Happy Halloween From The Far East

Unlike LAST YEAR, I actually came up with an idea for themed costumes between the children...that they were excited about! After I told Phoebe that she was going to be a Chinese princess and wear make-up, she was sold. Eli and I had seen the new Karate Kid this summer (which I really and truly loved) so it was an easy sell, too.

I made Phoebe's costume.


I bought Eli's costume HERE.


I'm sure in years to come, Eli will look at me accusingly and say, "You always made Phoebe's costumes and you just bought mine!" And Phoebe will roll her eyes and say, "Eli always got store-bought costumes and mine were just home-made!" Then I will just throw my hands up and tell them there are children in China who don't even get Halloween costumes because guilt is a mother's secret weapon.

But at least their costumes match!


*In other news, if you're my friend on facebook, you might have noticed I was s-i-c-k Friday and yesterday. I ran an incredibly high fever all day Friday (while Brad was out of town and Eli had bronchitis with breathing treatments every two hours I might add)...even on both advil and tylenol, and then one fever spike again on Saturday. I was miserable. I'm crossing my fingers that we're able to go trick-or-treating tonight. Unfortuneatly, it puts me waaaayyy behind on everything else I was supposed to get accomplished this weekend...and it was a lot.

There Are No Words

What should I title this photo? Because I have no words to describe it.

My Boy

Children always accuse their parents of playing favorites. Whatever they perceive to be their weakness, they assume it cannot make them the favorite and whatever strengths their sibling has must make them the favorite. As a child, I remember feeling like the un-favorite (something to do with chocolate pie) and now as a mom I see it bit differently. It's not that I play favorites, I just love my children for completely different reasons. Of course, I love them because they are mine and all that, but now that I've gotten to know them, I love them differently. Phoebe is my joy to parent. It's so rewarding to interact with her because she is full of light and sparkle and lives every moment to its fullest. Her attitude is generally great...except when she does THIS.

Eli is another matter. He's never been a joy to parent. More times than not, I've felt frustrated and like a failure. Some days I just plain didn't want to be around him anymore.


But even so, this boy is my heart.



He is so much like me that I hurt for the heartaches I know he'll have.

His head is full of big ideas daily (like hang-gliding down the ravine near our house) that cause great disappointment when reality sets in.

He can't wait until he's big enough to eat the foot-long quarter pound chili at Sonic.

He is persistent to a fault.

He loves muffins for breakfast and the "white part" of a piece of bacon.

He's very social and loves to be with friends, but still needs a little time to himself every day...even though he would never admit it!

He thrives on structure and stability. Summer time always brings out the very worst behavior (even though he enjoys it the most) and the school year provides him an opportunity to thrive.

While academics are not his very best thing (he's struggling the whole "reading" thing right now), he can move his body any way he wants by just watching someone.

He is incredibly sweet with his baby sister.

He is full of bees and gunpowder and always has been.


And while I don't love Eli any more or any less than his sister, he has a special and unique place in this mama's heart. I cannot change who he is and I can only pray that I make the right decisions on the things I do have influence over. He is his very own boy. But I am so very, very grateful that he is my very own boy.

Pumpkin Waffles Recipe

A few weeks ago while meandering around the internet, I found a recipe for pumpkin waffles. I was intrigued. I love pumpkin. I love waffles. It seemed like a marriage made in foodie heaven. So I had to sit around on the recipe until we had a lazy Saturday morning. (I had to wait because I didn't want to be making waffles on a school morning and we all know how Brad feels about breakfast for dinner!)

They were so yummy!

The picture above does not do them justice (and you would think I would turn them around so the pretty sides were towards the camera), but they were devoured by everyone in my family! We had them with butter and syrup (see the syrup dripping deliciously down the side of my waffle?!), but we're going to try them with whipped cream and mini chocolate chips next time. I'm also going to double the recipe so we'll have some to freeze for school mornings.

Pumpkin Waffles:1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose Flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cups Milk
1 cup pumpkin
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix together milk, pumpkin, egg, oil & vanilla in a bowl. Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice in another bowl. Stir dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture until well blended. Let the batter rest for 2-3 minutes. Cook on waffle iron according to waffle iron directions.

To me, pumpkin is a fall food. One just cannot eat pumpkin in July! And these are a perfect fall breakfast. Enjoy!

Show and Tell: Phoebe's Other Halloween Outfit

I really enjoyed making this skirt and tee for Phoebe. Not that I don't usually enjoy sewing and creating, but there always seems to be some glitch in every project that I have to work through. If I had a dollar for every seam I've had to rip out or broken needle or lapse in common sense, I'd be able to buy myself the sewing machine I dream about. Yes, I dream about sewing machines. It's never been anything big (figuratively knocking on wood!), but each project has its very own glitch that I have to figure out. This one didn't and came together so fast. The skirt was a little longer than I imagined it would be, but that just means she'll be able to wear it again next year! And you know how much we love to do THAT!

I had so much fun putting this skirt together that I bought MORE FABRIC to make another one...you know, when I have time. Next May.

I thought the shirt turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. I even made one for Lincoln and my sister using the same "pattern". You can see it HERE.



I didn't crop Phoebe's face out of this picture like I did the LAST one. After I took these pictures on Saturday, we headed out to the Fall Festival at Eli's school. I knew Phoebe was tired and a little cranky so I was only a little surprised (and a lot embarrassed) when she threw a kicking-and-screaming-while-throwing-her-shoes fit in the middle of the elementary gymnasium. Good golly, Miss Molly, it was bad! She was hysterically out-of-control. So I just dragged walked her to the car and left while all the other moms watched with "my child never does anything like that ever" expressions on their faces. It was not my finest parenting moment. I was a little worried that the outfit was possessed by evil spirits, but she wore it again on Tuesday and was her usual sweet, sassy self. What a relief!

Of the two outfits I made this year, I can't decide which one I like better. This little pumpkin shirt and skirt or the one with the WITCH LEGS. So let's hear your opinion. Which do you like better and why?

Mission Impossible: In Search of the Perfect Jean

I've been needing a new pair of jeans.

Since I'm a stay-at-home mom, it's all I wear. Really. Oh sure, I throw in a pair of leggings and the occasional yoga pant, but mostly, I'm a jeans gal. Because of this, a couple of my jeans are getting a little worn...and not in the cool way, either.

Today I decided to go find me a pair of jeans. I knew I had two huge obstacles in my way. One, I had Phoebe with me and she has about a two-hour shopping limit. Two, I live in Amarillo which isn't known for it's plethora of shopping opportunities. But I was determined, and usually my determination can get just about anything done.

I started at CAVENDERS BOOT CITY. Not your typical place to start...unless you're from Amarillo and you really have no idea what size jeans you wear (in inches). I was actually there looking for something else (which they didn't have) when I saw an entire wall of MISS ME jeans and all their jeans were 10% off.

Let me take a moment to give our little Cavenders a shout-out. "Little" being a term of endearment and not an indication of the store's size because this store is really, really big. The manager there is a-maze-ing! When I couldn't find what I was looking for (which he knew exactly what it was just by description and that they had only one left that he turned the store upside-down looking for), he called the other six big Cavenders in the state to see if they had it when it wasn't on their website. He also helped out a friend a few days ago, too, and she couldn't say enough about him! So if you're in Amarillo and you need boots or jeans, head to Cavenders...they're awesome!

But back to my jeans. When I didn't find what I was looking for, I just decided to start my jeans search right there. I tried on 704 pairs of jeans. No luck. Mostly they were waaaaayy too long and since I've never had to shorten a pair of jeans, I didn't really want to start now. So Phoebe and slunk out of the store to head to the mall. We had to "slink" because we left such a mess in the dressing room, I didn't want to have to look the poor saleslady in the eye.

When we got to the local mall, I tried on jeans at AMERICAN EAGLE, EXPRESS, and THE GAP. Keep in mind, that I really , really wanted a pair of Miss Me jeans. So imagine my dismay when the old LONG AND LEAN fit the best and made me feel the most comfortable.

I learned today that I'm more of a Gap jeans kind of gal than a Miss Me jeans kind of gal. No matter how I wish it to be otherwise.

You see, Miss Me jeans are fun and sparkly and flirty and hip and meant to be worn over your stiletto heels. Gap jeans are flattering and reliable and safe and only long enough to wear over COMFORTABLE SHOES. I want to be fun and sparkly, but I guess I'm just reliable and safe. I want to be young and hip, but I guess I'm just timeless and boring. What we wear is a natural expression of who we are and we can't very well change that just because we wish we were something else.

It just goes to show that a zebra really can't changer her stripes...even if she wants to.

But then tonight at Huddles, two of our Huddle students were wearing Miss Me jeans. Two!! Short girls...who had to have them hemmed so they wouldn't trip over the ends when they wore their flip-flops. It got me thinking. Maybe I didn't look hard enough. I didn't get a change to go to DILLARDS because Phoebe was done (as in lying on the floor done) before I got there. Maybe I need to think about having them hemmed by a professional. Since I couldn't get to Dillards tonight, I looked at them online and found THESE BABIES. Did you see the wide-leg?! The contrast stitching?! I'm going to have to give them a try!

Because while this zebra may not be able to change her stripes, maybe she can add a little bling!

I'm An Ant

Remember Aesop's fable about the GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANT? I would say that I'm usually more of an ant than a grasshopper. I carry a great big purse full of things I might need. On a trip, I plan and plan and then plan some more for every contingency. I love lists. I love plans. I love to always be prepared. (Maybe I'm more of a GIRL SCOUT, than an ant.)

The last few weeks,however, I've felt more like a grasshopper. Not so much the singing the summer away part, but feeling like I am only doing the things that need to be done right this second and never getting ahead. Like the world was spinning way too fast and I was just trying to keep up with no time to get ahead. If it seems my posts have all been about cooking and projects, it's because that's all I've been doing!

But yesterday I got a little caught up. This week, we have two "at-home" days. Days were I don't have to go anywhere. (Well, except for an emergency trip to Wally World yesterday because I forgot that Phoebe was supposed to take snacks for pre-school this week!) It's gonna be great! Yesterday I spent the day stocking my freezer. I cooked several pounds of chicken breasts in a little water and salt at 350 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours. Then I shredded them and put them in freezer bags. I de-boned and shredded two rotisserie chickens and put them in freezer bags, too. I also browned up a couple pounds of sausage and ground beef with onions. All these were added to my freezer which already contained a few pounds of cooked and cut-up ham from a ham I cooked a week or so ago.

My freezer is a sight to behold.

And what is a post without a picture? I took this one after I had already bagged p everything else and stuck in the freezer. Just four bags of cooked chicken labeled with the date. So beautiful it makes my heart happy.


What can I say? I'm easily content.

Ants aren't usually the life of the party. They aren't the ones you call you want to have a good time or have been known to be called "boring" and "control-freaks". But they are always ready and prepared. They are the ones you want in an emergency. The ones you want to plan your vacations and your parties. The world would not work without ants.


Are you an ant or a grasshopper? If you're an ant, what kinds of "ant-y" things have you done lately?

Show and Tell: Phoebe's First Halloween Outfit

So here we are, the middle of October, and I haven't posted any pictures of the two outfits I made Phoebe to wear around the Halloween season. Partly because I didn't have them finished by the 1st of October, as originally planned, and partly because I was going to post them together. Then I changed my mind and decided to post them separately. Here's the first installment.



As you might be able to tell, it wasn't our best picture taking day. Things were a little tense, threats were made, and there might have been a bribe. And while the next picture is a lovely close-up of her shirt, I did crop out her fit-throwing, crying face.



In times like this, it's best we all remember:

"Don't mess up all that cute by acting ugly."

My Love/Hate Relationship With Fall

Reasons I love fall:


My morning coffee tastes so much better when there's a briskness in the air.


I love a good pair of BOOTS. Not that I own these boots or ever will. Unless, of course, I win the lottery.


Halloween and Thanksgiving.


The PUMPKIN PATCH. Sadly, we aren't going this year because of our BIG FAMILY TRIP coming up, but I do miss it. Next year...


Two words: TORTELLINI SOUP. Next TUESDAY is supposed to be cold-ish and rainy (our first "real" fall day) and this might be our family's favorite soup. And I get to share it with two people who have never had it! I am giddy with excitement!


Pumpkin Bars, Pumpkin Waffles, Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin French Toast...


Fall is great "cuddling under a blanket" weather.


Socks. I have extensive sock collection and I can finally start wearing socks again...at least around the house.


School spirit seems so tangible in the fall. We were the PURPLE AND WHITE and BLACK AND GOLD with pride!


The weather is just cool enough to make me appreciate the change, but it's not quite cold, yet.


Fall leaves on great, big trees. Not that we have that many here on the plains, but it makes the ones you do see all that much more spectacular.



Reasons I hate fall:

While I enjoy a couple of good layers as much as the next gal, it's hard to know how to dress when you have a 40 degree temperature swing in 12 hours.


Fall is so stinkin' busy. Just what happened to September and the first few weeks of October?


Flies of biblical proportions. We haven't had a freeze yet so, on average, I kill 10 flies a day in my house. It's just plain disgusting.


Pumpkin carving. The guts are gross. The carving is hard, labor-intensive, and long. Then it rots and you throw it away. What a waste.



Fantasy Football. I just don't get it.


What do you love/hate about fall?

An Oldie But A Goodie

I am posting this recipe today in honor of my friend and co-teacher, TERESA. She's the mom of four children (3 boys and a girl) and an adopted daughter in college and she spend about $40 a week in groceries. You read that right, $40 a week! It's amazing. And it's not like they are eating just rice and beans, either. At least once a week, if not more, they have families from their church over for dinner (her husband is a preacher at a local church)! Truly awe-inspiring.

I love teaching with Teresa, not just because she's a fun gal and great teacher, but because she also *loves* food. I'm not talking the way most moms love to have a few recipes under their belt, but she really *adores* food...like me. It's a match made in heaven! We talk about it often, sharing recipes, tips, and the occasional JAR OF SOUP. So when I mentioned to her the other day that I was making one of my mom's old stand-bys, Italian Roast in the Crockpot, she wanted the recipe. Really bad. She's having 97 family members coming to stay with them over the next week for her oldest's thirteenth birthday and needs something easy, filling, and makes enough to feed said 97 people.

My mom got this recipe from her friend, Janet Dillard, years and years ago. After I got married, I wrote it down in my home church's cookbook so I'd always know where it was. (And no, I'll never, ever throw that cookbook away because it has too many tried and true recipes from women that I love and admire!) I have only added one small ingredient, and I don't always use that because if I don't have it, then it's not too big a loss. My mom always served Italian roast with whole green beans (hers were from the freezer, mine are from a can because I do not like squeaky green beans and frozen green beans always squeak...no matter how long you cook them!) and french bread that is sliced, buttered, seasoned, and stacked back together on foil and baked so they are crunchy on the edges and soft in the middle (this is not the way I usually like french bread, but with Italian roast, I can have no other). Oh, I'm sure you could serve this with salad and dinner rolls or broccoli and crescents, but it just wouldn't be the same. Long green beans and soft french bread is the way to go. Although I do remember one time she served jello salad with it, as well, so that might be acceptable. Maybe.


Italian Roast in a Crockpot

3-4 lb. rump roast (The bigger the better. This makes great leftovers so I always try to make a bunch, but be aware that it will take almost the entire 10 hours to cook a big roast.)

1 diced onion

4 oz. canned mushrooms

8 oz. tomato sauce

1 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (If I have a smaller roast, I use a little less.)

1 package spaghetti seasoning

1/2 cup-ish red wine or beef broth (This is the ingredient I added. I like to use red wine because it gives such a depth of flavor, but sometimes I just use beef broth. I don't measure, I just dump it in. I added it because I wanted my roast to be a little "saucier", but it's still really good without it.)

wide egg noodles

Add all ingredients (except noodles) to the the crockpot. Cook on low 8-10 hours. Shred roast with a fork. If you get ready to shred your roast and it looks tough and dry, then it just needs to cook a little longer. When it's ready, the meat will just fall apart when you go to shred it. It always takes longer than I think it will! Serve over egg noodles.


Thanks Teresa for being so inspiring and fun to work with. Enjoy your roast!

Home Again

“There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.”
Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

Last weekend was my 10-year-reunion at ACU. TEN YEARS!! It's hard to believe it's been ten years, I can't believe we're this old, it seems like yesterday, yada, yada, yada. I wrote a lovely post about Brad's 10-year reunion LAST YEAR and this year seemed like more of the same...in a good way, of course. So much the same that I even used the exact some quote! But that's the thing about ACU. It is home in so many ways and I love to go back.

To make things a little different about my 10-year reunion post, I'll actually include some pictures. :)



We don't know who this sweet cheerleader is, she was just nice enough to take a picture with Phoebe.


This picture proves that great minds really do think alike. We're wearing the same cardigan. Or maybe that great minds enjoy a good deal from Target. Whatever.





Just a few of the flames from the SIREN class of 1997. That's right, 1997!


This baby's skin is the exact texture and temperature as bread dough. Really. I'm going to use it as my guage for knowing when bread dough is ready. You know, if I ever actually make bread dough!


Waiting (not-quite-so) patiently for the the parade.


HOLLEY!!

The Amazing Halloween Dress

In October of 2008, my mom made Phoebe a reversible HALLOWEEN DRESS because she's just that creative.

It's a good thing we don't have any girl cousins yet on that side of the family because I'm pretty sure I would feel obligated to hand down this adorable little dress and we are still wearing it!

We call it the Amazing Halloween Dress!

October 2008



October 2009



October 2010



Do these pictures make anyone else a little sad?

It's a good thing she's not going to outgrow her personality!

Boys Are Gross OR Why Mrs. Summers Loves Me

Last Saturday, Brad killed a snake while we were cleaning out the garage. It wasn't in the garage (thank heavens!), but near the garage where we were putting everything while we swept out the garage. At first he thought it was a rattlesnake, but after careful inspection (after killing it with a pick-ax, of course) he discovered it was a bull snake. (I know, you shouldn't kill bull snakes, but we don't take that much time to figure out what kind of snake it is before murdering it with a pick-ax.)

Needless to say, Eli was fascinated. He couldn't keep his hands off it! Which led me to the conclusion that boys are gross.

Then he wanted to take it to school to show to Mrs. Summers. I used all my manipulative powers to convince him to leave it at home, but to no avail. The child was determined to take it school. So I let him bag it up in a ziplock and he took it to school. Keep in mind that it had been dead for a few days at this point. Gross.





After school, she tactfully told me that she had told Eli to go home and bury it. She did admit that it fostered all kinds of creative stories at the writers workshop, but then she banished it to Eli's locker for the rest of the day because of the smell.

I'm pretty sure I'm her favorite mom this week.

She's FINALLY Here!

It's no secret that I love me some Disney animated movies.

I don't mean because I'm American or because I enjoy a well-told story as much as the next gal. I mean I *really* love them. Well, the really good ones, anyway. And my standards might not be the same as anyone else's, either. Take 101 DALMATIANS, for example. It's one of my favs. But only because it reminds me of an old WWII movie where the good guys have to smuggle out the POWs/Jews/orphans behind enemy lines. Oh, or ATLANTIS! I know it's very similar to STARGATE, but still a great story...especially for a 7-year-old boy and his mommy to enjoy together! What about the spiritual implications of THE LION KING? I could go on and on.

Having a three-year-old little girl around, I get to watch a lot of princess movies. I can't complain. There are some pretty good ones. The classics like CINDERELLA and THE LITTLE MERMAID. I could write an entire post about The Little Mermaid! (I remember some big Christian something-or-other telling us that we shouldn't let our daughters watch The Little Mermaid because she disobeyed her father. And while she did, I think it's a beautiful portrayal of a father making unreasonable rules because he's afraid of the mistakes his daughter might make...but I digress.) Then there's the lesser known little jewels, MULAN and THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG. I also get to watch the insipid SNOW WHITE and POCAHONTAS (who is not insipid, but just annoying) and SLEEPING BEAUTY (also not insipid, but the whole movie is about everyone but Sleeping Beauty!).

But if I had to choose my very favorite Disney princess...it would be BELLE.

She's beautiful. She's brave. She's smart. She loves to read.

And she's finally here!!



The McCall family did not previously own the only animated movie to ever win a Best Picture Academy Award. I think the last time it was released from the vault, I didn't even have children yet! (But I could be wrong on the last release date. After linking up sooooo many other Disney movies, I couldn't possibly be expected to Google a thing like that. Sheesh.)

Phoebe and I couldn't be more excited. Even if the BEAST turns into a CASPER MILKTOAST at the end of the movie.

For the record, I realize this post has been all over the place. Sorry. I have a lot of time to think about these things apparently.


So what about you? What's your favorite Disney movie? Why?

Happy 35th Anniversary, Mom & Dad! I love you!

My Baby Ballerina

Dance is the hidden language of the soul. ~Martha Graham

Wednesday was Watch Day in Phoebe's little ballet class. I was excited, not so much to see what she has learned (because, really, she's three and she's only had a month of class so she hasn't learned all that much), but because this little gal has a musical soul and it makes my heart happy to see her express it. I won't lie to you and tell you she was the best in her class. She's not. She one of the youngest so mostly she just feels the music with her body, but she certainly enjoys it and that's what I love to watch. I'll apologize in advance for the photo quality. The fluorescent lights were very bright and I couldn't figure out how to get a good shot. Seriously, I need to take a class!