Works for Me Wednesday: Kitchen Cleanin'

I've seen Works for Me Wednesday on a couple of blogs I love to read, and I've wanted to do one on how I clean the microwave. Alan thought it was a very inventive idea (I got it from my mom), and makes that yucky task so much easier.

Well, Alan cleaned my microwave out for me while I was at work, which makes it impossible for me to do a photo tutorial even if the task isn't complicated. So instead, I'm going to do this Wednesday on how to "deep clean" the kitchen.

My answer: leave my husband alone at home for the day. We have recently pulled out our stove and fridge and cleaned all around the appliances themselves, the floor, and the walls behind them. But he took it to a new level: he removed the trim, the vents, and anything else he could get off. He cleaned the microwave, inside and out, including the filters. He pulled apart the vent on the bottom of the fridge, as well as the drink/ice dispenser. He took apart the toaster and cleaned it inside and out. I didn't even know half that stuff would come off or come apart for cleaning!

As usual, because he's also super-dad, he found a way to occupy Mason by letting him splash in one side of the sink while he used the other side to clean appliances. Mason splashed for approximately two hours. I got a text message at work detailing that he'd become angry when his fingers got all wrinkly from the moisture and asked his dad to "get the wrinkles off".

I wonder what Alan will come up with to occupy the toddler while we paint the baby's room!

For more Works for Me Wednesdays, check out Classy and Sophisticated. She also posts a link to a fun website called Rocks in My Dryer (the lady who started WFMW), but I don't know what the link is so you'll have to do a little blogstalking to see that one.

Are you surprised we're giraffe harassers? You shouldn't be.

So mostly we've been feeling sickly and staying at home for the bulk of February, which has led to my posting slack. I love having a cold, then something else on top of it. And is it just me, or does this wicked respiratory thing going around seem to hang on forever?

Anyway, in between bouts of not feeling so well (with and without evidence), sneezing up a lung or two, and disinfecting the house in time to start the whole process over, we've managed to squeeze in a couple of outings on warmer days. Our first real outing in February was a trip to the zoo.

To some degree, it was a great idea. It was a warmer day, the sun was shining, and both parents were on scene (most importantly present was dad, because as I have mentioned before, he is the fun one). On the other hand, it's February. There was no one there, most of the animals were inside, and they actually still had a good portion of the lights from Zoo Lights up because they are running on minimal staff. These things were both good and bad.

By bad, I mean bad for the poor, pent up giraffes. There was a little girl in their house at the same time we were who was teasing them a little with a stick of some kind. I think she honestly intended to feed it to them, but her mom put the brakes on that plan. Instead, we got many looks at that freaky, long tongue. I think Jean Simmons may have been a giraffe in a former existence or something.

Alan took a more humane approach, and just reached out to pet the same adventurous giraffe. I'm not sure if the zoo approves of this behavior or not, but the giraffe was friendly and now Alan can say he has pet (petted?) one, as well as being taken to ride an elephant on another, much younger trip to the zoo. There are certainly a few odd things he can cross off his life "to do" list! I'm okay with just taking the pictures of him doing it. (Someone remind me at some point to post the picture of him jumping in the lake in Hawaii that appeared to be barely above freezing temperature.)

We also had the shocking realization that Mason is an almost full-pricedpatron of the zoo since turning 3 last month. It would cost $22 for admission for our little family. So we decided, since we make many treks per year to the zoo, that it was time to invest in a membership. We go with the three of us at least the three times it will take to pay for itself, plus we got the one with a guest attached for days when I go solo/with another adult. Mason's big interest of the day was looking down all the grates. We felt it was worth the gas money and cost of admission to look down some different storm drains than the ones on our street.

(And please don't forget, he constantly asks me "What's down there?"--I'm running out of creative answers, so if you have suggestions, let me know. If I tell him it's water or melting snow, he just asks again until I say something else.)

Scenes from Bedtime

Dad (pointing to a picture in a book): Mason, what is that?

Mason: I don't know, what is it?

Dad: Is it a worm?

Mason: Umm... yeah, a worm!

Dad: No, it's a caterpillar. Can you say caterpillar?

Mason: No, not a caterpillar. Caterpillar is a truck.

Mom and Dad: *blank stares at each other* Well, yeah... that's true.

Coincidence?

So this morning while we were eating breakfast (maybe an hour ago), Mason said: The brown truck needs to bring you a present today.

A few minutes ago, UPS dropped off a box of items we had ordered from Target.com for the baby.

I have not said anything to Mason about the stuff that we ordered. I haven't said anything about the 'brown truck' coming to our house. And we don't order things off the internet very often.

This prompts the question: is there any place that Mason's abilities don't extend? He's already smarter than me. I guess the gap is just increasing!

The Great Kelloggs Debate

With the preponderance of leftover Super Bowl food at our house (which we have mostly made it through now, by the way), we ended up having a conversation/debate I wanted to get your opinions on.

There was one night that leftovers just did not appeal to me. This pregnancy-no-appetite thing is getting old. Anyway, I told Alan that I would just have a bowl of cereal for dinner and he could have leftovers. Thus started his protest and the debate: a bowl of cereal is not a meal!

I maintain that it is. It's a great meal for when mom feels like total crap and Mason and I are the only ones home. It's a great meal for breakfast. It's also great for a midnight snack sort of meal when I desperately need something to quell the heartburn long enough I can (pretend to) fall asleep.

So here's the question: does cereal count as a meal? Often times we supplement with a piece of fruit (either cut up in the cereal or on the side), some yogurt, a piece of toast, etc. But sometimes we just let it stand. Keep in mind that I'm generally a stickler about the cereal we buy; Froot Loops ("Colors") are the highest in sugar that Mason will ever get if Mom is doing the shopping. We're big fans of Frosted Mini Wheats, Kix, Rice Krispies, or Cheerios of any variety. (Or at the very least, the cheap knock off bags that make you feel like you've eaten 5 gallons of cereal by the time it's finally gone!). Leave a comment or take a poll, or both. It's your choice!

Super (overboard on the treats) Bowl Party

So here is our Super Bowl spread. We threw together a quick, impromptu thing when we realized that we both had the day off. It was a great way to enjoy the company of a couple good friends as well as our new television and surround sound system. Although, the surround sound speakers toward the back of the room still freak me out; I have one ear that is more "in tune" from dispatching out of it all the time (we have personalized ear pieces that sit in our left ears at work) , and it's total habit to turn my head in the direction of the subtle noises that come out of the rear speakers. I hear it in individual parts instead of enjoy the "experience". I'm hoping it will go away at least while I'm at home.

Anyway, with Mason having cold and not wanting to "spread the wealth", we only invited a couple of kid-less people over. Maybe next year we can have a bigger shindig. As it was, I went way overboard and we will be eating Super Bowl food for what feels like a century. I used a family recipe from Alan's family to make dip with some chips, salsa, Little Smokies and Meatballs (crockpot), snickerdoodle cookies, and a cheeseball and crackers. That's just what is shown, that doesn't include the double-decker Papa Murphy's pizza we had from dinner. I will be posting some of these recipes on The Unpampered Chef later on.