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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Our Monday Meal: Meatloaf

We had meatloaf for dinner tonight. The recipe I use is seriously the simplest you will find. And its full of flavor too. Growing up I never would have thought I'd be caught dead saying that I love meatloaf. I guess I never fail to surprise even myself.

The ingredients:

Anywhere between 1-2 lbs ground beef

1 box of Stove Top stuffing (I prefer savory but any flavor works)

2 eggs

1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine ingredients

Press into baking dish

  

Bake for 30-60 minutes

I somehow ended up without a picture of the cooked loaf. I swear I remember taking it so I'm not sure what happened, but it looks pretty much the same except...dryer. A little crisp at the edges. It is also a fairly inexpensive meal. I can make it for a little over $4 if I buy the stuffing during sales!

 

 

Resolutions

I have never been fan of New Years Eve. After years of something always going terribly wrong and the night turning out a complete disaster I have grown to pretty much avoid all things New Years Eve related. But Monster is old enough now that given the opportunity, she could really have fun with it.

When I was a kid my parents always had a platter of crackers with meat and cheese and sparkling grape juice. My sisters and I would take turns "serving" everyone, as if we were at a fancy party. Maybe I will run to the store this afternoon and pick some stuff up to pass down the tradition.

Thanks to YouTube we can even watch a video of the ball dropping from a past year. This way she won't have to miss out on it entirely. There is no way she is staying up late enough to watch the real deal.

This afternoon we can make party hats and noise makers.
I will teach her: What makes a year? What is a resolution? And why do we make them?
(Confession: I think New Year's resolutions are a bunch of B.S. Maybe that's because I have never been able to keep one (I know I'm not alone here). I have just never liked the idea of making promises to myself just to break them a month or so later).
I suppose it wouldn't hurt to come up with something. After all, I'm going to be explaining to her that everyone has room for improvement. Goals to work towards. There should be no reason I can't make a promise to her to better myself in some way. Let her hold me accountable.

Now to come up with a realistic resolution...

If you are looking for a book you can read your preschooler/kindergartener on the subject, Amazon.com has a digital copy Barn Yard Betty's First Ever New Year's Resolution by Claire Wynne as low as free with Amazon Prime.