This year brought a lot of changes in our family.
1) We moved. Finally. LOVE the house, want to grow older here, maybe not totally old, but definitely kids through school kind of old.
2) We started middle school with our oldest child. It was a rocky couple of months at first, but he got it figured out, mostly. It's amazing what can happen when the librarian threatens to pull his check out license.
3) Miss P started wearing glasses and kindergarten. She's taken much more kindly to kindergarten than glasses.
4) Everything kind of "clicked." The kids can all dress themselves and get their own breakfast. Feuds of the past have simmered down into cautious friendships. I had extra help over the summer, and fewer kids I needed help with.
5) Miss D has started participating in 'enchanted learning.' She seems to like it. When it dawned on her teacher we were "biblical" folks, she even switched her session so the kids there would be "more" like her. (One is all public school, the other has two Christian private schools and three public schools.)
6) This was Si Guy's last full year at home. I have very mixed feelings about August 2012. I have had a kid at home for the last 13, by then almost 14, years.
7) This year I started emphasizing purposeful exercise more. I've always been the park in the back lot gal, and walk whenever possible gal, and even take stairs as often as not. This year, I rediscovered my love of group exercise. It was my first time in a gym since our 11 year old was an infant.
8) Our kids getting old enough we can eat dinner alone, in a restaurant, three times. That is three more times than we went out alone in 2010. In a lot of ways, our marriage has just seemed to be a bit "deeper" this year.
9) E1 lost his appendix. After doing some research about celiac kids, this is not surprising. Now I just need to watch his tonsils. (Outside of that, he is, by far, my healthiest kid.)
10) Mr. M had a senior tacked on to his job title. He also received his own laptop for home use, and has been working a lot more from home ever since.
11) E2 might be experiencing the ugly dawn of adolescence, at the ripe old age of 9. On the up side, he definitely has grown leaps and bounds in the kitchen. His favorite channel is the Food Network. He's very "chefy" in how he thinks too.
12) Speaking of food, most of our kids are old enough now that they eat "adult" food with ease. Si Guy is our last holdout. He doesn't believe in greens or proteins outside of peanut butter, yogurt, cheese, and hot dogs. Still, with the increased flexibility of the masses, we've taken our kitchen to places it hasn't been before. Our oldest had us exploring different ways to cook brussel sprouts, and requested artichokes.
and my favorite places of 2011
1) TRADER JOE'S. Affordable organic at last!
2) Farmers Markets. We love them. Thank you for the best sweet potatoes I've ever eaten, and kohlrabi.
3) Lake Park, in Lewisville TX. No playground, but the view of the lake, electric sites, and indoor plumbing is worth it! Our kids are happy to play with balls, books, and dirt.
4) Local parks. I love having several playgrounds within reasonable distance. From the "town" at Antioch Park to the merry-go-round and tunnel park on Nall, to the various themed parks in Shawnee, we are blessed.
5) Cinemark, Merriam: Matinee 3D movies for less than a regular movie at AMC. It's a comfy theater to be in too, clean, and wide enough seats.
6) Hy-vee: My twenty-four hour, go to grocery. Especially true since they've expanded their health market.
7) Barnes and Noble: With the closing of Borders, it's the next best thing for a bibliophile who likes to hold a book in her hands and flip through the pages before she buys it.
8) Avenue: I'm a big girl. I appreciate a store dedicated to letting me be happy with my clothes at a non-guilt inducing price. Cute accessories too!
9) Plaza: Always have loved it, the character, art shows, christmas lights, fountains....and more.
10) Really it's one: Our house! It's so nice to have a home that feels like "home."
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Let there be peas on earth, and carrots and brocolli
Todays Christmom carol:
Let there be peas on earth,
and carrots and bro-col-li
Let there be seeds to plant
In fresh tur-ned ground come spring.
With God as our father
And seed catalogs for me
Let there peas on earth
and carrots and broc-ol-li.
Let there be seeds in earth
and windows in early spring
Fresh tomatoes getting their start
And peppers next to the laun-dr-y
With God as our father
Grow organically
Let there be seeds in earth
and windows in early spring.
Let there be peas on earth,
and carrots and bro-col-li
Let there be seeds to plant
In fresh tur-ned ground come spring.
With God as our father
And seed catalogs for me
Let there peas on earth
and carrots and broc-ol-li.
Let there be seeds in earth
and windows in early spring
Fresh tomatoes getting their start
And peppers next to the laun-dr-y
With God as our father
Grow organically
Let there be seeds in earth
and windows in early spring.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Princess P & I talk about boobies.
"Mom. you need to comb my hair!" exclaims Miss P as she rounds the corner into my room where I'm still dozing.
"rrf? shrr. k. I'm up. I'm up."
"It's okay mom.I'll let you get dressed first. You need to put on that thing that holds up your boobies. "
"Gee. thanks."
"It's okay mom. As you get o'der, they start to fall down. Wow, you're boobies are big."
"Yeah, well, I keep hoping they'll start to shrink, but they haven't done that yet."
"No, that's when you get old, like Grandma. Hey, why are you putting that white stuff on there. Ohhh, that's right powder keeps your fat dry."
"Uh-huh. So I don't get infections and nasty red marks under there. You had to do this too when you were a baby, because of all the folds in your neck and legs."
"I did?"
"Yup."
"And when I grow up, I'll need to protect my boobies."
And that, is what sex ed for a five year old looks like.
"rrf? shrr. k. I'm up. I'm up."
"It's okay mom.I'll let you get dressed first. You need to put on that thing that holds up your boobies. "
"Gee. thanks."
"It's okay mom. As you get o'der, they start to fall down. Wow, you're boobies are big."
"Yeah, well, I keep hoping they'll start to shrink, but they haven't done that yet."
"No, that's when you get old, like Grandma. Hey, why are you putting that white stuff on there. Ohhh, that's right powder keeps your fat dry."
"Uh-huh. So I don't get infections and nasty red marks under there. You had to do this too when you were a baby, because of all the folds in your neck and legs."
"I did?"
"Yup."
"And when I grow up, I'll need to protect my boobies."
And that, is what sex ed for a five year old looks like.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Neighbors, friends and family...lean your ear this way
Today's carol is based off Jolly Old Saint Nicholas. Charities always depend on this season to carry them through the year. So, this is just a reminder that we are the ones who meet the need.
Neighbors, friends and family
Lean your ear this way
Share with friends and neighbors dear
Every word i say
Christmas Eve is coming soon
Can you lend a hand
Love your neighbor all year through
Help them as you can.
Johnny needs a pair of shoes
Suzy needs a bed
Nelly wants a family home
to be warm and fed.
We are here to help them
know love instead of fear
Fill their empty stomachs
Wipe away their tears
As for me and my house
We are more than blessed
We have friends and family
Time to work and rest.
Let us fill a kettle
Let us spread some joy
Let us bring peace and hope
to every girl and boy.
Neighbors, friends and family
Lean your ear this way
Share with friends and neighbors dear
Every word i say
Christmas Eve is coming soon
Can you lend a hand
Love your neighbor all year through
Help them as you can.
Johnny needs a pair of shoes
Suzy needs a bed
Nelly wants a family home
to be warm and fed.
We are here to help them
know love instead of fear
Fill their empty stomachs
Wipe away their tears
As for me and my house
We are more than blessed
We have friends and family
Time to work and rest.
Let us fill a kettle
Let us spread some joy
Let us bring peace and hope
to every girl and boy.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Santa Mom is shopping right now....
chorus:
You better help out.
You better not whine.
You'd better not pout.
I'm telling you why.
Santa Mom is shopping, right now.
She's making a list, and checking it twice.
She always knows who's naughty and nice.
Santa mom is shopping right now.
She sees you when you're sleeping
She knows that your awake
The random giggling upstairs
Is a dead giveaway.
So you..
(back to chorus)
She has a list of receipts
From each and every store
So whether you get DVDS
or socks, the choice is yours.
(back to chorus)
You better help out.
You better not whine.
You'd better not pout.
I'm telling you why.
Santa Mom is shopping, right now.
She's making a list, and checking it twice.
She always knows who's naughty and nice.
Santa mom is shopping right now.
She sees you when you're sleeping
She knows that your awake
The random giggling upstairs
Is a dead giveaway.
So you..
(back to chorus)
She has a list of receipts
From each and every store
So whether you get DVDS
or socks, the choice is yours.
(back to chorus)
What does shopping at multiple stores really save you?
Well, to start with...I have to anyway. So much of what we eat is brand specific, or our quality standard for x product is only at one store...so it is what it is.
That said, making a list of sale items from each store does save us quite a bit. Let's look at this week's ads.
A big part of my multi-store reasoning is meat. I rarely buy less than 6-8 pounds at a time. Full price boneless skinless chicken breasts $2.99-3.99lb
If I go to Apple Market this week, 1.69lb. Given I buy about 8# of these a month, that's a minimum of $10.40 off my grocery bill. They aren't on sale anywhere else anywhere near that price. They also have 8# bags of potatoes for 1.99, .99 dozen eggs, and .99 canned pumpkin. It also makes it convenient to head to a MO side of state line gas station to save me .06 a gallon on gas on my 30+ gallon gas tank in my van. BUT, I would never do all my shopping at Apple Market. Their milk is almost $5 a gallon...which leads me back to ALDI.
Aldi has 1.99 gallon milk. The cheapest milk I've seen anywhere else is 2.99 g. We go through 2-3 gallons of milk a week, roughly 12 gallons a month. So on milk alone, we save a minimum of $12 a month at ALDI. Their rice happens to be my favorite kind, but it only saves us about .40 on 2lbs. Their canned pineapple cannot be beat for price or flavor. Their produce is hit and miss. Sometimes great stuff for very cheap, but sometimes scary. Their 1.49 lb ground turkey rolls are one of our non-sale meats we rely on, but I will pay the extra for ground beef on sale to make Mr. Man happy, so that means this time I'll probably have to go across the street to Price Chopper.
Price Chopper has the ground beast Mr. Man likes at 1.99lb, and the reason I can afford it is the money I saved on milk and chicken elsewhere. It also has fairly reliable produce at decent prices. This week it's 1.29lb apples, 1.99 whole pineapple, and .79lb sweet potatoes. Our bonus items are the 2.49 name-brand oil(usually 3.50ish, generics smoke more and have stronger flavor), and 1.69 brown sugar, (which 2.19 is the next cheapest for C&H.)
I usually need to go to Wal-Mart for a few things, like paper plates (cheaper than ALDI,) soy milk boxes for lunches ( about $2 a week savings), the yogurt the boys will eat, (about 1.20 a week in savings), some cereal, (about 1.50 a box difference on the ones we get there, unless on sale w/ coupon somewhere else)....
Throw in the stuff we have to get at Sams, like canned diced tomatoes,dishwasher,detergent,etc. Then I really have to hit Hy-vee or WHole foods too because of their gluten free selections, and you can see how I easily end up at about five stores within 24 hours. This is also why we coordinate our main shopping to be every other week.
If I could shop at just one store, it would probably be Hy-vee. The 1.69 chicken breasts would be 3.99. They eggs would be 1.99 for 18 on sale. The rice about .50 more. The milk, $4 a gallon. The potatoes, 2.49 for 5 lbs, so to get 8# I'd have to buy 10# for $5. Oil, about 3.49, brown sugar 2.19. The soy milk boxes would be about $8 more for the month. The cereal, $2 more a box, at least $10 a month. The yogurt, about $1.50 more a week or $6 a month. So the monthly payment for just one store? Well, let's just say milk alone would be $25 a month more. Just the milk pays for gas.
That said, making a list of sale items from each store does save us quite a bit. Let's look at this week's ads.
A big part of my multi-store reasoning is meat. I rarely buy less than 6-8 pounds at a time. Full price boneless skinless chicken breasts $2.99-3.99lb
If I go to Apple Market this week, 1.69lb. Given I buy about 8# of these a month, that's a minimum of $10.40 off my grocery bill. They aren't on sale anywhere else anywhere near that price. They also have 8# bags of potatoes for 1.99, .99 dozen eggs, and .99 canned pumpkin. It also makes it convenient to head to a MO side of state line gas station to save me .06 a gallon on gas on my 30+ gallon gas tank in my van. BUT, I would never do all my shopping at Apple Market. Their milk is almost $5 a gallon...which leads me back to ALDI.
Aldi has 1.99 gallon milk. The cheapest milk I've seen anywhere else is 2.99 g. We go through 2-3 gallons of milk a week, roughly 12 gallons a month. So on milk alone, we save a minimum of $12 a month at ALDI. Their rice happens to be my favorite kind, but it only saves us about .40 on 2lbs. Their canned pineapple cannot be beat for price or flavor. Their produce is hit and miss. Sometimes great stuff for very cheap, but sometimes scary. Their 1.49 lb ground turkey rolls are one of our non-sale meats we rely on, but I will pay the extra for ground beef on sale to make Mr. Man happy, so that means this time I'll probably have to go across the street to Price Chopper.
Price Chopper has the ground beast Mr. Man likes at 1.99lb, and the reason I can afford it is the money I saved on milk and chicken elsewhere. It also has fairly reliable produce at decent prices. This week it's 1.29lb apples, 1.99 whole pineapple, and .79lb sweet potatoes. Our bonus items are the 2.49 name-brand oil(usually 3.50ish, generics smoke more and have stronger flavor), and 1.69 brown sugar, (which 2.19 is the next cheapest for C&H.)
I usually need to go to Wal-Mart for a few things, like paper plates (cheaper than ALDI,) soy milk boxes for lunches ( about $2 a week savings), the yogurt the boys will eat, (about 1.20 a week in savings), some cereal, (about 1.50 a box difference on the ones we get there, unless on sale w/ coupon somewhere else)....
Throw in the stuff we have to get at Sams, like canned diced tomatoes,dishwasher,detergent,etc. Then I really have to hit Hy-vee or WHole foods too because of their gluten free selections, and you can see how I easily end up at about five stores within 24 hours. This is also why we coordinate our main shopping to be every other week.
If I could shop at just one store, it would probably be Hy-vee. The 1.69 chicken breasts would be 3.99. They eggs would be 1.99 for 18 on sale. The rice about .50 more. The milk, $4 a gallon. The potatoes, 2.49 for 5 lbs, so to get 8# I'd have to buy 10# for $5. Oil, about 3.49, brown sugar 2.19. The soy milk boxes would be about $8 more for the month. The cereal, $2 more a box, at least $10 a month. The yogurt, about $1.50 more a week or $6 a month. So the monthly payment for just one store? Well, let's just say milk alone would be $25 a month more. Just the milk pays for gas.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
What Child is this?
I think every mother has those moments when we just can't believe who are our kids are, in a good way. Some of my favorite what child? in this house...
What child is this who dices the veggies for dinner every Tuesday?
What child is this who reads the same story at least ten times to Si Guy?
What child is this who chooses to work with Cubbies every Sunday?
What child is this who chooses to share their thoughts with everybody?
What child is this who has learned to switch the laundry?
What child is this who shares their giggles and hugs so freely?
What child is this who gets up early every morning?
What child is this who keeps his room organized so neatly?
What child is this who draws cute cards for grandma and mommy?
These are my kids. I need to give them a little more laud a little more often.
What child is this who dices the veggies for dinner every Tuesday?
What child is this who reads the same story at least ten times to Si Guy?
What child is this who chooses to work with Cubbies every Sunday?
What child is this who chooses to share their thoughts with everybody?
What child is this who has learned to switch the laundry?
What child is this who shares their giggles and hugs so freely?
What child is this who gets up early every morning?
What child is this who keeps his room organized so neatly?
What child is this who draws cute cards for grandma and mommy?
These are my kids. I need to give them a little more laud a little more often.
Monday, December 12, 2011
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas!
My daughter, being much more sensible, merely wants a unicorn.
Hippo is my favorite non-faith based Christmas song by far. It catches all the whimsy, imagination, and "logic" of children. This kid has a solution for everything: the door, the bath, feeding... She's very driven to achieve her goal too.
It also catches the exasperation of parenting a creative, bright, child. These kids have their "facts" down, and are goal driven, and convinced they on how right they are, all the time. It's just their reality is a little different than ours, because if they can envision it, why can't it be real?
Hanging on to our hippos gets harder as we get older. Fortunately, I got mine for Christmas a couple years ago...thanks to Kohls, a husband with a sense of humor, & caring kids.
Hippo is my favorite non-faith based Christmas song by far. It catches all the whimsy, imagination, and "logic" of children. This kid has a solution for everything: the door, the bath, feeding... She's very driven to achieve her goal too.
It also catches the exasperation of parenting a creative, bright, child. These kids have their "facts" down, and are goal driven, and convinced they on how right they are, all the time. It's just their reality is a little different than ours, because if they can envision it, why can't it be real?
Hanging on to our hippos gets harder as we get older. Fortunately, I got mine for Christmas a couple years ago...thanks to Kohls, a husband with a sense of humor, & caring kids.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
The twelve days of baking
On the first day of baking my best friend made with me,
meringues with hazelnut coffee.
On the second day of baking my best friend made with me,
two dozen mints, and
meringues with hazelnut coffee
On the third day of baking, my best friend made with me
three layer cakes
two dozen mints
and meringues with hazelnut coffee
On the fourth day of baking, my best friend made with me
four dozen spritz
three layer cakes
two dozen mints
and meringues with hazelnut coffee
On the fifth day of baking, my best friend made with me
Fi-ive kinds of FUDGE.
four dozen spritz
three layer cakes
2 dozen mints
and meringues with hazelnut coffee.
On the sixth day of baking, my best friend made with me,
six dozen buckeyes
Fi-ive kinds of FUDGE.....(4,3,2,..and meringue with hazelnut coffee)
On the seventh day of baking, my best friend made with me
seven layer cookies,
six dozen buckeyes
Fi-ive kinds of FUDGE....
On the eighth day of baking, my best friend made with me
eight dozen caramels
seven layer cookies.....(6,5,4etc.)
On the ninth day of baking, my best friend made with me...
nine trips to Hy-vee, (8,7,6....)
On the tenth day of baking my best friend made with me...
ten dozen linzers, (9,8,7...)
On the eleventh day of baking, my best friend made with me....
eleven licorice ropes, (10,9,8,etc.)
On the twelfth day of baking, my best friend made with me
twelve dozen stuffed dates, (11,10,9)
meringues with hazelnut coffee.
On the second day of baking my best friend made with me,
two dozen mints, and
meringues with hazelnut coffee
On the third day of baking, my best friend made with me
three layer cakes
two dozen mints
and meringues with hazelnut coffee
On the fourth day of baking, my best friend made with me
four dozen spritz
three layer cakes
two dozen mints
and meringues with hazelnut coffee
On the fifth day of baking, my best friend made with me
Fi-ive kinds of FUDGE.
four dozen spritz
three layer cakes
2 dozen mints
and meringues with hazelnut coffee.
On the sixth day of baking, my best friend made with me,
six dozen buckeyes
Fi-ive kinds of FUDGE.....(4,3,2,..and meringue with hazelnut coffee)
On the seventh day of baking, my best friend made with me
seven layer cookies,
six dozen buckeyes
Fi-ive kinds of FUDGE....
On the eighth day of baking, my best friend made with me
eight dozen caramels
seven layer cookies.....(6,5,4etc.)
On the ninth day of baking, my best friend made with me...
nine trips to Hy-vee, (8,7,6....)
On the tenth day of baking my best friend made with me...
ten dozen linzers, (9,8,7...)
On the eleventh day of baking, my best friend made with me....
eleven licorice ropes, (10,9,8,etc.)
On the twelfth day of baking, my best friend made with me
twelve dozen stuffed dates, (11,10,9)
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
The race? the triconfecta. The prize: date w/ Mr. M
This Saturday night, Mr. Man has agreed to go to an adults only party with me. I spent today planning what to take for our dish, and I decided on a tri-confecta of sweets.
So our finalists are:
*candied lime & ginger, super easy and looks pretty.
My thoughts are to make the ginger first, using Alton Browns recipe off the Food Network site, take some of reserved liquid, and hope there's enough ginger flavor in it to infuse in the lime slices while they cook.
If that doesn't work, I'll take some of the finished product, and grate/mince it, then mix with the sugar to coat the limes. Maybe I'll do both. I may need more limes. Stay tuned.
*Candy cane meringues
This is a pretty standard recipe. I sourced it from allrecipes.com. E1 is very excited about these. They're cookies he can eat without being different than everyone else.
*Mr. Man's caramels, from a fabulous recipe on tasteofhome.com He made these tonight, a batch for home and a batch for the party. I'll have to hide the party batch before bed.
Honorable Mentions:
*Martha Stewart's peppermint icicles: In a lot of ways, I would rather make this than the meringue. Visions of 300+ degree sugar and a curious four year old stopped me. There are years ahead for me to try those kinds of candies when it's only my skin at risk of being melted.
*Taste of Home's 2 layer peppermint fudge: Only one kind of tricky recipe per mom event please. Besides, this is too close in texture to the caramels, and those were my bribe to get Mr. Man to go!
It was only at pick up today, describing it to my kids, I realized two out of three final recipes are something everyone in my house can eat. The third one is my husband's favorite candy in the world, and it, too, is at least gluten free. It just shows how when we change our actions, how we think can change too.
So our finalists are:
*candied lime & ginger, super easy and looks pretty.
My thoughts are to make the ginger first, using Alton Browns recipe off the Food Network site, take some of reserved liquid, and hope there's enough ginger flavor in it to infuse in the lime slices while they cook.
If that doesn't work, I'll take some of the finished product, and grate/mince it, then mix with the sugar to coat the limes. Maybe I'll do both. I may need more limes. Stay tuned.
*Candy cane meringues
This is a pretty standard recipe. I sourced it from allrecipes.com. E1 is very excited about these. They're cookies he can eat without being different than everyone else.
*Mr. Man's caramels, from a fabulous recipe on tasteofhome.com He made these tonight, a batch for home and a batch for the party. I'll have to hide the party batch before bed.
Honorable Mentions:
*Martha Stewart's peppermint icicles: In a lot of ways, I would rather make this than the meringue. Visions of 300+ degree sugar and a curious four year old stopped me. There are years ahead for me to try those kinds of candies when it's only my skin at risk of being melted.
*Taste of Home's 2 layer peppermint fudge: Only one kind of tricky recipe per mom event please. Besides, this is too close in texture to the caramels, and those were my bribe to get Mr. Man to go!
It was only at pick up today, describing it to my kids, I realized two out of three final recipes are something everyone in my house can eat. The third one is my husband's favorite candy in the world, and it, too, is at least gluten free. It just shows how when we change our actions, how we think can change too.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Yes today went much better, thanks.
Today is the first "normal" day I've had since E1's appendectomy. Mr. Man went to the office. I didn't have a to-do list for outside events a mile long. The bathroom and kitchen got some attention, and so did Si guy! My littlest man didn't watch tv for an entire day. It was fabulous. Even more fabulous is he took a bath without having to be hog-tied first.
I even enjoyed the car line today.
Most of the stuff I was upset about yesterday got resolved, more or less. A lot of things are just perspective. You can't expect a frog to be a cat.
I even enjoyed the car line today.
Most of the stuff I was upset about yesterday got resolved, more or less. A lot of things are just perspective. You can't expect a frog to be a cat.
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