Is Your House Like This, Too?

For her birthday, a group of my friends gave Little Miss a dollhouse. I never opened it, thinking that a) she's probably too young for a dollhouse and b) we already have so many toys, we don't really need any more.

On Thursday, my mom opened it up and started putting it together. Those last four words still crack me up. My mom isn't exactly the most mechanically inclined person I know. She can't read a map, and the way children's toys provide instructions work about as well for her. It was rather entertaining to watch her try to put it together -- or rather to hear her, since I was working while she was doing this.

It finally all came together, and this has been the favorited toy for both the wee ones ever since. What, you say her birthday was awhile ago? Well, yeah it's true that her half-birthday is tomorrow. But I really didn't think she'd be interested in it. I was wrong.

It comes with a mom and dad and two babies. They have a swing, a slide, a kitchen table and chairs, and I think that's it. After the wee ones had been playing with it for awhile, my mom turned to me and asked, "Do you suppose they might make any furniture or anything for this dollhouse?"

I'm a smart alec. "Nope, this is it. They decided they didn't need to make any more money off this franchise. It's really a shame though, isn't it? They don't even have a bed to sleep on." My mom agreed with me. I sighed and pointed out that it was made by Fisher Price. I probably don't make enough money in a year to buy the acessories the company provides.

Regardless, the wee ones are quite content to play with it as is. They have the house completely in order.

This is the kitchen where everyone eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Apparently they don't fear carbon monoxide poisoning, as the gas grill is in the kitchen.


After dinner, the babies go up to their room. It's the nursery, according to Little Miss.



Then, the mommy and daddy walk up the stairs to their bedroom. I've decided the babies must fly to the nursery, as Little Miss didn't need them to walk up any stairs -- not even the set of stairs to the second floor before flying off to bed.


This is the mommy and daddy bedroom. I found it interesting that the mommy and daddy sleep head to toe. In our house, Mommy and Daddy sleep in the same bed with our heads facing the right direction. Eh, she's three.


And this is Sir Topham Hatt's bedroom. He is apparently a boarder in the dollhouse, and he brought some of his friends from the Island of Sodor with him. Ahh, this explains why Harold the helicoptor and friends were around the kitchen table eating with the family!


And this is Snowy's room. Yes, the famous Snowy the bear who wears underwear that Little Miss steals to wear on her head. He is apparently also a boarder who sleeps in the bedroom next to the mommy and daddy. Do you like the Thomas underwear and bowtie? Apparently he takes his socks off for bedtime though, as those aren't on him at the moment.


The rest of the trains sleep in the trailer in teh back yard. Lucky for them, they each have their own compartment (just like those creepy hotels in Japan!) with their names labeled so no one ever gets confused. Gotta love the little bit of hillbilly in Little Miss. It comes from her father's side of the family, just in case you were wondering!


After they'd been playing with the dollhouse for awhile, I asked Little Miss if she had named any of the dolls yet. I was pretty sure she had, and her vehement nod confirmed it. I was expecting more "Snowy, Snowy, Snowy, Snowy." Nope. "This is Michelle X. This is Little Miss. This is Mister Man. And this one is Daddy X." Yep, apparently I have a first and a last name in Little Miss's world, but Daddy... he only has a last name. Awwww, how sweet.

With as much fun as they've been having with the dollhouse, I'm really wondering why I didn't open it before. Then again, ask me next week if they still even notice it sitting in the middle up our upstairs hallway!

Yes, We Have No Bananas!

I went to the store yesterday to pick up some things. My two stores of choice are Costco (Hello, my name is Michelle and I'm a Costcoaholic) and Caputo's, which is a fresh market store near me. Essentially, that means that they sell things I eat much cheaper than Dominick's or Jewel.

I look at the flyer for Dominick's, and they're selling avocados 2 for $3. And strawberries are on sale for $3.99 per pound. Romaine hearts are on sale for $1.39 per pound. Oooo, and tangerines are on sale for only $1.29 per pound.

Then I check out Caputo's. Avocados are $0.59 each. Strawberries? $1.79 for a one pound container. Hmm. Romaine? Three organic hearts for $1.39 (way more than a pound there). Tangerines are also on sale. How much, you ask? Why they're $0.49 per pound.

The list goes on and on. I do head to Dominick's periodically to pick up things like yeast and pasta, as they aren't always cheaper at Caputo's, but that's really about it. I feel ripped off every time I walk into Dominick's ever since I met Captuo's.

Back to my point -- and I promise, I did have one. I picked up the items I needed at Caputo's -- some grapes for $0.89 per pound. Their yummy potato gnocchi for $0.99 per container. Tomatoes for $0.49 per pound. The aforementioned romaine hearts and avocados. And I made a mental note to come back to pick up a few more things before the Super Bowl party I'm hosting.

I paid for my items and started to walk out the store. A store employee rushes by me to help an older gentleman with a bag and bring it to him. I step aside to let him through. When he comes back the other way, he excuses himself, and I turn to watch. He's rushing back with a second bag. I sorta wondered what was so fragile and/or heavy in the bag that he couldn't hand the older gentleman both bags at once, but whatever.

Again, the employee excuses himself. No problem, I say. Then I realize that he's handing the bag to me. Umm, what? Please take this bag of bananas as our way of thanking you for shopping at Caputo's. Oh. Now it makes more sense. I thank him profusely and walk out the store.

Then I notice that the bag really is pretty heavy. So I check it out. It is full of bananas. There are eight bunches of bananas. Fifty-three bananas. I counted after I got home. There are four people in my house, and one of the four of us doesn't like bananas after they've turned yellow (guilty -- I only like bananas when they're mostly green and before they start to get sweet).

Seriously, check out the massive stockpile of bananas -- and this is after my mom took the largest bunch home with her and the wee ones each ate four bananas and my husband ate a few.



I still have twenty-seven bananas sitting here. What do you do with that many? The wee ones will be on a banana kick for only so long. And my banana recipe doubled to make two loaves only calls for, at most, four bananas.

I'm digging through my recipes to find something else to make. Lots of something elses to make. Little Miss's half birthday is on Sunday. We'll be having dairy free banana cupcakes. I'm making banana bread. My uncle has a really great banana brownie thing with cream cheese frosting that I think I can duplicate. I'm going to have to find the banana mousse recipe I'd mentioned awhile ago and haven't made since. I think I'm still going to have bananas left after that.

I don't really want to freeze this many bananas. It would be nice to be able to put something else in my freezer besides these prolific yellow treats. And the wee ones no longer think mashed up bananas spread on toast is such a special treat, so that idea is out.

Help! Save me from drowning in bananas. What else can I make?



PS Yes, I will be posting a banana recipe on this week's Tasty Tuesday. Let me know if you have a preference, and I'll try to accomodate.

PPS The title is one of my grandfather's favorite songs ever. It turned up on a CD someone made for a one year old's birthday party, and the wee ones immediately started singing it when they saw our bounty. I love kids' songs that don't make me want to poke my eyes out with toothpicks.



It's not quite the right version, but this was the closest I could find to "our" song.

Welcome, SITStas!

Welcome SITStas! I'm so excited to have you all visiting today, and I hope have fun poking around. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to clean more, but I'm still walking around one-handed. I wa planning to cook a whole feast for you, especially this new guacamole recipe I found is my current favorite.

At least I have the two wee ones -- Mister Man and Little Miss off to school, so it's a little quieter around here right now. They tend to entertain me. And drive me nuts. Then again, so does work, and yes, I'm working today, so it might take me awhile to get back to all your lovely, beautiful comments.

I've got a lot of posts out there, from my very first one where I found out why you want to change your water filter to more current ones reminiscing about my pets and learning about knife safety.

If you really want to make my day, come on back soon (or just you know, make it easy on yourself and boost my ego by following me...). I hope you enjoyed your visit!

In all seriousness though, if you are able to donate blood, please go donate now. Because of the weather and company layoffs, blood banks are way down on usual donations and are particularly short on O neg and B neg. Elective surgeries are being pushed back, and they are praying for no traumas. Find where you can donate near you (800 GIVE LIFE -- 800 448 3543), and make a difference! In fact, Manic Mommy's having a blood drive contest right now where you can actually win a six day vacation to Sandestin in Florida, among other great prizes. What more motivation do you need?

And You Thought All Girl Scouts Were Good....

I told you a couple weeks ago how I got my very first pet, Caesar. She was so special to me and was the best cat a little girl could ever ask for. She wasn't my only pet though -- considering I have two cats right now, I suppose that's obvious.

Anyway, like most girls, I was fascinated by horses. When I lived in Belgium, there was a barn just down the road from us, and a friend of mine Kiersten Grashofer -- I can't believe I remember that name! -- owned a horse named Melody that I got to see every once in awhile. Unfortunately, my French wasn't good enough to take lessons at first, and by the time it was good enough and a new session was starting, we were moving back to the States.

I immediately started riding after we moved and loved it more than I could have imagined, much to my mom's chagrin -- and that of her pocketbook! That was third grade, and I kept riding until I was pregnant with Little Miss. I'd still be doing it if I could find the time and justify the expense.

The summer after fourth grade, I had the opportunity to choose what camp I wanted to go to. Whoo! What a responsibility for an nine year old. Ok, so it wasn't so hard. My mom handed me the catalogue of Girl Scout camps, and I found the one that was horseback riding.

Oh, what a joy those two weeks were. I had so much fun riding and grooming and just hanging out around the horses. The other girls did, too, although they were less interested in the horses than I was.

Their favorite game was Stick 'Em.

Like every barn -- or almost every barn -- they had barn cats. It helps to keep the mouse population down, which reduces disease et al. And when you have barn cats, there are constant litters of kittens since barn cats are rarely spayed and less often neutered. And they tend to not live that long, so the new kittens keep the population stable, sadly. (I just realized I made a pun!)
This barn had six kittens. They were only a few weeks old, and oh! were they cuddly and soft and cute. Many of the Girl Scouts liked to pick up the kittens and toss them at haybales to see if they'd stick. Yep, that was their favorite game.

I was appalled. When I found what they were doing, I cried. And for whatever reason, the counselors did nothing about it. After awhile, my resolve grew.

When my mom arrived to pick me up at the end of the two weeks, I told her that I was taking two kittens home and was going to save them from this life of misery. My mom isn't exactly an animal person, and we already had a dog and a cat at home.

I begged. I pleaded. I told her of the torture these cats were going through, of how the girls laughed at the poor mewing kittens flying through the air before thrusting out their claws in a panic on the haybales to keep from falling four to six feet to the ground.

My mom finally relented and allowed me to take one kitten home. It was really hard to choose only one to save, but one finally called out to me. Luckily, one of the counselors knew how to tell boy from girl -- my mom had obviously learned from our last encounter.

The poor little kitten was gently placed into our car, and we began the drive home. She hid underneath the seat the whole way, mewing softly but never moving.

By the time we arrived home, I had found a name for her. I named her Copper Top because she never stopped. And yes, this was in the days prior to the Energizer Bunny or that may have been her name. Considering her blaze orange coloring, many people assumed I named her Copper because she was copper. Sadly, no.

We took her to the vet to be spayed and get her shots. That's when we discovered she had fleas. Lots and lots of fleas. Oops. Sorry, Mom. I swear I didn't know. Fortunately, we quickly rid ourselves of the fleas, and life was happy.

While Caesar didn't love Copper, they tolerated each other pretty well, and all was good. After Caesar died, you could tell that she missed having someone around. My mom wasn't about to gete another pet though, and I lived in a college dorm, so she was stuck.

When I finally moved to an apartment off campus, I brought Copper with me. I lived alone, so she was a great companion and was so happy to have me around all the time again.

Even at the age of eleven when I brought her to Chicago, she was still head shy. Eleven years of a gentle and loving home with me and my family, and the poor cat still flinched anytime someone approached her too quickly from the front with a hand out. She never got over being picked up and thrown at haybales over and over again.

I sometimes think about the other five kittens that I couldn't take with me. I wonder how many of them stayed at the barn. I wonder if the Stick 'Em game persisted with other groups of Girl Scouts. I wonder if any of them ever had a family to love them....

Knowing that I was at least able to save one kitten who had a long and happy eighteen years with me before she passed away one afternoon has to be enough. At the age of nine, I didn't have the power to do more. The injustice and wrongness of it still burns in me though.

Can I Freeze Them?

Today, my mom watched the wee ones for me for a bit while I ran out to get some stuff done that badly needed doing -- like getting my stitches removed -- without trying to wrangle the wee ones. Small children and surgical instruments just don't mix.

When I returned, I had run a bunch of errands, including picking up more vitamins for Mister Man (Little Miss has her own vitamins that are dairy free -- seriously, who ever would have dreamed that even vitamins have dairy in them?). Mister Man gets two kinds of vitamins. We give him the normal kid all around vitamin, and he also takes flavored cod liver oil, which is supposed to help a lot of things from brain development to sensory regulation and more.

When I first gave the cod liver oil to him, I didn't want to call out anything wrong to him or make him feel different from Little Miss, so I called them "brain pills" figuring that a) it was partly true and b) that he'd feel special in a good way rather than singled out. The brain pills moniker has stuck.

Needless to say, this played into both cute moments with Mister Man today.

Mister Man is a reader. And he has a fantastic memory. Once you read a book to him, he's pretty much got it down pat, so don't go trying to skip any words or otherwise cheat. Or ... in my mom's case, don't mispronounce a word. He'll catch it. And very seriously, he'll turn to you and say, "Grandma, would you like me to get you some of my brain pills? I'll share them with you because it seems like you need them."

Yeah. That's my son -- always thinking of others. My poor mom couldn't keep a straight face to even attempt to answer him.

Mister Man was at preschool when I arrived home with everything, so I put away the groceries, restocked my Band-Aid supply (for the cut still), and put the vitamins on the counter with the current supply.

Shockingly, Mister I-Don't-Miss-A-Trick walked into the house after he got off the bus and stopped to get a drink before we ran out to the chiro. Walking by the counter, he of course saw the new vitamins.

He carefully picked them up and shook the bottles to verify that yes, in fact the bottles were filled to the brim and I had purchased new vitamins rather than just putting random vitamin bottles on the counter to mess with him (ok, that's my own personal interpretation... but he really did pick them up and shake them).

I got a very soulful look from mister Man before he broke out into a joyous grin. "Mommy," he decleared oh so earnestly, "you're wonderful! Thank you so much for buying me my new vitamins. I was going to run out this week, you know. You're amazing."

Really. How can you not love the boy? I got amazing and wonderful in one breath from him. It really takes that little to please him. And I'm going to hold onto this little bit of happiness the next time he has a meltdown because he got too hungry or too tired.

And as a side note, he actually did know that was going to run out of vitamins this week. On Saturday, he'd poured out the brain pills, counted them and then determined that if he takes two pills a day (which he does), that on Thursday of this week they'd be all gone. And he counted his remaining basic vitamins and realized that he'd run out the same day and have just a half a vitamin left for Friday (a remnant from before we realized Little Miss had a dairy allergy and she had the same vitamins but just a half instead of the whole one). Needless to say, he found this very disturbing. That's my little planner.

I know this age of cuteness is going to pass and the days of them saying nice things will quickly turn into attitude and doors slamming, but I'm hoping the wee ones give me enough of this little gems that I can store up the warm and fuzzies to get myself through the pre-teen and teen years. Wish me luck!

Tasty Tuesday!

It's that time of the week again, and I have another of my favorite recipes for you. In winter, I tend to make more hearty dishes and ones that require the use of my oven or stove. Come summer, it's crock pot or the grill!

Again, I'm linking up with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. There's such a huge variety of recipes out there, and you really should go check it out if you want some variety in your cooking.

So without further ado, let me introduce you to me Chicken and Pea "Risotto." It isn't real risotto, but it has a similar taste and is super easy to make. Plus, it's one of the adult-type foods I make that the wee ones really enjoy.

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 c chicken stock (stock, not bouillion or other overly salty stuff)
2 c basmati rice
2 c milk
2 oz freshly grated Parmasean or other hard cheese
2 c frozen peas
Salt and pepper to taste (little needed)



Makes 8 good size servings (~1 1/2 c)

Cook rice as directed or using a rice cooker. If you are using stock, use stock in place of 3 c of the needed water.

While the rice is cooking, poach your chicken.


Once the chicken is done, shred/cut up the chicken into bite size pieces and add to a large, deep pan (e.g., boulliabase). Place the rice atop the chicken and stir to mix together.



Turn the heat to medium low and add the milk. Stir briefly to incorporate (using a rice paddle is most effective) and continue stirring every 2 to 3 minutes until milk has cooked down.

Add the cheese in batches and stir to avoid having clumps of cheese in the mixture. Taste and determine if pepper and/or salt is needed. Salt and pepper to taste. Add peas and stir to combine. In 2-3 minutes, the peas will be heated through, and you're ready to serve.


This keeps well and is good cold or reheated for the next 2-3 days.



Enjoy!

You Want To Know What?

It's been a long time since I've gone to go look at Stat Counter to see where people are coming from (hello, Paraguay, Dehli, Sydney and other locales I wish I were in!). And of course I had to check out what searches were bringing people to your humble blog here.

There were some good ones.

sissy husband
Ummm. This brought you here? Now I'm really glad my husband doesn't read this. I wonder if the person wanted to know what a sissy husband looked like or was in search of a sissy husband to dominate.

i love the cabinets from Costco
I haven't gotten any, but it's good to know they someone likes them. Someday I'll remodel my kitchen so that the cabinets are the same color on all sides, and I'll most likely get them from Costco.

how many mittens and gloves lost each year
Dude. You don't want to know. First, I don't think I can count that high, and second, I think that number would really depress you.

are evites tacky for kids birthday
Apparently "Dear Google" is a new advice column they're debuting. Let me answer it for you though -- in my personal opinion? YES! Super Bowl party? Go for it. A kids' birthday party? Not so much. And I'd like to go on record as saying that the first wedding invitation I receive as an evite, I will be declining.

ridiculous over the top birthday parties for children wish lists
Well, you won't find examples of this here, but you will find my thoughts on them. And I'm guessing that this over the top thing and wish lists isn't restricted just to my neck of the woods. Trust me, your kids are just as happy running around in the back yard. They don't need the bar set this high for happiness this early in life.

what are the nicest apartments in edwardsville
I have no idea. I don't think I've ever been to Edwardsville, although I do know that it's a town in southern Illinois near St. Louis. And that if I were to ask my husband, I'm positive he'd be able to answer off the top of his head. Actually, I tried it. I got an "oh. oooo. The only place I can think of in Edwardsville is pretty skeevy, not ghetto or anything, but definitely there aren't any luxury apartments there. If you're wanting a nice high end rental, you're getting a duplex or a townhome." Seriously, the man amazes me.

its not cheating if he watches tee shirts
Granted, I had to read this a few times before I figured out that the person was looking for a t-shirt that had the it's not cheating saying on it. To me, the fact that someone would want to have a t-shirt like that and would think it's funny... it's just sad to me. But I know I'm kinda old fashioned. I definitely won't be able to help this person!

tips for staying warm at football games
Well. You certainly came to the right place for that one! I'm an expert. Just go check out this post.

stitches hand kitchen knife
As I've learned, if you're googling whether or not you need stitches, go get the stitches. You need them. Oh, and Friday morning when I changed my bandage and moved to just a Band-Aid covering my stitches? I realized that I have four stitches, not the three I thought. Apparently I can't count anymore!

oh my god is it swearing
Technically, yes. Again, Google won't answer you, People. That's what I'm here for, I guess. So technically, yes, when you take the Lord's name in vain, it is swearing. In today's society, no one thinks anything of it, but it is swearing. Oh, and do me a favor and capitalize His name, wouldja?

swearing oh my god
Your point? Oh. Yeah. See above.

swear honest to pete
Apparently, I'm now the expert on swearing. This is a case where I would say that no, it isn't swearing. However, it is a form of invective. And I certainly wouldn't want my wee ones walking around saying it at their age.

can i get free refills with starbucks gold card
You realize that if you had just gone to the Starbucks site and read about the Gold Card program. You know... like I did. To answer your question though, no. You can't get free refills. However, if you use the Starbucks Card Rewards, then you get free refills.

But apparently I'm also the expert on the Gold Card program now:
starbucks gold drink customization

why do i want a starbucks gold card
You do. Trust me. I did the math.

It's so nice to feel needed, isn't it? Do you have any burning questions you need me to answer?