Exciting Stuff

You may have noticed the big black box on the right side of my blog.  Curious?

It's been a dream of mine for some time to open an Etsy store.  As much as I wanted to do that, I never felt like it was something I could do alone.  The time has come though!  Three friends and I have combined our talent and resources to create Embellished Living.  Rather than start an Etsy store, we started by advertising to friends and family on facebook.  Up and running for about three weeks now, we've already had a few sales and lots of positive reviews about our products.  We have two craft shows coming in the next couple months, so we're busy crafting and figuring out all the ins and outs of business.

I'm so excited about this!

It's not the 1950's

I have a love/hate relationship with being a stay at home mom, and have for a number of years. After having our first, I couldn't fathom putting him in a random day care setting so I could go to a job I didn't love.  I didn't see the point in missing all his "firsts" so I could keep my resume current and we could have a little more cash in our pocket.  I didn't think I could handle being away from the child we had worked so long and hard for.  Together, The Mister and I made the choice that I would stay home.  We were willing to accept having less financially than we'd been used to.  We didn't think about my resume or 401k or work skills, there would be time for those things later.  Months turned into years.  It never seemed like the right time to go back to work.  During those years I did some work from home, most of it ended up being unpaid or barely paid and none of it long standing.  I also figured out what I wanted to do with my career life and went back to school for another degree.  It felt right and like eventually I would work in a field I loved for reasons that were worthwhile to me.  Then we decided to pursue IVF and I knew I wouldn't be able to give my all to both, along with my other responsibilities, so I quit.  After one semester.  Sigh.  It was the right choice for me and our family at the time.  Baby #2 arrived,  and just as I started thinking about career path I found out I was pregnant with baby #3.  That baby is now two years old and we know there won't be any more.  In 3.5 years all my kids will be in school and I will have been home with my children for 14 years.  A few friends have asked when I'm going back to work.  An acquaintance recently told me she was scared for stay at home moms because it seemed like they had no drive.  I've had people look at me with disdain in their eyes...like I'm not contributing enough to society.  I even had someone ask me if I felt badly about all the money spent getting a degree that I'd only used for a few years.  Society has an opinion about stay at home moms, and it doesn't appear to be a positive one.  Sadly, there are times when I buy in and feel that way about myself.  Then I remember that I am doing my best to raise good, happy, well adjusted people and THAT is the most important job I could have.  That said, what happens when my kids are in school and I start feeling the pressure to rejoin the workforce?  My resume will be laughably out of date.  My skills: do negotiating with toddlers and tweens, planning meals and finding the best way to clean crayon off a wall count as useful skills?  I know we made the right choices, but I'm feeling like this choice will change my future drastically.  If friends and acquaintances can't figure out what I've been doing for the last ten years, how will a prospective employer?

Kid Friendly Recipe (Daddy approved, too!)

I don't normally post recipes, but I was so thrilled with the response this one got tonight that I thought I'd post it.  We've been in a food rut so I've been looking for new recipes and stumbled across this one.  The Mister was skeptical, he doesn't love pickles, but the kids saw a burger on their plate and went to town.  Everyone ate and raved about them.  Impressive for a never tried food.  We're running low on ground Turkey in our freezer so I actually used ground beef.  I think it's the second time I've cooked with ground beef since we've lived in this house.  I'm sure they'd be just as good with ground turkey.  

Cheddar and Pickle-Stuffed Burgers

• 1 ½ lbs ground beef
•  3 oz low fat sharp cheddar, cut into ¼ in cubes
•  1/2 cup seasoned dried bread crumbs
•  1/4 cup dill pickle slices, drained and chopped
•  1/4 cup chili sauce
•  1/2 tsp salt
•  1/2 tsp pepper
•  whole wheat hamburger buns

 Heat grill. Combine all ingredients to form 6 patties. Cook on medium for 6-7 minutes per side. Serve on buns.

(I subbed 2 Tbsp prepared horseradish for the chili sauce, shredded instead of cubed cheese and a bed of lettuce instead of the bun.)

Weird

Periodically one of my ears, sometimes both, gets warm.  They turn red and are warm to the touch, eventually they cool down.  I showed this to the Mister tonight.  Prognosis:  This never happens to him and I'm weird.  Didn't need my ears to tell me that.

Already???

When Little Miss sees things she wants we tell her to put them on her birthday list.  This worked well for a number of months, now she's a little iffy on the idea.  Reasonable, considering she just had a birthday and realizes what she wants won't come for another year.  The other day, she found something worth waiting for.  We were in the carpool line at Ryan's school.  A number of teachers were standing outside to help kids out of cars, one of which was a young, attractive male.  Makenna used to ask about having a birthday party and would tell us who she wanted to invite, some days this teacher was on her invite list.  Last week his status was elevated.  She didn't want him to come to her party, she wanted him.  For her birthday.  We are in trouble.

Tonsils

Little Miss had her tonsils and adenoids out at 2.5.  The ped said they were the biggest she'd ever seen.  The surgery went perfectly.  A nurse took her to look at stickers and we didn't see her until it was over.  No tears, no screaming...it was awesome.  Until that night, when I tried to give her pain meds that she didn't want to swallow and she wouldn't go to sleep until well after midnight.  The next 48 hours were some of the worst of my life.  Seriously.  When your child is in pain, it doesn't get any worse.  

I discovered, today, that our kids have had possible exposure to the flu, strep throat and scarlet fever.  E has been very fussy and clingy so I took his temp and looked in his mouth.   The kid's tonsils are enormous.  Bigger than M's.  There is no light between his red, veiny, bulging tonsils and his uvula (I think that's what it's called).  Have I mentioned here that after finding out I was pregnant with him, one of my early thoughts was "I hope this child doesn't have her tonsils, I don't think I can live through that again"?  

Sigh, I think I know where we're headed and I don't like it.

Tuesday Twelve

1. We started the morning at the dentist's office, Little Miss had a 6 month check up.  No cavities, teeth and gums look great.  We still have the issue with the membrane between her lip and upper gums being too long, but we'll wait another year before deciding if it has to be clipped.  She went back all by herself and did a great job.  The dentist and hygenist gushed about how good and cute she was.  Proud mommy moment.

2.  I made veggie/chicken enchiladas last night, without a recipe.  They had lots of different veggies, were relatively low in fat since I used 2% cheese and nonfat sour cream in small quantities and served red grapes on the side.  Everyone ate them and loved them.  Proud domestic moment.

3.  The Mister had a guys poker night last weekend.  He cleaned the house while I cooked for the guys.  One of them sent me a message a day later telling me how good the food was and thanking me for taking care of them.  Another proud domestic moment.

4.  I now weigh less than I have since I got pregnant with our Little Miss.  That's two pregnancies and almost 5 years ago.  Proud self moment.

5.  Still have 10 to go before I hit pre IVF weight and another 5-10 after that.  Hopefully the next 15 don't take as long to get off as the last 15 did.

6.  I spent yesterday trying to get organized.  I have about 6 notebooks, all with lists for different things.  Yesterday I put all those together in one binder.  I'm following the lead of my organizing guru/awesome friend Jacy and hoping it helps with my productivity.

7.  Just had the last sip of a Skinny Caramel Macchiato  that was purchased with a gift card from Christmas.  I love cards gifts like that, they make me think of the giver each time I use them, and I get to splurge on a small treat with no guilt.

8.  I feel our life changing.  We're slowly leaving the land of baby.  We had gorgeous weather this past weekend and all three kids played outside for most of the day.  We checked on them periodically, and Big Brother was given strict instructions about staying in the yard and watching his siblings...and it went well!   Wow!

9.  I love blogs.  I have about 100 of them bookmarked.  Maybe more.  I could loose hours perusing diy, home decor, friend and craft blogs.  Had to put the smack down on myself.  I miss reading all the blogs and seeing the amazing ideas and things people have done in their homes, but it feels good to back away a bit.  There, now you all know my dirty little secret.  "Hello, I'm Chandra and I'm addicted to blogs."

10.  Have I mentioned that we recently set up Skype?  The kids are loving that they get to see some of their grandparents when they talk to them.  We don't love it quite as much because their grandparents get to see them acting like fools every time we talk.  For some reason Skype brings out the wild and crazy in our kiddos.  Hoping that will mellow in time.

11.  Trying to decide if I'm going to dive into our taxes this afternoon.  Looking forward to the refund, since we bought a house and will get a tax credit.

12.  Whew, finally made it to twelve.  It was a struggle today!