Moster has a cold, and it is adorable

Monster has had a cold for the past couple days. In fact, the other night we thought we were going to be taking her to the doctor for croup. A few minutes by the steamy shower and the bark was gone but the next day it was replaced with a slimy runny nose, cough, and watery eyes.

The way she refers to her symptoms is so unbelievably cute. I have to force myself not to laugh. For instance, she came up to me yesterday morning and asked me sadly why her eyes were sweaty.

And I'm sure it is just me but she looks adorable when she is cute. Her face all red and puffy, eyes swollen half shut. Don't get me wrong, it breaks by heart to see her like that because I know she feels awful, but she is still cute. Oh, a mother's love.

She also was drinking Traditional Medicinals Just for Kids Organic Cold Care Tea. She looked so grown up sipping on warm tea. I hope it helps her recover a little quicker. If nothing else, I would like to think the tea was soothing. I know when I have a sore throat or cold drinking tea helps me feel better.

For dinner tonight I made Chicken & Dumpling soup. I wish I could share the recipe with you all but it is an old family recipe and I actually know how much of anything I put into it. I just add ingredients to the dumpling dough until it feels right and shake in seasonings until the broth tastes right. I started it at 9:00 this morning and let it simmer on the stove all day long. Monster loves my dumplings so it was my way of getting her to eat chicken noodle soup. I'm hoping that between the tea, soup, and extra hugs and kisses she will have a quick, medicine free, recovery.

Thankful Thursday no. 7

Its Thankful Thursday here and I think most would think I'm a complete lunatic for what I am grateful for today. You see, I'm a total Chobani addict. And Target is having a sale. And I had coupons and was able to print even more from their website. Which meant for once my lovely Cho addiction wasn't so expensive. So for once, my hectic grocery trip wasn't so bad. The kiddos and I marched into the the store, straight to the dairy section and loaded the cart with goodness. After that, I strolled though the store happy, knowing I had enough yogurt have some every. single. day. (at least for the next two weeks) even if Monster helps herself too. And the bonus that tickled this mama pink? They had the new flavors. I bought everything except the coffee flavored Bite. That one makes me nervous. I'm sure it will be good but I'm going to have to work up some courage to try it. Tonight I tried the Carmel and Pineapple Bite. Thank you Chobani! I only wish it wasn't so small. I get that it is designed to be a small snack. 100 calories. Oh, don't get me started on the 100 calorie craze. I had to practice a lot of self control not to eat more. I would have, but I wanted to have some later too! And now, I can't wait for breakfast tomorrow to try the pear flavor.

Desperatly Seeking Diaper Help!

Confession time: We use sposies at night. Its not something I'm proud of, but I hadn't been able to find a cloth solution that worked for Alien. Sposies were working for us up until now. He had been waking up dry and we are not spending that much extra since we only use one per day. However recently he has started to basically nurse all. night. long. He still wakes up dry, but immediately upon waking in the morning he poops. And all over his jammies it goes. He even stained his best sleep sack. I'm sure I could find a cloth route that would work, but we just don't have funds to experiment. So I need help! If you have had a similar experience please share what has worked for you. I would really like to remove disposables from our lives altogether. I know fitteds with wool covers work great for most babies but wool is expensive and I don't think its the best option if he is going to be pooping all over it.

Fun on Friday no. 3: Monster's zoo scene

Fridays are laundromat/grocery store days at our house. Not my favorite day of the week. Monster has been staying home with her Dad since she's been having a hard time behaving in public. So when I get home, its our special play time together. I went to help Alien with something when I hear "Mama, look, I made a zoo." I can't get over hubby & I's cake topper as zoo visitors! Way to improvise, Monster!

Thankful Thursday no. 6: Slow Cooker

Today I am thankful for my slow cooker. If my it were to stop working I would be at a complete loss as to how to prepare enough meals to keep my family happy. My dad gave mine to me a couple years ago and since then I have used it a lot! I mean 3-4 times a week a lot. In fact I have a pork butt cooking away in it right now. Using it so so simple and pretty hard to mess up. I throw my ingredients in, turn it on, and come back to a delicious meal. I mainly use mine for cooking meats but I have tried potatoes. Lately I have been scouring the internet for less conventional slow cooker uses. Breads, soups, deserts, and the such. I had no idea until recently that you could do so much with it so I am really excited to spread my slow cooker wings.

This is the slow cooker I own. It has been a hard little worker and it's held up through a lot:

Also, if you don't like cleaning your slow cooker, Reynolds makes a liner that works wonders. I have had them leak some but even then the mess is so much easier to clean up!

 

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