February in a nut shell...

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?

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?

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

A Love/Hate Relationship...

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...

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?

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

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...