Some solutions

Since there are times I do a lot of complaining around here I thought I would share some of the solutions I've found. 

One of the problems I face is being hungry pretty much all the time.  Yet I find I don't have the time or energy while the WeatherMan is working (his 12 hour shifts really take it out of me too!) to do much about it.  We try to eat "real food" both for nutritional value and cost and that involves time and effort.  So my solution is to actually do what I always mean to and make a bunch of stuff on the last day before he goes on shift.  Here is a jar of gorp which was a HUGE hit with the boys, leftover rice and bean salad, and "blueberry juice."  All made with real foods (although there are some who would argue that Cheerios and chocolate chips are not real food but I'm not listening to that, I'm a realist when it comes to my real food.)  All containing some super good nutrition (nuts, dried fruit, beans & rice, cucumber, spinach, berries.)  And all yummy :)  Now to do it every week. 

After my devastating loss on Easter (which still hasn't been repaired, by the way) I had to find a better place to keep the rosaries.  And here it is.  They're up out of reach, not going to tangle together, and yet still easily accessible.  A little abnormal perhaps but it is working well. 

We also started saying a decade of the rosary every night as part of our bedtime routine with the boys.  Some nights it goes well.  Some nights they're really restless.  Some nights Littler nurses and Bigger looks at a book through it all.  But they're so little you can't really expect them to focus like that.  And it's developing the habit. 

Another real food solution - a frosty treat :)  You can't tell from the color in the picture, since treat eating mostly happens after the boys are in bed and the sun is going down, but it's a watermelon frosty.  Banana, frozen watermelon, a little water, and a splash of lemon juice.  Delicious!  And it makes me so happy.  We need to go more watermelon...   

I'm feeling very hopeless about moving.  Not that we dislike our temporary home here in Canada but we would really like to get back to the States.  We moved here for a job, not to move here, if that makes sense.  Recently the WeatherMan had 5 interviews in 5 weeks.  And no offers :(  We're looking at it as being just a matter of time - that's more interviews than he's had the whole 3.5 years we've been here put together.  That's encouraging but still so disappointing.  It sucks that there is nothing that we can do about it.  I've prayed novenas to St. Joseph, Our Lady of Hope, Sacred Heart of Jesus, and St Dymphna all through that stretch of interviews and waiting to hear back from them. And now I'm praying to St. Jude.  I hope we're not really a lost cause.

And in the meantime, the power of positive thinking:

"New York makes me happy"



Stuff to write about

I feel like I have so many stories and posts rolling around in my head and not much chance to write.  So I guess I'll try to put as many thoughts together as I can. 

After my bad luck with recipes on Friday I got brave and tried yet another on Saturday.  And it was a success :)  I guesstimated cutting it down to one serving because I'm the only one who like shrimp or mushrooms.  Plus there were only actually 8 shrimp in the freezer.  And I wasn't sure it would make for good leftovers.  Anyway.  Oh, it was yummy.  And it was so lovely to sit down at the table by myself with a fancy lunch and my book.  And the leftovers were just as yummy.  Here's the link to the recipe, in case you like shrimp and mushrooms (thank you Pinterest!) 

Then yesterday for Bigger's birthday I was given the request of a red cake with red frosting.  I tried.  The cake came out red.  And without dye.  I should have ignored his protests that white frosting with red sprinkles would not be good enough.  I should not have attempted to dye the frosting red.  But I did.  And it came out an absolutely fabulous shade of pink.  Frosting recipes always make at least double the frosting I need for a cake.  And even a bottle of red dye did not make it red.  So I covered the top with red sprinkles anyway and added a big 4 in red Smarties.  (Oh, for readers in the US Smarties here are not the same as there - here what we call Smarties are called Rockets and Smarties are an M&M like chocolate.)  And although he told Bapa and Fava all about the cake Mama made for him he hasn't been very interested in eating it :(  It's fine tasting, I guess it's the color that's so off-putting.  That and I'm so disappointed in it I can hardly eat it either, which is saying a lot because I have a huge sweet tooth.  Here's the link for the recipe, in case you ever want to make a natural red cake.  I just wouldn't recommend coloring the frosting. 

Today I had the most wonderful nap.  After dropping Bigger off at preschool I sat down to read.  Littler was in and out of my lap.  Eventually he got up and stayed there, leaning on me with his head resting on my chest.  There isn't much else in the world like watching a little one sleep in your arms.  The little flutters of his long lashes, the twitches of his legs hanging off my lap, the tiny veins on his eye lids, that moment when his fingers finally fall out of his mouth.  After sitting with him like this for about a half an hour I gave up staying awake myself and carried him to bed.  We snuggled in together and napped for 2 hours.  It was the best.  And it was the only Valentine I received today. 

Which brings me to my thoughts on Valentine's Day.  On the one hand I am totally not into "needing" a special day to tell those around us we love them or to buy overpriced junk to "prove" it.  On the other hand it's nice to hear you're loved and be shown appreciation.  Meanwhile Facebook is plastered with cell phone photos of all the gorgeous roses and yummy desserts.  Leaves me feeling a little sorry for myself to be honest.   

It doesn't help that I'm also feeling sorry for myself about not being able to get stuff done or do anything better.  We want to move but there needs to be a job to move for and that just isn't happened.  And there's not a thing I can do about it.  I want to finish the quilt, workout, just have a ten minute stretch to sit by myself without anyone touching me.  But since those are all "home" tasks I can't seem to get the time for it, because I don't have to go anywhere for my hobbies I just can't seem to get to them.  That and those dishes piling up really get to me.  I try really hard not to get into the "if onlys" but I've said it here before that a dishwasher would really make my life so much better. 

Back on the Real Food Bandwagon

I gave up junk food for Lent this year. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. In less than a week I had stopped craving soda and other junk. After a couple weeks I started making some other food changes, mostly to be more deliberate in my choices of real foods, whole foods, and super foods. I read Mark Bittman's Food Matters on the recommendation of my friend, Natalie, who has made some very serious adjustments to her family's eating habits (and herself lost over 100lbs!)  From Bittman's book I tried to adopt (loosely, very loosely) his mantra of eating vegan/vegetarian until dinner.

In the course of the 40 days of Lent (because I did start to loosen up on Sundays after a few weeks) I lost 10lbs!  (Before you get any ideas that I was using Lent to diet, I also gave up the scale so that wouldn't have any influence.)  Once we got to Easter I was sure I would keep up my new eating habits.  And thus starts the slippery slope. 

Unlike some real food "foodies" I do not have a problem with sugar.  I like sugar and believe that in moderation it's not a bad thing.  Apparently I do, however, have a problem with moderation.  Once I have one soda it's like the Pringles commercial - once I pop I can't stop.  So back to a junk food ban it seems I must go. 

The first part of my old new eating to come back is my breakfast green smoothie.  Here is the makings of this morning's - kale, baby spinach, forzen berries, and a frozen banana. 

 Add some water and whip it up - yum!  The boys even clamor for it: "mommymommmymommymommy... me me me me!"  And I feel so good after starting my day with so much super food.  Maybe it's all in my head but it can't just have been the "God factor" of giving up junk for Lent that made it so easy.  I really did feel better :)  And when your pants start falling off that always helps too :) 

So after sharing our smoothie we wrestled everyone into clothes and headed out to enjoy the beautiful warm, sunny weather.  Finally!

I am so glad I decided to push it a little farther to a park overlooking the lake.  As soon as we got there we saw a family of geese - Mama, Papa, and four goslings!  While we were there another family came to play and the boys all played in the sand together.  There were some boats out on the lake and lots of birds.  And before we left we had the good luck to see a water-landing airplane!  That made the morning for the boys, it just doesn't get much cooler than a plane that's a boat that's a plane again. 

So is it just a beautiful day?  Is it the Holy Spirit nudging me along the way I should go?  Is it my attitude making it all good by looking for it?  I think it's at least a little of all three. And it's a moment of peace and joy.  And I'm good with that :)