This sums up my life right now to a tee!

If You Give A Mom A Muffin

Original Author Unknown

If you give a mom a muffin,She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.She'll pour herself some.Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.She'll wipe it up.Wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks.She'll remember she has to do laundry.When she puts the laundry in the washer,She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper.She will get out a pound of hamburger.She'll look for her cookbook ("101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger").The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.She will look for her checkbook.The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.She'll smell something funny.She'll change the two year old's diaper.While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.And chances are...If she has a cup of coffee,Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Vegas Baby

The Hub called yesterday to tell me he was going to be late getting home from work b/c he got caught up on the phone. Of course my initial response was irritation. He was supposed to be getting off early so we could get our butts down to the Com Fest before things got too hairy with Friday traffic and Com Fest parking.

Well his tardiness was worth it! Turns out he was offered a three day weekend in Vegas at the end of July for him and one guest. A company he's been doing business with desires to have him be apart of some planning meetings that are being held at Caesar's Palace. They are going to pay for our flight, hotel & Friday & Saturdays dinners.
Holy Crap!

We have a sitter all lined up already and Baby J will be coming along. I'm so thrilled and really looking forward to this. Although I won't gamble much, too much smoking going on for me to lug the babe down there, I sure will have a ball touring the malls and other hotels. Or just laying in bed watching pay per view, HGTV, Food TV or TLC. OOOOh maybe squeeze in some shopping! Fun. I can enjoy a martini or two instead of being exclusive to Shirley Temple's this time around. Also, beef carpaccio and tuna tartar here I come!

I just can't believe this company is being so generous, I'm so grateful!

Potager Gardening update continued...

Growing a little slower.

Time to make a few salads. The leaf lettuce and mesclun are almost ready. The swiss chard is looking great.

The turnip is outgrowing everything is this bed. Interesting was the potting mix wrong, too much sun. I shall write down observations.

My sad sweet potatoes. I guess I waited too long to plant them. Only one at this point is growing. Shoot! I love sweet potatoes. Better luck in the fall hopefully.

Potager Gardening update

Check out that Bon Bon Squash plant!

The Sugar Snap Peas are so cool. Look how they twist themselves along the cage as they grow.

The basil is doing wonderfully.

Time to make salsa with the cilantro! But no tomatoes yet.

How Cute Are They?

11 weeks old

This does not happen often.

Almost 2

Super N will be 2 in a little over a month. I'm so excited to see the changes in her. She seems much more engaged in learning as of late and she seems to really enjoy trying to read books on her own. Although she likes it when me or her daddy read to her she often prefers to sit in the floor and attempt to read a book on her own. This could be that I haven't made enough quality time with her or it could be that she actually does prefer to do it on her own.

I am excited (bittersweet) for W to go to preschool for a few reasons, one being that I'll get more time to spend with Super N. I have some picture books and some flash cards that I've been waiting to share with her. W has his own flash cards and picture books and now Super N can have her own. I think she'll really thrive from the time alone with mommy without big brother around. Of course Baby J will continue to grow and demand more attention but she'll still gain more b/c of the nature of one less babe around for 6 hours a week.

I really love my little girl. She is a lot of fun. She's very tough and very sweet as well. She's content it seems to be laid back but she seems to stick up for herself when needed. Having a stubborn big brother that's only 16 months older has taught Super N a lot. She has learned to share, give hugs and kisses, ask for what she wants (of course in toddler speak), go with the flow, and she's learned how to play all by herself. The Hub and I are very grateful for this little girl. Although she seems to be a strong willed babe she has lit up our life in so many ways and we are incredibly grateful for her.

I'm enrolling Super N in a tumbling class. I know she'll love it and it will be a time for us to spend together. I think after class we'll go get a snack together to prolong our "date". The Hub and I made a decision this past week that it was time to start having"dates" with our kids. He and W went to a Preschool Workshop at COSI a few weeks ago on magnets~they loved it! I'm going to enroll him in another one soon for he and daddy to enjoy. Also, there is one on farm animals that he wants to take with Super N soon. I'm grateful to have so many resources for toddlers in Central Ohio. I'm attempting to loosely plan out our fall and winter so that we don't have to spend all our time in the house. What a strange, frustrating and yet enjoyable time in our lives.

It's Potty Time II

Using the potty seems to be going better. In fact W just pooped in the potty...yay! When we've been home the last few days he will take off his diaper when he has to pee and get on the potty. His potty gave him 10 stickers over the last 3 days so he got a prize of a chocolate ice cream cone last night after dinner. Today I've let him run around bottomless and lo and behold he went on his own accord and pooped! He seems to like the idea that this is his potty and that he can go whenever he wants and also the sticker chart, M&M's and the prizes (after every 10 stickers) are a big incentive.

Even though I know this is not about me I'm happy that it's a little easier. I need to put in W's preschool application in July, soon, so now that he's showing some clear potty readiness I am relieved. And my confidence in potty training my children is improving a little every day.

Tales From Potty Time

I bought a potty yesterday...I hate it. Although it was fun at first (16 hours ago) it now sucks. The kids will not leave it alone. W wants to dissect it but not poop in it. He had his Thomas the Train undies on and instead of pooping in the potty 3 feet away, he pooped in his pants. He then walked up to me and showed me and then peed right through his undies onto the floor. Let's just say I wasn't very encouraging at that point. I know it's been not quite a day and that we have a long way to go but I may be a grump for the next few weeks as I attempt to stay around the house to assist my 3 year old on how to poop in the silly potty. Now when he masters the potty how do I get him to master the toilet? Ahhh I hate poop.
So why are we doing this again? Oh yes so he can go to preschool in the short term and so he can get married in the long term. Who wants a hubby who poops in his Fruit of the Looms at 30?

Therapeutic Gardening

Gardening has been so good for me. I have found it to be such a relaxing hobby. I'm not sure if yardwork falls into the "gardening" category but I'm throwing it in there. I've been pulling weeds, moving dirt, planting flowers and mowing the lawn a lot in the last few months and I really enjoy it.

After I had Baby J life has taken a turn more towards the chaotic. I feel very stressed out most days and so when the hub comes home and after we eat dinner, he takes the kids and I go outside. It's not anything we've agreed upon but I feel like it's an automatic response for me right now~therapy.

I'm the kind of person who always sees things that need done or changed, I drive the hub and others crazy at times. This although is a good trait in some respects but I think it has tended to drive others away. In relationships this coupled with my inability to be honest, for fear of rejection, has really compromised many a friendship (truly a topic for another day!). Wow..tangent! Back to gardening, I have a lot of projects in my head that I'd like to research and see if I have the time, ability, money and stamina to complete this next year we'll see. One advantage though of being this way is that things are never boring...:)

So right now in my life I'm feeling quite lonely. It's pathetic...I know. I bet this is a common feeling of SAHM's of little kids. But gardening has been therapeutic. It's provided exercise, time to think and just a change. No I'm not talking to the birds, bugs and mice like Cinderella but there's still a few more months of summer!

Potager Gardening In June III

Yukon Gold Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes

Strawberries (I think they're actually growing!!)

onions

Potager Gardening in June II

cilantro, hybrid tomato, hybrid tomato
parsley, rosemary (barely growing), sugar snap peas
sweet basil, chives (just coming up), Bon Bon squah (yowzer!)

swiss chard, sad cauliflower, hot peppers
scallions, sweet pepps, broccoli
carrots, cauliflower, broccoli

mesclun, coldset tomatoes, coldset tomatoes
leaf lettuce, sweet baby girl tom's, swt baby girl tom's
cilantro, swiss chard, butternut squash

I still need to get dowels.

spinach, parsnips, turnips
spinach, eggplant, eggplant
spinach, leeks, beets

Potager Gardening In June

My garden is growing!
I'm not having too many issues with bugs or rodents. But one cauliflower plant is struggling I read something online while looking for natural pest repellers that if a plant is unhealthy the bugs will take it out but will generally leave the other plants that are well. I'm a newer gardener and don't know yet if this is true but it sure seems that way right now. My other cauliflower plant has not been touched it seems so I'm wondering if the buggies are killing the weakling~ survival of the fittest! Whatever. That works for me. I honestly feel a bit overwhelmed by all the different plants. I'm at this point just letting things grow and we'll see what happens. And if I get veggies...woohoo!

Super N

She decided to try and put her own swimming suit on. Needless to say mommy had to come to the rescue. Her head is in one of the leg holes.

A Hard Day of Play

Super N fell asleep at dinner the other night. We actually got a home video of it. Every time we called her name she'd sit up straight and look up in response but her eyes would be closed. She's such a hoot!

Another Gratuitous Baby Shot

9 weeks

Griddle Me This

I finally saw a family size griddle for $20, I've been looking for a year and waiting for a good deal. We want to institute Pancake Saturday again and now we are going to institute Waffle Wednesday as well. We bought the griddle I believe on Monday and I've used it 4 times already. It's a hit with the kids especially when we use the dinosaur molds! After making these I didn't even get a chance to put butter & syrup on them b/c the kids ate them right up! I found a good buttermilk pancake recipe made with all purpose flour. I substitute whole wheat pastry flour entirely for the all purp and the pancakes are awesome!
Very happy with this purchase thus far and the kidlets love it.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

2TB sugar

2tsp baking powder

1/2tsp baking soda

1/2tsp salt

1 1/4c of buttermilk or 1c of plain yogurt + 1/4c milk

3TB butter, melted

1 large egg, light beaten

oil or spray for brushing pan

Combine flour, sugar, bkg pwdr, bkg soda, & salt. Add buttermilk, melted butter, & egg; stir until flour is moistened.

Pour scant 1/4 cups onto/into griddle or skillet. Cook until tops are bubbly & edges look dry. Cook other side until golden.

Enjoy!

Successful Nursing

The power of the boob! We've had a successful 4 days of continual nursing...Score! But of course me being the forever pessimist I'm waiting for my nipple to fall off :)

8.5 weeks

Plants 2008

cauliflower

swiss chard

newly planted onions & potatoes

Plants 2008