This and That

I re-instituted the evening walk tonight. We've had a two-day break in the humidity, so I took advantage of it. (And the fact that Ed was home from work before we were, making the evening routine much easier.) William came with me and he spent most of the time holding a stick with a pine cone attached to it and pretending it was some kind of light. He had a running dialogue going that I only partly paid attention to. When I asked him what his favorite part of the day was, he said it was learning about volcanoes and how they "interrupt." (Instead of erupt.) Too funny. The only problem with the evening walk was that William didn't fall asleep until 9:30. But that may have been the case whether we walked or not. Hard to know.

In other news, I'm almost done reading NurtureShock and now I'm a little freaked out. There's a chapter about how a lot of "educational" programs and books actually teach kids relational aggression (basically, how to be mean to other kids without physical or verbal aggression). The chapter doesn't say which shows and books are bad, though. I need a list! It mentioned Arthur, which is one of William's favorites. (He really likes the books, too.) And Spongebob Sqaurepants (which we've never watched), which I could have figured out. And Clifford (which William likes, but we haven't watched it in a long time.) But what else?  Both William and Seth love Backyardigans, and fortunately, I don't think there are ever any examples of relational aggression on that show. They're never mean to each other. So I can't imagine that show is objectionable. William likes Martha Speaks and Word Girl. Both are meant for older kids, but I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out if they portray relational aggression. Other shows the boys like are Sid the Science Kid (no relational aggression that I've seen), and Bob the Builder. I think the machines get into tiffs on that show, so I should pay more attention.

But what about the damage I've already done by letting them watch the objectionable shows? I say that partly tongue in cheek--if you believed and tried to follow every parenting advice book, you'd be twisting yourself into knots. So much of parenting is common sense and moderation. But there's a lot of research to back up what the authors of the book have discovered. And that part makes me wig out just a teensy tiny bit. The book might not start out as a parenting advice book, but really, that's what it is. "Here's all the ways parents are f-ing up their kids, and here's the research to prove it." Great. It's definitely enlightening, and I'm glad I've read it, and I'll definitely re-read certain chapters. I'm taking it all with a grain of salt, but it's kind of depressing, if you ask me. Despite that, I'm planning on buying a copy of the book to give to the teachers at William and Seth's school. And it's getting late, and I want to finish it tonight. So I'm signing off!

Menu Plan Monday -- July 26

Another good weekend. Not much to report! We went to a friend's house for dinner on Saturday and had a great time. We definitely need to work on socializing more! Seth's Zoom Around the Room class was much better this weekend. He still got upset when it was time to clean up for circle time, but he got over it quickly. He wouldn't participate in the songs, but he did participate in the parachute play, and he enjoyed it. William, meanwhile, earned his white belt in Taekwondo, and Ed said he did pretty well in the class. He got a gold star that I have to sew onto his uniform, though, and I have no idea how to do that. Thank God for Google! We also spent time at the pool yesterday, so we're meeting our goal of pool time every week.

We've had three weekends in a row of very few commitments and it has been so nice not to run around and feel pressed for time. We haven't really done any "fun" or exciting adventures with the boys, but I think they enjoy playing at home just as much. Next weekend may be "busy." We'll probably celebrate Ed's grandmother's birthday, and I'm going to visit a friend with a new baby (by myself). Hopefully we'll still find time for the pool. And maybe we'll even do the pool after work one day this week. We did it on Friday and it was great.

Switching gears, here's this week's dinner plan.

Sunday: Grilled salmon, corn on the cob, broccoli, dinner rolls

Monday: Parmesan chicken nuggets, green beans, biscuits

Tuesday: Black bean quesadillas

Wednesday: Waffles/breakfast for dinner with fruit salad

Thursday: Ham and cheese Stromboli (I doubt William will like this, so I'll offer William ham and cheese or pepperoni and cheese separately. He doesn't like melted cheese.)

Friday: Dirty rice (I love this recipe but I'm not sure if the boys will like it. So I'll need to have a backup.)

Saturday: Dinner out

Phone Photo Friday--Late Edition

We finally made it to the pool after work today.

And although I gripe about it a lot, there's one good thing about DC traffic--the view:

Mean Mommy

Tonight was not a good night. William was primed for meltdowns by the time I picked him and Seth up from school. I forgot the apple juice for the car ride home, but before I could even explain that we could walk to the corner store right by the school to get some, he threw a fit. Once he calmed down, we got some juice and all was okay. But then we hit traffic and it took us 50 minutes to get home. (I can't even begin to tell you how horrible traffic has been, and how cranky it makes me. There's construction going on by one of the bridges and it's causing cluster-you-know-what at every other bridge leading into Virginia..

Once home, both boys played while I made dinner (I didn't even take the time to change my clothes), but then neither one wanted to stop playing to actually eat dinner. They both claimed they weren't hungry, and even though I warned them several times that if they chose not to eat, they would not get chocolate milk, and they would not get another chance to eat (it was after 7:00 by this point, so it's not like there would have been time for them to eat later anyway), they both said fine. Then they didn't want to stop playing and clean up when it was time to go upstairs and take a bath. After several warnings that they would have to go to their rooms if they didn't clean up, they both ignored us, so they both got put in their rooms, and much crying and wailing ensued. After a few minutes, we let them out and told them to clean up. William continued to cry and wail, so he stayed in his room for a few more minutes.

After finally cleaning up their toys, we went upstairs to take a bath, and William was still whining and crying. And of course, they both wanted to eat. Nope, sorry. Cry cry cry. Once in the bath, they fought. They settled down, but when it was time to get out, cry cry cry. Then William wanted chocolate milk. Whine whine whine. I said no twenty times. He's nothing if not persistent. It's almost 9:00 and he's still awake. He hasn't asked for chocolate milk for at least 10 minutes. Let's hope he's given up. Seth seemed okay with ice water before bed. I'm worried they'll both wake up because they're hungry. But such is life. Sometimes parenting just sucks.

Awesome Chicken and NurtureShock

I was convinced that tonight's Thai Grilled Chicken with Cilantro Dipping Sauce was going to be a major disaster. The recipe calls for a basting sauce made of cilantro, jalapeno peppers, fish sauce, sesame oil, and garlic. You mix all of that in the blender and then coat the chicken in it right before you put in on the grill (or under the broiler). Well, we didn't have any jalapenos, so I left those out. And while the recipe calls for 4 cloves of garlic, I missed the part where you only use two cloves for the basting sauce and then use the other two for the dipping sauce. I used all four for the basting sauce. And I also missed the part where you coat the chicken with the sauce right before grilling. I poured the sauce over the chicken last night and put in the fridge for about 20 hours. Furthermore, once all the ingredients were blended, all I could smell was the sesame oil. And when I tasted it, all I could taste was sesame oil and salt. The cilantro flavor did not seem to come through. So, I did not have high hopes.

When we got home today, I went ahead and put the chicken on the grill. And when it was done, I made the dipping sauce. And OH MY GOD--it was awesome! Sooooo good. And for people who don't like spicy food, leaving out the jalapenos was fine. (I will probably leave out the peppers again next time I make it for the kids, but if I was just making it for me and Ed, or for a dinner party, I'd probably add just one jalapeno.) The dipping sauce really made it awesome, although neither of the boys liked the dipping sauce. They did, however, eat every bite of their chicken. So score! It might taste even better if you make the sauce and put it on the chicken right away and then cooked it, rather than making it the night before. But either way, it's easy, quick, and yummy. I'm very excited to have a new chicken recipe that's a touch exotic, yet easy, and something that everyone loves. Plus, it's a great way to use up cilantro.

In other news, I'm reading NurtureShock, and wow--it's really thought-provoking. It's definitely not a judgmental parenting book, prescribing a certain way to do things. It does, however, leave me feeling somewhat panicked that I've probably been doing a lot of things "wrong."  But mostly, it's making me consider and understand things from a different perspective--such as how we praise kids, talking about race, the importance of sleep, and intelligence--and I feel like I will be a better parent for having read and processed the book. I highly recommend it!

Menu Plan Monday, I mean Tuesday, and Updates

Better late than never, right?

Sunday: Parmesan chicken tenders, corn on the cob, broccoli (Made by Ed)

Monday: Annie's mac-n-cheese, green beans (William has not been eating mac-n-cheese lately--kind of weird. He ate yogurt, some of the beans, a few bites of bread, and a few bites of American cheese.)

Tuesday: Shrimp scampi with asparagus

Wednesday: Thai Grilled Chicken with Cilantro dipping sauce, salad, dinner rolls

Thursday: Pork piccata, broccoli, biscuits

Friday: Homemade pizza

Saturday: TBD--Black bean and cheese quesadillas as a fallback

Now for the updates:

Sleeping: Since I wrote the post about being so tired, both boys have been sleeping pretty well. Seth has been sleeping through the night, but I hear him wake up and drink from his cup but he goes right back to sleep. I've been putting watered down apple juice in the cup because although he's been fine with water a few times, more often he stands up and calls for me and wants chocolate milk. So if I keep watering down the apple juice, I figure that's an okay trade-off. I do wonder if I broke him of the habit of drinking anything during the night, if he would stop waking up. Only one way to find out, I guess.

William has been waking up around 5 a.m. or so. He usually gets into our bed, and wants chocolate milk. I've found that if I give him milk, he'll drink it and go back to sleep for another hour or more. If I don't, he'll doze and wake up every 10 minutes and ask for chocolate milk. Kind of a no-brainer in my book--he gets his milk. If it's before 5 a.m., though, he doesn't get milk. So that's where we stand with sleeping. It's definitely better!

Food waste: I've been terrible with food waste lately. I have half a cantaloupe and half a small watermelon that I'll have to throw out this week. (For some reason, the boys have not been eating a lot of fruit lately.) We also never finished up the leftover pork chops from last week. And there's some steak from Friday night that we're struggling with finishing. I'll probably be able to eat a lot of it by bringing steak salad to work tomorrow. And I can offer some to William tonight if he doesn't want the shrimp scampi. Anyway, definitely need to pick it up a notch! I threw out some cottage cheese that hadn't gone bad, but I had tried the low sodium kind, and blech! I did not like it. I should have tried putting it in a smoothie or some other such recipe. But I didn't have the energy to figure out what to do with it. Boo on me. I've also got a tight budget the next two weeks, so I need to minimize extra spending. That means bringing lunch to work every day, and making do with what's in the pantry and freezer and not making extra grocery store runs. And of course, eating the food already purchased and prepared.

Home search: I mentioned in my last post that Ed and I went to a bunch of open houses last weekend. I was disappointed, mostly because our desire for the kind of house we want to live in is not going to be possible in the neighborhoods we want to live in. So we're either going to have to live further out and deal with the commute, or we're going to have to settle for less house. Neither one of us wants a house that we'll have to fix up. We're really not good with home projects, and we'll just end up never doing anything and we'll live in a house that we don't really like. It's hard enough to make simple decorating decisions. I don't want to have to meet with contractors and re-do bathrooms and replace fixtures and floors and carpet and all the other things that we'd want to do if we bought closer in. Maybe I'm getting discouraged too soon. We still have time, and housing prices look like they will continue to fall. (Although not in the close-in areas where we want to live.) That could mean fewer prospects on the market, but spring is always a better time for house hunting anyway. We'll see.

Exercise: That should really say, lack of exercise. I just can't get it together peoples. Getting up early is not happening. And walking after dinner is not happening. I could probably be making more of an effort to walk after dinner, but it's been so freakin' hot, and thunderstorms have been common in the evenings. And it's been hard to get the boys bathed and ready for bed by 7:45. By the time I'm done reading stories to William, it's been more like 8:15 or 8:30, and by then, the last thing I want to do is go walking. I guess it's my mindset that needs changing more than my schedule. I'll keep trying! 

So that's about it for my world. Not sure if swimming will happen this week. The weather calls for possible thunderstorms every afternoon. I think I'll put bathing suits and towels in the car and if the weather looks good one evening, I'll have Ed meet us at the pool with pizza. Now THAT'S a good plan!

Weekend Report

Another good weekend--low key, not a lot of commitments, time to do chores, hang out, take a nap. Seth's nose started dripping like a faucet again today. Ed's did, too. William has been fighting something for two weeks now, but it still hasn't gotten the best of him. On Friday, he seemed pretty congested and wiped his nose a lot with the back of his hand. (Lovely.) But he hasn't gotten worse over the weekend. I got probiotic vitamins for the boys--chewables--but Seth doesn't like them. I should have just gotten the kind that you sprinkle in drinks or food. Oh well, live and learn.

But anyway, back to the weekend. Friday night was movie night for William. He LOVES movie night. I put Seth down to sleep while Ed and William pop popcorn, and then we all sit on the couch and watch a movie. We usually try to pick a short movie, but Friday night, William wanted to watch Karate Kid--the original one with Ralph Macchio. I thought he'd want to turn it off as soon as it started. But he watched almost the entire movie. He stayed up until 10:30! We payed for it a little bit on Saturday, but it could have been much worse. He didn't even take a nap on Saturday like I thought he would.

On Saturday morning, Ed took William to Taekwondo and I took Seth to "Zoom around the room"--a soft playroom where the kids have free play and then gather for circle time to sing songs and do the parachute thing. Seth was a bit of a terror during the class. The moms kept giving me sympathetic looks, and one mom even said to me, "It's okay. We've all had a two year old." Most of the kids were older than Seth, but not that much older. He really wasn't that bad until it was circle time. The teacher started pushing all the soft blocks to the wall to make room and Seth freaked. He was screaming and crying and trying to drag the blocks back to the center of the room. He wanted NO part of circle time and song-singing. I finally carried him out of the room kicking and crying, and we watched circle time through the window. After a few songs, he agreed to go back in if he could sit on the side and watch. He did. During parachute time, the teacher told me to come grab a handle, and she figured Seth would want to join in. I knew Seth would freak, but I didn't want to refuse the request, so I joined. And Seth freaked. He starting crying again and grabbed at my shirt and arm and leg, trying to drag me away. It was pretty funny. Luckily, it was the very end. Once it was all over, he perked right up, got a sticker from the teacher, said "Thank you," and even gave the teacher a hug. Can't wait until next week! (That was sarcasm, in case it doesn't come across in my writing.)

The rest of Saturday was spent going to Target, taking a nap (Seth and me), playing (William and Ed), and then going to the pool. I decided to take the boys swimming in the late afternoon (5:30 p.m.), and brought along a picnic dinner. It was awesome. The boys had a great time, it wasn't too hot, and it helped wear them out for bed. We got home at 7:30, put on pajamas, brushed teeth, read stories and I turned out lights. William fell asleep immediately. Seth, on the other hand, did not. He was wide awake. Ed got him out of the crib after about a half an hour of listening to him try to talk to us and brought him downstairs. They watched TV. Seth came upstairs with me for a little while and played while I folded laundry. He went back downstairs and watched more TV. He finally went to sleep at 10:30. What gives?

The really crazy thing that happened this weekend, though, was that William slept in on Sunday morning until 8:15 a.m. He had woken up at 5:45 a.m. and asked for some juice. I gave him some, changed his pull-up, and he came into our bed and went back to sleep instantly. And he slept until 8:15!!!! He has NEVER slept that late. I was so glad that he caught up on his sleep. Seth, meanwhile, woke up at 5:15 a.m., but also went back to sleep, and he slept until 7:15. I thought he would sleep later, but considering that fact that he took a 3-hour nap both Saturday and Sunday, I think he's getting enough sleep. And tonight (Sunday), he fell asleep pretty quickly. They both did.

So overall, a really good weekend. Today, Ed and I spent four hours looking at open houses in various neighborhoods while Ed's parents' watched the kids. It was a little depressing. What we can afford pretty much sucks. Luckily, we still have time. In the meantime, where we live now works pretty well. I especially like having the pool so close. And speaking of the pool, I'm planning a possible pool night after work one day this week. I'll have a picnic dinner again, and we can swim until bed time. We'll see if the weather cooperates.

A Night in the Life

For the last three days, traffic getting out of DC has been HORRIBLE. It has taken us well over an hour to get home every day. I have tried every route possible, and each one is worse than the one before. It's making me nuts. There must be 300 ways to get from Capitol Hill to Virginia, and each way that I choose is the most jammed. I think it has something to do with some repaving that's occurring on one span of one bridge. Either that, or I just have a knack for choosing the MOST CONGESTED way home.

At any rate, our plan today was to stop by the library on the way home so I could pick up a book on hold for me (I finally came up for Nurtureshock!), and the boys could get a few books, too. Then we would go home and eat. On the hellacious drive home, however, which took one hour and ten minutes, William needed to use the bathroom. I was already on the interstate, though--the HOV lanes, where there are no exits and only concrete barriers on both sides of the lanes. I could have pulled onto the shoulder (which is hardly wide enough for the minivan) and let him pee into a diaper or pull-up from the diaper bag (done that before), except we didn't have the diaper bag, so no diapers or pull-ups. I could have let him pee out of the side of the van, onto the pavement. But that's just gross, and I didn't want to open that can of worms. So I begged him to hold it. And then I finally told him that if he had to pee in his pants, that was okay. We could clean it up when we got home. So that's what he did. His mood sure did improve, though, once he let it all out!

So instead of the library on the way home, we went home, got William changed and cleaned up, got the car seat cleaned up and the cover in the washer, and got dinner for the boys. (Quesadillas for Ed, Seth, and me; waffle and broccoli for William.) The boys still wanted to go to the library, though, so at 7:40 p.m., we headed to the library. I quickly picked up my book, and then helped William pick out some books. Seth is always a bit of a mess at the library, so I was that mom using my loud whisper  voice (you know the voice, right? Where you yell in a whisper?) every five seconds--"Seth, stay with Mommy." "Seth, do not pull books off the shelf." "Seth, we do NOT stand on books. That's not okay." "Seth! Where'd you go?" It was great fun.

But we made it home, the boys were happy, we still fit in baths and books, and they were in bed with lights out at 9:00. Much later than usual, but a successful night in the long run. And once the boys went to bed, I made banana crunch muffins, so even more productive than I could have anticipated. And since I have not been posting a lot of pictures lately, here are two of my recent favorites, taken with the new point and shoot. Maybe not the greatest camera, but definitely the greatest kids!

Midnight Snack

At around 12:30 a.m. this morning, Seth woke up crying, "Cracker. I want a cracker." He's never asked for anything to eat before in the middle of the night, so I figured he must really be hungry. I brought him downstairs and pulled out a box of Ritz crackers. Then he said, "Cheese." So I got out a piece of American cheese and divvied it up among the crackers. Seth sat at the kitchen table and happily munched on his snack. I got him a cup of milk and sat down next to him. I was in a total sleep stupor, but he was so cute eating his crackers and cheese in the dark. After he finished eating, he took several slurps of milk, and then asked to go back upstairs.

Once upstairs, I rocked him for a few minutes, but it took several attempts before he got settled and fell back asleep. I finally went back to sleep at 1:30 a.m. Then, at 4:30 a.m., William woke up coughing. He wanted to come into our bed. I said no. He wanted me to come into his bed. I said no. I compromised and laid a comforter on our floor next to our bed and let him sleep there. He coughed and coughed and begged for chocolate milk. I got him some orange juice. He finally drifted back to sleep at around 5:15 a.m., only to wake up again an hour later.

Sigh. This has basically been the pattern since we got back from vacation. Seth wakes up around 12:30 or 1:00 a.m., and then William wakes up around 4:30 a.m. It's like having an infant all over again. (At least my infants, who didn't sleep.) They usually go back to sleep pretty quickly, but they insist on waking me up before they do. Isn't that thoughtful of them? William goes through these phases pretty regularly. A few weeks of sleeping through the night, and a few weeks of waking up in the wee hours of the morning (for a variety of reasons). Seth has moments (a few days here and there) where he'll sleep all night, but he usually wakes up once. I'm used to it, and as long as they go right back to sleep, it isn't usually a huge deal. Not something I feel the need to do anything about.

But right now, I'm tired. Bone tired. So I guess it's time to make more of an effort. For William, that means working on incentives for staying in his bed all night and not waking mommy. For Seth, it means, well, I don't know what it means. I guess it means letting him cry and taking the risk that William will wake up, too. Something's gotta give. I'm not getting any younger, and since a full night of sleep still seems like a pipe dream at this point in my life, I guess I need to be a bit more proactive. And yes, I've said this all before. No reason to think I'll be any more successful this time than any other time. But you can't let failure keep you from trying, right? Well, that's what I keep telling myself, anyway.

In the meantime, I'll just keep trying to appreciate all the moments I spend with the boys--even those that happen in the wee hours of the morning.

Menu Plan Monday -- July 12

The menu plan has been non-existent over the past two weeks, so I'm glad to have it back in place. It hasn't been too bad, though. I managed to get us through last week's mini-week without a grocery store run (other than for milk and OJ) and without a lot of takeout. We did get carry-out from a local restaurant one day last week. It was right next to the barber shop where we got William's haircut. Nice change of pace for a weeknight!

Anyway, we also haven't been too great with food waste, so time to take it up a notch. I really want to start composting, but there's no good place for a compost bin at our townhouse. Not to mention the fact that I wouldn't use the compost. All in good time, though. Time to get back into the groove with the menu and eating the food we buy and prepare. So without further ado:

Sunday: Ribs, asparagus, crescent rolls (we use a dry rub recipe--sage, thyme, salt, and pepper--from the Joy of Cooking cookbook on the ribs, and then either cook them in the oven, or on the grill. Yum!)

Monday: Chicken enchiladas, salad (William will probably not eat these, so he'll have leftovers)

Tuesday: Leftovers (Trying to eat up leftover steak from Friday night, leftover ribs, leftover pork chops, and leftover wagon wheel pasta)

Wednesday: Homemade pizza (not entirely homemade, since I'm using pizza dough from a can) and salad

Thursday: Quesadillas (Cheese and black bean, with salsa and sour cream--again, William probably won't eat them, so I'll offer him waffles, or maybe he'll just eat a plain tortilla)

Friday: Sirloin steak, twice-baked potatoes, salad or broccoli

Saturday: TBD, hopefully fish of some kind. (We may take a little trip to the DC waterfront, where they have all kinds of fresh seafood markets. In all my years in DC, I've never been there!)

Still Working on Vacation Recovery

Last week was long. Even though it was short. And if you think that doesn't make any sense, welcome to my world. Seth and I are still getting over our colds. And it seems like William is on the verge of getting sick. (Fingers crossed that his immune system is kicking into high gear!) Fortunately, we had no obligations this weekend, so I used the time to rest and get organized. The boys got to spend a lot of time playing at home. And we even managed to make homemade cookies and cream ice cream with the new hand-crank ice cream maker that Ed's parents gave me for my birthday. Mmmmmm.

But first things first. I promised to report on our trip to North Carolina over the 4th of July weekend. As I mentioned, it was great. It was hard, mind you, and I'm not sure I'll do it again without Ed, but overall, it was great. The boys did really well on the long drives. They watched videos mostly. (At least William did. Seth is not much for TV, yet.) William did a lot of "when-are-we-going-to-get-there?" whining, but that was the worst of it, so not too bad. Ed's parents were a big help, which definitely made it easier.When we arrived in Charlotte on Friday evening, we ate dinner at Ed's sister's house (with the boys' cousins, ages 7, 5, and almost 1), and then headed to my mom and brother's house.

On Saturday, we spent the early morning at a park right next to the complex where my mom and brother live. Later, we went to an awesome park near downtown Charlotte. There was a playground and an old locomotive steam engine that the boys could play in. There was a big pond with lots of ducks and then a small nature museum. The boys had a blast. In the afternoon, we went swimming in the pool (part of their townhouse complex), and we went out to eat in the evening. The only hitch with Saturday night was that Seth had started showing signs of a cold on Saturday, and by Saturday night, it was pretty apparent he didn't feel well. I gave him some generic Motrin before bed, but then I don't know what happened. The child would not go to sleep. He was WIDE AWAKE. He screamed if I put him in his pack and play, he played if I put him in the bed with me (William was also in the bed, fast asleep), and he came downstairs repeatedly if I tried leaving him in the bed. I was beyond frustrated. I wanted to rip my hair out. I was so exhausted and I just couldn't deal. It was about then that I swore I would never do a trip like that again without Ed. Luckily, my brother was downstairs, so I took Seth downstairs and deposited him with my brother while I went back upstairs and chilled out for a little while. Finally, Seth was ready to go to sleep.

On Sunday (the 4th), we went to Ed's sister's house, and even though Seth was not feeling well, he was a trooper. The boys had a great time with their cousins, and their cousins' toys, and around mid-day, we went to an awesome water park. We stayed there for several hours and then came home and Seth took a long nap. Meanwhile, William played and I got to relax. When it finally got dark, the neighbors all got together and started shooting off awesome fireworks from the cul-de-sac. William was beyond excited. He LOVED it. Seth, meanwhile, was beyond scared. He sat on the couch in the family room, under a blanket, as me and the two grandmas alternated going outside and sitting inside with Seth. Poor Seth!

On Monday, we left Charlotte in the morning and I took Ed's parents to Chapel Hill to visit friends and then headed over to LauraC's. I posted about that already, so that brings us back to this week. And oh yeah--pictures! I brought my new point-and-shoot camera with me, but it turns out that my camera was never the problem. I'm the problem. My pictures with the point-and-shoot are even crappier than with the good camera. Bummer. Here are a few shots anyway.

These were taken at my brother's, in a park that's right next door to their complex.

This shot, although blurry (note the stellar photography skills!) is pretty funny. This was taken at the water park on the 4th of July:

Here are all the grandkids--five boys!

And finally, five grandsons with Grandma.

As for our recovery, hopefully, this weekend got us over the hump. I finished up the laundry, cleaned bathrooms, dusted (here and there), went to the grocery store, cleaned a few things out, and made a menu plan. I'm definitely feeling more settled as we head into the new week. Hopefully, I'll post a bit more. And we'll get back into a groove. That holding pattern doesn't look so bad from where I stand now!

Vacation Recovery

We're back from our long weekend and have entered the "recovery" phase. Our mini-vacation went really well, and the boys had a great time. Seth and I both got sick, but it's just a summer cold, so things could have been a lot worse. It didn't really slow us down, and we all managed to have fun. The boys did great on the long drive there and back, and having Ed's parents along helped a lot.

I have pictures to download and stories to tell (not as many pictures as I had hoped to take, but that seems to be the norm), but all in good time. For now, I just wanted to say I'm back. And of course, I have to give a shout out to LauraC and JonC, the most gracious hosts anyone could imagine. They opened their home to us and they could not have been nicer. When we arrived, I had to wake William up and he was super grumpy. So we were not off to a good start. I was a little worried that he had caught the cold bug, too, but he rallied and we all put on our swim gear and headed to the pool. My boys watched Nate and Alex swim like fish, and Seth and Alex proved to be the perfect pool buddies. Seth repeatedly threw water rockets into the pool and then yelled, "I want my rocket! I want my rocket!" And then Alex would happily fetch the rockets for Seth.

After swimming, the boys played in the back yard and William was in heaven. I was surprised at how well they all got along. After all four boys took a bath together (where they still got along really well), they all went to bed and gave Laura and me a chance to catch up. Initially, William had said that he wanted to sleep in Nate and Alex's room, so Laura set them all up with sleeping bags. But at the last minute, William chickened out, and ended up sleeping in the bed with me.

As Laura mentioned, we enjoyed catching up, knowing that we would see each other again soon. And yes--Seth was quite the two year old (not just at Laura's house, but the whole weekend), reinforcing for both of us the certainty that we feel about not having more babies. (Even when I spent time with my SIL's 9-month-old son, who couldn't be a cuter or easier baby, I could unquestionably say that I do NOT want to go there again.) But back to the point--Laura and Jon are so awesome and they go out of their way to make guests feel welcomed, without making you think they're going out of their way. (The true definition of graciousness!) I was uber-impressed with how independent Nate and Alex are, and I have to admit that several times since we've left, I've said things to William like, "Nate and Alex drink out of big boy cups." (William has an attachment to his sippy cups.) And "Nate and Alex get dressed all by themselves." And "Nate and Alex always wash their hands when they go to the bathroom. (Don't ask.)

Anyway, it was a great visit and I hope we can return the favor in the not-too-distant future. Thanks so much Laura and Jon! And I will give the low-down on the rest of the weekend in my next post, with pictures. I'm just glad to be back, and hoping we have an easy transition back into our routine.

Taking Time

Yesterday's weather was gorgeous! Gone is the high heat and humidity we've been experiencing for the last three weeks. Instead we had blue skies, temps in the low 80s, and very low humidity. It actually felt cool enough in the morning to wear a sweater! When we got home from work (after going through the Burger King drive-thru, a first for me!), we were pleasantly surprised to find Ed home. So the boys quickly ate dinner and we all headed out for a walk.

The boys had a blast. We let them walk along the path with us and push the strollers. We went to the waterfall that graces the entrance of our development, which the boys love. Then we walked around the pond and back home. Once home, I let the boys play on the playground and draw with chalk on the sidewalk. I took that time to clean out the car in preparation for our trip. Although I had tons of things to do to get ready, the weather was just too gorgeous to pass up. We finally dragged the boys inside at 7:45 to start the bedtime routine.

Of course, that meant that I didn't start the laundry until 8:15, and I didn't head out to the store until 9:30, and I didn't go to bed until after 11:00. But none of that matters when you have a gorgeous day in June and the chance to spend time with the three boys you love most in the world! Today's weather is a repeat of yesterday's, so I'm thinking we'll do the same thing tonight. If Ed has to work late, maybe we'll get Subway sandwiches and have a picnic in the park by my office. Seth always wants to stop and get out when we pass it on the way home, and I always think, "One day, we'll do that." So here's our chance.

I probably won't post again until we get back, so wish us luck! And happy 4th of July to everyone!

Holy Busy

The death of Senator Byrd on Monday morning has resulted in a very busy week for us in the Senate Historical Office. Even though he was 92 and has been in frail health in recent years, his death still came as a shock to me. There are just some people that you think will always be around.

One of my jobs in our office is to update the statistical lists that we maintain on all aspects of Senate history--senators, elections, sessions of Congress, party leadership, committees, Senate officers, and powers of the Senate. I've been updating lots of lists, including the list of funerals held in the Senate Chamber. Senator Byrd is the longest-serving senator in Senate history, and also the longest-serving member of Congress in U.S. history. It's very appropriate that this man, who put the institution of the Senate above all else, would want some kind of service on the floor of the Senate Chamber. But since this has not been done since 1959, we were flooded with calls on Monday and Tuesday about Senate Chamber funerals, and all the myriad details involved. It looks like most details have been ironed out, but we are working on making our Funerals subject file more complete, including precedents for all of the questions that planners and reporters have been asking this week.

In the meantime, I haven't had much time to post, or to even think about posting. Yesterday was my birthday and Ed's sister babysat the boys so Ed could take me out to dinner. We ate at Outback and while the food was okay (my steak was tough), the company was fantastic. It was a nice evening. Before we left, the boys gave me my birthday presents--a point-and-shoot digital camera, with camera case, memory card, and mini tripod. While I still plan on learning how to use the manual settings of my full-size camera, it is too big to carry around conveniently. And since I mostly use the auto settings anyway, I'm happy to have a tiny camera that I can fit into my pocket.

In other news, Seth now likes scrambled eggs. So yay for that! And I'm taking a road trip with the boys to North Carolina on Friday morning. We're spending July 4th weekend with my mom and brother and Ed's sister and BIL and their three boys. Unfortunately, Ed is not coming because he can't take the time off work, but probably more so because he doesn't want to suffer through the drive (he has serious road-trip phobias). But his parents are driving down with us, so that should make things easier. (Or harder, depending. LOL) I'm looking forward to the trip, and I think it will be a lot of fun, but what I'm REALLY looking forward to is visiting the Case family on the way back. We're going there on Monday and will spend Monday night there and head home on Tuesday morning. (My in-laws are staying with friends in Chapel Hill. Laura loves us, but not THAT much! LOL) I can't wait to see them and I hope we'll take some better pictures this time! ;-)

So the next two nights will involve some major running around, trying to get things ready for the trip. I need to do laundry, make a trip to the grocery store for snacks and drinks, make a trip to Target for anything else I'm forgetting, and pack. Should be fun. At least I know the trip will be!

A Weekend of Highs and Lows

We had kind of a crazy weekend, filled with highs and lows.

• High: One of my best and oldest friends (our friendship is old, she's not old) came to visit this weekend with her 6-year-old son and 1.5-year-old daughter. We've known each other for 27 years and I feel so fortunate to have her as a friend. You could not find a more supportive and passionate and loving person, and I really enjoyed her visit!
• Low: Just as we had gotten all the kids in bed on Friday night, and the adults finally sat down to enjoy the Thai food that Ed picked up for us to eat, William came downstairs saying he didn't feel well and then proceeded to throw up all over me. After I got us both cleaned up and put William to bed in our bedroom (since friend Jack was also sleeping in William's room), he threw up again in the bed. (Despite the bucket I had placed right beside him.) 
• High: William seemed okay on Saturday, so we all went swimming. The boys did great and spent most of the time in the big pool. Jack is a fish and William wanted to venture to the deep end after watching Jack go back and forth. 
• Low: When William first woke up on Saturday morning, he said he still didn't feel well, and his temperature was slightly elevated. So he missed his first Taekwondo class. I was heartbroken, although he didn't really mind. In hindsight, he probably would have been fine. But at the time, I thought for sure he probably had a virus. I think he got sick because we made homemade pizza for the boys for dinner on Friday night, and I gave the boys some dough for them to play with. While I wasn't looking, my friend said that William ate a LOT of the dough. So that might have been it.
• High: We saw Toy Story on Saturday afternoon. It was so good! We took all four of the kids with us, but Ed went to a coffee shop nearby and hung out, just in case I needed him to take one of the boys out. Sure enough, before the movie had even started, Seth was done. Fortunately, I had claimed that Seth was under two, so he could get in free. (I don't feel so bad about lying now.) William, meanwhile, did awesome in the movie. He never got up once (that boy is a camel!) and he never got scared.
• Low: William was pretty whiny and did not get along great with Jack. Typical kid stuff, I guess. The boys would start playing with something, but if William got hurt by accident, he would claim that Jack did it on purpose. They are boys and they like to be destructive and to throw things and get physical. Such is life, I guess.
• High: We all went to Johnny Rockets for dinner after the movie and even though William didn't really eat anything, (I didn't expect him to because he had fruit snacks and popcorn during the movie) he was pretty well behaved, and so was Seth. Seth ate a mini-hot dog (bun and all) and some fries. 
• Low: Our friends had to leave and William was very grumpy in the morning.
• High: After our friends left, William and I went to a birthday party. It was a play, which William enjoyed.
• Low: After the party, the enthusiastic birthday girl grabbed William's hand and pulled him down a small flight of marble stairs. Although he lost his balance and started stumbling, the birthday girl didn't notice as she continued to hold onto his hand. Fortunately, William wasn't hurt, but he was pretty shaken up. And the birthday girl was pretty upset, too, probably because I may have screamed shouted at her to stop. 
• High: Watching William, Seth, and Ed play "Shoot 'em," where they run around the house shooting pretend guns at each other. I'm not crazy about shooting games, and we don't own any toy guns, but watching the glee on their faces and seeing Seth pretend to get shot is so very much worth it.
• Low: I let Seth sit in a poopy diaper for too long yesterday and he got the WORST diaper rash. He was screaming and nothing I did helped. I felt like I was torturing him and we both ended up sobbing. I've never felt so horrible in my life. It was bad. I finally managed to get diaper cream and a clean diaper on him and he was so worn out that he fell asleep in my arms. 

Unfortunately, the weekend did not end on a high, but you can't win 'em all. Overall, we did have a really good weekend, so all is good. 

Taekwondo

Yesterday after work, we went to the Taekwondo studio where William is enrolled in his "Kneehigh Ninjas" class. (I had been incorrectly stating that William was taking Karate, but it turns out that it's Taekwondo.) The class starts tomorrow (Saturday), but they encourage prospective students to come watch a class ahead of time and get their uniform. William watched the class intently, and when he got his uniform, the instructor showed him the "9 seconds of discipline" bow. If he does the bow every day for a week, he can earn his white belt. We've been practicing and I'm pleased with how quickly he's learned it. He's very excited about the class. He took his uniform to school this morning so he could show his teacher. It's super cute.

I'm happy that he's so excited about the class. I hope it's something that he will enjoy over the long haul, and not get tired of after the second class. Time will tell. He's enrolled for 10 weeks through a county program, and then if he's still interested, we can join the academy. Seth feels a little left out, though. But all in good time. He's learning the bow, too, and it's super cute to see him try it. He also insisted on trying on William's uniform. While William takes his class on Saturday mornings, I signed Seth up for a class at our local community center called "Zoom Around the Room." It's in the soft playroom and it looks like fun. He hates it when William goes somewhere without him, so I thought it would be good for him to have something to do.

So it looks like busy Saturdays for us. I envision July and August Saturdays to consist of classes in the a.m., then pool time, then nap time. Maybe more pool time in the late afternoon. Who knows. Regardless, I'm looking forward to fun!

Super Beth

I was telling my co-workers this story about how I chased down a pick-pocketer in the Paris metro one summer many, many years ago. I couldn't remember if I had ever shared that story on my blog, and since my blog is, in many respects, a chronicle of my life, I thought it would be worth sharing. (If I have shared it already, sorry for the repeat. That's what happens when you NEVER get a full night's sleep.)

I had gone to Paris with a friend in August of 1999. (I think it was 1999. It could have been 1998. Or 2000 for that matter. Anyway, I digress.) It was my first visit to Paris and I was pretty excited. My friend was a guy who was interested in me, although I did not share that interest at all. (Much to his dismay.) And I wasn't aware of his feelings for me when I decided to go on the trip. But that's a whole 'nuther story. Back to the pick-pocketer. My friend and I had just gotten onto a subway train when a small, shady-looking man got on next to my friend and "accidentally" dropped money on the floor. He bent down to pick up the change, and then I heard my friend say, "Hey! My wallet!" The man took off running from the subway train. Without giving it a second thought, I took off after him.

I chased the man through the subway station shouting, "Help! Police!" I finally caught up to him and grabbed him by the back of the shirt. He turned around and held his hands up and yelled something at me in French. Then I heard my friend behind me saying, "It's okay. I have my wallet." So I let go of the guy and he ran off. He was probably muttering something like, "Crazy f-ing American."

I have no idea what made me chase that guy down. It was a pretty stupid thing to do. If we had been in the U.S., I probably would have gotten the crap kicked out of me at the very least. Maybe knifed or shot. Of course, pick-pocketers aren't really prevalent in the U.S. But if I had been in the States, would I have tried to chase someone down? It was such a gut reaction. Who knows. At any rate, my "heroics" did nothing to dampen my friend's feelings for me. Yet another reason that it was a stupid move! But it sure makes for a good story. And I did manage to enjoy my trip to Paris. So all's well that ends well.

Pseudo-sick Day

I stayed home with the boys today. Ed stayed home with them yesterday because William had a fever when he woke up. It was hovering around 100, but in the afternoon, it was over 100. This morning, it was just under 100, so I stayed home, not sure how the day would progress. Fortunately, his temp went back to normal by late morning, so we had a somewhat pleasant day at home.

The best part of the day was the afternoon, when we went swimming. The boys had a blast, and I feel like they're definitely getting more and more comfortable in the water. They took turns playing with someone's abandoned float ring and they both loved it. They floated around in the water on their backs and their fronts. After using the float ring, William finally figured out how the noodle could support him. So that opened a whole world of fun for him. In the past, he always kept his feet planted firmly on the ground, but today was a big breakthrough! We played in the big pool for a long time and Seth loved it. He can walk around in the shallow end, and the pool allows the float toys in the big pool, so they played for a long time. I felt relieved that they were enjoying themselves so much. As we were getting ready to leave, Seth shouted, "That was fun Mommy!"

Being a Florida girl, and having been a swimmer my whole life, it almost broke my heart to see William so hesitant and timid in the water. And I feel bad that I can't get the boys to the pool more often. It seems like I LIVED at the pool and the beach all summer when I was growing up. And summer in Florida starts in April and ends in late September. Although in the past, I've been reluctant to use floating devices with the boys, (I want them to learn how to really swim)  just seeing how much more they enjoyed the pool with them has made me change my mind. Successful swim lessons come from enjoying the pool and wanting to swim. So if floaties give them confidence and make the experience fun, then I'm all for it.

Now that both boys are well, it's back to work tomorrow. I have no idea what virus they caught. The only symptom was a fever, but I guess I should be grateful for that. In 3 days, one of my best friends is coming to visit with her 6-year-old son and 19-month-old daughter. I can't wait to see them! In the meantime, I'll be busy trying to clean the house a bit. Nothing like company to inspire housekeeping!

Menu Plan Monday -- June 21

I never ended up making the shrimp scampi last week, so that's on tap for this week. The boys have not been eating dinner well at all lately. Not sure what's up, but I guess like everything, it's just a phase. William woke up this morning with a fever, so not sure if either one of the boys will have an appetite tonight. I might save the asparagus for later in the week since it's one of William's favorites.

Monday: Red snapper (not sure how to prepare it yet), asparagus, dinner rolls

Tuesday: Cheeseburger pasta (I made this a long time ago and William liked it. I may end up eating a lot of cheeseburger pasta for lunch this week!)

Wednesday: Parmesan chicken nuggets, broccoli, corn on the cob

Thursday: Shrimp scampi

Friday: Pizza (Friends are coming to visit, so we'll either make homemade or order in)

Saturday: TBD (maybe out to eat)

Sunday: Steak or ribs, sides TBD

Not too exciting, but it will do.

Holding Pattern

I've started to write a post three different times since last Wednesday, but halfway through, I abandoned them. Either I didn't have time to finish my thoughts, or my thoughts were too incoherent to follow through on. They all said basically the same thing--we've been in a holding pattern lately. This is neither good nor bad. It's simply life. Wake up, get chocolate milk for the boys, snuggle in bed for a few minutes, shower, dress, get the boys dressed, go downstairs, get breakfast for the boys, two sippy cups of orange juice, two sippy cups of apple juice for the car ride home, my lunch, anything I need to remember to bring to daycare, drive to daycare, drop off the boys, drive to work, work, leave work, pick up the boys, get home, make dinner while interacting with the boys, eat dinner, go upstairs for bath, put on jammies, brush teeth, read stories, turn out lights, go downstairs, clean up, come upstairs, sleep. That's pretty much my day. During the week anyway. Weekends are better, and sometimes worse. Trying to do way too much with way too little time. But we get to play more and see friends and family and go to birthday parties and go to the pool and play more. It's not a bad life at all. I'm certainly not complaining. But sometimes, life just doesn't give me a whole lot to blog about.

But now we've had a weekend, and Seth has been sick, so that's always fodder for the blog! On Thursday afternoon, Seth's teacher called to say he had a slight temperature (99.1) and was saying his tummy hurt. I left work a little early to pick up the boys, but by the time I got to school, Seth seemed fine. He was playing and said he felt better. No problems at home that night, so school as usual on Friday. Then Friday afternoon I got the same call, but they said his temp was 101.7. So I left early again and picked up the boys. Seth felt warm, but he seemed to be in a pretty good mood. So of course we stopped at Best Buy to buy Ed's Father's Day gifts. When we got home, Seth's temp. was 103.7. Yikes! I gave him Motrin (Target ibuprofen) and made dinner and held him. He was acting pretty normal, though, surprisingly. He slept pretty well, only waking up once, around 2 a.m. I gave him more Motrin and in the morning, his temp was normal.

On Saturday afternoon, we were supposed to go to a Nationals baseball game. So we kept a close eye on Seth. He was okay all morning, and he ate pretty well at lunch. He was a little warm, but his temp never went above 100. We put him down for a nap and then woke him up a little after 2:00 so we could go to the game. In hindsight, that was not a great idea. You could tell on the car ride that he wasn't feeling well. And the 95-degree temperature at the game didn't help things any. Nor did it help that our seats were in the outfield section, under the blazing sun. He was miserable. I gave him more Motrin right when we got to the game, but it didn't do much good. Ed and I spent most of the game either walking laps around the stadium with Seth in our arms or staying with William at the playground. We got lemonade and ice cream and tried to keep Seth hydrated and William happy. It was kind of a long game.

On the way home, Seth fell asleep, and it was not problem getting him down to bed once we got home. He had a bit of a rough night, but around 3:00 a.m., his fever broke, and he slept well after that. Today he seemed a lot better. He took a long nap and we went to Ed's parents' for Father's Day. He was pretty good there. By the time we got home, though, and I put him down to bed, he was feeling hot again. I just took his temp (at 10:30) and it was 101.7. Bummer. So Ed will stay home with him tomorrow. And we'll keep an eye on William. It's kind of strange how the fever seems to come and go. But what can you do? I did, however take pictures this weekend. Here's Seth at the game, miserable.

And William, having fun (terrible picture, but cute kid):

And this was today, playing with the garden hose:

Oh yeah--I almost forgot the most exciting part of our day. Seth pooped on the potty today, twice! It wasn't really a full-on poop, but he sat on the john and poop came out and that's enough for me! We're nowhere near actually being potty trained, but I'm encouraged by Seth's willingness to use the potty. Definitely a good sign. And on that lovely note, I'm going to bed. :-)

Word Girl

William's current favorite TV show is Word Girl. If you don't know it, it's a PBS cartoon about a girl superhero who fights crime with her intelligence and large vocabulary. I've downloaded several episodes through iTunes and he watches them on my computer and iPhone. Both yesterday and today, he played the theme song over and over, trying to learn the words. It was too cute. Of course, now I can't get the song out of my head. So that's not so cute.

In other news, I resumed my evening walk with William tonight. Last Friday we all went for a walk after dinner and got ice cream. But I didn't walk Saturday, Sunday, or last night (since I went to the grocery store). So I'm hoping to get back into a groove this week. We got back from our walk tonight at around 8:40, and after I read William two books and tucked him in, he fell asleep pretty quickly. He's visiting the Pre-K class this week in preparation for his transition on Monday, and he loves it. I think it's wearing him out a little. But that's a good thing!

Seth, meanwhile, seems none the worse for wear from his round with the toy box. His eye has not turned black and blue, so that's good. And the injury doesn't seem to bother him one bit. Hopefully it won't take too long to heal.

Shiner

Seth got a little over-excited about the bubble machine at school today. He lost his balance and fell, hitting his eye on the corner of a toy box. Poor guy has quite a shiner! The toy box is upholstered with carpet, so he has a bad case of rug burn, on top of the swelling. We'll see if ends up turning black and blue. His teachers said he didn't cry for very long, so I was glad to hear that.

I doubt this will be the last time I post one of Seth's injuries!

Menu Plan Monday -- June 14

Our weekend was kind of a bust, so I'm winging it here. I haven't been to the grocery store, but I plan to go tonight. I was so tired yesterday that I went to bed at 8:30 p.m. It was still light outside! I think I fell asleep before William. Unfortunately, I didn't wake up feeling rested, so it's never good when you start your Monday off feeling exhausted. Such is life! Nothing too exciting happened over the weekend. We got a flat tire and ended up replacing 3 tires yesterday. Fortunately, Ed's parents' watched the boys while Ed and I took care of the tires. But it took up most of the day, so we didn't get to strawberry picking or go to the pool. I hope to plan things a little better for next weekend. In the meantime, here's what we'll eat this week:

Sunday: Leftover mac-n-cheese, broccoli, grapes

Monday: Waffles, scrambled eggs, grapes and blueberries

Tuesday: Pork schnitzel (or I may make piccata), green beans, Stove Top stuffing

Wednesday: Skillet chicken with broccoli, ziti, and asiago cheese

Thursday: Shrimp scampi, salad

Friday: Steak, asparagus, dinner rolls

Saturday: We're going to the Nats (Nationals) baseball game, so dinner will probably be hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy and snow cones.

Updates

Walking: Yesterday after school, William asked me if we were going to take a walk before bed. I told him that it might be raining, so I didn't think so. He didn't mention it again, and he said several times that he was tired. So after bath, he got into bed and Ed read him three books while I read to Seth and put Seth down. Then I read one book to William and tucked him in. He never mentioned the walk, and after I left his room at 8:15 p.m., I quietly snuck out of the house to take a walk on my own. When I returned, it was quiet, so I asked Ed how long it took William to fall asleep. He said he never heard a peep from William once I left. Clearly the boy was tired! I'll probably walk with him tonight, though, and continue with the experiment.

Spicy enchiladas: They turned out pretty good, although the sauce thickened quite a bit, so I didn't like it as much as I like canned enchilada sauce. I'll have to tinker with it.

Sleeping: Seth has been sleeping pretty well lately, but here's my dirty little secret. Before I go to sleep, I put a sippy cup of milk in his crib. He wakes up at some point in the night and sucks it down, not bothering me. I KNOW you're not supposed to let them have milk/juice in bed because it pools around their teeth, but dude--he's not bothering me. If I switch to water (which I plan to do, eventually), he will throw a bit of a fit. I know it will be short-lived and it will probably only take a night or two or three for him to adjust. But that's one or two or three nights of fit-throwing in the wee hours of the morning, which will likely wake up William who will either want me to sleep in bed with him or who will want to sleep in our bed. So the dread of that situation compels me to keep putting that sippy cup of milk in Seth's crib.

Food waste: I'm on a roll this week, eating leftovers and finishing off fruit that I thought would go bad. I brought the green grapes to work and my co-workers ate them up! I ate the ripe cantaloupe at work with cottage cheese. I had forgotten how yummy that combo is (if you're a cottage cheese fan). We even ate up the watermelon. We ate dinner on the deck on Monday or Tuesday and I brought the watermelon out for dessert. Both boys had two slices each. I also made blueberry lemon muffins (that Ed and I devoured in two days) to use up the blueberries I bought on sale. (William didn't like them, and Seth hardly had a chance to eat them!) I did throw out two slices of deli ham that looked a little questionable. And I have three cans of leftover frosting in the fridge that I can't think of any use for. I might chuck those tonight.

Food prep: I think my nightly walks have given me some energy because I've managed to follow through with the prep for this week's meal plan. Last night I made the marinade for tonight's steak, and I also made pumpkin chocolate-chip muffins. (They're not that great, and the recipe was a bit whacked, so I won't bother to post it.) I'm kind of impressed with myself! Tonight I need to make the pizza dough for tomorrow night's pizza calzones. But all I have to do is dump the ingredients in the bread machine. The plan for tonight's dinner is to cook on the grill, so hopefully the boys will enjoy playing outside. I'm so glad that my meal planning has finally started working for me. It took a while to make the effort seem worthwhile. And I'm still struggling a little with meals that we will all eat and working in variety. But I stress so much less about dinner now. Yay!

Finally, I've been thinking about a situation William and I encountered on our Tuesday-night walk. We came upon a mom who was walking her newborn along with her 2.5 year old and her 5-year-old twins. This mom lives just a few doors down from me, so we've chatted before are familiar with each other. She was clearly a little stressed, what with a newborn and 3 kids 5 and under. I asked about her baby and how things were going. She said her older kids were driving her crazy, which I can totally understand. She kept snapping at her kids while we were talking. The 2.5 year old was lagging behind and we were behind him, so she told him to hurry up or else I would run him over. I said to the little boy, "Oh no, I won't run you over!" And she said in a very snarky voice, "I would." Then one of the twins stopped because his shoe was coming off. The mom kept walking, so he whined a little about not being able to get his shoe on, and he wanted her to stop and wait. But then she responded with a very mocking, whiny tone, "Well why don't you whine about it. Whine about your shoe coming off." It was so belittling and just plain mean.

I know I have no room to judge. She's just had a baby, she clearly has her hands full. She's tired and stressed out. I can understand a short temper, I can understand losing it over small stuff. But I can't understand being deliberately mean to your child. I can't understand wanting to make your child feel bad. Have I ever done that? Maybe I have and I'm being way too judgmental. Maybe I just have a bad feeling about this family because I've been around the husband, too, and the whole time we chatted, he was yelling at his kids and basically calling them brats. It made me very uncomfortable, just as the exchange with the mom on our walk did. Of course, I have only interacted with them a few times, so maybe there are lots of kind words and encouragement and love exchanged in their house and all the times I haven't been around. But the fact that they would freely talk to their kids like that in front of other people--just not cool. When I said, "Dammit, Seth" in the grocery store, I was MORTIFIED and felt like a horrible mother.

Anyway, the whole incident made me more aware of how I talk to William and Seth and how I respond to them when they're being whiny or they're misbehaving. The words we choose are so important in the development of their impressionable little minds and self-esteem. My kids are very good at using words to tell us how they feel about stuff. Which is good. This morning, Ed took William's blanket away because he was swinging it around trying to hit Seth. We told him to stop and he didn't so Ed took it away. William cried and then he said (more like shouted,) "Daddy--that's not nice when you took my blanket. I don't like it when you take stuff from me!" Well, at least he's expressing his feelings. Even Seth will now scream at William, "My no like it, Wee-yum!" Makes me laugh every time. But I've also heard William to say to Seth, "It's okay Sef. I still love you, even when you make me really mad." We always try to emphasize the behavior that we are not happy with, as opposed to the child. Hopefully it's working. I want to do everything I can to build positive self esteem in my kids. Life is a minefield, and with low self esteem, people hardly stand a chance. So, a bad parenting example definitely makes me want to try harder! 

Maybe My Plan is Not So Great

William and I took a walk again last night, after bath and before bed. We were back by 8:30 again, but this time, William didn't fall asleep until 10:00 p.m. And he woke up at 5:30 a.m.. That's 7 and 1/2 hours of sleep people. Not nearly enough for a four year old. He wasn't overly cranky this morning, though. Drop-off was fine. We'll see how his day goes. Maybe the walk before bed winds him up rather than settles him down. It's supposed to rain all day today, so we'll probably end up not walking tonight. So we'll see how long it takes him to fall asleep.

Of course, I can walk without him. Now that's I've taken him twice, though, he's going to throw a FIT the first time I walk without him. But that's okay. We'll just finish out the week with the original plan and see what happens. I'd love to keep doing this all summer but like everything with kids, you just have to wait and see how something plays out. There's no use having high expectations and fixing plans in stone.

In other news, William is starting a karate class at the end of the month. He's excited about it, even though he doesn't really know what karate is. We hope he'll enjoy it. I always have this nagging feeling that I'm not providing William enough opportunities to take part in group activities. We spend most weekends running errands, seeing family, and playing at home. I certainly don't want us to become over-scheduled and stressed out running from one activity to the next. But I also don't want William to be behind his peers and feel left out. I have to remember that school provides him with just about all of the stimulation he needs. He does arts and crafts, has music, takes walks and goes on field trips, and he plays and plays and plays--inside and outside. I guess it's just hard because I don't regularly see him do those things. I know I shouldn't worry about it, though. We have plenty of time to figure out what he likes to do. I have a feeling that sports won't really be his thing, but you never know. (And I have a feeling sports will definitely be Seth's thing!) Depending on how karate goes, we'd like to sign him up for ice skating lessons in the fall or winter. And I'd also like for him to take piano lessons at some point in his childhood, but I have no idea when to start those. So many options! So little time. I have no idea what we'll do when elementary school starts and activities are held after school. What do working parents do? Figure out flexible work schedules? Rely on other parents to help carpool and watch your kids? Ugh. I guess we'll work it out, just like we always do!

Jalapenos and Green Chilis Are Not the Same

Last night I made the spinach enchiladas that we will be eating for dinner tonight, including the homemade enchilada sauce. The sauce calls for tomato sauce, onions, chili powder, cumin, garlic, and green chili peppers. As I started dumping the can of green chilies into the blender, I realized that I had gotten a can of chopped jalapeno peppers. Yikes! Luckily I had only dumped about a third of the can in the sauce, but oh my goodness--it made the sauce sooooo hot. I added another 8 oz. of tomato sauce and some more onions spices, and it helped a little. But I think Seth will be eating quesadillas tonight as Ed and I enjoy the spicy enchiladas. William probably wouldn't have eaten them anyway, so I'll just make him a sandwich or leftover mac-n-cheese. Don't get me wrong--I enjoy spicy food. But not burn-my-mouth-off hot. Hopefully the tortillas and cheese will take away some of the heat and they'll turn out great.

In other news, I changed things up a bit last night and took William on a walk after dinner and bath. Ed put Seth to sleep and William and I snuck out of the house. I put him in the stroller and walked for about 45 minutes. The weather was GORGEOUS and it was so nice to be out exercising. William enjoyed it, too, as evidenced by his non-stop chatter the entire ride. We got back to the house around 8:30, I read him two books, and he was asleep no later than 9:00. Since it has been taking him until 9:00 to fall asleep anyway for the past several weeks (during the week, when he takes a nap at a school), taking him on a walk before bed seems like a great way for me to get the exercise I desperately need and for him to unwind before bed and for both of us to spend a little more time together. Of course, this will only work for the summer, but maybe that's all I need to get myself into "exercise" mode. I've never consistently exercised, so we'll see how it goes.

Menu Plan Monday -- June 7

Sunday: Buffalo burgers, corn on the cob, strawberries and blueberries (We got the buffalo burgers at the farmer's market. They were tasty, but not juicy, probably because they were a bit thin and maybe a bit overcooked.)

Monday: Pork chops with Carolina rub, asparagus, dinner rolls

Tuesday: Spinach enchilada (I doubt William will eat this, and I'm sure he'll request a waffle with whipped cream and syrup instead.

Wednesday: Leftovers, free-for-all

Thursday: Top sirloin steak with this marinade (grilled), broccoli, dinner rolls

Friday: Pepperoni calzones

Saturday: Dinner out with Ed, kids with Grandma and Grandpa

I'm planning on preparing the spinach enchiladas tonight so I can just put them in the oven tomorrow when we get home. On Wednesday night, I'll have to make the marinade. And on Thursday night, I'll make the pizza dough in the bread machine. If I'm very motivated, I'll make the calzones and stick them in the fridge. If not, it will be our "activity" when we get home on Friday. A little ambitious this week, but I finished Catching Fire, so I have nothing else compelling to do.

Weekend Report

We had a really nice weekend--a good combination of getting stuff done and spending time together. On Friday night, we had "movie night" with William. This has almost become a routine. On Friday nights, after dinner and bath, I put Seth to sleep at his usual time, and then William gets to stay up late and watch a movie with us and eat popcorn. Last week (or was it the week before), we watched an episode of When We Left Earth--a documentary about the U.S. space program. William has watched several of the episodes and he really enjoys them. But on Friday night, he wanted to watch G-Force--the movie with the guinea pigs that work as special agents. It's pretty bad, but William enjoyed it. He didn't get to eat popcorn because he didn't eat his dinner. But he didn't seem to mind.

Anyway, on Saturday, we took a trip to the Farmer's Market in the morning, and then I took the boys swimming. On Saturday afternoon, we went to the mall to get new shoes for the boys and then we played at Target for a little while. We decided to stop at a pizza restaurant for an early dinner which turned out to be a great call. The boys were asleep by 7:40 p.m. Woo-hoo for the extra time! Ed and I squandered it, however, by watching Jurassic Park III. Ugh--there's two hours I'm never getting back.

On Sunday I took the boys grocery shopping and then to the pool again. In the afternoon, Ed and William vacuumed out our cars while Seth napped and I cleaned bathrooms and did laundry. We decided on an early dinner again (buffalo burgers that we picked up at the farmer's market!) and had time after dinner to walk to Dairy Queen for ice cream. The early dinners made me wish that we could do that every night--that we could eat dinner and still have time to play outside and take walks and enjoy being together before hitting the bedtime routine. Maybe once the boys are in elementary school, I'll be able to get home earlier. If Ed can take them to school in the morning, I can get to my office earlier and leave earlier. And if my plan to get a babysitter to pick them up from school and then take them home and stay with them until I get home works, then I'd be in even better shape when I get home. Of course, we're talking years here, but it's something to look forward to!

Finally, I have not forgotten about Food Waste Friday. It just doesn't work out so well to post it on Friday, so I'm trying to figure out where to fit it in. Regardless, I have been showing some improvement on my food waste. I have been most successful in eating up any leftovers we have. I just make it a point to be sure it gets eaten--mostly for my lunch at work. Things I did not manage to save this week include a fourth of a loaf of bread (I had "saved" this loaf a few weeks ago by throwing it in the freezer, but once I pulled it out of the freezer, we didn't manage to finish it before it started turning moldy), an onion, about a handful of mixed greens salad, and some watermelon that got mushy (maybe half a cup). This week I have some green grapes that I'm not sure we'll eat up. They're kind of sour, so the boys don't really like them. Maybe I can finish them off if I bring them to work. I also bought a cantaloupe that turned out a little too ripe, so I better eat that today and tomorrow. And we have a LOT of watermelon that we don't seem to be gobbling up. It might be work to the rescue again.

So that's about it. I'll be posting this week's menu plan later today. The weather is supposed to be really nice this week--highs in the low 80s and low humidity--so I'm hoping we'll have time to grill. Tonight I'm planning on grilling pork chops and asparagus. Yum!

Just When You Think Your Child Can't Possibly Catch One More Thing . . .

I got a call this morning at 9:30 from Seth's teacher. They said he has ringworm. He's had this small patch of red, scaly skin under his chin for a few days (or at least I just noticed it a few days ago) and I was wondering what it was but it just looks like a little rash so I didn't think much of it. I put some Aquaphor on it and figured it would go away. But nope--it's ringworm. In case you're wondering, ringworm isn't actually a worm. It's a fungus, kind of like athlete's foot. You treat it the same way, with Lotrimin. But because it's contagious, I had to take Seth out of school.

Normally, I would have just gotten William and we all would have gone home. But William's class had a little field trip today to the park to have a picnic lunch. So I didn't want him to miss it. And more importantly, I had promised to give a tour of the Capitol to two high school friends who have been living in D.C. for the past year (here on sabbatical--they live in NY). So I went and got Seth and brought him back to my office and when my friends arrived, we went on the tour with Seth in tow. Seth was soooo good. He alternated between sitting in the umbrella stroller, walking on his own (pushing the umbrella stroller), and riding in my arms. He fell asleep during part of the tour, and then sat at the table while we ate lunch. I wasn't sure how the tour would work out with him, but I was pleasantly surprised. Not sure what my friends would say (Seth was very insistent that he push the umbrella stroller by himself, which led to him almost taking out multiple tourists, who kindly got out his way) but it was the best I could do! It was really nice to spend time with them, though, so I'm glad it all worked out!

My friends left around 2:00 p.m., so Seth and I had some time to kill before we could pick up William and head to Seth's 5:00 p.m. doctor's appointment. We hung out at my office for a few minutes, then went to the grocery store and bought Lotrimin, and then played at my office some more. Finally it was time to get William and go to the doctor. The doctor said Seth has probably had ringworm for at least a week, maybe two. That made me feel like crap for not noticing. But what can you do? Anyway, it can take up to 4 weeks and sometimes longer for ringworm to clear up, but as long as he's receiving the treatment twice daily, he's okay to go school. Fingers crossed that it will clear up quickly!

In other news, I learned yesterday that William will begin transitioning to the Pre-K room in two weeks. Our center does just one transition a year, so usually, all the kids in a classroom move at the same time. But there are two vacancies in the Pre-K room now, so this helps the Center by filling the vacancies, and then they can offer spots to kids in the lower rooms where there are waiting lists. William and one other boy from his class will be the first to transition because, of course, they're the most mature kids in the class and they're ready to move on. But really, they're the ones moving because they are both pretty close to the Pre-K teacher. We are usually the first family at the center in the morning, and the other boy is usually the second. And the Pre-K teacher is the morning person. So they both love her, and they both also happen to be older than most kids in the room. So it makes sense. William is looking forward to being with the "big kids," but I'm not sure if he's fully aware of what the transition really means--that he won't be in his current class anymore. We'll just have to wait and see how it goes!

Randomness

I seem to be in a randomness funk again--lots of scattered thoughts but no major theme to write about. So I might as well get my thoughts written down.

• No menu plan this week. I started to make one, but it involved an extra run to the grocery store this week, and since I'm over-budget already, I decided to just make do with what we have in the freezer and pantry. On Tuesday night I broiled chicken breasts that I marinated in Italian salad dressing, but neither one of the boys ate them, which was unusual. Last night, I made tortellini pasta and again, neither one of the boys ate it. So I'm 0 for two now. For tonight I have a pork tenderloin thawing in the fridge. I think I'll cut it into medallions and saute them quickly on the stove. We'll see if the boys decide to eat it. 
• William is in a taking-forever-to-fall-asleep phase. And he's also waking up at the butt-crack of dawn. I need black-out curtains or blinds for his windows. And Seth's too, since Seth woke up at 5:30 this morning. WTF???? Why don't my kids sleep? It is hands down the worst part of parenting--being woken up in the morning earlier than you need to wake up. And if your kids sleep all night for 10 hours or more, I DON'T want to hear about it!
• Seth has added some really funny expressions to his repertoire lately. Instead of saying "yes," he says, "yeah mon." He sounds Jamaican. I have no idea why he started doing this. He's not saying "yes, ma'am" because for starters, I don't enforce the "ma'am" consistently enough, and second, when he does say "yes, ma'am" it sounds different. But I don't know what else he could be trying to say. Regardless, it's really funny to hear it. He also does this chant where he says, "Weeee-yum, where arrrrrrrre you? I meeeeeeess you! Where arrrrrrre you?" And on the not-so-funny front, whenever I reprimand him, he'll say, "That funny Mommy." And I'll say, "No Seth. It's not funny." And he says, "Yes is. That funny." It's hard not to laugh at the way he says it.
• I really really really need to figure out how to fit exercise into my day. I think the most obvious choice is to get up at 5:00 a.m. and get back on my C25K program. I'm still paying for my gym membership here at the Senate, but because I only work a 8.5 hour day, taking an hour to exercise doesn't really work. Plus there are too many other things going on at work, including my involvement with the daycare board, which takes a lot of "free" time. Getting up at 5 a.m., however, sounds so awful and atrocious (even though I basically get up then anyway for the kids) that I'm afraid I'm doomed before I even begin. 
• I'm hoping to get to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. I thought about joining a CSA, but in reality, we just don't eat enough vegetables to make that a worthwhile endeavor. And the vegetables that we do eat are pretty ordinary--broccoli, green beans, lettuce and spinach, corn. I don't have the time or energy to find ways to cook veggies like zucchini (not that that's exotic--it's just not a veggie we particularly like), kale, beets, chard, etc. There is a local service, though, that will deliver on demand, and it includes fruit and veggies--and you can sub items that you don't care for. You can request all organic, or mixed, and almost everything is local. (They include things like bananas and mangoes and pineapple, which obviously aren't local.) So that could be a good option for the times that I can't get to the Farmer's Market or to a grocery store that carries a wider variety of local and organic produce. But I will end up spending a lot more money on the box of produce (around $35 for a small box) than I would at the grocery store or the Farmer's market where I can pick exactly what I want and how much.  Whew--that was long-winded! I guess it always comes down to time v. money. You pay for convenience, that's for sure.
• I lost my ATM card several weeks ago and have been putting off having to get it replaced. I don't want Ed to know I lost it (it's not a big deal but just one more thing he can hold over my head--not that he would or anything), but he has a card, too, that he uses when he stops at the store for me sometimes, and I'd have to tell him not to use it once they cancel the card and I have to wait for the new one to arrive. I could take a chance that he won't try to use it until I get the new card and then I could swap it in his wallet without him noticing. But that would be pretty deceitful. I need to just suck it up. In case you're wondering, I have been monitoring my account every day to make sure no strange charges are being made. And there aren't any. It's just lost. I'm pretty sure I left it in an ATM machine in a grocery store, and I called the store and the bank to see if anyone had turned it in. It's probably sitting in a drawer somewhere, forgotten. I hope the boys don't inherit my absent-minded gene.
• Speaking of, I can't find my iPhone. William had it yesterday when we walked into the house, and I picked it up after he put it down, but I don't know what happened to it after that.
• Stupid absentmindedness gene.
• [ETA:]Oh shoot--I forgot one more. William has been thinking a lot lately about Anakin Skywalker and how he became Darth Vader, or basically, how he became a bad guy. I said that Anakin felt angry all the time and he couldn't let go of the anger, and that the anger made him want to be a mean person. So then he asked me why Anakin was angry. What made him mad? So then I said how he was really impatient and he wanted to be a jedi knight without having to learn all about it.  And then he fell in love with Padme, but she said they couldn't be together. And all of that made him mad. I didn't tell him that his mother was kidnapped and beaten to death, though. I thought that would be a little too much. And I didn't explain that his mentor turned out to be a bad guy. He has not seen the first 3 episodes of Star Wars. I told him he could watch those when he turns 8. But he will probably still be too young at that time, IMO. Such deep stuff for the car ride home!