speechless ... and a recipe!

because i can't come up with anything important to say

... see the end of the post for why my brain is so busy right now ...

i'm just going to post a picture of my girlies

patiently waiting to eat dinner and give you a recipe.

easy recipe ... delicious recipe ... made from the things that you (should) have on hand. perfectly good for a sunday morning breakfast, a brunch with last minute visitors or dinner at home ... when mama doesn't want to do much.

probably so NOT healthy for you ... but everything is fine in moderation, no?

pancake omelet ...
(set oven to 425 degrees.)

put 1/2 stick of butter in a 9x13 pan and melt in the oven while you are mixing the following ingredients.

... if you are like me ... you must get your littles occupied ... hand over two mixing bowls with cherrios, sprinkles (in a closed container) and a wooden spoon ... that will keep them occupied long enough ... cooking! just like mama!

next mix the following ingredients ...
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
nutmeg ... my recipe says a dash ... i sprinkle nutmeg over the entire top of the mixture ...

pull 9x13 pan (with melted butter) out of the oven ...

pour the mixture over the melted butter ...

place back in the oven and bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

it comes out all poofy and bubbly ... and the different shapes make us giggle ... we enjoy ours slathered with peanut butter, covered in syrup with sliced-up bananas. yummy. well ... everyone except my cora. she likes hers with syrup only and a banana on the side.

enjoy.
----------------------------------------------------------
speaking of my cora ... i came across a site yesterday ... about a little girl named cora ... she passed away ... three weeks after being diagnosed with cancer ... and it absolutely breaks my heart that her mama and i have that shared bond of being a cora-mama. there is just something about seeing your child's name and saying your child's name and hearing your child's name ... all the while, knowing that there is a mama out there grieving for her little cora.
i want to help her feel better.
and i think i can.
there are a group of etsy crafters that are working together to help raise funds to build a playground in her name. click here. *cora's playground*
i think this might be exactly the shove towards starting my etsy shop that i needed.
i'll keep you updated.
and if you have an etsy shop (or want to start one) ... think about helping out too.

TAP ... TAP ... is this thing on? ... TAP ...

i was about thiscloseto taking a picture of the dishes i washed the other day.

a few pans ... a few glasses ...

and a hugesassload of medicinal droppers and syringes and measuring cups. it was very telling of the last few weeks.

i think to date we've had 4 ear infections, two bouts of a stomach bug and a four-day course of a 103 degree fever. that fever quickly became a 105 degree fever ... in my littlest ... and we ended up having to get an injected antibiotic because she was too sick to keep anything down ... and it looked like we were battling strep throat. all in all ... breathing treatments, steriods, 5 types of antibiotic, advil and motrin, wine and beer ...

blah blah blah ... girls are sick ... blah blah blah ... typically ol' mommy blog complaints ... blah blah blah ... sick of it yet?

me too.

and i guess what i'm really here to say on monday morning ...

is casey (the definitively fearless leader) over at hasay (a group of bloggers trying to lose weight) ... gave us a kick in the ass this morning. she said (in better words than mine) ... stop the excuses ... get on board ... or go.

and casey? i'm here.

today ... it's pathetic ... another 2 pounds ... in the last two weeks.

but i'm ready for more.

and i'm going to do it this time. no excuses.

by the way ... the no pop thing ... i did it. i urge you to do it too.

(and casey ... if you are ever interested ... i know the internal motivation is the best ... right? but i'm wondering if we could do some problem solving to figure out some external motivation ... i'd love to help you?)

dear kitty.

dear kitty,

just for the record ... when you follow reallyclosebehindme to get into the ladies room with me before i shut the door ... that's totally fine.
(i'm usually shutting the door to keep out the rest of the family ... or, at the very least ... ATTEMPTING to keep them out. funny how post - kids, alone bathroom time becomes sacred.)

i'm pretty ok with the fact that you rub up against my legs purring ...

i realize that you just want a little bit of attention ... 'cause you don't get it so much anymore.

and i don't even complain when you curl up on my towel while i'm in the shower (although ... since this is my blog and i can say what i want ... it would be nice if you didn't get pissy when i ask you to get off ... and also ... try to minimize the fur on the towel ... thanks. that fuzz sticks to wet skin.)

but ... my true qualm about the whole situation is this ...
as soon as that door closes ... CLICK ... there is absolutely no need for you to scramble your paws beneath it ... attempting to pry it back open. whining and meowing and howling ... as if we are going to be stuck in here. FOREVER. (drama queen.)

honestly, honey ... we're ok.

i have thumbs.

love, mama.

peeky-boo.

i've noticed the lack of pictures on this site, as of late.
too much posting over here, perhaps?? and believe it or not ... i'm getting caught up on the 365 challenge! i'm almost to where i should be ... even if i am posting silly pictures of crap in my house! wanna see crap in my house? click here! (if that's not a glistening advertisement for my 365 photo challenge blog ... i don't know what is.)

so today ...

a little game of peek-a-boo ... or peeky-boo ... in cora-speak.

has anyone else noticed my love of cora-speak lately? i think i talk about it all the time ... i'm loving her little mannerisms and word choices ... i love how she is overwhelming us with vocabulary and funny phrases ... and how she's so absolutely silly ... it melts me. she does things just to make you laugh ... and she loves to laugh along with you. my littlest-little ... i wish you all could see the sunshine that she emits constantly. i hope you all have a little of that in your lives ... it's marvelous.

and my biggest - little? that girl is growing up in front of me ... she is all-of-a-sudden a big girl. a big - ready for kindergarten kinda girl. she has complete thought processes and concerns and loves to write names and letters and add in the back seat (ok, mama ... tell me another one! ... hmmm ... what is 3 plus 6 plus 2 ... *busy fingers* ... ELEVEN!) she loves her little sister and cares for her and helps her out of the crib in the mornings ... just to help a mama out ... when i'm busy with the zoo.

so there you have it ... a post that was intended to be a simple game of peeky-boo ... turned into an oh-how-much-i-love-my-girls post.

a game of peeky-boo ... and the unfortunate location of a sippy cup. ignore it ... just look at those faces ... see what i mean? typical cora - watching to make sure that i'm giggling and typical stella - making sure that her little sis is happy.

did i mention my melting heart?

love is for everyone ...

happy valentine's day.

i cannot for the life of me figure out how to get this video in here ... so i'm just gonna trust that you will pop over to this link of the courage campaign that i linked to below ...

it's a video from those affected by ken starr's attempt to forcibly divorce 18,000 same-sex couples that were married in California last year before the passage of Prop 8. it features the song "fidelity" by regina spektor ... i LOVE this song.

i hate to get all political on a sappy holiday ... but, for a moment, put yourself in the shoes of someone being affected by this ... isn't it true (and my true feeling is) that we should never be told WHO we can love? ...

Please go here to watch the video ... and then go here to sign the petition ...

and then spend the rest of your day loving the ones that you have chosen to love.

happy valentine's day. love to you all, friends.

love is ...

love is ...
having a husband that makes me a plate of pancakes while i'm in the shower ...
just because i happened to mention that they sounded delicious.

love is (also) ...
sweet kisses and hugs from two sleepy girly-girls as i rush off to work. and their requests for "mee tiss" and "mee hud" (cora-speak for more kiss & more hug) ... enough to (hopefully) last the full 8 hours until i can get home for some more.

this post brought to you by ... spriteskeeper ... the individual responsible for making sure that i get a post completed by friday's spin cycle assignment ... delving into my amazing ability to procrastinate, just about anything ... it was really great that my family gave me a post idea this morning.

heart racing.

(no ... not a valentine's day post.)

yippee!!!!!!
i was accepted to present at a conference!

ohmygod.
i was accepted to present at a conference.
what the hell did i get myself into?

potty training technique that i never thought of ...

tonight ... my dad (boppa to the littles) ...
took us to dinner at a favorite restaurant of his.

kind of a hole in the wall ... not too fancy diner. decent food, friendly owner ...

and as i was standing there ... i overheard this conversation between a mother and her ... let's guess ... 3 year old daughter.

ok ... so it wasn't much of a conversation ...

let's call it a potty training technique.

"mommy ... i need to go potty." (note ... whiny voice used.)

mother's reply ... "fine ... but ... if i take you to the potty and you don't go to the bathroom ... i'm gonna f*&$ you up and whup your a$$." (note ... hushed angry tone used.)

wow.

wonder how that "technique" is working for them?

... and that was after we sat next to a father that brought 3 cans of pepsi to the table ... one for him ... one for his (let's guess ...) 5 year old son and one for his (let's guess again, shall we?) 3 year old daughter that walked in ... with a pacifier in her mouth.

seriously. if she has a pacifier ... i don't think she needs a caffeinated beverage.

sorry all.

i know that i am being so incredibly judgemental and that i should never talk before walking a mile in their shoes. but those two kids got pop, which i just eliminated from my diet ... and i just had a glass of water. i was am a wee bit pissy tonight.

hasay ... week 16

and the only reason that i know that already is that i say casey's hasay update this morning ... before work ... and put a giant sixteen ... 16 ... SIXTEEN! on a sticky note in my brain.

(don't know what hasay is? click on the links above ... she explains it quite nicely.)

my wii fit informed me ... rather late last night ... following a late dinner ... which is so not the norm around my house ...

shall i explain before indicating what my wii fit told me?
well. my blog. (i may have asked the question ... but i don't always require a response ... it's more of a glimpse into the dialogue of my brain-conversation ... )

so yeah. yesterday my mom was attempting to get me to make an effort to take my god awfully-clingy-and-crabby i-love-them-so-much children to her house. because (as she said ...) "you need to get them out of the house! that will help! they love to come here!" when i reminded her that she would have NEVER taken us out of the house when we were that crabby ... (hmmm ... finished the antibiotic on saturday ... might it be a return of the never-ending ear infection?? crabby...)

she relented.
"no ... i probably wouldn't have."

case closed until mother in law calls to request an outing with stella to go ice skating! which was nixed when we realized that, although stella's hand-me-down skates from a co-worker fit fabulously last year ... this year? not so much. so instead they decided to go sledding. i fed the girls a quick lunch, thinking that i would eat when cora napped.

great. now i'm left alone ... again ... with the crabbiest toddler this side of the mississippi. (who i love dearly ... oh god, i love her so much it hurts ... but ... honestly. this general feeling of moooommmmmyyyyyy ... said in the whiniest tone ... has got to go one of these days - and nights - round the clock folks.)

so off stella goes. and when she returns ... (after cora finally went down and woke up from a short nap) ... they come with mcdonalds in hand (and a skinned up chin). which stella proceeded to share with her sister. oops. she shared the mcdonalds ... not the chin injury. screw editing. during that nap ... i did not eat. i worked on my secret photo blog. (which took FOREVER, because holy hell my computer is s.l.o.w.)

so ... now ... i've basically missed two meals that the kids have received ... which would be great for the hasaying ... except that i was STARVING!

so after a quick jaunt to the store (thank you g-ma and auntie!) for some crafting materials and milk ... and coffee creamer (because i have been going through it like no tomorrow.) i threw in a pizza. which equaled ... quick snack for the girls ... food for the mama.

and then the girls fell asleep so quickly!
and i decided to wii fit so that i could be ready for this post. and ...

(yippee! we are finally back to the original story! role call!! ... who stuck around for the ending of this never-ending-post??)

my wii fit said ...
that i had gained 1.5 pounds. sucky late night pizza poundage. but on a happy note! my wii fit age is 32! (totally cool ... because that's my actual age!)

explanation? i'm noticing much more core strength. like, when i'm in the car with another driver ... i notice that i feel much more stable during turns ... and, yes ... i know how silly that sounds. but i feel that i'm much more in control of the core of my body and how i move around. i feel much more centered and even. i don't feel like it's helping me lose pounds, yet. but i haven't been overly using the aerobic portion of it.

new goals ...
~ no soda pop ... y'all might have to hold my hand on that one (maybe i'll let myself have ONE on the weekend)
~ husband and i are thinking of doing a body cleanse over the next 10 days. i'll let you know what i think of it next week. (gross i know ... but anyone out there ever done it?? suggestions? i'm scared.)
~ pledging to do at least 15 minutes aerobics (elliptical or wii fit), 15 minutes yoga (before work) and 15 minutes balance work on the wii fit over the next week ... EVERY DAY.

and husband comes home tomorrow! for 10 full days! isn't that the most exciting thing ever?

spinning for cash.

jen at spriteskeeper asked us to spin some tips for saving the economy ...
(or something like that.)

well ...

maybe it was just to explain a little something that we are doing to save ourselves money in the midst of all of the economic turmoil present in our society today.

(don't worry ... i'm not gonna get all political on ya.)

realization ... apparently i suck at saving money.
because i couldn't think of a damn thing that y'all probably aren't already doing.

except.

cloth diapers.

cloth diapers have changed so incredibly from the plain old white piece of material you folded and pinned and stuck inside of a plastic underwear with tight elastic around the tum and legs.

i LOVE my cloth diapers. really. i LOVE cloth diapering. (sometimes i don't love having to do laundry, but still). you just don't realize the satisfaction that you gain from having your child in them. they are pretty ... or handsome (if need be). cora refers to hers as the "pi-ty di-pers" (pretty diapers ... for those of you not well versed in toddler-speak). they are so much softer and (really truly) less stinky. no joke.

i had no idea that much of the smell emenating from a stinky baby rested primarily in the diaper itself ... and less upon what has been placed in the diaper. interesting, no? my daycare provider noted that the first week ... saying ... we really didn't realize that she had a **ahem** p00py dipe ...
(god, i swore i would never talk about shit on this blog ... oops. i also probably shouldn't have said god first, huh? i am so screwed in the ever after department.)

figures ... calculations ... math ...
(have i ever mentioned that i suck at math?)

but for you ... i'll give it a go.
let's just look at her diapering between the ages of 1 and 2, shall we? (the cost savings from newborn to age one is even more ... )

we purchased 15 diapers in the large size from chunkymonkey.com (love her ... check her out).

15 x $17 = $255.00

let's say we go through an average of 7 diapers per day.

(we continue to use disposables at night ... and occasionally during the day ... if mama forgot to throw them in the dryer or something. oops.)

disposables are $40 for a pack of 140 (at costco).

so, in all honesty ... a pack of disposables lasts us ... 10 weeks ...

so, we buy ... let's say 5 boxes of disposables over the course of a year.

grand total spent so far is: (cost of cloth plus cost of disposables over the year) ...
$455

if we were to use strictly disposables at an average of 8 diapers per day ...
we would need a new box of disposables every 2 weeks (approximately - the math is kinda overwhelming my brain at this point ... deal.)
our cost per year would be $1040.

so we are saving about ... $585 per year.

and we saved considerably more during the first year ... when you go through ... oh ... 15 diapers per day!

and the thing is ... those diapers ... when we are done ... are able to go through another kiddo! so the savings adds up even more ...

here is a direct quote from the chunkymonkey website ...
Why should you use cloth diapers?
Save Money - $1000 or more in the 2-3 years your child is in diapers
Help the Environment - keep about 1 ton of diaper waste out of the landfill each year!
They are easy to use - they go on just like disposables
They are easy to clean - an extra soak and rinse cycle is all you need to launder them
You will never run out of diapers again!
They look adorable on your baby!
Americans throw away 49 million diapers every day!
They can take up to 500 years to decompose.
THE COST FACTOR FOR CHOOSING CLOTH DIAPERS:
A very basic cloth diapering system will cost approx. $448 – 48 prefold diapers & 12 diaper covers. The cost of laundering your diapers is minimal – about 3 additional loads per week. If you use disposables the following is an average of how much it will cost. The figures are based on 7 diaper changes per day at approx. $.40 per diaper.
A 6 week old will have an average 6000 diaper changes ($2400- more from birth obviously!)
A 6 month old will have an average 5000 more diaper changes ($2000)
A 12 month old will have an average 3800 more diaper changes ($1520)
An 18 month old will have an average 2500 more diaper changes($1000)
A 24 month old will still have about 1200 more diaper changes ($480)
The environmental impact of using cloth diapers is vast. You will keep approximately 1 ton of waste out of the landfill every year per child

did you see that? the environmental impact is what gets me more than anything. scary huh?

so, yeah. it's not for everyone. i completely understand that. but for us ... it's what works. and in all honesty ... it's the least i can do.

alternative occupations ... first edition

i like my job.

i do.

but there are these moments and days when it sucks bigtime ...
like when i have a new student that has a label of autism ... but so clearly has just been abused over her shortshort lifetime and is now in her 4th foster home. or when i have loads of paperwork to complete ... but no time to complete it in. or when a co-worker asks me for the million-th time to come and see a kid in her room ... but i'm not allowed to without parental permission ... like i've said a thousand times! or how about when i get spit on ... multiple times over the course of a day ... on the side of my head (ugh ... bleach anyone?).
or when ...

i can stop there ... i think you get the point.

so ... i've come to the point in my life where i am always keeping an eye out for possible occupations that just might interest me ...

the first?

the sidewalk snowplow-person ...
(and because i have at least one reader in an area of the world that doesn't require this occupation ... definition ... the person that moves the accumulated snow off of the sidewalk to allow pedestrians to utilize the sidewalk for walking purposes. you are so welcome.)

pro: instant satisfaction on a job well done ... just turn around and look behind you.
con: seasonal employment.

pro: peace and quiet.
con: too quiet.

pro: seasonal employment!! spring - summer - AND autumn off!
con: potential bank account issues.

pro: the chance to catch up on listening to the radio or books on tape or talk radio.
con: that would get old quick. maybe.

pro: time alone.
con: time alone ... without a computer at my fingertips.

ok ... fine. i'll stick with this damn job a wee bit longer. at least i'm not lonely. or broke.

anyone have any ideas for other occupations that might suit me well?? feel free to leave suggestions in the comments.

hasay ... week ... {cue crickets}

casey ...
what week are we on now?
anyone?? anyone??

so, yeah ... hasay ... week whatever ... (please see comments ... i'm pretty sure that casey will update you down there.)

down about one and a half pounds.

wanna hear my excuses??

sick kiddos.
both of them.

no sleep.
ever.

doctor's visits.
lots of them.

mcdonalds right next to the clinic.
how convienent.

husband gone all week.
'nuf said.

pharmacy overloaded.
screaming kids that needed food and naps ... but wouldn't eat at the target food court while we waited 2 hours for the pharmacy to make the medication after the prescription had been called in 2 hours prior and mama couldn't deal with both kiddos while walking around the store because they were CONSTANTLY trying to squirm out of the seats and hang themselves on the ridiculous seatbelt thingy and belly really wanted a TOY! like right! now! and coconut wanted THAT book! no ... did i say that book? i meant THAT book! no ... not that ... i want the one that really isn't a book but is some broken computer thingy book that isn't working and is attached to the shelf! that's what i want! and.if.i.don't.get.it.i'm.gonna.scream!!!!!.

good enough??
thanks.

i'll try better this week. i promise.