Category Archives: Food

• We’re moving this weekend. In theory, I’m ready – or we’re ready, I should say, though my husband will gladly tell you I have done 98% the packing while he makes sure the rest of our house runs as it should in the meantime. I kind of like packing and do not trust him to not just put things randomly in a box and call it good. That kind of packing is only allowed the day before the move when you resort to just throwing all things left out into boxes and taping them shut. This is also when you abandon labeling boxes so you end up with 20 boxes that you have to search through for that Very Important thing that you had to wait until the last minute to pack (in our case it will be Vegamite, toothbrushes and/or power cords for the Kindle/iPad).
• I made a Facebook event out of our move so maybe it won’t seem like we are asking too much of our friends because it’s: FUN and we will feed you and give you drinks of whatever variety you would like. Win-win, right? Unless you pull a muscle lifting a box, in which case, I can give you an Advil Liqui-Gel, a heating pad and my sincere apologies.
• Swim lessons went fabulously last week – both boys learned to swim and swam the required distances across the pool after either jumping in or being tossed in by their beloved mother. This week’s lessons have not gone as fabulously… well, for 50% of my children. Jack happily does whatever Miss Julie asks of him and hasn’t once protested or cried this week; Liam is another story. He has suddenly developed a FEAR of the deep end and whenever he is taken there to swim because he will NOT stop touching in the shallow when he is not supposed to, he FREAKS out. It is not pretty. And it makes no sense because he is actually quite a good swimmer and can swim across the pool, no problem. It’s all in his head and it’s like a switch gets flipped and he WILL NOT be reasoned with. I am at a loss. Tonight is the last night, I’m hopeful he will remain calm as he did finish up well last night and without a total freak out for three laps across the pool.
• I made these Nutella Mocha No-Bake Cookies as first recommended by my friend, Keri… they are awesome and you should make them. The End. Recipe at the end of the post.
• We had a family reunion last weekend – it was quite a lot of fun to catch up with people I don’t see often and also makes me sad I didn’t grow up along with my cousins being that the closest in age cousin to me is still 9 years older. Ever the baby of the family. Alas. But at least I can hang out with them now that we are all adults and hopefully we will make the reunion an annual or bi-annual thing! I’m totally up for hosting next time – though we might elect Bill and Paula every time because they were pretty awesome hosts!

• Because we will be getting rid of our DVR next week, I have let the children record whatever shows they would like in the past couple weeks. So now we have 15 episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and at least a dozen of Kung-Fu Panda Legends of Awesome and Monsters vs. Aliens. [Spell check offered “Lung-Fu” as an alternative option for Kung-Fu up there – really?]
• Sandy’s little baby L has finally warmed up to me and will let me hold her without crying. This does wonders for my confidence since last week I made her cry the big tears after I looked at her. She probably knows I am the mother of boys.
• I wish bandages solved all the worlds problems like they do for my kids. Jack will demand a bandage for a nearly invisible ouchie he has been crying over for a large amount of time and when I give it to him he is suddenly “all better.”
• We also close on our current house tomorrow, which will be awesome to no longer own two homes. Sadly we didn’t close on it sooner because yesterday Simon tossed a bread knife in our sink and it poked a hole in it so today we had to put in a brand new sink. Awesome.
• I feel I shouldn’t put this here, but I have a wrinkle on the outside surface of my eyeball (yes, even imagining that makes me squeamish and it’s MY eye) that I’m just ignoring until after the move. It feels like I have an eyelash in my eye but does not seem to be affecting my vision. And yes, I will get it checked out but I cannot be wearing glasses right now since I have not actually worn glasses since freshman year of college and that one time I did, I fell down some stairs because my depth perception was WAY off. Does anyone else ignore health issues because they don’t want to deal with them at the moment? I know I’m not alone on that one.
• And happiest of birthdays to my sister-in-law, Joan! I think she’s pretty awesome! May you all be so lucky to have a relative like her!

Nutella Mocha No-Bake Cookies
In double boiler, melt: 1/2 c. butter
1 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp instant coffee granules (I used 5 packets of Starbucks VIA instant coffee)
Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of Nutella until melted. Stir in 3-4 cups of quick oats (original recipe called for 3 cups, I used 4 because mine seemed too runny and I also used Old-Fashioned Oats, use your judgement). Scoop onto wax paper and cool in fridge.

Like every other person in the world, we’ve been busy. That’s what happens at the end of the school year, when you work full time and also are packing up your house to move the first week in July. Throw in a round of IBS flare up and/or the stomach flu, camping one weekend and a family reunion and even the most prepared person might not find time to blog. But my fans are clamoring (read: my dad) for an update.

Here’s a recap of what I’ve been up to since last we met:

• Watching The Voice… it’s pretty much the only new television I’ve been keeping up with this summer, though I also enjoy Rookie Blue when my husband doesn’t delete it from the DVR before I can watch it… we’ve also been cleaning off all the saved items on our DVR since we will be sending it back when we move. We watched 50/50 two weekends ago – pretty good movie. Genuinely funny, though still with Seth Rogan so at times inappropriate. We also rented Pitch Perfect last weekend and I really enjoyed it despite the two unnecessary puking scenes, but I love a musical (aside from Les Mis, which was not my favorite despite how much everyone loves it). We also went to see “Fast & Furious 6” for date night recently – it was even my pick because along with musicals and movies with dancing in them, I also love a mindless movie with fast cars (and Paul Walker).
• We found a restaurant in town that actually makes its own tamales and tortillas – delicious. It is tiny and more suited for take out, but it is worth checking out. La Huasteca on Plainfield.
• We closed on our new house – I don’t think I actually mentioned that here… we also ended up buying all the furniture from the list in my last post that weekend (thanks to an awesome warehouse sale at a local furniture store) so in the span of a few days we spent a whole lot of money with virtually nothing to show for it at this point since we don’t get possession of the house until the 30th and our furniture isn’t delivered until the first week in July. Here’s hoping it actually comes then or else the living room, kitchen and dining room are going to be quite empty. [Also, we are leaving the clawfoot tub, at our buyers request so I don’t have to fret about that.]
• We’ve had some fun play dates with sweet friends – I feel so blessed by the people in our lives – my friends and my children’s friends.
• Liam wrapped up first grade – which officially means we have a second grader (yipes) – and got a little verklempt on the last day of school when we pulled out of the parking lot. (I admit that it choked me up a little but then I remembered that it was the last time I’d be doing daily school drop off and pick up and I was happy once again – the bus stop for Liam’s new school is literally at the end of our driveway).
• I signed up for the summer round of Biggest Blogging Loser – last time I came in third (though we were on vacation and my last email weigh-in never got sent so that’s according to my calculations and nothing official) and there is no glory (or money) for third place so I’m doing it again! Wish me luck!
• The boys had their 6-month check at the dentist and BOTH of them had cavities. Sigh. We are admittedly a little lax lately in the toothbrushing department and apparently it DOES make a difference (yes – I really do know this, but sometimes things fall through the cracks). So we go back in another couple weeks for fillings. The dentist recommended that we get nitrous for Jack since during the cleaning and check up it was all she could do to get him to stay in the chair. I booked them for a morning appointment, thinking it would be a perfect thing for Simon to take them to but then realized I wasn’t about to miss the hilarity that was sure to ensue with Jack in nitrous oxide so I think we’ll make it a family affair. Winsies for everyone.
• I had a perfect check up. Go me. At least one of us is good with their dental hygiene (Simon also had a cavity at his last check up).
• The boys start swim lessons next week… like the intense, teach them to swim in four days kind of swim lessons. I cannot wait!
• I received the following mis-directed texts this week which cracked me up:
  • Text #1: That ugly [derogatory term we don’t use here, but made it clear they weren’t referring to my Australian husband] you with doesn’t deserve you. He be cheating with some b!tch. I tell you cause you some sweet girl and deserve a [same lovely term] that will treat you good.
  • Text #2: He was pulling out of a hotel with some girl last Tuesday.
• Firstly, what a lovely sentiment and text to receive from a “friend.” Second, the sender waited an entire week to send this tidbit of information, clearly they weren’t overly concerned. Hope it all works out because I never responded to tell them that they sent the texts to the wrong number.
• I cooked nearly 4 pounds of bacon last night and you would have thought George would have been at my side, begging for every little morsel I might throw him, but there was also a thunder storm going on so my sad little dog was cowering upstairs, too afraid to venture down the stairs even for some bacon.
• Speaking of bacon, it is delicious.
• Liam had a play date with my coworker’s son last week to reacquaint them since they will be at daycare together one day a week this summer and she texted me about how talkative he is… and it is 100% true, the kid can (and will) talk to anyone, about anything, for as long as you will listen.
• And then there is Jack who just never stops moving and does everything with the greatest intensity he can muster (which is great).
• Re. above two bullets: my children are exhausting.
• I’ve also been playing a wee bit of Candy Crush Saga and Words with Friends (read: every evening, until my eyelids can no longer stay open). I have a problem and I’m okay with that.
• We are going camping this week (like for real, in a tent and not in someone’s backyard) (i.e., reason for the bacon cooking above). In theory, we are all looking forward to this weekend. The boys have no idea what to expect and I know they will love it. I grew up camping (be it in a pop-up camper) and also love it, but I never had to do all the prep work for those trips and lo, it is a lot of work. But the memories, it will be worth it!
• I feel like there were many other funny stories to share about the boys… but this is what happens when I take two weeks to blog, I forget things. Sorry, dad.
• My Nespresso maker came and I am dying to use it, but I am saving it for the new house. It is adorable though and it’s going to make yummy coffee…
• Making this today, per Heidi’s recommendation: Blueberry Boy Bait. Also made these Party Pretzels and Get Thee Behind Me Satan Snack mix (recipe below) for camping

“Get Thee Behind Me, Satan” Sweet Snack Mix
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup lite corn syrup
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
melt all in sauce pan, boil 2 minutes
In large bowl mix together 18oz box of crispix cereal (can also use corn or rice chex), 3+ cups mini pretzels (optional, replace 1 cup pretzels with peanuts). Pour syrup over all and mix well. Put into large greased roasting pan (or two 9×13 pans). Bake @ 250 for about 1 hour, stirring every 15 min. Dump out on wax paper or foil to cool (slightly) then add M&M’s (optional). Eat until you can’t stand yourself!! Store in airtight container.