I discovered the secret of life

On Sunday, we asked the kids what they wanted for dinner. S mentioned he wanted chicken noodle soup. So Monday we ended up with a rotisserie chicken so I could soak the carcass to make broth. S will eat roasted chicken without ever complaing and I finally figured out why. He likes the drumsticks. I asked him if I could make him drum sticks when I make chicken dishes. His eye lit up and he nodded. Why the hell didn't I realize this sooner????

But it was funny shopping with him because he thought we were buying soup. Instead, we bought ingredients. He really liked the alphabet pasta I picked out. Note to self - never put the pasta in the soup pot at lunch. It disintegrates by the time you get home. Oops!

Today I failed at motherhood

I am so glad my final grade on mothering is not made up of just one day of being a mother. This morning, I was about to lose my title! Trinks started Brownies last week and went out with Kathi to get her uniform. She came home a promptly lost it. I told her where she needed to keep it, but she didn't listen. I reminded her last night that without a uniform, she is not allowed to attend her Brownie meetings. This morning, there was still no sign of the uniform. She cried the entire way to the bus stop because she wasn't allowed to go to Brownies. And I did nothing to calm her down.

I think I managed to redeem my self by coming home for lunch. For some reason, I checked the dining room and the uniform was right there, not upstairs where she was looking. I threw some chicken noodle soup in the crock pot (I made the broth last night) and returned to work. I dashed home briefly to pack a picnic dinner of soup and sandwiches and then went to get S to kung fu. Trinks looked at me hopefully and I nodded. She was so happy! Now I have to figure out where all the flare goes on the Brownie vest. Ugh.

Micro farming

Yesterday I soaked my first crop of sprout seeds. Today, they grew roots. I should be able to add them to my salad soon. Once I get the alfalfa mix sprouted, I think I will on to Mung Beans. It takes so little to amuse me.

If you have any interest in sprouting, check out the wonderful people at Sprout People. The site is pretty funny and has a ton of information whether you buy anything or not.

Scenes from Chicago

The view from my room.


The BP pedestrian bridge.



Da Bears. What you can't see is he is wearing flip flops. At what point do you decide that it's cold enough for a blazer, but hot enough for flip flops.


Ma and Pa Kettle.


John Hancock building.



Sunset in Chicago.

Posey and Ivy take Chicago

By some stroke of luck, Ivy and I were in Chicago AT THE SAME TIME. Without kids. So, what should two women on business trips do after the meetings are over??? Why eat and shop, of course!!!

I would like to go on record as saying I liked my hotel, the Hyatt Regency, until I went to Ivy's room at the Park Hyatt. Shall we compare????

My bathroom



Ivy's bathroom



But, dinner was fabulous at Topo Giggio in Old Town.





And then we went to American Girl.

S has a potty mouth

Apparently while I was in Chicago, S was running around the playground calling someone a pain in the ass. I don't believe that's me! If he dropped the F bomb like Trinks did in Galway, I would own it. Pain in the ass? Nope! I just say PITA!!!

Conversations with S

I have a couple conversations with S to report.

We were singing "Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" in the car the other day. When we got to the "roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch", S asked if he was singing "pitch" or "bitch". Oh my.

Tonight, S asked us "what kids did you get when you got married?" He seemed to be surprised that we only got him and his sister. Then he complained that she was eight and he was only four. I told him we decided to get the difficult child out of the way first so we could enjoy the sweet child last. And then I told him my answer would be different if Trinks asked.

Walking with Dinosaurs

Wake up, strange child who sleeps on top of several books and uses a teddy bear for a pillow!!!


View from the parking garage.


Our picnic on the boardwalk.


I saw the sign....


And these next few are random dinosaurs.






What a T-Rex!!!


And we waited for hubs under palm trees and a beautiful sky. Too bad it was fake....

And meet me tonight in Atlantic City

Yes - I am crazy. We are going to AC on Labor Day weekend. I finally gave in to the commercials and got tickets to see Walking with Dinosaurs. It looks so cool!! So tonight we'll pack sandwiches and snacks so we can leave at the crack of dawn. I even got cinnamon raisin English muffins for breakfast in the car. Hubs wasn't convinced this was a good idea. Then I promised we could get Sack o' Subs for dinner and he changed his mind.

I love car trips because we all agree on the music these days. I pulled the kids' favorite songs, hubs favorite songs and songs we all like onto one playlist. The rule is if you don't like the current song, a good song will be next. I love that Trinks won't let anyone talk when Piano Man comes on, and S will sing along with Help! Of course if they get unruly, hubs and I turn on Car Talk and they fall asleep.

Trinks was in an accident

I was greeted by the owner of Trinks' kung fu studio. He let me know that the van was involved in a hit and run on the way back from picking the kids up. The driver pulled over and the car sped away. He got the license plate number and called the police. It was a stolen car. This is the third accident Trinks has been in! Always some drama. At least everyone is safe.

So I was too tired to post words with the pictures last night. We all walked Trinks to the bus stop yesterday morning, and talked to the other parents while we waited. The sex offender was outside. I wish someone would buy his house! Trinks got on the bus and got whisked away. She was really calm. She didn't know her teacher and had no idea who was in her class, but she was ready for adventure.

After work, I picked S up and headed to pick Trinks up. She was just starting her first weapons class. She was swinging a staff like she was born to do it! It was awesome to watch. S was so impressed, he told me he wanted to do weapons as well. As we were waiting to pay for her new formal top and staff, hubs walked in. He started his 3 months of basic last night.

I took the kids home and got to hear all about the first day of school. Trinks is in class with her best friend, and someone she's known since she was 3. She only didn't know four people and was excited about meeting new people. Of course there was no homework for her, but I had piles of papers to fill out. Thank goodness the school switched to a peanut free zone this year and if you do eat something with traces of peanuts or tree nuts, you have to use wipes for your face and hands to make sure you don't kill your classmate. Things should be good for S when he gets there next year.

So now we figure out our new schedule. Hubs wants to take class 2-3 classes a week. Trinks starts Brownies on 9/15. S still has kung fu two nights a week, which can change to 5 nights a week when he turns 5. We were going to look for soccer for him, but I think I'll do Tumblebus for another year. I love anything I don't have to drive to! At least next year, he'll get a ride to kung fu.

No wonder I was tired last night!