sleeplessatsunset

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies, Yum!

sleepless at sunset — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:21:49 +0000

My poor husband has been gluten free for the past two months… A friend shared this recipe with me and these are seriously the best cookies I have ever eaten. Even if you don’t need to steer clear of gluten these are a must. Really.

Ingredients:

8 ounces unsalted butter

11 ounces brown rice flour, approx. 2 cups

1 1/4 ounces cornstarch, approx. 1/4 cup

1/2 – ounce tapioca flour, approx. 2 tbsp.

1 tsp. xantham gum

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2 ounces sugar, approx. 1/4 cup

10 ounces light brown sugar, approx. 1 1/4 cups

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp. whole milk

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Once melted, pour into the bowl of a stand mixer.

In a medium bowl, sift together the rice flour, cornstarch, tapioca flour, xantham gum, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

Add both of the sugars to the bowl with the butter and suing the paddle attachment, cream together on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the whole egg, egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine.

Chill the dough in the refrigerator until firm, approximately 1 hour. Shape the dough into 2-ounce balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes, rotating the pans after 7 minutes for even baking. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on the pans for 2 minutes. Move the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

Why don’t friends with kids have time?

sleepless at sunset — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:17:36 +0000

You may have alredy read this… I wanted to post it because I can totally relate!

Happy Mother’s Day!

sleepless at sunset — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:48:48 +0000

What the media says I want & all I really want for Mother’s Day:

A weekend away at a luxurious resort OR 8 hour of continuous sleep anywhere. The garage is fine.

A new Audi with a big bow on it OR to find out what that smell is in my Toyota and maybe vacuum up the dog hair and cheerios.

A brand new kitchen with granite and stainless steel appliances OR just to escape the unending cycle of loading/running/unloading the existing crappy dishwasher for one stinking day.

A trip to the spa OR to be able to take a nice long bath without the kids banging on the door and maybe have enough time to shave both legs.

To have the whole day to myself to unwind OR to be able to go to the bathroom by myself in peace. Just once.

A maid to clean the whole house OR no, I want this one!

I borrowed some of the above from one of my favorite blogs:
Rants from Mommyland.

Tomorrow at Sunset Credit Union we’ll be providing all moms with a free Pansy plant provided by Karmel’s Flower Patch. If you are a mom (mother, mama, grandmother, grammy ect.) please stop by and pick up your flowers. If you’re not a mom but are looking for a unique gift to give your mom, we’ve got some special ‘Mom’ teddy bears available.

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

No More Mullet

sleepless at sunset — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:41:01 +0000

It was time for James’ mullet to be removed. Have I mentioned I loathe the mullet? Josh on the other hand, seems to have a different opinion. I do believe I once heard him say he wanted to have matching mullets with his boys. Um, no thank you. After enough nagging complaining we went to Pigtails and Crewcuts. This is a wonderful place to get your child’s hair cut. They have TV’s mounted on the walls, airplanes to sit in, a train table and friendly staff. Who wouldn’t want to get their hair cut at a place like this?

We planned on just getting a trim, but when Tiffany (our stylist) made the first cut with the scissors it became apparent that this was going to be ugly. Tears and snot started flowing… She said it would be easier and less dangerous if she used the clippers. I didn’t want anyone to lose a finger or ear so we chose the clipper route.

I walked over to my baby and he clung on for dear life. She tried singing, blowing bubbles, and even gave him a sucker all with a smile on her face. Again, you don’t get this kind of treatment at many salons. There was no calming him so it needed to be quick! As you can see from the picture below, he’s holding a cup filled with animal crackers. As she was clipping, hair was falling into the cup. In between large sobs he was shoveling fistfuls of these now hairy crackers into his mouth.

After she was finished, I couldn’t stop staring at him. He looked like a completely different child. He was no longer a baby, but a toddler. As we walked out of the salon, I watched my two boys hold hands and noticed just how big they’re getting.

How was your child’s first hair cut experience?

Pacifier.

sleepless at sunset — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:21:23 +0000

I love the pacifier, binky, paci, nuk whatever you choose to call it. But, my love for it pales to the love my James has for it. When James was about one, I allowed him to use it only while sleeping. For awhile, during the day he used his Little People® figure as a pacifier. When we were at play gym one day, I looked over and saw him put a replica of the same guy in his mouth. Gross.

A friend told me to clip the tip off of his pacifier bit by bit. Over the past few months I have been slowly clipping away. As you can see from the picture below, there is just a nub left. I was also told that he would lose interest on his own because it wouldn’t suck very well. But NO, James sucks away as if nothing is different.

My next plan is to snip more right after his last two teeth come in. Eventually, there will be no tip left so he’ll have to give it up! It breaks my heart because he loves it so much. But, I just need to suck it up; no pun intended. I know it will be harder to get rid of the older he gets…

How long if at all, did your little one use a pacifier?

Naked Time

sleepless at sunset — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:15:59 +0000

My four year old hates wearing clothes. Containing the primal urge he has to be naked is nearly impossible. When Jake is in his birthday suit he runs with reckless abandon yelling like some kind of warrior. It has been this way since he was two and is a need he has daily.

About a half an hour before bed I shout, “NAKED TIME!” Why can’t he get ready for bed as fast as he can rip his clothes off? He then insists that James is also nude except for his diaper, duh. If for some reason in the middle of the day I remove James’s shirt, I’ll look over and Jake isn’t wearing his shirt. It’s as if he’s waiting for any excuse that he can to be nude. While he’s sitting in a time out, it’s not odd for us to look over and notice he is totally naked.

Yesterday, after he finished a special treat (chocolate milkshake), he wanted to be naked. So, he stripped down and complained that he was cold. Um, hello? Instead of putting his clothes back on, he grabbed the nearest blanket and used it as a cape.

Today as I write this, I’m looking at him sitting in his undies. We have no where we have to be, so I’m letting him hang out this way for as long as he wants. I personally think it would be cold, but I guess if I was running around with the energy of a four year old I would be warm enough in just my undies too.

Grocery Shopping = Vacation

sleepless at sunset — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:13:12 +0000

I used to go grocery shopping by myself on the weekend when Josh was home from work. Last week he suggested I go during the week so we had more time on the weekend to do other things. I guess he may have noticed how much quicker I am shopping with the boys. When by myself, I take hours pondering over my choice of yogurt. Hmm… I wonder why that is?

When James was younger I put him in the front of the cart and squeezed Jake in the big part. Keeping Jake contained was the best solution until 1/2 way through the trip the groceries wouldn’t fit in the cart anymore. So, I would dig him out of the pile of groceries and firmly tell him to walk with me. This worked on a good day. Other days I would spend the majority of the time telling Jake to come here or stop touching that.

A few months later James was old enough to sit by his big brother in those monster grocery carts they can “drive”. Ugh, this brought up other issues. Have you ever driven those things? They’re beasts that are extremely difficult to maneuver and stop. I would exchange knowing glances with other moms who were experiencing my same fate. And not only were they difficult to drive, but the boys could now poke and push each other. Once your kids have a taste of “driving” in the grocery store there is no going back. I pick the best time during the week to go shopping based on the driving cart availability. This still is the best solutions if you must take your children to the grocery store.

Yesterday, I went to the grocery store without kids because I needed a vacation!

What did you say?

sleepless at sunset — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 00:09:50 +0000

One of the coolest things my husband and I love about parenting is trying to decipher what exactly our children are trying to say. Now, that Jake is getting older, the words he mispronounces are few and far between. We don’t correct him because, frankly, it’s so darn cute. We can’t wait for James to start talking! At this stage, he pretty much just does what we call ewok talk with all the hand gestures…

Some Jakeisms past and present:

Gnore – ignore

Appropriated – appropriate

Zwebra – zebra

Vernoxious – obnoxious

Eyebrowns – eyebrows

Gertar – guitar

Butatoes – potatoes

Burr Rita Ro – burrito

Tessert – dessert

Loomey toons – looney tunes

Dekettles – decals

Burritro – burrito

Bernana – banana

Yogret – yogurt

What words do your children say that aren’t exactly correct?

Neglected Second Born

sleepless at sunset — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 15:02:12 +0000

The guilt is heavy today. My 15 month old is neglected. Well, at least he is compared to how my first born was treated at this age. James is in the process of sprouting yet more teeth and I bet it hurts… Unfortunately, he really wants to be rocked and held ALL day. This is almost impossible because of my 4 year old. When Jake was this age I could drop everything and hold him for as long as he wanted. Also, Jake was the only one so he was the center of our universe and received all of our attention. Now, poor James has to share the spot light.

Maybe it’s good that I can’t jump to his every need… Who knows, he may not be as needy as my first born. Jake ripped a hang nail the other day and you would have thought he cut his finger off! Hmmm… maybe he over reacted because I did coddle him a bit much as a baby.

P.S. The other day Jake actually took a nap and I was able to rock my sweet baby James just because he needed it. A guess a little coddling is ok

Who You Calling Turkey?!

sleepless at sunset — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 02:34:40 +0000

Josh started calling Jake a turkey one day… This strange nick name has stuck for about the past year. I took Jake to a local play area and here is how our conversation went:

Jake: I just called my new friend a turkey!

Me: Oh honey, maybe we should just call each other turkey? I’m not sure if other people will think it’s nice.

Jake: No, mom he liked it.

A few weeks later we had a play date at our house with one of his school friends. The mom of this boy emailed me to say how funny it was that her son was confused when Jake called him a turkey. Ugh. I told her that it was most certainly a form of endearment.

About a week when I was parent teaching at school a little girl sat down right next to Jake and said, “hi turkey furkey!” Jake quickly looked at me and smiled with a grin that said I told you so. Needless to say, the name is still around and he calls everyone that he likes a turkey and I now don’t say a word.

Do you have any nicknames you call your children?