Confessions of a Lazy Mom

1. I only make the beds when we're having company.
2. I don't make my 4-year-old keep his room clean.
3. Clean, folded laundry often sits in the laundry baskets until I need the baskets to do more laundry.

Here's hoping these confessions make someone feel superior, because that's always fun (for you, anyway)! I have more (worse) confessions of a Lazy Mom, but you have to confess something to me first. ;)

Recipe Test #1

Today after Alexander's basketball class, which lets out at 5:15, was a great time to test the first recipe submission for my recipe contest .

Justin submitted the following "recipe":

Daddy’s Dinner Special …

Step 1: Go to http://www.papajohns.com/

Step 2: Order pizza

Step 3: Wait 45 minutes

Step 4: Pay delivery dude (or dudette)

Step 5: Eat

It was delicious. Great recipe, Justin. ;)

Typical

I bet every parent reading this has experienced an incident like the following:

I had just served my children lunch and Alexander commented,"Mommy, this sandwich tastes like peanut butter and jelly, but I asked for jelly with peanut butter."

We like to hike!

Yesterday I took the boys to Gambrill State Park to do a little hiking. We did the White trail, which was one mile and "easy." I will narrate the hike from the point of view of each boy:

Alexander: Look, I am driving a white truck! La, la, la! Now I am driving a white car! La, la, la! Now I am flying a white airplane! I am so fast! La, la, la! Now I am flying a white rocket! Zoom! La, la, la!

Jack: Look, a rock! Ow, I fell. Ow, I fell. Look, a rock! Look, a rock! Look, a rock! Ow, I fell. Look, a rock! Ow, I fell. Look, a rock! Look, a rock! Ow, I fell. Ow, I fell. Ow, I fell. Mommy, carry me. Look, a rock! Put me down; I want to touch it! No, I will not walk! I want to touch the rock!

Artistically, I really love the photo on the left! I love the photo on the right for other reasons! ;)

Recipe Contest

Yay! It's time for another contest! Why? Because I said so and, despite what my children think, I'm the boss (well, here I can be)! This time it's a recipe contest, as I am looking to broaden my dinner horizons. So, here are the "rules," should you like to call them that.

1. Dinner recipe, please.
2. Get it to me via E-mail by midnight April 30th. (If you don't have my E-mail address, just put your recipe in a comment and it will be E-mailed to me.)
3. My kids are not super picky, but the recipe should be somewhat kid-friendly.
4. I am not an expert chef. If there are lots of ingredients that I can't pronounce or that aren't sold at regular grocery stores, or if there is equipment needed that I don't have, or techniques that I don't know how to do and aren't explained, I will not test your recipe. I will be impressed by you, perhaps, but that doesn't win any prizes.
5. I will test those recipes that fit my wobbly parameters.
6. When I have all the submissions, I will let you all know how long it will take for me to test the recipes and come up with a winner.
7. I will post the winner's recipe, so obviously you should not share something that is your prized family secret.
8. I don't need to know the entrant personally, so if you're a "lurker," or if any of my regular readers want to pass this along to other good cooks, all the more fun for me! Everyone is welcome.
9. If your recipe is not original, that's fine, but please cite your source.
10. The PRIZE is a $10 gift card, likely to Starbucks, unless I know (or you tell me) that you don't go there, in which case we can come up with a substitute.
11. If I missed something, let me know. :)

Now, go. Look through your cookbook. E-mail me. Now. GO! ;)

Hey, guess what! Jack is ridiculously cute!

Greek Easter

I told you holidays last forever around here! Today we celebrated Easter #2: Greek Easter. Justin's cousin Margi hosted and we had a great time with some of the local family. We timed our kids perfectly, it seems, because Margi has a four-year-old son, Grant, and their other cousin Jessica has a one-year-old son, Hunter, so both of our boys have a built-in playmate at family gatherings. Alexander and Grant totally hit it off and got along perfectly. They even included the little ones by playing "follow the baby" for a while! It was great the see the little cousins all playing together.

We also enjoyed Greek favorites like souvlaki, lamb, spanikopita, stuffed grape leaves, feta and olives, and we learned the traditional art of egg fighting. Here, Jamey coaches Grant on how to properly hold the egg before "bumping" eggs with his Mommy (not sure why blogger insists on rotating that picture- if you have know, please clue me in). Whichever egg doesn't crack is the winner! Then it was Alexander and Grant's turn!

Happy Easter, again!