Pursuit of the Prize

We buy Trix yogurt. (It's fortified with vitamins, right?) S saw a commercial yesterday about a contest that Trix yogurt is sponsoring. ONE lucky winner will receive a $10,000 prize. I stress the word ONE. She is convinced that SHE is that person. She has already decided how she will share her prize: $100 for me, dad, R to share; $100 for her cousin; $100 for all the world's poor kids; the remainder for our American Girl trip. She spent all of yesterday discussing winning scenarios with me. She woke up VERY early this morning in order to quickly eat three yogurts before school. She only found "Sorry, try again." She told me not to tell anyone else about this contest (so, shhhh) and to buy all the Trix yogurt that I can find in all the stores around town. Wish her luck!

School Daze

School has started again and boy am I tired. I thought it would be easier having one less child at home, but the pace seems to have picked up. Plus, my otherwise perfect baby has decided NOT to sleep anymore! Can't a girl catch a break?

I think this might be the last year I'm able to choose the official first day of school outfit (wipe a tear). I encountered some unexpected resistence this year. I thought the apple skirt was just precious, but darling daughter didn't want to wear a skirt (someone might spy the undies).

I got the idea for the "first day of school bracelet" from my thoughtful friend, Julie. S has worn it all six days that she's been to school. Unfortunately, it was not an expensive piece of jewelry and it is turning a funny color. I think we'll have to buy a nicer one...

Green Eggs and Ham

(Post from Saturday)

I always struggle with making lunch. Usually lunch is me opening things and slapping them on plates in an assembly line fashion (i.e. string cheese, fruit cups, Goldfish crackers, etc.) I don't like to make a hot lunch because it takes too much time and makes a mess that I don't want to clean up. I occasionally venture out to heat a can of soup, make cheese quesadillas, or box macaroni and cheese. That's me "going out on a limb." Incidentally, if you have any fun lunch ideas, please post in the comments section. I'm thinking EASY, fast...

So today the kids asked me to make "green eggs and ham." Hmmmm, I thought. Interesting idea. I could do that. Add a little food coloring...we have ham...I think it will work. So, I set about this task feeling like a SUPER DUPER creative mommy. And our little adventure even involves a classic piece of literature. How could this not be the most educational, awesome experience? They will remember this for years and tell their friends how their mom made the cutest little lunches.

I am a very visual person, and I have to admit that when I added the food coloring to the eggs my stomach did lurch a little. My thought was, "The kids won't think this is gross though. They'll love it." As I put the green eggs on the plates, I began to have doubts. It looked royally disgusting. Sure enough, the kids staged a Dr. Seuss revolt. They were practically crying when I told them they would have to eat it. After all, I wasn't going to make ANOTHER LUNCH. They did eat it (mostly), but told me that I don't have to make it again.

Fair Obsession

OK, I have lots of obsessions. Talk Radio is one of them. My favorite radio program is Garage Logic. I LOVE Garage Logic. Every year at the State Fair, I visit the live broadcast of the show. The picture below shows Baby L with the host of the program (his second "celebrity photo"). The photo was taken during a commercial break. It may not seem like a big deal, but I couldn't wipe the smile off my face for the rest of the day. My Dad can relate, right Dad? I LOVE the State Fair!!! We go every year and it is so much fun! We ate lots of food (cheese curds, milk shakes, corn on the cob, Sweet Martha's cookies, salt water taffy, fresh cut fries, mini donuts, and a foot long hot dog). Every year we say we're not going to take the kids, but every year we take them. It was interesting navigating the crowds with three kids, but it was worth it. They loved the giant slide and the sky ride. And they were very fascinated by the Miracle of Birth Center. One baby piglet shares a name with S and she was very happy about that.


This is an awful picture, but I was very nervous and I only had one shot. This is local/national radio talk show host, Jason Lewis. We are huge fans of his program.
We spent the afternoon/evening walking around, going on rides, and enjoying the nice weather. The kids want to go back AGAIN before it is over, but I think once is enough.

Curse of the Stinky Towels

Raise your hand if you've ever forgotten a load of clothes in the washing machine. Anyone? Hold those hands up. It happens on occasion. I get busy and forget about a load for...a while. It happened with a large load of towels recently. Somehow these towels were dried and put back in the rotation without being rewashed and THEY STINK. I've since tried rewashing said towels and the smell will not go away. I decided the only solution was to just throw away the stinky towels as I came across them. Somehow the stinky towels got together and had stinky towel babies or something because I'm still running across stinky towels. I had to take drastic action and eliminate all the household towels. It is for the greater good.

There's a lot of pressure associated with picking out new towels since we've had some of our old ones for more than TEN YEARS! Next time you're over, you can use our new, super fluffy, nice smelling, towels.

New kiddie towels. Aren't they cute?

Summer Wrap Up

Here's some odds and ends from the summer's last days...
I don't know if any of the cookie dough actually made it to the oven!

The pictures above and below are from one of our favorite parks.

Baby L wasn't too sure about his first cereal experience. He wants to eat what we're eating! Can't say I blame him. It looks disgusting.

Boys and their trains. I love it!
This is Baby L with Sue Whitney from Country Living magazine. He was a "tag along" when I went to this HUGE flea market. It was so fun! Don't you love the "Toots" sign?
School starts in just over a week. I'm excited, but a little sad that summer is over. I always wish we could have fit more things in, but maybe next year...

Baby Judges Potato Head Contest

We LOVE a good competition at our house. (Those genes come from my side of the family). Whenever we have these miscellaneous competitions, we always struggle to find impartial judges. So, when we staged our latest Potato Head contest, we turned to the baby to be the judge. Everyone must be congratulated on a valiant effort, but there could only be one winner.

Here are the results:

Entries by S, Mom, and R

R was VERY proud of his creation.

Dad's entry

Dad's second entry

Baby asking, "You want me to do what?"

After much contemplation, the winner is...S!