1. I'm short, I'm organized, I have stepstools to reach tall places in most rooms.
2. Why do I have rain and not bright shining days.
3. How does this my phone work, anyway? **I just realized a button on the side was the reason my phone volume wasn't working! LOL It mutes it!***OOPS
4. Every morning, I put deodorant on my pits.
5. I consider myself lucky because I'm relatively happy, I have a great family, I have a home that I love.
6. One day we’ll see sunshine on our faces again.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to veggie pizza with the family, tomorrow my plans include leaving the house without the kids!! and Sunday, I want to sleep in, baby!!
On Thursdays, Will has preschool and Livi doesn't. To make the day a fun day, we call it "girl day". A day for just us to do girly things like paint nails bubble gum pink and go get a "Star Muffin
There is not a real Starbucks here. It is one of the ones in the Barnes and Noble. The B&N that doesn't open until NINE AM. Nine?? If I haven't had a cup of coffee by nine, chances are I am sick in my bed.
After dropping Will off, we needed a few groceries. So Livi and I headed to the grocery store. I had a brilliant idea.....let's just get a doughnut from the bakery inside the grocery store. I know the kids have NEVER had a doughnut. Sugar, flour and frosting: what's not to love.
Livi wasn't quite sure what to do with it. She said, "There's white ones, and blue ones, and green ones too!" She loves those little sprinkles on the top. I told her she could pick it up to eat it.
Livi: "Doughnuts are good.....super good good!"
Livi: "Once your tummy gets full, you have to stop. " **I really need to apply that rule to my own cravings!**
Finally, the funniest thing she said about the doughnuts: "Why didn't you ever tell me about these?" That my dear, is a good question!
Since I was just checking my "before bed routine" list, I knew I had an easy idea for today's Thursday thirteen. I am a list maker, as well as a list-checker-offer. I love to be able to cross things off my list. It makes me feel like I have accomplished something during the day when time seems to have run away!
So...
1. Shine my sink I do this compulsively. It really does make the kitchen look and feel cleaner!
2. Is laundry folded and put away. I usually do one load a day. More times than not, it is left on the dining room table waiting to be carted upstairs. When we lived in Alaska, my laundry room was on the second floor. I LOVED that!
3. Pick up things off the stairs. Things end up here that need to be carried upstairs.
4. Is the mail put away? **I do have a huge "to shred" pile. Normally I love to shred. One of my favorite Christmas presents from Husband was a shredder!
5. Check calendar for tomorrow's activities.
6. Lay out clothes for me and the kids....These hang on their closet doorknobs, shoes are on the floor with socks or tights. **also, make sure the day's dirty clothes are in the dirty clothes basket...the kids are getting better about this**
12. Start a to do list for anything I need to do tomorrow.
13. Empty kids' folder from their backpacks.
I do sew and love me some polka dotted fabric, but I haven't started in on the coordinating kitchen. I don't think the covers will be on my tomorrow's to do list.
What's one of the simple pleasures in your life? I would definitely say baking and cooking with the kids. I started muffin Monday when Husband was deployed. It has since become a tradition. We have made some great muffins, shared them with friends, and learned to bake in the process. Unless one kid is sick, we pretty much do some type of baking every week.
What do you like to snack on when you watch a movie? Husband's popcorn: air popped with butter and a bit of salt. I don't like movie theater popcorn at all! When I was younger I used to mix Sugar Babies with popcorn. It was like caramel popcorn right in your mouth!
If you were a Survivor contestant, what would be your luxury item? Probably something practical like a Swiss Army knife or a Leatherman.
We decided to make cookies this week for a little change in the routine. I asked Will why he wanted them, he said because they had chocolate. Can't argue with that logic?
We used the recipe on the back of the Nestle chocolate chip bag. I didn't have a whole bag, so we mixed mini semi-sweet chips and big milk chocolate chips. We added the pecans as well. They really were good! As usual, plate and share with friends.
2. Whenever the kids get out of the tub, I love to just sniff them.
3. I wish Josie would stop tooting...seriously, my toes are starting to curl. ***Pic taken by Livi***
4. Papa Johns cheese and chicken pizza was the last thing I ate that was utterly delicious. **lately we have been picking up Papa Murphys...but tonight just ordered, it was really good**
5. To live in this world make choices that will keep you sane, happy and peaceful.
6. Other than this one, Lisagh at Grosgrain Garage is the last blog I commented on.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to pizza with the family, tomorrow my plans include taking care of Will and Husband and Sunday, I want to sleep in and catch up on laundry! Happy Friday, y'all!
I saw this on Facebook. Since I am reaching for a Thirteen list, I am totally using this. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real places, names, things. Nothing made up.
1. What is your name? tommie
2. A 4 Letter Word: talk
3. A Boys Name: Timothy
4. A Girls Name: Taylor
5. An Occupation: teacher
6. A Color: teal
7. Something you wear: t-shirt
8. A Beverage: tea, but it has to be sweet tea
9. A Food: tomatoes....drizzled with balsamic vinegar and a bit of olive oil
10. Something found in the bathroom: toilet paper
11. A place: Texas **pic of our door from my home from when we lived in Texas**
12. A Reason for being late: tardy?? me, obviously that doesn't happen
13. Something you shout: TIME OUT...right now, on the stairs little missy! Want to play: the new thursday-13
WHAT I’M READING: I found two of Husband's books that I haven't read. I like about a third of his. One is "Stone Cold" by David Baldacci.
WHAT I’M WATCHING: whatever is on the DVR....nothing since Gossip Girl is a rerun this week.
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: podcast of my favorite radio station from Austin....and to see if Will stays in his bed. He is still sick...poor baby
WHAT I’M WEARING: Jammies....it is already 9 at night
WHAT I’M EATING: crunching on ice...I know, not that great for your teeth!
WHAT I’M ENJOYING: That I was able to make an appointment online for Will. I rarely use the word HATE...but I hate having to start calling at 6:30 AM HOPING the lines aren't busy. Sitting there hitting redial until someone picks up.
WHAT I’M SNIFFING: Carpet cleaner....one old dog left alone in the house, figure it out.
PS, kind of surprised I have done this several weeks in a row....this kind of shows how tired I am feeling today. I am in for a long night tonight as well....I'll really have bags under my eyes by tomorrow!
Of all your favorite foods, which one would you find the most difficult to give up for the rest of your life? Definitely carbs....bread and pasta. I could NEVER do an Adkins diet.
Which month of the year do you thing best describes your personality? Before a few years ago, I would have definitely said some perky month. I think my personality is starting to mellow.
If you could be a contestant on any game show, past or present, which show would you pick? oooh, good question........Cash Cab
1. It seems like the weather here in KY is crazier than it was in OK.
2. Wash your hands when you're done, please?
3. If I thought you would let me I'd come clean or organize your house!
4. Organized is what I think of most when I think of you.
5. To me, Valentine's Day means sharing the love I have for my husband and family.
6. Husband and kids gives me strength. As much as I gripe and moan about TDYs and stuff, I know I can do it.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Papa Murphy's pizza, tomorrow my plans include dinner at Kansai, a Japanese steak house and Sunday, I want to sleep in!
I am NOT a morning person. I have never been a morning person. I could care less about seeing a great sunrise. I think perky people in the morning are the worst. By the time they are on their third or fourth sentence, I am still registering the, "Good morning!...." that is usually said in some sing songy voice that reminds me of birds chirping in Snow White. So you get the picture.
Then I had two kids back to back. Will has been a morning person from infancy. He used to wake up at 5:45, then ready to take a nap at 7:45. Oh yeah, I could totally handle that. Then a mere sixteen months later, along came Livi. She is a morning person as well.....but she is a perky talkative morning person. She wakes up talking and doesn't stop until she goes back to bed.
"Good morning, Mommy! I saw the sun peeking through my curtains (though at 6:45 I HIGLY doubt that was the sun), so I knew it was time to get up. Time to get up and rise and shine. yada yada, yak yak...." I still have not have a cup of coffee. The coffee is prepped to start at 7:00.
But being up this early, I do get to see pink sunrises. I am still working on getting those gorgeous sunburst shots....but this one above is a start.
I may never be a morning person, but I can prep that coffeepot to start earlier!
1. Perth, Western Australia 11, 141 miles ...the farthest one from me
2. Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz- Germany
3. Obernheim, Rheinland-Pfalz- Germany
4. Toronto, Ontario Canada
5. Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, Belgium
6. France
7. Reigate, Bromley, United Kingdom
I don't have thirteen seperate countries, so I will fill in with the first thirteen from the United States.
United States 1. Bloomington, Indiana 2. Killeen, Texas 3. Holmen, Wisconsin 4. San Antonio, Texas 5. Los Angeles, California 6. Clarksville, Tennessee 7. Lancaster, Ohio 8. Charlotte, North Carolina 9. Poughkeepsie, New York 10. Charlton, Massachusetts 11. Haverhill, Massachusetts 12. Denver, Colorado
13. Oxnard, California
Little did I know when I started this blog that anyone besides my husband and immediate family would even care to hear me drone on day after day about my kids. I started this blog so Husband could keep up with the kids while he was deployed.
Will was born on a Tuesday. He has a scrapbook called "Tuesdays With Will"..the pictures I scrapped of him I would email to our family every Tuesday....YES, every Tuesday. I would take picture of something new he did that week. He was the first grandchild on husband's side, so they were loving all the pictures! I would get emails bounced back and such, so it evolved into this blog.
WHAT I’M READING: Reading the latest Real Simple magazine.
WHAT I’M WATCHING: whatever is on the DVR....I am almost scared to admit this: Rock of Love with Bret Michaels. Just the sheer pure joy of listening to Bret say "smokin' hot" about those girls is entertaining!
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: The wind howling and the rain coming down...
WHAT I’M WEARING: Jammies...one kid is asleep and one is going to be soon.
WHAT I’M EATING: We had this DELICIOUS butternut squash soup with grilled cheese tonight. It was the perfect rainy day weather meal. You roast the butternut squash with ginger and onions....very good!
WHAT I’M ENJOYING: This weekend it was almost 70 degrees. We took Husband's convertible out and put the top down. It was a fun little drive....but sad because so many trees were down, snapped in half from the ice storm.
WHAT I’M SNIFFING: One of those plug in wall flower thingys from Bath and Body Works. I had it in the linen closet and it must have tipped over....when you open the door, it smells like some one's grandma who used way too much perfume! You know the one, she spritzes it like five times and then wants to hug you. Then YOU stink all day like grandma perfume.
PS, I am kind of liking the tuesdays with tommie thing....though I seriously doubt I can even begin to take a picture of myself every week. Last week I just happen to get a haircut and used the camera on my laptop. I DO NOT like to be in front of the camera. I am much more comfortable with a mongo camera and lens in front of me!
What is your favorite candy? anything chocolate...truffles....peppermint patties.
Name one thing that you'd want to receive as a gift for Valentine's day. Nothing really. We are going to dinner at one of those Japanese places where they prep the meal in front of you. I can't ever remember the name, so I call it the atchi wa wa (and you totally have to make chopping motions with your hand when you say it)
Can we truly love someone who loves another? It would be hard...thankfully I have never been in that position.
For Muffin Monday, we made these awesome apple pecan muffins. They were very good! Will was excited to get his hammer out to make the graham cracker crumbs. We had to have a lesson over banging GENTLY on the counter! These would not do very well in a mini muffin pan since you are layering them. So they are a BIG muffin.....but really good!
Apple Pecan muffins
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour 1 1/4 t. baking soda 1/4 t. salt 1 c. wheat bran flakes cereal with raisins ( I just used bran flakes) 2/3 c. sugar 1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs 1 egg lightly beaten 1 c. nonfat buttermilk 2 T. butter, melted 1 c. peeled, finely chopped Rome apple ( I used pink lady since that is what I had in the house) 1/3 c. chopped pecans, toasted 2 T. sugar 3/4 t. ground cinnamon 1 T. butter, melted vegetable cooking spray 1 T. sugar
Combine first six ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in the center of mixture. Combine egg, buttermilk, ad 2T melted butter; add to dry ingredients. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Set aside.
Combine apple and next 4 ingredients; set aside.
Spoon 2T batter into each of 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Top evenly with apple mixture. Spoon remaining batter over apple mixture. (Batter will not completely cover apple mixture.) Sprinkle 1 T. sugar evenly over batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Remove from pans immediately. Plate and share with friends.
Yield: 1 dozen **These do no do well in a mini muffin pan***
Calories: 198 Protein 3.6 g Fat 6.1 g Carbohydrate 3.4 g Fiber 1.5 g Cholesterol 18mg Iron 1.5 mg Sodium 240 mg Calcium 33mg
Totally shamelessly reusing a pic AND post I have already done. But when I saw the theme was bridge....this is the shot and thoughts I thought of.....
This past summer we had a hectic transition from TX to KY. This picture was taken during the month long stint of living with my mom. There is this awesome park in the big town next to my podunk America town. Totally worth the drive into town for a little fun. This park had towers, bridges, swings, things to climb on, ramps to run down, and just about every fun thing a kid could have fun. Will would try to walk down this rope bridge every single time we went. Will is more cautious than Livi. But finally by the end of our month in OK, he mastered this bridge. He would practically run down the little ropes.
Just like this rope bridge, we have been in KY for almost three months now. He is excelling at preschool. He is starting to read. He is excited about learning addition. He is making friends. He loves the days when he they don't have time to finish some work. Then he gets to finish "homework". Seeing him master these basic skills is so exciting!
He is mastering just one more rope bridge in his little life. That is what makes me excited!
1. Please don't tell me I went grocery shopping and forgot butter.....do you know how much butter we go through in any given week..
2. Can you please sleep in in the morning? I don't think the kids got the memo....they are up at the a$$ crack of dawn!
3. The color Nacho Chip (my wall color in my bedroom and living room) makes me want to relax!
4. I have a craving for cheese and crackers.
5. If my life had a pause button, I'd pause it during those calm quiet snuggle times just after bath before bedtime.
6. Will's Eyes are the lightest blue ever.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to pizza with the family, tomorrow my plans include exchange Livi's ballet shoes and veg and Sunday, I want to sleep in!
PS....here is what our yard looked like during the ice storm. Most of those trees lost several branches. The ice just weighed too much and they just snapped. Very hard to believe that it was 60 degrees here today! Husband even put the top down on his car on his drive home.
We eat a lot of fruit! I am fairly surprised that on this day the fruit basket only had two apples in it. I am even more surprised one of the apples in there had a blemish on it. If the kids go to the grocery store, I will let them pick out what they want. We usually stock the main things: bananas, apples, clementines, grapes, strawberries. There are some blueberries there now. I am afraid to get them for fear they won't taste like the fresh picked ones from the summer.
So, the other day Livi had eaten enough to feed a small nation. She lowered her eyelashes and said, "Mommy, I think those apples want to go to the party in my tummy....apples are so yummy, so yummy!" I busted out laughing. You know she got to eat some more apples. Far be it, I hold up any fruit from the party in her tummy.
There's a party in my tummy....so yummy, so yummy. If you have never had to privilege of hearing this song, consider yourself lucky!
WHAT I’M READING: I finished the Twilight series, so now I am playing catch up on all the magazines. Since I literally didn't read anything else for about five weeks.
WHAT I’M WATCHING: The cable just came back on mid Sunday afternoon after bring out since the storm hit Monday night. So now I am back to my trash DVR'd shows. I think the latest Bachelor is on there, as well as Gossip Girls. See some good 'no kid' trash shows!
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: or overheard in the Tuesday Update household: Tonight when Husband got home, I mentioned to him that Josie had an accident by the back door. Husband commented that she is getting old. At twelve years, she is beyond the life expectancy for a French Bulldog. Out of nowhere, Will pipes in, " She's old, she gets to do what she wants!" I think I need to adopt that philosophy. Disclaimer here....though Will looks like he is throwing gang signs...he is doing a sign we use for "I love you too!" He taps his heart twice with two fingers....but he always leaves his thumb up
WHAT I’M WEARING: jammie pants....remember we are on day nine of this icky icy snowy weather
WHAT I’M EATING: nothing now, but earlier we had a late dinner of soup and sandwiches. Who doesn't love tomato soup and grilled cheese made with the extra thick Velvetta. Oh yeah. comfort food at its finest.
WHAT I’M ENJOYING: a great haircut! I left the kids for the first time since last Monday afternoon. My hair girl had cancelled the appt this morning, but was able to reschedule for this afternoon. Her electricity was just fixed this morning after being out since last week. She was running late....I did not even care! The kids are STILL out of school even tomorrow.
WHAT I’M SNIFFING: Aveda products in my hair.....love love love Aveda.
What's the most embarrassing song on your iPod (or music collection)? Not sure really, I do have some Dixie Chicks stuff I don't really listen to....but I do like the one about Earl.
How much time do you spend each day in your commute? (Or if you don't work outside the house, how much time do you spend in your car or other preferred mode of transportation?) Husband drops the kids off...I pick them up. So about 30 minutes both ways. Then their are various activities throughout the week....tack on 30 minutes for each of them.
What's your favorite wardrobe item and why? Usually accessories...a black bag with a pink paisley lining if my current favorite.
This bunch of overripe bananas helped us to get back to our muffin Monday roots. B-A-N-A-N-A Anas..., don't tell me you didn't bust out into song.
The ingredients:
1/2 cup butter 1 cup white sugar 1 eggs 1 tablespoon mayonnaise *this part really grosses me out...but it makes it so moist* 3 very ripe bananas, mashed 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan. We made four mini loaves.
Livi can peel the bananas, put them into a ziplock bag, and mash them.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the egg, then the mayonnaise and bananas, beating well with each addition. Stir together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Blend the flour mixture into the banana mixture; stir just enough to evenly combine. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Bake at 350 until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 50 to 75 minutes. We baked ours about 30 minutes I think. Cool loaf in the pan for 20 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Yeah right, like that really is going to happen in our house! We cut a slice right away and slathered with a slab of butter.
My personal favorite: Plate and share with neighbors.
I do 
2. Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz- Germany
4. Toronto, Ontario Canada
7. Reigate, Bromley, United Kingdom
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