MILFs or Pregnant Ladies on Vacation…you decide!

Check out these fine ladies below:

So, these fine ladies showing off their stuff (that is not pregnant, BTW) walked into a little gift shop in Grayton Beach, FL last week----Spring Break 2011, BABY!!! Do you think that the couple browsing in the shop dropped their jaws because: 

A.   Some articles of clothing were missing from the girls. 

B.   Another customer shouted, “Hey, Mamas! I wanna get with you!” 

C.   The cashier asked, “Wow, is this The Pregnant Ladies Vacation?”

If C crossed your mind, feel my hand smacking you through the computer screen right now…*silence*…but you’d be right. Since we have rehashed this story many, MANY times, we have come up with so many witty, retaliatory responses. “Excuse me, but we LOOK good. These uteruses have each held two babies, AND one was home to two at the same time!” Uh-huh…At the time, though, the only words that seemed available were, “No.” and “Not really.” Witty. Put that lady in her place, don’t you agree? Well, as we swiftly exited the shop, she did shout, “I didn’t mean ALL y’all!!” Wow. Spring Break 2011 definitely brings home a different type of embarrassment than Spring Break 1994…for example.

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

I'm thinking this is just an Us Thing. Every year, usually twice a year, we have a burst of visitors. We're having one right now. Five weekends in a row loved ones are visiting. We love it! Extra hands. Extra love. Just excuse us if we use the wrong names. 

1 1/2 weeks ago, Almost Cousin Gabrielle, Almost Aunt Missy, and Uncle Brian came to watch Elise's first soccer game of the season (oh, and to watch Gabby graduate from Space Camp while they were here ;) ).

Then, of course, a pancake breakfast with Belle and The Banishes was in order.

This past weekend, it was Gigi and Papa Bruce's turn! :) The highlight of our weekend (or, more accurately, the only time I remembered the camera, the SD card, and charged the battery) was the ice cream truck!

  

   

Well, excuse me! Those are the only pictures I got of everyone! And, this one of Evie showing off her drawing skills:

I promise to do better for the rest of The Burst---well, maybe not the next two. You forgot, didn't you? I won't be here for the next two rounds of visitors. Aunt Kiki is the stand-in Queen Nurturer this weekend, and Bebe and Poppy will cover the following weekend. I will be basking in the sun on the beach then telling Hillsider stories from The Days Of Old in Seattle. Hopefully, the substitute photographer will do better than I did...But, the last weekend of The Burst, I promise to get a lot of pictures!!! My BFF from high school will be in town + her bourbon-loving hubby + her 3 mugwumps. Soooooo...we are quite a handful when you put us all together. It should make for some fun pictures. :)

Sometimes You Gotta Choose

As the Mommy and Queen Nurturer of our household, I'm often faced with difficult decisions that may seem insignificant to those who have never held the position of Queen Nurturer. Because the role is only entrusted to those of us with cat-like reflexes and an insane ability to tune into problems in the household, men just don't get it. :) Although our prowess is keen, we are only given two arms, one lap, and a limited amount of sanity. Therefore, in many situations we just gotta choose: whose hand to hold, whose boo-boo to heal (or put a band-aid on), whose tears to wipe. 

EicherEicher (my college roomie who was almost common law) gave me some sound advice. She told me to determine a game plan to follow any time these situations present themselves, because trying to do it all at once will only result in no one being nurtured. She went on to say that she had read somewhere that you should go to your oldest first, because she will remember and the younger ones won't. We both decided we would stick to that game plan, since we didn't really have any other ideas.

I've gotta say, it has really worked out for me so far---well, except for just once. Last week on a family walk, I started to ponder the wisdom of my ways. The Furry Ones were on leashes, The Baby was in the stroller, The Big Girl was on her bike with training wheels, and The Taller Ones were walking. Everything was going along as usual. "Wow. You've got your hands full!" "I have a hard time with just my beagle." And, the usual stares. Then, a situation presented itself when I had to choose who to nurture. I went with the game plan: the oldest one.

The One On The Bike (the oldest one) started to lose her balance, and the bike started to tip over. So Queen Nurturer swooped in and grabbed the bike in one hand and her baby who is now her big girl in the other. Feeling rather proud of my accomplishment, I turned to see The Other Tall One and The Two Furry Ones chasing the stroller down the street. I'm starting to think in *this* situation maybe I should have held onto the stroller...I don't know. Something to ponder.


I'll get back to you on a revised game plan, but for now I'm just going to be content with the situations when I don't have to choose, those moments when everyone is happy. :) Like this one:

  

 

 Heehee!! :)

Girls' Night!

In our family, dinnertime is the only time we can count on each day for focused family time. It's not always pleasant, nor is it always painful. It just is what it is, and some days are down right amazing! It is the time that we---well the taller two of the group---have decided that we will be together as a family. So, when I came across this blog from Crystal B, who made the earings I bought on etsy, I was really touched that someone else felt that connection to dinnertime that I do. However, I do believe that a family can have other "forced" gatherings that are just as meaningful. I just think that if we leave it up to happenchance, our lives are too fast and furious to give us enough of these moments. 

Now, I'm not saying that every member of our family is present at every dinner, just that everyone sits down at least 6 times a week together. For example, yesterday didn't go according to my plan. The plan is to do groceries on Wednesday. Check (even got $25 off in coupons and another $35 off in sales). The other part of the plan is to clear out any food that is already in the fridge to use for dinner. I pulled out the mushrooms, wonton wrappers, cauliflower, and Parmesan cheese. Check. Ambitious, huh? The most difficult part of the plan is to include my 4 year old in the plan (which means I have to double the amount of time it takes me to put food on the table). This day: check. The other tall member of my family has already asked permission to be absent for dinner, but this has completely slipped my mind. No check. 

Sooo, we had Plan B. Girls' night! It just so happens that I had texted our Vegetarian Neighbor Lady to come to dinner before I found out about the absence, and she said Yes! So, it made for a great girls' night, since her hubby is out of town for work and we cooked a vegetarian meal! Here's what we ate: Mushroom Ravioli with Cauliflower Sauce. Elise chopped mushrooms with a butter knife, and she brushed the egg whites on the wonton wrappers before I loaded them up. Even though I was nervous to serve something I pulled out of my a$$---well, not literally!!!---everyone, I mean EVERYONE (including the 1 year old and the 4 year old), ate all of it. I really could not believe my eyes. My jaw was about on the table. 

It turned out to be a great evening even though it was minus one to start with. We ate, laughed, watched the Black Stallion, and just had some plain ol' fun girl time! :) 

Mushroom Ravioli with Cauliflower Sauce

ingredients:
1/2 package of wonton wrappers
1 egg white (discard yolk)
1.5C of finely diced mushrooms 
1/2C shredded Parmesan cheese
1T butter
head of cauliflower, cut into plum-sized pieces
drizzle of olive oil
1/2C milk
1T salt
1t pepper
1t garlic powder
1/3C fresh herbs (whatever you have available, we had sage and oregano)
pinch of nutmeg 

directions:

• drizzle olive oil over cauliflower on a baking sheet
• bake at 450 for 30 minutes
• saute mushrooms in butter for 15 minutes
• remove from heat and combine with Parmesan cheese
• brush egg white onto edges of wonton wrapper
• place 1T of mushroom/cheese mixture into center
• fold in half and half again
• flip cauliflower and bake 10 more minutes
• drop ravioli in boiling water and cook for approximately 12 minutes
• remove cauliflower from oven and pour into food processor
• add salt, pepper, garlic, nutmeg, fresh herbs and milk
• puree and add more milk based on desired thickness
• combine ravioli with sauce and shave Parmesan cheese over
• serve

Top Ten Priorities of a 4 Year Old

10. Marbles {She earns marbles for good behavior...when she fills the jar she gets to go on a horseback ride}

9. Mommy {or Mo-om if we've hit a rough patch, or Momom if we're good}
8. her fan club

7. her style {she even told me this weekend that she liked my style---I'll take what I can get! even if it's coming from someone who thinks the best style is fitting the most bright colors and patterns onto leggings and a t-shirt with a zip-up hoodie---I don't mind at all!!}
6. snacks at Kathy's
5. her friends {who I'm informed all play what she wants to play at school--- thank you, friends!}

4. animals
3. Dinosaur Planet on the Discovery Channel
2. her soccer coach (aka Daddy)

 

1. her family {of course this includes Rudy & Cooper: and she will not fall for any tricks, trying to slip her up to say that she loves Poppy more than Rudy, POPPY!} 

{sidenote: the actual list from Elise...
10) horses
9) orca dolphins 
8) snuggling with Rudy (above) & when Rudy lays his head on my lap (also above)
7) riding horses
6) seeing dolphins
5) smelling flowers, seeing flowers, giving flowers to Mommy and Daddy
4) planting seeds, digging in the soil, watering flowers (lesson plan in preschool this week is plants)
3) playing with toys 
2) drawing 
1) dinosaurs}

Ten on Tuesday

1. We had a scare that I was pregnant yesterday...even went to the doctor and took a blood test!

2. By the time I got the results from #1, I was sad that it was negative! (Anyone who saw my green face a year and a half ago knows why this is amazing)

3. Elise says thirty-free and lellow and slickery.

4. Elise starts kindergarten this fall and will probably stop saying thirty-free, lellow and slickery. :(

5. Evie loves bathtime:

6. Evie loves music class and gets in the middle of the circle and dances and sings.

7. I love it when someone comments on my post.

8. 23 days until the beach and 31 days until Seattle!

9. As a bargaining chip for going on the two girls' trips mentioned in #8, I gave up my God-given-right to complain for the ENTIRE month of April!

10. I know I have a great life (but #9 will still be INCREDIBLY difficult for me!)