You Know Dasher and Prancer and.... yada ya

Every year in my classroom, I always made as many handprint or footprint crafts as I could.  They are the best to save and see how your kids grow.  I mean, come on.  What is cuter than baby fingers and toes?  NOTHING.  So I made a set of reindeer for our house and my mom's house.  Cutest Santa's helpers ever.  M was all about it.  J wanted NOTHING to do with getting his feet painted but liked to use his googly eyeballs as maracas.  Hilarious.  We did this all while we were waiting for the Comcast guy to do work on our TV.  I think he thought we were nuts.  It might be true.

Like takeout in your crockpot

Every time I order thai food.  Well, almost every time, I order pork panang curry.  I can't get away from it because I love it so much.  And here it is!  In my crock pot!  Woot!

OK.  Here are the ingredients

1 cup of diced onions
1 butternut squash peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper
1 bunch fresh cilantro
4 cloves of garlic
1 cup of peanut butter
2 cans of coconut milk
1 jar of Thai Red Curry Sauce
1 jar of curry simmer sauce
1 tblspn cumin
1 tblspn cinnamon
1 tblspn ginger
juice from half a lime
2 lbs of chicken (boneless skinless)


Dice the onions, squash, red pepper and chicken.  Toss it in the crock pot.  Then throw in the garlic, cinnamon, ginger, and cumin.  Scrape in the peanut butter and pour in the Thai Red Curry Sauce, the Curry Simmer Sauce, and the coconut milk.  The juice from the half a lime gets squeezed on top and add the cilantro in the last 2 hours.   The whole thing gets cooked on high for about 5 hours.  Cook up some rice.  Pour it over the top and voila.  YUM.

Craft Crazy

I believe it was Leah who first introduced me to Pinterest.  And I wasn't up for it at the time.  But now, I'm addicted.  Ever patient Johnny humors me and helps me with the things I can't do on my own.  But so far I've finished two projects that I found on Pinterest and am in the middle of a third.  I can't wait to start more.  Saweet.

Step By Step... Oooh Baby(Setting Up the Kids' Daily Schedule)

So I reached a point last week that I couldn't handle the unstructured madness that had become my life.  Winter is looming.  Outside time is limited.  Everyone is busy busy and I was losing my cool more often than I was proud of.  So I resorted to what I know best:  being a teacher.  Before I made the decision to stay home, teaching was my life.  It defined a big part of who I was.  I enjoyed it (mostly) and miss it a lot.  So I thought, if I could handle 20 kids, I can handle two.  And so I got my cup of coffee and started to brainstorm.  How was I going to keep everyday fresh and fun over the winter without going broke?  School!

First thing I did was made a t-chart.  I used to tell my students that we have have tos and want tos during the day.  We have to get thru the have tos before we can do the want tos.  So on my list of have tos, I included basic things:  brush your teeth, get dressed, brush your hair, have breakfast, vacuum, nap, clean up, yada ya.  And then on the want tos, I made a list of all of the things I could think of to do with the kids that cost little or no money.  On this list I found myself with almost 60 things.  60 things!  How was Yo Gabba Gabba and Little Einsteins taking over my life when I could sit there and brainstorm at least 60 things?

I took this list and hit canstockphoto.com and google images.  I found pictures for all of these activities and tasks and put them into a table in Word.  I labeled each one and mounted them on construction paper.  I cut them out and my next step is to get them laminated and put velcro on the back of each one.  Once that is done, I can see how much room I need for a normal day and I can make the schedule board.

The pictures show what I've got so far.  My hope is that I'll be finished by Dec. 1st and put it to work!  As I go, I'll keep updating!

Mind Your Manners

As a teacher, manners were super important to me.  I was forever correcting kids on their manners.  Now J and M are hounded about their manners.  One of J's first words was "Day Doo".  As he hands YOU something, he says it.  When you hand HIM something, he says it.  He always says "Pees".  M has the whole repetoir:  "Pees,  Tank Ooh, Er Wekum, Scuse Me, No Tank Ooh".  And she is also super conscientiousness about eye contact.  Something I married her dad for.  Love me some good eye contact.  But she takes it to the next level.  She will not accept that you are listening to her unless she is looking you in the eye at the beginning of what she wants to tell you.


"Come on, guys!  In your seats!  Let's go to the store!"
"Mommy!"
"Yes, M."
"Mommy!"
"Yes, M."
"Mommy, Mommy!"
"Yes, M.  I'm driving, what do you need?"
"Mommy!  Mommy!  Mommy!  Mommy!"
"I'm listening, M.  What?"
"Mommy, Mommy, MOMmy!"

At which point you pull your rearview mirror down so she can make eye contact with you:  "YES!"

"We go store?"

"Yes, M.  We are going to the store."  And then she puts her paci in until the next question.  Thank goodness for that paci.  I remember when I told my dad I was worried about her not talking.  He told me not to wish for it too soon because once she started she would never stop.  Why are parents always right?

In other words...

Every time I meet someone new... like another mom at the park pushing her smiling child on the swing while I chase J and yell over my shoulder for M not to climb on that, or an old lady taking forever scanning her coupons in the self check out line at Jewel while I try and get J to pry his lips off the cart handle and keep M from putting all of the Push Pops in with our groceries, I always get the same line:  "Wow, You've Got Your Hands Full".  I know what this means.  In other words, "Wow lady, get your life together.  You look like hell."

Most likely true.  And at that moment I feel self conscious about what my kids are doing and what might be stuck in my hair... but as I maneuver my minis out to my car and unpack them and my groceries (including a few stray Push Pops and NOT including the milk that I actually went to the store FOR), I try and remember that the snot on the back of my thighs from the hugs I get while I'm washing dishes and the circles under my eyes from sharing my bed with a 2 year old who had a nightmare in the middle of the night and wanted to "nuggle in mommy bed", are the best gifts I can get.  They aren't going to be this little and needy forever.  When they're not... I'm going to miss it.  Until then, I'll suck it up and be grateful that I get to be home with them everyday.  I'll manage those days with friends to vent to, projects to distract me, and some good food and wine with my cute husband after bathtime and nigh night.  Emphasis on the wine.