I earned my good mommy points for the day...

It takes 25 minutes to drive from our house to Isaac's weekly physical therapy appointment. "The Boys Are Back," the first track on the High School Musical 3 soundtrack, is 3:45. I'm not so good at math, but if my calculations are right, Isaac and I listened to the song a little more than 13 times in the car this morning. The upside is that he now knows all the words, and some pretty cool dance moves he picked up from his mom. The downside is that I looked like a dork dancing while driving a minivan, and the song is irrevocably stuck in my brain.

1. no surgeries this Halloween
2. VT'ers who bring pumpkin rolls
3. listening to strangers

Photographic evidence

Last week my mom, my godmother and I attended a lecture at Central Market given by Jack Bishop, editor of America's Test Kitchens and Cooks Illustrated. The lecture was great, and we went home with signed copies of their new cookbook, but I must admit that I was kind of wary. I've always been more of a Rachael Ray in the kitchen than a bow-tied Christopher Kimball, and the few times I watched the show on PBS I always felt so overwhelmed by all of the rules I'd have to follow to make a recipe perfect. I'm much better at tossing in a little of this and a little of that and praying it isn't disgusting.
But I brought the book home and decided to try it out. And look at these cookies. The two in the bottom corner are made using the Nestle Toll House recipe. They probably taste good, but, let's face it, they're ugly. They spread all over the pan. The consistency is fine when they're hot, but they'll be crispy instead of chewy in an hour. But the other 13 cookies on the pan are made according to the new recipe in the America's Test Kitchen's brand-new Family Baking Book. The main difference is that they're made with melted butter. They're beautifully puffy. And I just ate four of them. Maybe all of that relentless practicing they do over at ATC does make perfect....

This Pioneer Woman Doesn't Cook

A child of the modern era, I'd never really understood the phrase "dishpan hands."

Now I do.

About two weeks ago, our dishwasher broke. The new one that we bought less than two years ago. Eddie spent a night under the sink, cleaning out tubes and pipes, and we thought we were in the clear, but apparently blockages aren't our problem. What is? Not sure, but I have a feeling it's going to be expensive.

As I mentioned at fMh a week or so ago, it was during our dishwasher surgery that we discovered the demise of the oven. It got really, really hot, and then the bottom coil went kaput. While I had chocolate chip cookies in the oven. Eddie, unsuccessful at dishwasher surgery, decided to try his hand at fixing the oven. So we looked up the parts online, and while we were already at the parts replacement website, decided to order a new handle for our microwave, which has been broken for at least a year. In order to determine exactly which part we needed, we had to take the whole dang thing apart. But Eddie eventually ordered an oven coil and a microwave handle.

So if you're following along, we were down a dishwasher, an oven and a microwave, leaving us with only the stovetop and the refrigerator. No nuking chicken nuggets, no tiers of sparkling clean dishes awaiting me in the morning, no homemade baked goods.

My mom, visiting at the time, approached our lack of major appliances as a culinary challenge. One night she whipped up an Asian stir fry, potstickers and a salad with wilted greens and sweet potatoes. I, on the other hand, know that if we cook we have even more dishes, and rather than subject my hands to further abuse, decided to eat out until all three problems were solved.

Eddie fixed both the oven and the microwave last night, leaving me with the task of calling someone about the dishwasher. I haven't done it yet. Yeah, having a broken dishwasher is a major pain, but so is trying to put dinner on the table while supervising homework and keeping Maren from watching yet another episode of Dora. As long as the option of eating out is still on the table, I think I'm going to exercise it.

No pioneer blood running through my veins, apparently...

1. Writing for catharsis
2. Babies who nap
3. Long phone conversations

Under Construction

Sorry, I know the blog is looking a little funky right now. Please bear with me as I try to make it look better. I'm sort of technically challenged, so it might take a while.

1. microwaves and ovens that actually work
2. kids whose piano practice actually sounds like music!
3. enthusiasm for preschool

Pre-Halloween Festivities

Although Halloween is still four days away, it feels like we've already done most of the fun Halloween stuff. Trick or Treating always feels anticlimactic after the hugely popular ward Trunk or Treat and going to Zoo Boo. We'll still head out on Friday night to get candy from the neighbors, but here are some pictures of the real party time:

A totally shameless picture of my silent auction item-- a death by chocolate basket filled with Central Market goodies and a chocolate cake. It took supreme willpower not to eat the dang cake myself before the auction:

Bryce-- a Star Wars guy for the third year running. This time he's a Clone Trooper.

Isaac the Meerkat digging in to a green cupcake (or as he would say, "Isit the meertat didding in to a dreen tuptake"):

Maren, whose butterfly wings are so small that they can't be seen in this picture:

Pioneer Girl Annie and a friend, enjoying their cakewalk spoils:


Following the race on Saturday morning, we headed directly to the zoo for Zoo Boo. Bryce, who spent the early morning at the hospital with his dad, was eager to tell us all about the four "rooms" of the heart and the way that he was able to get money from a machine! But he couldn't wait to celebrate a favorite holiday in a favorite place:

All of the kids, in front of one of the less-cute-than-usual decorations:

1. Not taking all of the kids to the zoo by myself
2. Cooler weather
3. Month-long holiday festivities

Annie's First Race!

Annie has been very eager to jump-start her racing career so she can catch up to her Mommy! She raced her first 3K on Saturday, when Texas Heart Institute sponsored its Great Pumpkin Fun Run.

She waited with Mimi outside the porta-potties:

Showed off her amazing flexibility:

And crossed the finish line 45 minutes later! Isaac was a very patient racer. Maren, not so much.

Maybe I'll have a running partner sometime in the not-so-distant future!

1. Early voting
2. Friends who watch your kids
3. No oven=no expectation to cook!

Anniversary

I'd be remiss if I didn't note that a year ago last week, Isaac was in the hospital with MRSA. Lots of people gave him double candy at the Trunk or Treat tonight since he missed it last year. I noticed tonight as he walked down the sidewalk next to me that he's limping so much less than he was even a month ago. It's been a long, slow road to recovery, but he's getting there. When I think back to how scared of losing him I was a year ago, it's hard to feel anything but grateful for having him with us today.

1. Healthy kids
2. Winning auctions!
3. New roofs

Every member an activist?

Like many of you, I've spent way too much time on Facebook over the last few months. A few days ago, I was messing with my profile and added an Obama button to my page. Within minutes, one of my ward members had sent me a message, nicely asking me to justify my support. I did, and I think the whole interaction was pretty amicable, but it left me with butterflies in my stomach.

Several weeks ago, I ordered an Obama t-shirt. Every day I check my mailbox, half hoping, half dreading to find it there. I'm not sure that I actually have the guts to wear it. It's not that I'm wishy-washy in my support or want to hide it, I'm just not sure I want it plastered across my chest, either. For many years I wasn't all that interested in politics, and then I was uncomfortable about finding myself on the other side of the political spectrum from the other mommies in my playgroup. I'm still reticent to talk about politics. I don't know if I'm just trying to be polite or if I'm avoiding contention or if I'm nervous about not knowing all the details of all of the issues (I'll admit that some of the real issue-based political posts lose me at about the 20th comment). Regardless, I realize that I still have a long way to go before I'm walking door-to-door or organizing rallies.

I have a couple of good friends who live near LA. Both of them have said that they lie awake at night worrying about making phone calls or going door-to-door in support of Prop 8. I know I'm a coward, but I have never, ever been happier not to live in California. It doesn't matter where I fall on the side of the issues, the idea of going door to door or making calls would turn me into a massive ball of nerves.

1. Trunk or Treats

2. Three generations racing together

3. Someone else to wash my dishes

What I should have said...

This morning I was out running and came up behind a bunch of girls in my ward who have started walking together in the mornings. I've noticed them in the neighborhood before, and I think it's a fantastic thing to do, especially here in Texas where it's possible to walk all winter. When we lived in Minnesota my walking group was both my exercise and my main social outlet and there were many days when I'm quite sure I would have gone crazy without it. I think I did go crazy on lots of those winter days when I couldn't get out with three feet of snow on the ground.

So when I approached them from behind this morning, one of them asked, "How much do you usually run?" With the five women, the four strollers, the six kids, the dog (was there a dog?), the cars on the road, and the lack of oxygen to my brain, I was overwhelmed and said something really stupid.

"Somewhere between three and twenty miles."

The girl responded by saying, "Well, you must think our little effort is pretty pitiful."

As I swept on by, I tried to assure her that I thought their effort was great, but I felt feeling like I had just put my foot in my mouth.

Technically, yeah, 3-20 miles is what I run on any given day.
Other true answers include:
"Today I'm running six and a half."
"My average distance is probably around eight or nine miles."
"It depends on how much I have time for."

What I should have said, if I'd been thinking clearly, was that for a long time, walking with my stroller for a couple of miles was my best effort. And it was enough. It's taken me years. Years, I tell you, to work up to an eight or nine mile average day (which really means 6-7 miles most days and a longer run once a week). And I never would have gotten here if I hadn't started there.

So walk on, my friends!

1. Central Market
2. Date nights
3. Sweater weather

Can you say PARTY?

Isaac can! He and all of his party animals celebrated today. Here are the pictures:


We pinned the tail on the Pikachu


Hung out with the Thunderbolt Pikachu


Posed with the Pikachu


Had a football diversion


Ate some Pikachu (shhh, don't tell Ash!)


Got inspired by Pikachu


And had lots of fun turning 4!

1. Birthday parties (finally)
2. Visiting family members
3. Recycled birthday cakes