Buttered Nuts: A Nut Butter Tutorial

Posted on May 15, 2012 by admin

I set up my food processor to make another batch of Almond Butter and I figured it’s high time I shared this awesomeness with all of you. Honestly, it’s dead easy. You just have to wait for it. And I know, that can be hard some times, but let me tell you, nut butter is well worth the wait!

First, let’s talk nuts. (yes, I am totally giggling to myself every time I type nut or nuts because I am an immature goober. Be thankful I’m not talking about balls, because I think I would totally loose it.)
Anyway, let’s talk nuts. For this batch, I used raw almonds and some cashews to give it a little but more fatty creaminess. But, you can make this with spanish peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, etc. any nut that has a decent amount of oil built in. Raw is best, avoid rowsted/salted/honey roasted etc. I’m not sure walnuts would make a great butter on their own, but added to another butter for flavor? Possibly!

Next, let’s talk roasting. I prefer my nut butter to use roasted nuts, but the recipe would work with raw nuts as well. Raw nuts might actually take less time to process into butter because they will have lost less oil then their roasted nut counterparts. I just like the nutty flavor, if you will, that a roasted nut provides. That said, I do like to roast them myself so I can avoid all of the added salt that usually goes along with the roasting process.

For this batch I used about 3 cups of nuts total. I would say about 1/3 cup of those were cashews. I never really measure. I have just figured out that my food processor can handle a batch of this size. I think if I did a larger batch the poor thing would have a motor attack and would seize up.
I spread the nuts out on a cookie sheet, maybe lined with parchment paper if I have it around. I pop it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until I can smell the nutty goodness. If I think of it, I give the pan a little jiggle to help evenly roast them. If you are using a higher oil nut like a cashew, be warned that they will roast/brown a lot faster, so keep a closer eye on them. My cashews are a little more toasty then my almonds, but that’s okay. I’m not going for brown nuts, I’m going for toasted nuts and being able to smell them is key.

Now it’s time to process!
I have a kitchen aid food processor I got as a gift from my mother in law. It’s a work horse. Making nut butters is hard for your food processor because it has to keep processing for a long time. (Please do not hold me responsible of your processor bites it during this process.) I know my kitchen aid can handle it, but I haven’t tried it with any other processor brands.
I will offer this advice, though: If you smell burning or electrics? It’s time to turn it off, step away from the machine, and buy your nut butters. :)

Okay. Let’s get our process on!

Here are our toasty nuts in the food processor! It will be LOUD for a few seconds, so be sure to warn family members and friends. Ready? Turn it on!

**Crunchy Butter Enthusiasts: If you want crunchy nut butter, pulse the processor a few times to get the nuts broken up into a pleasing size, then remove 1/2c-3/4c and set them off to the side**

First your nuts will grind up and they will be almond meal. It’s like a rough version of an almond flour, great for adding into pancakes, cookies, oat meals and granolas to add protein.
Basically, it’s not done yet.
Scrape the sides down or give your processor a shake periodically to help the almonds stay near the blades and process on!

You’ll feel like its getting close now, but it’s not. Keep being diligent about scraping down the sides.

Keep scraping! Keep processing!

At this point you will 1. Want to walk away and let it run alone. DON’T! You need to keep scraping and jiggling the processor to make sure it blends. And 2. You will feel like this will never end and the opposite of what you want to happen is happening.
Blind faith, okay? Keep processing!

Wow! Look at that! A big ball of goo! Your food processor is probably getting hot now and so is the almond ball of goo. Keep scraping and processing. The end is so close, I can taste it!

And just like that the ball of goo gives up, submits, and turns into a wonderful creamy almond butter! At this point, I would add any sea salt to your taste and process a bit more. I added a teaspoon of honey this go around to see if it made a huge difference. The honey did make the almond ball of goo return, but I just processed through it.
**Crunchy Butter Friends: now would be the time to add in those chopped nuts you set aside in the beginning. Just throw them in, pulse a few times to mix, as presto! Crunchy nut butter.**

Now, go forth and experiment! I’m on the lookout for a good price on hazelnuts so I can make myself some unsweetened nutella for my enjoyment! (Mmmmm. Faux-nutella and strawberries with Greek yogurt….mmmmmm)
Anyway, it is yummy stuff! I mix mine into oatmeal in the morning, spread on our bananas and apples in the afternoon for a snack, dip my super dark chocolate into it on occasion, and use it whenever a nut butter is called for in a recipe….like these Skinny Monkey Cookies that Amy sent me the link to! They look delicious and right up my alley! they remind me of some Elephant Poop cookies my coworker makes, but they have bananas and applesauce instead of gobs of sugar. Maybe I’ll add some unsweetened coconut too? Then I will call them Monkey Poop Cookies!
I’m sure Skinny Monkey Cookies sounds a lot more appetizing…but I like Monkey Poop better!
What?
I’m the girl who has been giggling at the word “Nuts” this whole time.

Garden Manicure

Posted on May 14, 2012 by admin

Every year it’s the same.
Every year I buy myself a new pair of gardening gloves.
Every year I tell myself “these are better then the ones I had last year.”
Every year I convince myself that I will wear the new perfect garden gloves whenever I am near the garden.
Every year, without fail, I don’t wear them or only wear them a short period of time.

And every year, I give myself what I lovingly call “the garden manicure” which I sport from May-June.

It’s all the rage.

Happy Mother’s Day!!

Posted on May 13, 2012 by admin

And what an eventful Mother’s Day it has been!
We started our Mother’s Day festivities by littleman giving me a project he made for me at school.

Adorable, right? Littleman holding one of the class chicks (chick number 2, so I’m told!) and made into a flower with his handprints. Cutie!
But what’s better? The back!

“All About My Mom”! Yes yes, he does have horrible handwriting, but it’s definitely come a LONG way since he was mainstreamed in January. (We have been working extra hard on it at home.) but. There are some jems in here!
Like “I love my mom because she is my best mom. We play.”
Awwwwwww. Sweet. Or how about
“My mom is smart. She knows all about my mom.”
Okay….
But my personal favorite has to be
“I think my mom knows how to catch robbers better than anyone in the world.”
Oh yeah! That’s right! I am a robber catching machine! Hahahah

Our family packed up and drove off to Oak Brook to meet my parents and my brothers and families for Mother’s Day brunch.

(photo courtesy of my brother Casey’s Facebook post)
(I’m in the far back right, if you we’re curious. Littleman is making faces at the end of the table. Ry is sitting across from me with the glorious beard)
It was a nice time. Food was kind of meh, but I don’t expect much from buffets. The salmon was nice! Nice to talk and see everybody!
After dropping by Ryan’s parents house to wish his mom happy mom’s day, we head home. And it was time. Time to tackle the beast!

The Beast
Well, the beast wasn’t actually a beast, it was my garden bed. So I suited up with my garden attire and head out. Now, I don’t have pictures, but imagine, if you will, Meghan, wearing an old tshirt, a pair of well worn GIANT men’s overalls, and a pair of crocks. Littleman calls it my farmer clothes. Ryan just calls it my “really? Oh geez…” outfit. Hahaha I like the overalls because they are comfy, my butt doesn’t hang out when I bend over and they have loads of pockets!
Littleman and I head out and started working. We used shovels and hoes, loosened soil, pulled up the black plastic, counted bugs, saw lots of HUGE worms, and saw quite a few toads as well!
Strawberries are bouncing back, and have a few berries started growing! Exciting considering the cut back they took last year from the deer! I also had quite a few volunteer potatoes! Guess those potatoes missed last fall have some big plans for this summer, so I dug those up and moved them around.

I’m experimenting this year. I bought some black weed blocker last year and never ended up using it. I decided that I would use it this year along the edge of the garden because me and creeping Charlie are officially at war. That stuff is all over my yard, and when it jumps into the garden? That’s when I get mad! Because if you pull it, any roots that remain become new plants. Sneaky!
So, I’m attacking this situation 2 ways.
1. I am using the weed blocker along the edges of the garden. Tacked it down along all edges with lawn staples. If the Charlie tries to enter the garden, it’ll get no place to root down! HA!
2. The “touch of death” method. I don’t like using weed killers. Especially near a garden where I’m growing foods. So, my mom told me a story about a woman she knows that uses the “touch of death” method with old Charlie. She puts on a pair of rubber gloves, then dons a pair of this stretchy cheap gloves over those. Then she dips her fingers into a cup of weed killer and goes around administering the touch of death to what plants she wants dead. Time consuming? Yes! But, this way it is only going where I want the weed killer to go. At least that is the hope. I haven’t had to administer it just yet!

So I re-edged the garden, cutting around to give it a nice clean line. Then Owen and I tacked down the black weed blocker around the edges. I also decided to give the weed blocker a shot in the area where I had the black plastic. The black plastic did a good job and the grass is dead, but I was concerned about watering with the plastic. And without anything there? I didn’t trust the grass not to grow back. The weed blocker is still black. But it also allows water through it! So that is encouraging. So we tacked down the rest of the roll over the area where the black plastic had been and I planted my warmer weather plants at that end of the garden as planned. (tomatoes, eggplants, melons)
I got the giant rotting ladder all settled after digging 2 deep holes to sink it into, and will have to run some twine up and down the rungs to help the new plants have something to grab onto. So i have Kentucky Wonder pole beans and cucumber vine planted along the ladder.

The garden ended up being more complex plant wise then i had earlier decided, simply because I got hand me over plants from my neighbors! So here is the big list of plants in garden!
Big tomatoes x2
Cherry tomatoes x2
Peppers x3
Brussel Sprouts x2
Broccoli x1
Zucchini x2
Yellow squash x1
Pole beans x8
Cucumber x3
Potatoes x10?
Basil x2
Strawberries ?
Mystery plant x1
The mystery plant is a plant that decided to seed itself in my neighbors garden after they spread their compost bin. They had a LOT of them popping up. We think it’s either cantaloupe or pumpkin vines. We will see what it is when it gets bigger!

Anyway. Heres my far away pictures I took right before the sun went down.
So yeah.

I can’t wait to see the green spread all over the place down there! And the climbers take over the old ladder!

My back is sore, my hands are sore, my feet are filthy (note to self, save up for gardening clogs without holes!), but my garden has got a good start!

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Its just Handspun!

Posted on May 11, 2012 by admin

So, after many requests and some harrassment at campKIP, I have decided to start selling my handspun again. It’s a nice way for me to clear out some stash, give others the opportunity to knit with one of a kind yarn, and pad our “fun money” here at the homestead!
So, I hope to offer up yarn on Fridays. I will try to make it weekly, but we will see. Anyway, here is today’s offering!

Rainbow Sherbet Merino 160yds sport/worsted weight handspun
And
Dreamcicle Rainbow Sherbert Merino 60yds sport/worsted weight handspun
$45 plus shipping

Two complimentary skeins of handspun that will go perfectly together in your project!
The main color way is full of oranges, greens, and raspberry. It actually reminds me of Rainbow Sherbet or a nice fruit salad! The complimentary yarn is the same color way that has been plied with some cream, to make it more of a dreamcicle effect! Yum!
Together? The possibilities are endless! Cowl? Hat with contrasting ribbing? Wrist warmers with stripes?

If you are interested, please leave a comment here or send me an email to stitchitpodcast at gmail. I take PayPal. :)
Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever! So first come first serve! I’ll edit the post to show when it’s sold.
Thanks for looking!

CampKIP recap!

Posted on May 9, 2012 by admin

So as if a week in Disney world wasn’t enough, I made arrangements to get to CampKIP on Sunday during session 1. This meant I flew home with my family, gone home, baked granola bars for the week, packed my carryon, passed out cold, woke up, and head out with the boys back to the airport the next morning at 8:30am. How’d that work out, Meghan? Well… in a nutshell? horrible plan and exhausted both jump to mind.
But, it was also exciting because I knew I was going to be surrounded by knitters and close friends I rarely see at any time, so I was happy, just tired. Very very very tired.
I did manage to get some knitting done during my travel though. I finished weaving in ends on a pair of happy socks I had knit for Jackie while waiting to board my flight. I also cast on a pair of socks to be my mindless knitting while I was at camp. Perfect mindless knitting. Plain old sock with self striping yarn. Love it.
I made it to St Louis with no problems and was met at the airport by Shilo and Tammy (fellow camp counselors). Campkip session 1 was well under way, and people were enjoying themselves. A camper brought a drum carder and fiber for people to play with, and people were happily making their own batts and learning to spin. Love it! Everybody spent their time chatting, knitting, spinning and carding in one of the Cedar Creek conference room. Such a relaxing time! I got to do some helping with tickets and bringing down door prizes and caught up in all the rules for the various games they had set up (more on that later).
Camp session one was a smaller group and it was really chill. People were excited to just have time to sit and knit and relax. No expectation for being entertained. They were all happy to just be there. It was a nice fun group! Between camp counselor duties and stuff at home exploding (screw you Bank of America!) I didn’t get a lot of time to sit and talk, unfortunately. But I did chat with other campers during meals and got to do the drawing of door prizes, which is super fun! We had so many great prizes donated by vendors, sponsors, campers, you name it! Fun giving people presents!
CampKIP session 1 ended quicker then I hoped and expected, but people seemed like they had a great time.
Tammy, Jackie, Amy and I had the run of Cedar Creek between camp sessions. We had some errands to run between camps and planned on eating at Cowan’s with the mile high pie, but nope! Apparently all of Washinton MO shuts down on Tuesdays. We did find one pub that was open. And had a nice relaxing lunch, followed by naps outside under the sunshine on blankets/hammock back at the resort. It was a nice break between sessions. :) we did get into some mischief that night, though. Tammy had bought some iron letters and we came up with some Gnome based things to put on the back of our shirts. Mine said “itsjustgnome” (like itsjustmeghan, but with gnome in there…get it?) Cute right? We ironed them on in the lobby of the resort next to the front desk while Natasha was working. Poor girl. Having to listen to grown women giggle and plan. She was so sweet and very helpful!
After finishing our ironing, we asked Natasha if we could do a load of laundry. She, of course, helped us get everything set up downstairs in the industrial washer. we made sure to specify we were washing colors because we didn’t want the machine to dump bleach in the machine (it was all automatic! So fancy!). So we threw in our jeans and shirt and whatnot that needed to be washed, and settled in the lounge downstairs for some knitting. Then the fun began! Well, not fun really. Amy went and started pulling stuff out of the washer to put into the dryer. Oh…what’s this? Oh a letter…and another…and another…. Our iron on letters couldnt stand up to the power of the industrial washer! Worse? I had a grey cardigan with black sparkles on the front…that came out as a grey cardigan with silver dull sparkles on the front….like I got attacked with a bedazzler. Not happy! Even worse then that?! Remember those happy socks I knit for Jackie and wove the ends on for? They WERE a bright yellows, blues, greens and maroon. So pretty! Now? Pastel. All of the color was washed out. All of it. Not to say the yarn was bad, we just think the water must be a LOT hotter in that industrial machine and that the socks and rhinestones couldn’t handle it. Case and point? Amy had put in a pair of Swedish fish socks in turquoise and red that she had knit, worn and washed for 6 months. They came out white and pink.
It’s okay to gasp. We all did.
Due to us being the only people in a very quiet resort, I blamed the ghosts.
CampKIP session 2 started the next day. We got all set up and welcomed a lot of campers back wh had come last year.

Here are me, Tammy and Jackie waiting for campers at the table.
It was so much fun seeing people I hadn’t seen in a year AND getting to great them by handing them a campKIP bag filled with gnome goodies! Jackie really did an awesome job on the camp bags. (no I’m lame and don’t have a pic, but I will find one!)
CampKIP 2 was a much bigger group, so we had a lot more running around to do to make sure everybody was happy campers (hahaha). I got to do fun stuff like track people down to give them tickets for the door prizes each day, sell door prize tickets, move door prizes downstairs so they would be ready, help Jackie in any way possible, and hide the gnomes! This year at camp, gnomes were the theme. Jackie and Tammy had painted little gnomes bronze, silver and gold and we hid them around the grounds of the resort. If you found one, you got a special prize! Problem was, we didn’t hide them before campers got there! It wasnt a problem for camp 1 because there were about 45 people and most people hung out in 1 or 2 rooms. Camp 2? There were 85 campers, so everywhere I went? People! It was like being on a secret mission undercover and trying not to do anything conspicuous and failing miserably! I ended up having to sneak out of meals early just to get the gnomes hid. It was a lot of fun, though! It was even more fun having people find them! I had fun climbing around to get them hidden so they would be obvious if you were looking for them. I loved trying to see of I could bring attention to the area they were in without saying. “look! A gnome!” hilarious watching women hunt through drawers, plants, shelves, linens, etc all over the resort searching for them too! Hahaha
While I did have to work a lot more during camp 2, I did get some knitting time in!

I finished the socks I cast on at the airport! Their stripes even lined up, though I did not try to get a perfectly matched pair at all! Neato! I passed the rest of this mystery sock yarn on to Shilo (my roomie!) because it was the never ending sock ball, and she will get another pair of socks out of that thing.
I ended up casting on another pair of socks in the campKIP color way by Fleur de Fiber

SO BEAUTIFUL! It was hilarious knitting them at camp. People would gasp and ask me what yarn I was using, and I had the joy of telling them they already had a skein of it in their camp bag! :)
Angela, from Fleur de Fiber, is super nice. And her color ways are beautiful! (I may have bought a couple more skeins during the market).
More people talking, more knitting, more helping, more eating yummy food, more catching up and drooling over hand knits, more lovely weather and sitting outside with friends. I had such a fun time! Tiring, but fun!
Jackie has a bunch if pictures on flickr you can check out too!
All too quickly, camp 2 ended. I got to hang out with Jackie, Jackie’s parents, Tammy, and the dogs on Saturday. Got to be present to sit in the basement with Jackie and the dogs during a hail storm and tornado. And got to help Jackie pack away camp stuff on Sunday.

I flew home late Sunday night completely exhausted, bags overflowing with yarn and fiber (I might have gotten a few things at the market…), happy to have time with good friends, but wanting my own bed, house, my boys, and my food. :)

I came back to a lot of work on Monday (6 meetings back to back….what was I thinking?!) and a littleman and Ryan who both missed me a lot.
Littleman had his kindergarten sing on Tuesday, so I got to sneak over to the school for that.

“Hi Mommy!!”
Hilarious watching a bunch of kindergarteners sing. The girls had it all down. The boys would either know the movements or a couple words they would sing loudly. My littleman? He stood in the middle singing to himself quietly, but would bust out the big moves just when you thought he didn’t even know he was in a performance. Hysterical! Hahahaha

All in all, camp and Disney were both super fun. But I will NEVER plan two trips like this back to back again. It’s been 1.5 weeks and I am just now feeling like things are getting back to normal!

Disney World Adventures

Posted on May 5, 2012 by admin

So, I think I have recovered enough to talk a bit about my Disney trip now. (note to self: never plan a Disney vacation and campKIP back to back. It’s EXHAUSTING!)
So the weather in Disney this time was lovely! We had highs around 85 each day. We only had one or two days that it rained. And it was just nice to be warm but not super hot.

Our family stayed at the Animal Kingdom Losge, and we got surprised by having rooms with a savanna view this time! So exciting! I was never sure if the animals came anywhere near the buildings at all, but they must rotate around where they feed the animals because we had zebras, giraffes, ostriches, cranes, antelopes etc all right outside our balcony. The rooms have a checklist of what animals are on the grounds, so littleman was charged with keeping track of what critters we saw. He actually got help from one of the people working in the savanna view outside of the lobby who radioed and found out where the wildebeest was hiding! So neat!

So Disney was a lot of fun, but exhausting. We had 2 character breakfasts, but I only have pictures from one on my phone, so here is littleman and his cousin with Eeyore.

I bought the boys autograph books and mickey mouse pens, so they were VERY excited to collect autographs from all the characters we saw. (I remember my younger brothers being so excited about that too when I came with my family when I was on high school)
Littleman got to go on a few more rides this year. The first new ride we took the boys on was splash mountain. Our entire group filled up a log by ourselves. Hilarious!
Let me just say, that sitting behind 2 short kids was a bad idea! I got a face FULL of water 3 seats back and I was DRENCHED. (that’ll teach me for putting on eye liner for a day in Disney!)

We bought the picture! Hahaha good times!

I talked littleman into riding on expedition Everest with us. Littleman is very anxious with surprises and new situations. Knowing this, we had been prepping him for the ride for weeks; explaining what a Yeti is, showing him videos of it so he knew that the tracks weren’t really broken, helping him know what to expect, assuring him that I’d hold his hand in the dark places, and telling him it was fun and not scary.
He laughed and giggled the whole ride, but he did NOT want to ride it again. He did buy himself a big stuffed Yeti with his gift card from grandma and grandpa after the ride, though. Here’s a picture of a very tired littleman and his Yeti passed out for the night.

I’m so proud of him for riding it!

The rest of the trip was us running around parks, going on rides, re-riding favorite rides, and eating TONS of food. I’m telling you, I gotto eat stuff I never have at home. I had scallops, salmon, pesto risotto with marscipone cheese, lamb shanks, etc. I ate WELL. I did manage to find 2 sugar free desserts while I was there I got a no sugar added citrus cheesecake with walnut crust at the Flying Fish restaurant on the boardwalk. DELICIOUS! And I had a no sugar added chocolate mousse from Norway in Epcot. Also? Yummy!! Other then that. I was usually so stuffed that a cup of decaf coffee at the end of my meal was dessert enough for me. Disney mealplan is the way to go. I was actually saying “I’m so tired of eating” by the end of the trip and was so grateful the breakfast buffet on our last morning had plain yogurt and fruit. Thank you for familiar food!

2 favorite things from this trip?
Watching littleman swim in the pool. For years Owen was just really fearful with water. Last summer he was getting more and more confident, and I found the gradual depth pools and beaches got him to be a lot more brave. I wasn’t sure how long it would take for him to warm up to the pool, but expected to have to start from scratch again. Boy was I wrong! That littleman was going down the water slide and jumping off the side of the pool like a pro! He had water wings on the whole time, but had no fear. He didn’t care if his face got wet or if he went underwater. He LOVED that we had a pool right out back and begged to go in it every afternoon when we would go back to the hotel for a rest. I had gotten a cold the second day we were there, so naps were something I wanted to do, but all I could manage was getting Owen to lay in the room with the timer going for 30 minutes. As soon as that alarm went off though? He was up and getting his swimsuit on. Ryan doesn’t swim, so with littleman being a daredevil. I had to suit up and stand like a zombie in the pool near the waterside to watch him while Ryan lounged in a law chair ad laughed at Littleman’s cannonballs and bellyflops. As tired as I was, I was so happy to have been there to see that.

My other favorite thing was the night on the boardwalk in Disney. After dinner, we were wondering around looking at shops and whatnot. I saw a photobooth, and decided that I wanted a photobooth picture with littleman and my nephew. Added bonus? It’s all digital and they have w television screen on the outside of the booth so you can see what’s going on inside. So we shoved the two 6 year old silly boys inside the booth, and I’m telling you, that was the best $5 I have ever spent. We we all laughing until we cried at them, making funny faces, and being total goofballs on the booth. They had a video of themselves on the inside of the booth as well, so it was like the littleman and bubba show. So funny! I took a video of the movie playing outside the booth, and we got 2 photo strips of their pictures. I could have done that over and over. Think it was my favorite “ride” at Disney.

The other fun at the boardwalk was a plate juggler. The kids LOVED him and he was very funny to watch. I’m surprised Owen hasn’t asked to have poles and a plates yet. He talked about the juggler quite a bit. He thought the guy was hilarious and was doubled over with laughter the whole time. I dont know if his performance was so funny, or of it was made even better by all the little kids squealing and laughing hysterical the whole time. Funny stuff!

Oh and knitting in Disney. I did get some knitting done on my sock I had with me on the plane, at dinners, and in the evening. I also got to meet up with one of my podcast listeners Cindy who I have chatted with online and via text over the past couple years. She actually works at Disney and was able to meet up with me for some knitting time in my hotel lobby after one of her shifts. It was SO nice to be able to finally meet her in person. I really enjoyed that too!

When I wasn’t knitting, I was thinking about it. If you ever get to Epcot, in the Norway pavilion they have a nice collection of Dale of Norway sweaters and hats. I fell in love with this one:

As much as I wanted to spend the $350 for the sweater, I couldn’t, so I settled with taking pictures and figuring out how they did the assembly. I LOVE that it’s lavender and white. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE the ribbon they sewed in along side the zipper. So beautiful! I’m thinking I need to find a pattern or see if I can figure out the charting and sizing for this one so I can knit it. Really. It might be knit on size 4 needs and will take a lifetime, but damn is it a beautiful sweater. I need one.

We flew home Saturday night, and got him around 6pm. We ate dinner, I made granola bars for Owens school snacks that week, and we all crashed into bed. Just to wake up and get out the door at 8:30am to being me back to the airport to fly to campKIP.
But that, ladies and gentlemen, is another story.

Recaps coming!

Posted on April 30, 2012 by admin

I promise I will post recaps of our Disney trip and my adventures with both sessions of campKIP 1 and 2 soon! One more sleep in my own bed and I think I’ll have the brain power to put together more then two long sentences.

We made it!

Posted on April 15, 2012 by admin

No fever for littleman so far, and other then having to wake up at 3:30am I think he is doing ok!

Taking off

Flying companions

We are here! Heading to target for some snacks before checking in to the resort.
Palm trees!!!!

Preparing to Depart

Posted on April 14, 2012 by admin

So these next two weeks I have been planning and working towards for the past year. I have a family vacation and campKIP back to back. With my job, picking up and taking off for 2 weeks is rough. The work won’t stop while I’m gone. And I’ve taken 2 weeks off before, but it was usually around the holidays so nobody cared if I was at my desk or not.
Anyway, I got all of my work done and lined up. I practically RAN out of the office yesterday, screamed at the top of my lungs, and did a cartwheel on my way to the car. Needless to say, I’m ready to escape.
Came home to realize that our house is a disaster, I had lots of laundry and dishes to catch up on, and still had errands to run. That still didn’t stop Ryan and I both falling asleep on the couch at 8:30 last night.
The other thing that kinda sucks is that littleman is sick. He ran a low grade fever last night and has started up with it again this afternoon. It’s hanging right around 100 and he isn’t complaining, so I’m letting him run a little hot. Sometimes it’s best to let the body defend itself, right? That’s my hope at least. He has been lounging all morning with his monkey and thumb plugged in watching shows on the iPad. Poor tired little dude. Fingers are crossed that he feels better soon. We have to be up and at Ryan’s parents house at 3:45am tomorrow to hitch the ride to the airport. We will probably crash over there. Cause it’s a 35 minute drive from here. And that makes ass early INSANELY ass early.
So plans for Disney? Enjoy ourselves! We are getting littleman an autograph book for him to get signatures in and so he can do a daily journal of his favorite parts of each day. (Gotta work in those handwriting and reading skills while we are missing school!) he can also bring it to school to share with his classmates when he gets back.
I’m also lamenting the desserts I will be missing while we are down there. Disney has amazing food and their desserts are absolutely sinful. Problem is, my body doesn’t take kindly to sugar. My friend Allison sent me a link to diabetic options while in Disney, but most have artificial sweeteners. Unfortunately, those make me crave sugar and upset my tummy.
So! I will bring my own desserts.
I’m planning on packing my super dark 85% cocoa chocolate and my caffeine free Good Earth Original Sweet and Spicy Tea. I’m hoping having these treats along with me will make me not miss the amazing minipastries, cakes, pies, ice creams, caramels….drool…..this is gonna be a real test of my strength.
Hopefully knowing I’ll instantly feel like crap and will be a sugar gremlin will be enough of a deterrent. Fingers crossed.

Well, off to throw another load of laundry and check on littleman’s temp again.

Oh, and I’m just bringing some vanilla socks to work on while we are there. I font think I knit a stitch last time we went. Maybe during one dinner.

I will try to post an update while we are down there!

Quotes, thrifts, and school updates! Oh my!

Posted on April 11, 2012 by admin

Lots to share, so I’m cramming it into one post for you! Quotes, amazing thrift find, and an update on littleman!
Quotes:
Owen after finding all of his Easter eggs decided all of his random toys under furniture was no longer a result of his poor clean up: MOM! Look the Easter bunny hid this Lego under the couch! DAD! Look! The Easter bunny hid this ball behind the basket!

Me: What’s that?
Owen: that’s my new belt! I made it!
Me: Owen, that’s my headband!
Owen: No, mom. It’s too big to be your headband!
Me: Well? how’d it get so big, huh?
Owen: I stretched it out to be my belt, so now it’s too big for your head, see? It’s my belt. I told you!

Thrift find of the week:
I’m always wondering in thrift stores between appointments for work. So many sweet things can be found, and I find its helpful to have a “thrift store want list” kept in your head. That way you aren’t trying to look I the ENTIRE store each time. I also like to hit the thrifts that are a little more organized, so at least you have a general idea of where you wants can be hidden.
Today, I went in looking for shirts and skirts for me for my upcoming trip/summer wardrobe, a raincoat for littleman, and dominoes.
Skirts were a success. I came home with 3 new to me skirts that fit. One is a bit baggy, but will be fine for work, so it’s ok. No shirts or raincoat came home with me.
The big success was when looking for dominoes. Now, littleman is obsessed with Rube Goldberg machines and domino runs. He builds Rube Goldberg machines all the time, using his matchbox car tracks, marble blocks, and dominoes. He LOVES to watch YouTube videos of them, and likes to narrate each of his inventions just like the kids on the YouTube videos “first you push this, then this wiggles that, which knocks down this”… We also love watching his gears turn. This kid gets building and you can tell he has a gameplan, and he’s motivated to make it happen with such determination.
Anyway, we bought him a box of dominoes a week or so ago, and he uses them all the time now, so I’ve been on a lookout for a domino rally set like we had when I was a kid. Lots and lots of neon plastic dominoes. Perfect! I can see the three of us setting up domino runs all over our little ranch. Fantastic!
Much to my dismay, they didn’t have a domino rally set, but they did have this:

That’s right, people! Prepare to get jealous! I paid $7 for a HUGE bag of seemingly brand new plastic marble tracks! You can set them up in a variety of different ways, and this one has the chains, gears and motor for a marble elevator! $7!! Needless to say, littleman is overjoyed!

We spent all afternoon building different marble set ups! Well, he did most of them. I helped here and there and did what the master marble track builder told me to do. Hahaha. So that was my thrift find of the day! So pumped!

Progress update:
This afternoon we met with Owen’s teachers and therapists for his parent teacher conference. Littleman (who had been in a self contained hearing impaired preschool program) mainstreamed into a regular kindergarten classroom with minimal assistance in January. It was a rough transition (on all of us!) and has had it’s ups and downs. He did have a very hard time the first month or so. But then, it was like he caught his feet, and has been making strides ever since. His teacher was SO excited to tell us how proud she is of him and his progress. He has been catching up in almost all areas, and is gaining new skills every day. He is only a few words behind in his sight words now, going from 8 when he first started in January up to 23. we have been working really hard on his handwriting, and that has been improving drastically! You can actually read his letters now! And what’s better? He has been sounding out words, rhyming words, etc with confidence! All great things!
He is still a little skittish with the kids in his class, but he has a few core friends that he enjoys playing with and talks about a lot. We asked if they felt he is ready for first grade, and they all said if he keeps up with the fast progress he has been making through school getting out, they have no concerns at all. They also said in placement for school next year, the kindergarten teachers sit down and hash out how to mix up the kids, and they will make sure that he has a few of his closer friends in his class to help him continue to be successful socially.
We have him signed up for a summer school program through the school district focusing on reading and computers, and he will be attending summer camp the rest of the summer break. Hopefully both of those experiences will teach him some new skills and help him with that social piece as well.
Needless to say, I have had an AWESOME day. I’m so proud of our silly, squirrelly littleman! He is truly an amazing guy and works so hard! High fives and hugs all around!!

This week is crunch week! We leave for Disney this weekend and will be there for a week. It will be SO fabulous. Littleman is kinda skittish with new things, so we have been talking about the rides he can go on, and have been showing him YouTube videos of the rides to prep him for them. He is now excitedly talking about going on the “super fast rides” like splash mountain. Hahaha. I also went ahead and got him an ID wristband. Talk about peace of mind! If he gets separated from us, he knows to show his wristband to a worker at Disney, and it has all of our contact information on there. Littleman knows our name and whatnot, but he doesn’t know our phone number, and when he is anxious or scared? Nothing comes out of his mouth. So this way, he just has to get out the word “lost” and show someone his wristband. Whew. Worth every penny!
After that, I get home, and then fly down to St Louis for campKIP the next morining! I’m SO excited for that too! Jackie has been showing me stuff from the goody bag, and oh my goodness! So much fun stuff! AND the doorprizes? SO many! Plus the food? And the friends? And the knitting? And the talking? And the beautiful grounds? Can you tell I am ready? Last week I was pulling my hair out thinking how I’ve been aware of these two weeks off work for the past year, and that I should have known better then to schedule myself like this, and was stressing out. And now? I CAN’T WAIT TO START MY 2 WEEK VACATION!!!
Think of me when it’s before dawn on Sunday morning, for I will be loading me and my family into a car bound for the airport to see a man about a mouse.
Two weeks of heaven! Here I come!!