FEMALES are emotional GEEZ!



mean face




sad face



i'm going to beat you face

i'm so happy

i love everyone!

i hate everything!

i'm pissed, but i'm trying to smile!

my day is ruined.

this was a span of ohhh 45 seconds
all because i wouldn't give her the camera.

How To Make: Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

I try to only post dishes my kids will eat, cause kids are picky little suckers. Both of mine grubbed this!

You will need:

1 box of Chicken Broth, or if you have bouillon cubes, make 4 cups worth

water (if your broth doesn't cover the contents of the soup before you cook it, just add it till it covers the top)

4 chicken breasts, or 5 thighs (boneless skinless)

1 4 oz can diced green chilies

5-6 cloves of garlic (we love garlic..maybe less for you?)

1 onion

1 bell pepper

3-4 carrots

1 can black beans

1 can corn

5-6 med tomatoes

shredded cheese

cilantro (if you like cilantro, i know some don't)

2 limes, cut into wedges (a must)

tortilla chips (or make your own tortilla strips)

1/2 tsp. salt...(if you like things more salty maybe do a 3/4)

a few grinds of pepper

Directions: Cut your chicken up into 1 inch (ish) cubes, add to crock pot

add everything except the cheese, cilantro, and lime.

cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 3-4

before we ate it, i took the chicken out, put it on a plate and mashed it with a potato masher and it broke up really easily, then dumped it back in, if you like chunks, leave chunks!

Ladle your soup into a bowl, add chips, cheese, cilantro, and squeeze some lime over it.

Seriously easy, and really yummy. I froze some in 2 cup portions for quick lunches. Makes a lot.

Soup is like, the easiest thing ever..the recipe i was following did not call for the bell pepper, carrots, beans, or corn, i just dumped them in..just add whatever veggies you have on hand..squash, green beans, whatever it will all taste good in soup.

DEAR Parents of 1 EASY child: Stop being so judgemental.

So. We were at Sea World the other day and there was an incident. It bothered me so much I thought about it, just about the whole way home..Ryan was bothered too, it was sad.

Poor little Alfonso.

It's been very interesting for Ryan and I having one of each..and by saying one of each, I don't mean a boy and a girl.  I mean having one active child who will push the envelope, and having one EASY, calm child who listens very well (so far, yes i know FIN is 13 months..but even at this age, you told Curren to not touch that Power Cord and he would shake it harder and faster, which is FINE that's just who he was.)

In my opinion, so far, the age of 1-2 is very hard, esp 15-18 months-ish.  These little people can now walk, they have real opinions but still have a hard time communicating them, they can cause harm to other kids and not really understand what they are doing.

I hate to break it to you but your 12-18 month old just is the way they are.  They are not gentle and calm and listen well because of something you did, they are not hyper, biters, pushers, hitters, kickers, smackers, because of something you didn't do. They just are the way they are, and through repetition they will learn right and wrong.

Bring in Alfonso. I'm going to say little AL was about 16 months old.

We go to the baby play area..it's a little closed in bouncy carpeted thing with soft blocks.  I go in with Fin, and notice right away AL was having a hard time.  I see him grab a few baby's faces, push some kids over. He's having a hard time. Granted it was 5:00, Al was prob pretty hungry for a hot dog, and tired from his long day at Sea World. 

I look around for his parents..oh they are texting on their phones not watching their kid..cool, one of those.

I am behind the camera taking some pictures of Fin, and Al comes up behind her and grabs her face pretty hard and scratches it.  I pulled him off and told him "NO, that's not OK!" I was upset, cause now Fin (Ms. SUPER SENSITIVE) was distraught. 

I was more mad at Mother and Father AL for not getting down and dirty and playing with their kid.

I calm Fin down...look around to see where Curren is and BAM Alfonso strikes again.

Now I'm pissed, I pushed him aside, told him "NO" again, looked at his dad and said, "That's not OK." and gave him a look like- come get your kid.

Al's dad then walks over to him, totally smacks him really hard and is yelling at him "be gentle be gentle!" Al's totally confused...now I feel horrible!

Why can't this guy just get down here, stick with his kid and show him how to act?

Meanwhile, allllllll the parents on the sideline (with their 1 CHILL child) are just watching in utter HORROR.

One couple in particular who's little boy got the wrath of AL, was saying loudly, "they need to get that kid out of here!..." and if I looked anyway in their direction they mouthed, "Can you believe this??" with their arms spread out in an up roar.

Having been on both sides of the fence..I had Curren who at times would be the aggressive child, he was never a biter (which again had NOTHING to do with me, it's just the way he was) but he was a pusher.

Through repetition of teaching him how to interact with his friends he eventually learned what's appropriate social behavior.

So this goes out to all you parents with the chill, easy children who mind their own and get attacked...take a step back and be thankful you have that chill child and you're not dealing with an attacker...the parents of the attackers are (hopefully) working on it, and learning how to deal with their child.  And beware, cause if you decide to have another child...you'll probably have an attacker! Then you'll feel sorry for judging. 

I just felt so bad for all, cause his parents weren't in it to win it. They wanted him to figure it out on his own, and at that age it won't happen, PLAY WITH YOUR KIDS. DAMMIT.

Al eventually got kicked out of the play space by a Sea World employee. So sad.

I was upset because maybe I should have talked to his parents in a more sympathetic way and told them, yes i have a son who would act like that..it really helps if you stay right with them and catch them before they hurt someone...but that's easier said than done. Have you been in this situation? How did you react?

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

#7!

...and I follow Jyll's blog Lisa Card

By Anonymous on Sickfeet Art GIVEAWAY!!! on 7/13/11

and the winner is...LISA CARD!! I am super excited about this, because Lisa is pregnant with her first baby BOO! All these SICKFEET goodies will look amazing in the little ones Nursery! Congrats LISA!

I will let Jyll know you've won :)

Summer Time is..

Summer time is going great, we are so lucky to have Ryan home! He usually works one job a day for a few hours and then we get to enjoy all his energy :)

My kids are very lucky. 

Go ahead and get Bradley goin in your head..cause he's goin in mine, "Summer tiiiime, and the livin's easy..Bradley's on the microphone with Ras-MG...." 

Summertime is...



Eating Popsicles that are bigger than his head



Playing at our neighbors beautiful pool

SLIP N SLIDE! seriously...check out that face, this kid is so rad

gnawing on some corn! it was so funny...when we took the corn away, there was just one kernel gone here and there since she only has the bottom 2 teeth

water fight!

Crawling like Mowgli to keep off that itchy grass

picking all the summer veggies..check out this giant Peppermint BEET!

Sharing our veggies with our neighbors..Yellow Squash, Kale, Green Onions, Green Beans, Beets, Lettuce, and Swiss Chard going to Robin and Vanessa

Multiple Beach trips

"Shorts" Jammies..the cutest thing ever

SNEAKY SNEAKY..up to no good while mom is barfing in the bathroom..

hanging at the park wit my FRIEEENDS

the first Tomato pick...making Pasta Pomodoro tomorrow

and finally, working on our PRESCHOOL SKILLS!!

i know i know...he's a genius

I was pretty impressed with this..for only being 2 he did this all on his own, i just read him the directions. He sounded the pictures out and with the exception of the last one, he got the other 3 right!

NBD that I was talking to the preschool director yesterday, trying to find a good fit for Curren and his teacher...I kept having to ask her to hold on and then say "ACHOO!" like I was sneezing...really I was getting choked up cause I cannot believe he is starting preschool so soon!!!  She probably thought I had mad allergies.

The nausea seems to be giving me breaks throughout the day, which is awesome.  I'll take it! I'm starting to keep more meals down too.

Don't  forget to enter our amazing GIVEAWAY people! Jyll (our artist hosting the giveaway) was just featured ON THE COVER..(LIKE A BOSS)... in Weekly Dig Magazine (a Boston Art Magazine), oh and for the 2nd time- NBD!  Her write up was amazing, (check it HERE) i'm telling you guys you better enter cause you'll never get this again! Enter here:
Enter Sickfeet Art Giveaway HERE!

Hope you're enjoying this week's cool down. I sure am.  Well if you in CA that is!

Sickfeet Art GIVEAWAY!!!

I am so excited to host our first giveaway!! Now that we are at about 200 readers, the time has come. 

Still though, for as little as my blog is, in comparison to others, hosting this giveaway is HUGE! Good thing I've got the hook up!  I'm so excited to share the world of JYLL ETHIER-MULLEN (art website) and HER SICKFEET ART (etsy) with you!! She has been blowing up for years in the Providence/Boston/NY area, and we love to get a taste of her when she has her art shows in Los Angeles.

Curren's entire nursery-turned-toddler room was decorated completely around Jyll's artwork, especially the custom piece she painted of our family. 

As you will see her art is whimsical, and has been described by her many lovers as Tim Burton meets Dr. Seuss.

Without further adieu, let's get to the goodies!

This Giveaway will include...hold on to yer socks kids Jyll offered us a $50 value of her amazing creations.

 1. A 4 pack of "Hello" Flat Cards

2. 1 Single "Surprise Magnet" of your choice

3. A Sickfeet Sketchbook of your choice

4. (saved the best for last) A signed Archival print

Here are 3 as examples



Fox Print

 

Squizzle Print



Brown Owl Print

            All of her art work will make your house smile, it is wonderful in bedrooms, offices, living rooms, kitchens..and even bathrooms! Don't be shy entering, I'm all about entering giveaways and I have won some amazing things..nothing this amazing though! 

How to enter:

*Mandatory Entries*

1. Visit Jyll's ETSY SHOP and leave me a COMMENT saying what pieces you would choose. 

2. You must be a follower of my blog, comment if you are

If you are not a blogger (most of you are not) you can leave a comment anonymously or with your name.. but be sure to leave me your email in each comment so if you win I can contact you!

*OPTIONAL Entries*-PUT A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ONE THAT YOU DO (possibility of 6 total)

+1 Tweet or Facebook about this giveaway by entering the following into your update:

GIVEAWAY! $50 value of Sickfeet art at http://www.nittygrittymom.blogspot.com/

or click the little "f" or "t" below the blog and it will throw it up for you

+1 Follow Jyll's blog here SICKFEET WORLD

+1 add Sickfeet to your favorites on ETSY

+1 Blog about it, leave me your link in the comment

 Giveaway Ends July 25th. I will email you when you've won! BEST OF LUCK!



How To: The BEST Alfredo Sauce, super easy.

This is a bi weekly meal in our house, it's seriously easy and everyone loves it, and it tastes delish

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Cup Shredded (not grated) Parmesan Cheese

4-5 cloves of garlic (we like a lot, maybe not so much for you?) chopped

Directions:

Heat oil, add butter, let melt.  Add garlic cook until it's just caramelized. Turn heat down to med, add cream, simmer till it starts to bubble a little.  Add parm one light layer at a a time, let it get melty and stir it in with a whisk (spoon makes it clump). Do this till all your parm is gone!

You can add salt and pepper to taste, i think the parm makes it salty enough but some like a little more. This is seriously so good

(i tripled it here in the photos, a friend just had a baby and brought them some.. and brought some to gram and gramps, so it looks like a lot more butter etc)

we're sizzling

Garlic + Butter will get every one's senses going

If you shop at TJ's they sell Heavy Cream in a 2 C container, so I use one cup, and freeze the other in the same container, super convenient.



yay for the tupperware steamer! love this thing..i throw a head of broccoli in with the pasta, or squash, just whatever veggie i have on hand



be sure to just add the parm a little layer at a time so it doesn't clump up on you!

makes enough for one 16 oz. bag of pasta



ok i suck. i forgot to take a picture of it all tossed together, then everyone ate almost all of it! So this is in the tupperware the next day lol, and most of the sauce was at the bottom. but I promise  it's super yummy!!



3rd time's a CHARM

I've written and rewritten this post, questioning the honesty..i decided to be honest.

We are going to be a family of 5!  That's like the real deal, no messin around.

We found out a little over a week ago that we will be expecting baby number 3!

Over a month ago..I took a test (that i bought at the .99 store- DON'T TRUST THEM haha), I was feeling funny..missed my period and thought meh, i'll just take a test. (pssst i compulsively take tests like all the time) it came back negative (shoulda gone to CVS), just thought it was weird cause although I had only had my period back for about 6 months ..they were very regular.

Another month goes by..still nothin, and I was feeling seriously fatigued...I had just started working out 3 days a week and working out pretty hard so I though I was just tired from that. But I was like passing out on the living room floor, and all kinds of random places- and randomly feeling barfy, freaking out on poor Ryan... i thought maybe the flu was coming on, everyone else is sick...

One day after one of my workouts I decided to go get another test cause I was all out of sorts.  I didn't tell Ryan, cause I figured it would just be another negative.  Got home, hot footed it into the bathroom...did the thing...and that test popped up so fast it wasn't even FUNNY! I believe my exact words were,

"oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit OH SHIT!!"

I am the type of person who needs a game plan. I need lists. I need calendars. I need to be in the know.  So I needed to process this, absorb this information, and make a PLAN!

Here comes the tears...more tears out of fear for Curren cause I really want to stay on it with him, and I was afraid he would get lost in the mix of a third child, in his 3rd year of life. PLUS Fin was still a big nurser like 8 times a day big, and although I was trying to cut her down a bit I knew this would be putting a hault on things..another plus I was kind of scared for my BRAIN.

Even when I found out I was pregnant with Curren I cried..we were trying! I was still scared, it's just scary at first I don't know!

So I go out of the bathroom to tell Ryan, go in the kitchen and here's the scene: He's holding both kids who are crying..trying to get them a snack and Giggs is licking hummus up off the kitchen floor.

"RYAN! I'M PREGNANT!!??!!!!!"

"WHAT? NO WAY! That's AWESOME!"

he's totally excited! huge smile, he's stoked!

i'm the worst mother ever! i cried, he smiled.

Ryan got me on board.  He said, "Sarah we knew we wanted 3 right?...our "plan" was to wait till Fin was in kindergarten to try again...do you really think in 4 years...when our kids are in school and things are 'easier' we would want to have another baby?"

true. very true, now is the perfect time!

It took a few days for it to sink in with me, as Finley just turned 1- Curren is still 2..but i'm on board now. I'm envisioning 3 little amigos who will be pals growing up, 3 kids in high school together, a kindergartner, 1st grader, and 2nd grader..it's going to be so fun. I can totally say now, that i am excited :)

We made the appt to go see our Dr. and found out we are about 8 weeks along, due February 23 2012.

Once I heard that little heart beat and saw the little one wiggling around- I felt so much joy and felt so much excitement, and relief knowing everything looked good.  Lots of feelings actually, I also felt a lot of guilt for feeling so freaked out when I found out.  But I also know a lot of that was hormones, and just a little bit of shock. I know in my heart of hearts how much I already love this little one, and will love him or her as much as I love my other two babies.  I freaked out to the MAX with Finley, and what in the world would I do with out her??

I'm having mixed emotions with people asking me if this baby is a surprise or not, and asking me if we were using protection...guess what? None of that matters because we are having a baby, so get on the ship or get off, and be positive!

As to if I feel like a boy or girl? With Curren

-my face broke out so much, and I puked constantly for the first 3 months and lost 10 lbs the first month- but felt relief after throwing up.

with Fin-

I was nauseous constantly, and no relief while throwing up, my skin was the best it's ever been in my life.

now- nauseous constantly, down 9 lbs, throwing up, and broken out. It's a crap shoot!

OH and we're not finding out! Hate to break it to ya! It's our last one, and we already have 1 of each so why not! We've found out and not found out..both are fun. We're 99% sure we have our name too. It goes for a boy and a girl!

HOW TO: make Fried Deer Meat..excuse me VENISON

step 1: go ahead and get yourself a deer tag, and get yourself a deer up in the mountains. OR if you're not much a hunter (like me) have your husband get one..you will have meat, and your husband will feel super cave man-y and manly providing food to eat inside your cave..errr kitchen, that you can cook over your log fire..errr electric skillet.



Deer meat is actually very very good for you, see how lean it is? Almost no marbling at all. But then you are going to fry it, so i like to think of it evening out.

  Step 2: Skin, Gut, Cut & Wrap your deer. You will need many sharp knives.  Cut out the tenderloin (on either side of the spine) Slice your tenderloin into1 inch strips.

Step 3: sprinkle with Pepper, Salt, and Garlic Powder, press the spices into the meat

 Step 4: place your seasoned meat into a bag of flour and shake it all up till it's all coated.

Step 5: cover your electric skillet with a little oil, turn to 350..when warm add meat cook till juices start to form in the middle and then flip it! when golden brown it's done.

and there you have it, fried Deer Meat, a Pellerino STAPLE.  All of my cousins are probably licking the computer screen right now. You must dip in ketchup to make the Venison even less classy! We always eat it with Baked Potatoes and some type of veggie. mmmm you hungry yet? I am! Our kids grubbed it down!