Happy Halloween!

Bits and Pieces

I apologize for my lack of posting, but these days I haven't had much to say. I do have Halloween photos coming soon though, so stay tuned!

Things have been mostly good here. In September, Johnny and I both had a terrible case of gastroenteritis, and on that same weekend, the shower water handle came off in my hand. The shower has no cut off valve, so that meant we had to turn off the main water, turn it back on to frantically shower and fill buckets and flush toilets, then turn it back off. Plus, it rained for several days straight, something on the roof was leaking, so we had a slight water problem in the basement. And did I mention that the big kid was barfing and my dryer was broken? After a few days and damp laundry draped over every surface, John finally pulled the dryer out and fixed it. And by "fixed it" I mean he rigged the broken piece with duct tape, because the replacement part, this tiny piece of plastic, costs one hundred dollars. After market parts are a rip off. A rip off, I'm telling you!

But other than that crappy weekend, we've been chugging along quite nicely. I still hate getting up early for school, but I'm used to it. It's nice having Maureen all to myself while Johnny is at school, and it's a lot easier running errands with only one kid in tow. It turns out Maureen is pretty agreeable when her brother isn't around to stir the pot.

Kindergarten is going great. He's happy and likes his teacher, although he says she's always telling him what to do. I'm astounded by the vast quantity of work his class does. So far, there are no homework battles. I'm happy so far.

Remember the knee injury? In September, the pain got a lot worse, so I had an MRI in October, which showed a cartilage tear and some cystic activity. So in roughly ten days, I'm having it fixed. Having been through this 12 years ago with the other knee, I'm pretty calm about the whole anesthesia/recovery process, but it's the aftermath that has me nervous. Hobbling after two active kids on crutches? Not possible. So please think good thoughts in my direction that I'm be ambulatory right away.

I'm also involved in Operation Clear Out, because I was down in my basement the other day and realized we had NINE bins of outgrown baby clothes. And stuff can only sit for so long. I was horrified to see that a lot of the newborn clothes that were clean when I put them away now had spit up stains on them! Gross! How does that happen? Anyway, that's been taking up some of my time.

I'd love to know what everyone has been up to and how school is going. Look for Halloween photos soon!

Menu Plan: Too Tired To Cook

Now that school is in full swing, I no longer have an excuse to get Outback Carryout for dinner, or eat a bowl of cereal while the kids have oatmeal. Not that there's anything wrong with those options, but it's been happening far too often around here. I think it's got something to do with me not sleeping well lately (which mostly has to do with ignorant people who shoot off fireworks at 2AM, and also a cat that won't ever be quiet), and also with not exercising as much as usual. Which has to do with a cartilage tear in my right knee (thanks, skiing) that hurts on and off and has put a stop to running for now. I'm having surgery in a few weeks and hopefully that will fix the pain. But the gist of all that is that I'm tired and unmotivated and sometimes (a lot of times) it's easier to slack on dinner.

Anyway, last week Maureen went on a field trip to a farm with her preschool class and we came home with a big pile of fresh picked produce. A lot of it is turnips and sweet potatoes, so this latest menu plan is aimed at using up the stuff we picked.

**Caribbean Pot Roast--Having made this delicious dish several times, I'm still not sure what makes it Caribbean. But it will use up a bunch of the sweet potatoes and also some parsnips that have been languishing in my fridge. Bread and some kind of extra veggie on the side.
**Lemon Chicken and Root Veggie Mash--The marinade for this chicken is only a few ingredients, but it's also moist and tasty. The root veggie mash is a recipe from Prevention, and I'm looking forward to tasting how the turnips balance with the sweet potatoes. And also if the kids will eat it. Salad on the side.
**Greek Style Sliders--Johnny is a big burger fan, so I'm curious to find out how he feels about this version with yummy Greek cucumber sauce. The smaller size is better suited to small tummies too. Sweet potato fries on the side if there are any left, and maybe steamed yellow wax beans from the farm too.
**Bean Soup with Ham--Last week I thawed two ham steaks for Ham with Mustard Cream Sauce and then we only needed one. Since I can't refreeze the ham, and we're not in the mood for the mustard dish again so soon, I thought I'd make a nice pot of soup to help usher in fall. Bread and salad to go with it.
**Beef Stroganoff--Part of the haul from the farm included a small amount of dill. In the past, it's ended up as mush in a bag in the fridge, so I'm hoping to use it in an altered version of this recipe, using steak strips instead of ground beef. I might experiment with using partly plain yogurt in place of sour cream to save some calories.
**Breakfast For Dinner--I'm not a breakfast person. Both kids like to have food in their faces the instant they wake up, but my digestion takes longer to warm up to the idea of eating early in the morning. Breakfast for me is usually something small like a glass of milk and string cheese. We have a lot of eggs right now, so one night will be a variety of breakfast foods--omelets, waffles, and Maureen's favorite, soft boiled eggs.

What are you eating lately?

Noodles and Company Sandwich Coupon Giveaway

My family loves pasta, but we're also big on sandwiches. Easy, portable, and requiring no utensils, a sandwich can make any meal a satisfying one.

Noodles and Company is known for their yummy pasta dishes, but now they have 4 sandwich duo options as well. I'm looking forward to trying the Spicy Chicken Caesar.

GIVEAWAY
Noodles and Company has given me items to give away. One lucky reader will win two coupons to try any sandwich and a fun bottle opener. To enter, click here to look at the sandwich options, then leave me a comment and tell me which sandwich you would like to try. This giveaway will be open for three days. I'll choose a winner on Sunday, October 17th. I must have a valid email address to contact you! Sorry, but this giveaway is only open to US residents. Good luck!

disclaimer: I received coupons to try sandwiches from Noodles and Company. I have not been paid for a positive review and all opinions are my own.

If You Have A Moment Today

School has been back in session for over a month now, and maybe your child's backpack is already looking worn. Or maybe half the pencils are lost already. Or maybe you just like to win stuff.

Pop over to Charm City Moms today and enter to win this fun backpack filled with pens and pencils and make Hanah's Cho's first giveaway a success!

Click here to enter Hanah's giveaway. And if you're mom to a tween girl in the Baltimore/DC area, have you entered my Girl World Tour Ticket giveaway yet?

Her New Favorite Hobby

Girl World Tour Ticket Giveaway

If you saw the movie Mean Girls, you probably thought it was pretty funny. But you also might have found yourself nodding along with parts of it and thinking, "That's so true!"

I read the book the movie was based on, Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, when my daughter was just a tiny baby. And even though she is still years away from full time school and potentially sticky social situations, I think about how to empower her to make good decisions and gracefully face challenges, while maintaining a great relationship with her. A girl's most important ally as she navigates those difficult years is her mother, but it can be hard for both mom and daughter to keep the lines of communication open. The world is a very different place for my daughter than it was when I was a girl.

On Monday, October 18th, as part of the Girl World Tour, author Rosalind Wiseman will host a mother-daughter workshop geared for moms and tween daughters ages 8 to 12. As she aims to help moms and daughters more effectively communicate with each other, Rosalind will offer practical advice and tools to help set the foundation for open communication, which is especially important as the daughters move from their tween to teen years and begin face even more challenges and issues that could put a child’s confidence at risk.

THE GIVEAWAY

Girl World Tour with Rosalind Wiseman
Presented by Dove deodorant and DontFretTheSweat.com

Date: Monday, October 18
Time: 7-9 p.m.
Event Location: Gordon Center for the Performing Arts, 3506 Gwynnbrook Avenue, Owings Mills
Local Host: Greetings & Readings

I have TWO sets of tickets to giveaway to readers, normally a 40 dollar value. Attendees will also receive Wiseman's book, Queenbees and Wannabes and her new tween novel, Boys, Girls and Other Hazardous Materials. To enter, leave me a comment telling me what your biggest concern is with raising a girl. If you win, your tickets will be held at Will Call, but I'll need to get in touch with you with the details, so please make sure your email address is in your Google Profile, or leave it in the body of your comment. If I don't hear from you within 24 hours, I'm sorry but I will need to choose a new winner. Good luck!

Gifts From Busia

A couple of years ago for Christmas, one of Johnny's gifts was a bag full of pieces for a quilt. My mom was making each grandchild a quilt for their room, but busyness being what it is, none of the quilts were close to completion. So we took a peek to see the colors, then handed the bag back.

Johnny's quilt is now finished, and he is so lucky to have such a talented Busia. This isn't quite the whole thing, because I hung it on the line for better light, and didn't want it to drag on the ground. Johnny loves it!



Since Maureen's quilt is still in pieces, my mom made her this cute no-sew fleece in the meantime. It's two layers, so it has a nice weight to it and it's incredibly cozy. She loves it too!

Olive Garden Gift Card Giveaway

When kids come along, it's funny how simple things like going out to eat get more complicated. Between finding a place that has highchairs and boosters, packing enough distractions in case there is a wait, and finding a family friendly venue, sometimes it's exhausting to treat yourself to a night out.

In this economy, sometimes it's just too pricey if you have a large family, so I always appreciate a place that delivers more bang for the buck.

Until October 10th, Olive Garden is offering the Never Ending Pasta Bowl, during which you can get endless servings of pasta and over 40 different sauce-pasta combinations. Each costs $8.95 per person. As always, you also get the restaurant's unlimited soup or salad and breadsticks.

THE GIVEAWAY
I have a 15 dollar Olive Garden Gift Card to give away to one lucky reader. Time is running out on the Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion, so this will be a 2 day giveaway. To enter, leave me a comment with the answer to this question: "You have to eat one kind of pasta sauce for the rest of your life. Do you choose marinara, meat sauce or Alfredo sauce?"

Please Note: I MUST have a valid email address to contact you if you win! Comments without contact information will not be included in the drawing. This giveaway ends at midnight EST on Tuesday October 4th and I'll choose and notify a winner the following day. If I don't hear from you within 24 hours, I'll have to choose a new winner.

Good luck!

Congrats to our winner, Lora!!

First Fish

The Plague House

Moms with older children already know about the statistics involved with kids and stomach viruses. If you have a baby, or no kids yet, here's the deal. At some point, it's likely that one of your children will Upchuck In Public.

On Sunday, I took the kids to a birthday party for a friend of Maureen's who is turning 4. The party was at one of those jump places with the room full of giant inflatables, where the kids run around and scream and sweat buckets and then eat pizza and go home. We had a jumping party for Johnny when he turned 5.

Maureen was quiet in the van on the way there, and once inside, she said her stomach hurt. So I picked her up to comfort her. She put her head on my shoulder. And then she gagged. And then she threw up, mostly over my shoulder on the floor, but also partly on me.

Gross.

Luckily, we were early, so only a few kids were there waiting for the party to start. They instinctively ran to the farthest spot away from the barfer. I asked the employee behind the counter if she had any paper towels. She tore two off a roll and offered them to me.

Amateur. I leaned over and took the roll from her other hand.

And as I did that, Maureen heaved again, and this time she puked down my v-neck shirt. She drank a lot of water that morning, I was soaked. She was soaked. We both smelled disgusting.

Friends sprang into action. Within minutes, I had a complete change of clothes for Maureen and a clean t-shirt for myself. We headed off to the bathroom to clean up and change. Johnny didn't want to leave. When someone suggested that maybe Maureen was suffering from car sicknesses, he jumped right on that. "Yeah, she's just carsick! How about we stay at the party and Maureen can sit in the corner."

That's brotherly love for you. But, even if it was car sickness, there was no way we would subject the other party guests to two vomit-soaked and smelly people for two hours. Just the idea makes me want to hurl.

Luckily, friends stepped in again and volunteered to watch Johnny and then bring him home after the party so I could take the Cookie Tosser home.

Once home, Maureen took a bath and I showered and all the barfy clothes went into the wash. She laid on the couch and watched a movie and seemed to be feeling better (as one tends to do post-puking), but then she drank some water and threw up again. She ran a fever for about 12 hours and was tired and cranky for about 24, but is back to normal right now.

I spent a good portion of the rest of the day performing Operation Disinfect. I cleaned doorknobs, banisters, remotes, phones, light switches and all those other places that tend to get germy. After bedtime, I threw all the blankets from the couch into the wash, along with the hand towel Maureen wiped her mouth on. I considered spraying the couch with Lysol, but decided against it. I quarantined her toothbrush and threw all the toothbrushes away and replaced them with new ones once she was healthy again. The idea of stomach virus spreading to my other kid or to myself or husband was not something I wanted to do.

I'm not sure if it was successful or not. No one else barfed, but I spent two days feeling queasy and crampy and Johnny and I both had sinus and chest congestion and coughing. On Tuesday, I talked to another mom in the grocery store who said she disinfected her whole house after her toddler got sick, and still managed to catch it. We concluded we could have saved ourselves the effort.

Looking back, maybe it's a sign of adulthood or something to do with being the mom, but I was not the slightest bit embarrassed by my daughter's public retching. Barf happens. And, since I am the Queen of Optimism, there are several things that made a bad situation better.

1. No one worked up a sympathy puke.
2. She threw up in a lobby with tile floor that was easily mopped and disinfected. She did not throw up on carpet, in my car, or even worse, inside one of the moonbounce things. (OMG, can you imagine??!)
3. Since the party was also a pizza party, we didn't eat lunch before leaving the house, which minimized the chunk factor.
4. And the best thing, the friends I already mentioned, who are much better prepared than I am, and whose Girl Scout tendencies saved me from having to drive 30 minutes home soaked in barf.

Share with me--when someone in your household is sick, do you make any special effort to keep the other family members from getting sick? (And as an extra challenge, see if you can count how many synonyms for vomit I used in this post!)

Edited to add: 6 hours after this post went up, Johnny and I were both sick as dogs. He threw up at school and I had to get my husband to come home early from work because I was too sick to pick him up. 24 hours later the worst seems to be over, but now I'm washing everything washable and disinfecting the house to keep my husband from getting it.