Playing Hard and Laying Low

Kyle and Rowan enjoyed a water park this afternoon while I rested on the couch. As they were leaving the facility, Rowan made a special request:

"Daddy, can I look in the window again? Just to remember how fun it was?"

Sounds like they had a great time. I'm sad I missed it. BUT, I'm starting to feel a little better! Gosh, I bet I'll be feeling well just in time to go back to work! :(

Not Today

I'm not feeling well enough for silly stories or deep thoughts today. Maybe tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow. Please, please, pretty please tomorrow?

I'm sick of being sick! (Is it just me, or is daytime television even worse than it used to be?)

Shared Interest?

I’ve been feeling rather lousy today (aches, fever, chills), so I’m not nearly as verbose as usual. But I thought I’d share a sweet/funny moment that Rowan and I had earlier this evening. We were cuddled up on opposite sides of the couch, watching cooking shows on TPT Life.

Rowan: Did you see that, mama? She’s gonna brine the pork chops in sugar. I love sugar!

Me: It doesn’t taste sugary when it’s done.

Rowan: Yes it does! I think that’s a pretty good trick.

Me: We can try that sometime, if you want to.

[Long pause...]

Me: You know what, Rowan? I really like watching these shows with you. It’s a special thing that just you and I do together.

Rowan: Yeah...

[Long pause…]

Rowan: Were you telling the truth when you said this is the only thing on?

Me: Yes.

[Long pause…]

Rowan: I guess I like watching these shows with you, too.

Me: Thanks, buddy. I love you.

Rowan: I love you, too.

Memento

Quite unlike his mother, Rowan is a sentimental soul. While I have no problem ridding our house of old projects, ticket stubs and broken toys, he wants to save everything.

But his favorite keepsakes are what he calls our beautiful things — pictures and mementos that we display to admire and remember special times in our lives.


For example, he absolutely adores the Willow Tree "New Dad" figurine in our office. Kyle received it as a gift from his parents shortly after Rowan was born. Rowan asks to hold it and look at it from time to time. As he admired it yesterday, he invited Kyle to take a silly little trip down memory lane.

Rowan: "Daddy, this is a very special beautiful thing, isn't it?"

Kyle: "Yes, it is. I got it from my mom and dad when you were born. It reminds me of when you were a baby."

Rowan: "Do you remember when I was such a tiny baby?"

Kyle: "I do."

Rowan: "Do you remember holding me when I was such a tiny baby?"

Kyle: "I do."

Rowan: "Do you remember sitting on a rock while you were holding me when I was such a tiny baby?"

Kyle: "Uh...[laughs]...no, I don't think I remember sitting on a rock when you were a baby. Maybe we did, though."

Rowan: "I was just wondering about that."

Oh, that kid makes us smile every day!

Ugly Web Site Beef Stew

Recipe reviews are so annoying. In theory, they should be totally useful. Learning from the experiences of others could prevent disaster or improve an already wonderful dish. But some reviewers simply go too far. Ever read one like this?

RECIPE: Chef4You44’s Thai Beef Curry

KookingKutie wrote: “This recipe was AMAZING! I made a few changes, though, to suit our family. Instead of beef, I used chicken (had it in the freezer – BIG sale, woohoo!). And instead curry paste and coconut milk (WAY too spicy for DH), I simmered the chicken in stock with some fresh thyme and root vegetables. We didn’t have rice, so I finished it off with some egg noodles. Thanks for the inspiration! Keep ‘em coming!”

Okay, real reviews aren’t usually that bad, but some are pretty close!

So when I was searching for a low-carb* beef stew recipe a couple of weeks ago, I was rather intrigued by this one. After wading through gobs of reviews for various versions on the Food Network, simplicity proved oddly refreshing. No impeccable photos. No long-winded reviews. Just a basic recipe sitting on a totally boring, poorly designed diet site.

So I made it. And it was good! I only made a few changes. (HA! You knew this was coming.)

• Instead of a can of plain stewed tomatoes, I used fire-roasted tomatoes with diced green chiles (nice and spicy!)
• Instead of a cube of beef bouillon, I used a teaspoon of organic Better than Bouillon (you know, because it’s better)
• And instead of zucchini, I used some cauliflower
• Oh, and I try to use grass-fed beef and organic ingredients whenever possible.

That’s it!

I’ve made three batches over the past couple of weeks to bring to work for lunch. And I’m not sick of it yet! (Now that sounds like an honest review.)

-Angie

*Why am I eating low-carb? Well, I’m not. Not really, at least. I was just in one of those “I really need to watch it or I won’t make it to the other side of winter without having to buy bigger pants” kinds of moods when I was looking for a recipe.

Mystery Solved: Strep Throat

We wasted our entire day in urgent care!

Well, that’s not exactly true.

We wasted our entire day at Minute Clinic and in urgent care.

I suppose it was our own fault for leaving Minute Clinic. We waited there for over an hour to earn the coveted “next in line” spot. So when the practitioner informed us that he’d be taking a 30-minute break before our visit, we were mad. Irrationally mad.

We left.

Kyle found a pediatric urgent care clinic near our house that — at the time we called — had only two patients in the waiting room. ("At the time we called" is the key phrase here.)

But before we discuss urgent care, I'd like to share a few special moments from Minute Clinic/CVS:

• A woman bought a Snuggie — you know, one of those blanket/dress thingies they pitch on T.V. — for her DOG! (Yes, they make them for dogs.)
  
• Another woman cleared the store out of canned vienna sausages! CANNED sausages!
  
• And yet another woman slowly worked her way down the “As Seen on T.V.” aisle, praising the virtues of each product to her friend. Bumpits, Wonder Hangers, Space Bags… Rowan was positively star struck!

Anyhoo, urgent care.

What a mistake.

We sat for what felt like an eternity among whining, coughing, sniffling kiddos. Blech. And let me tell you, it's not easy restraining a 4-year-old who wants to look at books "like the boy with the mask."

At least we left with a diagnosis — strep throat — and a prescription for antibiotics. I almost asked for something for myself after sitting that germ-factory. (Kyle is now reminding me that I did ask him for something: wine.)

So our little guy earned himself a “get out of preschool free” card for tomorrow. Here's hoping that this was our last trip to urgent care for the season.

Cross your fingers for us, will ya?

The Case of the Disappearing Fever

Rowan seems to have one of those “vanishes during the day, reappears in the evening” illnesses.

This morning, he bounced into our room looking cheerful and symptom-free. “G’morning, Mama!” he said. “Look out the windows. It’s the morning time!”

I couldn’t believe it. Yesterday, he could hardly keep his eyes open!

Not sure if his recovery would stick, we lazed about the house for most of the morning. By noon, however, there seemed to be no reason to stay cooped up on such a beautiful day.

While Kyle raked leaves, Rowan and I soaked up the sun. We kicked a ball around and practiced with his bike.


He had so much energy that he wouldn't stand still long enough for me to take his picture!


After finishing in the yard, Kyle took Rowan to the park. It was a glorious day!

By the time they came home, however, things had started to change. "Can you snuggle me, mama?" Rowan said, climbing up on the couch. He felt warm.

The fever, aches and sore throat had returned. Bummer.

By 5:30, he was sleeping on the couch. Poor baby.

What will tomorrow bring? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

To Treat or Not to Treat?

When do you give a child a fever-reducer?

I always struggle with this dilemma. Often, we go without medicine. If Rowan can sleep well, I figure it's unnecessary. Fevers help the body fight infections, after all, so why mess with nature?

But fevers often accompany bothersome aches and pains. Unfortunately, that’s what Rowan is experiencing today. He’s afflicted with…something. I’d say it’s the flu, but this is the second time we’ve suspected the flu this season. He has a fever, aches, a cough, a runny nose and a sore throat. His eyes are watery and the skin around his eyes is red and splotchy.

Basically, he’s sick. And it breaks my heart.

So when he told me he couldn’t sleep because he "hurt everywhere," I decided to give him ibuprofen.

It worked!

Or did it?

Sure, his aches and pains are better, but now I have a new problem: he no longer acts like he’s sick!

Instead of watching cartoons and drifting in and out of sleep, he’s bopping around and begging me for Halloween candy. And instead of keeping his germs confined to one area of the couch, he’s wiping his nose and eyes all over the house.

I mean, I’m glad he feels a little better. But the truth is that he’s not better. He’s just perky.

Is that a good thing?

There's No Place Like Home

We had a few rough weeks when Rowan started preschool this fall. Going from in-home daycare — and in our home at that — to structured preschool was a big adjustment. But we've now reached a place where Rowan seems reasonably happy at school.

We still have our occasional hard days, though. This afternoon, for example, we had the following conversation while driving home.

Rowan: "Mama, I don’t very much like some things about my school."

Me: "Really? Like what?"

Rowan: "Like a lot of things."

Me: "But you have some good friends there, don’t you?"

Rowan: "Yeah, I like Rebecca and Matthew and Maverick."

Me: "So playing with them is fun, right?"

Rowan: "Yeah, but I still don’t like some things about school."

Me: "Hmmm."

Rowan: "Like...I wish they had just one basket of toys."

Me: "Really? Just one basket?"

Rowan: "Yeah, like one basket of toys that I could look in whenever I want."

Me: "OK…"

Rowan: "And I wish they had a couch instead of an ABC carpet. Or maybe two couches."

Me: "Oh."

Rowan: "And I sometimes wish they had a T.V. instead of play areas."

Me: "Rowan, are you describing our living room?"

Rowan: "Yep."

Naturally, I felt a little pang of guilt. After all, no place feels as comfortable as home.

But school has been good for Rowan in so many ways. He's made some new friends ("Wow, you're invited to a birthday party?"), learned more independence ("Wow, you can put on your own coat?") and adopted some good habits ("Wow, you sing all the way through the ABCs to ensure adequate hand-washing duration?!").

So I'm happy with our three-day-a-week separation. And really, five minutes before we had our conversation in the car, he was singing a pretty different tune:

"Mom, go sit over there for a minute. I'm not done playing."

Go figure.

On Being Good and Telling the Truth

Children provide such a fascinating window in to human nature. You can almost see their little minds processing life's most basic questions: "Should I be mean or nice? Should I be truthful or tell a little white lie?"

It's rare when you can capture their moral dilemmas on camera. But it sure is hilarious when you do!

Rowan on being nice and good.

Maddox on telling the truth.
(So that's what happened to our Ice Age DVD!)

That's Better

Urbanites and suburbanites have entirely different expectations about their homes (and lawns). After all, if you live in the city — where most homes were built in the early 1900s — "keeping up with the Joneses" has to look a bit different.

Suburban Neighbor to Mr. Jones: "Hey, how’s that home theater project coming along? Man, it’ll be nice to watch the games down there! Ya think there’ll be room around that fancy new wet bar for me and guys? Sure hope so!"

Urban Neighbor to Mr. Jones: "Hey, how’s that foam insulation project coming along? Man, it’ll be nice not to have ice forming in that south-facing bedroom this winter! Ya think that’ll solve your mold problem? Sure hope so!"

Luckily, we haven’t had any major issues with our house....yet (knock on wood). We have completed a few projects to make it more livable, though. For example, our kitchen cabinets are original to the house. The layout is a little odd, but the cabinets are large and made of solid birch. We talked about replacing them, but I choked at the thought of destroying something so central to our home's history.

So for now, we’re working around them. In October, we repaired some of the kitchen walls, put up a fresh coat of paint, installed a pegboard pot rack, and bought a small kitchen cart. Little things, to be sure, but they’ve made a big difference.

East Wall Before:

East Wall After:


We also bought a new stove and are having a chimney-style vent hood installed. But I won’t show you those “before” pics until we can take the “afters.”

I’m quite happy with the little changes we’ve made. Does my kitchen ever seem small? Sure. But I remind myself that families much larger than ours survived in this house just fine. In fact, families all around our neighborhood are surviving in kitchens like ours right now.

It’s all a matter of perspective.

Traditions Happen

I’m coming to terms with the fact that I can’t control what Rowan remembers about his childhood. Still, establishing some lovely family traditions is important to me.

Maybe I’m hoping to counteract some of our less desirable family traditions. Last weekend, for example, Rowan explained the following — in his sincerest little voice — to one of our guests:

“That’s our laundry couch, but we cleared it off for the party. You can sit there now if you want to.”

Yep. Family traditions sneak up on you when you least expect them.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to start a tradition of having fancy dinners on Sundays. I like to cook anyway and had just found an interesting chicken recipe online. While the chicken and garlic braised, I whipped up some mashed Yukon Gold potatoes, sautéed greens and maple-glazed delicata squash. I even baked a homemade apple tart!

I was feeling quite proud of myself when everything came together just in time for dinner (no small feat).

Unfortunately, I forgot one thing: my kid doesn’t like food. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but he sure is picky! His favorite foods all have the same ingredients, rearranged slightly: macaroni and cheese, cheese pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, buttered noodles with — you guessed it — cheese (and NO spices).

My beautifully prepared meal did nothing to convert my little lacto-carbitarian. While Kyle and I ate and ate (and ate), Rowan picked at his plate and whined about how his chicken was too “skin-y” and his squash was too “smashy.”

Then he asked for a bowl of cereal.

You can imagine how frustrating it is to have your home-cooked meal snubbed in favor of Clifford Crunch.

Oh well. Until Rowan’s tastes broaden, I guess I’ll have to start a different family tradition. Or maybe I’ve already created one...? I can see it now:

“My mom only feeds me cereal on Sundays, but you can have something different if you want to."

Great. Just great.

(Don't be fooled. He only ate the whipped cream.)

The True Meaning of Halloween?

Last year on Halloween, I was appalled by a phenomenon that I had never before experienced or even considered: adults who go trick-or-treating.

Some of you are undoubtedly thinking, “Children need chaperones!”

I agree. But I’m not talking about adults who accompany young trick-or-treaters. I’ll happily dole out an extra Kit Kat (or three) to parents who brave the elements to give their children a once-a-year opportunity to take candy from strangers.

No, I’m referring to adults who hit the town specifically to collect candy for themselves.

Before moving to the city, I had never even considered that adults might go trick-or-treating. Rowan was 3 when we celebrated our first Halloween in this house. We were putting the final touches on his artist costume when we heard a loud knock. Excited, I quickly grabbed our candy bucket and rushed to the door to greet our first arrival!

You can imagine my surprise when I saw a 40ish-year-old woman standing on our front stoop. She was not with a child. She was not wearing a costume. She did not say "trick-or-treat." She did not even thank me after I gave her a bag of Skittles. Nope. When I wished her a happy Halloween, she quickly shook her bag and demanded more!

Um…Okaaaay…

(Upon recounting this story, I’ve actually had a few people tell me that they would have refused her. I don’t buy it. If some unstable stranger shakes a Cub Foods bag at you and brazenly demands more candy, I highly doubt you’d have the courage to say no. I sure didn’t!)

This year, I wasn’t surprised when a couple of adults stopped by the house well before dark. Did I think it was a little weird? Yep! But I had recently read an interesting factoid about Halloween that made me feel more at peace with the situation.

According to Wikipedia: “Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2).”

I obviously have no idea whether our adult trick-or-treaters were poor. Maybe they were just bored…or crazy…or in serious need of a chocolate fix. But clearly something wasn't quite right. So if I could brighten their day with a few packs of candy, so be it. And if they happen to say a few prayers for my deceased relatives, all the better.

My only real concern is safety. We live in a family-friendly neighborhood, but our close proximity to the bus line means that LOTS of our trick-or-treaters are complete strangers to us. But I never had to answer the door alone this year. Why? Because we hosted a Halloween party! (Kyle preferred to call it an “informal get-together” because that seemed like less work. HA!)

We had a great time! I wish we would have taken more pictures, but we're always so busy when people are at our house. Below are a few highlights.

My family!
(You can't see it under his coat, but Kyle was wearing a 1970s vest and polyester trousers. I would have feathered his hair, but we ran out of time before the party. Drat!)


Ghost cake. Cute and delicious!


Me and Shrek. We're tight.

Shrek and his lady love, Fiona.
(a.k.a., my dad and mom)

The kiddos: Paul as the red Power Ranger; Rowan as Lightning McQueen;
Avery as a bumblebee; and Maddox as Buzz Lightyear.

"Can we go yet?!"

Knock knock. "Trick or treat!"

Rowan and Paul watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"
(Yes, this is our TV. Yes, that is a converter box below our TV.
Yes, we know that it's almost 2010. Yes, we are surviving just fine.)

Hope you had a happy Halloween!

Trip to the Orchard

We visited the apple orchard this weekend. Every year, I envision that we'll leave with bags of delicious apples to freeze and turn into yummy pies and tarts. But by the time we walk the grounds, take loads of pictures and play on the playground, my guys are usually tired and grumpy. So we at apple donuts, drank cider and called it a day!

The apple of our eye as the eye of their apple.

Rowan and Avery pose for the yearly height check.


Rowan climbs a giant pile of straw. I know what you're thinking: "Doesn't that seem dangerous?!"

Well, considering that older children were digging a tunnel through the hay...yes, I'd say it DID seem a bit dangerous.


Thankfully, Rowan stayed away from the tunnel even when the older children encouraged him to jump through it.

And he appeased his mother by flashing some half-hearted smiles for the camera.

Avery was a bit less compliant. A few seconds after I took this picture, she was throwing straw at me! ;) Hmmm...do we make these kids pose for too many pictures?

Breck thought that posing for pictures was yawnsville.

And clearly I was more interested in peoples' attempts to get Charlie to smile than he was.

Are we done yet? Seriously.

But then Charlie gave us this beauty! I caught him at just the right moment!

I even got one with Avery, Rowan and the grandparents. The kids are almost looking! Almost.

We had a great time and enjoyed a beautiful day.

Happy autumn!

The Sea Lion

Because Rowan is talking in his fast/high excited voice, I transcribed the conversation to help you follow along:

Rowan: Well, this is my sea lion and...

Me: Now wait a minute. What are you telling me about here?

Rowan: This is my sea lion made of your jewelry. And this is its nose, and it's holding a ball on its nose. See?

Me: That's cool. So did you make this?

Rowan: Yeah. Out of your jewelry. [If Rowan thinks that this is my jewelry, Kyle better buy me some nicer stuff! HA!]

Me: That's cool. Why did you decide that it's a sea lion?

Rowan: Because LOOK. See that? A ball on his nose? A tail like that! That's a sea lion. Except...it's not like a normal sea lion. It has a spot where water comes out.

Me: Oh, it has a spot where water comes out, so it's not like a normal sea lion?

Rowan: Nope, it's just like a fake sea lion. See that?

Me: Cool. K, give us a smile!