The blogs have ears

In the middle of a LONG day of vision testing (Fun!) yesterday, the three youngest kids and I were forced to spend money I don't have on lunch. We had two restaurant choices, and we went with our beloved Eat n' Park, which is a local chain that is very supportive of the food allergic. (Hello, Silk soymilk on the menu! A separate gluten-free menu!) Awhile ago, I wrote that I wished they had a free treat for kids who can't enjoy their famous smiley face cookies. Did someone hear me? Because thanks to their new LifeSmiles program, they do! Kids can choose either a regular smiley cookie, a mini smiley cookie, or an apple. Is an apple as fun as a cookie? No, but it's WAY better than walking away empty handed while your brother and sister chomp on cookies.

Reading the menu while trying to nurse covertly in public, I also learned that they have a FarmSource program, where they buy their produce from local suppliers. Love.

Thank you, Eat n' Park. We'll try to visit more than once every six months.

Recipe and a Coupon

I made four-ingredient Fast and Friendly Meatballs last night, using ground beef instead of turkey because that's what I had, and Progresso Italian Panko Breadcrumbs. Dairy-free Italian breadcrumbs! They do exist! And they are good. Here's a link to a coupon for $1 off if you want to try them.*

Usually I make turkey sausage meatballs by rolling the sausage into balls and browning them. This recipe doesn't splatter the stovetop like the sausage ones do, and my kids like it better. We have a winner. If you want a dairy- and egg-free meatballs, check out Kelly's recipe.

*Why, yes, the coupon link above does go through the blog of one of TLC's Extreme Couponers. Shut up. Hoarders inspired me to clean my basement, and Extreme Couponing is making me take a second look at couponing. Now, if I start telling Scott to get some more wives, then we have a problem.

Ack

The other night, all of the kids were on our bed. Katherine was reading the bedtime story, Eli and Helen were listening, and the baby was kicking and grinning and trying to eat his sister's foot. Later on, Scott said, "I was looking at all of them on our bed thinking, 'Wow. We have four kids.'"

It's been that kind of a week. Usually things cycle around so that one person is in the parental spotlight. As my friend, also a mother of four, says, "I can only worry about one of them at a time."

This week has been about trying to focus on everyone at once. Orthodontist! Optometrist! Vision therapist! School registrations! Star of the Week! Field trips! Food allergy issues! Teething! Colds! Sleepless nights! Insurance! Finances! Prescriptions! Phone calls to doctors' offices! Swing low, sweet chariot! (TM Tess)

It's the business side of parenting that throws me sometimes. The feeling that I'm the president and secretary of a small, poor, slightly dingy workplace with untrained, underage employees. But I imagine this part of the mothering job will only increase, so I'd better get used to it.

Time to make some phone calls....

Updates

I'm making Mary Ostyn's Doro Wat (Ethiopian Chicken Stew) via Crockpot 365 for dinner tonight. Hopefully the hard-boiled eggs will sell the kids on it.

I cut Eli's hair! I even used two different clipper guards! And it looks decent! No, he would not let me get a photo!

Thank you so much for all of your haircutting tips; watching YouTube videos was critical to my success. I feel so empowered! Now if my own bangs would just hurry up and grow so I can stop holding them back with clips. I look like Elisabeth Shue in that movie about the autistic sister.

Image from jinni.com

All of this snow/rain/freeze/thaw mess is making everyone's roofs leak. Ours is leaking into Katherine's newly-painted room (NOOO!) and down a chimney into our linen closet. Nothing says fun like two tons of wet, moldy linens.

Eli had to take a sign of spring to school today. HAHAHAHA. Scott: "What did you send? Bird poop?" I sent a branch with very confused buds, thank you very much.

My parents lent me a copy of The Lincoln Lawyer. Where can I hide to read all weekend?

Things I've Tried Lately

It's time for an edition of Things I've Tried Lately That Were Sent to Me But I Was Not Paid to Review, not to be confused with Uncompensated FTLOG.

Enjoy Life Soft Baked Cookies

We received Enjoy Life's new and improved Soft Baked Cookies in Snickerdoodle, Double Chocolate Brownie, and Lively Lemon. I took them to a Super Bowl party where there was a gluten-sensitive college student and my dairy-allergic daughter. The college student loved the Double Chocolate Brownie cookies and said they were a real treat. Katherine liked the Snickerdoodles best, which surprised me. I would have guessed she'd pick the chocolate ones. We sent some Double Chocolate Brownie and Snickerdoodle cookies home with the college student. The Lively Lemon cookies were untouched, so Scott and I ate them in the following week. We loved them. There are little crunchy lemon bits in them that have a great texture and flavor.

The cookies were well-received, but aren't something that fit in our budget. I might buy them for a situation like the party where I want people who have allergies/intolerances to feel secure about what they are eating.

No Whey! Chocolates

Chocolate? Good.

Company Name? Good.

Variety? Good.

Dairy-allergic child's happiness level? Through the roof.

No Whey! Chocolates is a great small chocolate company featuring dairy-free chocolates. They also have gluten-free and soy-free candies. They are currently featuring some super cute Easter candies that are perfect for Easter baskets. We loved trying their chocolates.

This review was written for Go Dairy Free.

Gardein Garden Protein

We tried their Chick'n Scallopini, Beefless Tips, Buffalo Wings, Chick'n Good Stuff, and Crispy Tenders. The kids liked the tenders and the Good Stuff, which is like a stuffed chicken breast. Scott and I liked the Buffalo Wings and Scallopini, but none of us cared for the Beefless Tips. I might buy the Chick'n Good Stuff sometime because it is like Chicken Kiev or Chicken Cordon Bleu, two dishes that are hard to make dairy free.

This review was written for Go Dairy Free.

Nice move, Mickey

I had a happy-go-lucky post in mind, but then Disney cancelled Catherine Newman's Dalai Mama Dishes column, which is my favorite recipe column and the ONLY reason I go to Disney Family.com.

If you've ever read and enjoyed her column, please go tell them how you feel. That is, if you are actually able to log in and leave a comment.

You can still find Catherine at her personal blog.

March

"Mama, Spring is trying to come, but the snow keeps smooshing it down." --Eli

Smile, Bobby. Show them Jamaica.

Apparently writing Graham's birth story was more taxing then I expected, especially given the fact that I put it off for six months. And in one week he's started eating cereal (Oats are what the peditrician recommended this time around for the sibling of a food-allergic child.) and sprung two teeth. STOP GROWING. IT'S ALL TOO FAST. Also, please let me sleep again.

Speaking of teeth, the dentist recommended an orthodontist consultation for the eldest yesterday. I just made the appointment.

Kids--they're a lot of work, but they're worth it.

Jokes.com
Wanda Sykes - Kids Are Worth It
comedians.comedycentral.com
Jokes Joke of the Day Funny Jokes

Six months

Six months ago today, I checked into the hospital at 7:30 am, was taken to a labor and delivery room, and prepped for yet another induction. Every time someone looked at my chart I was told, "Oh, this will be fast and easy! It's your fourth baby!"

First was the Foley catheter. I was allowed to walk the halls, which I'd never been able to do before. Around 11 am, the catheter came out, but it hadn't done anything. I was still at 2 centimeters. At 12:30, I was started on Pitocin. My sister arrived. And we waited. And waited as the nurses kept upping the dose and I slooowly dilated. When I couldn't stand it anymore, I asked for an epidural. The anesthesiologist hit a blood vessel and I could feel blood running down my back. Although I was dilating, the baby wasn't moving down. After several nurses performing exams to figure out what was going on, they told us that it felt like his arm was blocking the exit and the doctor might have to do a c-section. Around dinnertime, they ordered an in-room ultrasound, which didn't show an arm in the way, but did show that the baby's head was tilted back at an odd angle, making it difficult for him to descend. They propped me up into a sitting position, which made my legs totally numb. At some point, my water broke, but the baby still wasn't descending.

As the evening wore on, the baby's heart rate began to drop during each contraction. A heart rate monitor was placed on his skull. They stopped the Pitocin, but that stopped the contractions. When Pitocin was started again, his heart rate began to drop again. The doctor said we needed to consider a c-section. He left to let us 'think about it,' but he was already in his scrubs. Scott and my sister promised me everything under the sun ("I'll work from home!" "I'll come back and stay with you another week!") to get me to calm down and agree to sign the papers.

Once I did, my epidural was double-checked and I was rushed into the operating room next door. There is nothing more glamorous than being heaved from one bed to another by a bunch of medical personnel. They began prepping me while I tried to calm down. As the surgery began, I started to shake uncontrollably, which the two anesthesiologists assured me was common. They both held my left arm firmly, which was calming, and instructed my sister and Scott to do the same on my right. I heard the voice of a med student who had shadowed the doctor at my appointments say, "You can blame this all on everyone who said it would be fast and easy," which made me smile.

While it wasn't an emergency c-section per se, it was fast. There was a lot of movement and talking, with people telling me what was going on and the doctor explaining what he was doing to the two med students and to Scott and my sister. Suddenly, everyone was dead silent. Then the doctor said, "Thank God. Thank God." Me: "WHAT? 'Thank God' what?" My sister: "Sarah, the cord is around his neck." I found out later that the doctor had to unwind the cord before he could get the baby out of the incision, and he never would have made it down the birth canal. The cord was around his neck four times, pushing his head back at an odd angle and wrapped so tightly it left marks.

So, at 11:28 pm, Graham was born. Scott held him and my sister held my hand while the surgery was finished. My sister was the first one to notice his dimple. Then when we were wheeled back to our room, I finally held him and fed him.

I love you, Graham.

Hair Raising

I've been looking for ways to save more money. (This started before our furnace died Wednesday night and we had to shell out $400 to get it fixed. *Lamaze breathing*) Sometimes, you have to spend money to save money. And to avoid paying $10 for the privilege of watching your son receive half a haircut before the barber gives up. So I bought hair clippers, and scissors, and thinning shears. (Both Eli and I always have to have our crazy-thick hair thinned.)

I really need you home hair cutters to talk me through this. I'm going to start with the boy, and then maybe move on to everyone else. What am I doing?! (Thanks to Swistle and Christina for helping already.)

Feel free to tell me that I can color my hair at home, too, as I've stopped getting highlights and now my hair is all grown out in its "hair-colored hair" glory.

Money for Nothing

I spent my free money. And I tried to be both fun and sensible. So... funsible? "You see what I just did there? That was an explanabrag."

All images from CSN Stores

I thought about purchasing foam tiles for the basement play area I'm carving out, but then I realized I could get two packs of the same size (not as pretty, but cheaper and able to cover more floor space) with Graham's Congratulations on Your Birth from Friends of Your Grandparents Toys R Us gift card. I've been holding onto it because what does a fourth child need besides diapers? And buying diapers with a gift card is just too depressing; I couldn't do it.

Except this image from Toys R Us

So, gift certificate money for foam tiles, and CSN Stores money for:

a wallet to replace my seven-year old wallet and duct-taped checkbook cover. Springy and useful!

Two cookie sheets to replace our rusty (Ew.) cheapo ones that replaced our nice but ancient ones last year.

And a spoonula. Because I wanted one. (They're sold out of the kind I ordered, or I'd link to them.)

Grand total, $54.69 of $55. Yeah, baby. Thanks, Mommy Daisy!

What should I buy?

I won Mommy Daisy's CSN Stores redrawing and now I have to spend $55 by the end of the month and I can't decide! What to buy! POOR ME. And of course I want to spend as close to $55 as I can without going over. That's the fun of the game. That, and free money.

Now, should I be sensible? Not? Half and half?

What would you get?

Pierogi Casserole and Pumpkin Muffins

Although it is beautiful here today, horrible February weather, potty training, keeping a budget, and the lack of decent, inexpensive fruits and vegetables keep me turning to the cupboards and freezer for carbs. Warm, comforting, vaguely healthy carbs.

Pierogi Casserole, adapted from our local paper

This casserole is like the love child of pierogis and haluski. My crazy children dislike pierogis because of the texture of mashed potatoes. The casserole, they like.

4 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 lb. package of egg noodles, preferably kluski noodles

1/2 a head of cabbage, chopped

2 onions, chopped

4 T. dairy-free margarine

4 T. olive oil

salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes and noodles separately, until cooked. Drain and cover to keep hot. Meanwhile, saute the cabbage and onion in the margarine and olive oil until collapsed and melty. Add the noodles and potatoes to the cabbage and onion. Mix, and add salt and pepper to taste.

If you really wanted to gild the lily, some bacon would be fantastic in this.

Pumpkin Muffins

This is my neighbor's recipe, and the kids' favorite muffin recipe in the whole wide world.

Whisk together:

3 1/3 c. unbleached AP flour*

2 t. baking soda

1 1/2 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. nutmeg

2 1/2 c. sugar

Mix:

1 c. canola oil

4 eggs

2/3 c. water

2 cups pureed pumpkin, or one 15 oz. can of pumpkin

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together and spoon into greased muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. For mini muffins, bake at 350 degrees for 14-15 minutes. Makes 3 dozen regular muffins or a truckload of mini muffins. These freeze well.

*Yeah, yeah, yeah. Feel free to make a blend of whole wheat and white or what have you.

Chore Wars

I just found out about Chore Wars, and I am so excited. It's a free Dungeons and Dragons-like online game for cleaning your house. I heard about it from a friend of mine who plays it with her husband. I'm thinking this might be just the thing to help my video game-obsessed children be more motivated to clean. It might make things more fun for the parents, too. It also makes me think about the recent D&D episode of Community. I never understood the appeal of D&D, but this? I get.

Random Hearts

I cannot believe how much candy/how many treats came home from preschool today. Or, to quote my son, "Mama, I thought Valentines were that you cut a heart out of paper and wrote on it." I agree about the paper hearts. Well, paper hearts and chocolate.

I'm going to make a dairy-free version of this chocolate cake for dessert tonight. I made my dad's favorite cake for his birthday this past weekend, and when someone asked, "Where did you get the recipe?" I said, "Where do I get most of my recipes?" Entire table in unison: "Catherine Newman." Yep. (Stephanie O'Dea and Mary Ostyn are two other good guesses. I'm making Mary's blueberry muffins tonight, too. In heart-shaped muffin tins.)

Recently, while making popcorn in the Whirley-Pop Catherine recommended, Scott said, "She's really had an influence on our lives, hasn't she?" She has, and so have you. Happy Valentine's Day.

Roll with it

Why can't winter babies have outside birthday parties?

Supplies:

fire in the firepit

sleds

snowboards

snowball makers

snow brick makers

(Ask guests to bring their own snow supplies, too.)

extra gloves, hats, scarves

snow

Menu:

hot dogs cooked over the fire

carrot sticks, pretzels, raisins (for eating and snowman making)

cakes with snowboardingStar Wars guys and princesses

slow cooker hot cider with cinnamon

slow cooker dairy-free hot chocolate (made with powdered soy milk and no peppermint)

bottled water

Happy Birthday!

Five Years

All this growing up is making me woozy. Stop it!

Oh, all right. Fine.

Happy Fifth Birthday, Eli.

Five Months

Happy five month birthday, Graham. Now please stop growing.

Three

peaking of cleaning, I dug my My Friend Mandy, Jenny, and Becky dolls out of my parents' attic and cleaned them (and their extensive wardrobes) up for Helen's birthday present. I can't wait to give them to her tonight.

Happy Third! Birthday, Baby Girl.

Dear person who took my diaries

Dude, it's -5 degrees outside, and I didn't put the trash out till evening. It takes some kind of commitment to tear a hole in every single bag of trash I put out, including the food-filled kitchen bags that were in the closed trash can.

I understand taking the boxes of VHS tapes; I set those out hoping someone would. But thanks for reinforcing every irrational fear I have by taking my junior high and high school diaries. 'Preciate it! You're in for quite the whiny, boy-obsessed read! And the entry where I finally get my period--diary gold! If you were looking for sex, drugs, and drinking, though, boy did you pick through the wrong trash!*

I can't help but notice you left the elementary school diary behind. Too tame? Or maybe you left it because it was filled front to back and the others weren't. That's it--you're going to tear out the used pages and recycle the diaries! Paper salvage! Say it with me: paper salvage! I'm breezy!

Why couldn't I have thrown these out when I lived hundreds of miles away from my hometown? Or published entries from them myself?

But seriously. So people find out I had crushes on them. Or that they annoyed me. I wouldn't hold anything anyone wrote twenty years ago against them. Right? RIGHT?

[Lamaze breathing.] Paper salvage. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely paper salvage.

*The really juicy stuff was in the college notebooks.

New year, SOS

We have mice.

Christmas and Thanksgiving were great. Very low key.

So was the December visit with family.

Katherine had wonderful dairy-free food experiences.

She went on her first overnight trip without her parents, and it went perfectly.

Probably because she was with her grandparents and aunt and uncle.

One of my favorite relatives died.

I dreamed about visiting with her the other night.

I love having four children.

Four is enough.

I am in the process of a MAJOR house cleaning.

Hoarders motivates me.

Only the basement to go.

Tell me about your affordable basement remodel stories.

Graham is the best baby ever.

He's four months old and is growing way too fast.

I look forward to the space that will be created when we hand down baby items.

I never thought I'd say that.

I don't know how to do everything I need to do AND blog.

I miss you.

You are important to me, despite evidence to the contrary.

Have I mentioned the pinehole mice?

Three Book Reviews

Alternative title: I suck, but these books sure don't!

Yeah. Don't send me anything if you want a timely review. I think that's the lesson to be learned here. Sigh.

ANYWAY. On to three cheerful children's allergy books! The Bugabees: Friends With Food Allergiesby Amy Recob is an incredibly cutely illustrated book about bug friends, each of whom has a food allergy. The end of the rhyming book has talking points about each of the allergies. I think this would be a great book for young classrooms to introduce them to food allergies.

Dairy-Free Dino-Licious Dig
from the No Biggie Bunch by Heather Mehra and Kerry McManama by is more appropriate for a dairy-allergic child, as it teaches how to be proactive in situations where you can't eat the provided snack. Also cutely illustrated, it is part of a series of books on different food allergies.

Why am I Different?: My First Allergy Book is by Naomi Antenucci, who probably sticks pins in my blog on a nightly basis because she sent me her lovely book FOREVER ago. This IS a wonderful first allergy book for young children, as it introduces them to the basics of being food allergic. It has simple language and illustrations appropriate for little ones.

Any of these would be great Christmas presents for a teacher or child. For a book that focuses on the emotional side of being allergic, check out Gina Clowes's One Of The Gang: Nurturing the Souls of Children with Food Allergies.

Give the people what they want

"I'm two months old, Mom. Post some pictures already."

"Never mind about the drool spot on your pants."

"You're too busy? That's a good one."

"Be sure to show off my dimple."

"Seriously. Do it now."

Twenty minutes

5:20 pm--Notice wet, warm feeling on leg while holding baby on lap. Pat baby on back to calm him. Notice wet, warm feeling on hand.

5:21--Change baby into spare changing bag outfit so you don't have to go upstairs.

5:23--Put diaper in trash.

5:25--Hear loud noise in baby's pants, much like the one he made during the prayers of the people Sunday at church.

5:26--Ask children to bring another outfit down for their brother.

5:27--Start to undress baby. Decide to take him upstairs for a bath.

5:36--Bring baby back downstairs where his outfit is.

5:37--Baby peepees all over towel, couch, your shirt, his clean outfit. Yay, slipcovers.

5:38--Child delivering another outfit from upstairs accidentally steps in growing diaper/laundry pile, gets poopoo on sock, carpet.

5:40--Look at huge laundry pile. Wonder when husband will arrive home with box of wine.

Six weeks

I have a six-week old in my house. I don't know how that happened. Soon he'll be off to college and I'll be weeping for my babies. Although his sister will be 27 at that point, so maybe the gap between children at home and grandparenthood won't be that big. Yes, this is what I think about.

Someday, I will share the miraculous story of his birth, but I am way too jittery to focus on that right now because I am jacked up on caffeine and steroids. (Sorry, Nursing Baby!) Somehow I managed to get poison ivy all over my FACE despite being Cesarean-sectionally restricted to hobbling outside and collapsing on a lawn chair while the children run around with the neighbors. I've heard people complain about our GP being 'old school,' but today I got squeezed in for an appointment I didn't have to pay for, and they gave me a free flu shot, too. Old school doctor FTW!

Now I must figure out what to feed ALL OF THESE CHILDREN since our supply of new baby meals has dried up. I'm thinking scrambled eggs.

How are you?

He's here!

Graham Mommy'sMaidenName arrived at 11:28 pm on Wednesday, via C-section, after a day of being induced. He weighed 7 lbs, 14 oz, and his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck FOUR times. Baby and Mommy are TIRED and SORE but are fine and so glad to be home.

Oh yeah, that pregnancy thing

Well, I'm not on bedrest like Sarah, and I'm not having problems leading to a C-section tomorrow like Theresa, (Our babies will be birthday twins!) but I AM being induced tomorrow morning because of another big baby. That makes me four for four, people. Woot.

More soon when Baby Boy arrives. Hope all is well with you!

The I Hate to Cook Book

FINALLY! Some wise person decided to rerelease my favorite cookbook of all time, The I Hate to Cook Bookby Peg Bracken.

Here's an article about the book's 50th anniversary.

And now that it's been republished, I should probably stop posting so many of her recipes.

Salad dressing

We've been getting soooo many greens in our CSA box, and I've been trying to get the kids to choke them down. We've had success with:
Ranch Dressing
Zippy Little Vinaigrette (scroll down)

Thousand Island (Thank you, Internet!)
1 c. mayo
1/2 c. ketchup
1/2 c. sweet relish

Teriyaki Dressing from Guerrilla Cooking
1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. teriyaki sauce
1 t. sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste

Happy salad making, Happy Fourth of July, and Happy twelfth anniversary to Scott and me.

Uh, Hi

I am here. I am fine. The family is fine. The baby is fine. I am just the worst Internet friend in the history of Teh Internetz, that's all.

I miss you, and I appreciate your messages so much. I don't even have an excuse, except to say that I hit some sort of blogging wall and needed to be quiet for a little bit, and that little bit turned into, um, months.

This week is VBS, so we'll be out of the house a lot, but I'll catch up more soon.

Oh, COME ON

I try to get back into blogging and what happens? I get a horrible spybot thing on my computer. Thank goodness I'm married to a computer guy who's fixing it as I speak. As I type. Whatever.

Back soon....

I'm a loser, baby

Why yes, I am the worst blogger who ever blogged. Thank you for asking. We are all fine. I just took a tiny break that ended up lasting a month.

As I say, we're all doing well, including the baby, who we found out today is a healthy boy!

More soon. I've missed you. (Although I have been keeping up pretty well in my reader.)

What did you just call me?

Here's another recipe from that old cookbook of my mom's, How I Feed My Family on $16 a Week: brownies without chocolate called, um, "Whiteys." I told Scott that we should probably call them something else, but he insists we keep the original name.

Whiteys

1/3 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup raisins (I leave out the raisins.)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8-inch baking pan. Melt shortening in a saucepan. Remove from heat. Mix in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, and raisins, if using. Spread batter in pan and bake for 30 minutes. Cool slightly and cut into squares.

I'm sure these would be good with frosting or chocolate chips instead of raisins, but we do like them plain.

Spring cleaning: the freezer

Hey! I can talk about food without gagging!

Because of some combination of Spring cleaning/nesting/guilt over how many Runs for The Border Scott's made for me/worrying about money, I straightened out our top-loading deep freezer on Monday to get an idea of what we have in there that needs to be used up.

We have:
LOTS of blueberries
various cuts of venison
lots of cooked, mashed pumpkin and squash
freezer jam: strawberry, strawberry rhubarb, and that failed batch of raspberry I use to make dairy-free ice cream
three jars of pesto
two jars of roasted tomato sauce
one jar of tomatillo salsa
dairy-free cupcakes and cookies for school and birthday parties
one bag of cranberries
herbs and spices

Last night I used:
two bags of blueberries and the last bag of peaches in a pie with sugar glaze
the last three bags of zucchini in a casserole (adapted to be dairy free, of course)
two pounds of venison chops
and six brown bananas in two loaves of banana bread

I can cook again! I've really missed it.

Gone All Day Stew

Here's what's for dinner:

Gone All Day Stew

1 cup pasta sauce or 1 can tomato soup + 1 T. Italian seasoning
1 cup water mixed with 1/4 c. flour till smooth
1-2 lbs. beef stew meat cubes
1/2 bag baby carrots or same amount of carrot chunks
1 large onion cut into eighths
4 medium potatoes cut into chunks
1/2 c. chopped celery
1 8 oz. container of mushrooms (I'm using canned today because that's what I have.)
2 dairy-free beef bouillon cubes
pepper to taste
1 bay leaf

Cook in a slow cooker on low all day or in a Dutch oven at 275 degrees for 4-5 hours. Five minutes before serving, add 3/4 c. frozen peas. A glug of red wine is good, too, if you have it. In the stew, I mean.

Stop sustaining that note!

Maybe it's because I have a child who watches H.S. Musical AND children who watch Sesame Street, but this gets me every. Single. Time.

The more you know

Tired of hiding food you don't like in your napkin or saying your stomach hurts? Try this excuse:
"Um, Mom? I'm allergic to spicy foods now, I think."

Hey, it works for your sister about dairy.

Whew

Everything appears to be fine with the one (Sorry, Swistle) baby. Thank you so much for talking me down yesterday.

I love love love the technician at my OB's office because she explains what she's doing/looking for during the ultrasound. She said that everything looks good from her point of view, although the information will be correlated with blood work, etc.

Then she asked me if I was going to find out the gender.
Me: "Yes."
Tech:"Well, it's a little early right now."
Me: "Right. I figured."
Tech: "I'm just going to play around for a few minutes."
*She proceeds to look at the baby from all different angles, stopping when she gets a good between the legs shot.*
Tech: "It's early, but if I had to make a guess, I'd say it's a boy. See? Right there?"
Me: "Wow! Are you going to give me odds?"
Tech, laughing: "No. We'll know for sure in a few weeks."

!!!

So we'll see, but I can't help planning bedroom rearrangements and getting excited. I know Eli will be happy, too. "If the baby is a girl, it will belong to Katherine and Helen, but if it's a boy, it will belong to me."

Things

Lost things that I ordered replacements for from Amazon so I don't stay awake stupidly worrying about them:
goggles for Katherine's swim lessons

Eli's favorite gloves

cup valves for Helen's favorite Dora cups


Things that were later found, so now we have a spare:
goggles

Things that give me Nervous Tummy (TM Tess):
The little girl on the bus who WILL NOT keep her hands to herself, causing K. to come home with her face covered in hives one day (I assume the girl had dairy on her hands) and carrying the contents of her disassembled backpack another day.
A barely-known classmate calling--by herself--
to invite my second grader over at 7 on a Friday night.
My ultrasound this afternoon because it's a special Advanced Maternal Age one to check the baby for all kinds of scary things.

Things I can control:
Ordering replacement items to turn my brain off.
Having Katherine change seats on the bus.
Telling the classmate that it isn't appropriate for K. to come over.

Things I can't control, but oh how I would like to:
Every single social event in my children's lives.
Ultrasound results

Catvice

I have some questions for all of you cat lovers out there. But first, some facts.

1. I like cats, but Katherine and I are horribly allergic to them.
2. Our neighbor puts out tons of birdseed and corn and peanuts every season but winter.
3. This food attracts birds and squirrels and rabbits and voles and various other critters, who all poo in our yard/on our swingset.
   
4. There are several feral cats in our neighborhood.
5. Some of them are quite scary.
6. One beautiful, sweet, collarless tabby cat really likes our house.
   
7. He/she hangs out on our back deck and front porch a LOT.

So, can we adopt this cat as an outside cat? Is that OK? I really, really want to encourage it to stay around because I like it, and because I'm hoping it will feast on/scare away all of the rodents and birds our neighbor provides.

What do I do? Put out cat food and water? Will all of the scary, nasty cats come, too?
What about... litterbox issues? What if it belongs to someone else? (I think the chances are slim, but still.)


Next time, we can talk about keeping a hawk as an outdoor pet. That's right, so many critters came to my neighbor's yard last summer that we had a HAWK as a regular fixture on our swingset.

Well!

Pardon my little hissy fit. I took the kids to playgroup, visited with the other moms, and ate many, many French muffins. Am feeling much better now.

Thank you all so much for your morning sickness advice. I have an appointment next week where I'll ask about switching medications. And I cannot agree enough with Not Your Aunt Bea: protein helps me with nausea WAY MORE than carbs. I don't understand why this isn't common advice.

The candy trains were a big hit at E's school. If you ever do this craft, especially with preschoolers, use glue dots. They will save your sanity.

The 2010 Go Dairy Free Non-Dairy Product Lists are now available. Very handy for shopping.

Now I'm going to go enjoy Swistle's twin posts.

I wake up scared, I wake up strange

I finally got up the courage to ask my OB for anti-nausea meds. For 24 whole hours, I wasn't queasy! But I was so tired I wanted to die, and I got really irritated with the children for, you know, being awake. Anti-nausea meds FAIL. I'm back to being queasy and [barely] functional.

Somebody (No, not me, but good guess!) blew the whistle on the Nintendo DSes in the classroom, so that conflict is over for now. Woot.

I made the executive decision to bake the cookies for the school Valentine's party myself, even though I wasn't on the original sign-up list. I figured, hey, I'm ticking people off anyway, why not have a safe snack? 'Cause that's how Hormonal Pregnant Mom rolls.

Tomorrow is the boy's preschool Valentine's party, and I'm in charge of the craft. Candy trains it is.

I can't wait to try Catherine Newman's dairy-free Walnut-Orange Cake.

First Robert B. Parker died the other week and now Dick Francis, one of my all-time favorite authors, died yesterday. As Beck tweeted, "Stop dying, favorite mystery authors!"

Katherine and Eli played in the children's chimes choir at our newish church for the first time on Sunday. Eli had just one note, the very last one, but he played it with enthusiasm.

We've been having lots of fun watching the Olympics, although the kids told my mom that they don't 'get' curling. Mom: "No one does."

Radio Silence

Dudes, I don't even know where to begin. I think life overwhelmed me at the same time a bout of Blog Sickness kicked in. Throw in sick kids (Two-year old on steroids = Shoot me.) and birthdays and school parties and meetings, and, oh yeah, HORMONES. Stick a fork in me, I'm done.

So! I met with the assistant superintendent and one of the elementary principals about the official allergy policy that they are finally going to put into place next year. Woot. I'm sure they just wanted to meet with the allergy parents to pacify us, but I don't care. I'm nosy, and I want to know what's going on. I'm pretty pleased with the policy so far.

Also, they are going to let us know who our children's teachers are in June instead of August! No more scrambling to meet with K's new teacher the week before school starts!

K's teacher asked me to be in charge of calling the parents who volunteered for the Valentine's party because she was frustrated with the amounts and dairy content of the Christmas party food. On the one hand, I'm happy to help. On the other hand, telling other mothers to step off? Not really my job. And, boy, did I inadvertently anger some people. Awesome.

Kids have been bringing in their Nintendo DSes to play during recess, even though the school handbook specifically says they're not allowed. K. keeps bugging me to let her bring hers. Uh, no. Our house rule is that the fragile, expensive toy stays home. Actually, ALL toys stay home. I think you can find something to play for 15 minutes in a room full of 20 other kids.

Huh. Maybe I'm not over Blog Sickness after all. Whiny much?

My blog turned three on Jan. 31, but much more importantly than that, my favorite boy in the whole world turned four last week. Four! I love him so much it makes my heart ache. Our sweet, serious little boy who takes such good care of his sisters, loves tractors, trucks, and Star Wars, and asked for tomato soup for his (John Deere) birthday dinner. Happy Birthday, Eli.

Odds and Ends

Helen's princess party was a huge success. The birthday girl's favorite gifts? The dollar-store plastic princesses from her cake and a gift box that looks like a castle. The princesses live there now and are having a fine time.

I'm so sad about Robert B. Parker.I've been rereading all of his novels. This is a great article about him.

Yesterday was also my first OB appointment (not counting the intake appointment). I was waiting for my OB to tease me, but all he said in his fabulous accent was, "I was happy to see your name on my schedule. [pause] You are very brave." I also had my first ultrasound, and there really is ONE little tiny baby in there! The technician said everything looks great. *whew* I never realize how nervous I am that things *aren't* all right till I hear that they are.

The other night I made Catherine Newman's borscht because I am craving cabbage. (And grapefruit juice.) I know, right? But dishes like this and this and this sound so good to me. And if the grocery store has cabbage rolls at the deli? Look out.

A picture is worth... etc., etc.

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl.

I heart the Internets

You all are the best. Not ONE of you said:

A. You know how this happens, right?/Have you figured out how this happens yet?

B. Was it an accident?/Did you do it on purpose?

C. Please tell me this is your last one.

D. Are you crazy?

E. I'm praying for twins. Twin boys.


Let's just say you all have a much better tact record than people I know in real life. MUCH better.

Your reward? I will answer those questions!

We were neither planning a fourth nor not planning a fourth. If it happened, great. If not, great.

Yes, this is our last baby.

We might be crazy, but I don't think it's because we're having another child.

If it is twins you all will have to come stay with us in shifts. Clear your schedules.


In other news, I am "AMA"--Advanced Maternal Age. Or, according to some of the lab forms, "Elderly." ELDERLY. Be nice to the crotchety old pregnant lady or she will trip you with her cane.

Too late?

Is it too late to ask you to delurk?




What if I tell you that I'm seven weeks pregnant and baby number four will be arriving in early September?

Guess where we're going?

That's right, The Pennsylvania Farm Show. No, we won't let Katherine too close to the 1,000 pound butter sculpture:



See you back here on Thursday.

Keeping Warm

It is freezing outside and the snow just. keeps. falling. Good thing Gramma made ponchos for all the girls to keep them warm.




(Eli chose not to be photographed in his new navy wool scarf.)

Epiphany

Me: *taking down nativity*
Almost-four-year old: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO BABY JESUS?!?"
Me: "Uh, putting him away. It's time to pack up the Christmas decorations."
Almost-four-year old: "WHYYYYYYY?"

Sigh. Happy Epiphany, Everyone.

Hey, it's 2010

I assume you all are doing well. I'm not sure, though, since my almost-two-year old deleted all of your posts from my reader. Apparently she wants me to spend less time blogging and more time planning her princess birthday party at the end of the month. "I pincess! Is mine! Pincess cake!" We'll follow that up with another John Deere birthday for Eli, just to keep things interesting.

I've been working on cleaning out our house, chanting, "Keep the memory, not the thing" and reminding myself that it is more important to use the space in our house as effectively as possible than to keep every toy the children have ever received. Would it have been more effective for me to take down the Christmas decorations before I started decluttering? Probably, but it's not Epiphany yet....

So that's what's going on here on the first day back to school when every other district in our county has a two-hour delay, the snow is sifting down, the tree is dark, and Christmas is over.

Christmas Copycat

Thanks to Nicole for this meme.

Eggnog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate with marshmallows.

Does Santa wrap the presents or leave them open under the tree? Santa leaves unwrapped gifts by the stockings in the living room. The rest of the gifts are wrapped and under the tree in the dining room.

Colored lights on a tree or white? How much time do you have? I like white lights. Scott likes colored blinking lights. So began the epic battle of our newlywed years. We alternated years. We tried white blinking and colored non-blinking. For several years I wound the tree with both white and colored lights. During this time, even my mother-in-law switched to white, non-blinking lights. Then the children were old enough to vote, and they chose colored. Scott would rather they blink, and I would rather they be red, white, and green only, which is my new favorite kind, but mostly we are too tired to care. At least they don't blink.

Do you hang mistletoe? No.

When do you put your decorations up? The first day of buck season, which is the Monday after Thanksgiving. We get the tree a couple weeks later.

What is your favorite holiday dish? All of the seafood dishes on Christmas Eve.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Chaotically. Almost ALL homemade ornaments with a few fragile, not-homemade ones at the top. And a lot of these sprinkled around.

Snow. Love it or hate it? I love snow. I would rather be cold than hot. I love walking in the snow. I even like to shovel. What I hatehatehate is bundling children in and out of snow gear all. winter. long. And of course I hate snow in April.

Can you ice skate? Nope.

What is your favorite holiday dessert? Is 'cookies' too vague? What about 'all of the obscure, old-fashioned cookies the ladies in my neighborhood used to make'? You know, like these.

What is your favorite holiday tradition? Everyone holding candles and singing "Silent Night" at the Christmas Eve service.

Candy Canes. Yum or yuck? I like them with chocolate. Dipped in chocolate, stirred in cocoa, on ice cream with chocolate sauce....

Favorite Christmas Show? It's a Wonderful Life.

The Wellness Tree

Garden Mama (Nicole) started a Wellness Tree for Kelly, a blogger with stage-four breast cancer, a few weeks ago, and she asked her readers to consider sending an ornament to support Kelly. Nicole writes, "The Wellness Tree was planted as a seed of compassion and inspiration during this time of challenge in Kelly's life. We endeavor to share our love and support by nourishing this wellness tree by crafting ornaments and wishes of hope to sustain every moment that she experiences, moving with her in sisterhood forward into a future full of health and joy for her body and spirit as she continues on her life's path."

The ornaments quickly started pouring in, and they are beautiful: felted wool angels and crocheted gingerbread men and beeswax snowflakes and knitted garlands.

Then Garden Mama emailed me and asked me if I wanted to contribute something. And I did! I did! But I do not have mad crafting skillz. *sigh* So what did I do? Dudes, I sent in an ornament from an Oriental Trading ornament kit. Because I care enough to send the very best, and because I love the cheap gifts from China.

If you feel led to send an ornament for Kelly, too, please know that I have successfully lowered the bar for you so you shouldn't feel any crafty pressure. You're welcome.

Some rambling and some Kenzoil

It's that time of year again. The time where one day it's December sixth and you're happily making Santa pancakes (with dairy-free coconut whipped cream) for your children and then life speeds up and becomes a blur of concerts, plays, dinners, lunches, neighborhood parties, church events, trips to the post office, and late night baking 'ideas': "How can I make Christmas cookies with what I have in the house? Maybe if I put crushed candy canes in these chocolate chip cookies...." (I did, too. I'm serving them to 20+ children and their mothers this morning. We'll see.) And suddenly you come to and it's December 24th and you're driving home in the dark from the Christmas Eve service to look at the luminaries your neighbor decorated the street with and to watch the children sprinkle reindeer food on the sparkling snow.

In the midst of all of this chaos, we're still trying out new dairy-free products. Because our commitment to taste-testing free samples stops for no holiday! One of the latest is Kenzoil, an oil blend of olive oil, fresh basil, fresh garlic, and spices. The company says, "Kenzoil is free of the following allergens: eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, fish, shellfish, wheat, milk, corn, potato, rice and yeast. We only produce Kenzoil in our facility and on our equipment.... Kenzoil is a fresh product. It contains fresh herbs and no preservatives. Like most produce items, it will keep longer in the refrigerator. Kenzoil is good for 4 ½ months if kept in the fridge."



We tried it as a dipping sauce for bread. It tastes like really fresh liquid basil pesto. Everyone in our family enjoyed it, even the littlest ones, who often find pesto to be too strong tasting. Scott also tried it as a baked potato topping and liked that as well. I bet mixing it with mayo would make a fantastic sandwich spread, and I'm sure it would be good on pasta, salad, etc. I can see it being a versatile addition to the fridge door.

My only issue with Kenzoil is the name. I know, I know, it's Ken's oil. But it makes me think of Pennzoil, which? Not so appetizing. Ah well.

Kenzoil can be purchased online in 5 oz. and 10 oz. sizes. I think it would make a great stocking stuffer/hostess gift/gift basket addition.

I was not given an extra bottle for a giveaway, but Grace was! So head on over for a chance to win. Contest ends on Friday, December 18.

Why I love living in a small town

When your child forgets her medication case at school, her teacher drops it off at your house on her way home.

Luna Bars: Same as they ever were. Except different.

Many, many moons ago, I eliminated dairy and wheat from my diet because of digestive problems. (T!M!I!) During that time, I became very dependent on Luna bars. Until I became pregnant and very dependent on Kit Kat bars. And Sonic chili cheese tater tots. The guy in the cubicle next to me at work's wife, who was pregnant, (got that?) believed pregnant women shouldn't eat chocolate because of the caffeine. He believed it, too. I kept the Kit Kats in my top drawer and ate a piece of one whenever he wasn't at his desk. Whereas today I proudly proclaim, "I eat chocolate when I'm pregnant and lots of it."

Anywho. Luna recently released bars with a new formula that includes Vitamin D. I tried them, and... they taste exactly as I remember them. (Flavorful, topped with chocolate or white chocolate, kind of like rice crisp bars but a little... grittier.) Which is a good thing. I don't think products need to be newing and improving all the time. Usually that just means they're adding dairy, which ticks me off. (I'm looking at you, Wyler's bouillon.) And Luna bars are the only nutritional bar I've ever liked, so I'm glad they didn't mess with their formula too much.

I tried:
Caramel Nut Brownie
Nutz Over Chocolate
White Chocolate Macadamia
Lemon Zest

Of course I liked the chocolate ones best. The white chocolate was fine; I am not always a white chocolate fan, but I liked it. The lemon zest was OK, but I've always much preferred their chocolate bars to their fruit bars.

Pack of 15 Luna bars available for @ $20 on Amazon.

This review written for Go Dairy Free.

Dairy-Free Christmas Baking Book

The other night I served cookies for dessert. My husband bit into one, paused, and said, "Is this for review?"

That should give you an idea of how many new foods and products we've been trying out lately. I want to hurry up and tell you about all of them so that you can give them as gifts or add them to your own wish lists! (The cookies weren't for review, but Scott did like them.)



Several weeks ago, I shamelessly requested a review copy of Kelly Rudnicki's cookbook, and she graciously provided a copy for me to review for Go Dairy Free. If you're looking for a cookbook gift, I can't recommend Kelly's The Food Allergy Mama's Baking Book: Great Dairy-, Egg-, and Nut-Free Treats for the Whole Family highly enough. It is my favorite kind of cookbook: dairy-free (and egg- and nut-free), easy to follow with lots of great tips for food allergy parents, filled with beautiful photos of the food and her (four, soon to be five!) children, and calling for no obscure, hard to find ingredients. One photo in the book pictures the ingredients Kelly uses the most, and Scott said, "That looks like our fridge!"

The recipes are fantastic. Here's just a sampling:
Apple House Cinnamon Doughnuts
French Puff Muffins
Italian Fruited Jam Tart
Dairy-Free Classic Cheesecake
Key Lime Pie
Classic Yellow Birthday Cake
Chocolate-Soy Nut Butter Candies
Caramel Corn
Cranberry Bread
Whole-Wheat Waffles
Bakery-Style Bagels
Gingerbread Kids
No-Nut Russian Teacakes
Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies
Cutout Sugar Cookies

I'm currently obsessed with the Emerald Isle Coffee Cake, based on her mother's recipe. Mmm... cinnamon.... OK, forget it. You need to go buy a copy right nowfor all of your holiday baking. Trust me.

This review was written for Go Dairy Free.

Christmas around the world

When the kids were Mario and Luigi for Halloween, Scott ordered their hats on Ebay. That Ebay seller just sent him a festive email:

"Thank you for your support to us on ebay. We had a good deal experience with you in the past!

Now Christmas will come. If you have not prepared for Xmas presents, we hope you can come back and visit our ebay store again.

You know it is one good idea to get the cheap Xmas presents for Children from China.

But you know it is one long time to your country from China. So we suggest you can do one earlier plan to order Xmas items."

Oh yes, it is one good idea to get the cheap Christmas presents for children from China. I think I read that in the news.


A few weeks ago, we went to a German Christmas celebration in an old German settlement town. At the end of our evening we ran into Weihnachtsmann, (Christmas Man), the German Father Christmas. He was dressed in his traditional Father Christmas finery and spoke with a strong German accent. After greeting the little ones, he spoke to Katherine for several minutes. He taught her how to say Merry Christmas in German (Fröhliche Weihnachten!) and told her about the little girl who always helps him on Christmas Eve.
Then he said, "And how is your room?"
Katherine: *big eyes*
Father Christmas: "Have you cleaned it yet?"
Katherine: *shakes head 'no'*
Father Christmas: "Ah, yes. You know, I help Santa Claus, and he was asking about that. Shall I tell him you'll work on it?"
Katherine: *nods 'yes'*
Father Christmas: "Oh, good."

You rock, Weihnachtsmann. We'll think of you on Saint Nicholas Day.

Filled with holiday...something

I think I am almost recovered from our Thanksgiving. I can see the bottom of the laundry pile, anyway. The highlight of the day for me was getting a picture taken of our family with ALL of our children's grandparents, aunts, and uncles. *sniff*

I ran around with a very cute little girl in tow this morning while the two big kids were in school. And yes, that was me singing along to "Midnight Train to Georgia" in the store. I was just so happy not to be listening to "Same Old Lang Syne" (Shut it, Dan Fogelberg.) or "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer."

We made Christmas card photo prints (What score does our photo get, Swistle? It features all of us AND Mr. McFeely!), paid bills, went grocery shopping, and fixed the rear-view mirror on the van. Again. I made the mistake of buying Krazy Glue ("Bonds to glass! Plastic! Metal! Plywood! Drywall! Polyester! Skin! DO NOT USE FOR REAR-VIEW MIRRORS.") and then bought regular Super Glue, which didn't work, and ended up using the Super Glue gel we already owned. Maybe I should send someone a glue care package....

Boy, am I cheery. Here, go cry over Beck's much more appropriate Christmas post.

Wordless Wednesday