Male Moment

wow.

This is the dad-husband of the family. I used to post on here occasionally. My wife normally does a great job with this site. But after that last post.....well. We need a little dose of testosterone. So:

Grunt. URRR.....Go Yankees!

Did you know that they could go to the world series with a win tonight? Exciting times. Yeah. OK. I feel a little better now. A little.

Dress Shopping....Or More Appropriately...I'd Rather Be Chased By a Bull

Seriously. Whose idea was it to collect thousands of clothes and stuff them on rack after stainless steel rack under ungodly flourescent lighting and ask all women to spend time looking through the endless options? How can anyone think this is fun?

We have a wedding to attend tomorrow. I've worn the same black dress to every event I can recall in recent years...but it's sleeveless and it will be cold tomorrow. In a moment of sweetness, I had the crazy idea to buy a new dress and surprise my husband.

Yes, it's tomorrow. I know I should've started the hunt say...four months ago...but I have a life. Or rather, my children have a life and I drive them to it. :-)

I slotted this morning for a dress hunt and seizure session. The only problem is that son #2 woke up with croup. sigh. Not to be deterred, I mentioned to hubby that I had planned to shop for a new dress. Funny how quickly that man can rearrange his schedule and work from home when a crisis arrives. :-) He had exactly an hour and a half for me to work my magic.

Store number 1...Beautiful little navy blue dress...but see through. Um, no thanks. I prefer for undergarments to be private. It's just a thing I have.

Store number 2...We don't sell dresses anymore. Women don't wear them. What?!

Store number 3...We don't sell THAT size here.

I'm feeling slightly discouraged.

Store number 4...We have every size above and below that one, but not that one. Not today. In fact, not ever. But thanks for playing.

Store number 5...Sleeveless. Sleeveless. Sleeveless. Does no one but me realize that it is not summer?

At this point, I'm ready to be shot. Just take me now. I can't think anymore. Come to think of it, I can't breathe anymore. Could someone just call my fairy godmother and let her twirl her magic wand around my closet and make my clothes beautiful?

I have now decided to wear the dress I always wear...and will probably be cold. But, wait! I had to throw out my shoes at the end of last season! Guess what I get to do TOMORROW?

Store number 1....we don't carry that size here...

sigh. The day nightmares are made of.

Pumpkin Patch

This morning was M's first field trip. She loved going to the Pumpkin Patch! With a big tractor ride and live animals to see, she was thrilled. After a sweet morning, M and I stopped at the Chinese restaurant right by the farm. I know...how odd is that?! Something in me just kept thinking about how special and important the pumpkin patch is to so many Americans and I was so happy to see her embrace it that I guess I wanted to honor her culture in response.

The cooks in the restaurant are nearly all born and raised in China and they loved seeing M. She said "thank you" in Chinese and they just beamed! In fact, I caught many of them smiling and sneaking glances at her throughout her meal. They loved how she ate her noodles with gusto!

She kept smiling across the table from me and saying, "I love noodles! I love you, Mama!" We had such a wonderful time (and all for under $5!) that I think we'll make Ladies Lunch a tradition and get out together alone more often!

gluten Free...sigh

I'd say that the initial excitement of being gluten free has worn off - but since we were never excited in the first place...I can't. This is hard! I LOVE to bake and with three boys baked goods stretch an already tight food budget!

This week, G took hard boiled eggs to school as part of his lunch. "EWWWW!" said some of his friends. At dinner that night, we discussed the day. G shared that he is NEVER taking eggs again. N and J jumped right in.

"G! If someone told Derek Jeter that playing baseball was gross, would he stop? NO! Don't let other people make decisions for you."

The analogy was a little off, but the heart was right. :-)

Gluten Free Day 1

No, we won't chronicle every day....but this is going to be tricky! Today we tried gluten free steel cut oats with fresh apples and brown sugar. One boy loved it...the other three kiddos not so much. Lunch was a big pot of chili (YUM) and dinner was pot roast, potatoes, carrots and homemade apple pie with gluten free crust.

Thanks to the recipe of a new friend from CCMC, our crust was super yummy. Not as flaky as a traditional crust, but definitely good. Have to practice up for the holidays!

Off to make lunches for school...good thing there's leftover chili!

Yankees All the Time?

So...I'm answering a question about where one of our new gluten free flours come from...from a cassava plant...and my son looks at me in wonder and awe..."There's a POSSADA plant?"