When I Can Eat Again

So lately, I've been thinking a lot about food. Food that I like. Mainly, I think, because I'm not eating any. Or very much anyway. You want to know the top thing I've wanted to eat? A warm piece of wheat toast with butter and apple butter. Or honey butter. Isn't that silly? So, I'm going to start keeping track of all the foods I'm looking forward to eating again when this insanity that I've committed to is all over with. Here we go:

1) Wheat toast with butter and apple butter (did I mention that already?)
2) A WHOLE cup of oatmeal! - with milk and not water
3) Dark chocolate truffles
4) Hot chocolate with marshmallows
5) Grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup
6) A chocolate mocha shake
7) A vanilla McDonalds ice cream cone
8) A Reese's McFlurry with extra hot fudge
9) Pumpkin bread
10) Almonds!
11) Lamb burgers
12) Hot wings with ranch dressing & celery sticks
13) Cake (any kind, especially if it has frosting)
14) Warm homemade chocolate pudding
15) Chocolate chip cookies served warm with a glass of milk
16) Cave oatmeal cookies
17) Molasses cookies
18) Panera Bread's hot chocolate & cinnamon crunch bagels with hazelnut cream cheese
19) Chicken pot pie
20) Chili with melted cheese
21) Hickory Park's taco burger
22) French Silk Pie DQ blizzard
23) Vanilla ice cream with warm chocolate sauce on top
24) Peanut butter!
25) Egg pancakes with chocolate chips and berries and syrup and whipped cream
26) Strawberries! - plain OR chocolate covered
27) Cheese
28) Cold cereal - Lucky Charms!
29) BLT sandwich
30) Baked beans and chips
*31) French breakfast puffs
*32) Kentucky Derby Pie
*33) Falafel pitas with taboulleh from Pita Pita
*34) Chocolate nut pie
*35) Crackers and cheese
*36) Grapes!
*37) Yogurt
*38) Smoothies
*39) Homemade guacamole

I'd better stop here for today, but as you can see... I'm hungry! I'm going to have to be careful to ease back into the eating when I'm done so I don't balloon up. Yikes.

* These are foods I'm adding as I think of them. I'm kind of obsessed with food, huh? Tonight was my "cheat" night and I savored every bite of my pizza. I have NEVER enjoyed food as much as I enjoyed that pizza tonight. It was amazing.

Irresistible

Ok, so as an aunt, I find this little man irresistably cute, but really... have you seen anything cuter? I sure haven't. This made my day. Seriously.

Letting the "Baby" Go

Here we go. The first of many years to come of school pictures. The day these were taken, he told me he was NOT going to have his picture taken. I wasn't too worried. He's still pretty shy around his classmates and teacher, so I figured when it came right down to it, he wouldn't put up too much of a fight. I honestly have enjoyed listening to the things he's learning at school come out in his playtime at home. Things like reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and singing silly little songs and repeating little learning rhymes like, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit." (His original version was "You get what you get and you don't fuss about it." which I liked better, but either one works.) As near as I can tell he likes recess and snack time (chocolate milk!) and his teacher (he drew her a monster during Bible study the other evening which she now proudly has pinned to her wall - guess he's working on that "teacher's pet" thing). It was his turn to have "sharing" day the other day. He was pretty excited to sit in Mrs. Solomon's chair and show everyone his frog puppet that ribbits out songs when you open and close its mouth. He was pretty pleased he made the other kids laugh which I'm afraid signals he might be a bit of a class clown. He's all about getting the laugh. Which he just might come by naturally (think Craig). He keeps wondering when it will be his turn to have the "snack bucket" for the week - guess he's anxious for his turn to bring the class treats. You may recall the incident where he turned down cake the other day. Well the most recent report was that there were Rice Krispie treats on Monday, but he said, "No, thanks". When I pressed him about "why" he simply answered, "My tummy felt full." I guess the good thing is that even if his mother doesn't have any self-control when it comes to food, maybe he will. Whatever the case, he's definitely maturing/acting more grown up, and I'm just not sure I've decided how I feel about that just yet. Hard to let the "baby" go.

Simple Pleasures

I didn't realize how much I banked on food as something that makes a day enjoyable. But here I am, two weeks into this "cutting weight" thing (involves such excitement as egg whites, oatmeal, unsweetened apple sauce, tuna, broccoli, asparagus, romaine lettuce, spinach, fish, and chicken in small amounts every three hours set on repeat), and I can't tell you how many times I have just wanted to enjoy a simple piece of wheat toast with butter and apple butter for breakfast. Or a handful of almonds. Or some strawberries. When something comes between me and my once a week "cheat" meal, I become almost unreasonable. How dare my babysitter get H1N1. NOTHING should come between me and my one piece of pizza. (It all worked out. We walked to DQ for my final Blizzard... won't be seeing one of those again for at least four weeks. Get well soon, Erica! I'm sorry you feel so rotten.)

One thing I have learned over the last two weeks, though, is how much I take for granted food and other simple pleasures. So I've been thinking about and trying to appreciate how much brighter my day is with:

1) A warm shower.
2) A nap.
3) A smile.
4) A hug.
5) A deep, heavy, good night's sleep.
6) An "I love you".
7) Little boy kisses.
8) An encouraging word.
9) A gentle, much-needed rain.
10) A run (with full use of arms and legs! I can move!).
11) Waking up next to my husband.
12) A fresh, new start every morning.
13) Chocolate.
14) A clear mind.
15) Emotions and how they make us feel alive.
16) Clean air.
17) Deep breathing.
18) A snuggle in the soft coziness of my favorite blanket.
19) A tiny voice calling me Mommy.
20) The strength and good health needed for a good wrestling match with my boys.

Little things you don't miss until they're taken away/not there anymore. And the list could go on and on. What are some of the simple every day things you experience that you forget to fully appreciate? Sometimes I forget how great it feels to just be ALIVE!

My Pet Guinea

*Warning! This is going to gross some of you out. So read no further if you have sensitivities to "gross out" or delicate feelings about cleanliness.*



Boys are up to the farm this weekend. I was hesitant to let them go. Ok. Not really. Hanging out on the patio alone with my husband - watching him eat while I drink water - on a beautiful night won out. Here, though, lies the hesitation. Last time the boys went, Kekoa adopted a pet guinea. Only it was dead. And he drug it around everywhere like a doll.



And he fed it some feed. He told me, and I quote, "Grandma said no, but Grandpa let me." And so it goes.



The boys absolutely LOVE Grandpa and Grandma's farm. I love watching how excited they get when they find out their headed there. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for sacrificing so much so we could be raised on a farm. It was the best place to grow up. Ever. Not even kidding.



The cats, on the other hand... I think they dread these visits. Run at every chance they get. Last night when I called to say goodnight to the boys, they mentioned catching chickens and putting them in cages (Grandpa sold a bunch.) and also mentioned getting their clothes all wet with the water hose. The water hose confession casually led into, "And I tried to spray the cats with water, but they were to fast." I think the boys feeding them every five seconds kind of balances out the torment they have to go through when the grand-boys pay a visit.

Concerned

Ok. So help me out here. There's a big health care reform push in our country right now. I understand that things could definitely use reforming, but is it just me or is it more than mildly disturbing that our federal government is pushing to make having health insurance a requirement for every citizen of this country? This is really making me uncomfortable. The argument is that no one should be denied health care. As far as I can see, no one is. If you need medical attention, you go to the emergency room and they can't turn you away. Shouldn't we take more time with this and make sure we have a good plan for reform? And does it make good sense to spend 850 billion dollars when we don't have any money to spend? Notice that's BILLION, not million. What happened to fiscal responsibility? And shouldn't we try to get back on our feet economically before we try to tackle things by throwing more money that we don't have at them? I'm thinking our future's so bright, we're not going to have to wear shades much longer. *sigh*

Say Hey (I Love You)

So I'm going to share my new favorite song with you because I Love You! Enjoy. It's a definite "pick me up" song. Michael Franti & Spearhead are going to be here in our town at the end of this month and I'm very much considering getting some tickets to the show. Anyone heard any of their other songs? Would it be a good concert?

Game Day

With just $2 in our pocket and no tickets, I hit the big rivalry football game with my boys today. It ended up being a hot one. And a disappointing loss, but we had a good time anyway. Foam fingers and all. Someday I'll have to tell you the story about how we managed everything. Some day. Time for my nap.

Silly Sock

Jessica told me an additional thing to add to my list of things that come out of my kids mouths today. She sometimes calls the little guys "Little Bear" when she's talking to them. Evidently, when she approached Gavyn today and asked him, "What ya doin', Little Bear?", his indignant answer was, "I'm not Little Bear, I'm Silly Sock." That's a Gavynism I've never heard before. Did I get the story right, Jessica? Whatever the case, he's unique, that boy.

Say What?!

Things that have recently come out of my boys mouths:

"Mommy, I like babies. I like to pet them on their heads." - Kekoa, age 5

"Mommy, is that a campfire? Are they doing smashmellows?" - Gavyn, age 3

"My friend, Brodie, had a Batman birthday cake. But I said 'no thanks'. I only like Spiderman cake." - Kekoa, age 5

What? Who turns down cake? Cake is cake. I see I have some educatin' to do. These children can NOT be mine.

P.S. If I sit here long enough, I hear some interesting play conversations, too. This just out:

"I'm eating with my girlfriend," says Kekoa (as if he knows what a girlfriend is). Not to be outdone, Gavyn pipes in, "Well... well.... well... I'm eating with my brudder."

Ok then. Glad we've clarified that. I think we're working on mastering Weird Conversations 101 over at this house. What's going on at yours?

Wildflower Surprise

If you know me at all, you realize that my garden and flowers languish in July. The weeds take over the garden and I rarely spend a moment in it at all. My potted flowers get brown and spindly with a few blooms here and there as I'm not real great about keeping them watered, either. I usually get a handful of cucumbers and loads of tomatoes to show for my efforts and that's about it.






This year, I decided to pull up the sod around the back of my garden and plant wildflower seeds instead of trying to figure out a way to mow the narrow strip back there. It was the best thing I've ever done. All summer long, when I've taken a moment to visit my garden I've found the best surprises. It was beautiful all summer long and I didn't have to do anything to it. Now THAT is my kind of gardening.






Thought I'd share a few pictures of the surprises I found out there this week.

Football Season has Arrived

And what a beautiful night for a football game. Full moon. Big opening game crowd. I LOVE night football games. And they won! 34-17. We'll see what next weekend brings. We love us some football. Happy Birthday to me! Thank you, thank you, I'll be celebrating all week. DQ run is scheduled for tonight. Can't wait.

What's So Terrible About 2?

Lincoln and I celebrated our birthdays together this year. When he was born, he missed my birthday by two days. I know. It looks like I'm gonna eat him up, doesn't it? Sometimes I feel like he's so cute I just could. Being an auntie is pretty cool. Happy Birthday, Baby Lincoln!

Spoilt

I was spoiled rotten yesterday. I'm thinking I'm going to like 36. And thanks everyone for your birthday wishes. You're the best. That's right. I'm talking about you.