I have this thing I do at the girls' half birthdays where I demand a real photo of them. By "real" I mean there is actual effort put into what they will wear, I set up my portrait studio, and I block a few hours of time for the sole purpose of getting a good photo.
Mileage varies on that "good" part. Sometimes I do well. Other times, WELP.
Guess how Mila's 18 month photos went.
There was a part of me that was really super frustrated that Mila refused to stand in one general place and look at me. There was also a part of me that appreciated that she figured out how to use the backdrop as a slide and that she pretended that candy was going to work as a form of bribery but then was all "HAHAHAHAAAA NOPE!" There was also a part of me that remembered how Alexis' 18 month photos went.
I paid someone to take those photos. I was fully focused on getting her to look at the camera and stand sort of nicely. And yet! And yet THAT was the only usable photo that came of over an hour of effort. Alexis was busy running laps around the backdrop and never for a second cooperated with the photographer.
Mila can say she sort of cooperated. Not really, but sort of.
Just looking at that photo exhausts me. I mean, goodness. 18 month old girls are terror on legs.
Given that so far we're two-for-two with the girls getting kind of the same results on their half year photos, just you wait for Mila's next one. It's going to be good. Maybe not as good as her first one, but still good.
Everybody has 24 hours in their day. It’s how you choose to use each of those hours that matters.
I choose to keep moving.
With two girls running in opposite directions, plus two dogs, three cats, and a bunch of fish, there is always something that needs to be done, somewhere to go, or someone who needs to be fed. Did you know that you have to feed kids every single day? Multiple times per day, even? I don’t know why, but I find that fact shocking each time one of them looks at me with hungry eyes. Didn’t I just feed you yesterday?
Between the jumping, running, flipping, dancing, running, walking, jumping, splashing, tumbling, toddling, running, and yet more dancing, there are meals that have to be made. They have to be served in a timely manner because while hungry eyes are kind of cute, hangry eyes are terrifying.
Never let the Big Kid reach hangry stage. Trust me.
It’s all a careful balancing act, this moving and meals thing. Sometimes that careful balancing act falls a little to the side. Sometimes meals aren’t what they should be.
Which is okay. I refuse to use even one of my 24 hours beating myself up for not preparing a seven course meal. If dinner needs to be something quick and easy, so be it. If dinner needs to be something that perhaps isn’t the best choice nutritionally, so be it.
Overall balance is what matters. Besides, there are ways to fill in the gaps.
Every morning, Alexis will suddenly appear in the kitchen and declare it time for her vitamins. She’s excellent at remembering these things, though she doesn’t need to be. Her L’il Critters™ gummy vitamins are purposely placed next to the coffee so that I will see them every day and remember to hand her two. Since they are easy to chew and don’t require water, she doesn’t have to stop jumping, running, flipping, dancing, and tumbling to take them. That's good news! She doesn’t know how to stop the always moving, so finding balance means fitting in with the always moving.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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As we walked past the cart selling candied nuts at the mall, Alexis began her pleas. "Can we buy some? Pleeeeeease?"
The answer was a resounding "NO" because we had literally just eaten lunch. Asking for more food less than ten minutes after declaring yourself full doesn't go over well with me. But, as a consolation, I told the kid we could just make some when we got home.
I'm pretty sure the whole world heard the record scratch sound in her head as she stopped in her tracks and incredulously said, "WHAT? WE CAN MAKE THEM?"
Um, oops? Apparently I haven't made them in recent enough history for Alexis to remember how easy they are?
I fixed it.
There are two ways to get from Point A to Point EAT THEM! with candied nuts. One involves standing in front of a stove and stirring a lot. The other involves throwing things on a cookie sheet and walking away. Go ahead and guess which path I prefer.
Follow the little gingerbread man to the easy way ... aka my friend Liz's recipe.
Candied Pecans
1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon salt 1 egg white 1 teaspoon water 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 cups pecans (I get them at Sam's Club or similar because they are WAY less expensive that way)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Toss the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a mixing bowl. Use a fork or whisk to mix them all up.
3. In a big bowl, use a fork to mix up the egg white, water, and vanilla extract. You want it to be foamy.
4. Throw the pecans in with the egg white and toss until the nuts are thoroughly coated.
5. Throw the cinnamon and sugar in with the pecans and mix things up some more. You're done when the nuts are evenly coated with sugar and cinnamon goodness.
6. Spread the nuts out on your cookie sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 60 minutes, stirring and flipping and such every 20 minutes during the baking time.
7. Be super impressed at how many times I've said "nuts" in this post without making some sort of immature comment. Weeeeeee!
in Recipe | Sunday, December 20, 2015 | Comments Off
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
