Category: Uncategorized

A riddle: What has an adorable gap-toothed smile and enough energy to power Wisconsin?

ELEANOR ON HER BIRTHDAY.  Seriously, I could barely get the girl to calm down.  But who can blame her?  I’d be putting Keds-marks on the walls if I got to wear a spiffy loopy-rainbow headband . . .

. . . and had a good dozen of my friends show up for my birthday . . . 

(this is only half of the kids who came)

. . .  and got to have a giant cookie cake.

 

(“Happy Birthday to MEEEEE!”)

The sort-of theme for the birthday party was “Milk & Bookies,” inspired by this particular non-profit.  Instead of presents, the guests were asked to bring a book to donate to the Treehouse, a foundation that gives support to children in foster care.  We played book-ish themed games, I read stories (Epossumondas and The Princess and the Pig) and then everyone ate milk and cookies.

There were far, far more children at the party than we expected.  In the past, usually about 30% of the invites can’t come, but that wasn’t the case this year.  Whooo, boy.  Our final group activity was “Everyone Go Play Outside,” which they did.  With gusto.

I was felled by a severe backache the week of February 14.  This happened once before almost a year ago; a giant knot forms in my lower back/hip area and basically immobilizes me.

I couldn’t pick up Katie, or haul laundry, or drive.  Things that fell on the floor stayed on the floor.  Days were passed lying on the couch, taking large doses of ibuprofen, and rubbing my back with ice packs.  And moaning slightly when Katie got bored and dumped stuff on the floor.

By Valentine’s Day, I was slightly better, but still very sore.  However, I was thoroughly fed up with the whole situation and decided to make my family a fancy meal for the holiday.

Part of this is because we’ve been reading a picture book called Badger’s Fancy Meal. I basically just wanted to see William  lift his fork and repeat the catchphrase from the book “a really fancy meal.”  Which I got in spades.

So, what can you make when it hurts to do anything?  Frozen food from Trader Joe’s!

Yup: they do have cheap frozen beef bourgignon, cheap bottles of sparkling chardonnay grape juice (that come with a cork on the top and everything), and cheap little pastry bites stuffed with spinach/artichoke stuff.  And cheap roses.

Voila!

The kids were excited to have the nice plates, candles, the whole bit.  While waiting for the beef to bake, I was able to make some mashed potatoes and ice cream.

Please do not be impressed with the ice cream.  Homemade ice cream takes almost no effort.  But please do be impressed that I decided to try one of the more unusual flavors from my cookbook: pine nut and olive oil.

Very elegant with a strawberry and chocolate-almond lace cookie, no?  (Also thanks to Trader Joe’s.)

All consumed with one hand holding an ice pack behind my back.

Oh, and for Grandma Brian’s-Mom: the kids loved the Valentine presents.  Here’s the photo evidence:

Katie insisted that I put the new doll clothes on her baby doll toute-de-suite.

Eleanor and William spent a large chunk of yesterday afternoon putting together giant pipe-cleaner creations.  There are fuzzy dinosaurs all over the house.

And . . . well . . . Jeffrey was so excited about his book that he immediately went to bed so he could stay up late and read it.  That’s right, WENT TO BED. And I didn’t get a picture.  That’s how much he loved it!

Tonight Eleanor and I worked on her Home Scientist badge for Brownie Scouts. It was so much fun!

We made rock candy, floated an egg in salt water, bent a stream of water with static electricity, inflated a balloon with a vinegar/baking soda reaction . . .

. . . and made the ol’ cornstarch-n-water slime, which the Brownie handbook called “dinosaur snot.” So fun to play with!

Eleanor has now passed off all her badge requirements — and Wimmy is wondering if he can have a badge, too. He isn’t a Brownie Scout Helper, he ‘s a Brownie Scout Hero, he insists. Cute.

…. is what I am going to call all waxing crescent moons from now on. Because my children were behaving like Satan’s minions this morning, that’s why. I wasn’t much better; blew my top over and over. And then …. Katie had a meltdown at library storytime and had to be dragged away.

Oh, she looks innocent, but don’t let that fool you. DEVIL!!

Just beneath that adorably pudgy exterior likes a shriek designed to scrape the cartilage off your ear drums.  And it was not appreciated by the patrons of the Richmond Beach Library.  What to do?

This seemed the best solution to my problem:

Yes, I purchased a Cuisinart ice cream maker at the thrift store yesterday. Mexican chocolate ice cream and Meyer lemon custard, hooray!

 

 

This is a quote that I was reenacting at parties and gatherings during most of the holidays.  Forgive me, friends, if you’ve heard it before.  I just wanted to get it down on digital paper for preservation’s sake.

 

JEFF: Mom, when I disobey you, you shouldn’t get upset.

ME: Oh, no?

JEFF: No, you should just take a deep breath and ask yourself, “In the course of my life, how much will this really matter?”

ME: But Jeffrey, if I didn’t give you consequences when you disobey me, how could I teach you to do what’s right?

JEFF: It would be hard.

ME: What would happen instead?

JEFF [growing very solemn]: I would choose the wrong.  Just like Muammar Gaddafi.

 

?!?!!?  As my brother-in-law Patrick put it: “That is off the wall.”  For the record, I did a little digging and discovered that the “in the course of my life” quote is from Walk Two Moons, which Jeffrey read for school (nice to discover he’s absorbing something).

He said he learned about Gaddafi from “listening to the news on the radio.”  So . . . thanks, NPR?

While delivering Eleanor to dance class today . . .

JEFF: So Mom, which would you prefer, a real dog or a robot dog?

ME: Well . . .  a robot dog wouldn’t cuddle up warm with you.

JEFF: But a robot dog would obey over 100 commands!

ME: True.  It also woudln’t poop on the floor, chew up toys, or run away.

JEFF: Yes!

ME: But a robot dog would never look you in the eye to say “I love you.”

JEFF: Hmm . . .

ME: It’s a tough decision.  Which would you choose?

[beat]

JEFF: I think I would just like a cat.

Wimmy is helping with dinner tonight by cooking tortillas on our griddle.

“I’ll smash all the air bubbles for you, Mom!” And he does, with gusto. Should I tell him that it isn’t really necessary, but a job I made up because it seemed fun to do?

Somehow I have become the Cookie Parent for Eleanor’s Brownie Troop. No biggie, right? Henceforth I am summoning all my enthusiasm for girl-led entrepreneurial enterprises. (Say those last two words 3 times fast . . .).

Anyway, this is the opening weekend of cookie sales. Eleanor and I hit the streets together and she sold 67 boxes to our neighbors. Not bad, although the frosty temperatures required frequent stops at home for hot cocoa.

I relished getting to know our neighbors better — Eleanor finally met the 7 year old twins on the next street over and netted a play date. Nice, eh?

Family and friends who want cookies: let me know and I’ll have Eleanor contact you.

Apparently “The 12th Man” is how Seahawks fans collectively refer to themselves. I am tragically ignorant about football — does the team usually only have 11 people? I think it might be a retired team number or something.

Anyway, the Seattle-Atlanta game is this weekend, so it was Seahawks day at school and all the kids wore blue, green, or white. William’s sentence of the day at in kindergarten was even “Are you wearing blue or green?” Which is cute, but I feel bad for the kids who decided to dress otherwise.

Annnnnnd the photo evidence: