Kids say the darndest things

My three-year-old, Kennedy, has quite the vocabulary. In her everyday language she uses words like delicious, delighted, golden, and congratulations but somhow she still can't say a few words like "movie". It comes out sounding like "weeoo".
Yesterday was a dreary, rainy day. I kind of had the doldrums. I told Kennedy it was a dreary day and tried to explain to her what dreary means. This was her reply, "Mommy, do you want to watch a 'weeoo'? If you watch a 'weeoo' it will make you feel better. We turned on Cars and it did make me feel better!

Happy New Year

I love celebrating the New Year. When I was young I used to have a party every New Year's Eve. There's something about staying up until midnight to ring in the New Year. These days my New Year's Eve party is a little different.
We got the kids to bed by 7:30 and Chris went on a walk. I had a pizza recipe I wanted to try so I got the pizzas ready while Chris was gone. I have been on a search for the perfect pizza recipe my whole life it seems. Every time I make pizza I say I'm going to leave it up to the professionals. I said it again last night as I pulled my Deep Dish Chicago-Style Pizzas out of the oven and the toppings were a boiling, soupy mess in the middle of a brown pie that was as hard as the stone I cooked them in! I really had high hopes this time. Maybe next year.
After our pizza we watched MI3. Another disappointment. Every time I watch a Mission Impossible movie I say I'm not going to watch another one. I said it again last night. Tom Cruise needs to move on! This is the third time he's done this same movie with the same plot and the same special effects and the same outcome.
Finally I turned on "Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve." I watched that while Chris slept on the couch. We finally went to bed at 11:30. Every night when I get into bed and it's late I say I need to start going to bed earlier. I said it again last night. What was the point? I stayed up too late but not late enough to ring in the new year. How boring is that?
Sounds like I need to make some resolutions. . . .and stick to them!

I'm Delighted

Today we told Kennedy that the missionaries were coming for dinner tonight. Later, while I was making lunch, I heard her talking and she said, "I'm delighted the misiomaries are coming for dinner." I don't know where she heard the word 'delighted' but I decided it's a good word and I should use it more often.
I made a big mess making dinner for the missionaries tonight but it was worth it. Kennedy went with Chris to pick them up and she was wired when they got home. "Come with me missiomaries." She wanted to show them all her toys. She thought they were there to play with her. She asked them to tell her some stories about Jesus while I cleared the dinner dishes and got dessert ready.
For dinner we had Chicken Cordon Bleu Crepes, Bermuda Spinach Salad and Sticky Buns. For dessert we had Hot Fudge Cake which is one of our stand-by recipes. I don't make many desserts more than once because I have so many recipes I want to try but I make this one a lot. Here is the recipe:

HOT FUDGE CAKE
1 cup flour
¾ cup sugar
6 Tbs. baking cocoa, divided
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup milk
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 ¾ cups hot water
Whipped cream or ice cream
In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, 2 Tbs. cocoa, baking powder and salt. Stir in the milk, oil and vanilla until smooth. Spread in an ungreased 9 inch square baking pan. Combine brown sugar and remaining cocoa; sprinkle over batter. Pour hot water over all; do not stir. Bake at 350 for 35 - 40 minutes. Serve warm. Top with whipped cream or ice cream.

Mom's Day Off

Well, today the inevitable happened. It all started at 4:30 a.m. when Tristan woke up. I let him cry a little bit to see if he would go back to sleep. He did. Then I noticed it. . .a swirling, churning feeling in my stomach. I knew there was no mistaking it. With all the yuck I had been cleaning up the past few days it was bound to happen. I'm sick!
I lay awake until Chris's alarm went off at 5:30. I told him I felt sick. Tristan woke up around 6:00 so I nursed him. Just as Chris was walking in the door from his daily walk Tristan threw up all over me. I handed him to Chris so I could go change my clothes. Chris put Tristan back to bed and told me to go back to sleep. Peace for another hour.
At 7:15 Chris had to leave for work. He had done all he could for me. He fed Kennedy and took her to the bathroom. She was downstairs watching a movie. I could have slept longer but Tristan woke up. Time to face the day.
Chris left Kennedy with strict instructions to "take care of Mommy". I fed Tristan some breakfast and then put him down on the floor to play so I could rest on the couch. Kennedy tucked me in with all her doll blankets and Tristan's quilt and blanket. She is so sweet. I rested on the couch while the kids played. Around 9:00 Tristan crawled over to me to let me know he was ready for his morning nap. Cute boy!
I usually take a shower while Tristan takes his nap but I just rested today. The day continued with to progress on my GI upset. I don't know which is worse, feeling nauseous all day or actually getting rid of the problem!
I did my best to keep the kids happy with toys and movies the rest of the day while I rested. After lunch I put the kids to bed and went to bed myself. I had a good rest until Tristan woke up. Then I put him on the floor and took a shower.
By the time Chris got home the house was a disaster. Dirty dishes in the sink, toys on the floor in the dining room, living room and all the bedrooms. Not only that but Friday is my laundry day and even though I just did two loads on Wednesday there was more that needed to be done. My hero came bursting through the door at 5:00 and took over, never complaining that Mom took the day off.

The Gift Nobody Wants

Yesterday started off to be a pretty good day. After Tristan's morning nap I got the kids ready to go to the library. I had to get some books for preschool, which I was supposed to teach today. We had a good time at the library and came home for some lunch. I was surprised when I heard the garage door at 1:00 p.m. Was Chris home for the day? Yeah!
As soon as Chris walked in the door I could tell something was wrong. He said that indeed he felt sick. For Chris to leave work he has to be pretty sick. He immediately went upstairs to bed. I finished feeding the kids and put them down for a nap and continued to work on my preschool lesson.
At 2:30 Tristan woke up from his nap. I was hoping he would have a much longer nap since he hasn't been sleeping well at night. I let him cry for a few minutes and it was evident that he was not going back to sleep. I also didn't want him to wake up Chris or Kennedy. I picked him up out of his crib and put a blanket on him. I rocked him for a minute and then it happened--green peas all down my front, all over the blanket and on the floor! This was no spit-up.
I got us both cleaned up and into clean clothes and went downstairs. Tristan was playing on the toy kitchen and it happened again! Poor little guy was so upset. I got him cleaned up again and could tell he was still tired. I put him back in the crib and he fell right to sleep.
Meanwhile, Kennedy woke up from her nap and complained that her tummy hurt. She seemed to be OK but I knew she wasn't making things up because she had complained earlier before Chris got home from work.
After Tristan woke up again I changed his diaper and he had diarrhea. Between the four of us we generated enough dirty clothes to do two loads of laundry--I had just done laundry the day before.
Just before bed Kennedy vomited too. I cancelled preschool and for the rest of the night cleaned up and made sure everyone was comfortable. Since I was still feeling OK I opted to sleep in the spare bed.
This is how the rest of the night went:
11:45 KENNEDY-out of bed
12:05 KENNEDY-crying-went in to see what was wrong and she had vomited into the bucket I put by her bed.
3:15 TRISTAN-crying-went in and hugged him and put him back in the crib
4:15 KENNEDY-sick again
5:15 TRISTAN-crying-this time I nursed him and he also had a dirty diaper
6:15 KENNEDY-awake for the day
Fun stuff this motherhood thing! Everyone seems to be on the mend today. Moods have improved and I've only had do clean up diaper messes--so far. Now, who's going to take care of me when I get it?

The Most Depressing Day

I think the day after Christmas must be one of the most depressing days of the year. I think this because it is a big let-down when I turn on my radio and there is no Christmas music playing. I had been listening to the Christmas station since November 1. It's like at midnight they say, "OK. Christmas is over, lets get on with life". It's not just the music but everything else too. Chris had to go back to work. I took all the decorations off our Crispmas tree (that wasn't a typo). We got it the day after Thanksgiving and it was about to loose it's last needle. It wouldn't have lasted another day. I love celebrating Christmas. Not just because it's fun to give and receive gifts but because it is a time to celebrate love. Christ is the best example of unconditional love and it seems we remember this best at Christmastime. My hope is to keep the spirit of Christmas all throughout the year!

Christmas Dinner

It's no secret that I like to cook. I wanted to have a nice Christmas dinner but didn't want to cook just for our little family so Friday at work Chris asked one of his co-workers to join us. He would be coming alone. Sunday when we went to church I saw one of the sisters that I visit teach. I didn't think she was going to be here for Christmas so I asked her if she and her family would like to join us. They have two children about Kennedy and Tristan's ages. Both she and her husband are doctors so everyone had plenty in common and the conversation never lagged.
Here is the menu for our dinner:
Orange Almond Punch
Honey-glazed Ham
Sweet Potato Casserole
Scalloped Pineapple
Bermuda Poppy Seed Salad
Lion House Rolls
Chocolate Christmas Mousse
The meal went well. Tristan was kind of fussy. I think he was tired. I put him to bed while we were eating dessert. After that all the kids started to melt down so our guests started to leave. It was nice to have someone in our home for Christmas dinner. When we don't have family around we like to invite friends.
Here is my recipe for, what I think, is the best Sweet Potato Casserole:

Rub 3 large sweet potatoes with Crisco, pierce, wrap in foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees. Remove skins and mash.

Sweet Potato Casserole:
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup milk
1 cup sugar
With a mixer, mix sweet potatoes and butter until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add milk and sugar and blend until smooth. Pour into 9x13 casserole dish. Top with pecan topping.

Pecan Topping
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup self rising flour*
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup melted butter
Sprinkle over top of sweet potato mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

*To make self rising flour combine 1 cup flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt. Only use 1/3 cup for recipe and save the rest for another use.

This is a true Southern recipe. It is a little gem I have picked up while living here in the South!