Worth The Effort

I may have whined complained b*tched quite a bit during the 473 hours it took me to complete 40 busy bags. And then I got my box of goodies in the mail. G, you outdid yourself! There is no way in holy heck I could have pulled all of that together while 11 months pregnant. Just.no.way!

First up was the Fish Bowl. I had a dentist appointment and Grandma Grandma came over to watch the kids. My dentist is a rock star and I was home in less than half an hour so they hadn't even finished dinner let alone started on their busy bag project. They were too pumped about doing it for me to try to save them until there was a "need", so we did them anyhow:

What? Your kids don't do everything without shirts? You're lucky they're wearing pants! (Sidenote: we had pasta for dinner. Uniforms + pasta sauce = no shirts at dinner).

The finished product was pretty neat and the only thing to nitpick was that if I had just grabbed the bag "to go", I would have been crabby because it required scissors and glue. Luckily, I've learned from the first attempt and now read the instructions before grabbing and going:

While this one was fun, the next one? BOUGHT ME AN HOUR OF PEACE AND QUIET DURING BASKETBALL PRACTICE! (Yes, that required all caps). It's called the "Tennis Ball Puke Monster" and they STILL play with them. A lot. I had to hide them so that the fun won't wear off before our next scheduled practice!

The only other problem I've encountered so far is that I am craft illiterate. And some of the projects are lacking instructions. I'm a little skerred to try and do them using my own craftiness because, well, I'm not even sure what they're supposed to be! So, if you participated in beanski's busy bag swap and you didn't include instructions, please help me!

Next up, picture frames! Youngest Boy has been begging - begging - to do those, so I can't wait!

Love At First Bite

I love this guy. The Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro. Not in a "I wanna have his babies" kinda way (because I am DONE having babies). More in a "I wish he was my brother so he could cook me Sunday dinner" kinda way. (No offense to my own brothers, but you guys have NEVER cooked me Sunday dinner. Just sayin'.).

It started last Thanksgiving (Halloween, really) when I made his Pumpkin Pie recipe. Now, let me just say, I take my pumpkin pie VERY SERIOUSLY. It may be my all-time favorite food. All.time. So when I saw this recipe in Reader's Digest I felt like it couldn't possibly hurt to at least try to make it. I love to bake. And eat. And I feel like I am sorely lacking in the "pie" category. So I made it. And fell in love.

Then, he published his recipe for Linguine With Shrimp, Roasted Tomatoes, and Spinach in Parenting magazine (here's where I would link to that but our computer is like, 75 years old in technology years and their site wouldn't cooperate)(Incidentally, Parenting - the school years is my least favorite magazine that I currently read. It's like it is written by teenagers, complete with very poor grammar and constant use of slang that I'm now too old to understand. GET OFF MY LAWN!). And I decided he should be related. Not that two isn't enough brothers, but still.

And, in the interest of recipes, here is my favorite pie crust recipe. Important tip: Roll out the crust between two sheets of waxed paper. Once I found this tip, I've been a pie-makin' fool. Or maybe just a fool with a lot of pies. Whatever.

Best Flaky Pie Crust:

2 ½ cups flour
½ cup butter, cold
½ tsp salt
½ cup chilled shortening
6 TBSP ice water

In the bowl of food processor, combine flour, salt, shortening and butter. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle in ice water, a tablespoon at a time, until dough comes together. Divide in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling out between two pieces of waxed paper. Makes 2 pie crusts.

Linguine With Shrimp, Roasted Tomatoes, and Spinach (from Parenting magazine):

½ pint halved cherry tomatoes
2 tsp minced garlic – divided
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP olive oil - divided
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 lb linguine
1 lb shrimp - peeled and deveined
2 TBSP butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 cups baby spinach

Preheat oven to 450°F. In a baking dish, toss together tomatoes, 1 tsp garlic and ¼ cup olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and roast 10 min. Stir in bread crumbs and roast 5 min more. Cook linguine according to pkg directions. Meanwhile, melt butter with 2 TBSP olive oil in large skillet. Saute 1 tsp garlic for 1 min. Add shrimp and sauté until pink and cooked through (3-4 min). Add ½ cup chicken broth and cook additional 2-3 min. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Toss in pasta and tomato mixture. Mix well and serve. Plan a trip to Hoboken to thank the Cake Boss for sharing. Just sayin'.

Mistaken Identity

My kids don't watch a WHOLE lot of TV (although we are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fans...) but because we spend so much time shuttling back and forth between home and school(s) we watch a lot of Disney movies in the van. Lately, the girls have been enjoying Lady and the Tramp. It caused this interesting discussion:

Little One (walking around calling for...someone): B*tch! B*tch! Where are you, B*tch?
Me: What did you just say?!?!
Little One: B*tch?
Me: Where on earth did you hear that word?!?! That is NOT a nice word!
Baby Girl: That's what the boy doggie calls the girl doggie.
Me: Oh. Well, uh, um then technically it's not a bad word but we still don't say it!
Little One (cupping her hands around her mouth for more volume): B*tch!!
Me: {SIGH}

After watching the movie in the Space Shuttle again (because I could NOT figure out when they used that word in the movie...) I realized she was saying, "Pidge" - or at least trying to! The Tramp calls Lady "Pigeon" or "Pidge" for short throughout the movie. This came as a great relief to ME, but it was in no way helping Little One to realize what she was supposed to be saying. In other words, if she calls you "B*tch", take it as a compliment!

Pain in the Vein

I had my first two rounds of vein treatment last week. When I scheduled it, they told me I would be able to resume my normal routine almost immediately but no "strenuous aerobic exercise" and also no "heavy lifting" (they took that restriction away when I asked if a 32 lb toddler counted as "heavy lifting"). Mr. MOTH drove me in on the first day. I was able to easily drive myself home after the second treatment.

And then came Day 4. Yinz guys, my leg HURTS. I am limping. It's purple (OK. Not completely purple, but still.). I can see that the protruding veins are significantly smaller than they were but right now I'm questioning my sanity at deciding to have this done. In defense of the clinic, the technician told me that's how I would feel for the first couple of weeks, she just didn't tell me why.

And I can't run. Guess what happens to a runner who can't run? They go stir crazy! A lot of runners get injured and have to take some time off - but they are usually able to do other things - swim, bike, yoga, whatever. I had to improvise. I cleaned. My house is frickin' spotless (NOT clutter-free, but very shiny!). Luckily, with four kids this is something that I can do almost every day! My fridge is so clean that when Youngest Boy came home from school on Friday and saw it he asked if we got a new one! LOL!

I have a follow-up appointment tomorrow and I'm hoping they'll say it's OK to run again although I'm in enough pain that I may not even want to run. We'll see. I have enough to do to distract myself with a 7th Birthday party coming up on Saturday and the zillion other things that have to be done as part of life around here. I just hope that my leg starts to look more human very, very soon. I bought a lot of clearance skirts for next summer. ;)