Whiny baby

I don't have the little baby in my house anymore who needs to be held while I am trying to cook dinner, and set the table, and do dishes, and and and. But last night Lady Bug brought her baby doll to me and said that the baby was crying and wanted me to hold her. I asked if there is anyway I could hold her later since I was trying to cook dinner. Nope. Baby Sarah (the doll's name) really needs to be held right now.

So I held baby Sarah as I cooked, stirred, seasoned and prepared our dinner. I held the baby as I walked to our outside freezer to get some vegetables. I held the baby as I placed the items on the table. Finally, Lady Bug told me she wasn't crying anymore and so I could put her down.

It was like having a real infant in the house again. Mr. Man took a picture of me carrying the doll around while I cooked. I refused to post the picture because you should see how incredibly awful I look!

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On a different note, Spirit came home to tell us last night that in art class (which he has once a week at school) is having them draw a picture of what he defines as peace. He started describing it to me and said he drew a border along the edges of the paper and then added some mountains and two birds flying, then drew our family standing there.

awwwww, isn't that sweet? That is how he defines peace - our family in the mountains. *sniffle, sniffle*

Lefty, who goes to the same school and has art once a week also, told me that he wasn't given a choice of what to draw. She told them what to draw to define peace and he really wanted to draw the ocean. I told him can draw a picture of the ocean anytime he wants to. So he ran to the closet to get supplies. He started drawing his ocean and said he will add the family later. *chuckle*

Tag! I'm It! (Updated)

I was tagged by Forever Folding Laundry for 7 Random things about me, this was harder to do than I thought! So here goes nothin':

1. I have a fairly large red birth mark on my right knee and everyone always asks if it is a burn when I wear shorts or a skirt. My brother has a daughter with a similar birth mark, also on her right knee.
2. I always wanted to be a teacher, my mother wanted me to be a lawyer so I started in the legal field during college and haven't left. I am not a lawyer though. Sorry mom.
3. I love 80's music!
4. I love old movies, like Singing in the Rain, The Sound of Music, The Music Man, etc.
5. I love to eat peanut butter by the spoonful, but dipping carrot sticks into it is good too!
6. I am blessed to have not one, but two parents who went gray in their late teens-early twenties so because of this I dye my hair on a regular basis so that I don't look like Mrs. Clause (as in Mrs. Santa Clause!) with my white hair! Thanks mom and dad!
7. Last, but not least I can not walk by a sale without stopping (and probably buying too). The bright colored SALE signs make my heart skip a beat!

*UPDTAED*

I forgot to put down who I am tagging for this:

Jacki

Misty

Aubrey

Kelly

Wendy

Marinated Asparagus

As I do every Friday, I am posting one of my favorite recipes, or at least one we have tried and enjoyed in our home. This week as I was trying to decide which recipe to post, a friend of ours, who recently had a baby, called me up (actually her husband did) and asked if I would give them the recipe for this asparagus so I decided that would be the recipe to post this week!

My aunt gave me this recipe when I was putting together a cookbook for my niece's wedding. Here is what she emailed to me when she gave me the recipe: "This is often asked for when we are going to potlucks and I never take any home."

I tried it out at a BBQ we went to over the summer and it was a huge hit! Mr. Man was hesitant to eat room temperature asparagus but after he tried it he loved it! It makes more than one family could eat, say for dinner, though.

MARINATED ASPARAGUS

1 - 2 lbs asparagus, snapped off at base to remove tough, fibrous part of stalk. Trim and blanch asparagus spears in boiling water until bright green (about 2-3min.) Asparagus should be tender-crisp. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop cooking. Drain very well, blotting spears with paper towels to remove all water.

Combine the following:
grated zest of one lemon and one orange
1/3 cup good quality extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
3-4 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
2 Tbsp chopped parsley (Italian or otherwise)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Place thoroughly dry asparagus in gallon size zip-lock bag and pour lemon/olive oil mixture over it. If making ahead of time, close bag and lay it flat on shelf in refrigerator, turning bag occasionally to be sure all spears are evenly coated. Bring to room temperature before serving.

***NOTE: If preparing to serve immediately, let asparagus sit in marinade at room temperature at least a half hour to absorb flavors.

can I have a drink?

No not me..., although maybe I need one!

Lady Bug called for me after she had been in bed all of about 1.2 seconds and wanted a drink of water. I told her no because she already had one.

"hmmmpf." she said.

A few minutes later she called again asking if she could have two drinks of water. I told her no. We would get drinks in the morning.

"hmmmpf." she said.

Yet again she calls out, this is maybe after she has been in bed about 6 or 7 minutes. She now asks if she can have three drinks of water. Why did she think her chances of getting a drink would improve if she asked for more than one?

Anyway, I told her no.

"hmmmpf." she said.

About 1 minute later instead of calling for me she yells "Daaaaaaaddddyyy!" and starts the process again! He, too, told her no! Darn her luck!

20 things about my man...

I saw this idea over at Raking Leaves in a Windstorm and decided to do this too:

I answered theses 20 questions about my sweet husband, that I affectionately call Mr. Man for purposes of blogging:

1. He is watching TV. What is he watching? Sports of any kind or the news of any kind

2. You’re out to eat. what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Italian

3.What’s one food this person doesn’t like? Fortunately, I married a man who is not very picky. He isn't a big fan of pineapple, but will eat it in small doses. He also is not a huge fan of sub sandwiches (isn't that an odd thing not to like? I think it is!)

4. You go out to the bar. He orders: Well, we do not frequent bars (for one thing he is almost 50 years old for cryin' out loud!) but when we go to a restaurant with a bar he would order a beer or a margarita and even then it is probably only one (light weight...just kidding!) He is truly a Dr. Pepper fan, he has gotten better but he has been known to go through a 12 pack in a day to a day & a half!

5.Where did he go to high school? Honestly, I don't know the name I just know it is in Nebraska!

6.What size shoe does he wear? 8-9

7. If this person were to collect anything, it would be: Well he does collect... a lot of things. He likes Coca-Cola things, cars (of the miniature variety!), football cards and coins. He is somewhat of a pack-rat too (lucky me!)

8.What is his favorite type of sandwich? Please see the answer to #3.

9. He could eat __________ everyday. Marshmallows. When we were first married his favorite "snack" was marshmallows and Dr. Pepper. He was known to eat this in the morning and call it breakfast (gag me!)

10.Favorite cereal? Raisin Bran

11. He wouldn’t be caught dead wearing: Something pink or purple

12.Favorite sports team? Denver Bronco's

13.Who will he vote for? McCain/Palin

14.What is his sign? He is a Pisces

15.What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t? Lose my temper. I am a little bit of a hot head.

16.How many states has he lived in? 3

17.What is his heritage? I am embarrassed to say I don't really know

18. You bake him a cake for his birthday. What kind is it? He is not a huge fan of cake, but sometimes we (the kids and I) make a cake anyway and then I do carrot cake.

19.Did he play sports in high school? He ran track

20. This person could spend hours……watching and/or talking about sports and politics

and the light bulb went off

We all have those kind of "Ah-ha!" moments, but have you ever watched your child have one?

Spirit, who just started 2nd grade this year, has loved to read since he first learned how in kindergarten. But it wasn't until just this past week that he was able to actually comprehend what he was reading. He would read and I would ask him what he just read and he couldn't tell me. Over the summer I tried to keep all the kids involved in reading, we read at night together and I bought them some new books to read. I bought Spirit a chapter book. He wouldn't pick it up. I tried reading with him. He hated it.

Then something changed.

He scoured the bookshelves and found all the chapter books for his age/grade level and started reading them one by one. In the last week he has read and comprehended 3 chapter books. Every chance he gets he is reading. AND he "gets it". When I ask what each chapter is about he tells me - with pretty great detail too! Last week Mr. Man took him the local library and he checked out 3 chapter books and is already done with one. I am loving this!

How exciting! I know this year in his class whenever they read something they have a series of questions to answer and so maybe that has helped him understand what he is reading. I don't know for sure, but am so thrilled to see him enjoying reading so much.

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Here is a random thought: I just realized that one year ago Sunday (September 21) I posted my first blog. wow. I have been blogging for one year already!

UPDATES

I have blogged and whined here about some of our family problems, so I thought I should follow-up with the good news:


WRECKED VAN: The insurance company of the lady who rear-ended me a few weeks ago offered us "market value" for our van. I was concerned that market value meant "not much", so we did our research to find out the value of our van. We also put a low number in our head so that if the adjuster came back with something lower than our lowest value then we would negotiate. The adjuster came back higher than we expected! YAY! They had originally told me that they would pay for 3 days worth of car rental while I shopped for a new car. They apparently changed their mind on that so Mr. Man decided to buy the wrecked van back from them. It is still drivable -- loud and windy, but drivable -- and we still came out pretty good on the settlement end. Now, we just need to find a used car in that price range or possibly put the money down on a newer car and make payments. So things are moving along in the right direction!


LUMP IN HUSBAND'S STOMACH: Mr. Man had his ultra sound and the radiologist said that it could be a hernia or a tumor, although she assured him that tumors found in that particular spot are usually non-cancerous. His doctor called him last Wednesday and said he was pretty sure it is a hernia. He met with the surgeon who said he doesn't agree that it is a hernia, he thinks it is a tumor, but most tumors in this particular location are not cancerous. He also said either way, the surgery and recovery is the same. Now we are in the process of talking with the insurance company to find out what our out-of-pocket costs will be, etc.


TRASH COMPANY TOOK MY TRASH CANS: They brought me back the trash can that same day. They were even nice enough to stick up against my house where I keep it! How nice of them!


I am very pleased with how these things are working out! Thanks for being my sounding board over the last few months!

Spirit

Spirit (7 yo), has a small rock collection. When I say rock collection, I am not talking about the pretty, polished kind. Just rocks he has found that mean something to him. One of the rocks he found up in the mountains when Mr. Man took the boys four-wheeling. Another one he found in grandma's back yard. They are all small, a little bigger than a pea and he has maybe 6 or 7 he carries. He usually keeps them in his pockets and then at night carefully places them in a little box on his desk. I have never really asked him, or understood the significance of these rocks.

Last night, after he was in bed he hollered for me. I went into his room and he asked me if I found his rocks in the washer or dryer when I did laundry. I told him that I didn't find any. He got very sad, almost to the point of tears. I asked why he needed them and he said he carries them and when he gets lonely for us at school he pulls them out and he isn't sad anymore because they remind him of us.

Oh great. Did I throw them away? I didn't remember doing so.

He said he thought he took them with him to grandma's on Friday and maybe he left them there. I told him I would call her today to find out if they were there. By this time Mr. Man came in the room and got the scoop on what is going on. So he found a business card and wrote Spirit a note on the back of it. I had a prayer box that is fairly small that a Sunday school student gave me a few years ago. I asked Spirit if he would like to take it today as a reminder of me. He was so excited.

He proudly carried the prayer box and his dad's business card to school today. Sometimes that kid knows how to melt my heart!

Golden Apple Bundles

This is a great recipe for the fall. Well, really for any time but I find myself making these in the fall more than any other time of the year. These are fairly easy to make and are an easy thing for kids to help make (which is always fun in our house!) In fact, I used to make these with my mom when I was younger and I have very fond memories of that!

Golden Apple Bundles

INGREDIENTS:

2 c chopped peeled apples (almost any ol' apple will do, but my favorites are Fuji and Jonathan)

1/3 c chopped walnuts

1/4 c packed brown sugar

1 Tbls flour

1/2 tsp lemon peel

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

pastry for a double crust pie (I buy mine from the refrigerated section in the grocery store!)

Milk

Sugar

In a bowl, combine apples, walnuts, brown sugar, flour, lemon peel and cinnamon. Set aside. Roll pastry to 1/8" thickness. Cut into 5" circles (I use a Tupperware bowl as a guide). Spoon about 1/4 c apple mixture into center. Moisten edges with water; fold over and seal with fork. Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. reduce heat to 400 degrees and bake 10 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and brush each with milk and sprinkle with sugar, return to oven for 5 minutes.

"Let's move to Costa Rica mom"

We were driving to the store, just the kids and I, and Spirit asks if we are almost there. I said we would be there in about 10 minutes and he immediately says:

Spirit: "Ok. Good. Let's move to Costa Rica, mom"

I think my jaw hit the steering wheel and I said "WHA?"

He said that he had been learning about Costa Rica in school and it looks like a really cool place to live.

hmmm, let me think about that...


LATER THAT EVENING:
Spirit and Mr. Man are laying on the couch watching TV.

Spirit: "Dad? Have you ever been to Costa Rica?"

Mr. Man: No, I haven't."

Spirit: "Well, I want to get an ox cart."

Mr. Man: "Wha?!?!"

Spirit: "Ya, dad. They are really cool."

Mr. Man: "You do know that we have no need for an ox cart, right son?"

Spirit: "Why not?"

Mr. Man: "For one thing we have cars we drive and, ummm, more importantly, we don't farm anything."

Spirit: "Can we still get one, just to look at?"

Meme

My dear friend (who knows way too much about me and could tell you all some of my worst habits!) tagged me for a meme. I don't do these often, because, well, I am a pretty boring person!


But here it goes:


1. Where were you 10 years ago? In September of 1998, I was living in a tiny apartment that was just a few blocks from my boyfriend (whom I am now married to). I was working at a law firm as a receptionist. My life was fairly boring at the time. I was a big crafter back then, doing something crafty every evening after work! Boy have times changed!


2. What is on today's To Do List? Get the kids off to school. Head to work. Meet a friend for lunch. Mail a box of clothes to my mom (I cleaned out my closet!) Back to work for awhile. Head home to fix dinner.


3. What would you do if you were a billionaire? I would pay off our debts. Get the kids college funds set up and a trust fund for them to get after they turn 21. Possibly buy a new house, although I like this one so much, so maybe just do some remodeling. And then there would be the clothes and shoes shopping I would need to do!


4. Name 5 places you've lived:
*Prescott, Arizona
*Arvada, Colorado
*Denver, Colorado
*Portland, Oregon
*Aurora, Colorado


5. Name 3 of your bad habits:
*Shopping too often, on money I don't have!
*Eating too much junk food
*Eating out too much


6. What are your favorite snacks? Chocolate (anything chocolate), potato chips, popcorn


7. Who will you tag for this meme? Anyone who wants to do it can...

Radio for the oldies

There is a local radio station that has been around for as long as I can remember. When I was in elementary school I can remember this station being my dad's favorite station because it played "the oldies". At that time it was songs from the 50's.

Now-a-days, I have my radio stations pre-set in the car and at home to my favorite stations (none of which include Oldies!). This morning, though, as I was driving in to work all of my pre-set stations just had DJ's talking about this and that, politics or whatever. I wanted music and not talking so I pushed the "seek" button on radio and the next station it found was playing music. It was really, really, good music too -- it was Def Leppard! I was so excited. I started singing and dancing in my seat and life was good.

Then the song ended and I heard the DJ say "That was Def Leppard here on Denver's heritage radio station. Where we play your favorite oldies!"

Since when is Def Leppard an oldie? I guess the bigger question is when did my favorite high school songs get old enough to be on the oldies station?? Sheesh. What does that make me? old? Nah, because it was just yesterday I was getting ready for the 9th grade dance listening to Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" song.

The bestest husband

Since I had to work a couple late nights last week Mr. Man took it upon himself, while I was at the grocery store with Lady Bug on Saturday, to clean the house (well not the entire house, but close enough). He recruited the boys and they scrubbed toilets, vacuumed the downstairs, cleaned the counters off in my kitchen, swept the kitchen and cleaned up the playroom, OH! and they even loaded my dishwasher (which is a huge one for my husband...he never does that!)

That was so sweet of him and the boys. It was so nice to spend the rest of my weekend relaxing and enjoying my clean house. The only "work" I did over the weekend was laundry and grocery shopping. Well, of course there was the cooking part too!

Weekends like that don't come often!

Check out this giveaway!

Go check out this cool giveaway at The Pink Potpourri

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Over the last couple of months I have received recipes from 3 different people for Jalapeno Popper Dip/Spread. Each recipe was just slightly different. Last weekend I tried one of the recipes for Mr. Man and some of his friends to eat while they watched football. Let me just say that this was the yummiest dip. E.V.E.R. Mind you, I only tried one version of this so I need to give the others a try to.

Here is the recipe that I tried:

JALAPENO POPPER DIP:
INGREDIENTS:
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise (I actually did just a little less than a full cup) and DO NOT USE MIRACLE WHIP
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
2 ounces canned diced jalapeno peppers, drained (the smallest can is a 4 oz can so I just dumped approximately half of the can)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Stir together cream cheese and mayonnaise in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in green chilies and jalapeno peppers. Pour mixture into a microwave safe serving dish, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Microwave on High until hot, about 3 minutes.

We ate ours with tortilla chips and sliced pita bread.

**NOTE: You could also bake this in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes instead of microwaving it, which would make the cheese nice and browned.

Funk

I am in a funk today.


First of all, remembering 9-11 has me sad. I can remember exactly where I was, who was with me and what we did as soon as we found out. I can remember the feelings that stirred inside me...thinking "these people want to take us out." I remember worrying about what kind of life our children would be living because of this incident. There is a lot more I could say about that, but I just can't right now. I literally have knots in my stomach right now.


Secondly, Mr. Man found a lump in his stomach on Monday night. I didn't want to panic, but begged him to see a doctor immediately. He had an appointment this morning and they are sending him to have an ultra sound done.

Thirdly, I have had to work a lot this week and twice this week didn't get home until 10:00 pm, so I missed out on the evenings with the kids. Normally this doesn't bother me too much, but for some reason today I am wishing I could go to the school and scoop them up and hold them. Maybe this is a result of my feelings from 9-11?

Things will look up soon.

A man and the grocery list

The other day Mr. Man called me at work, he was getting off work early and knew I needed some things at the grocery store so he offered to go for me. He started making a list. I know from past experience that if he doesn't write it down he will get side tracked in the store (you know, the Fruity Pebbles start calling his name!) so I asked if he was writing it down. I got a very reassuring "Yes!"

I proceeded to tell him that we were totally out of toilet paper (thank goodness for boxed Kleenex to save the day) so if he bought nothing else I would be grateful!

When I got home he immediately announced how proud of himself he was. He said he bought several things on sale and got us "stocked up". I wondered what he stocked up on. He told me what he stocked up on:

5 boxes of cereal
2 bags of Clementines
Bananas (I've never stocked up on bananas...!)
Macaroni noodles
Canned pork-n-beans (again, never stocked up on those!)

And I bet you can guess what he didn't stock up on...yep...TOILET PAPER. Not only did he not stock up on it, he didn't even buy any! So much for making sure he wrote it down!

Oh the crafti-ness of me

My wheels have been a spinning and I am getting ready to make some Christmas presents. Every year I sit down and make a list of who I plan to give a present to and then I start searching for the perfect item to make or buy those people.


I have admitted before to being a list maker, I make lists for everything - the Holidays are no different! I could not get through the holidays without my lists. I write down names of people I will make or buy gifts for, which store or online shop I need to go to, approximate cost and then I mark it all off when I am done.


Then if I am making gifts I make a list of what items I need to buy and how much of each one. I keep my lists in my purse or car so when I get a chance to go shopping I have my lists -as you know with kids sometimes the moments can jump up on you so you must be prepared.

Here are some gifts I already know that I am going to do this year:

FOR COUPLES: I am putting together a couples basket, one of them will be filled with a couples devotional, some candles, sparkling wine or cider and some chocolates. A second basket I am thinking about will have a gift card to a movie theatre and some boxed candies and also add a love song (or soft music) CD.


FOR FAMILIES: This year I am giving gifts as a family instead of individual items for each member. One of my SIL's has a tradition with her kids that they work on jigsaw puzzles over the holidays. So I found this website called signals.com and you can order a puzzle of your hometown. That would be some great family time together!


Another basket I am putting together for some of the families we are giving to this year is a "Family Night" basket. I plan to put in a movie, a board or card game, popcorn, candy and maybe some of those Christmas-y bottles of Coca-Cola.


FOR NEIGHBORS: Mr. Man makes the best popcorn balls (I know, funny right?) so I am going to put a few of those together in a basket or a cute bowl with a tag attached that says "We are popping over to wish you a happy holiday season! Thanks for being such great neighbors!"


Another idea I am thinking of is putting together a basket with a pot holder, a wooden spoon, some spaghetti sauce and noodles with a tag attached that reads "With the holiday rush and busyness it brings, please have dinner on us. Thanks for being such great neighbors!"


I have some other ideas I am working on so I will keep you posted! I am hoping to be able to post some pictures too!

Miracle Monday

Beth over at A Mom's Life, hosts Miracle Monday where you can blog about a miracle you have seen, experienced or heard about. I enjoy reading stories people share - it is amazing. This week I decided to share one of my own.

At the end of November or early December last year, a friend of mine found out she was expecting her third child. Within a week she started getting violently sick (not your typical morning sickness) and some bleeding. She called her husband to come get her to take her to the hospital. When they got there the hospital did some tests and told her that she had miscarried the baby. She chose not to do the DNC at that time (mainly because she had heard me talk about my horrible experience with a DNC and it scared her) so she decided to let her body take care of it.

That following Monday (which was 2 days after the ER visit) she decided to schedule an appointment with her regular doctor and do a DNC. At the doctor's office they did some more tests and said they were not 100% convinced she had miscarried. So they scheduled her to return in a couple of days. They did an ultra sound and more tests. Still, they could not determine 100% that she was miscarrying. A few more days go by and she has more spotting. Back to the doctor they go, he says he is now more sure than before (but still not 100%) that she was losing this baby. He asked her if she wanted to do the DNC now or wait until her body "disposed" of it naturally. She opted to wait it out, again based on my horrific stories of the DNC I had after delivering our still born baby.

She told me at this point, that she didn't necessarily feel pregnant, but wasn't confident that she was losing the baby either. I mean, how could she be when the doctor wasn't sure what was happening either? She didn't like his term "dispose of" and that alone made her weep.

About 4 weeks after finding out she was pregnant, she sat and waited and waited for the baby to show itself, one way or another. She asked friends and family to pray for her. She went back to the doctor, at the doctor's request, who did another urine test, a blood test and ultimately an ultra sound too... guess what?

He found a heartbeat. This baby was going to survive after all!! Of course my friend was thrilled and the doctor was in awe.

My friend just delivered her third child last week. A beautiful, healthy baby girl. The doctor still can not explain what was happening in the beginning for those 4 long and painful weeks, but she told him "I don't need an explanation. My God is good and that's all I need!"

God is so awesome!

Friday Frustrations

I usually don't have this many frustrating things happen to me in one day, but here they are, my Friday Frustrations:

1. The trash company picked up our trash AND took my trash cans too! The trash company provides us with the trash cans. We had two very large bins that we were paying for and were not using. I called them two weeks ago to come pick up one bin since we didn't need it. They finally get around to picking it up but instead picked up both of them. I tried to stop the guy but I noticed this as I was getting dressed and I wasn't quick enough! So I called the company and the girl tells me she can not promise me I will get a can back before our next trash collection day! ARGH!
2. Because of the calls I ended up running late to work. Another big ARGH!
3. I got all the way from the parking lot into the office and realized I left my office key in the car. ARGH!
4. After finally getting into the office and starting to get settled I get a call from the insurance company of the lady who hit me last week and they need to have a second adjuster come look at my van because the first guy thinks it is a total loss so they need to have the second guy come out and settle with me. The lady said this guy will come out and tell me what my total loss is and then he will get a check issued. They will be giving me a market value of the vehicle (whatever that means). But I have already done my research and know what the van is worth so they better not try to give me less than that! Oh, and because they base the adjuster's routes on zip code - and the van is parked at the house -- I need to make sure someone is there for the second adjuster between 10 and 5 today. ARGH!
5. The boys and myself woke up with a start to a cold, and Lady Bug's is getting worse. ARGH!
6. A work related frustration: I work in the legal field. I am trying to schedule a 2-day trial. First I make the call to the court clerk to obtain dates, she gives me 5 options. Then I narrow down the dates that work on my boss' calendar, then call the opposing counsel to clear the dates. There are two attorney's on the other side, and of course they are not available for any of the options I provided. So I need to call the clerk for more dates and try again. Come on people let's work together here. There are 4 calendars I am dealing with, just cut me some slack on a Friday, would ya?? ARGH!

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN AND CHECK OUT THE BAKED OATMEAL RECIPE TOO! IT IS YUMMY!

Baked Oatmeal

This baked oatmeal tastes like an oatmeal cookie. Plan ahead because this needs to sit overnight before being baked! I prepared this the night before and then got up and popped it in the oven, headed up to take my shower then it was ready when the kids got up. It worked out perfect!

BAKED OATMEAL
INGREDIENTS:
1/3 c butter
2 large eggs
3/4 c brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 c milk plus 2 Tbls milk
3 c oatmeal (regular or quick cooking)

Melt butter. Grease 1 1/2 quart baking dish with cooking spray and drop in eggs. Beat eggs well. Add brown sugar, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Mix well, making sure there are no lumps. Whisk in butter and both measures of milk, then add oats. Stir well and refrigerate overnight. Bake uncovered at 350 for 35-45 minutes or until set in the middle. Serve hot with warm milk poured over.

Overbooked

I was trying to make plans with an old friend to have coffee, also trying to plan a scrapbooking day with a different friend, also trying to schedule a play-date for Spirit with a friend from our old neighborhood. As I pulled out my calendar I realized that already every weekend is full except for September 13. Every evening is consumed for the next 2 weeks. Some of the events are just mine, or Mr. Man's, some of them are for one or more of the children, some involve us as an entire family. Tonight there is a thing at Lady Bug's preschool AND back-to-school night for the boys, of course both events are at the same time!

For the play-date, the other mother was also pretty booked up so she and I are now looking into October - how insane is that?

As the holidays get closer my calendar is only going to get worse!

Randomness

I have a couple school/kid things rolling around in my head so this post is going to be a strange one (won't be the first time!)

Lady Bug has Spanish class three times per week at the preschool. The teacher is such a sweet lady, probably 60-65 years old. I can never remember her name and she always remembers mine -- I hate when I do that! So last night at dinner I asked Lady Bug what the Spanish teacher's name is. She said "I can't say. She is just a grandma." (When she says "I can't say" it usually means she can't remember, but that took us a long time to figure out why everything was a big secret 'I can't say' -- now we know she just doesn't really know or remember!)

I kinda chuckled when she said she is just a grandma and she looked at me and said
"What? She is all sprinkle-y like a grandma."
Spirit said "Sprinkle-y?"
Lady Bug said "Yea. You know her face is all sprinkle-y, just like our grandmas."

I realized she must have meant wrinkly, it was kinda cute and I know she doesn't mean it bad but I don't want her telling the teacher that!

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I hesitate to post this part of the whirlings from my head because I am afraid I will sound lazy. This is the first year the boys are having to go to an after school program. In the years past Mr. Man has worked out his schedule to be available to pick them up after school. When they started the new school this year we decided to do the after school program and it worked better with Mr. Man's new position at work. The boys are adjusting just fine and have made friends in the program. Here is where my laziness comes in -- one reason I was excited for this program is that, #1 the woman and man who run the program have done it for 25+ years, starting at a YMCA until that closed 9 years ago and have been at the school since, #2 they have a schedule set up and stick close to it. They have outside play time, snack time and a required homework time. If the child does not have homework they are required to sit and do something quietly, read or color or do puzzles.
Where am I lazy? Because in the past years I would get home from work, rush to get dinner on the table, then we would rush to get the boys to do homework and then showered and off to bed. It was stressful and sometimes we would end up doing homework in the morning after breakfast too. With the after school program having a required homework time, the boys are getting most of the homework done before they even get home. Our evenings are so relaxed. Last night I reviewed the stuff they did at the school and then the only homework they had left was each boy was supposed to read for 20 minutes. We all read together, each one with our own books. It was awesome!

Long weekend

Our weekend was relaxing and uneventful!

Friday after work there was a picnic for a company I used to work for that our family had been invited to. We were there until about 7:00 pm, they had catered BBQ, coleslaw, potato salad, veggie tray and several desserts! Spirit started playing Frisbee with one of the adults and I couldn't get him to leave!

After we left there I went to the ER for my neck. I couldn't move hardly at all and was in quite a bit of pain. They did 10 or so X-rays of my neck and back...it took exactly one hour to get all the X-rays done! The doctor looked them over and said nothing looked broken, my pain was just muscle spasms/tension. They gave me a muscle relaxer and told me to do heat and ice treatments on it. I was glad we had a long weekend so I could just lay around and be lazy.

Saturday we didn't do much of anything except lay around! Sunday we decided to go to church where my FIL preaches and then a bunch of us went to lunch. Then around 4 my friend who is visiting here from Texas came over and she made us lasagna then we went to the Improv for a comedy show which was great - I needed the laughs!

Monday Mr. Man took the boys four-wheeling and Lady Bug and I stayed home. I cleaned and did laundry, nothing exciting! The best part of the day was that Lady Bug wasn't feeling 100% (she is coming down with a cold) so she and I took a nap! woot!!

I'm calling grandma

Just before school started Spirit received a post card in the mail from his new teacher that said "Welcome to the Second Grade" and then she wrote a little note on there about how she couldn't wait to meet him.

Lefty checked the mail that day so was very bummed that his teacher didn't send him. He of course announced how bummed he was. Later that night when Mr. Man was putting Lady Bug to bed she told him how she didn't get a post card either and so "I'm gonna call grandma and tell her that my teacher didn't send me a card."

Mr. Man told me about that so I had to quickly call my mom and tell her. My mom and I laughed and my mom said that if it would make Lady Bug feel better that grandma would be happy to call the preschool and tell them about their error in not sending a card!

You know those shirts that say "I'm calling grandma" ?? I think I am going to make or get one for Lady Bug for Christmas...hee hee!