Coincidence?

Today at lunch Chase asked me which was hotter, the stove top or the oven. She figured that I would know from the many times I have burned myself. She did preface it with saying "I know that it has been a long time since you burned yourself, but to you remember which is hotter...."

Fast forward to 4pm. Jennifer decides to put a banana cake in the oven. Turns the oven on for about 60 seconds and remembers that there is something on the bottom of the stove that was smoking. Turns off oven. Opens door. Racks are still cool. Takes a towel and tries to grab black chunk off bottom of stove. Hits exposed sliver of finger against burner. OUCH.

Hoping to avoid the stove top for the rest of the day. Don't want to be able to give Chase a fresh comparison. One burn is plenty.

I am also hoping that she doesn't ask me any more dangerous questions, like "which hurt more, falling down the steps or slamming your hand in the door." It seems like these questions only lead to me acting out the situation again. Coincidence? Or Curse?

Dishing it up - Menu Plan Monday

I have been without a plan much of the past month. With Mark traveling, me being pregnant, and my kids be super willing to eat cereal or waffles for dinner, I just haven't been very motivated. But I feel like I need plan.

Monday
Spinach Salad
Super Skillet Side Dish
Turkey Polska Kiebasa
Cooked Carrots
Asparagus

Is it sad that I had to look through my old blog posts to find the recipe? The brand of Ascini De Pepe that I had in the cupboard didn't have the recipe.

Tuesday
Salad
Garlic Bread Pizza

Wednesday
Salad
Rice and Bean Burritos/or fish tacos

Thursday
Salad
Tofu
Fried Rice
Carrots
Peas

Friday
Salad
Pasta with Marinara

I have a batch of Rhubarb Strawberry Sauce made... so I see a crisp one night, and some bananas that need to be used... so either banana cake or bread. Not the most exciting menu, but at least it's a plan! And one that can be made with what we have on hand.

Adventures in Babysitting

Grandma Jean has been watching the girls for me, and she is a brave Grandma and ventures out alone with the troops. Their adventures to such exciting locations as the grocery store, Home Depot, and the park were enough to earn her the title of "Funnest Grandma."

But she took it to a new level. She recently took the girls to Lake Farm Park. The girls were excited to see the baby pigs, the goats, sheep,

Llama, and the "Oreo Cookie" Horse. However, no one wanted to milk the cow...

There are lots of hands-on activities there. Like grinding flour:


And, I've heard that if they get a nice sunny day-- there is talk about heading to the Cleveland Zoo.

Definitely a fun (and brave) Grandma!

DTJ

I am trying to figure out why the video of the girls doing their gymnastics routine won't upload. But thought that I would share a picture from the day.

We lucked out and got a dry and sunny day, so they were able to have the event outside. I was happy to see Chase and Ellis both being brave enough to be front and center. A great stride forward for my ultra-shy Chase.

Acid

Having an acidic kind of day. Some interactions--work, insurance companies, my kids... things just not going smoothly and it gives me that inner negative burning feeling. You probably know the one.

So we capped the day off with a trip to the Dentist for Ellis. She complained on Friday that her tooth hurt and I looked and saw some little brown dots. I was sure it was a cavity and. feeling the mommy guilt, got her the first available appointment [lest she have to be in pain any longer than necessary]. Guess what. No cavity. Yes, there are little brown dots. And yes they do appear to be pitted. But turns out that little Miss has one of two things (possibly both) going on... she may be a tooth grinder (although the dentist does not really see the same pattern on the top teeth to indicate this) or what the dentist really thinks is happening is that she thinks Ellis has an undiagnosed case of acid reflux. She says it looks like acid wear and based on the few cavities that Ellis has had the dentist asked me if Ellis was a side sleeper and sleeps on her left side... (which she does).

And the pain... best guess is that since Ellis is getting some molars she is experience some pain and pressure. The brown pits? We just keep brushing and let them be. Says that this pattern rarely turns to decay. The reflux? Dentist is going to talk to the pediatrician and we'll see if trying something for reflux, like Zantac, might be helpful.

Acid. Trying not to let it eat away at me. But the hormonal pregnant lady that I am is having a really hard time with it today. I think the dentist could tell. We were scheduled to come in at the end of the week for Chase and Ellis to get their teeth cleaned. Dr. Laura looked at us and said... "Why don't I just do that for you now... you were the last appointment of the day and I'll just get you taken care of so you don't have to come back." What a gift. When I told her how much I appreciated it, she told me that she had been there... had 3 babies in less than 3 years... way back when.

That little bit of sweetness went a long way. Neutralized some of the acid.

Hoping tomorrow brings me a little more sugar.

Too Funny

Mark is heading out of town for a race. He'll miss his birthday [I think he's trying to avoid all birthdays from here on out, anyway.] and Father's day.

So we decided to surprise him tonight with a cake, cards, and a present.

Chase and Ellis got it all ready.

I went to check out their efforts and nearly peed my pants [not that it's very hard to make a pregnant lady do... but still...]

Judge for yourselves.
And in case you can't read the punch line:

Summer Break

It is official. Today starts Summer Break.

Chase finished up Second Grade with a 95 degree Field Day, brought home a great report card, and we all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

This morning, all three girls slept until 9am! I know that this translates to later bedtimes, but that just seems par for the course in summer anyway.

Now it's time to figure out some kind of routine so that we don't all kill each other and I don't have to hear the dreaded "I'm Bored." 900 times a day.

Scream Decoder Ring

I seriously need a secret decoder ring... one for screams would be super helpful. Could one develop one soon before I have a heart attack over Iron Chef?

Yes. You read that correctly. Iron Chef.

Chase and Ellis came barreling inside after some post dinner play. I hear them throw themselves on the couch and turn on the TV. Then a thud. Then screams.

I go running to see who fell. Who got hurt. What the problem is.

Chase: "AHHH. Corn! Did you hear me??? CORN!!!

Mom: "What, where, who's hurt? What is going on? What was the thud?"

Chase: (quietly) "Huh? I guess that was me throwing the remote. No one is hurt. The secret ingredient tonight is corn. Can you BELIEVE that it isn't something GROSS? It's something that we might actually EAT!"

Mom: "And we screamed like someone was dying because?"

Chase: "It's corn. I'm just amazed. I guess I scream when I'm amazed."

Sigh. Now if I had ignored the scream, someone would have been missing an eye or a finger... I guarantee it.

Out of the mouths

At the bus stop this morning, the neighbor boy informed me that people are going to start calling me fat. I told him that most grown-ups would either recognize that I am pregnant or be polite enough not to comment.

His response?

"Well, kids aren't polite and we'll all call you fat. You look fatter every day. Wouldn't it be cool if you could be pregnant until the kid is a teenager?"

Uh, no. And THANKS a lot kid.

The one day all year his mom didn't come to the bus stop. Part of me feels like tattling...

Way to start the day.

Mother Nature

She is a jokester. A real tease.

Sweat your guts out for a few days. Then pull back out the long sleeves! Started the day in the low 50s. Should see mid 60s. Beautiful sun. Dry day. (so who am I to complain?) Last week we would have looked at 60 degrees as a heat wave. Funny how you quickly adjust to the 80s.

Speaking of jokesters... I caught Avery in the act of walking last night. Walked into the living room and she was walking around shaking the bag of parade candy out onto the floor. She looked over her shoulder, saw me and promptly sat down and crawled for the rest of the evening.

Perhaps I should pull out the number for the psychologist after all... turns out we aren't dealing with confidence issues so much as... hmmm... pure stubbornness or manipulation?

Regardless, Mark and I got a good laugh out of it.