what you need is twins…

Last week the kids and I were leaving the grocery store when a woman entering the store approached us. She was smiling widely and said, “What you need is twins!” From her smile, I assume the comment was meant as some type of compliment. However, I have yet to be able to figure out what it meant.

white whole wheat flour…

I love white whole wheat flour. My husband has been resistant to switching to whole wheat flour. Any time I used more than 50% whole wheat flour in a recipe, he would start  to grimace just a bit. I recently started replacing the remaining unbleached flour with white whole wheat flour and he hasn’t noticed (he was aware of my plans to try it). It hasn’t changed the texture or consistency at all. Our local grocery store even started carrying King Arthur’s white whole wheat flour. Fabulous!

be bug cookies…

My 23 month old is enthralled by bugs. Any bug will do in a pinch – insects, spiders, snails, etc. However, his absolute favorite would have to be lady bugs. He calls them “be bugs.” He searches out bugs and then has to share his discoveries with all of us. I happened to ask him if he thought he might like a lady bug cake for his birthday. Ever since he periodically reminds me about his “be bug” cake.

The kids wanted to make cookies this afternoon. We decided to make ladybug cookies – chocolate chip cookies with some food coloring (although the older kids were in favor of adding pretzel legs). I have to admit the food coloring doesn’t make them the most appetizing cookies, but my son was thrilled with his “be bug” cookies. 

Now I’m off to punch down the dough for our rolls tonight.

morning serenade…

Lately my 6 1/2 year old has been serenading us every morning. Laying in bed, hoping for a few more minutes of sleep, you just have to laugh at the hilarity of someone jumping out of bed, singing such songs as:

• Looking for My Tire
• I’m the Son of Apollo
• Rain Never Stopped a Canoe

My husband is not a particularly chipper chap upon waking. Something about spending years listening to his mother scream at him from across the house to wake him up in the morning soured his outlook on getting out of bed. In fact, for many years, I absolutely refused to wake him up in the morning. While he never remembered saying anything during my attempts to wake him, I always recalled quite clearly. These days he is a friendly grump when woken. However, even he can’t help but roll over, cover his head with a pillow, and chuckle at the enthusiastic songs.

yes, my almost 2 year old is rear-facing…

My husband is a wonderful, loving, supportive man. However, there is one parenting aspect that we have disagreed upon – rear-facing car seats after 18 months or so.

I relented with our first two children around 18 months due to pressure from my husband. My older son was walking up the back of the car’s seat every time I tried to buckle him in and my husband kept on about it. My son was much happier forward facing at that time, but I didn’t feel it was worth the risk. I was determined to wait longer with our second child. Unfortunately, my daughter used to get carsick a lot. We had pulled her carseat out to wash it yet again, and my husband started pressuring me.

I’ve stood strong on all of my other parenting beliefs, usually with full support from him. I’m not proud that ‘I caved on this issue. I’m not certain why I did. Perhaps some part of me felt that he was so great about supporting all of our other parenting practices that I shouldn’t drag out a fight about this. Regardless of why, I should have stood my ground. This weekend he started complaining that our almost 23 month old is still rear-facing and has to cross his legs, bend them, or put them up over the headrest of the van’s normal seat in order to continue rear-facing. He wasn’ t dropping it, but I decided I wasn’t backing down this time.

I demanded that he show me his research. That threw him for a little loop. I explained that I had done all of my research and knew that remaining rear-facing for as long as possible is the safer option. The AAP recently finally go its act in gear and changed their minimum guidline from 1 year to 2 years. Children should really remain rear-facing for as long as possible, though. In my son’s car seat, that is 35 pounds. My 28 pounder has quite a bit of time left rear-facing. I stated that forward-facing toddlers were 5 times more likely to die in a crash than rear-facing toddlers. I threw as many facts as I could remember off the top of my head at him. I also pointed out that children naturally sit with legs crossed or in some other position. It’s actually more comfortable. As an added bonus, my husband was driving at the time, so I was able to point out that even I had my legs curled up and crossed in my seat. I then reiterated that I had done my research and until he was ready to show me research that he had done, I was not willing to discuss the issue further.

And what did he do? He conceded. He said that he knew I had done my research and that I am an impeccable researcher. I take parenting very seriously and am the best mother he knows. He stated that he trusted me. Then he dropped the issue.

My son will turn two son. He’ll still be rear-facing and will remain so for quite some time. If we have that theoretical fourth child, s/he will remain rear-facing for as long as possible.

In case you want to watch a video….

my mother’s hands…

I remember looking at my mother’s hands a lot when I was growing up. Her hands seemed to be an integral part of her – strong and capable, slender and gentle, always there. I never realized that my hands looked so much like hers. It was during that week after she died that I happened to look down and make that discovery. She died eleven years ago today.

When my children were born, I looked at their little hands in mine, recognizing those hands once again. I wondered whether my mother had noticed the resemblance when I was little.

I’ve always noticed a strong physical resemblance between my daughter and my mother. Though I was slightly perplexed that everyone comments on how much my daughter looks like me. Until last Summer, I didn’t understand the extent of that. A photographer friend gave us a photo shoot and cd in exchange for use of the photos for her business. I was flipping through the photos and saw one of my daughter from an angle – and there it was. While she has my mother’s nose and my hair wasn’t as dark until I was much older, the picture could have been me as a little girl. The rest of her face, her body, and even her expressions were the same as mine and the same as my mother’s.

Some day, when I’m not around to share stories about my mother, when no one remembers me, there will still be a part of all of us that lives on…For now, it’s comfortaning to know I have my mother’s hands.

pooper scooper…

Last January another homeschooling family was looking to rehome their hermit crabs. My six year old had been asking for hermit crabs periodically since he was three. I had been on the fence about them. Our research was conflicting about how much time was involved in their care. At three, he just wasn’t ready to do all of the care. At six, he was ready to handle at least some of it. So, we jumped in and volunteered to take them. We already had an extra aquarium and suitable aquarium sand. I studied aquatic ecology in grad school; we are not want for aquariums. The crabs came with an entourage of items for their care.

Of course, we stopped at PetSmart on the way home with Hermie and Benny (they were named before we got home) to pick up a bigger, more suitable water dish, an extra sponge, and a nice backdrop for them to climb. These crabs have everything they could possibly want.

It turns out that crab care really isn’t very difficult. The kids, with my help, make certain they have food (crabs aren’t very big – they don’t eat much) and water. Weekly, they clean out food dishes and wash the water dish and exchange the sponge. They give all sorts of treats to the crabs. Favorites have included orange, popcorn, and an animal cracker. They also get taken out for walks and exploration time around the family room. My husband has even gotten over his aversion to them and realized how friendly they are (as opposed to thinking they look like spiders).

Last month we added to our little crab family. Again, we adopted a little crab that a family no longer wanted. This crab was instantly claimed by my daughter, who decided she was a girl. I don’t know how to sex hermit crabs, so we’ll go with that – two boys and a girl. Pumpkin is quite a bit smaller than her adopted brothers. Hermie and Benny are Purple Pincher crabs and Pumpkin (so named for the pumpkin painted on her shell) is an Ecuadorian crab. She also came with a bag of supplies. We won’t have a need to buy any crab food for years at this rate.

We’ve had crabs for five months now. It is time to add another piece of equipment o their care – a pooper scooper. My son was disgusted with the idea of scooping poo when we first discussed bringing home the crabs. However, he has warmed up to the idea and doesn’t believe it is quite so disgusting now. Hermit crab poo looks like very tiny tootsie rolls. I used to buy a bag of tootsie rolls every Halloween for the nostalgia. They never tasted as good as I hoped, but I felt a compulsion, regardless. I think I’m over that, having seen poo which resembles them.

So, today after gymnastics, we will be headed for a pooper scooper. It’s currently quite a hilarious topic at our house. We may buy new sand, too. Our current sand is leftover cichlid sand – white and black. The tiny poo blends in.

playdough…

We will be making playdough soon. Very soon. I think we’ll stick to food safe essential oils, though, for my little taste tester. I think this might also make a great addition to the mad scientist party we are planning for this Fall.

it’s a wild world out there…

Check out the University of Michigan’s Animal Diversity Web. Animal sounds galore! Now, if only they had sounds for unique animals, such as the ligers we were looking up last weekend…

artisan bread in five minutes a day…

I am intrigued by Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I love the smell of baking bread. It fills my home and feels comfortable. The idea of making up a base and using that throughout the week has its appeal. I will have to think about this and decide if buying the book is worth it. Perhaps I can request an interlibrary loan to check it out first. With a little digging, I believe some of the recipes are on the website.