spring sledding

Ah, the last day of spring break. I can honestly say I am sorry to see it go, and I am looking forward to summer, when we can have some more mellow days. The kids just did so well over break. Yes, there were some fights, as always, but in general they played together really well and enjoyed each other. I certainly enjoyed them. Hooray!
Tomorrow is going to be a rough morning, but at least the house is tidied up and the lunches are packed. Today was a HOT day... in the high 70's with blazing sun. Everyone went sledding again (in T-shirt, mittens and ski helmets). Paul had the boys going down a really long run that ended, I kid you not, with a drop into a ravine. Most of the time they skidded to a stop before the water began, but not the last time. Ha! Paul was the most soaked, and the boys thought it was great, so no harm done. Boys are nuts! What a fantastic spring snowstorm!

yum

What do you do with a dozen limp and way past their prime clementines? Make a clementine cake! Mmm.
The kids spent the morning and the late afternoon sledding. It was a gorgeous sunny day. In between, they played on the computer and generally ran amuck. Good times.

even more fun in the snow

This morning the kids played outside in their snow forts for much of the morning. It was a beautiful sunny day, not too cold at all. We also explored the backyard, which was buried in beautiful pristine snow. It came up to the top of the "baby" slide on the play structure. After a mellow afternoon of baking, phonics and The Emperor's New Groove movie, we went to the hill to sled. All three kids loved sledding this year. Ted flipped his sled at one point and landed on his head on the ice, which made him very sad and also done for the day. Mae loved going all the way down the big hill on Daddy's lap. And Sam! Sam went down the first time with Ted (so sweet. If I hadn't been holding the sled for them while they maneuvered themselves on top of it I would have snapped a picture). After that, he was unstoppable. He took the little single sled and trudged to the top of the hill, over and over again. He LOVED it.
Tomorrow we'll go out again, but maybe a little later in the morning to let it soften up a bit. Either that or have them wear their ski helmets. We have Ole treats, GF banana bread, GF sandwich bread and a yummy quinoa salad, the culinary successes of the day. The GF almond butter cookies disappeared in a day, so we'll have to make some more treats tomorrow. Two more days of "vacation!" Monday is going to be very hard. (and yes, that hill really IS that steep!)

more fun in the snow

Blizzard!

We finally got our snow! It's been such a terribly dry winter that the over 10" that dumped today was warmly received! It did mess up our plans of going to Breckenridge to ski (how ironic! too much snow to ski!) but we had lots of fun playing in the snow and baking cookies. Here's a short video:

spring break update: 4 thumbs up!

We have had a lovely spring break so far. Besides the standard squabbling, the kids have played very nicely together and we've had some very fun family time in the process. Monday everyone slept in til after 8 (!). We made pancakes together and we all helped Ted create his thank you cards. Tuesday we discovered starfall.com, a phonics computer game Tara told me about. It turns out Ted uses this program at school, so he understood it right away. He is doing so much better...sounding out everything he sees and really starting to understand that it's really just that easy: sound it out! We also played board games together, which was new for us (usually the kids play but I don't join in.)

Today was really fun. We made homemade no-cook playdoh. What fun. When Mae wakes up from her nap, we're off to the store for more Cream of Tartar and then we'll make up a pink batch for her. It's been soooo nice to not wake up to the alarm, to not make lunches every night, and to be HOME most of the day. We haven't hit a museum or zoo yet! We haven't needed to. I think all of us needed a little down time. A stay-cation at its finest. Ahhhh....

weekend of sun and chores

Nothing like a beautiful day to get the windows wide open and the mundane chores done in a flash. This was an incredibly gorgeous weekend. Saturday Ted played his 1st soccer game of the season in 70 degree sunny weather. We had a date night that night (went to the symphony and had dinner at a local pub, Mountain Sun .... all courtesy of Horizons' auction last week.) I spent most of today cooking (when we weren't d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g the kids outside to get some fresh air!) They were really into their Star Wars Lego game that they had concocted in the family room and they weren't budging! Geesh! But we got them out for a few hours, despite MANY complaints, so we feel victorious. Let me name my culinary successes today, because it was a good day!

• 3 batches of GF pancakes this morning, gobbled up by the mob almost instantly
• my 1st successful loaf of GF sandwich bread ... finally! YUM! Recipe here.
• a batch of GF chocolate chip cookies ... not as great but ok. I miss spelt and barley. Recipe here.
• my first ever whole chicken ... baked in the crockpot! Recipe here. It cooked completely through in 3 hours on high (it was a small roaster, and it even had the farmer's name on it! I am trusting very strongly that this free-range chicken had a happy life!!!)
• tuna steaks on the grill. Paul had to turn it on for me, but I did the marinating, basting and grilling. This is the 2nd time we have used this marinade and it's really yummy. Next time, I'm going to sub ginger for the garlic. The original is the juice of 2 limes, 2 garlic cloves and some marjoram. But I didn't have that so I used rosemary. Mmmm.

I am still recovering from the trauma of carving the chicken (Rosa is going to visit in May and while planning her visit she talked me through the carving, including saving the bones for stock and the leftover juices for gravy.) but I think I will live. Not so, poor chicken. I am on Day 8 of the diet and while I'm officially "done," I'm still trying to do the basic idea of eating every 2-3 hours. Lean protein and lots of veggies are high on the charts. Tomorrow I'm going to do a batch of black beans and rice to get me through the week (two 1/2c servings of that per day are recommended). I lost a total of 4 pounds in 6 days and while it may not seem like much, the difference in my stomach alone is THRILLING. I plan to be as diligent as possible and I bet by the summer, I might actually be ok in a bathing suit! I was happy the summers of 2005 & 2006, but then got out of control again.

Tomorrow begins the week of Spring Break. Ted and I are going to Breckenridge on Thursday night to ski with Wendy & Alex. So we have most of the week to laze around and maybe do some fun things like a pool or zoo. Maybe a movie. But the weather is so amazing! I hope it lasts for a few more days. Now that cooking is done, I need to get going on folding! It was really nice to hang the sheets and blankets out on the line today. They smelled sooooo good! Hooray for Spring!

An Evening with Dr. Seuss

Tonight the four K/1 classes performed their Dr. Seuss plays for the parents (they did another performance this morning for the school.) It was very cute and Ted was much more into it this year. He was a little nervous at the very beginning, but by the end, he was comfortable and having a blast. I was happy that he wasn't goofing off like some of the kids, and that he didn't try and yell into the microphone, which is just about every kid's favorite thing to do. Below is a pic of him presenting flowers to Ernie, their music teacher. Our class was in charge of flowers and Ted chose them. He picked a different color for each teacher and it was very "Seussical"! A very fun night. I love this school.

svelte by friday

I started a new diet on Sunday. Besides WW, I haven't ever dieted before (they always seemed so depressing!). I'm doing a program a friend of mine suggested. She does it every now and then when she wants to drop a few pounds quickly, kind of a kick-start to getting over holiday eating, or whatever. (Yes, mine would be the holiday of Ted's birthday = unlimited cake.) So, every 2-3 hours, there is a small meal. 3oz protein, 2c mixed veggie or greens, 1/2c rice 'n beans with Lunch and Dinner and twice a day I can have either a grapefruit or a cup of mixed berries. Mmm! No sugar, no salt, no oil. You can't HELP but lose weight on this, and what I like about it, while it's extreme, is that it's only 6-10 days and it's healthy. It's not like I'm only eating grapefruit or something. I feel very light and clean although I am a bit spacey and tired, probably from my lack of sugar! I love my sugar! If any of you want more details, drop me a line. It's working well (2 pounds in 3 days, so far). So far, I'm a fan! Plus I get to skip Jillian for a week. Only long slow walks this week. Oh yeah.

My 1st Review!

A few weeks ago I was contacted by eco-canteen. They wanted to send me a free sample of their product for me to review. How cool is that?! It arrived a few days ago and I tried it out. Let me first say that I already own 2 stainless steel water bottles. One type is the SIGG, which my kids use, and another is Enviro, which is their backup. (Yes, I admit it: I am still using (and loving) my BPA free CamelBak with bite valve. I love it.) Anyway, I tried out the Eco Canteen and liked it for all the right reasons. First of all, it's cheap, only $9.99 (compared to almost $17 for the others!) for the same stainless steel quality. The top has a nice lip to it (so I don't spill all over myself, which happens to me with the Enviro). I also like the sleek, slender design and cute logo. I'm not a huge fan of the plastic top (why not stay stainless steel all the way?) but I LOVE it for toting around in my bag for when I want to buy a drink (drinks other than water do NOT work with my beloved CamelBak!). I plan to keep this tidy Eco Canteen in my bag with my bento box (for leftovers) and To-Go Ware untensil set (glass straw, bamboo fork, knife and spoon). While I may not use it as my 100oz/day water bottle, I do plan to keep it with me in my bag. So, for an eco-friendly, inexpensive alternative to plastic, try the Eco-Canteen!

moving along

Sorry for the lack of posts. I used to be so good about posting, but lately it's been all-Jillian-all-the-time, plus a little bit of old fashioned feeling down.

Lots of things are going on around here. First off, we had Ted tested for his reading. While he can read at an acceptable level (for Horizons), it is frustrating for him, and for us. While no one is ready to slap a label on him this early, he clearly can benefit from some extra help. His friend, who was also struggling, began a reading program at CU. We aren't going to be as dramatic, but he is going to receive some tutoring and we are going to do some more phonics work at home. I could wax on about this for a long time. I'll make it brief, I promise. I was never one of those parents who had my kids do workbooks or flashcards. I sent them outside to play, read to them, and sent them to a play-based preschool. While the theory at Horizons (and in much of Europe) is that children shouldn't be "taught" how to read til 2nd grade, I still "feel" that he needs some solid "tricks" to decode reading. He has a math brain, like his father. It makes sense that he needs a "formula" to learn how to read. There is also a great "Reading Detectives" 2 week summer camp at CU that we may enroll him in, if he needs more support by the end of 1st grade. Anyway, that has had me very guilty and very sad for him. And preoccupied. Paul's dad, when he heard that Ted was without oxygen for a few minutes before the emergency C-section, had wondered if Ted would suffer from any learning disabilities as a result. Hopefully not. Hopefully the extra help will give him the boost he needs to take off. But whatever happens, at least we have a plan to help him.

the update

Sorry for leaving folks out of the loop. With Facebook, information is so quickly and easily exchanged that I need a reminder to update here as well. Here's what happened.

Ted was building his Lego toy on his birthday and couldn't tear himself away to eat dinner. About 7ish, he asked me if he could have an apple. I said sure. He asked if I would get it for him. I told him to get it for himself. (Warning! Warning! Never say that to your child!) In the past, he would have grabbed an apple and started munching away. But he has no front teeth! So he took a (brand new, serrated) knife to cut the apple. It took about a second for the wailing to begin, followed by frantic running around the house. We wrapped it up in a towel but couldn't get a good look at the cut because it was bleeding so hard. After about 5 minutes, Paul thought I should take him to the ER so off we went. We have new insurance now (through Paul's work! Hooray hooray!) so our hospital is in Boulder, a 10+ minute drive. But after a few minutes in the car he really calmed down and was very mellow at the ER, answering questions for the doctor and politely asking for some Tylenol. Because the cut was so clean (I told you they were sharp knives!) they were able to glue it rather than stitch it, so that was a relief. The bandage should stay on for 10 days, but it should be fine. There's the story! Happy 7th Birthday Ted!

And here is a very serious picture of me doing my form at TKD. Still no pics of Ted yet ... I hope someone has some.

Happy Birthday to Ted

I will write a lovely reflective post soon. In the meantime:

• Legos and cupcakes 
  
• a clear night full of constellations 
  
• skyping with cousins  
  
• ER trip

I am tired and ready for bed. Having a 7 year old is exhausting.