Pinning It

By now it seems like almost everyone is on Pinterest.  If you aren't familiar with the site, it is a place to collect "pins" of good ideas or things from the web you would like to return to.  You can either pin items as you come across them or re-pin items you see your friends have pinned.

I've done plenty of kid's crafts that I've found on Pinterest.  I've also done a few recipes.  Some have had mixed results. My favorite Pinterest related activity?  On Halloween I made friendly ghosts to peek out of the windows and used a drill to make a polka dot pumpkin.  Both super cute and super easy ideas I never would have thought of on my own.

I'm amygk on Pinterest if you want to connect!

Shutterfly Party

As part of a House Party program we hosted a little Shutterfly party here today.  The party was actually just a play date, but it was nice to have friends over on Saturday and play all together.  In addition to the fun times with friends we were able to give codes for free photo books and holiday cards.

I love the Shutterfly photo books.  The blog posts here of the monthly shots get turned into a book (we have one for Milo's first two years and will make Leo's too).  I also do a book for each season more or less.  I don't scrapbook and I hate having tons of prints laying around, so the photo books work for us.  It's not much energy to do and I really enjoy the results.  I try to make the books have a bit of a story and then they can be read as any other picture book.  We take so many pictures and find the best way for us to organize these special frozen moments in time is through the photo book.

* This post is part of the agreement I have with House Party.  In return for hosting an event, I was given a free photo book.  

Brothers

As Leo is growing up our house is becoming a sometimes battle zone.  One where the little brother charges full steam ahead into a train track or block creation built by the older brother.  Screams of "no Weo" are heard, some pushing happens and then there are tears.

I'm not sure what the solution to this is.  Leo can't be held responsible for his actions yet, but he is totally instigating.  Milo can't push or hit people even if he's not liking what they are doing, but I can see how this can be frustrating.  We've tried having them play in separate rooms, but that's just not as much fun.  I've suggested certain toys only come our during nap time, but that isn't always agreeable.

It's all a work in progress. To help my along the way I read Siblings Without Rivalry.  The tips from this book might be helpful down the road, but not quite yet.  One thing the book did mention is letting the children voice their negative emotions toward the other children.  This was hard to hear!  I mentioned to Milo one day that is must be frustrating to have a little brother.  He agreed and said he didn't want him anymore.  As much as I wanted to talk him out of this, I stayed silent for a few moments.  Milo then said well I guess I like him sometimes too so maybe we will keep him.  Yes, maybe we will keep them both.

Fantasy

I have this fantasy.  It starts in a dark and quiet hotel room.  It pretty much ends there too.  Oh sure, I would throw in a beach, some champagne and lots of time to do just what I want to do, but pretty much the fantasy is being in a quiet room by myself.  With no one else there who needs anything from me.  I would read, I would sleep, I would exercise, I would yoga, I would sleep some more, I would eat delicious and healthy food prepared by someone else, I would sip cool bubbly champagne, I would drink strong coffee while it was still hot.  After that I would start the routine all over again.  All of this in quiet.  It would be amazing.

It sounds like a vacation this fantasy of mine, but because it is fantasy there are none of the drawbacks to actual travel.  No scheduling the time away, no busy airports, just the sweet expectation of quiet, solitude and relaxation.

I would, of course, come back from this fantasy.  After a day or two of quiet I am sure I would be ready to return to my sweet and loud boys.  And as long as this is all fantasy, I would also return to a totally decluttered and clean house.

Recipe - Gluten free quick enchilada bake

We are by no means gluten free at our house, but I do like to lay off the wheat for at least one meal per day.  Today that meal was dinner and it was delicious   I've been tweaking my enchilada recipe and I think I found a keeper.

Quick Enchilada Bake

1 cup cooked chopped chicken
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup salsa
9 small corn tortillas
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup taco sauce
shredded cheese (I used a pre-shredded Mexican blend)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine chicken, beans and salsa in a bowl.  In another shallow bowl mix together sour cream and taco sauce.  Brush or soak sour cream mixture over the tortillas one at a time.  Begin to layer the soaked tortillas, chicken mixture and cheese in baking dish ending with a layer of tortillas and cheese (I had about three layers).  Bake for 30 minutes or until everything is warmed through and the cheese is bubbly.  Serve with chopped avocado, sliced olives and jalapenos.

*I used grocery store rotisserie chicken in this leftover from the night before.  So two easy meals in one week!  

Big Election Night

Four years ago I sat on the same couch watching the election results come in.  Last time around though I was sitting here pregnant with a little Milo who was happily kicking in my belly.  He loved the sound of Obama's voice or perhaps he enjoyed the happy feelings I shared with him whenever I heard the future President speak.

Today I voted wearing Leo in his Boba carrier.  He really wanted to touch the buttons too and I was excited to share the experience with him.  I again voted for Obama and I was proud to do it.  I just read what I wrote four years ago about voting for President and I still agree with it.  Hate, fear and disrespect have no place in the America I believe in and those are the things I see being courted by the other candidate.

Milo - who wanted to vote for poopy and candy because he likes their ideas - went to vote with Chris.  Exposing the children to the democratic process is important.  Regardless of who wins the election, I will teach my boys to respect other ideas, their country and the people around them.  I wish other people would do the same and maybe within a generation the party divide wouldn't be so wide.  There are so many teachable moments to share and learn from together.

To the Limit

From about the age of 22 to the age of 32, I could probably count on one hand the number of times
I went to a library.  Then after I had Milo heading to the library became a weekly event. At first we went for story times and met other babies and parents.  Milo soon tired of the organized events and for about a year we only go to the library to check out books and DVDs and play with the toys.  We still go at least once a week though.

Today at the library as we were checking out our stack of books the computer let me know we had reached our limit.  This means somewhere around my house I have 50 picture books.  Once we reached the limit we weren't able to check out any other materials.  Milo, amid a few tears, had to pick some books to return so he could check out the last few Thomas the Train easy readers he really wanted.

I started thinking this afternoon it would be great if other parts of my life offered a card with a limit. I started imagining all the places I would use the limit card - Milo not listening one too many times, me eating too much candy, Leo not sleeping.  The card would just magically fix the situation.  Then as I was writing this I realized there is no magic involved and it is up to me set and enforce all the limits.  Drats.  Guess I better check out more books on preschool behavior, healthy food and baby sleep patterns.