Yeah Veggies!

I made one of my favorite casserole dishes for dinner last week, knowing that it probably wasn't going to be very well received. It's got rice, cheese (lots and lots of cheese), and chicken with rosemary...SO GOOD! It has another ingredient that my husband REFUSES to eat and my daughter has always spit back out. I can disguise any way I want, they aren't fooled. I, on the other hand, could live off this stuff...it was my #1 craving while I was pregnant!

BROCCOLI.

Who doesn't love broccoli?! I'll eat it raw, cooked, plain, with cheese...doesn't matter to me. It's good stuff! Anyway, I made this casserole to feed my family knowing they probably wouldn't eat it anyway...but I didn't care, I NEVER get to eat broccoli!

I dished up a plate for Sassy-pants and sent a prayer to the vegetable gods. At first she seemed to be avoiding the green stuff, but she finally took a bite (might have been by accident). She stopped chewing and looked at me...

"What's this Mommy?"

"It's broccoli, sweetheart. Broccoli is good!"

"Ohh...okay. Yeah! Broccoli is GOOD! It's really REALLY GOOD!"

She finished her whole plate. She asked for seconds. She couldn't stop talking about how GOOD the broccoli was. I had to get it on video.

It cracked me up and I had to share :-) Oh and Handsome tried the casserole when he got home from work. He dished up and I got him something to drink. He dumped all the broccoli while my back was turned. Such a baby.

I'm nervous...

...because I have a job interview this week!

I've been asked to interview for a position with the school district and I am SO excited! I've applied to several openings with the schools and I'm thrilled to be considered for one of these positions!

And...

I've been asked to participate in the next step of the application process for another position that I applied to. This Saturday I'll be taking a test to evaluate my math, writing and grammar skills...if I pass that I will be invited for an interview!

So everyone keep your fingers crossed for me and wish me LUCK!

Put your body on the potty

My daughter is a bright, happy 2 year 8 month old little girl. She can count to 10, sing her ABC's, and put her shoes on by herself. She knows more about the functions of our digital camera than my husband and I combined. She ALWAYS wants to do what the big kids are doing, and enjoys doing things for herself- putting her shoes on, taking pictures, getting the mail, unlocking the house when we get home...she's a "big kid" for sure.

If she can do all of this happily and successfully, why oh why doesn't she have the slightest interest in potty training? We've been at it for months. We've read all the books. We sent away for the Pamper's potty chart. The Dora "You're a Star!" potty crown. We have M&M's on hand at all times to reward her for being such a big girl. Our house turns into a ticker-tape parade every time she does use the potty. When it happens, she screams for everyone within earshot to come running, FAST. We all throw our hands in the air and congratulate her, and she gets a "special treat" from the kitchen as a reward.

Some days it happens every few hours, she stays relatively dry and our throats are hoarse by the end of the day from celebrating so much. Other days it doesn't happen at all. Not once. She shrieks protests at me for even suggesting that we try to go potty on the toilet.

I'll admit, we've done some things to set us back . We moved to a new town, into a new house, twice in a six month period. We followed some advice from a parent newsletter that turned out to be disastrous. One day I read something about putting the (rhymes with soup) from the diapers into the toilet to show your child how the process works. I highly recommend NOT following this advice, because now she thinks she can do her business in her diaper and follow through with the next step (heavy sigh). Major setback.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not in a huge hurry for my baby to grow up. I'm just sick of diapers. And I know we shouldn't rush this, she'll get there in her own time...I was just kinda hoping that time would be now :-) We're putting this whole mess on the back burner for now, we'll dust it off and start again in a few weeks maybe.

In the meantime, it's diapers and wipes for us! The Dora crown will have to wait.

Anyone have any good tips or funny potty training stories to share?

Yesterday...

...was a bad day.

I don’t think it’s a big secret that things haven’t been easy for us so far in Oregon …yesterday was no exception. I have days like yesterday every now and then when things collide and I can’t handle them on my own. I’ve been looking for a job for nearly nine months and have not had good luck. (To illustrate my point: when we moved to Oregon in March I bought a pack of resume paper, which had 100 sheets in it. Last week, I ran out). *Ouch*

There’s nothing like putting your absolute best out there only to be rejected. Again. And again. And AGAIN. A few weeks ago I was the “runner up” for a great state job that was just five minutes from our house…it felt great to come that close. But “close” doesn’t pay the bills.

(Speaking of, what’s with those things anyway? Do they seriously need to be paid EVERY month?! No one told me that. I’m sure I would have remembered if someone told me that).

Anyway, back to my bad day. So far, we’ve survived (miraculously) on one income. It’s not easy and we haven’t exactly made it on our own the whole way, but we’re still here.

Things got a little overwhelming yesterday which prompted me to think about our current situation. We are somehow getting by while I continue the wearisome task of finding a job. We don’t own the house we’re in. We don’t have any friends here yet. We’ve needed to lean on those close to us for support, which is hard to accept and frustrating to do (to me anyway).

Yesterday all of that got to me and it became too much. Lucky for me I have an amazing family. They’re always there when I need them and they always know what to say. They reminded me that while things are very difficult right now, they could be worse. They could be so much worse. We have a roof over our heads (with a beautifully painted front door, which we did ourselves. Pictures coming soon). We have our health. We have each other.

Though I’m sad that we don’t have friends here yet, we still have our old friends. And we are working on finding a church to call home, which will help. And as for leaning on family for support- though it isn’t easy to do and I wish we didn’t have to, I am so very thankful that they are there to lean on. And someday, we will be there for them the way they are here for us now.

And it’s okay that we don’t own this house right now, we might someday! For now we have a really great setup. So far we’ve helped our landlord by replacing some bathroom fixtures and repainting the interior…there are more changes to come! It’s been so much fun learning how to do these little fix it projects and seeing the results.

And lastly, I am trying to remember that while this economic crisis is most definitely affecting us, we are not alone. And our country has faced this before, and survived. It will most likely take years, but we’ll get there. For now, we’re holding on.

So thanks to my family for being there for me yesterday. And today. And all the other days I have. And thanks to everyone else in my life for being a part of it!

Today is a much better day, especially since this is what I get to hang out with:



Positive posts in the future, I promise!

From Oregon ,

With Love

Ready, Set, BLOG!

Well here it is folks, my very first blog entry. I've been following the blogs of several friends/family members and thought it might be fun to take a stab at it. I figured it would be another great way to keep in touch with everyone and provide some of you (especially the Minnesotans) with some fun CHARLOTTE updates! Plus I know you've all been DYING for an up close and personal look into life as a housewife (don't deny it).

Anyway, follow along if you'd like, more to come soon!

From Oregon,

With Love :-)