"Pie-oneer Woman"

I love the Pioneer Woman.  I have used many of her recipes and used hers to create some of my own.  I love to cook, so I follow quite a few cooking blogs, but hers is my favorite.

Today she is going to be on the Food Network at 8pm- doing Throwdown with Bobby Flay!  My DVR is set!

Anyway, right now she is doing a series on holiday pies.  I am a pie person and prefer it to cake almost any day.  (Except my birthday when I get a white cake with pink cream filling and cream cheese frosting from Costco!)  I had been talking with my mom about inventing a new pumpkin pie.  I like pumpkin pie, but it's not my favorite.  My husband on the other hand is in LOVE with pumpkin pie and could finish a whole one himself- and has.  More specifically, he loves his mom's pumpkin pie.  I've tried to make it from her family recipe, he says it's good, but not like his Mama's. I hope I have a pie that Will is going to say that about someday!

Back to my pie idea.  I think what I don't like about a pumpkin pie boils down to 2 things:  the crust and the absence of something crunchy on top.  I'm more of a graham cracker crust kind of gal.  So my idea was to do a ginger snap crust with some kind of candied nut topping.  Apparently I'm not that original in my thinking because when I Googled it there were many examples.  Oh well.  I still plan on making this and will let you know how it goes!

One of the pies the PW made lately was this Pumpkin Creme Pie.  It looks amazing and I will be making that one soon too.  Also, there is talk among her followers of a mysterious chocolate bourbon pecan pie.  I will be waiting to see what that looks like!

Let the pie making begin!

A Much Awaited Death

If you know me at all you know how cheap I am. Not just pinching pennies cheap either. I'm the kind of person who sacrifices quality for a low price. I'll get the large bag of frozen chicken breasts at Wal-Mart over the All Natural Name Brand ones. I'd love to get the free range organic chicken, but I'm not working full time right now. So it's bag chicken for the Lentz's. Go ahead and judge me.


Anyway, for the longest time I've been holding off my husband from buying a new tv. We have been the last family on earth to get a flat screen. (So dramatic) We had one of those tv's that is as deep as it is wide and mockingly referred to it as a "round screen". Everytime I suggested to Steven he ask the guys over to watch a game at our house he'd say no way- that no one wants to watch a game on a crappy round screen.


A few months ago the color went out on the tv. My husband was so excited. I know I heard him chanting, "C'mon baby, c'mon baby". Thankfully the color came back and we kept the tv.


Well last week it happened. The tv. died. Like completely died. Black screen and all. We waited it out for about a day and then declared the time of death. I knew the day was coming, but I honestly thought we'd have a little more time together.


That's when Steven starting talking tv lingo- HD, 1080p, LD, LED, plasma,... I stopped him right there- explaining that Black Friday sales were just around the corner... you get the picture. And in the meantime we moved our 19 inch bedroom tv into the living room and the little 13" into the bedroom. It was awesome. You know my husband was so happy. He has bad vision to begin with, you know he loved trying to watch a 13" tv from the bed at night.


Long (unnecessary) story short- he couldn't wait any longer and came home last night with a tv.
It's only a 37", which I am happy about for many reasons- it's modest, under $500, and still fits in our tv cabinet.

World, please welcome the Lentz's to the year 2010.

Dinnertime

I'm a working mom again! It's just three hours a day and perfect for us. I'm tutoring at the school I used to work at. I go in from 11:50 to 2:50 everyday. The church has been so great to work with Steven. He works from 7-11, comes home while I go to work, and then goes back from about 3:15 to 6:15. It really is ideal.

Anyway, even though I'm just working three hours a day, it does change how I manage the day quite a bit. I need to be more planned and efficient with my time. One of the things I'm going to try to be better about is meal planning. Again. I did it for a little while this summer and then fell away from it. Well, I'm going to try it again.

Tonight we are having salmon, broccoli, and pesto pasta.
The other meals I've planned are:
Chicken Piccata
Taco Soup
Grilled Cheese & Soup
Pigs in a Blanket (for the busy nights!)
Chicken Cacciatore (Pioneer Woman's of course!)
Roast Chicken
Eggplant Parmesan (thank you Amy McAdams for reminding me!)

Sidenote- Will just fell on the floor. He actually pretended to trip and fall and then looked at me. Then he started fake crying. Heaven help me.

Anyway, for budget sake I need to really stick to these meals and make sure we aren't running for fast food b/c I haven't planned well. I'll let you know how it goes.

And here's a picture just because it feels like a waste to post without a picture.

Will decided to skate across the floor on two DVD covers. Fun!

Getting better..

... but still not where I'd like to be.  Since Sunday - THANK YOU TIME CHANGE-  Will has been getting up at 4:00 am.  Yes, 4.  Before time change  it was like 6:30 ish, so for sure I was dreading that becoming 5:30.  Needless to say, we've been less than thrilled about our angel's new hours.

Praise the Lord- seriously, we prayed about that last night during the bedtime prayer- Will slept until 5:15 today!  I'll take it.  

Who knows, tomorrow he may sleep really late.  Like 5:30.

I'm sleepy.

 

Trick or Treating in the Park

One of our fun Halloween activities this year was trick or treating in the park with our Mommies group. Will looked adorable in his puppy costume and had so much fun getting plenty of candy. Once he had a few pieces, all he wanted to do was sit next to his bucket and look through it at all the goodies inside. He'll give me a piece of candy and say, "Ome" which means "open".

We had a really good time! It was the first of 5 trick or treating events this year! We definitely got some good use out of this little costume!

More Halloween pics to come!

Mainstay Farm

So this is post number one in my series of catch up posts.  It's been a busy month!

Here are our pics from our visit to Mainstay Farm in Cleburne.  It was such a great place, we'll definitely have to return next year.  (Sadly, there was "an incident" downloading the pictures and most of them were lost.  I did shed tears of frustration over this)

The farm had a huge hay barn to play on, a gigantic air jumping thing, 3 mazes, pumpkin patch, hay ride, petting zoo, 3 story tree house, play ground, super slide, pedal cars, ... and more!  It was so much fun!

Looking down from the top of  a slide

My little farmer in the hay barn

This place is really awesome!  Having kids makes even minor holidays such fun again!

Be back soon...

Just taking a brief blogging hiatus to recover from our visit from the Stomach Bug and our visit to the ER.  We're having such a wonderful time here at the Lentz house!

Blogs I Read

I'm still debating the car seat quandary, but in the meantime...

Here are some of the blogs I check daily. Sometimes more than once a day in case there wasn't a new post when I first checked.

1. Dooce

She is hilarious and everytime Steven hears me laughing from the other room he asks, "Are you reading Dooce?"

2. Pioneer Woman

Who doesn't check this daily? Funny lady and great recipes!

3. Momversation

I love debates and conversations and hearing the different opinions that people have. This site is about the different opinions that moms have concerning lots of issues we moms deal with everyday. I really enjoy it!

4. Bakerella

Who doesn't love an adorable and delicious cake pop? I have to check often to see what new creations she's come up with.

5. The Purl Bee

This is just one of a million craft sites I like to visit. I love stalking other people's creativity & ideas.

And of course I frequently read the blogs of all my friends listed to the left. Reading blogs has become a new hobby of mine and I probably waste a little too much time doing it.

I love finding new blogs to read, so let me know if there is one you think I'd like!

My Car Seat Dilemma

I am in a quandary about what to do with Will's car seat. He is still rear facing. On Tuesday the 19th he will be 18 months. He weighs about 29 pounds and is like 34 inches tall. (maybe, I'm estimating, it's been awhile since I've actually measured).

At his 12 month appt our pediatrician told me that the new standard is to keep kids rear facing until age 2. I have yet to meet one person who still has a baby older than Will rear facing. But I've kept him rear facing b/c I know it's the safest thing. My only reasons for wanting to turn him around are that I think he would like seeing us and might enjoy the car more. Not based on safety.

I've tried to read up on this as much as possible. Scandinavian countries keep their kids rear facing until age 4 or about 55 lbs. They have super low rates of vehicular infant mortality as a result.

So to turn or not to turn...

Reasons Not To
1. Safety

Reasons To Turn
1. He will be able to see us
2. May enjoy the car more (he really doesn't like it much)
3. I can see him better
4. My blind spot will no longer be blocked.

I'm making this more dramatic than it needs to be. It's what I do. It feels like a mom test.

I'll let you know what I decide

Egg Disaster & a Bath

It really was too good to be true... yesterday Will slept until 6:56 (I was in HEAVEN)... today- 5:34.  Excellent.  

Anyway, I rolled myself out of bed, turned on Elmo for Will, and went into the kitchen to figure out breakfast.  I decided to make him some scrambled eggs.  I put two eggs on the counter and thought they were going to be good little eggs and sit still.  They did not.

Good morning to me!  I actually laughed instead of cried.  I'm turning over a new leaf ya know- "too blessed to be depressed"- corny, but so true!

I started over on the eggs and he loved them.  The fork wasn't getting the job done fast enough so he relied on the old faithful method.  Shoving them into his mouth with his hands as quickly as possible.

After playing outside for awhile I gave Will a bath.  Here he is sitting on my bed afterwards.

 

This afternoon we have our first trick or treating venture with our Mommies' group.  Thankfully it doesn't look like it's going to rain, so it should be a good time.  I'll have pictures of that soon!

Happy Monday!
  

Just Wednesday

It's just a Wednesday.  

We went to Will's Music Together class in Arlington this morning at 10.  He cried quite a bit and was overwhelmed by the situation for the first 15 minutes, but he eventually warmed up and had fun playing instruments and dancing.  It's so frustrating when he's clinging to me, but I have to try to understand it from his point of view and just be patient with him.  As much as I want him to adapt to new places quickly, I have to accept who he is and where he is in his development right now.  We are working on being comfortable in new situations and around new people.  Stranger anxiety is at an all time high, but we'll work through it.  I'm sure someday he'll want nothing to do with me and I'll miss the days of having him hanging on my leg, so I try not to get to worked up about it.

Afterwards we picked up lunch from Chick Fil A and went to Warren Park.  We had a super fun time playing and running and climbing.  He loves climbing all the way to the top of the spiral slide by himself and says, "Did it!" everytime.  I love when he is proud of himself.

He can be quite a stinker sometimes (I hear "No" about a million times a day now), but I can't help being so love with this little face!  

I mean, who could resist that?!

I'm soaking up every moment with my little lovebug!  He's just the best!

Welcome Luke Lain!

Congratulations to Elizabeth and Cody on the birth of their new baby boy- Luke! 

He was born yesterday at 2:41pm.

8 lbs  12 oz

21 inches long

and in the words of his mama, "perfect"

Can't wait to get to know you sweet Luke!  We are so happy you're here!

Sexist Shakers

I love a good garage sale find.  The other day I found a priceless set of salt and pepper shakers.

"Mother, you are the pepper upper"

(Mom taking care of children)

(Mom washing dishes)

(Mom ironing)

"Dad, you are the salt of the Earth"

(Dad reading the paper while smoking a pipe)

(Dad grilling a huge steak)

(Dad paying bills)

I had a couple other good finds, but these are my favorite.  If you come to dinner at my house we will use these.  

This Mom's Nightmare

The hardest part of being a mom is one that I didn't expect at all.  Worry.  It's one of my most recurrent prayer requests now.  I hate it because I understand that worry stems from fear and fear stems from doubt.  Doubt means I don't trust God enough.  That's a problem.  I'm tellin ya, this boy has rocked my world.

So, back to worry.  It all started when Will was a baby.  I noticed his little legs turned in a bit & mentioned it to someone.  "All babies are like that for a little while".  I moved on, but of course filed that little concern away to take back out later.  Fast forward a few months- to around 11 months- the beginning walking months, his feet are super pigeon-toed.  I chalk it up to being a baby, still growing, etc.  THen at his one year appt.  the doctor (a new ped we switched to) asked if Will was walking yet.  I told her yes, but that his feet really turn inward when he walks and he seems a little bowlegged too.  She told me that she had been looking at his legs during our visit and was concerned.  It wasn't just the turning in, it was the deep crease on the inside of each of his calves. I thought they were just more fat rolls.  (I mean she wasn't our doc then, so she had no idea how fat my kid was!)  She wasn't exactly sure what the problem might be, but wanted to research it and get back to me.  But "don't worry".  Right.  Does she know who she's talking to?

That is like the worst thing you can say to a person like me.  Of course I went home and cried.  I cried for a couple days.  Obsessed over it and had many pep talks from my husband- whose faith and trust in the Lord is amazing.

After a few days, I moved on.  But of course occasionally obsessed over in my mind and cried often.  I only told a couple of people.  I just really didn't even want to talk about it out loud.  If you don't talk about it, it doesn't seem as real.  Also, from that point on I stared at every other kid's legs I see.  All perfect.  All perfectly straight- brace-free little legs belonging to kids whose mothers don't know how thankful they should be that their kids have perfect legs.  (I've been a bit neurotic.  I'm working on it)

What didn't help was that during this time I got on the internet.  Bad.  I didn't know exactly what to look up and so my search was pretty broad.  I read about things that could be really terrible and things that would go away on their own.  Worst case scenario- it's something that gets worse and cripples him without some major surgery.  Best case scenario- it's just something he'll have to grow out of.  Everything in between included corrective shoes to leg braces.  In all cases- not something I want for my baby.

So it was time for our 15 month appt.  (Yes, Cooks Ped does a 15 month.  weird)  I actually put pants on him hoping the doctor wouldn't even see his legs and we could just not talk about it yet.  Talk about putting my head in the sand.  I just thought he needed more time.  I needed more time & wasn't ready to deal with it.    We had to take his clothes off, so there went that idea.  At the end of the visit, she brought it up again.  Again, it was the creases.  They were so deep that she wondered if he had amniotic bands.  But they were so symmetrical that that theory almost didn't make sense.)  She said that she'd been paying attention to other kids' legs and had never seen this before.  So she was referring us to an Orthopedic Specialist at Cooks downtown.

At least we'd have an answer.

It was time for our appt with the orthopedist.  We got to Cooks and I was overwhelmed.  I am the mom with the perfect child who doesn't know how good she has it and how thankful she should be!  I was completely humbled.  There are so many kids who deal with awful things every day.  Cancer, disease, deformity, etc.  I was immediately put in my place.  But of course, it's still me so I continued to worry.  I watched many kids in wheel chairs, walkers, and leg braces in the waiting room.  That's my future I kept telling myself.  Let me tell you, picturing your baby's future in leg braces is a terrible thing.

He's never going to run, play sports, and kids are going to make fun of him.

Will's name was called and we went in.  The doctor came shortly and had a look at his legs.  I watched his face for any telling signs, but this guy probably sees crazy things all the time so I couldn't read anything in his expression.  He sent us for x-rays to see what we were dealing with.  That experience was AWFUL.  Will freaked out.  I mean FREAKED OUT.  That's kind of his thing.  Both Steven and I held him down and took our hands off his legs at the last minute.  It was quick and the x-rays were available almost immediately.  We just had to wait for the doctor to come in and tell us his prognosis.

I literally held my breath.

"I think he's going to be fine."  He didn't see any curvature in the bone, his measurements were all good, and there was no evidence that the creases were anything at all.  Just extra fat.  (of course!)  "REALLY?!"  was my response.  I did not expect that.  I hoped for it, but didn't expect it.  Steven did.  (of course, hadn't he been telling me that all along...)  He told us he is just pigeon toed and it should straighten out over time.  Other than that, he's fine.

No surgery.  No leg braces.  No degenerative leg disease.  JUST PIGEON TOED!  and of course crazy extra fat on the inside of his legs that make creases that no other kids have.

I can deal with that.  What a huge burden lifted of my shoulders!  I felt a billion times better and was just so happy for Will.  He's going to be fine.  ;)

Now for the rude lady that I mentioned the other day:

We were at the park last Wednesday.  Will was playing on the playground and this mom that was there- who I had not been talking to at all- just piped up, "Is there something wrong with his legs?"  My head literally snapped around to look at her and she had this confused look on her face -furrowed brow, squinting eyes,...  My mouth was hanging open.  She continued- "I mean, his feet are turned in... and he looks bowlegged... and he's got those creases..."  She rattled off each of our issues and laid it right out there in the open.  I quickly replied, "NO."  ;)  "He's fine.  We actually just saw a specialist who said he's fine.  Just pigeon toed and basically chubby."  With that I turned my back and completely ignored her presence.  Don't get me wrong, I was shocked and wanted to put this woman in her place.  I wanted to comment on her lack of social tact and throw a rock at her.  You just don't do that!

My Mom and Dad showed up a little while later and I was still in shock at that lady's rudeness when I told them what she said.  I'm pretty sure Mom probably would have said something a bit more "loaded"- she is from New Jersey after all.

All day I couldn't get her comment out of my head.  I know it's noticeable.  I see people looking, but no one ever shoves it in my face like that.  But guess what I had to hold onto- XRAYS! "He is fine!"  So he doesn't look like every other kid.  It's ok.  He's healthy.  That's the most I could want.

Rude woman- if you're out there, I forgive you.  You don't know better.

So in conclusion, I'm thankful!  It was the best possible outcome of this situation.  For now, my worries are gone and my husband can have break from my crazies.

Thank you Father for your perfect faithfulness!

 

Really?!

This will be short and incomplete and will be finished at a later date when I have more time, but for now...

Have you ever had a complete stranger say something incredibly rude to you? Except she probably didn't even realize it was rude, it's just who she is. So rude that my jaw about dropped and still does in my mind when I replay it. Which I keep doing- replaying it. Wishing I hadn't seen this woman at the park at all. Because now she's in my brain and making me angry.

I'll explain later. Grrrrr

Will's First Chore

I guess it's not really a chore.  He loves it and asks to do it.  Laundry.  Specifically putting clothes into the washing machine.  He loves throwing the clothes in while the water is pouring in.  I try to get him to take the clothes out of the dryer, but he just takes them out and then wants to put them right back in the washing machine.  He will even take the clothes out of his drawers and carry them to the laundry room.  

So yesterday I moved a stool over and his basket of dirty clothes and let the boy go to town.  He did it for awhile and kept saying, "Boom!" when he threw things in.  It was great!  

I hope this boy continues his love for laundry, because his Mama sure doesn't have it and would love to have someone share the duty.

I had a great video, but who knows why it won't load.  Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.  

Now if I could just teach him to mop, load the dishwasher, vacuum, dust, ...

Bath Time!

 

What happened to Toodles?

Does anyone know what happened to Toodles? (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) Steven and I are watching it with Will right now and are very unhappy with the apparent change for Toodles. He has a face and talks.

Oh Toodles! Please come back!