'Lil Peeps

I had to run over to Walgreens this morning for some packaging tape. I'm getting back into selling stuff on ebay, and one item needed to ship today. On the way to the "office supplies" aisle, we passed by the Easter candy aisle. Since Charlotte was with me, there was no way we were walking out of that store without a trip down the Seasonal Aisle. I secretly didn't mind because I was looking for these special jelly beans that are coated in Nerd candy. Truth be told, I don't like jelly beans, but these are different. Last year after I "discovered" them, I ate two bags all by myself. They're soooooo good. I was seriously disappointed that they didn't have my nerd jelly beans this year; however, they did have Peeps. Charlotte loves Peeps, and was nearly drooling over the selection of shapes and colors from which to choose.


Me: What do you like about Peeps?

Charlotte: The mush mellow, the pink of it all, the sugar. EVERYTHING! And the chocolate.

Me (perplexed): There's no chocolate on Peeps.

Charlotte (hear the eye roll in her response): The eyes are chocolate!

So beware of the Peeps if you're taking a sugar-crazed child into the store. They're out there.

What Defines Your World?

There's a photo contest going on locally, and the photo submitted needs to define your world as interpreted by the photographer. I'm not really sure why I wanted to enter the contest; certainly it's not the "grand prize" of $25.......maybe I just wanted a reason to challenge myself.

So, what defines your world?

I had to think about that for only a moment. It wasn't too difficult to decide that my faith and family are what define my world. However, getting my family together for a photo that would actually look good was a challenge I was not up for this week, plus it also seemed a bit cliche to turn in a photo of loved ones for a contest entitled "define your world". Maybe that's just me, but I decided to step away from that idea. I then came up with a couple of ideas for my faith, but didn't care for how it translated to a photograph, so back to the "drawing board" I went.

Long story short, the photo below is what I turned in. If I had to name it, I suppose I'd call it Plans Happily Deferred. That defines my world too.

Party Envy

When Mike and I made the decision for me to become a stay at home mom, it wasn't without some reservations. We were giving up a huge income that we had sort of come to rely on. So like a young bird taking flight out of the nest for the first time, I jumped into the world of Stay-At-Home Momness. Five years have gone by since that decision. It hasn't always been easy, but every time I crave a bigger house, I remind myself that we could have one, but I wouldn't get to spend much time in it. When I long for frequent vacations, I tell myself I'd need them to recoup from the hectic schedule of the "working" mom (I use "" because all moms work, but I'm referring to a mom who's holding down a full-time job outside of the house on top of all her other responsibilities.)

One thing I've tried to come to terms with are my kid's birthday parties. My kids have been invited to parties at these places where you show up and they do all the work. Kids play and have fun, do cool things, food is brought in, and the mess is cleaned up for you. What's not to love? My kids would love to have one like it of their own, and I'd love to indulge them......maybe even indulge myself - like I'll be the coolest Mom ever if only I could provide an equally cool birthday party. So it's somewhat with a reluctant heart that I've come to accept that spending $300 on a party for one child is not the best way to responsibly steward our money.

This month was Eric's birthday and he wanted to invite a few of his friends over for a ["on-a-budget-but-fun-anyway"] Star Wars birthday party. This isn't exactly an easy thing to plan for the winter, because any outdoor activity can't be done since it's usually 12 degrees outside. I did some research and came up with a few ideas I thought we could pull off in our living room.

I was able to score a brand new Star Wars movie off ebay for a fraction of retail. The kids played Mario Kart and snacked on popcorn, then we started the movie while they ate their dinner of cheeseburgers. Before they had a chance to get antsy watching the movie, I paused it to call all the young Jedis around me. I demonstrated their task: Using Eric's light saber that he made at Disney, they had to keep a balloon up in the air. If they could beat the clock, then I added a second balloon. While they each took a turn (one at a time to prevent them killing each other), I played the Star Wars soundtrack that I checked out from the library. They enjoyed the challenge before going back to the movie. A little while later, we paused the movie again, so that we could play another game: This time we released The Force (6 balloons) and all the balloons had to be kept off the ground. We were laughing so hard while diving for the balloons (Mike and I were right in there with them!)

The kids ate some ice cream and home-made cupcakes before returning to the movie. Mike couldn't help himself though.....he's such a kid at heart! He started "the light saber wars", using the flexible orange Hot Wheels track for the light saber. I think it was the boys favorite part of the evening! The three hours flew by, and before I knew it, their parents were here to pick them up. With all the games, only half of the movie was watched, but since they'd all seen it, it wasn't a bad thing!

Each boy went home with a little goodie bag of miniature Milky Ways, Starburst, a large bubble wand I found for a buck that looks like a light saber, plus a personalized Star Wars bookmark (this was supposed to be a craft for them to do, but they were having too much fun playing the games, so I put them together really quick and stuck them into their take-home bags.) I even threw in a Star Wars word search that I made on some educational website.

As I tucked Eric into bed that night, I asked him how he liked his party, thinking that maybe he thought it was lame. He turned to me with the most genuine smile on his face and declared it was "the best party ever, Mom! I want one just like it next year!" It was awesome to hear that the best party ever could be had right at home without spending a lot of money. Maybe one day we'll be able to treat our kids to something more elaborate, but at least for now it's nice that they're content with the tradition of a simple at-home party.

Hallmark Can't Beat This

When it comes to words of love, I don't think anything a Hallmark writer will ever put to paper can top what Paul wrote nearly 2,000 years ago.

Love is patient,
Love is kind.
It does not envy,
It does not boast,
It is not proud.
It is not rude,
It is not self-seeking,
It is not easily angered,
It keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
But rejoices with the truth.
It always protects,
Always trusts,
Always hopes,
Always perseveres.
Love never fails.


~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

By The Light Of The Moon

I've been wanting to take some full moon photos for several months, but it's been either overcast and you can't see the moon, the full moon happens on a night when we're not at home, or it's been sub-zero, and I'm afraid to take my camera outside for fear it's insides will freeze or condensation will form after going back into the house. Either that, I just plain forget and miss the boat.

But this week there was a full moon combined with mild temperatures, so I was able to take a few shots. Here's a "Right From The Camera" shot (although I did crop it since I only have a 300mm zoom):





I'm forever playing around with photos in Photoshop, partly to learn the program and also to make my photos look a little better. So here are a few moon shots that I took liberties with:

I think this is my favorite. The changes make the moon look like a marble in the sky.

How To Pray For My Husband

This was sent to me over the summer, and I found it in my drafts. Thought I'd finally share!

How To Pray For My Husband
Head To Toe!


His Head –That he will look to You as Lord of his life. (1 Corinthians 11:13)

His Mind - That he will have the mind of Christ and think as the Holy Spirit would lead him and not the flesh. (1 Corinthians 2:16)

His Eyes –That You will keep his eyes from temptation and that he will turn his eyes from sin. (Matthew 6:13, Mark 9:47)

His Ears - That he will hear Your still small voice instructing him. (1 Kings 19:12, Psalm 32:8)

His Mouth – That his words will be pleasing to You. (Proverbs 19:14)

His Neck –That he will humble himself before You and be strong, courageous, and careful to do everything written in Your Word so that he will be prosperous and successful. (James 4:10, Joshua 1:8-9)

His Heart-That he will love and trust You with his whole heart. (Deuteronomy 6;5, Proverbs 3:5)

His Arms-That You will be his strength. (Psalm 73:26)

His Hands-That he will enjoy the work of his hands and see it as a gift from You. (Ecclesiastes 3:13, 5:19)

His feet – That You will order his steps and that he will walk in Your truth. (Proverbs 4:25, Psalm 26:3)

The Dreaded School Projects

I hate school projects that Eric brings home. It's not that I resent being involved in my child's education. Quite the contrary, I'm very involved. I volunteer in his classroom, show up for parent-teacher conferences, occasionally e-mail his teacher, and I’m on him Every Single Day to do his homework. I care about how he does and want to see him succeed. I think he views me as his tormentor because of this.

Every day I make sure Eric completes his homework (which is no less than spelling and 20 minutes of reading, plus anything else that may come home); but what is most trying on the nerves is...... "homework drama". This is when my child falls onto the floor whining or stomps off to his room declaring that he just doesn’t want to do one more minute of school work. And who can blame him? He’s a second grader who has just spent nearly 7 hours at school and didn’t get a recess because it’s too cold (or wet or icy or snowing or raining) outside, and our brilliant school does not open up the gym to let these youngsters burn off pent up energy but instead has them play board games in their classroom, then sends them home to do more work.

So about 2 weeks ago Eric brought home a project assignment. Here’s an excerpt from the take-home page:

“We would like each student [yeah, right] to construct a dinosaur for the [display] case. Materials you can use: empty cans, cartons, containers, paper towel rolls, paint, markers, etc. The dinosaur should be able to stand alone.”

I think I would welcome these projects if I didn't already have a daily homework battle going on with my kid. These projects are like pouring salt on a festering wound. If I were an uninvolved parent I could be scoring some serious points with my kid by anteing up for the project, but since I'm already in his face about getting his homework done, these projects just add to our misery. I guess I'm one of those parents who think that daily homework for first and second graders is just not right. Add third grade to that as well. I suppose saying that makes me unpopular but so be it. It's the way I feel.

So back to the Dinosaur Project. Here's my observation about that: I just don’t have a child who can take a pile of crap and make a dinosaur out of it. No way. Since I know this truth about Eric, this led me to employ that old parental strategy of "picking my battles." Doing his reading and spelling will net him decent grades and get him promoted to third grade. This dinosaur will not hold him back one way or the other. Instead, I opted to borrow someone else's idea from a craft site and then let Eric choose between the options I found. So Mom found the idea, Eric whined while cutting out the teeth and mouth, and Dad spray painted it. We all did the project together without killing each other. WooHoo! That's the goal in our house, anyway.

~ Behold ~

A Milk Jug T-Rex

Happy Birthday Eric!

At 1:36 a.m. on February 3, 2001, Eric came into the world feet first (because he was ready to hit the ground running!), weighing in at 5 lbs. 3 oz. and 17 1/2" long. He was such a little peanut! How could I possibly know how much my life would change in that one instant?

Aprox. 2 weeks

Eric was such a happy, smiley baby!

1 Year Old!

The tupperware cabinet

Can't leave him alone for a minute!

2 Year Portrait

Autumn leaves me happy!
3 1/2 years old

Why a camera needs to be handy at all times.

What else are little boys supposed to look like after helping to make their birthday cake? 4 years old

4 1/2 years old

"Joseph" in his preschool Christmas Play

5 Year Portrait

Preschool Graduation Day!

6 1/2 Years Old

7 Years Old - Bowling Birthday Party

Mother's Day 2008

Summer 2008

Almost 8 years old

This Mint Brownie Thing

I always love when a new recipe turns out really tasty. I love it even better when I fly by the seat of my pants, improvise, and combine multiple recipes to create one new one and it turns out good!

And where else would I share such information, but here on my blog! Here goes:

Mint Brownie Dessert

1 box Pillsbury Fudge Brownie Mix (any brand fudge brownie mix would be fine; this just happens to be the one I used.)
Eggs, water and oil for the brownie mix per instructions
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 stick butter, softened
2 drops green food coloring
1 tbl milk
peppermint extract
6 oz chocolate chips
1/2 cup whipping cream


Bake brownie according to package directions in a 9x13 pan. Let cool.

Beat butter, food coloring, 1 tbl milk, extract (see note) and confectioners sugar in bowl till smooth.

(Note on peppermint extract: I added in 1-1/8 tsp, but mine is not exactly, uh, fresh from the store, if you know what I mean, so depending on the age of your extract, you might want to start with a 1/2 tsp and go from there. You don't want it to taste like toothpaste, so go easy with it.)

After mixing the peppermint frosting, spread over the cooled brownie. Next, place whipping cream in a saucepan with the chocolate chips, and melt over med-low heat, stirring constantly just till the chips are all melted and mixture is smooth. Allow to cool, stirring every once in a while (I sped up the process by putting it into the fridge.) Once it's cooled, spread it over the top of the green frosting and allow to set (again, I sped up the process by placing in the fridge. However, you'll need to pull it out of the fridge before serving so it's not cold.)

Now if you're trying to throw this together with what you have on hand and don't have whipping cream in the fridge and don't want to run to the store, you can opt to melt the chips in the microwave with a tbl of butter or shortening until all melted and smooth (about 1-1/2 minutes). Allow to cool a bit, then spread that on top of the peppermint frosting. However, this will harden more like a candy bar and will not be creamy like the picture shows. Either way, it'll taste good!

There's always the possibility that no one will care for these if you make them; however, I didn't experience that problem and this is what was left to bring home. :-) But that's OK. I love it when folks enjoy my experimentations!