Weekend Update with Seth Meyers (not really...it's just me, Christine)

is this not ridiculous?! I thought I moved to the tropics when I moved to Atlanta.

Despite the utterly cold weather we still took Lauren to school on Friday. Some schools in Georgia, however, CLOSED due to the cold weather. Yes, you heard that right. They CLOSED due to the cold weather...no snow...no ice...just cold weather. Check it out! Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Friday afternoon, Lauren’s teacher walked her out to the car and asked me if there was anything out of the ordinary going on at home. She said that this week Lauren has been ultra-sensitive and she's acting as if it's the first week of school again. She gets frustrated and instead of asserting herself (when someone takes her play-dough) she just starts to cry. It took me 2 hours of gentle cajoling to get the play-dough crying incident out of her.

I can’t think of anything out of the ordinary. Maybe she’s still withdrawing from our family visiting and having Daddy home everyday for 2 weeks. Other than that I can’t think of anything. I do lock her in a dark closet while I go out clubbing during the day but that shouldn’t cause a change in behavior or anything. [wink]

Matt and I, combined, just make sensitive, caring and Super Smart human beings.

Here's my super smart girl cutting out some "V" words for her "V" homework. She's cutting out a Vacuum to go along with her Vegetables.

Not to be left out, Tyler insisted on doing some "homework" himself. He likes to make pictures "dirty" and in need of a "wash-down". (Thomas the Train lingo)

After finishing up with the black marker he forgot to put the cap on it. Lauren saw this and loudly shouted, (word for word) "Tyler, you’re Freaking Me Out....You need to put the caps on the markers." to me: "Tyler is really Freaking Me Out." Where does she get this?! Must be her Daddy!

On Saturday, I thought we were going out to eat in honor of Cranston's (Tera’s dad's) birthday but at the last minute we all decided to save some money by eating dinner at home and meeting up afterwards. Left without a menu plan I had to resort to CookThink. This is a fantastic website where you enter the foods you crave or have in your fridge and pantry and it will think of a recipe for you to make. That night we enjoyed a suggested Shrimp Risotto. Holy Yumm!



After dinner the kids enjoyed a naked snack (ice-cream) and then it was bath and jammies before Miss Morgan came over to baby-sit.

We started the night off at the Outback where we had a beer each and then it was off to the Irish Bred Pub for another beer and some appetizers and before the clock struck midnight we were talked into going all the way to Maguire's Pub in Senoia (pronounced Sen-OY by the locals.) See we live in a dry county and to all my friends and readers not living in the South you'll be surprised to know that we cannot buy liquor, beer or wine Anywhere on Sunday's in Georgia. So in select dry counties like mine and select cities like Peachtree City, when the clock strikes midnight on Sunday morning all alcohol sales cease...and for those dry counties and cities (like mine) you can't even buy alcohol at bars. So although I thoroughly enjoyed myself with the company and would have been happy to call it a night somehow we were talked into going down to Senoia (where the fierce prohibition laws do not apply.) I did have a good time but it was after one AM before we got home and I just don't do too well on a few hours of sleep anymore. Sunday was a tough day for both of us. We napped a lot and the kids watched a lot of TV and once again we vowed never to set foot in another night club...or any establishment after the 12 o-clock hour. We are just getting old.

The only thing I managed to do on Sunday was cook. I made up some Gumbo Z'Herbes which Matt strongly hinted that he didn't want to eat. So while I ate the yummy greens I made Matt and the kids frozen pizza. I also prepared a Pastichio for Monday. Matt had been watching the Food Network and saw a Greek Lasagna aka Pastichio made and requested that I make one of these. The Pastichio recipe suggested I make it a day ahead of time to let it set and also to let the flavors meld.

It was So So So So good but you could just tell that it was So So So So BAD FOR YOU. Just keep your portions small.

Tonight we worked on Lauren's "family homework." We were instructed to decorate a snowman as a family and send it back to school with Lauren on Wednesday. (she is off Monday for MLK, Jr. Day and also Tuesday for a teacher training day.)

It's coming along. Just a few more final touches to be added tomorrow.

While we focused on the Snowman homework, Tyler provided some fresh beats for us.

(do not send us a drum set...he's completely happy with a pot and stick!)


Please admire this picture which was requested by Lauren.

snack tonight was chocolate ice-cream and cheesy smiles

When Matt tucked Lauren into bed tonight he brought her a cup of water for her bedroom. A few days ago she and Tyler both spilled their water in their rooms and all over their carpets. I declared a new rule that they couldn't have water in their bedrooms. Since then Lauren has been getting up 2 to 3 times a night to get a drink. She opens her door, shuffles to the bathroom, fills her cup, takes a drink, shuffles back to her bedroom and shuts the door. Consistently, 2 to 3 Time a Night! Tonight, we decided to let her have a cup of water in her room again to save her the trek. So when Matt tucked her in tonight with a cup of water for her bedroom she asked him if it was okay to tell Mommy that he broke the rules. [what?!!...when did she learn to be mischievous?!] Matt told her that Mommy and him had decided that she could have a cup of water in her room again.

I'm going to have to work harder to keep my little innocent bubble around my kids.