Friday, March 22, 2013

Fly on the wall


Have you ever thought about what people might think if they saw what goes on behind-the-scenes at your house? Do you ever wonder what it would be like to catch a glimpse of someone else’s daily life? Here’s your chance. Today 13 bloggers are inviting you into their homes to be a fly on the wall.
 


Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

http://www.justalittlenutty.com/                              
http://followmehome.shellybean.com                      
http://stacysewsandschools.wordpress.com/             
http://sadderbutwiser.wordpress.com/                
http://menopausalmother.blogspot.com/                  
http://hypnoticbard.blogspot.com/                                   
http://mybrainonkids.net/                                                                       





A few nights ago husband and I were preparing the boys for bed. Boy2 was slurping on a go-gurt as a last minute snack. When it was his time to get PJs on I asked where the wrapper was. 
Me: "Where's the go-gurt wrapper?"
Boy2 brings hands to mouth and giggles
Me - scanning the room, sniffing the air, chuckling at his mischievousness: "I can smell it. Where is it?" 
Boy2 giggles more
Me: "Seriously kid, where is it?"
Husband: "Come on, tell us."
Boy2 has a major case of the giggles going on and points at husband sitting on the bed
Boy2: "Daddy is sitting on it." Uncontrollable giggles are escaping him. 
We all bust a gut laughing as husband stands up with a go-gurt wrapper stuck to his ass. 
Tip: freeze a tube and add it to a lunchbox. By lunch time they are unfrozen, but still chilled


The scene as "Ultimate Romantic Husband" walks into the kitchen...
URH: *belch*
URH: "Can I grab your boob?" 
This is real, people. I really got this lucky!

This is a short homework assignment Darling (15 y/o) did for school. The idea was to write a brief, but precise set of instructions on how to make or do something. She melts my heart at the end, it's the simple things :)
"Before when I was younger my mom would make me my favorite sandwich, peanut butter and jelly. She would start by gathering the materials. She pulls out creamy peanut butter, strawberry jelly, wheat bread, a knife and a plate. After this she would open the peanut butter and use the knife to swiftly scoop some out. Then she spread the peanut butter evenly throughout both pieces of bread. Next she would take out the jelly and spread it nicely on the peanut butter slices. After this is done she would put the two pieces together. She would then do my favorite part. My mom would cut from one corner of bread to the opposite corner making two triangles. Finally I would eat the sandwich. Now that I am older I make my own sandwiches I make them the exact same way as my mom except I leave out one part. I don’t cut them into triangles. I don’t have time to waste cutting the sandwich in half. Even if I did have enough time I wouldn’t make the triangles as great as my mom can do."


The gym is quite possibly the most embarrassing place for me. Here's just one of my episodes:
*During a lower body workout, we were working the crap out of our legs. After about 25 minutes of this, our instructor told us to do a tricky jump move. She showed us. Looked easy enough. Well, when you have weak wobbly legs... this move is not easy. I jumped and landed straight on my ass. As luck would have it, I was in the front row of class that night.

Boy3 walks up to me with the sweetest look on his face. I'm cooking lunch. I smile at him. He turns around, points his butt in my direction and blows me a toot. He giggles his little face off and runs away. Momma's smile removed. 


Naptime:


Me to Boy3: “Go lay back down”
Boy3: “No, you go lay down”
If only I could take demands from my 2 year old…


Boy1 says he can run in a circle for one hour. I accept his challenge and set the timer...
The running starts,
Shirt ripped off at 12 minutes,
Stopped at 23 minutes. He didn't make it an hour but I was still impressed.
Good job kiddo! 

And lastly I'll leave you with this thought....

Toys are constantly spread across the living floor. Some even find there way into the kitchen either on the floor, the counter or the table. A lot of days I can handle the "bless this mess" condition of my house. Other days I am so ready to be rid of matchbox cars, Legos, trains and toy remotes. 

When I have these frustrating moments I often remind myself that when the toys go away so do the little boys. I remind myself to enjoy this day, forget about the mess, because I'll never get these moments back. My little men will grow up in a blink of an eye. I will watch them graduate, move away and start their adult lives. I will think to myself how much I miss those little feet padding across the hardwood floor and the creative imaginations that explode out of them at playtime and the wonder in their eyes when they discover something new and exciting. 

For Darling, she's 15 already. The tears escape as I know she'll be leaving for college in 3 years. I already miss the little sassy version of herself. Her and I butt heads often, but our bond is incredible. She is a daughter anyone would be proud to have. She will do good things with her life. She already makes this world a better and brighter place. 





**I don't take credit for any of the photos. All photos were taken from Pinterest.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe





I have been making chocolate chip cookies from scratch since I was a kid.  I love them.  In fact, I make them so often that I'm pretty sure my 6 yr old could make them by herself by now...with the 4 yr old not too far behind.  I have tried many recipes but I've been stuck on one in particular for quite some time now.  It is perfect.  The cookies/bars are thick and soft, bursting with chocolate chips.  Just the way I love them.



My favorite recipe is not my own though.  I posted the above picture to our Facebook page but didn't include the recipe until a later post which included a fun little video revealing my favorite recipe...    


Friends: Pheobe's Secret Family Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I love Friends and loved that episode because, YES, I love the Nestle Toll House recipe too!  :)  The only revision I make is using 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup butter flavor Crisco.  I think it makes them thicker and butterier (is that a word?!?).  I also don't add the nuts because we have a nut sensitivity in my house.

Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened (I replaced with 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup margarine)
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
  • 1 cup chopped nuts (I omitted) 
Mix them up and bake for 8-10 minutes in oven heated to 375 degrees.  For cookie bars like shown above, pat into 9x13 pan (smaller for thicker bars, bigger for thinner ones) and bake for 18-20 minutes.
 
I do have a few tricks while preparing them but those will be my own family secret!  :)
 
And I do love getting creative so here are some Paw Print chocolate chip cookies I made for our veterinarian office when they helped us through the death of our cat, Sly.  Lots of love were used to make those. 
 
 
Feel free to share your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe - I'm always up for trying a new one...although the Nestle recipe is hard to beat in my humble opinion.  :)

Friday, March 15, 2013

I'm a FLY - Take 2 March Secret Subject Swap


I wanted to try something a little different, take a blog adventure and hopefully make some new blog friends. When I read about a secret subject swap at Baking in a Tornado I figured I'd give a try. 

The idea is a blogger submits a subject to "Baking in a Tornado" and in return the blogger gets a random subject submitted from another participant. I don't know who got mine, but I'm excited to find out. 

Please take a moment (after you read mine, of course) to check out the other participants: 

Welcome to Take Two of March’s Secret Subject Swap

www.BakingInATornado.com                                        
http://www.justalittlenutty.com/                                  
http://suburbiainterrupted.com                                   
http://mooreorganizedmayhem.blogspot.com/               
http://www.comeplayinthekitchen.com/                       

My subject: You are a fly on the wall in an 8th grade English class, what have you learned today?
It was submitted by: http://www.themommyref.blogspot.com/  

Here we go!!


I am a fly.

I'm gorgeous, I know!
I fly around all day annoying people. I fly insanely close to their faces and buzz wildly in their ears. I land on their food, eat it while taking a crap and then I fly away on a mission to ruin another picnic. This is my life. It’s a short one so I gotta take advantage. 

For a bit of a change, I flew into an English classroom at Lennon Middle School.  Why I flew through that open window, I’ll never know.  I mean, why didn’t I choose to fly into Adam Levine’s dressing room? *Wink wink*... know what I mean?

Go ahead... take a few minutes to enjoy the view

Anyway…

I scan the room and see sixteen 8th graders. I see girls twirling their hair and blowing bubbles with their bubble gum. I see boys strumming their fingers on their desk as they perform imaginary concerts in their heads. 

I see an exhausted and burnt-out teacher standing at the front of the room. I see no one paying attention to him. I couldn’t even tell you what he was blah, blah blahing about. I’m certain it was boring beyond belief. 

I did learn some very valuable information though. Are you ready? 

I learned Caycee babysat her 3 brothers and 1 sister last night for the 2nd time this week. Reason:  her parents went to a local casino (again).  Apparently this is the norm in their house. 

I learned Jake’s sister is pregnant. She’s 19. Their parents are still in their 30’s. Will this babies-having-babies cycle be broken with the new generation? I do hope so. 


I learned a bunch of kids were busted by the cops for drinking over the weekend. Samantha’s mom was out of town and she had a party. When the party was busted and Sam had to call her mom, she was comforted by her mother’s words. “It’s okay, honey. We’ll discuss this over ice cream when I return.” I think she deserves the Mother of the Year award, no? Because of the minor on their record, a lot of these kids are not qualified to get a driver’s license until they are 18. Who’s laughing now, kids? 

I learned a stairwell at one of the high schools is now equipped with video cameras because kids have been caught umm… how do I put this gently? Physically sharing their feelings with one another? Grooving with one another? You get it, right?

I learned… rrrrrriinnnnnnnnnngggggggg, rrrrriiiiiiiinnnnnnnggggggggggg. What the hell is that noise?? A bomb threat? 

That’s it! I’m outta here! 

I quickly flew out of the middle school window. I smelled pie in the air. Fresh baked apple pie! To the pie I flew. I entered the window of a small white cottage. Panicking "where is the pie? where is the pie?" I flew straight into a yawn. And that my friends, is why the old woman swallowed the fly.


These are actual events/conversations that have taken place at my daughter’s school. She is in 9th grade, but I figured that was close enough. 

This probably wasn’t the envision The Mommy Ref had for the post. I apologize for that. I probably would have made everyone dumber if I had posted what I really think 8th graders learn in English class. Bwahhhh!