The Great Snuggle Debate

In theory, a precious little toddler toddling their way down to your room at 4:00am is a precious moment in parenting. In reality, the first time is precious and wonderful and sweet. But after that it pretty much just sucks the life right out of you. 

Not only do the nightly visits affect your abilitiy to function in your daytime roles, but you are constantly battling internally with whether or not to let them in. 

On one hand, it won't last forever, right? Why not just enjoy the nightly visits while they last. Soon enough they will become teenagers and you will have to chain them to their beds anyway so they won't sneak out and raise hell. 

But that part of the argument has never been that convincing to me. I am of the opinion that the waking hours of the day allow for plenty of cute, sweet and special moments. The only sweetness I need at 4:00am is a vision of Channing Tatum shirtless and doing push-ups on a beach. 

But I really, really struggle with turning the kids away. I don't want to hurt their feelings and make them feel rejected, but the minute they climb into my bed it is like there is an epic battle being waged between Maggie and my bed sheets. Elbows are thrown, Brent's groin seems to have some type of magnetic pull to it as he seems to get hit there several times each night, and my visions of Channing vanish. 

What to do?!? 

Jolynn's Ridiculous Raspberry and Ice Cream Sauce French Toast

We were lucky enough to spend Christmas this year at Mark & Jolynn's house in High Prairie, Alberta. What great hosts they were! Jolynn is a fabulous cook, and I love trying and stealing all of her recipes. My favorite was the French toast that we had for breakfast on Christmas Day. It is honestly the best French toast, and possibly breakfast dish, that I have ever eaten.

Even if you think that you are not a raspberry lover, trust me that you will LOVE this. The best part of this dish is that you can make the ice cream sauce and the raspberry sauce the night before. Just store in the fridge, and warm up the raspberry sauce before serving.

Ingredients
                           

ICE CREAM SAUCE

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2 cups heavy whipping cream

4 egg yolks, beaten

2 scoops vanilla ice cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract                            

BERRY SAUCE                           

2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

2 tablespoons sugar

FRENCH TOAST                           

3 eggs

4 croissants, split

2 tablespoons butter

 

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, combine the sugar and flour. Stir in cream until smooth. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot filling into egg yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until mixture reaches 160°.
2. Remove from the heat. Gently stir in ice cream and vanilla until ice cream is melted. Place plastic wrap over the surface of the sauce; cool.
3. For berry sauce, combine raspberries and sugar in a saucepan. Simmer, uncovered, for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat; set aside.
4. In a shallow bowl, beat eggs. Dip both sides of croissants in egg. On a griddle, brown croissants on both sides in butter. Serve with vanilla and berry sauces. Yield: 4 servings.

My Poppy - Chapter 4

Poppy has a mild case of dementia. That combined with his mini-strokes has led to a slight decline in some of his mental faculties. On some subjects, he is still as sharp as he ever was. On others, it just depends on the day.

He hasn't been able to walk unassisted now in quite some time, and the family uses a wheelchair when they take him out for a visit or a drive.

A little while back, Auntie Anne showed him a group shot of the family from Ellen's wedding last summer, and his response was, "What the hell was I doing in a wheelchair?"