how 'bout them dinosaurs?

we went to the smithsonian natural history museum last monday because missM wated to see dinosaurs. she LOVED the metro train ride, liked the walk from the smithsonian metro stop to the museum, really LOVED the museum, liked the lunch at the cafe and had a blast on the mall carousel. She didn't really cry or fuss once and used the big girl potty in the big girl bathroom 4 times throughout the day. I only used 2 pullups from we waking to sleeping time. that's progress!

after we got back to MD we went to baskinrobbins and she got a treat and then later went to boston market for supper, which she loves. so it was a good day. i like boston market's soup and right now, they give you unlimited free refills on soup there, so it's a decent bargin.

i've been laid up with asthma attacks and migraine combos that leave me drained and depressed. last week i got it together enough one day to make eggplant parm and spaghetti squash spaghetti pie as well as 2 veggie side dishes so we could just reheat food all week when the urge hit. the week before i made sloppy joes with half the meat. i used 1/2lb 97% turkey and then shredded a zucchini into pan with the meat and added the packet of seasoning, only a small bit of water and the tomato paste and it turned out good. MissM loved it and I was shocked because she a) hates ground meat of any sort (beef, turkey, pork, chicken etc. she hates all of it) and she isn't a big squash fan. the kid loves raw carrots though. So the week before last, we ate a lot of "sloppy" joes with veggie soup and carrot sticks.

i think i'm going to make "oven fried" chicken and more spaghetti squash spaghetti pie to eat this week with a spinach and orzo side dish and re-make one of the veg side dishes from last week. the ragweed is rearing its ugly head and these are the times i just want to move somewhere else.

we started at a new church and they don't have nursery care during the 9:30am service. the 8:30 is too early and I can't try the 11 for a few more weeks and the 7pm is just too late. there's a nice woman who sits behind us who mandolin relly likes. half through the service, missM will get up and go sit on her lap. The woman is of granmother age, so she's highly indulgent and i don't feel too bad. she didn't send MissM away the first time missM sought her out, so MissM keeps going back. we'll see how it goes tomorrow. this church has a co-op preschool instead of a egular private school i'm used to, so i'm thinking of looking into that. if i did a day or two at the pre-op, that generally allows the kid to attend the rest of the week, allowing me to seek out a pt job at a craft store or teaching crochet or something. who knows? it's worth looking into.

here are some smithsonian pics.
in any given order:
*mandolin loving the metro train
*us in the mammal room (2 shots) [I AM ALWAYS COLD, EVEN IN AUGUST IN A CROWD!]
*The orkin insect zoo, it's funny they paid for it.