Grateful Thursday, Volume 2

 

Jack, and Ben, and I spent 3 months watching Big Brother 3 nights a WEEK. Occasionally, Harry joined us, too, but he is not home most nights. (And honestly? I think this is good because he is MOVING AWAY in August to go to school, and I NEED TO GET USED TO IT)..

I loved spending time with Jack (and Harry!) in the evening, and I love having an excuse to watch that dumb show (I LOVE IT).

We celebrated the end of an XL season (100 days in the house!!) with an XL sushi order and 2 bags of Reese’s PB trees. #sorrynotsorry.

I am so overcome with gratitude for this season of life. An adorable preschooler

A tween who still wants to hang out with me

Sporty Spice

And 2 sweet, wonderful teens

Oh! Yes! Speaking of bragging about my teens!

Jack and I had this experience the other week:

And!! LAST NIGHT!! Harrison was finally inducted 

into National Honor Society (the school auditorium (and most of the rest of the place) has been under construction for a YEAR).

We are so proud of him.

Oh! One more thing I am SO GRATEFUL FOR! My online class for next semester that I have been working SO HARD on all semester? Filled up within hours of enrollment opening. So I added 10 seats. AND THOSE FILLED! So I added 5 more. AND THOSE FILLED, too!!! I am so so so happy that something I think sounds amazing also appeals to students. And soooo relieved. I was worried enrollment would begin and **crickets.**

Cheers to another week of chaos and delight, friends!

Random Word Wednesday: SIGNATURE

 If I had a signature parenting move, I think it would be hypocrisy. 

Case in point: I am forever nagging at Ben to make dinner for the kids when I am at work late and telling him it is crap to take Coop out for fast food on his sportsball driving nights when I always pack a car dinner. Last week, Ben started his new job with an out-of-town overnight, and what did I do?

McDonalds for lunch after Coop’s ortho appointment

Minnie has never had McDonalds before, and she was DELIGHTED to discover that it is a place that gives you TOYS with your FOOD. Also! The toy was a little pair of Disney/Marvel/Pixar guys, and she got Darth Vader and Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon, a movie she had previously never seen but absolutely watched as soon  as we got home while I got ALL OF THE DOMESTIC AND WORK things done.

But wait! My garbage food choices and easy parenting wins did not end there! After dance but before the hockey pick up, I also went to Dunkin for donuts and cocoa to entertain the girls while Coop was on the ice.

Minnie even KEPT PLAYING with her Happy Meal guys, and she learned how to retrieve things that fall under the hockey bleachers “ALL BY MY-HELF”

I hope she NEVER stops saying “H” for “S” at the beginning of the word. 

She was trying to tell Cooper and me about her classroom job on the way to school the other day, and we thought she was saying she was a miniature artist, so we asked what that job entailed. She said “OH YOU KNOW. YOU JUST LOOK OUT THE WINDOW AND CHECK ON THE HUN.” She was saying meteorologist, and her job was to observe outside conditions and give a report to the class and OMG. I almost died from the adorable mess of the whole thing, explanation and all.

Anyway: Big hypocrite over here— that’s my signature parenting move.

Tuesday Randomosity

 Have you ever met a person in real life who ACTUALLY SLEEPS LIKE THIS? She is too much.

Also!! She still actually sleeps in a Halo Sleep Sack, only it is the biggest size they make and she definitely cannot straighten her legs anymore, and yet! She wants to wear it every night. **yikes face** That’s one of the baby quilts my grandma made, BTW,

Oh, Dorothy. She is tiny and adorable on the outside, but her sense of humor on the inside? SHE IS HILARIOUS in a very inappropriate way thanks to her unfettered TV access and her love of adult cartoons. The most delightful contradiction.

Minnie’s class is doing a pizza unit, and this is her personal pie. Not enough cheese, but otherwise, I am in. OF COURSE THOUGH I feel the need to make pizza dough in the bread machine and let her make a pizza for realz. Ben HATES MYO pizza night because it’s a big mess and the pizza is always just OK, but I hope he’s excited to give it another shot (BEING MARRIED TO ME IS A DREAM).

Dorothy is excited that I am back on dance chauffeur duty because her ballet bun is back to being PERF. **smug smile**

THESE JAMMIES YOU GUYS. Ben’s mom bought them for Harry and jack one million years ago, and here they are on my little living stuffie.

Case of the Mondays

 Minnie starts 5-day preschool today, and she has a different crop of kids in her Monday/Tuesday class than the ones she already knows in her Wednesday-Friday class. She is really nervous because she says talking to new kids is hard. I feel bad for her because I completely understand how this feels. I am pretty confident she is going to have a great time, but I worry.

I still do not have new computer at work. My old computer works again but the mouse is broken, so I have to plug in a USB mouse. Only my computer only has fancy new USB ports, and people who use wired mouses DO NOT use fancy USB ports, so I also have to plug in an adapter thing, too, and the whole situation is not very portable, which is ironic since it’s a LAPTOP COMPUTER. (I could not make my wireless mouse from my office work with it because I needed to MOUSE OVER TO THE SETTINGS to set it up. I guess I could use my plug in mouse to set up the wireless one, but WHATEVER.) (It took me SO LONG to write a letter of rec and put it on letterhead last week between the mouse situation and files on my iPad as a stop gap and GAH).

Ben had one 12+ hour day and an overnight last week to shock us into a new reality, and this week he begins his soon-to-be-regular corporate gig and commute. In some ways, I am glad he is starting because I think the time between getting the job and starting the job made me really anxious. I have scheduled some fun stuff with friends this week to look forward to, and I am just sort of crossing my fingers.

Dorothy is grumpy about dance because even though she made a ton of teams (and the themes/costumes/routines are SO CUTE you guys), she does not always have the best placement onstage, and also she does not have a special (a solo/duo/trio), and she really wanted one. I keep reminding her that dance competitions are so fun and will be even more fun with so many dances, that she gets to spend every afternoon with her favorite friends, that she looooves her studio, etc. But still— it is hard to be a tween girl, you know?

The kids’ pediatrician (fresh off her annual AAP conference, obvs) recommended THIS puberty book, speaking of tweendom, and it’s really excellent. It kind of reminds me of bell hooks’ Feminism Is for Everybody in that it is the perfect, slim volume to hand to someone who is like oh what is puberty?

I have just started leaving a bunch of Play Doh on the table (and also leaving pads on the table), and Minnie just sort of climbs up and digs in whenever the mood strikes her. I love this for all of us:

It’s the calves squished into the Hunters for me. (My Hunters are also super tight in the calves, but it is less cute on me)

This! Is a HYPERCOLOR shirt!!! Remember those? They change color when they get warm? (This one goes from blue to pink.) I am glad I have personal policy to never rep kid teams on my on body because I definitely would have bought one for nostalgia’s sake (it is a dance team shirt). (Also, can you imagine wearing a shirt that changes color when you sweat or get warm as a person with HOT FLASHES? Mortifying. Like, I would just be standing there in my blue shirt living my life and suddenly BAM! My hair is sopping wet and my shirt is pink).

OMG I LOVE HER SO MUCH.

Crowd-sourcing: STARBUCKS HACKS

 I was inspired by Jenny's chai tea hack in her November coffee date post to ask you all for your favorite Starbucks order customizations, tips, and tricks.

I love Starbcuks, and I have decided to just collect my points like the basic b I am even though Madison is full of brilliant local coffee shops with excellent coffee. And to be clear-- when I just want a cup of coffee, I DO go to a local place because I think Starbucks drip coffee is awful. But I WILL use my points for an Americano or a Cafe Misto in a pinch.

Even though I am a huge fan of fancy coffee (since the very first Barnes and Noble opened in Peoria, and my dad ordered us both EXpresso LOL LOL LOL), I don't like to make a huge calorie investment in my beverages as a general rule, so I am always looking for ways to make my coffee order more, um, macro friendly (in the healthiest body-image way possible, of course).

My favorite PSL is actually an Americano with a slash of oat milk and 2 pumps of pumpkin sauce and cinnamon (so delicious with none of the cough syrup aftertaste).

I usually choose nonfat milk in any drink that has steamed milk, and I ask for the milk extra hot. I generally use fewer pumps of syrup than come standard (1 pump is usually PLENTY) or I use the sugar-free versions (but they're kind of yucky). And! I generally get tall drunks, adding an extra shot of espresso if I need to, because I would rather be more indulgent in a smaller quantity than drink a big-gulp of fake sugar.

What about you? What's your usual Starbucks order, and do you have any Starbucks life hacks to share?

Pic of the Week

 Ok— more like 2 pics and a video.

First of all, this one:

We all woke up with norovirus on Monday, and it was gruesome. Ben had to write down all of our meds because it was a lot. (Also, Jack was FINE and went to school, the lucky duck). And! I was convinced we were all dying of carbon monoxide poisoning despite our fevers and made Ben drag himself to Menard’s for 2 brand new CO detectors (and I ordered 6 new smoke detectors on Amazon. You should be married to me. IT IS A DREAM COME TRUE).

Our family photos this year are so adorable that I must share one even though I usually wait until my holiday cards are out before I share them.** 

IS IT ANY WONDER WE ALL GET SICK AT THE SAME TIME?

(Ben and I had beers. The kids had ice cream. IT WAS THE BEST).

And this video! CRACKS ME RIGHT UP EVERY TIME:

** Hi, blog friends. Can we be holiday card friends, too? Email me if this sounds fun to you xoxo

5 on. Friday: Delicious Things

 1. Copycat Costco chicken bacon bakes. DO NOT READ THE CALORIE COUNT ON THESE (or, do, and then eat a quarter of one, like I did **whomp whomp**)

2. Spiced pumpkin cake with lemon glaze— really good for breakfast.

3. Kopps. Next time you are in the Milwaukee area, you gotta eat here. My fam loves the burgers, but I am partial to the grilled cheese.

4. Betty Crocker lemon squares from a box. Dorothy and her friend made them, and everyone was a fan.

5.  The good old classic cinnamon dolce latte. It’s holiday cup season, betches!