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.
Arctic fox mittens that Livi is wearing were mine from when we lived in Alaska. They are very warm!!
Brrrrr......
Cell service was spotty...big tease. I would think I had service, then NOTHING!
Decided to watch Narnia since I couldn't watch my trash DVR'd shows.
Electricity kind of flickered, but never went out for more than an hour
Facebook could be accessed in brief pockets of service on my phone.
Games....played my share or Dora Dominoes this week.
Had homemade ice cream
I think this is the longest I have gone without blogging since I was at my mom's (aka the land of no internet).
Just so thankful we had food and shelter.
Kind of ice storm related: The faucet kept leaking, then it leaked under the sink. Not sure if it was related to the storm. But Husband installed this gorgeous new faucet.
Livi loved sledding down the big hill in our neighborhood
Made good food despite the icky weather
No cable or internet for the week
Only ice left as of this afternoon is a bit in the shadows in the yard...freaky!
Pizza night, we still had it on Friday.
Quite a sight, all the broken trees. We lost one tree. Others were touching the ground so heavy with ice.
Raced down the hills in the sleds
Sounds of ice-laden branches cracking off the trees sound like cannons going off.
Thankful we had water and power throughout the week
Until Sat, I had not left the house since Mon afternoon....
Washed a bunch of jammies this week....snow days = jammie days in our house
Xpect to be stir crazy after that many days in the house
Yes, I was so ready to leave
Zipfy sleds are the best! I even rode down the hill once or twice.
I just heard that our babysitter in Texas, "big girl Agabel" as the kids used to call her, recorded a music CD. She is absolutely the best babysitter ever! **Pics shamelessly used from her facebook and myspace page** Anyhow, I am so proud of her!
A little background here.....when I was in college at OU, her parents were my host parents. The church I went to had a program where the members would 'adopt' a college student. Her mom and dad's home became a home away from home for me! I have fond memories of OU. Many of them include time spent at the M household. She had a slew of brothers and sisters. I think she might have been three or four then.
When we found out we were moving to Texas in 2006, her mom told me she was going to school about 15 minutes from where we lived! Whew hoo! I already knew a babysitter. Finding a good babysitter is truly one of the hardest things to do every time we move.
We are iced in today. No school for the kids but Husband had to go into work. What is up with that? I can only hope that we can find enough to do around here without going stir crazy! Kind of appropriate that we made snowballs yesterday! Sure sugar them up, then keep them contained in the house. We'll see how that works for me.
What gives you hope? I hate to sound cliche. But, the kids do.
How often do you get your haircut? I am growing out the Victoria Beckham swisshy haircut....so about every 6-8 weeks.
Describe your worst haircut. Describe? How about some visuals? (This was 1990. ) First, to get my hair that curly, it would take twice the amount of normal perming solution. Then what is up with that spaceship shape of my hair. Friends don't let friend perm!
What's your most treasured piece of jewelry? My wedding ring. Why? It is a symbol of a relationship I have with Husband, the commitment we have to each other.
For muffin Monday, we are almost finished with the cookie recipes we wanted to try. This one is called Pecan Snowballs. (Kind of appropriate, since we are supposed to be slammed with a snowstorm tonight.) Can you see the Littlest Pet Shop animals amongst the silly faced kids? They had to have them in the picture!
1 cup pecans 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 2 cups all-purpose flour
*Heat oven to 350° F. Spread the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 8 minutes. Let cool and roughly chop.
*With an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until fluffy.
*Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts and salt.
*Gradually add the flour, mixing until just incorporated.
*Mix in the pecans.
*Shape the dough into tablespoon-size balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
*Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
*Transfer half the balls to a second parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them 1 1/2 inches apart.
*Bake until lightly golden, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes.
*Place 1/2 cup of the sugar in a large bowl. Toss the warm cookies in the sugar and return to the baking sheet. Sift the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar over the cookies before serving.
*Plate and share with friends!
*To Freeze: Instead of refrigerating the balls of dough, freeze them on the baking sheet before storing them in bags for up to 2 months. To bake, follow the recipe instructions, baking from frozen, and use the upper end of the time range. Yield:
Makes 34 cookies writeNutrient(); NUTRITION PER SERVINGCALORIES 120; FAT 8g (sat 4g); CHOLESTEROL 14mg; CARBOHYDRATE 12g; CALORIES FROM FAT 57%; SODIUM 15mg; PROTEIN 1g; FIBER 1g; SUGAR 6g
While Husband was deployed, one of the few goals I had was to NOT go to the emergency room.....well, we almost didn't make it. While we were outside playing, Will comes up to me, "I hurp my poop."
Me: "What? You pooped! "
Will: (his lips curled around his teeth): "No, I hurt my pooth."
Me: finally understanding lip-curled-over-the-teeth speak: "You hurt your tooth? Let me see." There is no blood and he is speaking, so I thinking he just bumped it.
Will, showing me the DENT on the handlebars of his bike: "My mouth hit it here!"
Me, feeling a tad more worried after seeing tooth dust on the bar...."Yep, buddy, you chipped it."
Just the tiniest bit chipped off the corner of his tooth. He was so worried the other kids would laugh at him at school. But by the next morning he was fine.
Whew hoo....another crisis averted....move on grasshopper, at that point we only had 17 more days to go!
1. Oh, I am so tired of the achey sick sick running rampant in the house!
2. Embrace changes, big and little.
3. During Livi's ballet class, I sit with Will in the car. He plays a game on my Iphone, I catch up on my magazines.
4. It's dark on the way home from ballet; are you kidding me???
5. Right now I'd like to be right here, vegging on the sofa, with my laptop.
6. My new Iphoneis my favorite gadget. Before December I would have said my camera.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to pizza with the family, tomorrow my plans include resting, I can't like being sick and Sunday, I want to my all time favorite, sleep in!
I have a confession to make. I love soup. I was so ready for "soup" weather I was making grilled cheese and tomato soup in September. I should have probably waited until November or so.
Maybe I should have some soup criteria for next year:
* must be no warmer than 60 degrees for so many days in a row
* must be willing to make my own bread to dip because I love to dip bread as much as I love the soup.
* maybe throw in a frosty night or two
In any case, I love soup. Tomato soup, chicken noodle soup, beef stew are a few of my favorites. I have had a pear soup at a wine dinner that was delicious! I have never seen a recipe for one since. But Google is my friend, maybe I'll hunt one down.
So tonight, when we were having this peppered beef soup in asiago cheese bread bowls, I knew I had to snap a few pics. This recipe was from Southern Living, so you know it was good! Now that my belly is all warm and happy, I need to go rest!
2. Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz- Germany
4. Toronto, Ontario Canada
7. Reigate, Bromley, United Kingdom
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