Go the F to Sleep

Just ran across this article. I'd love to link it, but this is a somewhat family-friendly site and the link doesn't censor. The site does censor the cover so here is the picture. I think it sounds amusing if it's in the correct hands. I'm sure many parents identify with the author's story.  The article linked does have the backstory and author's inspiration (if you couldn't figure that one out already).

Weekend Update - Food

There had to be a post on food, right?

First, we had brunch when we got back from church. Husband and Little Miss made us all yummy pancakes. We had cheese and crackers, scallops wrapped in bacon, and shrimp cocktail for appetizers. Then, we made pierogi and kielbasa for dinner.

I took out Grandma's china which I like to use for Easter because it's looks like Spring with its light blue flowers. I always use our regular china for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. Also, this is the one time a year I can use my Easter egg tablecloth. I've used it every year since college.

Little Miss didn't want any Polish food so she got chicken nuggets and cheese. She was kind of melting down so I was happy if she just sat at the table with us.

For dessert, we had some Polish desserts that Husband baked with his dad. We had nut bread, Babka and chruściki. We were all stuffed but in a good way, not a Thanksgiving way. Back to the grindstone this morning. Mondays are always such a rude awakening.

Weekend Update - Easter

Little Miss woke up early on Easter. So, we had time to do an egg hunt. She found 12 plastic eggs left by the Easter Bunny and filled with chocolate or coins. She'd open an egg filled with coins and then had to put the coins in her bank. Then, she'd come back and find another egg. This went on for quite awhile. Then, she opened her presents from the Easter Bunny. She got a pirate puzzle, Hungry Hungry Hippos, 2 t-shirts (one of which is below with Snow White) and some candy. We got dressed. She wore some nice jewelry like a big girl and added her Mardi Gras beads. We head to church. We got to church about a half hour early to get a seat so, by the time the service started, she had crawled up into my lap and had fallen asleep. She slept until Communion where she went up with Husband. She was very excited to have her grandparents with her on Easter.

When we got home, we changed her out of her dressed and into her new clothes. She accessorized herself. We had a nice brunch and then snacked on appetizers before the main course. In between, Little Miss kept us all amused by playing with her toys and running all around.

Below is a photo of our big girl. She made bunny ears in school. She wore them just for one photo, but I can't get over how big she looks.

Weekend Update - Good Friday

Last Friday, I took the day off of work to spend time with my extended family. Little Miss and I met Mom, Dad, Sister, Nephew, Aunt, Uncle and Youngest Cousin in the city. We first went to Madame Tussauds. Little Miss posed with Teddy Roosevelt's teddy bear, Bob Woodward, Calvin Coolidge, astronauts, and other wax figures. I think she was unimpressed, but she was a good girl.

After the wax museum, we all went to Union Station for a late lunch.  Little Miss wanted plain pasta and, by the time I came back with it, she had fallen asleep.  She did eat a little and woke up in time to get into a cab  and head to the White House.  The cousin wanted to see it so we took a cab.  Most of the back of the White House was hidden by the Egg Roll setup, but we got to see the front of the White House which I haven't seen in awhile.  The weather was absolutely beautiful (NOT) and Little Miss stole my umbrella so I got a tad bit damp.

Later, we made it back to Mom and Dad's house. The kids ate dinner and played while the adults got take out. It was a nice evening, but we all welcomed bedtime! In the morning, Aunt took Little Miss downstairs and gave me some extra sleep which I definitely appreciated. Then, there was a nap and an Easter scavanger hunt. We dyed eggs and made sock puppets. Plus, at one point, Little Miss was in the other room. I thought she was hanging out with Mom, but it turns out, she was having a tea party with the cat. Poor kitty was just trying to take a nap and he was being force fed tea.

Husband came out for dinner with my side of the family and then we head home to prepare for Easter at our place with the In-Laws.

The Fruits of our Labor

After all of the work last weekend, we had to give the food a trial run to see if it was worthy of company. So, for dinner, we had pierogi and kielbasa.

Easter Eggs

Tonight, we dyed Easter Eggs. This is the first time that Little Miss has done a lot of it herself. She placed the dye in the mugs, helped fill the mugs with water, and placed the eggs in the mugs. She probably would have done more by herself if I let her, but I kept seeing disaster so there was more supervision than was probably necessary. She did a great job and really seemed to enjoy herself.  Below are the final eggs - we would have had 12, but we lost one in the boiling stage so pardon the hole in the display.

Pierogi

As I mentioned in the Weekend Update, we made pierogies last weekend - 202 to be exact. Here is a picture-by-picture demonstration of the different steps. First, make the dough. This is Husband's job - the dry ingrdients, the well for the eggs and wet ingredients.

Then, he rolls it out and then rolls it out and then rolls it out until it's paper thin.

Next, he uses a coffee can to cut uniform circles.  This used to be my job when we had more people to the assembly line.  It's a good job for a beginner - or child.

Then, he takes the filling he made earlier out of the fridge.  It's a mashed potato and cheese mixture that tastes delicious all by itself.  Seriously.  I know this because I got to eat it with a spoon to "see if it tasted ok".  Now, we begin my part of the process.

I get to take 1/2 teaspoon of the filling and place it into a circle-shaped piece of dough.  The picture below has a beginning pierogi which was filled with like a Tablespoon of filling.  I adjusted and then adjusted more through the process.  I forget that I should fill like a normal person and not fill with as much filling as I would enjoy.

Then, I folded over to make a half circle.  I press the edges together and crimp with a fork. 

Then, I'm done and there's a perfect pierigi - only 201 to go!  Below is the first tray ready to be frozen.

We freeze them in sheets and, once frozen, put in freezer bags.  When it's time to eat, we drop the frozen pierogi into boiling water and then pan fry them with butter and a little garlic salt.  (By "we", I mean, the boy serves them that way.  I just wait for them to hit the plate before my involvement.)  It took us a full day, but it wasn't that rough of a process.  We got an incredibly late start.

Weekend Update - Drinking, Cooking, and Napping

The title certainly sums up my weekend. On Friday, after work, I went to a Happy Hour which was a lot of fun. The cosmos were much appreciated after such a long week.


On Saturday, Little Miss woke up and begged Husband to wake up with her. So, he did. He made her breakfast and brushed her teeth while I got to sleep an extra hour or so. It was glorious for everybody. Also, Little Miss informed us that she did not want me to wake up and be with her. Who am I to argue? Late morning, we drove Little Miss to the In-Laws' apartment so we could do some baking for Easter dinner. We went grocery shopping and then started preparing and freezing 202 pierogies. It was a long day, but they came out well, I think. We'll know definitely next week when we eat them (well, some of them).


On Sunday, Husband woke up with Little Miss again. I joined them for pancake breakfast. Then, we got ready to go to Kielbasa Factory to pick up some kielbasa for Easter. Little Miss was given a lollipop (which you can see above) which she loved. When we got home, Little Miss and I took a nap which brought us right into dinner and bath time.

We Couldn't Be More Proud

The other morning, Little Miss was trying to work the remote control. She was unsuccessful. So, she handed it to me and said, "Screw it! I'm going to go play. Excuse me." Mouth open, I asked her to return to me and repeat what she just said. She looked at me wide-eyed and said, "Excuse me." I said, "Before that." At this point, she thinks she's in trouble so the eyes start welling up and the mouth starts to quiver. So, I assure her that she's not in trouble. It is her first offense. She already knows I'm not happy so I was feeling a bit lenient. She whispers "Screw it." I asked where she heard that phrase before and she said "I don't know" which is her common answer to confrontation. So, I followed up and asked if she heard the phrase from Mommy or Daddy just to cover all bases. She said no. I said that it is not a phrase for little girls to say and asked if she understood. She nodded.


Later that night, I asked her again if she was supposed to say those words and she said "NO, never". Then, I asked where she heard the words again. Sometimes, if she's in trouble or thinks she is, she'll clam up and it takes some time to get the real answer from her. So, she looks at me and says "Nanny!" Now this is definitely not true. My mother rarely curses and, if she does, it has never been that phrase. So, I tell her that I don't think that's the truth and realize that our moment of truth has passed. Then, I immediately call my mother to let her know that she is a bad influence on my child.


Note: all laughing has been done away from Little Miss so she is not encouraged because next time she will know better and will get punished.  Privately, I am pleased she used the phrase in the correct context. 

Weekend Update - Family, Friends, & Chick-Fil-A

Last weekend, we babysat our little nephew. Little Miss was a teeny bit jealous to share her parents and her toys. At one point, she had a little tantrum at which point her little cousin just looked at her and laughed. It was kind of funny. Husband took Little Miss grocery shopping while I stayed home with Nephew. Then, when he came back, we switched and he watched Nephew while I took Little Miss out for lunch.

Little Miss and I met my friends at Chick-Fil-A after which we stopped in at Coldstone to pick up some ice cream. Little Miss has been enjoying our monthly trip to the ice cream shop to get her favorite blue ice cream. It's Cotton Candy flavored and looks absolutely disgusting, but she loves it. Husband left when we returned to hang out with the guys, but it was a fairly easy afternoon. Little Miss took a nap while Nephew and I hung out. Then, the In-Laws came to pick up Nephew. There was dinner and bedtime. Pretty low-key evening.

On Sunday, Little Miss had some Daddy time and then we head out to my parents' house. Little Miss had some time with the cat who was so good with her. Sister and Nephew metus there later. The kids had fun playing Tag and running around. Then, my mom, Little Miss and Nephew drove to the mall so I could pick up some lipstick while Clinique was having its Bonus Gift promotion. It was definitely a fun day. Little Miss fell asleep going home, but we managed to squeeze in a bath before bedtime.

Then, on Monday night, we went into peek in on Little Miss before heading to bed and found her in the position above. Lately, she's been sleeping in the oddest positions. This is one of the odder ones but not the oddest. She gets very angry if you try to stretch her out so we usually leave her. It's cute and reminds me of how she slept as a baby in the crib with her diaper-covered bottom right in the air.

Weekend Update - Cherry Blossoms

Well, last weekend was pretty low-key. I planned on bringing Little Miss into DC to see the Cherry Blossoms. At the last minute, Husband decided to go along. We did not calculate time to get into the city with a billion baseball fans so it took us an hour and a half to Metro into the city. Because Little Miss's highlight of any trip into the city is the Metro, she was more than pleased. We were worried that she would need to go to the bathroom, but she was fine. I should have been more worried about Husband who has a teeny tiny bladder. Regardless, we made it into the city and it was pouring rain.

Behind us, they closed the Smithsonian Metro stop because of the crowd so we decided to walk to the Cherry Blossoms and keep going until we were too cold and wet to go further. I reached that point after a block. So, we crossed the street to the public restrooms. We took a few pictures, Husband used the facilities and we turned around to walk back. While walking to L'Enfant Plaza's Metro station, we decided to take a cab home. Of course, in the cab ride home, the weather cleared up and it was absolutely beautiful (which is evident in the sunny photo below). We got home and relaxed.

On Sunday, I took Little Miss out to get her portraits taken in her Flower Girl dress (shhh, the portraits will be Mother's Day presents). The highway was closed on the way so I had to take a detour. I should have taken note of the sign that symbolized my luck for the rest of the day. We get to the portrait place only 5 minutes late. Little Miss is perfectly angelic until the camera comes out and then she just goes insane. The dress has a bow in the front which Little Miss figured out how to untie. She kept covering her face. At the end, we went to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch, and Little Miss freaks out. I give her my iPod to amuse her while I ate lunch quickly. I got a piece of cake to go and then we went home. I was supposed to go to the grocery store, but Little Miss fell asleep on the way home. Of course, when we got home, she wouldn't nap so I ended up taking her grocery shopping during which she informed the entire store that "Daddy was cranky." That did cheer me up.

Movies Watched in March 2011

1. The Back-Up Plan
2. Limitless

I didn't read or watch a lot of movies this month. I enjoyed The Back-Up Plan more than I expected. I enjoyed Limitless while watching, but it's a movie with which I find many issues upon leaving the theater. However, it was a great afternoon so I can't complain. Plus, it's 2 hours of Bradley Cooper - how can that be totally bad?

Books Read in March 2011

1. A Lot Like Love by Julie James
2. Midnight Assignment by Victoria Dahl

I did very little reading this weekend especially when you count the second on my list is a short story that I've been reading off-and-on since last year. Still, both were very entertaining. I think this was Julie James's best book yet. I definitely hope to read more this month. I have a wonderful pile of books to read!

Little Miss Has a New Trick!

Little Miss has a new trick! She came home today and said she could spell "Mommy", and then she did! I asked her to spell "Daddy" and she said "Q" and then "S". So, the important thing here is to realize she's brilliant and has her priorities straight.