The Tree Trip

Yesterday was a perfect day for cutting a Christmas tree, even if it didn't feel very Christmas-y out. It was clear, not too cold and not snowing. Which is completely the opposite of what it is every other year we go cut a tree. I bundled Kian up in layers and snow pants and jacket and mittens, poor kid was sweating by the time we got back to the car.

This year Kevin and Jon decided to actually use the tree carts provided for carrying the tree back to the car. Much better than last year as they carried/dragged it back.



Kian looked like the kid in the Christmas story, he could barely move in his snow suit. Oops.







This is where it fell apart. Kevin couldn't get the tree cut, Kian was having a melt down because Kevin was under the tree. He threw himself on the ground. The very muddy ground. Jon and I just laughed.



Oh but this makes it all better, free cookies, cider and a play truck!




We brought the tree in while Kian was napping. We had the lights and some ribbon on it when he woke up. He's been in love ever since. He was pretty surprised to see the tree IN the house. He wasted no time trying to help decorate it.


We only had one casualty so far. I let him hold the ornament balls. He smashed two together. One did not survive.




Halfway decorated. We haven't really finished it yet. We need to wait until he's in bed because he keeps taking them off. All the "who cares" ornaments and soft ornaments are on the bottom. Kevin does not like my ribbon.



After all that, and decorating the house with all the other holiday things, we curled up in jammies to watch Muppets Christmas Carol with popcorn and hot chocolate. Good times. Look how exhausted we are:

Thanksgiving snapshots

Here's a few very random shots from yesterday. I often forget I have my camera and bring it out at the wrong times. I'll spare you the 4 shots of people shoveling food into their mouths. I also didn't bother taking into account the poor lighting. It was a busy day for sure, and Kian was happy but exhausted by the end. Kevin enjoys that there are two big meals to eat and wishes we could have those huge meals every day.

Here's Grant in the jolly jumper waiting for dinner:

Kian trying to play with Grant in the jumper:




Lazy boys after dinner:





And onto the second feast. Here's Patrick (and Savannah) reminding us what we're eating:






Kian did not eat at the Glors', he ate too many crackers and pretzels before ate. He was starving by the time we got to my grandma's house. But, he only ate cranberry relish and jello salad at that meal.




Here's Bree (my cousin Carrie's little girl) with her huge, second piece of chocolate pie:



Kourt guarding her pies:





The leftovers, from 13 pies, was this (note how many takers the one and only mince meat got) :




Kian decided he loves chocolate pie. He kept finding people to give him more chocolate pie. He'd go in the kitchen and say "pie" and someone would give him another piece. I stopped counting after he got my mom, dad, Savannah, Kourtney and Patrick to all give him some, and there were more! I figure he had half a pie all by himself. Let's just say, he was up in the middle of the night, probably from a tummy ache, and...it was not pleasant to change him this morning. Savannah was the only one who forgot to wipe off the evidence, but, this pie face says it all:

Thanksgiving Menu

Just to get your mouth watering a bit early, here's the menu at the McKnight/Castner/Uhl feast:

3 -22lb. turkeys, with gravy
10lbs mashed potatoes
2 huge pans squash
2 huge pans sweet potato casserole
2 huge pans green bean casserole
2 huge pans dressing/stuffing
Bracciole
Mushrooms in sauce
Relish tray
Jello fruit salad
cranberry relish
cranberry jelly
6 pumpkin pies
6 chocolate pies

I probably forgot something in there. And when I say huge pans, we're talking those aluminum baking pans 9x13, heaping full! It just gets bigger and bigger every year! We always have some Italian dishes in there along with the 'traditional' ones. These are homemade dishes! It's about 6 hours prep work on Wednesday before Thanksgiving every year. I'll have some recipes to follow soon, and hopefully pictures of some of the holiday will make it onto the blog this year!

Binky Update

It's been 2 days and about 12 hours since I "pulled the plug". It's gone fairly well actually. Sunday night Kian screamed and got himself into hysterics after about 20 minutes. I went in and we talked about that it (stupid 'binky') was "broken" and had to go, was all gone. I told him it was okay. I did the whole, "you're sad it's gone, but it's okay, you're too big for it now" talk. Then, since he love, love, loves Kenny I told him that Kenny threw his binky away. He sat on my lap and his sad, little voice kept saying, over and over "okay...okay...Kenny binky...ll gone...okay, okay". That is the only true time I felt sad and guilty! Then I sang him a few songs, laid him in bed and left. He whimpered for a few seconds and then was out! Yay!

Monday, he asked for it in the morning but I just told him we'd go have juice and breakfast and that was that. He did want to snuggle with me and refused to let his stuffed dog go. My mother in law watched him and said he didn't want to sleep, was goofing around in his crib, throwing things out, but still didn't ask for it. Monday night, was much the same of Sunday night, except he clutched his baby doll and wouldn't let it go. Yes, it's a boy baby doll. No crying, he didn't even ask for it! But, the true test would be daycare!

This morning he did not ask for it, but gripped that baby doll tight. He is finding his replacement object, I think. He also is carrying his blanky around a lot more. That's fine with me. I loaded up his daycare bag with his blanky, another to cover him for nap, his baby doll, his stuffed bear, hsi cups, and his broken binky. I explained to the teachers he's been without it and doing okay, that he might not sleep too well, and here's all his "stuff". I told them if he asked for the pacifier to show him the broken one and he'd remember why he didn't want it anymore. My only goof-up was that he only started on a cot at daycare last week. I didn't think about that being another new change for him before I took the pacifier away. But, he slept 2 hours today and they said he didn't have much trouble at all at nap time. Yay!

Tonight, oh tonight was a different story. He hasn't taken decent naps since we started this process so, he's more tired than usual. He was wound up and not wanting to go to bed at all, but I finally convinced him that his baby needed to brush his teeth too. We read books, sang, rocked and then I put him in bed. He pretty much freaked out. I let him go for a few minutes until it was clear he was not going to calm down on his own. We stayed in the dark room and rocked and sang, and he decided he wanted to sleep with his Yankees Build-a-bear guy. Ok? Whatever works kiddo. It's more of a decoration than a lovey or plaything. He did fuss for a few minutes after I put him back, but again never asked for it.

I really think we're over the hump and should be smooth sailing from here, right? It might get a bit tricky with the holiday this week, so close to the termination of pacifier bliss. I'm pleased it's going so well, I was braced for much more drama. It's been nice having some more snuggles at night, instead of the pacifier putting him to sleep he actually wants to cuddle! Now, if only potty training goes this smoothly...

My little "old" man

Is he a toddler or an old man? Reading the newspaper in his slippers and underwear!

Playing Yahtzee. He calls it shozee. He also loves climbing onto the chairs and sitting at the big table now.

Bye bye 'binky'?

Ahh yes. The dreaded "binky". Thanks to daycare kids and staff Kian started calling the darn thing a "binky". I never called it anything. I figured if I didn't give it a name then he wouldn't ask for it and think much of it. And, that did work. Until his teachers told him it was a binky. That was a few weeks ago. Since then he's asked for it, especially at night or at nap. Ugh. Thanks.

I have said from the beginning that I would make it disappear at 18 months. But, I got tired of it. I got sick of hearing "binky? binky?" all the time. Tired of hearing it fall on the floor in the middle of the night and Kian waking up whining for it. Tired of pulling cat fur off of them. Tired of him even hearing the sound of them and perking up, pointing for it. The older he gets, the more obsessed he's becoming. Like his little life depends on that at night. It doesn't.

I decided that this past week we would put some strict boundaries on this darn binky. It was to stay in bed and only did he get it IN bed. Kian didn't love that rule, but he knew it was in bed and he chose to dive into bed a few times without a story or snuggle because of it. I'm okay with that. He gives it to me each morning and says bye bye to it. Seriously? It's a piece of plastic and silicone, not a friend.

So, this morning I just had enough. Yesterday I cut the tip off of one of them-he hated that. Today I cut a very small hole in the tip and that was the only one he could have. If there's a hole in it, he can't create a suction with it. It's not as fun. So, he wants it but doesn't want it because it's useless now. I gave him lunch and a drink. I read some stories and gave him his blanky and animals, and his new favorite Elmo slippers. I tucked him in with the tip-less binky, turned on the humidifier and left. There was whining. About 40 minutes of it. Not real crying, not the "i'm dying, come get me" cry. No, just a whine. I went in once for some more quick snuggles and blanky tucking in. He fell asleep. He's still sleeping. We will see how bedtime goes tonight.

If I think about it too much I'll start to feel bad, because you know, he's just a baby. And heck, it's so much easier to just plug him in and have him fall asleep within 5 minutes right? But, if I go back on it now, I'll set the precedent that mama's a pushover right? But, if we get through this day I think we'll be home free. It's better than forgetting it or losing it on all those trips during the holidays and having Kian freak out in the car or at someone's home...right? I think I need a support group -United Binky Ban-ers anyone? Just tell me I'm right...

Saturday Morning Post

Well, it's not quite morning anymore. It's 12:15 and I'm finally sitting down for a few minutes to eat some Split Pea Soup! Delish. There are some pretty flakes swirling around, big snowflakes. I think we only have about 2 inches of snow total, and the roads are clear, so I don't mind it yet.

So far this morning Kian and I got up, had breakfast-he had his oatmeal. I need to get a video of him saying oatmeal, it's too darn cute. Oh-me-yull. He had a bath, thanks to the oatmeal in his hair, and everywhere else. And then we were off to Wegmans, our favorite store of all time. I always, always, spend an hour in there. With a list, without a list, buying a few things, or a score of items. It doesn't matter. From the demos (that's Wegmans-speak for the little food samples they put out for you to try throughout the store. I did that a few times while working there) to the Nature's Marketplace sections (my all natural, organic, etc.) to GM (general merchandise-ie. your decorations, cookware, towels, toys, etc.) there's so much for me to go through. And I do, aisle by aisle, every week. The only complaint I have is that the last 2 weeks I have not seen the kids' cookie/healthy choice free samples by the bakery like they have been since before I can remember at age 4... Bummer. It was a great distraction midway through to distract Kian for the rest of the trip. Oh well.

He went for a nap when we got home and I went into cleaning/putting away/picking up mode. Pausing long enough to blog and enjoy my soup with Kevin eating his lunch in front of football. Our plan for the rest of the day, besides cleaning and laundry, includes Jon and Kevin getting Christmas lights out before it's too blizzardy to do it. (Is that a word?) BJ's and Home Depot trips. Start preparing for Thanksgiving. I am bringing rolls and pie and snacks to Kevin's parents' house, and rolls to my grandma's. We have a Thanksgiving turkey lunch at Kevin's parents' home, then on to my grandma's for the even bigger, even more caloric dinner. I'm keeping it low-key on the calories the rest of this week!

This week was fine, just very long and drawn out. Not sure why it felt that way, but it did. Tuesday, of course the day before my vacation, I have 3 or 4 visits crammed in the day. Nothing says "welcome to vacation" like a hectic day driving all over the county. Things at work have seemed to settle down. we still were never told about a specific incident that occurred and no one has acknowledged they were the one upset by some action or words. So, we all just have to "watch our backs" and be super nice, and fake, to appease the masses, not talk about anything personal, not have friends and exclusive. They seem to forget that there is 3 of us who have been here for a few years and it's tiring, frustrating, and at times, painful to constantly open up to adding new people. New people who only stay a few months, to have to constantly be in training mode with them, to pretend we love having our team always ripped apart and sewn back up. Blah.

These upcoming 5 days of vacation will be wonderful. We always get our Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and this year is no exception! We'll start clearing out the fall decorations and everyday decorations to make room for lots of Christmas decorations! Back to my cleaning!

8 more hours!

Until the weekend! I am so ready for this week to end. It hasn't really been bad, just very long. I kept thinking every day was Friday, except it wasn't. Today finally is Friday and I just have to get through boring paperwork and fielding calls and crazy requests until 4 pm.

I've got a lot to do this weekend so this work thing needs to get out of the way. I offered to make rolls for all the Thanksgiving feasts we're going to. Do you know what that means? That I have to make about 7 dozen rolls. (People eat a lot of rolls in these two strange families.) I will make the dough and either freeze it until Wed or pre-bake some rolls then freeze them. This way you just pop them in an oven for 10 mins prior to eating. We'll see how it goes. I don't have that much freezer room either.

Plus, there's quite a bit of shopping to do. I am debating on if I want to wait until the "major sales" this coming weekend after Thanksgiving. No! I do not get up and go out way early in the morning. Usually, the things that are on sale then are not what I am buying, so no point in getting up ridiculously early.

I suppose I'll take Kian out to play in the snow for the first time this weekend as well. He's got all his winter gear ready. He loves, loves, loves his mittens, or "mitties" as he calls them. He didn't want to take them off at daycare yesterday. Better than refusing to wear them! I'll be sure to get some pictures of the snow play up soon. Luckily, I won't have to shovel before I go to work day as there isn't much yet. Yet.

A work post

This is the first time I've posted from work. The site used to be blocked, but it's not now, for some reason. I just Twittered that I feel my ears turning into telephone receivers and my fingers turning into pens. It's a disturbing thought, but one that would make my job so much easier. Imagine that. Clearly, this job is getting to me today.

I only have 3 more work days left before Thanksgiving break and the end of the month. The end of the month for us, is stressful as we have lots of records to turn in to be reviewed by the supervisors. All our notes have to be typed in the database and our billing for the program updated. Not to mention the day-to-day work, the phone calls, the urgent requests from parents and providers. That doesn't slow down ever. So, being that I have Friday, Monday and Tuesday to get a lot of things done before I take a few days off, it's a little overwhelming. When I come back it will be December already. Eek!

Didn't I just come back to work from an extended maternity leave and it was April? And sunny? And now it's nearing Christmas and the end of 2008 and it's snowy. Very dark, gray, snowing very much at this very minute. As only I know, because I am the only one in this program with a window in my office. Sweet. They hate me, but they love me because they congregate in this office. We observe the parking lot, the weather, the crazy people on the street below, people peeing on the buildings, and it's the biggest office to accommodate their company.

I need to bring in my camera and force my coworkers into being photographed and blogged about. They'll love that.

He's HERE!

He's arrived, even if a little late! He came in the middle of the night. Quietly at first, with barely a sound, and with ease-we barely noticed he was here at last. I stayed up late to see if it would be the night he finally made his entrance. I took a peek just before I finally went to bed. But, it wasn't quite time yet. I'd have to wait until morning to see the long-awaited, newly arrived...

Old Man Winter!

A few flakes by bed, nothing to look at. By morning we had a dusting. That was all. But, Kian was thrilled with "no". So, before we climbed into the car to daycare he had to run around in it a bit.



Pointing at the snowflakes and the 'no'.


After I dropped Kian off at daycare, I drove into a little mini blizzard near the expressway in Gates. What's that you say? I shouldn't take pictures while driving? Well, I was driving about 10 mph if that makes a difference. Suddenly, the roads were covered and so was my windshield!





There was some off and on snow falls? snow showers? throughout the day. We are up to a grand total of about 2 inches. Not the 6-10 they predicted. Although I hear good ol' Canandaigua has a lot more, and of course the lake shores. We had to have a quick jaunt in it again before going in for dinner. If you look carefully to the right of Kian's elbow are some deer legs. There were 3 deer in the neighbor's yard just munching away, not bothered by us at all. Until Kian caught sight of them and ran at them. Even then, they just eyed him and moved slightly and continued eating.


Welcome back Old Man Winter. Welcome to Rochester, home of the terrible, first-snow drivers and 100 accidents a day from November through March. You're welcome to stay until January, but listen Mr. Blizzard, I can't keep you hanging around too long this year, don't' get too comfy!

Glued: the follow up

So it's been about 3 weeks since Kian bashed his forehead open at daycare. The glue formed a nice "scab" over the wound and stayed on for 2 weeks-even though the claim was 5-10 days. It peeled off on it's own. I can proudly say I did not pick at it. Okay, I picked at the glue that was all over his forehead, but not on the would itself. (The doctor poured the glue over his entire forehead, when the directions said, clearly, to only apply to the open seams of the wound.)

It was very pink and raw the first couple days after the glue fell off. I put Neosporin on for a couple days and then bought Maderma for Kids. Which if I had known that it was made from water and onion bulb extract, I probably wouldn't have paid $20 for it! It is doing pretty well and he's never touched it or picked at it. He did, however, try to climb in the tub tonight and hit his head on the corner of the tub wall. No blood, just a small lump and bruise. When will it end?

Here's my little man after church Sunday, all tired out and handsome:

See my awesome Partylite Christmas tree candle holders?

And here's a close up of his healing battle scar:

Could he be any cuter? Biased? Sure. But, look at those eyes!

In which my son learns for the first time that I am an idiot...

Or: Duh mom!

The poor kid was telling me he saw a plane in the sky and for 35 seconds I talked about cats and whatnot until I finally! understood what he was saying. You can tell in his little face he clearly was saying "stupid mama, listen, I'm saying plane". At the end he's just glad it's all over.
(This is from a month ago, I believe 10/17. He talks so much better, even just one month later. He's saying 2/3 word little phrases now! I'll get those on video soon!)

Are my arms alive?

Let me just tell you, carrying around a big, heavy leaf blower/vacuum AND a 25 lb, almost 1 1/2 year old child, for an hour, is not so good for your arms! I can barely feel them today. Every time I lift them they scream at me. Even typing this now makes them twitch. Probably didn't help that I've been bench pressing 40 lbs lately. (I know, I know, woo hoo, big deal, 40 lbs--but it's twice what I started at!) My poor arms. I'll just go back to writing with my pen, that only bothers my fingers =)

A day off! Thanks to the Veterans

First, I want to start by saying Thank You! to all the veterans, past and present, and to the current servicemen. The commitment, the loyalty, the sacrifice and pride they have and exhibit are amazing. Thank you!

Also, thanks to them, CFC finally decided we should also have Veteran's Day off to commemorate. It was nice, I needed a day away from the office. Even though I did bring home paperwork and was "working" for awhile, it was nice to just not be in that environment for a day. Kian and I woke up late--8:03 late. It was great. We had a leisurely breakfast and then went to Kmart for some Christmas shopping. Great deals! $4 khaki dress pants for Kian! The only miserable part of the trip was that I put my 20% off coupon on the little credit card machine ledge and the cashier never saw it and put my card through without the discount. She couldn't do it after, so I took it to the service desk. They can't just give me the money back, they had to return all my items, then re-ring them up again, with the coupon as the first item. Ugh! Talk about taking forever and being a pain in the butt! But, it was worth it, I saved $20!

After our long shopping trip, which was supposed to be short, we came home for lunch and a nap. Kian has a cold and has been cranky the last few days and not sleeping well. He went right down for his nap, but bedtimes have been long and clingy lately. This is when I did my work. It is cold, but wasn't bad when the sun was out this afternoon and I thought Kian might enjoy the fresh air. I also thought this would be the ideal time to blow and vacuum the leaves up in the yard. He did not think so. He hates it, it's loud and he screams. He also screams because Dada used it first, therefore he thinks it's dada's and no one can touch anything of dada's lately. Ugh. So, I had to hold him on one side and this loud, heavy blower on the other side. My arms are dead tonight! I finally gave up and we just came inside and read lots of books under a blanky. It was great. I needed a day like today. Tomorrow it's back to the annoying grind stone, but it's only 3 more days until the weekend!

Wrap up

Well, I made it to Sunday. It's looking to be a gloomy, dreary, wet, leafy Sunday. But, that's okay, because those days are best for staying in with a good book, a good movie, some warm drinks and family. And that is exactly what I plan to do--after a trip to Wegmans, of course.

After the week I've had, I am wanting nothing more than to curl up in my house with Kevin and Kian and do absolutely nothing. Hearing news about my former client passing away at age 4, knowing my favorite dog Lucy is now gone, having to go through the drama at work, being called to Human Resources about ridiculousness (is that even a word?) along with all the other day to day stuff, just made for one heck of a week. Reading my blog seems like a roller coaster right? Well, that's how work is, up one week, down the next; easy one month, hard as all get out the next. And, unfortunately, I have been allowing my work to "come home with me" so to speak, and affect the rest of my life. But, I'm realizing lately how bad that is to do, and I won't be doing it anymore. Or, I"ll try at least.

This week is promising to be much better than the previous week. I have Tuesday off for Veteran's day--which is new for CFC, surprisingly. I could have taken the long weekend and had Monday off too, but I need to get some things done at work, so that's okay. And knowing that Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner gives me something to look forward too. It helps me focus better at work and get things done much quicker.

OK, let me just interject something dismal here--my monitor is right next to the window that faces our backyard. There is a huge tree right out near the window. It's leaves have not dropped yet, and as I sit here and type, they are falling like rain, like snow, a constant shower of huge yellow leaves. Huge, yellow, wet leaves. That will be fun to rake up later. Funny though, the wind is blowing them into the neighbor's yard. hehe. If that is my only "bad" thing about today and this week, then I am one happy woman.

One cool thing about this past week is that Kian has begun putting words together. He is saying little 2 word sentences. Phrases like "dada fishing" or "dada work" (he's obsessed with daddy and men lately) "my ball" or "more___" are just a few he's come up with, and there's so many more he's trying to say but the more words he says the less intelligible it is. He's so fun right now and so silly and loves to make us laugh and we are really enjoying him. This also means he's trying to figure out everything, learn how to do a million things, climbing on chairs to reach things, and making me a wreck trying to keep his head from splitting open again. The most recent gash is healing nicely, the scab of glue fell off and looks okay. But, we don't want anymore!

I am looking forward to starting Christmas shopping. I've begun making lists and planning which stores I need to go to. Too bad we won't be able to spend as much as in previous years, but I think family understands that, but I'd like to do more. So, even though it might be smaller, it will be very fun this year, as Kian really will be into it.

Today also calls for some baking. That damp coldness outside needs some cookies and muffins baked right out of it! That will be a great start to my great week.

The Intro-net

It just sounds funnier that way.

So, once again we've received the Time Warner letter about the price of Internet going up-again! When we started with them almost 2 years ago it was a great deal at $29.99. The price in a few weeks will be $49.99. Cannot do it. Internet is *gasp* not actually a necessity. Shocking, I know.

No, we're not getting rid of it. But, we cannot continue at that cost. Especially since we both have Internet access at work and it's more for fun, than work or business at this point. Kevin does have his business website, but mainly sells products from home or in person.

So, if anyone has some suggestions about cheaper Internet (you know that netting inside your shorts*) please let me know!

*If you don't get that, then you are clearly not a Simpsons fan.

Say Hi!

Humor me here please. With the bad week I've been going through, I need a lift. I see on my feedjit that I am getting some hits from a lot of places. Places I never expected to get hits from. I know the 3 or 4 people who regularly read my blog, but I see there's some others too. I'd love to just have all of you who visit today just say hi and where you're from or how you came here! It'd totally make my week and I'd have a wonderful weekend because of that. Or, because it was finally the weekend. Either way, say hi!

S-T-R-E-S-S

I just have to say this has been one of the most stressful, wearing, strenuous weeks. And I am only writing this on Wednesday. I feel horrible my former client passed away, my "childhood" puppy dog has moved on as well, and even though I am not supposed to talk about it-there's a lot of "stuff" going on at work. It's, for lack of a better word, crap. The same stuff that goes around and around. The same stuff that forces us to have to talk to Human Resources, makes us upset, gets us in trouble, makes us cry, makes us stress, makes us want to leave our jobs. I am just debating exactly how worth it this place really is. I like my job, the clients and providers, the children, the variety it provides. But, my emotional, mental and physical health is just not worth the stress it creates. And it's the agency I work for, not even the job. I can handle the job usually.

I guess I just needed to release a little tension. This is what the treadmill is for. I would love to be able to jog or walk outside, but since it gets dark at 5:20, I can't. I drove home with the windows completely down (because it was 70!!!) with the music up as loud as it could go, just feeling the breeze, drowning out the things in my head, sometimes singing at the top of my lungs to just get rid of some excess tension. It was great. I really just wanted to keep driving for awhile. But, I had 2 hungry boys waiting at home for me, so I stuck to my route and made it home somewhat sane.

I wish I had some cushion and could figure out a way to start my own business doing something more fun and creative. But, unless i come up with an awesome plan on how to make that happen, it probably won't. I'll just take my 4 EI girlies and we'll start our own company. Anyone got some good ideas, or want to hire me for anything?

Here's praying for a sweeter end to my week!

My squishy puppy

Has moved on to Doggy Heaven. Lucy had a long life, she was almost 14 years old. She was my favorite dog ever, and I kept saying I should bring her here to my house, but never did. She got sick and was wasting away. Fortunately, Travis tried to save her recently, but she was old and had a lot going on. Chase those rabbits Woos!

Floor Cookies

The other day Kian and I made "Floor Cookies". We've made "floor cookies" a few times now. Is that some new flavor you ask? Not exactly. When making floor cookies, this comes in very handy:It's the Tupperware "Thatsa Mega Bowl", a 42 cup, massive bowl. See how tiny the eggs are next to it? This picture doesn't quite show the sheer enormity of the bowl. (He he I used big words.)

So, what are "floor cookies" you wanted to know? Simply, they are cookies made on the floor. I plop that huge bowl on the floor and we make cookies, or bread, or muffins, or anything. Kian loves to help us do anything around the house. I've tried to have him stand on a chair, but he can't reach still, so he ends up sitting down and getting upset. With this gigantic bowl, I can put it on the floor and he can help to his little heart's desire. I give him a big plastic spoon to stir the dry ingredients, and with the tall sides of the bowl nothing spills out--much. It's a big thrill for him.

Our floor cookie of the week this week was Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies-with cranberries and walnuts! Oh. My. Gosh. Can we just say delicious? Totally. The best fall cookie I've ever had. Of course, I found a plain pumpkin oatmeal cookie and tweaked it to my liking. I almost added chocolate chips but went for the cranberries instead. Either or both would be great in there!

Cream:
1/2 cup butter with 1 cup brown sugar on medium speed

Add:
1 egg
2 cups pumpkin (or 1 can pumpkin puree-I used my own cooked/pureed pumpkin)

In a separate bowl mix:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon and/or pumpkin pie spice (or combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. spices to your liking)

Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, stir until just mixed. Add in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and 1/2-1 cup dried (or fresh) cranberries.

Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. I also made some into muffins and baked for 20 or so minutes.

So entirely, amazingly delish! And, I like to tell myself, healthy. Because we all know pumpkin and cranberries are healthy for you!

And that, my friends, is the story of floor cookies.

So many questions, No answers

This morning at work I clicked on the local news pages, as I often do, to get my "daily dose of reality", as I like to call it. I wasn't prepared for this, this was too much reality:

4-Year-Old Loses Battle with Cancer

I knew Brandon was sick. I worked with Brandon for a year and went on maternity leave the same time he was diagnosed with leukemia just before age 3. I had heard that his health was up and down. Thursday or Friday I received a message that he wasn't doing so well. But, I guess you just never think that the end is near for a child.

I read the story, I read his pages, and cried. I was the only one in the office yet and was just shocked. You always hope and pray for a "happy ending", especially for young ones who have their entire life ahead of them. He was his mother's world. Please say a prayer for Brandon's family.


Empty hands held high
Such small sacrifice
If not joined with my life
I sing in vain tonight

May the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You

Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
I want to sign your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You

Lord, I give my life
A living sacrafice
To reach a world in need
To be Your hands and feet

So may the words I say
And the things I do make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to you

Shy?

Shy, Kian is not. He adjusted quickly to the new daycare in September. When Anna & Steph came over with their boys a few weeks ago, he was on Steph's lap within 3 minutes (despite only seeing her once a year ago at 4 months old). When we go out, especially in the grocery story, he says "hi" to everyone he sees. He shows people things and waves non-stop. It's cute, but there is a part of me that wishes at time he was just a notch less "social".

Shy, I am. If you saw me in a group of my friends you wouldn't think so, but put me in a crowded room, at a party where I do not know a soul, and you'll see what i mean. I am the one who hates being in the middle of the room. I like my back towards the wall, on the perimeter of the room, able to view all that is going on. This way I can pick out my path to the food or bathroom in the least socially confrontational way. There are rumors I cried every day going to school until 4th grade; that I buried my head and would let no one touch me as a small child. I have taught myself "party skills" I call them. To talk with strangers about "easy" subjects (weather, an appetizer, article of clothing, etc.) and will myself to initiate conversations and introduce myself. I prefer to let others approach me. Unfortunately, with my job I am the one who has to make the first contact with clients, so that's been a forced development in my social skills.

While I am not truly socially awkward, I can hold my own and come across as comfortable and "normal", it's just not my most favorite place to be. Kian must get this from Kevin. Kevin is at ease in most situations, as a tourist, at a party, a sporting event, work, anywhere. At times his words seem out of place, his body language says he's totally comfortable meeting new people and enjoys it. He also likes to have his time in the spotlight, whereas I hate to be the center of attention. Let's just say bridal showers and baby showers were challenging in ways for me. I don't like people looking at me all the time. This would be why I only achieved a D in public speaking at Roberts. This is also why when we attend gatherings I stay close to Kevin, make my way to the outside of the group, process who is there, what is happening, locate the exits, bathrooms, food and drinks. Then, especially if Kevin leaves me-which is often the case-I survey the crowd and find that one person I know the most there, make a beeline for them and talk to them until I am more comfortable. I noticed I do this to Kian also, not purposefully however. Even at Kevin's family gatherings I tend to be like this and I tend to hold Kian back before I let him go or let him be passed around. I never thought about it before until I was trying to figure out why I get annoyed when everyone tries to take him as soon as we step into the door. Granted, he doesn't really know these people, but would probably not even care, I was putting my uncomfortableness on him, figuring he needed that time too. Which, I am not sure if he does or not, because I haven't tried it both ways. I don't want to hold him back if he's going to be a social creature and make lots of friends, but there's something to be said for cautiousness and observation. I think it makes us better able to read, analyze and connect with people.

Breakfast Hash

I've been cooking and baking up a storm lately and feel the need to put a few on the blog. I, of course, keeping in my style have tweaked, twisted, added, subtracted and otherwise changed the recipes I find printed.

Today I made breakfast "hash". I wish it had a better name, but that's what it's called I guess. It's more like a breakfast garbage plate.

Ingredients:
8 eggs with a splash of milk
1/2-1 cup cheese
1/2 cup green/red/yellow pepper-diced
1/3 cup onion-diced
3-4 medium potatoes (chopped in bite size pieces)
1/2-1 lb bacon (chopped in bite size pieces)
salt/pepper to taste

other optional ingredients: sausage along with, or instead of bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc.

I microwaved the potatoes for a few minutes to soften them and cut down on cooking time. I chopped the bacon raw, threw it in a large saute pan with the potatoes, onions and peppers. Once they were soft I added (beaten) eggs with milk. Once that cooked up some, but not fully, I added the cheddar cheese. If you so desire, you can throw the saute pan into the oven for a few minutes, but it's good as is. I love a little ketchup on top, as does Kian. This is a great breakfast for a crowd.

Like a sharp stick in the eye

We all know that saying. But, how many of us really have had a sharp stick in the eye? Not many. Me either, until yesterday. It was nice fall weather yesterday afternoon, so I took Kian outside to play in the leaves. And with dead flowers. And with sharp sticks that had blown down from trees. Okay, it didn't really appear sharp or I would have taken it from him immediately. And, it was more like a twig. But, when he got too close to me and I tried to grab it, I ended up with a stick in the eye. Luckily it was the corner of my eye, it wasn't more than a grazing that left a little bark and some blood spots. Next time I think we'll stick with leaves and dead flowers...