One For All

I have a fairly complicated relationship with food. I typically enjoy cooking, I certainly albeit unfortunately enjoy eating, yet I never enjoy cleaning up after meals, or preparing 6 meals a day, or preparing one meal only to discover that no one wants to eat it. Therefore I am on a constant vigil to find meal options which require simple preparation yet generally please the palatte of our entire household population. That quest for simplification influences even my fast food selections. My drive thru window approach is to buy 1 value meal, Super Size it, request extra drink cups, and divide the spoils among my three girls.  Ordering three separate kid's meals impedes my efficiency and annoys me. Happy Meals are a privilege reserved for when Daddy is at the order counter. 

Yesterday while running errands I realized lunch time was rapidly approaching. Something about Mary jumping up and down in the checkout line at the library yelling, "I'm hungry I'm hungry I'm hungry I'm hungry . . ." must've alerted me.  I considered my options.  Returning home to fix lunch would inevitably exacerbate the problem by prolonging it's resolution, but the prospect of nuggets and fries (again) registered as unsatisfactory to my innate maternal nutrition monitor. I determined that an experiment with a new lunch option was in order. 

We pulled up to Subway. After a censored description of the menu items and a briefing on expected behavior the girls consented to give it a shot. What choice did they have?  I was already out of the car and they were already hungry. I stood in a lunch-rush sized line waiting to order while Madeleine and Beth pouted at a nearby table. Mary lay prostrate in protest on the floor behind me, blocking other customers from proceeding through the line. The moment I saw her on the floor was the precise moment I realized I did not have any hand sanitizer with me. Eventually I ordered one foot long sub on wheat bread with turkey, bacon, cheese, and lettuce, requested cups for water, and added 3 sugar cookies for leverage.  

The girls had the wrapper torn off of the sandwich before I could fill their cups.  They eagerly inspected their 1/3 of the sub while I observed. Madeleine took the cheese off of hers and ate the turkey, bacon, and lettuce. Beth took the lettuce off of hers and ate the turkey, bacon, and cheese. Mary took the lettuce and bread off of hers and ate the bacon and turkey and then rifled through my purse trying to find my lipstick. They all ate the sugar cookies. Everyone was happy.  There you have it! One reasonably nutritious entree, readily modified to satisfy three individual appetites, at a relatively low cost/energy output. Ladies and gentlemen, lunch is served. 

Thanks Everybody

I want to say thank you to all of you who, at one point or another, encouraged me to start a blog. Now that I've finally done it I really, really like it! I'm afraid all of your compliments in reply to my initial posts have gone to my head a bit and convinced me to become a bona fide Blogger. I'm looking forward to making regular entries and improvements.  Coming soon: a photo slide show (this is for the Grandparents).  Thanks for reading!

Summer Goals 2008

A really great friend gave me the idea of having each family member set goals for the summer. Madeleine wants to ride a two-wheeler and visit her great-grandparents. Beth wants to learn to play soccer and go to the zoo. Mary wants to play with her little friends as much as possible and one of  Luke's  is working to improve his golf game. Here are mine:

Meredith's Goals for the Summer

1. Downsize my list of goals to a number that a normal, rational person could reasonably attempt to accomplish in a 12 week period of time.

2. Actually post something on the blog I created two months ago but has heretofore remained blank (one check mark for me!)

3. Take my girls to the This Is The Place monument and museum so they can live out a "Little House on the Prairie" fantasy for a day.

4. Maintain some semblance of a daily routine with my children in order to prevent absolute shell-shock when school starts.

5. Potty train Mary and show no shame in employing various methods of coercion and bribery in order to do so.

And there you have it. The bulk of my time and energy will be directed to the pursuit of these goals for the remainder of the summer, which is already passing too fast. Primarily I just want a lot of quality time with my children. They are growing so fast and I want to feel that I was a part of their childhood instead of wondering where it went. The trick will be to pull it off without losing my mind or running myself into the ground. We'll see how I do . . .

Champions Challenge

On Thursday I was able to go down to Thanksgiving Point and watch Luke participate in the annual Champions Challenge. It's a local golf tournament and charitable benefit featuring past and current pro's, hosted by Utah's Golfing Great, Johnny Miller. It was a gorgeous day, Luke was at the top of his game, and I had a great time buzzing around in the golf cart with my sister-in-law, Amy Spangler. 

Luke played the first nine holes in a group including Annika Sorenstam, the greatest women's golfer there's ever been in history, and the second nine with Jack Nicklaus, the ultimate golf legend. 

He had this to say of his day with the pro's:

"It was great playing with Annika because she was so personable and in her prime. There was a large gallery that followed her everywhere so being with her made it feel like you were one of stars. Also, I was playing well so it was pretty cool." 

"Jack is the ultimate legend in golf so I was awestruck being with him. One funny story;

We had a chip about 60 feet out and one of the amateurs hit the perfect shot where the ball stopped three inches to the side of the hole. Jack said, "Well, my goal then is to hit my ball between your ball and the hole.' So he got up and stroked the ball and it rolled exactly between the amateur's ball and the hole. Jack's reaction was to say, ' I guess that shows you've got to be careful about the goals you set, because you may end up acheiving it but having set the wrong goal'." 

I have to add that I saw several of Luke's swings and there was more than once when he hit the best shot of the group. Since they were playing, "best ball" the rest of the group then played off of his shot. I couldn't resist teasing, "So now you can tell people that Jack Nicklaus plays off of your ball."  Overall it was a great day which Luke describes as "awesome."

Zoology Camp For Madeleine

Before summer began I told each of the girls they could chose one activity to be involved in over the summer. Madeleine immediately opted to participate in the the zoology summer camp held at her school. For one week, she went up to school everyday and learned more about animals and animal care. They visited the Humane Society and a veterinary  clinic and did an activity where the kids doctored their own stuffed animals - that's something she's had a lot of practice with! The grand finale was to spend the night camping out at the zoo. After a trip to the store for new sleeping bags and an air mattress pump, she and I headed up to the zoo just at closing time. Her class had the place to themselves and enjoyed playing games in the education center, having a "get to know you session" with some small animals, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows next to the elephants, and finally taking a "nocturnal animal" tour after sunset. Due to projected rain,  instead of tents we slept inside, which was fine with me. Before we left the next morning Madeleine spent her own money on a stuffed wombat from the gift shop to add to her ever growing menagerie. Madeleine couldn't take it all in fast enough. She said she had "a great experience." Sharing it with her made it great for me.

Beth's Turn at Summer Camp

I decided to sign Beth up for a week of summer camp at school as well. I really wanted her to have an experience there so as she anticipates starting kindergarten she has something to associate the idea of school with. It was well worth the driving time. She really enjoyed the pre-school literature program, but more importantly she made a friend. Tori and Beth hit it off from the start and were side by side throughout the week. At the end of the week Tori invited Beth to her birthday party where Beth was able to meet more girls who will be in her kindergarten class. Now she really looks forward to kindergarten and talks about it as"her school," rather than "Madeleine's school." I am so pleased the experience was such a positive one for her, and so grateful to Tori's parents for being so friendly and understanding. 

New Found Fascination

In the past year or so Mary has moved through phases of fascination with various objects. Elmo was the first of the fascinations, followed by chewing gum, while the cell phone phase holds the record for both intensity and longevity. However, lipstick is coming up a close second. I don't know how or when Mary discovered lipstick but it has become an integral part of her everyday. In the morning she waits until I'm in the shower and then climbs up on my bathroom counter to inspect my lipstick collection. She will claim, "I'm just holding it" while she simultaneously smears it from ear to ear. At one point she systematically located and demolished every tube that I owned. I had to call a Mary Kay consultant to ask for some disposable free samples which I used in lieu of full size tubes in order to prevent further lipstick annihilation. Now that Mary has learned to regulate her lipstick application with some degree of self-control, she can infiltrate my supply without mass destruction.  I've replenished my stock and she regularly reviews the inventory. Gloss, matte, frost or pencil - she is no respecter of sheen or color. If it resembles lipstick in any way she will wear it, hold it, sleep with it, and has been known to eat it on occasion. In Mary's 3 year old world if there is any problem to be solved, any woe to be comforted, any need to be met, lipstick is the answer.

Comments from Kids

I don't consider myself a real collector, but one priceless collection I like to keep is a list of cute and funny things that my kids say. Here are some of my favorites from the past months;

Madeleine: (On the way home from school on a rather warm day) Can I please take off my jumper? It's collecting too much heat from the sun.

Mom: Beth, please close the door you little monkey.

Beth: OK mom, you big huge rhino.

One morning Beth climbed into my bed for a snuggle. When I asked how she slept she responded with, "Well,  I slept good but there was nothing to dream about so I was bored the whole time."

Mary has taken to using the third person plural. For example, 

To Luke: "Can I hold your gum? 'Cuz Daddies let Marys hold their gums." 

Mary recently developed an aversion to being praised or applauded. If we cheer she frowns, "I don't like that sound." The other day she was climbing into her bed and I said, "Good job!" She groaned, "Don't SAY that! I don't like that sound either." I asked her what I should say when I want to tell her she's done a good job at something. She thought for a moment and replied matter-of-factly, "say 'Boom Boom'." Now whenever she does something praiseworthy I say, "boom boom" and she stoically nods in acknowledgment.