Thursday, September 24, 2009

Happy in the kitchen - and even more when it's not me

There is something so satisfying about sitting down to a home cooked meal - something that didn't just come out of a box in the freezer and not simply picked up from a drive through window (although there are nights that is satisfying too...) however, there is also something super overwhelming about getting this done everyday...

the other week when both of my girls had colds, I posted this on facebook:

Lindsay Reskey has a sick three year old who can't seem to fall asleep and a two month old who can't keep a pacifier on her mouth. I think I've purellified myself fifteen times in the past hour.


bright and early the next morning (well not too early, because that would be another story) I had a girlfriend and her little girl standing on our doorstep with a hot cooked breakfast. "I saw on your facebook that the girls were sick. I thought it was the least I could do to help."

It was such a simple action but completely brightened a dreary day where you can't do anything besides care for sick kiddos. It really touched me. And made me want to do something like that for someone else...

And reminded me that I think I like meals other people make even more than I like my own!

Another couple of girlfriends and I have been brainstorming about how to eat more homecooked meals and still have time to spend with our babies, husbands and on ourselves... Soulution - meal swap. Each of us triple the recipe we are cooking one night a week and go pick up a hot homecooked meal two nights a week... So say Monday I cook three batches of Chicken enchiladas, my girlfriend cooks on wednesday three batches of lasagna and friday my other girlfriend cooks a roasted chicken and potatoes. I am so excited about this potential to be in the kitchen a little less and having my family eating homecooked meals more...

QUESTION: What are some of your favorite healthy meals to cook?

Sunday, September 20, 2009

How to get hot pink nail polish off your 3 year old's clothes

Ahh, Jordyn...

I love my adventuresome little three year old girl. She funny, creative, compassionate and zany... but sometimes, just occasionally she decides to do really super naughty things...

Like the time she drew all over herself in sharpie
Or covered her whole room with baby powder because, "tinkerbell had a diaper rash."
Click to play this Smilebox greeting: Jordyn's Naughty Day



or the day she covered herself with waterproof mascara...
Click to play this Smilebox postcard: Jordyn's naughty day



Well, today she found a new adventure... nail polish... on her fingernails, her hands, her arms and (drumroll please...) her brand new dress she wore for the first time today. Fabulous.



So, a internet search later I find a few things that are suggested (besides the obvious nail polish remover, which doesn't seem to actually remove nail polish very well when it comes to clothes.)

- Hairspray or bug spray and a spoon. i don't know why the spoon, maybe its like a wash board, but we tried this all first... and it definately started to work, not fabulous, but after a few minutes of scrubbing we got it a bit lighter... looked more like a fruit punch stain than hot pink nail polish all over the dress!

And so I went to my old standby for stains, and I swear they aren't paying me... but I took out my giant tub of OxiClean and let the dress soak in it for an hour, rubbed more oxiclean in and left it while we went out to church, a birthday party and dinner... just got home and.... tada!!! the dress looks good as new!
ps- for those of you who are wondering about the sharpie removal, anything with alcohol takes it right off skin... I used an old bottle of perfume on jordyn the day she colored her whole self sharpie black, and in ran right off of her body... no such luck with the fabric that go around...

Picking a Blog Name

Ahh, to pick a blog name...

It defines what you'll be blogging about, causes you to contemplate what you aspire to be and all the while you have to keep checking your approved ideas against what someone else out there in the blogisphere has already claimed...

I have spent quite a bit of time these past few months falling in love with the concept of blogging... I peruse other people blogs frequently, from friends who post everyday life details and pictures, to old an old college girlfriend who's baby has undergone major surgeries, to a cousin who is trying to conceive her first baby, to tips on how to be a better parent, cook or wife. So now it's my turn...

after a few failed attempts of picking my own blog name, i chose this. Thriving while Surviving.

If nothing else may this be a place to remind myself that this world of being a stay at home mom is what i have always dreamed of doing... so let me thrive in it, not merely feel as if I am surviving it. And let me survive it too on occasion. And hopefully someone out there can be encouraged by it too. So off to work on my second post: how to remove nail polish from your three year old's clothing. Gotta love that girl.