Wait, I still have a blog??

Our "normal" is ever-changing.  Each semester is different, each summer is different, nothing is ever the same for too long.  Right now our basic family schedule looks like this:

Sunday - Jason works, possibly all day.  Kirsten works at church 9am - 12pm (kids go to Sunday school)

Monday - Kirsten works 6am-??  Ellie and Rowan have school 8:25am - 1:45pm.  Jason works 3pm -  8pm

Tuesday - Ellie and Rowan have school 8:25am - 3:17pm.  Violet has school 8:45am - 12:45pm.  Kirsten works at church 9am-11am.  Jason works 3pm - 8pm.

Wednesday - Kirsten works 6am - ??  Ellie and Rowan have school 8:25am - 3:17pm.  Jason works 3pm - 8pm

Thursday - Ellie and Rowan have school 8:25am - 3:17pm.  Violet has school 8:45am - 12:45pm.  Kirsten in Rowan's classroom/lunch room 9:15am - 12:30pm.  Jason works 3pm - 8pm

Friday - Kirsten works 6am - ?? Ellie and Rowan have school 8:25am - 3:17pm

Saturday - Jason works 8:30am - 5pm

Whew!  This does not include swimming lessons on Thursday evenings for the older two or Ellie's after school M/W Spanish class.  Is it any wonder I have nightmares about thinking it is the wrong day of the week and forgetting to pick up or drop off kids?

Ellie is in second grade at our neighborhood elementary school.  We met her teacher before school started and she seems wonderful for Ellie.  All of the classes at their school are dual grades - K/1, 2/3, 4/5.  The move from K/1 to 2/3 is a bigger adjustment than I realized.  The kids are given a lot more responsibility, and a lot less "play" time.  And the teacher doesn't seem to feel the need to communicate as much with the parents (plus the teachers don't escort the classes out of the building after school), so I'm not really sure how she is doing in school.  We have conferences in November, but that seems so far into the school year for me.  Ellie says she is doing fine, except for some friend issues that we are trying to work on with her.  Ugh, in so many ways homeschooling was good for us, but right now we just can't do it.  But it is not out of the question for the future :)  Ellie does truly love reading, and she reminds me of myself in that aspect.  She is even reading my old fiction favorite, The Babysitter's Club.  When she is not at school, she can usually be found reading at home, creating artistic projects such as plays, drawings, or adding on to her homemade dollhouse (made from various recycled scraps).  Or outside biking, roller-blading, or playing barbies with her friends.

Rowan started Kindergarten this year.  Luckily I am able to volunteer in his classroom every week, so I get to see him in action, at least during their "reader's workshop" time.  The classroom is set up in stations during this time and groups of kids rotate stations every 15 minutes or so.  I get to help out usually at one station, or I will follow some of the younger ones to a couple of the stations.  I really like his teacher, but I'm sure a big part of the reason I like her is because she communicates with us so often.  Plus she likes to chat after school at pick-up :)  Rowan is doing really well.  The first week or two were a little rough.  He had a hard time at drop-off a couple of times and accidentally was left behind outside after recess once, but that was because Ellie comes out to recess right after him and he wanted to stay with her.  But now he is completely settled in and willingly marches into the school, puts his stuff in his locker, and starts his activities inside his classroom.  He no longer clings to me when I volunteer in his class.  So now I get to observe how well he is improving with reading and writing.  And I've heard stories from his teacher about his crazy abilities in math (she said she was testing him the first week to find out his math level and finally just stopped going further because he was getting sick of it and wanted to go play).  When he is not at school, he usually be found outside playing in the sandbox or engaging in adventures (which usually include sticks and buckets of sand running all around our buildings) with his friends.  When he is inside, he is usually playing legos, wooden blocks, or mario figures - or playing mario on the wii.  While he was previously out-eaten by both his sisters at almost every meal, he just recently is starting to eat a lot more.  I sense a growth-spurt coming on :)

Violet - at newly two - is growing in leaps and bounds.  It seems that once we decided to enroll her in our beloved family preschool, she decided that she better start acting like a preschooler.  She is now daytime potty-trained (besides the occasional accident of course).  She loves to run and jump and climb and do everything else her older siblings do.  Her vocabulary has quadrupled in the past month.  And she is so, so funny.  Violet has the most amazing facial expressions and voice inflections that add another dimension to everything she says.  She absolutely loves going to school with her Diego lunchbox every Tuesday and Thursday morning.  Ask her who she goes to school with and she will name off at least half of her classmates.  Not once has she been hesitant for me to leave her there, which is a big change from less than one year ago!  She also LOVES going to our neighbors' houses and will often ask, "I go to Nina house?  I go to Pa house?"  Jason recently took her to her 2-year check-up and she ranks in the 80th% for height (36 in.) and the 40th% for weight (26 lbs), which puts her at the 15th% for weight-for-length.  Definitely our most petite child.  She will most often be found playing with board game pieces, reading books, or playing with toy animals or dolls.  She also begs to play outside and play in the sandbox or run around with her friends.

Jason is currently working at a telephone survey company, which is a temp job while he hunts for a career job.  That job is okay for now, and is a benefit for us because it is so flexible, but it also has been a little difficult because they sometimes have a week of no work in between projects.  Jason has discovered a possible dream job and is trying to get into the police force.  After starting the application and testing process at a couple different locations, he has decided to focus on this area for now (basically within driving distance of Madison).  His Ph.D. is still in the works, although put to a rudely abrupt pause by his school committee.  We are hoping that they cooperate to enable him to officially finish by December.  When he is not working, he can be found at the gym, on the computer, in the kitchen, or on the floor playing with the kids.

My job at the cupcake shop is going well.  I work MWF at 6am, until I am done basically.  My weekly hours depend on how many cake pop orders are placed for that week.  I make on average probably 300-400 cake pops a week, but sometimes I have large orders of hundreds of cake pops for events or celebrations.  In fact tomorrow I need to make 400 cake pops for an order, and I just finished an order for 200 wedding cake pops.  I love that I am able to be at the school on Thursdays, which includes working in the lunch room so I get to see both of my elementary kids (plus all the neighbor kids that I check up on).  I also enjoy being able to pick up the kids from school each day, since I rarely was able to do that with Ellie last year.  If I am not at work, you can usually find me outside pretending to watch my kids play, while on my kindle fire or chatting with neighbors :)

Mini vacation with maximum heat

 Written July 17, 2012

Jason and I have been hoping to make it to Milwaukee sometime this summer, but with our work schedules being so opposite, we couldn't really find a time to go.  Well, it just so happened that both of our work places are very slow this week, so our hours were cut, making it finally possible.  We wish it wasn't so incredibly hot, but we had to grab this chance.  The kids were sooo excited when we told them we were going to stay in a hotel in Milwaukee.  As with any trip, there were pros and cons.

Pros:

  - The kids were awesome in the car.  The 1 1/2 hour trip flew by with the kids reading or playing quietly on the way up and then sleeping or watching a movie on the way back.  

  - The deal we got was amazing.  We paid $65 for a night in a great hotel, 4 tickets to the zoo, a shuttle ride to the zoo, $40 credit to the hotel restaurant for dinner, one in-room movie (regularly $16.99, isn't that crazy???  Who would pay that?), and free breakfast at the hotel restaurant.  So, we paid $65 for something that usually would be $252.  It made all the money we spent at the zoo a little easier :)  

  - The hotel was really nice.  We enjoyed the indoor pool when we first arrived, and then when we entered our room on the sixth floor, the kids were amazed with the fancy room.  The beds had remotes the adjusted the firmness, but we had no idea how to use them so by morning somehow Rowan ended up in some sort of bowl of a bed.  The view from the sixth floor was amazing.  And the most important aspect of the room (in my opinion) was that the window shades adequately blocked the light from outside and I didn't have to hang blankets from the windows :)  Which leads to the next pro...

  - The kids slept pretty well.  Hotel stays are always iffy with our kids, because they are all used to sleeping alone in dark, quiet rooms.  Although they went to bed a little late, they all slept through the night 

  - The zoo was a lot of fun.  We love the Madison zoo (especially since it is free!), but the Milwaukee zoo is much bigger with a lot more animals and more activities.  It was so fun to see Violet ooh and ahh over every animal.  There was a lot of shade cover and indoor exhibits, which was important with this extreme heat we are experiencing.

Arriving at the zoo.  We came prepared with lots of cold/frozen water and cold/frozen snacks

Violet was enthralled with the animals

Ellie and I rode on the ski lift over the zoo

Our view from the lift - Violet was not happy for me to be up there

Cons:

- When I said the kids slept through the night, I forgot about one incident.  A pretty bad one.  Without getting into the disgusting details, let's just say that one of the kids got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and I'm pretty sure that he/she was still sleeping, because he/she went on the floor of the bathroom.  And he/she must have had a stomach problem.  And he/she must have woken up because I discovered him/her trying to clean it up.  Probably the worst mess I've ever cleaned up in my 7 years of motherhood.

- Did I mention the heat?  It was in the upper 90s, which is pretty unbearable with humidity.  We only stayed at the zoo until about 2pm because of it.

- I totally wiped out on our walk through the parking lot to enter the zoo.  Since I was holding Violet when I fell, I had to do some crazy body twisting to spare her life, plus I had no available hands to catch myself.  It was pretty painful and embarrassing, but luckily it only left me with two bloody knees and two bloody elbows - nothing broken.  If you recall, this is not the first time I have injured myself while holding Violet during a fall.  I'm glad she walks by herself most of the time now, or who knows what injuries would be in my future.

Anyone want an update?

One of my dear sisters gently admonished me for neglecting this blog.  I admit that it is much easier and faster to do all my updates and pictures on Facebook.  However, the biggest problem with Facebook is that it is not as easy to go back and see old posts.  I really love going back and looking at old blog posts.  So maybe this will put me back on track to keep up with the updates.  For now, just a quick update on each family member.

Jason - He has two really busy jobs right now.  One of them is taking care of the kids, especially during the hours that I am away working.  In addition, he is working hard on revising his dissertation, and he is on track to graduate with his Ph.D. this May.  After that?  Who knows.  Jason is searching out and applying for jobs, so really we could be anywhere in the country after graduation.  In what free time he has, he experiments in the kitchen making healthy food - mostly for himself, but the big successes he shares with us :)

Kirsten - The majority of my time is spent with kids - mine and others entrusted to my care :)  I currently have 3 part-time jobs that I truly love.  Here is the breakdown of hours per week - 26 hours spent nannying for a wonderful family (8 of those hours - Tues/Thurs - at our house), 2-5 hours at a church nursery, and 8-16 hours making cake pops at a cupcake shop (or 25 hours in the week before valentine's day).  The only way I am able to work all these hours, and still feel connected to my family, is with the flexibility of all three jobs.  With the cake pop job, I chose what hours I wanted to work, with most of them being early, early morning.  The two childcare jobs welcome me bringing any or all of my own kids, which is really nice.  Violet always comes with me to the church and I usually bring her to my nanny job one day per week.  Keeping up with household work has been a bit of a struggle, but we're starting to get the hang of it.  Often I will bring my dinner materials to my nanny job to get a head start on making dinner, so I'm not scrambling when I get home.  Because usually Violet latches on to me and won't let me go until bedtime, and that makes the dinner prepwork difficult.

Ellie - Most of her time now is spent at school.  Of course we have feelings about this, both positive and negative, but one of the most important factors is that she is happy.  She loves school and is doing really well there.  She has school lunch pretty much every day and we often go to breakfast there as well, and she absolutely loves having school food.  Ellie is a pretty adventurous eater, so the variety excites her.  Right now she is also taking a theater class that she enjoys.  Her free time is spent making up art projects, playing with dolls and toy animals, and playing fighting with Rowan.  She has dramatic mood swings right now; extremely helpful and loving one minute, and then dramatically angry and emotional the next.  Is age 6 the new 13???

Rowan - He attends preschool (the same one we've been using and love) every weekday this year for 4K - for free because Madison started public 4K this year and contracted it out to preschools.  I thought we would have difficult mornings trying to convince him to go to school, because he really enjoys staying home, but he happily goes to school every day and enjoys himself.  When he is home he spends a lot of time playing games on the computer or wii, and the rest of the time asking to play :)  He just finished taking a parent/child exploratory art class that he really enjoyed, and he'll be starting a swimming class near the end of March (as will Ellie and Violet).  Right now he prefers Jason to take care of all his needs, and the other day he said to me, "How about in our family, the boys take care of the boys and the girls take care of the girls." 

Violet - Ah, the ever-changing toddler.  She seems to learn new words every day.  Right now her absolute favorite thing to do is have Jason or I read her books, about 50 a day.  50 times each.  Animal books are what interest her most, as she enjoys pointing out each animal and the sound it makes.  Violet still complains (and often has to be forcibly removed from my body) whenever I leave the house, but she is usually happy and fine with Jason once I'm gone.  She certainly has learned from her big brother and big sister, and she knows how to work a room.  If everyone laughs, she laughs loudly too, even if she doesn't know why.  If someone does something she doesn't like, she will give them a pouty evil eye.  At minimum.  She also is not above screaming or throwing a fit to get what she wants.  But she knows that she simply has to grab my arm, pull, and say, "come" for me to follow her to find what she wants.

Dig and Save

Dig and Save is a dream for:

- people who have time, but no money

- crafters who want cheap material

- hoarders

Dig and Save is a nightmare for:

- people with allergies

- germaphobes

- someone looking for a specific clothing item

- short people

My new favorite place in town is a St. Vincents branch called Dig and Save.  The other branches around the city take the items that aren't selling, pack them up in GIANT boxes, and send them to the Dig and Save.  At the Dig and Save, everything is extremely cheap.  There is a lot of junk, but also a lot of treasures.  Furniture is cheap.  Most everything else is $1 per pound.  One room is filled with furniture and miscellaneous items, and the other room is filled with the GIANT boxes of clothes and linens.  These boxes are huge cubes, probably 4 feet on each side.  Which means the boxes come up to my chest.  And it is practically impossible to get into the bottom of the box, unless you climb in the box (which I have seen people do).  I reach as far down as I can as I dig through the clothes, but I usually don't get all the way to the bottom of the box.  Unless I see something promising, then I might tip myself over the side of the box, feet off the ground and bottom in the air, to grab it.

Finding things there can be a lot of work.  The clothes are not organized at all.  I just dig and dig and pick out my own treasures.  But I do find treasures.  Like these -

Ellie's pants and sweater from my most recent trip



Hanna Andersson shirts for Rowan and Violet



Everything else - matching brown cords for Jason and I; four shirts and snow pants for me; a dress and pants and outfit for Violet; and pajama pants, jean skirt, and shorts for Ellie.  Plus 6 wool sweaters for crafting.



 And the price for all of these good-quality clothes?  $9.68.   CRAZY, right??  I spent almost 2 hours there, but it was well worth it.  Madison folks, don't say I never told you ;)



Same genes, different results

In some ways, our three children are similar to each other.  They all look somewhat alike, they all hate road trips, and they all love climbing on daddy.  But in other ways, they are very, very different.  For example, Jason and I often put the kids to bed and take the monitor to the neighbors' house.  We can hear if any of the kids make any noises and we run up the stairs to our apartment if we hear them.  But sometimes, if the older ones are quiet, we might not hear them get up and use the bathroom.  A few times they have found no one home and cried, so we come right up and reassure them that we are nearby and listening. However, the last three times that each of them woke up at night, they had three very different reactions:

Ellie - She woke up to use the bathroom and discovered that no one was in the living room.  She walked around the house silently, saw that no one was there, and went back to her room to quietly cry herself back to sleep (I know it's heartbreaking; we had a talk about her talking to us in the monitor if she wakes up and we will come right back).

Rowan -  He woke up, noticed that no one was here, and decided to take advantage of the opportunity.  So, he silently went into the kitchen, dragged a chair to the corner of the room, climbed up onto the counter, reached into the very top corner of a cabinet, and pulled out a box of cookies.  After eating two of the cookies at the kitchen table, he went into the living room and played quietly until Jason returned home and found him there. 

Violet - If she wakes up during the night, she cries until someone comes and gives her a drink and puts her back to bed.  There is no way we would not hear her wake up!

A new normal

Things are a little different in the Tatum household this year.  We now have a stay-at-home dad and a working mom.  It's not too difficult of a change for us as we have been slowly transitioning for the last two years.  Last year Jason was working, but mostly from home.  This summer Jason worked part-time from home.  I have always worked part-time, some out of the home and some childcare at home.  When we decided to stay here for the year, part of that decision included me finding a job that would supply enough income for our family.  I looked into nanny jobs that supplied a huge income (huge for us), but also required long hours.  But then the perfect job just popped up - from Facebook no less.  I knew my time on Facebook was productive!  So now I am taking care of three very sweet children for a great friend, and it really is the perfect "job" for our family.  It is only 30 hours a week, but with that and my job in the church nursery we are able to make it work financially.  But the best part of the job (besides the wonderful family I work with) is that it is super flexible - I can bring any of my kids at any time and two of the days of the week I only watch their youngest at our house.  So I am only away from the kids for about 20 hours a week.  Everyone is adjusting wonderfully so far, even Violet, who previously would barely let me out of her sight.  And Jason (who is also finishing up his dissertation) has jumped with both feet into staying at home; he even cooks delicious lunches for the kids!  Speaking of the kids... 

Violet is more toddler and less baby every day.  She is walking short distances, but not full-on toddling yet.  This little one definitely has an opinion about everything, and she isn't afraid to show it!  Although she is making more defined babbles and some noises that sound like they might be words, her preferred method of communication is screeching.  She loves putting her toys away, how do I encourage that to continue?

Rowan is attending 4K (pre-kindergarten).  This is the first year that our city offers free, public 4K, and the school district is contracting out spots to many of the preschools (including our neighborhood preschool that both older kids have attended and we love).  So, he is able to go play at his school every morning for free, and he loves it.  He is also loving playing in the sandbox outside with friends and spotting words that he can read around town.  After this month of last minute summer fun, there have been several days when he told us, "This is the best day ever!"  One of those days was spent at a circus museum that puts on daily circus shows during the summer and now I'm pretty sure he wants to be a clown someday. 

And Ellie.  Ellie truly is growing up.  Physically, she is growing so tall and beautiful (especially with her new toothless gap!).  And her personality is just so sweet, sensitive, and outgoing.  That's not to say that she doesn't have her sour moments, because she certainly does.  Jason is homeschooling her for first grade this year, and she really is enjoying it.  Her school work takes one hour or less each day and the rest of her day is spent playing, creating, or organizing activities for Jason and I to join her in.  Right now one of her favorite things to do is play art class, which consists of either Jason or I being the student and she creates an art project for us to work on. 

In summary, things are going well for the Tatums.  Now we just have to figure out a new housework routine, because right now no one is claiming responsibility for the bathrooms.  Yuck!

Would you like to go for a run with me?

We have decided to stay another year in Madison, mostly because of friends and opportunities here, but also because it is just plain beautiful.  Yes, even in winter :)  Would you like to see the sights I enjoy as I run in the evenings after the kids are in bed?  Our neighborhood is especially gorgeous during the summer. 

Toy Story mania

Poor Rowan.  Not only is he the middle child, but his birthday is in the middle now too.  Ellie's is first, so I always have tons of time to dream and plan about her birthday parties.  Plus, since she is older, she has more circles of friends to invite, which makes it a bigger party.  Rowan's parties are usually just a shared cake with neighbors instead of an actual party.  This year was even more difficult - we had to have his party the day before his birthday because on his actual birthday we would be driving to Tennessee (which meant we were busy packing for that trip as well).  At least this time we actually made invitations and had dinner along with the cake. 

Ever since Toy Story 3 came out on dvd, the kids have had Toy Story on the brain.  After considering pirates, t-rex, cars, and superheros, Toy Story came out on top for the birthday cake theme.  Yes, we plan our birthday parties around the cake, for two reasons.  #1 - my kids equate birthday with cake and #2 - I equate birthday with making a cake!  It's one of my favorite things to do :)  So, I searched for cake ideas and found two great inspirations on the internet and decided to do them both.  The day before Rowan's party I started making cake balls which eventually turned into Mr and Mrs Potato Heads (Big thanks to Nina for decorating most of them - she just couldn't resist the artistic possibilites she saw when she stopped by that night).  And then the day of I made a regular cake of Andy's Bed with fondant decorations and added some plastic Toy Story figures that we bought for Rowan as a birthday present. 

We also had a make-your-own pizza on the BBQ for dinner, so I spent the afternoon prepping toppings and making pizza dough for that.  Making pizzas on the grill is always fun for our neighborhood kids, but this time it didn't work out quite as well.  For the first time we used hardwood briquettes instead of charcoal and it burned a lot hotter, so a lot of the pizza crusts burned on the bottom until we figured out how to at least semi-melt the cheese without destroying the crust.  It was still fun and pizza is always good, so the kids still loved it.

At least the birthday boy enjoyed himself

When the cake came out, the kids went crazy over the potato heads.  The time they took to make was completely worth it to see how excited they all were.  Plus they were really yummy, as was the Andy's Bed cake.  The kids started claiming each toy on top of the cake, but Rowan made sure to let them all know that the toys were his to take home :)

All the potato heads

Andy's bed

Happy 4th Birthday Rowan!

Recipes deconstructed (and reconstructed)

Usually, when people ask me for a recipe for something I made, I give them a link for the recipe I used as a guideline. But most recipes I don't follow completely; I make my own substitutions to make them healthier or to use ingredients I already have in my kitchen. By the time I'm done with the recipe, it really is another recipe altogether. For example, yesterday I wanted to make some zucchini bread. So, I searched on allrecipes.com, ranked them by rating (my highly recommended method of finding a recipe), and opened the top recipe with the highest rating. It looked like a great basic recipe to use as a base for my own version of zucchini bread. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Whenever I am changing a recipe for baked goods, I try to keep the ratio of liquids to solids the same in my own version.  I just swap out different sweeteners, flours, and oils.  So, here is my healthified* recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (aluminum free)
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup melted coconut oil  (if your house is as warm as mine, it's already melted in your kitchen)
• 1 1/2 cups honey
• zest of one lemon
• zest of one small orange
• juice of one small orange
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup grated carrots

I mix all the dry ingredients and wet separately, then combine all together.  Bake at 325 - time depends on what baking containers you use.  I filled a bundt cake pan (because my kids think it's yummier if I call it cake) and a 6 muffin tin.  The muffins took about 20 minutes, but the cake was more like 45 minutes.

The result was DELICIOUS, but when I make it again I will try 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce instead of the full cup of oil.

*  As a disclaimer, this recipe is healthier in the sense that it uses more whole food ingredients and less processed ones.  By no means it is low in calories or fat :)

Magnet fun

Ellie found a new way to entertain Violet:

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Four weeks ago, Violet stopped nursing.  All of a sudden, she just refused to even try.  I wasn't too worried about it, because she has done this once before.  When she was 4 months old, she refused to nurse for an entire day, but finally started eating again once we got into the doctor's office to check her out.  So, for the first day of what I thought was something called a "nursing strike," I just fed her solid foods as usual and gave her water in a sippy cup.  When it continued past 2 days, I started to worry a little, and I began giving her my pumped milk in her sippy cup because I felt like she wasn't getting enough fluids or calories.  At that point she wasn't eating enough solid food to sustain herself. 

After a week of absolutely no breastfeeding, I started to doubt that Violet would ever want to breastfeed again.  She was still showing no interest in wanting to even try to nurse.  At that point, I went through a grieving period.  It was a little heartbreaking during the middle of the night when instead of searching for my chest, she patted down my arm to my hands to see if they contained a bottle (and heaven forbid I picked her up without a bottle in my hands, or a screaming, writhing, toddler-esque fit would ensue!).  I had planned on breastfeeding Violet as long as she wanted to, so her quitting so unusually early was hard for me to accept.  And I guess I can announce this now (even though I wasn't planning on doing so):  Unless God provides us with a miracle, there will be no more Tatum tots for us. So, the unexpected realization that I would never again breastfeed a baby was a little devastating.  In fact, I am getting a little teary just thinking about it. 

After almost a month without breastfeeding, Violet still has absolutely no interest.  Our baby that refused bottles until this point is now enthusiastically lunging to bottles now.  I am beginning to accept that this is probably not a nursing strike; it is most likely a complete (too early!) weaning.  I have no idea why, but I just have to accept this as part of Violet's admirably strong personality.  Although it makes me a little sad still, I do have to admit that it has it's benefits.  I am no longer restricted in how long I can be apart from her.  Jason can easily grab some breastmilk from the fridge if I am away.  Also, on our recent trip to TN, Ellie was able to feed Violet bottles while they were both still strapped in their carseats.  That was really convenient!  And the best change of all is that Violet is sleeping beautifully at night.  She often sleeps straight through until morning, but I keep a bottle of water near our bed in case she wakes up.  She'll take a drink of water and go right back to bed.  Yes, it is a big hassle to pump 4 times a day and wash everything involved in pumping, but I can handle that for a few months.  Thankfully a great friend lent me an electric pump, or I wouldn't have lasted longer than a week. 

So for now I have come to terms with our baby growing up so quickly.  It is definitely bittersweet.  Who knows how long I will continue to pump milk for her bottles, but it will be at least until she is one.  And maybe she will continue to surprise us and actually want to nurse again.  But I won't hold my breath :)

Madison Mud Run - 2011

Back in the beginning of April, I saw an advertisement for what looked like the coolest race ever -  Madison Mud Run.  It looked like a mix between a run and an ultimate Survivor challenge.  Now is the time that I should probably point out that I have never, ever wanted to be a runner.  Running was not even remotely fun.  The few times that I had to run to catch my bus, I would be so embarrassed as I entered the bus gasping for air.  But, I have been looking for something new to drop these last 10 pounds from having three kids.  Something that did not require scheduled classes, since I never know when I will have free time.  So, I decided that I would do it.  I would sign up to run this almost 5 mile race, with less than 6 weeks to train, with absolutely no running experience.  Crazy, right?

Luckily I convinced (which actually took absolutely no convincing at all) my wonderful friends and husband to join me in the race, which made it 100x more fun!  Even the training was fun since the three of us girls did it together.  The theme for the race was superheroes, so we made these wonderful costumes to race in. 

From left to right the shirts say, "It's Mommy's turn to play in the mud"  "I have 3 boys, I know MUD!"  "Faster than a speeding toddler"  and "My kids think I'm a superhero"



And the super capes

The two dads who were not running in the race were in charge of watching our kids for us while we crawled through the mud.  On race day, it was CRAZY windy and cold, which was unfortunate since there were a few obstacles involving water.  But we were determined to finish the race no matter what.  It was so much fun, and we felt so proud of ourselves after completing (even if we did finish in the bottom 25%).

Starting the race -  Go Team 406!

Crawling through the mud pit at the end

We did it!

All our late night runs paid off

Now here is what you don't see captured in the pictures:

Only days before our big race, Pa sliced her leg open and had to get many stitches.  The doctor warned her to not run in the race, mostly due to risk of infection.  But Pa's (doctor) husband found some magic bandaids that covered it well and Pa defied doctors orders to run.

A few days later, Nina dropped a razor blade on her foot.  Luckily it was a small, manageable cut and she was still able to race.

The night before the race, Jason couldn't sleep because he got a stomach bug.  But he still ran/walked the race with no sleep and no energy.

I battled a knee injury for the weeks prior to the race, but luckily had no problems running that day.

The driving force behind my run that day was a determination to get back to our kids.  I was so worried that Violet would be screaming for me the entire time and that Rowan would be lost in the crowd by the time we returned.  Of course when we returned, all the kids were just fine.

There were many obstacles throughout the race, including climbing walls, a bouncy house, a giant slip and slide, and monkey bars.  When we arrived at the monkey bars, Pa was hesitant to do them because they were ridiculously high off the ground and the bars sort of twisted as we went across.  Well, when her turn came, she flew across those bars like a little monkey - with her own awesome style too.  I grabbed onto the second bar and fell flat on my back.  :) 

All in all, it was an incredible experience, and I know there are more races to come in my future :D

A magical 6th birthday

Lately Ellie has been enamored with Harry Potter.  She has seen all the movies and is reading through the books with Jason at bedtime.  She decided quite a while ago that she wanted to have a Harry Potter birthday party.  So, about two weeks before Ellie's birthday, we made up these invitations to deliver to her friends:

Tatum School of Mischief and Wizardry

Student of Honor: Ellie Tatum

Dear friend,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been invited to the Tatum School of Mischief and Wizardry - 406 Eagle Heights. Please come prepared to have fun and celebrate Ellie’s 6th Birthday. The house-elves have been working hard to prepare a delicious feast – followed with butterbeer from The Three Broomsticks and sugary confections from Honeydukes Sweetshop.

This party is on Monday May 2nd beginning at 4:00pm. We await your RSVP via owl (or email or muggle telephone call) no later than April 30.

Proper attire for outdoor mischief is required. Wizard robes and hats are strictly optional.

Yours sincerely,

Jason and Kirsten Tatum

Headmaster and Headmistress

And then the planning and work began.  The day of Ellie's party, I was scrambling around to get all the food done, which led to this:

A clingy baby exhausted to the point of sleeping in her high chair

It all was finished in time for the party.  I didn't really plan out how much food to make for how many people would be there (partly because I wasn't really sure how many people would be coming), but luckily I made tons of food because lots of people were able to come - we counted 49 people total and barely enough food.  But it was sooo fun!

Party food, complete with a witch's pot of Butterbeer

After we had some food, we started the activities.  Each "student" was given a report card with subjects that he/she must complete before graduating from our Wizardry school.  There were three subjects:  Potions, Herbology, and Transfiguration.  We had three stations set up for the students to perform each task and then receive a stamp on his/her report card upon completion of the task.

Completed report card

For the potions class, students could concoct their own potions using the many ingredients provided.  This was a very popular class and the potions table was always crowded.



Potions ingredients



Potions class taught by Miss Nina

For Herbology, Jason had a bunch of different herbs and plants on display, along with a printed out picture of each herb.  The students were instructed to match a picture with the correct herb (then taste the herb if desired).

Transfiguration was all about making "goo" using a borax solution, glue, and water.  Students poured the different ingredients together, then said the magic word to transfigure the liquid into a solid.  Then a sample of the goo could be taken home to study further.

Herbology and Transfiguration

Gooey goo














After the classes were completed, it was time to turn in the report cards for the real prize, CAKE!  There were also lots of star-shaped cake balls, jelly beans, and chocolate covered pretzel wands, but they disappeared too quickly to get pictures.  Those students were hungry!

Ellie's owl cake as requested - vanilla cake with chocolate frosting.

Ellie really had a wonderful time at her party and loved having every single guest come to help her celebrate.  She also received many fun and thoughtful gifts that she really enjoyed opening.  We made a special thank you message that many of you will be receiving soon:

And now I just have to share some pictures from a special gift she received from one of her best friends.  Noah (with the help of his mom and friends) made Ellie a book of spells that is just so creative and beautiful.



Norwex

I have a new job. One that I can make my own hours: work as much as I want to and whenever I want to. But also one that I never, ever thought I would want to do before.

I just started selling Norwex products. Norwex is a company that sells products used to clean your home (and body) without dangerous chemicals. The product that is most well-known is the Antibacterial Microfiber Enviro Cloth. It cleans just about everything, using just the cloth and water. Microfiber picks up dirt, dust, and all the other microscopic yuckies by using fine fibers and static electricity - unlike regular cloths that pick up some but smear most of it around. The Norwex antibacterial microfiber also has a silver agent embedded in the material that has self-purification properties. If you use it dry, it will dust a surface like you have never seen before. When wet, it picks up bacteria and germs which are then broken down by the silver agent. They also have many other products that work fantastically to clean.

How in the world did I decide to sell Norwex? I have never wanted a job in sales. I don't like the thought of pressuring people to buy something. But, when I visited my grandma last month and saw some Norwex products, I fell in love with them. And I knew that other people would want to buy them. The quality is top-notch, there is a 2 year guarantee on most of their products, and so many families are moving away from using harsh chemicals to clean. People are starting to realize that a typical house often has more toxic pollution inside than outside, due to harsh cleaners, air "fresheners" and other chemicals. Also, Norwex products are more environmentally friendly - no waste and no chemicals is better for the earth! I am somewhat known in many of my social circles as, well, a bit of a hippie. Since so many people ask me questions pertaining to healthy and sustainable living, why not have a product to offer them that will help them reach those goals? And of course, I can make a little money as I do it :)

So, I signed up to be a consultant and sent away for my starter pack. It comes with a few of the basic Norwex items to try out and then demonstrate for potential customers. I kind of let my house get dirty while I waited for the products to be shipped to me because I really wanted to try them out as soon as they arrived. First I tried the mop. It has a dry mop pad and a wet antibacterial microfiber pad. The first thing I noticed about the mop is that the height is adjustable, which is really nice. I envision shortening the mop and letting the kids play mopping often :) After using the dry mop pad, I can say that it is much faster and easier than using a traditional broom, since it is very wide to cover a larger area at a time, plus it easily pivots and slides under my table and chairs. It even fit under my stove, and I brought out a ton of disgusting junk from under there! The only drawback compared to a broom is that it was more difficult to dig into the corners of the walls with the Norwex mop than with a broom. After dry mopping, I used the wet mop. You just wet it in the sink, wring it out, and then stick it to your mop and scrub your floor with it. I usually use a steam mop, which I love, but the Norwex wet mop did just as good of a job without the need for electricity (and fear of burning one of my children as I did once to Rowan's poor toes). But the best part about the mop? It cleans the walls so easily and cleans them really well. I never knew my walls were so dirty until I used this.

A blog that I regularly read has a great review of the Norwex Enviro Cloths. Here is what Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking has to say about the Enviro Cloths (she has no affiliation with Norwex): http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2010/02/enviro-cloth-a-simple-frugal-natural-cleaning-tool.html

I guess I won't review everything, but if you come to a Norwex party, I can tell you more about other products. Because that is how Norwex works, it is similar to Pampered Chef, Tupperware, etc. in which someone hosts a party (and can earn some awesome rewards by doing it), a consultant comes to demonstrate products, and guests can order products that they want. With Norwex though, you don't have to have a party to buy something, you can also order directly from a consultant. If you want to host a party, buy any products, or learn how to become a consultant, please contact me. So, who wants to host my first party? :)

*beginning May 2nd, this will be my official Norwex website: http://kirstentatum.norwex.biz

"Magic" soup

I have made this soup about a hundred times, but it is always slightly different. I add whatever I have: different veggies, different cans of stuff, sometimes I add ground turkey or chicken, sometimes pasta. But last night, the soup was magic. It had just enough flavor, just enough kick, and a great amount of vegetables. So I need to write it down to see if I can create that magic again. This soup is delicious with different variations, but it might make magic if you make it this way:

1 jar Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic pasta sauce

1 can mild regular Rotel*

3 cups beef broth (or 3 cups water and dump in the rest of a container of Orrington Farms beef-flavored vegetarian broth. hmm, not sure if I can recreate that exactly)

about 1/2 of a large sweet onion - minced

about two handfuls of baby carrots - minced

3 stalks of celery - minced

1 cup sweet potato puree

1 can of cannellini beans - rinsed

Dump it all in a crockpot, and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Or longer - this soup is really forgiving. You can brown meat and add it at the beginning, and you can also add pasta, but I suggest cooking the pasta near the end and adding it when you serve. Otherwise the pasta just soaks up all the liquid and you are left with more of a chili. But then again, with any substitutions, it just might not be "magic."

* I am pretty sure that the reason no spices are needed is because of the Rotel. Which is unfortunate, because I am wary of ingredient labels that read "natural flavorings" and "spices." I like to know what is in my food! Unless, of course, I am in another country sampling the local food. Then I'm fine with "don't ask, don't tell." :D

Just for fun

This video is kind of long, but it shows a little bit of how vocal Violet is becoming.  She babbles in her crib when she wakes up in the morning, she blows raspberries and squeals as she plays, and she screeches when she doesn't get her way.  I love it!

Faux food

Happy April Fools' Day!  We celebrated this silly, mixed-up holiday at our house today.  Violet celebrated by waking up at 4:30am, but the rest of the kids waited until normal business hours to begin the day.  When they woke up, I gave them some special juice for breakfast (red jello).  Ellie noticed right away that the juice wasn't moving in the cup, but they still both tried to drink it through the straws stuck in the jello. 

I explained to them about April Fools' Day, and they decided they wanted to trick Daddy.  So, we turned his desk chair, laptop tray, and laptop upside down - and he definitely was fooled.  I think he was worried that it had all been knocked down until the kids yelled, "April Fools!" 

We then made some slimey goo that the kids played with while I made lunch for them.  Grilled cheese!  Well, if you can call angel food cake with cream cheese frosting - toasted on the skillet - grilled cheese.  I did :)  I tinted the frosting orange with sweet potato puree, so that means it was healthy enough to serve for lunch, right?  It sure fooled Ellie, because she ate the whole thing before I finally told her it was not grilled cheese.  She just thought it was really good.



The kids also requested their crazy straws to drink from.  And I guess even their real lunch was faux, because it was meatless "chicken" patties.  That wasn't even planned :)

Ellie decided to dress silly for school, which meant lots of layers and some inside-out clothing.  I don't think anyone really noticed her crazy style (maybe it is a little too usual for her?).  She had a classmate come home with her and stay for dinner, and I planned an April Fools' dinner just for him, because he is such a funny guy who loves to laugh.  First, I told them that we would eat backwards and have cupcakes first.

Of course they were not really cupcakes, but meatloaf with mashed potatoes on top.  I tinted the potatoes with beet puree (can you believe that bright scarlet color is from one tablespoon of beets?)  The kids didn't think that joke was so funny, because they really wanted cupcakes.  But I promised them that a treat was in the works.  After they ate their "cupcakes" I brought them some spaghetti and meatballs.  Or was it?

Looks like spaghetti to me!

They were pleased with this look-alike.  It was a small piece of angel food cake with frosting piped into noodle shapes.  The meatballs are whoppers and the sauce is strawberry jam. 

It was a day filled with sugar, but also with lots of laughs.  There were a lot of crazy jokes played on each other, with shouts of "April Fools!"  But the only one who fooled me was Mother Nature - it's not supposed to snow in April!