Surviving At Home

I think I’m going to make up my own sign, complete with cute mascot, and designate our house as “Picky Eaters R Us.” Picky doesn’t even completely describe the chaos we endure in my kitchen come 5 o’clock.

Considering the number of cookbooks I own and how many online recipes I have access to, I cannot find anything that my kids will eat, besides pancakes, pizza and junk food. I have literally run out of ideas of what to feed them.

I marvel at the food blogs (Pioneer Woman’s is awesome!) and I watch Iron Chef America dumbfounded at the number of ingredients these chefs put into their dishes. If there’s the forbidden “black stuff” on a piece of meat here, we’re in trouble.

When my oldest started eating jarred baby food, nearly 11 years ago, I was ecstatic because she loved vegetables! Green beans…no problem. Carrots…loved ‘em! She devoured almost everything we fed her and we thought we were on our way to a lifetime of healthy eating.

Obviously, you can guess her love of veggies has changed and it now takes her over 30 minutes to eat just a few pieces of chicken. Don’t threaten to put ketchup on it…she’s a naked-no-sauce kind of girl.

I was intrigued by the whole hide-pureed-food-in-other-food way of thinking but I haven’t actually tried it yet, mostly because I’m too cynical to think that my picky eaters wouldn’t be fooled.

My brother swears that kids outgrow their food pickiness, although I don’t know how he knows this since he doesn’t have kids. But he is a teacher and knows all kinds of stuff so maybe he read that somewhere.

I have money riding on the fact that my darling daughter will find a way to buck the system and ruin that train of expert thinking.

Here is the link to see the picture I posted yesterday…

This picture is of my paternal grandmother, Helen Marcia Prentiss. She was born in MA on December 14, 1908 which makes this photo 99 years old.

I have become the family photo keeper and genealogist and I have all of my grandmother’s original photo albums. To me, there is something very regal about these old black and white photos. I’m not sure my grandkids will say the same thing about our cheesy full color snapshots. 

A few Christmases ago I scanned all these photos (I know, probably a big no-no!) and I made photo discs for my brothers and my parents. I’ve had the albums for a number of years and should really ask a professional how to further preserve these actual photos. Considering their age and that they are somehow glued onto very old (and I’m sure very acidic paper) they are all in remarkable condition!

Here are a few others of my grandmother as a baby:

I’ve been surfing the blog world a bit this afternoon and stumbled upon this cool what-does-your-name-mean-thing over at Educational Toy Factory. 

Like any other horoscope/entertainment thing of this type, it’s not spot on. I definitely would not consider myself one to get into “fun trouble”. If anything, I’m the goodie-goodie who was always dubbed “teacher’s pet”. But there are other facts/descriptions that are pretty close.

What Christina Means

You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable.You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you… especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You’re a strong person. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You’re always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can’t handle you. You’re very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you’re likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It’s easy to get you excited… which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don’t stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are the total package – suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don’t always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don’t have as much going for them as you do. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless – and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You’re most comfortable when you’re far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You are usually the best at everything … you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic “Type A” personality.

What’s Your Name’s Hidden Meaning?