Weekend Update

Guthrie had a mega wiggler last week and we figured it would be falling out soon. He came home from school with a "surprise" to show me. This was his first top tooth to come out (his fourth tooth altogether). I gave him an unofficial dental exam and found three more teeth that are pretty loose - one that will probably fall out any day (the fourth on the bottom). He couldn't wait to put his tooth under his pillow.

G: Does the tooth fairy come check under everyone's pillows every night for teeth?

Me: Ummm, yep.

G: *pause* Immmmmmm-possible. (walks away)

Uhhhh - okay. He's a smart little booger.

On Friday we REstarted potty training with Sullivan. We have done this two or three times now and each time he does GREAT, no accidents for a few days, and then regresses and I get sick of pee on the floor and put him back in diapers. I hadn't actually planned to start again but I ran out of diapers and just seized the opportunity. He has done really well and only had a few oops moments. He doesn't like any of his own underwear and insists on wearing "spiderman un-wear" that belong to Guthrie. Good thing Guff is pretty thin and his underwear aren't too giant on Sully's mini-tush.

We had a few yummy dinners this past week while I tried out some new recipes. We were in a dinner rut and it was nice to change it up for a while. First of all we tried out this recipe that Ash posted on our family blog. I definitely recommend it, although when I remake it I need to remember that Mexican chili powder is a LOT spicier than what we buy in the states. Also, I will leave out the beer next time as the smell of beer simmering in a pot of chili made my house smell like a keg for about 12 hours and I was totally gagged. I went back and forth on whether or not to add it, and figured since the alcohol is all supposed to cook out, and the original recipe writer obviously seemed to think that the beer served a purpose, I would take a chance. It tasted great (albeit spicy) and we will make it again.

I also tried out some homemade tomato soup.

Boil the following veggies for about 15 minutes:

5 large tomatoes

1 zucchini

1 large carrot

1 onion

1 jalapeno (I seeded mine so it wouldn't be too spicy)

Drain the veggies and blend them in the blender until completely pureed. Bring 2 cups of chicken broth to a boil and add the pureed veggies. Salt and pepper to taste. I served it with some slices of crusty bread, but Kyle enjoyed his with grilled cheese. We also sprinkled some grated cheese on top. I only made this for me and Kyle, but I think if I had left the jalapeno out the kids would have liked it. It would be REALLY yummy with some shaped pasta noodles mixed in.

Today I remembered that I had bought the ingredients to try this recipe. I really liked it but even more impressive was how well the kids ate it. I doubled the sauce for the recipe and ended up with a pretty big portion for leftovers, but no worries because I know the kids will eat it and I am a big fan of leftovers. :P While we were eating Adeline told Kyle that "mommy makes the best food." Uhhhh - any recipe that gets me those kudos from my kids can stick around. (I should note that she also makes similar comments when we are eating macaroni and cheese with chicken nuggets - just so you don't get the wrong impression of me).

I've been feeling kind of blah, which isn't unusual for this time of the semester. We're kind of at that point where it feels like we haven't seen our families forever and we miss them and so many other people and things from the U.S. Not to mention that we feel like our Mexico time is winding down and ya'all know how time slows down when you're looking forward to something. I need some mini milestones to look forward to until we go home for Christmas break (Dec. 6thish). I also think it will be a little refreshing to see my mom this weekend. I'm excited to take her out to a yummy dinner on Friday night and spend the day with her and the kids on Saturday. Hurry up and get here, Tam!