Shrimp, my Savior

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Today is one of those days. This house has fallen victim to the "worst season of allergies we've ever seen" (welcome, Spring!) and I'm in a ridiculous antihistamine-induced fog, barely able to keep my eyes open. This is bad news when it comes to the "bewitching hour", as my Mama refers to it, also known as "what in tarnations shall I make for dinner tonight?" Seriously, if I had a dime for every time I've asked myself this question....

Good thing I have some delightfully easy recipes stashed away for days just like this. Amongst them all, there is one that takes the prize for being the most low-maintenance dinner in my repertoire, while still being one of THE MOST delicious. Enter the brown-rice shrimp bowl! It's one of those meals where you put it all into one bowl, and simply commence eating. No side dishes necessary. I haven't officially calculated this, but I'm pretty sure it hits all the main food groups, so it's also a very smart dinner.

You should probably make this tonight, even if you aren't on allergy medication and on the verge of tears because you're so tired and your children are miniature Energizer bunnies. It's a tasty, healthy, fast, easy dinner and your taste-buds will insist on writing me a thank-you note for sharing it with you.

Brown Rice Bowl with Shrimp, Snow Peas and Avocado (Adapted from Everyday Food, Jan/Feb. 2008)

2 cups water
1 cup brown rice (**Alternatively, and much more efficiently, we use 2 packages of Trader Joe's Organic Brown Rice, found in the freezer section. Each "packet" takes 3 min. in the microwave, and it comes out absolutely delicious-- a true staple in our house!)

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1-2 lemons)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil (can use olive oil instead, depending on preference; we just like that slightly toasted/smoky taste)
1 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp (again TJ's sells these guys frozen, already peeled & deveined, thanks be to God)
8 oz snow peas, ends trimmed and halved on the diagonal
1" long piece fresh ginger, peeled and diced small
1 avocado, cut into chucks
1/2 bunch green onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tsp. sesame seeds (optional)

In a large saucepan, bring 2 cups water to a boil - add rice and salt (to taste). Cover, reduce heat and cook until water has been absorbed, anywhere from 35 to 45 minutes. (**Or just make your 3 minute TJ's organic brown rice.....)

In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, lemon juice, vinegar and sugar.

In a large skillet, heat sesame oil over medium-high. Add shrimp, snow peas, green onions, garlic and ginger - season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Cook until shrimp are opaque throughout and snow peas are bright green, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Evenly divide rice among four bowls. Top with shrimp mixture and avocado. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Drizzle with the soy mixture or serve on the side.

Makes 4 servings.

Birthday Prep

I love carrying on family traditions. One of mine from childhood is when someone in the family is celebrating a birthday, they 1) do not have to make their bed, 2) get to select from any of the typically forbidden "sugar cereals" from the grocery store, and 3) get to choose their own special birthday dinner, which Mama will cook upon request, and serve with lots of love. This is the background information that led to the conversation I had with Ben today, whose 5th birthday is less than a week away.

Me: Ben, I want to talk to you about your birthday dinner. If you could have anything, what would you like me to make for you? I can make you anything you want! It could be tacos, or I could make you a special pasta dish, or we could have homemade pizza. What do you think?

Ben: Hmmmm. Well, how 'bout you just make me some McDonald's? Okay, Mama?

Me: Ouch.

Ben: What?

Me: How about you sleep on it, and we'll talk about this again in a couple days.

Ben: Okay. But I want a toy with it too, okay Mama?

The Facts of Life

A couple of months ago, Dan was driving around with the kids in the car doing errands, while I was at home eating bon-bons and working on my tan. Naturally.

When they got home, Dan nonchalantly mentioned that essentially Ben asked where babies come from, but not to worry because he "totally handled it". Immediately I panicked, for two reasons.

1) Ben is not yet even 5 years old. I was fairly convinced that this subject wouldn't even cross his mind for like 10 more years. This means that we've greatly underestimated his curious little brain by not planning any age-appropriate responses as of yet. How could we let this happen! People, may I remind you that this is what I went to school for? I mean, not specifically to explain sex to children, but I went to school to understand their little brains. My  Early Childhood Education courses really could be renamed, "how to explain things to kids in an age-appropriate manner". It should be noted that I got A's in all of these courses.
2) Dan & I handle things quite differently when it comes to this stuff. I tend to use my E.C.E. voodoo magic and redirect the conversation (some might label this "avoidance"), and Dan tends to tackle things head on, even if he doesn't have a plan.

So here's how his impromptu sex-ed conversation unfolded.

(Um, and for the record- NO, I AM NOT PREGNANT)


Ben: Daddy, I think that Mommy is going to have another baby sometime.
Dan: You do? Why do you think that?
B: I just do. I think that she is gonna get a baby in her tummy soon.
D: Well, it doesn't really work that way, buddy. Mommies & Daddies have to want a baby- they don't just magically appear in Mommy's tummy.
B: Does God put the baby in Mommy's tummy?
D: Well, yes. Sort of. But Mommy & Daddy have a big role in it as well.
B: Like what? What do you do?
D: Well, Bud. There's a special hug that Mommy & Daddy do to make a baby.
B: Oh.
D: Yup. It's called the "marital embrace".
B: Ohhhhhhhh. I see. Do you like, put one arm around her neck, and Mommy puts her arm around your back?
D: Uh, sure Buddy. There's lots of ways to do it, but that's certainly one way to do it.

You see? THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I'M NOT THERE TO CONTROL THE SITUATION!

When I gave Dan a hard time about this interaction (and by "hard time", I mean that I shrieked a lot and used his full birth name), he wanted to know what I would have done differently.

Aside from EVERYTHING, I said, "Dan, if Ben wanted to know about where babies come from, I probably would have told him they are a miracle, and therefore an inexplicable mystery. And then I would have changed the subject to Star Wars and trucks."

So, um.....who's got a good book on explaining where babies come from for me us to borrow?

Preschool

So I'm a bit behind in the blogging, and now stories and events in our lives have gotten majorly backlogged. I feel like we went from not a whole lot going on to everything is going on in the span of a couple weeks. I was overwhelmed with how many things I've been wanting to blog about, and didn't know where to begin. And then, the wise words of Fraulein Maria to the Von Trapp children entered my brain and I realized, Duh. Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.

So we'll start with a whopping two weeks ago, a.k.a. Ben's first week of Preschool! This has been a landmark 4 years and 4 months in the making, and I cannot tell you the joy that the separation of 4 hours, twice a week has brought to my relationship with my boy. We actually have time now to miss each other, time to look forward to spending together. He wants to cuddle more than ever before, wants me to hold him on my lap after dinner and hug and kiss him. It's like he just realized that I'm not just the chef & housekeeper around here. I'm a mom with squishy parts that are probably really great to cuddle up to. Sometimes I wish I could cuddle up with me, too.

However, don't let all this cuddling fool you. This child did not show one second of sadness or separation anxiety when the big day arrived. Just because he's all lovey dovey on his days off does NOT mean he isn't enjoying preschool every second that he's there. The pictures from his first day of school depict this perfectly. Who IS this overly confident, Mr. Too Cool For School extrovert?

(Are you kidding me? The thumbs up and the squinted cool-boy eyes? Did I mention that he insisted on posing before I snapped any of these photos?)

Nope. No lack of confidence issues going on here.

Sissy never likes to miss a great photo op.

In front of the preschool, which just so happens to be the cutest little red chapel building you've ever seen. And yes, there's even a white picket fence around it.

In the classroom, ready to play with the tools. It's a shame he's so introverted and holding back his first day, don't you think?

And in closing, I leave you with the mother of all photos. There is so much to love about this picture, but let me point out my favorite's: 1) Ben. It's probably hard to recognize him, because clearly he's been transformed into a superhero with his new-found superhero cape, and his new best friend, Maizie. Maizie is awesome because she's always willing to play superhero games AND cars. This is obviously a match made in heaven. 2) Ella, my little mini-me multi-tasking wanna-be Mama. I love her. And at just under 2 years old, I am very impressed by her abilities to hold a conversation on the phone and keep her baby happy. She screams EVERY SINGLE TIME we have to leave preschool and doesn't get to stay. 3) Since it was his first day, Ben is wearing a name tag so his teachers could learn the new students names quickly. HE IS NOT THE ONLY BEN IN THE CLASS! I was shocked and slightly taken aback. We've never met another little boy named Ben! We've met grown-up Bens and have seen celebrity Bens on movies, but never another real life little boy Ben. According to his teachers, I needn't worry; he's already made quite a name for himself around there.

Caliente

The other day Dan received a gift at work. This is not completely out of the ordinary, as people generally enjoy giving teachers gifts every now and then. Usually there's a card attached expressing something to the effect of "sorry you get paid so terribly, thanks for all you do". It's awesome. We love it, and it only validates our choice to continue having Dan stay in the education field. And while we're here, might I make mention of those Starbucks gift cards that are thrown our way every now & again? GOLD MINE! Am I right, fellow teachers or teachers' wives? I'm telling you, it's the ultimate pick-me-up perk. And yes, I'm usually the one who ends up with those gift cards. What can I say? My man loves me. All the way to Starbucks.

But yesterday, this is what Dan received:

Some fairly authentic looking spicy peppers. 

Apparently the word got around his campus that his wife has a thing for spicy foods. And it's true, I do occasionally declare "MAS CALIENTE!" from the stove when I'm feeling extra saucy. Except nowadays I cook for two kidlets who aren't the biggest fans of spice, so I rarely indulge. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled with this gift, and I want to use them wisely. But what are they exactly, and what am I supposed to do with them? And should I mention that Ben thought the green ones were green beans, and was caught milli-seconds before taking a giant bite through one? No, I probably shouldn't mention it because I'm certain we would've ended up in the E.R. And the doctors would have asked me what type of pepper he bit into, and I would have no idea. And eyebrows would have been raised suspiciously.

So, cyber-world. What do I do with them? (And seriously, what are they?) And just so you know, I'm extra interested if the suggestions involve cheese.

Social Graces

Now that Ben is a little over 4 years old, we're entering a new phase in our parenting where we are forced to teach him some basic social graces. (Insert weary sigh of fatigue). The kid has the vocabulary and annunciation skills of a 10 year old, so when he says something to a stranger (or even worse, a non-stranger) that makes Dan & I blush and laugh nervously, chances are he was understood and heard on the receiving end, loud and clear. When you couple his innocent 4 year old curiosity with his extroverted social personality, things come out of his mouth that either make me laugh or break out in a sweat. Sometimes, it's both.

A few weeks ago, we went as a family to our favorite park in the late afternoon. We got to talking with a man who was there walking his dog, a friendly though fairly rough-around-the-edges kind of guy, probably in his late 50s. (We'll call him George). Ben was off in the distance playing in the sandbox when he looked up and realized that there was some form of socialization going on without him, so he came barreling over to join the conversation, and relentlessly show off his Spiderman-like moves, muscles, and sound effects. This is usually the time in the conversation where I would introduce Ben to the 3rd party stranger (i.e. George), trying desperately to model good etiquette. But lately, I'm just trying to show Ben that there are ways of interacting and impressing a stranger other than shooting phantom "webs" at them or insisting that they feel his giant Spiderman biceps. (You might think I'm joking; I'm not).

However, right after George was finished talking about his own personal system for graffiti control at the park, I introduced Ben to this new stranger. After an enthusiastic hello Ben immediately declared something along the lines of,

"Hey, my Dad is way bigger than you."

Dan & I both laughed- because it really was funny, especially considering this was not a small man we were talking to. On the contrary, I'm pretty sure he was bigger than Dan & I put together. But then, trying to segue from a statement like that is nearly impossible. There is no good response deemed appropriate for a situation like that one. So aside from laughing nervously and feeling more awkward than a girl at a junior-high dance, what did I do? What did the Mother and Teacher of social etiquette say to her son?

"Hey Ben, did you want to show him your awesome Spiderman muscles?"

Christmas in June

Last night, Ben was throwing a tantrum about- oh I don't know- EVERYTHING, and being the Mother of The Year that I am, I snapped, and not in the rhythmic carefree way. I was fatigued, tired, and out of patience and parenting steam. I wish they sold Parenting steam at Costco, or at least on ebay because I would buy it in bulk, build myself a parenting steam storage shed, and give it away to all my parent friends at Christmas. Maybe I'd even sell it on the black market.

Anyway, when World War III kicked in around the moment I announced it was time to brush teeth, I was 1) on the verge of throwing myself on the floor in a screaming tantrum to join him, and 2) struck with a genius idea. Note to self: ALWAYS wait for option #2 to come to you, even if it takes 10 minutes. DO NOT EVER go with option #1, experience has proven it will always end badly.

The genius idea? Santa! But of course! Santa is watching! SANTA IS ALWAYS WATCHING YOU! Ben, don't you remember the song we sing, where it specifically states he "knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness' sake"? This is one of those moments. In fact, June is Santa's biggest sneak attack month. He knows that most of the children think Christmas is way too far off to really behave, but this is when it counts the most because he sneaks in and watches you even more closely. The month of June is like behavioral overtime in Santa's book.

I'm not saying it was my best progressive parenting moment, but that boy stopped his screaming, opened his mouth wide, and let me brush his teeth for a full 60 seconds, sweetly hopped into his bed and slept a solid 11 hours. So I played the Santa card in June, no big deal, right? Isn't that like 90% of the reason Santa even exists, to help ease the parenting load?

I have a very strong feeling Santa is going to be crucial to our survival this summer.

God-babies

Dan & I have never been godparents before, and then much to our surprise (and sheer delight), we were asked to be godparents twice over in the span of one week! I cannot tell you the tremendous joy and deep honor this has brought both of us; I feel so blessed to spend my lifetime developing special relationships with these two sweet little angels. And I know I might be slightly biased, but I think even Cinderella's fairy godmother would have to agree that I have the world's cutest godchildren. I don't know if body nibbling was in the godmother job description, so sometimes I have to stop myself from nibbling their cheeks, thighs and toes. Can you blame me?

Also, did I mention that they're cousins, and about two months apart in age? I'm in heaven. And I'm in love. And when they spit up on me, it's so adorable that I don't even mind.

Cyberspace, please meet Baby Siobhan and Baby Mick:

(See? I wasn't joking. The cuteness factor is off the charts. And the thigh rolls of love??? To die for).

What is this "Alone Time" you speak of?

Dan: Babe, do you ever just go into another room, sit down and do absolutely NOTHING else except listen to music? Like, really listen, away from everything?

Me: Um. Well. I'm a mom. So....NO.

Cream Cheese Pie

I cannot deny that I love a good slice of cheesecake, but when it comes down to it, I actually much prefer this "spin-off" alternative-- the cheesecake's cousin, shall we say? It's called Cream Cheese Pie, and I've been eating this version since I was in diapers. Literally. There's a picture of me SOMEwhere in my half-naked glory, sporting nothing but a diaper, cream cheese pie crumbs, and a giant smile. It's been in my family as long as I can remember (the recipe, not the picture), and although I'm sure we weren't the ones who created the recipe, I've yet to find one person who has tasted it for the first time in my presence and then commented, "Oh yeah. I've totally had that before." I've loved this pie for so long that I can remember requesting it for almost EVERY birthday when I was a young girl. And I think my mom was always secretly thrilled because she may be the only person who loves it even more than I do.

There's so much to love about this pie (though I've been known to lick my plate anytime there's a graham cracker crust involved....) and I think the reason I prefer it over Cousin Cheesecake is that it's a little less dense, and therefore a little less rich. It's creamy and a bit tart (thanks to the sour cream top layer...which reminds me, did I mention the two layers?) and buttery and even better when you throw some berries on it. Also, I don't know of a SIMPLER recipe that produces such an amazing final product. Time to get baking! (Alicia, that means you!)

Cream Cheese Pie
Crust:
16-18 graham crackers
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 stick melted butter (+ more if needed)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine graham crackers & sugar in food processor and mix until crackers are crumbly (or alternatively, you could put them in a large ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush). Then slowly add in melted butter. If crust is too dry, add more melted butter, about 1 T. at a time. Crust consistency should be fine, sticky crumbs.  Press crust into bottom & sides of a 9 inch pie dish. Bake at 350 for about 8 min. and allow crust to cool. Turn oven down to 300.

While graham crust is cooling, mix together the ingredients for the bottom layer:
Bottom layer:
8 oz. package of cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
Beat until lumps are gone and batter is smooth. Pour into graham pie shell. Bake at 300 for about 20 minutes or until pie is slightly jiggly (NOT soupy). Cool completely, then place in fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.

Top layer:
8 oz. sour cream
2 T. sugar
1 t. vanilla
Mix together, pour on top of chilled pie and spread evenly. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 min., or until set. Cool once again, and refrigerate until set (at least a couple hours). ENJOY!

Leading Me On

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Lately we've had a unique little situation unfold outside our house. Sometimes a UPS or Fed Ex truck will pull into our driveway, and without fail I sit there watching and waiting by the window, completely engrossed in finding out what unexpected delivery could possibly be arriving to our home. Because unfortunately, Lord knows it wasn't me that ordered something. And then, after a good 2 minutes of this thrilling little waiting period, they drive away and I am left in an anti-climactic emotional heap. 


Since this has happened more than a handful of times, it can really only mean one thing in my book: there must have been some sort of memo (unbeknown to us) distributed to courier companies near and far, alerting them that our driveway has been nominated for the perfect little pit-stop destination. Come one, come all! The Dewig Driveway is THE PLACE to sit around and twiddle your thumbs, Fellow Couriers! Sure, there's a creepy stay-at-home mom inside who is ALWAYS in her sweats and tries to unsuccessfully spy on us in secret, but it's a small price to pay for an opportunity to sleep/eat/waste time on the job! 



How did I not see this coming? 


So here's what I have to say to my local UPS & Fed Ex Drivers: You are all a big tease. AND, it is my strong opinion that if you are going to have the audacity to use my driveway for pit-stopping or making personal phone calls or just taking a brief nap, then the least you could do is give me some sort of signal indicating there is no intention of bringing a fun surprise to my doorstep. Perhaps you could put on your hazard lights. I'll get the message loud & clear, even yell a "ROGER THAT" out my door if you'd like. Or maybe just make a sign that reads, "Don't Get Your Hopes Up" and mount it to your dashboard. You do whatever way works for you, but please, implement some sort of system ASAP. Otherwise one of these days I'm going to be forced to greet you in my driveway with my overly-hyper dog that you all seem to be SO scared of, and demand that you give me one of your boxes. The prettiest or heaviest one. Don't say you were not warned. Deal?

A Week In Review

We had a great Thanksgiving Break. It's holidays such as these that make me truly grateful for Dan's job as a teacher and that fortunate break schedule of his! He was off work and home to help the day before Thanksgiving, and people, let me tell you...I needed every last minute to get my act together. Because, yes. I tend to be a wait til the last minute type of gal. Dan & I initially offered to "host" this year, but then we panicked when the numbers kept increasing (and by "panic", I mean a vary grateful, happy panic- we loved having all 22 people be a part of the celebration this year!) AND, we kept thinking about all of the carpeting and lack of tile flooring in our house, and well...it made my palms sweaty just thinking about it. So, we moved the party to good ol' Mom & Dad's house and combined efforts. This proved to be a very wise decision. I also heavily delegated everything this year and my awesome family, as per usual, stepped it up and contributed above and beyond their call of duty. And look how amazing it all turned out!

The dinner table:

Here is the "funny" part of this posting where I do a very un-Nicole thing and break down how I embraced my new-found table craftiness. This year I dabbled in the world of Martha Stewart's decor ideas and although she didn't give me this exact idea (she used pears- soooooo "expected"), she was definitely the inspiration behind it. I took persimmons from the giant persimmon orchard on my parents property and used these for place card settings. Not only was this beautiful with all the orange screaming "HAPPY THANKSGIVING", but it was also free! I cut out chocolate brown leaves using card stock, punched a hold in it, and tied it with twine onto the persimmon stem. I wrote each person's name on the leaf and voila! Place cards telling everyone where to park themselves!

Honestly, figuring out who to put where at the table proved to be a more difficult task then my fancy-schmancy place card set-up.

There was lots of family lovin'. Here, Josh (a.k.a. Turkey BBQ chef) & Miss Mia snuggle in between turkey bastings.

 

The best part about Mimi & Papa's house is that the grandkids love to pile in their room/on their bed and cozy up together to watch movies. Here, 5 of the 7 grandkids were captured cuddled up, mesmerized by some Tom & Jerry, Thanksgiving style.

Geno, Isabel and Ben:

Mia and Ava:

 

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the whole Thanksgiving spread because I was too busy chasing my kids and my wine glass around and getting last minute details together, but I did get a nice head shot of the bird. All almost 24 pounds of her. And at this point, I know you're probably all on turkey overload and slightly tired of any turkey visuals that might remind you of the week's worth of calories you may have ingested in one sitting. (and to be honest, even I gagged a little bit when I saw this picture). But let's give credit where credit is due- and let me just say, ours truly was G-O-O-D.

Here's the proud turkey chef, my brother Josh, gloating in his BBQ turkey success. I'll admit, I wasn't too sure how it would all turn out, this whole "BBQ turkey" thing. I mean, who BBQ's their turkey? We did. It didn't cook as fast as he was hoping for, but I won't even mention the fact that we had to eat almost three hours later than we had planned. Because it was so moist and delicious and not at all smokey (as I was worried it would be) that it was well worth the wait. Well done, Josh. You've made a believer out of me.

Here's Favi, who made up half of "Team Gravy". (I was the other half but couldn't figure out how to take a picture of us working so earnestly on our roux.) Lots of whisking- and look! Her arms are whisking so fast, they're blurry!

The night ended with three varieties of pie and our first Christmas movie of the year, Elf. Nothing says Merry Christmas quite like spending Thanksgiving evening with Will Ferrell.

After all that eating together, the family decided we needed to have an active outing. So we all left the kiddos at home, headed up to Stanford for their last game of the season against Notre Dame and sat and watched a fantastic game (for the record: Stanford won). It was pretty chilly (relatively speaking, I know. Overlook that, Edith) so we bundled up and thoroughly enjoyed Mom & Dad's new wool blanket. I also thoroughly enjoyed my recession-unfriendly $5 hot dog. Somehow Dad is barely in the picture (we should fire our photographer), but everyone else made it in.

 

When the game was over, the crowd went bananas and charged the field. It was pretty great to watch. I thought about going down there myself, but then my claustrophobia set in, so I watched from the comfort of my seat.

It really was a great week. Thank you, family, for being so much fun to be with and for your expertise on having a good time. I am thankful, most of all, for you.

And in case you were secretly hoping for some recent Dewig Family pictures (minus me, as I seem to be the only one inspired to actually TAKE the pictures...), here you go:

 

 

 

Winds of Change

Image by sarniebill1 via Flickr

Thank you, legendary 80s band Scorpions. Because of you and your killer one-hit wonder song, I have an appropriate title for my post today.

The winds of change have been blowing around or perhaps just directly on me because in the last week I have done the following life-altering things:

• Weaned the baby girl. On her birthday, to boot. I was fully prepared to breastfeed her for as long as she wanted, but then her crazy sharp teeth got involved, and subsequently deep (and incredibly painful) teeth marks were being left on my innocent flesh. I took that as a sign to wrap things up in the breastfeeding department. For the most part, it appears to have gone unnoticed, and she seems fine with this change. Sometimes she gets angry and yells at me a little bit, and we're not able to lay down together in my bed anymore (though I'm sure we'll be able to in a few weeks time), but thankfully she is very passionate about her sippy cup and boy oh boy, can that girl chug down some water! It's bittersweet- of course I miss that cozy time with her and I find that I'm asking myself 100 times a day "where did the time go?", but ultimately- I have my boobs back, and therefore quite a bit more freedom (cue George Michael's Freedom).
  
• Weaning the baby girl = no more excuses to NOT join a gym. So I did! This has been one of the most monumental decisions of the past 4 years, and I don't mean that lightly. Something has clicked inside of me, and I knew that starting this "getting healthy" journey I'm embarking upon would not be legitimate until I was able to get to a place of No More Excuses. I've loved every second (more or less) of being a mommy these last 4 years, but I'm ready to take a step back and begin taking care of myself, nurturing myself, giving myself an outlet. I truly believe the greatest gift I can give those two precious children of mine is to take care of their Mama. I've begun the journey and it truly feels great. Next on the list: get pedicure for the first time in over a year.
• On a side note: workout equipment and general gym culture have really changed in the last 4 years. Machines are more complicated, and people seem to be much more paranoid about their peers' sweat and germs. Bringing your own towel is of the utmost importance. Disinfecting your own equipment is standard protocol. Wearing your sports bra ONLY (as opposed to my "old school" standard of under my shirt) seems to be the new norm. I have also learned that working out in front of a TV (namely, The Ellen show) really speeds things up. Also, any cocky attitude I had was destroyed that first day the moment I attempted the stairmaster machine on anything over a level 1. Climbing flights and flights of stairs is serious business, and I plan on throwing a party the day I can advance past a level 3 on that machine.
  
• Ben has twice in the last week attempted to take care of me with such intense concern for my well-being, I couldn't not include it on this list. Exhibit A: After I let out a giant yawn and sigh, Ben immediately looked at me and said,

"It's okay, Mommy. It's okay. I know you're really tired. Don't worry, we're going to go to bed really soon. It's okay Mommy. Everything will be fine."

Exhibit B: After overhearing me complain of sore working out muscles and bones, Ben said,  "Mommy, don't worry. I'm going to take good care of you and you will feel all better." When did he learn along the way that that's all a girl ever needs to hear?

• Went to the girly doctor. You know....to have that ONE procedure done. The one that sort of rhymes with "cap sneer". The one that's supposed to occur annually, but never really does (or at least, not in my world, as I'm a master of procrastination).  Oh man, was I ever apprehensive. I had the nervous sweaty palm sweats and everything. Also, I was way too overly excited to see my doctor when she walked in, which I hope she interpreted as flattering, but really could have been interpreted as ultra creepy. Who tells their Gyno, "It's SO GREAT to see you again!" and then beams with smiles and giggles? Who? Me, that's who. Anyway, I'm looking forward to twelve whole months of not having to do THAT again. (And for the record- my doctor's office covers the stirrups on that dreadful table with oven mits, which I find hilarious and bizarre. And somehow this makes me cringe just a teensy bit each time I take something out of my oven).
• As a result of said doctor's appointment, I unexpectedly had my blood drawn for routine tests. This experience alone deserves its very own blog posting because the chain of events that occurred during this proceedure were some of the most hilarious and uncomfortable moments of my life. I'll just say this: my incredibly small, child-like, almost non-existent veins + my intense fear of needles + my tendency to black out because of heightened nerves because of fear of needles + very sweet but very inexperienced and bubbleheaded phlebotomist = 1 of 5 attempts successful and sore, bruised arms with lots of needle holes. Definitely not the highlight of my week.
 

Speaking of the highlight of my week, I've got a down blanket, a great book, and a tall mug of hot chocolate waiting for me, a husband out, and two children and one dog sound asleep.

The perfect Friday night.

All Things Pumpkin

I've always felt there's something particularly marvelous about a pumpkin patch. Maybe it all originates from watching Cinderella for the first time as a little princess myself,  and seeing that jolly old Fairy Godmother transform pumpkins into a carriage with her magical Bippity Boppity Boos. (I always wanted a Fairy Godmother. Or even a Godmother, really. When I realized there was no such thing as a Fairy Godmother, I'm pretty sure I took it much harder than learning there was no Santa Claus. Because Santa never changes ANYthing using Princess magic).

Maybe it's just because pumpkin patches inevitably = Fall. And boy oh boy, do I love this season. Everything about it screams cozy! The clothing, the weather, the food, the colors, the Pumpkin Spice Lattes, the invitation to put the flip flops away and replace them with boots, the football games, the decor, the fires waiting to be lit in the fireplace, the persimmon orchard in bloom at my parents house, the Pumpkin Cheesecake I'm going to make later in the week.... it all just feels like one giant hug to me. I want to cuddle up with a soy chai just thinking about this. In fact, that's a great idea. I'm going to indulge in my chai that is suddently urgently calling my name and leave you with pictures from today's first Pumpkin Patch Outing of the year (aside from the one we visit in our side yard, of course). This was Ella's first experience with a Pumpkin Patch and she was a natural. Tried to eat the pumpkins and everything. She was practically figuring out a way to whip up a pumpkin pie right then and there. Isn't she the smartest?