Meal Planning wk of February 1

Here's next weeks plan while I have it on my mind...

Sunday: Slow cooked pork shoulder (don't remember where I got this from, but the leftovers can be used for a Bolognese that I'd like to try), Cheese Ravioli w/ Roasted Red Pepper sauce, Veg?

Monday: Crispy Pork Milanese, Leftover Ravioli & Butternut-Squash sauce (Shelaghs been asking for this)

Tuesday: Brown Sugar BBQ Chicken Drumettes, Snow Peas, Roasted Potatoes


Wednesday: Sole w/ Lemon-butter sauce, Yellow Rice, Peas


Thursday: Kids Mac & Cheese night; Leftovers for us


Friday: Out with my Sisters-in-law


Saturday: Something roasty...Beef maybe? Lamb? Joe is taking Rory to a PC basketball game for the day so the girls will be home and I'd love to spend the afternoon cooking with Shelagh. I'd like to try the Pull-Apart Cheesy Onion Bread from Food & Wine too.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Blog

On January 8, my Blog celebrated 2 years. Crazy. I've really enjoyed writing this and hope to continue into the future. It went from a good mix of culture and family to mostly family to lots of cooking and back, hopefully, to a mix of culture and cooking and family. I've got a loyal little following of friends and family (thank you) and have met a few people through this endeavor as well. Thanks for reading and keep coming back!

The Girls

I just love this picture. It really shows how much Shelagh has embraced Kelly. She always was good to her and loved her, but she's moved from sort of indifferent to full of love all the time. Kelly adores her back and lights up as soon as she sees or hears Shelaghs voice. It's precious.

Brain Washing Rory to Love the Foo Fighters

This is my goal of the day...Foo Fighters are definitely my #1 fave band. I went on their website today just to see if there was any way they'd be touring soon or releasing a new album. They just released a greatest hits so no new music on the horizon. I started showing him some of their videos and he got totally into it. I'm so 37 and not watching MTV or VH1 I had no idea what goofballs they are in their videos. Long Road to Ruin is definintely the best with a collection of fantastic cheesey 70's mustaches and the band acting out a soap opera story with Rashida Jones...just awesome. Learn to Fly is pretty good too with a nice Jack Black cameo and more bad mustaches.

Mission accomplished. He won't stop..."More Foo Fighters videos, Mommy. I like the ones with the cars."

Unexpected Purchases, Here We Come

In the middle of cooking a pork roast a few weeks ago, I was greeted with this:

What the f&^%? A year and a day or so (just over warranty of course) after I got this piece of crap electric oven the whole rectangular computer piece there fell out and down into the back of the unit. After I tried massive amounts of duck tape to no avail, my Mom and Dad saved the day by packing the back of the stove with styrofoam blocks from Michaels to hold the computer piece in place. Needless to say, it's been downhill since.

A couple of months before Thanksgiving (which I host), I noticed things taking longer than they should baking such as Joe's birthday carrot cake. I completely over cooked it eventually. Then I got an oven thermometer and figured out how to compensate with the computer settings so that I got to the temp I needed. Well, that didn't really work but at least my Thanksgiving turkey was done 2 1/2 hours early rather than being underdone I suppose.

Now I have this. I completely freaked. This happened the day before I went away leaving Joe with all 3 kids for 4 days. His calm demeanor prevailed and after unplugging it and plugging it back in, the pork roast was saved. This is a freak accident waiting to happen.

Also, my dryer takes 2 cycles to dry anything these days on the hottest setting. Or, my washer isn't spinning well enough. I feel new appliances on the horizon.

Baking & Craft

Rory was a little under the weather last night so we decided to lay low today. Rory worked on his Paint-Your-Own Race Car bank and then we baked Glazed Maple Cookies.

The cookies came out good, but the dough was a little crumb-y and started to get difficult to keep together. Also, to get the syrup to stay on top, I had to use the underside of a spoon to make a little depression and then it didn't get as full on top as the picture. It definitely sank in to the cookie. I did add some coarse salt to the top - the sweet salty combo worked well here.

Major Meal Planning! Wk of 1/25

While the kids were away I did some serious recipe siphoning and a 2 week meal plan. Here's this weeks plan.

Sunday: Chicken Under a Brick, Sesame Broccoli, Barley Pilaf. Also made slower cooker Brisket & Onions to have as lunch, leftovers, and for the kids through the week. I can't find where I got the brisket recipe from. It was easy though. Basically, brown a 3-4 lb brisket seasoned with s & P in a skillet and remove. Slice 2 large onions thin and saute slowly until soft and caramelized. Add 6 cloves minced garlic and cook until fragrant. Put met in slow cooker insert, cover and tuck onion mixture all around. Heat 1 1/2 cups beef broth with 1 Tbl Worcestershire and 2 tsp soy and pour over meat. Cook on low for 6 hours.

Monday: Scallops, Mashed Potatoes, and sauteed Escarole. The kids had the Brisket, Mashed Potatoes and raw sugar snap peas. Kelly LOVED the brisket and mashed potatoes!

Tuesday: Cupcake Pork Pies (this is from a 2007 Cookie Magazine recipe, but I can't find it online), French Fries, and Carrots (Orange-glazed ribbons cooked for us, raw for the kids).

Wednesday: Homemade Fish Sticks, cheese ravioli with roasted red pepper sauce, and peas.

Thursday: Mac & Cheese night for the kids and leftovers for us

Friday: Movie Date Night! Babysitter is booked and we're off to see Avatar in Imax 3D. I cannot wait! Plus, they have an awesome ice cream place right next to the theater. Weeeeeeee.

Saturday: Friends over for Pizza Dinner

Milk

Well, Kelly is almost 1 (less than 2 weeks) and I'm just about out of formula so here comes milk. I put it in a sippy cup but she would have none of it. This is new for me. The other kids inhaled milk immediately. I put it in her weird squeezy bottles and that helped, but she doesn't seem that into it. I don't get how that stinky formula tastes ok to her but whole milk is just "eh". Same thing when Shelagh decided the cat food was ok but vegetables were a no-no.

Kids Skiing

Forgot to post these last weekend...Joe took the kids across the street to our neighbors "hill" to get them prepped for this weekends NH trip. Rory with skis crossed trying to grasp the idea of the "pizza" and Shelagh with stellar i'm-about-to-fall-but-i'm-smiling-for-this-picture-at-least form.

Always happy to pose for me...

What a stud.

TV: Conan & Jersey Shore

While Joe is away I took it upon myself to catch up on the last 2 weeks of Greys Anatomy, a few How I Met Your Mothers, and the finale of Conan on the Tonight Show. I am not a late night watcher. I have enough on my queue, I can't do any kind of daily show, and I just generally find them boring. I thought Conan showed real class though...he really got screwed royally and Jay is an ass. He should have walked away and let Conan continue. What a douche.

I'm embarrased to report that I watched the 1st episode of Jersey Shore tonight. I know, I know. It's ridiculous - both the show and the fact that I watched it. I just couldn't help it. I'm from New Jersey so one could say that I'm familiar with a level of cheesiness. I have been known to have big hair (thank you Aussie Mega Spritz spray applied upside down with a hair dryer). I wore some neon in my day. I have liked some glittery purple eye shadow, but it was the 80s and who didn't????? I'm not even in the same ball park as these people. Wow. I couldn't stop. There is no way Joe would want to watch this. He is going to seriously mock me when he reads this. My no-reality-but-Top-Chef rule is balancing on the pudding skin right now.

Mom & Baby Weekend

Joe took Shelagh and Rory skiing in NH this weekend, so Kelly and I were on our own. What a little trooper she was! I took this opportunity to organize and do the million errands that never seem to get done. I was inspired by GreenStyleMoms post about all she got accomplished in one day. An impressive feat. A sampling of my no-big-kids weekend day...

Went to Nice Mall first:

• Went to buy undergarments for the 1st time in a good 4-5 years.
• Spent Xmas gift card at Lululemon Athletica which has the most ridiculously overpriced and luxourious work out clothes ever. Isn't that what gift cards are for???? I suppose I should start working out again, huh?
• Exchanged Xmas sweater at Banana Republic for several sale items - I love that. Cargo pants, a shirt, a hoodie sweater, and a belt. All sale items were an additional 40% off. I really get a rush when I get excellent deals.
• Brought watch but forgot to get new watch battery. Newman.
• Had a nice lunch with Kelly in the not-so-bad food court. I had a really yummy pink lemonade actually.

Break at home for nap time:

• Laundry - changed all the sheets and stuff
• Siphoned through clothes for Salvation Army
• Threw out > 3 mos worth of magazines
• Hmmm...I thought I did more than that in the 2 hours Kelly slept...

Went to local crappy Mall (they have a Code of Conduct on the Mall Entrance doors):

• Replaced broken iPhone car charger (free under warranty - yeah! how did phone chargers end up at $30!!!)
• Recycled old DVD player and TiVO as well as old cell phone chargers at Best Buy and got new HD cables for our TV. They are sensitive and the screen blacks out randomly which is beyond annoying. Fingers crossed it was the cables and not the whole receiver. Totally forgot to get the cord hider we need and a new DVD player (our current one shows movies in red & green only). How irritating is it thinking you can cross something off your list when, in fact, you forget the reason you were there and still have to go back. Sigh.
• Attempted to return cleats we bought for Shelagh for soccer that she didn't need without a receipt. Latest sale price would have given me $5 on $20 shoes. No thank you. Posted on Craigslist instead.
• Went to Bed & Bath to replace broken bathroom items and rug, got new waterproof mattress covers and a new pillow for Joe.

Side note...at the crappy mall I saw a couple with their probably < 2 year old at a mall cart getting her ears pierced. I'm not against ear piercing small children per se (mine were done in when I was an infant), but watching the Dad hold her down was unsettling.


Exhausted Kelly at day end...So sleepy, but so cute.


I'm off to sort papers for the taxes, fold laundry, and do some serious Meal Planning for my AM food shopping before the family returns. Also, tomorrow AM will include hardware store, return to Toys R Us, and drop off Haiti donation goods at neighbors house...they have a direct connection to someone down there so I'm thrilled to help in a concrete way other than sending off cash to who knows where.

Kelly & Rory Snuggling

Kelly has always been a snuggler, but lately she just can't give out enough hugs and snuggles.

• For me, she wraps her arms around my neck and holds onto my ponytail. I think she gets comfort from hair...grabbing it, pulling it, eating it, whatever.
• For Joe, she was giving him kisses and no one else for awhile.
• For Shelagh, she wraps her arms around her shoulders and buries her face in Shelaghs neck. She will hug her over and over whenever Shelagh asks. She clearly worships her big sister.
• For Rory, she hugs his head and pats his hair. See below.

Operation Nighttime Underpants Semi-Reboot

Rory was DEVASTATED that he was going back to pull ups. DEVASTATED. He cried and cried and refused to put one on. And quote "Pull-ups are STUPIC!". Finally, Joe agreed to line his bed with towels and let him try one more time. We woke him up at 10 and he hadn't peed this time - poor thing is really trying so hard. This morning his undies were damp, but it hadn't gone through and he was pretty proud. We tried to explain that his body just wasn't ready - 'Buddy, your peam doesn't know how to hold the tinkle in while you are sleeping and relaxed'. He calls his penis his peam. It's hilarious and we don't correct him.

Anyway, Joe is taking the kids skiing and he's agreed to wear pull-ups at our friends house. We'll see how it goes.

Operation Nighttime Underpants Abort Mission

Okay, he's just not ready. Last night, he

• didn't drink after dinner
• peed at 7
• peed at 8
• At 930 I got him up to pee and it was already too late

Seriously???? He doesn't pee every hour during the day. I think he's just so relaxed while he's sleeping that he doesn't realize. Back to pullups, I guess. He was bummed but I told him that his body just wasn't ready. He's a trooper. And, SO CUTE when he's woken up sleepy and just hanging on me and cuddly.

Book: World Without End

Loved this book. Loved it. This was the "sequel" to Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It wasn't really a sequel per se, but rather took place in the same time with ancestors of the original story. Pillars wasn't really relevant, but it did give the current story some more context. In short, this story was about a town in the 1300's built around a monks priory; the interaction of church and community; the interaction also with the kingdom of England and the nobility; and finally the interplay between classes. As with Pillars, the core of the story focused around the architecture of the priory, the infrastructure of the town, and how commerce and politics played out at that time. There was a love story interwoven which was central, but not overpowering.

I just truely got sucked in and could not put this book down. It was long but written beautifully and I just didn't want it to end. I could see either or both of these being made into a solid movie. OOOOO...Just checked IMDB and it's being made into a TV Mini-Series to be released this year! Mostly unknown cast, which is probably good, except for Ian McShane (Deadwood).

Movie: Australia

I have one word for this movie...BORING! I love a good epic love story. A nice historical fiction filled with romance, working the land, struggle, etc a la Thornbirds, Far and Away, and others of that type. This was just hokey and corny. I had heard something about this being sort of like Out of Africa. NOT EVEN CLOSE, people. I kept falling asleep (which actually says nothing of the movie since I could be out cold on any given day at 8pm) and finally gave up like 1/3rd of the way through. Joe watched a little more than me, but as far as I'm concerned...DELETE. You could see the stamp of Baz Luhrman (Moulin Rouge) all over it...a little too flashy, a little too stage performance. I loved Moulin Rouge, but that was intended to be a flashy, bright, beautiful musical - this was not. Blah, blah.

Speaking of good love stores, RIP Erich Segal. "Love Story" is possibly one of the saddest and most intense love stories of all time. Ryan O'Neill had such promise.

Operation Nighttime Underpants Day 5

More pee. This time, the plan was to get him up to go before we went to bed. At 10-something last night Joe went in to wake him up and came out saying "Too Late". Seriously? He did his last pee at 7pm and was COMPLETELY SOAKED! We brought him into our bed after laying down a towel, wrapping him in a towel, and he passed right out. Of course, Kelly slept through the night for the first time in who knows how long and I was up twice anyway carrying him to the bathroom so that he wouldn't pee on me! More importantly, so that he wouldn't pee on my v. expensive Tempurpedic.

Tonight I will have him pee before his tub as usual, again after stories before bed which is usually around 8. I will wake him up before I go to bed around 10-11. I will also lay down a couple of towels between his mattress cover and sheets - I have extra sheets, but no extra mattress covers yet (that's a to-do for this weekend for sure). I will also get him up early to pee and then send him in to rest more with Joe afterwards so he doesn't wake Shelagh.

If all else fails, I'll try those Goodnights (thank you, Nicole!). This is tiring.

Operation Nighttime Underpants Days 2 - 4

Pee, Pee, and more Pee.

On Day 2, he woke up crying at 4-something AM b/c he peed and was really upset. I got him changed and, thankfully, everyone went back to sleep. Then I put the waterproof/rubber mattress cover in the dryer on high heat...oops. It's wrinkly but it still works.

On Day 3, he peed but didn't bother getting up. He was kind of bummed.

On Day 4, he peed but didn't bother getting up. Completely unfazed.

Nice. Now, he's adjusted to the pee and that's that. I really don't want to go back to pull-ups. I have heard boys take longer to learn to hold it at night. What a freakin hassle. Tonight I think I'll just cut off liquids after dinner and then wake him up in the middle of the night. I'm up every night for Kelly anyway...any suggestions? anyone?

Operation Nighttime Underpants - Day 1

I figured we have a 4 day weekend with MLK day and my home day on Tuesday so I'm just going to muscle through it. If I have to wash sheets and the 1 waterproof mattress cover I have for his bed, so be it. Rory is 4 years old now and nowhere near waking up with a dry pull-up. It's gross.

At the end of night 1 with underwear and no pullups, Rory woke me up at 630am to help him go potty. I was simultaneously thrilled and had a big sigh for more sleepless nights/early mornings. I did briefly consider waking him at 430am when I got up for Kelly. Glad I didn't since he did it!! Then, of course, he went back in his room and woke up Shelagh and then basically woke up Kelly too. You can't have everything, I guess.

Movie: Observe and Report

Continuing on my pledge to post more culture bits and try to write something about each movie we've seen...

Observe and Report with Seth Rogan was good, but not great, I'd say. It's a dark comedy and certainly had a few laughs and a few WOW-caught-me-off-guard moments. I do like Seth R and have enjoyed pretty much everything else he's been in - I don't think he's acting much - I think he just has funny mannerisms and his voice and tone are funny.

Ray Liotta was in it and I've concluded that he hasn't done much of anything decent since Good Fellas. I just confirmed that on IMDb (unless you count Operation Dumbo Drop as something solid). Now, talk about hitting it out of the park....but not much since then. The part he had in O & R could have been anyone - it bums me out to see someone that does such a phenomenal job in a beloved movie then have crappy bit parts playing boring, nondescript characters. Poor Henry Hill.

Anna Faris is in this also. I haven't seen her in much - didn't see the Scary Movies and hadn't really heard of her until her guest stint on Entourage. She's supposed to be notable in The House Bunny, but I can't bring myself to watch that movie about a playboy model and sorority house. I'm not sorority-biased (go UVM Pi Phi!), but the whole concept of sororities is always portrayed so badly in movies. Just seems silly.

Anyhoo, I'd say watch it if it's on, but don't bump it up your Netflix list or anything. I would like to mention that Netflix rules, if I haven't made note of that in awhile. I had Star Wars Phantom Menace at the top of my list as available and no wait. The local distribution center didn't have it, so they sent me Observe & Report instead and then ALSO sent me Star Wars from another center even though my DVD quota was already met. Extra DVD. How nice is that? We recently reduced from 3 at a time to 2 at a time and with a TV show and 1 movie home, it's nice not to waste our movie slot with something we need to make time to watch with the kids.

Wiggling Bum

In case you wanted to see Kelly crawling with her cute wiggling bum and making some noise too! She's mostly real crawling on all furs now and not army-crawling much anymore. It's incredibly cute if I do say so myself.

Movie: Inglorious Basterds

Joe and I watched this latest Tarantino movie this past weekend. It came in at 2 1/2 hours. Classic Tarantino - check. Blood and super-gross body chopping scenes - check. Decent music - check. Good cast - check. All in all, I'd say it's good but not amongst his best.

Once again, point of reference on Q T. Here is how I'd rank his films...

1. Natural Born Killers
2. Resevoir Dogs
3. Pulp Fiction
4. Kill Bill
5. True Romance - I haven't seen this in awhile, maybe it would be higher, but hard to say.
6. From Dusk to Dawn (Joe continues to make fun of me for liking this movie, but I did. Same for Desperado. I just liked them. Can't explain why.).

Not so much

1. Jackie Brown
2. Didn't care to see Grindhouse

My thoughts on Inglorious Basterds:

• I did not love Brad Pitt in this movie. For a team of rogue Jewish American soldiers sent over to assassinate Nazi's, why the Southern Hick team leader? Didn't work for me. I love BP usually, but take him or leave him this time.
• The ending was kick ass awesome. You never see an "alternative ending" to a WWII movie and this one was the bomb. GO, my people!
• The heroine, Shoshanna, was awesome and the reason the ending was so cool - she had a wizard behind the curtain moment that was goose-bumpy. Clearly she was the best actor in the film.
• Eli Roth represented Bostons accent well (so said Joe). I think he might be from Boston, but all I could think about while watching him was that he wrote Hostel (which was one of the grossest - but still good - movies I've ever seen) and that he looks so much like Zachary Quinto it's creepy (Sylar from Heroes and Spock in the new Star Trek movie).
• Happy to see BJ Novak (Ryan the intern) from the Office get a nice bit part. He did well. Dry and effective.
• Didn't see the trademark QT cameo - did I miss it?
• As has been written about primarily in relation to this movie, Christoph Waltz, who plays the main Nazi, was so uncomfortably evil and unsettling. You'd think that was a given in Nazi movies, but he did stand out. A shining star along with the Shoshanna character.

That's it for now. Next up on the queue is Brotherhood Season 3, Observe and Report, and Julie and Julia.

Cooking Day: Braising and Baking

On Tuesday, I had a braising and baking day. Yeah!! Oh, cooking-love, I'm coming back to you. I had read some gushing reviews of Jamie Olivers Chicken in Milk in The Kitchn and on SmittenKitchen, I think, so I gave it a whirl in my new-ish heavy dutch oven. It was very simple (brown the bird in butter, throw all the ingredients in the pot, and cook), had an interesting and v. yummy combination of ingredients (lemon zest, cinnamon stick, garlic, and milk), and turned out 1/2-way good. The skin, from frying it in a stick of butter essentially, was delish. The dark meat was really perfect - moist, soft, fell off the bone. The white meat, however, was dry. Boo. It might be because I accidentally cooked it breast down, but you'd think being submerged in the cooking liquid would prevent dryness? I guess not. I will try it again flipped over and see what happens.

Since the oven was already on for 2 hours, I also made Molly Stevens Braised Cabbage from All About Braising. The recipe was typed out on the Orangette blog, sans the poached egg. I've made this before with a variation which adds balsamic before the last uncovered roasting step.

Finally, continuing on my biscuit journey, I made Cheddar Sage Biscuits from Everyday Food. I cannot believe how easy biscuits are and even people who are dough-challenged, like myself, can manage to whip out some of these. I baked 4 of them and froze the rest raw to bake on demand later on. I threw those in the toaster oven since the big oven was occupied. I made some Yukon mashed potatoes to use up some of the leftover buttermilk. I'll have to either make more biscuits or more chicken to finish the b.milk or maybe I can find some room in the freezer (doubt it) and will just save it. Dying for an extra freezer...

Movie: The Princess and the Frog

Rory, Shelagh and I went to see The Princess and the Frog last weekend. Overall, I liked it but it wasn't top of the list Disney for me. To clarify, let's establish a baseline (a la Beautiful Girls - God, I love that movie - when Timothy Hutton and Michael Rappaport and their buddy, Kev, were talking about women they thought were beautiful; but they had to agree on what was a 10 and what was a 1 before they could put their subjective opinions in perspective - awesome scene). Back to Disney and other kids cartoon movies, my favorites would be

1. Cars, probably Cars 2 (Summer 2011 - yippeee! - Looks like Owen Wilson is returning!)
2. Finding Nemo
3. Toy Story 1, Toy Story 2, and I'd expect Toy Story 3 (Summer 2010) as well
4. Ratatouille
5. Kung Fu Panda (awesomeness)
6. Incredibles
7. Up (I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Who the hell cares about a story about an old man and balloons? The dogs were hilarious as was Russell, the little kid). Rory actually laughed so hard he wasn't making sound at one point.
8. Aladdin
9. All the rest of the princess movies in no particular order (they are all the same to me)

Monsters v Aliens, Monsters Inc, Bugs Life, Ice Ages, Wall-E...these are all ok in my book. Not great, but not bad and I'll happily see them with the kids, no complaints. For me, it's all about the writing and witty adult humor mixed in with the kids themes.

I've never been much of a cartoon person. Even as a kid I always rather would watch Brady Bunch or Facts of Life or Gimme a Break and crap like that then cartoons. I can't stand Tom and Jerry or Bugs Bunny (with the exception of a few Woody Woodpecker episodes). I did like Smurfs for awhile, but they were pretty freaky/trippy little dudes. Who didn't like them?

That being said, I think Princess and the Frog easily slips in with #9 - All Princess Movies.

• The hand-drawing vs CG was nice to see.
• The music was really wonderful - I really liked the songs a lot. The main character was that singer in Dreamgirls that replaced Effie I think and she did a great job.
• The Voodoo doctor and all the evil shadows were pretty heavy, but the kids handled it well.
• I loved the theme of Tiana being a hard-working self-made girl. I also got to thinking that most of the Disney movies have characters that either don't have or lost their mothers (think about it...Nemo, Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, Princess Jasmine, Bambi, Kida from Atlantis, Belle, does Pocahontas have a mom?, what the F????) - this appears to be the first story where the main character loses her father that I can think of off of the top of my head. Interesting. Do you think it's b/c way back it was very unlikely that someone would lose their mother so it wasn't as threatening??? Maybe now that it's more common to grow up with a single mother it's "ok" to show the father figure removed from the story?? Am I overthinking this?
• Okay, the race part...This movie has been noted for creating the first African American princess. I was happy to see this development - I don't think Disney has completely neglected heroines of ethnic background (Mulan, Jasmine, Pocohantas, Kida (that being Albino - haha); but it was certainly time to have an AA main character. So, here is a strong, determined, smart, and hard-working heroine. Fantastic - Tiana is an awesome character and probably one of the most real and admirable female characters - more like Mulan than Cinderella or Snow White. Is it wrong of me to wonder that the prince is what? Prince Naveen is from some made-up country on who-knows-what continent (he arrived in New Orleans by boat). He is light skinned, his parents are light skinned, he has a French accent...what is he? Was the point to show the AA female character and then have also a mixed race theme? Okay, that's cool. It takes place in New Orleans so you might consider Creole/Cajun/mixed race backgrounds are significantly represented. Or, is he supposed to be black and, if so, why so light skinned and race-questionable? I don't know...maybe it doesn't matter. It doesn't bother me, I was just wondering about it while I was watching the movie. Most of the controversy I was able to read about was in relation to the setting (New Orleans after Katrina), the use of a Voodoo bad guy, and the sidekick Alligator.

Anyway, Shelagh and I generally liked it. Rory said he didn't like it, but he was fixated the whole time. I was most excited for the Toy Story 3 trailer...Buzz has to be reset and whoever pushes his button gets him stuck on Spanish. Looked hilarious.

May the Force Be With You, Young Rory

Other than not liking Star Wars 3 (really 6) b/c Jabba the Hut is scary, he's loving Star Wars these days. He was THRILLED to get his own Light Saber. He and Shelagh made paper ones with the babysitter last week, but this one is now permanently clipped to his belt loop.

Despite being newly enamored of Star Wars, he's still a softie for CARS as you can see below from his reaction to getting Mater the Greater. We just can never get enough of Cars. Hang on until Cars 2 next year, buddy!

A super cool big Batman...

Rory admiring his cupcake and hugging his Dad

By the way, he ate all the icing and no cake.

What I Hope to Achieve in 2010

Resolutions are not easy to keep. We set lofty goals, work hard for a month - maybe two - and then they fizzle until we can't even remember what we decided to accomplish. Then the next year comes and the same items are on the list again. Blah, Blah, Blah.

Well, let's try again! I've listed out some topics and come up with a resolution for some of the different areas of my life. Bear with me...I have a lot of thoughts on several subjects... (shocking, I know):

1. Marriage: Why is it that the person you love the most is the easiest person to let your frustrations out on? I suppose there is a security in that love that makes it seem invincible and makes it seem like it can take the brunt of your moods and wait the longest for nurturing. Further, when you have small children and those children take up so much of your time and energy, I think it's natural to focus your energies on them and then feel like you don't have much left. #1 on my resolution list is to actively care for my marriage and make sure that it doesn't slip down the priority list. When I think about where Joe and I were when we met (ripe young age of 25!) and where we are now, I'm amazed at how much we both have changed individually and together. I'm proud of what we've built together and I want to pledge and demonstrate to him by my actions that he and I are the most important.
2. Parenting: I aim this year to focus my parenting on 2 things...keeping calm and making sure I'm feeling and showing empathy and support. I've spent the last 6 months or so working incredibly hard on learning how to control my temper and frustration. This has been a hard year for us with a lot of transitions. The past year started off with, in light of these challenges, my worst qualities coming out and to the forefront, and almost destroying my relationship with Shelagh in particular, and has ended with me struggling, and I think coming out of it, at finding a new and stronger way to relate to each of my kids based on their needs. If I can keep the same level of patience with the big kids that I do with the baby (aren't we always so sweet and gentle with the little ones ?), then I think I'm on the right track. Obviously, you have to hold your kids to different standards as they get older and become more capable; but they each have completely different personalities and they get there in their own ways. Parenting is truely the hardest thing I've ever had to do and it's a daily challenge to me personally. I've spent a lot of my life taking care of myself and shifting gears to taking complete care of others is so difficult. I really believe that it makes you face the things about yourself that you don't necessarily admire and work on yourself like nothing else makes you do. I'm completely humbled by this experience. It's frustrating, joyful, and completely altering.
3. Personal: I think I've said before that I tend to justify my sarcasm and negativity as simply my sense of humor. I do think it comes into play, but I also think I hide behind that excuse and tend to look at the negative side of things too often. I strive to incorporate more positivity into my life. I aim to let the little annoyances that bubble up inside of me so much roll off my shoulders more and find the good in people and situations. The sarcasm won't go away (impossible...we do have to find the humor in things), but maybe I'll try to use it more carefully instead of as my default position.
4. Friendships: Given that the last year has been so challenging to me personally, I've let some of what I like to give to my friendships go. I haven't had the energy to entertain or keep up with some of my girlfriends and while I regret not seeing them, it was a necessary step this year to focus on the kids and adjusting to a family of five. I think I've pulled my shit together enough now to put some time and effort back into my friends. I hope they understand :)
5. Entertaining: We used to entertain a lot more than we do now. I'd like to try to maybe plan something monthly. That lets me cook some more, keep up with friends, and not allow the weekends to go by without plans (a.k.a. boredom weekends where the kids and husband get stir crazy and cranky).
6. Food: I must get back to Meal Planning & weekend meal preparation. I've not slowed down my recipe clipping, but I have been so crazed, especially on work days, that I'm really not cooking the way I'd like to for the family and putting focus on my favorite hobby.
7. Blog: This started out (2 YEARS AGO this month!) as a place for me to discuss all things pop culture with food and family also a part of it. It's now a family journal with some cooking and an occasional movie review. I strive for more pop culture and greater balance. I haven't stopped reading or watching - I just don't get around to writing about it. If only there was a way to channel my thoughts to at least a notepad without actually using a pen and paper (what a cool invention that would be), I'd be uber-productive.
8. Work: Notice where this one is on the list. It's been at the bottom for awhile now and thankfully, after 10 years and a great team I work with, it's okay down there. I am so thankful for the flexibility and the people I work with that have allowed me to do my job and leave it at work. I continue to focus on my family and life and for the next year hope to make sure I don't let as much slip at work so that I, at least, can maintain my own level of work ethic.
9. Exercise: Do I even bother? This one is kind of a joke...it's obligatory isn't it? Let's just aim to make a yoga class now and then and leave it at that. Notice where THIS one is on the list. Nice.

That should do it. A bold list...

Rorys 4th Birthday Party

The Birthday Boy!! I cannot believe he is 4. (Ignore his ridiculously long hair. He is in dire need of a haircut which he will be getting - like it or not - tomorrow).

Here he is in his "party shirt" (I have no idea what makes a boy party shirt). We had a great party with his classmates and some family friends. We had it at Kidzfun, which is a woman who hosts kids parties and just has endless energy and love for kids. She memorizes up to 20 kids names as soon as they walk in, plays games with them, runs them around ragged, and then there is cake. What a great way to end the school vacation week. Despite some snow and tough roads we had 20 kids there and everyone seemed to have a great time.

What a big boy! He is

• "taking a break from CARS movie" and
• has decided, after a Xmas weekend viewing of all 3 original Star Wars movies, that he now likes Star Wars, the Clone Wars (even though we haven't watched the Clone Wars cartoons). He likes C3PO (b/c he's yellow), would have liked an R2D2 or Yoda cake (no chance I could have handled that), and thinks Jabba the Hut is scary (gross maybe, but scary?).
• He also is dabbling in Superheroes these days - Spidey mostly, but also Batman and an occasional Superman.
• He LOVES his friends at preschool, especially Evan (who loves Spidey, which I think is why Rory has leaned that way). They love each other so much that on most days one of them cries when they get separated to go home. Literally, they hug and start crying. One of the other parents, when asking me what Rory might like for his birthday, said that her husband shouted from the background "A framed picture of Evan!". It's a very public love they have. So cute. Shelagh had a fierce best friend at that age too. I'm glad he also likes some other kids too, but it is nice to see him make his first friend that wasn't a sibling of one of Shelaghs friends.
• He is still an incredibly picky eater (although when reading the Charlie and Lola book, "I will never not ever eat a tomato", he declares that he is not a fussy eater). He can inhale a man-sized breakfast, but will go days without eating a bite of dinner if it doesn't meet his particular tastes for the day.
• He adores both of his sisters and is constantly hugging and kissing Kelly and calling her "Kebsy or Shepsy, my baby".
• He is getting tall (almost the same size as Shelagh) and likes wearing "collared" shirts with his "worker boots".
• Every day he tells me I'm his love and assigns a number to it. For instance, "Mommy, you are my 18 love today". Or, "Mommy, you are my 7,8,9 love". It's heavenly. He also throws his arms around my neck and snuggles so tightly every night at bedtime. He is my angel boy and despite entering an annoying whining/screaming stage right now, I cannot get enough of him. Wow...4 years old.

P.S. - I had to also include this picture of Kelly b/c it's her first time with pigtails! Plus, the poncho was Shelaghs and it's just too cute. Check out her lounging move.

Special thanks to my niece, Madison, for taking complete care of Kelly yesterday so I could concentrate on the kids and picture taking.

2010 Sledding Fun

We ended up with probably 8-10 inches of snow and LOTS of wind which piled it up nicely. We went sledding on Saturday and the kids went again today. Luckily, our neighbor has a nice little hill and loves to have the kids use it. Kelly loved being outside and was a trooper over an hour later when her cheeks were like little ice cubes. I'm convinced they go out only for the hot chocolate after they get back in. Oh well.

Kelly in the sled & Flashback to Shelagh in the same suit in the same sled...

Flashback to Rory in the same suit in the same sled...

Making Soups

I love making soup in the winter. I finally had some time the other day to do some cooking (it seems like it's been forever!) and I chose 2 new soups: Roasted Garlic and Potato Soup which I got from The Kitchn blog and also a Lentil Linguini soup from Food and Wine.

Kelly has been spitting her baby food at me, so I figured it was time to start to migrate her into some regular food. Soup is a good in-between transition food. I had some chicken stock in the freezer that my mom had made when she was here when Kelly was born - good Jewish chicken soup (dill, made with Flanken, yum). I cooked some pastina and carrots in it and she gobbled it up. I'm going to make matzo balls later today to finish the stock. She also inhaled the Italian Wedding soup Shelagh and I were eating last week - pasta, meatball, and spinach. Here's the pastina "soup" half-way gone.

I've been craving potato soup lately and this recipe popped up on The Kitchn in one of their "Best of 2009" lists. It was actually kind of light on the potato and heavy on the roasted garlic so it was thinner than I would normally like it. Along with it, Joe and I had grilled cheese made with cheddar, thick italian bread and some of the roasted garlic smeared all over it...dipped in the soup - delish! Despite calling it French Fry soup, Rory wouldn't even try it. Even with an ice cream sandwich as reward. Man can he dig his heels in.

Next was the Lentil soup. I've never made lentil soup, but I figured it would be a good way to use dried beans since you don't have to soak them. Plus, they are really small and get super soft and, as it turns out, they really heavily flavor the soup. The recipe called for water and not broth and you wouldn't have known it...the beans partially broke down and made a nice thick and savory base. I didn't put the linguini in - I usually put pastas/rices for soups in separately so they don't get soggy sitting in the liquid. I got lazy and forgot to make it. I did rip up some baby spinach leaves though and she liked that. Shelagh and I both liked this soup as well. I might add bacon next time, but it was great on it's own.

I have to say that Lentil soup makes me think of stinky hippies for some reason - actually that old show from MTV, the Young Ones, is probably why. Neil, the hippie character, used the blow up Lentil soup all the time. It was a totally weird, really funny show - not really Monty Python or The Kids in the Hall, but kind of in that vein. I couldn't remember the name of it just now - gotta love Google - I googled "MTV shows 80s" and it popped right up!

Chocolate Caramel Cookie Brittle

Or, Saltines with toffee and chocolate chips. Either way, it's good and I was in the mood to make a sweet! I've had this before and just searched and found the ridiculously simple recipe for it. Saltines, butter, brown sugar and chocolate chips.

Now if only a squirrel hadn't run through it...I guess I should have put it out on my enclosed porch rather than my open deck. Who knew squirrels liked chocolate.

As usual, the kids each wanted their own spatula of remnants to lick. Rory has a knack for getting the chocolate all over the lower part of his face. It's awesome.