My Bond will be the first to admit... I have some MESSED UP logic sometimes. :)
I'm actually starting to think it's kind of funny.. and I wouldn't mind being able to reference it every now and then when I need a good excuse but have forgotten "that really good one" I used to know.
So, for your reading pleasure, I'm going to offer up some of my ridiculous excuses for logical excuses. It'd be awesome if I could do this on a monthly basis.. but well.. we know my track record.
Cookie Crisis
Thin Mint cookies... They come with two packs per box.. so you'd think that's 2 servings. But according to the box, there are "about 7 servings of 4 cookies." So here's an easy, 7-step process on how to get your cookie fill, guilt-free.
1. Open box.
2. Pull out pack of cookies.
3. Take out four cookies.
4. Replace pack inside box.
5. Close box.
6. Eat cookies.
7. Repeat.
See.. if you're doing it this way, you're burning a few more calories than if you weren't putting the pack back into the box. You're exercising your muscles and your patience too. Waiting for those cookies is difficult!!! I feel much less guilty eating a box of Thin Mints in one sitting when I'm exercising at the same time.
Leap Day Longevity
The other day I had a little anxiety attack when I realized I'm supposed to turn 30 this year and leave my 20's behind. Today I am happy to announce I've decided to instead turn 29 again. I get this privilege because it's Leap Year.. and in honor of February getting an extra day.. (the 29th).. I get to experience an extra year of 29. Had I been turning any other age.. it wouldn't work.. you see?)
Chocolate Cake is a Balanced Meal
Chocolate sheet cake is a healthy breakfast... right? There's milk and butter.. and there's your dairy.. and eggs are good for you.. some protein. And flour.. that's like.. grains. And cocoa powder is made form cocoa beans.. and beans are vegetables, right? And then there's pecans in the icing. Yeah! I've got plenty of food groups in there! Healthy!
(I was unaware of this at the time of logic illumination.. but apparently Bill Cosby became aware of the health benefits of baked goods a long time before I did. So OBVIOUSLY.. if someone else has thought of this too.. it MUST be true.)
I hope you sweet and faithful readers enjoyed my first episode of Logic Gone Wrong. Maybe there will be another one... maybe not... You'll find out.. eventually. :)
Monday, March 5, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
A Busy Life
Wow. August. It's been awhile. Again.
Our fourth baby finally came in November. (She was actually due in December, but we induced because I was so completely miserable. I still feel a little sad when I think about how I didn't stick it out to the very end.. but I also didn't want to spend another 2-ish weeks dealing with pain that sometimes required Percocet.)
So the new newbie is here. :) In honor of a new baby and better recognition of personality, Newbie (the old one) is now dubbed "Princess." Because that's what and who she is!! To the very core.
What do you mean it's my fault? I didn't spoil the tar out of my first and originally perceived ONLY daughter! Okay, so maybe I did! Why judge? It's cute! Right???
The new newbie is kind of our Sweet Pea.. so that will be her name. Congratulations, Princess! And Welcome, Sweet Pea!!
And, wow. Four kids. It's a lot. I knew it was a lot. Rather.. I thought I knew it was a lot. And, maybe it's not that it's four, but more that it's.. 3 plus a baby! And babies are quite a lot of work, even when they're relatively easy, like Sweet Pea. Bond tried to warn me... over and over and OVER. And over. But I truly feel like I hit the jackpot with my babies, and I can't wait to see how the dynamic works out now that there's another girl. Maybe a little sister will help our little Princess to be slightly more girlie.
Princess has developed into quite the tomboy. She likes planes and trains better than the boys ever did, and it's super cute. Her vocabulary has exploded, and she loves to sing and dance.
Sunshine is unbelievably scholarly. He's very much his father's son. Everything has to be perfect. There is no other way!!
Tank is an established lover. Usually, it's very endearing.. just not when he has the flu.
And Sweet Pea has the cutest little smile. I'm excited to see her personality come out over the next several months!
As if I needed more proof of how busy I am.. it's February.. and my Christmas decorations are still up. It's true. I'll get it put away one of these days!
Our fourth baby finally came in November. (She was actually due in December, but we induced because I was so completely miserable. I still feel a little sad when I think about how I didn't stick it out to the very end.. but I also didn't want to spend another 2-ish weeks dealing with pain that sometimes required Percocet.)
So the new newbie is here. :) In honor of a new baby and better recognition of personality, Newbie (the old one) is now dubbed "Princess." Because that's what and who she is!! To the very core.
What do you mean it's my fault? I didn't spoil the tar out of my first and originally perceived ONLY daughter! Okay, so maybe I did! Why judge? It's cute! Right???
The new newbie is kind of our Sweet Pea.. so that will be her name. Congratulations, Princess! And Welcome, Sweet Pea!!
And, wow. Four kids. It's a lot. I knew it was a lot. Rather.. I thought I knew it was a lot. And, maybe it's not that it's four, but more that it's.. 3 plus a baby! And babies are quite a lot of work, even when they're relatively easy, like Sweet Pea. Bond tried to warn me... over and over and OVER. And over. But I truly feel like I hit the jackpot with my babies, and I can't wait to see how the dynamic works out now that there's another girl. Maybe a little sister will help our little Princess to be slightly more girlie.
Princess has developed into quite the tomboy. She likes planes and trains better than the boys ever did, and it's super cute. Her vocabulary has exploded, and she loves to sing and dance.
Sunshine is unbelievably scholarly. He's very much his father's son. Everything has to be perfect. There is no other way!!
Tank is an established lover. Usually, it's very endearing.. just not when he has the flu.
And Sweet Pea has the cutest little smile. I'm excited to see her personality come out over the next several months!
As if I needed more proof of how busy I am.. it's February.. and my Christmas decorations are still up. It's true. I'll get it put away one of these days!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Excuses, excuses... and photo bribery.
Dear 9 Faithful Followers.. and possible friends and family members who do not "officially" follow.. but really do follow.. but in the "unofficial" sense of the word.. and random people who happen to stumble here,
Please forgive me for the hiatus...
I have been avoiding you (well.. the writing of the blog would be more accurate).
And I've been busy.
But I have returned to share the news that my family is going to expand even more.. as we are expecting baby number four!! And to our HUGE delight and relief.. it's another girl!!! And even MORE relief... Bond has already chosen her name.. and I have agreed and LOVE it... and so we won't have another baby coming home unnamed like we did with Newbie.
So there you go. I'm knocked up again. It's a girl. And I've spent the last several months working on "The Great Purge." I even started another blog journaling the process of minimizing in this culture. We are slowly seeing the positive results of having less stuff. But it's definitely a long and difficult process.
So.. since it's been SO long.. I will show you something cute:
Tank was testing out his new sleeping bag about a week before our big camping trip at Blue Mesa. I have lots of pictures to share from that trip.
Here's a little preview:
Newbie likes sugar. Newbie likes saltines. She's not sure which one she wants first.. so she double-fists it.
Newbie's first day on the boat at Blue Mesa. Her one and only smiley picture of any of the boat pics. Moments after this was taken... Bond flew by us on the wave-runner, creating a tidal wave that soaked everyone and everything on the boat. He was not well-liked by the family after that.. and several attempts were made on his life.
Tank's last day on the boat. He refused to leave the boat to do fun things like riding the wave-runner with his daddy or the tube. More to follow on that story later.
My brave Sunshine.
My not-so-brave Sunshine.
Ahh... what a great trip. Can't wait to tell you all about it!!!
Happy August.. and maybe I'll get back to you by ... oh.... October.
Please forgive me for the hiatus...
I have been avoiding you (well.. the writing of the blog would be more accurate).
And I've been busy.
But I have returned to share the news that my family is going to expand even more.. as we are expecting baby number four!! And to our HUGE delight and relief.. it's another girl!!! And even MORE relief... Bond has already chosen her name.. and I have agreed and LOVE it... and so we won't have another baby coming home unnamed like we did with Newbie.
So there you go. I'm knocked up again. It's a girl. And I've spent the last several months working on "The Great Purge." I even started another blog journaling the process of minimizing in this culture. We are slowly seeing the positive results of having less stuff. But it's definitely a long and difficult process.
So.. since it's been SO long.. I will show you something cute:
Tank was testing out his new sleeping bag about a week before our big camping trip at Blue Mesa. I have lots of pictures to share from that trip.
Here's a little preview:
Newbie likes sugar. Newbie likes saltines. She's not sure which one she wants first.. so she double-fists it.
Newbie's first day on the boat at Blue Mesa. Her one and only smiley picture of any of the boat pics. Moments after this was taken... Bond flew by us on the wave-runner, creating a tidal wave that soaked everyone and everything on the boat. He was not well-liked by the family after that.. and several attempts were made on his life.
Tank's last day on the boat. He refused to leave the boat to do fun things like riding the wave-runner with his daddy or the tube. More to follow on that story later.
My brave Sunshine.
My not-so-brave Sunshine.
Ahh... what a great trip. Can't wait to tell you all about it!!!
Happy August.. and maybe I'll get back to you by ... oh.... October.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Sharing My Pot Roast "Recipe"
Happy November!
I've decided to document that I cooked today.
Because... wow. I cooked.
Fact: You never notice how dirty something is until you set up to take a picture of it. At least the front of my crock pot isn't too hard to clean.
I'm making a pot roast for dinner. My sweet Bond isn't usually really excited about pot roast, but for some reason he really likes mine, and I think I know why. (It has nothing to do with me, though.)
1) We start with the right meat. Ranch Foods Direct is where we prefer to buy our beef from. (This is also where Drifter's gets their meat from. Drifter's is my favorite burger joint. And yes, I know I keep putting 'from' at the end of my sentences and you're not supposed to do that. I'll teach my kids better. I promise.)
2) I use worcestershire sauce. According to Bond, that is the magic ingredient in anything you use beef in. (Bah hah! Another preposition at the end of a sentence.) I use worcestershire sauce in hand-made burger patties, in chili, in spaghetti sauce... you get the picture. If it has beef, it also has worcestershire sauce. But, I don't use it in taco meat.
That's all that makes it special. I think. Here's everything I used today, in case you're curious:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet of dried onion soup
1 cup beef broth (I use Better Than Bullion for my broth)
8 carrots, cut in 3 inch slices
6 potatoes, quartered
1 med-large onion, sliced
Today I actually browned the roast.. I don't usually do that. But between the America's Test Kitchen show I saw last week, and the movie Julie and Julia.. or whatever it's called.. I decided I should brown it. So.. I tried that. I dusted each side with garlic salt and a few splashes of worcestershire sauce first. I threw the potatoes and carrots in the bottom of the crock, set the seared meat gently on top (doesn't that sound nicer if I write it that way?), salted and peppered the meat - just for good measure - sprinkled the onions on top, then poured on the mix of soups and broths. Put the lid on, set the temperature and TA DA!! Look! I cooked!
I'm going to have Sunshine help me make bread in the bread machine later today, call that Cooking for Kindergarten 101, and we'll have fresh bread with dinner too. Should be yummy.
If I remember, I'll take a picture of the finished product before we dig in!
Are you hungry yet?
I've decided to document that I cooked today.
Because... wow. I cooked.
Fact: You never notice how dirty something is until you set up to take a picture of it. At least the front of my crock pot isn't too hard to clean.
I'm making a pot roast for dinner. My sweet Bond isn't usually really excited about pot roast, but for some reason he really likes mine, and I think I know why. (It has nothing to do with me, though.)
1) We start with the right meat. Ranch Foods Direct is where we prefer to buy our beef from. (This is also where Drifter's gets their meat from. Drifter's is my favorite burger joint. And yes, I know I keep putting 'from' at the end of my sentences and you're not supposed to do that. I'll teach my kids better. I promise.)
2) I use worcestershire sauce. According to Bond, that is the magic ingredient in anything you use beef in. (Bah hah! Another preposition at the end of a sentence.) I use worcestershire sauce in hand-made burger patties, in chili, in spaghetti sauce... you get the picture. If it has beef, it also has worcestershire sauce. But, I don't use it in taco meat.
That's all that makes it special. I think. Here's everything I used today, in case you're curious:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet of dried onion soup
1 cup beef broth (I use Better Than Bullion for my broth)
8 carrots, cut in 3 inch slices
6 potatoes, quartered
1 med-large onion, sliced
Today I actually browned the roast.. I don't usually do that. But between the America's Test Kitchen show I saw last week, and the movie Julie and Julia.. or whatever it's called.. I decided I should brown it. So.. I tried that. I dusted each side with garlic salt and a few splashes of worcestershire sauce first. I threw the potatoes and carrots in the bottom of the crock, set the seared meat gently on top (doesn't that sound nicer if I write it that way?), salted and peppered the meat - just for good measure - sprinkled the onions on top, then poured on the mix of soups and broths. Put the lid on, set the temperature and TA DA!! Look! I cooked!
I'm going to have Sunshine help me make bread in the bread machine later today, call that Cooking for Kindergarten 101, and we'll have fresh bread with dinner too. Should be yummy.
If I remember, I'll take a picture of the finished product before we dig in!
Are you hungry yet?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Reminiscing and Birthdays
I've been spending a lot of time going through old pictures the last few days. I should be organizing them. But I'm not. I'm just having fun reminiscing.
This one was taken in May. Newbie was seven months old.
These are from April. She was 6 months old.
Hello first tooth!
*Gasp!*
Sweet little hands going for sweet little feet.
:)
Newbie doesn't have to wear her 'stickers' anymore. No more clunky oxygen machine!
These are from April too, at Tank's 3rd birthday party.
Sunshine (looking over my shoulder): Who is that?
Me: It's you, silly!
Sunshine: Oh is that me when I was four?
Me: Yup!
(He does look young, doesn't he!)
Yay! We blew out the candles!
Here's the awesome b-day cake. Look! Optimus is picking Tank's nose!
Here's one from Sunshine's 5th b-day in June. He had a bunch of his buddies from preschool come and they played at the playground.
I got him a Spiderman Ice-cream cake.
For an outdoor party.
In the afternoon.
It was like, 90 degrees or something by the time the party started.
I'm smart.
It melted.
Since we're doing birthdays... here's Newbie on her first birthday this month!
She got two cakes. One was a round flower one that I didn't get a shot of. The other was this one, made by her Auntie.
Auntie also made Tank's transformer's cake.
Turning 1 is tough....
So that was fun, right?
This one was taken in May. Newbie was seven months old.
Newbie doesn't have to wear her 'stickers' anymore. No more clunky oxygen machine!
These are from April too, at Tank's 3rd birthday party.
Me: It's you, silly!
Sunshine: Oh is that me when I was four?
Me: Yup!
(He does look young, doesn't he!)
I got him a Spiderman Ice-cream cake.
For an outdoor party.
In the afternoon.
It was like, 90 degrees or something by the time the party started.
I'm smart.
Since we're doing birthdays... here's Newbie on her first birthday this month!
She got two cakes. One was a round flower one that I didn't get a shot of. The other was this one, made by her Auntie.
So that was fun, right?
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Sunshine in the Fall
Sunshine started kindergarten this year. That's my excuse, by the way. For my absence.
It's a valid excuse because I'm homeschooling.
And it's the hardest thing I've ever done.
Ever.
Giving birth is easier and less straining on my mind and body than homeschooling.
And I've even got a smart kid to work with.
Oh thank you, Lord.. for giving me smart children.
It's hard, but I'm positive this is the path God wants me to walk. I'm stubborn enough, I don't think I'd learn persistence, patience, or discipline any other way. God knew this about me and even though I fight it tooth and nail on a daily basis, He has given me the very clear calling to homeschool.
Frightening, isn't it?
All the hard work (all 8 weeks of it so far) comes with great reward. Math hasn't been an issue. It's fun and easy for Sunshine and it's just a matter of working through the curriculum. But even though it's comparatively easy, it's still such a great feeling to hear him count to 200.. and then hear him count in 10's and 5's.. and then ask to learn to count in 2's. I'm actually trying to give him enough to keep him busy and entertained in this subject.
Reading and writing on the other hand.. has been more of a challenge. It's a whole lot of memorization and as I'm teaching Sunshine all the sounds that go with all the different letters and letter combinations, I've come to a decision.
English is stupid.
Why did we think it would be smart or useful or anything but completely ridiculous to give a single sound so many different spellings?! And a single letter combination so many different sounds?!?!
I've got the whole history of English available to me.. and I get why we have all these different rules with exceptions and so on with how the language developed. But it's still stupid and I think it would be a lot easier to homeschool if we were speaking German instead of English. And maybe Americans wouldn't appear so dumb if English wasn't such a difficult language to master.
Dear History of the English language,I want a rewrite. I thank you in advance for your rush to fulfill my request.Looking forward to your reply,Concerned American Homeschooling Mom
So there.
Rant over.
Meanwhile.. back at the farm..
Sunshine loves to read and has been begging me for a year to learn. So we finally started this Fall and he's actually doing very very well! He's so proud of himself when he can sit and read a book to himself. He's sounding out all kinds of words and starting to point out words he knows when we're out and about now.
Writing is tedious, but he's doing a fantastic job. I'm really amazed at how much growth I've seen in the last couple of months...
The child eats more than I do.
And I'm not even exaggerating!
Last night, he ate a whole can of Spaghettio's and a package of fruit snacks. He got up from the table and said, "Mom, I'm still hungry."
I'm afraid. Very afraid. I might actually have to start cooking huge meals for every meal, just to keep him satisfied.
The kid is 5! What am I going to do when he's 15??
Eek!
Daredevil
August?!
Really?!?!
Can it really have been so long?
Sorry.
Sooo.... (awkward pause)
Newbie walks now.
And she totally loves it, as you can see by the huge smile on her face!
I love how her hands are up in the air like that..
I don't love this...
Okay, so Sunshine wanted in.. and Newbie is sitting sweetly on her Choo-Choo train. I don't mind that..
It's this.
Climbing up on her train..
Standing up and posing for a picture...
And then shaking the train back and forth trying to get it to move...
I don't like it.
Newbie is turning into a monster baby...
At least the dog listens...
And does her very best to protect my daredevil daughter...
See what you've missed?
Really?!?!
Can it really have been so long?
Sorry.
Sooo.... (awkward pause)
Newbie walks now.
I don't love this...
It's this.
I don't like it.
I know... how can I call that beautiful face a monster baby?
SIT DOWN NEWBIE!!!
See what you've missed?
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