The Great Fish Question

One of my sons turned 5 a couple of weeks ago, and we (read that I) had the great idea that we should get him a fish. Now we didn’t really have fish when we were little, more a dog or cat family, but since we don’t have room for a dog and Christian is allergic to cats, I thought we’d just get him a fish tank, throw some fish in it and he’d have a great time feeding and observing his fish. Doesn’t he look excited?!

So we got him a fish tank and 4 fish and 2 snails. Grandma K sent glow-in-the dark plants for the tank and everything! All the boys were obsessed! I even caught Anthony watching the fish swim around throughout the first couple of days. So exciting!
WELL, then the first fish died. But that was ok - there were 3 more and it probably just couldn’t make the trip from the fish store. That’s what the boys assured me. Then fish number 2 was found floating on the top of the tank. That was sad. I wondered if we should have a funeral or something. But the boys bounced back pretty well. There were still 2 fish to watch and 2 snails.
Then fish number 3 fell ill. Very ill. Turning black actually. We searched and searched the internet for an idea why our fish would turn black. - I’m pretty sure it was not just ‘turning colors’ like some people suggested. The boys watched ominously for days while the fish slowly turned more and more black. I tried to take a picture but apparently its very difficult to get a good picture of a moving fish through a fish tank. Anyway, so we changed the tank various time and used the water neutralizer that is suggested for tap water and it didn’t seem to make any difference. It was very sad. Then one of the snails died. Now things are getting a little alarming. Finally last Saturday, after much swimming around upside down and vertically, the fish died. It was traumatic! It’s like a car wreck or something - you don’t want to look but you can’t take your eyes off of it. I suppose we should have just flushed the fish much earlier but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it and Anthony was at work all day.
So now we’re down to one goldfish, who is now starting to look sick, and one snail. Oh, and the light burnt out now too. Sigh. This is NOT what I envisioned. I guess I didn’t realize how much work it would be! Or how difficult. The boys keep asking if we can buy some more fish now but I can’t go through more deaths! I don’t know… The things we go through for our children!

Holiday Fun

My friend Ashley invited Emmanuel and Christian over to do some Christmas crafts the other day with her son Jonathan. I thought it sounded like fun and they were excited. In the end she and I ended up doing most of the crafting while the boys ran around, made noise, fought and did other fun little boy things that drive their mothers crazy. Here are the crafts we made.
You can see they haven't quite figured out how to count backwards
You can see that Emmanuel covered his place mat with pictures in rows. He filled in the bottom and then left little globs of glue in rows across the top so I had to find something to fill in there. Ashley was super patient with Christian, holding the stencil for him to color in each letter of his very loooong name. And of course we (ie. me) had to make one for Wyatt!
Here’s a picture of a super cute napkin holder that Emmanuel made in school for Thanksgiving. Such a good idea!! We’re still using it. And here are super good Gingersnap cookies that I made for the boys’ teachers. Anthony brought this recipe from work and they are to die for! I’ll have to ask if I can post the recipe. The best part - no butter or milk!! I love the holiday’s!!

Holiday Parades Are Fun

So today we took part in our towns yearly Holiday Parade. Our church has a float and last year we were ‘invited’ (read strongly encouraged) to participate in it. A member of the even church bought our family sweatshirts so I took the boys as Anthony had to work. I knew nothing about this parade and found myself depositing the boys on the float to ring bells and walking the probably 2 miles in the cold, handing out candycanes. Great fun. You would think that this experience would have helped me to be more prepared this year. Never so. On the up side, Anthony got the morning off and was persuaded to accompany us. On the downside, it was probably 30 degrees (if that!) and even colder with the windchill. Needless to say - it was FREEZING. Of course, being the wonderful mother that I am, I completely forgot to have the boys put on multiple pairs of socks and was just rushing them to get their shoes on and get out the door. We did bundle Jens up in a snowsuit and a super fabulous carseat cover (thank you, Sara!) but after 40 minutes of standing out by the float even he was looking cold. The boys were frozen before our line even started moving. Here is a picture of the three of them and Emmanuel’s friend. Do you think Wyatt looks happy to be there? ;)

Do you recognize Christian's scarf, Sarah?

So at the last minute a couple of church members decided that Jens did in fact look cold and deposited him in the back of the truck that pulled the float. As there were two older gentlemen riding in the truck it was decided that I should ride along - just to make sure there were no accidents as two men tried to console a crying 4 month old while pulling a trailer full of children down the very packed streets. I felt guilty sitting in the warmth of the truck while my children rode out in the cold and my husband walked along handing out candycanes (which he swore he wouldn’t do) but as my feet began to thaw and therefore hurt, I became more and more concerned about the state of my childrens feet. Throughout the parade I had visions of small toes turning purple with frostbite and wondering how cold your toes could get before they doctors tell you ‘they must be removed’! The news story would have great - Mother rides in warm truck while children lose their toes to frostbite. When we finally returned to the fairgrounds and Anthony ran for the car, a church member was kind enough to take off Christian’s shoes and start rubbing his feet - they were ice!
Of course, we all returned home in one piece, ten toes on each child’s feet, and though little faces are beginning to show the effects of the cold wind, all were happy after being loaded up on burgers and fries. Ahh yes, good times in small town America.

Pumpkin Doughnuts

So we decided to take a page out of my sister and brother-in-law’s book and make some pumpkin doughnuts with a couple of the 12 pumpkins that are on our patio. Anthony found a recipe on this cool blog http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/ that we used. They turned out pretty good, although Anthony felt that we should have used twice the pumpkin that the recipe calls for. Here are some pictures. They don’t look quite as picturesque as Sarah pictures but then the doughnuts didn’t look quite as perfect either.

By the end

Baby Stuff

So I decided the other day that our newborn needs a play mat for the floor. He is starting to engage more with toys and kick his feet and wave his arms around and like every proud parent I decided that he needed something fabulous to entertain him. After we had our 3rd son we moved 3 times and I got rid of every baby thing we owned. I mean, everything. The car seat, the stroller, the exersaucer, the clothes, everything. But thats ok! This is our last baby and this one will get new! Riigghhhtt. Has anyone paid any attention to how out of control the baby industry has gotten??!! It’s insane! I have 2 wonderful gift cards for Babies R Us so I went on their website to pick out my fabulous play mat. They are $70!! WHO pays $70 for a small mat with cheap toys that your infant will play with for 10 minutes a day for maybe 3 months??!! I guess they can sucker in all of those first-time parents out there who are willing and able to shower their child with all the best. But anyone who’s done it before should know better. $70!! I just can’t get over it. We should revolt or something. Start making affordable childrens toys again. I know that my son will be happier gazing at my face or that of his father or brothers than staring at dangling horses or stars so I guess I’m going to pass on the $70 mat.
But then again, I do have a lot to get done… maybe someone will lend me one…

Cloth Diapers

So I’ve decided I would really like to try cloth diapers. My sister has been doing it for 2 years now and I have to admit that when she started it I thought she was nuts. It sounded dirty and smelly and just all around yucky. A little too much ‘tree huggy’ for me! Yes, I’m ashamed to admit that was my attitude. Now that I have another little one of my own I am remembering how much garbage you have when you use regular diapers! I am feeling really bad about all of the diapers we will go through over the next couple of years. SO, I’ve begun to search for cloth diapers that I can afford. Here’s my big question - WHY can’t you find shops that sell cloth diapers?? Why do you have to buy them online?? I would like to look through all of the different kinds and pick the ones I want. It’s strange to me that Babies r us doesn’t carry a full line of them. They’re becoming so much more trendy these days. It’s so confusing and frustrating to try to sort through what you should order. Or maybe its just me. I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and pick some out online if I want to try it.
Anyway, back to my chips instead of ice cream.

Wow

So this blog thing is really hard. I mean, HOW do people find the time to do it? I honestly can’t find the time in the day. Everytime I would even think about sitting down to write a post, there’s a little boy that needs a drink or a baby that needs to eat or another little boy coloring on the walls or something. I honestly don’t see how mothers do it.
So I’m sitting on the couch eating chips because I have been cut off from my ice cream fixation. It’s so sad. Our 9 week old baby is apparently having a reaction to any dairy I’ve been eating, which would account for the high-pitched screaming he’s been using to make us deaf. So now I am off of dairy for a couple of weeks to see how he does. Of course, he’s been a total angel now so it looks like I might have to be off of dairy for a year. I really don’t know if I can do it. It might kill me. I LOVE ice cream. I look forward to eating it in the evening after all the boys are in bed. I LOVE butter, on bread, vegetables and pretty much anything else. I LOVE all of my husbands desserts which he so kindly brings home for me on occasion. I mean, a year is a long time!
I guess I should be grateful the doctor even considered a food allergy as the problem. We went forever with our third son before a doctor decided to check him for food allergies. He’s allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts. Oh, and now cats. So we’ve been doing the milk-free diet for a couple of years not. But I didn’t have to do it! I just had to keep him away. It is really amazing how his excema and coughing cleared up when we took him off of the eggs and milk. We didn’t have to use any creams or medications or anything.
Well, back to Burn Notice and my nightly chips before the baby wakes up.

Married to a chef

The number one question I get asked EVERY time that someone finds out that my husband is a chef is ‘ohhh, does he cook great food at home’? To get the answer out there right away, NO he doesn’t. I mean, not that he can’t. He’s a fabulous chef who gets written about in magazines and newspapers all the time. He serves excellent cuisine almost every night of the week. But no, he almost never cooks at home. I suppose most people probably think it’s strange when I laugh and say no, I cook at home. I mean, what’s the point of your husband attending a very expensive culinary school if you don’t at least get to eat his food every night, right?! But I guess people don’t realize that 1. It’s very expensive to eat at home what he creates for people in the restaurant, and 2. He would have to be HOME to make that food. A chef is gone at least 5-6 nights a week. His work involves almost all evenings and late nights and if he runs the restaurant as well as cooks, most of the days too. Now that our sons have started school, he drops them off at 9am and then goes straight to work and doesn’t come home until 10 or 11 at night. Sigh. It’s just not as glamorous as it sounds.
On the other hand, he brings home the most wonderful flourless chocolate tart sometimes and when we have people over, I know they’re going to get a great meal - and I don’t have to cook it! He even cleans everything up after himself. Ahhh. Life is good.

Why

A question I ask myself at least every day it seems like. WHY did you dump out every bucket of toys in your room? WHY did you have to pick that bee up and WHY are you surprised that it stung you? WHY do we now have a pile of rocks in the living room? Which leads us to WHY I’ve decided to become like the millions of other women out there and start a blog about… well, I guess about our life. I’m quite sure it’s not going to be that exciting and I’m not positive anyone is even going to want to read it, but at least it will get my mom off my back and give me something to do in the long evenings ahead while I’m waiting for the baby to wake up ANY minute and boys to finally go to sleep.