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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Not for the delicate - crunchy gone bad

Over the last 2-3 years I've found myself heading towards "the crunchy side".  It first happened when before I got pregnant with Bug.  I decided to take the plunge to use a "cup".  For those of you who do not know what a "cup" is, I will spare you the gory details and say that it's an internal cup for that time of the month.  No pads or tampons required.  If you really want (or need) to know, I suggest you check out their website.  Talking about parts of my body is a bit embarrassing.  Of course, typing it to a bunch of strangers is somewhat acceptable.  Anyways... I found that I was a "cup" flunky.  It didn't really matter though, three months into using it, I got pregnant with Bug.


Then my crunchiness continued.  When I was about 6 months pregnant, with Monkey still in diapers, I slowly convinced Hubby to start using cloth diapers.  After much thought on his part, he agree.  He assumed it would save us money, of course that was before...  So now I'm a full fledged cloth diapering addict.


Bug is now 15 months, Monkey will turn 4 on Saturday and (thank you God) is 99% potty trained.  So my crunchiness continues.  I decided that me being a "cup" failure wasn't going to deter me from being green and that I needed something else to buy since I obviously couldn't be buying a ton more diapers.  So I decided to try using reusable menstrual pads.  I have yet a need to use them, but I'm ready for when the need arises.


So on the couch was just one.  It needed to be put away but I had a TON of laundry to put away.  Sunshine says to me, "Mommy, what is this?"


Uuuhhh.  Uuuhhh.  Now, I really haven't given it any thought as to when a good time to explain a woman's body and the need for those but it certainly wasn't 3 days after she turned 6.  So, with the answer that would make any 1950's housewife proud, I promptly answered, "Uuuuhhh, don't worry about it."


Sunshine: "Yeah, but what are they?"


Me: "They're mine so don't worry about it."


Sunshine: "Is it for your arm?"


What?  Me: "No, it's not.  It's for grown-ups and that's all you need to worry about."
The more I answer, the more ridiculous I hear myself sounding but really?  This should not be a conversation.


Sunshine: "Yeah but it has these little snaps on them and if you put them together it looks like it can go around your arm."  Then she proceeds to snap them and and tries to put it on her arm.


For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, the little snaps go around the undies to keep them in place.  They're the wings of your pads.  Like I said, I haven't needed them, they just needed to be put away.


Oh.  My.  God.


To make matters worse, I was in the middle of changing Bug's diaper and wasn't able to get up and snatch it out of her hands/off of her arm.


At this point she thinks she is being funny and is laughing at me and my embarrassment.  All I can do is hope that this is one of those moments that she will not remember when she finally learns about the birds and the bees.  Apparently that will happen when she is in 5th grade and won't be happening by me.

Vicky

Monday, January 23, 2012

Slacker

Wow!  I've been a slacker!  I'd like to say it's because I've been sick that I haven't written anything and although was sick, I was only sick for about 24 hours.  I'd like to say it's because I have been super busy getting ready for the kids' birthday party, but I have been able to watch something on TV or check things on the computer.  I'd like to say that it's because I have so much exciting stuff going on that I just don't have time lately, but really, my life has been pretty dull lately.


So instead, here's a wrap-up of a couple of things.


Yes I was sick.   I ate something that obviously wasn't the best quality.  I'm pretty sure it was a chicken sandwich, but can't be sure.  Sunshine and Monkey are super sweet when people are sick.  It was last Sunday and Hubby was home so I went upstairs to lie down and sleep.  The kids came upstairs after me to see what I was doing.  Sunshine got me a glass of water and some warm fuzzy socks.  They both covered me up.  Monkey crawled in bed with me to cuddle and I promptly kicked him out.  I told him I didn't want him to get sick and he said (in his cute little voice), "I won't get sick wif you Mommy.  I want to cuddle under the blankets."  In a quieter voice, "I'll be very quiet."  Aawww, so sweet, but get out.  He did get out and said he'd sing a song to me instead.  I always sing him a song when he is sick, I assumed it would be the same song but it went something like this "Dah, dah, dah, dah."  It's hard to say, it was so quiet I could hardly hear him.  Within 24 hours I was feeling better.  Hubby took the morning off to stay home with me just in case, but by then I was better.


Sunshine decided she did NOT want her ears pierced.  After going in and out of the store, and in and out and then in and out, she finally decided she wanted to wait to get them done.  I felt so bad for her.  She was crying because she wanted to get it done but was openly admitting that she was just too scared.  The thought of putting little holes in my baby's ears made me suddenly feel very sad so I wasn't thrilled with the idea either but I certainly didn't want her to be sad and crying.  We talked multiple times and I told her that we could always come back later and get it done another time.  We left and decided we'd come back another time.  Since then she has told me that she has decided to wait until she is much older before she gets her ears pierced.  As she said, "I think I'm going to wait to get my ears pierced.  Maybe when I'm a little older.  Maybe I'm not old enough yet."  Haha, ok.


Sunshine also turned 6!  SIX!  It doesn't feel too strange, I have 2 nieces that have turned 6 within the last 10 months so the age doesn't seem too foreign.  We have special birthday dinners and hers was spaghetti and meatballs.  Three helping of spaghetti and 5 meatballs later she was done.  We'll have her party and Monkey's this weekend.  Monkey will be turning 4!  But that's a whole other post.


We got about 5" of snow on Friday and went sledding on Saturday.  I was wondering if Sunshine would go down right away.  She tends to be a bit more cautious but she raced to the top of the hill, jumped on her saucer sled headfirst and went flying down the hill, laughing the whole way.  I wasn't even up the hill yet and she was already down at the bottom.  Monkey was walking up with me.  When you're not quite 4, carrying a sled is hard work.  When we got up to the top he found a good spot and I went to hold onto the sled so it didn't slide down without him, he informed me that he could do it and he was going down by himself.  Oh.  Ok.  They must have gone down 50 times.  It wasn't a huge hill by any means but it was a good size for their age, we didn't have to drive far, and we didn't have to wait in line.

Vicky

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Making me proud

This is a warning:  To anyone who doesn't want to read about how awesome my child is, they may want to stop now!  Why you wouldn't want to read about this though is unknown and you may need to rethink the things that are truly important in life... namely, my kids!  :)  Happy reading, I hope everyone has a chance to love someone as much as I love all of my children.


Sunshine is in Daisies and I am the co-leader.  I remember being the leader's daughter growing up and as the leader's daughter I was expected to behave better than the other girls, after all, if I acted like this in front of my mother, how was I when she wasn't there?  Anyways, there are 14 little girls in the troop.  They are all in kindergarten and range from age 5-6.  We meet in the gymnasium after school and they are LOUD.  It's amazing the volume that they are able to produce.


After our last meeting, I spoke to Sunshine about being good and setting a good example for the other kids.  Of course she asked why the other kids weren't being good and I said that that wasn't the point.  I couldn't really say that it was because I couldn't yell at them and put them in the corner for the rest of the night, that didn't really sound fair.  She listened seemed to understand and agree and we left it at that.


At our last meeting we also talked about having a toy drive.  The girls were supposed to bring in a gently used toy of theirs that they no longer played with that would be given to a family in need.  The leader told the girls that if they didn't want to part with one of their own toys, they could go out and buy a toy.  I looked at it as an excellent way to empty out at least one toy from our ever growing toy bins and to teach her all about giving.  On the way home she said that she knew what toy she wanted to give.  I was a little surprised that she knew already and figured it was some little toy that was either falling apart or was her brother's.  I asked her what it was and she told me (in a very excited voice too), "We can give away my doll!"  What doll?  She has a few but doesn't really play with any of them.
So I ask her "What doll?"
"My Barbie doll!"
That really cool Barbie that has a dress that lights up and spins around?  NO NOT THAT ONE!!!
"Which Barbie doll?"
"The one with the light up dress!  I don't really play with it so maybe another little girl would like it."
How can I argue with that?


Fast forward to yesterday to our next meeting...


I hadn't talked to her about the toy drive since December and was concerned about giving the Barbie away.  I brought it with and figured I'd deal with any tears or an upset child when I got there.  I gave her the Barbie and told her to give it to the leader for the toy drive.  Without batting an eye, she handed it over.  Later she told me that she was happy she gave the toy away but she would miss it.


She also must have remembered the talk we had back in December.  Sure enough, every time I looked over at her she was calm and very sweet.  The other children may have been running around but not Sunshine, when I told everyone to sit in a circle, she was the first to do so.  Later she made sure she pointed it out, just in case I hadn't noticed it.

Vicky

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

It's like having a vacuum but with an attitude

Wow!  I knew when Sunshine was a year that she didn't get things that other kids her age might have gotten.  Most cereals were off limits, no cookies, only boring crackers.  You know, typical of what a first time mom would do.  I might have been "slightly" more lax with Monkey, but not really.  I still didn't give him sweet stuff of any kind but then again, Sunshine still didn't really enjoy sweets so we didn't have them in the house.


Well times have changed and I now have an almost 6 and almost 4 year olds and my now 1 year old has access to all sorts of things my older two were denied.  The other day Monkey was eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch and I see Bug standing next to him, with a tell-tale ring of cinnamon around his mouth and he's greedily reaching for the bowl.  When he had his first taste of Goldfish, I casually gave him one.  There was a small look of shock on his face, he smacked his hand to his mouth as if to say "This is the best thing ever!" and continued to beg for more.  I attempted to get him to sign for more but he was not going to waste his time doing silly things like that.  While holding onto my legs, he screeched, collapsed his knees and flung his shoulders back.


Less than 3 months ago he would eat nothing but baby food, now he's like a little vacuum.  Only louder.  And this vacuum poops.

Vicky

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Sherry Roast Duck

OMG!  I found this recipe on all recipes and it was the best!  On a complete whim, I decided to buy a whole duck.  I have never made a duck and have only had it a couple of times when I've been out to dinner.  I didn't know how to cook it or what to serve it with.  It wasn't a cheap whim and I didn't want to mess it up.  I decided to check out Allrecipes.com and see what looked interesting.  I've never cooked with sherry, rosemary isn't always my favorite herb, but for some reason, I decided to give it a try.  Since it wasn't cheap, I decided to make it for a special New Year dinner.  The following recipe is for a 4lb duck, increase the amount depending on how large the duck is.


1 (4 pound) frozen duck
6 Tbsp olive oil (divided)
2 cups dry sherry (divided)
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp dried rosemary
1 Tbsp dried basil


Directions:
1.  Partially thaw duck in the refrigerator.  The skin should be soft but the insides should still be frozen.  Take the duck out of the wrapping and stab the duck 15 to 20 times, making sure to penetrate past the layer of fat (go in approximately 3/4").  This is very important for the marinating process.
2.  In a large mixing bowl, mix 1 cup sherry and 3 Tbsp olive oil.  Place the duck in the mixing bowl.  Spread the sherry and olive oil all over the duck.  Cover the bowl well and refrigerate until fully thawed.*
3.  Make a paste using 3 Tbsp olive oil, oregano, rosemary and basil.  Remove duck from oil/sherry marinade and place duck in roasting pan, reserve marinade, and remove neck bone and giblets.  Spread some of the oil/sherry marinade into the duck.  Rub the paste onto and inside of the duck.  Pour remaining cup of sherry into the bottom of a roasting pan.  Preheat oven to 375F while the duck marinates.
4.  Roast for about 30 minutes per 1lb.  Baste every 30-45 minutes.


*The recipe says over night works best.  I was worried that it wasn't completely thawed the next day, so it marinated from Dec. 30 to Jan. 1st.

I served with garlic sautéed asparagus, baked sweet potatoes, corn, and rolls.  The kids tried it all and loved the duck,( and the sweet potatoes but that's not what this post is, is it :).)



Vicky