Haircut Time

On Saturday both girls got haircuts, including Katherine's first ever! She was not that enthusiastic when we arrived and saw the 'big chair' but in the end settled down enough to get the job done (in my lap).


The last time I took Margaret for a haircut she was so leery of the whole experience that we had a full blown tantrum in refusal (the 3 times prior, were all fine...). So I was a little skeptical of how it would all go. After Katherine finished her turn though, Margaret stepped right up for hers. She did want to sit in Daddy's lap, who was along since it was a first for Katherine. He was happy to oblige and Margaret was done in 5 minutes. Here they both are with their new do's and post-cut stickers.

Pizza Night!

Before food allergies entered our world homemade pizza was a treat we enjoyed as a family fairly regularly. When we have had it in the last year or so I have given Katherine some alternate meal, since there is a lot about pizza that Katherine can't eat (milk, soy, wheat, egg and peanut are our allergy set). As she's gotten older she's obviously more aware of what we are eating and is ever desirous of our food. I often try to cook so that her foods are similar to ours, if not the exact same as ours. A cute thing she says lately: "We have to buy(or make) some ____________ for me," (with big expectant eyebrows raised) as if there is a readily available milk/soy/wheat/egg/nut free version of everything.

In particular she has shown some interest in pizza lately so this week I decided that I would attempt homemade pizza for all! I made our usual crust (in the bread machine with wheat flour) for the non-allergics and made a special crust for Katherine out of rice flour, potato flour, and tapioca starch (and obviously oil, water, yeast, sugar, salt). I found this recipe from a website for parents of kids with food allergies. (In fact, I've gotten lots of recipes there.) I must admit to quite a bit of skepticism as I assembled her 'dough'... it didn't look or feel like any yeast dough I've ever made! And despite the fact that yeast was an ingredient the instructions called for cooking it right away, with no rising time.

Well, in the end, as always, it is not how I perceive the food, but how Katherine does that matters. I have to constantly remind myself that she does not have the food history I do and therefore isn't missing the yummy crust and mozzarella cheese! I topped her crust with tomato sauce, Canadian bacon, pineapple, mushrooms and her special rice cheese.


Then I presented it to her...















She loved it!! She was so cute eating it. About halfway through the second piece (of three!) she said, "Dis is so yummy."

Truthfully I'll probably experiment with another recipe for the crust but for today I was happy to see her enjoying pizza with the rest of us!
















In the meantime, big sister helped roll out her dough ball and assemble the toppings (heavy on the cheese - ha!) for her pizza. Here she is enjoying hers too:

A Blog: Take 2

Two things inspired me today to want to post after all these many months idle.

1. I read my dear friends' Melissa and Pam's blogs, both of which are always so inspiring to me... AND...

2. Katherine just cracked me up moments ago, giving me an "Ooooh, I want to remember that" moment. Read on...

As I was emptying the dishwasher this afternoon Katherine was underfoot (not unusual) so in my attempt to stay on task I thought of a 'job' for her to do. This is not the first time we've danced this dance and it has worked well in the past for her to 'dry' some of the outgoing dishes from the dishwasher. So... I get out a dishtowel and give her a small plastic bowl and set her to 'work'. Meanwhile I'm flying around emptying the rest and cleaning up (possibly checking the computer for things too. hehe). After a few moments she puts her bowl in the correct cabinet and asks for another. I comply. We repeat this process a few times and I've all but emptied the dishwasher when I glance over to see her LICKING the bowl she is currently 'drying'. AGH! I almost fell over laughing while grabbing it away from her. I'm not talking about a dainty taste... no, she's licking it like it has the last bit of chocolate ice cream in the house on it or something (mind you, it was clean, just wet from the dishwasher). I turn around to wash that bowl out in the sink and turn back and she has the lid and is LICKING it with gusto now too. I could eat her sometimes she's so cute.

And no, I did not go find the three or so items she had already 'dried' and put away.