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.