Time marches on

So I visited an old friend yesterday. I have seen her more this year than in years past. She is the kind of friend that you can pick up and call or go visit and it feels like no time has passed. She is steady as the sun and amazingly strong. She helps me calm down when I am stressed and she makes me laugh when I am sad or scared. She is a rock.

The kids and I loaded up the car and traveled almost 2 hours to her house. She came out to the car to welcome the kids and my kids thought they had arrived at a toy store... Her little boy is very lucky to have so many toys to play with! My kids would have moved in had I let them, but they were content to play and ignore the old ladies chatting in the living room.

We sat and talked and laughed and enjoyed some great news. We shared stories and memories. When we met (about 18 years ago), we were different people. We were young girls who knew little fear and laughed often. We still laugh ALOT, but the fear has crept in. I love remembering with her and giggling at the silly things we used to do, but I also love the women that we have become and the strength we now know from that fear.

I am blessed to have her to call my friend and to share many great memories with her! I am looking forward to seeing her soon and making more memories. I hope everyone has a friend who is an anchor and gives them strength like she gives me. Do you have a friend like this you wouldn't trade for anything in the world?

How do they do that?

I cannot figure out for the life of me how other moms seem to be able to read books. No, I know that sounds stupid (a curse word in our house) but there are quite a few reasons that this sounds so foreign to me.
1. My kids don't seem to play anything without needing adult intervention for longer than about 4 minutes. By the time I find my page... They are yelling "Moooommmmmmmyyyyy!"
2. There seems to be an endless stream of dishes, laundry, pick-up, food prep, etc.... that interferes with my ability to sit for an appropriate amount if time.
3. Bedtime would be an obvious opportunity to read, but my kids think that bedtime is merely a guideline. They go to bed to start, but after about 5 minutes, one of them inevitably needs to use the restroom. Once one is up, then usually the other one needs to get up (because there has to be some sort of party or circus that they would miss out on if they stayed in bed!) Then it is a revolving door with kids in and out of the bathroom and so trying to follow a plot line in a book is pretty difficult to say the least.

Now, don't get me wrong- I am very blessed to be able to have the time with them- especially during the summer. I love them to the moon and back... But every once in a while, I reminisce about the days of lounging in bed till 10 AM... Planning a meal and not worrying about including all of the food groups... Sitting and reading for hours on end until the book I'd picked up was finished... Running to the store and watching a movie from start to finish also used to be easier. I guess the trade off is: we have live in entertainment... they give the world's best sloppy kisses and hugs that last forever... Sweet whispers... And holding them on my lap actually makes my heart ache because I know they won't be this size forever.

Now that I think about it... I am happy to give up the books for now. I will keep a list of the ones i want to read and until then, I will treasure the time with my babies who already grow too fast for my liking!

Look, Ma- no training wheels!

Well, as if I needed yet another reminder that my son is growing up quickly, he decided yesterday that he no longer needs training wheels.

I was minding my own business in the kitchen making dinner (BLTs- yum!) when I hear my husband (who was outside with both kids) yell in the open window that I needed to take a look at something. I peeked out the window and saw my son riding his bike in the grass. I thought, "Cool- he's been doing this during the day when Phil is at work and he finally showed Daddy!" Well, Phil pointed down to where Bubba's training wheels USED TO BE. I squealed!

There was my 4 year old son, riding in the grass, doing laps in the yard- upright- on a bike with NO TRAINING WHEELS. What?!?!?!?! I was so proud, but I also had such mixed emotions. I was almost (wait for it....) speechless. Hard to believe, huh? I ran out to the yard (after grabbing the video camera) and watched in amazement as my little man went from riding just a few feet before losing his balance to riding laps around the house. I couldn't believe it! Phil had the brilliant idea to have him try in the grass to start (he could explain the reason... I just know it worked!) and Bubba took over from there. He didn't want to get off his bike to eat dinner, even!

By the end of the night (after another venture outside to try riding after dinner), Bubba was riding up and down the sidewalk in front of our house and the neighbor's house and starting from a dead stop. He was using the brakes more comfortably and turning. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!! The learning curve seems amazing to me because I remember boxes of band-aids and lots of Bactine and Mercurochrome. I remember tears and my dad having to hold on the seat for trips in front of the house about a gazillion times...

I am not sure when it happened or how, but my little man is growing up right before my eyes. Bittersweet only because I love him small and cuddly and I am afraid he will outgrow that part- but proud of the adventurous little man he is.  I love him and can't wait to see what new thing he does next!  **contented sigh**

We did it!!!

So, as you know, we have some pretty scary food allergies in our family. We don't go out to eat very often to keep the chance of a reaction low. We (meaning me) are scared to try new foods- the funny thing is that my son (who is the allergic one) is unafraid. Anyway, we joined the kids club at our local food co-op and as part of that you get a free smoothie for completing activities. So, after Bubba's dentist appointment yesterday (yeah, no cavities!), we had to run to the food co-op for a few things.  Phil asked if we were going to get a smoothie. I immediately thought "NO!" since it was a new thing we had never tried. I had talked to one of the workers there last week about how they clean their blenders, what ingredients are typically used, etc... all of the routine questions when dealing with allergies. Yesterday, when my husband mentioned it- I was speechless because I hadn't even thought of doing it then or processed all of it yet (yes, I am slow!).

When we walked into Basics, I had no intention of getting a smoothie- just picking up our vegan cheese and chocolate chips- and then we passed the smoothie bar... I thought, "I can look to see what they offer so I know for when we are ready." The menu looked pretty yummy- some items that were safe for us, some that were not.

The girl behind the counter asked if we wanted something, so I explained that we have food allergies and she said that they have lots of people who have food allergies that get smoothies there.

Hmmmm. (Processing again...)

I asked how they cleaned the blenders (again) and she explained it. I said thanks and we were going to head to the register to pay for our other items when Bubba asked, "Are we going to get a smoothie?"

That shouldn't be a tough question, but it really was.

So, the three of us (Moonie in tow) went back to the smoothie bar and read the menu and picked an item that sounded yummy. We talked it over - for quite a while...

"We would like the orange, strawberry, banana smoothie, please", I said. I couldn't believe I was doing it. What was I thinking????

After paying and going out to the car, I realized I had been holding the smoothie like one might hold a bomb that could go off at any time. I had to look crazy! But we weren't having any until we got to a spot where I was comfortable (the car fit the bill- so I could drive to the ER if I needed to...)

The kids were safely in their car seats and I turned to give Bubba his first little sip- to see if it caused a reaction- and he loved the taste! He had less than a teaspoon- and wanted more immediately. I wouldn't let him for a few minutes until I knew that he wouldn't have a reaction. No sign of a reaction. Several minutes later, another sip. Several minutes after that, another sip. No reaction... He wanted to hold it (and I no longer treated it like it might detonate) so I gave him the cup.

By this time, we were home. He proceeded to finish the smoothie (with a tiny bit of help from Moonie) during lunch and thought it was the best thing ever. And all I could think was that I almost didn't get it. I am grateful that Phil brought it up and that I was just less scared than normal and we tried it. What a great lesson for me! :)

Score:     Allergy- 0 
               Bubba- 1

I wish the nights weren't so long...

Infamous words from my 4 1/2 year old son. He is stuck in the stage between needing a nap and not needing one. If he naps during the day, he tends to stay up until about 10:30 (which drives me nuts!). If he doesn't nap, he can be a little cranky and quick to cry if something doesn't go his way. Is this what they call growing pains? If we could get him to take a short nap  then maybe we wouldn't have this issue. Compounding it is the fact that he will be going back to school in the fall and will have a "nap time" where he will be expected to lay down. If I take away naps now, then he has to do them again in a few weeks- it will be a difficult transition. If we keep them, he keeps the rest of the family awake late at night. This is officially a no-win situation. If anyone has any answers, I would love to hear them! :)

On to fun things- we have had a few play dates this week (and another one tomorrow) and the kids are loving seeing all of their friends! :) After playing in the heat, this is one of our family's favorite treats. And, I promised the recipe for Holly so here goes:

Vegan Ice Cream

3 C vanilla coconut milk (I use the So Delicious coconut milk as it seems to be the most rich)
1 C vegetable oil
1 C sugar
1-2 T vanilla (based on taste)

Place the above ingredients in a blender. Process to make sure it is well blended. Immediately pour into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer directions. (If you don't have an ice cream maker, I have heard of people pouring it into a large Ziploc plastic bag and placing it in the freezer. They go back and mix it by squeezing the bag every hour or hour and a half. Not sure how long it would take to then have ice cream... with the ice cream maker, I can have soft ice cream in about 3 hours. If you try it, let me know. ;)  )

*You can add a couple of bananas to the blender for some additional flavor and texture... you can also add chocolate chips after it has mixed in the ice cream machine.

Good luck and happy eating ! :)

Out of the mouths of babes...

So, in the last week, I have heard some of the most interesting, astute, and hilarious things come out out of my toddlers' mouths. Lately my daughter has been into singing the "name song"- you know it... the one that goes "Bobby, Bobby, bo-Bobby, banana-fana, fo fobby, me my mo-mobby, Bobby". The funny part is she did "duck" one day about 100 times and if you sing it out loud to yourself, you will see why I giggled. There are some words that shouldn't come out of a toddler's mouth, and that is one- but it was priceless because she had no idea what she said or what it meant. :)

I love how my kids speak like they are much older- like my age. Moonie came out of the bathroom the other day in her birthday suit, put her hand in the air, shrugged her shoulders, and said "Apparently my clothes fell off." Yeah, that is something that I hear lots of 3 year olds say. Sure.

Bubba has been trying new words- apparently, evidently, certainly, and today he tried "brilliant" to describe the temperature of the water in the pool. Needless to say, we are still working on learning the meaning of the last one...

We drove past a cemetery the other day and the kids were wondering why there were "flowers out in the grass like that". I explained that some people are buried there and that they go there after they die. I told them that their families and friends sometimes come to visit them because they miss them and then some people bring flowers and leave them graveside. Bubba asked a few more questions, but then he asked if the people that were buried there could hear the ones who came to visit them and I said that I thought so. That was the end of that as they then saw a man dressed in a mattress waving to people and were totally fascinated. The toddler equivalent of a "squirrel moment".

Now, to share a moment when I was so proud of them... I have a friend who is going through chemo and feeling yucky (to put it mildly). Anyway, my kids were pretending in the basement that they were going to see her and her family while they were riding their toys. My son said "We can't go see her, she is sick. We may give her more germs." My daughter then said, "Well, maybe we can take her some soup. That'll make her feel better." And then they pretended to take soup to her on their lap around their basement (about 47 laps- and soup each time for my friend. Loved it!). This was a sweet moment because they were thinking of someone other than themselves and they wanted to help her. I hope this continues! :)

Finally, I have been working on a few things around the house: getting ready for a rummage sale (all of the baby stuff is going) which seems a little overwhelming, making a long overdue birthday present for my friend (done!), and sewing a tote for another friend to give to her son's teacher. I have also been working on crocheting hair ties (about 10 so far) for Moonie which she calls "pretties". I am trying to figure out how to make them into a bracelet for her to wear- she loves the flowers and she likes to wear them in her hair and on her wrist. So, I will keep you updated on how that goes. The bags have been fun- I will post pics when I can figure it out... That's it for now. Until next time...