Category Archives: Kids

by | March 11, 2013 · 9:06 pm

Give Me a Break!

I love my family. I would rather spend time with them than any other people on the face of the earth.

I love being my kids’ mom. I have enjoyed all the little stages of their childhoods that have brought us to this point and I truly love the people they are becoming.

Even if sometimes the people they are becoming can be a little bit goofy.

Every time we are at Aloha Tower, they have to pose like the statues.

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One of the three was not in much of a posing mood.

However…..

I need time to not be with my children.

One of the best bits of advice Sus gave me when I was a brand new mom was to schedule time away from the kids. She told me that even if she got away for just a little while, she was always a better mom after a little break.

As usual, she was right.

It has been harder to find time to myself since we moved here last summer, but this weekend, I had the opportunity to get some hairapy and spend time with two of my favorite people. It was fun to laugh and eat and talk with grown up friends. Not to say that we weren’t a little goofy at times ourselves. Conversations took strange twists and turns that resulted in weird and random Google searches.

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I don’t think we ever figured out which newscaster Alex was trying to remember. It wasn’t either of these.

I came home Sunday evening to a clean house and a family who loves me.

So here’s the takeaway point on this short little post:

Friends, no matter how hard it is to schedule, you need time away to recharge your batteries. You need date nights alone with your husband (That’s still a challenge we need to make happen at my house!), you need time with girl friends, and you need time all by yourself. Of course, you also need a husband who will support you in these endeavors and I am more than blessed to have a man who doesn’t begrudge me any time that I get to sneak away.

I’d be curious to know how you all schedule time away from the kids. And if you had a dream weekend all to yourself, how would you spend it?

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Filed under Family, Friends, Kids

by | October 26, 2011 · 9:08 am

Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered….Especially Bewildered

Today is the first in our weekly series of tips and ideas to help us not feel “whacked’ this holiday season.  Raise your hand if you’re surprised I remember I even said we were going to do this on Wednesdays. I’ll admit it, my hand is raised!

I thought we’d kick off the series with a discussion about Halloween tricks, treats, and traditions.

First, just a word about family traditions. If you don’t have any, get some. They don’t have to be elaborate, but they are the memories our children will talk about for the rest of our lives and may continue in their own families. For example, I’ve carried on two of my family’s Halloween traditions: corn chowder and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!   Every year my mom would make corn chowder for Halloween. Soup, stew, or chili is a good choice for Halloween because you can keep it warm on the stove. Everyone can have a small bowl before trick-or-treating and warm up with a little more (if it happens to be cold where you are) after the Halloween festivities. I haven’t put our corn chowder recipe online yet, but I do have some other favorite soup/stew/chili recipes to share and I have a few on my Pinterest Looks Good Enough to Eat board that I haven’t tried yet.

This link has my recipe for Ashley’s Tortilla Soup, Mom’s Beef Stew, Hoppin’ John Stew,  and Sus’s Black Bean & Pork Chili.

 

My favorite chicken & dumpling recipe (from Southern Living)

 

My new favorite chili recipe: Rocky Top Chili

Back in the old days, we had to watch Linus and the gang whenever the network felt like showing it to us, but now in the day of the DVR, you can tape the show and watch it as a family whenever it’s convenient for you! Pop a bag of popcorn,  make some Whimzie Crack, or if you’re really in the Halloween spirit, roast the pumpkin seeds from your jack-o-lantern. I’m linking you to a basic recipe, but you can jazz it up with any seasonings you like to make it sweet or savory.

A new Halloween tradition we added a few years ago is our candy corn and peanuts mix. You’ve tried this, right? If you haven’t, maybe you shouldn’t, because I’m warning you, once you start eating it, it’s very hard to stop.

Pinterest can be a black hole that sucks all the time out of your afternoon, but it can also be a great place to find and store ideas for new Halloween traditions. I like one having one central location to put my ideas. Here’s a link to my Fall Pinterest board. Now, will I try all of those ideas? Absolutely not. But I will try a few. I really want to try the toilet paper roll pumpkins this weekend. Our neighbors have a four-year-old son. This looks like a super easy, no sew, no glue craft we can all do together. Remember, the goal is not to create the perfect holidays that all the moms in the neighborhood will envy. The goal is to create moments with the people you love that will become the memories you treasure.

Does your family have any Halloween traditions?

Here’s my challenge question for the week: How do you handle the leftover Halloween candy? Do you have rules on how much candy the kids are allowed to have after Halloween? How long do you keep the candy around? Do you allow everyone to keep their candy separate or does it go in one big communal pile? I’d love to hear some of your ideas!

Also, if you have any more ideas on how to make this time of year easier or more special, I’d love to hear them! Email me: snoodlings@live.com

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Filed under Family, Kids, No More Whacked Out Wednesdays

by | February 16, 2010 · 1:08 am

Snow Day in the South

We don’t get many snow days where I live, but last Friday, we had snow. Before 10 a.m. we had created a multitude of heavenly hosts (aka snow angels) and an androgynous snow person. No one could decide whether we’d made a snow”he” or a snow”she.”

I took pictures. Want to see?

Sometimes I fancy myself to be a real photographer. K gave me a fancy, new camera for Christmas. I planned to learn how to use it by reading the owner’s manual on the way to his family’s house for Christmas, but I packed the Spanish version of the manual instead of the English one. I took Spanish for Medical Professionals for one semester when I was in nursing school but I all I remember is how to say “Where does it hurt? (“[upside-down question mark] Donde le duele?”) and “Push!” (“Empuja!”) I also speak a little Dora (“Come on! Vamonos!”), but I’ve never seen an episode of Dora where she deals specifically with aperture settings. Hence, I only know how to use my fancy, new camera on the automatic setting.

Anyway, here are my artsy pictures of snowy trees:

The tire swing in our yard:

I was trying to do a “Narnia” thing here with the lampost. I didn’t realize the car was in the frame. That kind of ruins the effect for me:

I love it when trees come together like this to make a little tunnel of sorts:

I like to think that my little signs are part of the reason the snow decided to visit us. (Never mind that I put them out many a year with nary a flake to be seen all winter.):

My “home sweet home gnome.” He makes me smile:

Feeling artsy again:

Real live snow really falling down right here in Louisiana. I took a picture. It will last longer:

Find the cardinal:

My mom used to get irritated when we’d get our vacation pictures developed only to find that my dad had taken six rolls of film with nothing but birds and trees on them. I wonder if Ansel Adams’s wife gave him the same kind of grief. I did take pictures of people. Here are a few:

He owns a coat and yet he doesn’t always wear it:

His brother, on the other hand, is ready for some black diamonds. Ski googles are a must:

Always camera ready:

One of the obligatory snow angels:

Grammy takes Colonel out for a romp in the snow:

The obligatory snow person. We thought it was a snowman but look at those eyelashes!:

Mugging with the snowperson:

You know what I like about snow days? I mean besides the…snow? I like that we take the time to notice the stuff we miss when our schedules are full and our days are “normal.” I don’t usually take the time to look at trees. I don’t always take the time to make our hot chocolate more special by adding whipped cream and peppermint syrup. I go from Task A to Task B and sometimes I don’t fully look and listen to the people around me. But on snow days, I slow down and enjoy life one minute at a time. We play and laugh and rest. I think I’m going to schedule more snow days….whether the snow comes or not.

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Filed under Family, Kids

by | January 13, 2010 · 6:44 am

The Post in Which I Try to Think of Nice Ways to Talk About…..Upchucking

Last night I was feeling sorry for CarpoolQueen. All three of her children were suffering from GI distress of some variety. She and I were having a little chat about our respective days and I was so sad to hear that two of her boys were… “tossing cookies” while the other was….sick, but in a different way than the one I just mentioned. And now I’m going to tell you what I was also thinking. I was thinking that I was glad my kids don’t…. “share their inner feelings” all that often. I can count on one hand the number of times they have…. “technicolor yawned.” I may have, in fact, been feeling a little smug about the situation.

Until…

The freshly bathed and teeth-brushed children had said their prayers and were preparing to snuggle into their beds when all of a sudden my baby boy told me that his stomach was hurting.  We tucked him in and told him we’d keep checking on him only to hear him… “calling  Ralph” just minutes later. At first I thought it was an isolated event. I made Paula Deen’s Monte Cristo sandwiches for supper last night (from the November/December issue of What’s Cookin’ with Paula Deen). Everyone loved them, but they were also very rich. Who would expect that from a Paula Deen recipe, right? I thought maybe the meal had been a little much for my baby boy’s tummy.

To be safe, we sent his big brother to sleep in our bed with his dad (the boys share a room) and I bedded down with the one with the sad tummy. All was well and I thought we were out of the woods until forty-five minutes later when Little B was…. “tossing his cookies.” A couple of hours he was … “throwing it in reverse” again.  He…. “made a call on the porcelain phone” two or three more times through out the night/early, early, no-0ne-should-be-awake-at-this-hour morning, I lost count. I’m guessing this wasn’t a one-time event?

So now I have wiped that smug look off my face and replaced it with a tired, haggard been-there-done-that-last-night look. It’s lovely. I wish you could see it. At least my children have an uncanny ability to always make it to the bathroom. It’s a gift and a blessing to their mom, I tell you. And now I’m hoping I didn’t just jinx myself into cleaning carpet all day.

Hope you and yours are healthy today and I hope that the reading of this  post didn’t make any of you…. “have an out of stomach experience.” We’ll keep the Lysol handy for you.

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Filed under Kids

by | January 12, 2010 · 7:13 am

Is It Repeating Myself Or Showing Off My Superior Remembery Skills When I Re-Tell a Story?

Usually I enter a January Funk right after the holidays. Unfortunately, it’s not a George Clinton and the Parliament kind of funk. It’s a missing-all-the-Christmas-spirit funk. The house always looks a little blah when the Christmas decorations get packed away, so I bring out my snow and snowmen decorations for January to transition me slowly back to life after twinkly white lights. I unpacked the snowmen children that I bought last year and they’re standing side-by-side on the upstairs landing. Every single time I pass them, they give me a giggle because I’m always reminded of the “Whatsoever Thou Doest to My Snowman Thou Doest Unto Me” story I told you last year. Remember? Here’s the link:

The Link to the Snowman Story That Makes Whimzie Laugh to Herself Every Single Time She Thinks of It That We Will Click and Read Because We’re Her Friends & Know It’s Best to Just Humor Her When She Gets Like This

Did you read it? Now, I know in some psychology circles what he did would be considered “passive-aggressive,” but as his mother, I just think it was plain funny. Every time I pass those snowmen, my winter funk is replaced with a little of the George Clinton kind. One of the extra added benefits of parenthood that I didn’t read about in any of  my  What to Expect books is the extra dose of sunshine children provide to help you get through tough times. I’m so grateful for my three little Snoodles and know that even though they taunt that last little nerve of mine at times, they’re also a big reason it’s still hanging on by a thread.

Have a happy January day and may all your snowmen stand upright….unless they don’t, which makes for a good laugh, too!

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Filed under Kids, Leftovers

by | March 26, 2009 · 6:19 am

If the Snoodles Wrote a Children’s Bible

I love bedtime for the Little People and not for the reasons some of you are thinking. My husband usually does the bedtime routine and he has since FirstBorn was a baby. Usually he hasn’t had an opportunity to be with the kids all day and some days I’ve had more opportunities to be with them than I really feel like I needed at the time. It’s a win-win for both of us. After pajamas are donned and teeth are brushed, Dad settles the Little People together and reads a book and a Bible story and they all pray together before he tucks them into their beds. Sometimes I like to sneak in and listen to the discussions that sometimes ensue during Bible story and prayers. I think the Little People are their truest selves in these moments at the end of the day. Sometimes they  utter truths that are wise beyond their young years. Sometimes they spout out the funniest things I’ve ever heard.

I was telling my mom something the Princess Diva said the other night before bedtime and she jokingly said, “They need to write their own version of a Bible story book.” Yeah, that’s not going to happen, but I did think it would be fun to share with you a few gems I’ve collected along the way. 

When FirstBorn was barely three, story/Bible time was his one-on-one time with his dad. One night, Mr. Snoodle (I really need to settle on pseudonyms for these people!) came in the room after tucking in the FirstBorn and he looked like he’d been through the wringer.

“What happened to you?” I asked.

“I was totally unprepared! One minute we were talking about how God created everything. ‘Did God create all the animals?’ he asks. ‘Yes,’ I say. ‘Did God make all the bugs?’ he wants to know. ‘He did,’ I tell him. Then he pauses and asks, ‘So did God create evil?’ “

I asked him how he responded and I honestly think he had no idea what was said for the rest of that conversation. FirstBorn’s questions aren’t any easier five years later, by the way.

I was with them the night my husband told FirstBorn the story of  Adam and Eve. After he heard about the snake and the fruit and the consequences of their actions, FirstBorn gave a sideways glance at me before he looked his dad in the eye and said, “I hate to say this, but Eve should’ve sat down and shut up.” He wasn’t sure if he’d get away with that one because we don’t say “shut up” in our house, but his father and I were too busy picking ourselves off the floor to fuss.

A couple of nights ago, we were talking about heaven. The Little People have a vested interest because their daddy’s daddy already lives there. The younger two never met him and FirstBorn wasn’t even a year old when he died, but they’re very interested in knowing all there is to know about Pap and what he’s doing these days. BabyBoy was saying that Pap can’t ever get sick in heaven because there’s no sickness. I agreed and said that no one ever was sad or mad or afraid in heaven. FirstBorn said something about the devil not being in heaven and I affirmed that we wouldn’t even sin in heaven.

At this PrincessDiva sat straight up in bed and said, “You can’t sin in heaven?! But I want to sin!”

“What do you think ‘sin’ is?” I asked her.

“You know,” she said, “like when we send Papa cards and Ruby Jane pictures. I really love to send.” And she truly does.

So I tried to explain the difference between “send” and “sin” and we pondered whether or not heaven has mailboxes. BabyBoy is pretty sure no one can actually mail letters from there to here but he’s not sure if people who are already there can mail stuff to each other.

Just tonight we had one of those special moments that I’m so glad I didn’t miss. Since my husband’s out of town, I’m in charge of the bedtime routine this week. Tonight we read the story of the women coming to the tomb after Jesus died and was buried.  

I read from the book, ” ‘A voice said, “He’s not here. He is alive. He came back to life just as he said he would.” “He’s alive! He’s alive!” the woman shouted to her friends….’ “

PrincessDiva sighed and whispered, “I love that part.”

Oh, little PrincessDiva, me, too. And I love these precious little Snoodles He’s entrusted to my care.

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Filed under Kids, Uncategorized

by | March 18, 2009 · 9:20 am

I ‘Kid’ You Not, That’s What They Said

I agree. That’s probably the corniest blog post title ever written. The good and most logical ones for this post were already taken.

I’ve seen this interview several places lately: on Facebook, La Vida Dulce’s blog, Life@7000Feet’s blog, this little light of mine’s blog.  Oh, and CarpoolQueen just posted her interview with her kids. I thought it might be fun to do at our house. I interviewed each child separately because they’re at the age where their answers are heavily influenced by what the others would say and I wanted to know what each one really thought. I think their answers give me a lot of insight into what’s important to them, their love language, and they also make realize that I really need to find a better moisturizer. 

I also wonder how many of their answers are what they want from me rather  than who I really am. If anything, this gave me a better understanding of what they would like our home to look like and it makes me want to be more like the mom they described.

For those of you who haven’t met them, AHL is the youngest (by one minute) and the only daughter. She is five years old. BJL is the youngest boy. He’s also five years old. CBL is the oldest. He’s eight years old. Here are their unedited answers (the parenthetical additions are my thoughts):

1. What is something your mom always says to you?

AHL: “I love you.”

BJL: “Give me a hug.” (Guess I’m demanding that way.)

CBL: “Maybe.”  (This was funny to me because it’s so true and he hates it when I answer ‘maybe’ to his questions.)

2. What makes your mom happy?

AHL: Hugging and kissing.

BJL: Being nice.

CBL: A hug.

3. What makes your mom sad?

AHL:  When I don’t try new food.

BJL: When I hurt other people.

CBL: When we don’t obey her.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?

AHL: Tickles me.

BJL: Tickles me.

CBL: Tickles my armpit. (I wonder why I dislike the word “armpit.”)

5. What was your mom like as a child?

AHL: Me.

BJL: She was little.

CBL: I don’t know. Like me. (I thought this was interesting because AHL & CBL really aren’t very much alike.)

6. How old is your mom?

AHL: I don’t know. 75  (ouch!)

BJL: 41. 

CBL: 38.

(And the answer is….none of the above!)

7. How tall is your mom?

AHL: This tall. (put hand on top of my head)

BJL: Really tall.

CBL:  Tall.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

AHL: Play with me.

BJL: Play with me.

CBL: Play with us.

9. What does your mom do when you’re not around?

AHL: Do laundry.

BJL: Work.

CBL: I don’t know. Laundry and stuff.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

AHL: I don’t know. Playing games. (“Pretty Pretty Princess,” anyone?)

BJL: Kissing. (Wow. Not sure how this would play out.)

CBL: Cooking.

11. What is your mom really good at?

AHL: Doing laundry.

BJL:  Kissing.

CBL: Cooking.

12. What is your mom not very good at?

AHL: Being sad. Because I don’t want you to be good at sadness. (Aw!)

BJL: I don’t know.

CBL: She’s good at everything.

13. What does your mom do for a job?

AHL:  Play with me.

BJL: Work.

CBL: She doesn’t have a job. (pause) She takes care of us.

14. What is your mom’s favorite food?

AHL: Chinese food (I like it, but favorite?)

BJL:  Tomatoes (I like them, but favorite?)

CBL: Paula Deen food (Hmmm. Maybe.)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?

AHL: When you’re with me.

BJL: Kissing me.

CBL: When she plays with us.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

BJL: Baby Looney Tunes Granny  (Anyone have any skincare tips for me?)

AHL: Cinderella

CBL: Lola (Baby Looney Tunes)

17. What do you and your mom do together?

AHL: Play family.

BJL: Play cars.

CBL: Play with each other.

18. How are you and your mom the same?

AHL: We’re in “the family.”

BJL: We kiss a lot.

CBL: We both like to play and cook cookies.

19. How are you and your mom different?

AHL: God made us different. He’s our Lord. (And that’s not her Sunday School answer. She really talks like that!)

BJL: She’s taller than me.

CBL: She’s a girl.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

AHL: Because you’re my mom.

BJL: She kisses me. (Do you think this child’s love language is “touch”?

CBL: She says it.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?

AHL: That he’s with her.

BJL:  Him playing with me.

CBL: How do I know? I think she likes him because he’s just him.

22. Where is your mom’s favorite place to go?

AHL: Chinese restaurant (??)

BJL: Burlington Mall (??)

CBL: Burlington Mall (??)

That was fun!

Cooking came up a time or two. I wonder if CBL would change any of his answers if he knew what his scatterbrained mom did a couple of nights ago. Remember when I told you I had precooked chicken this weekend? Well, a couple of days ago, I took some precooked chicken out of the freezer to make Meredith’s Chicken Spaghetti. It was a multitasking kind of day (which ones aren’t?). We finally sat down to dinner. It was delicious, but I had a little tickle in the back of my brain that said something wasn’t quite right. After supper, I was cleaning the kitchen and when I opened the microwave door to wipe out the microwave, I found this:

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Yep, that’s the chicken that goes in the Chicken Spaghetti. So I made Vegetarian Chicken Spaghetti. And no one even noticed. This recipe is just that good! At least I don’t put my dishwashing liquid in the refrigerator or carry my house phone in my purse like some people I know! ;)


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by | March 13, 2009 · 2:33 pm

Future In-Laws

All of my children’s marriages have been arranged. Yes, I realize that they are eight, five, and five years old, but I really can’t afford to procrastinate on this one. I really don’t think of myself as a control freak, but I do believe that some things are just too important to take a “wait and see” approach.

My oldest son will be married to his kindergarten teacher’s daughter, Anna Beth. This arrangement was Melissa’s idea, I think. She loves my son. Although she did send him home with a yellow slip on his first day of kindergarten. How in the world do you get a yellow slip on the first day of kindergarten?! All you have to do is show up, for crying out loud! He and his best friend Palmer were hitting each other with their lunchboxes. They weren’t fighting, just pummeling each other about the face with their lunchboxes. One of them dared the other and that’s where the craziness started.  Anyway, Melissa’s aforementioned daughter was in the same class. Melissa had to give Anna Beth and Oldest Boy yellow slips one day because they were spitting at each other. (Do you see the yellow slip theme running through Oldest Boy’s story? Did you know that during the two and a half months he attended Providence while we were home this year he received three yellow slips and one red slip a.k.a. a trip to the principal’s office? Are you understanding a new and specific way you can pray for his mother?) 

AB and Oldest Boy have a love-loathe relationship. They’re either picking on each other, defending each other, laughing with each other, or ignoring each other. Melissa and I have decided that Oldest Boy is the Gilbert Blythe to her Anne Shirley. He even called her “Anna Banana” one day, which caused her quite a bit of angst. Remember the “Carrots” chapter in Anne of Green Gables?!  On the standardized tests last year, AB had the highest score in the grade. Oldest Boy came in second, two points below her. Just like Anne and Gilbert! I’m telling you, this is meant to be. Plus, I really want Melissa in my family. She’s one of my dearest friends. She has the biggest marshmallow heart that overflows with hospitality and love. And she loves books and hot tea….It would be perfect!

Speaking of wonderful Melissa, she received a glowing endorsement from Princess Diva’s future husband, Luke. Luke had Melissa for his kindergarten teacher the year after AB and Oldest Boy did. Luke has the most amazing Southern drawl. He told his mom that, his teacher was “a genius. She has the hugest brain in the whole world.” Luke’s shy and blushes like Charlie Brown. How can you not love a boy who blushes like Charlie Brown, I ask you? I didn’t know his mom that well when I first told her that I planned on my daughter marrying her son. I think I may have frightened her. Since then, she has become a dear friend. She’s one of the most amazing women I’ve ever met. She lost her dad to cancer a year ago and her four year-old son (Luke’s baby brother) was diagnosed with cancer last fall. Watching the grace and courage with which she has faced these trials, all the while, looking for opportunities to give God praise……..it’s been something to see. I can’t wait until we’re related.

Last but certainly not least is Ruby Jane. Ah, Ruby Jane. I have loved that little girl since my husband and I used to volunteer in the church nursery. She’s always had this spark that draws me close to her. She and the Princess Diva are best friends. Oh, the stories I could tell you about those two. Actually, I didn’t arrange this marriage, although I wholeheartedly endorse it. This idea was completely Ruby Jane’s. One fall day, shortly after Ruby Jane  turned three, her mom called me to say that RJ had just informed her that she was marrying my Baby Boy in January. And she has not wavered from that decision. Well, there was a period of time after she’d witnessed Baby Boy having a lose-his-religion screaming mimi fit. I asked her if she was sure if she wanted to marry him and she said she needed to think about it. A couple of weeks later, she told her mom that the wedding was back on.

A few weeks ago, the kids were staying at Ruby Jane’s house while I was at the hospital with Mom and Dad. Baby Boy had been a little hesitant about going over that morning, which is weird because he LOVES going to Ruby Jane’s house. He loves her family. On the car on the way over, he said, “Mom, I don’t want to get married.” I assured him that since he was only five, he really had some time to work out his feelings on that subject. But out of curiosity, I asked him why not. He told me that if you get married you have to have kids and babies are too much work. At that point, the Princess Diva piped in to tell him that the mom could do all that work. At that point, I realized that we have more than his issues to resolve.

When I went to pick the kids up that afternoon, Tanya, Ruby Jane’s mom, told me that she heard Ruby Jane tell Baby Boy, “When you grow up, you’re going to get on your hands and knees with a ring in your mouth and ask me to marry you.” And on the way home, Princess Diva told him, “I don’t care what you say. You ARE marrying Ruby Jane so we can be sisters.”  No wonder the poor child was afraid to go over there that morning! 

Ruby Jane’s parents are two of my best friends on the planet. I can’t wait until we’re all vacationing together and doing holidays together. It’s going to be so much fun! If you have kids, I’m telling you, you need to start planning. If you pick friends for in-laws, you can do holidays together without taking turns with people you may not even know! Just think about it.

By the way, I’m in the process of putting all the fun recipes you guys sent me along with some of my own for the “take over” food blog post. I’ll let you know when it’s finished. I’m trying out a new recipe tonight that I might share if it gets rave reviews. I hope you enjoy the rest of your Friday and maybe we’ll see you this weekend!

 


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by | March 11, 2009 · 10:42 am

The Making of the Next Food Network Star/Junkie…..And a Plea for Help!

I used to be a serious Food Network Junkie. I TiVo’d Paula Deen, Rachael Ray, Giada, Emeril, Next Food Network Star, Good Eats, Unwrapped…I honestly don’t remember what else. When he was three, my oldest used to know Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals intro by heart and would say it with her every time the show came on. ”…Hi there I’m Rachael Ray, and I make 30 minute meals. Now that means, in the time it takes you to watch this program, I will have made a delicious and healthy meal from start to finish.” The Little People think we’re actually related to Paula Deen. But when we got busy preparing to move and then actually moved and then had to recover from the move, I quit watching Food Network for some reason. Probably because during that time I wasn’t doing very much cooking so watching it made me feel guilty.

Anyway, for some reason this morning I turned to Food Network while we were doing our daily “get ready for the day” chores. My daughter’s eyes have not left the TV yet. She can now make a homemade coke float thanks to Emeril, knows how to make a delicious vegetable fondue, can stretch our mealtime budget, and will be able to turn our chicken leftovers into a delicious soup. I had walked out of the room for a few minutes when I heard her exclaim, “I knew it! I knew she’d be here! She’s finally here! I’ve been waiting for her!” Before I even walked back into the room, I knew I’d be seeing Paula Deen in all her glorious Southern splendor dishing up pure love with a stick of butter. We’re supposed to be going to the grocery store but I don’t know how I’m going to get the Princess Diva to leave her Paula. Maybe if I can promise her we’ll get the ingredients for the white chocolate cocoa Paula was just making….

The cocoa reminded me of a side story: Monday the whole fam spent the afternoon in the front yard making a snowman. It was a real Hallmark moment for me. The Princess Diva and I were the first ones to go back into the house because the boys wanted to engage in a little snow warfare and she didn’t think that was an activity in which she wished to participate.

She said, “Mom, can we have hot cocoa?” Fortunately, we still had some homemade hot chocolate mix left over so I was happy to oblige.

“Do you want marshmallows in your hot chocolate?” I asked.

“It’s COCOA, Mom,” was her retort.

So we sat at the table and talked girl talk for awhile. We talked about our favorite chocolates (she likes the ones that have caramel in them) and favorite foods (“Of course you know I love PB& J best, Mom. You’ve seen me eat them everywhere!”).

“I sure am enjoying our hot chocolate date, sweet girl,” I said.

“It’s COCOA, Mom.”

Whatever it was, we had fun.

Okay back to the real reason for today’s post. I need your help, Barry Manilow (That’s an old Ray Stevens song. Good grief, how old AM I?!) I’m doing a little project. When I was home with the family right after Dad’s surgery, our incredible church family provided meals for us. What a HUGE help!  Over time, I started collecting good ideas for “take over” meals (the meals you take over to someone’s house when they have a baby, surgery, etc.). I’ve decided I want to make a collection of recipes and helpful hints so that the next time I need to take a meal to someone (which will be this weekend, as a matter of fact), I can go straight to this collection and  pick something from my list. So, I’m wondering what’s your favorite “take over” meal or “take over” idea? Do you have  a standard meal that you usually prepare? If you’ve been on the receiving end, what was your favorite meal that someone brought to you? I’m looking for meals that can be put in disposable dishes so that the recipient doesn’t have to worry about returning anything. So, to my five loyal readers (and you’re exempt, Mom, so that brings us to four), what are your best “take over” ideas? If you have a great recipe and don’t mind sharing it, either link it or post it in your comments section.  I’ll put them all together with the ones I’ve already collected and put them in a central place that we all can enjoy! Won’t this be fun?! 

By the way, I’ve found a couple of really great recipe blogs that a couple of my new favorite bloggers have in addition to their every day blogs (lots of blogginess in this sentence). Meredith’s even has meal plans. Kelly’s has cool pictures to go with the recipes and is Paula Deen approved ;) .  Both have great ideas that sound delicious! I’m taking several of the recipes I found with me to the grocery store (if we make it out of the house before swim lessons!) to get the ingredients so we can try them!!

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Filed under Food, Friends, Kids

by | December 6, 2008 · 9:13 pm

While visions of Sugar Plum fairies danced in her head…

I took The Princess Little Person to see The Nutcracker for the first time last night.  She’s the cheerleader of our family, so it’s not a huge surprise when she’s excited about something. New cereal? “Did you buy this for US?! YAY! I’ve wanted to try this cereal for all my life!!” Her dad gets a haircut? “You look WONDERFUL! I LOVE your hair!” Her brothers are playing Wii? “Woo hoo!! High score!!”  She’s pumped about a trip to Costco, so I knew she’d show even more enthusiasm for a fun, new experience. I found a few videos on YouTube of Nutcracker scenes performed by different ballet companies and she watched enthralled, thrilled that she recognized several of the songs from Classical Baby and Little Einsteins.

However her elation waned a bit the night of the big performance. I had pulled several dresses out of her closet for her to choose an outfit for the evening. As she looked over her choices, she asked offhandedly, “Are you going up there with me?” 

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“When I’m up on stage. Are you going to go up there with me?”

Wow. As gently as possible, I explained that we were just going to watch other ballerinas dance and that we hadn’t been invited to perform anything on this particular night. I should have seen this coming. She took ballet last year and after the dress rehearsal for her recital, she ran to me and asked, “Did you see me?! I was ON STAGE!” The night of the recital, she danced and smiled as if performing in front of hundreds of people was a nightly happening for her. 

She listened to my explanation and when I asked her if she was disappointed she said, “Well, yeah. I thought you said I was going to get to dance. Can we at least get popcorn?”

Popcorn? I’m not a regular patron of the arts, but the few times I’ve been to performances, popcorn was not a refreshment option. I assured her that if there was popcorn, we would certainly buy some but that maybe she shouldn’t plan on it being offered to us at the ballet.  I was glad when we arrived at the theatre that they were selling refreshments in the lobby. She never mentioned the popcorn again and I was glad to purchase a chocolate Nutcracker sucker and some bottled water.

After we’d found our seats, I gave her a brief synopsis of the story of The Nutcracker. She listened intently and fidgeted in her seat a little and asked at least a half dozen times, “So when’s this starting anyway?”  When the curtain rose, she sat up straight with her eyes wide and bright and breathed, “Whoa..” The costumes were beautiful, and the graceful dancers took our breath away. During the performance, I think I watched her face more than the dancers.  

About two songs in, she leaned into me and asked,”Isn’t anybody going to say anything? Is somebody going to sing?” Again, I realized I may not have adequately prepared her as I explained that instead of words, the dance told the story. She interjected several questions and comments throughout the performance, none of which gave me much pause until we came to the first  scene of Act II. In this scene, several cherubs and angels heralded Clara and the Prince’s arrival to the Land of Sweets. When I explained that the dancers in the beautiful white costumes were angels, The Princess whispered, “So is Jesus in this thing?” No, I told her, Jesus would not be dancing in this particular version of the Nutcracker. She looked at me baffled, “Well, why not?” I told her that I didn’t really know but that maybe we should just watch the rest to see what happened next. The show continued without much ado and we clapped and clapped and clapped at the end.

On the way home, she asked me to turn on the radio and we listened to Christmas music all the way home. At one point I turned to look at her and her sleepy eyes were taking in the Christmas lights and decorations along the way and she had an enormous smile stretched from ear to ear. “Why are you smiling so big?” I asked her. She just gave a big sigh and breathed, “I just love this.” I didn’t have to ask if “this” was The Nutcracker or the Christmas songs on the radio or the beautiful lights or a girls’ night out with her Mom. It was all of the above. And I felt the same way.

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Filed under Christmas, Kids