I saw this idea on Pinterest and I admit, I was skeptical. Maybe I’m just a skeptical person in general but I thought there was no way I could really take my used green onions and regrow them. Totally… dead… wrong!
Look what happened!
We used the green part only on our Thai Chicken Pizza so I ‘replanted’ the roots in water. The growth shows immediately after cutting, 4 days later, and finally a full week’s worth of growth! Pretty cool, eh?
Source: images.search.yahoo.com via Babblin' on Pinterest
Now, where did I leave off in part 1? Oh yes, I believe I ended when we started praying about homeschooling.
Anthony and I prayed both together and individually about this and each time we both felt good about the decision. I have to say that just the very idea of keeping K home put many of my other worries at ease, not just the worries about the school itself. Most of my worries had to do with the social aspect. I mentioned before that school is considered "the only way" to truly socialize a child, right? But, in my research, and from my own experience, I came to realize that the social aspect of public school is often times extremely negative. The bullying, the superiority, the inferiority, all of it can be so trying on a child's self worth.
I recognize that K's personality is very similar to what mine was at that same age. Often times it still is. Our feelings are hurt very easily. We don't take it well when someone is mean to us, it usually ends up that we are in tears. That part has been easier now that I am older but it still happens. For K it still happens all the time. It breaks her heart to learn that someone doesn't like her. These are all things that mean kids feed on.
I remember crying each time someone would say anything mean to me while some of my friends would fight back with a feisty attitude when something was said to them. Can you guess who they continued to pick on? Yep, it was me. I gave the reaction they were looking for. Did you ever have a moment during your grade school years that you just wanted to go home and have your mom give you a big hug so the world would make sense again? I felt that way all the time. As great as my teachers were, they couldn't console me the way my mom could. She was the only one that would fight for me and make sure that everything in her power was done to make me feel whole again. She had many ‘chats’ with teachers and principals.
I imagined my little girl going to that same great big playground at the same great big school that I attended and having those same sad, lonely feelings. Her personality is such that she gives the bullies something to feed off of. It gave me a sense of peace, once we decided to homeschool, knowing that I would be here for her when she needed me. I would be here to comfort her and help her know right from wrong.
I know there are critics out there saying, "How is she supposed to learn to defend herself? How do you expect her to grow? She can't come crying to Mommy every time she gets her feelings hurt!" Rest assured, I know all of this. But I looked at my then five year old little girl and I recognized that she doesn't have her wings yet. She wasn't ready to be thrown to the wolves. I still had time to nourish her soul, help her figure out who she is, and be the best K she could be before throwing her out there for the world to mold and shape the way the world sees appropriate. Looking at the world's view of what a little girl should grow up to be is not my idea of what our Heavenly Father would want for her.
The feelings I grew up with during grade school were not positive for the most part. I felt inferior to my peers as a result of the relentless teasing I endured. I hid my face hoping no one would see me only to figure out later that 'hiding' made me more apparent. However, I did find one way to feel superior to some of my peers. Did you ever have reading groups and math groups? We had groups that ranged from low, medium and high which translates to below average, average, and above average. They always called each group a color such as yellow, blue, and red (I don't remember exactly which colors were used) so as not to identify them as the low group or the high group. I'm not sure who they thought they were fooling, we all knew which group was which. Lucky for me, I was in the highest group for both math and reading. THAT, right there, made me better than all those mean kids that made fun of me! I loved looking down on them in this manner! As an adult, I realize now how foolish I was. But at the time, it was my way of feeling superior when in fact, I felt very inferior. After all, wasn't it more important to be popular than it was to be smart?
I remember the first time I realized that I never was smarter than anyone else. Sadly, it wasn't until I was out of school and dating Anthony. Anthony is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. He can rattle things off that I could never have known. Since I didn't know him during our school years, I had no idea how he had struggled in school. Unlike me, he was always in the lowest reading groups and even went to resource classes. He had a 'learning disability', which, by the way, I now have a very different view of after all of my research. I believe everyone just learns in different ways. Anthony never had a 'disability' at all. He needed to learn in a different manner, that's all. Yet, all through school, he felt inferior to his peers. He was never as smart as them and never got good grades. Funny how drastically our attitudes about education have changed. I never want my children to feel either inferior or superior to those around them, especially their friends. I only want them to know how and where to find the answers to the questions they have. I want them to know that they are capable of learning anything they want to learn, simple or complex. No one needs to tell them what they have to know by a certain age or how they have to learn it. Textbooks are not the only way to learn. BORING, if you ask me.
In our quest to find the right educational path for our family, we've learned a lot. One of the main things I've learned is that you can't take one curriculum, plug every child into that curriculum, and have it work for every child. That is why I don't like the idea of the public school system for my family. I believe that the public school system has it's place in society, I really do. Homeschooling is NOT for everyone. It can be hard and trying at times but I am absolutely loving that I get to learn right along with my kids. History, a subject I always loathed, is actually more interesting and fun than I ever knew. One of the the best things about it is that I can see that K is developing a love of learning at the same age that I had started into my hate of learning phase. It's so different when it's your own idea and not someone else's. Being forced to learn something is never the fun way to go about it. But having a question and being able to find the answer on your own is great fun!
Well, after deciding to homeschool for sure, it was time to go to the Utah Homeschool Conference. There was so much to figure out! What method should we try? Should we try a whole curriculum? Are we going to be the only 'normal' people there? Anthony was very concerned about that last question. Doesn't it seem that when you think of homeschoolers you think of the weird ones? They're out there, for sure! Come to think of it, there were weird public schoolers also! There are just weird people, in general. Lucky for Anthony, at the conference, it was about 98% 'normal' people and only 2% 'weirdies'. Those are his stats, not mine.
By the time we left the conference, I had flyers and brochures from every vendor and workshop we attended. I was armed with more information than I even knew what to do with. Where was I supposed to start? It was crazy! At that point, it all started to feel a bit overwhelming and I wondered if this was just a nonsense idea. I prayed some more and still felt good about it, so we continued.
Before I knew it, it was time to break the news to K that she would be staying home for 'school'. I must admit, she was not very happy when I first told her. She cried! It made me so sad and I thought about letting her go to school anyway. But when I asked her what it was that made her sad, she said, "I just want to ride the bus!" Perfect! Problem solved, she though that she would get to ride the bus to school everyday. Being that the school was only down the street, that wasn't going to happen anyway. Once I explained that to her, she was more at ease with the idea.
In the end, I decided that a full curriculum was not for us. Refer to a few paragraphs above.... I really like the Charlotte Mason method and the ideas presented in A Thomas Jefferson Education. (More on those in a later post.) These two methods complement each other very well. So, our homeschool looks a lot like either of these two methods. We're still working out some bugs, there are always bugs to be worked out in life. We still have things we would like to add to our homeschool and things that we've tried that haven't worked well at all. It's a learning process for everyone but we're having a great time doing it.
K, and all the other kids, have had many opportunities that they wouldn't have had otherwise. Liberty Girls (ages 6-9) has been such a wonderful thing for the girls. They have learned so much and made some great friends. The equivalent for a boy would be Knights of Freedom. I can't wait for C to be involved in this.
My favorite part of this whole experience is that my kids get to socialize with kids of various ages. They aren't exclusive to only kids of their own age. School is just about the only time that you are forced to be in a room with 30 other kids that are your same age. At work, at church, at the grocery store, etc... you most likely deal with people of various ages. At school, you are made to feel inferior to those in the upper grades but superior to those in the lower grades. Forget the fact that some of them are reading on a completely different level than their peers, either higher or lower, or that some have the desire to move ahead much quicker in some subjects than the others. And some wish things would slow down so that they have a chance to catch up, knowing that if they don't catch up quickly, they will fall so far behind they will be pegged as a lost cause.
I love being able to move at a pace that each child is comfortable with. Is K at the same level as her peers? I don't know, nor do I really care. We are moving at a comfortable pace for her, only moving on once I know she really understands what she was already working on. She will continue to learn because she wants to, not because she was forced to. She'll remember it because she wants to. And it doesn't matter if she learns about The Boston Tea Party in first grade or in ninth grade, the point is... she'll learn it. Actually, that was a bad example because she already knows about The Boston Tea Party. You get the point, though.
Do I worry about the socialization? NOT AT ALL! Here's an interesting tidbit of info for you. Did you know that public schools are only between 150 and 200 years old? And that they were formed for the benefit of poor people who were unable to afford material to educate their children at home or a private tutor to educate their children. Over the years, it just became a convenience for most people to send their children to the public school no matter what their status was. And I'm pretty sure that 200 years ago, before public school, there wasn't a socialization crisis! My kids see and talk to plenty of people on a daily basis. They know how to speak to children and adults alike. Not to mention, most people comment on how polite they are toward everyone. I think they speak to adults with more ease than most of their peers. They’re definitely not perfect and sometimes they need a reminder on how to politely answer or ask a question but for the most part, they’re pretty good at it.
This is not to say that all kids in the public school system are improperly socialized or that my kids are somehow going to be better off in life than yours. As I've said before, this is a lifestyle choice and it is definitely NOT for everyone. It works for us, for now. Will we do it forever? I get asked this questions all the time and my answer is always the same, "We'll do it as long as it works." When it stops working for us, we'll figure out what works whether it be public school or some other means of education. I hope that it continues to work forever but I just don't know. I imagine that in high school, the kids will have some topics of interest that the local high school will be better equipped to teach than anything else we can find. At that point, they can enroll in those classes and learn the rest on their own at home. Maybe drama, sports, band, choir.... who knows! All I know is I'm excited to see what happens in the future.
Our goal is not to have children who enter college at 14 and graduate with a degree when most of their peers are graduating from high school. It happens, there are many homeschoolers with similar stories. Our goal is more along the lines of giving our children a great foundation for self-worth, education, and spiritual well being. Who knows what will happen!?
I'm sure there are a lot of things I didn't cover in this two part homeschool post so please let me know if you have any other questions. I plan to do a number of homeschooling posts in the near future but in the meantime, ask away!
My blog friend, Cari, just posted her reasons for homeschooling on her blog so I decided to follow suit. I actually wrote this a while back for my old blog and have been meaning to repost it here… Intentions, they get the best of me every time! This will be a two part post because it’s pretty long. Some of you may have already read this.
Maybe you already know, or maybe you don't know, that we homeschool our children. It was a decision based on many different things. Was it something I had always known I would do? That would be a big fat NO! In fact, I was appalled at the idea when Anthony and I moved out of state to South Carolina with my parents and my mom decided she was going to homeschool my younger brother. He was in the 4th grade if I remember correctly. This came about after first being put into the school system there in SC. Things are a bit different there than they are here in Utah. Needless to say, it wasn't going well for my little bro. He was having a hard time socially and the academic side was not coming any easier for him. So, the decision was made.
My thought was, how dare my mom take an already socially awkward child out of the public school system. After all, isn't that why we go to school? To socialize? You would think so considering that is the first question out of almost everyone's mouth when you mention the fact that you are homeschooling. "What about the socialization?"
I was no different. Having grown up in the conveyer belt system, I believed that the only "correct" way to be socialized is to go to school, get picked on, bullied, made fun of, and make sure you find someone weaker than you to do those same things to after it's all been done to you. Then, once you hit junior high and high school, make sure you have a bunch of classes with all your friends so you can goof off and just be together. Who cares what the subject is or what the teacher is lecturing on today. Just make sure we all have fun! That's what school was for me, just a big, daily social event. Grades were never very important until the end of high school when I realized that I barely had enough credits to graduate. Phew! That was a close one! I had the potential, it was there! I tested into the "gifted and talented" programs but didn't care enough about them to do my homework like I should.
No matter how many times my teachers tried to tell me how important it was to get good grades and learn as much as I could, I didn't want to hear it. To be honest, the only things I remember from school are the things I was interested in. If I was forced to learn it, I retained the information long enough to pass the test and then it was gone.
So, when the time came and my mom pulled my brother out of school, I thought she would ruin him forever. He was already an awkward kid as it was. Little did I realize, school itself was only making it worse for him. Just a few short years after my mom pulled him out of school, he was diagnosed with autism. He's high-functioning but it explains soooo much. We now know why he was socially awkward to begin with.
Well, when the time came for K to go to preschool I had no issues with it. We found a great one to put her into and she absolutely loved it! She went for 2 years, did great and Kindergarten was just around the corner. K was so excited at the prospect of a new backpack, new school, new teacher, new friends, and field trips. I had even registered her at the local public school already. But the more research I did about the school she would attend (and consequently, the school I attended as a child), the more I realized what a detriment this could be to her. The school had a very low report card and the testing scores were horrendous!
As I asked other parents about their experiences with the school, I heard a lot of people report frustration at the pace of the learning. So many of the kids were ready and longing to move ahead but were held back because of the fact that the teachers were only allowed to move at the pace of the "average" student. This meant that even though some children were ready, others were further behind. So moving ahead too quickly would mean the kids that are behind get even further behind and the "average" ones would fall a little behind as well.
At that point, I decided to look at my other options. There was a charter school that I had heard good things about. They did a lottery pull for enrollment and K was not chosen. The next thing I did was borrow a whole bunch of books from the library about how children learn best and educational options. After reading and seeing that homeschool was mentioned several times, I borrowed a bunch of homeschooling books. Not only that but I researched online. I probably read a good 12-15 books on homeschooling alone. And some of the websites I found were incredible! I learned about so many different methods and curriculums, it was mind-boggling! During all of this, I had remained pretty quiet about my findings only to surprise Anthony with it one day.
I remember it was summer and Anthony was up on a ladder outside our garage doing something. What it was has escaped me but I do remember him on the ladder. My nerves were getting the best of me at the time as I prepared to ask him what he thought of the idea of homeschooling. Once the question left my lips I anticipated the answer with somewhat of a hopeful demeanor. What I got was the look of insanity!! YEP! He thought I had gone loony for minute. His thoughts had been the same as mine when my mom had homeschooled so the idea of doing such a detrimental thing to our own children was outrageous!
Anthony looked down at me from the ladder and said, "Are you serious?" Once I told him that I was, he gave me what we commonly refer to around here as 'the stank face'. I then proceeded to tell him about the research I had done, the methods I had learned of, and the benefits it could have for our family. The more I talked, the more on-board he was with the whole idea. This 'talk' of ours went on for more than just the few minutes on the ladder. He told me to keep researching and we would pray about it and decide what was right for our family. I was so excited! I read and researched for several weeks and told him of my findings. Some GREAT findings, and some not-so-great findings.... opposition in all things, right? Each time, he would react a little bit kinder to the thought of homeschooling and the prayers began.
Alright, it’s official. Chuck says I’m ready so if you’re in need of a fabulous singer for your upcoming event, I’m available! Yup, even I was shocked. I mean, c’mon, two lessons and I am American Idol worthy? (Too bad I’m too old.) Surely Chuck must have been mistaken. Guess I’m a quick learner, eh? I should’ve done this YEARS ago!
So, if you’re getting married and need a wedding singer, give me a call…
Wait, what’s that?
Wait, what? **Hold on I think I hear Chuck…**
***********************
Oh… I guess what he really said was that I had improved. Not that I’m ready for tryouts of any sort or that I should sing at anyone’s wedding. DARN IT! Improvement is good though, right? I need to work on my vibrato and staying loud in my deep chest voice. I have what he calls a soft chest voice. It’s getting better… I think. Coming back down into my ‘chest voice’ from my ‘head voice’ is another thing I will be working on this week.
A did great, as expected and her confidence improved quite a bit in just a week’s time. It was amazing to see her walk in there, belt out her practice ‘Nay nay nays’, ‘No no nos’, and ‘Na na nas’ like it she had done it a hundred times before. She had no fear this week. She was even confident enough in her song that he had her do it without Christina Aguilera (Mulan) singing along. And then he assigned her a new song. It’s a song from Les Miserables called Castle On a Cloud.
Here’s A’s version of ‘Reflection’ this week. Still a little timid and she forgot the tune but overall her confidence was much better than last week.
And hey, if you’re in need of a great singing teacher or voice coach, visit his website and give him a call. He uses the same techniques the stars use! Find your inner chest voice… you’ll be glad you did. It’s lots of fun!
Up until this past October, I had never really had a plan for studying my scriptures. Anthony and I decided when the last session of General Conference rolled around that we needed a real plan. Something that we could both stick with and even work on together.
The plan…
Anthony reads and studies during lunch at work. Yes, he’s had a few snickers and laughs about that from co-workers but unlike in years past, it doesn’t bother him. We’ve been deeply humbled by circumstances in the past few years and while it certainly hasn’t been easy, I can honestly say that it’s been worth it! The ‘world’ has much less of an influence on both of us and we just don’t really care what the ‘world’ thinks. We are a PECULIAR people! :)
I read just after lunch when the boys go to bed. The girls have quiet time and I am able to sit and read with… minimal interruptions. There are always a few. I mean, c’mon, we’ve got a gazillion kids!
Yes, five is the new gazillion.
As a couple, Anthony and I study together after family scriptures and once the kids are all in bed. In addition to our scriptures themselves, here’s what our ‘study’ looks like.
We’ve started scripture journals! Mine is on the bottom. Anthony even takes his to work and fills it out. He is NOT a journal guy. The only journals he’s ever kept are the two from his mission. Other than that, nothing! I found this fabulous blog (scripture journal tips here) that has really helped in so many ways. She is amazing! I can’t tell you what her blog has done for my study of the scriptures. Remember, I’m a first-timer here. I’ve never made it through the whole BOM… don’t judge.
If you’re interested in starting your own scripture journal, the above links are FABULOUS for ideas on what to include and how to do it but there are some awesome pages (along with more ideas) to print from Latter-Day Homeschooling (which I am a contributor for on the 16th of every month ;)).
I have to admit that Anthony is actually far more dedicated about scripture journaling than I am. He comes home and tells me about things he wants to ponder and epiphanies he has. They’re all right there in his big ol’ binder full of inspirational thoughts and wisdom. Everything from the Higher Priesthood to temple sessions to parenting to likening the scriptures. I’ve never seen him more excited about studying the scriptures. He loves having somewhere to write his personal thoughts and insights.
Guys, it’s like I have a new husband! One that keeps a journal… of sorts. It’s always bothered me that I am not even mentioned in any journals of his because he hasn’t kept one for the whole time I’ve known him. Guess what… I’m in his scripture journal. He really does think about me! Oh, the kids are there, too. He loves us!!
As for me, I’m working on utilizing my scripture journal more. I guess I’m just not as insightful.
What about you? Do you keep a scripture journal or any journal at all for that matter?
Papa Murphy’s is one of my family’s favorite pizza places. Not too long ago, they had a ‘limited time only’ pizza… Thai Chicken Pizza. On a whim one night, just for kicks and giggles, I bought it not really knowing what I was buying.
WE LOVED IT!
It quickly became Anthony’s very favorite pizza and we bought it several times over the course of a month or two… and just like that it was gone.
It seemed like such an easy pizza to make that I thought What the heck, let’s try it on our own. And then of course, the very next day I got a flyer in the mail saying that Papa Murphy’s is carrying it again. Isn’t that how it always works? But it doesn’t matter because ours was every bit as good! Plus, they have it on an extremely thin crust and I prefer mine to be just a bit thicker.
Thai Chicken Pizza
Preheat oven to 425*. Roll your dough to whatever size pizza pan you are using. Remember if you are using a pizza stone, allow it to preheat in the oven. Once the dough is rolled, sprinkle a bit of cornmeal on the stone or pan and set dough on top.
Put up to 1/2 c. chili sauce on the dough as your pizza sauce. Spread evenly almost to edges with a spoon. Sprinkle red pepper flakes to taste. It’s supposed to be a little spicy but not TOO spicy. Spread chicken and green onions (I used only the green part) over the pizza. Sprinkle with cheese to taste.
Slice a zucchini as thinly as possible and place on pizza.
Bake for 12-18 minutes.
Please tell me I’m not the only one who had no clue that lasagna could be made in a crockpot. Anyone else?
Not that it really would have mattered because I’ve only owned a crockpot for maybe a month or two. It’s my new favorite kitchen appliance! Who knew a simple crockpot could make dinner so simple? Obviously not me or I would have bought one a looong time ago.
When I heard that lasagna could be made in my new handy dandy kitchen device, I was elated. Plus to hear that you don’t even have to cook the noodles ahead of time made me even more excited. Maybe I was a bit skeptical thinking that the noodles wouldn’t turn out but guess what, they did!
I didn’t follow an exact recipe, I just made it the way that I normally do… simple but delicious!
You’ll need:
Brown ground turkey or beef along with diced onion (optional). Start by spraying inside of crockpot with non-stick spray. I don’t know if it’s a necessity but I did it just in case.
Place just a tiny bit of sauce on the bottom of crockpot and spread it around. Now place a layer of noodles, breaking them as needed to fit. It doesn’t have to be pretty. Spread a layer of cottage (or ricotta) cheese, spinach, meat, a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese, sauce. Repeat over and over until the noodles are gone. We like our lasagna saucy so we used a lot more than 1 jar of sauce.
On the last layer of noodles, put a thin layer of sauce and a heavier layer of mozzarella. There you have it! Put the lid on your crockpot and set it on high for up to 4 hours. Ours was done after about 3 1/2 hours.
Your crockpot may be a different size and/or shape than mine so you may have to modify for that.
This fed eight people (3 adults, 5 kids) and we still had leftovers for 3-4 more servings.
This post is really more about the Caramel Frosting than anything else. The cookies weren’t bad either but the caramel…
WOW! The caramel… There are no words.
I’ve been wanting to try a caramel frosting recipe ever since I found one on Pinterest (it’s not the recipe I used, however). And the recipe for applesauce cookies is in a cookbook I have called Worldwide Ward Cookbook Mom’s Best Recipes. It’s a recipe that caught my eye long ago but I’ve just never made the time to make it. Yesterday I was in a cookie making mood and decided to throw caramel frosting on these applesauce cookies. Caramel apples… it’s perfect! My kids devoured them. I wasn’t sure Anthony would be fond of them. I was pleasantly surprised when he ate several and kept telling me how good they were.
Applesauce Cookies (slightly adapted)
Preheat oven to 350*.
Cream butter and sugar together on medium speed in stand mixer. Add egg and incorporate. Now add applesauce and mix on low speed until fully incorporated.
Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl. Add a little at a time to wet mixture, mixing on low speed between each addition until all ingredients are combined.
Drop onto lightly greased baking sheet by small, rounded spoonfuls and bake for 9-11 minutes. (**This is a pretty wet, sticky dough. Don’t make the spoonfuls too large or they will spread and run into each other.**)
These cookies are VERY soft! Be gentle when removing them from your baking sheet.
And now for the best part…
Caramel Frosting
In a large saucepan melt the butter over medium heat and add brown sugar, stirring frequently. Bring to a boil, turn heat down slightly and let simmer for one full minute. The sauce should be dark brown and thick.
Remove from heat and add milk. Whisk in carefully. Add vanilla, whisk.
Add one cup at a time of powdered sugar and stir between each addition. Once you reach 2 cups, start adding in 1/2 cup increments until you reach desired spreading consistency. Mine was fine at 2 1/2 cups. Remember, as it cools it will thicken and get stiffer so let it be a little runnier than you plan the final product to be. If it becomes too thick, you can stir in one T. of milk at a time until it returns to the consistency you like.
Spread on cookies, cupcakes, cakes, etc. It’s absolutely delicious!!
My kids make me laugh every day. They say the funniest things and I need to record them somewhere so I can always remember. Feel free to read along and laugh… or not because some things are just funnier if you were there.
Let’s start with B. He doesn’t say a whole lot yet but I want to record what he does say and how he says it.
C has a language all his own. Just yesterday I got a phone call from a lady in my ward. She didn’t know who she was calling. She had just received three phone calls over the past two days from my phone number and was calling to see what it was about. When I told her who I was she laughed and laughed and laughed after realizing that it was C calling her. She had been expecting an oriental person because that is what she thought was C was speaking.
Some of my favorite C sayings make absolutely no sense. The most recent being, “I was ever.”
Ok, you were ever what? He just says it at random times.
He used to say, “Ever he did!” all the time but I had no idea what it meant. The girls and I tease him about that one still and say, “Hey C, ever he did?”
To which he replies with a courtesy laugh, “Nooo. He didn’t.” He used to tell people to “Be a man!”
C calls both the heater and the computer “peter”. So, it’s kind of funny when he says things like, “I needa go sit on the peter!” or “Mom, you playing on the peter?” Ok, I know that one sounds bad but seriously, he’s 3. And it’s kind of hilarious coming from him.
And now we’ll move on to H… SHE has got some AWESOME one-liners. The most recent is from just the other day, “Wow K, you do make-up really good. You should be an orthodontist!” Because apparently orthodontists double as make-up artists.
On September 11th of last year we were telling the girls about the events of that fateful day. I told them that they had shut down all the airports and weren’t letting anyone fly or they would be shot out of the sky. H looked very concerned and said, “Even the birds?”
Another of her famous lines comes from the following conversation:
H: Mom, do grown ups throw up?
Me: Yes, we do.
A: Yeah, everybody throws up.
H: Even Chinese people?!?
Ha ha! That one gets me every time! I love repeating that story.
Ready for another H-ism? It’s here in the following conversation.
H: Grandma, you have boobs!
My mom: Yes, H. Thanks for noticing.
H: My Daddy doesn’t have boobs. He has NIBBLES!
Another conversation… bear with me
Me: So girls, what kind of animal would you want to be if you could ANY animal in the world?
A and K: (I don’t know who said what… I just know they were all cool, majestic animals) A cheetah, or maybe a tiger. No, maybe I wanna be a lion. Or a jaguar!
H: (in the most innocent way) I wanna be a camel!
A camel? Really? What kid wants to be a camel? We all got a good laugh out of that one.
Let’s move on to A. She’s got some good ones too. Once while at Costco when she was about 2 or 3 years old I had told her that I wasn’t very happy with her. She kept running off and I was going to make her sit in the cart if she didn’t listen. She looked at me and started waving her chubby little hand at me and said, “Biddy Boddy and a BOO! You’re happy now, Mom!” I have to admit that it did put a smile on my face.
Another time when she was just barely two, if that, we were at Chili’s restaurant with some family members. A was sitting in her high chair at the end of the table and people were asking her to repeat words. Mind you, that child was speaking in full sentences at a very young age. People were telling her to say aluminum and she’d say it like she’d said it a thousand times before. Cinnamon, no problem. Spaghetti, check. Basically any word they could throw at her that most kids her age and even older would have a problem with. And she was loving the attention she got with each correct word. My cousin finally said, “Hey A, say Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!”
A looked down, looked back up at my cousin, then back down again. And her head stayed down for quite a while. We all thought she had forgotten or was ignoring the request. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she looked up again and said, “HOLY CRAP!”
Ok, we all about laughed ourselves silly over that one. It was so stinkin’ funny! Maybe it’s one of those ‘had to be there’ moments but we sure got a kick out of it.
K was a funny little girl. Now she’s a funny big girl. I remember once when she was two and A was just about 6 months. Anthony and I were giving them a bath and noticing how A’s bum was so much bigger that K’s. A was an extremely chubby baby! It’s hard to believe seeing how tiny she is now but I promise she was sooo adorably chubby! I had mentioned to Anthony that A’s bum was bigger and K got really upset.
K: I have a big bum too.
Me: No, you have a little bum.
K: (crying) I wanna have a big bum!
Another K-ism was when we had just moved back to Utah from South Carolina. We were staying with Anthony’s parents until we found an apartment. We (Anthony, K, A and myself) were all crammed into one little room. One night just before bed, I noticed K was picking her nose as I was about to turn the light off.
Me: K, don’t pick your nose.
K: Ok.
(I flip the switch and lay down. About 15 seconds later…)
K: Ma, pick my nose! (She was basically informing me that she was picking her nose again.)
One last one for K, one time at about age 4 she said to me, “Boys are sons and girls are sweethearts, huh Mom.”
How could I argue with that one?
It’s not the most creative of titles but it’s the only way to describe how this week has been. Just stinky!
It all started when one day last week when we noticed a slight stink in our house. The smell of dirty diapers filled the air. But I knew it wasn’t dirty diapers. Those are always properly disposed of. Never left around because because first of all, that would just be gross and second of all, we have two large dogs with exquisite taste… they LOVE themselves a dirty diaper. EW! Makes me shudder. I will never understand why dogs eat poop.
Anyway, we knew there wasn’t a pile of diapers being stashed somewhere. Yet when my parents showed up the next day (and the stench was still there), the first thing they noticed was the smell of ‘dirty diapers’. By that point I had already come to the conclusion that it had to be our laundry since the smell was strongest in the laundry room. I had a mountain of it that needed to be done and I figured that the towel that cleaned up a milk spill had been mixed in. Milk STINKS!!
Fast forward a few days… the smell was getting stronger and stronger but it no longer smelled like diapers. It just smelled awful! I hadn’t gone through all the laundry yet but I had picked it up in small bundles and frantically tried to find the source of the smell. It was overwhelming in the laundry room! The smell was saturating the whole house and I had resolved by then that there was just no way it could be the laundry. I was just about done with every bit of it and it still kept getting stronger. My parents kept noticing it too. It was starting to get embarrassing but we could not find the source.
Then this past Sunday after church, the smell was so overwhelming when Anthony walked in the door from church that he just couldn’t stand it any more. After walking into the laundry room for the umpteenth time, he finally found it!!!!!
THE FREEZER! The one that stayed from the previous owner of the home. It had stopped working!! Who knows how old this thing is?!
Anthony had only just cracked it open and the smell about killed him off. I think there was even a green mist in the room.
And we went straight to work! The boys had just gone down for their naps so it was the perfect time to get something done.
We both about lost our lunch a couple of times. Then we called for help!
Thank goodness for my willing parents who came and helped unload 3 whole turkeys, a couple of hams, several pounds of ground beef, a rack of ribs, some vegetables, chicken, and few unrecognizeables. The yucky juices were sucked up with a shopvac and the freezer was bathed in bleach.
OH MY STINKY HECK!!!!
Do you notice what they’re all wearing? MASKS!! Each of them drenched in Peppermint essential oil in an attempt to overpower the smell of the rotting meat.
No, it didn’t work. I think it helped a little, though.
And yes, our house is smelling much better! Thanks for asking. ;)
However, the other day, we noticed that one of our two refrigerators wasn’t keeping our food chilled. GREAT! Just what we needed. Fortunately, the food in the freezer still had ice crystals on it. And better yet, the problem was a simple fix. Someone (ahem, C) had turned the dials all the way down. Now it’s working, good as new!
If I could go stand in the lines in heaven again, the very first line I would stand in would the talents line and I would ask for the ability to sing. It’s one of the talents that I wish I possessed. Music is so powerful! Whenever I hear someone with a beautiful, powerful voice, I get the chills.
As you probably well know, I don’t sing, at least not in front of people. I love blasting the radio in the car and singing along just as much as the next guy but ONLY when I’m all alone. I like to sing really loud in the car… and I pretend that I’m really good. ;)
There’s even been a blog post or two where I mention my inability to sing. Not that I can find them when I need them but they’re here… somewhere.
And then…
I got an email from Chuck. It basically said, Hi, I’m Chuck and I can help you! (in a nutshell)
This is Chuck! (I meant to get a picture of him during the lesson but I spaced it. This is his business card.)
He’s my new voice coach/singing teacher. He has agreed to help A and I discover our singing voices. Our first lesson was Saturday.
You may be asking why I chose A to come along with me over the other girls. As much as K and H would love to have taken this opportunity, A is the one with a true passion for singing. She sings all. the. time!! She’s also got quite the talent for it. Anyone that hears her makes a comment about it.
We weren’t sure what to expect for our very first lesson. I was worried that he would be scared off by my inability to ‘carry a tune in a bucket’. I must say that I was extremely nervous in the days and hours leading up to this first meeting.
Luckily, after introducing ourselves Chuck invited A to go first. PHEW! He had her demonstrate her range. He played the notes and had her sing along as he started with the low-ish notes and kept creeping higher and higher. I think he was somewhat impressed with her range, as was I!
He then did some things that A thought was pretty fun. He turned her into a BRAT! No joke, he told her to act as if she were being a brat and tell her siblings ‘NO’ (they were hypothetically touching her stuff). She was to be LOUD and BRATTY! He played different notes for her to say ‘NO’ to and then had her start saying ‘Na’… as in “Na na na na na na!” You know when you were a kid and you’d say ‘Na na na na na na! You can’t catch me!” She also had a few other sounds to make to teach her to recognize her natural voice vs. falsetto.
A had fun with it. She even got the sassy hip swing goin’. Though she didn’t really let him know how much fun she was having with it. I could tell, I’m her mom. Moms just know these things. Plus, the fact that she came home and was practicing her best “Na na na na na na’s” kind of gave her away.
Chuck taught her how the vocal cords work and how to open them and how to use her normal speaking voice to sing.
Then she got to the fun part. She got to sing a real song! He had her sing “Reflection” from Disney’s Mulan. Mind you, this is her first time ever singing it and she’s only seen Mulan a time or two so she doesn’t know the words or the tune.
Tell me that microphone isn’t awesome! It reminds me of the movie Annie. Don’t ask, I’m weird.
Then it was my turn… YIKES!
I was extremely embarrassed at first to do my scales and show my range. But right away he made me feel better by telling me that I have a very good ear and surprisingly (for me) I was on pitch!
REALLY? Me? Hmm, I never would have guessed.
That gave me just the boost of confidence that I needed to continue. He taught me to use my speaking voice instead of going into a falsetto. I think I’ve always fallen into that trap of thinking where you think your speaking voice and your singing voice have to be different.
Guess what, they should be one in the same! Who knew? And if you did know, why didn’t you ever tell me? Rude!
Speaking IS singing… Singing IS speaking. We speak in notes. We’re not monotone. Why not sing with that same speaking voice?
He taught me how.
After letting him know that country is my favorite style of music, he had me sing Jesus Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood. I’m no Carrie, that’s for sure, but it was fun to sing into that microphone doodad thing.
At the end of our session, he handed each of us a cd of the sessions so we could take them home and practice. How cool is that? A’s cd was in before dinner tonight. She couldn’t wait to share what she had learned with her sisters. All three of them were Naying, No-ing, and Na na na – ing.
A is excited for next week. As we left the studio she said, “That was so fun!”
I agree. We can’t wait to see what else Chuck has in store for us. I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes each week.
If you are in the market for a voice coach or singing instructor I recommend giving him a call! You can visit his website, Sing Utah or give him a call (phone # is on the business card pic above). He’s super nice and he sure makes it a lot of fun.
Tell him Brooke sent you!
P.S. I know you’re completely disappointed (NOT!) that there are no pics or videos of me. Sorry about that! ;) Maybe next week…..
P.P.S. Here’s a video of A singing Beautiful Savior (well, part of it anyway) just before our lesson. She’s trying really hard and I think it’s great but I think it’s even better when she’s not trying so hard. I kind of put her on the spot for this.
Actually, she calls it Gussie’s Fried Chicken so I guess it’s more like Gussie style.
I can’t believe I’m actually posting this because it goes completely against my New Year eating plan. But I’m allowed a cheat meal (or seven) every week. Food is my friend and I have very few enemies in that world.
I discovered the magic of The Food Network several years ago and absolutely fell in love with Miss Paula Deen. She’s funny, charming, beautiful, and man oh man that woman can COOK! Haven’t met a recipe of hers I haven’t liked. One time, she was making this fried chicken with a honey-pecan glaze and I was intrigued. I had to make it and let me tell you, this recipe did NOT disappoint! The whole family loves it!!
Gussie’s Fried Chicken
Heat oil to 375* in large skillet or cast iron pan, enough to go up halfway on the chicken. Beat eggs and pour into 9x13 pan if desired. This makes the process easier. Mix salt and pepper, garlic powder, and flour together in large bowl. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Dredge the chicken by first coating each piece in egg and then coating in flour mixture. Place in hot oil and fry for about 10 minutes, flip and cook the second side for another 10 minutes.
Very large pieces may need to be cooked a little longer. Drain chicken on paper towels and transfer to platter.
Honey-Pecan Glaze
To make the glaze, melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the honey, bring to a simmer and add pecans. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over fried chicken.
Self-Rising Flour (in case you don’t have it)
For every one cup of flour, add 1/2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. baking powder
It’s WAY too late for a Christmas post at this point, I know. But I’m procrastinating holding off on doing my New Year’s Resolution post (one of which is to stop procrastinating ;)) in order to… perfect the resolutions. And then I can leave out the ones that I’ve already smudged on. See how that works? You wish YOU had held off on your own Resolution post now. Ha!
But seriously, I was looking over my Christmas list again and guess what… I got EVERYTHING on my list! Well, in one form or another anyway. Anthony wasn’t so lucky but hey, we’re talking about MY list. When he gets his own blog, he can gripe about not getting everything on his list. This is my blog.
**Side note: I really do love my Afony. The previous comment was all in jest.**
First up, my WANT: A new camera (DSLR)… let’s come back to that one.
Next, my NEED: Dishwasher! Can you believe my parents bought us a new dishwasher? The old one… UGH! We had to prop a chair in front of it because it didn’t latch, but surprisingly, it would still run… even with the door wide OPEN. C, B, and I all got sprayed in the face a few times. Normal dishwashers will stop when the door opens. Not that one. And to top it all off, more than half the dishes would come out with gross nasties all over them. It was beyond frustrating. I have to admit that I was a little frustrated with the new one at first, too. The dishes still came out dirty until Anthony checked the water pressure in the line to the dishwasher a few days later. **Drip, drip, drip** Next to nothing was coming out! Got that fixed and VOILA!! A magically CLEAN dishwasher! I’m so in love with it.
Third, my WEAR: A bra! Well, I don’t actually have this in hand yet. One of my new blog friends sent me an e-gift card to Victoria’s Secret. I need to go be fitted and then order what I want online. Now that all the holiday bustle is over, I can sneak away and do that. A HUGE thanks to her for being so generous! (I won’t link you to her because I don’t know if she wants to be identified.)
Fourth, my READ: My brother got me a book with all the Jane Austen novels. I am so excited to read them!
Finally, my EXTRA: We got a board game called… what was it again? Budweiser? No, that’s not it… BEZZERWIZZER (Anthony just likes to call it Budweiser). Lots of fun!
So you see, I got everything. on. my. list.
Oh wait! I didn’t tell you about my new camera.
No, I didn’t get a new DSLR (I wish!) buuuut, I did find this cool new app for my phone called Retro Camera (I have no affiliation whatsoever with the makers of this app. I just found it.) and I love it!
You get to choose from several (several as in 6) different old school cameras and snap away. Here are some examples:
The Barbl:
Little Orange Box:
Xolaroid 2000:
Pinhole Camera:
FudgeCan:
Hipsteroku:
Some of the cameras allow both color and black & white. But the best part is that it’s FREE!!
Which camera is your favorite? I think I like the Pinhole camera best.
We promised the kids last week that would take them to the zoo that Saturday. After all, they are open year round and my sister gave our family an annual pass for Christmas last year.
The weather here in Utah has been extremely abnormal for December and January. Mother nature is NOT doing her job. Maybe she’s just getting forgetful in her old age. I’m thinking of submitting my resume for the job. Where would one send such a resume, anyway? Hmmm… I would promise to make it snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas every year. Didn’t happen this year, now did it? NO! My kids were outside in light jackets! We’ve had nothing but light dustings of snow, and only a couple of them at that. I want a redo!
Man, I am good at getting off subject.
Anyway, the weather has been unseasonably warm so we figured why not? We should take them to the zoo and see how the animals act in cool-ish weather.
Wouldn’t you know it, we woke up Saturday to this…
But once you make a promise to kids there’s no turning back, at least not without sad puppy dog faces making you feel guilty for going back on your word. So we bundled everyone up and off we went!
We found most of the animals to be more active, even as the snow was flying. Most, not all…
The monkeys gave the kids a good show. Maybe it was one I wasn’t ready to explain to them at this point. They just think they were climbing on each others backs… we’ll leave it that.
This is NOT one of the PG-13 monkeys… He just wanted to get the tassels on Anthony’s hat.
It was our first time ever going in the winter. I think I rather enjoyed it! Fun was had by all and there were no crowds… AWESOME!
This is Sissy. She’s naughty!
She adopted us a year ago this past December. There we were (Anthony and I) getting ready to go on a date. A REAL date!! That, my friends, does not happen often. We had a babysitter and everything. We were going on a real date!
Focus, Brooke. We’re not talking about dating… we’re talking about Sissy.
Anyway, our ride had just shown up. We were headed downtown to see Savior of the World (Awesome show, by the way!) with Anthony’s sister and her husband. Anthony and I had last minute touch-ups going on.
Dating is kind of a big deal for us. Touch ups are necessary!
As we were just about ready to go, I heard a loud mewing coming from outside.
“What IS that?”
My brother-in-law replied, “It’s a cat. It’s out on your porch. We just saw it.”
I looked out the window in the door and sure enough, there she was. Tired, hungry, FREEZING!! It was so cold that night (if I remember it was about 8 degrees) and she was absolutely nothing but skin and bones.
Like an idiot I pleaded for Anthony to grab her a can of tuna. He warned me that if we did that, we’d have a cat on our hands for good. I was sure she’d eat, move on, find another schmuck, and we’d be good to go. We would have only done our good cat deed for the year and that would be it. I’m sure they give ‘good cat deed points’ in heaven.
We got home that night and there was no kitty to be found. Phew, I was right!
But the very next night, there she was, mewing at the door.
I caved. Yes, it took no time at all. We let her in, fed her and attempted to find her a good home. Anthony had tried to convince me to keep her but I was not going to give in. NO WAY! We tried for a few days. And after our half-hearted attempts were a no go…. well, she’s still here!
And then we named her. I thought her name should be Stray. We even called her that for the first day and a half. Anthony decided to change it. PUNK! What kind of name is Sissy, anyway? Whatever.
She’s put on a lot of poundage. She’s not a fan of the dogs, the boys (they chase her and pull her tail), and she’s even a little skittish around the girls sometimes but we’ve never had a problem with her biting or scratching anyone.
And she LOVES me! That darn cat won’t leave me alone. And I’m allergic! She gives me hives when she touches me with her wet nose. Lavender oil fixes that problem.
She only LIKES Anthony. Sorry Mr. Head, I win this one. She looooooves me. Remember? All the kids love YOU more… Hmph! (“I wish Daddy could stay home and YOU could go to work, Mom.” Gee thanks, I love you too!)
Speaking of Sissy again, she decided to go on a little escapade outside this past New Year’s Eve. We searched for her for days! Even put an ‘ad’ on facebook. An ad on facebook… that’s funny, no? We were all worried! Little A was devastated and checked for her at the door every 5 – 10 seconds.
There was no sign of her…
Until last night! She showed up again and she is never allowed outside again. She’s in big trouble! Worrying us like that… how inconsiderate! ;)
My favorite part about Sissy showing up again is the one way conversation H had with her.
“Sissy, where have you been? Are you dating?” She better not be!
Then she proceeded to ask me if cats get married. After all, “They know how to talk to each other. So maybe they DO get married! And maybe they wear little bowties and wedding dresses and stuff.”
Maybe so. Anyone ever been invited to a cat wedding?
Being a parent is tough. Tougher than most would ever dream it up to be.
We anticipate the arrival of each new addition to the family with high hopes of a happily ever after. And we get it… just not the way we planned it.
I love my children dearly and couldn’t imagine my life without a single one of them. We have good times and we have hard times.
We are not what you might call ‘well off’ and we aren’t able to provide the kids with everything we’d like to. They don’t get to go to restaurants or movies (or the like) as often as many of their friends or cousins but we do the best we can with what we’ve got. But for some it just doesn’t seem good enough.
I’ve got one child that is just grateful for what we have and glad that we love her. She never asks for much. Another that whines about not getting some kind of treat or prize every time that we go to the store (it must mean that we don’t love her). And a third daughter that thinks that if we don’t let her do whatever she wants, whenever she wants it, we just don’t love her.
She is by far the most dramatic of the three. She’s also the the one that knows how to push my buttons, pull the emotional drama card, play it on me, make me feel like a terrible mother, and make me cry. It’s a gift!
We go the rounds every once in a while and today was one of those ‘whiles’.
It was tough to hear, “I hate my life!” over and over again, along with other fun statements. She was upset that I had grounded her for the day after asking her several times to help with chores. She and another of the girls chose NOT to help, hence the grounding for BOTH of them.
I tried to explain that she really lives a great life.
It was no use. She had a glazed look in her eyes. I know it wasn’t her talking yelling at me. I remained calm throughout the entire altercation and tried to help her realize her foolishness. I suggested that she go and say a prayer but she wasn’t convinced. She stormed off in a huff… and I cried.
Only a few short minutes later she came back upstairs, hugged me, and apologized. So glad we could resolve the issue. She even said that she didn’t mean any of what was said. Phew! There were quite a few hurtful statements thrown in there.
Just keeping it real. Sometimes bloggers only talk about the happy times. My favorites are the ones that document the ‘real’ stuff too.
I feel like I’m so behind but I have to blog this stuff just for my own remembrance.
How did we celebrate the New Year? We stayed home… just us (we’ve NEVER done that for New Year’s). After all the baptism hoopla was done, K and I ran to Target to exchange some shoes that C got for Christmas. They were ginormous! Meanwhile, Anthony turned on the Utah bowl game….
Which the Utes won! Go UTES!!
This is a pic of B celebrating with one of the players in the background. Like I’m gonna know who it is. I think Anthony said it’s someone with the last name of White. Do I get any points for knowing that much? Go me!?
Later that evening, we started our own ‘party’. Of course it couldn’t begin without first putting the boys to bed. We told the girls they could stay up until midnight.
Do you let your kids stay up?
The boys went to bed at 8:30 and then we pulled out the games. Games are hard with two little boys. One just blatantly destroys them (that would be B) while the other claims that he want to play ‘nicely’ but the second something doesn’t go his way, he’s all about throwing pieces and demolishing everything that’s set up.
That is why the games didn’t come out until then. We even got to play the Wii. The girls think it’s hilarious to watch Anthony and I make fools of ourselves play! We’re pretty much awesome.
Then we flipped the TV on just a few minutes before the ball dropped (What’s New Year’s without the ball drop?), drank some sparkling cider and went to bed…. after taking a New Year’s picture, of course. I’m awesome at taking pics backwards, no?
It was so nice after all the Christmas festivities, the baptism, the birthday party, etc (all held at our house) to just be able to spend some fun, quality time with the kids. All by ourselves! We loved it!
And of course on New Year’s Day we wrote down some goals for 2012. That’s a post coming later. So behind!
How did you celebrate?
