Emily Accessorizing

Little Gangsta'

Fast Cash

I just added "Craigslist" to my Grateful For: column. Why, you might ask. Well, over the past couple of weeks, Brian and I have combed our house for items that we do not need anymore, which someone else might want. And we are moving to a different house, and certain things aren't going to work in the new house, so we added these to our list also - and have sold almost everything we posted! Right now, even after making a few purchases (off the same site), I counted the money in the piggy bank (yes, for real) and could not believe that we made so much. And decluttering our house at the same time! It is great!

Name That Tune

Every night after prayers, I (or Brian) rock Emily and sing to her. Tonight, as soon as the prayer was over, she looked at me and said, " Tinkle Tinkle." It took me a minute to realize that she wanted me to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to her. When I finally figured it out, she was happy, and laid her head on my shoulder while I sang it to her. When I was done, I asked her what she wanted me to sing next. She said, "Beam!" This one was harder. But after thinking long and hard (ok not that long) I said, "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam?" The answer was a definite yes. So I sang that one, and asked for one more. "I Am!" Ok... I was able to figure it out, as we sing the same songs (basically) every night. "I Am" is I Am a Child of God. When that one was done, she said, "I Am again!" So we sang it again. I love how her words are developing, and she knows her own mind. She is definitely her own person, growing and getting smarter and smarter. This is one of my favorite times of the day. No matter how cranky she has been during the day, bedtime is always sweet.

Future American Idol

Freedom, Freedom, Freedom!!

This morning Brian took Emily up to Lake Arrowhead to see Grandma and Grandpa while he did some work around the house with his dad. I had so much to do around here, that I wasn't able to go. (We are moving into a different house in a month, and there is sooo much to do)
So for the first time, except for a couple of hours, I am toddler-less! For two whole days! It is so quiet. And peaceful. And I got so much done today. And I miss her.

Pizza

Four days on my own with Emily has been rough. She has been quite the handful. So I was thrilled when Brian, who got home late last night, announced that he had a work function to go to all evening. Anyone who has toddlers knows that 5pm till bedtime is the crankiest time of day, so I decided to take Emily out to dinner. She will usually eat pizza, and there is a great restaurant called Stonefire Grill that we love, so off we went.

Well, not much pizza was eaten by the munchkin, but at least I enjoyed my salad. On our way home, she must have realized what she missed, because she began shouting, "Pizza, Pizza, where are you?" "Pizza, Pizza, where are you?" Then it turned into, (and these are her three little buddies) "Mika, Mika, where are you? Jake! Jake! Saxon, Saxon, Saxon..."
Did this cuteness erase all of the tantrums/drama of the last few days? No. But it did cheer me up.

Great Easy Meal Idea

When was the last time you ate ramen noodles? For me, it had been years, since I am always trying to eat Weight Watchers, and those little guys are full of calories and fat. But I have to admit, I love them. So lucky me, I was on a fun food site (for weight watchers) called greenlitebites.com and discovered a very cool little meal.
Traditionally, ramen noodles are deep fried. Thus all the calories and fat. But there are now ramen noodles that are not fried, called Choice Ramen. I bought some, and this is the recipe:

1 Package Choice Ramen Noodles
Frozen Broccoli
5 Frozen Shrimp (3 oz)

Boil 1 1/2 C water. Add ramen. Cook till almost done. Add seasoning, frozen broccoli, and frozen cooked shrimp. Stir. Cover and cook till broccoli and shrimp are hot, about 3 mins.
7 Weight Watchers Points.

So I have had this 3 times this week. It may have more sodium than is ideal, but boy is it good, filling, and easy! The ramen tastes just as good as the original.

Cool Invention

OK- I am a sucker for kitchen gadgets. I have bought (and thrown away) more than my fair share of them. But I found a winner the other day at the grocery store. It is a winner because:
1. Useful
2. Cheap
3. Easy
4. Small
So, what is it, you are wondering? It is a vacuum sealer from Reynolds. Unlike the monstrous machines that are over $100.00, this one is just this little hand-held vacuum, and they sell special zip lock bags that you use it with. The thing was on sale for around $7.00. + the bags, which were around $3 something a box. Our family is not big, so we freeze a lot of leftovers, and I love to have things on hand in the freezer. This little device eliminates freezer burn, and you can reseal it as many times as you want! I love it.

Socks On

I had laundry out the other day and Emily decided that it would be fun to wear some of the clean socks. So she picked two out of the pile. One of daddy's and one of mommy's. She thought it was great and I thought it was funny. She roamed around for about an hour like this.

Bad Bread

So I was online today browsing through some of my favorite sites to get lowfat and lowcal recipes and saw a recipe for this yummy wheat bread. So after grocery shopping, where I purchased all the ingredients I needed, I came home and actually baked! (This really was a wild hair(hare?) since I am not much of a baker.) Some of the comments on the recipe board said that their loaves didn't rise very much, so I wasn't expecting the beautiful loaf that mine turned out to look like. For the last rise, I put it in the microwave with a cup full of boiling water, and the bread rose beautifully. I was so excited when it came out of the oven, it looked perfect. So patiently (amazing because I usually don't have very much of that) I waited for it to cool, so I could slice it evenly for sandwiches. Finally, I painstakingly sliced the bread, only messing up once. I decided that that piece would be my sample. So I took a bite. Yes, you can imagine the tears flowing, after all that work, when I realized I forgot the salt! Not even a load of butter could save this bread. I asked Brian if it was good for anything, and he said, "no." (Very Sad)
Maybe I will take Emily to the park and feed the ducks with it.

Me Me Me

This story should have been written up by Brian, but he insists that I do it. I am not sure why. Anyway, here goes:
Emily was in the kitchen begging for a snack. (From Brian, as I am still sick and was laying down at the time) She was saying "me me me me me," like-give it to me, give it to me! Apparently, it was taking way too long for her taste, and she forgot what she was saying, when the me's turned into a song. All of a sudden, she was singing me's to the tune of Sesame Street: me me me, me me me, me me me, (I hope you can picture it, because I can't sing on this blog...) So funny, I wish I had been there!

Bounce

Emily loves to bounce. Once a week, we go to a little mommy and me class called My Gym. Emily absolutely loves it. They do tons of fun activities, and have fabulous inside play equipment. One of Emily's favorites is the trampoline. I think this is where she learned how to bounce. Upon arriving at My Gym, she immediately heads to the trampoline and there she goes... bounce bounce bounce. She does not enjoy sharing the trampoline with the other kids.

As much fun as this pastime is, there is one problem. It happens at home, in her room. Have you guessed yet? Hint: We may have to replace her mattress before she grows out of her crib!

Family Beach Days

So Saturday we all went to the beach as a family! Yeahhh!!! My friend planned a trip down to San Onofre, a great surfing beach, where whoever wanted to surf could surf, and then the rest of us could hang out on the beach, bbq, or whatever. We drove down there, and boy was it a great day. The weather was perfect, the waves were good, and there were great friends and conversation. What a peaceful, great time. Hopefully the first of many days like this.

Emily is finally at a stage where she no longer is out of control, running into the waves like a crazy little munchkin like last summer. She now plays happily, and runs around and eats a little sand, but what 2-year-old doesn't?

The only blight on the whole day, was that I didn't drink enough water and got sun poisoning/dehydration sickness that night. Which was not fun at all. Then I woke up the next morning with Strep Throat, which still hasn't gone away, even after 4 days of antibiotics!

More Two-Year Old Funnies

So Emily's favorite food is cheese. Every day, "Cheese?" "Cheese??" "Aahh cheese?" (That's a direct quote) Sometimes it is "Juice?" and then "Cheese?" But this afternoon was a first. She said, "Cheese?" and then "Cake cheese?"

I said "Cake cheese?" She replied, "Yeah."
I really don't want to try that one. She would probably love it, as she loves apples dipped in ranch, applesauce and ranch mixed together, and fries dipped in caramel sauce.

Rooster

Saturday morning, Emily brought me a puzzle piece that had a rooster on it. She showed it to me and said, " Daddy Doo Doo Doo!" It took me a minute to figure out what she was saying (She says doo-doo for poo-poo) and I finally got that she was saying her own version of Cockle Doodle Doo. Gotta love two-year-old lingo.