Guess who?

People I don't even know have been telling me lately how much Lainey looks like Elie. Occasionally I see snippets of Elie as a baby, but mostly I see Lainey. What do you think...

Domestic Diva or Cheap Homemaker?

I have been making an effort lately to get in touch with my Amish side. It is so easy to do things the easy way, which usually means the unhealthy way, and buy everything prepackaged and ready to go. Well, I have been on a huge baking kick lately and one day at the grocery store I had an epiphany, "I don't just have to bake goodies." So, I have been making things from scratch as often as I can. No more Marie Calendar's corn bread for me and I have not bought a loaf of bread in over a month! I get up at five o'clock every morning and hand knead a loaf of bread so that when my husband and kids wake up they get warm bread fresh out of the oven for breakfast. Just kidding. I pour all my ingredients in my 3rd generation bread maker (meaning it has been handed down three times and been used maybe 10 times not counting my most recent use) and let the machine do the hard work. I took the advice of a friend and bake the bread in my own pan instead of the machine. I love doing it. As with anything you do from scratch, it takes some planning and forethought- neither of which are skills I innately possess- but it is fun. I want my kids to grow up and think that bread comes from the oven instead of the store. Moral if this story- if you are planning on coming over for lunch make sure you give me four hours notice or you'll end up eating quesadillas.

Pooping where?

So this may be a little graphic for some of you out there but I am a mom and therefore a significant portion of my day to day deals with poop. So here it goes... Lainey Kate has been eating solid foods for a while now put the switch to real food (not just cereal) was really tough on her poor little bowels. Every time she needed to poop she would scream and go all rigid and break my heart. Finally, during one of these screaming fits when I was feeling completely helpless I decided to just stick her on the toilet. The results were instantaneous. It has been a week and a half now and every time she starts to poop I put her on the toilet. No more screaming. No more poopy diapers. I am not sure how this will look in the future, but for right now I am pretty happy and more than a little impressed.

Things I didn't appreciate as a kid that I would appreciate now...

The opportunity to sleep in
Long baths
Having whole conversations with myself and the imaginary friends around me without receiving weird looks
Energy
Having all my meals made for me
Being able to eat whatever I want
More muscle
Less fat
Never being bored
Picking horrific outfits and having crazy hair and people thinking it is cute
Being able to scream and yell when I am frustrated
Being carried

yummy

Dark Chocolate Truffle Brownies

1 2/3 cups (10 oz) dark chocolate chips**
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons water
1 cup granulated sugar (7 oz)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 large eggs
1/4 cup unsifted all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8 inch square pan with foil and grease bottom of pan or spray with a little cooking spray.

Heat chocolate, butter and water in a large microwave-safe mixing bowl at 50% power for 2-3 minutes, stopping to stir after the first minute and at 30 second intervals thereafter. Make sure you use 50% power or the chocolate might seize.

Beat the sugar, salt and vanilla into the melted chocolate mixture with a wooden spoon. Beat in the eggs one at a time until smooth and glossy (I beat the eggs for a full minute after each addition using an electric mixer), then stir in the flour.

Spread the batter into the pan and bake 35-40 minutes. Do not overbake. the brownies will firm as they cool.

Cool completely or cool and chill. Lift from pan and cut into about 16 squares and then cut each of those squares into 4 squares to make 64 minis.

**I used extra dark chips, but bittersweet would probably work just as well. I think the brownies might be a little too sweet if made with semi-sweet.

** Tastes better after they have sat overnight


I made these REALLY yummy brownies this week and I thought I'd share the recipe. Beware- they are more like truffles than brownies.

Recipe from Cookiemadness.net

Duped

Elie loves to play on the computer. She types messages to Nick on skype all day and she can navigate the sesame st. website like a pro. So for her birthday I thought I'd get her her first computer game. I spent 15- 20 minutes looking at all the kids games. I wanted something educational and age appropriate and get the most for my buck. They were all about the same price so I went for the one that offered the most. Apparently, this game was linked to an online set-up that offered even more options. All over the box it talked about all the games and that it "included a 3 month subscription" to the PBS kids play website. Well, a few weeks ago the game quit working so I called the number to see what was up. Apparently, the game is ONLY the three month subscription. To use anything after that costs $9.99 a month!!!!!! I was irate. I demanded my money back and was shot down because it oh so clearly says on the box what you are getting into. Well I shot him right back with a "well I am telling all my friends not to buy your stupid product" and a very intense hang up (cell phones take all the fun out of hanging up). So here it is, if you have any desire to buy your kids a computer game involving PBS kids play DO NOT! Learn from my mistake and go with the Dora.

Age of Dampness

These days I always feel like I am slightly moist. At any given moment I am covered in drool, spit up, snot or a spill of some sort. Even my hair is in a perpetual state of dampness. My hair daily goes from shower to bun and dries completely in time to get it wet again. As disgusting as I feel so often throughout the day I can't help but feel a little nostalgic occasionally. These are the types of details I can imagine forgetting when the kids are older. I know it faded from Elie's babyhood memories. When I look back on this time "damp" is hopefully not going to be the first word that pops into my head. So here is my tribute. My Ode to the Age of Dampness... may you one day dry.