Daily

So long August!

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Well August went out with a bang. My oldest broke his wrist at school last week. What a day that was. I wasn’t sure what to do and luckily the school nurse was incredibly helpful with it all, telling me what to do. This was our first injury with my 3 boys… I mean I’m kinda clueless with this sorta stuff. So, I give the pediatrician a ring on the phone. Pediatrician couldn’t fit him in that day. Ok no biggie. Let’s figure something out. I call my husband and then decided to bring my son to urgent care not too far away.

I had my 2 younger boys in the stroller, so I asked my middle if my eldest could have his seat in the stroller (which was a question I was unsure what the answer would be knowing him) but he surprised me and offered up his seat to his big brother. So, with my big arse Uppababy stroller my middle was riding along on the skateboard attachment, baby up front, and my oldest in the bottom seat. Got home and then left them all outside while I rushed to pack up some snacks, diapers, water, and car keys. Buckled all 3 kids to head out to urgent care.

Urgent care checked on him pretty quickly but then mentioned ot me that they couldn’t xray. They sent off a requisition to a local radiologist. Buckled my 3 kids back up and  went to radiology a few km’s down the road (sigh). Unfortunately the Radiologist wasn’t in and wouldn’t be able to view the xray til that evening or the next day, but I think the X-ray tech took pity on me with my wild bunch, so he whispered to me that it was broken and to go back to urgent care. (Friggen runaround am I right?). I’m sure he wasn’t allowed to tell me it was broken but bless his friggen heart hey.

This time I was thinking ahead and I call urgent care back before buckling kids back up. Urgent care tells me that they can’t cast there (then what CAN they do there? Touch my sons wrist and nod and say yep…broken, cya!)  I’m asking them what am I supposed to do now then? They tell me I need to get an orthopedics to do it. I ask them to send a req to the ortho clinic AND ask that they give me the phone number to it. All while my 2 older boys are getting anstry and hungry. Whip out the snacks and feed them while I’m doing this on the phone. I call ortho immediately. I ask to cast my kid. They say no, can’t do it today, “maybe tomorrow or NEXT WEEK” lollll k. They got my son’s X-ray as we were on the phone and was like ohhh ok we can fit you in tomorrow. So. We did. Oof. An abrupt ending to that story but there it is. They fit us in the next day.

And the next day we finally got my youngest helmet: he’s 9mths old and we’ve been working with PT and insurance to get it since he’s been 4m.

Adding to the chaotic month there were many appointments: colonoscopy (lol hey man my Dad caught his too late and it ended up being stage 4 but he fought it for 10 years), consults and imaging for my baby’s doc band (helmet), dermatologists and revisits to get stitches out, pediatrician well checks for baby’s 9m appointment. Parent training at my son’s school & an evening BBQ. Babys physical therapy appts.

I definitely am not glorifying my busy end of August cause dang I hate having a full calendar. I’m just so glad there’s nothing scheduled for this week.

Hope your August was a bit more calm!

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Daily

There goes 6 months…

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Well then, summer came and gone like a flash. There’s SO much to catch up on since I haven’t posted in 6 months. That’s absolutely wild to me that I let it go that long. But, you know what… it’s incredibly difficult to get the energy to sit down after a long day of stay-at-home-mom life with 3 boys, including one very very very active one who needs constant 100% attention. I AM DONE at the end of the day so having spiffykerms.com and updating it was low on my priority list. keeping my sanity is at the top of the list, ha.

Summer isn’t over here in the Bay Area. I feel like the California summer doesn’t end until way into October. It’s always been super hot here in September. A heatwave has been happening this week with temps as high as 36C. A little uncomfortable for me, since I’m pushing 120lbs in a stroller back and forth for school drop off and pickup. At the end of the day I look like a mess.

Summer was super amazing for us – we trekked all 5 of us back to the homeland: Newfoundland, Canada for 7 (!!!!!) weeks. It was fantastic seeing everyone, swimming at the pool, my boys hangin’ with the grandparents and really wanting to move back. The village is there, so much help with everyone involved with our boys.

Until next time.

 

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Food

One pot chicken alfredo

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Wish I had a better photo of this but I only did a video on Instagram stories about this, and posted a small close up of it after. Didn’t think I’d blog about it but here we are.

I’ve never been one to linger in the kitchen longer than necessary. Cooking for me is more of a functional chore than a passion if I’m being honest. I definitely dread meal time and thinking of what to feed the crowd. I try and limit my amount of time in the kitchen as much as possible.

Thanks to the culinary wonders of TikTok I’ve stumbled upon a handful of mouthwatering recipes that have made their way into my limited cooking repertoire. This being one of them, however I tweaked the recipe a smidge since it was way too rich for even my liking.

My eldest, bless his discerning taste buds, turned up his nose at the sight of chicken. But fear not, I’ve got a trick up my sleeve. Shredding the chicken post-cooking (a breeze with the trusty mixer) and burying it under a blanket of cheese turned this dish into something resembling mac ‘n’ cheese…… with a different sauce. Unfortunately he saw the process of it all being made and still wouldn’t touch it. I mean, it’s beige food, he’s supposed to love it.

Anyway here it is, plain’ and simple:

Ingredients:

  • 16oz dry pasta (shell pasta works wonders)
  • 1 jar of Alfredo sauce (I’m partial to Target’s Good & Gather brand)
  • Cooked chicken (approximately 2 cups, shredded)
  • 3 cups chicken broth/stock
  • Seasonings to taste (Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper)
  • Mozzarella cheese (the more, the merrier!)

Instructions:

  • Preheat your oven to 400°F.
  • Grab a 16″x9″ pan and layer in the dry pasta.
  • Pour the Alfredo sauce over the pasta.
  • Add the cooked chicken on top, ensuring it’s evenly distributed.
  • Pour in the chicken broth/stock.
  • Season generously with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
  • Give it all a good mix, making sure the pasta is coated in that creamy goodness.
  • Cover the pan with foil and pop it in the oven for 40 minutes.
  • Once the timer dings, uncover the pan and sprinkle on copious amounts of mozzarella cheese.
  • Slide the pan back into the oven and broil until the cheese is golden and bubbly.

Feel free to get creative with this recipe! I’ve tossed in handfuls of chopped spinach for an extra veggie boost, and served it alongside some air-fried broccoli. Yum! My middleboy had two bowl fulls of it.

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