This is Ed after getting up at 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning, painting the entire day until 11:45 at night, getting up at 6 a.m. Sunday morning and painted until 5:30 a.m. Monday morning and slept until 6:45 to get up and move furniture for the carpet guys. (and was up at 4:30 a.m. this morning to finish painting).











This is me after staying up until 11:30 Saturday night (after cooking and painting all day), getting up Sunday to go have a blast and exude a ton of energy leading 1-4th graders, running around after church for dinner and free drinks and staying up until 1 a.m. painting. (i was pretty much useless Monday).





My husband is amazing. I love working with him and I think we make a great team. :)

pop goes the weasel

I remember getting my mom a plaque for her 50th birthday that said:


Middle age is when you hear Snap, Crackle, Pop
and you're not eating cereal.


I've been snapping and crackling for the past few years, but today was the pop. Last week I celebrated the 33rd anniversary of my birth and today I am feeling every one of those 33 years. I had hurt my back last week bending backwards while painting the ceiling. It took awhile to heal and the pain was almost gone. Until today. While taking the garbage out with my hair icing up and my nose hairs freezing and dropping off like icicles, I slipped and righted myself only to hear the infamous pop. I managed to get the garbage out, came in, popped some red pills and turned on the heating pad.

If you can avoid it, don't get old. It's not fun and roses.

happy heart day

There are many things that make my heart happy. 3 in particular are:

1. My amazing husband whom I have loved, and has loved me, through many mountains and valleys, for the past 16 years.
2. My always thinking son who has now figured out how to unlock the bathroom door (from the outside) with a quarter.
3. My adorable daughter who loves others, pink, and dancing.

Happy heart day everyone!

monkey business

I've been wanting to use this piece of dishware ever since it was purchased at the amazing paper sale I and some friends went to before Christmas. This platter called to me. I heard it the moment I stepped in the door. It looked all lonely and forlorn sitting there, so I just HAD to buy it. Today I broke it in.

This fine specimen of a platter is holding today's first attempt at monkey bread. My eyes were weary looking for a recipe that used homemade dough instead of pop-the-can biscuits. Finally after searching high and low (more like up and down arrows) I found one that used home made dough AND used the bread maker. Double score!!

It is still sitting on the platter. Ooey and gooey. Alina's licking her chops and I'm typing as fast as I can so I can scramble over and pull that first warm, yummy morsel off the side. Gut feeling is it will be gone tomorrow.

yummy (healthy) treats

Now that the bread is gone, I needed something to snack on today. And I knew it should be healthy. Alina was asking for some crackers today, which of course we don't have any. I remembered seeing a homemade cracker recipe on 101 cookbooks. So I scooted over there and started perusing. In her post she said these tasty crackers would go well with midnight hummus. Hmmm...that sounded interesting. So I clicked on the hummus link and I actually had everything to make it.

So today I tried two new recipes. For the midnight hummus, I used black beans instead of the beluga lentils and only put in a 1/2 teaspoon of cumin instead of the 2 teaspoons it called for. I didn't have the semolina flour for the crackers so I used regular white four. They took longer than I thought to roll out, but it made SO many (at least 150+ crackers total) it was well worth it. I was wishing I had some parmesan cheese to sprinkle on them too, but alas, I used it all for the alfredo sauce I made the other day. Herbs I used were dill weed and oregano and spices were a turkey rub and paprika. Alina was eating them as fast as I was taking them out of the oven. Super easy! Yummy and I'm thinking better than store bought crackers.

Here are the recipes if you're interested.

Olive Oil Crackers
Midnight Hummus

yummy treats

Some new things that have been made over the past few months. And no, none are REALLY good for you, but that's why they're treats!!

Yummy gummy gum drops! Super easy and tasty to boot!










Teapot cake for Anne's baby shower













Cinnamon Swirl Bread (from Taste of Home's Contest Winner cookbook). I made this this morning and it filled the house with an amazing aroma.





No time for commentaries. Another piece of bread is calling!

brain is toast. i think it's all the paint fumes that have been inhaled over the course of the weekend. And I should be worried when Ed sprayed the crack sealant (it's like spray paint but for wall/ceiling cracks) my words were, "I really like the smell of that".

Non flowing conversation.

Sam: Mom, bad news. I broke my backpack zipper.
Me: Huh. We'll just look downstairs for another one.
Sam: Mom, guess what. I'm lucky. I only have 2 homework papers.
Me: Great! You'll fly right through them.
Sam: Mom, guess what!?! (this one was said with a brilliant smile). I just counted to 210 while going to bathroom. By 5's!
Me: Wow! Great job!
Sam: Mom? Can I have a W.H.O.L.E. cupcake for dessert tonight?
Me: sure.
Sam: For snack can I have peanut butter on strawberry frosted mini wheats?
Me: Ummm....if you want to?
Sam: Will I die? If I mix them, will they make poison?
Me: No.
Sam: Do you want some? Have you ever tried it?
Me: Uhh...no thanks.

1 pair of white socks.
1 pair of wool socks.
1 pair of slippers.
1 pair of long johns.
1 pair of sweat pants.
1 long john top.
1 thick sweat shirt.
1 button up heavy shirt.
1 fleece blanket.
1 rocking chair by
1 lit fireplace.
1 broken furnace.
1 adventerous night!

test 3

Last night I made this. Warm snow pea and chicken salad. It could've used a bit less of the sauce (tahini, light soy, rice vingar, and sesame oil (but i used olive oil as I had no sesame oil)). It took forever to slice the snow peas into thin pieces, but Alina helped in putting them in the bowl (and eating the peas out of them). It was three out of four thumbs up. Sam didn't care for it. He said he liked broccoli better than this dish. I told him that was good to know as I'd make something with broccoli in it for the next dinner. His words, "I like this! Never mind!" I explained to him that it will give him lots of energy in gym.

Today he came home and said, "Mom, I'm glad I ate that last night! It gave me lots of energy in gym today. I ran one lap and ran out of gas, but I rested and filled right up again and I kept running and running!"

Can't beat that.. :)

Test one. test two.

A few weeks ago, I said that some new recipes were going to be whipped up in my kitchen. Two have taken place.

The first was taco's. I used this recipe for taco meat and this recipe for shells.

The seasoning for the meat was cumin, oregano and chili powder. Beats all the salt in a packet of seasoning (and was less expensive)! It was SO very yummy and so very good for you. I used ground chicken instead of ground beef. Threw in a can of diced tomatoes with chili's and that was it. Three out of four thumbs up (it was a bit too spicy for the princess).

The taco shells were corn tortilla's, with some olive oil sprayed on them, sprinkled with chili powder and laid over two grates on the oven rack and baked. Again, very yummy.

Second was Cucumber and Black-eyed Pea Salad. I was a bit skeptical about this one, but there was barely any left after the four of us were done with it. Cucumbers, black-eyed peas, red pepper, onions, black olives, feta cheese and an olive oil/lemon juice/oregano/ground pepper dressing. Four out of four thumbs up. I will definitely be making this again. Maybe throw in some cut up chicken breasts for some extra protein.

Tonight is either going to be Warm Snow Pea and Chicken Salad or Pasta with Creamy Mushroom Pea Sauce. Will give results after consumption.

memorieeeees....all alone in the moonliiiiight

This weekend we cleaned out our storage room. 1st off, how we've accumulated SO much since living here is beyond me. We've bought next to nothing, but yet still have so much STUFF! Ed's car is packed full and ready for a trip to Goodwill today. One of the many things I had to go through was a large bag of stuffed animals. Some I kept, some I packed in the car, some I gave to Alina. The hardest thing to get rid of was this:


I won this stuffed six foot neon pink flamingo at Cedar Point back in high school during the yearly youth group trip. I carried it on my shoulders around the park until we left. I've not been able to part with it. But now with having to think about packing our entire house and moving 2000 miles, I knew it was time to let it go. If you by chance want a six foot neon pink stuffed flamingo, let me know. Ed won't be going to Goodwill until this afternoon. Sigh....



I did, though, keep the baby neon stuffed pink flamingo and gave it to Alina.

A rare find!

I found a true treasure digging through an old box of stuff.
Circa 7th grade.

Jean's autograph book: Signed by other kids (a bunch of notebook paper stapled together to form a book)

Jean,
Good luck in the future and the guys! Don't wait for them go get'em! Make 'heart' not war! Nicki

Jean,
Hi. I hope you have a great summer. Maybe I will see you this summer. Well good luck with that boy of yours. bff. Karisa

Have a fun summer, good luck with the guys. Eric

Jean,
Have a great summer. I will never forget you and I will miss you. Call me every other weekend. Not on week days because I will be gone.

Jean,
Hi and bye! the year went so fast! Remember me when you're eating a banana! See ya in Big Bad 8th! Surfers smile sexy so smile surfers style. Roketa "Chaquita"

Jean,
B.Y.O.G. Bring your own gum. Chris

Hey Babe! Miss me! Love, Steve

Jean,
Have a great year in "88" and may the guys be with you! It's been fun this year being a friend of yours and have fun with Eric B! Call me if you want. Ryan

And I didn't include the "explicit" ones as who knows what kind of people I'd get reading this!

So there you have it. I must've been guy crazy in 7th grade and I must have had a GREAT summer with all those well wishes.

changed my mind

Today I went to work on my list of to-do's. One was to scratch the tape off the handrail and sand it a bit so it can be painted. It's full of black marks, paint, indentations, scratches, gouges and you name it. A thought flashed through my brain. "I wonder if I could sand all this stuff out?" So I got the tape off and started sanding. And kept sanding. And more sanding. Oh....the beautiful wood underneath the who knows how many years of use. Luckily I stopped and told Ed over IM and his sensible brain suggested I stop and finish painting the last coat on that wall so no paint drips on the newly sanded part.

I know it's just a handrail, but with not having really re-done any woodwork before, this is very exciting for me. I started having flashes of scouring estates sales and finding gems to refinish. This is very, very scary mind you. A new hobby is a dangerous thing...

Now I need to go blow my nose to get all the sand-dust out.

New recipes

This week I'm going to be trying some new recipes that I found in the Eating Well magazine I was receiving.

Cucumber and black eye pea salad.
Home made taco's with baked corn tortilla's and meat with spices out of the cupboard instead of out of a packet.
Thai pizza.
Warm snow pea and chicken salad.

We'll see how each turns out. I'm excited as all contain lots of veggies and good-for-you ingredients. We'll see how the judges (aka husband, son and daughter) vote.

Tonight was a fast and super duper yummy meatless stewish type dish. Black beans (which the kids love), corn and diced tomatoes. I threw in some oregano, chili powder and cumin. Stirred it up and viola. Dinner.

what a 3 year old can teach you

So last night on the way to church, Alina was singing a make up song and Sam was talking to his Leapster in the backseat. I wasn't really paying any attention to what they were saying until I honed in to what Alina was actually singing. "I love being meeee!!!" over and over again. Then she said, "Mom! Say 'I love being me!!'". I aquiessed and then asked her if she loved being her. "Yes! Do you love being you Mom?" Ahhh....what a great question. I know the 'right' answer. But really, deep down? Do I love being me? How many times do I want to be like someone else? So many I've lost count. Why can't I be joyful for the way my Creator has made me? I'm not like any one else in the entire world. And yet I become dissatisfied with how He made me. Discontent that so and so is better at such and such a thing. How many times I say, "I'm not good enough." or "I wish I was...." In a way it's telling God that He didn't do a good enough job.

And an off shoot of that is what kind of example am I setting for her? If I'm not satisfied with who I am, will she be satisfied with who she growing up in the world we live in? More than likely no.

So thank you my sweet princess for the 2x4 in the head to knock some sense into me that I need to LOVE BEING ME!

Yesterday I ventured out to do some last minute christmas buying (though, I hadn't even been shopping yet, and technically, it wasn't "last" minute) and some much needed grocery shopping (a family can only take so much pasta and spaghetti sauce in a week). The kids and I hopped in the minivan (courtesy of my brother who went to FL for Christmas) and off we went. Kohl's wasn't bad at all. Nor was the 2nd place we stopped (can't quite say as I know Ed will read this before Christmas. Hi my sweet!) We made a quick trip home to drop Sam off and Alina and I cruised the back roads to Meijer. I should've known it was going to be crazy when I had to go down three rows of parking spaces before finding an open one. My 2nd clue as to the craziness was when we walked into the store and you couldn't see down the aisle that had all the checkout lanes. The lines were backed up into the clothes department. But we continued on. We needed the essentials (milk, fruit, veggies, ice cream) to get through another week or so (especially now with Sam home...he's a non-stop eating machine. I tell him no so many times in the day that he can't have a snack as he just ate an hour ago. Boys).

We got all the shopping done and of course, stopped at all the free sample places so Alina could get nourished. One of the samples, I thought, was cheese. Like the kind you squirt out of the can. When I went up, the nice lady said, "would you like to try a pancake?" Turned out to be pre-made pancake mix that you squirt out of a bottle (like ready whip) onto your skillet. And viola! Pancakes! and the kicker was that it was organic. Interesting.

So onto the checkout lane we went. I have never. Ever. Seen such craziness. You couldn't walk down the checkout aisle to find the shortest line. I had to weave through the jewelry, clothes, and lingerie before finding the "shortest" line. I called Ed and said, "I'm at Meijer and there's, oh, 10 people in front of me". His response, "see you in an hour". He was pretty darn close. 40 minutes later I paid. We talked to the people in front of us. The lady in line next to us was a mom of one of Sam's classmates from Kindergarten last year (and who lives two streets away). Alina was a HUGE trooper. And it was interesting watching people. No one was stressed out, going crazy or getting upset because everyone had to stand in line forever. And ever.

The next time I think I'll be standing in line for 40 minutes, I won't buy ice cream. And will I stock up on perishables if I somehow know that we'll lose power in a wind storm for half the night (with it being in the 50's) and half of the next day? No. probably not (but the upside to that is, the temperature plummeted down to 1 degree with the wind chill in a matter of hours, so it stayed chilly enough in here to keep the food from going bad!).

Nothing good can come of eating only 2 cookies the entire day.
And that being at 5:45 tonight.
Oh! And some sweettarts.
yeah..real good.
no lectures needed. I know. i know.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Sunday our tree finally went up. Had to finish painting the living room before the tree could go up. One more project completed.


Our mirrored wall around the fireplace was nice until it was covered with fingerprints (which took about 2 seconds after we moved in). I hardly wash the windows, so the mirrors never got cleaned. So what do you do with something so breakable? Why break it of course!





After the first break, we found this absolutely adorable shade of brown paneling underneath.








Now, no memories of mirrors or fingerprints.









So with that done (and the green wall you can see the reflection of in the 1st picture now matches the rest of the room), the tree could finally go up!

Sunday the four of us fluffed branches and got them all in place. I put the lights up. And that's how the tree sat until last night. Ed works late on Wednesday's, so I gave the option to the kids of either decorating cookies or the christmas tree. Christmas tree was the unanimous vote (cookies are tonight's project).

This year I took a different approach to decorating the tree. I sat on the floor and was in charge of all the hooks. I let the two of them put the ornaments up with no help from me. So the top 1/4 of the tree was bare. :) They did a fantastic job and I had to let go of my left-braininess and not make everything look symmetrical. I kept telling myself (amidst breathing exercises) that it was OK to have three pink balls all in a row or a large section of bare branches. It was difficult, but I survived. After they went to bed, the few ornaments that fell off, I put up top.

This morning I put the tree back in place and added the final touch: Henreitta (she's our angel). I think this is the longest we'll have had our tree up since we've lived in this house.

JOY!

Last night when the decorations were being brought out, Alina found the box that houses our stocking holders. Since the stocking holders are porcelain, we've stuffed shredded paper around them to keep them from injury. I pulled the stocking holdings out and Alina started throwing the shredded paper in the air.

"I'm spreading JOY!" she said. I gave her a few throws and then asked her to put clean it up and put it away.

Today a package came in the mail and sure enough, crinkle paper was in the box. She asked if she could play with the joy. How can one say no to that?
So out came all the blue crinkle paper. She danced through the house singing, "JOY! JOY! I'm spreading JOY!" while throwing bunches of paper into the air.


She's not liking that she has to clean her joy up, now that it's all out of the box.