Random Friday

1. It's finally starting to resemble winter here in Minnesota (although it was 46!? degrees here on Tuesday), and my daughters decided to dress up their magnetic doll for the cold weather. I thought they did pretty well considering the wardrobe consists only of ballet costumes. My daughter got very concerned when she realized we didn't have any mittens for the doll. I suggested shoes, which she thought was a brilliant idea. Now if it's ever so cold here that I need to start wearing shoes on my hands and face and flowers in my hair to keep me warm, it might be time to consider a move...or at least a wardrobe update*.

2. I made these no-bake chocolate chip granola bars this week.  They were easy to throw together and turned out pretty good. I made all kinds of changes (subbed bran flakes for rice cereal and added coconut, cinnamon, and pecans) trying to get them to resemble my favorite cookie dough and found I needed to refrigerate them for a good long time before I could get them to set up like bars (our first taste we ate from bowls with spoons). I was happy with my first attempt at making granola bars. I'm still not a fan of honey though, so I think I'll try out a different recipe next time.  

3. My three-year-old loves to talk about God and asks me all kinds of questions. One morning this week:

(In response to her sister's roar) Oh no! A lion! Mom, call God. 

Mom will you ask God to pick up our house so we can dig for dinosaur bones under it?

Mom, does God have good hearing?

*After last Friday's Random, you'll be happy to know I did by a new stocking hat at Target this week. It's not fancy, but it is pink and it was only $1.40.

I Was Told There'd Be Cake*

So last week I made this little robot cake for my daughter. I have a 2-year-old now!

The girl likes robots. 

It's not the greatest cake in the world, but I can't for the life of me remember her first birthday. What kind of mother doesn't remember her child's first birthday? I don't remember where we were, what we did, or what kind of cake we ate. I know I didn't make a special cake, if I made one at all.  Here are the cakes I have made for my oldest daughter over the years:

This cake was pretty, and it was perfect for a spring 1st birthday. I'm not sure, but I think it may be upside down. Big wings go on top? Those marshmallow flower cupcake toppers were impressive and so easy to make!

My daughter was really into fish for her 2nd birthday (and still is!).  I had the fish sugar cookies made but did the cake myself.

For her 3rd birthday, my daughter requested a strawberry cake. What can I say, she has good taste. I do remember I was actually out of town on her birthday, so we celebrated a couple days early.

So I guess what I'm getting at, is that I've tried to make birthdays special, with the exception of that missing first birthday. It's probably out of fear of guilt more than anything, as at this young age they won't remember. We haven't done any big parties yet, aside from family dinners, but if nothing else, a picture of a homemade birthday cake is proof that the day was celebrated, and it was more than just an afterthought. I was the youngest of three, and while we have lots of pictures of my sister's and brother's birthday cakes over the years, I don't think there are many of mine (at all). I guess I'll have to continue to step up my game for the youngest. So at least we'll have the photographic evidence.

*A reference to this lovely little book. It's funny. Especially if you were born 1978 and 1982, I think.

Organizing Goals 2012 - #2 Create/Childproof Playroom

Each day for the next week or so, I am introducing my storage/organization/cleaning goals, plans, and progress for 2012. The first post in the series can be found here.

2. Create/Childproof Playroom: I'm looking forward to a time when I won't have to keep my eye on my youngest every second of the day. In anticipation of that day, I'll be working this year to create and childproof a designated playroom.  I want to transform our basement family room, which is currently where my husband occasionally plays Xbox and my daughter plays with her trains, into a space where my girls can play, while purging our living room of it's current daycare-esque decor.  (I literally have a giant castle in my living room and a plastic princess pink vanity in my dining room.) We already have a huge storage unit in the basement that we bought at IKEA several years ago.  With some bins, it will be a great place to stash toys.  We had a coffee table and an end table in the room that we weren't using, and I hauled them off to the donation center on Sunday (along with a weight bench and weights from the storage room and other odds and ends), so the space is opening up.  Eventually I'd like to get rid of our excess furniture and add some kid-friendly seating, book storage, a rug, and an activity table and chairs.

Sorry for the glare in this photo. The sun was reflecting off our white wood work.

Crunchy Birthday Cookies

When I was a little girl, I'm guessing around 5, I received this birthday card with a recipe for Crunchy Birthday Cookies. I love these cookies. They are scrumptious, crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, hearty, full of texture and yum, and the cookie dough pre-baked is pretty much the best thing ever. Not that you should eat raw cookie dough. But I do. Actually I read somewhere that you can buy pasteurized eggs. I've never tried them, but the next time I'm pregnant and get a craving for cookie dough, I might give them a try.

*I forgot the baking soda in this photo.

I love that a birthday card included a recipe. And a recipe new to the family. It's become an heirloom recipe, and those are few and far between in our house.

I'm tempted to eat all of this.

Crunchy Birthday Cookies

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1 egg (well beaten)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 c. dry oatmeal
1 c. corn flakes (I use bran flakes)
1/2 c. coconut
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Cream butter; add sugars, then egg and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture. Add corn flakes, oatmeal, coconut, and pecans to mixture. Roll into small balls and place about 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. Will make approximately 3 dozen cookies.

Don't over-bake them or the coconut starts to burn. Enjoy!

Yum. Yum, Yum. Yum.

This post is featured in Eat At Home's Dry Cereal Ingredient Spotlight.

Random Friday

I call this post Random Friday, which may or may not indicate a recurring weekly post on random stuff. We shall see. Since I've deactivated my Facebook account and don't really care to use Twitter, I suspect this is where all the Facebook status updates I compose in my head will end up.

I've added a follow by e-mail button over on the right. If you want to get e-mail updates when I add a new post, go ahead and enter your e-mail address and hit submit. Easy.

My almost-two-year-old thinks smiling is something you do only with your eyes. Tell her to smile and she makes huge bug eyes that slowly drift off to the side. I'm not sure where this came from, but it never fails to make me laugh. Maybe she thinks "Smile!" is a command to get her to make me smile. In that case, she's got it down.

I'm seriously considering a chore chart for myself. Apparently I am five and thus need some manufactured motivation.

I am also counting down the days until I think my daughters can grasp this concept. It's brilliant. I think I'm almost there with the three-year-old.

I feel terrible for my 137-pound dog who had a growth removed from his foot last Tuesday. He's stuck with a cone of shame for what I've been told will be a "very long healing process" involving twice-weekly bandage changes by the vet.  And did I mention his cone of shame is actually a size bigger than necessary because the vet was out of his size. Her exact words were "it's big enough for a bear." I jokingly asked if he would be able to fit through the door, and she said, "if he turns his head sideways."  It's true.  My daughter observed that he looks like Mother Goose. I'm not sure a bonnet would be any less degrading. Poor guy.

Preschool Game Review: Go Fish!

For Christmas this year my three-year-old received pretty much the most perfect gift for her (thanks, Amanda!), and I thought I'd tell you about. It can be hit-or-miss with kids games, so when I find a good one, I want to share it. The Go Fish game from Playchest Games is actually two games in one. There is a color matching game that's perfect for any little one who knows their colors. It's a fast game, which is perfect for kids (or parents) who have a short attention span.  Fish cards are spread out on the table face down. Players take turns using the fishing pole to fish for cards. If you catch a fish that matches the color of your boat, it goes into your boat--it's a keeper. If you catch a different color, you release it back into the "pond." My daughter and I started out playing the matching game. I've been playing matching games with my daughter for almost a year now, but she's just now finally starting to get it and pay attention and remember where things are. In fact, I left to throw in a load of laundry one day and told her to set up the game. I sat down to play and she got three matches right away. I started to get suspicious when I went to fish and she started smiling and shaking her head. She said, "that's not a green one!" I said, "Hey, you can't cheat. Did you look at the cards when you set them up?" She said, "Mom, it's supposed to be a memory game!" So technically she's starting to get it, but apparently we need to work on the details. This game goes quickly. There are only four slots to fill on your boat, and there are eight cards of each color.  The odds are pretty good. There are also three lose-a-turn cards (a boot, an anchor, and a rubber tire). Two to four players can play.

We quickly graduated on to the second, slightly more difficult game, which is Go Fish pretty much as you already know it.  This game ignores colors and requires the players to be able to recognize numbers. The cards are spread out face down and each player picks six cards for their boat. Oh how I wish there were six slots in each boat. It's taken my daughter several games to figure out how to keep her six cards in the four-slotted boat, and she still occasionally forgets to check the cards that are hidden behind other cards. BUT, she's learning. The fish cards are numbered 1-8 (thank you Playchest Games for not making us distinguish between 9s and 6s! I noticed, and I appreciate it.). Matches are placed face up next to your boat. The youngest player goes first and asks for a number. If the player has the number, the asker gets the card and the match and goes again.  If the player does not have the number asked for, the asker gets to "go fish."  

The fishing rod is awesome. It's got a firm line and a suction cup under the worm that works surprisingly well to catch fish. The line can be angled for the best possible catch and the worm and line can even be "hooked" to the pole for storage. My daughter loves when she has to "go fish." Today when we were playing she pretended to jig, set the hook, and reel in. Cute. She's also made up stories for the fish and the worm. "That fish is hungry, he's licking his lips! The worm is scared, look." I don't know if it's because the youngest player gets to go first, but my daughter legitimately beats me almost every game. Stomps me, is more accurate. Notice in the photo below I am blue and she is purple. I have one match and she has seven.

Another great feature of this game is the storage box. Everything fits easily, and the sturdy box closes securely, so there's no dropping the game and pieces going flying. Is that only a problem in my house? There's even a handle.  I love this game. I've played it at least once a day and usually several times a day with my daughter since Christmas, and I don't mind it one bit. On the box it shows three other Playchest Games: Penguin Plunge, Silly Story Maker, and Once Upon a Castle. I think I'm going to look into those next!

*I was not paid for this review, I just really like this game!

Notes from the Couch

jeff medaugh

Occasionally my girls catch an episode of Angelina Ballerina on Netflix. (Did you know Judi Dench voices Angelina's dance instructor, Miss Lilly, in the series? I love that.) It occurred to me that the girls had probably never seen real ballet. I quickly searched Netflix and started playing the documentary Ballerina. Despite having to explain subtitles, which led to a discussion of languages, etc., the documentary held their attention for a pretty long stretch. We were watching a particularly beautiful and elegant ballet when my daughter said the following: "Mom...Mom...Mom, next Halloween...next Halloween can my costume be a..." 

Could it be? My very tomboyish daughter was getting a girly streak? She was appreciating the elegance, gracefulness, and beauty of ballet?

"...a hunter? I want to be a hunter for Halloween."

Maybe her younger sister will want to be a ballerina.

My Christmas Wish: No More Diapers

So despite having virtually zero freelance work over the last week or so, things have been anything but dull around here.  My youngest daughter will be turning two next month, and I've been waiting for the perfect time to potty-train her (as if there is ever a perfect time!).  My three-year-old was potty-trained a couple months before she turned two, and it went pretty smoothly. Since my workload has taken a nosedive and most of our holiday events have come and gone, I decided now is as good as time as any. So on Sunday morning, I pulled out the underwear instead of the diapers and jumped right in.  My method of potty training is intense, but it's over rather quickly (about five days).

I started potty-training my oldest based on the advice of the sister of my brother-in-law, an experienced mother and day-care provider. Her advice came via a Facebook comment.  I've gone to her with questions before (Best diaper cream? Triple Paste), and she's never steered me wrong. She said to switch her over to underwear (no pull-ups) cold turkey, have her wear tight stretchy pants (hello, leggings!), and ask her if she has to go potty a million times.  Of course, there's lots of praise and a little manipulation going on: Look, you kept Minnie Mouse dry, she's so happy she's smiling!!!  Don't get the ponies wet, yuck!  It also requires your undecided attention for five days straight.  It sounds simple, but it really does work.

I've been through this once before, so I stocked up on underwear and had my stash of tight-fitting stretchy pants ready.  There will be lots of accidents for the first two or three days.  Day one, was accident after accident after accident. Lots of sitting on the potty and more accidents. Day two, was only a couple big accidents where she fully released her bladder, and lots of little accidents where she would pass a little urine and then sit on the potty.  She started having success on the potty on day two. She would pee several times throughout the day, but it would be only a tiny bit at a time.  By day three she was definitely having better recognition of when she had to go. She had one big accident, but otherwise it was all just a spot of pee in the underwear before going on the potty.  The evening of day three we reached a crossroads.  My daughter was doing a great job of not having accidents, but she also wasn't fully emptying her bladder on the potty.  She'd let just a tiny amount pass each time.  This meant lots and lots of trips to the potty and increasing discomfort for her as she struggled with not wanting to have an accident and not really letting it all pass on the potty.  She cried and had the mother of all meltdowns for almost 30 minutes.  She even brought me a diaper in tears.  At that point I took the diaper in my hands and almost gave in.  That's when I realized the potty training was actually working. She understood that she wasn't supposed to go in her underwear; we just needed to help her feel comfortable going on the potty.  It was incredibly difficult, but I didn't give in.  Eventually, she calmed down and went to the potty on her own and released.

On day four there was only one big accident when she was reading and I had gone a long stretch without asking her if she had to go.  On the evening of day four we had a big win, however.  She pooped in the potty!!!  On day one she had pooped in her diaper at nap time (I keep her in diapers for naps and overnight), but she hadn't pooped since then.  I was relieved when she finally went on Wednesday and overjoyed that she did it in the potty.  On day five we had no accidents--not even tiny leaks.  She stayed dry the entire day.  I had some last-minute Christmas shopping to finish up that night and had to leave her with our sitter for a few hours.  I had no idea how it would go, but I got a great report when I returned home: no accidents and two nice long pees on the potty!  She makes lots of trips to the potty (false alarms), but I'd call a dry 24 hours a success! It's now day six and things are going great. She even told me she had to go potty when she was in the bath and then went went I took her out. And she's now fully emptying her bladder every time (as far as I can tell).

I plan to keep her in a diaper at nap time and overnight until she consistently stays dry during those times.  I kept her sister in diapers overnight for a couple months after she was potty-trained.  When I finally got tired of "wasting" a diaper each night, I switched her to underwear.  She's never had an accident at night.

Potty-training this time around has been more difficult.  My oldest never had this bladder-release problem and the grumpiness that came with it.  She also didn't have a sibling distracting her a dozen times in a million different ways. And we've got a fabric sofa to worry about instead of a leather one.  Also, I potty-trained my oldest when my youngest was just a month old and I was pretty much sitting and nursing all day.  I'm much more aware this time around how much focus and time this process takes.  But the timeline for success has been much the same. The bonus this time around is that my daughter prefers to go on the big potty, so I don't have to clean out the little potty.  In fact, I'm planning on putting it away in our storage room tonight.

So it looks like I'm getting my Christmas wish: no more diapers!!

The World of Dick and Jane: A First Reader Experience

Today I was finishing up a bit of work at the computer while my daughters were playing quietly in another room. "Quietly" being the operative word. Usually there is laughing, screaming, crying, tattle-telling, singing, crashes, etc. In the quiet, I could hear my daughter reading. She's three.

She started reading a couple months ago. One night I was busy switching out a load of laundry before bed, and I told her to go read (look at) a book while she waited for me. She said, "Mom I don't know how to read." So that night I started teaching her. Way back before she was even walking I bought her a Dick and Jane book. It was the first book I learned to read. It was also the first book my mother learned to read. She still has that copy, tattered and full of the doodles of the progression of kids who have read its pages.

My daughter has been amazing. I think it's a combination of memorizing certain words and certain word characteristics (the long "s" word is "something") and thinking about letter sounds. It been interesting for me, as well. I will never know why she consistently mixed up "come" and "look" over and over again. It's certainly been a test of my patience. She often looks at the illustrations first and has a million questions before she even starts reading...many of which are answered in the text. It took me a while to learn that she wanted to be challenged. We started out by rereading several stories each night often repeating two or three from the previous night. I think she would get bored and start guessing the words rather than studying them as she read. Now we read one new story from the book each night. The beauty of Dick and Jane is the repetition. And as new words are added they appear again and again in later stories. It's true, as an adult the repetition gets old quickly. But what I didn't remember as a kid was the humor in the illustrations. Spot, the dog, digging sand onto Sally who then uses an umbrella to shield herself from the falling sand. The kid who makes a mess and blames the pet. I can identify with the mother who is grocery shopping. Sally (the youngest) grabs a bag of cookies and is ready to go home. That's it. The most important item is in the cart. My daughter thought the story of of the three children dressing up as monsters in paper dry-cleaning bags and then chasing the father was hilarious. While there are a few things to explain, such as milk delivery, the stories are timeless.

Anyway, all of this is background to the moment this morning when I heard my daughter reading all on her own for the first time. Precious. I was beaming with pride. I opened up Blogger and started writing this post. Suddenly I heard her running and the bathroom door open and shut quickly. I could hear my daughter make her way to the potty. And then I heard these words: "Mom, I got poop in my underwear!" (It was just a tiny spot.) Ah, yes. The book so good you just can't tear yourself away. We've all been there. I guess the next lesson for my daughter will be that there are times when you just have to put the book down and take care of business. And then you can always come back and pick up where you left off.

These are the important lessons in life.

Holidazzle 101

Every holiday season leading up to Christmas, Minneapolis features a festive event called the Holidazzle Parade. This is it's 20th season. Here's a rundown of what to expect, including photos and tips for planning your own Holidazzle visit. (The photos are in random order and not at all related to the "Best" and "Worst" labels below. I just wanted to include as many photos as possible.)

The Nutcracker

The beauty of the the Holidazzle Parade is that it begins the day after Thanksgiving and continues every Thursday through Sunday night for four weeks. This year there are fifteen opportunities to see the parade. This is important for a number of reasons:

1. The parade is at night in the December. The parade starts at 6:30. If you've ever been to Minnesota in December, you know it gets COLD. And once the theoretical sun goes down, it gets even colder. So if you have plans to head to the parade and it's snowed 14 inches with -34 windchill, you can stay home, be safe, and go a different night! *Tip: The Holidazzle Parade does occasionally get canceled for bad weather. It's always a good idea to check local broadcast stations for cancellations if it's extra cold, windy, or snowy.
2. Its a fun and FREE event to take any family and friends who may be visiting. We had family visiting from out of state and decided to meet up at the parade. Fun! Free! Festive! *Tip: I talk a lot about the hot seats in this post, because that was our experience this year, but there are plenty of free options for viewing the parade. People do bring a blanket and cozy up outdoors. If you get there early, you can view the parade from above in the skywalk. The parade route spans Nicollet Mall, a pedestrian mall lined with shops and restaurants. You can easily enjoy some pre-parade shopping and view the parade while enjoying a snack or meal by sitting at a window seat.
3. It's not a big commitment. The parade lasts about 20 minutes. Some of you may be wondering if a 20 minute parade is worth it. I'd say it's worth doing at least once. And trust me, you don't want to be out there much longer than 20 minutes. And did I mention it's free?
4. It keeps the crowds down. We went on a Thursday night, so it may be more crowded on a weekend evening or perhaps a milder evening, but I guess the good thing about a parade in December is that no one is anxious to get there early...and it's not necessary.

This was our first year attending the parade. Here's a list of what I considered the best and worse of our Holidazzle experience:

Best: It's a parade at night. The lights are festive and the floats are creative. The parade participants are wonderfully cheerful...or they are just moving as much as possible to stay warm. Many of the costumed characters from the stories are riding on or walking near the floats. The Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz was pretty awesome riding her bicycle. And pretty much everything is illuminated, including marching band costumes and choir robes.

Pinocchio

Worst: It's a parade at night in December. I'm hardy, but it's December!

Dancing Christmas lights--There's a person in each one!

Best: Avoiding traffic by taking the light rail. *Tip: This year on December 10 and 17 from 4 to 8 pm, ride Metro Transit buses and light rail FREE or ride the Northstar train FREE after 3 pm on both days to Holidazzle.

Santa's workshop

Worst: Trying to get a squirmy toddler to understand she has to sit during the train ride. "I walk! I walk!"

The Wizard of Oz

Best: Hot seats--a paid seating area in heated tents. *Tip: Buy your hot seat tickets early. They go on sale near the end of October. Check the website often. They sell out quickly. Hot seat tickets for 2011 are sold out. I did see see someone looking to sell/trade tickets on the Holidazzle Facebook page, so it might be worth checking there in a pinch. Adult tickets this year were $9. Kids three and under are free  when sitting on the lap of an adult. I'm not sure of the price for big kids.

Illuminated choir

Worst: Hurriedly walking with two small children six blocks from the light rail station to the hot seats. In full winter gear. And then carrying them in full winter gear so you can get there faster. *Tip: Don't be late. No one is admitted to the hot seat tent after the parade starts (or so the sign said). 

Not sure what this was

Best: Free hot chocolate and hot cider in the hot seats tent. *Tip: Don't tell the kids ahead of time about the hot chocolate in an attempt to make them walk more quickly. It's more trouble than it's worth. If they don't know it's available, they won't be disappointed when you decide not to get some.

Hansel and Gretel

Worst: Scalding my hand three times while waiting for the hot chocolate to cool enough to drink (as the last float was passing by), while holding a squirmy preschooler in full winter gear and taking photos. *Tip: Skip the hot chocolate if possible. It will spill, and you don't need another thing to hold. And don't wear anything nice. Even if you skipped the hot chocolate, the person above you or squished in next to you or walking by you may not have.

Illuminated marching band

Best: The floats are really impressive. This year's theme was A Fairytale for All, and each float had a fairytale theme. I didn't get a photo, but one of my daughter's favorites (and mine!) was a zoo-train themed float (Dumbo, perhaps?) with kids in adorable, vibrant animal costumes in circus rail cars. I also missed a photo of the Little Red Riding Hood Float. I found the scale of the Peter Pan float awesome.

Peter Pan

Worst: Climbing our way up the bleachers in the hots seats. We arrived just minutes before the parade started, and our family had saved us seats on the second row from the bottom. Yet it was so crowded in the hot seats it was still difficult to get us all up that one step. *Tip: There is plenty of room for children to stand at the front of the tent to view the parade. It's expected. There's even a sign to let you know it's a children's viewing area.

Spinning Snowman

Best: Everyone clapping as Santa closes out the parade.

Santa and his reindeer

Worst: Walking the six blocks back to the light rail station with two tired toddlers in full winter gear. *Tip: We considered bringing a stroller to haul at least one kid but were worried about finding a place to stash the stroller while we were in the tent. There is stroller parking in a cordoned area at the tent entrance. Wish I had known that!


Overall my preschooler had a blast. The toddler just soaked it all in. Next year we'll bring a stroller and skip the hot chocolate.

Snow Ice Cream!

I first saw snow ice cream last winter, but I kept forgetting to put a bowl out ahead of time to catch snow. We got six inches of snow Saturday, and in the anticipation of our first "big" snow of the year, I actually remembered and put two big bowls out on our deck.

There are several "recipes" out there for Snow Ice Cream.  I decided to go with Paula Dean's recipe.  I had the sweetened condensed milk in my pantry stocked for fall baking.  Here are the details:

1. Take 8 cups of snow.

2. Add 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk.

3. Add 1 tsp. of vanilla.

4. Mix and serve.

In the photo above I hadn't added all of the snow.  When I first read the recipe, I actually thought it called for 5 cups instead of 8 cups. I ended up adding more snow because it was so soupy.  Then I checked the recipe and realized what had happened.

My girls were thrilled to try snow ice cream.  I thought the flavor was surprisingly comparable to store-bought vanilla ice cream.  After we sampled the vanilla, I added a tablespoon of cocoa powder to the rest of the batch.  It was really good, reminding me of a Wendy's Frosty. Yum! In fact, scooping this into a cup and drinking it with a straw sounds like a great idea.  Of course the texture is icier rather than creamier, but that's not the point.  The point of snow ice cream is to give your kids yet one more reason to look forward to a large snowfall.  As if they need another reason!

Now if we could only figure out how to make snow ice cream on a hot summer day...

For Levi

My daughter cuddled up with me in bed yesterday as I was trying to read my book and begged me to read to her instead.  She certainly knows my soft spot.  Anytime my daughters bring me a book, I will read it to them.  Yesterday she picked Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein.  I love this book.  And I love the fact that my daughter, at three, is just starting to really pay attention to the poems and the illustrations and find them humorous. 

This little poem from the book, and it's accompanying illustration, reminded my of my friend's son, Levi.  He's two, and when we visited him recently he showered affection on my daughters, especially the one-year-old--tackling her with hugs and kisses over and over again.  He is adorable.

And so I present, for Levi:

Wishing you hugs, giggles, kisses, grins, cuddles, and wins today!

One of Those Days

Yesterday was just one of those days.  The kind of day I wish I could wear headphones and still be an effective parent.  Seriously, I think scientists should study my daughter.  It must be medically significant to be able to talk, sing, laugh, cry, scream, grunt, giggle, groan, holler, and otherwise vocalize astonishingly loudly, nonstop for 12 hours all without the slightest strain of the vocal chords.  I blame my husband; he's the talker in the family.  When I married him I guess I didn't realize I was signing up for that same quality in a three-year-old!
It was also one of those days where after putting the girls to bed and finishing up my freelance work, I finally got a long-overdue shower.  It was lovely.  I enjoyed every minute.  Then I got out, dried myself off, towel-dried my hair, and was half dressed before I realized while one of my legs was baby smooth, the other one sported several days' growth.  Yes, I had only shaved one leg.  So I re-undressed, the towel came off my head, and I went back into the shower one more time.

Have you had one of those days?  Where you forget to shave one leg?

I also learned these fun facts yesterday. 

• Sheets are disgusting.  According to this article, "sheets can contain 0.1 gram of feces, salmonella, and E. coli after just one night's rest. That means they'd collectively contain about 10 billion microbes." And that's nothing compared to the feces party in your carpet.  Seriously.  Disgusting.
• There's a birth control shot for men.  Well, it exists, but approval is still being worked out in India, the home country of the shot's inventor, and maybe in the next year or two the FDA will start it's own research in hopes of eventual approval in the United States.  So basically by the time I'm menopausal, there will be a birth control shot for men.  Sigh.
• I had one more thing, but my browser isn't working to bring up the article.  Basically it was all about the harmful effects of the sun, including the risks of skin cancer.  And since we had a week of 90-degree temps here and I've been outside with my daughters every day in that blistering sunshine, I was suddenly alarmed at the sight of my slightly darkened (compared to the the usual pasty white) arms and ashamed at my previous pride in the first glimpses of a tan in years.  Damn you, sunshine!

Coming soon: Fighting weeds in my garden the lazy way.  And this year I don't mean hiring the neighbor girls to do the weeding.

Freshly Fallen Laundry

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So running and jumping in piles of dirty clothes is just as good as the leaves thing, right?  Thank goodness my daughter seems to think so.

Douplespeak

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Yesterday my two-year-old daughter came over and said something that distinctly sounded like "Momma, I want a tattoo.” Now she's never asked about tattoos before, she's never pointed them out or commented on them, and she's never even had a fake tattoo, so I really didn't think that's what she actually had said. I clarified:

"You want a tattoo?"
"When I oooolder."
"Where did you hear about a tattoo?"
"Thank you! That's a great idea!"

And she walked away.

What just happened here? I have a feeling this is just a tiny glimpse into her impending adolescence. Clearly she's already mastered the art of talking in circles around me. I cringe at the thought of what is to come. Someday when she's 18 (hopefully she waits until she's 18), she'll be proudly showing of that new ink and wondering why I look dumbfounded. And she'll say, "Mom! We talked about this. Remember?” And she will remember.

The Birds and the Bees. Or in Our House: The Dogs and the Dogs.

I have a two-year-old unneutered male hunting dog named Mac.  He's got a lot of puppy left in him.  I also have an ancient neutered male house dog named Caesar.  He's six months beyond the average life expectancy for his breed.  I L-O-V-E love Caesar.  I tolerate Mac.  The other day Mac was clearly taking his sexual frustrations out on Caesar in plain view of my two-year-old daughter.  Unfortunately this is not an unusual sight in our house.  In fact, I've hear my daughter say "Mac, quit humping Caesar" more times than I care to admit.  The other day, however, she got a little more descriptive and thoughtfully said, "Momma, Mac is itching his privates on Caesar.  He REALLY itchy!"  Well I certainly couldn't disagree with that.

Habaneros and Ice Cream: Not a Recipe

I've taken a little break from blogging and I think I'm ready to start up again.  A sure sign is that I've written two or three blog posts in my head while drifting off to sleep each night.  I'm feeling the urge to blog about non-cleaning/clutter related topics.  That said, as a work-at-home/stay-at-home mom my life is pretty much my kids 24/7.  So you'll probably be hearing a lot about them in the coming posts.  I hope you don't mind. 

Image Source: Jose Ibarra

Just some words of advice for you today.  If your husband insists on doing something with the bushels (that may be a slight exaggeration) of habanero peppers from the garden, and he preps them and chops them, and lays them out on a cookie sheet in the freezer overnight, do not forget about this when you ask you not yet 2-1/2-year-old daughter to put something away in the freezer for you.  She will be immediately drawn to the beautiful orange candy-like bits and promptly put one in her mouth.  And it will take you a minute to realize exactly what has happened. As she has surely swallowed said HABANERO pepper there will be no proof of exactly what happened.  She will start coughing and looking confused, like she knows something's not right.  And she will grab at her mouth and look very sad.  And she inevitably will rub her eye before you've remembered to wash her hands.  And she will tell you her eye hurts and her mouth hurts.  And you will call poison control.  And they will be lovely and reassuring.  And then your daughter will voluntarily go take a nap on the couch for an hour-and-a-half (which she NEVER does).  And you will worry and worry and worry.  And because the habanero pepper eating takes place just as dinner is ready to be served, you will wake her up from her nap at 7:30p.m. and take her to Culver's for ice cream.  Just to make sure she's really okay.  If she refuses the ice cream or it doesn't boost her mood, you will then take her to the emergency room.  But she does eat it, and it does make her feel better.  And it helps ease your guilt just a little.  And in the end, it is a good excuse to go get ice cream.

Bathroom Drawer Revisited

In a previous post, I added a before photo of the last holdout in my bathroom purge: a bathroom drawer.

And here it is now.

I have no idea why we have such an abundance of oral hygiene products, but we do.  We also have a disturbing number of lighters (11) considering neither my husband nor I smoke.  Actually, a couple times a year he picks up the bad habit for a few weeks.  Apparently he's not good at keeping track of lighters. Anyone have any good ideas for getting rid of them?  Do I just toss most of them in the garbage?  Is that even safe?

Since the bathroom is pretty well in shape now, I'm going to be moving on to my daughter's bedroom.  The biggest obstacles there are a drawer of sentimental stuff (ALL of the cards from my first daughter's birth and a bunch of manuals for baby gear) and her closet (a catchall for all kinds of random family stuff).  Now I'm very practical when it comes to the sentimental stuff.  I have no problem throwing out those cards.  My husband, on the other hand, thinks it's imperative that we keep it all.  I know from experience (thanks, Mom!) that someday we will need to get rid of this stuff; we'll be downsizing to a smaller place or just needing to use our space more efficiently.  And we'll have to pass along this stuff to our daughters.  And then they'll have to find a place to store it.  I've got the proof, handed down by both sets of parents, in our basement storage room (the last room in the project, for good reason).

So, any suggestions on how to handle the sentimental overload and convince my husband it's a good idea to pare down?  Or will I regret it someday?

The Babysitter-Cleaning-Time-Saved-vs.-Time-Spent Ratio

I work from home while taking care of my two little girls.  Usually it means I'm working early mornings, late nights, and anywhere I can squeeze in a hour or so between diaper changes, feedings, burping, potty trips, kissed owies, reading, cooking...you get the idea.  It gets particularly challenging when I have a deadline.  For some reason my two-year-old just doesn't understand deadlines.  Go figure.  When I start stressing out over an impending deadline, my husband loves to suggest I hire a babysitter. Brilliant idea! We have three available right on our cul-de-sac. The babysitter will come, I will work, and my deadline woes be damned.  Then I open my eyes, take a look around, sniff the stale air of my dirty house, and quickly equate the babysitter-cleaning-time-saved-vs.-time-spent-ratio.  It goes something like this:

Time saved  = Hours babysitter comes − Time spent consoling sad toddler who doesn't want mommy to go − Time spent frantically cleaning to make the house presentable − Time spent nursing baby (babysitter can't do that one)

Let's fill this in with the figures from a typical day:

Time saved = 3 hours − 15 minutes − 1 hour 15 minutes − 30 minutes

Time saved = 1 hour

Now it gets tricky.  You see, I've now paid the babysitter for 3 hours.  Is this three hours of pay less than my pay for the 1 hour of productive work time?  Yes, but not by much.  Call me lazy, call me crazy, but sometimes it's just not worth it.  Now I've tried explaining this to my husband, but he still loves to throw out the babysitter as the answer to all of my problems.  One day it will be.  I'm hoping once school is out (when my babysitters are readily available) I'll be far enough along in my project to knock that 1 hour of frantic cleaning down to a solid 15 minutes.  And that will make for some pretty sweet math.

You Know What I'm Talking About

There is no better encouragement for keeping a toilet clean (inside and out) than having a toddler.  I'll just leave it at that.

In other news, I've adjusted my comments settings, so you no longer need a special account to leave a comment.  Have a great day, everyone!