Russ has worked 80-100 extra hours for the month of September. I really have missed him.

This website has Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookies on it, among MANY other cheesecake recipes. It is the downfall of my goal to eat healthy this pregnancy. However, it is the key to success to eating well this pregnancy. Join the dark side. It tastes delicious.

The other day on the road the girls and I saw a car pulled over that had started on fire. This week Abbie asked me how cars start on fire. I tried to explain that I don't really understand how an engine works or breaks down. I tried to tell her that there are a lot of parts that help make the car go that I don't really understand how it works. Abbie, disgustedly told me that, yes, in fact I do know how to make a car go. I clarified that while I can make a car move, I don't know the exactly how or  why it works. Then with all the disdain a five-year-old can muster, she said, "Mom, it's the wheels."

I am leaving on a trip just with Russ in 21 days. I am SOOO excited!

I find out whether we are having a boy or a girl in 18 days. I am SOOO excited!

We had a showing on our house this morning and the lady wants to come back tomorrow to show her husband. I wish I was better at managing my hopes, because I'm already mentally packing.

Russ is a perfectionist. I am a perfectionist. Our kids are doomed. And I mean it. While there are many ways that being a perfectionist can benefit you (good grades, good work ethic, etc.), it often means putting unrealistic pressure on yourself and really not know how to deal with things don't work out..perfectly. It has been a learning process throughout our lives.

And now our kids have a double dose in their genes.

In Abbie's class they have dot sheets. They get to fill in dots when they are good. When the sheet is full they get a prize. They have pencils with "grippies" to help them learn how to hold a pencil properly. If they loose the "grippy" they have to throw out their dot sheet, and start over. 


Abbie lost her pencil with grippy right before she left school today.


She was crying when she came to the car. 


She has not yet told her teacher. 


We talked about problem solving ("Where is the last place you had it?").But I tried to focus on keeping things in perspective if she does need to tell her teacher she lost her pencil. ("It is just a bad day, it is frustrating but it will be okay. The world will not end. I promise."). 


When I asked her later if she was going to be okay talking to her teacher about it she just looked at me and said, "I'll see." 

Russ's family, from what I understand, took many family drives when he was growing up. Never having had this tradition, I didn't quite understand the appeal (my siblings and I practiced all out warfare in the car). After going on such a drive this evening I'm beginning to catch the vision.

Abbie: (very seriously):" Mom, would it be okay if we flew in a rocket ship?"

Me: "A rocket ship?"
A:" Yeah, a rocket ship, would it be okay?.....Oh wait, you have to be an alien to fly in one?"
M: "You mean an astronaut?"
A: " Yeah an astronaut."

Later...
A: "I want to be a teacher when I grow up."
M: "That is great! You would be a great teacher because you are so fun and kind. I'm a teacher, and so is grandma."
A: "Yeah I want to be a teacher. Savannah, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
Savannah: " A dog."

Yesterday I stuck my head into Abbie's classroom. After watching the kids recite a poem, the teacher told them that they were poetry ninjas.Then as a class they all proceeded to strike ninja poses (along with cool ninja sound effects). It made me want to go back to Kindergarten.

Savannah has her friend over playing. They both have pretty strong ideas about what they want to play, and it isn't the same thing. The drama that is three years old.

I have already bought the girls Halloween costumes. I have two sisters-in-law that make their children's Halloween costumes every year. I envy them, because their kids' costumes look adorable and have that special touch. I think that if I put my "special touch" on the girls Halloween costumes, they would refuse to wear them.

I am about to start the book The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, if you've read it, please let me know what you think. It sounds fascinating.

Why am I the only person in my family that thinks clean floors look nice? It reminds me of this letter.

The one time I want Groupon to have a deal on carpet cleaning they are refusing to do so.

Savannah is my 100% child. When she is happy she is the most adorable thing. She tickles, she cuddles, she tries to make you laugh. But when upset or heaven forbid, pouts, heaven help the soul who crosses her path.

Today I ran two errands, weeded my minuscule backyard, played memory with Savannah and updated my 72-hour kit. Now if only there was some way to recognize a great "Stay-At-Home-Mom-Day". Its like I actually accomplished some big things, (I mean my 72-hour kit how often do I get to that!) rather than clean the bare basics and read waaaay more than I should. I deserve a massage, a Klondike bar, a pie or something. Why isn't there a committee for this? Seriously.

Unfortunately one of my earrands consisted of trying to get a new Epi-Pen for Abbie.We have to get a new one about once a year because they expire. Today when I went in I found out that with our new insurance they would cost $172.00 (three times what I've paid before) and expire in December. Thankfully the pharmacist was sympathetic and ordered some more that will hopefully come from a newer batch.

Abbie thinks Kindergarten is the greatest thing that has ever happened to her. She was so bumbed that she couldn't go to school on Labor Day.

I have realized that I am needing a nap almost everyday since becoming pregnant, if I want to stay awake past 5:00. I don't remember being so tired this early on. Mostly all I remember is barfing (which interestingly I haven't done this pregnancy). Bom, bum, bom, bum, bom, bum.

Let me begin by saying that I have never fried anything. Not chicken, not fries, not donuts. Nothing. Russ hates fried foods and they aren't good for you so it just hasn't come up. But hey I've come a few yards since really learning to cook, how hard could it be?

Enter piles of zucchini.

I've made plenty of batches of zucchini bread. I've added zucchini to my sandwiches.  I could make zucchini soup but the girls will think I'm trying to poison them again, and well I do need to make those zucchini brownies...Anyway...

 I thought fried zucchini might be something the whole family would like. So Giada down at the Food Network hooked me up with a great recipe.

The problem was I read the recipe several days before I actually planned on making the zucchini so exact temperatures and times became a little fuzzy but it was pretty straight forward. Hot oil. Dip zucchini slices in flour, eggs then a mixture of bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese, then fry. Easy Peasy.

So I (never having fried anything before, remember) turned the stove up to Hi poured the oil in a frying pan and put the lid on while I finished preparing the zucchini. It took a little longer than I thought to get all the zucchini prepped.

The flames that engulfed the pan when the lid came off were several feet in the air.*


*No kitchens or kitchen equipment were hurt in the progression of this story although there was temporary smoke damage to the kitchen. I refried some oil (after looking at times and temperatures) cooked the whole batch. And the girls still hated it. 

This whole going to school routine has been a real bear to get used to. For the entirety of my motherhood up to this point most activities I planned around my day, my schedule, and my kids. Oh, things come up that were a little crazy to work with but they would only last a day or two, a week at most. This is a real shift for us.

It is a good thing I really like Abbie's school. Even if Savannah and I miss her like crazy.

Have you ever had a day that if it could go wrong it does? That was yesterday. I really hope we can only go up from there.

Chocolate chip zucchini bread.....mmmmmmmmmmmm. One very good thing about fall.

The high today is supposed to be 85. I am thrilled. It was actually a little cool when we left the house this morning. The overbearing heat has been killing me.

School lunch ideas? Pul-lease???????

Sorry, that is all the random I've got.