Cereal For Breakfast

We had cereal for breakfast this morning.

Simple: Cornflakes with frozen blue berries, topped with whole milk.

I used to love daily cereal, but now we have it more infrequently.

Yes, it is quite convenient in the breakfast-in-seconds experience.

However, with several small children, I have discovered that cereal is one food that ends up all over the dining room floor, and requires more clean-up then other breakfasts.

Furthermore, the price of cereal (I like specialty cereals) is not as economical as a nice pot of oatmeal or a platter of pancakes.

Do you do breakfast regularly?

Finger Paint is washable

I would love to say Thank-you to whomever made finger paint washable.

Today was the first time in a few months that I got finger paint out for my children to do a good, hands-on craft activity.

At first, it was my 6 yr old.
Then, it was my 6 yr old and 2 yr old together.
Wow, they had fun!
Then, as often it happens - this mama had to go out of the room, to go get 11 month old...
Upon return to the kitchen: there was finger paintings strewn about the kitchen, and they both had sheets oozing with finger paint, and were making foot prints on fresh sheets of paper. Needless to say, it took a bit of washing (but finger paint is washable!) to get the whole floor clean, but it got done.
It took a little washing to get the two kids clean, but it got done.
Then 8 yr old walks in the room: he is jealous. but, this mama says he can also finger paint, so fresh paper was given, and he was able to paint.
And wash, again.
Now, here is the problem: 5 yr old was sleeping through this whole occasion.
2 yr old felt bad that 5 yr old didn't get to paint, so the venue was changed (no longer on easily washable linoleum floor). And, 5 yr old (and 8 yr old, and 2 yr old again) got a chance to paint.
But, this time it was on the wooden table. And, guess what? Since finger paint is water-soluble, it gets absorbed into our wooden table! EEek.
Ok, but kids wash up just fine (as does the floor) and 2 yr old ends up in third outfit. Everything is fine.
This mama is too busy getting ready to go out the door for dinner at church, that the minor detail that got missed before got missed again: taking the paint away and hiding it.
8 yr old decided to do "Indian war paint" on his cheeks.
That's ok. Finger paint is washable.
This mama got the 11 month old in a new outfit.
And, ready to go out the door discovers that 2 yr old has decided to dunk arms (up to her elbows) in finger paint. That's ok, finger paint is washable -- and this time, it didn't get on the table, but it did get all over the church outfit.
So this mama washed the child up again, got to church late (missed prayer, but there still was food there).
Now, it's time to do a load of laundry, before the finger paint sets in clothes.

I got the kids in bed - on time!

So, here is the story:

I have five kids: ages 8, 6 (almost 7!), 5, 2 (almost 3!) and 11 months.

As I type this, upstairs in the main bedroom, four of my five kids are asleep, and it is 8:24pm.

I aim to "start" bedtime routine at 7pm. (Which, now with it being light later, means telling them to get pj's on, and brush teeth).

I then aim to have lights out by 8:30 pm.

Yes, I have an hour and a half for "bed time". The beauty of the 7pm start, though is that at 8pm, I can say "an hour past bedtime"!

Why am I blogging this tonight? Because the plan doesn't always work, and sometimes it is a struggle. But, here is a record that plans (sometimes) do work!

Now that the house is full of peace and quiet, I get to go do my evening routine (Which tonight includes loading the dishwasher, doing laundry, and much more).

one step forward, one step back, two steps forward

It feels good: the house is cleaner than it often gets.

How did it happen? We had company.

Although the house wasn't completely CHAOS(Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome), it was below the "company presentable".

This time, I played a game with my kids, similar to Jeopardy: there were fun things (read a few pages of a book; play computer game for 5 minutes) and mini chores (wipe down the fridge with windex and paper towel) and bigger chores (mop kitchen floor) and part of a chore (pick up 8 things from living room floor). Amazingly, we worked through 5 different "rounds" - with 3 to 4 kids participating.

Result?

1) It took this mama a lot of effort, but the house feels much better than it often does.

2) It gave this mama motivation to not neglect house chores to the extent they sometimes get neglected.

Virtual Interaction

Over thanksgiving, I listened to arguments against the ever-so-popular social networking sites like Facebook.

"Privacy", "replaces genuine relationship", "permanence" were the cons discussed as to why these individuals refuse to participate.

Yes, the one-sentence blurbs of twitter and Facebook might be pithy statements. However, the opportunity to connect to friends, family, and associates at one's own schedule has many positive features that are worth being considered.

I have found true community with many of my "facebook" peers. I have friends (and family), most of whom live in different states, but they have similar parenting scenarios as myself. It is refreshing to read that we aren't the only ones experiencing certain adventures of life.

Example: Just the other day, I discovered shampoo in my fridge. Of course, this is the sort of entertainment that can be communicated in one sentence, that I updated my status with. It was refreshing to hear that other people have had similar experiences (such as finding cream in a cubbard instead of the fridge) brought out by children "help"ing put groceries away.

Adventures of Sitting Up

When our five-month old Baby learned to sit up from a lying position, it was fun - there are so many toys that a five-month old can hold and play! A baby, sitting-up in the middle of the floor, gets much more social interaction with older siblings than before this novelty surfaced.

Now that this skill is practiced and perfected, a new adventure has begun: falling asleep! Since Baby can sit up when put down, baby doesn't stay lying down for long. And, when baby sits up, it is MUCH harder to fall asleep.

As a mom, I know that "this too shall pass". However, it is tragic to watch a baby crying - because "someone" keeps enforcing a sitting position - but baby is tired and wants to sleep! Since I know the different cries, the "I'm tired and want to sleep and I can't figure out why I can't go to sleep' cry mandates that I reluctantly watch the trauma unfold.

After many many attempts to lie down, sit up, lie down, fuss, fuss ... the baby falls asleep.

Unwanted consequence: the drama has put mama in a tired state too! What happened to baby just falling alseep and mama catching up on work before mama's bedtime?

Getting Kids In Bed

The house is quiet.. and it's not even 9pm.
Five children are asleep.
Silence.
Peace.
Four children were asleep by 8:15pm
Quiet.
Calm.
All children were awake at 7:30pm.
Noise.
Shouts.
Attitudes.
Grumpiness.
Tired children made sleepy children.

My prayers are that I have energy for the routine tomorrow ... and that tomorrow night will be another good night of having everyone in bed.

Serenity out of chaos

Some days I feel like a conductor -- (the director of an orchestra kind, not the train engineer kind).

There is a natural chaos that starts many days: wake up, moodiness of just-waking up children, sibling rivalry; mess from discarded toys and just-finished meal(s), etc. On good days, this is like the orchestra tuning up: it seems like everyone is out of tune with each other, everyone is playing dissonant rhythms, and chaos.

But, then, when things get on routine, amazing music is heard. This is the music: infant sweetly sleeping; several siblings playing well together; the house looking more presentable as chores get done...

Honestly, life with small children is more of the orchestra rehearsal: hints of gorgeous music, but plenty of time spent rehearsing, time outs for the different instruments and lots of patience required on the part of the conductor (maestro?).

Yea, we got home Thursday night.

Trip was sufficient..
Driving down was a headache (typical 4 hr drive took a little longer than 7 hours!)

Little toddler got a cold on the drive down (somewhere on the NJ turnpike started to hear a little cough).
Her cough turned into a full-blown cold by Monday
(Monday it was *real* nice to see all my nieces/nephews, one Aunt,Uncle and two Cousins ... but, I spent the time comforting sick toddler)
Wee hrs of the morning E. had a fever,
And, at 11am we were seen by NighttimePediatrics and she had a 103 fever and a full-blown ear infection..
Afternoon she was vomiting too...
So, no fun having sick toddler, so we scrapped plans of spending more time with Aunts/Cousins, and we let older siblings just play with new toys at in-laws, and try to comfort sick toddler...

Oh, and this child chose last week to be teething too -- cutting 4 molars plus 2 other bottom teeth!
...
By Thursday, she was feeling a bit better (more of a moaning "my gums are sore, please fix them").. so we had dinner at my moms..



As we pulled into my mom's Driveway, preschooler B. vomited. (argh!)... Glad to be able to spend a few hours at my moms, and B. slept away on the couch.
We ate dinner, socialized then got on the road...

Thankfully, the drive home was EXCELLENT (aside from the van stinking of something burning, which we established was not the engine, just something in the heater vents). And we got home WITHIN 4 HOURS. (Oh, and my husband drove the whole way!).

As we neared our exit on the NJ turnpike, Kindergartner called from the back seat "I don't feel too well"

We made it home, and our kitchen floor was covered with vomit the second she walked in (I'm very thankful that she decided to walk into the kitchen than in living room with carpet!)

By Friday morning, two were feeling better,
Saturday, oldest decided he wanted to share what his siblings had, and he had a bout of vomiting upon waking up from his nap.

Sunday, we were all feeling well enough to go to church (Toddler still taking tylenol to compensate for sore gums and waking up every few hours due to teething pain).

Sunday afternoon we made it to our annual Epiphany hike, but protests were occasionally heard from the teething member of the party!

They WERE playing nicely together...

My five year old and three year old WERE playing nicely together this morning.
My toddler was toddling around, playing independently.

Last night/early this morning, I had labeled, stamped, and inserted Christmas cards into 150 envelopes. (Believe it or not, that was just the "in-state" Christmas card list!) And, since it is Christmas Eve, my goal was to have them postmarked today.

My husband was home (he had a 9:30 meeting, so wasn't leaving the house quite yet, and he offered to stay home so I could run out and be back shortly.

So, my six year old offered to help me on the 8:45 am errand to the post office. The trip went smoothly, and that was the ONLY errand this whole week that took about ten minutes total!

Unfortunately, when we returned home, we were greeted by a strong whiff of VINEGAR. "What? Why? What happened?"

IT turns out, my five year old, remembered once upon a time that Mommy had used vinegar to clean something, so, the idea was hatched to dump 2 cups of Apple Cider Vinegar on the floor, and dry the floor.

The smell does dissapate slightly when washed with hot soapy water, but Guess what? Apple Cider Vinegar STRIPS hardwood floors.

I really hope some lessons were learned by the kids.

This fiasco pushed 'refinish floors' to a more urgent task!

This is how Christmas Eve Began

Pie time!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving...

And, along with the majority of Americans, we did indeed eat Turkey. (Supply and demand, though, the producers of turkeys have been raising and freezing turkeys since last thanksgiving, so there is a greater supply than demand, and turkeys, happily end up being an economical mainstay for Thanksgiving).

But in my mind, competing with turkey, pies are a universal thanksgiving dessert.

I could be like most people, and either buy my pies or make them the week preceeding Thanksgiving, but the making of the pies is as important (and fun) to me as the eating and sharing of pies.

This year, my 6 year old was in charge of crusts: he made three batches of crust = 3 crusts. (Somehow, although following the recipe for 2-crusts each time, each batch really made 1 crust).

PUMPKIN PIE This was completely made by my 6 year old. With molasses in the recipe, it turned out as a yummy darker shade pumpkin pie.

CHERRY PIE Since the 'extra' crust didn't materialize from the batch of crust, we ended up using brownsugar&oats to make a 'crisp' topping. This was the easiest pie to make: store-bought cherry filling mix, made this easy as 1-2-3.

APPLE PIE, Since I had actually bought heavy cream, I *finally* got a chance (with the help of my 5 year old) to make an old-fashioned apple pie recipe. Interestingly, this recipe didn't have any cinnamon - but healthy dose of allspice, nutmeg and clove. This recipe only called for a TOP crust (no bottom crust here) -- which worked perfectly, considering there was only 1 crust obtainable from the third batch.

HOME-MADE WHIPPED CREAM (the real stuff -- the kids have a blast making the whipped cream, and it's less sweet than the artificial whipped topping I typically buy.

With the help of our company and the kids, two/thirds of the pies got eaten for dessert on thanksgiving -- leaving just enough for leftovers today!

Pumpkin Cookies -- a no egg recipe!

I think this is the first cookie recipe I've ever made without eggs,

A good friend brought some pumpkin cookies to my house last month, and I've been looking forward to making them ever since. I finally got the recipe from her, I've modified it for out house.. and now we've made them, and are eating them all up. (Be careful, these are addictive!)

PUMPKIN COOIKIES
These are cake-like, delightful, relatively healthy treats.

I'm excited to have found a no-egg recipe, so that tasting before cooking is (finally!) allowed. (A habit that my kids all have).

1/4 c butter
1/4 c shortening
1 c pumpkin
1 c sugar

CREAM those four ingredients in a bowl

Follow with dry ingredients:

2 c of flour
3/4 t vanilla
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1 T brown sugar
1 t baking soda

After well mixed, combine in the raisins and nuts:
1 c raisins
1/4 c chopped nuts


This makes a the perfect autumn afternoon snack!

Beautifully Clean FLUORESCENT GREEN bathroom...

This morning was a successful morning.

I had the three youngest awaken EARLY at 6 a.m.

Since they were up early, I made a hot breakfast: scrambled eggs and Cream of Wheat.

Everyone got dressed, the only hitch in getting the oldest off to school was that uniform shoes were nowhere to be found. (but, we had size-to-big-that-we'll-be-wearing-soon shoes, which saved the day!)

I did make 2 trips to drop kids off at school. (Kindergartener didn't want to risk being late while First grader still only had socks on).

My 3 year old adeptly used the potty un-invited.(My laundry burden really appreciates the fewer accidents. I like the final stage of potty-training!)

I had a leisurely grocery shopping excursion with my two youngest.
(I even remembered the reusable shopping bags, and it was so nice to have easy-to-carry bags to bring back into the house.)

Our 1 year old decided it's a good morning/day for a LONG nap.

I tackled my goal for the morning: thoroughly clean the main bathroom. This took a whole hour, but the tub, sink, floor, toilet, walls were all shining.

My husband came home to have an early lunch with me. (Thanks to the shopping trip, there was bread for sandwiches!)

Now, comes the fluorescent green part: While mommy and daddy were enjoying a rare lunch together in the dining room, 3 year old decided that reading books for quiet time was too boring, so the paints got opened, and turned into body paint. Of course, when this happens, one needs to go to the bathroom to wash off one's hands...

You guessed it, I was left with a Beautifully clean, fluorescent Green bathroom! It's amazing how many places a little body and hands touch in the process of reaching the sink!

Thankfully, it was kid, non-toxic, easily washable paint. And I've removed the fluorescent green decoration from the bathroom. Maybe it'll stay clean again for the next half hour?

Now, it's time for an afternoon...

All I want for nighttime is four sleeping kids....

Some nights are easy.

Some nights are hard.

Right now, things are happening. I have a moment to sit at the computer (and I'm not working yet) and half the kids are asleep, one is wide awake, and one quarter is drifting off...

Tonight our three year old said (after being told to put pj's on. "It's o.k. mom, I'm ready for bed!" and was asleep within 5 min.

Our 6 year old read quietly in bed for a few minutes, and was asleep within a half hour.

Our 5 year old is wide awake reading books with the lamp on (But, she took a rare nap this afternoon, so this is explicable)

Our 1 year old is quite tired, but she doesnt' want to fall asleep. She finally took a nap today from 5 to 6, so, although she usually falls asleep around 7:30, it's an hour past bedtime and she wants up!

So, the BIG question is this: who will wake earliest tomorrow, and who will want to sleep in? We only have two weeks left before school dictates the morning wake up hour.

While you were sleeping...

I thought up the title for this blog while my husband was sleeping-in/napping (very much earned, mind you) this morning. [His job required him to wake up 4a.m. yesterday, and he wasn't able to compensate by going to bed early last night (see previous post) like he usually does). Since he has since gotten up and begun his morning routine, a better title might be "things I did this morning before breakfast", but some of this was indeed while he was sleeping... (not necessarily in this order).

Nursed our baby (at 12 months, she's not quite an infant, but still not weaned yet. I'm willing to wait till 24 months to wean, but none of my kids so far have made it that long).

Turned on and watched portions of Adventurs of Winnie the Pooh with children.

Checked email, composed a blog entry while older children were still watching said video (and youngest was eating a bananna).

Unloaded dishwasher.

Supervised/ Participated in making of waffles for the family breakfast (but, I had momentum and was in the process of cleaning, that I myself didn't join them as I typically do... so no breakfast for me yet.)

Loaded dishwasher.

Scrubbed down counters.

Picked up food from the floor (yesterday's snack?)

Picked up clothes off the floor (why were they there?)

Carried overstuffed laundry hamper into the basement.

Tossed a load of laundry in the washer machine.

Picked up toys off the living room floor (the joy of having all the kids take out 1 year old's toys, and then wander off...)

Picked up papers off the floor (I'm amazed how many papers ended up in my purse, and then got dumped on the ground - evidence that bringing pads of paper, pencils, crayons, markers do keep little hands busy during church).

Swept (o.k. not sweep everything, but piles left over from yesterday's cleaning actually made it into the trash can).

Took out the trash (three trash bags).

Took out recyclable items. (Doing my part to save the planet? or, at least filling up the recycle bin outside as well as the trash cans).

Changed a diaper.

Put ear drops in child's ears.

Read a book.

Coaxed potty training three year old to use the toilet properly (yay!).

Put baby-getting-to-be-toddler down for morning nap.

Referreed sibling conflict.

Encouraged second oldest to get dressed (and complimented oldest for doing it without being prodded).

Encouraged older children to make their beds (but didn't get around to doing mine yet, hopefully I'll get around to washing sheets today).

Picked up some shoes.

Directed children to pick up some shoes.

Cleaned up orange juice spill.

Wiped down bathroom sink (still needs to be scrubbed further).

Rinsed out coffee pot.

Wished I had more time in the morning.

Cleaned hands of 3 year old and 5 year old who got into paint...

Got items out of the van that needed to be washed (such as 1 year old's cup).

Listened to various stories.

Oversaw time outs.

Picked up towel off the floor (why did the bathroom towel make its way into the hallway??)

Sorted through one 'misc papers' container (so that the "I want to keep" papers from church had a temporary home).

-----
I've lossed momentum to do household chores, but, I think things are looking better than when we fell asleep (or woke up?). I was able to have a delightful morning -- I got to eat breakfast with my husband (just the two of us! sipping coffee too, having conversation too? When does that ever happen?).

Ok, now I hear commotion going on.. Now I'm off to "things I did after breakfast this morning"....

Something you don't hear everyday.

Yesterday, we went on a family excursion:

We took a short drive and drove down to Long Beach.


We figured that we could get the beach town experience, sans crowds since we were going late Sunday afternoon.

We did miss the traffic (lots of cars leaving, we were one of the few entering). Oh, except we did have a little congesion when we had to wait for the draw bridge, but that was worth it -- kids enjoyed seeing the "big boat".

So, we found a place to park (which probably wouldn't have happened if we had gone earlier in the day or a different day of the week).

And the six of us took a walk down to a cool restaurant my husband had happened upon during a business visit.

And, my husband says, "That looks like a girl I married".

I couldnt' help myself from laughing. He, of course repeated himself, "You know, the one I married last month".

I continued to laugh, because that isn't something a wife hears her husband (who's only been married to her) say!

Of course, I'm his only wife of the past 11 years, and we have a good marriage.

So, most of you reading the blog, will know the solution to this riddle: my husband was requested as a minister to do a Beach Wedding (In Long Beach), and officiated the ceremony. So, he did marry someone who frequents Long Beach, and who probably was that girl we saw walk in the opposite direction. Just, he wasn't the groom.

Oh, the business visit mentioned earlier did have to do with the rehearsal dinner for said wedding.

Oh, and we did have a delightful evening at a beach restaurant, and a fun run through the sand, chase seagulls, and poke our toes in the Atlantic Ocean.

I guess there are advantages to living on Long Island.

Fireworks, anyone?

This past weekend, we went to a fun family bar-b-que and fireworks. (A scant 40 miles away, but, being that it was on the OTHER side of NYC, it did take almost two hours to get there.)

The kids enjoyed running around in the LARGE yard (size of about 5 of our yards put together). Kids enjoyed the wading pools.

Kids enjoyed the food.

Kids (except 11 month old who slept through them) DID NOT enjoy the fireworks. It was too loud for those little ears. "Why did we have to go see them?" "Why?" "I just want to go home". "Are they over yet?" "How much longer?" "Please hold me mom".

Moral of the story: Next time, I'll bring ear plugs... prepare the kids... bring comfort things.... and try to have Daddy come with! Aunts and Uncles (and Cousins) tried to help me console the 3 older kids (while I had sleeping baby in my arms with blanket to shield the noise).

Or, maybe I'll do what I've done every other year: try to honor kiddie bedtime, leave before the fun walk to the park for the firework display, and deprive my kids of the American pastime of watching firework display.

Just another ER trip..

Today started with my three year old being "sick". (Long story short, potty-woes. someone is reluctant to use "the potty".. so holds it.. and feels a little sick until getting the gumption to actually confront that this is a fact of life that can't be avoided...)

After taking my 3 year old to the Dr's... (he said the right thing, and we are much better.. I dread the bill though)... My 5 year old started fighting on the way out of the Dr's.

Of course, this brought about a time-out when we arrived at home. (Manners are important, and not having good manners merits a few minutes to reflect. Isn't that fair?)

Of course, no one wants to stay in time out.

So, My five year old repeatedly pressed the boundaries, getting out of time-out...
And, in the process... got more rambunctious and angry...

This led to a "push" (I'd use the euphemism of a 'bump' but it really was a push) against older sibling 'cause the 6 year old was tattle-tailing that the 5 year old got out of time out (again).

BUT....
This didn't happen without consequences.

My six year old was standing next to a closet door which was left ajar.
The "bump" caused a head collision with the edge of a door. "MOM, IT HURTS" oh, yeah, and blood splatter.. and then blood-soaked paper towel.

Then the debate: where to go? I tried to get phone and get ahold of the dr who we had JUST SEEN. (Ironically, if it had been for the SAME kid, the receptionist implied that we could get in, but, we were told to go to the ER).

We chose the Not closest ER (1 1/2 miles away -- That one has terrible wait times), and when to the one 21/2 miles away.

Turns out we made a wise decision -- from triage time until exit time was about 2 hours. (Not bad! last ER visit was over four hours if memory serves me correctly). Although the Adult ER was swamped, the pediactric ER had empty beds, and we got great service.

So, at the end of the day, One Dr Visit, one ER visit, 3 staples in one kid.

All stories have happy endings (eventually). Drum roll...

I have four kiddies in bed. And, I even have a few spare minutes to post a blog entry!

There's a farm in New York City!

Would you believe that there's a farm in New York City?
(Oh, and what other farm gives directions based on subway and bus routes??)

Back 'in the day' there used to be several... now there's only one.

Proof that everything is so dense here: I had heard about it, but it took living here for two years to actually drive that "far away" (about two miles, took between 10 and 15 minutes).

The kids LOVED the experience!

We got to see chickens, turkeys, cow, sheep, goats, peacocks, pigs, ducks, goose, apple orchard, fields. The kids (except the 11 month old) even got to go on a hay ride!

I want to return on a weekend to get a tour of the historic farm house (The Queens County Farm Museum dates back to 1697).

How can you go from Starving, to stuffed without really eating?

Ok, so my kids claimed they were starving.

We had a large lunch at the mall (a treat)

They had munchies (i.e. samples) at Costco while shopping (again, a treat)

They had a real snack of (Costco-bought) granola bars.

When we arrived home. "MOMMMMMM, You didn't give us snack, we're starving!!!"

I gently reminded them, they had eaten, at which point they stopped complaining. But they said they wanted to eat dinner soon.

Dinner was cooked and served.

Yummy pizza (I was hungry - I hadn't had all their snacks, It tasted good). They barely touched their food.

When asked by their father "why aren't you eating"

"Dad, we're stuffed... we had too much to eat"

go figure.