When I asked what was in it, she rattled off a long list of things that I had never used in potato soup, including apples.

Wednesday
Roasted Chicken. I don't even bother buying a chicken unless it is at least 7lbs. I get several meals out of one chicken, especially when the kids are finicky and don't eat much (although they haven't been finicky with roasted chicken since I started putting a couple tablespoons of butter in the cavity before cooking...even the white meat is incredibly moist and delicious!). After having our fill of roasted chicken, I start picking off the rest of the meat until I start to think it's gross. (I have a bit of a chicken meat phobia!) At that point I toss the remaining bird into a stock pot with some water, carrots, celery, bay leaves, pepper corns, and whatever else I have laying around that might add some nice flavor to a broth. I simmer for a while (an hour or more) then let it cool and pick off the remaining meat, which falls off the bone at that point. I normally get 7-8 cups of broth, which I strain and freeze for later use in making roux or soup. The remaining cut chicken is used in chicken flautas (one of my favorites!), quesadillas, pot pie, or casseroles. Last time I did this, I got four meals plus broth: (1) Roasted Chicken; (2) Flautas; (3-4) Chicken Casserole (one for dinner, another for the freezer to use after the baby is born).

Thursday
Beef Stew. Apparently I was in a soup-y mood when I wrote my menu plan. This promises to be an exceptional beef stew - I bought a 3.5lb chuck roast, cut it into 2" pieces, and put it in the fridge to marinate in red wine, fresh garlic, onion, bay leaves, and peppercorns. It smelled so good; I could have eaten it right then and there as I was marinating it, but I like my beef to be a little less rare than that.

Friday
Chicken Casserole, using leftover chicken meat.

Saturday
I planned to eat out that day, but if we change our plans, I'll shift the meal plan back one day so Sunday's meal will be on Saturday. I typically go shopping on Sunday so it won't cause any problems, especially because I planned until next Thursday.

Sunday
Chicken and Dumplings - my current craving - using leftover chicken.

Monday
Meatballs & Egg Noodles

Tuesday
Beef Enchiladas served with chips and guacamole

Wednesday
Shepherd's Pie. Note my new theme...last week it was chicken, now it's ground beef. I buy beef in bulk so I can brown it all at once and store it in 1lb portions in the fridge. Then, when I'm ready to use it over the next couple days, I have eliminated the most tedious step of browning and draining the meat (plus, I only have to clean one greasy pan).

Thursday
Sesame Chicken. Okay, we're back to chicken. Like I said, I've always been a bit of a chicken phobic, but I have craved it like crazy during this pregnancy, and a friend recently shared her recipe for crockpot sesame chicken with broccoli. I couldn't pass that up.

Edited at a friend's request:

Slow-Cooker Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
family sized pack of chicken thighs
1/2 c soy sauce
1/3 c brown sugar
1 t garlic powder
2 T ketchup or BBQ sauce
6 t sesame seeds
1 package frozen broccoli

Preparation
Mix sauce and ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 8 hours. An hour or so before done, pour broccoli over chicken.

Is there anything better...

2010-10-12T15:15:00.003-04:00

...than sitting in the shade knitting while the kids collect acorns, leaves, and twigs so they can build a little town for squirrels?

I don't think so.

Signs of Fall

2010-09-27T16:08:00.004-04:00

I love today.

We have rain (finally).

We have cool weather.

We have yellow, orange, or red trees scattered on almost every tree in our yard.

The house smells like the perfect fall dinner - roasted chicken and stuffing with apples and onions.

I have all the lights off except a couple of lamps and it's nice and calm in here.

The kids have played nicely all afternoon and are being rewarded with a couple episodes of kids' shows via Netflix. Baby is sleeping. I spent some uninterrupted time knitting.

One of the best things about this day is that it followed yesterday, which was when I went to the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival with some friends. I didn't think I would be up for it but I'm so glad I was able to get out of the house on a nice cool day before several days of rain.

Life is good, especially in fall. :)

My Latest Obsession Creative Endeavor

2010-09-25T00:31:00.005-04:00

Baby socks! ...and hats!

I included information about the yarn I used for anyone who is curious.

made with Knit Picks Felici Self-Striping; colorway Gelato

made with Knit Picks Imagination Handpainted; colorway Evil Stepmother

made with Knit Picks Felici Self-Striping; colorway Patina

made with Knit Picks Essentials (now called Stroll) Twists; colorway Dune

made with Zen String Serendipity Fingering Yarn; colorway Parfait

made with Caron Simply Soft (not sure of the colorway)

made with Knit Picks Felici Self-Striping; colorway Patina

My pride and joy - my rainbow handspun knit into a hat for my super spoiled baby, who will be wrapped in soft handspun merino wool. ♥ Booties are a work in progress.

made with superwash merino fiber, prepped & dyed by Wild Hare Fiber Studios; colorway Grateful Dyed (this fiber progresses through all the colors of the rainbow)

How Children Inspire Creativity

2010-08-31T13:50:00.004-04:00

Last night at bedtime, I didn't feel like reading a bedtime story so I decided to sing to the kids instead. Catherine asked if they could each have three songs. Sure, why not, kids' songs are usually pretty short. I asked what they wanted.

Max: "You can choose my song."
Faustina: "All The Pretty Little Ponies."
Gus: "The Spiderman Song and sing it for a very long time."
Catherine: "Ummm...sing a song about how the fairies catch the butterflies and you make it up yourself."
Me: "......!"

I asked for their second song choice.

Max: "We Are the Dinosaurs."
Faustina: "My Little Pony."
Gus: "The Batman Song that goes na na na na na na BATMAN and sing it for a very long time."
Catherine: "Uhhh....ummm....sing a song about how the fairies are riding their horses and they have magical fairy wands and they can use their magical fairy wands to build a magical fairy net and then they use their magical fairy net to catch butterflies and then they are happy."
Me: "..................!"

...and the third song choice?

Max: "The Guardian Angel prayer in a song."
Faustina: "Another My Little Ponies Song."
Gus: "More Spiderman and it is very long."
Catherine: "Sing a My Little Ponies song but it is a very long song and you have to make up ponies that we have never heard of before and you have to sing about what they like to do."
Me: "..............................!"

Oh, and let the record show that I did in fact meet all of Catherine's requests, AND I made all the songs rhyme. My made-up ponies left much to be desired, though...something tells me that Hasbro wouldn't be interested in manufacturing Grumble-Dump, the pony who complains too much and lives at the waste facility.

A girl after my own heart

2010-08-30T13:50:00.004-04:00

As the big kids worked on schoolwork this morning, I sat at the head of the table with my knitting, ready to drop my project and help them if needed. Hey, no need to sit idly while they do worksheets, right? Max needed clarification on some instructions so I left my project on my chair and went to help him. From the corner of my eye I saw Faustina sneaking a peek at my yarn. Ever so slowly - probably trying not to attract attention - she put down her pencil, picked up my yarn, brought it to her face, and...

SNIIIIIIIIIIIIIFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

That's my girl! A non-knitter might look at yarn; a knitter has to take a whiff.

Thoughts on the Dining Room Table

2010-08-27T13:04:00.003-04:00

Matching placemats are overrated......especially when I have an affinity for anything made with bamboo but the kids have an affinity for spilling stain-inducing food on my bamboo placemats.

Ordinary hot plates are boring.

Some yarn deserves to be on display, especially when it's hand-spun (the black one), hand-dyed (the green one), or just pretty (the turquoise/shimmery one).

Psst...the customizable tealight centerpiece is from PartyLite.

Comfort Food, Pt. 2

2010-08-26T18:46:00.003-04:00

The recipe for this dish meets all the most important qualifications of good food:
(1) It comes from a Southern Living cookbook.
(2) It contains heavy whipping cream.
(3) It contains bacon.
(4) It is ridiculously fast and easy to make.
It's nice and filling so you don't have to use huge portion sizes, and it goes well with a fresh salad.

Tortellini Carbonara
Originally published in Southern Living Ultimate Quick & Easy Cookbook, adapted and over-simplified by me

Cook a pound of bacon however you like. I put it on a foil-lined cookie sheet and cook at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes or until crispy. Drain grease on a paper towel and, once cool, crumble into pieces. You can do this earlier in the day or the day before, then store the bacon in the refrigerator.

Cook cheese tortellini according to package instructions. Tonight I used about half of a 5lb bag from Costco. I had plenty for myself, Vince, and the kids, plus extra to heat up for lunch tomorrow. Once cooked, toss with parmesan cheese (about 2/3 cup), heavy cream (about 1/2 cup), crumbled bacon, freshly minced parsley (about 2 tablespoons), and freshly ground black pepper to taste. The recipe says to cook the bacon in a Dutch oven, reserve the drippings, cook minced garlic in the drippings, then use the same Dutch oven to cook the tortellini, but I hate cooking garlic on the stove. I'd rather forgo the fresh garlic and used powdered, but I do sometimes use fresh and it is incredibly yummy.

Serve immediately and try to avoid questions about why you cooked an entire pound of bacon but only 2/3 of a pound made it into the tortellini. If the kids don't see you snitching food while you're cooking...it didn't happen.

Comfort Food, Pt. 1

2010-08-26T12:22:00.003-04:00

This is one of my favorite meals. I found it on AllRecipes.com a couple years ago and keep it in my regular rotation. This is something I like to make as a meal for new moms, or for company. Last night I served it with cooked carrots on the side (as opposed to in the sause as suggested by the recipe) and parmesan potato fries. It's also incredibly good with roasted vegetables or mashed potatoes. Yumyumyumyumyum...

Pork Tenderloin with Creamy Herb Sauce (recipe)

Long time, no post

2010-08-25T19:46:00.003-04:00

...and unfortunately, today won't be a whole lot different. 'Tis the season for ignoring the blog. We started homeschooling a couple weeks ago, I'm struggling with insomnia (which is apparently my latest pregnancy symptom; I don't remember having so many sleep problems with my other pregnancies) and I've been putting in a lot of hours with my church job. Blogging just hasn't made the cut.

In fact, I have just enough time to post a picture of Vince and me with our scrumptiously cute new Goddaughter, Rebekah Mary, and then I'm off to get the kids in bed.

We use the term "finger"painting loosely here

2010-07-28T15:55:00.003-04:00

...besides, sometimes messes are fun! I was just happy to see that he didn't get a single drop of paint on the 300 envelopes that I had just finished stuffing for the church.

When I caught him he gave me doe eyes with a quivering lower lip and said, "Sowwy mommy!" I replied, "I'm so, so happy that you didn't get any paint on my papers." He was very happy that the mess on his arms was okay with me.

When he was finished painting I ran a bath and told him not to touch anything, which is silly, because he is two and that was a challenge. It should have been no surprise to me that I came out of the bathroom to this:

I'm pretty sure my exact words were "Are you crazy?!?!?!" Nope, just two. In all fairness to Gus, I have mentioned several times that I'd like to touch up the paint upstairs...I was kind of thinking, though, of using the same color paint that is on the rest of the wall. I see now that I should have specified.

For the record, while I was in the bathroom cleaning Gus, Max was scrubbing the wall and he cleaned it all without being asked. What a pleasant surprise to come out of the bathroom again and see a nice clean wall. If I hadn't taken this picture, there would be no proof of this whatsoever.

1000 Word (plus a few extra)

2010-07-23T13:57:00.003-04:00

This picture is from my 19wk ultrasound...or my 20 week ultrasound...or my 21 week ultrasound. I give new meaning to the phrase estimated due date - I have three different ones.

It's a boy! Or maybe a girl! It's definitely a human baby. And those legs were definitely not coming uncrossed.

Pregnancy Is The Mother Of Invention

2010-06-23T18:57:00.015-04:00

Remember my April Fools Day joke? Remember this post that squelched all rumors that I was pregnant?

As it turned out, I tempted fate. When I posted my April Fools Day joke, I was already pregnant, but I didn't know it yet. I had an early ultrasound for dating purposes (and to make sure there was one, and only one, baby); afterwards I sent a text message to my mom to say that "the quintuplets are doing great!" She wrote back with, "Haven't you learned your lesson?"

I don't usually struggle with morning sickness but this time, I did (do?). For a long time I banished myself from the kitchen because cooking and smelling all those different foods made me queasy. Eating made me feel queasy, too, and I just couldn't make myself spend an hour in the kitchen creating a meal that would make me sick later. Finally, the first trimester passed, and I started to cook again, incident-free.

On tonight's menu was Grilled Chicken Salad, which brings us back to the title of this post: Pregnancy is the mother of invention. I had all my ingredients ready, and it was time to cook, but I was not excited about the prospect of eating grilled chicken salad. I decided to jazz it up a bit. I'm thinking of calling this Covetous Salad because I filled it with all the foods I craved: something sweet, something bitter, something hearty, something fresh. Yum! I want to share this recipe with you because even though I was very wary of it while I was putting it all together, it turned out really good. Even the kids liked it (especially the pecans). The pecans were sweet with just a touch of spice, and that sweetness balanced out the slight bitterness of the uncooked zucchini. And yes, I do realize that the name insinuates that my salad is coveting things, but "Salad That Contains The Things That Amanda Covets" doesn't flow as well.

Some quick notes: I wanted to use red bell pepper to add some color, but the store was all out. I'm not sure how tomatoes would work but it might be worth a try to add a new flavor and a new color. I don't cook with tomatoes because one of my children has a pretty bad reaction to them. As for my measurements - there really aren't any. I usually guess. I bought extra thin chicken breasts but they do cost more, so if you want to save a little money I'd recommend buying regular chicken and pounding it thin yourself.

Ingredients

For Spiced Nuts

1 bag (roughly 2c) pecan halves

vegetable oil

about 1 TBS sugar

basil

cayenne pepper

paprika

onion powder

garlic powder

ground thyme

For Salad

about 1lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 bell pepper

1 bunch Romaine lettuce

2 zucchini

fresh wedge of Parmesan cheese

lemon juice

extra virgin olive oil

salt

prepared spiced pecans (recipe will follow)

Instructions

Spiced Nuts

Preheat your oven to 350°. Pour pecan halves in a bowl and mix with about 2tsp vegetable oil (start with a little bit, stir, and continue adding oil as needed until the pecans are thinly coated). In a small bowl, combine 1T sugar with dashes of all the other spices except salt. Add as much as you want of each spice according to your taste. When spices and sugar are mixed to your satisfaction, pour them over the pecans and toss pecans to coat. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven.

Salad

Pound chicken breasts so they are thin. Grill for a few minutes on each side until juices run clear. (Confession: I used my Foreman Grill. The electric grill and I have a love/hate relationship, especially when it's 90° outside.) Meanwhile, rinse your veggies. Chop or tear the romaine into pieces. Slice the bell pepper into strips. Slice zucchini into very thin slices. (I peeled my zucchini first...I really don't know why. It's not necessary.) Use a vegetable peeler to thinly slice the Parmesan cheese. I sliced about half of an 8oz wedge of cheese. Break the thin slices into smaller squares, about 1x1", and gently toss with zucchini. Add some lemon juice and a little olive oil; toss again to coat. Salt lightly according to taste.

When chicken is finished, cut into strips. Assemble your salad: torn Romaine pieces, bell pepper strips, zucchini/Parmesan mixture. Serve onto plates or salad bowls and sprinkle with spiced pecans. Top with 3-4 chicken strips per salad. Serve and enjoy!

I topped our salads with balsamic vinaigrette, but I wholly admit that I don't like any other kind of salad dressing. Use whatever your little heart desires...after all, this is Covetous Salad.

Hope

2010-06-21T16:57:00.005-04:00

For anyone who saw the title of this blog and thought it was going to be an eloquent essay on hope, you should probably stop reading right now. I would hate to disappoint.

Today over an early dinner I read an essay by G.K. Chesterton called The Perfect Game. Normally I would have been a little let down to find that it was written about croquet, which I know nothing about (although my kids probably "know" that it is a sport played with a hedgehog and a goofy flamingo). However, Chesterton managed to entertain me by talking about a mostly-empty train station, a cab ride, and a piece of white chalk, so I held out hope.

I was not disappointed, especially when I came to the line: "It is only we who play badly who love the Game itself. You love glory...you do not love croquet. You do not love croquet until you love being beaten at croquet. It is we the bunglers who adore the occupation in the abstract."

Now, anyone who has been to my house lately will know that there is a very sad lack of Spinning Wheel in the public eye. That is because I haven't used it in over a week. (That probably doesn't sound like a very long time to the non-spinning-wheel-addict...I assure you, it is a very long time for me). After spinning some very ORANGE beaded yarn about a week and a half ago, I had an empty bobbin and plenty of fiber to fill it with. I started working with some girly pastels that I've been spinning up for a friend of mine who happens to be the mother of an excessively cute and pudgy-cheeked girl. The yarn broke after a few revolutions of the wheel. I definitely did NOT let loose a string of profanities (Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!) but instead kept my cool and tried again. The yarn broke again. I tried again. The yarn broke again. I took a moment from being incredibly frustrated to count my blessings: The kids are in bed, and therefore are not learning any colorful new words. But the fact still remained that I was suddenly horrible at spinning.

I thought the fiber might be to blame; it was not from my usual dealer (I think that word is appropriate here). I had plenty of fiber from her, though, so I got another empty bobbin and tried again. A couple yards in (if that), the yarn started to break again. I gave up and picked up my knitting needles, annoyed and let down at my sudden lack of spinning skills. Every time I walk past my spinning wheel with it's mostly-empty bobbin, all tucked into the corner, I feel like it's staring at me in its taunting spinning-wheel way. I'm almost afraid to touch it; it's a shame to waste all that nice fiber by making yarn that breaks.

And then, a week later, I happen to pick up this Chesterton essay and he has shed a whole new light on my situation via his love of croquet. Besides his line above, he says, "If you could play unerringly, you wouldn't play at all." He's right, you know. If I could make perfect yarn every single time, why would I bother? I could buy it premade and save myself some money. The spinning part is the fun part, even if that #*$(&% yarn breaks every few minutes. I'll manage.

Today for lunch...

2010-06-17T18:13:00.000-04:00

...most of us had grilled cheese sandwiches. Gus, however, angrily insisted that he be given a boy cheese sandwich.

My latest craft venture

2010-06-14T13:21:00.005-04:00

During Lent I worked on some Stations of the Cross coloring pages for my church's website. My goal was to finish them all by Good Friday but various annoying computer glitches prevented me from doing so. Still, I have several nice coloring pages to work with, and I decided to use them to make a Stations of the Cross craft with the kids. I got the idea from a vendor at the national IHM Conference, who was selling a kit to make your own Stations of the Cross. The vendor was Illuminated Ink and their Stations kit is incredibly cute, but not something I would want to do with all my children (particularly the two- and four-year-olds).

I decided to put the kit on hold for this year and do my own more basic version at home. I started with the coloring page I made of The Sixth Station. In Photoshop, I erased much of the detail in the hair and clothing, and I got rid of the guy in the background altogether so only Veronica and Christ are pictured. I had some foam sheets like these but made by a different company. I wanted to use half of each sheet for one Station and have a little space around the border of my picture, so I resized the image to about 4x5" and printed it out. I cut the foam sheet in half. Then I worked my mad coloring skills (using crayons that had been used down to little nubs, I might add) and used a glue stick to attach the finished mini-coloring page to the foam.

I then drew a thin line of glue (using school glue this time) down both sides of the foam, and pressed craft sticks down for the side frames. I put crafts sticks at the top and bottom using a little dab of glue in each corner. At this point I realized that the sticks were slightly warped and weren't laying completely flat, so I added two more sticks on the sides to reinforce my little frame. I decorated it modestly with little glittery dots using my Pip Squeaks glitter glue and drew the Roman Numeral "VI" at the bottom. (This seems like a good time to teach my kids Roman Numerals, I guess!)

And here we have it: The prototype for the kids' weekend craft. By the way, it is laying on top of the vinyl tablecloth that I bought at Target just for this purpose...little smears of glitter rubbed right off with the help of a wet paper towel.

This one was still drying when I took the picture, but when it's completely dried, I can use some cotton yarn to make a little hanger on the back OR glue a magnet to it so it can hang on the refrigerator. Instead of giving each child coloring pages of every single Station of the Cross, I am going to split them up so Gus (2) gets one or two, Catherine (4) gets three or four, and the rest are split between Faustina (6) and Max (7). I also bought self-adhesive glitter shapes, by the way, if the glitter glue proves to be too much for little hands. When they are all finished they can be hung in a row so the kids can practice their children's Stations of the Cross prayers, which, by the way, I hope to have available in booklet form by next Lent.

(For the record, I do encourage you to check out IlluminatedInk.com - they have some really cool project kits there!

A Truly Frabjous Day

2010-06-09T11:16:00.002-04:00

To preface, I realized today that I haven't written in this blog in almost a month, which I think is a new record. When I go a while without writing I gather up so many topic ideas in my mind that if I were to write them all in one post, it would take me hours to finish, so I just put it off instead. Good plan, huh? Instead of writing out every interesting thing that has happened since my last post, I'll ease back into blogging with some very cute pictures (in my humble opinion) that were taken yesterday.

It's been hot lately - for me, anyway - but yesterday it was 76, breezy, and clear. The kids and I decided to get some serious outdoor time.

We enjoyed the blue skies and sunshine and I played with my new camera accessories.

We discovered wild strawberries growing at the bottom of our hill...

...and a little ant colony at the top of our hill. I learned that Max knows a lot about ants and when I asked him how he knew all those ant facts, he announced: "My brain told me!" Okay...who told his brain? No one. His brain already knew.

Gus brought his best friend, who is aptly named Boingy...

...and Catherine just stood around being really cute!

Conversations With Cuteness

2010-05-19T12:30:00.001-04:00

Gus: Can people drive on the road?
Me: Yes, they can.
Gus: What about Darth Vader, can he drive on the road?
Me: I don't know, he's kind of a bad guy. I don't know if he should be allowed on the road.
Gus: That's right, he's too bad. God will might squish him if he droves on the road.

Every Day Is A Celebration

2010-05-17T10:33:00.004-04:00

Our family likes to celebrate. We're lucky to be Catholic and have so many celebrations built right in to our calendar in the form of feast days and solemnities, but we also come up with our own ways to have fun. My mom fostered this in me by celebrating spelling test days by serving marshmallow Alphabits for breakfast and baking brownies for half birthdays. She even celebrated the most rare event of finding a missing sock by coming to my bedroom door with the newly joined pair and singing the chorus to "Reunited" by Peaches and Herb (I'm only saying that here because I know she doesn't have editing power on my blog).

Vince and I first started dating on the 17th of January and to this day we celebrate the 17th of every month. We take it so seriously that we have often gone out to dinner just to celebrate our "first date-iversary" and we compete to see who can be the first to say "Happy 17th!" (Don't ask Vince to confirm this, but I usually win.) In fact, when it was our ACTUAL anniversary - May 4 - Vince said Happy Anniversary to me and my initial response was, "It's not the 17th!"

Speaking of celebrations, today happens to be the 17th. Not only is it my First Date-iversary, it's the second month anniversary of St. Patrick's Day, 2010! What better reason to serve up corned beef with carrots and potatoes? No cabbage, of course - there is not a single drop of Irish blood in my body so you can't expect me to be totally authentic.

By the way, Vince, if you're reading this...

HAPPY SEVENTEENTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Classic Max

2010-05-11T15:32:00.001-04:00

Sighting on the back of Max's fourth quarter Religion test:

Another Fabulous Mother's Day

2010-05-09T19:27:00.003-04:00

I don't want to forget this one, so even if this is too long for you to read, you can appreciate the fact that I want to be able to look back and remember all that Vince did for me today.

He attempted breakfast in bed but I stumbled out of bed before he expected and I smelled toast. I assumed he was toasting the bagels that I'd gotten for the kids to have before Mass, but they were still in bed. When I came out of the bathroom he led me to the table and served eggs over-easy with toast and apologized that he didn't finish it in time to serve it to me in bed. He gave me a "card" from the kids. He meant to get a card yesterday but didn't get a chance, so he printed a "BEST MOM EVER" sign and all the kids signed it. Catherine wrote her name by herself for the first time. I love how her "E"s have five horizontal lines instead of three...I remember Faustina doing that.

We went to Mass together as a family for the first time in ages - usually Vince goes to the 7am and I go to the 8:30, then take the kids to CCD at 9:30, but there was no CCD today for Mother's Day. We then went to the mall and I got some new clothes, including a very cute summery dress. The kids behaved nicely.

We got Chinese for lunch and I bought fudge - 1/4lb cake batter and 1/4lb dark chocolate cheesecake. We had planned to have steak cooked by Vince for dinner, but the lunch was late so he made mac & cheese with hot dogs instead. My Mother's Day marinated steak, twice baked potatoes, and grilled corn on the cob is postponed until tomorrow. I napped while he cooked. He changed all the poopy diapers of the day. He orchestrated bedtime for the kids. He went out to buy milk when we unexpectedly ran out and when he gets home, we'll watch a movie with stove-popped popcorn (another courtesy of Vince) and fudge.

Today when we were out, I saw lots of moms and husbands with their children, or moms with their daughters and granddaughters, or moms in groups with other moms and lots of little tots wobbling around them. I was proud to be in the Mom Club. Membership costs quite a bit but it is entirely worth it, especially with an awesomely awesome husband to help you through it!

Using my addiction for good

2010-05-07T15:21:00.004-04:00

After spinning several different yarns, I finally took the time to knit that yarn into an actual wearable garment. The lucky little recipient was Veronica, who, in my humble opinion, looks incredibly cute in her little pointy-topped hat.

Veronica wasn't thrilled at the prospect of taking a long photo session while wearing a wool hat in May.

Well...at least I know it stretches!

Conversations With Cuteness

2010-05-04T18:29:00.002-04:00

GUS: Mommy, you don't have to worry about di-sohs. They are ah-stinky-did.*

Translation: Mommy, you don't have to worry about dinosaurs. They are extinct.

What's cuter: the way Gussy pronounces "extinct," or the fact that he came to me out of the blue and reassured me about dinosaurs?

Max's First Communion

2010-05-04T10:17:00.003-04:00

This blog has been very Max-heavy lately, but this one is definitely the most important Max-related post of them all!

On Saturday, Max received his First Holy Communion. He looked so ~~cute~~ handsome in his suit and tie. Our priest is Italian and asked that the boys participate in the Italian tradition of wearing a white ribbon on their left arm. You can barely see the ribbon in this picture.

He was so excited and I was so proud. I kept sneaking peeks of Max sitting with his class during Mass. Every time I looked he was looking attentively towards the front of the church or laughing at one of the many jokes our priest made during his homily (which was awesome by the way!).

The next day at Sunday Mass, I was waiting for the kids to be finished with CCD and I suddenly felt incredibly sick. I rushed to a drive-through to get something with protein in it and felt a little better, but I still worried that I wouldn't make it through Mass. I considered leaving and trying again in the evening, but I wanted Max to be able to receive Communion again that morning, so we stayed. I survived...and he was so sweet kneeling at the altar. He is so reverent...my little pre-saint!

Max Strikes Again

2010-04-28T10:21:00.002-04:00

This week in homeschool, Max learned the art of melancholy.

A few days ago when Max was taking his standardized tests, Gus got into his Spiderman sticker book. Max saw Gus with the book and generously told Gus that he could have a sticker. Apparently, Gus took this to mean: "Please rip all the stickers out of my sticker book, place them all over the couch and the hardwood floor, then rip up all the pages and leave them in a crumpled mess on the floor, leaving only the cover of the book intact." And that is what Gus did.

Max was very upset. I did my best to console him but even after a rather comforting conversation, he wanted a few minutes to himself. I went to the kitchen to cook dinner while he sorted out his feelings. After a while, he appeared in the kitchen with this very sad note, which I will copy verbatim:

Poor Max. A little child could do something that could upset a seven year old kid. His name is Maximilian ******. Gus ruind Maxs sticker book. If someone only could make Max feel beter. Right something that Max could do to make him feel beter. Max will make his choys.

I wrote:

Eat a special treat after dinner
Read a book
Write a story
Draw something cool

...and I returned the paper to Max. He scribbled out a reply and came back to me with this:

I made my choys. Eat a special treat after dinner. Is that choys ok.

Yes No

Naturally I circled Yes. He wrote "okay." After dinner he got M&Ms and Gus promised to use his money to buy a new book for Max (it was only a dollar and you'd be surprised at the amount of change a two year old finds laying around and stashes in his drawer).

What We Said vs. What He Heard

2010-04-26T14:27:00.005-04:00

On Friday, I took Catherine to the doctor for a follow-up appointment. Long story short: She lacerated her foot on a metal latch and had to go to the ER; they asked me to take her to a follow-up at her regular doctor. After her appointment, which involved a lot of poking and prodding (the doctor) and screaming bloody murder (Catherine), I took my poor girl out for frozen custard. The flavor of the day was Strawberry Shortcake, and Catherine enjoyed it with every fiber of her being.

When Vince found out that Catherine got Strawberry Shortcake ice cream, he was jealous to say the least.

Moving on to Saturday...Vince was having a bad day. While we were eating dinner, I decided to go back to the frozen custard place and see if they had any leftover pints of the Strawberry Shortcake flavor. I thought this little surprise might be enough to help Vince shake The Blues. I tried to sound nonchalant and said, "After dinner, I need to run into town." Vince asked why, and I struggled for a moment to think of a good excuse so I wouldn't ruin his surprise. Then he let me off the hook and said, "Do you need to return your library books?" I looked away and said "Uh-huh." I avoided eye contact. I suppressed a giggle. I looked back at Vince and realized that he was giving me The Look.

"You're such a bad liar," he said.

"Yeah, I know. Ummm...that's not the real reason. But I do need to go to the library so it's not a complete lie."

He said, "I can always tell. Your body and mind don't want you to lie. You're just too honest."

I said, "You should feel blessed to have a wife who cannot tell a lie."

That is how the conversation went. And I'm right, aren't I? If I were very good at lying, he'd have something to worry about! As it is now, I don't get away with anything...and I mean any little thing. He knows if I sneak an M&M before dinner or try to secretly go through a drive-through on the way home. I really can't lie.

After this conversation was over, Max grabbed the closest piece of paper and found a pen to write a note. He wouldn't let me see it. When he was finished, he gave me A Look of his own and then gave the note to Vince. This is what it said:

In case you're having a hard time deciphering Seven-Year-Old-ese, the note says: "Mom called you a lying. Tell mom she's a baboon."

THANKS, Max! Such is my reward for honesty.

Alleged Conversations with Cuteness

2010-04-23T08:52:00.004-04:00

When Catherine gashed her foot on a metal latch and needed to be taken to the ER, my mother-in-law came to watch the kids, and was later relieved by my mom. She took the kids outside to pick flowers and play. At one point Gus, who was wearing shorts, stumbled and got a little scrape on his shin. Later, Faustina wanted to race with him and asked him to run. My mom thought she heard him say: "I can't run. I just don't trust these legs!"

Of Canadian Bacon and Fish Oil

2010-04-20T10:34:00.004-04:00

This morning I decided to put on my Really Nice Mom hat and cooked up a lovely breakfast for the family. I know this is not exactly earth-shattering, but last night I suffered through Night 347* of insomnia and was tempted to dump the entire box of Cheerio's into a communal bowl, arm the kids with spoons, and tell them to have at it while I dozed on the couch.

Instead, I toasted some English Muffins under the broiler, fried up some Canadian Bacon, opened up some American Cheese, and scrambled some Virginian Eggs (hey, I need my list to parallel itself). I made little breakfast sandwiches for each of the kids, then sliced up some fresh strawberries with my Pampered Chef Egg Slicer Plus. "Plus" means it can slice strawberries, too! All of this was served with a nice tall glass of milk (for me) and about three inches of milk in shatterproof plastic tumblers for the kids. While I prepared this breakfast, I answered the "what are we having for breakfast" question a total of four times, and the questioner was the same person each time. Oh, Catherine.

The Canadian Bacon got some cute reactions. Catherine said it was "too hard to eat this thing." Faustina asked if it was bologna. Max wrinkled his nose and asked if it was a "very tough piece of meatloaf."

The strawberries were a big hit so I brought my Egg Slicer Plus to the table to slice some more. Faustina expressed concern over the fact that I was putting her strawberries into a mouse trap. I guess I can see the resemblance.

After breakfast I started my vitamin routine. I take 2000mg of Fish Oil and 120mg of Chlorophyll (for iron) after breakfast every day. And every day, someone asks: "Can I see what color your medicine is?" Today that Someone was Gus. "Mommy, can I see what cuwwuh yoe messin is?" Still green, Gus. "And yoe uzzer messin?" The other one is gold. Still. Just like yesterday. I was about to pop one of those nasty stinky things into my mouth when Faustina said, "And can I see what color it is, too?" Catherine: "And me?"

Which led me to wonder...if they can't remember what color my vitamins are, when I take them every.single.day at the same time right in front of them, maybe they really did forget that I told them to pick up their toys 421,278,230 times in the last twenty minutes***.

As breakfast came to an end and I realized it was almost 10:30 in the morning, I decided to reconsider my trough full of Cheerio's plan for tomorrow. And I will definitely have that doze on the couch, please.

* Slight exaggeration**

** ...okay, huge exaggeration...but I have had a rough night of sleep for at least three nights in a row.

*** I'm pretty sure that's not an exaggeration at all.

I say...

2010-04-19T09:32:00.001-04:00

"Kids, go get dressed. Make sure you put on pants."

They say: "Where are we going?"

I say: "Nowhere. I just want you to wear pants."

This exchange takes place almost daily. Is it really too much to ask that my children do not wander the halls in their underpants? I didn't realize that wearing pants required a special occasion!

QUESTION: How can you tell when you've been using Amazon Prime a little too frequently?

2010-04-16T12:09:00.001-04:00

ANSWER: A UPS truck drives by and your seven-year-old shouts, "Hey, look! It's the Amazon truck!"

Treasure & Sedova

2010-04-15T07:53:00.002-04:00

All winter long, Faustina has been dying to visit Treasure, a pony that belongs to a friend of my mother in law. Finally, the weather was nice enough to pay a visit to Treasure. When Catherine realized we were about to leave without her, she melted into a sad little Catherine-y puddle on the floor, which I obviously wasn't able to resist, so I scooped her up and brought her along too.

Here are the girls with Treasure, Faustina's favorite equine creature ever. Although, she still can't understand why this nice pony doesn't have a picture on his heiny.

This is Sedova, who loves to cuddle and blow raspberries (apparently).

Sedova warmed right up to Catherine.

Conversations With Cuteness

2010-04-14T08:43:00.004-04:00

Max: "If Daddy got a speeding ticket, would he have to go to jail?"

Me: "Probably not."

Max: "If Daddy went to jail, would you have to go with him?"

Me: "No. If we did something really bad, and we did it together, we'd both go to jail. But if one of us does something really bad, only one of us would have to go to jail. But you don't have to worry about things like that, because Daddy and I aren't doing anything bad and we will not go to jail."

Max: "That's good, because if you were both in jail, we wouldn't have a mom OR a dad."

Faustina: "...and then we would never know when we were allowed to play Wii."

Out of the habit

2010-04-13T07:55:00.002-04:00

Apparently forty days of photo-only blog entries was enough to break my habit of writing on a semi-regular basis.

(Does that count as a blog post? I kind of want to stop writing now.)

Since I haven't written anything in a while, here's what I wanted to say in my posts but just did pictures instead:

Max was an enthusiastic participant in the Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby Race. His car came in fourth (out of four) every single time, but he was still very proud of himself. I was kind of hoping he wouldn't win and get sent to districts, because his car was technically illegal and he would have been disqualified and sad.
I was a very efficient mommy and had a triple birthday party for Faustina (born in January), Max (born in February), and Veronica (born in March). Veronica had her first taste of cake and she reacted just as I do when I'm given a little piece of something sweet: she lunged for more.
My spinning wheel arrived and I set right to work trying to make yarn. My first few attempts were kind of sad, but I've gotten the hang of things and am making yarn that is worthy of knitwear to be worn in public. I started knitting with my very first attempted yarn but that garment may never be seen by the light of day. It is not attractive.
My mom made costumes for the kids. I love them and it made me want to sew something. In fact, every time my mom mentions sewing, it makes me want to sew something. I can think of a lot of other things that make me want to sew something. Maybe I should just do it, huh?
My goal to finish making all of the Stations of the Cross into coloring pages was unsuccessful, but still a lot of fun. At least they'll be finished by next Ash Wednesday.
My dad came over and spent the day with me and the kids. The purpose was to give me time to spin and knit, but I also got in some outside time with the kids, and we went for a walk and played pooh-sticks in the creek. Lots of fun all around!
It hailed in late March. In fact, I think it was on Veronica's birthday. That was kind of weird. Speaking of Veronica's birthday...
...she's one! It's hard for me to believe because she's still so tiny, but she is a cute one-year-old girl now. She's zooming all over the house on her hands and knees and babbling up a storm. Every once in a while I detect what might be a real word ("muh" = "more" when I'm feeding her...?) but mostly it's just cute baby noises.

Not pregnant!

2010-04-07T14:32:00.003-04:00

Okay, here's the deal. I posted my April Fools Day joke on Thursday. The next day was Good Friday and I didn't want to post on that day or even use the computer. Then came Holy Saturday (same deal) followed by Easter Sunday (and my birthday!). On Monday I never got a chance to post, same on Tuesday. So now, almost a week later, I am coming clean and telling you all that the pregnancy test picture was my April Fools Day joke. Next time April Fools day falls during Holy Week, I probably won't try to trick you. :)

I Guess There's No Denying It Now...

2010-04-01T08:42:00.000-04:00

Gussy's First Professional Haircut! (hey, it's technically only one picture)

2010-03-29T17:11:00.001-04:00

Faustina's Ready For The Girl Scouts' 60s Dance

2010-03-26T22:28:00.001-04:00

Look Who Turned One and Had Her First Birthday Cupcake!

2010-03-23T17:37:00.000-04:00

70 Degrees, Bright Sun, and...Hail?

2010-03-22T15:38:00.002-04:00

Sleeping Cutie (click photo for more)

2010-03-18T09:31:00.003-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T16:18:00.000-04:00

A Most Welcome Sight

2010-03-16T13:59:00.000-04:00

My Little Girl Collection

2010-03-13T17:26:00.002-05:00

It's A Girl Thing

2010-03-12T19:09:00.002-05:00

Playing Outside

2010-03-11T08:03:00.000-05:00

New Camera Lens + Beautiful Weather...

2010-03-10T15:01:00.001-05:00

In Honor Of My Broken Camera: Another Blast From The Past

2010-03-09T11:26:00.002-05:00

Handspun Silk Yarn

2010-03-08T19:19:00.001-05:00

Camo Baby

2010-03-07T19:18:00.000-05:00

There's Something Different About Max Today...

2010-03-06T13:22:00.002-05:00

Photo Taken After 5 Straight Hours of Duplo Play

2010-03-05T13:23:00.002-05:00

Feeling Under the Weather

2010-03-04T09:52:00.001-05:00

Stations of the Cross Coloring Pages (click for fullsize)

2010-03-03T10:13:00.002-05:00

Doctor Max Can't Save Everyone!

2010-03-02T13:06:00.000-05:00

Babies Born Via C-Section Are Always Looking For Alternate Exits

2010-03-01T13:03:00.001-05:00

Testing Out the New Spinning Wheel!

2010-02-28T20:00:00.001-05:00

Chocolate Ice Cream with a Cute Baby Cousin for a Chaser

2010-02-27T11:15:00.001-05:00

Identical Twins, Born Three Years Apart

2010-02-26T11:24:00.001-05:00