Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats

 Found this recipe via Pinterest and I couldn't resist making it.  I recruited some help (goodness help me) and Atticus and I put together this exciting pan of Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats.  We'll dig in after dinner tonight.  (Picture to be added once I bring the camera upstairs and upload photos)

The close up of the yumminess.

The full pan of treats.

Dinner Again?

Oy... this cooking everynight stuff is exhausting.  I miss Mr. Joe.  I need to start meal planning and getting a bit more organized.

The kids may very well eat pb&j sandwiches tonight if they don't want leftover pot roast!

I enjoy cooking.  I do.  But everyday is tough.  Where's that magic wand?  And it's even harder to order take-out because I can't figure out if I'm a bad parent if I leave the kids strapped into the car while I attempt to run into a restaurant to pick something up!  (I haven't actually done it yet - just pondered the thought... but still!)  I wonder if the burrito joint around the corner delivers?

Have You Heard Of...

Pinterest?  I'm addicted.  It's like a visual virtual bookmark - but for everything!  It's brilliant.  I put a "Pin It" button on my browser toolbar - and anytime I'm on a site that has things I want to remember -- you can pin them and put them in the right bucket.  Your pin will automatically credit the proper source - brilliant!  Oh, and you and your friends can share/follow boards - sort of Twitter like - so you can find all sorts of other random and cool stuff.  Hard to describe, but it's awesome.  Trust me.

Customer Service

Serious kudos go out to Keurig and their customer service.  I called on Friday afternoon and spoke to a great guy named Tyler in Florida.  I explained the issue - let him know I'm relatively appliance savvy and that I'd tried every troubleshooting tip from the manual including unplugging and "rebooting" the machine.  He had me walk through a few steps - concurred that the water wasn't properly moving from the reservoir into the machine - asked for all my info and sent me the FedEx confirmation a few moments later with tracking information for a brand new machine.  Wowzers!  Upon receipt, I have to send back to Keurig a small part from my existing machine to prove that I truly do own a machine -- but that's it.  No cost for the new machine.  No cost to return the small part.  Just, yep -- not working as it should.  We're sending you a new machine!

I'm impressed.

Not so impressed thus far with the real estate company here in NOLA.  Ugh.  I did have a very nice chat with Pilar, the agent who facilitated the rental last Tuesday -- but I haven't heard anything from her since.  Boo hiss.  I sent a follow up email to her on Friday night -- I'm giving her until Tuesday to write back or call.  Grrrr.   Really - not the best business practices.

At least I have coffee....  

Trolley

Today I ventured out with the kids to Danneel Park.  Nothing new for the weekend, except that we rode the St. Charles Streetcar from our house to the park!  I had Wren strapped into the Ergo and Atticus did a fantastic job holding my hand and staying close.  I know, very brave of me to try it on my own -- but the backyard was in a state and in dire need of attention (mowing, trimming, etc).  There was no way that Greg was going to find any quiet time to get to the yard with children underfoot!  All told, a successful morning. It's getting to be a bit tricky to watch two little ones at the park since they're always running in opposite directions, but thankfully Atticus is getting more independent.  Or maybe that's not such a good thing at the park!!!  Ha.  Anywho - a good morning.

Wren's still running a low fever that I think is due to teething this time.  She's been chomping on her fingers with gusto for the past couple of days.  Poor thing - she just can't seem to shake the cold/cough/teething blah...  But, she went down without a fuss for nap, so that's good.  Atticus on the other hand took an hour to settle down today.  Talking, singing, flopping all around - oy!

Neglect.

Oy... I'm such a bad blog Mom.  I haven't posted in 10 days.  Sheesh.  Well, let's see what's been going on?  Greg came down with some mystery illness and spent four days curled up on a ball on the sofa until I made him go to the urgent care last Sunday.  That was a treat.  I attended a Newcomer's party thrown by the local Jewish Federation that was quite delightful.  I met some great folks, and had the chance to hob nob with some of NOLA's finest including an acclaimed chef.  Too bad I only got to try a tiny portion of what he'd cooked!  I must make a point to visit his restaurant and say hello in the near future.  Can't hurt to have a critically acclaimed chef as a friend, now can it?  :-)  Oh, and I also attended services for Rosh Hashana yesterday at Touro Synagogue.  Beautiful sanctuary.  Amazing ceiling and stained glass... wow!

We're still settling in a bit.  We now have a small kitchen table - yay.  Wren also has a dresser, but it's still in a box at the top of the stairs.  I"m hoping that since we're all mostly healthy - perhaps we can get it put together this weekend.  I'm not sure what else this weekend holds for us.  Atticus has been asking to ride the trolley -- so perhaps we'll give that a go.  I'm sure the park will factor in sometime as well, especially if the weather dips into the 80s.  Woo hoo -- come on fall.... (I hear it's going to get down to the 40s up in Ohio!!)

Ok... I'm off to figure out dinner before I have to get the crew!  Wishing everyone a sweet new year!

Colic

I met a mom in the parking lot of the daycare this morning that just looked like she's been run ragged. Her little one was SCREAMING while mom got her out of the car and then she stopped. Mom said the little one hasn't stopped screaming yet (only 3.5 months) and is actually on probation from the daycare because she's keeping everyone else awake!!

I sooooo know her pain. I didn't even know what to tell her though... it gets better? Eventually? For us it took almost a year? That's not going to help. And she said that her husband is on a 3 month (or maybe 3 year) contract job in Brazil so she's on her own. Oy. Maybe I'll bring her a package of earplugs tomorrow. She's going to need them.

Maybe she can be my new lunch friend? She's going to need a break from her daughter...