"Mommy! Crying!"

Today, I reached a milestone in my parenting career. 

I faked tears to get my son to do something he didn't want to do. 

Yeah, if you boil it down -- I guilt-tripped him. I guilt-tripped a toddler. Is there some special place in hell for mommies like me?

So here's the deal. Kellan doesn't like soup. I had this in mind as I was concocting some Veggie Lentil Soup this afternoon. (It was delicious, by the way! The secret? A pinch of curry!! Wow, was it good.) But while the soup was cooking, we spent a little time in Kellan's kitchen, where we made "soup" together. Hee hee hee... I thought to myself. He's gonna be so infatuated with soup tonight since he "made" some today...he's totally going to eat his dinner.

When the dinner hour arrived, he dove right into the soup. Unfortunately, it was a little too hot and he spit it out immediately. Shoot! I would have checked it, but Michael plopped it down on his tray before the hotness level was fully examined. From there, he moved on to a pile of whipped cauliflower. That went really well. He asked for seconds.

Then he noticed the rye bread we were eating with cream cheese and chives. He asked for some, and I thought, what the heck. He won't like rye bread. But he did, and ate the crap out of it.

At that point, as he was cramming bread into his mouth, I figured I better redirect him back to the cooled soup. I got an immediate and insistent "no." 

A few minutes later, I tried again and heard: "No, Mommy."

Then I started reasoning with him. Genius, right? Reasoning with a 23 month old. Seriously. I am the picture of parenting expertise. 

Me: Kellan, remember when we made soup in your kitchen today?

Kellan: Huh. (Which means yes. We need to break him of this habit.)

Me: Remember when you gave me lots of tastes of your soup?

Kellan: Huh.

Me: Well, I would really like it if you have a little taste of my soup.

Kellan: No.

Most parents, I think, would have realized the fruitlessness of the argument at this point. But I persisted.

Me: I worked so hard on my soup tonight.

Kellan: (silence)

Me: Just like you worked hard on your soup. And yours was delicious.

Kellan: Huh.

Me: I'd like you to taste mine for me.

Kellan: No.

There was a little more back-and-forth at this point, but then I sat back down at the kitchen table, defeated. Michael said, "I think Mommy's pretty sad that you won't try her soup."

Again, I thought -- what the heck.

I started crying. Not real tears, of course, but I included plenty of sobs and gasping breaths.

Michael: Look! Mommy is crying. She is so sad you won't try her soup!

Me: WAAAHHH!!!!

Kellan: (stunned silence)

Michael: I think you better try some of this soup, Kellan. Mommy's pretty upset.

Me: (gasp gasp) WAAHHHHH!!!!

With my hands over my face for effect, I peeked through my fingers and saw a spoonful of soup enter Kellan's mouth. It was touch and go for a moment as to whether he would swallow it, but after a few more faked sobs on my part, he did!

Like I said people, this is a milestone. Whether it's a good one, I'm not sure. I'm telling myself that maybe I helped him learn a little empathy tonight? Maybe? 

But maybe I just taught him that Mommy cries when he won't eat something that's good for him. 

Whatever. It worked.

Super dip for the Super Bowl

Well, it's finally Friday. And since this week turned out to be tougher and more stressful than I could have guessed, I am very much looking forward to having a little fun -- which includes Super Bowl Sunday!

I just wanted to share this tasty recipe for a nice dip, in case some of you need a little snack to go along with your football -- and who doesn't???

Artichoke & Red Pepper Dip

• 1 can (15 oz., I think) quartered artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
  
• 1 small jar or 1/2 large jar of roasted red peppers (about 7 oz.' worth), drained and chopped
  
• 3 Tbs. light cream cheese
  
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus a generous pinch to top the dish with
  
• 2 Tbs. minced garlic
  
• approx. 1 Tbs. olive oil
  

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Spray a heatproof dish with cooking spray.

3. Combine chopped red peppers, parmesan cheese and cream cheese in a bowl.

 4. Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat, and saute garlic for about 2 minutes.

 5. Put chopped artichoke hearts in the skillet and saute for another 2 minutes.

6. Stir garlic and artichoke hearts into red pepper mixture and dump everything into the heatproof dish. Top with a little extra sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

7. Bake for 30 minutes, or until browned and bubbly. Serve with crackers.

Note: The picture below doesn't really look great, partially because I didn't remember to take a picture until after it had been nibbled on. But this is delicious. Trust me.

Croup strikes again

The 12 hour day I was dreading today? Well, it didn't really happen. What did happen is that I had a 24 hour Wednesday. I didn't go to sleep last night until 6:30 am because we had to go to the ER.

Kellan woke up with croup on Tuesday morning, we went to the doctor, and I declined the one-dose steroid treatment. Steroids are not especially good for anyone, especially little kids, so I decided to take my chances. The doctor said it was a perfectly reasonable decision considering that Kellan was not in dire need of steroids, had a previously uneventful night, and no fever. 

As for that night -- Kellan did okay. Last night, he did not.

Due to his labored breathing, I called for some advice from the St. Luke's triage nurse at about 2 am and she almost had us get in the car and head to the hospital then. But while we were on the phone, Kellan's breathing got better (perhaps due to the combo of a humidifier and his open bedroom window) and he seemed to fall into a deeper sleep. So the nurse and I said goodbye and I bedded down next to him to try to get some sleep. Once I drifted off, Kellan got restless. I held his hand, which seemed to help calm him, but by 4 am, I knew the situation was not good. He was struggling too much. I looked at his chest and saw the skin pulling in at his sternum, and knew an ER visit was mandatory.

So he did end up getting the steroid treatment, and he did pretty well with a couple of steamy breathing treatments (containing epinephrine). The ER doc decided he was well enough to avoid going to the observation unit and go home to rest.

He's breathing better now -- that's the important thing. Now I hope we can all get some much needed sleep since Michael and I are starting to feel crappy...

One long day complete, one more to go

Phew. I made it through one 12 hour day.

Now I have to get up bright and early to do another.

Is it Friday yet????

Destined for the McCall Winter Carnival?

As a self-proclaimed "substitute" blogger for my busy wife who really wants to go to McCall at some point during the Winter Carnival, I am here to say: let's do it, let's go.

However, she just informed me that this weekend is no good due to a previously scheduled coffee date (which is okay by me because then I can watch the Superbowl). This just in: I was just now able to confirm that next weekend, February 6, 7 and 8, "We're on." We're going. We're doing it. We're there.

The McCall Winter Carnival is pretty cool for anyone who hasn't seen it. Two or three giant-sized ice sculptures are on almost every city block. It's really something. I excited to see Kellan's response to the hunormous icy-snowmen. Last year, he was too young to care. This year, I think he'll love it.

My brother Scott and his wife, Michelle, just moved to McCall. His site has a nice post http://www.onthe45.com/mccall-winter-carnival/ that is an overview of the winter carnival. It has photos, calendar and such if anyone is planning to make the trip north in the next couple weeks.

Anyway, I'm sure we'll take lots of photos, and you have an opportunity to hear all about it once Shannon has the time and energy to get back to bloggin' (as Sarah Palin would say).

Chocolate + Antioxidants = I WANT CHOFFY!

Okay, I know I said I wouldn't be around for a while, but I'm blogging for a selfish purpose today. I really want to win some stuff called Choffy that I just learned about from Simple Mom.

It is a coffee-like drink brewed from cocoa beans! I know, right?!?! That alone sounds incredible, but it is also packed with antioxidants.

By blogging about it, I get an extra entry. Oh, I hope I win.

If you want to enter, here ya go. Click here:

Simple Mom giveaway

Oh gosh, I want some Choffy right now....

Inhale, exhale.....

I am not excited about this week. Not at all. 

I have to work 12 hour shifts on Wednesday and Thursday. And that, of course, doesn't count my main job as Mommy. 

I'm trying to remind myself to breathe. Inhale, exhale....

But this week did not start off well. From the instant I arrived at my desk today, my boss piled on a bunch of additional duties. One of which, I expressed reservation about getting done well on a short deadline. Oh boy. Was that a mistake. I certainly wasn't saying it was impossible, but was trying to tell him it would be less than perfect if rushed through today. I could tell by the look on his face that he was mad.

Not a good way to start off the week. Especially considering the major workload ahead.

Inhale, exhale....

I had a couple of slow cooker meals planned for this week to accommodate for my lack of time and to provide me with some leftovers to take to work. And one of them turned out very brown and overcooked. Ugh. I kinda just want to bag the other recipe. The last several ones have been a little less than ideal....

Inhale, exhale....

Well, here's the bright spot -- I managed to squeeze in some cleaning and organizing this weekend, which makes me feel a little less grumpy and out of sorts.

There's still some organizing to be done on the top shelf in the laundry room, but finally, there's empty shelving where we can put our coats, bags, and what-have-you when we come home. 

And look at the stovetop! It hasn't looked this good in a long time. But I can't take all the credit -- my mother-in-law insisted that my father-in-law put a little elbow grease into it, and before I knew it, Mike, Ron and Carol had edged me out and were scrubbing away. Which is all right by me. My thanks to the crew.

And boy, am I grateful to see this countertop again. It hasn't been seen much in the Raygun household since before Christmas, due to a bumper crop of random piles. You know, magazines, boxes, mail, daily report cards from daycare....the kind of random stuff that doesn't really have a home and seems to multiply in rabbit fashion.

So that said, I'm trying to keep it together this week. You may not hear from me much until Friday. I may be cowering in a corner and mumbling looniness to myself by then, but there is light at the end of the tunnel -- a coffee date with a friend and Superbowl Sunday!

Michael's First Post

Aha! I hope I'm not crashing the party, but I thought I would join in the fun. 

First, check out this awesome picture of Great Grandpa Bruce and little-huggable Kellan (photo styling by Shannon! Nice work!):

Kellan and I spent our Sunday morning with Grandma Carol and Grandpa Ron at Great Grandpa Bruce's house. Boy, did Kellan have fun. He marched, sang, played trumpets and flutes (candles), played the piano (a real one), skied all over the house on cardboard strips rubber-banded to his feet (see photo below). We had a great time.

Secondly, I want to follow up on one of Shan's previous posts about the 25 random things about her, a blog that really does capture a lot about her personality, interests and quirks -- all of which are the things that I love about her the most. If you're at all interested in reading Brian Weiss' book,  it really is a fascinating read -- this coming from a total skeptic who now thinks there's something to it. Here's a little description from Amazon: Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives

Lastly, Pranic Healing is pretty flippin' sweet. It, too, seems pretty kooky -- but I can personally attest that it works! It's unbelievable, and Shannon and I learned it by reading this book, Your Hands Can Heal You. While not a great read, it's very informative and a good reference to have on hand. There are some instructions and cautionary measures to consider before doing it willy-nilly.

Okay, I should probably go. I felt like I joined a book club there for a minute ... 

Happy Chinese New Year!

Wishing you good health and good fortune!!!

25 Random Things

You may recall I mentioned a while back that I am obsessed with Facebook. I hope this is temporary, because it's taking up way too much of my free time. However, I got tagged recently to write 25 random things about myself. That sounds like a blog post to me! So here we go:

1. I hate what I call the "Laundry Roadblock" at the Reagan household. Mr. Reagan generates a lot of laundry but doesn't always see the process through (what, you think I wash his clothes?) and when I need to throw in towels or dirty kid clothes, I find the machines idle, but totally occupied.

2. I really miss knitting.

3. I went through a very brief "goth" phase in high school. I think the movie "Bram Stoker's Dracula" had a little something to do with it...oh, and The Cure.

4. I'm a huge fan of Morrissey and The Smiths.

5. I'm a total control freak, and parenthood has made me a million times worse. At least I can admit it.

6. I am terrified of spiders. I hate them, and I hate being anywhere near them. When I had to live alone for 2 years, I once resorted to spraying one with a foaming cleaner and that only made it look 3 times bigger and freaked me out even more. I have also hurled vacuum cleaner hoses at them to suck them up without getting near them (and then realized they would just climb out of the vacuum cleaner anyway) and dropped heavy phone books on them from a safe distance. Then I make the first person to come to my home dispose of what's underneath.

7. I often talk out loud to myself when preparing for some kind of confrontation with someone. I guess I have to hear my argument out loud to know if it's a good one.

8. I don't floss as much as I should. And I should know better.

9. I use a CrockPot a whole heckuva lot.

10. I never knew my paternal grandmother. And lately, I really wish I did.

11. I really regret not taking a trip to Italy before we became parents.

12. When we moved into the house we now live in -- eight years ago -- I thought we would only live in it for three years. Maybe four....I thought five would be pushing it.

13. My favorite all time movie is "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

14. It's very important to me to keep my real life separate from my work persona. Which makes me get really uncomfortable when random strangers figure out my "identity" when I'm grocery shopping, or washing my car, or getting my driver's license or whatever.

15. I really want to own a pug someday. They're a little dog with big dog attitude. And I freakin' love how ugly they are.

16. Slow walkers get my blood pressure boiling. I mean, I can understand strolling at Art in the Park or something, but at the mall or in grocery stores? Get a move on, people! You wanna be here all day???

17. I want to renew my wedding vows in Kauai someday.

18. I believe in past lives. And if you think I'm crazy, read a book by Dr. Brian Weiss. He's a traditionally trained psychologist who didn't believe in it either until a client started saying some wacky stuff in her hypnotherapy sessions.

19. I also believe in pranic energy healing. It's awesome. I'm no healer, but I saved my best friend's hand 5 days before her wedding. She burned the crap out of it, and it was 100 times better a day after I did some basic pranic techniques on it.

20. I stress out about telling people I believe in in past lives and pranic energy.

21. I will never own an automatic car, unless for some reason I move to Seattle or San Francisco. Even then, I would do it unwillingly.

22. I really enjoy karaoke. Probably too much.

23. I think I'm kind of a weird hybrid of stick-in-the-mud, old fashioned stubbornness mixed with wanna-be fast lane rock star.

24. I wish I knew how to play the drums. Right now, I'm living vicariously through my son, and his wooden spoons and galvanized metal tub. But I still might learn how someday. How cool would it be to see a 70-year-old, gray-haired granny rock out on a drum kit?

25. I honestly feel that about 10 years ago, I came to a crossroads in my life. I could have chosen a relationship that would have most likely involved an overseas move, and steered me away from my chosen profession. And I'm certain the relationship would not have been healthy. In fact, when I try to mentally "look" at where that path would have taken me, I see darkness. But I came to my senses and chose the life that I was meant to live. And it's a life that's brought me more happiness, joy and contentment than I could have imagined.

There you have it. I won't go so far as to tag people here. However, I'd love to hear 25 random things about you, so if you make a list, please share! It would be a lovely way to spend a lazy Sunday...

The battle for balance

My candle burns at both ends;

It will not last the night;

But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends--

It gives a lovely light!

--Edna St. Vincent Millay

     "First Fig", A Few Figs from Thistles

When I came across this poem recently, it was like finding gold. It put into words -- beautifully -- how I feel about my life. During the past two years, I've never slept so little. But I've never had so much joy on a daily basis.

Which is not to say I don't have my moments of doubt. An inner dialogue is constantly running in my head: Am I happy? Is my family happy? Are my husband and son getting what they need from me? Am I doing too much? 

I think I've found a pretty good work/family balance, but the doubts are always there. The struggles are always there, too. The most common one is something that seems simple, but to me is pretty profound -- do I wake my child from a nap to get us both to daycare and work on time? Or do I let him sleep the extra 10 minutes? When I choose the latter and later pay the price at the office, I wonder, is this worth it?

These are issues I think every mom struggles with, to some degree. And I suppose if I didn't re-evaluate myself and how I'm doing, I wouldn't be a very good mother. To be good at something, I think you have to be willing to take a step back and really question your methods, and the same goes for motherhood.

But oh, is it an incredible job. The best I've ever had. I get paid in kisses, hugs and snuggles. The bonuses are crayon drawings; "tastes" of pretend recipes of orange juice, ketchup and milk; and personal performances by one of the best recorder players this side of the Mississippi.

And all that trumps a snotty nose, poopy diaper or food-caked hair -- any day.

Finally, some peace!

Yippee! It snowed last night, so the marauding band of street destroyers is leaving my neighborhood alone!

I'm off to run errands, and I will have no trouble getting out of my driveway, or proceeding down the street!! 

Happy Friday!!!

Me vs. The Power Company

Hmm. When I saw the state of affairs at the end of my driveway this morning, I got very angry. 

There was no indication whatsoever that a mountain of dirt would block my access to the street, for any length of time. Or that a trench big enough to fit a full grown man would be dug next to the gutter.

I got especially irritated, when I noticed the traffic monitor hanging out in my neighbor's driveway, and resting her beverage on his mailbox.

Did I mention that a full-grown man can fit in that trench?

I finally got Kellan and myself all bundled up and marched out there to talk to the traffic monitor. I immediately felt bad for being mad that she was using the neighbor's mailbox as a table, because she was really nice. I told her that we were not notified about this project, and what if I needed to get out of my driveway this morning? What if my son was sick?

She said neighbors said the same thing on the last street they dug up in my neighborhood. She said the power company should have notified us, and recommended that I call and complain. Then one of the backhoe operators came over and asked if I needed out right now. I said that I would need out in a couple hours and he assured me that would not be a problem. 

The trench is now filled, and I will be able to get out of my driveway. But I didn't get much of anywhere with the power company. The operator noted my complaint and said it would be passed along to the Public Utilities Commission. I asked if I would receive notification that this issue had been dealt with. She indicated that I probably wouldn't. 

Great. Great customer service. 

One big backhoe and a lot of dirt

About 60 seconds into Tuesday's Quiet Time rocking chair routine, it suddenly sounded like a backhoe started up in Kellan's bedroom. Turns out, the noise was from a backhoe starting up just outside Kellan's bedroom. The earsplitting engine kept grinding along with each pat on Kellan's back. Miraculously, he still fell asleep. 

As soon as he was tucked in, I peeked out the front window and saw this:

The mysterious, unexplained road project from down the street and around the corner has spread to our street. More specifically, it has moved directly in front of our house with no notification whatsoever as to what is going on, or when it will be done.

I returned home last night to find three giant mountains of dirt in the street and that giant backhoe parked right next to my lavender plant.

Now, this little project is nothing compared to the misery Megan must be living with right now -- with all of her windows covered by plywood and plastic -- but what the crap?

I think those men owe me an explanation as to why they are splitting my eardrums and tromping all over my flowerbed. Stay tuned.

Our Inauguration Watch Party

Here we go. 

We have a new president.

Kellan doesn't really know what the word President means, but I am thrilled that he is growing up in a world where a man like Barack Obama can lead this country.

We had a little watch party this morning -- just the two of us -- to take in the significance of this moment in history.

Kellan was quite taken with the "in-ments" (instruments), especially the man playing the recorder (clarinet). He was also pretty fascinated by the giant bow on Aretha Franklin's hat.

Wow -- the emotions that Michelle Obama must be feeling at this moment!!

I know we don't all see eye-to-eye about the new administration. However, I think President Obama has shown grace, courage and the ability to think outside the box. And I think perhaps all of us can agree we need all the help we can get right now.

Happy Inauguration Day

Facebook: A Blessing and a CURSE!

Facebook is ruining my life.

But I love it.

As I described it to a non-Facebooking friend, it's like a car crash. You just can't look away.

It's a great way to keep in touch with friends, for sure. But it is also consuming my life. They say that when you first start join, you go crazy with it for a few days. I hope that's the case, because it is seriously derailing all my Kill the Clutter intentions!

Editor's note: If you're reading this and are considering "friending" me on Facebook, please hold off for now. I think my head might explode. 

Just us girls

What a fun morning...my friend Kristi lives in Salt Lake City, and whenever she comes to town she's super busy visiting family. But during this trip, we got to squeeze in a coffee date!

We all met at Starbucks -- Kristi, her sister Jill, Jill's girls and I -- and got caught up. 

Jill's girls are adorable, and I'm sure Kellan would have found them adorable too...but he had to stay home with Daddy for the morning so Mommy would be able to carry out a conversation!

A Very Yellow Slide

In spite of the FRIGID cold, we decided to hit the park on Saturday. So we called up the Johnsons to see if they were up for the same. JJ had a prior commitment, but Shelly, Joss and Kosmo (their dog) were able to meet us there.

Enzo and Kosmo immediately commenced ping-ponging from one side of the park to the other, sniffing, wrestling, and peeing along the way. Kellan got busy driving a big, red fire truck and directing me to take him down the slides. I tried to carry on a conversation with Shelley while climbing, standing upon, and careening down the playground equipment with Kellan. Michael wielded a Chuck-It and tennis balls, to keep the dogs from running off into the Foothills together. 

Look closely....Where's Waldo??? I mean, Michael?

Enzo is one pooped pup -- thank goodness for Kosmo

Prepping for slide number two of the afternoon

As you can see, the afternoon was going swimmingly, in spite of the FREEZING COLD. Then Kellan became intrigued -- as most kids are -- at trying to board the slide in reverse. You know, by climbing it. He didn't get far. Because when he realized that wouldn't work so well, he stood back and looked up at me. I looked down at him and noticed his pants were wet. Not wet from a diaper leak, wet from the slide.

Now, everything in the park -- including the playground equipment -- was bone dry. Except for that one spot. That's when it hit me, this is a dog's work. Yep. Three letters -- P-E-E.

Somehow, I managed to keep my cool and not freak out. I tried to remind myself that one of my parenting magazines says pee is sterile (to make parents feel better about kids that pee in the bathtub).

I can't say which of our canine friends did it. However, those pants (and coat!) had an urgent appointment with the laundry room when we got home. 

Kellan rocks it out

Vocals: Kellan Michael Reagan
Recorder: Kellan Michael Reagan
Maraca: Kellan Michael Reagan
Galvanized tub & wooden spoons: Kellan Michael Reagan
Paper towel tube: Kellan Michael Reagan

I'm a forthose

Hey, guess what! I'm a forthose! I've really made it in life. Wow! A forthose! This is just so great.

I recently joined Facebook. Not sure why -- everyone's doing it, I guess. When I decided to join my sorority's Facebook group, I found this description on the home page:

"Forthose affiliated with the Beta Kappa Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Idaho."

I had no idea that when I joined Kappa I was also becoming a forthose. Are you jealous?

Coffee hangover

What a day.

It started great. So great, in fact, I made a snap decision that today would be the day to not load up on cup after cup of coffee. Kellan slept past 8:30 am this morning, which meant I did too. So for once in a very great while, I didn't wake up and think I was going to drop dead on the spot from exhaustion.

Great day to let the coffee pot gather dust, right?

Wrong. Especially since I did not have any kind of plan to ease the pain later in the day.

By about 2:30, the headache snuck up on me. It came on ever so gently (if you can call a headache gentle), leading me to believe it might come and go.

At 4:30, I realized it wasn't going anywhere, no matter how many ibuprofen I popped. 

After a long day of staring at a computer, I spent the last hour of my workday in a very brightly lit room. The computer/light exposure really got the headache pain firing on all cylinders.

Don't worry though...I'm better now. The remedy? Dim lighting and exactly three Hershey's Special Dark Kisses. Well, I may end up eating another. Or five.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Not much to say here today, so I thought I'd do a little "Wordless Wednesday" thing and just show you a picture of what I'm staring at. I am, quite literally, just staring. If you look closely, there's a windmill just over the fence in the neighbor's backyard that's turning ever so slowly. It's held my attention now for about five minutes straight. My house is quiet (yay for Quiet Time!) and there's an ethereal haze covering the entire valley. Makes me feel like procrastinating the day's dinner prep and snack packing. I really want to stay in my sweats and avoid career attire at all costs.

But alas, work beckons. Guess it's time to stop staring and start doing.

Eeek! Finger paints!

Even as I was mixing up the paint for this little activity, I thought to myself, what am I doing? Visions of rainbow-colored walls danced through my head as I stirred food coloring into the vanilla pudding. But heck, I thought. It's only pudding. And he's going to have so much fun.

I was right. 

He dug into each goopy, gloppy, gelatinous bowl and painted to his little heart's content. 

We did one color at a time to prevent the "paint" from going gray or something. (And I guess I was trying to make sure my vision of a rainbow-colored kitchen didn't come true.)

In the end, there was a light spattering of blue all over the table, wall, and kitchen cabinet. And all over his face, of course. But the damage was minimal -- nothing a damp towel couldn't handle. 

And lucky for Kellan, we still have lots of pudding paint left! 

Our little skier

Okay, I'm starting to get the hang of posting video. I had been trying to skip the step of posting to YouTube first, but I think it's unavoidable.

So, here it is....Kellan on skis at Brundage for the first time!!!

You can't hear him in the clip above, but once Michael got up to him, Kellan was giggling and saying, "Funny! More? Funny!" Which I think is pretty sweet. As anyone who's learned to ski knows, it's important to keep a sense of humor.

All done, until next time.

Oops!

The viewing issue with the clip below should be solved now. Kellan's talent should be available for the world to hear...

Kellan rocks the mic

I may not have a video of Kellan's vocal performances to share, but I do have a professional recording! 

We were all Peak Broadcasting on Friday so I could record a little voice over for a University of Idaho project. Kellan was immediately and irresistably drawn to the biggest of three mics in Jodi Sali's office, and Jodi was nice enough to record a bit of Kellan's work as well as mine. Enjoy. (The picture is just a place holder -- unfortunately, I don't have a photo of him at the mic!)

I tried to get him to sing his new Pizza Time song, but he was a little hesitant. Perhaps he's still working out the kinks.

My Moment of Garage Zen

So I've been feeling a little whelmed lately. Not overwhelmed, but whelmed. As you may know if you've been reading recent posts, I am on a mission to seek and destroy clutter in the house. But even anti-clutter superheroes have their bad days.

Our weekend began by tackling the Christmas decorations. Yes, we still had them up. I was so tired from the awful cold I had last weekend, and Michael won me over with his "who cares if the Christmas decorations are still up?" argument. Like I said, I was too tired to care.

But by Monday, I cared. And the Christmas stuff bugged me all week.

So during naptime on Saturday, all evidence of holiday cheer was packed away. But we still hadn't tackled the real source of my irritation -- the general clutter scattered just about everywhere.

We plugged away at it throughout the weekend, stopping for various reasons -- to eat, change a diaper, buy a file cabinet, watch a movie...you know. The usual stuff. But I started getting really down Sunday night because of this:

Empty shelves in the garage (good), random stuff sitting in the middle of the garage (not good), both cars sitting in the driveway (not good at all). 

I hate it when randomly placed items displace my car. And I just hate starting a week with an incomplete house project still on my plate. I mean, all we needed to do was put the random stuff somewhere and pull the cars in, but I still felt annoyed. 

Then, I managed to pull myself out of my grumpy mood for a minute and think about what we have accomplished in two days. The Christmas stuff is put away. (Yay!) We have a much smaller file cabinet that will free up more space in our house. (Yay!) Three boxes of baby clothes are boxed up and appropriately stashed in the garage. (Yay!)

I started to feel a little better after taking the photo above. I turned around to go back in the house after capturing my anti-clutter photographic evidence, and I saw this:

Now. If you know me at all, you know I'm an incredibly sappy person. Most people wouldn't see anything in the picture above but a group of ski boots.

What did I see? (Okay, hear me out. I'm about to get super sappy on you...) I saw evidence of a family. 

You know when something happens to you in your life, something totally unexpected, and you just kind of go, okay....I've been missing the bigger picture here. Well, something outside of myself seemed to turn my eyes right on those boots, as if to say, look -- you're frustrated, but you have a reason to HAVE little ski boots in your house. You're lucky.

So after spending a weekend hating all the STUFF around here, I've had a change of heart. Yes, some of it is useless and taking up space. Some of it annoys me to no end. But even the irritating stuff is part of who we are -- a family. A family with faults, but one that's trying to enjoy life and take one day at a time. And although our house is filled with a lot of unorganized clutter, it is also filled with love and laughter.

I just hope I can remember that while tackling the clutter in the laundry room.

Wish me luck.

Pizza Time

Mmm! Pizza! One of my favorite foods. It's definitely one of Kellan's favorites too. In fact, Pizza Time is the name of a song he just 'wrote' a couple of days ago. It goes: "Pee-ha eyemmm! Pee-ha eyemmm! Pee-ha eyemmm!" Genius. The chorus is also the lyrics. Top that, Bono.

So, on to the original reason for this post... I made up another new recipe! Which for me, is big. I'm such a Type A that I rarely deviate from a recipe, let alone make up my own.

I give you -- Huevos Rancheros Pizza!

*Note: Do not let the crust scare you.

Pizza Crust:

1 1/3 cups warm water

3 Tbs. olive oil

One 1/4 oz. pkg. active dry yeast

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

a little extra olive oil to grease a bowl

In a stand mixer, place the warm water, olive oil and yeast. Process for 30 seconds to combine. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes, or until foamy. Add both types of flour and salt, and allow mixer to blend ingredients. Once it forms a ball, turn the mixer on medium high to knead the dough for about five minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl with a little olive oil, transfer the ball of dough to the bowl, and roll around inside the bowl to thoroughly coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with a clean towel, place it in a warm place, and allow it to rise for one hour or until doubled in size. Then punch it down and turn it out onto a floured work surface. Knead it a few times, place the bowl on top, and allow it to rest for about 20 minutes. Then you're ready to roll it out and put it on a baking sheet or pizza stone. Or, you can just buy a pre-made crust. But this is not hard, I promise!

Pizza toppings and sauce:

1 medium onion, diced

1 cup salsa

8 oz. can tomato sauce 

1 Tbs. dried oregano

3-4 Tbs. carrot puree (optional)

1/2 of a 15 oz. can of black beans

2-3 eggs

1/2 jar of roasted red peppers or 1-2 roasted red peppers, chopped 

2-3 cups (or 12 oz. bag) of shredded Mexican blend cheese

1 tsp. dried cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 garlic powder

salt and pepper

Set oven to 450 degrees. Set a medium-sized saucepan on medium heat with a drizzle of oil. Dice onion and place in saucepan. Saute until translucent. Add salsa, tomato sauce, dried oregano and carrot puree (if using -- if you're not adding carrot, you may want to add a little more salsa). Add cumin and chili powder. Allow to simmer for about 5-7 minutes. While it simmers, chop roasted red peppers and roll out dough.

Top dough with a thin layer of olive oil. Spread sauce on pizza. Sprinkle on the cheese and roasted red peppers. Put pizza in oven and set a timer for 20 minutes.

Rinse out and quickly dry the saucepan. Put it back on a medium heat burner, with a drizzle of oil. Lightly scramble the eggs in a separate bowl and open the can of beans. (Put half in a container in the fridge -- you won't need all of them.) Put the beans in the saucepan and cook for 2 minutes. Add eggs and garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook long enough for the eggs to scramble. Open the oven (carefully!) and spoon the egg/bean mixture on the pizza. At this point, there should be only about 10 minutes left on the timer.

Ta da -- you have a delicious pizza!

I highly recommend making the pizza dough yourself. With a stand mixer and a little time, it's easy. A lot of the time it takes is just rising time. You don't have to do a darn thing but let it sit. 

I will say -- this recipe produces thick dough. If you like it thinner, then you'll just have to be better at rolling dough than I am. I'm terrible. And there's no way I'm going to try tossing it around my kitchen. However, this particular pizza works well with a thick crust because the toppings are pretty hearty. 

Also, I am not a fan of hot and spicy food. My husband is. So he tops his with Sriracha sauce. More salsa would also be a good topper -- perhaps some nice green salsa! Mmm!

Hot for Barack

I have to share this. I think even those of you who are not Barack Obama fans will get a kick out of it -- I hope.

This is Erin Hall, a Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sister of mine. She is super talented and super funny. 

Hee hee! Those last few seconds are my favorite part.

Erin lives and works in New York City. You can find her other funny video clips with a quick Google search, but here's another good one. It is entitled: Erin Hall and Caleb Hawley Serenade Duane Reade "Irene". (Duane Reade is a drugstore.)




Oh, and here's her website.

Isn't she funny?

Money matters

I'm a little freaked out right now -- as I'm sure we all are -- about the economy. But the whole mess has lit a fire in me to get our financial house in order here in Raygunland. I'm trying to keep better track of how much money we have and what we spend it on, while keeping a lookout for things that will save us money. So I thought I'd share a bit of what I've found lately.

First -- here's something you have to do by this coming Thursday if you want to take advantage of it. Download Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan for free, thanks to Oprah. I did so last night and am sufficiently freaked out enough by the first few pages to keep reading. Even if there's only one or two things in there that help us get financially organized, I think it's worth a read. Heck, it's a free download, so you can't go wrong.

Second, there's a way to get restaurant gift certificates for half price. It's kinda hit and miss, but it's easy to check out online. This is quite a discovery for us, because Michael loves to go out to eat and I'm too much of a cheapskate these days to spring for a restaurant meal. I'll leave the explanation as to why these deals are available to the Wise Bread post where I found this little secret, but to save you time, here's what you do. Copy and paste this -- idaho site:incentrev.com -- into Google. (The way you type it in does make a difference, so pay attention to the spacing and the colon. If you're in another state, you replace your state's name with Idaho.) I will say most of the deals that will pop up right now in Idaho are sold out. However, if you do this little search every once in a while, you could end up with some deals. The typical arrangement is a $50 restaurant gift card/certificate for $25. Not bad. A deal that IS active right now is $50 at the Wood River Cellars (a winery outside of Eagle) for $25. I don't know all the details, but you could use that to buy food/wine at one of their many events, or maybe even use it to buy 50 bucks' worth of wine at their wine shop. That would be pretty sweet.

One money-saving idea I'm intrigued by right now is Ebates. Have you heard of this? You get cash back by shopping through the Ebates site. Gobs of stores have partnerships with Ebates, including Target, Apple iTunes, and Overstock. In a nutshell, you install special software from Ebates, which tracks your purchases. With each purchase you make, you rack up a cash back bonus, then get a check every month or so. The catch is, you sign away your basic information by doing this. You know....your age, which stores you like to shop at, etc. Ebates says that info helps them know which stores it should partner with, and allows them to send you email on certain special deals. I'm weighing whether the cash back would be worth signing away my life in this fashion. I'm interested to hear whether anyone else has used Ebates...

And finally, a free website that I'm loving these days -- mint.com. It's a little nerve wracking when you first sign up, because you lay out your entire financial life to Mint. You input all your account information -- bank account, mortgage payments, credit cards -- but instead of me logging on individually to access all these accounts, Mint does it for me all at once. And the payoff is worth it. Once you do all the inputting (and once Mint can access all the information) you get your entire financial picture at a glance. You see exactly how much money you owe -- including your mortgage -- compared with your assets. Then it boils it all down to your net worth. On a practical basis, it allows you to track every purchase, so you can see exactly how much you throw down every month on things like groceries, gas/transportation, utilities....even haircare. Yes, haircare! You can also set up budgets, and Mint will email you whenever you exceed a particular budget. I have one set up for grocery expenses. 

Mint makes money by analyzing your accounts, and offering you "deals". For example, it will find you checking account offers that perhaps have no minimum balance requirements, saving you X amount of money a year. These offers are by no means irritating. You see them on your Mint page, but you don't have to do anything about them. Or you can click on them if you want.

So there you have it. A few ways I'm trying to streamline the finances in our family. Just thought I'd share the love.

Sock monkey miracle

Perhaps the sock monkey quilt Megan recently gave Kellan has miracle powers. Or maybe it was my fast and furious rocking. Or maybe it was a combination of the two.

During today's rocking routine pre-Quiet Time, Kellan was especially antsy. He did a lot of singing, talking, fiddling with my hair, etc. I nearly gave up. Finally, I wrapped him in an additional blanket -- the sock monkey quilt -- hoping some additional warmth would help him nod off. He quieted down for a minute or so, then began singing again -- even more loudly. So I told him to stop singing the song out loud, and just think about it in his head. Then I started rocking like a crazy person. 

The rocking chair is old and used enough that it creaks when you really get into it, and I used the squeaking to my advantage. The repetitive moaning and groaning of the chair -- combined with the extra cuddliness of the quilt -- added up to just the right Quiet Time combination. 

This week's Quiet Time Score:

Mommy  4

Kellan  1

Yesss......

We asked for it, didn't we?

Aww...look at it. Isn't it shiny? 

It certainly was a stunning sight on Christmas morning. Perfect and gleaming with a nice big bow.

Well, the Kidcraft Retro Kitchen has certainly become a part of life in Raygunland. It sits just off the kitchen so when I'm cooking, Kellan can too -- and keep safely away from the dangers of the real kitchen. But with all the possibilities of imaginative play, comes one big drawback. It's something that didn't occur to me until a few days before Christmas, when a co-worker bemoaned the fact that his wife bought the kids another kitchen. He pointed out that the family's previous kid kitchen had a nasty habit of exploding all over the house. And he predicted much of the same with Kitchen #2.

Hmm... I thought. Didn't really consider that possibility....

Of course, at that point, it was too late. And now I know exactly what he was talking about.

Of course, when Santa bought the kitchen, it didn't contain all that food. That was all purchased as gifts by our sweet and generous family. But boy, is there a lot of it.

It's great for all kinds of recipes ("eee-pees," in Kellan-speak) or grocery shopping. Not so good for a mommy who is currently on a mission to seek out and destroy clutter.

Just looking at the pictures makes me tired. 

But I will say this: I felt a tiny surge of pride when reading about another blogger's desire for some compromise on all the boy toys in her household. She is drowning in boy stuff and really covets the Melissa & Doug Slice & Bake Cookie set. Yay! We have one! (Thanks, Mom.)

I guess that makes me feel a little better. This house is an equal opportunity play environment. Kellan has cars and blocks and a bike, AND a Cabbage Patch Doll that he takes very good care of. So even though I spend a lot of time dodging wooden fruits and vegetables when I'm passing through the house, at least I'm not tripping on a ton of little cars and army soldiers when my house becomes a nightmare in Toyland. 

At least not yet.