Menu Plan Monday!

What a weekend - I didn't cook all weekend. Too many crazy birthday parties to go to. Then a playdate at a friend's house to watch the movie that our boys are performing in their next acting class session. So I was "kidded" out this weekend and had zero energy or desire to cook. I DID manage to bake two batches of cookies to take with us on Sunday for the movie. A batch of traditional Snickerdoodles and then these that I got from the back of the Heath Toffee Bits package - YUUUUMM!

* Exported from MasterCook *

Heath Bits Peanut Butter Cookies


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup peanut butter -- creamy
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces Heath milk chocolate toffee bits

Heat oven to 375 degrees

Beat shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, mil and vanilla until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until blended. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually beat into peanut butter mixture. Sir in 1 cup of toffee bits; reserve remainder for topping.

Drop by heaping teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet; top each with reserved toffee bits. Bake 7-8 minutes or until set. Cool 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

Yield:
"36 "


Here's this week's menu:

Sunday - take out
Monday - SOMETHING with the smoked sausage I have in the fridge, most likely mashed potatoes, saurkraut and another veggie for the kids. Time to go read some recipes!
Tuesday - Baked Chicken Parmesan w/ sauce, buttered noodles, veggies
Wednesday - Ravioli w/ spagetti sauce & meatballs, bread, salad
Thursday - Basketball game so take out before hand
Friday - another birthday party so more pizza for DS and me, DD and FG will fend for themselves.
Saturday - another birthday party so same routine as Friday! (This is getting ridiculous!)

Things are looking up, thank you!

That's my BABY! OMG, did he really turn SEVEN?!!!?!?! I'm so blessed to be a part of this kid's life. I get a front row seat for the performance (and believe me, it's actually a performance!). He had a good day. I need to remind myself just how much I wanted him and how blessed I am to have him - you know, on those days I want to send him back to the hospital and tell them to keep him. Or at least perform some sort of labotomy on him so he shuts up once in awhile. But you gotta love him - almost everyone who meets him does. No, not almost, EVERYONE who meets him does. The big kid at school that went from picking on him on the playground to giving him a sweet little nickname and becoming his friend and playmate. Yep, that's my guy, he turns you around and makes you love him if you have any inkling of dislike toward him. HA! That kid thought he could pick on the little guy and now he loves him! He was such a sweet (and quiet) baby too. Just look at that Charlie Brown head! Now he's an intelligent, sensative, sweet young man. Ok I just made myself cry....


I just love this picture of him too. It's not recent but my MIL took it on one of their hikes a couple of summers ago. They were hiking and he saw a guy fishing. So he walked up to the guy, because he has NO fear of talking to an adult at all, and asked if he could try to fish. The guy just handed over his rod & reel to some kid he didn't even know and showed him how to cast. I do believe it's in his blood somewhere with all the fishing my family and I have done. So Grandma snapped this pic and I just love love love it!

Happy Birthday Big Guy! You stole my heart and made me a Momma and you'll always be my little baby!


Onto other things as I blubber on my keyboard. I don't need it shorting out on me. Went to a fun playgroup today. I'm still "feeling out" (get your mind out of the gutter - I said feeling OUT, not feeling UP) the other moms as I'm sure they are me. But it was just awfully sweet to hear DD engage in a conversation with the other little girl about her age. They were just darling and it was so nice for her to have a girly girl to play with! We stayed over 2 hours. I hope it becomes a regular thing for all of us.
Now back to the mundane of life - laundry, cleaning, etc.

Downer Day

Today is just a downer day.
Here's a few things that have just pissed me off:

1)I need to do laundry but ran out of laundry soap. I RARELY run out of anything!
2)I wanted to make cinnamon raisin bread but all we have are DD's little boxes of raisins. And not even enough of them if I emptied them all out for the bread!
3)I have cramps
4)I have no car and wasn't even expecting it! Thus, still no laundry soap.
5)FG is being a FJ >:|
6)DD has pretty much sat in the playroom alone all day because I'm too cranky to even play a game of Candyland. I just do not feel like it at all. I guess a day of vegging out is better than a day spent pissing off Mom and wondering WTF? right?
7)I can't seem to get motivated to do much of anything.
8)My parents are annoyed at me and I'm not 100% sure why. I *think* it's because FG and I didn't go and sit out there when we had to pick up the kids on NYDay. Whatever. They can stew about it because I don't think I did anything wrong.
9)I can't get the stat counter to work! I just love to look at who comes by here and how they get here. I'm a teeny bit afraid to find another one because of just ridding the computer of it's 10,000 viruses. Surely I'll download another one! I'm sorry but I just can't trust a site that says "No spyware!" and brags about it. Seems like a ploy to throw me off their evil plan.
And finally 10) Daytime TV just really sucks!!

Siblings

Last night I heard something that melted my heart. I absolutely love to listen to my children interact without knowing that anyone is listening. It's so, oh, what's the word, un-self-consious and natural and honest.

We had a house-full of family and everyone was finishing eating dinner. The children were finished and playing their usual rough-housing way while I cleaned up the dishes. The rest of the family were still sitting in the dining room. DS did something that hurt DD. And she's a great actress who generally milks it for all it's worth. DS says to DD, "I'm sorry, it was an accident!" which is what I generally overhear and is code for "Don't go running to mom!" She didn't and they resumed playing.
A bit later they came into the kitchen and I was getting DD some more milk to go with her chocolate cupcake. They seemed a bit oblivious to the fact I was there and DD says, "Happy Birthday Brudder! I love you!" and gives him a big genuine hug. He said back, "Thanks! And I didn't mean to hurt you a little bit ago. We were too rough and I'm sorry that you got hurt." DD replies, "Dat's ok. It was an accident." and they gave each other another big hug. The genuineness in their voices was perfect. They weren't acting for my benefit at all.

It was just so touching to me. It's them against the world and they seem to know it. They are each other's best friends even though they bicker and wrestle and fight over who's first. It kind of struck me that I'll always be Mom and I'll always be important but I have a feeling they will lean on each other as they grow more than they lean on me. I hope they always stay the best of friends!

Menu Plan Monday

Here we are again! Time for this week's menu!
DS indeed did go to school today but DD did not have school. Area schools had a 2 hour delay because of all the snow on the streets. That means DD's preschool is closed. She's ok, really bummed because she misses her friends and wanted to go back. But she's dressed in her princess dress and playing a really cool Barbie DVD game. It's the only thing she asked Santa for this year - A Barbie with colorful wings. Well, that means Elina from the Barbie Fairytopia movies. This one came with a DVD game in the package and the doll is the remote for the game! It's great for a three year old. She has to know right and left to make it do what she wants - that's about it.

Anyway, our dinner yesterday was excellent! DS asked for seconds on the chicken! He had the BBQ chicken and ate it all up so fast. That NEVER happens unless it's pizza! So I was a happy mom. Then they ate some cupcakes for dessert and we sang Happy Early Birthday to DS.

Here's this weeks feasts!

Sunday - Baked Artichoke Chicken & Baked BBQ Chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, salad with parmesan crisps and pears w/ a vinagrette dressing, oregano bread, chocolate cupcakes.
Monday - Spaghetti, salad, homemade french bread.
Tuesday - FG has a late meeting so I'll figure something out for me and the kids!
Wednesday - We're going out for DS's 7th Birthday!
Thursday - Again, FG is working so I'll figure something out for me and the kids. Guess I'll have to scour the other MPM's to get some new ideas!
Friday - Baked ranch chicken nuggets, wagon wheel noodles w/ butter and parmesan cheese and green beans.
Saturday - DS has back to back birthday parties to attend at the SAME bowling place so I'll be there with him from 11:30 - 4! Mama's thinking of bringing a flask or at the very least some Xanax. Needless to say if I attmept to cook a decent meal at the end of that day, my family will hate me and ban me from the kitchen forever. So we're getting take out!

As requested:

* Exported from MasterCook *

Artichoke Baked Chicken

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
14 ounces artichoke hearts -- drained and chopped
3/4 cup parmesan cheese -- grated
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cloves garlic -- minced or pressed
salt and pepper -- to taste
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon thyme
chicken pieces

Mix together all ingredients except chicken in a medium bowl.

Place chicken in a roasting pan or glass dish.

Spread artichoke mixture over the top.

Cover with foil.

Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 500 degree oven.
Reduce heat to 300 and bake for 1 hour.
Remove foil and bake an additional few minutes until topping is bubbly and slightly browned.


NOTES : Reduce baking time for breasts.
I used chicken with bones and the leg quarters took longer than the breasts.
Tender, juicy and falling off the bone!





Happy week everyone!

Busy but slow

We had a big snowstorm this weekend. Whew! We needed the water! The kids, as you can see, LOVED it! We played and played outside a lot! Our friend was pulling the kids behind his ATV on a sled. Then, sweet guy, he came by today with the plow on the front of it and cleared the street at the end of our driveway!

All the snow and staying home has had two effects (or is affects?). 1. we are all driving each other crazy with cabin fever. The kids REALLY need to go back to school. FG needs to go back to work :)
2). I've been cooking and baking.
Yesterday morning I got up and made homemade biscuits. I haven't attempted biscuits from scratch in about 10 years. Thankfully, my culinary skills have improved. They were delicious. DS told me they tasted funny. FG gave me a hard time and told me they have this new thing called biscuits in the can at the store. Brat. Then he proceeded to eat 6 of them. I made honey butter and set out jellies and plain butter. We ate them hot. YUM. Then we finished them up with our soup at lunch. I will definitely make them again and will try with buttermilk (didn't have any) as well as some other flavorings.
Then today we are having some family over for dinner. I have chicken pieces - breasts and leg quarters. For one pan I did a BBQ sauce glaze and for the other I thought I would try this one. We like artichoke dip so why not try it with chicken?
Then I roasted a whole head of garlic to make garlic mashed potatoes. I'm made cupcakes for DS's birthday (Wednesday) celebration with Grandma today. I am making some oregano bread in the bread machine now. I added a touch of oregano to the artichoke mixture so I thought that would tie in nicely. We'll have salad too. To go with that I made Parmesan crisps:

Thought I would try out the cup since I'm just breaking them up anyway.

Is there anyone else who could just skip the grater and take a big bite out of block of Parmesan? Oh yum!!! Well, I didn't grate it myself I bought it that way because if I did have a block of it, I would just eat it!

I also made homemade pizza and garlic twists last night since our basketball game got cancelled.

It's back to school tomorrow and not a day too soon. Please don't let them call a snow day!!! Though then maybe I would have that one extra day I need to get the kids to write thank-you notes for some Christmas presents! They've been playing so much and I've been playing so much (in the kitchen AND outside) that I haven't had the time to sit down with them and get them to do it.

MPM

Ok, I'm a little late! Sorry! I tried to ring in the new year in a postive manner - both spending time with good friends, doing things for my kids and doing a bit of organizing. I got a couple of kitchen cabinets organized that desperately needed help. I was forced to straighten the playroom and playroom closet with the new additions too. Thankfully, that is one area I've always been good about organizing - lots and lots of plastic lidded tubs and games put away on the shelves, toys in their proper places. If I didn't stay on top of that, it would be scary, very very scary!

So here's the menu for the week:

Sunday - Baked Ziti, fresh bread, salad
Monday - Out for fondue with good friends and good wine
Tuesday - Dinner at my parents when we collected the kids
Wednesday - Hash Brown Quiche w/ ham, broccoli, onions and cheese
Thursday - whatever I find that the kids will eat unless we get together with friends in which case it will be take 'n' bake pizza
Friday - Balsamic Pork Chops, noodles, veggies, rolls
Saturday - Basketball game so take out on the way!

I didn't cook much over the holidays. Besides our traditional Christmas morning brunch that I prepare and it's ALL prepped the day before, I have barely cooked! I am ready to get back into the swing of things and get the whole family back on a regular schedule. I am dissappointed because the meat delivery we usually get is just not up to the same standard. We decided it is too expensive to just keep it up being what it is (F#@K! I liked having a freezer full - DELIVERED!). So I'm back to sealing up and freezing my own stuff that I buy. I am going to go to the fancy butcher shop for some beef. I just can't do cheap beef much anymore. Sure, for crockpot stuff it's fine as is ground beef but when I make a steak I want a GOOD steak! Ohhhh, I also got some fun cooking items for Christmas. I got new ramekins from DH, FANCY and deadly sharp knives from him too. I am seriously going to cut off a finger if I'm not super careful! I got a warming tray from MIL on Christmas Eve and you betcha I busted that sucker out on Christmas morning for brunch! I've wanted one for years and this year they seemed to be "the" appliance. I'm getting a new bread machine as I've worn out the one I got as a wedding present. Yes, I am that f'ing old and have been married long enough to WEAR OUT an appliance! Mom said they aren't "the" appliance anymore so it was a bit harder to find and on backorder. I can't wait! I'm too lazy to actually knead the bread. I do a lot of "let the machine knead it and I'll bake it". mmmmmm
Ok, quiche is out of the oven. Yes, my husband WILL eat it.

I won!!!!

Back in November I posted about the Organizational Challenge over at Orgjunkie.com. Well, I won first place in the small space category for my cabinet organization.
Check out the contest and winners here. And you can see my original post here . And I would be remiss if I didn't thank Life Organizers for their donation of the prize money! Check out their site if you need some ideas on how to get many areas of your life organized!

Tired

I KNOW I'm not the only one who runs herself ragged this time of year. What's funny is it isn't even shopping and wrapping that is getting me down. We just have so much going on that I'm tired! It's a good thing, really. We have good friends and family around us and we want to spend time with everyone. It's just TIRING.

No menu plan this week. Basically we are down to two lobster tails, a buffalo steak, a tri tip and dinosaur nuggets. I'm using up the last of the pork loin for stir fry tonight. Guess it's time to order meat. What crappy timing financially!

I've created a monster

DS's acting debut was this week. He did really well. Actually his whole acting class did well! He's not an athlete so we have found other extr-curricular activities that he can enjoy. Acting is one of them and it fits him well. He's so comfortable in front of people!
Well, now he tells us we need to call him "The Star". He rode in the 3rd row of seats in the car on the way to his play so my parents could ride with us. He said he has to ride back there because it's his "limo" and he needs to get out on the red carpet. At dinner he walked through a small crowd of people waiting for their tables and he said, "Excuse me, stand back, Star coming through." Ohhhhh my!

Thankfully his head has come down a bit from the ginormous size it was after his play. I was worried he wouldn't fit in his bed and we'd have to get bigger doorways in the house. I signed him up for the next session of classes. He is happy and excited to do it all over again.

Why the funny looks?

Alright, I'm certainly NOT the only one with an ipod (ok, maybe I am because it's not an actual ipod but a regular old MP3 player). So why oh why when I go to the grocery store with my buds in my ears do I get so many dirty looks? Are they not allowed there? I'm no oblivious to the other shoppers, I just don't care to listen to their musings, conversations, arguements or complaints. I'm alone, blissfully alone with noone asking me for ANYTHING, no obligations other than getting the items on my list and trying not to spend too much money. Yet, as I tool along minding my own business and trying to be a courteous shopper, my fingers tapping on the shopping cart handle to my music I get some nasty nasty looks from people! I even have a smile on my face because I'm happy to be out and alone and doing the comparision shopping math in my head. So when I get those nasty looks sent my way, I return it with a smile. F' 'em if they can't be happy too!

Oh side note, apparently my computer was viciously infected and is off at the doctor being de-bugged. FG has been kind enough to let me use his laptop so I don't go into withdrawl. I think he doesn't want to deal with the sweats and shakes that may come with no computer access.

It's Monday already?

Oh for Pete's sake, I haven't really thought about this yet. But I do need to get crackin' and take something out of the freezer for dinner tonight. Actually, it's Monday so let's have soup! For some odd reason FG loves to have soup & grilled cheese on a Monday. Maybe after a big Sunday dinner he's not up for another heavy meal? Scratch that - he's at a meeting on Tuesday night and I have to take DS to acting class & pick him up (he gets done at 6:15, BAD timing for dinner!)

Sunday: Bacon wrapped stuffed chicken breasts, veggies, rolls, wagon wheel noodles w/ parm cheese, butter & garlic
Monday: Baked pork chops, stuffing, veggies
Tuesday: Soup & grilled cheese
Wednesday: Beef or chicken stir fry over rice
Thursday: FG working, kid friendly
Friday: Chicken Quesadillas, salad, beans
Saturday: Basketball game, we'll pick something up beforehand

Change of plans

As it usually does, my good intentions of planned out meals changed this week. Last night the kids ate leftover spaghetti and bread. They love it, it's good for them so everyone was fine with that. I have been chilled to the bone lately and very tired. I figured out this morning that I must be on the verge of a cold. So on my every 3-4 day trip to Trader Joe's for milk I picked up some generic form of Airborne. That stuff generally helps me knock out a cold fairly quickly and I hope that helps this time! I used to use the Zicam spray (still do on the kids) but then I realized that I would feel sick to my stomach right after using it. Well that's not good on top of feeling icky from a cold anyway! So I changed to the Airborne and had good luck. The cheaper version (with the same ingredients except more Vitamin A) tastes like Tang.
Last night I intended to make my yummy creamed turkey (Turkey a la King pretty much) but after two exciting games of Candy Land with DD, I was wiped and needed a nap. Believe me, I stifled the yawns through the game - she was thrilled beyond belief and beat me fair & square. I kept having to go ALL THE FREAKING WAY BACK to the candy cane. grrrrr. I just wanted the game done. My dear sweet daughter (amazing how tonsils can make them into a devil child, take the tonsils away and she's sweet again!) covered me up with a stack of FG's freshly folded golf towels and I promptly fell asleep. She even covered my ear and tucked the towel under my chin. How could I NOT sleep???
So FG got off his lazy ass, I mean, took the bull by the horns and got them their spaghetti while I snoozed. By the time I got up, it was time for him to leave for work and I wasn't feeling up to making the white sauce or baking the biscuts. I nuked a frozen dinner and went about my business.
So today is freezing. I'm not "feeling" a pizza at all. I started a yummy pot of broccoli cheese soup in the crock pot. It's a recipe orginally from The Fix it and Forget it Entertaining cookbook but of course I tweak everything. I did follow the recipe the first time I made it but decied it needed something and added bacon the next time. So now I saute the chopped bacon with the onions and potatoes. It's perfect for a freezing, grey day like today!

* Exported from MasterCook *

Broccoli, Potato and Cheese Soup

Recipe By :Fix-It and Forget-It Recipes for Entertaining (Slow Cooker)
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 cups potato -- cubed
3 tablespoons onion -- chopped
10 ounces broccoli florets -- thawed
2 tablespoons butter or margarine -- melted
1 tablespoon flour
2 cups processed American cheese -- velveeta, cubed
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups milk
1 can evaporated milk

Cook potatoes and onion in boiling water (or broth) in saucepan until potatoes are crisp-tender.
Drain. Place in slow cooker.
Add remaining ingredients. Stir together.
Cover. Cook on low 4 hours. Stir occasionally.

Organizational Challenge!

Yep, in more ways than one. This space was driving me nuts for months. Then, LIGHBULB!, I see the 30 Day Organizational Challenge on and decide what the heck, I can enter that AND get my cabinet spruced up!


1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it?Procrastination. I just kept shoving stuff in the cabinet and quickly closing the door. Because of the baby locks, they didn't pop open.
I overcame it by setting aside the time one day and just digging in. I had to make myself just DO IT and have it be done telling myself I would feel a little weight lifted off my shoulders after I did.

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order?The baskets now make it so much easier to know where everything came from and where to put it back. The shelf separator makes it easier to access the serving dishes so they are just easier to put away. I have gotten back into the habit of not tossing every homeless item in there as well. Discipline, baby, discipline. Easier to do when it's organized!

3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?
Most of it was craft stuff I was saving for DD's preschool. I bagged it up and took it in the next day. Other than that, there wasn't much that didn't belong in there or that I found a better fit for in the same cabinet! About the only thing I did toss was the candles that were burned down to the bottom. It also got me to finish off the few that had an hour or so left of burning to them.

4. Now that you have completed the challenge, do you think having and keeping your space organized will make a difference in your life?
It already has. Thanksgiving dinner was easier to deal with because the flower vase was easy for FG to get out, and the serving dishes that we used from the cabinet were easier for MIL to know where to put away after the meal. I also found room for the large square platter that was being stored in the coat closet because I *thought* I had no room for it! I've gotten back to burning scented candles because I can see them again when I want to choose a scent. And that just makes a home more cozy on a cold day, doesn't it? :D

6. Why do you think you should win the challenge?
I took a small, annoying, cluttered, unorganized space and made it useful again! I'm keeping up with it easily as is the rest of my family. It's benefitted everyone in my house with that one simple project. I think that was the point of the challenge even though it was only one small cabinet.

Menu Plan Monday

Hellooooo! Yes, this week DOES involve Thanksgiving leftovers :) But we had a "repeat dinner" last night of all the turkey day feast so now it's time to get creative with that turkey. Besides sandwiches, of course!

Sunday: Repeat Thanksgiving, only easier because it was heat & eat!
Monday: Spaghetti, bread, salad
Tuesday: Leftover turkey in some sort of casserole - need to search recipes.
Wednesday: Hot dogs, veggies, noodles or mac & cheese (college basketball night)
Thursday: FG works but the kids and I will have Turkey a la King - yum! (FG hates it)
Friday: Homemade pizza
Saturday: take out or go out, Mama's not cookin'

Off to make some tea to get the chill off my bones and do some housework. I need to start planning my holiday party sweets and work on invitations. Ugh. I want to keep it really small this year. DS is already mad because I told him I'm skipping the chocolate fountain this year. I told him he can do it for his birthday in Jauary if he wants.

I'm entering a cookie contest

It's for our local paper. I've never done anything like that before. But I saw the details and thought, what the heck! I have nothing to LOSE. There's no entry fee other than the cookies I provide so why not? You never know, I may actually place!
I'm making a recipe that my grandma taught me. It's one of my dad's favorite cookies at Christmas. They took me a few years to get right - the dough is very sticky and not easy to handle. Here's the recipe:



Bell Cookies


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup margarine
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
1 tablespoon cream
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 large egg

1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons maraschino cherry liquid from jar
1 1/2 cups pecans -- chopped
1 tablespoon margarine -- melted
1/2 cup maraschino cherries -- cut in 1/2

Sift dry ingredients and set aside.

Cream together margarine and sugar. When well combined add corn syrup, cream and egg. Beat until well combined.

Slowly add flour mixture until combined.

Chill dough until easily handled.

Combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, cherry juice, chopped pecans and melted margarine.

Roll dough onto floured surface. Cut circles with cookie cutter or top of a glass.
Place circles on ungreased cookie sheet. Add 1/2 teaspoon - 1 teaspoon of filling into center and fold over tops at an angle so it looks like a bell. Place 1/2 marachino cheery at the widest part of fold on top of filling.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 - 15 min.

Cookies will be puffed up. Let cool slightly on cookie sheet and remove to cool on wire rack.

Store in tightly covered container with waxed paper in between each layer to keep moist and from sticking to each other.

My funny funny son

First off, things are getting better here. DD is getting more back to herself. NO MORE CODEINE for this girl. I honestly think that was making her nuts. Since we stopped it and it's getting out of her system, she's back to "normal" three year old stuff. She has bronchitis on top of healing from surgery which makes her cry because it hurts when she coughs but I do belive her throat is healing very well. She ate cereal for breakfast and wolfed it down so I have to belive it's feeling just fine.

Now onto my funny kid. Yesterday DS was telling me that a 3rd grader was calling him a "Shrimp" on the playground. Thankfully, these things don't really get him down. He gives it right back and thinks it's all in fun. (I pray that it stays that way for the rest of his life!!!) So in telling me this story he says "I heard him call me that and then when I went to say something to him, he ran away. But I don't care what he says or that he's a 3rd grader. I bet he doesn't even know the square root of 64. He probably thinks it's SEVEN!" and then busted into laughter. Yes, I have a nerd. And he's right too. I bet this 3rd grader doesn't know the square root of 64 because I as a 36 year old adult with a college education had to stop and think about it! I'm sure that would put that 3rd grader right into his place if DS ever got a chance to say it to him.

And just now as I am preparing for our big feast tomorrow, I took the pumpkin pie out of the oven. The steam was rising and the custard settling so it looked like the pie had a heartbeat. I called the kids over and they climbed onto the kitchen bench to watch the pie. We watched it for a good 5 minutes and they kept saying "It's ALIVE!" Then DS wanted to know WHY it was like that so we went over molecules and gases, liquids and solids. Unfortunately that's about the extent of my chemistry knowledge (is that even chemistry???) and he's going to surpass me before I know it. Thank goodness I got him a book about how things work for Christmas. Mom needs to have all the answers, ya know.

Eh, yeah, not so good here

I knew it would be tough but it's not turning out how I expected. DD's recovery sucks. There have been more tears here from me and her than in a normal month to two. She's SO stubborn and I am so determined that I will "win" some of the battles that it ends up in all out war. Yeah. Not so good. She feels like shit, I know but does she have to act like such a shit? It's constant WHINE WHINE WHINE and scream if she doesn't get her way. That's not good for her throat. And she's not talking well either. I don't know if there's a problem or if it's sore from all her screaming but she hasn't spoken normally at all since her surgery. It all goes through her nose and she's very hard to understand. I'm going to call the Dr. - again. I already called because she has this nasty cough and they put her on antibiotics and cough meds. I think they screwed up the antibiotics because it says to take for 14 days and they have lasted 5 1/2. I'm giving the right dosage but someone, somewhere screwed up.
Anyway, I am not having a good time of things. I am also hosting Thanksgiving. I'm praying she improves her attitude a bit. I already heard from my father how I must let her get away with everything because she doesn't act like that for them. When she does, my mom apparently stops it immediately. Well, how f'ing special for you! Thanks for making me feel like even more crap than I already do!

:( WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

WTF?! When it's weird, it's weird....

I'm so glad this weekend is over. Now I want this week to fly by.

Let's do a little recap:

Friday night, great gatherng with some friends. Nice little party at our house to help out my friend's Silpada business. Tried on some cool jewelry and had a really nice evening.

Lazy Saturday morning, FG is playing a video game with DS and the phone rings. Long, personal story but BIL is in the hospial by his own doing. Great. FG hates hospitals and is now completely annoyed at his brother.

My mom comes to pick up the kids, DS and FG are attempting to visit BIL at the hospital. No go since he's busy with a Dr. in the room. FG does NOT hang out at a hospital any second longer than necessary so he comes home. My mom gets the kiddos off and running to spend the night with her and my dad. FG and I load up and go back to the hospital. I wait in the waiting room. Now I'm not trying to be conceited but I figure the last thing BIL needs to see is his brother who "has it all" (his words) stroll in with his wife while he's laying there miserable and mentally unstable. I was dressed and done to spend the day with my husband and not my kids so I looked pretty (no, I'm really NOT trying to be conceited!) I'm sure in the eyes of the evil wife of FIL, I'm absolutely horrible for not visiting. F her. FG agrees with me - BIL needs to see his brother and that's it. Not be reminded that we've made our marriage work, made good choices and upgraded houses over the years, have a couple of great kids....all when he didn't do those things.
We leave the hospital and drive to a town down south of us where we have a g/c at a resort/spa. Except they can't follow through with the terms of the g/c so we go down to straighten it out or (hopefully) get the $ back from it. They work it out and we leave. Bummer. I was hoping for the $. Oh well. MIL will never seem to get it that we can't always just take off for a weekend when we have two little kids. She said she would babysit overnight - nah ah! Not happening!
Driving through another town we decide to stop and buy a new carpet cleaner. Ours died an untimely death but our carpets are in desperate need. It makes more sense than paying somone else to come in and clean them. Whoohoo. Great Saturday night plans huh? I tell FG I'm starving and we need to go to dinner.
We run home, he changes his clothes and then we head up to dinner at a little local place in the woods.
Except instead of just heading inside, we walk through the rustic, tree-smattered parking lot and see a guy laying spread eagle in the middle of the parking lot. FG hestitates but we agree we have to go see if he's ok. He's at the base of a short set of stairs that can be treacherous sometimes - especially if you are drunk, wearing flip flops and shorts (it was about 45 degrees - dumbass). The guy says "Yeah, I'm good" and starts to get up. FG says, "No, stay here we'll call you a cab." thinking "Like hell I'm letting you get in a car and drive down this highway that lots of my friends and family drive on!" Then he notices the blood. The guy's head is bleeding like crazy and he was laying a big puddle. So I rush into the restaurant and tell the dimwit girl at the hostess stand that there's a guy bleeding in the parking lot and we need and ambulance.
Fire dept and ambulance shows up, FG tells them everything we know and helps them out then we go in and decide we need a good drink! Then dimwit girl crosses our name off the wait list for a table in some sort of confusion. We wait and wait. This a little local place but popular and cozy. I go ask again they finally seat us right away.
Then, there's another embarassing personal story involving sex and a lost condom but like I mentioned in an earlier post, I don't want to give too many details about stuff when it involves FG. Let's just say that's never ever happened to us and it just added to our freaky day!

Oh, we spent Sunday morning cleaning the carpets. We were a bit exhausted mentally on Saturday night and went to sleep early!

Weekly Menu Plan!

Here's the menu for this week. It's probably going to change because DD is getting her tonsils & adenoids out on Wednesday morning. I have to have her at the hospital at 6 am so I'm not sure how much I'll feel up to cooking on Wednesday evening. Not to mention my #1 priority will be taking care of her. My family won't starve but they probably won't eat great homemade meals all week either. :(

Sunday: Baked fish, roasted red potatoes, roasted squash - plan for last Wednesday and we ended up going having to go out to dinner with some of FG's clients.

Monday: Beef Fajitas, rice

Tuesday: Baked chicken strips, noodles, veggies

Wednesday: Sweet & sour pork over rice.

Thursday: FG works, whatever I find to feel DS - probably frozen pizza

Friday: Pizza or take out

Saturday: FG is gone to a dinner so whatever DS and I find to eat.

Sorry, not a great menu plan for the week! But it's about all I can promise for now! I'm conserving energy for cooking a big Thanksgiving dinner next week anyway. :)

Another busy day!

Fridays I usually clean. So I have to clean today. I also have to make sure the house is presentable for company as I am having a jewelry party tonight. I don't have many coming but that's ok. I did it to help out my friend who is just starting out with this business. It's Silpada in case you don't know it. Anyway, thankfully I already have a big pan of ziti made and I bought bagged salad. Damn, I can't forget to make the bread!! I'm making this for dessert. It's a recipe my grandma used to make and my mom loves. I have been craving it and I happen to have some yummy, beautiful fresh raspberries to garnish it with!

Raspberry Dream Torte

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
10 ounces raspberries, frozen
1 1/4 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/4 cup butter -- melted
3/4 cup butter
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
2 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
whipped cream

Defrost raspberries.

Combine vanilla wafer crumbs and 1/4 cup melted butter. Press into bottom of spring-form pan.

Cream remaining butter and powdered sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Beating well after each addition.
Blend in extracts.
Spread over crumb layer.
Chill until firm.

Combine sugar, cornstarch and raspberries. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick and clear. Cool.
Pour raspberry filling over torte.

Refrigerate several hours.
Garnish with rosettes of whipped cream before serving.

So I need to clean, make this somewhat complicated dessert (only because it has so many steps and waiting in between), pick up the kids from school - at two different schools with in 10 minutes of each other's dismissal!, rush DS to get a haircut, find the yummy recipe for onion dip I saw awhile back and make that, make the bread, toss the salad and I wanted to make a dressing for it too, try to get medicine in the cat - oh yeah, that's a treat & 1/2!, chill water/beer/soda for my guests, figure out which wine I want to open and change my clothes to be pretty and presentable for my friends! So busy day again. I just hope the kids, mainly DS, are well behaved today. If DS is a little shit again I won't see the whites of his eyes for the rest of the day. He can stay in his room and pout. Oh yeah, FG isn't much help (here's my "my husband is an ass" moment) because he's playing golf. When I asked him yesterday he said he didn't have much going on today. I called to see if he could pick up DS and he hestitates and does his "annoyed" noise. Yeah, thanks pal. This is three times in a row I've asked for your help when you told me you didn't have much going on and you've turned out to schedule golf. Yes, I AM keeping score.

Busy bad day

Today:
Sick kitty - went to the vet. She's home and ok but on meds with still no solid answers as to what is exactly wrong with her.

New playgroup for DD - went well. Nice ladies. Normal with normal kids (meaning I couldn't see any major little hurricanes in the group that I wouldn't want in my house.)

Parent/Teacher conference - GREAT! Glowing reviews from the teacher! DS is doing awesome!

Birthday Party - DS was a complete and utter shit and embarassed me to no end. I am at my wits end with how he acted. Sent him to bed, without me reading to him, at 7 pm. He told me I hurt his feelings, I told him when he is the way he was today people don't like to be around people like that so he should just be alone and think about it. He cried. I didn't feel ONE BIT of guilt. He made his choice, he has to live with it and hopefully he'll think about that the next time he is faced with a choice like today. I'm wondering WHEN he is going to realize the world does NOT revolve around him and yes he IS important but that doesn't mean others are not important and he always gets his way.
DD was fine but came home very tired. Read her stories and she was asleep by 7:45.

I need a drink.

Recipes by request!

Ok, Madre Adoptiva asked me to list my recipes from my MPM. Which, btw, comes from www.orgjunkie.com :)




Chicken Picatta


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 boned and skinned chicken breast halves
1 egg
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 chicken bouillon cube
1/2 cup boiling water

Beat egg with 1 T. lemon juice. Mix flour, garlic and paprika. Coat chicken in egg then in flour mixture. In skillet, melt margarine and brown chicken. Dissolve bouillon in boiling water and add 2T. lemon juice. Pour liquid into skillet, cover & simmer for 20 minutes. Turn chicken after 10 minutes.





Parmesan Couscous

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 can chicken broth
3/4 cup couscous
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan; stir in couscous. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Stir in cheese and parsley.


The Shrimp in cream sauce is pretty much made up.
I take 1 tablespoon of butter and a drizzle of olive oil. Heat it in a skillet and add some pressed or jarred garlic. Saute for a bit careful not to burn. Add a couple of tablespoons of flour. Add 1 cup chicken broth and whisk. Whisk in 1 cup of heavy cream and add cleaned shrimp. Then add 1/2 package of frozen spinach that has been wrung dry - breaking it up as I add it. Simmer but don't boil for a few mintues until shrimp is cooked. Add a few handfuls of grated parmesean cheese, salt and pepper to taste. You can add nutmeg if you like too. Simmer a few mintues longer, stirring the cheese in. Serve over noodles.

Soup and grilled cheese is my slacker mom soup of open a can, pour into pan, heat, serve. :)

I bake fish fillets dipped in a bit of egg/milk and then into Panko or bread crumbs with whatever seasoning I dump in. Roasted red potatoes I just cube up washed red potatoes, toss with olive oil, seasonings and some parsley. Bake in a 400 degree oven until they are tender on the inside and a bit crispy on the outside.

Baked Ziti is a stand-by. It's for my Silpada jewelry party on Friday. All I have to do is defrost the one I made a couple of weeks ago and bake it!


Enjoy!!!

oh la la!

Let's talk about sex. Oh no! Yes, I SAID IT. Most of my good friends are mothers/parents so it's quite obvious they have HAD SEX at least once. Why is is that some are so afraid to admit it or talk about it?
I'm not. Ask me anything and I'll probably give you an answer as long as it doesn't embarass FG. I do have to respect his privacy because while I can talk about me and that's my own issue, I can't very well breach the respect boundary for him. But yeah, it generally involves him!
I love a good romp in the sheets (or the shower, or bathroom vanity, or stairs, or couch....). I get pretty pouty when I don't get one. I wasn't always that way but having kids had a GOOD affect on me in that it seemed to put my hormones in overdrive. Well, I do have to say that part of that is the fact I stopped taking the Pill. Oh man did that mess with me. Once I let my body do it's own thing, that's kind of all my body wanted to do. So going off the Pill was really good for our sex life.
I find that we have a better relationship when we're gettin' some too. And having been together for so long now (yikes over 15 years - ey yi yi, when did I get old?) we have learned a lot about each other and learned to get creative. One thing having kids did do to me is make me less sensative so it takes a lot more help to get to the Big O, or in my personal prefernce, many of the Big O's. So toys are present in the bedroom in a discreet box that hopefully my kids will never venture to look in. (Don't worry, as they get older I will hide it someplace than under the bed and most likely lock it but then I worry a lock will simply peak more curiosity!) Toys are not always present in the bed but I seem to know when I need a bit of extra help along the way. Thankfully, FG is ok with it because he seems to understand. Or he's just figured out that I'm even more crabby if I am left hanging on the edge than if I'm not getting any at all! I don't know. I don't ask because it's working for us at the moment.
I do hope that this continues until we are old and it grosses even us out. I love to feel close to him and a few Big O's aren't bad either!

Breaking up... with a friend.

ARRRRRGGGHHH!!! I have too many things running around my head at the moment. I need to get some of it out so I will probably have a few posts today to clear my head.

First of the day...
I have this person in my life who I used to consider a friend. As I get older I realize that the gift of friendship is precious. I need to give a part of myself to my friends and need to know that they graciously accept it and treasure it. Vice Versa. FG and I don't have a large amount of truly close friends. But, as we get older, grow together and our lives go through different stages we have a great close knit few groups. We are picky too. Our time and children are precious. We want to surround our children with people who love them like extended family, we want to spend time with people who love and respect us as ourselves. I would, and do, trust the lives of my children with our friends. They are people we could call in the middle of the night or an emergency at any time and they would help.

Back to this person in my life. I know she doesn't "get" it. I know she just probably thinks I'm the biggest bitch. I'm not even bothering to tell her the reasons I pulled back from her. I've learned in my past experiences that it does no good unless the person really wants to know and make a change. I don't think this person is even CLOSE to that revelation. FG and I had some experiences in the past that taught us about give and take. We had some friends who constantly took from us but when it was time to give, it wasn't happening. We felt bad, used and unliked. That's how I realized one day things were going with this person. She called me when she needed something - a void to fill, advice from a parent with an older child, to tag along on something I had planned, a contact to reach more people, a client to buy whatever At-Home product she was selling at the moment... FG took her DH golfing a few times, we invited them to dinner, to stay with us at our family cabin etc. She would tell me about girl's nights out with other people, having people over to their house etc. I slowly started to realize I was being used. She didn't invite me or us but it's not like she didn't invite ANYONE - she was telling me about things that she did and could have included me in.
So I stopped calling her altogether. She certainly didn't pick up the phone and call either. I'm sure she probably wondered why I stopped contact. Then one day, she called me and I didn't answer. She left a message asking if I was still regularly getting together with a group of moms. I thought, like an idiot, that maybe I had read her wrong and it probably took a lot to call me like that after so long. UNTIL I did talk to her again. Then I find out she's selling some new product. I realized, again, I was being used. She didn't really want to talk to ME, she wanted to get back "in" with some of my friends. Yeah, those same friends who DO call to talk to me, invite my family to gatherings, are shoulders for me to cry on or arms to wrap around me in an excited hug. So not only was she using me, she was going to use people dear to me. She had previously had contact with these same friends but did she ever call them, invite them over either? Nope.
Now I see her regularly and we are civil. Again, I'm sure she thinks I'm a complete bitch and I don't really care anymore. I am friendly and say hello, ask her how she is etc. I get quite the 'tude from her though. What's funny, is another dear friend of mine was at a "thing" with her and said, "Gosh, she seems really snobbish now." Yup. With NO reason either. But oh well, she's pretty much out of my life and now that leaves more time and effort for true friends. This is a lesson I wish I would have learned a lot earlier in my life and I do hope my children can learn from my examples of the people we surround ourselves with. The people worth the effort.

My first published Menu Plan :)

• Ok, I'm a newbie at sharing this but I've been writing it on a whiteboard on my fridge for YEARS. Just ask my friend Madre Adoptiva as she has seen it on my fridge in years past. When I'm good about it, I'm good about it. When I forget, the kids eat a lot of chicken nuggets and frozen pizza.
  
  So here's my plan for this week. I start my weekly planning on Sunday usually as I generally make a large Sunday dinner. By the end of the week, I'm wiped out and not all that much in the mood to cook anymore. Plus Friday and Saturday are generally busy days and we either have friends over, go to friend's houses, eat out, have a football/basketball game to go to.... you get the idea. It's unpredictable and hard to plan out at the beginning of the week. Here goes!
  
  

• Sunday: French Onion Soup, Chicken Picatta, Parmesean Cous Cous, Veggies
• Monday: Shrimp in cream sauce w/ spinach served over noodles.
• Tuesday: Soup and Grilled Cheese
• Wednesday: Baked Fish, Roasted Red Potatoes, Roasted Squash
• Thursday: FG works so it's usually a very kid-friendly meal
• Friday: Baked Ziti, Sweet French Bread, Salad
• Saturday: Out with Friends

The french onion soup is simmering on the stove now and I can't wait to eat a big bowl! I tried a new recipe and it already tastes soooo good! I can't wait to get some toasted cheesy bread on it. mmmmmmmmmm

Proud Mama

DS brought home his first 1st grade report card today. He did well! They don't give actual grades just O, S, I. He got all S or S+! And they had their school Spell-a-thon today. We've been working hard practicing the words on the list and I am proud to say our hard work paid off. He got all 30 of them correct!
Some of you know I had my little guy tested right after he turned 4. His preschool teacher recommended it because he was getting into a bit more trouble in school than usual. Not bad trouble, just trouble with things like playing with the art drying rack and turning it into a spaceship - that kind of trouble. He's always been a fairly impressive kid to talk to but he had these ladies in the testing lab blown away. Of course, they got Mom all worked up telling me how intelligent he is and how we should look into private school or at the very least Gifted and Talented programs through the school district. So that stuff has always been at the back of my head. Then he started school and I'm not sure if it's him or the school system but he's much more of a "typical student" now. He's still very smart but I don't think he's necessarily the smartest in his classes. He's definitely intelligent but I'm not positive it's all book smart intelligence. He's got some social issues that he needs to work on and I have a feeling those interfere with him being a complete standout on the grading scale - if that makes sense. For me, it's something I have to change my thinking on. I had to stop thinking of him as this little genius who is smarter than most other kids. Every parent thinks their child is the best, I'm no exception. I still have very high standards for him and expectations thatI know he can reach but I also learned to let him just be a regular kid too. I still challenge the heck out of him at home and go beyond what he is learning at school. But I just think he takes after his daddy a bit in that school work isn't the most important thing to him. He's got a whole world going on in his own head and doesn't always want to be bothered by reading a book or learning how to subtract numbers (though he is doing excellent at math - it's just a concept that is easy for him and he didn't get that from ME!).
It will be interesting to see this journey of his. As his parent I have the responsibilty to foster the best in him and figure out the best way to do that. As his parent I also get a front row seat in his life to watch this wonderful performance!
Oh, he doesn't seem phased by the good job he did. He's not asking for any special treatment or extras. I told him I'm proud of him and asked him if he wanted to do something special like go out to dinner. He said sure, and named his favorite local pizza place. That's not unusual though, he asks to go almost every week. I have a feeling he would be acting excatly the same way if he had gotten a bad report card too. It just doesn't matter that much to him, which blows ME away because it always mattered to me. And he's pretty competative always wanting to "win the game" but I guess to him, school work isn't in the same league as Domino's, Go Fish, Crazy Eights or Uno.

Still sick Momma

I finally broke down and went to the Doctor today. I am now on antibiotics for a sinue infection. I really really hope I feel better by tomorrow. For one it's Halloween and I am the one to take the kids out Trick or Treating while FG stays home and passes out candy to the masses. We get SO many kids into our neighborhood. And, I haven't done much of anything around the house, for the kids or myself lately. I just feel like crud and that isn't real motivating to get anything done.

FG is pretty down over the business deal that didn't happen. I can understand that feeling. I had to remind him today that his life is my life as well and he can't push me away. He's going to go visit a friend for some golf and a little guy-bonding time. Funny how they never admit it in those words but both of them are having some life-troubles at the moment so they band together over a silly frustrating game. Then the'll go have a good dinner, maybe a beer or two for FG but his friend is a recovered alcoholic so he'll stick with soda. I do hope it helps them both through their rough time. I also hope that FG realizes that he can't keep pushing me away, he has to talk to me too and that I'm not exactly happy-go-lucky about the whole situation either!

The kids are just over the moon excited about the prospect of darting around the neighborhood at night and getting a sugar overload. I know I'll end up carrying their buckets like I usually do because they get too heavy. But they refuse to give up until they are literally dragging. They are going to be the cutest little spiders you have ever seen. Their idea. I wanted them to be Thing 1 & Thing 2. I told them I would even dress up as The Cat in the Hat if they did it. Nope. No go.

That brings me to the last of my silly stories. My DS came home from school and CALLED A GIRL. He's SIX. Ok, so he's almost 7 but when did that turn to 16 almost 17????

Eating your hot dog from the middle

Let me start off by saying that with not having a voice I guess I NEED to talk to much so if I can't talk with my mouth, I'll do it with my fingers to satisfy the need to communicate! And a side note... I realized I've been using the boring "DH" reference instead of what I should really be using which is FG - yes, it stands for F*#@ing Genius.



Last night while sitting down to an oh-so nutritious dinner of hot dogs and fries (home made onion rings for FG and I) I heard FG say to our daughter, "Eat it from the end." As I sat there and looked at her adorable little ketchup covered face dive into her hot dog from the middle I realized I need to relax sometimes. Things do not need to be perfect. So we had a terrible dinner with no fruits or vegetables. It was fun. We were all together and laughing and happy.



I look at parenting as the fact I am raising them to be adults, not overgrown children. No, I'm not making them do their laundry now but I do have them have household responsibilities and I do look at almost everything as a lesson that they need to learn. I tend to freak at statement that DS will make like "I'm going to cut him up into pieces!", which in reality is totally normal 1st grade boy stuff because he really does get overly concerned when anyone does get hurt. He's not a violent kid at all, never has been but I think all kids and especially boys get into a fixation about stuff like that at some point. Yet I have troubles looking past the "6 year old boy" thing and think of it in terms of an adult saying it. When they are giggling over some idiotic potty joke I cringe and tell them how positively unacceptable that is.



So I think I need to work on finding a balance between letting them be the little kids they are and doing/saying completely age-appropriate things (because really, when you are 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... farting IS funny) and still teaching them the lessons on being polite and kind. Every time they pull the cat's tail it does NOT mean they will grow up to be animal torturing teens but I do still remind them that we need to be kind and gentle to our animals because that's how we treat those that we love.



So I will try my best from now on to remember that it's ok to eat the hot dog from the middle when you are 3 and sitting at your own kitchen table. Who cares? The point is, you are eating it.

I'm pondering something....

Skimming other blogs, WHY does everyone always say "My wonderful husband..." "My amazing husband..." blah blah blah. Same about the kids. How come no one ever says, "My jerk of a husband..." or "I live with this guy I have to call my husband but he's an ass"? And for the kids, "My two spoiled rotten brats" or "My obnoxious little shits for kids"?
I do love my husband and my kids but they are human, as we all are, and he can be an ass at times and my kids can be spoiled rotten obnoxious little shits too. I'll just continue on in my quest for a "reality" blog where a mom admits that she doesn't always enjoy playing with her kids and wishes that they would just go away for an hour or two and leave her to her warm cup of tea and computer (me me!! raising my hand in reality!). And a place where a wife can say "My husband is really being a jerk today" (ok I can't raise my hand on that one because mine has been pretty sweet today but there are definitely times). Anyone else care to make some real confessions? I'd love to read some reality!

A mom without a voice

So it's just not fun being a mom with two little kids in the house and being sick. NOW, as I am starting to feel a bit less of a walking zombie, I have lost my voice. The kids just do not get it either. I can't expect them to understand but gosh a bit of peace would be nice. Mommy never gets a sick day. Hey! No one told me that when I signed up for this full time gig. 24 hour shifts and no sick days???

So now I have to go whisper to my kids to play nice and stop yelling at each other. Wish me the best of luck because I just don't see it happenin'

My schedule....

I realized, well, ok it didn't JUST dawn on me today, that I am a "schedule" person. I like to know what's coming next and what needs to be done. So in procratinating, I mean browsing through other blogs getting ideas, I decided it may be good for me to write down some of my schedule/organization. For my own sake and possibly the sake of others.
See, I live with an anal DH. Belive it or not, he forces himself to be that way. He has trained himself to be organized. If he isn't, he loses things. Case in point... he couldn't find his ATM card. He looked all over his car, my car, his desk, pants pockets etc. When I asked him a day or so later if he ever found it he sheepishly said, "Yeah, it was on the other side of my wallet." So if things are not exactly where he is used to finding them, he loses them. This has caused me to become anal as well. If I see his keys, wallet, sunglasses, cell phone etc. in a not-the-usual place, I go put them in the usual place immediately. I don't know if he even realizes it. But living like this for the past 15 years has caused me to change some of my own habits. I've always been scheduled, I've not always been "organized".
My desk, when I worked and at home, is messy. It's piles. It drives DH crazy! But I know exactly where to find what I need - I KNOW what is in those piles. Eventually I file, toss, review, take care of what is in those piles. I just save it up for one big session. I did it at work for years so I'm used to it. That is where I am a typically organized person. However, look into my clothing drawers, closet, kids closet, pantry, laundry room and I AM organized! Still not quite to the extent DH is but I'm close. (Yes, he has "lost" an aticle of clothing because it got put in the wrong place in the closet as well.)
When I worked, schedules were sometimes regular and oftentimes ever-changing. But if we always had a staff meeting on a Tuesday morning, we just knew it was coming. If I always had a budget due to a client on XX day of the month, it was just always due then. The ever-changing things were what threw me off sometimes. But I learned to love the regular scheduled events and deal with the ever-changing ones. When I became a SAHM, I had my baby on a schedule. I knew when to feed him, when to change him, when to put him down to sleep... it just worked for both of us. So 6 1/2 years later, I'm still pretty scheduled! And so are my kids. We don't have a ton of activites to keep track of (lack of funds and I don't want to over-do it with them either. I'm a big believer in home & family time).
Here's my week:

Monday: back to school day for both kids. I manage to get up and showered before waking them. Off to school for both of them and then either I help DH with work or run errands on my own (who knew that would be heaven on earth??) Monday is usually a regular dinner night.

Tuesday: school for DS only, DD and I putz around the house. DS comes home, does homework quickly and then we run him to acting class. Dinner is either a crock pot dinner if I'm on the ball or we pick something up on the way home from class (he gets out at 6:15, tough time on a dinner schedule!) I generally vacuum and wash towels/bed linens if needed on this day as well.

Wednesday: repeat of Monday. Regular dinner night too.

Thursday: school for DS only, laundry day! I also usually vacuum again. I do clothes laundry only on Thursdays. I'm also scheduled about how I do that! I start with whites and either do a bleach load, then a whites load that can't have bleach, light colors, jeans, dark colors. Some weeks the dark colors load doesn't get done until Friday because of the stuff drying. When I can use my outside clothesline, I get laundry done WAY faster than in the cold months.
My laundry is even organized. I keep five bins in the laundry room - one for jeans, sweaters and sheets, one for towels, one for whites, one for colors, one for darks. Oh, I also have one for items that need ironing as I save that up for one big ironing session too. A friend of mine recently made fun of me for having so many laundry baskets. He asked how many baskets a family of four really needs. I replied, 11. :P I LOVE those mesh wash bags too. I wash DD's socks in them - no little tiny socks getting lost in the dryer! Delicate sweters that could get snagged, bras etc. in them. I have lots of those too.
Thursday is a tough day on me because DH works on Thursday evenings. So no "real" dinner. Sometimes I cook just for the kids and I, other times they eat chicken nuggets and I eat a, gulp, frozen dinner or we'll have a frozen pizza. It's just a long day for me!

Friday: clean the bathrooms, change towels, dust, pick up in general from the week. I started doing this because then I have my weekend free for my family. I like to go out to dinner on Fridays but budget-wise that hasn't been an option for us lately. So I'll make pizza or something fun. We rarely have a full "meat & potatoes" dinner on a Friday.

Saturday: this is our ever-changing day. If there's a birthday party or a football game to go to, it changes our day. If DH is golfing, it changes our day. If we do something as a family, it changes our day. This is fine with me. I anticipate that it is the "ever-changing day" so I don't have my sights set on anything in particular. Besides, it's good for a "schedule person" like me to have a fly by the seat of our pants day.

Sunday: sometimes an ever changing day as well. Sometimes we have dinner with family. Most of the time we have the kids "adopted uncle" over for dinner. I like to make a big yummy Sunday dinner that includes dessert. He doesn't get anything homecooked so it works out for everyone. We used to go have church and Sunday school but we've decided as a family to take a break from our church. Long story that could be another blog but I won't even get into it.

My schedule also includes cleaning the kitchen floor & sinks, cleaning the fish tank, cleaning the litter box, ironing, changing bed sheets (every other week here), play dates, park dates, DH schedule changes and evening meetings and of course, the occasional completely off day where I don't cook or clean or do much of anything! DS has homework M-TH, they get a bath/shower every other day, there are doctor appointments, classroom helper days, field trips, grocery shopping days (I do BIG shopping around the 20th every month and go in between as needed. I would spend WAY too much if I went every week - tried it, tried to stick to a list, nah ah, didn't work for me!). Meals are planned weekly since our meat is mostly frozen. I guess I am old-fashioned in that I write it on a dry erase board that hangs on the fridge. I need to get up with the times and do it on the computer!

I'm sure I have bored you by now. But it has helped me to see that I may not be the busiest mom on the block or the most organized but I'm doing pretty ok! My family is happy and we ALL know what is coming next.

Friday, Gotta, Should, Don't wanna!

F'ing head! It hurts again, two days in a row! WHY is it out to get me? It seriously depresses me when I have such "non" days. Today hasn't been as much of a loss as yesterday but it's certainly far from productive. I gotta clean up the bathrooms - the two kiddos have both shared the ickies and are now both feeling better. So I absolutely gotta clean up the germs. That includes changing the towels and also Swiffer-ing the kitchen floor (too bad kids don't sneeze bright purple or something because then MAYBE I could actually see where all the germs fly). I also gotta go check the dryer and make sure the clothes aren't sitting in there wet or I will regret it later.
I SHOULD vacuum upstairs, downstairs and the stairs themselves. They just need it. I should, I should.
I should go play with my kids! Of all the "should's" that is the one I would most like to do. But then my f'ing head starts to throb again and I think it's not such a good idea. I just know a short temper will be involved.
I DON'T want to do much of anything yet I want it all done. And why is it on Friday I don't ever want to cook? I keep telling DH that I just want to get back to the point (financially) where we can go out to dinner as a family on Friday nights. For some reason, roasted pork chops, baked potatoes and broccoli tastes simply awful on a Friday night! I guess I'll make pizza. :

Ok, in the course of writing this I managed to check the laundry, get my kids a snack and realize that I do need to get a few things done to make myself feel better. I went to bed last night just pissed off at myself for having a completely Non-day. Guilt for letting the kids watch a ton of TV - granted DS was home sick from school too and he did watch a 2 1/2 hour program about meteors. But they also watched a bit too much Spongebob.

Now in an attempt to reason with my other personalities and appease the perfectionist in me I am going to list what I DID get done today:
Remembered to write a check to preschool
Packed two cold lunches
Made a bed (DH did the other two :) )
Finished the laundry (yes, the load that is in the dryer now and still needs to be put away)
Got one bathroom cleaned
Put the clean towels in the linen closet
Ran to the elementary school because I completely forgot today was "wear your hat to school today for a $1 donation for Juvenile Diabetes Research" and I didn't want my son to be the only one in class without a hat (I made his day by the way and when he got home today he told me I am the "bestest mom EVER!" for doing that for him :D)
Took some work stuff to my DH that he forgot at home
Ran into a bunch of people I know at Target and talked to them - several times in passing in the store
Played Barbies with the little girl for about 10 minutes until she kept yelling at me and that short temper/headache crabbiness made me say "I'd rather clean the bathroom"
Totally missed the bus arriving 10 minutes early. Now that's not exactly an accomplishment BUT the accomplishment for me lies in that DS managed to come home from the stop on the side of the house and to the front door all on his own. Granted he is dropped off on the side of our house but still, I'm usually there to meet him and walk around the corner with him. So to those of you that have infants that you see danger lurking around every corner - it is possible that they do make it through just fine and come home from the bus on their own.
Dusted downstairs (Have I mentioned how much I loathe dusting?)
Pushed the little girl on the swing outside for awhile.
Picked up some dog poo piles when DD said she wanted to go outside and play.
Put clean dishes, empty lunchboxes, dirty kitchen towels, junk mail where it all belongs.
Now I am off to pop some Advil and clean the kitchen floor and bathooms. Those pesky "Gotta's".

Edited to Add!!!

Got the bathrooms cleaned.

Made home made pizza dough and let the kids make their own pizza (cooling on the counter now).

I didn't manage to get the floors done but I will tomorrow. I'll vacuum tomorrow too. Playing with the kids is more important, right? I think we may even curl up on the couch with a kid movie and some popcorn. We all need a little cuddle time!

Thank God for good friends!

You know when you think you are holding it all together - and on the outside you really are for those that you love. Then, there's a little teeny opening and the "leak" that was there turns into a tidal wave. Happened to me today with a good friend. That little leak of emotions that I was trying so hard to hold in just came out. It felt good to cry on a friend's shoulder. I'm going to send her a little note in the mail letting her know just how much she means to me and how thankful I am that I have her in my life. She's not having an exactly easy time either but she sat and listened to me and hugged me through my tears.
Now it's back to "life" and the mundane things like laundry and groceries and the fun things like playing with my three year old. I have to figure out what to cook for dinner for just me and the kids. The cooking will help me. I just hope they eat it or I'm sure the emotions will come back out!

The mixer got a workout!

Ahhhh! I love days where I can spend all day in the kitchen. I know, I know, to some that is pure hell and torture but for me, I usually really enjoy it!
I started off with assembling the baked ziti. I had the sauce made from the spaghetti earlier in the week (made a double batch of sauce knowing I was making ziti on Saturday for our friends). I even had enough to make a small one and pop it in the freezer. It is the perfect size for just us four on a night when I don't have time or energy to cook. The only thing I have to do is remember to thaw it soon enough! Anyway... the baked ziti. I got the recipe from an online friend of mine and make it often. It is my "you just had a baby, here's a good meal" meal. I add a bag of salad and some fresh baked bread and everyone has raved about it. I make it for the family, gatherings with friends, pot lucks etc. and it's always very popular. I make my own spaghetti sauce but you can use whatever you like. You could tweak it however you want as well - add spinach, make it vegetarian. Use your imagination! Oh, I want to try ricotta instead of sour cream too but DH isn't a big ricotta fan. Someday I'll sneak it in ;)



BAKED ZITI


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 pound ziti pasta -- cooked and drained
52 ounces spaghetti sauce
4 ounces provolone cheese -- sliced
6 ounces mozzarella cheese -- shredded
3/4 cup sour cream
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion -- chopped
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese -- grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain.

Brown onion and ground beef. Drain grease. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 15 min.

Layer as follows in a greased 8 x 12 (or similar size) baking dish:
1/2 the ziti, provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 the spaghetti sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce.
Top with parmesean cheese.

Bake 30 min. or until bubbly

NOTES : This can be made ahead and frozen or made a day ahead and kept in the fridge before baking. I make it with my lefotover spaghetti sauce. I have made it with ground sausage and it is just as good.



After I got those done I started in on the desserts I wanted to make. I have been really craving pumpkin flavor. I didn't want to do pumpkin pie but I did want to do cupcakes. So I searched my trusty MasterCook where I knew I had saved a few pumpkin and/or cupcake recipes from my favorite cupcake sites. I got this one from Chockylit but didn't do the ginger cream or the chocolate ganache.
Before the oven


Instead I made a sinful cream cheese frosting with 8 oz. of cream cheese, a stick of butter, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and poured in powdered sugar until it was the consistency and taste I wanted. OHHHHH YUM!!!
I let the kids decorate them.


They are delicious. I even had one for breakfast.

Then because DH doesn't like cake (yeah yeah, I know. When our DS learned that he thought maybe Dad came over on a spaceship from some weird cake-hating planet.) I made him his favorite cookies - oatmeal with butterscotch chips.
Just the basic oatmeal raisin recipe from the Quaker Oats canister - replacing the raisins with butterscotch chips.


A good day for me in the kitchen! For me, it's theraputic and relaxing. Busting out a batch of cookies is no big deal. I don't make really complicated ones on a daily basis. A lot of drop cookies in our house :) With my Silpat mat or parchment paper, I don't even wash my cookie sheets! The tablespoon sized scoop makes it fast. My mixer, ohhh! I don't know if it's possible to be in love with an appliance but my goodness I love my mixer. I have the 6 qt. Kitchenaid professional. LOVE LOVE LOVE it. And I recently got these bowls. I am so pleased with them!

We had a nice dinner with our friends and their baby. Today I'm just making chicken fajitas, rice, some beans (for me and DD - no one else eats them!) and salad. DH's good friend is coming over for dinner as he usually does on Sundays. I'm going to scour some websites/cookbooks for a good recipe to jazz up the rice. Most of us just like it plain white in this house but I'm on a roll and in a mood to try something different. DD is running a fever so looks like we are homebound today anyway. Though I do have to get to the store at SOME point this afternoon. Either I drag the kiddos out of hope that DH gets done with his golf tournament sooner than expected. Fat chance.

Toy clean-out time!!!

I'm in the process of cleaning out clothes closets and drawers and toys. I have a ton of stuff to donate and I've been selling the "good stuff" on ebay. As in, the stuff that will actually go for enough to at least cover my shipping and listing fees. It makes me feel like I'm getting something out of it. I have actually sold a few great things and made a bit of $$. It was a great exchange because I turned around and bought DD some new clothes. She needed pants desperately so I found some great deals on some great pants for her on there. Since I was just basically exchanging them for things that I already had in the house and didn't need anymore, it worked out well. No money out of the bank account and new clothes in the drawer.

But when it comes to the toys, I don't know why I have such a hard time getting rid of things. Are my kids pyschic??? I look at the playroom and take a mental inventory. Then when I have it in my head that I'm going to get rid of X, Y & Z THEY START PLAYING WITH THEM! Then I feel bad about getting rid of X, Y or Z even though they will most likely not pick up X, Y or Z ever again after the day I determine in my head it is out the door. They literally do this EVERY TIME I plan to go through the toys. Do they see something in my eyes? Do I put off some vibe? Do I go on a schedule that I'm not even aware of but they seem to be? Ugh!!! It just adds to that wonderful thing called "Mommy Guilt". They have three-gazillion toys to play with so WHY is it so difficult for me to donate anything? Probably because they do have so many toys so things end up staying in like new condition and the cheap side of me comes out. hee hee hee

Side note... here's a recent pic of me & the kiddos...

Good day

Today is a good day. Sure it's super-crappy weather but it's still a good day.

I got my hair cut & colored this morning. I went darker than usual, closer to my natural color. I love it so far! It's warm and soft. Red, light brown and blonde. Pefect update for fall. Even though I can't afford to update my wardrobe, I needed to get my hair done so I just updated myself with that. I think it will make my old clothes look new on me again. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

Then I had lunch with my husband. For some reason I always feel good when he & I go and have a nice lunch together. It wasn't fancy by any means - it was just lunch at a sandwich shop. But we shared a soup and talked and doing things like that always make me feel like a grown-up agin instead of just "Mom". I don't think he even knows what that does for me.

While talking, we went over lots of stuff going on in the business world. It's looking up and he is feeling better and better about things. That just makes ME feel better and better about things.

I picked up the little girl from preschool. She LOVES & ADORES her preschool. It is so wonderful for me to know she is so happy there. We rushed home to meet the school bus. Today was an "early release day" at school. So now I have a little boy with a bunch of energy bugging me because he's used to focusing all that energy into schoolwork at the moment. I can't seem to convince him that today is a good day to veg on the couch! And I really don't want to be that mean mom who makes him do extra schoolwork on a Friday afternoon that is a "day off" either.

Checking my email and my phone messages, I find three that are social invitations for tonight and tomorrow and Sunday! I quickly get ahold of my sitter's mom and ask if she is available tonight. Yahooo! She is! So DH and I are going out for some cocktails with some friends. He needs it BIG TIME. He needs some relaxing fun now that things are seemingly falling into place with the business. Tomorrow is Homecoming and we are tailgating. Sunday is another homecoming gathering for my sorority - though I don't think I can make that one - and then there's a car race out in Fernley in the afternoon. Our friend races and it's the last one of the year. DS would LOVE that and we meant to go all summer and never made it. So we're going to try to get out there and cheer him on.

The three toppers - I just made a wonderful cup of homemade chai (as in, I used a chai teabag, steamed and whipped the milk and added some boiling water and my own honey - YYYYYUUUUUUMMMMMMM), my DD is taking a nap without too much protest (she only takes a real one about 1x a month now and definitely needed one today!) and I have on my sexy jeans and high heeled boots.

I did it!

I feel like a very victorious mommy today! I got the school system to get the bus to stop on the corner by our house. Yay!!!! It took a few months but finally I got them to listen to my concerns. They followed through with what they told me they would do (drive our bus route, look at the streets, my house and the stop at the other end of the neighborhood that we have had to walk to) and called me back exactly when they said they would. Ahhhhh. It feels good to be listened to, taken seriously AND getting exactly what I want from it!