Still Juggling

I think all the balls are still in the air... although I loved Shanna's comment that she likes to choose which balls fall... I'm pondering that one. Because does it really matter if one wears a hat on hat day? As a third grade friend of ours pointed out "not EVERYONE has to wear a hat!! DUH!" (LOVE that duh is still around. It's adorable... right up until one of my kids says it to me... then beware the wrath of a Mommy scorned.)

Anyway... I ramble... but I've held it together alright this week. We've worn red, we've worn hats, we've sent treats, and chocolate, and movie themed items. We've hosted playgroup, and tomorrow we are set to do a brunch (although minimal effort was set forth apart from getting the house company worthy.) Bottom line is I'm almost through the busy part and can now gear up to enjoy the fun.

I can't wait for the character parade on Friday. The idea is to dress up the kids as a book character and bring the book along. I (as well as many other parents) send the kids in their Halloween Costume and find a book to go along with it. Do you know that there are kids books about almost everything. Eric's a ninja (Magic Tree House Night of the Ninjas), Mark is a Taco - and this one is a stretch because in the book we are sending the taco isn't a character, per se, but it does talk about making tacos... so I'm going with it. Zack's a Ghost and we have a book with a ghost. Done. (And we have multiple other book/costume options should anyone have qualms about it at the last minute. It could happen!)

So, anyway, I'm clearly (still) rambling at this point, and don't really have a point or a neat little ending for this post other than bring on the fun!!! The work is nearly done!

Juggling

This is one of those weeks where I am sure I'm going to drop the ball somewhere. Halloween is coming up, I'm hosting a Moms Club Brunch at my house, and oh yes, it's my turn to host playgroup. Not to mention the donations to send to the school for the Fall Festival, and Halloween Parties. Plus, there are field trip forms and permission slips (and $$**) to turn in, and we are attending the Fall Festival at school, a Halloween Party Saturday Night (which I need to take a dish to, and I'd like it to be yummy.) Let's not forget Trick or Treat Sunday Night. Oh, and it's red ribbon week, meaning there is a special thing to wear/do each day for that. Whew!

I've made a list of all the stuff I need to send off to the school, and the permission slips for field trips are in their backpacks today, so that's one thing off of the list. I just feel like life is one big deadline this week. Even with my to do list (and it's massive) I fear something is going slip through the cracks.

** Does anyone else feel bled dry by the school. Money money money. Not just fundraisers either. There are tshirts and field trips and this and that. It's all very small amounts, and it's not realllly breaking the bank, but it feels like I'm always writing checks to the school.

Oh it's just funny!

It's really good that I can laugh at myself because, frankly, I've been laughing a lot lately. And if I weren't laughing I might be crying...

This week was deemed Doctor Appointment Week for everyone except for Ben. I called in late August for well visits (horribly late for all three boys) and they couldn't get me in until now. So, typical of myself, I wrote the appointment down, threw out the paper on which it was written, and vaguely remembered the dates and relied upon the reminder call for the exact details.

I would SWEAR the call said 10:30, so I showed up with 3 boys (2 with appointments, one along for the ride) and waited. And waited, and waited, and... well you get the idea. So, we waited. Waiting with Mark is not much fun as he gets bored. When he's bored he gets surly and mouthy and, alternately wild.

So, I got rather annoyed at all the waiting, but was patient because my pediatrician is fantastic and worth the wait. It's worth the wait. Plus, things happen and everyone has a bad day.

I'm so glad I didn't complain. You don't even know! Because when the doctor walked in she said, "Did you know your appointment was at 11?" I just laughed so hard because how on earth did I do it. She was right too, because as soon as she said that the information all came rushing back to me, that one day was 11, and the other was 10. I really have no clue where I got 10:30.

Forward to day 2 and Zachary's well visit. I arrived on time with 2 children, and was fairly promplty seen. Zack was asked to provide a urine sample and he did. And this falls under the category of only ME, but while I was waiting for the doctor to come back in, Ben poured Zack's pee down the sink.

Also, both Zack and Mark failed their eye check, so we get to go to the optometrist next. It seems I've passed on my bad eyes to (potentially) three of my children already.

So, I laugh, because what on earth else do I do?

Cheesemaking

A while back we were watching this tv show. On said tv show they were making homemade Mozzarella. Kevin's eyes lit up and we decided we should totally make homemade mozzarella. So, we tracked down the ingredients (they make kits for these things) and made a not so successful attempt at Mozzarella. It was like a really smooth, creamy ricotta. So we tried again. And again... and so forth. There is some problem with some milks in regards to cheese making. Many of the brands "ultra" pasteurize the milk, getting it really, really hot, and thus killing off the goodness of the milk that let's us create cheese. Also, even more irritating, that most of the time they don't label the milk as ultra...it just says pasteurized. So we tried brand after brand of milk.

TG Lee, Publix, Sweetbay, Target, 365, Golden Fleece (local to FL and specifically says on the label it is processed at a low temperature.)

We did get something resembling cheese from the Golden Fleece milk. However, it should have worked perfectly, since it was LOCAL (which everything we've read recommends) and not heated to a zillion degrees, killing all that is healthy and cheese producing.

After much thought and discussion, we decided it might be the rennet, acquired new rennet, and tried again last night. With dismal results. I'm left to the option of finding a dairy and buying some farm fresh (maybe raw) milk and trying that. Or I could just go buy some fresh mozz from Publix, put it on some tomatos and top it with some basil. I'm about 50/50 on which to do, but I seem to have this compulsion now to make this work. So I'll probably keep flogging away at it until I have the most expensive lump of mozzarella on the planet. Hopefully it will taste good.

My Baby Boy

I don't favor Ben, I promise! Although, if you look at my Facebook pictures lately, it might look that way. Because most of my pictures lately are of him. Because, he's the one who is with me all day. He does maddening things like shave his own head, and cute things like fall asleep on the couch in his undies with his hands folded ever so sweetly. I've never had the experience of having one toddler at home at a time, so it is kind of a novelty. And I take pictures when he's obnoxious, and more pictures when he's sweet, and I post them on Facebook.

At least he won't grow up and say I never took pictures of him.

In Which I Ask for Help With Kindergarten Homework

I ran into a problem with Zack's homework. Yes, I know, he's in kindergarten. But I had a question about the instructions that made it impossible for me to help him complete the last page of his homework. It was okay, though, because they turn in homework on Monday, so I caught it in time. Normally, I would write his teacher a note in his planner. Since it was a math thing, I wrote a note, put it in an envelope, and sent it with him to school. No.big.deal. Except for the part that it's kindergarten homework and I felt a little silly having to ask for clarification. Whatever, I can accept that.

The kids went to school, and Ben and I talked to a neighbor, cleaned his perpetually dirty face, and went off to my Moms Club Board Meeting. At some point during that meeting we started talking about our kids, and school, and math (I think, or something that reminded me of math.) Suddenly, I remembered my note, and for some reason it occurred to me that I spelled the math teacher's name wrong. Without saying the exact name, it has both a Z and a B and I transposed them.

So, basically, in one fell swoop, I confessed to not understanding Kindergarten math AND spelled the teacher's name wrong. To think, I used to fancy myself intelligent.

This Mommy gig is humbling, if nothing else.

Tidbits

Responsibility - Eric made himself a to do list last night. It included: Get ready for school, straighten bedroom, play until Mommy wakes up. When I woke up I was impressed to see that he was dressed and his room was picked up. I'm super impressed and made sure he knew about that!

Drama - This morning was cool, around 60 degrees. This is new and wonderful for us down here in FL after a long, hot summer. Mark went out to do his "Morning Exercises" on the patio and came right back in declaring "It's SO cold! It's like winter! I think it might even snow. So he busied himself finding jackets for everyone so they didn't freeze. He's so funny and so dramatic!

Smart - Zachary never stops surprising me at how well he is taking to school. He was the kid I wondered about because he doesn't like to learn from me at all. When I tried to teach him things he'd make a big joke out of it. He did great in preschool, but I still had my reservations about kindergarten. He just kind of beats to his own drummer and I wasn't certain how he'd fit with the structure of real school. Turns out, he's doing great. He's already starting to sound out words, but his real love is math. He comes home begging to do his homework,and it's always math he wants to do first.

Funny - Ben's antics entertain and frustrate me daily. The things he says just crack me up. For example, "Mommy you are the best mommy in the whole house!" Um... thanks... I'm the only Mommy in the house, but ok. Not too long after that,when I told him he couldn't have another popsicle it was slightly different. With a sour face and grumpy tone "Mommy you are the BAD mommy in the whole house." Whatever you think kiddo!