Meet the new additions to our family

Today we welcomed two new members to our family:



Meet "People" and "Tinkilie." Yes, those are the names Rowan and Ellie picked for their bears they "built" today at Build-a-Bear. People is Rowan's bear, the lighter-colored one, and Tinkilie is Ellie's bear. They are both in only underwear because 1) Ellie wears underwear to bed so now her bedtime buddy matches, 2) Rowan is now potty-trained and loves underwear, and 3) The clothes are expensive! But the underwear is "only" $3.50. Speaking of that, Ellie wanted every outfit in the store for her bear, so she would love to get some outfits for Christmas ;)

I think they make good bedtime buddies, don't you?

Quotes

"Mommy, I must be smarter than you, right? Because I'm the smartest person in the whole world!" - said Ellie on our walk to preschool this morning.

"No Mommy, talk Daddy!" - said Rowan with a scowl after I vetoed his request for cookies before dinner. Apparently he was talking to Daddy, not me.

"Do you have a baby in your tummy?" - Ellie asked our neighbor, who is NOT pregnant.

Same day - "Thomas, your hair looks funny." - said Ellie to our neighbor who shaved his head that morning.

"Looks... like... apple juice!" - said Rowan, as he looked into the toilet he just peed in.

So you think YOU can dance?

Here is the future winner of SYTYCD 2023



Yes, this is the same song Ashlyn and Bryson were recently seen dancing to. Tara, do you listen to disney radio online too? :)

Playtime fun

Rowan just being silly, and Ellie playing with a friend (who is from South Africa!).

Tatum Tidbits take two

Since everyone liked the last tidbits I posted, I thought I would post some more. It's much easier to write a blog this way too!

- Rowan woke up with a dry diaper this morning, woohoo! We're still working on the daytime training though.

- Ellie made a new friend yesterday (a semi-neighbor we hadn't met yet) and had a playdate at her house this morning. When I asked what time to come pick her up the mom said, "Really, whenever is fine. Let her eat lunch here; we're staying home all day." I was tempted to leave her until dinner, but figured I should go pick her up at 1:00. After all, the mom also has 6-month-old twin boys!

- I bought a spouse membership to the university's gym system. I also take yoga at our community center on Thursday nights. Maybe I will actually exercise regularly now :)

- We went to McDonalds for dinner tonight. Usually everyone buys items from the dollar menu, but tonight I bought kids meals for the kids just for the toy inside. They have awesome American Girl tiny books with little paper dolls inside. Ellie will love them!

- Ellie is signed up for ballet and indoor soccer this semester, and is currently taking Spanish classes at the library. I think that's pretty well-rounded. The start and stop dates of all the classes are staggered so she will only be taking one class per week. Rowan will be taking a swimming class, since he spent the summer watching Ellie take a swimming class and saying, "Rowie nurn (turn) now! Rowie fwim!"

- I am now the treasurer on the Assembly board for our community, and the president of Ellie's preschool board. Yikes!!

- We can't wait to start getting income again once school starts!!!!

End of summer fun

Yesterday we drove 40 minutes to Lodi, WI, where our good friends live. They have 2 girls the same ages as our kids, and our kids have a lot of fun together. And Lodi has a free pool and kiddie pool perfect for warm summer days.

Ellie hoarding all the pool toys


Enjoying the chilly water on a warm day


Go duckie, go!


Goofy little boy. On a side note, he wore undies throughout this entire day, no diaper!

Can you tell Ellie is thrilled to have her daddy back home?

Ellie and her best friend

Remember this slide from Starline? Well, they have one in Lodi, WI too :)

What other fun can we cram into the last days of summer?

Are we slowly turning into vegetarians?

No, I don't think we could really give up chicken and fish, but we do eat a lot less meat than we used to. Not only can it be healthier, if you can make meals with well-balanced meatless proteins, but it is better for the environment to eat less meat (mainly red meat). See here: http://www.good.is/post/red-meat-is-bad-for-the-environment-the-chart/

On that note, today I made these meatballs for lunch, which actually shouldn't be called meatballs, because there is no meat in them. Hmm, nut/yogurt/bread/cheese balls? Does anyone have a good name for them?

From: http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/theres-no-meat-in-our-favorite-meatballs/ Notes in italics are mine

The Ingredients
1 cup finely ground walnuts
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup yogurt cheese or drained cottage cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon salt

And:
2 cups seasoned bread crumbs… I make my own from 6 slices of bread and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons dried parsley, and 1 teaspoon each dried oregano, basil, and garlic powder… OR (as specified in the recipe) 2 cups purchased seasoned bread crumbs

And:
3 or 4 whole raw eggs


My Method — Preparing the Ingredients

The taste and texture is what “makes” these meatballs, so how the ingredients are prepared is extremely important.

The walnuts must be ground very finely, almost to the “nut butter” stage. (The food processor does this in a couple of minutes.) Chopped walnuts won’t give the meatballs the right texture. For those of you with a Trader Joe's, I used almond meal

I grate the cheddar cheese separately in the food processor until it too is very finely grated.

The yogurt cheese is made from my own yogurt, drained overnight in a colander (in the refrigerator). I used (also from Trader Joe's) plain nonfat greek yogurt, it is thick enough without draining overnight.

I chop the onion, cook it until it is transparent, and then run it through the food processor until it is pureed… this gives flavor but no chunks of onions in the meatballs.

I make the seasoned bread crumbs from six slices of dry bread and oregano, basil, parsley, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese, pulsing all these ingredients together in the food processor until the crumbs are very fine. (The original recipe called for purchased seasoned bread crumbs, which probably would not have Parmesan cheese as an ingredient. We really like the addition of the Parmesan cheese.)

Making the Mock Meatball Mixture

Combine all of the prepared ingredients… walnuts, cheddar cheese, yogurt cheese, onion, and herb-seasoned bread crumbs… in a large bowl. Add the salt, basil, and sage, and mix well. At this point, before you add the egg, taste the mixture and add more herbs, salt, etc., to suit your taste.

Next, add the eggs… one at a time… and mix them in thoroughly until all of the ingredients are evenly distributed. How many eggs to add depends on the size of the eggs and the dryness of the bread crumbs. You will want the mixture to be the same consistency as for regular meatballs or meatloaf. Be careful not to add too many eggs and make the mixture too wet.


I shape the mixture into meatballs that are slightly less than two inches in diameter. The original recipe then went on to bake the meatballs in tomato sauce for 35 to 40 minutes. I bake my meatballs in my homemade spaghetti sauce (tomatoes, basil, oregano, parsley, and garlic), but before I add the meatballs to the sauce, I bake the meatballs in the oven on a baking tray until the outsides of the meatballs are lightly browned. I think browning the meatballs adds to both the flavor and the texture, although this was not in the original recipe

We ate some alone without sauce after browning them, and the kids loved them. Jason didn't even mention that they tasted different until I told him there was no meat in them. They held up well in the sauce and seemed like normal meatballs with the spaghetti. Personally, I think I will make them and serve them plain to the kids; I think they tasted even better that way. They look more difficult to make than they really are, I promise :)

Like sister, like brother

For the past few months, Rowan's main goal in life has been to copy Ellie. Whatever Ellie says, Rowan says. Whatever Ellie does, Rowan does. Sometimes this is cute, like when they both chant, "Go Mommy, go!" as I bike them up steep hills. Sometimes this is annoying, like when they are jumping on either side of me on the couch screaming like monkeys.

The other day, Ellie thought it would be funny to put her shorts on her top and her shirt on her bottom.


Then of course Rowan had to do it too. Well, he tried.


And he tried.


And he tried. Some things he just can't do as well as Ellie.

Did you notice Rowan is now wearing undies? He is doing a great job at potty-training. At home we are usually safe, especially if I make sure to prompt him every so often to go at least try. We haven't tried leaving him in undies when we leave home though. Maybe we should, since at the park yesterday he stopped playing, ran over to the grass, opened one side of his diaper, and peed. How could I not praise him? Now peeing standing up, that is one thing Ellie cannot do.

But they can both make muffins in their swimsuits.

Ellie has been begging me all summer to let her ride her bike without training wheels. I told her she had to wait until daddy came home so we would have someone to watch Rowan while she practiced (but really I just didn't want to run back and forth with her bike). But now that daddy is home, she's got us out there running back and forth. Do you think she is padded enough?

And of course Rowan has to be just like Ellie :)

Now I'll leave you with two videos of Ellie biking. Don't laugh at the parents struggling to keep up and keep her balanced at the same time!

Just Rowan being Rowan

A video of Rowan, just being himself. I kept trying not to laugh because he didn't think he could talk to me through the camera, so he kept trying to peer around it. It makes it hard to get a good video, but I still think it's pretty cute ;)

Bean and beef chimichangas

I made these chimichangas for dinner tonight, and they were sooo good! My kids even gobbled them up, and I've had trouble getting them to eat meat lately. Here is the recipe I was given, and I'll show the changes I made in italics.

Bean and Beef Chimichangas

· 1 pound lean ground beef (a tube of ground turkey)
· 3/4 cup chopped onion (left this out)
· 1 cup whole kernel corn (left this out)
· 2 cups salsa
· 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
· 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
· 8 (12 inch) flour tortillas (whole wheat)
· 1 (16 ounce) package shredded cheese
· 1 tablespoon butter, melted (butter-flavored Pam spray)

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat. Drain excess grease, and add the onion and corn. Cook for about 5 more minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Stir in the salsa and season with cumin, stirring until blended. Cook until heated through, then remove from heat, and set aside. (I skipped the veggies and just used salsa, cooking it until it thickened up)
3. Open the can of beans, and spread a thin layer of beans onto each of the tortillas. Spoon the beef mixture down the center, and then top with shredded cheese. Roll up the tortillas, and place them seam-side down onto a baking sheet. Brush the tortillas with melted butter.
4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.
5. Cover with the remaining cheese and bake an additional 3-5 minutes, until melted. (I skipped this step) Serve with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, salsa and guacamole (as desired)


Now, the much asked for recipe for strawberry cornmeal muffins:

Strawberry Cornmeal Muffins

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour (whole wheat)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (substituted Sucanat)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup oil
1 cup milk
1 cup chopped strawberries, plus 1/2 cup for garnish

In a large mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add beaten egg, oil and milk, stirring until just combined. Fold in 1 cup chopped strawberries. .

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full, then garnish with a few chopped berries. Bake at 400F (200C) for 20-25 minutes or until testing done.

Allow the muffins to cool before removing from the muffin tin.

Just another lazy Sunday

We had another carefree summer day today. We are so ready for Jason to come home, the only downside is that means our summer is almost over. We've had such a lazy summer that I'm not looking forward to getting back on a schedule.

Today we woke up, talked with Jason for a while on the webcam, ate breakfast, then biked to work at the church nursery. Then we biked back home and played "airplane."



Rowan tried to "airplane" Ellie, and luckily she was gentle with him.

They posed for a sibling picture

And Rowan and I posed for Ellie

For lunch, we made some strawberry cornbread muffins.

And then painted. Yes, I followed my sister Tara's wonderful mothering example and went through all the work to let the kids paint. Of course they loved it, and I found a genius way to hang up the paintings to let them dry.

I used magnets to hang them from the stove hood. Isn't it a great idea? ;)

Then I copied Tara again and gave the kids some shaving cream to play with.

Rowan jumped right in to the fun

Ellie used her shaving cream to wash her doll's hair.

After cleaning up, we went outside to play for a long while. Our building is now full again, so we have lots of fun neighbors to play with.

Rowan likes to give rides

and get rides too!


When we were outside, I put my hand down in the grass, right on top of a bee. Apparently that bee did not like being squished, so he stuck his behind right in my pinky finger. The poor bee flew off and left half his bottom in my finger. I think it hurt him more than it hurt me, although now my finger is quite swollen and hard to bend.

For dinner I made mango fried rice. I think it turned out great, although Ellie wouldn't touch the mangoes, which made Rowan not eat it at all. Once I made him take a bite though, he ate the rest of the bowl. By the time we finished dinner and ice cream, it was time for bed! And now I'm watching the newest Harry Potter movie online. I know, I know, it must have been illegally downloaded, but there's no way I'm going to make it to the theater to see it.

Sunny Saturday Snapshots

Look Mom!


Monkey see, monkey do


Raspberry for you


Secret smile

Beautiful girl

Perfect pout

Fun with sticks (she is getting so tall and slender!)

And more sticks

Rowan on his big bad bike

Local biker's hangout

Creating genius

What a belly (but nothing to rival Ashlyn's)

Who knew Kmart had good deals?

All of the talk on the coupon thread I post on has been about Kmart toy clearance. Since there is not a Kmart in my city, I tried to ignore all of the hype and not get too jealous. But I just could not take it anymore! So I drove the kids and I to 2 Kmarts today, one of them is an hour away, and then the other is a 1/2 hour further. Was it worth it? I think it was. We didn't really have anything else to do today, so why not? This is what I bought:

All of the toys were on clearance, plus an extra 50% off this week. So, most were 75% off (or more). Many of these toys will be for my kids for Christmas, and a lot will be for birthday parties and other gifts for others. And of course I had to give a couple of the toys to the kids to play with on the car ride home. :) My combined total at both stores was $117.65. But, I had $105 in prepaid debit cards (from instant wins and trades), so I only paid $12.65 out of our bank account. Score!

Here is a list of everything I bought, for those who are interested:

Shake and go car $4

Imaginex jungle toy $5

Imaginex animals $2.50

Imaginex jungle set $17

Pearl quest electronic game $3

Barbie flip phone $2

(2) Barbie dress-up slippers $1

Thomas the train laptop $11

Play-doh caddy $8.50

(2) Play-doh 50 pack $6

(7) Play-doh make and display $.75

(2) Play-doh ez crafts $1.75

Care Bear $6.50

Little Puppy pack $5.50

Leapster Backyardigans game $7 (after coupon)

Disney princess card games $2

Playmobil pirates $1

Playmobil knights $1

(2) Anne Geddes beanies $1.50

(2) Little Einstein play set $3

Little People 50th anniversary school $6

Magnex set $4.50

(2) Moon sand $1.75

Just in case anyone tries to add it up, I also used a $5/50 coupon at each store, so $10 off my total :)

Garden goodness

Doesn't it look good? 2 giant yellow squash, 1 giant zucchini, green onions, carrots, cilantro, a bowl of lettuce, and a cup of raspberries. Some of the squash got a little out of hand in the couple days I didn't get to the garden. They are huge! I guess I need to go check on them more often. I have a lot more onions and carrots to harvest!

New accomplishments

Both Ellie and Rowan have some new accomplishments they would like to share.

Rowan:



He can go on command now, but he hasn't learned how to hold it or tell me BEFORE he goes. So he's still in diapers, however, I haven't had to change a poopy diaper in over a week (besides this morning when all three of us had stomach bugs).

Ellie:





She is really moving along the Kindergarten Hooked On Phonics set, and she really enjoys reading. Next we move on to Spanish!

Burgers and fries

We have visitors! Yesterday my dad, grandma, and aunt drove up from Iowa just for the day, and although it was short, we had a great time. Now our former neighbors are visiting and staying in our place for a couple days. It has been so much fun having all the kids together again. Don't they look like they are having fun? As you can tell by the pictures, Rowan just adores them.

These four are best buds. Ellie (4), A (5 1/2), N (2 1/2), Rowan (2). I've been asked before if all of them are mine, and it could almost happen, if Rowan was prematurely born. There are only 8 months between N and Rowan.

Ellie took this picture. She is becoming quite the photographer!

Tonight we had a neighborhood BBQ, and all of the families we know and love were able to come. We had a blast! I organized the BBQ to get all the neighbors together, since we have two new families to our building, and our former neighbors were visiting as well. But I have to admit, I've been searching for a reason to make these, my main contribution to the BBQ:

Burgers and fries. Every BBQ has burgers, right? But these burgers are made out of cupcakes, brownies, and frosting. And those delicious-looking fries? Those are actually sugar cookies. The idea was stolen from http://www.bakerella.blogspot.com/, who also provided me with recipe for the cake pops I made for Ellie's birthday. Isn't this the cutest idea? And even better, they are soo good!