Friday, September 18, 2015

7 Quick Takes about Kindly Forest Creatures, Finding a Balanced Meal in the Sofa, and Elvis in the Jurassic Period

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday!

—1—


My daughter really wanted me to take her to this indoor butterfly garden near us, so the two of us went as a special date.

I don't know if it was the color of my shirt or if I was just totally Zen that day, but butterflies landed on me not once, not twice, but 7 times. My daughter: none. I last went there a few years ago and it never happened to me then, either.

A really excitable Italian lady kept saying, "Ohhhhhh! Move a-this way! I take-a your picture!" and calling her family members over to see the butterflies on me.

Here's one on my back:

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}


And one on my head:

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Don't worry, that vein on my forehead didn't explode. I don't know why it looks like that.

And on my shoulder:

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Taken by the nice Italian lady.

And on my hands:

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Contemplating singing to it, so it will come clean up my house with its forest friends.


—2—


We have an unspoken understanding in our family that we do not buy snacks when we're out. If I happen to buy the kids a treat when we go to the grocery store they act like they've won the lottery (because they practically have.)

Sadly, a can of worms was opened at my oldest daughter's soccer game on Saturday when she forgot her water bottle and we bought her a Dasani at the concession stand on the field.

Then the baby lunged at it like he was dying of thirst so we had to buy one for him, too, and then the wheels in my other children's heads started turning as they realized the concession stand also had popsicles, and donuts, and Pop-Tarts, and candy bars...

I'm scared for the rest of this season, frankly.

—3—


My 3-year-old started a little rotating home preschool this week, and it was my week to host at my house. So of course I had to clean up the dump first.

Of course the kids (my eye is on the 3-year-old) had done me the courtesy of smearing lip gloss all over the bathroom the night before so it looked like someone had died in there.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}


Judging by the handles on the faucets, I'd say that the culprit was right-handed, which actually does rule out one person in the house, at least.

—4—


You know that saying, "a messy child is a happy child?" Well, we like to apply that to our van. And let me tell you, it is HAPPY.

I noticed the other day that my kids were drawing funny pictures on the dusty windows, but didn't get around to really looking at them until just now.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
One of the first things you'd learn if you lived in our house is that 'HP' stands for Harry Potter.


It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
This evil-looking man is saying "MWAHAHAHA" and has no nose, meaning that he's probably Voldemort.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Not sure what to say about this guy. Snape, maybe? He had a mustache and goatee in the books.

Whatever happened to writing plain old "Wash Me" on the back windshield?

—5—


This goes to show that you never know what you're going to find in the couch cushions.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}


If you dare to remove the cushions or stick your hand down between them, watch out. It's like a wormhole to an alternate universe. You could find anything in there.

I'm thinking I should make sure it's not becoming my preschooler's default place to store her half-eaten snacks, actually.

—6—


I'm beginning to realize that kids have literally no concept of time. My 9-year-old was telling the 3-year-old about Elvis Presley, and here was the conversation:

9-year-old: He was a famous singer, but he's not anymore.
3-year-old: Why not?
9-year-old: He lived a long time ago.
3-year-old: Like when the dinosaurs were alive?

She must think I'm a million years old. Also that snack time in 20 minutes is forever.

—7—


Lately I've been obsessed with spaghetti squash pizza. We got the idea from here, but you don't really need a recipe. It's pizza toppings on top of spaghetti squash halves.

I'm in love with it. I ate it for dinner last night, and was slightly hungry after putting the kids to bed so I thought, "I'll just take a few satisfying forkfuls of the leftovers." Three bites in I knew I was lying to myself and demolished the entire thing.

I regret nothing.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

I've been having fun finding this and other recipes using the "search by ingredient" feature on Yummly. I affectionately refer to this feature as "okay, we are three days overdue for a trip to the store and all we have in the house is 2 potatoes, some macaroni noodles, and a bag of frozen peas... can we do something with that??"


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15 comments:

Jenny said...

If my kids drew hp pictures on my car, I'd probably leave them there.

Diaper bags and couches can be scary. Always be careful when cleaning them.

Unknown said...

I told Dietrich I'd had Hungry Hungry Hippos since I was close to his age. He said, "so it's like 3000!!!" Yes, of course. But don't we look good for our ancient impossible ages?

Anonymous said...

Your posts ALWAYS make my day. The story about the bathroom is hilarious. You're like a momtective.

Jenny Evans said...

I like to think so!

PurpleSlob said...

Wormhole! ahahaha Right handed rules out 1 person-hey! progress! can o waorms- uh oh! There goes the budget!
I love your blog. You are the funniest mom of 7 ever!!

Jenny Evans (sister, not author) said...

I love spaghetti squash! But I'm super boring and just use it to substitute spaghetti noodles. I'll have to try it with the pizza toppings! The kiddos done make me proud with their pictures. I can't wait for next summer!

Unknown said...

AuntSue
When my second grader asked if I was a Pilgrim, I said NO. The house we lived in at that time was actually built in 1953, the year I was born. So I told him that I was the same age as the house. But there were no microwave ovens, color tvs and VCRs. "Oh so you were ALMOST a Pilgrim!"

Queen Mom Jen said...

I took my kids to a butterfly garden once, thinking it would be special.... It went the way of all good intentions not properly thought out. They were little and thought the butterflies were going to eat their skin and screamed the whole way through. I had to drag them through to get out, we couldn't go the way we came in. I received a lot of bad looks that day from people having their tranquil creature moment disturbed by 2 screaming kids. Needless to say, I have not taken the other children there yet.... Maybe ever.

Jenny Evans said...

I can completely picture something like that happening to us. I hope you still remind the kids from time to time, "Remember when you were screaming and running for your life in the butterfly garden?"

Jenny Evans said...

At least it wasn't a caveman!

Jenny Evans said...

I've actually yet to try it with anything else. And the kids continue to keep current on their Harry Potter knowledge.

Unknown said...

When my kids at school (I seem a TA) ask me how old I am I always ask them first hotter old they think I am. Their reply is always something I the 30's or 40's. I used to be kind of flattered since I am 62. I gradually realized they just can't contemplate someone being that old! Mamasan

Unknown said...

When my kids at school (I seem a TA) ask me how old I am I always ask them first hotter old they think I am. Their reply is always something I the 30's or 40's. I used to be kind of flattered since I am 62. I gradually realized they just can't contemplate someone being that old! Mamasan

Chaun said...

Okay, so, to be the nosey commenter: when you say "rotating home preschool" is that code for Joy School? I'm just curious because that's something that's in the works for my fambam. :)

Jenny Evans said...

Same principle. Joy School has an actual curriculum to buy and that's way more formal than I'm prepared to do. We just arranged it so that there's a letter and number each week and the person hosting makes up some activity based on them - so they can make it as simple or as elaborate as they want.