A little update

Gosh, I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted. A lot has happened in the last week.

On Saturday, we loaded down the U-Haul trailer, the husband's truck, and my Durango and headed for Missouri. We made it to the motel around 9pm. It was an uneventful 5 hour trip.

Sunday, we did nothing but lay around watching tv and eating fast food. Yum.

Monday, we rented a storage, returned the trailer, and watched more tv and, you guessed it, ate more fast food. Oh, yum.

Tuesday, we finally ventured out and ended up a half hour away at my in-law's house. Where I stayed just long enough to say hello and take a potty break. Daughter-in-law of the year, here people.

The hubs decided to stay and visit a while so I took the kids and drove another half hour to my sister's hose. My beautiful, skinny, little bitty thing of a sister who offered to keep 2 of my kids for 2 nights. I love her. Really. She informed me that she may be pregnant and will hopefully be giving me a new niece in 8 or 9 months. She already has two sons so a girl is in order.

My mom lives pretty close to my sister and my other 2 kids ended up staying the night with her. Since the hubs' birthday Wednesday, we decided to celebrate early and did we ever. We had a blast driving around looking at houses and eating fast food. Yummy, yum, yum. Blech.

We've had no luck finding a house so far. We've only been looking for 2 weeks so I'm not surprised. I am surprised that we have lasted nearly a week in this motel room and am very happy to say that come Saturday, we will be packing up and staying with my mom until we're able to find our own place. Six people in one room is too much, especially when four of those six are active, rambunctious, children who seem to have forgotten how to speak without yelling or walk without stomping. (sorry people downstairs!)

I enrolled the kids in school where mom lives today. They're supposed to start on Monday. It's the same school I went to in 7th and 8th grade. Cool, huh? The only problem is that the preK program is full. So no school for Kaylee. She's very disappointed. I checked into the head start program, but they said with our income, they doubt she'll get in and if she does, we will have a co-pay. Which is fine. Just please someone, let this child go to school.

I didn't get a chance to post my Homemaker Monday, Classics Book Club, Wordless Wednesday posts this week. I am trying to get my book club post written but the other two will just have to wait till next week. I have a ton of catching up to do all around the blogosphere, including posting on my other blog.

I watched the debate the other night and wow. Just wow. I'm in my 20's and have only voted for president 3 or 4 times and this is the only election I've had to really think about who I'm going to vote for. It's just. Wow.

Funny Photo Friday

Me thinks he has watched his father fishing too many times.

This post is part of Funny Photo Friday, hosted by Blissfully Domestic. Click on over and join in the funny.

Thirsty Thursday: The Hot Toddy

There are several Hot Toddy recipes out there. This is the one I use and by that, I mean I drink 2 or 3 (or more) of these a week in the winter months. It's great for colds and works just as well (if not better) as the coughing, sneezing, stuffy head, fever so you can rest green stuff. And it's a lot less expensive, too.

Next time you're all stuffed up, give this home remedy a try...

The Hot Toddy

Ingredients:

• 2 oz light or dark rum (either will work)
• 1 & 1/2 tspn sugar OR an ounce of honey
  
• 2 whole cloves
• lemon slice
• boiling water

Instructions:

• Add rum, sugar, cloves, and lemon slice to a heat-proof mug. You might want to drop a silver spoon in there to prevent cracking.
• Fill with boiling water.
• Stir and Enjoy!

*For a buttered Hot Toddy (my great uncle used to drink these), add 1 tbs of butter just before you pour in the boiling water.

*If you're feeling festive you can stir it with a cinnamon stick.

This is a pretty strong drink, so you might want to use one to one and a half ounces of rum if you need something a little weaker.

This hot toddy will warm your body, clear your head, and put you to sleep for a good long while;. If you drink just the right amount. I encourage much experimentation to find said amount.

Wordless Wednesday

Goobers.



*A big thank you to Uisce for creating Wordless Wednesday and to 5 Minutes for Mom for hosting. Click on over to see more great Wordless Wednesday posts.

The twins

Homemaker Mondays

I've posted about this before, but each of my four children have required reading homework every.single.day. It doesn't matter if they are absent or if its a weekend, they are still required to read every night. Have I mentioned that I absolutely love it?

To prove that they have completed their homework, a reading log must be signed bya parent each night. They vary by class, but they pretty much include title, minutes read, and a parent signature. This format works fine for teachers who have to check 25 reading logs every day, but me, I like a more detailed approach.

I keep a notebook for each kid and each book they read is documented on it's own page. It includes title, author, date read, and a commentary by the reader. It helps when looking for new books to borrow from the library, no duplications or getting something you've already read.

Over at my new blog, I'll be posting some of these commentaries by my kids over the next few weeks. They will include my son's thoughts on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which he has just completely devoured the last few days and one of my girls will be talking about The Little House on the Prairie.

I also keep track of books I read, not in a notebook, but rather in a file on my computer. I just open up Word and type up a paragraph or two about the book. The basic storyline, my thoughts, things like that and save it in a folder I call Books Read. Creative, huh? Doing this makes participating in online book groups and carnivals so much easier because you already have the information handy, all you have to do is a little copy & paste work and maybe a quick edit or two and you're done.

What about you? How do you keep track of books that you read?

*Head on over to 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven for more awesome Homemaker Monday posts.

Proud Mama

Today, I am one Proud Mama!

When the alarm went off this morning, I was dreading getting up. I'm worn out from packing and cleaning, plus all the other "mom" stuff I do every day. I was thrilled when my daughter came in and told me to go back to sleep; that she was making my coffee and would get me up in 20 minutes.

After getting a little extra shut-eye, I woke up to find that not only were all four kids up and dressed, they were completely ready to leave for school. They patiently waited while I sipped my first cup of coffee and readied myself for the first of four trips I would make to the school today.

After many hugs, kisses, I love yous, and have a good days I dropped the kids off and headed home to clean up the morning messes and try to get a little packing done. I also wrote up a new post for my other blog, Kid-Lit 101.

Before long it was time to wake up the hubs and get ready to go back to the school for the Citizen of the Month celebration. Amber was chosen by her teacher and classmates as Citizen of the Month for September, claiming she is a model citizen and a friend to everyone. That she is polite, responsible, and exhibits excellence by trying her very best at everything she does.

That right there is very much Proud Mama material. After receiving her award along with the other celebrants of the month, we had snacks and talked a bit before sending her back to class and coming home for a few minutes before having to go back for my son's IEP for speech.

This is the first IEP meeting we've had for him at this school. His speech pathologist was great and seems to be really tuned into him and his needs. He has improved so much over the last year and is now in the 78th percentile, which is fantastic. We believe that he is doing so well that he may not even need speech for this whole school year. More than likely, the new school will evaluate him and release him from it. But that's ok. I know what his weaknesses are and how to work with him, so I'll continue to do that regardless of whtether or not he's officially seeing a pathologist. Again, very much Proud Mama material.

The kids and I are really going to miss this school. They've made many wonderful friends in the short time we've been here. I hope to take some pictures of them on the last day we're here. We've collected many phone numbers, addresses, and emails so they can keep in touch.

We're also looking forward to a new school and making new friends and reuniting with old ones. The kids are excited because basketball season will be starting shortly after we move and they will be playing with all their old team mates from previous seasons. I'm excited, too. I played basketball all through school and was thrilled that all 4 kids show such an interest in it as well.

Fried Apples

Today is Johnny Appleseed's 234th birthday. Celebrate by making these southern delights.

Fried Apples

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 medium tart apples, unpeeled, cored, quartered, and sliced
• 1/2 cup sugar

Instructions:

• Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.
  
• Add apples, cover and cook until apples are juicy 4-6 minutes).
  
• Turn and sprinkle with 1/3 cup sugar.
  
• Reduce to low heat and cover and cook about 5 minutes longer.
  
• Uncover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until sugar is absorbed and apples are lightly browned on bottom.
  
• Remove from heat and sprinkle with more sugar, depending on tartness of apples.
  
• Enjoy as a ham side dish or over toast or pancakes for breakfast.

Funny Photo Friday

My son thinks that since he is the only male in the house (other than his dad) that he is the almighty king. Here, big sis shows him who's really in charge.


This post is part of Funny Photo Friday, hosted by Blissfully Domestic. Click on over and join in the funny.

Fall Into Reading 2008

Katrina over at Callapidder Days is once again hosting the Fall into Reading challenge. It's a no pressure kind of bloggy carnival. All you do is write up a post with your reading goals for the fall season and then write up another post in December telling everyone how well you did (or didn't do.)

I love to read but I also have a family that demands so much of my time (just like every one of you) so I love no-pressure challenges. They don't mind if something comes up (it always does) or if you rearrange your goals mid-way through (it happens).

My goals for this fall are pretty simple. I usually read about 2-3 books a week but with a ton of birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas festivities looming over me this fall, I'm going to be realistic and keep my list manageable.

My first goal is to finish Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. I started it a few weeks ago and am stuck a little over halfway through. It's just not pulling me in and I don't know why. It's interesting enough and I've enjoyed it. I think the pace is off from what I'm used to it and that may be causing my lask of attention to it. I'm used to page-turning thrillers and light & fluffy chick-lit. Big difference here.

Next up will be The Legal Limit by Martin Clark. I've heard that this book is as good as anything by John Grisham. John Grisham is one of my favorite authors. I've read a lot of his books and thoroughly enjoyed each and every one. This comparison is the only reason I picked it up. I hope it doesn't disappoint. I'll let ya know, either way.


I checked out Katie Fforde's Practically Perfect to read in the car on our trip to Missouri last week. It didn't get read because I decided to sleep instead. Who knew the hubs wouldn't ask me to drive half-way and that the kids would actually behave themselves the entire 200 miles? It was pure (sleeping) bliss in the car instead of the normal whining, chaotic, disaster I'm used to. I was so shocked, it knocked me out for a solid three hours. The stiff neck and back was worth it.


I'll be reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte sometime before October 7th so I can participate in the Classics Bookclub carnival over at 5 Minutes for Books. It's a classic that I should have read years ago, but I didn't. At least that I remember. I've read tons of books and don't remember half of them. That's not good, right? My daughter has the Illustrated Classics version and is going to read along with me.


William P young's The Shack is popping up all over the place. I've read a lot of comments and recommendations on it have decided I'm going to give it a shot. If anyone has read this book and can give me a few details without spoiling it for me, I'd really appreciate it. Is it as spiritually compelling as some reviews claim? How graphic are the details? I know it deals with the death of a child, and father's heartbreak over it but that's about it.

Lisa Jackson is one of my very favorite authors. I have read pretty near all of her books. I'm a big fan of her suspense thrillers and even her romance novels are pretty good. I've been waiting for Left to Die for a while and know I'll devour it the first chance I get.




I've read several of Joci Picoult's books, including Nineteen Minutes and The Tenth Circle. She has a style of writing that I love. Easy to follow, well-written, realistic characters, her books have it all. The next Picoult novel I plan to read is Second Glance. It's story of the paranormal and promise to enchant from beginning to end pulled me in. I like a good ghost story now and then.



The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood has been on my to-read list for some time now. It's always being pushed aside for some reason though and this fall, I'm hoping to finally pick it up and see if it's as good as the reviews claim.




Girls on Track by Molly Barker is a parenting book/guide to building self-confidence and independence in adolescent girls. It's a 10-week plan for parents to help their daughters to keep themselves from getting pulled into the "Girl Box" of cliques, low self-esteem, peer pressure, and all that is adolescent girl world. It promises to enhance their emotional, physical, mental, social, and spiritual health. My twins and I are patiently awaiting the arrival of this book. They are in the 5th grade and the woes of the "Girl Box" are looming just ahead.

My kids still love for me to read to them and the older three have started listening in on the preschooler's required daily story. (The school requires every kid to read or be read to every night-which is AWESOME.) I've decided to take our daily reading to the next level and instead of subjecting them to preschool books day after day, I've chosen a couple of books I think the whole family will enjoy.


The Hobbit was a favorite of mine in junior high. While my kids are not quite at that age, their reading and comprehension levels are, so we're going to be reading this book together once we get moved and settled.





One of my 4 year old's favorite movies is Matilda. We've watched it dozens of times. She even has a "Matilda" dress that she wears with her white socks and Mary Janes and a red ribbon in her hair. One of these days I'll have to post a picture. Anyway, since she loves the movie, I thought we'd give the dvd player a break and read the book by Roald Dahl. Which will probably just make her want to watch the movie even more. So much for giving the dvd player a break.


Another one I'm looking forward to reading with the kids is The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. I saw it mentioned over at 5 Minutes for Books and have wanted to read it ever since.





If you'd like to join the Fall Into Reading Challenge or find out what others are planning to read this fall, head on over to Caddapillar Days and sign-up.

Thirsty Thursday: Shirley Temples and Roy Rogers: The Non-alcoholic Edition

In light of September being National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, I've decided to post a few of my favorite non-alcoholic drinks for today's Thirsty Thursday.

The Shirley Temple

The first is the classic Shirley Temple. My girls love when I make these special treats for them and they are always requested when their friends visit.

Ingredients:

• 3 oz 7-up (per drink)
  
• 3 oz ginger ale (per drink)
  
• grenadine
• maraschino cherries and lemon wedges

Instructions:

• Fill a tall glass with ice cubes.
  
• Add 7-up and ginger ale to just cover ice.
• Add a splash of grenadine and stir.
• Drop in a maraschino cherry or two and garnish glass with lemon wedge.

The Roy Rogers

My son, being y'know, a boy, doesn't really care for Shirley Temples. He thinks they're too girly and sissy and he just won't have any of that nonsense. So to appease him and his buddies, I make them The Roy Rogers.

Ingredients:

• 6 oz cola (per drink)
  
• grenadine
• maraschino cherries
• orange slices
  

Instructions:

• Fill a tall glass with ice cubes.
• Pour in cola to just cover ice.
• Add a splash of grenadine and stir.
• Throw in a cherry or two and if your son will let ya, garnish glass with an orange slice. My son never lets me but sometimes his friends do. I guess fruit wedges on a glass is too girly?

Enjoy!

*Check back next Thursday for a Hot Toddy recipe you'll love. Especially when cold season goes into overtime.

I won! I won!

Yesterday, Rebecca of Girl's Gone Child hosted a giveaway of Rita Arens' new book, Sleep is for the Weak. And guess who won? That's right, lucky me!

I must be on a lucky streak since this is the second bloggy giveaway I've won in the last few weeks. And I bought a $2 lottery ticket a few days ago and won a hundred bucks. True, I lost it all at the casino later that night...

Anyway, Thanks for the great giveaway, Rebecca and Rita. I look forward to reading all my favorite bloggers offline.

And if you haven't already got your own copy of Sleep is for the Weak, you can get one here.

What's on your nightstand?

It's that time of the month again. No, not that time of the month. It's time for What's on your nightstand? hosted by 5 Minutes for Books.

Right now, I'm reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It's not the type of book I'm used to reading and it's taking me a little while to get through it. I've been working on it for about a week now whereas I usually finish a book in 2-3 days. I'm a little over halfway through and so far, it's been interesting. I have to say the beginning was more interesting than where I am now. Final verdict is still out, but so far it's been an okay book.

I checked out a couple of books the other day and planned to read them in the car on our trip to Missouri this past weekend, but I ended up sleeping instead. Oops. They are The Legal Limit by Martin Clark and Practically Perfect by Katie Fforde.

The Legal Limit is supposed to rival anything by John Grisham and if it's half as good as any of the Grisham books I've read, I'll be happy. If I get it finished before I have to return it (we are moving in 9 days!) I will post a review on next month's Nightstand.

I've read a few Katie Fforde books and she is witty and charming with her romantic comedy stories. I look forward to relaxing with a good cup of coffee and Practically Perfect.

What about you? What are you reading right now? Any recommendations for me or other readers out there? If you know of any authors similar to Janet Evanovich or Lisa Jackson, I'd appreciate it if you'd leave a comment or email me. Thanks a bunch! With the winter months coming up, I'll be holed up with a good book as much as possible once the temperatures start dropping!

Tuesday Ten

Ten Things I Should be Doing (instead of being on the computer.)

1. Sorting through clothes. Keep, Giveaway, Trash...6 people worth of clothes, y'all. Its going to take a while.

2. Wrapping what is left of my China and packing it before the hubs gets to it again and I end up a few pieces short. A few more times of that happening and I will be down to a lone cup and saucer.

3. Going through toy boxes and saving the good ones that get played with; giving the good, loud unplayed with toys to my nephews; giving the otherwise good/unplayed with toys to the Salvation Army; and throwing out the numerous broken or missing parts toys. My sister loves when I clean out the toy boxes. HA HA

4. Getting completely caught up on laundry. Which is pretty near impossible.

5. Scrubbing the walls and windows.

6. Cleaning out the garage. I'm sure there is a car some where that is small enough to actually fit in there. Mine would, if you cut the side mirrors off and shaved about 8 inches off the top. What happens when your vehicle doesn't fit in your garage? The garage becomes a storage room. Oh, what a mess.

7. Shampooing the carpets. I think this job is betterleft to the night before we actually leave if the results are expected to last.

9. Cleaning out all the drawers and cubbies in house. This alone will take at least two months.

10. Mowing the yard. Apparently the neighbors dislike it when your grass reaches 5 inches tall. The city code however says 12 inches is the limit. If I was a bad neighbor, I'd just let it go since we are moving in 9 (holy smokes) short days.

I could go on and on about the things I should be doing today, but I've got Twitter and Gmail and my Feed Reader waiting patiently for my attention. Oh yeah and I need to figure something otu to jazz up all this white space. I need color!

Time to get it in gear.

Well, it's finally official. We are moving and we finally know where and when. On October 3rd, we will be heading back to Missouri. Which is a good thing I guess, since both our families live there.

The kids' last day of school is October 2nd. I have so much to do before then. Pack, sort clothes, pack, contact school, find housing, pack, scrub floors, pack, scrub toilets, pack, wash walls and windows, pack, contact utility companies, reserve moving van, pack, shampoo carpets, and did I mention pack?

You'd think I'd already have everything packed and ready to go since I've known we were getting transferred for about two months now. Procrastination at it's best.

This past weekend we were in Missouri visiting family. We had a lot of fun. No pictures though. Darn it. Thursday night, the Hubs and I went out to dinner and to the casino for a while. My mom was a dear and volunteered to babysit for us. Gosh, I love that woman. We had a blast. Won a little and lost a little, but came out even in the end.

Friday, we spent some time with my Mom until she took off to southern Oklahoma for a family reunion. Then we just camped out on her couch playing video games, watching movies, and eating more junk food than any person should.

Saturday, we had a BBQ with the hubs' family. It was fun. Even though I ended up washing all the dishes afterward. WTF?!? I was a guest, it just felt wrong.

We came home early Sunday and promptly parked ourselves on the couch till bedtime. We're still recovering y'all. It was a busy weekend.

The Big Switch

In an effort to save money, I've decided to use Blogger's free hosting service for my blog instead of paying for my hosting services. Which means I will also be switching from Wordpress to Blogger. Which I don't really want to, but I already have a google account which means I already have a blogger account, so right now it makes sense. To me anyway.

So if you're a reader of The not-so Domestic Goddess, please bear with me while I figure this all out.

The first thing I'll be doing is getting all my old posts up. Hopefully.

Super Simple Kid-Pleasin' Snack

Mini Pizzas!

This is one of my kids’ favorite snacks. We call ‘em mini pizzas because well, they’re mini pizzas. As the title suggests, they are super simple to make.

Ingredients:

• Canned Biscuits (We’ve used every kind from buttermilk to homestyle to layers, and they all work equally well. Although we tend to use buttermilk the most.)
• Pizza Sauce (again, any kind will work. My favorite is Ragu.)
• Pizza toppings (pepperoni, Canadian bacon, crumbled sausage or bacon, etc.)
• Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Preheat your oven to whatever the biscuit directions suggest, usually 375 degrees.

Flatten biscuits into a thin circle or oval, or whatever shape you like. We’ve done letters of the alphabet before. Creative, no?

Next, spread a thin layer of pizza sauce on each biscuit. Or a thick layer, y’know if you’re into lots of sauce on your pizza.

Then add your desired toppings and place on cookie sheet or pizza pan and bake for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the shredded mozzarella and return to the oven for 3-4 minutes or until cheese melts.

For crispier pizzas, you can place them under the broiler for a minute or so. Not too long though or your cheese will burn. And unless you’re one of my kids, you probably don’t like burnt cheese on your mini pizza.

Serve hot and enjoy!

PS My kids make these almost completely by themselves, all I do is operate the oven and do the hot pan handling.

Palin & Clinton: SNL Must-See

I doubt there are many out there who haven’t seen this clip from SNL, but just in case I’m gonna post it again. Enjoy.

Homemaker Mondays: Recipe Scrapbook

How do you store your recipes? In a file, kitchen drawer, binder, on the computer? Why not make a recipe scrapbook?

Start by coming up with a theme for your scrapbook. Some examples are: Family Favorites, Cookies, Pies, Holidays (Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving), Chicken, Hamburger, Picnic, etc. etc.

Then compile all the recipes you want to include and print them out or hand write them (neatly!) in the scrapbook, on scrapbooking paper, or a recipe card that matches your theme. There are several printable recipe cards online. You can find some here, here, and here.

Embellish the recipe pages with cooking/food related stickers, anecdotes, quotes, and even pictures of the finished dish if you have them. Be sure to use acid-free glue and materials when scrapbooking to maintain quality. Make sure the pages are dry before you assemble them into your book.

If you plan to use your recipe scrapbook while cooking, be sure to put the pages in page protectors so they won’t be ruined by splatters and spills. Assemble your finished pages into a binder or photo album and there you have it, your very own recipe scrapbook!

Click here to see examples of recipe scrapbook pages or here to print out a free recipe scrapbook kit.

This is a great craft to do with your kids! Make a Cooking with Kids scrapbook and let each child pick out a recipe to include, then take pictures of the kids cooking to include in the book. I think this will be our next big family project, once we get moved!

Head on over to 11th Heaven’s Homemaking Haven for more great Homemaker Mondays posts.

Freid Peanut Butter Sandwiches

A new favorite snack in our house is the fried peanut butter sandwich. They’re easy to make and delicious and somewhat healthy, if you don’t count all the butter we slather on before we fry ‘em.

All you do is make up a couple of peanut butter sandwiches then slather each side with butter and fry in a hot skillet or griddle until each side is toasted a golden brown. I told ya it was easy.

You can add sliced bananas or even jelly if you’d like. Just be careful not to put so much on that it squishes out the sides while frying.

These are so easy, my kids do most of the work.

Slice up some apples, cut up a few carrots and celery sticks and you could even make a meal out of ‘em. Yum.

Classics Bookclub: Pride and Prejudice

5 Minutes for Books hosts a classic bookclub the first Tuesday every month. This month we’re discussing Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I read this book years ago as a school assignment. Back then I read it so fast I couldn’t remember parts of it. I just wanted to get through it and get my paper turned in.

This time around, I slowed it down a notch or two and took the time to enjoy the story.

I love Austen’s wit and sense of humor. The style of writing was different than what I usually read. I’m a suspense/mystery kind of girl in my everyday reading, but once I got used to Austen’s style, I was hooked.

I’ve seen the movie version with Keira Knightley and loved it. I hear that the A&E mini series collection is even better. So I will have to check it out sometime.

As you can tell, I’m not a very good book reviewer. I’m afraid to say too much and give the story away but then I’m afraid I won’t say enough and no one will want to read the book. Understand? No? Well, that’s okay, because I rarely understand me either.

Back to P&P…Overall, I enjoyed the book. I can see why it’s a classic and even though it started out slow for me, due to the style, it really grew on me and I ended up loving it. I highly recommend it!

If you’re a big fan of the classics, head on over to 5 Minutes for Books and check out the Classics Bookclub. Our next book is Jane Eyre and we’d love to have you join us.

Thirsty Thursday: Long Island Iced Tea

My sister loves these drinks and personally, I don’t blame her. I happen to think they’re pretty darn good, too. If they’re made right. Here’s the recipe we use.

Long Island Iced Tea:

3/4 oz tequila
3/4 oz rum
3/4 oz gin
3/4 oz vodka
3/4 oz triple sec
3/4 oz sour mix
splash of cola

Shake all liquers together with sour mix. Pour into a tall glass. A hurricane glass would be perfect. Add a splash of cola and garnish with a lemon slice or two.

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

Busted!

Kaylee caught jumping on mom & dad’s bed.

What's on your nightstand?

Right now, I’m reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen as part of the Classics Bookclub hosted by 5 Minutes for Books. This is the second time I’ve read it. Although, I have to admit, the first time around was for a school assignment and I plowed through it so quickly that I didn’t get a chance to enjoy it. This time around, I’m taking it slow and enjoying it.

Last week, I finished up Scream for Me by Karen Rose. I’d never read anything by her before, so I was skeptical at first. It seemed to start out slow, but after I got into it, it was a pretty good read. Good plot, well-written characters, and a few surprise turns kept me interested. I didn’t know it at the time, but it’s apparently a sequel to Die for Me by the same author. I’ve researched it a little and a third book, Kill for Me, is due out in February 2009. Now, ‘;m going to have to go back and read the first one. I wish I’d known it was a series!

After being on the wait list for several weeks, I finally got to read Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich. The Stephanie Plum series is one of my favorites. I read the first one last October and was hooked from the very first chapter. Since then, I’ve read every book in the series. Love it and recommend it to anyone who likes a good, humorous suspense story with a little bit of romance thrown in for good measure. These books are light and easy to read, yet hard to put down.

I’m reading Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare to my son. It’s a good classic. I’m sure most of you have read it before. I’m enjoying it as much as he is.

I checked out The Future Homemakers of America by Laurie Graham, but haven’t cracked it open yet. It’s about a group Air Force wives who are thrown together out of circumstance and form lifelong friendships as they see each other through life’s ups and downs. Fom the reviews I’ve read about it, it’s a very entertaining story although some of it can be predictable. So we’ll see.

I’m looking for book recommendations for my 10 year old twins. They’ve tried Nancy Drew, The Bobbsey Twins, Sweet Valley, Babysitter’s Club, The Boxcar Children, and Hank the Cowdog but they’re into more modern books. I’d rather not have them reading Hannah Montana and High School Musical books all the time so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

I also want to recommend any Andrew Clements book for your middle school-aged kids. My girls have read all of his books and loved every single one. They’re fun and deal with real-life issues that kids this age are dealing with. A couple to check out are Frindle and No Talking.

Head on over 5 Minutes for Books and tell us, What’s on your Nightstand?

Back to school shopping

In today’s economy, everyone is trying to save a buck. With outrageous gas prices and soaring grocery bills, everyone’s cutting corners and trying to get the most for their money. Back to school shopping can be expensive, especially when you’ve got more than one kid in school. Trust me, I have four school-aged kids this year and it seems as if the school supply lists were longer than ever. Then, of course, came the clothes shopping.

I did manage to improve my shopping habits this year and ended up spending way less than what I normally do on back to school expenses.

The first thing I did was go through all of the kids’ clothes. I took inventory of what they had, what they needed, and what they could live without.

I gathered up all the clothes that were still in good condition but were no longer being worn and took them to a consignment shop where I was given store credit for the value of the clothes. Using that store credit, I was able to get several good, name-brand shirts in excellent condition for each of the kids. I think altogether I got about 15 shirts for right around $35. That comes out to less than $3 a piece.

I probably could have sold the clothes on eBay and made more money on them, but I didn’t want to go through the hassle of photographing, listing, shipping, etc. This way was easier for me and it only took one day, where eBay would have taken at least a week.

Next, I made a list of what each kid absolutely needed. Socks, underwear, shorts, etc. Then I headed to the local thrift stores. My favorites are Goodwill and Salvation Army. They have great sales and the clothes are almost always in excellent condition. There, I was able to find shorts, shirts, pants, and a couple of sweaters/light jackets for cool mornings. I spent about $60 and each kid got about 4 outfits. Keep in mind, that these are pretty much all name-brand clothes that I’m buying and they’re all in excellent condition. It takes a little extra time to dig through the racks to find the good stuff sometimes, but it is worth it when you can get a shirt for a dollar that normally retails for $15.

After that, I went to Walmart and bought all new socks and underwear for each kid, which cost me about $50. My twins are really into Hannah Montana, and Walmart has an extensive line of her clothing, so I got them each a HM shirt there which cost me about $18.

I also went to JCPenney, Stage, and Payless Shoe Source. Each store was running some kind of special and the kids ended up with 3 more outfits each and 2 pair of shoes each. Altogether, I spent about $160 at these stores.

Which brought my total amount spent on school clothes to about $275 or close to $70 a kid. And they all got enough clothes to last them at least couple of months. I’ll have to get them a few more pair of pants when the weather turns but for now, they’re good.

Last year, I bought everything new and spent about 3 times what I did this year and got less.

With the supplies, I pretty much went straight by the list. Even getting all the brands asked for. I bought them all at Walmart because they had a decent sale and spent a total of $97 on supplies, including backpacks. I even bought all 8 reams of copy paper that was requested. Guess I was feeling generous after saving all that money on the clothes.

Lesson learned: Less really is more, if you play your (debit) cards right.

A New Bloggy Carnival

Ok, I’m joining in all these bloggy carnivals and hope I can keep up with them. There are so many to choose from, I just can’t make those kinds of decisions, so I decided I’m just gonna have to suck it up and deal with my procrastination lack of attention-span and do my best to keep up with all of them.

The newest one I’m joining is Homemaker Monday’s hosted by 11th Heaven’s Homemaking Haven. Whew, that was a mouthful!

Anyway, the title is pretty self-explanatory. You write up a homemaking-related post and link it to her Mr. Linky on Monday morning and she will choose one post to feature each week. She explains it so much better so head over and check it out.

Recommended books for kids

With all four of my kids being in school and having reading homework requirements every night, we go through a lot of children’s books.

The twins are in fifth grade and have to read 30 minutes a night. My son is a third grader and he reads for 20 minutes each night. Even my four year old in pre-k is required to read (or listen to) one book each night.

Some we’ve read recently are No Talking by Andrew Clements and We’re Going On a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen.

One of the twins is reading No Talking and she’s been raving on it since the first chapter. It’s about a class of fifth-graders who have contest to see who talks more; girls or boys. They have to go a whole day without talking at school. They can’t talk in the classroom, hallways, bathrooms, playground, anywhere. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? I bet their teachers loved it!

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is my four year olds favorite book right now. We’ve read it so many times, she has it memorized word-for-word and “reads” it to me almost every day. When I was a teacher’s aide a few years back, I loved reading this book to my class of 2 & 3 year olds. I made up a whole routine for the story complete with voice-changes and hand motions. They loved it too! I highly recommend this book for kids of all ages. I’ve found that my older kids still enjoy listening to me read this book.

Bad Virus

I just got this virus warning in my email and being the good, responsible person that I am, I would never forgive myself if I didn’t pass it on…

xo - The not-so Domestic Goddess

If you receive an e-mail entitled ‘Bedtimes,’ delete it IMMEDIATELY. Do not open it. Apparently this one is pretty nasty.

It will not only erase everything on your hard drive, but it will also delete anything on disks within 20 feet of your computer. It demagnetizes the strips on ALL of your credit cards. It reprograms your ATM access code, screws up the tracking on your VCR, and uses subspace field harmonics to scratch any CD’s you attempt to play. It will program your phone auto dial to call only 900 numbers. This virus will mix antifreeze into your fish tank.

IT WILL CAUSE YOUR TOILET TO FLUSH WHILE YOU ARE SHOWERING.

It will drink ALL your beer.

FOR GOD’S SAKE, ARE YOU LISTENING? ?

It will leave dirty underwear on the coffee table when you are expecting company.

It will replace your shampoo with Nair and your Nair with Rogaine If the ‘Bedtimes’ message is opened in a Windows XP environment, it will leave the toilet seat up and leave your hair dryer plugged in dangerously close to a full bathtub of water. It will not only remove the forbidden tags from your mattresses and pillows, it will also refill your skim milk with whole milk.

***

WARN AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN.

***

And if you don’t send this to 5000 people in 20 seconds, you’ll fart so hard that your right leg will spasm and shoot straight out in front of you, sending sparks that will ignite the person nearest you.

Send this warning to everyone!!!

THERE’S A LOT OF SADNESS IN THE WORLD! Right now, as you read this, 17 Million people are having SEX!!!

And look at you — you’re on the computer!!!!

Brownies

Brownies! An all-time favorite dessert.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

Frosting Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

To Make Frosting: Combine all ingredients. Stir until smooth. Frost brownies while they are still warm

Serve immediately. Great with with vanilla ice cream!

Sweet Potato Pumpkin Pie

I’ve never made this pie myself, but my sister’s fiance made it for Thanksgiving dinner last year and it was delicious.

SWEET POTATO PUMPKIN PIE

• 1 15 oz. can Libby’s pumpkin pie filling
• 1 15 oz. can candied yams
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 tablespoon melted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 refrigerated pie crust
• 3 tablespoon Myer’s Rum

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine pumpkin pie filling, candied yams (undrained), sugar, spice, salt, coconut milk, butter and eggs and process until smooth.

Pour into a 10″ pie crust and bake for 1 1/2 hours

Remove from oven and set aside for at least 20 minutes before serving. Tastes great chilled.

Friday Musings

The kids finished up their first full week of school today. The twins are doing great and are looking forward to starting the orchestra next week. My son loves his teacher and his class. I think the fact that they have a hamster and a fish tank helped a lot with that. He’s normally not a big fan of school, unless you count lunch and recess.

Kaylee did really well in Pre-K this week. She had an accident on Monday and cried until I got her out of the car, then she was fine all week. No tears or potty incidents. She finally confessed that she was scared of the bathroom at school, hence the accidents the first few days. We talked about it and now all is well with her potty world.

Kaylee has made quite a few new friends. The ones she mentions the most are Thomas and Benjamin. Yes, my daughter’s best friends are boys. She is already saying that she will miss her Benjamin Jones when we move. Her Benjamin Jones. How cute.

I’m waiting to see if we are going to qualify for another relocation package or if this move is gonna be out-of-pocket. They’ve already shelled out over 10 grand on moving expenses, hotel accommodations, and meals on us this year. I doubt they’ll do it again. But I can hope, right?

I washed, dried, and folded 6 loads of laundry today and they are all still sitting in the baskets, waiting to be put away. Laundry fairy, where are you when I need you most?

I’ve got tons of packing to do. Which is pretty much my own fault since I’ve known this move was coming for at least a month now. I just wasn’t sure of the date. I’m still not sure of the date. I just know my hubs was told “very soon” and “as soon as possible” so I’m thinking 3-4 weeks at the latest. I’m just glad all four kids will be in school when I finally do get around to packing. They don’t need to hear the obscenities I’m sure to mutter while I fill box after box with this junk we’ve spent the last 11 years accumulating. I threw away a lot the last time we moved, but I think we’ve collected twice as much as I threw away in the last seven months.

Now that all four kids are in school, I’m bored during the day. If I had any kind of talent, I’d start designing blogs or something creative like that, but I wouldn’t know where to start. I do good to make my own presentable. I’ve been playing around in Photoshop lately and will post some pictures I’ve taken sometime. I’ve made earrings and drawn pictures (mostly of eyes and horses - weird, I know). I’ve cleaned house and done laundry. I’ve watched movies and gone to the library. I’ve played computer games and alphabetically organized all of our movies and now, I’m bored. I’ve run out of things to do. Which I guess is a good thing because I have more time to spend online here at my blog and twittering and reading blogs and maybe I’ll even start posting more and get more involved in the blogging community. Who knows? I just need to find something to do…And I don’t mean washing dishes, putting laundry away, or scrubbing toilets. I’m looking for a hobby, not a chore.

Well, I’m gonna sneak into the kitchen and make some these delicious little things. I make ‘em at least once a week. Have I mentioned I love the Pioneer Woman’s website? If you’ve never read her, You definitely should. Mouth-watering recipes, excellent photography, and humorous, well-written posts galore…You won’t be disappointed.

Thirsty Thursday: The Peach Margarita

August is National Peach Month. Or is it July?

I don’t know for sure, but just for today, I’m gonna go with August. That way we can celebrate by making peach margaritas. Yum.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Tequila
• 1 oz Peach Schnapps
• 1 oz Sweet and Sour mix
• 1 dash Grenadine syrup

Instructions:

• Pour Tequila, Peach Schnapps, and Sweet & Sour mix over ice in a Margarita glass.
• Add Grenadine, and give it a quick stir.
• Serve immediately and Enjoy!

Couch Potato Wedges

This recipe for potato wedges works great as a side dish for grilled steaks or as a party appetizer. Sometimes, I eat them all by themselves, just for the heck of it.

Couch Potato Wedges

4 whole potatoes, washed and quartered
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 (8-ounce) package (2 cups) cheddar cheese, shredded
8 slices crisply cooked bacon, crumbled

Bake potato wedges at 350F for 40 minutes, remove from oven
Immediately sprinkle with green onions, cheese and bacon. Continue
baking until cheese is melted (1 to 2 minutes).

Makes 16 wedges.

PS. I apologize for the crummy presentation of this here recipe. If you’re looking for recipes accompanied by fantastic photography and humorous dialogue, you should visit my bloggy-idol Ree’s site.

Kaylee Goes to Pre-K

Today is Kaylee’s first day of school. She should probably be going to kindergarten, but her birthday misses the cut-off date by about 6 weeks, so it’s off to Pre-k she went.

She was excited and anxious and cried just a bit as she realized I would not be staying there with her. Her teacher, Mrs. A, was really nice and comforting and I knew she’d be fine as soon as I was out of sight.

Do most 4 year olds not recognize their own written names? I’ve never really thought about it before but Kaylee has known how to read, spell, and type her name for at least a year and a half. And she’s been writing it for several months now, which was also a shock to her teacher. I was surprised at how many kids in K's class couldn't recognize their own names. Maybe it's the former teacher's aide/literacy tutor in me, but I've always worked with my kids on things like this. I think I started teaching Kaylee her name when she was about 2 years old. She could actually type it before she could write it or spell it.

Before I left I kissed Kaylee’s hand and reminded her of the story we’d read the night before. She was in tears and begging Mama to stay with her, but I somehow kept my cool and assured her she would be fine and I would pick her up this afternoon. Then I left with tears in my own eyes.

My baby is in school. What am I going to do with myself for 7 hours everyday? So far today, I’ve read a book, taken a morning nap, and checked the clock a zillion times to see if it was time to pick her up yet. And it’s not even lunchtime. I’ve still got nearly 3 hours to go. I hope she’s holding up better than I am.

Super Simple Sugar Cookies

This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe ever. It’s super easy and delicious.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup butter (softened)
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions:

• Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla.
• Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Batter should be stiff.
• Using wax paper, Shape dough into long cylinder and Let chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350*
• Slice dough into 1/4 in slices.
• Place 2 inches apart on un-greased cookie sheet and sprinkle with sugar, colored sugar. (optional)
• Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden.
• Enjoy!!

*Makes about 2 dozen, depending on the size you make them.

Bring on the Guilt

Today, I found out my mom has congestive heart failure and is borderline diabetic.

The diabetic thing I could have guessed. She has all the symptoms.

She has poor health to begin with. She’s had several surgeries over the years. The one I remember most vividly is the hysterectomy she had on my 10th birthday. Yes, that’s right on my birthday. I remember sitting in class, looking at the balloons and flowers she had sent me wondering if how she was doing. If they were done yet. When would she be able to come home? Did she remember to get the right kind of ice cream for my birthday party? Chocolate cake, right? What did you expect me to think? I was 10 and in the 4th grade. Birthday parties were very important back then.

She had surgery a few years a go to remove her gallbladder and since then she’s had several intestinal/digestion problems. She can’t eat a lot of greasy or spicy foods and she used to live on them.

She has liver problems and a lump in one of her breasts the size of a golf ball. It’s nothing serious though. A Cyst caused by caffeine. No cancer there. Thankfully.

She’s had surgery on her shoulder and her wrists from complications of her job. She works in a factory and does a lot of repetitious work.

In 9 days she is going in to have a net put in to hold her uterus up. It’s wreaking havoc on her bladder and threatening to make a very unwanted appearance.

On my birthday, September 4th, She will be going in to have an ECHO test done. This will help determine the reason the fluid built up so much around her heart and causing her legs to swell up so that she can barely walk. Also it will let us know if the medication she’s on is helping at all

I am hoping to make it back to Missouri to be with her either during the surgery or before or after. I’m not sure. I just want to be there for something. She needs me. She may not say it, but I know it. She’s a strong woman and has been through a lot in her lifetime. She’s an awesome mom and an even better Grandma. I hate seeing her in this condition.

I guess this is where the guilt comes in. I feel like it’s somehow my fault. Like if I was there I could help her more and maybe she wouldn’t be so sick, so stressed out, so worried. I know it probably wouldn’t make a big difference. But I still want to be there.

It’s a mom/daughter thing.

Weekly Menu

Here’s the Meal plan for this week…

Sunday - Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Corn - Yes, we eat a lot of mashed potatoes and corn - They are the few rare veggies all 4 kids will eat.

Monday - Sloppy Joes and tater tots

Tuesday - BBQ Chicken, Baked Beans, Potato Salad

Wednesday - Tacos! A Family Favorite

Thursday - Take-out (it’s shopping and errand-running day)

Friday - Chef Salad

Saturday - Spaghetti (dh’s day to cook - he makes the best spaghetti!)

Thirsty Thursday: The Coconut Daiquiri

This is a very yummy drink, perfect for sipping poolside while you soak up the sun.

The Coconut Daiquiri

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• crushed ice
• 2 measures coconut liqueur
• 2 measures fresh lime juice
• 1 measure white rum
• 1 dash egg white
• lime slice (optional)

First, put ice in cocktail shaker then add all other ingredients (except the slice of lime!). Shake vigorously until frost forms. Strain and pour into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish glass with lime slice.

Check back every Thursday for more Thirsty Thursday drink recipes. Yum.

Thirsty Thursday: The Pina Colada

“Bring me two Pina Coladas. I need one for each hand…”

“If you like Pina Coladas and getting caught in he rain..”

I’ll stop there since I’m no Garth Brooks or Rupert Holmes and I’m sure you don’t want to hear me sing. It isn’t pretty. Trust me on that.

Did you know that today is National Pina Colada Day? Yes, there is a such thing. The pina colada is the official drink of Puerto Rico. Did you know that? I didn’t until just recently..

The Pina Colada

serves 1

Ingredients:

• cracked ice
• 1 measure white rum
• 2 measures coconut milk
• 2 measures pineapple juice
• optional glass garnishments: strawberry slice, mango slice, pineapple slice

Put cracked ice, rum, coconut milk, and pineapple juice in cocktail shaker. Shake lightly to mix then strain into a large glass and garnish with fruit slices. Enjoy!

Check back every Thursday for more Thirsty Thursday drink recipes. Yum.

It's a Boy!

No, not mine!

One of my best friends, Kimberly, and her husband Jim Bob just had their first baby. His name is Bryce James and he was born on June 20th. He weighed in a whopping 8 pounds and 2 ounces and is 21 inches long! Big Baby!

Isn’t he beautiful?

Congratulations, Kimberly and Jim Bob!

I know you’re going to be awesome parents!