my curse

though i have never encountered a troll under a bridge, nor an evil witch(except in my mirror), or stepped on a crack and broken my mother's back, i live with a pretty serious curse. it's the curse of being perfectly capable of making foodstuffs for my own family, but immediately losing all culinary capability when guests are present in my home. 

par exemple, saturday night i stayed up late chopping giant sized chocolate bars, mixing a special blend of cake and bread flours and chilling for over 24 hours to create the perfect chocolate chip cookie concoction. when i baked them the next day after the proper chilling period in anticipation of our guests, i

resulted in this mess:

 which had to be served like this:

and then i cried myself to sleep. 

that is why i dread entertaining guests. 

occasionally inviting

recently my saint of an aunt asked me to make being a mother of 3 look "occasionally inviting". i guess i am guilty of being stressed out all the time and not enjoying the chaos. i took that request to heart. for the past couple of weeks i tried to take pictures of the really good moments with my kids.  i didn't take a single picture of me laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, praying for a few extra hours of solitude before the kids get up and i rejoin the chain gang. 

reagan has gotten really, really good at immediately doing his homework as soon as his comes home from school. incentive parenting really works for us. and he's lucky enough to be a lefty, just like his mom. 

scarlett has taken to riding around in the jeep in the backyard with her backpack still strapped on.  she likes to make a loop and then park when she gets home. i also think it's her homework avoidance technique. 

my tiny dancer. she likes to put on shows and have me record them.

this baby likes to pass gas in the liberry. babies passing gas in quiet settings never gets old. it's always funny. especially with that sweet, little innocent face.

was that me?

scarlett loves to help with the recycling. she tosses the plastic bottles with such gusto that sometimes they hit the side of the bin and come back and hit her on the forehead. it's hilarious. i need to get a video of her multiple attempts to get a bottle in the slot. 

 i love putting this baby down to sleep(and more than just because i get to be alone and sneak ice cream and cookies and not have to hide in a closet to enjoy them) because this baby has the cutest little bum and she rolls over on her side and goes straight to sleep. i just turn off the lights and shut the door. 

i even enjoy her when she's awake. she's quite the talker. and eater. and drooly kisser. and hair puller. she makes me want another one. i'm looking into my kidnapping options. 

i can't help but like these people. even with my naturally cynical, sarcastic disposition, they have won me over. no one is getting voted off the island this week. 

scarlett to reagan today, "if you marry someone else, i'll really miss you."

so, yeah. sometimes my life is occasionally inviting.