New Experiences

I love Pinterest.  Somedays I love it so much I "save" it for later because I don't want to use it up.  Not that you can since there are endless amounts of pins to explore.  I saw one pin from a mom who had committed to trying 52 new things every year with her kids.  Some easy, some hard, some exotic, you get the picture.  I thought it sounded fun so we are on the same journey, with our own experiences.  I intended to borrow some of her ideas but so far have only used her ideas once, as a starting point.

People, we licked batteries.

That was the 1st week of Jan.  And yes they shock you, but only the 9 volt.  The boys tried other batteries with no effect.  Side note: there was a lot of licking going on for several days.

 The second week of January we ate black olives.  This doesn't sound super exciting, but the idea is to try new things and that was new for us.  They loved them, especially Liam.  He has been asking for black olives on nearly everything ever since :)

Stay tuned for a catch up of the rest of the weeks, plus our future new experiences!

No Guilt

It's a new year and that means a new, fresh start in our realm.  I will not feel any guilt for not posting in forever, no apologies either.  (Side note, I read somewhere that women feel the need to apologize  more often than men.  Sorry but that's weird).

First in a Second Series

I follow the "Manic Mommies" podcast and blog.  They are two working moms whose lives are manic from work, children, life, etc.  Their tagline is "The podcast for moms who do it all, and then some".  While I don't work outside the home, I definitely am a working mom and I can relate to them.  Their recent blog post inspired this second series of posts for my blog which I will now steal.  Welcome to "Photo Friday".  I will put up one, or a few, pictures which I think capture a mood, a noteworthy event, or just make me happy.  I am not a "Scrapper" nor a journal-keeper.  I try to write down the cute things the kids say and do, but now I have several scraps of paper with cute anecdotes floating around the house.
So without further ado:

In honor of St. Patrick's Day here are Rainbow Cupcakes.  I think they look like meteorological maps.

Here is Chloe wanting to be picked up.  By me.  This is all day.

"Two-for" Friday

Ok, well Thursday is my Busy Day with multiple drop-offs until after 2 pm which is why there was no MOM 101 tip yesterday, even though I promised four in a row.  To make up for it, here are two MOM 101 tips AND a Friday Foto (another new series I am incorporating.  More on that later and separately.)

MOM 101 tip #1:  When you finish a carton of milk, fill the now-empty container with water (about 1/2 full).  Shake well and use that milk-water to water your plants/garden.  The milk residue is good for the plants.  My aunt does this and she can grow ANYTHING.  Forget about a green thumb - she has a green arm!
MOM 101 tip #2: When babies are sick with a cold and stuffy nose, a vaporizer in their room is good for them.  In addition put Vapor-rub on the soles of their feet.  I don't know why this works but it does!  Right before bed, and again in the morning, rub their little feet with the Vapor-rub cream/gel (whatever it is.)  As a side note I know some people don't like the smell of Vapor-rub but I do!  I think it's invigorating and really clears the sinuses in a good way :)

Mom 101 (make-up #1)

Most mornings my kids eat oatmeal for breakfast.  Whenever I cook breakfast they eat oatmeal.  It's easy and most importantly it's nutritious.  I have it down to a science - I can whip up a bowl in under three minutes.  I use the microwave because I like to cook the oatmeal with milk and I don't like the smell of boiling milk.  Here's the routine:
1.  Pour 3/4 c. of milk in the bowl.
2.  Add 1/2 c. of oats (I use Quaker non-quick cooking oats)
3.  Cook for 1 minute, stir, cook for 1 more minute.
4.  Now here's the Thing I Do: I use frozen blueberries to cool the oatmeal.  It's so easy AND it makes a nutritious, tasty breakfast even more nutritious and tasty!  I try to use wild blueberries because they're supposed to be better for you and that makes me happy.
I read a similar tip somewhere except they used frozen milk cubes.  That doesn't work for me because I don't want to waste space in my freezer for ice cube trays, plus it would be too much liquid once the milk cubes melted. 

Did I say series?

Well what good is posting the first in a series if there is only one?!  So in retribution I will post one Mom 101 tip every day for the rest of the week.  That is four, so should make up for the last four posts that should have been written.  Hopefully I have enough "Mom wisdom".  (The last bit was sarcastic.  I have enough Mom wisdom to write a book.  Or at least a blog).

First in a Series

I was grocery shopping with my mom the other day.  She gave me a tip which saved me some money, and I realized, she should have a blog.  She knows so many awesome tips and tricks about everything.  For example: when you finish a container of milk, add water to the jug, shake it up, and water your plants.  The milk residue is good for your plants.  I am not trying to pass either of us off as master gardeners, or experts in any way.  But these tips work and I thought I'd share.
  The working title for this series is "Mom 101" until I think of something better.  (Totally open to suggestions).  So here is today's lesson:
When shopping for spices at the market look for the little Hispanic section.  It's usually near the Produce Section and pretty inconspicuous.  It's not the "Hispanic Foods Aisle".  It'll be a wall, or maybe a corner.  There you can find a lot of spices for a fraction of the price.  Example: I was a FoodMaxx the other day (the day of my epiphany).  I needed cumin and said I was going to the Spice Aisle.  Mom said no, look for the Hispanic spices.  I had to ask a clerk, who didn't know what I was talking about.  I described to her that I wanted the spices that come in a bag.  After a few false starts I found it.  I bought 16 oz of cumin for $3.98.  The cumin in the Spice Aisle (in the jar) was 2 oz for $2.96.  That is a huge savings!!  It's a lot of cumin but I'll use it.  You can use cumin in everything - gives food a nice smoky flavor.  I use whenever I cook meat.
They have a variety of your basic spices.  Don't look for Old Bay there, but thyme, paprika, saffron - it's all there and cheap.   Thanks Mom!

Lies my mother tells....

1.  Cell phone rings.  Mommy answers, cupping phone on shoulder while simultaneously changing a poopy diaper on a wriggling baby, in the front seat of the car, in the parking lot of Safeway:
Caller: "Hi, what are you doing?"
Me: "Nothing."

2.  "If you sit on your sister again I'm going to take away all of your toys!"

Mommies make messes too

"Mommy what are you doing?", Liam looks up from his PB & J after he hears my shriek.  "Oh just cleaning up a mess I made," I say.  Actually I just dumped my muffin tin full of blueberry muffin batter across the top of the stove.  Arrghh!  I had just thought to myself "this is so easy, I should make muffins more often" and not a minute later, splat! 
You know I scooped up that batter and threw it back into the muffin tin.  We'll see what happens...meanwhile, what's that burning smell?

Summer slush brain?

What's that saying about the "best laid plans of mice and men"?  I don't know if we are the mice or the men, but all my plans of summer study have gone awry.  Since the spring I have been reading tips on maintaining academics over the summer, articles on how much knowledge kids lose over the summer, and how to avoid it.  I have workbooks for Liam, had planned reading time for Owen, and even planned out how the study sessions would go: the babies would nap in the afternoon at which point the boys would convene at the kitchen table (I would of course teach Owen the meaning of "convene" as well as its antonym... and the meaning of "antonym").  I would have milk and cookies to motivate them, then we would learn for an hour or so.  Very idyllic, no?  Well it hasn't happened yet.  I console myself with throwing the occasional question at Liam - what shape is that?  How do you spell your name?  What letter is that? etc.  Owen is reading everything, including what I don't want him to read (like the fat-free ranch dressing bottle: "it's not fat-free, it's regular", "yes it is Mommy, it says 'fat-free' on the bottle").
We still have three weeks left of summer.  Do we cram, or do we continue with our current schedule of scooters, popsicles, and playdates?  I think the answer is obvious.  I do love a good popsicle :)

A moment in time

Right now I am experiencing something unusual: it is quiet in the house, even though the youngest three are home.  Both babies are napping (which is something they haven't wanted to do at the same time for a few weeks now), and Liam is playing Legos by himself.  When I have these rare periods of free time I feel like a chicken with its head cut off.  I can't choose what to do.  I've written about this before, but lately I have more hours like this every week.  It happens so little that I can't count on these hours, but often enough that I don't feel like I have to treasure it.  Funny, right?  Mostly I am loving that Liam is playing by himself.  The two older boys have recently gotten into the "real" Legos (vs. the Duplos) and they can play for, well, not hours, but certainly 30-45 minutes at a time.  I've actually started rewarding them whenever they play nice together with a "blooming flower".  We have six stems on our whiteboard every Monday and whenever they play together nicely for 30+ minutes a flower blooms on the stem.  When they argue/hit/yell at each other, a flower withers away.  If they have all six flowers in their "garden" on Saturday then they get to choose a reward, say a movie or ice cream outing.  This week they are working towards "Hop".  We'll see, but here's hoping!

I could, but I can't

There are only so many hours in a day right? Well a mom has extra hours because we don't sleep ;) However I think about my days and see that I didn't make the homemade granola, or crochet a winter beanie for Chloe-girl, or any of the other hundred projects I have pending. And sometimes I do have a spare 30 or 60 minutes that could be put towards one of these projects, and I think I should update the kids' baby books, or make a cardboard kitchen (one of the many projects I've clipped from a magazine and filed in my "Project Binder". Which also needs to be updated). Instead I read a book, or have a snack and read the paper, or catch up on my blogs. So basically it's, "I could do [insert project name here] but I can't because I need some time that is only for me". All of my projects are fun and I'll enjoy doing them when I finally get to them but sometimes I just need to do nothing. Don't we all?
Now where's my crochet bag? I have a winter beanie to finish, right after I check my facebook :)

It's A New Year

My only new year's resolution is not to make any. Or that is what I planned. Instead I added all the usuals: workout, eat better, save money, and I've included write more. I love writing, it's one of the few times I actually use my brain for something other than coming up with a new kind of consequence when time-outs don't work (for instance -a mini chore like scrubbing the kitchen floor. Seriously. Except the kids thought it was fun. Sigh.)
Another one I'd like to add is to get rid of all plastic toys that go off in the middle of the night when you accidentally step on them. Hearing "Where's there's danger, there's a space ranger" at full volume at 3am is not fun. Especially when Baby hears it too :(

Expectations and misery

Two more days. That's what left of our old life before we move in to the next phase which we will probably call "How many hours left until bedtime?". I think it's safe to say we have little idea what we're getting into with newborn twins. We can believe we are ready because we have two bassinets, and two of almost everything else but...there won't be two of me. Thankfully L will be off for two weeks, and my parents are coming to help. I'm a little afraid of what's going to happen when I'm all alone with four kids. Mom might not be going home as soon as she thinks. Is a year too long?

Neglected, nay abandoned!

I haven't written in weeks. The tag sits there on my bookmark toolbar making me feel bad for not writing. I have stuff to tell, really, but it's the putting it into coherent sentences that daunts me (can I say something "daunts me" or is everything only "daunting"?)

Much going on in our realm. Loren has taken over bedtime duties (doodies?) and so far so good. I have to hide out in the shower while they are reading and going to sleep otherwise they come find me to read just one more story, or sing one more song. But let's face it, I am definitely getting the better end of that deal. Sitting in the tub with a book - heaven! It could only get better if I had hot water. See Twins - what I give up for you already.

Actually Loren is becoming candidate for Dad of the Year. He is making dinner half the week, he does all the kid duties (and doodies) when he gets home from work, and he gets up early on the weekends so I can sleep in while he makes homemade pancakes for the boys - guts and poops for Owen, blueberries and guts for Liam. Extra points for remembering who gets what.

Admittedly I felt a little mom-guilt at first but I am slowly realizing how much I will have on my plate come September. I stopped reading all the twin books because it was starting to freak me out a little. So much can go wrong but I can't stress over all that or it will go wrong. It's a circle. But I am reading a little bit about after the babies are born and while it's not scary per se, it's stuff I want to know before the hurricane hits. Bad to compare twins to a hurricane but I am a realist. I want to know the worst so I can prepare, even while hoping for the best. I guess I am an "optomistic realist". Eleven years of marriage (almost), two boys, plus twins on the way gives me the right to choose my own label, yes?

A day that will live in infamy

We just found out that we are having twins.



!!!

Jewel's perfect soup

My sister=in=law got married last August. We went to MI for a week, and several of those days were spent at Scott and Nettie's house. While we were there I looked through some of her Clean Eating magazines. Nettie has always been a healthy eater. She, and my sister are the ones that are always in the know about the healthy trends and diets. So Nettie gave me one of the Clean Eating magazines to take home. I pulled several recipes out, including one by someone named "Jewel" (no relation to the singer). This Jewel is a proponent of clean, healthful eating, and of cooking at home. She has worked with the stars, including Jennifer Aniston (one of my faves). Supposedly Jewel inspired Jennifer to give up her diet of powerbars, and restock her kitchen with healthful foods and start cooking again. So I decided to give the cannellini bean recipe a go last night. Used the homemade chicken stock, the beans, the garlic, the organic tomatoes (that the boys eat like candy, btw), and the onions. I was out of celery but I thought it would be ok. Well the soup simmered, the boys (all 3) hovered, and then we tasted. Let's just say that this was a long way of saying I ruined dinner last night and we ate pizza instead.

I hear voices

The other night we were cuddled up in the big bed and I was reading "George and Martha" to the boys. I started using "voices" while reading the story, one for George and one for Martha. I thought about the kind of voice each character would have, they are hippos so they're pretty big which meant their voices would be on the deeper side. I raised Martha's voice by a couple of octaves and, I thought I was sounding good. Then Owen says "Mommy why are you talking in that funny voice? Just read it the right way." So I go back to my regular voice, but slip into George and Martha's voices a few pages later. Cue Owen, "Mommy, read normal! No more weird reading!"
So much for doing voices while reading. I guess I shouldn't complain, it certainly makes it easier for me.
PS: I forgot to include "I Love You, Stinky Face" to the list of our current favorite books. It's an adorable bedtime story.

my favorite kid's books #382

It's probably not part 382 but I think I've written about this subject before, I'm just too lazy to go back and look. Anyway, this is a partial list that I hope to add to continuously. These are my current favorite children's books, in no particular order and not exhaustive - just some of the books we are reading and loving right now:

A Good Day by Kevin Henkes. Super sweet with illustrations I really like. I love Kevin Henkes. We first started reading him with my sister-in-law gave us Owen. We've read most of his books, and Owen has enjoyed all of them. This is a bit simpler than Henkes' other books (Lily and the Purple Plastic Purse, Sheila Ray the Brave, Chrysanthemum, etc) but it's perfect for Liam, and Owen enjoys it too.

George and Martha by James Marshall. I picked this book randomly at the library and it is the cutest book! It's funny for kids and parents, and just whimsical. It's five stories but they are only a few pages long each. Owen and Liam both laugh out loud when they/we read this book.

Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems. I think this book is funny and sweet. We like Mo in our house, the Pigeon books are in high rotation at bedtime. I didn't really like Knuffle Bunny all that much but I think that's the exception. Tonight at dinner we were talking about George and Martha and Owen was recounting his favorite (i.e. silly) parts. The bathtub scene was first, followed by the mirror scene, and then the gold tooth scene. That led to a discussion on gold teeth and Owen said that George had a gold tooth "just like Tony". Hunh? Who? Ohhh, Tony, of "1,642 teeth like Tony" - from the Leonardo book. I guess it's never too early for the literary allusions right? It's enough to make an English Lit major/English teacher/mother's heart proud.

Since this is a "we" and a list of "our" favorite books I have to include the Scooby Doo paperbacks that Owen loves. If Scooby and the gang investigated it, then we have read it - the Tiki Curse, the Zombie Rock star, the Gruesome Ghoulie/Gorilla/Giant (they all start to run into each other). I have to say, the stories written by Jesse Leon McCann are the best ones. There is another writer who pens some of the Scooby stories and her writing just doesn't flow like Jesse's stories.

Any of your faves that we should be reading?

The Nightly Sleep Battle

Sleep. It's something I LOVE. I don't need crazy amounts of sleep - eight or nine hours is perfect for me. Any more and I am sluggish and I get a "sleep headache" (I don't know if that's real but it's real to me. I used to feel it, before I had kids). Any less and I'm yawning throughout the day.
So I wonder, like probably every parent in the world, why don't my kids want to go to sleep? We have tried every strategy, routine, bedtime there is. With Owen we rocked him to sleep, we let him cry himself to sleep, we Ferberized him, everything. With Liam we tried letting him cry himself to sleep, but the kid will go an hour without stopping or falling asleep. My latest trick is to read to both of them at the same time, in our bed, and then turn out the light. I hold Liam and Owen snuggles up against me. This has been working like gangbusters for Owen. Ten minutes after lights-out, he's snoozing away. Then there's Liam. My baby boy will hold out for 20, 30, 45 minutes. I put out the lights tonight at 7:50 (20 minutes late, but that's the chicken pot pie's fault). It is currently 8:50, and he's still not asleep. I handed him over to Loren about 30 minutes ago so I could eat my dinner (truth? It's so I can surf the 'net). This way I can eat in peace, and I don't have to fret over when is this kid finally going to go to sleep.
The trade-off is that Owen will come back to our bed (I move him to his bed when I go to sleep) in the middle of the night. He's gotten so good that I don't even feel when he's climbing into the bed. I think he climbs in on Loren's side because that man is a log. Mr. Ed could climb over him and he wouldn't wake up. Liam on the other hand, will sleep through the night, in his own bed. I don't know which one I value more.

PS: I don't like talking about sleep because inevitably whatever sleep they're getting now, it'll change for the worse after I talk about it. I guess this means they'll be up at dawn tomorrow.

Epilogue: 8:54 - Loren just put Liam down in his crib. Success means we can watch "the Office".