Pink Eye - Round #2

We’ve got another case of pink eye at our house. It’s Omar this time. He got up this morning before I had left for work and said his eye felt funny. Sure enough, it had some gunk on it and it was bright red. I took him to the clinic and the Dr. said its bacterial pink eye which is not as contagious as the viral. Whew! He said he should be just fine to go back to school tomorrow.

I forgot about these pictures that I took last Friday. Nolan was playing hunting, and this is how daddy and Easton spend a lot of their quality time together.....flying remote control helicopters.

I’m sporting today the second scarf that I’ve finished crocheting! I am so addicted. I love it. I can’t get enough. All I see in my mind is myself crocheting. I have a long way to go, but I’m so excited about it. I’m working on my 3^rd project right now and have the next one all planned out. I just wish I could stay awake longer at night, but 4:00am comes so fast!!! 

Dawydenko House Rules

  Lasts nights dinner was a total bust. And honestly, I kind of knew it would be as I was preparing it. Lime and cumin marinated chicken breasts, quinoa with corn and black beans, and homemade guacamole. I thought it was delicious and am ecstatic to have leftovers!

  Nolan started his weekend off pretty badly when I told him he wouldn’t be going to the Monster Truck show. I found his DS cord cut in half. He said he didn’t know why he did it. His DS is now mine. It went downhill after that for him. Nick found some new artwork on the wall. Nolan admitted to doing it, (pretty obvious when it’s his name that’s on the wall!) but once again, didn’t know why he did it. We took away all his craft supplies for the week. It didn’t really affect him until last night when he wanted to draw his teacher a picture and we reminded him that he doesn’t have anything to draw with.

  We have created some Dawydenko House Rules to work on. The boys came up with them. Its amazing that when I ask them what some rules are that they need to work on, they can spit them right out.

1. Keep our hands off mom and dad’s things.
2. No jumping on the furniture.
3. Pick up our toys without argument.
4. Do not talk back to mom or dad.

  If they follow these rules we’ve decided on prizes along they way. A visit to the ice cream shop, a trip to Toys R Us to spend their gift cards, and a trip to the movies. Hopefully those are incentives enough! Time will tell.

  I made Little E some peas last night, it didn’t go over well. He gagged on every bite. We tried about 5 bites before I gave up and moved on to carrots. I’ll try again in a couple weeks since I now have peas all made in the freezer.

  We took the boys out to a friend’s house on Sunday in hopes of doing some sledding. There wasn’t much snow, but they decided to try it anyway. Omar went flying down the hill yelling and laughing the whole way. Nolan went a couple feet before stopping himself because he got scared. He acts so tough, but it’s all a front.

 

  After sledding we went out to the chicken coop to get some eggs. Omar walked right in and started petting all the chickens, Nolan stood in the doorway and jumped every time a chicken looked at him!

  I’m totally addicted to my new hobby, crocheting! I think about it all day long! I’m getting better at it, and I have a lot of plans for things to make! I just wish I had more time!!

Tooth Fairy Visit #4

Omar lost his second front tooth. It was sort of by accident. He felt and hit his mouth which loosened his tooth more then it was. Of course, after that he couldn't leave it alone. I tucked him into bed and he came running upstairs about 15 minutes later, tooth in hand.

We will be starting to baby proof the house! Little E's rocking back and forth on hands and knees now!

SQUAT Team

Yesterday the boys were arguing on the way home whether they were going to play, “Big Foot”, or “SQUAT Team” when we got home. I tried telling them it was SWAT, but they didn’t believe me. Now every time I think about it, I giggle.

I made Easton a big batch of carrots this weekend. He loves them! I guess he doesn’t take after me. Ish. I freeze all his food in ice cube trays. Last night I gave him 2 cubes of carrots, then 2 cubes of pears. He still would have eaten more! He loves his food. He’s also started using a sippy cup. He mostly just plays with it, but it’s a start. He’s using a sippy cup, but still hasn’t had any formula! And I don’t really feel like quitting breastfeeding yet. I am looking forward to having my lunch break back at work to check out my favorite gossip sites, but for now, I’ll continue to split my break in two, only to sit on a cold floor and pump bottles for Little E.

They boys went skating again on Sunday. They did a great job. I’m dying to get out there myself. I did get my skates sharpened, so I’m ready when the opportunity comes.

We’re trying to make some diet changes at home. And I’m excited because it means I get to cook more foods that I would prefer to eat! Whole grains, brown rice, more veggies, etc. I made strawberry, banana and spinach smoothies for breakfast on Sunday, everyone liked them! 

Something Magical

There’s one thing in this world that makes me stop dead in my track no matter what I’m doing. And that’s watching Omar and Nolan talk to their brother. Easton’s eye’s light up, of course this makes the boys smile too. And they will just stare at each other. Of course this beautiful moment gets ruined when Easton grabs their face. But, up until that point, it’s magical.

On our way home yesterday Nolan asked if he could wear dad’s glasses. After putting them on he said, “Mom, it looks like an old town with these on. Cause it’s so yellow.”

I got my craft armoire last night. We found one on Craigslist for $30. One of our neighbors was able to go help Nick pick it up. We (Nick) got it put downstairs for me, but little E was a little uncooperative in letting me get anything put away in there last night. I do need to find some storage ideas for some of my smaller items. I can’t wait to get it all organized.

Cleaning task – fold the 2 loads of clean laundry. (before it multiplies by 5!!!)

My New Obsession

So, the past couple days my obsession has been to find an armoire for all my craft supplies. I’m so tired of looking thru my Rubbermaid bins, my scrapbooking suit case, and the china hutch drawers for whatever supply I’m looking for. I suggested my idea to Nick and he thought it was a good idea too. This only fueled my obsession to find a hutch and FIND IT NOW!!!!?? And I think I may have found one. And I think Nick may be able to pick it up today!! Yippee!!! The organization ideas are running ramped thru my head.

Last night little E was on his toes and hands. He looked like he was doing baby push ups! And apparently all that work wore him out so much he couldn’t sleep. I think we got about 4 hours. And of course it had to be one of the days I get up at 4 am. It will be an early bedtime tonight.

Oh, and I’ve been working on my crocheting. I’ve made one visit over to the neighbor for help. And I thought I was doing really well until I took a closer look at it last night. All I’m trying to make is a wash cloth. It’s turning into a triangle!!!!! I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. Other then that it looks great. I’ll keep trying. Although I may have to start from scratch. Again.

Cleaning Task - pack up the last few Christmas things that are still out.

Clean Kitchen - happy momma!

There’s nothing better then starting the work week off with a clean kitchen. I love it. It makes my morning run so much smoother when I need to get out the door by 6:00am. However, I do admit that I slacked last night in the lunch prep area. I have a great couple of excuses though, one, Desperate Housewives was on, and two, Easton went to bed early which gave me time to paint my nails! So I had to make lunches this morning before I left. At least I had a clean kitchen!

I feel very accomplished today. I got our Christmas tree out on Saturday. Oh the room we have back!!! It feels so good. I LOVE a Christmas tree, but I also LOVE when it’s time to take it out. This led to a LOT of vacuuming. (The bad thing about having a real tree). I also made 4 dinners for the week, 4 loaves of bread, cookies, cupcakes, and more baby food for Little E. We’ll be covered for dinners until Friday. I even made the boys STEAK on Saturday night. I very, very rarely cook beef. But, I have a lot of chicken on the week’s menu, so I thought I better give them a little red meat. I had a spinach salad. And it was goooooooood!

A couple of the recipes I tried over the weekend were so good that I just have to share the recipes.

Aloha Pork Chop Skillet

What you need

2 Tsp. oil

4 Bone-in pork chops (1-1/2 lb.)

1 Each red and yellow pepper, coarsely chopped

2  Cans (8 oz. each) pineapple chunks in juice, undrained

1/2 Cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/4 Cup KRAFT CATALINA Dressing

1-1/2

Tsp. garlic powder

1-1/2 Cups instant white rice, uncooked

Make it

HEAT oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chops; cook 5 min. on each side or until browned on both sides.

ADD all remaining ingredients except rice; mix well. Bring to boil.

STIR in rice; cover. Cook on medium-low heat 5 min. or until chops are done (145°F). Remove from heat; let stand 5 min.

Chicken enchiladas with green chili sour cream sauce

*These are seriously so so good*

10 soft taco shells

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan

2. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese.  Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute.  Add broth and whisk until smooth.  Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.  

4. Stir in sour cream and chilies.  Do not bring to boil; you don't want curdled sour cream.

5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese.

These were both recipes that have made it into my cookbook. Yum!!

Easton is moving himself all over the floor. I can’t believe we’re already at this stage. It’s so fun and exciting, but it’s all going so fast. I need to do more video taping!!!

Nolan is dying to go back to school. He’ll be one happy boy tomorrow.  Nolan sometimes mis-pronounces words. The big ones are ambulance, spaghetti, and breakfast. Along these same lines, he doesn’t always use the correct words. This is what I hear a lot of mornings, “Omar, your brain stinks!!”

Omar and Nolan got skates for Christmas for Grandpa Jerry. I took them to open skate at the arena yesterday. They did a great job! Omar even gave up using the walker. I was just itching to get out there myself. Hopefully next time.

I have been doing great on my daily cleaning tasks. My ongoing task that I have been doing for about a year is to clean the dinner dishes every night. It’s so very tempting to just leave the sink full for “tomorrow”, but you know, tomorrow turns into another tomorrow and so on. Before you know it, you’ve got a sink full of stuck on gross dishes, and one crabby momma.

Nightly cleaning task – the boy’s bathroom. Eww. 

The ugly shoes

The new shoes. Omar thinks he's pretty cool in them. Mostly because he ties them by himself.
His bayblades have been a hit at school. I asked him, how was school today. His response......"we played bayblades at recess and Jack has a really fast one." Not the response I was hoping for. He even was at the nieghbors house playing last night with his friend.

Nolan is so excited to go back to school next week. I think grandma is too!

Big Night in the Dawydenko house!

Sometimes I make these big plans for the night during the work day. But then, on my way home, I get so tired that I find it hard to stay motivated. However, last night was NOT one of those nights! I stopped at Michaels and bought yarn and crochet hooks. I actually found a beginners book that came with a set of hooks. After I got Easton to sleep (5 tries later), I hunkered down in the chair with a piece of cake and my crochet supplies. I did get a few rows done. I'm afraid it's not even though. And I'm not quite sure what I'm doing wrong. Trying to learn from a book might be my first mistake. I'll have another go at it tonight.


I also took the boys into Kohls. My first mistake here was not taking in the stroller. My 20 lb. baby is really too heavy to be lugging around in the car seat carrier. 


Omar convinced Nolan to get these UGLY Tony Hawk shoes. Apparently they're the cool kind. The only problem is they had laces. And yes, I know it's bad, but neither boys know how to tie shoes. But, I figured its now or never, and let him get the ugly shoes. Omar gave me the silent treatment because it wasn't fair that Nolan got new shoes and he didn't. In the truck, Nolan told me that he wanted shoes like Omar has. Really???? He couldn't have told me this IN the store, BEFORE we paid for them!!  In the end, they ended up trading shoes. Nolan with the hope that i'll buy him a newer pair.  After dinner, I sat down with both of them and tried to teach them how to tie. Nolan really takes after me in that he gave it a whole 2 tries before he got frustrated and gave up. Omar is just like his dad, patient as patient can be. And he did it!!!! Then he did it again, and again, and again!!! So proud of him. And the smile on his face when he did it was awesome. 


I also changed the dirtiest diaper I have ever changed! Yowza! Let's just say it was so dirty,  I threw his onsie right in the trash. 


Nick was holding Easton. I walked away from him and he started screaming. I walked toward him and he smiled. So I walked away again, just to test. And he started screaming. Aaahhh, he loves his mommy!! ; )


As comfy as the couch looked when I finished all my nightly chores, I made myself put all the clothes away in my room. And I felt SO much better once I did. Hey, it's not much, but it's something done that needed to be. 


Cleaning Task - Declutter the kitchen counters. 

New Year, New Resolutions

So, after several months of contemplating a blog, I’ve decided that it IS in fact something I’d like to give a go at. My husband suggested it to me while on was on maternity leave with my youngest, but I wasn’t sure what I would write about. However, over these past months I’ve found myself saying, “I need to remember that”, or, “Time is just going too fast!” So, here I am, attempting to capture every crazy, frustrating, hilarious, precious, laughable, milestone that I encounter. And, having 3 boys, I have a lot.

The New Year has begun, and I do have a couple resolutions that I’m hoping to accomplish before the years end. (Sooner rather that later hopefully)

1. Learn to crochet. My sister taught me once, but I don’t remember, and I didn’t do very well at it. Our neighbor is always giving the boys new hats or slippers. She will come over and measure Easton’s feet, and come back an hour later with new little camouflage booties! I’ve become inspired. Plus, I LOVE those homemade wash clothes!
2. Speak my feelings more often. I often walk away from situations and wish that I would have said something. I’m not quite sure why I don’t, but I’m going to really try to change that.
3. Keep on top of household chores. Yeah, totally easier said then done. But…..I will at least give it a good shot. I usually do pretty well at this, but heaven help me if I skip a day. Its amazing how fast the laundry and dishes add up!! It is helpful if I assign myself one chore to do each day. I’ve done this in the past and it really helps to stay on top of things that I normally (choose to) forget. ; )
4. Read/play more with the boys.
5. Really try to find time/babysitter for dates with my husband.

After work today I’m going to start with one of my resolutions. I’ll go to Michaels and buy a crochet hook and a Skeen of yarn. Wish me luck!

I also need to buy Nolan a new pair of shoes. I don’t believe there is a kid on earth who wears thru clothing faster then he does! I was really looking forward to using my Kohl’s cash on a scarf that I’ve been thinking about for myself. I guess that will have to wait.

Omar goes back to school tomorrow. I was rather enjoying the break from packing lunches and making sure his backpack was all ready to go in the morning. But he’s so excited to bring his favorite bay blade to school for recess. He’s convinced that his orange one will beat all his friends.

And it will be more baby food making for Easton tonight. Carrots and apples are all I need to finish making. Then he should be stocked on food for a while.

Cleaning Task – put away the clothes that are hanging haphazardly in my bedroom.