May 12, 2012

It was a beautiful day, so we went to a nearby Renaissance Faire.  Teagan was very uneasy, scared, as we walked in.  She did not talk to anyone, even to compliment them on their nifty shoes or lipstick, as she normally does.  She did not want to walk, but be held by Stu.  He carried her for a bit.  Eventually she got brave enough to walk, glued to his side.  After about 20 minutes, she was fine.  Hugging strangers as they walked by, although she was still a bit uneasy about the maurading knights.  I think she ended up hugging four people over the course of the afternoon.  She likes to make friends.

It was a small faire, only the third year, so not a big event yet. They still had some great food booths – fried pb&j anyone? – and a joust, along with some archery that I don’t remember from the fall faire.

The girls ended up having a blast. Teagan wanted her own fried pb&j sandwich, though was appeased with a few pieces of mine and half a hamburger.  Ashlin clapped for the knights.  Both knights.  She didn’t care who won, she loved watching them charge by on their horses.

Teagan made friends with a family nearby, a 3.5 year old boy and an almost year old girl.  The baby was sleeping, the mom and the boy up by the rope demarking the list.  The dad humored Teagan, chatting with her and thanking her for the spontaneous hug and kiss.

She’s such a sweet girl, I dread having the “stranger danger” talk, that I know we need to have.  We did set ourselves up for the hugs today, though.  Trying to compensate for her fear and trepidation, we told her that everyone was nice. That she didn’t need to fear any one there.  We’ll need to moderate that in the future, I’m sure.

As we were leaving, we passed a group of dancers.  Both girls were interested, Teagan asking to watch, Ashlin doing her happy-kicky-feet and pointing.  Teagan and I sat and watched for a bit, while Stu rolled Ashlin to some almost-shade out of the way and watched too.  As the ladies danced, Teagan started trying to follow along.  It was so cute.  She asked why their bellies were showing, and I explained that they were belly dancers, and that was their dress-up costume. She then pulled up her shirt and danced.

We may need to go to the fall faire to see how both girls do.  Teagan wanted to dress-up, so maybe then we can have her go in her fairy dress, with wings.  And we could bring her dancing sticks.  Why not go all out?

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May 9, 2012 ~ Baked Pancakes!

Sunday we had brunch.  Baked pancakes!  I had first made them a few weeks ago.  During a walk we took while Stu mowed, Teagan asked especially for them.  I guess they were a hit.

Hot from the oven

Berries and Cream

Ashlin ready to dig in

Teagan worried Ashlin will eat hers

The recipe is super easy.  Most things are in the house all the time, even the berries.  Whipped cream is easy to come by too, especially with the whipped cream maker.  One of the best kitchen gadgets around.

The only problem is that I only have four baking dishes.  And you always want one more.

We may need to do brunch more often.

 

May 2, 2012

She’s so big

She’s so big!  This morning I left her in the young toddler room as the normal caregiver for her room wasn’t in yet.  She was quite excited too!  She did the happy kicky feet thing as I strapped her in.  And that was without any food in front of her too!

The caregiver asked if she needed breakfast.  Well, duh.  Of course she did!  It had been a whole 10 minutes since she had last eaten!  She was starving!  Wasting away.  She was given a plate of waffles (already cut up, oh well) and chipped peaches.  And a fork.  She was in heaven.  Bliss.  More happy kicky feet action.  She didn’t even notice me leaving.

She hasn’t done any more walking – that we know of – since Saturday.  They won’t be moving her over to the young toddlers any time soon.  But she may visit every now and then, once she does.

Eating Waffles

She’s growing up so fast.

~~

It’s been a rough few days here.  The tummy bug that Ashlin had Saturday made its way through the entire house.  Stu first, then me, then Teagan.  Neither Stu nor I are quite right, yet.  Yes, we are the house of plague.  Teagan wasn’t entirely sure why she was feeling so bad, but she was glad she wasn’t throwing up any more.  Throwing up in her sleep really upset her.  Rightfully so.  She snuggled in the morning, and then after a three hour nap, she asked to go to day care.  She was feeling much better, but we were feeling green, oh, so green.  Yes.  We let her go (Stu drove her in).  We are bad parents.  The kind of parents that you hate, but she’d been puke free for at least 4 hours,  and had oh, way too much energy for me, and Stu to deal with.  We figured that since she’d been there the day before, everyone was already infected, if she was contagious.  And those few hours she was there were lovely.  I slept most of it, and felt almost ready to deal with her and her sister.  Well, except for heating up their dinner.  That I couldn’t do.

Today, the grown-ups are still a little queasy, the young-uns just fine, though Teagan’s appetite is still a bit diminished.  Ashlin?  Well, she could eat the horse, and the saddle, and the shoes…

 

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April 18, 2012 ~ Peeps for Poop?!

Yesterday Teagan didn’t have an accident.  As a reward, we went for a walk – Teagan gathered treasures* – and, after dinner, was given her first peep.  Ever.

Once her head reattached, Stu had an interesting time trying to explain Peeps to her.   She loved it.  How could she not?  It’s marshmallow-y goodness covered with sugar.  And cute chocolate wax eyes.  I wish I had been downstairs when she got her first taste.  I wish I had heard the conversation they had.

Again, tonight after I went up with Ashlin, Stu gave her another one.  Well, half of one.  She deserved it, she didn’t have an accident again!  Yay!  She devoured it.  And asked for another one, to which Stu said that maybe tomorrow she could have one, if she didn’t have “no accidents.”  She then asked if she got one for peeing in the potty.

“Yes, you get one for peeing.”  

“For poops?  Poops in the potty?”

“Yes,” Stu replied, “a peep for poop.”  

Teagan threw her head back and laughed.  From her belly.  ”Daddy, you so funny!”  

Peep for poop!

* Teagan is incapable of walking past a rock, pine cone or stick, without picking it up.  She collects treasures on the walk.  As many as she can hold, plus at least one more.  I don’t allow them in the house, so they get left on the table outside the door.

Treasure!

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March 26, 2012

Today I had lunch at Jake’s Wayback Burgers.  I had a doctor’s appointment that was right around the corner from one that was freshly opened.

The reason I went to the doctor – the eye doctor – was because the baby shoved her finger in my eye yesterday.  And it hurt.  A lot.  When I woke up this morning  it wasn’t feeling any better.  It was very hard to open and was super sensitive to light.  I was a bit worried that maybe she had scratched it or something.

Google helped me find an optometrist not too far away who was able to fit me in today.  Turns out that Ashlin hadn’t scratched my eye, but there was trauma.  He prescribed an antibiotic and cortisone drop, and after two doses my eye felt much better.  It was also much less red.  Added bonus of the eye drops is that my vision seems much better, almost back to normal.  It had been blurry since being pregnant with Ashlin.  Same thing happened with Teagan, and it eventually got better. You gotta love the weird pregnancy side effects.  Some of the reason my vision is still a bit blurry so far out from Ashlin’s birth is due to the sleepless nights.  Yay dry eye.

Anyway, my treat was to go to Jake’s.  It was lovely.  I got a black and white milkshake, a small fry and a cheese burger.  The burger was wrapped in butcher grease paper.  The fries were served in a cup.  The milkshake was so thick it wouldn’t go up the straw, which flattened as I tried.  Very lovely.  The fries and burger were pretty good, much better than Micky D’s.  Maybe not as good as Five Guys, but damn, totally hit the spot.

I could go for another milkshake.  Soon.

March 18, 2012

This one loves the swing.  She cried when I took her out today.  We went back out twice, just to swing in the beautiful day.

Instead of talking about how her sister was a beast today.  And that she made me feel  like the worst parent ever for making her sit and eat potatoes, (yes, potatoes!), let’s talk about the awesome soda bread and Guiness stew I made today.

I had made some soda bread last year, but wasn’t happy with the recipe.  Hello google search.  Success was found on Simply Recipes.  This one was awesome! Easy and quick.  It also made a big loaf, so we can have some for breakfast tomorrow. I have a bunch of buttermilk, so I may make another loaf and freeze it.

As for the guiness stew, well, Google sent me to Simply Recipes again.  Not a bad recipe, easy enough for a beef stew.  Instead of adding the wine – I forgot about my wine cubes in the freezer – I doubled the guiness.  Well, porter.  I also used the Knorr condensed beef stock tubs for the first time.  They’re not bad.  I had used the chicken before in soups, and it was very nice, but never the beef.  Very glad I had some of the beef this time.  Also, if I use this recipe again, I may add an extra potato and  mash it up a bit, or do a quick rue, the broth was a bit thinner than I wanted.  Still, it turned out pretty good.  Three of the four people in the house liked it.

Not too bad of a weekend, if you don’t include last night  for one girl and tonight for the other.  If they keep it up, they may find themselves sold as monkey butlers.

March 17, 2012

Wishing you always…
Walls for the wind,
A roof for the rain
And tea beside the fire.
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all that your heart may desire

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

St. Patrick with Serpent

~~

Teagan loved watching the rebroadcast of the parades today.  She started trying to dance along with the step dancers when they came on.  Shame that there isn’t a dance school close by, but we can work on that.  Ashlin started getting down to some of the fiddle music too.  Irish stew and home made soda bread for dinner tomorrow! Yay!

January 30, 2012

Yesterday, Teagan and I made tonight’s dinner.  Pizza Casserole!  Yay!

I got everything ready, chopped up the bread and the tomatoes.  Instead of the prosciutto the recipe called for, I used meatballs, and cut those up.  Everything was in it’s own bowl, waiting for Teagan to help put the final dish together.

And she was a good helper.  She listened, and followed directions very well.  The bread was in the big bowl, but then she got to add the other ingredients, tomatoes, cheese, meatballs.  Stirring was a hit! I am very glad I used an extra big bowl to put this together in.

I ended up breaking the eggs and whisking them up.   But she watched, counting the eggs as they went in the bowl, to make sure I didn’t put too few or too many in.  I also put the mixture into the pan and spread the eggs over top.

Stu worked from home today, so he pulled it out and put it into the oven.  Yay!

We all ate dinner together – a rare-enough luxury! – and enjoyed it.  Teagan didn’t like her tomatoes, though she did eat a few.   Ashlin, on the other hand, loved the tomatoes, and probably ate a few of Teagan’s.  Even Stu liked it.

We will totally be making this again.  It was so easy to put together.  Next time, I would make sure to get the egg and sour cream mixture more evenly spread.  And add the basil – I thought I had some, but didn’t.  It was still yummy.

Win!

 

January 15, 2012

This kid LOVES to eat… She is unstoppable, unless you try to feed her with a spoon. Here she is eating a wedge of tortilla espanola. She ended up eating one quarter of the omelette after all was said and done, along with a piece of French bread and then some avocado and strawberries.

A bottomless pit! She ate at least twice as much as her 2.5 year old sister.

January 11, 2012

How silly is it that I was excited it was pasta day in the cafeteria? And that they had a super-awesome selection of add ins? The ladies before and after me thought I was too cute*, being happy to see capers (they’ve never had them before!), and scallions and asparagus and olives. With vodka sauce.  Oh my!

I ate too much. It was lovely.  Is it nap time?

~~

* One said it was nice that “small things” made me happy.  I’m pretty sure that’s a good thing.

~~

PS.  I updated Teagan’s Quips.  LOL!!