World's Worst Toddler Toy (And Why My Temper May Be a Little Short)

 I loathe a particular kid toy. Everyone says it's a classic, a must buy, that every kid they ever raised had this toy. I was skeptical, the appeal lacking in a set of wheels with a ball filled globe that goes "Pop pop pop" every time an innocent, unsuspecting toddler takes it for a whirl. Have you figured out what it is yet?

Yeah, it's that thing. The pop-pop vacuum of ruptured ear drums and death. Ryan fell for it, and let her buy it on one of their Daddy/EK Wal-Mart runs.

...I really should monitor those more closely....

    I came home from the office one day to see my precious, once quiet little girl pushing this "classic" toy around.  That was day the day she became a true blooded toddler. She pushes it around, and if that's not enough, she sings yells while making my ears bleed. Heaven forbid you ask her to stop, then she goes full on tantrum on you.
   Kids love the thing. You know, we all like to vacuum for hours on end... for fun. So the pop-pop death trap has stayed around for a while. It's not even a noise I can tolerate for the sake of her learning and development, just an obnoxious pop-pop-pop-pop. Over and over and over again. It's only appealing to the munch when (A) I'm on the  phone (B) Ryan worked the late night shift and we are trying to play quietly and (C) I've had an exceptionally annoying day at work.

I tried to hide it in the shop one day, but she found it and promptly cried until it was brought back inside. Now it sits, waiting until my next phone call to send me running to a "quiet" room.

What's the worst kid toy at your house? Want to trade?

EK, Drink Your Veggies.

Ryan and I are trying desperately to eat better. It is so hard for us to plan meals and eat healthy foods when we find ourselves sitting in vehicles the majority of each day. It's just the nature of the job, for a traveling RN and a Highway Patrol Officer. You eat a lot. You're bored. Everything sounds good.
  One thing never sounds good to me, and it's vegetables. I like salads, broccoli, squash, beans, but anything else green kind of grosses me out. Especially green beans. I get a gag reflex anytime they go in my mouth. I pray to the Dear Lord every night that the only kind of green beans I have to eat ever again are the ones that my father in law rolls in bacon and drenches in butter and brown sugar.
  I love the V8 juice that is the fruit/veggie blend, but it certainly doesn't take the place of a meal full of fruits and vegetables. One of my friends recently was talking about smoothies she makes that incorporate both fruits AND green vegetables. I had to try it, and I was very pleasantly surprised. The one I came up with was delicious, and I actually crave them now. EK loves them, too, so I have all the more reason to make them.

The ingredients:
-About 3/4 cup Greek Yogurt (I prefer the Vanilla flavor, it makes for a sweeter smoothie!)
-1 peeled banana
-about a cup of strawberries (can do frozen and skip the ice listed later)
-Several chunks of fresh pineapple
-a little coconut milk (I've tried two different kinds, Silk is in the refrigerated section, another kind was just on the shelf)
-about 5 or 6 chunks of ice
- Last but not least, a heaping handful of fresh spinach leaves. You can use baby spinach or just whatever kind you have.

I've heard of people adding frozen blueberries in smoothies, also replacing the ice, but I'm not really a blueberry fan.

Layer the ingredients in your blender, cover your ears, and blend on medium-high until everything is nice and smooth.

Now you're ready to go! Looks disgusting, tastes good.

Spinach Banana Stawberry Pineapple Smoothie=EK approved.

I love using this as a substitute for my typical  fast food breakfasts. It curbs my sweet tooth, keeps me away from the doughnut shop, and really feels me up. I need more ideas for sneaky ways to eat more fruits and veggies! What are you favorite easy, healthy meals and snacks?

Shop House Tour: Living Room

Ryan and I have lived in our current home just over two years now. It's what we call a "Shop House", half of the roof covers our shop where we keep the tractor, mower, ATV, whatever. The man stuff goes in there. The other half of the building is our home. It consists of a large kitchen/ living room, one bedroom, a bathroom, and a decent size walk in closet.

  We built it in 2010 with the intentions of living here, paying off our land, vehicles, "getting started" type bills, etc.  We would then build our "big house" and have kids. Sounds like a great 5 year plan to me. Well, we lived here maybe 3 weeks when I found out I was pregnant with EK.  Panic set in. I always worried about where we would "keep her".  I was dead set against having a baby sleep with us. All I had to do to talk Ryan out of her sleeping in our room was remind him just how "unprivate" a baby in our room would be.  We considered building another closet in the bathroom, and setting up the crib in our current closet. In the end, we put her in the living room. It really has worked out fine so far, she sleeps through most anything.

You can see EK's corner in this picture, complete with foam mat and reading pillow..

  I hear people all too often say they need a bigger home before having a baby. In our case, that didn't prove to be a big deal. Here's a little peek into our living room.

View from the kitchen.

You never know what treasure you may find under our couch!

Shelving about the TV. I love the Willow Tree figurine, my aunt gave it to me when I lost my dog. Also, the old clock radio was a $5 find at a local flea market! As you can tell, I bought the tiny picture frame, but can't find a picture tiny enough to go in it.

"The Nursery"  I've been saying for 2 years that I need to spray paint EK's laundry basket. Oh well.

So there it is! Today we are linked up with Kelly's Korner for her Show Us Your Life Home Tour. There are tons of beautiful rooms linked at her site!

Getting Rid of Towel Odors (because I'm feeling domestic)

Towel funk.

I know you know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the nasty, wretched smell that towels and wash cloths tend to get in the summertime, when humidity is high and everything likes to grow... the horrible scent that lingers on your skin after you dry off with said towel....the smell that will not go away no matter how many times you wash the towels. There are few things I dislike more than this smell. I finally have found a solution that works for removing the odor cause by mildew on your damp towels.

The Knight In Shining Armor for today is vinegar. Nothing fancy, just cheap white vinegar. I pour a good bit into the wash with hot water, and detergent and softener as usual, and let it run. If I think the towels are looking a bit gross, I put a bit of bleach in as well. Since my towels are white, this is good. Definitely not something I would recommend for everyone, unless you want bleach dyed towels, which could be cool. I guess.

Either way, the towels come out smelling fabulous and fresh. No more stench.

Be sure to always take your towels out of the wash, and get them into the dryer pretty quickly to avoid having the smell return. Moisture breeds mold in small, tight spaces. Additionally, if you can hang your towels to dry after using them, rather than throwing them into a hamper, you can help prevent the smell. 

Why I Suck As a Blogger.

1.   I have a VERY full time job. More like 2. As in I wake up at 6 am, fix myself, fix the girl, drop her off for the day, go to work, rarely take lunch, pick up the girl, go home, feed the girl, put the girl to bed, wash myself, go to bed.
2. My mind is clogged with home healthisms and old people drama. ::me::"Oh, they could die any day now. They're 98 years old." :::enter someone who obsviously has never laid eyes on this patient's chart::::"Do they need physical therapy?"  FYI:  MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SUCK.  They do pay our mortgage however.
3. My kid is obsessed with my computer. Which means I can't blog around her. And I don't like to stay up late.
4. I got trapped reading the 50 Shades trilogy a week or so ago. What does BDSM stand for, anyway? Oh. My. I murmur.
5. EK now thinks it's awesome to stay up until midnight. Joy.

What do you do when you're in a  never ending funk?

Bye Bye Ba-Ba

The bottle is gone! The bottle is gone! Praise be to the Lord, the bottle is gone!

To say that I have an extreme supply of bottles might be an understatement. When we made the decision to quit the torturous, neverending breastfeeding and formula feed EK, I tried every kind under the sun, desperate to find something that might stop her 9pm to 3am colic fits. Somehow, I made it through RN school and year on an OB/PEDS floor without learning that bottle nipples have different flow rates available. That caused a number of late night trips to Wal-Mart for slow flow nipples. Did you know that "Lento" means slow in the Spanish world of bottle nipples?  I didn't either. We finally settled on Playtex VentAire bottles.
  I woke up Saturday morning with a mission for the weekend: no more bottles for EK. She will be 16 months old on the 10th of May, and was still taking a bottle of milk (warmed!) every morning and always before her bedtime routine. It was getting a little out of hand. I mean, she could basically get one out of the fridge, microwave it, and screw the nipple back on independently.  To top it all off, she wouldn't even hold the bottle for herself while she drank it.
   Anyway, she threw a huge temper tantrum when she caught me making a sippy of milk rather than a bottle for the first morning. She laid down on the concrete floor, kicked, screamed, and growled. Yeah- growled, because that's how we do things here at the McCasland household, after all.
   But then, a miracle happened. She kind of forgot about bottles. I left the sippy sitting on the floor, and when she was done with her fit, she picked it up and went on about her day, drinking milk like nobody's business. We haven't looked back! It was way easier than I expected.

What kid experience have you had that went smoother than expected?

Baseball and Bubble Guppies

My TV was recently taken over by kids with mermaid and man tails, and men with bats.  Even worse, the girl has learned to say "Bubble?" on repeat. First thing in the morning, there's no more "Mama". Rather, "Bubble?".
  Of course, when they start saying "Bubble", it's only a matter of time until they can say "behball".  She knows her night is destined for "behball" when she comes home with me in the evening, only to see Josh Hamilton or Mitch Moreland on the screen, instead of Mr. Grouper. She resigns herself to her high chair, and half heartedly eats her chicken soup and Nilla wafers to watch the Rangers. Poor, poor child.
  You see, my TV may be possessed by Bubble Guppies or MLB. There's a big problem here. There leaves little time for my favorite shows to be watched. I'm majorly missing out on GCB, Swamp People, and other shows that I don't care to mention. I've used my free time to ponder the world of MLB and Nick Jr. shows.

#1- Why watch the whole game when you can watch Baseball Tonight on ESPN?  You see all the good stuff, minus the fluff and commercials. You still get plentyyyy of Josh Hamilton time.

#2- Speaking of Josh Hamilton, is it just me, or does he look creepily similar to Bobby Flay? He's definitely a lot hotter, but skinny him down, laser off a few tats, and throw on some gay looking clothes, and you've got yourself a real Bobby Flay.

See what I mean?

#3- Are the Bubble Guppies orphans? They never talk about parents. Mr. Grouper acts like their teacher, but he takes them to get pets. I'd be pissed if EK's teacher let her bring home a dog with a fish tail or open a pizza restaurant independently.

#4- Deema is my least favorite Guppy. Or Bubble. She reminds of someone I once knew. Bossy and has to be the center of attention. 

#5- I've lost my mind. My DVR has 19 episodes of Bubble Guppies. It's sending other shows to the place where baby TV has-beens fester. 

#6- If anyone asks what time it is- I automatically reply "It's time for lunch!"

#7- The "milk the cow" dance is disturbing. 

#8- Do the Bubble Guppies eat fish?

#9- What do Bubble Guppies and baseball have in common?

They keep my husband occupied and my baby quiet. And for that, I appreciate them both.