Saturday, April 19, 2008

Play Ball!

Today was Jecilyn's first day of Tball...and being the loser mom that I am...I didn't have my camera. The battery was dead. At least I remembered it this time! UGH! At least I had my phone!

I signed her up through Kent County Parks and Recreation. We were really excited about the whole thing...but it was a bit of a disappointment. I had expected to receive a phone call or something telling us what team she was on and what time to arrive. No one called. We showed up at the ball park at 9:00 a.m. I figured perhaps they didn't choose teams until the first day. I was wrong. All the other kids had received calls from their coach. Hmmm. Oh well. Good news, she is on The Phillies. Uncle Chris will be pleased. Bad news...they have no coach. Are you kidding me? How can you have a team without a coach? Apparently, they were hoping for a parent to volunteer...but no one did. Hopefully, some one will...

Anyway, she had a lot of fun. Here is her first at bat! Sorry about the quality...and I don't know what happened to the sound!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Mommy, Who is This?

Jecilyn loves to play with money. She's always collecting change from around the house. She puts it in her piggy bank, in her purse, or in her pocket. We are working on the names of the coins and how much each is worth. Today she was playing with her most recent find. Two dimes and a very very dirty penny. She was pushing them around on the coffee table today. She stopped and called me over to her. She said, "Mommy, who is this?" A momentary panic came over me. I thought, "Geez, the kid is FOUR and already she's stumping me." Try as I might, I couldn't figure out who it was...Do you know?

Let me think....Um...Washington--Quarter. Jefferson--Nickel. Lincoln--Penny. Who the hell is on the dime!?!? Roosevelt? Eisenhower? $100 Bill....Ben Franklin. That I can remember...But who is this guy on this dime?

It turns out, it doesn't matter who the guy is (but if you must know, it's FDR)....Because when two dimes and a very very dirty penny are placed in this formation...it is, of course Mickey Mouse. Boy, did I feel stupid...

I surveyed several of my friends...Most gave me a presidential answer. Jeff said Mickey Mouse. So did a few others: Uncle Bobby and Tammie. There's gotta be some kind of psychological evaluation for this one! Ha ha!

My thought is this: It sucks when we get old and we loose our imagination. If only we could stay young forever and find a little Mickey Mouse everywhere. Chris always talks about the KISS Method. Keep It Simple, Stupid. This is a good example of that. Take time to notice the little things. Don't get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you miss out on Mickey!!!!

Or perhaps the lesson here is: GROW UP! Who knows! Leave a comment and let me know what your answer was! Have a great day?

Semi Thumbs Up!

For some reason, Jecilyn LOVES Applebees. It's not like she gets some super meal there...it's the same thing EVERY SINGLE TIME....Mac & Cheese. And, not to toot my own horn, but MY Mac & Cheese is WAY better than Applebees. Mine is usually homemade...and usually organic. It is not the stuff that comes in a blue and yellow package and is likely PROCESSED just around the corner at Kraft. Although it claims to be the "cheesist," I'm pretty sure what it really is a whole lot of chemicals colored and flavored with petroleum to taste like cheese. In fact, the label reads as follows:
ENRICHED MACARONI PRODUCT (DURUM WHEAT FLOUR, WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE, THIAMIN MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), CHEESE SAUCE MIX (WHEY, MILKFAT, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SALT, CALCIUM CARBONATE, SODIUM TRIPOLYPHOSPHATE, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF CITRC ACID, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, LACTIC ACID, MILK, YELLOW 5, YELLOW 6, ENZYMES, CHEESE CULTURE).


My mac & cheese consists of organic pasta (made from 100% Durum Semolina), organic milk, and cheese. One would think that Kraft may be accused of false advertising, since, clearly, my Mac & Cheese contains more cheese than theirs. However, I actually looked up the definition of "Cheesiest." According to Merriam-Webster, the definition is as follows:

Main Entry: cheesy
Pronunciation: \ˈchē-zē\
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): chees·i·er; chees·i·est
Date: 14th century
1 a: resembling or suggesting cheese especially in consistency or odor b: containing cheese
2: shabby 3c, cheap < cheesy movie>
— chees·i·ness noun


So, although my homemade Mac & Cheese does contain more cheese, by definition, I suppose Kraft's is the "cheesiest." Or, at least cheesier than mine...but I digress...

The point--and I had one when I started this post--was to tell you about our trip to Applebees yesterday. Nettie suggested I take pictures...but, I couldn't find the camera in the pit that is my car....so, you'll just have to settle for the story. Jecilyn, of course, ordered the aforementioned cheesiest mac & cheese. For Treavor, I ordered two mini hamburgers--no roll, no butter, no cheese, and applesauce not fries. Treavor, being Treavor, decided to throw a tantrum while we waited for our food. The waitress came over and asked if she could bring over some crackers for him. I told her that he couldn't have crackers. She replied, "Oh, yeah, that's right...you said he's allergic to bread...so I guess that means no crackers too." I thanked her, and she returned to the kitchen. A few minutes later she returned. Treavor had calmed down by this point (or perhaps I had just tuned him out!). She asked if he could have fruit. Then, she returned with a whole plate of fruit from the bar...pineapple, strawberry, orange slices, apples balls (looked like they used a melon baller--is that what it's called?--to scoop them out), and cherries. How cool!!! Treavor loved it! Jecilyn was jealous!

So, even though I'm pretty sure this incident was situational--a good waitress who wanted to shut up my snot nosed kid so he wouldn't disturb other guests--I'm still giving Applebees a Thumbs Up!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Wheat Free Wednesday

My friend Amy gave me this recipe. I believe it is her mother's recipe. It was VERY easy...and VERY Tasty. Here it is:

2 lbs ground meat (Amy says she uses turkey and beef. I just used beef!)
16 oz of Salsa (Amy recommends fresh salsa...I used Archer Farms Organic Medium Salsa from Target)
1 1/2 cups Oatmeal

Mix it together...make a loaf, and bake. I think I baked it at 350 for a little more than an hour. It was fabulous! I recommend serving it with Mashed Potatos and Corn! I also put cheese on mine and Jecilyn's! Yummy! It was a little on the spicy side...but we enjoyed it! Thanks Amy!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Thumbs Up!


Since yesterday I gave Chuck E. Cheese's a big THUMBS DOWN, I thought today I'd give some thumbs up to some restuarants who have been helpful and accomodating.


In January, we were staying in a Holiday Inn by the Philadelphia Airport. The restaurant in which "Kids eat free" was closed. Food was available in the bar--where they were smoking....The only other option was Denny's. I was little--ok a lot--fearful of taking Treavor to a place where eggs were cooked all day long. And, looking at the children's menu---there was NOTHING that he could eat. I mentioned my concern to the waitress. She sent over the manager. He was extremely helpful! He made suggestions, checked all of the labels--and brought them to me for clarification, and made sure the grill was cleaned prior to cooking Treavor's food! Thanks, Denny's!

On our way back from Maine, we made a bit of an emergency stop in Milford Connecticuit (Jecilyn puked in the car!). We stayed in a hotel which had a Friendly's adjoining it. They were great too. They cleaned the grill. They also gave Treavor dessert--strawberry topping--no ice cream. He loved it! We have since been to our local Friendly's. They allowed us to bring our own "Ice Cream" and they kept it in their freezer. They served it with the rest of our ice cream....with Mandarin Oranges on the side. Treavor loved it!!!

I've been to a few Lonestar's too. The first time I went, I wasn't with Treavor...but I was still nursing him. They were great. A manager came over and made suggestions. The waitress was very helpful. So, I returned to another Lonestar with Treavor. They were so great when I went...I forgot about the peanuts. So, when I returned with Treavor...I got a little nervous. We do not know if her has an airborne peanut allergy--and I don't really want to find out. However, we decided to take the chance. We were sat away from others eating peanuts and did not have any at our table. We also made sure Treavor did not leave his chair! When I told him about his allergies, the waiter was great. He said they would cook his food on a seperate grill! How cool is that!?!? Of course, the kitchen screwed up the first round...and brought it out on a bun with butter....Our waiter noticed...and returned it to the kitchen. The manager came to apologize. I'm pretty sure they didn't just throw that same burger on the plate and bring it back out! (And, hopefully they didn't spit on the new one!)

On our last trip to Trader Joe's with Jeseray and Jocelyn, we stopped at Lonestar again. Jocelyn is also allergic to wheat and milk (and corn and apples and walnuts). So, our ordering was a bit of a pain in the took-us. But, the waitress was great. She asked if we needed the manager...but we declined. It was all good!

I'm going to try to keep the thumbs up and thumbs down with restaurants going. Maybe other allergy parents will find my blog and the information will be helpful to them. Have a great day!

Monday, April 7, 2008

Chuck E Cheese's....Where a kid can Press 1

My children were invited to a birthday party at our local "Chuck E. Cheese's...Where a Kid Can Be a Kid." Since there is going to be food served at the party and it's at the dinner hour, it presents a bit of a problem for me with Treavor's allergies. So, today, I decided to call them today to see if they would be willing to let me heat up food for Treavor in their restaurant. And, if they would possible store Ice Cream for him in their freezer. I looked up the number in the phone book. It was a local number. I dialed. I got a recording...and I kid you not....It said "For instructions in English, press one!" Are you kidding me!?!?! I don't get a freakin human being when I call a kid's restaurant!?!?!

After about 5 minutes of pressing buttons, I finally got a human that was no where near Dover, Delaware--and could not even answer my question...and, come to think of it...I don't even think she spoke English all that well!!!! She was however, very helpful. She told me that the Ice Cream would be no problem, but that I'd have to check with the individual store manager about the food. Se gave me the number...and I called....The manager on duty told me "We do not allow any outside food or drinks." Geez. At this point, I'm loosing my mind!!!! "Yes, I understand that. But, you do not have anything on your menu that he can eat. He is allergic to flour. And milk. There's nothing that he can eat...." Finally, she told me that I could contact the general manager and maybe she'd be able to help me. Hopefully, I will meet with better results there.

So, at the moment...Chuck E. Cheese's is receiving a big old THUMBS DOWN from Allergy Boy's Mom.