A Boring Old Day Gets a Face Lift.

Tuesdays and Thursdays have a predisposition for frumpy boredom this semester. Those are the days that Jason is at work and school FOREVER. Without a car, there is a risk of staying in pj's 'till well past the socially accepted hour, eating cereal for lunch, and making a giant mess doing nothing. (I don't know how it happens, it just does. Ask any mother of a 2 year old, and she'll confirm the phenomenon.)

So I usually try to plan something for those days. An outing to the library, a special home project, a trip to the park...something. Today our special frump prevention plan consisted of having two of my friends' children over for the entire afternoon, while she hastily packed away at least half of their toys (they're moving next week).

It. was. a. BLAST!

Rudy was totally stoked to have two big kids doting on him, and we all had fun making a 'day' out of our time together. We finished up lunch, did a grand band preformance in the kitchen while I cleaned up the dishes, read stories, put a certain very unwilling two year old down for a nap, played games, created ornaments and crowns with stuff out of my recyling bin plus tissue paper and markers, fixed dinner together, made cookies, and generally had a ball. It was like a holiday. The only one who didn't seem to appreciate the rumpus was Rufus. He slinked away and hid most of the afternoon, and only (ever so stealthily) came out of hiding on rare occasions to notify me that he was displeased with having 'strangers' in the home, stomping about and making merry. He'll have to adjust (he always does) when we eventually add children to our home on a full time babysitting status. Life is so rough for poor old Rufus, isn't it? ;)

Anyway, it's always fun to switch up the ol' routine every once in a while. Thanks, Amanda, for raising kids that are such a hoot to be around!

Awakening

Patience. What does it mean again?

Oh yeah...it means not getting antsy when you've had your KSL ad up for a WHOLE 24 HOURS and no one has inquired yet.

Jason and I decided that babysitting a child or two full time in our home would be a good idea for us right now. It would give us some reserves for his upcoming student teaching, help build our savings in general, and MAYBE even fund some home/yard improvement (though I'm really striving to reconnect with this realization from days gone by.)

I've prayed about it. It feels good. I just need to figure out how to 'be still', you know, and trust that God will bless us with what's right for us, when it's right for us. And not fret about 24 hours. Can you tell I'm totally trying to talk myself into believing what I'm writing!!? I'm sooo not good at sitting tight and waiting for something after I've decided I want it. After we weren't pregnant in two months of trying for Rudy, I was actually beginning to think maybe I better check out my options with fertility treatment. Sigh. I know, I need to chill. Someday I will...maybe.

Something AWESOME that's already come from this endeavor: It's given me cause to reflect on my mothering. I realized I was getting a bit derailed and I was missing RUDY amid all my attempts to be some awesome mom. Like I was ignoring him while reading some blog about spending quality time with your kids. Stupid stuff like that.

I've set a "NO SURFING" while Rudy's awake rule for myself. It has made such a GIANT difference. We play more. We laugh more. We look at each other more. I feel like I'm waking up from some blog induced coma!

My goal is to spend maybe 10 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening (before and after Rudy gets up/goes to bed) on the computer. That way I can still enjoy a past time that has been educational and inspiring to me without having it numb me to my real-life awesome family. Now I'm actually doing what I've been reading or thinking about, and it feels GREAT.

So, thats nice. Hopefully it's not the only nice thing that comes out of this search for babysitting kids, but even if it was, I think it just might be enough. :)

Speaking "Cat"

I've been working on helping Rudy to understand the messages Rufus gives him with his body language and vocalizations. One of the big ones is hissing. It's taken me a while, but I think Rudy finally understands that when Rufus hisses, it means he's had it and Rudy is to immediately BACK OFF!! Rudy sorta gets his feelings hurt when Rufus hisses at him, so I know he's finally understanding the level of emotion Rufus is expressing.

Well, today, when human words weren't getting through, Rudy tried a little cat language. I was trying to get him to change into his church clothes, and Rudy wanted to just keep playing. When I continued insisting and eventually physically removed Rudy from his playthings to get dressed, he full on hissed at me. In total seriousness. When I realized what he was doing, I laughed. (oops!) Then I got control of myself and took my little man seriously. I told him I understood he wanted me to back off, but sometimes Mommies just get the right to stay even when kids want them to back off, and now was one of those times. I wish I could say that Rudy took this explanation in stride, but he didn't. A few kicks, several hisses and a time out later, he was finally dressed and we could all go back to our own splendiferous activities. :)

Favorite Recipe of the Week 2

And the winner is...

Shrimp and Black Bean Enchiladas!

shown here with herbed carrot and beet salad-a definite FLOP.

As cool as the salad looked, the taste was totally ho hum. Too bad.

Both are from the "Mayo Clinic Williams Sonoma Cookbook: Simple Solutions for Eating Well" again. I find it incredibly tedious to write out recipes, so I'll just tell you they're on page 200 and page 44, and let that suffice. For all you non-siblings who didn't get the book for Christmas like we did, feel free to email and I'll give you the scoop if you're interested. Anyway, the enchiladas were super tasty, with a great kick. The perfect thing to make with the shrimp we bought on the New Year's sales. :) They almost made up for the boring salad on the side. :)

Time Out Empathy

I put Rufus in time out this morning. He was being too pushy about getting fed, and ended up spilling the food out of my hand and onto the floor. I scooped him up and put him in my bedroom to show him that being pushy just makes the process take longer. He's a smart cat. I'm sure he'll get the picture. :)

When Rudy saw what I was doing, he got really concerned and flopped down onto the floor. "Rufus come back!" When I told him Rufus was in time out for a bit, Rudy put himself into timeout too. A few seconds later, he came back with the announcement, "I'm happy!" (That's our condition for coming out of time out.) I greeted him with the traditional hug, and while I was hugging him, Rudy said, "Rufus happy too! He come out now!" We talked a bit about how Rufus was still pawing at the door and whining and that means he's not happy. When Rufus did settle down about a minute later, we let him out and gave him his breakfast. Rudy talked to Rufus like I do to him about how he's glad he's happy and reminded him not to be naughty. Then he gave him a hug.

Cute little daddy in training. :)

Roudini

So. Yesterday Rudy called me Mama out of the blue for the first time in months. It's my preferred name as a mom, but for some reason, Rudy decided my name would be Mommy several months ago.

Naturally, I made a big deal out of how excited I was to hear him call me Mama, and I told him it was my favorite name to be called. Then I asked him what his favorite name for himself was.

Silence, accompanied by a ponderous face followed. Sometimes he does that when he doesn't understand the question, so I rephrased the question and listed all the different variations of his name that he hears from us or others: Rudy, Rudel, Rude (my least favorite for obvious reasons), Rudy-roo, RuRu...I paused to think if I'd forgotten any and Rudy's little voice chimed in, "Roudini!".

"Roudini?" I asked. He nodded vigorously. "Roudini is your favorite name to be called?" "Es!" (Rudese for yes). Hmm. I've never heard ANYONE call him Roudini before, so unless it's his secret nursery nickname or something, he came up with it all by himself.

A couple of times today he's told me "I'm Roudini, Mommy." (yes, Mama was just a fluke and we're back to Mommy again. Sigh.) Hmmm. Roudini. Daredevil. Escape Artist. Mysterious Death...I'm not so sure I want him to share anything more than a rhyme with Mr. Harry Houdini...but it is kinda cute. Especially 'cause it's Rudy's own made up name for himself. Roudini. I'm warming up to it as I write. (Though he better NOT be introducing himself as Roudini in kindergarten!)

****UPDATE**** Today (two days after the Roudini thing began) Rudy informed me that he's "Just Rudy again". Nice. My fears of kindergarten craziness are quieted. :)

Favorite Recipe of the Week 1

With our new eating habits, we've been branching out and trying new recipes like crazy. I decided it would be fun to share our favorite recipe of the week here each weekend. We'll see if the 'tradition' lasts till next week. :)

This week's winner:

PINEAPPLE-GLAZED CHICKEN THIGHS

Shown here with Broccoli in spicy orange sauce. Also a good recipe, though I over cooked the broccoli a bit, so it wasn't on it's 'A' game today. Maybe it'll make the favorite recipe of the week yet, someday after I buy a steamer insert for my pot so it doesn't get so soggy while cooking.

Both recipes came from "The Mayo Clinic Williams Sonoma Cookbook- Simple Solutions for Eating Well"

Jason prefers boneless chicken breasts to any other cut of chicken, so it was a real treat to me to eat bone in thighs-my favorite. Since Jason's preference is the more healthful of the two, we usually eat chicken breast, and the recipe may work with with it, but I will always prefer thighs. They're so succulent (because they contain twice the fat as white meat). Sigh. Compared to red meat, they're still amazingly good for the body, though. :)

So-on with the recipe!

Serves: 6 Prep: 10 min Cooking: 18 minutes (It took me more like 40 minute total-I guess I'm just a slow chicken de-skinner and de-fatter.) :)

Ingredients:

6 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs, 5 oz each, trimmed of visible fat

3 inch piece fresh ginger, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices (fresh ginger is amazingly cheap for something I always thought was an elegant pantry item-comparable to fresh garlic in price)

2/3 cup pineapple juice

2 T reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 T sesame seeds (I left these out 'cause they're not in my every day pantry...didn't miss 'em)

1 cup pineapple chunks

3 green onions, thinly sliced, including the green portions

1) Coat a large nonstick frying pan with nonstick cooking spray and place over medium heat. Add the chicken and ginger and cook, turning the chicken every few minutes, until the chicken is well browned on both sides, about 10 minutes.

2) In a small bowl, stir together the pineapple juice and soy sauce. Pour into frying pan and bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 3 minutes. Uncover and add the sesame seeds and pineapple chunks. Continue cooking, turning the chicken occasionally, until it is opaque throughout and the liquid remaining in the pan has reduced to a glaze, about 5 minutes. (I ended up having to add more pineapple juice to keep the glaze from just crusting onto the pan while I waited for the chicken to cook through...maybe I didn't turn them often enough, or maybe too much...who knows!)

3)To serve, arrange the chicken, ginger, and pineapple on a large platter. Spoon an equal amount of glaze over each piece of chicken. Garnish with the green onions.

Yum! Two Splendiferous Thumbs up!