The Life and Times...

NYC part 2

2011-08-18T20:19:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, we went to the New York City Fire Museum. We expected there to be fire trucks for Little Man to be able to climb on, but we were mistaken. Instead, we found 100 year old, man-pulled or horse-drawn fire trucks.

Wednesday we went to Central Park Zoo and then Dylan's Candy Bar. O. M. G. Three floors of yumminess... more types of candy than I ever dreamed of!

Thursday we visited the Statue of Liberty. I have been to NYC several times, but I have never been to Liberty Island. I've always taken the boat tour by Lady Liberty. It was neat to go inside the museum in the pedastal and see how she was made. I didn't get to see/read everything b/c I had a certain 2-year-old with us, but it was still a neat experience.

Friday, we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We didn't get to see a lot (because of the same 2-year-old) but we did get to see some Picasso, O'Keefe, Renoir, Polluck, Degas, etc. I think it is very important for my children (well, the Sisters right now) to see and appreciate Art. The studied a lot of "the masters" in art at their old elementary school, so I think it is neat for them to see the actual paintings/sculptures they've studied. Sister #2 was a little disappointed... she saw some people sketching and she didn't know that was an option. We did load up on things in the museum store (I always try to buy postcards of the paintings we saw).

Edward Hopper, one of our favorite artists

New York City

2011-08-08T19:48:00.000-06:00

Our family vacation this year is to NYC... yes, we're nuts. But there's a story behind our reasoning... but that's for another day. So here's a run down of the past few days:

Friday, Aug. 5: The Mister is already in NY, so the kids and I flew out of DFW to meet him. We payed for the 5 Star Service by American Airlines, and it was worth every penny. "John" met us at the curb (our driver kept calling him with our location) with a luggage person and cart. He had our boarding passes already printed and in his pocket. He helped us get thru security and then escorted us to the Admirals Lounge. While we were waiting, our flight was cancelled. John was on it! He found us another flight that left 10 minutes later, but flew into Newark instead of JFK. Once it was time to go to the gate, he had a cart waiting right outside the Admirals Lounge and drove us to the gate (with a stop at the food court on the way). When we got to the gate, the pilot had made the executive decision to delay boarding until the plane cooled down. Apparently it had been sitting in the Texas sun all day and the inside of the plane was 105+ degrees. About 45 minutes later we boarded (it was about 90 degrees inside the plane) quickly...wanting to get in the air as fast as possible because the a/c would work better, plus the -50 degree air outside the plane would help, too. The flight was ok... we didn't use the car seat for the Little Man (John said when he tried, it wouldn't tighten up and therefore wouldn't be very safe). That made the flight a bit of a challenge... Little Man can buckle and unbuckle the seatbelt by himself. But all in all it was a good flight. The Mister met us in baggage claim and had a car service (SUV) waiting. The car service took us to the hotel (in the middle of Times Square)... checked in... blah blah blah... good night.

Saturday, Aug. 6: This was a "boring" day. We walked around the southern corner of central park in the morning and then the NY Library and Grand Central Station in the late afternoon.

Sunday, Aug. 7: American Museum of Natural History... I've never been here before, even though I've been to NYC several times. We really had a good time. Funny story... I bought "Night at the Museum" for the Sisters to watch to prep them for the museum. So Sat. evening, they go to watch it, and it turns out I bought the second movie, you know, the one that takes place in the Smithsonian. Oh well. We did try to find several things from the movie, including Dum Dum:

The girls and I then went to see The Lion King during Little Man's nap. OMG! It was wonderful! Probably one of the best musicals I've seen! The costumes were AMAZING and the music/singing were UNBELIEVABLE! I'd love to see it again, but it was pretty costly!

Monday, Aug. 8: The Bronx Zoo... Another "landmark" in NYC I've never been to. We had a good day; it's a really large zoo.

For Today...

2011-07-28T10:24:00.000-06:00

Outside my window... freshly mowed grass (love love love having a yard service!) and dying plants... in this heat there's no possible way to keep everything alive and looking good

I am thinking... about our family vacation... making plans for NYC, Boston, maybe some Mystic, Connecticut and Cape Cod, Mass.
I am thankful for... my bed... after a week sleeping on a bunk at summer camp (church), my bed has become my new favorite place

From the kitchen... not much. planned to grill hot dogs last night, but then realized I didn't buy hot dog buns. maybe tonight. after a quick trip to the store. maybe.
I am wearing... t-shirt & capris
I am creating... a mini-album for Sister #1... in the shape of a cupcake (her current obsession)... shhh! don't tell!
I am going... to take the little Mister to get a haircut and maybe Barnes & Noble for book for said vacation

I am reading... The Life of Pi... good so far... not "into" it yet

I am hearing... a 2-year-old babbling about sisters at piano camp and mowers and 'puters and wipes and too hot for sand
Around the house... everything is picked up... waiting for the cleaning ladies to come today (they are from heaven!)
One of my favorite things... fruit ninja and words with friends (both are consuming entirely too much of my time lately)

A few plans for the rest of the week... taking the Sister's to grandma/grandpa's house on Saturday... will be (semi) quiet here for a few days

Letters #5 and #6

2011-07-13T08:03:00.001-06:00

Dear Lewisville Public Library,
We need to talk. Your performance level is going downhill. Things need to improve or we are going to have to let you go. You are now on probation. If the following areas do not improve before the next time we visit, we will have to replace you with a library that can fulfill the role and perform at a higher standard.

Electronic card catalogue/computers... what's the point of have a dozen or so in the children's area if they are all out of order? My children do not just wander the aisles looking for something interesting. They have specific books in mind (but they never know the author... that is not our fault and yes, I know we could look it up before we go to the library, but you are assuming we pre-plan our visits.).
Train tables in the children's area... Could you please get trains that actually fit on the tracks? Or tracks that fit the trains you already have? A certain 2-year-old loves trains, but gets extremely frustrated when the train dwarfs the tracks and therefore doesn't work. And then I'm supposed to keep that certain 2-year-old quiet because it's a library.
Display... please figure out a better way to display your books, or maybe how to explain EXACTLY where the book is that is on display. I am frustrated because 90% of the time I look up a book on your computer and it says that all of the copies on the shelf are checked out, but there is one on display. Um, ok. WHERE? My time to look for a book is extremely limited (have I mentioned a certain 2-year-old?) and so I don't have hours to wander aimlessly looking for a particular book. Especially when Melvil Dewey took a lot of time to figure out how to organize books in a library. Just sayin'.

Thank you,

Dear Barnes & Noble,

Things are looking up for you!

Letter #4

2011-07-12T08:03:00.000-06:00

Dear Chipotle,
I love you. Madly. Deeply. It's true. If I were stranded on a desert isle, and could only have 1 restaurant to supply all my food, I would choose you. Yes, that kind of love.
I love the witty stories on the side of the cups. I love the fact that I haven't come across the same story twice. I love your fresh ingredients. I love your employees (you know, the ones that act like they don't know me, even though I'm in there ordering the EXACT same thing 2, 3, maybe 4 times a week). I love the fact that you are less than 5 minutes from my house. I love your chips. I LOVE your rice.
I love you,
Me

P.S. Any ideas on how to fix the header... you know, the right side of the box that isn't showing up and therefore looks stupid?

Summer Card Camp

2011-06-30T19:03:00.000-06:00

I am participating in Summer Card Camp 2011... organized by two of my favorite paper craft artists: Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Warner. Here's my card for week 1:

Letters #2 and #3

2011-06-27T05:40:00.001-06:00

Dear Sleep,
I must compliment you on your ability to be allusive (spelling?). Impressive. However, now is not the time to show off. I've got a crazy busy week with Vacation Bible School, never mind the fact that the Mister is out of town and I have a 2-year-old who thinks he's center of the universe. Of course, what 2-year-old doesn't? But I digress.
It's 5:45 a.m. now, and I have missed you for about an hour now. I'll let it slide today, but don't let it happen again!
So, Sleep, I expect you meet you tonight in my bed, at oh, say 10:30. Please don't be late.
Sincerely,
Me

Dear Sonic,
As much as I love your beloved Sonic ice, and believe no Diet Coke can compare to one in a styrofoam cup filled with your ice, I admit it may be a long, long time before I have one of your breakfast burritos again. In my conscience, I link last night's breakfast burrito to this morning's inability to find Sleep.
Thanks.
Me

And we're back...

2011-06-14T18:42:00.000-06:00

so to kick start my return to blogging, I thought I would copy my friend Wild and Precious, and write a few letters this week...

Dear employees/customers of Ulta today,
I apologize for interrupting your normal, quiet shopping afternoon by bringing my 2 year old to Ulta. I should've known better. I should've known HE would be drawn to make-up. I should've known he would want to take everything off the shelves and put it in our basket and then throw a fit when I make him put it back. I should've known he would want to hold all of the hair dryers on display. I should've known he would crawl on all fours to the line to check-out. I should've known he was going to scream when I told him we had to give the basket of merchandise to the girl at the cash register to pay for it all. I should've known.

Sincerely,
Me

Dear girl in Ulta,
Although your Yorkie is cute (especially with the name Dallas), I don't think Ulta is an appropriate store to bring your dog into. She can't give you advice on make-up colors, or what shampoo is best for your color, so I don't really know why you brought her with you. Did you wake-up this morning and say to yourself, "I need new shampoo, a new lipgloss, and a fun color of nail polish... I know! I'll take my dog to Ulta!" Because if that's what you said to yourself, you need to seek advice from someone older and wiser. Someone who'll tell you Ulta (or really any retail store minus those pet stores) is not an appropriate place for a dog. Good luck... and leave Dallas at home next time.

Sincerely,
Me

Durango, Colorado

2011-01-04T21:34:00.002-06:00

I think we have found our favorite ski resort. Favorite, as in... it has on site childcare, plenty of variety of slopes (greens & blues), and lodging is reasonable. We've found a neighborhood that has a lot of rental townhomes. We like having a kitchen for meals, and the space for the kids. The one we stayed in this year was a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, loft, den, yadda yadda yadda, fabulous townhome:

When we leave the neighborhood, if we turn right, it's 20 minutes to the slopes. If we turn left, it's 20 minutes to town. Perfect!

We skied the first day (Sunday) together. Monday we stayed "home" and hung out (the Mister had to work). Tuesday, the Mister dropped the rest of us off at the mountain. Little Man went to childcare, and the sisters and I skied. We had fun! Then we skied Wednesday & Thursday together (I am certain 4 days of skiing is plenty for my body... maybe even 3). Friday we took a train ride... there's an old steam engine train that takes you up into the mountains and back. It was neat:

The train ride was eventful, with a 20-month-old on board. Luckily, there were 2 other families with toddlers in our car, so the screams and fussiness were the norm. Of course, Little Man fell asleep 5 minutes before we stopped for lunch:

But the scenery was beautiful! A true reminder of a God who has an imagination.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T21:34:00.000-06:00

So, December was a blur. Truly.

The beginning of the month had its usual piano recital, Christmas party at church for the sisters, Sister #1 had a few school choir performances ( I won't bore you with the details, but it was a little much... especially for a 4th grader), and then the school "holiday" parties. Oh, and the neighborhood Christmas play. That's right. The neighborhood play. I'll save that one for another post.

Then there was The Holiday. We choose to skip the (extended)family dramatics and go skiing. So much simpler. Since we were leaving town on the day the sisters got out of school, we decided to celebrate Christmas early. And we let the cat out of the bag. That's right. We are the mean, harsh parents that popped their children's fantasy of a big jolly man coming down the chimney (we don't have one... our fireplace just has this weird metal box that vents in the backyard) and leaving presents for good girls. They took it pretty well. Just a couple of questions about logistics, and they were fine with it all. We did tell them not to spoil it for other kids, which I think they get. They've had a few kids at school try to spoil it for them, and I reminded them they didn't want to be lumped into the same category as them.

Anywho... here's a few pics of our holiday:

And then here are a few pics of our ski trip:

I'll go into detail on the ski trip another day...

I'm Gonna Be

2010-11-14T22:08:00.000-06:00

The iTunes Shuffle Game.

Here are the rules:

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.

3. You must write the song name down no matter how silly it sounds.

If someone says “you’re okay” you say:

Mad About You by Belinda Carlisle

How would you describe yourself?

Rejoice by Chris Tomlin

What do you like in a girl/guy?

The Christmas Song by Celtic Woman

How do you feel?

One Week by Barenaked Ladies (which, by the way, have an awesome children's album)

What’s your life’s purpose?

Little Town by Amy Grant (one of the BEST Christmas songs ever!)

What’s your motto?

How Great is Our God by Chris Tomlin

What do your parents think of you?

Have a Nice Day by Bon Jovi

What do you think about very often?

My Savior My God by Aaron Shust

What do you think of your best friend?

And Winter Came by Enya

What’s your life story?

Soldiers by Out of Eden (I know several of you are starting to line dance right now... lol)

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Forget About It by Suzy Bogguss

What do you think when you see the person you like?

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham!

What will you dance to at your wedding?

Whip It by Devo

What will they play at your funeral?

Stuck on You by Lionel Richie

What is your passion in life?

Barbie Girl by Aqua (I am soooo hoping this isn't true!)

What is your biggest fear?

St. Elmo's Fire by John Parr (one of the best movies EVER!)

What is your biggest secret?

Under Pressure by Queen & David Bowie

What do you want right now?

What's Love Got to Do With It by Tina Turner

What will you title this post as?

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers

So, yeah, I'm staring at a $25 iTunes gift card right now... maybe even wishing I had used it before I did this little game. oh well...

Lesson learned...

2010-10-30T22:22:00.000-06:00

The mister left around 4:30 this morning to go on a mission trip to Guatamala with our church. He will be gone all week, getting home next Saturday evening. I'm really glad he gets to go. I can't wait to hear all about it. However, he had only been home 8 days before he left. That trip was for business... ping-ponging around Europe for 12 days. It's really hard when he's gone, both for us and for him. For me, it's just hard to be the only parent. It's exhausting, truly. With two girls in elementary school and an 18-month-old, we split the responsibilities every day. I help with homework while he entertains the dude. I take the dude outside to play while he cooks dinner. But when it's just me, it's hard.

So this morning, I was going through my mental to-do list:

chores (this will be hard b/c usually the mister entertains the dude while I clean and keep the sisters on track)
laundry (5 loads at least)
errands (need to go to HobLob and maybe Target to finish the Halloween costumes)
Candypalooza 4-6 p.m. (carnival hosted by our student ministry at church)
and the dude needs to nap at least once, if not twice to make him a happy camper

I was dreading the day... thinking we will not get it all done... especially with the mister gone. And then it dawned on me... service for God is not supposed to be convenient. It's supposed to be a sacrifice. If it's something we can do from our La-Z-boy, is it service? I don't think so. It is a sacrifice on the mister's part to go to Guatamala (he's using 1 week of vacation). It's a sacrifice on our part for him to be gone for a week. Service for God is supposed to stretch us, bend us, make us feel a little (or a lot) uncomfortable.

Now, it's the end of the day, and amazingly enough, the day was extremely successful. We got ALL the chores done. I need to fold 1 load of laundry and put away (tomorrow after church). We only had to go to HobLob to finish the costumes for tomorrow. Candypalooza was succussful. The dude got 2 naps. Amazing. Thank you, Lord.

No,

2010-09-20T21:42:00.000-06:00

the earth didn't fall off its' axis. But apparently, I did.

So, yeah, summer FLEW by. The sisters had camps, I had camp, and church had camp. And then there was family vacation. I'll have to save that for a post all by itself. Then school started! (Yes, I am pretty sure I heard the heavens open and angels began to sing.) THEN, mother's day out started! OH YES! (I'm pretty sure I heard Jesus singing with me!) Little man goes just twice a week, but that is just enough. Although I haven't used my time wisely. It's still early yet. I give it a couple of more days of mdo, and then I should be in a groove.

So, just to make this post make your heart skip another beat, I'm going to share a recipe with you!

Crock-pot Shredded BBQ Chicken

3-6 thawed chicken breasts
12 oz. + BBQ sauce
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 T Worcerster (whatever) sauce

Quite simple. Put the chicken breasts in the crock-pot. Mix all other ingredients together. Pour over chicken. Cook on high for 3 hours. Take chicken out and shred (I used the two forks method... are there other methods? am I really the one that would know if there were?). Put the shredded chicken back into the crock-pot and mix in the sauce. Cook on low for 1 hour. Serve on toasted hoagies. YUM!
You can use frozen chicken breasts, but you will need to cook them longer (obviously)... say 5-6 hours. But I'm just guessing.

May in a Nutshell

2010-06-26T09:43:00.000-06:00

I guess I now have to do a "May in a Nutshell" post since I didn't post but once in the whole month. To finish my last post...

Sister #1 did, in fact, ROCK the TAKS (state standardized test)! She got a 100% in reading and missed 1 in math (or vice versa... can't remember). We are so proud!
We invited roughly half of the neighborhood over for dinner and swimming the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. We had about 12 adults and 17 kids (ages 1-12)... the Mister made a ton of hamburgers and hot dogs (we still have some in the freezer!). Everyone had a good time and are ready to do it again!
We finished our Wednesday evening church activities. Both Sister #1 and Sister #2 worked hard all year memorizing Bible verses, and both got plaques to reward their hard work.

Here are a few pics from the trip Mister & I got to take to Hawaii:

(Self explanatory)

(the view from our balcony)

(a short hike... I was desperately searching for whales)

(a different hike.... into a rain forest... thankful we weren't there on a Wednesday or a Sunday!)

(just part of our fascination with signs)

April in a nutshell...

2010-05-21T09:24:00.000-06:00

So, I guess I fell off the face of the earth. Why else would I go 2 months without posting? So, to get caught up on everything, here is a summary of April:

My husband had to go to Hawaii for business in late March/early April. We were able to find childcare in a flash and I was able to go with him! I'll do a recap of that trip tomorrow.
Sister #2 was baptized on Easter! So exciting! Just this past Sunday, we observed the Lord's Supper for the first time since she was baptized... the only comment she made afterward was that she didn't like the cracker. Really? Really.
Little Man turned 1! We just celebrated with family here at the house (third child = no big shindig). Amazing that it's been a whole year since his birth!
My 3rd grader ROCKED the TAKS (standardized test). We haven't gotten the results back yet, but I am confident she did well.

Hmmm... maybe that's why I didn't post in April... not a lot going on. But I guess that's a good thing!

The Drive Home

2010-03-25T06:49:00.000-06:00

So the drive home from Colorado last week was interesting to say the least. The Mister thought, "Why go the way we came? We'll take a different way!" (I'm paraphrasing here.) So, instead of taking a nice 4-lane divided highway to Albuquerque (to hop on I-40), we drove over to Pagaso Springs, and then south to Santa Fe. That leg of the trip was OK. We kept saying we would stop in the next town to grab lunch, but the next town never had a fast food joint. So we finally made it to Santa Fe, stopped at a big truck stop, and took a break. We bought the sisters lunch from the Subway in the truck stop. Nice.

From Santa Fe, we took I-25 for a ways until we needed to take another state highway south to I-40. The Mister took it upon himself to use the navigation system in the suburban. We now know that when given the choice between "fastest" and "shortest" a) they are not the same... think wisely; and b) consult the map in your hands to determine the size/quality of the road; and c) go the way you've been before! I don't remember exactly what he chose, but we ended up on state highway 3 (otherwise known as "A Trip Through the Backwoods of HippieLand New Mexixo"). I took some pictures of signs we encountered on this scenic drive...

This should have sent off warning signs in our heads when we first saw it, but no...

This one made me laugh...
I guess the people in backwoods NM can't read, so instead of the normal sign "Watch for Falling Rocks", they just have a picture of rocks falling from the cliff onto your car.

Throughout the week, we had seen signs for Elk. On this road we even saw signs for cows. But this takes the cake. It reminds me of that part in Cars where they go "cow-tipping" except that it's "tractor-tipping." Right?

This one isn't as funny, except that we kept waiting and waiting and waiting, yet the road never went down to one lane. I guess their road was upgraded sometime along the way, yet noone fixed the sign.
Oh, and most of the time we were going slow, because of all the tight curves, and so 25 was not unheard of.

Really?

Congested? By whom? None of the "towns" had more than 8 houses... so how was it going to get congested? Really.

And last but not least, this is the sign we encountered when we (finally) made it to the interstate. I'm glad we are educated people and knew which way to go and what highway to get on, because this sign is not really useful. Especially to someone from out of state and has never heard of Santa Rosa or Encino.
Nice.

We finally made it to Amarillo, where we stopped for the night. All along we had heard about this storm system that was coming through that might drop some snow flurries. But we're from Texas, and so we never know if we can trust the weatherman. They get so excited about impending storms and a lot of times, they exaggerate. So we checked into our hotel and then went out for dinner. Yes, it was a little windy (or a lot). Yes, there were snow flurries. Yes, the temp had dropped 20 degrees. No, we didn't process it all and consider driving home that night. We should have. We woke up to several inches of snow on the ground and a nice icy coating on the streets. By the way, did you know that most of Amarillo is one loooooong overpass? It is.
Here are some pics of our drive home. Some parts were really scary, as they were near white-out conditions.

Thankfully, The Mister drove all day. I volunteered, but I warned him it would take a lot longer if I were driving.

I think there were a few times that angels were plastered all around our truck and kept us safe. Not everyone knows how to drive in this stuff.

By the time we got through Wichita Falls, the roads cleared up and we were able to go a normal speed.

Here's a cute pic of Little Man... sleeping in the car with his mouth open. I just had to put that one in!

Spring Break

2010-03-24T09:25:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful family vacation over spring break. We checked the sisters out of school a little early on Friday, packed up the suburban, and headed west. We stopped overnight in Amarillo, and then kept on driving west. Needless to say, Little Man is not a fan of driving for hours on end. But we managed.
The Mister scored on the vacation rental... He found a 3 bedroom townhouse about 20-25 minutes south of the ski resort. It was perfect! The sisters shared a room (and it had it's own TV) and Little Man had his own room (all upstairs with a full bath). We had a large master bedroom downstairs with a king-size bed (we have to have a king... otherwise no one gets any sleep!) and a large master bath. They even had a garage and a washer/dryer! We managed to cook all of our evening meals at home and make lunches for the days we skied.
Purgatory (now called Durango Mountain Resort) was wonderful! I would go back in a heartbeat! There were plenty of green runs (easy) for us to chose from, and even more blue runs (medium difficulty). The sisters were great skiers! We had to tell them a time or two (or three or four) to slow down because we couldn't keep up!
Little Man went to childcare the 3.5 days we skied. He didn't like it much. But he wasn't horrible for them either. I think he just tried to tell them who was boss. Apparently they didn't know that everyone should focus their attention on him! Imagine!

Here are some pics from our trip:

The sisters and The Mister on the slopes.

The sisters striking a pose... the one in the blue coat is a little crazy!

A quick pic on the lift.

Little Man has started this new thing...

He raises his arms over his head like he's on a roller coaster. It's cute... we all say "Yeah W___!" And he grins from ear to ear. Here he's doing it with some kitchen utensils toys in his hands.

I'll show you pics from the wild drive home another day.

February in a nut shell...

2010-03-04T13:17:00.000-06:00

So, February came and went before I even realized it! Here's a few highlights:

5 10th grade boys and 2 college-age leaders stayed at our house for a weekend. It actually went better than I had planned. They ate and drank everything we offered them, but I'm not surprised. I did have to pick up and wash every single towel in the two bathrooms upstairs. Again, not surprised. Good guys, good weekend.
13 days (out of 28) this month at least 1 person was sick at our house. Some of those days, there were 2 or 3 people sick. I hope that NEVER happens again. We've had our fair share of sickies... yucky germs, GO AWAY!
3, 237 loads of laundry were done... and 2 comforters have been sent to the cleaners... all because of the Month of Sickness. I think I am still trying to catch up.
Because I was sick one week for 3 days and still recovering for 2 more, I had to cancel my much-looked-forward-to scrapbooking weekend with a girlfriend. Her parents have a beautiful lakehouse on Texoma and we go at least once a year to scrapbook all day all weekend. Totally bummed.
2 days cancelled for snow... and we actually had measurable snow! In fact, one of those days made weather history! I got some pics; I'll post them another day.
I did get to go on a overnight trip to Canton with 5 of my girlfriends. It was fun, but I didn't buy a thing! But there will be a next time...

So, here we are in March. We're looking forward to a family ski trip to Colorado over Spring Break. Should be fun, except we're driving. Not sure how the Little Man will do in the car for hours on end. I'm already planning tricks to put up my sleeve.

what was I thinking?

2010-02-04T19:11:00.000-06:00

So, I volunteered to host teenagers in my home for the weekend. I'll give you all the highlights next week. However, I'm zooming around trying to get this place clean. Normally we clean on Saturday mornings. The Sisters have cleaning lists. So do I (and the Mister). And we work and clean and work and clean until it is all done. But they aren't going to be here this weekend. I'm sending them away. So I'm doing all the chores.
And on top of it all, the Little Man is sick. Has been since Sunday. Hopefully, tomorrow he will be fever free and we will be on the way to recovery. That would be awesome. If he is still running a fever, we will have to get x-rays to check for pneumonia. Nice.
I think I hear a load of laundry calling...

blog help?

2010-01-19T22:03:00.002-06:00

so yeah, the frame in the header is empty. any suggestions on how to put a photo in there?

A Love/Hate Relationship...

2010-01-19T21:26:00.000-06:00

I have a love/hate relationship. Well, I probably have several. But the one I'm talking about right now is the relationship I have with this:

This is one of our Le Creuset pots. I think the Mister calls it a "Dutch Oven." Whatever. Anyway... Let me explain. I love it because a) it's Le Creuset... one of the best makers of kitchen ware around (can you tell I'm trying to avoid using the word p o t too much... not sure if this entry would show up in a google search for that word... and well, I just don't want that!). I also love it because b) it makes this:

That is one of the easiest dinners to make... pot roast! Around 3:00 this afternoon, I browned my roast in some oil, added some red wine, salsa, onion, carrots, potatoes, and onion soup mix, and voila! Three hours later, dinner is served. And I just LOVE the potatoes that have been cooked with a roast. I think I LOVE them more than the roast itself. Yummm!

But you can also tell in this picture one of the reasons I hate it. Can you guess? If you guessed that it's a booger to clean, you are right! See that oil splatter (I guess that's what it is) around the top of the dutch oven? Yeah, it's a pain in the patootie to clean. Because Le Creuset's are made with cast iron (I think), you can't soak them for very long or submerge them in water because the top rim will start to rust. Nice.

The other reason I hate it is because of it's color. Flame. That's what the color is called. And there is not a single other thing in my kitchen that is that color (on purpose). And get this... we have 2 Le Creuset's this color. We bought the first one at a Chef's Catalogue warehouse sale many many years ago. I think we bought this color because it was the lesser of two evils. I don't really recall what the choices were, but surely they were atrocious if this is what we thought was best. And then when we bought the second one, it had to match the first. Because that is what you do. I know, I don't really get it either.
So there you have it. My love/hate relationship with my dutch oven.

Oh, and I know some of you might be falling out of your chair simply at the thought of me cooking. The Mister is out of town this week, and we ate out last night as well as the night before that, so I had to cook. And no, no one has died from my cooking. Hmmpf.

I fought the law...

2010-01-16T21:05:00.000-06:00

well, really it wasn't the law. It was the ink in the printer. And it won.
So now I look like I'm turning into a smurf. Literally. My hand has blue stains.
I've tried everything.... soap and water, a cleaning wipe, Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser, fingernail polish remover, and even the stuff men have in the garage that's like soap with grit in it. And my hand still has blue stains.
Nice.

Where did December go?

2010-01-07T21:54:00.000-06:00

Well, my gracious sakes! Where did December go? I mean really?

I know I've been a slacker on this here blog. I kept saying (to myself), "I'll get the camera out and upload some pics and then I'll post." But that never happened. Until right now.

For the week of Christmas, we went to Steamboat Springs for some skiing. We totally loved it and had a blast! The girls had skied before, but it was about 18 months ago. So we put them in ski school for 2 days, and then we skied together on the 3rd day. They are totally on board with making this an annual tradition. Here are some pics of our trip:

Sister #1 and Sister #2 in their cute coats & hats...

pretty self-explanatory...

On Christmas, we went to the fancy restaurant at the top of the mountain for brunch...

the girls loved it because they had (among other things) a chocolate fountain with fruit & marshmallows for dipping!

There are many stories from our trip... including the one that explains why we're thankful Sister #2 wore a helmet while skiing... but I'll save those for another day.

Thanksgiving #2

2009-12-01T20:18:00.003-06:00

So after we got home on Friday from Thanksgiving #1, we turned around on Saturday and drove to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving #2. Thanksgiving #2 was rather uneventful... so much so that I didn't even take pictures. Lame, I know. I don't usually get to see my family at Thanksgiving, so I don't know of any traditions. One of my sisters always makes pecan rolls at my family gatherings... DELICIOUS! No one can really duplicate her recipe. Her daughter can... and did for several years when that sister lived in AZ and couldn't always come home for the holidays.

This holiday was extra fun because there were 3 babies there! Little Man, my nieces' baby (1 month older than Little Man) and a 3rd that I'm not technically related to, but it's so convoluted to explain, it's not worth the breath. All of my siblings are step (for over 20 years now), and I have spent many holidays with their father and his wife (my step-mom's ex-husband and wife). I think my kids will even grow up calling them "PeePaw" and "Mare" just like everyone else. Someday I'll probably have to draw a diagram just to explain to my kids. So the 3rd baby is from that side of the convoluted family. Anyway, it was fun to watch the babies interact with each other, and then to watch the adults pass around babies and play.

Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving #1...

Thanksgiving #1

2009-11-28T09:42:00.000-06:00

The Mister's side of the family has this tradition going back oh, 40+ years. Camping at Thanksgiving. It started with just his immediate family, and eventually blossomed into this giant 100+ person meal. Several families from his childhood church camp (6-10 families) at the same campground in south Texas, and then everyone else arrives on Thursday with food in hand. We used to go every year, but then his parents retired and moved to central Texas. So now it's just us. There have been a few years that we didn't camp, for one reason or another. Last year, we just invited his parents to our house for the week. Which means they bring their yappy dogs (rat terriers.... really.). So this year, to avoid time spent with the yappy dogs, we suggested camping again. It was also Little Man's first time camping. He did alright... woke up in the middle of the night all 3 nights, but otherwise it was good.

So now we're off to do Thanksgiving with my side of the family. My side at any holiday is TOTALLY different than his side. His side at Thanksgiving: 9 people in attendance (my family of 5, his parents, a brother & his wife)... My side at Thanksgiving: 30+ people (I'm the youngest of 6... plus nieces/nephews now bring significant others, and even a couple of them have babies!). My side is LOUD... almost too loud. Someone will usually sit down at the piano and start playing, and then like a moth to a flame, others gather round and start singing. Very Norman Rockwall.

Normally we don't see my side until Christmas, but this year we are going to start what will hopefully become a new tradition. We are going skiing. Instead of dealing with the usual family drama(s) (oh, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about), we are removing ourselves from the ~~warzone~~ ~~ridiculousness~~ state and heading to Colorado. I'll tell you more about that another day.

For now, I'm off to finish a few chores before we head to Oklahoma. Should be interesting...

My heart broke a little...

2009-11-09T14:05:00.002-06:00

Saturday night, my heart broke a little. Sister #2 came downstairs after her shower and she was crying. I thought she hurt herself. But when I asked, she let it all out. She said she wanted to move back to our old neighborhood and play with her old friends. She said she didn't like it here. My heart broke.
We moved about 7 1/2 months ago. The Little Man was on his way, and we needed a house with more space. So over spring break we moved. We let the sisters finish the school at the school they had been going to for nearly 2 years. We thought that would help... you know, try to keep some sense of normalcy. Especially knowing that once Little Man made his debut, a lot of that normalcy would fly right out the window.
The new house is in a new neighborhood, but there are quite a few families with kids already here. In fact, there are 13 other kids on our cul-de-sac and 12 on the cul-de-sac behind us. And 4 of them are Sister #2's age! In fact, both sisters have made friends with almost every single one of them. And once school started, they have friends on the bus that they know from church. So it came as a real surprise when she said this.
What do you do? I was almost at a loss for words. We explained to her that we weren't going to move back to our old house. And we suggested she play with some of the kids that aren't as bossy. Deep down, I know this is just one of the parts of childhood you have to just muddle through. But as a mom, it breaks my heart.
Yesterday, she woke up in a fine mood... and she even played outside with some neighborhood kids yesterday afternoon. I guess we'll take it one day at a time.

Friday ramblings...

2009-10-30T10:22:00.011-06:00

So yesterday I went to Canton. What that means is, I went to First Monday Trade Days in Canton, TX. Flea market/shops/food/je ne c'est quoi... It's hard to describe, because it's more than a flea market. Yes there is junk. But there are booths with beautiful floral arrangements, booths with darling baby clothes, booths with "now why didn't I think of that?" handmade

gifty items. I mostly purchased things to decorate my home (we just moved in about 7 months ago).

Here are some photos of the things I bought for my daughters' bathroom (they have a jack-and-jill bathroom).

I bought 2 of these, one turquoise & one pink.

Here's a close-up of the glittery center:

Here's a few original art pieces I bought for their bathroom as well:

I also bought a cross from this same artist... it's bigger than the hearts, and it's sooooo pretty... red on a yellowish background.

It was really good for me to go. My hubbie is out of town, so my parents came to stay with Little Man (6 months old) and to be here when the girls got off the bus. I was able to shop and chat with my friend... something I haven't been able to do in a long time. It was refreshing for my soul.

Good advice from Van Halen...

2009-10-23T07:55:00.003-06:00

So, I'm a totally 80's music fan. Probably because that's the decade I went to elementary school, middle school, and even the beginning of high school. So when I started to type this morning, the first words in my head were "Right now" which led me to immediately think of the Van Halen song... so I looked up the lyrics on-line, and what do you know? They actually have some good advice! Here's a small sampling:

Right now, hey

Its your tomorrow

Right now,

Cmon,its everything

Right now,

Catch a magic moment, do it

Right here and now

It means everything

Miss the beat, you lose the rhythm,

And nothing falls into place, no

Only missed by a fraction,

Slipped a little off your pace, oh,

The more things you get, the more you want,

Just trade in one for the other,

Workin so hard, to make it easier, whoa,

Got to turn, cmon turn this thing around

Who knew? I mean, really... the same band that sang "Hot for Teacher" actually came up with some profound lyrics! Granted, the lead singer has changed, but still...

So, I am going to take their advice, and "catch a magic moment" and get some things done around here... a few things I've been procrastinating. And maybe listen to some 80's music, too.

Disclaimer... I've never been the brightest when it comes to lyrics and what they actually mean. So if this song is about something other than living in the moment and being content in the here and now, well... I'm sorry. And I don't want to know what they really mean either.

The beginning...

2009-10-22T08:25:00.005-06:00

The beginning. “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start...” (name that musical)...

I’ve thought off and on about starting a blog. I read many blogs... some of close friends and some that are complete strangers. I guess what they all have in common is that something about each particular blog interests me... they might make me laugh, or give me ideas for decorating my home, or even help me see God in the everyday. So then I think about what I have to offer. Hmmm... I wonder. The jury may still be out on that.

What I can tell you is this... I'm no Pioneer Woman. What you won't find here are recipes... I don't really cook. My wonderful husband finds joy in cooking. So I let him. No need to rob him of joy. I do put together a meal here and there, usually when he's out of town. So if I ever post a recipe, it'll probably be a "What Not To Cook" recipe or "WOW, can you believe it? It worked!" kind of thing.

You will find pictures and stories of my kids. They keep me on my toes! You also might get pictures from vacations... we are a family that enjoys traveling.

So, we'll see. Who knows what this might bring?