Kicks and Giggles

Don't kids say the darndest things? I have three kids, and this is a conversation that I had with my 4 year old boy at church.

Me: Bronson, sit down, you need to be quiet in church
Bronson: why?
Me: Because this is Jesus' house
Bronson: This is Jesus' house?...
Me: Yep.
Bronson: (looks around) Well, where is he?
Me: um....you can't see him
Bronson: Why? Is he playing hide-and-go-seek?
Me: No...you just can't see him, because HE isn't here.
Bronson: Well, if he doesn't have to be here, then why do I have to be here?

I have been trying some new recipe's lately and this is one worth sharing.

Black Bean Soup

1 medium onion chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 jalapeno chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
Three 15oz cans of black beans
1 quart reduced sodium chicken broth
1 can corn (mexican blend) - optional

Heat oil in large saucepan.  Add the onion, peppers and jalapeno.  Cook until veggies are soft then add garlic and cook for one more minute.

Stir in the beans and broth.  Simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove half of the soup and puree in a blender.  Add puree blend back into the pan with the other soup and stir in canned corn.

Heat until ready to serve.

Serve with salsa, cheese, sour cream, avocados, tortilla chips etc.


Tip:  This was my first time chopping up a jalapeno.  After I was done, my hands felt like I had burned them in hot oil.  I guess I missed the memo about wearing gloves when working with jalapeno's!

If you're learning and you know it shout Hurray!

You have all seen these before right?!

I know these Holiday cookies aren't a new trend as of this year.  Everyone joined the 'marbled cookie' craze last year!!

BUT....

I would just like to report that we are never too old, or too busy or too lazy or too clumsy to learn new skills.  We don't have to live in Utah where every woman on the block can weave her own wool!

Talented and Highly Motivated people are always posting tutorials on the web.  Sitting up to the computer is every bit as profitable as being taught by someone in the room.  Not to mention the fact that you can sit in your underwear while watching a tutorial but if you invite a talented friend over to teach you.....Well, gee, you have to clean the house, bake a treat AND have your makeup on.

After watching a tutorial on sweetopia.net, I was successful at producing These:

Other tutorials I have enjoyed this year include:

Making a Pine Cone Wreath

Crocheting Hair Bow Flowers.
and
Starting your Own Website.
(still in process on that one.  Not easy my friends, not easy)

All successful.  All fun.  All Rewarding!

Glorious Gumballs!

Over the summer, when we realized my husband would be working out-of-state for a period of time, we decided it was time to have our 8 year old start learning how to mow the lawn.  We decided on the small allowance of $2.00 each time he mowed the lawn and passed it off to our liking, which entailed not having too many grass "mow-hawks" sticking up all over the place.  Money proved to be very motivational for him over the summer, but now we have been struggling to find something that all of our little kids want bad enough that they are willing to help do jobs without being told too many times by mom.  So far, in the last couple weeks, I have found the most motivational method of reward for my kids to be the chance of earning a large gumball.  This has proved to be more effective at getting immediate results than anything else lately.  So, I thought it might be fun for any other moms to post pictures or descriptions of their most effective reward systems for their children, whether it be for doing jobs around the house, yard work, bed wetting, etc, so we can compare and possibly acquire new creative methods.

It Doesn't Take a Mind-Reader!

So after months and months of being sick and pregnant and having 6 kids in my home daily, four under the age of 3, I broke down crying one day and told my husband that I think I just needed to get out of the house each week and hoped he could help facilitate it.   With his job keeping him crazy busy, and of course, his necessary gym work-outs that were "not fun" (he assured me), I was unsure of what time was actually leftover over and available for me during the week.  In all honesty, the answer to this question seemed to be like the gloomy words of a flashing neon sign at an old motel-- "no vacancy."  After what I felt like was a hopeless conversation, he looked me in the eye and told me to schedule my personal time on the calendar if it was necessary because he "wasn't a mind-reader."   Did I really need him to read my mind?  Did I not spell it out in perfect words that i needed a break?  Why did it even need to be spelled out...could he not see the chaos created by 6 small children?  Did I crave the impossible?  I just wanted him to say, "take the night for you" without me having to schedule it so that my night out was totally guilt-free and enjoyable.  Why is that too much to ask?  Does not every man know that guilt-free golf is way better than the golf that requires an explanation for the fresh tan lines acquired on a supposed work day?  Men, F.Y.I., girls night outs are like guilt-free golf...necessary for sanity.  It doesn't take a mind-reader to figure this out!

Casting the line

I am sure that just about every woman has had the experience of nurturing a friendship with a high maintenance person.  If you find yourself perplexed over whether or not you have, you may want to consider the possibility that YOU may be the high maintenance half. 

Let's conduct a short questionnaire to aid you in deciding whether or not you are a high maintenance friend.

1.  Do you expect your girl friends to go out with you for a girls night regularly?

2.  Do you get angry if your girlfriends do not text you every day?

3.  Do you feel offended if your girlfriend doesn't respond to your daily texts immediately?

4.  Do you ask your friend to watch your kids, run errands with you or mend your clothes?

5.  Do you rope your friends into projects that you want done, but you don't really want to be the one to complete them?

6.  Do you call your friend up at 11pm and ask them to come to your home to see if you hung your picture too high or to tell you if your outfit looks better with a necklace or a bracelet?

*if you answered yes to three or more of these questions....... You are a high maintenance friend.

Granted, every woman loves to have close girlfriends.  Those of us that are low maintenance can often identify (right away) what we are getting ourselves into.  

Some of my most lovable friends ask a lot of me.  Most of the time I am too much of a chicken to say "NO", or "That won't work for me"

Is it safe to say that the chicken and the high maintenance women are drawn to each other?

Is that because some women just need a girlfriend they can boss around, or because the chicken needs to be needed?

Well..... This week I thought of this saying.

Give a man a fish,

Feed him for a day.

Teach a man to fish,

Feed him for a lifetime.

This saying came to my mind last night as I looked at a pile of 15 pairs of pants that my girlfriend asked me to hem for her.  She gave them to me at 3pm and wanted them done by 8am.

Naturally, there was some sort of disconnect when my brain tried to send the word "NO" to my lips.

After she left, I felt angry.

I was feeling overwhelmed with my motherly responsibilities, the upcoming holiday and the fact that we are relocating half way across the country in less than a month.

(It was at that point that this beautiful fishing analogy came to my mind)

I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the fishing lesson.

I marched those pants back to my friend's home and told her that next week we will be casting our lines into Sewing 101.

Like it or not, I will not do all her dirty work for her.  However, I WILL devote an entire day to teaching her a skill that she will need for the rest of her life.

Amidst all the frustrations of nurturing this kind of friendship, I think we are both learning a great deal from each other!

I havent' heard a woman say that she loves to string a new fishing line; or untangle the hook from a near by tree.  I don't know a woman that loves to sit for hours on a boat with no sign of the bobber bobbin; or gut a fish after the idea of catch and release failed.

But.....  If you find yourself on the boat with a person that you can giggle with and cry with, for those few short hours.........it is worth the work!