The Plague

We were hit with the plague last week. Okay, plague might be a slight exaggeration, but if you share my hatred of the stomach flu, you may find it justified. We were awaken Monday night to Peachy crying in her room. What I found in her bed was not pleasant, not pleasant at all. We were awoken throughout the night to her crying and our rushing in with the puke bucket. I lost count of how many times we were down there, but I do know we went through 3 sets of sheets that night. Thankfully she was pretty much over it by the morning. She vegged out for most of the Tuesday and didn't really eat much, but at least she wasn't puking and was holding down some liquids and solids.

Peachy on Tuesday

By Wednesday afternoon she was bopping around the house just in time for me to wake up Thursday morning to a feeling in my stomach that filled me with dread. Sure enough, I hadn't escapes the germ warfare that had hit our home. I figured out I had it in time to keep Mr. Cherry home from work as I knew I wouldn't be able to care for the girls. I spent most of the day between the bed and the bathroom. But by the evening I felt well enough to drink some 7-Up. Thank goodness that the stomach flu is short lived. And thank goodness that it only hit half of the family.

Peachy on Wednesday

Little Miss Mischief

Lately my little Peachy has been keeping me on my toes. I recently made the comment that only a two and a half year old can make parenting an infant seem easy. :o) I find myself praying for the patience and wisdom that I need daily to parent her. Parenting is definitely not for whimps, I tell you.
In addition to the battle of wills we often engage in, here are just a few of the challenges Peachy has presented lately.

She has finally learned to open door knobs. This was bound to happen, but it was so nice to know that I could shut a door and keep her in or out of a certain room. Now when she wakes up in the morning she just comes out of her room and  upstairs. She will also often come into the bathroom while I am showering. Gone are the days of peaceful showers while she contentedly watched a show in the other room. The other morning when I heard her on the monitor and went down to get her up, she was not only up but had gotten herself dressed.

Speaking of getting dressed, this weekend we were at Mr. Cherry's parents' house. We were all sleeping downstairs, but she was in a different room from Mr. Cherry and I. She must have woken up at 10:30 pm and decided that it was high time that she get up and start her day. Without her father or I knowing it, she got up and completely dressed and headed upstairs. She knocked on the upstairs door and when her aunt opened it, there she was very happy and proud of herself.

She also found a pair of scissors this weekend and gave her hair a little trim. Thankfully it was just a little snip, this time. And since she is into hair styling she thought that it would be a good idea to coat her hair in baby lotion while we were getting ready for church.

As someone recently reminded me, at least we know that we have a very healthy and smart little girl. I just have to remind myself of that in the heat of the moment. I also have to remember that Peachy is a curious little girl doing what two year olds do to learn about the world around them. That and take deep breaths with a glass of wine or two.

Foodie Friday: Fluffy Baked Cake Donuts

Remember this pregnancy purchase?

Don't worry, the donuts taste good even when you aren't enormously pregnant and hoping that anything will take your mind off of the fact that you still haven't had your baby. The proof being that I made this recipe last week and still loved it to the last crumb. And if you really want to go all out for Valentine's Day, you can buy this pan instead of the one that I have.

How cute is this? Almost makes me wish that I hadn't ordered my pan back in August.

However, I am pretty confidant that these donuts taste great no matter what shape they come in.

Baked Fluffy Cake Donuts
from Allrecipes
Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon shortening
•  
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a doughnut pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Stir in milk, eggs, vanilla and shortening. Beat together until well blended.
3. Fill each doughnut cup approximately 3/4 full. (I like to use a frosting bag with a large round tip.) Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until doughnuts spring back when touched. Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan.
4. To make glaze, blend confectioners' sugar, hot water and almond extract in a small bowl. Dip doughnuts in the glaze. Sprinkle with sprinkles.

Homemade Crayon Valentines

Looking for a fun and unique Valentine to make this year? Gather up your old and broken crayons and recycle them into new ones for the valentines on your list.

Here is what to do:
1. Remove all wrappers from your crayons.
2. Break and cut crayons into small pieces.
3. Place crayon pieces into a heart shaped silicon tray. (I used an ice cube tray that I had purchased at IKEA.)
4. Place silicon tray onto metal baking sheet in 250 degree oven until crayons are completely melted.
5. Remove tray from oven and allow wax to reset.
6. Pop crayons out of tray.

I wrapped up the crayons in a bag and closed it off with colorful ribbon and a fun tag. I also included some coloring pages that I printed off of the computer onto quarter sheets of paper.

Color your valentine's world this February and make these crayons!

I am linking to these wonderful parties this week.
Today's Creative Blog
Making the World Cuter

Wisdom Teeth Removal

image source

I went under the knife last Friday and finally had my wisdom teeth extracted. I don't even know if you could call it under knife so much as under the pliers. All four were fully erupted, they were just sitting all wonky. So out they came. The dentist has been after me for years to get them out and I kept putting it off. Last year I chose childbirth over having them removed. I am a wuss and went completely under. It was nice. I have never been put out before and didn't know how my body would react. As far as I know, I didn't make a fool of myself in the recovery room. My recovery has been pretty easy as well. Lets hope it stays that way and I don't get the dreaded dry sockets. Thankfully I didn't have much swelling or bruising, so no chipmunk cheek pictures to post here. I still have the stitches in and am being careful what I eat. Lots of soft mushy food. It is a great post-holiday weight loss plan. (That and the stomach flu I had between Christmas and New Year's.) I am totally craving some good crunchy food though. I may have even contemplated sucking on a pretzel the other night. We gave Cream pumped bottles from my freezer stash for 24 hours just to be on the safe side. I was worried that she would decide that she liked the bottle better and we may have a hard time switching back. My worries were unfounded. She was so happy to have the "real thing" back that she put in some really long sessions. It was hard for me to watch all of the milk I pumped in those 24 hours be poured down the drain. But I didn't cry over spilled milk. All in all a relatively good experience, not that I would want to do it all that often. And now the next time I go into the dentist he won't have to bug me about getting them out.