Overheard From the Back of the Van

***Warning, this is gross, unless you are a boy

ranging in age from 3-8o.***

While driving home from school/work the other day Alek and I had this enlightening conversation...

Alek: Mom, haveyoueverheardofameloncalledasewermelon?

Me: What? A melon?

Alek: Yah, a sewer melon.

Me: Did you just ask if there are sewer melons???

Alek: (with a bit of exasperation in his voice) Yes. Are there such things as sewer melons? You know, that grow in the sewer.

Me: No! Yuck! Where did you come up with such a thing? (why I asked this I will never know)

Alek: Well, lots of people eat the seeds when they eat watermelons. The the seeds don't get digested and people poop them out. Then the seeds end up in the sewer. So... the seeds could grow there couldn't they? And then there would be sewer melons. Juicy sewer melons.

Reader, I was more then gagging at this point in the conversation. And the more Alek heard the desperation in my voice for this particular conversation to be over, the more he embellished and elaborated just how juicy the melon would be if grown in the sewer.

When asked if he would like to eat one if they existed, he said that he didn't know. Then he said that maybe all the melons in the grocery store are sewer melons and we just don't know the difference.

One more thing that my children have ruined for me.

Good Friends Bring Rhubarb

Let this be an idea for any of you who wish to come and visit; rhubarb is a wonderful present. Fresh, beautiful stalks of rhubarb...

Alek wanted a rhubarb crisp for dessert the other night, but alas, we had no brown sugar. Time to break out of my comfort zone, and are we ever grateful for the lack of brown sugar in the house. I turned to my trusty allrecipes.com and found this...

Disclaimer: I borrowed this picture from here. By the time I remembered to take a picture of mine, it was all gone.

Rhubarb Pudding

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 cup milk

4 cups sliced rhubarb
2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups boiling water


DIRECTIONS
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Whisk the flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl; set aside.

Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Beat the egg, butter, and milk in a bowl until smooth.

Stir in the flour mixture until moistened, then spread into the prepared baking dish.

Stir together the rhubarb, 2 cups of sugar, and the water; pour into the baking dish.
Bake in the preheated oven until the dough has set and the rhubarb is bubbly, about 40 minutes.

Busy Busy Bee

Yep, that's me LOL!

Man, has it been crazy around here. Alek started back to school (grade 3), and the kids where I teach all came back for the regular school year as well. I'm teaching 5 pull-out academic classes this year instead of the 2 that I taught lat year. It's going to be fun, but is so much work figuring out where everyone is at, what they know, and how I am going to program for them all. I still don't have it figured out and they've been back since Tuesday, but shhhh don't tell. On top of that, I now have to work Fridays as well. So long 3 day weekends. Hopefully that will work out OK, but I'm feeling very worried at this point. Fridays were my day to play catch up around the house and I'm not sure how we'll fare now. Cross your fingers for me!

Our slipper business has also kicked back into high gear. We have a big sale this weekend and decided that we needed to revamp our brand as well as sew, sew, sew slippers. What a royal pain in the ass it has been messing around with the bag tags and the business cards! For some reason they just didn't want to work out. So, I've been up until 1am for the last few nights tweaking the design. And by George, I think I've finally figured it out! Now to just get my slippers finished...

the boys are all doing great. Growing, growing, growing! I guess I'd better get used to that, soon they will all be bigger than me which is a frightening thought. Lukas is 16 months and already has 4 words (besides mom, dad and Alee); this, there, hi and dance. Dance is new. He LURVES to shake it!

And I almost forgot the biggest news of all!!!

After a year away, our cat came back. I accidentally left him outside last September and he disappeared. We weren't able to find him anywhere. Alek loves Whiskers more than life itself and has asked about him every. single. day. for a year. No lie. Every. Single. Day. Out of the blue last Wednesday morning as I was desperately trying to get all the kids and my luggage loaded in the van to take us to school/babysitter/work, who sauntered through the door? Whiskers. After a year! He didn't call, he didn't write... But I had written him off, not that I told Alek that of course. Stupid cat. And now we have 3 boys madly in love with one hairy, smelly, ungrateful cat. Sigh.

On that note, I shall leave you with this tune. This one's for you Whiskers...

Breakfast Ideas

Well, to go along with my last post about how happy I am that school is starting again, I have to think about breakfast again. Quick nutritious breakfasts. I'm trying to wean out the Cinnamon Eggos; while quick, tasty and almost mess-less as they can be eaten without syrup I'm sure that they have the nutritional equivalent of cardboard. It's hard to get breakfast made and eaten and 3 boys plus myself up and ready and out of the door on time. Without a lot of screaming. I'm hoping that we can cut down on the amount of morning fits this year. That applies to all of us, but is another post entirely.

So, I'm going to start posting breakfast ideas. I'll try them out, you try them out and we'll compare notes. I found this one today at Balancing Beauty & Bedlam. Hm, it sounds good and it looks good, so we shall see. Plus, I bet it could be made and cooked the night before and re-heated in the morning.

Baked Oatmeal

5 cups rolled oats (not instant...rolled and steel cut are where the health benefits abound)

2 cups milk

4 large eggs

3/4 cup honey

1 TB Baking Powder

1 Tsp. Cinnamon

1 pinch of salt

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Seasonal fruit ( I have enjoyed strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, peaches, apples etc).

Mix together and pour into a 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until golden brown. We serve with milk and a bit of syrup (optional) This reheats well.

Welcome Back!

To school that is! Can you tell that I'm getting excited LOL! I'm both excited and apprehensive about Alek moving into grade 3.

He finally had a positive year last year and had such an AMAZING teacher, that I'm scared for what this year will bring. Alek has grown a lot over the last year, and his social skills are improving all the time, but... he can still be a challenge. His first few years of school were so horrible that I don't think any of us can handle any more experiences like that. Please, cross your fingers (and your toes, and your eyes, and you legs, and your arms and your feet) that he gets a teacher who "gets him" again this year. He's such a bright, funny loving kid and it's soooo hard for his mommma to see him labeled incorrectly.

I'm also looking forward to the kids coming back and getting into the swing of school here again. I can't wait to see them all again and hear how their summers were. Well, maybe after a few well deserved days off for me first LOL!

Star Wars Printable

While perusing my "must visit daily" blog list, I came across these which must find a home on some of Alek's school supplies. Maybe duotangs??? Pencil Crayons??? Pencil cases???

Get yours at Living Locurto.

Love

I love my boys. I've been wanting some jewelery memento to wear that honors my role as a mother to my sons, but have never found anything that calls to me until now. Everything is always too flashy and dare I say; gaudy. Tonight I came across The Vintage Pearl. My god, her stuff is amazing! Check out her site and you'll see what I mean.

I LOVE this pendent, and I think it would look cute on a cord necklace of some kind since I can't wear silver. I love the pendent so much that I would suck it up and wear it though. And wouldn't these spoons make a wonderful baby gift? Love, love, love it!