A Child's Interpretation of Lenten Discipline

So the other day Julia was sitting in her room.  She was there because she had done something not very nice to a friend at school.  She has been acting out lately in a very out-of-character way for her.  Her teacher and I agree that it's that oh-so-patient person finally losing patience with everyone.  I sent her to her room to think about what she had done and told her to do nothing but sit.

A few minutes later I walked past her room and she was sitting on the floor with her entire shell collection spread out around her.  I asked her what she was doing and was ready to scold her for not doing what she was told.  This was her response, "No Mom, I'm not playing.  I am deciding what I am going to give away for Lent."  I didn't really go into a detailed explanation at the time.

Then yesterday morning we were discussing Lent and the idea of giving something up in order to remind ourselves of the sacrifices Jesus made for us.  I shared with them that I usually give up sweets because it is difficult for me.  Julia replied, "Yes Mom, and you can give them away to us (meaning her & her siblings)."  So then I attempted to explain the difference between giving away, and giving up.  It's really a semantics thing.  However, I think she gets the general idea since she was willing to give "away" one of her treasured shells.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Many of you asked so here it is.  My disclaimer is that I am going from memory and I wasn't measuring anything.

Mexican Stuffed Shells
18-20 large pasta shells, cooked & cooled
*Enchilada sauce http://www.recipegirl.com/2006/05/01/enchilada-sauce/
1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp. chile powder
1 1/2 Tbsp. cumin
2 tsp. Mexican oregano
2 tsp. coriander
1 cn. black beans, drained
1/2 cup ricotta
2 cups grated Mexican blend cheese

Prepare enchilada sauce.  Brown ground beef & drain.  Put a little more fat (oil of your choice) in pan and sauté onion until beginning to soften.  Add garlic and cook for another minute or so.  Then add chile powder, cumin, oregano, coriander (all my measurements are guesstimates because I didn't measure) & ground beef.  Cook for 1 minute then add in 1/2 a cup (or so) of enchilada sauce.  Add black beans & more enchilada sauce if too dry.  Cook just until mixture is warm through.  Remove from heat and stir in ricotta (again no measurement-just add enough to make the mixture hold together), 1/2 cup grated cheese & a couple handfuls of cilantro (to taste).  Preheat oven to 375.  Ladle some enchilada sauce in the bottom of an 11x7 baking dish.  Stuff shells with meat mixture, don't skimp here.  Be careful not to split shells, it helps to cook them very al dente.  Nestle stuffed shells into pan tightly and ladle the remainder of the enchilada sauce over the top.  You can use less if you prefer.  Bake for 20-30 minutes until mixture becomes bubbly.  Remove and add the remainder of the grated cheese over the top (we like lots of cheese).  Put back in oven until cheese is melted.  Sprinkle more cilantro over the top and serve!

* Her (easy and very yummy) recipe called for onion salt & garlic powder.  I used onion powder & garlic salt because that is what I had.  I also added more cumin and Mexican oregano.  Again, I tasted and added what I wanted.

So cute!

These days my cute little "Lala" is indeed cute, but also driving me nuts!  The two's have definitely taken hold of her and made her plumb crazy.  The kicker is that she is still so adorable, so I thought it a good time to make another child list.  This is my warning for anyone out there who doesn't want to read about my kids.

Things little Lala is doing these days:
1. When she hears something she cups her hand to hear ear and says "I hear sumsing"
2. When her daddy gets upset with her, through whining (fake) sobs she says "yes ma'am daddy"
3. She still refuses to use the potty for #2.  However, she really wants to be a big girl and always says "I go potty like Ewic (her cousin Eric)"  I don't know why she identifies with him on the potty thing, but she does.
4. She loves to put her hand on her hip or hips and be really sassy. Can't imagine where she gets that from (ahem).
5. She adores her big brother "Seany boo".  She loves to wake him up in the morning or after nap by getting in his bed, snuggling with him and tickling him.
6. Most of the time she completely ignores what I say and does exactly what she wants to do.
7. Then again, she can't stay in her gymnastics class.  She runs out screaming & crying for me.  I also can't leave her in the nursery at the gym.  She cries the whole time.
8. She has moved to a big girl bed (which she refers to as a "girl big bed"), only because she was starting to crawl out of the crib & pack 'n play.  She loves it and is pretty good about staying put.  In the morning she hollers "O Mommy?"  when she is ready to get up.
9. She loves to tell me "I can do it myself!", of course with her hands on her hips.
10. She likes to order me to "div me tisses" or "div me hugs"
11. The whining has begun, just as Sean's is starting to taper off (hear the background scream from me?).
11. Sadly (and happily) she is starting to ask real questions and communicate more like a big kid.

See the hand on the hip?

Last slumber in her crib.

This past weekend Scott took down our last crib (heavy sigh).  Our days of babyhood, which at times I have been so ready to be over, are coming to an end.  As happy as I am to move on to the next stage in our lives, I am a little heart sick over the loss of my babies.  I think now I know what motherhood is, for me anyway: mourning the loss of each stage of your child's life while also feeling excitement and joyful anticipation of who they will become and where God will take them as they grow.  

Proud Mama

So I know I spend most of my time whining and wailing about my kiddos cause that is what a mama is supposed to do . . . right?!?!?

Well I am going to take just a minute to praise them highly.  I took them out to dinner tonight with my family, without Scott.  So it was just one against three.  Not good odds right?  I must say though that they were just angels.  I managed to get them all to take naps this afternoon and then they all (non-complaining) took quick baths before we had to leave.  We were out the door on time and I was even fully dressed, in nice clothes, complete with makeup!  Shocker, I know.

All 3 of them sat through dinner, were well behaved, used inside voices, had impeccable manners, ordered their own meals & ate almost every bite.

My proudest moment of the evening came at the end though.  A lady who had been sitting at the table right next to ours came by on her way out to tell us how wonderful our kids were.  She said she couldn't believe that they sat there that long and were so quiet and well behaved.  I am so glad that she did that.  Sometimes the only people to speak up are the ones that are complaining.  So, thank you nice lady at the restaurant and thanks to my sweet angels!!  I love you!

Now for the funny part.  Sean, my super picky eater, has decided that he loves salad.  Praise Jesus!!!  We had Scott's brother, his wife & my nephew over for dinner a couple of weeks ago and I made caesar salad.  Sean couldn't get enough of it, forget the noodles I had made because they had tomato sauce on them.  He hates tomatoes in any form: sauce, fresh, ketchup, etc.  So at this particular restaurant my in-laws always order salad for the table (no, it's not Olive Garden, which I detest).  The salad comes with tomatoes, onion, blue cheese and just a plain vinaigrette.  So I ask Sean if he wants salad and he emphatically says "YES!"  I pick out only the lettuce, he did find some minute crumb size pieces of purple cabbage.  He picked them out, handed them to me and stated, "Mom, I said I didn't want any of THAT".  Once the 2 terrible minute crumb sizes pieces of purple cabbage were removed he proceeds to eat two helpings of basically lettuce.  He loved every bite, but the funniest thing was he insisted on eating it with 2 forks.  I have no idea where that came from.  I was just thankful because he was eating something green!!

Blog Title

Okay so I often look at my blog title and name "CrazyMommy" and try to determine if this really fits me. Sometimes I feel as if it gives readers the wrong impression of me . . .

And then I have an incident such as this mornings' and I know that I have named my blog perfectly!!

So, I am having a good morning considering that I am the only adult in the house and Sean got up super early today.  I am dressed, having coffee, kids are eating and everyone is happy.  Julia asks if I can whip up some boiled eggs.  While trying to explain to her that I can't just whip them up at the moment I peer into the frig and wonder why there is an 18 pack of eggs missing.  I know I went to the grocery store on Wed and I know that I bought eggs while there.  So I start mumbling to myself trying to retrace my 2 day old steps and start feeling downright crazy.

Then it dawns on me that I may have never even brought them in from the car, but I push that thought out of my head.  I mean, really, who leaves eggs in the car for 2 days, during an unseasonably warm winter.  Finally, I run to the car and . . . there they are . . . just sitting there.

Luckily, it's trash day today so they went straight to the trash and I am oddly comforted by the fact that I really am just a Crazy Mommy!

Happy Friday :-)