Smrt Lernins

Attention North Metro Atlanta area homeschoolers! Patchfire and I are organizing a Pi Day celebration on March 14th (obviously), at 2pm at Swift-Cantrell Park in Kennesaw.

Bring your favorite Π-themed foods and activities to celebrate that magical irrational number! Pi-shaped cookies? Pumpkin Pi? Bring nibblies to share!

Because we are fair-weather friends, this is a fair-weather event and will be canceled in the event of rain, slushy GA snow, tornado, or any other bizarre meteorological events.

Those of you on Facebook can RSVP here.

If you aren’t in our area, you can organize your own Pi Day event for your local homeschoolers.

Captain Science is spending the night with Nana, which elicited much weeping and wailing from the Tank, who would only be pacified by the promise of making cupcakes after dinner. Since I didn’t feel like making frosting, we made Sugar Cookie Cupcakes (a Smrt Mama original!).

He had the Very Important Job of putting on the sprinkles just before baking. He also licked the spatula, which was helpful of him.

How did they turn out?

The Tank approves

The final product

You know you want a piece of these bad boys

Want to try them at home? They’re easy to make, taste just like sugar cookies, and (if you’re on Weight Watchers) 3 points a piece, since the following recipe makes 24 cupcakes. They’re thinner and more dense than the average cupcake, but fluffier than a sugar cookie — perfect way to satisfy the craving for both!

Sugar Cookie Cupcakes

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• Decorative colored sugar or sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 convection). Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add butter, milk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Scrape side of bowl with a spatula.

Add eggs to the mixture. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Scrape bowl again. Beat on high speed for 1 minute 30 seconds until well mixed.

Spoon cupcake batter into paper liners until roughly 1/2 full.

Sprinkle with colored sugar or sprinkles if you don’t plan to frost.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 5 minutes in pans then remove and place on wire racks to cool completely.

It snowed, big fat wonderful snow.

Captain Science scooped up an armful.

The Tank thought it tasted pretty weird.

It got heavier…

And heavier…

Until the whole world was white.

And I was there, too.

Our scientific snow measurement device. Very high-tech.

We wracked up another 1/2-3/4 inch before temps fell below freezing and the snow petered out for the night. So exciting!

The stockings have been dumped, the presents unwrapped, the ham and fried turkey eaten, the wine drunk, and the Christmas cds put away for another year. Wii-related gifts came in piles, Captain Science’s iPod Touch was a huge hit, Babypie loves her new Waldorf doll (made by yours truly), and the Tank has more new dinosaurs than any little boy’s heart could ever desire. Tomorrow, we shop the post-Christmas sales, but after that, I begin the process of planning the next semester’s schedule.

I hope all my readers had a delightful Christmas (or any other winter holiday you celebrate) this year.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house…

Tonight, the Tank told Papa (my dad) that he loved him “eighty ninety.” He told Nana he loved her “ten-ny.” I asked how much he loved me. He looked me up and down and said…

“One.”

One? ONE?!?! I made a sad face. He sighed, rolled his eyes, and said, “Ok…five.”

Merry freaking Christmas, y’all.

Babypie doesn’t like her medicine. She really, really doesn’t like her medicine. She hates it so much, that now she hates all medicines, even the ones she used to take without fuss, because the delivery method (oral syringe) is the same. Today, she hated taking medicine so much, that she gagged and gagged, which made her cough, which made her vomit her medicine all over both of us and the kitchen floor. Breastmilk and medicine puke isn’t horrible, thankfully, but it’s not exactly what I’d call festive, either.

Can you believe I’m actually missing homeschooling? Without some semblance of a routine, my days feel alternately too long and boring or too short and harried. I’m really looking forward to revamping our schedule, post-Christmas. Piano twice a week, Latin, maybe some new language arts programs! It’ll be like a second Christmas for me!

Spent the better part of the afternoon in the pediatric urgent care, after night two of both the Tank and Babypie shrieking all night long. The final tally was three infected ears between them (two for the Tank, one for Babypie) and a chest x-ray on the Tank to rule out pneumonia (clear, thankfully). Nothing says Christmas cheer like an infected ear. I’m on day two of almost no sleep. Things are getting giddy up in this joint.

Growing up, my mother (Nana) used to always sing “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” to us when we’d whine or complain. I’ve continued that tradition with my own children. They, in turn, sing it to each other.

A few days ago, the Tank was whining about wanting something or another (the red cup, maybe) and Captain Science broke out in song with “you can’t always get what you want!” I sang, “but if you try sometimes, you just might find…you get what you need.”

Without missing a beat, the Tank sang, to the same tune, “But you won’t like it…’cause it’ll have a spider on it.”

That’s so true. So very true.

The Tank: “We’re watching Batman.”
Smrt Mama: “I’m sorry. You’re watching what?”
The Tank: “Batman. You know, Batman.”
Smrt Mama: “Batman? What Batman?”
The Tank: “You know, Mama. Batman. The blue Batman.”
Captain Science (hollering up from the playroom): “We’re watching Sleeping Beauty!”
The Tank: “Yeah. Sleeping Beauty Batman.”

I don’t usually “mix causes” (as La Leche League calls it, speaking of causes) on this blog. I tend to keep it relatively topical. When it comes to this topic, however, I think it’s time to speak up.

I feel strongly about the importance, nay, the necessity of breastfeeding. I have breastfed all three of my children, including Babypie, who is still going strong at 8 1/2 months. In fact, my cumulative time spent breastfeeding is over five years at this point! I’ve overcome a handful of struggles, but mostly, my path to breastfeeding has been pretty easy. I grew up in a family where breastfeeding was just how you fed your babies. I never considered any other way. I have birthed and raised my children surrounded by people who believe babies should be breastfed, and that support has allowed me to feed my children in the way nature (and, if you’re religiously minded, God) intended. Breastfeeding your children is a physiologically, biologically, psychologically normal thing to do. In breast milk are the keys to unlocking many aspects of the body’s normal growth and development. Why would I do anything else, short of dire medical necessity?

Not every woman has the support I had. Many of them are raised in formula-normative homes and know little about breastfeeding. Misconceptions, social pressure, and outright lies persist. Husbands, family, and friends put pressure on women to stop breastfeeding early, or to not start at all. Women pass misinformation along to each other. Doctors and nurses are woefully ignorant about the realities of how human lactation works. Formula companies have millions and millions of dollars to dump into advertising. They have, successfully, waged a campaign devoted to making breastfeeding seem irrelevant, frumpy, vaguely primitive, and somewhat shameful and embarrassing (make sure you cover up with one of those tents “hooter hiders”). On the other hand, breastfeeding doesn’t exactly have corporate sponsorship. There’s very little money to be made off successful breastfeeding, beyond pumps for working moms (usually a one time purchase) and a few inexpensive fripperies that can make breastfeeding a little more convenient, but aren’t at all necessary for most women. Breastfeeding isn’t big business with big businesses ad budget.

That’s why I’m here today stumping for the Best for Babes Foundation, a non-profit organization that is devoted to changing the perception of breastfeeding. They want to “market, brand, and mainstream” breastfeeding as something that is healthy, empowering, normal, and even hip. They do this through educating women about institutional and cultural “booby traps”, offering positive images of breastfeeding role-models (no frumps stuck at home wearing oversized button-up shirts here!), tips on finding breastfeeding-supportive care providers, and more. They also very honestly acknowledge the potential pitfalls of an advertising campaign for breastfeeding.

I’m trying to do my part, through spreading the word, and you can help, too. On the right hand side of Smrt Lernins, you’ll see a little rectangular box advertising Best for Babes. Click on that box (or on this link) and you’ll be take to a page explaining how you can help Best for Babes run its ad campaign. You can also follow @BestforBabes on Twitter and join their cause on Facebook. While you’re at it, why not check out the awesome website, PhD in Parenting, a supporter of Best for Babes and a great resource for parents.

Now back to your regularly scheduled smrt lernins.