Jon and Kate plus misery

I've never been able to watch a full episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8. They all drive me crazy, and I am not really interested in watching their kids eat snacks and learn to potty.

So why did I just pay $1.99 to watch the season premier?

So I can hear and see this crazy drama for myself.

Some Kate and Jon statements: 

"Have I been hard on him for the last 10 years? Yes."

She says she regrets it. But I don't hear that in her voice. It almost seems perfunctory, as if she knows that what people need to hear her say. 

"Have I pushed him to this? No."

She follows up by saying that everyone is responsible for their actions.

I think you have to be responsible for protecting your marriage - and that seems to be a place where she's not 

"This is not what I envisioned for us."

Then make some changes. Like stopping this TV show!

"I like to do them up big (birthday parties)."

Sometimes,  life is too busy and chaotic for "big." 

"Jon decided he needed a weekend off."

You hear the bitterness in her voice here. However, she had just said that he had been home while she was on a long book tour. Maybe he really did need a weekend off. 

Kate: "I think he is wanting to bust out of here and make it all go away.  Newsflash: it's not going to."

She knows that she is living in defiance to what her husband wants. That can add up to nothing but trouble.

Jon: "Some people say I can't talk either ... or breathe right."

Obviously, this is a man who feels as if he gets no respect from his wife. His esteem is very low.

"Do it quickly because the paparazzi is coming after us."

How scary for these kids! If you can't control the celebrity trash tabloids, then take steps to protect your children and your marriage - step out of the spotlight!!! 

Kate: "Have to have a birthday. Have to have a party."

No you don't. You can have something small and appropriate.

I don't know these people. I know shows like this are edited tightly to present a particular narrative. But based purely on what I hear them saying, it seems like the best thing for their family would be to scale back the show and salvage what they have left.

A group from our church organizes weekly trips to parks across the Dayton area every Tuesday during the summer. Today we went to Lofino Park in Beavercreek, off Grange Hall near Shakertown Road. The park includes a fenced skate park. A young guy was skating and some of the kids went over to the fence to watch him. Then they laughed and chanted "He messed up!" when he fell.

A tough crowd!

You can see Elliott watching intently along with the other kids.

I fought the potatoes ... and the potatoes won

The recipe wasn't actually that difficult. Cutting up the chicken - not too bad.
But par for course, I missed a critical sentence in the last step of the recipe "Turn the heat to very low"

Um, not so much.

What should have been a nice potato crust is now a black mess in the trash.

Meet my enemy of the day: Stuck pot rice with potato crust

So Tim found a recipe he would like to try. I'm making it for dinner, but I am dreading the process. It is multiple steps and is a combination of three different recipes. Thankfully Tim combined them into one set of instructions, but I can't say that I don't expect to screw this up. In addition, Elliott hasn't been napping for the past three days so I have no idea how this is going to be accomplished if he doesn't nap today.

The most intimidating part of the recipe for me is cutting up a whole chicken. This will be my first time deconstructing a dead animal.

This could wind up a pizza night!

I will post the results with pictures.

Bounce U.

I took Elliott to Bounce U, an indoor inflatables place, last week. Other than having to buy their $5 adult socks because I hadn't worn any (they are required to get on to any of the equipment) we had a fun time. I forgot my camera, but we ran into a friend and her family who snapped a few pictures of Elliott. Thanks Heather!

Youngs

I'm slowly but surely checking off my summer to-do list. Today we spent a few hours at Young's Jersey Dairy, a nice working dairy farm, restaurant and activity center in the Dayton area. The ice cream is amazing (I had a scoop of white chocolate raspberry swirl) and I am smitten with their onion rings. Elliott got a chance to feed some goats and to check out the other animals in the petting farm. He shows no fear when it comes to animals. I have always been leery of them. But I don't want to raise my kids to be. So I fake bravery but let Tim handle most of it.

"NO!!!!!!!" and other expressions

I have failed at keeping a log of Elliott's milestones. I have no real idea when he started to do things, just vague recollections (I blame it on sleep deprivation for the first 10 months of his life). I'm going to try to start doing better. So here is a list of words he is saying

* "NO!!!!" I hear this many, many times a day. But, he probably feels like he does, too.
* "Ball!" a big fan of balls, Elliott also says this a thousand times a day.
* "Bailey" our dog
* "Meow" he picked up this word from a song and rhyme we often sing. Now he points to cats and says it. It is his only animal sound, although I am certain he knows more but just keeps them under lock and key.
* "Two!" I count "1" and he says "Twooooo" and then I say "Three!!" and he kind of squeals the number three.
* "Hello" I heard him today saying this into a toy hammer as if it were a microphone.
* "Bye"
* "Dad, Daddy, Dada"
* "All done/All gone!" He's just started saying this phrase this week, throwing up this hands and saying and then clasping his hands together with a smug little smile.
* "Shoe" He says this every time we put on shoes.

Maybe there are others? I can't remember.