Chocolate And A Caffeinated Latte...Not A Great Combo

I've just returned from a Girls Night Out at a chocolate shop here in town where I don't think my latte was decaf. It's bedtime and I'm wide awake!

So here are a few thoughts at 10:24pm.

These are my friends Tana and Malee. Malee makes all Phoebe's bows and I have a sneaky suspicion that Tana meticulously irons all her sons' clothes even though she says she NEVER does.


We all had a most interesting conversation about this handy-dandy product. Malee and Emily (who has deep conversations with my dad on his blog) swear it has changed their lives. I'm going to the Happiest Place On Earth to get one tomorrow. This is Emily and her chocolate creation. She made a heart-shaped box.


This is me making my chocolate creation.


I was the only brave enought to make chocolate handcuffs.


I made them out of dark chocolate because I feel dark chocolate is more sophisticated and cool. It's deep and dark and complicated...just like me.

This picture of Dixie, me, and Tiffani took three takes because I tend to have a lazy eye when I smile and then I over-compensate and look a little crazy. Tiffani and I decided that we all must be old because we spent our wild night out talking about sweeping and the fact that she bought herself the H2O mop with her birthday money. I think I have to agree.


These are the (way cool) boots I wore.


They were my Christmas present from Brad this year...except that I picked them out and purchased them. I couldn't love them more! :)

I think the real reason I'm still awake is because Eli made some bad choices at the soccer team photo shoot and I'm trying to figure out why and what I did wrong and how we can go about changing this behavior.

I think maybe a good night's sleep will give me more perspective and I'll be more ready to deal with it in the morning. (Insert big yawn here.)

Good Night!


By the way, my computer thinks it's about an hour earlier than it really is. It's really after 11pm. Really.

Wordless Wednesday

Eli Skywalker

Eli is all about Star Wars these days.

He asked me the other day why I didn't name him R2D2. I told him that I guess we just didn't think of it when he was born. He and another little boy in his KU class had a disagreement about how many legs R2D2 has when I was dropping him off this morning. Eli said three, the other little boy said two. Luckily, our youth minister was dropping his son off and he could settle the dispute because, apparently, he knows everything about Star Wars. (Both boys were right, by the way, because sometimes he has two and sometimes he has three...I knew you were curious.) Monday, he wanted me to call him Han Solo all day long. This was great because we didn't have to go anywhere. It's a little embarrassing to be yelling, "Han Solo! Stop pestering your sister!" in Target. I should know...I had to do it. :) Then there's his C3PO walk. It's pretty impressive. Light Sabers have become his constant accessory.





It helps when your backyard looks surprisingly like Tattooine.

Meatless Monday

I have discovered a most wonderful product in my dairy case at the local supermarket. It was by the butter.


It's pre-cooked, diced potatoes and onions...and it's only $1.54 at United so it's cheap, too!

I purchased them to make another dinner Saturday night and we had some leftover. Since I hate to have unused food in my fridge, I got a little creative. :)

First, I melted about 3 T. butter in a large skillet and sauteed the potatoes until they were mostly brown.


When the potatoes were almost done, I added some chopped green and red bell pepper, some chopped grape tomatoes, and some steak seasoning. Except for the tomatoes, this was part of the recipe from Saturday night so don't go thinking I'm some kind of culinary genius.


Then I whisked together 5 eggs, some half-and-half, salt, and fresh ground pepper and poured it down over the potatoes and peppers and tomatoes. I topped the whole thing with cheese and cooked it on low on my stove until it was "set" in the middle.


Since I like my frittatas to be brown on top, I popped it in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes. The whole thing takes about 15 minutes and my children loved it! (We actually have frittatas pretty often because they are so good and cheap and easy and have so many variations in which to use up stuff in your fridge. Eli calls them "egg avacadas") I didn't tell Brad we were having Meatless Monday until after he had finished. He thought it was great, too, and then asked if I had come up with the name myself. Unfortunately, I hadn't so he didn't think it was quite as clever. :)

** This was actually last Monday's dinner. It seemed silly to blog about Meatless Monday on any other day, so I just waited a week. Tonight we are having spaghetti...with meat. I think it just might be one of my Top-Five-Favorite-Comfort-Foods-Of-All-Times. I'm so very, very excited.

So Sad, Indeed

I just received my notification in the mail that Mary Englebriet's Home Companion is no longer.

I'm pretty bummed about this. I realize that most of the other ME fans have probably already received their notifications weeks ago, but we are still having our mail forwarded and it took a little longer.

I've saved every issue I've ever bought and pour over them for design and artistic inspiration. I've watched her move from house to house to house and loved every divine transformation. I've googled many of the artists featured and even have a secret fascination with cherries.

They kindly transferred my subscription to the Martha Stewart Magazine for the remainder of my subscription. Seriously, that is absolutely-so-not-the-same. I prefer ME's organized, "homey" clutter to Martha's stark, "hospital wall" approach to decorating. I don't want to live like Martha; I want to live like Mary. (This works on so many levels, people!) Martha never inspired me like Mary and yet the publishers think she is an appropriate replacement! Will the world ever be the same again?!

I don't think there's anything that can cheer me up.



Okay, so maybe I can think of a few things. :)

Phoebe's First Sentence

Phoebe finally said her first official sentence today.

She doesn't talk as much as Eli did (maybe because she can't get a word in edgewise!) and most of her dialogue consists of two word commands, "Moe Peas" (More, please) and one word declarations, "Ba-by", "E-i" (Eli), "Wa-er" (Water), "Joose" (Juice), etc.

I was cutting her some cheese for lunch and she said, "I yike cheese!"



Well said, baby-doll. Well said.

Personal Challenges

On the way home from Brad's grandparents' house last Friday, Brad said to me, "I'd like you to go backpacking with me sometime."

To give you a little background, Brad likes to go backpacking on mountains for a week at a time. I like to sit by the pool (or the beach) with a book. He likes carrying all his food/clothing/water/sleeping paraphernalia in a backpack that weighs more than Eli and walking aimlessly for two days only to walk right back out again. I like indoor plumbing and delicious food. For Brad to ask me to go backpacking was like me asking him to go to Canton and stay at a B&B for the weekend. There is not too many things in this world I would enjoy less.

After I groaned and rolled my eyes, I asked him why he wanted me to go with him and other than the sweet (albeit false) pretense of spending time with me, he asked, "Don't you ever just give yourself a personal challenge just to see if you can do it?"

Are you kidding me?!

I went on to explain that while I don't ever feel the need to prove to myself that I can walk up a mountain with 45 lbs. on my back, I have lots of personal challenges I give myself. Here are just a few of them:

* Trying to keep the house looking like a home and not a war zone. A couple of weeks ago I decided that I was going to try to keep my house in "people-ready-mode." This is not spotlessly clean at all times, mind you. I try to keep my house in a state where if someone knocked on my door to visit (unexpectedly) I wouldn't be embarrassed. I've done pretty well considering it's mostly just staying on top of the stuff I do anyway.

* The whole cooking thing. I really enjoy cooking and finding new recipes and, of course, eating. Saturday nights is when I really try something new and different. This last Saturday I made the best french chicken dish that was heavenly. I do pretty well with this challenge and, except for a Swiss chicken bake that wasn't very good a few weeks ago, almost everything I make is pretty darn good. :)

* Trying to grocery shop only once every two weeks and save money. Another gal has been blogging about this for a while and I wanted to see if I could do it. I went Monday to the grocery store for the next two weeks and so far I've realized that I didn't get creamer, baking powder, bbq sauce, and I'm short on onions. I would say that I'm failing this challenge pretty badly since I'll probably have to make another run before the weekend for said items. I also have a Super Bowl Party (at my house) that I forgot to get stuff for and my family is coming in next weekend to watch Eli's games. Sigh. I'll just have to do better next time.

* Crossing off everything on To-Do List everyday. I make a very detailed to-do list everyday and it gives me great satisfaction to sit down at the end of the day with everything crossed out. Sometimes I even add items just so I can cross them off! This list is also made in pencil so that if a chore is too big or can't possibly be done, I can erase it and add a smaller, easier chore in it's place. Which makes me think that maybe I should quit blogging so I can go fold the load of laundry waiting for me.

So while I did compromise with Brad and agree to (maybe) going camping sometime, I don't see a couples backpacking trip in our future. He did ask me how I was going to feel when he took Eli and Phoebe backpacking and I was left all alone at the house. Again, are you kidding me?!

So what are your personal challenges? Anything more exciting than laundry folding and grocery shopping?

Man Vs. Wild: Amarillo Edition

We woke up this morning to extremely cold temperatures and a tiny, little ice storm. It had snowed just a little and all the trees were covered in ice. As we sat at the top of our driveway and surveyed the canyon below us (no such luck that schools were cancelled*), we were awed by the cold, icy plains.

Eli exclaimed from the backseat, "Maybe Man Vs. Wild can come here and try to survive!!"

Okay, while I admit that 8 degree temps and icy weather aren't very much fun to get out in, I don't think it's quite worthy of Bear Grylls's survival skills.

The view from the top of the driveway.



* I realize that Eli could have stayed home today, but we stayed home all day yesterday because it was bitterly cold AND Eli needed a break from the house AND I had planned on running some errands today that I really needed to run AND I didn't realize how cold and yucky it really was. It certainly makes me feel better to have all those really valid excuses for why I took my son to preschool this morning. :)

Growing Pains And Torn Jeans

Yesterday morning, everything I put on my children for church was just a little too small. Phoebe's pants and sleeves were just a little too short and I had to jam her big ole' feet into some black maryjanes. Eli's pants were just a little too short, as was his shirt and sweater vest and his shoes were a little too tight, also. Since I'm not going to buy all new winter clothes here just before spring, I guess my children will just like ragamuffin beanpoles whose clothes don't fit. It makes me sad when my children outgrow clothes because it's yet another reminder that everyday is slipping by way too fast.

As of last week at church, Phoebe has been moved out of the nursery and into the CDC (Child Development Center) where she'll be until she's four. I was pretty nervous taking her to class last week because she usually cries when I drop her off in the nursery and I was bracing myself for even more tears at a new place. That big, brave girl just walked right in, sat down at a table, and started playing with puzzles. No tears, no regrets...just a big girl where her mommy's baby used to be. I had to stand there and watch her for a moment to catch my breath because these growing pains always take me by surprise. My friend, Sara (who volunteers in the nursery), was just as surprised and even she teared up at the thought of Phoebe turning two at the end of next month. (Then again, it might have something to do with the fact that her own Syndey turns a year old just a few weeks before Phoebe turns two...moms understand each other about these things.) And just today she (finally) learned to crawl out of her crib.

Last week, Eli tore through the knees of three pairs of jeans. (Maybe it's a good thing that all his jeans are getting too short.) At naptime today, we spent some time making paper airplanes from a book someone gave us instead of stacking blocks or playing with playdough. His current obsession is all things Star Wars and I watch in wonder as he plays with action figures and builds his own Star Wars planes out of legos. (Okay, I know they are not planes, but spaceships didn't sound right either and it was going to take too long to list each type individually.) Sometimes I wonder just when my little boy went to sleep and woke up a big boy. Of course he still wants his mommy to read him books and tuck him in and play with him, but for how much longer? When is the next time I'll blink my eyes and see standing before me a teenager who's taller than I am and asking for the car keys?

Sigh.

This growing up stuff kinda stinks.

House, NM

Yesterday we headed to House, NM to see Brad's maternal grandparents. They actually live out in the literal middle-of-nowhere, but it's kind of close to House, NM. House is a very small town in New Mexico. It's even small by New Mexico standards! Brad's grandparents were raised there and after spending most of their marriage moving around they settled there about 15 years ago. Brad's grandmother, Faye, has been doing poorly health-wise so his mom has been staying with them.

Four generations sharing banana popsicles. What better way to celebrate family than to eat!


Eli and Grandad Neil. Don't these two just look like they are full of bees and gunpowder?


Sitting on the kitchen floor eating ice cream...I'm not sure there is anything more simple and homey than that.


This is what happens when Phoebe finishes her popsicle.


So it's big brother to the rescue. Don't think Eli is just the sweetest, most protective big brother in the world. I just don't think he cared for his banana popsicle.


Our after-lunch entertainment...watching Eli push his great-grandmother around in his wheelchair. Seriously, where was this boy's mother?!


Later, we headed down the road a mile to visit the other "Mae." Phoebe's middle name "Mae" is a family name in Brad's family. We liked it because it was different and a little "old" sounding. The other Mae is Lola Mae, Faye's older sister. Although all their lives, Lola Mae was called "Doog" and Faye was called "Boog." Not really sure why, but my children call their great-grandmother Grandma Boog. Their mother's name was Nina Mae. This is Lola Mae and Phoebe sitting in very old rocking chairs. The little one was Lola Mae's when she was a little girl.


This is the two Maes heading into the kitchen to eat some homemade peach cobbler. This is when I stopped taking pictures.


More fun with the wheelchair!



After dinner, and after getting the children all bundled up in their pajamas, we headed home. Both of them were exhausted and after telling Eli that he couldn't watch a movie or play on the iphone and hearing him exclaim, "Well, what am I going to do?!", they fell asleep and gave Brad and I a chance to actually visit. It was kind of nice. :)