Some days, I make lunch.

So the burrito started kindergarten last month. It's a full day, 9-3, at a local place (read: I'm able to walk there, so if you see me driving him to school and it's not raining/snowing, yell at me), and he loves it so far. There are so many different things they do; I'm kind of scared to send him to the regular public school next year, ha.

So a friend of mine was showing off her Yumbox (lol, cute name, guys) and I decided that would be a whole lot easier than messing with cheap plastic or glass. It's usually sammiches for lunch, but sometimes I get a little more creative. I'm no pinterest queen though, so don't be expecting meals looking like pumpkin patches or spider webs or shit. You want fun baked goods, sure. I'm not out to impress my five-year-old with everyday lunchscapes.

Here are some so far, with the four- and six-compartment boxes:

Grapes, cucumber and carrot sticks, cheddar crackers, cucumber and tomato salad, "lunchables" days,

 PB&J, apple slices, hummus he picked out himself, sliced pickles, cheese sticks, yogurt, chicken cubes, and some gummy alligators

Makes for a happy lunch. So far. I'm going to try to branch out more, I promise. Probably when I run out of bread.

OH MAH GAH

It has been entirely too long, blogger. I see you over there, blowing the dust off your server. I mean, in my defense, #kids.

But, I do enjoy writing, and cooking, and eating, so maybe I will return. Until I post something of Great Political and Social Importance, I give you a Monday List.

Things I have been doing when not writing in my blog:

• getting a divorce
• going to counseling
• finding a job
• raising two kids
• trying to walk the dog
• training for a 5k
• injuring myself at taekwondo class
• waiting for Ben Affleck to call

SO, there you have it, interwebz. Hopefully this will become a place where I am comfortable to talk about all of the above, because I'm certain I'm not the only doing all or most of these. (Ok maybe I am the only one injuring myself doing TKD while training for a 5K, I can see that one.)

In the meantime, catch me on Pinterest if you need me. 

The Return of the King - and my Advent "Wreath"

Hi everyone! I'm back!

::looks around at empty room::

That's ok, I expected that. After all, I'm really just talking to myself, like always, with this blog. I haven't been rememberwriting as much as I really should though - especially if I want to actually preserve any memories. And there's always my daily phone pictures.

But I digress.

I've been pinning shit like maaaaaad lately, and finding I can actually accomplish things whilst ignoring dishes and laundry. Oops. Well, at least I have fun stuff to show for it!
The onset of colder weather has been harsh, with colds (me) and croup (B) and ear infections (S), oh my. We've also been staying inside while having our bedroom and bathroom ceilings fixed and painted, and it's just about on the level with waterboarding for two small excitable children.
So, crafting.

I didn't get to church to make my annual Advent wreath this year, so I wanted to try something a little different. I found this on Pinterest: click me, I'm a link to an awesome bread pan Advent "wreath" from Homespun Living!

And it was my inspiration - er, pinspiration (which always makes me think of perspiration) for my very own:

(Please excuse my semi-used candles...)

Some of the ladies on my crafty group were talking about something called chalk paint, and I just happened to run into some at the Crafty Store #3 the other day, so I decided to take one of our old bread pans and give it a whirl.

Bread pan, halfway through:

And then I glued some taper holders into the pan, added some pine snippings from the branches we cut off of our spider-less tree:

Et voila. We lit the first one today - I let B practice. He blew it out mid-prayer. Ah well.

Wait for it...

So, I've been a little busy. I swear I'm coming back. Hopefully with an updated camera lens, and more pictures of good things, like these two (who are the reason I have no time recently, natch)

And Leroy ate the little girl's cheerios, so I have to go now. Hashtagmotherhood.

Baby's first cold

So The Pecan woke up with a stuffy nose and sneezing this morning. Baby's first cold! Poor kid. At least nursing helped her breathe a little better, and she was happy when I pulled out the booger sucker. 

I'm hoping this is the worst of it, and she doesn't have an experience like The Burrito and end up taking a visit to our friendly local hospital with some bronchialitis. She's still pretty happy, and just laid down for a babynap, so far so good!

Happy Halloween!

There's still a baby in there people.

So I'm reading back over my posts from last time just to see how it went then compared to now. I'm getting all anxious, because I really wanted to deliver with the same dr, and she's going on vacation tomorrow!
C'mon, Pecan!

It looks like it's going about the same, only taking longer. I went in Thursday morning at 845, was 70-80% effaced and "a good two cm" and at -2 station. That was officially 39w. There was some cramping and period-like bleeding after she stripped my membranes (just like last time, lol) and some mild cramping the rest of the day. Some contractions, but since I've been having BH for a month, I'm not counting them if they don't actually do anything (ie, feel like I'm "having a contraction!!!1!1!").

I had what I think was some mucus plug and bloody show this morning at like five am, and some minor contrax, but again, nothing to write home about. Oooookay then, have it your way Pecan.

Cut to napping on the couch: more of those actual painful contrax. Three whole ones so far!
Is this the start of something real?

We shall see. I'm guessing she's just in there going "psych!"

Apple Oatmeal for a "cold" summer morning

In case you don't live around the lovely middle east coast, we had a bit of a heat wave last week. And the week before. My car thermometer broke 100 for the first time in a few years.

So this morning when I woke up and saw this:

I was all, yeeeeaaaaaah, time to make that oatmeal recipe I pinned.

We had the apple all ready for it - the burrito actually picked it out at the orchard market, and it had some nice brown marks from where he repeatedly picked it up and "put it back" in his red basket. Sweet, thanks kid.

This is an Annie recipe, and it's fantastic. I added the parts I changed, either from lack or time or hatred of a certain humiliated fruit.

Steel Cut Oats with Apples
(originally from Annie's Eats)

ingredients: 

3 cups water
1 cup (2% or 1%) milk
1 tbsp. unsalted butter (omitted, as I did not toast the oats beforehand)
1 cup steel-cut oats
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 apple, peeled, cored and grated
1/3 cup raisins (omitted, as I hate them)
¼ cup maple syrup

directions:

Combine the water and milk in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a simmer.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a 10- or 12-inch skillet over medium heat.  Add the oats and toast, stirring occasionally, until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes. I didn't toast the oats because I only had a little time before we had to get to story time.

Stir the toasted oats into the simmering liquid.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently until the mixture is very thick, about 20 minutes.  Stir in the salt, cinnamon, apple, raisins and maple syrup.  Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the oatmeal is creamy, about 10 minutes more.  Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving.
I diced the apple, because I like it with definitive pieces - they cooked very well, not mushy at all, but not too crunchy - just right!

This recipe turned out perfectly, of course, as it's an Annie recipe; I'm just glad my changes didn't screw it up! The taste of the maple syrup adds that special something. I'm so glad I got the chance to try this one. Definitely adding this to our rotation for cold mornings and fall. 

four teapots!