Party Pizza

I've made this a few times now and all the kids love it, Chris and I enjoy it, and any meal that isn't met with even one child complaining is a major win in our house!

You can use premade pizza dough if you want, I prefer to make my own. Makes me feel better about feeding my kids party pizza for dinner! Pizza dough is pretty simple to make. I've seen this recipe, or similar ones, all over the internet - this is my take.


You'll need:
1 1/2 c. warm (105-115 degrees) water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 1/2 c. flour

Mix the first three ingredients together and let the yeast rise until bubbly, about 10 minutes.


Mix the salt in, and then start adding flour. Of course I make this in Betsy.


Keep adding flour until the dough reaches the proper consistency. It will form a nice ball, and not be too sticky. It takes about 3-4 cups of flour.



Knead it or let your mixer knead it for a few moments.

Grease a bowl and turn dough in the bowl to coat with oil. Let it rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. This time of the year it's always a good idea to turn your oven on warm and place your bread on the stove. The heat will encourage it to rise.

While this is rising prepare your ingredients. I've used pepperoni and I've used pineapple before. Next time I may try peppers and onions. Any pizza topping, or really any topping in general will work great. Chop it smaller though. Cube your cheese (we use mozzarella).

Once the dough is ready pinch off walnut sized pieces and flatten. Some people prefer to roll out their dough and cut with a pizza cutter into "x" amount of pieces. This seems like unnecessary work to me, but it's whatever you feel is easiest.

Place your toppings on the top of your dough. Bring up the sides and pinched closed. Place in your greased pie/cake pan seam side down.

If you have spare pans, or if you want to purchase throw away pie tins, these make great Make Ahead Meals. I have 4 pie tins, but I think I'll still purchase a few more. I'd like to have 6 or so of these in my freezer for easy meals. I only have 2.5 tins in there right now.

Make your topping. I mix oil, Italian Seasoning, maybe some garlic powder. Whatever works best for you. I think the Italian Seasoning is a must though! Pour over the top and brush to evenly coat. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan or Italian cheese mix. I prefer the Italian Cheese mix, it has Parmesan in it plus a bunch of other yummy cheeses.

Bake at 400 for 10-20 minutes.

Serve with sauce on the side for dipping. This is oh so very yummy, and a great meal to make ahead for nights where you are busy and can't cook!

My happy campers (Anthony wasn't there for dinner that night which is why there is no picture of him, but he loves it too!)

Anastasia

Charlie (what an odd expression)

David (as you can see these pictures are a few weeks old, but it's such a hit around here it will become a staple!)

Day - Get back on track!

My house was destroyed this weekend as 13 little, adorable, children ran through it for two days. I have only half-heartedly tried to get it back in shape, but today I did a good portion of it. I figured we would clean for 45 minutes and thats what we did. Amazing what a little family can accomplish in 45 minutes.

This was what my garage sale money went to

This is the new bin for my diapers. All of my diapers, minus the pile I'm giving away to friends, fit in here! I was surprised! Chris doesn't like the set up as much because he can't easily see what he wants - but I was tired of seeing the diapers spilling out all of the time. The little basket on top was given to me at Anastasia's baby shower! It holds the diaper accessories, such as snappi's, pins, diaper cream, and baby powder. I have to have everything in order. It took me a long time to figure out a way to make the colors work. There is a pattern there.

Here's Chris helping me set up for the yard sale

And my sunburned face. It got much worse after this picture was taken. My whole face blistered up. After a full day with neosporin on my face it is beginning to heal and most of the blisters popped.

MAJOR raccoon eyes! See how messy this room is? It needs a good cleaning. This room is the scariest of them all.

And this is the man who makes it all work in our house. We've been married 7 years now!

And just to show the rest of them off....

The Bear

Anastasia

Anthony

David

And.... Jovi!

Day FREAK OUT!

Yes, this is why I didn't blog yesterday. I am in full freak out mode. My house is in shambles and I try to make it cleaner (why does that always happen?!?!) and I have to get it back in order for the party on Saturday while still caring for 4 kids, a husband, and a very naughty dog - one of these children is in a very much must touch mommy at all times stage, and the other three are full on destructive. So tonight I will provide you with much cuteness, and leave it at that.

I caught my middle two today doing this:

How crazy inventive, and scary, is that?!

Day 1 with no pop

Today was my first day starting my new pop challenge. I attempting to change my pop habit and only consume it on the weekend. This morning I woke up super early to get my workout in. Charlie woke up twice so my workout wasn't as strong as I would have liked, but I still got one in. Waking up early makes me quite tired but at the same time I feel very accomplished. I can workout, and clean the house before the kids wake up.

Lunchtime kind of sucked. I really wanted a pop, but had water instead. I haven't had dinner yet, but that will be tough as well. I'll probably make up my daily glass of lemon water (used to cleanse my body and hopefully increase my fertility/chance of conceiving a girl). I had a minor caffeine headache earlier but I had 4 chocolate covered coffee beans and felt better. I also noticed that I was a lot hungrier mid afternoon and had to have a snack. I'm normally nursing my lunch pop all afternoon which curbs hunger.

I must also shamelessly plug my husbands blog. He is still doing the Primal Diet (I had to quit as it caused me massive depression) and blogs about his diet and workout routine. You can find his blog here http://occasionaljark.blogspot.com/. He blogs with his best buddy, David, who is also a good friend of mine and the namesake of our son David.

hmmm

I totally had a new post on here but I don't see it!  Thats a tad frustrating.

Not much is really going on at the moment - or not much I care to share with the world anyway.  Some things are just better left to myself.  I'm preparing for wrist fusion number 2.  Some people think that since I know what to expect it shouldn't be so difficult.  It's the exact opposite.  The recovery has been awful! I'm not looking forward to going through that again.  I had never experienced that amount or type of pain before. I guess having your bones scraped out, broken, turned around, and then having a large metal plate with 6 screws screwed into your hand and arm is quite painful and has a long recovery.  The post swelling was absolutely awful, and I was sure my skin was going to burst open.  I guess that's a plus to having EDS, our skin stretches well to accommodate things like that.  I had my pre-op physical yesterday and the EKG came back abnormal.  The doctor thinks it was a fluke and I shouldn't worry but if the other guy he sent it to disagrees then surgery is off.  EDS can cause heart issues so of course I'm worried, but my Echo 6 months ago came back perfectly fine, so I'm holding onto that right now as a sign that perhaps this was a fluke.

My nerves are getting the better of me.  When I get nervous I tend to ramble on and on and I get a little frantic.  I noticed yesterday I'm beginning to ramble (and you can tell in this post) and I'm trying to channel all of that into something constructive, like cleaning or playing with the kids, or even exercising.

The Bear is doing well.  He's beginning to thin out some.  He has a neck now!  He's rolling all over and trying to crawl without much success.  He has also begun sitting up for about 30 seconds at a time.  Each milestone with him is so bittersweet.  He's not our last child but he is one of the last.  We've spent so many years just having babies and now that our family is ALMOST complete we are cherishing each moment a little more than we have in the past.

Anastasia is doing awesome in soccer.  She loves playing!  She is learning more and more each day and is always so eager to help with the baby or learn something. We really do hope that one day we'll give her a sister but if she ends up being my only girl I'll be so grateful that I have her.  She really is an amazing daughter.

David is all eyes.  That boy is a charmer! He is so masculine looking already too.  Anthony and Charlie are both pretty boys, but David... he's as cute as a button but there is no denying he is a boy.  He has never been called a "her" like the other two have.  He acts like a total macho man too.  He loves to build guns (ugh!) and shoot everyone, he loves to climb, and boss the dog around, and beat up his sister.  But at the end of the day he's a total mama's boy.  He's always up for a cuddle and snuggle where he'll wrap his hands in my hair and lay his head on my shoulder.  He is truly one of those kids who is either making you want to rip your hair out in frustration or you just want to love and kiss on him - there is no in between with that child.

Anthony is going through a lot at the moment and I don't feel comfortable posting it for the world to see.  He's an amazingly gifted child and astounds me daily with the knowledge he accrues on his own.  Homeschooling is going... well it has it's moments.  We are going quite relaxed with him and teaching him fundamentals and then letting him guide his own way.  Trying to be too regimented with him was causing him to refuse to work.  By giving him the ideas and letting him process it his own way he is retaining so more more and working so much nicer.  He wants to try public school out again next year, but we are hesitant.  However, we told him it was always his decision, so we may be working towards that goal around Christmas to prepare him to reenter public school next fall.

David was stuck!

The other night I went out for about 1.5 hours to eat dinner with my best friend.  I seriously needed a mini break from the fighting and back talking and breaking of things.  Sandra and I, along with our youngest (my Charlie, her daughter) went to eat at this new little BBQ place "Swine Dining".  Delish!  Arriving back home became a wee bit comical.  I entered the front door to see Chris lightly tugging on David and David looking absolutely sheepish with his arm stuck in the subwoofer up to his shoulder!  All of our children have played in this thing, and a few times a year Chris takes off the back to empty it of toys that have been dumped down there.  This was the first time, however, that a child had become stuck in it.  And like the good mommy I am, I took a video.  I took three actually.  He began crying during the first one so I shut it off, the second one was just an update, and in the third he was out!

Part one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBCfOLJyj9o

Part two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uluG6dZyi-s

Part three
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBtOYHMtvUg

Davids surgery

Today David had his hernia surgery.  It's the first time any of my children have ever had to have surgery.  We dropped the older two off at our friends house, and arrived at Childrens Hospital around 10.  I love Childrens, their set up is amazingly kid AND parent friendly.  We changed David into his hospital gown and then we went to the playroom they have set up for the kids.

He played happily for a while but then Charlie needed to nurse so we went back to the hospital room and the various doctors and nurses came in to speak with us.  Around 11:15 they gave David some Tylenol and Versed (an anti-anxiety medication).  He started acting super goofy, and the nurse brought him some toys to play with as we couldn't leave the room at that point.  Around noon they took him down for the surgery and Chris, Charlie, and myself went to the Cafeteria to get some lunch.  It was so weird just being the three of us.  I forget how easy it is with just one, or even two kids.  We ate lunch quickly because he said that the surgery wouldn't take long.  Around 12:45 the surgeon came to speak with us.  He told us that they didn't need to pull David's testicles down as they dropped as soon as they put him under, so he only had the one incision.  Surgery went great!  About 30 minutes later they wheeled David back to us.  A nurse was carrying him and cuddling with him.  She said he woke up crying but as their is one nurse assigned to each child during recovery she was able to cuddle him and he calmed down.  She handed him to me and I rocked him back to sleep.

I had to hand him to Chris after about 20 minutes because Charlie needed to eat again.  He cried for me which broke my heart but Chris got him back to sleep after a few minutes.  A half hour later we woke him up to get him to drink.  He loved his Apple Juice! We don't drink juice so he's never really had it, so it was a big treat to him.  They gave him a teddy bear to take home too, which we've named "Beast" as his other lovey is a "Baby Belle" doll.  He's been sleeping all evening, waking up and crying for me every once in a while.  As soon as I cuddle him he goes back to sleep.  The cuddling is nice. I don't get much cuddle time with him since Charlie is always needing to be held or fed.  The doctor says he should be up and running around by tomorrow!

A whole bunch of stuff...

It seems as though when one thing in your life is thrown out of balance everything else seems to follow.  I've been meaning to compose my thoughts here, but I'm having a hard time thinking clearly with everything going on.  I apologize if this post comes off as harried.

Surgery is set and approaching quickly.  As the 23rd nears I'm becoming more and more nervous.  This isn't a minor surgery, it's completely life altering.  Every day that passes now is the last day of the week that I'll have the ability to bend my left wrist.  With that said, surgery couldn't come soon enough.  I've had to increase my pain killers by quite a few just to get through the day without being a total mess from pain.  

I've been battling with the hospital I'm having my surgery at over my rights to breastfeed following surgery.  They told me that I couldn't nurse for 24 hours following surgery.  I know this is false, and old school thinking.  New studies show that as soon as mom is awake and alert enough to nurse she can.  I explained this to the Robin, the scheduler at my surgeons office and she told me I needed to be "realistic" and that "nursing isn't that important".  She also told me that in 20 years of working she's never come "this close" to losing it on a patient before.  Finally she contacted a liaison at the hospital I'm having the surgery at for me to discuss this with.  Unfortunately, Sue is quite similar to Robin and I continued to get an ear full.  I told Sue that I'd be more than happy to have my IBCLC, Debbie, contact her.  She said that was fine, I'm assuming in an attempt to get me off the phone, and hung up.  Debbie called her and Sue refused to speak with her because of HIPPA!  So I called Sue back and this sparked a few more phone calls between us hashing this out.  At one point she told me they'd cancel my surgery if I tried to nurse Charlie.  I told her I wanted documented evidence that this was harmful to my son, and if it was for liability I would sign a waiver.  I said I had no issues coming up there in person with the studies in hand, my IBCLC, and a representative from the LLL.  Sue promised to get back to me.  A week and half later I still hadn't heard from her and she wasn't returning my phone calls so Debbie finally got her on the phone and asked Sue to set up a meeting between us and the anesthesiologist.  At first Sue said I wouldn't be able to speak to the anesthesiologist until the day of my surgery, but at Debbies urging she agreed to set up an appt.  This morning I had my meeting with them.  I pre-registered for the surgery, they showed me around, and then they brought in the anesthesiologist that is going to be there for my surgery.  She was awesome, and assured me that I would be able to nurse as soon as I wanted to.  There was no issues at all.  I felt bad that Debbie accompanied me to the appt, but am very happy with the outcome.  This was my first real adventure in Lactivism and certainly gave me a taste of what I'll do some day as an IBCLC.

So as all this approaches we also find out that David has a pretty severe hernia and is going in for surgery himself on the 9th.  Charlie is still having breathing issues.  And as a family we are dealing with some personal issues concerning one of our children that is taking an extreme emotional toll on us.  I'm hoping that the Karmic universe gives us a break here soon.

Day One of Homeschooling

Today was our first day of Homeschooling.  It went really well, and went much quicker than I originally expected.  Except for a few minor melt downs we had absolutely no issues either.  We started with independent journaling.  Writing and journaling are skills we are really trying to instill in Anthony, and so far he really seems to enjoy it.  For Anastasia we got her a sketch pad and she draws pictures during journaling time.  After breakfast (a nice primal breakfast of eggs and steak!) we moved onto Language Arts.  Anastasia seemed really disinterested in sitting still today so I concentrated on Anthony most of the time.  We began reading, "Stuart Little" today, and Anthony read aloud the first chapter.  He did amazingly well and only needed help on 2 or 3 words.  Afterwards I quizzed him a bit on comprehension and surprisingly he retained all he had read.  He then composed a short paragraph about the first chapter in his book log notebook.

He only misspelled a few words, which we then added to his spelling list notebook as a start for this weeks spelling list.

After Language Arts we had health.  The first unit study is about our bodies so we decided we wanted to measure everyones height, weight, hands and feet.  The kids weights really surprised me!  Anthony is now 38.5 lbs! Anastasia is 28.5 lbs (which is amazing, she's been 23 lbs forever).  David is now 19.5 lbs, so still not quite big enough to turn his car seat around but growing.  Our chunky baby, the only child of ours who has ever had baby fat and rolls, is now 10 lbs!  We figure he'll get super heavy and then stop growing like Anthony did.  I must be making cream this time instead of skim milk!

After Health we had music.  I originally wanted to start with the recorder but I haven't purchased them yet, so we are learning about composers instead.  Today we learned about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and will continue to study him for the rest of the week.  This is where our major melt down happened.  After reading a short biography on him I gave Anastasia a coloring page of his face, and Anthony received a word search to complete.  Anthony didn't want the wordsearch, he wanted to color.  Out of 9 words he only found one without help, and 2 with help, before he gave up. Will keep in mind he does not like word searches, but I will still give them to him because I do think they teach valuable skills.

After Health it was time for Spanish, which is computer based.  Anthony wasn't feeling it today and didn't really try, resulting in only getting half correct.  So we will be repeating lesson one for a while.

Next was Science, one of the subjects I'm the most excited about this year.  Today was a really easy day for Science, basically an intro into this years subject and some journaling in his Science Journal followed by adding Vocabulary into his Vocabulary Journal.  Tomorrow we start our first lab using thermometers to show how certain objects conduct heat!

Then we had Social Studies where we just introduced our current unit - Geography.  We learned basic definitions for Latitude and Longitude, identified the on a world map, learned how to read coordinates, and discussed the equator.  I guess he learned a lot of this already by reading one of his encyclopedias, so we flew through this quicker than I thought.

Finally we had Math.  I showed him how to do the word problems, and gave him two sheets to complete.  He flew through them very quickly and got every question correct! I was so proud.

So far things are going smoothly, but today was pretty easy.  On days where Anastasia is more interested we'll be doing a lot of things with her as well which will make things a bit more complicated.  But so far, so good.

Here's Anthony working on his Language Arts journal.

Here's my homeschool shelf, and our dining room with the alphabet posters, and the "Mizzell Money" reward chart (more on that in another post)

And of course, pictures of the kids!  David playing with Charlie's playmat, he can't keep himself off! And David getting into the homeschooling supplies.

Anastasia dancing to her "Get Ready For School" CD

And some of Chunky Charlie Bear.  So cute, so sweet, looks like me, but has little baby rolls!

Picture update

I promised pictures, so here are a few. I promise to get some more up soon.

Heres some of Charlie.  I love this little jacket!

And here is some of David.  He wanted to wear his sisters headband.  I love how big his eyes are, and how long and dark his lashes are.

Here is Anastasia.  It's not as easy to get pictures of the older two, they constantly ham it up.

And here is Anthony.  He lost his first tooth on Saturday!

Here's David and Anastasia walking down to see the puppies

And here is the newest addition to our family, coming home in 3 weeks!!  And his little litter mates.