A Day In My House

• In the past two days I found that Andrew & Josh got along much better when they were pretending Josh was a dog.
• Josh, after losing a dime from spare change I gave him yesterday, not only asked if I would give him another one, but if I would make it a $10 dollar bill, instead of 10 cents. I almost feel compelled to honor his request for his sheer audacity in asking. But, no.
• Andrew stops in his tracks for car commercials. Josh stops in his tracks for Scotch tape commercials, the pop-up dispenser ones.
• I’ve recently found myself telling friends that I could easily see Josh becoming a rocker when he grows up. He loves to listen to music loud. (Recently, Bob told a story of when Josh was in my car with him, the two of them alone.  Bob was cranking up my sound system, as he can only do when I’m not in the car. So the music is already loud, and Josh hollers from the back seat, “Turn it up!” [Although what Bob heard, was "Come on old man, turn it up louder!])
• I’ve also recently found myself following up the “he could be a rocker” comment with, he could also grow up to be a preacher. He has no qualms with telling Andrew, flat out, “You’re Wrong!” I suspect he feels like telling us the same thing at times, but he also (rightly) feels he can’t talk to us that way. He retells Bible stories frequently. He seems to ponder God a lot, and not in the quesitoning way, rather in the matter-of-fact way.
• Andrew’s brain functions in a way that he has to comment on immaterial things, all the time. Especially if the normal routine is changed, he seems to analyze it out loud as his way of adjusting to the change. If only I could give you examples, but to do so would require me to carry around a tape recorder because no amount of recollection from my brain can do this justice. Yesterday, after just one such scenario, I commented to Bob that Andrew couldn’t help himself. And that he would make an excellent sportscaster some day. Bob replied with the thought that, yes, Andrew could fill dead air with the best of them.
• I can see a maturing independence in Andrew’s 7-year-old self. It brings me both pride and reflective poubtyness.

I have no clear direction on what to share with you today. I’m not foggy or confused. I simply don’t have a predominate thought as a frontrunner to blog about.

Instead, I have thoughts about all the different things on my plate right now (and some mere distracting thoughts). Some I will share with you here:

• What appetizer and/or dessert should I make to take to my small group social tonight?
• Planning, planning, planning for a 70-person lunch three months away.
• Why is my throat sore and is this going to last all day?
• Emailing my niece about her starting college and a list of things she’ll need that family can help her obtain.
• I’m admiring the pumpkin blossoms in the back yard from our first-time-ever planting of pumpkin seeds. We have several blossoms and I’m hoping that something doesn’t eat these as it did the first 2 or 3. I’m also wondering how far across the back yard they will spread by October.
• I really need to consider taking a training class to spiff up my techical skills in case I return to work part-time. Mental Note. MUST dedicate time to researching locally available classes.
• Must clean off this dining room table as it becomes a catch-all and make-shift desk for the laptop. (Mind you, we have a desk upstairs with the “desktop computer” which needs to be cleaned off too.)
• There are three and one-half weeks until school starts.
• It’s pretty clear we won’t be going on a summer vacation. And I’m okay with that. In fact, I have only myself to blame, so it is best to be okay with it so I don’t have to blame myself.
• My refrigerator runs really loudly sometimes, and it begs the question: Is it on its last leg? (wishful thinking)

Since I’ve been counting calories, my favorite snacks have changed, leaning more towards the protein-packed or chocolate-packed options. Here’s a recap of my faves:

• triscuits (thin crisps only) (1/2 serving 70 cal)
• triscuits and provolone (1/2 serving: 70 cal + provolone: 70 = 140)
• Lacey’s Dark Chocolate Almond crisps (Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Amazon) (1 round = 85 cal)
• Luna Iced Oatmeal Raisin bar (180 cal)
• baby carrots and green onion dip (35 + 20 [half serving dip] = 55)
• prunes (25 cal)
• chocolate covered pretzels (100 cal)
• Emerald Cocoa Roasted Almonds (100 cal)
• Tostitos Bite-Sized Rounds with Jack’s Special Salsa – mild (1/2 serving chips: 70 + salsa: 10 = 80)
• coffee (hot in the a.m., iced in the afternoon) (dressed up: 60 cal)

Wishing my sisters and I could gather together to cook and eat.

Wishing for a date night.

Wishing for time with my parents.

Wishing for chores and schedules and stress to fall away and that I could just spend hours playing in (and enjoying) my kids make-believe, Lego, playing school and what-ever-else-they-dream-up world.

Wishing vacations would magically be planned and perfect.

Wishing menus would make themselves.

Wishing it were a perfect 72 degrees with a slight breeze every day of summer (and that it would rain in the night while we sleep to water the grass and gardens and farms).

Wishing I knew how to swim.

Wishing decisions were clear.

Wishing there were no calories in dessert. Or steak. Or biscuits. Or butter. Or the perfect french fries. Or pasta. Or pizza.

All in one day, I purchased a new coffee maker (at a clearance price of 39.99 at Meijer) and a laptop.

I tried a couple of new recipes, one being a repeat: Italian Wedding Pasta.

Josh started his art class yesterday, in which he started two projects. One he doesn’t know what it is going to be and the other is something we already have one of, so we will have two, but it is a secret. Later, at dinner, he revealed it is a gumball machine.

I bought raspberries yesterday. They were lovely. Served them with a simple cream cheese and sugar mixture (2 tablespoons of cream cheese with about 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar).Although, granted, they were delicious all on their own.

Looking forward to taking the kids to see Despicable Me on Friday.

Getting ever closer to planning a long weekend vacation on Lake Erie (thanks, Christi for your wonderful tips!)

I so adore the “cookie” series of books by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, the newest being: One Smart Cookie.

Indulging in some summertime nectarines – an absolute favorite of mine.

Stalled out on about page 100 of my 496-page cookbook, I admit I’ve learned several things, none of which I can recall this exact moment.

Things I’ve learned recently:

1. The word pelt can refer to the fur of an animal; and I just thought it meant getting “hit” or “pelted” with something.
2. We have taste buds on the roofs of our mouths.
3. Josh can be quite a funny entertainer, mimicing “tricks” he learned from a local fireman that visits schools with his magic act.
4. I still love to snuggle with my boys in the middle of the night, but sorry that their bad dreams are what trigger it.
5. Amphibians have smooth wet skin, while reptiles have scales and dry skin. (I knew the scales part, but the wet vs. dry I wasn’t really aware of. They both look slimy to me.)
6. Bears at the zoo in Ohio in May just look terribly hot and out of place.
7. Flowers seem to be a close second to “pets” in Josh’s book. It is something to take care of and he seems to admire them with passion.

We had a lovely weekend. The best part about it? Doing chores with kids! The four of us worked on our list of chores together, and with some coaching the kids managed to do all of this:

• vacuum carpet in family room
• vacuum stairs with smaller vacuum
• restock water bottles and capri suns in the fridge
• sweep the front porch
• wipe down the outdoor furniture on the porch
• empty trash cans upstairs and take to the garbage can outside

Amazing!

Three dentist appointments in one day should not be allowed. (Me, Andrew, Josh)

There should be a warning on Fiber One cereal: Caution, You may not want to eat this every single day.

Why, as you age, do random parts of your body start going rogue? I have this dry patch on the thumb/palm of my left hand. Eczema, I suppose.

Why does a walk through the newly redone party supply store, instill in me the desire to throw a party?

What can I get for my husband’s 39th birthday this month? He’s not a watch-wearing, wallet-carrying kind of guy. If I were to ask him, he’d likely ask for a day outside in the sunshine. No frills.

• Rearrange Andrew’s room, organize toys and Legos in a way that is tidy but still functional. (Oh, and clean his room first.)
• Dust my entire house. Vacuum too.
• Clean out and organize my kitchen cabinets.
• Do all my chores so I can engage in something fun with the kids without feeling guilty for ignoring chores.
• File.

As with each spring, I start on a list of high hopes – plans to do this or that with the boys over the summer.

This year, I really do want to plan some fun things to do with them. But the keys to our (my) success are going to be:

• Pace ourselves. Don’t try to plan a special something for every day of the week. Plan a special outdoorsy or craft thing for one day a week. Then have a rotating list of things to fill the other days, along with free play. Story time. Errands. Play date. Lunch Out. Class at the community center.
• Break from the norm. I remember from last year, that things like painting on canvases on the deck, was what they so enjoyed and have asked to do again and again. And, on a perfectly mild summer day, it was therapeutic and relaxing for me too. Unimaginably so.
• Go old-school. Do things like they did them back in the old days. Hang a sheet and let them paint on it and then use it as a curtain for a stage. Make an obstacle course in the back yard. Make mud pies.
• And throw in some real school. Practice math and reading with boy boys some each week.

What not to do? Don’t let the summer pass by having shared nothing special with my all-day time with my kids. Don’t wish for it to hurry and be over, having them both in school full-time. Instead, enjoy the here and now. Savor it. Cherish every moment.