If You Build It

Charlie entered a Lego construction contest today. It was sponsored by the National Association of Women in Construction. He competed against 35 other children in 1st through 6th grades. Each child was given 100 assorted Legos and given 1 hour to create whatever they wanted. Charlie designed a crane and demolition site.

He won first place!

Charlie said he thought he might win 3rd place and when they announced the 3rd place winner, and it wasn't him, he was disappointed because he figured he was out of the running completely. When they announced 1st place, they did it by site number, and it took him a few seconds to realize they meant him. He was so surprised and happy.

I actually wept tears of joy when he told me. This is just the bright spot our family needs right now.

Charlie won a $100 savings bond, and will advance to the next level of competition. Grandpa and Pam took our whole family out for a celebratory dinner. We are bursting with pride!

When Life Gives you Lemons

What's worse than backing into someone's car? Backing into your husband's new (to him) car. That's what I did Tuesday. I wonder if the lesson is perspective?

Sam and I made a lemon curd tart from scratch today. We happened to see Ina Garten make it the other night and he wanted to try it. He measured out the ingredients and rolled out the shell. I zested and juiced 4 lemons. Very tasty.

Frosty

We've had temps below zero these last few days. Tonight we stayed warm playing Sorry: The Game of Sweet Revenge. I love Sam in the background of this picture, rejoicing over sending Scott back to start.

The older they get, the more fun it is to beat them. Hee.

Playing House

Sometimes I feel like I am just pretending to be a mom. Do other women feel that way, too? Does that feeling ever go away? I mean, I have an almost nine year old. I just had my 3rd baby. With my real life husband, I own a house, for crying out loud. And still.

When I was about 9, I went through a phase of drawing these elaborate family portraits. They were always BIG families. I thought 12 kids would be ideal, because then there would be a birthday every month. Ha! I didn't realize then that there was a whole lot more to having children than celebrating their birthdays. And I certainly didn't factor in any other "major life circumstances". Like illness, unemployment, death, laundry. I had this vision of me, with a husband, and a bunch of kids. And we are all smiling. With bangs.

I guess technically Charlie and Sam have bangs. And there is some smiling. But even if you count my lost babies, I'm only up to 7. And I've got my hands full. This whole, pretending to be a mom business, is a lot of work. And it sucks to have to be the grown-up, sometimes. (I mean sometimes it sucks, not sometimes I'm the grown-up. I'm always the grown up, however immature). I wonder if my parents ever worried about screwing me up - because I am terrifed (when my performance is less than perfect) I am scarring my children for life.

Vote Early and Vote Often

Well, we just got back from our doing our (civic) duty. Aw, Sam, it really wasn't that painful.

5!

Today is Sam's birthday. He is at such an eager age. He loves to help me with every task - cleaning, cooking. He likes to just be with me. When he wakes up in the morning, he comes padding into the office and climbs onto my lap with an, "I love you, mommy". He likes to play near me, even if I'm not playing with him. I hear him "pshew-ing" his 'guys' as I nurse Mary to sleep. If I'm in the bath with Mary, 9 times out of 10 he will climb in with us. He likes to snuggle right up to me when I read to him at bedtime. He adores his older brother and is incredibly gentle with his baby sister. He's really into drawing lately, and today drew a perfect heart on shrinky dink paper for me. Even with everything going on right now (Mary's heart, my health, Scott's job, his dad dying), these days with Sam (and of course, Charlie and Mary, too) are the happiest of my life.

Scott and I started a birthday tradition many years ago. It stemmed from the fact that our birthdays are only 10 days apart, and we used to go out to eat a lot. Back then, if asked where I wanted to go out for dinner, I would always choose Maggiano's. So, we started this thing where we each had to choose a restaurant to go to for the other person's birthday, but it had to be a place that person hadn't yet gone. It also helped if it was sort of a sacrificial choice - i.e. I would choose a seafood restaurant for Scott, even though I. hate. seafood. Or Scott would take me into Chicago even though he hates driving down there (and one time a valet took his car for a joyride!). The birthday person has to drive in the car with his or her eyes closed. It really is a lot of fun, even when they are flops. We've gone to some really spectacular places as well. We started doing this for Charlie the year he turned 6, and went ahead and surprised Sam this year. Even though our kids are pretty good/adventurous eaters, we've tried to choose places that are more of an experience rather than superb food. Sam was prett happy when we showed up for this tonight -

Technically, Sam has already been to Lucky Strike, but that was in Denver, almost 2 years ago. Despite the blizzard - tonight was a lot of fun.

Oh, Sam, so sweet. My middle child. I hope you are more normal than I. So far, so good. I love you, Bones.

soup du jour

Tonight I hosted a soup exchange with 6 women. We each brought 6 6-cup containers of our best homemade potage to share with one another. If I had my act together, I would have taken a photo of each bowl when we were sampling (alas, I had a snuggly baby in my arms the whole night!). We also enjoyed homemade bread, delicious salad, and wine, plenty of wine. It really was a very nice evening. And filling. I can't wait to pull some yummy soup out of the freezer on my next too-overwhelming-to-cook day.

There was corn chowder, tomato dill, kielbasa bean, pumpkin mushroom curry, chicken tortilla, African peanut, and old fashioned chicken noodle. Thanks, ladies.

"Do you have a kinder, more adaptable friend in the food world than soup? Who soothes you when you are ill? Who refuses to leave you when you are impoverished and stretches its resources to give a hearty sustenance and cheer? Who warms you in the winter and cools you in the summer? Yet who also is capable of doing honor to your richest table and impressing your most demanding guests? Soup does its loyal best, no matter what undignified conditions are imposed upon it. You don't catch steak hanging around when you're poor and sick, do you?" Judith Martin (Miss Manners)