Deceptively Delicious...So Far So Good!

Thanks to Jas's mom, I'm now the proud owner of the Deceptively Delicious cookbook that I wanted. I bought ingredients to make four of the recipes today at the store, and this evening I made grilled cheese sandwiches with pureed squash. Results:

Mason (6) was suspicious the minute I bought baby food at the store. I'm not investing in a food processor until I'm sure we like the recipes - so I used baby food for the purees. When we got home, and I put the baby food squash in a bowl, Mason said, "Whatever that is, I'm not eating it." I managed to come up with a convincing "white lie," and he actually bought it. He LOVED the grilled cheese sandwich and asked for seconds. He claims to hate squash, but he just ate about 1/4 cup of it in his sandwich.

Carter (2 and 1/2), ironically enough, wanted to eat the squash out of the container. I think he thought it was pudding or yogurt because it was in one of the plastic containers. So I gave him a spoon and let him go to town. He ate half of it and never complained that it didn't taste like pudding. He wasn't thrilled about his sandwich - mainly because he isn't thrilled about anything I put on a plate and call a "meal." He did eat some of it, though, when I told him he couldn't have dessert until he ate his supper. That threat usually doesn't work with him, so he must have liked the sandwich. That's the most veggies the poor kid has had in one day since he started eating solid food.

Tomorrow night: Spaghetti Pie (with brocolli and carrot purees)

Happy 6th Birthday/12th Anniversary

Saturday Mason turned 6. Sunday Jas and I celebrated 12 years of pure marital bliss. The birthday party was at the new community center pool, complete with cake, balloons, family, friends, and presents. The anniversary celebration was a quick "Happy Anniversary" in passing as we prepared for the birthday party. Check out Carter's blue hands from digging into the butter cream icing, which was melting fast in the over-100-degree heat. Once the sun went down a little, though, the temp was perfect. And you can't beat having an entire community pool - with diving board and water slides - all to yourself. Mason absolutely loved every gift he got (like the outer space habitat for his beta fish - too cute!). But his favorite was the Sponge Bob wallet that Mimi gave him - with money in it, of course. He's been wanting a wallet for months. He's also been wanting a storm shelter for months, but nobody gave him one of those...go figure.

Seriously Busy

I'm having one of those weeks when it's just not humanly possible to get everything done in one 24-hour period that needs to be done. If I didn't have to sleep, and if businesses were all open at midnight, I might come closer to meeting my daily goals.

• Busy Situation #1 - We're selling our house For Sale by Owner. It probably would've been a good idea to get it ready to sell before we listed, but I like to make things as stressful as possible for myself. It took me an hour just to get the kitchen clean enough to take pictures. I have to finish painting before I can take pictures of the master bedroom and backyard.


• Busy Situation #2 - I've decided to apply for part-time preschool or Mother's Day Out jobs that will allow me to take Carter with me. The idea is to work in the morning and write in the afternoon - we'll see if that actually works...


• Busy Situation #3 - Carter has decided it's time to potty train. He runs around without a diaper and says, "Mommy, pee-pee!" every ten minutes. It's pretty much impossible to get any writing done when he's awake because I spend half my day in the bathroom, watching him sit on the potty. I tried taking my laptop to the bathroom to work while I sit on the edge of the bathtub...much better in theory than in reality.

Fun Times

God really knew what he was doing when he designed babies. If he had made them toddlers from day one, nobody would ever have kids. So He made tiny little irresistible infants, and then supplied women a few hormones to give us the overwhelming desire to have one. Wasn't that smart? A little tricky, maybe. But smart.

Can you tell what kind of day I had yesterday? Carter's ear-piercing scream every five minutes - including at the store when it was time to get out of the little "car" cart. Have you ever tried to buckle a kicking, screaming, hitting, very strong little person in a car seat? If you have, then you know it's followed by a very loud ride home.

And I'm not even going to mention the older kid fits Mason threw all day - or the fact that he bit Carter's finger - or the smartie-pants remarks he now throws out every few minutes - OR the creative ways he finds to disobey.

Mom: That's enough of the word "poop." Do not say poop again.
Mason: I think Carter pooped in his pants.
Mom: That's one point off of your chart.
Mason: What?!?! I was JUST saying that Carter needs his diaper changed because he pooped. What's wrong with that? (FYI - There was no actual dirty diaper in the situation.)

When does school start, and do they take two-and-a-half-year-olds?