The Last 84 Minutes

You would think that cleaning up vomit would take away my late-night sweet cravings. You'd be wrong.

84 minutes ago, I was driving home from a book discussion group, thinking about the topics discussed of the Founding Fathers and the balance of powers in government, and thinking about how much I wanted to eat something sweet when I arrived home. I knew I shouldn't have anything, particularly since I had a little leftover birthday cake after lunch and I am trying to maintain my weight loss at the moment. Still, I was considering the vanilla ice cream in the freezer or the chocolate in the high cupboard.

When I got home, I found my three younger kids sleeping peacefully. Jared was watching a World Cup game and getting ready to leave for a late night indoor soccer game. The two older boys hadn't arrived home yet from Cub Scout camp. I contemplated that I would pay the bills and fold some laundry and maybe even have time for my fun book before Jared got home from soccer. The evening stretched out deliciously in front of me and I even forgot about the sugar calling me from the kitchen.

Then, within moments, my dream was shattered. From the girls' bedroom we heard screaming. (I am learning recently that girls really like to scream more than boys do.) I rushed in to find both girls hysterical and vomit (Bronwen's) on the floor by the door. I tried to comfort and clean up Bronwen while Jared tried to clean up the floor and comfort the traumatized baby sister while Bronwen wailed on. Just then, the big boys bounded in, anxious to tell us all about their adventures at camp and to eat at this late hour.

It was time for Jared to leave or his team would have to forfeit their game. I held the crying baby, asked the boys to get ready for bed and just skip a shower because Bronwen was in the bathtub, and rifled through the loads of clean clothes on my bed looking for some pajamas for Bronwen to wear. No luck. Where were they? Meanwhile, Bronwen wailed from the bathtub that she's cold and wants to get out. Finally I found something that would work for her and got her out as I discovered another puddle of vomit that Jared had missed. The baby had to go back in the crib to avoid having her play in it, which only made her sob all the more. A few minutes later, Bronwen was dressed for bed and the puke was cleaned up, but Bronwen wanted me to cuddle her. Margaret was still crying, and the boys wanted something to eat.

I told Bronwen that I couldn't cuddle her, I needed to help Meggie calm down and feed her brothers. She says plaintively, "but Mommy, I need your help," and I can't say no. Instead, I tell her I'll be right back. I ran out to the kitchen and helped the boys find some leftovers to warm up. Ian wandered out, groggy-eyed, and announced that he felt like throwing up. Fantastic. Kimball announced that his goldfish is dead. This was not the time to find me full of sympathy or helpfulness when it comes to a goldfish. Luckily, he seemed to need neither.

I got Meggie calmed down as long as I was holding her, sent Ian back to bed with a throw-up bowl, left Kimball and Henry to eat, and went back to Bronwen's room. She was sucking her thumb and trying to sleep, but still wanted me to cuddle her. I tried to sit by her and stroke her back while still holding the baby, but neither girl was interested in sharing me and I finally left the room with the baby, hoping Bronwen would fall asleep quickly.

This all went on for another 20 minutes or so. At 10:00 pm when all but Henry are in bed, I look at the clock and realize that I'll be lucky to load the dishwasher before Jared gets back, let alone pay the bills and fold the laundry or read my book.

Instead, I remember my sugar craving from earlier and find a chunk of milk chocolate in the high cupboard, which I have with a spoonful of this heavenly stuff. As I eat, I wonder how I can do so after so recently cleaning up after Bronwen's sickness. Then I decide to write a blog post instead of doing any of the work I need to do. There goes another 25 minutes!

Gotta go. Ian just threw up. Something tells me it's going to be a long night.

It's Baaaaaaa-aaaaack!

I think our record this winter for days in a row without a runny nose in the house is 15. And now we have to start the clock over.

In other news, based on my children's behavior this morning, they had better hope that no gypsies stop by our house today--I might just be tempted to sell them all. I wonder if gypsies have a good strategy for dealing with children far older than 2 who are still having 2-year-old tantrums?

Poor Baby

It stinks to throw up. It stinks more on your birthday. Especially when you are an 8-year-old.






We had plans this morning to go to the zoo with my nephews, then enjoy a picnic in the park and celebrate Kimball's birthday with these:
Allison and I made these cupcakes yesterday. Can you tell me who they are supposed to be? I'll do another post eventually with the directions on how to make your little Star Wars nut squeal with delight over these cupcakes.

Hopefully our little birthday boy will be feeling better soon. We have a family dinner planned right out of our Star Wars cookbook, Wookie Cookies. He takes after me--a party is all about the food!

I have a post planned about Kimball's miraculous birth, but I need to dig out some pictures of his tiny little 2 lb 15 oz body and scan them. Be back later!

Happy Valentine's Day!

For the past week around here there have been lots of flushed faces, glazed eyes, and bed head. That's because we've been passing around the latest flu bug. Henry got hit the hardest, with a fever that lasted on and off for five days. Kimball only had a fever for one day, which was a relief.Thankfully, there are no pictures to document my sick day!
This morning dawned bright and sunny, and I felt loads better than I had yesterday. I decided to make my kids a breakfast of heart shaped whole grain pancakes and strawberries. And did I mention that I let my children have Necco Conversation Hearts for breakfast? I guess I'm just a great mom that way! Why is it that I harbor hopes that I will not pass my food addiction on to my children?I decided on a more points friendly breakfast for myself of nonfat organic vanilla yogurt with strawberries and bananas--I want to save my points for some chocolate tonight!:) It tasted fabulous and kept me righteous in See's Candies a few minutes later.
We had a few valentines that we'd made that needed to be delivered after breakfast (hence the visit to See's). My apologies to Nana and Henry Moore, whose valentines have not been mailed yet due to the epidemic at our house. (Okay, the fact that I am postally challenged probably played into it.) Morgan, please show Henry this post and tell him that it will becoming in the mail soon--in all likelihood, sometime next week. That will teach you to swap valentines with the likes of me!
Anyway, we are home now and I'm about to dedicate myself to making a love dinner for Jared: Chicken Noodle Soup! Just kidding. We're having a green salad with feta cheese, fuji apples, and toasted walnuts, grilled rib eye steaks, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, and brownie-rocky-road-ice-cream-chocolate-ganache-bars that I've been working on. (Yep, that's why I needed to save some points for later! Too bad that this flu bug has made me miss spin for the past two mornings.) I'll post a photo when the brownie bars of deliciousness are all done. If we can wait that long before we consume them.
Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!