Pride goeth before a trip

I got some heels at T.J. Max last week. And I was all excited to wear them to church. See, I have been wearing flats for the past several years. I just have to lug too much around that place and I have needed stable shoes.
So anyway, I got cocky. Had my cute pumps and a new dress. I was pretty pleased with myself. I didn't even pack that much since both boys are old enough to go to "Creation Station." Little did I know that I was going to have to practically run out of church and Nikes would have been a more sensible option.
Drew's asthma has been bad. And the cure has been almost as bad as the illness. We are taking both boys to an allergist in a week to get this sorted out. But for now, if Drew can't breathe, and we give him his medicine, he acts like a crack head. I thought we were okay Sunday morning. Until Drew started panicking when we were sitting in the pew that he couldn't find Keith. Keith was passing the plates and we located him and he even waved. But then Drew got really schizo on me and was like, "Why isn't he coming back? What's he doing? I need Daddy." I dug out quarters for him to put in the offering tray and David and I kept telling Drew that Daddy would come back and sit with us in a minute. This didn't satisfy Drew. All of a sudden he looked at me with panic and yelled, "Ican'tstopwhiningIcan'tstopwhiningWAAAAAAAA!!!" Boy howdy I picked that forty pounder up so fast and started trucking it down the stairs saying, "C'mon David, right now." I think I even patted my leg like poor David was a dog. At one point Drew threw his cup down and I think I heard someone gasp. David loyally retrieved it and kept jogging beside me towards the doors. Then, my foot fell out of my silly heel and I was gimping along with a still screaming kid. It was a nightmare.
I passed Drew off like a hot potato to Keith. David and I went on to Creation Station. Keith says he talked sense into Drew and a few minutes later Drew wandered into class with the other kids where he was totally normal the whole time.
Guess we're not over public tantrums yet. Next Sunday I'll wear something more fit to run and lift in.

Spiders and Devils

That's Drew holding up his spider muffin cups yesterday. Yes, we did M.T.M. again. I went to Hobby Lobby last week and used my 40% coupon to buy spider (the kids are fascinated with arachnids) cupcake holders. They ended up being $3. Reusable and worth it.
In other news, I have never been anti-Halloween. I kinda laugh that all the school parties have to be called "Harvest Celebrations." I know people that absolutely do not celebrate the season and I never really understood it. Sure, I know there is some bad stuff behind the original holiday, but if you dress your kids up as elephants and dogs does it matter? I understood the reasons for completely skipping it all together when David came up to me and said excitedly, "Now I know how the Devil looks. He is red and has a tail!" Crud. He saw a costume. At Old Navy no less. He has been full of questions about the devil before and I would rather him not have a visual. Last year, at David's ultra conservative church mother's day out (say that three times fast) he asked his teacher what the devil looked like. And she replied, "The devil can wear many faces, he can even make himself look like an angel." I know this is what she said because David can repeat it verbatim. I would rather my kid's fix their thoughts on good things and not dwell on mummies and Frankensteins and horror stuff. Which is why I will take a race car driver and a cheeseburger to get candy from our neighbors. You guess which kid will be which.

Ah, September

Dad's away watching a football game and the boys and I went to the pool with their cousins. Since it is technically almost fall, I pulled out these striped pajamas (David was disappointed they weren't footie pajamas) that I had bought on Old Navy clearance for like $4 at the end of the season. Then, I got out a pair of David's old pajamas and they became new to Drew. So, now they are worn out from swimming and wearing winter long johns. It's six o'clock on a Saturday night and our pajama party is about to start. I figure they'll be asleep by 7:45. Right about the time Keith rolls in from Norman. I think I am owed some sushi and a movie for my benevolence to a sport that I don't understand. All is right with the world.

Muffin Tin Monday

I got this blog link from my cousin about six months ago.

http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/

We both fell in love with it. Shannon even got me muffin cups and an Easter muffin cup set for my birthday! I have been using them, but I hadn't actually done a "Muffin Tin Monday" until today.

As you might be able to tell, I didn't go to much trouble. Just PB&J cut with my apple slicer, mandarin oranges, Ruffles and hummus and carrots and ranch dressing.

Still, it's nice to make things a little bit different. I am going to check this blog more often and try and shake things up a bit on Mondays. Thought I'd share!

Make new friends, and keep one old one

Well, I can safely say that we have adjusted to school. David loves his teachers and his friends. He loves them so much, that if I hadn't noticed him rubbing his arm, I may never have known that he had been bitten by another little boy. Are you kidding me? I had no idea that four year olds were biters. I e-mailed the teacher just to see if I could get the full story and make sure David wasn't in on any sort of fighting. Oh, and because biting is disgusting and mouths are full of bacteria and his skin had been pierced. Then, I got a phone call from his teacher, the first thing she said was David was good and had been good (whew.) She didn't know about the bite on the arm, but he had gotten bit on the ear by a different boy. Who are these kids? Needless to say, we are steering David towards finding other friends and since he won't tattle, we told him it would be okay to say, "DON'T DO THAT! Biting is for babies." Poor kid, I make him work out problems with Drew so much that I think it never occurred to him that it is okay to tell the teacher about stuff like that.
That same day Drew wet his pants at school because he waited until the last minute to pee and didn't make it. Drew is busy, busy, busy at school. I know because I have watched him from the observation room (it has mirrors, he can't see me) several times. Whether it is painting, cutting out pieces of maps and coloring them at the writing center, doing puzzles, riding tricycles, or putting on a puppet show, he is having fun. Drew doesn't even say good -to me, he just goes in, washes his hands (part of the routine to keep toys clean) and starts discovering the new centers. I am in love with Drew's school; he is so very happy and is thriving.
After three hours apart, David and Drew are ready to see each other again. As soon as we get home they become Underwear Brothers and roll around and watch "Between the Lions" while I make lunch.
I met a mom of another pre-K student who isn't loving school. So, I was trying to explain to David that maybe he could find this little boy on the playground and be his friend. I said something along the lines of, "Think of how you would feel if you didn't have any friends." His reply was, "Well, Mom, that would never ever happen to me. I'll always have Drew. And he's my best friend."
You sure will David.

An easy little recipe

I have a friend who, when we were making plates of food for our kids, said, "Oh, my kids eat what I tell them to eat, or they don't eat. They can have bread and water if they don't like it." My boys? Might take the bread and water option more often than I would like. I know people who have had good luck drawing a firm line in the sand with their kids food wise. I haven't done that because we have had enough sleep issues, I had to rule out hunger as a reason for waking when they were smaller, so I somewhat cater to their palates. They aren't picky, they just wouldn't dive into a casserole. (There are meals where I serve them new things, I just try and make sure there is always one or two items they will eat so it's not a battle.) Anyway, that's why I have several things I prepare that make everyone happy. I don't know if you could even call this a recipe. It's just a mixture of something I once had at my sister-in-law Angelia's and something my friend Jessica makes. Here goes-

• Spray crock pot with Pam
• Dump in about a pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Dump in two cans of mild Rotel
• Drain and rinse a can of black beans, dump in
• Cook on low for around four hours. Depends, sometimes I have thrown in frozen chicken breasts, so you might test the chicken about an hour before. Turn up to high if it seems pretty raw. I don't want to give your family salmonella.

Then here is what I do-

• Take out a chicken breast, cut in pieces and divide among two flour tortillas, add cheese and ketchup for David (yuck), only cheese for Drew. Roll up for chicken soft tacos. The chicken is not spicy from the mild Rotel, it's just really juicy.
• Keith and I eat the chicken breasts with black beans and the tomatoes. I put some medium Joe T. Garcia salsa (buy it at Crest, it's the best salsa ever) and a little bit of the grated cheddar on top of the chicken.

It's not much more work to prepare it that way and for me, better than the "eat black beans or you shall dine on bread" option.