Happy Birthday, Michael T.!

Four years ago this morning, I woke up about 4:30 a.m., thinking that I needed to go to the bathroom, and instead my water broke. Five weeks early. I remember yelling for Alan and repeating over and over, "I'm not ready for this!" After dropping Matthew off at my parents around 7 a.m., Alan and I headed over to the hospital. And at 8:30 a.m., there was a little fella in my arms. I called my friend Alison (Hi Alison!) to tell her I wouldn't be at Bible study that morning. I was just too busy being in love. Thankfully, other than jaundice (making the little stinker a total sleepyhead), he was perfectly healthy. And perfectly perfect. Michael was such an easy baby. After he passed the Sleepy Jaundice Stage, he was just alive hanging out in the world. Very little crying, very predictable schedule, very easy going. Which was extremely considerate of him since his two-year-old brother also kept me hopping.

I always thought Matthew was my Drama King, but in some ways, Michael shares that quality. He is usually very sweet and loving. But sometimes that temper (good heavens - where could that have possibly come from??!!) just flares, and oh, can he give the maddest looks. Thankfully, that glare that just melts your eyebrows off your face is becoming more and more infrequent.

Michael loves being silly (again, where does he get that??), loves being helpful, loves being with his "bro", loves pretending to be a Baby _____ (fill in the blank with his inspiration of the moment). This past year he has morphed into Mr. Imagination Boy. He can't get enough cheese and begs to share my coffee. Generally he eats anything on his plate as well as offers to share bites off mine.

Unlike his brother, he is not a TV boy. Even shows that I would think he would just love, he is not interested in. And if the T.V. was never on, he would be just fine. Instead, when I can't find him, and it's too quiet around the house, he is usually in his room looking at books. Totally love that.He also loves playing outside and loves kicking balls, hitting balls, riding his "motorcycle" (big wheel), playing at the creek, playing on the swingset. Pretty much anything outside that can get him covered in mosquito bites. When we take walks, he takes along a grocery bag to put his "nature treasures" in. He has such wonder in the simplest things.
Alan usually puts the boys to bed at night so I have a few minutes to myself. But I always go in a few minutes later to kiss them good-night. Michael just grins when he sees me come in and says, "Mama! You forgot your LOVE!" Those are very likely the world's sweetest words.
This past year at preschool has been so easy for him. Maybe it's because "bro" is there, but he has always trotted right into the building and doesn't seem ruffled by anything. At the preschool's Christmas concert, he gave an impromptu solo when he just started belting at the number above everyone else. It's been a thrill to watch him learn and grow this year. And his knowledge of "dinos" is unbelievable. Paleontologist, indeed.
Mikey T, we love you so, so much. You are such a loving, happy boy and you bring so much joy to our home. God has given you such a zest for life, and your cooperative, generous spirit is such a blessing to our home. What did we ever do without you? You truly complete our family. We pray that your little mind will continue to grow in knowledge and truth and your heart will be hungry for God. We can't wait to share this next year of your life with you.

Love, Mama and Daddy

Words of Life, Words of Hope

We have sung this chorus before in church, but it had a whole new light today for me as it was sung by the choir during our church's patriotic service.

Ancient Words (Lynn DeShazo)
Holy words long preserved
For our walk in this world,
They resound with God's own heart
Oh, let the ancient words impart.

Words of life, words of hope
Give us strength, help us cope.
In this world, where e'er we roam,
Ancient words will guide us home.

Chorus: Ancient words ever true, Changing me, and changing you.
We have come with open hearts, Oh let the ancient words impart.

Holy words of our faith
Handed down to this age.
Came to us through sacrifice.
Oh, heed the faithful words of Christ.

Holy words long preserved.
For our walk in this world.
They resound with God's own heart.
Oh let the ancient words impart.

Di-No-MYTE!

Remember J.J. saying that all the time on "Good Times"? As an adult, I see that show in a whole different light. But that's a different blog post.

ANYWAY (ever notice how much I use that word??), today was Mike's dinosaur birthday party. We had a group of four friends (those that did RSVP...three others didn't show that never did RSVP...) which was actually a good number. They are four-year-olds after all. And a wild little group when they were all together. When they had all arrived, we sat them around the table with these wooden dinosaur forms and lots of paint. Making a mess is always good, and a mess with paint AND dinosaurs was definitely a hit. Plus, it was a fun little trinket for them to take home.

Cost: $0.50 for each paint color and $1.00 for each dinosaur.While Alan read the boys some dinosaur books (of which we probably have at least 20), I cleaned up the mess and got the pizza and fruit and Caprisuns ready. Gosh, what is it about those silver pouch drinks? I always wanted Mom to buy those, and she never did. Maybe I didn't ask, but remember how the cool kids would bring those in their lunchboxes? Thankfully, I can relive my childhood fantasies through my kids. That's why you have kids, right? Anyway (there I go again), the pizza was scarfed, the fruit largely ignored, and the Caprisuns were transformed into fun toys once the Fruit Punch was gone. Success!

Cost: $28.00 for pizza (crazy, I know...Dominos wouldn't answer their phone, so we went the Pizza Hut route) and about $8.00 for fruit and $2.99 for Caprisuns. Presents! Michael got some dinosaur toys (how did the parents know? ha!) and some outdoor toys. One mother called me about ten minutes before the party and said that she had been "really busy lately" (invites had been sent out at least two weeks pre-party), and she hadn't had time to buy Michael a present and could her son still come to the party? OK. Now, I don't want my kids to be all about the gifts. We don't have parties for our kids to stock up on presents because heaven knows we have toys coming out of our ears (which we do, btw, go through and give away from time to time). And I would much rather her child come than not come because he doesn't have a gift. But. Seriously? Has she never read the Child Birthday Party Attendance Guidebook? I'm just gonna say it. I thought that was a smidge tacky.
After some very messy cupcakes (totally forgot to light/blow out candles or sing "Happy Birthday"...must have gotten a bit preoccupied with cleaning up the two cupcakes that fell icing down on the front porch...oh well), we decorated these wooden picture frames below with dino stickers. I painted them last night to save some time, and the kids just put stickers on them. I took individual pictures of Michael with each guest and will send a copy home with the thank-you notes for each child to put in his frame.

Cost: $5.00 for cupcakes and $1.00 for each frame and $6.00 for stickers and $1.00 for paint and $0.20 to develop each picture. Each boy was given the choice of a plastic dino to take home, too. There were lots of different kinds to choose from. Michael already had several like this and requested keeping a "meat eater". Sorry Vegan Dinosaur Friends. Don't they make a nice table display in our entryway? Side Brag Note: they are sitting on an antique-ish (meaning it's not really but looks a bit like one) dresser I recently bought from the Winston-Salem Rescue Mission and refinished.

Cost: $0.88 for each dinosaur. After the guests went home, Matthew and Michael were still so keyed up. As in, they were tearing around the house and popping balloons and having dino fights and shredding tissue paper and asking for more cupcakes (more sugar! more sugar!) and just generally driving their parents bonkers. So, we popped in a Dr. Seuss movie that my mother bought for them this past week. Calmed them right down. Gotta love that TV. Michael sat in this chair with his new dino hat over his eyes to watch the movie. Don't ask me how he could see.

Cost: $13 for balloons and $2.99 per dinosaur hat per child. Michael had such a good time and was so proud to share his room and his toys and his birthday fun with his friends. He also practiced using some really fine birthday party social manners. Mama is proud. And, again, we are all Birthday Party Exhausted.

Total Birthday Party Cost: p*r*i*c*e*l*e*s*s

(you saw that coming, didn't you?)

For Reals?

This month has been a busy one, and we just haven't made it to the pool yet. With the boys young ages and our fair skin, I am not the mother (and will probably never be that mother) who takes her kids to the pool all the time. BUT, it's been hot again this week, and my kids won't actually ever really learn to swim if I don't take them to the pool. And I do like the pool. Except maybe how prune-y my fingers get. And the thought of little kids peeing in that same water that Michael just drank when he stuck his head under water. Anyway, we're there for an hour+, and then out of nowhere, it just starts pouring rain. As in soaking-your-towels-within-a-minute-rain. Rain that we haven't SEEN AT ALL FOR THE PAST MONTH. But you know, we're all wet anyway, so it doesn't really matter, right? We wait about 15 minutes and then it's done. And we're in the water doing our thing again (which is, me catching the boys as they jump off the side...one at a time, that is). And then about 30 minutes later, we're back out of the water because the lifeguards heard thunder. And so they have to close the pool for 30 minutes. Which is a sign for me to go ahead and go home. Because they extend the closed pool for 30 more minutes every time it thunders. So, we pack up and head to the van, Matthew crying a little because I'm making him leave. Yes, I'm that kind of mother. The kind that makes her kid leave the water so he doesn't get struck by lightening. THAT mother. For the record, I'm also the kind of mother who doesn't let him stand under tall trees in thunderstorms, stick his fingers in outlets, or go skiing off the roof. He truly suffers. But I do give him lead paint chips for a snack, so I think we can call it even. Anyway, when we get home, my sis-in-law (Hi Shannon!) who was with me, but left a bit later had left me a message that they gave out rain passes right after we left. Rats.

BUT, we did get some very much needed rain. We had such a wet spring, but currently our grass is so, so brown. So, I'm trying not to be too Cranky Pants about missing the rain passes.

R.S.V.P.

Hmmpphh.

We are supposed to be having a birthday party for Michael on Saturday. Out of seven kids invited (which, don't get me started about that...I'm a big believer in inviting the same number of kids as they age of the birthday child...somehow a few more got invited, too...), only two have R.S.V.Ped. Which was clearly asked for (with our phone and email address) by this past Wednesday on the invitation. And one of those kids can't come. Which means right now we have a guest list of one and possibly five more. What? The party is at our home, so it would really help if the parents would let me know. I really don't need a billion extra cupcakes.

In the past, I have assumed that if the person doesn't RSVP, that means they aren't coming. But a friend of mine recently told me she never RSVPs. She just assumes the host knows she's coming. What?? So, I don't know what to think about the five I haven't heard from.

This is obviously a pet peeve of mine. It's consistently been an issue with almost all the parties I've ever had - adults and children. Pick up the doggone phone, people!

Product Endorsement(s) #3 (Or, How "Bob Books" and "Primary Phonics" Books Have Revolutionized Matthew's Life)

Matthew's preschool has been great, and he has learned a tremendous amount there. We couldn't be more pleased. And his extra year of Readiness with Ms. Betty (he loves Ms. Betty!) was well worth the time and money.

As he learned letters and their sounds, I started working with him using this GREAT website. It offers lots of interactive stories, and it starts out at a nice easy level (just associating letters and sounds) and progresses to higher reading levels (maybe up to 2nd grade-ish).

But I figured Matthew would benefit from actually reading (gasp) books, too. Enter "Bob Books" (http://www.bobbooks.com/) written by Bobby Lynn and John Maslen. The downside to them: very simple text with simple drawings. The upside to them: very simple text with simple (but charming) drawings. These, too, get progressively harder with each successive series/kit. But they gave Matthew the confidence to continue learning when he was first starting to read. Each book has about eight pages with single sentence lines on each page. We have been reading the second set this summer. Cheapie that I am (at times), I checked these out of the library.
We have also been using these "Primary Phonics" books (http://www.epsbooks.com/dynamic/catalog/subject.asp?subject=70S) written by Barbara Makar to practice reading, too. I discovered these at the library several months ago in their "easy reader" section. These are at a similar level as the "BB", but each book is longer (up to about 14 pages on average), and each page has about four lines of text. Again, simple pictures, simple stories, but it really works. Matthew is also learning phonics rules like short vowels, silent "e", "when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking", etc. I'm hoping he won't be bored in kindergarten this fall. On the other hand, there's no reason not to go ahead and challenge his sharp little mind. We are on the second set of these, as well.

Next week I'm planning to start him on Moby Dick. I think he's ready.

Dino(saur) Room Haiku

Blisters on my hands.

Two walls down and two to go.

Ready to be done.

On the Road Again

What a fun day! My friend Amy and I went to visit our mutual BFF Andrea in Raleigh.

Andrea is a survivor. She has gone through so, so much over the past five years, and I'm so proud of her.

She is a strong, Godly woman and has handled some of life's most difficult situations with a lot of grace and courage.

She is also newly engaged to Wonder Man.

Oh. My. Word.

Isaac is so kind and loving and gentle and funny and fun and TALL and romantic and cutie pie.

Oh - and fabulous at picking out engagement rings - WOW.

Her ring is amazing.

I could go on and on with how great he is, but then it would sound like I'm in love with him.

I'm just really, really happy for her.

My girl is so Smitten Kitten.

We got to her home and she had (surprise!) fixed this really nice lunch for us. The four of us spent some time just hanging out. And then we banished Isaac to the living room while Amy and I got a preview of Andrea in her wedding gown.

Wow. Absolutely G*O*R*G*E*O*U*S.

Very classy and simple. Very Andrea. Amy and Andrea and I get along so well. We have such similar personalities, but we each add something different to our mutual friendship. Amy is the whimsical one, and she's always seeing the silver lining. Andrea is the assertive but tender-hearted one. She is always getting to the heart of what's going on with you, and she has an elephant's memory for the details in your life. And I'm the silly, goofball, energetic one that's along for the ride one.

We did some shoe shoppin' today (I put myself on spending restriction after my little trip to Homegoods earlier this week), and lucked into some free smoothies (raspberry - yum) at Caribou Coffee. And we all created mottos for the day: Amy - "Being funky is fun!" Andrea - "Enter Swoozie's at your own risk!" Julie - "There's nothing wrong with cute!"

I like being such a girly girl, and I swear I have the best girl posse ever.

Tha's Ma Boy, Part 2

Matthew got his "two-wheeler" bike for his fifth birthday.

And promptly fell off of it that morning (despite training wheels).

He's been hesitant with it ever since.

BUT...

Three days of practice with his Daddy after dinner .

Sans training wheels.

And he's confidently off on his own.

If I had buttons on my shirt, they would be popping across the country!

Science on the Tube

So, I had good intentions of doing lots of "school stuff" this summer, but so far, it has been hit or miss. Although I have been working on Michael's room in the afternoons, the mornings have often been spent either running around (literally or on errands)

or trying to keep the house from caving in on itself.

We have been to the library at least once every week, and aside from mountains of books, we have also been checking out these Eyewitness videos. Matthew and Michael love them,

so we check out two every week.

So far we have watched, Dinosaurs, Ponds and Rivers, Rocks and Minerals, Sharks, Fish, and Skeletons. In the past, we have watched Volcanos, Butterflies and Moths, and Flying Things. Each video is about 35 minutes long, and while my six- and three-year-old can understand and enjoy them, they are not children's videos per se. Matthew also likes to watch the part where they show how they made the movie. The dvds are so, so interesting, and Matthew will often quote factoids from the dvds back to me during the week. There are also books that are just like the dvds, but we have only checked out a couple of those (child-selected: Epidemics-Matthew and Cats-Michael) because they have so much text.

I know my little science boys are learning from these.

Disclaimer: They do at times make evolutionary suggestions. While I don't like this (btw, there is an Eyewitness book entitled Evolution...Matthew is dying to check this out for some reason...ugh), we just use it as a "teachable moment" to talk about why we believe something different.

Something's Fishy Around Here

Two things to know about me:

I hate salmon patties

(but thank you, Momma, for making them for me growing up and for making me eat them anyway...

I do know about starving children around the world).

I hate lima beans

(the starving children are welcome to all of my lima beans...

shipped UPS).

But again, it's the Kraft Magazine to the rescue for my hungry brood.

A tiny miracle occurred in our home tonight.

For the first time ever, I enjoyed my salmon patty.

Moment of silence, please.

Now, back to business.

Tuna/Salmon Cakes

Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 26 min
Makes: 6 servings, two tuna cakes each

* 2 cans (6 oz. each) light tuna in water, drained, flaked (or, one 14 3/4 oz. can of salmon...give your cat the extra two ounces because she is just that pretty)
* 1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken (actually, I went generic)
* 1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese (or, leftover Mexican shredded cheese from last week)
* 1/2 cup shredded carrots (who magically shredded in my perfectly behaved chopper)
* 1/3 cup mayonnaise (I'd actually use more like 1/2 cup so that they stick together better in the pan)
* 2 Tbsp. Sweet Pickle Relish
* 3/4 cup water (maybe just a bit more for sticking purposes, again)

MIX all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate 10 min.
HEAT large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat. For each tuna cake, shape 1/3 cup lightly packed tuna mixture into patty. Add patties to skillet in batches.
COOK 3 min. on each side or until golden brown on both sides, turning over carefully.

You Have Got To Be(e) Kidding Me

You can't make this stuff up.

I was cleaning the paint/sanding/drywall crud in Michael's room a few minutes ago.

And noticed about 20 honey bees swarming outside his window.

Perhaps related to the four dead ones we found in his room one night last week?

Including one on the pillow where he happened to be sitting.

So, just now I go outside to look.

And there are maybe 50 flying around our attic vent.

And then five minutes later they were all gone.

All inside the attic?

Ironically, I had just been thinking,

"No new bat poo...the bats must be gone!"

Has someone cursed this house??!!??

DANGEROUS LOCATION! Warning to those in my reading community!

I just went in to get a baby present.

They have great baby gift ideas, by the way.

Unfortunately, they have lots of great non-baby gift ideas, too.

Some of them planned an unexpected trip home with me today.

I've just about finished Michael's ceiling...last coat of paint should go on today. He already has a "dino" quilt, but the sheets he has been using are the ones we got when we first got married. Not fun, kiddie ones, but they work, you know? They cutsie ones can be hard to find in full-bed size.

And then I saw these dino sheets. They will go great with his quilt. They will go great with his wall colors. They will go right into my shopping cart... And Matthew really did not need this. When he moved to his big boy room right before Michael was born, I bought a cheapie comforter (just plaid) for him from KMart. Well, you get what you pay for. It's coming apart. But still usable.

But, sucker that I am, this quilt and shams were hard to resist for my Car Boy.

So, I didn't.

Ugh.

Tha's Ma Boy!

See that proud grin?

See those sneakers on his feet?

Yeah, that's right.

He tied them all by himself.

Happy Father's Day

When I met Alan and fell in love (and, oh, was I a smitten kitten), I guess I thought about choosing a spouse that would be a good father. But I probably didn't consider his fathering potential as sharply as I should have. That's one reason why it's such an extra special blessing that he is such a sensational father. He loves those boys so much and is so proud of them. He is passionate about fathering and is already thinking about what he wants to teach our boys as they grow into young men. He is always looking for some child devotional book to read with them but also goes to the library just to pick out fun books he thinks they will enjoy. He tells them he loves them and is affectionate with them all the time. He wrestles and gets silly with them and loves to play with them. It is nothing to him to spend an hour or a weekend alone with them. Every night he bathes them and reads to them and prays with them and tucks them into bed so that I can have some quiet time. He talks about discipline with me and makes sure we are a united team. Every day he teaches them through example what it means to be a Godly husband and father.

We love, love you so much! Happy Father's Day, sweetie!

Death and New Life

Well, the last tadpole bit the dust last night. I really thought he was going to make it.

Oh well.

Alan callously tossed the corpse and his water out the front door.

Today, when we pulled in the driveway after church (which is very unusual...we typically park in the cul-de-sac since we leave about an hour after we get home to eat lunch with my parents), I happened to glance over and see this little fella.

And I mean little. His shell is about three inches from head to tail.

We saw a female (remember?) a few weeks ago and then a male last week (no blogging about that one...).

Evidently this is why we have had such turtle sightings lately.

A little baby!

Bless his heart, he was totally scared of us.

He peed on my hands (yum) right before this picture was taken.

You'd be surprised how much a baby turtle can pee.

Dust Storm

I've been sanding the ceiling and repairing minor damage this morning. I look even more caucasian than usual since I am covered in dust. Thankfully, I had a mask on or I know what the inside of my lungs would look like.

Ummm...really thought I would be able to paint the room today. However, it's 12:48pm, and I still have half the ceiling to sand.

Sigh.

Am not sure where Michael will be sleeping this week while the project continues on (his brother's room is full of Michael's bedroom stuff)...

Trading Spaces or Clean Sweep?

Happy birthday to our house! It is 30 years old this year. And while it likes to think it's going to be 29 forever, I can tell you that there are things aplenty to fix around here. So, it seems that every summer has at least one big cosmetic project to do. Last year I worked on the master bedroom. This year it's time (past time, really) to redo Michael's room from nursery to Big Boy Room.

And it will be a dino(saur) room.

This week I have been scraping off the popcorn ceiling. A few years ago, we had "Handy Randy" of "Handy Randy Home Repairs" come to fix a popcorn ceiling that was coming down in our kitchen. Only, in his handyman way, he refused to re-popcorn it and instead made it pretty and smooth. Which made me want to make my ceilings all pretty and smooth (and non-grey and bumpy). I'm a total addict now. Especially when I saw how easy it was for H.R. to scrape off the popcorn mess (and it is messy!) and how much we were paying him to do it. After the kitchen, I have now (By Myself!) taken down, sanded, and painted at least five other ceilings in our house besides this week's project.

Unfortunately, Mike's ceiling ran into a bit of a dilemma. Evidently at some point in our home's history, there was water damage in that room (not since we've lived here). And the previous owners (there have been at least three other sets of owner that we know about) decided to fix the situation not by repairing the leak, not by removing the ruined drywall. No, instead it seemed like a better idea to just paint and maybe do some slight caulking to hide the spot.

Until Julie came on the job.

So now, I have a nice hole in the ceiling drywall that goes right into our attic. And lots of pretty mold to go with it.

Yum, right?

So, thankfully, my Wonderful, Smart, Talented, Kind, bro-in-law, Handy Dave, came by tonight to start ceiling repairs. I don't know what we would have done without him (well, call H.R...I guess). Alan is not really interested in doing stuff like that. These little home re-dos are all my efforts while he does Kid Care. And I surely don't know much about re-taping and drywall and mudding, etc. But I'm learning!

Mike's room is a big ole mess right now. Nursery wallpaper border and damp ceiling muck all over the floor. Furniture, toys, books, etc. all jumbled together. But I'm on my way. And hopefully his ceiling will be as smooth and ghostly white as my legs (well, the white part is applicable anyway...) and order will be restored by the end of the weekend.

Reader Boy

On Monday, Matthew read all of this book to me.

It's his first "real" (as in, not phonics-type) book that he has read to me.

I'm hoping he'll be a reader like his mama.

Rest in Peace

Tadpole Update:
Seven are dead.
One is still alive.
Barely.
Who knew raising tadpoles would be so hard?

101 degrees? Seriously?

Our Bible Fellowship class had planned a group camping trip for this past weekend months ago. And now that we have Camilla, we feel like we should take advantage of all camping opportunities. Even though it was so hot this weekend my eyebrows fried off my face. Which, yes, I know we have air conditioning inside Camilla, but we don't live in there. And oh land, it was hot. We camped at Dan Nicholas park again. Which, if you remember, we camped there in March. And it was cold (upper 40s) and rainy. This was like living in opposite world. Which is not to say that we didn't have a good time. Just that it was hot. As in 101 degrees hot. And did I mention it was hot? Interestingly enough, only one other person (and her kids) from our class camped with us. Maybe because it was hot.

Even though it was so hot (did I mention that yet?), we did spend tons of time at the park. They have a petting zoo with the typical small barnyard animals. Which were all either lying around panting or sleeping. But you know, still cute and all. They were maybe just hot.
When we went in March, all the park attractions were closed (due to rain, I guess), so we didn't get to do any of this then. This year, they have a new (covered) little train to ride. The boys loved that. There are the fakiest looking woodland creatures planted around the train tracks, and the boys loved "spotting" them. Half of those critters - only the real deal - probably live in our backyard and were at that moment trying to invade our home. Perhaps because it was so hot.
The boys also took a spin on this wonderful carousel. Man, that thing just flies around! I used to really love merry-go-rounds (and do you know the difference between a merry-go-round and a carousel? Oh, the controversy in the answer...I'll leave that up to your investigation), but now they just make me sick. As do all spinning rides like the ones they have at the fair. Roller coasters I am generally OK on (although a trip to Carowinds last fall suggested otherwise...), but spinning rides are bad. How old am I getting?
And the Gem Mine. We do this every time, and it's still a wonder (and a racket!). Matthew just loves it and is so proud of what he finds. Which included fool's gold, quartz, tiger's eye, picture rock, etc. It is fun and involved water which was great since it was so hot. Really hot. Did you know it was hot this weekend? They also have a "shooting water" area in the middle of the park attractions to help cool off the kiddies. Kiddies big and small. Thank goodness, because it really did make our adventures there more bearable to be soaking wet.

Right behind our campsite was the lake. Which was so, so fun for the boys. We saw a long black snake the first morning on its way toward the lake. The boys also saw about a million tiny frogs about the size of my pinky fingernail. Really little. Which did not bode well for the ones that Michael picked up. I'm afraid a couple of the frogs met an untimely end in his chubby little hands. We brought home some tadpoles to raise, so we'll see how that goes. My sister (hi Karen!) gave Matthew a frog habitat for his birthday, so now we have eight little 'poles doing their thing in that. Michael was also very intrigued with the lilipads which were all over the place.
There were so many just slap yourself in the head moments this weekend. Like realizing we left the camper keys at home when we got to the campsite Friday night (hence, can't pop it up...Alan searched the campground for another camper like ours...found one and stole their crank so we could pop-up the camper...returned it later that night). Or when the power went off Saturday afternoon at the campground and it was 101 degrees outside (and you know, hot). Or when I went to put my head down on my pillow Friday night to find it covered in bugs because the camper door had been left open. But no matter what, we always really do have a good time camping. And I have two boys who are napping their hearts out upstairs to prove it.

Happy 1000th Visit

I really do this blog for me. I don't scrapbook. Heck, I don't even get my pictures developed off my memory card. Such that when I go into Sam's to print out a couple, the Sam's Photo Guy frowns at me for having (literally) 500 pictures on there and says it "might take a while to load them all." But it's the little moments of life that make it worthwhile, and those are the ones most easily forgotten. Hence, giving into peer pressure and creating the blog. But it is also fun to share funny moments, little moments, frustrating moments, and all the other moments in between with friends and family. Thanks for tuning in and thanks for commenting - it makes it even more worthwhile for me.

Happy 1000 visits.

Because I'm a Spicy Kinda Girl

So. Cooking is not a joy of mine.

But a family's gotta eat and you can't live your life at Mi Pueblo.

Or can you?

Anyway, when my Handy Dandy Kraft Foods mag came this month, this is a recipe that I decided to try. It was a hit all the way around with our family.

Michael says, "IT WAS YYYUUMMMMMYYY!"

Sorry - should have warned you to turn your volume down.

Anyway, easy and yummy. Officially.

Fiesta Chicken Enchiladas

Prep Time: 15 min (give or take a few...)

Total Time: 35 min

Makes: 4 servings, two enchiladas each

1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cooked small chicken breasts (about 1 lb.), shredded
1 cup salsa, divided
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) cream cheese, cubed
1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 cup shredded cheddar & Monterey Jack cheese, divided
8 (smaller) or 4 (large) flour tortillas
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Heat large skillet sprayed with cooking spray (OR, search madly in your cabinet for the cooking spray because you Just Used It This Morning When You Made Eggs but then don't find it and close cabinet #1 and look in cabinet #2 but then it's not there either so go back to cabinet #1 because maybe it's Magically Appeared while you were looking in cabinet #2 but then it's still not in cabinet #1 so go back to cabinet #2 and just grab the olive oil and measure out 2 tbsp.) on medium heat.

3. Add onions (OR, throw large onion chunks in the chopper to Save Some Effort and get the lid stuck on the chopper and then bang said chopper on the counter which will do absolutely nothing except make a loud noise and then feel your blood pressure sky rocket and then mumble unhappy words under your breath and then cross your fingers and raise your left leg and wiggle your ears and twist the lid and then finally, FINALLY the dumb lid will come off and send some onion shooting through the air and then put the required onion in the pan) and garlic.

4. Cook and stir 2 min.

5. Add chicken, 1/4 cup of the salsa, cream cheese, cilantro and cumin (OR, two nights before toss a pack of chicken breasts in a Southwest marinade and then grill them and eat some for dinner and then pop the leftovers in the fridge and then hunt them down behind the bag of potatoes and then chop up the leftovers - but not in THAT DUMB, DUMB CHOPPER - and throw it in the pan and nix the two spices); mix well.

6. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally.

7. Add 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese (OR, you know, as much as you want it...it is cheese after all); mix well.

8. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture onto each tortilla (OR 2/3 if you are using a large tortilla); roll up and place, seam-side down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray (Because now - NOW - it really has magically reappeared in cabinet #1).

9. Top with remaining 3/4 cup salsa and remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese (OR, well...you get the idea).
BAKE 15 to 20 min. or until heated through.

See. It's just that easy.

Summer School

See this above? Kids glued to the TV? Matthew would be in hog heaven if that is the way that he could spend his summer. Yes, he is into swinging right now. As in, his toenails are going to fall off or something if he doesn't spend about an hour on the swing daily. BUT, the kid inherited his daddy's TV Junkie Gene, and would love to drag little bro into his TV watching habits.

Not on my watch.

So, the little Type A teacher type in me has created a flexible daily summer schedule for us. It includes things like house skills (making beds, laundry, scratching Mommy's back), Bible Time, painting time (you know I have eternal house painting projects...shouldn't I make the kids earn their keep? kidding...kind of), Story Time, etc.

Today is Day One.

Honestly, I did this mostly for me.

I tend to feel at loose ends during the summer without a schedule. And while the schedule is totally flexible and of course, includes playtime inside and out, at least I can have a guess of how my day (week) is going to go.

And as of Day One, brother squabbles have been non-existant.

One day down. Ninety to go.