Juxtapositions

Joseph 8 months

Gregory 13 months

Maggie 12 months

Joseph 8 1/2 months

Religious Ponderings by Maggie

My lovely five-year-old has been contemplating the mysteries of her religion lately.  Here are her latest spiritual questions and comments. 

"Mom, Lent can't be a season. There are only four seasons; winter, spring, summer and fall. So, Lent must be a guy. Who is Saint Lent?"

"Do we die on the cross too or does just Jesus?"

"Jesus is also Jesus' father.  But how can that be? Woah! (giggles)  I've never heard of anyone who could be their own father before."

Now how is it that my five-year-old can't stop throwing tantrums but CAN sit and contemplate the incarnation and the trinity? 

Sick babies

All three munchkins are down with the croup.  Two months ago when Joseph had croup we took a late night trip to the ER because his chest was contracting.  Let's hope this one doesn't turn into anything like that.  Poor Gregory has it the worst; runny nose, fever, cough.  We put the humidifier in his room last night and he woke up in a feverish haze and started screaming.  I went to see what was wrong.  He thought the humidifier was an evil genie.  Aah, the two and a half year old imagination.  He insisted the genie was now in his pillow.  I gave him a fresh pillow and he went back to sleep.  A few hours later, Maggie took a tumble out of her bed and knocked her cheek on her night stand.  She cried but didn't remember a thing the next morning.  When I asked her if she fell she said "No, but my teddy bear did.  Poor Teddy."  I'm hoping this passes quickly and that this is the end of the sicknesses this winter.

Future Blue Man?

"Mom!  Joseph found something blue!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

Maggie Moo is FIVE!

This is a bit late but Happy Birthday to my sweet little darlin' Maggie.  She was so excited to turn five this year.  The night before her birthday, she helped me make Rice Krispie bars for her class.  She also took everything that was a size 4 out of her drawer and gave it to me saying "Mom, I can't wear these anymore now that I'm going to be five."  She wore a special outfit to school.  A beautiful tutu skirt and a birthday shirt with a 5 on it.  That afternoon she helped decorate a cake.  She used blue frosting to create an ocean and then added Ariel and Flounder and some sea flowers.

We celebrated with a small party the following weekend.  Maggie planned the WHOLE thing.  We ate pizza and fruit.  And everyone got to decorate their own cupcakes (one to eat at the party and one to take home).  We played pin the candle on the cupcake and the balloon stomp game (which worked WAY better than last year.  Biodegradable balloons are the way to go!).

Maggie received a bunch of very nice presents.   Her brothers gave her a yellow football shirt so she has something to wear while watching the Steelers.  Grandma Lolo took her on a shopping spree (using Grandpa's credit card) and Grandma Sunshine and Grandpa Buzzy took her to Princesses on Ice in Baltimore.  She also got a soccer ball and lots of arts and crafts to work on while her brothers are taking naps.  She's already halfway done weaving a purse.

It has been a wonderful five years with my little girl and I cannot wait to see what this next year brings.  I cannot believe how big my baby girl is and that 4lb 12oz little girl I remember so vividly is now such a big girl.  

Snow Creations

Here is our first snowman of the year.  You can barely see it on the patio table.  I think this snowman died soon after he was created. 

After the last storm, the kids went out to build a snowman but Gregory came back in after two minutes because it was "too snowy to make a snowman".  Daddy and Maggie built one instead.   This snowgirl's name is Ariel.  She's wearing a pink scarf made from fabric scraps.  On her head you will find a blue Pittsburgh Pirates hat.  Her nose is a carrot and her eyes are rocks. 

Ariel didn't last long either.  She did a face plant and broke into three.  So a new snowman was in order.  This one was made by Maggie, Gregory, Grandma LoLo and myself.  Gregory needed his mittens cleaned off every time he got snow on them.  "My mittens are wet", he kept saying.  He didn't quite understand that the mittens were doing their job.  This snowman was named Frosty.  We took Ariel's eyes, nose and scarf and used them for Frosty.  The Pirates hat was missing though.  So we used a dead basil plant for hair.  It was the best smelling snowman I've ever met.

Lasagna Roll Ups

I'm going to begin my "one new recipe a week" quest again.  Just trying to expand our dinner options a bit.  Last night I made Lasagna roll ups.  I probably looked at twenty different recipes.  Some contained cream cheese (not in my lasagna please), some contained spinach (I didn't think my kids and husband would let me get away with that), some had only white sauce and some had only red sauce, but no one recipe had exactly what I was looking for.  So I combined a bunch of them together and came up with my own.  

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 TBSP  flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk (I used skim Lactaid)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• pinch of nutmeg

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the bechamel sauce. 

 Lasagna:

• 1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 10 uncooked lasagna noodles
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzerella
• 1 lb ground beef 
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 TBSP basil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat a large pot of water to boiling over high heat.  When it reaches a boil, salt and drop noodles.  Stir occasionally and cook to just al dente.  You want to leave them slightly more firm since you'll be baking the pasta.  Drain noodles and set aside.

Meanwhile in a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes.  Add beef and brown.  When almost cooked through, add 1/2 cup of tomato sauce and reduce heat to medium low.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.  Add 1/2 the basil and stir to combine.

 In a small bowl, lightly beat egg.  Add ricotta, Parmesan and remaining basil and stir together.  Cover the bottom of the pan with the bechamel sauce.  To assemble, on a drained noodle, add a spoonful of ricotta mixture.  Top with a spoonful of meat sauce and roll up.  Place seam side down in pan.  Continue until you've used all the noodles.  Top each with a little tomato sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella.  Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes.  Uncover and bake 15 more minutes until cheese is bubbly and turns golden.