Those Kindergarteners are bananas!

Apparently Peter's new teacher is pretty strict.

It sounds like she spent much of the day yelling at the kids and taking away bananas.

Each kid has a monkey and they start the day with 5 bananas. If you break a rule you get a reminder and if you break it again, you get a banana taken away. If you do something good (saying thank you, helping someone, etc.) then you get an extra banana.

At the end of the week, if you have 23 bananas or more you get to go to the prize chest. Peter kept all of his bananas on Thursday and then managed to get an extra one on Friday.

He was pleased with his prize - a little imitation Hot Wheel. It looked like the teacher probably got a pack of 50 of these for $1.00. I think going to the prize chest was more exciting than the actual prize itself.

Peter said almost everyone lost bananas on Friday and that he and Colton (Jennifer's son) were the only ones that got an extra banana.

I am assuming that his teacher is trying to get everyone used to the rules. Hopefully it will calm down over the next few weeks.

He got his extra banana for saying thank you.

Apparently I need a prize chest around here.

Oh. And the boy with the really long name? The one Peter couldn't pronounce?

It wasn't Tom as I had predicted.

It was Gilberto.

Miss Potato Head

Recently Sarah and I made chin faces.

My friend just Jennifer made them with her daughters and they turned out so cute. Doesn't Cheyanne look just like a Cabbage Patch doll?

We didn't get quite the same results because Sarah insisted on pink eyes, purple eyebrows and and a green nose. And she laughed the whole time I was trying to paint so everything looks a little wonky.

She also wouldn't let me make a little pony tail out of her hair so in one picture she looks sort of like a crazy homeless person in need of a hair cut and in the other one she looks a bit like a potato.

But she's my little potato head and I love her - purple eyebrows and all!

Happy Medium

Yesterday after Peter was safely on the school bus, Sarah and I went to Wal-Mart.

We headed straight for the toy aisle and looked at every pink toy until I couldn't stand it any longer. Sarah asked for most of them but after I said no, (what felt like a hundred times) was content with just putting them on her Christmas list.

Later on the hair dryer aisle, Sarah decided that I needed the pink hair dryer. I decided that I needed the white hair dryer. Lots of foot stomping and fake whining occurred as I put the white hair dryer in the cart.

Fresh off of her defeat, we headed over to the greeting card section where Sarah demanded that she get to choose the card. Of course, she picked a card that cost $4.99 and sang songs when you opened it. I thought $4.99 was a little excessive for a card (and it was not even very cute) so I told her to put it back.

There was more foot stomping, fake whining and fake tears and a battle ensued between mother and daughter.

Here in the aisles of Wal-Mart for all the bargain shoppers to witness, Sarah was displaying several qualities that I love about her but that also push my buttons.

I love that Sarah is opinionated, stubborn and strong-willed. These qualities will serve her well when she makes her way out in the world. I can rest easy knowing that she is going to be able to make her voice heard and that she will be able to stand up for herself.

However, at this point in time, these qualities are what cause lots of mommy-daughter disagreements.

It was only 9:00 AM and I was already weary of the battles, so I told her that she had made a beautiful choice and put it in the cart. I also put a more affordable (and much cuter) card into the cart.

At the checkout, I slipped Sarah's card to the cashier and whispered that we weren't going to get this one. Sarah never noticed and we were all happy.

I'm sure many people reading this are shaking their heads. But I figure that Sarah and I battle all day long and usually, I win. Every now and then, it's probably o.k. to let her think she won.

I hope I'm not wrong because I don't want a strong-willed, opinionated spoiled brat but I figure there's a happy medium somewhere.

I hope I found it in the card aisle at Wal-mart.

First day highlights...

Well, Peter's first day of Kindergarten is in the books.

Here are a few of the highlights from his first day:

He was excited because he had a Tootsie Roll in his backpack that the teacher said he could have when he got home. That was the very first thing he told me when he got off the bus.

He got to play at the Lego table but was a little disappointed that it had Duplo blocks instead of real Legos. "Duplo blocks are for little kids!" he told me.

A little girl cried and then threw up. I'm not quite sure whether she was crying so much she threw up or whether her stomach hurt so she was crying and then threw up. Either way, that's not exactly the best way to start Kindergarten.

A little boy basically cried whenever he didn't get his way and was disruptive to the class. Not sure yet whether he was upset about his first day or whether he was just a spoiled brat. I guess time will tell.

And this little boy's behavior may change when he realizes he's going to get some bananas taken away and not get to pick a prize from the prize chest at the end of the week. Apparently punishment in Kindergarten is serious stuff!

Peter said he made a friend at the Lego table but he can't remember his name because it's too long.

I can't wait to find out this kid's name. It's probably Tom.

Before bath time tonight, Peter told me that the two best things about Kindergarten were riding the bus and lunchtime.

I was hoping he would say his favorite things were learning to read really long words and writing cursive but I guess we'll save that for tomorrow.

Oh well. At least he didn't throw up.

Although as I was tucking him in, he said his stomach felt like he swallowed a tooth. Then he said he was nervous that he couldn't find his class.

Tomorrow may be his day...

Go, Peter, Go!

Well, today is the big day! It is Peter's first official full day of Kindergarten!

He will be in school from 8:00am - 2:30pm. And I will easing my fears and worries with a little retail therapy in Wal-Mart.

I would go to Target but it's much further away and I want to be close by in case there are any problems - which I don't anticipate - but just in case.

And while I am in Wal-mart I will be getting a new hair dryer. Because even though it still runs, it only blows out cool air. So Sarah and I will be nervously pacing around in Wal-Mart, wishing we were at Target.

And Peter will be in Kindergarten away from his Mommy for 6 and 1/2 hours. But I know he will do great.

I've already written teary posts and this morning I'm more excited than sad. So instead of more maudlin words, I thought I would share some pictures with you.

This is Peter on his first day of 2-year-old preschool and he's wearing a cute little striped shirt.

This is Peter on his first day of 3-year-old preschool and he's wearing a cute little striped shirt.

This is Peter on his first day of 4-year-old preschool and he's wearing a cute little striped shirt.


And this is Peter on his first day of Kindergarten and he's not wearing a striped shirt.

He refuses to wear striped shirts any more. He has a closet full of them that he won't wear. I guess I like striped shirts more than he does.

And I guess I'm lucky he's wearing this plain shirt because he really wanted to wear a t-shirt with skulls and crossbones on it.

Here we are at the bus stop, nervously waiting. Isn't it cute how he was clutching my hand? I gave him a big hug after this picture and then the bus approached.

Jennifer's two oldest kids crossed the street and Peter grabbed my hand. He hung back and my heart sunk. I thought for sure he wasn't going to go.

So I said, "Go, Peter, go! I know you will do great!"

And he went.

And he will do great. And I'll try not to be sad.

Because I know that this is only the beginning for him, even though it feels a little like the end for me.

Cherry Nice!

Sarah was in the bathtub and I was beside her trying to paint my toenails.

I love it when my toenails are painted a bright vibrant color but I hate doing it.

It's much easier when they are bare, clear or even a pale pink. Mistakes aren't quite as noticeable.

But I was getting tired of glancing down at my feet and seeing bare toenails and here in the South there are plenty more flip-flop weather days ahead so I decided to paint them again.

I thought a nice bright red would be just the right color since we are on the verge of fall so I chose Sally Hanson's "Cherry Nice".

Sarah looked over at my toenails and started laughing.

"Mommy! Your toenails don't look very style-y. You better not use that silly color."

But I stand by my color choice.

Because I'm just not ready to take fashion advice from someone that wears lipstick on their eyebrows!

Meet The Teacher Morning.

Yesterday was the first day of school in the local school system but for the kindergartners it was Meet The Teacher Morning.

We had two choices of times to attend. We could go at 9:00 or we could go at 10:30. I decided on the 9:00 slot and that was a mistake because all of the other parents in Peter's class chose it as well.

So imagine my delight as I found myself surrounded by 23 kindergartners, many of their younger siblings and one to two parents each as we all crammed into Peter's classroom.

And when I say crammed, I really mean crammed. Think sardines.

There were large adult-sized rear ends squished into child-sized chairs, or squeezed on the floor beside child-sized chairs or hovering worriedly over kids in child-sized chairs. (If an adult rear end can hover that is, but you get what I'm saying here. There were too many adult-sized adults in a kid-sized room.)

And to make matters worse, we were expected to fill out paperwork! And all of the information was redundant to information that I had already filled out when I signed him up in the first place. I was not a happy sardine.

So there I was sitting on the floor beside Peter who was sitting in his little chair looking nervous. I was trying to listen to the teacher talk about fees, where the kids should go in the mornings, lunches, snacks, supplies and bus schedules while trying to fill out forms, ask questions and constantly reassure Peter who kept saying, "I want to go home. I don't like it here. I want to go home."

But then he saw it. Sitting near the front of the room was...

A LEGO TABLE!

It was if the clouds parted and the sun started shining. I think I even heard the angels begin to sing the Hallelujah Chorus.

But then all Peter would say was, "Can I play on the Lego table? Can I play on the Lego table? Can I play on the Lego table?"

I was finally able to take my adult-sized rear end out of the classroom. All of my questions were answered, all of my forms were filled out and my sanity would soon be restored.

When we got home I asked him what he thought about his classroom. His response was, "I didn't like it. It was too crampy." I have a touch of claustrophobia and I think Peter may have it too.

But I'm not going to worry yet because he then said, "But did you see that Lego table? I want to play on that Lego table!"

Peter won't go back until Thursday which will be his first real day. They split the kindergartners into thirds. So 1/3 of the class will go today. 1/3 will go tomorrow and the final 1/3 will go on Thursday. And then on Friday ALL of them will go.

Hopefully on Thursday when the room isn't as "crampy" he will be able to relax and actually get to meet the teacher. Because after we got home from Meet The Teacher Morning, I realized that Peter didn't actually even get to meet the teacher!

I'm sure Thursday morning will be fine. I'm sure he will do great. I'm sure he will relax and enjoy himself.

I'm starting to worry though because even thought there was a Lego table there, I didn't see any actual Legos.

Miracle Monday

Happy Miracle Monday everyone!

This morning I wanted to highlight the very first miracle Jesus performed in the Bible. It occurred when he turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana.

This miracle allowed Jesus' disciples to see firsthand his power and if they had any doubts that he was the true Messiah, they were erased.

John 2

1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there,

2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

3When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."

4"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."

5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

6Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

7Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.

8Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so,

9and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside

10and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

11This, the first of his miraculous signs

This was the first miracle Jesus performed on earth, but it certainly wasn't the last!

Please share a miracle Jesus has worked in your life so that if others have doubts that Jesus is the one true God, they will be erased.

It's easy to participate. Just post a miracle on your blog and link it back here using Mr. Linky below. Please mention "A Mom's Life" and my URL in your post. And if you want, you can use the Miracle Monday button in your post as well.

PLEASE NOTE - when linking make sure to link to your Miracle Monday post. Do not link to the front page of your blog. If you have any questions, email me and I will be glad to help you. My email address is in my profile.

Have a great Miracle Monday!

This edition of Miracle Monday is now closed. Please come back next Monday if you want to link to a miracle. Thanks!

Chickatees Boutique Giveaway Winner!

For once, 13 can be considered lucky. I used Random.org and it returned 13 as the lucky winner of the Chickatees Boutique giveaway.

I would show you the screen print (which I have) but I can't figure out how to turn it into a .jpeg file or and I really don't feel like trying to figure it out today.

The afternoon is much to nice to spend it geeking away in front of the computer!

So....

Keyomi is the lucky winner of an item of her choice from Chickatees Boutique.

Keyomi, please email me (address is in my profile) right away!

Thanks to everyone for entering the giveaway and have a great rest of your weekend.

Overheard in my house this morning....

My kids are playing a game Sarah likes to call "babies" right now and it makes my heart sing. They are really starting to enjoy each others company.

And the more the play together and keep themselves happily occupied, the less I have to hear, "What can I do now? I'm so bored."

However, playing babies means that they have taken every baby doll, every doll related item, and every piece of plastic food they could get their hands on from the playroom and hauled it upstairs.

After hauling it all up the steps, they strategically placed each item throughout the rooms upstairs.

On their fifth trip down for more things to bring up, I heard the following exchange:

Sarah: "Peter you stay upstairs and take care of the babies."

Peter: (hot on Sarah's heels and holding a magic wand) "Nah. I just used this magic wand to make a person to stay upstairs to watch them for me."

Now if only he would use that magic wand to make a person to clean up the mess and to do the laundry, we'd be good to go!

****Don't forget to check out my giveaway. Leave a comment by 2:00PM EST on Sunday to be qualified!****

It's Friday and I've got a giveaway!

I'm excited and you should be too! It's Friday and I've got a giveaway! What could be better than Friday AND a giveaway?

Well, I guess winning the giveaway but we've got to start somewhere.

Last week I highlighted Chickatees Boutique and told you to go check out Cayce Carter's cute t-shirts. And they really are cute!

The winner of today's giveaway gets their choice of any item from Chickatees Boutique. In addition to her adorable t-shirts for men and women, she also has hats and kids tees.

All you have to do to win is leave a comment here. Comments will close this Sunday, August 24th at 2:00 pm EDT. (You do not have to have a blog to enter, just make sure you leave an email address so I can get in touch with you.)**Contest open to residents of the US only.**

I will choose a comment at random and will announce the winner this Sunday evening. The winner will have until Tuesday, August 26th to get in touch with me or someone else will be chosen.

So happy Friday ya'll!

Leave me a comment now and then go visit Cayce at Chickatees Boutique.

Full moon? Fever? What could it have been?

I could hear their giggles coming from the play room as I stood in the kitchen roasting the tomatoes that were going in the soup I was serving for dinner.

My kids were playing - together! And had been for over thirty minutes!

"Is it a full moon?" I wondered to myself. "Perhaps one of them is feverish!" I thought anxiously.

But no. It was neither of these. They were actually playing together on their on without any extenuating circumstances.

Perhaps it was out of sheer boredom or maybe they have finally realized the value of having a sibling around. Whatever the case, it was the sweetest sound I've heard in a while.

I've heard this sound before but usually it ends in screams of "Mom! He called me a name!" or "Mom! She's not sharing!"

But not this time. This time, I was the one who put an end to their play because we had somewhere to go and we had to be there at 2:00.

But not before they convinced me to read them a book, to give them airplane rides on my feet and to have a tickle fight.

Hmmm...Mommy was playing nice yesterday too.

Perhaps there was a full moon after all?

Or perhaps Mommy is finally realizing that sometimes it's OK to be a little late when she is trying to win a tickle fight!

People Google the silliest things!

One of the great things about having a blog is checking all the Google searches on Stat Counter to see what interesting things people are Googling to get here.

Normally I find boring things like "how do I get rid of my chin hair" or "pirate ship birthday cake". These make sense to me because I have done posts on them in the past and because these sound like something I myself might actually type into Google and at some point probably have. (Those darn chin hairs still plague me by the way!)

So imagine my delight when I came across these beauties in my Stat Counter:

I broke a tooth, can I glue it? - Well, like I said, Daddy will try to glue anything. He's never actually tried to glue anything back into or onto someones body but bring it over. Dr. Dan will see what he can do!

How to get 20 year old to do chores. - Perhaps I should be Googling this myself because Peter keeps telling me he's going to live with me forever. And my current method for doing chores is probably not going to work if he's still here in 15 years.

I'm in love with Michael Jackson's answering machine. - Wow! I don't even know how to respond to that one. And I doubt this post that they found after their Google search was any help either. But hey, maybe they have some advice for me and my veiny hands!

I've always said that you can find the answer to any question on Google. And at the rate I'm going, I may find myself Googling "I have veiny hands, a 20 year old who won't leave and a husband who won't stop gluing things."

I hope I don't end up back here if I do!

Miracle Monday

Happy Miracle Monday!

I am looking forward to reading all your miracles today. So if you want to participate, it's easy.

Post a miracle on your blog and link it back here using Mr. Linky below. Please mention "A Mom's Life" and my URL in your post. And if you want, you can use the Miracle Monday button in your post as well.

PLEASE NOTE - when linking make sure to link to your Miracle Monday post. Do not link to the front page of your blog. If you have any questions, email me and I will be glad to help you. My email address is in my profile.

Have a great Miracle Monday!

This edition of Miracle Monday is now closed. If you want to post a miracle, please come back next week!

Saturday Link Love - Chickatees

Just wanted to let you guys know about a great little online boutique that sells the cutest tee-shirts. Head on over to Chickatees to see what I'm talking about.

Chickatees is owned by Cayce Carter . She created Chickatees "as a way to express her gratitude for all she has and as a way to help others discover the sense of peace that can be found in the projection of good thoughts and good will toward others."

Cayce is a mom and is working hard at getting her new business off the ground.

So help a mother out! Go right now and check out her cute tee shirts.

Random. Random. Random. Random. Random. Random.

I got tagged by Melysah, and Mary for the Six Random Things Meme.

Here are the details of this meme:

1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6).
3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below).
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger (who tagged you) know when your post is up.

And if you didn't get enough random from me here, here, here and here, well then here are six more:

1. I love the Pioneer Woman and I love to see what she's cooking. And many times I will actually try the recipes myself. My favorite recipe so far is the Crash Hot Potatoes. I love them. Give them a try. You won't be disappointed.

Just make sure you leave them in the oven long enough for the outsides to get crispy. That's important. And don't worry, even when the outsides are crispy, the insides will still be soft and almost creamy. YUM.

2. I read the obituaries almost daily. I am only 38. I don't think this is something you should be doing until you are at least 58 but yet, I can't stop myself.

I think I do this in part because I am nosy and I fancy myself a bit of a sleuth. I like to try to determine cause of death. Those folks at CSI got nothing on me.

3. I drink coffee every day. This is a habit I started almost two years ago. But what I really love is a good chai tea. And recently, I discovered that I like iced chai tea. A new coffee shop has opened up near me and they make the best iced chai tea. Love it!

But I dislike Starbuck's chai. ICK!! They use waaaaaaaaay too much ginger in their version and it really burns. I'm not sure who is in charge of things at Starbucks but they must like their coffee bitter and their chai burny. Double ICK!

4. I do a load of laundry almost every day. I would rather do one small load every day than a bunch of big loads one day a week. I just wash everything in cold and I throw everything in together. And I still don't iron.

5. I have a small callous at the base of the pinkie finger on my right hand. It's been there for months. It won't go away and I don't even know why it's there in the first place. I don't do any manual labor. Just ask my husband. I leave all the real work to him.

6. We have been growing tomatoes this summer. This is our first attempt at gardening. It's gone pretty well so I think we will expand next year and add a couple of other things.

I love tomato sandwiches and thanks to our little garden, I have eaten them for lunch almost every day for the last 3 weeks. I've even had them for breakfast.

And I like them on white bread with Hellman's mayo and salt and pepper. And don't ever put a tomato in the fridge. They are way better at room temperature. And if you can time it right, they taste the best right off the vine.

7. I'm a meme rule breaker.

For instance, the rules to this meme state to list 6 random things about yourself and I am listing seven! ***gasp***

Also, it states to tag six people but I'm not going to tag anyone! ***gasp***

See. I told you I was a meme rule breaker. I don't think you need any more proof than that!

Hair she goes again!

If you don't want to hear me ramble on and on again about my hair then I'm giving you fair warning. You can click away now.

But if you do, then here goes.

I've written at length about my hair and getting it sort of cut and getting it sort of cut again. And some of you are probably wondering if I'm just getting my hair cut to have something to blog about.

But I can assure you, if I needed something to blog about, I would go to Wal-Mart and just let nature take it's course.

In my endless quest to have a cute and sassy hair style, I went back to my hair stylist again this morning. And I know deep in my heart of hearts, I want an inverted bob.

I don't want one quite as extreme as Posh Spice's. To pull off a bob as inverted as hers you have to be 80 pounds soaking wet. And apparently, you aren't allowed to smile either.

Because, really, what's she got to smile about anyway?

So, I want an inverted bob. But I'm also a big, big chicken.

So my sweet hair stylist is helping me get to where I want to be by holding my hand and taking me there very slowly.

And after today's visit, this is where we are now...

I like to call this bob, the "barely,sort-of, almost inverted bob". Or the "inverted bob for big chickens".

And this picture is making me wonder when my nose became so protrusive. Does this happen in old age or is this just a product of my new, barely-sort-of inverted-just-for-big-chickens bob?

Hmmm...and it looks like both sides aren't cut quiet the same. Oh, well. Any adjustments will have to wait until my next visit in six weeks.

So, there you have it. My new sort-of do.

And at the rate I'm going, in roughly two years, I will have the inverted bob I have always dreamed of, right about the time that inverted bobs have become so 2007.

And with that, I leave you with one last image because my son found my college mortarboard and thought I should be photographed wearing it and because my arms look so freakishly thin...

Eat your hearts out, Posh Spice and David Beckham!

Time, please stop.

It is early, not quite 8:00am. I am sitting at the computer, my normal spot on a lazy summer morning.

My son comes down from upstairs. I hear his soft footsteps come up behind me as I swirl the office chair around to face him.

"Good morning, baby," I greet him.

"Morning, Mama," is his soft reply.

"Come sit on my lap," I summon him.

He climbs onto my lap, still warm from his bed. He draws up his long, lanky, 5-year-old legs and curls into a ball on my lap. I wrap my arms around him and hold him tightly.

I push and sway, turning the office chair into an impromptu rocking chair.

"Time, please stop!" I scream in my head, as I hold my baby boy in my arms.

My mind drifts back several years and a two-year-old boy is curled up on my lap in a glider, curling his hair between the fingers of his right hand. We are moving gently back and forth in the chair.

"Time, please stop!" I scream in my head, as I hold my baby boy in my arms.

My mind drifts back a little further and a newborn is curled up in my arms. We are gently rocking. His eyes are closed and a slight smile passes across his face.

"Time, please stop!" I scream in my head, as I hold my baby boy in my arms.

But my pleas are not heard. The long, lanky,5-year-old legs slowly uncurl and he pushes himself out of my lap. "I'm gonna go play now, Mama," he says.

"O.k., baby. Go play," I say, as I turn my chair around to face my computer again, silently wiping away the tears that are streaming down my cheeks.

Yo! Yo?

My son rushed in the house, hot and sweaty after playing outside with the next door neighbors. He slung the refrigerator door open and grabbed three pouches of Capri Sun Roaring Waters. He slammed the refrigerator door closed and as he was heading outside I heard him yell to the boys, "I've got the Capri Suns, yo!"

Yo? Did I hear that correctly?

My son is five. His favorite color is camouflage. He likes trucks, Legos and pirates.

Yo?

Perhaps I should tell him that his street cred will go up if he hands out Gatorade instead of Capri Sun.

Miracle Monday

Last week, Beverly By Grace, was inspired to leave a sweet miracle after she read about Gracie's story.

Beverly wrote about a friend who lost a young child, Maci, to Leukemia and how her children prayed to God to save the child. In the end, the Lord brought Maci home to be with him but her death caused Beverly's children to start asking questions about God and what they could do to get to heaven to be with him.

We may never understand why God did not answer the prayers to save Maci but we can trust and believe that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28

Please remember to pray for Gracie this week.

And if you are interested in teaching your children scripture, Beverly has a free printable to help you with this. Go check it out - after leaving your miracle here, of course!

This edition of Miracle Monday is now closed. Please come back next Monday if you have a miracle you would like to post. Or if you are looking for inspiration, please check out the link in the sidebar for all the other editions of Miracle Monday.

Bozo - 1, Mommy - 0

Sarah loves to wear make-up. Applying make-up before we go out is one of her favorite past times. Actually applying make-up for no reason at all throughout the day is one of her favorite past times.

I have had multiple conversations with her about the amount of make-up she should wear. So she completely understands that wearing too much make-up will make her look like a clown.

I've even told her very pointedly, "You don't want to wear too much make-up because you will look like a clown."

Yet she continues to come downstairs looking like this:

Bozo -1

Mommy - 0

How Does She Do It?

I took Peter and Sarah to the Children's Museum yesterday.

One of the things I enjoy doing while the kids are involved in all sorts of imaginary play is observing the other mothers. (That and drinking Dunkin Donuts coffee, which I don't even think I'm allowed to bring into the museum, but so far, no one has had the guts to tell me I can't!)

Most of the other moms are dressed like me - khaki shorts, flip flops, and black or white t-shirts. The basic stay-at-home-mom-is-going-out-of-the-house-but-not-just-to-the-grocery-store look. We were all clean but not dressed up. Our hair was washed but not styled.

But yesterday, I spotted a mom that stood out from the crowd.

She had three kids with her. Their ages roughly 8 months, 2 and 4. And their clothes were all clean. The 4 year old was wearing a polo shirt and the collar was even turned up.

She was cute and petite with a short, sassy hair cut. And not only was her hair clean, but it had a healthy shine.

Her toe nails were pedicured and her finger nails were manicured. And it looked to be a professional job.

She was sipping from a water bottle while I was slurping down my illegal iced coffee

She was wearing a very fitted tee shirt, little shortie shorts, lipstick and a big smile.

And of course she was smiling. This woman clearly had it together.

And I have to admit. I was jealous. Not because she was cute, trim, healthy and pedicured. But because this woman was cruising through the Children's Museum, chasing after three kids, wearing....

WEDGE HEELS!

I have enough trouble wearing my wedge heels to church on Sundays. And if you own a pair of wedges, then you know what I'm talking about.

They are cute, but you pay for the cute in blisters, red marks and general uncomfortableness.

So, yes. I will admit it. I was jealous.

And I consoled myself by thinking that she probably has a team of people helping her to pull off her look -a rich husband, a stylist, a trainer, a maid, a chef, a nanny and

a really good podiatrist!

What Do You Do When Good Bananas Go Bad? Make Banana Bread, Of Course!

My kids love to help out in the kitchen - especially Sarah.

But when the kids help, there is always a huge mess so I probably don't have them "help" me as much as I should.

But I guess I shouldn't complain because when the kids are awake, there's always a huge mess somewhere.

So a couple of days ago, when I couldn't stand the endless rounds of "Mommy, what can I do?" any longer and I noticed that I had four bananas that were drawing fruit flies, Sarah and I made banana bread.

I love banana bread. But I have high banana bread standards.

I want, no, I expect banana bread to be dense and moist. If it's dry, I won't eat it.

In 2001, a coworker brought in some banana bread and it was the best banana bread I had ever tasted. It was dense and moist and flavorful. It was everything I expected out of banana bread.

I immediately asked him to get the recipe from his wife. The next day he brought in the recipe and I made it multiple times trying to get the same results.

And every single time I made it, it was the driest, blandest banana bread I have ever eaten.

I am assuming that his wife purposefully left out her secret ingredient.

So (getting back on track here) Sarah and I made banana bread.

The nice thing about banana bread is that it can be made quickly and all in one bowl so the mess we created was minor:


But the smiles I got were major:

And well, the results were wonderful:

The recipe that I used has now become my banana bread recipe.

The recipe that I will make every single time I have bananas swarming with fruit flies.

The recipe that I will pass down to my grand kids.

And I would like to thank the Queen B and her Nannie for sharing this dense, moist, flavorful banana bread recipe.

And the best thing about this recipe?

Nannie didn't leave out her secret ingredient!

Nannie's Banana Bread

1 c. sugar3 over ripe bananas

1 c oil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 c flour

1 t baking soda

1 t baking powder

1/2 c nuts (optional, I'm guessing)

1/2 t cinnamon

1 box instant banana pudding (the small box. she said you could use vanilla if desperate. but i don't think it would make her happy.)

1 t vanilla

Combine all that stuff. Put it in a lightly sprayed loaf pan. Bake at 350 for an hour or until done.

Fun With An English Idiom

Yesterday, Peter was excitedly telling me about the neighbor's cat:

Peter: Do you know how I know Tabby is a hunter?

Me: How, honey?

Peter: Because the other day he killed two birds, (pauses slightly)

Me: With one stone?

Peter: (looks at me oddly and finishes his sentence) two bats and a mouse.

I chuckled for the rest of the day thinking about that one.

A stay-at-home mom has got to have a little fun.

The Best Green Beans Ever

I'm not a very good cook. I like to cook but I'm not that good at it.

My husband is a good man. He will eat what I put before him and normally without complaint. But because I am not a good cook, it is also normally without kudos as well.

Last night, I had a bunch of fresh green beans in the fridge and needed to use them up before they spoiled.

I threw some olive oil in a skillet and let it heat up.

Then I chopped up a shallot I had that was left over from another recipe and I chopped up a couple of cloves of fresh garlic. I threw those in the skillet and let them cook until the shallot turned translucent.

Then I threw the green beans in and added more olive oil until they were coated.

Then I tossed in some red pepper flakes and let it all cook until the green beans were tender (probably about 30 minutes or so).

When we were eating dinner, Dan declared, "These are probably the best green beans I have ever eaten!"

I almost fell off my chair.

And when I told him I just sort of threw stuff in the pan, he told me I should write down the recipe so I wouldn't forget it.

So that's what I've done. This is my recipe for The Best Green Beans Ever.

Enjoy!

PS - I would have taken a picture but before I served them, I didn't realize these were going to be deemed The Best Green Beans Ever and after dinner there were none left.

Just a little bloggy business...

Just a little bloggy business....

Do you guys see that new ad under the BlogHer ad?

That's an ad for LeapFrog toys. LeapFrog has put together a quick quiz you can take that will give you customized ideas for educational things to do with your kids based on the results.

Take the quiz. Have fun with your kid.

It's all good.