Today she turned FOUR

Thank you for teaching me these things and more, Little Princess:

Dance like everyone is looking...and they love it. Sing as loudly as possible and if you don't know the words make some up. Learn to say "NO" like you mean business. A sweet smile and batting eyes are the perfect distraction to making a quick getaway. Expect things and they will just happen.

Adding nutrition

The Coyote is complaining that the children aren't eating well enough. After a brief review of their intake of pb&j chased with milk I had to agree. More vegetables, indeed. So this weekish they have been offered braised kale, homemade mashed potatoes, veggie fritatas, spinach salad, green beans, flaxed up oatmeal, Ancient Grains triple fiber bread, coleslaw, and a green veggie salsa sort of thing that had cucumbers, onions, celery, tomato, pepperoncini, and onion minced to top off hot dogs. The Boy ate some and had a few pickish bites of salsa steamed tilapia IF it was fed to him. He is five. It didn't happen for long. The baby ate two bites of everything which warmed my heart for a minute but then again she still nibbles around on dryer lint and bars of soap in an open-minded sort of way. It seems like the pickiness is more of a habit than a true dislike but in the spirit of not creating a dislike it seems wise to keep sliding these foods into their plates until they give in. Kale did seem to improve with a dash of ketchup ( antioxidants there).

Victory goes to she who won't quit.

Wild blackberry smoothie. Perfection among  blackberries is correlated to how much blood the picker loses to briars, how many snakes are flushed from the upper branches ( extra points for the ones that barely clear one's face), and how many chiggers or ticks are gotten in the search. No pain, no taste. It's very primal that way. These were only moderate.

Foodies

"What do you want for breakfast?", says me.
"What do the Autobots eat?", says he.
"Those crystal energy things", says  me.
"And biscuits and gravy, cause those crystals aren't so tasty."  Well, good thing, I don't have a recipe for rocks.
Here is the biscuit recipe for those who aren't Southern:

2 c self rising flour
1/2 c sour cream ( fat yogurt works okay but the husband won't eat the resultant biscuits)
1/2 c lemon lime soda ( or Mt Dew if you play loose and fast with your dental health)
Preheat oven to 350F, bake on a buttered baking sheet for about 12 min, or until golden brown. Slather in melted butter if you are the Bojangles/Hardees sort but we like them without.

This would probably be good with ginger ale and some sugar sprinkled on top as a base for strawberry shortcake.

Crockpot spaghetti sauce going in now. Biking. Boy is reading Aesop's fables to sisters until I get dressed. Still wiping watercolors from last night but they made some beautiful works for the fridge.

"This has been a public service announcement."

The Boy spent is trying to call everyone...everywhere...to make them aware of the dangers of malaria and that there are outbreaks in Tanzania so it could happen HERE. So, go to malariaendsnow.org , everybody. In defiance of the malaria alert I took them to a faux beach to dig in the...red clay. We examined the eroding shoreline and how the sand containment wasn't really working. That counts as a science study, right? Also read My Car to the Girls four times. Boy is slogging through Diseases of the Garden and Natural Remedies. Sigh.

The rising cost of education, or, there are no boxes left at the liquor store.

We need boxes. So we can make "cars" for our WeatherUndergroundAnticipated Rainy Day . One day after a major alcholic holiday. So how many junk mail fliers will it take to make a paper Yugo? And just so you know we do not endorse nor do we swill cheap wine. It was just the cool color in the last discarded pile of cardboard at the Quicker Liquor.

Read "Tinker, Tom, and the Starbaby" six times before I feigned unconsciousness. The Boy will get a reward of  gingerbread shaped pancakes for reading "Little House in the Big Woods". Remember when Ma Ingalls made pancake men? Okay, I didn't either but my mom never made any identifiable food.

" Did one of the children pee on the walk?"
" Don't think so, why"
" Is that a snake? WHAT THE HECK IS THAT? Looks parasitic. Is it going for the kids?"
" You catch it while I go inside and Google...uh...triangular headed worm thingy, okay?"
 This did actually net a citation for the critter. Its a Kews Garden Spade Headed Worm and they do not usually eat children. No reports of it, probably because the eaten children couldn't tell the tale. They are reputed to dine on slugs even though they are not French. This warmed me up to the Kews Worm since we have a slug problem in the garden, and worse, on the sidewalk where I walk barefooted too often. Sadly, the Coyote was holding the worm on a popsicle stick to better examine it from all angles and dropped our single worm. Seems that they also explode on impact. One worm covers roughly 60 square feet.