Well that was short-lived.

Nurse-in was canceled.  And not in a good way.  More details to follow.  By the way, anyone with experience with  breastfeeding in the military, please speak up, we could really use some words of wisdom about now.

First Nurse-In

Is it silly that I'm ridiculously excited about attending my first nurse-in?

Background:
A mother nursing her child at our base's E-Club was asked to cover up or leave.  Hmm... yeah... you can't actually require a nursing woman to do either.

Result:
We're staging a simple, quiet nurse-in at the same location.  The idea is for people to come, eat lunch at the restaurant, nurse if they have a nursling, and show support with numbers.  We'll have a copy of the applicable federal laws on hand if anyone cares to ask.  T-shirts for the munchkins are in the works.  T-shirts will read:  "Anytime.  Anywhere.  Doing my part to normalize nursing in public."  They may not be the most creative t-shirts ever, but they'll hopefully get the point across.

Man, the things I never dreamed I'd be doing, much less enjoying!

Co-Schooling

Here's a term I'd not yet heard till this evening (umm, actually morning... it's nearly 2 - eep!).  While I'm sure this would require some serious "clicking" together to be successful, it sounds simply wonderful.  I sighed aloud reading the post :).

http://arlinghaus.typepad.com/blog/2010/05/coschooling-5-greeting-rituals.html

Empty Cupboard Roundup

Here's your chance y'all - send in a link to your own empty-cupboard meal post and share the oh-crap-what's-for-dinner wisdom!

Okay, let's get that empty cupboard round-up on

Lego Maniac's Dream

Can I just say? THIS IS AWESOME. My Little Gems: DIY Lego Table {from an old Coffee or End Table}

Eating on Empty: Pizza Party!

This post has been written for inclusion in the Empty Cupboard Meals recipe roundup hosted by Bearing Blog.

Our family has a few go-to meals for when we've run out of food, ideas, or gumption.  One of my favorites is homemade pizza!  Even when our cupboards are otherwise quite bare, we always have flour, yeast, and salt on hand.  Well, and water.  But water's free.  I like free.  Sometimes I'm exceptionally well-organized and actually make up some pizza dough a few hours or even a day or so in advance.  It freezes well too, but we've never had any last long enough to freeze more than a few days - we really like bread in this house!

Anyway, homemade pizza night usually runs something like this:

1. Realize I'm hungry and it's 6pm.  Hubby's due for dinner soon.
2. Open the fridge.
3. Close the fridge.
4. Open the cupboards.
5. Close the cupboards.
6. Bemoan the fact that I'm hungry and didn't think far enough ahead to have dinner brewing already.
7. Repeat steps 2-6 at least twice.
8. 6:30.  Crunch time.  Hungry means decision-making apparatus is fried.  Whining, hungry, tired munchkin isn't helping.
9. Recheck the fridge.  HA!  I thought I saw some leftovers lurking back there!
10. Empty fridge of all non-growing leftovers, piling said leftovers all over the counter.
11. PREHEAT THE OVEN.  Important step.  Forgetting this one means intensification of hunger pangs and whining while perfectly good dinner waits to be cooked.  Not fun.  Whining might me mine or munchkin's.
12. Use the one clean bowl in the house to make some Quick and Easy Pizza Dough.  Waiting is not my specialty. (NOTE:  It says to mix the yeast and water and let it hang out 10 minutes to get creamy.  Yeah, you totally don't have to do this.  Just make sure your yeast isn't expired.)
13. Roll, stretch, or squish the dough into a relatively flat slab.  Shape doesn't really matter.  You're just going to eat it, right?  Shape adds character.  Call it rustic and people will think you're a chef.
14. Commence leftover sprinkling*.
15. Toss in the oven and bake till your mouth starts to water and the crust is light golden brown.
16. Voila! Homemade gourmet dinner from apparently empty cupboards in 30 minutes or less!  Add a bottle of wine and some of last year's Christmas chocolates and you've a feast :).

*leftover sprinkling -    

[left-oh-ver spring-kling]-noun 1.   to shred, cut, dice, crumble, or otherwise make your gourmet toppings (yes, the two tablespoons of leftover meatloaf you just couldn't bring yourself to throw away count as gourmet when you're talkin' homemade rustic pizza) bite-size and dump all over your pizza dough.  Sauce is optional.  So is cheese.  Can't live without them?  Try olive oil and garlic, leftover spaghetti or alfredo sauce, BBQ, ranch, sweet chili sauce, whatever looks decent and will help your toppings stick to the dough.  Cheese?  Try ricotta, cheddar, the last slice of sandwich cheese, anything but American.  Unless you REALLY like American cheese - at which point, well, you're just crazy.  But that's okay cuz' we still love you.



Some Pizza combinations we've tried:

• Naked: Just the dough (maybe some herbs), with some dipping sauce on the side.
• Blanca pizza: Ricotta, mozzarella, provolone, and parmesan cheese
• BBQ: BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, shredded meat, bell peppers, pineapple chunks, onion
• Margherita: Olive oil, garlic, tomatoes (any kind), sprinkle of mozzarella and basil
• Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, bacon bits, diced veggies, Tobasco
• Meat lovers: Tomato sauce, bacon bits, ham, hamburger, any other meat, mozzarella cheese
• Kitchen Sink: BBQ sauce, tomato sauce, corn, shredded meat, onions, goat cheese, mozzarella, cheddar, broccoli, spinach

This meal is guaranteed to a) go over well and b) clean out your fridge of even the tiniest bowls of leftovers.  One cherry tomato? Three bites of leftover wilted broccoli? Only one cup of spaghetti sauce and 4 people?  No sweat.  Sprinkle it all on and it tastes great :).  Let me know if you come up with any out-of-this-world combos!

Tonight's Bible Study

Oh. My.

Not even sure where to start on this one.

4:30 decision was made to move our weekly Bible study to our house for the evening.  Quick glance around the house, not too shabby yet since we haven't even unpacked from our halfway-around-the-world trip, so sure, no prob.

5:00 Baby Bird is still sleeping and the last-minute cleaning is going pretty well.  As in the toilet no longer has 3 months worth of boy grime on it.  Wait, that's not fair.  In all honesty my husband probably did clean the toilet at least once while we were gone.  Thank you my husband, for sparing me the worst of the boy grime.

5:30 Baby Bird's up, Papa's on the phone, the dog's begging to go outside and oops I think we forgot to feed her? and my friend is ringing the doorbell which makes the dog go ballistic and the house still looks like a furball exploded in it and we have people coming over in 30 minutes and Baby Bird's whining for food and I haven't started dinner yet but it's okay because we still have time.  We can make it.

6:00 House is vacuumed, dog is crated, child's happily smearing I mean eating peanut butter and pizza dough's in the works.  No sweat.

6:20 Child is now covered in peanut butter so off to the tub you go.  Baby Bird promptly stands up in the tub, slips, smacks the back of her head harder that she ever has before, screeches bloody murder, and gives me a minor heart attack.  The front door's opens, she's stark naked and covered head to toe in peanut butter, I scoop her up so I'M covered head to toe in peanut butter and people are supposed to be here any second and she's not bleeding but she hasn't stopped crying and we're both still covered in peanut butter and at least she hasn't peed on me... yet.  Where's the towel?

6:30 We're both clean.  And dry.  And peanut-butter free.  But Baby Bird has a nasty welt.  And the leader for the Bible study just drove up.  But that welt has me worried, so I call Daddy.  Who's at work.  With the car.  And the carseat.  No worries, he's on his way (thank God!) and my friend is here with her baby and we watch Baby Bird to see how she's doing and Daddy arrives just moments later.

6:40  Baby Bird seems to be okay.  Mama?  Maybe.  Still trying to put my stomach back in its proper place.  Did I mention I still haven't eaten yet?  Everyone seems to be okay.  Daddy and my friend are doing a great job helping me be steady.  Head injuries scare me.  We have experience with those.  They're not good.  But Baby Bird's okay :).

7:30  Baby Bird lets a Big One.  Shoulda' paid more attention...

7:45 Emergency call home has turned into lunch hour for Daddy, and I've enjoyed a catch-up talk with my friend.  The Bible study never really happened since noone else showed up.  We make plans to restart this week's lesson and get ready to send little ones to bed.  Hmmm... Baby Bird's a bit fragrant.

7:50  Really???  I mean REALLY?!?!  Glad we did this diaper in the tub, because there's no just wiping this one down!  Apricots!  In her hair!  And corn!  And oh Daddy, you gotta' come see what you're getting out of tonight!

One baby girl. Two baths.  Three sets of clothes.  And I'm done for the night.

Was that water dripping on my shoulder just now?  No.  I do not have time for a flood tonight.  Where's the Bailey's?