Out of the Mouths of Moms...

I always say I’m going to need to write these down…and then I forget.

• No one wants to look at your “business” anyway, and if you insist on changing on the living room you’re not giving us much of a choice in the matter.
  
  

• Yes, honey, when you are older you will have big boobies. Right, your brother will not. Yes, because he’s a boy.
  


• No you cannot spend the night at your 13-year-old friend’s house tonight. Because you’re a girl and he's a boy. And you’re eight.
  



• Sure honey I like your princess dress! No, I don’t think I need to borrow it tonight. Yes, Daddy might like to see me wear it, but I’ll pass.
  
  
  
  


• Drive a pimple? What? Oh…that’s called a BLIMP!
  



• Can you watch cartoons? Honey, its 5 am, you can watch whatever gets you out of my room for another hour…..

Like these? See more at MckMama’s place!

Food, Friends, and 40,000 bottle rockets

 

We invited all our neighbors, we cooked, we played with the kids, we fondly remembered the neighbor who’s funeral was just two days before.  The kids were allowed to eat whatever, whenever.

Aria was allowed to light her first bottle rockets.  She insisted on wearing cleats so she could run faster.

Piper dealt well with all the noise.

 

Jackson helped clear the tables when we weren’t looking.

         This shot is actually from last year, our friends lit 40,000 bottle rockets in celebration of their marriage! Cool right?!

Friday Fragments

Yaay! Friday is here once again! Mrs. 4444 invites us to purge our minds for the weekend by posting all those little things too small for a post, too cool to throw away!  Visit all the Fragmenters at Half Past Kissin’ Time!

• This week was our little town’s clean up week.  I was excited to “curb shop” two neat old high back dining chairs.  I plan on painting them and re-upholstering the seats so I can use them for photos!
• AM’s girl scout troop learned how to sew.  We threaded needles and stitched pieces of fabric together, then used machines to make their own sashes.  It was pretty fun to get them going on these.  I think sewing is kind of a lost art, so it would be nice to get these girls comfortable at least being able to do small things.
• I gotta clean my house some more.  I know this is a common theme in my fragments, but its getting crazy around here.  I feel like we’re months away from a “Hoarders” intervention.  OK, maybe not quite that soon, but I can see us heading in that direction.  I need to purge this house in a big way.  I wish I had a professional organizer and motivator to stand here!!!  I wish I had the cash to go buy all the cool bins and baskets I would like to have to keep everything neat.  I need some good organization tips that don’t cost a lot!! Help!!!!
• PM quote of the week as she puts on her sister’s bath robe and examines her new look.  “Um, now it looks like I need to makes pancakes.”
• The big kids’ Spring Concert was last night.  They did a nice job singing their songs on a set of risers in the gym.  You remember, right?  They always tell you not to lock your knees so you won’t faint or fall.  MD, kindergarten, was on the first row riser so he had no where to go.  No, he didn’t pass out, but he kept goofing off and making faces and waving his arms around as if he were directing.  I kept hearing giggles from the audience as he “performed”.  I was a bit embarrassed, but not terribly surprised.  I would have said more, but his actions were really a blessing in disguise.  While he was doing his thing, he distracted most of the audience from noticing the poor little guy in the second row on the left vomit on his own shoes.  Very few people knew what had happened until they finished the song and cleared out the kids for a quick magic-sawdust cleanup.
• After the post I did yesterday, I decided it was worth finding the time to slap on a little make-up for the school concert last night.  So here’s a new pictures of how well I clean up (also, I’ve colored my hair since that last picture was taken a week and a half ago, somehow I think new color improves everything!).  OK, still wearing a hoodie, but I think this is as much effort I can put in on a school night!

Not bad, as long as I’m prepared for it :)

• Like most moms, I pack for any outing.  Over pack usually.  I stashed a bottle (not pictured!) for JC, as well as my iPod loaded with a few SpongeBob episodes (this usually appeases JC “Naughty” the 18-month-old), cereal snacks, gum….and as it turned out I forgot to UN-pack my book.  I was done with it anyway, I just hadn’t thought to remove it before we left.  I set my bag between my seat and my Mother-in-Law’s as we listened to the concert.  As you see below, plainly visible book.  I have a feeling my uber-Christian conservative MIL was silently praying for my return from the dark side.  She didn’t say anything,  but she usually saves that sort of stuff up for a full on intervention at a later date.  Time will tell…

• One last thing!!!  May is Pediatric Stroke Awareness Month!!  Our 3-year-old PM is a stroke survivor.  I also introduced you to another friend, Brendon.  You can read about him in my post Brendon’s Smile!!  Remember: kids have strokes, babies have strokes, even the unborn can have a stroke!!

Hey, it’s a blog hop, so I’m giving the code a go…JOIN IN!!!

Beginning Bentos

I decided to start packing the kids Bento boxes for lunch at school.  I had seen them a few years ago, thought they looked neat, and never gave them a second thought.  Lately they showed up again on a few blogs I started reading and I thought that I’d like to give bento boxes a try.  The appeal for me is that small, colorful kid-sized portions would induce my 3-year-old to eat more. 

Bento boxes are Japanese lunch boxes.  The size for a child or adult is measured in mL.  Biggie from Lunch In A Box has a great little chart and explanation on how to choose the right size.  She has tons of tips and recipes as well!

I decided to get enough gear to start us out, then collect more as we go.  I bought my first group of items from e-Bay. AM and MD each got a similar Urara 2-tier bento that is 610mL total.  According to the chart, they each only need about 500 mL, so I don’t pack them as tightly.  PM’s cute pink oval bento is 2-tiered and holds 525 mL (350 mL bottom plus 175 top).  PM only needs 400 mL so I also pack hers fairly loose. 

What you also see for gear are silicone muffin cups for separating food in the box (these were from Bed, Bath and Beyond), as well as mini silicone cups.  Animal-shaped food picks in the middle, then in the middle top is a pink sandwich cutter that leaves 4 cute shapes and trims the crust (lets face it, they’re throwing the crust away at school anyway).  Under that is a rice ball, or onigiri maker that does hearts, stars or bears.  The little bottles (square and pig-shaped) are for soy or other sauces with a yellow dropper for filling them.  On the very right are three bags I got with kids’ meals at subway.  They are just the right size for a bento!!

Recently I picked up these mini cookie cutters at a fabric store, they’re great for cheese and veggies!

PM is a notoriously picky and small eater.  My main goal was to pack things she liked, as well as things the other kids liked, that were healthy.  I also wanted to make eating “cold lunch” more fun for the big kids.  Here is my very first attempt at a bento lunch (pardon the cell phone camera):

PB&J sandwiches on whole wheat, banana slices, cheese cubes, carrot sticks, black olives and onigiri (shaped white rice) with soy sauce.  They ate everything.  I was hooked.

I now need to practice the art of real bento box design.  Sure, you can pack them functionally, add the essentials, make sure to have all 5 colors (check this article out).  But there is some real design going on by some moms!  Take a look at the cookbooks Biggie posted about, or Salsa In China’s Flickr set with cute toddler bentos.  I have a ways to go!  Here’s a few of my cute, yet very basic bentos so far (clicking on the image will take you to my Flickr set where there’s a description):

I’m still working on my creativity (which may surprise anyone who knows me), but that creativity conflicts with my desire to sleep in and not get up earlier to build lunches (which will NOT surprise anyone who knows me).  Biggie (my new guru of bento) has posted several tips for speedier prep in the morning.  I’ll be posting more as I get better!!!

ATWT – Brought in for questioning

I was sitting in the living room, minding my own business when the cops busted in.  They brought guns (and whips!) and an attack dog.

“Excuse me, ma’am, have you seen this criminal?” they ask, thrusting at me a crudely hand-drawn mug shot of what appears to be a dragon.  Not sure how they got him to hold the sign with the numbers much less stand still for the photo, but I digress. The smaller, quiet cop stares at me coldly.

“No, I’ve never seen him”

“Well, we don’t believe you.  You’re under arrest.”

“WHHHaaatt??” I protest.  It was all I could come up with.  Quickly, I try a diversion tactic.  “You know, there’s still some Halloween candy on the counter.”  I gesture with my one un-shackled hand.

Finally, the smaller cop, I can only assume the “good” cop, pipes up.  “WHERE?!”  Both race for the counter, leaving the attack dog defenseless and weapons unattended.  I hide the attack dog, guns, and flip the TV back on.

Arrest avoided.  Some cops just have no self control.  Seriously.

A Thousand Words Thursday is hosted by TheMomJen at Cheaper Than Therapy.  Link up and show us your photos worth a thousand words.

Friday Fragments - Maxalicious

Purge your mind so you don’t have to think over the weekend.  That’s how I roll.  Link up at Mrs. 4444’s Half Past Kissing Time!

• What is up with all these children’s shows with full grown adults acting like children (or very sloooww full grown adults)? Example: The Fresh Beat Band.  New on Nickelodeon.  I can’t stand it.  Granted these are a bunch of young adults, but adults none the less.  They are apparently attending some sort of remedial community music college.  They wear bunny slippers, sleep with teddy bears, and hang out with young children (can we say creepy?).  They have just learned this week how to share AND to top it all off I saw one guy fix the girl’s drums with a giant Band-Aid.  Then they worked. Seriously?? 

• Our new dog somehow got loose Wednesday night.  She sometimes goes downstairs and takes a nap on the bed or lays by the door.  I hadn’t seen her in a while so I went to see where she was.  I looked outside to see her UNLEASED and sitting by the door.  I let her in.  She STUNK!!!!! I think she went dumpster diving and smelled like hot nasty garbage.  It was all I could do not to puke on her.  I took her upstairs  and bathed her before she went anywhere else in the house.  I think I may need to buy a new collar.  She smelled bad even after a bath.  Piper couldn’t eat her dinner and kept gagging, I had to send the dog back down stairs!! Eeeeeww!

• I hate my period.  TMI, I know.  But I hate it.  Except that it reminds me I’m not pregnant, which right now is great.  But I wouldn’t mind being preggo just so I wouldn’t get it anymore.  But then I think about having 5 kids.  Maybe I can put up with my period.

• Piper sitting beside daddy, eating her PB&J while he’s on the computer. “Hey, Dad, do puppies poop outside?” Daddy replies, “the good ones do.” Piper “Hey, Dad, do puppies like little bones?” two seconds later “Hey, Dad, I see a puppy before.” two seconds later “Hey, Dad, is Karma a good puppy?” Dad has long since returned to his computer game.  Piper continues, “Hey, Dad, I drinking Coca Cola.” (she sips her grape soda).  Lunch conversation.

• I went to Max’s kindergarten class for “Moms and Muffins” an homage to the letter “M”.  We watched them recite at least a dozen nursery rhymes, a few I’d never even heard.  Next week is “Dad and Doughnuts”.  Fitting, huh?

• Right after school, we had the kids’ parent-teacher conferences.  We heard plenty of good, and some to work on.  The best part came when we learned (despite our fears) that Max is doing well, and reading well above his peer level…AND he signed his paper “Maxalicious”.  She asked him, don’t you mean “Maximus”? Oh, no, it says “Maxalicious”.  I was laughing so hard that I had tears in my eyes.  I could never have kept the straight face the teacher described as she received the paper and he told her what it was supposed to say.  Awesome. Maxalicious.

Wordless / Wordful Wednesday - Siblings

Wordless Wednesdays are hosted by 5 Minutes for Moms – please stop by their site to see more (and read less!).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And now some words ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love that my kids get along.  Well, most of the time.  I hear them playing upstairs and I stop at the door to listen in.  Often I can’t figure out what they are playing, but they seem to know exactly what is happening next in the story line.  They each have their own dynamic with the other, and they each play with one another at different times in different ways.  They also know just how to push each other’s buttons.  They know what sets the other one off and find just the right moment for that little jab.  But like I said, most of the time they get along just fine. They play nice and are fairly gentle with the younger ones.

Most of the time.

You can find more Wordful Wednesday posts at Angie’s SeVeN cLoWn CirCuS.

A little bit of homecoming…

We went to NDSU’s homecoming last weekend (like a week and a half ago – I just haven’t posted about it yet!).  We barely made it to the parade, which was fine since it was chilly and RAINING!  The kids caught candy, Aria figured out how to work the candy-throwers by shouting “Go Bison!” and jumping up and down a lot.  Either that or she was trying to keep warm.

 

We then walked over to the Bison Sports Arena and heard the marching band play, which scared Piper and apparently blew Max’s mind.

After that we ate BBQ’s and waited in line to get balloon animals and faces painted.

 

 

JC was enamored with the balloons and couldn’t wait to run around!  It was a fun time, even if it rained.  Sadly, the football team lost, but we won’t talk about that.