Forgive Me If I Snore

Forgive me if I snore. I'm tired. 

Having the kid-ling all week has had it's moments. Honestly, most of them have been good with the exception of the toilet seat incident. And, I can't really complain very loudly about that either because at his grandma's house this week he flushed a toy down their toilet. Today, the professional plumber is removing the toilet from the floor to try and find it. He's also trying to keep the nasty toilet water from overflowing for the millionth time since the toy disappeared. . . My new toilet seat was only $9.95.

Anyhow, the rest of the time has been good. We took him to the Y to go swimming Tuesday night after work. Ali went to pick him up and I met them in the Y parking lot. When he saw me, he came running with his arms open for a hug. Kinda makes your heart melt. And helps you forget about toilet seats.

At the risk of sounding like a whiner – he's a bit energetic. He doesn't wind down easily. There are no moments of sitting quietly together in the evenings. There's a lot of dancing and hollering though. There's also a love/hate thing with Oliver, who he calls "Auber." 

"Auber?? Auber, where are you? Hey! Where's Auber??" 

Alas, Oliver is even a bit more energetic than the kid-ling so when "Auber" comes in from the very, very muddy backyard what generally ensues is screaming - and not in a good way.

I'm on my second week of getting up at 4:45 to go work out at the Y every day. Late evenings of dancing boys and muddy dogs are wearing me out. But these things are my choice. And I love them all. So, that's where we are.

Tonight we're making Valentine flowers for presents on Saturday. Call us crazy, but this little project involves paint! And scissors! And, with God's intervention - a boatload of patience! The kid-ling's eight year old nephew is coming over too. That ought to help! I'll post pictures tomorrow. If we're all still alive.

(You knew I'd get him over to the crafting dark side one way or another didn't you??)

So, did I mention that I'm tired? Or that I'm still making it to the gym every morning? I'm proud of myself.

And, since this post is probably not rambling enough already, I'll close with a recipe. I've made this Baked Oatmeal on Sunday night for the past two weeks. It makes enough for breakfast for a whole week. You just scoop some into a bowl, pour on some milk and microwave it for 2 minutes. I add a sliced banana.

Maybe it's giving me just an extra little bit of energy. 'Cuz, I'm tired.

3 C. oatmeal
1 C. sugar (white or brown – your choice)
1 C. milk (try subbing apple juice! I bet it would be great!)
1/2 C. butter, melted
2 eggs
2 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. salt
2 t. vanilla extract

2 t. ground cinnamon

1 t. freshly ground nutmeg

dried fruit of your choice - so far I've used dried cherries and dried blueberries

Mix all the ingredients together and pour into a greased pan. (I have a 7x10 baking dish with a lid that works perfectly.) Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes. Cool and refrigerate.