You Can Cook

I don't think I'll ever be known for my housewife duties. For whatever reason, I was meant to work outside the home. I love my house and I love my kids, but our little triad only works well when I am away for about 8 hours a day. I love the summer vacation that teaching gives me too, but I'm also very glad to go back to work in September. I'm very good at going to school, writing papers, working with others, and being a teacher. One of the reasons I don't think I'll ever get the "Wife of the Year" award is my lackluster desire to cook. When I was living on my own after college, I think my daily fare consisted of macaroni and cheese, rice with butter and soy sauce, noodles with butter, and my favorite, take-out. Don't get me wrong, I could follow a recipe and make a great dish, but those times were few and far between. I can try to blame my mom and dad for not involving me in meal preparation, but really the fault lies in me. I think I was born without the oooh-let's-look-in-the-cabinet-and-see-what-I-can whip-up gene, instead I have I-don't-see-anything simple-to-make-let's-order-pizza-tonight gene.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), I now have a husband and a house full of kids and eating out with a family of 7 kills the monthly budget. I have begrudgingly learned to make a few dishes outside the normal heat, boil, and serve routine. I make a pretty good lasagna and I've upped my rice and butter recipe by adding a vegetable stir-fry with baked drumsticks. Recently, I even made a delicious potato soup. I guess what I learned is when push comes to shove, I will do what needs to be done and sometimes I do it pretty well! I can cook and you can too!

Lenin's 1st Haircut

Brian and I finally decided to cut Lenin's hair. We love Lenin's curls, but whenever he slept on it or put on a hat, the curls would get flattened and what was left was a crazy head of long hair.  He had also been mistakened for a girl many times and really I was just ready to have it cut. He now has a big boy haircut to match his big boy attitude. Lenin doesn't want to sit in his high chair anymore, he wants to sit at the table like a big kid. He also sleeps on a cot at his new daycare and wants to feed himself like a big boy. It's kind of sad that he is growing up so fast, but I also love watching him gain confidence as he becomes more independent.

We went to a $5 haircut place close to the house. Brian refused to spend anymore on such a little head of hair. Lenin sat right down on the chair and let the lady cut away. The lady kept a little length on the top so hopefully it will still curl after a bath. I also grabbed a lock of hair for the scrapbook. It's amazing how grown up Lenin looks with his haircut. He is quite the handsome boy.

Next thing to go will be his evening breastfeeding and that pacifier....

And They Call It Puppy Love

We spent New Year's Eve with friends of ours who happen to have a dog, a yellow lab named Wrigley. Lenin hasn't been around dogs too much, so we weren't sure how he was going to react. To our surprise, Lenin was in puppy love by the end of the night. He wanted to lay on the dog and touch the dog. Lenin even got upset if Wrigley turned his head away for a second. Luckily for us, Wrigley is a very patient and loving dog and didn't mind all the attention from Lenin. We ended up spending the night there and Wrigley even decided to join Brian, Lenin, and I on the full size bed we were sharing for the night. It was definitely a cuddlefest. Seeing Lenin and Wrigley interacting made me want to get a dog....for about a split second. Then I remembered the dogs come with a lot of responsibilities and a lot of hair! Maybe when the kids are older and we can delegate doggy responsibilities, but until then we will have to settle for the dogs owned by our friends and family.