Crockpot Cranberry Pork Roast
Nov 10th, 2011 by ECM
I can’t believe I haven’t posted this recipe yet. It’s super easy, and the kids scarf it down. We’ve had it several times this fall.
Crockpot Cranberry Pork Roast
Start with a smallish boneless pork roast that fits nicely into your crockpot.
Combine one can whole cranberry sauce and 1/4 cup cranberry (or other) juice (or two cups fresh cranberry sauce), 1/2 tsp ground cloves, and a couple squirts of mustard. Pour over pork roast and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
We tend to serve it over brown rice, with an easy side like carrot sticks or salad.
Bathrobe Weather
Nov 9th, 2011 by ECM
Chilly mornings mean cutely bundled kiddos!
Toddlers as Means of Sanctification
Nov 8th, 2011 by ECM
Elizabeth suddenly entered the terrible twos this week. Butter in Derek’s coffeemaker. Dumped out all her tiny choking hazard elastic bands on the floor right in front of Susie. Emptied half a brand-new container of clorox wipes into the toilet. Got into the fridge and ate the tips off of a bunch of strawberries. Got into the hand lotion I’d bought for our stocking for a soldier and spread it all over herself, her clothes, and a bunch of toiletries for the stocking. Dropped her sunflower seed butter and jelly sandwich on the kitchen floor and ground it in with her heel. Tore open the granola bars for the soldier stocking, and when my back was turned, egged Tommy on to cut the tags off the baseball cap I’d bought for our Operation Christmas Child shoebox. Whereupon I announced tartly that it was quiet rest time and everyone had better wash their hands and get into bed. At which point she pooped in her panties and sat down on the potty, smearing it everywhere, and wiping it up with the hand towel. This was all in under five hours.
By the time everyone was down for naps and the poopy clothes were in the washer, my sinus headache had grown to a full-blown throbbing body ache. I just had enough energy to cry out to God, “Please help me. I can’t keep doing this!” What a way to start a week that will have Derek gone Tuesday evening for a candidate dinner and out of town Wed-Sat for a conference in DC. One or two instances of severe naughtiness in a day don’t phase me anymore. It’s the cumulative effect (plus fall colds) that knocks me off kilter. (The afternoon included incidents with a pencil sharpener, the toilet bowl brush, the rest of the clorox wipes, more poop, an overripe banana, stickers, and two more wardrobe changes.) Several times lately, I’ve been so tempted to just shout, “I’m done! This is too much!” Rachel Jankovic recently had a great post on this whole phenomenon. She notes,
I think it is common to have this mental ideal of what your days as a mother are supposed to be like. We think that if we were doing it right, then it wouldn’t be this hard. Of course there are a lot of ways to improve what we do, that make things easier. But it is like improving the form of a runner. They still have to run in order to use it. It still won’t be easy. You can continue training to the point that you are no longer puking in the bushes and all red in the face by the end of the first block, but you aren’t ever going to take the running out of the running.
She’s great at reminding me that right now, motherhood is instrumental in my sanctification. I keep thinking I’ve been at this for almost five years and shouldn’t be surprised by anything now, but I guess I have a lot more growing to do!
Almost There
Nov 7th, 2011 by ECM
Susanna is getting tons of praise every time she almost crawls–you can tell how proud she is of herself!
Family Movie Night
Nov 5th, 2011 by ECM
It’s been a long week, but snuggling in bed to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a fun Friday night treat!
Susie’s 6 Month Stats and Three at the Pediatrician’s Office
Nov 4th, 2011 by ECM
Whew! I generally feel capable of taking all three kids out places, but I’ve got another supercold, and going to the pediatrician pretty much did me in for today.
Elizabeth was there for her 2-1/2 well visit. She weighs 31 lbs and is 36-1/4 inches tall! (80th percentile for both) She was very brave about getting a finger prick to get some routine bloodwork–she just sat and watched and didn’t make a peep. And surprise! She has an ear infection–probably from the cold we girls got three weeks ago and haven’t quite shaken. Since she hasn’t complained about it, we’re going to wait it out without antibiotics. Because of that, though, she has to wait to get her flu shot.=(
Susanna had her 6 month well baby visit. Her stats:
weight: 13 lb 11.5 oz (8%) (Tommy was 17 lbs 13 oz, Elizabeth was 15 lbs 12 oz)
height: 26 inches (40%) (Tommy was 25 inches, Elizabeth was 27-1/4 inches)
head: 16.5 inches (25%)
Dr. Antall is still not too concerned that she continues to slip on the growth charts. She’s developmentally great, but he did urge me to continue to try to nurse her before and after every nap and dream feed her. He thinks she’s probably due for a growth spurt one of these days. As you can see from the big kids’ stats, that growth spurt can really make a big difference at this age! She got all her 6 month shots, and in true Muller baby form, fell asleep promptly on getting home.
Tommy just got established with the practice, which meant he officially met Dr. Antall though he’d met him at Susanna’s last visit. He got the flu mist vaccine and was a little disappointed that he didn’t get a chance to be brave for a shot. He weighs 45 lbs!
Yummy Pear
Nov 4th, 2011 by ECM
Yesterday we made a fort with the kitchen chairs while I mopped the floor. Tommy and Elizabeth spent most of their morning inside…
Roasting Marshmallows
Nov 2nd, 2011 by ECM
Tommy and Elizabeth went camping in their bedroom yesterday morning. The highlight was roasting duplo marshmallows over their duplo fire.
