Yesterday wasn't ALL bad

I have fully recovered from the Crab Incident of '10. My mom thinks perhaps I should have made an addendum to yesterday's post to let you know that I have admitted that deep down, I probably did know I shouldn't be eating that crab meat, but that is what I really wanted for lunch. I don't know if she wanted me to redeem myself for looking so dense or if she was afraid that it would reflect poorly on her mothering skills that I "missed that part of my food education," but there it is. I think I did know better. I was just testing. It was a stupid test.

All that aside, me and my rumbly tummy took Evan and Pressley and met Corin at Evan's basketball banquet last night. The church was to provide the meats (ham and chicken) and the parents were to bring sides. I took a giant pot of green beans since I figured there would be nothing else I could eat and I got really greasy fingers from trying to peel all the breading off my Chick-fil-A chicken strips. I don't recommend this method. It is messy and probably didn't do all that much good.

Has this post really been all about me so far?

It was supposed to be about Evan. And his basketball banquet. And how darn cute that kid is when he is wearing a jersey and he is so proud of himself. The banquet was for all 80 something of the K-1st kids, but after the dinner, we broke up into teams and each team had its own room to hand out trophies. (Thanks to whomever thought up this time-saving gem. We would have otherwise been there all night! As it was, we were out by 7:15. Surely a relief to the parents who have three kids in the program and will be there every night this week for banquets.) The coaches said some really nice things about Evan's improvement and skills when they presented him with his trophy. About how proud they were when he scored his first basket. And about how great he was during practice doing drills. And some other nice stuff.

And since my camera does appear to work in the trophy-handing-out-room (as opposed to the gym), I even have some pictures.

Waiting his turn.

Coach DeWitt and Coach King talking to Evan about his accomplishments.

Cute boy with his trophy.

One last "gator" cheer with his coaches and team mates. (Here's hoping this Tennessee Vol family won't have to endure another season of cheering for the Gators!)

Looking through the "yearbook" of his first basketball season.

So proud!

Pregnant friends: look away

Seriously, if you are one of my many pregnant friends (and who knew I'd have so many at the age of 37?), you are not gonna like where this is headed.

I confess: I have started a new diet. I know, I know. If you've known me for more than 30 minutes, you'll be shocked. I'm always embarking on a new diet. The surprising thing about this one is that it seems to be working. Fingers crossed...

The diet is rather restrictive. And restrictive is not a word I embrace in really any area of my life - most of all when it comes to what I can eat. I do not typically enjoy being told what to do (and more precisely - what not to do). Again, if you know me at all, I'm sure you find that just shocking.

I have not been miserable at all, but I must say that I get awfully excited when I can make something I really do like that fits into the whole diet scheme. So, this is why I posted on Facebook today that I was super excited to be having diet-compliant crab stuffed mushrooms for lunch. They looked absolutely yummy, so I even posted a picture: (Exhibit A)

But when I first took a bite, I thought that they tasted a bit bitter. I figured that was because the recipe called for onion flakes and garlic powder rather than actual onions and garlic, and I made a mental note to use real onion and garlic next time. And then I ate them. Well, most of them. I finally decided that the bitterness was a bit off-putting and I wouldn't finish them. Then I went upstairs to put Pressley down for her nap. Then I had to lie down too because my tummy just didn't feel quite right.

When we got home from the bus stop, Evan wanted to know what was that smell?? And then it hit me. Ummm, that would be cooked crab that has turned. My can of crab meat said that it was good until something like September of 2010. But, it has been open for some time. I don't know how long, which makes me think it has been more than 2-3 weeks. Maybe I am supposed to know that the expiration date no longer means anything once you open the can. Is that common knowledge? If so, I missed that in my food education. Because my salsa has an expiration date on it, but it also says to discard 3 weeks after opening. The crab can has no such disclaimer. I looked.

But my tummy is still rumbling a bit, lo these many hours later.

Anyway. Now all the windows and doors in the house are open to let out what Evan is calling the "yucky smell" and I am very grateful that I am not deathly ill. And grateful that the weather is nice enough to be able to air out the house without soaking it or freezing to death.

But I am not very grateful that my first attempt at the stuffed mushrooms may make my stomach turn if I make a second attempt. I was really looking forward to the stuffed mushrooms being a lunch staple. I still may try again. Because it sure beats another grilled chicken salad with no real dressing to speak of....

Hoops and gutter balls

Today began with another basketball game for Evan. The next to last. Evan has improved SO much since his first game. We are just so proud of him. Particularly at his practices, he's been showing a vast improvement in all his skills - from dribbling to shooting - as well as a better understanding of the game and even a little assertiveness. But in the games, he has still been a little timid (e.g., if he got his hands on the ball, he always passed it to the kid on the team who makes all the shots). Well, until now.

See, we went out to lunch with my parents after last week's game and my father offered up a little bribe to Mr. Evan. Dad told him that if he would shoot the ball in his next game, he would take Evan out for ice cream. Pretty good deal, huh? Come to find out, it worked as a pretty good motivator, because I'll be darned if he didn't shoot the ball for the first time - and SCORE! Hooray for our little guy. So proud. Who knew a little ice cream bribe would improve his game.

Next week is the last basketball game and the first soccer game, so that will be a fun feat of juggling.

I would provide pictures of all the basketball, but my camera has proven that it is unwilling to take photos in that gym. Stubborn camera. You can click over here if you want to see pics that my dad took at his first game.

After the game, he went off with GranNan and Poppy to my nephew, Will's soccer game and Pressley and I went to a birthday party for one of her friends at school. It was a bowling party. Let me say that again. It was a bowling party for a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds. I went armed with my camera and ready to be entertained.

It was actually less chaotic than I had imagined. The first 15 minutes or so were a free-for-all wherein all the kids just rolled the ball down whatever lane they felt like in whatever order struck them. When practice time was over, I have very low expectations for how the whole waiting-your-turn thing would go. But they were all champs. And lest you wonder how long it took for those balls to reach the pins at speeds so slow you cannot even imagine, I will tell you a secret. They have these nifty little ramps for little kids to use. They look like a walker almost, but the front part is a ramp. So, the kids hoist their 6 lb ball up to the top and then give it a push, and lo and behold, it makes it to the pins in a fashion that is not-too-painful to watch. Sadly, for the first 2 or 3 frames, our lane was the only one to not have said cool ramp thingee and we watched some painfully slow rolls that barely made it to the end until I had the bright idea to go ask for another ramp to be brought out. That sped things up a bit.

And then mercifully, because God is good, there was a time limit on how long they let the kids play. I think we had gotten through about 4-1/2 frames when a big blinky light came on all the screens saying that they had to stop. (As a side note, oh-my-gosh, I can't imagine how painful it would have been to watch them play 10 frames!) It was unfortunate that it happened right before Pressley's turn, but when she heard the magic word (cake), she quickly forgot that she had been waiting ever-so-patiently for her next turn.

At the end, each child got a trophy with his/her name on it that said Best Bowler, so-and-so's party, and the date. Cute. Pressley declared it to be the most fun party ever (at least until the next one).

OK. So, just look at my little cutie in her bowling shoes. Does she rock the bowling shoe look, or what? That picture on the top left is the best shot I got of the ramp thingee, but perhaps I am the only person who had never seen one before today and you are not the least bit impressed by this revelation.

A tea party with Lil' P

Pressley and I were having a delightful tea party on her bed. She grabbed a big princess jewel and explained that this was our jewel for the party. Then she said,

"And if robbers come and steal our jewel, maybe I will have to leave and chase them. And kill them. And then...we can come back and start our party. [Long pause.] But that is [nervous laughter] not appropriate for children."

And then later...

[Posing.] "Do I look pretty, mommy?"

Me: "Yes, Pressley. You always look pretty."

"Good. Then maybe the white power ranger will see me and think I'm pretty and then he will want to fight me."

Me: "He's going to fight you because you're pretty?"

"Yep."

Okey-dokey. Is that kinda like that old commercial where the woman says, "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful."? Who knows?

Just another conversation in the life of a child who cannot seem to separate fantasy from reality. I wish I lived in her head...