*whew*

"Hi, Mrs. Dy, this is somebody from the Sparkly New Big-People's Dentist Office. I'm just calling to remind you about your root canal tomorrow at a really inconvenient time."

What? No. NO! It's next week at a really inconvenient time... isn't it? (I really hate that I can't keep these things straight.)

Turns out, it's both days, at equally inconvenient times. (Seriously, it's a root canal, how accomodating can it be?) Pick one! Weee.

All three boys got in today to see New Mr. Good Dentist. (Mr. Please-Please-Be-Good Dentist. Please.) We'll just call him MGD: the dentist, not the beer. He's wild. The office is... wild. On an intimidation factor, it rates a negative number. And he seems pretty competent. But I don't entirely trust myself on this anymore. Previous Dentist seemed that way, too, at first. Of course, all the work the boys had done by Previous Dentist has to be redone because it either a) fell out, or b) wasn't done properly and caries have developed beneath the filling. Lovely, that. *sigh* You know it's bad when MGD starts out giving you his introductory Philosophy of Non-Invasive-Techniques speech,

"At this age, I mostly watch this or that and see if - HOLY CRAP, we've got to get this done PRONTO!"

He may not have actually said "holy crap", but then again, he may have. It was hard to follow the flow once he got excited.

He also uses euphemisms which caught me a bit off guard. Like when he said, "We need to screw this one."

You what?

"Screw it. You know, p-u-l-l it o-u-t. It just sounds better."

No. It doesn't. Trust me.

Later, while explaining why he does one procedure in two visits, "It tends to cause a little b-l-e-e-d-i-n-g, so..."

Um, they're eight and six. While you *do* spell rather quickly, I'm pretty c-e-r-t-a-i-n they can s-p-e-l-l b-l-o-o-d. But you know, that's a quirk. And it's a thoughtful quirk. And I'm good with that. (Although, for the record, I don't *think* in spelled out words, so if by chance you're reading this Dr. MGD, I'm not a moron, but I honestly didn't see that coming and it took me a while to switch gears. I'd only had one large travel mug of j-a-v-a that morning.)

Tomorrow is Drag Your Spawn to Work Day at Zorak's work. He's taking the three eldest spawn. BabySpawn and I are going to have a busy, productive day, and then we'll all meet up at the secret r-o-n-d-a-y... erm, spot. (You know I'm kidding, right?) The boys were so excited (how excited were they?)
...so excited that it's a good thing I made them go to bed at seven-thirty so they could lie there and twitch for a while before getting sucked into oblivion.
...so excited that even an entire chapter in Eagle dedicated to Marcus' recovery couldn't lull them to sleep.
If they ever give in and get some rest, it should be a fun day.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Someone's in the Kitchen With Dy, Now

Because you really needed a cheesy song stuck in your head. With the wrong lyrics, too, huh?

Well, we made it there and back again. The Suburban is now provably legal. (Is that a made up word? It feels like it.) Anyhow, I can't vouch for the pickup, but that's a whole 'nuther post.

The boys were in an awesome place today. Aside from the paperwork and organizing issues, I was in an awesome place today. It was good, all around. We needed a really good day. James got up early, so we had hot tea and played chess. Then I tried to convince him to go for a walk with me. "But MOOOOOOOOOOM, it's FREEZING out!" It is not. Let's go. "OK, let me get my winter coat out..." So, to prove that a hoodie would work just fine, we checked the weather. 64 degrees. "That's practically snowing!" I was going to clear up that little misconception, but by then Smidge and Emily were awake and in need of some snuggles, so James was spared a trek across the Tundra. :-) Funny kid.

We made a fantastic banana bread. I found the recipe at Fitness and Freebies' wheat-free recipes section. And, of course, I modified it a bit. *grin*. If you'd like to see the original, you can find that here. But here's what we did with it:

WF Banana Bread
1 c. flour blend (I use mostly garbanzo, fava, brown rice and a little white rice - just use whatever)
1/4c. teff flour (I've been slipping this into *everything* lately. It's like I've become the neighborhood grain dealer. *psst*, Kid, wanna buy some protein?)
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt (ok, I don't measure a quarter of a teaspoon of anything - that's officially "a sprinkle" in my kitchen)
1 packet gelatin
1/3 c. butter
1/3 c. sugar
3 egg yolks (Trust me, save the whites. They come in later, and you don't want to be staring at the trash, thinking, "Why didn't somebody tell me to reserve the whites?" I'm telling you now.)
1 tsp. vanilla (OK, I'm a bit liberal with my vanilla - I just splash it in til it looks right. Odds are good there was more than one teaspoon in this loaf.)
3/4 c. mashed banana (I used two bananas and figured they'd have to work, whether they made exactly 3/4 c. or not - turned out pretty close. I don't think this is a horribly touchy ingredient.)
1/4 c. plain yogurt (We never have plain. I always forget that I'll need it for baking. I used vanilla. You could also use sour cream. Or even buttermilk. Really, it's your bread. Have fun with it.)
3 egg whites (Preferably the ones you saved from earlier.)

Preheat your oven to 350'. Grease AND FLOUR your pan. I like rice flour. It's the least expensive of the wf options, and doesn't seem to get absorbed by the rest of the batter. Win-win, in my book.

Sift all your dry ingredients into a medium-sized bowl. (If you don't want to sift, you can dump and whisk - works equally well.)

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs and continue to beat until light. (Seriously, it'll get somewhat fluffy.)

Mix in the banana and yogurt. Blend well. Add dry ingredients. Blend well (yes, again. I know.)

Now, in a small bowl, beat your egg whites until soft peaks form. This is for the texture of the loaf. Once you've got soft peaks, fold the beaten egg white gently into the batter. You don't want to mix it in too much, b/c it's the little air bubbles in the egg white that will pull mock-gluten duty and keep your bread afloat. Just fold it in. You won't end up with a weird quiche-loaf. And if you do, then tell everybody it's quiche-loaf and swear you never said a thing about banana bread. But I've done this a lot and never had to rely on that one.

Turn it all into your pan, smooth the top and pop into the oven.

Clean the kitchen, kick back, read to the kids, and in an hour you're eating delicious fresh banana bread. Tada!

My one and only gripe is that it makes just one loaf, and I've not had a whole lot of success in doubling my recipes. However, I'm going to master this one. The entire loaf is gone, except for the bits that stuck to the pan. (The original recipe says only to grease the pan, but I'd recommend slapping a little rice flour in it, too.)

On the upside, my hand-held mixer finally died today. I usually use it until it starts to emit a burning smell, then switch to the trusty wooden spoon. Today, there was no smell. Just a very loud, obvious clanging... and a slowing... of the beaters... until, finally... they stopped. As the clanging grew disturbingly loud, James looked up from his math and said, "WHAT are you making?" Heh. Yep, that's my boy. So why is that the upside? It means, WOOHOO! (singing) I can buy a mixer now! I can buy a mix-er! We need a heavy-duty one. One with a transmission in it. Yeah, baby!

Lessons, lessons, lessons. Good, good, good. Math, reading, Latin, science. Stories. Snacks. More banana bread. Play time. Errands. 'Nuggles. Laughter. Baby kisses. Toddler hugs. Big kids who still hold my hand while we walk, who still give me hugs for no reason. Even if I'm not holding baked goods. What more could I ask for from the day? Not. A. Thing. Ahhhh. Yes.

Next week looks like it'll be heavy on the doctor visits. Nobody's sick, it's just that everybody needs something at the same time. And when we must do several things at the same time, I realize there are a lot of us. I told Claudia today that I need a personal secretary. She pointed out that I'm kinda-sort Zorak's personal secretary. Oh. Wow, he's getting gypped, then, isn't he? But maybe if I can get him to promote me to "Executive Secretary", then I can start the hunt for an "Assistant Executive Secretary" for ME? Yeah? Think it'll work? Me, neither. But it's fun to pretend.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Grrrr.

Well, I guess at least they're leaving the mail box alone for now.

Things have developed a habit of not arriving at our mail box, and it's starting to torque me off a wee bit.

Anniversary or birthday cards - sucked into the abyss. Family calling to see why we didn't mention it. Hmmm, never got here. Sorry.

Our tax refund from two different states from *last year* still haven't arrived. "But it was mailed."

Our tag renewal, just called to find out where that went... "Well, it was mailed."

Add to it the arrival of the fraud form from our bank (credit card stolen last month), and yet, no replacement cards tagging along anywhere within a week's delivery of the form. All processed the same day. "Yep, we mailed it."

Gah. I'm frustrated. And now off to drive all the way into town to pick up our replacement tags because 1) they're WAY WAY past needed, and 2) "If we mail these to you and they don't arrive, you'll have to pay again" - oh, pfft. Yeah, I'd love to cough up that much money *twice* for something I cannot control. *sigh* So, we're into town. This isn't the week I really needed one. more. trip into town.

But it'll be okay. We'll get some mango juice for making squishies after ball practice. Squishies make everything better.

Dy

I can't read that!

Tonight, the Small Ones passed out during AFV, so I told the Big Ones that if they could get ready for bed without setting off flares or fire bombs, we could huddle up in Mom and Dad's bed and read their choice of books tonight.

It worked shockingly well, and the Big Ones piled onto my bed with three books to read. I peeked over the pillows to see... Captain Boldheart (Oh, I love that one!), The Star of Christmas (OK, I can handle that one...) and --

(insert theme music from Psycho, here)

ACK! NO! NOnononononono!

The Littlest Angel!

I CAN'T READ THAT! You *know* it makes me cry. (And it does. It makes me cry every. single. time. I have never, in almost nine years, been able to read that book aloud all the way through. It has always made me cry. I always brace myself and tell myself I can do it, and then the next thing I know, there's snot flying and tears gushing and I have to call in Daddy to finish it.)

At this point, John looks over, "Oh, hey, that looks like a neat book." (Were you not listening?)

So they're in my room now, and James is reading it to John while I hole up clear across the house, with the music turned up loud, so I'm not a blubbering mess when it's my turn to read.

Maybe I should've saved this for a Works for Me Wednesday? "When you just can't do it, pawn it off on the oldest child."

Oh, it's my turn to read. And I'm pretty sure Captain Boldheart won't make me cry.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Favorite Mother

I did something the other day that I thought was pretty darned cool. I don't remember what it was, now. Probably got us somewhere on time, or without hitting anything on the way. Anyhow, it was cause for celebration.

As I turned off the engine, I said, "Alright, so who's your favorite Mom?" (Yes, a loaded question. I know.)

In UNISON, my two eldest shout back,

"GRANNY!"

...uh... but she's not your mother.

"She's Dad's mom," says Thing 1.

"Yeah, that counts!" Chimes in Thing 2.

Oh. Well, that's not quite what I was looking for, but I'm sure Granny will be glad to know she's loved.

And she is. :-)

(And in the next round of voting, I did, in fact, come in a solid Second. You know, out of two...)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Book Update

I am still slowly making my way through Last of the Mohicans. It's enjoyable, but I've been a bit lax with my readings. First, I forgot where I put the book (right there on the bookshelf, with all the other books-to-be-read). Then Claudia mentioned something about the ending and, being the obstinate dork she is, wouldn't tell me what she meant. So I, being the obstinate dork I am, went to the back and read the last four chapters of the book, in reverse order, going far enough back in the story until I could figure out what she was talking about.

And for the first time EVER, I wish I hadn't done that.

I wish she'd have just told me what she was going to say. That wouldn't have ruined the story for me (I know, I'm weird like that. If I ask about how something ends, just tell me. If I thought I didn't want to know, I wouldn't ask. Really. And I don't blab endings to others, unless they're weird like me. I get that.) What ruined it for me was realizing I'd read too far back into the book before I clicked that what she'd meant to not tell me was right there in the last chapter... and so, I kind of ruined some of it for myself by reading too much of the end first.

But I still maintain that there's not a thing wrong with reading the last chapter. Sometimes you've just gotta.

Still reading The Innocents Abroad, and still enjoying, although only in snippets. If I try to take it in bites too large, the flavors begin to go bland, it seems.

The boys and I finished Captains Courageous tonight. The boys were taken in by the quality of Troop's character. They really liked Dan and Harve's relationship. The cook freaked them out a bit. They fell in love with Mr. Cheyne, although they didn't get to meet him until the end. Somehow, Kipling pulled his character together in a way that, although you didn't go to sea with him, you did get to know him in the end. That was fun. John really has a soft spot for Penn. James likes Long Jack. Smidge wants to know when we'll be reading Farmer Boy again.

What next? I'm not sure. Not sure at all. Right now, I have so many things I want to read with them that I find myself a bit paralyzed by indecision.

James and I have been reading Rosemary Sutcliff's Eagle of the Ninth. I'd begun this with him about two years ago, but he wasn't interested, so we laid it aside. Last year, I put it out on his "check this out" shelf, and he showed some interest, but it didn't quite hold him. This time, as a one-on-one read aloud, he's enjoying it much more.

Now I need to find something to read to John one-on-one, as he wants to have that time, but isn't quite ready to follow Sutcliff's book at the pace James needs (truly, any slower, and the book would be dull as dirt, too). Somehow, when you're six, the group read aloud just doesn't have the same sparkly glow to it that the one-on-one time together does.

Together, we are finishing up Memoria Press' Famous Men of Rome, starting Padriac Colum's The Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said (a Baldwin Project book, if anyone is interested), The Japanese Twins (another Baldwin Project book), and delving back into daily poetry (now that I've found the box with all the poetry books in it!) Oh, and Jess brought us a copy of Bennett's The Book of Virtues, which has long been a favorite on rent, erm, loan from the library.

Reading with the boys is so good for me. I know I'm mortal. I realize it's very possible my eyesight and my brain may give out before I can read all the books in the world that need readin'! I want to take one deep breath and inhale them all, but the boys, they slow me down. They still think they're immortal and that every book was written just for them. They don't want to inhale it. They want to take it apart, the way you would a big chunk of crumbly, moist cornbread, and savor each and every part of it. Truth be told, it's haarrrrrrrd to slow down. But it's good. It's really good. How many delightful meals would we miss if we swallowed them whole? And why is it that children have an easier time remembering that than adults do?

So, we'll go slow. And we won't get it all. But oh, what we do get to - it'll be wonderful!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

A Linky of Love

I need a linky for a special post. Mr. Linky's main site won't let me in unless I register first, and let's be honest, I'm pretty maxed out on coming up with another password (and then remembering it).

So, all of the blogs I've seen a Linky on are typepad blogs. Will a Linky work on blogger, too?

Thanks!
Dy

I love grey, rainy days

They just make it such fun to look out the window, and snuggle in the dim light, don't they?

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

General Life Overview

Well, today was better. And I have evidence. Sadly, Blogger's photo utility won't upload anything but little red X's in boxes on blogs. Maybe the photo tech team is working on a new Dr. Seuss-style code?

We found Captains Courageous earlier this week (under the couch! It had gone MIA a while back - I don't know if Smidge hid it in the hope that we'd pick up Farmer Boy again, or what, but there you have it), so we've been finishing that up. I think this is one I'll read again a time or two. The story has enough complexity and development to keep the reader engaged; the characters, enough depth and, of course, Kipling's wry humor, to keep the reader attached.

We don't have the next Dick and Jane book, and John got tired of waiting for a chance to get to the bookstore, so he picked up More Days and Deeds and asked if he could "challenge" himself with it. (What am I gonna say? No, we're not there yet? *snort*) It's a stretch for a new reader, but he sees it as the challenge it is, and he's up for it. We spend his time reading together, one page each. The only concern I have is that the font is *tiny*, so I'd like to see if I can find him something comparable to spend more of his actual reading time on (or possibly find a large print edition of this book). The brain could use a good stretching, but those big brown eyes just don't need any added stress.

James is sort of in his own world lately. I'm not sure what to make of it. He's still very loving, and he still desires to be helpful and diligent. He simply forgets what he was doing and gets distracted. If you gave the Poky Little Puppy some espresso, you'd have my 8 1/2 y.o. son right now. And he's having a difficult time stopping to think before he acts. Sometimes I just watch him go and think, "Oh, my. That one'll never be able to live on his own." Friends who have been there before (and those who just want me to hang in there, even if they don't believe it) tell me it's a phase and it's perfectly natural. I hope they're right, because if nothing else, it's exhausting.

Smidge wants to learn how to read. This does not mean he'll be reading by the time he turns four, of course. (I mean, he could be, but he's not focused on it. It's what his brothers do, and what we do, and it's fascinating; therefore, he wants to do it, too.) Today he spent a good twenty minutes in the tub, making words with the bath letters and then reading them to Baby Girl. They all spelled "eww", according to him. I really love this stage. (It's familiar. The learning curve has shallowed considerably. I know we'll survive it, and he will not be, at the ripe old age of 15, still insisting that "QBEZ" says "eww". When you know what's going to happen, it's easier to enjoy the bizare and unique that makes up childhood. I should take the knowledge I have in the lessons I've learned and apply them to the faith I need to get over the *new* humps and hurdles. *sigh* Yes, I know.)

EmBaby is changing SO fast, and growing SO much. We're *right here*, every day, and yet we still feel like we blink and somebody switches her out for a larger model with more features and optional programs. She's just amazing. And funny. And sometimes I look at her and feel like my heart is there, walking around outside my body... and it's beautiful. So beautiful. And a little snot-encrusted, which I didn't expect, truthfully. But still, so beautiful.

They all are. And when I think about all four of them, in all their unique, quirky, loving, silly, brilliant creation... All I can do is gasp for breath. Where's the Motherhood Nebulizer? The one for all of us who just freeze up when we think of ALL that this life entails, and it's all we can do to draw a breath. I'd love one of those. And while we're requesting special parental medications, how about a Gear Switching Enzyme? Wouldn't it be great to take a few drops of this stuff and *poof* you can slide from MommyMode to KitchenMode in the time it takes to walk to the fridge? Another drop or two when the kids go down and you can downshift from TidyMode to RomanticEveningMode. Man, Bayer Pharmaceutical would have NO trouble getting enough participants to run thorough trials on a drug like that! ;-)

However, since there's no wonder drug on the market, I suppose I'm going to have to rely on Old Fashioned Will Power and Integrity and get myself to bed.

Kiss those babies, and even on the rougher days (or months), remember the mantra:

They're little. They do that.

G'night!
Dy