Errand/Adventure: It was time for another Trader Joe’s run! After bringing Charlotte to school, I went back home and picked up the boys. Sam and I dropped Jeff off in town and then we proceeded to TJs. I love my little car trips with Sam. He’s a good passenger when he has a snack and a couple of books or his doodle pro to occupy his time. We also spent most of the trip enjoying our favorite songs from the CD my internet friend Perpetua made for me. Sam’s overall favorite is the Mumford & Sons “Roll Away Your Stone” which he calls “DA STONE SONG” and we probably listened to it ten times. It was balanced out by my own obsession with Vampire Weekend’s “White Sky” and Iron & Wine’s “Belated Promise Ring.”

We have a few favorite items at TJs (in addition to the cheap wine, of course). The kids love the cinnamon “schoolhouse” crackers that are shaped like letters and numbers. I always buy those, plus the maple leaf sandwich cookies which we all love. Last time we tried the cream varieties of yogurt, which are very rich, and the kids loved those. Plus they’re a little smaller than the standard yogurt tubs which works better for the kids. So this time I got blueberry, vanilla, peach, and mango (all “& cream”). More cereal bars, plus some fiber fruit strips that I hope Charlotte will like. We like the basic TJs hummus. And Jeff is a big fan of their frozen Thai and Indian dinners, so I picked up a bunch of those.

Cleaning: A load of laundry, including bedding, because it had been too long. The weather was great for drying sheets outside! I also loaded a bunch of outgrown clothes, shoes, and toys into the back of the Subaru to bring to goodwill today (I dropped them all off this morning after I brought C to school). There is much more room in the garage now! Mostly though since the kids were playing outdoors once we got home I didn’t do much cleaning inside.

Library: SAM WENT POTTY IN THE TOILET AT THE LIBRARY! ON HIS OWN INITIATIVE!!! As a reward, I let him pick out an extra DVD. He got one that’s essentially a read-aloud with illustrations version of Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel plus three other books about trucks. He loves it, and he and Charlotte both love the “I Stink!” book about a garbage truck. “DIRTY DIAPERS! PUPPY POOP!” they bellow in imitation. The also got a few more Reading Rainbow episodes. Charlotte found one Magic Tree House book she hadn’t read, several Cam Jansen books, and I grabbed a couple longer chapter books off the shelf I thought she’d like.

So, a nice commenter last week asked for the chicken pot pie recipe. It’s adapted from Real Simple (you can find the original here). I made mine by chopping an onion, and mixing that with a bag of mixed vegetables, a carton of sliced mushrooms, 1/2 T. thyme, 1 T salt, a little black pepper, and 1/3 cup of flour in the bottom of the crock pot. Then I dumped a package of boneless skinless chicken thighs (about a pound, maybe more) on top, more salt & pepper, and about a cup of water poured over it all. Cook on low for about 5-6 hours, checking to see if more water is needed. Then when the chicken is cooked through you kind of shred it up and mix in a block of cream cheese. The end! You can make this into pot pie, or you can just eat it with rice or bread or pasta or a spoon. Heh.

Errand/Adventure: More errand than adventure, sorry Sam. We got groceries. Although Sam was wearing his underpants the whole time, which is a bit of an adventure! He did not use the potty.

Cooking/baking: Last week’s chicken pot pies were successful, except for the pie part. So I just made the innards again and served it over penne for Charlotte. She loved it. It’s a basic crockpot recipe but it’s a nice way to get veggies and protein. I also made broccoli cheddar soup that I brought to C’s school today for the teachers’ lunch during PT conferences.

Cleaning: I washed sweaters. I’d been meaning to do this for MONTHS, but I have finally amassed enough gentle machine wash sweaters to do a load. Thank goodness because it is still winter and I need my sweaters. Most of them were dry this morning.

Library: This is where the day started to fall apart. Sam hadn’t napped NOR had he peed. All day. So he was tired and crabby and obviously needed to go, but refused to use the bathroom. It was unpleasant. So after a fifteen minute battle in the tiny boy’s bathroom at the library, we grabbed a bunch more Magic Tree House and Cam Jansen books for Charlotte, a few DVDs, and headed home, where Sam promptly peed…in the bathtub. Seriously, you cannot wait for my potty training post. The DVD we got of Reading Rainbow was pretty awesome, I must say. Might make a tradition of that.

Today I am feeling all opposite of that. Today we registered Sam for preschool (which he still adorably and totally uncorrected by me calls “PRETTYSCHOOL”). Oh, my baby. I am equal parts “my baby is all grown up!” and “wow, three hours three times a week with no kids in the house? Oh the cleaning I could do!” Of course the joke’s on me because I am scheduled to teach the mornings Sam is in school. However, oh the writing Jeff will be able to do! Hooray! And my house will continue to sink under a tide of filth and lone socks and tiny foot-stabby toys.

Speaking of which, this is a domestic day post! I worked yesterday so I gave Jeff this morning, morning only because I was covering a friend’s class this afternoon, not because I’m ungenerous, although anyone who has ever tried to take a bite of food from my plate might argue that is exactly what I am. Order your own food! But I’m getting off track. Today! This morning! I tried to pack too much domesticity into a morning, I’ll tell you. Our fridge was barren and cavernous, so we got groceries. Then while I was unloading them I got the reminder call that we had to register Sam for preschool TODAY or risk losing the spot we wanted, so I left the nonperishables and booked it out there to fill out the forms. Then when Sam and I returned home, I put the ingredients for chicken pot pie in the slow cooker (the innards only, obviously, not the pie), changed into my Professional Lady clothes, and booked it to school as soon as Jeff got back. Left undone: two loads of laundry, tidying the living room, putting away clothes, general ungrossening.

The pot pies were good. Charlotte went nuts for the insides but continues to deny the deliciousness of pie crust. Sam ate fruit. We have leftover pot pie plus a spare for the freezer. Housekeeping!

Right on time, then: Jeff flew out early Monday morning for Michigan, and I woke up with the inability to take a deep breath without coughing in a particularly rattly, offensive way. My plans for three Domestic Days in a row were dashed.

I did however manage between coughing fits to go for a couple long, long walks outside with Sam, do a couple loads of laundry, keep the house sort of clean, and paint a jewelry rack thing I picked up at the Salvation Army a week ago. Now it is cobalt blue instead of brass and my necklaces are no longer littering the dust-covered top of my dresser. Plus I paid $2 for it instead of $40 that they were charging for a similar item at Urban Outfitters. Eat it, fools.

Now the cold has upgraded from my lungs to my sinuses, so I am enjoying a lot of mouth breathing and lip balm. Tomorrow I go back to work, and then Friday we head to Chicago (more on that later). Hope you are all feeling well.

I meant to write something else earlier, especially since Jeff’s grandpa passed away this weekend. But I think I’ll let Jeff write a little something about his grandpa, maybe after he attends his funeral next week. I kind of don’t feel like it’s my place to say anything. But then I didn’t feel like I should or could post anything else. So anyway, Wednesday again. Here we go:

Errand/Adventure: Because Jeff is going to be gone for part of next week and I will therefore be missing some work days, I took an hour or so this morning to get a couple things done. So our errand/adventure was more of an errand. We did go to Old Navy because it is closing tomorrow and I thought there would be some amazing bargains, but really most of it was unimpressive. I got a couple pairs of pajamas for Sam for about $3 each, but otherwise nothing. Then we went to get some groceries. Thrilling! Sam did eat three (3) string cheeses in the store. I guess he was hungry!

Cooking/baking: We still have pumpkin muffins and last week’s freezer casserole left, so I didn’t make anything new today.

Cleaning: Yes! I did a load of laundry (diapers, oh when will they NOT be part of my life?) and got it hung up outside. I also cleaned in the dining room, including tackling hanging up some more pictures/switching out pictures on the picture wall. The image that you see in the header of this blog is now finally framed and hung! Also I dusted and it was disgusting. Ew. We were living in filth.

Library: We picked up more of the same: American Girl books (she’s into Addy and Felicity) and more Magic Treehouse books. Then as a bonus I got a couple movies: Mary Poppins and The Rescuers. The kids were watching Mary Poppins during dinner and CRACKING UP. My work here is done.

Last Wednesday I went grocery shopping with Sam in the morning after dropping Charlotte off at school. Then I did a load of laundry, cleaned the bathrooms, and, while Sam was napping, made a couple casseroles (one to give to a friend whose husband was having back surgery, and one to keep for us). After we picked Charlotte up from school (early, for early release Wednesdays) we headed out to the library where I loaded up a bag with chapter books for Charlotte recommended by various FB friends and a few books for Sam, too. We got home, chilled out with a snack and our books, and eventually had a little dinner, and then Jeff got home.

It was a lovely day, and also, in case you didn’t notice, intensely domestic.

So I think this is going to be my Wednesday theme: Domesticated Wednesdays. Each week I’ll run an errand or go on an adventure with Sam in the morning, then cook/bake/clean during his truncated afternoon nap, and then go to the library with both kids. If I hit upon a winning recipe, maybe I’ll share it here? I haven’t posted about cooking in quite a while, long before I left blogger behind, but I’m feeling up for it on occasion now.

This week’s Domestic Wednesday:

Errand/Adventure: Both! Sort of. Sam and I drove the half-hour to Trader Joe’s. I wanted to stock up on cheap wine since Jeff and I did the math and realized the bottles of two-buck Chuck were actually cheaper per liter than my favorite boxed wine. We also got a bunch of cereals, snacks, Indian convenience food, and other grocery staples. The other two times I’d been to this Trader Joe’s were Saturdays, and they were CRAZYPANTS. This time, a Wednesday morning, was gloriously low-key and relaxed. The store was practically empty. I loved it, and Sam had fun, too.

Cooking/Baking: I tried a new variation of my crockpot chicken tacos. This time I put sliced mushrooms in the bottom of the crockpot, topped it with chicken breast tenders, some chopped garlic with oregano and salt and pepper, a cubed block of cream cheese, and then most of a jar of marinara sauce on that. After it cooked for a couple hours, I topped it with a package from Trader Joe’s freezer section, the Eggplant and Zucchini Melange. Cooked another hour, stirred it all up and shredded the chicken, and now am eating it served over polenta (although pasta would be good too).

I also made a pasta bolognese dish that I put in the freezer for another time, and baked pumpkin muffins based on this recipe (with muffins instead of loaves it only requires about 20 minutes baking time).

Cleaning: Nope. Folded some laundry.

Library: If you’re on Goodreads, you can be Charlotte’s friend by clicking here. Obviously I am maintaining her Goodreads page, not her. But it’s a great way for me to keep track of what books she’s read and liked, others that were recommended, the next books in the series, etc. This week Charlotte requested more American Girl books (she’s really into them!) and we picked up the next book in a few series, as well as the first five Magic Treehouse books, of which she has now read four. As in, in the last two hours. We just had  a conversation about Morgana Le Fey.

Break! First we went to Iowa. It was a lovely Christmas there. Highlights include: playing Clue after the kids were in bed; lovely weather for our Christmas day walk out at the lake (bald eagles!); nice visits with my grandma; my brother having gotten a job just days before; good family gatherings. Seriously, I am lucky to have such nice relatives. I never feel tense or stressed out about seeing my aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousins’ kids. They are nice, fun, friendly people. Another highlight that I’ll expand on a bit more was Sam’s behavior in church on Christmas morning. He was “that kid,” the one acting out up front during the children’s message. Bellowing loudly, climbing the steps, checking out (and reporting on) the musical instruments. I was equal parts embarrassed and amused. I mean, doesn’t everyone secretly kind of love “that kid?”

Then we headed back home for a few days. That gave us enough time to unpack from Iowa, do some laundry, have a little birthday party for Sam on his actual birthday (pictures soon), take down the Christmas tree and decorations, clean, and pack again for Florida.

On the 30th we flew out for Florida. I had been looking forward to this trip for a LONG time. Although I’ve been to southern California a few times, I have never really had a tropical vacation during the winter. Twelve years ago we were in Orlando over New Year’s, but the weather was more chilly and the activities were more inland that time. Knowing this Gulf-side trip was on the horizon for a while was the carrot that I dangled in front of me this semester, my reward for grading papers, passing my DPR, cleaning my house.

As anticipated, the travel portion of the trip was…stressful. Charlotte was great. She is the ideal child passenger. She read, colored, looked out the window, sipped her apple juice. Sam’s behavior fell somewhere on the sliding scale from TEMPORARILY QUIET to SCREAMING KICKING HORRORSHOW. It was so stressful, trying to keep him quiet and unhorrible. I can imagine a future time when Sam is a bit older, maybe in a year or so, when air travel with these kids will be more pleasant, but this trip was not it.

But once we were there it was glorious. The house Jeff’s parents rented was an AMAZING MANSION. The neighborhood was full of ADORABLE ELDERLY SNOWBIRDS who waved at me when I jogged past while they were watering their palm trees or whatever. The week was bookended by warm, sunny days we largely spent at home around the pool and hot tub. In the middle of the week when the weather was chilly we went on little excursions–shopping, exploring, biking. I finished the one academic task I needed to do and then left my books uncracked for the rest of the week, and I (mostly) don’t feel guilty about it at all.

I think the best best part was how much the kids loved interacting with their aunts and uncles. They see Uncle Steve and Aunt Katy a couple times a year, but hadn’t seen Uncle Mark and Aunt Katie since summer 2010. They loved having extra grownups to shower attention on them (and Jeff and I loved it too, of course).

It was hard coming back to real life, especially when real life is the windswept Kansas plains in the winter. Where are my palm trees? My green grass? My showy, ostentatious flowering plants? My friendly, leathery geriatrics? Sob.

But now we’re all back to normal life. It helps that this semester (which starts Tuesday for me) is an exciting one. My teaching release means I get to focus all my energies at school on research and writing. I feel more relaxed as a result. Charlotte is back at school and loving that. Sam has quickly acclimated his new toys to our home environment. It’s good to be home.

But for now, on New Year’s Eve, I thought I’d look back at the last year’s events. From my perspective on December 31, it’s been a very good year for our family. I go into 2012 more relaxed, more healthy, more confident of my future, than I did going into 2011. And that is a good good thing. But here is what happened in the past year:

January: I studied for comps, and had my first panic attack. I got in a car accident.

February: Friends were awesome while we were carless. I scheduled my comprehensive exams and kept studying.

March: I felt at first confident, then filled with anxiety, going into my exams. I took and passed my exams! And I was sick the whole time, and very sick afterward!

April: I went to an academic conference in New Jersey, where I met up with a new friend (hi, Perpetua!) and reunited with an old one. I gave Sam his first haircut. I finished reading the Harry Potter books.

May: My brother moved in with us for a while. I had an amazing weekend.

June: We entered a long, hot summer. I started teaching my summer class. Charlotte turned five.

July: We tolerated the heat enough to celebrate the fourth at a friend’s house and to go blackberry picking. I got an essay accepted for publication and decided on a dissertation topic.

August: We made our annual treks to Michigan and Iowa, taking in an amusement park and the IA state fair. Charlotte started kindergarten and eventually got used to the auto-flush toilets.

September: Sam presented some challenges. Jeff and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. I lamented the Lost Leather Couch.

October: We enjoyed the Kansas outdoors again. Life was good, and I worked to remember that.

November: I did NaBloPoMo again. I turned 34. I surprised Jeff with a 35th birthday party a few days before his actual birthday. On his birthday we visited the Flint Hills. We hosted Thanksgiving again.

December: The semester ended, and all rejoiced. Christmas in Iowa, then Sam’s 3rd birthday, then to Florida, where I sit now, still rejoicing.

Today he turned three. And he acted VERY THREE all day. Sam has long lived in ALL CAPS but now it’s like everything about him is turned up to ELEVEN, all the time. Big emotions! Big reactions! Big big loud stompy angry throwing crying yelling, followed by sweet apologies “I’M SOWWY MAMA” and hugs that somehow turn into headbutts.

We love him, very much.

Blowing out the candles on his bulldozer cake.

Happy birthday, my sweet bellowing boy.