I get the last cupcake.

since this is a private blog, a little update for those who might be wondering...

We lost the baby. I'm having surgery in 7 hours, not looking forward to it at all. The recovery from the last D&C for a miscarriage took weeks, was horrible, awful, what nightmares are made of.

I'm handling the situation fine, considering I just spent nearly a trimester being sick and tired with no reward ;), and grieving appropriately. I am strong. I am ready to do it all over again. I am 100% optimistic about my family growing again. I feel love and support. I feel grateful. My friends and family are angels. I feel hope as a dear friend of mine is bringing a beautiful baby into the world tomorrow, so even though I have the sadness of a loss, there is great joy to be felt and there will still be a sweet little baby to celebrate and make tomorrow a wonderful day.

Anyway, it's been a long week and we really are just ready to move on. God has blessed me with an iron will and I know I have all the strength and support I need to get through the next week.

Musing

I'm grateful for my sweet kids. Reese made breakfast this morning. I could get used to that. Corbin said, "have a good night night, Mommy?" when I got him up from his second nap (I know...two naps? How lucky am I?). And Quincy...well she took Corbin's red bat away (aka the club o' destruction) and threw it in the trash because, "this thing is too naughty for Corbin, Mom!" Now, they are romping around the backyard and pretending to be Kit, Ruthie, and Sterling in the treehouse. I love them. I live for them.

I'm grateful for my parents. They are really really good people.

I'm grateful it rained today.

I'm grateful for my house. It is located between the worst combination of neighbors in America and there are still 3 kittens (probably dead) trapped under it, and there is still a (now starving and pissed that we haven't just killed him off yet) raccoon in a trap in my backyard that growls when you go outside. But those things aside, I love my house. I will never get sick of the earthy grey color on the walls, I love my stuff (whoa! hoarder alert!), I love the screened in porch in the spring, the patio and the pergola in the summer, hopefully a garden full of pumpkins and butternut squash in the fall, and the cozy fireplace in the winter. I love that it is my house. I love that there are no spare bedrooms because they are full of people that I love.

I'm grateful for medicine. I know I talk about this one often--too often for some, but I don't give a rip. Hospitals and doctors and medicine and amazing medical technology are blessings from God. I refuse to be a fool, mock my maker, and take these blessings for granted by thinking I know better or using anything other than the best medical practices available to me.

I'm grateful for Aaron's job. I don't have to work = life is pretty grand, I say. It's pretty easy to hate on Walmart and trust me, as associates we hear our share of hatin'. To the haters I say, "work somewhere else, yo!" because Walmart has got. it. going. on. Top of the Fortune 500 is not a bad place to be.

Wow, Aaron must really have me converted to Walmart lovin', I'm starting to sound like I'm telling the team "what it takes to be number one".

----Man, it's a real shame Aaron doesn't read this blog, cuz his wife just dropped Vince Lombardi like it's hot on her blog. He'd be so proud. I about blew his socks off on Friday as the valuable informant that broke the news to him that Ron Artest had changed his name to Metta World Peace. Boom! What's that Vince? Who's in the hall of fame now? Me. The Wife Hall of Fame.

ok, where were we? oh right, Walmart. I'm mostly grateful for Walmart because working for Walmart makes Aaron so happy. I am so grateful for my Aaron.

I'm grateful for my Kindle. I know I was a hater for awhile, because I wasn't getting my mom's hand-me-down books anymore, but dang. That thing is super awesome. And it has a cute orange case. And I have instant access to books. I love it.


I'm grateful for good friends that give genuine love and support when it is most needed, and then give it again when I think it is not needed but they know it really is.


I'm grateful for the highly addictive substance Chick-Fil-A is hiding in their buffalo sauce. Whatever it is, I'm certain it coined the term 'awesomesauce' because the food high that rolls immediately after comsumption is straight up money.

I'm grateful I have two lovely cleaning goddesses coming to do a deep deep clean tomorrow.

I'm grateful for God's timeline. I have a serious need to control things (gasp! really?) and there are many things in life that we just can't control. God's timeline allows for breaks (forces us to stop rushing) to just enjoy living.

Meet Kit

Reese and I finished Meet Kit and Reese has been working hard to add a page to her Good News Journal every day. Last week, I gave her the little 6 inch Kit doll (thanks to Borders 90% clearance, I picked up a few of the dolls for $4 or $5 each to go with the books). Reese has been begging for an American Girl doll since Christmas. The mini doll seems to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. She took Kit to her room and set her up in the attic, because that's where Kit ended up in the book, and took this picture of her. Too cute.

Reese has had a lot of questions about the Great Depression since reading the book. She keeps asking what caused it. We looked as some photos and talked about them. The girls saw the pictures of people out on the street with all of their belongings and said, "that's like Joplin!"

Then the real flood of questions came. "did a tornado cause the Depression?" "If we have a tornado in Bella Vista, will dad lose his job?" "if dad ever loses his job, will we turn our home in to a boarding house, like Kit did?" "Is Joplin in a Depression?"

We placated the plethora of queries by reminding the girls that we have food storage, and savings, and a garden and chickens, so we are prepared to for an emergency or if Aaron were to lose his job.


I think they finally understand. Maybe. The photos from the Depression do look so much like the Joplin tornado wreckage that we saw a few weeks ago, with the overall run down sadness and the people living in tents, etc, that I don't blame them for being confused. I'm pretty sure they still think a tornado was involved with the Depression somehow, but we're working on that.

Tomorrow, we're borrowing the Meet Kit movie from a friend. The girls are so excited!

What's that smell?

It's time.
Let's talk about Henry.

Remember Henry?
He moved into Carl and Barb's house directly across the street.

He is a Hoarder. A REAL Hoarder. The kind that end up on the tv show.

Lately, the smell from Henry's garage has become so bad that we just can't take it anymore.
But who do I call? The health department?

One day, we were in the driveway and there was a particularly bad smell wafting over from Henry's open garage. It is always open, which is why we have so many stray cats now...they are surviving on mice from Henry's garage.
I am 100% serious.
Imagine the worst mess you have ever seen, then throw food and animal feces on it.
You are picturing the view from my kitchen window.

So anyway, the smell was so bad, that I was trying to talk to my parents in the driveway but I started dry heaving instead. Sick.


I lost it.
Between heaves, I was standing in the street, throwing my fists in the air, sweating and screaming at the pile of garbage, "Ugh, Henry! CLEAN your freaking nasty house! It's disgusting!"

"He's not in it."

huh? Oops. Henry was right behind me, walking up toward his house from a garage sale down the street. I probably should have been embarrassed at the time. Instead, I was sick. and MAD.

Henry was pulling a cart FULL of more crap that he'd bought at the garage sale! He asked if something was wrong.

Now or never, Meg.

"YES, something is wrong. Your house is messy and it smells bad. I don't like looking at your garbage all day and the smell makes me throw up."

Henry looked surprised, "is it a bad smell?"

"Uh, YES IT'S A BAD SMELL!!! It smells like rat urine and cats and rotting flesh and sewage and garbage! It's disgusting! Either clean your gross house or keep the garage door closed so we don't have to see it or smell it."

Then (like a coward) I turned around and walked away.

OK. I realize this was not my finest moment. Just so you don't think I am dead inside, you should know that the guilt of my horrible behavior did come and it hit like a bag of bricks, or a bag of garbage, if you will.

When we got home that night, Henry's garage door was closed.
It stayed closed the next day, and the next.
And the next.

It did not help that the lesson in Relief Society that Sunday was about loving your neighbors and bringing them closer to Christ. Of course it was.

Yeah. Remorse was slowly going to kill me. No one deserves to be spoken to like that. I wasn't even speaking, I was screaming, crying, and gagging. It was quite the tantrum. How UN-Christian of me. I know that I could have said something to him, but I didn't need to do it that way. I am so embarrassed. I think Aaron and my parents wanted to curl up in a ball and die after witnessing the show.

I needed to apologize.

But here's where my pride sneaks (read: marches) in.
I don't like to apologize. (I know, who does?)
I love being right and I hate admitting I've let my sharp tongue get the best of me. I've said a lot of stupid and offensive things to people (just humor me and act surprised, ok? I'm not feeling very proud of myself at the moment, so let's not go there), but never anything like this. I mean, I've apologize for being rude or snarky or whatever, but let me just tell you right now,

"I'm sorry I called you disgusting and screamed in your face" is not something I thought I would ever have to say.

I confess:
I found excuses and justified reasons to not apologize for 5 days.
Henry's garage did not open even once.

What if I broke him with my horrible words? Maybe he honestly has NO CLUE that he has a hoarding sickness and I was the one to bear the news? That has to be worse than hearing "you've got cancer" for a guy like Henry. I had to talk to him.

With Aaron's encouragement (he is so wise) I prayed for humility and courage to apologize. I might have prayed that it would be easy. I know that part isn't fair, but I did anyway. Just keepin it real for ya.

The next morning, I had an opportunity, and I knew it was time.
Reese and I heard the trash collector cruise past our house at 6:30am (why so early? They usually come at 2) We rushed outside to pull our cans to the curb and flag them down so they'd stop on their way back.

Henry's garage door opened.
I passed out.

Ok, not really, but you know how when you throw away a meat package or a really nasty diaper, and it sits in the metal trash can just cooking and festering and rotting in the heat of the sun day after day? Do you know how bad that trash can smells when you open the lid 5 days later? Bad. Real bad.

Sort of like how bad the smell that came from Henry's was when he opened the garage door for the first time in 5 days.

I held my breath, prayed for strength and a bridled tongue, and went over there and gave Henry a sincere, heartfelt apology. I really meant it. After a moment, he cut me off with a, "no worries" like it was water under the bridge.

To be that forgiving, I can't even imagine. If someone had offended me and MY home like that, I would have stewed over it to an unhealthy level and held a grudge for weeks. Not Henry. He was all smiles on trash day....which is ironic, because he never puts out any trash on trash day. His willingness to forgive made me feel even worse for how mean I had been!

Henry continued, "Next time, you just have to pat me on the back and say, 'hey buddy, you've got a smell!' Don't worry about it."

Oh the guilt! It was like I had kicked a puppy.

"Besides, I found the source of the smell."

Um, you burned your house down? I know the source, Henry. I'm standing in it.

Instead, I say, "you did? What's that?"

Henry proudly held up a gigantic black garbage back and I threw up in my mouth.
"60 lbs of rotten onions!"

Cue Janis from FRIENDS voice because oh. my. gosh.

My guilt left. My head exploded. I have learned pretty much nothing from this experience.

sixty. pounds.
60 pounds of onions! Rotten onions!
Who the crap buys 60 lbs of onions?! WHY did he have them? WHY did they rot? WHY does he live across the street? Why does he have no idea that he has an illness? WHY? WHY? Whyyyyyyyy?????


The following weekend, he brought his brother's truck home to unload into his house, full of stuff of course: several tool boxes, golf bags, a dining room table and a full set of chairs, one of those special assistance raised toilet seats on a stand with the bars, a cabinet, and TWO refrigerators.
And the garage remains open 24/7 again.

what am I supposed to be learning, here? Other than that it might be time to move, I mean.

The All American Summer Passtime.

On Saturday we hit Sonic for slushies and tots, then headed to a ballpark in Rogers to watch Aaron play in a softball tournament with the stake. It was really hot outside. Sick hot.

But the players still played and the kids had a lot fun playing in the sand box at the playground.

Go Daddy!

You know you're in Arkansas

When you go out for a date and end up at a buffet (sick, btw.)



When you check out the movies and nothing looks interesting, so instead, you go to Tractor Supply and buy animal traps to catch the litter of stray kittens under your house.


When you go outside in the morning to check your cat traps, and find this waiting for you.

not a kitten.

I think a series of manly grunts would be a more appropriate title for this post.

This guy:

has been happily hitting, banging, crashing, and "hi-yah!"-ing everything and everyone in sight.

My favorite new thing he does is the "slow-mo" fall. Like if he slides off the sofa, he will then continue to dramatically roll three or four more times on the carpet, saying "whooaaaaa-oooooo-ooooooooohhhhhhhhh" in a muted, faraway voice.

Father's Day 2011

Aaron is such a good father.
He plays with the kids, teaches them, respects them as individuals, and there is no end to his love for them. Our children will never doubt of their father's affection for them, and I love that about him.

On Saturday, I told Aaron that it was HIS day to do whatever he wanted.

He sent me out for a morning run.


When I got home, he was vacuuming.

While I showered, he loaded up all of the kids in the van and took them out for donuts.


While Corbin napped, he took the girls on a "date" for lunch. (they chose McDonalds. fancy!)

He mowed the lawn with children on his lap.

After I put Corbin to bed, he took the girls to the pool.

When I asked Aaron why he didn't do more things for himself, like go fishing or take his boat out to the lake, he said, "I did do what I wanted. Today was a great day."



I love him. I am so glad I chose to raise a family with him.

"Smelly Cat, Smel-ly Cat, It's All Your Fault!"

I hate cats.
We've talked about this.
Perhaps not enough.
There are cats in my neighborhood. Strays, I think. Strays that think they live at my house.

I do not love them. I do not feed them.
When they get close enough, I throw rocks or spray them with my hose.

But they keep coming back. Sometimes, they bring their friends.

Last night, there was a cat meowing SO LOUD right outside our bedroom that Aaron and I woke up, got out of bed at like 1am and went outside to shoo it away, because it just wouldn't shut up.

Except it was pitch black outside and even with flashlights, we couldn't freaking find it! Torture!

The evil cat was hiding and whining, making us even more mad, as we stood in our front and side yard in our underwear and flip flops, waving flashlights and making that "pssst!" noise you make to scare cats away into the dead of night. We were tired and crabby, the cat kept meowing, and we could not figure out where the wailing was coming from to save our lives. From our bedroom, it sounded as though it was directly UNDER our bed, so we thought maybe it was stuck underneath the house.

While Aaron ruled out that option, I heard a second cat meowing at the front of the house, outside, in the bushes below our bedroom window. We found that cat (the same one that has been sleeping on our A/C unit but is too fast to catch and too smart to trap) and scared him away, and we eventually just gave up on the other cat-the louder one- and went to bed.

30 minutes later a HORRIBLE storm whipped through, drowing out any cat noises and I sort of hope it scared the cats away forevah.

As we crawled back into bed, I said to Aaron, "I bet you anything that cats didn't exist before the Fall of Adam. Surely they are part of that whole 'sorrow and contamination of the lone and dreary world that came along with pestilence when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden."

He disagreed with good reason (something I generally lack) and we went to sleep.

I think tonight might have changed his opinion.

After dinner, we opened the front door to get a package and Corbin took off running toward our side yard. I chased after him and he stopped at the big red metal gate (another story, I'm officially a hick with a barn gate) pointed, and said, "Kitty! Meow! Meow!" I scooped him up and there they were.

Yes. THEY.

Kittens.

THREE kittens.
Two black and whites and one siamese (who was too fast to catch a photo of). ***I took these photos today. There WERE cats under our bed!!! That vent is directly below our bedroom window! My home has been violated by felines!*****

Clearly the evil spawn of the 2 horrible cats that whined at my slider all winter long, that I refused to let inside (ew! never.). Since they obviously did not freeze to death, they must have decided to retaliate and multiply in the patch of noxious weeds behind my house. I think they might be trying to start a revolution.

Why, cats? Really. A litter. Really? Why? Why me? Why MY house? I do not like you. Leave me alone! Be gone!

****Now, I don't mean for this to be offensive for you cat lovers out there (who, I'm sure, are quickly becoming both cat lovers and Meg haters). So please don't be offended (unless you are the proud owner of one of the cats in my yard...and in that case, definitely be offended because I don't have anything nice to say about them). I really do think it's nice that you love your cats. I just don't understand why the cats love ME. The reciprocity is not there.

So anyway, back to my theory:
Cats = evil.

So far, here is my supporting evidence:

1) We'll start with the obvious. Superstition: black cats = bad luck. I'll take this one step further and state that ALL cats = bad luck. Did you not read this post? I have a litter of kittens under my woodpile! Grossness. Bad luck AND evil, fo' shiz.

2) During our middle-of-the-night attempts to shoo away the moaning and wailing last night, we were eaten alive by mosquitos. I have about 50 bites on my legs alone. Now, we're all swollen and itchy---just how anyone would feel after leaving a kitty brothel, which is exactly what we have getting on in our backyard. What's more wicked than a brothel?

3) All Dogs go to Heaven, so cats go ---where? Ah ha! Need I go on?

4) Cats have nine lives. Why do they get nine? Because they pulled a Dr. Faustus and sold their souls to Satan, that's why.

5) The mean old fat nasty cat in Cinderella---what was his name? Oh, right. Lucifer.

6) There's a 90210/O.C. esque cheerleading show on CW or WB or whatever that vampire diaries network is called now called HellCats. I mean, what is that really? Hell-Cat? Is that a thing? No one knows, but the two words seem to fit together so nicely that there's a hit trashy teen drama series wearing it's title.

7) No one should ever wear a unitard. Like, ever. Head to toe spandex should only serve one purpose and Spanx has got that market covered. Unitards=wrong. Luckily, it is more difficult these days for the the innocent to be fooled into thinking unitards are a good idea, as the original name "unitard" went out of style and the evil intents and purposes of this horrendous clothing fad were revealed in the new name, CATsuit. Bad news, people.

8) Wasn't it the Ancient Egyption civilization that buried themselves with their mummified cats? Um...hello? Has anyone done any research to be sure that these people weren't actually killed and buried BY their cats?

and finally:

9) Don't even try to tell me that the pitchfork weilding comic cartoon depictions of the devil with the horns and the tail don't have an uncanny likeness to pointy cat ears and long skinny cat tail.

I'm just sayin'.

Harvested

4 1/2 lbs of baby reds potatoes!

Growing potatoes is basically the easiest thing to do. Ever.

1) get a bin (or use your regular garden bed) like a bucket or an old storage bin or trash can and put a few inches of dirt in the bottom. make sure the bin has a few holes in the bottom to drain.
2) look on top of your fridge for that one potato that you forgot to eat and grew special little green friends on it. Wait until little green sprout buddies are about 1cm long
3) cut up potato into chunks so each piece has 2ish sprouts on it.
4) stick plants into dirt, green sprouts facing UP. Cover completely with dirt (1/2-1 inch)
5) green shoots will spout from the ground. Let them grow a little, but keep covering them with dirt so that the plant part is only about 4 inches tall. Once you've mounded the dirt up 10-12 inches, let the plant grow taller and do it's thing. When the plant blossoms and the leaves (or the entire plant) look like they're dying, dig up the potatoes.
6)If at anytime during the growing process you see potatoes peeking through the surface of your dirt mound, then pile more dirt on. Exposure to sunlight is what causes potatoes to be green and bitter.
7) let your 4 and 6 yr old kids dig them up....preferrably in their pajamas and barefoot to be extra classy. Reese kept saying, "Is this a treasure hunt, mom? We're rich!"

We are rich.

From the Sofa

Aaron (from the sofa): You being productive over there?

Meg: Who, me? Am I supposed to be being productive, right now?

Aaron (laughs): It's ok.

Meg: Really? What do you expect me to be doing right now, Aaron? It's 11 o'clock.

Meg: Aaron. Aaron? Are you asleep right now?

Aaron: Shh. It's a joke.

Meg: Well I don't think it is funny, then I thought you were sleeping. That would have been better than your lame joke.

Aaron: It's Nancy's joke.

Meg: Nancy who? Davis?

Aaron: No, from work...(long pause)...with the order.

Meg: Who?

Aaron: She isn't productive. (laughs) It's funny.

Meg: What?

Aaron: What.

Meg: I don't get this joke.

Meg: Hello? Aaron. Aaron! Oh. my. gosh! You ARE sleeping! Crap! HOW do I always fall for this? It's like when my Dad butt-dials our phone. I answer EVERY time! Now I'm mad AND you're not funny.

Aaron: What's funny?

Meg: Nothing. You are alseep.

Aaron: Hey! Shhh! I'm sleeping.

Veggie and Black Bean Focaccia

Click here for the recipe I used to make the focaccia bread. (3 ingredients, 30 minutes. So easy!)

For the toppings, I sliced a zucchini, yellow squash and scallop squash lengthwise about 1/8 inch-1/4 inch thick and tossed them with julienned red and green peppers in olive oil. I put down 1 cup of shredded mozzerella, layered the veggies on top, added some drained and rinsed black beans and topped with coarse salt and 3 slices of provolone cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes, chiffonade some basil and throw it into the hot cheese right when it comes out of the oven. Everything was cooked to perfection. It would have been even better if we'd had some mushrooms to put on it, or fresh tomatoes to throw on with the basil, but yum. Great way to use our masses of squash in a different and very delicious way. Reese picked off her basil, but gave it two thumbs up.

It was fresh and fragrant and totally worth pumping the oven up to 475* on a hot day.

Kristin-I need you to show me how to add all of my recipes from the last year to the "she cooks" tab. I never learned how. Oops!

A Proper Sunday School Education

I stayed home from church with sicky Q yesterday. At dinner, I asked Reese what she learned about in Primary.

Reese: We talked about Alayna's nipples.

!!!???!

Me: What? What do you mean? You saw her nipples? Why? When? Why?!

Reese: Alayna has nipples. BIG nipples, and everyone saw them. It was so funny. My teacher thinks they are really cute. You can poke them. Do you have nipples, Mom? Dad says you have nipples, too.

Me: Wait, poke them like how? Show me how you and your teacher poked Alayna's nipples.

Reese then put one finger on each of her cheeks and said, "Like this. Alayna has these nipples right here and they get really big like this (she sucked in her cheeks) when she smiles, it is sooo cute."

Me: DIMples, Reese. Those are called dimples.

Alayna does, indeed have darling dimples that are worthy of poking. I, however, do not. We're still working out the misunderstanding there.

Dreaming of...

Here.Thanks to my BFF/should-be-a-travel-agent-or-personal-shopper-because-she-is-gifted-at-finding-the-bestest-deals-on-the-interwebs, we found flights (from XNA? Yes, please), entertainment, and a awesome little B&B for my Aaron and I to spend the week of our 10th anniversary on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands on the cheap. Still trying to work out other details, but, I am very, VERY excited.

Behind That Pretty Fence of Ours

There's a happy little family playing in the backyard.
The garden is bangin'.
Q "goosing" Eleanor.

Our blackberries are turning black one. berry. at. a. time. More blackberries.

Our strawberries ripen at a similar pace...we only get to pick one or two a day, but they are delicious! The raspberries are sterile :( I need to find out how to fix that. They had HUNDREDS of blossoms and were full of bees all spring, but we did not get one single raspberry this year. Bummer. At least the bush is full and pretty.

Our grapevines were full of tiny grape blossom clusters before the torrential rains of early May.

This is the lone bunch that survived. These little grapes are like gold, man.

Corn, peppers (almost ready to be picked) tomatoes, and the new sprouts of the pumpkins we just planted. I hope I timed it correctly so we will have ripe pumpkins for Halloween.

Corn, green beans, cucumbers, watermelon, garlic, and there are green onions and pumpkins back behind the corn.

I'm a little worried about the tomatoes this year. By this time, last year, there were over 300 green tomatoes on the vine. I counted less than 10 tonight. Maybe they're just lagging behind this year because of all the rain we had in April and May? I'm sure they'll all be ripe when we go out of town. I that's the case, our friends can have free reign.

Speaking of friends, hey friends, want some squash? I'm picking 5-10 zuchs, yellow, and saucer squash every day now. Come get some!

I love this picture because Reese and I are standing on rocks that are higher than the soil in the beds, but you can barely see reese because the squash is so out of control. I can't wait for fall, there are dozens of baby butternuts on those vines. Soup anyone? yummy!

Most days you'll find me here, with my basket, a knife and really itchy arms. Did you know that squash vines are covered in teeny tiny thorns that feel like needles when you brush up against them? Ouchie. I'd be totally forgiving of this flaw in the plant if it kept pests away, but they are still covered in squash bugs, so what purpose do they serve? To keep me away? Not a chance. Those veggies are mine.

At least the Japanese Beetle population seems to be slim this year. The squash bugs have been out for weeks, but the Japanese Beetles are just starting to appear. I really hope their population stays small this year, or my pole beans won't make it to harvest.

We've been letting the hens out for a few hours every night to run around and graze in the yard. It is so interesting to watch them. As soon as the sets all the way behind the trees, the hens make their way back to the coop to roost for the night. They also come when we call them, and will eat grass (or anything) right from our hands.

I love our backyard.

Test Anxiety

Reese's ITBS test results just arrived.
You know, those standardized tests they give in the spring every year? Reese practically had a heart attack that week, she was so stressed out about it. I told her not to worry about it, but that's like telling ME not to worry about a test. Yeah right.

I talked to her teacher during testing week. According to Mrs. Rogers, the state receives a certain amount of funding for the schools based on their performance on these tests, and they were seeking more dinero, so a higher level of tests had been distributed this year, basically setting them up to fail. She was really upset about it, and said she felt terrible for the kids because they work so hard, and the test was pretty confusing. She also told us not to worry about their performance for this exact reason. I can't imagine some schools being given a different test than others, it doesn't seem fair or honest, so I'm not so sure about how that went down. But she said that if you compared this year's Kindergarten tests to the tests they gave to the first graders, the kindergarten test was more difficult.

Reese literally came home from school crying every day of testing week, complaining that the questions were so hard and she said her brain hurt from answering them. She's a little (very) dramatic.

She's asleep right now, and her tests just came in the mail. I was so excited to tell her that I went in tried to wake her up.
I was given a look of death and she rolled over and went back to sleep.

My 6 1/2 yr old takes occasional naps. I'm one lucky mother.

I hope she gets up soon, though, because I freaking can't wait to tell her that her hard work this year paid off!

The results are a National Percentile Rank, (NPR) so the score is the percent of students in this grade in the nation with a lower score than her on the test.
Here are Reese's NPRs:

Vocabulary 87%
Reading Words 96%
Language 99%
Mathematics 95%

Mrs. Rogers should be very proud. She is such a great teacher and prepared those kids well! We were so blessed to have Reese placed in her class, this year.

Well done Reese! She had nothing to worry about. We will be proud of any score she receives, we just want her to give her best effort. When testing week rolls around next year, we're going to remind her of her previous success and hopefully, get that girl to relax a little.

Standardized tests have nothing on that girl. Way to power through, Reese.
You can do hard things!

Satisfaction

I received my Associate's Degree from BSU in the mail, today!

I know it's for crap, considering that I have nearly enough credits for a bachelor's degree, now, but it's a start. It's something, and it can't expire.
It took a year and a half of appeals, more appeals, appeals to appeal rejected appeals, frozen pizzas for my family once a week, a total of 4 schools, two additional tranfers of credits, a lot of crying, sacrificing nights home with my family, a horrendous online class from BSU to reestablish catalog calendar year, and 3 classes at NWACC to make up for Area II classes that would not transfer, but I got it.

It's just an Associate's, but it's mine. Yay!
I have proof for my children that their mother went to college.

You are never too old to learn.

I'll have a blueberry, I'll hug a blueberry, I love a blueberry..."

Of course, the ONE morning my kids decide to sleep in past 6am is the day we have plans to go blueberry picking. It wasn't easy to wake everyone up and get them out the door in 5 minutes, but it was totally worth it.

(Corbin and Quincy stayed in their jammies)



Once in the car, we blasted Blueberry Pie by Bette Midler (if you haven't heard it before, click here, and make your life instantly better.)



The first time Quincy heard the song, she started laughing uncontrollably.

We thought she was going to pass out.





We picked two gallons of delicious, plump blueberries, and my parents joined us to pick a gallon of their own.



This is one of our favorite things to do in the summer. One for me, one for the bucket. One for me, one for the bucket. Two for me...

Tonight: Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes with blueberry syrup.

My parents left today. As I suspected would happen, Reese has flipped a 180* and become a hot mess. She's on her third tantrum today. Something happens to that girl when grandparents go home that just breaks my heart. The separation and lack of constant attention sends her into a needy tailspin of rottenness. Do your kids do this? I think she gets used to having their attention 100% of the time, and the instant I can't give her exactly what she needs the moment she wants it, she just snaps and becomes a monster that is unbearable to live with for a week. I tried to calm her down after her meltdown (that was over her letter G not looking like my letter G) but was unsuccessful and finally had to send her to her room for unleashing a string of 6-year-old profanity and hateful words on us all. She took off all of her clothes, kicked the wall, screamed some more, then got in bed. I hope the detox process goes quickly this time. It's only been an hour and I am spent. The good news is that it has been about 4 weeks since Reese has had a temper tantrum of this caliber, so ugly as they are, that might be a new record so things are looking up. And really, until today, she has done an amazing job at coping with things that might usually set her off.

I feel sad for her and pray that when she wakes up and decides to join us (and apologize), it will be the happy Reese that went blueberry picking with us yesterday that she chooses to bring out of her bedroom.

Quincy Says

Some nights, it is just too late for scripture time with the kids and we practice learning an Article of Faith instead. Tonight, Quincy volunteered to recite the First Article of Faith, and said,

"We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His son, Jesus Christ, with liberty and justice for all."

***************************************************************************

Last weekend when we ate dinner on the square, I took her potty at the Station Cafe. We passed the kitchen on the way back there and she asked about it. I pointed out that that is where the chef cooks the food that we ordered. She seemed ok with my explanation at first, but as she was washing her hands, she looked at me with fear in her eyes and a quivering bottom lip, and in all seriousness asked,

"Mom, do they cooked little children if they go through the door for the kitchen? Will they cooked us up?"

It's Good to Be Meg Willardson

It's good to be me.
Today I:

-started our summer reading program

-felt guilty that Henry's garage has not opened in 72 hours (another post. wait for it.)

-waited all morning for the A/C guy to show up. At 11 I called him and he acted all put out as though it was my fault he was so busy and wouldn't be able to make it after all (um, ya think? You were supposed to be here an hour ago.) He said he miiiiight be able to squeeze me in next week, but this week is too busy. Well, Mr. Fixit, you may have come highly recommended by friends, but that is what you told me last week, and that is WHY we had an appointment this morning. I had my Mom come pick up Quincy and take her to a birthday party for me, and I moved Reese's doctor appointment to the afternoon to make myself available for you. You didn't even call me to tell me you weren't showing up, so I think we'll be better off with someone else.

-fished Cowboy Boots out of a toilet bowl. No, not those kind of cowboy boots...
This kind of Boots...he's a cowboy. (yeppers, those are salad tongs.)

-moved that shirt to the "recycle bin" after seeing that photo.

-panicked after eating dinner, because I thought Aaron had taken the dirty "toilet tongs" out of the dishwasher to use them to take the hot dogs off the grill. (He didn't, but we all had a good laugh. Yes, I am just going to buy new tongs. Yes. You can come over for hot dogs.)

-lost a bunch of friends because they read my blog. hahaha! No really. Can we still be friends if you use my bathroom and find Boots in my toilet? Just tell me now ;)

-yelled numbers at a machine recording until it gave up and put a real representative on the phone to activate my new debit card (we canceled the other one because we thought it had been stolen, but it turns out I am just an airhead and remembered the cause of the high dollar mystery purchase-Quincy's ER visit for the quarter--less than 1 minute AFTER the old card was canceled. oopsie.) After forevah on the phone, my "immediately activated" card didn't work when I tried to buy lunch Chick-Fil-A. I have a hot date with customer service tomorrow for some PB&J's and troubleshooting.

-melted when temps hit 95* today. Ew.

-hit this cat with a rock before taking this photo. In my defense, I thought it was dead (he was sleeping). Aaron got him with the shovel. (in Aaron's defense, cats are disgusting and won't leave us alone.) Kitty got away. Point: Smelly Cat.
Dear irresponsible owners of the cats that think they live at my house,

I can't type what I really think about you and your disease infested felines because this is a family blog. Maybe on day when I haven't reached my word limit.

Until then, listen up:
Your cats flock to my yard like owls to Number 4 Privet Drive. There is now a $10 bounty out on your pets, and I will pony up some decent cash for anyone who permanently removes one of them from my yard. Dead or alive, I do not care. I am convinced that most cats sold their souls to Satan a long time ago, so I'm not really concerned about their mortality.

The traps are set,
Meg

-Took Reese to the doctor (ear infection). She did a great job waiting patiently for an hour to see the doctor. When she got home, she ran straight to her "good news journal" to write about her visit and put the sticker inside.

-Started a reading program with Quincy. She has a lisp, so I am going to go with a phonics program for her and see if it helps with her speech as well. Today we worked on some of the letter sounds that she doesn't know yet. Reese enjoyed reading the little books that came with the set.

-Filled a bunch of water balloons. It IS summer after all. The first two balloons lasted 30 minutes and were carefully cradled and carried around the yard. The rest were gone in 5 minutes of pure childhood bliss.





-Consoled the first water bomb victim. (Don't be fooled by the pathetic face. It's a ruse and she gleefully retaliated on her opponent just moments after this photo was taken.)



-Stuffed a couple water balloons in my shirt when Aaron came home for lunch and waited for him to notice. It was hillarious. I'm ten.



-I probably will not be laughing when one of my little girls copies my behavior and stuffs their shirt next week. It was still worth it.



-washed and dryed 4 loads of laundry, but didn't fold or put away one single item. My sheets are in the dryer and Aaron is happily asleep in a heap of towels and a spare blanket (love him.) I'm calling it good enough for tonight and will fold the lot tomorrow.



-the good news is that I found Aaron's pile of socks. I know that sounds crazy, but he's been missing ALL of his black socks for a week, now. They were under a lone shirt at the bottom of the whites basket and kept getting overlooked. Gross, but I am glad I found them because it means I am not crazy. I mean, who loses 10 pairs of identical black socks all at once?



-saw Something Borrowed with my mom. Laughed until I cried on the way to the theater, laughed in the movie, and laughed some more on the way home. Cute movie, great company.

-the hot, fresh, tiny cinnamon donuts weren't bad, either.


-called the police.

Yeah, you read that right. After the movie I dropped my mom off at her rental and headed home. There was a little old lady wandering down Trafalgar road. Some people were trying to talk to her but she wasn't speaking coherently. After they gave up, I rolled down my window and though she clearly had no clue where she was (or who she was, really), she waved her wicker handbag at my van to "get away". I left her, but felt uneasy the rest of the drive home. I called the nonemergency number and the police said they would send someone over to find her and make sure she is ok.

Did you lose your grandma? She's headed south/southeast on Trafalgar, near Commonwealth.



-researched how to clip the hens' wings. I may attempt it tomorrow.



I'm loving summer!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Reese and I started reading Meet Kit an American Girl together.



Kit Kitteridge and her best friend Ruthie love to read the newspaper and write stories about the "news" happening in thier own lives. The Great Depression is affecting everyone in the country, and Kit is tired of only seeing bad news on the paper, so she and Ruthie set out to write a newspaper of their own that is filled with good news.


One of the things I want to encourage Reese to do is keep a journal. After reading about Kit, we decided it would be fun for Reese to make a "good news" record of her own. I copied and stapled together a booklet of kinder-lined paper so she can have a page for each day of summer. Each page has the date, a "headline", a sentence or two about something she did that day, and a picture. I hope this will help keep her creative writing skills sharp during the break from school. At the end of summer, she will have a nice keepsake to help her remember her 2011 summer adventures.

Lemon Chicken Cordon Bleu

Directions for two:

Preheat your oven to 400°F.

Butterfly a thick, 8 ounce chicken breast.

Cut that butterflied breast into two pieces along the seam that holds the two breast halves together. Imagine it as an open book and cut along the spine. Now you have two thin cutlets.


Lay a slice of ham and then a slice of provolone cheese on each cutlet. You may want to tear the cheese and fold the ham so that they do not extend beyond the cutlet, because they’ll just melt or burn in the oven.

Fold each cutlet over to almost seal the ham and cheese inside.
Roll in bread crumbs.

Sprinkle very generously with salt and pepper.

Cut two thin rounds of lemon and place one on each chicken bundle.

Place in foil pans, cover, label, and freeze

To bake:
Thaw in fridge
Bake for 17-20 minutes.

I made a few of these (it is just easier to make multiples since I filleted a bunch of chicken for the chicken parm. I cut up all of the chicken at once and made a few of both recipes)

happy freezing!
Cookie recipes coming soon.

Book Club

I hosted book club last night. This month, we read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I loved this book. It's about the German Occupation in the Channel Islands. The main character, Juliet, is spirited, defiant, compassionate, witty, and I just love her. The book is written in the form of letters exchanged between characters (Juliet being the center role, surrounded by a handful of main characters and about a dozen other characters introduced throught the book). It was a little confusing for me, at the beginning, to keep everyone straight, and I wish I had kept a pen handy to write down my thoughts about each person at the beginning, so that when another letter from one of them came up later in the book, I didn't have to search back through the story to be reminded who they were. But the initial confusion is worth it. I recommend this book to anyone. Reading it was like taking a vacation back in time to a little island full of eccentric people that are brought together under unique circumstances and strengthened by literature.



I love book club. Aside from a few regulars, a slightly different batch of ladies shows up each month and we always have a great time.


One of the treats I made were these fruit puffs. The recipe was discovered by my friend, Meg Beckstead (aka Meg #2, or Meg squared, as I call her :P)

Lemon Berry Fruit Puffs

1 box puff pastry (pepperidge farm, it's in the freezer section near the filo dough and cool whip)

2 eggs

1 box cream cheese

powdered sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

lemon zest (optional)

fresh berries

thaw pastry in fridge.

unfold and roll out pastry sheets (lightly dust surface with flour) with rolling pin. Use a pizza cutter to slice pastry into 3x3inch squares. You'll get about 24 puffs from a box.

press squares into regular sized muffin tins and brush the edges with beaten eggs.

bake about 10 minutes at 375*

remove and cool on wire racks

mix softened cream cheese with lemon juice with an electric mixer. Add powdered sugar (1/3 to 1/2 cup? I didn't measure) to desired sweetness.

Spoon cheese into cooled puffs and top with fresh berries. I added a mint leaf to each for garnish and added yumminess. Chill until serving.

Lookout! They're addicting!

On a Hot Summer Day

Snow cones are a quick fix for the post-naptime-crabbies.

We used this snow cone maker that my parents gave to Reese for her "snow" birthday.

It's really fast!

Harvest

I picked 5 cupss of spinach tonight and found a surprise hiding in the garden.


Green beans!
I swear these things grew overnight. I just checked them a couple days ago and they were barely starting to blossom. Now, the bushes are full and weighed down with bean pods. Amazing.

Today

-the ants found the honey jar.

-Corbin bit through the peels and into the end of every banana on the counter.

-is Reese's last day of school! Woooot!

-the girls are planning a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's

-we finally attached the rest of the pergola to the house

-we will have snowcones and watermelon after school

-we are harvesting spinach and our first zucchini and yellow squash.

-we planted pumpkin seeds

-two bottles of water have been dumped on the living room carpet

-two stuffed animals and a car have been put in the toilet

-Quincy did her own hair and has an assortment of clips hanging from her bangs

-Corbin took an egg from the fridge, shouted, "a ball!" and threw it to my mom.

-I just found a large mysterious spill down the front of my white skirt that looks like a coffee stain. I have no idea.

I'm Freezing!

Ha! Yeah right! It's a fazillion degrees outside already. But technically, YES, I am freezing.

Freezing dinners!
One of the things my mom and I often do when she comes to visit is make a bunch of food and freeze it. I don't know why...my mom does not love to cook like I do, but we both enjoy the fun time we have spending a day in the kitchen together. And I like having a freezer stocked with dinners for days when we are just too busy to cook. It's been especially nice to always have a few on hand during really busy months that I was busy with school, pregnant/had a new baby, or when I was remodeling the kitchen and the counter or oven wasn't accesible for preparing meals.

I always ask around for good freezer meal ideas, but rarely get actual recipes back. Usually the responses are "lasagne" and "enchiladas"---both of which are excellent freezer meals, but I want something new, and I need actual recipes.

When cooking for my family, I probably use an actual recipe less than 30% of the time. Usually, I just throw things together in the kitchen and ta-da dinner is served. (not so with baking, obviously.)

I have learned that not all freezer meals are created equal, and not all meals are freezer worthy, so I want actual recipies for these....which are more difficult to find than you might think! I have a few which are tried and true, and added a few new meals that I found online that claim to be freezer worthy.

For your convenience (and mine, when I make them again) I've pasted the recipes here, with a link to the original sites they were posted on, so you can link back and look at their beautiful photos (because y'all know I take terrible pictures).

Here's what we are making this time:

#1 Chicken Parmesan

http://onceamonthmom.com/chicken-parmigiana/

Ingredients:
• 1 1/2 pounds Chicken Breasts (approx 6)
• 2 each Eggs
• 1 teaspoons Salt
• 1/8 teaspoons Pepper
• 3/4 cups Dry Bread Crumbs, fine
• 1/2 cup Oil
• 32 ounces Tomato Sauce, oz
• 1/4 teaspoons Garlic Powder
• 2 Tablespoons Butter (or margarine)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 8 ounces Mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded
Directions:
Place chicken breasts on cutting board, pound lightly until 1/4 inch thick. Combine lightly beaten eggs, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken into egg mixture, then bread crumbs. Heat oil in skillet until hot, quickly brown chicken on both sides, remove to shallow baking dishes. Stir in tomato sauce and garlic powder into skillet, heat to boiling. Simmer 10 minutes until thickened. Stir in butter. Pour over chicken, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, cover with mozzarella cheese, and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake 10 minutes longer.
I like to serve this meal over cooked spaghetti noodles.
Servings:
6-8
Freezing/Heating Directions:
Just to be clear, after we “stir in tomato sauce and garlic powder into skillet, heat to boiling. Simmer 10 minutes until thickened. Stir in butter. Pour over chicken, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, cover with mozzarella cheese, and cover with foil” THEN we freeze. After freezing, we take out and thaw it in refrigerator first and then bake according to same instructions. IF you haven’t thawed it just bake it double the amount of time.

I plan on throwing a fat load of fresh basil on with these bad boys for extra goodness. Yum!

#2 Breakfast Burritos (breakfast)
http://www.food.com/recipe/breakfast-burritos-once-a-month-cooking-30165

Ingredients:
• 12 eggs, beaten
• 1 lb bulk sausage, cooked (or crumbled links)
• 1/2 cup chunky salsa (your choice of heat)
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
• 24 flour tortillas (you can also use whole wheat)

Optional Ingredients (I am adding peppers, onions, and hashbrowns to mine)
• 1 green pepper, finely diced (optional)
• 6 potatoes, shredded and fried until cooked through (optional) or 6 hash browns (optional)
• jalapeno, slices (optional)
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies (optional)
• 1 -2 garlic clove, finely minced (optional)
• 1 onion, finely diced (optional)
• 1 tomato, peeled and chopped (optional)
• 2 green onions, sliced with tops (optional)
Change Measurements: US Metric
Directions:
Prep Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 50 mins
1. Scramble eggs in large skillet until done; stir in cooked sausage and salsa.
2. Warm tortillas in microwave 20-30 seconds or until warm and flexible.
3. Place 1/2 cup egg mixture into tortilla; roll burrito-style.
4. Freeze burritos in single layer on lightly greased cookie sheet.
5. When fully frozen, wrap burritos individually; place wrapped burritos in large zip-top freezer bags; freeze.
6. TO SERVE: Unwrap burritos from foil or plastic wrap that you used for freezing.
7. Wrap in a paper towel.
8. Cook in microwave until heated through (about 2 minutes).
9. Or thaw burritos (remove plastic wrap if used in freezing), wrap burritos in foil, and bake at 350 degrees for ten minutes.

#3: Banana Muffins (breakfast)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Sour-Cream-Bread/Detail.aspx

Ingredients
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup butter
• 3 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 6 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
In a large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts. Divide into prepared pans. Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.


#4: Artichoke Bread (side)
• 1 loaf french bread
• 1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts in water, drained
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 0.5 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 0.25 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 gallon freezer bag
Directions:
Slice bread. In a bowl, combine drained artichokes, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan cheese and pepper. Spread evenly over sliced bread. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Place under broiler for 5-7 minutes or until bread is toasty and cheese is melted and bubbly.
Freezing Directions:
Prepare as directed above but DO NOT broil. Instead, place on a cookie sheet and flash freeze, then place in a freezer bag, label, and return to freezer. To serve: Place under broiler for 5-7 minutes or until bread is toasty and cheese is melted and bubbly.


#5: Ham Broccoli and Cheddar Pizza Rolls (dinner)

http://onceamonthmom.com/ham-broccoli-and-cheddar-roll/

Ingredients:
• 1 can pizza dough, refrigerated
• 1 cup ham, diced
• 1 cup broccoli, florets
• 8 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 0.5 cups ranch dressing (I've never made this one before, so I'm going to use cream cheese with italian seasonings for one of these and see which we like better)
Directions:
Using plastic wrap under the roll and rolling it tight as you go is very helpful.
Lightly flour your work surface and roll out dough. Spread the ham, broccoli, cheese and ranch dressing over the dough. Roll up the dough jelly roll style, start with the long end. Once you have your roll, pinch the ends together. Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes or until outside is golden brown. Allow to cool and slice!
Freezing Directions:
Follow directions above but DO NOT BAKE. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in a gallon freezer bag. (If it is too long to fit in a gallon freezer bag you can wrap it with foil after the plastic wrap.) Freeze. To serve: Thaw. Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes or until outside is golden brown. Allow to cool and slice!
Servings: 4


#6: Baked Chicken and Artichoke Penne with Sundried Tomatoes (dinner)
http://onceamonthmom.com/baked-chicken-and-artichoke-penne-with-sundried-tomatoes/

Ingredients:
• 14 oz. penne
• 2 cups cooked chicken, diced
• 14 oz. artichoke hearts canned in water, undrained
• 0.25 cup sundried tomatoes, drained, and thinly sliced
• 0.5 cup Parmesan cheese
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 0.5 teaspoons salt
• 0.5 teaspoons pepper
Directions:
In a large pot, cook pasta in salted, boiling water before al dente, according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking process. While pasta cooks, combine artichokes in water, garlic, and Parmesan. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Add artichoke mixture, cooked chicken, and sliced sun-dried tomatoes to pasta, stirring to coat evenly. Place pasta mixture in well-greased baking pan(s). Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400F about 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.
Freezing Directions:
Follow directions above but do not bake. Cover tightly with foil, label and freeze. When ready to serve, preheat oven to 400F. Bake, covered, until the center is hot, about 1 hour. Remove foil; bake until cheese is golden, approximately 10-15 minutes more.

#7 Lean Taco Salad (dinner)

This is already a quick meal, but it's even faster when the meat has been prepared. I've been making it this way for a few years and it comes from Michelle Zebley...I think she found it in a Body for Life cookbook.

Ingredients:
1lb lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 package taco seasoning

4 oz lowfat cream cheese or that neufatel cheese
salsa

salad greens
whole wheat pita bread
1 can drained and rinsed black, pinto or kidney beans (mmm..extra yummy with leftover red beans a la Carolina!)
tomatoes, onions, cilantro, mango, cheese, ---whatever you like on your taco salad!

Freezer Directions:
Brown your meat and add taco seasonings according to package directions, setting aside 1 tsp of taco seasoning from the packet to put in the dressing.

Let meat cool, then portion into quart size freezer bags and label. I like to double or triple the recipe then cook and bag it all at once.

While the meat cools, use a pizza cutter to cut pita pockets into large triangles. Bag and freeze. If space is a concern, wait to cut pita chips until the day you want to eat them.


On eating day: remove taco meat and chips from freezer and defrost. Heat meat in a frying pan or be really fast (read: lazy) like me and just nuke it. It only takes about 2 minutes to heat through.

Spread pita bread out on a cookie sheet. brush with water or spray with olive oil and sprinkle coarse salt on them. Broil 3-5 minutes until they start to crisp a little. DON'T overcook or they are kind of nasty.

Sauce: wisk together equal parts salsa and cream cheese (use a little less salsa if you want thicker dressing). Add that last bit of taco seasoning you have squirreled away in the spice cabinet.

Make up a fat salad, top it with the creamy salsa, and enjoy. We like to stuff the little pita chips and eat them that way. Yum.

#8 Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce (dinner)
precooked and frozen noodles aren't always my fave, and sometimes, you don't want to wait an hour and a half for a frozen solid casserole type thing to bake. I like to just freeze the sauce, so you can just heat (read: nuke) and pour over noodles that you cook that day...and how long do noodles take? 9 minutes? Steam some veggies, add the sauce and you've got dinner in 10. Excellent.

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb ground turkey or pork sausage
(if you like really meaty sauce, add one more lb of beef)
2 32oz cans tomato sauce
10 oz tomato paste
1 packet good seasons zesty italian seasoning
1 small container ricotta cheese
basil (fresh=yum!)
oregano (fresh=yum!)
diced onion
minced garlic
pinch white sugar
1 32 oz can full of water

Directions:
brown meat with garlic and onion
drain fat
add fresh herbs to meat and cook one minute
add tomato sauce, paste, water, and italian seasoning

let sauce simmer for 1-2 hours (longer if you have time) until it is thick and delicious and your house smells like a pizzaria.

add a pinch of sugar, let the sauce cool and fold in ricotta.
Ladle into quart sized baggies, label, and lay them flat in the freezer to freeze. They should stack nicely once they are frozen solid.

On Eating Day: (huh..."Eating Day". Technically, I guess every day is an "eating day", but doesn't it sound wonderful when you say it out loud?)
To defrost, place in fridge overnight, or open the bag and nuke it, or place bag in a bowl of warm water to defrost, or heat contents in a saucepan. Heat, and serve over cooked noodles. Add a veggie side and enjoy that it only took 10ish minutes to make dinner.
Optional-add mushrooms, green peppers, spinach, olives, etc to the sauce. We like to leave ours plain, and then add additional stuff when I prepare the meal for variety.

Yield:
This should make 3-4 servings/bags of sauce, depending on the size of your family.

#9 Carne Con Chile (dinner)
I'm making a giant batch of this...it is Elena Grover's recipe and it freezes beautifully. Have I posted it here before? I think I have.


I got all the shopping/prep work done this afternoon during naptime, and tomorrow morning my mom is coming over, we're going to pump up the jams and stock my freezer!

Have a busy summer planned? Give freezer meals a shot.

Saturday Night

On Saturday night we ate dinner at the Station Cafe and walked around the square for a bit.

I convinced a random 10ish yr old kid at the water fountain that a wad of moss down in the water was a snake and then I scared him when we poked it with a stick and I jumped and shouted "rah!". It was pretty funny.


After dinner, I was skooled by my dad in a round of mini golf at Metfield park.

I did score a hole in one on one hole, but took like 5 strokes on the next hole and it was all downhill from there.

The kids loved the mini golf. I don't know why we haven't done this before. Y'all know how much I love free entertainment. We will definitely go back. I think we will try out the course at Kingsdale park later this week.

Corbin was so cute with his tiny golf club. He knew just what to do, and hit a hole in one on one of the holes. Are you kidding me? The kid is 2 and already a golfing genius. Watch out Charlie Sheen, looks like someone else has Tiger Blood.

And Repeat

Aaron: Man! How many times is she going to do this?
Meg: Who? Do what?
Aaron: How many times did Pam go to New York for art school?
Meg: Seriously? Once. You've been watching the same 4 episodes on dvd every night for like 2 months and you fall asleep at the same spot every night.