Dandelion Jelly

Who even knew this was a thing? I found a list of floral jellies that looked lovely and adaptable for CSID and dandelion jelly was on the list. It tastes like honey and lemon and sunshine.

 

Lunches of fun...on the go! Part 2: Teens, Tweens and Adults

I'm back with more lunchtime inspiration for my CSID friends, but lots of these ideas would also work for any low carb, gluten free, keto or paleo diets. Once again, most of these meals work during the induction diet, and if you need more info about that, see Lunches of fun...on the go part 1. Remember to check all ingredients against your safe food list, sub any sugar for dextrose or fuctose, and have some FUN with your food!

Now for the round up.

Lunches of fun...on the go! Part 1: Toddlers and Kiddos

Pack lunches are always a challenge. Take away sandwiches and it can seem overwhelming. This post is lengthy, but it's goal ito demystify the process of making pack lunches safe, healthy and fun for CSID kids from toddlerhood through elementary school.

Pretty Princess Parfaits

We had a knights and princesses party here for the Personal Assistant and Mr. Baby's birthday. It was super fun. The menu was pretty easy, but I did make a few special treats. Like these yummy parfaits. Mmmmm.

 

(Healthy) Sugar cookie dough

I love cookie dough. It probably should have killed me years ago in college when the cookies never quite got baked. But here I am, still loving cookie dough from afar. Until now.

 

Menu Planning

My New Year's resolution was to streamline some of my Mommy tasks. I'm starting with Menu Planning. Because if you want to save money on your groceries, I've decided this is where it is at. Not couponing, not Club memberships, just good old time consuming meal planning. But you know I have a hack for that...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheerios

I promise this is easy.

 

Halloween in the Sleepiest of Suburbs

Oh Halloween.

This is the trial of our "No Noggin" costume. This is the only thing the Personal Assistant has talked about all month-being No Noggin for Halloween. Our neighbor made him promise not to fall again asleep this year so he could see the spooky No Noggin costume.

Conversations with My Personal Assistant

The Personal Assistant on why Gigi is here...with boobs:

 

P: Hi Gigi!

Gigi: Hi buddy!

P: Um...you have personals. Are you going to nurse our baby?

Gigi, wide eyed: Ah...no...

P: Then why have you got them? What are you going to do with them? What do you use them for?

Me: Gigi nursed me with them when I was a baby. Mommies just nurse their own babies.

P: Oh!

 

The Personal Assistant on bead work:

"We are making JEWELRY here people! We're not here just playing with beads. This is SERIOUS."

 

The Personal Assistant popcicles for breakfast:

P: Daddy gave me this popcicle for breakfast!

Me: Oh really?

P: No

 

The Personal Assistant on Caffeine:

P: Why do you drink caffeine Mommy?

Me: Because you and your brother have way more energy than I do and it helps me keep up. And I don't get enough sleep...really I should get more sleep.

P: Oh. And you can't sleep because of the caffeine.

 

The Personal Assistant on Gigi's milk supply:

P: Are you going to nurse our baby?

Gigi: No.

P: But you have personals...oh no...Gigi, did your milk dry up?

 

The Personal Assistant on his reflection in the fitting room mirror:

"Oh! I have never looked more handsome!"

 

-Jen

 

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Quick Fix: Children's Gallery Wall

My Personal Assistant has finally reached that "color and draw and paint for hours" phase and it is pretty glorious. BUT...

1. Every shred of paper he touches is now precious and must be displayed and/or protected from Mr. Baby.

2. They are constantly ripping things off the fridge/splashing water from the fridge fountain thing.

So, with some junk from the basement I made a gallery wall for the playroom. I'm a bad blogger and I don't have a before. So here's the after:

 

First kid, second kid

"Parenthood is magical."

"A new baby changes your life in such unexpected ways."

"Everything is different after you have a baby."

If you are having your first, precious, lovely, perfect child these words will likely be repeated to you over and over by well meaning adults.

If you are having your second child, the conversations get much more fun. So to all my Mommy friends about to have second babies, this one is for you.

Adventure awaits.

Protein.

 

 

Quick Fix: Chandelier Makeover

We've had a winter full of surprises. Many of them were not good. Like the furnace breaking twice in the coldest February on record, leaving us with no heat for a month. Or the the day the second floor toilet flushing into the stud space one morning, and a short in a wire causing half the house to lose power in the afternoon. Or the day shortly after that when we woke up smelling gas in the kitchen (easy fix) and ended up with our water heater tagged because it needed a new chimney.
I have spent most of the winter hating my new house, and spending the reno budget on emergency repairs.
But I am trying to like it. I really am. So I am tackling the dining room on a shoe string budget-starting with that fabulous 1980's chandelier.

Quick Fix: Large Designer Toy Bin

I have been looking for a large, crushable, (you know, to reduce the toddler minor head injury screams) moderately good looking toy bin for ages. Then I saw it on Boo and the Boy...

Adorable boy's room. Adorable Blog. You should totally check it out...but later.

It was perfect for Camp Bed Room! Or the playroom, or maybe even the livingroom! Clear floors here I come!

It was $27. For a brown paper bag. I kid you not.

You know I can do better right?

Kid Crafts: Easter Window Clings

It's hard to find activities that challenge my 4 year old and engage, but are not hazardous the Mr. Baby (he will eat ANYTHING). This easy peasy no mess craft was great for both of them.

 

Gates Galore

I do not love baby gates. I mean, I love that they allow me to take a shower with the kids safely contained in their play room and keep the baby from falling down the stairs, but they are not pretty. And they rarely fit at the bottom of the stairs. And the good ones are $60 each and they still break quickly. Only two of my gates survived the move-plastic parts broke and I had to salvage parts from two gates to rebuild the gate at the top of the stairs. Boo. I decided to build something a bit more fun (and stylish and cheap) for the first floor gates.

Any Given Weekday

You know those home tours and makeover reveals where everything is pretty and nice. Well, this ain't one of them.

I recently posted a kitchen update, mostly because it was clean. But today I am going to give you the "Average Weekday" house tour. Let's start in the kitchen.

Kitchen update

The mighty mighty Hubster cleaned the kitchen and polished the countertops this weekend. Didn't he do a great job? I figured that this was the perfect time to snap a few progress shots (even though not too much has changed).

No TV

I am aware that the American Association of Pediatrics has some rather prudent guidelines about TV, media, and screen time. Apparently, two hours a day is too much. Kids should be playing, reading, engaging with their environment. I'm cool with the first two, but I could do with a lot less engagement with the environment.

My Personal Assistant's behavior yesterday was so horrible that he has lost TV privileges for an indeterminate period of time. Basically, he can't watch tv or have tech time until he stops asking for it-constantly-at a screaming volume-using phraseology he has not been exposed to under this roof. I am so upset. I really do not know how I will cope.

The following is a true story of what happens when we loose TV privileges. It is not for the faint of heart. You have been warned.

Kitchen Renovation

Ever get to that point with a project where the finishing touches are taking forever and annoying you, and the pictures need to come off your device to make room for the new ios update? I hit that point this week with the kitchen.

I was promising my self that I would wait to do one big kitchen reveal post, but it's time to remind myself just how far we've come before I get too annoyed at how far we still need to go.

Behold the before in all it's water damaged 1950's glory:

You can't see the water damage, but I assure you, it is there.

Quick Fix: Baby Food

We make most of our own baby food here. It's easy, fresh and cheap, but I think the main benefit is knowing exactly what your baby is eating. Not because I don't trust baby food companies, but because it's just easier when you are introducing new foods. (Also because CSID. But that's a whole other conversation.)

At Christmas the Hubster gave me a Black & Decker smoothie blender. At the time I was all "oh, gee...thanks?" But later I figured out all that it could do and thanked him properly. The best feature of this blender is that it fits on mason jars-which is great for so many reasons. Especially baby food.