...and it's been one of those days. It's payroll week, I've got work up to my eyeballs, and Hubby has a rehearsal at church, so I'm on my own with the Fries.
I heave a huge sigh of relief as I get them all in bed. I know I'll be up late to get everything done I need to for the next day, but at least I'll have relative quiet in which to do it.
The way it usually goes, once I get them in bed, is this: Large Fry will rustle around in bed for a bit in her room, but she settles down for the night pretty quickly. Medium Fry settles in right away, thumb in mouth and duckie tucked into an elbow, and she's usually the first one asleep. Small Fry often jabbers for awhile (why this doesn't keep Medium awake is beyond me), and will occasionally require a scolding and a threat or two before she will lay down and stay that way before finally nodding off last.
I dug into work, hoping I wouldn't be still working at 2 a.m. (I was). About twenty minutes after the kids are in bed, the screaming starts.
I let it go for a few minutes, hoping that it won't require a trip upstairs. And it sounds like an I-want-attention scream.
The wailing continues, and is obviously that of Medium Fry. Since it's unusual for her to still be awake this long after getting into bed, I head upstairs to see if she's gotten her foot stuck again between the spindles on her crib.
She whimpers as I come into the room. "What's the matter, sweetie?"
Medium pulls herself up to a standing position and holds out her hands. I give her a hug and tell her everything's okay, and ask again what's wrong.
She whimpers again, and then says, "I want to go pway!"
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
This will only make sense...
...if you've seen VeggieTales' movie The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything.
I am upstairs hiding in the bathroom (I admit it; it's the only place I get solitude these days). Dan has gone to the church, despite tonight's activities cancellation, because some kids may not hear the call about that if their phones are down along with their power and to get some work done so he doesn't have to go into the office tomorrow. The girls are in the living room/playroom.
All is, for the moment, well.
And then I hear running feet. And giggles. And shrieks of "Cheese curls!" And feet running the other way. And more giggles. And more shrieks of "Cheese curls!"
The girls had watched The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything earlier today while waiting for my folks to arrive and to give me a chance to get some work done.
I grinned as I realized what they were doing.
More running. More giggles. More "Cheese curls!" as they dashed from one end of my Kiddo Korral (my trademark on that is pending *grin*) to the other.
I wished for all the world that I had some space left on the memory card for my digital camera to take some video of it.
Or that they'd still been running from fierce, imaginary cheese curls when I got back downstairs.
I am upstairs hiding in the bathroom (I admit it; it's the only place I get solitude these days). Dan has gone to the church, despite tonight's activities cancellation, because some kids may not hear the call about that if their phones are down along with their power and to get some work done so he doesn't have to go into the office tomorrow. The girls are in the living room/playroom.
All is, for the moment, well.
And then I hear running feet. And giggles. And shrieks of "Cheese curls!" And feet running the other way. And more giggles. And more shrieks of "Cheese curls!"
The girls had watched The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything earlier today while waiting for my folks to arrive and to give me a chance to get some work done.
I grinned as I realized what they were doing.
More running. More giggles. More "Cheese curls!" as they dashed from one end of my Kiddo Korral (my trademark on that is pending *grin*) to the other.
I wished for all the world that I had some space left on the memory card for my digital camera to take some video of it.
Or that they'd still been running from fierce, imaginary cheese curls when I got back downstairs.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
This is what makes it worth it.
It's breakfast time here at Casa Fries. Mean auntie that I am, I make them eat most of their breakfast before I give them milk; I know they'll fill up on milk rather than food if I don't.
While I was out escaping the house for a bit last night, I stopped off at Target to see if I could find some new sippy cups for Large Fry (who only has three, and we can go through 'em faster than I can run the dishwasher), and some extra kiddie plates and silverware (I forgot bowls *smack*). The kind that Large Fry usually uses had rather boring patterns on them, and Large Fry has this thing for Disney Princesses. But apparently Target doesn't stock those kind...however, they do stock ones the same style as the twin Fries' Elmo cups that have Disney Princesses. I bought a two-pack.
I loaded all my new purchases up in the dishwasher last night after I got home and ran it.
The Fries have mostly finished their waffles (except Small Fry, who is actively teething, and in a fair amount of discomfort) when I get clean cups out of the dishwasher for milk. Large Fry about comes unglued when I pull out one of the new Princess cups.
"That's for Large Fry!" she cries hopefully.
"Yes, it's for you," I say with a smile.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"
Of course, she then kinda ruined the effect of her glee by imperiously informing her sisters that this was HER new cup, not theirs. *grin*
But it's always good to know when you do something that right.
While I was out escaping the house for a bit last night, I stopped off at Target to see if I could find some new sippy cups for Large Fry (who only has three, and we can go through 'em faster than I can run the dishwasher), and some extra kiddie plates and silverware (I forgot bowls *smack*). The kind that Large Fry usually uses had rather boring patterns on them, and Large Fry has this thing for Disney Princesses. But apparently Target doesn't stock those kind...however, they do stock ones the same style as the twin Fries' Elmo cups that have Disney Princesses. I bought a two-pack.
I loaded all my new purchases up in the dishwasher last night after I got home and ran it.
The Fries have mostly finished their waffles (except Small Fry, who is actively teething, and in a fair amount of discomfort) when I get clean cups out of the dishwasher for milk. Large Fry about comes unglued when I pull out one of the new Princess cups.
"That's for Large Fry!" she cries hopefully.
"Yes, it's for you," I say with a smile.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"
Of course, she then kinda ruined the effect of her glee by imperiously informing her sisters that this was HER new cup, not theirs. *grin*
But it's always good to know when you do something that right.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Reach out and touch someone!
Since I've been under the weather the last few days, all of us girls took naps this afternoon. The Fries and I woke up at pretty much the same time. So I got them downstairs, handed diapers to Hubby, and went to get them some juice. I also hid in the kitchen to eat some Oreos...but got found out by Small Fry and simply brought some out to share.
As I handed a cookie to Large Fry, Hubby turned to me and explained that Large Fry had wanted to talk to Grandma and Boppa since she wouldn't see them today. He wondered if I would be willing to make that call so she could talk to them.
Hubby left for youth group, and once Large Fry finished her Oreo, I dialed my parents' number. I didn't even say hello, just held the cordless phone up to Large Fry's ear right before Mom answered.
She talked to Grandma for several minutes, mostly about how they were watching the Jonah VeggieTales movie (they weren't yet, but they were going to). Then she said, "Bye," and shoved the phone back at me.
Then Small Fry wanted to talk to Grandma. She got out "hello" and "I lahhyou" before the buttons on the handset became more interesting.
I talked with Mom for several minutes myself, mostly about SIL's flights en route to South Korea today. Then I asked if Dad could come to the phone, since Large Fry had wanted to talk to them both.
Dad got on the line and I put the phone back next to Large Fry's ear. "Hello, Boppa," she said, "I want to talk to Grandma."
I was not able to stifle my laughter.
I heard Mom come back on the line, since Large Fry was right next to me on the recliner. Large Fry now said they were watching The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything VeggieTales movie (the tv was still on figure skating), and then said she wanted to talk to Boppa again.
You will never guess what she said to Dad when he came back on the line.
I heard Dad chuckle and then Mom's voice.
And, of course, Large Fry immediately asked to speak to Boppa again.
I was a little surprised by what I heard next:
"I want to talk to Uncle Cole!" Large Fry said, rather indignantly.
It didn't surprise me that Large Fry probably thinks that my BIL lives at Grandma and Boppa's...she's only ever seen him there. But I was amused that she wanted to talk to him.
She shoved the phone away and I took it back, and found both of my parents were talking to me.
Sensing a pattern, my parents had decided to fix her...they put her on speakerphone. Large Fry is not stupid. She quickly figured out she had them both on the line. And, in order to continue her game, she asked for the next person she figured would be there.
I almost called my sister to have her put her husband on the line. But I figured she'd then want to talk to her cousin Ruben, too, who is barely three months old and wouldn't say much.
As I handed a cookie to Large Fry, Hubby turned to me and explained that Large Fry had wanted to talk to Grandma and Boppa since she wouldn't see them today. He wondered if I would be willing to make that call so she could talk to them.
Hubby left for youth group, and once Large Fry finished her Oreo, I dialed my parents' number. I didn't even say hello, just held the cordless phone up to Large Fry's ear right before Mom answered.
She talked to Grandma for several minutes, mostly about how they were watching the Jonah VeggieTales movie (they weren't yet, but they were going to). Then she said, "Bye," and shoved the phone back at me.
Then Small Fry wanted to talk to Grandma. She got out "hello" and "I lahhyou" before the buttons on the handset became more interesting.
I talked with Mom for several minutes myself, mostly about SIL's flights en route to South Korea today. Then I asked if Dad could come to the phone, since Large Fry had wanted to talk to them both.
Dad got on the line and I put the phone back next to Large Fry's ear. "Hello, Boppa," she said, "I want to talk to Grandma."
I was not able to stifle my laughter.
I heard Mom come back on the line, since Large Fry was right next to me on the recliner. Large Fry now said they were watching The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything VeggieTales movie (the tv was still on figure skating), and then said she wanted to talk to Boppa again.
You will never guess what she said to Dad when he came back on the line.
I heard Dad chuckle and then Mom's voice.
And, of course, Large Fry immediately asked to speak to Boppa again.
I was a little surprised by what I heard next:
"I want to talk to Uncle Cole!" Large Fry said, rather indignantly.
It didn't surprise me that Large Fry probably thinks that my BIL lives at Grandma and Boppa's...she's only ever seen him there. But I was amused that she wanted to talk to him.
She shoved the phone away and I took it back, and found both of my parents were talking to me.
Sensing a pattern, my parents had decided to fix her...they put her on speakerphone. Large Fry is not stupid. She quickly figured out she had them both on the line. And, in order to continue her game, she asked for the next person she figured would be there.
I almost called my sister to have her put her husband on the line. But I figured she'd then want to talk to her cousin Ruben, too, who is barely three months old and wouldn't say much.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
*chortle*
So yesterday I'm sitting in the kitchen after breakfast, working on stuff for this payroll management system switch for work, thinking I should really get the Fries dressed before my folks arrive, and just listening to them chatter.
Large Fry is singing. (Sadly, I think she's picked up her father's vocal "style.") It doesn't take too careful of a listen to realize she's belting out one of the songs Disney's Beauty and the Beast. I wish I could remember now which one. (Had I blogged about it yesterday when it happened, I wouldn't have this problem.)
Five minutes later, after nearly nonstop Beauty and the Beast, I hear this:
"Simba, come back! Come back, Simba!"
The incongruity of pairing Beauty and the Beast with The Lion King just cracked me up.
Large Fry is singing. (Sadly, I think she's picked up her father's vocal "style.") It doesn't take too careful of a listen to realize she's belting out one of the songs Disney's Beauty and the Beast. I wish I could remember now which one. (Had I blogged about it yesterday when it happened, I wouldn't have this problem.)
Five minutes later, after nearly nonstop Beauty and the Beast, I hear this:
"Simba, come back! Come back, Simba!"
The incongruity of pairing Beauty and the Beast with The Lion King just cracked me up.
Monday, December 22, 2008
I simply must share my diabolical brilliance with you all.
Although, it's not entirely MY diabolical brilliance. Hubby helped.
So about a week after Thanksgiving, my siblings and I (and assorted spouses) get an email from my dad. Here he waxes eloquent about how worn out Mom was after coordinating Thanksgiving dinner for 28 people. And he opines that Christmas is coming, which is going to be nearly as exhausting, and he exhorts us to do whatever we can to help.
Being the good oldest child, Type-A personality kid that I am, I volunteer to be cookie fairy. Cookies I figure I can do a lot better (and easier) than volunteering to, y'know, do the main cooking. Or even volunteer to supervise the pork roast. I am not the greatest culinary artist in the family, but I can bake, and bake well.
Hubby's a little less than thrilled with this, because he knows me. When it comes to Christmas goodies, I...well...I tend to go overboard. (See any previous LJ entry that was made post-Christmas-Bakefest with Janelle, if you need more proof.) I love baking and making goodies simply because I am so good at it. And Hubby knew that once I got started, I would then want to ship packages of Christmas yummies hither and yon, and I was seriously in danger of burning my end at both candles.
Well.
I had asked for requests when I volunteered my oven. Dad really likes the Peanut Butter Blossoms. You know, the peanut butter cookies that have a Hershey's kiss smooshed into them as soon as they come out of the oven. Knowing how short I was going to be on time (I still baked and created for twelve hours), I opted to just buy the mix that you add egg, water and oil to. I bought four bags...and made them all. I bought a big bag of Hershey's kisses.
As it turned out, I ran short on kisses.
What to do, what to do.
Just make peanut butter cookies, I suppose.
That's when Hubby's first brainstorm strikes. Why not put chocolate chips into the center of the peanut butter cookies? We can tell Dad that the chips shrunk when we washed them in hot water or something.
I realized that I still had some milk chocolate & peanut butter morsels from the brownies I'd made a week before. I dumped 'em out, picked out the milk chocolate ones and put the peanut butters back in the bag. We'll use these instead of semi-sweet chips, I announced.
As I'm getting ready to roll the dough into balls for our shrunken-chips cookies, Hubby looks at me, again with that look of evil brilliance in his eyes. He grabs a pinch of cookie dough and rolls it into a very small ball. "Better yet...make 'em THIS size!"
I smirk, set aside the three balls of dough I've already made, and start rolling smaller balls. I end up with two dozen by the end of the dough.
I watch them carefully, since I have no idea how long they'll take to bake. I pull them out about four minutes later, and carefully stick little milk chocolate morsels on top of each cookie.
Aren't they cute?
These are the normal-sized ones.
A size comparison.
I'm debating whether or not I should give them to Dad when he comes to visit tomorrow, or wait until Christmas.
*snicker*
So about a week after Thanksgiving, my siblings and I (and assorted spouses) get an email from my dad. Here he waxes eloquent about how worn out Mom was after coordinating Thanksgiving dinner for 28 people. And he opines that Christmas is coming, which is going to be nearly as exhausting, and he exhorts us to do whatever we can to help.
Being the good oldest child, Type-A personality kid that I am, I volunteer to be cookie fairy. Cookies I figure I can do a lot better (and easier) than volunteering to, y'know, do the main cooking. Or even volunteer to supervise the pork roast. I am not the greatest culinary artist in the family, but I can bake, and bake well.
Hubby's a little less than thrilled with this, because he knows me. When it comes to Christmas goodies, I...well...I tend to go overboard. (See any previous LJ entry that was made post-Christmas-Bakefest with Janelle, if you need more proof.) I love baking and making goodies simply because I am so good at it. And Hubby knew that once I got started, I would then want to ship packages of Christmas yummies hither and yon, and I was seriously in danger of burning my end at both candles.
Well.
I had asked for requests when I volunteered my oven. Dad really likes the Peanut Butter Blossoms. You know, the peanut butter cookies that have a Hershey's kiss smooshed into them as soon as they come out of the oven. Knowing how short I was going to be on time (I still baked and created for twelve hours), I opted to just buy the mix that you add egg, water and oil to. I bought four bags...and made them all. I bought a big bag of Hershey's kisses.
As it turned out, I ran short on kisses.
What to do, what to do.
Just make peanut butter cookies, I suppose.
That's when Hubby's first brainstorm strikes. Why not put chocolate chips into the center of the peanut butter cookies? We can tell Dad that the chips shrunk when we washed them in hot water or something.
I realized that I still had some milk chocolate & peanut butter morsels from the brownies I'd made a week before. I dumped 'em out, picked out the milk chocolate ones and put the peanut butters back in the bag. We'll use these instead of semi-sweet chips, I announced.
As I'm getting ready to roll the dough into balls for our shrunken-chips cookies, Hubby looks at me, again with that look of evil brilliance in his eyes. He grabs a pinch of cookie dough and rolls it into a very small ball. "Better yet...make 'em THIS size!"
I smirk, set aside the three balls of dough I've already made, and start rolling smaller balls. I end up with two dozen by the end of the dough.
I watch them carefully, since I have no idea how long they'll take to bake. I pull them out about four minutes later, and carefully stick little milk chocolate morsels on top of each cookie.
Aren't they cute?
These are the normal-sized ones.
A size comparison.
I'm debating whether or not I should give them to Dad when he comes to visit tomorrow, or wait until Christmas.
*snicker*
I'm not dead yet....
December is just probably our busiest month out of the year, and that was before instant parenthood.
So I give you a smattering of our adventures in the last few weeks:
~Medium Fry got a spanking while Gramma and Boppa visited, because she climbed up on her Little Tikes table (which she knows she's not supposed to do), and started pulling cd cases off the stereo shelf, tossing them to the floor, and was probably aiming for the body of the stereo next. Small Fry came over as I was holding Medium, reminding her that I love her, and said, "Cwy?" I said, yes, she's crying because she got punished. Then she went back into the living room, looked at my dad, and said, "Bad." Dad's eyes nearly bugged out, trying not to laugh.
~Uncle Hubby got tired of "girlie" movies like Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella, so he popped in the VHS of The Lion King and it's been nearly a daily ritual since then.
~I waited too long to empty the lint screen on the dryer, because I do so much laundry that I forget to clean it with each load, and so when I went to clean it yesterday, most of it fell off the screen and back down into the dryer. I couldn't fish it out. So I ended up leaving a load of damp clothes in the dryer overnight, since I wasn't about to run it when it stopped drying efficiently and was getting really hot and just go to bed. So I started it this morning, peered outside at the vent, and determined quickly that I should go clean out the vent itself. On the freaking coldest morning of the year. I fished out a bunch of lint, got steam in my face for my trouble (thankfully not too hot; just hot air from the dryer hitting the frigid air outside), and nearly froze my toes off. (They are still chilly.)
~I spent most of Saturday baking. And I forgot to eat. Until Hubby ordered pizza, and I realized I'd had a Dr Pepper and assorted finger licks throughout the day as I baked. Yes, I know. Not smart.
~I realized I thought I was done with my Christmas shopping, but I'm really not, since I had the sudden reality-smack that, not only do I need to have presents for people from us, I need to have presents for people from the kids as well. Yay me. A little strategic mental reshuffling of presents already purchased fixed that problem, and I just have to find something for my three-month-old nephew now, from both us and the kids. I think.
I now need to go get munchkins dressed for the day, and get cracking on work as much as I can...it's payroll week, and I'm sure the boss will want to do everything by tomorrow!
So I give you a smattering of our adventures in the last few weeks:
~Medium Fry got a spanking while Gramma and Boppa visited, because she climbed up on her Little Tikes table (which she knows she's not supposed to do), and started pulling cd cases off the stereo shelf, tossing them to the floor, and was probably aiming for the body of the stereo next. Small Fry came over as I was holding Medium, reminding her that I love her, and said, "Cwy?" I said, yes, she's crying because she got punished. Then she went back into the living room, looked at my dad, and said, "Bad." Dad's eyes nearly bugged out, trying not to laugh.
~Uncle Hubby got tired of "girlie" movies like Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella, so he popped in the VHS of The Lion King and it's been nearly a daily ritual since then.
~I waited too long to empty the lint screen on the dryer, because I do so much laundry that I forget to clean it with each load, and so when I went to clean it yesterday, most of it fell off the screen and back down into the dryer. I couldn't fish it out. So I ended up leaving a load of damp clothes in the dryer overnight, since I wasn't about to run it when it stopped drying efficiently and was getting really hot and just go to bed. So I started it this morning, peered outside at the vent, and determined quickly that I should go clean out the vent itself. On the freaking coldest morning of the year. I fished out a bunch of lint, got steam in my face for my trouble (thankfully not too hot; just hot air from the dryer hitting the frigid air outside), and nearly froze my toes off. (They are still chilly.)
~I spent most of Saturday baking. And I forgot to eat. Until Hubby ordered pizza, and I realized I'd had a Dr Pepper and assorted finger licks throughout the day as I baked. Yes, I know. Not smart.
~I realized I thought I was done with my Christmas shopping, but I'm really not, since I had the sudden reality-smack that, not only do I need to have presents for people from us, I need to have presents for people from the kids as well. Yay me. A little strategic mental reshuffling of presents already purchased fixed that problem, and I just have to find something for my three-month-old nephew now, from both us and the kids. I think.
I now need to go get munchkins dressed for the day, and get cracking on work as much as I can...it's payroll week, and I'm sure the boss will want to do everything by tomorrow!
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