hand dipping

I don't often cook with Jonah. I like the idea of cooking with him, but I prefer to cook in a quiet, empty, clean kitchen (I kid you not: every time I clean the kitchen, I get the urge to bake). Because I decided to make snickerdoodles this afternoon*, however, I figured I should invite Jonah to help. Rolling cookie dough in cinnamon sugar is the perfect job for a 4-year old, I thought.

Right as I was demonstrating how it was to be done, however, I realized that he had not washed his hands in...well probably all day. But definitely not before making cookies with me. (Don't judge. I was on a hand washing campaign before the tornado and I keep forgetting to start it back up again. That excuse gets weaker and weaker the more time that passes). So I sent him off to the bathroom to wash his hands.

"Do you know what is fun? Dipping our hands?" He asked from the dining room.
"Mmm-hmm," I said, thinking about how to keep cinnamon sugar from getting all over the floor. When it registered that his voice had not come from the bathroom, I looked over and noticed he was "washing" his hands by dipping them in my cup of water! Once I insisted that he needed to use soap and told him that no, he couldn't just pour soap in that cup, he was tired and thirsty and decided to sit down and have a drink. Of my water. That he had just dipped his dirty hands in. In fact, as I write this, he is finishing off the water. Gross.


*If I'm going to make cookies, they're going to be chocolate chip. Snickerdoodles are Josh's favorite, though, so every few years I put my interests aside and make them. This is probably the first time Jonah has ever eaten them.

happy day

There has been some concern (Hi, Mom!) that my last post was Jonah telling me not to be so grumpy. Lest anyone else fear I'm running around like a crazy mad person, here are a few things that are making us very happy today:

This yogurt. All of the flavors are good, but since I don't like chunks in my yogurt (and throwing away the fruit on the bottom feels like a waste, but not something out of the question), the lemon and coconut are my favorite flavors. I bought one in a hurry at a health food store for Jonah and it is the creamiest, most delicious treat ever. I am eating some right now.

Jonah's new bike. I took Caroline and Dixie for a walk behind Josh and Jonah biking this morning. It was bliss (watching him bike in too-big cowboy boots, his helmet, and a superman cape was pretty cute).

The weather. It is raining and lovely and maybe 80 degrees.

(However, I should add to the pros and cons list that the humidity here, though great for my skin, is ruining my food. Today I threw away soggy saltines and a half a box of Kix that weren't air-tight enough to block out the moisture.)

just be happy

"Mom, I just don't want you acting like that. You're acting grumpy."

Busted.

I can't get much past him these days.

me and the whale

Caroline rolled over for the first time Sunday night. And now, all of the sudden, she loves being on her stomach.

Jonah currently loves his new Veggie Tales version of Jonah and the whale, or has he calls it, "me and the whale." Here is a recent description:

"Mom, did you know that on the movie of me and the whale, the whale had a hard time spitting me out because I didn't taste very good?" Also, "I thought the whale that swallowed me was green because in the book of me the prophet it's green but in the movie it's yellow. Maybe the movie is me and the whale 2."

AL v. AZ, round 1

During our recent trip, I attempted to do a study: Phoenix metro area v. Tuscaloosa as far as places I'd like to live. It was an entirely unscientific study because there are great and horrible places in each city. Mostly, I was just musing over I'm becoming accustomed to the south and how did I feel about it in comparison to my home state. Removing the exceptionally large factor of family and friends (which is, of course, the very best thing about AZ), here are my findings.

1. Creepy crawlies
-Alabama has a ton more bugs and the more bugs are bigger and weirder.
-Arizona has very few bugs, but it does have scorpions. Cockroaches don't sting my baby while she's laying on the floor. Scorpions will.
Verdict: Point AL.

2. Weather
-Alabama's humidity leaves me feeling sweaty and gross even straight out of the shower. It is great for my hair and skin, however.
-No sweaty mornings in Arizona! I was constantly searching for chapstick and lotion, though, and my hair was a complete mess of fly-aways.
Verdict: No point awarded.

3. Cuisine
-Alabama has great BBQ.
-Arizona has great everything to eat, including Mexican, In-n-Out, and other delicious local and chain restaurants. (Again, not a fair study. If we lived in Birmingham, we'd have many more options than we do here, and if we lived in CG we'd be just as far from most of the great AZ food as we are from Birmingham now.)
Verdict: Point AZ.

4. Citrus (for an orange- and lemon- lover like me, this really does deserve its own category)
-Arizona has amazing citrus. End of category.
Verdict: Point AZ.

5. Shopping
-Alabama's grocery store shoppers and employees are so kind. The Publix here gives Jonah a free balloon or coloring book every time we go there and Winn-Dixie gives him suckers.
-Arizona has H&;M, IKEA, and Trader Joe's. The food is also cheaper and there is a bigger selection at the grocery store.
Verdict: No point awarded. I'd like to give the point to AZ, but unless I had more money and fewer children, I don't see myself actually going shopping much other than grocery shopping. I do love Trader Joe's, but perhaps not more than I love kind people and balloons. I do long for the less expensive milk and cheese of AZ, but we've found a great Farmer's market here that I tell myself makes up for expensive bland produce at the grocery store.

So far, AZ is winning by one point. But then there is this...

 

Jo Anne with the kids at the zoo

Of course, the tomatoes in our garden are approaching softball size, so perhaps there are a few more areas AL would win out.

it's too bad it's fuzzy

Josh's grandpa sure liked holding Caroline. As you can see, Caroline liked it pretty well too.

home again

We had a great time. We are exhausted. We have a mountain of laundry and no food. We are happy to be home.

Josh has the flu. He won't admit it because he rarely gets sick, but the sum of his symptoms can really only mean two things: flu or food poisoning. Either way, he's miserable. As part of his misery, he had to throw up on the drive from Vegas to Phoenix. As if that wasn't bad enough, I posted about it online (just now). The reason I did, though, was to share the following gem from our now FOUR-year old:

"What if the foxes and snakes drink it and his germs make them sick?"

What if, indeed?

now flying *ding*

Have I sung the praises of Southwest airlines recently? They should hire me to be a "not an actor" spokesperson.

I got up to feed Caroline at 3 am when a text message came in from Southwest that our flight today had been delayed for 2 hours. Now how in the world am I supposed to keep Jonah entertained and from tearing apart the house I spent all night cleaning? He's going to wake up at 5 am ready to leave and I'll have to tell him that we don't leave until dinner time.

That was until I called Southwest, and they cheerfully switched our reservations over to another flight for no charge. True, we'll spend more time in transit (there's only one nonstop flight from Birmingham to Phoenix each day), but it is worth it to us.

Also, I woke Josh up to discuss the options before making the change. His first words once I asked him to wake up (a few times), "is this important?" followed by, "so I have to wake up?" I have those same thoughts every morning.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, continued

Teaching Jonah to fall asleep on his own was a top priority for us when he was born. We were diligent. This kid can sleep anywhere by himself and self soothe like a champ.
...but he prefers me to lay next to him singing Primary songs. And I almost always say yes.