Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Conversations, 2/23/13

Corinne:

Corinne: Moooooom!
Me: Yes?
Corinne: Moooooom!!!
Me: Corinne?
Corinne:  (pause)  What? (with sassy tone)
Me:  Dude, you called me.
Corinne:  Oh.
silence
Corinne: Mooooom!!!!
Me: Yes?
Corinne: Moooooom!!!
Me: Corinne?
Corinne:  (pause)  What? (with sassy tone)
Me:  Dude, you called me.
Corinne:  Oh.
silence
Me: Yes?
Corinne: Moooooom!!!
Me: Corinne?
Corinne:  (pause)  What? (with sassy tone)
Me:  Dude, you called me.
Corinne:  Oh.
silence
Corinne: Moooooom!!!


Me: I'm going crazy...




(those Dental Disaster Teeth just never get old...)


Henry:

Henry: MOM!  Tonight when we were playing Flag Football we broke up into TEAMS and my team had to come up with a name!  And every name everyone else came up with was dumb!  So I said let's be the Ethoipa Eagles! And they thought it was great!

Me: Ethoipa? Do you mean Ethiopia? Like the country in Africa?

Henry: That's what I said.

Me: Are you thinking about Ethiopia because I said I would give you a dollar if you found Addis Ababa on the world map?

Henry: No. Yeah. Whatever. We were the Ethoipa Eagles. And we WON.




Svea:

I don't have a conversation to share from being with Svea.

She lives in the land of tulips and rainbows sprinkled with glitter. I want to simultaneously wrap her in bubble wrap to stay in my pocket and share her with everyone in the world.

To be around her is to forget your list of things to do, to experience laughter, to smell fresh cookies and to skip from one destination to another.
She is permission to just BE.

Here she is writing her most recent 4 page novel complete with color pencil illustrations, eating Club Mini crackers, and spreading small paper circles from hole-punching on the floor.



Happy Tuesday, y'all. May the conversations in your house be this blessed.




Svea Loves Her Country





Child's Pose Anyone?







Sunday, February 24, 2013

Henry, Laundry Boy

Henry has decided that he wants to do his own laundry.

That means he comes home from school and takes off his clothes, and wants to wash them right then for the next day. Then he goes and makes his lunch for tomorrow.  That's how we had the talk about how a turkey sandwich has to sleep in the fridge.

I didn't discover all of the parts of his routine until a few days into his commitment. I asked if he wanted me to show him how to use the washing machine and he said I ALREADY FIGURED IT OUT.
Duh.

I asked him if he knew where the detergent was and he said WHAT'S DETERGENT?

So I made him a check list and taped it to the door of the washing machine. He doesn't read it, but it made me feel better.

We also ran out of detergent due to the number of secret loads he continued to start.

So I got a recipe to make our own detergent!
It's supposed to be less expensive, it had been on my list of things to do, and I was worried about polluting the earth with all that yumminess in the smells of Gain and Tide.


I ordered the ingredients off Amazon and got an old Pretzel Stix container from Corinne's preschool:


Then I shredded that Fels-Naptha soap, like it was a block of cheese. That was probably the most annoying part. It smelled good, though.




I labeled the container and put a date on it, so we can watch and see if it really is a savings based on what we were using up.

I do love the way it smells - although subtle - and I love the non-polluting part.  We've been using it a month now and I am glad to recommend mixing and using your own detergent.

I only mixed a third of the recipe, and we are not even a third of the way through it after 4 weeks. Sweet.

Here's the recipe I used (though I am wide open to suggestions and improvements):

Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe
·       One 4 lb 12 oz box of Borax
·       One 4 lb box of baking soda
·       One 3 lb 7 oz box of washing soda
·       5.25 lbs of OxyClean (any brand including store brand)
·       3 bars of grated Fels Naptha soap (Zote also works.)
Mix all ingredients thoroughly and store in a closed container.



For 1/3 of Laundry Detergent Recipe
·       25.33 oz of Borax = 3 and 1/8 cups
·       21.28 oz of baking soda = 2.66 cups
·       18.33 oz of washing soda = 2 and ¼ cup
·       28 oz of OxyClean = 3.5 cups
·       1 grated bar of Fels Naptha soap (or Zote)
Mix ingredients thoroughly and store in a closed container.


Henry probably would come and help you with your laundry, too.  If you make him a turkey sandwich...for tomorrow. 

Henry, Best Birthday Card Writer






No afence, man...you can beat those Old Ladys...

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Perfect Slippers

My sister gave me the perfect pair of slippers.

Within months, I had worn holes in the toes and heels. Where are you Stella & Murphy when I need you??

So I did not despair; I continued wearing them.
And they looked like this:



I cut off the threadbare fabric and tacked in a layer of thick felt:




I had a thin yoga sticky mat that was on clearance (thank you again, sister, who found it for me), but the mat is terribly slippery. Not Sticky is what the label shoulda said.
I re-purposed the mat as slipper cushion.




Then I found some old fleece to sew over the yoga mat, which was next to the thick fleece:


Here are my new soles:




And the perfect end-of-the-day moment...with the dog's approval...



Thank you again, Meredith, for the perfect slippers!  Stella & Murphy would be glad my feets are comfy, but they might have opinions about you shopping at Target...

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Jicama, Take One


I tried a recipe with Jicama.

You pronounce it Heh-cam-a  with the accent on the "Heh".
Don't call is Gee-cah-ma.

And when people tell you it is like a Mexican potato, DON'T LISTEN.

It's way more like a Mexican apple.  Crunchy and fresh. The way you like an apple...not a potato.




If you like Jicama, let me know. I really would like to learn to like it.

Svea in a Hat



More Yummies from the Farm


I made these from my Ayruveda cookbook:



And added them to fresh sauteed greens from J. Darby Farm:



Thank you, Earth!!!

Today was VALENTINE'S DAY. 2013.

Since I had to pull a round purple necklace bead out of Corinne's nose the other morning, I have been starting my days with a nostril check around here.

Once that was completed, it was time to drive Henry and Svea to school. Svea wanted to hear #4 on the CD on repeat which made Henry sigh loudly over and over and then complain out loud.  I turned off the music and asked them both, "Pete and Repeat sat on a wall. Pete fell off. Who was left?"

They both said, "Repeat."

So I said, "Pete and Repeat sat on a wall. Pete fell off. Who was left?"

They both said, "Repeat."

Then Henry said, "Ohhhhh uuuugh arrrrrrgh. I GET IT.
Svea didn't, but I chuckled and turned the music back on.

It's a 4 mile drive to school so by mile 2.5, Henry says his requisite ugly comment to Svea. So I turn off the music and remind him to be nice and of the consequences.

He says, "MOM.  Henry and Mom sat on a wall. Mom fell off. Who was left?  HENRY."

I tried not to drive off the road.




I had to teach Junior Achievement to Svea's class which means 21 sugared-up 2nd graders couldn't wait to tell me:
1. How I was teaching them wrong.
2. That there are discrepancies between my poster and their handouts.
3. And DID I KNOW that one boy uses Horse Tail on his hair to make it grow but Horse Tail Shampoo does NOT attract other horses and I went out at my daddy's farm and saw them horses and came in and told Tracy who told that other lady that I was NOT going out there. And I do not smell like a horse.

Okaaay.


Another boy has that Interrupting Authority Issue so the rule in the class is that he has to hug the teacher every time he interrupts. He got up to 18 hugs the other day.
All I got was a head butt to the stomach.
I pray for that kid.


At Svea's class party, they wrapped cereal boxes to collect each other's Valentine's and then made ice cream sundaes.  I had to bring Corinne to the party and they treated her like an alien zoo animal trying to get her to pronounce their names and then repeating everything she did say with glee.

At Henry's class party, we made fruit kabobs and had pizza and cupcakes. Corinne thought it was TOO LOUD and wanted to go back to Svea's room where she got brownies and Svea read her the Berenstain Bears.

In Henry's class, 3 boys have mohawks and one is feeling like his spikes are not strong enough. He didn't think it was funny when we were making kabobs that I suggested he spear his grapes with his hair.
I didn't think a third grader would be so sore about hair product.

This is all before 2pm and Valentine's Day is wearing me out.



We made potato soup and broccoli, then I left to do yoga at J. Darby Farm, and came home to a clean kitchen and 5 loads of laundry to fold.  Good thing this family believes in the PROCESS of laundry, not necessarily its completion.

Brian re-earthed the Valentine's song that Henry and Svea fought through years ago and it brought much joy to Corinne.  Unfolding already-folded laundry also brings her much joy.

Now kids are in bed, fire is in the fireplace, the Entses are slowly speaking on Lord of the Rings - all is well.

Happy Day of Love Which Should be Every Day to All of You,
Mollie