We are chickens.

Today is a beautiful day.  The sky is blue.  There's a slight breeze to keep the temp comfortable.  And we are hiding inside trying to figure out what to do with the playground bully. 

First of all, we don't know his name or where he lives.

Second, he threatened my Hammy too.

Third, I'm debating on making cookies and trying to turn him into a friend.  I'm scared.  I'm a chicken.  But I recently acquired a really REALLY awesome chocolate chip cookie recipe that's better than this one I posted three years ago.  And I'll share it with you if you help us fix this problem.  ;)

Anymore advice?  Pleeeeease????

Knock-knock Who's there? Banana. Banana who?

Bananas are a wonderful fruit filled with potassium.  The best way to absorb it is with a glass of milk. 

Milk and bananas are my 3 year old's favorite foods.  But if you have a banana addiction like my little Gremlin does, you may find it difficult to wait for the bananas to ripen. 

Putting your green bananas in a paper bag helps them ripen faster and hide them from the banana-addict in your home.  This works for me!

Did you also know that you can freeze bananas?  When the bananas go on sale for 25¢ a pound buy as many as your freezer will hold. 

They are great for milkshakes, banana bread, and banana muffins.

If you're using them in a recipe for bread or muffins, you can even freeze them in the peel.  The peel will turn black, but the banana inside will be fine.  Warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds and cut or open the end and squeeze it into a bowl like a tube of toothpaste.

If you're using frozen bananas for milkshakes, it's easiest if you break apart the bananas in small sections about 1 to 1 1/2 inches.  Freeze in a freezer container or ziploc bag.  Label, date, and freeze.  When it's milkshake time you can have a richer milkshake without adding ice by using your frozen bananas.

Also bananas fix your problem.  If you're um... stopped up, they unstop you.  And if you are a bit too um... free-flowin', they help reverse that too.  So, pick a bunch of bananas today to take home!

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If you have some advice on how to deal with a bully, please click on this post to leave your comment.

If you want an awesome whole wheat banana bread recipe, come back Friday. 






There are no affiliate links in this post. But if any banana companies would like me to sing their praises again in exchange for say a year supply of bananas, I'd be more than happy to do so.

Ask the Audience

How do you deal with a playground bully?  Do you talk to him/them yourself?  Do you go straight to the parents?  Do you stay out of it?  What if they threaten to burn your Pookie's face off if he doesn't leave?  Is it okay for your Momma Bear claws to come out then?

This is a first for us in Pookieville.  I need advice.

Annoying Pregnancy Symtom #1048

Clinical my foot.

I don't know what it is about this pregnancy, but I have been sweating like a pig.

It started a week before I found out I was pregnant.  I woke up in the night just dripping with sweat.

I thought for sure I was going through menopause.  I hadn't had a period since before the twins pregnancy, and at that point I was having crazy night sweats every night.

It just stinks.  literally.

The price of toast.

Pookie asked me a couple minutes ago if I wanted a piece of toast.  He even asked if I wanted butter on it.  What a thoughtful boy!  I thanked him and smiled to myself thinking, I'm so glad I taught him how to use the toaster oven.

Then I smelled a smell I have never smelled before but instantly knew what it was-- a smell that caused my stomach to turn and me to leap out of my computer chair to the rescue.

A quarter bag of peanut butter M&M's were dying on top of the toaster oven.

I guess when you're only 8 years old and particularly small for your age, you can't see the top of the toaster oven. 

Knock-knock. Who's there? Reality.

I was just reading a post about diaper bags that are especially good for when you have more than one in diapers and the intro told of the mother with four kids five and under!  I was like, "Holy crap!  That poor woman must be TIRED." 

And then I was like, "Um ... self?  Your youngest four are UNDER five.  and psst!  you're due at the end of the year."

And then I thought, I better finish up the potty training with my Gremlin so I won't have to have four in diapers at one time.

I'm feeling all sorts of validated for being tired in the mornings.  By December I will have seven kids eight and under.

After I finish cleaning the house (because I'm expecting my in-laws this evening), I'm going to write a list of all the things I want in the freezer in the next 10 weeks.  Because knowing my history, the third trimester can be unpredictable.  Of course I'll update you with the freezer recipes I use and any handy tips I have up my sleeve. 

Something strange is going on.

And I'm not okay with it.  So I'm going to share it with you blog buddies.

First of all, let me point out that I am 16 weeks and 4 days pregnant right now.  Yes I'm counting.  This means I am out of my first trimester, done with morning sickness, into the "comfortable trimester."

And I am hungry.  That's not the strange thing.

My sense of taste has diminished.  It's like it's functioning at 50% right now.

And 50% is not okay at all. 

I don't know why this is happening.  I've been pouring on the garlic salt and eating things as flavorful as I can possibly make them hoping to reawaken my taste buds.  No such luck. 

Tonight for dinner I had my mom's recipe of homemade lasagna and Pioneer Woman's recipe of Buttery Thyme Bread-- but with garlic instead of thyme and half the butter she recommends.  But let me tell you, I used an unholy amount of garlic.  No such luck.

I'm not nauseas anymore and I am hungry.  Can I please enjoy my food to the fullest extent possible?!

Tell me it happened to you and went away and there's a cure.  please.

Finding decent education in California

My three oldest kids have been accepted into a nationwide homeschooling program that provides the curriculum, teacher support, testing, loaner home computer and printer at NO COST.  Well, it's actually very pricey.  But California has a program that can accept so many students a year and they pay for it.  I am thrilled.

Eventually I would like to put together a homeschooling program completely of my own choice, but I am a wee-bit sleep-deprived nowadays and question how keen my judgement will be in the late stages of this pregnancy.

And, okay, don't be shocked and horrified, I don't have a degree.  Eek.  I know! 

But I read a lot.  I have taken college classes.  However, I haven't taken a class since Pookie was just under a year.

And I'm intimidated at the thought of returning to school.  Never mind time for me to take a class is sort of well, it just doesn't exist right now.  I do think about it.

You know those commercials that say, Get your training in FILL IN THE BLANK or Get your degree!  Sure I'd like my degree-- and not just so I can say that I have it.  But I don't want a degree from some unknown basement college that some lonely forty-something shy guy created in his spare time.

Yes ma'am.  Dr. So-and-so, who will be delivering your seventh child, graduated with honors in the top 5% of his class from the University of Eucalyptus tree and Tumbleweed.

Eek right?

So, how fitting is it that just as I've been really thinking about it, The University of Redlands contacts me to review their site and discuss my thoughts on returning to school. 

Yes.  I want to return to school.  I do.  I do! 

Why did I never think of a place like a California business school?  I mean, I am here after all.  Not that it wouldn't be a commute.  I'd definitely have to look into what is offered through distance learning or the internet.  I've not gotten that far yet in my reading about them.

But I've heard great things about their school. 

Forbes ranks it in the top 5% of America's Best Colleges.

They have a study abroad program and dozens of majors to choose from.

It's an Inland Empire college that's got so much to keep you from getting bored.  Clubs, athletic teams, and big city culture are very close by.  If you're thinking of colleges in California for yourself or your college age child, I'd say you should definitely look at University of Redlands.

Now obviously, boredom is not a problem for me. 

But graduating from an accredited University that is well-known, I'd like that.  I'm off to do more research.

Say what??

"From now on, whoever asks me permission to do anything while I'm wiping my butt, the answer will be NO."

I never would've guessed that when I gave birth to my first child 8 1/2 years ago, that this would be one of the things I'd hear come out of my mouth.

Tell me something you've said recently that you never thought you'd say.

If the poo fits . . .

Bun came in from playing at the playground to tattle on Pookie and we had this exchange:

"Mommy, Pookie took my bike and I wanted to use it!"

"Oh, I'm sorry he took your bike.  Do you want to ride your scooter instead?"  I suggested.

"No.  I want to ride my bike not my scooter," he insisted.

Me detecting something not-so-fresh, "Bun, did you have an accident?"

*shifty eyes*

"Mommy, before I answer that, I have a question."

"Oh?" knowing full-well now what the answer is.

"If I did poop in my pants, would I be done?" (meaning done for the day playing outside).

HAHAHAHA!  little stinker.

I give him points for cleverness.

I made him clean it all up by himself so he could go back out and play.

Yesterday I had a root canal.

My mouth still hurts like the dickens.  I've decided I'm completely done with carbonation.

The doctor asked me if I'd like a shot of long lasting anesthesia since I shouldn't take ibuprofen while pregnant.  I said yes.  Five hours of numbness later I was rethinking my decision.  Five hours past that and I was wishing I was still numb. 

From 1 a.m. until 2 a.m. I sat in bed with my face throbbing in pain wishing I could just go back to sleep and not feel it.

I better cut back on the peanut butter M&Ms too.

Yesterday the washing machine was fixed.  Hallelujah glorious day!!  But when the Sears' repairman was leaving he said, "Don't use it until tomorrow morning so the glue can really set."

hmph.

Is that 12:01 a.m. tomorrow morning?  Or is that like 8 a.m.?  Cuz you know I've got five loads of laundry waiting and my sheets haven't been washed in three weeks. 

So at 6 a.m. when I got up to take some extra-strength Tylenol, I remembered my fixed washing machine.  I started a load and sat in front of it for at least twenty minutes watching it do its thing.

And I decided, I could survive without internet and phone and enjoy the prairie life, have my own cow and a few chickens, but I CANNOT live without my washing machine.

I am having some serious cravings here.

I'm having some very specific cravings.

I needed Tide with Bleach laundry detergent.  Nevermind I have a year supply of a perfectly good laundry detergent.  I needed to smell Tide with Bleach while at the laundromat and again at home when I pull the clean towels from the dryer.

I needed peanut butter M&M's.  They satisfy two cravings at once:  peanut butter & chocolate.  I like efficiency.

I really REALLY needed a steak.  Juicy, medium-well, steak.  Like at Applebee's.  But far less expensive.

So Danny went to the commissary to buy me a steak.  Danny grills a faaabulous steak.

I think maybe it was the lasagna I made him earlier in the week that put him in such a good mood.  It was particularly good lasagna.  Anyway, he agreed to go do my bidding.

Hammy found out Danny was going to the commissary and wanted to go too.

Bun did too.

Then Pookie.

Danny loaded the three oldest boys into the van to go buy me a steak.  :)

I let Gabbers color with dry-erase crayons (big novelty for my kids), and the twins were winding down in their playpen.

I put my feet up, opened a bag of peanut butter M&M's, and played the XBOX.

Danny called several times informing me of this good deal or that good deal and asking how many I wanted him to buy.

It was a pretty cheery afternoon thinking about my food storage area being beautifully stocked, not hearing loud boy noises, not wondering what my Gremlin was going to get into next, just munching the m's and shooting aliens. 

Right before I expected Danny to come home I got a phone call.

"Honey, please call whoever you need to call to get Bun authorized to go to Urgent Care."

"Whaaa?"

"He cut his hand and he needs stitches."

"How did he cut his hand at the commissary?"

"I don't know.  I just need you to get the authorization.  I'll be home soon and I'll drop off Pookie and Hammy and the groceries and switch quickly to the blue car to take him downtown."

My thoughts:

So no steak then?? 


I guess I have a blog post.


Hmm.. First stitches for our kids.  not likely the last with five boys. 


Darn alien. 


Restart game.

I'm pregnant. I'm imbalanced. My priorities are skewed.  What can I say?

Why are they staring at me??

If you're wondering if I walked clear across Wal-Mart with the pregnancy panel on my capris showing before I came to the realization, I did.  Yes, I did.

The life and times of a Gremlin

Saturday, as Danny and I were organizing the garage, the kids were alternating between riding the bikes up and down the sidewalk, playing at the playground, and drawing on the driveway with sidewalk chalk. 

The babies were napping.

It was a good set up.

We were getting a lot done.

I had been inside maybe two minutes when Danny opened the door from the garage and said to a little person,

"Go ask Mommy to wash your hands."

Hammy came inside to me with arms completely black up to the elbows and a big smile on his face.

"Hammy, what happened?"  I asked.

"I put da lellow chalk in da van," he said, so proud of himself.

Hammy loves yellow.  It's his favorite color.

Hmm.  That's interesting since he can't open the van doors by himself, I thought as I scrubbed him down with Dawn dish soap.

"Okay, dry off and go play nicely," I said.

"Danny, how did Hammy's arms get like that?"

"He was playing with the tail pipe of the van," Danny responded.

"He said he put the yellow chalk in the van.  Did he stick his arm up the tail pipe?" 

Danny went to check out the tail pipe.  He couldn't see past the bend in the pipe to see if the chalk was still there.  But he also couldn't locate the yellow chalk.  There was a yellow scribble inside the tail pipe up to the bend.

After consulting with my parents, we concluded that it would probably come out of the van when the van is started.

Not long later, maybe an hour, our happy little Hammy came up the driveway huffing and puffing carrying something concrete.  

"Look Mommy!  I find a circle!"  He puffed out.

Hammy loves circles.  It's his favorite shape.

I looked.  It was a concrete circle about 9 inches in diameter and nearly 3 inches thick that said SEWER on it.

I know he's not trying to get into mischief.  I know he's just a curious and smart little guy learning about his world.

And I reminded myself of this while I searched half the block, the area to and around the playground, and the street for where to put the circle back. 

I couldn't find it.

Oh my little Gremlin, what will you do next?

Forget Frugal Friday

Our washer died last week.  It was a sad, sad day.  I ♥ my front-loader washer.  I cannot get through a single day without it. 

 After finally swallowing the painful truth of an extended one-year warranty $319.95, we scheduled the repairman to come out. 

He came out today and declared it dead.

They're going to completely overhaul our washer for nearly $900.  And it's all covered under our warranty we bought last week.  SO glad we paid the $319.95.

But now I'm stuck taking loads of laundry to the laundromat at $1.50 a load (just to wash) until June 15, when he's scheduled to return with the ordered parts and the extra helping hands. 

Tonight, two hours after bedtime (hey, it's the last day of school) I took the three oldest kids on a pajama bedtime ride to the laundromat.

1. They learned what a top-loader washer is,
2. how to put quarters in the machine,
3. how much detergent to add,
4. and how to loosely add the clothes. 

I learned that three days of laundry cost our family $9 just to wash. 

Right now my dryer is tumbling and there are four more loads lined up to dry.