Dr. Jekyll & Ms. Hyde

Some days I feel like that.

I'll be contentedly hanging out with the kids at the ....... (fill in the blank- lake, park, grocery store, etc) with the kids perfectly happy.  They're happy.  I'm happy. 

Then one of us gets grumpy and I turn into Ms. Hydel.

So weird.  I feel bi-polar when it all goes down.  Laughing and playing one minute then snarling in a voice I HATE to use the next. 

It's a total white trash, beat your kids voice- but often it's the only thing that gets their attention.  You can only say, "Get your shoes on, please" so many times before it turns into, "GET YOUR SHOES ON NOW OR .... (fill in the blank for the punishment- no ice cream, no park, no DS, no whatever) and sometimes the DAMN IT" comes out too.

I know it's not the best parenting.

I know it sounds horrible.

And I wish I had the tools to change.  I just haven't had the energy to figure out how, yet.

But today was a very nice day.

The we went to Ken Lake (again).  It was clear there are new water skills acquired over the summer.  Elsa is now half fish.  Sarina swam out to the floating dock without her life jacket multiple times.  The boys were hot on the tail of the "big, big, BIG" fish.

In this video you can see all 5 kids (we had an extra last night and today).  My very favorite thing is how Elsa swims to Charlie and he picks her up with so much love and devotion.  It fills this sometimes-white-trash-voiced mama with a whole lotta pride.

I also took the kids to watch our friend Sam play football.  It was so fun!  And a couple of times (in between potty runs...) I got goosebumps watching the boys play ball.  They looked like such big boys and played so very well.  I think I'm going to have to do it again! 

And not to jinx myself, I'll have to stop for McFlurries on the way- those treats kept the kids in one place for several minutes in a row.  Then the generous donation of popcorn bought a few more minutes...

And now, hold the presses, another new recipe!

I love pizza. 

And I love Trader Joe's pizza dough. 

I pull it out as thin as I can get it then put it in a hot electric skillet for a few minutes until it crisps then flip it and top with my toppings of the day.  Sometimes I'll make it with: peanut sauce, smoked Gouda, chicken, cilantro, peanut sauce, red onion, and red pepper flakes.  Sometimes it's just meat and cheese with prego spaghetti sauce.

Tonight it was fresh homemade real pesto (like translated from my Italian roommates recipe real), CSA fresh onion thinly sliced and sauteed in a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper, Trader Joe's amazing English Cheddar with caramelized onions, red pepper flakes (I like spicy food- can you tell?), CSA fresh real tomatoes, sprinkle of Parmesan, and fresh ground pepper.  That was my side of the pizza.  The kids had BBQ sauce, chicken and mozzarella (I held the cheese for Carl).  It was yummy and Charlie liked my side of the pizza best, yay Charlie!