Funday Sunday - Pizza Pockets

I don't know about you, but my kids love pepperoni. Sometimes I try and find new ways to incorporate pepperoni into things so that the kids will eat it. I know it's not the greatest and most nutritious thing to eat, but you can always try Turkey Pepperoni. It's got a lot less fat. And seeing as how pizza isn't exactly friendly to the milk-allergic kid, I've had to improvise. A favorite around our house with the kids are Pizza Pockets. It's super easy to do and I think you could put just about anything you want in them. I keep it simple, but that's just because I have finicky eaters. It's a really simple recipe and I'll even show you a nice step by step process via pictures so there's no question on how to do it.

Pizza Pockets

1 can of canned biscuits*
1 jar of pizza sauce**
25 Pieces of Pepperoni
Any other pizza toppings would work as well including, (soy) cheese, mushrooms, sausage, peppers, etc.

First, Preheat the oven to degree specified on the canned biscuit label. Mine is 400°. While the oven preheats, flatten a single biscuit into a big circle.


Second, take a nice Tablespoon of pizza sauce and place in the middle.

Third, place toppings in the middle. Do not over do the toppings because you won't be able to fold it into a pocket without making a big mess. When using pepperoni, make sure to cut it into small pieces. Usually 1 piece of pepperoni into about 8 smaller pieces. You can use cheese if you aren't milk-allergic and they make some fairly decent soy-mozzarella cheeses out there for another option. But I just use pepperoni and the kids love it.

Fourth, take one side of the biscuit and fold it over to make a nice pocket. Use a fork to crimp the edges of the dough. It makes a perfect little pocket.

Place the pockets on a non-stick or greased cookie sheet. Cook in the oven until nice and brown. Times vary per oven. For me, it only takes about 6 minutes. Serve with a nice helping of pizza sauce for dipping and enjoy! Kids love 'em!

*Just a tip: If you are looking for milk-free canned biscuits, look to the store brands to help you out. For some reason, the cheaper the biscuit, the better chance of being dairy-free. Generally the only allergen ingredients are wheat and soy. But I'm sure you could use homemade biscuits and they'd work just fine.
**Another tip: Buy jarred pizza sauce and you can store it in the fridge for use again later. Wash it when you're done and throw it in a recycle bin and there's no guilt involved!

Nerf Bites

Nerf (or Nerf-like toys) are great. They are a softer and less disastrous option to baseballs, footballs, and the like. Though I do not encourage throwing balls in the house, in the event that one is chucked randomly across the house, I would prefer it to be a softer foam ball such as the ones Nerf makes. These toys have been in the toy boxes of kids for many a year and our house is no exception. Sure, the toys have age recommendations. But that doesn't stop anyone from buying (including me) a nice foam football for Alex or Abby for a gift. Our house has had a fair share of these balls. (Please not the past tense.) Unfortunately these balls come with a guarantee that isn't printed on the package. Here is the guarantee:

Guaranteed to have children biting, pinching, or tearing chunks off of them for pure amusement value.

The other morning I went in to the bedroom to find a nice foam ball. No wait. Let me rephrase that. I found the core of the nice foam ball. (see photo above) And when I asked the kiddos what happened, they told me (in all honesty, bless them) that they tore it apart with their teeth. They showed me the nest of pieces. No worries though. I put the ball back together just to make sure all the pieces were there. But in conclusion, I must admit that no matter how wonderful these balls are for playing a nice game of injury-free catch, Nerf really does bite.

Couch Fun

The days seem to get slower in the winter, as all with children most likely know. Even though in the past couple of weeks it seems we have had some beautiful weather, those days are done for another impending winter blast. Joy. So how do we ever pass the time? In our house, the couch takes the brunt of the boredom damage.

It's a tea party table...

a fort...

a trampoline...

a bed...

a parking lot...

and apparently a sitting device...only not in the way intended.

I think that maybe our well-loved couches are going to be in dire need of replacement after five cats and two toddlers. But we'd be lost without them.

Key to Success

I found it! After a couple of weeks of Abby and Alex jumping around their rooms after bedtime like monkeys on energy drinks, I have finally found the key to successful sleeping. The key...is me. I have been going in, putting them to bed and then leaving the room to whatever madness will ensue. For awhile now, they have both been more than reluctant to go to sleep. They would do everything from find rogue crayons and draw on the wall to switching beds and laughing hysterically at one another from across the room. After an hour or more after bedtime, they would both still be going bananas in there. I have been ending up rocking Abby just to calm her down. So tonight, on a whim, I decided to try and lay with her for a few minutes. Bingo! Alex passed out in his (what used to be normal) five to ten minutes and Abby was peacefully sucking her thumb and breathing deep after five or so minutes. I gave them both one last hug and kiss, told them I loved them and said goodnight. Not a peep came out of that room after I left. So apparently I am the key to the bedtime routine. It was actually quite nice. It gave me a moment to relax and just be there for them when they needed me. I know it's a crutch, but if it keeps the peace (and my sanity) then I'm good with it. They aren't little ones forever. One day they won't need me for these little things. And I know that I'll miss it when that day comes.

Funday Sunday - Banana Pudding Dessert

Funday Sunday is back this week with a couple of new tips that I discovered for the dairy allergic kid and a tasty recipe that I remember my mom making when I was a kid. I do believe there is a recipe like this on the back of a Nilla Wafers box, but seeing as how the actual Nilla Wafer brand of cookie has milk in it, I can't really say for sure. I have searched high and low for milk free Nilla Wafer type cookies and finally was victorious. Just a tip, if you are looking for tasty store bought cookies that don't have milk in them, check the cheap store brands. I've found extraordinarily wonderful cookies that only contain wheat and soy. The kids thank me for them. And the new tip of the week is for boxed pudding. Turns out that Jello brand cook and serve puddings actually work when you use soy milk. Just add about one tablespoon of watered down cornstarch once it's boiling and wa-lah! Pudding! So this week's Funday Sunday is for the Banana Pudding Dessert. Enjoy!

Banana Pudding Dessert

2 Boxes of Jello brand cook and serve pudding
4 C. Soy Milk*
2 Bananas
2 T. Cornstarch for thickening the pudding
1 Box of milk-free vanilla wafer cookies (see picture)

First make your pudding on the stove. Follow the instructions on the box using two boxes of pudding mix and the four cups of milk. Prepare the cornstarch by adding enough water to it so that it becomes a liquid. Probably anywhere from 2 to three tablespoons of water. There are instructions on the box of cornstarch. Once the pudding has come to a rolling boil, add your cornstarch mixture and whisk until it becomes partially set up. Remove the pudding and cool in the fridge so that it's no longer boiling hot. Warm is fine. Line a 8X8 or 9X9 pan with the vanilla cookies. Place them side by side until the bottom has a layer of cookies and then place a row of cookies on the sides of the pan so that you now have a cookie 'crust'. Put a layer of pudding on the cookies. Slice your bananas in medium thick coins to make the next layer, then cover that with pudding. Make another layer of cookies, then pudding, then bananas...you get the idea. Make as many layers as you have pudding to put in between the layers. Top it off with a layer of cookies (crushed or whole). Let it set for at least one to two hours so the cookies have time to soften. Enjoy!**

*Use the highest fat soy-milk you can find. I use Silk Soy-milk that is Omega 3 Plain. It's the highest fat one out there that I've found.
**When I was a kid, my mom topped it with whipped cream (Cool-whip). But I've yet to find that item dairy-free. Feel free to whipped cream it up if you aren't milk-allergic!

Liar Liar vs. The Tattletale

Alex and Abby are both developing some new fun little traits. And by fun, I really mean annoying. Up until recently, Alex has been really good about fessing up to just about anything he did. But recently, he has developed his ability to lie. I've caught him red handed and he still won't confess truthfully to me. For example, I watched as he willingly jumped off of the couch onto poor unsuspecting Abby. Laughing all the while. This is where Abby's new fun trait comes in to play. She has become quite proficient at tattling. She came running and crying to me right after this incident and said, "Mom, Alex jump on me!" When I asked Alex what he did he promptly got the innocent look on his face, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "Nothing, mom. She just fell off the couch a little." Lucky for them both, I was observing from a distance so proper punishment was dealt after Alex finally admitted to jumping on her. His confession for why he did it? "Because I was just being mean to sissy." Ahh, how nice. I do believe that sibling rivalry happens the moment the second child is a bump in the tummy and the first child 'hits' the belly on 'accident'. And it continues well into old age, I'm quite sure. For now I'm okay with a tattletale. But when Abby develops the ability to lie then those tattles won't be as easily trusted.

Stuffed Animal Reserve

This is just a small sampling of the vast stuffed animal selection we have. And yes...the bucket is all stuffed animals.

You've heard of animal reserves, right? Animals go to a place where they are protected from just about anything they need protection from. Yes. Well...I have an animal reserve in my very own house. A stuffed animal reserve. The reason that I call it a reserve is because I don't think they will ever find new homes. The kids might someday ask for one that I gave away and I'd have to explain why it's gone to two sets of teary eyes. The very first thing that Alex ever received after he was born was a cute little blue stuffed bear. Then after that, it just snowballed into a massive attempt to save and salvage every single stuffed animal that the kids could get their hands on. I didn't mind it in the beginning. I mean, who doesn't love to open a Christmas present and see a sweet little stuffed cow to love and cherish? Heck, I've done my fair share of damage when it comes to the massive amount of fluff for the kids. They would make googly eyes at some cute stuffed toy and I'd give in and say, "I bet this is the one they will cherish forever." Turns out that each animal has about a week and then it is quickly replaced by some other obsession. For example, last week for Alex was a monkey and this week it's a snake. One week with a bunny for Abby is changed to a puppy the next. In the end, they are never really excited or attached to any of them for very long. But this week they went over to Mandy's house. In her basement is a pile of old stuffed animals from her childhood. Each time they go over, they pick out the same things and carry them around. Mandy, being the awesome aunt she is, let them take them home with them this time. And guess what? They carry them around with them every chance they get. Go figure. They are an old wombat for Alex and a puppy for Abby.


I could probably give them a thousand dollars worth of stuffed toys, but inevitably they will love the old dusty ones from the 1980's. I told them that if they survive a round through the washer and dryer then it was meant to be.

For the Moment...

I have nothing prepared for the blog. But I promised myself I would get back to blogging tomorrow. If you were hoping for a Funday Sunday, I'm sorry. I didn't get on the computer much yesterday. Josh was home for the first weekend he's had in a long time so his computer needs sort of trumped mine. But Funday Sunday will return this weekend. Until tomorrow, I have nothing much to write about. So, for the moment I shall leave you with a couple of funny pictures of one of our many cats, Luke. He's obsessed with jumping into any and everyone's arms when they least expect it (from the ground). He chose my dad as his target 'audience'. And he loves to perch on shoulders. He's got a complex, I think.

Vacuum Vacation

I've decided that I need a vacation. I need a vacation from vacuuming my floors. Due to Alex's allergies, I have been a thorough cleaner for going on over two years. When I purchased my vacuum cleaner three or four years ago, I never thought that I would be using it so often. Oddly enough, it came equipped with a HEPA filter and so I never had to buy a new one when we found out that we needed to watch out for some of the allergens in the home. One thing you are supposed to do with allergies is to vacuum and sweep your floors and dust often to keep the allergens down. That, combined with air filters, has kept our house pretty friendly for anyone who might have a few allergy issues. But I have vacuumed every other day for the last couple of years. That, my friends, is a whole lot of vacuuming. I'm actually impressed with the vacuum I have. It hasn't quite died yet. I can tell the suction power is starting to wane, but it still works. The worst part about it, is knowing that every other day I have to lug that big thing out and vacuum every bit of carpet I can. Maybe it's overkill. Who knows. But sometimes I just go and look at the vacuum, sigh, and say, "Maybe I should get hard wood floors."

A Gross Little Blog

For anyone out there who might be slightly offended by the disgusting things that kids can do, you might want to wait this blog out until the next time I post. However, this is a major part of my life right now (or for the last two years), so I figure I might as well write about it. That way, many years from now, I can pull up the blog and share this with Alex and Abby when they have their own kids who do disgusting things and ask me, "Mom, did we do this when were little? Cuz it's totally disgusting." And I can say, "Why, let me pull up your old blog and share with you some of the joyful things I had to witness." So this is what I am doing. I am going to share with you a few of the disgusting little things that I've had to handle for the last couple of years.

• No list of gross things that kids do can be complete without the first one. Alex at one year, eating cat poop. Why? I mean...seriously. Why??
  
• Eating mud. Both of the kids constantly feel it is necessary to see if each chunk of mud they find is a different flavor. Luckily Alex isn't doing this anymore.
• Eating sand by the scoopful. And by the way, it's just as gross going in as it is going out.
• Drinking the birdbath water or...during the winter...eating birdbath ice.
  
• Abby, during Alex's early potty training, decided that picking up the removable part of the potty chair and drinking her brother's old pee (that I didn't know was in there until too late), was a good idea. It happened in slow motion, folks. Nothing I could do about it.
• Just a few days ago I woke up to two very quiet kids sitting on the bathroom counter. I hear Alex say this, "Hey, this is good toothpaste!" followed by Abby, "Yeah, good!" I jumped out of bed to find them eating the baby toothpaste. It had a screw on cap people!! What the heck?!?
• The day after the toothpaste incident after putting everything on the counter way up high, I go in to find Abby on the bathroom counter...again. What is she eating? The only thing left to eat. The foaming hand soap! Disgusting. (No worries...she's fine. It was only one pump worth from what I could tell).
• Alex, now peeing standing up, was in the bathroom relieving himself. I went in to make sure he didn't need help, only to find Abby standing beside him with a cup...catching everything she could! *sigh*
• Eating old nasty cat litter. Yup...that one is from both kids too.
• Eating bugs/earthworms/spiders. Alive and dead. The worst was when Abby ate a brown recluse. It was still twitching in her mouth when she showed me. (I just got a shiver down my spine.) Hey...it's protein, right?
  
• Handing me wriggling spiders that aren't anywhere being dead. (Oooh! Wow! Watch mommy jump!)
• Using their toothbrushes to scrub out the nasty sink drain...then putting the brush in their mouth.
• Dipping bananas in ketchup...and enjoying it.
  
• Licking store windows/floors.
• Eating an old french fry that was on the ground outside in our car port. (At least I know it was from our van and not the wal-mart parking lot, right?)
• Eating chalk. This one is almost all Abby.
• Sucking on an old, used dryer sheet. Hey, this one was off my clock. It was at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Not my fault!
  
• And finally, what would this list be without...eating boogers...and saying "Mmm, mom! Those are good boogers!"

It's all true folks. What truly baffles me is that these kids can eat every nasty thing they can possibly find, but when it come to eating their dinner, they won't touch a thing. And now after reviewing this list, I can't help but wonder something. How do kids survive into adulthood after stuff like this?

Sweet Victory

Last night I had a moment of parenting's sweet, sweet victory. I swear that I spend half my day telling Alex and Abby to say sorry, please, and thank you at the appropriate times. Sorry is the one that is used most often of course. But last night I witnessed from a distance a moment I shall treasure always. Alex was jumping off of the arm of the couch (which I should have given him time out for but chose to overlook it because of his following good behavior). When he jumped, he smacked Abby with his foot. He instantly got up and and looked at his sister and said, "I'm sorry Abby." Abby looked back to him and said, "It's okay Adix". (She pronounces his name that way.) Anyhow, I was positively beaming. They were so sweet to each other and he used 'sorry' in the perfect way. I gave them high fives later for it. Ahhh...sweet, sweet victory. Feels good.

Playtime Phlog

It's been awhile since I put up some good pictures of the kiddos so I figure that means that it's time for another round of Phlog. I have actually been quite lazy when it comes to my photo taking but I do have a lot of pictures I've taken in the last couple of weeks or so of the kids enjoying some playtime together. Even though they seem to spend a good amount of time fighting, they really do love playing together. Without further ado...I give you the first phlog of 2010.

Alex is really getting creative with the blocks these days.

Of course...I do have a bit of a hand in it as well.

Abby got a tea set for Christmas and they literally spend hours a day playing with it. They call it their Rosy Tea Party. Yeah...don't ask. It's a Wiggles thing.

Alex's Rosy Tea. Today was rainbow sprinkles and marshmallows. Mmmm...

Abby's Rosy Tea. She sure does love pretend play.

Abby loves to wear the wig I used for Halloween when I was one of the Wiggles so she calls it her 'shimmy hair' because the Wiggles wear wigs when the sing the Shimmy Shake song.

Painting is the new wonderful fun thing that the kids always want to do. Seriously. Always.

Abby is actually pretty good at it.

My Cardio for the Day

Does anyone know how hard it is to pull two kids around on a sled for half an hour? Because I sure didn't know. The last time I was anywhere near a sled, it was being pulled around by a horse and I was on it. And trust me...that was quite awhile ago. This past summer during the height of garage sale season, I found a nice plastic sled for a whopping dollar and decided that it might be fun when we got a nice big snow. Oh, I was right. It's a whole ton of fun...if you're not the one pulling it. I sometimes forget how big Alex is. He's just over 40 pounds now. I swear the kid is 90% muscle. After a half hour of running and pulling him around, I was about to fall over on the ground. Abby is 27 pounds and so she's a bit easier. In fact, once I got going with her, I could barely tells he was in the sled. I actually had to turn around to see if she hadn't flown out of it. The kids had a blast today with the remaining snow. Actually, the snow that we have left is perfect for sledding. It's just hard enough that you don't sink down immediately. They were laughing and smiling the whole time and I had to drag them inside completely against their will so their little noses wouldn't freeze off. I got a stitch in my side, felt like my lungs were on fire and could feel my heart pumping harder than it's had to in awhile. But it was worth it. So today was a first for me. I got to take my kids sledding. When you are a kid, you never think, "Someday I want to go sledding with my kids." You simply enjoy the moment for what it is. But I hope that when Alex and Abby grow up that they have just as much fun sledding with their kids as I did today. I'll just have to get in better shape before next winter so that I don't feel like I'm about to have a heart attack after it all is said and done.

Funday Sunday - Banana Milk/Banana Shake

I've been meaning to put this up here since before I started Funday Sunday so it's about time that I share. Every morning, and I do mean every single morning, the kids enjoy a nice big cup of banana milk. I have no memory of where I picked this up from but I've been doing it for a long time now. Once Alex started drinking milk out of his straw cup, I had so much trouble getting him to drink it that I had to use flavoring. Seeing as how soy-milk is the only way I can get calcium in him, it was imperative that he drink it. Unfortunately I can't substitute calcium with the yummy cheeses and yogurts that other people get to use. So I found some fun flavoring called Magic Milk that was banana flavored. It was the only thing I could find that would make him drink his milk. No chocolate. No strawberry. Guess what? They discontinued it. Ugh. So I had to resort to making my own. I wasn't sure it would work, but I found a great idea for Banana Shakes. It's really two ideas in one. I modified it to work as banana milk too. You can use soy-milk or regular cow's milk. It's great either way. I'm giving you a recipe that works for two servings.

Banana Shake

2 c. Soy milk*
1 Frozen banana
1 t. vanilla
1 T. Sugar
2 T. Chocolate syrup (opt. for a chocolate banana shake)

Easiest directions ever. Peel and cut up the frozen banana and throw all the ingredients into a handy dandy blender and blend till smooth. It really does taste a lot like a shake with out the muss and fuss of ice cream for kids with allergies.

Banana Milk

2 c. Vanilla Soy milk
1 Banana

Okay...this is the easiest recipe ever. Just blend it up till smooth and serve. If you don't have vanilla soy-milk or are using regular milk then just add 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla and 1 Tablespoon of sugar (or as much as you feel necessary.) Vanilla soy just takes out those two ingredients and my kids look forward to this every single morning. It's the best way I've found to get at least 8 oz. of milk down them each day and they ask for it as soon as they wake up.

*I use Very Vanilla Silk soy milk and cut out the vanilla and and sugar.

De-medication Update

I blogged about four days ago about Alex's de-medicating process. Basically, I'm taking him off of Claritin in hopes of having him a little less drugged for awhile. Well, it's been four days and tonight is the fifth night he will have completely skipped all allergy meds. I am happy to say that he is doing really well. Every once in a while he will rub his nose. But to be perfectly honest, he did that with Nasonex and Claritin in his system. So in the end, I'm not sure I see too much of a difference. Once more, I can only assume that the medication is fully out of his bloodstream and that this means that his allergies are in check for the time being. We actually had a bigger test when we went to Mandy's house for a play-date. She has three dogs and Alex has a dog allergy (the last time we tested him anyways). For safety's sake, I wiped him down when he got home with a wet rag to remove any residue. But other than that, he did great. The other development is how he has been since removing him from Claritin. He has more energy. Which, of course, I didn't think was humanly possible. He is also waking up a lot earlier and is rip-roarin' ready to go. He seems to have a lower tendency to have tantrums as well. I would like to think that the medication isn't responsible for his short fuse, but I suppose that when he has to go back on it, that will tell me more. I am still watching him like a hawk for any of the tell tale signs that he is needing the anti-sniffy drugs, but as of now things are looking great. I'm hesitant to be optimistic. But...I'm slowly getting there. There are a lot of people praying for the not-so-little little guy. So here's hoping that the weeks continue with no problems. I guess for now it is one reason I am thankful for winter.

Abby-1, Commando Joe-0

Play dates are back in full force. Thank goodness for that. Alex and Abby have been running up and down the walls to get out of this house. So today we bundled up and headed to Aunt Mandy's house for a nice little play date. One of the issues we have going over to Mandy's house is with miss Abby. She has a bit of an obsession with putting things in her mouth. Yes...I know that most kids do. But Abby is obsessed. I would say that on on average, I have to tell her to spit something out of her mouth twenty times a day. And that's on a good day. Unfortunately, she is more prone to doing this at places outside of our home. Why? I can only guess it is because the objects are so much tastier in a new environment. She is also very bad about biting and gnawing on things. Wesley, like Alex, got a nice bag of army men for Christmas. (Can you see where this is going?) So after the third time of saying, "Abby, what's in your mouth?" she waltzed over to me and spit out something new, grinning all the while. It wasn't an army man. Oh no. It was the head of an army man. Apparently she bit it off. Seriously...she BIT the head off of a hard plastic army man. I laughed so hard I cried. So here lies Comando Joe...


...a brave soldier who simply didn't stand a chance against Abbyzilla. Poor Joe. Not the first casualty...but definitely the funniest. Let this be a warning to all the little green army men in our house.

De-medicate

Today is day one of Alex's de-medication process. For the past six or seven months (I've lost count to be honest) Alex has had to be on three different medications to control is asthma, allergies, and allergic rhinitis. When spring his last year, he started getting a very bad asthma cough and it happened the worst at night. Which, according to the doctor, means bad dust allergy. But during the day, he was a disaster due to pollen and all the happy joy-joyness of springtime. So seeing as how it is now winter, and the first frost has (should have) killed off the outside allergens, we have been told to try and get him off of his allergen meds. Now, in order to do this, I have been in psycho cleaning mode. I just bought his mattress allergen-proof cover and done all the possible cleaning I could possibly do to prepare for this. About two weeks ago, I took him off of Nasonex. I was nervous, but it turned out great! No sniffing or nose rubbing since. Woo-hoo! One med down. The big one I want to get him off of is Claritin. It's literally been in his system for well over six months straight and I have no idea how he is going to react without it. Last night I got up the courage to skip it. It has now been almost 24 hours without it and I am pleased to say that day one is a success. So far there are no sneezes, no sniffles, and no nose rubbing. Now, I have no idea how long it takes to get the effects of the drug completely out of your system. So if you by chance read this blog and know anything about allergies and meds like Claritin, feel free to comment and give me your take on how long it took to get it out of your system. I'd be delighted to hear what you have to say. Otherwise, this is going to take some prayer and patience. I am hoping that he is going to do well for a few months until pollen season jumps back into high gear. It would be nice to not have him so medicated for awhile. He will remain on his controller medicine, Pulmicort respules, until who knows when. I can only pray to God that his asthma gets better and that one day he won't have to be on any medications at all. Until then, please keep Alex in your prayers in this situation. And if you have a spare prayer for me, I'd appreciate it too. Sometimes his health issues can weigh very heavily on my heart and nerves.

Funday Sunday

So, when I started Funday Sunday I said I'd use it to share fun recipes or neat items of food that I've found that are milk-free. During Halloween, it was difficult to watch Alex ask for all of the chocolaty goodness and have to tell him no. I don't know why it hurts me to think that all those other kids get to try the Three Musketeer or the Snickers but not him. After weeding out all the milk-free candy, I got to wondering if I would ever find a label on something chocolate that would not include dreaded milk. This is when I almost tossed my miracle candy into the milk pile. I saw a little box of Junior Mints and after checking countless labels, didn't know if it was worth looking. But to my surprise, it said "May contain traces of milk" but didn't actually contain any in the ingredients list. So I got all warm and fuzzy inside and decided to research it. I called the company and had a message in to product control. They actually called me back a couple of days later and told me that it is packaged on the same line that have packaged one product that also may contain milk. Turns out that this product only 'may contain milk' because of where one of the ingredients come from. The lines are fully cleaned and sanitized and so after careful consideration...Alex can now have Junior Mints. Chocolate for my milk allergic kid! Ahh...a silver lining to the madness. I'll still always check the label though.

So Begins a New Year

With the start of the new year, I'd like to say that I have a bunch of resolutions to start the year fresh, but I don't think that I really do. I have yet to actually make a solid resolution that I kept. And that is mostly due to the fact that I haven't really made many actual new year's resolutions. I'd like to say that this year will be the year that I do something big and amazing with my life, but only time will tell. I'll just be happy to successfully raise Alex and Abby to be another year happier and healthier.

This year is different from the previous few because of two things. First, I have zero cribs in the house. So that makes it official that I don't have anymore babies in the house. Second, we have no sense of job security with Josh, which is always a cause for my constant supply of Tums. But we have the hope that things will only get better from here on out.

For a first time in awhile, I had the joy of ringing in the New Year alone. Well, maybe 'alone' isn't the most accurate word. But it's pretty darn close. Josh's job has taken him away from us for awhile now. He's been home everyone once in awhile for laundry and Christmas day, but overall not long enough. I actually feel very bad for him. The job is taking a toll on him. He has zero personal time anymore and has been living out of a suitcase. He actually hasn't played his World of Warcraft for going on a month now. That may not seem like a big deal for most, but it's a fairly good indicator as to what his life has become. The kids miss him dearly and are constantly asking where he is or when he is coming home. I see how tired and exhausted he is and how frustrated he is with his job and my heart goes out to him. He's definitely not the same Josh that I am used to. He even got sick this past week with a cold and can't seem to shake it because his immune system is drained. And please note that he is never sick. The job that he has, has inhuman hours and schedules and he's trapped there due to Union rules. So needless to say, he's working today (New Year's Day) and I rang in the new year by myself on the couch watching Transformers 2. It wasn't a bad night, but the entire time I kept thinking about Josh waking up at 4:30 in the morning and leaving us again. So our hope for the new year is that Josh will get a better job at some point in time with decent hours that don't require he transform into a robot to survive. (I also wouldn't mind moving into a new house with more room sometime, but hey...one hope at a time, right?) It was a tough year last year, but we came through with heads held high. So here's hoping for 2010. To all you and yours, I hope that your new year is full of wonderful things!