Friday, May 30, 2008

La la la la...

Some of my friends seem to be amazed that New Kids on the Block are getting back together. What? You mean not everyone stalks Joe McIntyre on the internet like I've been doing?? *innocent blink* My daughters have been making fun of me, and they don't know NKOTB from High School Musical. Yeah, right, like that's not lame! Sheah! Anyway, I have all of Joe's solo cds, and even one of Jordan's (not worth the $3 I dropped on it at Goodwill, proving once and for all that during all those arguments I had with Melissa back in jr. high: I WAS RIGHT! VICTORY IS MINE!!!! Joe has always been far superior!). I am surprised to see Jon back in the mix, after he had all those panic attacks. He was bordering on being Agoraphobic. Remember? I can't be the only one who remembers that... can I? Remember when VH1 did that "reuniting the band" show? Cuz they tried to do New Kids, and Jon, Danny, and Donny said no. Jon is heavy into real estate. Does anyone else think I know too much about this? Ahem.

Now that my superiority has been established (as if it wasn't before), how has everyone else's week been going? :D

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Woooooooooooooo

Lexi lost one of her front teeth last night. It's weird to look at her and see that missing tooth, lol! I've joined paperbackswap.com and am LOVING it. So far I've mailed out 5 books (another one going out this week), and only 3 have been rec'd, but with those 3 credits I've gotten the first 3 Sookie Stackhouse books (Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Novels). I've already read them all, of course, but now I can proudly say I OWN them. w00t! Today I've got to run by the library and take back some books I've finished, and get the rest of my Mary Janice Davidson books - apparently they don't have them saved in the library's catalog by Author name, but when I did a search for the individual titles I was able to find 4 of the remaining 5 books I haven't read yet. The sad thing is that they won't last - I'll most likely have all 4 of them finished by tomorrow night. I read even faster than usual when I'm reading something I enjoy. (It took me ages to finish Little Women because I couldn't get into it, but I finished Harry Potter 6 & 7 within 3 hours of each other.) I actually just started a series of books meant for teenagers, because the librarian recommended them to Grace & Taylor, and I want to know what they're reading. Quite brilliant, actually - they're the Lady Grace mysteries by Grace Cavendish (pen name), and I'm reading book A (a stands for Assassin, B is for Betrayal, etc etc - I think the series is up to the letter F so far). We checked out A-D, so we have 4 to get through. I'm not quite halfway through A, but I fear that when I pick up the rest of my fun books today, this one will go on the back burner for a bit. Not to fear, I will finish it - probably Saturday. But Grace is reading book 1 of the Sisters Grimm, so she has no need for it yet, and Taylor won't be here for another week yet, so she won't need them free until June 8, which gives me plenty of time to read all 4 of them, and other books besides.

ANYWAY! I guess I'd better lay off the blogging for now - Josie needs to be changed, and I have to tidy up a bit - not to mention that I wanted to make some cupcakes for dessert tonight. :) Hope everyone is having a good Thursday!

Monday, May 26, 2008

boo!

It's been about a week since I last updated - sorry about that. Real life gets in the way of blogging sometimes, lol. Lexi graduated Kindergarten (*sniffle*), so that means that next year, I have a 1st grader and a 2nd grader.

We finally got off of our butts today and cleaned the family room, which sorely needed it. I made Pad Thai with shrimp for dinner, but wound up giving the girls only the noodles with parmesan cheese, while I had the Pad Thai. Spicy! I made a peach citrus cake for dessert, too. SO YUMMY. Tomorrow we might go to the dollar theatre and see the Spiderwick Chronicles - Grace has wanted to go since it came out, and we just never had time before.

Also, I just have to throw this out there - if you live in this area and like sushi, head over to Kobe and have some spicy tuna rolls. They're positively addicting! Like crack, only healthier! ;)

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Stir-fry Noodles

Stir-fry noodles

Package whole wheat noodles
1 lb chicken breasts
1/2 bunch bok choy, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup edamame
Teriyaki

Cook and blanch noodles. Saute chicken, bok choy, pepper, onion and edamame; add some teriyaki to deglaze. Stir fry noodles with teriyaki and vegetables then add chicken breasts.

The amount of teriyaki you add is personal preference. I add 4-5 T of it. Also if edamame isn't available, I use peas. VERY filling and nutritious - should please even the pickiest of eaters... except Lexi, who ate the noodles and left everything else on the plate. She even acted like trying a piece of chopped bell pepper smaller than the tip of her pinky gagged her. :(

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Certified Bibliophile.

Yah, that's me. I ♥ books. So today I joined paperbackswap.com, where you can trade your old read books for others you want to read, for nothing more than the price of postage to mail your old book out. I listed some, and so far two of the books I wanted came in today! woo hoo!!!

I also finished re-reading Twilight and New Moon, and am preparing to start on re-reading Eclipse. Also spent a lot of time on twilightthemovie.com - amazing.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Apologetics

I am no good at apologetics. Really, I suck at defending my faith. I believe, and I read the Bible, and I'm bringing up my kids that way, too.

So when I was confronted today by someone who asked me a question, I had no idea what to say. I had to go ask someone else, and look up verses online.

What do you say to an unbeliever who asks: "If your God is so merciful, wouldn't that mean that he would accept everyone into Heaven, and not just those who followed Him?"

I need to take a course on apologetics. Right now I'm reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis - hopefully that will help a little, right?

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Reading day

So Lexi stayed home today, due to her hacking all day yesterday. Josie is in 7th heaven, since she has a sissy home to play with. :) As for me, I am still in pain (ankles swollen, bloody, blistered heels, achey legs), so I am dubbing today "reading day." I have 5 books from the library, plus two I purchased this past weekend, so I am settling down and digging in (as much as the kids will let me, I mean). Right now I am about 100 pages into the newest Charlaine Harris novel, From Dead to Worse. If you haven't read her Southern Vampire novels, I highly suggest you start! She is fantastic.

Hope everyone else has a lovely day!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Bring on the pain - also known as 'my weekend with the Girl Scouts'

So Saturday was to be the girls' first outing with their new girl scout troop, right? We got everything packed and borrowed a TON of stuff from my sister Candy, including (but not limited to) tent & sleeping bags. We got up at 5 a.m. to be at the church on time, and the troop leader was late. Then we spent another 20 minutes waiting for someone who forgot their kids' sleeping bags to go home and get them and bring them back. By the time we left, we were an hour late. The drive was 1.5 hours, very pleasant, since the 5 girls in the van got along great, and I got along great with Samantha, who was driving.

We get to the state park, and we have to park in an area different from the leader & the other vehicle. We waited for an HOUR for the troop leader to come and get us and our things. Apparently while we were sitting around waiting for them, they had set up their tents and gotten their girls ready, and we didn't even know where camp was yet. So we had to hustle to drop our stuff off and get the girl scout t-shirts onto us and the girls.

In all, we walked TEN FREAKING MILES yesterday. I freaked out, because Gracie started looking pale and got purple circles under her eyes and said she was dizzy. UH, MOMMY PANIC MODE: ON. I made sure that the leader remembered that Grace has a heart condition, and she flagged down an emergency vehicle to take me and Grace to our next destination to sit down and wait for the rest of the troop. We went, along with Lexi and another little girl who was suffering from CROUP. So we sit and wait, and 20 minutes later, our troop catches up. We walk for about 15 minutes, and then Gracie can't go on again. Keep in mind that by this time, it's about 5 p.m., and we'd been walking basically nonstop since 11 a.m. So another emergency vehicle takes her, Lexi, and some other kids & 2 adults back to camp. It takes me, the leader, and a few of the girls 45 minutes to walk back. By the time we get there, I'm dizzy and sweating buckets (already dehydrated, mind), and my feet literally feel like they're on fire. We eat dinner (tacos in a bag: fritos, taco meat, cheese, & lettuce, all in the frito bag). Grace had an orange. The girls played. It got dark, so we built a fire. We're getting ready to do smores when the park ranger informs us that the weather is supposed to get bad: extreme cold front, 1-3 inches of rain, and HAIL. We discuss and decide to go home. This is at 10 p.m. Gracie and Lexi are UBER disappointed that they didn't get to sleep in the tent, but occupy themselves with shining their flashlights in the eyes of the two raccoons that keep trying to sneak into our camp. We pack up, and Gracie tells me her stomach, legs, head, and feet hurt. So I give her two chewable children's tylenol. We pack up, and start the drive home.

An hour into the drive, Gracie starts puking. ALL OVER THE VAN. We pull over. She was asleep the whole time she was yacking! We change her clothes outside in the pouring rain, clean the van, and bag the sick. Put my poncho on her, in case she gets sick again. 20 minutes later she suddenly screams, "MY STOMACH HURTS!" and BLECCH. Everywhere. At that point, we were 5 minutes away from jason's mom's house, and 20-25 minutes away from my apartment. I called jason's mom, and she told us to come to her house. The time at this point? TWO FREAKIN' A.M. We get into their house. Gracie yacks at 2:30, 3:00, 4:00, and 5:30. By 9:30, her tummy is achey, but she feels better, she claims.

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sunburnt. Ever seen "Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives" on Food Network? I have the sunglasses sunburn he always has. :/ Gracie hasn't been sick anymore yesterday or today so far, thank GOD - but she still stayed home from school today because her stomach hurts. And I just called school to tell them that, and they said that Lexi was in the nurse's office - her teacher said she was coughing so much that it was a disruption! :( Her dad is going to get her and bring her home. :(

My legs and feet are so sore, I have blisters all up and down my heels. Last night I soaked my feet in some watermelon effervescent foot tablets that I had ordered last week from Avon - total bliss. Aaaaaaaaah!

How was everyone's Mother's Day? My father-in-law made me bacon, eggs, & toast for breakfast on Sunday, and then Jason brought me a mocha from Coffee Crossing. He & the girls gave me a blender and a gift card to Family Christian bookstore. My Mother & Father in law gave me a purse and a gift card to Family Christian bookstore. My brother & sister in law gave me a gift card to iTunes. ♥ We gave my SIL the new Point of Grace cd, and gave my MIL lots of flowers to plant. After we had lunch, we left, and I got to look around Family Christian. I bought the Ted Tripp book "Shepherding a Child's Heart," and some bible tabs. Gracie got a GiGi book, and Lexi got a GiGi doll, while Josie got some Veggie Tales figurines. Then we had dinner at Pizza Hut (Gracie was bummed cause Dad said no pizza [sensitive stomach, he was being cautious], and she decided to have a salad and breadsticks).

Anyway, not much happened after that, except that we came home, and I took some Tylenol PM to help ease the pain of my facial sunburn and my sore legs and feet. Hope it was great for everyone else!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Zaboo!

So Josie's new favoritest show of all time is Zoboomafoo. She loves all of the animals, and I love watching her watch it! She cracks me up! She keeps saying, "Mommy, comes!" (here he comes)

So last night I tried a new pie crust recipe that I'd gotten off the internet. It turned out HORRIBLY. Like, inedible horribly. So we ate the filling out of it (caramel apple - tastes like the apple dumplings at Harvest Homecoming), and today I bought a ready-made crust from Kroger and am baking the pie as I type. It smells HEAVENLY!

Tonight the girls have scouts, and they're making their Gorp bags to take camping with us this weekend. Poor Lexi has to take something from home, since she's allergic to nuts and the chex mix has peanuts in it. :(

Does anyone else watch Top Chef? I was SO glad to see her leave last night. I'm rooting for Richard right now :D

Hope everyone has a good Thursday!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Tuesday Times.

So tonight for dinner, I made a Chicken Tetrazzini from scratch. Josie actually had THIRDS, mushrooms and all! Faboo! Tomorrow night I have slated roasted chicken & rosemary potatoes, and I promised Grace I'd make my apple pie tomorrow for dessert. Just as soon as I see some good peaches, though, I'm gonna make that peach citrus cake that I saw on Take Home Chef - oh, it looked SO YUMMY.

I called Hobby Lobby, and they start new Wilton cake decorating classes every month. They meet every Tuesday night, and it costs $24.50 for the class, plus you have to buy a beginner's kit that has all your supplies (not sure how much that costs). Does anyone want to go with me starting in June? Leave a comment or email me and let me know if you want to - I think it'll be fun. Plus from what I understand, you take home a decorated cake at the end of each class, so dessert is a bonus!

This weekend I'm going on a camping trip with the girls and their Girl Scout troop. Here's to hoping that my overweight self can make it through the hiking.

Anybody else ever been to Ichthus? I thought about taking Gracie and Taylor up there for the whole 3 days, but then I found out it'd cost us over $300 to do that, NOT including whatever food or souvenirs we bought. Yowza. I guess Grace will just have to settle for the free Newsboys concert during the KY state fair!

Love to all...

Monday, May 5, 2008

Cake Decorating

I'm going to try my hand at cake decorating, starting with Taylor & Lexi's birthday party this summer. You may remember that last year, I made my niece's cake:



Well, this year I'm going to attempt something much more polished. Don't get me wrong - I am SO proud of that Strawberry Shortcake cake :D But now I'm on to bigger & better things. I am going to do a castle cake for Lexi (she picked it out herself) and try something more teenager-y for Taylor (it IS going to be her 13th, after all). And since I'm having the party at a venue (hopefully), then I can spend time & money on the cakes that I normally wouldn't be able to. Tomorrow I'm going down to my favorite baking supply store (Cake Ladies Dream Shoppe), and I've already called them, so they're holding some stuff for me. YAY! BAKING! I BAKING!!!!!

In other news, Lexi went to the dentist today and had a tooth drilled. :( She's doing okay, the dentist said she was uber good in the chair and during the drilling (they gave her nitrous, so why shouldn't she be? lol), and she made his day easier since she didn't cry or fight him, like the teenage boy who went before her!!! She's happy that today she gets mashed potatoes and pudding, and mommy won't be yelling at her to finish her veggies!

Also, if you pray, please pray for my Dad. He may have polycystic kidney disease. If you know my family, you know that this is the disease that took my Grandmother who raised me away from us. I don't want to lose my Dad, too. Please pray for him.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

The Kentucky Derby

The Derby was today. I never have parties or go to parties for this, because personally, I take issue with the way the horses are treated during the race. I don't like it, and it makes me sick. I just logged on to the local station's website, and I find out that the 2nd place horse, the first filly to run the Derby in 9 years, broke both front ankles as soon as she finished the race, and had to be EUTHANIZED ON THE SPOT. How terrible is that?? As if I needed further reason to shun the race, you know? Here's the link: http://www.whas11.com/topstories/stories/whas11_topstory_080430_derbystory.b56f9283.html

Anyway. We had a good day - the girls and I decided to have a little mom & daughters party ourselves. For dinner I made homemade mac & cheese with cheddar, gruyere, and whole wheat noodles (they never knew the difference), Gracie made her Italian rice, and I made some zesty Italian chicken. For dessert, we sliced up a quart of strawberries and had strawberry shortcakes with cool whip on top. All in all, a pretty good day :D Hope yours was good as well :D

Friday, May 2, 2008

My baby's hero

So this morning, Josie was playing at the desk in the playroom, happily toying with her dollhouse and Little People. Suddenly she screeches, "BUG! BUG! Daddy, bug!!" So her dad goes over and "squishes" it, and then goes into the kitchen to get a paper towel to pick up the dead bug with. Once inside the kitchen, however, Josie screams at the top of her lungs, "DADDY - BUG! GET ME!!" (translation: Daddy, the bug is gonna get me!) So he runs back in, scoops up the bug, flushes it, and comforts her. Aaaaaaaand... that's ALL she's been talking about ALL DAY. To ANYONE who will listen! She talked to her papaw on the phone and told him: "Pa, BUGGY. Daddy buggy. Get me! Scare me!! [and this last, said with great relief] DADDY." Same thing when we picked her sisters up from school... "Sissy - BUGGY. Get me. DADDY." Like she wasn't already attached to him enough, now he is - quite literally - her hero. :D

Thursday, May 1, 2008

What's for dinner?

Tonight for dinner I made crispy oven-fried tilapia, along with some supersweet white corn and jasmine rice. I have been poring over my new cookbook for nearly a month now (Deceptively Delicious), and finally tried one of the recipes today. I tried the chocolate chip cupcakes with yellow squash and pumpkin hidden inside. When they were just out of the oven, I could sorta smell traces of the squash, but when I tasted them, I couldn't taste any veggies in them! I even gave one to Josie's OT, and she said she couldn't taste anything unseemly, either. Josie would not eat them. Gracie devoured them. The real test was Lexi: she is SO picky, I actually wanted the cookbook because of HER. She didn't like them much with the icing (made from cream cheese & pure maple syrup), but without she liked them okay. SCORE! She ate squash and pumpkin without realizing it!!! Next I'm going to try the pink pancakes (with pureed beets inside). Seriously, this cookbook is awesome for any parent of a picky eater. Veggies can be snuck inside ANY food, apparently - even chicken nuggets! I highly recommend it!