Our Love, Laughter and Life

Thursday, February 14, 2013

A girly holiday?!?

In the past, I have said that Thanksgiving is a man's holiday... that's another story. My husband came in today saying that if Thanksgiving is a man's holiday then Valentines Day is totally a woman's holiday. I absolutely agreed with him. But I think I've changed my mind...

Valentines gives the boy/man/husband/boyfriend-what ever- a chance to be the "hero." I have it on good authority that most guys do want to be the hero at some point. To swoop in and save the girl from imminent disaster... it's down right awesome!

I was pondering this as my husband rode off on his white horse (or green pick up truck) towards the evil fortress where his children are being held captive (the grade school). He was armed with weapons ever white knight needs... flowers for his little princesses and a treat for his little prince. As much as he (may or may not have) huffed about Valentines Day, I could see it in his eyes... he was just as excited as they are going to be. I wanted so bad to follow and be a paparazzi just to see the kids reactions! I love that my children's daddy is their valentine!

So happy Valentines Day to all of you!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

One step forward... two steps back

No, this isn't a post about dancing.
This is about me and Little Q... he's a ten-month-old ToRnAdO of joy. I am trying SO HARD to get my house to look clean for more than ten minutes at a time. But I think it is virtually impossible!

I used to stay up and really clean when my kids were asleep... that's a joke now! I'm lucky to get an hour of quiet time and maybe three hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time. So that method of cleaning is out the window! I am also teaching my littles to clean. (That means letting them clean and not let them see me fixing it). I am totally rambling... blah blah... trying to clean.

Anyway, I had to stop and laugh this afternoon because, well this is how it went:

Put two things away.
get Q off the stairs
wash one dish
get Q out of the garbage
sort two pieces of mail
get Q off the stairs
put one thing away
pick up all the dishes Q pulled out of the cupboard
put one thing away
get Q off the stairs
Sweep one square foot
pick up all the kitchen towels Q pulled out and unfolded
sit down and laugh or cry that nothing is being accomplished... and then just laugh and snuggle my silly baby!

It's a good thing that being a good mom and being a good house keeper are not necessarily the same!

Friday, February 1, 2013

What can't be cured by chocolate?

I just ate 1/4 of a bag of chocolate chips. Sigh!

Because of my son's allergy, I've had to buy the good kind. I never used to break into the baking supplies... Those cheap, semi sweet chips were kind of nasty plain. Then along came Ben and I began to buy "Ben friendly stuff." Much to the dismay of my girly figure, I found that the Hershey's Milk Chocolate chips taste just like the candy bars. Oh dear! These may never make it to become chocolate chip cookies.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

So very RANDOM...

My friend and collage roommate tagged me with this:
I have to list 11 Random things about me...

I love to make people feel at ease and so I don't try to have my house perfect... really!who lives in a perfect house?!?
I love to bargain shop. It gives me kind of a high to know I saved money on stuff we "need".
I hide treats from myself, hoping it will help me not eat more junk.
I love to run. When ever I see someone running I analyze their style and compare it to my own. Weird I know.
(Don't be grosses out) I have a thing with clean ears. I can't stand it if my kids have wax or stuff in their ears. My husband is always saying, "Stop it, leave us alone."
I love slippers. At my reception I wore fuzzy pink slippers under my gown.
My least favorite chore is dishes but I like cleaning bathrooms.
When I get into a good book I just read and read and read. (My house is a mess, the kids hang in p.j.s, and everyone eats cold cereal for a while). I do read fast, so no one starves for long.
Baking is fun for me, cooking not as much. Hooray for sugar and spice!
I love to play dress up! I'm always game for a tea party where we get to don shawls and English accents.
I have a childhood fear of moths.

I have to answer 11 random questions from her...

1. How did you meet your husband? On a blind date.

2. What is the first thing you do in the morning? Groan... then pray

3. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Garden!!!

4. What do you do to relax? Read

5. How long does it take you to get ready each day? 30 min if I don't have to wash my hair, 1 hour if I do.

6. What is your favorite thing about your house? An arch way in my newly remodeled bathroom

7. What kind of toothpaste do you use? Whatever's cheap

8. If you could live anywhere, where would you live? Where ever man sweet heart takes me

9. Do you recycle? yup

10. What are your favorite pair of shoes? Chaco sandals

11. Have you ever broken a bone? several

And now I have to tag 11 of you...

Its actually kind of a fun tag (so don't you want to be a good sport and play along)

1.Ang

2.Shawna

3. Jessica N.

4.Melanie

5. Roxanne

6. Lindsay

7. Danae

8. Bridgette

9.Sherri

10. Trulee

11.Jessica S.

Your questions:

Your pet peeve?
What's your favorite feature about yourself? (don't be humble... name one thing that is great about you?)
Do you bite, file or clip nails?
Do you lie to the dentist when he asks about your dental habits?
If you were an animal, what would you be?
Favorite movie quote?
If you had to eat the same thing for dinner for a week, what would you choose?
Which side of the Velcro are you most like? (The clinging soft or the catchy scratchy)
Favorite childhood cartoon?
Right now, would you rather have a mug of cocoa or a smoothie?
Do you have a phobia?

Random I know... but fun!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Sharing something good!

When we were in school, I had a friend who would call me when ever she found a great sale on meat or such. She helped me feed my family on a tight college budget. I really appreciated her thoughtfulness.

Well, along those same lines, when I find something great I just have to share it. (My son is allergic to peanuts, so it's sometimes hard to find granola that he can have). We love granola, so I started trying make it a couple years ago. I am an instant results kinda girl and it was a lot of work for something that was gobbled up in about five minutes. Then I found you can make it in about five minutes on the stove top! It tastes great, doesn't spill in my oven, uses up ingredients that need to be used, and is EASY!

My "recipe" is never the same twice... but you might get the jist of it. I've used leftover homemade syrup, that was too clumpy, as a sweetener. Once I used an apple that the kids took one bite out of and didn't finish. I had a box of Grape nuts that NO ONE liked and threw some of those in until they were used up. At first I followed recipes and then I just went nuts.

You can adjust ANYTHING to make it more or less healthy...
4-ish T Butter (margarine, or oil)
2-3 C Oats
1/4 C ?Honey (or syrup)
1C Bran cereal (I use the "crumbs from frosted shredded wheat... you know the stuff that no one wants to eat).
1/2 C Nuts of any kind
A handful of fruit of any kind (Shredded apples, blue berries, raisins, craisins)
3 T Brown sugar (if you want it sweeter)
3 tps Cinnamon

(Or there are tons of "stove top granola" recipes on line... and I thought I came up with it! Silly me!)
I melt the butter a little in a frying pan. Use a food processor on the nuts and oats and then throw the whole thing in the pan. Toss it around for about three to five minutes (until you smell the toasted oats). And that's it. It's one of my "we're late" breakfasts (when I still want to make it). I'm telling you... it beats stirring every ten minute for an hour in the oven!

The two of you who are granola-a-holics... (you know who you are) Let me know if you try it!