Cuatro!

We recently went to Chili's to celebrate the end of the homeschool year and Mayterm. The host greeted us at the door, and Bud replied, "We're getting a Baby for Christmas!"

Picture awkward host, laughing nervously, clearly thinking something like, "Does he mean a baby doll?... Or is the mother expecting? DON"T LOOK AT WAISTLINE! ...There are three of them already..."

It was hilarious.

And Bud didn't mean baby doll, and there are already three of them, which is one of the reasons we're so, so excited. As I tell Pixie, Bud and Wombles, we're so fond and incredibly pleased with the three children we already have that we're thrilled another one is on the way.


We're calling "him" Cuatro (until the birth, that is). But we pronounce it, "Cuattro."

Please rejoice with us!

No Pets!

I know that having pets is at least theoretically good for kids. Probably not just theoretically, either.

I have not yet decided how I feel about them for parents, though.

Before we were parents, J and I had a fish. A Betta. Usta! lasted for over three years, in three different homes in two different time zones.

When he finally kicked the bucket on a cold South Bend night, it is a testament to J's love for me that he went out and dug a grave in the frozen ground, after dark. I just couldn't flush Usta!--he was part of the family.

Still, he was a hassle to deal with whenever we left town, as we did so often with family far away.

I can't imagine what we would do with dogs or a cat, given our tendency to gallivant. (BTW, "galavant" is also a correct spelling option).

We DID give Pixie two goldfish for her birthday. They lasted less than 24 hours in our hard water. The next pair lasted just over two weeks.

Pixie has since smashed the fish bowl, so we're done with that for a while.

Or...so I thought.

Enter Wombles!

Wombles has lots of great ideas...like bringing me a plastic goldfish and asking for a fishbowl.


He named his "fish" Katie. But then he changed the name to Goldie.


He'll swirl it around really fast and then say, "Look! She's SWIMMING!!"

What does it say about him or us that he sleeps with this thing? I can't decide if it's cute or very, very pathetic. Poor kid. His parents won't even give him a goldfish, so he carries around a plastic one in an old [plastic!] mayonnaise jar.

Hey--this one won't get flushed, though.

At least, I really hope not.

He Loves Me...He Really Loves Me.

Thank you to Shane's Deli in Wheaton for the inspiration...for my favorite of all their sandwiches.

OK, so I think I got it the first time we went and couldn't ever bear to order anything else. It's not like we went that often. Grad school, people! But Shane's was between us and the library, and for the first year we were there they had mint ice cream for shakes. Not peppermint...Mint. Or, was it peppermint after all? Maybe the mint is intruding on my consciousness from a farther-back day in Mahon. Either way, they were goo-ood.


Anyway, we went to Shane's on a realtor's recommendation when we were looking for housing before our move to Wheaton. We ended up living four blocks away. Although those were financially tight years, I think of our time in Wheaton with a passionate fondness. This sandwich is one of the flavors of that time.

Somehow, all of our days at Shane's happened to be sunny, not-too-hot wonderdays of refreshment and rest. I love that in a memory.

Plus, I've been craving prosciutto this week.

Thank you, J, for making my dreams come true! And not just the Caprese, either. ;)

Because She's Awesome, That's Why

J has the three amigos at the pool, and I am here with a braunschweiger sandwich and some Diet Hansen's Ginger Ale.

There is no date tonight. NO DATE! AAGGGHHHH!! It's 5:03, I'm supposed to be heading out the door!

Wait...We're going out tomorrow instead, to see Prairie Home Companion live at the Bowl. Yessss.

Now that you're all caught up, I'd like to share what came in the mail today.

A box. A large box. A box addressed toBud. He was astounded, thrilled, amazed. Then we told him that it might be a birthday present, and he might have to wait (maybe someone got the wrong month?). But no, it was really an unlooked-for gift just for Bud. Do you know what that can do for a four-year-old? Do you? Think about what it can do for a grown-up. And then multiply it by 1000. He doesn't even get junk mail.

My adorable sister Cupcake told me she had a recipe for worms for Bud. Well, it came today...along with all of the ingredients.


Can we all pause for a moment and say how incredibly cool that is?

This is the note she sent, with the recipe (Bud's name blocked out):

Ingredients:
Dirt (cake)
Mud (frosting)
Soil (Oreos)
Worms (worms)

I think this was my favorite part, considering Cupcake's phobia of lizards:



Thanks, Cupcake, for absolutely making Bud's Day.


And we haven't even made the recipe, yet!