The day to day

Mom made Van the Pioneer Woman's meatloaf from the cookbook that he gave me for Mother's Day. It was held together with bacon--the meatloaf, not the book, but that would have been okay, too. The meatloaf was accompanied by one of my favorite salad (of a list of two) that includes yummy avacado. She also made Pioneer Woman's blackberry cobbler and made sure Van got a piece. Last night, she made PW's lemon blueberry pancakes, and Zane just ate and ate with a sweet grin on his face. That kid can stick a smile for longer than anyone I know. He grins with certain foods, swimming or playing in dirt or any combination of these mentioned. Dirt+water= grin. Mixing food with dirt= grin. Swimming in food= grin. Mom, Zane, Avi and I all stayed home today. I got to play a couple of board games with the kids and watched them alternatively get into mischief and play like little angels. Zane and Avi see nothing unusual about crafting things out of toothpaste, hand soap and baby dolls. I don't know how many times Mom got them off of the kitchen counter, out of the refrigerator and helped them change their clothes after some tragic spill. Cade is decidedly addicted to reading. He announced himself at 9:00 last night into the livingroom with, "Oh, I finally finished it!", indicating the Boxcar children book in his hand. I didn't know he had stayed up, and was so thrilled that I ordered a box set of books for our travels on the spot. If I've got to feel puny, this ain't too bad.