I Knew There Was a Reason I Should Have Had Dogs Instead of Children

Most of you know my children are at my parent's house for at least two weeks and I'm just loving it! I'm such a bad mom, I guess, because I'm just giddy with all this time to myself!! Abigail is still here but she is at school until noon which leaves me all morning for ME ME ME!!! Everybody I talk to is just astonished that I would allow my children to be gone from me so long but, wow, I'm just having a great time!! Abigail is getting all sorts of special priveledges and she doesn't even realize it. I'm completely enjoying my uninterrupted cafemom time. Plus, I'm getting the work done I planned on. So, why should I feel bad?! The children are having the time of their lives at Memaw's house. Elijah planted a popcorn kernal hoping to grow a "nut tree". He is frustrated that it won't grow! Miss Lydia is doing great going potty for Memaw even though she has on her "big girl" panties, something she wouldn't do for Momma.

So, I guess I'm just a bad mom because I think this extended visit is a wonderful thing all around!!

Organizing - Part 2

Children's room done! 2 days, 1 room. Ummm . . . . . . . not so good but at least I wasn't on cafemom all day!!! Now about that laundry . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A Few Goals

Elijah and Lydia are staying at Memaw and Pappy's house for at least the next two weeks so I have a couple of goals. The biggest is that I want to get my apartment completely cleaned, purged and reorganized MINUS the two smallest rugrats!!! Goodness they can just tear up anything!! So, I'm going to clean then do closets, purge toys, blankets, old towels, sheets and even stuff on the walls if it is taking up living space!! LOL Who knows?! Then, I'm going to rearrange the furniture to give the children some more playing room in their bedroom. Next, is list my treadmill on craigslist to make room for my Gazelle that Mom gave to me while I was home. (Gazelle takes up less space than the treadmill.) That is a big goal but I have two weeks without Elijah and Lydia underfoot to hinder my progress.

My next goal is to get back to reading my Bible faithfully. For some reason, I was doing great for a long time. I even made it through the Mosaic Laws and Job. Then I hit Psalms!! Can somebody explain to me why I got hung up in the book of Psalms?! I've always been a strange bird! So, I'm recommitting myself to having my Bible time again.

My third goal is to make time to exercise. I have 2 weeks to get myself into the habit before the little ones get back home and I think I'll enjoy the Gazelle.

Fourth, um . . . . . . . . . . , cafemom and blogging!!!!

Kelly's Mexican Mixture

Anybody that knows me REALLY well knows that recipes are just suggestions and I'm not afraid to play around and create my own food minus the recipe. So, I threw this together one evening and it has become a family favorite. There are a couple minor variations through out that you can play with to suit your family's preferences. This recipe yields A LOT. My family will eat this for a meal one night and then snack on it for several days afterwards.

Cook 3 cups of rice and set to the side.

Brown your choice of meat (I use ground turkey but you could use chicken cubes or beef) adding one package of powered taco seasoning and powdered enchilada seasoning. (Both can be found CHEAP at Aldi) DO NOT FOLLOW PACKAGE DIRECTIONS. Just dump 'em in once meat has been drained. Add one can of drained corn and a small jar of either queso or generic cheese dip also found at Aldi. If you like your food a little spicier, use the queso. Add a large jar of mild, medium or hot salsa per your family's preference. Stir occasionally until warm. Set aside.

At this point I like to fry (no need to add butter when frying) the rice along with a small jar of either diced tomatoes or "diced tomatoes with chiles" if you like more "kick". The rice will brown slightly. When hot, dump the rice in with the meat mixture.

I serve this with nacho chips and use it kind of like a "dip" or hubby likes it scooped onto a soft tortilla.

Let me know if you try it and like it.

Ohio State Buckeyes

I thought I would post my first recipe of many as the holiday season is approaching. And being an Ohio Girl, I'm posting an Ohio tradition as our state tree is the Buckeye Tree. If this is NOT on your "holiday treat" list, you need to add it. I promise it will become a family favorite!

Mix together 3 cups creamy peanut butter, 1 1/2 sticks melted butter, and 2 pounds confectioner's sugar. (Yeh - I know! Nothing "skinny" about this one!!) Form into small balls. Using a toothpick, dip balls into 16 oz melted dipping chocolate until almost covered, leaving some of the peanut butter mixture exposed on the top. Refrigerate and enjoy.

Journey to Fuzzy Fish

Several years ago, our church gave a goldfish to all the children who rode the bus that day. My child had ridden the bus with Daddy so Miss Abigail received a fish. Oh, yes. That fateful day we began what I will call our Journey to The Fuzzy Fish.

Now, I did not WANT the fish. But Daddy felt it was harmless to allow Abigail to keep this free goldfish so we soon became the proud owners of a 2 gallon fish tank. The deal was that I would not have to clean the tank nor be the one responsible for feeding the fabulous fish. Good luck with that.

Alas, the fabulous fish arrived at its inevitable appointment with The Great Flushing Bowl. You guessed it. It died. Of course, now we have this 2 gallon tank and no more fabulous fish to fill it! So, Nana ever so graciously decides to give us 2 more fabulous fish. These fish were a hearty breed and grew and grew and grew. Whoever stated that a fish never outgrows it's environment either lied or wasn't the one caring for the fish! So, the two new fabulous fish soon were named Moby and Dick because of rapid growth. Also, because of this rapid growth, we had to switch out fish tanks to something bigger.

Now, let me fast forward a few years. Moby and Dick are still alive. They are huge and they refuse to die. Other fabulous fish have come and gone, but I believe Moby and Dick are here to stay!

But there is one thing I haven't told you about Moby and Dick - they are carnivores and I'm emotionally traumatized by the experience! Every time we have a fabulous fish fall ill, Moby and Dick speed along the dying process by eating it! Really - truly gross. They would start at one end of our tank (now a 20 gallon tank) and swim toward the fast failing fabulous fish and take a bite along the way until the failing fabulous fish was removed from the tank for it's inevitable appointment with The Great Flushing Bowl. Really - truly gross.

As I sit here typing this story of The Journey to the Fuzzy Fish, I'm trying to ignore Moby and Dick as they take bites out of our latest victim, Scum the scum sucker. Scum died several days ago but has yet to be removed from the fabulous fish tank. His carcass, formerly black, is now hollow, fuzzy and gray with decay and constant nibbles from the very hearty, carnivorous, Moby and Dick. Deep sigh. So much for not having to take care of the fabulous fish.

Fundraiser Starts At School

So, it begins! I have been dreading it! I was permanently emotionally scarred in high school because of all the fund raisers I had to participate in. Even before I birthed my first child, I DREADED the fund raisers that I knew would be coming once she hit school age.

Its here. Fund raiser starts today. I don't even know what we are selling since Abigail was home sick from school yesterday and today. I know it is a $2 "thing" this year instead of just $1 which I really hate. But what can you do? So, we are off to sell "something". UGH!! Hope Daddy is ready to take Abigail door to door!!! I did my time!!!

Miss Lydia

This is Miss Lydia (AKA Miss Thing) on the first day of school. She HAD to have 2 ponies in her hair because Abigail had 2 ponies in HER hair!

Elijah - My Little Man

This was Abi's first day of school. She was so excited. She also lost a tooth that morning.

Family Overview

Things are moving along for our family right now. We are very busy as usual but it is a good busy, most of the time!

Daniel is still working for NuWay Transportation. He has been there for just over a year and we are very happy with this company and his hours. He still works 50-60 hours a week but at least he is working during the day now instead of nighttime. He has also recently just starting working as a volleyball referee and will be getting his patch to do basketball games any time now. He had his first volleyball game last night and really enjoyed himself. He works hard and deserves this time as a referee. I think it will be good for him.

I am still staying home with the children. I have good days and bad days!!! Being a Mom is just hard work, although there are many rewards. I have been trying to acquire some students for piano and saxophone lessons but God has not seen fit to provide any students as of yet. I'm SO ready for fall to settle in and stay! I'm ready to turn off my air conditioning (thus seeing the electric bill shrink) and opening my windows for some fresh, crisp air!! Farmer's Almanac says we are supposed to have a very long and cold winter. I say BRING IT ON!!! NOW!!!

Abigail is 5 and will be 6 in about a month. She started Kindergarten this year and boy is she excited!! She asks me almost every night if she gets to go to school tomorrow and when I say "yes" she cheers. Goofy kid! We'll see how long before I'm fighting her to get out of bed!!! She is excited because she will be doing simple reading by Christmas. Abi is a very pleasant child who aims to please. She is very tenderhearted and made a profession of faith this year which pleased us all. Abigail is my favorite 5 year old little girl in the whole world!

Elijah is 3 and will be 4 in December. Goodness! He is so mischievous I think I could fill an entire page just about him!!! At the least, he keeps me busy. He is very strong willed and in the words of Frank Sinatra "I did it MY way!" I think that is his life motto!! He misses Abigail very much while she is away at school. I didn't realize how much she directed their play until she was gone! He is a busy little man with very definite ideas about how things should be done but he is my lover!! He is always ready for hugs and cuddles and kisses. He loves his momma very much. If only I could channel that love to motivate him to obey!! He is getting better and requiring less and less discipline nowadays. I feel like we "turned a corner" with him about 4-6 weeks ago but he still has his moments. He is my favorite little man.

Miss Lydia is 1 and will be 2 in about 5 weeks. What do I say about this little one? Goodness she is just a kick! She is funny. Her expressions are quirky and unique. She is strong willed but we started working with her at a much younger age than Elijah so we were able to correct her behavior more easily. She is typically very happy and talks extremely well. She is speaking in full sentences and using pronouns properly which is just astounding me to no end. She provides a lot of entertainment with her quirky and silly mannerisms. She is momma's best buddy right now and doesn't like to be away from me. She is supposed to go for an extended visit with Memaw soon and we'll see how that goes. Our big challenge with her right now is potty training. She does wonderful at home as long as she doesn't have any panties on!!! Put panties on and she thinks she has a license to piddle! We're working on it but I'm very happy with her progress.

Church is wonderful as usual. We are very involved and wouldn't have it any other way. I'm enjoying being more involved in the music ministry with doing some arrangements for the adult choir. I recently acquired a new music program on my computer (thanks mom) that will allow me to create 4 part vocals and piano accompaniments for the arrangements I've already done and any future arrangements. I also need to get the song that Daniel wrote arranged and on paper. We are in the middle of our Fall Program with a military theme right now. We are on the 82nd Airborne team and things aren't looking so good after week one! Daniel is still running his bus route which picks up approximately 40 children and brings them to Sunday School every week. The family is also back to conducting a service at a local nursing home again. I play the piano and Daniel preaches. The children also sing specials for the residents. Lydia and Elijah aren't shy at all but Abigail struggles. This Saturday she sang for the first time. She selected Jesus Loves Me.

Please stay tuned as more "stuff" will be showing up in days to come.

Happy in serving the Lord,
Kelly