My year as a SAHM (Stay at Home Mom): 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!