at Living with Lady Philosophy
At Trader Joe’s yesterday they were selling bunches of daffodil stems that were not in water (for only $1.69!). I thought, “Hey, for 1.69, it is worth it to see if it works!” I brought them home and explained to the girls about how the water was supposed to make the flowers open.
Here is how it went:
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After 3 hours in water only one was starting to open.
 Here they are after about 10 hours in water.  And they next day after 24 hours in water! Totally open! |
1. In case you have not heard it is Spring. But I guess that is not something we have in Minnesota. So all of you who have Spring, please enjoy it for me. However, today is sunny and 31°F so I went for a walk once the kids were down for naps and M was doing some grading at home.
2. G had a well visit today up at the family clinic that we have been frequenting way too much this winter. The doctor suggested we do a food allergy and celiac panel on her. She was awesome through the blood draw (it kind of stinks for kids that they have to draw as much blood as they draw out of adults for these tests). She did not even cry. So, we should find out next week if she has any other food intolerances. Apparently asthma, allergies, and eczema are commonly linked in family genetics; all things which are common at least on my side of the family. I’d like to think that intellectual prowess us also included in the DNA.
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| New vacuum and L’s little foot. |
3. Our vacuum died last week, and after the birthday festivities and relatives went home I started to search for a new one. Using the resources available to me I looked at Consumer Reports and asked the advice of my Facebook friends. There was a lot of pressure to buy the Shark Navigator Lift-Away, so I did some research and found out that I could get the professional model at Bed, Bath, and Beyond (with a 20% off coupon) for Amazon’s list price on the basic one. The professional has a hard floor attachment which I am excited to try in the new house. I tried it out as soon as I got it home and it picked up so much hair and dust that I am disgusted at the amount of filth we had been living in… well it was not that bad, but it was a lot.
4. The kids have been really into having a new pope. They have a duplo train that has a smoke stack and I overheard them the other day exclaiming that there was smoke coming out of it and that we had a new pope.
When G and I were driving to the doctor’s this morning she noticed a building with white smoke pouring out of it. She said: “White smoke! It is like having a new pope!” I then explained to her about the special chimney on the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican and that was the one that announced the new pope. So, we then talked about what the Vatican was and also the Vatican flag. When we were at our awesome Catholic doctor’s office there was a book with St. Peter’s Basilica on the cover. G saw it and said: “Look! It is where the pope lives!”
5. Tonight M and I are going to watch the last show of season three of Downton Abbey. We were using the awesome free PBS app to watch it until they took down all the episodes. Now we are spending 1.99 an episode to watch them from Amazon. I suppose that is not so bad considering how much money we save by not going out on Friday nights due to having kids. Unfortunately, my Facebook friends enthusiasm for the show already spoiled the main event in this last episode, but maybe I misread their status (M tells me that status is the plural of status) and it won’t be so bad after all?
6. The underwriter has approved us and we are set to close on April 22! Then we will officially be paying a bank to live in a house instead of paying a landlord, and in 30 years, no one! And to clarify my post about doing things on the house. We are not moving until the end of May since our lease in our current home will not be up yet.
7. Finally, if you have not done so yet and want to easily follow my blog on Facebook. Please “like” it by using the handy little box to the right. 🙂
Read more Quick Takes at Jen’s blog www.conversiondiary.com.
1. Beware the Ides of March! G is four today (yesterday)! I have been a mother of an out of the womb child for four years. Can you believe it?
2. We went out for dinner on Sunday to celebrate the new house (which appraised properly and now we just have to wait for closing, yay!). M and I both ordered drinks, and we got carded. Us with our three kids got carded. I guess we still look young. Yay!
3. Yesterday (Thursday) was M’s birthday. This is the dinner he requested. He may or may not have eaten all of that pasta. That was the serving dish, but there was more in the pot and he had seconds… That is goat cheese. G says that she likes goat cheese because it is “soooo creamy.”
4. I also made this cake for M.
It has dark chocolate and coffee in it.
And almond crust with chocolate ganache on top.
And tofu. It was really good and almost vegan, except I used real butter and milk. It goes really well with breakfast, as breakfast, or as second breakfast.
5. M said I could get this for the new house.
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| From http://www.amazon.com/BISSELL-Natural-Sweep-Sweeper-92N0A/dp/B001GL1NXU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363376536&sr=8-1&keywords=bissell+natural+sweep+dual+brush+sweeper |
I bet I could convince G to use it and her help would actually be effective.
6. My mom is in town and is coloring with G. G is having my mom draw Noah’s Ark.
G: “Draw people drowning!”
Mom: “It has been raining for so long there aren’t any other people around.”
L: “Draw people drowning!!!!”
My kids are entirely normal. I promise.
7. I am throwing a birthday party with friends for G. I think it is going to be pretty lame from the kids perspective. There is no theme or decorations. M is at the store right now getting a few balloons, but no helium. There has been speculation that Fr. Z does birthday parties among our friends in St. Paul, but we forgot to invite him.
Head over to Jen’s for more Quick Takes.
We found our new house. It was there from the beginning of our search. But for some reason it has been overlooked by us and every other house hunter looking for a 3+ bedroom house in our price range. I’d like to think that God has been saving it just for us. I feel so abundantly blessed.
We had the inspection today and met the owner (not really supposed to happen, but it did). He is a man in his late sixties who has been meticulously maintaining his house for 17 years. He has kept a file with all his updates on record and is going to give it to us. I am just going to say that it is perfect for M and I who have never owned a home and probably should not be trusted with too extensive of home repairs yet. That being said my quicktakes today are seven things I want to do with this house before we move in.
1. Carpet the steps to the basement. The basement is finished and carpeted, but the stairs remain unfinished. Since I plan on the basement being kid heaven, I want carpet on the stairs.
2. Install a bench and find a small table for the eat-in kitchen.
3. Create a great system for storing shoes by the back door next to the eat-in kitchen.
4. Living room: Find matching chairs and complimentary couch, paint walls (who knows what color?), rug.
5. Master bedroom: I would love it if I could finally afford a bedroom set instead of folding table nightstands and no headboard or dresser, but for now I am going to at least figure out the perfect wall color and curtains. Since we are buying a house for our 5 year anniversary, maybe the bedroom set can wait until our ten year…
6. Girls room: paint their thrifted dresser (which lives in the closet in their current room) white with green trim and paint their walls a color we can all agree on.
7. Refinish dining room table and find a matching bench.
I like to write nice, neat, and tidy blog posts and I have been sitting at the computer for an hour waiting for the baby to be ready for her nap so that I can put her to bed and write something. She is almost ready and I have accomplished commenting on and checking Facebook a billion times, reading a few short emails, and finally getting L to stay in her bed and go to sleep…
Now I will entertain myself by writing a narrative:
G comes out of her quiet time a few minutes after L has fallen asleep telling me that she has to go to the bathroom. I send her in and tell her to be quiet and not wake her sister who is on the other side of the wall from the bathroom. About 10 seconds later I hear a huge crash and G start to yell/cry (not exactly quiet, huh?). I rush to the bathroom, primarily to get her silent, secondarily to find out what is wrong. She had fallen into the bathtub while climbing on the toliet. I really don’t want to know exactly how it came about and work on calming her down, praying that L is not woken up. G asks me why I came running into her when she fell, and I explain that I love her and that she is my precious child and I don’t want her to be hurting. I have been trying to emphasize to the children how they are loved lately since I realized that when I am stressed I forget to do that. She appreciates what I say and gives me a hug. We get her off the toliet and I carry her back downstairs.
After I come back up I start to write this and the baby is finally ready to go to sleep. It is great when I just be patient and wait for her nap to overtake her because then I can get her sound asleep within 10 minutes as opposed to 45 minutes. I pick her up to go to the bedroom, but pause a moment to watch the college student from the house next door attempt to drive is little blue Mini Cooper down our unplowed-8inches-deep-in-snow street. I leave him with his wheels spinning. I change the baby, rock her, and nurse her. She is out like a light. I lay her down and slip out of the room. G comes up to ask how much longer she has of quiet time. I tell her and then come back to my seat on the couch. The Mini Cooper is gone; I guess he made it. Maybe I will have 45 minutes of silence or so. It is golden I tell you.
Tonight I am making a new recipe. We are meatless again this Lent. I think I am going to combine this and this one. I hope it will be enough food though. M shoveled snow and is walking to and from school up hill both ways in snow from work today (1.5 miles each way). He is going to be hungry! I am trying to think of a way of supplementing the meal from the empty refrigerator. I am supposed to go to the store tomorrow. The snow-plow just ineffectively went barreling down our street. I really wonder why they don’t plow this city and still have school when most of the other schools cancel. I am really hoping that we get that house in West St. Paul we put an offer on yesterday. I am trying not to give up on finding a good house. The first one we offered on was not right for us after the inspection made us realize we know nothing about houses. The second offer was outbid, and this one has not been responded to for longer than a normal offer is out. At any rate, hopefully we will know soon. No response is better than a negative one right? Anyway, I will tell you all about the house we finally settle on once there is an offer, acceptance, and positive inspection…
I think I have said enough for today. Have a happy Tuesday. 🙂
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| Photo by publicdomainphotos. |
G has been developing some interesting food allergies in the past year. Last May she had hives on her arms and legs after eating watermelon. We tested it again a few weeks later and the same reaction occurred. In October she had a rash around her mouth after eating roasted squash, but did not seem to have problems with pumpkin pie or bread. Over Christmas travels she threw up for four hours after eating half a banana. In fact she never has liked bananas. Or she would be interested and take a bite and then not want anymore. Today she had two small banana muffins and vomited her whole lunch two hours later.
A little googling told me this about banana allergies:
Mouth Itching (I think she has been having this reaction to years.)
The allergy symptom of itching in the mouth area may affect the lips, tongue and throat. Itching sensations may spread to the eyes and skin. In discussing these problems with their doctors, patients should disclose additional known allergies, which can aid in diagnosis.
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America reports that many patients who get seasonal allergic reactions to ragweed or contact allergies to latex also have banana allergies. Mouth itching may be more intense during ragweed season, when patients’ sensitivities are high.
Swelling (Have not noticed this.)
The inflammation that causes itching usually brings swelling to the same areas of the body. As the Mayo Clinic notes, itching and swelling symptoms from bananas in ragweed hay fever patients may comprise the extent of their health problems. Symptoms limited to the mouth are called oral allergy syndrome.
A greater reaction may raise welts on the skin, creating a red rash or hives. A severe allergic reaction to bananas can prompt the eyes and face to swell acutely, causing pain and tenderness and making it difficult for patients to see.Respiratory Symptoms (This is a scary reaction, though I have not noticed this in her either.)
This inflammation may constrict the airways when swelling affects the throat, tongue and sinus areas under the eyes. The University of Maryland Medical Center relates that this condition may create difficulty in swallowing or breathing. These allergy symptoms can escalate to dangerous levels when combined with an adverse cardiovascular response.Sudden Shock (EEK!)
Banana allergies become serious when the immune system mistakenly triggers a decrease in blood pressure. As respiratory problems restrict blood oxygen levels, anaphylaxis progresses toward shock, the Nemours Foundation reports. Serious allergy symptoms that require immediate paramedic assistance include a weak or racing pulse, light-headedness and sudden loss of consciousness.Abdominal Pain (The clear sign of her allergy.)
Banana allergies cause a variety of gastrointestinal symptoms that often begin with nausea, notes the University of Maryland Medical Center. Stomach pain and cramping may take place shortly after eating bananas, as digestion begins. In some patients, however, allergic reactions to bananas provoke almost immediate vomiting or diarrhea.
Another site says that the abdominal symptoms are latex related. I guess we should be careful about latex for her as well.
The weird thing is that we called her doctor after the throwing up episode at Christmas and she did not think it could be allergies. But I guess bananas cause weird reactions. No more bananas for G not even in the cooked form. The only positive thing I can draw from this information is that we are not at the beginning of a plague of the stomach flu, but simply dealing with an allergic reaction.
1. I am going to Mass alone today (meaning without already born children to take care of)! I looked this up so I remember to pray for the poor souls today:
Indulgence for the Souls in Purgatory (from Enchiridion of Indulgences given by the 1968 Decree of the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary):
67. Visit to a Church or Oratory on All Souls Day (Visitatio ecclesiae vel oratorii in Commemoratione omnium fidelium defunctorum)
A plenary indulgence, applicable only to the Souls in Purgatory, is granted to the faithful, who on the day dedicated to the Commemoration of all the faithful departed, piously visit a church, a public oratory or — for those entitled to use it — a semipublic oratory.
The above indulgence can be acquired either on the day designated above or, with the consent of the Ordinary, on the preceding or following Sunday or the feast of All Saints.
The above indulgence is contained in the Apostolic Constitution The Doctrine of Indulgences, Norm 15, with account being taken of proposals made to the Sacred Penitentiary in the meantime.
In visiting the church or oratory, it is required, according to Norm 16 of the same Apostolic Constitution, that “one Our Father and the Creed be recited.” [ed. note : see Norm25 of the Enchiridion].
2. This day reminds me of my desire to have Masses said for my relatives who have passed away. I am not sure if anyone in my family has been doing this. We can never know if a soul is in Heaven, unless of course the person is canonized.
3. One thing I need to offer up this week for the Souls in Purgatory is my fifth day straight of regular, for hours on end braxton-hicks/pre-labor contractions. Some of them feel like they could be active labor contractions, but those go away and I am left wondering when I am going to actually be in labor. I have only had one night in which they have not stopped and have kept me awake, making the next day exhausting. I went to the doctor on Wednesday to see if I was progressing at all, and there was not much progress. So, we are waiting for what feels like real labor, which for me is when I want people to just leave me alone and be quiet. The kids are a pretty good gauge of the fact that I have not actually been in labor. My mom reminded me today (I guess she told me this before) that she had every day like these for three weeks leading up to my birthday, and I was two weeks late! I think my mom is holier than I realized. I suppose it is only just that my third child do the same thing. She also had the same experience with my brother, her fourth child. This means that this is no indication of gender.
4. M told me on Wednesday as we were driving to the doctor that he thought it was weird that I could feel so vividly my uterus but had no control over it. I pointed out to him other organs that work on their own, but he insisted that the laboring uterus was truly weird. Then of course we considered how it would be if we were not sinful beings and had not fallen. Perhaps I would then have perfect knowledge of when it was time for the baby to come, kick the uterus into high, painless gear and have an easy, breezy delivery of a healthy baby. This not being the case, I get to sit around and wait eating chocolate, drinking fizzy water, and sneaking sips of M’s beer wishing I were drinking beer or wine or something stronger than water.
5. I know that I am going to miss the two hours of quiet time I get every afternoon while L naps and G tries really hard to not come out of her quiet time. I do not think I am going to be able to pull off two hours everyday with three kids.
6. A couple of weeks ago I used my skills at Word and made a monthly/weekly/daily cleaning list with charts for me to fill in the date when I accomplish my tasks. It has been really helpful so far in keeping me on track cleaning-wise. All of the things were on a mental list, but a physical list is so much better. I am almost done with my chores for this week, and I still have all of tomorrow!! I am also hoping that it makes it easy for our post-baby out-of-town helpers to know what I like to have done cleaning wise. I have found I am much more sane after a baby is born if the house cleaning is kept up on.
7. Lastly, behold the cordless hand vacuum:
Yes, it lives on my kitchen counter. I use it many times a day. It makes me happy to vacuum with ease high chairs, rugs, dust piles from sweeping, crumbs left on the table, furniture, car seats, etc. It is my latest toy which I justified buying by cashing in some credit card rewards. (Is is sad that I use my credit cards so that I can get cash rewards to spend guilt-free? I also will point out that I never carry a balance on the cards.) In case you are interested in acquiring your own, this is the one I purchased.
For more quicktakes, visit Jen.
One of the best things I have learned from my husband and his mother is how to can fruit. Home canned apple sauce and peaches are two of my favorite ways to eat fruit. I am eager to try other fruits in the future. (We missed strawberry jam this year because of traveling, though my mother-in-law gave us a whole bunch of hers!) Home canned (jarred) fruits are so much better than store bought! I need to thank Trader Joe’s for stocking peaches one last time this year. Next year I hope to can some Minnesota peaches.
As promised here are the results of my blue hubbard experiment. Blue hubbard makes pie that tastes exactly like pumpkin pie. It is pretty delicious. I followed the directions given here. I know nothing about the blog I just linked except that they have a great pie recipe.
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| The rinsed blue hubbard awaits its cleaving. |
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| The knife has entered its side! It took a good 10 minutes to wedge this big guy open. This is my large chopping knife. |
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| The inside looks like a squash to me! |
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| Artsy shot. |
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| Pulpy, seedy insides. |
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| Further chopping. This photo was take by G. |
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| One half of the hubbard ready to roast for 45 minutes (right), while the other half awaits its fate (left). |
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| ROASTED! |
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| My two homemade pie crusts awaiting filling. I use the recipe in the Joy of Cooking, 75th Anniversary Edition. |
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| The small mortar and pestle from the set of three given to me by my sweet husband for my birthday. This was the first time I got to use it. |
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| Once I needed whole cloves and ground cloves, so I just bought whole and decided to grind my own cloves. Here are cloves awaiting grinding. |
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| Ground! |
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| The pies ready to bake. |
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| Delicious pie and a three year olds’ hair. |
