In case I need a good blackmail story

I walked past Eric in the bathroom earlier tonight and he was--ahem--'shaking.' He sees me walk past and says:

"Look Mommy, I'm shaking over the potty! Dancin' and shakin' and movin/ to the music!"

To be fair, I was the one who taught him what I thought were the lyrics to "Play That Funky Music" but I am now finding out the actual lyrics are:

"dancin' and singin' and movin' to the groovin'"

In any case, it's a good story to have when he starts datin' :-)

A teenager in the making

My dad, brother, Evan, Eric, and I went to the train show yesterday. The trip started with lunch at Noodles & Company, always a favorite. After lunch, the train show, and the chaotic ride home with 2 over tired children, I asked them what their favorite part of the day was:

Eric: Trains! The big choo-choo trains!

Evan: Eating lunch at the noodle place!

Me: No, what was your favorite part of the train show?

Evan: Eating popcorn!

Me: Okay, besides eating, what was your favorite part:

Evan: Buying a train t-shirt!

At least they looked like they were having fun (yes, my father always talks when someone is trying to take his picture and my brother wears shorts even when it is cold and raining outside).

WWF goes to pre-school

When picking Eric up from pre-school today, one of the teachers needed to talk to me. I actually had the idea they wanted to talk to me because of how wonderful Eric has been doing lately.

Wrong.

Today, my sweet, mellow, mild-mannered (post ear tube) little boy decided to regress. BIG TIME.

He hit--not one, not two, but THREE--of his 'friends' today. And the first one he hit in the face with a (toy) train track. Luckily the victim was okay and didn't require stitches or anything. The other two hits were minus any toys.

So, on the way home, Eric and I are talking (I"m curious if he will tell me about what happened). I ask him about his day and what he did and his friends, and he answers everything all happy cheery with no mention of turning pre-school into a cage match. I ask him about hitting his friends and he admits to it. When I asked him why:

"Because that's what Eric's do"

Seriously, how can I rationalize with a three year old when he starts talking about himself in the third person? Let's just hope today was a one-time deal.

Atypical, but not surprising

The icemaker on the refrigerator seemed to be jammed this weekend. After waiting a full minute, and listening to the ice build up in the door, a Happy Meal toy came flying out of the ice dispenser, followed by about a gallon of ice cubes.

I took Evan and Eric for haircuts...on the drive home, I thanked them for being so good and patient. Eric replied "Oh sure Mommy, not a problem."

There was more, but I've already forgotten...this is why I need to blog!

Killing time

I'm not sure I like that title...could be taken the wrong way. I'm not going on some sort of murder spree, just to clarify. Emmett is happily sleeping in the backseat after being diagnosed with a double ear infection (one ear was so bad the nurse actually jumped back after looking in his ear), so I don't really want to take him inside and wake him up and the weather is SO gorgeous, I figured I'd sit in the van with him and play on the computer.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad was that run on sentence?

Other than the nasty ear infections, life is pretty good in our house. The working full time/having three kids thing is working out pretty well, which kind of surprises me. Ethan is probably ready to enlist me in the armed forces to become sort of drill sargent, but I know he would never say that ;-) I am getting my work job done, I pick up all 3 kids (most days), dinner has been on the table at a reasonable hour every night, and everyone has what they are supposed to have for lunch the next day.

How, you ask, have I managed to accomplish this amazing feat day after day? Planning people, lots and lots of planning.

I'm trying to put a picture of my menu plan for January here, but it's just not working. In any case, I have a month worth of meals lined up, with all the major ingredients stocked in my fridge, and I have actually been following this plan! I'm so impressed. Tell me you're impressed.

Naptime is coming to an end, so that's all for today's rambling. Happy long weekend!

Oh wait, here's the list of meals...best I can do under the circumstances:

• Sun Jan 3 Chicken Pot Pie
• Mon Jan 4 Spaghetti & Meatballs
• Tue Jan 5 Crockpot Beef Stew
• Wed Jan 6 Black-Eyed Pea Tacos
• Thu Jan 7 Flounder w/Lemony Bread Crumb Topping
• Sat Jan 9 Crockpot Blue Cheese & Steak
• Mon Jan 11 Spinach/Onion Quesadillas
• Tue Jan 12 Soup & Sandwiches
• Wed Jan 13 Greek Penne Pasta
• Thu Jan 14 Crockpot Maple Ham
• Fri Jan 15 Eggs & Bacon
• Mon Jan 18 Baked Ziti
• Tue Jan 19 Hot Dog Creole
• Wed Jan 20 Bowtie Alfredo w/Broccoli
• Thu Jan 21 Crockpot Philly Cheesesteaks
• Fri Jan 22 Salmon w/Chili-Lime Spice Rub
• Sat Jan 23 Chicken Diablo
• Sun Jan 24 Tomato & Wild Rice Soup
• Mon Jan 25 Chicken BBQ Sandwiches
• Tue Jan 26 Mediterranean Chicken
• Wed Jan 27 Chicken Nuggets w/Mac & Cheese
• Thu Jan 28 Crockpot Orange Chicken
• Fri Jan 29 Sausage & Egg Casserole
• Sun Jan 31 Baked Macaroni & Cheese
• Mon Feb 1 Fried Rice w/Shrimp
• Tue Feb 2 Potato & Goat Cheese Spanish Tortilla
• Wed Feb 3 Chicken Quesadillas
• Thu Feb 4 Crockpot Margarita Chicken

P.S. I love the Crockpot Lady, in case you couldn't tell :-)

Eric 2.0

Eric got ear tubes a few weeks ago (I find myself wanting to say he had ear tubes installed, but that just doesn't sound right), after suffering through 7 ear infections in as many months, or some miserable number. The doctors assured us it would be a good thing. Friends told us the surgery was a walk in the park and he would be back to his normal self by the time he got home from the surgery.

They lied to us. They were all WRONG.

The surgery was a great thing. Eric is a completely different person. The ear tubes propelled him from being a grumpy toddler into a happy, social little boy who talks so much I think he might be talking more than Evan. He greets me in the morning with a hug and a "good morning Mommy" and constantly comes up to me wanting a hug and kiss, and to tell me that he loves me. He asks questions (lots and lots and LOTS of questions) and tells stories and puts on "shows" for his family and his classmates using puppets and stuffed animals.

In a word? He is CUTE! Ok, he was always cute, but now he is a happy cute. See for yourself:

Why do they have to grow up?

Evan goes to before and after school care at his elementary school...the kids are all different ages, and we've noticed some differences (for better and worse) in behavior because of this. It is what it is, he isn't going to be an angelic 5 year old forever, right?

I dropped him off yesterday morning and walked him in like I normally do. He ran towards the coat area, and very briefly paused to look back at me before putting his coat away and giving me a wave. Something was off, but he seemed okay, so off to work I went.

This morning, while I was pouring cereal, Evan gave me a big hug and whispered "Bye Mom" in my ear, even though I was going to be taking him to school in a few minutes. Then it hit me--maybe he doesn't want to hug me in front of all the older kids?

Seems like just yesterday I couldn't get out of the door without the requisite high five/pound/bonk combo. :-(

2010: A new year, new decade, and maybe something else

So after a whopping 42 blog entries is all of 2009, here we are again. It's the time of year where we vow to start over, do things better, try something new, etc. And who am I to think that I am above that? So here we go...the blog-worthy resolutions for 2010:

1. Eat better. While I am doing very well post-Emmett, the past month or so our family has been eating like crap, and since I do almost all of the shopping and a lot of the food prep, I can change this. The meals for January have been planned out, and we had an all-family trip to the grocery store today, so I'm off to a good start (I hope).
2. Blog more. I don't do scrapbooks or memory books, so I really need to blog so that when I'm old and senile I will remember all the memorable things that currently fill my brain. Like when Emmett got his first tooth during the 'Winter Wallop' of 2009, and his 2nd tooth just 10 days later. And even the fact that we had such a thing as a 'Winter Wallop' that dumped roughly 20 inches of snow into our neighborhood and canceled school for the entire week before Christmas.
3. Take more pictures, and be happy with them. Don't snap the shutter just to hurry up and get another picture, but enjoy and savor the moment. Thanks to the inspiration of these nice folks, I am starting my own 'Photography Project365' this year...if you're interested in keeping up (and hassling me if I fall behind--which I have no doubt that I will), then check out my Absolutely No Smiling blog. And remind me to tell you why I decided to call it that!
   

So there you have it...the resolutions I'm willing to share to the few devoted friends and family members that are brushing away the cobwebs to see that I still have a blog. Thank you for being here :-)