justjuli

Taste the Rainbow!

2010-10-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

My Nana turns 81 tomorrow and is probably the sweetest person I know.

My mom threw her a birthday bash this past weekend and when Mom asked me if I would be willing to make the cake for the party, I of course said "yes!" How could I pass up the opportunity to do something special for a woman who has been so dear to me throughout my life?! Not a chance.

I called Nana to ask her what her favorite kind of cake is and she said "I don't know dear! Just make your favorite." That answer didn't surprise me in the least. Not only does that statement embody her sweet and giving personality....it also reveals my Nana's deep indifference to cake. You see, my Nana is very much an ice cream person. A trait that has been passed on through the generations - first to my mother, then to my sister, it skipped me in the form of a dairy allergy, but has definitely shown itself to be a powerful force in my sweet son's life -- even at the tender age of 2!

So when I set about to make a cake for this party I knew my mission was not only to provide a cake, but it had to be one that would melt some of the icy indifference to cake that is inherent in my family. (hehe) This cake had to be a show-stopper. And because I like to be able to taste the things that I make; it had to be dairy free. :)

I searched a bit on the internetzz, finding some delicious sounding cakes....flourless chocolate almond cake for example....and I found some really complicated cakes...

(Steel Magnolias anyone?)

But I was having trouble finding THE cake.

Until....I remembered a post from MckMama's blog...about a RAINBOW cake.

Behold....the heavens parted and she saw...THE CAKE!

I was so stinkin' excited to make this cake I can't even tell you.

My version looked a little different (partly because my pictures were taken by a phone camera, partly because I used strawberry frosting and partly because, well, I'm not as neat of a baker as the woman who made the original cake!) But it still turned out pretty cool and I was super happy with it.

So here's how I did it:

I made 2 batches of this Dairy Free Vanilla Cake Batter:

2 cups sugar
1 cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks, softened
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup soy milk mixed with 1 Tbsp white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat sugar and buttery sticks at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until yellow disappears after each addition. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl; add to sugar mixture alternately with the soymilk/vinegar mixture (aka "buttermilk"), beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat a medium-low speed just until blended after each addition. (batter will be thick)

If you are so inclined, and not allergic to it like me, you can use boxed cake mix instead of making your own from scratch. Just use 2 boxes. It will considerably cut down on the time it takes to make this cake! Just a note -- if you do use boxed cake mix, use 1 cup of batter in the next steps instead of 1 1/2 or you will run out! :)

Baking the Rainbow:

Need --
Red, Yellow, Green and Blue Food Coloring
2 batches of Vanilla Cake Batter
3-6 9 inch round cake pans
Crisco for greasing the pans
Cooling racks
Wax Paper

Preheat the oven to 350

When you have 2 batches of cake batter; separate the batter into 6 bowls -- about 1 1/2 cups of batter per bowl.

Follow the directions on the food coloring to add colors into the bowls. You will want to make one layer of each of these colors: RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE and PURPLE. Take care to only mix your batter as much as you need to. Overmixing your cake batter will activate the gluten in the flour and make your cake dense and heavy.

When you have reached the desired shade of color for each layer pour each color of batter into its own well greased cake pan.

You can put up to 3 pans in the oven at a time to bake.

Baking time will vary depending on how many layers you have in the oven at once, so check the cakes after 10 minutes and then again every 3-4 minutes after that. The cake is done with a toothpick inserted in the thickest part of the cake comes out clean.

When your layers are finished baking (and if you only have 3 cake pans like me) you'll want to remove the cake from the pan asap. You can do this by turning the cake pan over onto a well greased cooling rack. Then wash your cake pans and refill with other colors.

After all your layers are baked and cooled, you can either wrap them in wax paper and freeze them to assemble the next day or you can get to assembling right away!

Frosting the Rainbow:

I made a big fat triple batch of Strawberry Vanilla Vegancream

1/2 cup Earth Balance Vegan Butterysticks, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 (16 oz) package powdered sugar
1/2 cup of fresh strawberries, chopped

Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with strawberries, beating at low speed until blended and smooth after each addtion.

Assembling the Rainbow:

Level the tops of each layer of cooled cake with a large bread knife. Slice into the cakes horizontally so that the centers of the cakes are no longer higher than the edges (something that usually happens to them when they are baked). This is important so that the colors will display evenly when the completed cake is cut. Your rainbow will appear warped and not even unless you level the tops of each cake first.

Begin assembly with the purple layer. Set the purple layer on your cake stand or plate. Add enough frosting to cover the layer with enough to spill over the edges (about 1/2 to 1 cup of frosting). Run the flat, smooth side of a large knife around the cake to smooth out the frosting.

Add the blue layer of cake on top of the frosted purple one. Put more frosting in the middle and spread again with the flat, smooth side of a large knife so that the frosting covers the layer and falls out over the edges. Run your knife around the outside edge of the cake as well, to smooth out the sides.

Put the cake into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or the freezer for 1 hour.

Repeat with green layer and then yellow layer.

Put the cake into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or the freezer for 1 hour.

Repeat with orange layer and finally with red layer.

Freezing between each two rounds of layers is recommended. The cake can get really heavy by the time you are adding the 4th, 5th and 6th layers. If it is somewhat frozen at this point, the cake will not get smooshed or crushed. Additionally, it is much easier to frost the cake when it is relatively solid, not wobbling all over the place.

Cover the cake with frosting and run the flat, straight edge of a knife around the top and the edges of the cake to smooth out frosting. Add wording or decorations to the top of the cake as desired.

Voila! Rainbow Cake.

Taste it.

For the record, my Nana, Mom AND Sister all loved this cake.

So did my little Seth. ;)

Eddie

2010-04-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Once upon a college Psychology class I was warned about Self Fulfilling Prophecies. You know what that is right....if you worry about something you may inadvertently make it come true?

Well it seems that I've created one of these for myself. Remember this post where I worried that by giving my son a multitude of nicknames I might be setting him up for an identity crisis? Ummmmmmmm, yeah.

It has happened.

Meet Eddie.

Seriously. My son talks about himself in the third person and calls himself "Eddie."

Now -- there are numerous explanations for this, such as "Sethy" is hard for him to say and when he says his name it sounds like "Eddie." And he talks about himself in the third person because when speaking to him I speak about myself in the third person. As in -- "That's Mama's cup" or "Mama is going upstairs" or "Mama is going lose her mind if she has to wash one more sinkload of dirty dishes."

So no, I don't think it's an actual identity crisis. And I'm not going to be seeking mental health care for my 2 1/2 year old. But I do think it's pretty funny.

Just like I think it's pretty funny that he also refers to himself as, and insists that his father and I call him "Bob."

As in Bob the Builder.

And while "Bob" is a skilled craftsman who can construct heat pumps, houses, train tracks and couches out of Legos, he is nothing without his team of trusty sidekicks.

So "Bob" has invited his parents to the identity crisis party. I'm "Wendy," a beautiful buxom blonde who keeps Bob's building business burgeoning and who I TOTALLY resemble.

And here's a pic of "Bob" and "Farmer Pickles."

See the resemblence to the "real" Farmer Pickles?

Neither do I.....Thank God! ;)

CAN'T. TALK. ABOUT. IT.

2010-04-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ugh.

Here's the deal.

I like to talk.

I like to talk A LOT.

I love to tell stories.

I love to talk about feelings.

I love laughing with strangers.

I love to analyze behaviors and thought patterns.

According to my husband I can even talk things to death.

I'm getting better but I can be a habitual over-sharer.

I talk to strangers in the line at the grocery store.

I make idle chit-chat with service employees.

One of my favorite things about having a child is that I can talk to myself in public and people think I'm talking to my child.

Guys, I even talk to strangers in elevators.

And here I am.

In Jury Duty.

Surrounded by all sorts of fascinating characters, describing interesting events, participating in history, keeping the wheels of our justice system greased and moving, protecting the laws and moral statutes of our land, ensuring that order will prevail....

And I CAN'T TALK ABOUT IT.

Ugh.

Mama's Little Music Man

2010-02-24T12:42:00.000-08:00

Mix Master P - March '09

My son LOVES music. He loves listening to it, he loves making it.

Well, I guess what he makes wouldn't be classified as music quite yet, but he tries! We'll just say that he loves experimenting with sound. He jibberjabbers constantly, rhyming words and changing the intonation of his voice. A lot of the time it sounds like he's singing. He loves to play with anything that makes a sound, his wooden recorder, plastic xylophone, his daddy's guitar and our family piano are among his favorites. I am genuinely impressed with his piano playing skills; he doesn't just bang on the keys, but presses them gently with one finger at a time and often will string notes together making a little tune. He will also make an instrument out of just about anything. He has been known to make his mother extremely nervous by banging different items on our glass coffee table just to hear the different sounds they make. He loves to dance and asks me to sing all the time. Lately he has been asking me to sing songs that I don't even know! For instance, the other day he asked me to sing "the strawberry song." I don't even know if there IS a song about strawberries! But I made one up, and my sweet boy told this nearly tone deaf mother that my song should be on the radio. He knows just how to melt his mama's heart. ;)

It is absolutely amazing to watch this interest and aptitude unfold. I really believe that his interest in music is innate. He certainly doesn't get it from me, I took piano lessons throughout my childhood and still only play as well as a 3rd grader. I played the saxophone for several years but totally faked my way through high school band (and it's good thing I did, cuz that's where I met my hubby!). I know I should, but I don't intentionally expose Seth to music. In fact, most of the time I listen to talk radio instead of music. Just the way I'm wired I guess.

He must get it from his father. My hubby is musical, so much so that I think of him whenever I read this Mother Goose Rhyme:

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross,
to see a fine lady upon a white horse.
Rings on her fingers
Rings on her toes.
She shall have music wherever she goes.

Nathan makes music wherever he goes. He is an absurdly good whistler. He says "practice makes perfect" when it comes to whistling, and I believe him...he whistles all the time! I've told him on several occasions that he should enter a whistling contest because I'm pretty sure he would win. He is always singing, drumming his fingers and listening to music. He can hear a song once and then sit down to play it on the guitar. He has never taken a piano lesson in his life, doesn't read music and can play by ear better than I can ever dream of playing! His musical ability is definitely one of the reasons I fell in love with him. He even sang and played his guitar as part of his marriage proposal to me. **SWOOOOOOOOON**

I feel so blessed that Seth is interested in music. I've always dreamed of being musical and I would love the opportunity to nurture that trait in my son. My hubby loves it too; one of his and Seth's favorite things to do together is jam on the guitar. ;)

And for a two year old, I think Seth has pretty eclectic taste in music. Of which I am inordinately proud. But hey, being inordinately proud of your child is one of the perks of being a mom.

Here are a some of Seth's (current) favorite songs that he requests by name:

**Brass Monkey by The Beastie Boys
**Old McDonald had a Farm
**Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard by Paul Simon
**The Science of Selling Yourself Short by Less than Jake
**The Name Game by Shirley Ellis
**Big Green Tractor by Jason Aldean
**Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin

Not bad, eh?

I've been singing that last one to Seth since he was in the womb and he still loves for me to sing it to him before bed. It seems like a strange song to sing to a child, but honestly, it's one of the only "non-camp" songs I can sing without sounding too much like a frog. Nathan once said that he can't wait to teach Seth to play that song on the guitar. Truth be told, I can't either. Nathan says he'd love for Seth to play it for me on my 50th birthday. I can hardly think of a better gift. But you know, if Seth doesn't end up playing the guitar, it's no big deal. I'm enjoying the music he makes now, and that is gift is enough for me. ;)

Not Me!! Monday

2010-01-25T13:15:00.001-08:00

This blog carnival is the brain child of MckMama. Check out her blog to see what others have NOT been up to this week.

This past Tuesday evening I did NOT go to a friend's house for a Girl's Movie Night and end up not even turning on the movie. She and I did NOT just sit on the couch drinking rum and cokes and chatting until 1am. Ahem, NOT us!

If you had bugged my home with a secret listening device this week you definitely would NOT have heard me say to my 2 year old: "Stop that this instant! You are not a feral raccoon, you are a human child and will behave as such!" You would also NOT have heard me say "No Honey, Mama will not talk to your penis......yes, Sweetheart, I will talk to your bellybutton. That's fine." No, I would never EVER have an occasion to say such things.

I also did NOT get a wild hair one afternoon this week and decide to take down the wallpaper in our upstairs bathroom. And if I had, I definitely would have finished the project speedily and I would NOT have gotten bored of scraping wallpaper glue off the wall after two days and taken an indefinite hiatus from the project. Um no, NOT me!!

And I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but I keep a spotless home. My family is always well groomed and if you were to stop by our home at this very minute, we would be as we always are....wearing starched shirts, sitting in our parlor with perfectly coiffed hair admiring our doilie collection, drinking tea with our pinkies raised and discussing water polo. You know, "the usual." So it would of course stand to reason that this weekend I would NEVER EVER have let my child have rule of the kitchen counter to "make cinnamon rolls" and essentially turn himself into an Oompa Loompa.

And if I had I certainly would NEVER have hurried to clean up the mess before my neatnik husband came home. I would have never EVER showed Mr. TidyPants the pictures of our little orange angel and giggled as he turned white in horror. Nope, never. NOT ME!!!

Geography Lessons

2010-01-24T12:49:00.000-08:00

The other morning Seth told me he wanted to go "bye bye."

When I asked where he wanted to go, my sweet little peanut answered: "Acapulco."

Apparently the geography lessons his father has been giving him are paying off.

Also, I think Seth may be onto something...

Mmmmmmmmmmm.........Acapulco. Who's in?

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-11T10:02:00.001-08:00

Not Me!! Monday

2009-11-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

Not Me! Monday was started by MckMama, it's a therapeutic (and highly amusing) way of admitting imperfections and laughing at some of the moments we'd rather forget. This is my first Not Me! Monday. If you want, you can check out her blog for more info about Not Me! Monday. Or you can stay here and laugh at how ridiculous I am; I'm pretty sure it will make you feel better about yourself. :)

Here are some things I did "NOT" do this week. :) Enjoy.

I did NOT go test drive cars with my hubby this weekend just for fun.

On our test driving trip I did NOT meet and fall in love with a an outrageously expensive and environmentally irresponsible vehicle. I did NOT spend a good half hour crawling through this vehicle -- inspecting and revelling in every bell and whistle known to man. I did NOT sit in the driver's seat imagining with great joy filling this vehicle with happy children and driving over mountain passes to spend blissful weekends romping through the wilderness and swimming in the glacial waters of Eastern Washington. And I most definitely did NOT spend the rest of the day trying to think of everyway possible I could justify owning such a vehicle. No, I did NOT think of buying carbon offsets, planting my own vegetables, homeschooling my child, raising my own meat, never buying new clothes and composting everything in my home that could ever be composted. Ahem. No, Not Me!

On this same trip, I did NOT sit in a brand new Dodge Challenger with my husband and dream of racing off into the sunset to lands unknown. No, I am a devoted mother who NEVER dreams of life without children. In fact, I am NOT right now sitting at the computer blogging as my child runs about the house with filthy face and hands looking for his daddy because Daddy went to work before we got out of bed.

I have NOT been extremely nauseous and throwing up for no reason for the last month. I have NOT been to the doctor several times for this and have certainly NOT taken an unreasonable number of pregnancy test in the last month. And last night I did NOT take another pregnancy test, even though it had already been confirmed by several sources that I am indeed not pregnant.

I definitely did NOT spend two days last week in the fetal position on my bathroom floor due to this pesky nausea and vomiting. And I definitely did NOT, now that I'm feeling better, but not good, eat waffles and potato chips for breakfast this morning. Because I would NEVER EVER do that to myself and justify it by thinking: "if I'm going to be nauseous all day today I would like to at least have a reason for it!!" Ummmm, no. Not Me! I definitely NOT insane.

And because I am such a good and responsible mother, NOT because my child is threatening to throw a tantrum that will bring down the house, I am going to end this post.

Have a nice day!

Sweet Chicken

2009-08-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about it the other day and I have a lot of nicknames for Seth. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I've always been a "nicknamer." Friends, pets, family members, other people's children; it seems that no one in my life is safe.

I don't know where these nicknames come from or most of the time, what they mean. They tend to just fall out of my mouth and hang around for a while. Some stick around longer than others, some get abbreviated you know, because creating nicknames for nicknames is totally normal, some get elongated and some of the ones I call Seth get a weird look from the hubs and then go away forever.

I'm kind of concerned that one day soon I'm going to notice that my son will respond to anything anyone calls him. That's not currently true so I'm hoping my concern is totally unfounded.

Just so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about...here's an assortment of the names my son is likely to be called (by his mother) on any given day:

Bubba
Buddy
Bubs
Doodle
Noodle
Doodlebug
Bug
Stinkerbug
Macho Man
Baby
Babes
Beebop
Beebopareebop
Snoodle
Rerun
Goose
Peanut
Little Man
Chicken
Sweet Chicken
Chickapee
Chickanoodledoodle
Sweetums
Sugar
Sug
Mix Master P
oh and, Sethy

I'm sure there are more, but that list is what's currently on rotation. A few of these names are on pretty heavy rotation, but I'd say that all of these will get used within a three day span. Identity crisis in the making? Perhaps.

But I'm going to try not to worry about it. I think I'll focus on enjoying my Little Man for the Sweet Chicken that he is.

And friends I'm curious...did your parents have nicknames for you growing up? Do you have nicknames for your children or pets? Or am I alone? :)

Beating the Heat

2009-07-30T22:54:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard, it's been hot here. And not just we live in Pacific Northwest and whine whenever the mercury rises above 80 degrees hot...but honest to goodness record breaking you can fry eggs on the pavement or roast marshmallows over my smoldering skin hot.

See? That was Thursday. It was even hotter earlier in the week.

Aaaaaaaand, as the mother of an indelibly adorable and heat sensitive small creature...

Yes, yes that's my creature....I made it my mission this week to STAY COOL (much like Seth is doing in the picture above...what with his cool dude glasses and all).

How did we do it? Well here's a partial list of our cool seeking adventures....basically the ones I took pictures of. Please forgive the quality of these pictures: they are from my phone.

Our regular camera had a rather unfortunate encounter with a toddler....and such toddler will remain nameless, as will the mother who ~~handed him the camera~~ allowed said toddler to play with the camera. But that's another story.

Costco

Ah, Costco........Jesus knew what he was doing when He created Costco. What better place to spend a HOT Summer morning? Seth and I spent a couple of hours at Costco the other day....just sampling. Sampling the juice, the burritos, the pizza and teriyaki veggies...not to mention we took several books and a recliner for a lengthy test drive. It was lovely....and cool.

Birdbath

Seth loves nothing more than to push a chair up to the kitchen sink and play with the running water, cups, (clean) sponges and anything else he can sneak into the sink when Mama turns her head. This week we took it a step further. We filled up the sink with cool water and stuck him in it. He loved it. In fact he loved it so much that since then, he's been seen in the kitchen, pointing at the sink, saying "Beebah Beebah."

Commandeering a Friend's Pool

My parents have a pair of fabulous friends....J & M....we've known them for over 20 years and I love them like family. And I'm not just saying that because they let us come over and swim in their pool a few times this week. I swear.

Staying Up Past Bedtime and Rolling Around in Freshly Watered Grass

Ummmm, yeah....have a I mentioned that it's hot here? It may be going to our heads.

Hanging out in the Basement and Playing Dress Up

Our basement is approximately half a million degrees cooler than the main level of our house. Which honestly, is not saying much considering it has been close to two million degrees Farenheit upstairs all week. Nevertheless we hang out downstairs when we have to be home. And wear Daddy's clothes, because it's better than prancing around in Mama's high heels. Not that my child would ever do such a thing...Sigh.

Jungle Playland

Jungle Playland has been added to my list of "favorite places on the planet." Seriously. It's clean, air conditioned and crazy fun! Hours of climbing, sliding and ball pit fun. All in stocking feet and for a great price. A very cool adventure indeed.

I am somewhat sad that we don't have photographic evidence of our other cool seeking adventures. But do I savor the memories --- of the library, the kiddie pool, taking cool showers then chillin' under the ceiling fan reading our favorite stories, lingering at favorite restaurants, taking naps in other people's houses, spending time with Gram Gram and Papa and driving nowhere in particular. We spent many hours enjoying the sweet sweet relief of water, shade and air conditioning. ~~Despite~~ Because of the heat, it has been a wonderful week.

**Gulp** Did I just say that?

Then and Now

2009-07-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this blog the other day and I have to share, this woman has put my heart into words. You can read her post here. What follows are my thoughts after pondering her words...

I know my baby (little man!) has to grow up and I honestly delight in every milestone, or even pebble of development that he achieves. I absolutely adore the person he is becoming. He has a fantastic sense of humor, a helpful and playful nature, he is sweet and tender and adventurous and rough and tumble and loves to explore. But when I hold him lately, I want to keep him there. I want to keep him just barely 20 months old...sitting in my lap, giving me slobbery kisses, his sweet tiny fingers grabbing my own, asking me to name each object in his picture books, begging for one more story, one more game of piggies. I want to keep his body pressed up against my chest to feel our hearts beating together, to keep our breath close together......for he is my soul, my most precious treasure and there is nothing that brings more peace to my whacked out little heart and mind than spending 30 seconds with his little body pressed against mine.

Alas, I cannot keep him small, nor would I ever truly want to; children are made to grow. The bittersweet truth of parenthood is our children will always be changing. With all my heart I want to take advantage of that truth...I want not to waste a second of my life with Seth, for who he is today is not who he will be tomorrow.

I pray that I will embrace Seth's changing nature, that I will recognize each unique moment in each unique stage of development and treasure Seth's journey for each step he is on and each step he will take.

I pray that my heart will be as this mother's and not focused on the chaos of my messy house and distracted life...but on the man my little baby will too soon be.

Song for a Fifth Child

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

Sweet Seth, Mama loves you...yesterday, today and forever. For who you were, who you are and who you will become. I pray you will know this deep in your heart, for your Father in Heaven has taught me to love and He too, will teach you.

Then

Now

*Sigh*

SMILE!!!!

2009-06-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago Seth decided this is what the people in his life look like when they smile.

So whenever a camera is present he smiles.

It's one of those melt your heart make you silly with love smiles.

And I ask him to do it ALL THE TIME.

I mean really, can you blame me?

Special thanks to Uncle Nate for the great photos!!

I fed Seth what?

2009-06-09T17:06:00.000-07:00

I've recently begun following this blog.

And recently this recipe fascinated me. I'm always looking for new ways to incorporate veggies into Seth's diet. So I made Raw Cereal for breakfast this morning...and fed it to Seth. Yes, I fed my son a cereal made of broccoli, cauliflower, pecans, apple, carrots, cinnamon and soy milk. Ew, right? But guess what?

He loved it!!

He and I each ate 2 bowls of it; it was delicious!

See? Seth wants to share with you!! (as for me....I'm keeping my portion to myself!!)

Good Fortune

2009-06-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

I had my first 29th birthday last week. To celebrate we went out to my favorite Chinese restaurant. It was a delicious dinner with good company and I enjoyed myself immensely. One of my favorite parts of a Chinese meal always comes at the end --fortune cookies!!! Now that Seth is able to eat fortune cookies I find it especially entertaining to read his fortunes.

I'm assuming that by "wisdom" they mean "parents."

After Seth had finished eating his fortune cookie he asked for more, and in typical toddler style threw a fantastic fit after being told that there wasn't any more. I chose to give Seth another cookie instead of spending the rest of my birthday dinner engaged in a power struggle. (The staff of the restaurant was more than happy to provide a large bag of cookies for Seth, but he only got one from the bag. We have the rest in our pantry.)

Here is the fortune from his second cookie; please note the tear.

How appropriate!!

A Couple of Suckers...

2009-05-31T20:36:00.000-07:00

They may be a couple of suckers, but they're my suckers....and I love them!!

Mechanic

2009-05-28T11:46:00.001-07:00

Do you have a mechanic living in your fridge?

We do.

He takes care of all sorts of things for us.

Like organizing the condiments.....

And painting the inside of the fridge

We are lucky indeed.

Genius?

2009-05-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

How to Make Breakfast

2009-05-18T15:01:00.000-07:00

Step One: Pour the Cereal

Step Two: Eat the Cereal

Step Three: Throw the Cereal into the air in celebration

Step Four: "Enjoy" confinement while Mommy cleans up the mess

For the record: Yes, I took pictures when I could have been cleaning. But no, I did not let him dump out the cereal....he climbed up to the table and dumped the cereal while I had my back turned. Ah, life with a toddler! :)

Chicken Broccoli Cheese Nuggets

2009-04-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

My son Seth is a super picky eater. He wont touch food unless it is not messy or squishy or feels like anything other than a piece of bread or a cracker. This makes it extremely difficult to make sure he eats enough meat and/or veggies. Sooooooo, I adapted a Broccoli Cheese Nugget recipe I found online to include chicken and spinach. Miracles of miracles he eats them! I don't eat them because of the cheese but my husband LOVES them. I have a hard time keeping them in the house because Nathan will eat them before Seth gets a chance!

Chicken Broccoli Cheese Nuggets

Ingredients

2 cups of cooked chicken puree.

1 16-oz Package frozen broccoli, cooked, drained, and pureed in food processor

1/2 cup cooked spinach puree

1 1/2 cup Seasoned bread crumbs -- I use Mrs Cubbins Seasoned Stuffing Bread and put it in the food processor: 7 oz of stuffing mix makes about 1.5 cups of crumbs

1 ½ cups Shredded cheddar cheese

2 large eggs

Directions

Pre-Heat oven to 375

Lightly coat a baking sheet with olive oil or cooking spray and set aside.

Combine all ingredients (except for 1/2 c bread crumbs) and mix well.

Shape mixture into nuggets or fun shapes.

Coat nuggets in remaining bread crumbs and place on baking tray.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (or until golden brown) turn nuggets over once during baking.

Serve warm

Nuggets freeze and reheat well in the oven.

Enjoy!

i like food

2009-04-21T22:39:00.001-07:00

I made a delicious and I mean DELICIOUS salmon dinner last night.

Nathan and I both have been thinking about it all day today. Seth has been thinking about PB&J, but what does he know? :)

I will give you the recipe as found in the Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine followed by my notes. YUUUUUUUUMMMM!!

Salmon with Dill Sauce

6 salmon fillets (4 oz each)

1/2 tsp plus 2 Tbsp fresh dill (just the leaves)

1/4 tsp pepper

4 tsp cornstarch

2/3 cup reduced sodium chicken broth

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

2 tsp lemon juice

Place each salmon fillet on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 12 inches square). Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp dill and pepper.

Fold foil around salmon and seal tightly. Grill, with the cover closed, over high heat for 5-10 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

In a small saucepan, combine the cornstarch, broth, milk, mustard, lemon juice and remaining dill. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened.

Open foil packets carefully to allow steam to escape. Serve salmon with dill sauce.

Juli's notes -- I used an 18 oz fillet of fresh Atlantic Salmon and cooked it whole in foil on the grill. It took about 20 minutes to cook. To make the sauce dairy free I boiled 2/3 cup of soy creamer down to 1/3 cup and substituted that for the evaporated milk. I served the salmon with plain white rice and steamed asparagus. This simple meal was one of the best dinners I've had in quite a while!

Enjoy!!

Made my day

2009-03-31T21:49:00.000-07:00

I was in a public restroom today -- enjoying a sliver of privacy in my stall when a little voice popped up from the stall next to me.

"Mama. I like going to the bathroom."

Judging from the acoustics of her response, Mama was not in the stall with the little voice. She replied sweetly but with a hint of disapointment that she wasn't going to get just a minute of silence while the owner of the little voice was in the stall alone.

"That's nice honey, I'm glad you like using the bathroom."

Encouraged by Mama's response and obviously excited the little voice then exclaimed "Mama Mama I don't have diarrhea any more!"

"Oh honey that's good. I'm glad. Please wipe and we will finish our shopping." What was a hint of disappointment in Mama's voice had at that point turned into more than a hint of embarrassment.

"Mama! I'm having regular poops!"

"Good. Now please wipe your bum and come out to wash your hands."

"Mama come in here. Come see my regular poops!"

"I don't need to come in honey."

"No Mama, come see so you believe me!"

"I believe you."

"No Mama! Come now! Come see them!"

The little voice is getting louder and louder, the tone of Mama's voice is becoming less embarrassed. I can only imagine that Mama is standing outside the stall resigning herself to the inevitability of acquiescing to the voice's demand.

I am quietly giggling as I wash my hands, and fully smiling as Mama and the little voice emerge from their stall.

Mama, a pretty woman with shoulder length blonde hair looks at me and smiles. She looks down and shakes her head, shrugs her shoulders, telling me with her eyes that she can't believe what she just did.

I laugh out loud and say "That just made my day."

She looks at me in disbelief "Well I'm glad that made your day."

"It did. My son is 16 months old and is just starting to talk. I can't wait to see what kind of things he's going to say."

She laughs. "Whatever they say, it's always at the best time."

As if on cue the little voice pipes up once again. "Where is your son? Did you leave him in the toilet?"

Mama and I share a knowing look and laugh. "No," I say "He's not here. He's at his grandma's house."

I leave the restroom with a smile on my face, I love it when strangers can make my day.

Miracle

2008-12-31T11:09:00.000-08:00

I'm reading a novel called The Birth House by Ami McKay.

I'm not too far into it, but am enjoying it. At the end of the first chapter the narrator relays a poignant observation about the birth process and the nature of miracles. The passage itself is a bit long to be quoted in its entirety, but there was one sentence in particular that took my breath away and reached deep into my heart. If you are familiar with my experience of pregnancy you will understand why.

"How a mother comes to love her child, her caring at all for this thing that's made her heavy, lopsided and slow, this thing that made her wish she were dead...that's the miracle."

It is by the grace of God and with His power that I, as a mother, love my child. A mother's love (and probably a father's too, but I can only speak to my own experience) can only be possible because of the love Our Heavenly Father has for us. My greatest fear during my pregnancy was that I would resent my child for my illness, but loving Seth is the easiest thing I have ever done. I don't struggle with it in the least and I thank Jesus for this miracle each day. I thank Him too that this woman put it into words for me.

Mineral Oil

2008-12-31T10:47:00.000-08:00

This Christmas my sister and I were discussing eye makeup removers. We ended the discussion by determining that Mineral Oil would make a good one and we both resolved to try it. I bought some and relayed my experience via email to my sister. Maybe you will benefit from this story.

"I bought some Mineral Oil a couple of days ago and thought since you wanted to buy some you might like to hear about my experience! First off, it was an adventure even trying to find the stuff in the grocery store!! Nobody I talked to knew where it was. Finally someone called a manager and she told us where to find it: in the Pharmacy section next to the Miralax. Apparently Mineral Oil is a laxative. People drink it. SICK. Oh well, at least I found it and it was only $3 for a huge bottle. Sweet. Getting it home was uneventful. Once home I poked a hole in the seal, squeezed a little out onto my cotton ball and noticed something funny. This was astoundingly thick oil. It came out as what can only be described as a "dollop." This is a word I would never think could be associated with an oil -- well, learn something new everyday I suppose. I looked at the bottle and saw something I had not noticed in the grocery store. This was "Extra Heavy" Mineral Oil. Oops. I don't even know if they sold any other kind of Mineral Oil. Oh well -- dollop or not I smeared it on my eyes to get rid of my mascara. It removed the mascara like a dream. GREAT! While admiring my newly cleaned skin in the mirror something strange started to happen. My vision got blurry and my eyes started burning! I used another cotton ball to make sure I had gotten all the goop off my eyes. My eyes slowly stopped burning but for the rest of the day my vision was still blurry. Thinking this was perhaps a freak occurrence I used the Mineral Oil again the next day -- taking care not to use too much - but the same thing happened! Knowing me I'll probably use it again tonight just because it removes mascara so well and I don't having anything else in the house. We'll see. So Sister, take what you will from my story, but I believe it has to be said -- "always be careful when smearing a laxative on your face."

Success!

2008-11-25T14:28:00.001-08:00

Well, thanks to a nasty case of food poisoning I have been at my goal weight since 2 days after my last post. Amazing.

Here are (some of) Juli's tried and true Weight Watchers tips:

Keep pickles around (I like baby dills the best). They satisfy a hankering for salt and they have a 0 points value.

Find a cereal that satisfies your sugar craving. You know those cereals your mom never let you eat for breakfast? Weeeelllllllll....eat them for dessert! Instead of baking up a batch of high-points cookies, brownies or other sugar coated sabotage, I like to whip out 3/4 cup - 1 cup of a sugary cereal. Enjoy dry for 2-3 points!

Discover the bliss that is Teddy Grahams. 3 points for 24 of those little bears. I eat them piece by piece -- those poor Teddys don't have a chance. First the ears, then the arms, legs, head and last...the torso. It takes me almost 45 minutes to eat my 3 points worth and I enjoy every minute of it!

Buy corn tortillas and salsa. Take 2 corn tortillas and dampen them with water. Use a pizza cutter to cut them into "chips." Place "chips" on a baking sheet. Sprinkle chips with salt (you dampened them so the salt would stick). Put into a 400 degree oven and remove when crispy. Enjoy with salsa for a 1 point snack!

Don't beat yourself up. If you're a Bible reader you'll recognize "kindness leads to repentance." If you don't do as well one day as you'd like to, there's always the next. If something tempts you beyond your ability to control, be kind to yourself. Remind yourself of all the good you've done and that you can start making better choices right then.

Give yourself permission to throw away food. This is one of the most powerful tools I've found. If the bag of chocolate chips in the cupboard is too tempting to me, I've been known to throw it out. The way I look at it, I've already paid for it and there's no getting my money back. Now my money can either go toward a) making me fat(ter) or b) increasing my self control. I'll choose option B, thank you very much.

Identify problem foods and AVOID AVOID AVOID. This goes along with throwing out food. I have lots of foods that I have SERIOUS trouble controlling myself around. Cookies for example. If cookies come into my house I can inhale the entire plate of them before the aroma leaves the air. So I don't make cookies. If cookies are given to me (and for some reason I can't say "no thank you" I take them out of the packaging and throw them away....yes, I take them out of the packaging before they go in the trash so I won't be tempted to take the package out of the garbage. AVOIDing can mean taking serious action.

Identify safe foods and take heart in the fact that you CAN control yourself around these foods. Brownies are a prime example for me. My husband loves brownies. About once a month I get out my double boiler and make him a batch of brownies from scratch. The pan sits on the counter for about a week and I may have one or two over the course of the week, but I don't overdo it. It's not that the brownies aren't delicious...they are downright divine. It's just that I can be reasonable about them. I don't know what makes them different than cookies, but they are. And it gives me great confidence to know that I have power over delicious homemade brownies...this confidence then fuels my ability to control myself around and/or AVOID my problem foods.

Remind yourself of your motivation. Do you want to fit into a size 8? Lower your BMI to healthy range? Climb a mountain? Whatever it is, write it down -- post it on your bathroom mirror, on your steering wheel, over the kitchen sink, everywhere. It really helps. My motivation stares me in the face almost every minute of every day. My little Seth is my motivation. I know that as he grows he will consciously and unconsciously imitate me. And I want the eating patterns that he imitates to be healthy ones. I want to be a good example for my son and as his little sponge self follows me around everyday I am constantly reminded of my motivation.

Speak of the angel...my little one calls. That's all for now folks. Good luck.

5 more pounds!!

2008-10-24T21:29:00.001-07:00

Holy moly!

I've been on a serious adventure for the last 2 1/2 months.

Weight Watchers has been my guide.

On this adventure I've learned that I truly have the power to shape my body, I don't have to eat to express my feelings, I can create DELICIOUS, healthy meals and that I love the feeling of being thin more than I love the taste of french fries. (Not all the time, I don't want you to think that I'm under the impression that I'm superwoman)

BUT I've lost 30 lbs since April, 20 since August and 40 since April of 2007. I now have 5 more pounds to go until I make my goal weight. I've gone from a size 14 to a size 6 and I've never felt better.

When I say that I've never felt better I really mean it. I know you hear it all the time from people who've lost weight and to be honest I never really gave that statement much credit. I just always thought people said it because they liked being thinner.

But its really a different kind of feeling better. Yes I have more energy and am more confident in the way my body looks but its more than that. I've been empowered. I've seen first hand that I can effect serious change. I don't have to fall victim to my cravings. I am in control of my food and that's liberating.

Watch out world here comes skinny Juli!

sometimes i think too much

2008-10-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

Nathan and Juli Prentice are officially homeowners. I am beyond excited to move into our new digs and will post pictures as soon as I have some. I'm especially excited about having trick-or-treaters come to our door on Halloween. I've already bought the candy and am determined to introduce myself to lots of moms in our new neighborhood. It's going to be great.

But with this new chapter in our life beginning it's hard for me not to be a little sad. Not sad that we're leaving behind the life of renting...the loud and nosy neighbors I can do without. I can also do without being able to hear whatever my husband is doing wherever I am in our apartment...a little privacy, or at least quiet time will be nice.

No, funnily enough I'm not sad about leaving the past behind. I'm sad about what the future may hold.

Sheesh, Juli...how 'bout having some hope? Oh, well...some days are like this.

Last night, when we had our first look at our house as official owners (we have our own keys!!) I looked at the four bedrooms in our new house and it suddenly seemed really possible that we may not fill one of those bedrooms with another child.

When people ask me if we'll be having another I always say that I'm up in the air, but in my heart of hearts know that I want another, whatever the cost. I've never seriously considered the possibility of not having more. But today I am. And it's breaking my heart.

I stumbled across this blog today and I don't know if it's because their oldest's name is Seth, or because they had a little girl like Nathan and I have always talked about, or if its just the combination of lack of sleep with all the heavy emotional lifting that transition requires....but in reading this post I broke down.

My heart aches with the possibility that our family won't have moments like this. I want Sethy to be a big brother. I want to have more than one set of little feet in the house, I want to love another person just as much as I love Seth. The experience of loving children as a mother is too amazing to not do again. If today is just a snapshot of the grief I'll feel if we officially decide not to have more children, buy stock in Kleenex. Seriously.

God has truly given us a gift in being able to bear children, to experience in part, the love he has for us as His children. The fullness of the love I have for Seth, in all its imperfection, inspires me to fathom the depths of the heart of God. There are no words for what a phenomenal gift it is to be perfectly loved by the Creator of the Universe and the chance to gain deeper understanding of that love, even if it involves suffering through another pregnancy, is an incredible blessing.

I suppose only God knows what the future holds for the Prentice Family. I'll end just by thanking Him for that, and for letting me experience my love for Seth, no matter what He has in store for us. One is enough for now. :)

The Block Bully

2008-10-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

Beware the Block Bully.

Sound the alarms. Put your babies to bed. Shore up your buttresses. The Block Bully is coming to town. Your building blocks are not safe.

You've been warned.

this is my first blog

2008-09-07T22:27:00.001-07:00

i shouldn't be airing our personal business online. but i am. stay tuned.