Medical Moment

As I look back through the blog, and as D and I recall from memory, Thanksgiving is the time of year we're almost always sick. Well, this year is no exception. In fact, one of the four of us has been sick in some way at some point since October 22nd! That's five weeks straight! I was the one who started this yucky, sick mess. I got a nasty infection on my scalp. I won't go into too many gory details, but I will say I was misdiagnosed with Shingles. I freaked out! The treatment for that made the rash worse, so I was put on another treatment, to which I had a horrific allergic reaction to. All of that took place over the first two weeks of the last five weeks. Then the boys started getting little coughs and runny noses that were simple colds at first. What was a simple cold turned into Bronchitis for N, when N and his classmates were allowed to play outside in mid thirty degree weather for gym time two days in a row at school. N's cold turned into a nasty cough over night. It hit him like a ton of bricks. L had had a cough/cold, too and he took a turn for the worse, so I took both boys to the doctor. That's when I found out N had bronchitis and L had a double ear infection. We got the boys on antibiotics, a liquid steroid and breathing treatments. The liquid steroid the boys were on made N insanely hyper. Hyper active, hyper sensitive, you name it. It was awful. I mean awful. He was literally bouncing off the walls. He could not control himself he was hyper! So, after a full day of talking it over with N's doctor, I took him off of it. And, amazingly, N returned to himself after about twelve hours of being off the med. It was incredible. The boys were healthy for two and a half days, Thanksgiving Eve, Thanksgiving and half of Black Friday. Then, out of nowhere, L started holding his tummy and throwing up about every two hours. He was sick for a little over twenty four hours then I got it. And wow, did I get it! Man, did I feel awful all night Sunday night. I guess it's the flu. Towards the middle of the night Sunday night N got it. By morning we were all down for the count! L wasn't, be he'd already had it, but D, N and I all had it. I knew D and N weren't feeling well because both of them laid on the couch together for several hours. N even took a long nap. I stationed myself in the basement with L and did the best I could to play with him. That little booger almost wore me out! I was so glad when his nap time rolled around so I could get some rest on the couch. One way I knew I didn't feel well? The food commercials on TV grossed me out. Even Olive Garden. I love OG, but watching OG commercials when you're sick is not appealing! Even chocolate commercials got to me. It's almost ten at night now and I think we're out of the woods....knock on wood! D and I still feel a little weak, but I think the worst is over. Now maybe we'll all get healthy enough so we can go get our flu shots! Ha!

Mommy and Me Day

N and I had a fun "Mommy and Me" day today. I do these special days with N every once in a while. When L is old enough I will do them with him, too. Today N and I went to Micheal's (or the craft store as N calls it) and we went to the movie Tangled. At Micheal's we caught some good deals and stocked up on fun Christmas crafts. We went to the movies after the craft store. Going to the movies is something we rarely do, mostly because, until now, N hasn't been able to sit in his seat through an entire movie. I made several attempts to take him to the movies and he didn't make it through them. Luckily I learned this through the $1 or free movies offered during the winter months, so I didn't have a lot to lose for that price. This time around, N did very well. We each got a "munchie tray" which consists of a small drink, popcorn and a big tootsie roll. N looked so cute sitting in his seat with his. I tried to get a picture of him with his goodies using my phone, but it just couldn't take a decent pic in the theatre. For the first time ever, I had N sit in a booster seat so he could see the screen better. This worked out really well for two reason. For one, the obvious, he could see better and because it was more difficult to get out of. Ha.

Tangled was a good movie. N was captivated for the whole thing. I will say one thing, though. The movie was a little more dramatic than I thought it needed to be. One minute your overjoyed and happy, the next you were sad. Then there were some parts that were more scary than they should be. I thought the woman Rapunzel lived with was played out as too mean for a movie meant for kids. Then the part where the....oops. If you haven't seen the movie I won't spoil it, but there was a part towards the end that I thought was too sad for a kid's movie. I looked over and N was actually crying. He crawled into my lap to be comforted. They did end the show on a jubilant note, though. I'm glad they did that so we left feeling good. But, with that said, it was a good movie. I think it's better suited for the six and older crowd.

On the way out of the theatre N noticed the arcade games and asked if we could play them. I told him no, not this time. I told him today was movie day and next time we can have a arcade day...Do I see Chuck E Cheese in our future??

Peppermint Mocha

I'm in love with mint and chocolate right now. This happens to me every winter. Last year I was introduced to Starbuck's Peppermint mocha. Yummmmm! For whatever reason I usually don't crave warm coffee drinks during the day. It's night time when I'm in the mood for one. And, wouldn't you know it, that's the time of day when it's the least convenient for me to swing through my local coffee place to get one. So, I'm experi-minting (har, har. I had to) with making mine own at home. Now, keep in mind, I do not have an espresso machine, so this doesn't taste quite as good as a nice, fluffy latte, but it'll do in a pinch. I've been making mine with decaf. If I drink caffeine after, say 2pm, I'd be up all night. But, if you want to make yours caffienated, go for it! I have a tiny coffee pot (makes 4 cups), so these measurements are created with my coffee pot in mind.

Decaf coffee

1 packet your fav hot cocoa (Coldstone creamery's 70 cal packs are yummy)

1-2 peppermint patties or one miniature candy cane (I suppose you could use mint extract too)

1 packet Splenda

Brew your coffee. Pour cocoa into cup. Mix coffee and cocoa. Drop in your peppermint. Stir and enjoy.

Breakfast Casserole (8x8)

I took this egg casserole to a (morning) Halloween party this year and have been asked several times for the recipe. Here it is folks. Enjoy! I tried Jimmy Dean's already cooked crumbled turkey sausage for this recipe the other night. It tasted good and made this recipe that much easier to make!

8x8 Breakfast Casserole

4 Hash brown patties, frozen

1-lb sausage or bacon, crumbled (I used turkey sausage)

6 oz. cheddar cheese, grated

6 eggs (3 egg whites, 3 whole eggs)

1 cup milk (skim)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1. Line an 8x8 baking dish with frozen hash browns.

2. Sprinkle hash browns with crumbled sausage or bacon.

3. Top with grated cheddar cheese.

4. Mix together eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and dry mustard

5. Pour over meat and hash browns.

6. Refrigerate over night.

7. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

I found this recipe at the following website, but have tweaked it a tiny bit to make it healthier. http://www.mountain-breeze.com/kitchen/breakfast/44.html

Thank you Shutterfly!

My Christmas cards are ordered. Yay! Thank you Shutterfly for fifty free cards. Although all three of the options I blogged about below are super cute, I was not able to use any of them because my pictures did not fit into them as well as I wanted them to. That's not to say they won't work for you. It just depends on what photos you have that you'd like to use. I opted for a folded card with multiple pictures on the front and pictures of each boy on the inside of the card. The design I chose allowed space for text about each boy next to the interior pictures. So cute. I can't wait to get the cards. The next thing on my Shutterfly "wish list" is a photo book from a vacation we took earlier this year to an indoor water park.

Slow Cooked Pork Chops

The other night I made a yummy recipe that I hadn't made in a while. Mmmmm. It tasted good!

6-8 pork chops

1/2 c flour

1 TBSP salt

1 1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 TBSP oil

1 can chicken barley mushroom soup (you can also use chicken noodle soup)

Mix flour, salt, mustard, garlic powder. Dredge chops in flour mixture and brown in oil on stove top. When browned, place in the crock pot. Top with soup. Cook on low 6-8 hour, on high 3-4 hours.

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

A friend of mine blogged about a deal for 50 free Christmas cards from Shutterfly the other day. I followed the links she posted to the Shutterfly site to get more information and, in the end, will receive 50 free Christmas cards for myself. Yay! I like the quality of Shutterfly's greeting cards. I've had cards made using pictures I've taken and pictures I've had professionally taken and the cards have turned out great in both instances. I like Shutterfly's card, but I especially like the share site feature they offer. I like to post pictures on the share site for friends and family to see. I also feel like Shutterfly is a good place to use as somewhat of a back up. If I'd ever lose the pictures on my computer I'd have some favorites saved at Shutterfly. Anyway..Back to the Christmas card. This year there are several super cute designs offered. Depending on how our family photos look, I'll choose one of these four designs. (Click each picture to see the full design. I'm having a hard time getting the horizontal images to fit on my page.)

Confetti Flowers Christmas Card

Holly Frame Christmas Card

Perfect Present Christmas Card

Pictures In Cocoa Christmas Card

If you are a blogger, you could get 50 free Shutterfly cards too. Follow this link for more information.

Oobleck

N is really into Dr Seuss stuff right now. We went to the library and checked out five Dr. Seuss books and a Dr. Seuss movie. I found a fun science related activity online so we did tried it. We read Dr. Seuss's "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" book. Then we made Oobleck. I had no idea how much N would love making and playing with this gooey stuff. It only took a couple minutes to stir together and it was very inexpensive, but it was very messy. It was worth it, though. N and I played with it for about forty five minutes and N keeps asking when we can make more. The recipe is below. I don't know what the actual science is behind it, but somehow when you mix corn starch and water together in these amounts, it makes a material that is both semi-solid and semi-liquid. You can punch it in the bowl and it doesn't splash, but when you break through it with your fingers and scoop it up it turns back into a liquid. So cool. Try it. It's fun!

Oobleck

2 cups of corn starch

3 drops of green food coloring

Enough water to make a thick mixture (1 to 1.5 cups)

Mix all ingredients together. I would suggest using a bowl that you don't mind throwing away.

Mexican Lasagna

I tried a new recipe using Lawyr's "Chimichurri Burrito Casserole" seasoning mix and it was yummy! I made it like a Mexican lasagna.

Chimichurri Burrito Casserole

1 pkg. Lawrys Chimichurri Burrito Carrerole Spices & Seasonings

1-1/2 Cups Water

1 Can (8 oz) Tomato Sauce

1 lb Ground Beef (lean ground beef)
1 Can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
8 flour tortillias (8-inch), Warmed (wheat tortillas)
1-1/2 Cup Shredded Mexican Cheese Blend

Directions:

MIX water, Seasoning Mix and Tomato Sauce until well blended.

BROWN meat in large skillet on medium heat. Drain Fat. Stir in one cup of the sauce mixture and beans. Spoon about 1/2 cup meat mixture into each tortilla and fold over sides. Place seam side down in greased 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese.

BAKE in preheated oven at 350 for 15 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

You can make this recipe as burritos as written above or you can layer it in a casserole dish like you'd make a lasagna. This is what I did. The package says to prepare the sauce and meat mixture as directed. Alternately layer tortillas and meat mixture in baking dish, beginning and ending with tortillas. Top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with cheese and bake as directed above.

Candy Fairy

The candy fairy came to our house the night of Halloween. Below you will see a picture of N with all the candy he got while trick or treating! As I said in a previous post, we let him keep five....err ten pieces of candy for himself and he gave the rest to the candy fairy. N told me what to write in a note to the candy fairy which went like this, "Dear Candy Fairy. Please take all this candy. Sincerely, The Cat in the Hat." Simple and to the point. N left his candy bag and the note in the kitchen for the fairy to find. I got to thinking, if we left the bag-o-candy outside his bedroom door he'd be able to sit outside his room and eat candy all night! So, in the kitchen it stayed. The Candy Fairy found the bag, emptied it and filled it with other goodies. She also left a clever note that went like this:

Thank you for leaving me your candy.

You really are quite Dandy!

For being such a big boy,

I shall leave you things that bring you joy.

I heard you were the Cat in the Hat for Trick or Treat

I think you’ll find this movie very neat.

Bubble bath is something you want, I’m told.

I brought you some to hold.

There were two more lines, but they included N's name, so I will omit them here..

Sincerely, The Candy Fairy

N was very receptive to this tradition, so I think we'll ask the Candy Fairy to return next year. N's enjoying the Dr Seuss movie that the CF left him. He also loved taking a bath with the bubbles the CF left. I've got cute photos of him in the bath tub making a bubble hat, bubble mohawk and bubble beard "just like Grandpa L's." And the Tinkerbell vitamins are a hit.

Diaper Rash Spray

L is very prone to diaper rashes. I have pinpointed a few things that I know cause them and I avoid them, but I haven't figured out all the causes. Whenever he gets a rash I find it difficult to get him cleaned up w/o making a big mess, until now. I saw a diaper rash spray product at Target the other day. I thought it was such a great idea, but didn't want to drop $8 on the small-ish bottle. I decided I would try to make my own spray and if it didn't work I'd buy what I saw at the store. I found a recipe for homemade baby wipes online. I also found a recipe for diaper rash spray. I looked at both recipes, merged them into one recipe and made something that works for us. It is so handy! I happened to have two spray bottle on hand. I divided the mixture and poured a little into each bottle so I can keep one bottle upstairs and one downstairs.

Diaper Rash Spray

2 cups water

1 TBSP baby oil

2 TBSP baby shampoo/body wash (a 2-in-1 product used on baby's hair & body)

Spray bottle

Paper Towel

Combine liquid ingredients in a measuring cup that has a pouring spout in it. Pour into spray bottle. Spray on baby's bottom and wipe away with paper towel.