Love the show!

As I was feeding Little Lamb her lunch, Belle comes to me and says “I think Little Lamb might be interested in enjoying a puppet show.  Should I put one on for her?”  I replied “Sure!”  She gathered up all the necessary supplies just as I was finishing up with Little Lamb.  I fixed a bowl of “popcorn” for her (sweet potato puffs) and set Little Lamb down in the appropriate chair.  Here is how the show played out.   Belle came out to the side of the theater and welcomed us. She then said “Good luck! Love the Show!” and disappeared behind the curtain.
Act I: Is this a boat or not?
Characters:Abby-the girl in the blue shirt
Taylor-the penguin from “Antarcita”
J-the dad/builder of boats, houses, etc.

She mostly talked of traveling to Antarctica and meeting the penguin. There was lots of (unexpected) audience participation. I may or may not have listened and answered appropriately.

She came back out from behind the curtain, asking if we liked the show. “Oh yes!” I replied. Not telling her that the veggie puffs were the only thing keeping Little Lamb in her chair!

We cheered and begged for more. This time I asked for a little explanation of the characters, taking notes for you guys because I can’t remember anything on my own!

Act II: My favorite (I think it’s called this because of the songs she sings at the end.)
Characters:Little Bear-the boy, formerly Abby
J-the dad
Penguin-girl (Little Lamb) in costume 

This time, as she disappeared behind the curtain she said “Good bye! Good luck! Love the show! Woo Hoo!!”

The act began with Little Bear introducing his dad, J. Then J came out to introduce Little Lamb in the penguin costume. The introductions were very formal and ummm I don’t remember much except there was a lot of rambling about houses and roofs and “Antarcita”. Every now and then she would break out into song. Just like in old musicals.

Here’s a sample video. I kept it short for you, you can thank me now!

Then the penguin began to perform her favorite (cue the tie in for the title of this act) songs alone. She, of course, sang two songs from High School Musical. What a surprise!!

Side note: We just finished reading the book and she can tell you every word that is written differently than the movie.

As you can see, she hasn’t quite learned the art of facing the audience. We saw more of the tops of their heads than anything else. But still, this was such a cute act of love from my little girl. Very typical of her sweet, sensitive personality. It is sometimes hard to understand how she can be such an avid performer at home and so shy in public. There is so much to her that others do not get to experience. I struggle with this sometimes as her mom-knowing when to push her break out of her shell a little and when to let her stand back and watch. I usually let her stand back. Mostly because I know how much her father dislikes it when people push him. But sometimes I just want her to share her personality more. She will when she’s ready. At least that’s what I tell myself. And hey, I don’t have to convince her not to talk to strangers!

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recipe: Beef Stew

I fixed this tonight for dinner and it was fabulous!!  My husband isn’t home yet, so you’re going to have to trust only my opinion.  I adapted this recipe from Tyler Florence’s on Food Network.  I’ve been a fan of his for many years.  I only adjusted it for budget, not because I didn’t think his would taste great.
Ok, so here’s the recipe:
2-3 pound beef chuck roast, cut into 2″ pieces 
1/4 cup olive oilfloursalt and pepper
1/2 bottle red wine
1 cup water
2 bay leaves
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 
6 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped into large chunks
3 cups beef broth
5 medium yukon gold potatoes
1 cup frozen sliced carrots (you could use fresh if you prefer)
1/2 tablespoon sugar 

Season the meat with salt and pepper.  Coat in flour.  Brown the meat in a large dutch oven.  You will probably have to cook the meat in batches so you don’t over crowd the pan.  Once the meat is browned on all sides, remove it from the pan and set aside.  

When all the meat is cooked, pour the wine and water in the pan.  Bring to a boil while scraping the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan.  Add the meat back to the pan then add the garlic, bay leaves, garlic, beef broth and cloves.  Turn heat down to medium and allow to bubble for 20-30 minutes.  Turn the heat down to simmer, cover, and cook for 1.5 hours.  

Add the potatoes, carrots, and sugar (to cut the acidity from the wine).  Cook an additional 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender.  Taste broth for seasoning.  Add salt/pepper if needed.

This makes a thick stew.  If you like yours thinner, add more wine, water, and/or broth.  I splurged for better broth to avoid the salty cheap stuff so I left out mushrooms and pearl onions.   I served this with an amazing loaf of wheat bread, buttered and warmed in the oven.   A nice, easy meal that doesn’t require a lot of work just before dinner time-which is when things tend to fall apart around here. 

Discovery can be so fun

Little Bear has discovered the wonder that is Elmo’s Keyboard-O-Rama.  I can’t tell you how cute he was pressing those buttons and seeing the reaction.  At first he favorite was R…Rainbow.  That is until he discovered the numbers.  He blew kisses back at Elmo when he pressed 7.  Then he pressed 0 (zero) and saw the balloon pop.  Oh my gosh did he love that!  He must have pushed it 100 times, laughing harder with each press.  I know there was another game that only required pressing keys (not using the mouse) but I can’t find it.  If anyone out there knows which one it is…please tell me!!!  I know I will tire of hearing Elmo well before Little Bear does.

Good times!

My husband is bathing the kids while work in the studio. Here’s a few things I overheard…

Jump into my seat belt…Driving in the Big Red Car

Do you have a poo-poo in your truck?

Are you nude?

Are you clean yet? What’s taking so long?

How about a little less talkie and a little more scrubby?

Good times, I say!!

Some days are better than others

Most days I absolutely love being a mother to 3 young kids.
Most days I’m happy to spend every moment (up until 9ish) with at least one child by my side.
Most days I can deal with the crying and whining and take it all in stride.
Most days I’m thankful that I stay home with my kids instead of working outside the home.
But occasionally I just feel like I’m suffocating.
Like when Belle repeatedly comes to me with tears in her eyes because once-a few weeks ago-I mentioned that it might be fun to go to a friend’s house without me there and it is totally stressing her out. I’ve said don’t worry about it. We’ll work something else out. Over. And over. And over again.
Or when Little Bear always seems to want to be held just as I start fixing dinner. I think he’s like me and gets “irritable” when he’s hungry. His timing is impecable. It’s hard enough to cook holding Little Lamb, but a 2.5 year old? No thanks!
Or how I can’t make it through a simple trip to the grocery store without Little Lamb screaming her head off. Today, for instance, I put she and Little Bear in the double stroller and got a small cart for the groceries. It works great until she decides she must be held. RIGHT NOW!!! So Belle had to push the stroller and I held Little Lamb and pushed the cart. We managed ok until I put Little Lamb back in the stroller to leave the store. Man was she angry!!!! The whole grocery store heard about it. So I hurried out of the store, loaded the kids in the car, then put up the stroller and the groceries. I could hear her screaming as I walked the cart to the little cart return thing. There was a very brief moment that I considered keeping on walking. Not forever. Just for a moment. But I couldn’t leave Belle and Little Bear strapped in to their chairs listening to that by themselves.

I’m quite weary of J’s ER schedule right now. We’re nearing the end of a string of 6 night shifts. Not only is it stressful to not have him home to help in the evenings, but keeping the kids quiet during the day while he sleeps is very tiring.

Ok, I’ve complained enough. I’m in a funk lately and I’m so ready to snap out of it. I’ve always been the glass-half-full type. Weeks like these where I’m constantly tired, stressed to the max, headaches every day, feeling like a rubber band about to snap…I’m not at my best.

I need to go find my happy place. If only I could remember where I put it. Must be burried in the pile of junk mail on the dining room table…

Little Lamb’s schedule

When I started the sleep training with Little Lamb, I established definite routines for naptime and bedtime. I wanted to post them here mostly for myself. I like the idea of looking back through old posts some day and running across such a distinct memory of the baby days.
So this is how it goes down:
Naptime:
1. Change Diaper
2. Meanwhile, sing songs (Jesus Loves Me; Baa, Baa, Black Sheep; Goodnight*)
3. Say prayer**
4. Read book (Hello Bee, Hello Me)
5. Cuddle with Pink Bear by crib
6. Sing Rock-A-By-Baby
7. Lay down in crib on tummy arranging pacis “just so”***

Bedtime:
1. Quick Bath
2. Lotion, Diaper, PJ’s
3. Drink Bottle sitting on Belle’s bed
4. Begin singing songs last half of bottle (Jesus Loves Me; Baa, Baa, Black Sheep; Goodnight*; Hickory Dickory Dock (x4); Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)
5. Say Prayer**
6. Read book (Hello Bee, Hello Me)
7. Offer Pink Bear and Cuddle by crib
8. Sing Rock-A-By Baby
9. Lay down in crib on tummy arranging pacis “just so”***

* Goodnight is an adaptation of a Laurie Berkner song that I love. I just sing the kid verse.

** I made up this prayer back when Belle was about 18 months and was having trouble sleeping through the night. I still say it every night to Belle and to Little Bear.

God bless you, Little Lamb, and keep you safe and healthy and protect you from all harm.
God give you good rest and help you sleep through the night Sleep all night in Little Lamb’s bed and sleep until late in the morning.

With Belle I now add a revolving list of people we ask God to bless each night always ending with each member of our family.

***I always keep 4 pacis in bed with Little Lamb. One in her mouth, one near each hand (she always grabs one when I lay her down) and one by her feet. This way she can be sure to find one if she needs it during the night.

These routines have certainly helped her. I occaisionally skip the bath when J isn’t around just because I hate leaving Belle and Little Bear unattended for so long. Unfortunately J hasn’t been around for bedtime for over a week now so most nights I turn on a 30 minute kid show to keep them occupied while I’m upstairs. It’s not ideal, but it keeps them quiet and safe.

In other news, Little Lamb started crawling-more like scooting-yesterday. She’s only gone a few inches at a time, but I know major mobility is soon on it’s way! I don’t know whether to cheer at the thought of possible self entertainment or cry at the thought of her being able to follow me when I try to sneak away! Nevertheless, she is growing up even more quickly than the first two.

Procrastination

It’s 9:45.

There’s a kitchen full of dishes to wash-and a dishwasher full of clean dishes to unload-downstairs.

J is stuck at the hospital waiting to hear back on some surgery consult. He has to stick around in case they don’t want to do the surgery and he has to find someone else to take the pt. He was ready to come home when he called at 6.

I’m all caught up on my blog and email reading. And yet, I’m still sitting here at the computer not wanting to go downstairs and face the mess.

Two posts in one day. That’s got to be some kind of record for me.

My eyes are glassing over as I type. I better go tackle the mess before I hit the sack. Hopefully J will be home before I’m in bed. We have the last episode of Sopranos to watch!!

Ooohhhh!!

This is Little Bear’s favorite response to questions lately. In fact, I think he asks me questions just so he can answer “Ooohhhh!!!!” It’s quite cute, and only annoying when you’ve already answered that question 5 times already!My husband told me the other day that Little Bear is the best little boy he could have ever hoped for. That meant to world to me to hear him say that. He is a most amazing little guy with a fantastic father!

Where does the time go?

Wow, have we been busy the last few days! And not that crazy, running all over town kind of busy. Busy just being together as a family, busy reorganizing the (stuff inside the) kitchen cabinets, busy cleaning out our closet. I’m not quite finished with the last one, but I’m taking my time sorting through everything that has been thrown (sometimes quite literally) in there over the past year.Indeed it has been a year since my husband graduated from Medical School, since we moved out here to VA, since we made our most favorite trip to Disney World. Time flies by so quickly and I find it so important to take the time to enjoy the lives around me.So, instead of being up here on the computer, we’ve made homemade flour tortillas, pizza dough, corn tortillas, and the most amazing chocolate ice cream. Oh man, those corn tortiallas were soooo good. I’m going to have to make more of those very soon. And they were so easy, too! J grilled up a london broil steak (following a recipe from his Bobby Flay cookbook) which we ate on it’s own one night, in quesadillas the next day for lunch (in the flour tortillas), and in soft tacos the next night (in the corn tortillas). Three meals from one cut of meat-not bad I say!Poor Little Lamb is still such an unhappy little baby. She has her good moments, of course. But she still spends so much time crying. She’s nearly 9 months old. I would love to move past this very soon, but it only seems to get worse as she gets older. I keep praying for her and I know that it will indeed pass, I just hope it’s sooner than later.All of this lack of computer time does come with a price though-there are currently 229 unread messages in my Inbox. Thank you FLYLADY!! She may soon have to go. J has a hefty ER schedule in front of him so I should be able to grab a few minutes of online time here and there. We all know how difficult it can be to balance our family time, spouse time, and alone time so I do hope that you will be patient with me. I don’t think there have to be strict rules about how often or how much we post.And now Little Lamb is trying with all her might to reach everything on the computer table so I think I’ll have to entertain her with something else. What that is, I just don’t know right now, but I’m sure I’ll figure something out.

Sorry for the extended bliatus

Things have been going very quickly around here and I’ve simply not had the time to write. I hope to get back to things tomorrow. I’ve much to tell of our treck to TX last week. Until then, keep on keepin on…