Weekend in Review

What we like to call...Fondue Friday. This is one of our favorite meals. I make one of the fondue recipes from my The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak. The "cheese" fondue is made of many ingredients including tahini, flour, and nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is probably not something that sounds yummy nor is it necessarily yummy if eaten plain, but we love using it to make different kinds of cheese. We dipped steamed Brussels sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, garlic toast pieces, and Tofurky kielbasas (and not pictured, cherry tomatoes). Okay, spellcheck just taught me something. Who knew it was "Brussels sprouts"? All this time, I have thought it was "brussel sprouts." Weird. That's impossible to pronounce.

We set it all out on a sheet in the living room. Fondue, for us, is best eaten while sitting on the floor. It would be nice if we had a coffee table. I'm still lobbying Ryan for one. He likes the floor space open, and I'd really like to have something to put my feet on when I'm sitting on the couch.

Earlier Friday we had journeyed over to our local jump/play place. This was actually our second visit of the week. We had never been before, and I used it as a bribe. Yes, I sometimes bribe my children. I'm sorry. I do.

It would be really helpful if I could start working out during the day, instead of at night which takes away from family time. Plus, for some reason, I've been hitting a wall about 7:00, and I can't make myself head to the gym as spryly at night as I've been used to. Anyway, it is necessary, therefore, to leave my kids in the fitness center daycare. Tornado is just fine with this. I actually used to work at this particular place when he was 3 years old, and he went to work with me everyday, which he remembers. That was a great situation. It was about a mile from our house, too, and I would push him (quickly, as we were usually running late) in the stroller to work every morning at 8:00. We didn't have a second car at the time, which is why I took the job in the first place. After a couple of months we were able to put a downpayment on a car. Anyway...do you enjoy how distracted I get when I write...what was I talking about...yes, so I knew it would be a challenge to leave Sissy and Dash in the daycare. Sissy, I assumed, would just cry, and Dash...I couldn't even imagine as all attempts have failed in the past. I looked around for the extra childproof door knob to take with us, but I haven't found it yet. He has tried to run out of the room before. My beautiful, precious 3 year old son can be infuriating sometimes. Every single time we leave him in the church nursery (for which the other childproof door knob was bought), he throws a FIT. Even though he knows to expect this every week, no matter how much truth and love we speak to him beforehand, no matter what disciplinary action is taken afterward...and he loves his Carrie and Bo, who watch over him. But he continues to do it.

So...I promised the kids that if they did a good job at the daycare we would go to the JumpZone. And it worked. I was a little nervous at first because Dash wouldn't go in. I let him sit with me while I talked to the trainer for a few minutes, but then he went on in the room on his own. Sometimes he just needs a few minutes.

They loved the JumpZone, and I had a lot of fun myself. The slides were really fast. We had the place pretty much to ourselves most of the time, and we could just run amok. Two little boys came later, and those two followed my kids around everywhere. One of the little boys was Sissy's age, and he kept pushing her. She was not having it, and I was proud of her. She would give him these angry "Don't mess with me" faces and push him back. I explained to her that sometimes that's just how guys are, and I was counting on her, in life, to continue not putting up with it.

A team of housekeepers came to our home on Wednesday to help me get caught up on chores. That was part of the reason we took another trip away from home. Just more time that the house stays clean. We were gone almost all day on Thursday, too. The boys needed haircuts, and my friend had pointed out a new place, Pigtails & Crewcuts. Haircuts have been such a point of stress in our lives. I used to cut Tornado's hair all the time, and I think I always did a decent job. However, that was one or two children ago. I could sit him in front of a video and take my time. It doesn't work out that way now. Now that he is 8, he has done much better at willingly sitting at the beauty shop, but it is never without a little trepidation on my part. Dash is not predictable either, and it makes me all tight inside wondering how he is going to react each time. However, this new place, totally catered to kids, seems to be the answer to our problems. They both sat very still in their automobile seats, watching "Peter Pan." I even got my hair cut while they happily played. That was extremely nice as I needed a little trim in the front. What was NOT extremely nice is watching about three inches from the back of my hair fall to the floor. I almost cried. I almost cried all day long. I told her I just wanted the ends cut. I still haven't fully recovered from my loss.

After we got our hair cuts, we ate lunch at Panera Bread, then went on to the library and Whole Foods. I was proud of Tornado at the library. He had an idea for a certain type of book he wanted (Martha Speaks), and he looked it up on the computer and found it on the shelf. Because we homeschool, I have to remind myself sometimes to push him to be a little more independent.

On Friday at the JumpZone, we even ran into one of Tornado's favorite friends. It really wasn't so much of a coincidence. He was there for the home school field trip...that I had forgotten about. Had forgotten about even with the email his mother sent that week, asking me if I was going...really, where has my short term memory gone...I forget things ALL the time. At least Tornado and his friend got to run around and enjoy playing together. It was a little silly I had to pay full price. I asked if there was a discounted field trip admission, and she said that was over at 11:30. It was 11:32. Good grief.

Saturday we took a 3 hour road trip to visit my brother and his family, plus my Grandpa and Winnie. There were a few other reasons for the trip, but those are not to be disclosed at this time. My kids don't get to see Grandpa and Winnie often, and it takes a bit of time each visit for the two little ones to warm up to them. Sissy finally left my leg after a little while. He gave her a silver dollar for her upcoming birthday, which is what broke the ice. That is what he gives all the grandkids on their birthdays, which is a fun idea. She was very happy to carry around that silver dollar. She was showing Grandpa her tiny pig light. He showed her his big flashlight.

This isn't a good quality photo, but I like it because Sissy was being ornery and teasing Grandpa, which Grandpa enjoyed. She'd pretend to give him the silver dollar, then take off running away from him, giggling. I love to see my kids interacting with my Grandpa...because he's 88...and I want to cherish every second.

Here is Sissy showing Winnie her silver dollar.

Dash was actually asleep for the entire visit. He woke up just long enough to screech crankily and refuse to say goodbye. That kid does not perform well when he is tired. We had a nice day, and I was proud of my husband for his spontaneity in taking a day trip. I was proud that he let me sleep on the way home, too. I just kind of fell over on my pillow halfway home, and the next thing I knew we were pulling into our neighborhood. My favorite way to fall asleep...in the car. I wish I was little and someone would carry me in, straight to bed.