Something Nice: Steel Cut Oats

I don't know why this is posting as all one paragraph. Blogger doesn't like me right now. Sorry. I am not a morning person. You know that. Everyone knows that. (well, everyone that's ever been around me before 9am, knows that.) One of the things I really admire about Aaron is how happy he is when he wakes up in the morning. Like, when the alarm goes of at 4:45 or 5 am, he doesn't have a natural urge to throw it agains the wall, then throw a lamp at it, to make sure that it actually broke and will never bother me again. He is NICE when he wakes up. Me? Not so much. I do try to be nice...and some days, I feel like I am getting better. I've always been such a night owl, and it's pretty impossible to be both. I knew that Aaron had a busy day at work today so last night I decided to try something new. Around 11:30pm, I put 1 cup of steel cut oats and 4 cups of water in our tiny (I think it's about 1 1/2 quart size) crockpot and turned it on Low. At 5:30, Aaron filled a bowl with fresh, piping hot steel cut oatmeal to eat on his way out the door. We changed the setting to Keep Warm, and I had a bowl at 6:30. Listen guys (gals), they were cooked to PERFECTION. Seriously, perfection, I tell ya. Cook some. Soon. Tonight! I LOVE a recipe that makes me look like an awesome wifey that makes hot breakfast for my family in the morning. Uh, especially when it took less than 1 minute to prepare. Forget 30 minutes on the stove top! Even quick oats take 1 minute to nuke, and these were sooooo much better. Wonderful consistency. I've heard that using a large crockpot results in burned edges, over cooked, dry oatmeal, and a fat mess to clean. Using the tiny crockpot was the perfect size, because this left NO mess whatsoever. I emptied the leftovers into a tupperware to nuke for tomorrow's breakfast, and the crockpot was so easy to clean, I could have rinsed it clean with cold water. Yeah! That easy to clean. So if you have a tiny crock pot, don't be afraid to try this recipe out...and say goodbye to the assumption that just because you use your crock pot means you'll be soaking and scrubbing it for an hour later. Not so! Just be sure to use STEEL CUT oats for this recipe. Not rolled or quick oats. Steel cut oats look like little pellets, rather than a flat flake. You'll end up with mush if you use the other kind for this. If want to let them cook longer (because you sleep longer, but still want breakfast ready when you wake up), try setting the cooker on low for 1 hr before you go to bed, then on Warm for 8 hrs. FYI-fresh oatmeal is delicious with dried or fresh fruit (mmm or frozen berries), nuts, maple syrup, brown sugar, honey (blech...I hate honey, but the rest of my family loves it), milk, fruit syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, whatevah! So many options! Give it a shot. Non-"instant" breakfast that IS ready in an instant? Maybe I can be a morning person.

Expanding Our Nest

I bought five baby chicks on Friday. They live in a cardboard box in our dining room. I know, how appropriate. They sleep in a big heap on top of one another, and sometimes, they fall asleep while standing and their little heads flop over as they nod off. It's pretty funny stuff. They are 1 week old, today, and they arereally really cute.

Let's meet the ladies:

Eleanor (Reese's hen. Named Eleanor because she looks more like one of the Chipettes than a chickie)

We aren't certain, but we think she is an Ameraucana. I hope so, because she will give us blue and green eggs if she is. But, really, we aren't even sure if Eleanor even IS a chicken. There is a very good chance that she's actually a tiny squirrel. I mean, really...look at those cheeks!

Goldilicious (Quincy's hen)

Our Golden Sex Link. Goldie is almost a week older than the other chicks, and they are all aware of it.

If any of our chicks are going to end up being a rooster, I'll bet good money that it's this one. She is naughty. She pecks the other chicks, knocks the water tray, scratched all the food out of the feeder, and this afternoon, was found proudly standing up on top of the feeder. Either we have a rooster, or Goldie is one diva hen.

Henny Penny (Corbin's Hen, but thanks to Quincy, we are now just calling her "Money")

Our Production Red.

She is tiny and timid and loves to be held.

Nugget (as in "chicken nugget", not Denver Nugget)

Our Production Black.

From the photos we have seen online, she will be a very beautiful hen, or a very very ugly one. We'll love her either way, but lil' Nugget might end up looking sort of...special.

and finally, my favorite, Scout (Why yes, as a matter of fact, I am reading To Kill a Mockingbird right now.)

the Barred Rock

(she is totally my fave...I am quite certain Scoutie will be our prize hen)

The girls are still in the newlywed phase and are loving pet owner heaven. Every story that Reese has written for the past 5 days has been about the chicks. Both girls rush to check on them when they wake up in the morning, call them by name, say good night to them, love showing them off to their friends, and are surprisingly diligent about washing their hands after every time they go near the box.

It is impossible to keep this guy away from them.

Today, he gave them a handful of goldfish crackers, a sippy cup, a grape, a Little People, and a toy pillow. He also shouted, "Hot! Hot! NoNo, that's hot!" after he knocked their heat lamp over on top of them. Poor chicks. The box gets moved to our master bathroom to give the chicks a break when Corbin gets a little too Lennie Small on them. I'm counting on Corbin's brute affection to keep the chicks from getting mean.

I cannot wait to show them to my preschoolers.

Anyway, yeah, I have chickens, now.

I'm a chicken farmer.

A Poulterer.

A Poulterette, if you will.

Hopefully, in 20-22 weeks, we'll be collecting eggs. Maybe I should stick one of those lilypie gadgets on my sidebar. Anyone know how to do that?

Man's Best Friend

"Gimme a sister/Can't resist her/ Red Beans and Rice didn't miss her..."

Meet Carolina (and baby Rebekah)Carolina is from El Salvador.
She is also an excellent cook.
And do you know what I do when someone does something well? I ask them to come over and share their talents. So, today, Carolina came over to teach the Willy's how to make red beans and dirty rice.
Wowza! It was good. Really good. And so simple.
We like simple.
We like inexpensive food.
We like da beans.
And since we like you, dear readers of this blog, we will share her wisdom. Start with the beans. If you are smart, you'll prepare these the day before you plan to eat them.

Red Beans a la Carolina

You will need:
a big fat cooking pot
water
1 lb dry
small red beans
salt
that's it.
Amazing.

1) sort, rinse, and drain beans. Put in large pot and cover with water (fill pot about halfway)

2)Boil on HI

3)after about 30 minutes, reduce heat, but make sure the pot is still in a constant rolling boil. Cover, but leave the lid slightly tipped to vent the steam

4) Let the beans continue to boil for another 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally, and check to make sure that the beans are always covered in water. If they get too dry, just add more. We probably added another 2 cups over the next hour of cooking. That will be plenty of extra water if you plan to just make the beans, but if you are going to make the dirty rice, add at least another 2-3 cups of water while the beans are boiling. When the beans are soft and ready to eat, add about 2 tsp salt.

Note: if you want even better tasting beans, put them in the fridge (with liquid, covered) and use them the next day. Yum. Save as much of the broth from the beans as you can so you can make the dirty rice.

Next, the Dirty Rice

Brace yourselves. This is some hardcore goodness.
You will need:
2 cups Jasmine rice
1/2 green bell pepper
1 tomato (this is a great way to use up a tomato that's been in the fridge a little too long and is starting to get a little soft)
1/3 white onion
2 TBS Caldo de Pollo (can be found in Mexican Food section of Walmart)
2 TBS vegetable oil
about 4 1/2 cups water (or if you made the beans, use the liquid from the pot

1)heat oil in a large sauce pan or stock pot.

2) cut pepper and tomato in large chunks, and onions very small, add to oil and sautee for a few minutes 3 add rice and continue to sautee for another 3-4 minutes (rice will be sort of crispy and start to change color...do NOT cook for so long that it browns) Carolina says it is worth mentioning that you should not rinse your rice (I never do that anyway, but apparently people do? who knew?)

3) add 4 1/2 cups of water, 2 TBS caldo, 2 tsp salt, and bring rice to a hard boil.

IMPORTANT: To REALLY make a perfect pot of dirty rice, instead of water, use 4 1/2 cups of broth from the red beans. Oh. MY. Carolina, I heart you. 4)after 1-2 min at a good boil, cover the rice and cut the heat to low. after 10-12 minutes peek at your rice. It should look like this.

see how the liquid is pooling on top of the rice? Here's Carolina's secret....do NOT stir the rice. That's how you end up with mushy, sticky rice. Instead, use your large spoon to create 4 little holes in the rice. This will allow the liquid to sing down to the bottom of the pan, and give you the perfect evenly cooked pot of rice. Cover and cook another 3-5 minutes.

If the rice looks almost done, keep covered, but move off of the heat source. Your rice is done when it is tender and fluffy. It should not stick to the sides of the pan at all. If it does, you have cooked too long, too hot, or stirred too much. You can eat it plain, or add beans, cilantro, corn, or even scrambled eggs. So many options.

Enjoy the goodness.

Thanks, Carolina!

Approaching the Finish Line

See these faces?

We had those smiles for 20 miles.

We ran in freezing pouring rain, against 25mph gusty wind, we braved the thunder and lightening and mud and and... it was awesomesauce.

20 miles done! And I must say, not a shabby time for a training run, especially considering we were soaked to the bones and our toes were prunes by mile 5.

Next week = 2nd Annual Bentonville Half Marathon with a bunch of fun friends.
April 16th = the Big Race.

I'm feeling much more confident about the marathon after today's run.

Conditions were tough.

Wet. Soggy. Windy. More Windy. Muddy. Cold.

Yet (<---that's for my Green Bay friends) we still felt fantastic at 20 miles...and most definitely could have kept on running. The last few weeks of training have been difficult for me. I hit some kind of wall and felt a significant loss of strength, motivation, and overall joy in training. I've heard that this happens pretty often. People train hard, get burnt out, lose steam, and find themselves wondering,

"What the crap am I doing?! What made me think I could do this?! WHY am I doing this?!"

I have asked myself all of the above many many times lately...especially since the excruciating 18 miler two weeks ago, where my body basically fell apart on me.

Today, I embraced the crazy conditions, took my sweet time, enjoyed time with my best friend, and fell in love with distance running all over again.

With all the madness that keeps me running around here (among the typical things, I've had marathon training, sickies to nurture, there are 6+ weeks of my speech class to finish and I'm starting a 5 week online course to get my last credit from BSU so I can graduate in May...then there's graduation process, my preschool, the garden, the chickens---oh yeah, did I mention that I bought 5 chickens yesterday?) I feel like I am sprinting as fast as I can toward some kind of finish line.

I know I know I know, there is no "finish line" in life. But the next 6 weeks will be very busy for us, and then one by one, unnecessary demands in my life will disappear with the season as our busy springtime changes course and melts into lazy summertime.

The first to go will be the 2-4 hour long runs on eaaaaarly Saturday mornings! I will continue to run to stay healthy (and because I love it) but not for 13, 15, 16, 18, 20 miles. I am tired. And no wonder, I've basically been running the distance of a half marathon or longer every saturday for the last several months. These long runs are necessary for the marathon, but not for life. Saturdays will shrink back to quick 5 or 6 mile runs after April 16, and I can't wait to have more time for other, more important things like my family.

The finish line is on the horizon. Until I get there, I'm going to soak up the satisfaction that comes from making it past every hurdle on my track, whether I'm crawling or soaring over them.

Today I remembered how to fly.

Just Chicken It Out

I took my chickies to the feed store yesterday to "chick" out the spring chicks.

I love how each of them responded from the experience so differently.

When we walked in, Quincy walked up to the bins and gasped as if she were meeting up with a gaggle of old pals.
"Hey Girls!" she said to them, then to me, "the chickies are girls, right mom?"

Is that just the happiest look you've ever seen?! Darling.

I'm sure Corbin was completely confused when we kept saying "chickens", as he understands "chicken" to mean the dinosaur shaped food that we offer up on a plastic IKEA plate.

He might have plucked some feathers and poked an eye or two.

Reese took a little longer to warm up to the tiny, noisy, pooping, creatures that move and wiggle unpredictably.

Reese is such a natural caregiver and loves animals. She even says she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up.

Reese was also born with a very real fear when it comes to actually touching animals.

She wanted to do it. I knew she could do it. So we waited until she was ready.

How often do we, as adults, face one of our fears head on?

I'm talking about a real fear. One that makes us literally shake.

Usually never, well, unless we are forced to, right? Most of us run the other way, accept that whatever intimidates us "is just not our thing", and move on without looking back.

She waited. She watched. She asked questions.

Then she took a deep breath,

and I was really quite proud of her when this moment finally arrived.

She is amazing.

We can do hard things.

We will be back to the feed store soon!

Butternut Squash for the Soul

I love soup. With the constant round of sickies that we've had around here, this soup has been a staple in our house this year. And now that there are ginormous butternut squash (squashes? haha) available in the market, be sure to pick one up and make this stuff. Sooooo goood.


Butternut Squash Soup
This recipe came from my friend Erin (hollah!), who makes really good food (7 layer bars anyone? yum!). Since her blog is private and I can't send everyone over there to experience the awesomeness of this soup. I am posting it here, too. She rewrote the recipe so it would be easier to follow. The ingredients are grouped by what goes together so there are quiet a few spots where you use differing amounts of chicken stock and things like that. It is delicious, makes a lot of soup, and is totally worth the time it takes to prepare. The steps might seem tedious, but just do it. This is soup to perfection. If you mess with perfect, you are a dummy.

Plan on 2 hrs from start to finish for this recipe. Start with the squash, because it takes an hour to roast, and then do everything else about an hour before you plan to eat. The wild rice takes about 45 min to 1 hr to really be good. This is great fresh, but also excellent the next day as leftovers. And you will want the leftovers, baby.

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
1 T olive oil (or two pats of buttah baby!)
salt
black pepper
2 c chicken stock

4 c chicken stock
½ c chopped onions
1 c wild rice

1 T olive oil
¾ lb turkey sausage (I just use pork sausage, because I always have a tube of it in the freezer...it has a little more fat in it, but it tastes sooooo good. I don't use oil to brown it though..it does fine without any added fat...which I like to think makes up for the extra butter on the squash)

2 c chopped onions
salt and pepper
6 c chicken stock
2 c frozen corn
1 ½ c half and half
optional: diced red pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Slice squash in half, remove seeds and season with 1 T olive oil (cough BUTTER cough), salt, and pepper. ( I never add salt and pepper, there is enough in the soup...and you KNOW I love salt, so there really IS enough).

Place on a baking sheet and roast for 1 hr. Remove from oven and cool completely.

3. Peel and seed squash. In a blender puree squash and 2 c chicken stock. Puree until smooth and set aside.

4. In a saucepan, over medium heat, bring 4 c stock and ½ c chopped onions to a simmer.

5. Stir in rice and cook for 15 min, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

6. In a BIG soup pot, over medium heat, add 1 T oil. Heat oil up and then add sausage and brown for 3 min.

7. Add 2 c onion and season with salt and pepper. Sautee for 3 min.

8. Add 6 c chicken stock and squash puree. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 20 min. Skim off any fat that rises to surface.

9. Stir in rice and corn and continue to cook for 10 more min.

10. Remove from heat and stir in half and half and season with salt and pepper.

Impact

It is soccer season again, which means that on Monday evenings and Saturday mornings, you will find the Willy Family here:

Go Impact Girls!

Behind Fences

Well. I met another one of my neighbors.

If you read this blog often (and I think you should, 'cuz we're pretty awesome) you know that meeting a neighbor of mine is always, um...an interesting event.



Extra interesting if you saw the latest episode of Parks and Recreation.



So, Katie and I decided to walk down to the end of the cul-de-sac I live on, and see if we could see her house through the woods.

We couldn't find her house through the thick trees, but Katie did spot something abnormal lurking in the backyard of one of the houses down my street.

Could it be?

Yes!
My neighbors are totally raising a mini horse (not a Shetland, mind you...apparently there is a difference) in their backyard.


The homeowner was home, so we introduced ourselves (you know, since we and our kids were romping through his yard to get a better look at the pony---er mini hourse).

Meet Charlie and his 3 yr old champion mini show horse, Snowflake. Not only does Charlie love his mini horse like a baby, he's quite proud of the monster truck he is building in his garage, the property he left behind on the Boise Bench overlooking Ann Morrison park (small world), his crazy wild barking dogs, and the vacation home he just bought on a beach in Texas.

He also showed off 4 inches of old man crack every time he turned around.
Crack Charlie plans to bring Snowflake over when she's ready for show later this spring, so my girls can ride her.

oh, and see that door behind crack charlie? Why that's where he closed in a couple windows and converted part of his HOUSE into a barn, so snowflake won't get too cold in the winter.

He has a horse in his house.

And here is 125lb Snowflake, just chilling with the dogs in an ordinary Bella Vista backyard.
You never know what's behind your neighbor's fence.

My neighborhood just became totally awesome.
We have Little Sebastian!

Round 1

I know it's early, but the 10 day forecast looks pretty good, so we decided to risk a late frost and plant seeds in 2 of our garden beds.

If it gets too cold, our only monetary loss is the cost of the seeds (all of which were leftover from last year and even those were gifts or purchased for 10 cents at the associate's store), and we'll plant again at the normal time in 4 weeks.

If it doesn't frost, some of our veggies and flowers will have a 30 day head start:
-cucumbers
-armenian cucumbers
-bell peppers
-basil
-lavendar
-dahlias
-chives
-green beans (pole)
-green beans (bush)
-watermelons

And that's just round 1. Nothing to lose and everything to gain. The potential 30 day head start is totally worth the risk.

So now we wait 4 weeks, and hope that Winter really is over.

Things that are the Best News Ever

Dear Meg:

The graduation evaluators have reviewed your undergraduate Academic Advising Report (AAR) for Spring 2011 graduation. It has been determined that you are a valid candidate for graduation. This means you are enrolled in all outstanding requirements during your last semester.
PER APPEAL SPRING GRADUATION IS PENDING ON TRANSFER CREDITS RECEIVED TO BRING IN AN AREA I LITERATURE COURSE AND AREA II COMMUNICATION COURSE. TRANSCRIPTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY MAY 17, 2011.

Sincerely,

Graduation Evaluators

yay.

Good Mail

I got a little surprise in the mail yesterday from my friend, Angela.

Have you tried chocolate Pop Rocks?

You must, they are fantastically superior to all other PopRocks varieties.

Not only are they a delicious, fun, snappity poppity sensory infused treat, the chocolate is actually GOOD chocolate.

Chocolate PopRocks = A+

Sweet surprise notes from friends = A++ (does the A++ actually exist? It should.)

It made for a giggly afternoon, and some very chocolately faces.

Thanks, A, for making our day!

"They Call Me Her..."

I feel like this blog needs a new title.
Any suggestions?

Be Still My Heart

Yesterday, the kids were feeling better so we all went outside and played in the dirt a little. I managed to get all of the garden beds weeded, rake some leaves, and haul away a few tarps full of yard waste. Reese dug up 3 earthworms with her little shovel and relocated them to the compost bin, offering grapefruit and banana peels as a new home...cuz that's pretty much all that's in there.



I'm a little excited about the compost thing.

I'm a lot excited about the garden. It's one of my favorite things we do as a family. We actually EAT the food that we grow. We give a lot of it away, sometimes unwillingly to bugs and neighbors who barge on in and take what they want, but also to our friends, who in return, share what they have grown. It's nice.



It felt so good to be outside with my kids, today.



I worked hard while they napped, and then we worked together, and then we just played.

I pushed them on the swings and silly songs were sung.

Reese's flip flops were flung from her feet and into the sky as she went higher on her swing.

Corbin threw a lot of dirt, and probably ate a good share, too.

Quincy made a mud pie and refused to touch the worms.



I took a minute to soak everything in. I watched my beautiful children, all laughing and swinging happily, and thanked God for giving them to me.



I am far from perfect, far from patient, and am well aware of where I fall short of my potential.

But on this particular afternoon, I experienced one of those moments where everything was just perfect. I was so overcome with affection for my sweet little ones, that I felt my voice shake as I told each of them how much I love them.



Reese responded, "We love you too, Mommy. I'm glad I'm your heart. That's where you have the most special love. In your heart. That's where we are."



I love them.

They are my heart.



It was such a perfect afternoon, I was sad (and so were they) when it ended.


Good thing we have today.

Gratitude Thursday

So much to be grateful for, today.

How about a list?

Emily brought us chicken noodle soup last night, and I am very grateful.
After class (where I rocked my speech, btw), I stopped by Kasey's for some "crappy day chocolate cake" straight from the oven.
I went to bed feeling refreshed and ready to take on the challenges and excitement of a new day.
I'm grateful for friends who know when I need a pick-me-up.

I'm grateful for my book club.

I'm grateful that I discovered pink grapefruit, this year. WOW! Where has this been all my life? I can't get enough, and am strategizing a move to Ca, Tx, or Fl so I can grow my own. Yum.

I'm grateful for the dollhouse that Missie gave my girls years ago. They play with it every day. EVERY day.

I'm grateful for fresh flowers in my kitchen window. Orange tulips are my fave, and every year I resolve to plant them in my yard, and forget. Fortunately, Walmart sells them in $5 boquets, and these lovelies have been blooming beautifully for 10 days.

I'm grateful for my collection of 8oz milk bottles. They are pretty.

I'm grateful for my flat iron.

I'm grateful for new running shoes.

I'm grateful for antibiotics (always.)

I'm grateful for tampons, cuz seriously girls...how different would our lives be? Just sayin'.

I'm grateful for disposable diapers, because Corbin has not had a solid poop in over a month, so the cloth diaper idea was shelved until I have a diaper sprayer and enough diapers to keep up with his grossness. Operation Cloth Diaper was not a complete failure...but definitely not the success I had hoped for. I will reattempt another time.

I'm grateful that I'm not afraid to try new things.

I'm grateful that my Love is a morning person because I, most certainly, am not.

I'm grateful for my little old house and all of it's imperfections.

I'm grateful that we feel like we are bursting at the seams in this little house, because that means our family has grown since we moved in 5 1/2 yrs ago.

I'm grateful that I have both daughters and a son, because the experience has been extremely and wonderfully different with each. I am blessed with both.

I'm grateful for dates with Aaron.

I'm grateful that my mom's surgery went well.

I'm grateful for running buddies.

I'm grateful that Reese is excited about soccer and joined her team for practice without hesitation, this season.

I'm grateful that Quincy did not get an ear infection in the midst of her ailments.

I'm grateful for the little battery operated polar bear that corbin thinks is a real "kitty", because it is sooooo cute.

I'm grateful that Hayley encouraged me to start a composting. My soil is going to be bomb, this year.

I'm grateful that it is almost time to plant our garden. What are you growing this year?

I'm grateful for diligent Visiting Teachers and Home Teachers.

I'm grateful that the Bella Vista POA changed their poultry policy, cuz I'm gonna get me some chickens! I can't wait to surprise the girls with some baby chicks to raise.

I'm grateful for a new-to-me blender and food processor.

I am grateful to only have about 8 weeks left of school.

I'm grateful that some new friends of ours have horses and are going to hook us up with some free poop for the garden. I love free $#it. hahahahahaha!

I'm grateful for deep fried heaven and excited to go to Monte Ne Chicken this weekend.

I'm grateful for Burts Bees ResQ ointment.

I'm grateful to have a job that I love, and for a successful little preschool.

I'm grateful for a daughter who loves to clean.

I'm grateful for the peace, answers, and guidence I receive when I read the scriptures.

I'm grateful that my hair has almost grown past the horrible stuck-on-the-shoulders length that is highly unflattering on me.

I'm grateful for $24 over-the-knee boots that should arrive in the mail, today.

I'm grateful for safety.

I'm grateful for "just because" phone calls from my family.

I'm grateful that even during a chaotic week, I am genuinely happy and feel blessed to have a life that I love.

Luck o' the Irish

There was a leprechaun party up in here, last night! Rainbow Skittles and chocolate gold coins were left behind near our new books.

And the last of the milk? GREEN!

It will taste nasty because milk is disgusting delicious in our Lucky Charms cereal (which now has an unacceptable marshmallow to cereal ratio).

Top o' the morning to ya!

It's Baaaaaaaaaack...

Last night involved making trips from one bed to the next to take care of the sickies.

Someone, at any given moment had a fever, was thirsty, felt achey, needed to go potty, had a fever, was thirsty, felt achey...

All night long.

Question:
How the crap is this still happening?

I have laundered and bleached every surface.
Is our air toxic?
I am so very tired of my kids getting sick that I feel like I am going to lose it.

Spring is here! We need to be outside, playing, getting dirty, being warm, growing things, running, enjoying sunshine.

I'm letting them indulge in whatever they want to eat (marshmallows from the lucky charms bag, soda crackers, juice), dress however they want (no pants for Q or Corbin, jammies for Reese) and watch whatever they want (Alice in Wonderland, Little Brown Bear--aka worst $1 I ever spent, but they love it, and Thomas the Train--thanks, Carrie).

Corbin wants to be held 24/7, which is new for him, so I kind of love it.
That kid is a hoss.

Last week, at the doctor (yep. just last week. we've all been on antibiotics since Friday. stupid virus.), Corbin weighed in at 26 lbs at 21 months old.

Quincy weighed in at 27.5 lbs and she is 4 1/2.
There are 2 1/2 years between them, but he is going to pass her! (or eat her.)

Anyweight, they're all sick. Rosy cheeks, chapped lips, sad little puppy eyes.

And I'm giving them whatever the heck they want, today.
Because when you're cookin' at 103*, the body wants what the body wants.

And maybe if I surrender and spoil those little bodies with whatever they want today, Mr. Fever will chill out and get out.

Dear Mr. Fever,
Pick on someone your own size.
Leave us alone, and go hang out with Winter.

We have a Spring to enjoy.

Use Your Noodle

I made a big batch of colored noodles for necklace making with my preschool kids.

Do you know how easy it is to dye noodles?

SUPER EASY!

You will need:

-dry noodles (keep in mind who will be using them, there are some smaller noodles that are about the size of those plastic E Beads, but I was worried they'd be too difficult for my preschoolers to string, so I got a larger, fatter type of noodle) I used two boxes to make 1 gallon size bag of colored noodles.

-food coloring (just the old school liquid kind)

-white vinegar

-gallon sized ziploc bag (one bag for each color, or be like me, and start with yellow, then reuse the same bag with the next darker color....yellow, orange, green, red, blue, purple...)

-something to pour the noodles out onto to dry (newspaper, an old box, jelly roll pan, etc. I used the cardboard trays from the cases of bottled water.

This is so easy, I did the entire gallon sized bag in like 20 minutes, and they were dry within an hour.

1) fill a bag about 1/3 full with noodles and add 2 tsp white vinegar

2) add 10 drops of food coloring

3) shake and massage baggie until liquid is absorbed and color has spread evenly

4) pour noodles out onto tray to dry. I try to stir them every 5 minutes or so so they don't stick together

5) repeat process for each color

6) Enjoy making necklaces with your little ones!

The KGB Will Ask the Questions!

Last night, Aaron and I cracked up laughing over a rerun of The Office where Dwight, Jim and Michael are telling knock knock jokes about the KGB. Funny stuff. I hadn't heard a knock knock joke--that actually made me laugh out loud-- in a long time (maybe ever?), but leave it to The Office to make it funny.

The conversation that unfolded moments ago proves that either my standard of knock knock jokes has lowered, or my kid is disgustingly awesome.

Reese: Hey Mom! Knock Knock!
Me: Who's there?
Reese: [giggle. giggle. bigger giggle. HUGE FART. explosive laughter]

totally gross.
but also kinda funny.

Catch Me Lucky Charms

This is to make up for being such a Debbie Downer in the previous post.

About once a month, Reese's teacher sends home a "family project".
The assignment this month was to design and build a leprechaun trap together.
We kept our design pretty simple.
1) Leprechaun is lured in with rainbows, shiny stickers, and a tiny bowl of Lucky Charms cereal. (just the marshmallows, Reese decided that was the only part of the cereal a leprechaun would be interested in. Sounds familiar...)
2) Lepprechaun steps on trap door to get the free food (like Reese's sign? hahaha)
3) Leprechaun falls through trap door into a popcorn chicken container.
We thought he might like it if we went "green" and made him a prison from recycled material.

Reese wanted to include dollhouse furniture, and food and water for her leprechaun. I pointed out that he wouldn't be imprisoned for long, so the lucky charms would be enough. Also, leprechauns are very smart and very tricky and if we gave him furniture, he could stack it up and use it to climb back out.
Instead, she made a finger puppet leprechaun friend to stuff down in the hole with the leprechaun, so at least he won't be lonely. How thoughtful of her.

She has a list a mile long of all the things she plans to buy for herself when the leprechaun gives her his pot of gold.

Item #1 is a dog.

March Madness for Beginners and The Cone of Shame

Well, I survived.
Kasey and I ran from the Bentonville Square to the Pleasant Grove Walmart and back.
It was brutal, but with only four Saturdays left before race day, I really only had two options:
1) run while sick, or 2) don't get an 18 miler in at all.

I chose to do it, because I'd rather hate a training run, than be unprepared on race day.
And while I'm glad I stuck it out and powered through, I definitely felt every single mile in every corner of my fevered, aching body.


I did make a few crucial mistakes:

1) No sunscreen. Duh! Antibiotics + 4 hours in the sun on a beautiful day = a pretty good burn.
2) While stopped at an intersection, a car passed with a dog in the front seat that looked just like this little guy.

I don't know why, but I thought it was hilarious. I spent a couple good minutes laughing hysterically at the ugly little dog with "the cone of shame" on it's head.
I even did the voice of the dog from UP "I do not like the cone of shame!" hahahahaha!

Oh karma.

Shortly after I got up this morning, I jerked my head to the left to say something to Corbin, who was standing by my bed.

As I did this, I felt a sharp snap in my upper shoulder/lower neck.

Pop.
Pain.
Whoa! SEARING pain.


I am now in a neck brace.

It's hot, baby.


Aaron, obviously, thinks this is hilarious and laughs hysterically when I have to turn my entire body to talk to him. He is sitting to the left of me on the sofa tonight, and I swear he is purposely making up questions to ask me, just for the comic relief it provides to watch me sit up and turn my entire body to face him, because I can't see him.


So now, in addition to Strep Throat, a fever that STILL will not go below 99.5, a bladder infection, and a crisp sunburn, I wear a cone of shame.

I feel like an angry old lady that is falling apart.

So how am I handling it?


Let's be real:
Tonight, the kids were acting super crazy and kept fighting with each other. I was helping Reese finish a school project, Quincy refused to put on underwear and was running around naked, and Corbin had climbed up on the table to get the scissors, but found a marker instead and used it to draw all over himself.


Aaron was aware of only Quincy, and only because she kept turning off the tv.
"hey Aaron, can you give me a hand in here? Aaron? Anyone? Beuler?"

What is happening here?

Aaron is an excellent father....but that guy in there, in the living room. That was not Aaron. It was some guy that was very concerned about a bunch of "seeds".

Seed?

Doh!
It's that time of year. I should have known. Of course.

March Madness.

My ailments ain't got NOTHIN' on Aaron's case of March Madness.
It truly is the worst illness that can strike a household.

Symptoms include:
-extremely crazy children become invisible
-very important games = every game
-constant texts and friday night phone calls from brothers and college buddies
-mysterious appearance of nacho cheese and onion dip in the fridge
-your shows will not air a new episode this week or next. Instead, there will be basketball games on 24/7
-a "romantic getaway" will be proposed, but do not be deceived. This is only a plot to get him closer to the Elite Eight. I find it best to do a little research and find out where all the NCAA games will take place, first, so I can call him on his ruse and then earn cool points for going along with it anyway.
-words like "seed", "upset", and "bracket" become parts of every day speech.
-they think taking pictures like this are funny, even after you threaten to put it on the internet for everyone to see. And then continue to laugh even after you guarantee that everyone will agree with ME (the girl in the neck brace, mopping the kitchen floor) that this is sooo not funny at all.

{not pictured: the funny guy with the camera}
This year he has an exceptionally rare and highly infectious form of March Madness, which seems to circulate once every fazillion years when BYU actually pulls together a decent enough team to make it past the first round in the big dance.



WARNING: There is no cure for March Madness.


In the midst of tonight's chaos, Corbin dumped my apple juice all over the kitchen floor (then slipped in it) and Quincy knocked a big wodden stacking toy off a shelf and it landed square on my bad toe.


I lost it.
Time to pull out the big guns.
I glanced over at Aaron and gave him with the look.


You know. The look that every wife swears she never makes, because it makes her seem controlling and needy and psychotic.

The "SERIOUSLY? Do you not SEE what is happening here? DO something!" look.


I learned two things from using "the look" tonight.
1) The look is no match for a #3 seed...especially when delivered from within the Cone of Shame.
2)This isn't just any case of March Madness,

Aaron's been Jimmered.


Instead of the cartoon old lady pictured above, I'm starting to feel more and more like this one:A Mean Meg version of Falling Apart Old Lady Meg.

No one likes Mean Meg.
Send help soon.

I do not like the cone of shame.