Christmas Morning

The boys had a wonderful Christmas Day! We woke and had our traditional big breakfast and then opened gifts. Both boys had so much fun ripping open their packages!

full screen and sound options on bottom of box

different shades

day 5 of the black eye

goodmorning sun

This mornings sunrise colors were so pretty, not the best picture but worth sharing.

boys by the tree

He wouldnt be serious, so here's his true spirit shining through. What a goof!

About the best I could do with little J for a tree photo, he needed to rearrange alot!

again !@$%it!!!!!

It's only been about 2 good weeks since everyone in the house got better.... and now, little J has another cold and/or sinus infection.... poor guy, both Thanksgiving and now likely Christmas - with snotty face!! Today was spent with alot of time laying around (above) and just taking it easy.

The black eye goes well with the super red cheeks from him constantly wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt... it's a domino effect at that point... snot + shirt = scratch to face on next wipe. Needless to say, we are changing shirts alot and alot of those shirts are short sleeve since we're indoors anyway.

Bring on Christmas.... and the tissues.

young love

Either she really felt sad for him about his booboo eye, or he's got it going on at a very young age.... either way - that boy is going to be trouble someday w/ the girls!

changes

It's amazing how fast big E is growing into a young man!!
I was playing around and captured him laughing...

MMA training, day 2

Day two.... gives a whole new meaning to "blue" eyes....

I needed that

It's been a CRAZY week!!! I needed to read this.....

Maybe we should all write a letter to santa to humor ourselves!

twas the day before pictures...

.... and there was a head on collision with another kid in his class....



looks like a shiner for this year's Winter portriats.

A lifetime of Memories...

Today my brother would have been 41. I'm reminded of something I read once...

"..in the End, all that really matters isn't the things you did, but what its effects are today, not the knowledge you have learned, but how you applied it, not the words that were said, but how they made you feel, and most of all, not the moment of occurrence, but how its now just a part of our memory.. Everyday, we make memories.. Let's paint lives with happy ones.." ~unknown~

Mike sure painted his life with alot of happy memories.

The photo collage is my way of remembering... laughing... crying... and honoring today. You can turn the sound ON and also watch full screen.. buttons are on the bottom.

"Don't cry because it's over, Smile because it happened."

dough boys

We spent the morning making salt dough, and ornaments.... some by hand, some with cookie cutters. Then we baked them, and later painted them.

You can see by the expression on his face (below), he has no interest in his hands feeling 'gooey'....but he had fun making the ornaments just the same!!

Both boys had so much fun with this, our oldest was more on a mission to make his ornaments, our youngest wanted to keep doing this over and over and over....

....so he played for a little over an hour with the dough.

dear blog

I've not paid you any attention... sorry. :) I'll be back with something fabulous someday soon...

Meme....

Ok - I got tagged by Julie over at CoomMomGuide so here you go Jules... I took mine in the bathroom mirror right after we finished chatting today...

Shot on the spot, where you’re supposed to take a picture and post it right away.

Rules are:
1) Take a picture of yourself right NOW!
2) DON’T change your clothes, DON’T fix your hair… Just take a picture.
3) Post that picture with NO editing.
4) Post these instructions with your picture.
5)Tag up to 10 people to do this, be sure to let them know they're tagged!


My tags are: ItSpewsForth, BrianIsARockstar, ChocolateOnMyCranium, TheGloverFamily

ggc rocks my day

I love GGC..... the blog keeps me reading. I've been reading since just after little J was born, and I even ordered her book recently, she's quite the down to earth kind of chic and not at all for the easily offended. I had to share today's topic, I often find myself in this boat. The boat where I don't ASK for opinion, but get it anyway... I'm trying to be very self-aware and not give it.... there has to be a place where you draw the line between "just friendly conversation and sharing" and being a know it all. Where do you draw that line, and which person in the conversaton draws it?? Personalities differ, and I respect that. I totally know I'm guilty at one point or another. I love GGC's post and momversation about it.

Link to post and momversation....

Some wise person once told me "you're always a better parent, before you actually become one..."

more like it

Got a new "do" today.... a little caramel highlight and a fresh cut! I love my hair stylist Misty... I've gone to her now for about 2 years and she's 100% on top of making it easy for me to style :). I let her have her way with my hair for the color and I love it :).

So... enough about me....

We're headed out tonight to see some Christmas lights w/ the kids... I'm betting they'll love it!

flashback Friday

Today I share a treasure.... while on our honeymoon we stumbled upon this Pfizer nascar.... it was funny.... honeymoon and viagra car..... ok - so it's funny to me.

very little...

... to offer to a blog post... I'm just in a blog slump. Not feeling it this week. It's been a pretty up and down week...... maybe next week I'll be back in blog land... for now - I have to get my head around life.

last day of NaBloPoMo

Today's the last day of my 30 days of thanks... there's SOOOO much I'm thankful for, 30 days doesn't really do it justice. But today, I am thankful that I've actually made myself write about it for a month. It brings alot to the surface... things that we sometimes take for granted :).

day 29

I'm thankful that our family has had several days "off' together.... the house is decorated, both boys had a blast decorating the trees. Now, it feels a little more like the holidays.

day 28

Today I'm thankful for surprise blessings. That's about all I can say today...

day 27

I'm thankful for the time with my family today. We had a special Thanksgiving meal at our house with our little family of 4... we've already done 'big Thanksgiving' so today it was just us, and during our special meal we all said things we were thankful for.

~Happy Thanksgiving~

Wordful Wednesday - I am grateful

I love the format that Cocoa used, so I'm following her lead...

A few things I am grateful for...

I am grateful for having kids who are sick with colds... because there are many parents out there with kids who are sick with much worse then colds and their children may never be healed while here on earth.

A job, I'm grateful that as of now, both my husband and I are employed. We're very grateful for that.
Memories of my brother and stepmom. They've both passed on recently, and I'm thankful to have wonderful memories of the both of them to warm my heart during the holidays.

Grateful that I'm able to stay home with my children, for now. I've been fortunate enough to work from home, and it's been a blessing in disguise.
Running in the leaves with my kids at the park. We don't have alot of trees in our yard, really only one that produced some leaves to play in... but it is a blast to let go of my responsibilities and just run and lay in leaves with the kids.
A husband who's alive. There are many widows and widowers this holiday season. I'm so very aware of how quickly that I could have been a widow.
Twinkle twinkle little star, and Are You Sleeping Brother John... both of which the toddler sings to mommy, daddy and his brother everynight before bed while I hold him in my lap in the rocker in his room...
E. I'm grateful for big E. Soon after marrying my hubby, big E moved in with us permanently. His biological mother has her own agenda, and has not called or written in over 4 years. Big E has taught me alot about parenting and myself. I'm a better person for being his mom.
Friends. Both near and far... old friends and new friends...although I may not get to see my dearest friends as often as I like because of distance, I am grateful to be able to talk with them weekly on the Internet, or by email or phone.
Unusual circumstances. It's a joke between my husband and I that we almost always find ourselves in unusual circumstances... his heart attack that happened in a doctors office taking a stress test (all he went in for was shortness of breath after helping a friend move!), some situations with big E's biological mother, family circumstances in general, my strange auto-immune issues, pregnancy only 4 months after his heart surgery (unplanned, and what a blessing), and many many more little things that have grown us as people, parents and partners in life.
Living in the USA. Even with the state of the economy, the uncertainty of where we'll go as a nation financially.... we're sooooo fortunate to have our freedom, the luxuries we have are plentiful in spite of all that this nation is going through. Many days I forget how lucky we are. Today I read about a family in Haiti, who survive off of 100.00 a YEAR, who can't afford to send their kids to school for an education which costs roughly 250.00 per year, who's children work in trade for food, and clothing. Who's mother has died from the toll of starvation and childbirth, her body wasn't healthy. We are BLESSED to have each other, the freedom we have, this life we live.

overnight

I realize that my last 4-5 posts are about the family being sick... so smack me for being a whiner.

I had to post this photo... isn't it amazing what 10 hours of not wiping his face did for his skin? This is how he looks every morning lately (since being sick)... and this post is how he looks by 5pm each day.

I am GLOBBING Aquaphor on him every 30-45 min, and still he looks like a clown by the end of the day. I used the steroid creme on his face this morning, we'll see how that goes...

I promise, my next post will not be about snot, colds, toddler rashes or cold remedy products....this has been a record for our family though :).

blugh funk

I'm not in the mood to post alot. I'm in a "blugh" funk. My family is sick, and I could be the next to catch this bug. I keep having a scratchy throat feeling, and a runny nose is lingering. I'm hoping that my superwoman cape will again protect me from the ick.

So... the only think I'll post tonight is this pitiful picture of my youngest's face after 3 days of snotting, wiping, and snotting some more. Only parents of toddlers can appreciate how many times I've mentioned snot recently. The doctor said that the excessive wiping and the constant drippy nose is what's causing this rash. It almost looks like a burn, it's fiery red and just looks miserable. Oddly, he doesn't complain about it at all.

Saturday when we went to the ped's office they mentioned possibly giving him a steroid creme for it. It seems to be almost 100% better each morning, then each night it looks like it's on FIRE. He has always seemed to have sensitive skin, and this is just putting ME over the edge! He seems fine, doesn't complain about it... but it looks horrendous. So they called in a steroid creme tonight after I called them and emailed this picture... I read everything and when I picked up the prescription it says ingredients include alcohol, some kind of acid...and the known side effects include burning, itching, stinging. Something about the ingredients and the known side effects really bug me. Why can't it be simple? UGH, his face is pitiful. Aquaphor and hydrocortizone may be our best friends for a WHILE....that's what the doctor initially told us to use. I can't stand the thought of putting something on his skin that will make it burn while it looks like this already.

I just want him to have THIS HAPPY little face!! His face IS happy, it just looks miserable :(.

any other suggestions? I'm interested in anything helpful!

Minus the toddler's nighttime face rash....I'm thankful that the family is on the mend!

day 24

I'm thankful for having a warm cozy home, a nice bed to sleep in, and food for our family. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for these things daily... but when I see homeless families in the cold of winter, during this time of year - it really makes me grateful for what we do have.

day 23

I'm thankful that the boys both slept through the night comfortably even though they're sick.

double yucky

So - the toddler has a double ear infection, sinus infection and very sensitive skin that is quite irritated on his face from the snotfest. He's never had an ear infection and he's almost 3, so I know we're fortunate. There were many times I took him in during teething because I thought he had ear infections and it always turned out that it was teething instead. I'm glad we went on in this morning and caught it before it got much worse over the weekend.

We're home, 1 doctor visit and 2 prescriptions later.... he's trying to nap now. It's been an interesting morning. We've also invested some more in sanitizing gel since we were close to being out. I had to go ahead and wash my superwoman cape, it had snot, tears, and dum dum drool on it from the doctors office....

I'm off to the kitchen to prepare the rest of Thanksgiving... I've managed to get the Yummy Candid Yams, and the Banana Pudding thrown together... now onto my mashed potatoes and devilled eggs!

I'm thankful that we found out about the double ear infection before it got too miserable for him.

here we go again

So - the official count as of this morning is....

Oldest has consistent pesky raspy cough and still a bit of a stuffy nose....he did manage to rest well thanks to Delsym and a cool mist humidifier. He seems to be himself outside of the frustration of coughing all the time.

Youngest (who knows not how to blow his nose) has a completely clogged nose, swollen face, swollen top lip, very red skin under his nose from constantly rubbing at the drip.... he did sleep all night, thanks to Vaporub on his feet and shirt (weird isn't it?), pediacare gentle vapors, and his Thomas the tank engine cool mist humidifier. This along with a small dose of Benadryl and Tylenol. We're seeing the pediatrician this morning just to see if there's anything I can do for the nasal congestion, yesterday he soaked 3 shirts from open mouth breathing and drooling everywhere because he can't breath at all through his nose.

Husband.... wow. He has a significantly sore throat, which without fail will escalate into a severe sinus infection. He had a run of this about 2 months ago and the doctor went ahead and gave 2 prescriptions... one for then, and one for later this winter. It's funny how that doctor knows this is reoccurring in him.

I'm officially fully invested in Kleenex company for the winter. Yesterday I ran across some decorative boxes that have Wall-E on them :) The little one was super excited! That was his first (and only so far) theatre movie, so along with the tissues, this week we bought the movie when it was on sale on release day! Both boys loved Wall-E, and I have to say I enjoyed it too, it was MY first theatre movie in over 2 years!

For now, I'm back off to snotsville and sometime today I must prepare Thanksgiving for the family gathering today. We're having my husband's parents over late this afternoon for our big celebration with them.

Keep your fingers crossed that my superwoman cape protects me from this yuck fest.

noses, farquads, and coffee

stuffy noses

So - it's 430pm and I getting ready to go out and purchase a bit more stock in Kleenex. My 10 year old is in Stage 2 of the cruds. He has graduated from snotty yet fully clogged nose, and stuffy head to Stage 2 constantly drippy nose and coughing uncontrollably. The toddler is clearly in Stage 1 and since he can't really "blow" his nose I'm thinking he could be stuck in stage one for a couple of days.

farquads
The boys came in and rather then their usual chaos and playtime together, the toddler asked for Shrek.... so they're watching Shrek in the picture below while sharing a beanbag and some Ritz crackers. Shortly after this picture, there was a beanbag war. We only have one. They don't both fit on it that great.... So I find myself assigning beanbag 'turn taking' privileges now. ARGH!


Occasionally I have to remind our 10 year old that it's not cute to have our toddler learn the name of ALL of the characters, I'm thinking it wouldn't go over so well if our tot decided to blurt out "Farquad" at random in the 2's and 3's church class I teach on Sunday nights. I'm 99.9% sure that the 10 year old has no idea WHY Farquad wouldn't be a great idea... but he thinks the name is funny in either case.

coffee
I've been drinking more coffee then usual lately, I had a single pod maker and was beginning to wear it out. One of my friends told me about this promo so I ordered this nifty coffee maker w/ 2 coffee packs for $14.95 including shipping. There's no obligation once you join and get the free gift and 2 initial packs of coffee (all for 14.95) you can then cancel anytime and keep the free gift. (99.99 value coffee maker). I actually like their light roast, so I may order a couple more packs and then cancel my membership. I'm thinking tonight may be a half a pot of coffee kind of night... I have to work at home, and I'm pretty darn sure that I'll be up and down with the toddler who can't blow his nose well.

I'm thankful for Kleenex... that's what kind of day I'm having... one where I'm thankful for Kleenex.

sharing

Of all the things I ask my kids to share..... this is the last one. It's almost unavoidable all together. We've been very fortunate with both boys, the little one has only had a sickness that required antibiotics once in just under 3 years, and our oldest has not had antibiotics in OVER three years (seems unreal now that I think of it). We've been VERY fortunate, considering our oldest does go to public school. I guess we're due our share of the cruds now!

So today, the little one is snotting, sneezing, coughing and overall not himself today.His poor nose is all red, and his face is all splotchy from rubbing it constantly. Blugh, holiday colds suck.

Just spoke to the hubby - and his throat is sore.... so it seems like this is a family affair.

warning

What you're about to see is on the " no-no " list for kids.... but we were supervising, and he was having a total blast. It's freezing outside, and we decided to let him be a monkey tonight under our watchful eyes and a huge pillow landing pad.

I'm sure we're going to be reminded we allowed it.......

I'm sure it will come back to bite us in the rear.....

But you only live once, right?

I'm thankful for moments like this one.

ummmm, that's big.

Went by Hardee's today, first time in FOREVER.... I'm not a fast food snob, but I've never really preferred Hardees. Less grilled choices, and overall just more greasy. Anyhow - it was where we were, and the toddler wanted his usual afternoon commute snack. I realized I failed to pack it and found myself right beside Hardees and figured I'll get some fries. I ordered a small fry for him, a small lemonade for his brother, and a small Dr. Pepper for me. Can I just say that oh my gawd.... I've never seen such a large "small fry" in my life! That's insane! No wonder we're getting fatter as a nation. Hardees is handing out LARGE fries and calling it a small... and the drink was easily a 20oz cup and they were SMALLS!!!

Looking in on the employees of this particular establishment, it seemed that they ALL fit the obesity charts by a long shot. The man behind the counter making drinks couldn't walk behind the woman at the window because there was no room. There was plenty of room for say 3 average sized people. I'm not picking on them, but does anyone else see this as a growing problem?? No pun intended. Purely coincidental that two large people were working when I rolled through, and I'm not trying to start a rant about large people. I love large people, I just wish that people knew what that does to their bodies, hearts, etc. I don't wish what my husband and my father went through on anyone - heart surgery should be avoided, healthy living and eating should be a given.

I'm in no way a perfectly fit mommy and I am sporting a bit of a muffin top, but no one in my house is carrying around a santa belly, no one in my house is eating large fries and those thick burgers on a regular basis. What's horrible is I DO know people who do that more then once a week. Food is so overrated, and I learned that while watching my husband almost die from heart disease. We eat to live, not live to eat. This is particularly on my mind since the holiday season brings on lots of comfort foods and we love them all. We enjoy them, in moderation and with alot of modification to the recipes. We substitute alot of ingredients and end up with the same yummy treat but try to make it as healthy as possible. Both of our kids inherit a heart disease gene from both of our families, so we have an obligation to them to have the healthy choices at home. You may spot us at Chic Fil A once or twice a month, and McDonalds and Sonic too.... like I said, we're not fast food snobs, but we do tend to chose the less of all evils on the menus and I'm proud to say that even though some of the burger commercials make my hubby's mouth water he hasn't had a red meat burger cross his lips in 3 years.

I was completely shocked at the portion sizes today. Just completely, WOW. Maybe I should get out of my little glass box more often and I wouldn't be so surprised. I'm wondering how many of those burgers Paris Hilton actually eats anyway????? HMMMMM

nosey

Following up with my post from earlier today...

I'm thankful for BreathRite Strips for Kids, Vicks Vapo Rub , Humidifiers, decongestant nasal sprays, and tissues. These are just a few of our sponsors tonight.

it's official

With the winter weather blast, we have our first victim of the infamous sinus/cold infection. Yipee. No doctors visits yet, we save those for really crappy days, days with high fevers or dehydration or such.... no fevers, just really fun nose activity and some headaches. I'm pretty sure this will be passed around. The germs are here, they're around long before the actual infection sets in, they're somewhere in my house lurking and I hope that we don't all get it!

Off to mix bleach water and grab the Lysol.... Off to turn on the humidifiers....Off to grab the eucalyptus bath soaps...

looking the part

I have a business meeting tomorrow for most of the day, this isn't important to anyone but me and the businesses that I work for I suppose but here's where I found myself in a dilemma...

I USED to dress for business most days... this is before I took off my chino's and blouses and traded them in for worn out cozy jeans, sweat pants *gasp*, yoga pants, and leisure suits. 99.9% of all of my work (from home) is conducted in super casual mommy gear. When I go to school functions, I throw on some regular khaki's and a v-neck and that's about as dressy as it gets for me.

I USED to be a slimmer me and have plenty of that size in dress pants in my closet... this is before I managed to find nearly every pound of my pregnancy weight I lost. I'm not going to paint a faux picture here, I'm sporting a mini-muffin top, a bit of a jelly belly, a jiggly giggly mummy tummy, if you will. It's not a huge deal, I'm not *overweight* by my doctors standards in fact I'm within my average weight for my height. This is weird for me because I have never weighed the average except when pregnant. Family and friends know that this is a new chapter in my book.

So I rummaged through my business clothes from days of yore, and found that I had slim pickins, nothing winter worthy in blouses and tops, and it's COLD all of the sudden in our little part of the world! So tonight after dinner I ran out to hunt for something that would work. I managed to come across some great deals, thank goodness for holiday sales! How sad is it that it's come to this? My wardrobe consists of various styles of cotton tees in a rainbow of colors, a few casual dress shirts, and I actually had to wipe down my heels (gag - hate heels) because they've been collecting dust on the shoe rack since my brother's funeral.

All I have to say is that while I'm thankful for working from home, dressing super comfy and casual at my leisure, I do sometimes find myself missing those days in the office.... then things like today's running around getting clothes de-wrinkled and laid out for the next day and making sure the shoes match, reminds me why I used to get up so darn early just to get ready. Getting dressed up to look the part, which is somewhat redundant since I now do the exact same work from the comfort of my couch, bed, kitchen table, dining room, or kids rooms while they play. I am the same capable person either way. I have a high respect for all of my mom friends and family who go to an office each day, I know that someday I may return to the office myself. I'm thankful for where I am now in my life, I'm glad to be able to be at home and work, it seems to fit me for now... unlike most of my nicer clothes.

day 18

I'm thankful for my coffee pods.... I know that is a really pathetic thing, but it's 21 degrees tonight.... and for the part of the country I live in - that's frappin cold for early November!! I'm keeping warm with my java... I work from home and work most often at night so coffee is in my hand right now. Hubby doesn't drink it, so coffee pods give me 2 cups per pod in my brewer... just right for tonight. I only buy pods when they're on sale(they're a ripoff really), otherwise I use a regular coffee blend.... but man they come in handy when I have them!

a nifty freebie

Here's a nifty freebie tip I ran across over at Freebies4Mom. Go to the Kodak Gallery and get a $10.00 credit toward free photo cards. The sets run as low as 4.99 so you could end up with 20 for free!! The only catch, is to pay shipping. I understand that you can pick them up at a local store like CVS for around $1.49 though. Just go to the site here, create an account, and enter coupon code TRYUS3 sometime before Dec. 31 and you will have a $10 credit towards photo cards to use (must use credit during current session). What great timing on this freebie right here at the holidays!

brrr....

It's cold outside, I think tonight's low is 23. That's such a change from the almost 80 degree days we had about a week ago. I think winter is finally starting to knock on our doors!! We didn't get much outside time, with the morning fiasco that kept us in the car for almost 4 hours I'll post about that when I'm done steaming and the shortened days from the time change.... so the toddler was a live wire tonight. He, just like his mommy, was disappointed about not having much outdoor time. While that isn't always the case, and we do plan to play outside all bundled up for a bit each day (even if it's cold), I'd love to have some fun options for the toddler that bring the outdoors in, so to speak.

Anyone have some fun indoor activities that seem 'outdoor'ish?

lying around here...

Parading the Elephant
Ok - so I'm going to talk about the elephant in the house.... Even the best of the best parents are faced with it, if they're honest. I often catch myself posting only about the pretty in child rearing, the pretty in life. I’ve had some great support among some mommys on forums I belong too locally, and we've sought out advice from various family members, talked directly to my parents, my husband's talked to his. But in the end, we're really forming a plan that fits our value system.

So what's the big deal??
Lying, and it's absolutely a big deal to us. I've written this post at least 10 times when frustrated, and deleted it - only to feel better after getting my words out. I've not posted it, because I've wondered if it was some sort of invasion of my child's privacy, am I a bad mom for being open about something like this? But if I only journal about the accomplishments, I'd create the scene that our parenting is without flaw and that it's a cakewalk. Do other parents have perfect kids, or are they just less inclined to talk about the less attractive part of parenting? I've ran across some blogs that I treasure that share intimate details of their journey in parenting. I blog mostly as a daily journal - so to be honest with myself would be to post the good, bad and the ugly. I post so that I can go back to a particular day and reflect, and doing so allows me to see what's changed. I've had my blogs from previous years printed and binded - it's nice to have a keepsake like this that shows growth!

Parenting 101 - the adolescent years
Even with our best efforts, our eldest has been lying to us occasionally about the obvious, things that we can easily check on and find the truth for ourselves. Most of the time, it's because he wants to avoid more work or avoid the hassle of what the outcome of the truth means. So what are we to do? We know all kids do it at one point or another, and to one extreme or another. We can't ignore it, because that isn't how we show our love, we'd be enablers. We can't make it the sole focus of our life, because that would not leave any positive to shine through. We can't spend day and night trying to make sure that everything he says is the truth, that would be exhausting and pointless. We are doing what we can to reinforce how important honesty is.

Raising my hand - I have questions...
What drives someone to lie? Will we ever know WHY? Even the most Christian of Christians have lied. I have alot of questions, and I know they'll never be answered. What's changed? Why this all of the sudden? Medical professionals will tell me that this is "normal" what in the H&$# is NORMAL about lying?? for his age, my parents tell me that while I went through it for a little while, the boys seemed more inclined to do it. Maybe it was because I saw their consequences and didn't really want them for myself. I get no real answers to my pondering. I get anything from scientific to biblical reasons for lying, but I will never know what goes on in his head that drives him to lie. I could ask, but would I get the truth?

Being Grounded
We grounded him, and at the same time we've got ourselves better grounded. It's important to us that our boys know that they can come to us and be honest about things and we're not going to judge them. I guess his being grounded is more of a motivational tool for him, and our getting ourselves better grounded is an important part of stepping up our game. We are raising each boy to be an individual, to be original, and to understand that we all make mistakes. It's not always easy to enforce this in kids, the big picture isn't as clear to a 10 year old child as it is for his parents. The big picture for us is that the price our children pay for dishonesty NOW is much less then it will be later, and we really want them to learn from mistakes.

From Elephants to Horses

It’s a new week and we’re done beating that dead horse. Our expectations are clear, we’ve put it out on the table that this nasty habit is unwelcome and we’re not going to stand for it. So far, for this week, we’ve had a great start! There’s no sense in going on and on. We’ve wiped the slate clean. We have two terrific boys, both who are growing up and going through huge developmental changes at the same time! We have no words for how proud we are to be these boys parents, even when it means they do the wrong thing…. After all, that’s what we’re here for, to guide them in the right direction. Sometimes when things like this come along, it makes me realize how large our responsibility really is - and we must keep our sights on the bigger picture. I'm thankful for the horse, even though it's dead... It's made us feel like better parents, because we didn't ignore it and we're dealing with it head on.

I’m wondering… what do you do when your boy/girl lies to you??

a relief

My friend is out of the danger zone. Here's her last post about the fires in the LA area. I'm so thankful that she and her family are safe. They're very dear to my heart, and I couldn't imagine anything more for them to face right now. Thanks to anyone who kept them close in thought and prayer.

Written by my friend: We are all clear from the fires! There is still ash floating in the air because the wind picked up today and is blowing it all around. Thanks to everyone for the support and thoughts that were sent our way during this time.

it sounded like gunfire...

I swear, it sounded just like that... but turns out....

It was acorns, shells, rocks and chapstick.

In my dryer.

Why? I have boys, that's why.

I'm thankful for our boys... and their acorns, shells, rocks and chapstick and whatever else fits in their pockets.

late afternoon update...

My friend in Brea, CA who lives near the fires (see earlier posts today) added another update recently by blogpost.... I'm so glad to hear from her every chance I get, but today it's been extra nice to keep in close contact with her to know that she and her family are safe from this disaster.

Written by my friend: As of this afternoon, we are still safe. The winds didn't reappear much today, making it easier to obtain control over the fires. When the wind did blow today, it blew north, taking the fire to Diamond Bar, CA. Diamond Bar is directly north of us and they are issuing mandatory evacuations for certain areas. And the latest wind to blow through is coming off the ocean and that is blowing the fires west, which takes the fires away from us. We will leave the cars packed until tomorrow. With the winds blowing this erratically, we don't want to assume anything. WE HAVE BEEN SO BLESSED. Please keep the people who have lose their homes in your thoughts and prayers, as this must be devastating.

comfort food tonight...

mmmmm.....homemade potato soup and cornbread!!

I used a recipe that was found online and modified it to more like my mom makes it... I'm guessing that potato soup is likely the easiest of soups to make, but I love to complicate things. So I took 3 recipes (including moms) and made one my own...I don't want it tooo thick, or tooo runny - I like it just right. So I made a bit of a roux, and used some half and half...

BassAckwards Mom's Potato Soup (makes 6-8 servings)

4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 stalk of celery chopped (optional)

1 container chicken stock

1.5 tablespoons of flour

6oz evaporated milk

2 tablespoons butter/margarine (your choice, fat or fat free)

6oz half and half

salt

pepper

1 tablespoon dried parsley

cook: boil potatoes and onions in chicken stock, if the chicken stock doesn't cover the potatoes in the pot, then add water to cover. Once the potatoes and onions are tender, in a small sauce pan, add butter and allow to melt, mix in evaporated milk and flour, whisk until thickens and then add to the potatoes. After adding roux, add in half and half, season to taste and add parsley. Let stand for 10 min to thicken. We found that after 10 min, it got thicker then we preferred and we just added a little (about 1/2 cup) regular milk (1%) to thin it out just a bit.

It was YUMMY!!! I love potato soup, you can add cheese, or bacon to add a little more flavor! We rarely eat these types of yummys, but when we do it is a treat!!!

***keeping it healthy(ier) ..... I didn't point out our families' fat intake in the recipe above because it's obvious to those who know us, husband had heart surgery and we're determined not to repeat history - we're conservatives when it comes to fat... but there could be more then one person (someone emailed me) who may wonder if this recipe (or any recipe I post) tastes good with less fat ... We use Fat Free half/half, fat free evap. milk, fat free butter - and it was scrumptious. While the flour and white potatoes are not the best for those watching their weight, this is still a yummy low-fat soup to indulge on with a few cut corners. We use turkey bacon if we use it... and 2% or fat free cheese to top it off.

fire update

My friend just posted another update publically so with her permission I've added another bit of what she wrote about the situation in Brea, CA. She mentioned they're still on alert for evac., and the city is still under voluntary evac. orders. Below is a photos she took this morning around 6am at her house.

Written by my friend, around 530am.....

Our poor city is burning. Last night before we went to bed, we were under a voluntary evacuation. Also, at that time, the winds had died down so the smoke smell had cut back. However, the Santa Ana winds picked back up about 3/4 this morning and when -husband- took the dog out, he said it was much more concentrated. He came in coughing from taking the dog out. The mandatory evacuations are creeping closer to us but haven't reached us yet. We have our cars packed and are ready to go should we have to leave. It's amazing how, if you had to go through your house and take only the things you absolutely needed, it could be a car's worth of belongings.