Day 28

Friday

9.30.16

Bottles are almost behind us!
(Thank Goodness)

Dragging today. Rainy day… so tired…. scratchy throat…. clogged ears... all the signs of a pending ear/sinus infection. D has been battling the same symptoms ever since she landed for work this past Monday. 

People: The only people we saw today (other than each other) were doctors. D worked from home today and during her lunch break she held down the fort while I went to a rescheduled doctor appointment. Then when I got back, she went to the drug mule up the street (this is what we call the immediate care place up the road in Ellicott City). You leave there with a minimum of 3 prescriptions. Sometimes 5. Turns out she had a double ear infection. Surprisingly, the doctor only gave her one prescription for an antibiotic. By the time she got home, I had dinner ready to go (just frozen pizza) after bedtime for the twins, I was the one who ended up going to the same doctor for head congestion. Except I walked out with 2 prescriptions and 2 free samples. I even turned down one of the prescriptions offered. Kinda nuts, right? I only got the steroids filled in the hopes that it will knock out the inflammation and congestion. Hopefully in a couple of days we will both be as good as new. Of course now the babies are snotty, too… Sigh. 

Places/Activities: It feels like the only thing we did today was go to doctor appointments. We did manage to read some books and Squeak and I ended up putting together her little Cogsworth Lego kit she got last weekend. 

Good Deeds: On my way home from my second doctor appointment of the day, I stopped at 7-11 to get D a blue slurpee for her sore throat. I got myself a peach lemonade slurpee too. Can't say I was overly impressed with the flavor. A little too tart for my liking. I can't tell you the last time I had a Slurpee. It's been forever!

Chores: Bills. Dude. This is by far my least favorite day of the month. It takes forever to sort out who made which charge on our joint credit cards. At least Costco Citi separates out the charges by who made them. But not Amazon. Everything is all clumped together and not only that, sometimes if you placed an order for 3 items, they might all ship out separately, thereby making 3 separate amounts list on your statement, which doesn't match the one lump sum listed in your Amazon orders. So, a few extra clicks (or my peeps who dealt with IFAS might call this "drilling") are required to find out the actual amount charged for each item. It's a big PITA. Thankfully the deed is done now until next month. Good grief!

Reading: One good thing about sitting in a doctor's office is that it provides a lot of time to read. It's kind of surprising how much more time I have during the day to read. Whenever I want to pick up my phone to look at Facebook, I pick up my book instead. Little patches of 5, 10, 15 minutes throughout the day to read and pretty soon, another book is checked off the list. Today I finished the book I started last night, Read Me Like a Book by Liz Kessler. It's a YA book and I think I was drawn to the fact that Jodi Picoult was quoted on the cover as saying, "A welcome reminder that love is love, no matter what."Yeah, that's great. But the book annoyed me. The author had a fairly well constructed story, but it was one that I felt sounded like every other book that I've read. It gets annoying that every time I read a book with a gay character that I have to read about the entire "coming to terms with my sexuality story."It gets old. I especially cringed at the part of the storyline where the main character Ash, has a crush on her teacher. She tries to cross a line but thankfully her teacher makes good decisions. Stories like this totally creep me out.

Random Thoughts: I had to change my clothes before going to my first doctor appointment of the day. I had already accumulated a significant amount of snot from Avy where he rubbed his face back and forth on my shirt and pants leg. Anyway, despite the endless amount of laundry I've been doing, I had yet to do the darks for the week and therefore did not have any clean jeans. I discovered I was able to wear my bright orange cargo like pants. I haven't really lost much weight, but seem to be firming things up a bit, which I'm ok about. So anyway, I put on my bright orange pants, my most comfortable t-shirt (which just so happens to say "Prison: An American Institution" on it, a grey sweatshirt, and my socks and sandals. It dawned on me that I must have been channeling my inner Piper from OITNB. Yet another item to the list of things I can do (but probably shouldn't) while being a stay at home mom!

Fun in the tunnel

Poor boy. Soaked in drool and snot. Gross.

Day 27

Thursday

9.29.16

Such a good boy. He offered to help put
away the dishes!

Ah, yes. One of my favorite lines from a Carpenter's song is "rainy days and Mondays always get me
down…" Well, today was a very rainy day. Squeak had a few major meltdowns today, so I had to insist on her having a nap because she was so miserable. And as I was putting my son to bed for afternoon nap, I hugged him and he pushed away for a moment and looked up at me with those big baby blues. I said "I love you" and then in response he reached up toward my face with a huge grin…. I was secretly hoping that he would wrap those little arms around my neck and give me a hug. But no. He reached up and pulled a Freddy Krueger on me as he clawed both sides of my face in one quick downward swipe. I think we might need to have a conversation about how to express love for someone else. Clawing is clearly not the way. Note to self - trim Avy's nails again even though it's only been 5 days since you did it last time. After putting him down and tucking him in, I quickly ran to the mirror. Thankfully my face only burns and there aren't really any marks on it.

People: D came home tonight!!! So exciting. This time she was gone for 4 days and it was a bit rough. We all missed her terribly. It's so nice to have her back before she has to leave again.

A friend of ours came over to hang out with me and the kids tonight. We had dinner and beers (thank goodness) and watched the It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown with the kids. It was nice to hang out.

Places/Activities: Squeak had dance class today. Other than running her to and from school and picking her up from dance class, we didn't really "go" anywhere. 

Good Deeds: I just made my 77th loan on Kiva tonight. It's a pretty fantastic concept really… Say someone needs startup money for their business. Maybe they need money to purchase materials or food… Well, they get a loan. Not from a bank, but from people because it's likely they don't have access to a bank or are not approved for a bank loan or they can't afford the high interest rates. Instead, people from around the globe commit to providing only $25 toward the loan. As the person works towards paying off the loan, the money is split between all of the loan investors until it is paid off. Once they pay me back, I can then relend my money or choose to withdrawal it if necessary. Cool, right? Yeah, I thought so too. 

Chores: I guess the afternoon drama and meltdowns occurred to counterbalance my productive morning. I fit in a 45 minute workout, did the dishes, laundry, shower, bathed the babies, stripped and made all the beds, dusted and vacuumed upstairs, cleaned the upstairs bathroom, and got the kid off to school. Feeling pretty accomplished this morning. 

One-Pot Chicken Pesto Pasta
from Taste of Home

Reading: I did finally finish reading The Day My Mother Left today. A good read. The characters were well developed and you really felt for Jeremy (the main character). I felt unsettled at the end. The book seems to resolve things with Jeremy and his mother, but I can't help but feel this isn't the end. That Jeremy is going to have to endure more hardship from her. I don't know. I felt uneasy while reading. I guess that's a good thing though. It means the author did his job.

Tonight I started reading Read Me Like a Book by Liz Kessler. There was a YA display up at the library when I went to pick up my It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown DVD from the library last night and I did an impulse checkout. 

Recipes: Tonight I tried making the One-Pot Chicken Pesto Pasta from Taste at Home magazine. It was pretty delicious. I was going to try and share it out here but when I go to the website it asks for a subscription, which we have, but that means if I post the link here you can't access it either. I don't want to plagiarize by posting here, but if you are really interested, send me a message and I can forward you some information ;)

Random Thoughts: No need to cry over spilled milk. Sometimes the universe is just telling you that you need to clean out your refrigerator. Now see? All better and looking beautiful again! It's probably also trying to tell you that you shouldn't ever place an open container in the fridge again. Because inevitably, this is going to happen.

A look of surprise and delight!

Here Squeak is holding a copy of "Winter
Dreams" a seasonal seek and find book. Her
question? "Mama, can you read this to me?
It is ALMOST December…" Um, no.
I'm not reading about winter. We JUST started
Fall. Oh, and see that Stinky Brownie is making
an appearance? Ha!

Day 26

Wednesday

9.28.16

I consciously made the decision NOT to get up and work out this morning. Too much to do today and I didn't want to be rushed! Instead I got up to empty the dishwasher, pack up the camera, and get things ready for our big day of filming.

People: My dad and stepmom came over this morning to watch the babies so Squeak and I could do some filming. After we got home, they stuck around and I made grilled cheese sandwiches for everyone for lunch (it's a specialty of mine). If Grilled Cheese and Co wasn't already in existence, I would probably open my own ;) Then this evening, my mom came over to stay with all three of the munchkins while I went to Costco and the Library. 

Squeak and I having fun trying on glasses
from our Halloween decoration box.

Places/Activities: Today we spent the morning filming for our little business venture, "Family Classrooms." It went pretty well considering we are working with two four year olds and a two year old. I got home, downloaded the footage, and went to start editing. Then I realized… there was NO SOUND. Like, SERIOUSLY!?!?! I CANNOT BELIEVE I MADE SUCH A ROOKIE MISTAKE! But, it was a major learning experience. Not only for this project, but also when I go back to work next year. It's such a simple mistake, and one that is made frequently. I didn't have the mic plugged in far enough because there wasn't any sound. If I hadn't plugged it in at all, I would still have sound from the camera's built in mic. But I had NOTHING. The good news is that now we can move forward and I have learned to double check the sound and picture before shooting. It's been a blessing in disguise because we learned some valuable information about our kids and the way we want to move forward with this in the future.

Squeak and I decorated for Halloween this afternoon. It's a little early and I went against my better judgement, but I know I'm not going to have  a lot of time coming up between starting to teach online, a big one year party for Puff and Avy, and the launch of Family Classrooms. So, today was the day!

She's ready to rock and roll!

Good Deeds: Tonight I saved a cricket and tossed him back outside. This was a challenge. Everytime I tried to cup my hands around him, he managed to hop right on out. So I ended up using one of Squeaker's cups to trap him and slid a piece of paper underneath to toss him out. Reminded me of the time I trapped a mouse under a courtesy cup at the movie theater where I worked when I was 20/21. THAT was an interesting shift. Anyway, a few minutes after I tossed out the cricket, I was standing at the front door saying goodbye to my mom (we were both still in the house) when out of the corner of my eye I saw a fox. There he was, coming right up to the stoop to eat out of Mr. Kitty's bowl. The first words out of my mouth were, "Look! It's Pop!" You probably don't know this, but my grandfather took great pleasure out of watching the fox that would visit in our old neighborhood. Between my grandfather and I, we always made sure he was well fed due to destruction of his habitat. For years after my grandfather passed, I always made my offering to the fox. Even now, my mom will go back and leave something for him down in the woods on the empty lot that was my grandfather's property. I think the fox is my grandfather's spirit animal. So now whenever I see one, I always feel like his presence is here and he is watching over my family. Well look at that, some random information for you and I haven't even gotten to that part of the blog yet!

Chores: Today I cleaned the first floor of the house (bathroom included) so the Squeak and I could decorate with Halloween decorations. We are going to be doing some activities for Family Classrooms at the house tomorrow and I want to make sure we are decorated and ready to go!

I also went shopping at Costco (exciting!) and returned some books to the library (and got new ones while I was there). 

Reading: Going to bed right now so I can finish reading The Day My Mother Left! This has been dragged out for much too long now. I have other books calling my name and I can't keep them waiting any longer.

Random Thoughts: Last night as I was uploading our very first YouTube video to our Family Classrooms YouTube channel, I was thinking about how one of my students from two years ago would create the thumbnail for each YouTube video on his channel and how he told me about monetization. I often think about him and wonder how he was doing (he's in film school in California now). And then, BAM! This morning I woke up, checked my email, and there out of the blue was an email from him! I think that in some ways we are all connected at another level, which is why we sometimes feel an instant connection to others whom we've only just met. Kinda cool, huh? I love when seemingly random stuff happens like this!

I feel like I'm missing something… but I'm mentally done and checked out. See you tomorrow. 

Day 25

Tuesday

9.27.16

People: The babies and I went into work to visit with some of my favorite peeps. I think it's important to work in a place where people stay positive, work hard, and have fun. You can usually get a vibe for a school within about 3 minutes. I've only worked in two schools, but I've interviewed at several. In 3 minutes you will see what a school values by what they put on display in the foyer, you will be greeted (or not) by front office staff, and you will likely meet the principal and/or whomever else is part of the interview. If you feel good, then it's likely a good fit. I knew right away with both schools that these were the places I was meant to be. Thankfully I got a job offer to each ;) Anyway, it was super nice to visit and see a few of them this morning.

My mom stopped and picked up Squeak from school this afternoon so I could bathe babies and get ready for a little afternoon project. 

Places/Activities: Visiting my friends at work was lovely. On our way home, the babies and I stopped and looked around the bookstore. It was nice to get out to a store that I was interested in even if only for 6.5 minutes. We also made Cheerios Pumpkin treats which I think turned out quite well. If you'd like to check it out, I recorded the process and made a video (inspired by those Tasty videos you see on FB all the time). Remember I told you that I would be having exciting news to share soon? Well, this video is a precursor to all of the details of that exciting news! This is just the first of many films, so pardon my editing and filming. It was a bit challenging with buttery hands and working around the camera and with a 4 year old. But it worked and I'm quite pleased with the result. My friend/business partner and I will be unveiling more information very soon! But in the meantime, please "like" our video and share widely on fb if possible! Also, feel free to like our page on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Our website and more information is coming soon!

Good Deeds: Not really good deeds so to speak, but we did make some cookie deliveries to some of our work friends. I wish I had brought more along. We ran out by the time we got to the Media Center!

Chores: Mostly just cleaning up after myself and the kids today. Working in the kitchen often generates a big mess. I think that any job description of a SAHM reads, "must clean up messes on a daily, and possibly hourly basis." 

Reading: Not a whole lot of time for reading today. Too busy filming, editing, and cleaning. Though Squeak and I did take in half of a Magic Tree House book before bed. There's always time for that!

Random Thoughts: Again, not completely random, but I'll likely be easing up a bit on the blog in the coming weeks. I'll be teaching an online college class and while I do enjoy keeping up to date with current library trends and info, it is extremely time consuming. I've got to make a cut somewhere, and so it will likely be shorter blog entries and also less workouts. I don't know where else I can squeeze in the time to be honest!

Puff always has smiles in the morning!
Happiest girl in the world!

Testing out her cheshire cat look.

Day 24

Monday

9.26.16

Day 1 of 5 of workouts for the week accomplished. I was feeling pretty exhausted by 2 o'clock this afternoon due to exhaustion, but I took a quick 10 minute nap while my mom was here and that helped rejuvenate me quite a bit!

People: Today we got to hang out with my mom for a bit. She joined us on our little afternoon excursion and even made dinner for us (which was super sweet). 

Everyone watches a movie at the Baltimore Museum of Industry

Places/Activities: This afternoon we went to a neighborhood event for The Baltimore Museum of Industry. It was quite enjoyable. I had never been to the museum before and was surprised by all of the neat things you could see and do there. Riley especially enjoyed the rocket craft. Slightly off topic, but the brand new National African American History Museum just opened this past weekend. I was reading an article about it just this morning and a woman (I can't remember her name) was discussing how being in the museum was like being in her story. That her family's story was there in that museum and how much it meant to her. I kinda felt that way about being in The Baltimore Museum of Industry tonight. My mother's entire family grew up in Baltimore. One of my great aunts worked in the umbrella factory, my grandmother at the switchboard of the telephone company, my grandfather at the ship yard, and one of my great uncles for a photographer. When I was looking at the image of the women making umbrellas I'd by lying if I said that I didn't squint to see if she wasn't among the women pictured there (she wasn't). There was an old switchboard like the ones my grandmother used to work on display. So many artifacts and so much history in one place. It was kind of amazing. I think anyone with ties to Baltimore or an interest in Baltimore should definitely check it out. 

Umbrella factory workers

Good Deeds: This is a little bit of a stretch for a good deed, but good deeds don't always have to be big things or cost a lot of money. They can be small things. Today as Squeak and I were working on one of those little plastic bead crafts (the kind you have to iron after making a design) she was commenting about how she was going to keep it. I had to comment that we don't need to keep everything we make. That sometimes you get more happiness over bringing someone else a little joy than holding on to something. So, after some thought she decided that she would be making it for her Granny to give to her at Thanksgiving. I hope that as she gets older she continues to think about the impact she can have on others through being thoughtful and doing small good deeds (as well as big good deeds too). 

Chores: Not too terribly much today. Just two loads of laundry and the standard dishes. 

Reading: I'm currently reading the book, The Day My Mother Left by James Prosek. I'm fairly certain I will finish it before I go to bed tonight. It's a book that I purchased on a whim while at Borders (yes, Borders - that alone tells you how long I've had it) and I have started it on a number of occasions but have completely failed at finishing it. Not because it isn't good, but because I get sidetracked with the five million other things I typically have on my plate. Then by the time I get around to picking it back up again I've forgotten what happened and have to read it all over again. Instead I typically choose to start reading a different book. Not this time! This time I am finishing it!

Random Thoughts: Something I can (but probably shouldn't) do as a stay at home mom… Wear pajamas during the day time. I mean, I technically don't have to work… I could just be comfortable all day. I mean, I see women out and about all the time wearing pajama pants to the store. But if I went out in public, I would still likely have to take off my shirt to put on a bra, and by that point I'd be half way there anyway, so what the heck. In just three weeks as a SAHM I've had these thoughts more than once I'm ashamed to admit. I think one of these days I will schedule a pj day though. Maybe in the winter when it's snowing and we can all snuggle up and play games, read books, and drink hot cocoa all day. :)

Recipes: Today I made a modified version of the Overnight Oatmeal on the Michele Olivier's Baby Foode website. I love this oatmeal and it freezes so well for the babies (or for older kids and adults for that matter. The crock pot makes so much you have to freeze it because you'll never use it all before it goes bad unless you are having an oatmeal party. Here's what I did to modify the recipe for what I call my "Apple Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal"… I didn't add vanilla and instead of the 4 cups of recommended fruit, I sliced up 3 apples and added an entire can of pumpkin. I also recommend doing what Michele suggests and using 4 cups of milk and 4 cups of water instead of all water. The flavor is so much better with the milk. Lastly, instead of nutmeg I used 1 teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie spice. Delicious! The best part is that I was able to use the apples from our Hungry Harvest box for the recipe!

Yum!

Chipmunk cheeks!

Day 23

Sunday

9.25.16

People: Today we hung out with one of our friends who thankfully is always eager to get together with us and spend time with the kids. We give her the honorary "aunt" title because she really is family to us.  She always makes it a point to check in and visit and is always excited to join us on whatever adventure we are taking!

Places/Activities: We went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival today. It's been quite a few years since we've been (is in the last time we went was at least 5 years ago before we had kids in tow). Going with three under 5 wasn't easy! There are quite a few hills there and even though I didn't get in a formal workout this morning I sure as heck got in a workout by pushing the double stroller through the grounds! Here's a pic D took of me getting a running start so I could haul the kiddos up and over the hill to the van as we were leaving! Squeak was running along behind to catch up.

I seriously think I could just eat my way through the festival. There are so many delicious food stands there. Though there were almost a little too many… To me it seemed as though there were less shops and more food stands than in previous years. We did have a really nice time and it was an absolutely gorgeous day to be out and about. We were able to take in two shows, Squeak went through and animal exhibit and got her face painted, and we did quite a bit of walking.

Good Deeds: Today I saved a spider from certain doom. I'm probably one of the few people that actually likes spiders. I especially love them outside to catch whatever annoying insect may want to enter my home! I was able to encourage this sweet little jumper to hop on a napkin long enough to get him out the door and onto the deck. I think he is looking at me with gratitude. Growing up I remember finding little jumping spiders in the house and getting them to jump from one end of the house to the other before getting them outside.

Chores: Another load of laundry today, but nothing else! We prefer to keep Sundays for fun, rest, and relaxation.

Reading: I did end up finishing All American Boys last night. I wasn't thrilled with the ending, but I do think that the book has a lot of value and that it brings light to a topic many prefer to keep in the dark. I highly recommend it.

Today we had quite a bit of downtime after our excursion to the Ren Fest this morning. D watched football and I read another book, Head Case by Cole Cohen. This is an autobiography of a woman who has difficulty remembering things, is terrible at math and science, and until she was in high school had absolutely no idea why she had such issues. As it turns out, she has a hole in her brain the size of a lemon (which helps to explain the cover. Otherwise you're like, "why is there a lemon on that outline of a person's head?") It's kind of amazing because she has gone against everything that science tells us of what she "should" be. She "should" be a vegetable. She "should" be severely mentally disabled. And yet here is a girl with a Masters degree and written a book. Life isn't ever "easy" and we have to work with what we are given. Cole takes what she is given and brings it to an entirely new level. I throughly enjoyed it.

Avy listens to the puppet show while having
a drink.

Even Puff enjoys a good puppet show.

The little princess.

Me and the Puff enjoying "O and Lala."

Little Squeak has been wanting her face
painted for a while now. Today her wish
came true!

Mr. Kitty looks mighty relaxed...

Random Thoughts: I think of these random thoughts as a window into my mind. A time for me to share the things that pop into my head for the kids to read when they are grown in case I forget (because I do forget a lot) to tell them. When I think back to when I was younger, it was the "random" things that my teachers, parents, and grandparents told me that I remember most clearly. I hope that through my random thoughts my own kids will take my words to heart and hopefully it will help them to make the right decisions when/if necessary.

Yesterday was the annual "Walk Like MADD." I think each of us knows someone that has been affected by drunk driving. Either we know someone who has done it, or someone who has suffered as a result of someone who has driven under the influence. Darlings, if you are reading this please know that if you are ever in a situation where you have had a little too much fun, please call your moms to pick you up from where ever you are. It doesn't matter the time. We'll be there. Just make the right choice.

*TRIGGER WARNING*

Every year around this time I think about the "that could've been my mom" night. In October of 2003, my mom was hanging out at my house. I think we had been shopping together that day… one conversation turned into another and another, and pretty soon we looked at the clock and laughed at the time - it was so late! I put my hand on the door knob to walk my mom out to her car, and at that moment heard the speeding of a car, the screech of brakes, and the sound of a car crashing into something else. My mom and I shared a look of horror before I threw open the door and grabbed my phone to dial 911. I don't think I will ever forget the look of the body slumped over the wheel or the young man crying and rolling around on the floor outside of the car, or the sound of the woman in the backseat screaming, or the sound of the young man in the other car yelling for help.

For years after that accident I kept my shades drawn so I wouldn't have to see the cross on the sidewalk across the street from my house. But I've thought… what if my mom and I ended our conversation just two minutes earlier? What if she had backed out of my driveway at the moment that car with the drunk 19 year old boy traveling 75 in a 35 crossed the line? My life would be very different than it is now. I don't share this story to be macabre or to ruin your night… but the decision you make should you drink and drive won't just ruin a night. It will ruin a life.

Day 22

Saturday

9.24.16

Squeak is my very own little Pinkalicious!

People: This morning we did things a little out of order. We slept in until 5:30am, then the babies and I took a walk. I fed them a little later (pumpkin pancakes and fresh strawberries). While they napped, D and I put in a 45 minute workout and Squeak happily played "chef" and danced happily in front of us.

Places/Activities: Today was a day for Squeak and I to spend together. Several months ago I purchased tickets to take her to see Pinkalicious The Musical. I didn't quite realize that it was so far away (Harford Community College) and wasn't as excited to take her as I was at first. However I'm really glad we went because the show was super adorable and I loved watching Squeak throw her hands up in the air or throw her hands over her face in embarrassment for the characters as they were being silly on stage. I was rather surprised that an entire musical was created based on just the book Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann. I wasn't sure how they were going to make a 5 minute read-a-loud into a 60 minute musical. But they did. And it was ridiculously adorable. I wasn't sure I liked the direction the musical was going at first because the Pink's little brother, Peter also liked pink, but the doctor and his father said that "pink was for girls." Thankfully the musical turned around and pink is for everyone and pink "is for love" and the self absorbed parents realize that they don't ever do anything fun with their kids and the father exclaims that he loves his children, and life goes on… oh la dee, oh la da la la la la life goes on….

Lumiere Lego building event at Toys R Us

Before we went to see the show, we made a quick stop at Toys R' Us to participate in their free Lego building event. We didn't learn about it until last week and when I checked online I saw they were having another event today from 12-2pm. So, we stopped in and created Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast with Legos. The girl that was working the event asked us if we were there last week. When I said we weren't she went in the back and brought out a little Cogsworth Lego for us to take home and build. That was SO sweet! I've always been a huge fan of Legos, so I'm so happy that Squeak is starting to show an interest in them as well. Between the Lego event and the Musical, we stopped for a quick lunch at McDonalds (which I regret because I never feel good after eating fast food anymore). Next time I'll be packing a lunch instead! By the time we got home I was a little tuckered out, but there was cooking to be done!

While we were off having fun, D and the babies were having a little fun of their own by going to Costco.

He looks so sweet and innocent...

But in reality he's a baby piranha! Poor Puff!

Good Deeds: Squeak and D made some deliveries this evening to share some of the sweet potato bread that we made.

Chores: Two loads of laundry and some cooking today. We received our Hungry Harvest box and inside were three large sweet potatoes. One of the potatoes was so huge that it was over two pounds and could barely fit on a dinner plate! Since I enjoy making bread so much, I found a recipe for sweet potato bread and made two batches and still had plenty to spare just from this ONE sweet potato!! Unreal! I made dinner for the family which was called a "Pizza Bowl" from Tastefully Simple. I don't know if I'll ever get into more complicated dishes, but I'm feeling much more confident about cooking now. At least now I know I can cook ground beef and boil chicken if all else fails. Maybe I should audition for Worst Cooks in America? D loves that show.

Condensation builds up in the handle and control panel
and then leaks through the handle onto the floor.
Poor design. In my next life I think I'm going to be a
dishwasher designer. 

The dishwasher needed to be taken apart. AGAIN. The dang thing keeps on leaking drops down the front. After taking it apart for at least the 3rd time now it has been determined (according to me) that it is a total piece of crap (I had already decided this a long time ago) and that there isn't anything wrong with the foam piece near the vent (which is what we thought) and instead it is just a very poorly made appliance. We are going to keep using it until it is dead, but MAN IS IT ANNOYING. Guess who is going to be getting a letter in the mail this week? You got it. The appliance company that manufactured this horrible piece of machinery.

Reading: I'm up to page 182 in All American Boys and if I don't finish before nodding off tonight, I'm hoping to stay in bed until I finish it tomorrow since I met my 5 day goal of working out for the week. Time for a rest!

Random Thoughts: As I was folding laundry this morning, I realized that I've had this nightshirt for 15 years! It still looks pretty awesome. If you've ever watched Seinfield you are probably familiar with "golden boy" and "blue boy." I have three shirts that fit into the "golden boy" category. This is one of them (and isn't even the oldest). I've always been of the mindset that you wear things until you can't fit in them anymore or they wear out. Most of the clothing I own is at least 5 year old. Some over a decade. Kids, if you take care of your things, they can last a long time. Think of how much money and resources you are saving in the long run. Of course in my case I tend to fluctuate sizes, so I pack up my roomier clothes and bring them out again after the holidays. Ha! It's like getting a brand new wardrobe almost. ;)

Recipes: Here's two recipes that I tried for the first time tonight. I recommend both. Just keep an eye on the bread in the oven though. It didn't take near the suggested time as what's on this recipe!

The first recipe for Pizza in a Bowl is from Taste of Home. It was pretty delicious. I didn't even eat with the family because I was too full from standing at the counter stuffing my face because I couldn't stop sampling. This is just one of the many reasons why I haven't done the cooking before now.

The second recipe is from Betty Crocker and is for a Southern Sweet Potato Bread. This also turned out very well. Even Squeak liked it! It's not terribly sweet and I love that you can see the little tiny flecks of sweet potato in the bread. Super yum!

Pizza in a bowl. It is YUMMY!

Yes, you read that scale correctly! That sweet potato
weighed over 2lbs!!!

Within the last week he started crawling! He's getting better and faster every day!

One on one time hanging with Puff

Day 21

Friday

9.23.16

Both can still fit in my lap for a bottle…
Until Puff reaches her leg up to kick Avy in the face...

This morning I was able to fit in a workout and a walk with the babies. Hoping I can do it again tomorrow to get in my 5x a week goal. Today was just another rather uneventful day!

People: Not much contact with anyone today. Thankfully D was able to come home a little early and could spend a little more time with all of us this evening.

Target in the dark...

Places/Activities: Today we made a run to the store after picking up Squeak from school to pick up some art supplies and some spices. We went on a hunt for Pumpkin Spice Cheerios at Target. When we got to the store, only 2 registers were open and the power was out. Employees were covering the freezer sections with plastic and the checkout line was about 30 people deep. I was kind of relieved to find that they were all out of the cheerios so that I didn't have to wait in that hideous line, but disappointed to think that the first day of Fall was yesterday, and already they were out of the seasonal Cheerios. I mean, we haven't even hit October yet!! So disappointing on a multitude of levels.

Squeak and I hung out this afternoon tackling several different craft projects. As she said, "I really like sorting. It's so much fun!" There might be a little librarian (or OCD) in her!

This evening we enjoyed a family movie night and I made kettle corn for the first time. I'm not gonna lie… the first time I tried making it tonight I failed MISERABLY. I thought for sure I would set off the smoke alarm (which would have been bad since we had just put the babies to bed). I burned the popcorn and I burned the sugar to put on the popcorn. So it was a flop at first. However, I tried again and the second time around it was delicious! We all enjoyed watching Cosmos - which was a great pick considering I just finished The Interstellar Age!

Good Deeds: I can't think of any good deeds for today. Sometimes good deeds are easy to come by, other times you have to really think about what you can do to help others.

Handsome boy modeling his new pi's!

Fresh popped popcorn for the movie!

Chores: Laundry and finished up the house cleaning by scrubbing down the remaining bathrooms. Now we can start the weekend with a clean house and a neatly mowed lawn! I LOVE that feeling. So satisfying.

Reading: Today during nap time, I started All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. While it's a fictional story, the events that occur in the story could happen on any given day. I think it's an extremely relevant story and a must read for anyone who is still struggling to understand the need for the #BlackLivesMatter movement. It's an eyeopener.

Even Avy stops playing to watch Cosmos.

Random Thoughts: I love this time of year. The temperature drops, the leaves fall, and the air is crisp and I find it easier to breathe. Wishing that we could learn to love the seasons as they arrive. Christmas decorations have been clogging up stores since August and it is disgusting. The holidays are more about consumerism instead of enjoying time with family and being thankful. I find that part of this time of year extremely frustrating.

Always a smile from the little Puff.

Everyone is mesmerized by Cosmos.