High fevers and terrible coughing, wheezing, etc.
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| Having missed nap for a doctor visit, he's crashing on the couch before dinner |
Friday, February 4, 2011
Dear Aaron could use a Prayer...
He is very sick today.
High fevers and terrible coughing, wheezing, etc.
High fevers and terrible coughing, wheezing, etc.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Another store-bought for homemade swap: Chocolate Syrup
We ran out of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup today. Almost a crisis. The kids don't seem to be feeling very well today and keep asking for chocolate milk.
I've been staring down the list of ingredients on the Hershey's bottle for quite some time now. Willing it to say sugar instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup. (HFCS) Believe what you want about HFCS, but I personally have read enough to be in the "it's not good for you" camp. I try to eliminate it from our diets as much as I can. (This is partly why we don't regularly drink pop. We get our "fizzy" fix from seltzer.)
So on a whim, to avoid a chocolate milk crisis, I whipped up a batch of homemade chocolate syrup.
I adapted my recipe from this one:
After reading a couple of recipes and the comments on those recipes, I learned that chocolate syrup really needs milk in it, so I did half water, half milk. I also saved the Hershey's bottle and put my syrup in it, just for ease of storing & pouring.
Homemade Chocolate Syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)
2 cups sugar
dash salt
3 Tbsp. baking cocoa (I used hershey's powder)
1 tsp. Vanilla
Whisk water, milk, sugar, salt, & baking cocoa in a sauce pan over medium heat until boiling. Set timer & boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Cool completely. It will thicken as it cools.
I'll post a picture as soon as I can.
I've been staring down the list of ingredients on the Hershey's bottle for quite some time now. Willing it to say sugar instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup. (HFCS) Believe what you want about HFCS, but I personally have read enough to be in the "it's not good for you" camp. I try to eliminate it from our diets as much as I can. (This is partly why we don't regularly drink pop. We get our "fizzy" fix from seltzer.)
So on a whim, to avoid a chocolate milk crisis, I whipped up a batch of homemade chocolate syrup.
I adapted my recipe from this one:
After reading a couple of recipes and the comments on those recipes, I learned that chocolate syrup really needs milk in it, so I did half water, half milk. I also saved the Hershey's bottle and put my syrup in it, just for ease of storing & pouring.
Homemade Chocolate Syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)
2 cups sugar
dash salt
3 Tbsp. baking cocoa (I used hershey's powder)
1 tsp. Vanilla
Whisk water, milk, sugar, salt, & baking cocoa in a sauce pan over medium heat until boiling. Set timer & boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Cool completely. It will thicken as it cools.
I'll post a picture as soon as I can.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
When I was Young...
Eh, maybe I should rephrase that and say: before I had kids...
I could start a painting project in the morning and finish before lunch. I haven't really painted that many rooms, especially totally on my own, but there have been a couple.
And they did not take me days and days to finish. Not even a whole day to finish.
And this is the story of my life right now. I get precious few minutes to do projects so they take me forever to finish...if they ever get finished.
Right now I'm painting Aaron's room, our former guest room, a color that Ian picked. When I'm done, we will move Ian in with Aaron. Then I get to pain Ian's room for Lauren. I am very much looking forward to doing Lauren's room. I wanted to do Aaron's room, too, so I am, but it is annoying me. I only get to work on it in the morning and specifically when Ian & Aaron are both at school, so that means Wednesday mornings. And Lauren is only good for playing by herself for about 15 minutes at a time. At this rate it is going to be May before I'm done.
When we're all done with the painting and moves, we'll all start sleeping better again, right?
It is all about sleep. Everything is always about sleep.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Our Me-Me-Me Society
I saw another example of our me-me-me society today at Ian's preschool registration.
Here are the details the school gave us regarding the registration process:
1. Registration is at 9:15 on February 1, 2011. You can arrive at 8:50 to take your child to his classroom before reporting to the fellowship hall. You must take your child to his class before you come to registration.
There was a 2 hour delay in the local public school district today so that meant preschool had a 10am start. I called to find out if registration was also delayed by an hour and it was. So that would only change the instructions above by saying "registration begins at 10:15, you can come at 9:50 to drop your child off."
But here's what actually went down:
We arrived at 9:45 (because we try to be a couple minutes early to everything.) When we walked in the fellowship hall, it was already packed with people. When we got our "number" for the "up" system, it was ELEVEN. There were 3 different age classes to sign up for so we were number 11 in our group. There were probably 25 kids in line ahead of us.
What makes me mad is this:
When the crap did they show up? And why were they given numbers before 9:50? If it says come at 9:50 and that registration doesn't actually start until 10:15, why were the people who got there at 9:30 given numbers? That's not fair. No numbers should've been handed out before 9:50, in my opinion. What's stopping people, eager to secure their child's spot in the limited class space, from arriving an hour early? Two hours? How important is it to you?!
There were only 14 spots in the class Ian was registering for and we arrived at the time when the numbers were supposed to be given out, but we got number 11. What if we had come on time for registration and been handed number 15? That's the waiting list. I totally get "first come first served." But not when I could easily have come much earlier too.
I didn't go any earlier because the rules specifically said don't come until 9:50. So I didn't. And because I was playing by the rules I almost missed out! The numbers for Ian's class were called all the way up to 19, and none of those parents arrived after the start of registration. None of them. One dad was rather upset, saying, "So my daughter has come here for 2 years already and now she's wait-listed for her last year because I didn't come an hour early? That's ridiculous."
I have to agree.
To me it is just another example of this sad place we live where hardly anybody plays by the rules anymore, especially when it involves their kid and getting a "good" space for them for school. I mean, how far are you really willing to go? How many rules are you willing to "bend?" How many times are you going to teach your children, by example, that bending rules and pushing others to the side just to get yourself ahead is ok?
And I wrote this even though Ian got his spot and he's all signed up for next year. What if he hadn't?
Here are the details the school gave us regarding the registration process:
1. Registration is at 9:15 on February 1, 2011. You can arrive at 8:50 to take your child to his classroom before reporting to the fellowship hall. You must take your child to his class before you come to registration.
There was a 2 hour delay in the local public school district today so that meant preschool had a 10am start. I called to find out if registration was also delayed by an hour and it was. So that would only change the instructions above by saying "registration begins at 10:15, you can come at 9:50 to drop your child off."
But here's what actually went down:
We arrived at 9:45 (because we try to be a couple minutes early to everything.) When we walked in the fellowship hall, it was already packed with people. When we got our "number" for the "up" system, it was ELEVEN. There were 3 different age classes to sign up for so we were number 11 in our group. There were probably 25 kids in line ahead of us.
What makes me mad is this:
When the crap did they show up? And why were they given numbers before 9:50? If it says come at 9:50 and that registration doesn't actually start until 10:15, why were the people who got there at 9:30 given numbers? That's not fair. No numbers should've been handed out before 9:50, in my opinion. What's stopping people, eager to secure their child's spot in the limited class space, from arriving an hour early? Two hours? How important is it to you?!
There were only 14 spots in the class Ian was registering for and we arrived at the time when the numbers were supposed to be given out, but we got number 11. What if we had come on time for registration and been handed number 15? That's the waiting list. I totally get "first come first served." But not when I could easily have come much earlier too.
I didn't go any earlier because the rules specifically said don't come until 9:50. So I didn't. And because I was playing by the rules I almost missed out! The numbers for Ian's class were called all the way up to 19, and none of those parents arrived after the start of registration. None of them. One dad was rather upset, saying, "So my daughter has come here for 2 years already and now she's wait-listed for her last year because I didn't come an hour early? That's ridiculous."
I have to agree.
To me it is just another example of this sad place we live where hardly anybody plays by the rules anymore, especially when it involves their kid and getting a "good" space for them for school. I mean, how far are you really willing to go? How many rules are you willing to "bend?" How many times are you going to teach your children, by example, that bending rules and pushing others to the side just to get yourself ahead is ok?
And I wrote this even though Ian got his spot and he's all signed up for next year. What if he hadn't?
Monday, January 31, 2011
20 favorite things
Suggested blog post... so here it is!
20 of my favorite things:
I'm intentionally leaving out my kids, my family, etc. Those are really obvious so I'm skipping them in the name of revealing more!
1. Homemade bread. (Probably obvious to anyone who is paying attention... I'm not sure if there are very many food things that are better than a slice of homemade bread with jam on it.)
2. Strawberry Jam. It has to be homemade.
3. Nature walks. As we call them in our little family, I love to put on my tennis shoes and get walking in the outdoors. As long and as far as possible.
4. History.
5. French Pastries and Parisian Bistro food. (I haven't really ever met a French pastry I didn't like, but my favorite is Tarte Framboise...raspberry tarte. I think my favorite Bistro food is just plain old poulet (baked chicken) with pomme frites (fries).
6. Disney World.
7. Slide-on New Balance shoes. They're tennis shoes, they're slip on... what could be better?
8. Buffalo Chicken. Wings, Tenders, Breast Sandwich...delish.
9. Water. Better than any other beverage. Great for bathing, swimming, keeping plants alive. I'm not too keen on it in the form of snow, but water is my favorite drink and I love swimming!
10. Goat Milk Soap.
11. Steak. Nothing better than a big, delicious steak on my plate with a baked potato (just butter).
12. Ohiopyle State Park. It combines several of my favorite things: nature, nature walks, water, small towns. Just a great place to visit in the summer & fall.
13. Small towns. I love quaint towns with a little main street that has shops and a wide sidewalk.
14. Wide open space. If I could live out in the country and still be close to the city somehow, I would. I love great big yards and maybe even some cows, fresh country breezes blowing across my face... ahh.
15. Capri Pants.
16. McGinnis Sisters' food market.
17. Pink. The color. And purple too.
18. Lilacs. My favorite flower by far.
19. Summer fruit season- strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, apples. Yum.
20. Pumpkin.
20 of my favorite things:
I'm intentionally leaving out my kids, my family, etc. Those are really obvious so I'm skipping them in the name of revealing more!
1. Homemade bread. (Probably obvious to anyone who is paying attention... I'm not sure if there are very many food things that are better than a slice of homemade bread with jam on it.)
2. Strawberry Jam. It has to be homemade.
3. Nature walks. As we call them in our little family, I love to put on my tennis shoes and get walking in the outdoors. As long and as far as possible.
4. History.
5. French Pastries and Parisian Bistro food. (I haven't really ever met a French pastry I didn't like, but my favorite is Tarte Framboise...raspberry tarte. I think my favorite Bistro food is just plain old poulet (baked chicken) with pomme frites (fries).
6. Disney World.
7. Slide-on New Balance shoes. They're tennis shoes, they're slip on... what could be better?
8. Buffalo Chicken. Wings, Tenders, Breast Sandwich...delish.
9. Water. Better than any other beverage. Great for bathing, swimming, keeping plants alive. I'm not too keen on it in the form of snow, but water is my favorite drink and I love swimming!
10. Goat Milk Soap.
11. Steak. Nothing better than a big, delicious steak on my plate with a baked potato (just butter).
12. Ohiopyle State Park. It combines several of my favorite things: nature, nature walks, water, small towns. Just a great place to visit in the summer & fall.
13. Small towns. I love quaint towns with a little main street that has shops and a wide sidewalk.
14. Wide open space. If I could live out in the country and still be close to the city somehow, I would. I love great big yards and maybe even some cows, fresh country breezes blowing across my face... ahh.
15. Capri Pants.
16. McGinnis Sisters' food market.
17. Pink. The color. And purple too.
18. Lilacs. My favorite flower by far.
19. Summer fruit season- strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, apples. Yum.
20. Pumpkin.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Might be my new favorite food blog...
I stumbled across this Pittsburgh blog last night and was totally amazed.
Today I made her light wheat sandwich bread. Fabulous.
I will be making many more of her recipes soon.
YUM.
And the fact that the author's name is Lauren?
That's Burghilicious.
http://burghilicious.com/
Today I made her light wheat sandwich bread. Fabulous.
I will be making many more of her recipes soon.
YUM.
And the fact that the author's name is Lauren?
That's Burghilicious.
http://burghilicious.com/
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Ian's Despicable Me Moves
Ian learned these dance moves from the movie Despicable Me... and then there's Aaron, who needs some new moves, but is obviously feeling pretty good these days. We took this video before bath 2 nights ago. So funny.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Just call me Mrs. Fix-it
This morning, first thing, I went down and started the load of Lauren's diapers that had been soaking over night. When it was done, I returned to the laundry room to run a second rinse cycle and noticed the mop sink wasn't fully empty from the first cycle, but it was going down so I kept moving.
We were late leaving for a playdate. Ian's ridiculous behavior delayed our departure from the house by thirty-five minutes this morning. Every single delay tactic he could muster. I finally got the kids all into the van & ran back to hang up diapers...I stepped into the laundry room onto the rug in front of the washer and promptly soaked my socks.
F.L.O.O.D.
Our washer drains into our mop sink. Personally I think that's kinda dumb, but whatever. Something was keeping the water from draining out of the mop sink and it overflowed. It does that occasionally. usually when someone mistakenly leaves a rag or something in it and the drain gets blocked. I try to stay upbeat about it because, hey, our laundry room floor gets washed...with soap!
But this morning I just saw doom and gloom. I noticed recently that our sink drains have been running slow too. And then the flood in the laundry room. The last time this happened our entire garage backed up with sewer water & we had to have Roto Rooter come after my handyman dad came and cut a piece out of our pipe. It was a major mess & hassle. That was 5 years ago. Enough time for the tree roots to grow back, right? Crap.
I'd also noticed our town's water/sewer authority "Ram-Jet" truck has been running up and down the road all week. So maybe the problem was actually with the street/town instead of us. Roger called them. They came and checked. All was clear on their end. Dang.
Before we tried chemicals (I don't really like using them) or calling a plumber or something, I decided to try the plunger on the mop sink on last time. Gave it a really good plunging. I think I was taking the day's frustrations out on it. I was praying while I was plunging. I was just about to get the Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (a "plugged sink" remedy my mom has used forever) and woosh! The water rushed down the drain & I could no longer keep any water in the sink!
Clear!
Praise God!
Why am I blogging about my clogged sink?
A long time ago I came across a quote (of Mason Cooley) that says, "Faith moves mountains, but you have to keep pushing while you're praying."
I love that quote. I kept a piece of paper I scrawled that quote on taped to my computer monitor all through college.
Today, I'm thinking, "You have to keep plunging while you're praying!"
We were late leaving for a playdate. Ian's ridiculous behavior delayed our departure from the house by thirty-five minutes this morning. Every single delay tactic he could muster. I finally got the kids all into the van & ran back to hang up diapers...I stepped into the laundry room onto the rug in front of the washer and promptly soaked my socks.
F.L.O.O.D.
Our washer drains into our mop sink. Personally I think that's kinda dumb, but whatever. Something was keeping the water from draining out of the mop sink and it overflowed. It does that occasionally. usually when someone mistakenly leaves a rag or something in it and the drain gets blocked. I try to stay upbeat about it because, hey, our laundry room floor gets washed...with soap!
But this morning I just saw doom and gloom. I noticed recently that our sink drains have been running slow too. And then the flood in the laundry room. The last time this happened our entire garage backed up with sewer water & we had to have Roto Rooter come after my handyman dad came and cut a piece out of our pipe. It was a major mess & hassle. That was 5 years ago. Enough time for the tree roots to grow back, right? Crap.
I'd also noticed our town's water/sewer authority "Ram-Jet" truck has been running up and down the road all week. So maybe the problem was actually with the street/town instead of us. Roger called them. They came and checked. All was clear on their end. Dang.
Before we tried chemicals (I don't really like using them) or calling a plumber or something, I decided to try the plunger on the mop sink on last time. Gave it a really good plunging. I think I was taking the day's frustrations out on it. I was praying while I was plunging. I was just about to get the Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (a "plugged sink" remedy my mom has used forever) and woosh! The water rushed down the drain & I could no longer keep any water in the sink!
Clear!
Praise God!
Why am I blogging about my clogged sink?
A long time ago I came across a quote (of Mason Cooley) that says, "Faith moves mountains, but you have to keep pushing while you're praying."
I love that quote. I kept a piece of paper I scrawled that quote on taped to my computer monitor all through college.
Today, I'm thinking, "You have to keep plunging while you're praying!"
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
French Dip Sandwiches
I was going off of this recipe:
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/Easy-Slow-Cooker-French-Dip/Detail.aspx
I say "going off of" because here's what happened:
I went to walmart to buy the ingredients since there were a bunch of other things we needed like lightbulbs and shampoo. Walmart, unbelievably, was OUT of French Onion Soup. There wasn't a single stinkin' can in any brand, size, etc. Apparently there is a run on French Onion Soup? So I ended up with Lipton powdered french onion soup/dip mix and a can of College Inn lower sodium beef broth.
I bought a roast.
I bought the nicest looking sub buns I could find (they weren't super, but they were ok.)
I bought provalone cheese.
Then I came home and put the powdered soup mix through a wire strainer to get out the big pieces of onion because I don't like onions. (I don't mind onion flavored stuff so much, but I do not want to chomp down on a hunk of onion in something...gross!) Added the onion soup mix to the crock pot with the roast and the beef broth and an extra can of water. (I filled the beef broth can up with water and dumped that much into the crock pot.)
Then I remembered the beer in the recipe. The only beer we have is one bottle of some special kind Roger picked the last time he did a mix-n-match 6 pack. I don't think he would've wanted me cooking with it. So I left the beer out.
Flipped the crock pot on high (it was almost 1pm by this time) and hoped for the best!
At 4:40pm I turned the crock pot off and took the meat out so it could cool a little before I tried slicing it. Cut the buns in half, put them on a cookie sheet, cut the provalone slices into half-moons, turned the broiler on, then sliced the meat, put it on the buns, topped with cheese and into the oven.
Served with french fries and sweet potato fries, mixed veggies, the jus for dipping, & horseradish & mayo for Roger's sandwich.
They were very good.
The kids did not like them. Next time I will just cut meat like normal for the kids and not try to make them eat sandwiches. The kids love roast beef... not so much sandwiches. *sigh*
We will be having this again. I'd like to try it with the beer added... maybe... but I liked it the way it was today, too!
Let me know if you try it too!
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/Easy-Slow-Cooker-French-Dip/Detail.aspx
I say "going off of" because here's what happened:
I went to walmart to buy the ingredients since there were a bunch of other things we needed like lightbulbs and shampoo. Walmart, unbelievably, was OUT of French Onion Soup. There wasn't a single stinkin' can in any brand, size, etc. Apparently there is a run on French Onion Soup? So I ended up with Lipton powdered french onion soup/dip mix and a can of College Inn lower sodium beef broth.
I bought a roast.
I bought the nicest looking sub buns I could find (they weren't super, but they were ok.)
I bought provalone cheese.
Then I came home and put the powdered soup mix through a wire strainer to get out the big pieces of onion because I don't like onions. (I don't mind onion flavored stuff so much, but I do not want to chomp down on a hunk of onion in something...gross!) Added the onion soup mix to the crock pot with the roast and the beef broth and an extra can of water. (I filled the beef broth can up with water and dumped that much into the crock pot.)
Then I remembered the beer in the recipe. The only beer we have is one bottle of some special kind Roger picked the last time he did a mix-n-match 6 pack. I don't think he would've wanted me cooking with it. So I left the beer out.
Flipped the crock pot on high (it was almost 1pm by this time) and hoped for the best!
At 4:40pm I turned the crock pot off and took the meat out so it could cool a little before I tried slicing it. Cut the buns in half, put them on a cookie sheet, cut the provalone slices into half-moons, turned the broiler on, then sliced the meat, put it on the buns, topped with cheese and into the oven.
Served with french fries and sweet potato fries, mixed veggies, the jus for dipping, & horseradish & mayo for Roger's sandwich.
They were very good.
The kids did not like them. Next time I will just cut meat like normal for the kids and not try to make them eat sandwiches. The kids love roast beef... not so much sandwiches. *sigh*
We will be having this again. I'd like to try it with the beer added... maybe... but I liked it the way it was today, too!
Let me know if you try it too!
Did you notice I changed the table cloth?!
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