Huh?

Around the time they are three, I make each of my children their first twin-sized quilt. Since Matthew just turned three (as he frequently reminds us), I’ve started planning for his quilt. He is really into cars and trucks right now, so I did a google search hoping to find some cute ideas for a car quilt. One of my hits brought up this image:


And all I have to say is, “Why?”

Three!

For Matthew's third birthday, he got the family standard three celebrations:

1. On the day before his birthday, Kev's parents joined us for lunch and brought his birthday present with them. It was a super fabulous book featuring Lightning McQueen and his friends. This is one of those books that shows a list of different items to find in the picture and is completely non-reader friendly. Matthew just loves it!


2. On his birthday, Matthew helped me make cupcakes and we had a celebration here at home. We built a cupcake tower, sang the song and let Matthew blow out the candles. He received an assortment of small Cars cars (Mack is his favorite but he was excited about Doc Hudson and several more Lightnings as well), a monster bowling set, and a Hot Wheels track. He was so excited that he couldn't sleep that night. He was super good, went right to bed, and never even got out to play, but at 10:00 p.m. he was still talking and singing to himself.


3. The Sunday after his birthday, Matthew got his fancy birthday cake and we celebrated with my parents, siblings, etc. Just in case you hadn't noticed, Matthew has a thing about Lightning McQueen right now (we've watched Cars at least once a day for weeks now) so his birthday cake was made to fit his current fettish.


Once again we sang and he blew. And then there was tofu cake for all!

Just Another (Birth)Day With Matthew

As of today I can say that we officially survived ‘2' with Matthew. Whether or not we’re all going to make it to the end of ‘3' is yet to be seen . . .

Today started as just any other day: Matthew fighting over what color bowl he had for breakfast, Matthew’s indecision and then last minute mind changing about the cereal, Matthew arguing about getting dressed since apparently jammies are the best clothes in the world, Matthew having a meltdown about using the potty (he knows what to do and really just doesn’t care which is frustrating for me), and then me calling Kev to help fix the computer after Matthew messed it up while I was cleaning the bathroom. Once I informed Matthew that he was so done with the computer for today (I swear, that kid runs the thing better than I do most of the time), he opted to help me clean the bathroom instead. Once he had his paper towels to help me clean the glass on the shower, the following conversation occurred:

Matthew: “Can I hold that?” (He was talking about the Windex)
Me: “No.”
Matthew: “Why?”
Me: “Because you’re two.”
Matthew: “No I not! I’m three!!”
Me: ‘sigh’

The next year may be even longer than the last one, if only because he is definitely more capable of verbally arguing his case now. Wish me luck.

Pampering My Fetish

I have a thing about tote bags. This is not a purse thing: a cute little clutch for every outfit is definitely very fashion forward, but you just can’t put that much stuff in a teeny tiny purse. This is a love affair with tote bags. I have tote bags in all colors, shapes and sizes (Different bags work better for different stuff!) and my favorites are usually those that can be described as organizational powerhouses. So when my mother-in-law gave me a coupon for a super cute bag in a fabric of my choice for my birthday, I was completely excited. So we shopped, and we lunched, and then she sewed. Here are the marvelous results:



And check out the pockets inside!


These darling bags are organizationally excellent and absolutely adorable all at the same time. I think I’m in love!

Hip Hip Hooray!

Nathan had been patching his eye for nearly a year and a half. That is a long time for anyone, but for a six year old that is a quarter of his life. After the big step from all day to only four hours a day, everything kind of stalled out and he has been at four hours a day for five or six months. He was pretty discouraged after his last appointment when he was told to keep patching four hours a day. So it is totally understandable that as the day of his latest appointment with the eye doctor approached, he got more and more stressed out. He has been afraid that he will never be done or that he will have to go back to patching all the time. Considering how rocky his road has been, his concerns are completely valid.

But today was good news! With the correct prescription in his glasses, he is 20/20 in both eyes! And he only has to patch two hours a day! He was so excited that he cheered right there in the doctor's office when they told him! He is so happy that when he said the prayer at dinner time he thanked Heavenly Father for this glorious day. It really is a glorious day when we get good news at the eye doctor.

In eight weeks we will go back and if things are still going well he will decrease again and then be done. We're all praying his eye stays strong.

A Perk Of The New School

Tonight our school held a literacy night: an evening event focused on getting kids excited about reading. There were tables set up for the kids to make bookmarks and reading journals, a literary matching game, a read aloud of "The Cat In The Hat" by the cat himself, a book walk (think cake walk with less sugar), a chance to have pictures taken, and a book signing by Brandon Mull. For those who don't know, Brandon Mull in the author of "The Candy Shop Wars" and the Fablehaven series. He did an assembly for the upper grades during the day and Daniel's teacher has been reading "The Candy Shop Wars" out loud for the class, so Daniel was totally excited about the chance to buy his own book and get it signed by the author.

Now, I won't stand in line to get autographs from rock stars or movie stars, but when my nine year old wants his book signed by the author I surely will join the crowd. So we stood. And we waited. And then we stood and waited some more. Nathan took breaks from line standing to go do activities, but Daniel was focused on getting his book signed and only left for a few minutes to get his picture taken. When we got to the front of the line, I realized that the assistant principal was trying to hurry things along by encouraging Brandon Mull to sign his name only, not the names of people whose books he was signing. But he, in very good-natured manner, was pleasantly signing books to specific people, signing posters, and even autographed several bookmarks for the family in front of us. I was impressed, even though it meant a slightly longer wait. So Daniel and Nathan got their books signed and now my six year old is starting to read "Fablehaven." Mission literacy: accomplished.

Apparently the school tries to get a different author to come to the school each year for the literacy night. I think that is a super fun event to look forward to each year.

Notice that the background is populated with characters from Brandon Mull's books.

Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

As Matthew and I got out of the car after our excursion to the grocery store this morning, I found myself glancing longingly at the flowerbeds hoping to see shoots of green. Alas, it was not meant to be since there are still six inches of snow covering the yard. Apparently I'm ready for winter to be over.

Tasty Tofu

In the past two years, my kitchen has seen a lot of strange things as I've attempted to cook for Matthew's allergies. After all that time, I've found some pretty good recipes and tricks and have become pretty confident in my ability to produce tasty things that are allergen free. I often get looks of skepticism when I take treats to a party or ward function and tell people it is completely dairy, egg, and nut free. Then there are looks of surprise when they discover it actually tastes good. But one thing I had never worked up the courage to try was Toffutti Better Than Cream Cheese, a tofu based cream cheese substitute. I mean, cream cheese is a little bit of heaven right on earth. Almost everything is tastier and richer with a bit of cream cheese. A good smear on a bagel is a perky way to start the day. And cheesecake. Need I say more? Nothing made out of beans has even half a chance of being even remotely as luscious. So naturally I was reluctant.

Then my mother-in-law bought me a new cookbook entitled The Food Allergy Mama's Baking Book. It was written by a mom who cooks for a child with the exact same allergies as Matthew and it is all about sweet treats. In the past few months we have tried a number of these treats and not one of them has been a disappointment. At last I have found an egg-free cake recipe that will hold up to being molded into fancy birthday cakes! And the ingredient that makes this wonder of a confection possible? Silken tofu. I kid you not. On Daniel's birthday, my siblings were skeptical when I told them I was feeding them tofu cake, but the platter was completely empty when it was time to go home.

So with the success (and tastiness) of all the other recipes I had tried, I finally decided to break down and try the dairy free cheesecake. I made it as my birthday cake thinking that I needed a lot of people to share it with so that 1) if it ended up nasty I wouldn't feel guilty about throwing an entire faux cheesecake away and 2) if it turned out tasty I wouldn't be tempted to eat the entire thing myself. And I must admit that I was leaning more in the direction of needing to chuck the thing in the nearest trash bin. The appearance of the not-cream cheese did nothing to convince me otherwise. It was kind of gray and nasty looking. I was not hopeful. I was so convinced it didn't have a chance of being yummy that I swirled in raspberries in an attempt to cover up any nastiness that might occur. I figured at least that way people could pick out the berries before discreetly scraping their portions into the garbage disposal.

But apparently miracles do happen because not only was the tofu cheesecake palatable, it was actually pretty darn good. The texture was closer to a gelatin based cheesecake rather than a baked one, but I can forgive it that due to the fact that it did in fact taste good. No lie. Now, I'm not going to be slapping that gray bean substance on a bagel anytime soon, but it does feel good to know that my son will not live out his entire life never knowing the wonder that is cheesecake.