Our morning at school together...

This past Thursday, Parker was able to go to with me to my pediatric nursing class. The instructors designed the day so that we could bring our kids/grandkids/nieces/nephews to class with us where we would let them play with toys and do various activities. While they were doing those things, we were to be assessing (always assess in nursing school) how they were playing, interacting, etc. I was so excited to bring her with me. And to top it all of, she was such a good girl. I was so proud of her. Here are a few photos and captions of our morning...

I was initially a little nervous about waking her up on this morning because she went to bed a little later than normal and I was going to be waking her up an hour earlier than normal and then putting her in the car for about an hour... driving to class in downtown Dallas traffic. Fun, fun! But, to my surprise, she actually woke up on her own this particular morning at the time I needed her to so she was actually in a pretty good mood. Here she is standing in the kitchen all dressed and pressed with her lovey and blankie in hand waiting on Momma to get her stuff together...

Cheese!!!

"Ok...enough already..."

I just couldn't help myself...I kept wanting to take pictures of her because she was being so sweet and I was just so excited that she was going with Mommy to "work"....

I think she figured it was going to be a while so after she plopped down like she did below, I took this one last picture and we were on our way....

Here she is while we were sitting (literally 0 mph) on the freeway...with her toboggin, lovey, blankie, and milk in tow....(please excuse the blurriness)...

So we arrived at school about an hour and 15 minutes later. When we got to the classroom, she was initially pretty shy...laying her head down on my shoulder and not really talking or interacting. After about 30 minutes or so, I decided that she probably needed to walk around a bit. We made it into a different room, where this girl pictured below (whom I do not know her name, but know her because we are in all of the same classes) squatted down, held out her arms and said "Parker! Come here!" And that was all it took. Parker went straight into her arms, then sat in her lap and made a craft. She only looked back at me a few times...

Here she is with her craft...

And I'm just throwing this one in there of us because I am trying to get better about taking pictures of us with her. One day we'll appreciate them....

Sweet Potato Fries

A couple of weeks ago, Geoff and I visited the restaurant Blue Mesa. We were intrigued when we discovered that there was something other than tortilla chips in the chip bowl....they were sweet potato chips. And they were good!! So this sparked an idea in my head (scary...I know!). I thought that maybe instead of cutting up regular potatoes and spraying them with olive oil and sprinkling them with Tony Cachere's Cajun spice and kosher salt and then baking those in the oven....I could do something similar with sweet potatoes. And a reason I really liked this idea...was that the sweet potato fries (if they worked out) would count as a vegetable. And this would come in very handy with a toddler who is very picky about the vegetables she eats. It was worth a try.

So here's what I did. I didn't think that cajun spice and kosher salt would do the trick for sweet potatoes...and since I don't think I have ever even bought a sweet potato before...I just googled "sweet potato fries" and found Sarah's Cucina Bella. I didn't use the exact ingredient amounts, but I did use these ingredients...just dumped the stuff in the zip-loc baggy until they looked like I wanted it to. Moral of the story.... It worked. Parker ate a few of them...



...but hey...I am happy with that!! I think it helps that they look like actual french fries...just a little more golden. And Geoff and I really like them as well. Definitely something I will do again. I do not like sweet potatoes (or at least I used to not like sweet potatoes)...I do, however, love french fries...and although these do not taste exactly like french fries...they do have a similar texture and kind of trick you into thinking that you are eating something bad.

And here's just a little more food for thought (no pun intended...hehe)...these things are really good for you!! I think we'll be seeing more sweet potatoes in our house real soon...

The following information was obtained from: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=64

An Antioxidant-Rich, Anti-Inflammatory Food

As an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene) and a very good source of vitamin C, sweet potatoes have healing properties as an antioxidant food. Both beta-carotene and vitamin C are very powerful antioxidants that work in the body to eliminate free radicals. Free radicals are chemicals that damage cells and cell membranes and are associated with the development of conditions like atherosclerosis, diabetic heart disease, and colon cancer. This may explain why beta-carotene and vitamin C have both been shown to be helpful for preventing these conditions.

Since these nutrients are also anti-inflammatory, they can be helpful in reducing the severity of conditions where inflammation plays a role, such as asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

In addition, sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin B6, which is needed to convert homocysteine, an interim product created during an important chemical process in cells called methylation, into other benign molecules. Since high homocysteine levels are associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, having a little extra vitamin B6 on hand is a good idea.