Oh isn't he just BRILLIANT?

You have to picture me clapping my hands, then clasping my hand to my bosom when I say that. Or maybe not.

I wavered about whether or not to blog bragging about my kids. I really hate bragging. But as I was vacuuming the stairs yesterday, I thought, "You know, if I don't brag on my kids, who's going to?" Don't you want the people you love the most to be proud of you? Oh well. I'm posting it and it can be freely ignored!!!!! :)

We were on the way home from church one day not too long ago, and I was reading a book to Jude. He stopped me and said, "Let me read it."

And he mostly did.

I looked over at Allen and said, "Did you teach him how to read?"

Allen looked back at me like, "Who me?"

Huh.

Anyway, here's Jude reading his first book. And as much as I want to say that's why I posted it, you really must watch Mr. Two Shoes steamroll his sister. (He's saying "Get away...") Daily occurrence around here...

I Love Fall!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We got to spend a fabulous day at Old Baker's Farm, thanks to Jennifer who organized and excuted the whole trip. It was amazing. I had so much more fun than I expected! The weather was great, and the kids loved it. Laney was a little overwhelmed like she usually is when there is a lot of new information to take in, but as she reflected on the trip this week, she agreed with me that we needed to move and live on a farm!

I love this time of year so much. The earthy colors everywhere, the food, the cooler weather, the excitement of Halloween and other fun things that have been put off during the long, hot summer. Our fieldtrip was full of the things I love about this time of year.

We can't wait to go back and get our Christmas tree! They have a Christmas tree farm too! Yea!!!!!

*Shove over* Martha!

I just had the best day!

After a rough week, well, okay, a rough couple of weeks... Or maybe they are all hard? Jackie said I always say, "Well, this week was crazy, but next week will be better!" An eternal optimist or just deluded? I need to stop talking about my weeks. I did want to video Zane's 45 minute tantrum last night, just to prove why I am exhausted/crazy/out of my head, but I resisted the urge. I sure don't want to be filmed at my worst. Or maybe I could use it for black mail later? Oh anyway...


I got up early and pushed Zane (in his super cool, new, super cheap Joovy stroller. Best stroller in the WHOLE world) up to a garage sale in our neighborhood. I got a Gap vest, a dress and a white wicker shelf for my bathroom for towels and stuff for $9. The dress is from White House/Black Market, and the tags. are. still. on. it. And yes, that says $78. Glee!!!!! I love the vest too. I get too hot in regular jackets, and I think I'll wear that all winter.




So Zane and I are walking back down the hill, and I look up, and a HUGE hot air balloon is floating across our neighborhood. I mean almost touching the roofs. I took off running, thank goodness for "Couch to 5K," and got to the house to show Allen and the kids. We saw it land, and took off to go see it up close. The kids and I had studied them in school, so we loved seeing it up close. We were outside with our neighbors, most of whom were still in their pj's and it was so nice to meet them. Really nice people! Anyway, we never figured out what it was for, but they loaded that sucker up and off they went. Made me want to ride one in a bad way.



So then I went to pick up veggie coop, and told Allen I was going to run away for awhile too. I needed the break! I stumbled across 2 more really great yard sales, and found some crazy deals. I got a Build-a-Bear bear with a red and white cheerleading outfit and accessories still in the box, for $.50. Yeah, fifty cents. Sometimes I feel guilty taking people's stuff for so cheap.
I got some great stuff for the house too. I have to post a picture of this clock I got. Man, I love garage sales.


So after a quick run to Chick-fil-A for the kiddos, I decided I was in the mood to bake. I love love love to cook and bake, especially in the fall and winter. So I pulled out my trusty amazing pumpkin bread recipe and made pumpkin muffins and loaves of pumpkin bread. I even made homemade cream cheese icing for the muffins. Pumpkin and cream cheese icing cupcakes! OH MY GOSH!!!! Then I made potato soup. A huge pot, that we can eat on this weekend and freeze for later too. I finished off with pumpkin cookies. I am trying to fatten my children, not add back on my recently tiny tiny poundage loss from my rear. Actually I think I lost 3 pounds from places like my ankles and wrists, because my rear is no smaller than it was a month ago. So I'm going to not each as much of this stuff as I want to. Really.
Jude and Zane, I mean Spiderman (you have to say it like Zane does. "Spiderman. Like a Jewish man. Like Goldman. "Goldmon" "Spidermon") helped. Only for a few minutes, though. I am guiltily thankful for the brief help. Bad Mommy.


Allen had to go play two jobs early, so instead of being sad, I got a shower and cleaned up the kitchen as much as I had the energy for. Then I got a small glass of red wine (it helps prevent lung cancer it was reported this week-oh happy joy!) and sat down with last Sunday's paper. Thought I should read it before this week's comes out! There is even a race on, so I think I'll watch it and read my Harry Potter book. Oh, I haven't mentioned that? Eh, probably a reason for that...


I am just so thankful for a super happy fun day! I tell Laney, you really have to have bad days to recognize and enjoy the good days. I really enjoyed this good day! Thank you, Jesus!
Oh, and while I was bouncing around the kitchen, being Martha Stewart, singing a David Crowder song, it dawned on me that I don't thank the Lord enough for the Holy Spirit. I mean I don't praise the Holy Spirit enough. Thanks, David, for point that out to me. I really learned something today! "O For a Thousand Tounges" is the song.


"Praise praise the Father, Praise the Son. Praise Holy Spirit three in one. O praise Him. Alleluia!...."

And...... here are my recipes, only if you're curious!





Look at the icing!! Don't you just want to DIVE into it? Well, I know Jennifer doesn't, but anyone else? Besides me?


Well, I had to lick the beaters. The kids were outside, and besides, there are 3 kids and only 2 beaters. So, it was a job that I just had to do.


http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cream-Cheese-Frosting-I-2/Detail.aspx (Sans the cream.)


http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Iced-Pumpkin-Cookies/Detail.aspx We ate them uniced. I think we were icinged out.


http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Downeast-Maine-Pumpkin-Bread/Detail.aspx



My favorite soup in the whole entire world.



http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Old-Fashioned-Potato-Soup/Detail.aspx

Man, I love me some chicken

So I like to buy whole chickens. They are pretty cheap. $2.49ish a pound for an almost organic one. (No antibiotics, hormones or other yucky stuff.) So for around $10, you can get a pretty good sized chicken.

"TEN dollars, you say? Wow, that's a lot."

Yes, well, hold on.

Now this works for my family. If your family is bigger, it may not work as well.

I also have a new philosophy on meat. "Eat it like a condiment." You know, like let the meat be a little tiny addition to your meal. Meat is expensive, and food is expensive. Cook some beans or other protein, and savor a taste of meat. Healthier for you too.

So back to my little bird.

I layer new potatoes and sliced up carrots in my crock a rama. Or my slow cooker, as it should be called. Then I put about 2 cups of water over that stuff. Make sure the water covers the potatoes and carrots, or they won't cook. Don't want to revisit that disastrous dinner experience. Then stick your chicken on top. I sprinkle with rosemary, but you can season how you like.

So 6-8 hours later, on high, you have dinner. Cook up some green beans with it, and you're done. Quick and so easy.

Now, take a strainer and pour the broth left in the cooker through the strainer into a bowl for the fridge. You'll need that later.

The next day, I tear up the remainder of the chicken. Half goes for the Pioneer Woman's chicken salad.

Recipe here:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/05/chicken-salad-the-way-i-like-it/
Oh yum. I mean, REALLY yum! Take all the stuff you didn't use all of - the celery and onion - and freeze in portion sizes in plastic baggies. Then the next time you want to make chicken salad, or soup, the stuff is already chopped up and ready to go. Saves money too!

Then you take the rest of the chicken you scoured off the bone, toss it back into the slow cooker with the broth from your fridge, and make some soup. Chicken noodle, chicken gumbo, oh any soup you like. I love http://allrecipes.com/
for great recipes. I love the reviews, and I love that I can make my own recipe box for future reference.

So you've made 3 dinners from one sad little chicken. I mean he's not sad anymore, but I bet when he realized the end was near, he got sad. I try really hard not to think about that.


Anyway, you've fed your family for a little more than $3 a meal for the meat part. If this won't feed your whole family, then do a dinner and soup. You can stick lots of veggies in soup to really stretch it out. That's the cheapest meal I think you can make! I always make extras for lunches too.
We did that this weekend. We aren't eating out right now, except for my Chick-fil-a keep-Mama-from-going-crazy-lunch every so often. Anyway, the slow cooker makes cooking a lot easier. Cuz I do so tire of my lovely kitchen!!!

OH and speaking of which. This is what your kitchen looks like when you're done!
That will either make you feel better or make you not want to cook! It's all clean now, thanks to my sweet hubby! (I was cleaning upstairs, not napping or anything fun.)

So don't pass up those whole chickens. Do buy as organic as possible. Find the good ones at Walmart. They carry really natural chicken now. Buy Springer Mountain Farms at Publix. Yea for chicken!

NOT Dancing with the Stars...

***First things first. Most importantly, that cheesecake is from.... Cheesecake Factory! *sigh*

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

Main Entry:

²prune

Function:

verb

Inflected Form(s):

pruned; prun·ing

Etymology:

Middle English prouynen, probably ultimately from Old French prooignier, alteration of *porrooignier, from por- completely (from Latin pro-) + rooignier to cut, prune, from Vulgar Latin *rotundiare to cut around, from Latin rotundus round — more at pro-, rotund

Date:

15th century

transitive verb1 a: to reduce especially by eliminating superfluous matter <pruned the text> <prune the budget> b: to remove as superfluous <prune away all ornamentation>

My pastor has been leading us in a study called "Radical." Sounds fun, huh?

A question has been rolling around in my head. "How am I different than the rest of the world?"

I lay in bed last night, listing the ways that I am just like the world.

Again, the bullet points just make sense here:

• I like stuff. My cameras, my phone, my Ipod, certainly purses and shoes. I like to decorate my house, I like to shop. I like to amass things. I need things. I like my closets and pantries to be full.
• I read what the rest of the world reads and watch what the rest of the world watches.
• I dress like the world.
• I talk like the world.
• I spend most of my money on me and my family.

Oh the list went on and on. How can I even begin to become radical about Jesus and His Great Commission? I'm much too concerned about me and my stuff.

So instead of being overwhelmed with what I am NOT, God gently and graciously allowed me to focus on the areas that I am not like the world. I'm not going to bore myself and list them here. In that grace, I heard Him very clearly ask me when I was going to let go of some silly areas that I was clinging dearly to. What was I going to sacrifice that meant something to me? Was I going to limit my computer time? (You know, there ain't a lot to limit. Have you met Zane, God?) Was I going to severely limit my television watching at night? (I don't watch it much during the day. I speed past the Today Show when I'm getting Zane down for a nap and listen to the local news while I'm cooking dinner.)

But give up my relaxing snuggle-in-the-bed and stare at the television time? Great. God had whittled down my Tivo list to bare bones to begin with. There are a couple of sweet things He's allowed me to hang on to, but scantily clad celebrities shimmying suggestively to music had to go. And God seriously had to ask me if I was going to pout about it.

My point is, how am I going to win the world, the 4.2ish billion people who don't know about Him, if I look just like the world? What do I have that will make them want what I have? Will God be impressed when I get to heaven that I could name in chronological order all the winners of the DWTS mirrored globe?

So He's pruning me. I need to spend more time reading the book of the God that I claim to love so much. I need to read books written by people who desperately sought after Him. I need to use my time on the computer to be a shining light for Him instead of going to People.com to see if Shanna rushed to Travis Barker's side.

Even my People magazine is losing it's luster. I'm so glad that I got that 3 year subscription.

It's about asking God what he wants me to give up to SHOW Him that I love him more than my stuff. It's about fasting from anything that threatens His first place spot. I can say that I love Him most of all, but if I spend all of my time caring for my family, and myself, then I'm not showing with my actions that I DO love Him most.

I'm struggling to see this in action. The Spirit isn't letting me get overwhelmed. It's showing me tiny steps at a time how to get to be holy. There are two kinds of holy, you know. The kind you get when you accept God's gift, and the kind you actively strive to be.

My one tiny step today was limited computer time *cough* and no Dancing with the Stars. I'm watching in muted silence PBS. Ronald Regan is president and people are being interviewed about it. No gyrating on PBS. No sir, not a single hip.

There she goes again...

It was innocent enough. I whipped out my camera to lengthen the life of this certain piece of cheesecake. My friend, who I love dearly, exclaimed, "There she goes again, documenting every aspect of her life..."

I was a bit stunned. I shook off the shock long enough to polish off this monstrosity in a nano second, but the statement came back to me on the way home.

And because I think too much, many times after that too.

Why do I feel the need to document everything? Or, simpler still, why do I need to blog? As I logged into my most favorite message board, there was the question again. In black and white. "Why do you blog?" Goodness people, enough already.

So I've been thinking about these questions. And other things you really don't want to hear about right now. I guess bullet points would be most helpful here.

• I blog so I won't forget things. When I need to remember things that have happened, or when things have happened, I can just look it up. Even now, I look back and say, "I've already forgotten about that!" Especially those sleep deprived months years.

• I blog because I outwardly process. Ask Allen. Or Jennifer. I need to hear it or see it before I can truly process something. I have no idea why. I'm sure it's a sign of something that's horrible deficient mentally or something like that.
  

• Honestly, I think the artistic, weird part of me likes to create. I love to make things. I just don't have the time to do the crafty things that I want to. I love to knit, sew, scrapbook-things like that. I did scrapbook one afternoon last week, but I can't do that stuff as much as I want to. I guess this is a small form of artistic expression.
  

• I like to document where I've been in my life and see from where God has brought me. See how I've grown, what I've learned. And what I was thinking. Totally selfish. Purely indulgent.
  

• I can complete something. In my life, things are rarely completed. I'm cleaning one room and the other room is falling apart. The kitchen stays clean for one hour tops. At least I can start and finish a post in one sitting. Most of the time. Some times. Okay, that point really doesn't work for this. Never mind.

• I take pictures of everything. I even bought a second camera so I could take it everywhere and take pictures of everything. I think that's the scrapbooker in me. We have to take pictures of random stuff so that we will never run out of things to scrapbook. I really am in danger of that happening. I am currently working on Jude's baby book. I may run out of stuff to scrap soon. I'm really so glad I took 1,000 pictures this summer. Whew. Disaster averted.
  

So there you go. That's why I blog. I guess. Maybe there is no reason. Maybe I'm just weird like that.

What *I* Wore Today

Now, first you have to know that this post is a spoof of one of my favorite blogs:
http://whatiwore2day.blogspot.com/

I know that no one cares what I wear each day, but the great and special thing about this outfit is that it isn't my PAJAMAS or sweat shorts, which is ALL I have been wearing for 2 weeks! I was so happy to put on makeup and real clothes that I decided to have a little fun with it.

So let's pretend this is real.
The shirt - one of 100 v-neck black tee shirts that I would own if it were up to me. Black tee shirts are my favorite. They go with everything, and I always feel good in one. This one needs to be retired, it's so old. But anyway, it's from Walmart.

The pants - the capri's are Abercrombie and Fitch and I got them from a yard sale for $2. The silky belt came with them!

The shoes - They are Yellow Box, but I got them from the thrift store. They were $2.98, I think.

See a pattern here? I let go of my feelings about used clothes years ago and embraced the practical and ecological side of second hand shopping. It's almost an obsession now.

The earrings were my MOST favorite pair. My dear friend Michelle gave them to me about 8 years ago. They were sterling silver hoops in the perfect size. We were in Walmart today, Zane pitched an all out fit in the backpack, one got knocked out and by the time I found it, it had been squished flat. I was seriously bummed. I had to throw them away, right there in Walmart. *sigh* I hate when I get so sad about stupid stuff. Now I have to find some new ones that I love just as much.

But on a better note, please notice the super happy, most amazing ring I have on my right hand. It was a precious gift from a girl who also views clothes as a small art form. *smooch*