Come On Get Happy

Yesterday I put up my knitting. I’m not sure how I feel about it… but at the moment it is ok. I’m just not working on it at the moment and we really needed the space in the room. We have this huge storage/drawer unit we’ve been using for both kids to house clothing and diapers… well a few weeks ago a drawer started to hang and in true preschooler fashion “if it’s stuck, just pull harder!” That poor IKEA furniture had no chance. The Girl comes to tell us “the drawer is broken” and me thinking oh it’s just stuck goes to investigate. Nope, BROKEN. Pulled apart, bearing housing for the slides falling out on one side, and it is wedged in the slot in all it’s broken glory. We moved everything out of that drawer into The Girl’s IKEA Trofast unit with drawers (that thing is a workhorse). Now, The Boy’s clothing is exposed and he empties the drawer at every opportunity (because honestly…wouldn’t you!?). We’re worried that they are going to attempt to climb it at this point. So we’re busy relocating, shifting, etc.  We have climbers… and let me tell you that finding your sub 1 year old and 3 year old on the dining room table is a really fun experience.  (our chairs are now laying on the floor)

Earlier this week we baked some pre-made dough sugar cookies. It’s the kind they sell as school fundraisers these days. I didn’t buy it, my Mom did. Good gawd… “tastes like homemade”  LOL  Apparently they haven’t been to my home! The Girl thinks they are good and I’m shaking my head going “but we have KAF Kids mixes and all the makings of homemade cookies and you’d rather eat THIS!?” SOB  However this is coming off of Halloween and she totally rejected some nasty candy…so my faith is not completely ruined. She was also absolutely too cute reading Bakers Banter with me this week and asking when we were going to make the bread they made. If KAF needs a spirited poster child(ren)… I got her (and him!) right here. The Boy is getting more interested every day, but he is admittedly a finished product tester more often than not right now.  He would like for me to tell you that mommy’s first pie crust was delicious.

I made a chicken pot pie (above) and an apple pie. We were a bit impatient and didn’t let it cool as much as we should on the chicken so it oozed out a bit. Needless to say, both were quickly devoured  and I’m extremely pleased with the results. If you ever have a chance to attend a KAF Traveling Baking Demo, do so. There was so much great information and it 100% boosted my confidence level to do some thing I had been terrified to do. The folks that do the demo are so helpful and knowledgeable, I think even a seasoned baker could take away something new. Never going back to store bought pie crust again.

I’m still feeling the burnout pretty bad. Had a pretty good talk with The Husband who has been having some similar struggles. We’re trying to adjust things and get back to something we can all live with better. We’re having sleeping difficulties with The Boy (ack teething and life) which is leading to disturbing The Girl which is snowballing into grumpy everyone. Sleep deprivation is brutal. We (The Husband and I) are also not the most schedule oriented people, routine yes but we just don’t run by a clock very well.

I’m pondering The Boy’s birthday “cake.”  We did strawberry shortcake for The Girl and strawberries are sadly out of season. I was debating something like berry muffins. Part of me wants to just do the cake and frosting thing, but I’m not sold on the idea. It wasn’t something that we did with The Girl and while sugar has been a little more lax this go around, I’m not ready to toke the poor thing up on his 1st birthday either.

Tomorrow is Friday which means Starbucks Day! WOOO! I usually get a decaf no whip soy mocha but I’m debating the peppermint mocha or a gingerbread latte since the seasonal (snert) flavors were released this week with the red cups. oo la la bring on that sexy red cup!

Wind Me Up, Wind Me Down

Wow..where to start?

I’m in a wee bit of a funk. The joys of no time of my own is raining down upon me like some of the long awaited storms we’ve finally gotten. It’s amusing in a way, because there are far too many times I feel at wits end and simply wish I could just, I don’t know, check out for an hour or two … or maybe just once for the first time since late 2005 maybe have a good night’s sleep. This is also usually about the time someone will somewhat randomly say “oh I don’t know how you can stand to stay at home, I couldn’t.” I’m totally happy that they realize this of themselves, but at the same time… it is almost always at the point where I’m pretty sure they are going to come carry me away any day now. Do I radiate it so loudly now? I haven’t played my trumpet in over a year… knitting… not happening… bath alone  forget-about-it. Seriously it takes me a week or more to do something, even when it’s pretty critical. Lovely. I need a damn house elf (but I’d treat them good!) or at the very least a crew of ladies who would kindly come mop and clean my bathrooms.  I’m sure every parent has those days but it sucks donkey balls when it’s you having that day/week/month/whatever. Burnout no fun land, oh I am there.

At current, I am hiding in the room with the computer. It’s almost bathtime…need to go pick up dinner stuff. We’re trying really hard to cook at home more, but interestingly enough…I am the only one cooking. I’m not sure how that works but hey tonight I really didn’t want to cook and we actually cracked frozen soup out of the freezer. I am so proud. Usually that means a Mighty Fine night or a Cabo Bob’s night. We’re also dealing with the 3 year old picky-eater-itis. No you can not have cookies/candy/sugar/chips/jelly/etc for meals. It’s insane how a kid can go from eating everything to being picky and then have changing likes on an hourly or sometimes less basis.

Had a crazy afternoon…I went to ye old local cloth diapering store. An exercise in futility. Why? Because every. single. time. I go… they never have the thing I am going for. EVER. The people that run it (at least the owner) is pretty nice…though I’m not super duper excited that her sick kid was encouraged to go play with mine and that she let me know the kid was sick AFTER they had mouthed the same toy.  It’s just frustrating as heck to always get there and them not have it. I also need to stop checking their website…website says yes, store no have. No I don’t call, but I guess I should. Phone calls usually end up with screaming children or something happening that isn’t good. Ended up coming home with two really grumpy children and ordering the silly thing online with free shipping. (Also… why oh why does Fuzzi Bunz have to get the awesome girly prints when I don’t have a girl in diapers and there are no cool boy prints. sigh.) Both kids fell asleep in the car.

In the past month…my folks side had a death in the family. I ended up representing my folks part of the clan by being a pallbearer. It was kind of an unexpected death… older family member but it just kind of BAM! happened rather quickly.  The family drama that is brewing…groan. I just want to stay out of it, even though others are trying to drag me in. Why can’t everyone just be civil and get through it!??

On the other side, my FIL is having surgery for a tumor in his colon this month. They found out last month through a colonoscopy, but I get the feeling it was suspected. They think it is benign and expect it to be as “no big thing” as a colon resection can be. My MIL wants The Husband to come down and help…and he should. Trying to figure out how to deal with the wee ones and if I/us should go. Want to support The Husband, but I know that the kiddos would not do good in a new place with little they can get into. All I could do is watch them.  It is a really tough call. SIL is coming down too, so this could end up being a family thing too I guess.

So to end on a happy note… 18th of this month is The Boy’s first birthday! HURRAY! We already have his name stool and I figure we’ll do cake and stuff. Low key but fun. It’s hard to believe he’s already a year old…but he’s been here practically forever too.

It (almost) Feels Like Fall

The past week here has been fabulous. It all started off with our first “real” cold front coming in. Our resident weather lovers in training were amused by me running around the house opening all the windows. Of course they all ran to watch the rain.

I apologize to our neighbors if my child or children have yelled at you out the window.

We’ve been taking walks during the day (when it’s not raining) and I think it has helped everyone to get some fresh air.  I had to break out the blue jeans this week. What a nice change from the oppressive summer heat! The cooler weather has been inspiring all sorts of silly from everyone. I went and bought pumpkins to set outside because if it feels like fall… there must be pumpkins on the porch. I’ll take them off come Christmas or they rot…whichever comes first.

The Girl licking the remnants of lemon cake batter made with Meyer lemons in our Greenling box.  (hummm I hope The Girl was nice when the Greenling delivery guy came this week. Our window was open and I heard her talking but not what she said…humm)

Greenling delivery day is pretty exciting at our house. I’m excited for all the fresh veggies in our local box. My children are excited about all the shredding paper in the box. The Girl and The Boy also really, really like unloading the box. Sometimes they don’t even wait for me to get the veggies out.

All I can say is that it is a good thing that our Dyson vacuum sucks. It’s the only way we get all the shredded paper picked up because by the end of the day… there is not a room left unpapered. However, they are having a blast and there is something really fun about shredded paper that I had forgotten.

We’ve also been having fun making concoctions in the kitchen like cornstarch goo. The lovely sensory display of suspensions. It was a HIT! I can’t wait to make glue/borax polymer with her!

We’re making things to eat too. I mentioned the start of citrus season with the Meyer lemons… it’s also apple and pear season. NOM! There is nothing, nothing, like getting a fresh from the tree apple or pear. My gosh. We had three beautiful pears in our box this week. The Girl and I adapted a KAF apple muffin recipe for the pears and to cut the dairy. We ended up with this:

Cooking them made our whole house smell like fall. YUM!

I am scared to death that next week will be back to the 90’s or, Goddess forbid, the 100’s. It’s been so much fun getting to enjoy the outdoors, bake without making the house feel like a sauna, and enjoy the wonder of rain through your kids.

Twenty Years

It’s 3:30 am and I just can’t sleep. I’m dog tired. My eyes hurt, my head hurts, and every time I lay down…boom awake.

I finally realized it. I always get funky this time of year, just as I have for the 19 previous years.

On a Wednesday morning, in late September, twenty years ago my dad passed away.

I remember just knowing. I remember watching my mom get out of the car and running and hiding, I already knew. Dad. My Best Friend. Gone.  The seven long weeks of hoping against hope that whatever it was that happened during the open heart surgery wouldn’t cause problems, hoping that a disease/syndrome that 20 years ago was a death sentence (now highly survivable) would be overcome, wishing things would just go back to normal were over. I was 8 years old and it still breaks my heart.

Dad, I miss you.

Grounded

We’re in week 3 of our confinement. The Husband’s car did a “very bad thing” and is quite literally on it’s last leg. Ohhhh boy. We could fix it, but it would cost about as much as a sizable down payment on a new car. hurm. Even the guys at the shop were all… “are you sure you want to repair this?” ohhh yeah it’s that good.  So off we go to find a new car and apply for our state clunker program. His car didn’t qualify for the federal program anyway (BY ONE MILE) so it’s not a loss there. Now we’re in the holding pattern waiting for the voucher to come and the car to arrive.

In some  ways it is making me crazypants. This means no quick errand, no afternoon ride, no going to parks, no visiting friends, no meeting almighty Papa somewhere. It’s hard explaining every single weekday why my car is gone and Papa’s is here and why we can’t go anywhere. On other the other hand it is nice because The Boy still does not tolerate car rides. He HATES the carseat or something. We can not go to the store and home with out a screaming fit in the car. Travelling with him is a really difficult situation right now. The Girl had issues as well, but she by and large had gotten over the ones during the short trips at this point. I don’t know…I have no further ideas on how to deal with it except to not put him through it as much as possible and hope that he outgrows it sooner than later.

I really want to do the Hill Country Yarn Crawl and I’m really not sure how do make it happen. He still needs to nurse regularly – he doesn’t take bottles or milk from sippy cups – and I can’t be gone all day at this point. I can’t take him in the car either. I am really thinking I may have to wait another year.

I’ve been reading a bit in my sparse spare time. At the moment it is a parenting book on spirited children called Raising Your Spirited Child. So far it has been interesting and it has given me some perspectives I had not considered. We’re trying a few different things – some from the book and some of our own creation but I think there has been some progress. I’m really not a big fan of parenting books, but this one focuses just as much on the temperament of the parent as much as the child. I also very appreciate that the focus is helping your child negotiate their world and treasure their spirit versus how to break their spirit. Everyday at our house is an adventure and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

I’m hoping I can get some baking posts up sometime soon. We’ve been making our own bread and I’ve been busily altering recipes to heavily reduce, if not eliminate, the dairy in them. Most of the time it is pretty easy and the difference is really not discernible in most cases. Now if I could swing some vegan (or almost vegan) cupcakes like Sugarmama’s … I’d be all set!

Learning Our Limits

Stealing a few minutes and resisting the urge to go consume the rest of that peanut butter fudge cake I made yesterday. The only thing stopping me is the incredible amount of sick that would occur from eating that much…but it is really good and really rich.  I was able to sub the diary items for soy milk/creamer and am feeling good about the results. The only negative is that I put a bit too much liquid so the icing/topping is a little drippy. I think it adds character, but I’ll be rectifying this issue next go around.

I’m getting into the swing of no dairy. We had an overload last week, which was totally my fault, and I am firmly back on the wagon. Nothing puts you back there like BOTH kids having issues and acting out because of them. It was a total “hang on and this too shall pass” moment. I think the best thing is that while I totally screwed up on the amounts consumed, we caught the beginnings of the meltdown and cut the dairy off quickly. I’m pretty sure our direction is going to be an almost totally dairy free home with occasional treats like a pizza roll at home or perhaps something special when we go out. We can control it much better at home and then still be able to have our dairy chips, so to speak, left for other times… like getting to go to SugarMama’s or something equally cool like that. (they have fab vegan cupcakes in addition to the traditional ones, I might add) I’ve found myself feeling better not having dairy too and I think I am likely the one having the most issues. However, I am pretty good about sucking down Silk chocolate now. Though, I do wonder how to handle the no dairy/little dairy at school if we do not homeschool. I’m really glad we have a few years to figure that one out. I know the behavior issues that stem from it won’t go over well… well anywhere.

Lots going on, more to talk about later…  but for now everyone is up and it’s all hands back on deck.

Circus, Adventurecat, and The Stuntboy

This weekend was a first. The Girl and I left The Boy and The Husband at home and joined some friends at THE Circus. Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey was in town and our friends had found some rocking discount tickets. WOO!

I have my own personal reservations about the circus using animals of the non domesticated variety in their acts… but I was still floored by the show and I wasn’t the only one.

There was always something to look at, usually in more than one place too. I was fascinated by how much work goes into distracting the audience from the transitions. (waves to the clowns) I so wanted to go to Barnum and Bailey’s Clown College as a kid after seeing them on TV. I think that perhaps I am too introverted…  ok back to The Girl’s circus. She really, really liked the aerial acts, esp the trapeze. They sure make that look easy. I still nearly peed my pants when they had SEVEN Rebel Riders in the steel sphere cage. That was wickedly cool. Next time, we’re bringing earplugs because it was entirely too loud. The Girl agreed with this and we did her hands and mine over her ears for 3/4 of the show.

While we were having a high flying adventure, one of our (indoor) cats had apparently made the great escape while we were transferring car seats. (hey we carpooled! does this make me more green?) We didn’t realize he was missing until almost midnight…after a hot day and a threatened thunderstorm. This particular cat is a big wiener when it comes to storms. We took turns looking for him that night since The Wee Ones were sleeping. Nothing. We put out food and water figuring he’d be home the next morning. Nope. Finally found him that night, under a neighbor’s car – unharmed. We’re pretty sure he had a storm drain adventure judging by his dirt level. Go kitty.

Our resident Stuntboy has also been busy. He’s figured out how to push objects into other objects to climb them. He’s learned how to get of the bed, the couch, and most other higher up objects. He’s taken to wanting to climb in the pantry and be rather vexed that he can’t open the various containers we store in there. The Boy also is taking some very important steps towards the walking world. Not only is he making the big stepping lunge between objects, he lets go and takes a few steps out into the open before hitting his knees and doing the supersonic crawl. We also were incredibly amused that he read The Girl the riot act when she picked up his cup and started drinking from it. The fun there is just beginning.

What’s For Dinner Thursday

Wow…today was not the greatest day. Wildness, vax crank, good times. I think The Husband was actually willing to just bring home something tasty and delicious (which is awesome and wonderful) but we ended up just cooking at home.

Our Greenling Local Box had some beautiful yellow squash, shallots, elephant garlic, and chives that I was trying to utilize. I found a deal on whole chickens and had some nice organic baby carrots from last week’s trip to Costco. Roasted chicken time!

I stuffed the chicken with the shallots, garlic, and some rosemary from our flower bed. I went whole hog and did both under the skin and in the cavity. Seasoned the skin of the chicken and added the baby carrots and yellow squash to the pan. Into the oven at 425 for about 50 minutes it went. When it was done….

Our other side was some delicious mashed potatoes with cut up chives.

A picture of the final product:

The Girl proclaimed the chicken tasty and had two helpings. The Boy decided that whatever I was trying to feed him wasn’t good enough and my little laptop gourmet feasted on veggies and a wee bit of chicken. Hurray!

Transition

Our CSA ended at the end of July and I’ll admit to being in total, absolute withdrawal. I mean, really, if you were getting this every week…you’d be a little twitchy when it ended too.

By the end of the season we had graduated to okra, eggplant, peppers, edamame, melon, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and more. Organic, local, and in abundance. If it were a different time, I might have to marry Tecolote Farm. We are counting the months, weeks, and days until next season.

Going to the farmer’s markets in town have been a bit problematic for us. We’re far away from both of them and as those that know us best know…we are, ahem, not exactly early birds. The heat is brutal and it’s really tough baking while waiting in line for fresh grown veggies. Memories of the CSA Debacle of ‘08 (in no way affiliated with Tecolote) were flooding back and I didn’t want that unhappy experience again. The thought of going back to grocery store selection…or well in our case, Costco selection, was frightening. It’s just all the same, all the time.

In an attempt to adjust we decided to give Greenling a try. It has been an experiment full of trepidation but has had some really pleasant surprises.

I’ll get my “con” out of the way first. We don’t get as much bang for our buck as with our CSA. This folks, is business. Insert middle man and it is what it is. Groan. I just want more veggies for my dollar.  It’s not Greenling’s problem…it’s mine and I’ll own it. I’m a spoiled CSA foodie trying to adjust back into the real world.

Now onto the pros:

1. I order groceries online at home. No packing up the kids and going to the local Whole Paycheck, Central Market, or other grocery trying to find x item.
2. Their Customer Service is AMAZING. Not just ho-hum. We’re talking fast responses from real people. While I haven’t really had any major issues aside from my aforementioned spoiled-ness any questions I have had have been happily answered. They also have a fabulous 100% guarantee on their goods. Which brings me too…
3. The produce itself is PRISTINE. Holy moley. Over handled produce is a thing of the past here. You know those people that squash every tomato or avocado to get the right one and blemish them all?! This DOES. NOT. HAPPEN. with Greenling. Their seconds offerings are better than the first quality offering at the regular store. Not kidding, not one bit. If by chance you do get something bruised or, Goddess forbid, rotten in the middle, it’s covered by their guarantee. Let them know, they make it right.
4. Did I mention it is delivered?!  TO. MY. DOOR. Let me refer back to this packing up the kids concept. Everything comes packaged gently and appropriately.
5. Local selections and loads of them. Their local box is pretty darn awesome, but you can a la carte if that’s your bag too.  There are also a number of nice artisan breads, cheeses, and other locally made food items as well.

It’s awfully nice to have the option here in town and this family is deeply appreciative of Greenling’s efforts. If you’re local to the Austin area and interested, check them out (and if you think about it, let them know I sent ya!)!!

(my little disclaimer – This was a completely unsolicited commentary, I just love my produce!)

Why Baking with Kids is Wonderful

I completely admit to being a wee bit of a baking nut. Not perhaps pastry chef quality, but I do make some mean chocolate chip cookies if I may say so myself. About four years ago, I found myself delving into goodness which is KAF (King Arthur Flour for the uninitiated) and becoming a regular reader of their Baker’s Banter blog.

After the birth of my daughter in 2006, I really craved baked goods. Call it what you will, but store bought treats generally just don’t fit the bill. I dodn’t like all the additives and the taste just isn’t all that. The Girl started out just watching and as soon as she could climb on the chair, she had her hands in just about everything.  Perhaps she’d only help me place items on a cookie sheet to be baked, but she’d always be there for sampling.  Then when she was able to reach the counter we’d find cookie dough missing.

By the time she reached a year and a half, maybe a bit younger, she was climbing up on the chairs to help me “measure” and add items to whatever we’re making. We eventually purchased a Learning Tower, which is a type of kitchen chair on steroids, that is far more stable.

Now everything is prefaced with “I taste” or “I do.”  Who knew that a newly 3 year old can crack eggs into a mix perfectly! She’s also the consummate dumping in of ingredients pro and quality control committee of our operation.

One of our latest obsessions is making homemade granola. The recipe I use comes from KAF and the very wonderful PJ Hamel suggested that we just mix it up by hand, quite literally. Oh PJ, you were so right about kids loving mixing things by hand.

Oh yes, it’s messy! It also encourages A LOT of finger licking and taste tests.  The smile on your kid’s face is totally worth all the clean up you may have to do later.

Of course it’s great because you do get to talk about ingredients. We’ve discovered that cocoa is bitter, sugar is sweet, vanilla extract tastes really good in things, but not so much on it’s own, etc.  We’re talking about measuring too, even at 3. While right now, it’s pretty esoteric…it is really fun playing with all the different sized cups and spoons.

The best part, is just the time we spend together. It doesn’t matter if it’s cookies from a roll, from scratch, or box cake mix. Even if we have a kitchen disaster, a loaf of bread better suited as a door stop, or even a cookie left in the oven a wee bit too long…that time was our time. Time for fun, getting messy, and a little parent/child time that is priceless.

We taste the batter and more often than not, we wear a little too. One day while baking during The Boy’s nap, I needed to go check him and found The Girl licking the spoon while riding her rocking rabbit. It doesn’t more priceless than that.

I love seeing her creativity come out when we bake things. The “hat” she is wearing was deemed her baking hat. She wore it the entire afternoon that day, especially when it was time for sprinkles. When we do frosting, she tells me what the frosting mounds look like as if we’re studying the clouds.

Of course, sharing the finished product at the end is pretty darn fun too.

So grab your kiddos and get to baking!