The good, the bad, and the downright ugly

The belly grows.

This picture is clickable and will drop you in the belly gallery.

Tulsi Mint tea by Yogi Tea is my newest drink of choice. I have a cup almost every night. It's soothing instead of "sparky" like most mints are (which I love, but am not in the mood at the moment), and has a sweet aftertaste. From what I can gather (I searched around online) it doesn't seem like you can get this in the US; you can't even find it on the Yogi Tea site, so it's not all that fair that I'm telling you about it. The only way I justify this is because if you don't already know about Yogi Tea and you're a tea drinker, find some! They have some of the most lovely flavor blends around. If you enjoy a complex cup, check them out. You will not be disappointed.

My day today started out well. Normally I save videos for when I'm cooking dinner or tired out in the afternoon and we're waiting for Greg to come home. This morning, I felt washed out when I hit the floor, so I put a long one in (Thomas The Tank Engine adventure of some sort), locked the front door from the inside (with a key, and the boys don't know how to work it), set the guys up with cups of cheerios and sippy cups of water and went back to bed. My door was open and I was sort of half awake, so I knew it'd be ok. A few times Andrew came to me with some sort of problem, and I fixed it and went back to sleep. The boys came to me at 10; the movie was over and they were bored.

I felt wonderful from the extra sleep. We were out of bread, and since we all enjoy making it, the little team helped me throw together a loaf.

Having this much fun is pretty serious business.


By the time the dough went in to rise, it was time for lunch. We had a fun spread of tacos from the night before and hotdogs. What could be happier for a toddler? They were in a fantastic mood as I put them down for their nap/quiet time. Elijah went to his bed and stood there drinking his bottle with a pleasant face while he waited for me to tuck him in. Andrew happily kissed me from his bed in the attic (he sleeps in "Hannah's" bed for his quiet times and then gets out to play with his spread of toys up there. He thinks it's great fun.) Everything was calm, and I looked forward to my quiet time, which is my "me" time to get things done -- no work, only play, I've decided (i.e. knitting, spinning, blogging, online snooping, etc.) The quiet time usually lasts a good 2 hours or so.

About a half-hour passed and Andrew came downstairs to use the bathroom. When he went back up, it was pretty clear that he'd decided his time alone was done. About every 5 minutes from there on, he had some sort of problem or would sit at the top step wailing his lungs out for me, threatening to wake Elijah with the volume. I was so mad. There was nothing that I could do, and I assure you that I tried everything. I got so frazzled, and of course Elijah woke up early.

The rest of the day went back and forth from bad to good to bad, and Andrew was unpredictable and terribly behaved for the most part. Maybe I should have spent more time with them in the morning? Maybe we should have gone outside and run around? Maybe this? Maybe that? I have no idea. I just know that by the time Greg came home I was just about to throw dinner off the balcony.

To add insult to injury, the bread pretty much didn't rise at all. We've got a nice tasting brick.

After we ate, I had to lie down for the next hour or so because my stomach was so tied up in knots from the stress. I hope to goodness sake that tomorrow is better. My plan is to start the day by throwing rocks off the bridge behind the house, which should be a hit. Should be.