Who's the boss?

Meowzer was sittig on the fireplace when Ry told him, "GET DOWN"I looked at him with a look that clearly said "who says you're the boss?" He looked right back at me (as Meowzer jumped off the fireplace) and he said, "I'm Meowzer's mommy so I telled him to get off"

Macaroni and cheese

For you Ms. Alanna!

I don't measure so much so sorry for the funky measurements

a bunch of mushrooms (I like shitake the best, and by bunch I mean use however much you want)
a little more than half a thingey of bacon (I think they come in 12oz packs)
one onion cut in half and then sliced thin
splash of white wine (whatever you have in the fridge)
1 quart scalded milk (I use 2% because that's generally what I have but whole tastes better)
1/2c flour
6T butter
12oz. Gruyere cheese (I just buy like a pound in brick form and shred it)
4 cups any kind of cheese (I buy pre-shredded Mexican blend and have it on hand at all times so this is usually what I use)
EVOO
salt
pepper
nutmeg
1lb pasta take two minutes off the cooking time (to make it "healthy" I use whole grain and no one notices because its smothered in cheese)
buttered panko/Italian breadcrumbs (I use progresso Italian breadcrumbs and mix in panko. They sell an italian panko breadcrumb but I like the texture with regular breadcrumbs mixed in too)

the way I do it only uses two pots (one for milk and one to make pasta and cheese sauce) and one pan but you can do this all faster using more pans...

caramelize the onion in a little bit of EVOO (not fully caramelized you're going to cook it more later), this takes forever so start them first and then chop the rest of your stuff. Clean and slice mushrooms, grate cheese, chop bacon... are the onions done yet? If not pour yourself a glass of wine.. once the onions are almost a caramel color remove from pan and toss bacon in. Cook the bacon until crispy. This takes a while too so grab a magazine. Once the bacon is crisp use a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel (or not, if you want to leave the fat there go ahead) Cook mushrooms and onions in bacon fat. Once the mushrooms are softened add a splash (a big splash) of white wine. Cook until wine is mostly absorbed and set aside.

In the pot you boiled the pasta in melt butter, add flour and cook 3 min, slowly whisk in hot milk and cook until slightly thickened. Add a big dash of nutmeg, a pinch each of salt and pepper (I think my pinches are about a T.) Slowly add cheeses stirring with a wooden spoon (you should have the cheese sitting out at room temp while you cook and they'll melt faster) once all cheese is incorporated add bacon, mushrooms, onion and pasta and mix well.

Pour into baking dish and top with buttered breadcrumbs (melt 2T butter in bowl and toss in breadcrumbs, 1c of each type depending on how much surface area you have, I like lots of crunchy topping so I do a big baking dish 9x13 I think)

bake at 350 until hot and bubbly and toasty on top

When I make dinner the night ahead I make myself a snack sized one JUST to test it out  and make sure it's not poison :)

The other night we were driving to meet some friends for dinner at cheesecake factory and now that its getting dark earlier, it was dark by dinner time. The trees lining the street were covered with lights. Rylan voiced what was in my head "oohhhh how BEAUTIFUL" I smiled at his sweet innocent voice taking in the simple joys in life.

Last Saturday I made my usual weekend breakfast of banana pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs. Since its been a while that I've been able to enjoy a meal without having to get up to get someone some more of this that and whatever, I decided to lay out everything on the dining room table. I call everyone to breakfast and when Ry sees the spread he said "Oh wow thats BEAUTIFUL!" The kid was truly moved by bacon and eggs.

Yesterday I was getting ready to go out to dinner for a friends birthday and I was using a curling iron to straighten my hair. When I released a curl Ry said "ohhhh what is that? are you going to do it again?" I said "it's a curl buddy, and yep I'm going to do a few more." At this point I rolled up another section of hair and released it "see?" I showed off my curl to Ry. He said "thats beaut-... oh not yet" He wasnt too impressed with half a head of curls

Today I went to get a massage with my sister in law down on Santana Row and we got kara's cupcakes. When I got home Ry ran up to me at the front door and asked "what did you bring me mom?" I happened to be carrying a bag with dinner and the cupcakes were on top of that. Ry noticed (of course) the pinkbox and exclaimed, "Cupcakes!!!!!!!" he wanted to show me the cupcakes and of course when I opened the box he said "oh thats BEAUTIFUL!" I had to agree

more potty training

Ry working on a full sleeve tattoo

Potty training is an ongoing "thing" in our house. With Colton coming, and Ry being a BOY I haven't pushed the matter much. My sister in law mentioned that she thought he was ready and she wanted to throw him in cold turkey a couple weeks ago. Of course I agree to it because she has him most of the time anyway so why not. Apparently he's good for her and pees in the potty or bushes whatever (I think thats her success secret, he's allowed to pee in the bushes when they're playing outside) At home with me he absolutely refused. After our trip to Ohio I decided I'd work a little more on trying to get him PT'd. We went to Party City and picked out a treasure chest and he went around picking out little party favors and candies to put in the treasure chest. Today he was in underwear ALL day, we have a rule, you get a toy for poop and candy or sticker or tattoo for pee. He had been eyeing a plastic horn and wanted one so badly but couldnt seem to produce a poop. When Rex came home this afternoon he had to poop. Ry (who has no sense of personal space) of course had to go in and visit with his dad. Ry was coaching Rex through his potty experience saying "you get to choose a prize from the treasure box!" "good job Daddy! you're doing it!" When Rex finished his business Ry took him to the treasure chest and said "now you get to pick out a prize!!" Rex, always wanting candy played along and said "sure I'll have a candy!" and rifled through the chest looking for some sour patch kids. Ry said to him "you can have a horn!!! because you poopooed you get a HORN!" Obviously dissapointed when Rex pulled out a candy Ry said again "don't you want a horn? you can have a horn!" Poor Ry really wanted his daddy to pick that horn and share with him.