Monday, January 30, 2012

Boys in Hats

Cuteness overload:

Boys in hats, reading books, being silly.


My guys were reading this morning before the hubby had to go to work.  I couldn't resist taking pictures of them in their hats. Colin loves that book, and when we get to the page that's the same as the cover, he likes to make the same face.  It doesn't get old.  It's always funny. 

Colin recently found his hat in his room.  He'd gotten it for his first birthday, but it was too big.  It's still big, but he wants to wear it all the time.  He walks around saying "hat" if he wants it, if he's wearing it, or if he's just had it and has put it somewhere and forgotten where he put it.  It's cute.  The thing is, we're not sports fans.  People will think we're Cubs fans, but Colin will grow up thinking that "C" is for Colin.  See:


I'm not going to be the one to tell him that's not true.  

Thursday, January 26, 2012

R - E - D, red.

Ooooh....I got crafty! 

I have seen several crafts out there that take advantage of the paint cards you can pick up wherever paint is sold.  However, I have not been interested in trying those crafts out, so I came up with one of my own. 

Colin is starting to recognize colors, thanks in part to Blue's Clues.  He knows that Blue is blue, and now he can pick out the color blue.  I decided that he should learn the rest of the colors, so I made him some flash cards using paint cards.  The store I picked them up from has larger cards with just one color, instead of the 4 or 5 hues on one long card.  This made it easier for me. 

Here's what you need:
Paint cards
Plain index cards
Colored markers (optional, you can use just black if you want)
Glue (I used rubber cement because I like it.  It's fun and reminds me of childhood.)
Scissors or a paper cutter (I used my scrapbook paper cutter.)



Here's what you do:

Cut out a color in whatever size you need to fit your index card.  My measurements were not exact, but they were just under 4 inches by just over 3 1/2 inches. 
Write the color on the bottom of the card.

Glue on color card.
Let dry.

Teach. 

I tried using them after they dried, but Colin thought they were to color on.  I distracted him and put them away.  We'll try again when the crayons have been put some place safe. 

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Time to Buy a Frame

I had a whole post planned for today, but when I was getting the photos I need off my camera, I found this picture from the weekend.



 It melts my heart a little bit, and I'll be ordering a copy of this in 8x10 and going to get a nice frame to hang it on the wall. Will they always love each other like this? I hope so!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Dollar Store Wins!

On Saturday, I spent $4 on Dollar Store items to be used to entertain Colin.  I bought a pack of foam sheets, an 8 pack of Mardi Gras beads, an 80 count bag of colorful craft puffs, and a pack of 25 balloons. 

With the foam sheets, I cut out 5 shapes: a square, a circle, a triangle, a star and a heart.  These were put into the bath on Sunday, and Colin stuck them to and took them off of the tub and tile happily until the water got cold.  We spent a lot of time just naming the shapes, and pointing to them.  (See how it's educational?)  Since then, I've begun cutting out other things to play with in the tub to make scenes.  So far, we have some flowers.  The plan calls for a few clouds and a sun.  After that, my creativity runs out, so we'll see what happens. 

The Mardi Gras beads were opened and placed in a large plastic bowl and paired with a wooden spoon as soon as I got home.  They were the main source of his entertainment for the rest of the evening.  We're talking about 5 hours of fun, people! 

The craft puffs were opened this morning.  The goal was to put some into a clear plastic bottle we cleaned, put the top on, and use it as a shaker.  Instead, Colin spent about 90 minutes putting them in, putting the top on, taking the top off, shaking, spilling, kicking and throwing the puffs around.  After a break, he came back to them and spent another half an hour or so playing with them. 

I haven't opened the balloons yet.  We have 3 left in the last bag.  The last two balloons I blew up, two weeks ago, are still in my living room.  They are kicked, hit, thrown, sat on, layed on and all around enjoyed nearly every day.  I'm amazed they've lasted this long.  Balloons can save just about any day for us.  They cause big smiles and shouts of "boon!"

That was the best $4 I've spent in a long, long time. 

Friday, January 20, 2012

Chicken Corn Chowder

I told you earlier in the week that we had friends over for dinner last weekend, and that I'd give you my recipe for Chicken Corn Chowder.  After two days off of blogging to do, well, nothing much of interest.  (Seriously, I had nothing worth noting.  I made another dinner I thought I'd share, but it turns out I didn't like it.  I made a snack I thought I'd share, but it turns out I didn't like it.  Dinner was my own creation, lesson learned.  The snack was from Pinterest, but was the first thing I've made and didn't like.)

So, here's the recipe for my chowder, which is my favorite soup/chowder.  I love winter because I can make it a bunch.  It makes A TON, so invite friends over, freeze some, or be prepared to eat it for lunch and dinner every day for a week.  I have no idea where the recipe came from, because it's handwritten, but must have been just a corn chowder, because the note on the chicken is on the side, not in the list of food. I'll give you the actual recipe, and then note what I've changed.  Feel free to make adjustments or add/remove things.

4-6 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded (this should be in the notes section, but I feel like it's a pretty important ingredient to have at the top of the list)
1 med onion, chopped
2 tbls thyme
2 tbls margarine
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 can whole corn 
1 can creamed corn
4 c chicken broth
2 c milk
6 red potatoes cubed, skins on
2 carrots, chopped
2 tbls flour
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tbls olive oil

So, here are my changes/notes:  We use yellow onion because the flavor works best.  I don't usually add the thyme, but if I do, I only use 1 tbls.  It's just a taste preference thing.  We use butter instead of margarine.  I like corn, so I use 2 cans.  Really, the more corn in this, the better.  We usually use larger red potatoes and 3 or 4 carrots, and then add 1 cup of water to accommodate the extra veggies.  Because of the extra, I also increase the flour to 1/4 cup. 

Instructions: (based on my changes, take out whatever you may not add or change)
1 - Saute onion and olive oil with the crushed red pepper.  Transfer to cooking pot.
2- Add cream corn, kernel corn, butter, broth and water. Add carrots, potatoes and chicken.  Cook for 15 min.
3- Add milk, slowly stir in flour to thicken.
4 - Simmer 20-30 min.

Wow this is going to be long, because here are some pictures:

The recipe I have.  See, note on the chicken is in the upper right corner.  You should not pay attention to any misspelled words you can find.  Sometimes, spelling is not my thing.  By sometimes, I mean all the time.


When I was making this last weekend, I chopped ahead of time, so that's why my veggies are in water.  It prevents the potatoes from browning. Also, I bought frozen corn since it's cheaper. 

Almost done! Paired it with a salad, yum!

Yum, yum, yum!  The leftovers are always thicker than this, and I think, even better!


Enjoy!


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Mini Me

I'm a reader.  I'll read almost anything, and have only once or twice not finished a book.  I love to re-read, because I read too fast and miss things.  I'll go back a second or third time and still pick up new things.  I love, love, love books. 

This is how I know this child is mine (as if being fully aware at his birth wasn't enough):



My kid is awesome. 

Monday, January 16, 2012

Forgotten Gifts

For Christmas in 2009, my mother in law gave me a Tupperware Blooming Teapot Sampler.  At the time, I was pregnant and didn't know about the caffeine/herbal content of the teas it came with.  To be safe, I put the teapot and teas in our closet/pantry and decided I'd wait until after my pregnancy to use it.  I saw it just after Colin was born, but was nursing so decided I'd wait to use it.

Fast forward to this past weekend as I was searching in our closet for the electric hand mixer needed to bake.  I found the teapot, and decided to use it as I made dinner and desert.  We had friends over, which is why there was desert.  You can not invite folks to dinner without offering desert as well.  I'll post the dinner details later in the week.

So, I used the teapot and now I'm in love with it and blooming tea.  The tea was delicious, and the visual effect is beautiful.  I served my tea in a pretty cup, instead of just a coffee mug, to get more from the experience.  I checked the Tupperware website, and I don't think they sell the teapot or blooming tea directly anymore, but Amazon has it if you're interested. 



I think I'll be making more this week, as Colin and I are both battling congestion, and I always feel like drinking tea helps me. 

(Disclaimer: Tupperware has no knowledge of this post, and did not provide these products or pay me to use them.  Though, if they want to send me more tea, I'll happily drink it and tell everyone about it.)

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Roller Coaster Day

This was not the day I expected yesterday:
(picture found with a Google images search and located here)


I had a good morning and felt good about things.  Times are tough, but we're managing and I felt like there were possibilities in the job market that could work.  Then I got an email informing me that a job I had interviewed, the one it had been narrowed down to another person and me, went to the other person.  Ugh.  That was enough right there to spin me upside down.  I had felt really good about the interview, and felt that I would enjoy working at that location. 

It turned out, it was enough to bring me down for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  I'm usually pretty good about managing emotional roller coasters and getting myself right side up, and feeling better.  But yesterday, I couldn't manage it.  I had a little pity party, I'm afraid, and didn't care to blog anything.  (sometimes I don't blog for a better reason, but yesterday there was no good excuse.)

Today, I feel better.  I'm still bummed about the job, but I've decided that if it didn't work out, then it was for a reason.  Something better is out there for me, even if I can't see it yet.  Here's to a day with more optimism and less self pity.  Besides, we have a playdate today and those are always fun!  

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Holy Unexpected Kisses, Batman!

For Christmas, my sister sent Colin this great Bat Cave from Fisher Price with these extra heroes.  Santa brought extra heroes as well.  The Bat Cave came with Batman and Robin, so we've got them hanging out with Superman, the Green Lantern, Batgirl and Wonder Woman.  (side note: I love them all!  They're the coolest toys we have, I think.)

Here's the whole group:

Colin was told to wait to play.  He's not thrilled back there.


Now, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern are often found together a little far away from the others.  I have to wonder what's up with them.  I would not have been surprised if this morning's events involved them, but they didn't. 

I was in the bathroom testing my blood sugar (diabetes rears it's ugly head, readers!) and Colin comes around the corner with Batman and Batgirl in his hands.  I asked him if Batman and Batgirl liked each other. He responded by putting them face to face and making his "muh" kissy sound. 

WHAT IS THAT?!? HE'S 20 MONTHS OLD!

I don't think he understood my question, and his response surprised me.  I guess we'll just have to welcome our household's newest couple, Batman and Batgirl!



(Disclaimer: Fisher Price does not have any knowledge of this post.  They did not pay me or provide me with toys, though if they wanted to, I'd talk about them all the time.  They probably wouldn't approve of their Little People having relationships with each other anyway...) 

Monday, January 9, 2012

Monday Blues

Mondays suck for people who have to go to work, I've been there.  I get it.  What I didn't realize is that Mondays suck for people who stay home too.  I suppose this could only apply to me, and that's fine.  I'll re-phrase: Mondays suck for me. 

All weekend long, I get used to someone else being around and able to change a diaper, read the same book several times in a row, get *another* cracker.  (Seriously.  My kid survives on crackers and ketchup most of the time.)  Monday comes along, and it's just the little man and me.  Don't get me wrong, I love that kid more than I knew was possible.  We just have to adjust after waving bye to dada out the front window.  He looks at me and I swear he's thinking: "Oh, not you again.  What happened to going to play with those other kids all day?"  I'm afraid he's bored with me.  Even though we just got new toys a few weeks ago, I wish we had something more exciting to keep him entertained all day.  I keep looking for fun craft ideas, but they're either for older kids or involve a potential messy disaster. (i.e. finger paint)

I guess I'll just go blow up some more balloons.  He loves them, and didn't freak out when one popped.  Maybe it will save our Monday.   

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Toddlers & Toothbrushes

I've been unemployed since mid October 2011.  (Reduced in force, laid off, position eliminated, let go, those are some of the terms that are used for this situation now.)  Since I've been off and looking for work, I've been taking care of my son, Colin who is currently 20 months old and full of mischief.  He is a sweet boy, who could charm the crankiest of people.*  When I do have to go back to work, it will be difficult, but for now I'm just enjoying it.  

*He may even be able to charm a reader I know, who says she dislikes children and will never have them.  She knows who she is, and I challenge her to spend an hour with my kid.  She'll have fun.  I promise. 

Today I created a YouTube account, because my family all lives far away.  Whenever I try to email a cute video, I get errors.  I have no patience for figuring out how to fix things, so YouTube is my roundabout fix.  I have it unlisted, since I don't want a bunch of strangers seeing videos of my kid.  I am tempted to post the link here, since I know all 3 of my current readers. (Hi ladies!)  However, as I hope to some day reach a wider range of people, I won't post it. 

Oddly, I'll put up pictures of said cute kid.  Here you go:



Awwww....look how cute.  (We responsible parents are in charge of his dental care.  This is a staged photo taken for a gift for his Grandpa, who is a dentist.  Don't worry, his teeth are safe.)

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Pintervention?

I just made a small batch of brown sugar vanilla body scrub.  I found the recipe on Pinterest, changed it a bit, and made some for me.  It uses brown sugar, white sugar, sunflower oil (I changed it to Coconut Oil, because it smells good.) and vanilla extract.  (Sidebar: I may need a Pintervention.  Lately, all my non child rearing and job hunting activities revolve around crafts and/or foods I've found on Pinterest.)

So, I made up my little batch and used it just on my hands as a test. My hands feel super soft and smell delish!  It's a bit greasy, due to the oil, but it absorbs quickly and leaves hands feeling soft and moisturized.  I recommend using the coconut oil.  It's in solid form at room temp, but melts in your hand.  You have to melt it first, and mix before it solidifies. 

I used a small plastic container that I got from the Family Dollar to store it. (A two pack of the containers cost me $1 so I felt it was a good investment. My crafting budget is small.  Or, nonexistent.)  I don't expect it to last long, since I quartered the recipe, so I didn't feel the need to buy a glass container.  Besides, glass in my shower?  No thanks, I'm a klutz.  If I give it as a gift, I'll probably get some cute containers to give it in and let that person determine if glass is allowed in their shower.  Maybe other people don't have a case of the dropsies like I do, but I don't think I'd recommend it. 

Best part of this project?  Husband asked me if he could put it on toast after I told him what the ingredients were.  I told him to go for it.  Technically, it's all edible.  He'd do it, though, so maybe I should hide it.  After all, I want to use it myself! (Please don't eat this, if you make it. It's not for consumption.)

Here's the link for the real recipe: Brown Sugar Vanilla Scrub
I didn't take any pictures of mine, because I didn't think of it until everything was cleaned up.  Since my container is not as cute, I figured you all didn't need to see it.  :)

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Ugh. Resolutions.

I hate resolutions.  It's the same every year.  People decide to make huge changes to themselves and their lives starting on January 1.  Here's a question: Why can't we decide to make changes in, say, July? Or starting January 11, instead?  During the post holiday letdown, I don't feel like overhauling my entire way of life or the contents of my kitchen.  I feel like napping.

Does anyone else need a nap right now?  No, just me? 

I decided last November to make some changes in my life that will make me healthier.  I did not decide to make these changes starting on January 1st.  I started after the Thanksgiving leftovers were gone, and took a break for Christmas.  (Come on, like I could have said no to EVERY cookie offered to me over Christmas.) Here's the kicker: I still made better choices when I was taking a break.  At my in-laws' holiday party, I ate the party food in smaller quantities, stuck with the veggies & hummus instead of chips and various dips, and didn't pay much attention to the desert table until the end of the night when I looked over and thought, "Holy crap!  Where did that stuff come from!? That looks GOOD!"  Then I ate a small something, and was done.  

This is an attempt to be healthy, and maybe even get fit.  I've decided to eat healthier, but not to cut out everything that I enjoy.  I can have pasta still.  Only, it's whole wheat pasta and it's eaten very infrequently.  I'm eating smaller portion sizes, and if my brain tells me that something is delicious and I need to eat a second helping, I tell it to SHUT IT!  It's not like I can't make that yummy dish again sometime, or have leftovers for lunch. 

I started working out.  It's like Working Out for Dummies, but it's a start. I try to work out everyday, but that doesn't happen all the time.  Some days I need coffee right away.  No one wants to go do crunches or jumping jacks with a belly full of coffee.  I'm doing a slow build up type of work out.  What I'm doing now is getting moving, getting my heart rate up, and building up endurance.  My workouts are getting longer, but are still short.  I expect in the next 2 months to be working out for 30-45 minutes a day, having started in November at just 5 minutes a day. 

So, resolutions this year?  Nope.  I don't do resolutions.  I made a choice a few months ago to be healthier.  Now that the holidays are over, and I'm nearly out of the holiday letdown mode, it's back to business.  I know that by making small changes, I'm going to end up with a lifestyle change that sticks.  I'm excited to see how everything looks this time next year. 

Oh, and I lost 7 lbs already. 

Monday, January 2, 2012

Blog Beginnings

The first blog post is always the hardest.  Should I give my history/background?  How do I introduce myself?  Do I just jump in and start sharing things?  It's a lot of pressure, you know. 
I'm Kathryn.  (I introduced myself!) I am a wife, mom and step mom.  I used to have a job.  I survived the first downturn of the economy.  However, it has not picked up.  I did not survive the most recent "reductions" at my previous employer, so now I get to stay home with my toddler son while I search for a new job.  (There's the shortest version of my history I could manage!)
I'm diabetic.  It sucks, but I've managed it for 18 years.  I've been diabetic for more years than not.  (I shared!)  I don't plan to post too much about being diabetic, but as it is a large part of my life you should know about it.  It sneaks into just about everything, so this blog should be prepared for it. 

That's all you get for today.  The first blog post is so awkward.  Now that it's done, I feel much better about having started.