this just in: adorable child sings adorable song, gives interview

Charlie is at that age where she'll answer questions and sing songs on demand. Thus, I spend most of my time asking questions and requesting songs. See for yourself...

Dancing!

{on the range} week 4: sweet potato fries

Charlie now.  Loving the rasta hat, man.

Charlie a year ago. Somebody make them stop growing so fast.

{On the Range} is my weekly series where I discuss what we're doing, reading, and eating. It's a little bit 52 project and other photo projects, and a little bit {Did you Read?} and {In the Ranger Kitchen}.

On the Range

January 22-28, 2013

these are the days

It's snowing again. I consider it the reward for enduring the sub-20's weather we've been having for a week or more. I am thankful we don't live in sub-20's for months on end like we did in Wisconsin. Brrrr.

on saying yes

Image credit: Fwallpapers.com

Did y'all read Tina Fey's article in the Huff Post? I loved every word and read it twice. In fact, I just went back and read it a third time after writing the last sentence. She is a smart lady. Despite some criticism I heard before reading it, I also liked Bossypants. A devotee of 30 Rock, I pretty much adore everything she puts her stamp on.

Back to that article. I don't normally consider myself a yes woman. I don't go out on a limb. I play it safe. I'm not a trendsetter. I'm not an early adopter of technology, books, hairstyles, TV shows, leisure activities, or food. I suppose the only exception to that rule could be health trends, but I don't count that area because you're supposed to adopt trends in your field early. It's called a job.

Lately, as part of a non-resolution-resolution, I decided to pay attention to whether I'm saying yes or no to the opportunities that come my way and say yes to them when I can. That is, when my answer as to why I want to say no is lame, I say yes. This practice is harder than I thought it'd be, and it means I'm trying LOTS of new things.

Drink caffeine?
Yes. 

Learn childbirth education?
Yes!

Help organize the church auction?
Yes? 

Sprout potatoes for seed?
Yikes...okay.

Eat canned fish that isn't tuna?
Erm, I guess so. 

Have you tried anything lately that you hesitated to do at first? How'd it turn out? I have a hunch Ms. Fey is correct that saying yes just might make the difference for becoming a successful person. Well, that and 10,000 hours.

Pricey caffeinated loose tea and caramels? Yes, please!

{this moment}: dot art

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

blank slate muffins

Recently I've noticed the best-selling item I make when I'm on pre-k snack duty is muffins. This is a good thing because I love muffins. They are easy, versatile, and delicious. I make lots of muffins. Usually they are healthy, rarely but on occasion they are cupcakes disguised as muffins. Most have lots of ingredients. Often there is a sprinkling of bran involved.

spinning workout {8}: electro synthpop

The sport of biking took a bit hit last week with Lance Armstrong's pseudo-confession. My favorite analysis of said confession took place over the weekend on NPR. Well said. I figured this week was a good time to put some positive biking vibes out there, so I'm adding another installment of my spinning workouts. I'll also give my friend Elizabeth a shout-out via a link to a cool article about her biking advocacy. She does great work for the League of American Bicyclists, and you just can't help but love the thought of biking to work after reading that article.

on the range {week 3}: eggnog rice pudding

This is how Vivi felt about making pudding with me. A teeny bit excited.

On the Range

January 15-21, 2013

chicken soup: for your soul and health

Last week I said I would post a chicken soup recipe the day after my antibiotics post. In truth, that post took such a long time to search for and read articles, write, edit, and double-check sources that I didn't leave myself much other time for blogging. Then I also attended a birth that took a huge amount of physical and emotional work, so I took a few days off from blogging. I'm back with the promised chicken soup. I hope you had a nice weekend! 

rebuilding your gut & immune system after antibiotics

IMPORTANT: Please do not put your children on Miralax to prevent or treat constipation. PEG (Polyethylene Glycol), the active ingredient in it, has been reported by FDA to cause neuropsychiatric episodes. Read this article for more information.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor or nutrition expert, so please use your own judgment when making decisions about your health.

When the girls were prescribed antibiotics last month for complications from upper respiratory infections (Charlie also had conjunctivitis. They were a mess!), our pediatrician was surprised at the lack of antibiotics (or medical chart at all) in their history. To be honest, at the time I was disappointed they needed antibiotics; note this article in the journal Pediatrics that discusses over-prescription of antibiotics for upper respiratory infections. I was hoping it would be asthmatic bronchitis (viral) that we could treat with rest, NSAIDs, and/or steroid inhalers.

on the range {week 2}: the five remembrances, and pork stock

On the Range

January 8-14, 2013: Week 2

superfoods to the rescue!

By now you've probably heard about the nine superfoods. If you read goop, you got an email in your inbox last week with a list of the foods and some recipes to make them. I'm doing the traditional short-lived New Year's health kick, so I thought I'd follow suit and add my own superfoods recipes into the mix.

get your flu shot!

"Mieux est l'ennemi du bien"

{Perfect is the enemy of good}

-Voltaire

I try to practice a "live and let live" mentality when interacting with people. I find it doesn't bode well to push my advice on others; if they don't want to hear what I have to say, they aren't listening and will come away feeling like I'm a bully, not a help. However, when I consider not telling people about why the flu shot is a good thing, I'm forced to reconsider my stance. "Live and let die" is perhaps a more apt description of what I'm doing.

{week 1}: on the range, with nacho casserole

Some people start those "365 blogs" where they write or post pictures every day for a year. As anyone who blogs can testify, that would be exhausting! Not to mention practically impossible. But I thought it'd be fun to try to write once a week about what's going on around here. Kind of like a mix of my In the Ranger Kitchen series (which I kind of forgot about after summer...oops!) mixed with some journaling. Here's a bit of what went on the first week of the year.

sculpting a legacy

I have been thinking about the Huff Post article about living without regret from the other day, the one I linked to a few days ago. His metaphorical deathbed question of "What is your legacy?" stuck with me. What a fun question! What is my legacy? Fortunately, unless you're Tiger Woods or Taylor Swift, you probably don't need to have that question answered by your thirties.

...in which I pulled the Dora phone out of my purse and attempted to make a call on it

I really have nothing more to say on the above subject except what's already written. But it sums up my day-to-day life well. A wee bit of irony makes the day more interesting, no?

I am supposed to be preparing answers for a four-page list of questions, somewhere around 50 (!!!), for my weekend-long childbirth educator class that begins tomorrow. But instead I'm on here giving you the gossip, for which I can only say I love you more than punctuality. And that's saying a lot.

yours, mine, & ours: best of 2012

Is instant nostalgia a blogger thing or is it a product of my generation? Whatever the reason, I'm enjoying the 2012 recaps I've been reading (see: mermag, local kitchen, Doodles & Jots). And since I did my own recap last year, I thought I'd make a tradition out of it and do another.

roof permits are hard to come by...

Between the Lincoln logs, Duplos, and wood blocks, we've got lots of building going on 'round here. If only Charlie would let us put a roof on it...

The kids are enjoying their new holiday loot, and meanwhile Nate and I are dividing our time between college bowl games (nearly done! phew) and basement shuffling. New year, new stuff! Purging seems to be a disdained activity in many households, but I know I'm a broken record when I say I love rotating my belongings.

How are y'all holding up? Any resolutions? I'm going with the standard "more exercise, less sugar" routine. And maybe some L-glutamine to help my tummy along...

I'm also going to try to take some sage advice and keep my list of regrets down to a minimum. I love the "what is my legacy?" and "who will be there with me?" questions he poses in that HuffPo article. Thought provoking to be sure.

Hope you're having a splendid start to the new year!
xoxo
~J