time again

Today we spent some time at our local Children's Hospital. It was time for Abby to have an ecg or as she was calling it an "intervention". I had incorrectly assumed that we would be seeing her cardiologist, but today wasn't a clinic day, so it was just the ecg and now we wait for the results.

Abby was very anxious about the scan. The last one she had was when she was 4 and she couldn't remember what it would entail. I have to admit all that anxiety caught up with me as we made our way down to the hospital. Traveling that same route we took to day after day when Maya was in NICU had me tearing up a bit. It's funny how your body remembers the stress. Not to mention Abby, it's so easy to forget that there is anything wrong with her.

In the four years since we've last been they made big changes at the hospital. So it was easier sitting in a new waiting room and visiting new examination rooms. I watched the whole exam, but have no idea what I was looking at, but I watched it. Abby watched Phineas and Ferb and held my hand the whole time.

When we finally got out of there we celebrated with a dollar store shopping spree and then we hit up Value Village for some new books and a killer deal on a sweet Little Pets house.

Only four years until we got to relive that anxiety all over again.

what's cooking wednesday - marshmallows

These are something I would classify as a sometimes treat. They are easy to make and Abby thought I was a rock star for making them... so bonus cool Mom points there.



Fruity Marshmallows

1/2 cup water
1 pkg (85g) strawberry jello powder
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp light corn syrup
1 cup icing sugar

Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan, add the jello powder and stir over low heat until dissolved (about 2 - 4 minutes). Add the granulated sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved, but do not boil (about 3 to 4 minutes). Stir in the corn syrup and transfer to a large bowl. Cool in the fridge for 3o minutes or until lukewarm.

Line an 8 inch pan with waxed paper that you've sprayed with cooking spray. Take the jelly mixture out of the fridge and beat with a mixer on high speed for 10 minutes or until stiff. Spread into the prepared pan and chill in the fridge for 6 hours or until firm.

Unmould the marshmallows on to your work surface that has been dusted with 1/2 cup of icing sugar. Sprinkle more icing sugar on top and then cut into 48 pieces making sure to roll the cut edges in icing sugar as well.

Recipe Notes: Well this was a hit. Home made marshamllows are nothing like the store bought ones. These were light and fluffy and cherry flavoured. I know the recipe calls for strawberry, but I won't tell if you want to make a different flavour. I don't think I would recommend making this without a stand mixer. I wouldn't want to stand there mixer in hand for 10 minutes. And it actually does get very thick. I'm not sure I hand mixer could handle the task, but feel free to prove me wrong. You should also note that these don't keep long. They start to get funky look by day two. Of course that could be my error. I think I should mixed them longer. I only mixed them about 6 minutes because the recipe doesn't say if you are using a stand mixer or a handheld model. Big difference between the two, so I thought it looked thick enough after 6 minutes, but they were pretty fragile, so I say go the full ten.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

goodbye

The Minister at our church recently accepted a position in another city and yesterday was her last Sunday with us. And guess who got to make the cake for her reception?



Yesterday's service was a lovely send off to a lovely woman. I really wish she could stay with us, but am glad to have had her as long as we did.

chuckle

I was helping Maya into her jammies the other night and.....

Me: Hey My, do you want to leave your socks on or take them off?
Maya: Well, I usually take them off.
Me: Okay.
Maya: Wait, what does usually mean?

Such a funny kid.

this and that

Did anybody watch the Office? How super sweet was that? Also Jim.... oh how he kills me with his legumes.

I didn't get much of anything done tonight.... not even the grocery list.

Poor little Maya came down with a fever this afternoon. As soon as she got home she curled up on the couch with her blankey and pillow pet and was out like a light. She woke up briefly only to move from couch to bed and now I'm going to crawl into bed too on the off chance she's up bright and early after all that extra sleep. Nighty night.

abtronica

Poor Abby, lately she's been getting swallowed up in the drama that is Maya. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and for the most part Abby's a quiet, happy, easy to get a long with kind of a kid. I am trying to be more mindful of her, making sure I'm focusing on her, so with that in mind......

I mentioned that Abby had decided all on her own that she wanted to give up chips for Lent. This past Sunday while they were out with Grandma, Maya ate chips right in front of her. She told me today that she really wanted some, but she didn't do it. So I took a few moments to tell her how incredibly proud I was of her because this is something she took on all on her own. Mike and I don't really give anything up for Lent. Well I shouldn't speak for Michael. I know I don't and if he does he isn't mentioning it. So, this truly is a project all her own.

Abby has told me for years that she wants to be an artiste when she grows up. She spends endless hours with paper and markers, just drawing and creating and colouring. I'd say she's pretty good, but I could be a little bit biased.



If you have younger kids that you may recognize the characters from Fairly Odd Parents. It's one of the shows the kids watch that I don't really mind watching with them. I love Cosmo!

Another one of my the kid's favourite is/was Sixteen. Sadly, they aren't making new episodes anymore. A friend of Mike's was at a Comic Con and got one of the actors to record a message for the Abster. It's only 20 seconds long and the sound isn't fantastic, but Abby was over the moon that "Jude" sent her a message and he called her Abber at the end which is just one of a dozen names we call her around here. Just really awesome, such a sweet thing to do to make a little kid's day.

what's cooking wednesday - black bean brownies

So word on the street is that delicious brownie I had a WholeFoods was a black bean brownie. So with that in mind I went searching the internet and found this recipe....

Ingredients

• 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.
2. Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, sugar, and instant coffee in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the mixture.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.

There is no picture because these went into the garbage lickety split. They were the complete opposite of delicious. Such a waste of baking cocoa. Poor Abby even tried them twice, so determined was she to love them, but they were not loveable.

Has anybody actually made black bean brownies that taste good? And is it true are the Wholefood brownies black bean?




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

brain dump

Tonight Maya argued with me for 45 minutes rather than just unload the dishwasher. Yesterday she argued for 45 minutes with her sister over who's turn it was to unload the dishwasher.

She is willful and defiant. She burns through my patience and pushes my tolerance level to the limit. If she can push me past that, if she can get me to lose my cool even slightly, she crumbles. She sobs. I am so mean. I am the meanest Mom ever. It's a never ending walk across a tightrope. Or so it seems. So it feels some days.

I'm not feeling great. I have a persistent dry cough that isn't ready to let me shake it. The quality of my sleep is far from optimal. I should have listened to ML and done what she told me to when she told me to. I'd probably be feeling a lot better by now.

I'm in the midst of planning two separate fundraisers. Well, helping to... part of the team. I love putting all the pieces together for a successful event. Meeting tomorrow night, vanilla coffee buttercream and chocolate cake to keep the planning committee happy.

There are barbies and Disney light up toys in my bed. Colouring books and markers on my bedside table. My book shoved to the side, out of the way, my page lost. The remote is buried somewhere in the sheets.

Tonight Abby discovered Laura Ingalls Wilder and Little House on the Prairie on her bookshelf. I could tell she wanted to read it, but was intimidated by it's size. She had it tucked into bed with her, but insisted she wasn't that interested. I turned to the first page and had her read the first sentence. She breezed through it. I am loving watching her learn to fall in love with books.

They're all in bed. The house is quiet. TV off. Finishing up my tea and hoping Mike is good and asleep by the time I do so I can read a page or two before attempting to sleep myself.

homework

So we have Maya doing SK homework now. JK homework has them cutting pictures out of magazines that start with their letter of the week. SK's do the same thing, but have to attempt to print the word underneath. As her teacher predicted she had very little trouble spelling the words. It is purely phonetic spelling, which is adorable......



Okay, so first off she correctly spelled bus, bed and belt... by herself(!), but broccoli... how adorable is that? broklez. Plural because there was two bunches. And in the interest in full disclosure I must tell you that she marked her own work.

girls day

Today was the big day.... Girl's Day. I think this is a five year old tradition. Every year for March Break Grandma Linda gets us tickets to see Disney on Ice. We did skip one year and saw the Backyardigans Live instead because the show that year was High School Musical and Abby was too young for that to even be on her radar.



Once again we kept it a secret from the girls. Only saying it was time to have a girl's day. If you've been hanging around here for a while, then you know that Abby is always completely oblivious to where we are going, even when the evidence is right in her face. We were wondering though, if this would be the year that she figured it out before we got there. She had mentioned Disney on Ice a couple of time the past week, wanting me to find out when it was coming back.



So, was this it? Was this the year? Almost. It finally all came together as we lined up outside the arena to go in. Usually we get her all the way into the venue and even then we have to tell her why she's there. She thought we were going to see Gnomeo and Juliet, so she was bummed for about 60 seconds, but then.....



the show started.



And there were Disney celebs to wave too....



and Disney Villians to dispense of. You accomplish that by yelling BOO!, by the way.



We had really great seats, right at the corner of the ice. So we had lots of close up peeks at the skaters.



The light up souvenirs, that was what I thought might tip Abby off because we brought last year's toys with us. Maya's fit in my purse, but Abby got a big wand, so we had to carry it in. When Abby asked me why we had it I told her in case it was too dark in the theater and she bought it.



Why did we bring last year's toys? Well consider this a blogmother PSA - if you bring last year's model in you can exchange it straight up for this year's model. So today we handed back the wand and the heart in a globe toys Grandma Linda bought them last year and got brand new Minnie spinny light up thingys instead. Did you have any idea you could do that? I didn't until the guy who sold them to us last year mentioned it. I'd never heard of that before so I tried googling it and nothing comes up on the internet about it that I could find, but it's true. We ended up having to pay $2 because Abby's wand was $2 cheaper, but Maya's was a straight trade and it will be a straight trade next year if we go and take them back. Now don't you wish somebody had told you that?



Another fantastic girls day. Even if I was feeling way less than stellar. Nothing perks me up more than seeing my girls having the time of their lives. I'm not quite sure who enjoys Disney on Ice more... me or them or Grandma Linda. Hands down one of my favourite days of the year.

survivor

I think he was joking when my buddy JC asked if I could make a Survivor cake, but then his girl, TC... who was my girl first.... just sayin'..... asked me if I could make a Survivor cake. I told her I'd see, but really that was just to buy me some time, so I could tell her later that I couldn't via text message because I am not that talented. Not by a long shot. Of course then I came home and told Mike about it and he was all.... yes, you CAN do it. And I was all like...whatever! I can not!

And that brought me to google. I googled. I did. I looked at Survivor cakes that other more talented cake makers had made and I thought... hey maybe I can do this.

What do you think?



I based this on a cake design I found when I was googling. That was the logo from I can't remember which season. And yes, any Survivor fan worth his or her salt knows that the outer oval of the logo is usually black, but black icing turns the inside of your mouth purple and I was looking to avoid that. I ended up finishing this cake just after 11. I hated it as I was decorating it. I didn't think it was going to come together, but then it did. Right at the end and I was so pumped and there was no one up for me to share it with. I tried to get Mike up, but I knew it was pointless to try even as I headed up the stairs. Thank goodness for cellphones and unlimited texting. I took a picture with my phone and texted it to my Mom, who was up. Yay for Moms and modern technology. Oh and I think JC liked it too.

Are you watching this season of Survivor?

knowing me, knowing you - March 2011

So, I'm way way late with this, but better late than never as they say....

Time once again for that monthly interview project we all know and love.. Knowing Me, Knowing You.

1. Do you consider yourself a foodie?

I have to say no. Don't get me wrong I love food, but I have no burning desire to try whatever the culinary food has to offer. I appreciate a really good goat's cheese drizzled with balsamic vinegar that my girl JJ brings to movie night, but I'm equally okay if someone shows up with a bag of doritos too. Know what I mean? I spend more than my fair share of time pouring over recipe books and food blogs and my kids think I am completely bonkers when I take pictures of my dinner and post it on the internet, but even still I wouldn't call myself a foodie. Hmmmm you put that all down on "paper" and seems the evidence may be stacked against me. What do you think, am I a foodie or no?

2. Are you a spender or a saver?

I think I'm a healthy mix of both. I mean we go through spurts where we spend, like just before Christmas, but that was necessary/planned out spending. Tires for the van and some new household items and my beloved laptop. This year we put in place a pretty aggressive savings plan... well it's aggressive for us. It's exciting to watch that grow.

3. What was the last movie you saw?

The Switch with my secret boyfriend Jason Bateman. Anytime spent watching him on screen is not a waste in my opinion, but this wasn't his best work. I mean it was good, but no where near the awesomeness of Arrested Development... when is that movie coming out? Also in The Switch was Jennifer Anistion, who I would date in a second if that was my thing. Team Aniston all the way!

4. What is the closest book to you?

It's a three way tie. The Pioneer Woman's cookbook. I whipped up a batch of her pie crust last night. Need to make two pecan pies for a church dinner tonight. The Weight Watchers Food companion and the WW dining out companion. Got to keep them close to stay on track!

5. Do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day?

Not really. Although I did whip up a batch of funfetti cupcakes on the sly and left them on the table with a note from "Larry the Leprechaun" saying he baked a rainbow into them for the girls. Abby was super excited about it, but then wasn't so sure "Larry" actually existed when she saw the flour out on the counter. I had cleaned up any evidence of cupcake making on the off chance that she put it all together because typically she's pretty clueless about that kind of stuff, but she is going to be 9 soon and I am very aware that the days of not questioning the magic are surely coming to an end sooner rather than later. So she sees the flour and gets all spanish inquisition like with me. Luckily the flour was out for the aforementioned pie crusts, that were already hanging out in the freezer. Crisis averted. Childhood memories saved!




So now the rules, they're pretty simple. Post your answers to these questions on your own blog in the next few days. Remember to link back here in your post and sign the Mr. Linky too, so we can all see what you have to say. Please make sure you link to your actual KMKY post and not your blog's front page. Any front page links will be deleted. And most importantly, have fun! Have suggestions for next months questions? Leave me a comment or send me an email and let me know.

socially speaking

I have to say Maya's first report card is a 100% true representation of her. The JK report is broken down into personal/social development and work habits/readiness. There are no letter grades, instead they get consistently demonstrates skill, demonstrates skill most of the time and so on.

I can't say I was even surprised that in all categories that relate to school work - works independently, follows directions and so on, she scored "consistently demonstrates skill" right across the board. In the social development areas - adjusts readily to new situations, acts and talks in appropriate ways with peers and adults and so on, she scored "demonstrates skill most of the time" right across the board.

I know, shocking right?

The social aspect has always been a struggle for her, but she's finding her stride.

This past Sunday as we sat having coffee after church, we realized Maya had gone to sit with another table. Pushed her chair up close to her brand new BFF Mrs. B and sat there chatting with the other grown ups at the table while she had her snack. I should mention that this table was on the other side of the hall from where we were sitting and that no one from our immediate family was with her. Doesn't sound like much perhaps, but it was huge for Maya. It was huge for all of us.

I had a funny feeling five was going to be fantastic and so far it hasn't disappointed.

what's cooking wednesday - spaghetti squash

If you've spent any time around here at all then you know of my great love for the show Diners, Drive ins and Dives. Also known as Triple D to all us super fans. One day Mike and I will take a Triple D road trip and get ourselves some of the yummy food they present on the show. Occasionally I see something at one of the diners, drive ins or dives they visit and think.. hey I could make that at home. And that's exactly what I thought when I saw the stuffed spaghetti squash one place was making. I checked, but couldn't find the recipe online... they do sometimes post recipes on the foodnetwork website. So I decided to wing it.

I took a spaghetti squash, cut it in half and cooked it in the microwave until it was nice and soft. How long it takes depends on the size of your squash. I start with 5 minutes and keep checking it from there.

In a skillet on the stove I saute a diced onion, sliced mushrooms and a green peppers until they are soft. Then add in a jar of your favourite spaghetti sauce. Scoop the cooked flesh out of the squash and add that to the pan of sauce and veggies.

Now on the show, they scooped the sauce and veggies back into the hollowed out squash, topped it with cheese and baked until everything was good and melty.

I wish I could tell you I loved this because this is super low on the points scale for weight watchers. The truth of the matter is I hated it. I thought it was a huge waste of my time and food. Pure laziness is the only thing that kept me from taking it right outside and dumping it in the green bin.

Pure laziness is the only reason it was still sitting on the kitchen counter when Mike got home from his meeting. Wouldn't you know it... he tried and it and loved it. Packed some of it up to take in his lunch. Now I have no idea why I put some in my own lunch, but I'll tell ya what... the next day with a bit of cheese sprinkled on it... it was quite delicious. It seems like you're eating spaghetti, but without spending 8 points just on the pasta. Keeping in mind I only get 29 points per day, 8 is a lot of give up for a portion of a meal.

So there is no picture because I never intended to blog about this or post the "recipe". Just further proof that almost everything tastes better the second day. This is an incredibly versatile meal since you can use whatever veggies you have on hand in the sauce. Mike has already requested I make this again. I didn't think we'd find a meatless meal he would be excited about, but here we are.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

Lent

Today in Sunday School, Lent was a big topic of conversation. Or so I hear from Abby, who came back up declaring we all had to give something up for 40 days.

Me: Well what do you think you should give up?
Abby: Not TV! Please don't say TV. I couldn't give up TV.
Me: Ummm you have to decide what to give up. I'm not telling you to give up anything.
Abby: Well, that's good because I really couldn't do it.
Me: Okay pick something else then, but remember it should be something that's a bit of a challenge.
Abby: Okay, chips. I'll give up chips.
Me: That's a good idea.
Abby: But I'll start tomorrow because we're going swimming with Grandma and she'll probably have some as a treat for after swimming.
Me: Ummm
Abby: I guess now she'll have to bring cupcakes instead.

There you have it folks... Lent and my 8 year old.

Are you giving up anything for Lent?

friday high five - everybody dance now

Most evenings the girls and I can be found indulging in a little after dinner dance party. It's just a fun way to get them and me up and moving. This is quickly becoming my favourite part of the day. As it turns out my kids have some pretty serious dance moves. I have no idea where they got that from. Thursday night was a particularly awesome dance party, in the course of our twenty minutes dance I saw the following dance moves in action....

1. The Worm (Abby)
2. The Robot (Abby)
3. Moonwalk (again Abby)
4. Some sort of Zumba/Vogue hybrid (Maya)
5. Cabbage Patch (both of them)

Do you have impromptu dance parties at your house?

snow

I have been neglecting my camera lately which is totally unlike me. These days I am more likely to snap a picture with my cellphone. Sure the quality is crappy, for the most part, but it's just so easy to upload directly from my phone to facebook or twitter. So I'm going to try and make it a point to start taking more pictures.

Last week when I was off for Maya's observation day I grabbed the camera on the way out the door to the bus stop.



Snow! But that was last week. It's been raining the past two days.



Sisters.



She's going to be 9 soon. Gah!



Not digging it.



Starting to come around.

what's cooking wednesday

Wow. So somehow I got a day behind myself. The beginning of this week was crazy... not quite a Charlie Sheen level of craziness, but still it was up there. Abby was tremendously sick and that just threw a monkey wrench in the entire works. I never thought I would be thankful to hear her and Maya bickering their faces off. I'm sure it will return to being annoying by tomorrow, though.

All that to say I am a day late with What's Cooking Wednesday and in related news I have no recipe for you, so I thought it was a good time to take care of some house keeping.

What's Cooking Wednesday has been my pet project for quite some time. I still remember when I came up with the idea sitting at the kitchen table with Michael. That was 228 posts ago. Wow. That's pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. So I have a lot invested. I love to see you all participating, but if you choose to do so I ask that you please be respectful of my space here. You are welcome to sign up with Mr. Linky, but in return you must link your post back here. Not sure how to do that.... just ask I am more than happy to help. I do check the links and any that aren't complying with my few simple rules will be deleted. I feel like a real jerk when I'm doing it, so do me a solid and help me avoid that feeling.

Now on to my pal Joe... have you met Joe? Now Joe and I go way back, but he is brand new to the blogging world. Click on over and tell him I sent you over to say hey..... go ahead, I'll wait.

Now Joe likes to blog and cook and he's wickedly funny... my favourite kind of peeps, but he was unsure how to play WCW. So for his benefit and any other newbies... here's whatcha do...

Cook and/or bake something. Take a picture. Type out the recipe and post it on your blog on Wednesday Night. Then pop over here and link up your post. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. And remember if you don't know how to do the linky thing, just drop me a message and I will help you out.

Thanks for playing along with me every week.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

here we go again

The stomach bug has once again found a place in my home. Poor Abby fell victim late this afternoon. Second time in about a month. Watching your kid up chuck until long after their stomach is empty is one of the worst things. I feel so bad for her.

She even threw up once in her sleep. In my bed, but she was on Mike's side because she hates my pillows. I am hoping it passes quickly and it avoids the rest of us.

getting the best of me

My life is really getting in the way of my life. That was the thought that popped into my head as I crawled into bed way way way too late. So late that I was going to miserable the next morning when that damn alarm went off. So miserable that I would undoubtedly play fast and loose with the snooze button, hitting it again and again until I had to rush to get everyone out the door "on time". I'd end up being several minutes past "on time" by the time everyone got in the van. The kids would be miserable, there would be yelling, begging, some threats and quite possibly some tears. Yeah, morning would be fun. Unfortunately that's the way mornings are around here. They don't have to be, but they are because I am trying to cram too much into the 24 hours I have been allotted for each and every day.

I have said before that if I could figure out a way to go without sleep, I'd be a happy girl. Then I could do everything in a day that I'd like, but to be honest I wouldn't be buying myself all that much extra time. Five hours-ish is about what have I been clocking in the sleep department on any given night. And despite Maya's belief to the contrary, I am no longer twenty-one. In fact, I am quickly approaching the big 40 and this old lady's body just cannot keep up the pace anymore. My body has been telling me that for quite some time, but have chosen to ignore it. I shouldn't anymore. To be honest, I can't anymore.

There were three nights recently that I forced myself to shut everything off and climb into bed hours before I usually do. It was awesome. Times ten. I felt great the next morning. I didn't hit the snooze button eleventy billion times like I normally do. I got up before the kids and got myself organized before I got them up, so then I could just focus on getting them ready. There was none of the chaos that is the usual main attraction. In a word, it was bliss.

So I sat and I pondered. I thought about the things I have to do, like work and stay on top of the extra homework both girls now have. Then I prioritized the things I really want to do, like being active at Abby's school and then I had to start cutting. I have to learn to turn things down, to opt out. I cannot do all that I would like too and if I try each project isn't going to get the best of me. Something has got to give. So it was not an easy decision to come too, well it was and it wasn't. I know the things that need to come first. My family and the things that impact it. I will continue to do the best I can for the school. We are a small school, but we do impressive work. I am endlessly proud of how I am helping to improve the education experience for all the kids at that school. My baking, I needed to take a long and hard look about what I wanted to do there. I don't want it to ever seem like work because it is one of my great loves. I want to be excited about each project I take on. Did I tell you about the Survivor cake I just did for a friend? It was such fun. With that I've decided to take on only what fits around my schedule and Mike's, Mr. President has many obligations and it's a one-woman show a lot of the time.

It was hard, but I feel good. I feel lighter. It's not to say I'm done with the cutting, more things may go, but this is a start.

friday high five - a birthday edition

Today is a big day here at the blogmother ranch (which is not a ranch, we just like to live with illusions of grandeur), today is Michael's birthday. Celebrated in typical low key Michael fashion... hanging out with some of our besties, playing BINGO. Yep, BINGO! Put together as a special birthday treat by our little buddy Ben.

In honour of my main guy's birthday he gets to be the star of this week's Friday High Five. So my list of 5 things I love about the big lug is part of a bigger list of a 100. You can click on that little linky thing over there if you want to read the whole deal.

#63 He pushes me to take care of me. Sure, I hardly ever listen to him when he tells me to go to bed early, but still he keeps telling me.
#63 He secretly likes iCarly, despite what he tells the girls.
#64 He's just so likable... I have often said, if you don't like Mike, then the problem is likely with you.
#65 He makes me an egg white omelet every morning for breakfast.
#66 He makes the girls' lunches most days... even though they prefer that I make them.

Happy birthday Michael xo

now with more homework

Give her extra homework, was Maya's teacher's suggestion to us. So I went through my tickle trunk of teaching supplies that ML had passed on to me and found a book that is actually a first grade work book, but based on the way she's blazed through the first six pages of it, I'd say it's working out okay for her.

This is an entirely new experience for me. I'm used to dealing with the crying and moaning and arguing about doing homework. In fact just last night I sat down with the two of them.... Abby angry because she had to read 5 pages and Maya bouncing in her seat at the idea that she had homework to do. I actually had to stop Maya at three pages because there was things like laundry and dishes and checking to make sure that Abby actually read her five pages and didn't just pretend to do.

Maya's excitement about her homework was so infectious that Abby asked if I could find some extra work for her to do as well. This is a trend I could really get behind. I may have 5 years of the public school system under my belt via Abby, but I'm fairly certain this is going to be an entirely different ride. Very interested to see where it takes us.

what's cooking wednesday - biscuits

I have been on a quest to find a really great biscuit recipe. I have been perusing the high rated recipes over at allrecipes.com and plan on testing some out to find a good one. This was attempt number one. The reason for this quest... well I bought some buttermilk for another recipe and I didn't want it going to waste.

• 4 cups self-rising flour
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease two baking sheets.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder; stir well. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add 2 cups buttermilk and mix just to moisten.
3. Roll out dough to 1 inch thick and cut into biscuits. Place biscuits on prepared baking sheets; brush tops with remaining 1/4 cup buttermilk.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden.

This is the link to the original recipe so you can read the reviews if you wish.

Recipe Notes: This were just okay. Nothing incredible. Nothing really to make me want to keep the recipe hanging around. So I guess the search continues.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday