swim lessons: The boys are enrolled and Anna and I participate in the parent-tot class whenever we feel like it. Anna is a crazy, arm-paddling, bubble-blowing, singing fish. Payton is doing great -- building his courage more & more everyday (now he'll put his face in the water for the torpedoes). Conner is by far the smallest in his class of 5 boys but he tries hard to keep up with them.
dentist: Scott, Conner, Payton, & Anna went in for cleanings. We always schedule the whole family together - except me, I'm on a 4-month cleaning routine. We arrive at 7 & 7:30am and we're all out of there by 8:05. Everyone passed with flying colors. Yay! I can't help but be jealous of Scott who, at age 32, has still never had a filling or anything close to it.
{I think I've been banned from posting the picture of Scott and Conner}
Payton loves the headphones.
And Anna was absolutely perfect. This was her second trip to the dentist. It's funny though, because she's so chatty in the waiting room and as we're walking to the exam room she tells the dental assistant, "I have teeth." But as soon as she gets into that chair, she turns into a mute. A good mute though. She sprawls out in the chair while they count her teeth, clean 'em, spray water, & suck it out. She sits absolutely still. Not a word from her mouth. Oh, except for when she asked for pink glasses. They only had orange. And she requested a Sleeping Beauty toothbrush way before she was even presented with options.
reading: New Moon
watching: Dr. Horrible and the Sing-Along Blog Superheroes, singing, Neil Patrick Harris, The Evil League of Evil . . . . just plain fun. I've had several of the songs stuck in my head today.
Mexican lasagna: On Sunday I made ritzy chicken casserole which we love so much (and it makes so much) that we had it again on Monday and there were still left-overs. Scott told me, and I quote: "I think I'll eat the rest of this for dinner tomorrow, so if you want you can make something yucky for you." "Something yucky" translates into "something Mexican". Scott hates Mexican food. So I never cook it -- tacos and enchiladas are not welcome at our dinner table and never, in our nearly 10 years of marriage have we ever made a run for the border. So I scoured my cookbooks and came across Paige's Mexican Lasagna from a Relief Society cookbook I put together for Enrichment back in 2005. I made it, it was delicious, and Anna liked it too! The boys must have inherited Scott's anti-taco seasoning gene.
Here's the recipe (Paige, hope you don't mind if I share):
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 pkg. taco seasoning
- 1 tsp. seasoned salt
- 1 cup diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
- 1-15oz can tomato sauce
- 1-4oz can diced green chilies
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 10 tortillas (corn or flour)
- 2 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
Brown the meat; drain fat. Add taco seasoning, seasoned salt, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and chilies. Blend well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. In a small bowl combine ricotta cheese and eggs. In bottom of 9x13 pan, spread 1/2 of meat mixture. Top with half of tortillas (they may overlap); spread 1/2 of ricotta cheese mixture; sprinkle with 1/2 of grated cheese. Repeat layers. Bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
nicknames: Add "Swarly" to Payton's list of nicknames. And "La Payton" -- but you need to pronounce it with a thick French accent (channel the chef from Little Mermaid) and leave the "n" silent.
potty training: The beginning of this week was rough. Several accidents. Waking up from her nap screaming bloody murder because she needed to poop. But we're in a good place now. Accident free for 2 days. She wears a pull-up for naps & night-time and wakes up with them dry. I've even braved going to Wal-mart, the park, and the library with just panties and she did just fine.
drinking: blueberry smoothies everyday for breakfast. I think I'll be making a blueberry cobbler this weekend too.
