Winter Made Me Do It - Part 3

I mentioned in my first post that Samuel had been super trying lately.

Because of course, the day it starts snowing, setting off a chain of relentless preschool cancellations and child care closings, IS the day my child would decide to:
a) learn how to climb over the baby gate
b) learn how to open the refrigerator
c) decide that napping is for losers (thankfully THAT only lasted 4 days. whew).

So, since Eric's month of nights is over (he still has 2 more weeks coming, but I'm in denial about that), and Samuel has officially made himself allowed upstairs, we converted our guest room into a full-fledged playroom.

This has simultaneously been my best and worst decision of the winter. At least 28 times a day I hear, "Upstairs, mommy!" And, after we are up there for 8.5 seconds, "Downstairs! Take TRACTOR downstairs!" Oh, don't worry, he wants tractor back upstairs within 5 minutes.

There's also no good way to block the playroom off from the cat's litter box and food, Eric's computer and other office supplies, or the bathroom. That's led to a lot of Samuel's stuffed animals "eating cat food" and "going potty (both in the toilet and the litter box)," multiple re-sets of Eric's desktop, and lots lots LOTS of time outs and various other punishments.

Le sigh.

At least he's been pretty funny.

Like when he told me that "Daddy eats cat food." Hmm. He's also been informing us that "Daddy too big!" (to play with his toys).

Or how he wants to say happy birthday to his puzzles, elmo, his books, and, of course, himself ("Now cake!") Except he just says "Happy to you!" That's pretty cute. (Really, it's for any holiday, because at Valentine's he said, "Happy to you valentines!!")

We did make it to a birthday party last week a few hours before snow storm #3. I felt kind of bad for him, because his little face lit up SO much when everyone started singing Happy Birthday, and it got SO sad when he realized it was not for him. It's tough being 2.

We've been asking Samuel who to pray for at night. Usually it's his preschool teachers. Sometimes he throws in Elmo, his playroom, trains, and baby Moses. We make it work. ;-)

Today in the car, Teddy was "praying" - for Grammy, Pappy and the BEACH!

Samuel also told me that Teddy was his best friend. And Thomas the Tank Engine. And Percy. (He finally listed some real people too. But NOT mommy and daddy. We're the mommy and daddy).

Eric asked Samuel what show he wanted to watch on TV. Samuel told him, "NOT Friends!!"

He's also taken to calling Eric whatever I call him. Lately that's been, "Baby," "Honey," and just plain "ERRRRICCC!" Haha.

Everytime he realizes there's snow on the ground, he goes, "Ooh! Snowflake time!" Never "snow." Always "snowflakes." I love it.

After the latest snow storm, we decided to build a real snowman (much larger than our previous 10-inch tall one, "Olaf.") I asked Samuel what to name him. "Olaf 2!!"

He's gotten pretty good at counting, until fourteen, that is -- then it goes "sev-uh-teen, fi-teen, TWENNNY!"

And today, driving home, he started singing. I'm pretty sure this isn't what he said, but it definitely sounded like: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, How I want to eat you -- ARR!" Haha.

I feel like he's way funnier in person than when I write things down. Maybe it's because I've lost it from being trapped inside for 2 weeks? ;-) Whatever the case, trying as he may be, I'm REALLY glad he's around!! He makes me laugh every day!

Winter Made Me Do It - Part 2

1100 Miles, baby.

Eric correctly pointed out that that is pretty much the equivalent of running to Dallas. I countered that it took me a whole flippin' year, so that's really not that impressive.

It is a lot of miles, I suppose. An average of just over 3 a day for the last year.

I like that running is something that's steady in my life.

February did not make it easy on me. I never ran more than 6 miles at a time and the darn snow tried to keep me away. It was too slippery and cold to run outside, the gym child care kept closing early, and my nose and lungs made breathing particularly hard (who am I kidding? I'm still sitting here sniffling and coughing as I type). I'm not going to pretend like I enjoyed it last month.

I definitely enjoyed meeting a GOAL though. I'm way too goal-focused. But maybe that's not the worst thing in the world. I think I also felt like if I did this in spite of the dumb winter, in spite of the laziness I felt, that it would really be a victory, not just a goal achieved.

Hopefully I can keep up with last year's mileage for the next few months to maintain 1100. I want to try some new classes and diversify my work outs though. I also need to work on that eating healthier thing. ;-) If only brownies weren't so good!

Winter Made Me Do It.

It snowed some more. And we all got a cold. Samuel has been testing us a TON -I think, because he is bored and tired of being trapped inside (just like his momma!). So all in all, not our favorite week ever.

Some good has come of it though. We've tried some new recipes, Samuel has said some funny things, and I did accomplish a fitness goal. I'll dedicate this post to recipes. ;-)

Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
Easy and yummy!

1 lb. ground chicken
1/2 c. Italian bread crumbs
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1/2 T. garlic powder
1 egg
1 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
(the recipe also calls for some lemon zest, but I omitted that).

Mix ingredients together, roll into balls, and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Chocolate Molten Cake
Gnam Gnam. 

3/4 c. butter
12 oz. chocolate chips
1/2 c. heavy cream
5 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
2/3 c. flour

Melt butter, cream and chocolate chips together until smooth when stirred. Add in eggs, then sugar and flour. Pour into greased (buttered) cupcake pan and let cool for one hour, up to one day.

Bake at 450 for 8-10 minutes, until the outsides are set. The inside should still be a little runny. Let cool 3-5 minutes before serving.

Eggless Pancakes
For the days you plan to make fish, but the grocery store doesn't get any in since it snowed. So your husband requests pancakes, but you have no pancake mix. Or eggs. Or even bananas (which seem to be a popular pancake base). Man, I am thankful for Pinterest!

1 1/4 c. flour
1 T baking powder
1 T sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. milk
2 T. vegetable oil
2 T. water

Mix it up... Make pancakes. ;-)

I've also made multiple attempts at the perfect brownie. I've made some pretty darn good ones, but still nothing that lines up with the Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate boxed mix. I *will* figure out their secret one day (artifical flavors?).

I also made granola, some more banana bread, a few batches of banana oatmeal (my favorite breakfast!), and some homemade chicken alfredo and a sausage and rice casserole - they were both good, basically just meat and veggies in a white sauce, so nothing I can't come up with again.

There were also a few batches of Cowboy cookies and no-bake cookies in there....

Can you tell I have a cooking/baking problem?