True Love

The other day I was wiping up S after dinner. A and my husband were loading the dishwasher. I overhear the following conversation: My husband says to A, "You know how I know your mom loves me?"
"How?"
"I know she loves me because she waits for me to leave the kitchen before rearranging the dishes in the dishwasher."
:)

One Word Meme

While surfing over at Journey to the Prize I found this fun Meme. Trying my best to stick to the whole one word thing, here are my answers...

1. Where is your mobile phone? Ear.
2. Relationship? Married.
3. Your hair? Shaggy. (Haircut appt. on Tuesday.)
4. Work? Teacher.
5. Your sister(s)? None.
6. Your favorite thing? Sleep-scrapbooking-boys' funnies-chocolate-sangria.
7. Your dream last night? None.
8. Your favorite drink? Diet Pepsi.
9. Your dream car? Paid for.
10. The room you’re in? Office.
11. Your shoes? Knock-off Crocs.
12. Your fears? Cooties.
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? Myself.
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? Family.
15. What are you not good at? Good-byes.
16. Muffin? Cranberry.
17. Wish list item? $
18. Where you grew up? Florida.
19. The last thing you did? Straightened kids' bedroom.
20. What are you wearing? Capris.
21. What are you not wearing? Socks.
22. Your pet? Cats.
23. Your computer? Works.
24. Your life? Full.
25. Your mood? Tired.
26. Missing? Mom.
27. What are you thinking about? Classroom.
28. Your car? Barney-mobile. (purple van)
29. Your kitchen? Sunny.
30. Your summer? Hotter-than-the-hinges-of-Haddes.
31. Your favorite color? Purple
32. Last time you laughed? Today.
33. Last time you cried? Yesterday.
34. School? Kindergarten.
35. Love? Yes!

If you're playing along be sure to let me know so I can come visit!

Pit Crew?

The boys love riding their scooters. They zip around and do tricks and life is great. The best scooter riding occurs when I move the cars to the back and side of the driveway to give the boys a huge "race track" for riding. I usually take a book out and sit on the steps and "supervise" while the "race track" is open.
This morning we were all outside. I'm flipping the pages of Quaker Summer (very good, thus far) and the boys are racing. They are stopping for "gas" (crazy water bottles with spouts that look like Bugs Bunny characters... Taz for A, Sylvester for D and Bugs Bunny for S...) when D invites me into his play world with, "Mom! I need tires!!!"
I look up and say, "I guess you need a pit crew."
He looks me right in the eyes and says, with all the cockiness he can muster, "You ARE the pit crew!!"
Now, I know that we moms wear lots of hats... cook, nurse, shopper, teacher, friend, etc..., but now I have to be the Pit Crew, too? (And do I have to be the WHOLE pit crew?)
Well, if I'm going to be the Pit Crew... I'm glad my racers are the best!!

Totallyscrappy, Kindergarten Teacher

Have you ever read one of my favorite books, Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner? It is Amy Schwartz' delightful story of how Annabelle prepares for her first day of kindergarten. And I must tell you that her older sister gives her all sorts of "sisterly" advice.

In the story Annabelle Swift introduces herself with a chipper, "Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner." In celebration of my new position for this school year I want to say, "Totallyscrappy, Kindergarten Teacher!"

WFMW: Pick Your Nose?

When I was fixing lunch I came across an almost-gone bag of animal crackers. The chocolate ones. I dumped the little bits out into a bowl and thought to myself, "Nobody is going to eat these cracker bits."

As the boys were scarfing mouthfuls of canned ravioli I said, "Hey, look! A whole bowl of animal cracker heads, tails, arms, legs and noses!" Suddenly the whole thing became a boy-friendly, gross bowl of animal cracker parts waiting to be munched. The boys eagerly grabbed for "bits" to stir into their yogurt. And the most popular cracker bit? The nose, of course. What self-respecting male (regardless of age) can resist the offer to "Pick a nose?"

Gross? I know, but it Works for Me! :) With little kids around, you've gotta be willing to be gross... once in a while.

For more great (and maybe, not-so-gross) Works for Me Wednesday tips visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

And if you were to pick a nose, how 'bout the nose from the unusual, but lovable, yellow-cupcake-crusted-daddy?

The Birthday Boy

My little S turned 4 just a few days ago. My In-Laws were here a bit back and we had a mini party with Grandparent presents and festivities. Then this weekend we had cupcakes, festivities (read: dinosaur tattoos) and presents from us. Isn't he a handsome 4 year old??

One of the things I've learned is that the rocking chair is the "Birthday Chair." S sat in the rocking chair very early in the day and announced that he was in the "birthday chair" and READY. I never thought of the rocking chair as the "Birthday Chair," but he is right. If it is your birthday you sit in the rocking chair to open gifts.

S sat there a long time, but it eventually paid off. Here he is with his brothers showing of a new box of Kid K'nex. (They all LOVE these cool building toys.)

S is also enjoying his new scooter, new clothes and a cool mat that goes with the VTech Smile box.

WFMW: Getting the Last Bit of Sauce!

Or, "Getting Sauced..." :)

I love pasta. Spaghetti, rigatoni, shells, penne, linguine... it doesn't matter what shape the noodles are; I love it! And my family loves it. We eat spaghetti about once a week.

Of course, the sauce makes all the difference. I will admit that I use a bottled sauce. Three cheese is usually my choice, but I'm not above a jar of mushroom or tomato basil. And I'll just let you know that I'm a Classico fan and while Prego will do, I never choose Ragu.
I always hate to waste even a tiny bit of that sauce. (I like LOTS of sauce with my pasta.) I shake the jar. I put the lid on and "whip" the sauce to the lid. I stand the jar on the lid for a few minutes. Whatever it takes, folks.
(Except adding water. My mom always did this strange water dance where she moved water back and forth between jars and cans of assorted pasta sauce goodness to completely empty the jars and cans. I only use one jar and I don't want to water it down.)

(Really, the WFMW tip is coming...)
Just last week I was stubbornly trying to rescue the last bit of sauce from the jar. In a moment of brilliance, I put a few cooked spaghetti noodles into the jar. I swished them around and they collected that last bit of sauce! YES!

Fire up the garlic bread, spaghetti friends... even more joy if you can do that spectacular spaghetti twisty thing with the fork and spoon like my one-armed-hanky-boy.

For more great Works for Me Wednesday tips visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

Lovin' My New Look!

Thank you, Amy, for my new look! That mudpie looks good enough to slurp with a spoon and what a beautiful, blue dragonfly.

One-armed Hanky Boy

Blogging hiatus is due to spending the week with my favorite In-Laws. We're having a blast and I promise to post some pictures soon...

So, in the span of two minutes the following conversations occur between me and A:

I'm in the bathroom putting away towels and A comes in and says, "Mom?"


"Yes, A." (We're the only two people awake, let alone the only two people in the bathroom, but he always insists on knowing that I'm ready for the conversation.)

"I think it would be neat to only have one arm."

"Is that so?" (What is on the television?)

"Yeah, but you couldn't do that neat twisty spaghetti thing with the spoon and fork if you only had one arm." (Obviously you've given this some thought.)



And...



I hand him a pile of new underwear.

"I needed new underwear?"

"Yes. The other day when we were at the zoo I noticed you picking your butt, so I figured maybe it was time for a new pair."

He giggles and says, "They're just white."

"I know. Once you get over an 8 or so they don't come in colors, I guess. I looked all over the store." Trust me, I did look all over the store.

"W has colored ones and they are Hankies."

I bust out laughing at the fact that W, a 13 year old friend of ours whom we spent two weeks with this summer, doesn't even know he is wearing colored HANKIES.

I say, "Hankies? I think the brand is Hanes! Hanes."