I sewed this hamburger for Emma, although she seems to have lost the bottom bun already because I couldn't find it when I took this picture. She is all about play food these days which is probably due to a combination of her excitement about her new play food and her obsession with the Food Network. I can hardly sit down anywhere without her shoving a book/"menu" at me and trying to take my order. She used to just throw all her stuff in a pot and make "soup", but now her cooking has gotten a lot more sophisticated. It's cute to listen to her cook because she'll mumble to herself while she works. "I'll add some coriander...now some carrot zest...a little cumin to give it a smoky flavor..."

Tonight I was walking in the basement when something on the floor caught my eye. I looked again. Could that be - no, it couldn't be. But, yes, it was. A big, nasty, old slug making his way across our basement floor! Blech! What this means is that I can never take another step in my basement without worrying about the possibility that I might be about to step on a slug. And, if he managed to find his way in somehow, what is to stop the snakes from doing so as well? *shudder*

Awhile after the slug incident, Emma and I were hanging out in the basement, sewing and playing. Out of nowhere, she said, "Mommy? I'm so sorry that I drew polka dots all over the couch." We hadn't been upstairs in awhile, so I'm sure she'd been stewing about that the whole time. We went up and looked at the couch, and sure enough, many, many spots decorated it's cushion (or at least the sheet that, thankfully, covers it). I asked her why she did it and she shook her head sadly and said, "I don't know why I did such a terrible thing. I'm so disappointed in myself." I told her she can't use pens or markers by the couch anymore, but really, how can I be mad at someone who is so adorably remorseful? Of course, it also helps that she didn't draw on the actual couch.

We had Mexican Polenta for dinner tonight - another great recipe from Vegetarian Times. Although not so vegetarian for us, because I added ground beef. There is no picture for dinner last night because, uh, we went out. One night out of four isn't bad!

I am feeling pretty annoyed with the state of Missouri today. For anyone who doesn't know, Missouri is the only state in the country where being a midwife, or "practicing medicine without a license" is illegal. Midwives who attend homebirths here are actually felons, which is an outrage. I don't know what is wrong with these people, and why they think the government has the right to tell a woman how she has to give birth. I find it ironic that the main opposer of legalizing midwifery, Chuck Graham, is very vocally pro-choice. I can't imagine why it's okay for a woman to choose to end someone's life (which I absolutely do not support) but not okay for her to choose where she wants to give birth. He also said that today is a victory for those who value the health and well-being of women giving birth and their newborn children. Not only is he a hypocrite, he's also completely ignorant. Women choose midwives because they value their own health and that of their children! One would only have to do a few minutes of research on the safety of homebirth to know what a joke his statement is. Arrrrgh!

Oh, and one more thing...I won another game of Scrabble tonight! Two in a row, baby!