Curly Man

The warmer weather is really bringing out Grady's curls!!

Genetically nerdy

Liam to Mark: Dad, do you want to come to my school this week and read a story to my class at circle time? And maybe do a little math?

Oatmeal of the day

Toward the middle of each month, I get cheap and decide to see how long I can go before I need to go grocery shopping. Obviously I always have to get milk and bananas, seeing as how we eat 12-16 bananas A WEEK around here, but that is usually just a quick mid-week trip to Whole Foods. For anything else, I dig into the freezer or pantry and see what I can come up with.

We eat a lot of oatmeal for this reason. Long ago I published my recipe for baked oatmeal, which is so easy and awesome that I'll do it again. And I've since learned of some fun substitutions to keep it new and fresh and therefore avoid having it thrown at my head with Liam yelling, Oatmeal? Again??

Regular Recipe

Dry: 2 cups oats, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 cup brown sugar
Wet: 1 cup milk, 1 beaten egg, 2 tbsp. oil, 1/2 cup applesauce

Mix each separately, then together. Add raisins or another fruit. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Easy peasy.

Ways I shake it up...use mashed banana instead of applesauce. Oh my, they love that, especially with blueberries. Use any fruit, really. Today I added some almond extract to my wet mix and threw in frozen raspberries at the end. I plan to garnish with sliced almonds.

The possibilities? Endless.

Zoo trip

It was crisp and clear on Monday of this week, so we headed to the zoo. It was awesome because we were some of the only people there, therefore the animals were excited to see us. Here is Grady making friends with a gorilla. Also pictured is Allie, Liam's best bud from preschool.

, Mom

Grady has taken to calling me "Mom" rather than "Mommy". This is likely because Liam has made the shift. But when G is tired, he can't help but saying Mom over and over. He attaches it to every single sentence. Example from this evening:

Grady, can you go pick out your book for bedtime?

No, mom, I can't, mom.

Why not?

I have to wash my hands, mom. After I brush my teeth, mom.

You don't need to wash your hands.

Yes I do, mom. I won't waste water, mom. I'll be nice to the fishies, mom.


Sometimes, if he's excited rather than tired, he'll revert to Mommy, but just in the beginning of the sentence with a bit of a stutter. Mo..mm..mmm..mom...mommy, I want to wash my hands, mom. (He loves washing his hands...have I mentioned that?).

Hang Out Thursdays

Things seem to have gotten more hectic around here. Most days we're out the door by 8:30 (which I realize sounds ridiculous to those of you that go to work every day) and it seems like we just go until bedtime. A new membership to the Y has added to this, as I've been trying to get in a couple workouts a week while the boys play in the kid's area there.

Last week by Thursday I was tired out. I was packing my bag to head to the Y and Grady was crying, "I don't want to go to the YMCA!", Liam's eyes were "watering" (his new excuse when he's tearing up), and I was feeling bad. So I decided that we would just hang out together for the day, take it easy, watch too much TV and bake something. We also took a nap. It was a lovely day.

This week we went to the Y on Tuesday and Liam was determined that he tell the ladies at the kid's area why we hadn't been there last week. In his cute little voice he strides up confidently to Ms. Pam, the manager on duty, and says, "We didn't come on Thursday because it was a hang out day. Mom, are we hanging out again this Thursday?" His eyes were big and a little "watery", so I said that I would think about it.

And then this morning I was beat again, so I decided to have another hang out day. We baked muffins for Liam's snack tomorrow at school, snuggled on the couch and watched Disney Junior, and as I write this, the kids are still napping after 2.5 hours! I even got a 2 hour nap myself! Clearly we need hang out Thursdays.

I think they might become my favorite day of the week.