More Teeth!

Cassie is in the process of tripling her teeth (going from two to six). She's not as crabby as you'd think although she's not sleeping as well as usual. We took a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon before her lunch--she loves our walks in the Mei Tai.

I went on a cooking spree yesterday. I made pork lo mein and chicken chili to top baked potatoes. Jamie and I really enjoyed the lo mein for dinner last night (Cassie had it for lunch this afternoon, too and loved it) and I loved the 'taters for lunch today. Best of all? They're super easy!

Chicken Chili Stuffed Taters
Nuke 4 large fork-pierced taters for 10-12 minutes until tender. Let stand 5 minutes. Meanwhile, saute 3/4 lb ground chicken w/one small chopped onion until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender. Stir in 16 oz jar mild green salsa (I used medium) and 1/2 cup water; cook 5 minutes to blend flavors. Slash tops of taters w/knife to make X; push in sides to form an opening. Spoon chili into taters and top w/2 or 3 quartered cherry tomatoes. Note: I made the chili topping yesterday and refridgerated it. I nuked 1 tater for lunch and then heated up 1 serving of chili to top that tater. Oh, and I added a pinch of cumin to the chicken and onion while it browned.

Pork Lo Mein
Preheat oven to 425. Place 1lb pork tenderloin in a shallow baking pan and bake about 15-20 minutes until cooked through. Meanwhile, prepare 9 oz of linguine according to pkg directions. Steam (or nuke) 16 oz bag of frozen mixed stir fry veggies per pkg directions. Drain pasta, toss w/veggies and 1 cup light teriaki sauce. Thinly slice pork on the diagonal and serve on top of noodles.

Enjoy!

Chase ended up face planting yesterday at his soccer game. I had already left (Cassie was crabby), but Grandpa Bill filled me in. He was a little scraped up, but no worse for the wear by the time he got home. I believe his last game of the season is on Saturday!

Cassie awakes--not a good nap. It may be time for a bit of Motrin...

No pics today

The camera is upstairs. I'll post pics from this weekend later. I've also got to get the pics from Chase's self-haircut this weekend off Dad's camera. I snapped a few pics of his handiwork before buzzing his hair off. He's still got a teeny bald spot up front, but the mini-Marine 'do looks 1000 times better than the chewed up handiwork of a six year old using dad's (electric) razor while Dad puts his baby sister to bed.

The kids had a great time with their cousins this weekend. Jamie and I got home from Nita's at 10:30pm on Saturday night to find Chase passed out naked in the middle of our bed. Apparently he wanted to shower with one of us, so Aunt Mikki told him to wait for us to get home. Naked. In our bed. Crazy.

Final crazy Chase story for the day: yesterday Chase came home w/a picture he'd drawn at school labeled "I would spank him." It showed a guy spanking a kid. It also showed a mom going to the fridge. The best part? The dad spanking the kid was holding a beer in one hand and spanking the kid with the other. Am I the only one who thinks we're going to get a call from the school psychologist? In fairness--Chase was talking about what he would do to Fudge of Judy Blume's "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and "SuperFudge" fame. Fudge DOES deserve a swift smack on the bottom and props to Chase for recognizing that. But the beer/spanking combo was just a bit much, even for my unPC self. ;)

Yes, compared with her big brother--Cassie is quite the mellow child. She's cruising and climbing (another climber--YIKES) up a storm and still a happy, sunshiny little girl.

So I was going to post a really cute pic of Cassie trying to figure out the Mei Tai (I guess she wanted to be worn), but Blogger won't let me do that. She's currently napping. I went on a marathon cleaning spree yesterday--I guess my newly doubled thyroid meds kicked in and the pit that this place turned into while I slid into hypothyroidism slothdom finally got to me. It is finally back to normal, although I need to do something about Jamie's man-cave. The clutter all over his desk is driving me crazy. His life would be so much easier if he'd just be organized. Sheesh. Not to mention how much easier MY life would be. ;)

Chase is doing well--he's playing baseball in the backyard w/Jamie when he can, gearing up for coach pitch in a few weeks. He's got three more soccer games this week, but it looks like some may be rained out. Soccer season was a bit of a wash out b/c of all the rain this spring.

We're looking forward to Aunt Mikki's visit this weekend w/the kids. Aunt Amy stopped by last night and stayed for pizza and Grey's Anatomy, the kids had a blast w/her! Cassie particularly enjoyed dance party...

Cassie awakes--it is time for our walk.

Does this diaper make my butt look big?

That would be the front of Cassie's shirt today. The front of her size 18 months shirt, which works well with her size 18 months shorts. Oh Cassie, it isn't the diaper--your butt IS big, sister! ;)FTR, Chase wore size 18 months when he actually was 18 months old. And both of my nieces can wear size 18 months--Sarah was 2 last month and Hayden will be 3 in July. So much for milking hand me out downs out of them...

The funny thing is--she gets the thunder thighs from me. Grandpa Bill keeps pulling out pics of me at age 2, looking remarkably like my daughter. I'm going to have do dig up a scanner and post proof...

Earthquake!

So funny story--the earthquake this morning woke me (and the rest of the region) up from a dead sleep. I snapped at Jamie to make the dog stop shaking the bed (I thought he was running in his sleep or something). Jamie said it wasn't the dog (or Chase, who was between us)--I was crabby and we eventually fell back asleep. We saw the earthquake on the news a few hours later and it all made sense b/c Woody has never made the headboard vibrate before. Still a 5.2 isn't THAT big of deal--right?

I just got a phone call from my friend Aga who said, "What do you think?" And I said, "About what?" And she said, "The 4.something aftershock we just had!" Aga is from Poland and apparently there are no earthquakes or tornados there so she is wigging out right now. I, OTOH, totally missed the aftershocks b/c I'm in the basement on the 'puter. And both kids (and the dog) slept the earthquake this morning--clearly we're not cut out for this much excitement.

I wonder if the kids felt it at school...

So I got carded tonight. And it was probably b/c I was at dinner w/two 23 year old former advisees, but I don't care. My almost a decade older than them (YIKES) self still got carded. So even if it was a pity carded--there was still a question re: the legality of my consuming a glass of wine and it counts.

For a few short hours tonight, I remembered what it was like to be young...and I had fun.

Cassie and I took an hour long walk around the neighborhood today--trying to soak up all the 70+ degree temps that we possibly could b/c the weather goes to hell in a handbasket tomorrow. It was really very nice and I think hauling her around the Mei Tai is darn good cardio. Or something. Jamie attempted to play baseball w/Chase in the backyard w/Cass in the Mei Tai--I haven't heard how that went, but Chase waited up to let me know that daddy was "grumpy" tonight. And to see Molls b/c he's got a crush on her. He knows that at 17 years his senior, she's too old for him, but if she was in kindy instead of grad school, or even grade school vs. grad school--she'd better watch out. ;)

Tomorrow Best Buy is coming to fix the tv (finally!), Cassie's parent educator is coming (to tell me she's brillant--duh), and we're all going to Chase's BFF's house for dinner. Despite the craptastic weather (I'm expecting another soccer rainout), it should be a great day...

Hooked!

So tonight, as we were taking a family walk, I asked Jamie to carry Cassie in the Mai Tei. She hates her stroller and I didn't particularly feel the need of 20 additional pounds on me if I could con Jamie into it. He's resisted the Mai Tei every other time, but tonight he was feeing cooperative. So I strapped her in. And he is hooked! He loves it as much as I do. He couldn't believe how much more comfortable it is vs. the Bjorn we had w/Chase. And aren't they the cutest thing ever?

I suspect I'm going to have to start fighting him for it...