Money by Andrew

Andrew and I had an enlightening conversation about money today. I grew up being told that "money doesn't grow on trees." Well, Andrew has his own version. For ease of writing, M is for mom and A is for Andrew.

A: "Mom, we need to get more money to go for tumbling and swimming"
M: "umm, ok" chuckle, chuckle
A: "Why is that funny, mommy?"
M: "Because, Andrew, it is hard to get more money."
A: "Oh, well, we just need to go to the money store."
M: "What money store? There is no money store."
A: "They just have to take down the old building and build a new building for the money store."
M: "And does the money store give you money or take your money"
A: "They give you money."
M: "Oh, where do they get the money that they give you?"
A: "They sell it to you."
M: "They sell you money? What do you give them for the money?"
A: "You give them your old money and they give you the new money."
M: "Oh.... ok."
A: "Then we can have lots of money to go tumbling and swimming."

Ahh, if it were truly that simple!

But, my tongue's not long enough!

My sister, Kim, often comes down from Salt Lake to play with the kids and make sure her status of "favorite Auntie" is secure.

So, Kim came down for the weekend, and Mike and I went on a date. Andrew is potty-trained, but still uses a diaper for bed. He was laying down on the changing pad and she said, "Lift your bum up so I can put your diaper on." Andrew sits bolt up-right and says, "But, I can't lick my bum! My tongue's not long enough!"

Mommy, you made a mistake!

Andrew's preschool works on a different letter of the alphabet each week. The letter of the week is introduced on Monday and on Friday he gets to take a show-and-tell item starting with that letter to end the week of learning. I try to find multiple items for each letter and let him choose what he wants to bring.

This past week was the letter W. Friday came quickly for me and I had only thought of: water, wheel, and worm. He has a cute caterpillar, named Cally, that he had been playing with all week, so I suggested he take the caterpillar for show-and-tell. When I picked him up from school, he looked at me with a very concerned look and said, "Mommy, you made a mistake! Cally is NOT a worm, she's a caterpillar. See, she has all these feetsies. Worms don't have feetsies. See, mommy, Cally has feetsies, she's not a worm, she's a caterpillar!" He continued explaining to me until I admitted that I was wrong and that Cally was not, in fact, a worm.

3 for 3

Too bad i'm not talking about my batting avg. Instead I am referring to my babies with allergies. That's right, Lizzie has food allergies just like the others. I am concerned that hers are as severe as Andrew's - she's having symptoms like his. I am hoping that catching it this early will prevent them from getting worse. So...

I am now soliciting (begging) for recipe ideas that don't require: dairy, soy, egg, or peanut. I am especially in need of dinner ideas. I can substitute some things in recipes, but if you have to substitute more than 2 ingredients then it no longer resembles the original item. I have yet to find a good substitute for cheese, sour cream, or cream cheese - and almond cheese has a dairy protein (casein) in it, so no good.

Please help if you can. Thanks :)