Letter Confusion - Any Ideas?

I am using this book to teach Kyle to read and it is going great. He is doing so well, but when he is sounding out the words he gets mixed up between lowercase b/d and h/n. It is frustrating for him and while I know he will eventually learn to differentiate, I wish there was a way to make the process quicker for him.

I made these little cards with the lowercase b, d, h, and n and inside the lowercase I wrote the uppercase of that letter (he has no problem with the uppercase). We cover the uppercase with a magnet and he says what letter he thinks it is, then uncovers it to check himself. Does anyone have any other ideas for how I can help him learn to differentiate these letters? A rhyme maybe? Or a different way of thinking about it?


You can order cards to go along with the book or you can make your own. I had a ton of index cards so I decided to make our own.

The Cake(s)

I spent a decent amount of time trying to come up with an idea for Cade's first birthday bash. I found a few different ideas, but nothing that was really screaming to me that it was THE idea. Then I saw Bakerella's blog for Valentine's Day. She did a fourteen-layer cake for the fourteenth and it hit me that doing a twelve-layer cake (one for each month of Cade's life) was just the idea I was looking for.

Normally making the cake myself is a big savings from custom bakery cakes; however, I definitely did not save money by home-baking this time. The canned frosting was a pretty big expense (3 colors at approximately $3.50 per can, plus $1.50 each for 2 tubs of buttercream frosting) not to mention the ingredients for the frosting in between the layers, the cake mixes themselves, the cake pans, etc.

Here is a picture to prove I actually did bake each of the twelve layers separately. I washed, dried, buttered, parchment papered, re-buttered, and floured each pan. That was fairly time consuming.

I used two cake mixes for the twelve layers and the "smash cake".

When the first four cakes came out of the oven perfectly done and popped easily out of the pans I was thinking how cool I was and did some crazy move with my camera, the battery compartment popped open, and a battery flew into the batter of one of the small cake pans. Thankfully I had just enough batter left to replace the battery batter.

I am famous for burning the last tray of cookies so I did a huge happy dance when the last cakes came out and I didn't burn any of them!

I finished baking all the layers just in time to put the boys to bed and head back to the kitchen for the chocolate "glue" for the layers. Here are all the healthy ingredients for the chocolate syrup/frosting:

I started with a layer of cake and poured on a layer of syrupy frosting, layer of cake, layer of syrupy frosting, until I had all twelve layers. After I began stacking them I realized the importance of the step which had told me to spread the batter as evenly as possible. I had not spent much, if any, time attempting to get the batter level because I thought it would level itself while baking. Yeah, not so much. If I do it again I will definitely attempt to get the batter more level.

It took a lot of buttercream frosting to cover this cake!

Final product!

The smash cake had issues of it's own. I thought I was cutting the tops off evenly, but apparently not.
Cade's "smash cake" took an awful lot of frosting too.
He was ready to go!

Happy 1st Birthday, Cade!

One year ago tonight I was anticipating your arrival. I didn't know if you were a boy or a girl, but I knew I loved you and I couldn't wait to meet you.

One year ago tomorrow morning, at 9:08 to be precise, as you began to make your entrance your Daddy said, "I think it's a boy." Our doctor said, "I do too." and Mommy cried, "It's a boy?!" The answer I got was, "It's just a head now, but it looks like a boy." Moments later you were out and the doctor made it official, "It's a LAD! It's a boy!" Then in answer to my prayer you gave a good strong cry right away.

After you got cleaned up your Daddy carried you out to meet your big brother Kyle and many other family and friends who were anxiously awaiting your arrival. The nurse stole Daddy's thunder as someone asked, "What is it?" and the nurse replied, "It's a boy!" Oh well.

Your Daddy video taped almost every minute of you laying in your bassinet in the nursery while Mommy was in recovery, he knew I wanted to see all of it. And I did.

We took you home and couldn't believe there were four of us now. After all the waiting and praying you were here and it was so amazing. Daddy forgot to strap big brother in the car seat, the first of many times to come, it took some getting used to, needing to strap two kids in instead of one. But big brother was sure to remind us each time (not always in a cordial manner).

You were such a good baby, sleeping all the time, nursing like a pro. Between six and seven weeks you started sleeping through the night all on your own with no coaxing from mommy. Wow, a good night's sleep sure does wonders for mommy adjusting to two kids.

At first whenever we would go some place, while on the drive, Mommy would panic all of the sudden thinking we had forgotten you at home (we never had of course).

You figured out pretty early that you did not like your car seat and you made sure we knew about it. You cried pretty much the whole drive, anywhere we went, for the first few months.

You are a great baby brother. You generally go with the flow and things pretty much revolve around big brother, but you take it all in stride. You and your "Bubba" (what you call brother) adore each other and play together so well. Big brother's plans always include you (how you will live together when you are both grown, the jobs you will do, and the vehicles you will drive).

You definitely have your own personality and you smile and laugh all the time and you love being the center of attention when opportunity presents.

A lot of kids first learn to imitate a doggie with a "woof woof". Not you, you love to make the elephant sound complete with trunk (arm) motion. It's often the first thing you do in the morning.

You keep us on our toes, completely unlike your big brother. While mommy put groceries away within five minutes today you were into: the dog food, the trashcan, the things under mommy's sink, and the electrical cord on the lamp.

You do not like naptime, you cry every time I put you down because you were having so much fun whatever we were doing! But you settle down in less than a minute and then take a great nap.

Your favorite time of day is when Daddy gets home from work. You crawl to him as fast as you can and he lifts you high in the air, then you wave bye-bye to mommy as if to say, "Okay, Daddy and I can take it from here."

You are such a blessing and a joy to us and we thank God every day that he chose us to be your family. We love you Little Cade! Dada, Momma and Bubba

Cade, we pray that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. (Ephesians 3:17, 18)

I Don't Have a Fear of Flying, It's More About the Crashing

We have a wedding in May. It's the wedding of a close friend and by "close" I mean: only people who share my bloodline have been in my life longer.

In the first grade she and I got off to a rocky start. I was wary of her "spots" (remnants of her recent chicken pox) and told my mom as much. I don't remember exactly, but my mom must have given me some good advice because several bad perms, dozens of slumber parties, and a gazillion hours on the phone later we are still friends.

Alas, her wedding is many, many miles away and the thought of traveling all those miles by car with two small children is a bit daunting. Actually Kyle is a car trip champion and I wouldn't worry about him, but in Cade's first twelve months he has yet to prove himself as a pleasant road trip companion (bless his heart) and I think it is not realistic to expect much improvement by May.

Last night Mike said, "I don't suppose you would consider flying?"

Oh my.

Immediately the Alanis Morrisette song "Isn't It Ironic" popped into my head. You know the one?

Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He waited his whole (bleep) life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
"Well isn't this nice..."
And isn't it ironic... don't you think?

I used to fly with virtually no problem. I first flew by myself when I was probably 10 or 11 years old and really considered myself quite sophisticated for it. On my first unaccompanied flight I got the brilliant idea to order coffee and the stewardess gave me coffee. Seriously? Try as I might, I couldn't choke the stuff down so I did what any rational person would do and stuffed my napkins in my cup to absorb as much of the liquid as possible then went without a drink for the remainder of the flight. (Shaking head in disbelief. Oh I am such a dork.) Incidentally to this day I don't drink coffee. Coincidence?

Then 9/11 happened and I have not stepped on a plane or even considered it since. Mock me if you will.

When Mike posed the question about flying, with only a little hesitation I said, "Sure. If it's our time to go to Heaven then I'm ready." I think I may be more serious than joking. I really, really, really don't want to get on a plane. On the other hand, I really don't want to drive eleventy hundred hours with Cade in the span of 3 or 4 days.

and isn't it ironic...don't ya think?...

Did I mention I am claustrophobic?

Success and Failure

I tried two more Deceptively Delicious recipes - tacos and grilled cheese sandwiches. I tweaked the taco recipe and it was a hit with the whole family! Woohoo! Of course I consider tacos to be pretty healthy anyway because of the lettuce, tomato, avocado and fat free refried beans, but hey, add in squash that we would never otherwise eat and a little carrot and it's all the healthier.

Today at lunch I was feeling pretty confident about trying the grilled cheese with butternut squash puree. Until I saw that it called for 1/2 cup of squash puree and 1/2 cup of cheese. Whoa, that's a lot of squash relative to cheese. I was even more leery when I actually started mixing it up. See what I mean?

Pretty much just looks like a bowl of squash. Hmm, if I'm reluctant about it, I'm pretty sure Kyle is going to question it. I added a little bit more cheese than it called for; still it was pretty squashy looking.
I didn't use whole wheat bread because I have these dollar rolls which are yummier and Kyle usually eats up anything I put on them.

Kyle took his first bite. I held my breath. Then he asked, "Do we have lots of these left?"

Score! Nonchalantly I said, "The sandwiches? Yes, we have a couple more."

"No, the rolls. I don't like the cheese."

Bummer. I thought they were good though and Cade ate his up too. I'll make them again and add more cheese/less squash or try it with sweet potato instead of squash (I wonder if this is the record for most use of the word "squash" in one post? squash squash squash).

Can't win 'em all, but I'm encouraged so far!
I'll put my version of the recipes to be sure I'm not breaking any copyright laws.

Tacos
1 lb. ground turkey
1 TBSP olive oil
1/4 c. butternut squash puree
1/4 c. carrot puree
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can diced or crushed tomatoes (14.5 oz.)
minced onion, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, oregano, chili powder, crushed red pepper (I have no idea the amounts on these, you can just use a package and it would be easier)
1 cup water

Add olive oil and turkey to skillet. Fully cook turkey then add vegetable purees, garlic, taco seasonings (or packet), canned tomatoes, and water. Simmer 15 minutes or until you're ready to eat.

While the meat is cooking grate cheese (cheddar, monterrey jack, colby, whatever you have), cut up tomatoes, lettuce and avocado.

My personal favorite is the taco burger, but we usually a combination of shells, tortillas, and/or buns.

Grilled Cheese
3/4 c. grated cheddar cheese
1/2 c. butternut squash puree
1 TBSP Promise spread
Dash of salt
Enough bread or buns for 2 to 3 sandwiches

Mix your cheese, squash, trans-fat free spread, and salt in a bowl, then spread on your bread of choice. Spray a skillet with no-stick spray and heat over low/medium heat. Add a teaspoon of olive oil (not sure if this is really necessary). Heat until warmed through.

We are fasting from TV this week! More on that later.

Deceptively Nutritious

After we put the kids to bed Sunday night, I asked Mike, "Do you want to do what Jerry Seinfeld is doing tonight?" He looked at me a little suspiciously so I told him that on Sunday nights after his kids are in bed, Jerry is in the kitchen keeping his wife company as she purees veggies to put in their unsuspecting kids' food.

Mike did not jump at the opportunity so I went ahead with the process on my own. But he came in to the kitchen part-way through, started washing his hands, and asked what he could do. After my polite, "Oh, that's okay, honey, don't worry about it," was rebuked and a second offer extended, I quickly accepted and delegated some duties!

I have had Deceptively Delicious, the cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld, for going on two years. I've looked through it on several occasions, but the puree-ing process seemed too daunting to me. Something got into me recently though, whether it was frustration over Kyle not eating, or the Halls eating so healthfully, or something else, I'm not sure, but I decided to give it a try. So I bought vegetables I never buy, including some I don't even like (beets, gag!), then roasted and steamed my little heart out and this was the result:


Look at those bright colors! It just screams "Healthy!" Doesn't it?


I started out following Jessica's (we're on a first name basis) advice of putting the purees in storage baggies, but I found that to be very messy so I got out my muffin tins and discovered that they hold approximately 1/4 cup, which was just the amount I needed, woohoo! I poured my purees in the tins and put them in the freezer. Once frozen, I put the muffin tins into a casserole dish of very shallow warm water, just for a few seconds, so the purees would pop out easily. Then I put the little portions directly into gallon-sized freezer bags like this:

Now I have several 1/4 cup portions of the following: cauliflower, butternut squash, carrots, beets, broccoli, and yellow squash. (I did need to do it in stages due to freezer space and muffin tin availability, but I just refrigerated the purees until needed).

I did it all in two batches. The first batch took me about an hour and that was with Mike helping. The second batch took me over two hours and that was by myself. So a helper is definitely great!

Speaking of getting on random food kicks...does anyone remember I was going to do the Aldi Queen's menu/shopping plan? Umm, yeah, never happened. However, I am still shopping Aldi/Aldis and loving it!

For breakfast this morning we had scrambled eggs using the cauliflower puree. I could taste the cauliflower a little bit, but Kyle ate them up. If I didn't know the cauliflower was in there I don't think I would have realized what the taste was, just that it was a little different. I will definitely make them again. They also had a little Parmesan and sour cream which probably helped disguise the cauliflower.

Since I had a substantial time investment, I did feel some added pressure that Kyle needed to eat all of his eggs. Thankfully, he ate them without prodding, but obviously I need to work through that and get over it because I'm sure it's not always going to happen!

Tonight I made another recipe from the same cookbook. I made spaghetti pie in which the meatballs had broccoli and the sauce had carrots. The carrot part was not new to me because I almost always add carrots when I make Italian food; the broccoli part was new to me and when I saw what they looked like I was especially leery. See the picture below? Not too appetizing, although great for St. Patrick's Day. The recipe also called for me to put the meatballs in raw, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I partially cooked them in a skillet with olive oil before adding them to the sauce and pasta mixture, then baking.
I have only made spaghetti pie two or three times, including this and I have never gotten it to turn out like it is supposed to, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. The noodles did not crisp at all on top like the recipe said they should. However, it received rave reviews from my family! Seconds were requested and granted all around the table! Next time I can make it even healthier by adding less cheese, Mike thought it was so good he didn't even need the mozzarella on top (it has minimal Parmesan in the meatballs and also low-fat cottage cheese in the sauce).

I have not so fond memories of my mom making beets when I was a child and the smell filled the house and nauseated me (sorry Mom, no offense to you, really!), so I am anxious to try a recipe with them and see if indeed the taste is disguised and makes my dish deceptively nutritious, which makes more sense to me than the book's title Deceptively Delicious. Anyone else? Maybe I'm thinking about it wrong. Anywho.

Go, Go Gadget Arm Skin

I was picking a shirt out when Kyle walked in to my closet the other day. He doesn't normally see my bare tummy so he kind of studied it, reached out gently, and said, "You've got some marks there, don't ya?" I said, "I do, don't I?"

I then explained that when he was growing inside of me my tummy got so big, bigger than it had ever been before, and when it did, it made those marks. He didn't immediately respond, so I asked him what he thought about it. "I think that's not very nice," he said.

I assured him I don't mind them at all and that he was well worth the marks.

That's true, really they don't bother me. I wouldn't pay money to have them removed. If a highly-trained doctor offered to laser them off for free I don't even know for sure if I would do it. Okay, I probably would, but I don't see that happening anywhere other than hypothetically, so I guess the marks are here to stay and that's fine by me. What about you? Do you have them? Would you pay to have them removed? Or are they badges of honor?