The Mother of Geese

If it was up to me I would have 30 different meals a month with no repeaters or leftovers. (I used to call it Le Leftover Cafe and make menus and have them pretend like it was a really fun thing. My mother in law calls leftovers "Mustgodowns". Now, when we have the inevitable leftover night during the week I have since changed the name to Weepings and Wailings.) If it were up to the kids they would have spaghetti every night and go out to the Spaghetti Factory (or as I like to call it Pricey Chef Boy R Dee) every other night. For my sanity I like to change it up a bit so at least I feel like there aren't any repeaters so I might throw in bit of cream, or sauteed veggies, or bacon, or make a spaghetti pie. I always start with the green can of Trader Joe's Marinara sauce as the base then I go wild. Their favorite is, not surprisingly, Sweet Spaghetti where I cancel out the healthy goodness by adding a handful of brown sugar to the mix. Observe.

Happy Birthday Old Man. For the record, I really wanted to do something on the 40th latitude or longitude to celebrate with you. Turns out we live pretty close to the 40th already (boring), there are several in the ocean (wet) and the other is in the middle of Turkey (impractical).

Remember how about a month ago I was going to start potty training Max? Turns out, I hate potty training. Turns out, I decided to hide all the stuff and try again when its closer to the summer. Turns out, I've never quit before I've even tried-generally the kids go ahead and do that for me. Turns out, Max found all the undies and has been mildly obsessed with them. Turns out, I may be training him before the summer. Turns out, I really wish he could just do it without all the rigamarole. Poop.

For Abbie's birthday party I had the brilliant idea from a website to make a light bulb pinata. I had planned on making 1 large and 7 small that could be used for decoration as well as give Abbie a project to work on during the week. Here she is happily applying the paste around hour number 1. (We watched 4 hours of Olympics during the day 1 process fast forwarding the commercials.) She gave up and went to go to other projects but assured me that "I can keep going and even make 10 if I wanted." Great. Just what I wanted. Max and Amelia would not touch the stuff. I hung the balloons on string to dry after applying one layer then left them alone for the next 24 hours. (I actually DID read and follow the directions on this go around.) As per the instructions, I popped the balloon then started to reapply the next layer of paste. Total suckfest occurred shortly thereafter. They started to collapse one by one. It reminded of naval mines exploding all over my kitchen. I was so i...

We've been using our food storage more lately and while on a rotation mission I came across some navy beans that could use another use. I threw them in a bowl and now Max's favorite thing to play with is beans. They are MESSY but when I need to make a phone call or get a head start at dinner these do the trick.

I wanted to document what's important to Max right now. He loves Thomas, puzzles, letters, Little Einstein's, dancing to swing music, playing on the deck, helicopters (haddpoppter-Which sounds a lot like Harry Potter, which he also likes)blocks, and airplanes. He eats several bowls of cereal a day, "que-sa-dahdahs", "earnges", and every days asks daddy to "bing Mihx a teet".

I will never be tired of seeing this. Doesn't matter if there is a belt, elastic waste band, or not...it's always there waiting.

Abbie got an American Girl doll for Christmas. Poor little Kit had been sleeping in a box until Brad took Abbie to IKEA and Lowes for some paint. I will try not to be annoyed that Kit's project beat out the hundred other things I have on deck but whatever. She is such a doll afterall.

If they aren't fighting they are getting into trouble. Either way, I'm pretty sure my face is going to stick like this forever. I love my boys!

Sometimes its just too much watching your sister get the webkin of the month for her birthday. "I want a Webkin of the YEAR!"

(I have been busy working on blog books this month because I have been having major blog guilt. I finished 2006 and 2007. yay me.) Dear Max, Abbie is teasing you with your deedee. You still love deedee when you sleep or when you need comfort. She is playing with fire here. You LOVE Titer Dawd-Ree (sister Godfrey) and if anything good happens to you during the day "Who gave you that sucker, Who read you that book, who took you for a walk" you reply Titer Dawd-Ree. Here you are making cupcakes for Titer Dawd-ree. Playing on the computer with daddy. Last night your Thomas book didn't sound right so you came to daddy and said "My book need battery dad, let's go! Daddy fix it!" We can't believe that at 2 and a half you know all about battery power, plugging in phones, and finding remotes. Even more amazing, you remember where you put stuff which is a skill you alone possess in our home. You love going to school on Fridays and your favorite thing about it is t...

I have one daughter who rarely, I repeat, rarely flushes. I have another daughter who usually, I repeat, usually uses too much toilet paper. It's a winning combination for clogged facilities around these parts. When I am unable to loose the contents I lock the bathroom door and wait for Bradfo to come home and take care of business. (Nevermind that Max knows how to pick the lock using a butter knife or a credit card). We had a situation in the guest bathroom that lasted over 2 weeks. I would plunge, Brad would plunge, we all plunged but nothing. Brad realized a trip to Home Depot would be in order. He planned on taking the toilet out, and investigating on our front lawn. I was nervous about this plan because I didn't want the toilet to be on our front lawn longer than necessary. Do you blame me? (this is probably the part where I should mention that Brad had trouble getting the toilet out of floor so he used his car jack to lift it up. In the process he cracked the toilet. Look...

Contradiction-a proposition, statement, or phrase that asserts or implies both the truth and falsity of something. How is it that I was unbothered by these grim purchases: And didn't think twice about this ironic movie rental this weekend? She is NOT holding a real mouse. Purchased for under a dollar at IKEA a few weeks ago. Is always in her clutches. Named it "Whiskers". How's that for irony? Oh, hi Stuart. Abbie was brave enough to check the traps everyday. The little trappers. Yes, Max is well acquainted with the drill functionality. I think its probably because I don't want to have the kids to develop any unnatural fears (I have pah-lenty for all of us. Driving next to 18 wheelers? Terrified. One of those tires could flip off and break my windshield.)I wanted to show the kids that mice on TV are good. A mouse under the sink is BAD. Upon seeing the successful trap being disposed of Amelia observed that it did in fact, look just like whiskers. Shudder.