Fall Outings

We finally went to Gentry's Farm, which is the most amazing wonderland for a 2-yr old. It is a beautiful farm where you can pick your own pumpkin straight off the vine. There are tire swings, slides, a big play kitchen, troughs where you can play with corn, kid-sized mazes, a big corn maze, tons of animals, teepees, hiking trails, hayrides, little tractors, and probably more that I'm forgetting. We had a blast.
tractors!
corn troughs with tons of funnels, scoops, and windmills for pouring!
i love these boys.
3 feet tall!plenty of photo ops.
in the corn maze.

Wallpaper?

Our "While We're At It" List is growing by the day. Things that we wanted to do someday just make sense for us to do now, while we have moved out & we have contractors in our house. This is one of them. This is our second bathroom. It's a tiny bathroom, shared by the 2 kids and a guest bedroom. I've been wanting to change it since we moved in, so now may be the time. The floors are white with black check. I love this wallpaper. I love that wallpaper is back in. And completely ungranny. The bathroom is tiny, so it would be sparse. But Is it too bleak? I've found some pretty wallpaper sources here. And Target has some too (I'm feelin' this one)! Feel free to make recommendations, designers.

Tomatoes!

I came home last week to find this enormous bag of red tomatoes, and another of green at my parents' house. I guess these sorts of things happen here. So they became Green Tomato Relish and Homemade Tomato Sauce. I'm not a typically big on relish, but this stuff is pretty tasty!
scoring tomatoes before peeling for the sauce.
draining green tomato mixture in cheesecloth for the relish.
canned relish! My first canning experience was a success! (thanks mom.)

Happened Again

Another allergic reaction. I don't know what caused it, which is incredibly frustrating. This means 3 things. First of all, as careful as I am, it's still not enough. Secondly, it means that there's a possibility that he has additional allergies that I don't yet know about. Thirdly, it means that the allergies are still here. I'm frustrated, mad & sad all at once at these stupid food allergies. This time the reaction was a new one. His lip swelled up, and later vomited. It was scary, but he began to feel better after he threw up everything in his belly. I think it was something in some turkey sausage from Whole Foods, even though I had read all the ingredients. I'm praying for healing for my little boy! I'm so tired of this!

Blue Couches

Lance says my blog is a total bore these days. Come on, I DO have a newborn, a toddler, and just moved. Sheesh. Anyway, I meant to post this forever ago, but forgot. This is for Stephanie, who hopes to deliver her baby without an epidural. The story of how I did it.

I never really cared all that much to deliver a baby without an epidural. I just really don’t like needles, and I thought it would be great to avoid that thing.

I asked around for some tips from friends. Boy, am I glad that I heard about Angie’s Couch Technique. I never told Lance about it. I figured I would just try & see if it worked for me. But all of the sudden, hours into the labor process, I accidentally mutter “Blue…(sigh) Couch…(sigh)”

I then think to myself, “Lance probably thinks I’ve gone completely bonkers.” But I was too exhausted & in pain to explain. Hours later, I tell him what the couches were all about. Yes, he’d thought I’d gone nuts.

So here’s the deal with the couches. In your head, you visualize a couch changing the colors of the rainbow. Red to purple & then back the other way. Sounds crazy, right? Well, it worked for me. By the time you get to purple, you are in some serious pain. But by then, you’re headed back to red (which is a happy place to be headed.)

Rainbow couches helped me make it through. That, plus a great nurse who talked me down from the epidural request. And, with Ethan, I waited as long as I could before getting the epidural, so I knew a bit what to expect in regards to the pain.

So ladies, anyone else who has been through it have tips?

Gas Crisis

Is Nashville the only city with a gas shortage? For the first time ever, my plans revolve around the conservation of gas. I find irony watching our big long lines of cars idle (& waste gas), while waiting in line for gas. When will it end?

All I can say is I'm glad I don't have a newborn with colic right now. I was hopping in the car all the time with E to quiet him down.

Photo from here.

2 Months Old!

Making the Switch

Way back in March of last year, I thought I might use cloth diapers for baby #2. Today, I made the switch with KB! Disposable diapers are the 3rd largest single consumer item in our waste system. And they last in our landfills for up to 500 years. I just wish I had done this with Ethan. That would have been 8,000 diapers I could have kept our of our waste system.

G Diapers also just came on the scene ("not disposable, not cloth"...Huh?), but how stylish is this baby bottom? Rumor is, you can even compost the wet ones.

Crepe Myrtle

We once had a crepe myrtle that I loved. Then, a drunk driver plowed it down. It was tall & beautiful and looked like an even bigger version of this (photo from here). But it took a lickin' & keeps on tickin'. However, the bush is now coming back like this (ours pictured): I've realized that crepe myrtles are pruned in a number of ways. I don't prefer the bush-style, which is how it's growing back. I've asked around, but am not quite sure how to prune it to get it back to it's previous condition. Should I go ahead and trim it down to 4-6 branches and let them grow? Or should I let it grow as a bush and trim back the other branches when they all are a bit bigger?

Anyone know? I get the best advice here, so I know somebody's got something. ...Anyone?

Day One

Five months after the wreck, repairs have finally begun! They began removing the brick off the house today. (If you click on the picture, you can see the corner of the house & how it has been bumped back off of the stone foundation.)

Next Steps: Removing the plaster from the interior, gutting the kitchen, and then trying to move the frame of the house back onto the foundation. We're hopeful & optimistic that it can be moved back onto the foundation. If not, they will have to tear down the framing & rebuild that too. It's still hard for me to believe that it's all because some guy was drinking & driving. And stealing cars.

In the meantime, we're living with my folks & have our whole house packed up in a storage facility. Why, You might ask? Well, last time we renovated a kitchen, our house & POD were burglarized (yet another insurance claim.) So this time we completely cleared out the house, leaving nothing but toilet paper.

What a Cute Boy.

Just a reminder to myself: If you put your newborn daughter in a blue dress, people will think she's a boy. Get over it, or keep her in pink.

20 Cheapest Healthy Foods.

I love cheap. I love healthy. I love this list of the 20 Healthiest, Cheapest foods. All Under $1. Definitely worth a read. I think I'll skip the sardines though.

Pictured: What I'm eating for breakfast every morning. Making your own cereal - healthy & cheap!

Smiling Baby

She wakes up with a smile. I didn't know babies like this existed.

Well, That's a Relief.

"I don't like Maseratis. I like Pontiacs." - Ethan, 2 and a Half.

Thirty!

This is your birthday dessert if you are on a super-restricted diet, and you go out to dinner. A popsicle in a champagne glass & a candle on an empty plate. How thoughtful of the best waiter in the planet to bring me in a special dessert just for me to celebrate my birthday!!! (I don't like this picture of me or my hair, but I just had to share the birthday dessert.)

Thanks to family & friends for making it such an awesome day. Especially to my wonderful husband.

Katie Belle - Embroidery

I realize that I never showed you the finished embroidery piece I started a few months ago. Well, here it is, my first big hand embroidery project!

Today I'm Celebrating!

I might just have to make myself a egg/dairy/nut-free batch of these.

Seven Weeks

Thanks for the concern about the lack of sleep. We're catching up. For the past week, she's had a 6-1/2 hour stretch of sleep every night! Yeah!!

Moving...Again

This upcoming weekend, we will be undergoing the 9th move in 6 and a half years of marriage. It will be the fourth move into the same house. I thought about explaining all this, but it's entirely too confusing. Anyway, I'm not looking forward to it...or the 10th move, which is to come again in a few months! I am looking forward, however, to spending more time with family.

The good news is that we've finally reached a settlement with our insurance, and renovations will begin next week. This means that we'll have to sort out the entire contents of our house into 2 piles - long term storage & stuff we'll need for the next 3-6 months. It's quite a job! Have I started? Barely.

Rosemary Wreath

Anybody want to come over and make a rosemary wreath with me next week? I've got rosemary coming out my ears.

Amendment: What was I thinking? I'm packing & moving this week. If you want to make rosemary wreaths with me SOMEDAY, let me know. I can't for the life of me think of anyone who loves to craft as much as me. Mary Alice - How about it?

Granola Cereal & Oat Bread Recipes

I've been making my own cereal these days. So, I asked Lance to buy me more oats. He comes back with about 5 pounds of steel cut oats. Gee Gads! That's a lot of steel cut oats! Since I cannot make cereal from this stuff, I'm making Martha's Whole Grain Oat Bread today (it uses steel cut oats).

Here's my cereal recipe. Adjust seeds, nut, fruit ratios as desired. You can also use other stuff, like nuts, pumpkin seeds, raisins, etc.

GRANOLA CEREAL

4 c. oats (quick or old fashioned)
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
3 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 cup coconut
1/3 c. raw brown sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ c. vegetable oil
¼ c. honey
1 tsp. vanilla
½ c. dried cranberries
½ c. dried chopped dates

Warm oil and honey in a small saucepan. Add vanilla. Mix all dry ingredients and spread out on large flat baking pan with sides. Pour sauce over the dry mixture and stir well. Spread it back out on the pan. Bake at 300° for 40 min (or less, depending on oven). Stir every 10 min. Let cool. Add dried fruit. Store in plastic container or zip loc. Stays good for about 2 weeks.

Potty Crisis

Okay, really not a crisis. But we need advice over here, asap! We've decided to take on potty training this weekend. We're on Day 2. Day 1 was a toughie. I need counsel. Here's the status thus far. Thanks to Melissa, who gave a good report on how potty training went in their house. It was helpful.

-We decided to do potty training this weekend. Not because E was ready, but because we were. He's 2-1/2 & changing diapers has become a miserable battle for all of us. Plus, we could stay home this weekend, which won't happen again for a while. We're moving in 2 weeks, and things are going to continue to get even more hectic. I know it's not advisable to do potty training in the midst of changes, but we didn't feel like potty training at my parents' house (who we're moving in with). So here we are.
-Usually, I've done tons of preparation on this kind of thing. But this time, we just went ahead full blast with little preparation.
-We've been watching tons of tv, Elmo's Potty Time, rewarding with Smarties, wearing cool underwear, and loading him up on lots of juices.
-We've had successes, and accidents. He hasn't gone #2 yet. I think he's holding it in.
-He's basically never told us he has to go. We've just been asking & with bribery (tv or treats) he'll sit on the potty.
-He's sitting on the potty & watching a ton of tv. I'm not sure that this is the best decision, but it's his main motivation to try to do.

I'm really not sure what the best way is to do this. ANY tips, web resources, or advice would be appreciated!

From Our House

5-1/2 WeeksEthan says, "I'm a dead bug!"

Toddler Crafts

You know what makes a mess? Dying pasta with a toddler. You know what else makes a mess? Finger Paints! Today, Ethan had some of his toddler buddies over for a bit of finger painting. Preparation: 1+ Hour. Actual Duration of Fingerpainting: 3 Minutes. We all had fun anyway. Radnor was the only one that fully embraced the mess.
But I think the highlight of the morning for each kid was the recycling truck. I didn't get all of them in the picture, but they all stood in awe, just like this.

"I Want Stickers."

"I Want Stickers.", "Can I have Stickers?" I hear this every waking hour of every day. Sometimes every waking minute of every hour. It's the first thing he says in the morning, and the last thing he asks for at night. AHHH!!!! I think I may go bonkers! (Photo totally unrelated to story at hand, but just had to vent!)

Awesome.

Do I have a big sign over my head that says, "Hit me. I have insurance!" ?

My car was hit in a hit & run accident a few years ago. A car ran into my house a few months ago. A few weeks ago, a truck hit our gym. Last week, a car decided to pass me as I turned left into Amanda's house, hit my car, causing about $1,000 worth of damage. Sweet.

Side note: What's the point of a poll, when it's tied the whole time? Good grief! Seriously, it was 5 to 5, 10 to 10, now it's 24 to 24! It's not helping me make my decision!

Nashville Scene Readers Poll

Time to vote again for the 2008 Nashville Scene Readers Poll. Hey, give us a vote! And vote for your other local faves (Baja Burrito, anyone?).

Here are some good categories for us:
129) Best Place to Meet Single Guys (if you're a single lady, i promise it's where you want to be!)
170) Best Place ot Take Kids when it's Raining
231) Best Fitness Center/Gym
Vote Now

Pendant or Planter?

Okay, last time I bug you people about this flour sifter. But you've come up with such good ideas. I'm thinking the most suitable for our space (& easiest) would be a lighting fixture or a planter. I'm taking a poll (see top right corner) to see which you like the best. I can't decide! Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea. Keep in mind, these are just to give you an idea.

Planter - We would mount it on the wall & put various fresh flowers or plants in it.A pendant light fixture to hang above the farmhouse sink we'll be getting.What do you think?
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Preschool

I can't believe that Ethan has started preschool! He's getting so big!

Whole Lotta Bakin' Going On

I've been baking a lot lately. It keeps my toddler's hands busy, (no knives or raw meat!) and I can strap on the baby bjorn if KB is getting fussy. Here are some yummy treats that I've discovered recently. All dairy/egg-free.

White Cupcakes & Chocolate Cupcakes - both delicious! (didn't use nut extract though)
Vegan Cornbread - I added a bit more sugar
Virginia Clise Rolls- they are stored in the freezer & I thaw a few out for dinner or to have with butter & jelly as a yummy treat.
Baked Tofu Sticks - a perfect lunchbox treat, courtesy of Martha. Little fry-sized treats to dip in spaghetti sauce. Ethan is really good at helping make these too.

Sesame Street

Yesterday, Ethan found a little piece of cardboard trash & asked, "Is this Sesame Street?" I guess it's safe to say he's a visual learner!

Ethan Can't Eat Eggs

How perfect! Author Nadine O'Reilly is coming out with a book called, "Ethan Can't Eat Eggs." O'Reilly is also author of "Peter Can't have Peanuts."

House Advice Needed

Okay, we're designing our kitchen, and will be completely moving out & getting started in September! So I need some advice from you, my blogging friends.

1) Do you know any local custom Cabinet Builders? We've met with one, but would like to get other quotes. We're going for a flush inset cabinet, like one of these.
2) Should we paint our house? We have to replace the brick on the whole left side (front & back) of our house. We may not be able to make a match. Lance is lobbying hard to paint it & save the trouble & money from the beginning.
3) Still debating what to do with the flour sifter! You guys gave me some great ideas, but just wondering if there are other ideas I should consider! It's about 11x13 inches.

3 Weeks

Has it really been 3 and a Half weeks? Time flies when your hands are full!Can you see that cowlick? She's got a serious swirl in the front of her hairline. Poor girl, that's thanks to me. She'll never be able to wear bangs either.

Lavender Sachet

About a month ago, I dried out some lavender from my yard. I finally got around to making a little sachet & filling it with the lavender. I embroidered a few flowers, and sewed it into a little heart. Now my clothes don't have to smell like spit up all the time!

Here's the conversation I had with Ethan, while I was sewing it.
"Did you make that heart?"
"Yes, I did."
"How cute! Did you color the yellow, pink & white?"
"Yes, I sewed the flowers on there."
"Good job! It's pretty. It's beautiful."

Cantaloupe!

So the mystery plant that popped up in our new fence row of irises is most certainly a cantaloupe plant! We have about 7 cantaloupes growing. So far we've finished off one of them, and they were TASTY! Now that was some easy & fun gardening. My poor husband, who thrives on order & symmetry, has been patiently enduring the crazy sprawling cantaloupe plant. The other day, he said he was actually glad that he never dug it out. It was just that tasty.

"Katie Belle Blue" by Townes Van Zandt

We'll be listening to this song often in our future. It's too soon to tell if our Katie Belle has blue eyes too. I hope so...then this song will be just perfect.

Ready to Rebuild!

Good News! It looks like our busted up house will be fixed soon! It's a good thing, too. We were days away from having a sign put in our yard & the number of days that had gone by without a settlement from State Farm. A local news station wanted to do a news piece about us. We're SO glad we didn't have to go that route. But no one handling our claim was calling us back! It was seriously beyond ridiculous. Finally, Lance lit up the phone lines, calling supervisor after supervisor. He finally got in touch with a State Farm VP. That finally did the trick. After 3-1/2 months of waiting to have things go through the proper channels, we got the issue resolved the same day he talked to the VP. Lesson Learned? Unfortunately, with insurance claims, you've gotta rattle some chains to get things resolved.

The Settlement: They aren't giving us the amount of our first contractor's estimate, but they are giving us what a second contractor estimated to complete the work. Hopefully that will cover all the repairs. We don't have the check in hand yet, so I'm a bit nervous posting this, but everything should be finalized! Now it's time to move again! We plan to move out early September. Ahh!

Best. Vegan. Cookies. Ever.

Dairy/Egg/Nut-Free. Delicious.

A friend made these Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies for us a month ago & I've been making them about every other day since. Go make these today. Make sure you don't leave them in the oven too long. Much better when they are a wee bit soft.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 c. unsweetened dutch-processed cocoa powder (i used regular cocoa powder)
1 teasp. baking soda
1/2 teasp. salt
2/3 c. canola oil
1 1/2 c. sugar
4 teasp. ground flax seeds
1/2 c. soymilk
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 c. semisweet vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven 350 degrees Sift flour, baking cocoa, baking soda and salt
In separate bowl, mix oil and sugar. Add ground flaxseeds, soy milk and vanilla. Mix well. Fold in flour mixture in batches until a stiff dough forms. Add chocolate chips to finished dough. Roll cookies into 1 inch balls and flatten into disks about 1.5 inches in diameter. Place on cookie sheet 1 inch apart - they don't spread out much. Bake 10 min.