Come Play With Us

MTM

It is Muffin Tin Monday at our house today.  The theme this week is Thanksgiving.  I decided to just do a mini Thanksgiving dinner for our muffin tin tonight.  I have been thinking that C isn't going to be overly thrilled with Thanksgiving dinner this weekend, so I thought I would give it a trial run.

1. Green Grapes (have nothing to do with Thanksgiving, but I knew she would eat them)

2. Craisins (representing cranberry sauce)

3.  Green Bean Casserole (I have never been a fan of this myself)

4.  Pumpkin Fluff (canned pumpkin mixed with Cool Whip)

5.  Leftover Turkey Meatloaf (I swear it tastes better than it looks in this picture)

6.  "Stuffing" (wheat toast with butter and garlic)

Soooo, looking at this picture, I don't think I would have eaten much of this plate if someone set it in front of me.  It looks pretty gross.  I guess C had the same sentiment.

And here is what was left:

Well, you win some, you lose some.

Take note of the banana chunk in the meatloaf.  She wouldn't eat any more of it after she dropped it in there because "my banana is SO dirty, Mama".  

And because I was not in the mood to be stern Mommy, making little girls try everything on the plate, C actually had for dinner:  a banana, some more grapes, some corned beef, and three slices of cheese.  

And my non picky eater, E, ate all of the rest of the green bean casserole, a bunch of the plain canned pumpkin, and some wheat toast for dinner.  I can't believe how open she is to new foods and textures.  I hope she continue to be that way!

Don't forget to click the link at the top of the page to see lots of other fun Thanksgiving theme meals!

 

 

A Jelly Kind of Day

As I sit here listening to my dog downstairs yipping away in his sleep, (and wondering if I accidentally gave my cat brain damage when I swung the front door shut with my hip and he happened to be peeking out the door a the time) I really should just be heading to bed. 

Tomorrow is the Wisconsin "gun opener" as the fellas call it.  The hubs left this morning so he could get up north in time to put his deer stand up and give his neck a little time to swell for the rut....

The girls spent the day at Nana and Bop's today.  They really don't get to spend much time with either set of grandparents, so this was nice for them to get to spend the day.  Most of the day they were just with Nana, because Bop was heading up north as well.  

Andy's dad is pretty much well know for his sweet tooth, so I can always count on the C having had some treats while over there.  I get a little kick out of asking C what she ate when she was over there, each time she comes home from a visit with them.  So this evening when we were eating dinner, I asked her what she ate at N&B's today.  

"Jelly Donuts"

 I asked how many did she have.

"Two"

What else did you eat?

"Jelly Sandwich"

And what did you eat for lunch

"French Toast with Jelly" (I am pretty sure she had chicken noodle soup, actually.)

Hmmmmm.  A lot of Jelly, huh?

"Yeah, Mommy.  I like Jelly."

 

 

 

Baby Steps

I was finally able to catch a video of E walking.  Please forgive the messy house in the background, I normally keep such a tidy house it looks like that a lot.  

 

She is 9 months, 3 weeks here.  

She also said Mama yesterday for the first time :)

MTM

 

Today's theme for Muffin Tin Monday is the Food Pyramid/Nutrition. 

I remember a few years back I heard that the food pyramid was changing, but at the time didn't think much of it.  I took this theme as an opportunity to do a little research and assess not only the girls' diets, but our whole family's as well.  I looked up the food pyramid on the USDA website.  This site has lots of good resources and tools.  I found, though that the whole idea of setting dietary guidelines for our family isn't very practical using the concept of the food pyramid. 

I don't think I would do a good job of mangaing to keep track of how many ounces of grains/cups of fruit/ounces of meat and dairy we are all taking in vs. what is recommended.  I did learn (and this really resonated with me) that one of the best things we can do is to set a good example of eating well, being active and staying healthy.  I definitely think this is something we need to work on.  

Michelle at Muffin Tin Mom posted a link to this article which encourages parents to think about ratios of servings instead of specific amounts.  The article also talks about the CDC abandoning their 5 a Day campaign with respect to fruits and veggies, and are now advocating "half your plate".  They recommend filling half your plate with veggies and fruits.  This seems like an easier approach to me.  

At any rate, I am glad that I had a chance to really assess our food choices and diet, and can see that we need to continue moving toward a more healthful eating pattern.

1. Raspberries (really tasty ones too!)

2. Spring Roll (trying something new and out of C's comfort zone)

3. Cukes (C thought these were pickles--we'll go with that)

4. Cheese whips 

5. Leftover ham

6. Wholegrain toasts in heart shape

I didn't really do too much explaining, except to tell C that we want to eat healthy foods so we can grow big and strong.  

She did pretty well with this I thought.  I didn't even have to coax her into trying the spring roll.  She saw me eating one, and took a bite of hers.  I think it was just too big for her to eat. But she ate some of everything.  

 

 

Handy Andy

Andy made a small bookshelf for cookbooks and whatever else.  He said he was just going to "slap something together".  

We are thinking about painting it.  What do you think?  Or should we just leave it?

Girls

My dear husband thinks it is necessary for C to have short hair.  He quite seem to manage a ponytail on the poor girl.  He says his fingers just don't work that way.  A couple months ago I took her over and spent twenty some dollars on a haircut.  

I can't really justify that for a little girl's haircut that lasts about 5 minutes.  And considering I typically cut my own hair and Andy's, it seems silly to me to bring a two year old to the salon.  

So last night I gave it a try.  And if you don't look too close, it doesn't look too bad.  

She has really fine hair, and I actually think this makes it look much fuller.  The sides are a little uneven, but I did my best with the little wiggler.  

Please note the ratty old throw pillow this girl is so attached to.  This is her "soffie pillow".  This was the first pillow we gave her in her bed.  I recently got her a really cute Disney princess fleece pillow and put it in her bed.  Now she sleeps all crammed in the corner of her bed with her soffie pillow, completely ignoring the new pillow.  I suppose that is how it goes though, huh?  

And here is Miss E, who has taken to pretty much using whatever she can find as a pacifier, because we quit giving it to her during the day.  So I guess Strawberry Shortcake works in a pinch.  Poor little girl looks SO tired in this picture.  

I will keep trying to catch a video of E walking.  She is taking 3-5 steps at a time now, and I would love to be able to share some of those first wobbly steps.  I love how determined they are when learning to walk.  

MTM

It is Muffin Tin Monday at our house!  This week had no theme, so I decided to do polka dots.  

I was SO busy at work today, I usually have a little time to plan out what I am going to do for the evening, but I barely had any time to even run to the store for dog food (poor Windsor!).  So I didn't really have much time to come up with anything.  My theme was going to be "Whatever I Can Scrounge Out of The Fridge". 

When I got home from work, I asked C if she knew what supper was going to be tonight.  She nodded and said "Muffin Tin".  It was pretty cute because she was acting kind of shy about it.  

1. Polka Dot Mini Marshmallows (Marshooms as C calls them)

2. Green Grape Dots

3. Black and White Dots (Black olives with cream cheese in the hole)

4. Orange dots (carrot coins)

5. Berry Applesauce with strawberry polka dots (we drink our applesauce through a straw around here)

6. String cheese and mini pepperoni dots on a stick (mmmm, I like these macaroni, C says)

And scattered around the tin for decoration, Starburst polkadots.  *using up a bit of the halloween candy.  I just squashed them thin and then used my tiny circle cutter to make the polka dots.  These were well received.  

I love E's look in the above picture.  She is looking at me like, "Mom are you going to give me any more food????"

I gave E polka dot food too.  Baked beans, string cheese, pureed peas with pastina.  Hers was much more abstract.  This girl can eat, though!  

Actually both girls ate really well tonight.  C finished off most things in her muffin tin and asked for refills on a couple things.  She also tried everything.  

On a side note, I am over my birthday woes.  It wasn't so bad after all.  Plus I got a lovely lunch with my wonderful Hubs and the girls, and an ipod for a gift.  Can't ask for much more. 

Maybe Its My Birthday.

I am just not having a good day today.  I have been on the verge of tears multiple times today.   I am not sure what it is.  

1. Work is terribly stressful right now.

2. I never see or talk to my husband during the week, thus

3. I feel really lonely.

4. I am feeling financially pressured.

5. I feel stretched too thin.

6. I don't like the way I currently look.

7. Its my birthday on Friday.  33rd birthday. And I thnk this one item is just tipping the scale the wrong way.

This list as a whole is making me feel really overwhelmed and unhappy today.  

I just feel like I can't *quite* ever get it totally together.

Although I didn't feel it anywhere else today, these two little monkeys give me joy.

 

 

 

MTM

It's Muffin Tin Monday!  This week's theme was Trees/Leaves/Harvest.  I was kind of at a loss as to what to do for today's meal.  I had a completely different plan earlier today, but ended up just kind of improvising when I got home, because my earlier plan involved three items (celery, colby jack cheese and pumpkin bars) I thought we had on hand, but the Hubs must have done a little fridge clearing today.  

So anyway, here is what I came up with:

1.  Snowy white trees (cauliflower)

2. Fall Leaves (bread with Nutella and Grandma's homemade raspberry jam)

3. Haystack (french fries wrapped with fruit by the foot)

4. Ketchup.  I couldn't think of anything else to call it.

5.  Harvest Basket (apple basket with fruit salad-strawberry/watermelon/apple)

6. Harvest Moons (babybel cheese and turkey pepperoni)

See the little face in the background?  She was entertaining E by throwing a sock up in the air while I finished getting supper ready.  It was a giggle fest in there!

I had to refill the "harvest basket" three times, this was a hit!

E had watermelon, tiny apple chunks, carrots and a little cheese too!  

C ate almost everything!!  This was really great, since getting her to eat more than a few bites of anything lately has been a challenge.  She even asked for a few more strawberries after bath, that girl must have been hungry.