Monday, September 26, 2011

Chicken

I’m afraid of chickens.  Okay wait…I’m afraid of the whole chicken, that’s dead and uncooked.  For some reason I can never cook them correctly.  Some parts are always dry, some undercooked…I mean how hard can it be?  So I stopped trying for a really long time and today I finally revisited the dreaded whole chicken.

After searching the internet for some tips and tricks I decided to go for it. 

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Dead and cold.  Not very intimidating.

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Per.fection.  I’m not kidding it was so moist and juicy and delicious.  I did it!  I mastered the poultry. (My husband just made fun of me for writing that sentence.)

So here is what I did:

Preheated oven to 425*.

I used a 6 lb free range organic roasting chicken I bought at Trader Joe’s.  Love that place.

Slice some onions and layer onto the bottom of your roasting pan before you add the chicken.

Let the chicken come to room temperature, rinse and pat dry with paper towels.  Remove giblets and other weird/scary things from the cavity.

Cut several garlic cloves in half and insert into cavity.  Add some fresh herbs as well; I happened to have thyme.  Throw in some halved citrus like lemon or oranges (all into the cavity.)  Salt and pepper the inside.

Take some softened butter and rub that chicken all over like you’re a masseuse.  Then liberally sprinkle with salt (I used a LOT of salt…trust me the more the better) and some pepper as well.  Then place the chicken breast side down on top of onions. 

I made a foil tent over the chicken and roasted it for about and hour.  After an hour I removed the foil, added some chopped potatoes and carrots and placed it back in the oven for another 30-45 minutes.  Using a digital meat thermometer is what helped me know when it was done.  The chicken is done when the thigh reads 190* and the breast reads 180*.  I took the chicken out a little bit before it reached this temp and let it sit under the leftover foil for a good 10-15 minutes.

And you’re done.  It was so easy and soooo good.  If I can do it, anybody can!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Gee thanks

Diva loves to comment on my growing belly.  She tells me every day it’s getting bigger.  It’s very sweet.  Until today:

Diva: “Mommy your tummy is getting bigger!”

me: “Is it?”

Diva:“Yes…but...” *walks around and measures my rear end with her hands.*

“I’m waiting until it’s as big as your bum.”

 

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Smarty Pants

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My little girl is starting to read and I love it.  She absolutely loves learning and my favorite time of the day is when we sit down together and read books, or I type sentences on the computer for her to read.  Her excitement is contagious.  This also means it is getting trickier for the husband and I to talk in “code” (read: spelling things out) because soon she’ll put it together.

Quite a few months ago I witnessed quite the amusing scene when Diva started to ask her Dad why “close” and “clothes” was the same word.  At first he didn’t understand what she was asking and in typical Diva fashion she became a little unglued.  She pointed to the drawer and said, “Why is it CLOSE??!!” and then pointing to her shirt, “And CLOTHES??!!”  Ooooooh.  Gotcha.  So he drew some pictures for her and explained it in a way that quelled her perplexity. (I still have a difficult time achieving this, mostly it ends with her getting fed up with my explanations and storming out of the room.)

She is curious about why people are shaped differently, some big some small, some bald some not and why some people are missing limbs, have birth marks, burns, deformities..etc. I do my best to take opportunities like this to explain to her that even though we all look different we are all Heavenly Father’s children and it’s important to treat everyone kindly and only say nice things to people, even if they are not nice to us.  I want my children to be sympathetic, loving and kind which means I have to really step up my own game in those areas.  I worry a lot about school and their future; what kind of friends they’ll have, what kind of choices they’ll make and their level of self esteem. 

It’s one thing to help your child learn to read, it’s another thing entirely to shape them into the person you wish so much for them to become.  Hopefully I’m on the right track.

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But really, can’t they just stay little?  Always?  This is the kind of smiley, goofy, happy go-lucky girl I am with all day.  It breaks my heart she won’t always be like this. 

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Coolin’ off

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The weather is finally starting to cool and ironically my girls wanted to go out back and use the hose on each other.  Fine by me.   Have I mentioned how much I love having a backyard?  Okay I have.  But we spend so much more time outside and it’s fabulous. 

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My little M.  I love hanging out with her, just the two of us, when Diva is at school all day.  She’s my little buddy.  Such a joy to have around.  She definitely misses her sister and asks about 37 times a day if it’s time to pick her up yet but she does love to be around me as well.  She attends preschool twice a week and has a hard time leaving me.  I ask her why and she tells me, “Because I just miss you Mommy.”  Melt my heart.   She’s constantly caressing my face, giving me kisses (that are slightly reminiscent of prince charming and princess smooches) and telling me how much she loves me.  Soon she’ll be the middle child so hope she will retain this sweetness. 

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And I’ve started to document this pesky habit of hers.  For the love…somebody stop her already!!! 

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“I’m not picking ‘em!”

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*hides behind a wall*

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No matter how much these girls fight or bicker, they sure do get along quite well.  I’m so glad they have each other.  I hope they’ll always be the best of friends.  Even if that means they are presently giggling in bed and not going to sleep. 

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

A day in the life…

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Well would you look at that.  Picking her nails.  Ugh! 

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Fend for yourself

I have been learning a powerful lesson lately.

 If I don’t immediately get up with the girls in the morning, they eventually figure out how to get food themselves.

It’s fantastic.  And Diva manages to do so without making a gargantuan mess.  Praises be to lackadaisical parenting.

Let me backtrack here.  The husband gets up much earlier every morning because he teaches seminary.  For those who are wondering, seminary is where the youth in our church go every weekday morning to learn more about the gospel before they head off to school.  In Utah, seminary is actually a class during (lucky punks) school, in all other states it’s not. 

Anyway so I’ve lost my ability to sleep in, or so I thought.  And by sleeping in I mean past 6:30 am. 

So most mornings I ignore their running and screaming and playing and eventually Diva will climb up, grab a cup, poor some milk, get the cereal, grab some bowls and fix her and her sister some breakfast.   

It’s awesome.

Nevermind that some mornings she actually manages to make chocolate milk, or they find the vanilla ice cream.  I still say that’s nutrition.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Bad Habit

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Munchkin has developed a bad habit.  She picks her nails.  She picks them like others bite them.  Down to the nub.  It simultaneously makes me cringe and crazy.  All the live long day she can be found with her head down, picking picking picking.  There has got to be a cure for this.  Dip her hands in wax?  Cement?  Duct tape the tips of her fingers?  I mean, seriously.  Soon there will be nothing left.

 

In other news…the heat is still here.  Finally at 7 pm we were able to hang outside.  Literally.

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We are all very excited that baby is a boy.  Diva knew all along.  Anytime someone asked her what she thought it was she’d reply ever so confidently, “It’s a boy.”

And let me tell you a secret.  I had two ultrasounds yesterday.  Because baby boy was stubborn.  The tech did all her normal measurements and then proceeded to get a shot between his legs.  No bueno.  They were crossed completely.  And he was asleep.  No amount of budging, rolling, poking or prodding made him move.  So the tech said, based on seeing nothing rather than “something”,  that it was a girl.   Well that wasn’t good enough for me.  I have waited too long.

So after that appointment I quickly scheduled another at a private ultrasound studio for later that evening.  They said, “You won’t leave without knowing.”  Darn right I won’t.  I took an extra precaution and drank some cherry 7up to hopefully get him riled up.

Well within two seconds of that wand on my belly she announced, “It’s a boy!!”  Clear as day.  So clear in fact, I felt it would be an invasion of his privacy if I scanned and posted that shot on the interwebs.

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Halfway there and finally starting to look it!

We are at a loss with names.  Except for Diva.  Her choices are Kyle and Hayden.  Munchkin’s is Angela. 

He’ll have a name eventually.  I’m just so happy and so blessed! 

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Hello there…

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Baby….

Boy. 

!!!!!!!!!!!!     

Looks like we’re done “specializing” as my friend Hayley would say.  And I’m not sure you’ll be able to wipe the smile off my husband’s face.  Not for a long time. 

Monday, September 5, 2011

Sweater weather

I typed the subject line as it is currently over 100* outside.  I’m so sick of it.  I loooong for sweater weather.  Especially since all my maternity wear is for the fall and winter. 

But yesterday we visited the sister and her fam down by the beach and it was indeed sweater weather.  It felt so good and I wanted to cry knowing the heat is going to continue the rest of this week. 

But we do always have the beach and we’ll probably have to make a couple more visits to savor the cool, crisp ocean air. 

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If not for sweater weather, how else would one enjoy a handsome little fellow in a cute blue flannel?  I got down on the floor to take some pictures of him slowly inch worming his way around the house.  My sister is in troooouble now.  (by the way, getting down on the floor with a uterus in the way is definitely a lot more difficult…but I love it!)

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LW

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