Did I say series?

Well what good is posting the first in a series if there is only one?!  So in retribution I will post one Mom 101 tip every day for the rest of the week.  That is four, so should make up for the last four posts that should have been written.  Hopefully I have enough "Mom wisdom".  (The last bit was sarcastic.  I have enough Mom wisdom to write a book.  Or at least a blog).

First in a Series

I was grocery shopping with my mom the other day.  She gave me a tip which saved me some money, and I realized, she should have a blog.  She knows so many awesome tips and tricks about everything.  For example: when you finish a container of milk, add water to the jug, shake it up, and water your plants.  The milk residue is good for your plants.  I am not trying to pass either of us off as master gardeners, or experts in any way.  But these tips work and I thought I'd share.
  The working title for this series is "Mom 101" until I think of something better.  (Totally open to suggestions).  So here is today's lesson:
When shopping for spices at the market look for the little Hispanic section.  It's usually near the Produce Section and pretty inconspicuous.  It's not the "Hispanic Foods Aisle".  It'll be a wall, or maybe a corner.  There you can find a lot of spices for a fraction of the price.  Example: I was a FoodMaxx the other day (the day of my epiphany).  I needed cumin and said I was going to the Spice Aisle.  Mom said no, look for the Hispanic spices.  I had to ask a clerk, who didn't know what I was talking about.  I described to her that I wanted the spices that come in a bag.  After a few false starts I found it.  I bought 16 oz of cumin for $3.98.  The cumin in the Spice Aisle (in the jar) was 2 oz for $2.96.  That is a huge savings!!  It's a lot of cumin but I'll use it.  You can use cumin in everything - gives food a nice smoky flavor.  I use whenever I cook meat.
They have a variety of your basic spices.  Don't look for Old Bay there, but thyme, paprika, saffron - it's all there and cheap.   Thanks Mom!

Lies my mother tells....

1.  Cell phone rings.  Mommy answers, cupping phone on shoulder while simultaneously changing a poopy diaper on a wriggling baby, in the front seat of the car, in the parking lot of Safeway:
Caller: "Hi, what are you doing?"
Me: "Nothing."

2.  "If you sit on your sister again I'm going to take away all of your toys!"

Mommies make messes too

"Mommy what are you doing?", Liam looks up from his PB & J after he hears my shriek.  "Oh just cleaning up a mess I made," I say.  Actually I just dumped my muffin tin full of blueberry muffin batter across the top of the stove.  Arrghh!  I had just thought to myself "this is so easy, I should make muffins more often" and not a minute later, splat! 
You know I scooped up that batter and threw it back into the muffin tin.  We'll see what happens...meanwhile, what's that burning smell?

Summer slush brain?

What's that saying about the "best laid plans of mice and men"?  I don't know if we are the mice or the men, but all my plans of summer study have gone awry.  Since the spring I have been reading tips on maintaining academics over the summer, articles on how much knowledge kids lose over the summer, and how to avoid it.  I have workbooks for Liam, had planned reading time for Owen, and even planned out how the study sessions would go: the babies would nap in the afternoon at which point the boys would convene at the kitchen table (I would of course teach Owen the meaning of "convene" as well as its antonym... and the meaning of "antonym").  I would have milk and cookies to motivate them, then we would learn for an hour or so.  Very idyllic, no?  Well it hasn't happened yet.  I console myself with throwing the occasional question at Liam - what shape is that?  How do you spell your name?  What letter is that? etc.  Owen is reading everything, including what I don't want him to read (like the fat-free ranch dressing bottle: "it's not fat-free, it's regular", "yes it is Mommy, it says 'fat-free' on the bottle").
We still have three weeks left of summer.  Do we cram, or do we continue with our current schedule of scooters, popsicles, and playdates?  I think the answer is obvious.  I do love a good popsicle :)

A moment in time

Right now I am experiencing something unusual: it is quiet in the house, even though the youngest three are home.  Both babies are napping (which is something they haven't wanted to do at the same time for a few weeks now), and Liam is playing Legos by himself.  When I have these rare periods of free time I feel like a chicken with its head cut off.  I can't choose what to do.  I've written about this before, but lately I have more hours like this every week.  It happens so little that I can't count on these hours, but often enough that I don't feel like I have to treasure it.  Funny, right?  Mostly I am loving that Liam is playing by himself.  The two older boys have recently gotten into the "real" Legos (vs. the Duplos) and they can play for, well, not hours, but certainly 30-45 minutes at a time.  I've actually started rewarding them whenever they play nice together with a "blooming flower".  We have six stems on our whiteboard every Monday and whenever they play together nicely for 30+ minutes a flower blooms on the stem.  When they argue/hit/yell at each other, a flower withers away.  If they have all six flowers in their "garden" on Saturday then they get to choose a reward, say a movie or ice cream outing.  This week they are working towards "Hop".  We'll see, but here's hoping!

I could, but I can't

There are only so many hours in a day right? Well a mom has extra hours because we don't sleep ;) However I think about my days and see that I didn't make the homemade granola, or crochet a winter beanie for Chloe-girl, or any of the other hundred projects I have pending. And sometimes I do have a spare 30 or 60 minutes that could be put towards one of these projects, and I think I should update the kids' baby books, or make a cardboard kitchen (one of the many projects I've clipped from a magazine and filed in my "Project Binder". Which also needs to be updated). Instead I read a book, or have a snack and read the paper, or catch up on my blogs. So basically it's, "I could do [insert project name here] but I can't because I need some time that is only for me". All of my projects are fun and I'll enjoy doing them when I finally get to them but sometimes I just need to do nothing. Don't we all?
Now where's my crochet bag? I have a winter beanie to finish, right after I check my facebook :)