There's a Baby in My Tummy!

That's the game that has been played constantly at our house the past week. I am refusing to participate - it's just the children. (Almost had you there, didn't I?) It started last Saturday at lunch when they all wanted to hear about when they were "a little baby in your tummy". So...we went through them all one by one. It's funny to hear their different takes on it as they reenact it...too varied and too precious to share in detail. But that half hour of conversation has provided a week of growing closer, sharing memories and finding myself remembering details long forgotten. If you haven't walked down that memory lane with your kids recently, I highly recommend it. :)

A Beautiful Sight

I'm torn. I don't know which sight is more beautiful.

My son folding his own laundry:


OR
My tomatoes growing strong and some peppers already re-potted?

Leprechauns are NOT real!

The conversation in the minivan on the way home today went something like this:

Anna: "...and then the leprechaun left DINOSAURS on my chair and he gave us suckers and sunglasses and...(more and more and oh so much about leprechauns!)"

Me: "What a fun day! It's nice that your teachers work so hard to make your day fun."

Anna: "The teachers didn't do it, the leprechaun did."

Me: "But you know that leprechauns aren't real - they're just pretend."

Anna: "Come on! Are you crazy? Miss Sandy found a real live one upstairs. He was so little. You've gotta be kidding me."

The last part is word-for-word - it really struck me. Not just because my almost 4 year old was sounding like a pre-teen, but because my daughter comes from a family that does not do Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny. We celebrate those occassions, just without the mythical figures. I didn't even realize that Leprechauns were an integral part of St. Patrick's Day. But here she is, thinking that I am the one telling her stories, trying to make her believe that something that was so fun is not true. It really bugged her. She's asked me twice since we got home to confirm that leprechaun's really are real.

I like our daycare, but I really wish they didn't put me in these awkward situations where I have to choose between lying to my daughter and breaking her heart.

Dinner Drag

I love cooking...but I hate preparing meals. I truly love cooking. I love looking for an interesting recipe, getting all the ingredients, preparing it and presenting it to my family. But weeknight dinners? Ugh. It's getting really bad. My poor husband has been working insane hours to provide for our family and I can't even manage to cook him a decent dinner most nights. It's terrible of me, I know. I find myself starting to say I can't help it, but that's not really true. I also have a long list of excuses ready - really good excuses. Things like:

• I forgot to get the meat out to thaw.
  
• The meat I got out 3 days ago and kept putting off cooking has now spoiled.
  
• The produce that I needed has spoiled.
  
• One of the 10 ingredients I need for that dish has been used for something else.
  
• We just got home from (insert lesson here) and it's only 45 minutes until dinner.
  
• The kids won't eat it anyway.
  
• I think a migraine is coming on (happens about twice a month, but this one makes a more frequent appearance, I'm afraid!)
  
• I'd hate for my favorite local restaurants to go under due to the economy.
  
• (Nearest child) needs some "mommy time", and really, isn't that more important than a home cooked meal?
  
• The kitchen is too dirty - I need to clean it first and there simply isn't time
  

All valid excuses...right? Regardless of the reasonable nature of the excuses, the fact of the matter is that I really SHOULD be cooking dinner rather than making the poor man pick up dinner on his way home after a very long day or just throwing something together that the kids will possibly eat and he will definitely not enjoy. I tell myself it will get better when summer comes and we have the fresh produce and the grill available. What a shame June is such a long way off. For the sake of our health, our budget and most importantly, portraying to my husband how loved he is, I am now on a journey to improve my stats in the kitchen. I'd give some hard figures here, but I'm just too ashamed to admit the current state of affairs. :)

Gardening Season Has Officially Begun!

Or at least, I declare it has. For me, anyway. You can do what you want. :)

I have our chilis started, and I also jumped the gun on some Thai Basil...hoping I can get it going good indoors as it would surely add a lot to all the Thai cooking we've been doing lately. This week, I'll be starting the tomatoes and maybe getting the peas planted. One of the nice things about the raised bed gardening is being able to get a jump start, as they thaw pretty quickly.

But before I get going full steam on the seedlings in the basement, I need to CLEAN the basement. Too many spiders currently residing in there now for me to want to go down and check on things as often as I should. That's where shop vacs come in handy! :)

What does this say about me?

What kind of mother would leave her baby's arm stuck in a bus, just to catch a cute picture? After several minutes (and several photos), we were able to free his hand. I'm not a monster.