Bit of A Mess

I'm going to be doing some tweaking to the blog over the next couple of days so it may be little messy until I have it figured out. Currently each of my tabs are linked to a new blog ... I am essentially maintaining 5 blogs. The reason I wanted it this way initially is so that I could customize the right-sided column to be themed for each page ... I have since decided that as my blog grows with posts, it's just going to be too hard to manage. Instead I'm making the tabs link to labels instead of new blog pages ... essentially you won't even know the difference when I'm done, except the the left and right columns will mirror each other on every page ... just the blog post content will be customized like it is now. Wish me luck!

Just Stuff ....

Nothing really new and exciting ... I've been supplementing the blog with "Cooking" and "Tot" entries so make sure you check those out!

We're all still recovering from being sick ... ugh. We've had A LOT of sleepless nights this last week. Kelty is up nearly every 1/2 hour ... sometimes just whining in his sleep, other times walking down the hallway to get us. At least once a night he'll grab his "blankie" and the blanket and pull me over to the glider in his room ... poor little guy clings to me for dear life! I usually end up falling asleep while I rock him ... don't tell Al but I really don't mind rocking "us" to sleep. :o)

Despite the lack of sleep, Kelty is still quite energetic and mischievous during the day. I'm back to my 2-days per week at work ... though for the next 2-weeks I'll be working M-F. Al is taking leave during the 1st week to stay home with Kelty on his "off" day-care days. Boy do I miss the stinker when I'm working ... he's all I think about! Though I have to admit that I enjoy the lunches Al and I get to meet up for ... his building is right across the street!

Here are just a few random pics from the last couple days ....

He climbed up on that shelf in a blink of an eye ... literally! I was standing right there when he did it! On second I was looking at him opening the door to the cabinet ... I turned around to pick something up and then this happened.

Just having fun with his sandwich ... it's a pig. He ate the bologna "face", the pickle eyes and the bologna in the middle and discarded the rest. *sigh* At least he smiled when he saw it!

My mom (Nana) sewed Kelty the cutest little robe and pajama pants! Kelty just adores them both and he looks so stinkin' cute running around in his robe! I'll try to get a better picture soon. Thanks Nana!

Peanut Butter Balls

Because we struggle to get Kelty to eat meat and eggs, I am always looking for ways to supplement his protein intake. I stumbled across a recipe for "Energy Balls" at WholesomeToddlerFood.com. I tweaked the recipe a bit; changing some of the proportions and ingredients to come up with this "Kelty Approved" version.

Peanut Butter Balls
Crunchy, bite-sized snack packed with protein and vitamins


Ingredients for Peanut Butter Balls

1 Tablespoon Peanut Butter
1 Tablespoon Chopped Raisins
1 Tablespoon Finely Shredded Carrots
1 Tablespoon Granola (I use Cascadian Farms Granola Cereal)
Honey (just a tiny squirt)
Ground Flax-seed Meal (a little sprinkle)

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix with a spoon. Scoop out a tiny portion and roll between your palms to form a little ball ... I make mine a little smaller than a grape. If it's too "wet and sticky" try adding a little more granola, carrot, or flax-seed ... they should roll easily into ball. This recipe will make about 8-10 little Peanut Butter Balls.

These snacks are best served shortly after making (within an hour) or the granola looses its crunch. Don't worry ... these aren't messy treats! We've yet to have a mess with these ... they go right from the plate to the mouth!

Don't forget to lick the spoon!

Bananies!

So this wouldn't be the first time I thought I invented something new; forget the "Ketchup Dippers" (fast-food to-go ketchup cups packaged like a BBQ sauce cup, apparently Whataburger beat me to it), I've moved on ...

My son is a picky eater and I felt we were in a snack rut. While eating a banana and simultaneously preparing a little dish of graham crackers and peanut butter for my kiddo ... I had a "vision" ...

Bananies
Peanut Butter sandwiched between 2 slices of Banana
and rolled in crushed Graham Crackers

Ingredients for Bananies

Banana
Peanut Butter
Graham Crackers

Slice the Banana

Put just a little dollop of Peanut Butter in between two slices of Banana

Crush your Graham Crackers very FINE ... almost powdery. Coat all sides of your "sandwich" with the Graham Cracker powder

Enjoy! These are nice little nibblers for adults too!

If you want to add some additional goodness ... add Nutella!

" Nutella Bananie"

Add a little drop of Nutella when you add your Peanut Butter!

Bananies are best eaten immediately or soon-after preparing them ... after about an hour the graham cracker looses its crunch from the moisture of the banana. Still good, but ... not as good!

A Week in PJ's

All three of us have been miserably sick this week ... hence no posts or recap of our trip to Switzerland over the holiday weekend! We've spent the week at home in our PJ's ... Al was put on "quarters" until Monday ... he's really not feeling well!

So let's re-cap the good stuff!

We spent the holiday weekend in Switzerland with our friends, the Wagner's. They have 2 boys, a 14-month old and a 3-year old that play really well with Kelty ... so Kelty had some friends too!

Saturday

Zurich is roughly 3 1/2 hours away; with such a quick drive we decided to stop in the black forest of Germany for lunch and cuckoo clock shopping! The Black Forest is home to the cuckoo clock ... I never really thought I'd ever want a cuckoo clock ... until we moved to Germany! There is something about buying a handmade cuckoo clock, directly from the artisan that made it! We LOVE our cuckoo clock and so does Kelty! After a our cuckoo clock purchase and a quick lunch we continued journey to Zurich. After settling into the hotel we headed out to stroll down the Bahnhofstrasse ... fortunately for our wallets most everything was closed. After our stroll through the cold and rain we headed over to the Altstadt (old city) side of Zurich to roam the streets and grab dinner.

Not another road trip!

With the maker of our Cuckoo Clock!

Our Cuckoo Clock ... it's big!

Snapshot of Zurich

Sunday

Keeping with European tradition, most everything is closed on Sunday's. Fortunately the Zurich Zoo was open! We spent the morning and early afternoon checking out the zoo and then headed back so the kiddo's could take naps. While the kids took their naps, Al and Jeremy were able to spend a few hours checking out Zurich and enjoying a beer. I was really happy Al was able to have some "guy time" and check out Zurich without Kelty in tow. After the kids awoke we headed out for a fondue dinner .... we're in Switzerland, we HAD to have cheese for dinner! This was also the restaraunt we had fondue at with our dearly missed friends, Tina and Jordan, when we visited Zurich back in 2006!

We took the cable-car from the hotel to the zoo

Kelty checking out the fish in the aquarium

Quick family portrait at the zoo

Waiting for our fondue dinner

After dinner we had planned to take a boat ride. The boat never came ... so we hung out on the dock and fed the swans.

Monday

We headed out early so we could stop in Luzern, Switzerland to enjoy a snow-capped mountain backdrop. I visited Luzern last year when I was in Switzerland for IJOLDS (International Junior Leadership Development Seminar). It's an old city with beautiful bridges, lakes, and mountain backdrops.

Posing in Luzern

Just a cute little snapshot of Kelty

Bento Inspired Tot Lunch

I was "blog hopping" and came across a wonderful post about "bento" lunches; I was immediately addicted! The concept isn't too far off from how I prepare Kelty's lunches and now that I have to pack a lunch for him 2-days a week, I was really excited! It makes the prep for his "daycare days" a little less heart wrenching somehow. Kelty is also a picky eater, my hope is that opening up his box and seeing a cute little portioned lunch will make him more excited to eat!

I dare you to spend 5 minutes and Google "bento; you'll come across some amazing and adorable bento's! Cute little rice and egg molds, condiment cups, condiment bottle, food picks, boxes, etc. I have already started a wish list of "bento" supplies so I can start making some really cute lunches for stinker.

Here is my first attempt at a bento lunch for Kelty ...

Mini peanut butter sandwhiches (cut into circles with a cookie cutter), grapes and raspberries, pickles, and graham goldfish.

If you want to see some super cute bento's , read about other bento adventures and get some ideas for your own bento's ... here are a few blogs that I think are great!

bentolunch.blogspot.com
lunchinabox.net
happylittlebento.blogspot.com

Show me your bento! So I think I may have a few readers (out of all 7 of you - LOL) that may "bento" with me! So I challenge you to make a bento for yourself or for your kiddos or your hubby ... blog about it ... and then come back and share your link in a comment.

Changes

This is indeed a time of change ....

This weekend ...
~ Kelty graduated to his toddler bed ... yikes!
~ Kelty added "baby", "hot", "no" and "s" to his vocabulary!!!!
~ We are dealing with issues with our renters back in FL

This week ...
~ I start work ... *sigh*
~ Kelty will be introduced to a full 6-hour day at daycare

So let's expand on our weekend journey. We knew the time was coming very soon when Kelty would be climbing out of his crib ... well, it happened and fortunately we were right there to see it. Saturday morning we did the conversion, knowing that our nights would now forever be changed! To our astonishment he is doing GREAT in his bed ... he's not climbing out when he wakes up in the middle of the night, in the mornings or during/after his nap .... the little stinker waits until we come in the room to climb out of the bed! We're not going to hold our breath on this one ... I'm sure it'll change.

*Sorry about the photo quality*

Daddy's little helper

Ok Dad, I'll just play on the computer until you're done ... and wear my hat

I swear Kelty does close his mouth!

So ..... this morning Kelty and Daddy were reading a book; Kelty pointed to a child in the book and blurted out "baby"! He's also gotten comfortable using "no", even though it sounds more like "new" ... hey, we'll take it! We've been working on "o" for a few weeks now and the fact Kelty is shaping his mouth for an "o" sound is huge progress!

As I had mentioned, we are having problems with the renters in our home in FL ... sigh ... They've been good renters; taking great care of our home and being honest with the property manager ... however, with the economic struggles they have to move out-of-state and break their lease (they signed a 2-year lease and only filled a few months of it). Unfortunately they can't pay rent either (in addition to not paying last months rent either). Even though we are out a lot of money ... we are just thankful that our house will be left in good condition and we have new set of renters ready to move in. This will be our 3rd set of renters since we moved in Jan .... hopefully these renters will be able to pay rent and stay the length of the lease AND take care of our home!

Well ... I'm also back to work this week. I have a flexible schedule but I still have A LOT of anxieties over leaving Kelty. I keep telling myself that this change will be good and healthy for him. 2, 6-hour days a week is pretty minimal I guess.

I should have some recipes and craft posts up this week so keep your eyes open for those!

Fractured

And the drama continues ....

I recieved a call from the ER this morning; they missed the "fracture" on my film. The doc that called this morning was not the doc I saw last night and he was very apologetic ... after further review of my film they identified a small fracture in my foot. I knew this thing hurt more than a sprain! Anyway ... I'll be going in to see the podiatrist on Monday and they've asked my to come back in and pick-up crutches. They really want me off my foot ... unfortunately Al is on a short TDY but he'll be back this evening. Why is it that these things always happen when the hubby's are gone.

I am far from happy about having fractured my foot, however I feel like less of an idiot for going to the ER now.

A Blogworthy Day

Let's back this up one day .....

Al arrived home from work last night around 6pm ... he told me his flight "tomorrow" wasn't going to be tax-free ... I said, "hey, we already have tax-free for the month anyway" ... he said, "tomorrow is Oct, it's a new month" ....... SCREECH!

Why the drama you ask? Kelty starts daycare on the 1st! Here it was, the EVENING before the BIG DAY and I had no idea it was the last day of Sept. Seriously, I need to look at a calendar more often! I went into a frenzy laying out clothes, prepping his school bag, labeling his items, reading the "parent handbook". I was soooooo NOT mentally prepared for this day! Of course I went to bed crying over my anxieties about the big day .... I feel like I'm losing a small part of my baby!

Well ... Oct 1st is now almost over and we survived. I took Kelty over to "school" in the morning ... we had a tearful good-bye ... I went back 3 hours later and picked up a happy Kelty. He didn't start crying until he saw me in the room and then it's like it hit him all over again that I "left" him. We decided to break him in slowly with 1/2 days instead of throwing him right in for the day ... I need that warm-up period just as much as he does. :o) Soo ... what did I do with my break? I drove home, cleaned the kitchen and worked on some of my military paperwork ... fun, huh!

To add to the drama of events around here ....

Yesterday afternoon I was carrying Kelty out to the car and we made a "pit-stop" to pick a flower ... when I transitioned back from the grass to the sidewalk I rolled my ankle off the curb ... at which point Kelty and I both plummeted to the ground. I was able shift my weight so that I took the brunt of the fall but Kelty still ended up bumping his head on the sidewalk ... the flower seemed to soften the blow a little as he ended up with a "dandelion kiss" on his forehead. Kelty could have given a hoot and hopped back up to collect more flowers ... I on the other hand was rolling around on the ground (in public) cursing my ankle ... thank goodness no one saw! I tried to "walk it off" but after 24 hours of pain, black and blue swelling, inability to sustain weight and sharp pains radiating up my leg ... I caved and called the doctor. They directed me to the ER. Great. Al was flying ... looks like Kelty and I had a date! I packed up some cars, book, crayons, sippy cups and snacks and headed to the ER. Kelty did well and I made out OK. I tore the ligaments in my foot. The doc offered me crutches and an air cast however we decided crutches, a toddler, and a stroller don't mix and I opted for an ace bandage and instructions to "rest, ice, elevate and compress". I can usually tolerate a sprained ankle but this particular sprain seems to be defeating me at the moment. O'well.

On our way to daycare ... Kelty grabbed this from the garage. No "show and tell" yet buddy!

Ready to go! Sorry it's blurry ... he was running and I was trying to keep up with my sprained ankle.

mmm ... not horrible but it hurts! The swelling and discoloration wraps around the back of my foot to the other side of my ankle.

Kelty did really well during our 2 1/2 hour adventure in the ER ... thanks buddy!