Daddy's home!!!

D is home!!! Well, he actually got home Sunday afternoon, but I'm still excited to have him back. In fact, I'm still getting used to it. Tonight I was up in my bathroom packing a few things for my gym bag and I nearly jumped out of my socks when D walked into the room. Ha!

I have friends whose hubbies travel very frequently and some who's hubbies work TONS of hours. I've always said I don't know how they do it, but now I really, really don't know how they do it!! One of the difficult things about D's trips was that there was no good time to talk on the phone. The first week he was working on a machine out in the field for twelve plus hours a day. Then he'd go out to dinner with the customer and return to his hotel room to catch up on emails that he needed to answer for work. When he was in Vegas he was working a booth at Con Expo from six in the morning until six at night, then he was hosting (or helping to host) cocktail parties for a group he belongs to until ten or eleven at night! He was really good about trying to call me, but when he did I was making a meal or serving a meal or giving bathes or putting somebody to bed. Fortunately, my mom was here one of the times he called, so she watched the boys while I went upstairs and shut the bedroom door so we could catch up on a few things that required some decision making.

D started his travels on Monday March 14th. He headed to Shreveport, Louisiana to visit a customer with several machines that all had the same problem. He returned Friday March 18th. He was home long enough to empty his suitcase, clean his clothes and pack his suitcase again. He left Sunday morning the 20th for Con Expo in Las Vegas. He returned the following Sunday afternoon. Fortunately D doesn't travel very often, but when he does, it all seems to happen at the same time. I'm no gonna lie, having him gone that long was rough! The first week was fine, but by the middle of the second week, I was getting worn out and burnt out. And by Sunday night the 20th I was exhausted. Fortunately my Mom was a tremendous help! My sister came to "The States" while he was gone, so that gave me something great to look forward to. I had a sitter watch the boys a few hours on Saturday the 26th so I could get a few things done and so I could have some time to myself. My parents came to the house to see my sister when she was here. And, although the boys did pretty well with it, I think they were a bit confused having so many people in and out of the house so much. So, on Sunday the 27th when D returned, L wasn't sure who he was. N knew who he was and said, "Daddy!!" After N said that, L knew who he was. D was supposed to work on Monday the 28th (after only being home for a few hours on Sunday), but we both realized we really needed a day to recoop. I'm not kidding when I say I was exhausted. I convinced D to let me sleep in Monday morning (until 8) and I took a one hour nap that afternoon. We didn't do much but hang out, eat meals and watch a movie that night. Oh, and D took the boys for tractor rides. Tuesday morning we both woke up rested, rejuvenated and ready to face the world. And now we're digging ourselves out of laundry piles and other things that I just did not have time to get done when I was home alone. But, honestly, I am doing all these things with a happy heart knowing my guy is back in town!

Dentist

N went to the dentist Thursday. This was his second visit to a dentist, but his first visit to our family dentist. His first visit was a year ago to an office specifically geared towards kids. And we'll just say that visit did not go well AT ALL! I don't know if it was because it was one year ago and N was young and possibly not ready to see the dentist. I don't know if it was because there were too many fun toys and tv's at the kid dentist. Or maybe because the nurse at the kid's dentist had worked with kids so long that her patience for their fears had worn off. Whatever it was, it did not work for us. There was a lot of screaming and crying and D had to hold N down through part of that visit. Thank goodness I was not there to see it all go down! After that experience D and I were both bracing ourselves for the worst for Thursday's visit.

We did our best to hide our concerns from N. I read "Dora Goes to the Dentist" to N to prepare him for the visit. We talked about all the neat things at the dentist. We went to the dentist as a family. D got his teeth cleaned first so N could watch. I thought that could either help or hurt the situation, but apparently it helped. It allowed N to warm up to the office, the hygenist and to the whole idea of getting his teeth done. When the time came for N's turn, he was excited! He got to pick out the an animal shaped cleaning tool. He chose the tiger. He chose chocolate "toothpaste" and he got to hold the water suction tool that the hygenist called "Mr Thirsty." When the hygenist started she pulled that mouth mask over her face and she said, " Why do you think I wear a mask while I clean your teeth?" N said, " So you don't get my allergies." And she said he was right and it was so N couldn't see her making silly faces and sticking her tongue out at him. N thought that was funny. The hygenist was wonderful! She took one step at a time. She explained everything she was doing and really interacted with N. It was great.

N didn't cry and he was 100% cooperative with the hygenist and the doctor. The doctor asked N how many teeth he thought were in his mouth. N said ten. The doctor counted and found twenty. N was a total rock star!! I'm so proud. At the end of the visit N got to pick a flashing tooth brush. It flashes a light for 60 seconds. The hygenist explained to N that he's supposed to brush his teeth until the light stops blinking. She said he should try brushing his teeth in the dark to watch the light flash.

L was very interested in all the happenings at the dentist. He's a very observant child. He will stand and watch something for a long time to try to figure out what's going on. He saw Daddy get his teeth done, then he watched N, then he thought it was his turn. He cried when it was time to leave 'cause he didn't get to have his teeth done. Hopefully that enthusiasm will be there when his turn comes.

Thai Stir Fry

Do you find that when you're at the grocery store you by similar food each time you go? Have you ever realized that you're so focused on what you're buying that you don't even notice the other food in the store that you never look at? I came to that realization the last time I was at the store. Our Wal Mart is reorganizing. They've moved a few things around and, quite frankly, some of it doesn't make sense. Some of it annoys me. But, it's also good for me because it makes me see the food that I've never even noticed before. Like the Bird's Eye Thai Stir Fry kit in the frozen section. Never even noticed it! And it's a huge bag. When I picked up the bag I thought to myself, "This bag of veggies is so big I bet it will take us months to eat, but I wanna try it." So I did. This is what I made. It turned out just like what I would put together if I made my own meal at that stir fry place....Um what's the name?? Oh, Flat Top. Oh ya. I love that place, but the hubby hates it, so we never eat there. Bummer dude! I need to get some of my girlfriends to go out there for a MNO sometime (Girls, I know you're reading this. Let's get something on the calendar). Anyway. Here's the recipe. D didn't like the peanut sauce. I always forget he doesn't like peanut sauce. The kit comes with a ginger soy sauce that I thought I could use as a back up for D to eat, but it is suuuuper spicy! Next time I'll have to pick up a bottle of sweet-n-sour for D and I'll make the peanut sauce for myself.

Stir Fry

1/2 bag Bird's Eye Thai Stir Fry (Eat the spicy sauce if you so dare!)

Cubed cooked chicken (for the hubster)

Scrambled eggs (I'd prefer eggs over chicken in my stir fry)

Brown rice

I used like every pot and pan in my house and made all of the above in separate dishes. That was bad when it came time to do the dishes, but it was good because that allowed me to cook each item when I had the time. I made the rice the night before. I made the chicken during nap time. I made the sauce and eggs right before we ate it. I suppose you could make the sauce a day in advance and reheat it just like you'd reheat the rice. I served this buffet style so each person could assemble their own dish.

Thai Peanut Stir-Fry Sauce

Courtesy Food.com

4 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

4 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

2 to taste cayenne pepper

Combine above ingredients and stir until creamy. (It helps to soften the peanut butter in the microwave.)

Add sauce to the stir-fry during the last minute of cooking, stirring to coat food evenly. (Please note these measurements are written after I multiplied the amounts so the sauce would cover the whole meal.)

Subway sign: Sunshine

I have come across lots of blogs with do it yourself subway signs (as they are calling them). I wasn't really into the trend until I saw one that had the words to the "You are my sunshine" song. I sing that song to my boys quite often, but I have had taken some creative license and have changed the words a bit. I decided that a subway style sign with those words would be cute hung in the hallway that leads to the kids' rooms. Because the song has the word sunshine in it I decided to pick two tones of yellow for the colors. I did some research on several ways to make the sign and I decided to use this technique. I must admit the project was more tedious than I had anticipated, but I enjoyed it.

Most of the instructions I found online used spray paint to make their signs. They spray painted the first layer of paint and the top layer of paint. I decided to use roll on paint for both layers because I thought it would make touch-ups easier. I think the weight of the roll on paint and the motion of the roller (used when applying the second layer of paoint over the letters) caused my paper letters to move around a bit. I ended up having to go over every letter on the sign using the first layer color (ligther yellow) with a paint brush to tidy it up. I think roller painting the bottom color and spray painting the top color may be the best option. That way you the spray paint won't mess up your letters as much and, if they do, you can touch up the colors of the letters using paint and a paint brush. Make sense??

I made this sign for less than $20. I think it was right around $15 actually. I used a large, inexpensive piece of wood I found at the hardware store. I used two sample size jars of paint that were $3 each. I had paint brushes and rollers on hand so that didn't add to the cost of the project.

Here are some pictures....Okay, so I know I took pictures of this project throughout the process of making it, but I cannot find them anywhere. They've just disappeared into thin air...So here is the final product. The second picture is meant to show the size of the sign compared to the door to give you an idea of how big it is.