Get in the Kitchen!

Guest post written by my buddy Lavern Small

I recently got direct TVat home and I can tell you one thing, I’ve been watching the Food Channel all the time! Whether it’s Bobby Flay or Paula Deen or even Ina Garten you can bet I’ve got one of them on my TV at any given time. I work from home so it’s been really nice having it on in the background while I work since it’s something I can easily tune out. I love cooking anyway so it’s been fun picking up extra tips and tricks while I’m just doing my regular work and I know my boyfriend can tell a difference in my cooking skills! There’s nothing about being a chef that excites me, particularly the hours, but it’s nice to know that I could hold my own in any kitchen if given the chance. My family wasn’t big on cooking when I grew up so everything I’ve learned about the discipline has been self-taught up until this point. That’s something I feel like I can really be proud of you know?

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Weekend in NH

We had a great family weekend getaway in Lincoln NH last week. We took advantage of the long weekend and the gorgeous weather - imagine fall weather in the 80's, unbelievable! It was supposed to be a three-and-a-half-drive up to Lincoln but it took us a bit more because of the traffic. It looked as if everybody was out enjoying the weather too. We saw the beautiful display of foliage along the way, breathtaking! We stayed at South Mountain Resort right at the center of town closed to everything which was both great and not-so-great. Great because everything was almost walking distance, not-so-great because it will take you forever to turn left when you're driving because traffic was moving so slow.

There were many highlights in this vacation. We went miniature golfing twice! We had so much fun that we had to do it again. In fact we might do it again this weekend, schedule permitting. But we're not driving all the way to NH for that, we found a miniature golf range close by. We also took the Hobo Railroad train ride around the White Mountains, and the view was just awesome. We also took the Gondola Skyride up to Loon Mountain and it was really fun. When we reached the summit, the kiddo played some at the playground then we had sumptuous lunch at the summit restaurant. Then we just enjoyed the breathtaking view of the mountain and lake from the restaurant deck. The kiddo also had the time of his life bouncing and flipping back in the bungee trampoline. It was his first time to try it and was not scared at all. Then of course as adventurous as we are in terms of trying new cuisines, we dined in different restos. Hb had the weirdest mac 'n cheese with cranberry sauce, he said it was just ok. We also went to a very popular pub full of bikers and waited for a long time to have a seafood platter and clam chowder.

It was a fun family vacation overall but I wish we could stay longer.

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Being a Creative Mom

Yesterday was my son's last day of summer camp so today meant the start of my really busy days as if the days before this were not busy enough. I wanted the day to be spontaneous but just the same I still planned some educational activities to make the day somewhat like in summer camp.

As soon as he woke up I asked him to make his bed, which he could now do without any help. Then before breakfast I asked him to sort by color the puzzles that he scattered on the floor the night before. Then I asked him to put the puzzles together, he only finished two so he's doing the other two tonight before bedtime. Then after breakfast I taught him how to write letter A in the alphabet. I made today the Letter A Day, and the next days will be assigned for the succeeding letters. I noticed that he doesn't like writing very much, he gets easily bored, so I just made him trace three big and three small letter A's. Then we went out to play in the yard. He rode his battery operated John Deere pick up truck, then played in the sprinklers, then took a dip in the pool even if it was only in the 70's. He played in the water for few minutes then decided to come out for good, it was a bit cold for him.

Then we went out to lunch in an Indian resto after which went shopping and visited a friend. Now while making dinner I let him play for an hour in Wii, he's playing Wii Party. I normally just let him play in the computer on weekends, but today is an exception since he was very good and did what he's told (for most part).

When you're a mom, you need to be creative and resourceful in making school vacation fun and educational at the same time. I don't allow too much tv nor too much computer. We do physical activities and some arts and crafts too. He gets quiet time too in his bedroom where he listens to his fave songs that I uploaded in his boombox. I noticed that he really loves to sing along with songs in the radio, I'm amazed at how easily he could memorize lines from such songs. If he's old enough I would enroll him in music school.

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Keeping Up With My Boy

It's almost 4am now and I'm still up. This is what happens when I fall asleep while watching my show on tv, it energizes and recharges me to stay up very late. Never mind feeling sluggish in the morning, but staying up late accomplishes a lot of things for me. I've done some online work and online job application too while doing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen. After I take my son to his summer camp at 9am I will have a trip back to my bed to catch up on zzzz's. I can't keep up anymore with my energetic son so I have to recharge before he comes back from camp. I've planned some arts and crafts projects for him in the afternoon so I need to stay awake.

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Father's Day Celebration

We had a great Father's Day celebration today. We started the day by celebrating early Mass at St. Mary's Church followed by Irish breakfast at Casey O'Conor's resto. Back home I had a big piece of pork shoulder cooking at the crockpot that I made into Pulled Pork BBQ. We brought this dish to a fishing-picnic escapade with close friends. It was my first time to try this recipe and it turned out great. Though we didn't catch any fish, we had so much fun nevertheless. Two of our friends caught crabs instead of fish and they used my son's fish pail to keep the crabs in. This gave my son so much thrill and excitement especially when a friend tried to lower a bird's feather in the pail and the crabs started to snap out. My son said that playing with the crab is so much better than fishing. Oh not to forget, I also went canoeing with my two girlfriends while the guys fished. I was scared at first but it turned out to be an exhilarating experience, I might try it again.

After fishing at Horseneck we headed out to Cape Cod only to call it off halfway through since it was beginning to get dark already. So we might continue our escapade the following weekend, hopefully we'll get another great weather next week.

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Family's Health Comes First

I set the alarm clock earlier than usual last night so I can get my family ready for my son's first Fishing Derby at 8am. I signed him up for this event over a month ago and he's been practicing to catch fish with his dad ever since. This event is for kids aged 4 to 8 who will be grouped by age and will compete for the biggest and longest fish they will catch in the pond. My son was so excited and he couldn't wait for this day. But there seem to be another thing planned for today, my husband was so sick I had to take him to ER.

Backtrack - On Thursday I prepared Crab Cakes and Green Beans and Potato Salad for dinner. It was a sumptuous dinner and he ate a lot. Late night he started feeling sick and took a lot of trips to the bathroom. By the way I ate a lot too of the same food but didn't have any problem. On Friday he felt really cold but didn't have a fever. He didn't have an appetite for anything, he was only taking liquids. I was so worried and offered to take him to the doctor but he refused.

My hb has very high tolerance for pain and he doesn't like being babied. But Saturday morning he was in great pain. He was groaning and moaning and couldn't take the stomach pain anymore. Finally he agreed to be taken to ER. At the ER, he was administered with medication for nausea and pain and he felt a lot better. Then he took some barium liquid before the CT scan, and two hours later he had the procedure. Thank God, he didn't have anything serious going on in his stomach, it was diagnosed as viral syndrome and will just go away in time.

So my son's first taste of Fishing Derby went kaput, but it's ok. The family's health comes first, there will be a lot more Fishing Derby to join in later. For now, his dad will take him fishing as often as he can, and by the next Fishing Derby he's gonna be an expert!

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