tiffany's spot

The little blond cherub in the middle, staring at the camera is Mitchie . He turned three on the 17 th and may I say he's adorable. I say that in the most unbiased way imaginable. It's true. He's frickin ' cute. The way he hugs is cute, the way he putters about his day is cute, the way he tries to get out of getting in trouble for being naughty is cute. It actually is. He grins and peers at me from the corners of his eyes and his little fluffy hair frames his cute, grinning, naughty face. About his hair. It's longish, and curly and bleached blond. He's the bleachedest , blondest of all my kids. He's kind of pretty. When he runs his curls bounce. Today at Walmart the cashier asked me to move her ( Mitchie ) out of the way so she could scan a larger item in my cart. Poor Mitchie . He totally could be a girl if you didn't know he wasn't. I should maybe cut that mop, but it's so sweet! It's bad enough that he's three already, if I c...

I've been getting sacks of veggies each Wednesday. It's kind of crazy. This week the bag had green beans, corn on the cob, potatoes, beets, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli, cabbage, onions and green onions. It's a lot. I still have stuff from the past couple of weeks that I haven't gotten around to. Tonight I decided that I needed to take care of some of this. I really don't want to compost my mountains of veggies. Actually, we've been doing pretty well. Not much has been wasted. I had a tray and a half of ground beef in my fridges that I needed to do something with, so instead of bagging and freezing it I made spaghetti sauce. My spaghetti sauce: 4 onions 4.7 pounds of lean ground beef 1 red pepper 1 yellow pepper 4 celery stalks a big handful of carrots 2.5 zucchini numerous garlic cloves giant handful of green beans can of diced tomatoes 4 cans of Hunt's pasta sauce fresh basil oregano 3 bay leaves salt and pepper. You don't wan...

My goal today was to stay home this morning and not schedule any play dates. My bathroom needs scrubbing, my floors need vacuuming (and mopping, but let's not get carried away) and there are loads of laundry to do. Not to mention the camper that's still set up in the driveway to be cleaned up a bit, repacked, folded up and moved out of the way. Nor does that count the garage sale I am determined to have this weekend, which should prompt me to actually find, sort and price stuff and declutter this crazy house. I also wonder how long the plants I bought will last on the front step without being planted. I watered them a few days ago so they should be fine, right? So much to do, and even a little time to do it. Now it's noon. There is one load in the washing machine that's probably ready to go in the dryer and that's all I've accomplished this morning. It's been a nice morning. I talked on the phone with a friend, the kids slept in until seven, ate break...

Just like that the day is more or less done. It's 9:30. I always have this plan to go to bed at 10, get a good night's sleep, get up early (5:30) and run, shower, and feel energized and well slept and ready to start the day, without coffee. Usually I watch Big Bang reruns until after 11, go to bed, maybe fall asleep right away, turn off my alarm clock in my sleep , wake up closer to seven to the joyful noise of kids fighting, eat a Tylenol or two (sometimes), and hang out in my pjs until I absolutely have to dress myself. The well-slept part? Not so much. Usually after lunch I fall asleep on the couch, around the time that I had planned on doing some strength training. Contrary to popular belief, "chasing kids around all day" is not really exercise, and carrying a heavyish toddler is not really strength training. If these things were true I'd be seriously cut. My kids are runners and jumpers and jokers and biters. I spent a little time chasing, more tim...

I just called Steven to tell him to pick something up at the store on his way home. I told him that he needed to come home and see what I bought , that it was necessary, and kind of a bigger item. He doesn't wait well. Soon he was guessing and wanting to know what it was. I told him he'd have to wait and see, and that it was sort of for everybody. S: It's not a dog is it? T: (pause, he's so fun sometimes) . . . Maybe . S: You didn't. T: (frantically looking for a dog barking on youtube ) Just come see. S: (exasperated, as if I'd actually buy a dog on a whim and not ok it first) You had better not have bought a dog. You didn't . - Dog starts yapping on youtube . T: Shit, this is the first time it's barked. I promise it's not going to bark. S: You didn't. Is that a dog? Really? (big sigh) I'm going to have to kill it. ( lol he wouldn't really) T: Just come see. S: (breathing noises) You didn't. Not really. Is it a rob...

We've been getting vegetables from a local farming family. At the beginning of the summer we bought a share of the gardens, and each week they deliver a couple of bags of veggies. It's turning into a lot of veggies. There are multiple types of lettuce, swiss chard, kale, kohlrabi, zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, potatoes, green beans, yellow beans, peas, broccoli, radishes, beets, spinach and onions as well as different fresh herbs. It's crazy. I hate the thought of composting my organic, farm fresh veggies. Yesterday Steven threw a bunch of kale into the compost bucket. It was very sad. Yesterday we received our weekly veggies, and we weren't even through the bags from the week before. I decided to pure some of the veggies. Today I dug everything out of the fridge and put it all out on the island. I figured I could make a green puree out of some of the green stuff. I steamed some of the green and yellow beans and broccoli and blanched the kale. I piled it into th...

I'd be impressed with the over 10,000 page views if I didn't know that probably 8,000 of them are my own. I wonder if there's a way to get my own views uncounted? I bet somebody knows. I had one of those sleeps last night where . . . Scratch that. I didn't sleep. The last time I glanced at the clock it was about 4:30, and the kids were crawling into my bed by 7:30. Today will be one of those days where I'm thankful that within the last year or so I suddenly developed a taste for coffee. Not only "developed", but "enjoy!" My first job at 15 was at a restaurant. The smell of coffee was the worst. I even tried to drink it once or twice, with lots of sugar and milk, but I just couldn't force it. It was gross. Drinks that had even a hint of coffee in them - cappuccinos, molkas , etc. disgusted me. When I was pregnant with Mitchell I took a sip of Steven's cappuccino. It was yummy. It's progressed from there. I really was going...

Me: Anybody want any ice-tea? Mns : I do I do I do I do! I set three cups on the table . Tenn: I want the one in the middle! Tenn: Can I please have the one in the middle? Mitchie : I want the Thomas one! Tenn: Mommy, Mommy, Mommy can I PLEASE have the one in the middle? Me: Yes Tennyson you can have the one in the middle. Jordan: I want my Dora one. Mitchie : I want my Thommaaaassss one! Me: Yes Mitchell, you can have the Thomas one. Stop asking! Jordan: Haha Tennyson I get a Dora cup. You get a plain old blue cup. Tenn: I get the one in the middle. Jordan: But it's boring. There's nothing on it. I have a DORA cup. Me: (big giant Mom sigh). JORDAN. Is yours better? Really? Is the ice tea actually WORSE because it's in a plain cup? Really?. Jordan: Yah . Ugh. Of course, all of these things are actually said allatthesametime , and the whole while the baby is screeching. I really need to record her sometime so that I can j...

Three awesome things for today: Elliot bounced against my legs as I sat in a lawn chair, wanting up. Then as I reclined a bit in the chair she laid against me with her head raised and grinned. Then she shook her head maniacally from side to side. I giggled. She grinned bigger and did it harder, taking immense pleasure in making mommy smile. I've been wearing a bracelet all day that Jordan made for me yesterday. It fell apart last night and I gathered up the beads and string and put them on the counter. Jordan discovered it this morning and quickly set about re-making it, even though we had a less-than-stellar morning together. Homemade beef barley soup, and cottage cheese and grapes for dessert.

I'm having a crummy day. It's one of those days where I feel like alternating between yelling at kids and shaking them. I've settled for time outs in the corner. It's still discipline, but probably healthier for us both. My house is messy. I'm going camping tonight. I have a thousand half finished projects and no energy to finish them. It makes me seriously dislike myself. I need to get ready for camping and I'm dragging my feet on that. I feel like I should vacuum, but I probably need to pack more. Instead I sit on the computer. I read something somewhere. I read all sorts of things - books, parts of newspapers, multiple blogs, web pages, etc. I never really remember where I read the things I think of later. Someone somewhere said something about writing down three positive things - maybe each day. Either that was what the writer did, or that's what I thought would be a good idea. I don't know. I keep thinking I should do that, and maybe I should. Maybe...

Dear Hitch Hiker: I saw you trying to hitch hike through town as I made my way home from the store tonight. I have a few thoughts. Firstly, if you're going to be shaggy, aim more for the cute, boy-next-door / Justin Bieber shaggy. Looking like you just crawled out of the bushes where you've lived for years and survived the last few months by eating the flesh off of Mowgli is probably not going to get you into someone's van. The grizzlier you are, and the wilder the look on your face, the less likely anyone is going to refrain from locking their car doors and speeding up as they pass you. Secondly, hitch hiking? Seriously? Bus pass dude. Thirdly, okay, just look at firstly again. You're frightening. sincerely, not a chance