I am Harry-Green-Bean-Potter and I'm going to turn you into.... APPLESAUCE.
I'm so hungry I think I will just EAT THIS SPOON.
And the dog is thinking, "Any level of humiliation... just let me LICK THAT BABY!!!!"
Thursday, January 25, 2007
A typical Tuesday night at our house.....
I am Harry-Green-Bean-Potter and I'm going to turn you into.... APPLESAUCE.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
The Can.
So do you think this potty seat would be more sanitary than this Dora seat we are currently using?
Wait.
Let me back up.
We already have several potty apperati. We have the singing potty. Singing. Potty. I bought it for $17 and it worked like a charm.... Plunk him on it during Saturday morning cartoons and reward him like crazy when you hear the trumpet fanfare. It was a piece of living room furniture for several months.... it's in the bedroom for night time pottying now. (Yes, our house is small but his room is as far as humanly possible from the toilet.) Then we have the antique wooden potty..... perfect because it has a snack tray. Yes. A potty chair with a snack tray... do they make these in adult sizes? Seriously, if the kid is so inclined, how do you keep them ON a modern potty? You can't. But with a tray you can. We also had a spare First Choice potty that was a hand-me-down..... and we like to have a potty in every room. Then we had the hand-me-down Dora seat-insert potty and, yes, mommy is too cheap to spring for the fancy wooden foot stool (Sweet Boy uses a mini crate -a mini crate I stored CD's in when I was in college -for a step stool). He kept knocking the pee-guard ("for boy's tails" according to my 3-year-old niece) in the toilet and getting frantic about it so we took it off. He knows how to "tuck his unit" anyway. But, the problem is.... ew. I hate grabbing that nasty -and often WET- thing off the toilet. Is there a way around this?
Now.... let me clarify. We aren't buying this just to be yuppie parents. (Although, really, isn't that reason enough? Then I could get a bumper sticker that says, "MY OTHER potty sings....") We really do need a new toilet seat.... the one we have is padded. Need I say more? (Yes, I know, we've lived in this house for several years... it just never was at the top of the "to do" list.... but it is starting to crack.... (ha-ha, no pun intended) and that moves it up the list considerably....) I'm more of the $7.99 cheap-o seat kind of person than the $24.99 fancy seat kind of person.... and then there is the aesthetic... the toilet is tan.... can I put a white seat on it?
Oh, internet, do you see the challenges I face on a daily basis???
Wait.
Let me back up.
We already have several potty apperati. We have the singing potty. Singing. Potty. I bought it for $17 and it worked like a charm.... Plunk him on it during Saturday morning cartoons and reward him like crazy when you hear the trumpet fanfare. It was a piece of living room furniture for several months.... it's in the bedroom for night time pottying now. (Yes, our house is small but his room is as far as humanly possible from the toilet.) Then we have the antique wooden potty..... perfect because it has a snack tray. Yes. A potty chair with a snack tray... do they make these in adult sizes? Seriously, if the kid is so inclined, how do you keep them ON a modern potty? You can't. But with a tray you can. We also had a spare First Choice potty that was a hand-me-down..... and we like to have a potty in every room. Then we had the hand-me-down Dora seat-insert potty and, yes, mommy is too cheap to spring for the fancy wooden foot stool (Sweet Boy uses a mini crate -a mini crate I stored CD's in when I was in college -for a step stool). He kept knocking the pee-guard ("for boy's tails" according to my 3-year-old niece) in the toilet and getting frantic about it so we took it off. He knows how to "tuck his unit" anyway. But, the problem is.... ew. I hate grabbing that nasty -and often WET- thing off the toilet. Is there a way around this?
Now.... let me clarify. We aren't buying this just to be yuppie parents. (Although, really, isn't that reason enough? Then I could get a bumper sticker that says, "MY OTHER potty sings....") We really do need a new toilet seat.... the one we have is padded. Need I say more? (Yes, I know, we've lived in this house for several years... it just never was at the top of the "to do" list.... but it is starting to crack.... (ha-ha, no pun intended) and that moves it up the list considerably....) I'm more of the $7.99 cheap-o seat kind of person than the $24.99 fancy seat kind of person.... and then there is the aesthetic... the toilet is tan.... can I put a white seat on it?
Oh, internet, do you see the challenges I face on a daily basis???
To bring you all up to speed.....
I realize I've failed to post about this yet. Oops.
Elle & I are on a mission.
It all started with the great dishtowel meltdown.... and then Elle says, "Hey, I did my dishtowels too.... what's next?"
So Week 2 was DVD & VHS tapes. I sent a small box of old VHS movies to Good Sam's and scrapped a pile of blank tapes. I figure I need 3 blank tapes. 2 for recording and one for loaning out things I've recorded. So why the drawer full? Then I sorted the remaining tapes & disks into a few categories and shoved them back in the drawer: kids, stuff to watch over and over, hunting, workout. I didn't get up the nerve to "release" any of the kid vids.... "The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars" is still there. So is that particularly annoying "Barney does Halloween" video. But I did let go a few "tapes of tapes" of kid stuff.... I didn't touch the sacred hunting vids & dvd's.... that's Hot Stuff territory. And I got rid of two really awful workout tapes.... but I have high hopes of someday DOING some of those tapes..... so I held onto that illusion..... for now. And I felt pretty good about things so SB & I borrowed "Big Bird Goes to China" from the library on Wednesday after storyhour to celebrate.
This weekend I realized there were two boxes of tapes in the garage.... boxes I moved out when my sis moved in. So I guess I'm not officially done with week 2 yet.... darn.
Week 3 was candles. Clean the candle holders of wax and soot. Toss. Sort. Burn. That kind of thing. I decided a long time ago I really just want one jar candle on my kitchen window sill for burning..... so I got rid of a bunch then. But this week I was able to free the white-but-stored-with-red tapers that looked like hell. And I started burning the 3-wick red candle I've had FOREVER and am now calling a Valentine's candle. And we've had candle-lit dinners every night but I still have a lot of tapers to get rid of.... It's hard to burn candles at our house.... Hot Stuff has candle-fire issues and Sweet Boy likes to blow them out.
Week 4 (started yesterday) is file cabinets. YEAH! I have no file cabinets. Well, actually, I have two 2-drawer cabinets but one is empty and the other has home-garden stuff in it. Magazine clippings and the like. I have one drawer of old tax returns and "important" stuff. But all the 2006 paperwork (old phone bills anyone?) goes in an accordian file by the desk and has already been stashed in a box in the shed. Yes, I keep them 7 years. I'm not sure why. So now I'm working to scan any clippings I really want to keep and getting rid of the paper.....
Anyone else playing??
As can be seen here.
Elle & I are on a mission.
It all started with the great dishtowel meltdown.... and then Elle says, "Hey, I did my dishtowels too.... what's next?"
So Week 2 was DVD & VHS tapes. I sent a small box of old VHS movies to Good Sam's and scrapped a pile of blank tapes. I figure I need 3 blank tapes. 2 for recording and one for loaning out things I've recorded. So why the drawer full? Then I sorted the remaining tapes & disks into a few categories and shoved them back in the drawer: kids, stuff to watch over and over, hunting, workout. I didn't get up the nerve to "release" any of the kid vids.... "The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars" is still there. So is that particularly annoying "Barney does Halloween" video. But I did let go a few "tapes of tapes" of kid stuff.... I didn't touch the sacred hunting vids & dvd's.... that's Hot Stuff territory. And I got rid of two really awful workout tapes.... but I have high hopes of someday DOING some of those tapes..... so I held onto that illusion..... for now. And I felt pretty good about things so SB & I borrowed "Big Bird Goes to China" from the library on Wednesday after storyhour to celebrate.
This weekend I realized there were two boxes of tapes in the garage.... boxes I moved out when my sis moved in. So I guess I'm not officially done with week 2 yet.... darn.
Week 3 was candles. Clean the candle holders of wax and soot. Toss. Sort. Burn. That kind of thing. I decided a long time ago I really just want one jar candle on my kitchen window sill for burning..... so I got rid of a bunch then. But this week I was able to free the white-but-stored-with-red tapers that looked like hell. And I started burning the 3-wick red candle I've had FOREVER and am now calling a Valentine's candle. And we've had candle-lit dinners every night but I still have a lot of tapers to get rid of.... It's hard to burn candles at our house.... Hot Stuff has candle-fire issues and Sweet Boy likes to blow them out.
Week 4 (started yesterday) is file cabinets. YEAH! I have no file cabinets. Well, actually, I have two 2-drawer cabinets but one is empty and the other has home-garden stuff in it. Magazine clippings and the like. I have one drawer of old tax returns and "important" stuff. But all the 2006 paperwork (old phone bills anyone?) goes in an accordian file by the desk and has already been stashed in a box in the shed. Yes, I keep them 7 years. I'm not sure why. So now I'm working to scan any clippings I really want to keep and getting rid of the paper.....
Anyone else playing??
As can be seen here.
Friday, January 19, 2007
What do you pack for lunch?
Making lunch one night.....
Bowl.
Spinach.
2 slices turkey bacon -cooked crispy and crumbled.
Cheddar.
Avocado.
Snap peas.
Grape tomatoes.
Garbanzos.
Green Goddess dressing.
More spinach to hold it all down and keep the dressing from sticking to the lid.
Husband says, "Are you kidding me? Garbanzos, baby poop dressing & ecoli.... yum."
____________
And then there is the grocery budget. The "budget" is $75/week for groceries.... but I tend to use the word "groceries" in a casual manner.... cough meds, dog food, detergent.... all groceries. So we've been doing quite well sticking too it until....
Costco with Hot Stuff on Wednesday. $150. Bacon, hot dogs, pickled asparagus, butter, random meat products, beer, pop, almonds, underpants (a 3-pack. boxer-briefs. why? the man doesn't WEAR underpants.).
There are certain unspoken rules about Costco:
1. Pick a theme. (like "veggies" or "things you can do with a bag of spinach too large to fit in the overhead luggage compartment of a 7-47) and shop around it. Dinners this week (veggies) are creamy veggie pasta, stir fry, grilled veggie sandwiches.
2. Shop from a list.
3. Purchase one impulse item per family member. (Me.... I like pesto, sugar snap peas or kiwis. Sweet Boy likes turkey bacon & bread.... I'm serious.... they had samples of toast and he loved the bread..... heavy, dense, fiber bread.... he was so excited when I bought it for him. Hot Stuff gets things like garlic-stuffed olives, almonds & real bacon. Darling Girl gets.... nuthin'... but she's been eyeing the frozen potstickers & jalapeno poppers.... or maybe a nice bottle of Liberty House wine.)
4. Don't pile groceries on the baby.
5. No matter how quick a trip it is.... we will have to take at least one potty break.
6. Keep the bill under $100... the place ain't going anywhere.... the frozen chicken cordon bleu will still be there next week.
7. If everyone is good we get pizza for lunch.
So we are doing our usually shopping thing.....
Raising eyebrows with the sampler-ladies by giving SB a taste of the spicy pasta sauce..... the lady just kept saying, "It's spicy, it's spicy" as I was ladling our 3-noodle sample into his baby-bird mouth. Except the way she was saying it -over and over, getting more high pitched by the moment- it sounded like, "Iyahts spaycee, iyahts spayyycceeeee" and SB kept saying, "What? What? Mama. WHAT is she saying??"
Making people laugh by talking to the baby like she's a real person and not just an adorable fluff-brained kewpi doll in a funny hat. She entertained a couple by the milk cooler with her amazing play-my-tongue-like-it-is-a-musical-instrument rendition of some great work of symphony music. That kid and her tongue. I have yet to get it on video but she has a future in..... something.
Poking fun at the very tiny Eastern-block woman in the odd grey tweed suit who felt up our baby to make sure we weren't stealing something.... as if there was anything at Costco small enough to fit in the folds of a carseat.... a stray grape tomato maybe?
Being amazed, yet again, by how much pizza SB can consume.... and how clever he is when he announces to EVERYONE, well, ok, to me... at 90 decibels, "Mama. Mom. Mommy. I went POOP in the potty! Poop, mama. By myself. In the potty. With daddy. And I WASHED my hands. Mama. With soap." Laughter all around us... all the time.
Yes. Laughter all around us... all the time..... we know how to make the ordinary fun, don't we?
Bowl.
Spinach.
2 slices turkey bacon -cooked crispy and crumbled.
Cheddar.
Avocado.
Snap peas.
Grape tomatoes.
Garbanzos.
Green Goddess dressing.
More spinach to hold it all down and keep the dressing from sticking to the lid.
Husband says, "Are you kidding me? Garbanzos, baby poop dressing & ecoli.... yum."
____________
And then there is the grocery budget. The "budget" is $75/week for groceries.... but I tend to use the word "groceries" in a casual manner.... cough meds, dog food, detergent.... all groceries. So we've been doing quite well sticking too it until....
Costco with Hot Stuff on Wednesday. $150. Bacon, hot dogs, pickled asparagus, butter, random meat products, beer, pop, almonds, underpants (a 3-pack. boxer-briefs. why? the man doesn't WEAR underpants.).
There are certain unspoken rules about Costco:
1. Pick a theme. (like "veggies" or "things you can do with a bag of spinach too large to fit in the overhead luggage compartment of a 7-47) and shop around it. Dinners this week (veggies) are creamy veggie pasta, stir fry, grilled veggie sandwiches.
2. Shop from a list.
3. Purchase one impulse item per family member. (Me.... I like pesto, sugar snap peas or kiwis. Sweet Boy likes turkey bacon & bread.... I'm serious.... they had samples of toast and he loved the bread..... heavy, dense, fiber bread.... he was so excited when I bought it for him. Hot Stuff gets things like garlic-stuffed olives, almonds & real bacon. Darling Girl gets.... nuthin'... but she's been eyeing the frozen potstickers & jalapeno poppers.... or maybe a nice bottle of Liberty House wine.)
4. Don't pile groceries on the baby.
5. No matter how quick a trip it is.... we will have to take at least one potty break.
6. Keep the bill under $100... the place ain't going anywhere.... the frozen chicken cordon bleu will still be there next week.
7. If everyone is good we get pizza for lunch.
So we are doing our usually shopping thing.....
Raising eyebrows with the sampler-ladies by giving SB a taste of the spicy pasta sauce..... the lady just kept saying, "It's spicy, it's spicy" as I was ladling our 3-noodle sample into his baby-bird mouth. Except the way she was saying it -over and over, getting more high pitched by the moment- it sounded like, "Iyahts spaycee, iyahts spayyycceeeee" and SB kept saying, "What? What? Mama. WHAT is she saying??"
Making people laugh by talking to the baby like she's a real person and not just an adorable fluff-brained kewpi doll in a funny hat. She entertained a couple by the milk cooler with her amazing play-my-tongue-like-it-is-a-musical-instrument rendition of some great work of symphony music. That kid and her tongue. I have yet to get it on video but she has a future in..... something.
Poking fun at the very tiny Eastern-block woman in the odd grey tweed suit who felt up our baby to make sure we weren't stealing something.... as if there was anything at Costco small enough to fit in the folds of a carseat.... a stray grape tomato maybe?
Being amazed, yet again, by how much pizza SB can consume.... and how clever he is when he announces to EVERYONE, well, ok, to me... at 90 decibels, "Mama. Mom. Mommy. I went POOP in the potty! Poop, mama. By myself. In the potty. With daddy. And I WASHED my hands. Mama. With soap." Laughter all around us... all the time.
Yes. Laughter all around us... all the time..... we know how to make the ordinary fun, don't we?
Friday, January 05, 2007
My 2007 Resolution aka. Screw working out and weight loss....
My resolution for 2007 is to continue to simplify.
This led to a funny phone conversation with Elle last night. Typically, I call her when I am grocery shopping alone…. Mostly just to brag about the “me” time (see how this simplifying thing works? I now consider talking on the phone in the dairy isle a special luxury).
I was having a dishtowel dilemma.
I’m serious.
These are the days of my Life.
See, I have these dishtowels my (now deceased) beloved Gram made for me… the ones with the little crocheted tops on them. The towels themselves are pretty garish (Gram was nothing if not colorful) and not really my style. (Style? Ok, my I-wish-I-had Style is vintage-looking flour sack towels in ticking stripes… if you are shopping for me.) So Elle gave me exactly the advice I needed, “Put them in the rag bag. You still have them but they aren’t cluttering up your cupboards or your kitchen.” I love that girl. I’m sure, last time she visited, she was wondering why the hell I had them in the first place.
So the simplifying continues. I feel like I should make an accomplishment checklist just to show you how very complicated I can make simplifying. Then I would feel so very accomplished, holier-than-thou, and helpful. You could either take it and modify it as a “how to” list for your own simplification plan or use it as yet another reason to hate me for my smugness.
Next stop…. Dvd and vhs organization…. Any suggestions?
This led to a funny phone conversation with Elle last night. Typically, I call her when I am grocery shopping alone…. Mostly just to brag about the “me” time (see how this simplifying thing works? I now consider talking on the phone in the dairy isle a special luxury).
I was having a dishtowel dilemma.
I’m serious.
These are the days of my Life.
See, I have these dishtowels my (now deceased) beloved Gram made for me… the ones with the little crocheted tops on them. The towels themselves are pretty garish (Gram was nothing if not colorful) and not really my style. (Style? Ok, my I-wish-I-had Style is vintage-looking flour sack towels in ticking stripes… if you are shopping for me.) So Elle gave me exactly the advice I needed, “Put them in the rag bag. You still have them but they aren’t cluttering up your cupboards or your kitchen.” I love that girl. I’m sure, last time she visited, she was wondering why the hell I had them in the first place.
So the simplifying continues. I feel like I should make an accomplishment checklist just to show you how very complicated I can make simplifying. Then I would feel so very accomplished, holier-than-thou, and helpful. You could either take it and modify it as a “how to” list for your own simplification plan or use it as yet another reason to hate me for my smugness.
Next stop…. Dvd and vhs organization…. Any suggestions?
New Years Past
Past resolutions I have made:
1. Eat ice cream every week. (Oh, sure, easy in August…. You try shoveling in a bowl mid-fudge season…. It ain’t so easy, is it?)
2. Get no parking tickets. (If my office lot is full I park on the street in 2-hour parking and never remember to move my car….. $20 a pop….. I used to ignore them until the end of the year when they had a “half-price” sale if you brought in a food share donation….. then I married Mr. “Oh-my-you-can’t-have-this-outstanding” and I have to pay them right away….. so I just vowed to quit getting them. I’ve done really well the last few years…. But I think that has to do with how few parking attendants there are rather than remembering to move my car….)
3. Not set foot in Wal-Mart. (It’s not that I hate big-box retail…. CostCo & Target are my friends…. It’s just something about that store…. It gives me a rash. I can’t find anything and it is clear across town (insert laughter…. A town of about 25K).
4. Eat more fruit. (And my love affair with yogurt-covered raisins began….)
5. Wear every article of clothing in my possession. (Failed miserably… but Good Sam’s got lots of great donations at the end of the year…)
6. Make a baby. (Who knew that one would be so tough??)
7. Eat chocolate every day. (I missed a few days….. I just couldn’t bring myself to pop a hershey’s kiss in my mouth after brushing my teeth.)
I think I forgot to post this last month....
One. Two. Three. Aaaaawwwwww. Please note:
Darling Girl made this exact same face when the doctor picked her up and tried to cozy up to her when she had a goopy eye last month.
Sweet Boy's fingers. He does this with his fingers when he's nervous or unsure about something.... guess what? I realized I do it too.
What a fine mall santa we have.....
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Redneck Sledding
Who knew it would SNOW while we were at the farm? Day One of Sledding photos here..... Bonus points for anyone who can tell me what we are using for a sled. And extra bonus points for anyone else who has gone sledding behind a tractor.....
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