Have a good cry

Some days you need to sit down, wallow in self-pity and have a good cry. Just get it all out.

Today is one of those days.

But when you're a mom, you don't have the luxury of breaking down whenever the mood strikes you. Tends to freak out the little buggers running around your house.

Stiff upper lip and all that.

Mr. President?

This afternoon, Shaggy and I walked up to the school to pick up Little M at the end of his day. It's easier to walk home if we cut through the school, come out the back and walk past the playground. So we did.

As we walked out of Little M's classroom, he admonished his sister and I that, "Shhhh! We have to be quyyyyy-eeeettt!"

As we walked a little farther, he said, "Momma! I show you da rock o dama. I show you da rock!"

Um. Okay.

At the end of the hall, hanging for all to see, was a laminated news article about our new president with his picture on it.

LittleM: See Momma! Dat DaRock O Dama!
Me: Yes! That's Barack Obama. Do you know who he is?
LittleM: Yes. He DaRock O Dama!
Me: Yes, he is Barack Obama. But do you know who Barack Obama is?
LittleM: She da Mr. President.

I was so tickled with his pronunciation. But mostly, I was so proud of him for being excited to tell me about our new president.

Here! Dis for YOU Momma!

My daughter loves to pretend to give me food or drinks. She will reach over to some toy next to her and pretend like she's messing with it and magically pulls out juice or a cheeseburger or chocolate or some other food. She holds her hand up to me and I have to take it and pretend to eat or drink it. I love this game! We think up all kinds of funny juices for her to make for me.

Tonight she was pretending to be Lightening McQueen and she was giving me racing medals.

Shaggy: Here Momma! I got racing medals for you. You want it?
Me: Sure, baby!
Shaggy: *sticks her hand down the back of her diaper and pretends to pull out a medal* Here you go, Momma! *and she shoves the "medal" down the neck of my shirt*

Fortunately, she had not pooped.

From that point on, she's alternated delivery locations. She will either shove it down my shirt or she'll rub it on my head.

Again, fortunately she's not pooped.

Back to work

I had my final interview today and am anxiously awaiting THE phone call.

This would be a part time job with flexible hours. I'm going to ask to work M-Th 8am-1pm. This would allow me to be home in time to pick Little M up from preschool and only Shaggy would need to be in daycare. Big M can take them to school and daycare before he heads to school each morning. Because of Big M's wacky class schedule this semester, he can't take them on Friday mornings; he has a class that begins at 8am (EW!). I'd be able to take Little M to school on Fridays if my employer agrees to these hours.

So. Here I sit. Staring at the phone. Willing it to ring.

I think I might lose my mind

This is Big M's LAST semester of school. He graduates May 16. May 17, I will be going into hibernation to recover.

Since this is his last semester, he has to take the remaining classes whenever they're scheduled regardless of how inconvenient it is.

The semester started out with an online class on Monday nights at home from 7-10pm. Ugh.

Tuesday nights are worse: 7-10pm at school. That means bed time is totally up to me and my bad back.

And now he has added a class on Wednesdays. 5-7pm.

I seriously might lose my mind. Or poke my brain out with a q-tip. Or give myself a lobotomy with a knitting needle.

In my house, the witching hour begins at 5pm. The kids are suddenly cranky, unruly and extremely hyper. Feeding them and getting them down for the night lasts until 9pm sometimes and it's physically, emotionally and psychologically draining at times.

Or am I just a crappy mom who can't cope? I wonder.

An adorable hat giveaway!

Check it out

Oh, and this contest is being hosted on my ... yes.... new blog. Yes, yet another blog. I wanted to have a site dedicated to my quilting and interesting quilting things I find.

I like to compartmentalize. Ya think? LOL

I can't think of a title...

Because I can't stop laughing!!!

We have a really hard time getting Shaggy to stay in bed at night when we put her down. It's like tw0-year-old Whackamole. She gets up at least half a dozen times and there's lots of wailing and screaming involved. It's so frustrating!

So tonight, she got up one more time. Big M stalked/stomped over to her door. She stood there holding her hand up in the air.

Shaggy: Here, Daddy.
Big M: ......
Shaggy: It's a booger.
Big M: ...... Well, thank you, baby........
Shaggy: I don' wanna eat it.
Big M: ...... I don't you to eat it either.
Shaggy: It yucky.

He's a good egg

My husband rocks.

I left the house at 8:30 this morning and drove from Richmond, VA to Burlington, NC with a four year old and a two and a half year old.

Then I drove back home around 4pm and the kids hadn't napped.

I was *not* looking forward to coming home and cleaning the house to get ready for a Southern Living At Home party I'm hosting tomorrow.

I walked in the front door and ...............................







the living room was spotless.

My husband rocks.

Menu Plan Monday - 1/19

Happy 60th birthday Daddy!! I love you!

Okay.. here's the menu for the week...


In no particular order (breakfast and dinners)...

Heart Attack Breakfast Casserole - This is already in the oven baking!
Chicken Noodle Souperole - Already cooked!
Apple Waffles - We'll probably have these for dinner one night.
Pizza Wraps - I never got around to making these last week so I put them on the menu for this week.
Meatloaf Muffins

With leftovers and Big M having several night classes this semester, this should cover us for the week.


------------

After going through some of the menus on the Menu Plan Monday site, I found a few things I'd like to try:

Healthy Baked Oatmeal (this will be my 2nd try for this type of breakfast food)
Copy Cat Taco Bell Quesadilla (minus the mayo.. ew!)


I'll add to this list as I go through the links.

Heart Attack Breakfast Casserole

My sister-in-law made a version of this last month but it had a ton of egg in it. I hate eggs. Gross. They make me gag. But I love hash browns and I love sausage so I made it w/out the nasty eggs.

Heart Attack Breakfast Casserole

1 bag frozen hash browns
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb country sausage
1 t. - 1 T crushed red pepper (to taste)
salt/pepper to taste

Cook and drain the sausage.
Mix cheese and hash browns; spread them into a greased casserole dish. It will look like you have way too much hash brown but it cooks down.
Top with sausage and mix into the hash browns a little.

Bake at 350 until the top is crispy and browned.

My only complaint is that the hash browns don't really get super cooked. I love me some well cooked, Waffle House style hash browns. This is a poor relation to the Waffle House hash browns.

Chicken Noodle Souperole - my version

I really loved the idea of this "casserole", but of course I had to mix it up and customize it.


Chicken Noodle Souperole

4 chicken boneless skinless chicken breast (I only had three)
1 - 12 ounce package egg noodle
1 can cream of onoin soup
1 can cream of chicken w/ herbs soup
1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper
1 bag frozen mixed veggies
1 cup crumbled saltines or butter crackers, optional

Cook your chicken, either as whole breasts or diced/cubed. I dumped the chicken into the food processor and hit pulse a few times to chop the chicken up better.

In the same pan, heat up the mixed veggies. This bag happened to be "fiesta mix" and had a lot of beans in it too.

I mixed everything together in a big bowl, then poured it into a "greased" casserole dish. Cook at 350 for 30-40 mins. Add crumbled crackers to the top about 10 minutes before it's done. I used low salt Ritz.

If I had any, I would have mixed in some wheat germ or ground flax seed.

Double batch apple waffles

When I cook for my family, I'm always looking for opportunities to add fruit, veggies and nutrition to regular foods. My kids love waffles (but not pancakes for some odd reason) but I don't love all the sweet syrup and white flour. It's empty calories and carbs with no nutritional value. I've made mixed berry waffles, banana waffles, peanut butter & jelly waffles, etc. You name it, and I've probably tried it in my waffles.

Yesterday, I made up a double batch of apple waffles. Apples were on sale and I wanted to take advantage of it. They aren't as fluffy or crisp as I'd like so I need to keep working on the recipe. I'm open to suggestions! Here's what I did....


Apple Waffles

2 cups white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup honey
2 tablespoon baking powder
4 eggs
3 cups milk
4 large apples, cored and finely diced (I use the food processor to pulverize)
1/2 cup oil



Um. Now that I look at the recipe, I realize that I left out the baking powder.

That explains a lot.

Sweet, baby goodness

My friend just had her third child. Her eldest son, E, is only two days younger than Little M. We've known each other since we were pregnant with our first children and have remained close this entire time even though we only see each other in person a few times a year.

I had the privilege of photographing him when he was less than 12 hours old.

Win some awesome fabric

Fabric. Family. Fun. is giving away this lovely fabric! Enter by February 1

Click here!

The drawing will be on February 1st, 2009. That gives you 2 full weeks to get out there and have some fun and Above All (win some) Fabric!!!!

I wanna win!

I entered a TON of the Whirl Into Winter contests this month. As far as I can tell, I didn't win a single one. And there were some GREAT prizes out there.

Guess I'll be doing a lot of clicking so I can go back and try to see if I won anything. But I didn't get any emails so I probably didn't. Poop.

Her first nightmare

*insert sad face*

Shaggy is just over two and a half years old and tonight she had her first nightmare.

She woke up crying and Big M went in to check on her. He asked her what was wrong and she replied, "Little M pushed me."

On the one hand, it makes me sad that things scare her and she has had a nightmare - even though I know it's unavoidable. But on the other hand, she was able to tell us what it was about and that's a huge help. Little M still doesn't know how to articulate his fears when he has a nightmare.

As a mommy, you always want to protect your children from pain. There's no stopping a nightmare though. But you can be sure that tomorrow will have some extra hugs and snuggles -- for both of us.

I love you. Still.

Happy anniversary Big M. We have been married for nine years now and it still works. It's still just as great now as it was nine years ago. There are lots of cliche', sappy things I could say to praise you and express my feelings for you but I won't. I'll just say this...

I love you. Still. I just can't stop. I never want to stop.

My crazy cooking

I wanted to try something different for the kids' breakfast. It's almost impossible to get Little M to eat oatmeal and when he refuses, Shaggy usually follows along and refuses as well. Ugh.

I found a neat recipe for Amish Baked Oatmeal. Since Little M loves granola bars, I thought this might be something he'd like as well.

Everything was going along just peachy until I reached for the canister of oatmeal. It was rather light. I shook it and realized I didn't have anywhere near three cups of oats. I had about half a cup. So everything was mixed up and ready for the oats and I only had half a cup!

Big M suggested using a bunch of our instant oatmeal packets. Ew. But I did. Since I already mixed the brown sugar into the batter and all these instant pouches have sugar in them, nutrition has totally gone out the window. Since a few of the packets were apple cinnamon flavored, I pulled some apples out and diced them up in the food processor. That's some nutrition, right??

This stuff has to refrigerate overnight so we'll see how it turns out tomorrow.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's what's on the menu for this week.

Black Bean Soup
Sweet and Tangy Pot Roast - I have to check and see if I have chuck roast in the freezer though.
Pizza wraps - I'll puree some yams to add to the sauce and revamp the recipe a bit to get some veggies in it for the kids.
Chicken Noodle Souperole - I'll modify this too. I'll use onion soup instead of mushroom and see if I can hide some veggies in it too.
Chili

I'm going to try to make some of these garlic muffins this week too. We'll see how well it goes because it's all dependent on how bad my back problems are this week.

I'm hosting Bunko Friday night. I'm debating trying to make a Pesto Cheese Blossom (this is just heavenly!!) or a simple baked nacho/taco dip.


Grocery List:
lime juice
chicken broth
brown gravy mix
beef broth/red wine
pepperoni
egg noodles
Ritz crackers

A la Moda

It arrived today! My Moda charm pack arrived.

I have no idea what to make with it.

Now I'm feeling intimidated. These are some great fabrics and I want to really show them off. Hrm. I'll have to think about this for a bit.

Any suggestions? Any quilt patterns you could suggest? I have 36 5" squares; one of each fabric in the picture.

Don' know nothin' 'bout birthin' no baby!

Well, Scarlett O'Hara's servant might not have known how to birth a baby. And I had no idea I was birthing a quilt!

When I started quilting, I did it very simply. I sewed my fat quarters together, sewed the backing to the top (right sides together, leaving an opening to turn the fabric right side out), then pulled the fabric through. This is how I made my first "quilt".

This is called birthing.

It's kinda nice to see that I was actually doing something right! LOL

I have an addiction

Thanks a lot Leigh. LOL

I am addicted to buying fat quarters and jelly rolls on eBay!! It's so so cheap!

I bought a pack of five fat quarters from Joann's. It was $10 and I felt incredibly guilty at the cost.

This charm pack of 37 5" squares was $7.05. Still more than I wanted to pay, but I fell in love with the fabric! And this Moda charm pack... are you sitting down? Only $3.78 for 36 5" squares!! Can you stand it!!!

I don't dare share the links for the auctions I'm currently bidding on; you might snipe them away from me! But I'm dieing to win this one!

See what I mean? ADDICTED!!

Why the disdain for chiropractics?

I have a new chiropractor and I adore him! Dr. Magic Hands is fabulous (thank you once again, Tara, for the recommendation!). I like that he explains things to me and takes time to answer my questions. He tells me when he is focusing on one area vs another and why. He explains why he cracks me one way vs another. He is also very concerned that I heal; not that I slowly feel better but that I heal and feel relief.

Evidently, I've had an inflamed disk for a long time and not realized it was a disk problem. I have been incapacitated for most of the past three months because of this. I can't pick up my kids, I can't lean over to pick up toys, I can't lift dishes in and out of the sink or dishwasher. It hurts to roll over in bed, to walk, to sit, to stand, to step over puddles, to turn on a dime. It's a nightmare.

So, I started seeing Dr. Magic Hands. My first adjustment gave me tremendous relief. I went from being at a 7 on the pain scale when I went in to feeling almost normal by the end of the day. Like I said, he's magic! After my first two visits, he closed his office for the holidays. By the time I went back to see him, this past Monday, I had been totally unable to function and in extreme pain for three or four days. The adjustment on Monday was painful and didn't do much to help me. I saw him on Wednesday and had some mild relief, but after attending to some errands that could not be put off, I was in bad, bad shape.

He recommended a five-day steroid treatment to reduce the inflammation. But because of my diabetes, I can't take it. I ended up going to the urgent care clinic last night to get a prescription for an anti-inflammatory. The doctor who saw me didn't have a problem writing the rx for me, but he clearly thought I was looney for seeing a chiropractor. He strongly urged me, several times in fact, to reconsider and see an orthopedist.

Why? I just don't get it. Why don't "real" doctors consider chiropractics a viable option for the treatment of back pain? This is not the first time I've run into this attitude from other doctors. Even people who aren't doctors seem to be very wary of chiropractors. I don't understand why.

To me, it makes perfect sense. If the spin is not properly aligned, then nerves and disks are at risk which can cause the muscles to react by swelling or spasming.

I don't expect a chiropractor to cure every little thing about me. But I expect them to be able to fix my back and neck. And it also makes sense to me that if my nervous system is functioning to its full capabilities (no pinchines, spine is properly aligned, etc), then my overall health has a much better chance of improving that if my nervous system was all out of whack.

I really don't understand why chiropractors are looked up on as witch doctors sometimes. Just don't get it.

Not sew busy

**insert sad face here**

I've not been doing any sewing lately. My machine broke (it's fixed now, no need to panic!) and my back has been acting up again. I see the chiropractor, Dr. Magic Hands, first thing Monday morning. I'm practically counting the minutes.

Once I'm on the mend (translation: the adjustment should have me feeling almost normal by noon or so), I have a lot of sewing to finish!

• finish my aunt's ragged edge Christmas quilt
• cut and sew my mom's Christmas present (are you sensing a theme here?)
• make an apron for a friend (it's cut already)
• make a recycled bag (from plastic Target bags!) for a friend
• make a quilted knitting needle roll for a friend
• start cutting squares to make my son a ragged edge quilt using the materials my mom used to sew his crib set. But I'm not sure I want to make it a ragged edge. I'm indecisive about the pattern.
• Try to make one-piece pj's for the kids - from scratch with no pattern. Meep!!

Yes, I have a lot of sewing to do.

And that makes me happy.

I never, ever thought I'd learn to sew -- let alone enjoy it! But I've made peace with the sewing machine. I'm learning new things about myself and my abilities. And I'm really enjoying my projects. I don't think I'll ever be an amazing seamstress of garments like my aunt and mom are, but I've found my little niche' and I'm happy with it.

I think the thing I like the most about sewing is that it makes me feel close to my grandmother. She could sew anything! She was my best friend and I miss her dearly. When I'm sewing, especially the quilts because she loved her quilts, I feel like I'm carrying on a little bit of the heritage she left us. I'll never be an amazing gardener like she and my grandfather were, but it comforts me to sew and think about her and how excited she'd be to see my projects.

So, back to the chiropractor and back to sewing!