My obedient boy!

Last week we were excited to find this desk for $20 at Savers. Sam spends 90% of his life drawing these days and we thought it would be fun for him to have this a space in his room that he could keep his art supplies and not be bugged by little brother. We painted over the ugly brown finish and were really pleased with the result. I had been kicking around the idea of finding a treasure map replica and modpodging it to the top of the desk to indulge the pirate theme Sam seems to want these days. The morning after we set it up, Sam was pestering me as I was working. In desperation I suggested that he "color on his new desk"

Bless his heart, that's exactly what he did....

spongebob and patrick and his name (sort of)!

A pirate and mickey mouse

This is me as Snow White for Halloween (I wish my eyelashes were that long!)

He was so proud when he told me to "come look at his new desk" and then was crushed when I couldn't repress my initial gasp of horror. He is very pleased with it and I know we can eventually paint it over, but in the meantime, I have learned a valuable lesson in literal 4-year olds.

In other news, I think I am the only person in the house that is excited about fall rainstorm coming this weekend. Rainy conference weekends are the best.

My point is proven

The boys with the Grandparents Wren and their new coon skin caps

The boys and I were driving along in the car today listening to a Disney CD when the theme song from Davy Crockett came on. Having had a sister (yes, I said sister) who was very much into Davy Crockett in our younger years, I know that the gear required is only a coonskin cap and rifle. The imagination part is up to you. I reflected that it was kind of a shame many basic toys these days will talk and move and generally require little imagination. Not like the good old Davy Crockett/wooden blocks/barbies that don't sing days! It was at that moment that Sam asked "Mom, does Davy Crockett's gun transform into anything?"

Then I got my chops busted by him for laughing.

Do you like curry? Do you trust me?

I have sung the praises of this recipe for awhile now and no one yet has taken me up no the challenge to make it and then become addicted to it. I have recently discovered the wonderful world of Curry and this meal is one I want to eat at least once a week for the rest of my life. It's the only thing I cook, besides chicken nuggets, that my boys will actually eat more than one bite of. Your life will be better, your marriage will be better, and your children will be more adorable if you incorporate this simple dish into your meal plan. Go on! try it! And then come back and tell me what you think. Anyone? Anyone?

CURRIED COCONUT CHICKEN

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 teaspoon salt and pepper, or to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk (I use light and we don't notice the difference)
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed, diced tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
3 tablespoons sugar


DIRECTIONS
Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
Heat oil and curry powder in a large skillet over medium-high heat for two minutes. Stir in onions and garlic, and cook 1 minute more. Add chicken, tossing lightly to coat with curry oil. Reduce heat to medium, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in center and juices run clear.
Pour coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and sugar into the pan, and stir to combine. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

**If you have a range on your outdoor grill, then use it because the smell does linger a bit. But it's still worth it even if you don't!

Time to come clean

My children's penchant for going into my closet and harvesting all the coins that fall from our pockets reminded me of a story.

Back in middle school, our classes started later than the high school that my two oldest sisters attended. One day, in the lull between them going and me, I was desperate for 50 cents to spend at lunch. I was reduced to going to the only place in the house where I knew money would be left lying around. My sisters room. I crept in and glanced around. The bright purple carpet made spotting random quarters and dimes easy and in no time, I had a generous handful and convinced myself that they would never notice since they were just leaving it on the floor. By the time I reached the door however, my concience got the better of me and I thought I needed to work for my "payment." I spent the next five minutes picking up clothes and making their beds, and left feeling vindicated for my theft.

After school that afternoon, I found out that Dad had noticed the clean room and praised them and gave them money as a reward. They asked me if I had been the cleaning elf and when I confessed to that (but not the theft) they took me to pizza hut for lunch to say thanks.

So, here you go Jen and Bek; I'm sorry I stole 50 cents from you (probably more than once, actually) and then took the credit for being a nice kid. Although to be fair, I think you took the credit when dad was impressed that your room was so clean And you each got $5 out of the deal, so you profited $4.75 each. But, if you want, I am willing to come clean your rooms again as penance (I don't take money off the floor anymore). And thanks for the pizza!

Dear Aunt Kate and Uncle Matt

Today at library time, the subject was A for Australia. I reminded Samuel that Uncle Matt's house is in Australia and I wanted to share the picture he colored with you. I was going to mail it to you, but he really wants to hang it on his art board. He very reluctantly let it out of his hands to let me scan it. I have added the numbers for translation purposes.

#1 - The green circles are trees and the brown are pinecones. The pinecones are being thrown at the trees. The green swoop is the slide at the park and the the brown U is a swing.

#2 - A Koala Bear

#3 - Our house. The brown circles in the middle are the rocks at our house and the lines are our steps.

#4 - A monkey from the zoo.

#5 - Uncle Matt's house

#6 - A Spider with 8 legs

#7 - I just liked that he wanted to use the big A to sign his name and then forgot and wrote it again. SAAM!

As I wrote this, I told Sam we were making a letter for you and asked if he wanted to say anything for me to write down. This is how the conversation went (and keep in mind, that he was spelling out these random letters, not trying to type on the keyboard):

Me: Samuel, do you want to say anything to Kate and Matt?

S: um, say QRSTUV

Me: Are you sure?

S: Also say 6 and 4 and 3.

Me: No, Sam, you're supposed to say things like I love you, and I miss you.

S: Ok, what about QSTUV?
Me: You already said that. Are you sure that's all you want to say?
S: SRQGUV7G. That's all I have to say.

Do you guys have some kind of code I am not aware of? If QRSTUV doesn't say I miss you, then I guess nothing does!

Welcome to the Family

Hello big gray truck!

Hello to not having to borrow one to haul anything bigger than a suitcase.
Hello to fond memories of my first vehicle (little gray truck)
Hello to having cooler seats at the drive in movie.
Hello to feeling bigger than most everyone on the road.
Hello to paying 87 cents a gallon for natural gas (that's a $3 round trip to Ikea people!!)
Hello to not having to tie the things I buy at Ikea with the money saved on top of the car.
Hello to a built in playpen for the boys (who ask the minute dad gets home if they can play in the truck bed.)



Good bye to my faithful little Explorer. :-(

Anyone need a ride anywhere? I get giddy when we fill this baby up for under $10.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave...

Samuel is no idiot. He has recently figured out the self-preserving benefits of lying. What he has not figured out is why it's wrong. None of the reasons we are giving him to be an honest boy seem to be making much of an impression.

Me: "It's wrong to lie because then we can't trust you"

Sam: (blank stare).

Me: "It makes mom and dad sad."

Sam: (non-committal) "oh"

And in desperation:

Me: "It makes Heavenly Father sad"

Sam: (blank stare) "Mom, is Jesus pretty tough?"

Me: Yes, he's really tough, but he doesn't like it when we lie."

Sam: "Is he tougher than dad?

Me: "Yes"

Sam: (whispering) "are you going to send me to Jesus?" (clearly referencing a talk we had about the body and where the spirit goes when we die. Heaven help us if Social Services ever gets their hands on him again!)

Me: "Yep!" (okay, I didn't actually tell him that, but wouldn't that be an effective threat? "Stop hitting your brother or I am going to send you to Jesus!" But then that makes him a bad guy, so that idea is out. It's unfortunate that there are no gypsies anymore. "I'm going to sell you to the gypsies" used to be bandied about, but kids just aren't buying that these days.)

A few nights ago, Samuel's bedroom door was open after I had left it slightly ajar. I told him to close it and his response was that the wind blew it open. Given that he has a ceiling fan that was on, I conceded that it might have happened and left it at that. Last night, he was watching a movie on the portable DVD player, which sits on his night table and which he has strict instructions not to touch. When checking on him I saw that it was in bed with him.

Me: "Sam, I told you not to touch this"

Sam: "but the wind blew it down here!"

Today, he dismantled his skeleton straw (don't ask) for the third time and asked me to put it back together (for the third time).

Me: "Sam, stop taking this apart"

Sam: (indignantly) "I didn't!" (calculating glint in his eye) "The wind blew it"

Now, I don't expect my four year old to understand the laws of physics and the improbability of the wind picking up his DVD player and depositing carefully in his lap, or taking apart his straw while leaving it in his hand, but how much of an idiot does he take me for? He is clearly thinking "if the lie ain't broke, don't fix it!" Maybe the best I can hope for is that he will continue to be dense enough to use his one size fits all lies until he feels like we "might be catching on." The mental anguish of either me or Jesus doesn't seem to bother him in the least.

In the meantime, I am going to go sit him down in front of Pinnochio and give him a pop quiz at the end.