Day 6: Apparently today is Daylight Savings... (whatever happened to it being in October??) Now, while Riker and I eagerly looked forward to "fall back" and the extra hour of sleep we would get last night, we were apprehensive about how the children would handle it.
Most of our kids sleep when it is dark, no matter what time it is (which DOES make for interesting mornings in the winter where the sun doesn't come up until 9). However, Yar has her internal clock set for some ungodly hour, regardless of the day, or amount of sunlight (her idea of "sleeping in" is 6:30 am). This is also regardless of how much sleep she's had. She can go to bed at 1 in the morning and STILL be up before everyone else...
Thankfully, the weather was blissfully overcast this morning, and so it was relatively dark even at 7:30. I have no idea what time Yar got up, but she didn't wander out of her room until 8:45 this morning, which was a welcome change, and Data and Worf slept until 9.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Gratitude Day 3- Unselfish Children
Day 3: As you know, Halloween was just a couple of days ago, and like many other parents (mine included), I levied a hefty parent tax on Data and Worf's candy stash while they were sleeping (Yar was with her mother for Halloween and, like everything else, wasn't even allowed to bring any candy home with her). At least I THOUGHT it was hefty...
Data and Worf asked if they could sort their candy (Data is just as neurotic as me and Work wants to do everything the way Data does. It's cute really) and I was fine with that. Eventually however, one of them discovered that they only had one Almond Joy when they knew that they had received two. They came to me and asked if I knew what had happened to it. I explained the tax to them and they said "oh, ok" and went back to sorting.
Next thing I knew, they were both bringing me candy, explaining that, even though I had some already, they had so much that they felt I should have more (awww...). I gratefully accepted it, but they kept doing it. Eventually, I had to tell them to stop! I had quite the pile going on now (sad thing is that my pile had barely made a dent in the 15 lb combined total).
While I definitely don't need copious amounts of candy (and, honestly, neither do they), I am very grateful that my children are learning to think of others and not just themselves. It's nice to see lessons you have taught finally start to sink in.
Data and Worf asked if they could sort their candy (Data is just as neurotic as me and Work wants to do everything the way Data does. It's cute really) and I was fine with that. Eventually however, one of them discovered that they only had one Almond Joy when they knew that they had received two. They came to me and asked if I knew what had happened to it. I explained the tax to them and they said "oh, ok" and went back to sorting.
Next thing I knew, they were both bringing me candy, explaining that, even though I had some already, they had so much that they felt I should have more (awww...). I gratefully accepted it, but they kept doing it. Eventually, I had to tell them to stop! I had quite the pile going on now (sad thing is that my pile had barely made a dent in the 15 lb combined total).
While I definitely don't need copious amounts of candy (and, honestly, neither do they), I am very grateful that my children are learning to think of others and not just themselves. It's nice to see lessons you have taught finally start to sink in.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Gratitude Day 2- Teething and Sleep
Day 2: So Geordi has been having a very rough time with teething lately. His tooth/teeth will get right up to the surface, but not break through. Then they will receed for several days only to do it again in a few weeks. Worf and Data went through this as well, but only once or twice with their first tooth. Poor Geordi has been through this 3 times already in the last 2 months.
We have tried teething toys, frozen rags, frozen food, orajel, you name it. We finally got him some teething tablets and those seemed to work pretty well. Long story short, Geordi's first tooth came in yesterday (yea!) and he was a much more sociable little guy all afternoon.
This brings me to my point of gratitude for today: Because Geordi has been so miserable for so long (with a nasty cold on top of it), he has also had a rough time sleeping and no amount of sleep training was cutting down on the number of times he was getting up (seriously... it was ridiculous). Which also meant that I was having a rough time sleeping. However, last night, just because he wasn't teething anymore (at least on that tooth), he only woke up TWICE last night. It is strange how grateful you can be that something simply stopped, or for something as seemingly terrible as a mere 4 hours of sleep (do you have ANY idea how long it has been since I have slept for a 4 hour stretch?!?).
So there's my point of the day: Be grateful for sleep :)
We have tried teething toys, frozen rags, frozen food, orajel, you name it. We finally got him some teething tablets and those seemed to work pretty well. Long story short, Geordi's first tooth came in yesterday (yea!) and he was a much more sociable little guy all afternoon.
This brings me to my point of gratitude for today: Because Geordi has been so miserable for so long (with a nasty cold on top of it), he has also had a rough time sleeping and no amount of sleep training was cutting down on the number of times he was getting up (seriously... it was ridiculous). Which also meant that I was having a rough time sleeping. However, last night, just because he wasn't teething anymore (at least on that tooth), he only woke up TWICE last night. It is strange how grateful you can be that something simply stopped, or for something as seemingly terrible as a mere 4 hours of sleep (do you have ANY idea how long it has been since I have slept for a 4 hour stretch?!?).
So there's my point of the day: Be grateful for sleep :)
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Tasty Tuesday- Pumpkin Muffins
Hallelujah it is November! I have been looking toward to this month for weeks now. Mainly because I thought my court stuff would be finished by now (bah ha ha. I should have known better by now), but also because The Weather Channel said that it would finally start looking like it was actually Autumn this month. Guess what? They were right? It is AMAZING! Leaves are falling off the trees like snow over Donner's Pass and the wind today ripped them off and flung them everywhere. Love it!
The absolute best thing about November 1st? Roasting the pumpkins from the night before. Now, you can do this with pumpkins any time of the year, but I do it after Halloween for a couple of reasons. 1) it just seems like such a waste to carve up half a dozen pumpkins and then watch them rot and 2) it is way too much work to gut the pumpkins twice. So, every year, we pick out our pumpkins some time in October and then wait until a day or two before Halloween to carve them. Then, once we finish our designs, we soak them in water overnight. This helps keep them from rotting so quickly. Then, the morning after Halloween, I chop them into quarters and roast them.
Roasting pumpkins is relatively simple. You gut and clean the pumpkin (save those seeds for my yummy roasted seed recipe!). Cut the pumpkin into quarters (I have done it in halves before, but if the pumpkin is too large, it won't cook evenly) and pop them in the oven. I don't use a rack and I put them in cut side up. Cook them at about 350° F until the flesh is soft and scoopable (usually around an hour). Remove them from the oven and let them cool. scoop out the flesh and puree in the blender (some water typically needs to be added, but not too much!). Now you have fresh (or frozen in freezer bags if you wish) pumpkin pureé to use for all sorts of goodies, like my favorite pumpkin muffins:
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
By: Barb
Servings: 18
Ingredients:
Filling:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Streusel:
4 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons chopped pecans
Muffin:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin
1/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour 18 muffin cups, or use paper liners.
To make the filling: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar. Beat until smooth, then set aside.
For the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
For the muffin batter: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and add eggs, pumpkin, olive oil and vanilla. Beat together until smooth.
Place pumpkin mixture in muffin cups about 1/2 full. Then add one tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter. Try to keep cream cheese from touching the paper cup.
Sprinkle on the streusel topping.
Bake at 375 degrees F (195 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes.
The absolute best thing about November 1st? Roasting the pumpkins from the night before. Now, you can do this with pumpkins any time of the year, but I do it after Halloween for a couple of reasons. 1) it just seems like such a waste to carve up half a dozen pumpkins and then watch them rot and 2) it is way too much work to gut the pumpkins twice. So, every year, we pick out our pumpkins some time in October and then wait until a day or two before Halloween to carve them. Then, once we finish our designs, we soak them in water overnight. This helps keep them from rotting so quickly. Then, the morning after Halloween, I chop them into quarters and roast them.
Roasting pumpkins is relatively simple. You gut and clean the pumpkin (save those seeds for my yummy roasted seed recipe!). Cut the pumpkin into quarters (I have done it in halves before, but if the pumpkin is too large, it won't cook evenly) and pop them in the oven. I don't use a rack and I put them in cut side up. Cook them at about 350° F until the flesh is soft and scoopable (usually around an hour). Remove them from the oven and let them cool. scoop out the flesh and puree in the blender (some water typically needs to be added, but not too much!). Now you have fresh (or frozen in freezer bags if you wish) pumpkin pureé to use for all sorts of goodies, like my favorite pumpkin muffins:
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
By: Barb
Servings: 18
Ingredients:
Filling:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Streusel:
4 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons chopped pecans
Muffin:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin
1/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour 18 muffin cups, or use paper liners.
To make the filling: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar. Beat until smooth, then set aside.
For the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
For the muffin batter: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and add eggs, pumpkin, olive oil and vanilla. Beat together until smooth.
Place pumpkin mixture in muffin cups about 1/2 full. Then add one tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter. Try to keep cream cheese from touching the paper cup.
Sprinkle on the streusel topping.
Bake at 375 degrees F (195 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes.
Miscellaneous Monday- Gratitude
It is November and FINALLY starting to feel like Autumn. As with most people, as November rolls around and the sugar high wears off from Halloween, my mind starts to wander towards Thanksgiving.
I feel that this holiday is terribly underrated, shoved between two highly commercialized popular holidays. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas (and yes, I start wanting to decorate as soon as Halloween is over), but I think that most people are too quick to focus on getting costumes ready and presents purchased and don't stop to think about Thanksgiving apart from how big of a dinner to plan.
I, on the other hand, have come to love this month and the holiday associated. I have been through a lot over the past few years and it has made me incredibly grateful for what I have, no matter how small. And the best part? The more you are thankful for the small things, the more you start to notice significant things that you may have not realized were that wonderful.
In addition, I really feel that spending an entire month focusing so much on gratitude helps me prepare for Christmas even more and really zero in on what Christmas is about. So, to go along with what several of my friends do every year, I will be posting one thing every day that I am grateful for.
Day 1: Today I am grateful for good friends. I have been sick the past couple of days, only to have Riker and Geordi come down with something as well. This morning, Worf started feeling icky too. Just a quick hello from a friend turned into a full blown dinner to help take care of my family. It is amazing to have friends that are willing to help you out even when they are dealing with their own sick kiddos.
I feel that this holiday is terribly underrated, shoved between two highly commercialized popular holidays. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas (and yes, I start wanting to decorate as soon as Halloween is over), but I think that most people are too quick to focus on getting costumes ready and presents purchased and don't stop to think about Thanksgiving apart from how big of a dinner to plan.
I, on the other hand, have come to love this month and the holiday associated. I have been through a lot over the past few years and it has made me incredibly grateful for what I have, no matter how small. And the best part? The more you are thankful for the small things, the more you start to notice significant things that you may have not realized were that wonderful.
In addition, I really feel that spending an entire month focusing so much on gratitude helps me prepare for Christmas even more and really zero in on what Christmas is about. So, to go along with what several of my friends do every year, I will be posting one thing every day that I am grateful for.
Day 1: Today I am grateful for good friends. I have been sick the past couple of days, only to have Riker and Geordi come down with something as well. This morning, Worf started feeling icky too. Just a quick hello from a friend turned into a full blown dinner to help take care of my family. It is amazing to have friends that are willing to help you out even when they are dealing with their own sick kiddos.
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