HappyMama

The 5yo was quiet all through Mass, as he sat reading a children’s bible.  On the drive there and back home, however, his questions were nonstop and relentless.  A sampling:

• are there more good angels than demons?  (I think so.)
• why is “lb” the abbreviation for “pound”?  (Anyone?)
• how much does this pickup weigh?  (go ask your dad)

Today I got to have my first watermelon of the summer.  It was delicious.  I love watermelon.  Generally, I’d say that genetically altering our food supply is a bad thing, but I’ll make an exception for seedless watermelon.  Ingenious.

Hubby has been referring to me with such terms of endearment lately as “wide-load” and “big momma.”  I can’t disagree with him, I feel huge.  Although I am 10 lbs. (there’s that abbreviation again) lighter than I was with any of the boys.  Regardless, we all went SWIMMING this afternoon at a friend’s pool, and the water felt amazing to be in.  Nothing hurt or ached.  Wonderful.  Psychologically it’s on the stressful side being responsible for 3 tots who don’t know how to swim (and don’t even realize that they don’t know how) in a 5′ pool, but physically it was very relaxing.  Perfect weather and several desserts as well. 

We have many friends with husbands deployed in Iraq.  5 of the children there today had fathers in the middle of 15-month tours.  I know that these families adjust, they have support systems, and some manage well and bravely, but there’s no doubt that they are making huge sacrifices for the people of Iraq.  My 1yo clung to my hubby all day in the pool, giggling and having a blast.  He didn’t want to come to me with daddy there to hold him.  I can only pray that the servicemen come home safe and sound and ready to spend a lot of time playing with their kiddos.  And I am constantly grateful to have my own soul-mate at home with us.

It was a fun, blessed summer day.

we recently have tried 2 new recipes.  The first is an asian chicken salad with bok choy.  It was my first experience with this Chinese lettuce, and dh & I really liked it.

It also called for pine nuts, which I had never purchased before.  These were tasty, but I won’t buy them again because of the price.  I’ve said before, I like to try new things at least once!

The second recipe is an easy way to grill sweet potatoes.  (I steamed them first to reduce the grill time.)  They were great with grilled chicken.  This recipe adds apples, which are just heavenly cooked this way.  Of course, with a stick of butter and brown sugar, how could they not?  My 1yo couldn’t get enough of this.

Isn’t it great when your neighbors are friends you can trust?  And who don’t have kids of their own yet, so they buy your kids fun toys?  Thanks Paul, for bringing over this pool for the boys (and for setting it up)!  Perfect for the 90+ heat.  Tonight the boys played for a long time, while I grilled dinner… and then I had the kids eat outside to give my kitchen a break for once.  You gotta love watching little kids playing in water!

my latest concoction in the smoothie machine:

• sun tea (I’ve been drinking this lately instead of coffee, made with green tea)
• 1 peach
• frozen raspberries
• lemon juice
• sweetener, to taste
• ice

2 things that still amaze me, after all the time I’ve been a mom already - (1) how far splatters can go when a drink gets spilled, and (2) how the kids can talk nonstop every waking moment of every day.  Every day seems to bring new discoveries to the boys, and they can’t stop talking about them, or they will dive into very deep thoughts like the ones I overheard last night as they were getting ready for bed:

5yo: what if a million people had to go potty all at the same time?

3yo: what if two million people had to go potty all at the same time?  I guess they would have to go potty on each other.

[giggles galore]

For the first time, we’ve got pink in our house.  Little pink washrags in the bathroom.  Pink baby blankets, tights, and tiny dresses.  A new bassinette with lace all around it.  We’re getting ready!

Would you believe I haven’t purchased anything except for the bassinette?  Thanks to my sister-in-law and a couple local friends, I think I’ve got more than enough for our first little girl, for at least a year.  (And I’m really hoping the ultrasound tech was correct!)  My 5yo helped me sort a lot of the items by size, and he kept saying, “oh look at this!  How cute!”  He’s learned a lot about gender lately.  I remember a year or two ago, if you asked him what his favorite color was, he’d say “pink!” and my dh would have to bite his tongue…

I recently sorted all of our obviously “boy” baby things - you know, the shirts with dinosaurs, tools, and trucks on them, all dark blue - and I started crying, wondering if we’d ever get to use them again.  Of course, being pregnant, it doesn’t take much for the tears to flow.  3 1/2 weeks to go…

Love this photo from CNN.  Good ‘ole boys volunteering to help sandbag.  What a mess in Iowa!  Hope the worst is over.

Midwest floodwaters have killed five people, displaced 38,000 others and damaged $1 billion worth of crops in Iowa alone.

While waiting for a visit from the grandparents today, the 3yo brought tears to my eyes by saying sheepishly, out of the blue:

“If Grandpa comes to visit us many times, that’s called falling in love.  And falling in love makes us smile.”