july pictures

Here are our pictures from July. And it's not even the middle of August yet! Aren't you impressed?

Don't be...I'm doing this instead of the cleaning and packing I need to be doing for our Summer Tour of the Midwest!

So posting will be light for the next few weeks, but then we'll be back to fill you in on all the crazy from our trip and Ainsley's surgery.

By the way, if you ever want to annoy me, here's what you can do...Fax my son's medical records to the new doctor's office, but leave the immunization record blank, so that while we're in the office waiting for shots that I had to practically drag him in for, we can be told that we can't get the shots until the office can verify his records to make sure he's getting all the shots he needs. And then when I call to let you know that the page you faxed over was blank, you can tell me that since it's been a year since he was a patient, all of his records are in "storage" and therefore not able to be faxed over while we're waiting. So then I have to drive home and get my copy of the records and then drive back again for the shots (all 4 of them!) so that he can start middle school. Seriously.

new friend

Jackson has a new friend. His name is Kirby. I've not had much experience with imaginary friends...I don't ever remember Ryan or Emily having one. So I was happy to oblige when Jack asked if Emily could sit somewhere else in the car so I could buckle Kirby in next to him on our way to Target. I held the door open as Kirby got out of the car, and we even waited once we got inside for Kirby to catch up. But when Jack walked over to the Starbucks counter and grabbed 2 vanillas (One for me and one for Kirby!), I had to put my foot down. I told him he and Kirby would have to share. And they did. Jack would take a drink and then squat down and hold the milk next to him so Kirby could take a drink. It was really quite sweet.

Anyway, I like Kirby a lot better than Jack's other brother, Emile. I met him the other day when I was giving Jack his bath. "Mom," he said, "my brother, Emile, is in the bath too. He's a rat." I tried to remain calm. After his bath, Jack made a little bed on the floor next to his for his rat brother, Emile, and I'm sure they talked and laughed and played cars into the night. We haven't seen much of Emile since Kirby showed up. And I'm okay with that. Because, really, I just don't like rats. Especially the ones I can't see.

i heart spam

Okay, seriously. If you're going to try to scam someone, you should at least make yourself seem a little credible by using proper grammar and not be like these ridiculous jokers posing as the IRS.

The following is an actual message I got today. Ridiculous.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Internal Revenue Service"
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 4:44 PM
Subject: You have get a Tax Refund on your Visa or MasterCard

You have get a Tax Refund on your Visa or MasterCard.

Complete the formular, and get your Tax Refund. (Your Refund Amount Is $620.50)

(Inserted here was a link I was supposed to click on to "complete the formular" and no doubt, actually give these morons my Visa or MasterCard number.)

Copyright © 2008 - Internal Revenue Service. All rights reserved. (Nice touch here, the little copyright thing. Wow, I almost fell for that one!!)

And the sad thing is that some people will probably actually fall for this. Please don't fall for this!

mama's little helper

We have to keep the pantry door closed all the time, because if we don't, Ainsley is right there, helping herself to all sorts of little treasures. Usually when this happens, I will find our paper plates strewn all over the kitchen floor. On more than one occasion I've had to clean half boxes of cereal from the floor (Grape Nuts & Berber carpet...not fun!) Sometimes she'll even help herself to the potatoes. But one day last week I watched as she walked in, looked around for a minute and came back out with a couple of napkins. Intrigued, I watched as she walked into the family room and began cleaning the ottoman and the coffee table.







She doesn't have my eyes, my hair or my nose, but my OCD? Check.

making them earn their keep

Doug was out of town for a couple of nights last week and usually when he's gone I make things for dinner that I know he won't really mind missing, like breakfast or macaroni and cheese. But last week, I thought it would be fun to put Ryan and Emily in charge of dinner. I told them they had to come up with an entree and side dish and then they were responsible for making a grocery list to get any of the things we didn't already have in the pantry. Then while we were at the grocery store, they were responsible for finding all the items they needed. No, I didn't make them buy the groceries themselves. Geez!

So they spent a good hour pouring over cookbooks and came up with Sloppy Dogs and Oven Cheese Fries.

Now, the Sloppy Dogs are a variation of the Sloppy Joe, served in a hot dog bun. Also, not as sweet...more of an Italian Sloppy Joe (and in fact, the leftovers were very good on some leftover pasta!) The recipe called for ground beef, but we decided to substitute ground turkey instead. Then once the meat has browned you add some tomato sauce, onion, basil and oregano and let it simmer for about 15 minutes and then you end up with this:



Then you load the meat into a whole wheat hot dog bun and top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

The method for cooking the fries was a little different than anything I'd seen before. The recipe called for the kids to dip the potatoes in egg white, bake for 10 minutes, flip, and then bake for an additional 20 minutes. The egg white made them extra crispy! Then you load them up with cheese (and Emily's addition of crumbled bacon) and then they go back into the oven for a couple of minutes until the cheese is melted.





Then you add a little watermelon:



And dinner is served:

It was really very tasty. And all I had to do was buy the groceries and clean up!

Sloppy Dogs from Disney's The Magic Kitchen Cookbook.

Oven Crispy Cheese Fries from There's a Chef in My Family by Emeril Lagasse.

new kicks

I love baby shoes.



And preschool shoes. (Don't these look like Ryan's skinny ankles and big feet?)



These even light up. Go Speed Racer!!

for those of you who may have missed his 10th birthday

I had just finished washing Ainsley's hair with her special Nature's Baby Organics shampoo/body wash that we have to keep her eczema under control...and because the Vanilla Tangerine scent makes her smell like a dreamsicle.

Jack: Yesterday Dad used that kind of baby shampoo for my hair.

Me: Oh yeah? Well that's okay. (Really, it's more than okay, because sometimes there is just too much fun going on during bath time that washing with soap/shampoo can get overlooked!)

Jack: No! It's not okay!

Me: Why not?

Jack: Because that shampoo is designed for babies. Not kids.