All is Well

I think (I think) we are in the clear with the tummy bugs.  I figure we will have dodged the bullet if everyone is fine through tonight.  Our son was the only one to get sick!  Hallelujah.  I'm sad our little guy threw up so many times but am thankful no one else got sick.  (Quite frankly, I'm shocked no one else got sick!)

Our son threw up for about two days.  He spent most of yesterday sleeping (praise God) and slept through all of last night as well.  Today was his first day back on solid foods.  I suspect he was hungry.  The kid had food on the brain.  It was his favourite topic of conversation all day long ---- especially cheeseburgers, of all things!

"Mommy?  What's in a cheeseburger?  How do you make cheeseburgers?  Can you make some cheeseburgers?  Can you make some cheeseburgers today?"  And on and on and on.  

Sadly, we did not eat cheeseburgers for supper tonight.

Tired

I am seriously lacking motivation these days.  Seriously.  I've been running on fumes most of the week.  Blech!  

I think the root of my problem is a pesky cold that refuses to leave.  It's haunted my body for the past three weeks.  The darn thing has taken up permanent residence in my sinuses.  I'm not deathly ill, more under the weather, and haven't felt great for a long time.  It's time to be healthy already!

Enough complaining.

Hello and Good Night

I'm still here :-).  Just tired.  And valiantly fighting a cold war.  (That is, a war against a cold.)  I'm not sure which way the battle will turn.  

That's why I'm shutting off the computer and heading off to bed...

Please Pass the Kleenex?

It's been a snotty day around here.

A round of colds has slowly drifted through our family this past week.  So far child #1 and I are the only ones to escape unscathed.  Child #2 caught the cold first (he always does, it seems) and is pretty well recovered.  My poor husband is under the weather with a persistent sinus infection (left over from the last round of colds).  Unfortunately, children #3 and #4 have it the worst at the moment.

Of course, children #3 and #4 are the ones who can't wipe their own noses...

(Sigh.)

It's not been an altogether bad day, mind you.  We took it slow and made some crafts this morning.  The little guys had a long nap this afternoon and I'm thinking an early bedtime is on the horizon.  

And then I will run to the grocery store and buy a case load of tissues...

Hi, We're Still Alive

Here's a quick update from Inksterland.  

Three of the kids and I have been sick.  (Ben and the timbit are healthy, thus far!)  We've been struck with fevers, coughs and sore throats.  At first I suspected Fifth Disease, as it is going around our son's school. I'm now not so sure.  Our four-year-old has a minor rash on his face but is the only one.  Perhaps we've simply caught a random virus?

We really can't complain.  Our family has been exceptionally healthy since last spring.  If this is the worst we'll face this winter, I will be extremely thankful!

Thankful

I am incredibly thankful for our family's good health these past months. Last year it seemed we were sick all fall and winter. (Admittedly, my memory may be coloured by last year's pregnancy fog.) This time around we've hardly caught more than the sniffles. Praise God!

I was worried our four-year-old, in particular, might be sick a lot this year. He seems to have a weaker immune system than his siblings. Whenever a cold goes through the family he catches the worst of it. Last winter the poor guy had a perpetually runny nose and several ear infections. I was a bit worried this fall because I figured our four-year-old would bring home all sorts of germs when he started preschool. I'm pleased to report this hasn't been the case! Our little guy had one cold with a nasty cough a couple weeks ago, but it cleared up quite quickly.

Why have we been so healthy? I don't know for certain but I have a few theories...

We moved to a new house this summer. (I don't know if our house has anything to do with anything.) Maybe our family is healthier because we're not living in such close quarters? Maybe we share fewer germs now that we have separate bathrooms?

The kids are napping more than ever before. Last year our eldest son attended jr. kindergarten for two hours every afternoon. He's a kid who needs a great deal of sleep but on school days he wouldn't get a nap. As well, the other children had their naps cut short every afternoon as we dashed to the preschool. (Oh, the tantrums!) This year our kindergartener has actually reverted back to napping on the days he is home. All the kids sleep for about two hours every afternoon. (Those are two hours of peaceful bliss!)

I am no longer volunteering at the YMCA. Last year I taught a preschool music class each week. Our (then) three-year-old attended the class with me and the other children played in the babysitting room. I am convinced the kids picked up tons of bugs from the Y. Though I have a great deal of respect for the Y's volunteer programs, it was always difficult to find last-minute teaching subs if the kids were sick. Many volunteer moms simply brought their sick kids into the babysitting room. There were no other options. I really enjoyed teaching the music class, however, I am very thankful the kids no longer visit the Y.

All that to say, I am grateful for our family's good health. It is not something we take for granted. Cold and flu season can feel like a marathon (especially come February...) and I will happily accept every healthy day God sends us.

Just a Spoonful of Sugar...

This is a tip I read in Canadian Living last week --- and it really works! (It's especially helpful for all my pregnant mommy friends who can't take medication for colds.)

If you feel a tickle in the back of your throat eat some very dark chocolate, one composed of at least 70% cocoa. (I am not making this up.) The chocolate contains an active ingredient called theobromine which suppresses nerve sensitivity in the throat and reduces the urge to cough. According to the article "two ounces of dark chocolate pack the same punch as a dose of strong cough medication".

Ben and I both tried this remedy a few days ago and it totally worked.

Sweet!

Are We Going Vegetarian?

Mmmm. Farty food. Our family has been eating a lot of it lately. Beans and lentils. Peppers and broccoli. All that good green stuff.

Contrary to popular belief (or my dear husband's complaining) we do eat meat from time to time. The truth of the matter is, we're simply eating less meat than we used to. This hasn't been a conscious decision, though. Our eating habits are slowly evolving and changing.

Why are we eating less meat? I think the change is partially due to the fact that I mostly try to buy antibiotic-free, "natural" meat. The meat I buy is not certified organic (but that's essentially what it is). Quite frankly, it's expensive. Meat is becoming more of a treat. A good piece of chicken is not something we take for granted anymore. Roast beef is a real extravagance. Pork is totally off the radar. We don't even buy it because I haven't found a good supplier.

When we eat rich food, we eat rich food. This is especially true of our family dinners on Sunday and Monday nights. Our moms spoil us. After all that good home cooking we're set for the week. Sometimes it feels like we need a few days of simple, meatless meals to recover from the overindulgence.

Also, our family does eat out fairly regularly. If I'm honest, it's at least once a week. We're not talking about gourmet restaurants, though. Pizza Delight is about as fancy as we get. Wendy's is another favourite. If we're going to spent our money (and caloric allotments) on fast food we need to make up the difference somehow. We eat a lot of beans for our other meals.

I'm also really into soup lately, for whatever reason, and am especially drawn to meatless recipes. Vegetarian soups are easy, healthy and economical. Our kids will eat almost anything and they seem to like the beans. I love simmering soups in my crock pot on cold, blustery days.

So, no, we're not going completely veggie. Ben and I will continue to enjoy eating meat. Everything in balance. Everything in moderation. Some meat is very good. (And some beans are even better.)

Dragon-licious

Yesterday at the grocery store we stumbled across a dragon fruit. The kids begged to bring the fruit home so we bought one for our family. "It's good to try new things!" our five-year-old insisted.

This morning I sliced into the unusual fruit for breakfast. How beautiful! I was shocked by the dragon fruit's vibrant colour. The outer part was bright fushia, surrounding a white inner pulp full of tiny black seeds. The fruit was a little bit like kiwi, with a similar texture. The flavour was mildly sweet.

Our kids gobbled up the dragon fruit, leaving nothing for Daddy to sample :-(. Our two-year-old especially enjoyed her fruit.

Gorgeous.

Rice crispies and dragon fruit --- the breakfast of champions.

Inspired by the dragon-y goodness.

Dancin' Man

We've registered our five-year-old son for ballet classes. Some people think this is an unusual extra-curricular activity for a little boy but our son is super-excited about dancing. A couple weeks ago we bought his uniform (black exercise pants, a white t-shirt and black slippers). My goodness, that boy looks cute in his dance clothes. He's tried them on several times over the past few days, just because he's so eager.

Why ballet?

Our family is not terribly into sports. (Sorry Uncle Matt.) We're more interested in the arts. At the same time, we would like our kids to be involved in physical activities. Dance seemed like a good fit for us. It also doesn't hurt that dance lessons qualify for the government's active living tax exemption!

We've registered our son in a local Christian dance school. I am very cautious about enrolling our kids in a school that isn't faith-based, especially for the boys. We know we can trust the type of instruction our son will receive at the Christian studio. Modesty and strong character are stressed highly, and our son's masculinity will be affirmed. It also doesn't hurt that friends from church and school also have children enrolled in the same studio.

I think ballet provides an excellent foundation for physical development. (Much the same way I value piano lessons.) Do I expect our children to stick with ballet forever? Not really. I hope they enjoy the activity for a few years, gain some coordination and grace, get exercise, and hopefully develop a greater appreciation for the arts in general. I'd love for dance to be an activity our entire family will enjoy together.

With our son, Ben and I have stressed how male ballet dancers must be very strong and physically fit. Our little guy has really latched on to the concept. As we left the dance supply store a few days ago, his new ballet uniform in hand, he proudly marched over to the front door.

"Here Mommy," he exclaimed, "Let me open that door. I'm very, very strong you know!"

Delish

"Baby Wheats" has become our kids' new favourite cereal. (Could that be Mini Wheats?) Between the three children who possess teeth in our family, they ate about half a box of it for breakfast this morning. Mmm. Gotta love high fibre cereal...

Book Review:
Homemade

This book is awesome. If I had to choose a single cookbook to keep on my shelf, this would be the one. Homemade claims to include "702 ways to save money and the earth ... how to make hundreds of everyday products fast, fresh and more naturally". I believe it fully lives up to the promise.

Would you like to make your own multigrain bread? How about marshmallows? Ketchup? Maybe lip balm? Or toothpaste? I especially appreciated the numerous recipes for non-toxic, natural cleaners. Homemade contains terrific recipes for food, health and beauty products, home remedies, pet care products, cleaning agents and gardening aids.

I read every single recipe in this book. I liked the ingredients and instructions because nothing was scary, complicated or intimidating. Many products I always wondered about are included within Homemade's pages. I now feel confident enough to attempt making things like pickles or my own bathroom cleaner.

Homemade is an excellent resource for any homemaker. This book may very well become my go-to wedding gift for new brides. I borrowed my current copy from the library but intend to purchase a book of my own very soon. I feel sure the investment will quickly pay for itself. Our family's health and budget will reap great rewards.

Book Review:
Taste of Home Casseroles

I have mixed feelings about this cookbook. I enjoy many Taste of Home recipes because they are simple, delicious and unfussy. I prefer down-to-earth ingredients and unpretentious dishes. Most of the time, I love making casseroles because they are easy and can freeze well for later meals.

This book contains over 440 casserole recipes. The recipes are divided into categories such as Poultry, Beef, Pork, Seafood or Meatless Classics; Quick and Easy; Side Dishes; Breakfast and Brunch; and World Favorites. I love the extensive indexes at the end of the book. I also appreciate the handy serving suggestions for sides, salads and desserts.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed with many of the recipes in Casseroles. To be blunt, if I routinely served these meals to my family we would become very fat. In my opinion, potato chips should never be used as a casserole ingredient. As well, what dish requires four pounds of cheese? I was disturbed to read comments such as "I serve this meal at least twice a month" and "my children always licks the platter clean" attached to horribly unhealthy meals.

Granted, Casseroles contains numerous recipes for nutritious meals as well. I also realize that, by their very nature, creamy casseroles are often sinfully rich. Many recipes can be adapted with low-fat, low-sodium ingredients and healthy substitutions. On the whole, I did like Taste of Home Casseroles. I even included two recipes from the book in my menu plan this week (with a few changes). I simply feel this cookbook should be used with discernment, and some of the recipes are best avoided altogether.

Curious Bedtime Apparel

A terrible round of colds has been working through our household lately. (I believe our family is singlehandedly keeping the kleenex industry afloat...) We've had more than our fair share of coughing, sneezing, runny noses and sore throats.

As is often the case, our three-year-old has fared the worst of the bunch. His cold turned into a nasty ear infection. For a few days the poor little guy's cough was especially horrible. He coughed to the point of gagging and throwing up several times.

As a result, our three-year-old made a habit of taking his "bucket buddy" to bed at night. Just in case. The other night Ben and I went in to check on the boys before turning in ourselves. We found our son fast asleep, sporting the following headgear:

(Please excuse the picture quality. The room was dark.)


We're not exactly sure how he managed to fall asleep with a garbage can on his head. (No worries, it was clean and empty.) Our son was thoroughly unconscious. Perhaps Ben and I were somewhat overzealous with the powerful cold meds...

Book Review:

Deceptively Delicious
by Jessica Seinfeld

This is a very cool book. A very sneaky book. A book about getting vegetables into kids' bellies (without them even realizing it).

In a nut shell, Deceptively Delicious is a cookbook filled with creative versions of everyday recipes. Each recipe incorporates a sneaky veggie puree --- a hidden shot of fibre and vitamins. Some of the suggested recipes seem quite outlandish, but are intriguing nonetheless. I am itching to try them out. Some of Jessica Seinfeld's most interesting suggestions include:

• Brownies (with carrot and spinach)
• Chocolate chip cookies (with chickpeas)
• Banana bread (with cauliflower)
• Homemade ketchup (with carrot)
• Macaroni and cheese (with butternut squash or cauliflower)

Jessica Seinfeld includes instruction for preparing and freezing vegetable purees. Some veggies are simple to prepare (like avocados) but others require a bit more work. I think I'll buy a few jars of organic baby food to try in some recipes before I commit to making my own purees. (Carrots, squash, sweet potato and peas are all easy to find in the baby food aisle.)

I also enjoyed Deceptively Delicious' vintage cutesy feel and gorgeous photography. Nearly every recipe is accompanied by a luscious photograph. (And cookbooks without pictures are just plain boring, aren't they?)

Check out Jessica Seinfeld's website for more information about her book.

Here's to all you sneaky moms out there!

Martha Was Right

I just finished reading the February issue of Martha Stewart Living. (Thanks for the subscription, Lori!) A recipe from the magazine recommends serving chili topped with ripe avocado because the avocado is a healthy alternative to sour cream.

Oh man. What great advice. The creamy avocado tastes so good on chili.

Score one more for Martha!

The Pink Spot?

Waking up this morning with my eyes glued shut was not a pleasant experience.

Pink eye??! Yuck!

Here's some good news: Polysporin makes over-the-counter antibiotic eye drops, so I don't need to wait for a doctor's appointment. Relief is coming very, very soon.

I am just praying no one else in our family catches this!

Menu Plan Monday
January 21, 2008

I have been reading an excellent book entitled Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. This book is similar to the Canadian literary phenomenon The 100-Mile Diet. Kingsolver's book has taught me a great deal about agriculture, gardening, commercial meat production, economics, nutrition and even cheese making!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is changing my preconceptions regarding food and cooking. I think our family needs to make some big changes, but we're caught in limbo for the time being. (It is challenging to find locally-grown produce in the middle of an Alberta winter!)

At the same time, I believe in taking small steps toward a larger goal. In particular, Kingsolver's book has caused me to re-think our family's source of meat. I no longer feel comfortable buying regular meat from the grocery store. (That is, meat produced in commercial feeding facilities.) I do know of a couple sources for organic, local, farm-raised beef and chicken though. I plan to use up the meat we have in our freezer, and from then on, to buy meat from local farmers. I realize this could mean our family may not eat meat every day. Good thing our kids love beans, eggs and other vegetarian goodies!

Here's my proposed menu for the upcoming week. I have lots of frozen ground beef and chicken squirrelled away, so our menus will reflect that for the next while.

Monday: No cooking (supper at my parents')
Tuesday: Homemade soup (from the freezer), fresh multigrain bread
Wednesday: Whole wheat spaghetti with meat sauce, green salad
Thursday: Foil-pack taco chicken dinner, steamed carrots, green salad
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: No cooking (supper with Ben's family)
Sunday: Orange-molasses glazed chicken, brown rice, steamed broccoli with almonds

Don't forget to take a look at the Menu Plan Monday Mr. Linky hosted by Org Junkie.

Thoughts for the New Year

I've never formally made New Year's resolutions in the past. This time around I have a few thoughts for the upcoming year. Here are some things I'd like to work on in 2008:

• Invite friends over for a play date once a week.

• Take more time to call friends on the phone just to chat and be an encouragement. (This is a really tough one for me.)

• Go to the Y twice a week (on Mondays, Wednesdays or Thursdays) to swim / walk / or take a water class.

• Drink a glass of water before every meal and snack.

• Include one soup recipe and one meatless meal in my menu plan each week.

• Finish knitting at least one afghan block each week. (I've completed seven of the thirty blocks so far.)

• Take the kids outside for walks or to the park as often as the weather will allow.

• Read more classic Christian literature. I plan to start with C.S. Lewis' books.

• Watch my critical tongue. I often say negative things (especially to my family) without thinking about how my words some across.

• Make sure more clutter / stuff / junk goes out of our house than comes into it.
  

• Shower Ben with physical affection and make going to bed early a priority.
  

I am excited to start the new year. Welcome 2008!

The Weekend

Suffice it to say, we put the "bucket buddies" to good use this weekend. What an ordeal.

I think (hope, pray) this bug has finally worked its way through the entire family. We've all been sick over the past few days. I can honestly say I've never been so violently ill in all my life.

However, I am thankful.

Thankful Ben and I were not sick at exactly the same time. Thankful our eldest son has good aim. Thankful we were well-stocked with groceries. Thankful our carpet escaped unscathed. Thankful I'll be well enough to attend my ultrasound appointment tomorrow. Thankful our little girl was the least sick of us all. Thankful the baby is okay. Thankful we had a good excuse not to go out in this frigid weather!

Here's to hoping for a brighter week.