Blah!

Blah, blah, blah blah blah.

Thank You Perspective!

Now if only they can make something for The Office and Facebook!

More than meets the eye.

Yesterday, we were getting ready for dinner when the power went out and we hear three loud booms. I stuck my head out and heard that the booms were coming from up the street. We all came out of the house and visited with the neighbors. I concluded that it was a transformer and 30-40 minutes later the power was back on. When I picked James up from work I told him about our exciting afternoon, then Thomas chimed in: "I am going to tell Jorge at school it was a transformer. He likes Transformers. He wears a Transformers t-shirt sometimes and he will think that is neat."

I LOVE having a little boy!!

Hair for Locks of Love

I just donated my hair to Locks of Love. I had been growing my hair out for several months and it was getting unmanageably long. It was fun getting it all chopped off today. It turns out that although there are rules to donating to Locks of Love, they are not as stringent as I once thought. I took pictures of the whole process (well, the cutting part of it).

Here is the before. My hair hit about the middle of my back.

And the chopping began. She was about to pull out a chainsaw to cut through it all.

The lovely ponytail. I hope it can help another little girl.

My final short cut. I was glad that it wasn't as short as I thought it would be.

I love having the freedom of short hair. It feels so great. So, if you have the patience, I recommend donating a pony tail. It was great fun. As a side note, you would think I would have donated my hair once we moved to Texas at the hottest part of the year. Oh and I did get a new hair dryer and I LOVE it!

Sad, So Sad!

I had to give a talk in church today. I was really nervous so naturally I woke up insanely early. I figured that since I couldn't sleep I would blow dry my hair straight. My hair is super long, long enough that...well, it's long. So I was half way through drying my hair when the unthinkable happened. My hair dryer was slipping into the sink, so I stopped it and in doing so, knocked it into the TOILET!!!! I hurried and unplugged it and tried to shake out the water. It was gone, my wonderful hair dryer was dying, and quick. I just stood there in horror as my favorite bathroom appliance coughed, sputtered and then died(and smelled like melting plastic). James didn't believe me when I told him how sad I was. How many things do you have from 10th grade and still use it? This was my last. Oh how I will miss this dear, dear friend!!!!! So I am now in the market for a new hair dryer. Any suggestions? I am getting a new hair cut at the end of this week and I have to have a new hair dryer before then. Sad, so sad.

On My Wishlist.

Here is a little gem of a website that I stumbled upon and there are so many cute things. The site is called 2 Little Mammas. I love the baby bundle, it sounds so perfect for my diaper bag. Also, I really like the CARe Seat. I wish we had that for our little Geo. Instead we were scrubbing the car about every six months. And everything is so cute. There are also tutus, lunch bags and another favorite-hair accessories. So if you have some time check it out.

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

These dresses are so adorable how could I not try and win them? This is a MUST SEE!!!! Believe me. Enjoy. Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

It starts early...

So we have this tradition at family night. Right after we discuss all the things we are doing in the week we have Thomas stand and report about how school is going. Lucy also has to report about her day/week. We have started recording them because we hear the funniest things in their reports. Here is a little excerpt of Lucy's report.

Luckily the family night lesson was about babies and so we were able to answer her question and transition into the lesson pretty smoothly. Anyway, we love our kids so much and we just love doing family night. The kids look forward to it and they also like having responsibilities in F.H.E.

I think the only draw back (if you can call it a draw back) is that I try to make new and different desserts for the treat. The problem is that we have so many leftovers that it turns out to be my Tuesday morning breakfast. Like, last night I made these pumpkin bars, oh they are so good. I highly recommend them, just make sure you have lots of people to help you eat them.

Rainbow Cupcakes

Since Thomas' first birthday I have been excited about taking cupcakes into school. This year I was finally able to do it. I wanted to make it special, so I did a bit of research. I first got this idea from a theme on iGoogle. I thought, "what in the world are rainbow cupcakes?" So I then did a search for them, apparently they are pretty popular. The first site I stopped at was Our Best Bites and her pictures were beautiful! I then checked with James to make sure that rainbow cupcakes were boyish enough. Once I got the okay I went to baking. I tried to take as many pictures as I could-with my new camera it was really fun. I love how pretty these turned out, and they went over well with all of the 4/5 year olds in Thomas'' class. (and they tasted great too!)

Proof!

I don't know how she did it but my sister-in-law got Dylan to laugh. This video was taken about 2 weeks ago and ever since I have tried my darnedest to make him laugh. I have gotten some good smiles but yet to get a giggle. I am glad I have the video as proof otherwise I wouldn't believe he does laugh. Well, enjoy! (Dylan doesn't really start laughing until about 30 seconds into the clip.)

I am so Cool, not really.

I just had a great time yesterday at the Jason Mraz concert. It was an outdoor concert and lots of fun. We couldn't find a baby sitter so the kids ended up coming with us. And other than staying up late, they had a great time too. The kids danced on the lawn in front of us and they were more entertaining than the concert (although I am a bit partial to them). Dylan SLEPT through it! If you can believe it, I worried a bit about his hearing but it's fine.

Anyway, back to the concert, lots of fun. Jason Mraz is a great performer and really good music. The music is kinda jazzy/blues, reggae, rock, a little rap, and folk-if that makes any sense. He is most famously know for "I'm Yours," which is a really good song. I posted it below, Enjoy.

Oh, When we came home I called my sister in Las Vegas to tell her how cool I was that I went to a "hip" concert. She had to point out that if I have to say that then I am not cool. Ouch!

A Very Merry Birthday!

This posting is to help my friend, Sarah, celebrate a very special birthday. We have been friends since we were in diapers.

My parents moved to Kentucky when I was about a year old

and we met Sarah's family there.

We were great friends as little children, but her family moved to Connecticut and we moved to California.

We feebly tried to keep in touch through snail mail (back then that was all that existed) but being a kid I wasn't very good at it.

Then, when I was eleven years old my parents told me we were moving to Connecticut-3 miles from Sarah's house. I am so lucky that she was there for me in my teenage years.

We never had many classes together but we had a locker next to each other. Also, it was great having another LDS friend in high school. There weren't many of us Mormons in school. Other than my family, Sarah has known me longer than anyone else and we have been through it all together.

We got married within three months of each other and we each had baby boys four months apart from each other.

Sarah, have a very happy birthday and don't let numbers bother you, you are only as young as you feel! I am glad you are going through "this birthday" before me, let me know how it goes. Best Wishes!

Need an idea for Dinner tonight?

This recipe is my own invention and it went over very well with the little critics.

Thomas: "Mama, this is the best chicken I have ever had."

Lucy: "I love it, I mean, I like it." (which is good enough for me, she ate it.)

It's really simple to make and I made it with all things I had on hand. Here it is:

Kitchen Sink Chicken

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

1 small bag of bacon bits (real bacon) or 6-8 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
1 onion, sauteed
2 slices of ham, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tsp chopped garlic
2 Tbsp corn starch
pepper to taste

Directions:
Place the chicken in a baking dish and set aside. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and make sure the corn starch evenly coats everything. Place the mixture over the chicken. Place dish in the oven and bake at 350* for about an hour or until the chicken is no longer pink.

That is it. I like it served over mashed potatoes with a side of veggies. The next time I think I am going to add fresh mushrooms to the mix. We like it, and the next time we have guests I am making it for them. So if you try it, tell me what you think.

A shout out on Grandparents Day!

Today is Grandparents day and in celebration of said day Lucy dressed up as a "grand-mud-er."

We love our grandparents! Enjoy!

I love Technology!

We got our new camera in the mail and I LOVE IT! Our last camera was pushing 6 years old and these days that is geriatric. How amazing to have a camera that actually takes the picture when you push the button-instead of a 3 second delay. The camera is so fast and the pictures are so clear. When we got our first digital camera we would take a ton of pictures to make sure at least one turned out. Now we don't need to take so many picture because almost every shot turns out great. We just need to find a place to store all of them. So as I get to know the new features and the photo editing software, I will share the pictures with you. Here is a picture of my smiley boy. He is the most pleasant baby ever. What a joy, my cup runneth over.

How to be a Good Babysitter.

It has finally happened—we found a babysitter. Not just a teenager to come over and hang out with the kids but a good, engaging babysitter. We had a hard time finding the right sitter after we lost our favorite to a new job in Oshkosh. (We miss you Sharon!) Then the move to Texas really left us all alone in the babysitting hunt. We tried a few but no one really felt right, until we found the girl across the street. I have compiled a list of qualities that we like in a good sitter. The sitters that didn’t make the cut were lacking in one or more of these areas.

Like Children and babies—a surprising amount of people will babysit your children and not even show a remote amount of interest in children, especially your children. Parents spend there lives taking care of their children. They think their children are the cutest, funniest, smartest and all around best kids in the ENTIRE WORLD (no joke). When a person doesn’t show interest in the best this world has to offer, parents notice.

Be friendly and nice to children—Parents think their children are smart, but children are smarter than their parents think. A child can tell when you are nice and when you are not. Plus, golden rule here, this should be a no brainer.

Be enthusiastic and act like you want to be there—this kind of goes with the first two, don’t look at it as just a job. For the kids it is a fun time when Mom and Dad are away, so try to make it as such. Bring a game or activity that the kids have never played.

Arrive early—unless the parents are picking you up, then be ready to go when they come. If you have an anxious mom who wants to go over a few last minute details, you will need time. Plus, the parents want to enjoy their date/meeting/night out with out worrying about being late.

Clean up messes, games, dishes etc.—generally speaking parents try to clean up before a sitter comes over, sometimes working all day to make the house presentable. So when the parents come home from their night out, they would like to have the house in about the same condition. (to win really big points, do the dishes, they REALLY like it)

Play with the kids, don’t just watch a movie—it’s not everyday that the kids have someone come over to the house to play with them. And movies are something that parent use to try and get the kids out of the kitchen while dinner is being made. It can be a good distraction but the playroom is not going to play all by itself.

Stick to the parents schedule, somewhat—parents give you a schedule for a reason, if they say the kids can’t stay up, they really can’t. But that doesn’t mean put them to bed an hour early either. The parents have to deal with the children in the morning and bedtime is everything. Plus, children thrive on routine, and when there is a new person putting them to bed, the routine is the only thing that is the same, kids like that stability.

Last but certainly not least…Be honest—you may think that the parents only want to hear good things about the evening, but they don’t. They would rather hear the truth about if the baby cried inconsolably for an hour than “he was a little sad, but he calmed down.” Or they want to hear, “no, Lucy didn’t eat any dinner” (that must be why she is up at 2 a.m. crying that she wants something to eat) instead of “dinner was fine.” With all lies they are pretty obvious and parents know their kids, and kids will let their parents know how things went, one way or another. So it just looks bad on the sitter if they lie.

I know this looks like a long list but we have had so many not so great experiences with sitters that it’s so refreshing to FINALLY have one we like. Thank Heavens!

What do you think?

I have been playing around with many of the blogspot settings and got some help from CBOTB. Do you like it? I love some of your blogs that are so cute and scrapbook like-I figured I should jump aboard. I know it always takes me a while to accept the inevitable but I do eventually. And Lucy will be sad that she is no longer featured on the blog but I will make up for it by posting more pictures. So please give me your imput. Thanks!

Hooked on a Feeling

It doesn't matter what kind of mood I am in when I hear this song, because it always makes me smile. And who better to bring it to you than the Hoff. I love the part when he starts to fly (flap his arms.) Bluescreens (head shaking in shame). So I give you the Hoff to start your labor day celebrations!

Big News from Texas!!!!

When we moved to Texas two months ago we thought the water tasted a bit funny. It was drinkable but just a little after taste. We got use to it and thought nothing of it. Well a few days ago every time the water was turned on I could smell it, and it tasted GROSS. I complained about it to James and he said that it tasted and smelled fine. I thought I was going crazy. Even when we went out to eat I could smell and taste that swampy flavor. I was starting to feel sick to my stomach. Then I thought, "well if James can't taste it and the kids don't care, maybe I have changed." When I am pregnant I have a heightened sense of taste and smell maybe that was it. So guess what....

A water main broke in town and made the water have a strange odor and flavor. If you boil the water it goes away but the water is still safe to drink without boiling. I am not crazy and I am not pregnant. Big relief!!!!!

Oh and the big news is that James and I have the same callings here in Texas that we did in Chadron. I am doing the program and newsletter and James is first counselor in the Elders Quorum.

So long Dear Friend!

Friday night at 4 p.m. we said goodbye to a dear friend-our house.

Our home in Chadron treated us well and was perfect for us. It was the first home we ever bought and we will miss it terribly. We bought the house the same week that Lucy was born. In the time we spent in that home we went through the life challenges of health (an appendix, broken leg, and countless colds), family (visits with grandparents, a miscarriage, and a new baby), and weather (hailstorms, tornadoes and wildfires).

We started our chocolate parties in this home and cultivated our first garden. We dealt with burst pipes, and routine home repairs and even upgraded the dishwasher, remodeled a bathroom and did some demolition. We will truly miss our large kitchen, square footage, fully wired entertainment room, cool basement

and FABULOUS backyard.

We hope that the new owners can love the house as much a we did. We hope that they will be able to enjoy the grapes, elderberries and the apples, too. We will miss you home!

The Tag Blanket-reinvented

I don't know what compelled me to make a tag quilt but I wanted to make one. This one is a bit different. I wanted to make something that was interesting and had lots of texture. This is super soft and puppy themed. I had to pry it out of Dylan's hands just to take the picture, he loves it so much—just what I was hoping. I made it with clear thread (to hide mistakes) and it proved more difficult than I thought it would be. The supplies cost about $7.50, but in the process of making it I broke a sewing machine needle. So that is what? $2.50? Then, when I took pictures, I broke our 6 year-old camera (at least I got the pictures before the camera broke). So, I would say this little tag blanket cost us about 100+ dollars. With a price tag like that I am glad Dylan likes it so much.

My Poor Baby

Thomas is sick. Yesterday he came home from school and kept saying that he needed some medicine because his tummy hurt. Shortly after that he threw up, three different times.

The part that just broke my heart is he went up to James and said,

"Daddy, I am sorry, I can't play rough house with you. I am sick."

What a sweet little boy.

EEEWWWWW!!!!!!!!!

I like Texas, I do, but I have had to get use to one NASTY fact: cockroaches. We find and kill a yucky bug about once every two to three days. I was complaining about the bugs to a friend here and she asked me what the cockroaches look like. They are HUGE, about 2 and 1/2 inches, fat, and round. They are so gross, but there is an up side. We have the "good" kind of cockroaches, if there is such a thing. Apparently, the big ones are better because they are coming in from outside looking for something to eat (I think they are called a tree roach). The little ones are the kind that take up residence in your walls and infest everything. So I still hate them (sorry Wall-E), but I guess it could be worse.

I just can't wait!!!

The Office is having their season premiere on September 17th. In Celebration of one of the best shows on television I have posted a clip of one of my favorite YouTube videos. I hope you enjoy and I just can't wait to see a season of fresh pranks! (I would have to say my favorite one is the "bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica)

Hooray for James!

James ran his first 5K and I am so proud of him. He came in first in his age group (30-39). The kids loved to cheer their dad on as he ran by and Thomas even told me that he wanted to run when he grows up. We (the kids and I) walked around the area while we waited for all of the runners. Lucy was unfortunate to find a red ant hill, but other than that we had a grand time cheering on our dad. There is another one in September and he will be running in that one too. We can't wait.

The First Smile

This is the first smile we got on camera. Dylan is a very content little baby but not really all smiles and giggles. His most smiley moments are at five in the morning, so getting a camera is not on the top of my mind. He will be four months old on September 10th and we are glad to finally have a picture of him smiling.

Kookles Nursing Cover GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Kookles Nursing Cover GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Our Pretty Pretty Princesses.

For Lucy's birthday in April she got a game named Pretty Pretty Princess. It turns out that this game has been quite popular at our house, and not just with Lucy.

I'm Back

After 5 months of not having internet at home-I have FINALLY connected again with the rest of the world. So now I can blog and post all the things we have been doing these last two months. Yipiee!

I can be dangerous when I'm bored!

Now that is not to say I don’t have a lot to do, because I do. I have cleaning, laundry, unpacking, exercising, and the insurmountable dish pile in the sink. But who wants to do those things—not me. In my attempt to avoid my daily duties I have made a TON of sweets (some which I have blogged about here and here along with: cake, chocolate chip cookies, almond joy fudge, and Bundt cakes) and I did something I thought I would NEVER do. I cut Lucy’s hair—audible gasp. What person with no training cuts their daughter’s hair? And I don’t just mean an inch off the bottom. I gave her layers, and shape—the whole shebang. I think it looks cute. Yeah, it’s a bit crude here and there but it looks how I wanted it to. Maybe I should have become a hairdresser. I might have been rich. Oh, and by the way, see the white skirt, I made that too. Can you tell I have really been trying to avoid my daily chores?

Cinnamon Rolls in 20 Minutes!

I know it sounds crazy and I feel so stupid for not thinking about it sooner. At the store you know those canned cinnamon rolls that taste so processed? (I know them so well because I would make a batch every time we would show the house to make the house smell good.) Well, those rolls are just a biscuit with cinnamon, sugar and icing. So I just made my favorite biscuits and shaped them into cinnamon rolls and voila--cinnamon rolls. The kids got a kick out of eating cinnamon rolls for breakfast and I was able to make them with wheat flour and I snuck in some flax seed. So next time you don't know what to have for breakfast, try cinnamon rolls in no time. Yum!

Pan Dulces

Being the mother of 3 little kids I have seen a lot of Sesame Street episodes. On Sesame Street there is a movie clip of a girl going into her Tio’s (uncle’s) bakery to make pan dulces. Ever since seeing that clip I have wanted to try pan dulces (sweet bread). Well, I have an RSS feed of Allrecipies.com and yesterday pan dulces was the recipe for the day. So I made some bread yesterday and pan dulces is so yummy. I read that you are supposed to eat it with coffee but since I don’t drink coffee I just had it by itself. It stands alone as a yummy treat. I couldn’t keep the kids away from it. This morning they are all gone. So if you are in the mood to try something new here is the recipe. Also, here are some reviews of the recipe. The good thing about this recipe is that you will most likely already have the ingredients. Enjoy.

We're Here!!!

We have made it to Texas. It is hot and the cockroaches are HUGE! We are slowly unpacking and our little rental is starting to feel like our home. I can't wait to be settled! Let me know if you need my contact info. 

First Bath!

Need I say More?

Lucy and Animals!

Lucy is a sweet little girl that loves animals. When James and the family went to Mount Rushmore she got to see tons of different animals. Here she is with the burros on Iron Mountain Road.

Who's Guilty?

I thought this picture was priceless. Thomas and Lucy are here with their cousions Kyle and Breanne. Grandpa Lawson caught these kids just a little too early in the morning.

The Circus, an unenthusiastic yeah.

We heard that the circus was in town and thought, "the kids can't miss this. We HAVE to go." Well, it was the type of thing that is meant to drain the money out of your pockets and we had not budgeted for that type of fun. So first, I had to say no to all the things that the kids wanted. Luckily for the kids, we sat next to some friends that were nice enough to share their Cotton Candy. Second, it was a bit rainy. Aren't circuses in tents? I thought so. The rain got worse and worse and a fun filled night at the circus turned out to be a cold, wet, short trip to see an elephant. Someday we will really see the circus. On the bright side, we learned that Lucy is a huge fan of Cotton Candy (does that really surprise anyone?)

Dylan's Baby Blessing

Dylan's Blessing went really well and we were glad to have Grandma and Grandpa Lawson and Brooke and her family to celebrate with us. Here are two pictures of our happily growing Family.

Confessions of an Over-Stressed Mom

Wow, the jump from two to three kids has been crazy. But I am so grateful for this new little baby. I feel like I can appreciate so much more. A thoughtful call, ten minutes with my book, or kisses from the kids. I love being a mom and Love being Thomas, Lucy, and Dylan's Mom. Not every day goes great and I am learning to let go of control (or the feeling of being in control. I have a theory that I was never in control, I just thought I was). I am trying to just soak up all the joy motherhood has to offer and not let everyday stresses over rule my life (and that can be hard with the up coming move). I guess what I am trying to say is I am trying to find joy in the journey. I just remember what President Thomas S. Monson said that someday I will miss the toys scattered, the piles of laundry and the fingerprints EVERYWHERE! (That talk can be found here)

Our New Little Man!

Welcome to the World

Dylan Lawson Britsch

May 10th 2009

2:05 a.m.

7 pounds 1 ounce

20 1/2 inches long

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I got the best mother day gift anyone could ask for, an adorable little boy! He was born at 2:05 a.m. He is a little guy at 7 pounds and 1 ounce. I can't wait for everyone to meet him. We are still working on a name, but we have some ideas. Pictures are to come, check back often! Oh, and I also got some roses and tulips from James and the kids. Aren't they nice?

The Waiting Place

That is where I am right now. Dr. Seuss was right, it is not a good place to be. We are waiting for the baby and waiting for our house to sell. We are waiting to move and we are waiting to send out news. Just waiting.


From Oh, the Places you'll go!

The Waiting Place......for people just waiting. Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or a No or waiting for their hair to grow.Everyone is just waiting.Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pantsor a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

Excitement on Tax Day!

April 15th generally comes and goes without a second thought except for this year. It turns out I had some preterm contractions and earned a night at the hospital. We are fine now, it's just that the baby is a touch too little to be greeting us right now (34 weeks). So I am learning to "take it easy" and keeping the baby in. It was a small scare and we are hoping to see the baby soon, mid-May.

Yeah, It's Done!!

Lucy Is Potty Trained! Yippiee! So I decided that I was done buying diapers, so I stopped using them. All day today Lucy has been wearing big girl underpants and she hasn't had one accident! We even made a trip to Wal-mart, still no problems. She is still wearing a pull-up at night, but at least we have ditched the diapers. Now how do I avoid diapers with this next baby? Still haven't figured that one out.


Hooray for underpants!!!!

Happy Birthday, James!

So I am so sorry it is going to be a lot harder than I thought to keep up with my blog. Without the Internet at home I have to bring all the pictures and stuff with me. It stinks. But I did promise I would post about James' birthday. It was fun. We went out for Mexican, went to the movies, and ate cake. His birthday cake of choice was a Fudge Ribbon Cake, which is a dense chocolate cake with Cheesecake swirled throughout it. The only problem is that a "Leprechaun" got a hold of the cake and turned the swirls green. Every bite I kept expecting a hint of mint. But it was good no the less. I will try to post a recipe soon.

Imagine it looking something like this only green: So The birthday was fun and the cake was good, but the surprise that I made for him was a mint truffle. It was a recipe that I found on Bakerella. They are so simple to make and oh so yummy. you have to try them. They are made from mint Oreos, cream cheese, and chocolate chips. For a decadent treat you can't get anymore simple than that. Here is the recipe, enjoy!!

Our trip to the Ballet!

We were lucky enough to get a private ballet performance. We thought that it was so good and entertaining that we recorded an excerpt and decide to share it with everyone. We hope you can enjoy it as much as we did.

As A Result...

Well, we have decided to cut our tv and internet services. As a result I have had time for projects. I have made a tiered skirt for Lucy and a rag quilt for the new baby. Both were so easy that I can't wait to get more fabric and make more. I just wish I had more choices for fabric than just Wal-mart.

I have also been able to make something for James' birthday on St. Patrick's Day but I can't post about that until after his b-day. (I don't want to give away any surprises.)

Oh No....!

We caught Lucy in the lotion AGAIN! Of course it had to be the expensive Eucerin.  Just imagine how the rug, couch, and surrounding blanket looked. What a mess!

What's So Funny?

I was looking through some old pictures and found one that brought back a flood of memories. When my sisters and I get together we can not stop laughing. I guess it has been happening since we were little. I think I am about five or six in this picture. 

What is it with Zoos?

One thing people may not know about our family is that we love zoos. Every place that we live we find a way to go to the nearest zoo. While in Nebraska we have found that we have been to the Denver zoo quite a few times. So with our latest trip we saw a theme developing and I thought I would share. 

This first picture is the summer of 2005. 

This second picture was taken in September 2007. 

And Finally, this picture was taken February 2009. It seems we are averaging every other year.

Can it be done?

Today I am attempting the impossible. I am going "unplugged" for a whole day. I am going to turn off my computer and television and unplug both of them. At least I'll have the phone and therefore will not "fall off the face of the earth" (well, I hope not). 

So here goes my first social experiment. I will have to be creative on how to fill my day. I know that my house has been suffering, maybe I will start there. Has anyone else done this? How did you do? Any tips? You might have to call because I won't be able to read responses (well maybe not until Wednesday).

New Month, New Trial

This month we are again trying to potty train Lucy. Anyone who has attempted this knows how frustrating it can be. So far we have been successful with #2 but we have only been working on it for about two hours. Any suggestions? Ideas? Help?

When I potty trained Thomas it took about 6 months. Once I found his motivation, it worked. When he had accidents he lost television and computer privileges. After that, he was potty trained almost overnight. The only problem is that Lucy couldn’t be more different from Thomas. So I am really up for any ideas anyone can spare. 

Our Picky Eater!

As a mother of toddlers, I am constantly worried that the kiddos aren’t getting enough proper nutrition. I was told by a far off source that if a child is lacking protein, carbs, and/or vitamins they will crave and eat those foods to fill that void. Boy is that off. Needless to say I have a picky eater, a VERY picky eater. Every meal we would put veggies and fruit on the lunch and dinner plate and every meal they would go untouched (unless they floated in the drink.) I tried not to make too big of a deal out of it, thinking that someday she would get curious about the “other” side of the plate. But when I found out that she was becoming deficient and it was affecting her health, I knew I had to take immediate action. So here are some tools that I have used to help solve my dilemma.

“Deceptively Delicious” book—it’s a recipe book by Jessica Seinfeld teaching mothers to sneak in veggies and fruit into everyday “kids” foods. I still serve the green beans with the spaghetti and meatballs but I don’t stress out that they don’t get eaten. The spaghetti is now fortified with wheat pasta, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes and spinach. I LOVE trying the new recipes and inventing my own with the added veggies. In all honesty, the food tastes good and we are finding it fills us up a lot faster than before (we are getting added veggies, too).

“Eat this Not that” book—this book is comparing the pre-prepared items in the grocery store. It is teaching the consumer (me) that just because it looks or says that the food is healthy doesn’t mean that it is (and it tells you why so you can make an informed decision). So now I am taking this book to the store with me and every time I buy a premade dinner, bread or juice. I then consult my new healthy food reference and make the best possible choice. I love it because it brings a new challenge to the food shopping trip and I can still get my chocolate and sugar fixes (and not feel guilty.)

The Snack Boxes—we bought a small Tupperware for each of the kids. We let them decorate it and color them. I then put the boxes in the fridge filled with good choice snacks. Now when the kids want a snack they can go into their box and grab which ever suits their fancy. Each snack is the proper portion size and since I control what goes in there I only put the best in there. I only fill them up once a week so once it’s gone, it’s gone. So when snack time rolls around I am not scouring the cupboards and then settle for fruit snacks or the eighth cookie that day.

I am still in the beginning stages of this uphill battle but I thought I would share some of the things that I have found that works. Do you have a picky eater? Do you have any advice? Let me know what you think?