Sunday, March 27, 2011

Nesting

Feeling so much more ready for this baby! Had some great girls time this week and a fabulous shower thrown by my friend Amy. It was supposed to be a second hand shower so people could just pass along their hand-me-downs, but somehow I ended up with a bunch of new stuff too . . . I have dear, sweet friends and I was so looking forward to this shower! I finally realized it was because most of the last few years all the holidays (including my birthdays) have mostly revolved around the kids. This was one event that I didn't have to share.
I was also gifted some NEW cloth diapers (I had been trying to buy them second hand) and now I feel I have a complete set of cloth diapers for this kid. We went with the Mother-ease kind- they are one-size and so they grow with your child. My top motivation for trying cloth is not having to run to the store for diapers at 10pm. I hate that more than anything. Second factor is cost and third is the environment. Stephen and I are funny that way- we don't do many green things unless they have a direct benefit to us in other ways.

Speaking of nesting- the chickens just passed a milestone today. We got seven eggs- one egg for each chicken!! We actually never really thought they would all lay one every day, we figured 6 eggs a day would be our top production, but wow! It's fun to give them to some people who really like brown eggs and one friend wants to trade his fish from Alaska since he's always going up there. Whoa. Yes, please!!!! I have been incorporating more eggs into our diet- my mom told me my grandma used to occasionally make an Angel Food cake and a Chiffon cake when they had extra eggs- all the whites for the Angel Food and yolks for the Chiffon. Brilliant. Odessa is not a cereal girl and I think she enjoys coming in from feeding the chickens and collecting eggs and requesting a scrambled egg for breakfast!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Role reversal

No, this isn't about Stephen doing most of the housework around here lately. This is about Tuesday night. Stephen and I looked across the dinner table at each other and both realized: we were exhausted.
We started telling the girls that mommy and daddy were going to bed- could they put away the food and do the dishes, lock up and get themselves in bed?
Of course, they were ecstatic at the prospect, they want to be independent so badly. What ensued was I finally got up and put away the food, the girls did clear most of the dishes (you have to be willing to let a few pieces of silverware fall on the floor) and Dad went and laid on the couch and was "tucked in" with various kid's blankets numerous times by both girls. Then Odessa read a book she has memorized to him- over and over. He slept. Ada put me "to bed" in the recliner and read something to me as well . . . I faded in and out. We finally were coherent enough to give directions to get ready for bed and they really did change, clean up their room and brush teeth and potty all by themselves (some nights it's like pulling teeth, seriously).

At this point they still thought they were going to be the last ones in bed (Odessa even put Tabby (the cat) to bed in the pantry). When we had to break their bubble and wake up ourselves, they were pretty upset.

They are getting to be such good helpers- Odessa especially thrives on helping me out. She wants me to just let her try and carry that bag of groceries that's too big, she is always helping Ada find her shoes or get her jacket on and always helping me on errands. It's nice to see that a month before the baby comes how responsible they really can be when you let them.

Wed night at the dinner table, Stephen and I started spelling words for some reason, I can't even remember what started it, but I do remember the last part of the conversation. The girls were very engrossed in their fajitas and didn't seem to be paying attention at all.

Stephen: I also noticed you bought some S-O-D-A
Tara: Yes, for frappe tomorrow- it's St Patricks Day
Stephen: So you're going to put -I-C-E C-R-E-A-M in it?
Tara: Yes- to make a green drink
Stephen: What kind, mint?
Tara: No- lime . . . . S-H-E-R-B-E-R-T
Stephen: Oh, so not really -I-C-E C-R-E-A-M
Tara: I guess not- same difference (insert good-natured rolling of eyes here)
Ada: (pausing between bites) Good, because later we are going to L-E-G brush our teeth
Odessa: Don't forget G-E-B go to bed! (giggling)

Stephen and I could NOT stop laughing


Other notable events this week: egg production is ramping up! Yesterday we got 4 edible eggs- none pecked at or soft shelled, all hard and nice and whole (when they first start laying you can get some funky eggs). Take for example our double yolker there. We have gotten 2 of these and at least one egg that was supposed to be a double yolker but did not come out all together. Most of the eggs are pretty small right now, so you can imagine when we see a doubler! It's so exciting to open the coop and find eggs, seriously.

Here is the double yolker compared to the extra large egg we get from Smith Brothers


Odessa doing what she loves best


When we got a cat I said she would not sleep on my favorite chair. Ahem. Well, at least we keep a blanket on it . . . She was sleeping on the remote, so I moved it to where she's holding it. Look who runs the house?


Our glazed corned beef was oh so good- the girls were naming things a whole week before St Patty's that we could eat that would be green. If it had been up to them, we would have had salad, broccoli, cabbage (although they didn't like it) and peas. Note the lime sherbet frappe- lol.

I saw a recipe for coconut poke cake on FB this week. I had some flavoring from the Philippines for buco pandaan- which is like young coconut that was green, so I used it to flavor and color the cake "drizzle" and the custard that was supposed to go in the cake. Turned into a trifle, but it was still good.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

I think I'll wait

Odessa remembered she was to be her own boss Monday morning as I was fixing breakfast;
Odessa: "Wait mom, I am my own boss and I want a sandwich for breakfast"
Me: Ok, the bread is up there, get a chair. Oops, look- we're out. You had better make some.
Odessa: Um, maybe I will have a pancake after all.
Me: Ok, do you want to fix it?
Odessa: No, you can- I don't want to miss Cat in the Hat.

Throughout the day she decided that as she got older, she'd be able to do more by herself and was quite satisfied and delighted with herself for "figuring" this out.

At bedtime as I was closing the door she called out "mom?"
Me: Yes?
Odessa: I think I can wait until I get big to be my own boss.
Me: Sounds like a good idea. Goodnight.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

My own boss

I was really proud of my kids this week. They seemed to handle my work schedule really well, they woke happy and played together well. They played outside, they were super good at all our outings. But right now Odessa is throwing fits about not being able to "be her own boss" and I want to pull out my hair. I think tomorrow I will let her be her own boss- she can get her own breakfast, fold all her own clothes and in general take care of whatever she needs by herself. We'll see how that goes.

Nothing too major this week- fortunately I passed my 2 hr fasting blood sugar tests- whew. They took 3 samples of blood- I have great veins, but it doesn't matter how careful you are, I will bruise. Looks pretty nasty. Felt pretty nasty too to have gotten up before 6:30 and drink 100 grams of straight sugar on an empty stomach. I had to put my head down on a table and just snooze for a little while. They make you sign a waiver that you might pass out, so you agree not to hold them liable if you leave the premise. Awesome.

Stephen planted raspberry starts, blueberry bushes and a full size peach tree yesterday. We got 3 more eggs this week. Somehow those chickens only lay for Stephen. I checked their nesting boxes one afternoon and he came home and checked them like 2 hours later and there was an egg. He has found all of them! Seems unfair when I do my share of waddling out there in the freezing cold every morning to help Odessa feed them. Plus I food process all the scraps we save out for them into one nasty bowl of stinkin mash which they LOVE and come flying from all over the yard for. And yet no eggs for me. (yes, I now have to sort our garbage into 4 containers: scraps for the chickens, compostables we can't feed the chickens, recycling and garbage. Hilarious.)

The girls and I got to attend a children's theatre play Friday. There is a friend of ours from church that is in this theater group and we have been able to attend 3 of his plays- it's really nice of him to offer to get moms from the ward in. The girls LOVE the plays and he gave us a couple of the CDs from them for Christmas- we listen to Princess and The Pea and Snow White on a daily basis. Those songs are the first thing that pop into my head in the middle of the night when I invariably wake up. Sigh.

I almost forgot- the best part of this week was finding the strollers we wanted for the next baby on Craiglist for a fraction of what they would have cost us new. We are trying to be minimalists this go around- just a snap n go for when he's in a car seat and a Maclaren umbrella for when he's bigger. Super duper excited about the deals we snagged- THAT makes my week.