Seeing Red

Today, my oldest child WHO DEFINITELY KNOWS BETTER took a permanent marker to her body.   I knew the permanent marker was next to my laptop (in a fairly high location put away where Lacey couldn't get to it) but I figured Lil would have known better than to play with it.  Oh how wrong I was! She gave herself a bright red mustache, colored both her knees and a little on both her arms. Now, though I knew she was gonna be dealing with the red for at least a few days, and I was angry, a little, I still was trying to hide my smile while I took pictures.  It is hard not to find some humor in the situation, that is, until I got a good look at my laptop...   

As background here, Lil has had full access to our old desktop computer for the last year or more.  We had her set up with her own password and parental controls set so she could play with only certain games and websites.  Well- the computer finally kicked the bucket last week.  It was an old computer and had lived a good life...  Back when Lil was a bit younger she had taken a crayon to the computer screen.  She had gotten in significant trouble for that little act.  Luckily, crayon is easy to clean off a computer screen.  WELL-until we can afford to replace or get Lil her own computer, Lil has been using MY LAPTOP to play her games.  I set her up with her own account and games.  But--  she was under strict instructions that she is not to color on or around the computer.  

Just so ya know, permanent marker is easily removable from most hard surfaces (with a bit of hairspray), though it seems it doesn't come off laptop mouse pads so well.  Needless to say she has been given a lifetime ban from playing on my laptop.  

Maybe when I am in a better mood I will post the picture of her with the marker all over her face...

Food for Thought Friday

I found this recipe online this last week, and can I just tell you how ABSOLUTELY AMAZING it is?  I was very happy with how this turned out.  My only word of advice?  Make sure you are as close to right on as you can be with the weight of the meat, if you have too much it could be a bit dry...

Pineapple and Green Chile Pork Burritos

1 lb. boneless pork chops (I used thick cut chops)

1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple

1 cup salsa verde (green salsa, or tomatillo salsa- it's all the same)

1 (4 oz.) can green chiles

1/3 cup brown sugar

Combine all ingredients in the crockpot.  Cook on high for 5-6 hours or on low for 8-10.  I definitely recommend cooking it on Low.  It shreds easier.  Using tongs, squeeze the chops to shred the meat.  Serve on flour or fresh corn tortillas with some lettuce, cheese, rice, and tomatoes or any other burrito toppings.  For my rice, I used white rice and added a bit of lime juice and cilantro.  

This recipe is SO TASTY!  And for those of you in my neck of the woods, it is nothing like Cafe Rio (or Costa Vida) pork, but it IS sweet and very VERY good!

Food for "thought" Friday

This recipe was introduced to me by my husband. His mom always called it Eggs Benedict. Which was NOT the same. My husband ordered eggs benedict a few years back at a restaurant and was, quite frankly, disgusted by what he was served. The next day I made him his mom's Eggs Benedict. It is an Easter tradition in our house. As are egg salad sandwhiches.

"Eggs Benedict"

3 T. butter
3 T. flour
1 1/2 c. milk
1-2 c. grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
3-4 hard boiled eggs, chopped up or diced
Toast

In a medium sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir with a whisk until the roux turns a golden color (about 2 minutes or so). Quickly add all the milk and stir with a wisk until mixture boils. Add salt, pepper and cheese. Once the cheese is melted, add chopped boiled eggs.

Serve over warm buttered toast. OH so yummy!

Silk Tie Dyed Eggs

I read on THIS site about using silk ties to dye your easter eggs. So, I thought I would give it a try. And it worked SO WELL! I loved it! For a tutorial on it GO HERE

The super simplified version is that you cut up old silk ties (can be purchased from DI or a thrift store for 1-2 dollars each). You can fit three eggs or so per tie. You wrap the RAW egg as tightly as you can with the silk (pattern side facing the egg). Tie it off with a twist tie, rubber band or string. Tie another piece of white cotton over the top of the silk tied egg. Then place them in a deep pot and cover with water and 1/4 c. vinegar. Boil for 20 minutes, allow to cool and VOILA! Perfectly cool dyed eggs!

On to the pictures!

These are Joe's ties. I stole one of them, then I hit up DI for the others. (And yes, there is a tie in there covered with my girls pictures!)

I think this green tie was my favorite!  I  LOVE how the eggs turned out!

This one was Joe's tie.

Didn't they turn out awesome!?

Out of the mouths of babes

Lilia is getting so smart these days! I am truly enjoying my conversations with her! She definitely keeps me on my toes. Take Saturday night for example:

Me: Lil, you need to go to sleep so the Easter Bunny will come.

Lil: The WHAT?

Me: The Easter Bunny! He brings you your Easter Basket.

Lil: Mom- the Easter Bunny is a fairytale.

(I just walked away shaking my head…I am one of those parents who refuses to spend all night convincing her the EB is real just so I can turn around in a few years and admit I lied to her...)

Easter morning-

(Lil walks into the kitchen and is at first, perturbed at her sister for making noise, until she notices her basket…)

Lil: WOW! I guess I was wrong, the Easter Bunny is NOT a fairytale!

Joe: (chuckling) hmm, 4 years old and already able to do something mom can’t.

Me: huh?

Joe: admit she was wrong! (Laughs harder)

Me: jerk…

(I love you Joe!)

Another funny from earlier today that had me laughing:

(I called Joe from my cell phone while I was out of the house to get an address off the internet for me. The conversation went as follows)

Me: Hiya babe. Do me a favor would ya? Could you look up the address to the Food Bank. I forgot to write it down.

Joe: Maybe- what will you give me for it?

Me: Um... Love? (as in my love and gratitude... not "love" SHEESH!)

About an hour later:

Lil: Mom! Give me that!

Me: What?

Lil: That thing in your hair (it was her hair bow- I found it on the floor of the car and had put it in my hair to remind me to take it inside the house)

Me: No way, man! I am wearing it!

Lil: Come on, mom. You have to share! If you share that with me, I will share something with you.

Me: Really? What will you share with me?

Lil: Um... Love?

Like mother like daughter, I guess!

Now as a disclaimer or two...

1. Joe is a tease. I realize after writing both of these that Joe sounds like a total jerk, but he isn't. He

just likes teasing me. And though it took me almost 8 years, I am finally okay with his teasing. Most of the time...

2. I am a tease too. I had every intention of giving Lil her hair bow. I was just waiting for her to ask nicely. Which did eventually happen. And I got me a good "love" from her in return! In the form of a kiss on the cheek.

I will be back tomorrow to share my tie died easter eggs with you! :)

A day in the life of Lacey

Lacey is in a *wonderful* stage right now. I actually find it kind of funny. If it didn't require so much clean-up I would find it even more funny.

Lacey just LOVES to change clothes. We never had this problem with Lil. Most likely because her dresser at this age was OLD with warped drawers that weren't easy to open... Lacey's outfit changes are frequent and colorful. The part that makes it even better is that she is wearing LILIA'S clothes. Her's are out of reach in the top drawers...

The point of this blog is to show off a little bit of cuteness, and a whole lot of trouble making. Please join me on a journey through Lil's drawers, and the many functions her clothes serve to Lacey!

Good morning! This is my first outfit! I really am a ham first thing in the morning...


I only wanted to try it on, really. Not 10 minutes later I traded in the original outfit for this smashing number. The shirt fits much better around my waist. I don't know WHY mom insists on buying clothes that are too big for me...


Then I found this striking electric blue shirt and just KNEW if would make the color of my eyes *POP*! Wearing the shirt right side in and frontwards takes away from the blue of the shirt. I prefer it this way. Don't you like it? I do- though I am sick of mom taking my pictures.

Mom made me put this outfit on. I had to go run errands for a couple hours. How BORING!
As soon as we got home from those errands (before Lilia could even take her coat off) I changed shirts... It's the same shirt design, just a much more feminine color, and much more roomy...
Mom made me run more errands in that last outfit. Ugh! I just wanna be home and redressing! Speaking of, I am especially proud of this next outfit. I like it so much I actually chose to wear the clothes as they were meant to be worn! Don't I look cute?! (Pay no attention to the clothes I discarded on the floor next to me)

This outfit is much more trendy. Well, okay- it will EVENTUALLY be trendy! I am such a trend setter. Trust me. All the kids will be wearing shirts like this in the future!

Now, I know this looks like the same outfit, but trust me it's not... that last shirt was short sleeved- THIS one was long sleeved. I was cold... (not like the sleeves did a whole lot of good)- now, where's my snack?
Once I was bored with this outfit, I changed into something much more fitting for me. A dress! Mom swears it's a shirt, but I tell ya, it is MUCH to large for me to wear as a shirt.
wanna see the back? Not sure why they put a flower back there, but I am not a designer, what do I know?

I had a hard time with this next shirt... (Mom says you can click on the image to see it bigger)

I finally gave up on that darn shirt... and moved on to this thingy. Mom says it's a leotard. I say it's just retarded. How am I supposed to fit my head through these holes? And why are there two of them? I only have one head!
This outfit was donned for my appearance at dinner. I decided to go with light tones. Good for spaghetti.
And finally- bedtime. Mom couldn't find matching pajamas cause I had thrown clothes EVERYWHERE. So here I am in all my mismatched glory. Mom really ought to study my previous outfits for some fashion sense and instruction...
Hope you all have a good night!

(Mom's note: This was a mild day. Me and the girls were out of the house for about 4 hours running errands. Talk about lost opportunity for clothing changes!)

Insight from a 4 year old

So, this last week I have taken on a really fun project. Okay- maybe it's not fun for everyone, but it is ALL SORTS OF FUN for me! I have been converting all my parent's slides into full sized pictures (or at least jpeg's that can be printed full size). These slides are mostly of family and vacations, the family shots are of me and my sisters. There are a few with my younger brother, but for the most part, slides were a thing of the past by the time my baby brother was born (sorry David!). I promised my mom I wouldn't steal all the pictures, NOR would I post them all on my blog and facebook, etc. But I did have to share just one. Why? Because it was the one I was editing while I had an awesome conversation with Lilia.



(This is a picture of my dad, back before my parents were married. He passed away due to complications from an Aortic Aneurysm 11 years ago this week)

Lilia: Who is that? Is that your daddy?
Me: Yes, that IS my daddy.
Lilia: What is his name?
Me: His name is Joe, just like YOUR daddy.
Lilia: Wow. Our daddy's are named Joe! And he is died and in heaven with Jesus, huh?
Me: Yeah- he is in heaven.
Lilia: (placing her hand on my cheek and leaning her head to the side a bit) Do you miss him so much, momma?
Me: Yeah hun, I do.
Lilia: The bad guys were being mean to your father and that's how he died. But Jesus will make him alive again and then your father will come back and see you again. (She repeated this same version a few times and finally added) And I will see your father with you. That's where I am going to be.

Out of the mouths of babes often comes the most insightful and amazing thoughts. And I can't even begin to tell you how much I love Lilia for saying this to me tonight. It has been 11 years, and still the pain is there. I miss him just as much tonight as I did 11 years ago.

Sorry mom, I am going to share just a couple more pictures...

(My dad with his three girls... I am the baby)

(Dad taking me for a ride on my sister's bike)

(Dad showing his girls their new baby brother)

I have now written the end of this post some 4 times. Each ending sounded trite or too emotional. So I will end this with one sentence. I miss you Dad- and I love you.