a bunch of nothing but thought I'd post anyway...

Early this morning (but long after Matt left for work) Lauren came into my bedroom in tears saying she was scared. I asked her why and she dramatically fell to the floor and said she had a tummy ache. This tummy ache (sans fever) persisted until I told her that it probably wasn't a good idea to go to school if she had a tummy ache. She then burst into renewed yet authentic tears and said she wanted to go to school. There you have it...the tummy ache went away and I haven't heard anything more about it all day. But I will be on the lookout because tummy aches aren't a usual occurrence for Lauren.

I'm thinking about how she cried when she thought she Couldn't go to school. Man, her school must be a lot more fun than I remember my schools being. =)

While she was at school I was hit with a strange amount of energy and did a 2 mile jog on the treadmill followed by a shower. In the meantime, Tyler got to watch TV in the basement and later in my room while I showered. Perhaps I'll call DFACS on myself about now.

After school we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a couple of lunch ables (the kids call them "kids' meals") and then headed to the new library's patio to eat lunch and then spend some time at the (drum roll.....) LiBrArY!! Lauren having obvious library withdrawals, picked out 6 books in about 3.5 seconds. To make this post even more interesting (or boring depending on your perspective) I'll list the books she picked out.

The Quilting Bee by Gail Gibbons
Let It Shine by Ashley Bryan
Easter Parade by Irving Berlin
Ice Cream by Elisha Cooper
Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa by Veronica Chambers
All in Just One Cookie by Susan E. Goodman

We've already read all of these books More Than Once. And honestly, I'm just not that into The Quilting Bee.

For dinner I made my first Really Bad Dinner. I made Rigatoni with Roasted Pumpkin and Goat Cheese from my latest Everyday Food magazine. It's so bad that Everyday Food won't even allow me to view the recipe on-line. You can try yourself here. Then click on the Rigatoni w/ Roasted Pumpkin and see if it works for you. It would have been good minus the Pumpkin. Pumpkins are obviously meant for only pie and even better yet...saved for carving into jack-o-lanterns.

Matt had his initial inclinations but decided not to Leave Me over my horrible dinner because I made the most delicious oatmeal bars the day before. Which brings us to our first picture:

Chewy Oatmeal Blondies with Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chips

These were absolutely Delish! I made them the same way she did except only used 1/8 cup of peanut butter. Delish-us and perfect...go make them now.

And speaking of perfect. Here is a worksheet Lauren brought home from school today. She's perfect as you can clearly see. She sure knows her buttons.


And finally we've come to the end of this post. I need to end with a prayer request for my Grandma Anna, the kids' GG and my mom's Mom. Grandma Anna is getting a most needed hip replacement tomorrow and we need prayers for the surgeons, the surgery and also for a timely recovery. I wish I could be closer to the family at this time to help out but I have great confidence that my family who is nearby will be able to handle all this excitement and recovery. Thank you all so much.