It's SNOW fun--get it?

Oh

to

be

a

kid

and

play

in

the

snow

Yea!

Snow

Day,

Fun

Day!

Some days....

Yesterday was one of "those days." The ones where the boys don't seem to listen or pay attention, or get along, or play independently, or cooperate with anything. The ones where you're constantly a day late and a dollar short. The ones where you are just counting down the hours and minutes until bedtime.
I felt bad. I yelled more than one time. I took away snack. I removed the toy causing the fights. I separated the necessary siblings. I was exhausted by bedtime. Nonetheless, the boys got pj's on, and we all sat on the Beaver's bed and all talked and looked at Lego magazines quietly for a half hour. Then, everyone got shuffled to bed, willingly and obediently. It was a good day.

Last weekend, I looked over at Buzz sitting in the church pew and smiled. Then, a double take: the kid had managed to put his Arrow button-down oxford shirt on inside out, and button it. His collar completely twisted; he didn't seem to notice when he was putting it on how difficult it was to button and keep his collar turned the right way.
And, I apparently was too busy to notice until that moment in church. Everyone behind us had, as they smiled back at us, sharing a quiet giggle.

A Study of Perpetual Motion

I'm not sure how it started. Swing, swing, swing, back and forth. Quietly, I block the small limb with my leg. The other one starts now: swing, swing, swing, back and forth. I block it with my leg again. Almost as if on cue, rub, rub, rub, his little head against the back of the pew. I give him a nudge. Then the bottom--scoot, scoot, scoot, rock, rock, rock. I finally lean over, eyes still closed (because we're supposed to be praying) and say, "Can't you please just sit still?" Bear looks at me and smiles. He's still for about, say, a nanosecond. Then the leg starts again......A body in motion stays in motion.

Watch out, Bart Conners

Took the Beav to open tumbling time at the Y today. He had a ball running all over the place, trying out the spring boards, bars, balance beams and the tumble track--a trampoline type thing the kids can jump on. It brought out the Nadia Comenici in me--I found myself jumping up and down on the floor exercise mat with Beav. I did the balance beam with him (the "low boy") and the spring board onto the giant, cushy mat. It was fun just doing what Beav wanted to do for a while. So often he gets shuffled here and there, and I feel bad for him. He could use a little activity all his own, and that's what this provided. Then, it was back home for a bath and lunch. Now, a little Bugs Bunny, and I think he'll be quiet for a time.

For everything, there is a time

A time to do laundry....I am down to my sexy underwear.

Oatmeal a la slow cooker

I obsess on recipes. I read and reread and study and find all the possibilities I can think of before I get committed to a recipe.
I wanted to make oatmeal in the crockpot. I recall seeing Alton Brown do this on tv several years ago, and decided now, several years later, I could make the committment. Maybe the length of time is a bit unhealthy, but I don't like kitchen failures. So I read countless recipes, blogs and website articles on what could go wrong and how to make it work.
Basically, I found from my research that you can use old fashioned oats, but cook them on the warm setting for 8 hours; use steel cut oats but make sure you add plenty of liquid, and if possible, make a water bath bain marie in the crockpot to ensure there's no burning and minimal sticking to the sides.
I opted for using the steel cut oats, extra fluid, no water bath (I didn't have a container that could fit). I used
1 cup steel cut oats
6 cups of liquid (water and milk)
cinnamon
1 tbsp butter
1 handful of brown sugar
Place in crock coated with cooking spray. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

I couldn't sleep too well last night, I was obsessing that the oatmeal would explode in the kitchen, ooze everywhere, or burn so bad the smoke detectors would go off. None of that happened. In fact, we had nice warm oatmeal ready for us after 8 hours. I stirred in chopped banana at the end, and let the kids put mini-chocolate chips on it (about a tsp, for all you high-and-mightys out there). They all ate it and we grown ups did too. I put extra bananas and honey on ours.
A few other tips, however: Don't cook longer than 8 hours, or else there won't be much left to call "oats." Leave the sugar out. Stir that in when it's done in the morning, because there was some browning and sticking, despite the fact that I sprayed the crock with cooking spray. I believe this was due to the sugars. I would even consider another cup of liquid, because it needed it anyway. Another tip is to set an appliance timer to go off 6-7 hours before you get up, in case you want to mix it together at say, 9 pm, for breakfast at 7 am. Set the timer for midnight, and it'll be perfect. For me, this makes the morning go so much easier when I don't have to worry about breakfast. This was uncommonly easy and fast, allows for different breakfast schedules, too.

Inauguration '09

Our son came home from school with this great banner proclaiming a new candidate for '09. Well, an old candidate. A candidate so old that he served in the 1920s.

"Well," my husband says, "the constitution isn't clear on whether the candidate has to actually be alive to be considered for president." After all, this is the state that elected a dead man for governor, right? And, a dead man couldn't do much worse than anyone else.

Is this what Peter Pan meant?

When Peter Pan says he never wants to grow up, was it because he knew there were going to be difficult times, or was it that he never wanted to physically mature?

I don't mind my birthday. I know I may be in the minority here, but generally speaking, I look forward to yet another new year. I like thinking there's more to do and more to learn out there. Yes, I have my down days where I think dermabrasion is the only answer to my poor skin, or days when I think "now that didn't hurt yesterday," so yes, there are some things about growing up that aren't the best.

However, I guess I wasn't prepared for the utter heartbreak and sadness that happens around me. It seems each day there is something horrible happening. A job lost, a death in the family, a terrible illness, a marriage ending, not to mention bad economy, bad legistation, bad people out there hurting children or others. It seems we are doomed. My husband, the pesimist, I call him (he would probably say he's a realist) has known about these things all along. "Don't let yourself be duped into feeling everything is perfect." That kind of thing.

When it seems like all is doom and gloom it is easy to fall in line with that thinking. I let myself agree with the world--it's all horrible. But then I have to force myself to turn the table around and find something to be happy about. I don't think of it as the "ostrich effect" that some would call it, because I acknowledge these awful things are happening. But it doesn't mean I have to let it rule my life.

I'm sure I'll have more to discuss on this issue. I just want to say that in an Eeyore kind of world, it's okay to be Pollyanna.

Drumroll, please.....

The answer is 5,108,000,000,000,000 gallons, assuming the following:
1. There is an equal distribution of rainfall over the entire area of the river basin.
2. There is no rainwater lost to evaporation.
3. All things are in perfect alignment in the universe, meaning, I'm sure there are other variables we didn't control for, but this is the answer the 9-year old was looking for.

I will also clarify that this is spread over 2.7+ million square miles of river/basin.

What am I doing this morning?

Looking up conversions for the average rainfall in the Amazon River from inches to gallons. This being the 9-year old's question for the day. So....just how much rain is 80 inches spread over 4080 miles of river? Stay tuned to find out!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Gravois Creek!
The evening was quiet for us, dinner with the kids, ice cream, a bath and firecrackers. The resident old man yelled at us at about 9:30 last night, "isn't it time for the kids to go to bed?" Sheesh-we were just having fun, too! I yelled back "Buzz, can't we pleeeeeeease stay up a little later 'Dad' ?"
He's old before his time, I tell you.

Well the update on the dog isn't as funny or cute. It seems the youngster had a problem with, uh, me. He could be a total angel dog, and then the next minute, snap! He had his mouth around my arm, trying to tear it off the socket. Unfortunately, he had to go, as we couldn't take the chance on the kids ( and I'm kind of attached to my arm, no pun intended). He didn't seem to have this problem with the husband, and occasionally felt he could try with the kids, but I would come diving in to help, only to be met with teeth and growls. I still want a dog, but we are going to take our time.