Last night I woke up in a sweaty panic. Robbie's birthday party is on the 12th, and it hadn't yet occurred to me to do anything about actually INVITING OTHER KIDS. I had visions of forgetting it completely, no one showing up to the party, and Robbie crying and crying. This is why I was reading in the living room last night from 2-3am. So today at the office I printed out cute but hasty invites and stuck them in the mailboxes at school in the afternoon. Crisis averted.

Then tonight we're all getting ready for trick or treating and I suddenly realize that we don't have trick or treating bags. Not a major problem at all, and the boys are going to use Whole Foods bags… But WHY can't I remember this stuff??

Where is the part of my brain that is supposed to be activated by my momness? Is there a switch somewhere I should flip? What the hell?!

No time to ponder about this anymore, got to take 2 pirates and a tiger out through the neighborhood. Mr. Plain and I will be King & Queen. Have a fun night everyone!

Why oh why do I watch this tripe? I just can't stop TiVoing Prison Break for the life of me. But these freaks… I just keep hoping they'll all be caught one week so I can stop watching.

At our house we call this the "Kansas City" phenomenon. We saw that movie with a bunch of friends and I hated it! It turned out that we all hated it but didn't want to make the others leave the theater.

I just remember towards the end of the movie when Jennifer Jason Leigh's character gets shot and killed. I almost stood up and cheered because that meant the movie was done.

What TV show is the monkey on your back?

THANK YOU Queen of Spain! Kids music I'd listen to even when the kids aren't there! And I love the kiddie Soul Train train at the beginning.

Now the "Rescue Pack" song from "Go Diego, Go" is pretty good, but I doubt I'd ever listen to it in the car by myself. But "Fly Birdie Fly"? I'll be the dork in the fast lane rockin out!

We don't do the Disney channel so this is new to me. Apparently you'll be able to get their music on iTunes on Halloween. Can't wait? Check QoS's Interview with Genevieve.

UPDATE: Where to buy Choo Choo Soul music

Still tired and still posting like that drunk guy on the corner who shouts at you as you walk by…

I do not watch Oprah. She gives me the hives. But I just read this and, ew. Apparently she gave everyone in her audience $1,000 gift cards. Wait for it… But you have to give the money away.

Hell, I'm all for charity. But being all puppet-master-y this way is really irritating.

You're going to open your hearts, you're going to be really creative, and you're going to spend it all at once on one stranger or spend a dollar on every person…

Or what, Oprah? Or what? "EVERYBODY GETS A GUILT TRIP!!! EVERYBODY GETS A GUILT TRIP!!!!" I sure as hell am not going to look under my seat.

Holy Crap I'm getting old. I need a nightgown so those times I have to get up in the night for a crying kid I am reasonably covered up. Yeah, my oldest is 4.5 and has never noticed, but I think those days are numbered.

Did you know that Target has not one single nightgown? Your choices are either hooker PJs or old lady PJs. Crikey mate, that's not going to work for me!

Do you have a nightgown you like? Share — what is it? Where did you get it? Does it make you look or feel like your mother? Does your spouse like it? DOES IT COME IN PURPLE??! Help me help me!

And best for last, One Chic Mama had a son — stop by and say congratulations! She looks great, too. Duh :)

Good lord, people. Why is GAINING an hour making me so f-ing tired? All you're getting out of me today is short, incoherent, vaguely psychotic outbursts. (Shut UP — that is too different from every other day!)

Check The Zero Boss's post about Violent Acres. He raises some good points. Violent Acres: Right or Wrong?

Visit Melanie and congratulate her for being named the Crazy Hip Blog Mamas Member of the Week! Way to go!!

Can Blogger just get their shit together already? I keep trying to visit blogs there and it takes flipping hours to load up. Come ON Google, get it together!

More later, dudes!

OK, so I'm clearly in a "help me help me" mood. Yesterday I unearthed a game called "Hullabaloo" from the back of a closet. It was given to one of the boys ages ago and foolishly we never even opened it. This is the coolest game!

Mike and Robbie can get it out, set it up, and play with it all by themselves. And it is fun. And it is energetic — perfect for winter indoor play. It is easy for them to put away by themselves too. All in all, the perfect game. Well, with one exception. I want more games like this!

Ideally I'm looking for games that store in a very small space, don't have tiny pieces to loose, get them to move their bodies, are easy for them to set up/put away and play by themselves, and are fun! Any suggestions?

We have reached a milstone in the Plain House. I do belive we are past the dire Choking Hazzard stage. Chip will be 2 in December, and while I'm not going to be foolhardy, I'm pretty sure that I can relax more about the all the teeny tiny things in our house.

For example, Mike and Robbie have this amazing Brio toolbox that has small plastic screws and other chokable pieces. I've always been on the alert for Chip with this toy. I haven't wanted to put it away because the big boys love it so much, but it has always made me nervous.

But now I'm thinking Legos for Christmas! IMO, they are the holy grail of choking hazzards, but I think we're ready.

But help me!

Here's my question, though, how do you all deal with the millions of tiny pieces? It would be easiest to just get a huge box and dump them in there, but then how would the kids find anything? And when they wanted to play with them, they'd just dump the whole box onto the floor. And what about those kits where you make something specific? Don't you want to keep the pieces for those separate?

Help me Internet Friends! How do you manage your Legos!

Yeah, I'm posting a recipe. You wanna make somethin' of it??

Mr. Plain is the cook at our house. And the grocery shopper. And kitchen cleaner. Yes, I know how lucky I am.

He makes most dinners, but Friday and Saturday nights are mine. Friday is Hamburger Night, and Saturday (tonight) is Pancake Night. And I have the easiest recipe for you. It dirties one pitcher, one measuring cup, and one set of measuring spoons.

Get a pitcher that you can mix things in AND pour batter with. The long island iced tea is optional, but recommended.

I use whole grain pastry flour, but this recipe works with regular as well.

PLAIN JANE PANCAKES (OK, I found the basic recipe online somewhere)

Dump the following into the pitcher:

• 1 cup whole grain pastry flour or regular flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tbsp. oil
• Pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk*
• sometimes I add a little cinnamon

Don't have buttermilk? I never do either. Just slosh about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar into a 1 cup measure and fill the rest with milk. Stir and let sit for a minute or so — instant buttermilk.

Give it all a good mix with a whisk and you're ready to go.

It makes about 12-18 small pancakes — less if you are as inept at pouring as I am. It is plenty for our 3 kids. Super-easy — hope you like it!

I just want to have a family, hopefully a happy one. I am childless at this point and have no experience whatsoever with parenting. Like any prospective first-time parent, at times the prospect of parenthood, while wonderful, makes me feel a bit unsure of myself. The prospect of the realities of of parenting a normal, healthy child in today's world can at times seem daunting. If I adopt, I already will be adding a layer of adoption issues to the parenting realities. As a first-time parent, that's enough for me to handle.

Jill's post outlines her decisions on starting her adoption journey. She has thoughtfully outlined SO MANY relevant issues that you've just got to read it. I'm kind of speechless, actually. And that is not normal for me.

So no one cares what I had for lunch, but apparently a few folks care what I had for dinner last night. So here goes… All the right food showed up! I'm assuming it was chock-full of spit, natch, but other than that it was tasty and NOT ONE child complained. Right on — that's my kind of meal!