Whahoo!

Okay, I don't generally like to brag. I do it, but I don't like it. :^P

But this you must know. I'm a finalist in a recipe contest! Read all about it at www.tested-tried-true.blogspot.com. I am absolutely ecstatic! Wish me luck!

The Next Cinderella

Yesterday was kind of a rough day for me. The kids went into we-don't-have-to-mind mode and I went in to I-don't-have-to-be-nice mode. Kenley must have really been affected by my bad mood.

When I met her in the hallway after Primary she showed me the paper and yarn necklace that she received in class. "Mine Fairy Godmother gave this to me!" I laughed but didn't think much of it. After we arrived home I told Kenley she needed to remove the real necklace that I had let her wear to church. "But mine Fairy Godmother told me mine necklace was beautiful!"

So, just to be clear: Mom=Wicked stepmother, Nice Primary teacher = Fairy Godmother.

Snowmen and Hypocrites

Today is Sunday and I don't allow my kids to watch TV or play computer before church. Not because I'm a good person but because it's too hard to get them to turn off Spongebob and get dressed. Yet here I am at the ol' computer. Do as I say, not as I do...right?

Anyway, I just got on here to prove post that I do in fact make it outside with my children.

It was snowing pretty much all day yesterday and it was perfect snow with which to build some frosty friends. I was pretty anxious to get started so Kenley and went out first and began to build. The boys came out later, a little annoyed that we hadn't waited for them, and claimed that they would build an even bigger snowman. Our 13-yr old neighbor called out her back door and we invited her to join us. She helped Jack play in the snow and mostly laughed at me as I decided to be pretty detailed with the finishing touches. (My snowlady has a stone necklace and twig eyelashes.) As you can see, the boys went with a more. . . uh. . . simplistic approach.

Birthday Recap

I've neglected to post about my awesome birthday. I had awonderful day. Really it could not have been any better. I started out by going shopping with my mom and little brother. I had birthday money and cheesecake money to blow so I bought myself a football, The Office - Season 4, a pair of jeans and a bunch of Christmas clearance stuff.

I was treated to lunch at the Mongolian Grill. I love that place. I'm one of those people who loads the bowl with meat and veggies first and then piles on the noodles up top. I'm quite shameless about it. When I got home the house was spotless and the kids yelled "Surprise!" It certainly was a welcome and much appreciated surprise.

Later that day we took our little family bowling. Kenley lost all interest after about 3 frames and spent the rest of the time "driving" the arcade games. Jack wasn't too sure about it either, so mostly we just chased him around and tried to keep him entertained with the air blower. (Watch the video to see how Jack bowled.) Isaac was really interested in the Buck Hunting game at the arcade and came back to the lane only when it was his turn to bowl. Jeremiah and I bowled - which was really fun, since that was what we did on our first date - and I creamed him both games. (Though, to be honest, neither of us had high scores.) Maybe he just let me win because it was my birthday. Either way, it was a blast. We came home and I opened gifts and we had dessert. The kids went off to bed and Jeremiah gave me a footrub - my favorite loving gesture from my hubby - and I drifted off to sleep. Like I said, I had a wonderful day.

Who'd Have Guessed I Could Be So Domestic?

I'm feeling pretty productive today. I wore a hole in the knee in my favorite pair of jeans last year. I just couldn't part with the denim that I so loved, so I bought some eyelet fabric to sew some panels in and make the jeans into a skirt. I've put off the project for a long time but I decided that today was the day. I took me all morning to get it done (which really isn't too bad considering the interruptions from the children) but it's finished and I'm really pleased with the result. Maybe now I can justify buying a new top to wear with it.

For mutual tonight we are having an adopt a grandparent dinner. The Laurels, whom I am advisor to, were assigned to make clam chowder. Yuck! Clam chowder? Seriously? Do they not know of my intense distaste for anything seafood? Anyway, I just couldn't bring myself to use any of my own personal ingredients on such a thing so I developed my own Corn Chowder recipe instead. I've always loved corn chowder but I've never had a good recipe. Well, today I remedied that as well. I'm sharing my recipe over on my other blog.

So really I'm feeling like I got a lot accomplished so far today. Don't ask me about the state of my family room though. The kids got their own snacks and decided they needed to feed most of it to the carpet.

And So It Goes

Hard to believe it's the same child.

Branching Out

I'm trying something new! Many of you know that I really enjoy cooking. I've decided to start my own cooking blog. For right now I'm going to post recipes, probably posting the recipe of what I fixed for dinner the previous night. Eventually though I'd like to assemble several one-week menus so that you and I never have to ask ourselves, "What should I make for dinner?" I just launched it, click on this post's title to visit my new blog "Tested, Tried and (Almost Always) True."

To Be Like a Child

This morning after Kenley's bath I spent a little extra time doing her hair and making it look, in my opinion, super-cute. As she and I headed down the stairs I said, "You are so cute!"

"Yep," was her matter-of-fact response. And then I worried that maybe I don't make enough of an effort to let her know about true beauty, about being a daughter of God. About how being kind to others shows a different kind of beauty than what you can see in the mirror.

So I asked, "Do you know why you're so cute?" hoping that I could use this moment to teach her about those things.

Her simple, sweet answer? "Because Jesus loves me."

So thankful for her spirit I answer, "That is exactly right."

That is exactly right.

The Duality of Kenley

Kenley has always loved to help me cook. She's the first one to push a chair across the floor and stand next to the counter as I prepare dinner. Santa is so smart because he got Kenley her own baking kit.

I love this picture. Doesn't my daughter look so sweet and innocent? I was making bread and she pulled out her kit and enjoyed rolling her own dough. I especially love the wisps of flour across her nose and forehead. This is a good time (and picture) for me to remember.


Because Kenley is not always sweet.

The other day the kids had gorged themselves on junk food and I finally put it away. I later found Kenley trying to pull the bag off the counter. I reprimanded her and she walked away. Pretty soon I couldn't find Kenley and the house was pretty quiet. I walked into my room and heard crunching. The kids often play in my closet so I checked there but it was childless. I could still hear crunching. I turned around and found her here.

Kenley was hiding in the corner, behind the mirror, with the entire bag of chips. She didn't even react when I found her. She just looked at me, grabbed another chip and shoved it in her mouth. I thought about yelling, but I grabbed the camera instead. I'd like to have lots of evidence of both her sides.

Glad to Know I'm Still Part of the Family

The kids and I are getting ready to go out to dinner. We're just waiting for Jeremiah to get home and then we're off. I just asked Kenley to get her shoes and socks on. She, of course, answered that she was busy doing something. Isaac and I sat on the stairs and Isaac reinforced my request by adding, "Kenley we're getting ready so that Daddy can pick us up." He then turns to me and says, "Even you, Mom. Even though you're not a kid...he'll still hook you up."

If Only

I had the thought a while ago that I would like to be hypnotized. I'd like to be "programmed" to clean in my sleep. Wouldn't that be great? I could do whatever I wanted during the day and then at night, clean the house and do the laundry in my sleep. The house would be clean every morning and I'd have no memory of ever having done the work. I'd also have the hypnotist add in there the feeling of rest.

*Sigh* My eyelids are getting heavy.

Relief

Jeremiah bought me a 1-hr massage for Christmas and then I lost the gift card. I've felt like a complete moron about it and on top of feeling like the-idiot-that-lost-an-awesome-gift, I've had a tension headache, just to add injury to insult.

Yesterday I finally called the massage store(?) and asked if there was anything I could do - short of actually finding the card, or a receipt, or purchasing another massage, or trading my first-born - to get the massage without the card. The great news is that they had record of the purchase on my "account" so I can still go in and get that massage.

Then today I found the card just sitting on the floor in the laundry room. No idea how it got there, I'd already been through all the clothes, yet there it was. Even though I know I don't need it, I'll still feel better taking it in with me.

I never said it was an interesting story.

Somebody's Got To Do It

The day after my birthday a friend and I went out to lunch at my favorite Mexican resaurant. I have been going there since I was a kid and I never grow tired of it. They have this awesome hot sauce/salsa that they serve with their chips at every table. Part of the novelty of the hot sauce is that it is in a squeeze bottle and you just squirt it on your chip. This stuff I so good I could seriously forego the chips and maybe just drink the sauce. I've bought their sauce before but it never lasts long enough. So you can imagine my glee when I learned that I could buy the spice bag from the restaurant and mix my own at home.

I bought the bag and then went out immediately to buy my own squeeze bottle to keep my at-home salsa experience authentic. I also bought some delicious stone ground tortilla strips and I am having a hard time eating anything else. The only problem is that about 1/3 of the bag of chips are micro-chips. Although they are too small on which to squeeze any salsa, I committed myself to the task of making sure that they do not go to waste.

So I emptied the bag into a bowl and I am pinching several chips between my fingers, squirting some salsa on the mass and hurrying it all into my mouth before the salsa drips. It was a toss up between that or drenching all the chips in salsa and eating it with a spoon, which would taste just as pleasing but wouldn't be much of a challenge.