I'm not feeling like my usual self this year. It's Dec 3rd and all my decorations are up and the storage boxes are back in the garage. Usually the storage bins would sit around waiting to be slowly emptied, then waiting to be taken out. The whole job wouldn't be completed until 1 to 2 weeks before the big day, and even then there might be storage boxes still in my room. The whole thing would leave me feeling a little drained because of all the chaos.
I have my son to thank for the change, daughter helped too. Brent wanted to bring the boxes in on Thanksgiving. He convinced us to let him set up one of the trees and put the lights on. The next day we unloaded all the boxes. It took us the rest of the weekend to put everything it it's place, but we ended the weekend out of holiday leftovers and fully decorated. A success as far as I was concerned. Despite my feelings, Brent would have liked it done a little faster.
So now, for the first time I'm relaxing and enjoying just how pretty all the Christmas decorations are.
My son loves pie, especially pumpkin pie. I have been attempting to perfect a pumpkin pie cake and succeeded this weekend. It was almost gone before I remembered to take a picture of it. The taste and texture is surprisingly similar to pumpkin pie. There is no frosting, just homemade, lightly sweetened whipped cream, though store bought could be substituted. Cream cheese frosting would be delicious, making it a much richer cake. I've just added the recipe to
Nibbledish.
The other morning I was wasting time farming on Facebook while my hubby was watching ESPN, when I heard something one of the many announcers said. "The secret to happiness is forgetfulness". I laughed. The odd thing; that has been stuck in my head over a week now. When I catch myself fretting over things I can't control or change, there it is. Then I thought, what if I just forgot? Easier said than done, I know. But it is a helpful reminder to put the things out of your head that cause unsightly frown lines when there is nothing you can do about them. Happiness, maybe not, but I know less worry would make a better life. I guess ESPN isn't completely useless after all. Who knew?
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This Wednesday was our first meeting on the new night. There were a lot of firsts. It was one of the best meetings we have had. The girls were getting along well and were really excited about the things we were planning. Maria, my new co-leader, fits the group really well. She had a lot of exciting ideas about upcoming activities and we worked really well together. We are working on a troop Interest Project, one on plays, and there are some small groups and individuals doing Interest Projects too (jewelry, dance & reading). We have our plan for Halloween down and are heading into our fall fundraiser. I have high hopes for this year.
Well, this morning I did my part. Brent looked at the sad, brown bananas and informed me it was bread time. I have a sneaky suspicion that they purposely stop eating them leaving enough for a recipe. Today there were enough for two recipe's, yeah double batch.
A week ago last Sunday, I broke one of my wisdom teeth. Yes, it hurts. Tomorrow I am scheduled to get them removed. After being on pain killers for a week, I am actually looking forward to it, which I think was their plan all along. I have felt tired, dizzy and generally a little stupid. I can't imagine taking pain medication regularly.
It is so cute, every night they cram themselves into a single nesting box (there are six). They just can't bear to separate. That won't last. The box is getting pretty full.
It was drizzling this morning, so I was treated to this rainbow. Darn cell phone cameras, it was much better in person. Callie has asked to join me on my morning walks. She will start tomorrow.
The duck weekend has come to an end. JT is off today, so the kids are having a really hard time going back to business as usual. I'm thinking today will be no school.
Last night Brent cuddled with us and pleaded to sleep with us. I'm a complete sucker, so I immediately said it was fine with me. He is so cute and I know too well that this phase will pass. JT, who loves his sleep, was a little more reluctant. Whenever Brent sleeps with us I begin to question our choice of a queen size bed. He is a roller and a hugger. It was a rough night. Just after 2 I heard JT get out of bed and talk to Brent. I assumed he was taking Brent to bed, unable to handle it anymore. However, when I woke this morning it was Brent I was sleeping next to. JT had gone to bed in Brent's room. This is the second night in a row. JT had gotten home late the night before and Brent and I were already asleep. JT just crashed in Brent's room. This morning, JT informed Brent that he has officially outgrown sleeping in bed with us. :( Brent wants to negotiate and have 1 night a month. We'll see.
Near the end of my walk today the sky was so pretty I thought I'd take a picture. It was prettier in person. I need to start leaving a little later; it was too dark when I left the house this morning.
I'm not sure if it was the alarms on my phone that woke me a few times last night to check for a clear sky to see the Perseid Meteor Shower, or the long day yesterday shopping in Las Cruces but we are all slow moving this morning. The kids are just now eating breakfast, which is really late for us. I'm doing my part to wake up, drinking copious amounts of caffeine riddled bean juice, but so far no impact has been felt. Maybe I need a nap, not just a nap in a cup?
I am excited about a new kitchen purchase. I got a 6.5 quart enameled cast iron dutch oven. It is a beautiful deep graduated red and I have wanted one forever, or at least as long as I have known of their existence. Now I just need to decide what to make first. Here is a picture of it from the company website. It is a lot redder and brighter in person; they need a new photographer.
Today has already been busy; laundry, school planning - the usual. In addition we moved the nuggets into the second hutch and cleaned the first. Not too bad. We moved them individually and took the opportunity to get an updated individual portrait. They have changed so much, it is amazing that the kids never hesitate and know exactly who each one is. Their updated pics are on the
homeschool blog.
We also moved them out of the protection of the garage, just for the day. They are in a shady location by our grapes. This lead the kids to start snacking. The grapes are quite good. They do have small seeds, but are still yummy for eating. We never seem to be able to collect enough to make jam. Maybe next year.
This morning at the park was especially nice, crisp and cool, but the grass was wet and we found ourselves on the cement. It worked. We went to GS park this morning. The park was empty except for us, apparently 7:30 am is just too early for everyone else. The only disappointment was that I left my coffee sitting on the counter at home.
There was an occasional dog and their owner that passed by.
We were at the park this morning just after 7:30am. Why so early? To enjoy the cool air before the heat sets in. The park was quiet and full of grasshoppers this morning. I love getting out and being in nature everyday.
Apparently I am in a green mood. Even my pen was green this morning. I don't have a green travel mug, or I'm sure my coffee would have been in it.
The nuggets will be spending the warm hours of the day in one of the hutches outside. The kids will still be bringing them in a couple at a time for cuddles.
We spent about an hour or so this morning painting one of our windows. We will try to get a window a day done until they are all blue.
We built the coops this weekend. They didn't take long at all. They are nice and open for ventilation in the hot summer and have "walls" to add to keep them warm in the winter. We are prepping one of the hutches for the nuggets to move into soon during the day to give them more room to run.
Well, after the first rough night I set the nuggets up with their heat lamp and opened a door with a fan to direct the breeze to our part of the area. This worked perfectly, the little Nuggets were plenty warm and slept like babies, while JT and I stayed cool and comfortable. Yeah!
In addition before we all headed to bed and were setting up the kids were watching the Nuggets and a small moth flew in the cage, it was like lightening stuck, the Nuggets were off after the unfortunate insect and quickly dispatched him. They made a few more kills before they hit the sack.
We were able to get the 15 bodies needed to qualify for the group discount for next weeks GS Wet and Wild Trip! I'm looking forward to a day of fun. We still haven't got another leader, but it's possible. We'll see.
After my first night with the Nuggets I need a nap. It's probably not what you think, the little guys went to bed and were silent all night. It was the heat. I'm used to have a lovely breeze with the windows open, but the Nuggets need to be kept at 95 degrees during their first week. We had everything closed up and It was overwhelming. I am going to try something new tonight. Here's hoping.
I have GS tonight. We are doing spray bottle tie dye shirts and eating pizza. I have my hopes high we will get the 15 people required to go to Wet & Wild next week.
Today we completed setting up the backroom for the nuggets. I'm a little nervous about sharing a room with the nuggets, but I'm optimistic. Plus, it won't last long. The coops are arriving tomorrow and in a few weeks they will be old enough to sleep outside. The nuggets were born today and should be here by Thursday.
She's back from her month long camping trip and she showed up at my door bearing meat. What a good friend. Sausage, the best ever, that I order from her once a month had arrived. She had a great time on her trip, covering over 5,000 miles! This is quite a feet considering she was with husband and 4 kids in a pop-up travel trailer.
JT and his team have a habit of losing games when I go, or at least that is how it appears. This is fine with me, Callie and I enjoy this time without the guys and watch silly movies like Gidget or our favorite series du jour Gilmore Girls. But JT asked me to go to the game so I went. There were jokes about the team losing because I was there and me and the other wives thought it was an excellent idea to get banned from the games. But alas they won and I have been invited back. I still don't go to the 9pm games (or later), too late for me!
We have continued in homeschooling and as of 7/7/09 we started a new school year. We only do school 4 days a week and take a ton of time off at the holidays. The kids prefer it this way and act incredibly bored if we have nothing planned. I have to say, it is keeping me busy. I'm having trouble finding time for other things.
Today we ordered our Easter Egger Chickens. They lay a variety of colored eggs. We are very excited. I have had a few different local sources for eggs, but nothing that stays consistent. We consume a lot of eggs here, so we finally decided to just do it ourselves. This way we could have a fairly continuous source and know what the chickens were being fed and how they were being treated. We ordered 9 hens and 1 rooster. They will be arriving during the week of the 20th. They will be born on Monday, July 20th. Not sure how they get all the chicks to be only born on Monday. Anyway,we are collectively calling them the nuggets.
We hit the yard sales (and donut shop) this morning. We didn't find much today, but I did run into Donna from the Library. Well, she isn't from the library anymore. She is no longer working there, which is very sad news for us. Luckily we now know where she lives and plan to stay in touch. She was so helpful to me and the kids in our homeschooling, her presence at the library will be missed.
A happy note, she has huge peach trees and promised us some peaches!
Seed catalogs are now causing our mailman trouble. He has had to walk them to the door a couple times, and I get the feeling he doesn't like to get out of the truck. I am planning our garden boxes for next year already. The kids are getting into the spirit. Callie is insistent we plant pink potatoes and purple carrots. Brent is all about the pumpkins.
I found all these pictures online
I love cooking, but for some reason I am slow to get the simplest of tools. I am currently using my microwave as a timer. This has many drawbacks. First, you can't use the microwave at all during that time. Also, it beeps once, quietly, then just waits silently to see if I noticed. I have been wanting one for years and currently have my eye on this one.
Additional note, I also need a tape measure. The last time I needed one, I used yarn and a 12" hard ruler.
Tonight I kept it simple, combining leftovers - the homemade mac and cheese, with simple Pork Chops with Herbs de Provence, roasted potatoes with a green pepper from our garden & a corn succotash.
We spent most of the day at home, then headed through the crowd to view the local fireworks from the Rock Club. We had stayed home last year and thought we would be able to see them from our roof deck. We were only able to see a few. This year we found out why. I have never seen a fireworks show so low. I took pictures and a movie, but we have lost the SD card. If we find it, I'll add pictures.
Unlike the ones I wear, these heels might actually be comfortable. These heels aren't for us ladies, they are for babies. I just saw these on Jon Stewart and am torn about how I feel about them. Luckily I don't have to make a decision, since my daughter is 12.
Yes, I'm one of those people who use color coded cutting boards. The set I have now I got at IKEA and they are really handy. I place them on top of my loved wooden cutting board. This protects my wooden board and solves the problem of the small tiles on my kitchen counter. The IKEA ones are flimsy and need to be on a completely flat surface. My only real complaint about my current set, besides the fact that I melted one corner of the steak board, is storage. These take up space. My cupboards aren't big enough for them to stand up, so they lie flat and take a ton of precious real estate. My kids, who do most of the dishes, are constantly putting things on top of them and it turns into a magic table cloth trick pulling them out. This brings me to the Index Chopping Boards at the MoMA Store. They also appear to be firm. Yes, counter space would be lost, but they look so cool! To me, I've been told I'm a geek/nerd.
OK, I know I just had an Animal Crossing post here recently, but I can't help it. This made me laugh out loud, literally.
Callie picked our first baby watermelon today. It was very sweet and tasty. Brent still doesn't like watermelons, but I'm not taking that personally.
Well, I was in the mood for potstickers and this is what happened. Check out my recipe at
Nibbledish. I wanted a healthful version, so these have lots of veggies and are made with lean ground turkey. Brent was a great assistant.
They don't often all occupy the same space.
It's Sunday, so I thought I would confess my addiction to Animal Crossing. Our whole family has it, JT is almost out of rehab, and we all play it regularly.
Lily is extremely disappointed in Walker
I'm the one in the back wearing a custom designed dress, crown and smirk.
Sorry if you were hoping for something more in your confessions.
Brent and I grabbed coffee, sausage rolls & donuts and hit the road this morning looking for treasures. Brent nabbed a Starwars gun, mini golf club/pen & WA mug.
I got this chair for $7 and plan to make a cover for it.
This is for Callie's room. $0.25
These votive candle holders need to be cleaned, but will look great outside. They were $0.25 each.
All I wanted was the egg salt and pepper shaker, but she insisted I take the set for $0.50.
This too is for Callie's room. We are trying to decide now what color to paint it. I got it for $3.
