Kids Say the Darndest

It took a while to put Sam to sleep tonight. He was negotiating in his sweetest voice to get out of his room. It went like this:

Sam: "in kitchen, mommy?"

Me: "No Sam, time to sleep ."

Sam: "in bathroom, mommy?"

Me: "No Sam, time to sleep."

Sam: "How 'bout some applesauce? Yeah, applesauce! How 'bout some?"

Me: Mmm...tempting...but time to sleep.

Emma's been learning lots of things at school. She shared the latest with us tonight. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, NO VISUAL, with liberty and justice for all."

Slow Death by Rubber Duck....

...is the name of the book I just finished.

I went back and forth about reading this. Should I be informed about this or forget I had even heard of it? It did seem like a slippery slope into daily paranoia about toxins. I knew there would be no turning back. I'm really glad I couldn't stop myself, though. It was eye-opening for sure. Fortunately, it did not plunge me in to a neurotic state, but rather, it gave me an awareness I am glad I now have. To sum it up, two guys Rick Smith and Brouce Lourie, decided it would be a good idea to expose themselves to a variety of toxins doing typical, everyday activities to see if they could significantly increase or decrease the levels of these toxins in their systems. The results were amazing and terrifying! With that said, I am encouraging you to read it, so I will mention what the authors include in the introduction:

"The book that you are holding is downright hopeful. Now this may seem counterintuitive, given that the word 'death' appears in the and the book describes a great many toxic chemicals that are screwing up our bodies in myriad ways. There is that. .... But things can change. Sometimes quickly and for the better." (p 1.)

Rick and Bruce focused on phthalates, PFCs (teflon), PBDEs (flame retardants), mercury, and triclosan (active ingredient in antibacterial products) pesticides, and BPA. The book highlighted the history of the production and use of these chemicals and others like them. Ignorance is not bliss in this case. Everyone should read this book. Let me know what you think!

http://slowdeathbyrubberduck.com/USA/

Sweet 'taters!!!!!

Not only was I neglecting my blog during the month of September, but the garden wasn't getting much love either. I had high hopes for a fall crop, but since this garden thing is still such an experiment and I have no idea what I am doing, I wasn't holding my breath. My fall plan was to replant my peas and carrots. Oh, and try to grow a salad.

At some point during the summer, I found sweet potato plants at my favorite nursery. I didn't plant them for quite a while, because I couldn't decide where to put them. I knew I didn't want them to suffer an untimely death because of my indecision, so I finally put them in an unclaimed bed near our house. I threw in some compost and told myself we'd check on them in the fall. In the meantime, they filled the bed with crawling vines.

When I saw these vines taking over, I knew I was breaking the rules. It was suggested to me that you should cut back the crawling vines so that the plant puts its energy into making potatoes. I knew I was living on the edge when I didn't. I wanted to see if they would root and make even more. The jury is still out on that one. I have a feeling this will probably be a lesson in not being greedy.


Moral lessons aside, I was very surprised and excited when we found these!

From what I have read, I think the standard practice is to wait until the leaves turn black or start to wilt before digging up the tubers. Well, we couldn't help it. In our defense, one of the potatoes was sticking out of the soil. How could we resist? At least I left the other plant. I have to admit, though, the real reason I didn't check on those potatoes is that lately the soil around that area has seemed to bulge and crack and, well, just look generally unsettled. Instead of yummy starchy potatoes, I am afraid I will find some kind of large, mutant, burrowing mammal attached to the other end. We'll see. Who knows? Maybe there are so many potatoes that the earth cannot contain itself. My money's on the hairy, mutant, snarly mammal.

Apparently, Sam finds the shape of this one as funny as we do.

Big Girl Stuff!

Emma is growing into a regular big kid these days! Here are some photos of what has been going on the last couple of weeks. First day of preschool! In true form, she was apprehensive at first and slow to warm up to the new situation. I am happy to report that we only had to go through one day of the traumatic goodbyes, where her teacher pulled her off of my leg. Since then, smooth sailing, thanks to Daddy!

I'm glad we have a picture of that balloon. Emma was so excited about it that we left it up for almost the entire month of September. It was the main attraction for both Emma and Sam whenever we stepped outside. 4 whole weeks of it getting bashed repeatedly, fought over, and squeezed until all bystanders were squinting and flinching, anticipating the pop. That sweet lil' balloon was the cause of a few skinned knees and nearly amputated limbs.

I love this picture. It pretty much sums it up! I'm glad she's able to channel that inner-sass into preschool activities. Phew!

So, moving on. Dance wasn't her thing. Soccer, anyone?

Our little thinke

r

Photo bombing is her new favorite hobby.

In the meantime...

Well, well...have I dropped the ball on posting or what? I know what's holding me up...summer vacation parts 2-5 and a lack of downtime during the entire month of September. So, I apologize for the drought, and I am still working on those posts.

In the meantime, Emma and Sam both have had their half birthdays!!! There is so much to report! In honor of these recent 6 month milestones, I will include some of my favorite moments. Since there is sooo much to catch up on, we'll start with Sam.

18 months

His new favorite thing to do is fold towels. This is the only activity in his entire 18 month life that has seemed to entertain him for more than one minute. Yes, that is an apron he is wearing. He was doing a little cooking before the laundry. My mini multi-tasker!

Sam's language amazes me everyday. We have real conversations all day long. Here are the top 10 of my favorite things he has said to me recently (in no particular order):

1. In a memory lapse, I said to Sam, "we need to turn on..um...um " and he answered "music?" Yep. Thanks sam, you know me so well. Dance party it is.

2. Turns out, Sam likes to be excessively polite. He says "thank you mommy" hundreds of times a day. Making him a sandwich, changing his diaper, getting him in and out of the car..."thank you, mommy." Who said this is a thankless job?

3. Well, it's official. Sam has a milk allergy. And, I thought gluten was in everything. News flash, milk and it's products are in EVERYTHING. Anyway, Sam looves his chocolate soy milk and can be found hanging on the refrigerator, begging for "coffee milk" on a regular basis.

4. Sam insists on helping make dinner. He needs to be in on the action and loves to throw in an ingredient or stir here and there. So, I can be sure when dinner time rolls around, Sam will follow me in the kitchen, and beg me to pick him up, repeating, "helper, mommy? helper, mommy? helper mommy?" one million times. I ususally pick him up, because he is not satisfied unless he has climbed my legs or, on a couple of occasions, completely run away with my britches. I'm not making this up. Here's to making dinner one-handed, gluten and dairy-free, with or without pants!!

5. A while back, I documented Sam's preferred affirmative, okaaay! I'm working on catching his new favorite answer to everything, "mmhmm...yeah.", on video too. Stay tuned!

6. "Try it, Mommy! Try it!" is sure to follow when he is quacking on a duck whistle, jumping on or off anything, or eating something new.

7. Me: Let me change your diaper. Sam: "No waaaaay, Jose"

8. During Emma's soccer game, Sam was sitting on my lap, shouting, "Go, Emma, go! Run, kick soccerball, run, kick, go!"

9. Last night on a car ride, Sam informed us, "I see moon." I love that one.

10. Finally, Sam loves books! He is very interested in the birthday page with pictures of cookies, cake, and balloons. He usually breaks into song, "haaaap biirrrtday to you....!" Sam also has books that accurately label large, obscure vehicles like airport feul tanker, heavy transporters, mobile crane, just to name a few. Steve found him in his room looking at a truck book and saying, "sleeper cab. sleeper cab." Seriously?

Sam's new "cheese" face

I hope this loong post is a little peace offering for the drought. I'm back. And there's lot's to catch up on!

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch...

Things in the last 48 hours that very well could be followed by some sad, trumpety noise.

1. Packing away Sam's 12 months clothes.

2. Packing away Emma's 2T clothes.

3. Taking down my green bean vines b/c the stink bugs most likely destroyed them.

4. And the icing on the cake...Although, I should be happy that it is probably advanced for Emma to be able to illustrate emotion in drawing a face, why did it have to be me? Seriously, I think I am mostly nice to her, but this gem would make anyone think otherwise.

I walked by her drawing quietly. It was everything pictured above without the smile.

Emma: Mom, I drew a picture of you.

Me: (I'm thinking to myself..good lord! that looks angry...no...she's only 3...let's hope it's a coincidence)

Emma: That's you being angry.

Me: (great.) Why am I angry?

Emma: Because I hit my brother.

Me: Yes. That makes me angry. I'm not always angry, though, right?.

Emma: (added the smile).

Hopefully, I outgrow my Mom=Dr. Seuss Grinch status.

The Late Night Show

Scene: Middle of the night. Sam wakes up itching...I'm rocking Sam in his dark room. Steve is in the bathroom helping Emma who woke up for a potty break. Sam sits up, noticing the light in the hall. Apparently, he needs to get to the bottom of this.

Sam: medsin, medsin, medsin, medsin? (translation: sweet! am I getting some tasty meds?)

Me: No medicine, lay down.

Sam: (lays down for a few seconds, pops up) Potty, potty, potty? Daddy potty?

Me: yes. daddy potty. lay down. (I'm for sure not mentioning who else is in there)

Sam: (lays down for about a minute, back up laughing)

Me: what's so funny?

Sam: bye, bye, poopie, bye, bye, poopies..hahahahah...(cracking up)

Me: hilarious. goodnight.

oh my little sam. =)

PS: He is not allergic to cats, wheat, beef, eggs, codfish, other random things on this allergy screen. However, still itching. Any thoughts? We are using the most hypoallergenic detergent possible.

Summer Vacation - Part 1

San Antonio, here we come! We miss our friends terribly. So much, in fact, that we went ahead and jumped into the scary unknown..a plane ride with two little ones. We were pleasantly surprised when all went well. We arrived at the airport and Jason picked us up in a minivan they rented to cart our growing group around. They live in paradise. A place where a gluten-free/vegetarian diet is no big deal, the swimming pool is refreshing, and good friends and good conversation await on an amazing lanai! Jason, a genius with surprisingly exceptional hide and seek skills, and Amanda, a superhero-goddess in all things domestic, welcomed us warmly!

Our fleet

I saved the best for last. The main reason we came to visit was to meet the newest member of this family and Princess of Paradise, Miss Isla Rose!!!!!! My font choices do not allow me to express how exciting this is for us! I did not take nearly enough pictures of Isla. She is so so tiny and cute! And, Jason and Amanda make such great parents.

Hanging out with Isla is especially exciting for us because it seems like just yesterday that Jason and Amanda were baby Emma's special friends. Babies and ALL that comes with them was new and surprising.

Jason and Emma(1 day old)

Amanda and Emma

Jason and Emma (5 mos)

And now, Isla's here!!!! And, she's more beautiful than any of us could have imagined. Even though, she is so mini and new, she already has a sweet personality and her own preferences. She will let you know if she is too hot and likes to watch everyone around her, taking everything in. It's amazingly fun to see Jason and Amanda glued to their monitor and surrounded by baby gear! During our trip, Emma asked Amanda if she could be Isla's big sister. We can't wait for all of the fun times to come!

Our Hero

Now, there are lots of reasons why Steve is our hero, and I'm looking forward to listing all of them in later posts. But, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Our summer has been full of traveling and vacationing, which is great. We feel very lucky. There are some side effects, though. Bouncing in and out of our normal routines made us pretty desperate for getting Sammy some sleep during our Kentucky trip. Hence, the binky rescue....

I mostly posted this because Sam was laughing at Steve jumping out. Looking back, behaviorally, it was kind of a nightmare. Lots of attention for a teeerrrible act. Also, to clarify, Sam calls his binky "binka" and drink "drinka". My theory is that everything gets an "a" at the end of the word because that's how his sister's name ends. Also, I'd like to remember how Emma likes to give advice these days (i.e. "watch out for that boat, dad."). Good times. =)

Uninvited Guest

Well, look who's been keeping my garden company while we were gone. This little punk ate most of every tomato on one of my plants. So, I have found tomato hornworms on plants before. Each time, we captured it and banished it to a glass jar. Each time, I forced it into a science project. Apparently, these things turn into giant 5-spotted hawk moths that can fly up to 30 mph. I wanted to see this. Unfortunately, (but actually I don't really care), they all did not quite make it. Once, death by squirrel and then, death by hot jar. We'll see what happens this time. Every time this happened, I couldn't help but think, "Well, buddy, maybe you shouldn't have eaten all of my tomatoes."

tomato hornworm

I ran across a home remedy I want to remember for next year. These jerks also LOVE dill. So, if you plant dill around your tomatoes, they will attack that first. The idea is that you would notice this damage before they get to the tomatoes. Learn something new every day.

I also mentioned that we were gone this weekend. This trip concludes our summer travels. We have been on 5 trips all together, and I will be working on a new post about our adventures soon. Probably will be more exciting than hornworm stories! =) Stay tuned!!

A New Invention

A carrot update for those that are interested. So, I decided to pull many more of our carrots for dinner. I've been told by my awesome gardening-guru buddy, Jen, that I should not expect long, store-bought-looking carrots. I appreciate the reality check, because I was really holding out for the pretty, long ones in the picture they have right on the seed packet. Anyway, not so much, but enough to try to eat for dinner.

Pulled, check! Washed, check! Peeled, check! Pre-tasted, check... Arg! Metal taste again. That's okay...we're definitely going to eat these things, even if I have to use lots of butter. To the 'fridge.....no butter! Nice. Water and brown sugar it is then.

Next, the CHAOS that is preparing dinner while supervising 2 little ones ensues. Long story short, I start to smell a funny carrot smell. I remember those carrots on the back burner, and lift the lid to uncover my new invention...gummy carrots. If ANYONE looked into that pan and had to guess what was in front of them, I may have heard, "are you cooking pennies?....in goo?" or "gummy bears for dinner?!?" or "are you cooking the pan from when I changed the oil in my car?" What a life....those mini seeds came a long way only to be turned into inedible, shriveled disks that require a sharp, sturdy object to pry them from our teeth. (Don't worry...I'm talking about the adults' teeth..they were deemed too terrible to feed to the kids). BUUUHMMER. I would have taken a picture, but I was too busy trying not to cry. Oh, well.

My new plan is to come up with a menu per week and prepare/freeze as much as I can. Wouldn't that be fabulous? To just pull meals out of the freezer and presto..dinner! So, I can't really see this ACTUALLY happening, but I'd like to try. What is your favorite recipe to freeze? Has anyone done this before or know of weekly menu resources? The whole vegetarian/gluten free thing might throw a wrench in this plan, but just a thought...we'll see.

G'on...Get Down With Your Bad Self!!

Sam's been dancing since he was so little. He has perfected some of his moves and chooses them carefully!

This happens every time my phone rings.

I call myself to see this happen. Without fail, he drops what he is doing to bust a move!

Stinky Situation

Bad news to report. The green beans are going down hill quickly. Instead of our lovely, long green pods, there are wimpy, yellow, misshapen beans. The culprit: STINK BUGS!! Brown Marmorated stink bugs to be exact. Apparently, these little jerks have "sucking mouth parts" that destroy everything. I've been learning a lot about these little suckers and turns out that they go through a metamorphosis looking a lot different at each stage.

I found their little babies, which look like ticks. Ugh...I start itching when I think of those crawly things. They definitely have that lice effect, where you know it's not on you, but it still starts itching when you talk about it. Hopefully, I'm not the only one this happens to, and hopefully I didn't just create it here. Are you itching? Ok. Ok. I'll stop.

Anyway, I'm looking for an organic answer to this problem. I haven't really found one yet, except I did smash a really big one the other day. Smashing isn't going to work for those little tick-like babies. More good news...some of the research I have found explains that when it gets colder these jerk-face stink bugs look to get into your house. Help!

Choices

So, I just finished the book, Parenting with Love and Logic. It's a book I used to use at my job when I met with families to talk about their crisis. We talked about natural consequences and avoiding power struggles with kids. I feel like I owe all of my former clients an apology. Little did I know that just having a toddler can be a crisis in itself and can instantly morph you into a crazy person.

Anyway...this book gave me a refresher and was really helpful. It motivated me to add more choices to Emma's day and help her to figure out her own problems. I will have to admit, there were a few ideas that were panic inducing. They really drove home the point that our interactions with her will shape her self-concept and develop (or underdevelop) her self-esteem. Ahhh! Enter flashbacks of me being impatient, less than supportive of her, and having my own tantrums. BUT..kids are resilient, right?...So after reading, and feeling guilty, I'm all geared up to give Emma some choices today. The ball is going to be in her court. She's going to feel like she has control and build off-the-chart levels of self-esteem!!!.....OR.....:

Em: I know! I want to trace my letters!

Me: Great idea! Would you like me to bring up paper? or would you like to work on your art desk downstairs?

Em: Oh...whatever works best for you mom.

In case you are thinking this sounds sweet, think again. This girl has my number, can possibly read my mind, and I am terrified of her teenage years. =)

Things I want to remember from this book:

• Children's mistakes are their opportunities
• Setting limits is like building walls that don't crumble and leave kids feeling secure
• Let your yes be yes, and your no be yes, too (i.e. I want to play computer NOW!! Can I? Yes. You can play after lunch. tricky!)
• You can't make a child go to sleep.

Sick.

Read at your own risk..yucky stuff ahead...

On our road trip home:

Me (to Emma): It's a bummer we all have colds. I don't like having a cold.

Emma: Me neither..(pause)..well, I like them a little. It's a little fun.

Me: What do you mean?

Emma: Well, colds have coughs and I like coughs.

Me: You like coughs?!?

Emma: Well, coughs have spit in them and then you swallow it and that's kinda fun!

It's official, we can add optimist to the list of adjectives that describe our 3 year old.

Trying to Find the Humor

The day before leaving for our trip, (aka busy, packing day), Sam became hysterical shouting for food. So, I gave him a cereal bar. He ate it in 1 minute...maybe less. You think I exaggerate. I do not. Half way through the bar, he is already thinking ahead and yelling for something else. He spots a banana... "NANANANANANAAAA". I give him half, more screaming, a reminder to say please, "pleeeeeasepleeeeeasepleease", then the other half. You would think this child has never eaten in his life. Oh, but in fact, he had a snack an hour earlier.

He chants, "barbarbarbarbarbar", hoping to score another entire cereal bar. I try to convince him that he needs to wait for his stomach to settle. I try to distract him with a toy. He is crying this entire time and trying to climb and open the refrigerator (He is 17months).

We have string cheese. He throws himself on the floor because I peeled it (to avoid choking) and he prefers to eat the thing whole thing in 3 2-inch, throat-clogging bites. After the cheese, he has managed to be distracted by something. I turn around to put a few dishes away, and from the family room, I hear, "messss.messs.messs" I turn back around to see that Sam has reached up and grabbed the only ripe tomato from the counter, brought it to the carpet, and squeezed with all of his might.

Behold tomato crotch:

More fun things that happened that day:

yep..that's my phone wedged in the ball popper

Although my sweet Sam is QUITE high maintenance, I am grateful for him everyday. I can only wonder what his future will hold. With his advanced ability to shout food items repeatedly, right now I'm thinking baseball game vendor? "Peanuts, peanuts...get your peanuts, peanuts!" Just kidding, Samalama. ;)

The Verdict

We tried that carrot pictured below. Peeled it. Sliced it. Passed the slices around. Emma quickly gave us her review. She spit it out and said, "disCUSStin'!!!" Unfortunately, I'd have to agree. It had a weird, intense carrot/metal taste. What the what? Bummer.

What's Up, Doc?

Our carrot experiment began in late April. Tiny seeds in a giant planter grew over a couple of months. We weren't sure if we should pull them, but we started to see the orange tops peek out of the soil. I think I will leave the rest in to see if they get bigger. We are going to try a new batch in the fall!

"I can hold it like I am getting married."

(She actually said this. I am amazed at her observation skills. I guess she was really taking it in at my cousin's wedding this weekend. We don't get much by this little one.)

serious business....inspecting our 2nd carrot

100% huggable

carrot mustache

my sweet veggie comedienne

Our Hill of Beans

These beans are part of the reason I dug everything up. During late spring, Emma and I picked out a couple of seed packets from the store. Green beans were part of our first experiment, before the mud pit and cedar kits. A seed pack, starter soil, and a recycled tray from our garage started this adventure. I wasn't expecting them to amount to much, but we were both excited when, in no time, the seeds grew, peeking out from the soil, and sprouted into mini plants! We transplanted them into the garden in early April with an open tomato cage to grow on (rookie mistake). Turns out, they needed a little more support and much more heat.

Well, what a lesson in patience! Those seeds had grown so fast in their first stages of life, but when we transplanted them, they stayed mini plants for weeeeeeks!!! Little by little, they started to climb and ended up getting pretty top heavy. Next time, I will pinch off the runners when they get to the top. This will make the plants bushier, rather than tall and tangly. Live and learn.

mini plants in a row

tall and tangly

Japanese beetle damage (top right)

baby beanies hiding

all grown up and ready to be picked

We've had a couple of scares. First, a Japanese beetle infestation. I learned a few things about Japanese beetles: 1. They are attracted to already damaged leaves. So picking off the ones they have munched on seemed to help; 2. Beetle bags use a pheromone to attract beetles that then fall into a bag they cannot escape. Tempting, but the bags actually increase the number of beetles in the area and can attract beetles who fly 10-15 miles to get in on the action. 3. The smash-with-2-bricks method provides a satisfying, crunchy, gooey end to the uninvited guests. I kept a close eye on the leaves and crushed any JBs in sight.

Second scare, for a couple of weeks at the beginning of July, all green bean production screeched to a halt. I have NO idea why. I'm looking for answers. And, it happened right after we had collected enough to have them for dinner and fall in love with them!!! Sooo tasty!! Again, I don't know what did the trick, but.... they're baaaack!