Foods Your Kids Must Eat

     There are some foods your kids must eat... because it is extremely inconvenient for you if they do not eat them.  Healthy or not, children must eat the following foods: pizza, cheeseburgers AND/OR hot dogs, chicken nuggets and peanut butter.  Not liking one or more of these foods will cause you great angst as a parent.
   It is all well and good to have a child who loves Thai food, sushi, pho and spicy chimichangas but none of these will help you in a pinch at the family barbeque.  Aunt Betty will be serving up corn on the cob, cheeseburgers and hot dogs along with potato salad, macaroni salad and fried pickles (okay, ideally she'll be serving up fried pickles, but more realistically it'll just be a jar of dills).  Let's just rule out the salads because they have gloppy mayonnaise and the ingredients are all slopped together (generally unappealing for the kids).  Kids who don't like cheeseburgers or hot dogs will need to survive on corn alone.  I've attempted this before with my patented all-popcorn diet and it's not really a great option.  Let me also add a disclaimer here.  If it's one or the other... it should be hot dogs.  Hot dogs are faster and easier in a pinch.  Plus you can buy them at a gas station when your child is claiming to be starving on the way to a play date.
     Pizza and birthday parties go together just as fruit punch and crazed children; which is convenient because all birthday parties have pizza and fruit punch (and crazy children).  So if your child doesn't like pizza, he or she will go home full of chips and cake instead.  Recently Joshua has decided that he doesn't like pizza... and then that he likes pizza... and then that he will only eat pizza without sauce... and then that he doesn't like any pizza... and then that he will eat pizza again.  When he is in a no-pizza mood, it really puts a damper on things. Not only does it make birthday parties awkward ("Sorry, do you have anything else, he doesn't like pizza.") it also removes the option for a quick and easy meal after grocery shopping.  WHAT is not to like about pizza?  It's bread, it's cheese and it's sauce?  To top it all off, now that Josh is back into pizza (thanks to a baseball game and a cool older brother who does like pizza), his favorite part is actually the crust. That's not inconvenient... it's just weird.


Making a pizza together for Valentine's Day 2011, back when Josh still liked pizza.

With a home-made pizza like this, what's not to love?

     Peanut butter.  This is a staple food for moms everywhere who just want to give their kids some protein for heavens sake!  It's portable and delicious.  And the possibilities with peanut butter are just endless.  You can have plain, PB & J, peanut butter and honey, peanut butter and Fluff (admit it, you've tried it), peanut butter and apple butter, peanut butter and bananas, peanut butter and apples, peanut butter and cucumbers, peanut butter and celery with raisins (gross), peanut butter and maple cream (yum!) as well as peanut butter and what-ever-your-mommy-feels-like-hiding-in-the-sandwich-today!  Just so many options... all mostly healthy.  If you have a kid who is really into peanut butter, you can even be sneaky enough to spread it on healthy wheat grain bread!  But if your kid doesn't like peanut butter, you will have a sore reality to face when you are packing your next picnic. Trust me, it's best if you can convince them to eat peanut butter... even if that means adding that Fluff to the sandwich.
      I hesitate to even explain the chicken nuggets... because chicken nuggets are a mainstay in our household.  If all else fails... there are chicken nuggets.  And if chicken nuggets fail... there are dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. Dino chicken nuggets are one of my kids' favorite things to play with.  It never gets old, listening to them talk about predator-prey relationships as they chomp off the heads of a T-Rex and a stegosaurus in quick succession.  If my kids didn't like chicken nuggets... well, that'd just be it. The McDonald's drive-through would be completely out (considering that the kids have a love-hate relationship with cheeseburgers which translates into loving them when we order and hating them when they unwrap the paper).  If they disliked chicken nuggets, it would just be devastating for long-distance travel. I don't think I'd approve of the kids eating tacos in the backseat. 
     Not that there is anything you can do... at all... to encourage your child to like hot dogs, peanut butter, pizza and chicken nuggets. It's really completely out of your control.  Actually, that's not true. The more you emphasize the need for them to try and to like one of these things... the more likely they will be to dig in their heels and declare a life-long distaste for life's most convenient foods.  If that happens, good luck.  I have a friend who carries around frozen burritos in her purse. That could be you.  Lord knows, I will probably need to carry a bag of chicken nuggets with me the next time we go to a birthday party.

Making A Home Presentable (When It Clearly Is Not)

     My sister once asked me how I got my house so clean.  When I stopped laughing, I explained to her that it's quite simple really.  I just visualize the most neat-freak guest that I will be expecting to show up at my house for the given event. And then it takes anywhere from 3 weeks to 5 minutes to get the job done.
     The 5 minutes are for family and very close friends.  It includes things like making sure I didn't take my clothes off in the bathroom and then leave them all lying on the floor.  The dirtier you've seen my house, the more you know I love you.  Either that or you really should call before just showing up at my door.
     The 3 weeks are for parties.  Big events that happen a few times a year.  We have been avoiding birthday party clean ups by contracting out our parties these past couple of years. But each summer we still insist upon having a summer BBQ.  There are many reasons for having a summer BBQ.  The first is that we enjoy seeing all of our friends and family and it's a good excuse to get everyone together.  The food is great too, especially since we started making a chili cook-off be the big event of the BBQ (next year, beware, Bill is reclaiming his title).  It's also a litmus test to see how popular we are; although it could just be Bill who is popular and not me...  At any rate, we do enjoy having a summer BBQ but it's a lot of work.  A lot a lot a lot of work.  Like, weeks worth of work.  Just in case you are clinically insane and wish to host a summer BBQ at your house, I have attached a schedule for cleaning while continuing to live in your house with children. This is an extremely precise schedule considering that any given moment grape juice could be spilled on the carpet, messy hands could be smeared on the walls and a soggy wad of oatmeal could be dripped onto the table and left there until it hardens into a rock-like substance (much like a coral reef).

3 Weeks Prior

• If you haven't done so already, start freaking out.  If you've already started to freak out, please continue.
• You can't really start any actual cleaning at this point.  Just try not to fall too far behind on the dishes, laundry or regular vacuuming.  Above all, don't expect any of the cleaning you do now to actually stick for the next three weeks.
• You could try to clean something that the kids have never heard of... like a closet.  You could also consider cleaning something obscure, like the curtains.
• Notice the crumbs an unidentified crud underneath the toaster oven. Freak out, but don't do anything yet.
• Remind your significant other of "The List" he wrote up on his own... he will soooo appreciate your frequent, gentle reminders.

2 Weeks Prior

• Still too early to really start cleaning... but you could perhaps tackle areas that can be quarantined off, like a guest bedroom.  Now is a good time to take care of outdoor spaces, like the garage. 
• Weed the gardens because even if little weeds spring up in the next two weeks, everyone will cut you a little bit of slack so it'll be okay.  Trim the hedges so they have time to regrow if you happen to "over-do" it a little bit.
• Next time you vacuum, vacuum in the little crevices and start to reach the corners.  Now is a great time to educate your children about cobwebs and dust bunnies.
• Clean hard to reach places (as in, places your kids won't be able to reach and muck up again) like the vent under the fridge and the floor under the stove broiler drawer.
• Take stock of stains on carpet. Freak out, but don't do anything yet.
• Clean the bugs out of any glass ceiling fans or light fixtures.  If you think of it, change the bulbs too.
• Check the mouse traps (JUST KIDDING... maybe?)!

Okay, this is when it really starts to get dicey.  You might even be getting over-confident, until you start adding up all of the remaining chores and factoring in the unknown.  Now you really must follow a precise schedule...

7 Days Prior

• Massive amounts of laundry. You can't get to the floors until the laundry is all done.
• Notice the smell in the bathroom. Freak out, but don't do anything yet.
• Sort through toys and put them away in the correct places (this is a much bigger job than you have time for).  Tell the children that they are not allowed to play with any of these toys for the next week.  That it would be better if instead of playing with toys, they just played with their shadows for a week.
• Shampoo the carpet or...

6 Days Prior

• Spot clean the carpet.
• Comment on how clean the carpet looks.
• Wash the walls. This might seem completely superfluous and ridiculous and frivolous but you would be SHOCKED at how much good a Mr. Clean Eraser (or competitive store brand) can do!  Clean off the shoe scuffs, the hand prints, the pencil marks and that funky sticky pink stuff that won't come off until you really scrub hard.
• Gently remind your significant other of all the things he must be getting done (without addressing everything that you have failed to complete on your own list).
• Visualize cleaning the bathroom.

5 Days Prior

• Get distracted by a menial task... like untangling string from your everything drawer, or changing batteries in all of your childrens' Zuzu pets.
• Notice that the carpet doesn't look as clean as it did yesterday. Notice the smell in the bathroom and the crud underneath the toaster oven. Freak out, but don't do anything yet.
• Dust surfaces and encourage the kids to "help out". 
• Glue together the figurines that the kids broke while helping you dust.  Hide the figurines that can't be fixed.
• Wash off cupboards in the kitchen.

4 Days Prior

• Do more laundry and put it away immediately (unlike what you normally do, which is to leave it in baskets around the house).
• Panic.  And then catch up on some TV shows you have on DVR.

3 Days Prior

• Window washing... yeah!  Have the kids help.  Expect half of your window washing fluid to be used on one pane.  Don't be tempted to wash glass surfaces that the kids will actually touch (like glass coffee tables you stupidly bought before having kids).
• Clean out the inside of the fridge and the microwave.  Good luck with that funky sticky pink stuff that won't come off until you really scrub.  What is that stuff anyway?
• Clean out the shower... just in case the shower curtain gets left open during the party (even though you always try to close it, why does it end up wide open?).
• Realize you will need to clean your shower curtain.
• Clean up after an inevitable huge mess that the kids just made: soggy cereal spilled under the table, cake batter sprayed all over the kitchen cupboards and counters, scraps of paper left over after making snowflakes, couch cushion obstacle course, etc...
• Clean up the family room and block it off completely.

2 Days Prior

• Freak out! Then get over-confident.
• Gently encourage your children to clean their rooms. This year was quite shocking... Liam actually said these words to me after about 20 minutes of cleaning, "Mom, I'm not done cleaning my room, I have a few more things I need to do."  On the other hand, you will likely have to sit there and telepathically visualize your child picking up each and every little toy left on the floor.
• Finally!  Clean up around the toilets and clean the bathtub toys.
• Prepare yourself for a major disaster such as: Dumped Legos on a plush carpet, muddy sneakers and/or a broken dishwasher handle rendering the dishwasher unusable for the foreseeable future (TRUE STORY)!

1 Day Prior

• Clean the bathroom mirrors, floors & counter tops
• Vacuum at the last possible second.
• Sweep the floors at the last possible second after that.
• Make the children sit in the car while you finish up preparing food, staging areas, etc...

Now if you are like me, you will continue preparing for your party long after the guests arrive.  You may stop for a beer or a hard lemonade, but for the most part you will be a blur, running back and forth between the kitchen and the outdoor food tables with serving spoons, shredded cheese and that corn bread you forgot to serve until it was too late.  At some point, after most of the guests have come and gone, you will get to sit down and enjoy what is left of your party until...

When the Party is Winding Down

• Save the food!  If you really want to do a dis-service, you will sit around lazily while all those tasty left-overs rot away on the food tables.  This will also provide fodder for the skunk family that lives nearby so instead of leaving it all out, put it away before it's too late.  I recommend Ziploc bags for easy and quick storage.  If you're smart you will wash the dishes.  If you're me you will ask a friend to wash the dishes.

The Next Day

• In order to avoid being thought of as "those neighbors",you probably should pick up all of the bottles left around your yard.  You should gather up any left over house guests and encourage them to help with clean up efforts while you have their attention.  It helps if you have leftover meat that you can grill up for them to eat an early lunch before they set out on their way.
• Vacuum again (it may be painful to vacuum twice in two days, but you really must do it anyway unless you want chocolate cupcakes permanently squished into your carpet.

     The aftermath of a good party is kind of like taking off a girdle after your wedding.  Just let it all loose.  No one's opinion matters anymore.  So even though everything in your house was thoroughly cleaned, it won't take long for that thick layer of dust and grime to reappear.  Those familiar stains will reappear on your freshly shampooed carpet, along with friendly new stains.  Plus, now all the toys will be completely mixed up and strewn around the house- back to normal, right?  Three weeks later, you'll finally get around to taking down the Tiki torches in the backyard, emptying out the kiddie pool and taking the cereal boxes out your bedroom and back onto the kitchen counter.  It's okay, the coast is clear; until you start thinking about how fun it would be to have a Halloween Party in October...  

Playing With Food

     I consider myself to be a creative individual which is why I chose my career so wisely.  Teaching keeps me on my toes and thinking creatively each and every day.  Over the summer there is an excess amount of creativity that comes out at odd times... like when I am making lunch on a given weekday after swim lessons or before our next playdate.  Here are a few of my creations which may or may not have come out well on a cell phone camera.

     This is a sea-inspired meal complete with an octopus (?) and fishies.  I made the octopus with a few too many legs but he's got a body made of mozzerella cheese and noodles for tentacles.  The orange fish are carrots with cut out tails and a small hole for an eye.  The opened sugar snap peas were clams (can't really see in the photo).

 Campfire with logs made from fries and fish sticks!  Okay, this might look like a stretch, but I used the fish sticks as logs and the fries as kindling.

     Made the light sabres for Liam and Josh's Star Wars birthday party.  I dipped the pretzels into colored chocolates and then poked holes in this box to hold the sticks upright.  For more Star Wars food ideas check out my June post, http://worstbestmom.blogspot.com/2012/06/star-wars-spoiler-alert.html for ideas that are easy (like Wookie Cookies- Samoas look amazingly perfect for the part) and not-so-easy (like R2Brie 2).

     I made these centerpieces for a baby shower.  In the interest of not paying $50 for an arrangement, I decided to make my own with some grapes, blueberries, kiwi fruit, orange slices, raspberries and cut out pieces of canteloup in the shapes of rubber duckies and flowers.  You could also use watermelon if it's in season and/or strawberries too! 

     This was a dinosaur-inspired meal with dino chickens (a favorite in the house) and a mashed potato volcano with tomato sauce lava.  I made the dinos stand up using extra bits of mashed potatoes. 

     This was a scary squid monster for a Halloween party.  It rested on a bed of spinach, I used spirals to make a homemade mac and cheese, olives for eyes and a Ritz cracker for its mouth.  Unfortunately they weren't eaten because my mac and cheese was homemade (and not from a box).  Lesson learned!

     Okay, here's my most recent masterpiece!  This is my most recent, garden fresh platter for lunch.  Liam wanted seconds... and then for thirds he made his own flower with cut up cherry tomatoes.  For my original version, we had basil and chives grass, cucumber stems and three flowers made with a combination of cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, dip and an egg.  I used mozzerella cheese for clouds and an egg for the sunshine.

     Not so bad for a teacher on summer vacation!  But my kids are perfectly happy to eat fish sticks, french fries, cheese, veggies, noodles and pretty much anything (except homemade macaroni and cheese).  So it does make me wonder, if this isn't necessary to make the kids eat.  Why do I?  there's something peaceful about just knowing that I can sometimes.  I know my food creations aren't too great on a grand scale, but sometimes it's nice to just fritter away some time just because you have an extra momentand also to teach your kids a lesson; that sometimes it is okay to play with your food.

Eat Your Fruit

     My sister and I just confessed something to each other.  It turns out that in our collective 11 years of motherhood, we have neglected to eat very much fruit. That is because we both have a tendency to hoard our fruit and give it to the kids.  As if we ourselves are undeserving of that beautiful plump red strawberry.  No, instead that one should go to the children and we should eat the mushy maroon one at the bottom of the crate.
     For years I wondered how my mom could possibly like burnt food and then it occurred to me.  First, that she is not a great cook.  Second, that she was sacrificing herself for the good of the children.  Now I am the one to eat burnt food (see Mom, I'm not that great of a cook myself) and I almost never eat my fair share of fruit.  It's as though all wholesome ingredients belong to the children.  I'm fearful of robbing them of antioxidants so I will save the blueberries for them.  I recall eating quite healthy while pregnant so apparently that is the exception to the rule; while you are sustaining another life, you may eat fruit. But the second that life becomes self-sustaining, it's your job to provide them with those vitamins and nutrients, even if it is at the cost of your own health.
     This is completely irrational.  My sister and I know this.  But still I find that I only eat the apple if it's eating the one Josh got bored of holding and gnawing on.  And when I do eat the apple, I eat every last piece of the flesh down to the seed casings, as if I'm starved for fruit.  Completely irrational.  Everyone knows that adults need antioxidants and vitamins.  How can we possibly provide for our children if our immune systems and energy are tapped?  How can we maintain a peaceful household if we are in poor health?  What sort of an example can I be if I'm saving all of the fruit for them and so they never see me eating any?
     I remember guilty pleasures such as buying a pint of blueberries at the coop and finishing them off myself in the car ride home. I remember fruit salads and smoothies.  I remember ordering oranges from Florida. 
     At the moment it seems that this deprivation is only in relation to fruit.  Maybe it's because fruit is a little harder to get and is more expensive.  But I seem to have no problem eating a heaping salad full of nutrients or mounds of nachos covered in lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.  And of course, there are foods that I am unwilling to share with the children out of my own selfishness.  I might've more than once given Josh or Liam the piece of sushi that was next to the wasabi... just so they wouldn't like it and I wouldn't have to share.  I also am secretly happy that they don't like green olives, guacamole, brie cheese, fresh mozzarella cheese and Ultimate Blue Cheese dressing. Actually, I don't know if they like the blue cheese dressing or not... but I'm not going to find out because I really don't want to share it.  They'll be content with ranch.
     I may wither up and die for lack of nutrition, it's true.  It's also true that I cannot remember to take a multi-vitamin.  Yesterday I bought Joshua (per his request) a pint of blackberries for $4 at the Farmer's Market.  Seriously, $4.  I bought lettuce, garlic, zucchini, yellow squash, a cucumber, two jalapenos and blackberries.  It came to $10 total.  So these blackberries were like gold (in the shape of berries) and they were somewhat devoured by the boys in the 1 mile drive back to the house.  The vast majority of the rest was gobbled up secretly in the family room downstairs while I cooked lunch.  When Josh came upstairs he was wearing approximately 50 cents of blackberry juice on his shirt.  I looked in the pint and there were about 10 berries left.  The squished ones at the bottom of the crate.  I put them in the fridge (just in case the boys wanted them later).  Apparently I was feeling as though I was not worthy of the leftover mushed up blackberries.  I remembered them in the morning.  I looked at the boys.  They were eating their daily carbs (cereal and english muffins).  I looked at the berries.  I didn't feel like eating carbs for breakfast.  I wanted those berries.  I guiltily began popping them into my mouth, one after the other.  And I only shared a couple.

The "Other" Anniversary

     Soon my husband and I will be celebrating our 11th anniversary.  And I will be sadly remembering that it's now been a year since our potty training efforts with Joshua have been derailed.  Where did I/we go wrong? 
     Joshua is only 3 1/2 so the first thing you might consider is maybe, just maybe, I'm over-reacting and he just needs some time.  Well first of all, is it you changing these poopy diapers?  No, it is not.  And second of all, I just can't get over the fact that one year ago he really was almost potty trained.  Really.  I don't think I'm exaggerating here.  He was well on his way.  I posted about what a perfect mom I was back in July of last year... http://worstbestmom.blogspot.com/2011/07/worst-best-mom-revisited.html.  As you can (or will) clearly see upon reading this post, I was able to potty train a 2 1/2 year old with very little kinks along the way.  Number 1 and #2 were no match for me! 
That is, they were no match for me until we went away to celebrate our 10th Anniversary and when we came back?  Potty training was over, done, caput, forgotten, resisted, out of the question.
    
What did I do wrong?

• We broke the routine by having the audacity to celebrate the anniversary with an extended weekend over-priced vacation close to home.
• I might've yelled once or twice.
• I probably used guilt trips about not being a baby anymore and about me not wanting to change stinky diapers.
• I begged him to use the potty.

What did I do right?

• I felt guilty for making him feel guilty so I gave him space... loads of space... months of space.
• We alternated stickers and no stickers depending on his moods.
• We explained the cost of diapers and how we could be spending our money on other things... like the water bill!  And car payments!  And to offset the rising costs of gasoline!
• We described the environmental impact of continued use of disposable diapers!
• We did scientific experiments investigating the gel-like properties of diaper insides (one of our experiments might have involved me letting him wear a regular non-swimmy diaper into a pool and having him come out 10 pounds heavier 30 minutes later).
• We taught him how to stand up (what fun!) and pee outside (yippee!).
• We demonstrated (and I was asked many times about how I pee without having a penis).

     As you can plainly see, it is both completely my fault and not also not at all my fault that Joshua has regressed and refuses to be potty trained.  This is not to say he has not made any progress.  A friend told me I should potty train while in Disney World.  Let me tell you, there is no place I would rather be than in a Magic Kingdom Potty (that's me being sarcastic).  I tried to potty train before Disney and I was able to pull off #1 potty training with an agreement to hold off on #2 until we all had the mental strength to carry on.  Months past and still no progress with the #2.  I tried to do more to push it all along, to add fiber to our potty training quest if I must put out a metaphor (is that too symbolic?).  We tried a sticker chart which would earn the family Mini-Golf!  We tried having him make funny faces while on the potty.  We tried giving him a book to read while on the potty.  We tried choking and crossing our eyes whenever he pooped in his Pull-Up (okay, that last one was more of a gag reflex, not a specific parenting strategy).  I even tried this when I was feeling very patient one day: "Hey Joshua, do you need to go poopy?  Do you want to go in your Pull-Up or in the potty?"  And I smiled sweetly when he replied, "Pull-Up" and crawled under the table to complete his masterpiece.  And when I was feeling particularly impatient one day I tried this: "Liam? Do any of your friends use Pull-Ups or diapers?  No?  I didn't think so.  Big boys use the potty!" Oh, I almost forgot about the lazy morning when I didn't feel like doing anything at all so instead of putting him in a Pull-Up after he went #1 in the morning, I just pulled up his pajama pants and sent him back to watch cartoons with nothing on at all.  That didn't end well at all.
     Perhaps this would have been easier on all of us if we hadn't been so close in the first place.  I just can't help but feel that I've been here before a year ago today and that really isn't anything at all to celebrate in today's progress-driven society.  And yet if incentives don't work, intrinsic motivation has yet to kick in, guilt seems to be a lost cause and the battle lines of potty training have been drawn in cement... where do we go next?  Do I buy the next box of Pull-Ups and try not to tell myself that it will be our last box?  Do I put him in underwear that will just be thrown out the next time he crawls under the table?  Do I take him to a potty training guru (my sister-in-law) or should I just let the cards fall where they may? 
     Well, to begin with I suppose I should celebrate something that does deserve celebrating... our 11th anniversary.  For at least one night, I'll get out of changing diapers.  But I can't help thinking that on our 12th anniversary I better not have to leave any diaper cream and wipes with our babysitter!

Camping Without a Paddle

     Whenever we go anywhere, I always make a list first.  It ranges from the mundane like: Underwear & socks to the specific like: Old brown towel.  This year just before our big friends camping trip, I skipped the list.  Thankfully we were camping close to home.

     True, we had everything you actually would need for a camping trip.  We had our tent, our canopy, portable Weber grill, camp chairs, my laptop, picnic basket full of dishes and silverware, a stroller, the camping stove and even our hammock.  Liam, Josh and I left while Bill was still at work. We arrived on a Wednesday, dropped our stuff off and then went to the grocery store to meet up with Bill.  But before we left, I sent him a few texts with things I had already noticed that we had forgotten:

Tarps!                                                                                                                           
Sent July 18^th, 4:26 PM

Black garbage can and a water jug (on “bag” shelf [that’s the shelf we keep the used plastic grocery bags on] in kitchen)                                                                                    
Sent July 18^th, 4:32 PM

And a newspaper for making fire                                                                           
Sent July 18^th, 5:04 PM

       We found Bill waiting at the grocery store with his truck full of camping gear including a tarp, a garbage can, the water jug and (1) newspaper.  My friend had a typed list of groceries which she checked off as she went.  We, on the other hand, did what we normally do which is to wander aimlessly up and down each aisle until something caught our eye.  This time, I also occasionally looked into my friend’s cart and then backtracked to buy the same thing.  We left the store with most of what would have been on a shopping list, although we did forget sugar and toilet paper.

     Back at the sight, we ate our first official camping dinner: Subway.  Then Bill had to head back home so he could go to work the next day.  We were sad to see him go (mostly me because I’m afraid of rabid animals in the middle of the night and because I apparently do not have the “magic touch” when it comes to turning on a camping stove and also I have forgotten how to make a decent campfire). But Bill’s leaving turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we knew he would be back the next evening.

Boys are behaving.  List for tomorrow: more pillows, Josh’s chipmunk, toilet paper, Liam’s bike, video cam?, waffles, maple syrup (small), my toothbrush!  More d and aa batteries, letterboxing* book (in a clear bag on top of baby boxes to the left of the tv)                      
Sent July 18^th, 9:58 PM

And the new potato corer with the green handle.                                            
Sent July 19^th, 7:02 AM

And paddles! LOL                                                                                                      
Sent July 19^th, 9:10 AM

     I have a question to ask.  What is the good of a new canoe, life jackets and even a wet proof box if you don’t have any paddles to paddle your canoe!  See?  This is why it was such a good thing that Bill was coming back the next day and also why you should never feel stupid when you make a packing list which includes such obvious additions as "canoe & paddles". 

Hey we are fine. Went on a hike. Going swimming.  I didn’t get wood. Can you pick some up on your way in?                                                                                                               
Sent July 19^th, 2:39 PM

Tomatoes from garden!                                                                                           
Sent July 19^th, 4:47 PM

     So apparently woodsy rodents like tomatoes.  I never knew this until we returned to our campsite after going swimming, just before dinner.  When we got back Liam said, “Why is there a dog in our campsite?” and then by the time I looked the animal was gone.  It left half of an heirloom tomato though, which begs the question, ‘what dog eats a tomato?’  Or perhaps more likely, ‘what woodsy animal looks like a dog and is the same size as a dog who also appreciates a fine variety of tomatoes?’ **

     Bill came back Thursday night only to leave us again. This time we had wood but I wasn’t too sure of my fire making skills (despite years of camp experiences making log cabin or tee pee fires).  We went on another hike although we didn’t try canoeing on our own (even though we had the paddles).  Of course, it wasn’t long before I thought of some more items for Bill to add to his list…

Small bag for josh, tomatoes, tiki torches? And the butter in the blue Tupperware on the top shelf of fridge.  And all of your stuff!  Probably more beer for you.                        
Sent July 20^th, 8:01 AM

     This was my last text before Bill came to camp for good.  I was happy that he also remembered to bring a new latch for our cooler, more ice, another cucumber from the garden, Rum Swizzle for me (yum) and some extra diapers for Joshua.  Camping is terrific, especially when you know there’s someone at home you can depend on.  Someone who knows which toothbrush is yours and what type of drinks you might enjoy while camping.  I think camping close to home might be the right idea afterall… especially considering that we might not be able to fit everything from our site into our two cars on the way home so taking third trip home & back with one of the cars isn’t entirely out of the question.

*Letterboxing- for more info check out www.letterboxing.org
**Liam's full report about the tomato-eating-"dog" was that the "dog" had a tail and was yellow.  Since I've never heard of a dog who eats tomatoes, I am assuming it's another animal.  We went to the campsite's nature center on the way home (yes, we did actually fit everything into two cars... well, a car and a truck). At the nature center there were hides of a variety of animals so by process of elimination, I'm thinking our tomato-eating-"dog" was probably a fox!

The Invisible Stitch

     Joshua's has anew stuffed animal.  It is a giraffe and it's a dog toy.  We had to get Joshua this giraffe because he is extremely head strong... and he has a very big head.  See, when we were picking up his Daddy's Father's Day gift at a local plaza, we passed the window of a pricey toy store (the kind of toy store that doesn't print coupons).  Well in that window was a very big stuffed giraffe made by the Melissa and Doug company.  I can afford their puzzles, and probably even a puppet, but I think the $150 price tag (just an estimate) is a bit too much to spend just now.  Except that Joshua fell in love with the giraffe and insisted that he was going to get a big stuffed giraffe.  Finally I talked him down off of the ledge and convinced him that he should look for a small stuffed giraffe... and that we could probably find one next time we went to Target.  Weeks passed and Joshua wouldn't give up on getting his new small stuffed giraffe.  "When will we get my new stuffed giraffe?" He kept asking.  "Will we get my new giraffe at Target tomorrow?"
     We found ourselves at the store after being asked each day for nearly a month.  Almost immediately I found a stuffed giraffe... in the pet section.  Each foot made its own silly noise.  I made the mistake of pointing it out to Joshua before taking him to look for more giraffes.  His face lit up, he grabbed it out of my hand and hugged it to him, refusing to let go.  This is when I weakly suggested that we look for other giraffes in Target... but Joshua wouldn't have it.  He claimed it as his own.  Within 5 minutes, he even took off the tag to claim it as his own (before Mommy and Daddy paid for it).
     We took the giraffe home- well, first he went to Home Depot, then he swung on the swing in the backyard and finally he was taken into the house.  The giraffe fit right into the family, under Joshua's arm.  It helped us to hear where Joshua was too, because of all the squeaking and the rattling.  It didn't take long though to learn the irony of buying a stuffed giraffe from the pet section of the store.  This stuffed giraffe was very poorly constructed. Its back and one of its hooves were already coming uns-titched.  Who would think that a dog toy wouldn't be able to keep up with a three year old boy for a day?
     I know how to sew by hand...kind of.  Unfortunately I was pretty sure if I tried to sew up Joshua's new BFF by hand, it would look more like a Frankenstein-Giraffe.  I didn't think he'd appreciate that.  So I asked Joshua's crafty child care provider for some advice.  Now this is a lady who sews just about everything. Once I gave her fabric and she sewed me a purse (which I gave to my mom).  She is currently sewing a quilted lap top cover.  When I asked her advice about the giraffe, she offered to fix it for me right on the spot.  But I had a teeny bit of pride and said I wanted to try to fix it myself (something I'd never have time to do if this unfortunate event had happened in, say, February).  But it was summer, and I really wanted to prove I could do it.  She suggested an invisible stitch.  I had never heard of an invisible stitch.  She offered again to get it fixed right there on the spot (A pun! Get it?).  I said I wanted to try it, but how do you do an invisible stitch?  She said she learned when she was 10 (which made me feel awesome) and she described it to me.  I nodded attentively but I wasn't sure there was much hope.
     I have learned how to sew many times. My mom taught me, my friend taught me and I took home economics at least once.  As I mentioned, the only thing I retained was how to hand stitch... and my hand stitch looks more like Frankenstein's stitched forehead.  I turned to You Tube so I could visualize a stitch that was invisible.  I found a few helpful videos (see one below, about sewing a stuffed animal):

Sewing Soft Toys Closed Using a Ladder Stitch

      Now I was ready to fix Joshua's stuffed giraffe... except he wouldn't part with it at nap time or bed time so I had to wait until he was awake.
     It's awfully hard to sew a giraffe while it's owner is trying to grab it out of your hands to give it a hug.  But I managed... I even learned from the videos that tying knots in the end of your string is not a good method and that the knots often come out of the fabric.  So I tried cross-stitching instead.  In the end, I even reinforced some of the stitching that looked like it might come loose in the near future (because Joshua carries it around by its neck).  Now you can't even tell the little guy had any work done.
     Okay, so it was a cheapo giraffe doggy toy, but Joshua loves it and I'm awfully proud of myself for learning about the invisible stitch... again.  Only this time, maybe I'll remember how to do it for a good long time.