Snacktime!!

Okay, so I know I've posted some weird ideas for snacks on here before, but I'm telling you - this one is a winner!!! All you need are these three thing:

Okay, so I'm sure that most of you have heard of indoor s'mores - this is a twist on that.

Take a full sized graham cracker and break it into two square pieces.

Spread one square with peanut butter, set aside.

Put one marshmallow on the other square and put it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds (depending on how strong your microwave is), until it puffs up all huge.

Take it out of the microwave, and put it together with the graham cracker with peanut butter to make a sandwich.

Voila! You now have peanut butter indoor s'more. This is soooo delicious (not exactly healthy, but that's now what I was going for here) and so fast and easy!! Satisfied my sweet tooth just wonderfully the other night and thrilled my girls to no end.

Try it - you'll love it!!

Twins? I don't think so.

So, when we were younger, my younger sister Adria and I got asked a lot if we were twins. Personally, we never saw thought we looked THAT much alike, but whatever, people still asked us all the time. I don't think our sons will ever have that problem when they are out together...

Here are Adria and me...
...and here we are with our babies a couple of months ago...

...and here are our boys together back in April: Henry and Edward. I don't know about you, but I don't see the "twins" comment coming up aaaaany time soon. :)

She just left a few days ago from another vist, and I have to say, it is so nice to be an aunt!!! I love being Aunt Robyn, and that we get to hang out together with our babies.

This is the stuff I daydreamed about a lot when I was younger - my sisters and I all being married and all the cousins (our kids) hanging out. It's not quite as I imagined it. She's the only one of my four sisters married, and Henry is the only cousin my kids have, but it's all good. I'm happy for what I've got! And I've waited so long for it, it makes me appreciate it ever more. Gotta love family. :)

Freak out

I meant to blog about this forever ago, and I'm just now getting to it. Okay, so here's a story of how Josephine aged me about 10 years last month. Here's the scenario: Maria is sitting on the stairs, being punished for I can't remember what now. Josephine is downstairs chillin' on the couch reading books. I go outside for a sec to look at some paint samples in the sunlight (they look different in actual light than they do inside). I accidentally drop one of them and it falls in the crack between the boards of our deck - shoot. I lean back inside, say "Josephine, I'll be right back", and head outside to crawl under the deck to get the color card out. I'm outside for maybe 60 seconds. I come back inside and hear the timer go off - time for me to go talk to Maria and see if she's ready to get up and be done with her punishment. I go upstairs, have "the talk" with her about obedience and send her off to play.

She goes outside in the backyard and comes back about five minutes later and starts walking around the house. She comes into the kitchen (where I'm starting dinner) and asks: "Mom, where's Josephine?" I pause - "Um, she's not outside with you?" "No, Mom, and she's not inside, either - I just looked" Yeah, well Maria is not always the greatest at finding things so I say "well, go look again". She does, and comes back saying that Josephine is nowhere in the house. So I go look myself. I look all over the second floor, then down through the first floor, then down to the basement. No Josephine. So I go outside. I look in the backyard, I look in the front yard, in the driveway - no Josephine. Now, I don't remember her going outside. The last time I saw her she was on the couch reading while I went outside for literally ONE minute. "This is weird, I think to myself", "but don't panic, you don't want to freak Maria out" So I search the house again - the closets, the bathtub (just in case she's doing a hide-n-seek thing), under the beds - everywhere I can think of, all the while calling out "Josephine, you need to come out now, this isn't funny. If you don't come out RIGHT NOW you are going to be in HUGE trouble!" Now I know my daughter - if she had heard that, she would have come running RIGHT out, scared to be in any trouble. I go outside and start yelling her name - no answer. I start walking up and down our block - no Josephine. She's not in the house, she's not outside. Okay, so now, I start freaking out...

I see one of our neighbors and ask her, but no, she hasn't seen Josephine, and she's been outside for the last half hour. "Somebodys' taken her!!", I start thinking, "she came outside for ONE second when I didn't notice and in that very moment, some creep snatched her!! How is that POSSIBLE?!!! What are the odds?!!" But there is no other explanation in my mind. I search the house again, knowing full well that she is not there - I've already searched it twice!! I start pacing and hyperventilating - do I call Lou? Do I call the police? "Oh my gosh, Lou will never forgive me. She'll be one of the missing children who never shows up and, Lou will divorce me and my life will fall apart and I'll never forgive myself, either!!" My mind is going crazy right about now, as you can see.

So, I go upstairs and get the phone - I have to call the police. My child is missing. I start to feel sick. I head towards our love seat to sit down while I dial and it's covered in the girls playclothes. And that's when I see it - two little sets of toes clad in lime green sandals poking out from under the mound of dress-up dresses. Josephine's toes. I look at the other end of the couch, and sure enough, there are two eyes - just eyes - showing out from under a big skirt. Josephine in on the couch, buried in play clothes, fast asleep. All that was showing were her closed eyes and little toes - I walked past her at least a half a dozen times and didn't even see her. I sat down on the opposite couch and start crying with relief. Words cannot even explain how relieved I was. And then I think "holy crap I think that stress-out just aged me about ten years..."

Let me tell you - nothing sends fear shivering down your spine like a missing child - and nothing sends more relief than finding them, safe and sound...

Organic Overload

Am I the only mother left on the planet that does not give a crap about organic foods? Seriously, I really don't care. Now I'm not raggin' on those of you who want to buy the stuff - hey, go for it - it's your money! I'm not saying it's wrong or anything, but personally, I am not going to spend $5 on a head of brocolli or $6 for a quart of organic strawberries.

Myth-buster #1 - It's healthier for you
I read an article over a year ago saying that studies show that organic fruit has no more vitamins and nutrients than the regular variety. So while it is pesticide-free (supposedly, cuz I'm not sure I really believe that, either - how can they really be sure that pesticides from neighboring farms don't drift over in small amounts through the air?), it is NOT healthier nutrition-wise.

Myth-buster #2 - It tastes better
I've had organic fruit on multiple occasions, and honestly, I don't see what all the fuss is about - it tastes exactly the same to me.

Yeah, yeah, I know - pesticides and all that, but you know what - you are getting exposed to them anyway! When you eat dinner at a friend's house or have lunch at a restaurant or go to a church picnic - ditto for when your kids go to a friend's house.

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for eating healthy. My favorite drink is water - the plain kind - not that flavored junk. Our fruit and veggie drawers are always stacked to the max and and we eat them all the time! We don't guzzle soda all week (or even Koolaid - blech), or eat already-prepared meals or frequent McDonalds, and store-bought baked goods totally freak me out because of the long list of who-knows-what ingredients in them (which is why I almost never buy them). But the whole organic thing? Personally, I think it's overrated. Of course, I could be dead wrong - it's happened before, once or twice, I think... :)

...and summer has begun...

Here are some highlights from the past few months:

Edward is getting big!

Rhubarb season at the DeGaetano homestead:

Rhubarb pie, Rhubarb muffins, Rhubarb cobbler, Rhubarb sauce...

Enjoying our reusable popscicle sticks...

...lots and lots!

Josephine's annual birthday fishing trip with Dad - caught a good-sized walleye - we had fried fish for dinner that night!

Showing off the big catch with Dad!

Happy 4th birthday! Cherry swirl cheesecake, as per Josephine's request

Me showing off my nostaglic candy (yes, those are enormous candy buttons) that Lou got me for my 30th - "to keep me a kid at heart" :)

Maria showing off the three small fish she caught on her annual birthday fishing trip with Daddy

Opening presents with her good friend Gavin from VA

Blowing out the candles - 7 years old!!

The birthday cake made by Mommy (the holes are from the candles). Maria requested a "grown-up" chocoalte cake with choclate frosting. "I want dark chocolate frosting, not kid frosting, Mom, so it will be like a grown-up cake" What can I say? The girl has good taste.

Edward's first trip on the boat. Doesn't he look comfy?

Father and son getting ready for his first boat ride. We were excited - Edward was ambivalent.

The girls posing in their birthday dresses from Grandma Linda (they LOVE to wear matching clothes, believe it or not)

And Edward is getting stronger! Not really crawling, but scooching around a bit, and already into everything. Yesterday, we spotted his first tooth cutting through! Over 8 months old already - sigh, they grow up too fast... :)

More fun times and adventures to come - bring it on, summer!

In search of Zwieback Toast...

Have you ever tried this stuff for young teething babies?


It is AWESOME! Hard enough to feel good on teething gums, but eventually after being gummed long enough, small mushy pieces come off in baby's mouth and are a tasty treat. They don't break easily, so they are not a choking hazard, and are so dense that the pieces that baby does gum off are just small mushy safe-to-swallow pieces. My kids have all LOVED them, and since they chew for a while to get bites off, they keep them busy for a looooong time, which is a lifesaver during that classic "let's get cranky while Mom's making dinner" time.

Only one problem - THEY AREN'T SOLD ANYMORE!!! Aaaaaaaaa!!! I discovered this when I went to get a new box for Edward. I had originally found a box in the back of the cupboard from when Josephine was younger (yes, I fed my baby expired teething toast - bad mommy, bad mommy - but I swear they tasted just fine!). Anyhow, Edward LOVED them, and so I went to get more - no luck at Wegmans or Walmart. I looked them up online only to find out that both Nabisco AND Gerber stopped making them a year ago - BOO! There is basically no other product out there like them. And no, the Gerber Biter Biscuits are not a good alternative. They make a super nasty mess, and since big chunks break off, they are a choking hazard for young babies (I know this from personal experience, I am sorry to say). Eddie is obsessed with feeding himself lately, but all the options out there are too old for him - he just gags and chokes. What's a Mom to do?!


Well, while online, I fell upon a recipe for Zwieback toast, and since I was feeling adverturous, I decided to give it a try.

Yes, I know, mouth watering, isn't it. :)

I made a bunch, and it looks and smells and tastes almost identical to the stuff that I used to buy - I was so proud...

...too bad that after a few pieces, Edward decided that Zwieback toast was soooo last week, and he was ready for something new. He now uses the toast as a launching device everytime I offer it to him. Dang it.

So, my problem was unresolved. He wants so badly to feed himself, and whines and cries all through dinner, begging for us to throw him food until Lou gives in and feeds him tiny pieces of bread all meal long - this gets old very quick, because he constantly whines and tries to grab the whole piece and stuff it all in his mouth and choke himself to death. Silly boy.

Then I discovered these through some more online searching:

So far I've only seen them at Walmart and they are wonderful! Totally safe for younger babies - they dissolve almost instantly when bitten, so no choking hazard. Edward LOVES them!! The only problem I see is that he eats them too fast, so they don't keep him as busy as the Zwieback toast did, and are not as good as a teething option, but at least he gets his fill at feeding himself, which he is obsessed with lately. Anyhow, just wanted to share this great find with other Moms who might be having my same dilemma!

One for the books

Lou got me, and he got me good. He threw me a surprise birthday party today, and no, I had no clue that it was going on. I'm sure everyone there could tell that quite easily by that "oh crap, what the heck is going on?!" look on my face when I walked into my mother's backyard and saw 30 people there with decorations everywhere yelling "SURPRISE!!!"

The food was great, the company was great, the decorations were wonderful (including a digital slideshow of me from birth to present) and I have always secretly wanted a surprise party, so overall, it was just awesome. My family and friends really came together and honestly, it was quite touching. I actually teared up a bit after I got over my shock. I never thought Lou would do anything like this for me (not out of callousness, I just didn't think it would ever occur to him to organize a party), and I was amazed at how much he and my family did to pull it off.

One of my favorite parts was the e-invites that he sent out (he showed them to me after we got home). They were soooo cute. Click here to check them out and see why I think he is one of the sweetest guys ever (make sure to read the captions under the pictures).

Anyhow, thanks everyone who came, and those who were too far away to be here, I wish you could have been, and I thought about you today. I have some great family and friends, that much I will say.

So maybe turning 30 isn't so bad after all... :)