We Didn't Start The Fire...

Shortly after my day began the boys accidentally started a small fire in the kitchen.

There was no damage to property or boys.

I, however, may be traumatized for life.

I want to do the post justice, so it will have to wait until tomorrow, because it has been a long day here.

I will say that the rest of the day was much better than the beginning. But then, we've never set the bar quite so low before.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

Get In Line

You, dear readers, need something from me. A good laugh. A witty post. A little sentimentality perhaps? Heck, even a decent recipe would do, right?

Well, get in line.

I have mouths to feed, volunteer work to finish, paying work to start, sleep to grab, laundry piled up. Ehhh, forget that last one. You definitely come ahead of the laundry.

So standing in for me tonight is...me.

Want a good laugh? Check out my posts on Tupperware (one of my fave videos) and Gucci (still makes me laugh every time). Or Jeff's post on Boogeroni and Sneeze.

Witty, you say? Check out Martha Stewart's take on potty training.

If sentimental is what you are after, check out the early-morning post I wrote on the day that, unbeknowst to me, turned out to be the boys' birthday. Or watch our in-hospital baptism in a video slide show. Or gain a little perspective on how these days pass in the blink of an eye.

As for recipes, feel free to browse My Kitchen anytime.

We'll return to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow...I hope!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

The Adventures of Potty Boy, The Bandit And Mr. Footprint

Once again, names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.

We are in the worst stage of potty training. Also known as the "Please, please Mommy is begging you to poop in the potty" phase. I've changed enough poopy underwear to last me several lifetimes.

Since the boys are pretty predictable, I've been putting them on the potty about the time they usually do the deed and trying to keep them there for 5-10 minutes so they can go in the potty. It reminds me a lot of the early days of potty training.

Unfortunately, the boys have the run of the house now and are into a lot more things than they were in the early days. Which means that the other two get into a lot more trouble when I'm in the bathroom doing tricks to keep someone occupied long enough to do the deed.

Which brings us to what happened the other day...

After 15 minutes on the potty and no results, I put a certain boy in undies and sent him on his way. Not two minutes later I glanced over to see he had "the face." I grabbed him and raced to the potty saying, "Don't poop, don't poop, don't poop! Let's poop in the potty!" When I got him there, he had the job partly done, so I put him on the potty and encouraged him to finish on the potty. (Please, please, I'm begging you!)

About that time I heard major commotion from outside the bathroom, so I told Potty Boy to stay on the potty and stepped out to see what was going on. It took me a couple minutes to break up the fight.

When I returned to the bathroom I found Potty Boy was no longer on the potty. And what should have been in the potty was everywhere. There was poop on the potty seat, on the wall, on the bath mat, on the tub, on the stool, and on the sink. There was poop everywhere except where it belonged.

AAAARRRRGH!

I grabbed for the poopy-bottomed, poopy-handed boy and started to clean him up. Then I realized that he had also unrolled the entire roll of toilet paper and put it in the potty.

That's when I heard a crash and laughing from the kitchen. I grabbed the now-clean, but bare-bottomed boy and put him in his crib for a time-out. When I came out of his room I found one of his brothers walking down the hallway chugging half and half straight from the carton. The carton that had been in the fridge.

AAAARRRRGH!

I took the carton away, grabbed the Half and Half Bandit by the hand and followed the trail of liquid back to the kitchen.

Turns out that the safety latch on the fridge had finally given out under excessive pressure. Sloppy joe meat and a trail of tomato-sauce footprints covered the floor.

AAAARRRRGH!

I hollered for a time out and the culprits sat immediately. Which was convenient, since I needed to clean Mr. Footprint's feet.

I told them to STAY RIGHT THERE while I cleaned up the worst of the kitchen floor and got Potty Boy out of his crib.

I sat all three boys on the floor and was about to deliver a stern lecturing about listening to Mommy, not opening the refrigerator, and a few other things when the Half and Half Bandit looked up at me and grinned.

"That was YUMMY, Mommy!"

 And I was forced to send them off to play before they saw me laugh.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

From My Kitchen: Aparagus and Sausage Risotto

On Tuesday we had friends over for dinner. I should have been getting clothes ready to sell at the childrens' sale, but I've been dying to try out this new recipe, so I made risotto instead.

It was a great decision, despite the 20 minutes of stirring that risotto requires. (Which is completely incompatible with having 2 1/2-year-old triplets in the house, by the way.)

If you've never made risotto, you have to use Arborio rice, and you must stir, stir, stir. You add the liquid little by little, and stir each time until it's completely absorbed. The result is a creamy risotto. Mmmm! 

This recipe was delish! I liked the smokiness of the sausage, but I'd like to try it with shrimp. And next time I think I'll roast the asparagus, since that's my favorite way to eat those yummy spears.

Of course, once I do that it will be a whole new recipe. That's one of the things I love about a recipe like this: You can play around with it and make it your own. Or just use up whatever you have on  hand.

This recipe came from a grocery store flier. Here it is:

Asparagus and Sausage Risotto

1 pkg. smoked sausage

4 cups chicken broth

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced

2 Tbsp. butter or margarine

1 cup Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine (or 1/2 cup additional chicken broth)

2 cups sliced asparagus, cooked crisp-tender

1/2 cup (2 oz.) shredded Parmesan cheese, divided (I only had Kraft grated on hand. Still good.)

1/4 cup parsley, chopped (or substitute dried)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cut sausage into 1/2-inch cubes. Set aside. Bring broth to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan. Reduce heat to low.

Heat oil in a 4-quart pan over medium-high heat. Add sausage, onion and mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, 3-4 minutes or until sausage is lightly browned.

Add butter and rice. Cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in wine (or broth). Cook until liquid is almost completely absorbed.

Stir in 1/2 cup of heated chicken broth. Cook, stirring constantly until liquid is absorbed. Add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed (about 20 minutes total).

Remove from heat. Stir in asparagus, 1/3 cup of Parmesan and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle top with remaining cheese.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Enjoy! 

© Trippin' Mama 2011

Wordful Wednesday: When Life Gets Crazy

Sometimes life gets a little crazy.

Like when you're in the midst of preparing to sell a bunch of outgrown kids' clothes and gear at a big consignment sale. And your living room looks like a Babies R Us exploded.

Which takes away from blogging. (Boo!)

I find when life gets crazy there's only one thing to do: Find something that makes you smile...

Or better yet, laugh out loud.

Play along with Wordful Wednesday at:

© Trippin' Mama 2011

About That Dog...

As if to prove to me that the very last thing we need around here is a dog, my children had the kind of day that had me mopping up the floor multiple times and washing a load of undies and pants before naptime.

Thanks, kids. Message received.

I'm not the only one dealing with puddles (and more!) these days. Check out this blog post from a stay-at-home dad who had one of those days recently. His language is a little PG-13 in spots, but Jeff and I laughed so hard at this that we nearly had accidents of our own.

Here's to a drier tomorrow.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

Maybe We Do Need A Dog

Spring is here, and today we were getting the garden ready for planting. We found a worm, and Amelia immediately picked it up. Everyone was inspecting the worm when Jeff asked what the worm's name was. Amelia was quick to answer.

Seriously? Elizabeth? Who names a worm Elizabeth? We were laughing. Then they all started petting the worm.

Eventually Jeff tried to rescue Elizabeth from certain doom by putting her back in the dirt and letting her dig her way (frantically) underground and away from the children.

They were all very interested in watching her, and they defeated her efforts to get away more than once. Most notably when Isaac picked her up for a little lovin'.



We were laughing, but ewww! Perhaps we do need to get a dog.

© Trippin' Mama 2011