Adventures in Peanut Butter and Jelly

I asked  my 2-year-old daughter today, "is it necessary to always wear the peanut butter?" As if she were going to answer me! I really can't wait until they out grow this. It takes me literally a half an hour to an hour to clean them and their highchairs three times a day.

We're almost ready to move on from the highchair. I can't wait and I think they're ready. We just need a bigger table and chair set first before I do this. We need something that will seat eight-to-nine people. Right now the table that we have seats six. We're a seven member family, so that won't work anymore for us.

I have other things on the agenda ahead of the larger table and chair set, so that will have to wait. It's just very frustrating. Sometimes funny - sometimes frustrating. The worst messes are from peanut butter or anything with sauce. They are the youngest of the brood and the last, so I honestly can't wait to not have to clean another highchair again in my life.

Although I'm sure there will come a time where I miss these days. I hang on to them because they're the youngest and yet at the same time I long for the ages of four and five, LOL. So before we even got started with lunch Gabby had a surprise for Mommy. Her latest joy is sticking her finger in her poo when she goes poo.

Apparently she pooed before I put her in her highchair.  I had no clue because I didn't smell it or feel it in her pants when I lifted her into the highchair. So I gave them some pretzel sticks to munch on while I made their sandwiches. I turn around and see something brown smeared on Gabby's highchair!

I knew right away what it was. I ran for the baby wipes and started wiping the tray and her hands. Then I cleaned the tray with antibacterial dish soap and took her to the bedroom to change her very quickly with the door open and her sister in eye sight. Their bedroom door is literally within eye sight of my kitchen.

I then take her back to the kitchen and wash her hands with antibacterial soap and put her back into the highchair, so she could proceed to cover herself in peanut butter and jelly. I worked on some dishes while they ate, which is our routine. I knew they were done when they tossed their plates on the floor.

Then it was time to clean up. I wash one girl and highchair at a time. That is the quickest and less stressful way to handle messes. These two have really aged me - feeling old today.

It's Raining Tuna 6/13/2012

RIP Spooky...😌

Well my daughters had tuna for lunch today... This is the second day in a row and for some reason they thoroughly enjoy trying to feed the cats their tuna. I hear, "here you go," then the "plopping" sound of the tuna hitting the floor. 

Sometimes when they're done eating I find food in the strangest places. Like yesterday, I found a piece of tuna at the top of a cabinet behind my daughters highchair. I'm trying to break them of this delightful little habit that they have. 

I think the cats are learning quicker than my girls with this, because I always send them away if they try to eat the raining tuna and I clean it right away. Today when I was on the floor cleaning up tuna in between their highchairs I heard Isabella say, "hair." 

I instinctively knew that she was going for my head and I said, "don't you dare touch Mommy's hair with tuna fish hands." I had to separate their highchairs too, because it was two against one. They were sharing tuna to toss on the floor, making more work for Mommy. :p

Carmen's Adventures in Parenting: Adventures in Breakfast 5/28/12

Today's adventure began at breakfast time. I was attempting to supervise my 2-year-old daughters with their first bowls of cereal. I could picture milk everywhere, so I wasn't budging from the front of their highchairs. 

And I was also trying to teach my soon to be 16-year-old how to make dip eggs and eggs in a hole (dip egg in bread with hole cut out in the center) at the same time - not such a good idea to do both at same time.

By the time we were done the pan was smoking from butter and I thought I smelled rubber (the handle of the frying pan?) and my brain was a scrambled mess lacking any thought process what-so-ever. During this time my 12-year-old's little league coach called. I couldn't answer due to the pandemonium, so I let him leave a message.

It's Memorial Day, so I wasn't sure what he was calling about. Checked voice mail and just as expected, I couldn't hear him above my daughter Gabby who was screaming shrill because she did not want her froot loops. Mean while, her sister surprised me and devoured hers, which shouldn't have surprised me because it was sugar.

Gabby is a future health nut like her Mama. No, wait...they will both be future health nuts like their mama. Now, back to the coach. I quickly called him back and listened eagerly to what he had to say. Trying to make out his words above all the noise was like decoding morse code.

It turned out that my 12-year-old son has a game tonight and he just wanted to know if my boy would be there. He won't be there because he's on a camping trip with a friend. He'll be back tonight. In the end, milk wasn't spilled and my son's eggs didn't turn out too bad.

As I write this, I am the keeper of the baby gates, sitting on the floor in front of the now "double gates" (plastic and wood) that my daughters still manage to take down. Gabby doesn't do this on her own. Oh, no, this is all Isabella's idea who is so much like her crafty mother that it's scary.

Gabby is going back and forth from the front of the fan that's in the window with mismatched sandals, enjoying the breeze from the fan while Isabella is running back and forth from me to the love seat. Every time she returns to me she jabbers away with something important to say.

Now she's sitting on my ring binder and the other one is trying to rip my paper. I'm surrounded by baby zillas, help...

~It's a beautiful life.

Who cut my grass? 5/24/2012

It was about 3pm when I found someone cutting my grass! I don't know who he is or why he cut it, but I'll take it as a blessing. I told my landlord recently last week that I couldn't afford to pay anyone right now and that I was waiting for the money to buy a lawn mower. Maybe they sent this guy? All I know is that the grass was embarrassingly high, so I am very happy!!

Update:  It is still a mystery as to who this man was that cut my lawn. Not only did he cut it, but it was a hot day and he had a lawn mower in the back of his truck, but cut my grass with a grass trimmer. Sweat dripping off of him and all - yes, he cut it with a grass trimmer! Still remains a mystery...

Adventures In Sweet N Sour Chicken 5/31/2012

Homemade Sweet N Sour Chicken - yum!

Decided to try a recipe that I've been wanting to make for a long time now. It was kind of a difficult recipe to try when you have toddler twins, but I was game. Here's my adventure in sweet n sour chicken...

- Sliced my finger nail while cutting up chicken in between defrosting two packs of chicken. Sliced it good too. Yup, it was bleeding and there was some pain.

- Was almost dyslexic with the food coloring that I needed to use for the orange color. Twelve yellow plus four red equals orange. Well after doing 12 yellow I suddenly remembered that I'm sometimes dyslexic and reverse things. So I doubled checked and low and behold, all is well.

- Open the rice and rice spills onto the floor, but only a little. Toddler is content with measuring cups (the one that takes down baby gates) but she's growing increasingly bored with them.

- I realize that the recipe calls for ONE egg and I don't have ANY! I am never without eggs! So I quickly Google up a substitute for an egg - got it. Drop the cap to the yellow food coloring on the floor in between the cabinet and the wall. It lands way in the back, so I had to really reach for it - got it.

- Toddler throws measuring cup passed me onto the counter and begins making her highchair hop across the room (with all four breaks on by the way). I realize I forgot to time the rice, son of a bleep. Almost slice finger again cutting chicken (same finger). I'm thinking maybe I'll end up in the ER if I keep it up.

- Toddler is no longer hopping in highchair and is happy again with the same measuring cup that she threw at me. Close windows due to screaming of unhappy toddler. Grease starts popping, so I push girls farther back away from the stove than they already are (this is far). I'm choking on flour and cornstarch - have no idea why. Tingle in my throat - trying not to cough on food.

- Two girls now arguing over a piece from my refrigerator because Gabby hopped over there with her highchair and grabbed it and now Izz wants it too.

- Finish dinner and finally sit down to eat. Everyone is happy and all agree that this is some of the best sweet n sour chicken that we've ever had!!