Sometimes I swear my son is a new version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Or maybe he has an identical twin that looks just like him but has a completely different personality. Or (and this is the most likely scenario) maybe he is four. It seems to be the only way I can explain why he behaves the way he does.
Yesterday this split personality behavior was on full display. C had been sassy and sacastic and nothing was getting through to him. Then all of the sudden it was "I love you mom" with kisses. A short time later the sassy child came back, as he was mean to his brother and very disrespectful to me. It went like this, back and forth, all the way to bedtime.
Yesterday I was frustrated. It's hard to deal with when you don't know what to expect. Today I am seeing it a little more clearly - right now he is emerging from the terrible twos/trying threes into someone who can articulate what he needs. It's hard, but we'll get through it.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Progress
I've been trying to knock out a few knitting projects so i can start working on new things. To be honest these longer term projects are getting a little tedious.
Checkerboard: I'm finally nearing the home stretch of the giant checkerboard. I now have enough squares to seam together the 5th row. I also have all of the blue squares done for row 6 but still need to do the green ones. I'm debating on anther to finish those first and then seam both rows at the same time or seam now and then do the rest of the knitting afterwards. I'm leaning towards seaming now just to change things up a little.
Baby blanket: I'm on square 10 of 15. This the last of the pink and then I move on to yellow for the final five. This block is making me a little crazy. There seems to be a mistake either with me or the pattern because on one row I'm one stitch short. All of the other rows are okay so I'm going to keep going and see what happens. Bear in mind that this is all after ripping it out once before because I cast on 35 instead of 36.
Android: E's android was such a hit that C requested one. So I'm doing his in red (his favorite color). I am primarily working on this one during knit night so I only have to top of the body and the arms done. I'll probably finish soon though cause it's a quick knit. I think it will be good for me to finish something so I can have some sort of sense of accomplishment.
I'm leaning towards some dish cloths when I finish one or all of these projects, again because I need to feel like I'm finishing something. I'd also like to do a shawl or stole but I want to finish the big projects first
Checkerboard: I'm finally nearing the home stretch of the giant checkerboard. I now have enough squares to seam together the 5th row. I also have all of the blue squares done for row 6 but still need to do the green ones. I'm debating on anther to finish those first and then seam both rows at the same time or seam now and then do the rest of the knitting afterwards. I'm leaning towards seaming now just to change things up a little.
Baby blanket: I'm on square 10 of 15. This the last of the pink and then I move on to yellow for the final five. This block is making me a little crazy. There seems to be a mistake either with me or the pattern because on one row I'm one stitch short. All of the other rows are okay so I'm going to keep going and see what happens. Bear in mind that this is all after ripping it out once before because I cast on 35 instead of 36.
Android: E's android was such a hit that C requested one. So I'm doing his in red (his favorite color). I am primarily working on this one during knit night so I only have to top of the body and the arms done. I'll probably finish soon though cause it's a quick knit. I think it will be good for me to finish something so I can have some sort of sense of accomplishment.
I'm leaning towards some dish cloths when I finish one or all of these projects, again because I need to feel like I'm finishing something. I'd also like to do a shawl or stole but I want to finish the big projects first
Monday, April 18, 2011
New Year New Resolutions (Part 6)
Since I completely biffed on coming up with any new ideas for dinner in March, I thought I would try to come up with something for April before the end of the month. I stepped way outside the box for this one and went with pork loin.
I know that pork is not something that unusual and my family eats things like ham and bacon but we don't have things like pork loin worked into our rotation. Well I went to Fry's last week and they it for less than half price so I thought "why not"? Since it's not something we usually have, I prepared it in a way similar to what I had done before and crockpotted (yes I just turned that into a verb) it. I left it on low in the pot for about 7.5 hrs until it fell apart. Then I drained off the excess liquid, added bbq sauce to it and let it simmer for another hour (cranked up to high for the last 10 minutes or so).
The verdict: pretty good. Of course C didn't eat it - he rarely tries anything new (according to the pediatrician this will supposedly get better in the next year or so; I'll believe it when I see it). J examined it but didn't eat it. E liked it although would have liked more bbq sauce. I liked it too but I think I prefer the bbq beef. I'd also like to find different marinades for cooking - this time I didn't season it until the end with the bbq sauce. My guess is this will make it into the rotation once or twice a year when there is a killer deal on pork.
I know that pork is not something that unusual and my family eats things like ham and bacon but we don't have things like pork loin worked into our rotation. Well I went to Fry's last week and they it for less than half price so I thought "why not"? Since it's not something we usually have, I prepared it in a way similar to what I had done before and crockpotted (yes I just turned that into a verb) it. I left it on low in the pot for about 7.5 hrs until it fell apart. Then I drained off the excess liquid, added bbq sauce to it and let it simmer for another hour (cranked up to high for the last 10 minutes or so).
The verdict: pretty good. Of course C didn't eat it - he rarely tries anything new (according to the pediatrician this will supposedly get better in the next year or so; I'll believe it when I see it). J examined it but didn't eat it. E liked it although would have liked more bbq sauce. I liked it too but I think I prefer the bbq beef. I'd also like to find different marinades for cooking - this time I didn't season it until the end with the bbq sauce. My guess is this will make it into the rotation once or twice a year when there is a killer deal on pork.
Friday, April 15, 2011
New Year New Resolutions (Part 5)
As I mentioned in a previous post, I taught myself to knit in the round so I could complete a secret project. Well now I can discuss it - it was a project for E's birthday. I'm 99% positive he doesn't read this blog but I didn't want to risk it. E is a huge tech geek, who loves to listen to podcasts, read tech blogs and analyze why certain products are better than others. A while back on one of this blogs someone posted a picture of a crocheted Android. Hubby sent it to me and asked me to make him one - unfortunately I don't crochet. So I covertly went on Ravelry and did a pattern search for a knitted version. There was a very cute little droid but he was knit in the round. So I taught myself how to do it. Here's the finished project - E loved it!
It seemed really intimidating at first but once I got the hang of it, it wasn't too bad. It also has opened up a whole new set of patterns that I previously glossed over soley because they were constructed in the round.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Mmmmm cheesecake
What's in the box? Why that would be cheesecake bites (which I'm sure is quite obvious based on the title of the post. My mom's birthday was this week and I didn't know what to get her besides a gift card. She and dad like to go to Cheesecake Factory on date night so that seemed like a good choice. But I wanted it to be more than just a gift card so I decided to bake something to go with it. Cheesecake seemed like a natural choice.
I had to go on a recipe search - I have a recipe for marble cheesecake but it's kind of complicated and I was short on time. I considered cheesecake balls since they are more portable and easier to package but as I mentioned I was in a hurry. I ended up finding a recipe on Bakerella's website - a recipe for cheesecake bites.
These involve using vanilla wafers as the crust and a very simple recipe. Her recipe calls for 1 tbsp of lemon juice- I cut that in half. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. My wafers were too small for the baking cups but it still worked okay. I also got only 32 out my recipe instead of the 48 she got. I ended up leaving the cherries off to make them more portable.
Not too bad. Some day when I have more time I want to try some variations on this like chocolate ganache or a rasberry topping. Maybe mable cheescake with oreo cookies for the base! The possibilities are endless!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Mmmmmm cookies
Today I finally got around to making some cookies I had wanted to try. Someone had posted a recipe for chocolate cookies on one of the forums I belong to. I had wanted to make them for a while but never could find the time. But I had an opportunity today! I decided to spruce up the original recipe by adding chocolate chips. I figured if chocolate is good more chocolate is better!
Chocolate cookies
1 and 1/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt (the original recipe calls for 1/2 but I like a slightly salty taste)
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 bag chocolate chips
I softened the butter and then creamed it with the sugar. After that I added the eggs and vanilla and mixed again. All of the dry ingrediens came next and After everything was blended I added the chocolate chips. I baked on 350 for 12 minutes.
Yummy!
Chocolate cookies
1 and 1/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt (the original recipe calls for 1/2 but I like a slightly salty taste)
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 bag chocolate chips
I softened the butter and then creamed it with the sugar. After that I added the eggs and vanilla and mixed again. All of the dry ingrediens came next and After everything was blended I added the chocolate chips. I baked on 350 for 12 minutes.
Yummy!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The hat (again)
The hat is off the needles! Just need to weave in the thread from the end. It's bigger than I expected. I had J try it on and it fit him well but I think I will still send it to my friend. Her kid will grow into it, right?
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