Okay Already!

So I'm back. And while I don't really have a good excuse, my sister told one person I've been in too deep a depression to blog, which very well could be true. But to admit that, I'd have to leave that comfortable place of misery and denial -- both of which come well equipped with lots of unhealthy tasty treats by which to treat my symptoms. All I can say is thank goodness I don't drink!

I will confess to being lower than my usual chipper sarcastic self. So low, in fact, even sarcasm escaped me. And far be it for me to post without my usual tongue in cheek reflection.

As usual, I'm posting under duress. From my sister. And my friend on facebook. And my sisters friend who called inquiring as to my whereabouts in blogland. You know who you are. Anyhoo -- where have I really been? (No really, in the kitchen, eating, crying, eating, complaining, eating, whining, eating, whimpering, eating, laughing at my crying, and well, sleeping. During the day. No, not really. Well, maybe once. Twice, max.)

What is the problem? I don't know. Even with all the stress and problems, my life isn't all that different. Just stressful. And I guess, well, that makes you hungry. And tired. And a little blue. And well, it just hasn't felt worthy of sharing. And they say misery loves company, but I'm quite sure they mean twinkies and bagels. Or mint milano's. Actually, neither. Fat Boys and Oreos. and sourdough toast. But I'm certain it didn't mean people.

But enough about my good friends. And my negative down turn. We are on an upswing, and well, who wouldn't be after the most recent vacation week I've just had. But really, we are desperately putting our best foot forward and pressing on. Because at the end of the day (or weeks, in my case), you really don't have a choice. And plus, the sun has shone it's warm face a few times, and I'll be darned if that doesn't make all the difference.

So having survived 5 months of a near-death economy, funerals, traveling, soccer try-outs (times two), many rainy, gray days, the onset of t-ball, and the eternal task of folding laundry...I am here to blog.

About my trip. About my family. About joy. Because all three of those things are exactly that. The only thing missing, sadly, was my husband, who because of the aforementioned, was unable to come. But I had parents who knew, intuitively, that THIS family would need a vacation 6 months ago, and we were invited to tag along to the 4 Seasons in Carlsbad. And tag along we did.

Heaven. A true slice of peaceful, restful, happy, calorie-free pie. Even the drive down in the car felt fun. The sun warming us as we drove through LA, welcoming us to the coast and the soothing waves of the ocean. There wasn't much excitement. I mean, we didn't do amusement parks, and we didn't run to museums, and we didn't shop til we dropped, and we didn't eat out a lot. But we did enjoy one another. We sat by the pool and swam every day. We went to the movies. We watched the Olympics. And I basked in the glow of my children's carefree playfulness. I watched my son turn from tadpole to waterbug -- swimming from here to there. We played sand volleyball. Well -- we attempted, anyway. And we laughed at ourselves til it hurt. And we read books, and lingered in bed in the mornings. We took in the beauty of what was around us. The amazing vegetation. We briefly visited with cousins. And renewed relationships. It was easy. And comfortable. And memorable.

And it made me so happy. And grateful. And even though it's over, I know how important it was. And I feel renewed. Stronger. Hopeful. Happier having been.

Here's hoping you're happy, too. Enjoy the scenery...I know we did!


Check out these grounds around the park!


Hayden playing his first game of croquet.


My girls are truly best friends. We did something right.

Grandpa Doug enjoying a nap in the warmth of the sun.

Drying off after HOURS of swimming.

Enjoying the LIVING ROOM of our Villa.

See -- that's a happy, relaxed girl there.

Enjoy lunch out at one of Doug's favorite Burger joints. Has a couple trains cruising around on a suspended track.

The happy hosts! Love you guys.

A rocky beach after all the storms...but they didn't seem to mind.

Beach Cuties.

Don't even need a bucket. Mother nature is good enough for everyone on this day. Hayden made a Hot Wheels track in the sand.

Sweet cousins...and Becca...who know how to work the 4 Seasons to the hilt...it didn't take 15 minutes for Becca to call and request child sized robes for all of her kids. We went the whole week without knowing that. And you all think I'm the high-maintenance princess?! Okay, I am, but some info needs to be passed along a little earlier!

New Year, New...Nahhhhhhh

Is it too early to be making rice krispy treats for the kids? I mean, it is January 4th, after all. All the Christmas goodies are long gone, and the counters seemed kind of bare. I say -- resolutions be gone! Throw them to the birds. Shoo!

I have no New Year's Resolutions (NYR). Kind of feel like you are setting yourself up on that one. I've been there, done that. You know, I'm big into goal-setting, but the pressure of the NYR are so laden with failure out the gate, don't you think? But changing the very core that is me (namely, a pear), that would be extremely difficult. Which isn't to say that change isn't appropriate or needed in some cases, but that added pressure is just something I can live without.

Naturally, I've given some thought to change, or at least resolving to change. There are little things, of course, like making my bed more, but other things are just innate to my personality and frankly, I've come to accept my shortcomings. I'm not perfect, just trying to be, well, most days anyway. Some days I'm just in a bad mood. There's no hope for perfection on those days, much less greasing the wheel of change.

So maybe this year's resolution is not to change, but to continuing putting my best foot forward, 6 out of 7 days or at it's very worst, a score of 4 out of 7. C'mon now, that's above 50%. Which is still a failing grade, so maybe I should up that to 5, which would be passing, at least. Now there's something I can live with, and probably my husband, too. He's at work all the time anyway. The kids, school. I can save up a lot of the good days and log them in the summer when everyone's around. Plus, I'm good at pretending, so some people might think I'm having a great day, when in reality, I've already powered my way through the pan of rice krispy treats.

Today is not that day. I was just cleaning out the fridge and the cupboards, you know, new week, new year...saw some things that needed to be used up. Like a stick of butter. Uh huh. Yup, that's it. The truth. The wonderful crunchy, buttery, simple, anyone can make 'em truth. I've sampled but not cut into the pan. (In addition, I sipped a Diet Coke while I sampled, so that alone negates the sample). That can wait til after dinner. Mostly its for the smile on my kids faces. Cuz if I were to resolve anything, it would be to initiate even more smiles from my children's faces. If there's anything that can improve the ratio of happy days, that would be it.

So onto a New Year. I like beginnings. January is like throwing a dryer sheet into your month. All fresh and clean smelling. So here's to a New Year. And Bounce dryer sheets.

It's All in the DNA

Or so they say. But this creativity couldn't be flowing out of my DNA. Must be from my husband's genes. I'm not very creative...artistically speaking, anyway. But this is Lindsay and her science project. DNA. They have to create a family. They could make a poster board. They could have done it with a partner or even as a group. But not my Lindsay. She had her own ideas. A diorama. Something simple. Or not. I don't know if you can tell from the pictures...but this thing was seriously thought out. Thank goodness we didn't throw out the Polly's with the little food and mustard and ketchup bottles, or the cup the mom is holding. Notice the ants travelling to their ant hill. Or the butterfly on the rock amidst the flower patch. Or the leaves laying on the grass. The styrofoam ball...cut in half, painted black, and now a BBQ.

Seriously, was I EVER this creative? (See, Grapefruit, the fun doesn't necessarily end when they get to middle school!)

Anyway, I don't know what the teacher is gonna think, but I'm blown away the creativity that flows through these kids. She's been working on this on and off for the entire Christmas break.


Here's a top down view of the BBQ, the tire swing (a plumber's rubber ring), the kite, etc.

I love it when school projects become passion. The learning is just so much more fun!

DIY Room Decorating

Seems like if it's not on Fox Soccer Channel around here, it's on HGTV. And with this family heading into it's 10th vacation day, these kids needed a project. Mom stumbled across some cheap wooden letters and some acrylic paints...and this is what we came up with. Actually, they turned out really cute. Some Radio Disney and a craft project. Now that's an afternoon.

Here's the work in progress:

Blue is Hayden's favorite color. He wanted it to "match" his Star Wars sheets. Later we went to the store in search of Star Wars stickers, but since Mom wasn't willing to travel far and wide for that journey, Hayden settled on Glow in the Dark Batman stickers instead. In fact, since they were the only glow in the dark sort, he said: "Well, this must be my lucky day!" Indeed. Good to be a 6 year old boy.


Here's Lindsay cutting up sponges for sponge painting. Not 1 minute later, Mom talked her out of that idea and painting stripes to match her bedding instead. And it does exactly! Her lines came out perfectly straight thanks to our friend, Mr. Masking Tape.


Here's Mal with her blank pallete! She was the last to finish because she is SO indecisive. She ended up sponge-painting hers 3 different colors and trimming it out in black. Her furniture is black and her bedding has the colors of the sponging, so it's going to look great on her wall! She's very meticulous, so the trimming of the lines with masking tape took quite a while due to all the curves. But patience paid off in the end.

Drumroll...finished product.

Was a great way to polish off an afternoon. It's tough keeping up with all you young mom's. In fact, come to think of it, I don't even try. Still, I guess we're not done with craft projects after all...now...back to Lindsay's science project (which is what got me to the craft store to begin with)!!

Recipes...since you asked

Homemade Turtles or "Sweet Sleds" (from American Girl Magazine Nov/Dec 09)

Cover a plate with wax paper. Arrange six (or 600) square pretzels on it. Unwrap chocolate caramel candies (such as Rolo's) and set on top of pretzels. Microwave for 25 seconds. Gently press a pecan (be gentle, don't smash) atop the softened candy. Allow to cool...enjoy!

Popcorn Cake

Pop 2/3 c. popcorn in a pan with a little of the oil (from 1/2 c. oil), the old fashioned way. Do not salt. Discard unpopped kernels. In the pan, add remaining oil and a stick of butter. (Why not?!) When melted, add 16 oz of mini marshmallows and melt down on low until 2/3 of the marshmallows have melted. Take off the heat and add 16 oz EACH of red & green M&M's and dry roasted peanuts. Press into bundt pan (I'd spray it with non-stick cooking spray) and allow to cool and set.

Trust me, it's so good. It makes a ton...so this should feed a crowd!

Tradition

When my girls were about 2 and 4 years old, we started the tradition of having a gingerbread house making party every Christmas Season. 10 years later, we are still going strong. 3 families rotate houses. One "hosts" the party, makes dinner, while the others bring dessert and appetizers. Everyone brings their own "house". The first year we had much to learn. We struggled to keep the sides of the house up with frosting. That led us to eventually using a glue gun...a housemaker secret that's golden! Now everyone shows up with an already "constructed" house, ready to decorate, cookie sheet and all. We use leftover Halloween candy for decorating, wheat chex with powdered sugar (this year) and graham crackers for rooftops, coconut for snow...there are so many different ideas we come up with every year. After so many years, it's a seamless party, that is purely relaxing and fun. Each set of siblings comes up with such a unique house...it's so much fun to see what they turn out. And they love it and look forward to it every year as well. Good food, good friends, good memories. I can hardly wait til next year's party.


Starting from the beginning...

Yummy appetizers with fruit fondue for dessert!

The table pre-lasgna, salad and bread! It was so yummo!

Doesn't that just make you want to run out and make fondue? Chocolate fondue with fruit and angle food cake. There were other treats as well such as square pretzels topped with a rolo and a pecan. Sounds weird? Don't knock it til you try it...and can't stop trying it!

Marshmallow, peanut, m&m popcorn bonanza. This one was a winner! (Plus, you can't have just one dessert...it's a rule. It is a party, after all.)

My Hayden and his cute Gingerbread train. He was very excited to have something of his own to decorate this year and the girls (who seems to be perfectionistic) were happy to have their house back to themselves.

This house has a graham cracker garage with a car parked in it (out of candy, of course). A hershey bar fence with the gates swinging open. The smarties are stacked in a circular fasion with licorice red rope to form a gazebo that hosts a fire pit. The front yard was dusted in snow.

Oh my...we are full! But we're happy!

Join Me, Won't You?

Ok, so I'm not gonna lie. While my life isn't crappy (excuse the expression), it's been really trying lately. Mostly cuz of work related issues. And that's hard. Because we're owners, and we affect other people, not just ourselves. And while I try to "go with the flow" -- it's like a fish swimming upstream -- it doesn't suit me at all. I'm very structured and I like predictability. And life, right now, is anything but.

Speaking of butts, Thanksgiving did not help to shrink it. And while remaining positive is on the daily agenda right now, exercise is just what the doctor ordered for my ever expanding back side. The sun doesn't hurt, either. Or a salad from La Bou, butt I digress.

This is a dangerous month, folks. As if November weren't fattening enough (thanks, Lane, for the Sweet Potato Pecan extravaganza with 5000 calories per bite), December can be downright cruel. (Hello Grandma See's). So I decided, let's control what we can control. I can control whether or not I exercise, for my backside or mental management. Yesterday I went running. Well, really, it was probably more of a wog. (You figure it out). But running sounds so much more impressive. Today I went for an 1 1/2 hour hike with a friend of mine. I live in a hilly town -- and we hiked some trails today. The sun was shining, crisp air, perfect. Sweating with a sweatshirt on. The fur on my legs helped me to stay warm even in shorts. And I feel better. In fact, it made me feel great. And I always do post-wog. As my sister would say...I love SWAK. (Sweaty back) or (SWITS...sweaty pits). (C'mon, you try it. It's fun and funny. We've had entire phone calls laughing at all the stuff we come up with...)

And you will, too, if you need it. Get out there! Do it! It may just be the best part of your day. And if you can, do it outside. I quit the gym cuz I hate it (and I don't need people watching my back side hit my back while trying to burn a few calories in the name of "I'm trying" and better health). Fresh air is the greatest. Because while I may not have a goal to lose weight this month (not that I would mind...) -- (okay, I always have that goal but don't necessarily work towards it) but I do have a goal to not lose my mind. Or get overly anxious. Definitely a dominant gene in our female side of the family. And whether any of that works or not, I KNOW, I KNOW I feel better when I've moved my body. Enjoyed nature. Sweat off some of my worries. It gives me strength and joy. And it's free. And December is a long month. And it's the time of year I need it most. And while I love Santa, I don't want to look like him!

Official Merry Christmas to all.

Now, about that La Bou salad...