Fun in the H crib

It all started with a lightning storm earlier this week. The power was out for a good bit of Tuesday morning. Yesterday it rained cats and dogs again.


Yes, that's standing water. My black croc floated about like a wee, unfashionable dinghy.


So I took a couple of pics of Freida since she got left out of the last photo shoot due to a sudden case of distemper.

But that photo shoot was cut short by the loudest lightning I've heard in a long time. My ears rang and I had a headache for the rest of the day. Later I saw half a dozen firemen all over and in and around my neighbor's house. Apparently the tree in her backyard (directly behind my house) was struck, leaving the following burn mark where its root had singed the grass:


Yes, it was that close and yes, the power went out for quite a while. It came back on for a bit and then went out yet again in the evening. Slumber was fitful for myself and Thing 4. When we finally got into deep sleep, our house-wide fire alarm system went hellishly bonkers at 5am. We all (save only Tag who, disturbingly, slept through the whole thing) leaped from our beds, found no smoke or other evidence of fire, and then proceeded to cover our ears and scramble about madly, trying to find the problem. Nothing can describe that most heinous racket. My ears still hurt and I hear screechy beeps in every white noise in the house. To make a long, tedious, nauseatingly annoying story shorter, it took almost 12 hours, three batteries, two visits from maintenance, three phone calls to the main office, and much gnashing of teeth to get the situation taken care of. It turns out that a battery was low from all of the power outages and the one smoke alarm was malfunctioning, possibly from the lightning strike which also fried our modem. The upside is, we are now getting our AC fixed. So glad to know that the unit, while adequate, was malfunctioning and shall be made right.

We also had a delightful visit with incoming friends who needed a place to crash that contained both chairs and laundry equipment. We tried some Zumba (at which I officially suck as my feet are not the happy sort), grilled beef franks and veggies, laughed, and beat each other at Mario Kart. Thank you, H2 clan, for brightening our day.

planting

Fun =


I started some herbs (cilantro, basil, dill, and chives) a couple of weeks ago, as well as some tomatoes and peppers. Pebbles took care of all of my peppers and chives for me while I wasn't looking, and today I was transplanting and Freida plucked most of the basil (one surviving plant) and some of the dill.

-sigh-

So, take two and this time I'm starting them in actual pots since it seems to be easier to overplant and thin than it is to use the egg carton.

I love working dirt with my hands. It was nice to break up clumps of cool earth until it felt silky and soft. I also love scrubbing up afterward and smelling the soil on my hands.

Now I just need to find a place there my little seeds can be safe from little hands and obscene amounts of rain.

Tag doing to his shoes what boys do to shoes: wear those suckers out! Stopping bikes, running, stepping in creeks... it's a good thing you can't smell these suckers.




Pebbles enjoy a flower she pilfered from the front yard. I told her to show me her purple finger nails and look at the camera. You can tell what she's more interested in.



Freida also has one hand of purple nails. She wouldn't sit still long enough for both hands, or for a picture.


Some sort of pink, fuzzy flower on a bush in front.


This is a really tall bush in the front. I have no idea what these are, either.



These are all over post in great hedges. I think they're beautiful. Their real life color is darker and deeper than this.

Are these lilies? Anyone? They bloomed within a couple of weeks of the landscaping guys planting them.
These are all along the front of the house and they're all in bloom.

One of the nice things about post is the massive bushes of honey suckle. If you drive around with your windows open on or around post, you can smell all of the flowers in bloom right now. Man's allergies don't appreciate it, but I think it's glorious.

Today we're listening to old school Billy Joel and cleaning up. The kids are still in school for a couple of weeks and even though they've had a lot of breaks due to moving and a double dose of spring break, they seem to be ready to just have a summer of relaxing. I went to an IEP (individual education plan) meeting for Princess where it was determined that she no longer needs speech therapy. Woohoo!! Less of my life in meetings.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to make a person hate sugar? I still can't stomach the idea of peanut m&m's (which is sad b/c I met someone who works for M&M Mars. I could definitely tell her that Snickers is my favorite candy bar though) but there are so many other delicious things that would feel bad if I didn't eat them.

Well, off I go to get my FLYLady on.

bad words

Princess: Mom! Tag said a bad word!

Tag: Did not!

Me: What was it?

P: You want me to say the bad word?

Man: What did it start with?

T: Oh, it was nuthin'.

P: H.

Man and Me: [exchanging glances]

Man: Heck?

P: No.

Me: Hell?

P: No.

Me: [drawing a blank, wondering if my son knew more swear words than I did] What did it end with?

P: P.

Me and Man: [exchanging glances] [We didn't know it at the time, but we both thought "help" at this moment]

Me: Whatever, just say it, you won't get in trouble.

P: It was "holy crap". [she said it with mighty disdain and distaste]

I whooped with laughter while Man explained white expletives to the kids yet again.

pics

For some reason I'm having issues with taking clear pictures lately. Getting good ones without flash can be a challenge when you're working with kids.








So, I've got these callings now. Man and I are nursery leaders (13 kids under the age of 3 for two hours every week) and I'm the compassionate service coordinator. The shock of having a calling that radically impairs my ability to get to know any other adults while having another calling that requires that I have at least a working knowledge of who's active in the ward has slowly started to diminish. I told the elder's quorum pres that if I got a calling in the Primary that I was going to cry, and I was true to my word. Oh, well. They reassured us that they put the most spiritual, strongest people in callings with children and we fit the bill. Flattery? Who knows. Such words didn't even touch my ego since I was so absorbed in my own disappointment. I don't mind serving in the church, I just don't like the isolation of working in nursery. It's a fine calling after you've been around a while and have already made a bunch of friends. Anyway, enough of my whining. What other calling can you get where you play with toys, have a snack, and play with bubbles? I tell you what though, I'm going to be wearing pants to church for this one. No way are skirts an option with that much sitting on the floor.

The three month food storage plan is slowly fleshing out. Man and I had a talk last night about meal options where most of the ingredients are shelf stable and freezer safe. If you've got a family that doesn't like tomatoes (and boy do they have another thing coming since I planted 9 tomato plants) or canned vegetables, and Man doesn't care for eggs at all, it's difficult to come up with much besides canned chicken and rice or spaghetti. Most food storage recipes are for breads and soups and the diverse uses of oatmeal, or hiding beans in baked goods (which Man assures me "isn't so bad... if you havn't had a real cookie or brownie in 3 months.") Needless to say my spread sheets are getting a run for their money what with price listing, menu planning, and food storage planning.

And the day is yet young and gorgeous outside. Time to throw dinner in the slow cooker and get vacuuming.

Date night

It's really silly to not know what to do on date night around here. But we didn't.

So we grabbed some sandwiches and went and found the temple. We were glad we didn't decide to go in that time since it wasn't incredibly easy to find and getting into the parking lot was an adventure as it appears that Friday evening is a popular time to visit or get married. It looked like it was smaller than the pictures made it look at first, like the Salt Lake temple, but after walking up to it, I decided it was the biggest one I'd ever seen in person. It was beautiful. (link to a picture that I did not take) We arrived as the sun was lowering and that gold light was magic. The grounds are very well kept, planted and raked and trimmed. There were secluded benches among trees, nature trails, and sweeping landscaping rich with freshly transplanted annuals.

And of course there's the Spirit of the place. Driving through the gates was almost overwhelming. We didn't have to say much as we wandered around and just soaked it in. The main door faces north, but the east-facing door was simply and beautifully decorated. I kicked myself for not bringing a camera.

We went to the visitor's center and enjoyed the brief message played with the Christus (pictured here, link -- it's the statue) and they had a fascinating scale model of ancient Jerusalem. It was surrounded by pictures depicting moments of Christ's life, coordinated with pinpoint lights in the model to show the location of each.

All in all, despite having to drive in Maryland, it was a very good date. The guy who came to watch our kids brought two of his three as well as a neighbor's little girl. Funny how the social life around here involves so many little people. At the bbq last night, of that close to 40 people who showed up, 3/5ths were kids under the age of 10, and that ratio stacked a little since there were 4 missionaries and one couple had only one child. We have a very large primary.

Potato salad

We went to a Baptism BBQ last night (celebration after a baptism) and I offered to bring potato salad. It was a hit, so I'm going to write it down before I forget all the ways I didn't follow the recipe in The Best Recipe cookbook.

A Kick of Pickle Potato Salad

Note: I was making this for close to 40 people. Feel free to not make this much salad.

5 pounds yukon gold potatoes
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
about 1 tsp salt (or more, to taste)
about 3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper (or more to taste)
6 hard boiled eggs
1 cup minced fresh onion (I used a sweet white, and it was about half of a large one)
3/4 cup sweet pickle relish
1 1/2 cups mayo (no miracle whip for this recipe)
6 tablespoons dijon mustard
parsley, a good palm full
dill, about 2 tsps

Scrub the potatoes, leave them whole, and boil in *not* salted water. Leaving them in their skins keeps them from getting water logged and keeps the salad from getting runny. Test with a knife, and when done drain and allow to cool on a jelly roll pan for just a few minutes. When you can handle them without hurting yourself, rough chunk them into bite sized pieces. You can skin them if you like, I leave them on (which is why I use a thin-skinned potato and scrub). As you put them in a large bowl (I used my huge steel canning bowl) sprinkle in vinegar, salt, and pepper. Measure it out beforehand and just sprinkle. Toss the potatoes once they are all done and taste a potato. It should taste salty and vinegary, but not too much. (was that vague enough?) Refrigerate while you make the dressing.

In a smaller bowl, combine the dressing. I don't have an egg slicer, so it was just easier for me to pop the yolk out, chop the white and just sort of mash the yolk. Chop it decently fine into 1/4" chunks or smaller. Mince the onion. Measure out the pickle relish and don't worry too much about getting too much pickle juice. Add mayo, mustard, and herbs. Fold until combined.

Pour dressing all over the top of the potatoes and fold gently until combined. Taste and correct flavors as desired. I usually end up adding a bit more salt and pepper.

(note for newbies: this is a salad that must rest for at least 2 hours, especially if you use dried herbs. )

Recovery

Pollen:



Tag brought home a toad:


Things here have been getting better by degrees. Thank goodness for antibiotics, but everyone is exhausted. We're clinging to the basic routine we started into once the kids got into school but it's a fragile thing. Last night I experienced the stomach bug that Princess and Man had last week and now, tragically, I'll never be able to look at a peanut M&M quite the same way again. Today I'm sipping yogurt and water and wondering, wondering what it would be like to have college courses on top of our daily adventures. Pebbles' toe is almost back to normal and the lab results came back negative for MRSA (hallelujah!!!).

I've planted a small herb garden in a washed out, foam egg carton. If I can't plant much in the ground, I can at least have a couple of potted things. The tomatoes and peppers should be small enough for a larger pot and a small harvest is all I want anyway. My family rolls their eyes every time I tell them it's time to start saving the yogurt containers again, but Princess and Tag both loved helping with the dirt and seeds. Which reminds me... I left another bag of potting soil in the van! Hope Man didn't mind a good whiff of that this morning.

Freida, my littlest girl (can't call her baby much longer) is getting her canines in. Funny how we were in such a rush to get the first two kids off of bottles and pacifiers and into big kid underwear and school. Now Freida is almost 17 months old and still uses both and underwear is nowhere in sight. HOWEVER, Pebbles has voluntarily given up her nighttime diaper, and she no longer wears one on shopping trips, so I can safely whoop that she is potty trained. The next step would be to get her to wear underwear, which she still wets when given the chance. At her dr's visit I was informed that she is now in the 90% for height, which was flabbergasting to us since she has always been the petite one.

Princess continues to do well with reading and has mental blocks in math very similar to mine. We try to make it fun and interesting, and try sneaky ways to get her to do math and surprise her afterward with revealing the sneaky. She's getting outside a lot more nowadays, using Tag's scooter to keep up with the neighborhood kids on their bikes. The weather here has been so mild that the kids spend every moment they can with outside friends.

Tag, of course, knows everyone on our street, the names of all of the teachers and kids he comes across at school, and is learning his way around the neighborhood by gradually figuring out where all his friends live. His bike has given him a tremendous amount of freedom and confidence (you know, even more than he had before). He's starting to read a bit now, as well, and his fierce sense of independence is carrying him pretty far in this arena. He worked hard this past weekend to earn some of his money back. It was fun to see how eagerly he accomplished his assigned tasks when the incentive was right.

Woohoo!

Woohoo! I have strep. Let the antibiotics roll! On the quick test, the test showed up before the control. How sick is that?

Everyone in the office came by to see my tonsils as word spread about how nasty they were. I speak like a deaf person not only from pain but also how big they are.

Man has a "stomach bug" (we'll see about that) and Princess has yet to be dx'd, but she has been home the last couple of days with flu-like stuff. Pebbles has antibiotics for her toe, and Freida's hideous yeast infection is clearing up with OTC stuff.

Now excuse me while I take my 103° self to bed again where my book awaits a warm snuggle.

It's the law here that if you take a child to a dr's appt, you must bring only the patient. If you are the patient, you may not bring any children with you at all.

At least the older two are in school.

Pebbles has an infected toenail and an appt to see the dr on Thursday. Yes, I've done everything I can think of for the past week and it merely continues to worsen.

At the same time, Frieda would need to be watched by a friend since the child care center won't care for kids who have any skin anomolies whatsoever, and Freida has a yeast infection (again).

Not really a big deal until we learn that I have a dr's appt two hours following Pebbles' appt, so I have to drop Freida off, take Pebbles, get done with a half hour to spare so I can drop her off and go to my appt. All of this during Frieda's nap time. Man also has an eye appt somewhere smack in the middle of all of this and will need transportation. Everyone is required to be at their appt 15 mins early for the convenience of the doc who will proceed to make us wait 45 mins to be seen.

I think we need some better appt planning strategies.

I guess it's a good thing we've had so many people over for dinner since we moved here. It makes it a bit easier to start asking after child care.

Maybe some banana muffins wouldn't hurt either.

I'm going to make million$

I was making dinner when the Tagster comes over.

T: What's for dinner.

M: [I forget]

T: Eeeeew!!

M: [totally sick of dealing with ewww's despite using every parenting technique I've heard of] Ok, if you pay me $5 then I'll make you something else.

T: [suspicious] Like what?

M: Fish sticks. [I totally thought that he'd say no, considering how much he likes money]

T: Ok. Let me know when my fish sticks are done.

Tonight we did the same thing. I made fajitas, he didn't want them, I nuked him a quesadilla and dished him a half of a canned pear. Another easy $5.

And now... he's out of money.

We'll have to see what he does on stir fry night.

tip nut

I'm really loving Tipnut.com.

Today's tips:

Mini gardens.

Cake frosting stepping stones.