weekend potpourri

I think I figured out the key to success and happiness this week.

Extremely low expectations.

That might not work for you but I think that's how it's gotta be for me.

I didn't wash the dishes Monday night (probably because I'd already washed them once or twice already that day). Tuesday we went to a preschool open house in the morning. Then we got ice cream and played at the park. The kids played at Aunt Judy's for a while so I could be at the vet without them. We went to walk around the gardens with cousins after that and then home with two extremely cranky, hot and tired kids.

So when I saw that growing pile of dishes in the sink I decided I just didn't care. We played and had fun. The cleanliness of my house suffered but it was worth it (that's for you, Candis). I'm not trying to be all inspirational and cheesy or anything but sometimes I just have to walk away from that monster pile of dirty dishes and forget about them (and hope that nobody comes over to visit to see that I'm neglecting my dishes in favor of my kids).



Somebody found Mama Cat in Spanish Fork. She's been missing for about 2 months and somehow trekked her way across Utah County. I like to think she hitchhiked at least part of that. Or maybe it does take 2 months to kitty walk 25 miles (or something like that). I took her to the vet. She spent two nights there. I paid $495 and they let me take her home. Dan gets to give her medicine twice a day and she's eating special soft food that smells like puke. I sure do hope she makes a full recovery and never pulls that kind of stunt again.

I know pets are part of our families and we love them like they're our children and blah blah blah but I can't remember the last time I spent $495 on one of my human children. I'm crying softly inside about this one. I'm glad she's home but holy crap. Sure glad I could help the vet buy Christmas presents for his kids this year. Sheesh.

The assistant lady actually told me I should really think about having her microchipped. You know, in case she gets lost again. Um, she was returned to us because she had on her collar with our address and phone number on it. Don't you think that proves that a name tag works just fine? Call me crazy. She's just trying to get me to pay for her kids' Christmas presents too.



I took the kidlets to the dinosaur museum a few weeks ago. Near the entrance is a dark room to walk through with just these little blue dots of light. The stars of the universe. Where the earth beings, the sign says. Cate was scared to walk through without squeezing very tightly to my hand at first. Then she watched Danny go through over and over and over again and she got brave.

I started singing the Imperial March song (you know, Darth Vader's theme) since there was nobody around and I wasn't worried about making a fool of myself. Cate thought that sounded fun so she sang da da da da da da da da really loud (to hear her echo) over and over and over as she went through the dark room over and over and over again. That was a nice way to kill some time.



We have melons! Homegrown organic (I suppose since I haven't sprayed with anything to keep the bugs off and the only fertilizer in the soil was cow poop) melons! Dan thinks this is a Crenshaw melon. It's yummy. Kind of tastes like a cantaloupe and a honeydew. I'm just excited to have fruit from our garden. I like vegetables of course, but fruit is just so much better.

Next year I want strawberries and raspberries too. Oh, and cucumbers, beets and green beans. Maybe no zucchini. I'm getting tired of zucchini. I have two ginormous ones sitting at my house right now if anybody wants them.

Maybe no big tomatoes next year either. Just my pear and cherry varieties. Although we did have some really yummy BLT's last night for dinner and again today for lunch. I'm just not big into the whole canning and salsa making thing so all these tomatoes can get a little overwhelming and boring.



I took Danny to see Cars 2 last Saturday during Cate's Quiet Time. I'd have to give it two thumbs down. Danny seemed to enjoy it so that's all that matters. It was fun to be with my favorite boy for a few hours though. I can't complain about that. Or the popcorn and Diet Dr. Pepper. That was good too.

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Top Chef Desserts is on again. I'm happy about that. There's a chef on it named Katzie. I'm not usually a big fan of weird, funky, made-up names but I kind of like that one.



We went to the splash park again yesterday. It was my first time being in charge of three little ones. I think I did ok. Danny's been loving this whole babysitting Cousin Ray Ray thing. They're very cute together. Ray Ray pulls on the bottom of Danny's shorts to get him to come with him. Yesterday morning Danny wanted to lay on the bench in the front yard to wait for him to come.



And since it's September now and there's a teeny tiny bit of a chill in the air at 8:00 in the morning, he decided I needed to get out his winter clothes so he wouldn't freeze out there. I said no so he settled for a blanket and pillow instead.



Here's a few cute things Danny's said about babysitting Ray Ray lately:

"It's a two person job to keep an eye on one baby."
"When will Ray Ray be two so we won't have to keep an eye on him?"
"This is the easiest babysitting job EVER!"

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I'm ready for fall. So ready that I pulled out all my flowers in the front on Thursday. September 1st means summer is over, right? The flowers were kind of sorry looking anyway so it's ok. Cate was excited because she found 2 snails to play with in the dirt after the flowers were gone.

I also mowed the front and back lawns on Thursday. First time ever doing that by myself. Usually Dan gets it started for me and then I mow (and by usually I mean that one other time I mowed, not like it happens a lot). And being the super woman that I am, I mowed it all by myself, no auto pilot (or whatever it is you call it when the lawnmower pulls forward and you don't have to push...just steer).

Ok, so maybe a little bit of super woman and a little bit of clueless when it comes to knowing how to use a lawnmower. Next time it'll be a way faster job but I won't get nearly as good of an upper body workout.

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Cate put her finger in between her teeth and said she lost a tooth. Then she went to her room to put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy. She didn't really lose a tooth, of course. She just has small gaps in between each tooth. She's a funny kid.

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She calls popsicles pock-uh-sulls. Makes me smile every time.



I made blueberry muffin cookies yesterday. Danny wanted cookies. I had a blueberry muffin mix and ideas of making something yummy. I just added eggs, oil and a little bit of flour until the mix looked like cookie dough. I must say they ended up quite tasty. Ray Ray wanted one in each hand. The kids raved about them. They were amazed that they tasted like blueberry muffins. Imagine that. Dan thought they looked like muffin tops. I'm thinking they were more like biscuits. Definitely best when they're warm out of the oven.

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I'm loving this thing on facebook that reminds me what my status was on this day in the past. On this date in 2009 I wrote that I sent a two-year-old back to bed in his Halloween costume. I remember that. He woke up before 6:30 and wanted to wear his fireman suit. I put it on him (minus the hat) and then made him get back in bed.


And that helped me remember that it's time to start thinking about Halloween costumes again.

And planning a birthday party for a five-year-old.

Yikes.