Sashenka

I am a history lover.  Mostly, I enjoy American history, but I can get caught up in other world history, too.  I especially enjoy reading historical fiction and that is much of why I enjoyed the book, Sashenka, by Simon Montefiore.  It was actually really random that I started reading the book.  My mom had it in our Kindle library because she read it for her book club.  I was searching for a book to read on my Kindle for our recent weekend get-a-way.  The description sounded intriguing, so I started reading.  Part way through the book, I asked my mom if she liked it and she did.  She also thought I would like it, so it confirmed my choice in reading it. 

The character, Sashenka, is a teenage girl in the beginning of the book.  It is set in Russia during the fall of the Tsar.  Sashenka, against her father's wishes, becomes a Bolshevik and is all for that party.  Then the book skips ahead to the late 1930s during the reign of Stalin.  Sashenka is now married with two children and devoted to Stalin.  I didn't know much about the Russian revolutions before reading this book, so it was interesting history to learn about through the story of Sashenka.  It is a fictional story, by the way, but the historical parts are accurate.  Anyway, I did not know how ruthless Stalin was.  I always think of Hitler as the worst in terms of killing innocent people, but now Stalin ranks right up there in my mind. 

It is kind of hard to write more about the book without revealing a lot of what was surprising and made the story a page-turner for me.  I'll just say that Sashenka encounters some trouble and the book moves ahead, yet again before revealing the whole story.  The third part of the story is set in the 90s, after the fall of the USSR, and is told from the perspective of a historian looking back into Sashenka's life.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book.  There was a little too much sex and adultery for my liking, but I could get past it and enjoy the true suspense of the plot.  I definitely recommend this book if you like historical fiction or if you are interested specifically in Russia.  Even if you don't like either of those things, it was easy to get lost in Sashenka's story aside from the Russian political stuff.  It is a long one, but especially quick if you have about seven hours in the car and a husband who is happy to drive the whole way!  :)

3 Februaries

Last week, Aria requested to drink out of a big girl cup and has been doing so at mealtime ever since.  We've had very few spills and she seems to have mastered the skill.  I'm quite amazed at how quickly she is growing up.  It seems like she accomplishes a new 'big girl' task every week with ease.  I used to get so stressed out about making sure she was "doing what she was supposed to" as each month of her first year passed.  As the pictures show, there have been three transitions in Aria's world of drinking liquid.  Transition to the bottle was a cinch.  She never rejected it.  Transition to the sippy cup was ridiculous.  I remember the day she FINALLY drank out of one.  It was after crying for about 15 minutes because I wouldn't give her a bottle.  I kind of just shoved it in her mouth and she was like, "Oh, I guess this is my milk.  I'll go ahead and drink it."  Then, out of the blue, she switches from those babyish sippy cups and drinks out of a cup just like me.  Well, I don't own any Hello Kitty cups, but it's the same concept.  :)  My little girl is growing up and it is so fun to rejoice in each step!

Fareway

I've become a bit of a grocery snob.  Or maybe snob is not the right word, but I take my grocery shopping seriously.  I constantly battle between cheap and good quality; saving money and choosing the healthiest options.  We all know, by far and away, my favorite place to get groceries is Hy Vee.  But, I'm constantly feeling like I spend way too much money there.  Recently, their Health Market, their service, and the freshness of their products has been winning my internal struggle.  Today we set out to get groceries at Hy Vee.  I had a short list and was not expecting to spend much; the kind of weeks I'm really happy to go to Hy Vee.  On a whim, I saw an ad in the newspaper for $2.99 ground chuck at Fareway.  That's a pretty good price in my opinion, so I decided to go there just to get some meat.  When we went in, Aria was instantly sold on the place because of the cool, red race car cart.  That is a big plus for staving off whining and pulling things off shelves.  I was impressed with some prices that I saw, so I started shopping.  Pretty soon I was halfway down my list and I realized I was going to be getting my groceries at Fareway this week.  One of the things I really liked was their competitor pricing.  They had the same price as a lot of the Hy Vee deals I wrote down.  In fact, the little signs said, "competitor pricing."  The quality of the produce was great, which is another big thing for me.  Overall, their prices were cheaper than Hy Vee, but probably not quite as cheap as Aldi.  However, their service was great!  I did have a short list and it didn't have anything too out of the ordinary on it, so I'll have to reserve my complete judgement until I try it a few more times.  I will definitely be watching for their ads more often and may get a happy medium balance for my constant grocery budget struggle!

Contagion

Justin and I watched the movie 'Contagion' last weekend.  It was a good one!  I remember seeing ads for it when it was in the theaters, but we never got around to going.  I was intrigued because I really enjoyed the movie 'Outbreak' back in the 90s.  We also like the intellectual thriller-type movies.  Basically the storyline is that a strange new disease has been discovered and is killing people quickly all over the world.  The CDC and the WHO work hard to try and figure out what it is and to stop it.  Throughout the movie, they highlighted how the disease was transmitted showing how germs spread from handing someone your credit card to opening doors, to drinking out of glasses in restaurants.  It gave me the willies!  I briefly considered wearing different pairs of gloves whenever I touch anything someone else has touched.  It got over it pretty quick, but it is pretty disgusting to think about all the germs out there.  Anyway, the movie was good.  We definitely both enjoyed it.  I was left feeling a little disappointed at the very end, but not enough to put down the movie as a whole.  If you like intellectual thrillers and can handle watching the spread of germs, check out Contagion!

David and Goliath

It's 'D' week at our house and I've been so excited for this activity ever since my awesome friend did it with her son!  Today, we read the story of David and Goliath from this Bible (which has been a fun Bible to have because it has a cd of songs that came with it).  Aria is slightly familiar with the story, but doesn't talk about it on her own like she does Jonah and Daniel.  I think it will be different now.  After we read the story, we taped four pieces of paper together and made a giant Goliath.  We colored him, gave him a beard, put sandals on his feet, and made him a sword.  When Goliath was finished, we taped him up on the wall and threw "stones" at him!  What a blast!  Aria really enjoys to "throw things" at Goliath.  I'm not sure she is processing the whole story, but she can retell a little bit.  However, I'm thinking I should have saved the story for 'G' week because she talks more about Goliath than she does David.  Oh well, we can get it back out in a few weeks and do it again!  Thank you, Deborah, for your awesome creativity and letting me steal your idea to do with Aria!  What a great way to help her learn a Bible story and to be able to throw things!    

Forgotten 'C'

I knew I forgot something...

On Valentine's Day (during 'C' week) we made Canadian bacon and pineapple heart-shaped pizza!  It was delicious and full of love!

Mac Cheese

My child is a mac 'n cheese-a-holic.  This kid will eat it any day, any time.  When we go out to eat, she thinks it is specifically for 'mac cheese.'  If we are going somewhere that won't have mac cheese, like a pizza place, I have to specifically tell her what we are having instead of saying we're going out to eat.  In a restaurant, it doesn't bother me so much that she eats boxed macaroni and cheese.  Although, I do think it is funny when the menu claims to have "the cheesiest macaroni and cheese in town" when all it is, is Kraft from the box.  However, when I make mac cheese at home, I try to make it a bit healthier.  I usually cook wheat pasta.  Then I add a little bit of butter, a splash of milk and about 1/4 pound of Velveeta.  A lot of times I add some sort of vegetable to the mix because they go down easier when they are mixed in then when I serve them separate.  That way, about once a week, I can serve Aria her favorite dish without completely compromising healthy eating.  And, you should see the smile on her face when I tell her we're having mac cheese for supper! 

Petco--A Great Field Trip

Aria and I went to Petco today to pick up some dog food for Augie.  This is the most favorite errand we have to do for both of us (and Augie, too, when she gets to come).  We have a pet, so Aria gets exposed to animals all day long, but for those of you who don't, I highly recommend going to Petco even more.  Like I said, we have a pet and we have to make a monthly trip to Petco in order to feed her, but Aria still LOVES it!  We spent about 20 or 30 minutes in there today looking at cats, rabbits, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, rats, frogs, lizards, spiders, fish, birds, turtles, and the puppies that came in with their owners.  I refuse to look at the snakes.  Aria talks to all the animals and enjoys watching them eat, play, sleep, swim, and say, "hello, Aria!"  Today, I was most impressed with the man who was training his dog in the store.  He would take the dog off the leash and tell it to stay.  He then would go somewhere else in the store where the dog couldn't see him, but could still hear him.  He would then give it several commands to go left or right, stop, sit, or heel.  It was amazing to see the dog weave through the store at his exact commands!  I thought Augie was well-behaved.  I didn't ask the man, but I bet he has taken the dog to shows.  It was so cool!  Needless to say, if you are stuck in the house and need some free entertainment, why not go to the pet store?!?  You never know what you'll see!

Humilitas

Way back in September, I mentioned in a post that I had been thinking a lot about humility.  A friend of mine commented and recommended a book by John Dickson called, Humilitas.  I borrowed the book from her and proceeded to not read anything at all during the holiday seasons.  I finally picked it up in January and what an interesting read.  It definitely was very thought-provoking and fit my curiosity about humility. 

John Dickson, among other things, is a senior research fellow of the Department of Ancient History at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.  Throughout the book, it is obvious that he is very passionate about history.  I enjoyed teaching American History, so I know where he is coming from a little bit.  He spent a lot of time in the beginning of the book talking about the history of humility.  He spoke of how different society was in ancient times than what we are used to now.  In the ancient world, it didn't matter if a son was happy or made money, it mattered if he brought honor to the family.  Because honor and reputation was so important, humility was not high on their list of virtues.  Dickson says humility came to the forefront with Jesus.  Jesus said, "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  Mark 10:43-45.  In these famous verses, Jesus encourages his disciples to become servants to others if they want to be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.  Being a servant and being humble in this way does not mean to let people walk all over you.  Dickson defines humility as, "the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself."  The key in this definition is that it is a choice.  It is not someone overpowering you.  You gladly step down to help someone else up.

While I enjoyed reading the history, background, and definition of humility according to John Dickson, the parts I liked the most were near the end.  I agreed with a lot of his points about leaders needing to be humble in order to effectively lead.  I also was inspired by his chapter on how humility generates growth in your abilities.  Most of all, I liked the chapter, "Harmony: Why Humility is Better than 'Tolerance.'"  In that chapter he talked about the big issues in the world; different religions, homosexuality, abortion, etc.  He claimed we should not be tolerant of things that go against our convictions.  He encouraged readers to hold strong to their convictions, but to "treat those who hold contrary beliefs with respect and friendship."  I don't think I have ever got into an argument with people over those big controversial topics, but I have reserved my friendship and respect from people who make choices that I don't believe in.  This book made me realize I need to separate the two.  Just because I don't agree with a religion someone follows or a life choice they make, doesn't mean I can't respect the person and befriend them.  I really like a quote Dickson used from G.K. Chesterton, "An open mind is like an open mouth; its purpose is to bite on something nourishing.  Otherwise, it becomes like a sewer, accepting everything, rejecting nothing."  I think that quote says we should have our beliefs and morals.  We should have our strong convictions.  We just need to have them with a soft heart.  This also fits the saying, "If you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything."

Finally, I am going to share the steps he gives for becoming more humble.  I know I need to follow them. 
1. We are shaped by what we love.  Love and admire humility and it will come more natural.
2.  Reflect on the lives of the humble.  Jesus...enough said.
3. Conduct thought experiments to enhance humility.  I am the kind of person who over-analyzes everything, so the idea of purposefully over-analyzing something is scary to me, but it makes sense to use forethought to figure out how to act with more humility.
4. Act humbly.  Even if I don't feel up to it, I need to force myself to do it.  Kind of like getting on the treadmill; I don't want to, but I always feel better after I do.
5. Invite criticism.  I am blessed to have a really awesome group of friends whom I meet with every week.  I know they'd be glad to provide constructive, loving criticism to help me grow.
6. Forget about being humble.  Humility is low key.  You don't often notice it in a person right away.  Dickson quotes C.S. Lewis, "If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step.  The first step is to realise that one is proud.  And a biggish step, too.  At least, nothing whatever can be done before it.  If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed."

I guess I can say I have made the first step.  I know I am proud and I'm not proud of it.  I know I need to stop talking about myself and listen more to others.  I'm really glad my friend lent me this book to help me get started down the right path!

PS-I know I shared a lot of the book on here, but it truly is a great read and I would highly recommend it!

The Letter C

Ah, the English language.  I realized in my planning for 'C' week that a lot of the things I wanted to do/try/talk about started with 'Ch.'  I decided to avoid most 'Ch' things because I didn't want to confuse her with sounds.  I also decided to just focus on the hard 'C' sound.  I'm glad I made those decisions because it took awhile to convince her that her friend Sophia's name doesn't start with 'C.'  When you say the letter 'C' it says, "see."  It made sense that Aria would confuse that 'ssss' sound with the letter 'S.'  Once we had that conversation, I decided I wouldn't even tackle 'Ch.'

Something I've loved about focusing on a letter of the week is the random opportunities to point out the letter.  The coolest one we had this week was a coyote.  Yes, a coyote in the middle of town.  We do have a field in our backyard, but the field is surrounded on all sides by city neighborhoods.  Anyway, on Valentine's Day we were getting ready to eat supper and a coyote ran right past our house.  I got a couple pictures, not great, but you can at least see it a little bit.  Aria was so excited to see it!  We decided it made it's appearance just for our 'C' week.

  It seems like we did a lot more this week with 'C.'  It helped that it was Valentine's Day.  We made 'C'upcakes for Daddy.  We also made Valentine's 'C'ards for friends and family.  In Aria's Wild Animal Baby magazine there was a craft suggestion about clouds.  I have always wanted to do it, but just never got around to it.  'C' week sounded like the perfect time.  There is a pattern on the magazine's website to make stencils for the clouds.  Then we took some blue paper for the sky and white paint.  Aria used a sponge and painted clouds.  It was a blast!  I wish I would have taken pictures of her doing it, but i didn't.  Oh well.  It was a fun activity on family night that Justin got to do, too.  Here is a picture of one of the finished products:

Also in the picture is the cross we made with Jesus on it.  Aria is too young to completely understand what it means that Jesus died on the cross for us, but I thought it couldn't hurt to at least start focusing on it a little bit.  She sees crosses in several places out in the world.  She points them out a lot.  In fact, she pointed one out in the Hy Vee parking lot with the criss-crossing parking space lines.  So, we read the story of Jesus' death several times and made that cross with Jesus on it.  She will now tell you that Jesus died on the cross.  It's a nice lead in to Easter in few weeks.

Here are the numerous people we know whose names start with 'C': Grandma Connie, Caden, Caleb, Cody, Connie, Camryn, Cookie Monster, and CJ the dog!

We ate: cod, cauliflower, cantaloupe, craisins, cupcakes, cookies, carrots, corn, and PBJ shaped like a cat, car, and 'C'

We colored pictures of cows, cats, cars, cards, cake, and camels.

One of Aria's favorite books lately has been If You Give a Cat a Cupcake.  It obviously fits 'C' week very well, so by her choice we read it every night before bed last week.  I checked out books about chickens, clouds, and cats.  The chickens book had a website where you could watch live chickens at a farm.  Aria LOVED that!  The coolest book we checked out was Big Cat Small Cat.  It shows opposites and leaves a blank for the reader to fill in the last opposite.  For example, one page says, "This cat is big.  This cat is small.  This cat is short.  This cat is..."  Of course, Aria loved the cats, but she also enjoyed filling in the blanks.  I liked the challenge it gave her little brain.  A very cool book!

Phew!  That was a lot.  And I feel like I'm forgetting something.  Oh well.  What a great 'C' week!

Style

Hat (put on all by herself): Wal-Mart special
Cat shirt (chosen specifically for 'C' week): Wal-Mart special
Coat (put on all by herself): Present from Grandma
Belt (had to have one like Mommy): Mommy's closet
Pants (got the legs in herself): Hand-me-down from Grandma's friend
Orange Hello Kitty socks (not pictured; and 2 matching socks found): Present from Aunt Teran
Frog boots (put on all by herself): Present from Grandma

All ready to go grocery shopping 'all by herself:' Priceless!

Distractions

Does this happen to anyone else?

Just a few minutes ago, I logged in to my email to send the weekly prayer and announcements for our church group.  When I got into my email I read the new messages, scrolled through and answered ones I had left for another time, and spent time cleaning up my inbox.  Then I logged out and moved on to another Internet endeavor.  Minutes later I saw my little prayer sheet and (grrrrrr) realized I didn't send the prayer email.  Guess what?  I had a few new messages when I got back into my email and I almost forgot to send it AGAIN!  What in the world is wrong with me?  I specifically sit down to do something and I can't even remember what it was two minutes later.  I've heard of losing your memory as you get older, but so far I haven't really felt that old at 30. 

Actually, this kind of thing happens to me a lot.  There have been numerous times I've sat down to send someone a specific message on Facebook and I get completely distracted by all the other things on Facebook so I forget why I'm on there in the first place.  Then, I spend an hour fiddling around doing nothing and I am irritated for wasting my precious nap time. 

I think I am just easily distracted.  In this information world, there are things coming at me from several different angles.  Sometimes I just need to shut it all off and focus on one thing at a time.  Maybe multi-tasking isn't as productive as I think.  If I gave all my attention and energy to one task, I would be so much more productive. 

Food for thought as I sit for an hour in front of the computer...

How to Make Daddy a Valentine

First, get a cool kids cupcake set for your own Valentine's Day present!  (Especially since Mommy found it on clearance for $3)

Next, put on your new apron.

Then, put all the mini-cupcake papers in the cupcake pan.

Dump all the cupcake ingredients into a big bowl.  (Actually without spilling!)

Stir it up with your new wooden spoon!

Fling some of the batter around the kitchen.  (Ahh, there's my mess.)

Use the measuring spoons to fill the mini-cupcakes with batter.

Bake the cupcakes in the oven.  Then let them cool. 

Ask at least 42 times if you can eat the cupcakes.

Use pink, purple, and red frosting to decorate the cupcakes for Valentine's Day (and eat the frosting in the process).

Add sprinkles.  A lot of them.

Get as many sprinkles as possible on your hands.

Finally get to eat one!

Set it up all nice for Daddy when he gets home for lunch.

Tell him about the cupcakes as soon as he walks through the door!

Love

I've never really been a fan of Valentine's Day.  Maybe I liked it as a little kid, but I doubt it.  I don't really remember.  Growing up, I spent my time wishing and hoping for something romantic to happen to me on Valentine's Day.  I can vaguely remember exchanging Valentines with classmates in grade school and I'm sure I didn't get one from someone I wished I would have at one point or another.  One year in high school, I'm pretty sure my boyfriend broke up with me just so he didn't have to get me a present for Valentine's Day.  Then in college, there were two different years where guys I was not interested in tried to win me over on Valentine's Day.  Awkward. 

Then I met Justin.  We had been dating for five months when the first Valentine's Day rolled around.  I honestly have no idea what we did.  What I do know is that it didn't matter what day it was, he gave me the goosebumps.  The kind of butterflies in your stomach that you never want to go away.  I was completely in love.  I knew he was the one for me and I was helplessly smitten.  Obviously, since I've been married to him for the better part of seven years, I was right.  I really was in love, but I didn't really know what love meant.

I still don't completely know.  I believe I will continue to learn as life progresses.  I do know what it isn't.  Or at least that what it pretends to be in the beginning is not what it really is.  I think a lot of the reason marriages end in divorce is because people expect that new, butterflies in your stomach, awesome, starry-eyed high to last all the time.  It doesn't.  What lies underneath is a deeper, more passionate, completely unconditional love that is for a lifetime.  This is the kind of love that keeps you going strong...not the energy from the butterflies.

Frankly, I'm still fairly new in this being married game, but I've learned a lot.  I've learned that love isn't just feeling all tingly inside.  It is knowing someone will be there with you in every aspect of your life.  Love is knowing your spouse will take care of you when you are sick.  It is going through the trials of life holding hands as one.  It is sweeping the floor because you know it means a lot to her.  Love is leaving a note on his razor because it will make his day.  It is raising a child together and seeing all the best of your spouse come out in her.  It is working hard every day to provide for your family.  It is taking trips, playing games, watching movies, and making cupcakes.  Love is knowing every minute of every day there is another part of you living, breathing, existing separately, yet bound to you with an unbreakable seal. 

Love is what I have.  I am in love.  I know that I am loved.  I even still get the butterflies sometimes.  I know my love will last and I don't have to wonder when he will call next (thank goodness!).  Justin, you are the love of my life.  God perfectly chose you for me and he knew you would make me feel happy, beautiful, and worthy.  I'm so glad we have found the love that was underneath all that like that was on the surface.  Happy Valentine's Day!  I love you so much!

The Letter 'B'

Well, I wasn't expecting for 'B' week to include 'B'arfing and 'B'ad headaches, but it did, which ruined a lot of my original plans for the week, but at least it still fit the correct letter.

When thinking of things for 'B' week, I realized there are so many things in our lives that begin with 'B'!  We go to bed every night with a blanket.  We eat breakfast every morning.  There's blue, black, and brown.  We love all kinds of ball and banging.  We take baths and we get bumps and bruises.  It really wasn't too hard to focus on 'B'. 

Big 'B' and little 'b' were cut out and put up on the closet door, along with a blue balloon.

We made a list and collage of 'B' people: Grandma and Papa Blow, Brinson, Becca, Brynlee, Brayden, Big Bird, Bert, and Benita.  We also talked about the infamous dogs Bowser and Bella.

My awesome friend directed me to this website, which has a lot of nice printables and we printed the 'B' page to color.  We also added a butterfly, basketball, baseball, bear, bike, blueberries, and a banana to the page. 

Our exciting activity for the week was to attend 2 basketball games.  Que the barfing.  Aria and I went to a local high school basketball game on Tuesday.  Justin was at Men's Fraternity and was joining us later.  While at the game, Aria was munching away on some goldfish crackers (I know they don't start with 'B').  All of a sudden, she half-choked on one and started coughing.  She proceeded to barf into my hands just a little bit.  She was totally not sick; she just gagged on her crackers.  But it was still a little bit of barf and it was disgusting.  And I was there in the stands by myself.  Amazingly, I didn't panic.  I made sure she was okay.  Of course she was perfectly fine and wanted to keep eating the crackers.  I wouldn't let her and made her drink water.  I took off her sweater...thank goodness it was hot in there and a t-shirt was fine.  I cleaned it all up as best I could and we stayed to watch the game.  Might sound crazy to you, but she was really fine.

Well, later that night, actually early the next morning, I woke up and did my share of barfing.  I'm not really sure where it came from, but I was miserable for all of Wednesday.  Enter the bad headache.  Oh well.

I had planned to do some fun things in the bathtub like bubbles, boats, and to talk about baptizing.  We did read the story about John baptizing Jesus, but didn't get to do any acting or further explanation because I was not the one giving the bath in my above mentioned condition.  Baptism is a hard concept to understand and I wasn't expecting her to get it, other than it makes you clean.  She did like saying the word. We also sang the B-I-B-L-E song and talked about how God wrote to us in the Bible.

We made it through our second basketball game of the week without any incident watching the Hawkeye women.  We are so incredibly bummed that our friend, and biggest reason for watching, is hurt and can't play the rest of the season, but Aria did enjoy seeing Herky again.

As for food, we didn't actually try anything new, but realized we loved a lot of 'B' foods.  We had:

• banana bread
• banana-blueberry pancakes
• bananas
• blueberries
• breakfast for supper
• black bean burritos
• basketball shaped pasta
• bread (homemade)
• broccoli
• B shaped pbj
• bunny shaped pbj

A big thanks to our friends who had a baby this week so we could talk about babies during 'B' week! 

We also have numerous books that start with 'B' like Barnyard Dance and Belly Button Book.  We checked out Biscuit and the Baby by Alyssa Satin Capucilli from the library and it was an instant favorite.  We also read Bugs, Beetles, and Butterflies, and The Ball Book.

And once again, impeccable timing allowed for Aria to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa Blow's to finish off the weekend.  Justin and I had a fun event with our church group and had planned for this long before I decided to do letters of the week, but it worked out nice!

I realized this week that I'm not going to be super mom and always have every plan that develops in my head work out.  Aria still enjoyed 'B' week and we have a few things to put in her book.  I don't have any pictures or big concepts, but that is okay.  Sometimes it's the little things that make the most difference!

Fruity Friends

We have three hilarious new friends at our house.  They are...

Anna Banana
Sherry Blueberry
Helen Watermelon

And Aria thinks they are just hilarious.  It started one day when Aria was on one of her "no" kicks and she said her name was not Aria.  I asked if it was Anna Banana and she giggled hysterically.  Apparently it was a good joke because she told the man checking out our groceries the other day that her name was Anna Banana.

That's it.  That's all I've got.  Just another moment in the life of a two-year-old that I never want to forget.

Oh, and horses no longer say 'neigh.'  They say, "hello Aria!"

The Case of the Missing Sock

...Another adventure of a recovering perfectionist

My little two-year-old is flashing signs of wanting great independence.  Okay, so everything is "Arie do it."  I like to give her choices to make her feel independent, but aren't that big in the whole scheme of things.  For example, I pick out two different shirts each morning and she gets to choose which one she wants to wear.  I complete the outfit with pants and socks.  Recently, Aria has wanted to pick out her socks, too.  It was quite hard for me to let her do this because (gasp) you can't possibly wear purple socks with a green shirt.  That doesn't match! 

I am a perfectionist.  Or, as my pastor says, a recovering perfectionist.  I am learning to let things go slowly, but surely.  Matching socks is something I still hold on to.  My socks have to match some part of my outfit.  Therefore, it was only natural that Aria's socks should match her outfit. 

She's not into matching.

In fact, when she first wanted to pick out her socks (gasp) she wanted to wear two different socks.  Are you nuts, child?  That is ridiculous!  Actually, non-matching socks is quite popular with the middle school crowd I work with and another unnamed recently turned 21-year-old we know.  Anyway, I think Aria just couldn't choose between the two and wanted to wear both.

Back to this morning.  I actually have totally let go of making Aria's socks match her outfit.  It is quite nice to have her go get her own socks out of the drawer and bring them to me to help her get them on.  (She can almost do it herself, but can't quite get them over her heel.)  Some of this independence stuff actually saves me time!  This morning Aria brought me one orange Hello Kitty sock (totally not matching her yellow Hawkeye shirt).  She had a perplexed look on her face and said, "two socks."  Well, when the laundry came upstairs the other day, that particular orange sock didn't have it's match.  I figured it just got mixed in elsewhere and I would find it later.  I threw the lone orange sock in her drawer and didn't think much of it.  I tried to explain that the other orange sock was still dirty and she should pick some different socks. 

"No.  Orange sock.  Mommy find it!"  This was important. 

I picked out a pair of pink Hello Kitty socks and said we should just wear those today because there were two clean pink socks.

"No. Orange sock.  Mommy find it!"

So, being the awesome mom that I am, I went downstairs and looked all through the laundry baskets, the washer and the dryer.  Did I find that orange sock?  Nope.

Waiting at the top of the stairs was a barefooted two-year old with a big smile...."Mommy find it!  Orange sock!"

"No, sweetie.  I don't know where it is."  No more smile.  "Let's just wear the pink socks."

"No, orange ones."

I can't believe I am about to type this....(gasp) "Why don't we wear the one orange sock and one pink one, then."  (Gulp)

"Okay." We put on the different socks.  Perplexed look..."Different socks."

"That's okay.  At least you have on the orange one." 

"Yeah!  Go eat."

Problem solved.  I guess one orange sock is better than none.

The moral of the story is, when you are a parent, you have to pick your battles.  Was it really worth my toddler throwing a big fit about not wearing orange socks just because I have this OCD behavior of needing socks to match?  Not at all.  For crying out loud her socks are hidden inside her shoes!  It doesn't matter what they look like! 

I did say I am a recovering perfectionist.  I am not there yet.

And, Aria may not match today, but at least she would be cool in a middle school crowd!

The Letter A

Last week was 'A' week.  I was really excited about starting alphabet activities with Aria.  Strangely enough, a lot of my ideas revolved around food, but that isn't all we did.  I really didn't do a ton of activities.  I just planned a few 'A' meals, pointed out things that started with 'A' and put them up on her closet.  Aria was excited about it and I think she now recognizes little 'a' much better.  Here is what we did:

Our first activity was to cut out a big 'A' and little 'a' and put them up on her closet door.  Aria colored them a little bit.  We also talked about what 'A' says.

We made a picture collage on the computer of people Aria knows whose names start with 'A.'  Our list included, Aria, Augie, Abby Cadaby, Annabelle, Andrew, Ashlynn, and Ashley.  We know a few more people with 'A' names, but those are the ones Aria is most familiar with and actually calls them by their name instead of so-in-so's mommy or daddy.  We hung that collage on her closet.

We colored pictures of an ape (which it was hard to get her to not say monkey), astronaut, apple, apricot, aardvark, alligator, and ant.  Also went on the closet.

We tried some new foods that start with 'A.'  We had:

•  Lemon-Apricot chicken, (she didn't like it)
• almonds (loved them)
• green bean amadine (wouldn't try it)
• apricot jelly on toast (ate an entire piece and then declared she didn't like it)
• ants on an apple (ate the peanut butter and raisins, didn't eat the apple)
• apple bars (dessert--of course she loved it)
• apple juice (took a lot of convincing to get her to try it and then she spit it out)
• animal crackers (a regular favorite)
• angel hair pasta in alfredo sauce (she loves pretty much any pasta)

We also made grilled cheese sandwiches a little more fun:

I allowed playing with her food because it was so cool to see her zoom the airplane around in the air.  We then made a paper airplane because flying food all week isn't a good idea.

We read about Adam and Abraham in My First Story Bible, but I don't think the stories resonated with her that much.  She understood their names started with 'A' and she had fun talking about all the things God made, including Adam, but I don't think she really remembered the stories.

So, I found a coloring page of an angel and we put glue, glitter, and angel hair on it.  We talked about how the angels came to tell about Jesus' birth.  I think she got that a little bit more.  She told Justin the angel told about baby Jesus.

We also read, Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie by Herman Parish and My "a" Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure.

And, totally by random chance, yet perfect opportunity, we had been trying to arrange a time to meet with our pastor.  We invited him, his wife, and his daughter, baby 'A'nnabelle over for dinner during 'A' week.  It was fun to tell Aria we were having Annabelle over during 'A' week.  Plus, she loves babies.

Overall, it was a lot of fun to have a little bit of focus in our lives and to see Aria remember some of the 'A' things we focused on.  We are already full swing into 'B' week and I'll report on that later!

Adventures in Cooking a Chicken

Recently, Hy Vee had whole chickens on sale so I randomly bought one.  I've never cooked a whole chicken before and I wanted to try it out.  Here is how my experience went.

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book

1 3 to 3.5 pound whole broiler-fryer chicken (mine was slightly bigger)
2 T butter or margarine, melted
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried basil, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp dried thyme, crushed
1/4 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning or black pepper

1. Rinse inside of chicken.  How do I rinse inside the chicken?  Why do I need to rinse inside the chicken?  I guess I'll just run some water over it. Eww...I can tell exactly where they cut the head off.  Maybe I should be a vegetarian.  Pat dry with paper towels. 
2. Skewer neck skin of chicken to back (see photo 2, page 441) First of all, I don't have any skewers.  Second, where is the neck skin?  That photo is not helpful at all.  I guess I'll skip that step.
3. Tie legs to tail. How in the world do you tie chicken legs together?  Where is the tail?  Yep, not doing that either.
4. Twist wing tips under back (see photo 4, page 441). Aren't the wings already under the back?  How do I twist them a different way?  I feel like I'm pulling them off the chicken.  That photo doesn't help either.  I guess I'll just leave them how they were.
5. Place chicken breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Which side is breast side up?  It's not like you can see a nipple or anything.  And, as I'm writing this blog, I just noticed it said to put it on a rack in a shallow roasting pan.  I just pulled out my roasting pan and asked Justin if it looked shallow.
6. Brush with melted butter. I don't have a brush for melted butter. Justin, I want a pastry brush for Valentine's Day. 
7. Rub garlic over chicken. With my hands?
8. In a small bowl stir together basil, salt, sage, thyme, and lemon-pepper seasoning.  Woohoo something I can do!  Rub onto chicken.  Back to the "with my hands?"
9. If desired, insert a meat thermometer into center of an inside thigh muscle, not touching bone.  Okay, I do have a meat thermometer, but do I really need to stick it in now?  I'm just going to use it to check it later.
10. Roast, uncovered, in a 375 degree oven for 1.25 to 1.5 hours or until drumsticks move easily in their sockets and chicken is no longer pink (180 degrees).  Really, I'm not going to rotate the drumsticks to see if it is done.  I'll just check the temp.
11. Is that chicken cooking?  Is it supposed to be sizzling like that?  Aria thinks it is raining.  It sure smells good, at least.  What is the temperature now?  Only at 130, got a ways to go.  Now we're getting there, 160.  It's done--185!
12. Remove chicken from oven.  Cover; let stand for 10 minutes before carving.
13. I took the lid off...Now what?  How do I cut this thing up?  Well, I like the legs, so I guess I'll cut one of those off.  Then, I'll cut some of the breast meat for Justin. (Yes I did figure out the breast.)  This isn't pretty, but it does taste pretty good!
14. Wow!  Aria actually ate some without me telling her too!  This is really good!  Not sure it was worth all the work of cutting, but it was good!  Maybe I can do this again!  :)

In all honesty, I'm not quite as unable to prepare food as I make it sound.  I think I have grown leaps and bounds in the area of cooking since we've been married and I'm willing to try a lot of different things.  This was an interesting experience.  I think I need a few more kitchen tools and maybe to do a little more research before I try it again.  Nevertheless, it was a cheap, healthy meal and I can now say I've cooked a chicken; a whole one!

The Birthday Bash

Justin and I couldn't have asked for a better day to celebrate our little two-year-old!  It was really fun to have her birthday on a Sunday because we got to bring treats to church and there were many people to wish her a happy birthday!  We had a great party complete with grandparents, Aunt Teran, friends (both little and big), mac 'n cheese, broccoli, strawberries, blueberries, Elmo cake, cupcakes, and cookies.  Oh and presents.  :)  It was a day full of Aria's favorite things!  Here are my highlights:

• Papa Blow playing 'Happy Birthday' on the guitar.
• Seeing Aria's excitement over her new baby doll.
• Laughing as she named her new baby doll, Rosita.
• Having so many wonderful friends come to share in Aria's big day!
• Watching all the kids play.
• Awesome red Elmo cake all over Aria's face!

Here is a slideshow of just a few of the 180 pictures we have from the day...and that is after I deleted the duds. 

The Difference a Year Makes

If the picture doesn't tell the story, Aria had no trouble enjoying her cake this year!

Lemon-Apricot Chicken

One of the things I want to try with our Letter of the Week activity is new foods.  We are having many eating battles lately, so we'll see how far it goes.  Aria will usually at least try the food at my request, but will instantly tell me, 'don't like it.'  Sometimes she even tries that line before she tries it.  At least she'll learn about some different foods, even if she won't try them.  For 'A' week I found this recipe for Lemon-Apricot chicken.  It looked easy to do, so I tried it.  I was a little skeptical because I usually am not a fruit with mean kind of person, but it was worth a try.  It was delicious!  It was sweet and tangy, but not overwhelming.  Justin and I both really liked it and I will definitely make it again.  I gave Aria the apricot sauce on the side instead of on her chicken and she did the obligatory one bite and, 'don't like it.'  However, she didn't mind eating a few other things on her plate that had also run into the sauce.  I think she just didn't want the chicken.  At least she now says, 'A for apricot.'  :)