Elevator Etiquette

Is there such a thing as elevator etiquette? If there isn't there should be,


I work in an office building that has 12 floors and a penthouse suite. Sometimes the wait for an elevator can be long (or longer than I would like.) There can be a crowd waiting for the elevator when the doors open too.


When I am waiting on the first floor to go up to my office on the 10th floor I always stand off to the side when the doors open, so I can be sure that if there are people on the elevator they have room to exit. Twice, today as I go to get off the elevator the person(s) waiting to get on have literally hit me as they shove their way on. Ummmmm, hello! I am trying to get off of here people. Can you wait until I get out of your way before you lunge in the elevator?


Doesn't that seem like common courtesy? Or am I just nuts? ** umm, don't answer that please!

Banana Crepes

I always thought crepes were hard... they really aren't. The first couple I made didn't turn out very well, but now I have been making crepes for many years now. My family particularly loves these banana crepes. I recommend serving bacon or sausage on the side and sometimes I also cut up cantaloupe to serve on the side too. If you desire you could top with whipped cream, although I never have.


These are very sweet. They are crepes with bananas in the center and a caramel sauce over the top.


Banana Crepes
INGREDIENTS:
CREPES:
1 c flour
1/4 c confectioners sugar
1 c milk
2 eggs
3 Tbls butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

FILLING:
1/4 c butter
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
6-8 firm bananas
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c milk


For crepes: Stir flour and sugar together. Add milk, eggs, butter, vanilla and salt. Beat until smooth. Heat a lightly greased 6" skillet, add about 3 Tbls of batter, spreading to cover bottom of skillet. Cook until lightly browned, turn and brown other side. Remove to a wire rack.


For filling: Melt butter in a skillet. Add remaining ingredients and cook until slightly thick. Add bananas, cut lengthwise. Heat 2-3 minutes. Place bananas and sauce in crepe and roll. Spoon more sauce on top of crepe.

Spring Break

So, most of the kids will return to school with stories of family vacations, but not my kids. They will have stories of time spent with family though.

Monday they got to spend the whole day with grandma and grandpa, they helped make pancakes and played games with grandma too.

Tuesday was spent with their cousins. Our niece has three kids all about the same ages as our kids, she has 2 girls and a boy and we have 2 boys and a girl. They all get along real well. They played hide-n-seek, board games, computer games, went to the park, climbed the big trees in her backyard, made their own pizzas for lunch and watched a movie.

Yesterday, our close friend took them with her to where she nanny's. (ok, ok, I realize that isn't family!!) The kids she nannies are very close to the same ages as my kids and the two little girls (both 3) just played and played all day!

Today, grandma and grandpa were going to take them to the zoo, but naturally today it is snowing (even though earlier this week it has been sunny and in the 70's!) So, I am not sure what they are going to do today, but I am sure they will have fun!

Tomorrow Mr. Man has the day off so he will be spending all day with the kids and maybe they can go to the zoo if the weather gets nice!

Hair washing

I do not wash my hair everyday. For one thing, I have my hair colored and I feel like if I go every other day washing it that my color stays a little longer (I am probably fooling myself, but it makes me feel better!) For another thing, I am lazy and prefer to use those extra minutes in bed in the morning - well, ok ok usually I get up real early for some "me" time and so I actually prefer to use the extra minutes in the morning with one more cup of coffee or read a few more pages in a book. On the days that I do wash my hair I make sure to give myself an hour to get ready. On the days I am not washing my hair, I can get ready in about half hour or so (again, that kinda depends on how much coffee I can shove down my throat before the shower!!!)

I go into ALL that because I just saw a lady who clearly did not wash her hair this morning, or yesterday and maybe even since Sunday! It was extremely greasy. It would be one thing if I saw her in her sweat pants lounging somewhere, but she was here, at the office building. EW!!!

If my hair EVER looks that disgusting I hope someone would tell me. I work in my office mostly by myself so no one would even care or even be here to tell me that I look like a greasy slob, but still!!! Ew Ew Ew!

WFMW - Grocery List

Our closest grocery store just remodeled and during the grand opening handed out printed lists of what was on each aisle. The list was numbered aisle by aisle and listed the items found on each aisle. I took this and made copies of it. Then I hang it on my refrigerator and circle the items as I run out of things. Then on grocery day I take this list and can shop easily aisle by aisle.

I recently decided to go to a different store for some sale items and decided I liked this store's layout better than the other store. I went to the Customer Service counter and asked if they had a similar list and they did! So I took it and made copies of it. Now I hang this list on my fridge!

This is what works for me. For more awesome tips and tricks, head over to Rocks In My Dryer.

Decorating.... Wendy's Style

Apparently Lady Bug does not have the decorating gene. We went to Wendy's fast food restaurant the other day for dinner. While she and I were sitting at the table waiting for the men in our family to bring our food Lady Bug started noticing the fabulous decor of Wendy's. She started telling me how we needed to get salt and pepper shakers "just like this mom"

ME: "Oh, you mean the ones that you can find in the picnic aisle at the store?"

HER: "yep. AND we need to get a picture like that too."

ME: "Really?"

HER: "Yep. AND we should get chairs like this too."

ME: "Well, yes, because the turquoise and red goes realllllly well with the table we already have."

HER: "yep!"

Guess I will need to work with her on style, so instead of working on numbers or letters we will be looking at some of my favorite design blogs now, while she is still young and impressionable!

Children's Ministry - First Sunday

This Sunday was the first time that our new children's ministry at church had "Kids Church". The woman heading it up did an amazing job and thought of all the little details! It turned out great.


I stayed in the big room to help keep kids "reigned in". Since it was Easter they did puppet skits, a video segment and songs. We had all the ages in there, except for the nursery kids. All the kids loved it. I think it will be a lot of fun.


Each week we will be doing kids worship with all ages (except nursery of course) and then the kids will be dismissed to their own classes. The children's minister recently purchased new curriculum so that essentially all ages will be learning the same story (at their own levels of course). I think this will be cool so that parents can go home and have discussions about what was learned!


I am super excited about working in this ministry!

Money

Here is my submission for this weeks edition of Miracle Monday hosted by A Mom's Life.

A year or so ago, we had been struggling financially (when are we NOT struggling financially!!! hee hee) when Spirit came in my room and said "Look mom I found one hundred dollars." He flashed a dollar bill....... without my glasses I am pretty blind so all I saw was a greenish piece of paper.

I said "Really? Let me see." -- not really believing he had a real 100 dollar bill.

Sure enough it was a brand new, crisp 100 dollar bill. I just couldn't believe it. I asked him where he found it and he said "In Lady Bug's play wallet." Who would have given a little 2 year old girl (she was 2 when this happened) a crisp 100 dollar bill without telling us? No one. That's who. So, Mr. Man and I started wondering who would have known about our struggles and given us money? Everyone we could think of who may have done it would have known NOT to put something like that in a child's play wallet.

I, of course, did not let Spirit keep it and a day or two later a friend of ours gave me an envelope. She said she and her husband didn't have a lot to give but wanted to help us out in whatever way they could. Inside the envelope was some bills and some loose change. All totaled up (the envelope and the $100) it came to the exact amount needed to pay a dental bill we had that was about to be sent off to collections if we didn't get it paid within the next 10 days.

As a "reward" for finding the money, once we got back on our feet a little we took the all kids out for a special day. We went bowling and had pizza!

Edited to add: we know only God could have given us that $100 bill. God knew Spirit would find that money and no one else and God knew he would find at just the right time! We are very grateful!

Easter Menu

I always get up early on Sundays and make sure we have a grand breakfast.... we don't/can't do this on Saturday's because Mr. Man has a Saturday morning breakfast with a couple buddies. They have done this on Saturday mornings for a long time and he isn't ready to stop going (and frankly I haven't asked him to stop) -- therefore we do a big breakfast on Sundays.


This Sunday, being Easter and all, we will also have a fantabulous lunch/dinner. So for Easter breakfast this is what I am going to make.


Egg Pinwheels:

I got the recipe here and I made it a week or so ago and it was delicious! I made mine with chopped ham, cheddar cheese and red and green sauteed bell peppers. Then topped it with some salsa... it was delicious!!


Cinnamon Coffee Cake:
INGREDIENTS:
1 package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant butterscotch pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts (Optional... I don't use these because my family isn't big on nuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan, or a 10 inch Bundt cake pan. In a medium bowl, stir together the cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, and butterscotch pudding mix. Add the eggs, oil and water, mix until well blended. In another bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts. Pour half of the batter into the pan, spread evenly. Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon mixture. Cover with the rest of the batter, and sprinkle with the rest of the cinnamon mixture. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn the oven down to 325 degrees F and bake for an additional 35 to 40 minutes.

Then I will also cut up some fresh fruit to serve on the side.

THEN, for Easter lunch/dinner we are going to have some cheese and crackers and some melon cut up as an appetizer to tide everyone over until everything else is ready, which means we will eat about 2:30 or so.

Spiral Ham (pre-cooked and ready to eat kind)
Steamed Asparagus
Garlic-Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
Deviled Eggs
Rolls
Strawberry Shortcake (individual shortcakes purchased from the store with sliced strawberries and whipped topping--nothing fancy)

RECIPE FOR GARLIC-CHEDDAR MASHED POTATOES:
INGREDIENTS:
6 medium baking potatoes, cubed
2 Tbls butter
2 Tbls milk
1 (10 3/4 ox) can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
dash of garlic salt
1 1/3 c French's Cheddar French Fried Onions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Boil potatoes until tender. Mash potatoes with a butter and milk. Mix in soup, 1 c cheese and garlic salt. Stir until cheese is melted. Spoon potato mixture into a 2 qt baking dish. Top with 1/2 c cheese and onions. Bake 5 minutes or until hot and onions are golden.


I think we will have a good day overall! I hope so anyway!

My totally random post

Here are a few random things running through my mind at the moment:

1. Lefty was tested at school yesterday and he is reading at a 2nd grade level and his math is "advanced" (not sure exactly what that means)
2. Next week is spring break and our nanny will be on vacation so we have 3 different people to watch the kids. Monday and Tuesday my SIL will drive an hour and half to watch my kids. Wednesday a dear friend of ours is watching the kids at the house where she nanny's at (this family has an 8 yo, 6 yo and a 3 1/2 yo and our kids have all played together before so it should be fun for them) Thursday and Friday a neighbor will be watching the kids. Man, haven't I put enough trauma into my kids lives with this move thing???
3. I went shopping for a new pair of shoes for Lefty and I ended up spending $200 on new clothes for the kids, Lefty's shoes and Easter basket stuff. Am I insane?? I must be!
4. I just wish we were moved and settled in our new place, I am sick of the chaos.
5. Speaking of moving, we did NOT get the house we put an offer on so I think we might plan to rent for a year while we try to figure out where we want to be. We have to be out of the house we are in now by April 14 so time is a-wastin!!! I was hoping to not have to rent so that we could call a place "home" (we thought this was gonna be home and we did a rent-to-own sort of a deal and the owner took our down payment and our monthly payment and did who knows what with it and the property went into foreclosure!)
6. I made a cake last night that was absolutely disgusting! I mean really, really gross! So guess what I want to do tonight? It isn't making another cake.... I want to bust into the Easter candy!!
7. I am out of Girl Scout cookies.... shoot!
8. I haven't weighed myself in weeks...... when I am stressed I eat. Alot. So I am pretty sure I have gained back what I lost and maybe even added to it!

Clearing out my closet

I haven't jumped into any spring cleaning since we are moving I figure I will be spring cleaning on my way out and spring clean the new place on my way in!

BUT....what I did do, is spring clean my wardrobe. I decided that I needed to go through my closet and clean, toss and give-away anyway before packing unwanted/torn items.

First thing I did was pull everything out, section by section. I have several drawers, shelves and then a higher hanging section, a lower hanging section and then a longer (for dresses and such) section.

I started with the longer section. I pulled everything off the rack and asked myself these questions:

#1 - Does it fit? -- Yes, keep pile or No, toss or give-away pile

#2 - Is it stylish? -- Yes, keep pile or No, toss or give-away pile

#3 - Have you worn it in the last 3 months? -- Yes, keep pile or No, toss or give-away pile

Then I put all the "keep" items back in the closet.

Then, I went through the toss/give-away pile to see what items should be tossed (torn up or heavily stained).

The next section was my shoes.... I have a ton of shoes, I got rid of ones I haven't worn in months and even found 2 pairs that are too tight (so why keep those??)

The above picture is before I cleaned and the below picture is what it looked like after.... not great, but not bad either!

I need to still finish up the rest of the shelves and sections tonight, but at least it is a start.

Another round with the teacher

Last Friday Lefty had a project due... he was supposed to make a Leprechaun Trap. Teacher promised a "Big Prize to the person who's trap catches the Leprechaun."

So Lefty worked hard on his trap for several days. It turned out quite nice (I thought). We turned it in on Friday of last week. The kids all set the traps around the room in hopes they would catch the Leprechaun. Keep in mind this is a Kindergarten class so they were all hopeful they would win the big prize!

Monday morning rolled around and when the kids got to class they were met with a big surprise! The Leprechaun trashed the room -- papers all over the floor, puzzles dumped, glitter on the floor and all their name cards turned to red (it is a discipline system she uses, they all start out on green, then if they are bad she flips their name to yellow, then orange and if the behavior keeps up then she switches the name to red and they stay on red until the following day.) The Leprechaun also wrote a note on the board that read "hee hee hee you can never catch me!"

So, the teacher made all the kids clean up the room, which in turn made them miss the morning center time (very upsetting to my son!) and NO ONE got a prize because they didn't catch the Leprechaun.

I went marching in there on Tuesday very upset. She looked at me like she always looks at me.... like I am stupid! I told her I didn't think it was right that they were punished (in a sense) for not building a good enough trap and no one got a prize. She said she in fact gave them all little chocolates as a prize. I told her that, clearly, my son did not understand that the chocolates were a prize and he was very upset by the whole day.

She tried blaming me -- since I was out of town over the weekend he was feeling lonely and was "yanking the sympathy chain".

I told her that I still totally disagreed with the way things were handled and she brushed me off saying she would talk to my son and explain things.

Lefty told me last night that she did in fact talk to him but told him that "mommy must have been confused"

I have decided I have done enough talking to the teacher (remember the whole lunchable incident?) and it is time to go to the principal.

WFMW - Keeping straws in the diaper bag

When the kids were old enough to use a sippy cup and could also figure out how to use a straw, but aren't quite good enough to drink out of a regular cup yet, I started carrying around straws in the diaper bag. I would grab an extra one or two each visit to a fast food place and just stick them in the diaper bag. This way when we went somewhere and I didn't have a sippy cup with me and little one needed a drink, then I could take a regular cup (Usually my cup) and place a straw in it. Viola, less spills, less messy clothing (both baby and me) and less stressed out mamma!

We don't have much need for the diaper bag any more, but now I just keep straws in the car.

For lots of great tips go to Rocks In My Dryer

My chubby cheeks

My nephew turned four years old last weekend. So while I was out there visiting, I asked him how he liked being four.

"I'm not four yet."

Me: "Really? I thought you had a birthday last week?"

"But I am not four yet."

Me totally confused: "When will you be four?"

As he is holding his cheeks he says: "I am not four yet because I still have chubby cheeks."

Me: "But sometimes we have chubby cheeks for a long time. That doesn't have anything to do with you being four or not being four."

So he marched his little self into my sister and asked her about it... she agreed with me and tried telling him that even though he still had chubby cheeks he was indeed four years old.

He was not convinced until Sunday night just before dinner he came out of the bathroom and said: "Look, mom. My chubby cheeks are gone!"

My trip

I went Oregon this past weekend for my mom's surprise birthday party! She turns 70 today and all of the kids and grand kids were there (well, all but one of my brothers and his kids)! There are six kids in my family and 15 grand kids.

We arranged to have my aunt pick up mom and tell her they were just going to dinner. When they arrived at the restaurant we were all there! It was soooooooo fun!

My mom was so surprised -- she kept telling us that she couldn't believe it. One of my brothers and a nephew flew in from California, I came from Colorado, one sister and her family came from Seattle! Kinda like a mini reunion! It was so much fun!

My brother in Florida couldn't come because his wife has Lou Gehrig's disease. But, my brother spent a month recording stuff on DVD to send to my mom! That was cool too!

My mom typically doesn't read my blog, but I was afraid to blog about our plans before the party "just in case" she decided to read it all of the sudden!

Raisin Bread French Toast

A family fave in my house is to make french toast using raisin bread. It is so cinnamon-y and yummy!

Here is my "batter" for french toast:

INGREDIENTS:
1 Tbls sugar
2 beaten eggs
1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
dash or two of ground cinnamon
6-8 slices of bread

Beat ingredients in a shallow dish. Place bread in dish and coat both sides (if your bread is older and maybe a little stale, let it soak in the mixture for a few minutes.) Cook in a skillet over medium heat until golden. Flip and brown other side.

Homemade Maple Syrup

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 tsp Mapeline (found in the spices section of the grocery store)
1 c water
2 c sugar

Bring water to boil. Remove from heat and add Mapeline and sugar. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Store in a container (I use an old store-bought syrup container)

Fashion Sense.... I have NONE. ZERO. ZILCH!!!

I am heading to Oregon soon for a visit. My sisters and my nieces are quite trendy, I lack the fashion gene - seriously lack it!!! Usually when I visit Oregon or if my sisters come here I insist they take me shopping and I usually buy an outfit or two. Then I am fashionably set for a brief time!


This next trip won't accommodate any shopping...we will be busy busy! So I enlisted my good friend Aubrey to take me shopping. Aubrey is one of those people that knows what will look good on a particular body type and knows what colors will work and she always looks so cute and fashionable!


You should have seen me shopping with her! I am SO stupid when it comes to what will look good on me or how to match up an outfit that I literally just followed her around like a little kid. She threw things at me (in a loving way of course) for me to try on. She also told me that I need to wear boots with this outfit we picked out..... so I just may use this as an excuse to buy a new pair!

I wanted to post pictures, but I am having one of those weeks where I really hate my body and hate every outfit I put on. I put on the outfit I am wearing this weekend and had Mr. Man take a picture. I hated the picture! So I refuse to post that right now. I am so sorry. Maybe I will like it better later, then I will post a picture!

I will definitely be posting pictures of the trip -- I promise. I might even post a picture of me in my snazzy outfit!! :o)

Using old tee shirt as a cover-up

Lady Bug (3 years old) does not think she should have to wear a bib anymore because her big brothers don't. Most of the time this is not a big issue, but when we are eating spaghetti or anything else that might stain her clothes I get a little more picky.

Here is a tip that has helped keep the tears at bay at messy meal times:

I take an old tee-shirt of the boys that they have outgrown and then I put it over Lady Bug's clothes as protection from the messy food. I actually keep 2 or 3 in a drawer near the table (where I used to store bibs... actually there are still some in there but they go untouched thanks to her being so picky about this issue!)

This solves two issues really, she is being protected from the messy food items, and she thinks it is cool that she gets to wear her brothers clothes.

This is what works for me. For more ideas head over to Rocks In My Dryer.

Moving Jitters

We have moved 4 times in 5 years..... that is a lot of moving for anyone, but definitely little kids.

Two moves ago, when Lefty was 3 yo, we spent weeks packing with the kids helping. Well, actually what would happen is me and the boys would start out packing their rooms, but Lefty always seemed to slink out of the room without us noticing.

Then on moving day, we rose early and finished up a few odds and ends while waiting for the moving truck to come. Finally, the truck starts down the street and we are all outside watching with some anticipation. Just as the truck backs into the driveway, Lefty takes off into the house, crying. I followed him to find out what happened. I thought maybe the truck scared him a little. After some prodding, he asked me where he was going to sleep. I told him in his bed at the new house.

He stopped crying. Looked at me with a weird look on his face. Then said, "I'm going with you?"

All those weeks of packing he never said a word. He just thought we were all packing up and leaving him behind! My heart ached for him, that he had spent so many weeks feeling abandoned! He was relieved when I explained we were all going together, etc. etc. etc.

NOW, fast forward to current day. This time Spirit is worried about our move.

We aren't even sure if we got the house we put an offer on yet, but we started packing up some stuff. Spirit talked to both me and Mr. Man last night at different times, telling us how he didn't want to leave his things at this house, and what if our stuff gets lost and what if we don't have food?

We both explained that all of his things would be going with us (I bit my tongue when he held up the cheesy, cheap toy and asked if it was going too... and I simply said "yes."). We also told him that we hoped nothing would be lost and we would try our best not to lose things (except that cheesy, cheap toy!).

I don't know what Mr. Man told Spirit about food, but I told him "Look. I live for food. I live to eat (remember my jiggly butt... that is a result of all the food I eat!) and I will not ever let us go without food! Trust me on this one!"

"Ok. Now this is awkward"

This morning Spirit came to me in my room and said he thought he was getting a rash because his bum was all itchy. I had him pull his pants down so I could look at it.

About that time Lefty and Lady Bug both came waltzing in my room and Spirit said:

"Ok. Now, this is awkward!"

I thought I was going to wet my pants I was laughing so hard! I have never heard him use that word before!!!

**p.s. - He doesn't have a rash.... just an itchy bum! Do you think he would think THIS is awkward that the whole bloggy world knows he has an itchy bum??? .... Probably! :o)

Watch it jiggle, see it wiggle

So, Spirit comes in the kitchen and playfully "spanks" me...... and what does he "lovingly" say????

"Your butt jiggles when I do that! Come here Lady Bug... spank mom and watch it jiggle!"

Thanks, but let's not!!

Car accident when I was pregnant

Beth over at A Mom's Life is hosting Miracle Mondays. So, here is one of mine!

In 2003 I delivered a still born baby when I was 7 1/2 months pregnant with him. Then in 2004 I was pregnant again, this time with a little girl. When I was 8 months pregnant with her, I was driving to work and my engine seized in my car and I could not get my brakes to work --the steering wheel locked up and I was approaching a "T" in the road where I either needed to turn right or left or land in a field. Because I couldn't get the car to stop OR turn I ended up hitting a ditch and flipping the car end over end and landing on it's top. I blacked out for some of it and when I came to and realized I was upside down. I started looking for my cell phone so I could call for help - let me also say that I was on a back road that wasn't heavily travelled so I didn't even know if someone saw this accident. My cell phone was right in plain view and I could easily reach it.

I called my husband first and told him that I had been in a wreck and was upside down, but that I thought I was ok. He was quiet for a moment and then said "How can you be ok? You flipped the car." About that time, there was a knock on the window and a woman asked if I was ok. I told Mr. Man that someone was here to help and I would call him back. I hung up the phone and tried to crawl out of the car...... being that far pregnant and upside, crawling wasn't very easy. I made it to the back door (the front doors were blocked by a large tree on one side and bushes on the other) and started to crawl out.

I remember telling the woman that I was ok, it just was going to take me a little bit "because I am pregnant".... this sent her into panic and she was screaming "SHE'S PREGNANT!!!!!" A gentleman was on his cell phone with 911 and was reporting things, like I was walking ok and didn't see any blood, these kinds of things.

Pretty soon here comes the fire truck.... no ambulance. The firefighters looked me over and I really did appear to be ok. Not even a scratch. The firefighter asked if I wanted an ambulance and I said yes. I remember apologizing and telling them that I lost a baby a year ago and needed to be sure this one was ok. So they called an ambulance.

The ambulance driver did not want to take me to the hospital (he was a punk... and I ended up writing a letter to his supervisor about the whole thing). I remember him telling me that he would take me "but all they will do is check the heartbeat." I told him that was all I needed. I needed to hear her little heart beating.

So, I called my husband and he met me at the hospital -- actually he beat me there and met me at the ambulance.

Everything was ok. The accident caused me to have contractions and I spent the day in the hospital with them feeding me meds to stop the contractions.

The only bruises I ended up with were the bruises from IV's at the hospital to stop contractions.

Shortly after that accident, when Lady Bug was good and ready, she was born to us and is as happy and beautiful as ever!

**edited to add: The day after the accident I was driving by it and I could not understand how I was walking away from it.... there was a LARGE tree and electrical boxes and tree stumps that I managed NOT to hit! It was like God and His angles just picked up my car and placed it down. The tree or the stump could have very easily been lodged in my side!

Bacon and Pea salad

This one is good for potlucks, although I also serve it to my family regularly.


Bacon and Pea Salad:

INGREDIENTS:
6 slices bacon
1 (16 ounce) package frozen green peas
1/3 cup chopped green onions (**I leave these out because the kids don't like them)
1/2 cup Ranch dressing
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 small can water chestnuts, drained and chopped (**I don't always do this and some people don't like them in there... I think it tastes fine with or without)


Place bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat, and cook until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.

Rinse the peas under cold running water to thaw.

In a bowl, toss together bacon, peas, onion, Ranch dressing, and Cheddar cheese.

Kindergarten Crushes

Lefty told us before Valentine's day that he had a girlfriend -- words his mother thought she would not have to hear for several more years -- her name was Hannah. Yesterday he came home from school and told us that he needed to work on a book for Claire. He explained that Claire is his new girlfriend. I asked what happened to Hannah and he said he couldn't spell her name.

Me: "What? What does spelling her name have to do with anything."

Mr. Man pulled me aside and explained that it has everything to do with it when you are five years old!

After I went back in the room, Lefty proceeded to explain to me that he made Hannah a card and spelled her name wrong and she got mad and told him she didn't like him anymore. So they are done.

Then, the funniest thing he told me is that Claire doesn't know how to spell his name, but he doesn't care, he still likes her.

A Tribute to Great Parenting

This is what one of the teachers at the kid's school told me today! I actually got a little teary-eyed when she said that!

Lefty kept insisting that we needed to hollow out some eggs for school, but he didn't know how many or when they were due. So I called the school and asked to talk to the teacher. This is the Spanish class teacher. The boys get Spanish twice a week at this school, which I think is really awesome! Anywhooooo, the teacher called me back and said yes indeed both Lefty and Spirit will need to bring hollowed out eggs in an unbreakable container. She said they can bring as many as they want, but no more than a dozen per kid (a dozen..... per kid....???)

At the close of the conversation she added:

"Let me also say ma'am, that I love your children. They are a tribute to great parenting."

Awwwww, I literally got a little tear in my eye when she said that and again as I typed it! I am so touched -- so touched in fact that I let the "ma'am" comment just slide on past!

My poor little Lefty....

Have you ever had one of those days similar to Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Well, poor Lefty had one of those days yesterday.

First, he was sleeping so soundly that I had to wake him up to get ready for school. Then he spilled his cereal all over himself. Then, while trying to "help" me clean it up, he whacked his elbow on the table, which produced lots of tears. Then this mean ol' mom of his did not like the second outfit he picked out for himself, so I made him change.


So, finally he makes it to school and he forgot to get his lunch card from his teacher (my question--which I only thought and did not voice -- was "how in the world do you forget to get yours as she is handing them out?"), but fortunately the lunch lady gave him lunch anyway.


Then, they head to the auditorium for a "Recognition Assembly" (they had a spelling challenge a few weeks ago and he got 100%) and the poor kid got stuck up on the stage with all these kids and he couldn't get down.... he accidentally pee'd his pants--- which was bad enough BUT then the office put girls pants and underwear on him! He was horrifed! He cried as soon as Mr. Man picked him up! I'm sure they were thinking that school was almost over and it wasn't that big of a deal.... but they should have called us and we would have come sooner!


I washed up the clothes last night and put them in a bag to send back to the "Clothes Closet" at school and I added some boys underwear and some sweat pants. Maybe if that happens to someone else they won't have to wear girls clothes. I felt soooooooo bad for him!

Just give me mac-n-cheese please...

It is a sad day when your 7 year old says "what's for dinner mom?" and you respond with the elaborate new meal idea you found in bloggy land and he says "can't we just have mac-n-cheese?" ...

I usually fix mac-n-cheese and beanie-weenies on the weekends for lunches, but I have had so many new and exciting recipes to try that I haven't even made these lately.

I guess my new recipes are too rich for my son's blood and he would rather just have some good ol' mac-n-cheese! Some good ol' comfort food! Actually, that isn't true either I found this recipe for Flavorful Pot Roast over at Ramblings of A Crazy Woman that Spirit told me to "add to the 'Make Again' list" (which I don't really have a "Make-Again" list, I guess maybe I need to start one!)

I just thought it was hilarious that I was planning such an elborate meal and all he wanted was some good ol'fashioned mac-n-cheese!!

We made an offer on a house

Sooooo, we made an offer on a house. This is the sixth house that we have liked and wanted to put an offer on. Some of the others we never went through with offers because it had either already sold, had offers or had a contract already.

This one is one we looked at over the weekend and decided we liked it. They lowered the price yesterday - which would be good news to some, but there are 2 other offers on it (not sure if they went in before or after the price reduction) AND we liked it BEFORE the price reduction. So we went ahead and wrote our offer a little higher in hopes that we will come out ahead of the other offers. Our realtor told us it could be 3 or 4 days before we hear back from them.... ugh! This whole house-buying stuff is annoying! :o)

The down side to this house is that my washer/dryer won't fit so I will have to buy a new set. I also don't think my couch will look good in there so I will have to work on that too ;o)

Leaking brain

My FIL went to the hospital and it turned out he had a stroke. He is fine no and it appears he has no lasting affects of the stroke.


When they first took him in and started doing some tests they found what they thought was "leakage on his brain". When Spirit overheard me on the phone telling someone this, he panicked. I later found him and Lefty whispering in their room. I asked what was going on and they both thought they were in trouble and said "nothing."


I quizzed them some more and found out that Spirit was concerned "grandpa won't be able to do math anymore." I asked why not and he said "Because his brain is leaking." I had a little discussion with both of them about how the doctor wasn't even positive there was leakage, but if there was any it is probably fine and that it might just be a little "ouchy" in the brain, like a cut or something. (yes I was making this stuff up) But I tried to reassure them that his BRAIN wasn't leaking out of his head or anything.


They both seemed ok with my lousy answer and after we found out that grandpa was going to be ok, then I was sure to tell them that grandpa was ok!