Time Flew By

I can't believe my week w/Carlotta has come & gone! It was so much fun to have her here, even if the time was short!

She loves to take baths. Bath toys are well utilized w/her! She's not fond of getting her hair washed, but most kids don't like that aspect of a bath either! She also got her first official haircut! The stylist who cut it was the same stylist who cut her moms hair for the 1st time over 20 yrs ago!

She's a grazer rather than a diner. She such a pipsqueak, I didn't mind letting her have anything she wanted at any time of day. I wanted to stuff her w/calories! She began the week sitting on a booster seat, but by the end, she was telling us that she was too big for a baby seat!

I introduced her to Spaghettios which she promptly named "circle sketties" then spilled them all over my living room floor & sofa! Thank goodness for hardwood & slipcovers!

She was shy when meeting people & was never far from her "buhfly bankie" (butterfly blanket) & hid under it often. As she became used to someone, she needed to be able to reach out & simply touch the blankie. By the end of the week, she wasn't needing it around me anymore!

Books & crafts & moomees (movies) are her favorite things to do. She's very big on princesses right now. Dora has taken a backseat to Cinderella & Belle.

She LOVED hanging out w/the cats! She watched them & later would mimic their sounds & behavior. My favorite was her "happy tail." She would be on all fours and shake her tiny butt! She was the perfect size to fit into my cats outdoor winter house. The weather was too cold for her to stay out there long. She never let the cats have clean water! Every time she would walk by their water bowl, she would drop a few pcs of the food into the water. "Foaties" she called them.

We went to the mall & saw Santas castle. He was there! She wouldn't get close but was thrilled when Santa made eye contact w/her & waved at her until she acknowledged him! We went to the park. She loved the swings & slides & the stairs she could climb by herself.

One of T's friends had dinner w/us on Tuesday. GG & Grampy came over for dinner on Wednesday. Thanksgiving w/Bs family & my mother, sister, sisters partner & a niece came to dinner on Friday. Attended church on Sunday.

She drew chalk pictures on my driveway (she called it a road & pictures are still there today!). While outside, she was jumping off the many tree stumps in our yard. When asked if she was having fun, jumping off stumps she replied, "No, these are fairy stools!" Too cute! Now I cannot ever remove the stumps because they are really fairy stools!

Bought her a pair of pink glitter boots in case of snow (it didn't!) These boots quickly became her must wear shoe for the whole week! She slept uppa stairs though not always in the bed. T found her sleeping body among the dollhouses a few mornings!

Potty training was successful... one time! She can't push down or pull up her own pants right now so I didn't push the issue. She'll get it soon enough.

I'm getting sleepy & I've written a lot of Carlottas visit. If I remember something different, I'll post a new blog entry!

Decorate the Tree, Please Song

This is the song Kaya made up, on the spot, to try to convince her mother to allow her to start decorating the Christmas tree before the branches had enough time to drop. It didn't work, but it is still an adorable performance!

Giving Thanks!

Just about 10 hours from now, I will be starting the best Thanksgiving holiday I have had in some time! I'm thankful that my part time job was able to earn me enough money for 2 train tickets for a rare visit from T & Carlotta (M couldn't get time off!)

Thankfully, that same job has afforded me days off so I can really, truly enjoy time with my almost 3 years old grandbaby!

Very thankful that C & her boyfriend, G, will be visiting too! And the basement project will be done by the time their visit is over!

Sad that B can only spend 2 days w/Carlotta before heading to Bermuda for the rest of November, but super thankful he's doing so w/the intention of earning enough money to send me to VA for Carlottas 3rd birthday in February! Also thankful that he cleaned up his office, even if it was just because his parents are coming over for a visit & he didn't want his mother to see his disaster area & scold him!

Thankful to have a washer & dryer in my house! After spending time at the laundromat today, washing extra large comforters, I was reminded of this!

Grateful again for modern medicine! Antibiotics have done their work to ensure both Carlotta & myself are not on sick beds during this visit!

I could go on & on, but you get the gist of this entry! I'm thankful for so much!

Happy Thanksgiving!

No! Not Again!

2 weeks ago, I held bebe Jorge as far from my face as possible! I washed my hands often & used sanitizer. He had a full blown case of conjunctivitis & I wanted nothing to ruin my upcoming visit from T and Carlotta!

All those precautions were for naught! 

I caught something from him & my symptoms have been mimicking the ones I had for the entire month of February 2012! I made a doctor appointment.

While she couldn't find visual evidence of an infection, I was rather insistent that I leave w/a script for an antibiotic, just to be sure, which she gave me.

Carlotta is also on some antibiotics! She has a double ear infection! Poor baby! At least I know that she nor I will be in pain during Thanksgiving! Our issues may rear their ugly head again later in the season, but for now, Thanksgiving is safe!

I'm so excited for Monday night! 

I hope I have everything all set & in place for my special guest & her mom!

Special Pork Chops

Now that my scare w/Gracie missing is over & done, I can relax & post what I had intended to post on my blog today, a new slow cooker recipe!

Special Pork Chops

serves 6 (2/3 cup)  w/210 calories & 3 grams of carbs

What you need:

• a 5-6 qt slow cooker
• 8-10 small, but THICK boneless pork chops
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground sage
• 1 (14 oz) can of cream of mushroom soup
• 1 T dried onion flakes

(note: It was unanimous! We all felt this recipe should have the liquid content doubled or tripled! Very tasty, just not enough of it for the egg noodles! So, if you want to have pork chops w/different side dishes, use recipe AS IS. 
If you want some gravy for egg noodles, increase the sage, soup & onions.)

What to do:

• Trim visible fat from sides of chop
• Use this fat to grease a non stick skillet (I used 1-2 T olive oil since I had very lean chops)
• Get your pan & fat (oil) hot
• Sear both sides of the chops. Don't overcrowd pan. Sear in 2 batches if you need to.
• Salt & pepper both sides before placing seared chops in slow cooker.
• Add the sage to the pan (I turned the heat off for this step. The pan was hot enough in my opinion)
• Add the soup & onion to the pan, stirring up the bits & pcs of seared pork off bottom.
• Pour the mixture over the chops in the slow cooker
• Cover & cook on LOW 8-10 hours (I did 8 hrs & it was perfect! 8 chops, 1"thick)

Serve w/rice or egg noodles. I used egg noodles & will make more liquid when I make this again!

Gracie is Home!

Years ago, Maxie (Gracie's mom & Zee's grandmother) disappeared for 2 weeks from the kids house. I remember the feeling I had & thought it funny I felt so sad over a missing cat! And she wasn't even mine!

This morning, B left for work @ 5:30 & put Gracie in her outside pen. She likes watching the small wildlife scurry about in the morning. I wasn't feeling well, so I remained in bed until about 8. I went out to get her, but the gate was ajar & Gracie was nowhere to be found!

PANIC set in!

I grabbed the treats jar (indoors, she usually comes running when she hears the sound of the jar being opened) put on some slippers & headed out to look for her. I called B to chide him for only locking 1 of the clasps & as I was leaving the voice message, I began to bawl.

What IF I couldn't find her? What if I do find her, but she was in the middle of the road? Gracie means a lot to me! Where was she!?!?!?

I called C @ school (sorry for the wake-up call) to see if she could come home to help me look or perhaps knock on neighbors doors. Just as C answered, a movement in the trees caught my eye.

Yes! It was Gracie!

She had found a chipmunk hole (too close to the road for my comfort, BTW) and had been quietly sitting there, waiting for a creature to exit!

I was happy! I was angry! I was relieved! But PHEW! I have my Gracie back again! I never want to feel that feeling again, so I need to pass on before my cats , I guess! 

Just Kidding!

note: Zee most likely witnessed the whole escapade from the window. She doesn't like going out 1st thing in the morning. I'm sure Gracie has told her all about her adventures in the big, open spaces of the yard! And how she almost caught a chipmunk.

Carlotta is Coming!

It has been exactly 1 year since I was able to give my grandbaby a hug & play w/her! Oh sure, I have had mail, phone calls and Skype sessions, but it's not the same!

T & she will be here late on the Monday night before Thanksgiving & will stay here until early on the Wednesday after! Why such weird hours of arrival & departure? T found a good price for tix if she came by TRAIN! Since we are paying for the bulk of it, I appreciate that she was able to find that deal! Otherwise, who knows when I could've seen them next!?

I know I shouldn't be so selfish but I do not want to share her! I hardly get see her & traveling around to everyones home who also wishes to see her, seriously cuts into "my time" w/her! Besides, we paid for the visit, so I shouldn't have to share, right? I'll have my in-laws over for a dinner & we will see B's family on Thanksgiving but anything more than that will be very tough for me! I don't want to share!

OK, I've vented. If there is someone out there who seriously wishes to see Carlotta & T while they are up for a visit, I will do my best to make it happen! Just let me know.

Quick Chili

I know, I know! My blog is morphing into a "try it out" recipe thing!

I work part time so there's not as many cute or annoying kid stories to tell! 

Although, now that the bebe Jorge is 7 MONTHS old, he should get more interesting! 

Today, I read Readers Digest articles while he slept. Fed him some food & a bottle when he woke up. Played w/noisy baby toys w/him before a quick car ride to p/u his sister, A. 

Then I played dominoes w/her while he slept some more. 

Exciting, right? Oh, and I wiped his runny nose a few times!

So, back to the easiest chili you could imagine!

And it freezes well to boot! 

Chili

serves 6 & I didn't figure out the calories or carb count, so deal w/it!

What you need:

• 1 lbs of your favorite ground meat (I used a 90/10 ground beef) 
• 1 chopped medium onion (with 2 T of oil for sauteing)
• 1-15 oz can of undrained black beans
• 1-15 oz can of undrained pinto beans
• 1-15 oz can of undrained petite diced tomatoes (because I don't like big chunks of cooked tomato!)
• 1-11 oz can of undrained corn ( I used frozen corn instead because I don't care for canned corn. Came out great!)
• 1 envelope of dry Ranch dressing mix (1 oz approx)
• 1 envelope of taco seasonings (I used Old El Paso Original & it had a kick! I'll try less spicy next time)

What you do:

• In a sauce pot (I used 6 qt enameled dutch oven pot), saute onions in hot oil 8-9 minutes
• Add the ground meat & cook until the meat is no longer pink. 
• Drain off grease
• Add all remaining ingredients to the pot
• Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low
• Stir occasionally 20 minutes so the sauce thickens a bit. (Because of frozen corn, it reduced the liquid content perfectly!)