Emergency Substitutions

I just wanted to share my knowledge here. Something cool I learned. I wanted to make a cake but I had no eggs, it was too cold outside and I really didn't want to load my kids into the car, out of the car, into the stroller (Tats), out of the stroller, into the car, out of the car and home just for a measley pack of eggs. But I really wanted to make this cake and the recipe definitely said, "2 Eggs". What's a girl with a craving to do? So I took my problem to the internet and after reading many stupid ideas (like if I had "egg substitute" or "liquid egg" do you think I'd be googling this question to begin with?), I stumbled upon a real genius one.

1 egg= 2 T. of mayo

Yeah, I know, it sounds crazy but it made sense to me. And it made WAY more sense than the one that said to substitute corn starch. Huh?

Anyway, you wouldn't even know the cake wasn't the original recipe. In fact, dare I say the cake turned out even more delicious. Really moist. So if you're in a bind, do it, it works. I don't know how true with substitution would be for everything but at least for cakes it passed.

FYI, my favorite kind of egg:

First Snow

Well it happened. It didn't last very long but it happened. It is funny because I swear if we let her, Chloe would try and live off eating just ice and in this case snow. She goes outside to "play" in the snow and then all she does it eat the snow. It has been that way since her first snowball. And no matter how cold it is outside or how much she has eaten, she still wants to eat more.
Tati didn't know what to think. She was just mad that we had to put so many clothes on her and then she couldn't really move around so she was bugged by that too. But she sure was cute.

Since we were in the backyard, I just loaded her up in Chloe's car seat so she could see us. She got sick of being held.
It didn't last very long though because it wasn't super freezing but it was perfect for making a snowman.

Election 2008

I've been explaining to Chloe today about the elections in the U.S. and what voting is and why it is so important and how we always want people to vote for good things and so on. So tonight before we had our night time prayer I asked her to please remember the voters just like we've been talking about all day. Here's how it went:
"Heavenly Father, please bless the motors tonight that are motoring in the world and that they'll motor really good and choose good decisions to choose."

It wasn't really what I expected her to say but it was so sincere. We'll find out soon if it worked. So all you back in the mother land, hope you all motored today.

Let's Get Physical-Part 2

This is Chloe in all her glory. She really is a great dancer. I'd like to think she got it from me but whatever. Her Daddy taught her the "robot" but the "hula hoop" was all her. Enjoy.

Metamorphosis

This is the first time we've ever done theme costumes. Hopefully it is obvious what we are. If not, Tatiana is a catepillar, Chloe is a butterfly, Greg is the cocoon and I'm a butterfly catcher. Originally I was supposed to be the cocoon because I'm always freezing and Halloween night was like 35 degrees or something. Brrr. But the bag was too long and I needed to have some arms or else I was going to go coo-koo. Chloe dresses up every day so Halloween loses a little bit of its thrill. Anyway, this ensemble was just for a quick neighborhood party. I put Chloe in several layers underneath and thought she'd be ok but by the end of an hour, she was shivering and kept telling me how freezing she was. She was also getting a little bugged because everybody was calling her a bee. She's like, "Mommy, why do they all think I'm a bee when a bee has a stripey body?" All I could think to say was, "Well sweetie, sometimes people are dumb." There was a trunk or treat portion so I thought I'd include this shot of Greg and Tati INSIDE the trunk of "Igor", our new car from my Russian grandpa. We thought the name appropriate considering. It is seriously one of the biggest trunks I have ever seen. We love it.
For Halloween night, we didn't want to take any chances with being cold so dressed Tati up in a winter outfit with a hat that had ears and Chloe up in her snow pants and jacket with her butterfly wings on top. We called her a "Snow Butterfly". Yeah, it was sorta lame but what else could we do? Everybody else here wears those furry animal costumes with tons of layers underneath. I think back fondly on my California youth when I could be a princess and just wear my gown without tons of layers. Oh well. We did make out like bandits with the candy. Is it just me or are we the only ones who don't walk around with another bag for our baby's candy. I mean, come on, is she really the one who is going to eat it? I was surprised when some people specifically said, "And for the baby?" I did score a few treats for the parents from some really nice old people who said the parents need a treat too. (Don't they know who does the candy sorting later?) Oh and one of our favorite costumes of the night was a little boy around Chloe's age who was dressed as a muscley Superman but had a Transformers head. It is the boy version equivalent of when she was a fairy/princess/ballerina.


So time to vote. Which school of thought do you prefer for your kids and their Halloween booty: ration the candy or binge?

Also, what is your favorite costume from your youth?

I think mine was a princess. My mom made me this rad dress, crown and wand. It was this cool, shimmery, rainbowy purple material. I think I wore it for like 3 years.

Halloween Dreams

Chloe was so cute today. She woke up in SUCH a good mood because it was Halloween. She excitedly started to tell us about how she slept in because so she had so many "good dream wishes". When prompted about what her dream wishes were, this is what she said, "

• I had a Gabriela mermaid dream (mixing HSM with mermaids?!). She also mentioned to me that in HSM4, Troy and Gabriela would have Halloween. :-)
  
• Unicorns
• Pegasus ponies
• Jasmine dress-up
• Ariel bride dress
• Sleeping Beauty bride dress
• Sleeping Beauty blue dress

I guess we should consider that a Christmas wish list? The first one will be a little tricky...

Then we went down to breakfast where her Daddy had prepared her special breakfast surprise. You see (warning: we are ghetto parents. W.T. story to follow), she's been pining after this turtle stuffed animal for a couple of months at the Goodwill. Yes, the thrift store. They sell all these beanie babies. Though the idea of buying a "stuffy" (stuffed animal) from the thrift store SHOULD gross you out. I'll admit, it is a kind of gross idea but at this "fancy" store, they have a beanie baby section for collectors and all the beanies still have tags (like brand new tags) and look really new. I'm no idiot, I know if the beanie baby was made in 2000, it has dust build up to say the least so I always make sure that we machine wash it before she can play with it. You're probably thinking pretty much for every little kid, the last thing they need is another stuffy, however, Chloe actually really does play with every single one she owns. Every couple months, her Daddy (Mr. De-clutter) weeds out another gross stuffy that she either doesn't like anymore or is just isn't cute or clean enough to save for her baby sis. And beanie babies really are cute as far as stuffed animals go. Do I sound like I'm justifying buying it at the thrift store? Anyway, so I digress...

A few months ago, she found a turtle one and upon further investigation his name was "Peekaboo". He just conveniently happened to be orange and green. We let her walk around with it for a while and look through the whole section of beanies and then Daddy told her she couldn't get any more because she didn't need any more. It was true and this was a common occurrence from each time we go but this time it was all a ploy. He secretly bought Peekaboo and told me it would be the perfect gift for Halloween morning. The whole way home Chloe was talking about saving up her money for Peekaboo and how we needed to hurry and come back and buy him so he wasn't lost forever. The next time we went, weeks later, she runs over to the beanie baby section and is heart broken that Peekaboo was gone. Unbeknowgst to her...

So now Halloween morning.

Greg puts Peekaboo inside her cereal bowl with a card. She wakes up and he keeps telling her to "Go downstairs and get ready for breakfast". Suddenly she wants to hang out upstairs and watch Tati get her diaper changed. When we finally all head down together as a family, she sees Peekaboo, screams, and starts to hug him. We look at her and she is actually and literally tearing up. She says, "Oh Mommy, you got me Peekaboo. I'm having happy tears." It was so cute and so sweet. My poor w.t. daughter who cries at getting a thrift store stuffy. I guess we should revel in the fact that she has such low expectations--sure makes our job easier.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
(I'll post some costume pics tomorrow. I hope you all will too.)

Chain Breaker

I break chains. I'm a chain breaker. The chain is only as strong as its weakest link. I'm weak. I've broken them since I was a kid. I run the risk of bad luck, having my friends think I'm not their friends, having my family not think I love them, and it is likely you will get no other notice than this blog entry that I will break your chain. I'm sorry girl who really wanted 36 recipes, but I tried that chain a few cycles ago and I never got even one recipe back which leads me to believe that I'm not the only chain breaker. Sorry friends who send me a "girl hug" and I never pass it on or send the "hug" back. Sorry forwarded important info that won't get passed on by me. Sorry practical joke jack-o-lantern who screams boo at you--you will not be booing anybody else I know because of me. Sorry Mom's who are waiting for an email about how you're a great mom. I mean, I'm sure you're a great mom but a chain email is not the way I will tell you about it. Oh, and by the way, no offense and no mean will or anything but since I'm the weakest chain in the link, odds are I don't have the strength to play any tag either. I mean, if I really like you I might try once (recipe chain) but please don't put me in that uncomfortable sitch again. I don't mind if you play tag though. I might even like to cheer you on and read your posts but I probably still won't play. I'm just too weak and tired. I'd rather just be the honest disappointment and move on. Oh yeah, and slam books always had way too many pages for me. I was probably a slam breaker too--the girl who started as #27 and stopped slamming half-way through.