havocandmayhem.com

Mayhem decided to take up knitting this week. He found he had plenty of time to knit in the car while we ran errands Oops! Dropped a stitch The dinosaurs were very busy the other afternoon. Once again they requested muffins and they pitched in to make them. Though there was some conflict over who got to stir. Rumors of muffins attracted other dinosaurs And there was some more conflict over control of the bowl The winners circle the bowl in a victory dance But they shouldn't celebrate too soon, because over on the kitchen table trouble is brewing. I'm told they are just getting ready to cut the muffins into equal parts so everyone has a share. but I'm dubious. visit Lotus at www.sarcasticmom.com for more Weekly Winners

These are the layouts I have completed this week. Mayhem at 2 months, examining my camera. Mayhem at 11 months getting to play in a big pool for the first time. Havoc at his preschool fall pumpkin patch trip.

It started last night with the itchy, watery eyes and the burning about-to-sneeze feeling in the nose that never quite develops into a sneeze. This morning my eyes are still itchy and the sneezing has begun. They are just mild random, sets of 3 sneezes still, but soon they will become strong repetitive full body sneezing sessions lasting several minutes at a time. They come over and over again with breaks of maybe 10-30 minutes in between. They leave me exhausted and sore. I have to lay down but when they hit me while I am laying down they cause me sharp pain in my abs from the muscles tightening and often cause charley horses.  The physical effort of all the sneezing occasionally triggers asthma attacks. I lay on the bed *sneeze*, *wheeze*, *gasp* over and over again for up to 10 minutes at a time.  It's miserable, it's exhausting & it is depressing. This will happen again and again over the next 2-4 days. This has been hitting me for over a decade. Nothing helps. I take

Impatient with my slow toy production time, Mayhem has decided to just knit the things himself.

I worked myself into enough irritation about the muffins and forgot to post the recipe. *I* like them even if the boys are only so-so about them. I bet if I made them with Nutella and raspberry jelly Havoc would like them more. Peanut Butter & Jelly Muffins This makes a dozen regular sized muffins. Use paper muffin cups. Preheat oven to 375. 1.5 cups AP flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 teas baking soda 1/2 teas salt Combine in a large bowl& set aside 1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter 2 eggs at room temperature Mix these together well in a second bowl then add 3/4 cup milk 1 tsp vanilla 4 tblsp really soft/ melted but too not hot butter and mix thoroughly. Add to dry ingredients and mix until just combined Let sit for 10 minutes. Then spoon into muffin cups, filling each one about 3/4 of the way. Add a teaspoon of grape jelly to the center of each cup, making an indentation as you do. Bake for 20 minutes

Mayhem loves PB&J sandwiches. He eats them almost every day. He has been asking me to make PB&J muffins for a month now. Today I finally make them.... He refused to eat them. Said they smell bad. - WITHOUT actually being in the room to smell them. WTF? I think making him part of the process is the problem.  Most kids, if you let them help they are more likely to eat the food. Mayhem is the opposite. Seeing eggs mixed into peanut butter is gross. Smelling them is even grosser. Sometimes things don't smell or taste as good raw as they do when baked (Cookie dough is the exception. Cookie dough is better raw than baked) He doesn't understand that baking changes the taste & smell of things. That the slimy eggy peanut butter combines with the other ingredients into light fluffy baked goodness. He can smell that the finished muffin is different than the batter. He can see that it looks different. But he cannot forget what it once was. The raw batter was nasty looking.

Mayhem is just full of ideas - ideas of things for other people to do. Most of Havoc & Mayhem's play is Mayhem directed, in theory. Havoc may come up with the idea - "Lets build a tent with blankets" but Mayhem quickly takes over with suggestions about which blankets, where to put them in the living room, how to arrange them and what toys to take into the tent. Havoc, like any good cubical worker, looks like he is listening and then goes and does what he was intending to do anyway & then explains away any discrepancies in the final project by persuading Mayhem they were actually his idea. So it works out. Mayhem thinks I should be more of a traditional mom. I assume this from the projects he comes up with for me to do. He is full of ideas of what I should be baking. "You should make these muffins today Mama. Then these tomorrow and then these. Then maybe you can make these for when we go camping." Mayhem's favorite book is 500 Best Muffin Rec

I'm still experimenting with Lightroom 2. Havoc's first day of school **disclaimer - no children were actually given a ride on a running motorcycle, though the bike did slowly coast to the end of the driveway** Waiting for brother to come home Dinosaur feast For more Weekly Winners please visit Lotus at Sarcastic Mom

A couple of layouts I created this week kit is Carolina Haven by Eva Kipler at Sweet Shoppe Designs kit is Prehistoric by Dani Mogstad at Sweet Shoppe Designs

Mayhem misses Havoc. He's not used to being Havoc-less for more than a few hours, a couple days a week. Last year Havoc went to preschool 5 mornings a week and Mayhem went 3 mornings, so there were only about 6 hours a week where Mayhem was alone. Most of those hours were spent at the gym play area and running errand with mom. This year Havoc is away from 7:15 to 4pm. It is a long time to be without your brother. The first day of school Mayhem walked down to the mailbox twice to wait for his brother (and was given the lecture of his life the first time on "NEVER EVER go down the driveway without Mommy or Daddy" and a smack on his but the second time. It's cute, but it's dangerous). Finally it was time to go meet the bus It was a loooong wait because they couldn't tell me when they would drop him off so we were 15 minutes early. Yesterday and today have been more of the same, minus the walks to the mailbox, instead he asks every 20 minutes "When w

I made muffins. I made those muffins specifically to give to Havoc when he came home from school. See, I have this vision in my mind of the kind of mom I want to be - the kind that greets their children with home baked goodness and milk when they get home from school. The kind that sits down with them at the kitchen table and asks them how their day went, in a casual, non-cross examining manner. I want my kids to have a memory of a mom who fed them fresh from the oven baked goods and listened with interest & sympathy to their thoughts after school. I've been waiting for almost 6 years to get a shot at being this kind of mom & now it has finally happened. I have no idea if I actually am that sort of mom, or if this particular fantasy of mine will last beyond next week, but it's worth a go. I have the essential elements - I like to bake and I am a good listener. But I am also lazy and selfish and get involved in other things to the point where it is too late to bake so

Sweetheart, Today is your first day of kindergarten. You've been looking forward to it.  We met your teacher and saw your classroom 2 days ago. You told me she seemed nice and you couldn't wait to play with all the things in your class room. You were very excited about getting to ride on the bus this morning and when it finally came you climbed on with a quick goodbye and hardly a backward glance. My little man! So grown up already. I'm glad you are so eager & so positive about this experience.  I want this to be a happy time,something you look back on with fondness, but being Mom, I worry. I'll always worry about you. That's my job. Starting today you will now spend more time with others than you do with me and I worry. Will they be kind to you? Will they understand you? Will they patient? Will you make friends? Will they be good friends? What sort of friend will you be? Which of the myriad of influences you will be exposed to, will you pick up?   Have I

Yesterday got off to a non-normal start due the nature of my errands and the order in which they needed to happen. I had to go to the school's Open House to see what supplies I was missing before I went to Wal Mart. The Open House was in the afternoon, so I couldn't actually go to Wal Mart yesterday because there was no time. I couldn't go to the gym because it is up by Wal Mart & I don't like running all the way into town for only one thing. This means that my normal Monday morning routine of gym, shopping, library couldn't happen. The Open House was also a non-normal event. Normally I don't go anywhere in the afternoons. I do housework instead. Open House went well. We met the boys' teachers & saw their classrooms. Both boys practiced finding their classrooms from the front door & did well. They seemed to like their teachers. I felt like I ought to be asking the teachers meaningful & penetrating questions about their classrooms and teachi

I'm playing around with Lightshop & comparing it to what I can do in PSPX2. Story behind this photo - the screen at this McD's never shows anything but these words. Apparently just by being on the screen ensures order accuracy & prompt service. Or so it thinks anyway... The boys fell asleep reading my amigurumi crochet book (PSPX2 edit) Havoc and one of our cats (Lightroom edit) Perhaps the grass does need mowed (PSPX2 edit) Dino races! The stegosaur won. (Lightroom edit) Please visit Lotus at Sarcastic Mom to see more Weekly Winners.

I have really fallen down on dinner planning for the past few weeks. Meals have been very haphazard & food is being wasted. Today I inventoried my freezer & pantry, then locked myself in the bedroom with my recipe cards and planned out 12 meals for the next 2 weeks. I only actually cook about 10 of them. We go out for dinner once a week, do rotating cookouts with friends on Sundays & at least once in 2 weeks dinner will be courtesy of Kraft or Mrs Paul. This is what I have come up with for the rest of the month, in no particular serving order. Chicken with cider & parsnips Pocket sandwiches - chicken & veggies Pesto chicken pizza Miso chicken sandwiches Scotch eggs & salad Baked eggs with potatoes Greek marinated steak & feta salad Steak chimichuri & veggie kabobs (our turn at grill night) Spaghetti carbonara Pizza di spaghetti Turkey croquettes with spinach mashers (new to me Rachel Ray recipe) Sweet pea soup with parmesan garlic

I had done fairly well at sticking to a routine through June & most of July. I went to the gym 3 days a week. I had meals planned for 2 weeks at a time. I kept on top of grocery needs, sales and coupons. We went to the library once a week, had a reading plan and kept track of our books. The boys had a nice routine of running around, imaginative play, swimming, Wii, and TV/DVD watching. We had playdates. We even had a weekly craft thing going. It all went to hell in mid-July. The humidity here was outrageous, keeping the kids inside & pushing off swimming until after 4pm. Or it rained all day. Having them underfoot all the time is distracting & left me with no time to keep up on the grocery lists & coupons. It was too hot to want to cook anything so the meal planning went out the window.  My car a/c crapped out, and we don't have a garage, or anyplace continually shady to park a car. It was an oven. I didn't drive it anywhere I didn't have to go. Two weeks

I'm not really in a constant bad mood, right now I am feeling pretty good in fact. It's just been a long week since Mayhem had his tonsils out & I am easily irritated & things just seem to keep popping up. These are the things that have put me out of sorts off & on over the past week 1. Mayhem seems to be taking longer to heal than they said he would 2. I am up 3x a night dealing with a child in pain and am very very tired 3. I'm so over the past 8 years of Bush bashing (I didn't vote for him, I'm just sick of hearing it) 4. I am dreading the coming minimum 4 years of Obama or McCain bashing 5. If I hear one more word about how great/horrible it is the county & city are merging I am going to scream. I don't even live in that county. I really don't care about the issue and am so sick of hearing about it from people who expect me to feel just as strongly as they do 6. The school has had 5 months to tell me Havoc's physical is ou

i'm playing around with Lightroom Technorati Tags: Wordless Wednesday

And it's a good thing too, because with Mayhem still in pain recovering from tonsils and Havoc being frustrated by having no one to play with most of the time, my brain is fried. Jen tagged me to do this meme - List 6 of your unspectacular quirks. 1. I shout when I get frustrated 2. I cry when I am afraid 3. I have to rearrange the layers of every sandwich I order in a deli or restaurant because they pile everything up in the center to make it look huge when it is cut in half and I prefer my sandwiches to have evenly spread ingredients 4. I wear my underwear inside out because I have sensitive skin & the seams rub 5. I don't always speak up when I should 6. I can talk myself out of working out very easily I'm tagging Maggie Glynis Cindy Kim Deb Kristen Here are the rules when you get tagged: 1. Link back to the person who tagged you 2. Mention the rules on your blog 3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours 4. Tag 6 follo

Havoc got some new goggles The stegosaur now has a nest of eggs And there was some conflict over a watermelon. Havoc uses our old digital camera from time to time. These are his weekly winners. One of our cats Daddy's motocycle Self-portrait

At least, it was for the people around us. We were not exactly thrilled by it either. We were visiting friends in Baltimore for a weekend. We had gone to the Baltimore Aquarium and then decided to visit a casual & inexpensive seafood restaurant for dinner. There were 12 of us - 6 adults (over 30) and 6 kids (under 5). We were, or course, every waiters nightmare. And we recognized that fact.  Every one of us had, at some point, put in a year or more in the restaurant business. We made sure to call ahead, to arrive at the family dining hour of 5pm, to bring our own sippy cups, goldfish and some toys. Had the restaurant held up their end of the deal I think it would have been a much better experience for everyone. But they didn't so they have no one to blame but themselves. First, we had to wait 10 minutes for them to decide how to seat us, even though they knew we were arriving when we did. Second, instead of tucking us into one of their many alcoves (which were empty and wou

or adenoids either, though I would have been hard pressed to point out his adenoids in any circumstances. I know what tonsils are. Adenoids? Those are those things they usually take out with your tonsils, leading me to believe they are related somehow. I do know they are the part mostly likely responsible for his speech problem, but where exactly they are located I can't say. It went really well & despite my fears I had no time to be afraid. We got there the requiste 2 hours early, so we could have an hour and 40 minutes to sit around and wait. I can only assume the 2 hour early rule is so the hospital can make sure you really don't eat anything for at least those 2 hours before surgery. They can tell you "no food for 8 hours and no liquids for 4" but I'm willing to bet people don't follow that & that can cause trouble. If they make you be there 2 hours early they can ensure that small food & drinkless window.  Mayhem'd spent the trip to th

I like to crochet. It is my longest lasting hobby. I learned to crochet from my maternal grandmother when I was 7 and have been doing it off and on ever since. I have a newer hobby as well. I am a digital scrapbooker. I started digi scrapping in 2005. I've always liked the idea of scrapbooking but it just seemed so much work to get all those supplies out, not too mention the issue of having an infant & toddler underfoot, so I would constantly be having to put everything away. There was the storage issue and the costs of supplies. I have no space for all the paper, ribbons, buttons, die cutters, etc and no income to buy them. The biggest issue though was scissors. I am not good with scissors. I can't cut a straight line to save my life. A friend of mine discovered digital scrapbooking in Aug 2005 and sent me some links to Digital Scrapbook Place . They had a lot of tutorials for Paint Shop Pro. I'd heard of digital scrapbooking but everything I'd seen was about u

Jeans, on sale for                        $12 Beach tote, on sale for                  $8 Thomas Train DVDs, on sale for     $5 320GB EHD, on sale for                $89 High heeled boots, on sale for      $72 100% bamboo yarn, on sale for       $9 15' swimming pool on sale for     $150 Having a friend who lets you know where all the best sales are Priceless

Making mud puddles was popular this week. Both making them and standing in Then there was the dramatic sword fight brother against brother going on and on It was exhausting. and the sage has flowered. Visit more Weekly Winners over at SarcasticMom.com .