Can't call me a vegetarian anymore

For 26 years I have been a vegetarian. I also love when I can get organic eggs and dairy products. When our beloved Wegman's grocery store came out with a super-dooper-organic yogurt, I was excited. Bought a few. After eating a cup of strawberry this morning, I noticed the allergy alert on the bottom - contains fish..... huh? Then I looked at the ingredients:
Cultured Pasteurized Grade A Organic Nonfat Milk, Organic Sugar, Organic Corn Starch, Organic Cream, Inulin (Dietary Fiber), Organic Vanilla Flavor, Pectin, Organic Locust Bean Gum, Fish Oil (Anchovy, Sardine), Kosher Gelatin (Beef, Tilapia), Vitamin D3. Contains a Blend of Live and Active Cultures Including: L. Acidophilus, L. Bifidus, L. Casei, Probiotic Bifidobacterium Lactis
GROSS! My precious body has been defiled!

Metal Mouth, Tinsel Teeth

The day Frances has dreaded has arrived. She got her braces! It's been a long process. Her mouth is so small and she had to get an expander on the roof of her mouth to actually spread her palate. Today she got 6 braces and wire between them and rings on her lower molars to anchor the braces. The anticipation was much worse than the actual experience - she was so worried that it would hurt. The card that she is holding shows nasty teeth from not brushing your teeth properly ("your braces are like a shelf for food to sit on and ROT your teeth!" says the dentist) and lovely teeth that are brushed properly.

Happy VD

103 valentine cards signed - check
22 cookies decorated - check
2 bags of candy sent in - check
40 fingernails (yup, Lewis insisted too) painted red - check
4 children dressed in red or pink - check
Happy Day of Love!

Big *BAD* Bumper Bowlers

Just about every Sunday afternoon, you can find us at the bowl-a-roll, playing a couple of games. We even bought our own bowling shoes last month! It is such a fun thing to do in this horrible-freezing-windy weather. We drag others into our cult and have a regular ole party. We ONLY play bumper bowling, so there is never a gutter ball!
They are their mother's children! Sometimes the kids bring a book to read when we take a break between our games.


Ana and Lewis like to take their turns together. 1....2....3....THROW!

I work in our city school district and my kids go to a suburban school. For the 1st time in the 15 years I've been in my district, the city had school today and ALL the surrounding suburbs were closed because the wind chill was 25 BELOW ZERO! We have a new superintendent who said that if parents wanted to keep their kids home, that was their choice! Hmmm, wouldn't that be an illegal absence???
We aren't going anywhere today. The kids are playing nicely, having fun with the puppies and doing their valentines. Frances was giving free makeovers this morning. Don't you wish you had stopped by?

Yup, another pup

The lunacy just never stops in our house. Obviously, I crave chaos. I wanted a rat terrier, the lawyer wanted a "doodle," so now we have both......along with a 14 year old mutt. We picked up Trixie (name chosen by the lawyer, a friend said the dog sounds like a hooker) this morning. She and Daisy were born a day apart in November. They are insane together. I am suspicious that Trixie is a little retarded but the lawyer thinks I'm just being mean. She's a little dense about pottying herself outside (the pup, not the lawyer). Trixie is a springer spaniel/poodle - I like to call her a spoodle. I need to go to bed - I'll be up in a couple of hours for potty duty.

I'm not wearing THAT

Tomorrow is Colonial America Day in Frances' classroom. She is pretty much mortified that she and her classmates are strongly encouraged to dress up........something like this:

This is how she will dress:

I had a little rant about asking non-white children to dress up like Colonial times. Should Frances' AfAm friend dress up like a slave? Me thinks that there were no Chinese women hanging out in the colonies. A parent emailed everyone suggesting all the girls wear SHOWERCAPS as bonnets!! Frances in a showercap? At school? I don't think so!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Happy Groundhog Day/Candlemas/mid point of winter!
In keeping with tradition, we went out to see if there were any shadows. We aren't going to see a groundhog of course, since they are deep in slumber, under the snow and ice. Ana made a paper groundhog and we brought the rat terrorist to check for shadows. It's totally overcast so.......no shadows. Spring is right around the corner! It's a B-I-G corner.....miles and miles to get there......
Ana's groundhog..... a cheerful fellow.

The rat terrorist just shook in the cold and chewed on a few old stems in the garden. I don't think she's tall enough to even cast a shadow.

We are still enamored with Daisy, the terrorist. The kids want to feed her, carry her around and lavish love & affection on her......but they won't get near the poop.
I found her hanging out on the dollhouse living room floor, chewing on a plastic giraffe. How would Freud interpret that?