Scenes from a family dinner (of sorts).

So - here is a typical summer night 2010 for our household at dinnertime: Me and my three little ones sitting at the dining room table for a quick dinner (hubby working late these days so food is kept warm for him - Olivia at sports practice nightly so she grabs protein bars and light snacks like hummus and bread or sesame sticks and some water for hydration before practice - later, she may pop in a pizza).

Usually, I insist that all three - Enzo, Milo, Lil - jump straight in the shower (usually too grudge-y for just a hand-washing). I hand baby shampoo, soap and washcloths through the shower curtain - often leaning in to scrub one or two of them a bit - slather their hair with conditioner for combing later. Often, I have them brush their teeth in there - supervising the back, front and sides "scrubbage". Afterwards, I put them in pull-ups (reserving pjs and / or sweats or clean play cloths for later - never know if we'll take a walk - do bubbles or lightening bugs in the front yard, or.... just call it a night and put in a movie or something), and... we finish our dinner prep.

I give Lil some plastic utensils to help me "cut" onions, lettuce - whatever needs to go into the dinner mix. The boys set the table with the brightly colored IKEA kids plastic plate and silverware - one set at each Peter Rabbit place mat. On this night, you'll see E & L with their plates loaded with potatoes, chicken, peas and salad - Milo has his iron-rich crackers and a granola bar - PLUS the Coke in which I hide his iron supplement (only thing that works - though - and don't judge me for this, but... I am thisclose to giving him like an adult protein bar packed with iron and other vitamins on occasion - again, just for the next two weeks until we get his blood iron levels UP!!! I mean, he's had his eye on this store of chocolate-y ones we have in the pantry, so....). Also on this night pictured, we baked ourselves some cookies for dessert (on other nights - when it's hot and we've had a feast of a lunch like we had today - with leftover casserole and sliced peaches and peanut butter to dip crackers, carrots, etc. in - we just blend up a smoothie or have some cold cereal - hey, it's still dinner).

We clink glasses and offer cheers to one another - we laugh - we learn to cut our food - we learn what NOT to talk about at the dinner table and other valuable lessons in manners ;-) - we talk about school starting - we talk about how well we swam at the pool that day. Good times. Truly.

Late posting today. Yesterday, a giant truck tried to make a corner on my narrow urban street and knocked some wires down - well... they hung a little low (cars could drive under them, but... it looked odd). The Edgewood Fire Department saw fit to cut my phone wire - without warning - without knowing what they were cutting - without apology, as opposed to getting on a ladder and pulling the wires back a little (something the phone company wondered later in the evening) - so I lost Internet, cable, etc. for a day. No Top Chef - hubby unable to work from home in prep for a business trip - my late night boy, Milo, unable to settle down without a movie in his room (last resort to get him to sleep while it is still semi-light outside). NOT such good times, but... nothing to dwell on .... All good.