As a Bzz Agent I have received a very fun link to share.  Check out Cover Girl's 50th Anniversary party!  You might just win some free samples and learn a few things, too.

Note to Self

Note to self:  Don't wear sandals to story time at the library!

Exciting news

A while back a mentioned that we were going to make a transition in our family.  I have been applying like crazy to every teaching position in the area, hoping to at least get an interview or two.  Well, a week ago I interviewed with Head Start, a child care center for low-income families.  My interview went great.  I was so concerned that after three years out of the workforce that I would just be jumbled up with "uhs" and "ums."  But something about talking about education and children put me at ease, and I was able to show my honesty and compassion for children.  It was really nice to just be myself in the interview, and I think it translated to the people interviewing me.  It must have.  They offered me a job this week, and I accepted it yesterday!

The position is with Early Head Start and I will be teaching infants.  A received one naive comment that you can't teach infants.  As an educator I was hurt by that comment.  It's that kind of attitude that limits children instead of enriching their growth.  Child development and brain development begin the minute a child is born.  Everything that is learned is a basis for what will be learned in the future.  Many of these children will have a disadvantage based on their home environment so offering a safe and nurturing place to learn is extremely important.  I am excited to share my creativity and have so many great ideas for teaching.  What's really nice is that I have saved all our daughter's infant toys (for just in case I needed them) and I can use those for creating some fun lessons.

As for the adjustment our family will go through, I think it strangely will keep me more focused.  Being a stay-at-home mom has had some challenges.  I miss the social interactions.  I miss having a greater "purpose" in this world.  I miss helping parents and children.  I sometimes feel I spend my day waiting to be interrupted.

I asked our daughter if she thinks Mom can teach babies.  Wide-eyed she nodded her head and said yes.  She is excited for preschool, and I believe our daughter is more than ready for preschool.  She's a little bored right now.  I've slowed down in "teaching" her because she's already so far ahead.  Might have been something to do with all the work I put in while she was an infant.  We think the structure will be good for her.  The preschool is set up so that the children rotate rooms throughout the day and aren't in just one room all day.  That will be great for our active little girl who is constantly needing something new to stimulate her little brain.  She very outgoing, but at times slow-to-warm to new activities.  This will help her practice trying new things all the time.

As far as getting the housework done, we figure we'll just put a schedule together and shoot for getting things done as we can.  Fortunately I've taught myself a lot of cooking techniques during the last three years that will help us with dinners.  Mostly I plan to continue to meal plan a month out and freeze extras of meals as we go.  We'll probably prep most of the week's meals on Sunday, so it will be minimal work after school.  Luckily, the hours are only until late afternoon with no real commute.

With all that said I'm excited to be getting back to work and look forward to a positive change in our lives.

Save those muffins or cookies

Here's a great tip to save muffins or cookies.  Use a 13x9 pan with a lid.  It works great to store and keep food items fresh.  

Cute trailer

Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec, Benadryl Recall

There is a big recall on children's Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl.  See press release here.

New Direction

I'm very excited about the next transition in our lives.  I am going back to work come this fall.  Our daughter will be 3 years old and we found a wonderful preschool for her.  I was earning my second Bachelor's degree  in teaching when I became pregnant with her and have been a full-time parent since.  We've had lots of challenges since she's been born (medical issues, moving, etc).  But all seems pretty sorted out right now.  I just started applying for teaching jobs in our area and can't wait to see what comes from it.  Boy oh boy you wouldn't have believed all the work I had to put into the application process.  I spent more than an hour a day last week typing up answers and filling in the blanks.  And Friday morning I spent more than three hours scanning in documents and uploading everything.

My initial hope was for part-time, but if a great full-time opportunity comes my way I might just snag it.  I worry about the balance of it all, but I think we've discussed it clearly.  My husband is so supportive and says it will all just work out.  And I know it will.   I gotta admit I think I'm looking forward to getting back into the real world.  It's been a challenge at times to be isolated, even though my daughter and I go somewhere every day. We'll see what happens next.

I'll keep you posted!!

Huge Pet Peeve

I absolutely cannot stand when I read reviews about a recipe on a recipe website and it gets all (or close too) stars, but the reviews are misleading.  It's rated high and has many reviews.  Then I read the reviews and almost every review that gives it high marks has variations and suggestions to make the orginal recipe different.  Um, then you aren't reviewing the orginal recipe.  You are rating the recipe you are posting in the review. Ugh.  Drives me crazy.

Gotta question

It happens to me all the time that I am halving a recipe and can't remember half of 1/3 cup or some other measurement.  I found this website True Knowledge that allows you to type a question and it generates an answer.  I like this site because it is much more helpful than Yahoo Answers  or other message boards where people give answers that tend to confuse or even insult.  You just get an answer and it's precise as well.

I have yet to use it for anything else, but it is sure nice to have answers at your fingertips.

Slow again this week

It's been a week of daylight savings, a new gymnastics class, storytime and oh my goodness awesome weather. Not to mention a little leprechaun came to visit and played some tricks on us yesterday.  I've been behind not only in blogging, but with housework, too.  But it's been no jacket weather and when you live in snowy, cold Wisconsin you have to take advantage of it in March.  It's pretty rare to get such nice temperatures and we've been spending hours outside in between everything else.  They are predicitng snow in a couple days, so gotta get outside.

In the meantime, I remind you that going to the park is free and a great time for kids.

Also, I read this blog, Fed up with School Lunches last night. It chronicles a teacher who is eating school lunches while making her observations about nutrition and taste.   It's a very fair blog and she has some really interesting observations.  You must take a read through it and send her a comment to show her support.

Waiting for it to ripen...

I had bought some avocados last week on Monday and wanted to make a really tasty salsa (to be posted Wednesday), but they were rock hard.  I had recently read that putting them in a brown paper bag helps to ripen them.  By Thursday they were good to eat.  My husband said that that works for tomatoes, too.

Antsy

We are moving the end of the month.  We are at that phase where majority of things are boxed up.  Every day I pack a little more and I toss out a little more.  But I am so antsy to move.  It is our first home together and we designed a kitchen that I just can't wait to cook and bake in.  We get the appliances today.  Can't wait to see how they look in my new kitchen.  With the move we are rearranging a couple things in our life.  We are going to get rid of our cable and are joining this really great health club.  It has drop-in daycare (where there is no food, so this mommy doesn't need to worry about our daughter's food allergies as much), three pools, lots of open gym time, classes for my daughter and exercise classes for me.  Plus there's tons of equipment and my husband is looking forward to using the track in the morning.  Seems like a good way to a fresh start in a new city, and in a new house.  I'm excited about us having somewhere to go during these cold winter months ahead.

Calm before the storm

I've been taking a small break from blogging this week. Not that I don't have anything it to post -- I'll get a recipe up later.

We are moving again this month and it will be the fourth time in two years. We are purging again and have already sent two fully loaded cars to Goodwill. My daughter has been sleeping much better. She's going down pretty easily (a couple reminders, but no screaming or crying), and she is sleeping through the night. The only real change to the way it was before the transitions is that she is waking up really early around 6:30 a.m. Well, that's really early for me and my sleep deprived body (not to mention this allergy season has been a doosey making me extra worn out).

So, I'm taking the opportunity for a little down time between packing and all the day-to-day stuff. I know the intense packing and unpacking will be very tiring with a 2-year-old. But knowing that I will be in my own home soon is such a great feeling.

Whatever Martha

If you haven't seen this show, you have to check it out. It has Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis, and her friend Jennifer commenting on Martha Stewart segments. I try to watch Martha Stewart every now and then, but I often get bored watching. I mean if it's going to take me a week to make my own journal, I'll go buy one at the store for a couple bucks. I do subscribe to her Everyday Food magazine and make many of the recipes -- I just substitute her fancy pasta for macaroni and call it white sauce if it's white. Whatever Martha! if absolutely hilarious and they say what were all are thinking. My favorite episode so far was watching Conan O'brien vacuuming a horse. Here's link to an episode where Martha makes sticks for roasting marshmallows. So funny!

Whatever Martha

If you haven't seen this show, you have to check it out. It has Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexix, and her friend Jennifer commenting on Martha Stewart segments. I try to watch Martha Stewart every now and then, but I often get bored watching. I mean if it's going to take me a week to make my own journal, I'll go buy one at the store for a couple bucks. I do subscribe to her Everyday Food magazine and make many of the recipes -- I just substitute her fancy pasta for macaroni and call it white sauce if it's white. Whatever Martha! if absolutely hilarious and they say what were all are thinking. My favorite episode so far was watching Conan O'brien vacuuming a horse. Here's link to an episode where Martha makes sticks for roasting marshmallows. So funny!

Daddy do it

For some time now I've wanted to give my husband a true taste of what I do all day every day. I often rattle off 15 tasks I've accomplished in the evening and hope for a standing ovation. Come on, no one could get all that done in one day and live to talk about it. Instead he gives me something such as, "that's good." I sigh and finish eating the supper that took an hour to make because my two-year-old insisted that she wanted to get undressed or requested a book be read or just came over to throw a tantrum for no reason. Tacos shouldn't take an hour to make, right?

I must add that he is a wonderful husband and does everything he can for our family to provide for us. He helps me at night when he can, even though he works long hours. He always get our daughter ready for bed and reads her stories. I have no complaints. I do however think he sometimes thinks my job as a SAHM is relaxed or not that challenging.

So yesterday I decided to leave for most of the day. I would much rather sleep and lounge around the house for a day off, but our little girl is pretty demanding these days. The only way to truly get a break is to leave. I left in the morning for about 3 hours and for 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon. I left a list for my husband to "complete." I knew it wouldn't get done -- even on a perfect day one or two things couldn't get finished with the little girl who doesn't like to nap during the day or be alone at night.

Here's the list:

• 3 loads of laundry -- I sorted and even started one load before I left, one load was just sheets off the bed
• Vacuum
• Mop
• Clean the bathroom
• Run to the store (he needed sunflower seeds and only gets them at a certain store)
• Play outside
• Feed lunch at noon -- ABC spaghetti, peas, oranges
• Start nap at 1 p.m.

I left at 9 a.m. I thought about maybe sabotaging something, such as jamming up the diaper pail or putting a color shirt in the whites. But I didn't think that would be fair. Turned out the washer stopped working during the second load. It has an imbalance problem that if it has too much water it won't work. So, my husband said he had to hook up the landlord's washer. I figure he lost about a half hour because of that.

When I stopped at home around 12:30 p.m. to put away some groceries I bought at Whole Foods (I never get there because I have to label read and my impatient toddler sometimes makes that hard). He told me he was a little behind. As far as I could see nothing was done. He told me about the washer. Then he held up the list and said "I couldn't find peas or oranges, so she had peaches and a vegetable medley." Made me laugh. No big deal. Peas and oranges were just a guideline. I did see he got to the vacuuming.

I reminded him that our daughter needed some outside time yet. I left shortly after and ran to a couple more stores. Seems like when I get the energy and the freedom to do it, I got to as many as I can. Didn't spend a whole lot, but got some things we needed. Sometimes it's about the shopping and not the buying. I returned home around 3 p.m. and my husband was still sitting on the floor in our daughter's room trying to put her down for nap. Guess she didn't want to nap. Later the truth comes out they both fell asleep on the rocking chair. He said she fell asleep twice and she wouldn't let him leave the room. So, the laundry wasn't done, the bathroom didn't get cleaned, he didn't run to the store. He proudly told me he got the floor mopped. We tackled the rest for the tasks and a couple more for the rest of the day. When we were eating supper I asked if he made the bed. He said "I didn't know that was part of laundry." All I could do was laugh.

I can only hope that he got a little better understanding after his "day in the life of a stay-at-home parent."

My Two Cents on Jon and Kate

The first few episodes of Jon and Kate that I watched, I didn't like them.  I didn't like the idea of kids being put in the spotlight.  The show stressed me out just watching it.  But the show (with it's many episodes in just a couple short years) started to grow on me.  Maybe because I could relate as a mom and teacher that taking care of kids is tough and it was nice to see people being "real."  I liked seeing the spectrum of emotions.

But after a couple months of watching every episode that aired (new and rerun) I began to wonder what the kids will think of this years from now.  Will they look back and feel ashamed when they see their parent's putting them in time out when they are 3 years old?  And have you ever noticed that portray some as "good" kids and others as "problem" kids.  Will these kids look back and count how many good things and bad things their parents said about them on a TV show before they even could talk?  I just worry about the time one of them makes a poor choice and that is exploited.  Odds are with eight kids there will be something in the teenage years that one of them may do wrong.  

And somehow these normal parents were able to go places and do things many of us put on hold after we have kids.  They would like us to think they have no help, but we all know that isn't true.  Why not show us the help and actual work -- maybe that's not good TV.  And sadly that is what it all comes down to.  What good TV?  I can guarantee you if a camera followed me around all day it would be pretty boring.  Yep, here I am doing dishes and making lunch again. Now we're painting purple pictures.  Oh, look I'm reading stories for 20 minutes before nap.  And speaking of that, you really never see much of that on this show.  The family just "being" together.  I've worked with kids in many capacities and even in the largest groups there are those "bonding" moments.  Time that is focused on talking, reading, singing, sharing, or creating together.  

My two cents:  Reality TV is not real, no matter what you watch.  It is scripted.  It is planned.  It is edited.  It is produced.  It is marketed.  

Coming this week

Here are some ideas you will see posted in the week ahead!

• Organizational Monday: Already posted here.
  
• About the Kids Tuesday: Cheap Teacher/Parent Made project (Mickey Mouse matching game)
  
• What's Cookin' - Wednesday: Lemon Cookies (so yummy)
  
• Thrifty Thursday: Receipt Surveys
  
• Anything Goes Friday: Anything goes
  

Yesterday we walked for an hour

We took two walks yesterday.  The temperature got just above 50 degrees.  A cold 50 degrees with all the snow melting and damp air.  But warm enough to get outside and walk.  My daughter was bundled up in her winter jacket, hat, mittens and of course sunglasses. 

We took a journey around our new neighborhood.  My daughter didn't need any toys to occupy her in the stroller -- just a list of things she hoped to see.  The list included: squirrels, puppies, kitty, cars, trees, people, kids, and airplane.  And we saw all of those and more.  She even thought she saw a cow in one house.  It was just a black and white blanket, but she was convinced and even said "moo" to let me know what she thought.  It took us about 6 minutes to walk to one park and then we walked to the other one and it took us 5 minutes to walk home.  It will be great this spring and summer to have a destination to our walks.  In the afternoon my daughter sat on the swing for a few minutes, but didn't seem to like it as much as she did last summer.  I'm betting that will change.  

Let's hope the weather warms up soon.  We love to be outside!

Sleep Interrupted

So the last four nights my little 18-month old daughter has been struggling with a cold.  I've been awake more than asleep during the night.  It got me thinking, really what else do you do when you are awake and suppose to be sleeping, of all the things, people and noises that have woke me up in my life.  Thought it would be fun to make a list.

• Squealing little sisters.  My sisters (when they were young) liked to play this "let's see how long we can hold the same high note."
• Neighbors fighting, having a party, talking, stomping, etc.
• A dance club on campus.  Yeah, I chose a dorm that was next to the on-campus dance club.  I feel asleep and often woke up to the beat of a loud base Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  
• A skunk.  When I worked a camp, I had a friendly skunk, who like to come into my tent and scavenge for food.  I had no food, but he kept coming back.
• Homesick campers.  
• Alarm clocks that didn't belong to me.
• Snoring roommate.
• Drunk roommate.
• Hugs from a husband.  Every morning before my husband gets out of bed he gives me a hug.  It usually wakes me up -- that one I don't mind.
• A baby talking about tacos and the moon.
• Birds, song birds and otherwise.
• Lawnmowers.  That was when I used to sleep in.
• Telephone.
• Sirens.
• Thunderstorms.
• Waves on the ocean.
• Wind.

Just a sampling of what has woken me up over the years.  I'm sure you can relate.