Finis

These law school years have felt like a really, really long pregnancy.

Growing, stretching, and discomfort.

Sleepless nights.

That sense of expectancy, the knowledge that there is a point to all of this pain.



So graduation was a pretty awesome night. We decided not to bring the kids because all we wanted was to be able to soak in the moment, and I wanted to yell really loud when Chet crossed that stage to get hooded.

(I was thisclose to yelling, "I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES!" but I've already had his babies, so it seemed a moot point.)

You know when you have a baby, how you are more proud than you have ever been, and you just look at each other and say, "We did it, babe! We did it!!"

And you are amazed and humbled that the Lord brought you to that place?

Well, that's what it felt like.So very proud of this man.

By God's grace, WE DID IT, BABE!!!

The straw that broke the camel's back

I've got some big things to post about, like Chet's graduation (which was last week) and Chet's birthday (which was two months ago.) As you can see, I am on top of things as per usual.

But for today, I want to tell you about why I am never going grocery shopping again.

Ever.

And that is not an exaggeration.

Within the last six months we have successfully:

1. Knocked over a six pack of beer.
2. Knocked over a display of tomato sauce.
3. Dropped a glass bottle of iced tea.
4. Knocked over a full bag of groceries at the counter.

But today took the cake.

Maybe it's the Grocery Store's passive-agressive way of telling me to LEAVE AND NEVER COME BACK without actually saying it. Well, Grocery Store. Never let anyone tell you that being passive-agressive isn't a good way to express your feelings. Because it worked.

Like I said, NEVER going back.

We did our usual Grocery Shopping Configuration. Buckled Finn into the front of the cart. Plopped Deedo into the back. Sharks was walking.

There was that one time I let both Sharks and Deeds walk and that ended badly. So now the general idea is to keep as many kids contained as possible, and we (usually) manage alright.

I stopped to get some hotdogs for our camping trip and as I was deciding how many packages to get, there was this CRASH. A really loud one.

Followed by some screaming.

I turned around in a hurry to see a tangle of flailing legs and arms and the cart tipped over sideways on top of Sharks.

Much, much screaming.

I did not know it was possible for all of my children to hit their heads on the floor at the same time, barring a tornado or car accident or something.

(It's possible.)

Poor Finn was stuck, hanging there upside down. It's a good thing he was buckled, or he could have also been squished under the cart.

Deeds was the least injured and the loudest screamer. Go figure.

Sharks, unfortunately was trapped under the cart and ended up with the worst injuries (which were just big bruises on his shins and a bump on his forehead.)

It was one of those things where everyone is screaming and you don't know who to help first and you kind of want to lose it too and join in the screaming.

Thankfully they hire friendly people at Trader Joe's (I'll be honest - sometimes they are too friendly and a little creepy-like, but today I was thankful, even for the creepy-friendlies) so we were quickly assisted and given lollipops.

The funny thing is, we had just been at Target and the lady in line behind us mentioned how well behaved the boys were and how sweet they were.

(Pride comes before the fall, anyone?)

Somehow, she was standing right next to us at Trader Joe's when this happened and was the first to run over to help. She was kind enough to hold Finn while I tended to the other two. And she didn't make me feel any worse than I already did.

Anyway, the boys are all fine. Ultimately I think it was more dramatic than traumatic. I mean, it was a scene. People all over the store kept asking how the boys were doing, which was nice, but I still felt all adrenalined up and it was stressing me out. Even after a relatively normal trip to the store, by the time we make it back to the car, I usually feel like I am about to have a panic attack. This time I just wanted to cry.

So that's it, Grocery Store. We're through.

There's room on the bandwagon

This is what my sis-in-law was working on a week after her sweet son, Elijah was born.

Impressive, no?

Her video is sooooooo close to 20,000 views! Check it out and get her a few more.

Pretty please?

Cutest thing I've ever seen

Pretzels

We made these. After that terrible horrible no good very bad day. Totally worth it.

Seedlings

Radish seeds in empty strawberry boxes.

Here's hoping they grow.

Why I am not a fashion blogger

1) Throw up and/or poop don't count as accessories.

2) Waking up with my hair stuck to my face is not the same as gently tousled "messy" hair.

3) Just because the dark circles under my eyes match the purple in my shirt doesn't mean I coordinated my outfit.

4) My photographers are less than three feet tall. And no matter how hard we try, all we end up with is this:

Clean Food even if I don't have a Clean House

(photo)

I think I mentioned that I meal planned every meal for the whole month this month. For maybe the first time ever. Well, I have planned before. It's the follow-through that gets me every time. And I'm a little worried I'm not going to make it this time either.

You know how I go crazy over library cookbooks? This time it was this cookbook called Clean Food. I totally judged a book by it's cover. What can I say? It did look...clean. Everybody needs a little clean somewhere.

I'm going to go ahead and blame Clean Food for my meal plan attempt because everything looked fantastic and fresh, and since the book is split seasonally, I was dying to make a bunch of the Spring recipes. (Even if the weather still thinks it's Winter, at least our bellies will think it's Spring. Take that, rain.)

I picked out a ton of recipes from Clean Food for our meal plan because they were all sounding amazing. They reminded me of the stuff I would make when we were part of a CSA and got a bunch of weird veggies every week. That kind of cooking really gets me excited.

Somewhere round about the Cashew Cream and the Flax Egg (say what?) I got to thinking that there was something strange about this here cookbook.

Oh, and where'd all the meat go?

Turns out, Clean Food means Vegan Food. (Is this something everyone else already knows and I am just late to the game?)

So the other day I whipped out my meal plan. I had been avoiding it since I had no groceries, but after (finally) successfully making it to the grocery store, it was time to get down to business. It had been another one of those days, and I was hoping the Meal Plan said that bacon and eggs with lots of cheese was for dinner.

But...it seems that I was delirious when I planned those meals.

Sweet Potato, Corn, and Kale Chowder?
Swiss Chard with Roasted Golden Beets?

The Black Bean Burgers with Pineapple Guacamole we ate last night really was delicious. And I love a good beet. Truly, all the food does (still) sound wonderful.

But when dinner time rolls around and you are starving and the little people are screaming and you have been chopping this veggie and that veggie and then you plop a mound of greens on the table...oh, the silence.

I mean the kids do not care that the beets are special, non-purple beets. Or that the greens (swiss chard) we had last night are totally different from the greens (kale) we are having tonight.

They are all, Where is our dinner, mama? This looks like weeds.