Apple Peach Blueberry Pie

Wow, that pie yesterday was truly outstanding. My new all-time favorite pie. Guess what we had for breakfast this morning? What? It can't be any worse than danish or donuts! Thanks, Pi Day!

Here's my recipe for Apple Peach Blueberry Pie:

Ingredients:
6 apples (I like to use a variety of types)
2 peaches
4.4 ounces of blueberries (use somewhere in that vicinity...that's just the size container I had. It was about 2/3 cup of blueberries)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons of butter (optional...I actually forgot to use it this time!)
2 pie crusts (make your own or buy from the refrigerator section...I won't tell!)

Directions:

Peel apples and peaches and thinly slice into a large bowl. Add blueberries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir gently to coat and let sit for at least ten minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place bottom pie crust into pie plate. Add all of the filling. Cut up the butter and dot around on top of the filling. Top with second pie crust. Cut vents in top.

Place aluminum foil around the edges of the pie to prevent burning. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and continue baking an additional 10 to 20 minutes until the pie is nicely browned.

Happy Pi Day!

It's 3/14, the day to celebrate all things pi!

Pi for lunch? That's right! Cheese sandwiches...circular, of course!



And how about some black beans and blueberries? As an aside, beans are the only veggies my boys eat with any regularity. And for some reason, they always want me to use them to write letters or numbers before they eat them. For the record, edamame is the best bean to "write" with. Lima beans work pretty well, too. But black beans are the boys' favorite, so that's what I used today.



And who can resist a pizza pi? Oh, no I didn't! Oh, yes I did! There it is, proof of my insanity that pi day works for dinner as well.



And what pi day is complete without an actual pie? So here it is. I tried a concoction of my own...an apple peach blueberry pie. If it tastes good, I'll post the recipe. If you don't see the recipe within a few days, well, then you know that apple peach blueberry is not a good combination!



Happy pi day! I hope you're all celebrating your inner math geek today!

Recovering, slowly

We're all slowly on the road to recovery from this bout of colds/flus/whatever the heck has knocked us on our butts.

I feel bad for B-man. When he gets sick, he gets REALLY sick. Like up all night, every night sick. Like totally not eating sick. Like comes down with a double ear infection right after he starts getting better sick. Like needs four nebulizer treatments a day sick. Like spikes a fever of 105 sick. Basically, when he's sick, it's a non-stop worry-fest.

I also feel bad for N-man. When he gets sick, B-man is always so much sicker that he doesn't get nearly the sympathy or cuddles he deserves. He's such a good kid. Easy going, silly, wonderful. I wish I could have given him more attention this past week.

Hopefully, we're getting better. Or at least I think the boys are getting better. I'm worried I might be getting an ear infection myself, but I'm hoping it's just my hypochondria kicking into high gear.

Random related thought: Two days ago, when I was completely losing my mind from being stuck inside for so long with two sick needy kids, I called TK at work to let him know we ran out of children's tylenol. And that he needed to come home early so that *I* could be the one to go out and get it. He's so wonderful, he agreed to that separation of duties.

I ran out to the grocery store, got the tylenol and did a quick food shop so we wouldn't all starve to death. Well, somehow in my cart ended up all of the following:

• A Caramello candy bar
• Two Cadbury Cream Eggs
• A package of Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Chessman cookies
• Emergency Cake (I hope I'm not the only one to keep emergency cake on hand. You know those Betty Crocker single serve microwavable cakes? I always have one on hand, just in case I have an emergency and feel like I really must eat cake immediately, without waiting to make a real cake. I don't have cake emergencies often, maybe once every two or three months, but I do like to keep some emergency cake on hand just in case!)

I rarely buy that much crap at one time. I guess no sleep and non-stop sickness of everyone in the house brings out my sweet tooth!

The little things

Snickollet had a recent post about the little things that make her happy. Well, it's not that recent a post anymore, but anyway, it's still true; it's the little things that make or break a day. Not to take the big things for granted, but today I'm going to focus on the little things that make me happy.

• Books. Not to take the "little" part too literally (or should I say Little-er-ly), but books are tiny pieces of portable happiness. Some books have changed my life. Some books have provided me with fleeting entertainment. Sure, some have also been boring or annoying or unreadable, but I just get rid of those. Or, to be honest, I even get some enjoyment out of ridiculing the really bad ones. So books tops my "little things" list.

• Coffee. I gave up caffeine when I started trying to get pregnant, and I just never went back. But I still love a cup of decaf. Sweet and creamy...lots of sugar and half and half. About a zillion calories, and worth every delicious one!

• A good bagel. There's nothing like a New York bagel, but luckily, we found an adequate substitution in the area. I mean, it's not a NY bagel, but it'll do.

• Chocolate. I like my chocolate in brownie form. Or chocolate chip cookie form. Or bar form. And you all know about my chip addiction. Who am I kidding, I love chocolate no matter how you package it. As long as it's not ruined with hazelnut flavor. Who came up with that bad idea?

• Comments of my blog. What can I say? I'm still a relatively new blogger, and it's a bit of a zing when a new comment notification pops up.

• The silly things N-Man and B-Man do. For the most part, the boys fall square in the "big thing" category rather than the "little thing" category. But their random silly comments are little things that just make my day. Recently, it's been how excited they get about flushing the toilet. They stick their heads right in and yell as loud as they can "BYE BYE MY PEE!" and then giggle. It's hilarious.

• At least one good show on TV. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Veronica Mars, Heroes: those have been some of my favorites. This year, it was a surprise show that I didn't think I'd like. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I don't know why I didn't think I'd like it. Terminator is one of my all-time favorite movies. Oh wait, that's why. Has there ever been a good TV show based on a movie? And coming up this May 22nd, the premiere of my favorite reality show, So You Think You Can Dance. Come on, all you AI fans, I'm counting on you giving this one a try this summer!

• Frozen Strawberry Margaritas at my favorite Mexican restaurant. The chips and salsa are great, too.

Well, those are a few of my favorite things, if I can be a bit "the hills are alive" for a moment.

Random unrelated thoughts: The boys are back in diapers. Me being sick, and now them being sick was just not conducive to potty training. Plus, it turns out they like peeing in their undies more than they like peeing in their diapers. Who knows...we'll try again in a month or two, when we're all healthy and when it's a bit warmer.

Paging Dr. Google

Hypochondriacs shouldn't be allowed on the internet. I know that perfectly well. In fact, I have pretty much totally managed to avoid googling anything about my boys' health. Well, except I broke down in the middle of the night when B-man was having his first asthma attack and became totally freaked out with all times "death" is listed as a complication of asthma. That made for a relaxing night with hardly any calls to our pediatrician!

Anyway, while I can keep myself away for the boys, I just can't seem to do it for myself. I've had a cough for the past few days. Why? Because I *always* have a cough if I get even the slightest cold. Why? Because I have asthma. Yes, Maggie, clearly my asthma isn't under control any more. I know. I should take care of that.

So, I've been coughing. And coughing. And coughing. Annoying, but nothing major. Then last night my elbow started itching and had a little bit of a rash. That's weird. Time to google! Cough and rash, what could that be? Of course the main hit I keep getting is "asthma and allergies", but that's far too boring and incredibly probable. I could have gone to a real doctor to get that information. Come on, I expect more from Dr. Google!

So, on wrongdiagnosis.com, a site with a name that really fills you with confidence in their content, they suggest Alveolar Hydatid Disease, a rare disease caused by a microscopic tapeworms. Wow, that's pretty disgusting. Luckily, I don't fit most of the other symptoms, so I guess I can stop worrying that tiny worms have invaded my body. Way to go, wrongdiagnosis, you've totally lived up to your name!

On Medscape, I got an exciting hit for Monkey Pox. The fact that it is exceedingly rare in America and is normal only transmitted via a bite from an infected animal doesn't really slow me down from examining the other symptoms, which again, I don't present. I'm happy to report, that according to Dr. Google, I'm Monkey Pox free!

Medlineplus suggests Histoplasmosis, an infection caused by inhaling fungus spores. Sure, the fungus normally is found in soil along river valleys and I haven't been hanging out at any rivers recently. But, the fungus is transmitted via bird and bat droppings. I did see some bats at the zoo, and there were seagulls flying around the parking lot at the supermarket. Hmmm, I wonder. This site contains the especially great advice on prevention: "Avoid contact with bird or bat droppings." I was going to run right out to find some bird and bat poo to touch, but this convinced me to avoid it. You can always count on the government; thanks, Medline!


Well, the rash is now gone, so I guess this is just a case of a plain ol' cold. But Dr. Google, I did enjoy our consultation. You're far more interesting than a real doctor, you never make me sit in a waiting room filled with sick people, and you don't even charge me a copay.

Totally related thought: Here's your chance, all you closet-hypochondriacs out there: what's the craziest thing you ever thought you had? I once told TK, way back in the day when we were in college and just dating, that I thought I had scurvy. I was serious. He laughed at me, but refrained from telling me I was crazy. Well, now that I think of it, he might have said I was crazy in between the laughs. But at least he was good-natured about it, and he did go out with me to get some fruit.

1K Wednesday, secure in our masculinity edition

Here they are, sitting on their potties. Their new favorite activity!

We let them pick out their own potties. B-Man was immediately impressed with the pink potty, and totally unswayed by TK's suggestions that maybe he liked the blue potty better.

N-Man then jumped on board. When asked what color potty he wanted, he answered, "Pink. Pink like a flamingo."

Who can argue with that?

The Accidental Potty Trainer

I don't know what the heck I'm doing. Someone should have forced us to take a test pre-children.

Here's the thing: we keep hitting major changes by mistake. I had planned to wean the boys at about 18 months. Round about 13 and a half months, B-man stopped nursing, and before I knew what had happened, I'd weaned the boys. I had no plans to stop using a stroller, but there it is, taking up all the room in the back of my van and I realized I hadn't used it at all this winter. Now, potty training.

I'm not in a huge hurry. The boys are 31 months old. I was hoping they'd be potty trained at 37 months when they start preschool in September, but even then, we weren't too worried if they weren't.

Well, they started asking to go to the bathroom. They started complaining about wet diapers. We picked out little potties for them, which arrived Thursday. And they proceeded to sit down and use them repeatedly all day. Diapers are staying dry for the most part, except at nap time or when we've been out for a long time.

What do I do? Am I potty training? Do I get them big boy underwear and actually try to stop with the diapers?

Do they still wear diapers at nap time?

Am I ready to clean up lots of mistakes?

Are they actually ready to potty train or is this just excitement over a novel situation that will wear off?

I was kind of thinking to start potty training once the weather was nicer, like April or May at the earliest, so they could run around naked. Our house is too cold for naked-running. Will they be able to get out of their pants quick enough?

Why am I even worrying about them getting out of their pants? They can hardly keep up 2T pants as it is...they still fall down regularly since the boys are such skinny-minnies. Without the added puffiness of the diapers, will we need to go back to 18m pants even though those are way too short?

See, I should have had to have taken a test. Clearly I'm ill-prepared for this whole potty training thing and they're throwing me for a big time loop with all this being interested in the potty stuff.

Oh, yes, I know, I'm setting myself up for the irony of them never wanting to use the potty again after the novelty of the potties wears off. Here I am complaining they started potty training before I was ready, and I have this fear that six months from now, I could very well be complaining they are potty training far later than I had planned.

Parenting is hard for a control freak like me!

Random unrelated thought: We went out to a Brazilian BBQ Restaurant last night for TK's birthday. It was a dive, but so good. We have a great babysitter, who actually got the boys to go to sleep...something they hadn't done for us in the previous two nights without huge, hours long fights. It was a wonderful night all around. Great dinner, time to browse a book store, and boys who behaved for their babysitter!