End of the year wrap-up

I always get reflective this time of the year and take stock as to where I've been and where I'm headed. I thought you would enjoy an update on some of the topics I blogged about. I've linked the stories to the original blog entry in case you need a refresher.


I Am Mommy; Here Me Roar!

Time and time again I've been told that kids love boundaries. I have found this to be true. I am very happy to say that the majority of Ian's outbursts and defiance is under control. When I see the start of temper tantrum or meltdown, I go through my checklist of what to do and get the situation under control. It is not always 100% effective, but for the most part I am very pleased with the progress we've made. And, we've more than survived a few days with no television allowed.


A little bling never hurt anyone

I've had lots of requests for a picture of the ring. It's hard to get a good picture, but here ya go. The ring is much prettier in person. BTW, a big thank you to everyone who supported me in my point of view in this matter. No one understands Jeff's side, but I love him very much anyway. Jeff says the only people who agree with me are women. Is that true?



It Really Is The Thought That Counts

Jeff was never able to get a replacement on the iTunes gift card he lost before giving it to me, but he found himself back at the Reston Town Center 2 weeks later and surprised me all over again with another gift card. This time the sweet note written on the gc holder was "Your still worth it."


Not For The Faint Of Heart

The selection of toys I brought home from the midnight madness sale at Toys R Us on Thanksgiving night for the kids was perfect. Nothing needed to be returned and I did a good job in my sleep-deprieved state shopping. HOWEVER, two days later, a Toys R Us circular appeared in the newspaper and 3 of the toys I purchased were now marked for a lower price than what I paid for it. Oy!! Of course, I went back, got a price adjustment and $42 credited back to my credit card.

Playing Hooky From Raking Leaves

We ended up paying the landscaper to rake and bag our leaves. For all of 3 days it was glorious to look at the ground and not see any leaves. I really got excited about not having to go out there and do the job myself. Jeff was right, this was much nicer. However, I think we had him come two weeks too early, because within a week's time it looked like nothing had been down to the lawn. So, in the end, I got out there over the course of a weekend and did the front lawn (1.5 hours) and the backyard (3 hours) myself. It was great exercise and I didn't mind doing it, but next year we are going to have to work on our timing better if we are paying someone to get the leaves.


Going For It

I am happy to announce that I was officially selected to run in the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler this April. I am scared and excited all in the same moment. Is it possible to be smiling while throwing-up? I ran it in 2007, so I know I can do it; but right now it feels like a huge mountain for me to tackle. I will officially start following the training schedule in January.

R.I.P. Pasta

I've been getting used to eating gluten free. It is not fun and still doesn't come as the automatic choice in ordering something on a restuarant menu. The thing I am most blown away with is how my friends have gone out of their way to accomodate my new dietary needs. The girls in my monthly bookclub offer almost all gluten-free snacks. Dinner and/or parties at my friend's houses are very much aware of what I can and can not eat. They make sure that I will not go hungry. And, a few of "the girls" have even purchased packaged foods (pasta, oatmeal) for me when they see them being sold. It is very touching to have this much support. And, I love how many people have come up to me to share their Celiac story and give some wonderful tips and advice. I am not alone!

A New Year's Wish

I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful 2010, filled with much love, laughter and happiness. Happy new year! I am looking forward to a great year, being surrounded by my darling husband, two wild-n-crazy, adorable kids and not take any of the good fortune and blessings I have for granted. My big new year's resolutions this coming year will be to live in the moment and continue to do what I can to be a healthier, stronger woman and mother who has the energy to keep up with two of the most highly spirited kids she knows and loves.

A One Man Show

On Saturday night, Jeff read Ian his last of the bedtime stories and left his bedroom. I was downstairs in the kitchen and could hear Ian talking to himself, as was usual when he is trying to fall asleep. About 10 minutes later, I hear a loud, boisterous sound and asked Ian if he was ok. Ian replied with, "Yeah, I was just laughing, my hand sneaked up on my butt."

Tissues, please.

It's funny how a movie you know so well, backwards and forwards, seen at least 50 times, can have the same effect on you time and time again. Yesterday on tv, I was flipping through the channels and came across the movie, "Beaches". This movie is easily in my top 5 favorite films of all time. It was playing on the WE network, which stands for Women's Entertainment and needed 3 full hours to play to fit in all the commercial breaks. It doesn't matter that I own the movie on DVD and could've played it straight thru without interruption. There is something special about finding a classic on tv, when you aren't expecting it and tailoring your original plans (read a book? play with the kids? start dinner?) to accommodate watching it.

I first saw this movie with my mom in the theatre when it came out in 1988. To this day we can still get a good laugh over how I started bawling in the theatre in mid movie (when you realize that Barbara Hershey's character is going to die and Bette Middler's character is on her way to her) and couldn't stop. Really. 30 minutes after the movie had ended and we were driving back home, I was still crying. And crying hard at that. It was insane. At one point during the movie when my crying was in full effect, I couldn't catch my breath and the sobs got harder and louder. I am pretty certain that everyone around us in the theatre stopped their tears because they were distracted by the display I had going on. Yes, it was bad and I went through a lot of napkins.

To this day, I am not sure what caused me to cry that hard or for as long as I did. But each time I've seen the movie since then, I can still start crying - no matter where I join in the film too.

Now here is the crazy thing about watching it yesterday at home. I would cry up until the commercial break, take the 2 minutes to do something and then start crying again when the movie came back on. Is this normal?!?! I can't imagine it is.

Towards the end of the movie, we had dinner on the table and I had it playing on our little tv in the kitchen. I managed to not fully lose it while eating dinner with the family, but the minute we started clearing the table, it was all over. Fortunately Jeff has seen my reaction to this movie a few times before in our relationship. He's good about coming over to give me a hug, comforting me and moving on. Since it has been a good 21 years from when "Beaches" first came out, I no longer cry past the ending. I am getting good about only giving the appropriate amount of tears and keeping it short and sweet. Although, by now you would think that I could recite every line, know what is coming up and brace myself for it. But that is not the case. Even putting in commercial breaks every 20 minutes did nothing to dull my sadness.

From a rational standpoint, I find this absurd. But this is me, who I am. And, if I channel flipped tomorrow and came across it, I'd still stop everything and watch it and have a good cry.

Back home where he belongs

There are not many national stories that make the news that capture my interest. I generally find myself more drawn to the human interest type stories that a magazine like "People" or "US Weekly" would write about.

There has been this one story that I've been following since before Sam was born. We're talking more than a year and half ago. In fact, the updates on The Today Show every few weeks has become so constant, that I can't even truly remember when they first began. And, now it appears we finally have a happy ending to the saga that was David Goldman's life in trying to get his son Sean back.

For anyone not familiar with the story (although if you watch The Today Show, how could you not be??!?!), back in 2004 David Goldman's wife took their 4 year old little boy to her country in Brazil for a visit. While she was there, she refused to bring their son back home, got a divorce from David and ended up remarrying in Brazil. In 2008, the ex-Mrs. Goldman got pregnant and died in childbirth. For the past 5 years, David Goldman has been desparately trying to get his son back home to NJ. His battle has escalated all the way up to Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton and President Barack Obama. The mother's family in Brazil refused to give him back and the Brazillian courts time and time again kept ruling against David.

Over the course of the 5 years, David Goldman has made dozens of trips to Brazil and never gave up hope. Finally, this past week the ruling was in his favor and the family was made to hand over the boy to his father. As of December 24th, they were making their way back home to NJ, just in time for Christmas.

It's about time. This father lost so much time with his son that he will never get back. In a million years I'll never undestand how a mother could do that to a father. Maybe their were problems in their marriage? Maybe he was cheating on her? Maybe she was miserable living in NJ? We will never know, but to take away a child from his parent is uncomprehensible.

I am so happy that Sean can now go back to where he belongs and reconnect with a father who loves him so much.

And now, I can put visiting Brazil back on my map of places to go. I was refusing to take a trip there until justice was served. Okay, so maybe that wasn't the only thing keeping me from vacationing there. :)

Getting into the Christmas spirit

This is the first year that Ian truly realizes we do not celebrate Christmas, nor will we ever. And, because of this, I believe he has a strange fascination with the holiday that seems just out of his reach.

For the past few weeks, every time we find ourselves in the car driving when it is getting dark, the Christmas lights get more pronounced on houses throughout the neighborhoods. I will hear Ian muttering under his breath, "they have Christmas lights, they have have Christmas lights, they celebrate Christmas...." And it goes on and on until we get home.

The other day Ian asked me if we will see Santa. I told him, only if we are at the mall and watch kids go sit on his lap. He said, "nooooooooooo, will we see Santa deliver presents to our neighbors? Can we see Santa go to Fritz and Kat's house?" These are our neighbors who are in their 60's that live across the street from us. I wasn't sure how to answer this. I mean, do I keep the magic of Santa alive for a 4 year old Jewish boy? I didn't want to be the one to tell him that Santa wasn't real.

I am sure none of this helps that during this time of the year I listen to 97.1 on the radio. They play Christmas music 24/7. I love all the songs and happily sing out loud to my favorites. I am sure I am sending some very mixed messages to my kids.

I did download an album of Hanukkah music on iTunes so that I could give equal time to our religion. Can you believe they were actually able to include 25 songs about Hanukkah? Who knew? It was a great find and I was certain it would do us all some good when driving around neighborhoods filled with Christmas-lighted houses. Of course two of the songs on the album titled "Hanukkah - The Basics" is Adam Sandler's two versions of the Chanukah Song. Gosh, I love these songs. And I think Ian might too. The other night I heard him getting ready for his bath singing "...what a fine-looking Jew".

It all balances out in the end, right?

More snow than we know what to do with

The snow started at exactly 9:00pm on Friday night, just as the weatherman predicted. When we woke up at 7:00am, we already had 6 inches on the ground. The snow didn't stop falling until 9:00pm on Saturday night. All told, we got a little less than 2 feet. The Washington, D.C. metro area doesn't get snow like this - EVER! If we are lucky, we sometimes get 6 inches and even that is rare.

In my opinion, this was the perfect snowstorm. It came on a weekend when plans could easily be rescheduled and we weren't missing anything super-duper important (Sorry Heather! We WILL get together for your birthday outing!!). We didn't have any travel plans. There wasn't any kind of holiday shopping that needed to occur and staying in for 48 hours with the family was even kind of appealing. I can honestly say, 2 days later, we all still genuinely like each other and could very well spend another couple of days together before needing to interact with other individuals besides my immediate clan.

Jeff and I got a shocker of a surprise. After the kids went to sleep on Friday, we set-up the wii and created the appropriate looking mii for each of us. I had an idea to create a mii for Ian and surprise him the next morning. He has never really seen a wii before and this would all be new for him. Jeff thought that maybe he was too young and wouldn't be able to fully grasp the concept. I've done my research and everyone says that 4 year olds really like wii bowling. As soon as Ian woke up on Saturday, I showed him the wii and the mii we created to look like him. I thought I did a pretty good job making him look like Ian, but after a few tweaks being directed by Ian, he was able to transform the mii to even more of a resemblance. Ian even gave his mii some blue sunglasses to wear. I showed Ian how to play bowling. After a few frames, he was able to master how to hold the remote, but didn't really take to it. We moved on to wii tennis and I was instantly blown away at watching him play. It was like Andre Agassi had come alive in my family room. Ian was a natural. He was serving like a superstar (from the first try) and volleying back and forth 8 or 9 times. It was almost like he had been practicing for years. But since I know what he does and where he goes every day, I know this isn't the case. Boxing, golf and baseball were all hits too. We'd show him how to do it once and he would instantly get it and be able to play. Ian loved the games and really got into them. As he was hitting the tennis ball back and forth, he'd shout to the tv, "Keep it coming, baby". Still not sure where he is picking up language like this, but it was really funny.

While Ian and Jeff were playing the wii, Sam was having a tea party and playing with Lego's. I decided to tackle cleaning the house and got 3 uninterrupted hours to do so. It was wonderful. Jeff went out twice and did some shoveling to keep up with it. When Sam woke up from her nap, we bundled the kids in layers and ventured outside to play. It was then we've come to the realization that our kids prefer a nice warm house over being outside in the cold, trying to navigate and walk in snow that comes up past their knees. It took us longer to dress and undress the kids for the snow, then the amount of time spent outside. Of course, we got the obligatory pictures we needed to take.

Later in the afternoon, Ian and I had fun making sugar, cut-out cookies and frosted them in some wacky colors (think army green and turquoise blue).

Before we knew it, it was time to put the kids to bed. I decided to watch my netflix film ("Julie and Julia" -- good movie!) and Jeff watched some football. The day went surprisingly fast.

On Sunday, we were able to dig ourselves out in under 4 hours. I shoveled for 2 hours and Jeff did 2 hours. We put Sam down for a nap and then it's off to Ikea when she wakes up. I have some organization and decorating ideas I'd like to implement. Please, I can't possibly spend that much time indoors and not think of things I want to change. :)

As we were watching the snow fall and pile up higher and higher on Saturday, Jeff was pretty certain that he wouldn't make it to work on Monday. By early evening Sunday, the Federal Government announced that they will be closed today and Fairfax County schools announced they will by closed for the next 3 days, leading up to Winter Break and open again in the new year. It looks like my Toppall team will be staying close to home for at least another day. It's good thing we are all still getting along.

14 to 20 inches

Just like the motto of the Boy Scouts "BE PREPARED", my Toppall team is ready to go.

The news media does everything in their power to create mass hysterics and get everyone in a frenzy. Current predictions is the Washington, D.C. area could see up to 20 inches of snowfall starting Friday night and continuing through Sunday morning. This would easily put us at the top of the list for the biggest storm the area has had during the month of December since 1932, when the snowfall then only totaled 11.5 inches. We are talking some crazy numbers here!!

Yesterday morning, my darling husband got concerned about the lack of milk we had in the house. Not knowing when I would be able to get to the grocery store and still have adequate supplies of milk available to purchase, I went at 6:30am on Friday morning and stocked up on all of our weekly grocery needs. It was actually the best time to go because as the day wore on, the estimates on our impending snowfall just got higher and higher.

At some point during his workday, Jeff went out and got Bailey more of his dog food from this speciality pet store because not everyone carries this particular brand. And, while he was out, Jeff also stocked up on more rock salt to have on hand.

We are ready! We recently did our monthly trip to Costco and stocked up on toilet paper. We have plenty of milk, bread and peanut butter. I can make 7 nights of dinner and still keep it interesting. Not to mention, I've got all the ingredients for Ian and I to make frosted, sugar cut-out cookies.

And, to my good fortune, the house never got cleaned this week and we will have plenty of time over the course of the next two days to tackle this. It's always good to have something to do!

Unfortunately all the wash I had planned to do is going to have to wait. Ian's is done, Sam's and Jeff's is too. However, the washing machine started giving me an error message when I went to wash a load of towels. I called Whirlpool and apparently we need a service call to fix the problem. The dirty towels have good company with my clothes too as I always leave mine to the end. Good thing I have plenty of clean underwear and can lounge around all weekend in sweats, because it maybe days before I see a service repair guy at our house. Should've bought a Maytag. :)

I have to admit, I am a bit excited about getting a storm this big. It has been a long time since our area has seen something of this size. I am sure by the end of the weekend, I will be going stir crazy and ready to escape these four walls, but until then, I'll enjoy the time with the family and work on my snowball-making skills for snowman and of course, snowball fights.

The power of an extra minute or two

I can tell you the exact moment in my day when my blood pressure goes through the roof. It occurs precisely at 1:25pm each weekday. For it is at this time that I realize I am late picking up my son up from preschool.

Ian gets released at 1:30pm, Monday thru Friday. Before having Samantha, I had a stellar record of always being on time to retrieve him and in most cases, was a few minutes early and could spy on him, without him knowing. For some reason the addition of Sam in our lives has made me perpetually holding my breath, hoping that we make only green lights and there are no slow pokes in front of me. It is a race to the finish line to park the car at the closest spot possible, grab Sam from her car seat and race walk up to the front door. I scurry inside and hope that we aren't the last to claim our own. Sam's body is usually bouncing up and down and she is holding on for dear life, as we make our way through the lobby and to Ian's classroom. 80% of the time, the moms are still lined up waiting for the classroom door to open. A big sigh of relief comes that I've made it. It's the other 20% of the time that I have to hope Ian has at least one buddy left to hang out with waiting for their mommy to come too.

Sometimes I am welcomed with the following;
Ian: "Mommy, why were you the last one to come?" Is there anything more sad to hear?
Or, "Mommy, why are you so late?" Oy! Again, it makes my heart melt.

It's then that the mommy guilt fully sets in and I quickly offer the chance to get a cookie from the Synagogue's kitchen on the way out.

To my defense, I have to point the finger towards to Samantha who takes a nap from 11:00am to 1:00pm. Sometimes she doesn't wake up right at 1:00pm. I try so hard to not to have to wake her and see if waiting another 5 or 10 minutes will have her waking up on her own. Or, if she does wake-up by 1:00pm, I try to feed her a quick lunch before having to get in the car to go get Ian. And, about half the time, Sam will wake up with a dirty diaper and I have to change it. There goes a good five minutes taking care of that mess.

Each new day is a new opportunity for me to try to get it right. I say to myself, this will be the day we are in the car, strapped in ready to go by 1:15pm. If only this could happen on a regular basis. Usually, on a good day, we are pulling out of our driveway by 1:19pm. My heart really starts beating fast when I put the car in reverse to back-up and the clock is flashing 1:21pm. It is a 6 minute drive (if all the lights are green). I've been known to seize up the traffic lights at Old Keene Mill Rd and Lee Chapel and go straight instead of turning left. I can shave 2 minutes by making a LEGAL u-turn and not waiting for the lights to turn in my favor. And, on the days we are really pushing it, I'll park in front of the dumpster because that is the closest spot without blocking any other cars. Ian has long stopped asking me why the car is parked there.

It's crazy that I do this to myself and I don't see it changing any time soon; at least not this school year. When anyone asks if I am ready for number 3, I'll have to direct them to this post. I just don't think my blood pressure can take it having to juggle a third child into this.

FINALLY!!

I love technology; love it, love it, love it. I embrace every new invention with open arms and can't wait to get my hands on the latest gadget to see what it can do. Some of my favorite inventions have been the computer (hello Internet!), the microwave (good-bye long cooking times!), the iPod (good-bye Walkmans!), the DVR (good-bye VCRs!), and the digital camera (good-bye film!)

My first cell phone came in 1989 when I left for college. 21 years later I still have the same cell phone number. I refused to switch cell phone carriers until number portability was available. I absolutely love my blackberry and don't even have a job that requires one.

Living on one salary has been 4 1/2 years of compromises. I wouldn't trade one day with being home with the kids for any of the latest gadgets. It is more than worth it and I am very happy with the choices we've made. I am also happy that Amazon.com sent me a $300 iPod Touch completely by accident. If it wasn't for them, I am sure we wouldn't have one of those in our household either. But as I've said before, Apple made something brilliant and it has become so invaluable to us that if it broke, we would have to replace it immediately. Plus, in a matter of months, we will become a 2 iPod Touch household when we get Samantha one. Yes, it is that much of a lifesaver when traveling by plane or long car rides.

To my delight, we were given money by my dad and stepmother for Hanukkah, with the clear instructions that it had to be used for fun -- no college fund and no bills. Last year when faced with this windfall, Jeff and I put the money in our savings account and used it in September to celebrate our 5th anniversary. We went away for the weekend and it was wonderful. This year Jeff came up with the brilliant idea to use the money on a wii. Yay!! To say I am excited is an understatement. For 3 years now I've longingly looked at the wii and its games and accessories. We've played it many times at friend's houses and at my sister's place. We've bowled, boxed, played tennis and golf. I've done the wii fit balance board, the step aerobics and hula hooping. Plus, there are so many other great games and fitness exercises. And, I've asked my mommy friends for suggestions for games for Ian and can't wait to introduce him to them.

Look, I am not trying to replace Sunday pizza and game night. There is something very old fashioned and wholesome about playing non-electronic, classic board games with the kids, but I feel like we are finally entering the year 2000. :)

In my effort to always get a great deal, the price for a wii officially went down to $199 from $249. And, Target this week was offering a $30 gift card with the purchase of one. Can't pass up a good deal like that, right? I guess it was good to wait 3 years and 24 days for us to purchase one. Not that I am counting or anything.

Religious school for 2

I've already been down this road before. I attended the Hebrew Day School in Orlando, FL from first grade thru the 6th and experienced half my school day learning regular math, English, history, science, etc and the other half of my day learning all about Judaism; Hebrew, writing, history, etc. This is not something I need to do again or anytime soon. In fact, school in general is not my thing. I do much better in real life. Jeff is in charge of academics (I get fashion and pop culture). If the kids need help with their homework, it will be Jeff coming to their rescue.

So, I ask myself, why do I find myself attending religious school with Ian each Sunday?!?!?

Ian enthusiastically attends preschool at the synagogue and bounces in each day with a big smile on his face. He LOVES going to school each weekday and always has for the past 3 years. During the summer months, he gets so excited for the camp the preschool offers and doesn't even mind if sometimes was the only boy in a group of girls.

So when the synagogue offered a special religious school introduction class for the pre-k set, I thought this would be a no-brainer and he would be just as excited. Boy, was I wrong! Just when you think you have your 4 year old figured out, he goes and surprises you. Getting Ian to walk out of the house, get in the car and then be good for the 6 minute drive to the synagogue is not an easy task. Each Sunday he tells me "THIS IS THE LAST TIME I AM GOING TO RELIGIOUS SCHOOL."

Upon entering the synagogue, I have to drag him to his classroom and promise that I will not leave the building. Ian can access me in an instant should he need to. His group moves back and forth through the synagogue lobby a few times throughout the morning going from music, to the sanctuary, sometimes the rabbi's office and back to their classroom. I think Ian gets much joy and satisfaction seeing me sitting there, keeping my end of the deal.

Over the last few Sundays I've gotten more and more prepared for my 2 hour, 15 minute stay -- I come armed with hot tea, the newspaper, a fully charged cellphone and to my delight, I discovered the synagogue is equipped with WiFi that I can tap into with my netbook. Now this is religious school that I can be excited about attending! If only Ian can get on board with my enthusiasm. Ian even admits to having a good time when class is over, so I am not fully understanding why he isn't happy about going in the first place.

Even Jeff looks forward to religious school because he gets uninterrupted one-on-one time with Sam. It is a win-win-win situation for everyone -- everyone that is but Ian.

Uh-oh!

We've been found out! Our house is not that big and there are only so many hiding places to store the presents for the 8 nights of Hanukkah. My big mistake came in not wrapping everything as soon as I had a chance.

Ian had a friend over a few days ago for a playdate. He told Henry how excited he was that Hanukkah was starting on Friday night. He said he couldn't wait to open the GeoTrax and the CARS Racing Set. I heard him tell Henry this and I asked Ian, "How do you know you are getting GeoTrax and a CARS Racing Set?" Ian, with a HUGE smile on his face, replied, "Because I saw the boxes." WHAT?!?!!? My hiding place was discovered!! I told Ian that since he knew what the gifts were going to be, I would have to take them back to Toys R Us and return them. I would need to replace them with something that he hadn't seen, like broccoli and cauliflower. Ha! Ian quickly backpedaled and told me he really didn't see the gifts. He said that he just joking.

The gifts were being stored in our laundry/utility room. Since this room also has some major cleaning supplies/chemicals, this is the one room that Ian knows is off limits. I guess he figured his gifts had to be somewhere in the house and couldn't help himself. What a smart, little booger we've got on our hands. The only surprise is now what he gets to open on which night.

Happy Holidays everyone! Hope everyone has a wonderful Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and a fantastic Kwanzaa. May it be filled with fabulous surprises.

Yummy, yummy in my tummy

It's so hard for restaurants to make it and survive. About 26% conservatively (more likely somewhere in between 43% to 60%)* fail within the first year. And, in today's economy it is even more of a challenge to get people out of their houses and to a restaurant. Jeff and I hit a goldmine over the weekend and I want to shout it out to the world. CHOICES BY SHAWN in Fairfax VA. It is in the heart of Fairfax City, where The Sweet Life Cafe used to be. What a fantastic find!!

As reported earlier in my blogging, The Girls threw a party to celebrate the engagement of Jennifer and Karim. As a thank you, they sent the hosts a gift certificate to redeem on Restaurant.com's website. It was there that I discovered a restaurant I never previously heard of. The listing mentioned they cater to those individuals with gluten sensitivities. No way!! I couldn't believe what I was reading. OMG! The decision to go there was easy and the next date night Jeff and I had would find us there for dinner.

Our first attempt didn't go too well when we tried a few weeks prior and found they were closed for a private event. But this time I called twice; once on Friday to confirm they were open to the public and again on Saturday to confirm they were still open despite the snow the D.C. area experienced. Success!!!

The menu in person looked as good as it did online. The gluten-free gnocchi was no longer an option, but I inquired with the waitress about it and she said they had it. Yay! We put our order in and waited. The owner came to our table to tell us that yes, they do have GF gnocchi but it needs to be called in the day before as they make it special. She told me they would be able to fulfill my order as someone had called in the request earlier. But next time, know to call the day before to request it.

My entree came with a salad or soup and a side. I ordered broccoli/cheese soup, gnocchi and a side of fries. Can you say comfort food!?!? On this chilly, snowy night, it was the perfect meal! I have to admit, I would find this the perfect meal even on a beautiful day in Summer. :)

Jeff, not needing to keep it gluten-free ordered an appetizer of crab cakes, salad, rib-eye steak and mashed potatoes.

I was duly impressed when the waitress came back to our table and told me that they were making gluten-free bread and would bring some to the table when it was ready. Until then, Jeff didn't get served his bread yet either. Moments later both our baskets of bread arrived. I could get used to service like this!

For dessert we were offered a nice size list of many gluten-free choices. Jeff and I decided to split the fudge cake with chocolate frosting, complete with a side of homemade vanilla chocolate-chip ice cream. YUM-O!

As we all know, I have a big mouth. I am going to use it for good and help get the word out about CHOICES BY SHAWN. I would really love to see it succeed and know that I have an excellent place to go that is only 4 miles from our house (I used to run there in my training runs!) and offers a great selection of safe food that I can eat. I always use to say, "When you see gnocchi on a menu, you need to look no further." Now I can call in advance and get it made special for me. Love is in the air more than just where Jennifer and Karim are concerned. Bon Appetite!

Choices By Shawn
3950 Chain Bridge Rd., Fairfax, VA, 22038
(703) 385-5433 phone


*Source: The Restaurant-Failure Myth (Business Week: Special report 4/16/07)

Heard and Observed V

While watching a football game with daddy:

Ian: Why are all the players hitting each other? The players need to stop that!


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As I was filling up Ian's cup with a juice box:

Ian: Look at all that crap in the cup.

Me: What did you say!?!?!

Ian: Look at all that crap in the cup.

Me: Ian, are saying the word "crap"?

Ian: Yes, you know crap...it's when you have a whole lot of something.

Me: Oh no Ian, please don't say that word. It's not a nice word. I guess I need to find a new version of a bad word to say.

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Ian told us his desire to start doing Shabbat on Friday nights at our house. He inquired about a kiddish cup, shabbat candles and getting a challah on the table each week. We were more than pleased that he is showing an interest in wanting to do this and happy to oblige. So we told Ian we would start that week.

Ian: No, not this Friday. I want to go to Glory Days to eat. We can start next Friday. And, I only like kosher when it is hot.

Me: What? Kosher when it is hot? What are you talking about?

Ian: Popcorn. I only like kosher popcorn when it is hot.

I guess this is something they served in his preschool as a snack. I hope Ian doesn't think that Shabbat dinner only consists of popcorn and challah to eat. Although, I have to admit, in my world that wouldn't be so bad.

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Hearing a thunk.

Me: Ian, did you fall down?

Ian: No, the stairs just gave me a ride.

Going for it

There are certain events that will forever be etched in my memory and no amount of time will dull these "mental movies" when recalling them. The sigh of relief that my Bat Mitzvah was over and I no longer had to practice my haftorah or prepare for the Friday night/ Saturday morning service, my first dance with Jeff after getting married, holding Ian for the first time, the moment when I found out that Sam was going to be fine (we had a scare that required getting an amniocentesis), and crossing the finish line of the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in April 2007. That's a picture of me doing just that on the left.

I had been toying around with 5k (3.1 miles) races here and there; mostly for fun and to keep my motivation for running. I have to say that every time I go for a run, whether outside or on the treadmill, I have an out-of-body experience that I am actually the one running. I still can't believe it is me that is moving. Deciding to do the Cherry Blossom 10 miler was a whole new level of commitment. I had no idea if my body would be able to pull off 10 miles. It was daunting and exciting all at the same time just thinking about it.

I found a great training schedule that promised I could be running 10 miles in just 10 weeks. Could this really happen? Each time I hit a new running milestone and finished 5 miles, then 6, then 8, I was in awe. Wow, I was really going to do it. I even did a practice run a few weeks before the big day and was never more proud of my legs for completing 10 miles. What a great way to start the day! I was making it happen.

And, I am going to make it happen again. Wish me luck, I am entering the lottery system for the 2010 Cherry Blossom 10 miler. Last year they had 12,000 participants register within the first 2 hours and 45 minutes. This year they decided to give everyone an equal chance and will hold a lottery system. You have 10 days to enter by email and then will be notified if you get in.

I figure if I get in, it is a sign for me to do this race again. I am starting to get used to the idea of getting up again at 5:00am, doing my training runs 3 times a week outside, in all kinds of weather (my limit is anything below 20 degrees) and slowly building up the mileage with my running partner Bailey. Knowing I've done it before helps greatly, now its just a matter of doing faster.

She gets it

Samantha's sense of humor is starting to come through loud and clear. She is in on the joke. She gets 'it'. I love seeing her have fun and can't help but laugh with her -- even when we are in the midst of telling her no.

Samantha is no longer in her high chair and has been sitting at the dining room table with us for the past 2 months. She has a booster seat that is strapped onto one of the chairs; it gives her the same height as the rest of the family. Her latest thing is to take one of her feet and put it on top of the table while we are eating. She will look around and see who is watching her do this. In under 30 seconds, Jeff or I will tell her "Sam, please take your foot off the table". She instantly obeys and down goes her leg back under the table.
Then, as soon as we turn our head, she not only takes one leg back up, she'll take both her legs. And this time, she won't put them on the table, she'll just shoot them straight up in the air, near her head. It is an amazing feat of acrobatics and flexibility, but more so, it is hilarious how in her own way she is defying us, but also doing as she was told. Her feet aren't on the table. Legitimately, they are no where near the table. And, when we look at her doing this, she cracks herself up laughing. You can't help but also start laughing with her. It is truly funny. We will go through this back and forth several times during many, many dinners.

Some evenings when it is nearing her bedtime, I'll take Sam and cuddle with her in my bed. We just hang out watching either that day's General Hospital, Oprah or Sesame Street. It is some great one-on-one time and one that I treasure. As we get closer to the witching hour of putting her down, I'll say, "Sam, time to go to bed." She instantly takes her body and nose dives straight into the bed. She'll lay there face first in the mattress, completely still, for like 30 seconds. Then she'll lift her head, with a big smile on her face and look at me. Once we make eye contact, she'll start giggling. I wait about 5 minutes and we do this all over again. It is seriously cute. In fact, her actions actually get her a delayed bedtime because I enjoy it so and she knows it.

I am loving her personality and sense of humor. She gets 'it'. At 18 months old she knows what funny is. I can't wait for her to get older so we can have two way conversations with words other than "doggy", "more", "book" and "whoa".

A little bling never hurt anyone

It has been almost a full year since I lost my engagement ring. I have no idea when it even slipped off my finger. I am pretty sure it was when I was cleaning the house and it may have fallen down a drain, the toilet or in a bag of trash. We retraced my steps, turned the house upside down looking for it and to this day, I still look for it when walking around the house and find myself in a closet or sticking my hand in various places. Fortunately we had insurance and received the check within a few weeks of putting in a claim.

However, according to Jeff: He worked hard to buy that ring. He saved his money, put a lot of time and effort into picking out just the right one. He put his heart into it and it can't be replaced. You only get engaged once.

Me, however, has a different theory. Yes, I loved that ring. Absolutely adored it. I appreciate all Jeff did to get me it. It was a beautiful princess cut solitaire diamond in a platinum setting. And, I felt absolutely heartsick that I lost it. I was in a big depression for days over the whole episode. BUT, this is why you have insurance. And the ring is only a symbol we are married - that particular ring does nothing to make us more married. But the ring does give the message that I am taken and not a single mother of two.

By the way, I should make note that since losing the engagement ring, Jeff asked that I take off the wedding band and put it in a safe place. Something about him not wanting me to lose that one either. Once I get done losing all the weight I am going to, then I can get it resized and put it back on.

The only way Jeff saw putting a diamond ring back on my finger was that over the next 20 years or so, he would work and save his money again and surprise me with another engagement type looking ring at a 20 or 25 year anniversary. Seeing as we have only been married 5 years, this was going to be a long time to wait for a diamond to reappear on my fourth digit.

The money has been sitting in our savings account while we go back and forth rehashing our very different views about this. The closest compromise we've gotten is that instead of a traditional engagement ring, I get an eternity band and wear it next to the wedding band. However, Jeff still feels very strongly that this is wrong and can't be happy for me getting the ring. I very much want Jeff's blessing and will continue to go without until he is on board.

To my good fortune, Bailey Banks and Biddle is going out of business. Jeff realized that a lack of a ring will be a continuing sore point in our relationship and that the 40% off being offered was a great deal. As Jeff said he wanted to "get this issue behind us so we never have to talk about it again", he finally agreed to buy a ring. I picked out a very pretty 5 stone diamond ring as an eternity band would've been difficult to resize and Bailey, Banks and Biddle was not taking any orders. The rest of the insurance money is going toward our 2010 car insurance bill.

Looking back, it is no wonder that the original ring fell off. My ring size went from 5.25 to a 4.75. Yowzer!! I had no idea that my finger is that small now. The ring never felt that big. I promise to do my best to keep this one on my finger. I do.

Oh, the fun I am having...

Jeff always said I will love having a girl simply for the ability to dress her. I had no idea how right he'd be. Now that Sam walks, everything under the sun is possible! Dresses, skirts, hats, and shoes are at my disposal. And let me tell you, I am having FUN! Call me crazy, but I think Sam is enjoying it too.

Not for the faint of heart

It's been awhile since I've been up all up hours of the night. Now I know why. It is painful and it hurts. My BFF Heather and I feed on each other's energy and the idea to go to Toys R Us when they opened at 12:00 midnight last night didn't seem like it was a good idea until I spoke to her. All of sudden, we decided we HAD to be there. I am normally asleep by 10:30pm and wasn't sure how we'd stay awake to when the store opened. Heather came up with the brilliant idea to see a movie beforehand. The plan was to go see "The Blind Side" at 7:50pm and afterward hang out in the parking lot of Toys R Us until they opened. When we arrived at 10:20pm, the line had already started forming and was easily 60 people deep. How could I wait in the warm, dry car watching the line get longer and longer? No way! So I took my place in line and waited for more than 1.5 hours in the cold and rain for the doors to open.

The line got longer and longer. We were at the Fair Lakes, VA location and it stretched all the way to BJ's. CRAZY!! I asked a police officer what he estimated the crowd to be and he said easily 1,200 people. All standing in the cold and rain. Wow! At about 11:55pm, they handed out the tickets for the first 100 people to get this season's hottest gift - the Zhu Zhu pet hamster. Heather and I made the cut. Who knew this was something we even wanted?

The police did a great job of keeping the crowd under control and when it was time to go inside the store, they opened the doorway just enough for one person to enter at a time. Meanwhile, the police held back the big groups of people who all of a sudden appeared from the parking lot and was prepared to cross the street and enter when the crowd started moving.

Once inside it was the absolute craziest environment I've ever seen. These people were professionals. They knew what they were doing and had apparently done this before. Shopping carts were filled up to the top in a matter of seconds. Stacks of toys on display in the store disappeared with the blink of an eye. It was insane! People had a strategy on what they wanted to buy and scoped the store out the day before. I admittedly, didn't bring my A game and was clueless. In my sleep-deprived state, I thought I would be able to wander around and take in the sights and smells of the store with all their glorious toys at my leisure. Heather and I even said we'd shop until 1:00am and then plan to be home by 2. Ha!!

The one big item Heather really wanted was the princess vanity. It was originally $69 and would be on sale for $25. Wow! What an amazing deal! I knew that eventually Samantha would be old enough to enjoy something like this and told Heather to pick me one up if we got separated. She also had said she would get one for another one of our friends. I was going to hit the pick up of the hamsters (we told to get them immediately upon entering the store) and Heather was making a beeline for the vanities. We are not entirely certain what happened, but all we know is that there were exactly 8 vanities to be had at the store and all 8 were gone by the time we realized what end was up. I heard rumors that the vanities had been moved to the front of the store and the hamster crowd was blocking the view of them. I never did see any of the vanities, not even in people's carts.

I do believe the amount of people in Toys R Us at 12:10am was a fire hazard. You couldn't move. There were people everywhere. It was so congested that if someone fell over, we'd all go like dominoes. I inched my way through the GeoTrax section and Heather was nice enough to point out an item or two she thought Sam would like. They ran out of carts and was making big apologies to people over the store's intercom.

Finally by 12:15am, we had it. There was no more fight in us and it was time to call it a day. We started hearing announcements about where the end of the line was and realized it would've been easier to go in the other direction to get to the end. It took us 10 minutes to make our way to the end. The end of the line by the time we got to it (at 12:25am) was located back in the toy baby area -- near bikes. Seriously. I kid you not, the line weaved in and out of most aisles and bordered the entire left half of Toys R Us. Heather and I soon realized we weren't going anywhere fast and decided to take turns wandering the aisles (cartless) and see if there was anything else we wanted to get. When it was my turn to go, I was in awe that every single person in the store was now standing in line waiting to check out. It was seriously out of control. Some of our best finds came from pilfering people's carts who dropped out of the line and gave up.

I had no idea if what was in my cart was on sale. Some of the stuff apparently didn't go on sale until 5:00am. People were standing in line talking about the great deals they were getting. I never felt more out of it not knowing exactly what was going on in my cart. It took us until 3:00am to reach the registers. I lucked out big-time and got a cashier (named JJ), who took the time to tell me the price of each thing in my cart and let me know if it was on sale or not. It was then that I was starting to come back to my senses and told him to put stuff back that wasn't on sale. He added my rejects to the growing pile behind him and said he didn't mind in the least because he wasn't the one who was going to reshelve these items. When we came to the items that would be marked down at 5:00am, he graciously gave me on-the-spot price adjustments and rung me up at the sale price.

I walked out of Toys R Us feeling beaten-up. My eyes hurt from still being open and my body was starting to go through dehydration from lack of water. It was not pretty. I have no idea what I ended up going home with (and won't until Ian goes to sleep tonight) nor do I have any idea if this was even worth my time to do this in the first place.

I know I saved a total of $51. I know I received an electronic hamster for $9.99 that the same exact thing is being sold on Amazon for $46. And apparently no one can find one to buy. I also know I received the 64 pack of crayola crayons for free with my purchase. And I know I saw an amazing movie that I would've probably had to wait until it came out on Netflix to see.

Will I do this again next year? Not if my life depended on it. Heather and I excel at getting to stores at 5:00am when they open. Not at midnight the night before. They call it Black Friday for a reason. Lining up in the outside, cold and rainy night for 1 hour, 40 minutes before they open the doors on Thanksgiving was not as fun as it sounds.

Tooting my own horn

This is my 100th blog entry. Happy Anniversary to me! Who knew I had so much to say? When I first started the blog, it was to make sense of all the stress/anxiety/overwhelmed feelings I was having. Writing everything down gave me a chance to sort through it and put it in perspective. Since then, I've been writing about everything under the sun; from what the kids are currently doing, to my diagnosis and frustrations with Celiac, to snippets about our life. I've included the good, the bad and the ugly, and hopefully put a smile on your face from time to time. It has turned out this blog is very cathartic for me and is something I greatly enjoy doing. Who knew?

The thing I am most pleased with is that when the kids get older, they will have a very detailed account of what life was like. They can read about various things they were doing and what their reactions were to different events from the mundane to the momentous. Of course, it will all be from my point of view!

To all those who read my blog, a big Thank You to each and everyone one of you. I am enjoying sharing my life and plan to continue for a long time to come. Every now and then, I fear I will not have anything more to write about, but then, lo and behold, I wake up and a new adventure has begun.

Happy reading! And remember to live each day to the fullest.

I see you!

Oprah has done wonders for the book industry, girls needing an education in Africa, and many other worthwhile causes. But for me, I am most grateful to Oprah for introducing me to Skype.

For last couple of years, every guest Oprah has on her show via satellite is possible through Skype. Without her, I probably wouldn't have known just how cool the technology is or how easy it is do. Having my family live in Orlando is tough. I miss them more than what is considered normal and have been known to call anywhere from 1 to 5 times a day. It is a rare day that goes by when I haven't spoken to my mom at least once.

With the magical powers of Skype, my mom gets to see Sam take her first steps and waddle around. She eats breakfast with the kids in the morning and sometimes greets Sam when she wakes up from a nap. She makes us laugh with her efforts in trying to get the webcam up close and personal -- sometimes too much and all we see is up her nostrils.

Samantha watches the netbook get powered on (this is where our webcam is located) and instantly starts waving. She points to her chair and wants a front row seat to the action. Every now and then she'll take a look behind the computer to see where the rest of Mom-mom is located. It is very cute. And on command, she'll blow kisses to the screen when I tell her it is time to say good-bye.

Ian is a goofball and talks to Mom-mom like she is his peer. They have a unique relationship and enjoys chatting with her about what he is eating, who he will be playing with later that day and what his toys are doing.

I love technology and the ability for my kids to see their grandparents more than they would be able to. It's wonderful that my mom can see them grow, develop and what new things they are in to.

And the best part is, Skype is free and budget-friendly. Now this is even something that is Jeff approved! Who knows, now that Oprah has decided to end her show, maybe she'll want to skype with us too.

Say cheese

I question why I do this every year. It is a painstaking exercise and I put a lot of pressure on myself and the rest of the family to comply. I get very stressed-out as soon as I wake up in the morning. I pray that Ian and Sam got enough sleep the night before and will hopefully be in a good mood. My fingers are crossed that Jeff is in good spirits too and up for the challenge. I realize that when it is over and we are headed back home, I have not been breathing properly and let out a huge sigh of relief it is over and I have another year to go before attempting it again.

This is the annual family picture I am talking about. The one where we include the dog.

The big thing is figuring out what color we will wear. It is very important that we are color coordinated. I like to change the colors so the picture looks a little different from year to year. The bottoms are easy and will either be jeans, khakis or black pants. And, I try to assess what we already have in our closets so that I am not buying new outfits for everyone.

Once that is figured out, it is important to get on The Picture People's calendar for their first appointment of the day. This is the only time (other than at 8:00pm at night) that they will allow pets in their studio.

When we arrive, I calmly tell the photographer what she is up against. She probably has all of five minutes to get the best picture she can. After that, more than likely, someone in my Toppall team is done. And by that I mean, D O N E. There is no changing poses, no changing backgrounds, no adjusting anything.

If it isn't apparent by now, let me say that I am the only one who wants to be there. Last year was a real disaster when we sat perfectly posed for 15 minutes and everyone was on their best behavior. I got very excited at the thought of how great these pictures were going to turn out. After a mysterious disappearance by the photographer, we come to learn that his camera was malfunctioning and not one single picture turned out. I left there in tears and the manager followed me out offering everything under the sun to get me to come back and do a re-shoot. I guess she didn't get the memo on what a challenge it is for me to get us in there in the first place.

This year went a bit better. Ian is finally old enough to understand what I am trying to accomplish and didn't even give me one bit of trouble on wearing a turtleneck. Bailey was happy to get out of the house and take a trip to the mall. And in his own way, Jeff even has accepted my need to do this each year and does his best to go with the flow. My wild card was Sam. She wanted nothing of it. She saw the decorated plastic Christmas trees and longingly looked at the ornaments calling "ball...ball....ball...ball." She was not happy sitting in my lap or even staying within the perimeter of where the picture was being taken.

Each year it does get a little easier. Although I have a feeling that once Sam is old enough to want her picture taken, then she is going to want major say in what she is wearing too. How will I convince Jeff and Ian to wear pink?

Good help is easy to find, if you know where to look

Sam loves taking care of her brother Ian. At just 17 months, she is proving to be a good mommy.

On the rare occasion that I am the one to give the kids their bath, I take the most efficient route possible and bathe them together. No one ever tells you how great this is when deciding to give your only child a sibling. But being able to bathe two kids at once is a wonderful thing! You have both kids in one place, they are getting clean and having fun playing -- all at the same time. What can be better? Since Ian is a boy and Samantha is a girl, I know bathing them together can't go on for much longer, but for the time being, I do enjoy it.

Once the bath is over, I'll take Samantha out first, get her dry and pajamas on. Then I'll go back to the bathtub and get Ian. While I am doing this, Sam goes into Ian's room and pulls out a pair of pajamas for him to wear. I guess I did something right years ago, when I put his pajamas in the bottom drawer!

In the morning, Ian gets up very early and heads downstairs first thing. By the time I catch up and bring him clothes to change into, Sam has helped and given her input. Once Ian makes it into the bathroom (when taking off his pjs he realizes he needs to go pee), Sam is right there, meeting him at the bathroom door, holding out underwear for him to put on. She then goes to get his pants and hands them to him, and then, last but not least, she will give him his shirt/sweater. With each item, she holds out it to him and says "this...this...this...this" until he takes it from her and puts it on.

And, when I shout out "Ian, it's time to get your socks and shoes on." Guess who is the first one bringing him his socks? Yes, it's Sam. Most of the time she is faster than him.

The only thing Sam asks for in return for this help is a bite (or two, or three) of whatever he is eating. I guess her food never looks as good as what he has.

Sleepover? Close, but no cigar

You never know how something is going to turn out until you give it a try. Ian has been talking about having a sleepover since the beginning of the summer. I am still not sure where he first heard about them, but he talks non-stop about all the friends he will have over to spend the night.

Being the naive and fearless parents we are, we decided to throw Ian a bone and let him get the sleepover thing checked off his to-do list. Everyone who has kids and knew me well enough, told me that Ian was way too young and this was a crazy idea. We picked Ian's lowest maintenance friend, Johnny, and asked him over. Johnny's incredibly cool parents were up to the zany idea and willing to give it a try. The plan was for Johnny to come over at 4:00pm and be picked up to go home at 10:00am the next morning. All day Ian was looking forward to Johnny coming over. He kept asking how much longer until he arrives.

A particularly funny moment happened when the boys proved you can be outnumbered. We had gone to the mall earlier that day and allowed Ian to pick out all the colors of m&ms he wanted from the candy store. He was so excited to be able to share these with Johnny when he came over. We told Ian he could have them after dinner. Dinner was a success and both boys ate well. As we are getting up from the table, Jeff started his speech on the perimeters for eating the m&ms. While Jeff was talking, Ian and Johnny worked together to get the step stool, grab the HUGE bag of m&ms from on top of the microwave and walk out of the room together with the goods. Jeff is still talking. It was hilarious and I couldn't stop laughing. Clearly he was not in charge.

The boys got along fabulously (as we knew they would) and when it came time to go to sleep, they eagerly got into their pajamas and brushed their teeth. The sweetest thing was when Ian asked Johnny if he needed to borrow a Gymbo (Ian's lovey) to sleep with.

Between Johnny's CARS pajamas, CARS sleeping bag, CARS pillow, Ian's CARS bedding and pajamas, it looked like the movie threw-up in his room. Ian has a rule that he can't watch tv when having a friend over. But seeing as how the friend wasn't leaving, we said they could watch one thing before bed. They chose the movie "CARS". Fortunately we only kept it to an hour and then turned it off.

At first there was giggling, talking, endless "last" trips to the bathroom, a call to Johnny's mom to say good night, and then it got quiet. Ian fell asleep, but Johnny was still awake. Wide awake. Johnny has this lingering cough (not contagious) that will go away once he falls asleep. But until then, Johnny was coughing this half-cough every 10 to 15 seconds or so. For 1.5 hours. Jeff and I weren't sure if the cough was keeping him up. I felt bad that it was taking him so long to go to sleep. I called Johnny's mom and asked if there was something we could do to help him. After a quick discussion, Johnny's mom offered to come get him. I wasn't sure what to do. I know how badly kids need their sleep and I didn't know if Johnny could fall asleep in a strange bed. Johnny's mom said he usually falls asleep pretty fast. I guess it was best for us to call it a night and for Johnny to go home. Better at 10:30pm at night, then 2:00am, right?

When I went upstairs to tell Johnny his mom was coming to get him so he could go to sleep in his own bed, he instantly broke into tears. He didn't want to leave. It broke my heart and I felt so bad that I was doing this to him. Ian woke up briefly when he heard Johnny cry and started crying too; he didn't want Johnny leaving either.

We had plans for Jeff to take the boys to get bagels the next morning. Johnny really wanted to still do this, so we stuck with the plan and picked Johnny up at 8:00am to get some breakfast with us.

I think my friends may have been right. But you never know until you try. Ian is already going back to his list on who is next to sleepover. I think we are going to give it more than a few months before trying again.

Adventures with Celiac continues II

I think this week I actually got my Celiac groove on! I picked much simpler recipes to make for dinner, with the emphasis on it not taking 1.5 to 2 hours to prepare.

Sunday
GF Pizza Crust - I tried a new recipe. This one was listed in the 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes Cookbook. I never had to use a food processor before when making pizza dough, but I followed the instructions and it turned out. In fact, we all found the pizza to be very tasty. Usually there is easily a piece or two left for Ian to take to lunch bunch at school the next day. This evening, we were all wanting 2nds and 3rds. It was that good. Yay! Now the next time I make the dough, I can make a much bigger batch and freeze it for subsequent pizza and game nights. It will be a breeze to roll out the pre-made dough and get it in the oven.

Monday
Chicken Parmesan - this was yummy and so easy to make. It helps that Wegmans sells gluten-free bread crumbs.

Tuesday
Jeff had a Happy Hour for work and once I got done feeding the kids a nutritious dinner, I got to indulge in my favorite single girl dinner - popcorn!

Wednesday
Black Bean Enchiladas with rice - Another winner! And the recipe had me making the enchilada sauce from scratch too. It was very tasty. Easy to prepare in advance and just put in the oven 20 minutes before we sat down to eat.

Thursday
Baked Aloha Pineapple Chicken - My time management on getting this recipe done was off by 2 hours. While I cooked it, Jeff fed the kids dinner, played with them a bit, gave them their baths, read them stories, put them to bed and then we ate this dish. It was easy to make, but took forever to cook. I LOVED it! Jeff, however, was not a fan. It's a shame too, because he had to wait so long to eat that night. :)

Friday
Ian's religious school was having a special Shabbat dinner and family-friendly service. Because of the late start time, Jeff took Ian and I stayed home with Sam. I ate an Amy's gluten-free frozen meal for dinner.

Saturday
Ian had his first sleep-over and I wanted to make a dinner that I knew would be a winner with Ian and his friend. I did spaghetti, salad and bread. I used regular spaghetti for everyone and boiled a small batch of gluten-free pasta for me. And, in an act of self-control, I stayed away from the bread.

Sometime during the week, Jeff came up with the idea that the slow cooker may be the way to go for making dinner a few of the nights each week. I can't believe I hadn't thought of this myself. I guess there is a reason I keep him around. :) I did a quick Google search and found some awesome Slow Cooker Gluten-Free recipes listed online. Next week I'll be making a minestrone soup and a chicken with rice & vegetables in the slow cooker. Plus, as luck would have it, I had a friend email a Thai Chicken recipe that goes in the slow cooker and only contained gluten-free ingredients.

I think I am getting a handle on cooking gluten-free. There are many benefits to eating this way and it is causing me to really stop and think what we are putting in our bodies. I just hope my enthusiasm continues.

Toys, toys, toys; there are never enough!

If you ask Ian what he wants for Hanukkah, he'll point you in the direction of this year's Toys R Us "Our Biggest Big Book Ever." It is a catalog of toys that gets produced each year and is conveniently included in your Sunday paper right around the end of October.

I put the catalog on the table to take a look at later and get some ideas for the kids. Ian found it and started looking through it. I could hear him telling Jeff, "I want this one. And, I want that one. And that one. Oh and I need this one." etc. Jeff was doing a good job of half listening and continuing with whatever activity he was in the middle of; I am guessing reading the newspaper at the time. I could tell that Ian just wanted someone to listen to him, so I decided to pull up a chair with my trusty red sharpie marker and ask him to point out what he would like us to consider. As Ian pointed to each item, I circled it, and before I knew it, the sharpie left my hand and found its way to Ian's. Ian had a field day flipping through all 80 pages. He circled crazy-expensive things like the Power Wheels Lightning McQueen Car (on sale for $229.99) and Adventure Playhouse (on sale for $249.99). Ian even circled a few things for Sam. Some pages had every item circled on it even if it wasn't age appropriate or anything he expressed interest in before. Some of the items he said he wanted "super bad" and other ones he has been wanting for years (he is only 4!).

Last year Jeff and I got a babysitter for a few hours and got all of our holiday shopping done in one evening. It was a very productive outing and we were able to bounce ideas off of each other and brainstorm in real time. I am hoping to do the same thing this year and take the Toys R Us catalog with us and see just how much of Ian's dream wish list we can make a reality. Seeing as how his big boy bed is his big gift, we still need to fill up the rest of the 8 nights with smaller presents.

Wouldn't it be nice for adults to have a similar catalog with their wish list items like a bigger house, new car, dream vacations? I'd happily circle everything too and hope my mommy and daddy fulfilled it. Oh wait, I am a grown up now and live in the real world. Maybe that is why Toys R Us has a song about not wanting to grow up.

Playing hooky from raking

There's always time to rake leaves, right? Jeff is very quick to want to hire someone to rake them but I feel there is much better use of our $200 and some dollars. It's a back-breaking chore, but we can do it ourselves. Last year I did it all by myself. I ended up filling 32 bags of leaves. Once I got started I couldn't stop. That's the obsessive-compulsive side of me. Also, I do a very thorough job and usually have to go back and start all over again before I can call it a day. After all, more leaves fell in that first section after I left it to move on.

The leaves aren't going anywhere, but the wonderful weather will be. Last Sunday was a picture perfect day for the greater Washington D.C. area. The temps got into the mid-70's and the sun was shining the whole day. When we have a day like that with nothing already on the calendar, my Toppall team makes a beeline for Gravelly Point. It is one of our favorite places to spend a few hours outdoors. Gravelly Point is a big open field next to Reagan National Airport. The view for watching planes take-off and land is spectacular. Plus, the Potomac borders one side of Gravelly Point and you can see boats sailing in the water.

We packed up a few snacks, drinks, balls, blanket, back-up clothes and the dog. We can be gone for an hour or for 10 days, it is the same amount of crap. It was a fun afternoon and knowing that this beautiful day in the 70's wasn't going to be around long made us all appreciate it even more.

Driving back home (after stopping at Cold Stone Creamery for some ice cream) I saw all my neighbor's houses with their clean lawns and their bags with the picked up leaves. Our leaves were just where we left them. I felt guilty for about a minute and then it occurred to me that when we look back on how we spent Sunday, Nov. 8th with a rare day in the 70's, it won't be raking leaves, it will be having fun at one of our favorite places.

I can only hope a strong wind comes and blows some of my leaves to the neighbors. I can't have their lawns looking that good for too long.

Unmentionables

There is a weird fascination with underwear in our household. When I am folding Ian's laundry, Sam comes over and picks out all of Ian's underwear, gathers them in her arms and hugs them close to her chest. Fortunately they're clean!

About a month ago, I asked Jeff if he thought Ian's current supply of underwear (little boys tighty-whities) were looking too small. Jeff replied with, "borderline." Wanting to be prepared in case a growth spurt occurred (you never get warning with this sort of thing), I tried to figure out the next size to get him.

Each stage in dressing a boy is new territory for me. It turns out there is no size in between 6 and 8. Size 6 is what Ian is currently in and size 8 is apparently what he would go to next. Unable to find a decent selection in the stores with Ian's favorite characters, I went to amazon.com, ordered them online and got free shipping. Ian was very excited when they arrived and couldn't wait to try them on.

They are HUGE on him!! At first glance it looks like him and a friend can fit in there. Ian tries to make them fit and pulls them up higher than Pee Wee Herman wears his pants. Now Ian looks like he is 4 going on 84. When he pulls them down to a more appropriate level on where they should be, Ian has a lot of 'junk in the trunk'; only it is all air! Oh my!

Obviously we have a few months (maybe even a year) before Ian will be ready to wear the new underwear. But this is Ian we are talking about and if there is new CARS or Spiderman underwear in the house, he wants to wear it.

You always hear how important it is to wear clean underwear in case (God Forbid) you get into an accident, but no one mentions they should fit. At least we will get our money's worth out of this batch because I predict Ian will be about 8 years old before I am asking Jeff if they look a little snug.

Adventures with Celiac

In an effort to embrace my new way of eating, I ordered 3 cookbooks online (got to love Amazon) so that my family and I would have something on the table for dinner each night. It has been one interesting culinary adventure after another. I think the term that can best sum up this past week is "OY!"

The titles of these cookbooks held a lot of promise:
The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen
1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes
Gluten-Free Baking Classics for the Bread Machine

Next to the microwave, our bread machine was the most used appliance in our kitchen. I was known to easily bake 1 to 2 loaves a week. There is nothing better than a fresh baked loaf of bread and getting to control the ingredients you put in it is the icing on the cake. Getting the diagnosis of Celiac really put the kibosh on my bread making and the bread machine has sat lonely and unused for the better part of the last 2 months. Finding the cookbook Gluten-Free Baking Classics for the Bread Machine made my heart sing again.

Let me just say, I was a little dismayed at the size of the bread machine book that arrived. I would say it is more like a thick pamphlet. Pre-Celiac, my go-to bread machine cookbook was The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook; it totals 643 pages. This new Celiac approved way of making bread cookbook was all of 72 pages. Dare I tell you it takes until page 22 before the recipes begin? In the interest of full disclosure, The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook does have a small gluten-free section - there are 6 recipes included.

Armed and dangerous with my new ammo, I sat down last Saturday night and planned out a week's worth of dinners. Sunday is always pizza and game night at our house and Ian and I make the pizza dough from scratch. I looked up a new gluten-free pizza dough to try and wrote down all the ingredients needed. The rest of the week was a wild card and I concentrated on the gluten-free vegetarian cookbook first to get meal ideas out of.

Sunday
Cornmeal Pizza Crust - This tasted like pizza sitting on cornbread. Yuck! Not at all what we are used to and everyone agreed I will need to go back to the drawing board on finding a new pizza dough recipe. Fortunately I made an awesome salad to go with this and it saved Jeff & I from hunger that night.

Monday
Tacos and Burritos - No recipe needed for a fun, festive meal. Taco-seasoned chicken, rice, beans, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, chips -- need I say more?

Tuesday
Spaghetti Squash Primavera - I never ate spaghetti squash before, much less cooked with one. This took me over 1.5 hours to make (not including the 1 hour bake time the squash needed in the oven first). Oh my! I do find it fascinating how the spaghetti squash does a really good job of impersonating real spaghetti. This recipe was chock-full of fresh vegetables and very tasty. I liked it. Jeff didn't. And as much as Jeff hates to waste food, he couldn't even finish what was on his plate and had to turn to foraging in the refrigerator to eat that night.

Wednesday
Zucchini Risotto Pie with Rosemary and Marinara Sauce - Even though it is billed as a 'main dish', I do not believe it had enough umph to be considered the entree. I think this recipe would make a stellar side dish. It was very tasty and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Jeff did finish eating it for dinner, but turned-down the opportunity to take leftovers for lunch the next day (this is my true test for knowing how much he liked the dish). I would make this again, but only when time is not a factor (it was time consuming) and as a great, tasty side the next time we have company for dinner.

Thursday
Five-Ingredient Potato Lasagna - I have to be honest, I got excited when I saw the title to this recipe. I LOVE POTATOES! All kinds (fried, baked, sweet, boiled, etc). There isn't a potato I met I didn't like. Now this recipe was a breeze to prepare, but it didn't set like a lasagna is supposed to. I gave it the 10 minutes it asked for at the end and still it was very soupy and had an extremely runny consistency. I brought it to the table and gave Jeff and I each a portion. Immediately Ian said he wasn't going try that. Jeff took one look at his plate and agreed with him that he wouldn't have to take the obligatory bite we make him try. (side note: Ian is on one heckuva chicken nugget run and this is what he has for dinner each night. We do make him try one bite of whatever it is we are having. Samantha has a little of everything and is already proven to be more adventurous). I personally have no desire to make this dish again, but I was pleasantly taken aback when Jeff said he would put the rest in Tupperware containers and take it for lunch. Wow.

Friday
Pasta with pesto sauce, pine nuts and broccoli with a fresh baked loaf of gluten-free bread - this dinner is something I used to make before in my pre-celiac days. It is a winner with the whole family and even Ian will eat it with us. All I had to do was get gluten-free pasta in its place. Baking gluten-free bread is new territory for me and it required me to manually program my bread machine for this recipe. I was taking a huge leap of faith that it really would be necessary to cut out the knead 2, rise 2 and rise 3 cycles from baking this loaf. The end result didn't look like any loaf I've made before. It was small and compact looking and the color seemed off. The gluten-free pasta taste was pleasantly masked by the pesto sauce. Overall, I'd say this dish was a big success. Jeff even mentioned that he really liked the bread. I am not sure I am such a convert yet.

Lessons learned - I need to find simpler recipes. While it is good to try new things, it might be best to limit myself to one or two per week. It was a little overwhelming going to Wegman's getting the ingredients for 6 nights of dinners. I do want to point out that we haven't eaten this healthy for these many nights in a row EVER! All of the dinners were heavy on fresh vegetables and spices. In fact, there were so many vegetables used, that I didn't know what kind of sides to put with some of this stuff. I still have yet to walk away from this week with a new recipe I am dying to make again. My adventures with Celiac continues...

Mostly sweet, with a side of creepy and gross

Halloween this year was a real eye-opener. As Ian gets older, we are able to trick-or-treat at more and more houses. Of course, we went through his candy and sorted through everything to make sure it was safe for him to consume. I thought it was odd when I saw a square piece of chocolate from Royal Caribbean. I updated my status on Facebook to the following:

"oddest piece of Halloween candy collected by far is the Royal Caribbean chocolate they give you when they turn down your bed at night. Seriously?!?!? Someone went on a cruise and collected them to give out for trick-or-treaters? So bizarre! And no, we won't be eating it."

Then in Ian's pumpkin bucket I came across a baggie with a loose marshmallow in it. What is going on here!?!?!? So I added the following comment to my Facebook status:

"2nd oddest prize goes for the random marshmallow in a baggie. heheheheheheh. Don't these people realize if it is not wrapped, we won't let our children (or ourselves!) eat it?!?!?!"

I quickly had friends chime in with their kid's strange candy collection and realize we were not alone. Apparently every neighborhood has an nut who will give out loose candy to kids. In one instance, my mommy friend wrote that she had the marshmallow thing beat and had a lady handing out candy corn (loose in a bowl); every child who came got to reach in the bowl and take a handful. Yuck!

Other Facebook friends reported on loose jelly beans being handed out. The only thing that could get better with loose candy is if it gets sneezed on first.

Do these people not watch tv or read the paper? The media has a done a real number on the public and has most of the parents with young kids in mass hysterics over the Swine Flu epidemic. The story has been building and gaining speed for months on how hard it is to find the H1N1 vaccine. And the few places that do get a supply in, have crazy long lines of people waiting hours on end until they run out.

Not to mention, we see endless stories on talk shows, news conferences and the evening news on what you can do to prevent the spreading of germs. Sneeze or cough into your arm, do not shake hands with anyone and wash your hands frequently to name a few things you can do. Handing out loose candy should be such a no-brainer it doesn't even deserve to be part of the list of precautions.

And even if they are in the dark about the threat of the cold & flu season, do they not remember the 80's when parents were in fear of something tainting the candy and all WRAPPED pieces needed to be inspected very closely?

Fortunately Ian is only interested in the bags of m&ms. Everything else he gets in his bucket is open for grabs for Jeff and me to eat. And Sam is still too young to know that some (or all) of her candy will go missing as soon as she turns her head.

But I would really like for these people who hand out loose candy or let kids grab a handful for themselves to explain to me what they are thinking. And, to the person who handed out packets of jelly (yes, the kind you get at a restaurant) and a CVS coupon for $1.00 off Head and Shoulders shampoo - what were you thinking!?!?!?

I am so happy that Halloween only comes but once a year.

A Norman Rockwell kind of day

We ended the month of October on a high note. It was a great day and I don't think it was possible to have more fun than we did.

Saturday, October 31st had gray, cloudy skies looming overhead the whole day. The threat of rain was a possibility at any point, but the weatherman had correctly predicted it wouldn't until the evening. We started the day off with Ian going to soccer first thing in the morning. I got to take him while Jeff stayed at home with Samantha. Ian really got into all the exercises/games the coach set up and before you knew it, the hour flew by.

When Ian and I returned back home, we gathered up the rest of the crew and headed out to Cox Farms. Knowing that Saturday was going to be the better weather of both weekend days and it also being the day of Halloween and one of the last chances to visit Cox Farms, I thought for sure it was going to be packed. However, to our delight, it was relatively empty and there was no wait or line for any of the activities.


We went on every slide more than a few times, played on the rope swings, kiddie area and even did the hay ride twice. Since it was Halloween, they offered trick-or-treating at each of the stops and our candy eating crusade began early in the day. We all had a great time and still had our evening activities of getting dressed up to look forward to. A bonus came when Samantha stayed awake the whole way home (a 30 minute drive) and instantly went down for a nap at 3:00pm the moment we put her in her crib.



For the past 3 years, we've had a tradition of going trick-or-treating with one of Ian's best pals, James. However, this year, James' mommy wasn't feeling that great and wanted to stay close to home. So we went with our back-up plan and got to go trick-or-treating with one of my best pals - Heather. Heather is one of 'the girls' and has 3 girls of her own all close to Ian and Samantha's age. Due to the impending rain, we started our trick or treating early and was finished just in the nick of time. Ian was intent on filling up his entire pumpkin bucket and got very close to fulfilling his goal. Even after a full day of running around and being outside, his enthusiasm for trick-or-treating was more than all the kids we were with combined. He kept count of how many bags of m&ms he was given (his favorite kind of candy) and proudly yelled, "I just got another one. I now have 8 bags of m&ms!"

We got back to our house still relatively early in the evening and Ian and Samantha helped hand out candy. We have a good system worked out where Bailey keeps an eye out and gives a little bark/squeal to let us know kids are approaching. Even as it was raining out, we still got a pretty good stream of traffic at our door.

The day was easy. There were no temper tantrums, meltdowns, or whining of any kind. It was refreshing to be out in public, having a great time and enjoying being a family. I didn't even carry a diaper bag! We figured everything we needed was in the car and could go back if necessary - which it wasn't. I was able to do all the slides with Samantha and traveling lightly was the way to go.

This was the kind of day I dreamt about when wanting to have a family, including the kettle corn.