Quickie

Just a quick update-Lamb awoke just moments after pressing publish yesterday. I took her downstairs, sat on the sofa feeling quite defeated, pulled Belle and Bear into my lap and just hugged all 3 of them. We had some lunch, snuggled some more, and at 1:30 Bear fell asleep on the sofa. I carried him upstairs to his bed, gave Lamb some medicine because her cough was getting worse, and she fell asleep at 2:00. Bear slept for 2.5 hours while Lamb slept for 3!! It was a fantastic afternoon filled with all kinds of cleaning, sorting, cooking and more! Just when you think you’re going to break, God picks you up and carries you through! Thanks for the well wishes and prayers!

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Is it Thursday already?

I’m in a cranky mood. I was in a cranky mood yesterday. I’m really quite tired of the feeling that my head win start spinning with steam spewing from my ears at any moment. I’m ready to throw the towel in on this day already and it’s only 10:45! AM!I FINALLY got Lamb asleep this morning around 9, but Bear had to follow me into the room to put her down and all my efforts of trying to keep him out woke her up. I decided to take a bath and see if she might soothe herself into dreamy land (HA! Who am I kidding?) while Belle and Bear played in their rooms. Well, that was a joke-the kids played in the bathroom with me, parading around Lamb, dunking hands in the bath, spilling water on the floor…I got further stressed out, biting Belle’s head off a couple of times without her knowing just why I was so upset. I tried to explain to her how I’d wanted Lamb to have a peaceful, quiet time while I was in the bath and that her singing and dancing just wasn’t doing the trick. So, the kids retreated to Belle’s room. I got dressed. Took Belle and Bear downstairs for some quality TV time (UGH!) and came back upstairs to get Lamb to sleep AGAIN. It seems to have worked for the moment.I am completely exhausted from carrying my baby around willing her to sleep with all my might, from desperately wanting to accomplish just a couple of things on my “To Do” list, from beating myself up for being so impatient with Belle and Bear.Sorry for the downer post today. I’m hoping that by getting some of these feelings out this morning, I’ll be able to get out of this funk by the time Jeff gets home tonight. He certainly had his fair share of my crankiness yesterday.I’m not really feeling the love for Love Thursday, but I’m hopeful it will come to me as the day progresses. As I reread this I’m thinking that maybe today Love is being able to say sorry to my kiddos for my impatience and knowing that they will love me no matter what.

Reading update

Nightly reading with Belle is going very well. She really loves reading “chap” books with me. First we read Little House in the Big Woods. I didn’t know how much she was actually absorbing, but our dinner conversation last night gave me great hope. One nice thing about this book is that they don’t have modern conveniences. So when they make something, they really make it. When she asked how syrup is made at dinner, I reminded her about the chapter “Sugar Snow” when they go to their grandparent’s house to collect the maple syrup. She immediately remembered the dance and how, when they finally convinced the grandmother to come out and dance, she said “What about the syrup?” (Ahem, that is NOT a direct quote!) She remembered more than I did! And we finished the book almost 2 weeks ago!Last night we finished Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. It is such a cute book filled with ingenious cures for the most typical childhood ailments. It was a nice, funny change of pace. I remember reading it with my 2nd grade teacher-one of my few fond memories of that year. There are more books in the series that we will check out soon. We’ve checked out Little House on the Prairie to start tonight.This has become such a special time for us. Even Daddy gets in on the fun sometimes!On another note, sweet little Lamb has RSV. I took her in to the doctor this morning and she is weezing some. Not much housework happening with a baby in my arms.

More than lucky

I don’t like to call myself lucky. You see that is leaving too much to chance. Instead I consider myself a very blessed person. Not that I need a commercial holiday to realize this, but it is good to have these days make you stop and think.I have 4 wonderful Valentines! My oldest daughter, Belle, brings such joy in my life with her heart of gold. My son, Bear, makes me laugh so hard I forget anything difficult in life with his utter cuteness. My baby, Lamb, reminds me to stop and enjoy the moment as she grows so quickly. And the man who has made this all possible, my husband J, encourages me to continue growing and pushing myself, to not become stagnate in my life. A friend recently wrote a post about her most romantic year with her husband. I feel like I’ve only just begun that year with J. We’ve moved to a new state away from the comfort of friends and family; we’ve added a member to our family; money is tighter than ever; we worry for the future of our world. We have chosen to use these times to grow stronger together, to rely on one another in a new and wonderful way.Stop for a moment and enjoy the blessings in your life!HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!!

A week in photos…

J had all last week off from work. It was a welcome break that we were all sad to see end. Here is a recap of the week through pictures:We had a nice snow storm that brought beautiful powdery snow and some visits from pretty birds. The first is the view from our front porch. The second is a picture I took through the kitchen window of a cute puffy bird. It’s not a very good pic of the bird, but I like the cold, snowy look. The third photo is of some beautiful birds that I’ve spotted twice now. They have these gorgeous royal blue feathers and orange bellies.Next up, Bear has taken a liking to dressing-up. In the first photo, he’s wearing Belle’s hat and my snow boots. In the second, he’s wearing J’s hat, Belle’s mittens, and princess sandals!We made crepes two nights in a row this week. First as a dessert with Nutella and chocolate sauce then with creamy chicken and mushrooms. Both were absolutely delicious! We follow Alton Brown’s recipe available on Food Network’s website. Here’s the batter resting in the fridge and then a finished product.Lastly, we went to DC to visit J’s brothers’ families. We spent the day at the Air and Space museum. Here’s a couple shots of the plane J’s Grandad flew.

Raising a son

I fully expected Bear to be different from Belle. Aside from the obvious gender difference, they are two unique individuals. He doesn’t always play the same way Belle did (though sometimes it sounds much the same in toddler-ese). Everything makes sound effects. Everything flies. Everything crashes. (Note: If, by chance, you are reading this and don’t have children yet-don’t bother buying a new coffee table anytime soon. It will be so dinged and scratched from all the playing you will kick yourself. This is one lesson I did NOT learn the hard way, thankfully!!) I generally find that I play with him in much the same way I did with Belle except instead of holding princesses I’m holding Buzz or Mr. Incredible. We open with basic introductions, carry on a basic conversation, give Bear kisses…So what’s my point here? I expected him to be different from Belle, but there are some things that he does just like Belle that have surprised me. He is very attentive to the needs of others. He brings kids toys to play with at playgroup. He says “Bess You!” for EVERY sneeze. He asks if your “OK?” after EVERY cough. I didn’t think he’d be insensitive or anything. I guess when Belle did those same things I just thought it was part of her unique personality. She would yell from any room in the house “Bless You!” if you sneezed and fully expected you to return the favor-gently reminding you if you forgot.I love my son dearly, for the ways that he’s different from Belle and the ways that he is similar. Hmmm, maybe I should have waited to post this on Thursday for “Love Thursday”. Let’s just pretend! Happy Love Day!

Cooking

I mentioned earlier about loving my new knife and planning meals with lots of chopping. Well, here’s some of what I’ve been chopping! My husband and I like good food, but I have to be creative to get as much good stuff in for as little money as possible. One of my strategies is to plan meals with similar ingredients (ie. produce) in the same week so I’m sure not to waste stuff. Another is to substitute as much as possible (this saves time and money-both of which I cherish). I’m also not afraid to just leave stuff out if I don’t think it’s necessary to the recipe. As much as I LOVE baking for it’s exactness, I’m beginning to appreciate the flexibility of cooking.So one night I made salmon cakes from Tyler Florence. I halved the recipe for the most part, except the salmon. I used just under half a pound. I also didn’t make the breadcrumbs myself but instead used Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs in the green box there on the left) because who wants to dirty the food processor just for breadcrumbs?? I left out the chilies and traded parsley for the cilantro because I needed parsley for another recipe. I chose this recipe for a few reasons, but mostly because we love salmon (even Belle) and this was a good way to stretch it out. (I did not make the bok choy or the sauce.)That night, I also made artichoke and parmesan crostini from Martha Stewart. The canned artichokes were a little pricey, but I found a brand that was reasonable. The potatoes are a stand-by of mine: chop them up to similar sized cubes, coat in olive oil, rosemary, salt, sometimes garlic and roast in the oven till they’re done. I never remember from time to time what temp oven I use or how long they cook.Another night I made this delicious recipe from Martha again. I made the following substitutions: I used about ¾ of a pound of haddock instead of cod, no thyme, andouille instead of chorizo (I froze the rest to use in breakfast tacos or pizza or both), and no clam juice. I served this with white rice. It was sooo good. I didn’t take a picture of this one. I seem to remember a little baby needing some attention or something ridiculous like that!

Sweet tooth

My son has quite the sweet tooth, especially for “Do-do” (chocolate). Belle was 4 before she could eat a whole popsicle, but Bear has no trouble at all. Here’s a cute photo (albeit fuzzy) of the after effects.