Bits and Pieces

• Sweetheart Supper invites are done. Not as cool as I'd like them to be but I decided not to put hours and hours into their design this year.
• Judah's birthday is coming up soon!!!
• Our small group is doing a study on biblical manhood and womanhood. Very interesting and I'm enjoying learning more of what that looks like.
• I love my Awana kids. They're fantastic.
• I love my 3 kids. They're fantastic too.
• And so is their Dad.
• Each night my to do list is too long and I haven't managed an early bed time at all lately.
• Up next on that list: finishing some Ethio bead things for Betty.
• I'm cold and tired... time to go snuggle my honey.

Snow Day

We had a fun afternoon of sledding down the hill. This was the first time the kids would sled down the hill by themselves and enjoyed it. While I love sledding with them, I look forward to some sledding events that don't need momma and daddy with every step up the hill.

After one collision, Judah even lost his boot. Those boys were a blast to watch together.

Isn't he gorgeous? Yes, I think so. His natural herding instincts are amazing.

And sometimes annoying. He eventually had to go spend time in his kennel after lots of herding and nipping.

Eventually the wine picked up and Bethany was done. She informed us she was going back to the house. Her daddy joined her. A short bit later, the boys and I came in for hot chocolate too :)

Happy {1/2} Birthday

Around here our school celebrates half birthdays for summer babies. Scott was super excited about his birthday. He had several things to look forward to:

• being a line leader
• celebrating his half birthday
• sharing day
• smart board day
• his family coming to school

This afternoon the littles and I joined S at school for his half birthday celebration. We walked in from recess with Scott where he generously grabbed his siblings a chocolate milk. Back in the class, with heads down and eyes closed, he passed out the surprise cupcake snack. Then, like the big boy that he is, he got to wonder off and give away the extra snacks. What a sweet kid I have.

Happy half birthday son!

Thai Peanut Sauce

I bought a pre-packaged thai peanut sauce thing at the local grocery store. As usual, I loved what I ate but hated the price I paid for a packet of seasoning and some noodles. So, I started my hunt for a Thai Peanut Sauce recipe. I found several recipes that sounded good but wouldn't work. They required ingredients that I didn't have on hand. For those who know me, you know that I try to keep it simple in the kitchen. Finally, at cooks.com I found a recipe that I though

t would work. The recipe was for a stir fry with few servings - neither of which I was making. But I liked that it had few ingredients, I had everything on hand, and I didn't have to cook the sauce. Easy-peasy is what I like. I adapted the recipe a bit and voila, here's what I came up with:

Thai PB Sauce

1 c. peanut butter
1 c. water
4 T. soy sauce
2 T. brown sugar
4 t. minced garlic
1 tsp. crushed red pepper

I played with crunchy vs. smooth PB while I also increased the amount of PB. Neither of us adults liked it with more PB. We've also used more garlic at times.

I've served this the first time with rice noodles and shrimp and no or little veggies. The second time I used more of a stir fry mixture, with regular noodles and and chicken. You can do it several ways. Mmm, guess what we're having for supper!

picture credit: seafoodmadness.com

A Few of My Favorite Things

Bite Sized Update Coming Right Up:

Date Night

With the kids at the inlaws for a sleep-over, Ryan and I had a little date night. We met up with two other couples. One couple we see regularly, the other couple I haven't seen since I changed jobs in late August. It was great to see them, even though our time was short. I was thankful the kids were being cared for and getting some time with their grandparents.

Did I Cry Through That Whole Movie

I cry easy. Some movies bring my emotions out like crazy. Usually I can keep the tears from exiting my eyes and keep the emotions stomped down. Not today. Not sure if it was the subject matter, the exhaustion, or something else. But I cried. A lot.

Courageous

Speaking of movies, it was Courageous that Ryan and I saw. I love how the movie has a call to action for the men. Without knowing for sure, I think it's safe to assume that the church who created the movie has a book to go with it. I love how it calls men to be Courageous - to take seriously the leading and raising of their families. I couldn't help but sit and think of the call on my husband, the responsibility that he has. As a wife and a mom, I have responsibility too. And so I find myself challenged to dig through the bible to remind myself of my responsibilities.

Back to my Roots

Recently Bethany and I bought cowgirl boots. She'd been asking for quite some time. It had also been quite some time since I'd worn boots. Recently I've been back to my roots a bit wearing my sassy boots with jeans. Tonight Miss Priss asked to wear my cowboy hat which has become a decoration instead of a clothing item. Well, after the kids were done trying on the hat, it was placed on my big 'ol cabesa where it remained for the evening.

My Favorite

I love fried potatoes. Ryan made some the other night and I felt so at home. It's something my Nanny used to always make so it reminds me of her. Then this morning for breakfast, he made another of my favorites. I love chorizo and egg burritos. Another favorite of mine is almond joy candy bars. I'm not huge on candy but once in a while I just want one. I read a recipe online and when I suggested buying the ingredients, Ryan gently reminded me that I've chosen to eat healthy and don't need to make them now. And these three things is why Ryan is my FAVORITE. Love him.

Bad Mom?

Bad mom moments this morning according to Scott:

1. I wouldn't make him a bagel.
2. I let him choose a cereal instead. He chose one we never eat and have purchased to make a dessert with. I said no.
3. I took him to his Physical Therapy appt for his GI issues. He had to miss the movie time during music class because his appointment ran long.

I can easily think of ways to fix the above problems. Guess it's time to teach him to toast his own bagel. He was informed that he was to take part of the blame for the long appointment since he kept insisting on being Mr. Clown instead of being serious.

What horrible mom things will I be up to tomorrow?

On another funny note, Judah talked NON STOP!!!! This morning was not the case. At all. Scott suggested at one point that we call Ryan (he was gone early this morning) to tell Daddy of the odd reality of Judah being quiet.

P.S. Judah received his official citizenship paperwork in the mail today. He can now serve his country in the military and serve in public office.... where he will talk non stop.

Giving Up

Some weeks ago I decided to give up a few different things in my life to simplify it. Have you ever given up something during Lent? I know it's not the season of lent but I felt like there was so much distracting me from what I wanted to be a priority. I felt like I was spending more time looking in the mirror at my physical self than my spiritual and emotional self. Who cares how good my make-up, etc looks if I'm grumpy, hateful, easily angered, and lacking patience?

So, the first thing I did was give up putting on make-up. When I made the decision, it wasn't like I did it with a plan of a certain time frame. It just worked out that morning, and the next, and the next. And now it's been over a month or so and I haven't worn make-up.

Then recently I saw some hair-do's on pinterest and thought my hair naturally looks like some of those. So, I thought I'd try that. Well, I must say, I don't have the cute-ness of the pinterest hair-do's I saw, but it takes me 1 minute to scrunch gel in my hair instead of blow drying it. Which gives me more time to spend some time reading the bible, putting away a few dishes, and things like that that I value. It's going well. Not the vanity part, but the focusing on the right things part.

If you see me in public any time soon and I'm not looking so hot, please say a prayer for my crazy hair and the visible bags under my eyes knowing that at least I'm getting a few other things taken care of in my personal life.

p.s. I'll save the embarrassment of posting a picture of my vanity-free face and hair :)

Guess what this momma and her little chicks were up to this morning.

We collected all the broken crayons we could find.

And a few that weren't broken just for good measure.

Then we began the paper removing process.

I was amazed this part kept their attention the WHOLE time.

Here's what we used for our little project:

The oldest impressed everyone when he "broke a world record" by

breaking 4 crayons at once. He's such a strong boy!

The pieces of crayons went into a silicone baking tray. Each child filled two cups.

Well, truth be told, Scott began reading by this point and chose the colors and

mommy had fun filling the cups for him.

After baking at 250 for 15 minutes, some crayons were totally melted and some weren't. I'm guessing the 3 different brands of crayons impacted that. I read various directions about melting. If you try this, just watch it. I checked the crayons after 7 minutes and then kept adding 4 minutes until I thought they were done. After I pulled them out of the oven and they cooled for a few minutes, I rushed the process a bit and stuck them in the freezer. The end result was heart shaped crayons:

They are bigger than I'd prefer for size. But I'm not sure that the size is all bad. I think

they ended up being about 2" in size. They'd be a great size for pre-K hands to use.

And that was my Saturday morning. The kids folded their laundry, I peeked around pinterest and had coffee. Nap time began time for this momma to get some stuff done. After all, we've been gone every night since Christmas. Our Christmas tree is still up. I wish I could say it was because we're celebrating the Ethiopian Christmas and might use that as an excuse but plain and simple, it just needs to get put away.

Coming Soon: Sweetheart Supper

In just over a month many of us will be celebrating Valentine's Day. If not with our spouses, then with a group of our close friends. We'll get dressed up, go out to eat, maybe go see a movie or play some games. But there are many who have no one. They've either lost their spouse or have never married. Who will celebrate with them? It reminds me of the Reba song "All dressed up with no where to go".

In our small little combination of communities, we do something a little different. It's called the Sweetheart Supper. You can read about last year's event here on my blog: http://www.tam4buit.blogspot.com/2011/02/sweetheart-supper-review.html.

It is a joy and a privelege to serve the women in our community. To give them somewhere to go on Valentine's Day. To be treated to a meal and entertainment and ask for nothing in return. To be escorted to the door, to have their coat taken for them, to be seated. To just be loved on.

Every detail is considered from the invitation list, to picking up women, their entrance, their meal, the entertainment, the gift, the servers, the EVERYTHING. I'm so thankful to the many hands that help. And I'm super excited to see what we can do with it this year.

What are you doing for Valentine's Day this year? It would warm your heart to love on someone else. It doesn't have to be fancy schmancy. Our first year was a simple meal in my dining room with 11 ladies. Do you have kids? This would be a great opportunity for them to serve too.

Think about it. Plan it. You'll love it.

Like Mother Like Daugther

Guess who got new boots in our family...

That's right.

Not just momma

Bethany has been begging for some red boots so she could match her Grammy who has red ropers. We looked at lots of boots. No red ones. I couldn't talk her into the cute ones with pink on them. She HAD to have the brown ones. Oh how adorable she is... even if she thinks her brown pants match her brown boots.

And you know what, little Miss isn't the only one sporting new boots. It's been years since I've bought a new pair of boots. But this country-to-the-core girl is also grinning from ear to ear about her new purchase.

Now, all we're missing is Grammy. We need her to join the picture in her flashy red ropers!

Thank you honey for allowing me to buy new boots, even if I haven't been able to fit into my Wranglers for years! I love you husband!!!