Here’s how today went for me:  my daughter and I have breakfast and I quickly get our bag packed and the car loaded for our morning out.  I get her in her carseat and go to open the garage but the door won’t open.  I tried everything, my husbands buddy even came to try to free us but no luck (how nice was that?).  So we got settled back in the house, morning plans canceled.  I go outside to fill up the kiddie pool for the little lady and she follows me out with a pen in her hand (I was unaware that her go-go-gadget arms had grabbed this).  As I am pulling the hose into the pool I turn around  to see that my daughter has become a smurf.  Covered in blue ink.  I believe the explosion started in her mouth based on the looks of her teeth but I am unsure as to how so much ink could come out of one pen.  She’s got it all over her clothes, her arms, legs, in the creases of those wonderful thighs she possess.  Ugh.

I strip her down outside, bring her inside to stand in the doorway while I go get her a swim diaper (because in my sleep deprived brain I thought that the ink would rinse right off if she just got in the pool.  Ha.)  “Don’t move, Georgia, mommy’s just going to go get you a diaper, I’ll be right back”, in fear that she will track the ink thru the house.  All of the sudden I hear “poopie”.  Please Dear Lord in Heaven.  Please tell me she just needs to poop but has not yet performed the deed.  I’ll do anything.  Take my Australian Licorice stash..take anything..but please let there be a poop-free floor when I get downstairs.  As I walk down the stairs I hear “slick, slick”.  Yes, Georgia, if you decide to poop and pee 34 cups of urine on a hardwood floor it is likely to be slick, thank you for pointing that out.  So, I grab a towel, sit her on it and bring over the ipad so she would sit still long enough for me to clean her up and the mess on the floor.  As for that purple dinosaur, he drives me absolutely nuts but he deserves a shoutout: thank you Barney for pulling through for me in the toughest of times.  You are able to sweep my daughter into never never land in the blink of an eye.  Next time, please tell her to hold her poop and pee until the diaper is on, she will totally listen to you.  Better yet, would you mind just teaching her how to go on the potty?

Ah.  Finally all cleaned up.  We head outside so she can swim and I can call around to find a garage repair company.  At this point I realize I left the hose on an the water was spilling out over the edges of the pool, no biggie.  At which point I realized I had set the house phone in the grass next to the pool as I ran over to rescue Georgia from smurfville.  Hose 1, Phone 0.  Me, -472.

Thankfully I found a repair place that could come out this afternoon.  We head in for lunch.  When I ask Georgia if she wants a nectarine she literally gets so excited (apple doesn’t fall far from the tree) she throws her sippy cup full of milk which literally sprays across the room, covering the kitchen table, chairs, railing, floor and some of the carpet with milk.  I cry.  Sometimes you actually need to cry over spilled milk, it makes you feel a million times better.  My child looks at me and says “mommy, hug” and every ounce of frustration and annoyance disappear.  I think to myself, “get over it…if these are your biggest problems today, you’ve got it better than a lot of people” and I move on.  Georgia naps, I get the house cleaned up, the repair man comes out to fix the garage and grant me my freedom back and I have a few minutes to sit here and vent to all of you.  Thank you for taking the place of my traveling husband; and Im sure he double thanks you 😉

This dinner is our special treat when daddy is traveling.  It’s a treat for me because it entails no work at all..and a treat for my toddler who gobbles these things up like crazy.  If you haven’t tried this new Flatout Thin Crust Flatbread it makes for awesome thin crust pizzas and is such a better nutritional option than your standard pizza crust.  It’s also so fun to let the little kiddo sprinkle on the toppings herself.

This is too ridiculously easy for me to write out a full recipe, so heres what we do:

Place the Flatout flatbread on a pizza stone or baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 4 minutes.  Remove from oven and turn the temp up to 375.  Spread pizza sauce on the flatbread and top with whatever toppings your little heart desires.  I love chicken, spinach, banana peppers, black olives and cheese on mine.  Place back in the oven for an additional 4-6 minutes or until crust is crispy and toppings are completely melted.

xo