Embracing the curl (and embracing the girl with the curl!)
I just love my little student. Here she is a new outfit from Grandma earlier this week. She said, "Mommy, you know what my teacher will say about this outfit? That I am all prepared for autumn." Doesn't qualify for picture day unfortunately because of the design. But we did pick out something cute.
Here are the before shots. Before Laura came over this afternoon and rescued her hair and introduced me to the world of curly hair (diffuser, curling balm, scrunching spray, pick.) The other shot shows the 80s workout queen headband thing going on...
And here is the after shot. Adorable! Picture day is bound to be a success. Thank you Laura!!!!
(and another reason I like blogging--help solving your problems!)
General Conference suggestions
Written by Mark
It’s nearly General Conference weekend.
Every session, we get to sing a ‘rest hymn’ in between the first and second hour. And they always choose classic hymns, which is great, but I think they’re missing an opportunity to draw in the younger (i.e. Primary-age) generation because of their music choices.
I think any of the following would make great intermediate hymns during Conference this weekend. Please let me know your preferred songs for the congregation to sing and I’ll add it to my petition, which I will route at the end of the week:
(Actions required in all cases)
• Once there was a Snowman
• Head, shoulders, knees and toes
• Popcorn Popping
• I’m all made of hinges
• Book of Mormon stories
• Do as I’m Doing
• “Give,” said the Little Stream. (FYI – that stream has a limited vocabulary)
Any of these would help get the wiggles out of even the sleepiest general authority and would provide a better break than the standard hymns.
Picture day
Picture day is coming up at the end of the week. This is always a little stressful. It shouldn't be really. I went through 13 picture days of my own. They all turned out okay.
Here are some reasons why I am dreading picture day:
1) Caroline's hair is difficult. We are trying to grow it out. It's got some curl in it which I always try to brush out. (I need to follow up on Marianne's suggestion to get Matrix curly hair products.) She hates it when I brush it. We have our most trying times as mother and daughter about her hair. My mom just left mine alone for the most part. I don't have any bad hair memories with my mom, I can only recall the feeling of masking tape along my bangs. Back to Caroline, hair clips, elastics, and bows are not for her. We recently tried elastic headbands, but she doesn't like to wear them under the back of her hair. Over the back of her hair suits her better.
Who is going to brush her hair before her photo?
2) The photos are pricey! Now I am paying for 2 packages. I want to get the least amount of photos I can get.
3) The pictures don't always turn out really well. Josh had to have retakes in kindergarten because he was off-centered!
4) Can't just throw on regular school clothes. I don't really want them to have patterns and definitely not characters. Their clothes kind of need to match the dining room decor where their picture will be displayed on the molding!
Hey, I just figured it out. Picture day brings the "Sunday getting ready for church" stress level to a normal weekday!
Will let you know how they turned out.
Meal/recipe organization
I have always been a planner so pretty soon into marriage I figured out that I needed to plan ahead and make a list of meals for the week before going to the grocery store. Making dinner has not been that big of a deal when I have all the ingredients for a meal ahead of time. I really don't like the "scrambling" feeling.
I have always been a magazine reader, and I like to try new recipes I find. I just couldn't get a system down to organize the recipes I wanted to try. My recipe/cookbook area is a disaster! I can never find what I am looking for. Now, if my computer was downstairs and my printer was working, I would just do it all on the computer, but that's not an option right now.
So enter the 3 ring binder. I sat down this weekend, went through my stack of magazines with the corners folded over and ripped out the recipes I wanted to try.
I wrote down on a piece of binder paper a list of meals (some old reliables and some new ones) I wanted to make for dinner. I also listed the snacks/baked goods I wanted to make and then some other stuff like what I will bring to the potluck, the ingredients for the homemade playdoh for playgroup this week, etc.
I slipped the meal recipes into one sheet protector in the binder, and the snacks into another. There were several recipes I put in another sheet protector for "future" use.
I wrote down what I needed on my list for the store. I went to the store. And now I will cook the food. Some of the recipes will be one-timers, others I hope will be inserted into our routine. I don't decide in advance on what specific days I will cook what, but rather leave it to chance...this is what we feel like tonight. I cross off what I have made and keep a running meal list.
Also, I try to cook some of dinner at lunch time. This is so helpful when there are after school activities, or we decide it's a beautiful day and we need to be outside all afternoon.
This was kind of lengthy--sorry! I would love to hear what others do to make dinner time/grocery shopping smoother....
Physical Therapy
So, some of you know that I have a little foot injury which has now bothered me for over a year and was aggravated by going to the gym. So, I went to a new podiatrist who suggested giving physical therapy a try (since meds are not an option with nursing).
It's actually really nice--which makes it great since it's hard to fit in something else (a regular appointment) in our lives.
I go in the evening for 45 minute sessions. Kate is my therapist. She puts heat on my foot, then massages it, then does an ultrasound and then does some kind of treatment involving ice and electric currents. (Meanwhile I am waiting for insoles and I've got to get some new shoes).
Kate, I know the other one doesn't hurt, but would you mind massaging it too? I guess I will have to get a pedicure for that.
During steps 1 and 4, I am just killing time, so I bring a book or newspaper or if I want they have some great guilty pleasure reading like Us or In Touch magazines.
Steps 2 and 3, Kate and I just chat. Mostly about mom stuff, she's got a 2 year old too. She's very down to earth and easy to talk to.
Then, I have to ice it at home. Perfect excuse to sit down and watch Grey's!
...Life is best with sandy baby boys
So, we've been reading a lot of Cynthia Rylant. Her Henry and Mudge series is a great favorite of Josh. Her picture books are a lot of fun. Deb gave us one of her board books for Samuel.
I checked out "Good Morning Sweetie Pie" at the library. It's a compliation of 8 poems really about babies and different aspects of their day. She pairs dads and daughters and mothers and sons in her poems.
Here's one of my favorites (this if for you Erin and Tania and other friends with toddler boys and ladybug shaped sandboxes!)
Baby Has a Sandbox by Cynthia Rylant
Baby has a sandbox
he fills it up with trucks.
He adds a few long-neck giraffes
and little baby ducks.
He sprinkles in some little men
and little women, too.
Then stires them with a little stick
to make a sandbox goo.
Baby plays there until ten
and then it's time to nap.
He carries everybody in--
poor Mama's sandy lap.
But Mama doesn't mind at all
her sandy baby's toys.
'Cause Mama knows that life is best
with sandy baby boys.
Self-esteem booster
Some days we all feel a little low, question our worth and our abilities, wonder if we are good enough, etc.
Josh has inspired me to not wallow on days like this. At primary on Sunday in New Hampshire, he made a list of his talents--26 of them.
Some highlighs:
1. baseball
4. jumping at the pool
6. skipping
7. boogie boarding
9. taking care of animals
12. eating
14. running
15. running bases
16. eating candy
18. not liking it when it rains
19. sharpening pencils
21. collecting money
26. turning off the lights
Secretly, I wish he'd included things like emptying dishwasher, making bed and not teasing sister, but I suppose that's to come.
Next time I am a little sad about my insecurities, I will be remembering Josh's list and that I am good at a few things too. I do too turn off the lights.
Favorite fall family getaway treat
Made these this afternoon. Yummy, popable and easy to transport.
Pumpkin Muffins
Cream together 1/2 c. shortening and 1 c. sugar.
Add 2 beaten eggs, 1 tsp. allspice, 3/4 tsp. each cinnamon and baking soda, 1/2 tsp. each baking powder and salt, and 1/3 c. sour milk (add 1 tsp. vinegar.)
Add to that 1 c. canned pumpkin, 2 c. flour and 6 oz. mini chocolate chips.
Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!
Note: makes 48 mini muffins or 2 doz. regular muffins. I personally like them mini-sized (without liners)
Double the recipe and you can use your whole can of pumpkin (15 oz.)
Free ice cream
Now that Jenni is no longer local, I will take over telling the group when free ice cream day is. (But Jenni, still keep us informed about the chains with locations in both RI and NY, ok?)
Free waffle cones at Here's the Scoop on Sept. 21 in honor of the birthday of ice cream. (a day I can whole heartedly celebrate.) Will have to cancel healthy living for the afternoon.
What I had for lunch: a really good pb sandwich (from cooking light) Peanut butter plus: mix peanut butter and honey together, nuke for 20 seconds. Stir in raisins and sunflower seeds (dry roasted) and optional: mashed banana. Spread on whole wheat bread. Tasty! Can refrigerate for a couple of days.
It's really supposed to be about them...
Well, the blog has been sort of Kath-centered lately, so I thought I would post something about the children.
Josh: He has been having a grumpy spell. I was complaining to my mom that he just doesn't seem happy with me. She said, I wish I could say it was going to get better. Then she said, Just love him. So I tried that approach after school yesterday and we had a great game of baseball.
Caro: She has been awesome. She is just a delight right now. My favorite thing she has said, "Mom, can Matty and I go play in my room?" YES! She loves school.
Matty: So verbal and so cute. He told the sliding doors at TJ "Thank you" after they opened for him. He's the friendliest guy out and about, saying hi, thank you and babbling about all sorts of things.
Sammy: Just needs a back rub sometimes before he falls asleep. He smiles and puts everything in his mouth. He is a major drooler. And probably could use a hair cut.
Movies on my queue
Well, we are starting our netflix again (as our 3 month suspension just expired) and I am looking for movies to put on our queue. To help me in my search, I checked out "The New York Times Guide to the Best DVDs you've never seen, just missed or almost forgotten."
I found a few that maybe I will put on:
Cold Comfort Farm
The Spanish Prisoner
Truly Madly Deeply
Sliding Doors
Best in Show
Age of Innocence
Emma (the Kate Beckinsdale version from BBC)
Dave
Quiz Show
I'm thinking about Intolerable Cruelty and Big Night but don't know anyone who has seen them.
Is there anything else I should include?
Stop and Shop woes
One night last week, a survey research company called. 7 minutes about food shopping. I agreed (which I normally don't). Food shopping has been on my mind a lot with my new resolve for "healthier living". I was asked to rank the stores I shop at once a month or more on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being excellent) in a variety of categories. So, the places where I go are: stop and shop, trader joes and target. I gave stop and shop more often than not 2 in each category, ranging from cleanliness to friendliness to value to quality, etc. And maybe I was being generous. Despite my low ratings, I am consistently spending 2/3s of my grocery dollars there.
After almost 8 years of going there (and believe me it is much better now than it was when we first moved here: Grand Union--yuck!), I still go there. And the survey helped me realize why--convenient. So close to home.
It's always hard to go there after returning from vacation out West--where grocery stores have wide aisles, lots of variety, friendly clerks, decent produce, etc. With a sigh, oh, I am back here again.
But alas I persist--searching the parking lot for the sole car cart (Dan's had about 10 in SLC) so Matthew will be happy. It's familiarity is oddly reassuring. Ask me where any product is in the store and I could probably find it for you (that is if they carry it.) And they are nice about if you forget to give them your coupons--you just go to customer service and they give you cash, which is nice since I never have cash. It's kind of fun to give them your reward card at the end of your check out and watch the total go down. Small victory--I saved over $40.
A new smoothie
So, we really like smoothies but I wanted to branch out from our usual (which is nothing fancy, just frozen berries, bananas, oj, yogurt). One reason I like smoothies is it's a great way to use those ripe bananas that we always seem to have (doesn't involve baking banana bread!) And always drink a smoothie threw a straw--tastes much better that way!
Banana Cream Pie Smoothie
From Cooking Light
A higher-fiber alternative to plain milk, this smoothie doubles as a smart breakfast or a milk shake-like treat. One serving of the smoothie contains 315 milligrams of calcium, roughly the same amount as a glass of milk. Freeze and store extra bananas in zip-top plastic bags so you can whip up this smoothie in a flash.
1 cup sliced ripe banana (about 1 large)
1 cup vanilla low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk
2 tablespoons whole wheat graham cracker crumbs (about 1/2 cookie sheet)
1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ice cubes (about 1/4 cup)
Graham cracker crumbs
Arrange banana slices in a single layer on a baking sheet, and freeze until firm (about 1 hour).
Place frozen banana and remaining ingredients in a blender. Process until smooth. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs. Serve immediately.
Yield: 2 servings (serving size: 1 cup)
NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 216(12% from fat); FAT 2.8g (sat 1.5g,mono 0.8g,poly 0.3g); PROTEIN 9.8g; CHOLESTEROL 9mg; CALCIUM 315mg; SODIUM 145mg; FIBER 1.9g; IRON 0.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 39.3g
Maureen Callahan
Cooking Light, AUGUST 2006
Small victories
I served my mission when several of my dearest friends served their missions. My darling dear friend Deb served in Japan. She wrote in one letter where she said she always tried to keep in mind the small victories... "like when a old woman gives you an orange because she feels sorry for you (it sounded better in Japanese.)"
Small victories are great on days when your power goes out when you are trying to get ready for school! I complained to Mark that I'd like to have one day in my life where no laundering of clothes was happening--the only dirty clothes were the ones on our backs. He said maybe today was that day, since we had no power. Small victory!
A small victory occured when Matthew stayed by the cart the whole time at Target today!
A small victory occured when our car was making funny noises on the way home from Target but we managed to get home okay--and that it will get in the shop on Saturday.
A small victory occured when I taught Josh how to turn on the shower by himself (thus enabling him to turn it on for his smaller siblings) (side note: this summer we switched from baths to showers...so much easier and faster and no bath toys to deal with!)
A small victory occured when we managed to read 12 verses of Mosiah chapter 7. (thank you Fillmores for your inspiration!)
All in all, a good day. Did you have a small victory today?
It's Quiet
Well, child number one and two are at school. They had a little case of the jitters, but seemed happy once we arrived. Second grade teacher met them with much enthusiasm. Kindergarten teacher is darling. Happy!
Child 3 and 4 and I have had a good day. We went on a walk, and now they are both sleeping. 90 minutes until we pick up the kids. What to do with my time?
I had a really good lunch: whole wheat tortilla, spread with a light layer of lite cream cheese, turkey, munster and veggies. I had avacado, cucumber, red pepper (my new favorite vegetable) and baby spinach.
A “SWEEEET” CELEBRITY JUDGE
Written by Mark
Each year, we have an off-site retreat for our entire office. This year, we did a staff talent show for our second evening. The three organizers (me included) brought in a celebrity surprise guest to be the judge.
If you ever want to book him for some kind of event, let me know and I’ll get you the details. He’s a 16 year old kid from Texas and he’s dead-on with his impersonation. We loved him! (It helps that my boss – who had no idea he was coming – LOVES the movie. She was stunned when he walked in and initially thought it was Jon Heder.)
He charges $1,700 plus travel costs for he and his Mom (his agent). He brings headshots to sign and poses for pictures. He was featured in the New York Times a couple of months ago when the NYT went to Preston, ID for Napoleon Days.
Here’s a funny – Bryan (the impersonator) is Mormon, too. We didn’t know that ahead of time, and several of the acts were raunchy and inappropriate for a 16-year old Mormon kid. I apologized on behalf of my agency. But in the end, I feel like at least my agency was making a contribution to a future missionary’s fund.
Josh and Mark go to the Yankees Game
Written by Mark
There was an extra set of Yankees tickets at my office for Friday night’s game, so I claimed them for me and Josh. We had a great time.
The most exciting part was that we sat in lower level seats in the left outfield – normally we sit very high up in the cheap seats in the foul ball territory. In the second inning, A-Rod hit a home run right at us!!! It landed just three rows in front of us! It happened so fast I didn’t even realize what was happening or make a grab for it – but we wouldn’t have a chance anyway.
When we got home, we went to Yankees.com to see if we could see ourselves on the highlight reel for A-Rod’s home run, but couldn’t see us.
The Yankees beat Minnesota 8 to 1 (the Twins got their one run in the 9th). A-Rod had two home runs, and Jeter had lots of hits. Bernie and Moose didn’t play but lots of our other favorites did like Johnny Damon and Jorge Posada, etc.
Josh got a Yankees hat and a hot dog. Dad got a hot chocolate. The subway race was working this time, and the B train won. It rained most of the game (but they did not rain delay it ever), but we were under a protected area. Josh liked it when “Peanut Guy” came through the aisles shouting “Peanut Guy’s Here!”
If you ever are driving to the game, we have the whole drill down to a science. Take the Deegan to Exit 6, then get off and stay to the left – even though the sign says stay right for parking. There’s a perfect lot right there for $13 (which is actually a great deal considering what it would cost on the train for a couple of people). It’s then a short, fun walk. When you leave, it forces you to go south on the Deegan, but that’s OK – just go until you hit the Bruckner and come home up the Bronx River Parkway. You avoid ALL traffic!
