Tonight's Serenism only cost a dime

...but it was priceless!

Evy was cleaning their room for bedtime and proudly picked up a dime.  After she boasted about her find, she rushed to put it in her money jar.  Seren objected quite forcefully, throwing a colossal tantrum.  "THAT WAS MY DIME, EVY!" she screamed, over and over. 

"Finder's keepers; losers weepers," I counseled her.  "If that was your dime, Seren, you weren't very responsible with it.  You don't leave money lying around.  You should put it away immediately, just as Evy did.  It is Evy's dime to keep."

"MOMMY!" she screamed, "that is MY DIME! I stole it from Evy this morning!!!"

Mike and I could not stop laughing.  Realizing the mistake she just made, she did not pursue the discussion further. 

Four lettered words at our house

...are not allowed.  We've been pretty good at narrowing our "curse" words down to ones involving five letters, like "Seren" and, more recently, "Penny." 

However, we have recently discovered that a four letter word has been in use around our house for the last 6 months or so.  The tone of this word may change depending on the situation.  Whenever there is a rotten smell, we say the word.  Whenever, valuable stuff gets knocked over, we say the word.  Whenever there is fur on something that was clean, we say the word.  Whenever my back or head is used as a stepping stool, I say the word.  Whenever we are trying to sleep and we are woken up time and again, we say the word.  We say this word the moment we are clearing the dishes from the dinnertable.  Finally, we say this word when his fuzzy, fluffy tail and behind makes it's way to sitting upon one of our heads,"EARL!!!"

Yes, the word is none other than the name of our gray cat, Earl. 

I really do love my second child

Seren.  Short for Serenity.  Otherwise known as Volatility.  Out of my 4 children, she requires the most attention.  So much attention, that a couple of weeks ago, my oldest asked me why I loved Seren more than the others. 

I knew this question was coming.  Doesn't every parent have to answer this question?  So, I answered, "Well, Evy, the Bible says that love covers a multitude of sins, so I have to love her more than the rest of you."  That didn't fly.  I explained further, "Evy, you know how, at school, there are handicapped children who need special help? Like the ones with wheel chairs or learning disabilities?"  Evy, "Yes." Me, "Well, those are children with 'special needs'.  Now, Seren doesn't have those kinds of disabilities, but she is disabled in a way where she thinks the world revolves around her and, therefore, she has 'special needs'."  By now, Evy was laughing hysterically. 

Special needs.  Yes, Seren has Special Needs.  Everything we do must be tailored to fit within Seren's Special Needs.  A wise passerby once said, as I was buckling my screaming children in the car, "A family is a dictatorship ruled by it's weakest member."  So true.  Usually, it would be Xander, and that is true to an extent.  But, I think Seren just allows him to reign for the time being because he's so cute.  She never fails to remind us that she is 2nd in command.  Which brings me to last night's Serenism.

Seren had been asked to clean up her bedroom floor, which wasn't very messy, and the request was met with two hours of tantrums from the 5 year old.  As promised, if the floor wasn't picked up within a certain period of time, a parent would come pick it up for her.   The rule is, if a parent has to pick it up, then whatever is on the floor only gets picked up once.  So, Mike brought in the garbage bag and picked up the floor of toys, laundry, blankets, and other cherished playthings that didn't get put away.  Seren was upset that her favorite blanket was part of the contents.  She tried to bargain with him, trying every trick she knew.  Finally, she decided to try her last resort.  She pulled out her money jar and dumped out all of the money she had: two quarters.  "Daddy, if I give you these two quarters, you'll pull my night-night out of that bag, right?"  If all else fails, try bribery on Daddy.  After all, it works with Seren, why not Daddy?

No, we are not throwing away her favorite blanket, but she did sleep through the night thinking that we have.  She'll have to earn it back.  Everything else is going to go though.

About dieting and weight loss...

I know I haven't posted about that in awhile and I just wanted to share an update.  I've lost 20lbs since I started low carbing in December and most of that was in the first month. Since then, I've gotten cocky and cheated a time or two (or three?) And have since maintained.  Well, I've been happy with the way I've been eating and take comfort in maintaining the loss, which is nice to know for the long haul. However, I still have a bunch more to lose! So, I've given myself a challenge (quiet, yet public, challenge) for the next 30 days.  Starting...when?  Tomorrow!  Or right now (I'm done eating for the day, right?) I will track my progress and then let you in on the challenge, and results!

Ok, we're going on a trip tomorrow so probably not a good day to start.  Sunday for sure.

About the bread and pumpkin soup...

Sorry all, I meant to tell you I didn't make it after all.  I have made it in the past and it was very good!  However, I went to make it this time and...SOMEONE...I won't name who...used up my can of pumpkin. Oh well...I left it up for you to try though.  I look forward to making it soon.

For Dinner tonight Pumpkin Bisque

I've made this before and it was good.  Looking forward to making it again.  Serving leftovers with it.

Sherried Cubed Steaks

Well, I made a Sherried Roast, which was good!  I didn't take a pic because I was lazy that night with dinner.  The kids ate something else and I sliced off roast later.  Plus, I didn't want you to see how messy my kitchen was.  At any rate, it didn't look much different than the picture.

Today's Evanese:

"The reason why it's called 'Memorial Park' is because under every tree is a graveyard."  Mike: "No, Evy.  There is a plaque under every tree.  They didn't bury any bodies there."

Why you should wear your seatbelt, according to Seren

Seren and I were out on our date last night when we saw a man riding the back of a pickup (in the middle of the city). Seren told me that we should always wear seatbelts because she saw one guy who was driving in a car with no doors and he wasn't wearing his seatbelt because he had cut it out. You know what happened to him? Well, he was driving home, over a bridge, that wasn't finished being built, and he fell out into the big river. And there were lots of sharks. And one bit his head off.

So, the moral of the story is, not wearing your seatbelt is suicide. If you don't wear it, there's a good chance that a shark will come bite your head off.

Farmhouse Chicken

Last night I made Farmhouse Chicken.  I used leftover, pre-cooked chicken, which cut down on cook time and tasted good.  I also cooked the rice separately for low carbing purposes. I also used a head of cabbage instead of the squash because it's what I had on hand.  The kids really liked it! It's making the majority of my lunches this week.

Boston Baked Beans

Last week, I made the recipe for Boston Baked Beans.  I made it as the recipe said and it was good!  I only sampled.  My kids loved the beans and wouldn't eat them after Mike added BBQ sauce.  ;)

Tonight's Dinner is California Salad and New England Baked Apples

Sorry about not posting recipes for a few days.  It seems to be feast or famine around here (no pun intended).

Anyways, East meets West in tonight's dinner.  I did not plan it that way, but it worked out well.  Here are the recipes.

My California Salad and New England Apples

New England Apples were made according to recipe, except I chunked up the apples and spooned the mix over the top, then drizzled the syrup over it.

California Salad was tweaked quite a bit.  I eliminated the season salt and sugar out of the dressing, added parmesan, and replaced the lettuce mixture with red leaf lettuce and parsely, dill, and cilantro. I had it for my own dinner and look forward to bringing it for my lunch tomorrow.

Ugh...a virus in the household!

3 out of 4 kids are sick.  No Serenisms...well, there are always Serenisms, but nothing terribly noteworthy.  But, there has been Eyvanese (English according to Evy).

Evy has a terrible cold or flu right now.  She has confided: "Mommy, I hope I don't get ammonia."

"No, Sweetie," I say, "You should be fine as long as you don't sleep with Seren or Penny."

"Seren and Penny have AMMONIA?!" Evy asks.

"Yes, Evy, just about every night."

Evy looks at me quizzically...

I love Evy's sense of the English language. Just last summer, she explained to me how animals stay hidden by using camel-flash. Daddy told her all about camel-flash on their nature walk.  I figured I probably ought to have a talk with daddy about the subjects of discussion on their "nature walks."

Spaghetti with Red Clam Sauce

I didn't have linguini noodles so we used spaghetti noodles. Mike made the recipe tonight and added bay leaf, basil, and rosemary as spices.  He served the clams fresh from the can so they wouldn't get cooked and tough. How was it? It was a hit. Look at the pics and see!  My plate is the one with zucchini.

Linguini with Red Mussel Sauce

That's what's for dinner tonight, but with a twist!

Asparagus Monterey Style

So, I wanted to make artichokes monterey, but artichokes aren't quite in season yet.  I found some beautiful asparagus and decided to try the recipe anyway.  I followed the recipe pretty closely, but added chopped asparagus at the end.  I was in low carb bacon and cheese heaven!

Stuffed Artichokes Monterey

Was the recipe I followed last night...

Patience is not Seren's middle name...

In fact, Abielle, a common misspelling for the french word "Honeybee" is her middle name.  I should know, because I misspelled it on her birth certificate when I was in post partum fog.  The correct spelling is Abeille.  Now, the real meaning of her true middle name seems to be "Corporation Yard."  Not sure what that is, but I suppose it could be a fitting meaning of there are bones involved.

Even though Serenity is her first name, which most people tend to find ironic, we were not crazy enough to follow that name up with a middle name of "Patience."  Seren may be volatile, but she is as serene as a honeybee.  Who doesn't tread lightly around a honeybee for fear one may be at the wrong end of the stinger? Yet, a honeybee will go about its business in peace until something upsets it.  That is our Serenity.  Patient, she is not.

So, I picked up a weaving/bead project for Evy to work on while Penny is taking a nap.  Seren is old enough to learn how to thread beads and make her own necklace, but not mature enough for weaving.  Evy, on the other hand, has patience in spades.  She enjoyed her few minutes she had with her project until Penny rousted from her nap.  Seren enjoyed the bouncing beads.  Even though I showed her how to thread beads, they still wouldn't cooperate now matter how loud she screamed.  She did, however, scream loud enough for the table to vibrate and for the beads to use the opportunity to run away as fast as the could to some oblivion on the floor.  That is when Penny came out of her bedroom to save the day. 

No, patience is not Seren's middle name.