hjshorter

Scott took the chairs from the back yard and put them in basement stairwell, and tied down the garbage cans. We've got plenty of food and water. But, there's nowhere to park our cars that isn't under a giant tree.

80 degrees with a clear blue sky and puffy white clouds here. Looking outside, it's hard to imagine anything will happen. We're definitely taking the kids to the park after dinner to blow off some steam before the torrential rains start.

I will be there but Mr Shorter has to bow out.

The weather report mentioned 45 MPH winds tomorrow. We're taking in all of the lawn furniture, securing the trash cans, and preparing to lose power for a couple of days. We've got diapers, Parmalat milk, drinking water, canned food, flashlights, batteries, candles, a radio and lots of duct tape.

That Leffe was indeed deeeelish. I've been dreaming about that peche on tap ever since I had it. When is that egullet beer tasting anyway? Um, back on topic. Coffee, and shared a small piece of cinnamon coffee cake with Ian while out shopping this morning. My brother is getting married next weekend and both kids needed clothes for the wedding and rehearsal dinner. Back at home, trying to eat a roast beef sandwich with tomato and get some laundry done before the hurricane blows through tomorrow. Emma has a doctor appointment at 2:30 that may last for a couple of hours. Tonight may be a takeout night.

Which Belgian were you drinking? And don't worry, it wasn't a stupid comment. Just a funny one, in a lecherous sort of way.

Good morning everyone! Only one wake-up call last night (12:30am) and both kids slept until after 7am. I feel almost rested! I'm currently enjoying a small mug of hot coffee while putting off getting Ian from his crib. He's complaining, but I'd really like to finish reading my email. Scott is wrangling Emma into some clothes. Bagels with cream cheese and "fishies" (what Emma calls salmon) and sliced tomato were supposed to be for breakfast, but after a quick glance in the fridge I realize I forgot to buy "fishes" while at the store yesterday. Cheerios, milk and sliced peaches for the kids. I am going to sulk for a while.

Never mind.

I had three Pepperidge Farm Chessmen at the meeting tonight, so there! I'm eagerly awaiting caffeine free diet vanilla Pepsi so that I can drink it all day long...

I got vetoed on the salad, so we had steamed asparagus, spaghetti, and meat sauce. It was so pleasant that we ate outside, just us and about 100 bloodthirsty mosquitoes, who were undeterred by our Off lantern. Ian was so excited to be outside that he barely ate anything and shrieked at the top of his lungs every few seconds - one of the reasons we don't eat at restaurants very often.

I don't get one. Snacked on some orange pepper slices and a piece of cheese. A nice meat sauce with cremimi mushrooms is currently simmering away. Emma helped by dumping things in the pot and helping me stir. Now to boil some noodles and make a salad. No garlic bread, but my waistline doesn't need that anyway. There's a meeting tonight at 7 for homeschooling parents, so everyone has to be fed, bathed and in jammies before I leave.

We think of things we want to cook, then I make my list with that in mind. Of course if I get to the store and see something that looks particularly fresh or tasty then the list goes out the window. The kids will eat almost anything, so we just cook what we want. I cut out coupons sometimes, but most of the coupons are for processed stuff that we don't use. Emma always participates in picking out the produce, and talks to the guys at the Whole Foods fish and meat counters. She picks out the olives too. I make sure that she smells the herbs and spices while we're cooking. They both love Whole Foods because they put out samples. The other day both kids were eating Gruyere and some kind of goat cheese - my kids love stinky cheese. When we go to Asian markets they get a kick out of the live crabs and fish swimming in the tanks.

More diet vanilla Pepsi. This is much better than diet vanilla Coke. Ian woke up and ate some diced tomato and sliced turkey. Emma was hungry again and asked for peanut butter and jelly as her second lunch. Both kids go through amazing growth spurts occasionally, and eat twice as much as usual. Dinner is supposed to be spaghetti and meatballs but I'm not very inspired to make the meatballs. Perhaps we'll go with a nice meat sauce instead.

We have some favorites, some stuff that's seasonal, some that we decide impulsively and have to shop for at the last minute, some dishes that we start then realize we don't have all the ingredients for...etc. Very rarely are we organized enough to notice that something is on sale. I started a thread on menu planning a while back to get other people's methods because I'm a hopeless loser at it.

Emma was talked into having a turkey sandwich instead of corn for lunch, and is currently dismantling the upstairs of our house. I had roast beef on whole wheat with tomato, and I'm brewing another small pot of coffee. Ian is taking his morning nap. Grocery shopping is done, now all I have to do is make meatballs for dinner tonight. Perhaps I'll look up Rocco's recipe. Right now I'm listening to music and surfing the web instead of doing the dishes. You would think that since I'm home all day that my house would be cleaner, but you would be wrong.

Skim latte while grocery shopping. Emma has decided that she is a baby pig today, and is demanding "corn" as a snack.

Breakfast: Hot coffee, scrambled egg with peppers and onions, mushrooms, small amount of tillamook extra-sharp cheddar. Skipped the english muffin. Eggs were actually egg beaters. They suck.

You wouldn't think so if you saw me. I'm still lugging around all of the weight I gained with Ian last year - more than usual because I was on bed rest for 1/2 my pregnancy. My meals seem to be an afterthought, so I wind up picking at things all day. My weight loss would be more successful if I planned out all my meals - and wasn't so f*ing tired all the time. Last night's wake up calls were at 11:30 when Scott came home, 12:00 when Emma cried out, and 12:30 when Ian started crying.

Ugh. It is heading right this way. Luckily we have lots of water, diapers, food, batteries, etc. stocked up. Losing power is a definite possibility, and so is a tree falling on our house - yikes.

I could have made it to the store, but a taking an unwilling kid grocery shopping is never my idea of a good time. Scott is working at home tomorrow morning, and there are no play dates or activities planned, so I should be able to shop in peace. Now if I could just get a clue about what to cook this week...

Well, the grocery store never happened, so I would up running in to a small asian grocery in the shopping center where Emma ballet lessons are to pick up cilantro. Dashed home at 4:15. Scott had started prep for the tuna, so I threw together the raita. We ate the cauliflower plain, and accompanied the meal with whole wheat pita. Snacking on a glass of skim delux milk and a petite ecolier - damn you Jason! These things are worse than crack.

Heather, I started to respond with amazement about your kids eating nicoise olives and Thai food, but then checked your bio and realized that I misread your post: one of your kids is four YEARS, not four MONTHS, old. I think I might try out some gai kaprow on my Leah (19 months old), just to see how she reacts. Seth, we make it light on chilies for the kids, but both of them love it. Best to get them started on the fish sauce early.

Snacked on a handful of almonds, and diet vanilla pepsi. The vanilla pepsi isn't bad, but doesn't hold a candle to diet A&W root beer. Plus it's caffeinated so I can't drink a lot. Emma is resisting the grocery store, so tonight's menu will have to be revised.

Actually, Ian is my younger one. Emma just turned four and was much more adventerous even a year ago. Both are very good eaters when compared to their friends. But yes, most kids get pickier after about 2 or so, that's why it's important to expose them to as many tastes as possible before that window slams shut. I don't feed my kids a lowfat diet because they need the fat for brain development, and it's hard for tiny tummies to eat enough lowfat food to satisfy their daily requirements. So they get milk, and cheese and meat along with their fruit and veggies. We also don't feed them much that's processed. They are permitted to have ice cream and other sweets occasionally, not all the time, but enough so that it isn't a big deal when it happens. They aren't crazy about sweets but that's probably because they aren't forbidden around here. They also get a happy meal from time to time.

Firm & changeable sounds like diaper territory. Let's not go there... Ian will eat almost anything we put in front of him. Emma has become more picky these days. She is very suspicious of casseroles, even things that she used to devour like lasagna. Both will eat anything ethnic, as long as it's not too spicy. Emma's fave dinner is chicken and rice, but it can be tandoor with basmati, or gai kaprow with jasmine. Salmon, bacon, chicken, steak, tomatoes, asparagus, broccoli, eggs, and cheese are among their favorite foods. Emma is also crazy about nicoise olives.