Eat some corn!

Yesterday was Old McDonald Day at Aidan's preschool. I found out when I picked him up on Wednesday. The letter the teachers gave the parents said, "Dress your child as a farmer or their favorite farm animal." As we drove home, I asked Aidan if he wanted to be a farmer, or what animal he'd like to be. He didn't think for very long before he said, "Corn!" When I asked if he was sure, he said, "Farmers grow corn." I couldn't argue with that, so I rustled up the best last-minute corn costume I could.

Yes, that's a three sizes too big $2.50 t-shirt from Michael's, corned up with fabric paint. His teachers got a kick out of it. He was the only vegetable at school yesterday. And his friends thought he was a Ninja Turtle. Oops! I can see the resemblance now that it's been pointed out to me, but Ninja Turtles aren't really on my radar yet. Maybe we can recycle the corn costume in the future?

Week in Review

WARNING: This is the most random blog post ever. It is not a cohesive unit. It's a smattering of pictures and events from what has been a week I survived only by the grace of God, and post-it

notes.

This week has been an exercise in maintaining sanity. It's pretty much nuts how busy things have been. In addition to the usual driving back and forth to get kids to school, church, etc., I've had what feels like a zillion things to make! Don't get me wrong. I love it. This is exactly what I asked for when I said I wanted that embroidery machine to earn its keep. I just haven't quite gotten the balancing act down yet.

First up in the pictorial line-up, the twirly skirt. I am making some things to sell in a local consignment shop, and this is the first of the bunch. I think the pink, black, and white is so fun!

Next up, another order of burp cloths. These had to be airplanes. And did you know that you cannot buy airplane fabric in any of our local shops? One would think that in a town with an Air Force Base, you'd be able to find airplanes. Not so much. I ordered this, and I had to get way more than I needed. I'll be all set for the next time somebody needs something with airplanes.

Oh, look! I got to use it again this week for a t-shirt. Do you want to hear a funny story about Round One with this shirt? It was late at night, and even though I'd had the thought that I should probably stop working and relax, I didn't. John wasn't home to make me quit. Anyway, I got the whole thing nearly done, and on the last letter of the little guy's name, it started looking a little lumpy and funny. What I should have done is stop the machine and check it out, but I didn't. I mean, come on! I'm nearly done! When I pulled the hoop off the machine, I realized that the lump was the sleeve of the t-shirt. I'd embroidered it to the back of the design. And before I removed the hoop from the machine, I deleted the design, so there was no fixing it. I actually had to cut the sleeve just to get the darn thing out of my hoop. So I went to bed and made another one the next day. That'll teach me, huh? Actually, it worked out. I changed one of the colors the second time around, and I like it better.

Next up, my niece's bow holder. I made one to match Neely's room about a year ago. This one's a little bit different. I added flowers at the bottom of the bodice instead of bows. I love it.

The last thing I'll mention are Aidan's birthday party invitations. He wants a kite party this year. This isn't something he came up with on his own, though it's random enough to be. We asked what kind of party he'd like to have, and he didn't know. When we started throwing out ideas, my idea of a kite party is the one he got excited about. It's March. It's windy. You're supposed to fly kites. Why not get a bunch of kids together for a party and fly them?

Anyway, have you ever tried to find birthday invitations with kites on them? Yeah, they don't exist. I spent yesterday afternoon making these.

Last but not least, here's a quick pic of Neely trying out her first pair of flip flops.

That's it. I warned you it was random. There wasn't even a real point, except that I took all these pictures and they have to go somewhere. :)

Dad

In the car this morning.

Aidan: Mom, am I four yet?

Me: No, not yet. Soon, though.

Aidan: And then, will I be five?

Me: You'll be five after you're four, but you have to be four for a year first.

Aidan: Are you four?

Me: No, I'm twenty-eight. I was four a long time ago.

Aidan: Yeah, and when you were four, I was your dad.

Whaaaat???

From the mouths of babes

On Friday morning, when I dropped Aidan off for preschool, he turned to his teacher and said, "My mommy drives me crazy." Of course, both his teachers and I burst out laughing. Then, a little girl over in the corner chimes in, "My daddy drives me nuts." Kids, I have news for you. We're only returning the favor.

Peanut Butter Jelly Time

I introduced Neely to the peanut butter and jelly sandwich today. She loved it. At least I have one normal child. And I can't mention peanut butter and jelly without thinking of this...

100,000 Calorie Weekend

Stephanie decided to give our weekends together a new name - the 100,000 Calorie Weekend - because all we seem to want to do is eat! And true to form, the only

thing I seemed to take pictures of all weekend was us at a restaurant. Go figure.

We celebrated Valentine's Day sans children on Saturday night at a German restaurant in Fort Worth called Edelweiss. It was a lot of fun. And no, we did not participate in the chicken dance. But aren't the chicken hats funny?

And for your enjoyment...the owner singing "Love Me Tender."

Want to meet my new niece?

Click here.

For Pop

We went out and made that snowman like we promised, Pop.

And Aidan finally got to make a snow angel.

And then, he brought some snow back inside to show Neely. It's in that orange bucket, which is now living in the freezer.

Neely's New Outfit

I love these little ruffle pants, and I finally bought a pattern so I can make Neely some. But once I did the pants, I realized she needed a shirt to go with them. I love these with the big initial on them, so I put one on a little t-shirt to go with the pants. And the really great part is that as she gets taller and as summer comes, we can still wear the t-shirt and just use these pants as capris.

Sometimes, I really like blurry, on-the-go pictures. This one of Neely may be one of my favorites to date.

And here's a close-up of what's on the t-shirt. It's hard to see the pink lettering in that first picture.

Snow in Louisiana

It has snowed at our house all day long. In the four and a half years we've lived here, this has never happened. When it started this morning, I immediately took the kids outside - in their pajamas - to check it out. I fully expected it to have stopped by the time we left the house for the morning. I love how when I take pictures in the snow here, it just looks like it's gloomy and raining. If you look very closely, in the alcove to the front porch, you can make out some flakes.

See? There are a few stuck in Neely's hair.

And by lunchtime, it was coming down really hard. Now you can definitely tell it's snowing.

And there's the front of our house with snow coming down, and there's even a little bit accumulated in the flower bed. It's too bad there wasn't ever really enough to go out and play in it. Aidan has been dying to make a snow angel.

Aidan's Valentine

Aidan's class made Valentines on Monday at preschool. Today, they brought them home. This is, word for word, how Aidan wanted his addressed. What a booger!

When in Louisiana...

Did you think I was going to applaud the Saints? No way. I have not jumped on the bandwagon. Although, now I'm not likely to hear the end of this "Who dat?" mess for a while. Bummer.

Anyway, on to the point. I wanted to share a couple pictures of me (in case you've forgotten what I look like as a result of the fact that I almost never find myself in FRONT of the camera) and the kids in our Colts gear. And no, I did not find Colts t-shirts for my children here in North Louisiana. I had to make it...the night before Superbowl Day at the kids' school. Ah, procrastination. Some things never change.

Helper

One day, I'll have this to remind her of her earlier fervor for helping unload the dishwasher.

Experiment #2

It worked! I have no pictures, because my camera battery happens to be dead right now, but this morning I made applesauce muffins. The recipe calls for applesauce, lots of oats, and butternut squash puree. They totally have orange flecks throughout, and I expected that to throw Aidan off, but he ate them! And of course, Neely ate them. She's my awesome eater.

The only catch with Aidan is that I had to call them something other than their actual name. For example, when I make banana muffins, I add chocolate chips and tell him they're chocolate chip muffins. Otherwise, he wouldn't touch them. So today's muffins were called cinnamon streusel muffins. I just left out that yucky applesauce part. If he gets wind of a fruit or vegetable, he's gone.

This is exciting. My kids ate SQUASH for breakfast!

Experiment #1

Experiment number one was a fail. I made egg puffs with yellow squash puree baked into them. I ate one, and they were great, just like scrambled eggs, only a little fluffier, and I could only taste a hint of the squash. If I hadn't known what it was, I probably wouldn't have realized it was there.

In hindsight, egg puffs probably weren't a good idea. My initial thought was, "Oh, how adorable. They each get their own little ramekin. They'll love it!" Since I've never presented them with an egg puff for breakfast before, they were a little wary.

Neely probably would have eaten hers on a normal day (if it were dumped out of the cup and cut up to look like her scrambled eggs usually do), but she's been teething for a few days and her appetite isn't what it usually is.

After much coercion, Aidan tried one bite. If he didn't have this whole "I do not try new things" thing going on, he might have even admitted that he liked it. He sat at the table with it for a little while, but he never did eat any more of it. What did happen is that Neely climbed up in his chair and began beating it with the spoon. She's at this place where she really wants to try to use silverware, but she doesn't quite get it yet.

The only other problem with these is that the little ramekin stays hot for a good little while. Like I said before, I didn't totally think this one through. If you had kids a little bit older, it would probably work out great!

My next experiment will be muffins - something familiar, yet they'll be a little different. Hopefully, they'll go over better than the egg puffs.

I'm armed and ready...

...to try and trick my children (but mostly Aidan) into eating vegetables. I thought my pureeing days were gone when Neely outgrew baby food, but I spent the afternoon making a few to try some recipes from Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious. The first experiment launches tomorrow morning at breakfast. I'll have my camera at the ready and pass along the results.