Magic Moments

I wonder why we buy toys. Aiden played forever with his ride-on train toy ( he found it in the basement and he's really too big for it), a piece from his microphone that is pretty much broken, and the otoscope from his doctor kit. I'm not quite sure how these three things were linked together but I do know that there was a fight of some kind involved. I don't know the outcome of the fight but Aiden seemed to escape unharmed so I'm guessing he was the winner. We wen to a party today and there was a henna artist. I haven't had a henna tattoo since college and I love them so it was very fun! Don't worry, Dad. It's not permanent!

Thank you to my friend, Julie , for this recipe! I made it for dinner tonight for Aiden, Tom and our friends and we weren't disappointed. It was relitively easy (as easy as dinner can be while entertaining a 2 year old) and really yummy. I served it with salad and bread and I heard no complaints. (Recipe is also from Taste of Home as well as this picture) Ingredients: 1 medium onion, chopped 2 celery ribs, diced 2 carrots, diced 1/2 cup butter or margarine 1/2 cup flour 4 cups turkey or chicken broth 2 cups cooked wild rice (I used Rice A Roni Nature's Way Wild Rice, but Julie used Uncle Ben's Sun dried Tomato Wild rice - 1 pkg) 2 cups half and half 2 cups diced cooked chicken (Julie used turkey) 1 tsp. parsley flakes 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper Directions: (1) Open the package of Uncle Ben's wild rice and cook according to package directions. Set aside. (2) In a large kettle, saute onion, celery and carrots in butter/margarine until onion is transparent. Reduce...

Life is a journey. If someone would have told me that a few years ago I think I would have nodded my head in agreement but maybe not believed it in my heart. I used to fear the journey...I used to want to arrive at a destination of my choosing and just camp out there for the rest of my life. I used to want to live the status quo. Things around here haven't changed...I like to think of it more in terms of evolving. I've evolved...into a more true version of myself, yet certainly not a complete version. And for the first time in my life, I'm okay with knowing I 'm incomplete. Yet in my incomplete state, I feel more whole, more satisfied, more optimistic. I was watching Aiden do puzzles today. He is pretty darn good at 12 piece puzzles, can work his way through 24 pieces, and needs some attention prompts for 48 pieces, but since he's only 2 I'm giving him a break. :) There is a difference between how Aiden does a puzzle and how I do a puzzle. Aiden must star...

We are cereal for snacks people rather than cereal for breakfast people and when I saw this cereal at the store I just couldn't pass it up. Who wouldn't want to eat something called "Honey Sunshine?" With a little bit of honey and a lot of crunch this cereal is pretty yummy...perfect for snacking. This little Honey Sunshine liked it too... right down to the last drop.

Dear Aiden, It's one of those days again. It's been the kind of day (week/month) that makes me turn to my blog to lay it all out on the table...to process it all...to remind myself that in the end you'll probably turn out ok. At least I hope so. During one of your many tanturms during the day I'm never quite sure that everything will be ok ever again. But we just keep pressing on. I just keep thinking that one of these days your brain will be able to handle your ginormous two year old emotions. I also keep thinking that one of these days you'll figure out that putting on your shoes, picking up your blocks, or coming to the table for dinner aren't that big of a deal. In fact, maybe someday you'll learn that those things are quite good for you. I must say that you are a persistent little fellow. My goodness! The rules in this house have been the same since the day you were born yet each day you must try to push the limit and stretch the boundaries. A...

Call me crazy, but we had a Valentine's Party for Aiden and his friends this morning. And...it was VERY fun! Somehow our babies grew up to be kids and some of them are big brothers/sisters now. It makes play dates a little more crazy, but a lot of fun too. Us Mama's certainly have a lot of Valentine's to be thankful for! The original 5... and then there were 9! Yummy lunch for the kids.... along with chocolate covered strawberries, fruit, chocolate covered marshmallows, and.... heart-shaped brownies, of course! It's hard to believe the kids are so big and they all exchanged Valentine's...what a grown up thing to do. Then...Aiden crashed. He's been sleeping for almost two hours and I'm going to be so sorry I let him sleep that long come bedtime. When he wakes up he has more Valentine's to open from Grandmommy, Marme, and Mama! There sure are a lot of people that love that little boy...me included! I think I'll squeeze my Valentine's a littl...

I came home from work to this: Yes, that's right. It's a S'more pizza. Being the marshmallow junkie that I am this pizza was right up my ally. And oh my goodness! It did not disappoint! The pizza was even better than it looks...if that's even possible. If you want to get your own just go to your local Papa Murphey's. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately), Papa Murphey's is just a short 2 miles from where we live. I think we'll be indulging in this yumminess again. It was the perfect treat for a cold winter's night.

Aiden didn't care one little bit about what actually came in the box that was delivered today. I didn't even have it opened yet and he was begging for the bubbles. Untitled from Jenny on Vimeo . The rest of the week we're going to be busy with Valentine's Day preparations. Aiden is having a Valentine's party and he's pretty excited. I think he's mostly just excited because there is a bowl of Valentine's candy on our table. He asked if he could have a sweettart today and when I said he could he threw up his hands and yelled, "Praise the Lord!" I have to agree....those sweettart hearts are pretty tasty. Next to Christmas and Thanksgiving,Valentine's is my favorite holiday. There is nothing else to do in the dead of this long winter so we make Valentine's Day into a pretty big deal. And why would you not? Red and Pink are the two BEST colors! I don't agree that it's merely a Hallmark holiday. Why would you not want to spend...

I know you have been terribly neglected these past few weeks. Please don't take it personally. We have been hibernating. It has been cold and snowy, and along with not going anywhere we haven't been doing much. I think that even our bodies are moving a bit slower during this long winter. We've probably watched too many movies, but we've done lots of playing, TONS of reading, and preschool is going well. You can rest peacefully knowing I don't have intentions of leaving you high and dry, but in some sense life hasn't been blog worthy lately. I suppose that you could also just hibernate for awhile too. Come spring life around here will change in many ways and I'll keep you hopping with updates several times per week. Until then, we'll just have to make do with the time we have and the visits that are few and far between. Until next time, Jenny Daddy taught Aiden to rap. It's like the blind leading the blind since last time I checked Daddy didn...

There are times when I feel more like a defensive lineman than a mother. Many days it seems like I am what is standing between my child and any sort of imaginable calamity. The list of things that I fee like I'm fighting against seems so long. In Aiden's early weeks and months I was paranoid of SIDS. I think I read every SIDS prevention article that there was and I would breath a sigh of relief when he would reach milestone birthdays like 2 months, 4 months, 6 months. Each passing week I knew that the threat of SIDS would go down and I would rest a little more peacefully. If only that were the only thing to worry about. Aiden has had minimal vaccines in my effort to keep Autism from knocking on our door. With each runny nose I open up our apothecary of natural remedies because heaven forbid he get sick or have to take antibiotics. Of course Aiden didn't eat eggs or strawberries until he was well past one becasue who knows what kind of hell could have broken loose? W...