You Don't See That Every Day

So after cleaning the house on Friday we had a little dinner party. Here's what was on the menu: Lasagna, bread, salad, and for dessert - hot fudge pudding cake. The lasagna, well I saved myself from stress, and bought it at Costco, knowing it would taste good and be enough for all of us to eat. The bread was in the bread maker, from a recipe in the manual. It is soft and fluffy for the first day; after that it is good for toast. The piece de resistance was the dessert, in my humble opinion. My mom used to make this "cake" back in my youth, and I love it. I would choose it over Costco round chocolate layer cake anytime (you know the one I'm talking about!?!) So I thought I would share it with those who might not be in the know. Make it for dessert tonight - you won't be sorry. Unless you don't like nuts, and then you might be sorry. Or you could just leave them out. It will still taste great. And it is even lovely the next day. I finished it up for lunch o...

How to get a clean house. A tutorial. First ask your spouse if he has plans for Friday night. Next, happily say Yes! to a friend's invitation to have your son spend the night on Friday. Third, enlist the help of your minions happy children to clean the house -- after going grocery shopping and in between schoolwork on top of the regular chores -- on Friday. Step 4, leave the house in the afternoon and come back 2 hours before dinner, minus one happy child. Then, scare the living daylights out of the children if they so much as move a single couch pillow . I mean, enlist the help of your daughters to keep the house looking sparkling as you prepare dinner. Step 82, throw the Costco lasagna into the oven. Pour the ingredients into the bread maker. Stir together a dessert. Shred the lettuce and chop the veggies. Throw all the dirty dishes into a sudsy sink. All the while smiling at the pleasant daughters who are staying out of the way in the other room playing nicely together....

Tonight for dinner I made one of G's favorite dishes, Potato Casserole (courtesy of my dear friend C.H.) I don't normally make this dish very often, mainly because it is full of processed items, and because it was messy to mix up. That is until I got this bowl: My wonderful mother in-law gave me a set of these large bowls and colanders! And now I can mix to my heart's content. I am a messy cook. Messy! We will find splatterings across the kitchen and up on the ceiling weeks after making something. But this big bowl! Yay! I can mix this meal up and actually not make (as much of) a mess. So basically all you do is mix up frozen hashbrowns, sour cream, cream of soup, and cheddar cheese in a LARGE bowl. Pour it into a pan. Top with buttery crushed ritz crackers and bake for an hour at 350. Voila - happiness at the table.

9 months old and already trying out flashcards. She's a genius, I'm sure of it. (And they probably taste pretty good too.) This is actually a typical site in our home. Baby K is into everything. EVE-RY-THING. And it all goes into her mouth. I measured her length yesterday and came up with 28.5 inches. We'll go in next week for the check-up and 'official' measurements. At this stage in life, Baby is exploring the house. She is learning to open cupboard doors; she stands alone for about a second before lowering herself to sitting; she lets us know when she is Not Happy with a high pitched shriek. This is actually something she has been doing for months. (Back when she screamed at me). She is already trying to assert Her Way over My Way. There have been a few little battles over not being able to do what she wants, mainly because it was unsafe or destructive. We're starting to feed more solids -- she had her first pbj sandwich yesterday and really liked it...

I took some time this weekend, while the sun was shining, to work in the garage. This led to an "Aha!" moment. I decided to set up a table and my sewing machine in the corner of our front room where we had had our Christmas tree this year! Now I can sew while the baby is awake, and she can't get into my stuff. I am also hoping to get some of our photo albums taken care of! I am behind about 2 years. Oh, and the baby albums - they all need work! I also have a couple of other projects on my mind. For awhile now I have been wanting to put together a photo directory of the extended family for my kids to use. Sometimes we mention Aunt Somebody, and the kids aren't always sure which aunt we are taking about. With such a large extended family, I thought this kind of thing would help us keep track. I plan to also add in things like favorite color, favorite cookie, favorite ice cream, etc. and then this should help at Christmas time when we are coming up with ideas for cousin...

Inspiration. Workday trials. Real life issues. Crafts. These are just a few of the things I read about on Bluu Hippo - one of the logs I read daily. What do I love about this blog? Well, the author, JLI (who in my mind is Jil, but that's not even her name!) inspires me with her insights from her Bible reading or her pastor's sermons. She writes about her work life, which I live vicariously through, because in a weird way I miss working with other adults outside of my own house. She and her husband are part of a ministry to the homeless in their city, and it has challenged me to look differently at the homeless I see on our the bridge and down in the park. JLI/ Jil is also a knitter/crocheter and photographer, so I enjoy seeing her creations ... since I have none of my own at this point in time. If you have a moment, click on over to her blog and wander around.

In my corner of the world this past week, I ran 2 miles with my son, 3 different times; I 'saw' the eye doctor and got a new prescription. I can see again! I wiped baby's nose countless times; I bought DQ Blizzards for dessert one night (just for G and myself!) I watched my movie "Persuasion" - another Jane Austen classic. I made gingersnap molasses cookies; I went to the farm and soaked up some sun; I went to my son's 3rd basketball game and soaked up his accomplishments;

I saw sunshine on the walls yesterday!! Really! Here in Oregon, on a day in January -- that is a rare occurrence. Looking up from the couch to the ceiling this is what I saw overhead (skylight). And outside one of the windows - no rain! It was a nice change of pace, if even for a little time. It gave me the little boost I needed. Today I went into the garage and cleaned out some more packed boxes. Packed back last year when we thought we would be moving, and in a new home by now. All my old bookshelves were cleaned off and in the process of moving them out, they were broken; so now all the books are in boxes. And for a family that loves to read, this is getting to be a hassle. I am looking for new shelves, and G mentioned he would like to build some for me. Of course there is this other project going on in the garage. G is building something else. Top secret. Not a national security kind of top secret, but rather an Awana Grand Prix kind of secret. So maybe when that is done,...

Five years. A lot can change in five years. January 2006. Five years ago I had a 4 month-old, an almost 3 yr-old, 6 yr-old and 8 yr-old. We figured our baby days were numbered. Our 4 month-old's antics were caught on video so we wouldn't ever forget the adorable sounds and looks of a baby. And then whammo, five years later here we are in the baby stages! Our almost-9 month old has been a challenge and a blessing. We GET to relive the baby days! We get to RELIVE the baby days! We get to relive the BABY days! Five years ago I had 2 children "going" to school at home. Now I have 4 of them "in" school. I had never heard of chronic hives. I had not yet met Kimmy, Craig, Ben, Caleb, Sophia or Hailey or Karly!  We did not know our friends would be moving to Argentina. A lot can change. And five years before that we had a 3 month old and a 2 year old. (2001) S and S, 2001 Five years before that , we weren't even dating. (1996) A lot can change in fi...

In my corner of the world this past week, I watched the movie Mr Bean's Holiday. It was cheesy, but I actually laughed out loud at some parts. I listened to old music - from when I was a kid. Mmmm, memories. I read a book by Jane Kirkpatrick, "An Absence so Great", and finally finished it. It took over a week, but it was a good read. I saw photos of my friends in Argentina. Oh, how I miss them! I went to the dentist for my two older kids. No cavities! Hurrah! My 5 year old was begging for her turn. (Yes, my kids beg to go to the dentist.) I made my brother and my husband play the game Cranium. Definitely not one of their favorites, but still fun. I bought new running shoes, and a jacket. Today I tried them out for 2 miles. Yeah! I sang the hymns to my baby K as she snuggled in my arms this morning in church. I learned that a 12 year old boy can be just as emotional as a 10 year old girl. Or maybe a 12 year old girl. I'll let you know about that in 2 years.

Game #2. And I remembered the camera this time! Our boy is #24, white jersey this week. Intense concentration down the court. The game was fast and frantic it seemed. The boys are still learning how to run the plays, how to play offense and defense. This league is very much a teaching/ learning experience kind of league S. at point. He had a great fake out move tonight. Our team did not win again this week, but our son had a super game. He has come a long way since he started playing. The fans around here enjoyed watching! G, his mom, and Baby K take in the game.

Every day here is a day full of educational opportunities! This morning I felt like turning on the radio while I cleaned up the kitchen. The kids had not started school yet so we didn't have to worry about distractions. And since my kitchen radio - the one with all my pre-set stations - has gone to reside at the town dump, I had to use the kids' radio. It's not a Fisher price, but it does not have pre-set stations. I had to actually use a dial to find a radio station. No, I am not technically savvy - my radio does not hook up to an ipod. I don't own an ipod. So fiddling around with that, I came upon music from my youth! Yayhoo! The music of the 80s and (early) 90s! My daughter watched with awe (or maybe it was laughter, I didn't look too closely) as I danced around and did some boxing moves to the Rocky theme. And then Michael Jackson was up next. I showed my girls how to moonwalk. Once again their eyes were wide with surprise awe. And then it was their turn - I ...

It snowed in our area today. Can you tell? Perhaps after playing outside, the girls began to dream of warmer weather. perhaps that's why they decided to play dress-up and go to Hawaii.

Football is a big deal in our house. If we wanted to have the means to do it, we would pay for cable just to watch football during the season. Thankfully our (financial) priorities are different than that, and we watch what we can on the basic TV. But today is different. Today there seems to be some big game between a team from our state and one from back east somewhere, or is it down south? Sad to say I don't know where Auburn is, and sadder to say, I might not look it up. So everywhere we go we see people wearing Oregon Ducks apparel. And all over facebook people I know from high school and church are cheering for the ducks. (Can Christians be Duck fans?) Notice I didn't mention anyone from my college cheering for the Ducks - yeah, because we went to the other school. The better school. And just because our football team didn't make it to these bowl games ... well we will always be Beaver believers. And I am sorry to say, I just can't root for that school. Ever. Sorr...

Upward Basketball season has begun! The first game(s) played tonight. The boy had a great game too. Although their team lost (30-18) the top scorer lives in our house! And the steals he got! Time after time he got an "interception" (yeah I am still in football mode). It all made for a very exciting time when he was on the court. And did I bring a camera to share photos? Oh, no. My purse had snacks and a comb and stuffed animals, and a clean diaper, to take of care of the girls' side of things. But no camera. I know, what kind of blogging mom am I? And in that vein, we took a field trip on Thursday along with another homeschooling family. We went to an Arctic museum. It was cold inside, but actually it was about the Arctic peoples. And did I bring the camera? Oh, no. Thankfully my friend did. I'm waiting for her to email the pictures and then I can share them with you all. Until then you can just imagine my boy with his head stuck inside a bear's mouth.

It's that time again. Our annual shoe photo time. We changed a little from last year - added another set of feet. Some feet have grown, and outgrown, shoes. Can you see how the third from the right are now larger than mine (the second from the right) ? Some have stayed the same. Here we have our church shoes. Since baby K usually wears socks - no shoes stay on her feet - that's what we used for the picture.

5 Then Joshua said to the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you."  Our pastor had a sermon on the passage of Chapter 3 of the book of Joshua. Good stuff about being prepared. My favorite verse from the whole passage was verse 5. To paraphrase: Prepare yourself and God will do great things! So am I preparing? Am I getting ready? For what? What am I spending my time on? Some great books have also crossed my radar this week; one on Prayer by Philip Yancey; another on burdens called The bumps are what you climb on ; a third called Grace Based Parenting, by Tim Kimmel. I'm focusing on prayer and consistency this new year. For so long I have felt a little overwhelmed by the whole idea of prayer and how/if/why/where/when it works. I've read Stormie O'Martian's books on prayer; and What Happens When Women Pray in the past. But I am a work in progress, so I go to other books on prayer. But then a verse from my Bible study...

My girl and I made these cute cookies this weekend. Miss M received a box of recipes for her birthday last year and has been wanting to make these "Snickerpoodles" since then. So finally I got the ingredients and we made them for gifts. Her sisters helped decorate. Here's the final product. In other news, my Yahoo reader popped up the heading "Kim Kardashian gets a new hairdo". Yeah, so? I did too; as did my niece. It's the time of the year to cut hair I guess.  Mine looked a lot better when the stylist did it, I'm still figuring it out. But it's shorter and lighter and feels good.

It's that time of year when many people come up with resolutions. Last year I took an idea from another blogger and made up my "What If" list. Let's look at it again, my What If list for 2010: What if... I made G's lunch every day ? Tried it, but it didn't last; sleepless nights and early rising husband don't work together too often. ... I stopped using a credit card ? That has been a great thing! ... went to bed by 10 pm ? Hahahhahahahha ... read my Bible every morning ? I tried. I made it through most, well half of the year. Again .. that new baby .... ... made sure I walked 3 times a week ? Yep, until it started to get really really cold. ... spoke gently to my girls ?Still working on it. I feel I have made progress, but still there is always more to do. And we'll compare it with my What If list for 2011: What if ... I read through the Bible in a year? ((I'll try again)) ... I ran at least twice, if not three times, a week? (( see next...

" What are you doing New Year's Eve? " That's a line from a famous (?) song. Know it? In the past our NY eves has included pouring concrete. There were more than a few years in our earlier married life that my husband would be outside pouring concrete and I was inside cooking something, hoping to celebrate somehow. We started our family rather quickly after getting married, so a NY eve without children/ babies has been rare. We had a couple of in-between years when I had a niece babysit while G. and I went to a friend's house for games. Last year we made it to our Sunday school game night/ celebration with the whole family. This year saw us at home with friends and family playing games and eating. More eating. I am actually tired of holiday goodies. I was relieved to see the oatmeal and toast this morning, and pbj sandwiches for lunch! We're having homemade split pea soup ( see recipe page ) for dinner tonight with bread from my bread maker. But traditiona...