Ice hoarder

I played a funny on Jed, except I was the only one who thought it was funny. . . .which is all that matters.

I knew we were going to the lake on Sunday, so on Saturday I started taking the ice from the ice bin and dumping it in a plastic sack. Why you might ask? Because the store near the lake is closed, and there's no where to buy ice. That's why.

So I was being super proactive and frugal, by hoarding ice for two days so we'd have enough to fill the cooler and keep our drinks chilled. Being I'm the only one in this house who thinks further out than 20 seconds at a time, I'm also the only one that knew I was doing this.

Meanwhile, Jed came inside and wanted to make iced tea. He stood at the ice maker and waited and waited and waited...."hmmm, not much ice" he says. "Oh, bummer," I say. And exit the room.

A few hours later he tries to fill his glass with ice. "Still not much ice, wonder if the ice maker is broken?"

I'm pretty good at acknowledging that he is talking, without really responding. . .

So the next day he left and I filled our cooler with the lovely ice I'd hoarded for two days, and my beverages were perfectly chilled. Success! That evening after he failed to show up at the lake, which by the way, he blew off to go rope. Rope, rather than spend an afternoon with his ENTIRE family, not to mention his WIFE and CHILDREN. No, I'm not bitter. Anyway, that evening when I got home and we were getting ready for bed, I said, "by the way, the ice maker is working fine."
Jed: What?
Me: I've been hoarding ice
Jed: What?
Me: Ya know yesterday when you tried to make tea and there was no ice, then later you wanted ice for your water and there still was no ice. Yeah...I'd been dumping it all in a sack to put in the cooler.
Jed: You asshole.
Me: At least I'm still smarter than you
Jed: I'm so sure....you didn't even say anything when I was trying to make tea
Me: I know, cuz you would have stolen my loot.
Jed: You asshole.
Me: Bahhahahahahahaha

All your heart

My uncle happened to email this scripture to me today. It's funny how some things just hit you at the right moment.

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

I needed that today. . . and probably will tomorrow too.

That "leap" I hinted to a few months ago didn't really pan out. I leaped, but perhaps I should have been outside when doing so. At least I landed on my feet. No loss.

Weekly Menu

In no particular order. Because sometimes, order ruins all the fun in life. And because I have a hard time sticking to strict orders. I'm a middle child.

Thank goodness Taylor came along so I could use that excuse.

Spaghetti and garlic toast

BBQ chicken and salad

Turkey and mashed potatoes (because we didn't end up having it last week)

Grilled Chicken Salad

Friday we will be in Belle Fourche for a wedding rehearsal! Yay.

I also have to note, that sometimes my menus work, sometimes they don't. I don't think the whole point is to limit yourself to only eating a certain meal on a certain date. Sometimes I switch the days around for what mood the family is in, or how many will be sitting at my table.

So far, I've found great savings by shopping weekly, and smarter shopping as well. I buy what I know I'll need, rather than what I think I'll need. It also relieves most of the stress that comes along with trying to prepare a meal with two kids barking at your heals. Sorry Paisley, you're still a doll. A hungry, hungry doll. Jayda, well you're just always hungry.

Weeds, scabs, skin

I love pulling weeds a day or two after it has rained. I'd consider it border line fun. Lame. . . . I know. I just love how easily the whole weed or clump of grass jumps out of the ground, with such little effort.

I also love picking scabs.

Peeling dead skin off, after a sunburn.

Clipping fingernails.

and {gasp} popping zits. Gross. . . yes. . . . .  Fun. . . yes. . . . weird. . . .probably.

Welcome to Jayda's world

I remembered a few more Jayda quotes, and 1 Jed quote, so I sprinted to my blog to share before I forgot! OK so I didn't sprint. Sprinting is painful. I sprinted down our gravel road pushing Paisley in a stroller a couple nights ago, and I felt my butt jiggle in a way I'd never felt before. Then I had to stop because Taylor was behind me and I didn't want to scare her from ever returning. . .or going on a walk with me again.

It was raining this week, so Jed and Ryder were at the house most of the day.
Jed: Well I guess since it's raining we'll just sit inside all day and be bored.
Jayda: Welcome to my world

I'd like to give Jayda full credit for that, but she may or may not have heard that phrase a time or two previously.

Jed rode with me to Rapid last weekend to get his truck. We were driving by Memorial Park.

Jed: What's going on there?
Me: Hills Alive
Jed: Why do they all have coolers? Isn't that a Christian deal?
Me: Yes, Jed. Coolers are good for holding more than just beer
Jed: Well, like they'd be THAT thirsty to need a whole cooler.
Me: {sigh} turn here

{Jayda sitting on the couch}
Jayda: my legs look chunky when I sit like this.
Jed: Your legs are NOT chunky.
{Jayda pulls up her shorts to look at her thighs}: WELL they ARE here. Chunky and FAT. {looks over at Taylor's} So are YOURS!
{meanwhile she is eating cheesecake}
Me: That cheesecake is going straight to those thighs
Jayda: HAHA, no mom, it's going to my belly.

At supper we were eating corn on the cob. Jed passed Jayda the butter because she likes to butter her own.
Jed: Here's the I can't believe it's NOT butter
Jayda: hahahaha, Yes it is!

Sweet summertime

A few weekends ago as we were en-route to the lake on a perfect summer day, I had one of those moments you just want to remember forever. Oprah would call it an "ah-ha moment." It wasn't anything spectacular, or even noticeable for some people. It just captured exactly what summer is, and a precious snap shot of childhood.

For some reason all the girls piled in my Tahoe to ride out to the lake from Lemmon. Reanna, Sophie, Gracie, Jayda, Paisley and I. Car full of GIRLS! Me, being a Lady Antebellum fanatic, I always have their CD in my CD changer so I turned them on and turned to  "American Honey".

Then from the backseats, the sweetest harmony began filling the car. I cranked the volume as we belted out,

"There's a wild, wild whisper


Blowin' in the wind

Callin' out my name like a long lost friend

Oh I miss those days as the years go by

Oh nothing's sweeter than summertime

And American honey"

It was that small, simple moment as we went over the tickly hill, that I wanted to save forever. Stick it in my back pocket and pull it out at anytime. The sun shining on our faces, the laughter, the song, the freedom, the innocence of those girls in that moment. Perfect

 I hope they will always treasure the time they have spent at the lake with their cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and whomever else stopped by. I know I do.

Weekly Menu

Monday- Taco casserole

Tuesday-Chicken enchiladas, rice

Wednesday- Turkey, mashed potatoes

Thursday-  hmm, I wrote this down at home and now I can't remember. I'll get back you on this one!

Friday- Hot dogs, burgers, corn on the cob top

L-M-N-O-P

We went to Rapid/Hermosa this weekend, which allows for some quality car time for the girls and I. Here are some Jayda quotes from our drive. I'd give some Paisley quotes too, but well. . .  you can imagine how that would go.

Jayda to Taylor: Taylor and Dillon sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-L-M-N-O-P

Jayda trying to sing "Rain is a good thing": Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskers, whiskers make my baby. . .
The real words are, Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey, whiskey makes my baby, feel a little frisky.

Jayda to Taylor: Turn my movie on, Yo
PS, if you haven't hung out with a teenager for a while, they tend to end every phrase with "Yo".
The ones that think they are gansta anyway.

I was telling Taylor that Jayda ran over my toes with the training wheel on her new bike, while we were in Wal-Mart and she was test driving it. Jayda pipes up from the backseat, "MOM, I told you I didn't mean to."
I think she said she was sorry about 8 times while were in the store, for the fear that I might not let her get the bike.
She stepped up to a 16" bike, which she now calls her fast bike. She really can wheel around like nobody's business! Her old bike had tires that were ALWAYS flat, no matter what you did to them, and it was just time to reward her with something fun. She got to pick it out and drive it in the store, as well as OUT of the store. Aren't moments like that, what dreams are made of when you're 4? They were to me anyway, but I was the little sister which always meant someones used crap hand-me-downs.

Havin' fun & takin' names

Have you ever seen anything so stinkin' cute? Well now you have.

This girl is the happiest little person I've ever seen. All you have to do is look at her and she'll burst into smiles and laughter. Tanya said something the other day, that I want to write down.

"It doesn't matter what that Paisley is doing, she's going to have fun."

 I hope that attribute will stick with her! Such a happy spirit, she is.

Circus fun

Jayda finally decided it was time to ride an elephant. The entire first half of the circus she kept begging to ride the elephant. So when the time came we ran over and were first in line, then the stage fright kicked in and she changed her mind. "I'll just ride the ponies Momma." Uhm no. We can ride ponies any night.

Thankfully a co-workers son (who is a year younger) walked up and asked if she wanted to ride with him. "YES!" she said and off they went. {weird!} That is him in front of her. He'll also be joining her at Headstart next year, so she was pretty excited to meet a new friend. I'm pretty sure she was totally scoping him out and sizing up his boyfriend potential.

It was a nice evening, perfect weather and good fun. Just Jayda and I went and it was really enjoyable to spend time just her and I. She was so good through the whole thing and sat there like the good little girl I know lives deep inside {somewhere}. Someone behind me actually said to their daughter, "please sit down, see how nice that little girl is sitting." I definitely smiled a little on the inside. Ok, and on the outside!

We had a good conversation on the way home, and it was almost like she had matured about 3 years, in one day. There were no snotty remarks or talking back. Refreshing!

She's doing much better with her bladder control and hasn't had an accident in over 2 weeks. I think her  (2nd) bladder infection is cleared up, and maybe. . . just maybe she understands the importance of keeping dry. She's so excited to tell me she didn't have an accident, when I pick her up every day. I'm equally excited!

Another princess picture

Picture

CLick on the above link to see more from the Fairy tale Princess day!

Lashes

I am always on the search for the perfect mascara, and may have found it here. This Covergirl Lash Blast mascara is fantastic. I generally use Clinique mascara, which is also a great product, but slightly spendy for mascara. I was drawn to this orange tube because it'll be easy to find in the makeup isle the next time I'm frantically speeding through Wal-Mart with two whining kids. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it works, and actually does add thickness to the lashes and perfectly separates them. {Sigh} Now I can spend 2 minutes less in the AM, trying to get perfect lashes! I secretly, wish I could put it on Jed's lashes just for fun. It's so completely unfair that God gave a man such ridiculously long and thick eye lashes. What gives, God? Well, as long as he passed them on to his daughters, then I'll let it go.

tea and your solids vs. liquids lesson of the day

This is my super cute cup, I told you about earlier. It keeps my iced tea super duper cold and I love it for that. Lately the iced tea at work has been super duper good, which makes me incredibly thirsty for more!

While we're on the Iced Tea subject, I thought I'd share with you some ex-waitress common knowledge that may not be common knowledge to non ex-waitresses out there, or non ex-waiters for that matter. Ok "server" is the proper term. Whatever.

Have you ever ordered iced tea at a restaurant and then found most of the ice is melted shortly after it arrives at your table? It probably pissed you off a little, and you may or may not have cursed the "server" for not putting enough ice in your glass. If you are like me, you like TONS of ice in your beverage of choice. I blame my mother. You can blame her too, she won't mind.

Well it turns out that the really good iced tea is hot brewed. Thus when it is made it is very hot and sits in a stainless steel thingy until it is poured into a glass. So if you're lucky enough to order iced tea when it's been freshly made, it is still slightly warm and hasn't had the chance to cool to room temperature. Servers are trained to fill the glass completely full of ice then pour the tea into the glass. Obviously a hot liquid will melt some of the ice during this process. Busy restaurants will go through tea rather quickly, making it nearly impossible to allow the tea to cool.

So the next time you think your server is being a jerk, realize that you just got served GOOD tea that was freshly brewed, and simply ask for a glass of ice, if ice is your vice. Or you can just order that raspberry junk and try to choke it down. Whatever floats your boat  ice.

Coke free

The above picture is about how many cokes I DIDN'T drink during the month of June. Roughly about 16 cans of Coke were cut out of my diet in the month of June alone. So far this month 8.

I was finally able to kick my morning breakfast habit, by switching to iced tea or water. Jed's sister, Amy gave me a super cute insulated cup for graduation, and since I don't drink coffee, I had to put it to work some other way. So now when I get to work, instead of popping 50 cents in the Coke machine, I fill up my cup for FREE with water or tea and work on losing the love handles that have quite the grip.

I didn't go completely cold turkey though. That's just not my style and not very realistic. Everything in moderation right? Right! I allow myself pop on the weekends, as my guilt free reward for doing well during the week.

It's so crazy how easily some habits are formed {bad ones usually} and how hard others are to get into {exercise}.

I was on such a good walking streak, until haying started and Jed isn't home until 8 or 9pm. I could take the girls with me, but I really enjoy my walks as my quiet, alone time. Plus I'd have to bathe them in bug spray and pack snacks for the distance I like to go. Sort of takes the enjoyable, out of the walk. Such is life though, and when your options are limited, you gotta do, what ya gotta do. Maybe I'll turn the iPod up real loud and drown them out. Or run really fast with the double stroller and listen to their giggles. . . . and then clean up their barf. Better throw in the wipes.

Weekly Menu

Alice Springs Chicken & baked potato (if it sounds familiar, you've probably had it at Outback)

Hamburger helper (again)

Cheeseburgers, watermelon & pineapple, lettuce salad

Grilled stir fry veggies with grilled steak added


Note there's only four days worth of planning, since we'll be going to the local circus one of these nights. Undecided whether it'll be Faith's or Lemmon's. I'm leaning towards Faith's since I have only been to the drive in ONCE {yes ONCE} this entire summer, which is sick and wrong. They are only open from May 1st until September, so it is vitally important to my sanity to get my fill of their food before the winter sets in and my body disintegrates into nothing. Hmmmm, ok so that's how it plays out it my head, but not so much in the real world.

Click on the Alice Springs Chicken and Grilled stir fry veggies above, for recipes! See ya next week. Same time, same place, same food, wait. . . . .no. . . Different food. . . I hope

Fairytale Princess Day

Jayda got to go to a salon and have her nails painted, her hair done and spend some time with her cousins. A local salon hosted a fairytale princess day for little girls to get pampered. What a cute idea! I wasn't able to go, but hopefully her aunts took lots of pictures and will share them with me.

In hindsight this may have started something. . . princess Jayda is going to think she needs a pampering day more often than not.

Can't blame her. I do too

Poop in a pool

Last night was incredibly nice out, so the girls and I were playing outside when I got home. Paisley was sick of sitting in the stroller watching Jayda have all the fun, so I let her take a dip in the pool.

She'll never be the same

She loved it so much, I could hardly catch her to get her out. Jayda couldn't believe her eyes when I ripped Paisley's diaper off and threw her in the pool with her dress on. I had to let some water out, since Paisley decided she could actually swim. She'd dive in on her belly and try to float. Swallowed a little nasty pool water that our dogs have slobbered in. Yum

I would post some pictures of the excitement, but when I sent Jayda in the house to get my camera, Paisley did a job in the pool. So when there's poo in the pool, the fun is over.

We re-filled and we'll try again this weekend!

Weekly Menu

Sorry that it is Wednesday and I haven't posted a menu. I'm sure you're all starving by now, anxiously awaiting to see what'll be on my table this week.

Monday was a holiday, and a freebie. I wish there were more holidays.

Tuesday- burgers and broccoli. I'm sure you're all as jealous as Jayda was happy. Paisley on the other hand ate more than her share of the broccoli. She was lovin' it.

Wednesday Grilled cheese sandwich and watermelon. I know this sounds super lame, but Jed is now in the hay field and does not come home until 9ish. So look forward to our meals being very non-fuss for a month. . .  or two. And I have a bunch of cheese I need to use. The Peterson's tricked me. Ryder left before I could serve him more cheese, and Reanna eats NO CHEESE. What the?

Thursday  Tacos

Friday Some sort of hamburger helper entree. What? They were 5 for $5. Leave me alone.

I maybe should have done this menu when I wasn't so tired. . . .  or maybe just hungrier?

4th of July Fun

We finally made it to the lake for a few hours. Paisley didn't think much of the boat this time, but she sure enjoys watching Jayda splash in her pool. We're waiting for the water to get a bit warmer before Paisley gets to join in the fun.

Suit up

I recently bought a swimsuit. To many of you, this is nothing to write home about, or in my case, blog about.
But to me, to ME, this was a pretty exciting event. It is the first time I've purchased a swimsuit straight off the rack, that I didn't have to sew a bra into, to support the jugs. The first time, I tried one on and it just FIT.

I'm fairly sure I heard angels sing. Might have just been Paisley. Yeah, it was Paisley.

It certainly was not the dressing room Nazi standing outside my door. Sheesh, home girl needs to take a chill pill. No rule breakers allowed on her turf.

Oh and by the way, the swimsuit is strapless. Oh yeah. I went there.

On second thought I better throw that bra in, incase a mad game of volleyball breaks out. And yes..it always does.

Bobcats and Skid steers

Jayda likes to fully understand something before moving on to a new subject. While I admire her persistence and yearning for knowledge, at some point it can get a bit frustrating. For instance, Jed borrowed a skid steer a few weeks ago from a friend. Jed got the skid steer stuck in the creek. Someone told Jayda that her dad was stuck in the creek in the bobcat. I'm not picky, I use the term bobcat and skid steer interchangeably. I mean...come on. They are basically the same thing, just a different brand.

Back to the story. So Jayda only hears "bobcat" and thinks of the animal.

 A not so friendly animal.

That her dad is stuck in a creek with? What?

Ever tried to explain how some words mean more than one thing? Me neither.

So I tell her that a bobcat is a little tractor and an animal. Which actually does sound even more confusing when you say it aloud.

Ok, so lets try skid steer. "Daddy is stuck in the creek in a skid steer."

Nope that's not working either. 

Finally she got to see the actual bobcat, skid steer, whatever you wanna call it.

"Well that's just a little tractor Momma," she tells me, "Not an animal tractor or a steer."

Ok, sorry I brought it up.

A few weeks later we were driving to Rapid, she screams from the backseat, "there's an excuh-bater!"

Why, yes Jayda, that is an excavator.  I let it go at that, even though it was a trencher. Our heavy machinery discussions never go very well.

An oldie

Just for fun!

Tiff is pictured the second from left with the long gangly arms. I'm on the far right with the curly Q's! I don't think I needed a hair cut until I was in 3rd grade.

I loved her friends. I loved that they were nice to me, even though she paid them to hate me. Ok, so she didn't pay them. But she would have if she had any money. We're 5 years apart and she just didn't want her adorable little sister stealing her show.