do-over?

Don't you ever just wish for a do-over on your day?  that was yesterday- which is why I never posted.  It started out rottenly at 5:30 AM. Both kiddos got up and then seminary was a disaster.  I won't even blame that on my rugrats, though. Those teenagers made me want to scream. I love them and I love seminary- but sometimes they can be OBnoxious.  This morning was MUCH better, however.

Luckily Kent's day was canceled.  He went to school half day and then came home.  The kiddos both took loooong naps and I just sat and read a book while Kent studied. It was a definite needed break and an answer to prayers. There's nothing like reading a good book.

Then- I convinced Kent to go to my "extreme boot camp" class with me at the Y.  I thought for sure he'd be the only guy- but there were three others. Kent offered me a Y membership for Christmas TWO Christmases ago- but I decided not to get it (I was about ready to pop with Ike and didn't think I'd be getting tons of use out of it before warmer weather when I could be outside) until just a few months ago when the cold weather hit and it became too cold to keep running outside.  It's the greatest gift ever.  Free babysitting every day!  Who wouldn't want that?

Yesterday morning was also a little crazy because upon returning from walking group- Zeb had a major meltdown about wanting to stay out and play in the snow. He was crying for his snow pants and begging to ride his bike outside. We went inside and put him to bed instead.

  We'd gone out and played the day before while Ike was sleeping and he was in HEAVEN. He demanded to take his gloves off so he could play with his tractor, though.  We went in shortly thereafter because he said his hands were "so hot".  When he gets really cold he tells me that his fingers and toes are hot.

These pictures are from a few days ago.  Zeb is really such a good little kid- but he definitely has his 2 year old moments.

And here's a delicious new recipe we tried out. One of my goals this year is to try new recipes.  If they turn out tasty I'll be posting them.  If you have any suggestions- send them my way.

Spinach-Tomato Pasta. SO SO SO EASY!!!

We actually halved the sauce recipe (I listed the ingredients halved) and then added marinara sauce to make it  a bit healthier.

4 chicken breasts
1/2-1 box whole grain pasta
1/2- 3/4 c chicken broth
1 tbs garlic
small onion
4oz (half pack) red. fat or no fat cream cheese
bunch of fresh spinach
lots of cherry tomatoes sliced
Marinara Sauce 

Get your pasta boiling.

Cook up frozen chicken breasts in a pan stovetop with garlic and onions.  Season with salt, pepper, and any other seasoning you want.  As they finish up, cut them into pieces and add the chicken broth. Once it's warmed up, add the cream cheese and bring to a simmer.

In a separate pan, saute sliced tomatoes and fresh spinach with a little bit of onion/garlic/olive oil.

Drain pasta and combine ALL ingredients.

we're back and it's back.

We're back!!

We've returned home from a three day mini excursion.  We took care of some friends' kids while they were away for the weekend and we had a fantastic time.  With the exception of having nine people in sacrament meeting (four of them being wiggly little children)- things went off without a hitch.  I can't wait until my kids are old enough to play games- and help do dishes- and just have conversations with us. And if my kids can be even half as well behaved as these kids were, we'll be in heaven.

We had a lot of fun goofing off, playing the wii, laughing LOTS, staying up late and playing games. Here we are enjoying a game of curses- NOT my favorite game- but I did have fun playing it.  We also taught the kiddos how to play scum.  Did I mention that I can't wait for my rugrats to get older?!

Zeb woke up this morning asking to go back to Mia's house- and then when we went to the gym he asked if we could drive in Mia's car instead of ours.  He's a little disappointed that we're back to normal boring life with just mom and Ike.

And, it's back. my hair has returned.  After I had Ike, it started falling out like CRAZY -way worse than it ever did with zeb.  I was mortified. It was thin and stringy and nast-o.  Plus, it was disgusting to clean up.  The vacuum was always clogged and our bathroom was impossible to ever be totally clean of it.  I thought I'd be bald by year's end. Finally, about three months ago, it stopped falling out and started actually growing back.  Only- look at this.  This picture doesn't even do it justice.

I seriously have little one-two inch hairs poking through my longer hair all over MY ENTIRE HEAD. it looks like I stuck my finger in an electric socket.  Any suggestions?  This is going to take at least another 4-6 months to grow out. I am going to get a haircut this week- and perhaps it will help, but for now it just looks likes there's a rooster on my forehead.

his third hand.

Zeb ate EVERYthing he could get his hands on at this age. I'd find all sorts of strange papers and stickers and hair balls in his diaper.  We don't have that problem with Ike. Instead, he just puts everything in his mouth to get a feel for it or transport it. And then he just spits it out elsewhere.

I find wads of paper or foil or wrappers in his cheeks at least 3-4 times a day.   And if it isn't something small, it's something big.  He walks and crawls around the house with large objects in his mouth constantly.  It's potentially very dangerous and makes me slightly worried.  I have to check his mouth regularly.

bird baby

Since little Ikey was born we've always thought he looked a little birdlike. His upper lip hangs over his mouth and forms a beak.  Kent swears it must be an Oswald thing because all four sisters (Metta, Daysa, Laney and I) can make some pretty goofy looking faces by manipulating our lips (I'll have to get a picture next time we are all together).  Kent's claim was clearly cemented into fact when Ike started making a very strange face at meal time this past week.  Beware- it's kind of creepy.

Here's our little birdy.  I really think I should send the picture into Ellen.  Doesn't she have crazy baby pictures on there?  Or I could enter it into an ugly baby face contest- or something.  It totally creeps us out- especially once we caught it on camera and could stare at it in detail.

He does it all the time now.

another recipe for my file.

 I absolutely love allrecipes.com.  They have a feature where you can just type in the ingredients that you have and it spits out recipes to make!  You can even input ingredients that you DON'T want in your recipe. It's a dinner miracle, really.  It makes me crazy to come up with new dinner ideas- so if you have any- please send them my way. 

Here's a dinner we made last week. It was fabulous.  My (many) changes are included in black.   The picture doesn't look much like ours because we cut our chicken smaller- used diced tomatoes instead of sliced- and added had no fish sauce or red paste- but you get the idea.

Burmese Chicken Curry (Gaeng Gai Bama)

Ike LOVED it.

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or 1 tbs!)
  
• 8 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken meat, cut into large pieces
• 2 tablespoons red curry paste (did NOT use)
  
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1/2 cup (low fat!)coconut milk (increased to about 3/4 -1 cup)
  
• 1/4 cup pureed tomato (we did tomato paste)
  
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce (did NOT use)
  
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges (1 can diced tomatoes works wonders!)
  
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1/2-1 package frozen peas
  

Directions

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet over low heat, and stir fry the shallots until browned and tender.
2. Place the chicken in the skillet with the onions and oil, and stir in the curry paste and curry powder to evenly coat. Pour in enough water to cover (we only added about 1/4 cup water here), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover skillet, and simmer until the chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.
3. Stir the peas, coconut milk, tomato puree, fish sauce, sugar, and 1/2 the tomato wedges into the skillet. Cook and stir over low heat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Mix in the remaining tomatoes, and continue cooking until tender. Top with cilantro and the fried shallots to serve.

bowling.

Last week while we were out shopping, Zeb happened upon a tv that was showing a bowling tournament. He was so excited about it that we decided we had to take him to do the real deal.  He's bowled with little kid stuff before- but he'd never seen a real bowling alley or a real game until he saw it on tv.  Friday night we went out to the bowling alley as a family.  When we told him we were going- he was beyond ecstatic. 

We even found him a six pound ball that he could actually pick up and carry himself.  Kent did have to help him lift it onto the ball stand, though.  We tried a frame without the stand, but Zeb's ball didn't even make it halfway down the lane before it creeped to a stop.  Plus, he loved pushing the ball down the ramp.

Ike drove us crazy trying to walk onto the lanes and grab bowling balls all night.  I am NOT looking forward to these next few months. A walking baby is NOT my favorite thing to deal with. It makes church nearly pointless- and creates ALL sorts of messes and hazards around the house!  At least he's not a crying baby or a bad baby, right?!

 Zeb's 88 (he had bumpers that went down when it wasn't his turn) ended up beating Kent's score of 83.  I took the game with a 92.  We obviously don't bowl!

This is what happens when you don't prepare your two year old with the news that the Christmas tree gets thrown out to the curb.  The kid was completely devastated.  He screamed and wailed for a good ten minutes about his "chwistmas twee".  It was pretty funny.  Do all kids react this dramatically? I think Zeb may have a flair for drama. He must get that from his dad.
Kent also screamed and wailed for ten minutes during the ordeal. His shrieking was due to the fact that the tree turned deadly.  It totally dried out and skewered him like crazy while he was trying to get rid of it.  I watered it EVERYday but I guess that's what we get when we buy a 14.97 tree.  It was totally worth the savings, though.