Today I Stopped Mourning the Loss of Picnik.

For those of you who never got familiar with Picnik, it was an easy photo shop-type website.  I don't know how to use Photo shop and maybe someday I'll learn how.  But Picnik made it possible for me to fancy up my pictures and have fun with them, all while being lazy about learning something new.  :D 

Picnik closed down for good on April 19th.  I was soooooooooooo disappointed.  Then I discovered PICMONKEY!!!!!!!!!!  **giddy with excitement**  I like it better than Picnik.  And it's all free.  For now. 

Here's a photo I spiffed up on Picmonkey.  It's also a sneak peek at the photos I hope to have up in my next post.

(britt-britt)

Today I Held My Daughter's Hand....

....while the doctor vacuumed and tweezed a large chunk of crayon out of her nose.

Before we got to the clinic Ash assured me that the crayon was gone.  Maybe she couldn't feel it.  After seeing it, I can't imagine that it didn't cause some sort of sensation.

The doctor shone a bright light in her face so she squeezed her eyes shut.  Then the doctor put this tool in her nose that looked a bit like tiny salad tongs.  He used it to widen her nostril so he could get a good look.  Then he used a little flashlight to illuminate inside her nose.  He said, "Sure enough!  There it is!"

Ash was such a good little trooper and was so brave when the doctor turned on a loud vacuum.  Then he took that vacuum, which had a long, skinny tube of an ending, and stuck it way up into Ash's little nose.  She had a bit of a quivery chin at that point, but kept good and still while he (the doctor) worked on the crayon piece.

She didn't lose her cool until he got out the tweezers and poked around in there.  I think they must have hurt a bit because she finally started wailing, and then screaming.  She screamed at the top of her lungs and kept saying, "Please!  No!  Stop!"  I felt so bad but yet had to smile a bit because I knew that she'd NEVER put anything up her nose again.  The doctor finally got it out, it was a big chunk and Ash immediately stopped yelling.  :)

I gave her a piece of gum for laying so still, even if she wasn't super quiet.  She's only 3.  Who can blame her for screaming? Kind of a traumatizing event for her I think.  Then we went to the Dollar Store for sponges and I let her pick out a treat.  

Of course I didn't get a pic while we were at the doctor.  I was too busy talking her through it and holding her hands.  Hahaha!  The doctor said they get a lot of little patients who've stuffed things up their noses.  So he was a seasoned vet with our particular scenario.

(and just for fun, a pic of my little family)

Today I Clapped My Hands and said, "Good Girl!"

(hi.)

Elle rolled over twice today. Both times when my back was turned. I made sure to give her lots of smiles and praise anyways. Now I really gotta watch her when she's on the bed or sofa.

(this was taken today. she's gotten so good at holding her head up.)

It was a wonderful day.  Yesterday was not.  But Tony helped me get the house organized and cleaned last night so I woke up to calm and peacefulness.  It's like having a blank slate and I need that to be really happy. 

(this is the new thing she does with her hands all the time)

The girls and I were low-key.  We watched some scripture stories online, played basketball with beanie babies and a bucket, read books, watched Wonder Pets, took naps, made Mother's Day presents for Nana aka Neena, made gluten-free bread (and I actually like it!), and Britt and I did a grocery run.  She did so well!  I had her go potty before we left and we were out for about 30 minutes.  And guess what?  She peed her pants (and the sidewalk) just as we were going in the back door.  Hahaha!  Well, I'm just grateful it wasn't her car seat or the grocery cart!

(blurry, i know but she's so happy in this one!)

Oh, I guess there was one not so low-key moment.  Ash stuck a small piece of crayon up her nose.  When she came to me about it, I had to turn my head so she couldn't see me laughing.   I tried to get her to blow her nose, but she kept sniffing instead.  I got some tweezers and almost had it but she was blubbering and sniffed it up and out of view.  **sigh**  Then she stopped complaining about it.  I'm wondering if she swallowed it or if it's up in her nasal cavity, swimming in mucus.  I'm going to call the doctor's office tomorrow to ask them if I should be concerned. 


UPDATE:  We had to go to the doctor to get the piece of crayon removed.  It was WAY up in there!  It was kind of frightening for her, but I was secretly glad because I don't want her stuffing things up her nostrils anymore. 

Today I Made Tortilla Scones.

I can't remember if I've mentioned my newly acquired eating habits. Basically, each meal or snack must consist of half fruits and veggies and half grains and/or protein. But I'm also doing a three-week elimination diet. I've cut out dairy, most meats, all sweeteners, corn, and gluten. After the three weeks are up, I'll add one thing at a time back into my diet to see how it makes me feel. To be honest, I'll be shocked if I react to anything. I just haven't felt much different.  Except for craving crappy white bread and cookies.  The awesome part about this new way of eating is just how many more fruits and vegetables I'm eating on a daily basis and I've dropped 6 pounds in the last week and a half. Yay! The biggest challenge has been giving up wheat. But I found a great recipe, to get back to the post title, for wheat-free, soy-free, and corn-free tortillas. But, I haven't had much luck rolling them out super flat. It makes such a sticky dough. The first time I made them our kitchen was trashed. Probably because I let Ash help... 

(it was a bad idea to roll it out all in one piece.  making little balls would have been better, but even so, this dough is so sticky, the weight of the rolling pin just didn't work well for me. so if you decide to try out this recipe, don't do this.)

Anyways, I'm going to post the recipe.  I found it on My Real Food Life, but my tortillas didn't look anything like hers, they look and taste a bit more like scones (the kind fried in oil), which is a good thing, in my opinion.  Plus, I won't use amaranth in anything.  It smells and tastes just like dirt!!!  I kid you not.  No exaggerating.  Bleck!  Anyways, here's the recipe that I adapted:

Gluten-Free Tortilla-Scones

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 3/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1  cup arrowroot starch
• 1/2 cup millet flour
• 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp guar gum

Wet Ingredients

• 1 cup water, warm
• olive oil for frying
• extra starch, for dusting

Directions

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together, and combine thoroughly.
2. Add warm water to the dry ingredients.
3. Mix it all up until combined.
4. Use extra starch as needed to make tortiall shapes (I found the rolling pin to be useless to I just use my hands and these tortillas are only about as big as my hands too.
5. The uncooked tortilla should hold together fairly well, but is delicate so be careful when transferring it to the skillet.
6. Heat a griddle or skillet on a high setting. Add some of the olive oil to lightly coat the bottom- this is important.  If you don’t lightly oil the bottom, the tortillas get hard and crunchy.
7. Add the tortilla.  When there are gold patches on the underside, flip it over and cook the other side.

I loooooooove these slathered in homemade guacamole and topped with lettuce.  Oh my, so heavenly!!

(super sticky helper.)

Next time I make these tortilla scones, I will try to get a picture of the finished product before they are all snarfed down!

Today I am Watching the Last Episode of "North By South"... Again.

I am not one of those people who enjoy watching a movie over and over again. Even really good ones like..... Lord if the Rings. I just have to have a year or two between viewings.

(source)

But tonight I just must see the ending to this show again. Absolutely swoonful!  If you are a Jane Austen fan or enjoy BBC Productions, don't miss this one. I watched the whole 4 episodes all at once last Saturday! You can probably find it at your local library or if you have a Netflix account, it is currently an option for instant view.

This is based on a book.  I'm totally going to be looking into that!

Today I Took a Personality Test.

Have you ever heard of the Color Code/People Code by Taylor Hartman, Ph.D.?  Basically, he wrote this book with a test that you take.  The results of this test put you, mainly, within one of four categories: red, blue, yellow, and white.  All have strengths and all have weaknesses.  My husband is taking an inter-personal communications class and he was required to take the test.  He is a white-yellow.  I decided to take it too, for fun.  I am a red.  But only barely.  Not far behind my red-ness is a fairly equal amount of yellow and blue.  Almost no white here!  If you've never heard of this, I'm sorry for being confusing or excluding you.  Guess you'll just have to go look it up!  Basically reds are mover and shakers/bossy/power hungry people.  Blues are do-gooders/self-righteous/connector types.  Yellows are the fun loving/self-centered/charismatic ones.  And whites are the peace keepers/lazy/patient individuals.  I tried to find the test online.  I stumbled on a different sort of color test.  I'd say it's quite a bit less accurate than the color code test.  Entertaining, nonetheless.

See?  My highest scores were intellectual (which I SO am not!) and imaginative.  Ok.  I'll give it that.  I've got a great imagination.  It just doesn't spell out in any real creative way, so it's pretty much not that useful.  Decision-maker?  Yes.  Innovative? At times.  Well-thought?  I'd say 50-50.  All the low scores I can definitely agree with. 

This was also part of my test results (I'm not going to argue with them):

How you assert yourself :
In your relations with others, your point of view and your decision-making are motivated by your inner conviction at 55%. Dialogue and exchange of views with others are taken into account at 44%.

Your ideas

55

44

Your relations

Also, your actions are determined by your will and your personal goals at a ratio of 53%. In 46% of the cases you take into account your own sensibility and your partner’s.

Your will power

53

46

Your sensibility

Finally, your inspiration and your creativity, your artistic or spiritual impulse have an influence of 61%. Also your family and personal ties interfere at 38%.

Your inspiration

61

38

Your family

And this (sorry it looks so weird. it didn't copy and paste very well):


The qualities that characterize your personality at this time :

<> <> <> <> <> <> <>

Your intellectual performance.		You are intellectual and intelligent, you wonder and you inquire before taking any action and setting your values.
at 21 %	<> <> <> 21

<> <> <> <> <> <> <>

Your imagination.		you are a creative person, with always new ideas, and you know how to apply them.
at 20 %	<> <> <> 20

<> <> <> <> <> <> <>

Your insights.		you are thoughtful and deep, you think before getting into action and you know how to communicate your knowledge.
at 19 %	<> <> <> 19

<> <> <> <> <> <> <>

Your energy.		you are strong-willed and active, your actions are determined by your own will, by the goals you settled to yourself, and by your need to act and move ahead.
at 19 %	<> <> <> 19

<> <> <> <>

Your creativity.		you are creative, you know how to see beauty, you are intuitive and your inspiration comes from the inside.
at 18 %	18

Finally, you are open and good communicator, you know how to attract people and engage them, you are attuned to others and you show a good emotional intelligence, which allow you to give support to people.

So, if that test was accurate, you now have some more insights into who I am.  I will say that applying ideas and being creative don't feel like they come very easily to me.  And I'm pretty sure I am not deep.  I do see myself as being strong-willed, active (when motivated), goal-oriented, intelligent, and answer-seeking.  :)  Here is the link to this test so you can take it.  Let me know if you post your results! 

If you're interested in the Color Code you can find the book Tony has HERE.  Go check it out at the library, take the test, and let me know your score!  It's fun!  Yes, it is putting ourselves into categories.  I maintain that categorizing each other is a very innate part of being human.  Remember this post about the genderless baby?  :)  We WANT to know whether someone is male or female.  It's part of organizing each other....  Oh, I'm going to stop before  I get started again.  G'Night!

Today I Made Playdough.

I have discovered that giving the girls little busy things to do, keeps their moods on the upside.  I'm not saying I plan every single moment (I'd totally die), but just enough so that when they start bugging each other or whining or looking a little glassy-eyed, I can whip out an activity.  I looooooved this morning's busy-ness.  Ash and I have been focusing on the letter Aa.  We'll probably start Bb next week.  Today the girls helped me make Apple pie play dough.  It was super-duper easy and smelled really good.  I used a recipe I found at The Picky Apple.  We'll definitely be doing this again, maybe in a different color.

(britt, with a tear in her eye.  she's very back and forth emotionally.  turns it on and off just like a faucet.  always has.)

(i wonder if ash will ever look back at these childhood pics and wonder why they are all of her hair.  **laugh**  she's a very task-oriented little person.  can't get her to look at the camera for anything when she's busy.)

(elle in her bumbo.  not happy about it, but not screaming either.  she wants to be held all the time.  i try to indulge her as much as possible.)

And I just discovered the camera on my phone has some sort of glitch in it and when the photos download to my computer some of them are sideways and will NOT be fixed.  **grrrrrrrrr!**  So, the pics I'm sharing today are not my favorite, but at least you don't have to turn your head horizontally to look at them!

Let me know if you've got any great ideas for studying the letter Bb!  Crafts, books, activities, etc.  :)