FREE Chick-Fil-A on Labor Day!!!

According to Money Saving Mom, on September 1, 2008, any person who goes into Chick-fil-A wearing professional or collegiate football logo anywhere on their bodies (hat, shirt, tatoo even?) will receive a free three-count box of Chick-fil-A's new chicken strips.

One box of chicken strips per person. Valid from 10:30 a.m. to close in the following states: AL, AR AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NM, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WV, and WY.

More details here. Who said there's no such thing as a free lunch? This is much easier than their recent "dress like a cow" promotion!!!

Ready to make a change

I'm about to get personal.* Are you ready to go deep? This is about as deep as I get - in fact, I've debated about whether to post about this whole issue. But I like to keep it real, so I'm going to open up and get vulnerable on you. Get comfy...

*I should warn my non-Christian readers that you will probably not understand my opinions in this post. And this will surely not be a pleasant read for the Feminists out there. If you roll your eyes while reading or want to give me a piece of your mind in a comment, please feel free. Just know that if it's too negative, I'll totally delete it because it's my blog. 'Kay?

Where do I start? Some of this will appear all over the place, so forgive me for the ADD-ness throughout what's likely to be a very long post.

I guess I should start with this series we're going through at church. It's a four-week series titled, "One Month to Live." Two weeks ago, we were presented with the question: "What would be different if you just had one month left to live?" The first thing I thought of is that I would have a better attitude. Now, those of you who know me, know that I'm a really positive person.That's not what I mean. When it comes to my husband and kids (unfortunately, those closest to me) I can have a bit of a 'tude. When I'm annoyed or angry, I'm an open book. I may try to hide my frustration, but it ends up coming out eventually. This is not something I'm proud of and I've gone through my ups and downs over the last 8.5 years of marriage about how well I share my feelings on a subject. Currently, I'm not practicing much self control and I've been wanting to get myself back on track.

In fact, for a visual...have you ever seen Jon & Kate plus 8? Often, I'm snappy like Kate. Most people think it's funny and cute, but when I see how she speaks to her husband, I sink in my seat. Because way too often, that's me. It didn't used to bother me, but a few months ago, I was convicted. I was so disgusted with myself that I was ready to make a change.

The problem was that I have some really bad habits that aren't easy to break. But I figured, admitting that I needed to change was a good first step, right?

Backing up to our church series: that first week, our pastor showed us an interview with a mom of 2 boys. She was told she had 4 weeks to live on the same weekend our pastor announced our upcoming series. She was in her 20s. And single. With kids the same age as mine. I sobbed as I watched the video of this poor girl...a million thoughts running through my mind.

If I had a month to live, I would absolutely speak sweeter to my husband. I would correct my children with the intention of changing their character, not their short-term behavior. I would not scold Ryan for coming out of his room for the hundredth time when he asks for a hug and a kiss, even if I knew he was stalling his bedtime. I would not spend so much time on the office computer while Mike watches t.v. downstairs alone. (by the way, I'm on the laptop while he watches the ASU/NAU game as we speak...) Yes, if I were told I had one month to live, I would make some major changes.

So why wait for such devastating news? Why not live that kind of life today?

That began my journey to change. It was a slow start and I hate to admit it, but not much happened right away.

Fast forward ahead to last week: Mike went on a three day staff retreat for work. (he works for our church) I intended to have a little "boot camp" with the kids to get them back on track because they haven't been behaving well lately. Mike and I often discuss how we want to correct and discipline them, but when it comes down to it, our guidelines are rarely followed and we come off as inconsistent. In my mind, what often happens is when Daddy comes home at night, all of my hard work all day gets contradicted. Sometimes he's too easy on them, but more often he's too harsh. (again, in my opinion)

Things went well Monday and Tuesday with the kids and my principals of the "Have a New Kid by Friday" book were really working. During naptime on Tuesday, I checked my emails and spent a little time surfing blogs. This is where I was slapped around a bit. First, a friend sent me an online personality test that got me thinking. It has pictures to choose from at each stage of the test and when I saw a picture of a mom tossing her daughter in the air, that was not how I wanted to answer the "Where I'd rather be right now..." question. I wished it was where I'd rather be, but regretably, I was pretty glad that my kids were asleep.

Then the first blog I read was a friend whose husband was also away on the retreat with Mike. She mentioned how much she missed him and couldn't wait for him to come home. At first, this touched my heart, then I started feeling a little sad. Of course, I looked forward to seeing Mike the next day, but I wasn't longing for him to return. She also mentioned that he was the "hero of their home." By this time, I was feeling pretty low. Last year, we went through a study called Love and Respect, so I am fully aware that every man yearns to be the hero of their home. Why don't I view Mike that way? The kids see him that way. What is my problem? Pride? Independence? Is it even IN me to be a starry-eyed homemaker who puts her husband up on such a pedestal?

I continued through my blogroll and, no joke, saw this post on Biblical Womanhood. It said:

All of you who are married or hope to be married someday must run over and read this excellent piece by Camilla Brown: 12 Things You Should Not Do To Your Husband.

As wives, we have the incredible responsibility to be the help meet to our husband. This word, "help meet" in the Hebrew ("ezer") literally means "a tower of strength".

Think about that for a minute: Are your actions, attitudes, words, and thoughts bringing strength to your husband? Or are they tearing him down as a man?

If you are married, purpose today to invest your life around serving the Lord by serving your husband. Be his helper, be his encourager, be his biggest cheerleader. Listen to him, notice his needs, praise him, go out of your way to show him love in practical ways. Become a student of your husband--know his likes and his dislikes, his interests, his vision, his passion, his heart.

Let us throw off the garbage we've been fed from feminism, humanism, and egalitarianism, and let us be noble women of virtue and valor, bulwarks of support and love to our husbands!

"A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones." (Proverbs 12:4)

I was near tears when I called my BFF to tell her what a horrible wife I am. As any best friend would do, she talked me off the roof and I got off the phone feeling motivated to do better, no longer discouraged that I'm sabotaging my marriage.

I think as someone with a strong personality, I tend to overpower my husband. And when I disagree with how he disciplines our kids (even when I am appropriate and bring up the issue privately), he feels criticized and it affects his confidence as a father.

My actions, attitudes, words, and thoughts are NOT bringing strength to my husband. And they are very likely tearing him down as a man. Lovely.

Intentionally or not, women set the tone for their homes. I know that in my head, but when the clock strikes 5 and I'm exhausted from a full day with the kids, I rarely put my attitude in check before Mike comes home. And so the "crazy cycle" begins...

Tuesday was a defining day for me. Similar to that of a smoker who finally decides to quit. Or someone finally motivated to start eating better and exercising. Like anyone with a bad habit, I've known what I should be doing. Sometimes I did the right things, sometimes I didn't. Too often I didn't.

I suddenly realized why my kids aren't changing their own attitude and behavior. So many of my issues with Ryan are issues of disrespect. Why on earth would my children respect their parents, grandparents or even each other when I wasn't showing respect to Mike??? THIS was my defining moment. Everything was suddenly so clear.

This three days of Daddy-free time was supposed to get my kids on the right track. Instead, I got a major wake up call. The common denominator is ME. Ouch. Mike isn't perfect, my kids are not perfect. But how I respond to them needs to be less about what they say or do and more about my heart attitude. How quickly I forgot that, as a Christian, I am to live for an audience of One.

My epiphany has changed me and I'm hoping it's permanent. I haven't told Mike about this and honestly, I'm kind of hoping he doesn't read this post. (he doesn't read my blog much, but sometimes he logs in at work to listen to the music...) I'm curious to see how things are different around here without making a big announcement about what God revealed to me.

I made myself a little note card with a checklist in my nightstand that I intend to look at each morning to get my attitude right, first thing in the morning. I'm already seeing differences in the kids, drastic improvements in my mood and much more pleasant interactions with Mike. I've been responding less emotionally to things and I'm not saying a word or so much as raising my eyebrows when I think that Mike is overreacting to Ryan's misbehavior. I'm just letting it go. Unfortunately, I've still lost it a few times with the kids, but it was pointed out to me that slipping up is God's way of humbling me. And that, He does.

I think it's only human to get frustrated when you repeat the same requests to your kids daily. Over. And over. And over. "Don't gargle your milk" and "Use your words, not your hands" (or feet or teeth...) and "Don't bang your fork into the table" (our kitchen table looks like it survived a hail storm). But my new personal goal each day is to give one calm reminder for each "rule" before instituting time out or taking away a privilege. (or a fork...) I tend to think that if I've said it a million times they should remember that things aren't allowed. Like shouting inside the house or stealing toys from each other or interrupting every single conversation I try to have with, "Mommy? Hey, mommy - MOMMMMMMMMMmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

I'm proud that I have been treating Mike with the respect he deserves. As a man, as my husband and as a human being. He deserves better than what I've been offering him. Even when he says something that makes me want to give him a blank stare and whisper, "Are you kidding me?!?" Instead, I just smile sincerely and say, "Hmmm, interesting." Or when we watch a pointless ASU football game that's 30 to nothing on a Saturday night when we could be watching a movie or a show that we both enjoy. (hypothetically speaking, of course) Because he is still a man and we still think very differently.

For those of you who are fighting this whole post because "the husband should be willing to change too" and "it takes two to tango" or would never dream of making this decision for your own relationship, think about the best marriages you know. If you watch these couples, you'll notice that they speak kindly to each other and let the little things go. They serve their spouse and consider their needs above their own, but couples who keep score or are in self-protection mode aren't healthy and likely aren't thriving. It takes one person in the relationship to start this process. I'm not saying my marriage was in trouble because divorce is not an option in our house. But if we're planning on spending the rest of our lives together, wouldn't it make sense that we'd want those years to be happy, pleasant ones??? I'm so ready for more good moments than tough ones. I'm done thinking that this issue is going to solve itself.

We were told at church today that the young, single mom passed away yesterday. We just learned of her situation two weeks ago. It happened that fast. We have one final message left in this "One Month to Live" series and we'll miss it because we're going to the beach next weekend. But I'm confident that God has already spoken to me. I get it. I think I will be forever changed by these realizations. So if you see me, feel free to check in to keep me accountable. And to let me know that someone out there hung with me on this ridiculously long blog post!

If you want to see a follow up post on my "changes" and see how they were received by Mike, click here.

Whole Grain Waffles

These are good, healthy waffles. Not nearly as good as the pancake recipe I recently found, but this will be our standard waffle recipe until I find a better one. (and yes, I'm open to suggestions if you have a great recipe to share) These have such a strong cinnamon aroma that Mike asked me 3 times if I put apples in the batter. He obviously associates cinnamon with apples!

Whole Grain Waffles
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons wheat germ

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch fine salt

2 large eggs (I used 1 egg and 2 whites)

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (I didn't use it, didn't miss it)

1/4 cup peanut or walnut oil (I used canola)

Preheat a waffle iron to medium-high. Whisk the flour with the oats, sugar, wheat germ, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, lightly whisk the eggs, then add the milk, butter, and oil.

Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon, to make a batter. Take care not to over work the batter, it's fine if there are a few lumps.

Pour 1/3 to 1/2 cup of batter per waffle (it depends on the size of your waffle iron) and cook until the outside of the waffle is crisp and inside is cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. (The time varies depending on the size and spread of a waffle iron). Serve warm with maple syrup, powdered sugar or applesauce. Repeat with remaining batter.

Tip: keep waffles warm in a 200 degree oven. You can actually eat a warm breakfast WITH your family for a change!

Random tips for your Labor Day BBQ

Food storage:
Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Wrap celery in aluminum foil in the fridge and it will last for weeks.

To keep potatoes from budding, keep an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

Cooking/Baking:
Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheat Pizza - Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No more soggy microwaved pizza.

Easy Deviled Eggs - Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done - easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting - When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread - To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Measuring Cups - Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Other interesting tips:
Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Newspaper weeds away - Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for- get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass - Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

Reducing Static Cling - Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! ... static is gone.

Reopening envelope - If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Conditioner - Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.

Foggy Windshield - Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth! (you can also hit the A/C button on your vent - even with the heater on in the winter - and it will reduce the moisture in the car so the fog evaporates)

Flexible vacuum - To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Pest control:
No More Mosquitoes - Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away - To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

Goodbye Fruit Flies - To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2 with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants - Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

Phoenix Children's Museum

Today we went with our mom's group to the new Phoenix Children's Museum. It was amazing! It's in an old high school, so it's 3 stories high and has seperated rooms with different themes and activities. There were all of these hands-on, child-sized sensory things for kids to touch, feel, and experience. Within the hour, I was so overstimulated that I stopped with the "Look over here - WOW! Check this out...Hey guys...did you see this cool thing?" and had a seat to just observe. If I was getting myself worked up, I can't imagine how the kids were feeling. I was just so excited with all of the fun stuff there was to see and do - I was like a kid myself! I wish it was in the budget to get an annual pass to this place - maybe next year. It's kind of beyond words, so I'll just narrate some of the pictures I took.

There was a child-sized grocery store with mini-carts, full aisles of food and a stock room in the "back"



Complete with a scale with beans and scoops



And 2 full check out counters (Ryan was checking Kaylin out...it was hilarious)



A kitchen, where Kaylin made "pizza" in a "wood-fired oven" (behind her)



An area with tons of contraptions to drop balls through



A designated area for the under 3 crowd with houses and slides and toys and all sorts of balls and stuff (this is Kaylin standing in the flower bed of one of the houses)



There was an ice cream cart with scoopers and cones

A place with musical things (this picture is hard to see, but there are pedals and levers for the kids to press and it bangs pots and pans, symbols and drums on the wall above.

And while Ryan made a monster mask-turned-hat...



...Kaylin added to the building covered in buttons (she loved putting the paper clips through the holes of the buttons...the things this place came up with for their motor skills was awesome!)...



...and painted a house that changes color every day...



...getting paint everywhere, including in her hair



There was an area with sand and rollers and things to "move" the sand (who needs tools when you have your whole body, Kaylin?)



And an area for kids to "drive" (or be chauffeured, as the case may be)



We spent over an hour in this next section...there was an old car and motorcycle for the kids to climb on (and fill with "gas") and a HUGE contraption to race wooden cars through.



We stayed much longer than most people. I brought us lunch, so after taking two food/rest breaks, the kids continued playing and were so well behaved, I didn't see a need to leave! We finally left just after 1:00 and the place was nearly empty. All of the other moms from our group were long gone. We will definitely be returning - Ryan wants to go tomorrow, but I told him we have to save up enough money to come again. We got over 1/3 off with our group rate, so maybe I'll try to get another group together sometime soon? (Local friends...wanna join us? I'll probably set it up for a Monday or Friday so Ryan won't be in pre-school)

Ryan's new teacher

We had a meeting with Ryan's new teacher this morning. She seems much different than his teacher last year. I remember our meeting being 15 minutes last year; lots of talking, getting to know each other, but this year, we were there for well over an hour, mostly playing. Ryan wanted to play with all of the new toys and bins of tiny pieces and his teacher was very open to that. She seems much more laid back, which I'm hoping will compliment my structured style instead of completely confusing Ryan every day!

I'm looking forward to getting back into our pre-school routine, although I've really enjoyed having the summer off and have gotten used to not rushing around every Tuesday and Thursday. I know he'll enjoy being back in school...he has so much fun there!

300th post and learning that Ryan needs responsibility

First, this is my 300th post. Woo hoo! I realize my 200th post was just in May, so yeah, I've been a blogging fool lately. And what's crazy is that I had 10,000 hits less than a month ago and I'm just a few hundred away from already being at 15,000!!! It took me 7 months to get to 10,000 and only ONE month to get another 5,000. I must be posting something interesting...someone out there is reading what I have to say!

Moving on...I'm feeling a little nostaglic. I had "my girls" over for a play date today. Three of these five girls were among my very first friends in Phoenix and we figured out today that we've known each other almost 10 years! We started a Bible study and all of us were single (Mike and I were "just friends" at the time) and there was only one child between us, Kelsey, who was 4. She's now a freshman in high school and there are a slew of kids in the group. Over the years, a few girls came and left the Bible study, but this is our new core. Unfortunately, we live all over town and are busy with life, so now we hardly see each other. But I'll always love my girls! (This is the group, minus 4 kids who were in school):

And Sunday, you got to see me at 20, now you can see me at 2. How cute was I???

Last, a picture from this morning. We had a big storm last night, which brought in unusually cool weather, so the kids wanted to play on the swingset after breakfast. I was taking too long doing the dishes, so Ryan decided to help Kaylin put her shoes on. Notice Kaylin lounging back, watching him wait on her hand and foot. (pun intended!)

I've realized something in the last couple of days: Ryan desperately needs responsibility. When I don't give it to him, he takes on certain tasks by himself, often getting in trouble. I noticed that this morning...I was still in bed and heard Kaylin emerge from her room before 7:00. (a big no-no...she knows to wait until I come in to get her) I heard Ryan's door open, Ryan gasped, told her to go back to bed and attempted to usher her back to her room, Kaylin refused, Ryan tried picking her up and carrying her, Kaylin screamed...it was not what I wanted to wake up to. But I started seeing that, all day yesterday, Ryan was trying to "help." I'm constantly telling him that this or that is "not your job...it's Mommy and Daddy's job..." yet I've encouraged him to work things out with his sister on his own to avoid tattling.

Have I set this poor kid up for failure? "Try to work it out on your own, but if Kaylin gets mad at how you handle it and screams bloody murder, everyone gets in trouble." I hear him negotiating with her all the time, desperate to get her to comply so he gets his way, whether it's for her benefit or not.

So all day today, I asked him to help me. With everything. And I think it really worked...he felt like he was able to do big-kid things, I felt like I de-throned him from trying to be the third parent in the house to Kaylin, he felt important, Kaylin didn't get annoyed that he was doing things for her that she wants to do herself (because she is simultaneously becoming SUPER independent all of a sudden) - it was a good day.

A love/hate relationship with naps

I love naps. LOVE them! Because I love sleep. But when a good nap makes me toss and turn and get up out of bed after laying there listening to my husband snore for over an hour and a half, well, I stop loving them quite as much.

After eating too much at my birthday dinner last night, I stayed up way past my bedtime, high on chocolate souffle. This morning, the lack of sleep resulted in a snippy mom and an annoying wife, so after church, I laid down for two hours a few minutes to recharge. I slept so soundly that my arm was numb and tingly when I woke up...I feel asleep on my right side and didn't move a muscle.

And here it is, 12:12am AGAIN...and I can't sleep.

In my boredom, however, I came across this blog post that had me trying so hard not to laugh out loud that I was snorting to keep from waking up the whole house. Yes, I'm overtired and a bit giddy, but it's seriously funny stuff. Check it out.

What are 3 things you wish you'd known at 20?

I got this idea from this post and it really got me thinking. Looking back, I had a pretty level head at 20 (no excessive debt, I didn't drink, and it was around that time that I finally started attending my classes at Kansas State and bringing up my grades), but I've grown an awful lot since then. **I scanned a picture of "1996 Katie" for your amusement viewing pleasure. Oh, to have that natural hair color again...

So what would you tell your 20-year-old self if you could go back in time? I'm really curious...I can't wait to see what you guys come up with. Don't be shy! I want everyone to join in on the fun. Here are mine:

1. Stop letting your ex-boyfriend back into your life. He's not worth your time and good news -you won't be the last person you know to get married.

2. Buy a car already...by leasing you're just throwing your money away every month. Someday you'll enjoy not having a car payment!

3. Quit eating cereal and Pasta Roni for dinner. Make a real meal - you're not doing yourself any favors. And wear clothes that fit you...I don't care if "baggy is in," you look frumpy.

Okay, now it's your turn. What would you say to the 20 year old you?

My birthday in a nut shell

You know this won't be short - I don't "do" short blog posts - but I've failed to mention anything about my birthday this week, and since today was the official wrap-up of the festivities, I thought I'd sum it up as briefly as possible. Brief, for me, that is!

Tuesday, August 19th was the big day. I woke up to Mike whispering, "Happy Birthday, honey. I'm off to the gym..." I opened one eye, stared at him (okay, glared at him, inferring, "Are you KIDDING me?") and closed it again. He left anyway. I wasn't mad, I was hurt. My birthday would just be any regular day. Dealing with dressing and feeding the kids by myself, nothing special about the morning, blah, blah, wah, wah.

I laid there for a bit before getting up and dressed, then suddenly heard the garage door. (Keep in mind that our gym is 15 minutes away and Mike had left less than half an hour earlier, so he couldn't have done his workout) Ryan ran downstairs to greet him and I heard rustling and whispering. I went downstairs to a birthday card from him, one "signed" from the kids, a dozen roses and some donuts (who doesn't love processed sugar on their birthday?). He felt guilty and redeemed himself. Good man!!!

He came home from work to take me to Sauce for lunch while I left the kids with a neighbor. I discovered a delicious turkey chopped salad with feta and corn kernals and pine nuts...it was divine. We ended the day with dinner at my mom's with my grandparents, aunt and cousin (my grandmother and I share a birthday) which was nice.

Fast forward to yesterday when Mike took the day off and whisked me away to a hotel in Scottsdale for the night. Looking back, I don't think the place was as bad as we made it out to be, but at the time, we were both severely disappointed at every turn.

The room was fine, nothing special. The pool was just a pool. (I specifically remembered them bragging about it in the ad, something about kid-friendly with mention of a non-existent waterslide...I must have confused it with another place) We went into the restaurant and there was an overwhelming smell of old people. We sipped drinks by the pool and it smelled like poo. Seriously...a dog must have done his business in the bushes...it was ripe. What's funny is that as we were sitting there, laughing about how this place didn't meet any of our expectations, Mike said, "You're going to blog about this, aren't you? I can see it now...'Mike's heart was in the right place, but the fact that the restaurant smelled like a nursing home and Aunt Flow visited a few days early to intrude upon the weekend getaway were only two of the details that really sucked the romance out of the air...'"

Overall, we had a nice time. We dropped the kids off at his mom's house before naptime on Friday and went to the Nordstrom cafe for lunch (one of my favorites), walked around the mall for a few hours (Did you know that Armani has a store? With a live DJ??? Only in Scottsdale...) then ate dinner at Oregano's (locals - we scarfed down Pizookie for dessert...YUM). Afterward, we were going to be a pathetic old couple and crash a nightclub to go dancing, then decided they didn't open early enough and wanted to hit one of the only drive-ins left in Arizona, which was fairly close, but didn't think we'd be able to hang for the 4 hour double feature. SO we were boring and hung out in our room, talking and reading. Don't judge...we are fully aware that we're not cool anymore...

What's funny is that we ran into my friend, Melissa, at the hotel. Mike always shakes his head when we walk around our church campus on the weekends because he says I know more people than he does and he works there. He says I run into people I know everywhere. And sure enough, Melissa was having a retreat with some friends at the same random hotel in Scottsdale. This world is SO small...

We turned around and ate out for all 3 meals today. I can't remember the last time I ate out 5 times in a single month, let alone 5 meals in a row!!! And the sugar I've consumed in the last week is off the charts. After my mom brought the kids over to swim, she took them home to nap and we spent the day in Scottsdale catching up on some shopping. The only thing that kept Mike "with me" was that he was on a mission to find some new shorts. In the meantime, I stumbled upon a today-only denim sale at Old Navy and stocked up on $7 jeans for both kids. SCORE! I'm still on a high from that savings. Mike found his shorts, I bought some clearance clothes for the kids and a shirt for myself. (everyone had stuff on clearance!!) I also found a bowl and vase at Marshall's for $6 each. One is exactly what I've been looking for on the front hall table and the other will hold a huge floral arrangement on my dining room table. (whenever the craft store has their next sale on silk flowers)

We finished the day off with a child-free dinner at White Chocolate Grill with Mike's family. I love that place - the food was delish and I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I came home tonight to a crying Ryan who missed us and didn't want to go to bed, 35 new emails, 65 unread posts in my Bloglines list, and a kitchen table full of bargain shopping treasures. Ready to get back to reality...

I scored some great birthday gifts, in addition to what's already been mentioned:

* A signed copy of Grace Based Parenting, inscribed, "To Katie, Blessings for Kaylin and Ryan" from my mom, whose best friend is friends with the Kimmel's.

* Money toward getting my hair colored (just a couple of months until I bust out of my shell and go DARK!)

* A whole kitchen-themed assortment from my in-laws: a popcorn maker, a grill pan and griddle for the stove and two cookbooks that I've wanted.

* A Target gift card from my aunt - I love gift cards!!!

Happy 32nd Birthday to ME!

Pink Piggy Pancakes

Friends, I found it. The perfect pancake recipe!!! I've looked high and low and I think these taste restaurant-quality. The recipe, coupled with my new Food Network tip that if you overbeat pancakes to get all the lumps out, they'll be tough. *THAT'S why my pancakes are never fluffy?!?!?* Being a semi-perfectionist has it's downfalls...

This morning, Ryan asked for red pancakes and it got me thinking: I remembered a pancake recipe in the Deceptively Delicious cookbook that had pureed beets and, sure enough, we got beets in our basket at the produce co-op recently.

Hmmm...if I added more liquid (the puree) I'd have to add more dry ingredients, right? So while I was at it, why not sneak in some flax seed?

By the time I was done, I had complicated the recipe up quite a bit, but made it significantly healthier. And for those of you who like heathy, especially when it's delicious...THIS is for you. Here's what I came up with. Also, I divided the original ingredients list by 2/3 because our family isn't as big. (You can easily omit the beets and flax seed and I think that would keep the consistency. If not, add a little milk at the end.)

Pink Piggy Pancakes

2 eggs
1 cup nonfat, plain yogurt
1.5 cups milk
4 T. vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup pureed beets
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup flax seed meal (fresh ground seeds is healthiest - I use our coffee grinder)
2 T. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt

Mix wet ingredients first, then stir in the dry ingredients. DO NOT beat out the lumps to much or the pancakes will be tough. If the mixture is too thick for your taste, gradually add milk to thin it to your liking. Cook on a hot, sprayed griddle until golden brown. The leftovers freeze very well.

Yields: 12 pancakes (feeds my hungry family with a few leftover)

To make the piggies, make one large pancake and two smaller ones. Cut on of the smaller ones in 1/2 for the ears and use 2 chocolate chips for the eyes and 2 for the snout. (I got this idea from the Mom Advice blog - click here for her other kid recipes)

A buttermilk tip: if you make the original recipe that I linked to above, but don't have buttermilk, for every 1 cup of milk, you can add either 1 T. fresh lemon juice OR 1 T. white vinegar and let it sit for 5 minutes before adding it to your mixture. When I know something calls for buttermilk, I always do that first and let it sit while I get out the rest of the ingredients.

Be Still My Heart

Overheard after dinner tonight...

(Kaylin said something to Ryan that I didn't hear...) Ryan responded, "I know, sweetie. And even though I sometimes get angry with you, I still love you."

Kaylin stood up and spread her arms open for a hug, kissed her big brother and said, "I lub you too, Ryan!"

On a less sentimental note, they have a recent obsession with pretending to be asleep - I've been wanting to post this picture and don't have another recent one of them together, so here ya go!

Learning the hard way

Ryan had a tough lesson tonight. I followed through with the "let reality be the teacher" concept that we've been using. And this time, it stung.

I should back up a bit: today was the day Mike's mom babysits so I can work from home and, unfortunately, all three of them all had a really rough day. Barb seemed especially tired/overwhelmed and the kids didn't cut her any slack. Being that I'm just upstairs and there's no door on our "office," I heard much of the drama throughout the day. And I wasn't in the mood to deal with the disrespect and disobedience once she left!

So after having the kids apologize to Barb for their behavior, I got down on Ryan's level, explained that his attitude throughout the day had been unacceptable and told him that it was going to end. Immediately. Otherwise he'd spend the rest of the evening in his room. I'm not one to make threats, I generally just go straight for the discipline if needed, but it was apparent that he needed some motivation to behave.

Things went fairly smoothly through dinner - not perfect, but much better than what I'd overheard all day. As we were cleaning up, I mentioned to Mike that our Cold Stone coupons were getting ready to expire. (Kaylin and I each got a free ice cream for our birthdays this week and I figured if we used them on the same day, we could pay for a couple of kids' ice creams and be out of there for under $5. If you're interested, the link to register your family's birthdays is here) So, despite the hard day, we were going out for ice cream.

On the drive there, Kaylin shouted, "OW!" I asked what happened and discovered that Ryan hit her on the arm in the backseat. This has happened several times this week and nothing I was doing was working. I didn't know what to try next.

In keeping with the "Have a New Kid by Friday" book's idea of taking away major privileges when a disrespectful attitude/behavior occurs, I sucked it up and did it. No ice cream.

And, just as the book said would happen, Ryan had a light bulb moment. He immediately went into "I won't hit Kaylin anymore! I'm so sorry!!! I really want ice cream - I won't hit Kaylin again!" Too late. I explained that little boys who hit their sisters don't get ice cream. Period.

We went to Cold Stone, all of us picked out our flavors with our mix-ins, and Ryan got nothing. He watched. He didn't even have a tantrum because he knew he deserved this punishment. Several times, his eyes filled with tears and he buried his head against the counter to hide how upset he was, but he didn't throw a fit that he wasn't getting his own ice cream with "teddy bears" (Gummy Bears) in it. Actually, this surprised me a bit.

Each of us gave him one bite of our ice cream and the rest of the time, the poor kid just sat there gazing longingly. I felt a little cruel doing this, but I'm 95% sure this hitting thing is now over. I purposely commended him several times on how well he was doing and that I understood how hard it must be for him to watch us eat ice cream right in front of him. (And believe me, there was no, "Yummmmmmmmm! This ice cream is soooooooooooo goooooooooood. Ryan, you're really missing out..." or anything like that. There was no need to rub his nose in it. He got it.)

This was as effective as the soap. (I don't think I followed up on that, by the way. Ryan no longer says potty words or OMG - the soap really did the trick and I haven't used it in weeks.) I only wish there were more "major" privileges to take away...our life is pretty simple! It's taking longer for him to understand that I mean business when he doesn't feel the loss of the thing I restrict him from, ya know?

My windows have been mistreated

I would hardly call these "window treatments," but I can't wait to show off what I've been doing over the last week.

If you're looking for something cheap-ish, quick-ish and easy (I don't sew, so these were right up my ally) to do to your windows, this is it. Last weekend, I noticed some cornice boxes in my friend Cathy's kitchen. She briefly told me how she did them and I was on a mission. As early as the next morning. They were all done a week later!

Saturday: I bought the fabric and batting

Sunday: I spent an hour at Lowe's (with a total of 7 men working together to help me...they just love a damsel in distress who's doing a project involving wood)

Sunday afternoon: Mike connected the side pieces to the longer pieces

Monday: Cathy came over with her staple gun to help me attach the fabric to the wood

Friday: my mom brought over some extra chocolate brown fabric to add some detail (and to cover up a cutting error...) to the downstairs cornices

Saturday: Mike hung them all up

The process of making these seemed really quick and easy, likely because I never spent more than an hour doing any one step. Materials include: wood (Lowe's or Home Depot will do all of the cuts for you), L-brackets, screws, fabric, batting, staples for the staple gun. That's it!!!

In my craft room (click on the picture to see the fun stitching)...

In the family room...

A different accent in the kitchen, but similar concept...

If you want to recreate these, measure the width of your window plus about 3 inches on each side for the length of the cornice and cut 2 side pieces that are 3-6 inches wide. (I did 6" and think they stick out a little too much, but Mike had plenty of room to move around with his drill when hanging them) Next, I'm going to use this gray-blue and chocolate brown fabric to do something to our office window...but I need a creative break, so it will be a while. (can you tell I'm into brown???)

Tea for Two

Kaylin got a teeny tea set for her birthday and Ryan helped her set up her first tea party tonight. (PS - she also got a bunch of dress up stuff, hence the tiaras and the tutu) Notice that Ryan was putting his napkin on his lap, which we haven't even started encouraging yet!

Yes, I let my son wear a tiara to a tea party. I must say, however, that I stopped the cross dressing behavior at polishing his nails (despite his begging) 10 minutes before this picture was taken, when I was polishing Kaylin's fingers and toes.

Kaylin's 2nd Birthday, Part 4 - It's OVER!

Is it bad to say that I'm SO glad Kaylin's birthday is over? She seems to have a really tough time being the center of attention. I'm realizing that she did well at the pool party today because she was kind of left alone except during the cupcakes and gifts.

But tonight, she seemed to have a permanent scowl on her face. Especially while opening dozens of gifts from my in laws. No joke! Ryan was trying so hard to pleasantly hand her each gift (though he was SO tempted to open them), asking politely if he could help her tear off the paper (to which she always snapped, whined or yelled, "NO!") and he was completely tormented with the fact that he didn't get to see what was inside all of the pretty packages.

She finally refused to open any more presents, so the guys (Mike, his brother, his dad and Ryan) went swimming while the girls stayed inside assembling the new grocery cart. Once the crowd was outside, Kaylin returned to normal. My little split-personality child became sweet, helpful and delightful to be around in a matter of seconds. My mother-in-law and I were baffled. She must truly hate the attention - it's the only explanation!

Once the guys came inside, we ditched the remaining wrapped presents and went to dinner at Red Robin. Kaylin did enjoy being sung to for 30 seconds, but the rest of the time, I made sure no special attention was drawn to her. Isn't that sad? At HER birthday dinner??? But I swear that's what kept the meal enjoyable.

So that's it. The birthday's over and I'm very ready to get back to our regular lives where everyone seems most comfortable with Ryan being the center of attention. Seriously...it's like she finally decided to start acting "stereotypically two" the day before her birthday.