Cookie Time Lessons

We just finished up Girl Scout cookie sales with SG, my eight year old daughter. As you probably know from my previous posts, we traditionally don't eat processed foods. This would include Girl Scout cookies.

This is SG's 4th year as a Girl Scout and her last year as a Brownie. She's looking forward to becoming a Junior Girl Scout next year.

I have read the ingredients on every flavor of Girl Scout cookies. It isn't pretty. There are so many artificial additives and processed ingredients. I do not agree with pushing something on someone that I wouldn't normally buy. But, I needed to look beyond my beliefs and just move past them. There is a bigger picture here.

My daughter has learned so much about money, management skills, mathematics, responsibility, assertiveness, entrepreneurship, goals, manners, socialization, and good life lessons. One of the first things she realized was that you need to be polite or you won't make a sale. This is something that she has been conscious about since her first sale. Being kind can go a long way.

At school, she was known as the Cookie Girl. She ended up taking a small notebook with her daily to take orders for cookies. The students would track her down to give her their cookie order. Some days she would bring a box with a variety and sell what she has. Since this cookie sale, she has made new friends in school that she might not have made otherwise.

She has become more confidant, too. She was more on the timid side, but not so much anymore. I see her little mind moving. In addition, she is a saver and spends her money only when needed. Not the case right now. SG decided to buy her sisters some cookies (I made an exception for this instance). Another lesson learned was generosity.

Despite my thoughts of Girl Scout cookies, I do feel the organization and these cookie sales are teaching girls really great lessons in life.

Roller Derby Moms

Thursday night my daughters' school had skate night for a fundraiser. We always go and I always watch. This night I decided to skate. It was lots of fun being on skates again. I only wish I could have skated faster, but the ground looked so far away. I didn't want to risk a fall. Lucky for me I did stay vertical.

Toward the end of the night they had races for several age categories. My oldest daughter won her category. The next one was for girls 12 and older. No one got out on the rink. I decided I was going to do it. I got a friend of mine to race with me and one more mom decided to join us, too.

The music started and we were off. Of all the music choices, they played Justin Bieber's Baby. I was coasting cautiously around the turns. They were gaining on me. It was one of those crazy surreal moments when everything felt like it was in slow motion. The race was over in less than a minute but it felt like ten. I crossed the finish line first and got my coupon for a free night of skating.

It was pure victory! My daughter and all her friends were so excited. They all came running skating toward me to congratulate me. I felt like the coolest mom ever. To have that feeling from the kids itself was pure victory.

I certainly see skating in my near future.

A friend of mine has a video of the race. If I'm able to upload it, I'll post it here.

Movie Stars

Last Sunday the girls and I were in a movie. Yes, can you believe that! We all had a line. Nothing big, but it was a line. It is not a big name producer, but a small indie film movie. 

It was very exciting, but I see why actors have trailers. There is so much waiting. We had to be there at 5:15 and didn't start shooting until about 7:30. By the time I finished my scene it was after 9:00. I had to sign ten page contracts for all of us. Basically, I signed away all our rights to the movie. We are nobodies. 

I do wish the producer success. I think he does have a talent. I just can't wait for production to be over so we can see the final product. Who know's, you might see me on the big screen or on DVD. It is very hush-hush right now. The name of the movie is a secret. None of the actors even know it. 

Project #2

Since the girls had no school Monday, it was Project Monday. The task was to sort through closets and weed out the clothes that no longer fit. We had success!

I had piles of clothes on my dresser from the past week. I got all those sorted and put away and pulled out everything I don't wear. There are plenty of things that don't fit, but I have to hold onto them until I can get smaller clothes to replace them. Yes, I've been pinning and belting all my slacks. I was hoping to get rid of more things in my closet, but I didn't.

The girls were having a great time organizing. I was shocked. The best part is that it is organized and they were the main reason it got done. I LOVE when they contribute like that. The plan is to have a yard sale in the next six weeks. The problem is that in the next six weeks we have Mardi Gras parades and Super Bowl amongst other activities going on in the metro New Orleans area. I don't know how I am going to fit it in.

Happy New Year

My family and I spent the new year celebration in Breckenridge, Colorado. It was such a beautiful place, but cold.

Most of the days we spent them sledding. There is this public park, Carter Park that offers free sledding. You bring your sled and you sled as much or as little as you would like. My youngest would only go with me then I finally encouraged her to go alone and she was hooked. We had to drag her off the mountain kicking when it was time to go.

 Just hit a bump.

 Oh no, airborne!

Ouch on that landing.

Toward the end of the trip we decided to go skiing and snowboarding. What a mistake! My two older girls took skiing lessons as did my father. My sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, and I took snowboarding lessons. All the kids did great, but none of us adults.

My sister fell and got a concussion, my father agitated both shoulders, and my brother-in-law busted up his knee. I fell so much and am full of bruises. The last act was at the very end of my lesson. I was on the snowboard facing the mountain. I thought all was well when I lost my balance and leaned a little too far back and bam! I hit the snow at maybe a 135〫 angle. My whole body jolted and felt jarred. This ended my snowboarding experience.

Thank goodness for all of the other great memories Colorado brought us. It truly was a wonderful experience. I look forward to going again, but without snowboarding.

Merry Christmas

This sure was an eventful Christmas Eve day in the kitchen. I am just sitting down relaxing since 0700 this morning, 20 hours ago.

I am rather tired, but I do want to elaborate on a few things possibly tomorrow. I am just hoping the girls don't wake up too early in the morning. I have been burning the candle on both ends and am now coming down with bronchitis.

Hope you enjoy your Christmas Day. 

Good night to all and to all a good night.

Feeling a Little Green

I was about to get to bed and I hear crying. When I get in there CG is covered in vomit.  If there is one thing I can't stand, it is vomit. It was the most vile thing.

Despite my thought of the bodily fluid in question, I got my little sweet pea cleaned up, hair washed, teeth brushed, and changed. Then she decided she wants her hair blow dried. At this point it is 12:30 and I was getting her bed ready. I hear crying again and all over my sofa this time.

Oh goodness! I just don't understand what's going on with her. No one else in the house is sick. She's been feeling fine except those few moments when she was upchucking. Well, I got the air mattress ready for her in my room.

One o'clock and she's going at it again. I feel so sad for my little one. We are going for clean up number three now.

The night is getting longer and longer and the morning is getting closer and closer.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

This morning we had a blast of winter. The temperature was down to 41℉. It was a big change from our 70 degree weather. My girls thought it would snow. They really want snow badly. Matter of fact, it was four years ago today that it snowed last.

Here's a picture from our snowfall on December 11, 2008. Yes, can you believe that? Snow in Louisiana.

I doubt we will get snow this week, but it sure is nice to get a taste of winter, finally. Stay warm and bundled up!

Greek Yogurt Pancakes

My girls wanted pancakes today, but only yummy pancakes. I've been searching hi and low looking for the perfect recipe and I finally came up with one. Actually it is a variation of several recipes.

Here's my take on Greek Yogurt Pancakes:

3/4 cup Greek yogurt (plain or any flavor) = ~6 ounces
1 egg
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon almond milk (or any liquid; omit if using all purpose white flour)

Mix yogurt and egg until smooth and creamy. Add flour and baking soda and mix well. Add almond milk and stir. Pour onto hot griddle. Flip when bubbling. Remove from griddle when cooked.

This makes approximately 12 slightly larger silver dollar size pancakes or 8 moderate size pancakes.

Today we used strawberry Greek yogurt which gave it a sweet taste drizzled with pure maple syrup. To add your own twist, you could use vanilla in the batter or a sprinkling of pure cane sugar or honey. Personally, I like mine plain without syrup.

These were certainly a hit with my family. I made two batches and they were just about gone before I was finished making them. I had to scoop pancakes off their plates in order to get this picture. They were perfectly moist without being floury or cake-like.  It is always a great feeling of accomplishment when there is nothing left!

I believe this will be our new go-to pancake recipe. Next time I will certainly double it instead of having to make two batches. The great thing is that they are full of protein.

Day of Cooking

I am officially exhausted! Today I baked until my little heart was content. I started with Deliciously Organic's Pecan Pie without Corn Syrup. Next I was on to brownies, cranberry sauce, cupcakes, sweet potatoes, and a baked chicken.

I ate throughout the day on all my creations. They all tasted rather lovely. Well, the only thing I did not taste was the pecan pie. I wanted to wait 24 hours for it to set before cutting into it. Although the recipe calls for a grain free crust, I used another recipe. I tried 100 Days of Real Food's pie crust. It's pecan pie for breakfast in the morning.

Next in the line up was brownies. I got this recipe from King Arthur Flour. The name of the recipe is kind of silly, but to the point..."Tasting is believing whole grain brownies." What more convincing do you need than that? I will attest that they were quite yummy. I had more than my share for the day.

Homemade cranberry sauce is always a staple on our dinner table for the holidays. My family now reminds me to make it because they have grown to love it. I remember the first year I made it. There was so much left over. Last year, there was maybe a tablespoon or so left. That sure does make me feel good. My daughter will eat it from the ramekin with a spoon like it is peanut butter. No recipe for this one, I wing it every year.

My favorite of the day was and is the cupcake. I used my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook I got from my wedding many years ago and modified it with whole wheat pastry flour and unrefined cane sugar. I still cannot get over how good these cupcakes are. Here's their recipe for a citrus yellow cake but I omitted the lemon and of course made revisions. Right now they are not frosted. I'm not sure if I will. We are having a Disney Junior Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess movie premiere party. Maybe I will whip up something Sunday and let the kids frost their own.

Last was the chicken and sweet potatoes. It was good, but after all the snacking on our goodies, our appetites just weren't where they should have been.

You know what I think made my day of cooking really fun and great? The girls helped me. I didn't ask for their help; they just offered. Usually when I ask, they just don't want to do anything, but something was different today. I bet having the girls in the kitchen offering their services helped me get my cooking mojo back. We had FUN! Cooking has become fun again.

Bug be Gone

I've been taking care of sick kids the last week. In addition, I've been feeling nauseated for about a week. Don't ask because I am not pregnant.

My oldest came home from school Friday with an upset stomach. She was pale, not very talkative (major cue for me that something is wrong), and listless. She claims she threw up a few times since she got home from school, but I didn't witness it. I contacted one of our friends (whose son is in my daughter's class) who said her son came home with a sick tummy, too. I wonder what's going on at their school to have two with the same illness, same classroom, on the same day. Hmmm. I gave her probiotics and she came around by morning.

My youngest had been feeling warm for a few days, but not quite a fever. Thursday night while she was sleeping I did hear her cough a few times. I sent her to school on Friday and let the teacher know my concerns.

When I picked her up from school she had 103℉. Her right cheek was red, her palms were hot, and she was listless. Next thing you know she starts coughing the weirdest cough. It is hard to describe but very high pitch. I called her primary doctor and she thought maybe it was croup. Then I hear her wheezing. I called the doctor back and the usual was said, "just keep an eye on her." As a parent I feel like I need to do something other that watch her. As a nurse I feel like she needs to be seen by a physician.



Then I decided to bring her to the after hours pediatric urgent care center. The whole time we waited, she was wheezing and coughing. Once the nurse took us back to the exam room, she commented on how audible the wheezing was without a stethoscope. Now you know I am not imagining this. The best part is the doctor comes in and assesses CG and she isn't coughing or wheezing any longer. Her temp went down and appears to be all normal.

How does that happen when you bring your car to the mechanic for a problem and it stops when you bring it in? That is the same concept here. CG quit wheezing and coughing. The nurse was chuckling over this, too. I don't get it. The best news was that she was negative for RSV. She got a diagnosis of unknown respiratory virus.

Whatever is affecting her little system keeps attacking. I have been giving her alkaline water, but I should probably give her probiotics, too. Six days later and she still has a temperature between 101-102℉, still not eating, and not her perky little self. I am giving her nebulizer treatments twice a day. I just hope whatever this is it goes away.

The Proof is in the Pudding

When my oldest daughter was young she was so busy. Some would say she was hyperactive others would say spirited. I didn't agree with either of these assessments made. Something just didn't seem right. Then I have baby number two and the same people told me the same things about my second daughter.

Many thoughts went through my head like:
1. Am I a bad mom?
2. How did I get such a busy and bad kid when I was so quiet and good as a child?
3. How can this child get into so much mischief?
4. And many other thoughts and questions.

So, I read many books on "spirited" children and they didn't really say much. I took matters into my own hands and I started experimenting with foods. What I learned was that there certainly was a link between the foods my daughter ate and her behavior.

From the time she was 2 until now, she is 8, I have watched closely at what she eats. I never went crazy and eliminated extreme amounts of food, but minimizing candy, sugar and milk seemed to make a big difference. I remember being at my sister's house in Pennsylvania for a hurricane evacuation. SG acquired some red licorice and went nuts. She was about 16 months when I saw this crazy side of her. She started hitting her head on the sofa, running back and forth in the room, laying down hitting her legs on the ground, and other very peculiar behaviors. At this point I just thought it was the sugar. I never really associated it with artificial food dyes.

Over the last 2 years she's had these crazy episodes where she gets crazy fits, sits on the ground and hits her head with her fists all while rocking back and forth. Her mood just goes blank and her eyes seem hollow. It is as though my child was snatched by some crazy creature. This happened again this week. Since we went processed and dye free last month it just hit me. It is red dye. We kept a few candies from Halloween. Sunday she started acting like the body snatchers got her. I happened to see a wrapper for Swedish Fish in the trash can. I asked her if she ate them and she did. I am convinced it is the red dye that her body is reacting to.

It has taken 2 days for it to clear her system. She knows I don't like her and her sisters eating food with dyes and I think this week she realized why. She seemed so scared like her body was making her act crazy and couldn't control it...Powerless.

This is proof to me that artificial food dyes are dangerous. They are out for our family. It is obvious what harm it does to my child.

Halloween Loot

Here's a picture of most of the candy my girls received on Halloween. This is crazy! I weighed it and it comes to 12 pounds and 1.2 ounces. Can you believe this? It seemed to make more sense to me when I separated it. I was able to get a better handle on how much was really there.

Of all the "treats" we received, there was only one healthy snack. It was one lonesome Clementine orange with a Jack-o-Lantern face painted. In addition, we received a few "Little Hug Fruit Barrels" drinks (which really aren't fruit drinks) and a Halloween hand sanitizer.

The girls had fun collecting all the treats, but today is the day we are doing the candy trade in. I mentioned it to them and they decided to go with it and pick a few pieces for later.

A Candy Corn Witch, a Devil, and a Spider Witch

Jack-o-Lantern

31 Days of Unprocessed Food

It has been 31 days that I have been eating, for the most part, unprocessed food. It was very somewhat challenging at the beginning, but got easier as time passed. I got through it and plan to keep it up.

What I thought would be the most challenging day for my children and me wasn't so much after all. We got right through Halloween without too many obstacles. For me, I thought I would go crazy with the candy loot. But to my surprise, I wasn't really interested. I even went out to buy some UNREAL candies. I don't even want the better option candy. I was sitting next to the buckets full of candy and the smell of the sugar was grossing me out.

My eldest daughter ate a few pieces and said "let's get rid of this junk." What? Am I hearing that correctly? My two younger girls normally would eat and eat candy on Halloween literally until they fell asleep. This year, not a chance. They ate some, but didn't have the usual interest. This is a high five moment for me. This makes me feel good. Although they are not eating 100% unprocessed, they have not been eating food dyes and junk food. Some words and phrases I heard were, "too sugary," "too sweet," "yuck oh," "that has dye in it," "did you read what's in it?," "can you believe people eat this stuff?" They can taste the difference. They now know and can taste the difference in food that is good or bad for you!

Instead of keeping the candy (we won't eat) in the house, we learned that one of the local toy stores, Learning Express is having a buy back candy program. For each pound of candy you turn in, you get one Boo Buck up to 5 pounds. They each are hoping they will have 5 pounds of candy. It was quite ironic because we received a catalog in the mail this week from Learning Express Toys.

Well, back to my 31 days. I did loose some weight which I had not intended and my calcium level dropped but was corrected. Now looking at the up side, I feel much better. I don't feel sluggish. I have more mental clarity. I have more energy. I don't get cravings for junk any longer. My pH level has become more neutral therefore less aches and pains. I am enjoying the art of cooking once again and actually cooking. I am eating more fruits and veggies. I have learned to tolerate green drinks; still not a huge fan of them (I just can't get over drinking that color green). The skin on my face doesn't seem so splotchy. I have been an advocate for eating real food and educated many. But, I think the best part of this month is the progress with my kids. They can actually taste the difference between foods that are good for you and those that are not.

Thank you to Andrew Wilder from Eating Rules and allowing the public to participate in his October Unprocessed 2012 Challenge. You have taught me a lot!

Manners

What happened to manners? I grew up with typical parents and learned manners. It was imbedded in us to have good manners, to be polite, treat others like you would want to be treated, and to just be kind to others.

I remember taking a class in high school and they taught proper telephone etiquette, how to introduce others by using their names, shake hands with a firm grip, formal letter writing, and so many other valuable pearls of wisdom. At the time I thought it was rather silly, but I learned some really great life lessons in this class that I still use daily.

I still write hand written notes on stationary. When I write, it is so much more heartfelt than writing a text or an email. I know when I receive a personal note in the mail I am thrilled, but it doesn't happen too often.

I try to instill these traits in my girls, but it is so difficult when we live in 2012. This has become a society of no manners, no morals, no values, and people just don't care. One of the main reasons I believe in manners is that it teaches respect of self and others.

Please, thank you, a smile, a nice gesture, holding the door open for someone, returning the grocery store basket to the basket corral, letting someone in your driving lane, are all things I do routinely and am laughed at for. Why? It is kind. It is thoughtful. It is good manners. Is being kind, thoughtful, and good mannered a bad thing? Heck no!

I try to lead by example when it comes to my children and this is one area where I somewhat shine. Granted my kids aren't the best mannered kids, but they do have manners. Here's a funny example: my eldest daughter used to be friends with a classmate, but over time the classmate's true colors have shined. SG says she isn't really friends with her any longer because she doesn't have manners. Looking for my reason I asked why and was told, "she's mean, she takes things without asking, she uses mean words, she lies, and ..." the list goes on. That makes me feel good like I have taught SG something.

Another thing I have taught the girls since they could scribble is to write thank you notes. No, they don't particularly like to, but they do it. When birthdays and holidays come around they now ask me for the note cards so they can write. My hope is that they will find joy in it as opposed to being a chore. When they see the flip side and receive a thank you note or other piece of correspondence they are thrilled.

So, go out and be kind and use your manners. Remember that what comes around goes around. All those manners, good words, and kindness will be returned to you!

Summer Swim Team

This summer we decided to try out swim team. SG LOVED it and did fantastic. MM liked it, but was no way near dedicated like her big sister. That is understandable since she is just 5 and her sister is 6 approaching 7.

SG did so well, she was given the chance to swim in the Meet of Champions (MOC) this Saturday. We were quite impressed because going into the meet, SG was 2nd in her division for freestyle and 3rd in her division for backstroke. She sure did accomplish a great deal of technique in just a few weeks in the summer.

Although she didn't do as well as her division competitors at the MOC, we are still very proud of her commitment and accomplishment.

Wordless Wednesday

Thanksgiving Day
2010

The Taco Bed

Do you have a taco bed? Oh, I see. You are wondering what is a taco bed I bet. It is a toddler bed. I am not sure how my girls got taco out of toddler, but they did. So, for the last few years, the toddler bed has been referred to as the taco bed.

We had the privilege of using a family crib that has been passed down for many years. It started with my nephew about 25 years ago. Then it made its way to his 2 brothers, 2 other nephews, and my 3 girls. Now we get to pass it on to another family member.

This is the point where the taco bed comes into play. I was given an undetermined date to return the crib.....October of this year. I was panicking because the baby was still sleeping in her crib. Yes, that was an exciting thing that at 2 years and 3 months she was still sleeping there.....until this week.

I am not sure if she had some type of taco bed radar or what, but the last 2 nights, she didn't want to have anything to do with her crib. I figured we would give the taco bed a try and we had great success! Two nights in a row and she laid down and went right to sleep. My biggest fear was that she would get out of bed and start wondering around since she wasn't confined like in the crib. No, she didn't.

I guess we can pack up the crib and pass it along. Hip hip hooray for taco bed success!

Proud Mom

Monday, I was going through my daughters' school folders and they each had a bright orange paper. I just assumed all the parents got one, but no.

It was an invitation to the Student of the Month and Terrific Kid Presentation. Neither child really knew what it was all about except that they should have a parent present on the said date. So, I got myself ready and headed over to school to find out that not one, but two of my daughters were chosen as their class' student of the month.

I was beeming with pride and content. It is great knowing that they both got this school year started off well. I only hope it continues. What am I saying? Of course they will.

Don't Panic, She's Not Bleeding

Here's the phone conversation I had with my dad.

Dad: Hey there, everything is okay, she's not bleeding anymore.
Me: What are you talking about? Who's not bleeding?
Dad: CG fell, but she's okay. She isn't bleeding, but she might need a stitch.
Me: Sorry, but I am not getting everything. What happened?
Dad: CG fell off the bar stool and hit her head. She's not bleeding, but should I take her to the hospital for a stitch?
Me: Let me come over and check her out.
Dad: Oh, she's fine. She just needs one little stitch. The gash looks really deep, but I am glad it isn't bleeding anymore.
Me: Let me call FG and the pediatrician.

Pediatrician: Take her to Children's Hospital

FG picked her up and brought her to Children's Hospital ER. The first text I got from him was she had a skull fracture via Xray, was waiting on CT scan and staples to close the laceration. Next my poor baby had to get 4 staples to her head. Finally the CT came back and showed no bleeding and no fractures. Yeah, we are in the clear.

I was going to meet FG and CG at the hospital, but FG asked me to stay put and he would take care of her. That was the most difficult day at work. Lucky for me, I got him to swing by my work so I can see her.

You would never know she just had a major blow to the head and staples applied. She was silly and giggly as ever. She did show me her boo boo and said "don't touch" as she was pointing to it.