Menu… Un-planned January 15, 2011

One of my goals for 2011 is healthier food choices. Unfortunately for me this includes actually eating some sort of meals instead of snacking sporadically, or continuously, throughout the day. I’ve discussed the way I organize my recipes here, and I’ve decided it take it a step further to help me at least take the first step to meal planning.

In a moment of genius, it came upon me to add a ‘This Week’ folder for recipes I would like to include at some point throughout the week. What I did today was browse through my recipe folder and try to choose some recipes that were pretty simple, and included foods that are currently residing somewhere in my kitchen. I then moved them into the ‘This Week’ folder so that when I needed to pull out the recipe for the preparation, it was easily accessible. I think… the benefit, besides having the recipes more easily accessible, is that if they are not tried and true, and do not meet the requirements of our taste buds, they can also be easily deleted without having to search the long list.

So without further ado, here are the selections from my virtual recipe box, for this week:

Quinoa Salad

Lentil Salad

Butternut Squash Soup

For the soup, The Manchild and I had a very similar, if not the same, soup at a local cafe here, and it was absolutely d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. And this is coming from someone who is not a lover of the soup.

Middle Eastern Garbanzo Beans With Spinach

Unfortunately, I just realized that I don’t have spinach OR yogurt available for this dish. My attempt to visit the ‘grocery’ close by was fruitless this afternoon, but I can hold off until later in the week for this one and try to score again. I’m Losing It Here is a blog that I enjoy reading regularly. Laura shares some GREAT RECIPES, participates in Food Waste Friday, and writes candidly about her adventures in becoming debt free.

I will probably attempt to make some kind of Bruschetta, Hummus, and Pineapple Fried Rice this week also.

What’s on your menu for the week?

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt! January 15, 2011

I discovered an amazing used book store at a mall we frequent on trips to the ‘big city’. I have found some really great children’s books there, even hard covers, for less than $1. The girls really love to read, and there are some books that children just have an amazing love for.

At that great book store I found a loved copy of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury.

Photo credit: www.kiddley.com

When The Manchild was a little, we had this in a board book style. I had held on to it and brought it back out when the girls arrived, but as much as they liked it, they never really looooooovvvved it. Neither did The Manchild.

 

Because it is a book that I love, I picked it up and figured we would give it another go since the board book is back in the U.S. waiting for us.

 

BIG HIT! The girls love this book so much, we read it daily, every night before they go to bed, sometimes even multiple times.

 

The Popo has been actively ‘doing her homework’. Which basically means that she has a very tattered Barney letter activity book along with a newer Thomas letter activity book, and she carries them around with a pen and practices her letters. She has independently developed an interest in writing in the last month or so that I really want to foster. As much as we read already, I have been trying to spend more time reading to them both, and making an effort to make a connection between between letters and sounds and words.

 

Since they are not actively involved in any kind of preschool class here, I have trying to figure out (with my uncreative self) some ways I can incorporate learning into some fun activities for them, specifically for letters and numbers. Enter Google Queen.

 

While I was searching for some pics of the book, I came across a few web sites that had some activities and pdfs that will allow me to combine their love for this book with learning opportunities.

kiddley.com suggests a bear hunt at the zoo, and offers some other resources as well.

schoolsnet.com offers lesson plans and worksheets in pdf form.

And brighthub.com has a bear hunt activity you can do either at home or at school, inside or out.

 

I must admit to being a little embarrassed that I am a self-proclaimed Google Queen, but it had never occurred to me to use my favorite ‘web friend’ to connect children’s books with fun activities, though I have been using it recently to get some ideas on how to incorporate learning letters and sounds into every day fun activities (instead of sitting down classroom style).

Next up: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!

Fierce January 9, 2011

In the last few weeks I have really noticed how fiercely independent The Baby has become. While The Popo never really went through the ‘terrible two’s', The Baby sometimes has a very severe case of it. She is adamant about what she is or is not going to wear, right down to her undies. She vehemently fights tooth and nail for her independence.

For instance, The Popo is 14 months ahead of The Baby in age, and she can surely dress herself. I’m not sure exactly when she acquired this ability, but it was just a transition she went through, and she has no issues with the task. The Baby on the other hand, I can say, sometime early this fall, started to INSIST that “ME DO IT!” She could dress herself before that point, but it was no big deal, there was never a fight, and she would wear whatever she was given. Now, on the other hand, she refuses any help other than verbal directions about putting things on so that they are not backwards.

Tonight she was tired. No nap this afternoon, it was getting a little past ‘normal’ bed time, and she was obviously exhausted. Enter temper tantrum. She is the first child of mine to ever throw an all out bloody-murder-screaming-flailing-arms-kicking fit.

It just amazes me how different siblings can be. My three loves are about as different as they could possibly be without coming from different ends of the world, having already adopted to the different cultures. Sometimes I wonder how the two girls can not be more alike, considering how close they are in age, in addition to the fact that I believe I maintain the same expectations from both of them; behavior/discipline wise. It just goes to show that really, we are all made with the touch of the Master’s hand, and like snowflakes, no two are ever exactly the same.

While The Popo has a very strong personality, and she is very independent, I could not use fierce to describe her. Fierce pretty much sums up The Baby in one word.

Fierce- Marked by unrestrained zeal or vehemence; furiously active or determined.

That’s my baby!

 

Yeah. It’s Like That. January 6, 2011

Last night I just could not fall asleep no matter what. I was awake until 5 am, I’m sure, before I finally hit the pillow. I set my cellphone for an alarm, but was pretty convinced when I did that that it would be a useless gesture as I was likely to sleep right through it. I was right. I was determined that I would make it to class today, on time. I was about ten minutes late. And there was no class. Surprise surprise.

I have to gather some signatures for my application for graduation, so I started that process and then decided to go wait for the dean of nursing because I had some questions. On my research. On my tuition fees that continuously increase. On my duty assignment when the other seniors begin their intense board reviews.

I spoke to our level coordinator the other day about my duty assignment. I explained that I really had two options that were preferable to me. One being go to a smaller comunity hospital with CI ‘A’, and the second, staying in the medical ward at a regional hospital with CI ‘B’. She was supposed to talk to the others involved in this process of decision making and let me know today. She was not at school. Surprise surprise.

I was informed this morning that we had a meeting for all graduating seniors regarding officer elections for graduation and I should be there. As a rule, I never go to those meetings, and I don’t plan on sticking around to partake in the commencement ceremony, so I didn’t join in the festivities. While I was waiting in the nursing office, a classmate came in and advised me that I was being called there because I was nominated as an officer. You see there are ten positions to be filled, and exactly ten people that are eligible to fill said positions based on their GPA. I asked him to please let them know that I would not be joining as I will not be here for the commencement.

 

And what’s up with me being eligible based on my GPA? Someone else mentioned to me later in the day that I was a candidate for cum laude and all I could do was give a blank stare since my GPA is lingering only slightly above 3.1 due to the wonderful grading system that they have here, which seems to be 100% subjective.

At any rate, everyone seems to be devastated that I will not be staying for commencement, but I have to say, I still have no interest in joining. This is number three for me now and it has been a long hard road living away from my loved ones, in an unknown, unfamiliar world. I know that should make all the more reason to make a big deal and go through the traditional motions, but really, I am in some kind of survival coping mode, where the only thing I can think about is finishing my requirements and getting home, to the place that I know. Yeah. It’s like that.

One.Eleven.Eleven January 1, 2011

Out with the old and in with the new.

 

This is going to be another one of those rambling posts of sorts. Just a warning.

I’ve had a lingering headache all day. I think it has something to do with not falling asleep until 5 am, then being awoken at 6 am, then again around 8 am, and every 5 minutes thereafter. When I finally mustered up the energy to open my eyes, it was around noon and I was afraid of what would be waiting for me since the girls had been up for a while and when that happens, it is never pleasant. It wasn’t too bad though. There was powdered juice all over the floor in the kitchen, some kind of chocolate crumbs all over my bed, and that was about it besides a bunch of toys strewn about. For sure it beat the last time when an almost full container of baby powder had been taken down from the high shelf and dumped all.over.their.room.

There’s not much to eat here and  I’m hungry and I have cabin fever from being stuck here for two weeks with no way out.

I’ve decided not to have any resolutions per se for the new year, but moving forward from here, after some reflection, I would like to put more priority on family time, have a healthier lifestyle, including moving to whole a whole food diet, and generally have a more positive attitude.

I have some reading I want to start AND finish.

I want to write some more. Not just here, but generally. I want to try to do more scrap booking and journaling so my children have something to remember these young days by.

OK. That’s it for now.

 

Tunes for Toddlers (and babies too!) September 22, 2010

I was on my way home from duty the other night. It had been a long shift, a long night, a long week. I was listening to my iPod, and just wanted something relaxing to mellow me out on the about-an-hour-ride. I went to the lullaby playlist I had made for the babies, then went  a little more specifically to one album that I love; Sleep Baby Sleep by Nicolette Larson. This is a CD I had originally bought over ten years ago, when I was working at a kids toy store called Noodle Kidoodle. The Manchild was about two years old maybe, and since I loved Nicolette Larson’s voice on another CD I had, I thought it would be a great sleepy-time CD for him. Good choice.

This CD is great for children and adults alike, either if you want something to lull your babies or even older children to sleep, or even if you want something for yourself. When I played this for The Popo when she was going through an impossible phase, the hubby liked it so much he used to ask me to continue playing it even when we went to bed.

A second lullaby CD I picked up around the same time that we have also enjoyed very much throughout the years is a compilation of lullabies by several artists, Lullaby – A Collection.

This was supposed to be only two CDs here, but one more that I was originally exposed to almost twenty years ago (making me feel ancient now!) was Disney For Our Children. When I first discovered this, it was before the days of CDs, when we were cassette crazy, and one side had some more upbeat music while the other side had more soft lullaby type music. I loved this one so much that I did upgrade to the CD when The Manchild was a toddler. I don’t have this one loaded on the iPod, which just serves as a reminder that I will have to get my hands on it when we return home for a visit. I think the babies will love it!

All of these CDs are ones that The Manchild liked so much he still listens to them on occasion, even though he is thirteen (minus the Disney one). He still likes to fall asleep to music and sometimes listens to the lullabies on his iPod.

OK… I just changed the title from Two for Toddlers, because while I have been typing away here, I thought of one more fun children’s CD that I had to also recommend, Joanie Bartels Bathtime Magic. You probably couldn’t go wrong with any of her CDs, but this is one that I used to enjoy with children that I babysat and the Manchild.

How about you, do you have any favorites that everyone in the family loves?

And one more… This is one that they used to listen to with the children at daycare when The Manchild was a Toddler. He loved it so much and I thought it was so great that I hunted all over for it! It’s called Kids in Motion. The Manchild liked it everywhere, even in the car, but it serves as a great tool to get the kiddos moving when you are stuck in the house, while at the same time, even working the mind a little as they pretend to be different animals and such.

I listed links to these CDs so they would be easily accessible if you are interested in looking a little further at any of them. Though most of them are linked through Amazon, I am not linking them as an affiliate of any sorts, and I do not earn any points, gifts, or cash prizes if you look or buy. I listed these only as suggestions to you because our family has had great enjoyment out of each of these.

Blank September 16, 2010

Blank. That’s the only word I can come up with to describe my week. I have just been lethargic and lazy and… well… blank. Zero motivation.

I described it to someone yesterday as if I almost feel like I am falling into a depression, but I don’t feel ‘depressed’. It’s just the feeling of not wanting to do anything.

I have had a lot of news from home recently that has really stressed me out. At the same time, last week’s duty experience left me feeling like a glorified vital signs taker, and in addition to that a teacher basically told me that even if I deserved it, I would never get an ‘A’ at this school. Even.if.I.deserved.it.

My classmates get away with murder here compared to the expectations and practices back home, and until now, I have really been working hard to do the right thing, be a good student, set a good example.

But that is hard when you can see the work that you put into something would be an A- at the least, but probably an A back home and here they are telling you you got a B+/A-. They won’t give me my actual grade. They said something about it not being fair until everyone is finished. It’s not fair that I have to wait for people who aren’t ready when they are supposed to be, and don’t care.  We are coming up on only four weeks left in this semester, and out of 70+/- students, more than half still need to make their presentations.

I go to a Christian school where there is absolutely zero academic integrity. ZERO.

Some of the faculty have said that it’s because the school has a redemptive philosophy, that is why they are so accommodating, and always giving ‘special considerations.’

But I wonder, what is that really teaching the student population here?

To me it seems like a message that it’s OK if you are irresponsible, simply because you feel like it.

I haven’t been to duty or class all week this week, and right now iI feel like skipping out on the next three weeks because, you know, hey, it doesn’t matter, because nobody fails at this school. That’s the motto it seems among my classmates and others.

I have lost my drive to become better.

Not better than everyone else, but better than I was yesterday or the day before.

I don’t have a desire to be challenged anymore.

I have lost my fire.

Today I got out of bed and decided I must go over to the school and get some things done. I tried to do it the other day, but there was no power and while classes hadn’t been canceled, there was nobody to be found in any of the administrative offices. Today was better. I did take care of many of the things that were on my list for school, and I have a reason to be awake and ready for the day early tomorrow morning. It’s hard to do anything when there is just no feeling of purpose. How can you be the change you want to see when you see there just will not be change?

I know this is just complete babble to you. I’m just trying to clear some mental clutter and end my day with some motivation in my belly for tomorrow. I’m trying to decide that tomorrow will be a good day. I want to have fire again. I’m trying to get back to that place. Since tomorrow is Friday, and it is only a half day of classes, I’m hoping that I will use that motivation I am trying to gather and keep it going even if only simmering on a back burner. It think I should just take this weekend as connection time with my children and be reminded of why I am here, and what is really important to me. I am going to stop thinking and act.

Ode to the Recipe Box September 14, 2010

I’ve recently turned into a foodie blog junkie, and because of this, I have collected quite a series of recipes from several different blogs. Within the last week or so, I decided that I really need to get a little more organized with my online storage of both my fave foodie blogs, and my recipe collection. Up until then, I had just one favorites folder where I stored them all. I figured, if I can get them better organized, I will be a lot more likely to actually go back and look for recipes in my collection and give them a whirl, instead of periodically perusing through the selections and thinking to myself how delicious this or that would be.

I made two folders, one for the foodie blogs in which I reviewed all of the blogs I have added and then put them in order based on how often I find a recipe that looks interesting, and a second folder simply titled ‘recipes’ in which I tried to simplify the names as much as possible and order them alphabetically. If there was a specific recipe that I had tried previously and LOVED, I somehow noted that in the title so that it would be more easily found when I was looking for it.

Here are just a couple that we have recently enjoyed:

Broccoli & Tofu in Spicy Peanut Sauce

Katie’s Cabbage Soup

Eggless Eggnog

For some more great recipes and kitchen tips, visit Tammy’s Recipes Kitchen Tip Tuesdays!

How do you ‘store’ your online recipe finds?

Spoonful of Sugar September 13, 2010

When the Manchild was an infant/toddler it seems there were a few stretches where he spent more time sick than well. He certainly had his share of illnesses, and with that came his share of medications. I’m not sure where I came across this tool, but I found The First Years medicine syringe to be the best medicine dispenser a mom could ask for.

Apparently now it is marketed as The American Red Cross medicine syringe, but it is exactly the same design as the one that I bought twelve +/- years ago and am still using for the Popo and the Baby. My Amazon search brought up several items that would do the same job, and I think that #3 on the list, the Oral Medication Syringe by Monoject, would do the job quite nicely for a tiny fraction of the price. I had a short stint with the first item on the Amazon list, the same idea put out by Safety First, but I didn’t like that one as well.

The benefits I have found to using a syringe are especially so with an infant or very young toddler who might not be cooperating. Measuring couldn’t be easier, there is essentially no spillage, you can dose it as slowly as needed so there is no spitting back out, and if necessary, you can place the syringe in the back of the cheek area which minimizes spitting loss especially with very young infants.

Just my thought/little tip for the day

***Just so you know, this is purely my own personal opinion developed by my experience using this product. I did not receive any gifts or payments for writing this post***

It’s Only Thursday September 9, 2010

It’s Thursday evening here, and I have not done much of anything this week at all ,except wallow around in a foul mood and sleep. Lots of sleeping here. I don’t know what my problem is. Is it mid-semester blues? We are actually now past the mid-point of the semester, and I am both grateful and terrified. While I have only 30 days from today before I land on familiar ground and hopefully have some good reconnection time with family and friends, I have so much work that has to be finished before the end of the semester. I’ve decided to do a weekly week in review to help me stay accountable for my list of 50, and I’ll start a day early, here, now.

1. No play time on the computer when the children are awake   –  I can half check this off since I can honestly say that this week I have been VERY conscious of how much time I have been spending on the computer, and definitely holding off on the pleasure surfing until after the kiddo’s bedtime.
2. Start the Whole Foods Challenge
3. Help the Manchild come up with a schedule
4. Encourage the Manchild to come up with his own list of 50   –   Manchild made his list of 50, now I just have to encourage him to stick with some positive changes. He doesn’t want to share his list, but hopefully we can chat on a few items and keep each other motivated.
5. Wake up earlier in the morning
6. Finish It Takes a Village
7. Return the library books on time
8. Re-read/finish Happiest Toddler on the Block
9. Start packing for our visit back home
10. Find a good NCLEX reviewer
11. Start reviewing for the NCLEX
12. Start posting at least 3 times a week
13. Take more pictures of my children
14. Cook at least one healthy rounded meal a day
15. Take my lunch to duty
16. Drink more water
17. Say “I love you” more often   –   Improvement has been made already here, but not where I want to be.
18. Re-learn to crochet more than a chain
19. Learn to knit
20. Leave more comments on blogs I love
21. Give more hugs and smoochies
22. Build more forts with the babies
23. Read together with the Manchild
24. Read more with the babies   –   I have read so much with them already this week that I think it will be no problem to stick to this one! I also want to incorporate a regular weekly/biweekly trip to the library for the girls to be able to get some refreshed reading material. The only problem with this is that the library here has about as many books as we have at home! Maybe I can bring some more books back with us when we visit home next month.
25. Pay more attention to real news
26. Pay less attention to gossip
27. Read The Purpose Driven Life
28. Actually cross everything off of this list
29. Major de-cluttering when we go home
30. Mail some handwritten notes instead of email
31. Send that postcard to Dan
32. Give more
33. Let go
34. Be here now
35. Go to bed at a reasonable hour, regularly
36. Make a family tree
37. Get a haircut
38. Start a recycling program at school
39. Dance with the kids
40. Finish my outstanding assignments by the end of this week
41. Practice more random acts of kindness
42. Filter more frequently   –   This was a horrendous week for this!
43. Develop a business plan
44. Learn more about herbs
45. Learn more about gardening
46. Finish French in Action
47. Smile more
48. Thank someone who made a difference
49. Don’t let the moment slip away
50. Lose 40 more pounds

I haven’t been able to cross much off here this week, but it’s been a really difficult week for some reason. I’ve just been physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. We have no classes tomorrow, but it is week of prayer at school and we are required to attend services. I plan on joining and hopefully between that and the Manchild’s desire for some of his own changes, I will wake up tomorrow with a better outlook moving into the end of this week/weekend/start of a new week.

As far as what we’ve done, in general, not much of anything out of the ordinary. I had duty at a new hospital on Monday and Tuesday, and it was yet another reality check of what living in a third world country really means to an average person. Wednesday we had case presentations, and one of the review centers came in for a little seminar. This morning I had class which consisted of a “meeting” of sorts with both nursing programs and the dean regarding the rest of this semester and reviewing for the boards being incorporated into our curriculum, and then lecture on psychiatric nursing. I came home and snuggled with my girls and fell asleep with them… when it was time to wake up I just stayed in bed. Where is my energy!?!