Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

I did something really dumb last night. Really, really dumb!!!

My kids are off track so I haven't had to get up as early. The Dad had some lay offs at work this week (he wasn't layed off but had to lay off 2 people). I am really trying to get John potty trained while he is off track. (You're probably thinking, "Yea, he's 5 1/2, it's time." Well maybe you're cutting me some slack because of his autism but it's time.) Anyway, it's been kind of a stressful week and I've had a hard time sleeping.

Last night I stayed up. You may think, "no big deal she stayed up til midnight." That would be a wrong assumption. I stayed up til 2:45. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb!!! When I finally decided it was time for me to go to bed, I heard Kate crying. Now, usually I would just let her cry it out but her cry was different than usual so I got her up. Of course she didn't want me. She wanted The Dad. He brought her to bed with us but she wouldn't calm down and wanted the Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. You may think she wanted me to sing to her, but no. The Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is the rocking chair. I love the different names she has for things. I indulged her and rocked her and sang . . . Itsy, Bitsy Spider. (You thought I was going to say Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.) Finally, at 3:20 I decided to put her back in bed but she just cried more so we went back to the TTLS. I gave her a drink and rocked her for 20 more minutes and she was ready to go back down. I was REALLY ready to go to bed. Unfortunately, things didn't get much better.

I tossed and turned for another hour. Maybe falling asleep here and there but not staying asleep and at 4:30 John joined us in bed. He let the cat in when he came in so instead of being smart and getting the cat out, I fought the cat on and off for an hour because he wanted to lay right on me. And, what's the deal with kids and their sleeping positions. John decided to sleep perpendicular to The Dad and I so I had his head in my back. Once again, I wasn't smart. I should have just moved him and gotten a few hours of good sleep, but I didn't.

At 7:30 my alarm clock went off. It's new and I couldn't figure out how to turn it off instead of just snooze it. So, I had to take out the batteries. I just took out one but it still worked, so after another snooze, I took out the other battery. Today, I figured out how to turn off the alarm so it doesn't go off at all. At that point I turned John and of course it woke him up and he was up for the day. I still got to sleep a little but it's going to be a LONG day.

P.S. The potty training thing is really hit and miss. One day John didn't go pee until 5:00 and when he did he went in his underwear.

A day at the pumpkin patch

Maybe not a day. Actually about 30 minutes!

It started out pretty good but then the meltdowns started. Kate wanted to be carried but clearly I had to push the wheelbarrow so I couldn't hold her. She would fall on the ground in terrible two fashion and cry. I picked her up and put her in the wheelbarrow and sat her on the pumpkins, but apparently that wasn't working for her. Of course, John wanted to sit in the wheelbarrow but he is WAY to big so he started throwing a fit. Luckily we were able to get in line and the nice man behind me told me he could push my wheelbarrow and I could hold Kate. He pushed it through the line and to my van. What a nice guy! When I got to the register they were out of receipt tape for the credit card machine. Just my luck!! My friend had a checkbook so she paid for my pumpkins and we were able to leave.

At least Scott had fun!!

The talk

John and I had "the talk" last night. You know, the talk about potty training and how it really needs to happen. He is off track so I'm trying to get inspired to really do it and get it done. However, I need him to be on the same page. I have told him in the past that only babies wear diapers. He insists he is a big boy, but a big boy that wears diapers. So, last night I used bribery. It is my only chance!

Me: John, do you want to go pee pee in the potty?

John: No!

Me: What do you want for going pee pee in the potty? A new car, a dinosaur, a cookie?

John has a blank expression.

Clearly he didn't understand.

Me: Do you want a dinosaur when you go pee pee on the potty?

I figure I can buy a cheap pack of dinosaurs, 10 for a dollar and give him one every time he goes. It might be expensive but better than the 50 cents I pay per diaper for him right now.

John: Yes!!

Me: So you get 1 dinosaur for going pee pee in the potty and 2 dinosaurs for going poo poo in the potty.

John: Yes!!!

Me: John, what do you get for going pee pee in the potty?

John: 1 M&M

Seriously!!!! Yea, I guess he didn't get it!!!

Octagon, Hexagon or Pentagon

I was mopping the floor and needed Kate to be occupied while I finished up. I gave her the shape sorting toy but took out the hexagons and pentagons because she has a hard time differentiating between the two. After she was finished, she asked, " Where's the optagon?" Seriously, she's not even two! How in the world does she know what an "optagon" is? I guess I really need to teach her that the shapes in that toy are actually hexagons and pentagons. Ok, just kidding! She's just amazing!

My best idea EVER!!

Ok . . . maybe not my best idea . . . maybe not even a best idea . . . maybe just an idea . . . you tell me.

My kids are picky eaters and I am not great when it comes to feeding them. Take for instance tonight: We had tacos. Kate doesn't eat tacos very well so she ate half of a tortilla and called it good. Then she ate 3 snicker doodles later. Like I said, I'm not good at feeding them. I figure when they get hungry they'll eat. I'm tired of stressing about her and John not eating so if they don't eat, maybe they'll eat the next meal. Right? Right!

So, for the past few years, if I had leftovers, I would put them in the freezer and a few weeks later, when I didn't feel like cooking, I'd pull out the leftovers and Voila! a quick and easy meal. Let me say, for the past two weeks that is all I've done. Some of you may think that that is gross and Scott actually made a comment last week about one of the leftover meals. Apparently, the meal didn't freeze and thaw well so it was a bit soggy. Scott told me he didn't think he really liked leftovers but he ate it anyway.

Now for my brilliant idea. I started putting some of my leftovers in single serving baggies, flattening them and freezing them (of course, they have to be leftovers that well reheat well after being frozen). Warming up a small bag of food takes a lot less time than warming up a huge container (I don't warm up the bag, I actually cut it out of the bag and warm it in the Pampered Chef Micro Cooker® (love that thing!).

With John going to afternoon kindergarten, this works really well. I grab a bag of spaghetti or stroganoff, heat it up and there's his lunch. Sometimes I put two servings in the baggie and then I have lunch for John and Kate. I realize I am, sort of, being a short order cook but I don't care. Today for lunch, that's what I did. Scott had a baggie of chicken and rice, John had a baggie of spaghetti and Kate had a baggie of stroganoff. It was quicker than making a full meal for sure and they all got something they would eat. Oh, yea, and I skimmed some off the top of their baggie meals so I got lunch too. I think if you have five kids you may not think this is a great idea, BUT, if four of them go to school, then there you go. If all your kids are in school, then you've got a quick lunch for yourself.

Some of you may have already come up with this brilliant idea but it's new to me, and it's great!!