tackling the picky eater... my solution!!

i have a little video clip of the "sandwich incident" described below... um, yeah.  i opted to not show it.  i mean, if you have kids, you see them throw fits.  why would you want to see mine throw one?  and if you don't have kids {gosh i was a great mom before i had kids} then you really won't want to see mine having a fit...  anywho.

ethan and i have gone 'round and 'round on the issue of eating growing foods.  it is not fun.  but i have found my solution. 

dinner for breakfast.

let me give you some background information.  ethan is a hold out.  he will hold out for breakfast always.  always.

he will hold out for lunch the next day.  or the next.  he will just opt to not eat.

and i am sure that some people would say, well, he won't starve himself, he'll eat when he's hungry.

yah.... not my kid.  he gets grouchy, hungry, a real bear.  but won't eat.

i didn't really expand on the great war of the sloppy joe in this post... i just sort of referenced it.  it was a bad day.  you see, at the end of last month i made sloppy joes.  not manwhich out of a can, but really yummy venison sloppy joes.  in the slow cooker.  mmmm... i will have to measure next time so that i can relay the recipe on...  perfect comfort food.  but that's beside the point.

he didn't want it.  so i served it for breakfast the next day.

and he didn't want it again.

bingo - lunch!

well folks, he intentionally took a bite and then barfed.  for real.

so what did i do?  i wiped his face, lap and hands and we KEPT EATING.

i won.

and now, he knows i mean business.  he's been an ah-mazing eater ever since.  {well, not totally amazing, but tries lots of things, no fits, and eats what we eat}

except last night he didn't want his lentil soup. so guess what he had for breakfast this morning?

i think i am really on to something!

and you know what kind of treats i offer now?  bubble baths.  {opposed to showers, which he usually gets}  it is genius, and i am not rewarding with food. 

and while we are talking about food, can i just say that savannah has gone from crazy hollow leg girl to little lady that just picks at her food.  i know its a normal thing to do, but geez.  hard for me to wrap my mind around the change!!  this is the critical time period for not turning her into a fussy eater by just giving her easy food she will eat.

i'm reminding myself that these are all short-lived phases... short-lived phases....

xoxo, s

swimmin' and shoppin'

the swim update:

for what it is worth, swim lessons were a complete success.  could he have benefited from 4 weeks vs. 2? well, of course.  but on saturday, he was swimming.  and floating.  and swimming down to the bottom to get dive sticks...

sigh. of. relief.

we went to a lake/pool/husband work thing this weekend.  i was delighted that ethan showed his mad fishy skills to his daddy.

but i didn't take a single photo.  how on earth could i have??  why aren't mothers given octopus arms???

and he keeps saying "swimming lessons are over?  oh, i miss them.  i miss Miss Dayna"

SUCCESS!


but i did take some photos of my shopping trip.  a shopping trip to walmart.  not my favorite shopping spot.







the comments i received from fellow shoppers ranged from:  "are you an extreme couponer?" to "are you trying to kill someone with the sodium content in all of those cans of spam and vienna sausages?"

glamorous, no?

but really, i was shopping for the rainbow room. {which is my junior league placement}

the whole time i kept saying, "thank god the kids aren't with me"  and "if i had done this a year ago, i might have died.  no wonder i procrastinated my JL placement"

and i was surprised, because i also must say, the people of walmart warmed my heart.  one lady watched my buggy while i got a second one.  an old guy and his grandson pushed my carts to the checkout lane.  and the man gathering carts in the parking lot helped push one of my buggies to my car.

i really was shocked.

seriously.  i usually have a narrow miss of being run over in the parking lot or someone blatantly cuts in the checkout lane.  and why on earth would there be a website for a group of shoppers if there wasn't a kernel of truth to this?  i'm just saying... there is an entire website devoted to them.  really. 

however, at one point i was stopped in the middle of an aisle, and a lady started shopping out of my cart.  she seemed peeved when i told her that those cans of fruit were mine.

ethan thought that when we went to stock the food room yesterday that it was the coolest thing ever.  win, win.

have a good week - xoxo, stephanie

swim lessons...

are necessary.

are exhausting.

are a battle.

don't let these photos deceive you.

this one was before the first day.  he had no clue what was coming.

and in this one, he was focusing on the goggles, and momentarily forgot why he was wearing the goggles.

one of my friends said it was worse than potty training.  well, i could see how that could be, but it isn't worse for me.  {that was a serious low for me} but it is not easy.  i do think that comment put it into perspective for my husband.  always nice when an outside party validates the struggle to him.  makes me sound more credible.  you know??  just me.  i thought so.

anyway, swim lessons are every day.

and i am thankful for them.  please, don't get me wrong.  i am so grateful that we have the opportunity.  that we got a time slot in the ridiculous rat race of swim lesson sign ups.  i really am.

but they are everyday.  and ethan doesn't want to go.

at. all.

and not in a major drama way.  they are sad, scared tears.  not crazy-fit-angry tears.

it is hard to see your kiddo that way.

but apparently, this is the only way that works.  so we will press on.

you should see the energy i put into getting there, and then rewarding for a good lesson.  ice cream.  chickfila.  playdates.   the purchase of goggles.

another mother told me to tell my son this:  it is hard, and scary, i know.  but i have faith in you that you can do hard and scary things.

and that resonated with me.

so while my son learns about floating on his back and kicking his little legs on the surface, i am learning to empower my son to step up to challenges.

this parenting stuff is heavy

xoxo, s

fruits of the garden. well, veggies really...

even though my husband is on trauma, in the evenings he has spent time doing this kind of thing.  ethan is a total fan.  sometimes we don't make a very early bedtime for him so that he can spend this precious time with daddy.  mowing.  or playing with popcorn the calico kitten next door {new baby strays -- anyone in need of a fury little kitten??}

and so far the garden is doing okay.  could be better.  could be worse.  learn as we go.  these cucumbers gave us enough for 3 jars of pickles.  if i owe you pickles i will have to catch you on the next batch.  they are so perfect to snack on...

i have 1 quart jar and 1 pint jar left.  looks like i need to restock the canning supplies.  where exactly do they migrate to?  i didn't think i gave that much away!  and wouldn't these have been much better in a wide mouth jar?  yes indeed.  and if i were really fancy, and made of money, i think i would enjoy the weck jars... ahhh... a girl can dream.

i mean, seriously, how much cooler would my pickles look in this jar??

yeah, that's what i thought :)


anyway, by the end of the week, we had a few more. and our first zucchini.  we have a couple other zucchini on the way... thanks to the artificial insemitation of garden flowers i have been doing.   sheesh.  nothing like sex ed for the garden.  male flowers, female flowers, inserting male flower into female flower.  THIS IS WHAT THE BEES ARE SUPPOSED TO DO.  I AM NOT A BEE. 

and this guy was wonderful... i sauteed him in bacon grease.... i wish we had more.

but seriously people, it is so so hot here.  already.  melting.  so who knows how long things will keep going.  i hope everything makes it through the summer and then does gangbusters in the fall.  i'm not throwing in the towel, i am just hoping for higher yields of fruit at some point...

i should be careful what i wish for though, because picking everything and putting it up could be a beast.


xoxo, stephanie

Blackberry Margaritas

earlier this week, i posted on facebook that i was drinking a margarita... except it was after midnight.  i haven't been doing very well on the whole go-to-bed-early thing.

there is always next week.

anyway, i feel compelled to share the recipe...  if you don't scrimp on the berries it is amazing.  if you do... well, it is still amazing, just more of a hint of berries instead of a crazy berry blast.  and the recipe is for a pitcher of margarita.  because, seriously, who makes a lone margarita?

and as far as the ingredients go, i know it would probably be better with fresh lime juice and simple syrup.  but people, i have little kids.  and juicing limes takes time.  so if you are a purest, i completely understand.  at this point in my life, i will go with minute maid.  glad we cleared that up.

Stephanie's Blackberry Margarita

in a blender, combine the following ingredients:

2 cups blackberries {fresh or frozen}
1 can frozen limade
3 cups water
1 cup silver tequilla
1/2 cup triple sec

strain through a fine mesh sieve into a pitcher

serve over ice garnished with key limes, fresh mint, and whole frozen blackberries.


tell me what you think... i adapted it from, like, 6 or 7 different recipes.


and by the way, i could totally bring a pitcher or 2 {or 3 or 4} to your Fourth of July celebration... seeing as how i don't have plans yet   ;)

no, seriously, i have these in my freezer now.