here's to play dough

 it's no secret that i am a creature that should have come with the warning:

 "caution...may go completely overboard on holidays or special occasions."

so...it's no surprise that 24 hours simply won't do when it comes to all things lovely for the day of love.

it's a good thing i get a whole month for christmas or we'd be in serious trouble.

our valentine's day celebrations ended up not fitting into just one day.

i blame the school.  it took most of the day to get those parties done with.  and by the time they got home...they were all sugared out before we ever even got to the chocolate covered strawberry and malt making.  don't worry.  we rallied.

annslee acts like she runs the place.

and if aiden's gonna dance...then step back...

because the party's just gettin' started.

by the looks of the table when the kids came in from school and chad came in from work...you would have though cupid had flown in and had his way with our entire house.

not so.  this was it.  i swear.

i think chase was the most excited about his valentine present.  he had been reminding me about them every day for the last 3 weeks.

and this one?  you know you've hit a home run when her eye's light up and she nearly starts crying because she is so happy.  she tears easily...and i love that.

sister friend is getting the hang of everything celebratory.

she got her very own play-dough.

aiden's new year's resolution was to "cook more with mom" and upon seeing the chocolate covered strawberry commercials that they play quite frequently on sprout...she informed me that this was happening.

and who am i to squash a good resolution?

and while that was happening...

so was this.

we valentined ourselves right out by 8:00 and had

"to be continued."

thank you kathy c. for the heart straws!  they made our malts taste 10 times better.  at least.

i have struggled lately to sit down and play.  i have lost balance and taken my eyes off the prize and instead chosen to focus more on the superfluous details that only i really care about.  and it is a choice.  i often act like it's not.  play dough was just what i needed to get back on track.

i love how aiden is just at that age where she watches me really closely and then copies whatever i am doing.  in this case...it was spelling out each other's names in play dough...but i'm aware that it doesn't stop there.  today...i reminded myself..."watch yourself...because she is."

and you can rest assured that the little one is watching and copying aiden just as closely.

here's to getting into their world more and allowing them in our's when it's appropriate...even when it makes things a little harder and takes a little longer.

here's to validating and helping her make good on her new year's resolutions and allowing her to cook with me.

and

here's to play dough.

happy valentiMe's day (part 1)

this is what i woke up to this morning.

it's been a while since i've received flowers.

these were a site for romantically sore eyes.  i think when there are 4 kids involved...chad and i can easily swing right into co-habitating real fast.  not that every day shouldn't be valentine's day...blah blah blah...but it is nice to have a day that reminds us to give flowers or make a special desert or set the ipod on dinner mix shuffle and dance a little in between homework and soup's on.

we don't get out much.

so, as chase would say...

"happy valentiMe's day."

i don't know if some of you experience this or not...but it seems like, at any given time, i feel more "in sync" with one or two of the kids at a time.  it's not like my love is any greater for one than it is another...it's more like...as we are all traveling from day to day, inevitably...one of us is sprinting; one of us has settled into a nice, steady jog; one of us is walking; one of us is meandering...eyes off the road and completely distracted by the lovely surroundings; one of us is frustrated and being pulled in a zig zag fashion while holding a dog leash with a 60 pound dog on the end of it; and one of us is refusing to get up off the couch.  we are all in the same book, and even on the same page...but every so often, 2 or 3 of us just happen to jump onto the same line.

chase and i are on the same line right now.

his meandering and my sprint have somehow brought us together for the common purpose of showing each other how special we think the other is.

i appreciate chase and all of his..."chaseness."

like i love that he told the whole 3rd grade, including his teachers, that we took him to budapest, hungry over the christmas holidays to visit the birthplace of harry houdini.  and somehow...he convinced them that this was a true story and that we are actually "that" crazy...or historical...or whatever it is that we would be if we actually did something like that.  he has had them all believing this for the last month.

i also love that he has this new imaginary friend, named cody armstrong...who's father is neil armstrong.  he has never had an imaginary friend before...and i have no problem with it.  maybe i would if i thought he was being serious.  but he is not.

he's being chase.

and he is being creative and funny and imaginative...all in the name of entertainment.

and i love me a good entertainer.

i tweaked an idea that i saw online (you can guess the website) and made these for the teacher's for valentiMe's day.

i filled mason jars with bubble gum and hershey kisses and labeled them

"blowing kisses your way."

aiden's teacher's birthday was yesterday.  so i kept it simple and made "pampering in a jar."  it's simply a fuzzy pair of socks, lotion, bubble bath, and lip balm.  i saw this on pinterest too.  i'm telling you.  there are lots of good ideas out there.

speaking of valentine's day...we had a little house concert at our house saturday night as an early valentine's date night with friends.

i only wish i had taken more pictures of our friends.  i was sorta busy blabbling with people and didn't think about pulling out the camera until our friend, tom conlon, was performing.  this caused me to actually crawl across the floor to where my camera was located in our bedroom.  this wasn't the classiest move...but it got the job done.

if you have not heard tom's music...check him out on itunes.

some of my favorite tom conlon songs are

made to spend

wake me

speaking of truth

over my shoulder

cover of the impression's people get ready

check him out.  you won't be disappointed.

i have many plans for my valentiMe loves today.  i'll be back tonight to fill in the rest of our beautiful day.

until then...

go love someone.

operation pinterest pantry. and horses.

i hate picture day.

now...i am aware that "hate" is a very strong word...and it is, indeed, bordering on over reacting...but any time pictures are involved, it evokes pressure that feels equal to filling out college applications.

i knew that today was picture day.

i knew it because i got the forms to fill out (3 of them) to order the class picture and special spring pictures a few weeks ago.  you know...they are real good about sending those things home early.  so you can be prepared.  i knew it because i set those things in my to-do pile on the cabinet and visited them every now and then.  i knew it because the teachers sent the kids home yesterday with "tomorrow is picture day" stickers stuck to their chests.

and then what happened?

i stayed up watching mindless tv until 11:30 and then hit the snooze button until 7:30 this morning and waited until i had just enough time to wake the kids up, throw out some clothes for aiden, let the boys wear their athletic pants (that is happening an alarming number of times these days), slap aiden's hair in a top knot, let them pour their own cereal while i throw together 3 lunch kits, initial homework, and ruffle their hair and kiss their heads as they shoot out the door with chad.  that's a total run-on sentence...but let's be honest...my mornings are run-on mornings.

that's when i remembered that it was picture day.

it went something like this.

yelling:  "AIDEN....WEAR YOUR NEW SUNDRESS WITH THE PINK SWEATER INSTEAD OF WHAT I LAYED OUT FOR YOU AND HURRY UP SO I CAN DO YOUR HAIR."

"CHASE...IT'S PICTURE DAY!!!!  YOU NEED TO GET DRESSED IN SOMETHING NICE!!!

him yelling back downstairs from his room:  "I AM, MOM!!!"

me:  "WHAT ARE YOU WEARING???"

chase:  "THIS."

me:  "CHASE...I CAN'T SEE YOU.  I'M DOWNSTAIRS."

(chase appears over the balcony)

me:  "oh no no no no no no...you are not wearing sports pants with your pajama t-shirt from last night for pictures."

chase:  "THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO WEAR.  I DON'T WANT TO WEAR NICE CLOTHES."

it went on from there.

oh...there were other issues too.

like colton insisting that his teacher told the whole class they had to wear a blue shirt and that is why he needs to wear this ratty t-shirt from, like, 3 years ago and aiden needing her bangs trimmed, and chase needing his hair wet down.

i also feel guilty that i didn't spend $30 to order the class picture for them.  i just feel like that is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a picture that they may or may not pull out in 20 years to re-live who all was in their 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade classes.  it's like i just know that the teachers and photographers are going to say, "wow...your mom must really not love you if she is not ordering these pictures."  besides...i could take a better picture myself.  i should scan and show you all of their school pictures over the years.  tons of money wasted on pictures that never saw frames because they were either completely out of frame, they were smiling some fake smile, or the background was a ridiculous shade of blue that was about a natural as if i colored it with marker.

needless to say...by the time they were out the door, i had to light a candle and make myself a cup of coffee and give annslee a bowl of chocolate chips to snuff out the tantrum she was throwing because she wanted to go to school with aiden.

****

moving on.

there were "and horses" the other day.

i was minding my own business in the grocery store when i heard an announcement that the Clydesdale's horses were out front.

i have never grocery shopped so fast in all my life.  i began throwing stuff into the cart without looking at prices, labels, brands, or lists.

i had to get to those horses.

i all but pushed children out of the way to get to this fella.

this is my new friend, magee.

he is an official anheuser busch clydesdale.

and he is one of the most magnificent horses that i've had the privilege of pretending was mine.  i had all kinds of scenarios going in my mind as i stood just beneath his neck...stroking his strong muscles while pressing my head against him and telling him how beautiful he is.  i love standing at that spot with a horse.  you can look right into their eye and see right into their souls and all of their gentleness and vulnerability.

i would have given him one of my apples if i didn't think the budweiser people would be on alert that they have a possible horse thief on their hands.

****

and since chad was home from ukraine...

i had the bright idea to go ahead and start the pinterest pantry project.

our pantry had gotten completely out of control.

and i kept seeing and pinning pantry pictures to my pinboards on pinterest and every time i looked at them, i got more and more excited to transform my pantry into a beautiful corner market space.

this is the before:

i knew there was nothing that would make me finish this project like pulling everything out of there and having to live for a couple of hours like a hoarder.

and yes...

i let annslee entertain herself by carefully measuring out dog food from one scoop to the other.  she did this for, at least an hour.

and then put the men to work.

i surveyed the items and  decided to find another storage place for anything that was not medicine or food or kitchen necessities.  that was the hardest part.  i had a lot of stuff stored in that small space.

then annslee and i hit walmart to buy the jars and containers.  this is part of my plan to produce less trash as a family.  these bins can be taken and filled in bulk to avoid packaging.

i found the glass jars for $5 and less; and opted for plastic containers for the cereal and snacks that were only $2 each.  the hardest part of this task was wrangling annslee on the walmart isle.  at one point, i thought i lost her at the checkout.  i was busy, putting everything on the check out counter and she spotted the candy section a few isle over.  cue panic.

i explained that this is why she needed to stay strapped in the basket and that i could not continue to chase her all over walmart because she thought she saw a skittle floating through the air that she had to run and follow.

she said,

"no."

anyways...we are off track here.

so...after putting everything back together...

the pinterest pantry project was complete.

it took a day and a half and was totally easier than i thought and worth the time and limited funds.

the key was uniformity.  i could have used mismatch baskets and stuff that i already had...but i really wanted to lighted it up with all white.  these bins were from the grocery store and were $2, $4, and $5 depending on the size.  i was looking for baskets, but opted for these because they are cheaper and can be wiped out and labeled easily.

another key is removing the commercial label off of bottles and replacing it with clean, matching labels.  for example, i just removed the label on the vanilla bottle and used my own.  now it is pretty and i love seeing it every time i enter the pantry.  i also used an old oreo tin to hold wooded clothes pins for chip bags, etc.

i eventually want to print off pretty labels...but for the time being, i used martha stewart ones from staples.

i already had the bushel baskets (from hobby lobby, i think) and i thought they worked for the bottom shelf with things like, bananas, onions, root vegetables, crackers, bags of different coffees, and random bags of dried beans.  if i used dried beans a lot...i would put them in a jar...but i don't.  so...i thought they would be better stored like this.

i found the wooden crates at michael's on clearance.  i think i paid $7.99 for them...which was more than i wanted to...but i'm glad i did.  they are perfect for canned drinks and canned goods that are heavy, bulky, and not uniform at all.  i put those babies on the floor and i wasn't sure i would like them there...but i really do.

i found this dog food tin at tj maxx when trout was a tiny puppy and i love it.  it keeps the dog food fresh and is easy for the kids to get in and out of so that they can feed him themselves.  plus...it just looks nice.

i find myself looking in my pantry "just because" now.  i think it is a very welcoming, kid friendly, pretty space that makes meal prep, plan, and list making a lot easier.

up next...

operation pinterest laundry room.

the pretend embassy

we celebrated honey's 91st birthday on saturday after colton's basketball game.

one of my favorite stories to listen to her tell is about how,  when she was a little girl, she would spend every summer at her grandma's house, out in the country.  blackberry cobbler is still her favorite desert because that is what my great, great grandma fannie would make for her when she was a little girl.

so...i thought that i would try my hand at cobbler making...knowing full well that it would never compare to her grandma's...but i still thought it would be special for her.  and she deserves nothing more than to feel special and celebrated.  and you know me.  i never shy away from a reason to celebrate.

i searched high and low for a traditional cobbler recipe.

first, you take 2 1/2 cups of fresh blackberries (washed and patted dry) and combine them in a bowl with a cup of sugar.

i am of the philosophy that if a cup of sugar is good...then a cup and a half is better.

let the berries and sugar sit for 20 minutes...or until a fruit syrup forms.

pre-heat the oven to 375.

in a medium bowl...mix a cup of flour; 2 tsp of baking powder; 1/2 tsp of salt; and 1 cup of milk.

add 1/2 cup (1 stick) of melted butter to dough mixture and whisk.

look at this woman washing my dishes.  this makes cooking a lot easier, i've decided.

pour the dough mixture into an ungreased 8 inch baking dish.

add the berry mixture on top of that.

bake at 375 for 45 to 55 minutes.

i added sugar on the top for the last 10 minutes of baking.

serve warm with either fresh cream, whipped cream, or ice cream.

****

here is the birthday girl getting irritated at me for making her pause to snap a picture before she took the first bite.

she loved it.  and she felt special and celebrated...which is so important to do for the people we love.  i'm convinced...you will never regret taking the time to find out what makes a loved one feel cared for and going the extra mile to make that happen.  sometimes it's the littlest thing that makes a person feel loved.

totally worth it.  every time.

****

since chad was still out of the country, we took a break from hosting a superbowl party this year.  usually i would be totally depressed to not have any plans on superbowl sunday...but i was pretty satisfied with how today went down.

i did discover that we have christmas pencils mingling around with the valentine's pencils...which is disturbing...but...let's just stay focused on the positive.

i was visited by my very favorite animal this afternoon.  she dressed up like a deer.  how exciting is that?

i'm not gonna lie about getting a tad bit excited when madonna started in on like a prayer during the half time show.  there may have been dancing.  and singing.

by all us girls.

chad was invited to watch the superbowl at the US Embassy in ukraine.  i really just can't even wrap my mind around that.  i mean...on the one hand...i'm thinking "oh how cool...that's so great...a once in a lifetime opportunity...yay for you..."

but...on the other...i'm thinking "seriously????  how is it fair that you are off flitting around the globe being treated like a freaking dignitary????  and why can these things not happen when i am with you???  oh...that's right...I'M NEVER WITH YOU!!!!  hey kids...lets pretend that we are watching the game at an embassy and that i am royalty that has been invited in.  k???  it will be fun."

we did have fun though...

in our pretend embassy.

we jumped on the couch when the giants scored; we danced to madonna; we laughed...loudly...at the m & m commercial and had the option to rewind if we wanted.  we ate pizza and folded laundry and played "let's count your ribs" until all four of them were giggling to the point of squealing.

do they do any of those things at the real embassy?

i think not.

that's only allowed at the pretend embassy.

growing pains, book nooks, and grandparents

chase has been in bed for the last 3 hours.  i thought he was asleep.  i suppose he heard colton come in from basketball practice a little bit ago and decided that it would be his best shot at getting downstairs.  he obviously needed a worthy excuse, though.  i'm not sure how long it took him to come up with this one...but he walked into the kitchen, where i was talking to my dad and colt and said,

"mommy...my growing pains are hurting."

that got him a laugh...and a trip to my bed for the remainder of the night.

i reward the use of the imagination; ingenuity; and humor.

however, before he skedaddled...

he looked at me real serious, showed me his face, and said,

"any whiskers i got?"

i rubbed his soft, smooth face and said,

"not yet."

****

speaking of whiskers...

where's waldo?

this is how he fell asleep next to me the other night.

yesterday morning...i was a woman on a mission.

i decided that i needed to turn the playroom closet into a book nook.

i got the idea from a little antique shop that i like to go to that has one for children and then saw some examples of closets turned into book nooks on pinterest.  i still need to paint the walls...but for using what we already had and not spending a penny on it...i'm pretty satisfied.

i started clearing out the jam packed closet as soon as i got the kids off to school yesterday...and had it finished by the time i picked them up.  annslee totally helped.

all of them were really excited about it...but aiden has spent nearly every minute that she has been home over the last 2 days tucked in there with a book.

the only problem was surveying the damage after i had cleared out the closet.  we had toy boxes...costumes...games...musical instruments...swords...balls...dress up shoes...wigs...boxing gloves...hats...feather boas...purses...and countless other articles of clothing and accessories needed to turn a little boy or girl into just about anything that their hearts could ever think about desiring.

all i can say is...

never underestimate the power of a woman with a vision.

i finished just in time to head to the victory lakes jr. high school parent meeting last night.

we have pretty much landed on homeschooling colton through the jr. high years, which i am both excited for and also have a complete peace about.  but...i thought that i should still go...

i nearly had a panic attack just walking into a jr. high.

not my best memories.

****

i like to call this...

"hey annslee.  did you eat some chocolate?"

we wrapped up tonight with books and grandparents.

my dad came to take colt to basketball practice and honey is spending a couple of days with us.

and i just love that.

honey is going to be 91 on tuesday.

i think she deserves a celebration.

don't you?