Revenge of the overcooked noodle

For the record, one should NOT cook macaroni noodles for 42 minutes and 13 seconds. That's how long the timer was set for. Our daughter was having her first crack at making mac and cheese from a box. Heat the water, boil the noodles, drain, add butter and milk. What could be easier?

Let me just start by saying that I was planning to make the mac and cheese. But I was also trying to give the 3 boys their haircuts. She wanted to help, so I set her to watching the water boil (such a nice mom, aren't I?). However, instead of getting me, she just went ahead, reading, following the directions (should I stir the noodles mom? Because the box says to stir the noodles) and trying to make the noodles perfect. I was trying to talk her through it, while also trying not to chop off ears or poke eyes or otherwise maim the victims, er, boys. She exuded confidence until it came to turning off the stove. Despite repeated directions on how to turn off the burner, she couldn't quite grasp that you have to turn the flame UP to get it to go OFF. She could turn it low, but never make it go away. So it cooked. And cooked. And cooked. And cooked some more while she pondered this problem.

At this point, it was definitely her project. Not mine. I came in and the timer still had 2:53 left, which perplexed me, since it should have been set for 8 minutes...and clearly more than 5 minutes and 7 seconds had gone by. Instead of turning it off, I let it run. You see, this timer resets when it's done. Usually I have it set for 15 minutes. 15 minutes to clean up, 15 minutes to play, 15 minutes to do chores, 15 minutes to get in pajamas and brush teeth...you get the idea. Anyway, I melted the butter, dumped in the noodles (um, if you could still call them that) and stirred in the cheesey stuff. It looked bad. It looked like a failed attempt to melt cheese. The noodles had no shape and were completely flat. Finally, the timer went off, I silenced it and then laughed at the number...42 minutes and 13 seconds. How this was supposed to be 8 minutes is beyond me, lol!

And just so you know, I don't recommend eating mac and cheese cooked this long, lol! It's AWFUL!

I'm taking the day off.

I've decided to take the day off. Off from pretty much everything. We did speech therapy today for the 6yo and the 4yo. Then we did all the shopping I've been meaning to do for the last week. And then we just relaxed. Why bother with school when the kids are all playing nicely and you already have your feet up?

I made chicken and cheese enchiladas for dinner. They were super easy to make and even better to eat. I'll have to make these again sometime. (and thank you, joelle, for the recipe!) Tomorrow, I think I'll make baked spaghetti. And then we'll eat left overs for the rest of the weekend. I hope you weren't holding your breath for something earth shattering from me. Like I said, I'm taking the day off! So, good night, until next time!

Blue...is pink

So our 6 year old is trying to teach our 4 year old Spanish. I don't know why. He doesn't speak a lick of Spanish himself. But I hear him telling his brother "Blue, is pink, in Spanish. See? And green...is black, over here, in Spanish." I'm not sure what has possessed him to make such wild statements, but there you have it. Blue, is definitely pink, in Spanish.

There are definitely times as a parent when you just stop and wonder at the words that come so willingly out of such innocent little mouthes. And that those words are so readily absorbed by other little sponge-like minds. Certainly not something you can predict or even necessarily follow. That's what I like so much about teaching our children at home. Their minds are so wide open, and so willing to absorb anything and everything you can teach them. Why hold them to "traditional" learning, when they can grab a hold of an idea, and take it to the moon and beyond. Why shouldn't my 8 year old be learning about molecular models and atomic numbers? Why shouldn't my 6 year old be able to solve algebraic equations in his head? Why shouldn't my 4 year old be reading? They are just ready and waiting for someone to show them the wonders of our world. I'm just there to put the information in front of them and watch them blossom into a world of their own discovery.

It says "clean," but they're still dirty

I was making lunch this afternoon, and discovered that I needed clean plates for the kids. Little light on the dishwasher proclaimed that the contents contained within were clean! So why is it, then, that the dishes I needed were still dirty? I had run the dishwasher, with soap. The cycle was complete, and in fact, the other dishes were clean. So how is it that all the utensils, all the cups, bowls and serving dishes were clean, yet the children's plates were still dirty? Am I the victim of some weird phenomenon of physics?

Apparently not. You see, the top of plate 1 was clean. And the bottom of plate 12 was clean. (Yes, we have 4 children and they like to eat three times per day. Ridiculous, isn't it?) This is what happens to me when I try to do, I don't know, say 18 things at once. I forget that I stacked the plates in the dishwasher so I wouldn't leave a mess on the counter. I think today's load will contain about 16 or 20 plates...just so I can catch up, you know.

well, that's annoying

Did you know that when you blog, but don't post until later, that it posts under the original date? Heaven help you if you have two brilliant blog ideas on one day and want to post one and save one for later. Because you can't. You can have a post started, and finish it days later, and it will still post under the day you started it.

So now I'm left with no blog for today, because my blog for today ended up being my second blog for yesterday. Are you following me here? I'm just a little annoyed. But hey, at least the kids are happy, and the fish are fed. Or I've fed the happy fish to the kids. Or something. It's late I think. Perhaps I should go to bed.

"I found my pussy!"

Sometimes, you have to take what the children say with a grain of innocence. For instance, what my daughter said today. "I found my pussy!" When I turned around, somewhat shocked and asked, "What???" she hastened to say "Look, mommy! I found my pussy cat!" And there she was. Our cat, blissfully perched under the table on a chair.

Well, I'm glad we got that settled. Oh, and in case you were wondering, and I knew you were...marker comes off the table much better *after* a fresh coat of Old English.

One more thing. What's the deal with my laundry? I usually do at least one load per day, with 3 on Friday (I change all 5 beds on Friday). So I did my usual 3 on Friday, and today is Monday (yes, I started this post Sunday, and finished it Monday) and I STILL don't have enough to do even a small load. Does this really mean that my husband produces more clothes than the entire rest of the family combined??? Where's the logic in that?

What was I thinking???

What was I thinking when I painted the kids' bathroom WHITE? Don't get me wrong. I like white bathrooms. It has such a crisp, clean quality. I like to walk into my bathroom and see where the dirt is and then irradicate it. There are two places in the house that I like to have clean: the kitchen and the bathroom. The rest can just remain under the dust deep enough to plant potatoes and the kid grime that covers every surface.

But the kids' bathroom? White? WHY??? Maybe I should have gone with a nice chocolate brown, or perhaps a deeper MUD brown with black flecks. Heck, even a dirty (country) blue with chocolate accents. That's in right now, right?

It's amazing to me how the bathroom can go from clean and sparkling, to mud flecked and dripping in under 2 minutes. See, I was catching a bit of a break while the kids were outside playing. I suppose I should have noticed how nicely they were playing together. Anyhow, I made dinner and then called the kids in to wash their hands. Next thing I know, the entry rug is brown (not blue), the carpet is brown (not gray with sundry juice and dry erase marker accents) and the bathroom is brown. The kids? Yeah, they're still brown, too. ::sigh::

I have to laugh at the colors I'm contemplating. I picked out Mississippi Mud on Behr.com. The site recommended pairing it with Coconut Husk, Yorkshire Brown and Innocence. HA! They don't know my children. Otherwise, they certainly wouldn't have recommended I use anything remotely related to Innocence...such a delicate shade of off-ivory-white. I may consider it for the ceiling, however. Or not. And while I'm contemplating color changes, I may ditch the white toilet in favor of one that is perhaps a delicious shade of dandelion yellow.