My Funny, Funny Family

Poutine!

2012-01-10T09:41:00.004-06:00

In my post about my first night in Montreal, I mentioned having poutine for dinner. What is poutine, you may ask? Why, it's a Montreal specialty -- french fries with cheese curds and gravy. Here's the one I got that first night, at Franx Supreme, a hot dog restaurant in a mall food court.It didn't taste very good. The gravy was kind of nasty. But I felt I should press on. After all, there are all

Montreal With No Kids

2012-01-09T11:09:00.006-06:00

Epu's unemployment has not in general been a good thing for our family, but a couple happy side effects have occurred. One is that the number of companies inviting him to interview and urging him to consider relocation has been a great confidence boost to him. He did not realize his skills were so much in demand!The other side effect, we are living right now. We were offered the opportunity to

Wish We Could Just Pray

2012-01-01T21:13:00.006-06:00

Recently I had dinner with a devout Christian who I have admired from afar for years: Crystal Paine, author of the blog Money Saving Mom. I've interviewed her before and she has featured one of my guest posts on her blog, and despite how different we are, we really like one another.During our dinner, she mentioned that, like all parents but especially we self-employed moms, she had trouble

Holiday To-Do List

2011-11-27T20:46:00.011-06:00

I just put a bit of a spin on all these plans by deciding to send the family car up to the grandparents' house (with Epu and the little kids in it, as well as all our presents for everyone) on THURSDAY! The good thing: After Thursday night, I should be pretty chill.THINGS TO DO BEFORE CHRISTMASShop for gifts. (Sublist to be completed at later date but not published.)Decorate house.Declutter house

Halloween: The Weekend

2011-10-29T21:54:00.005-06:00

Halloween is not a day, you know. This year, it's a four-day weekend.Friday night, we dug the ice skates out of the crawl space, put on costumes and went to the Halloween Edition of Friday Night Family Skate. I hate ice skating, but it was worth it for this picture.Today, Pebbles had an in-costume birthday party at 10:30 a.m. As soon as I dropped her off, I took Nutmeg and Toth downtown for

Pedal Pushing

2011-09-20T19:19:00.004-06:00

Nutmeg rode her bicycle up and down the block this afternoon, over and over. No training wheels, no adult "getting her started."I raised both arms and sang "We Are the Champions" for her. But my feeling was only part pride. The other part was relief.See, Nutmeg asked to have her training wheels off more than a year ago, right after the end of kindergarten. She tried riding without the training

Laura Ingalls Wilder, Global Warming and 9/11/2001

2011-09-12T20:22:00.009-06:00

This weekend we drove a very long distance in a supreme act of indulgence. We went all the way to the town of Pepin on the Mississippi River, and back again, all because someone just had to attend the Laura Ingalls Wilder Days festival in Laura's birthplace of Pepin, Wisconsin. And if we didn't go, there would have been a major tantrum.The girls kind of wanted to go, too. Toth got to stay at

The Kitten and the Little Girl

2011-07-28T21:31:00.005-06:00

Acorn Ranger has a new home. And I have a 7-year-old who now knows what it is to have the blues.This whole episode makes me really proud of Nutmeg.The day that I found out that Acorn Ranger tested positive for FIV antibodies, and that he should therefore move to a home without other cats, Nutmeg cried and cried. I think she cried longer and harder than I've ever seen her cry when punishment

Acorn Ranger

2011-07-24T09:07:00.003-06:00

We found this kitten in the woods. Actually the kids' cousin found him and took care of him, cleaned him up and gave him some love. He's probably about 8 weeks old.We're trying to find a home for him. So if you know someone who wants a kitten in the Chicago area, and who doesn't have other cats, please let us know. He tested positive for FIV antibodies, which doesn't necessarily mean that he has

Freeze

2011-07-07T19:28:00.011-06:00

I wish I could freeze time for my little family and enjoy this summer for a few years at least. Why should time advance beyond this precariously perfect moment?Nutmeg is 7. OH, seven. I just finished poring over one of her latest obsessions with her, a big coffee table book I checked out from the Oak Park Public Library about the National Parks. While walking in Muir Woods together this spring,

Fourth Generation Girl Scout

2011-05-15T21:08:00.012-06:00

After devoting a large chunk of the past 72 hours to things Girl Scout, I just logged onto a GS alumnae page and set up an account. It asked me what generation girl scout I am, and since my mom was a scout, I put, 2nd.Which means, this little girl? Third Fourth-generation girl scout.(After posting this, my Grandma informed me that she had been a Scout too. I didn't know that! So I am actually

This Land is YOUR Land, This Land is MY LAND (repeat)

2011-05-03T22:04:00.006-06:00

We went on a trip. I'm not calling it a "vacation," because when you are even a part-time SAHM, in my book you are only on vacation if there are no children on it with you. Sorry.Our trip took us to three cities in eight days, with three children under 8. There has got to be a story problem in there somewhere.Yes, I now realize that this was a bit overambitious. Not so much because of the number

Suffrage and Powdered Eggs

2011-02-22T21:50:00.004-06:00

Since Nutmeg received a mini cupcake maker for Christmas, we've been making a few extra cake mixes lately. One day, while we were cracking the three eggs into the mixer, I told her about how cake mixes used to come with powdered eggs in them and you didn't have to add fresh. But housewives felt like they were cheating by just mixing powder with water for a cake, so the mixes didn't sell, so the

If Six-Year-Olds Were in Charge, There Would Be No War (Or at Least We Would All Have More Stickers)

2011-01-08T22:35:00.006-06:00

Married life, it's not always so easy. Sometimes Epu and I scream at each other. And the trouble with having such an articulate 6-year-old is the way she tells you exactly how much that bothers her.At the end of the first half of first grade, Nutmeg's teacher sent home the journal she'd written in class. Epu and I paged through it and read little anecdotes about her little sister Pebbles and such

Can you believe we had to wake this one up on Christmas morning?

2010-12-27T11:10:00.001-06:00

IMG_0166.JPG Originally uploaded by pumanchuMore photos from our sweet white Christmas coming soon.

Pulling Their Weight

2010-12-07T21:33:00.004-06:00

It's another crazy busy Christmas season, but one thing I have going for me this time: Everyone is doing her part around here.Nutmeg and Pebbles have been cooperating to make their own bed each morning, tucking down the snowflake flannel sheets for display and placing their gingerbread man pillows neatly at the top. Then -- get this -- they troop downstairs, before Epu and I are out of bed, and

Our House Is a Very, Very, Very Fine House (Or, Like Boxes of Shit in Your House?)

2010-11-10T22:02:00.003-06:00

Anyone who's been to our house lately has probably seen a mouse. The babysitter saw one and fled upstairs, leaving the sink running.We've struggled with mice on and off for at least a year. In Oak Park, where most of the houses are old, mice tend to come in at this time of year. But this year we were not able to get rid of them, even in spring and through the summer. They had taken up permanent

Working Mother, Part II

2010-10-20T10:14:00.000-06:00

After spending four years singing the praises of staying home with the kids to anyone who would listen (and many who wouldn't) I have taken a job.Oh, you would have too if you heard the job offer. Stay home most of the time, do the stuff you already do (write about deals and saving money), then once a week take the El downtown and sit in a cubicle to write something to be published in the

Many Milestones That Happened to Us This Fall

2010-10-11T20:51:00.013-06:00

Life, it rolls along, whether I report it here or not. That's because the characters in this blog are not fictional. See, after the end of The Scarlet Letter, Hester's cute little girl does not go on to become a grandmother and entertain the little ones with funny stories about the Puritan days. It's not that we've lost touch with the Prynne family. It's just that they cease to exist when the

Oak Park Consignment Sale Tonight and Tomorrow

2010-10-01T12:41:00.004-06:00

I just posted on Frugalista about the great consignment sale going on tonight in Oak Park. I'll be there, and you should too if you live anywhere in the area, because I just finished with my last pre-sale volunteer shift, and I saw a LOT of really high-quality, nice kids' outfits for low prices. Like, nearly everything is under $5 and some very cute things are only a buck. And, as you see above,

Best-Laid Plans

2010-09-16T21:33:00.002-06:00

Nutmeg made this schemata for a homemade raft while staying with Grammy and Grampy this summer. I can't decide if she's a future engineer or future terrorist. Love how she drew pictures of the supplies needed.So far, no differentiated 1st grade programming has arrived for the Nut, although I think testing is happening soon. No matter, according to her. Every time I ask how school went, the answer

BlogHer '10 Loot

2010-09-15T16:22:00.004-06:00

Hey, bloggers? Did you ever hear about all the free swag people get at the BlogHer conferences? Well, prepare to be fully underwhelmed by my loot, because I didn't check a bag and only managed to bring home a few things. Also, I'm reviewing on my review blog them oh, six weeks after I got home.Coming soon to My Funny, Funny Feelings: I got a mother's helper! And got back in touch with my sanity!

Sightings on a Typical Day

2010-08-31T00:10:00.003-06:00

It's not easy trying to work from home. I sometimes fantasize about having a cubicle somewhere, removed from all the chaos of three sticky little kids. But here are a few of the things I saw today that I wouldn't have seen from that magical, misty cubicle:1) Pebbles trying to comfort a screaming Toth while he had his blood drawn for his 1-year checkup. Imagine a 3-year-old gamely trying to stroke

Hugs and Kisses

2010-08-18T19:53:00.006-06:00

Have you met my 13-month-old? It must come as somewhat of a shock to hear that I have one, when you never heard a peep about his first birthday. OK, it happened, it was great, loved ones celebrated. Done.And now, he's giving hugs and kisses. To me, to Epu, to his sisters, and even to dollies. Today I was here, typing away, when I saw out of the corner of my eye that Toth was climbing up on

Pony Love

2010-08-14T20:09:00.007-06:00

I was one of those horsey girls. Those girls who drew horse heads in the margins of every spiral notebook, who wrote dramatic stories about horses who died in the 6th grade, and who read all the Gypsy books and every other book for horsey girls I could get my hands on.Do I fantasize about going out horseback riding with my girls? Obviously.So today was a treat. We attended the birthday party of