New Year's Eve menu and Jase, the scapegoat

I know I wasn't going to post, but I couldn't let Jase take the blame. (Though it would be very easy to get away with.) If you see the picture in the previous post, it looks like it's just my sister passed out on the couch.

Here's a pic of my sister Rachel and her husband passed out on my couch while 10 children were running amok in my house.  Just kidding!  Only 7 were running, 1 was crawling, and 2 were wiggling. 

We had so much fun with them.  And we miss them.  But should YOU stop by, we'll be staying up until at least 10 p.m. in our jammies New Year's Eve chomping on the following traditional menu that we chomp on every New Year's Eve (miss you Cristtin- that one New Year's Eve rocked):

Tex-Mex Dip a.k.a. 7-layer dip

Yields dip for 10 to 12 guests.

Preparation time:  25 minutes

3 medium-sized ripe avocados

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

8 ounces sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 package taco seasoning mix (I actually use about 3/4 package)

2 cans (10 1/2 ounces each) plain or jalapeno-flavored bean dip (or use refried beans)

1 large bunch green onions with tops, chopped (1 cup)

3 medium-sized tomatoes, cored, halved, seeded, and coarsely chopped (2 cups)

2 cans (3 1/2 ounces each) pitted ripe olives, drained coarsely chopped

8 to 12 ounces cheddar, colby, or longhorn cheese, shredded

large round or triangular-shaped tortilla chips

1.  Peel, pit and mash avocadoes in a medium-sized bowl with lemon juice, salt, and pepper; set aside.

2.  In another bowl combine sour cream, mayonnaise, and taco seasoning mix.

3.  To assemble spread bean dip on a large shallow serving platter, top with seasoned avocado mixture, and layer with sour cream-taco seasoning mixture.  Sprinkle with chopped onions, tomatoes, and olives; cover with shredded cheese. 

4.  Serve chilled or at room temperature with tortilla chips. 

Cheeseball and Wheat Thins

8 oz. cream cheese
2-4 oz. finely grated cheddar cheese (more for a firmer cheeseball, less for a softer one)
1/8 tsp. liquid smoke
2 T. dried chopped chives or chopped olives (optional)
chopped walnuts, pecans, or toasted almonds. 
crackers like Wheat Thins, Triscuits, or Ritz crackers

I place the 8 oz. block of cream cheese in my glass oatmeal bowl. (Use at least a four cup capacity bowl.)  Poke a finger hole about 1/2 inch into the cream cheese. Pour the liquid smoke in the hole.  If I accidentally get too much liquid smoke, I use a corner of a paper towel to soak up some.  Sprinkle the chopped chives or olives over the cream cheese. Grate the cheese directly into the bowl.  Use the fine side of the cheese grated.  It incorporates better than largely grated cheese.  Squish it all up until the ingredients are pretty evenly distributed throughout. I use my hands.  It's very therapeutic.

Shape it into a ball. Coat it with chopped nuts.

Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge in a really good hiding spot. ;) Or you can serve it right away and it'll be nice and soft to spread on crackers.
 
Sparkling Apple Cider
 

Eureka Cheesecake (the real deal) with Cherry Topping

Yields one 9- or 10-inch pie.

Preparation time:  15 to 20 minutes

Baking time:  25 to 35 minutes

Graham Cracker Crust:

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

4 to 5 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

Filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 1/2 teasoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon cornstarch (high-altitude 2 tablespoons)

2 eggs

5 to 6 ounces sour cream (2/3 of an 8-ounce container)

1/8 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

Topping:

2 to 3 ounces sour cream (1/3 the 8-ounce package)

1/4 cup sugar (for topping)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla (for topping)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (375 high-altitude)

2.  Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon.  Melt butter or margarine and stir into dry ingredients.  Pres into 9- or 10-inch pie pan.

3.  Cream the cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, cream of tartar, lemon juice, and cornstarch with electric mixer until smooth.  Add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in 2/3 carton of sour cream.  Pour into crust. 

4.  While cake is cooking, beat remaining 1/3 carton sour cream with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla.

5.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake begins to set around edges.  Remove cake from oven.

6.  Gently spread sour cream/sugar mixture over top.  Immediately return cake to oven for 5 minutes longer.  Remove from oven.

7.  Let cool and refrigerate for 3 hours before serving.

VARIATION (and especially when you top with pie filling):  Put the whole 8 ounces of sour cream in the cake instead of mixing some for the top with extra sugar and vanilla.  Bake about an extra 5 minutes. 

Okay, that's all.  I promise I won't post again until 2010. Happy New Year!

Wash your hands! USE SOAP this time!

I have said yelled that down the hall approximately 1500 times in the last week.  Less than 48 hours after writing this post, Gabbers and Hammy came down with pink eye.  When I took them to the doctor he asked Gabbers, "Do your ears hurt?"  She said, "What?"  And he repeated, "Do your ears hurt?"  She said, "No."  He said, "Because you have a severe double ear infection."  Then he checked Hammy and he did as well -- with emphasis on the severe. 

It makes me feel a little guilty about this past week when I thought Gabbers was ignoring me multiple times.  lol  She just couldn't hear. 

Then within two days of that, Squdge and I came down with pink eye too.  One more day and Q. Mouse had it.  Bun joined in on the fun with an ear infection too. Just one ear for him though. phew!  It has been an itchy eye-goopy week with lots of screaming and toddler torture.  Okay, mostly just Hammy with the screaming and torture.  And the most fun of all, the antibiotics are causing diarrhea.  Sometimes I think I should invest in Kimberley-Clark stock, what with all the nose and tushie wiping that's been going on.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  And I've asked that Santa bring us a year supply of good health and sleep-filled nights.

Merry Christmas to you!  I'll be back in 2010. 

P.S.  That's not me.  That's my sister who just visited.  And she has a good excuse to be passed out like that.  ;)

Christmas Spirit

Kiddie Kwip: Heavenly Father's house

A couple Sundays ago, we met in a different building for church than we normally do. It was still an LDS chapel, just half-way across town. Our chapel was all set up for a Creche and Choir festival for that evening. As we were getting ready for Sacrament Meeting, I reminded the children to be reverent.

Nikki: Who’s house are we in?

Pookie: Heavenly Father’s.

Bun: I didn’t know Heavenly Father had TWO houses!

A very long post about why I will never again pray for help on handling my overwhelming life

A note:  It has recently been brought to my attention that someone, who shall remain nameless, read this and interpreted it to mean that I am depressed. I am not depressed. That's sweet of her to be concerned.  But there's a big difference between overwhelming temporary circumstances and depression. I am happy.  Truly I am.  And so is Danny.  We don't go through an entire day not having experienced many moments of happiness and thanking Heavenly Father for our many MANY blessings. I thank you all for your kind words and comments. The blog is such a fantastic form of therapy. Just like in olden days (haha) when women needed to talk to other women and feel better, I can do that now with the blog as well. Blessings to you all!

On Friday, December 18th, the twins will be four months old.  Monday I was agonizing over the exhausting process it is to feed them.  I pump because they cannot nurse.  Three-quarters of their feedings are breastmilk with the remaining one-fourth being formula.  I feel guilty that I am not providing 100% of their food.  I maintain hope that after their initial surgery to correct the posterior tongue-tie (originally scheduled for November 2nd and post-poned due to Swine Flu) that they will show promise and improved nursing skill.  But they have absolutely no desire to nurse.  And the odds are not stacked in their favor with the tongue-tie and the tight jaws. 

So regularly I agonize and re-evaluate how much longer I am willing to let my house go to pot and the other children watch hours of Blue's Clues every day while the oldest two are in *gasp* public school.  (They are actually doing quite well and I think it was the right choice given our circumstances.)  Anyways, can I make it at least one more week?  Could I make it to five months?  What about six months?  If I make it to six months then they will be starting solid foods.  If I quit, will I feel horribly guilty and cry for a year?  Or will my hormones chill and finally level out and I regain a wee bit of sanity? 

Blah.  Blah.  Blah.

So I reasoned that I could at least go another week until their surgery that is scheduled for the 21st.  Then I'd give it a week after that to heal.  And then an additional week for them to at least show interest in learning to nurse. 

But now, we are sick again.  And so the surgery must be post-poned.  Again. 

Just when I thought that perhaps these sniffles and colds would go away, my oldest comes down with pinworms.  ew.  EW. 

So I'm thinking, my Heavenly Father has a sense of humor and is helping me see how "easy" my life was before pinworms.  I'm thinking all this as I chuckle washing the 11th load of laundry on hot water, vacuuming everything in between buzzers and sanitizing all hard surfaces as well, reading up on the "condition" as I pump and feeling fully violated for doing so.

Ahh.  Kids finally settle into bed, I have a loaf of Italian French bread baking in the bread machine (something I do about once a year) the twins are taking turns being fed, burped, cuddled, while I talk to my older sister, Leslie, about very cool goals for the New Year.   

Then I heard a whimper.  I sneak into the three older boys' room to check it out.  It's Hammie.  He's not coherent and he's fussing trying to cover himself up again.  I cover him up and realize he's radiating heat through his blanket.  I grab the Motrin and the syringe and the thermometer.  I dose him and then check his temp.  104.4.  I'm a little panicked at this point.  I write it down and decide to check again in half an hour.  Then I check Bun's temp.  105.9.  I call Danny at work and babble on about Bun's brain burning up and such stuff.  He tells me to dose him too and to call the on-call doctor.  I dose Bun and check Gabbers temp.  104.9.  I dose her as well.  Her cheeks are rosy pink and so are her lips.  She begs for a drink of water sounding like she's going to burst into tears.  I get her water and Danny calls back.  I haven't called the doc yet.  Danny says he's on the way home.  I call the doctor and he says, "Get them to the ER immediately!"

Ugh.  I pivot on my left foot for about a minute before my brain kicks into gear and I decide what I need to do. 

I end up taking three high-fevered children to the ER at midnight with their favorite blankies.  I chuckle on the way there.  Pumping every two hours until the twins are six months old will be cake without Swine Flu, Pinworms, and freakishly high fevers in the middle of the night causing ER runs. 

no picture. good reason.

Tonight my baby sister Rachel is coming to visit with her adoring hubby and their four adorable children.  And I don't just say that cuz they're my nieces and nephews.  Really, they should be in pictures.  Anyhow, not the point of my post.

Yesterday the plan was to clean my house.  Once upon a time, when my third child was just a newborn, I was able to get my house company-ready within 15 minutes.  I was a devoted FlyLady follower.  I did the routines.  I found great joy in the maintaining of a clean home.  But that was also when all three of those children napped for at least two hours every single day. 

Now I have six kids and a pinch of sanity left.  I have learned to lower my standards- so to say.  And yesterday, ah yesterday, child #4, the two year old, a.k.a. Hammy, a.k.a. The Destroyer, would NOT sleep.  And you know what else?  My mom doesn't want me to send him to her.  *sigh*

So, at one point I decided to clean up my bathroom floors.  I have been neglectful of the bathroom floors for some time.  But whenever we have company, they get a good mopping-- especially around the base of the toilets. 

As I was getting up close and personal with the outside of the toilet bowl and the floor, my hair kept falling in my face.  I had it originally pulled up in a claw clip.  But it's very long now, waist-length to be exact, and quite thick.  An unsuspecting claw clip is no match for my head of hair.  I was annoyed.  irritated.  I didn't want Lemon Pine-Sol scented hair.  I didn't want toilet bowl soaked hair.  I decided to put it in a tight bun at the nape of my neck. 

I pulled off my yellow rubber gloves, took the claw clip out of my hair, and brushed it out.  This resulted in great gobs of hair stuck in my brush and falling all over the bathroom floor.  (These things seem to happen 3 months post-partum with me.)  Still, there was a more than adequate amount of hair still on my head (more than enough for a few people I'd guess).  I smoothed my hair back into a bun and then started to clean up the hair that was in the sink, on the counter, and on the floor.  I swept it up and then cleaned out the broom.

I readied myself to continue the cleaning by pulling on my yellow gloves and pouring a fresh bowl of Pine-Sol.  I squeezed out the washcloth and used it to clean the floor.  Then I had to pull hair out of the washcloth as I was trying to rinse it in the newly cleaned sink.  I was so irritated!  My hair was ruining my life!  All the ways that my hair inconveniences me and ruins my life came to mind.

At the very fastest, I can shampoo and condition my hair in 15 minutes.  That is the fastest.  And then I have to use like a third of the bottle of conditioner.  As I rinse my hair I have to pull tons of it out of my fingers as it's coming loose and make sure it doesn't go down the drain and cause quite the clog.

In the laundry, the hair gets stuck in the washing machine right inside the door in this little rubber lip thing.  It gets clogged and doesn't work so well.

It gets stuck in the vacuum because it's so long and wraps tightly around the beater bar.

If I don't have time to do my hair, (and let's be honest, I don't have time) it usually ends up in a very untidy claw clip or a bun-- looking oh-so matronly.  Even to church.

What is the point to this never ending post?  I chopped it off today.  Fourteen inches.  By myself.  And it looks it. 

Definitions

Poop – excrement

Excrement – waste matter, especially fecal matter, that is expelled from the body after digestion

Feces – waste matter discharged from the intestines through the anus

Conundrum – a paradoxical , insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma

Poop Conundrum – Finding yourself occupying your left hand with holding your infant’s feet in the air (and bum off the carpet) whilst employing the right to secure the infant’s hand which has quite unfortunately come into direct contact with waste matter discharged from the intestines through the anus, which hitherto had been contained to the back, bum, crotch, thighs, legs, ankles, and one heel of the child.

Poop Conundrum Solution – Convincing your smirking spouse to stop dry heaving and laughing long enough to wrap the fecally infected appendage in a cloth diaper to avoid facial contamination and to collect enough baby wipes to clean a small elephant’s buttocks.

Spouse – gift sent from heaven to find the humor in disquieting moments and keep their partner from toppling over the edge of reason into an endless abyss of insanity

Daisies. mostly.

Third from the left is my little girl Gabbers just moments before becoming an "Official" Daisy Girl Scout.  She was freezing because for some reason we had the ceremony outside (instead of inside) on the shady side of the building where it's always cold -- and she was wearing shorts.  But I'm not complaining.  Seriously.  It's probably fifty degrees warmer here than in the Frozen North.  This was taken November 10th. 

Gabbers loves going to Daisies every Tuesday.  But I quite honestly question what exactly it is we are paying for.  Is it the coloring at the beginning?  Is it the tacky foam craft she brings home each week?  Or is it the two minutes they spend talking about a flower garden.  I actually thought they'd be doing something.  Every week I fight the urge to volunteer myself to be in charge.  "If you want it done right do it yourself," comes to mind.  Then I tell myself, "Pshaw.  Just bead your socks and ignore what's going on.  You don't need more on your plate."  Speaking of beaded socks, I thought it would be a fun idea to bead yellow and blue socks for the Daisies for Christmas.  But as I was finishing a pair of socks for my niece Klai, half the girls came over to see what I was doing and expressed which colors they liked.  I found myself writing down all their sock sizes and specific color choices.  Then I found myself COMMITTED to actually doing it. 

Then I got home and thought, hmmm, I need to email Denay again and get her address since she won one of my contests a looooooooong time ago and I haven't mailed the socks to her daughter yet.  Oh yes, and my cousin Amy.  I need to make sure her address is current too and mail her socks that have been sitting here waiting to be packaged up.  Oh yeah, and then I also need to mail my sister Leslie's stocking hanger I got her last Christmas.  Wow, I always get behind on mailing stuff.  Hmm.  I better get working on Christmas letters and cards too.   And then I start thinking about chocolate and then it's time to pump again.  Then I find myself sitting at the computer reading blogs, unable to comment since I'm pumping at the same time and forget all about the stuff that needs to be mailed.

Where was I?  Oh Daisies.  Gabbers loves it.  She enjoys the social atmosphere and the girl time with me.  Sometimes Bun comes along because there's always snack at the end-- which incidentally is provided by the girls each taking turns.  In January they get to sell Girl Scout cookies.  That I am excited about.  I love Thin Mints.

P.S.  Denay and Amy, please email me your current addresses.  I will write a note on my forehead to mail you your socks BEFORE the year's end.