But I Digress

Good Morning, Sunshine!

2012-01-10T17:30:00.003-06:00

I got a citrus juicer for Christmas. It's a Breville and it's awesome!

We had been thinking about getting one to reduce the amount of plastic bottles we downcycle. But when I read this article on Cracked.com about secrets in the food and beverage industry, and read what they do to "100% Natural Orange Juice", I decided it was a no-brainer. (And affirming our decision, this article came out today about fungicide in OJ. Yuck.)

Gross stuff in orange juice aside, there simply is no comparison between fresh-squeezed OJ and that junk you get in plastic at the grocery. Plus, there is something so relaxing and wholesome about cutting and squeezing oranges every morning. I highly recommend it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

It's So Pinteresting!

2011-08-23T09:01:00.000-05:00

Meet my new obsession: Pinterest.

Pinterest is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time, and it's one of those things that makes me ask myself, "Why didn't I think of that?"

From Pinterest:

"Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes."

It's a virtual bulletin board filled with everything you see online that you love.

Bloghopping and come across an interesting blog on how to get your kid to bed before 11 p.m.? Pin it on your Parenting board. Find a photo of really cool kitchen re-do? Pin it on your Kitchens board. Come across a fabulous recipe for a Mojito? Pin it on your I Really Need A Drink board.

The really cool thing about Pinterest is that you can browse other people's boards and get inspiration from them. As with blogging, where I always think other people's blogs are much more interesting and fabulous than mine, I also think other people's Pinterest boards are much more inspiring than mine. It's ok, I just re-pin their pins and, POOF!, now I'm inspiring, too.

It can be a little overwhelming at first but don't be intimidated. If you hang in there and figure it out, you'll love it. And it's a great excuse to put off tackling the mountain of laundry...like I needed one more excuse.

Happy Pinning!

Texts My Kids Send Me

2011-07-30T21:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, my husband and I were out and had left one of the older boys in charge of the younger two. I received this text from Thing 3:

Can you please send me a text to show Thing 4 that tells her to stop singing?

Refusing to feed into the sibling bickering, I used one of my favorite parenting tools, ignore. About a minute later, I received this text from Thing 4:

No one can stop my gift of sound!

And believe me, she means it.

(P.S. I feel compelled to point out that my 9 year old does not have a cell phone. She was texting via TextFree from my iPad. It's a pretty cool app.)

Nosy Rosy

2011-07-27T17:37:00.003-05:00

Thing 4 and I are lying on my bed watching the news. She said, "I love the news. It's perfect for me. You know why? 'Cuz I'm nosy."

Like mother like daughter.

P.S. The BlogPress iPad app is pretty cool!
P.P.S. The iPad camera stinks.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Cheap Thrills

2011-07-21T00:21:00.010-05:00

Here's what we do for fun in the middle of a record setting heatwave on a brutally hot summer day in Oklahoma.

That's right. We stand out in the heat at 3 in the afternoon, when the temperature is so high that roads are buckling, and we watch the demolition of the local McDonald's. That's just how exciting my life is. Don't be a hater.

Sweating like my husband does when I declare, "I have an idea", we stood outside for an hour and a half, along with a bunch of other crazy, bored Okies, and cheered every time a big piece of the building went down.

As the bulldozer got closer to the Playland, we moved around the building and positioned ourselves in just the right spot to witness the destruction of that great monument to flu germs, Group A Strep and God knows how many different strains of fecal bacteria. Look at all that glass. We knew it was going to be so cool to watch (and hear) that thing go down.

We waited with bated (yes, bated...not baited) breath. You could almost cut the anticipation with a knife...or a blow torch. And then...the darn bulldozer stopped! Are you kidding me? No, they weren't. They told us to come back the next day at noon to see it torn down.

"Well forget it," I said to myself. "We are not about to come back out here tomorrow and stand around in this heat just to see that."

Only we did. And this time we brought friends. I'm pathetic. And I had another 5 pounds I needed to sweat off.

What?!? It's not like there are a lot of other options for summer fun here, people!

So we got there at noon...and we waited. We waited while they re-fueled the bulldozer or backhoe or whatever that thing is. We waited while they cleaned the filters. We waited a long time. Let's just say that they did not start at anything resembling noon.

At one point I had a conversation with one of the kids (and I don't know which one, as they are together so much that they are pretty much interchangeable at this point) that went something like this.

Random Kid: Can we puh-lease go?

Me: No. We can't. We have sat out here this long in this ridiculous heat. We're not leaving until the building comes down.

Random Kid: Pleeeease? It's sooo hot!

Me: No. I didn't make any of you come. I asked if you wanted to and you said yes.

Random Kid: But if we had known it would be this hot out here and take this long, we wouldn't have come.

Me: I'm sorry. We are here and we're staying until they knock it down.

Random Kid: Come on! Even LDub is ready to go.

I have no idea why "even LDub" being ready to leave was supposed to be convincing. I guess LDub has a pretty low threshold for things that excite him. Maybe he's easy to entertain. My kind of kid!

Me: Ok, let's wait five more minutes. If they haven't started by then, we'll leave.

And then they started!

I wish I had a recording of the squeals from the kids when that first pane of glass broke.

And it was gone. Given the amount of time I spent trying to ply my kids out of the tunnels, combined with the knowledge that so many Wet Ones gave their lives over the years thanks to the Playplace, I should have felt a twinge of sadness or something. But really, all I felt was dehydrated.

As I was writing this blog, Thing 2 (16 years old now) walked up to me, looked at one of the pictures and said, "Yeah. That whole trip yesterday? Totally not worth it." Which pretty much sums up my feelings about the whole ordeal.

UPDATE: Tim and Patti Rich, the owners of this McDonald's, are truly wonderful people. Read these articles about what they are doing for their employees during the time the store is being rebuilt.

Tim and Patti Rich
Tim and Patti Rich Again

Maybe I'm Not So Weird

2011-07-02T16:54:00.001-05:00

We went on vacation last week. It was our annual trip to Schiltterbahn, the coolest water park ever. But that's another post.

Anyway, I'm a bit of germaphobe. Ok, I'm a lot of a germaphobe, and my condition gets worse the older I get. My germaphobia rises to a whole new level of crazy when we step foot in a hotel because hotels, even the nice ones, just gross me out.

I take a container of Lysol wipes with me when we travel. Before anyone can touch anything (and after checking the beds for bed bugs), I wipe down everything. I sanitize the light switches, the tv remote, the toilet seat, the telephone, all the door handles, the thermostat, the desk, the faucets and the bathroom counters. If I could, I'd steam clean the carpet before my family came in the room, but that's just not practical. I do however, make everyone wear shoes and I don't like for anything to touch the carpet, the bedspreads (which they never clean) or the blankets (which they don't change after every guest). And I cover the sofa with towels or an extra sheet.

If anyone puts so much as a bare toe on the floor, my head spins and I shout, "PUT YOUR SHOES ON! DO YOU KNOW HOW GROSS HOTEL CARPET IS?" The kids usually comply pretty quickly because they know that Bare Feet + Hotel Carpet = Crazy Mom.

My older boys are growing up and getting bold, though. It's obvious that they no longer fear my germaphobic wrath. On this trip, they thought it would be funny to make fun of me. They blatantly, and with total disregard for my mental health, flaunted my hotel rules. They walked on the carpet with no shoes on and then refused to wash their feet before they got in bed for the night. They tossed pillows and clothes on the floor and then used them. They sat on the carpet. They laid on the bedspreads and used the hotel blankets. They even put their toothbrushes directly on the bathroom counter instead of on the towel I had thoughtfully placed as a barrier between their toothbrushes and any lingering germs the Lysol wipe had missed.

And it didn't stop there. They were relentless. Everywhere we went, they ridiculed me. At the putt-putt course, "Hey Mom, did you sanitize these clubs?" At the restaurant, "Hey Mom, did you wipe down the ketchup bottle?" (No, but I did use hand sanitizer after I poured my ketchup.) Pool side, "Hey Mom, did you use wipes on that chair?" Whenever I pulled out my room key, "Hey Mom, has that key been sanitized?" And then, to add insult to injury, they suggested that my Lysol wipe habit might make me a great candidate for "My Strange Addiction".

Call me a freak, but as it turns out, this article proves that my obsession is completely justified. Hotels are gross!

My kids still think I'm weird, but at least I'm not germy.

As it turns out, I'm an Innovation Mom!

2011-06-08T22:43:00.000-05:00

Whew! All this time I thought I was just a slacker mom.

I triple love this article: Rebellion of an Innovation Mom. I wish I had written it.

I Love These Boys...

2011-05-19T00:10:00.000-05:00

They humored me and went to the Phibrook with me on Mother's Day. While I was looking at art, they were drooling over expensive cars in the parking lot. What are you gonna do?

Girls are so very different...

2011-04-19T23:51:00.007-05:00

Different from boys, anyway. I was a mom to boys for a long time before I had a girl. I can't count the ways my girl is so different from my boys. For example, you will never see one of my boys doing this:

Must socialize.

Thing 4 On Heaven (Again)

2011-04-17T20:51:00.001-05:00

"When I go to Heaven, I'll sleep on a bed of clouds. And when I ring a bell, a little robot will come and bring me Dippin' Dots. And there are no cavities."

It's the little things in life...

2011-03-02T23:36:00.005-06:00

In our quest for clean food, we have become really attached to the Tulsa Clean Food Market. We've been in a rut for the last few months, buying mostly eggs and a little butter.

Last week, I decided to try something new and bought some organic, whole wheat flour from the market. I'm not sure if I'm more in love with the way John's Farm raises their wheat and produces their flour or the way they package it.

I'm definitely going to find a way to re-purpose that cool cloth flour sack.

So we got a little snow yesterday...

2011-02-02T11:35:00.008-06:00

And by "a little", I mean 21 inches...in Oklahoma.

We knew it was coming. We knew it was going to be bad. For days, I was getting emergency texts from the National Weather Service telling me to stock up on food, water and medication. Forecasters talked of a "storm of historic proportions." And, as it turns out, they weren't kidding.

Like any good American, I heeded the call to panic and made not one, not two but three trips to the store to buy things I never buy except when it snows. Because if I'm trapped in my house and we die here, I don't want my kids to never have tasted Dad's Blue Cream Soda.

I don't know what came over me as I prepared for this storm. I stockpiled four times as much food as I normally do. Not only that, but something in me made me think that a "storm of historic proportions" would make me want to cook. I got out my Pioneer Woman cookbook and found several recipes that looked like they'd be great to have if we were snowed in for days. Sherried Tomato Soup, Chicken Spaghetti, (homemade) Macaroni and Cheese and Flat Apple Pie. I didn't stop with the Pioneer Woman. I surfed The Food Network for a while and found recipes for Chicken Noodle Soup, paninis and homemade bread.

Then yesterday it hit me. "Darn! I have to cook all this food I bought". What was I thinking?

Thing 4 and I attempted the Flat Apple Pie yesterday, and I gotta say that I wasn't impressed. The PW's "Perfect Pie Crust" is not so perfect. I think the problem was that we were making it my adequate suburban kitchen, not in my fabulous kitchen in the fabulous lodge on our fabulous ranch. But I'm not bitter.

Today we made the PW's Sherried Tomato Soup (minus the sherry). Wow! It was slap-your-mama good. It was the best tomato soup I've ever eaten, hands down.

Tonight we made her Chicken Spaghetti. It was also excellent. Next time I'll add a little more red pepper.

All I've done for two days is cook and wash dishes (and shovel snow...lots of snow), and frankly, I'm tired. Next time it snows we're having Kraft Mac and Cheese and frozen pizzas (and Dad's Red Cream Soda).

A day in the life of a little sister...

2011-01-11T13:36:00.009-06:00

An excerpt from Thing 4's journal...

1/11/2010
"Yesterday it snowed. Me and my brother went out in the snow to play. I made a huge snowball but I ended up letting him throw it at me."

Are you kidding me?

2011-01-06T22:33:00.009-06:00

My sweet little girl loves to read. She also loves dogs. She really loves to read books about dogs. So this year, Santa brought her this book:

Is not that the sweetest dog on the cover of that book? It looks like the perfect book for a little girl who loves dogs, doesn't it? Of course Santa would get it for her. Santa knew my sweet little girl would love that book about that sweet little puppy named Kitty.

And she did love that book...until last night. As I was walking past her room, I heard, "Mmmom." I stuck my head in and said in my sweetest, most understanding mommy voice said, "You should be sleeping!! Why are you still awake at this hour? You have to stop going to bed so late. I'm getting really tired of this."

And then she said, "Kitty died."

What the H? Kitty died?

"What do you mean 'Kitty died'?"

She said, through sobs, "Kitty died and I'm really sad about it. I really liked Kitty."

Seriously? How could an author who writes books for children in grades 3-5 kill off the dog? And Kitty didn't "just die". No, Kitty, who had previously been left to starve but was nursed back to health by a boy who was afraid of dogs because he had been attacked by a pack of rabid dogs...so now my sweet girl is really attached to him, didn't just die. Kitty died in a horribly tragic accident. He didn't die of old age or of illness. He didn't get hit by a car, which would have been tragic enough. No, you know how Kitty died? He was squashed flat when a truck load of pipes was dumped on him. The dog was crushed by pipes.

Really? Really.

Trying to hide my horror, but not doing a very good job of it, I said, "Oh my goodness! Why would the author do that? Well, I'm sure it has a happy ending."

Then she said, with more than a hint of sarcasm, "Happy ending? How can there be a happy ending? Is the dog going to come back to life?"

And then my sweet little girl said through more tears, "Why would Santa bring me such a sad book? I can't believe he wouldn't know that book would make me sad. Why would he do that?"

Why would Santa do that? I'll tell you why. Normally Santa researches everything ~~she~~ he buys before he buys it. Santa reads reviews on Amazon for every book and toy he gives to all the precious little children of the world. This year, however, Santa made an unplanned stop at Barnes and Noble one night and left his smartphone in the sleigh so he couldn't use his handy Amazon app to research the book before he bought it. By the time Christmas eve rolled around, Santa was so busy delivering gifts that he forgot he hadn't researched this book. Had Santa researched this sweet-looking little book, he would have learned from the reviews titled, "Don't Buy This Book If You Have A Sensitive Child!" that this was not the book to buy for a sensitive child (who loves dogs). Santa, I'm certain, feels just horrible about this mistake. I'm sure it will never happen again.

But at least Santa is taking the heat for this one. My girls knows her mother would never be so insensitive.

Have I Mentioned That Big Brothers Are Cool?

2010-12-20T01:13:00.007-06:00

This weekend, we went to my mom's in AR.Thing 1 gave Thing 2 his first driving lesson. 40 acres and Grandaddy's pickup truck make for a great first lesson.

Explaining what those pedals do:

Funny kid in the passenger seat:

And...they're off!

I love those boys.

Big Brothers Are So Cool

2010-12-05T19:21:00.009-06:00

As I've mentioned, I always wanted a big brother. My lucky little girl has three of them. She loves them all, most of the time anyway...but she really looks up to her biggest brother. He's a pretty busy kiddo with school and and a job, but when she shows interest in his car, he finds time for her.

He's a wonderful and very patient teacher.

But nobody, and I mean nobody, messes with his tools.

Well, almost nobody.

Deviled Eggs

2010-12-02T15:51:00.004-06:00

My little girl loves to cook. Letting her be independent in the kitchen is a challenge for me because a) I'm a bit of a control freak and b) I don't like messes. But I didn't have children to make my life easy, so I let her do it.

She gets such a kick out of making something herself. Last weekend, she made ~~deviled~~ devled eggs and garnished them with parsley we grew in our herb garden. She was so proud of them that she asked me to take a picture and "put it on your blog". So here it is.

Car Give-Away #2

2010-11-03T23:47:00.003-05:00

My son told me tonight that his school is giving away another car this year. (You may or may not recall my post about last year's give-away).

My son, who is usually very competitive and wants to win everything and will compete to win a McDonald's gift certificate, was so unimpressed with this attendance contest that he couldn't even give me the details. He had no idea how many days he could miss and still be eligible to have his name entered in the drawing or what kind of car was being given away. The word apathetic comes to mind, yet is sadly inadequate in this instance.

I am at a loss for words. Anyone who knows me will tell you how rare that is.

The Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-25T13:14:00.004-05:00

Every year, our family heads to the Pumpkin Patch at our church to pick out some pumpkins and take a few pictures. This year, the older boys were a tad reluctant to pose for pictures. Actually, they flat out refused. Really, who could blame them since they have each been photographed more times than Britney Spears and Oprah combined? We worked it out, though, (my kids are so sweet) and I got some cute shots.

Picking the perfect pumpkin:

Some pumpkins are more excited about being perfect than others.

I think I'll keep him, though.

Thing 4, always one to notice the tiniest details, spent a lot of time admiring this little ladybug.

With teen boys around, it's difficult to get a serious shot. One or the other of them is always goofing around. Such is the nature of teen boys...or maybe just all boys. It's just one of many things I love about having boys in the house.

The big boys even tried their hands at a little photo bombing.

I used to color coordinate everyone's outfits before these photo ops. Now I'm just happy to get them all in the same picture without having to do some serious Photoshopping.

Happy Fall, Y'all!

My Sweet Second Child

2010-09-21T23:21:00.004-05:00

I realized the other day that I rarely post anything about my second-born kiddo...mostly because he doesn't want me to. However, since I'm the mom, I'll do it anyway.

I love this boy because he is unconventional, non-conformist, strong-willed, determined, ornery, opinionated (to understate), clever (like a fox), loyal and affectionate.

He also happens to be an amazing debater and a very talented horn player.

I am one lucky mom!

The Big Move

2010-08-29T22:12:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is the day we move our oldest to his new home away from home. He heads to college, or more accurately, tech school, tomorrow. I have mixed feelings. He is more than ready He has always been a very mature, independent child. "He's an old soul" or "An old man in a child's body"...that's what people have always said about him. But you know what? He's still my first baby and it's hard to let him go. He will be fine. Me? I'm not so sure.

Buy Fresh, Buy Local

2010-07-31T14:08:00.006-05:00

We ran to the Cherry Street Farmer's Market this morning to pick up, among other things, tomatoes to make some tomato sauce to store for the winter.

I love the whole market experience, and the idea of supporting local farmers. As I've said before, it's good for the local economy, good for the environment and great for my family.

And there's just no substitute for walking up to the stand, as I did this morning, and hearing the person who grew the food I'm going to feed my family say, "Hi, Melanie! How are you doing?"

Do you know your farmer?

Garage Sales

2010-07-16T23:49:00.008-05:00

My good friend and I are having a garage sale this weekend. Having a garage sale is a lot like giving birth in the sense that while I'm in the middle of the garage sale, I hate it. Sometimes I swear at my garage sale partner and at some point I always declare, "This was a terrible idea! This is all your fault! What was I thinking? I'm never having another garage sale! From now on, I'm hauling all this crap to the Goodwill!" But sometime after the garage sale ends, the pain of it all is miraculously erased from my memory and several months down the road, I call my friend and say, "You know, we should have another garage sale."

What is it with garage sale people? They drive me crazy. It doesn't matter what I have on an item, no one wants to pay what I'm asking. I really think I could have an original Van Gogh marked at 50 cents and some moron, knowing full well that it was an original Van Gogh, would ask if I'd take a quarter.

Take this doofus who stopped by today. He rode up on his very expensive Harley, so it's not like he didn't have some money somewhere. He walked up to some drum hardware my husband was selling. The pieces were marked $10 each. After looking at for a bit, he asked, "What are these things?" I said, "Some kind of drum hardware. I don't know what exactly." He said, "I'll give you $10 for both." What the heck? He didn't even know what they were, but he wanted me to cut the price in half? Next, he wanted me to sell him a guitar that was marked at $10 for $5. Seriously? A guitar for $5? He just kept walking around the garage saying, "Make me a deal on something." I'll make you a deal. You hop on that Harley and ride on out of here and I won't shove that $10 guitar...

But I digress...

I just don't get these people. Is it a game or can they really not pay $1 for a "like new" shirt from Abercrombie? Honestly, I want to say, "Really? You can pay 25 cents for that lovely, decades old, crystal vase that used to belong to my grandmother, but you can't pay 50 cents?"

I just don't understand Pass the epidural, please.

Of lawnmowers and big brothers...

2010-07-14T00:14:00.008-05:00

There was a little boy who was learning to mow lawns. He could hardly wait for the grass to come up that spring; it was to be his first time to cut it all by himself. He made his own lawn look wonderful, then looked across the fence at the tall grass there. The neighbor noticed the little boy’s yearning eyes. He walked to the fence and said, “Would you like to mow my lawn?” “Oh, yes!’’ said the boy. “How about three dollars?” the man asked. The boy turned and walked away with his head down. The man was puzzled: “What’s wrong?” he asked. The little boy replied, “I have only two dollars.” - Unknown

Learning to mow the lawn is a really big deal, especially when you've watched your two big brothers mow the lawn for several years. So it was with much excitement that Cole showed me his new skill.

As his big brother said when he saw this picture, "Now that's some serious concentration."

Blackberry Picking!

2010-07-08T10:30:00.015-05:00

This morning, we made our annual trip to the Owasso Tree and Berry Farm. With Scott at work, Spencer in New York City and David still in bed, Cole sadly noted that "Our picking group gets smaller every year." Don't remind me...

But we had fun, anyway...

Some of the berries were huge this year!

I'm always amazed at kids' abilities to notice things that the adult eye would never see. The kids spotted a baby bunny, who was too quick for me to photograph, and Anna Claire saw this little earth worm who was enjoying the fresh mud, thanks to last night's rain. Even if I had noticed him, I would have walked on by. Kids, however, love to experience nature.

She moved him to safety, off the path, and we were on our way.

Now what to do with all those berries?

It's Market Time Again!

2010-04-24T18:03:00.011-05:00

This morning we made our first trip of the season to the Cherry Street Farmers Market.

We slept late and consequently missed the good stuff that we wanted. We did manage to score some excellent raspberry croissants from Artisan Bakery.

We were also able to get some eggs.

That's our "egg man", Mr. Downing. As Mrs. Downing's t-shirt said, "I know my farmer, do you?"

Hello Spring!

2010-04-01T09:45:00.008-05:00

The Story Of Bottled Water

2010-03-23T14:01:00.002-05:00

Here's a really great video that reminded me why I spent so much on my Sigg water bottles. I have gotten away from using them like I should. I have about three more bottles of Target brand bottled water and then it's back to the Siggs.

The statistics quoted here are shocking. (For example, the oil and energy used every year to create all the plastic water bottles used in the US could fuel a million cars. 1,000,000 cars!)

Please take the time to watch this video, and then, if you don't have one, go get yourself a reusable water bottle.

Education Is Broken

2010-03-21T16:31:00.010-05:00

Yesterday, I came across this short video by Sir Ken Robinson. Sir Robinson has written and spoken extensively on the problems with education. This video really resonates with me, partly because I now homeschool our youngest two children due to many of the concerns Sir Robinson raises in this video. In under four minutes, he explains what I have been trying to express for 9 months. However, he does it much more eloquently and succinctly, and he does it with a beautiful British accent that I am lacking.

I can also relate to this video because I have had many conversations over the past few months with my older boys about their educational experience. Being the independent thinkers they are, they are very frustrated by the "conform and standardize" nature of their education. There is too much of what they call "pointless learning" and not enough creativity and critical thinking.

As always, I feel compelled to point out that my children have had and currently have some really fabulous, incredibly creative teachers. Based on conversations I've had with many of those teachers, I know that they are as frustrated as I am with the way things are in education.

Have I mentioned that I am grateful for fabulous teachers?

It's The Little Things In Life

2010-03-12T07:49:00.005-06:00

For quite a while, I've been using Method Laundry detergent. Method makes great green cleaning products. I love Method laundry detergent, but I don't love the big bottle it comes in. It takes up too much space and it's difficult to pour the detergent into that little cup, especially when the bottle is full. It's really a challenge for my kiddos to get the detergent into the cup and not all over the counter. I was so excited to see their new packaging.

Not only is the bottle much smaller than the original bottle but it's a pump! Four squirts into the detergent dispenser and you're good to go. No spills!

The package is made from 50% recycled plastic and is easily recycled. Method laundry detergent is plant-based and it's safe for the environment.

Go here for a coupon for $2 off!

The Gift Of An Ordinary Day

2010-03-03T22:08:00.003-06:00

My friend, Jennifer, posted this video on her blog. It moved me to tears. Ok, in reality, it's not really that difficult to move me to tears. To quote my favorite aunt, "I cry at supermarket openings." Even so, this video really tugged at my heart and made me cry big 'ol ugly tears.

I suspect that I cried more than I would have a year ago because, as hard as I try to put May out of my mind, I am barreling toward my oldest child's high school graduation at a speed that makes my head spin.

Looking back over the almost 18 years of Spencer's life thus far, I realize how rarely I appreciated the gift of an ordinary day. There were so many long days and nights, and life got crazy with two, three and then four children.

Many days I felt like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. Every day seemed to be the same. There were mornings when I thought, "If I have to make another peanut butter and honey sandwich, I'm going to pull my hair out." I haven't made Spencer's lunch in three years.

I used trip over Lego creations and Hotwheels when I tucked him into bed at night. I no longer tuck him in, and when I go to tell him goodnight, I step over work uniforms and Monty Python t-shirts.

Wasn't it just yesterday that he was singing along with Raffi and Joe Scruggs cassette tapes? Now, his iPod is loaded with Velvet Revolver, Nickelback and bands I've never heard of.

There were nights when I was sure I'd be rocking him to sleep until he was in college. These days, I'm asleep well before his light is out every night.

How many times was I told by more experienced parents, "Enjoy it. They grow up too fast."? I understood that. I believed it, yet I lived like those stages would last forever. They don't.

Fortunately for me, we have three other children, so I have many more ordinary days to treasure with them.

Tonight, when I tuck in our daughter, I will not complain about her messy room. No, I will simply appreciate the gift of an ordinary day.

It's A Snow Day!

2010-01-29T16:28:00.004-06:00

You're never too old to play in the snow.

My New Toy

2010-01-29T14:36:00.007-06:00

I got this gift from my sweet, sweet husband.

It's a Canon 7D! I'm thrilled! I can't wait to try the fixed focus lens. By the way, I requested the "Dummies" book. He does not think I'm a Dummy. I just hate manuals.

I love photography and would really like to become a more serious amateur, if that makes sense. I've found what looks to be a good photography class that I hope to take in February so I can get my camera off "auto".

Here is one of the first pictures I took with my new toy.

Isn't it funny how he is perched there playing his video game? He sits like that all the time. It kills my knees just looking at him. I love that boy.

Places I've Visited

2010-01-20T08:40:00.003-06:00

I came across this site on another blog. It's kind of a fun way to kill some time.

visited 38 states (76%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

I owe my parents a big old "thank you" for taking us on all those road trips in the Winnebago when I was a kid. Too bad we never made it all the way to the west coast.

UMCOR - Relief for Haiti

2010-01-16T07:16:00.003-06:00

There are many reasons I love my church, The United Methodist Church, not the least of which is UMCOR...United Methodist Committee On Relief. Among other things, UMCOR provides emergency response in times of disaster. UMCOR has a "first in, last out" policy. UMCOR volunteers are among the first to respond to an emergency and the last to leave.

If you are looking for place to donate money to Haitian Relief Efforts, I can think of no better organization than UMCOR. 100% of your donation goes directly to relief efforts. The United Methodist Church picks up all administrative costs. Few charities can make that claim. You can read about UMCOR's guiding values here.

Whether you donate through UMCOR, the Red Cross or some other reputable charity, I hope you will consider giving something to Haitian Relief Efforts. They need so much help.

UPDATE: Here is a direct link where you can donate to Haitian Relief Efforts via UMCOR.

Go To School, Win A Car!

2010-01-15T07:41:00.007-06:00

So this morning, my older boys shared with me our public high school's latest attempt to get kids to come to school. If they miss less than three class periods between now and the end of the year, they get entered in a drawing to win a car.

A car.

There is so much wrong with that idea that I don't even know where to start.

It's no surprise, really. Over the last ten years, I have seen the rapid growth of the use of bribery as a tool to get school kids to comply and it disturbs me. It started out with our oldest getting a sticker for turning in his homework. That's pretty innocuous. Before long, he was getting candy for returning a signed form...having parties for reading books. It escalated every year. Such is the nature of rewards. They become ineffective and you have to up the ante. By the time our youngest children got in school, the schools were rewarding kids for doing something as simple as walking from the bathroom to the classroom without talking. Before we pulled our youngest two out to Otherwise Educate them, it had gotten so bad that they were expecting something for every little thing they did. Gone was the intrinsic reward of turning in money they found in the hallway. They wanted a reward for that. Help a teacher pick up trash off the classroom floor without being asked? You'd better be sure to acknowledge him at the next school assembly. Every couple of years, there was some new reward system because the one they used the year before didn't work any longer.

The reward mess was spilling over into our home. I can't count the number of times our daughter, when asked to do some simple household task like empty the dishwasher, would respond, "What do I get for it?" This from a child raised by parents who don't use rewards as a parenting tool.

But back to the High School. While I don't know the specifics, I know that some how public school funding is tied to student attendance. That's one problem. I have never understood why schools are funded or fined based on things over which they really have no control. However, this is the system in which they have to work. Given that, I understand that they have to find ways to keep kids in school.

Here is a tip: Bribery will not work in the long term. Kids will not come to school simply because the school is dangling a bigger, better carrot. The kids from families like ours where school attendance is not optional will come to school. The kids from families whose parents are not involved and allow school attendance to be optional will miss school.

Why not start with the kids? How about asking them, "What can we do to make school more appealing? Why do you not like to come to school? What could we do to make you want to come to school?" This morning, I asked my boys (who were less-than-impressed with the latest carrot being dangled) those questions. In less than five minutes, they gave me lots of ideas. "They could give us more choices in the kinds of classes we take. They could hire more teachers who really care about us and aren't there just to get a check. They could give us more interesting work and not make us just sit and do busy work for an hour at a time."

Notice that they didn't mention one material thing. They don't want physical rewards for coming to school. They just want to feel like they are not wasting their time.

The best teachers already know this. One of our sons has an awesome teacher who hosts an after-school game club. The teacher gets nothing for this. He does it because he truly likes spending time with "his" kids. Every time the club meets, his room is filled with teenagers playing board games. The kids, who come on their own time when they could be home playing video games, get no material reward for coming to these meetings, either. They simply get to spend time with friends and an adult who "gets them".

Yes, the best teachers understand that if they engage kids, meet them where they are, show them that they really care about them, and treat them with respect for the individuals they are, the kids will respond. That's the ticket.

Something has to change in our schools. Giving away a car is not the answer.

Heaven

2010-01-14T23:40:00.003-06:00

Today, my daughter and I were having a discussion about Heaven. She was concerned that when she dies, she won't be able to take her favorite stuffed animal. If you saw this thing, you'd be worried that it would be allowed into Heaven. It is so disgusting that a few years ago, one of the boys referred to him as "Yucky Bear" and it stuck. Now we just all refer to him as "Yucky". I should take a photo and post it here but I'm afraid someone would turn me into DHS for child neglect.

So anyway...

She asked if she could have Yucky in Heaven. Not having the time or energy to get into a deep, theological discussion with her at that moment, I just said, "Well, I think that whatever we need to be happy for eternity will be in Heaven." Without missing a beat she said, "Well, I need a mall to be happy, so I hope God has one of those up there."

She is just 7, and she probably goes to the mall no more than three times a year, at the absolute most. What am I going to do with her?

Tomato Basil Soup!

2010-01-12T00:13:00.003-06:00

If you've read my blog for a while, you know that we get awesome, organically grown veggies every Saturday from our CSA at the Cherry Street Market. Last summer I froze a short ton of tomatoes to use until market time comes around again...because once you've cooked with fresh, organically grown tomatoes, there is no going back. I also took advantage of my own bumper crop of basil and froze quite a bit of that, too. (It's super easy. You just blend the basil with some olive oil and freeze in ice cube trays. When you pop those frozen cubes out of a freezer bag, it smells just like fresh basil!)

So tonight I made the best (but not the lowest calorie) tomato basil soup using this recipe. I substituted one of my frozen basil cubes for the fresh basil because the fresh basil I bought to use had molded by the time I got around to making this soup.

Try this recipe. It's yummy!

Santa

2009-12-30T00:23:00.007-06:00

We still have two "believers" in our family. Well, they're mostly believers. They are in the doubting stage. They want to believe, but they're smart enough to know that the whole Santa gig is pretty darn impractical.

Thing 4's best friend spilled the beans this year and told her that we are Santa and that we are responsible for giving her all those gifts all these years. She was pretty upset, but talked herself into believing that her friend had just lost the Christmas Spirit. Still, the hint of doubt has lingered. So, on Christmas Eve, she said to me, "Mom, I need you to tell me the truth. Are you Santa?" What else could I do? I looked her right in the eyes and I lied through my teeth. I said, "Of course I'm not Santa!" It was Christmas Eve! I couldn't ruin that for her. Besides, like my friend once said when trying to justify telling the same lie to her children, "I've lied to them about Santa for all these years. Why would I stop now?"

Honestly, if I had it to do over again, I'm not so sure I would do the whole Santa thing the same way. It's fun and magical, but there's always that guilt that one day they'll find out and they'll be sad. And besides, the pressure of it all gets to me sometimes. There have been years when I've almost come clean just so I didn't have to play the game anymore. Bah Humbug.

I know families who "do" Santa, but the kids know from the start that he is make believe...like Mickey Mouse or Cinderella. The kids in those families seem to enjoy Christmas all the same.

But we're 17 years into this and I figure we have only a year or two left. We'll continue to play along.

Here is a bed that Thing 4 made for Santa to rest on while he was at our house. So sweet.

Tulsa Clean Food Market...Again!

2009-12-27T00:32:00.002-06:00

Back in October, I wrote a post about the Tulsa Clean Food Market. We are enjoying the market so much that I felt compelled to give the Downings another plug. We feel very fortunate to have this off-season market available to us. We try to "buy local" as often as we can. The off-season market makes it so much easier. I place my order online and then ~~pick up our food~~ sleep in on Saturday mornings while my sweet hubby goes and picks up our food.

Since my original post, they have added new vendors to the market. Now, in addition to the wonderful eggs, meat and other foods the Downing Family Farm produces, you can get baked goods, butter, several different types of meat, all-natural laundry soap and many other terrific items.

We can't do without the farm fresh eggs we get at the market. There is absolutely no comparison between these eggs and factory farm eggs. Once you've had these eggs, there is no going back. One time I planned poorly and ran out of fresh eggs. I tried to sneak some grocery store eggs past my children but they weren't fooled. It says a lot about an egg when your 10 year old can tell the difference.

Next on our list of market favorites would be the sinfully good croissants from Artisan Bakers. They are huge and truly melt in your mouth. I'm sure they're low fat and low calorie as well, so don't worry about that. As soon as Scott gets home with our food every other Saturday, I drag myself out of bed and have a raspberry croissant with a cup of coffee. It's heaven.

Do yourself (and the Earth) a favor and check out the Tulsa Clean Food Market. You won't be disappointed.

Ebay App For iPhone

2009-12-16T08:00:00.004-06:00

I LOVE the Ebay App for my iPhone! It's great whether you buy or sell on Ebay. (I do both.)

The best feature is that it will text you about 15 minutes before an item you're watching is going to end. I am forever watching an item and then letting it end before I bid on it. Not anymore!

If you're an Ebayer and you have an iPhone, check out the link for a complete description of the app.

The Backlash Against Overparenting

2009-12-14T16:35:00.007-06:00

I enjoyed this article that my sister recently sent me about the "Simplicity Parenting" movement. While I would never put a 9 year old on the subway, I can identify with the movement. For the most part, it's the way my husband and I parent. I'm glad to see the parenting pendulum swinging back a little more to the center. Children are capable of so much more than we give them credit for. They don't need quite so much adult interference in their lives.

An old friend and mom of older children told me recently, "I tend to think that my kids have the answers inside them already, and don't need me to force it on them." She went on to say that kids need, "...encouragement from the sidelines to trust themselves and their ability to figure things out themselves." I couldn't agree more...although sometimes I need a reminder.

I really love this quote from D.H. Lawerence:

"How to begin to educate a child. First rule: leave him alone. Second rule: leave him alone. Third rule: leave him alone. That is the whole beginning."

Santa Photos

2009-12-09T08:38:00.011-06:00

Last night we took the crew to Utica Square to visit Santa. How many teenagers will go sit with Santa for a picture just because their mother asked them to? I have the sweetest kids. Ok, I admit that there was a little bribery involved. We dropped some cash at ~~Starbucks~~ Fivebucks and Chick-Fil-A in exchange for this photo. Whatever it takes.

Is this not the best Santa? We're pretty sure he is the real thing!

There will be no changing of the Christmas Lists now. They are set in stone!

The Best Thing About A Hotel

2009-11-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Just don't come crying to me when you break an arm.

Well, That Was Easy!

2009-11-22T16:15:00.011-06:00

A week ago, we loaded up the minivan and headed to Indy for the Bands of America Grand Nationals Competition. (You can read the home school version of the story here.) Our oldest son stayed home to work and go to school and our second is in the band, so he was on the bus. Our van felt empty with just two children on board.

Not since mid-1999, when I was very pregnant with Thing 3 and we moved from Chicago to OK, have we taken a road trip with only two children in the car. I don't count the baby in my belly, although I should since he was roughly the size of a full-grown rottweiler with a head the size of a Crimson Sweet. I don't count him because he couldn't ask questions, or whine, or tattle, or be hungry, or kick my seat (he kicked my gall bladder instead), or lose a shoe in the van, or need to go to the bathroom 45 seconds after we just got back on the road after stopping for gas, or sit too close to a sibling, or drop gum on the seat and then sit on it, or leave crayons on the carpet in Florida in the summer, or, or, or...

No, now we're used to having a car-full when we travel. For the last 10 plus years, we've traveled with a minimum of three children, and for the last 7.5 years, we've had four children in the car.

So when we loaded up our van and headed to Indy, it felt strange...very strange. The drive was so quiet (everything is relative, you know). Never once did I hear, "His seat is leaned too far back"..."Ugh, do we have to watch that movie?"..."Tell her to stop kicking my seat!"..."Why does he always get to pick the movie?"..."Do you have to climb over me to get out? Can't you wait until I'm out of the van?"..."Let me in first!"...Nope...none of that. And never once did I make the completely idle threat, "If you don't stop bickering, we are turning the van around and heading back to OK." (I feel compelled to note that if you have an unwilling teen traveler in the car and you're on your way to an expensive trip to Disney World, the teen's own personal hell, it is never a good threat to make, because he will do just about anything to have you turn the van around and head back home.)

The dynamics of two children in the car are very different than the dynamics of four. When you have two, there is only one other person with whom each child can argue. Pretty soon, they run out of things to be upset about. When you have four, the opportunities for fighting increase exponentially. Each child has three other children to pick at and/or be offended by. It can be someone different at every mile marker. And among those four children, alliances will form, and it gets really ugly. It's like Road Trip Survivor. The arguments are practically endless.

But this trip wasn't like that. Where normally our family trips resemble something bordering on dysfunctional, like The Conners from Roseanne, this time it almost felt like The Cleavers traveling to Indy...except I was wearing sweats, not a pretty dress with an apron, and my husband never once called me "Dear".

Bathroom stops were quick and relatively painless. Dining stops were also quick and relatively cheap! Movie choices were agreed on easily, and no one "accidentally" reclined a seat into another person's lap.

Many times I marveled at how much easier it was to travel with just two children. But I also caught a glimpse of our future, and it made me a little sad. Our oldest son is a senior. He has a job and a life beyond us. Unless we resort to bribery, I doubt we have more than one or two long road trips that our oldest will take with us. And with Thing 2 just three short years behind Thing 1, it won't be long until he follows suit.

So as easy this trip was, I am in no rush to have it this easy all the time. I sort of like our loud, crazy road trips with the family all together. I'm going to enjoy it as long as I can.

How Schools Stifle Creativity

2009-11-04T23:20:00.003-06:00

About a year ago, I first saw the video of a talk given by Sir Ken Robinson about how schools suppress talent and kill creativity. CNN recently published an Op-Ed on this same topic, also written by Sir Robinson. A link to the full talk is on the page. It's well worth watching.

The Pioneer Woman, Partie Deux

2009-10-30T21:24:00.004-05:00

Yea! We went to another book signing today and got our signed cookbooks!

This time, we took the girls. They shared headphones while we waited in line...another really long line.

It was worth the wait. The cookbook is beautiful! Thing 4 thinks the PW is, too.

My Girl Crush

2009-10-28T18:26:00.001-05:00

Last night, my friend and I went to see Ree Drummond, better known as The Pioneer Woman, as she kicked off her book tour for her new cookbook The Pioneer Woman Cooks.

I have a girl crush on The Pioneer Woman. When I told my teenaged son that, there was a long, awkward pause followed by, "Mom, that's really weird. Don't tell anyone that. Ok?" That made me a little insecure thinking maybe I wasn't as hip as I thought and that maybe I didn't really know what "Girl Crush" means. I went home and Googled "Girl Crush" and found this definition:

"Feelings of admiration and adoration which a girl has for another girl, without wanting to shag said girl. A nonsexual attraction..."

Whew.

From what I read, many of The PW's fans have a crush on this guy.

That's Ree's husband, better known to blog readers as The Marlboro Man. You probably don't recognize him here because Ree usually posts pictures of him taken from a different angle. He seemed like a great guy, and you could tell he really supports her. (We women who have wonderfully supportive husbands can pick out other wonderfully supportive husbands.)

While I don't have a crush on The Marlboro Man, I do kind of have a crush on Mike, The PW's sweet brother.

He was so happy to be there meeting "his people".

I definitely have a girl crush on The Pioneer Woman.

I envy her cooking skills. I envy her photography skills. I envy her writing ability. I envy the ease with which she home schools her children. I envy her really, really long legs. And if I can be completely materialistic for a moment, I really, really, really love her lodge. I want to live there...or at least stay there for a week.

We were very excited to meet The Pioneer Woman and get our signed copy of her new cookbook. When we got to the event, we found that it was being held in a room approximately the size of my playroom, and it was filled with approximately enough people to populate a small city. That might be a slight exaggeration, but there were a whole lot of people there. Unfortunately for us, the people already there were nuttier than we are, and they had gotten there early enough to take all the seats *and* buy all the cookbooks! Bummer for us! (However, the spot where we were standing in the back of the room put us really close to the amazing cupcakes they served, so it wasn't a total loss.)

Even though we couldn't get a signed cookbook, we decided it would be worth the ridiculously long wait just to get a picture for our blogs. So we sat there, two pathetic losers with no cookbooks, chatting for over two hours while we waited for our turn. (Anyone who knows me or my friend will tell you that it wasn't really that much of a hardship, us having to sit and talk for more than two hours.)

When we finally got to the front of the line, she greeted us with exactly the kind of warmth and graciousness that comes through in her blog.

She's a girl I could have coffee with.

One Monday In October

2009-10-19T20:09:00.012-05:00

Today was a rare day when all of our children were home at the same time. Despite the protests, I had to take advantage and take pictures. It was a beautiful, if windy, day...so we headed to the Pumpkin Patch at our church to pick out the perfect pumpkins for carving.

Contemplating pumpkins.

Did you notice how all of my boys have their hands in their pockets while they're standing there thinking?

Just right!

You're never too old for a wagon ride.

I love these kiddos!

Who doesn't love the Pumpkin Patch?

I Hate To Iron

2009-10-13T09:17:00.008-05:00

I did not inherit my mother's sick need to iron...to iron almost everything. If you don't believe me, just ask her.

I hate to iron. It seems like such a waste of time. I try very hard not to buy things that need to be ironed. When I do have something that needs to be ironed, I generally toss it in the little black bag that I hang on the front porch for the Ironing Fairy to pick up. She picks it up on Monday and brings back beautifully pressed shirts and pants on Thursday.

On occasion, I need something ironed before the Ironing Fairy comes. Last Sunday was one of those occasions. I tried the "toss it in the dryer with a wet wash cloth" trick, but it didn't work. The shirt came out of the dryer with all the wrinkles still there. Since the Ironing Fairy doesn't make house calls, what could I do but drag out my ironing board and iron?

As I was standing in the kitchen ironing my son's shirt, my (almost) ten year old son came up and just watched me. I asked, "Do you need something?" He said, "Well, I knew we had one of those ironing machines, but I guess I haven't really seen you use it."

Ironing machines. Really. That's what he said.

That's how much I hate to iron.

Clean Food Tulsa

2009-10-12T09:53:00.004-05:00

If you live in the Tulsa area and like to purchase sustainably grown, all natural meat and eggs, please visit the Cherry Street Off-Season Market site. This market is run by the wonderful folks from Downing Family Farms. We purchased farm fresh eggs and a little meat from the Downings all summer at the market. We were thrilled to find out that we can still get their eggs (and other items) even though "market season" has ended.

Check out their site for details.

Bleached Flour

2009-09-28T18:07:00.004-05:00

Last week, I went on a field trip with Things 3 and 4 to Great Harvest Bread Co. While there, it came up that the white, bleached flour we buy in the stores is bleached with chemicals...like chlorine or benzoyl peroxide. I guess I never really thought about the process by which flour gets so white...but yuck!

I came home and did a little research on bleached flour and came across the following video. And, by the way, it doesn't make me feel any better to know that Europe has already banned bleached flour.

Would you like a side of diabetes with that toast?

Crime Scene

2009-09-22T20:29:00.004-05:00

For his Forensic Science class, my oldest son had to create and photograph a crime scene. One of his brothers was the victim. The t-shirt he was wearing was also a victim. It was tragic.

It Just Ain't Right

2009-09-05T16:11:00.004-05:00

I apologize in advance for my obsession with the "time flies" theme.

Last Monday we began our journey of visiting colleges with Thing 1. I'm not sure how I got to this point. It literally seems like yesterday that I was visiting pre-schools and trying to choose the best one for him. Yesterday.

When we arrived on campus, my first thought was that he's just not ready for this. Then, as we walked around, I realized that he is ready for this. It felt to me like he belonged there more than in his high school.

I could picture him there, backpack slung over his shoulder walking across the beautifully manicured green spaces, visiting with friends over lunch, sitting under a shade tree studying for a big test. Ok, some things are harder to picture than others. And some things I pictured I wish I hadn't. But I digress...

It just felt right.

He is ready for it.

I am not.

Time Flies...Part 2!

2009-08-19T17:26:00.005-05:00

The baby who made me a mother started his Senior year today. The baby who made our first child a brother started his Freshman year of High School today.

I want to throw up.

How did this happen?

Time flies...and I don't like it.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

2009-08-18T14:31:00.008-05:00

I was so excited to find this easy recipe for homemade tomato sauce that can be frozen. Really...it was incredibly easy and my house smelled so good while the sauce was on the stove.

Due to the dangers of BPA in canned foods, I've been trying to get away from buying canned food as much as possible. I rarely ever bought anything in cans other than tomatoes and tomato sauce, anyway, but I bought a lot of those two things. I started freezing my own tomatoes last year so I don't have to buy them canned anymore. Now I have tomato sauce in my freezer, so I can say goodbye to canned tomato sauce, too!

While the recipe above doesn't call for it, I did remove most of the seeds from my tomatoes. A few snuck into the sauce, but I'll take care of them when I run the sauce through a food mill before I use it.

I have made a couple of different batches of this sauce and used all types of tomatoes...Roma, Heirloom and regular slicing tomatoes.

I love these Freezer Jars by Ball. They stack so nicely in my freezer.

I can't wait for winter!

Tim Hawkins Scary Bedtime Prayer

2009-08-12T10:33:00.001-05:00

My Name Is Melanie...

2009-08-05T19:41:00.007-05:00

...and I'm addicted to the Goodwill.

If there is one thing I love almost as much shopping for school supplies, it's a shopping trip to the Goodwill Store.

Seriously. I have a problem.

It started innocently enough. I happened by the store in our town on their opening day a couple of years ago. I found some great bargains. I found enough great bargains that I had to go back. Sometimes I go and don't find anything good, but I find things often enough that it keeps me coming back. It's a lot like playing the slot machines. You win just often enough to make you put three more quarters in...again and again.

Sometimes I get deals that shock and amaze even me, and I am a hardcore bargain shopper. Once I got a pair of NIP (new in package for you Ebay novices) Bose headphones for $50. Another day, I found a NIP Nintendo DS for $30. I have bought a like new Kate Spade bag, brand new Timberland boots, and too many other things to remember.

Probably our favorite thing to shop for at the Goodwill is books. We rarely leave without at least a couple of books. David (14), my child who loves to read more than anyone I know and who just can't part with any book he's ever owned, can't believe what some people give away. "Look at this book, Mom! The binding isn't even creased. It's never been read! Who would give that away?" He is both amazed at his good fortune and irritated by the thoughtlessness of the apparent book-hater who gave away this treasure.

I went to the Goodwill this afternoon with my younger two. This was our haul for today. It cost us $6.45. And that Shark book is really cool. I might have even paid full price for it.

Goodwill shopping and a school supply trip all in one day. I'm a happy mom!

Time Flies...

2009-08-02T23:49:00.007-05:00

...but big brothers are always cool.

March, 2005

June, 2009

The Long, Lazy Days of Summer

2009-07-28T22:54:00.010-05:00

Biggest brother was working today. Next oldest brother was out of town. What to do? What to do?

They started the day swimming.

Then we went to the zoo.

Why don't we swim again?

Dress-up, anyone?

Ahhh...how wonderful to be a child and get to experience those seemingly endless expanses of time in the summer.

Ahhh...how wonderful to be the mother of those children.

I am blessed.

Business Partners

2009-07-27T10:58:00.004-05:00

My neighbor and I think that one day these two children will make us rich.

Market Day

2009-07-26T18:54:00.002-05:00

By now you know that Scott and I are really enjoying our switch to mostly organic food. Every week, we get great produce from Three Springs Farm. I should say that Scott is getting great produce from the CSA. Usually I stay home and sleep. I'm spoiled like that.

In our house, Saturday is now known as "Market Day". Every Saturday, Scott and AC head to the Cherry Street Farmers' Market, list and shopping bags in hand, and get our produce for the week. It has become a weekly date for the two of them. I love that, not just because I get to sleep late and usually get donuts and yummy fruits and veggies out of the deal, but because I remember going places and doing things with my Daddy. Those are some of my best childhood memories, and I really treasure them now that he is gone. I love that Scott is creating wonderful memories with our children.

This past Saturday, I drug my lazy self out of bed and went along...mostly so I could take pictures for the blog and to get some great "saucing tomatoes" to freeze. (More on that later.)

After Scott and AC get the veggies from Mike and Emily, and usually some eggs from the egg people, they stop by the Great Harvest stand at the market and get a bread sample (which is large enough to count as breakfast), and then sit and listen to the live music. I understand that there is usually some swapping of bread samples, too, as our daughter has a knack for wanting whatever anyone else is eating. She might get that from her mother, but I can't be sure.

Do you like the blue streak in her hair? She does. She informed me today, however, that she can't believe I let her wear a blue streak in her hair and that it's probably "inappropriate for a 7 year old". I guess it would be more fun to have a blue streak in your hair if your mother was opposed to it.

Green Pepper and Onion Fajita Quesadillas

2009-07-23T23:23:00.003-05:00

Scott and I are trying to eat more meat-less meals. I tried this yummy recipe tonight that I got from Mike and Emily at Three Springs Farm. Everything in the quesadillas, except for the beans and the tortillas, came from Three Springs Farm. We topped them with homemade salsa (yum!) and not-homemade-but-tastes-as-good guacamole. We used the beans, as mentioned in the recipe.

I forgot to take a picture, so use your imagination.

Green Pepper and Onion Fajita Quesadillas

1 pound green peppers, cut into length-wise strips
1 bunch sweet onions, peeled and cut into thin rings
½ pint cherry tomatoes cut into halves (optional)
1 Tbs. lime juice
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. cumin
salt and pepper to taste
tortillas
grated pepper jack cheese

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the peppers and onions, and cook 2 minutes. Stir in the cumin, salt, and pepper, and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in the tomatoes and cook 1 minute. Turn off the heat, and mix in the lime juice. Spread the fajita filling over a tortilla with grated cheese, top with another tortilla, and cook each side of the quesadilla for 3 minutes on medium heat in a dry frying pan. There is enough filling for about 4 large quesadillas or 8 small ones. Top with sour cream and salsa. (For a complete meal, add ¼ cup cooked black beans to the inside of each quesadilla).

Happy Summer!

2009-07-16T10:10:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note to my blog readers, all three of you...I have not fallen off the face of the Earth. I'm just busy enjoying summer and the kiddos. I just never seem to have a few free minutes to sit down and write. Who knew blogging would take so much time? The few times I have sat down to write, the mosquito ringtone-like sound goes off in the room where my children are playing and alerts them to the fact that I am busy. No matter what they are doing, they are then compelled to either a) start fighting , b) be stricken with hunger pains so bad they might pass out or c) think of an urgent question that can't wait for an answer. I'm pretty sure it's all in the Kid Code. And then, I hear my mother's voice saying, in her slight Southern drawl, "I swear to Goodness. I think there's a buzzer on the commode seat that goes off every time I sit down."

Happy Summer!

The Happiest Place On Earth

2009-06-15T09:18:00.013-05:00

We just got back from Walt Disney World. You know...The Happiest Place On Earth. It must be true because a Disney dining reservation agent told me that no less than 8 times in our short phone conversation. But, being a person who has to check everything out myself, I Googled "Happiest Place On Earth", and the first result was, indeed, "Walt Disney World Resort." Would Google lie to me?

We saw more than a few parents who had not been notified of the "Happiest Place On Earth" status of WDW. Let me just say that there are some angry parents out there. I think Disney should require parents of small children to complete a Disney-Certified Parenting Course before allowing them admission to the parks. Lesson #1: "Heat, Crowds and Too Little Sleep Can Be A Cause For Behavior Problems In Children (and Adults). Lower Your Expectations Accordingly." Lesson #2: "Giant Mice, Dogs, Ducks and Chipmunks Can Frighten Small Children Regardless Of How Happy The Characters Look."

There were moments during our week at the Happiest Place when I felt like I was in the scene from What Would Jesus Buy where Reverend Billy is on Main Street USA and all you see are screaming children in strollers.

We witnessed enough bad parenting during our week at WDW to fill an entire season of "The Nanny". There were people screaming at, belittling and hitting their children every time we turned around.

There was the mom in the bathroom screaming at her two year old to "Stop doing stupid things, you little brat!" Having had the joy of experiencing the Terrific Twos four times, I can tell you that it is the job of two year olds to do stupid things. Why would a two year old act any differently at Disney?

There was the mom waiting in line with her child (no shade) to see Pluto and Goofy who asked the crying child, "Do you want a whoopin' in front of all of these people?" According to my daughter, when the little girl made some sound that maybe, sort of sounded like "Yes", the mom whacked her and then said, "Is that what you wanted?" (Thank you, Sir. May I have another?)

Then there was the scary dad (and I don't mean that in the nicest way) who, upon finding his daughter who had wandered off in the Living Seas exhibit, hovered over her in the most threatening, menacing way, fists curled, teeth clenched and then said (in a nasty, scary tone), "You just get on out there, NOW!" I was intimidated by the guy. I can't imagine how his daughter felt.

But my all-time favorite was the mom at Blizzard Beach who took her terrified baby (who couldn't have been more than 20 months old at the most), kicking and screaming to the top of the slide and tried to set her down. When the baby got away, the mom picked her up and put her back down again. She then pushed the baby, who was still screaming, as far as she could with her arms. When baby got out of arms' reach, mom sat down on the slide and pushed her down with her feet. The life guard and I looked at each other in total disbelief. At the bottom of the slide were a number of adult family members clapping and shouting, "Yea! You did it!" Well, that makes it all better. We walked by ten minutes later and the baby was still a blubbering mess from that ordeal. But at least the adults in the group were happy, and that's really what's important, isn't it?

Ahhh...Happy Vacation Memories from The Happiest Place On Earth.

Great Produce!

2009-06-14T14:25:00.009-05:00

I'm back from my blogging hiatus. I didn't plan to take a break, but life just got in the way. The end of the school year always seems to be so hectic. I'm so happy it's summer break!

It's Farmers Market time again! I love this time of year. A few months back, I posted about our wonderful CSA and all the great produce we get from Mike and Emily. Yesterday was a great day at the market. Well, at least Scott said it was a great day. He got up with the chickens and went to the market to get our veggies for the week and left me home to sleep. What a great guy he is!

The produce he brought home was so amazing that I just had to take pictures to share. He got broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, lettuce, celery, fava beans, yellow squash, zucchini, new potatoes (some are blue!) and green onions. All of it is organic, of course!

Here is the lettuce we got. It's so pretty that I was tempted to put it in a vase and use it as a centerpiece.

Here's a photo of a stowaway we found on the lettuce. If he can live on it, I know it's ok to feed to my kiddos. By the way, we let him outside. I hope he doesn't start chewing on the veggies in my little garden!

I love to find bug bites like this one on my produce. I'm weird, I know. It serves as proof that the veggies are chemical-free. Last year I mentioned this to Mike (one of the owners of the farm/CSA). He looked at me with disbelief and then literally laughed out loud. He said, "You are the antithesis of the typical American consumer." I guess most people don't find bugs/bug bites on their food all that amusing. Like I said, I'm weird.

I wish everyone had access to wonderfully healthful, organically-grown food like this. If you live in the Tulsa area, I encourage to check out Three Springs Farm. I promise you won't be disappointed. You don't have to be a member of the CSA to purchase from them at the market. Just show up on Saturday morning at the 15th St. Market and look for their booth.

Happy Birthday To Me!

2009-05-04T09:13:00.005-05:00

I'm 44 today. How did that happen? I don't feel a day over 43. Seriously, I don't feel 44. I hope I don't look 44 because I've spent a lot of money on expensive sunscreens and have spent many a day looking foolish in a hat to prevent what my daughter used to call "sprinkles".

I remember my daddy telling me one time that you reach a certain age where you feel that age and see yourself as that age forever, regardless of how old you get. I feel about 32. It was around that age that I started figuring out who I really am and became comfortable with myself.

I like my forties, too...but I'm ready for time to slow down just a little. I read a quote the other day by Jonathan Swift that said, "No wise man ever wished to be younger." He didn't say anything about wise women, though, did he? I wouldn't mind being a little younger...maybe 32 again.

Buffet on Radio Margaritaville

2009-04-21T09:39:00.005-05:00

I forgot to mention in my last post that, if you have Sirius or XM Satellite Radio, you can listen to every Buffett concert live on Radio Margaritaville (Channel 55). Pretty cool!

Check here for tour dates.

Our Annual Parrothead Convention

2009-04-20T07:37:00.013-05:00

Scott and I went to Dallas this weekend for our 4th Annual Parrothead Convention with our good friends and traveling buddies, Neal and Kerri. Actually, we missed the second year because one of our boys was being confirmed that weekend and we thought we'd look like slacker parents in the eyes of the church if we skipped his Confirmation to go to the Buffett show. Our son might have been a little disappointed, as well. And while we realize that we have a parental obligation to give our kids reasons to justify therapy when they are adults, we decided his Confirmation was too big to miss. We've given him plenty of other reasons to justify therapy, anyway. Still, since we had already bought the tickets and planned the trip before we realized we had a scheduling conflict, we count that year, too. We were there with our friends in spirit, anyway. And I have a concert t-shirt to prove it. But I digress...

Even if you're not a Buffett fan, you owe it to yourself to go to a concert just once in your life. It's unlike anything I've ever experienced and not like any other concert. This was at least my ninth Buffett show (I've lost count), but it's just as much fun every time I go. Actually, it might be more fun every time because the older I get the more relaxed I get and I'm able to roll with things a little better. The thought of a beer down my back doesn't upset me as much today as it might have 15 years ago. And I can look at the crazy people doing crazy things and just laugh without judging. I haven't always been able to do that.

A Buffett show is an event unto itself. The party starts the night before the show and goes until the morning after. People camp out in trailers and motor homes and tailgate all weekend. (But not us...we had a nice, comfy king-sized bed at the Marriott. And real bathrooms, not nasty Porta-Potties.) They even bring golf carts to ride around on. Some who didn't bring golf carts, had motorized ice chests they rode on. (I'm not even kidding.) People brought Tiki Bars, huge grills, wading pools to ice down drinks and anything else you might need for a great outdoor party. But this year, the Parrotheads to whom I gave the "Most Dedicated" award actually brought a stage, stage lights, a disco ball and microphones. They had Karaoke going on outside their RV. I tried to take a picture, but we couldn't get close enough.

Just walking around the field-turned-campground is an experience.

And the concert, well, that's another experience unto itself. Let me just say that there's something surreal about being in the sober minority at a Buffett show. It's just...well...bizarre. It's like being transported to an alternate universe.

This time we had great seats near the front and on the aisle. People felt free to share our wonderful seats. At one point, a large woman parked herself right in front of Scott and said, "I'm just going to stand here for a few minutes." Scott invited her not to and showed her down the aisle to her own seat, at which point she decided she might like to share Neal's seat, which she did for some time. Earlier in the night, a rather tipsy woman was trying to find her way to her seat, going between our backs and our chairs. For some reason, she stopped behind Neal (who has a real gift for attracting weirdos when we travel, and I mean that in the nicest way) and did a little impromptu dirty dancing against his backside. It was so bad that Scott was afraid they were going to have to get married, and I think Neal still has not recovered from the experience. I'm pretty sure he burned the shorts he was wearing. Fortunately, I was spared the site of the woman flasher a couple of rows ahead of us. Scott and my good friend, Kerri, were not. And I feel badly about that. Apparently, it was not a picture worthy of Playboy.

You might think the craziness would end after the concert, but it doesn't. The next morning, as we got on the elevator to leave the hotel, we encountered a woman who looked like she had been, as my daddy used to say, "rode hard and put up wet." Not amused by our chipper conversation, she looked at Scott, who was sporting his new concert t-shirt, and said, in a voice that sounded like she'd eaten broken glass and washed it down with kerosene, "How can you be so $@%# chipper the morning after that concert?" We bantered back and forth a bit and then she said, "I just wish I could figure out why the #$!! my @$$ and legs are so sore this morning. Scott jokingly suggested it might be good if we didn't talk much about that. She mumbled something about maybe sitting on someone's lap while driving a golf cart, but she couldn't be sure about it, and then she stumbled off the elevator. We think it was a long drive home for her.

The concert was great, as always. I think Buffett gets better every year...or I'm just getting easier to please in my middle age. Whatever it is, I'm not complaining. I just hope he's taking the same vitamins Willie Nelson takes, and that he'll still be playing at 75 like Willie is.

Here are a few photos from the trip.

In the spirit of adventure, Kerri and I decided to try a Landshark. Guess what? I still don't like beer.

The man can still sing!

What a great night!

No Child Left Untested, Part 2

2009-04-15T11:43:00.004-05:00

Please scroll down to see my lengthy Part 1.

Here is an excellent video I just came across regarding NCLB and the impact on our schools and our children. It's especially interesting to hear from the educators in the piece giving their opinions about the impact of NCLB.

It's worth mentioning that as I was watching this video earlier today with one of my infinitely intellectually-curious, older children (who is ~~taking a mental health day~~ home sick today), he told me that during test review yesterday, he asked his teacher a "what happens if" question. Instead of answering, she said, "Don't worry about that. It won't be on the test." Oy!

No Child Left Untested

2009-04-15T10:26:00.007-05:00

Yesterday was the day my third grader has been stressing about all year. It was the first day of standardized testing. He worried the night before about where he should sleep and when he should go to bed to ensure a good night's sleep so he would do well on the test. He dissolved into tears at the breakfast table because he wasn't sure what constituted that "well-balanced breakfast" the school told him he needed to eat on test day. Was a Kashi waffle, apples and a cheese stick good enough? When he got home from school, he rehashed everthing on the test, problem by problem, asking me if I thought he chose the correct answer on this problem or that problem.

Should a 9 year old have this much stress in his life? I don't think so. I resent the fact that my children are made to feel responsible for how their performance reflects on the school. To borrow (and slightly edit) a line a read once, I am unwilling to sacrifice my children at the Altar of State Testing.

I know this will make many teachers cringe, but at 7:30 a.m. yesterday, I was having a discussion with my 9 year old about the reality of State Testing. I told him he should not worry because "the test" really doesn't affect him at all. Well, that's not entirely true. The test affects him and the quality of his education greatly. What I should say is that the results of this test don't impact him directly. There is no "permanent record" for a 9 year old. How he scores on this test won't impact his options for college or future employment. If he does poorly on the test, he won't be sent to reform school for 4th grade. Instead, how he does on this test impacts the teachers and the school, and therein lies the problem.

When teachers and school districts are evaluated and given funding based on how students perform on standardized tests, what else are they to do but make sure the children are well-prepared, even if that means setting aside teaching anything that is not on the test? What else are they to do but spend the majority of their teaching time cramming test answers into students heads? What else are they to do but emphasize over and over the importance of the kids' performance on this test, even if it does create so much stress for a few kids that they cry? Schools and teachers would be foolish to do anything else. I would do the same thing if my job security and pay depended on how my kids performed.

I don't know what the answer is. I understand that there has to be some sort of accountability for schools, school districts and teachers. I just think this path we're on is the wrong one. Over the 12 years I have had kids in public school, as testing has become more and more important, I have seen the impact on public education, and it isn't pretty. My children's education is becoming increasingly "flat"...one dimensional. My children have been fortunate enough to have had great teachers who have tried hard to keep things interesting and creative, but it's a huge challenge for them to fit in anything other than test prep. I have had several teacher friends express to me their frustration about not being able to do anything fun and creative in the classroom anymore. Great teachers choose to teach because they love teaching, they want to inspire kids to learn, not because they want prepare kids for "the test". I worry that those great teachers are going to burn out and they'll leave the profession, leaving us with people who choose to teach only because it works nicely with their kids' schedules.

A few years back, I read an article on the impact of testing on education. Unfortunately, I can't remember who wrote the article, but I do remember this quotation, which sums up exactly how I feel about my children's educational experience. The writer said, "If we want to raise a generation of well-rounded, thinking people, we should strive to give students questions to answer, not answers to questions." Those making education policy would do well to remember that.

Since this is Video Wednesday, I leave you with this excellent video.

Training Update

2009-04-01T11:29:00.002-05:00

I've been training for the CF Run To Breathe 5K which is in May. On the advice of a couple of friends, I've been following the Cool Running Couch to 5K training program. I was skeptical at first. How can a non-runner get ready for a 5K in just nine weeks? I'm happy to say, though, that the program is working really well for me. It's a great, gradual work up to running a 5K. Every new workout is just a small step up from the previous. There is a lot of recovery time (i.e.-walking between running intervals) built into each workout, and also lots of recovery time between workout days. I still don't like running, but I'm encouraged by how well I'm doing. I no longer want to die when I'm finished with a workout. In fact, every day I dread the workouts less.

I'm not following the plan exactly, because I didn't start from "couch potato". I am in fairly good physical condition, and I do exercise (although not as regularly as I should). So instead of doing three workouts every week, with time in between workouts, I've been averaging running five times a week, so I'll get through the program in less than the nine weeks the workout suggests. It's a good thing because I got a late start on the program and then was off a week because I was sick.

I think I can do this!

Video Wednesday on Monday

2009-03-23T09:04:00.002-05:00

This one is too good to put off until Wednesday. While I enjoy Facebook, I just don't "get" Twitter. What's the point? It seems like senseless chatter. I love my friends and family, but I don't need an hour by hour (or minute by minute) account of what they're doing all day.

I don't know...maybe my life is just too dull to Twitter about.

Video Wednesday - Chick-Fil-A

2009-03-11T13:16:00.002-05:00

Love the place!

Confessions Of A Panicky Mom

2009-03-04T18:00:00.004-06:00

My oldest son, Spencer, is now driving. He's had his license for six months. I have a love/hate relationship with his driving.

I love having another driver in the house. It is wonderful to have someone to help with the "drop-offs" and "pick-ups". It's especially nice at 7:30 in the morning when I don't have to drag my two younger children out to take the two older ones to school. I love seeing how proud Spencer is of the car he's buying himself. I love the responsibility he's learned from that.

I hate the worry. I hate jumping every time the phone rings when he's out. I hate the stress of waiting to hear the garage door open late on a Friday night. I really hate the panic that runs through me when I hear sirens when he's out driving. We live in a small town, so I hear every siren of every emergency vehicle that is on the roads.

I know that all mothers with teenaged drivers worry, but I think I worry (and panic) a little more than most because my oldest sister was killed in a car wreck while away at college when I was a teen. I can still remember hearing the phone ring in the middle of the night the night she died. I remember the terrible weeks and months that followed. Every time my phone rings when my son is out, I get that same feeling again.

I think because my kids know I lost my sister, Spencer is a little more tolerant of the panicky "Sirens! Are you ok?" texts that he receives from me from time to time. If he happens to be driving when he gets the text, I sit on pins and needles until he's in a safe place to text me back and say, "I'm fine."

I was laughing with Scott the other day about this exchange we have at least once a week (Scott is not a panicky parent) and telling him how patient Spencer is with me in this regard. Scott said, "One of these days he'll figure out that it's best not to wait on your call or text and to go ahead and let you know he's ok as soon as he hears sirens."

What do you know? This morning, shortly after my older children left for school, I heard sirens. As I was looking for my phone, I heard it "ding". I picked it up and saw this preemptive text: "Two wrecks by the high school. I'm fine."

I have great kids!

Video Wednesday

2009-03-04T09:05:00.002-06:00

I wish I had said this. We are all spoiled, aren't we?

Everything's Amazing, Nobody's Happy

Fail Blog

2009-03-03T13:50:00.004-06:00

As a mom of teens, I am always trying to find ways to relate to and connect with them. I have found that one really great way to do that is to share in things they find funny. Teenaged boys love "funny".

About once a week, my boys and I sit at the computer and look at Fail Blog. It is seriously funny. Some of the things on Fail Blog are obviously set up, Photo Shopped, etc., and sometimes those are funny, anyway. The ones that aren't set up are often hysterical. We laugh ourselves silly looking at Fail Blog. If you view this with children, you might want to click on the option "See G-rated pics and movies only".

Here are a couple of my recent favorites.

GRAFFITI WIN

see more pwn and owned pictures

BASIC FAIL

see more pwn and owned pictures

COW TRANSPORTATION FAIL

see more pwn and owned pictures

Lent Fail

2009-03-01T23:11:00.008-06:00

This post should be titled "Day Four Without Coffee", but it's not...because I failed Lent. I actually failed on Day Three. Day One went ok, although I did get a terrible headache, but I'm not sure if it was from lack of caffeine or because I'm unduly stressed about my OM team. The green tea alternative on Day One almost caused me to go running back to my coffee, but I held firm. (I don't care what Dr. Oz says, I just can't drink that stuff on a daily basis. It looks like sewer water and tastes about that bad...I'm guessing, anyway.) Day Two went fine, too, because I switched to black tea. I even put it in my favorite travel mug to try to fool myself.

Then my mother came to visit.

Whenever my mother comes to visit, we eat at Cracker Barrel. I know Cracker Barrel is not exactly fine dining, but I love the place. I cannot resist the Sunrise Sampler. Two eggs over-medium, bacon, biscuits (no gravy, please), hashbrown casserole, fried apples and COFFEE!

Scott got there before me and ordered me water (bless his heart). I was mostly happy with my water, although, as the temperature outside felt like 10 degrees considering the Oklahoma windchill factor, the thought of hot coffee was terribly tempting. My food came, and I made it about half-way through with just the water... then the waitress came back and asked my mother if she wanted a "warm-up" on her coffee. My mother (who knew I had given up coffee for Lent) looked at me and said, "Aren't you going to have some coffee? You might as well. You had tea yesterday." I don't follow the logic either, but in my coffee-deprived state, it made sense. In a moment of weakness, with my mother looking on, I caved. I had coffee. And I liked it. A lot.

Scott, always one to support me in whatever I do, failed Lent, too. He made us coffee this morning. The world was again how it should be...me waking up to the sound of the grinder and then listening to the drip, drip, drip of the coffee maker. We even took our travel mugs full of coffee to church.

I should have given up exercise.

***Update 3/2/09***: So when Scott poured my coffee this morning, I noticed he didn't pour himself any. I said, "Why aren't you having any coffee?" He said, "I still haven't had any." WHAT?!? I was sure I saw him with his travel mug at church. Clearly, I saw what I wanted to see. He wasn't supporting me in my failure. He was enabling me by fixing my coffee!

Upon finding out that I was going to have to edit my blog this morning, and feeling badly about that, he poured some coffee for himself in his favorite travel mug. I wasn't about to let him fail just for me, so a tussle ensued over the mug. He, being stronger than I am, won. Now he failed Lent, too. I take no responsibility for that, however, because in this house, we think for ourselves.

Day One Without Coffee

2009-02-26T10:02:00.011-06:00

If you're of the Christian faith (and maybe even if you aren't), you are aware that we are in the liturgical season of Lent. During Lent, many Christians participate in the tradition of "giving something up" for the 40 days of Lent. You can find a brief explanation of the Christian tradition here.

Giving up something for Lent has never been a part of my personal theology, although, as a child, I had a lot of friends who were Catholic, so I am quite familiar with this tradition.

As a young adult, I had a friend who said that on Sundays she could have whatever she gave up for Lent because Sundays weren't counted in the 40 Days of Lent since there are really 46 days in the Lenten season. Sundays are "days in Lent" but not "days of Lent". Semantics? I thought that sounded like a convenient loophole and counter to the idea of sacrifice, but it worked for her and I wasn't giving up anything anyway, so who was I to argue?

One of my sons (who can never resist a challenge), has chosen to sacrifice something during Lent for the past several years. In the weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday, there is a great deal of talk amongst his friends about who is giving up what.

This year, he decided to give up his iPod.

Now, I remember from days in Mrs. Shepherd's class that paragraphs should have more than one sentence, but that sentence deserved to stand alone. This child is ~~rarely~~ never without his iPod. He uses it all the time and even when he isn't using it, it's in his pocket. It's like an appendage.

He told me he was giving up his iPod and asked what I was giving up. Hmm...many things ran through my mind. Exercise. Getting up early. Dusting. Oh wait, I gave that up already. Laundry. Cooking dinner. How could I possibly come up with a sacrifice as significant as him giving up his iPod? While I was thinking, he said, "You could give up coffee."

ACK!!!!

Coffee? I start every day with coffee. My signal to get out of bed is when I hear the beans in the grinder. (I should take a moment here to publicly thank my wonderful husband for making the coffee every morning while I lie in bed and listen to the coffee drip.) I drink coffee all morning. My Starbucks travel mug is like my blankie. Until noon every day, and sometimes longer, it goes everywhere with me. I love the way it feels in my hand. I could never give up coffee. Besides, I had just ordered two pounds of wonderful, freshly roasted coffee beans from our co-op. I couldn't let those sit for 40 days!

While I'm thinking all of this, my son said, "You can't do it, can you?" I said, "Coffee? Really?" He said, "Come on, Mom. If I can give up my iPod, you can give up coffee." He was right. I could. I would. Scott, always one to support me in whatever I do, said he would give up coffee, too, so I wouldn't be tempted by the smell in the morning. I love that man.

Scott and I began the discussion about when we could have our last cup of coffee. We reasoned that Lent doesn't officially start until after the Ash Wednesday service, which, conveniently for us, is in the evening in our church, so that is when our Season of Sacrifice would begin. (I'm starting to like those loopholes.) And this is why this blog title is not "Day Two Without Coffee".

Last night (after missing the Ash Wednesday service), we went to dinner with our kids. At dinner, my iPod-less son, already feeling the pains of withdrawal, began trying to rationalize why it would be better to give up sweets than his iPod. "Come on, Mom, wouldn't you rather me give up something unhealthy than my music? I mean, I buy a candy bar every day at school." (By the way, that gave me an idea for another blog ~~rant~~ post.) "If I give up sweets, I'll go 40 days with no sugar. You should be happy about that. And I use my iPod when I work out. If I don't have it, I'll hate working out for the next 40 days."

I pointed out that we were in this together and him giving up sweets was in no way as much of a sacrifice as me giving up coffee. He pointed out that it's not a contest. And then, as often happens with our children, the "think for yourself" way we've raised him came back to haunt me. He said he was giving up sweets instead of his iPod. The little turkey.

So here I sit, alone with no coffee thinking how long 40 days is and wondering why I let my kids talk me into things. I should take a page from my parenting book and think for myself.

Maybe I'll look into that "only on Sundays" loophole.

Odyssey of the Mind

2009-02-21T15:16:00.012-06:00

I don't know what came over me, but in a moment of weakness, I agreed to coach my second son's Odyssey of the Mind team. Why not? I'm a mom of four children, so I've got nothing but time on my hands.

Odyssey of the Mind (better known as OM to those who participate, although technically we're supposed to call it OotM due to some lawsuit) is a difficult thing to explain to people who have not been involved in the program. We've had children involved in the program for the last four years (our oldest son is also on a team), yet our extended family still doesn't really understand what it's all about.

Basically, OM is a creative problem-solving competition. It emphasizes creativity, not knowledge. Kids choose one of five open-ended "long-term" problems and come up with a creative solution. The kids typically work on their long-term problem for several months, (my team has been working since October), doing a lot of research, thinking, talking, drawing, script-writing, bickering, snacking and more than a little goofing off. Usually about a month before the first competition, panic sets in and they realize they need to get busy working on something tangible to show the judges. At this point, they come up with their long-term solution which often involves duct tape, cardboard, trash bags, hot glue, PVC pipe, bed sheets, paint and trash.

The second component of OM is the Spontaneous competition. At competition, the kids are given a "spontaneous problem" to solve where they have to think on their feet. Sometimes the problems are "verbal", sometimes they're "hands on", sometimes they're "verbal-hands on". The more creative the response, the more points given to that answer. The kids might be asked to "Name Things That Come in Pairs". A not-so-creative answer would be "Shoes". A creative answer would be "Worms". (Worms are sometimes in pears).

Here is the tricky thing about coaching an OM team (aside from the fact that OM tends to attract highly gifted kids who are often smarter than the coach and who have...um...a different way of thinking)...it is all "kid done". The team can get no help, ideas or advice from anyone outside the team or from the coach. That would be "outside assistance" and the team is penalized for that at competition. The coach simply guides the team, makes sure they understand the problem, keeps them on task, encourages their creativity, and keeps them from hurting themselves and killing each other. I am a type A person who likes to be in control and share my opinions, so coaching an OM team is ~~very frustrating~~ an opportunity for growth for me.

OM is wonderful for kids. In a world where children's lives are increasingly adult-directed, it's so great for kids to be involved in something that they completely control. OMers (those who are on an OM team) learn by doing things themselves. As a coach, I can't say, "That idea will never work", even if I know it won't. They have to figure out, on their own, that duct tape is not an adequate substitute for a piece of PVC coupling.( My son figured that out about the time the top half of the set hit him on the head as the set frame fell apart.) There is a lot of doing and re-doing on an OM team and the kids learn through trial and error. That's ok, though, because the lessons that stay with us are the ones we learn ourselves.

Throughout the process, OMers learn many important life skills and lessons such as working together as a team, listening to the ideas of others, working under a deadline and budget, and that it really hurts if you drip hot glue on your bare leg.

It's also wonderful for kids to have an open-ended problem to solve. With all the standardized testing and test prep our kids face today, most things in their world are black and white. Kids rarely have the opportunity to answer a question that doesn't have a right or wrong answer. We tend to reward only convergent thinking. Sadly, kids today rarely have the chance to use and develop the creative part of their brains. OM affords them the opportunity to think creatively and rewards divergent thinking.

OM competitions are great places to be. You can almost feel the creativity in the air, and the enthusiasm coming from the kids is contagious. The competition is tough but (almost) always friendly. It's a lot of fun and so interesting to see teams start with the same problem but then come up with solutions that are completely different.

We're nearing our first competition and it's all coming together...finally. As I do every year, I had my doubts that it would but the kids never doubt themselves. They're amazing! And as always, this is the time that I realize that, while it will be awesome if we make it to World Competition, the kids are already winners just because they've been a part of an OM team. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. With Odyssey of the Mind, it truly is more about the process than the end result.

Three Springs Farm CSA

2009-02-19T09:22:00.001-06:00

It's sign-up time for our CSA. What is a CSA, you ask? It stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, you buy into a CSA early in the year. This provides a farmer with money s/he needs to begin the planting/growing process. Then, when it's harvest time, you get the opportunity to get fresh, local fruits and vegetables. It's a great way to get fresh produce and support small, local farmers at the same time. It's good for the consumer, good for the small farmer and good for the environment.

We belong to Three Springs Farm CSA. Emily and Mike have the best produce around and it's organically grown! Three Springs Farm CSA works like this. You can pay $200, $250 or $300 by February 28th, then you'll have a credit to use at the Farmer's Market that is equal to the amount you paid. If you pay in full by February 28th, they will give you an extra 10% to spend at the market. If you'd like, you can pay in four equal payments over the next four months. Emily and Mike are at the Cherry Street Market on Saturdays beginning in April and at the Market on Brookside on Wednesdays beginning in May.

Mike and Emily are great to visit with you about how the food is grown and Emily gives great tips on freezing, canning and preparing produce.

Here is a photo of Anna Claire helping me put up some of the yummy tomatoes we got from Three Springs Farm last year. They make the best spaghetti sauce!

I can't wait until April!

Video Wednesday - Brian Regan

2009-02-18T10:49:00.001-06:00

Men and women are so different, aren't we?

Sibling Rivalry

2009-02-16T16:28:00.021-06:00

It's probably no surprise that with four kiddos in the house, ~~at least two are always fighting~~ from time to time a spat occurs. Even though I've been a parent for 16.5 years, I still struggle with how to deal with sibling squabbles. I've briefly considered handling them the way my mother did. When my sisters and I fought (there were four of us), she would tell us, "Ok, the first one to cry gets a spanking." My mother is an old-fashioned kind of mom. She was busy making dinner every night (with bread, three vegetables and homemade dessert), baking pies and cakes, tending to the garden, canning beans, making jelly and ironing pillow cases and boxer shorts. She didn't have time to mediate arguments or try to sort out who did what to whom. We could fight all we wanted, as long as no one cried. It worked for her, and it makes me laugh in the same way I laugh at Bill Cosby's parenting wit. Since Scott and I long ago decided not to physically punish our children, my mother's way won't work for me, even though I sometimes have to choke back the threat.

Really, how I deal with sibling fights depends on which combination of children are involved. Certain combinations of my children can work things out themselves so I leave it alone or, at the very most, tell them to "work it out yourselves". But with other combinations of children (usually any that include my daughter), I have to get involved on some level or it will continue to escalate until I lose my mind and threaten to run away from home and take their father with me.

Last week, while re-reading the revised edition of my favorite parenting book Kids Are Worth It, I came across some advice that wasn't in the original edition. Barbara Coloroso recommends that when siblings are fighting and they can't work it out, you give them each a piece of paper and have them write down their version of the story and then have the kids work together to come up with what really happened. This way each child gets a chance to tell the story they way s/he sees it, and it's an activity they can work on together to promote cooperation. Brilliant! Why haven't I thought of this before? (This is why I read parenting books instead of write them!)

So, over the weekend, two of my children came downstairs fighting and yelling, each trying to tell me his/her side of the story. Excited to try out this new parenting tip, I said, "Hang on!" I quickly ripped two sheets of paper from a notebook and handed one to each child along with a pencil. I said, "Write down what happened." The younger jumped right to it, anxious to get her story out there. The older one stared at me with an incredulous look on his face and said, "Did you read this in that parenting book?" Shoot. Am I that predictable? I ignored the question and said, "Go ahead. Write down your side of the story." He rolled his eyes but started writing. They each handed me their papers to read.

Hers said, "He was being mean to me."

His said, "I didn't do anything wrong. She's whiny and likes to tattle."

Ok, not exactly what I was expecting. I needed more details to flesh out what really happened. With this level of detail, how could they possibly work together to combine their stories and come up with a middle ground? This is not how it went in the book! It didn't seem to matter to the children, though. They each seemed happy to be heard and the situation was quickly diffused. They went on their way and peace in our home was (temporarily) restored.

I adore Barbara Coloroso.

Cook Along With Spencer

2009-02-14T18:00:00.005-06:00

My oldest, Spencer, has a really great job at a well-known fast food restaurant. I won't mention the name, but it starts with a Golden M and ends with an S. It truly is a great job. It's not the "flipping burgers" job you hear about. They treat him very well and he loves it there. He has done so well that they have made him a manager. But I digress...

It has come to my attention that during his time there, he has acquired ninja breakfast-burrito-rolling skills. He tells me that he can roll over 300 in an hour and a half. I wanted to see this for myself, so we made breakfast burritos together last night. He let me take some photos to share so you, too, can learn to make these wonderful breakfast treats (which we had for dinner).

You need:

Scrambled eggs

Sausage

Cheese

Tortillas

It's good to steam the tortillas before you start because it makes them soft and not as likely to break when you fold them. We just popped them in the microwave for a few seconds and that did the trick.

First, put the cheese on the tortilla. Put it just left of center to leave room for the first fold. You'll notice that in this photograph, Spencer is using American Cheese, but I photographed Pepper Jack above. Spencer says American is best because it melts better. American Cheese kinda grosses me out because it's not really cheese, so I had him use pepper jack on my burritos.

Next, put three ounces of sausage on top of the cheese. Since you are probably not worried about your profit margin, you could use more if you like. He put more on mine because I like sausage a lot.

Next, put three ounces of scrambled egg on top of the sausage. Again, use more if you really like eggs.

Here's the tricky part. The Fold. Watch closely and learn from The Master.

Fold the left edge in a couple of inches.

Next, fold the bottom edge up so the edge goes just past the filling.

Finally, roll the whole thing over.

Voila! A perfect Breakfast Burrito! (Ignore the peanut butter and Netflix DVD in the background. Those are not ingredients you'll need.)

We also tried these with bacon. Instead of the sausage, you can use two strips of bacon.

Spencer likes them better with bacon, but I thought they were tastier with sausage. We also tried some with chopped red sweet pepper. That was very good. Spencer says you can add steamed potato wedges, too. I think next time we make them, I'll use some Simply Potatoes on them.

And just because I told Spencer that if he didn't smile for a good picture, I was putting a silly one on my blog...

Never underestimate your mother.

My New Favorite Place in Owasso

2009-02-13T17:27:00.005-06:00

This morning Scott gave me an early Valentine's Day gift.

There were seven of those babies in the box but I had eaten three when it occurred to me that I should snap a picture for the blog. Use your imagination.

I adore chocolate-covered strawberries, but it's hard to find really great ones. These berries, which came from D's Sweet Designs in Owasso, were some of the best I've ever had. In fact, they are almost (but not quite) as wonderful as the berries Scott used to bring me from the Long Grove Confectionery when we lived in Chicagoland.

I didn't even know D's existed until today, but now I'm sure I'll be a regular customer. I know Scott will be because he's a smart man...and he loves me!

A Video Valentine from Tim Hawkins

2009-02-11T14:37:00.001-06:00

I. Hate. School. Fundraisers.

2009-02-04T13:21:00.021-06:00

Yesterday my children came home from school with reams of paper explaining the latest fundraiser. Ok, reams might be a slight exaggeration, but it was a lot paper. This is at least the third fundraising activity that has been thrust upon my elementary-aged children this school year. Before Christmas, it was the Catalog of Crap fundraiser. You know the one...you can purchase 5 feet of gift wrap for the low, low price of $10 a roll. Or you can get a crock of some nuclear orange material that sorta, kinda, if you squint real hard, resembles cheese, but you don't have to refrigerate it. (Do people really eat that stuff?) Last week my children were obsessed with the junky prizes they could get for participating in Jump Rope For Heart . My son was so enthralled with the jump rope (Retail Value 50 cents) and t-shirt (Retail Value $8) that he put $40 of his own money in the envelope. (I need to turn that into a math lesson.) The American Heart Association is a wonderful organization, and anything that keeps kids active is great. However, I am fairly certain that my son's motivation for giving was not his desire to help the AHA or to strengthen his own heart. But I digress...

Now it's time for the magazine fundraiser to buy books for the school library. I love books. I love libraries. I love librarians. It's just that I hate the magazine fundraiser to buy books for the school library.

It all starts with an assembly that is the kid equivalent of a Wal-Mart Shareholders' Meeting. They take the kids to the gym, whip them into a frenzy and show them the wonderful prizes they can "earn" by selling magazines. ("Look, Mom! I have to sell only 100 magazines to get an iPod Touch!") They explain how easy it is for parents to take this little sheet and catalog to work and sell to their co-workers. (Thank goodness for that, because anyone who has ever worked in a large office knows that you just can't get enough opportunities to buy stuff from co-workers' kids.) They even give the kids postcards to fill out and turn in so the company can mail them to unsuspecting, out-of-town relatives and ~~guilt them into buying~~ give them the opportunity to purchase magazines. The kids get a whole package of M&Ms for that!

Best of all, every time they turn in an order on a "turn-in" day, they get...

A Weepul!

That's right. A Weepul!

Is there anything you wouldn't do to win that adorable 1-1/4" pom-pom with some googly eyes and cardboard glued on it? I don't get it, but for some reason, the kids LOVE the Weepuls and the fundraising company knows it. The children have long discussions about which Weepul is the best and which ones ~~will end up tossed on the floor of the closet and forgotten~~ they'll try to get this year. Heaven forbid you are the only kid in class who doesn't have a Weepul. That's worse than having to go to school after getting a really bad haircut... not that I'd know what that's like.

I know that public schools are in a real bind. They don't get adequate funding so they have to rely on fundraisers to buy things for the school. However, I resent the fact that my children are expected to be little salespeople. I don't like that they get my children excited about these fundraisers and the possibility winning/earning prizes and them send them home and make me be the bad guy who crushes their hopes of winning the Sip and Swirl Glasses (which I can buy here for $4) when I say we're not participating. "But Mom, don't you care about our school? Don't you want to help? And Mom, I REALLY want those glasses!" It's tough to explain to a 6 year old that I do want to help but I'd rather give the school a check than have my children beg other people to buy stuff they don't really want.

I know that until we start adequately funding public schools, fundraisers are a fact of life for public school kids, but I don't have to like it.

And as much as I don't like it, I'll still buy a magazine from each child so they won't be a part of the Weepul-less minority. I'm a sucker...and the fundraising company knows that, too.

Snow Day (and Night)!

2009-01-29T09:00:00.002-06:00

Cole

Anna Claire

Spencer

Anna Claire again

David

Scott and Anna Claire

Scott pointed out that in these last two pictures, Spencer, our oldest son, looks like he's wearing a burka. LOL! That's his baby he's leaning up against. He's paying for it himself. We're pretty proud of him for that.

Video Wednesday

2009-01-28T20:10:00.001-06:00

We need a woman next!

These Are A Few Of My Favorite (Green) Things

2009-01-23T09:25:00.022-06:00

I'm no Oprah, but I wanted to share some of my current favorite things. Unlike Oprah, I won't be giving these things to you. If you like them, you'll have to buy them youself.

I'm "babystepping" my way to sustainable living. While I can't put solar panels on my house and I can't drive a Prius (it's tough to fit a family of 6 in one of those, but I have considered trying), I'm finding it not all that difficult to use less on a daily basis. Stepping lightly on the planet gets to be a pretty easy habit after a while. It just takes a little thought and planning.

These are the "green" things I love this week.

Thanks to a tip from my friend Wendi, I just ordered these uber cool Peace Galore shopping bags. They were inexpensive (3 for $9.95) and the Breast Cancer Site donates a portion of the sale to providing mammograms for women who can't afford to pay for one. I have several different kinds of reusable shopping bags, but I typically find myself at the check-out in Target with all my stuff on the belt and my bags were left in the back of van. These bags are very small when folded, and they fit easily in my purse, so I always have them with me. When they're open, they're a nice size and hold quite a bit. I love them! I use them everywhere but the grocery. (I have a good supply of sturdy Paper Nor Plastic bags that I use for grocery shopping).

A big thank you to ~~Vanna~~ Anna for modeling the Peace bag.

With an apology to Reverend Billy, whose cause I believe in even if he's a bit of a radical in his approach, I present my favorite travel mug which I purchased at Starbucks. The mug is made with 28% (28%? why not 25% or 30%? ) post-consumer recycled material. (It's important to look for products made with post-consumer recycled material because it helps create a market for the stuff we recycle.) As a bonus, the mug came with a coupon for a free latte. You can't beat that with a stick...less trash, free latte...sign me up! Also, if I take this (or any) travel mug into the Starbucks at my Target (but only the one in Target...not the stand-alone store), they refill it with coffee for a mere 54 cents. It costs me more than that to make coffee at home. I know, I know...Starbucks is part of the Consumer Axis of Evil. I'm taking baby steps, Rev. Billy. Baby steps.

Here is my new water bottle:

After a talking about it for a year, I finally bought some Sigg water bottles for my family. I have resisted paying $24 for a water bottle. Can a $24 aluminum water bottle be that much better than a $9 aluminum water bottle from Target? I can now tell you with certainty that, yes, it can be and it is. Thanks to the BPA-Free liner, the water doesn't get that funky aluminum taste that you get with cheaper water bottles. The only negative to the Sigg bottles is that the cap screws on and off. That can be a little inconvenient and there is the potential to misplace the cap...not that I ever misplace anything. I'm just saying... I ordered a couple of ABT one-hand tops to replace the screw on cap.

In the interest of full-disclousre, I should tell you that I did not pay $24 for these bottles. I found them on clearance at REI for $9 each. As a person who has a serious aversion to paying full price for anything, I still wouldn't pay $24 each for these bottles. I would look until I found them on sale. But if you really want one and can't find them for $9 each, you can feel ok about paying $24. They're just that cool.

And while not a "green thing" here is my favorite moment from yesterday...My little girl helping her big brother wash his most prized possession.

I love big brothers. I always wanted one myself. My daughter has three. Lucky girl.

Video Wednesday

2009-01-21T09:40:00.005-06:00

Pete Seeger and The Boss at the Inaugural Celebration Concert.

"This Land Is Your Land"

And I still love this one.

I'm filled with Hope today.

Inauguration Day

2009-01-20T12:32:00.011-06:00

I just returned from my children's elementary school where I watched President Obama take the Oath of Office. I sat on the floor of the library with a small group of First and Third graders (who are blessed to have teachers who recognize the importance of having children witness such an important event in the history of our nation) and watched this historic moment on a very fuzzy television. One might think a 6A school district would have cable in all the schools so the students could watch important events like this, but that person would be wrong. My friend and I have surmised that access to important news stories does not improve standardized test scores. Clearly, if it did, we would have cable at school. But I digress...

As I sat with my 6 year old daughter beside me and my 9 year old son across the room, all of us squinting through the snow on the screen, watching a very fuzzy picture of the "Peaceful Transfer of Power", I got teary. Now, people who know me well will tell you that this is really nothing out of the ordinary for me, and says nothing about the importance of any situation...me getting teary. As my aunt says about herself, "I cry at supermarket openings". But this was different. You see, I truly never thought that in my lifetime I would see an African-American President.

When I was growing up in Arkansas, my family still called African-Americans "colored". Children I grew up with didn't "ding-dong ditch", they "N***** Knocked". Things weren't jury-rigged, they were "N*****-Rigged". As any of my friends from my hometown could tell you, there was even a part of a neighboring town that was commonly referred to as "N*****Holler". We, or at least I, never gave a second thought to using that word in those contexts. It's just how we talked. Would I have ever called a black person a n*****? Absolutely not. My father would never have tolerated that. I did, however, grow up in an "us and them" culture. The unspoken message we received from society was that "we" were better.

While racism still exists, my children have not witnessed the kind of racism that was inherent in the culture in which I grew up. My 6 and 9 year old still don't know the word "n*****". I think my older boys were at least 10 before they heard it for the first time. I remember my oldest son coming home and asking me what the word meant.

My children don't understand why I was emotional today because they do not grasp the historical significance of "The First African-American President". To them, African-Americans are just Americans with a different skin color. To my children, President Obama is not "the first black president". He is the 44th president, and he happens to be black.

I know we have a ways to go, but we have come so far. For that, I am grateful.

Finally! A "Scrubby" Green Cleaner!

2009-01-13T15:27:00.003-06:00

A couple of years ago, I switched to mostly Method home cleaning products (including laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid). They're great because they're biodegradable, toxicity-free, not tested on animals, and have easy-to-recycle packaging (which also happens to be pretty cool looking.) The products make my house smell fresh, not like a chemical plant. I also like that my children can clean their own bathrooms without me worrying that they're damaging their lungs.

However, as anyone who uses Earth-friendly cleaning products knows, while they're great for most uses, they don't do a good job of getting rid of soap scum. I admit to pulling out the Dow Scrubbing Bubbles, Soap Scum Remover or Comet every now and then. I've tried baking soda, but it just doesn't work that well for me.

Today I was in Target and came across Method Le Scrub. It's a lot like Soft Scrub, only non-toxic and not quite as abrasive. I just cleaned my shower and it worked great! My bathroom smells wonderful, too. I almost jumped in the shower and used it as a body scrub!

Happy Eggs From Happy Hens

2009-01-11T17:03:00.009-06:00

A few days ago I posted about the Oklahoma Food Co-op. Here is a photo of a dozen eggs that I bought through the co-op. Aren't they pretty? I didn't know eggs could be green and blue unless you dyed them. They're super fresh, too!

Ultimate Wingsuit Flying

2009-01-07T22:34:00.001-06:00

My good friend Angie sent me this video. These guys are amazing!

Spicy Black Bean Soup

2009-01-07T10:22:00.008-06:00

Beezie's Spicy Black Bean Soup

I made this soup last night, and we thought it was wonderful! I got the recipe from All Recipes, which is one of my favorite recipe sites.
The soup is very filling. It's spicy, but not overly so...my 6 year old ate it. You could cut down on the jalapenos or leave them out altogether if you don't like things spicy. If your crock pot isn't large enough, you can start it in the crock pot and finish it on the stove. Also, while the recipe didn't call for it, I soaked the beans overnight instead of pre-cooking for ten minutes as directed in the recipe. I also let the rice cook a little longer than the 20 minutes because we don't like crunchy rice. I used organic tomatoes with fire-roasted green chiles because that's what I had in my pantry. They gave the soup an extra kick. Rotel tomatoes would do the same thing.

Here is the recipe. Let me know if you try it!

Brush With Greatness

2009-01-06T13:56:00.017-06:00

I had the strangest experience while putting gas in my tragically uncool minivan today. It was cold out, so I did what you're not supposed to do and, risking death by explosion, got back in my car while the tank was filling. There I was, in my own little world, playing Bonsai Blast on my iPhone (the best iPhone game, by the way) when I heard a knock on my window. Normally people don't visit me when I'm pumping gas, so it startled me a little. I looked up and saw a nice-looking (not nice-looking as in "hot", but nice-looking as in "not scary") older man standing there. I had never seen this man in my life. I cracked my window a bit and said, "Hello." Dispensing with formalities, he said, "Has anyone ever told you that you bear a striking resemblance to Sandra Bullock." Sandra Bullock? Like the actress? People are always telling me I look like my mother, but Sandra Bullock? Nope. I've never heard that one. I said, "No. But, thank you." Now, given the fact that this man went to the trouble of knocking on the car window of a complete stranger, I was prepared for at least a short conversation. Instead he said, "Yep. In fact, when I pulled in and looked over here, I really thought you were her." Then he turned and walked off, leaving me to reflect on what he had just said.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this man is right. How could I never have seen this before?

I do look like Sandra Bullock! Surely you can see the resemblance.

Where Does the Time Go?

2009-01-04T23:30:00.005-06:00

(This post was originally written in November, 2008)

Today was one of those "kid milestones" that marks the lives of all mothers. It was my oldest son's final orthodontist appointment. We haven't been to the orthodontist in a year. When Spencer got braces, he was 12.5. He is now 16.5 (or, as he likes to remind me, "almost 17 and old enough to go to rated 'R' movies").

Do you realize how much a boy changes in four short years? It makes the head spin.

On the trip to the orthodontist, as Spencer and I chatted about grown-up things, I realized how much I have missed these trips. When I was doing it every 6 to 8 weeks when he had the braces on, I dreaded the 20 mile one-way drive in crazy traffic on Hwy. 169. I had better things to be doing than sitting in traffic and then sitting in the waiting room, and then the traffic again on the trip back home. Today I had nothing better to do than sit and listen to my son talk to me about things going on in his life. Why did I not appreciate all those trips a few years ago?

Today, Spencer is a busy teen with a challenging schedule at school, a part-time job, extra-cirricular activities, friends and, oh yeah, a girlfriend. I rarely get to spend more than 15 minutes at a time with him. To have 30 minutes in the car with him each way was priceless. I cherished every minute.

Four short years ago when we started these trips to the orthodontist, I drove him him my minivan. Today, he drove me in a car he's buying himself.

After the appointment, I took him to lunch. As we were eating, I thought about how this was so like our lunches out when he was a little boy, yet so different. When Spencer was a little guy, we would sometimes have a lunch date after I picked him up from pre-school. We always ate at McDonald's. Today we ate at Panera. Back then, he would eat only cheeseburgers or chicken nuggets. Today he had a difficult time choosing because everything on the menu sounded good. Back then, I would have to remind him to eat something besides the fries. Today he chose an apple as his side and finished it before he finished his sandwich. He even brought home half of his cookie.

Back then, we talked about trains, construction vehicles and his art project from his day at preschool. Today we talked about sports cars, his job and colleges.

Thirteen years ago, I was sitting across the table looking at a little boy for whom I had to do almost everything. Today, the boy sitting across from me will soon be a man and needs little from me except for unconditional love, a little guidance, and some lunch money every now and then.

Thirteen years ago, I thought these days would last forever. Today I realize just how fleeting these days really are.

Time flies...

(And would you look at those straight teeth?!?)

Just had to share this...

2009-01-04T00:40:00.004-06:00

I laugh every time I see this video.

Good Food

2009-01-01T15:55:00.016-06:00

Over the past several months, Scott and I have become more intentional in our food choices. We have "bitten the bullet" and started buying organic food as much as possible. I resisted making the move for a long time because organically grown and produced food is considerably more expensive. Then it occurred to me that from the time our first child was born, I have strived to do what is best for my family in every other way, even if it required sacrifice, so why not give them the best and most healthful food available, even if it does cost more? Surely they are worth it. In addition to the benefits my family gets from "eating organic", it is much better for the environment when we choose organically grown foods. I believe we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the Earth and all the resources it provides.

Over the summer, we bought locally, organically grown fruits and veggies from a wonderful CSA (more on that another day). When summer was over, we looked for a way to continue to get great organically produced foods and to support local farmers. The owners of Three Springs Farm , the CSA to which we belonged, pointed us in the direction of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative. All of the food and non-food products offered through the co-op are produced in Oklahoma, by Oklahomans, and most of the foods are grown and produced organically.

The food is not cheap, but the quality is far superior to food I can purchase at the store. The price simply reflects the true cost of producing high-quality, nutritious, non-toxic food. And again, it's great knowing that we are supporting local farmers who are raising crops and animals the way God intended them to be raised.

For example, a dozen eggs from the co-op costs $4, but the chickens that laid those eggs spend their days roaming the fields, eating bugs and grass, then come home at night to roost. The hens that lay "grocery store" eggs usually never see the light of day, and spend their lives in a cage so small that they literally can't spread their wings. They are fed an unnatural diet (unnatural for chickens, anyway), which results in less nutritious eggs. You can find out more about that here. The eggs I purchase from the co-op are never more than three weeks old. Grocery store eggs are at least 6-10 weeks old by the time they reach store shelves.

When you consider all of that, 35 cents per egg is really not too much to spend. A nutritionally bankrupt candy bar costs more than that.

I encourage you to check into the Co-op if you live here in OK or if you don't, then check out Local Harvest to see what options are available near you.