Demands

Isn't it amazing how a child starts out like this:



His only demands are made with a cry, and he can be made happy again with a diaper change, a boob, or a cuddle.



Then he grows up into this handsome little guy:


He still cries, but a diaper change just won't do. He escapes the diaper change every chance he gets. Cuddles still help, but when he wants something, he now demands it. Not quietly either. And if he doesn't like what you say, or what you are doing, he puts on his gruff voice and says, "You in big twouble!" Take our conversation yesterday as a fine example of talking to a 2 year old.



Setting: In the car on the way to Grammy and Papa's.
Mo: I want Wiggles
Mom: Wiggles are on.
I turn the music up.
Mo: NO, I want Wiggles
Mom: This IS the Wiggles
Kaia: This is the Wiggles buddy
Mo: NO, WIGGLES
Mom: Morgan, the Wiggles are on.
Mo: No, Quack Quack
Mom: That's not on this cd Mo
Mo: Quack Quack
Mom: Ok, let me find the cd


I pop out the Wiggles cd that's in, find the other Wiggles cd and put it in the player. Quickly, I realize that I have no idea which track is Quack Quack Quack Cock a doodle doodle do. I am going to have to scan each track until I find it. Doesn't sound like a big deal, does it? Well there are almost 40 tracks on this cd.

I know it's not the first 3 tracks, so I quickly scan through those.

Mo: QUACK QUACK
Mom: I'm trying to find it Mo.
Continue hitting the next button through 20 more tracks.
Mo: NO Quack Quack
Mom: Almost there buddy, I'll find it
Finally, after 10 more tracks, I find it! Quack Quack Quack Cock a Doodle Doodle Do.
Mo: Yay!


He puts his hands up and begins the motions, Kaia does the same and sings along. I get to enjoy the rest of the drive to Grammy and Papa's in peace... well, if you consider peace listening to Greg, Anthony, Murray, Jeff and Captain Feathersword singing crazy songs.

Laundry Lament

Thanks to all of you for commiserating with me on my lipsticked laundry. Taking into consideration Art's advice, and doing some looking online, I chose to try a dish-washing detergent and laundry detergent combo. I didn't want to attempt to treat each and every article of clothing, so a soak in the two above seemed like a good way to go. I put everything back into the washer (minus 2 pair of my jeans and some of Kaia's underwear) and added hot water for a little bit, then warm water. I put in both detergents, mixed well with my hands, and let it soak for an hour or so. Then I added more laundry detergent and washed.

A few things came out clean, but I'm not sure they had lipstick on them in the first place. What you see in the photo is the clothes that still need more treatment. Now it's on to painstakingly applying Grandma's Secret Spot Remover.

Do you think it's time for a new laundry basket?

Any Tips?

Today has not started out as a T.G(oodness).I.F should. It all started with me waking up way too tired. This was thanks to a little boy that didn't want to go to sleep last night.

Then while making coffee and breakfast, I was pondering some news about my friend. I'm so happy for her, as God is really blessing her, and it is wonderful to see her smile. A part of me is sad though, because those blessings will be moving her at least an hour away. The happiness overrides the sadness, but there is still a conflict in me.

Then I went to the dryer to get my clothes out for work, and Kaia's socks for PE. Her sock looked funny, it had some purplish stains on it. I figured it was the sock she wore yesterday when she dropped jelly on her foot. Well, I figured that until I saw the cap of a tube of lipstick, and my shirt and pants. Kaia left a tube of lipstick in the pocket of one of her dresses. So now I have a washed and mostly dried load of clothes coated in a raspberry colored lipstick. Did I mention most of my work shirts were in this load?

So I began searching for a shirt to wear, and was getting frustrated. Dana was getting ready to leave the house, and I went up to give him a kiss goodbye in just my jeans and a bra. He was being playful and trying to make me smile, when he grabbed me and pressed his cold soda can onto my stomach. A smile wasn't what I gave him, I snapped and yelled. And of course I immediately felt like chewing gum on the bottom of a shoe.

The day does get better though. I called and apologized, and Dana accepted my apology. I did find a shirt, even if it isn't the one I wanted to wear. Dana even picked up some free corn from someone at work, and received $20 for parking at the State Fair which starts today. He also received 4 free adult tickets, so now we need to find the time to go.

Tomorrow the kids and I will join my family to watch the Sunfair Parade which always happens the first Saturday of the fair. It will be Mo's first parade ever.

This weekend could be even better, if someone would give me a surefire way to remove lipstick from all my clothes! Anyone? I'd be forever grateful.

New Game

Find Kaia is the new game at our house.

Miniature Golf Leavenworth Style

One of our favorite things to do in Leavenworth is to go miniature golfing. This is a cute 18 hole course, and always provides a fun time (plus it's near a great little burger joint).

Here's Dana getting out of the trap.

My pink purse goes everywhere with me. Including golfing.

The "river" that runs through the course. (It is dyed blue)

One of the windmills. I can't remember if this is the one you putt through or not.

It was a very close game. I managed 3 hole-in-one's, and I'm still not sure if I won by 1 or if we tied. I added at least 3 times. Good thing we weren't too concerned about math on our weekend together. I did completely lose the game of air hockey we played in the arcade inside. The machine did the math for us.

After our fun, we headed over to the burger joint for... wait for it... burgers and fries! It was great!

Urban Garden

I found this garden in Auburn, WA. This house is probably a one-bedroom rental. There is no yard, as it sits behind two other houses in an alley.

They didn't let that stop them from planting a garden. With the price of things in the Seattle area, I admire their frugality.

Don't ever think you don't have enough room for a garden.

Slight Interruption

Sorry for the lack of posting this weekend. Dana and I had a much needed get-away. We got away from the house, the kids, the pets. Yes, we love them all, but we needed some time ALONE. We don't get that much. We stayed here:

And we really enjoyed soaking in this:

I have many more photos to share and will do so very soon!

John Deere

While he still loves to wear girls clothes, Mo is all boy. (Ok, he did ask for nail polish this morning, but forgot all about it once he started playing with his race car). Mo loves John Deere. He seeks them out on every drive. They cannot hide.

So it was a perfect gift when Grandma Owie found this John Deere Gator for him.

He likes to haul books and teddy bears. I like that it can haul weeds to the compost bin.

Grammy helped him with his love of John Deere by making this quilt.

As you can see, Boomer enjoys it, and Mo does too. Soon I imagine he'll need a whole John Deere themed bedroom.

If you view this through a reader you may have actually had a chance to read my original post. I have no idea what blogger is doing, but the autosave didn't, and I ended up with my oldest draft version. I'm running late now, so I give up!

Kindergarten Chronicles: Shoes

Kaia hasn't even been in school a month, and already, I'm stirring up trouble. The problem all started with this:



The shoes. I put those shoes on her specifically for P.E. The rules are pretty strict for P.E. Students must wear exercise tennis shoes on their P.E. days. There is another rule too, kids that can't tie their shoes yet, are asked not to wear shoes with laces (for safety reasons).



Kaia wants you to know that the shoes are cute, but she can't wear them for P.E. Apparently they aren't tennis shoes. I found this out by white slip Friday evening. If you have never seen me mad, then you might just want to imagine smoke coming from my ears. Kaia had to sit P.E. out because they weren't just right. Now these shoes fit with everything sent home, but still were not ok.

I have talked to her P.E. teacher, but we are not in agreement on this. I think there is something fundamentally wrong with the philosophy that a child must have on just the right shoes to participate in physical activity. Children need to learn that P.E. is fun, and that they can be active in every day life, not just when they have on the right shoes.

I finally made it!

Remember a while back when I was so excited to find the Creative Cooking Cookbook at the library for $1? It had my favorite recipe growing up: Chicken with mandarin oranges and almonds. Last night, I finally made it!




It was so good. There is a lot more than just chicken and oranges in there. There are also Madeira soaked raisins, beef broth and heavy cream. We had that with baby red potatoes from the produce stand and salad. The only downfall to the recipe is the cost of some of the items. I have plenty leftovers of the items, but the Madeira, heavy cream, and almonds were pricey. It was fully worth it, though. I will definitely make it again.

Sunday Morning Breakfast

Blueberry Bread (last night's dessert) and an Italian Prune (aka a plum) from the produce stand. And not pictured is the requisite mug of black coffee.

Last night was a success. I believe we all enjoyed ourselves and I thought the food tasted great. Nothing like fresh from the farm veggies. This produce stand isn't a "middle-man" stand, it sells food from the farm that is maybe 10-15 miles away. So the prices are reasonable and the fruits and veggies are excellent! Kaia picked out baby red potatoes and I think they will become dinner tonight.

Ringing in September

Tonight we are having dinner with Grammy June and Papa Gordie. I had some housekeeping to do today, I needed to decide what was for dinner, and I had found the cutest chocolate brown plate on clearance at Target. (it looks lighter due to the flash)



I didn't want to just plan dinner, I wanted to head to the produce stand next door for inspiration, and I found it. Fresh bell peppers, onions and tomatoes. Dana had already suggested fresh salsa. Now, we do have tomatoes growing here, but not many are ripe right now, we go through cycles of a ton of ripe tomatoes and then a ton of almost ripe ones. We have plenty of jalapenos here, and I recently bought 7 dozen fresh corn tortillas at Fiesta Foods. Have you figured out what we are having? Did I mention we have leftover grilled steak from our barbeque last night? We are having fajitas, salad, fresh salsa with homemade chips, and something for dessert, I just haven't decided yet.

The produce stand is filled to the brim with gourds and pumpkins right now. I knew that I would find what I needed to fill that cute plate at Target there. I'm not crafty, but Kelli inspires me to be a bit more. So I dug around in the closet in the basement, and found plenty of fall items.



I created this plate, with 2 of the 4 gourds from the produce stand, and some flowers from an arrangement I received last year.





There were still plenty of flowers though, from a bouquet that Kaia had brought home from Grammy's and started to destroy.



So I added them to the old bouquet after chopping with Dana's cutters from the garage.

I even switched the magazines over to early fall mags, and the Garden Moment Getaways that I received from Kelli's giveaway.

There were still more things leftover, though. So why not one more decoration?

Have a wonderful September weekend! I'm off to make dessert.

Healthy, Simple Eating Challenge

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As most of my regular readers know, my grandma lives in Mexico. She lives there on a very small budget. Her regular diet consists of barley mixed with some veggies that is reheated throughout the week with new additions as needed. She was reading a small article this weekend (while visiting us in the hills) and Mark Bittman does the same thing. He cooks up either brown rice or barley with veggies and then adds different beans throughout the week.

While trying to decide what I was going to have for lunch today, I decided to give it a try. I challenge all of you to try also. I plan to do this for my lunches today through Friday. Not only is this extremely healthy, but I'm also using mostly local ingredients.

Here is my base:
3 cups cooked barley
Onion, celery, carrot, yellow squash, and green beens sauteed in olive oil

Today I'm adding some 3 cheese spaghetti sauce (meatless) and have a peach and a fresh tomato for snack.

I'm hoping this healthy start will continue through the year, and maybe help us battle the cold and flu season which is already upon us. If you would like to try also please add a link to your menus with Mr. Linky.

September Camping

In the midst of this healthy food challenge, I should tell you a bit about our camping trip from this weekend. I promise there wasn't much healthy food there. Although it was better than some trips. We had spaghetti, sausage and eggs (with sauteed onion and green pepper), turkey dogs and Louisiana hot sausages dogs with chips and watermelon, burgers with baked potatoes and corn on the grill, and huevos rancheros. My parents came up for the day with my grandma. We had a great time just enjoying the outdoors. The weather? Perfect! Nothing like mid-70's almost all day long.

Here is most of the family. Dana was taking the photo (notice my dad is also), Grandma was up a bit higher, and I believe Kaia was with Dana.

Butterfly at the river. I don't know how Dana gets these awesome shots!

My grandma presented me with some "family heirlooms" her hankies that have fallen apart from so much use. I collect hankies, just usually not this used.

The campfire. The fire ban was lifted the weekend before, and we enjoyed it's warmth during the chilly mornings. It also roasted some great dogs and made good baked potatoes.

We made the most of the great weather. It's supposed to continue being nice here. Our next trip may be just a bit chillier.

Healthy, Simple Eating Challenge Day 2

Yesterday's lunch was good. The spaghetti sauce on the barley and veggies made for a yummy Italian tasting lunch. I did however need more protein. A few hours later, I was waning. Luckily besides my peach there were fresh picked apples in our fridge at work and that tied me over til I got home.

Today I mixed my barley and veggie base with some homemade (and leftover) beef gravy. Not as fattening as you might first guess. I made it with cornstarch and the beef juice leftover from Thursday night's roast beef. I also brought a leftover baked potato and a few ounces cheese. This turned out to be too much, and I have some leftover for tomorrow's lunch.

If you'd like to join in the challenge (at anytime!) please add your link with Mr. Linky in the original Challenge post.

Sincerely 'Fro Me to You Preggo Pics

I shared with you a while back a few photos from when I was pregnant with Mo. I actually got a lot of compliments on them. Thanks! Here are some that are much less pretty.

Who said black was slimming? Although my arms look more like twigs.

It's always nice to catch a photo of the pregnant lady eating.

Even better when she has food in her cheeks.

For more photos that aren't going into the scrapbook, head on over to We Are THAT Family.

A Blessing

God always has great plans, and when we listen to Him, things work out. A low hit yesterday when I'd been told by 2 licensed in-home childcare providers that they were full. I said to God, "Please help me! What do I do?" A bit later I thought of a young woman at church. She's a housewife right now, and has been looking for work. She only lives a few blocks away. I still called another childcare to hear the price of $104 a week! I was sure that the little tiny bit I had budgeted for childcare would be an insult to her. "Call her" I was prompted and prompted. I picked up the phone and called. She agreed right away. She starts tomorrow. She has no problem with my small budget. Thank You Lord! Thanks to all of you who were praying for me.

Poop!

That is my description for the way this morning is going! It also made for a funny. I was telling Kaia that we are going camping this weekend, and then one of the next trips will be just Dana and I. That's when the mouth started in about how kids go camping and parents can't go without them. Mo looked at us so seriously and said, "Kids... kids... Poop!" I laughed, Kaia laughed so hard she snorted, and I had to agree with him. Yes, kids do poop.

My day is poop because we are now in a last minute childcare search thanks to the latch key program at the school. I would love to tell them how waiting until school starts to decide which kids need childcare on what days and times does not work. And if you have a waitlist, maybe the consideration would be to add more staff, not leave parents hanging into the second week of school praying that an opening will come up in the shuffle. Because kind hearted, wonderful, retired neighbors have lives too and cannot always watch your child while you work.

Then somethings at work fell through. Fell through isn't quite right though. Cancelled. After a lot of hard work on my part and another persons. It's frustrating. So it is one stress that is gone, but just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I'm volunteering late tonight, starting work early tomorrow, and I need to pack the trailer for our trip this weekend. Also all of us have caught a bit of a cold thanks to the cool weather coming in. I'm looking forward to this weekend. I need some peace!

Just Another Dinner at the Kihn's

Just your average dinner at our place. Yes, Mo is wearing a dress. He's a princess tonight.