Welcome to January?

This is the last week of January, I swear it. We had the doors open all day and enjoyed temps in the 70s. We are about halfway between Joplin and Springfield, and both of those cities set records at 74 degrees. I spent the day inside, however, due to my stupid fear of the wind. Ok, fear might not be the right word. It isn't like I am actually "afraid" of the wind. It is more that, when I am in the wind, I become anxious, nervous, and very, very irritable. I get a headache and try to hide. No, maybe not a fear. I mean, come on... wind is not caterpillars. Now THERE is something I can seriously fear.

I didn't actually spend ALL day inside. Little Bit and I went out and sat on the porch for a while. At 6 months old, she loves to go outside and experience things up-close. She loves going out and just touching the trees, feeling the breeze (!) and watching the birds at the bird feeder. But after a while, we went back in and had some "Belly time." She is getting ready to think about crawling, and actually was up on all fours for a while today. I love this stage, because you would think a baby that isn't crawling yet would pretty much stay where you put her, but they don't. Little Bit can roll all the way across the living room in the time it takes me to go to the kitchen and back. It is really important, when you are around children of all ages, to provide a safe environment in which they can explore. And encourage that exploration. That is how your child learns.

You don't have to spend a lot of money on educational toys for a baby. Giving him or her any safe item to explore will occupy them. Little Bit played with a bowl, a weighted ball, a spoon, and a sock today. We talked about round, smooth, light, heavy, blue, gray, yellow, soft, warm, upside down, and lots more. She banged on the bowl, rolled the ball, squeezed the sock, dropped the spoon (again, and again) and tasted everything. And the whole time, she was learning.

Have you heard about "Meatless Monday?" I decided we would try that tonight. We had four-cheese ravioli in spaghetti sauce and a salad. Everyone liked the menu, no complaints. But then after dinner, I realized I was still starving. So I ate leftover BBQ chicken from last night's dinner. I have never had any desire to be a vegetarian. I don't have anything against those that don't eat meat, I just DO eat meat. And I LIKE eating meat. A lot. So we may continue trying the whole "Meatless Monday" thing, but don't be surprised to learn that I eat leftovers, too. Meatless be damned.

Superbowl Sunday is coming fast. We usually just watch the game alone. Not this year! First of all, Sunday is our oldest daughter's birthday. McKelvie is going to be 21. TWENTY -ONE!!! How did that even happen? It doesn't seem like that long ago that she was curled up on the couch, reading an upside-down book about a bunny. Or chasing Grandpa's chickens around. I'm not sure what she was going to do once she caught one. Anyway, she has done the unthinkable and grown up. We now only see her a few times a year, since she lives so far away. (Sarcasm, folks... she lives about 15-20 minutes away) But, she is coming on Sunday for strawberry cupcakes with chocolate frosting-- her favorite.

Another thing happening on Sunday, which I may or may not have remembered to tell her, is that I am hosting a SodaStream Fizz & Football House Party! The way HouseParty.com works is simple: Manufacturers send their product to House Party. House Party, in turn, sets up a party plan, if you will. House Party participants (like me) apply to host a party on a specific date. When a participant is chosen, he or she has a limited amount of time to respond to the offer to host and invite people. Then, about a week before the party date, the host receives a Party Pack of items to share with their guests. In return, the host agrees to take and post a photo of the party guests enjoying the party and to share what the party guests thought of the products.

I had only applied for three or four parties when I got the email telling me I had been selected for the SodaStream party. Being so new to House Party, I was still a bit skeptical, but invited away, anyway. Last Friday, FedEx delivered my SodaStream House Party Pack. Very, very cool. I received, FREE OF CHARGE, a brand-new SodaStream Source starter kit, including the SodaStream machine, one CO2 canister and one Carbonating Bottle (to make the soda in.) I also, as part of my party pack, received a second bottle (the brand-new Stainless Steel bottle I was going to buy myself), two full-sized bottles of concentrate, and 18 trial-sized concentrates. I also received a T-shirt to wear at the party, a whistle, beads and lots of cups. A few select family members will be joining us for our SodaStream/Birthday/Superbowl party Sunday. We have the cupcakes and beverages covered, now to come up with a few ideas as to how to feed everyone, and our party is set!

Be aware, everyone, of the weather tomorrow as Old Man Winter comes back. The potential for severe weather will be there, starting tonight, so just be safe, okay? And that, my friends, is is enough randomness for one night. Enjoy!

It's an open-door kinda day!

I love living in Southwest Missouri. I really do. This morning, the bird bath was still completely frozen. By 10 a.m., there was just a little chunk of ice still floating around.

We decided this was a good day to take down the tree. A couple years ago, we tossed the box the tree came in (finally) and replaced it with large Rubbermaid containers. Best decision ever. We have three containers: Two hold the tree and the third holds the ornaments. It works out very nicely. 

Mattie and I took advantage of the day and took the dogs for a nice, long run along the abandoned railroad tracks. This is my favorite place to take the dogs for a run, because there, they never seem to get into trouble. One of these days, I am going to have to take my GPS and see how far I am actually walking. I wonder if you get bonus miles for having to climb over fallen trees? As far as Mattie and I walked, they traveled three times as far. They like to run ahead, then run back to us, then run back ahead, again. When we got home, the dogs crashed pretty completely.  I think Mattie wanted to crash, too... but I didn't let her. 

We have had the doors open all day. The shadows finally got long and the temp outside started dropping, so we finally had to shut the doors, but isn't it wonderful to air the house out in January?

You know those sticky things that you throw against the wall and watch "walk" back down? Yeah? Don't ever, EVER (!) throw one at the ceiling. Mark had somehow never seen one before, so when Nicole gave me one at Easter, he had to play with it. However, having no experience with them, he kind of... well... threw it straight up. And it stuck.  Several times since then, he has made various attempts to remove this big yellow blob from our ceiling, but to no avail. Today, however, he was really making progress. The blob was only hanging by a little bit, and he made one more attempt to hook it and pull it down, but instead of coming down, it "bounced" back up and stuck, better than ever, and in a new spot, which means the "grease stain" on the ceiling will soon be much bigger.

For those of you still suffering from the flu or respiratory infections, I learned yesterday, from one of my Physical Therapy friends, that when you blow your nose, you should blow one nostril at a time. Apparently, when you blow both sides at once, you can actually blow germs and bacteria from one side to the other? Or maybe to other places in your respiratory system? Anyway, just blow one side at a time. Seems like an easy enough thing to do. And wash your hands... frequently. I saw a piece on TV in which a school nurse put glitter on the table, set her hands in it, then went about touching various things. Guess what? Pretty soon, everything was glittery. It is easy to forget how vulnerable we all are to disease. So eat well, drink lots and lots of water, and take care of yourself. As far as I can tell, just about everyone has had this crud or are sick right now, which seems to indicate it won't be long until it has burned through new victims and we can all breath a sigh of relief.

Today's blog seems a bit like my mood has been; slightly disjointed and unsettled. I guess it must just be the weather, or something, but nothing has seemed to "flow" for me today. Mid-January blues? Maybe, but I would have thought being out in the sunshine and fresh air would have helped. Maybe it is an early case of Spring Fever. In that case, God help me in March. Talk about random ramblings!

Have a great night, and enjoy your family tomorrow. I shall do much better next time!

Finally Friday!

Friday is a day held in high regard by most Americans. Friday, for the very young, means more parental attention for a couple days. Preteens see it as a great chance to have a sleep-over. For teenagers, it is a night out with friends: the movies, hanging at the mall, or taking over someone's living room and TV for the evening are some favorite activities. 

For parents, however, Friday frequently means family members are all going in different directions until Sunday. It also means surprises, such as "Dad, I'm not going to be home tomorrow" Or "Mom, great news! My three best friends' parents all said they could stay over! They will be here for dinner tonight, and breakfast tomorrow, then we have to take them home." How do you plan for something like that? You don't. 

Weekend survival, for parents, is all about flexibility. 

We started out with a strict "No same-day plans" rule. If you want to invite someone over, it has to be completely arranged the day before. If you plan on going to the movies, you have to tell us, the previous day, what movie you are going to see, when, where, and how you are getting there and home again. 

Did I say strict? Lol.... Remember, flexibility is key here. The only thing the rule really did for us was give us the option of saying "No" when we were informed of some plan at the last minute. Mostly, though, we would just say, "Ok. But NEXT time, ask the day before. You KNOW the rules." 

So, your best bet is to work with what you have. If your children are in the "more attention" mode, plan some activities for the weekend that you will all enjoy. Throw some blankets and pillows on the floor and watch some classic Disney movies. Cover the kitchen table with newspapers or a disposable tablecloth and paint with edible things (think mustard, ketchup, mayo, relish, chocolate syrup, whipped topping, peanut butter) It is really messy, but oh-so-much fun. A long walk full of "do you see," weather permitting, is a great "get outside" activity. The best part is that if you spend a solid block of time paying attention, you will find that your kids are actually less demanding the rest of the time. Make them the most important thing around.

Once your kids are trying to spend the night away every weekend, it is time to use it to your advantage. Set some ground rules. For instance, the child may only have overnight company one night a month, limit the number of nights the child can stay away from home, choose a set-in-stone time by which they must contact you the next morning. Bad attitude, right up to the time the company is supposed to arrive, or the child leaves to go to the friend's house, will get the sleepover canceled. Again, we weren't nearly strict as we should have been. We had all these rules, but usually, it was just so much easier to cave in... but we did have the rules. (Yes, I am hanging my head in shame. I am sure you will do MUCH better.) 

When our older two were teenagers, many of the rules were the same, but we tried to limit the number of sleepovers (for obvious reasons.) The thing with teenagers is, well, they are teenagers. Take a deep breath and hold on tight. And hope you did well enough with them before they got to this stage that they won't be totally crazy for long. 

One of our requirements has always been that they have to come home from school and say hello before taking off. Of course, it works pretty well for us, as we can actually SEE the school from the house. There have been exceptions when someone rides the bus home with a friend, but we did enforce this one. Always. 

A family calendar, white board, cork board, or even just a notepad kept in the same place all the time will prove priceless, but only if the family uses is consistently. Other coping strategies include keeping some snacks on hand at all times. Hide a jar of peanuts and some microwave popcorn, stick some frozen snacks in the deep freeze under that block of stuff you can't identify. Try adding rice or potatoes, a salad and an extra vegetable to make that roast go further. 

Don't forget to have some weekend yourselves. Get a babysitter or arrange for the kids to sleepover at friends' houses on the same night. Go out to eat and to the movies, or pick up carry-out and a new release from Redbox or plan a marathon on Netflix and have a picnic in front of the TV. 

And finally, keep the family close on Sundays. Worship as a family. Enjoy some low-key time in the afternoon. Stick something in the slow-cooker (maybe the Kahlua Pig recipe I posted the other day) or get everyone involved in preparing the meal. Sunday evening, in our house, usually means a lot of laughter and talk about the weekend and the upcoming week. It is a great time to play a board game or watch a family-friendly movie; our kids watched a lot of black-and-white movies, and usually groaned about them, but learned to love them. 

Have a fantastic weekend, and don't forget to do something, you know, random!

Cook Something Easy, Then Get Outside!

This morning, before leaving the house for church, I decided to try out my new Tru 3-crock slow cooker. I bought it, on sale, for $15 after Christmas from Kohls.com but hadn't used it yet, other than to make sure it functioned. I put the left-over potato soup from a couple days ago in one section and the leftover ham and beans (heavy on the black-eyed peas) from New Year's day in another section. I put water in the third section, because I just wasn't sure... Anyway, it was so great to come home and have warm soup, and now I am really excited about the possibilities of this. Anyone have experience? Ideas for using all three crocks at once?

I want to share a couple very easy recipes. One is for a main dish, and the other a snack/dessert. Both are so easy, I have never needed to pull out the recipe, I just make them from memory. Let me know if you try either of them, and how you like them!

Easy Kahlua Pig

This recipe came from the off-topic area on an Aquarium Fish forum several years ago. I can't even remember which forum any longer, but I have never forgotten the recipe. 

1 pork roast

kosher salt 

liquid smoke

Yep, that is all. Make sure the fat is trimmed off the pork roast. While holding the roast over the slow cooker, press kosher salt into all surfaces, then rub a splash or two of liquid smoke over it. Remember, liquid smoke is strong. You don't need a lot, just enough to rub around the entire roast. Put the lid on the slow cooker, turn it to high for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Do not open lid. Turn the temp to low and leave it for at least six hours or overnight. As long as you don't open the lid, it won't burn.  

I like to start this before bed on a Friday or Saturday night and have it for lunch or an early dinner the following day. I have cooked this dish before for more than 15 hours with no burning. 

Serve with white rice or pasta and fresh fruit or a fruit salad. It is VERY GOOD.

No-bake Peanut Butter Treats

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup white corn syrup (I use Karo)

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups cereal such as Cheerios or Corn Flakes

In a large sauce pan, mix the sugar and corn syrup and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in peanut butter, remove from heat, and stir in the cereal. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Cool and enjoy! Don't forget to scrape the yummy stuff out of the pan, but don't burn yourself... I usually do. 

And finally, a little bit of "Get outside" encouragement. If you have a child of any age, or a dog, or both, find a nice piece of land where you can let them explore. I have a few places I like to use, such as Department of Conservation land (Not during hunting season!!) and some long-abandoned railroad tracks in the area. It doesn't matter how cold it is, we always have fun. For kids, it can be a real learning experience, as you take a close look at the way things change with the seasons, animal tracks in the mud or snow, and even the different smells and sounds. My kids are all grown up now, but the dogs seem to be stuck in perpetual toddler gear. Everything is fun for them, and I have noticed a lot I would have missed otherwise by watching them. It also gives me a great chance to work on their off-leash skills. 

Hope your weekend was great, and may you have a fantastically random week!

~Kenna