Feeding a Large Crowd

I can't believe it's been a week since I have posted last. I just feel like it's been harder these days to find the time. Mary has been much more difficult lately and hardly gives me space. I'm thankful for this moment because she is off doing her own thing. The kids coming home from school has distracted her (Thank God).

Today, my dad came over so I could serve the teachers lunch for Teacher Appreciation Day since the PTO was responsible for this event. I made mashed potatoes for 45 people and it went great! Many of them wanted my recipe so I will give it here:

Garlic and Herb Mashed Potatoes
10 medium, Yukon Gold potatoes
1/2 cup of butter
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
packet of garlic and herb seasoning (Knorr or Lipton).

It's the seasoning that gives it the extra kick and flavor. It's something I just discovered through experimentation. My potatoes are like my pizza. I like them so much, I will try different recipes and research the best ways to make them on the internet until I find my favorite!

For the teachers, I quadrupled the recipe. I peeled and cut up 15 pounds of potatoes (about 40). To make it for this large crowd I took my original recipe and made two double batches since I didn't have anything big enough to cook them in, all at one time. Each double batch fit comfortably in two separate stock pots. I boiled them, drained them and returned them to the stock pots to refrigerate. I found out from the internet, that I can make them up to two days in advance if kept refrigerated and even more advance if I wanted to freeze them! Because of the ingredients you add to the potatoes (cream cheese, sour cream...) it helps it to hold up better in the refrigerator and freezer! I was excited about this. I made one batch yesterday and the second, last night. I put one in my garage because I couldn't fit them all in my fridge and it was only 18 degrees last night (no they didn't freeze). This morning, I transferred them to two large crock pots and baked them at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. When they were done, I took them out and put them back in the crock heating element and plugged them in. It worked out great! They were kept nice and hot for serving at lunchtime. I've never made potatoes for quite this big of a group before, so I was worried about getting the quantity right and how to cook so much at one time. Separating the quadrupled recipe into two batches was the best thing to do!

Also served for the luncheon was Italian Beef on Italian bread with provolone cheese, fresh green beans, fruit salad, and pies from the local grocer. The fruit salad was apples (green and red), grapes, and mandarin oranges mixed with yogurt. YUM. I think I'll do this for Abby's First Communion! The green beans were cooked with onions and bacon. It was all so good, and luckily, we got to eat what we made afterwards.

Ted is going on retreat this weekend and he just told me yesterday that he signed up to bring dinner for Saturday night. I decided to use the beef I bought (at a great price) for Abby's First Communion, and of course....mashed potatoes!!! I LOVE mashed potatoes and it's an easy dish to make since you can make it in advance and put it in a crock pot to keep them warm or refrigerate them. I'll just have to buy beef for Abby's party later (it's not until April). Have I given you my beef recipe for the crock pot? I know some of you have it, but I'll post it again. It's an awesome way to feed a bunch of people. I've doubled and tripled the recipe for larger crowds.

"French Dip" Roast Beef
3 lb Chuck Roast
2 cups water
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tsp dried Rosemary
1 tsp dried Thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1 bay leaf
3 or 4 whole black peppers

Combine all the ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Remove meat, shred with fork. I like to return them to the juices and serve it directly from a big, open crock pot. I often make this one in advance because it freezes so well and tastes great reheated.

Enough about recipes...I'll write more later. I gotta watch American Idol!!

The Vomit Has Left the Building

Well, I think the nasty bug is gone. Ben and Mary are finished with their diarrhea (Yah!!), Sam is better but felt too tired to go to school today. I'm keeping him home one more day. Abby has sidestepped the whole thing. Ted and I both felt a little yucky Monday night night... with Ted having little appetite on Tuesday (mine was fine). Hopefully Abby is not going to have a delayed reaction and come down with something. She's been very good so far. Sam will have a lot of catch up work to do, having missed 3 days of school! Yuck. I'd just rather not rush him back to school. He can rest when he wants to today and be fully prepared for the grind tomorrow.

I appreciated having a full night of sleep last night for the first time in a while. Mary woke me up at 5:30am fully awake and ready for the day, but Ted let me go back to bed as he had a late appointment and didn't need to leave right away. I feel well rested...the sun is out, the curtains are pushed back to let the sunshine pour in. I welcome it today. I had to draw them on other days so Sam could sleep on the couch. But today, it's full sunshine. Which is compatible to my outlook with the sick days behind us. It can be very depressing cleaning up vomit and diarrhea and listen to the moans of a sick child. There is nowhere to escape and no nanny to do it for you. You cringe as each child shows the beginning signs of housing the nasty virus. You just have to keep plugging away, praying that you don't catch it yourself. I'm grateful to come out virtually unscathed.

Puke Diaries, Part 2

It's a fuzzy picture, but I was trying to use natural lighting. It was early in the morning when the sun wasn't out. Yes...this is victim #3 to the awful virus that is ravaging it's way through our house. Poor Sam. The boy who washes his hands constantly to protect himself from germs...the one who stays far...far away from sick people...the one who has an ultra fear of throwing up...has this lovely virus raking his body. He's been the worst so far. That trash can from my "pretty bathroom"?...it's had a LOT of activity. He vomited repeatedly all morning...even when he had nothing left to give. The poor guy. He's been a trooper, though. I can tell he is proud of his ability to handle this. He's not minding staying at home either.

The diarrhea bug hit Ben today. Our worst fear...a boy who doesn't mind pooping in his pants and sitting in it in order to play more his favorite playstation game...has diarrhea. It only took one nasty episode for me to realize SOMETHING had to change. He's wearing pull-ups. Thank God! The second episode was much neater! Mary is still on her diarrhea rampage as well. I've already realized that I absolutely can NOT take them to Parent's Day Out tomorrow. And we canceled our sitter for tomorrow night too. I will take Abby to her First Reconciliation without Ted. When it comes to illness...family comes first! Everything else takes a far back seat. Whether you want it to or not, it just has to. It's amazing how many things are really cancelable when you get right down to it. I'm still praying Abby doesn't get touched by this mean monster. She is too. You should have seen her face this morning when she found out Sam was sick too. She had a look of panic with the sudden realization that she could be the next victim! When it hits Sam, it's too close to home for her.

With Ben and Mary wrapping up the bug in each diaper change that gets thrown away, I feel like I'm on the upswing, believe it or not. Sam is easy. After the first puke, he didn't even call us upstairs to help him. He just found his way to the bathroom and voila! However, I still laid awake in my bed with worry. I didn't fall asleep after that 3:50am bombshell hit. I heard every run to the bathroom. Yuck. With Ben and Mary out of the way, I see more sleep in my future. I think sick older kids are MUCH easier than sick younger kids.

Tune in next time for more Puke Diaries! (I considered switching to the word "wretch" thinking it sounded more polite...but it means "to try to vomit". We are definitely NOT trying here)

The Puke Diaries

It all started Wednesday evening, when our house became a "vomitorium". That's the term my friend uses for house full of vomiting people. Wednesday night while I was at a PTO board meeting, Mary threw up at 7:45pm. Ted cleaned her up and put her to bed, only to be up minutes later cleaning up more vomit, changing sheets, and relocating Abby to our bedroom who couldn't sleep. At 2:40am, we are awakened by that tell tale coughing sound. More vomit. I cleaned her up, changed the sheets and layed her back down. I had trouble going back to sleep, knowing the work ahead of me. Thursday wasn't bad. She held everything down all day, but she was very clinging. I just sat with her most of the day watching her shows. I called my sister, Becky to tell her I wouldn't be able to watch Leah on Friday. Ted didn't go to a subdivision meeting so he could relieve me. I was exhausted. I didn't get enough sleep the night before. I went to bed at 7pm.

On Friday, Mary was still clingy and crabby. I couldn't leave her side without her calling out for me. We watched more Dora. She didn't run a fever. She didn't sleep all day. In fact her naps during this time were a half hour to an hour. It was just exhausting to do nothing else but be with her. That evening, Ted took Sam to basketball practice and came back home. I went to a meeting that I found out when I got there, It was canceled. I was greeted by a crop group. I salivated. I was jealous and wished I could be cropping instead. But I reminded myself that I had an all day crop Sunday. I came back home and then left again to pick Sam up from practice at 9pm.

Ted and I stayed up late talking Friday night since we didn't have any time together all week. We should have known better, At 5am Saturday morning, Ben calls out that he has to go potty. This is the pain of having children on a different level. Ted runs upstairs and takes Ben to the bathroom. After urinating, he threw up. It was a plus that he got it in the toilet. Ted put him back in bed and told me what happened. I had a hard time going back to sleep. It's Ben's turn to go through the stomach flu. The next morning he woke us up bright and early, 6am. He begged for a drink. It worked with Mary, I thought I'd try with him. Nope. It all came back up on his shirt. More clothes changed and washing up to do. He was hungry at 9am. I took it as a sign that he could handle something. I gave him a poptart...all is well. It stays down. Ted took Sam to the Pinewood Derby while I stayed home with the kids that morning. Sam did well enough to not be embarassed (all I care about). The day went on with no more puking, but we knew it wasn't over. Mary's illness had changed to diarrhea and I kept myself busy changing her diapers. They had to be changed with a towel under her because they were so fluidy and messy. I was so tired Saturday, when Ted got home from the Pinewood Derby, I took a nap from 12:30pm until 3:30pm. We think that stress makes me tired. We knew we'd have to cancel our prized date night that we were so looking forward to. I went to the 5pm mass. Ben slept on the couch from dinner time on.

Saturday evening, we decided to have a game night with Sam and Abby who had not had much attention since all this started. We transferred Ben (who was still sleeping) to bed. Ted made a fire in the fireplace. It was really a relaxing evening. After Sam and Abby went to bed, we poured ourselves some wine and sat down to find a movie to order. We couldn't get Video On Demand to work, but that doesn't matter, because at 9:45pm, Ben puked all over himself in his bed. Ted and I worked together as a well oiled machine. We stripped the Bed and Ben. Washed him down with a soapy washcloth. Changed his covers, pillow and sheets. Thank God for waterproof mattress pads! After getting Ben back in Bed we sat down and looked at each other wearily. I thanked God for him. What would I do without him? How do single mothers do it?? Grateful for each other we were content to watch the news with no wine. Neither of us felt the desire to drink after the disgust of what we just cleaned up. We went to bed at a decent time since we were so tired and not knowing what tomorrow would bring. At 2:30am, Ben called out for a drink. I went up there and got his cup. He was wet from peeing in his pants. Forget it, I'm not changing sheets again! I'll do it tomorrow! I changed him into dry clothes, put a dry pad over his sheets, filled up his drink and put him back to bed. At least it wasn't puke.

Ben and Mary both woke up at 6am this morning. Ted let me sleep in until 7:30am when he needed to get ready for church. He told me that Mary threw up her milk this morning. What?? She's not done yet? It's day 5 for her. Neither she nor Ben had dinner last night. They go through waves of wanting to eat and keeping down and then we get a surprise in the early morning, or middle of the night. It's strange. They are both sleeping right now. Ben has gone 16 hours without throwing up and Mary has gone about 7 hours. I was supposed to crop day, but I canceled it. Sam has a basketball game at 5pm and it's just not worth it. I want to crop longer...I'll wait until I can...and enjoy it.

The pukey illnesses that come with raising kids are my least favorite part of being a mom. I don't like those kinds of surprises, worrying about where it's going to land, when will it happen and the lack of sleep. I love keeping my kids happy. When they are sick...they aren't happy. I prefer the fever illnesses where they lay on the couch all day and drift in and out of sleep. Those seem easier. I'm hoping we are at the tail end. I hope Sam and Abby don't get it. We keep sending them outside to play in the snow. Yes, we have snow again. They are having a blast. Good for them.

(The view from my couch which I seem to be sitting a lot on these days...)

A "Frozen" Snapshot

What's at the top of my to-do list?
--Prepare game plan for all day crop on Sunday. Whose album do I work on this time?
--Get Abby ready for First Reconciliation on Tuesday
--Plan date night with Ted Saturday night (where to eat, what movie to watch...sitter done)
--Buy dessert for Pinewood Derby on Saturday morning

What have I accomplished?
--Threw bday party for Mother-in-Law last Saturday
--Shaved my legs this morning one handed while using the other hand to keep the shower door shut from screaming two year old (she is very strong!)
--Researched how to make Beef Wellington for a dinner party we're hosting in February

What's bugging me?
--Mary's difficult day after Parent's Day Out. She screamed through most of carpool and had a very crabby evening. We put her down 45 minutes early.
--My shower episode was not enjoyable either.
--Freezing cold weather. I'm not a person who enjoys weather under 25 degrees. Yesterday it was 12!
--Changing my phone number I've had for 13 years because of our switch to AT&T. I'm worried about forgetting someone like Mom's Day Out, School, Church, friends. Yikes! Changing my e-mail address won't be fun either.

What's my latest obsession?
--Thinking about next year. I lose a family in carpool. I could lose both families. Two girls are going to highschool. The other lady has to drive her higschooler to school every day so it's not really worth it for her to carpool for her 3rd grader. It won't save her a trip. I've already made a call to a friend to see if she wants to carpool. I love carpooling!!!
--Floating picture frames from Gordman's. We hung some of the kid's artwork in the basement and I love it!

What’s been making me happy?
--American Idol is back!!
--I'm looking forward to getting involved in swim team this summer. I've been talking to people who do it and it's getting me excited
--My left over chocolate chip cheese ball
--Seeing the appreciation from my in-laws for party we put on for them

The Happiness Secret

OK. I found another article about finding joy in your life. It was in the December issue of Family Circle. The article was titled "The Happiness Secret" and written by Marisa Cohen. I think these articles came out over the holidays when many people are depressed. Even when I'm not depressed, I love to hear about how to be happy. The article starts by telling you that all the things we need to make us happy are right under our noses, we just sometimes don't notice them because we are too busy looking for it in other places. They say it's unrealistic to feel great all the time. Dana Lightman, Ph.D, a psychotherapist in Philadelphia says, "A full life is complex and filled with situations that bring about anger, sadness and frustration as well as joy". I liked this point. Sometimes I can think something is wrong with me when I have an anxious or down day. But I like the thinking that it's all a part of life and to just accept it as it is. She also says, "Happiness isn't a continuous state. It comes in moments, and it's the contrast between the ups and downs that makes the good times stand out." Amen, sister.

Many people think that leaving each day as if it was your last, is the key to appreciating life. M.J. Ryan, a life coach in San Francisco says, "If you never thought about the future and just ate cake and spent all your money recklessly, you'd end up overweight and broke." Don't you like this article??? Here's a key point made by Lightman:

Make a practice of slowing down and taking the time to recognize and appreciate the small joys around you and you'll create a more positive perspective that helps in all aspects of your life.

Of course, Family Circle has their own steps to follow to find happiness in your life:

1. Make a list of what moves you. Sound familiar? Make a list of the things you love...big and small and keep adding to the list when you think of more. These things should include whatever pleases your senses, stimulates your body and mind (a crossword puzzle, exercise), and ways in which you connect with others (date night with husband, game night with kids). It can also be small things that are easy to do or future goals you can work towards, like planning a camping trip.
2. Pencil in time for fun. Family Circle says to plan these times like you would any other appointment. Do something for yourself (like watching a taped Oprah) or with someone else (movie night with the kids).
3. Get unplugged. "You have to be engaged in the world to experience transcendent moments, which is hard to do if you have one eye on your BlackBerry and one ear on your cell phone, says Stephen Shapiro, author of Goal-Free Living. I call it "being fully present", Oprah's psychologist friend (name??) calls it "showing up". I'm so guilty of being distracted by e-mail, surfing the net, and phone calls. It's a good reminder for me. They suggest also turning off the car radio or CD player and "tune in to conversations".
4. Go with the flow. According to this Family Circle article "true satisfaction comes from learning and stimulating the mind". It's whatever activity you get wrapped up in: scrapbooking, knitting, cooking, reading, etc.
5. Unclutter you mind. When you worry about something or spend your evenings thinking about what you'll do at work the next day, "you'll be too distracted to savor anything".
6. Embrace the unexpected. "It's great to plan perfect moments, but when things don't go as planned, focus on what is possible at that very moment, rather than fixating on what's wrong," says Ryan. For example, tomorrow night we're supposed to have a party for my mother-in-law who is turning 65 and retiring. All week I have been getting the house ready. Tonight I rolled all the l'il smokies with bacon, made my chocolate cheese ball, cubed the Velveeta and cooked the sausage and ground beef for the Rotel dip and the news is telling us we are going to have a huge, full weekend ice storm. We're supposed to get an inch or more or ice by tomorrow morning....NO!!!!! But if I follow what the article says...I can look on it as a free night to relax and spend it with my family. Maybe I could freeze the smokies...or invite the neighbors over. I don't know. I'll let you know what happens. Until then, I'm going to enjoy the rest of the evening with my husband.

Ben on Playstation

This is my first foray into video blogging. Of course, real video blogging has sound and a better quality of picture. But hey, it's my digital camera. I'm seeing all kinds of possibilities like recording Mary's fits, my house, and anything else that shows better than a still picture. This one is of Ben involved in his favorite activity. I wish you could hear his bumble jumble talk about wanting to catch "power cells" on Jak and Daxter. More videos to come!!

Dora the Explorer? or Mary the Destroyer!

Which one is she? She is both. One minute she is cute, lovable and charming...the next she is a monster on pigeon toes! Today, I am very focused on cleaning for my party on Saturday. Thankfully she is past her ultra clingy phase, so I can actually get stuff done (Thank you, Lord...I really do mean it). But for every step forward I take one step back. I'm following her path of distruction trying to keep up with her. So far today, we have spilt a box of Cheez-its on the couch, dumped out all the contents of the trunk in the family room, put the training toilet seat into the toilet, opened a bottle of water and drank it with the gusto of a man at the bar and got it all over her, and peed on my bed after refusing to allow me to put her diaper back on after a diaper change. Whew. Cleaning the house AND cleaning up after her require energy and perserverance. Thankfully she has settled down from her Tazmanian Devil pace. She is now watching Dora. Naptime is in 35 minutes.

A New Year and Some Thoughts of the Future

I thought I'd throw in a "Happy New Year!" picture, even though it's old news. For New Year's Eve, we went across the street to a neighbor's house...the neighbors that our kids totally play with ALL THE TIME. The neighbor's cousins are in the picture, which adds to the total count...8! Abby sure had enough to play with. Ben and Joe (neighbor boy) didn't make it into the picture. With all of those s, you probably couldn't figure out that Abby is the one with the purple noise maker and hot pink GAP hoodie. Sam is the only boy and he's wearing the yellow lay and Mary is front in center. I made sure to snap the picture before she headed out.

Ted is happily working in his new job. I thank God for that relaxing time that we had together for two months while he was laid off, but I thank Him even more for giving Ted a new job. The weekend before he went to work, we went to the Bread Company before a Trivia Night. I decided our topic of conversation would be about an article I read in a magazine. The magazine was called "Working Mother" but the topic could be a applied to more than just your job. The article was called "Get a Life". It's basic message was to tell working mom's they needed to take stock of their lives and make sure you are doing what makes you happy. To find out what makes you happy you are supposed to answer some questions. Since I was about to get a hair cut when I read it (how else would I have a copy of Working Mother?), I wrote down the questions to answer later. The article says that...

"...more and more moms are finding value in taking a long-range view of what
they really want for themselves. By factoring in career goals, kids, financial needs,
health and personal passions to get a 360-degree view, they're finding a way to
embrace their dreams and successfully direct their lives rather than blindly
race through them."

They call this long-range planning a "life plan". They then they give you five pointers on how to get this "life plan". For some reason, I'm having trouble accessing the site right now, and I no longer have the paper on which I wrote the questions. But anyway, the questions centered around trying to get you to get in touch with what excites you and inspires you. I love questions like this. One way they help you do this is to have you think about a time you were inspired by someone or excited by something. What was it about them, or the situation that excited you? So that I could better relay this to you...I searched the web for "life coaching". This must be some big, new thing, because I found many Life Coaches. They are to help you find happiness in your life. One site I found lets you take a quiz .

Here is the quiz:

Rate your happiness (1-10) in the categories of: Health, Money, Career, Family, Relationships, Peace-Stress-Confidence, Learning-Growth. As a part of this question, you have to decide what to areas "you are willing to approve over the next 6 months to make the biggest difference in your life".

And these questions follow:

If you could have more of ONE thing in your life right now, what would it be?

What three things are you most tolerating, or "putting up with" in your life?

Right down one thing you would like to have or achieve but are not sure if or how you can have it.

(And I like this one) Assuming all human beings have some way of holding back or sabotaging their life, which would be your favourite method? Procrastinating, Being Indecisive, Being arrogrant or right all the time, acting as a Lone Ranger, Tollerating, Not Saying NO, Not Saying YES, Controlling Life/People, Following Secondary Goals (that won't ultimately make me happy), Not Always Telling the Truth, Other.

If I were to rate the areas of my life they listed above...they would all be pretty high scores. There is no glaring problem. But when they ask about having more of one thing...I can easily answer. I would say more time for me to pursue my own desires. Since I have young children right now, I expect to have less time for myself. I would be unhappy and unwilling to heavily pursue something for myself for the sake of them.

What three things am I most tolerating? I would say having so many other people's needs come before mine, lack of freedom, and the intense needs of young children. They probably sound like the same answer. They probably are.

What is one thing I would like to have or achieve? Hmmmm. Nothing strong pops into my head. I've always wanted to be married with children. Check. I've always wanted to be a stay at home mom. Check. I have no desire for a huge career and the high stress and long hours that come with it. And when I think of what makes me happy...part of it is making my family happy. I think I could be a stay at home mom forever...knowing that some freedom comes down the pipes when they're all in school. When that day comes...what will I do? I almost think I need to zero in on this timeframe (when they are in school), because I'm exactly where I want to be right now. The things I would want to change are not in my control with young children. It's all a part of it. So let's look ahead a couple of years. In three and a half years, Mary will be in Kindergarten. Where do I see myself then?

Let's list what I like to do...what excites me:

Learning, reading, quality conversations, helping others, relationships, kids, sharing my faith, organizing, administrative tasks, making people happy by doing something for them, enjoying nature, growing in my faith, working to be a better person, bringing out the best in others, laughing, creating memories with my family, documenting the memories to remind the kids of how loved they are and that all the little details about them matter to me, spending time with my family, teaching, meeting and conversing with a variety of people (I'd rather talk to someone who might be considered as odd as long as they are showing their true selves, then talk to someone who is normal and afraid to show me who they are).

What do I avoid?

Conflict, enforcing lots of rules, speaking up about politics and controversial church issues, chaos, saying no (I think many things are up for debate...I'm too much of a pleaser), too much responsibility, being the center of attention, burdening others with my problems, accepting help for fear of "putting someone out".

Anyway, you get the idea. What I could I see myself doing?

Volunteering at school would be a biggy. I love working with kids. It definitely excites me. I like helping at the events. PTO has been awesome so far.

Helping administratively...somehow. I love to feel like I'm making someone's job easier with my computer skills.

For some reason, walking into the school office excites me. I think of how much I'd like to help them. I don't think I'd want anything too behind the scenes. I like seeing people. One of my favorite jobs was a desk attendant for my dorm in college. Loved it.

Volunteering for the church pantry. It's more than just a pantry...it's a community outreach that helps the needy pay bills, stock up on food and clothing. They coordinate the Adopt a Family program during the Christmas season. It's a huge program. That would feel like I was doing something that really mattered.

I've heard it said once (don't remember who said it), that whatever you do, don't overbook yourself so you are never free to help someone. Keep your schedule loose so you can be available to others. I love that thought. Tonight, Ted was called by our friend who lost his wife. He wanted to go out for drinks with Ted. Ted is being available for his friend. I'm letting him be. That's important. So, to sum up, whatever I do, it would make me happiest to not be overbooked. I want to be free to pursue my own pleasures. I MISS reading books!! I want to take long walks with Ted in the neighborhood and enjoy our tall trees. I want to have time to develop my blog more. I want to crop more. I want to spend time with friends and family. I could go on...but let me share one last, pie in the sky dream. I would love to have a house in the woods with a big deck. It's a quiet place, to get away from the bills, activities, phone calls. I don't know if it's a family place. The kids would be bored there. It's a place to hang out and play board games. A place to get away from the fast stuff of life. There is a place near here called Innsbrook. Of course money is an issue. But if it weren't, I'd have a getaway home here.

Now I will stop talking so you can get on with your life. This blog took me all day (with many interuptions of course!)

A Snapshot

What's at the top of my to-do list?
Since I'm having a party for my Mother-in-Law's 65th birthday/retirement party, there's a lot on the to do list:
--Continue to clean and maintain the house
--Caulk baseboards that were never caulked after installation
--Continue to wipe down doors, baseboards and walls where needed
--Buy lil smokies, avocados and wine
--Bring up folding tables and chairs

What have I accomplished?
--Since flylady ( http://www.flylady.com ) says that Windex is a great all-purpose cleaner, I've been using it to wipe down my doors, walls and baseboards. It's been working great!
--Ted (ok...it's not me, but I feel like I've accomplished something just getting him to do it!) finally installed our new closet doors upstairs and finished installing the baseboards. YIPPEEE!! This has been a project "in the works" since this summer and it is DONE!! It feels great. We still have to put new molding on the windows, but Rome wasn't built in a day.
--Planned out menu for party: meatballs in a jelly/chili sauce (thank you, Stacey!), bacon wrapped smokies, Rotel dip with sausage, cold mexican layer dip (cream cheese mixed with mushed avocados and taco seasoning, topped with picante sauce, shredded cheddar and slice black olives...it's soo good!), and a chocolate chip cheese ball with chocolate graham dipping sticks. I'll have nuts and m&m's out for munching. I hope this is enough. There are going to be 20 adults.
--I did most of my grocery shopping already except for the items on my to do list above.
--Today is Ted's first day at his new job and I'm still holding up without him!

What's bugging me?
--There's been a conflict with a Room Parent and teacher and it's been building all last semester. Wednesday I'm meeting with both of them along with the Principal. I've heard both sides of the story and I think the teacher is treating the Room Parent unfairly. I'm just looking forward to getting the meeting over with. I don't like having relational conflicts hanging. When they involve myself, I immediately make peace or resolve to get over my frustration myself. It works.
--Ben continues to poop in his underpants and then sits downstairs on our new carpeting with the messy pants. As soon as I resolve to keep him upstairs (he always does it while playing playstation) on the day he is supposed to poop, someone tells me I'm supposed to not use any negative punishment and that he will decide when he's ready. I read that before too. When will he be ready? How do I keep my carpet from getting ruined?

What's my latest obsession?
--Duh. Getting ready for the Party!
--Wondering how Ted's new job is going
--Since Ted is now with AT&T, he will get a Cingular phone (owned by AT&T). I decided to go to Cingular so we can have free mobile to mobile minutes. After deciding this, I realized my sister, Lisa has Cingular and Becky decided to make the jump with us! Wooo Hoooo...free minutes!!! For $40 dollars a month, I get 450 anytime minutes, 5000 nights and weekends, and unlimited mobile to mobile with anyone who has Cingular! I picked a new phone that has a camera and can record video. It sparked my memory that sometime I'd like to put video on my blog. I have digital video capabilities on my digital camera too. I just need to learn how to do it. I don't even know if I can. I'd love it if I could put sound bytes on it too. I've seen people do this, but I don't know if I can do it in Blogger. I might have to just put the link on my blog instead. We'll see.

What's been making me happy?
--Having a ring on my finger (yup, it still is)
--Seeing Ted all excited about his new job
--Seeing Ted excited about caulking baseboards and finishing the upstairs
--Realizing that Mary has come a long way since Ted was laid off. During that time she has gotten used to more independent play and I'm not her seat all day! This is something to truly rejoice about. Thank you, God! Today, I took a shower in peace, all by myself. Mary did not try to find me and Ted was not here to watch her. She and Ben just continued to play. Hallelujah!!
--I got a haircut Saturday. I kept the length, but got shorter layers cut in. It's so much lighter! We started talking about hair products and by the end of the cut she decided to take me to the beauty supply store for professionals only and let me pick out what I want at wholesale prices! I got Matrix Biolage shampoo, Matrix Biolage hair gel, Graham Webb Brit Style hair spray and some pommade stuff called "difi". I'm not sure how different this is from the gel, but I decided to experiment. This is all stuff she recommended and uses. I love it! I spend so little money on my hair because I'm cheap. It was fun to indulge myself a little. It all smells so good. That's important to me :-).

So Long, Thomas

Ben is three and a half years old. When he turned three and got his new big boys bed, I bought him Thomas the Tank Engine sheets, pillow case, and framed posters on his wall of Thomas and his friends on the tracks. We put a big Thomas train on his dresser for decoration. At that time, he took out his train tracks every day and road those trains on them for a good part of the day. He would say, ”Mom, make me a cool train track”. We watched Thomas videos over and over and over. We replayed the song "Let's Have a Race" until they were tired of racing around the house. Sometimes I got sick of it. Sick of the tracks all over the floor...sick of trying to clean them up only to have them protest....sick of building the "cool train tracks" for him. But despite all of that, I love the trains. I loved watching Sam go through the Thomas phase too. It was such a pleasure to see Ben love them as much. Christmas is easy when your child loves Thomas. A new train, accessories, or tracks, bring huge delight...without fail.

Sometime after we got our basement finished and PlayStation 2 was reconnected on the downstairs TV, Ben started spending more time downstairs watching Sam play. Then he wanted to play himself. Then, even when Sam went to school, Ben would go downstairs, by himself, to play SSX Tricky, or race with a race car game. The trains weren't brought out as much. I can’t even tell you that I was totally aware this was happening. I remember my focus was more on the shock that he would go downstairs to play by himself. I did not focus on what he was leaving behind. He stopped wanting Thomas songs sung to him (I knew all the words), and started wanting me to sing race car songs. I didn't know any (except for the one Anne Margaret sings in Viva Las Vegas). I decided to make them up every night and I still do this. His language changed from talking about Thomas and his friends, their names, their colors and numbers…to talking about what courses he wanted to race on SSX tricky. I've been down there and watched him. Even though he can’t read, he knows every course in a list of about 10. He can identify them by memory. He learned to operate the PS2 all by himself. I can tell you, I’m not exactly proud of this. My child is three and a half. Sam was still way into Thomas at his age and continued on that track until he was five...at least. What happened to my baby? I guess when Sam was little, he didn't have an older brother to look up to. He didn't see PlayStation until later when his cousins got one. It felt like he grew up slower. Not Ben. He’s already fully adept at a game that most kids don’t play until they can read.

When I shopped for his Christmas presents this year, I caved in and got a video game that was more for his age, “Cars” by Disney. As a last ditch effort, I also bought a Geo Tracks train track. He doesn't seem interested in it. When he’s downstairs, he’d rather play PlayStation. Tonight when I tucked Ben into bed and looked around his room, I realized that the Thomas pictures really don’t fit him anymore. I decided I should change them with race car pictures. I asked him if he would like that. He was enthusiastic about saying, "Yes!". The Thomas decor only lasted six months. Who knows what will come after this? Maybe I’ll be wishing for race cars when he has moved on to girls. Since he’s my last boy and there is no one in arrears to pick up where he left off, I feel like I’m saying a final goodbye to Thomas. But I won’t get rid of them. After all, I’ll have grand kids someday…