May 19, 2013 · 7:46 pm

“Girl Chores”

My friend used this phrase when describing the pedicures that happened for her and her daughter when her son was on a campout. It still makes me smile. My men folk went on a campout this past Friday night, and to stem the sudden almost-flood of tears when Little girl realized it was boys only, I proposed we take care of some girl chores during a “girls night out”.

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While I was trying to not be overlooked in the line at Chili’s and herd my girls to the table and take pictures, I realized my daughters can not smile normally in pictures. Any nice smiles have to be when they are taken off guard in that split second between candid and posed. Oh well.

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Naomi behind the camera (phone). My phone takes horrible pictures, but it’s water proof. That basically made the decision for us given my last 4 phones have met untimely aquatic ends.

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Cinderella and princess jammies after nice bubble baths. That ended when the littlest one pooped in the tub. For the third night in a row. Warm water must do something magically relaxing to toddler gastro-intestinal tracts. Also no laughing at my hat hair and laugh lines. I am already super wrinkly and I’m not even 30…didn’t help when my husband said I could always be his little prune. Good thing he’s cute.

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Sorry for the forced artsy-ness of this picture. We painted nails after Layna went to bed (the trick btw, to cute non-messed up nails on a 3 year old, is to paint while she is watching the movie. That way by the time she notices the paint, it’s dry). This was my favorite picture but the lighting was horrid so I played with some settings in my photo program. It is melodramatic but I kind of love it. A lot like my girl actually. Today she was walking around in my tallest heels saying, “oh no! I lost my slipper!” Princess Girl’s Night = Success! And for the record…I am super excited about adding baby girl #3 to the mix. Pink and I have made our peace.

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May 16, 2013 · 7:50 pm

Lied Discovery Museum

There were exactly 100 pictures dumped from my camera to my hard drive after our latest homeschool field trip. I saved you from that by exercising self-control and reminding myself (repeatedly) that not everyone is as enamored of my children learning and developing as I am. But this place is really, really cool, so here are my favorites.

The museum shares building space with The Smith Center and opened this past March. It’s well-designed for kids of all ages (even one year olds…because you have to pay full admission price starting at age one. I would have had to pay for Layna anyways I’m sure, but next year it will be rough to pay for baby too) and convenient for moms with strollers, so I’m a fan.

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Have I ever mentioned my chronic inability to be late? To anything…ever? It’s a joke to my friends and a mild annoyance to everyone else. Not sure why but 10 – 15 minutes early is my modus operandi. “Seriously, Mom?” she says patiently with the long-suffering of the young martyr that she is. Once other friends arrived and the kids could work on breaking the door, waiting wasn’t so bad.

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WaterWorld! First up was the best part. Something about playing and manipulating water, I think, equals play perfection for most kids. It certainly does for my fish. Little girl loved the balls thrown into the vortex, Little little girl had full access to all the water she wanted (still at toilet height) but with no mom to shoo her away from it (funny side note: even with the water table and toys, while I was standing and talking to a friend, she snuck away and was booking it for the women’s bathroom across the way. A kind lady pointed her out to me before Layna actually made it to a stall. What is it with kids and toilets?!). Little man loved the ball launching device that would splash everyone in a five foot radius every time it launched a ball. I loved that he had that look on his face the whole time.

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You should know by now that I’m a sucker for cheesy face-in-hole photo ops. Naomi and her friend sat in the throne together overseeing, discussing fashion, and generally ruling the populace as only three year olds can.

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Pirate ship with working canon. Done and Done. TWO mirror friends to alternate kissing. Also done and double done.

When we got home Naomi informed her dad that he would be building her a castle out of paper, and a Rapunzel dress, and a small queen dress, and prince clothes. She provided him with random books constructions so he could get to work immediately. We now have a daily ritual where I explain that the reason I took pictures is so Daddy could get to work without having to go to the museum to see it for himself and that he will begin full-scale production “this weekend.”

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There were lots of other things to play with and make and move and hear and see and touch. Layna enjoyed her graham crackers before we had lunch (in our own private room with our homeschool buddies). Little man and Little girl surprised me by how much they loved all the playing pretend. And in the lobby was a very cool exhibit about leverage and lifting up a car. There was so much more, but in the end we loved it all, and if a baby wasn’t due smack in the middle of the summer we would probably be getting a season pass. I’m thinking that will happen after baby so we have a full year to enjoy it, when I can walk around pushing a stroller or wearing baby in a cute trendy baby-wrap, instead of waddling like an uncouth duck, failing as I try to not bump into people with my stomach. People are so nice about stuff like that. And having the rest of the kid population of the city stuck in schools starting in the fall will be really nice too. Can’t wait!

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May 12, 2013 · 9:04 pm

Mother’s Day…it’s good stuff.

I love Mother’s day. And here are my random musing on why: Have you heard the quote from Abraham Lincoln that says, “All that I am, or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother”? It gets a lot of press on Mother’s Day and I’m so glad there are Mothers out there who fit this description. It’s such a beautiful idea. My mom is not an angel, and I am not an angel. For one thing we are both too humanly flawed (our guilt feeling ability would rival even the most devout Catholics), and for another we are certainly way too snarky and sarcastic. But you know what? I’m totally good with that. I come from a long line of fantastic mothers (some angels and some not so much) and I’m glad there is a day to celebrate them all, and their unique contributions to the institution of motherhood. Also I love today because I love my mom-in-law. Somehow she raised my husband to be the man he is and that is the greatest thing anyone has ever done for me (Thanks again, Sara!). Plus she is a delightful mix of angel and feisty that makes me wish we could just hang out more and chat. I love her lots. Anyways.

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Me (and my belly…I’m to the point where if Little girl isn’t careful and I turn too sharply she goes flying), my mom, and her mom. So nice to know I’m going to age well…thanks Mom and Grandma for good genetics!

And now the presents and what my hubby and kids did for me…because honestly every woman has a part of her (some much bigger than others) that wants to brag about their level of pampering on Mother’s Day. We secretly compare, because that’s what we do as women. Go look at your Facebook feed…it’s the truth.

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If you are still baking or making things with paper cupcake liners/baking cups…STOP! Stop right now and get some of these! Silicone baking cups have changed my life. I have been using the heart ones I bought for Little Little girl’s birthday, but those were, um, heart shaped and thick. These are lovely and thin and awesome. Hey, it’s better than a mop (which, I am disgusted to admit, I also really want). Kids also made me cards (and Garyn wrote all the lyrics to a song and it almost made me cry because he hates to write and he did it and now we don’t have to do writing for a week and I can not feel guilty! Yes!) and Neil let me take a nap and is going to write me a love letter. Sometimes they are late, but they ususally make me cry so it’s well worth the wait. Not too glamorous, but perfect. Grandma and Mom gave me cook books, because I’m a geek. And I didn’t have to make dinner…

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Dinner happened at the Grandparents where the men did all the work, including entertaining kids. My grandpa is the greatest great-grandpa ever.

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Nothing displays a deep love like making my favorite food (salad) and a side of bacon wrapped asparagus. Dude. Just dude.

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One of our Sunday traditions is watching CupCake Wars on Food Network. Food Network is on the short list of channels I miss not having TV. But we kind of love watching it at Grandma’s and the kids enjoy the cheesy drama of it all.

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Here are the little people that have inducted me into the Sacred Order of Mothers. The oldest is driving me up the wall lately with his need to control his little sister (we have the same conversations about it 8 billion times a day). His little sister is teaching me the womanly art of “not hitting the kitchen counter with a frying pan out of sheer frustration” with her inability to express displeasure without screaming in that pitch. You know the one I’m talking about. And their little sister has new hobbies…playing in toilets/litter box and throwing important things in the nasty kitchen trash can (keys, shoes, books, etc). And the bizarre thing is that I love it. Not the daily grind of dealing with the above, necessarily, but the silver linings that only moms get. The fact that my son still wants me to sing to him at night and randomly bursts out into the Mother’s Day song he sang today at church. The fact that Naomi spends a good part of everyday cuddling me on the couch and that she needs me to make owies better. And the fact that I will always be Layna’s best friend and I’m her preferred person out of everyone on the planet. It’s a lot like birth.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, as my belly takes over my life. So much sick and sore and crappiness for nine months and then the culmination in ridiculous amounts of pain and mess and lots more pain. And then the baby is in your arms and you would do it again in a heart beat because they miraculously make all of that worth it. Motherhood man, it’s weird. And awesome. I’m honored to be a card carrying member of the club, and to be in such good company.

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May 9, 2013 · 7:48 pm

My very own Gymnastics?!

It’s rough being a middle child sometimes, especially for my daughter. She gets taken to all her big brother’s classes and dragged to all her little sister’s therapy sessions. So when my friend asked if we wanted to join her and her daughter in a “mommy and me” gymnastics class, I was so excited for Naomi to have her very own class. Then Little little girl decided that there was no way she was going to stay nicely perched on my hip when all that awesomeness was going on. It has quickly become the Girls’ gymnastics class. Luckily the trampoline is very distracting.

[Picture warning: there are about 8 gazillion pictures in this post, because I think little kids on mats doing "gymnastics" is just cute.]

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Waiting in lobby to go in. Little man hangs out here and happily watches Disney Channel while his sisters do their thing. This is Ms. Ghana, our teacher. Funny thing about Layna. For a long time she has been stranger dangering something fierce. But the first day she was on the floor and Ms. Ghana came up and told her they were going for a walk. Without a glance at me she basically said, “Of course, I love you! Take me anywhere!” What?

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Classes begin with ribbon dancing to a Disney kid sound track. Naomi is an old pro, but in the last three weeks Layna has been shaking her own ribbons all over the floor. She is so proud of herself.

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How my girls do the balance beams.

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Layna’s favorite thing, hands down, is somersaults on the wedge mat. It was kind of a bummer to learn that she shouldn’t be doing them because Down Syndrome carries a high risk of atlanto-axial instability (weak head-neck attachment). We’re just extra careful. I don’t worry about the bar…my kids are part capuchin.

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Today Little Little girl was digging the slide, and Little girl loved the ball pit donut thing (put those monkey toes to good use).

I love gymnastics for my kids. The strength training, fun and different movement, and the confidence of doing it “all by myself” all add so much to their development. Plus, at this age, I’m not down with hard core competition. However, with the husband guy thinking about joining an Australian Rules Football League (more on that later!), I’m sure team sports are not far away for the munchkins. For now this is perfect. Garyn gets a real big kid class twice a month at another gym and the girls get to play and dance and walk on balance beams. Plus dancing with those ribbons and walking next to said balance beams…may or may not be the only real exercise I’m getting lately. I admit nothing.

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May 5, 2013 · 7:23 pm

Ode to my Dehydrator

Dehydrator ~ a haiku

helping feed my soul

jerky and cookies galore

a plain black white box

Ha Ha just kidding. But seriously, have I told you about my love affair with my dehydrator? Well. I should. This was one of those big ticket purchases that I, true to form, waffled over for weeks. I really wanted the nice one, but it was expensive so I’d take the smaller (who really needs 9 trays? 5 is plenty, right?) with no nifty make-my-life-easier features (like a timer…pshhh, I have one on the fridge! I can be organized!). Then I asked my husband to just go ahead and order me one with the above good but not extravagant specifications. The love of my life, very true to form, ordered me the biggest, most be-whistled model they had, with the non-stick liners! Nine trays, 24-hour timer, and an actual temperature control instead of just high and low. I am in love. The dehydrator rocks my socks off too.

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[As a blogger, I'm ashamed of my lack of foresight in photo documentation. I only have 3 actual pictures of the stuff I've made. So because I'd feel guilty swiping pictures off the internet, I'll be annoyingly clear which pictures are mine and which are not and where they came from, because I also couldn't post with only 3 pictures. It's against my religion.]

My Excalibur Food Dehydrator might be the most highly utilized kitchen gadget I own. Well that and my blender that runs on a more powerful motor than my husband’s car. Or my food processor, that is only more beautiful because of it’s war wounds. I drop it a lot, ok? Anyways, its spiffy and I use it for everything (including an extra shelf). Here is a list of what I’ve done with it in the last month:

  • Beef jerky: so nice to make jerky I could eat because it was sweetened with pineapple juice! (silly diet changes that I’ve made) And it tasted better than store bought! When our rabbits come and then the babies come, jerky is going to be something I’ll get good at because apparently (thank you oh wise internets) the belly flap bit of meat is very thin and not good for much else other than jerky but since rabbit is so lean, it’s a dreamy combination.
  • Yogurt: easiest thing in the world ever! Husband milks goats, strains milk into quart jar, I add bacteria, shake shake shake, in the dehydrator for 24 hours and voila! plain delicious yogurt my kids will eat straight.
  • dehydrated strawberries (and soon to be apricots): There are a few months of the year where my kids diet reduces in variety to a few things. One of these is strawberry season and one coming up is apricots off of Grandma’s tree. They are both excellent fruits for dehydrating.
  • Raw carrot cake: With all these dietary changes I’ve made, I’ve been revisiting some raw vegan recipes I used to do because they 1) don’t use grains 2) lots of fruits and veggies and nuts 3) I can use any sweetener I want, including honey and dates. These wouldn’t taste good if you are coming off of for-real carrot cake, but for me and husband guy who have been off sugar of any kind (besides fruit) for weeks now, it’s heavenly.
  • raw lemon cookies: these just make me smile. add in some homemade strawberry jam and they make me swoon.
  • Fruit leather: My kids love peanut butter and jelly. It’s a tad difficult when I’ve outlawed most things that even resemble bread. But to my joy and elation (squee!) they love fruit leather PB&J rolls. The awesome thing about fruit leather is that a handful of kale or spinach disappears under the banana and strawberry flavors. Tricksy Mommy.
  • Granola: I’m still undecided about whether I prefer it dehydrated or baked in the oven. My current favorite is in the oven, but I need to explore more recipes in the dehydrator. What’s a hippie without a killer granola recipe?
  • Stuff that I’ll be doing soon: apples and oranges in the fall (I’ve done both before and they are yummy), herbs (again, I’ve done it before, but I’m excited to do it with herbs from my own garden), I also use it to get bread to rise (not that I’m doing a lot of that anymore, but it is one more reason I love my dehydrator), and greens (you dry green leafy anything then blend it into powder which can be added to anything…brilliant!)

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You are not allowed to say this looks un-appetizing until you’ve tried them. Besides, strawberry jam makes everything awesome. Thus ends my pictures and here is kind of what my other stuff looked like…mostly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerky

http://www.anediblemosaic.com/?p=490

http://wholenaturallife.com/2012/09/20/how-to-make-gaps-yogurt-in-your-dehydrator/

http://www.adashofcompassion.com/2011/10/dehydrator-basics-a-story/

Next time I’ll remember to take my own pictures. Thanks for letting me gush about one of my favorite foodie hobbies!

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May 1, 2013 · 6:26 pm

Circle of Life: part the third

Green thumbs are something I aspire too. I was so excited about the aquaponics idea because I thought, “Here’s a garden that I can’t drown! or under water! or fertilize wrong!” Ah, but those stupid rocks, thwarting me at every turn [shakes fist]. Gardening in Las Vegas is possible. I’ve semi done it before (a wilderness of cherry tomato plants and a few watermelons that got lost in their own foliage). The thing is…not only am I a planner and a “we’ve made the decision, why are we not doing it right now?!” type person (which makes me think I can just stay on top of it without a schedule), I over-think and over-worry. That translates into drowned plants because they wilted in the late afternoon and I watered them…again. Or bugs starting and so I sprayed the snot out of them with bug killer (before I cared about organic hippie-ness). Or if a little bit of fertilizer is good then a lot must be fantastic!

I’m also kind of cheap. Even knowing the importance of “good dirt,” I’ve never been willing to pay for enough to get a garden off to a good start. So it’s a bit of good stuff in a whole mess of bad. “But you can amend and improve” the master gardeners are telling me! Yes but I have kids and I’m impatient and think I can just make it work. “I read a book on it, I got this,” I yell back!

Writing this post is a humbler, meeker novice gardener. I’m using my spring garden to experiment and the real work will be done in the fall. However. Little does my garden know that I have a secret weapon. The second part of my circle of life! The Earthworms!

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Cherry tomatoes don’t scare me. Big ones do, but these little guys I can handle. So they are my control experiment. Only good quality dirt, a watering system that doesn’t depend on me, and a location that is sheltered but with enough sun. My high tech watering system is the water bottle. There is a small hole in the bottom, right about root level, so when I fill the bottle it slowly drips right onto the roots. It’s a red- neck drip system but I’m ok with that. It works with the 5 gallon bucket grow box.

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This is the rest of the garden. The two white “grow beds” were left over from the aquaponics system. They desperately need some support but, meh, they’ll work for now. The middle, nice looking grow bed is going to give me grief. Stupidly I ignored the voice in my head telling me to put weed cloth down because we have Bermuda back there. Stupidly I mixed a lot of the dirt that was back there (mostly dried-out marginally composted horse manure) with decent dirt but no other amendments. Stupidly I didn’t address the red ant colony that the box was placed on. Everything I planted in it has now died (minus the lone zucchini that could). In my defense we have had some wicked wind storms that haven’t helped anything. Mostly I was in a hurry and stupid. In the fall I will rectify the stupidity and start over. My goal is a killer herb patch in this box for the rabbits.

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On the happy side, despite my best efforts to kill them, a pumpkin seed sprouted this morning and my watermelons and cantaloupes are all doing well.

So that completes our Circle of Life. The rabbit poop feeds the worms. The worm poop feeds the plants. The plants feed us and the rabbits. The rabbits feed us. The human poop goes to the city sewer system and all is as it should be. I’ll let you know if it all works out accordingly to plan. I’ve realized that being naïve, optimistic, and impatient doesn’t work so well for gardeners. One or the others you can work with but not all three. Alas for me. But there’s always the fall right?

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April 27, 2013 · 6:27 am

Circle of Life: part two

Our anniversary was this past week, and nothing says “I love you” and “Happy 8 years, babe!” like a vermicomposting system. In my husband’s defense, I claimed this as my anniversary present, because I felt bad spending the money. He actually got me an awesome present complete with a beautiful love letter and cooked me filet mignon (I get what all the fuss is about now!).

Vermicomposting is raising earthworms to create compost. They live in a nifty black box with layers of trays that you fill with shredded newspaper, rabbit poop (or goat poop, among other stuff), and kitchen scraps that rabbits and goats won’t eat. The tray has a grid bottom with holes big enough for the worms to migrate to the tray above once the one they are in is all dirt and no food. Then we get a tray of black, fantastic worm castings (worm poop) to amend the dirt in the garden. And thus completes the second part of our new circle of life!

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We went back an forth over ordering an actual system or just rigging one up ourselves. The husband guy (very true to form), after we decided to buy a system, ordered the deluxe model and the most worms that you could possibly fit in it. That would be 5,000! It wasn’t necessary at all, because if they are happy they double their population every 90 days. However, it will totally jump start the process and any excess worms go to the chickens who will love them and are greatly benefitted by eating them (Aww! it’s a cute little circle within a circle…chicken poop is great for worms which are great for becoming…well…um…chicken poop. Ok. Yeah. Cool, but never mind).

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That is her excited face, kind of. The worms are tiny right now, but they had to re-hydrate after being in the mail and get settled in. Eventually they will closely resemble the worm I dissected in my 6th grade science class. I won’t tell you here how cool these things really are, because the fact that I am so excited about raising 5,000 earth worms in my kitchen is going to get me enough raised eyebrows and polite, concerned smiles.

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Just because I know you were wondering what 5,000 earth worms looks like. You’re welcome.

So I always proof read my posts (sorry for any typos that still make it through). As I was re-reading this one, I was struck by how much poop is a integral part of my daily existence. I change poopy diapers everyday, I’m relieved that my bunny is settled in enough to have an established “toilet” corner and I am already thinking about how to get her poop in with the worms, I feel daily guilt about the goat yard that should be mucked out and poop added to the compost pile near the fence, and I mildly swear every day when I go take care of chickens and step in their poop (it’s beyond nasty), I read about the benefits of steer manure vs. horse as an amendment for my garden, and I’m going to be adding a poop making machine to the mix in a few months. At least newborn poop smells like buttered pop-corn. Whatever! It so does!

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