2.28.2009

New yummy treat!

Okay, so I just HAVE to share this new yummy super-duper-couldn't-be-easier treat recipe! I got it out of the Valentine's Day suggestions from one of the parenting magazines this month. I didn't make it in time for Valentine's Day, but it will be a hit at any time of the year. This one will definitely be added to my list of favorite treat recipes. It comes together really quickly and is only 3 ingredients and it's so yummy! You'll just be amazed. I promise!

Cupid Clusters

3 cups Yogurt Burst Cheerios or other similar whole grain cereal (I did use the brand suggested this time, but clearly it will be yummy using just regular old cheerios too.)
1/2 c. chopped dried strawberries (I couldn't find them at the store, so I used dried cranberries, and I imagine it will be yummy with any dried fruit you might choose.)
1 1/2 c. white chocolate chips

Place paper liners in 24 mini-muffin cups. Toss the cereal and dried fruit in a medium bowl. Melt the white chocolate in a microwave on high for a minute, stirring it frequently. Combine with the cereal mixture. Spoon into prepared cups and refrigerate until the clusters are firm, about 5 minutes. Makes 24.

Sliding Doors

Ever spend any time wondering what might have been? Particularly if you had simply missed a train or picked a different register line at the grocery store or similar innocuous experience? I try not to spend my brain power on these kind of what ifs because truly they are simply what ifs and nothing can change what actually happened in the past. But every once in awhile things like this do pass through my brain and cause me to ponder the possibilities. It's not that I have big regrets in life, I don't (at least not of the big stuff anyway, a few smaller ones maybe). But just hearing about some of the things - good and bad - that happen to other people makes me appreciate where I am in the world and in my life. Yesterday at the preschool coffee gathering I hosted one mom was sharing a story with us about a child who had a massive tumor at birth and was basically given very slim survival chances. The infant was given chemo during his first week of life and has had a very bumpy road to travel. But the child is now 14 months old, the tumor is virtually gone and while he still has many health challenges, and it's anyone's guess as to the potential developmental delays that may come, the outlook for this child's life is much much better. It made me comment about how fortunate I feel to have had two pregnancies that were so mundane and easy that it made me almost feel guilty. The possibilities for mutation and problems are astounding during each and every pregnancy. And our diagnostic skills are amazing now so that so many of these things are known ahead of the birth, which helps when plans and preparations need to be made for special cases. Both of my pregnancies were relatively easy, low-risk, and thus ordinary. We had one sonogram for each, and did not choose to do some of the chromosomal tests that might have revealed any problems, and had no ultrasounds done. Thus each time as the birth drew near, I could not help but wonder if my babies would be healthy or if there would be some problem discovered that we would not have been prepared for. I knew we would love the baby regardless, but what if.... Each time I was so thankful when my infant was snuggled up with me and I knew they were perfect, tiny people. The miracle of life truly is a miracle. There are so many things that need to happen at just the right time, in just the right way, for things to work out the way they should. I thank my lucky stars each day that they did for my family.

2.26.2009

Rough Week

Well, it has been a seriously rough week for me. I had to work in the preschool classroom the last two days and it was crazy in there. You could just see the built up winter energy bouncing off the walls. Even kids that are usually so well-behaved were having trouble sitting still and listening and following directions. It gave me a new appreciation for preschool teachers everywhere. Then on Friday I'm hosting a coffee session for the mothers of the preschool class. Should be plenty of fun, but adds a lot to the workload of the week. Add to all this the fact that yet again we are plagued with drippy noses. John's got a hefty cough, which seems to be mostly limited to nights and early mornings, along with a stuffy nose. And Kara has a super snotty nose and is tired and cranky.

All this adds up to one very tired and overwhelmed Mommy. I've definitely been doing some stress-eating this week, since I haven't been able to take much of a break. I keep trying to remind myself not to do that, but it is one of my biggest vices. Cheese, chocolates, pretzels, and any other snack foods I can find. Today during preschool is my one real chance for a break, and I really should be doing some of the MANY things that need to happen before tomorrow. But I just can't seem to make myself do anything productive. I need to relax and slow down, even if it's just for a while. The other stuff will happen, not sure when, but it will happen.

I'm going to continue my relaxing session, and try not to feel too guilty about it. ;-)

2.23.2009

Books to Ponder

I just wanted to share a few recommendations on books with you. For those who don't know, I am an incredibly slow reader, so I don't actually get through a lot of books, but I do thoroughly enjoy reading and try to read as much as I can. Matt frequently chuckles at me at night when I'm reading and actually moving my lips as I read. Oh well, at least I try!

Anyway, I just thought I'd share a couple of things I have read recently or am reading now that might be interesting to some of you...

1. I was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids: Reinventing Modern Motherhood. By Trisha Ashworth and Amy Nobile. This book was loaned to me recently by a mom friend and I read it in one weekend. It was really funny and definitely made me think about some of the stress that I inflict on myself and whether any of it really makes sense. It also helps to confirm that you're not the only one who inflicts this kind of stress on yourself, we moms ALL do it! A great read for sure.

2. New Parent Power by John Rosemond. This one was recommended on my friend Tricia's blog and I checked it out from our local library. I was at first doubtful about this guy's philosophy, but the more I read the more sense it makes to me. He reminds us that in previous generations, a marriage was the true center of the family and the kids came second. In today's culture that has flip-flopped and it's not a good thing for anyone involved. He gives some good tips on how to redirect our parenting energies and put more responsibilities onto our kids and help them to develop into more independent individuals, rather than the more dependent lifestyles that many young adults are pushed into today. I can't say that I've agreed with all of his arguments, but it has certainly made me think about a few things and has already helped me in dealing with some issues I've had lately with John. Something worth checking out.

3. Omnivore's Dilemma, A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. And I'm getting ready to read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, which will be along the same vein. These works support the local organic agriculture movement and go to great lengths to demonstrate some of the downfalls of our current factory farming, farm subsidized, cross-country transported agriculture system. As a direct result of my reading Omnivore's Dilemma we subscribed to our CSA last summer. I've made purposeful shifts in the groceries that I do buy at the store, produce and other products. It has forced me to re-evaluate the processed foods that I put into my own mouth and into the mouths of my children. We have no idea what long-term effects all the food processing will have on the population, and I want to make sure my children are at the low end of exposure for it. Anyway, it was a life changing book for me and I advise everyone to read it at some point. It's a heavy, long book, but is definitely worth reading.

Hope you enjoy!

2.19.2009

Summer dreams

So we've signed up again with Potomac Vegetable Farms to do a summer food co-op. They are part of a growing community of farms that do cooperative sustainable agriculture (CSAs). They provide a weekly bag of organically locally grown vegetables to you for a fee that you pay early in the year. PVF does it's registration in February for the summer. You can sign-up for spring, summer, and fall seasons. They also offer eggs and flowers in addition to giving you three different size options for your basic veggie bags. We did this last summer for the first time and I'm totally hooked. What a fabulous way to support a local business and know that your food is not filled with pesticides and other chemicals. We shared our regular-sized share with a neighbor and it was awesome. We alternated weeks picking up the bags and it worked out perfectly with vacations. So we're splitting our share again this year and hoping for great gardening weather this summer!

Since doing this last summer I've also noticed myself thinking a lot more about our food choices. I'm certainly buying more organic products, but also looking for prepared foods with fewer ingredients, healthier choices, less processed ingredients (such as high fructose corn syrup) and more local products. It makes me feel better about what food we're putting on the table and into the little growing bodies of those that sit at our table. It's a choice that for us is worth the cost, for now and in the long run.

2.18.2009

Not snowing in Alaska

This is a short funny thing John just said to me. As we're watching our morning cartoons and also watching the snow come down outside the door, John declared it is only snowing in Virginia. I said "Oh really, and how do you know that ?" He replied, "Well, I went to Alaska this morning and it is not snowing in Alaska." With a completely comical look on his face. It was too funny. What a cutie!

So it is snowing this morning, not supposed to amount to anything and eventually will change over to rain and just be a yucky day for us. But it sure is pretty while it comes down now.

2.17.2009

Too long!

I just logged into Blogger and realized that Feb. 5 was my last post. Clearly it's been too long since I posted anything. Sorry about that! My biggest reason for that is that I have been sick. Mainly a really nasty head cold, that I thought turned into a sinus infection, but my doctor wasn't sure. Anyway, I am now finally starting to feel a bit better, still kind of run down, but better. Of course, after almost 3 weeks of being sick, now Matt is down with the cold. :-( The kids are both healthy, for today at least. We'll see how long that lasts though.

We just returned from spending a long weekend in Bryce, VA, which is a small ski resort area just under 2 hours from here. We rented a big house with my parents and some good friends of our family and spent the weekend together. It was great. John was finally old enough to go snow-tubing for the first time. He loved it. And we did a bit of hiking, snow tubing, lots of eating, drinking, games, and toured a local potato chip factory (Route 11 Chips - they're awesome!). The kids enjoyed having so many adults around to entertain them. I appreciated all the extra help keeping them occupied while I was still recovering from being sick. We came home yesterday and we were all pretty exhausted.

Now I'm trying to find the energy to get the kids out with their bikes later today for some exercise. It will be good for them and for me, but I have to find the motivation! And then yoga tonight and a preschool board meeting tomorrow night.

Speaking of preschool, I dropped off the forms today for Kara to go to preschool next year. She will be going to the same school John has attended, which I love. She and I are both so excited for this. Technically with her October 3rd birthday, she misses the birthday cut-off of September 30th. But the advantage to returning to a school you know is that they're willing to bend a bit on that rule for us. Kara will be totally ready and it will give her a sense of doing something that her big brother has done. He'll be off to kindergarten next year, so we'll still have plenty of one-on-one time while he's gone. But having her in a 2-morning program in the fall, will also give me some Mommy-time! Yippeeee!!!!

Gotta run, I can hear that naptime is over for today. Hope you're all fairing well and may health be in your homes more than it's been around here!

2.05.2009

Super Swimmer

So this entire fall and winter I've been enrolling John in swim classes. At the end of the summer he was really ready to learn so that he could swim without his vest on, but with Kara in tow, my ability to work with him was very limited. So, not guessing that Kara's swimming status is going to change next summer, I am determined to do all I can for John to be a stronger swimmer before the summer. That means swim lessons. And a lot of them. We've done 3 classes so far this fall and winter. I decided that we should take one session off (mainly to give us a break of the twice a week routine of getting to the pool). Then we're already signed up for the remaining 2 sessions before the summer. He should be so ready for the outdoor pool season!

After many days of being quite nervous to even have water on his face, along about mid-December, he decided it was okay to put a wet washcloth covering his face. Then he thought pouring a bowl of water in the tub would be okay. Next thing I know he's putting his face right into the water, in class and at home. What a turn-around from where he was not long ago! He's even jumped into the pool with his teacher (who I just LOVE!), so that he went under the water and came up and was totally fine.

Today was his big day though. It was the last day of this session and he managed to do a full fledged independent back float! The first time was for 5 seconds, then 20 seconds and then he did it about 3 or 4 more times just for practice. He said it was relaxing! It was so amazing to watch his achievement and how proud I was of him. This kid wouldn't even get his face wet 2 months ago and now can float on his back on his own. I am a very very very proud mom today.