5 am Wednesday-

Scott crawls in the bed on my side and cuddles up.

Scott: Dad, my white blanket will dry out.

Dad silently thinks for a minute. Why is he telling me about this blanket? Dad rolls over and brushes against some very soggy Bob the Builder pajamas.

Dad: Out of the bed. You're wet!
Scott: I want to snuggle. I'm NOT wet!
Dad: You went pee pee in your pajamas. You can't be in my bed until you change your pants.
Scott: I'm NOT wet!

Exasperated, I forcibly remove the walking puddle. Scott repeatedly fights being taken out of bed screaming "I'm not wet!" Once out he repeatedly tries to get back in. When this fails runs to Mom's side of the bed and attempts to crawl in. Mom takes kicking screaming, allegedly dry boy and changes him against his will. Thanks Mrs. M.

Dreams and reality

It has been a glorious few days. My body has been surging with endorphins (thank you, jogging and push-ups!), my brain has been filled with affirming thoughts, my relationship with Ethan is blossoming, and I feel happy. And really, really tired.

Yesterday I went to a faculty meeting for our music program, typed up the minutes, listened to Mr. M's worries about his upcoming job interview, took the boys to the park for 3 (!) hours, taught a violin lesson, studied my scriptures, practiced, and had a few minutes of leisure reading.

Today I have domestic chores to do: dishes, laundry, meal planning. Not my favorite activities, but I love the end results, and I'll turn on conference to lift me.

I have some dreams that are going to come true, one day at a time!

Twirly Whirly Pizza and a good day

It was a good day. I got up, went for a 3 mile walk (up some huge hills) while Mr. M stayed home with the boys and made waffles for breakfast. Then I did 5 real push-ups! This is miraculous in itself.

In the course of the day, I mopped the kitchen floor, did all the dishes, mopped the bathroom floor, helped the boys tidy their room, vacuumed everything, and took the boys to the park. I won't mention that we only stayed at the park for 10 minutes because someone whose name rhymes with Blot had a poop incident in his underwear. I will mention that he cleaned it all up himself. I'm more of a wipe supervisor these days than anything else. But I digress.

The boys and I decided to cook Twirly Whirly Pizza together for their dinner. It was a great success. They both took turns kneading the pizza dough, helped roll it out, spread the sauce (into which I surreptitiously grated some carrots and zucchini), and sprinkled the cheese. The finished product was a hit with both of them. It had a little roll of spinach in it as well, about which Ethan said: "Mom, I like the spinach. It tastes really good in this pizza!"

Here's the recipe for Twirly Whirly Pizza (from Family Fun magazine):

1 tube refrigerated pizza dough OR 1 ball of homemade pizza dough from Basic Pizza Crust recipe
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1/2 cup shredded Italian-mix cheese (or whatever you want)
1 cup fresh (baby) spinach leaves

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Unroll dough from tube or roll out homemade dough into a long rectangular shape. Spread pizza sauce on top and sprinkle with half of the cheese. Top with spinach leaves.

Roll up the dough, as if you are making cinnamon rolls. Cut the rolled-up dough into 8 pieces, then lay them flat in a greased pie tin (like cinnamon rolls). Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake 22-25 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 8 servings.

While we're at it, here's the basic pizza crust recipe from Cooking Light, my favorite magazine:

Tbsp sugar
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/2 tsp)
1 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)

3 cups flour, divided
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil

cooking spray
1 Tbsp cornmeal

1. Dissolve sugar and yeast in water in a large bowl and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in 2 3/4 cups flour, salt, and olive oil to form a soft dough.

2. Knead dough on a lightly-floured surface (I use my cutting board) for about 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Add enough of remaining flour, a bit at a time, to prevent dough from getting sticky.

3. Place dough in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat. Cover bowl with a moist towel so dough doesn''t dry out. Let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, for 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Press 2 fingers into the dough. If the dents remain, the dough has risen enough.)

4. Punch down the dough and divide it in half. Roll each half into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Place dough on 2 baking sheets, each coated with cooking spray and sprinkled with 1/2 Tbsp cornmeal. Crimp edges of dough with fingers to form a rim. Cover and let rise again for 30 minutes (I never do this 2nd rise).

5. Top with desired toppings and cook in pre-heated 450 degree oven for 20-22 minutes.

The joke's on me

I had an uneventful day until about 6:45 pm. I had prepared my 35 newsletters to distribute at the monthly preschool co-op meeting that started at 7 pm. They were in the car. I was ready to go, just waiting for Mr. M to arrive home from school on the bus to watch the boys. He would arrive any minute...

A knock at the door. Could it be? Is it he? I gleefully grabbed my bag to leave. No, it's not my husband, it's a tenant, telling me that the laundry room sink has overflowed with water and is flowing all over the floor. The phone ringing interrupts our conversation and Scott runs out the door, thinking he is finally free. On the phone is one of my visiting teachees, telling me about what we need to do to sell her car. I cut her off, only somewhat impolitely, hang up, lace up my shoes, and head out the door to the laundry room.

I sweep the 3 inches of water out of the laundry room. Ah, yes, the sink is clogged. I return to the house, take off my shoes, walk in socks to the bathroom across the new carpet, grab the toilet plunger, go back to the door, put on my shoes, and go back to the laundry room. Plunge, plunge! Bits of paper float up through the water. Just as I suspected - the pipes are fine, it's only the drain that has been blocked. Plunge, plunge, drain, drain. At the bottom, I find a cigarette carton, wadded up and shoved into a plastic bag. Who's the wabido who put that in the sink?

Scott has picked up the broom and is pushing the water across the patio. I manage to shoo him into the house, before going upstairs to report to the tenant who originally reported the clog that she can do her laundry now. While speaking with her at the door, I see my Scott streak out of the house, wearing nothing but a t-shirt. He is waving a dripping pair of blue underwear. I see excrement hanging off his bare backside. He calls to me, "Mom! My underwear fell in the toilet!"

I interrupt my conversation with the tenant, run downstairs, and chase Scott into the house. The blue underwear drips toilet water across my clean carpet. I curse my husband's lateness and moan inwardly. I put Scott in the tub and make him clean himself up with the water.

It was awful, but only a few minutes later, after chastising my tardy husband, and heading off into the sunset, I mean, heading off to my preschool meeting, I realized how funny it all was. Haha, April Fools on me! And what great blog material!

Investment plans

Ethan and I had a long conversation about school, scholarships and jobs. This was a small extract of our conversation.

Mr. M:
You know someday, if you work really hard, somebody would pay you to be a scientist. (this is what Ethan wants to be when he grows up) What do you think of that?

Ethan:
That's good. I would put the money in my piggy bank.

Mr. M:
Someday you can put your money in a REAL bank.

Ethan:
Yeah, but I would still want to put it in my piggy bank.

Mr M:
Do you think if they paid you $50,000 you would put it all in your piggy bank?

Ethan:
Sure.

Mr. M:
Do you think you could fit $50,000 in your piggy bank?

Ethan <in a self-assured tone of voice>:
If they were coins.