Julia Child's doesn't live here

I wish I had photos to post, but they are still on my camera.

I was cooking some supper tonight...a Shephered'd Pie that was allergy free and I had never made this before. Well..little Maddox only took a 30 minute nap and he was still tired. So I'm boiling potatoes on the largest burner and attempting to saute carrots, onions, and garlic on a burner 2 times too small for the pan and Maddox is crying on the floor next to my feet and Mason is walking in circles in the kitchen stating "I am not eating this. I don't like sweet potatoes. I don't like this supper." Now, I am no cook and this cooking stuff is really stressing me out.

Then...things proceed on. Maddox is upset because he wants me to hold him so he can see the carrots cooking in the pan. The vegetables are finally done about 20 minutes later (because of the small burner) and now I am trying to brown some ground turkey in the vegetables (still on the too small burner) and I am holding Maddox in my arms and he is fussing.

Well, at one point I end up nursing Maddox while sitting on the kitchen floor. It even got so bad that I gave him the DVD player remote to play with. I finally get Maddox settled when Mason comes zooming in with a stuffed bear in a shoebox lid and bumps into Maddox's face. (Maddox has 2 teeth trying to come in)...now poor Maddox is WAILING and crying and I can't console him. It is now time for me to add a 1/2 cup of red wine into the turkey and veggie mixture and I was sure wishing that I was getting the wine.

Maddox continues to cry for about 10 minutes while in my arms. I am now searching desperately for a measuring spoon, but alas...my son had taken them all off the ring a while back (it's referenced in an older post) and the spoons are all separated and 2 of them are even stuck at the bottom of the cold air return vent. After at least 5 minutes of hunting down a 1/2 teaspoon, I get my spices added.

The recipe said to scrape up the "brown bits" of ground turkey that has been simmering in the wine....I have a lot more than brown bits by now...the whole darn pound of ground turkey is looking pretty brown. aye... Maddox is still fussing a little and I am about to pull out my hair. I put little Maddox down and he is not happy about it and I get everything into the pie pan and get it into the oven. I bring Maddox in the living room to nurse and Craig came home.

Well, the Shepherd's Pie turned out OK. I didn't have plain rice milk, so I substituted vanilla Hemp Milk. It worked, but I think the plain rice milk would be better.

But it is the 2nd meal I have cooked in a week and the 2nd new one. I checked out this great cookbook from the library that is allergy free. The only ingredients I ever have to substitute are potato starch and the shortening they recommend. (They recommend a shortening made out of palm oil...I need to find a different one that is soy and dairy free) But the recipes aren't too bad and are ones that would get easier as I make them.

That is all for now. We went to a Corn Maze with Junal, Vinnie, Nic, Gianni, my Mom and Dad yesterday. I'll hopefully post pictures tomorrow.

WHOOOHOOOO!!!!

Love is in the air in the Haugen family!!!!!!! My cousin Cathy's son Justin is getting married this July...Congratulations Heather and Justin!!!!!!!!!!!

And my cousin Steve (Cathy's brother) is getting married this April or March!!!!...Congratulations Amy and Steve!!!!!!!!!

Just some Random pictures and thoughts

The two boys have been so much fun. Today Mason was talking about the mansion in heaven and he said he was going to pick a room with a piece of gold and a little chair and no windows. not sure where that came from.

We have been talking about how it's OK to say somethings with friends, but not with your mom and dad. For example, while backing out of the driveway Mason exclaimed "DUDE!!! You almost hit the house!" That led into a 2 part discussion of 1) I am the driver and 2) It is not OK to call your mom and dad "Dude".

Today he made at least 15 paper airplanes. They are flying and zooming around everywhere.

We had Maddox in the nursery at church on Sunday (I stayed with him) and it is apparent he is not afraid of anyone bigger than him. A almost 2 year old had a firetruck and Maddox went right for it (scooting with the army crawl) and grabbed it away. I gave him something else to play with and he batted it away and went after the firetruck again. Having an older sibling must help in that a lot. I think for the most part, he will be someone who can hold his own.

We are thinking about trying him in the nursery. He broke out with a couple hives on his chin after chewing on a toy, but they didn't bother him and they were gone by the time we got home. So...next Sunday we are going to try. We can sit in the balcony which is right next to the Nursery. We'll bring rice chex for snacks and see how it goes. He just isn't the kind of child who wants to sit quietly during a service. He needs to move. So, that is about it for here.

So Sleepy

So happy in the morning

Mom and her boys!(how the heck do you rotate these pictures?)

"Wrangling" Maddox loves to crawl over Mason

A Beautiful Fall Day

It was so nice to see the sun today!! We went out this afternoon. Maddox had his first ride in the wagon. A wagon I bought at a rummage sale for 7.00. I love rummage sales!!!! Mason rode his bike in the driveway and Maddox and I followed along with the wagon.

Mason has learned how to wink, so he is winking in almost every picture. I don't know if you can tell he is here.Ahhhh...Fall.....and leaves that need to be raked. I'll get right on that. hahahahahah (I crack myself up!)

Rubberbands...They're not just for keeping stuff together

Mason is always coming up with new functions for old objects............

Ahhhhh, there he is...

.....

Agate Festival

On Sat. we went to an Agate Festival at Boulder Lake with a friend of mine and her children. Mason and her oldest get along very well and her other 2 children are very cute. There was a "sawdust scramble" (looking for candy, pennies, and agates), a Cider Press, demonstration of how glaciers shaped the land, snacks, a craft and a hike to a gravel pit to look for agates.It started out rainy, but then the sun came out and it warmed up.

Scrambling in the sawdust for goodies

Just hanging out in the rain. We left the snack room because they had a large bowl of peanuts and the room was jampacked.

Mason operating the Cider pressDrinking some cider (but not from the apple he pressed and it wasn't much...Mason's words) OK. the picture below this is of Maddox all conked out in the back carrier. I cannot get this to type above or below the picture.

Now I am able to type here. While at the gravel pit, my friend and I had to nurse our little ones. We went a little back in the woods...not far and this truck drove by and this man got out and came walking up towards us. So I am thinking..."Can you not see what is going on here?" Well, it turns out it was deer hunting season (which we knew and had tied ribbons to the kids coats..but they had taken them off) and he was coming to let us know that Mason and his friend looked like a deer from the road because of their tan and white shirts. The kids put their jackets back on and then we started to head back a while later. All of a sudden a hunter walks into the gravel pit covered in blaze orange and carrying his rifle. That was a little unsettling and we walked back as quickly as we could. We didn't realize people were hunting around the festival and no-one had made that big a deal of it. They just left ribbons out for people to tie on. But overall we had a WONDERFUL time.

Maddox loves the back carrier and fell asleep. I love how both Mason and Maddox love the outdoors. I hope it stays this way!

We will prevail....

Well, little Maddox is still fighting the sleep thing, but we think he is starting to figure stuff out. It has been a week since we started helping him sleep through the night and we are still sleeping all over the house. Who knew a little peanut could have such control over an entire household:)

Last night he ate around 11:00pm and was up at 2:30am demanding to be fed. But he fell asleep within 15 minutes. So....the beat goes on. He got up at 6:00am and then slept until 8:00am and Mason slept until 8:45am. That was nice.

SO....we will keep going and hopefully soon this will all be behind us.

The house and yardwork has (have?) really fallen behind. And I know it isn't crucial, but I like to start new seasons with everything in order. Not going to happen this year:)

The gutters need to be cleaned out. Notice the grass and trees growing. Next spring I am going to throw some flower seeds up there. Maybe some Alyssum. Perhaps add a thatch roof.

This is my bulb and hosta garden. overgrown with weeds.

Who doesn't like tall, prickly, nettle-like dandelions growing along their home?

Time for some Hidden Pictures Fun:

Can you find the hostas? There is one in each picture.

that is just sad.

SAY CHEESE!!!!

ALL DONE!!!!!!!

Well, we are desperately trying to get sleep at the Wiediger household. Mason is sleeping in the toy room, I am sleeping on the couch (Mason doesn't want to be alone downstairs), Craig is in our bed and Maddox is in his crib. The little baby just won't sleep through the night! He insists he be fed between 4 and 5am after being fed around 11:00-11:30pm.

So...the last few nights Mr. Maddox has been crying for 45 minutes at this time in the morning. And he has gone at least 8 hours on several occasions, so I know he can go longer. I just want him to go until 6:00am at the earliest. Last night, he wasn't even crying, he was yelling. and slamming his feet against his mattress. and kicking his aqaurium toy. and flailing his arms. and hitting his mattress with his hands. and yelling "ADAH!!! ADAH!!" (which is his way of saying "all done").
I have been on the couch for 4 nights now. I thought this would only take a couple.

It's horrible. I was crying last night. And Craig goes in about every 10 minutes to make sure he has his pacifier and so he knows he isn't all alone. I tried to give him his pacifier last night, but that backfired. He was even more upset. thankfully he is happy when he gets up between 7:00-7:30am. But his little eyes are puffy and I feel so bad. But we need sleep in this house. He is over 10 months old now and I cannot be a wife, raise 2 children, homeschool, take care of the house on limited sleep anymore. It just isn't good for anybody.

That is what's going on around here. Maddox is still a joy though and a great blessing. He is just a happy little guy. Still getting into everything. We need to fix our dishwasher again. He took another piece off. Then the other day he took the grate off the refigerator.

I love the morning face

Such a great smile!

Goofy

I was trying to do something and Mason kept saying "Mom! look at this!!" This is what I saw:

So I decided to join him:

And Here's what Maddox thought of all this foolishness:

Christmas Pictures are going to be Tricky this Year

Need I say more?

10 Months Old!!!!

So Big!!

Maddox is 10 months old today!!!! That flew by! (I don't remember much of it to be honest)He is eating a ton! I can barely keep up with him. It seems like all he does is nap and eat all day . He is clapping, and very proud of his new ability. He'll clap and look at you and smile. He is also doing "so big" (see picture above). He just started dancing a couple nights ago. If he hears any music, he will nod his head and shake his little body. It is adorable. He is almost standing on his head. I have to get a picture of it. It's amazing. He'll be on his stomach, push up with his legs until he is standing on his head and tippy toes. He is either going to go into a head stand, or do a somersault. I can't believe he will be 1 year old in 2 months.

new favorite past time.

We have addes Mangos to his diet and he is doing well (but I forgot how smelly they make the poops).

Stuck..,Again

Maddox appears to have a little temper...but I don't want to label him, but he tends to kick his feet a lot, holler, spit, and just shake his whole body when he cannot get his way or if you take something away from him. We'll see. If however you give a stern "no"(for example-if he bites while nursing), he will get the saddest face and cry the saddest cry...so he is somewhat sensitive. It's just fun to watch his little personality come alive.

Mason continues to do well. He was getting a little stressed out with Kindergarten though. He thought he had to remember everything he learned and never forget it. He likes to blog about what he has learned, but if he can't remember something he gets so upset. We talked about it, and I think he feels better about it now. I am sure that being new to homeschooling I accidentaly contributed to some of that.

Homeschooling is going well, but I put a lot of pressure on myself (probably too much) to do a "perfect" job, ,and I need to relax a little bit. I'm sure Mason picked up on that. I often worry about what other people think and if they will judge me or look at Mason and judge him or our family, but I need to let it go. We truly believe this is what our family needs to be doing at this point in time and we pray about it a lot, so we just need to trust God and trust that He will let us know when and if we need to stop this route.

The brotherly adventures continue in our house. Last night, Maddox was almost beamed in the head with a dollop of oatmeal (laced with milk) off of Mason's spoon. Mason suddenly said "Boom!" and flung his spoon forward. the oatmeal shot off and landed 2 mm from Maddox's head on the back of his highchair. Then tonight Mason was throwing a large rock over Maddox. aye.

It's fun living in a home with an almost 6 year old boy. I have been looking for a marker we use in school for our calendar and number chart for days. Last night I went to refill the wet-wipe box and lo and behold there was the marker. All of my measuring spoons are off of the ring and separated laying all over the place. Where is the ring? Hanging off the ironing board that hangs over the door...but of course.

Mason told us the other night he created a recipe that was gluten free and that I could eat while I was breastfeeding (he loves to use that term whenever he can). He is going to give the recipe to PBS so they can put it in their cookbook (it is fundraising time so they have commercials for their cookbooks of recipes viewers submit) and then I can buy the cookbook and eat the recipe. Isn't he so sweet? It just bothers him that I cannot eat the things he can. He really can't stand it.This is why I don't have many pictures of Mason on the blog. He will not let me take any.

In Over My Head

Well, I still don't know what I am doing. There are supposed to be spaces in between the paragraphs, and I couldn't get the pictures to be centered. Hopefully some day this blog will look somewhat organized, instead of looking like the inside of my head. But, maybe that what a blog should be. A "picture" of the person writing it. so, if I can't figure it out, anyone who knows me will understand.

Hog-Tied

Well, the brotherly adventures have begun. Mason made a lasso the other day and lassoed Maddox. Today Mason was rolling large plastic stars down the stairs, with Maddox playing at the bottom of the stairs. Yesterday, Maddox followed Mason around while crying because he wanted the truck Mason was playing with. They both want what the other one has. I didn't realize it would start this early ;)

Today, Maddox took his bib off 20 times at lunch. I need him to wear his bib, because if food gets on his shirt and it rubs on his face, his sensitive skin breaks out. So, he would wail and scream when I would put it on, and then stare at me with a look of determination and rip the bib off. Mr Maddox is also into everything he should not be. He wails when I put barricades up in front of outlets, tippy tables, and the stereo. I forget how exhausting and tricky things get when the wee ones become mobile. ahhhhh

We went to Lester Park today. I haven't been there in quite a while and I forgot how beautiful it was. We are going back tomorrow to hike the trails with a friend. I put all my maternity clothes and baby stuff and clothes Maddox has outgrown in my friend's rummage sale. It was very sad. I still tear up when I think about selling the bassinet. But, the pregnancies are too hard. I always thought I would have at least 4 children...but I have been blessed beyond imagination with Mason and Maddox. I do enjoy being their mom and our days are plenty full with the 2 of them. I listened to a woman of 9 children speak at a convention and she had said that God will fill your days full , no matter how many children you have....and she is right.

Not much else going on here. I thought Mason was getting the stomach flu; on the way home from Lester Park, he was very quiet. I asked him if he was OK and he said he ate too many carrots and his stomach hurt. When we got home he laid down on the floor with a pillow and blanket--very unusual for him. But, after 15 minutes he was fine, although he does look pretty pale and tired. So i hope we missed that one!!

At Awanas last night someone commented on Mason's Bible and Mason excitedly exclaimed :"Yeah, it's a cool Bible. It has the WHOLE Old Testament and WHOLE New Testament in it!!!!"

He (Mason) is wondering about everything. The latest one is: "Mom, what if you went out in the snow naked?" We have a discussion about this about every other day. And now I have just forogotten the other "wonderings". i'll post them if I ever remember. Well, here are some pictures of the cuties!

getting the last drop

just hanging in the highchair

Branch weaving (thank you for the Kohl Art Book Cathy!!)

Peek-A-Boo!!

Jammin' on the Keyboard.

Maddox was playing and laughing while home with Craig. As soon as I walked in the door, this is what happened.

Gotta love those smiles!