Dog Days of Spring Snow

Come on!

Just be thankful that your computer isn't equipped with smell. WET DOG.....that won't be offered at the Bath and Body Works any time soon.

Off to the groomers! Hold your nose!
This is the Bark N Wash! (Cute name!!) Boy #2 snagged himself a weekend job there. Saturday was his first day. He had a blast but once again the smell...Yikes. I asked him to put his clothes right into the laundry. Our laundry room is the first room you enter from the garage.....so I started looking for the clothes and he says I put them in the laundry in my room! NOT the laundry hamper!! Can you imagine if those wet doggie clothes were left in the laundry while we were on vacation? Aaaaaaahhhhhh! Have I mentioned my Bionic Nose Lately?

Lovely Shower...

I had the opportunity to throw a baby shower for two baseball coaches wives who are both due a week apart! I love a baby shower!

Pu22y Willows from my neighbors yard...

Remember this typing table from the Gee-Dub? It looks so cute here. I didn't do a thing to it! This is the original industrial green color.

Liberty of Londen Watering Can (Target)

The Spread

Cream for your coffee?

I love metal scoops!
Doing the flowers is my favorite part of throwing a party... I'm not kidding!

Oh by the way.....No I didn't take any pictures of the actual Moms-to-be...was that important? I hope no one asks me for one! Ooops!

16 Years Ago Today....

This screaming baby boy was welcomed into this world~ Happy Birthday Sweet P! He's much happier now!!

Spring in Colorado

This is how we celebrate Spring in Colorado, a snow day and a sheepdog full of snow. (that will melt in the house) I declare today a pajama day! Hooray!!

I can stop blogging now...

Okay I can stop blogging now. Eddie Ross commented on my other blog

http://alittlejunkinmytrunk.blogspot.com/2010/03/eddie-ross.html . I do not care if it was his assitant or the assistant to the assistant, or even Jaithin's assistant. The point is that......well I'm not sure exactly, but I'm over the moon! It's nice when a little stalking pays off isn't it!

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Did you happen to watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on ABC last night? Dang those were some mean lunch ladies! Come to think of it have you ever met a nice one? I felt sorry for Jamie......I think he felt pretty sorry for himself for that matter.

The lunch ladies thought that Jamie was picking on America, or West Virginia to be more specific, but if you have ever watched "You Are What You Eat" on the BBC America, you would see that the format is very similar for British families who are feeding their own kids junk.

Jamie's website explains that: "Jamie's Food Revolution is all about replacing junk, snacks and processed food with freshly cooked nutritious meals – in schools and at home." That is sad that we have to call common sense a revolution, but it's true.

I've packed my kids lunches for the past few years. When I was a teacher in the elementary school you cringed if you ever forgot to bring your own lunch. I would rather go hungry than eat from the cafeteria! First of all they always smell disgusting! The lunch ladies are rushing you and grouchy, the food questionable to say the least, and warm milk makes me want to hurl.

Our elementary school like most, if not all, scheduled recess AFTER lunch. So boy #1 would buy lunch, throw it away and go play basketball. Then he came home with a migraine twice a week because he would rather play than eat.

I'm not sure what the solution is, but we need to do something!!

(Mom you can quit reading here if you would like) I sat in on a Senate hearing about two years ago for an unrelated bill. The first bill to be presented was taking soda vending machines out of schools, and the republicans shot down the bill due to "government over-involvement". WHAT? I have a feeling that if you asked each of the people who voted against the bill if they believed that kids should be able to drink sodas with lunch I would like to believe that they would say NO. Their public reply is that parents should govern their children NOT the government. Good point.....have you seen the average parent? Looks to me like they've had a soda or two.

Ignorance of the law is not a legal defense. It shouldn't be in the home or schools either. Just because a parent is ignorant of healthy food choices does that make it okay? No it doesn't. Sometimes people need a little guidence. (or alot)

Sign Jamie's Petition for a healthy change!

Okay mom you can start reading again. I'm done with political speeches.

That's My Boy........I Mean Our Boy!

My son who I refer to as #1 around here (on this blog) had the opportunity to play baseball on Coors Field (Where the Colorado Rockies play) yesterday. He just got moved up to Varsity this week, and he has been over the moon! It was such a beautiful spring day in Colorado, sunny and warm, perfect baseball weather. We could not be more proud of him! Yes, he even got a great hit!

My husband's friends were saying to me....do you have any idea how amazing this is??? I'm clueless when it comes to sports, but even I knew it was a big deal!!

Today the wind is howling, and we have about 6 inches of snow on the ground so far. It could not have been played at a better time! That is Spring Baseball in Colorado for you!

I don't even have a title.....

Last night I overhear this conversation between my two sons....(ages: 14 and 16 )

#1 What's up with the toilet?

#2 I don't know

#1 Come look

#2 Ewww that is gross!

(Sound of flushing)

#1 OOooohhhh dude that is going to overflow.....

Silence................more silence................the silence is killing me...... I finally yell out......"What exactly is going on with the toilet?"

#1 Come look

I wish there were words to describe the scene of a bathroom. But you wouldn't want me to, trust me.......I notice that #1 is lounging against the wall texting and #2 has gone back to the video game.

Were they just going to live with it that way? I tell #1 to start plunging and he begins to gag, no not figuratively REAL gagging, eyes watering, pale face......you get it.

So I am plunging my little heart out and I realize that #1 has gone back to lounging against the doorframe texting happily and #2 is taxing France for some tariff or something on his video game.

I am getting NOWHERE plunging so I do what every mother in need does, I Google it..........someone mentions "the snake" on a message board, Wait! we have one of those!! I go get the snake, put on some rubber gloves and get to work. I ask #1 to call my husband and ask if I'm using the snake correctly. At this point he threatens to take a picture of me knee deep in muck with a toilet snake, in my pjs and rubber gloves. It may have been then that I threatened his life. So he calls my husband at work and attempts to hand me the phone......WHAT HAND? I am not in any position to actually touch anything at the moment, and I am trying not to go ape on someone....so he says, "you look upset, is something wrong?" Ahhh boys......they grow up to be men remember that.........

So I snake that baby for all it's worth and fix the clog.......Hoooray Mommy!

Now how does one get the snake from the upstairs to the garage without infecting the entire house? About a bajillion Clorox wipes is how.

Now I'm feeling like I need the Silkwood Decontaminating Shower and to burn down half my house. I strip in the garage, throw away the gloves, run back up to my room, throw away my toothbrush, (I don't know, it just made me feel better) take a boiling hot shower, re-wash my hands, and go back to bed.

I hear #1 go into the bathroom and close the door.......I yell, "You better not be....." I will let you guess the rest.

So son #1 comes in and says, "are you going to blog about this?" and I say, "absolutely NOT, that was disgusting!!" and here we are..

A Little Green Clean....

I love Mrs. Meyer's Cleaning Products, they are safe for the environment, AND they smell delicious! My favorite is the Lemon Verbena, and now my regular grocery store carries them. My newest finds are the Automatic Dishwashing Liquid, and the dryer sheets.

Your house will smell so clean and delicious! On the packaging it says,

"...they also provide a special, singular fragrance for your entire home."

All the crazies like me know how really important that really is!

You can find the products at Home Goods occasionally, and Target carries them as well.

Ooohh and the special holiday fragrance Iowa Pine will make you want to move to Iowa! Yum...

If you go to the Mrs. Meyer's website you can get $5.00 off of a $25.00 purchase for signing up for emails. Weeee! I bought the Laundry Detergent, Softener, and Room Spray. (I can't find those products around here yet.)

Delicious cleaning works for me!

Oh Dear...

This past Saturday night I finally got my Family Game Night! We played Scene It- The Seinfeld edition. My boys TIVO Seinfeld, and they seem to watch it 10 times a day, so that seemed perfect. Well let me just tell you that I kicked some serious hiney! So at the end of the game after I won in this nail biting finish barely in front of my younger son I exclaim,

Joan H@#$tt is the winner!......(Que record scratch)

What? Joan H@#$tt is my mom. (I kept her name private just in case of a Google search.....she has an important job you know!)

Sometimes I accidentally refer to myself with my maiden name even though I've been married for almost 20 years. But MY MOM?!

Mom, not only did I think you were 40, and I look exactly like you, but now I think I AM you!

I laughed so hard that I started to cry, but the good news is that I didn't keep crying because I was so embarrassed at these intermittent brain cramps! That's progress!

Weird.

Starbucks Shaken Iced Tea

I am addicted to Starbucks Shaken Iced Tea. I know I'm not the only only one. Do you know why it is so good? I will tell you, because they shake it. Seriously. There is nothing worse than A)instant iced tea.....B)Warm iced tea poured over an ice cube giving you warm watered down tea....ICK!

Soooo here's what you do. Run over to the Targee and get yourself a Martini Shaker (preferably a metal of some sort), but if all you can find is plastic that will work too!

Starbucks uses Tazo Awake for the Black Iced Tea...(I've done the research) but any good black tea will work.

Steep one tea bag (for one person) in a regular mug with hot water (NOT boiling) for three minutes, and then pour into your shaker with tons of ice, and if you want to add the sweetener/flavorings/lemon/lime..do it now...the ice will dilute the tea a little, but that's okay. Now pull in your core muscles and shake that baby for 50 shakes, ... you heard me 50, anything less and well.....trust me go 50.

Pour shaken tea over more ice and you will have COLD, delicious, perfectly blended iced tea at home.

See how the Martini Shaker is all frosty...that is why metal works best! It makes it all chilled and deeelicious!

I used a Ginger Simple Syrup for mine because I'm on a serious ginger kick at the moment. Just combine 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of water and a 1 inch chunk of peeled ginger, (you could also throw in a vanilla bean right about now) bring to a simmer, and when the sugar has dissolved take off the burner and steep for an hour or so. Take out the piece of ginger and save it for crystallized ginger. Yummm!
I know I've given this process a little more thought than most of you, but that's okay, I have the time to think of these things so you don't have to! You're welcome.
Now.....put this shaken iced tea in a plastic cup with a lid and a straw...call me crazy, but the cup from Starbucks is one of the selling features! If you have Smart N Final by you...1) I'm jealous 2) you can find bio-degradable cups!!! Weee! (Ahhh simple pleasures)

Smitten with Smitten Kitchen

I sent a care package to my uncle who wasn't feeling well.

(Don't worry I asked my mom if he was diabetic first!)
I am Smitten with Smitten Kitchen!
I used her "Jacked Up Banana Bread Recipe"

3 to 4 ripe bananas, smashed

1/3 cup melted salted butter

3/4 to 1 cup light brown sugar (depending on the level of sweetness you prefer, I always use the smaller amount)

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon bourbon (optional)(I used Brandy)

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Pinch of ground cloves

1 1/2 cup of flour (I used White Whole Wheat)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla and bourbon, then the spices. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4×8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to one hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

I've used my mini loaf pan in the past, it takes about 16-20 minutes.

The Pioneer Woman

Ree and I are tight!! Okay not really but my taco seasoning recipe was mentioned today in a round about way! Weeeeeeeee!
First you have to go here......http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/03/ingenuity/

Then click on the link to the Tasty Kitchen blog.


Then click on Homemade Taco Seasoning......That's me!!


I'm sooooo almost famous in a round about, few clicks, look hard sort of way! I don't need any of the paparazi bothering me anyway.

Sneaky Works for Me!

I love making healthy dinners for myself and my two boys BUT they can be a little tricky. The older one just goes for volume, so he's easy to please, the younger one will inspect every detail of his food, just in case you've decided to put something healthy in there.
Since I enjoy a little drama in my stay-at-home life, I "sneak" healthy food into them without them knowing. Yeah, my life is pretty boring. Soooo Organic Broccoli Slaw is the best item in the grocery store for sneaky-ness! It is just broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and red cabbage all shredded and indistinguishable from it's former self. You can put it in stir-fry, salads, pasta sauce (just pulse in the food processor a few times) where-ever you like.
For some reason they don't love Asian Chicken Chicken as much as I do. (man thing)But it amazing what you can throw in it! Green apple, spouts, almonds, sunflower seeds, Mandarin oranges....yummmmm!
Sneaky cooking works for me!
~do you love my wooden salad bowl set? Two words Gee Dub.

Score!

Look at this cute little guy begging for a re-do! Can't wait to show you the after!!

Come over to my other blog http://www.alittlejunkinmytrunk.blogspot.com/ to see the rest of the loot!

Guess Who Got Thrown Under the Bus?

Sundays are great because we are all home together. My husband's work schedule is crazy during the week, so weekends at home are a luxury. Once we start baseball season it will be OVER, weekends will be spent on the diamond. So I was looking forward to GAME NIGHT! and our family's tradition of Chinese Food delivery every Sunday. Well my older son says, "How about Jim and Nick's BBQ, instead of Chinese tonight." Because I'm Eddie Murphy's mom, I think, "I can make that myself, but BETTER!". So I head off to the store, buy all of the boys favorite foods, go home make EVERYTHING from scratch and organic. Pop some chocolate chip cookies in the oven, turn on the grill OUTSIDE for a change, the weather is beautiful, it is a great Sunday!

Then his friend-girl (not to be confused with a girlfriend) texts him to come over for a fantasy baseball draft, and in one second I'm laying flat on my back under the bus.

I should probably get comfortable under there. Wow, it happens fast.

Oh by the way, the boy that threw me under the bus LOVES root beer so I concocted the yummiest Root Beer BBQ Sauce EVER! No he wasn't there to eat it but the rest of us did and it was Deeee-licious!

Recipe

1 Root Beer (the natural kind that has sugar, not corn syrup)

1 cup Orange Marmalade (I used to think it was disgusting, but it's good!)

1 cup Ketchup

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 tablespoon brown mustard

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons Worcester sauce

1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke

Pour Root Beer into sauce pan and simmer until it is reduced by half. Add the rest of the ingredients and warm through. You can keep it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. It is sooooo goood!

Goodwill Glamour

One of my chairs was featured on Better After! http://betterafter.blogspot.com/2010/03/chair-palooza.html

Go check it out!! Nothing better than a little Goodwill Glamour!

My original post: here

Laundry Re-Do

I have a "dead space" in my bank of cabinets in the laundry room. It was a hot mess. The designated hanger was broken, so everything was just shoved in there. Frequently it all would come crashing down in the middle of the night. I needed a quick solution.
Lowe's Website had a great idea for a gift wrapping station, so I dedided to make it fit my cleaning needs!

I started by emptying out my mess and measuring for the pegboard.
I made pencil lines for the 1X2's.
I built a "frame" out of 1X2's an attached them to the wall.

I spray painted the pegboard white.
I attached some wall clips to the outside of my cabinets

to hold my many Swiffers.

Ta Da! Do you like it?

Now it looks organized and put together. The best part is that it is hidden from view!
All in a days work!

Why my husband is reponsible for me being in Menopause

Okay so for about three weeks in a row I was waking up Drenched in Sweat! Not spritzed or glowing, but wring your pajama shirt out, hair dripping SWEAT! I swear I thought that I was going to spontainously combust! (Did you watch That's Incredible! in the '70's? Then you would know what I'm talking about.)

I just couldn't believe it! I'm in my early 40's, I just had my hormones checked and they said everything was fine, dang! I don't want to be an old lady!

Sure enough the other night, I wake up in the seventh level of Hell, heart pounding, sweating, all twisted up in the covers, and I notice a little glow under one of the pillows.

We have dual controls on the heated mattress cover......(are you following this)...and my side was cranked up to HIGH! What the What?! I turned that thing off!!...Turns out, in the crazy, jacked up, all over the bed routine my husband calls sleep, he had been sleeping on the control for the past three weeks and turning my side up to HIGH when everyone knows I turn into an oven in my sleep.

Menopause solved.

The end.