Skip Thanksgiving Dinner and go straight for the leftovers!

Heresy, you say? Well, bordering, I'll admit. But this is an incredibly tasty (not necessarily terribly healthy) way to finish up Thursday's leftovers.


1. Take equal portions of mashed potatoes, stuffing, and turkey. You should cube the turkey into small chunklets.
2. Mix all of those ingredients--not excessively, just enough to stick everything together well and swirl the contents together.
3. Spoon (or use a melon baller, or even possible a small ice cream scoop) the mixture into balls.
Don't make them too large or they won't cook well.
4. Roll the balls into toasted bread crumbs, then dip in milk or buttermilk, and roll again in crumbs.
5. Deep fry the balls in HOT grease. I would be nice and tell you exactly how hot, except I don't actually own a cooking thermometer. If your balls disintegrate, your oil is too cold; if your balls burn up, your oil is too hot ;). They should crisp up nicely, so that when you bite them you have nice crunchy shell to contrast the softer inside. (Kinda like mozz sticks...)
6. Drain the balls on a rack or paper towels.
7. Serve hot. They're great just by themselves, or with gravy for dipping!

Enjoy!

The Tooth of the Matter

Last week, Eden announced that she had a wiggly tooth. She subsequently carefully sheltered said wiggly tooth from possible harm: eating carefully, eschewing sticky foods such as caramel, and of course only testing the progression of wiggliness gently with her tongue.

On Monday morning, she came to me early, asking for something to eat while we waited for breakfast to be ready. I directed her to the available bananas, which she happily agreed would satisfy her snacking needs.

A few minutes later, she came back giggling to herself, and asked if I wanted to hear a silly story. Sure, I told her.

"Mom, I was eating my banana, and then I ate my tooth! HAHAHAHA!"

Um.

Well, I guess my visions of her first tooth fairy experience will be a bit different that anticipated. We've decided that she's just going to have to write the tooth fairy a letter, and explain what happened to the tooth. Hopefully, the tooth fairy will be understanding, and accept the picture and letter in lieu of her usual dental offering.

Mercedes -- 5 months

Here she is, getting all grown up. This was her first time in the jumper. She's been trying to jump for a couple weeks now, so I figured it was probably time to introduce her to the wonderful world of bouncing.

Mercedes milestones

We've seen several signs baby M is getting older.

1. She has officially started the cooing and talking, happily chatting away to anybody and nobody. Unfortunately, whenever I try to get a good video of it, she clams up--mezmerized by the camera. I get a feeling she won't have a career in film. :/



2. She has started playing with toys! She discovered the keys, and can sometimes even pick them up by herself. :) She also has a soft rattle, but apparently that isn't as interesting/tasty.






Bonus points for anyone that can identify the fabulous music in the background... :D

3. She has discovered that she can "go" places by scooting around on her back. I guess she's anxious to get to all those places and people she's got to see. Also, she has figured out how to roll over. Trouble is, she's not quite sure what to do once she gets there. Video to come... :)

And bonus in all the videos--No, she's not going bald. No, she doesn't have a bad dye job. She's got blond roots coming in.

School Update

Well, we've officially made it through one week of school. (HUZZAH!) Eden has decided it isn't so bad after all, and has four friends.

"Mommy, I have FOooooooooUR friends now!"

You must however read that in your mind with the long drawn out oooooooooooooooooo and the scoopy "uhr" at the end.
And friends has two syllables.
It does.
FRAY-unds.
Two.

Her teacher is pleasantly surprised at Eden's reading ability and is working to make sure she doesn't get bored.

And, when I picked Eden up from school on Friday, a little girl walking by with her mom shouted "Bye, Eden!" and flashed us a big smile as we were getting in the car.

So, things are looking up.

The end of neverending summer

Eden had her first day of school today. We got her backpack ready (a birthday present from a couple months ago). I had already prepared her lunch, with an extra note to tell her how much we loved her. I sent her a silver spoon for her yogurt, and she had snacks and veggies and a peanut butter and honey sandwich besides. All was carefully tucked away inside of her special princess lunchbox that she got to pick out. She was excited. Well, excited and scared, although most of those fears were resolved on the drive over:

Eden: But I'll miss you, Mommy!
Me: Yes, but it will be just like if you were going over to someone's house to play and I was coming back for you later.
Eden: What if I get hurt?
Me: Well, they have a school nurse that can help you if you get hurt. And if it's really bad, they will call me and I will come to get you.
Eden: Are you really going to come back and get me? Me: Yes, I really will come and pick you up. I will be here as soon as school is over.
Eden: What about Haden? He will miss me and be sad!
Me: Well, this is part of Haden growing up too, and he will learn that you will come back, and that he can do fun things while you are away. Soon he'll be going to his own school and will Have that to help him not be sad.

Those concerns resolved, she seemed alright to forge ahead in the new experience. Her teacher seems very nice, so I'm comforted there.

I was excited to come get her and hear all the news about how fabulous her first day was. But, when I picked her up, she pulled me down to whisper in my ear:

"I didn't have fun today. I don't like it here."

When I asked her why, I found out it was because "The other kids don't want to be my friend. I try and try and they don't want to play with me. They won't talk to me." Eden has the unique opportunity to be an extreme minority. So, we'll see how that goes.

She also informed me that "They already have food at school to eat. I don't have to bring a lunchbox with food in it." Turns out that she was one of two kids who brought a lunch. Two out of somewhere around 80+ kindergartners. She wants to eat like all the other kids do. And here we had tried so hard for her to be ubernormal with her lunchbox and lunch, and cool things to trade. Guess it's not like that at this school.

Hopefully, the rest of the week will get better. I'm less optimistic, especially after reading they're expectations for kindergartners. By the end of the year, they hope that they will be able to recognize some letters and make their sounds, possibly to also list some words that start with those sounds.

As Eden is already a good reader, I'm afraid she'll be horrifically bored, and/or be more excluded by the rest of the kids for also being "too smart".

So..... we'll see.

Bath time!

Mercedes loves her Tummy Tub!






For the first time, a baby that actually LIKES to be bathed. She loves to sit in the warm water and hang out. These tubs are commonly used in Europe; I first saw one used by one of my friends in Germany. If you're curious, check out the Tummy Tub USA site, and the USA distributor, Bathed With Love.