Laugh or cry

There are days when one or the other is not enough. You must do both. Today has been one of those days. We are feeling better and so got up early, got kids and self dressed and in car and off for busy day of errands, etc. Stopped at the Baker's Breakfast Cookie outlet store to get cookies for my husband to re-stock his supply at work. I buy what they call the "uglies" which are half price.

Had to wait because office girl was late unlocking door. Parking lot had other people waiting too, so we nodded cordially as people waiting in line together tend to do. FREEZING cold by the way.

~This is the point you want to stop at if the mention if kid barf makes you nauseous~

As we are sitting patiently in the car, Princess throws up her breakfast. Gratefully it was not digested, so it only smelled like apple juice and granola bar. Clean her up. Clean car up. Throw everything in trash bags in the trunk. Make note to add Febreze and Woolite Oxyclean to emergency supplies in the trunk. Wrap her in quilt from the trunk.

Get cookies. Head toward the Costco pump station to at least get gas before heading home to wash it all. We'll be skipping dance class today I think. I momentarily wonder if this was a fluke and possibly I should simply continue with the errands so as not to throw off the rest of the week's schedule. Then I picture her upchucking in the grocery store. Or the consignment store. Or on the nice sample lady at Costco who leads our church choir. We'll be headed home after getting gas.

I turn into Costco parking lot. Baby Bear throws up his breakfast. Sadly, it was pretty digested. I peeled off his clothes, strapped him into the front seat with the seat belt (which he thought was quite novel) so I could wipe down the car seat with anti-bacterial wipes in the sub-zero weather. Re-dressed him in the spare clothes I keep in the diaper bag and stuck him back into the car-seat and headed home without the gas.

We did stop at Jack in the Box because Princess insisted only french fries would make her stomach feel better.

A New Tradition

A few years back, my friend Allie invited me to a gingerbread house making party. In February. We used all Valentine's Day candies and it turned out great! I found a photo of my house a few months back (although I can not find it now) and Princess was totally enthralled with it. She carried it around for days (which is probably why I can't find it now).


I wanted to do gingerbread at Christmas, but we were just too busy... so I agreed to a Valentine's Day gingerbread extravaganza. We used graham crackers and this icing and general pattern. It was so fun and we will definitely do this again. These were the results! The first one is Papa's, the second one is Princess' and the last one is Mama's. As you can see, Papa choose a slightly less conventional design :)

How many years ago was I engaged?

My husband asked me to marry him on Leap Day in 1996! We were married the following September and it has been an amazing twelve (yes 1-2) years. I've always been confused about how you count leap year days though. Votes? How many engagement anniversaries have I had? I want to do something special (since we don't get to celebrate it often) but haven't yet decided what to do. Maybe I'll make my husband's favorite comfort food: Hamburger Helper.

Our engagement story is silly. He spent the day pestering me, asking me continually if there was something I wanted to ask him. Finally, while he was at his desk studying and I was hanging out reading a book, he pounced and said he had a question for me...then he asked and I said yes :)

Sickos

Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot.

-The Hausa of Nigeria

Well, we're all sick. Me and the baby bear have the worst of it and I feel bad for him if he feels like I do which is horrible. If my throat doesn't feel better by tomorrow I think I'll be heading in to the doctor. Cough, congestion, sore throat, general misery galore here.

Last night I used another Dream Dinner - fruit & nut stuff pork roast, and added baked potatoes, green beans and pears as a side. It was pretty good, but the stuffing was a bit stronger than I liked, even with a stuffy nose. I buy Dream Dinners when they send me a $20 off coupon and have a special "chef's treat" session where they do the assembly and all you do is pick it up. That sort of seems to be contrary to their point, which is for you to come make your own meals. I use about one per week and it is so nice to have a break from prep work and thinking about what to do next. It averages out to be about $15-$20 per 6 servings from them, but they are generous in size and they feed me, my husband and Princess for two meals, which makes the alternative on days when I am busy and/or tired (fast food) close to equal or more than the cost. This way, the meal is healthier and includes good leftovers! It is an indulgence of sorts...I don't typically make meals which cost quite that much, but I'm grateful for it!

Baby Bear is crawling! He has 2 teeth! He eats people food (more than just eating me even) and today I found him pulled up to his knees on the ottoman and trying to get a foot under him to push up. Won't be long I don't think!

Princess is in a serious questioning phase. I think she asked me in excess of 400 questions yesterday and that is not meant as an exaggeration. From "What does 'we' mean?" to "what are rocks made of". It exhausts me, but it's also delightfully amazing to see what she thinks about. Her questions are a window to her brain and it's a beautiful brain indeed.

February catch up

I so wanted to post more in February, but the month got away from me. The weather has finally turned warmer and the kids and I are getting out more these days, which is great. We all have miserable colds as of last night though, so sadly, I think church will have to wait another week.

Valentine's Day was nice. My husband remembered flowers and cards for the three of us & a big box of chocolate for mama. Packages came from both of my parents which included some junk food and lots of fun stuff for the kids. It was a pretty low-key day, and I made Princess a Valetine's Day lunch she loved of red anjou pears cut like a heart, red organic corn chips & a toasted, heart-shaped, almond butter and lingonberry jam sandwhich.

Princess choose the dinner menu: asparagus (which she'd only heard of), roasted turkey (okay so we did chicken since it is hard to find a whole turkey for a reasonable price in February), garlic mashed potatoes & gravy (my husband's favorite), caprese salad, more red pear slices, fresh rolls, and sparkling cranberry juice. It was all good, but the caprese salad was amazing--the ingredients were fresh and wonderful.

We also had cookies that we made and sent to my family from the recipe I posted in January. We did three varieties: cranberry with white chocolate, blueberry with milk & white chocolate, and chocolate caramel coconut pecan. We made 15 dozen and everyone we gave them to said nice things.

Slow, snow day

We had snow today and yesterday and I wish I'd gone out and taken some photos. We're supposed to have more snow tomorrow though so maybe there is still hope. Princess went out to play today and she banged on the door and told me she was thirsty, so I made her some hot chocolate and she drank it in the snow on the back porch with a "Thanks, Mom! You're the bestest mom ever". Cute.

How much drool...

Can a keyboard take before it shorts out? I don't know the answer, but my guess is that I will find out in the next few months. Baby Bear is fascinated by the keyboard (an all other electronic devices, he got hysterical last night when I refused to hand over the TV remote), and anytime I am at the computer and holding him, he is right there trying to get me to let him suck on the space bar. Sometimes the only thing to do is chuckle at the amount of baby drool that ends up on me, but I suppose that's another post.

I've looked at blogger.com's FAQ's and can't find the information I need to figure out how to keep the spacing consistent in my posts. Anyone who can save me from random formatting problems is welcome to drop me a line--it would be most appreciated!

Last week I started listing things on eBay again after a long absence. I revised my strategy as well, and as of this morning have bids and watcher and am feeling happy! I want to empty my house of clutter and make myself some money and frankly, I love eBay :)