Kindergarten Contraband

This morning as Olivia was walking out the door to school, she was putting something in her backpack and I noticed some other things in there. If you have a kindergartner, you know that they don't usually have a lot in their bag... if anything at all! I opened it up and started digging. This is what I found:

-one small notebook
-one travel lotion
-one stick of gum
-one tiny Bratz notepad
-one box of Nerds
-one bottle of nailpolish
-one bookmark
-two hairclips
-one strawberry eraser
-one pocket pet dog



Now, why on Earth would a 5 year old need these things at school? If you know Olivia, this is not at all surprising. She likes to bring things along, wherever we go. She will often pack up a small bag with little odds and ends like this. And if you're lucky enough to have her over for a play, she might just leave with stuff in her pockets too! My sweet Olivia, she is such a cute girl. Always keeps me smiling.

I wasn't smiling, however, when the school called today at 12:38, exactly 3 minutes after the time she should have gotten off the bus near our house. Where was she? She was in the school office. That's right. She and her friend Allie didn't get on the bus because they were "being picked up by mom". Hmm, not smiling. Definitely not smiling. This was not the plan. This was not even discussed. These two little partners in crime decided that if the moms didn't organize a play date, they would do it for us. Seriously, I can't believe it. The school had called Allie's mom first, and she told them she'd come pick them up and take them to her house to play. I talked to her a few minutes later and we agreed that we had been slackers about getting them together (they are always begging) and resolved to do it more often so that this doesn't happen again!!






After the girls played at Allie's house for an hour or so, they decided they were tired of it and wanted to come here. I was in the middle of making Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (see yesterday's post) so they helped me. Lucky for me, they bored quickly and went out on the porch to play school, where they took turns bossing each other around and getting into trouble. I believe one of them was sent to the principal's office. You would think a kindergartner might not know much about this, but unfortunately they have a few characters in their class that get sent to the principal at least once a week.



I felt like I was running around all day getting absolutely nothing done. Do you ever have one of those days? I mean, I feel like I often have these days, but this was even more so. The phone was ringing, the doorbell, I was getting the girls stuff, trying to get Ashley to stay in bed (she better not be phasing out the nap!), cleaning the kitchen mess, doing laundry (the dryer is finally fixed after a painful 2 weeks), etc. Then at 4pm I was expecting Austin to walk in the door and when he didn't 5 minutes later, I thought, "Oh, no what now?" and realized that it's Wednesday, Chess Club day! Argh! I had to get the kids in the car, wake Ashley from her nap, and run over to pick him up. I was like 20 minutes late. Thank goodness he was safe and fine. *EDITED* Thursday morning when we were reading the scriptures in 1 Nephi 10:17 I was telling the kids how we can be blessed with the Holy Ghost when we seek our Father in Heaven. That is how He talks to us and comforts us. Austin said, "Yeah, like yesterday when I was at school and you didn't come." It turns out he said a prayer because he was afraid and I showed up a couple minutes later. I was so happy that he had thought to pray and sought help from God. It gives me great comfort to know that my kids have faith in God and know that He is there for them.*

We dropped Allie off on the way home and I tried to return to norma,l but I was so tired and shutting down. I had better not be getting sick. Jared woke up yesterday with a sore throat and went to the dr. at noon. He has strep throat. He slept half the day yesterday but went to work today. I do not want to get sick!! I hope the antibiotics do their job quickly.


Gnocchi with Pumpkin Sauce



1 1/2 lbs pumpkin, diced
1 1/4 c. milk
1 T. fresh chopped sage or oregano
1/2 c. cream
sea salt and pepper to taste
2 x 14 oz pkg. fresh gnocchi
1/4 parmesan, finely grated
1/4 c. hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
fresh sage to garnish

1. In a large saucepan, simmer the pumpkin in milk with herbs until tender.
2. Add cream and cook 1 minute
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Blend/process for smoother consistency
5. Meanwhile, cook gnocchi according to package. Drain.
6. Toss gnocchi with sauce, sprinkle with parmesan and hazelnuts
7. Garnish with sage

Source: Linda McCartney on Tour, 200 Meat-Free Dishes from Around the World

***NOTE: I have changed the Cinnamon Roll recipe from yesterday's post- so if you copied or printed the other one, disregard it and use this one please. Thanks***