The Big Questions #3 ~ Rotten Bananas
Ok, so I have some questions that I need some input on. Here is the third one:
This is a quickie… How is it possible for rotten bananas to smell so horrific, yet when you bake them into banana the result is so yummy?
I am trying a new banana bread recipe today and thought of this as I was gagging and mashing the bananas. Here’s the new recipe I am trying today:
I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Me and My Big Mouth
So now I know to not brag about the Big One’s bladder holding prowess. Yes, she apparently can hold the pee for a while, the poop not so much.
She just announced, “Mommy, I just pooping.” As I scooped her up and raced toward the potty, the smell told me clearly that it was too late. So while she can announce that she has to pee and wait a while. I know now that we need some serious work on the pooping and recognizing when we need to go.
Note to Self: Do NOT leave the Big One and the Little One alone in the potty even if it’s just to run upstairs and get some more flushable wipes. I know this rule all too well. I guess it was my desire to escape the smell of the poop filled panties that clouded my judgment.
Since she was on the potty, the Big One peed. And as usual she celebrated by running around downstairs announcing that she peed. This of course leaves the Little One alone in the bathroom with a pee-filled potty that’s just the right size for her little hand to reach into. I’ll stop there; I know you can imagine the rest.
The Girl Who Cried… Pee
I am thinking about officially renaming the Big One. Her new name is going to be, “The Girl Who Cried Pee.” No we are not Native American, but if the name fits….
Who in the world decided that it was important to potty train our young? Why can’t she go to school in diapers. I promise she can change it herself if need be.
I am, of course, am kidding. She is doing really well with the potty training adventure. The problem is teaching her to recognize what her body is telling her. Now I know how lucky we are to have this problem. I know many kids will say, “I have to pee!” as the pee is running down their legs.
Our challenge is the Big One will say, “I have to pee” and it will be a good hour or so before said pee appears. While we are home it’s not a big deal. But when we make the drive to San Diego about every other week {it’s a 3.5 hour drive}, it can be extremely frustrating to hear, “I have to pee!” from the backseat.
The first time it happened, I frantically searched for someplace to stop. Of course she announced it while we were passing through Rainbow, CA. For those of you not familiar with Rainbow , it’s very, very small and I don’t think there are any retail locations.
So I ask her if she can wait a few more minutes. She says she can, so I increase my speed a bit to make it to Temecula where there are plenty of available potties. Figuring this will be a long trip home {we are about 1 hour into the adventure} I decide we are stopping at a Starbucks. I figure their bathrooms are cleaner than McDonald’s and I can get coffee if this takes an hour.
We stop, get her on the potty and then we wait. And we wait some more. And we wait some more. Nothing. There is no pee. UGH! The Big One tells me the pee and poop are coming, just not yet.
So I got my iced white mocha and pile back into my car. Just so you know, she is wearing a Pull-Up and has a “piddle pad” on her car seat so that if we have issues we are okay.
We continue on our merry way driving home. We go through Corona, Ontario, Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga. We hit the 138 {the middle of nowhere} when the Big One announces again that she has to pee. I was like, “Look around…. Do you see somewhere to stop and pee?”
All we can see for miles is sand and Joshua Trees, no retail in sight. So I ask her if she can wait a bit longer. She says she can, so we continue on our way and finally get to a place where I know there are bathrooms.
{Actually I know there are “flushing toilets” at this spot thanks to an difficult ride home for my MIL after a weekend visit. Thank you for the inside tip, Mom.}
We make it to Saddleback Butte State Park and find the bathrooms. Actually not a difficult task since there isn’t much there other than the little bathroom buildings.
The Big One finally pees and we continue home. Now I have to tell you, from the first time she told me she had to pee, until the actual pee came a flowing, it had been almost 3 hours.
I think next time she tells me she has to pee in the car, I will take my chances and keep driving until we arrive at wherever we are heading.
A Kid’s Lovey and eBay
For those of you who are eBay sellers, please give a momma a break!! I know you’ve all been through it, your precious little one latches on to one particular toy and it becomes the designated “lovey.” So in vain you try to find a replacement and there are none to be found…except on eBay.
You are desperate, so you actually consider spending $25 {plus shipping} for a little toy that probably cost around $8 the fist time you bought one. Actually you probably received it as a gift and can only guess as to where it was purchased, but you assume the cost was only around $8.
So my plea to eBayers everywhere is to cut a momma some slack. You know we need at least one back up, please, please don’t take advantage of us in our time of need. Please be a little more reasonable and think how you’d feel if it was your kid who has determined that the little green security blanket is the best toy in the world.
I am debating still whether or not to post this, I don’t want you all {all 10 of you readers} to run out and try to outbid me on one reasonable lovey replacement that I have found. But in the off chance that someone has one lying around that they want to send to me, here is the object of the Little One’s desires:
The Big Questions ~ #2
Ok, so I have some questions that I need some input on. Here is the second one:
Do people really pay full price at Bath & Body Works?
As I was stocking up on shower gel from the Bath & Body Works Summer Clearance Sale , I started thinking is there really anyone out there who pays full price ~ up to $10 for a 10 ounce bottle of shower gel?
Obviously there must be people who do it or else the store wouldn’t still be in business. But my questions is why, why, why? Seriously, right now there are lots of great scents of shower gel, creamy body wash and body splash on sale for $3 or $4 . Why in the world would you spend $10 on a bottle of the stuff. Yes, it smells yummy, yes it gets your body clean, yes it makes lots of great foamy moisturizing bubble, but c’mon $10 for 10 ounces?
The Husband buys the industrial size Dial shower gel at Sam’s or Costco for about seven bucks. And it must be about 100 ounces. It’s huge, so I just cannot fathom $10 for a relatively small bottle of shower gel.
If you are one of those people, here’s a tip for you. Drive to the mall or go to the Website now, shop until you heart is content and then you can PayPal me all the extra money you saved by following my lead.
For those of you wondering, here’s the current sale schedule:
June 02, 03 & 04
Signature Collection Shower Gel & Body Wash, price is $3.00. Save $7.50 on each!!
June 02 – 08
Wallflower Starter Kits & Refills priced at $5.00 each, save $7.50!!
June 05 – 15
Antibacterial Collection: 5 for $15.00 or 7 for $20.00, save up to $15.00!!
Happy shopping!
A Few Egg Shells Won’t Kill Ya…
The Big One received this really cool little contraption for her birthday a few weeks ago. 
The Learning Tower is touted as being sturdy with a non-tip construction that is safe for toddlers and young children.
Essentially it brings little kids up to countertop height so they can help make wonderful creations in the kitchen. Well, I am sure it has other uses, but we use it in the kitchen because the Big One loves to help me “make somefing.”
So today I had the unpleasant task of bringing home my precious Maxwell puppy dog’s remains from the Vet’s office. Apparently while I was gone, the Big One was harassing the Husband to make something in the kitchen. He told her to wait until I got home and then promised I would make something with her.
We happened to go to Smart & Final today and picked up the industrial size Heath Toffee Bits because the Husband loves anything with Heath bars in it. So we opted for cookies using chocolate chips and the Heath bits.
Typically the Big One and I make pancakes, waffles or, our specialty, chocolate marbled banana bread; all of which do not require anything other than a whisk or wodden spoon. We’ve only done cookies a couple times and this was the first time using my uber-cool Kitchen Aid mixer. Normally I just use the hand mixer because it’s a lot easier to clean. I figured it’s silly to have the big Kitchen Aid and not use it so I dusted it off and started the process.
I quickly learned why I have never done cookies using the Kitchen Aid with the Big One as my assistant. First thing to go awry was the attempt to pour the sugars in the bowl. {I don’t have the handy little chute-like thing to add ingredients. It was a casualty of one of our last 4 moves in the last 5 years.} About 1/3 of the sugar went on the counter. No big deal I scoop it up and dump it in the bowl anyway.
Then comes the eggs. Normally when we make pancakes or waffles, the Big One cracks the egg open and then hands it to me to actually break apart and add to the bowl. For whatever reason today she cracked it and then dropped it in the bowl… while the paddle was whirring around. I calmly turned the mixer off and began to fish out the shattered egg shell, while explaining why it’s not so good to drop the entire egg in the bowl.
Meanwhile she is whining that she wants to add the other egg. Not this time, I tell her.
Figuring the cookies might not be a total loss, we continue the process. She measured the first cup of flour out and most of it went in the bowl. The second cup didn’t quite make it all in the bowl. But I figured we were far enough in the process we were going to press on and hope for the best.
Next came the chocolate chips and Heath bits. The Heath bits all made it in the bowl and most of the chocolate chips did too. My problem now is that her attention span had run its course and all she wants to do it eat the chocolate chips.
After several bites and pleas of “just one more mommy,” I finally got some in the oven, 10 minutes later, the Husband deemed them a success. I just hope nobody chokes on the egg shells.
No Thongs in This House
The potty training thing is at the forefront in our house. There is a lot of talk of pee, poop, flushing, cleaning our butts, washing our hands and eating blue M&M’s {the reward of choice.}
This morning we’ve had two successes and it’s only 9:30 a.m. The Big One has peed and pooped in the potty. She has only pooped on the potty one other time so, yes this is monumental!
We are on our second pair of panties already. But it’s not because of an accident. But rather because her potty was still a bit damp after the pee clean-up, when the Big One picked up the potty with the same hand that was clutching her favorite blue Dora panties. As a result, the panties got wet.
So she and I headed upstairs to choose another pair of panties. She selected another pair of Dora panties. Dora is wearing a blue shirt on these {yes, there must be blue somewhere on the panties or she will not wear them}. This pack of panties is more like briefs, while the first blue panties that got wet are more like bikinis.
As she is pulling up these brief-like panties, she just about gave herself a wedgie because she was concerned with full coverage; She wanted to assure that her bottom was covered, while at the same time assuring that the panties were pulled up past her belly button.
As I helped with the proper adjustment of the panties, it hit me, this kid will not be wearing any thongs. She will be a granny-panty kid, which is just fine with me and the Husband.
The Why Button
When the Big One turned 3 last week, I thought {foolishly} that we had somehow escaped the “why” phase. You see, the Big One never really cared about the “why” of things. She instead was fixated on “What’s dat?” Everywhere we would go she would ask what it was that she was looking at. Even if she knew that it was a bird or a truck or a flower or Target, she would ask, “Mommy, what’s dat?”
Suddenly when she turned 3 years old and 5 days, someone pushed her “why” button and now it won’t stop. We have suffered through most other “terrible-two’s” I really was hopeful that the “why” thing would just skip over this house.
No such luck. I am such that yesterday alone, I heard “why” at least 432 times. It didn’t matter if she knew what the answer was or if there really was no answer, she continued to press on with her questions.
This problem has been around for all the ages. Anyone have any fantastically brilliant retorts? I have tried, “well, why do you think…” She just says “I don’t know” and moves on to another round.
Why, oh why, oh why……
Gravity and the Kitchen Floor
The Little One has discovered the great joy of gravity. She’s known about it for a while, but it seems to have hit its peak in our house. Any time she is “uppy” she wants to play gravity. You know the game, clutch on to something for dear life, drop it on the floor, giggle, and then laugh hysterically as someone retrieves it for her. Repeat over and over and over again.
She loves to drop her “bear bears” from her crib. {On a side note, if you have a spare one of these bears, please contact me!} But, her all-time favorite game is to drop things from her highchair. By things, I mean spoons, cups, Cheerios, puffs and any other food pieces that she is supposed to be eating.
She is the second child, so I am very familiar with the game. I will usually retrieve her sippy cup or spoon a maximum of three times before I tell her it’s “all gone.” She doesn’t seem to mind when it’s gone, as long as she can’t see it, it’s out of sight out of mind.
The challenge that I am having with this current round of gravity is the lack of my precious doggy to clean up the floor. Max was always waiting anxiously for those tiny morsels of goodness. He got crazy excited about a Cheerio, a puff, even a chunk of cheese. The Little One would get equally excited as Max jumped up to retrieve whatever it was that she dropped. Long after this mommy got tired of the gravity game, Max would willingly oblige the Little One but lapping up whatever it was that she dropped.
So now I am left to wonder, those of you who don’t have dogs, how in the world do you keep your kitchen floor clean during this phase?
Seriously I can only sweep the floor so many times in one day. Add the Big One “helping” me sweep to my challenges with keeping the floor clean and I am pretty much toast. One of the Big One’s favorite games it to swish her little broom right the middle of my neat pile of crap that I have gathered. She thinks that’s great fun. What’s a mommy to do? How do you keep your floor clean?
The Big Questions ~ #1
Ok, so I have some questions that I need some input on. Here is the first one. How in the world do you cook turkey bacon?
Seems simple enough, but apparently not for me. The package recommended 2 minutes in the microwave. So I put four slices of the turkey bacon on my handy-dandy bacon cooker. I set the timer for 2 minutes and waited anxiously. This was the first time I have had turkey bacon, so I didn’t really know what to expect. But I guarantee that what came out of my microwave was not what turkey bacon was supposed to look like.
My bacon was black as black can be. It was fried beyond fried. So I figured okay, 2 minutes was too long. I’ll try 1 minute and 30 seconds. Once the 90 seconds was up, the bacon was definitely not cooked all the way. So being the brilliant chef that I am, I surmise that maybe 1 minute 45 seconds would do the trick.
I kid you not, after 1 minute and 45 seconds, what did I have? I had two slices that were burnt to a crisp and two slices that were still raw. How in the world is that possible?
So if you’ve got any tips or secrets for cooking turkey bacon perfectly, please leave me a comment with your ideas.
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