~ramblings of a busy mom~

I do NOT loves me some wascally wabbits!!!

2011-05-07T21:52:00.002-05:00

Ok, so John got home after working approximately ~~483~~ 13 hours today. Here's the conversation we had about ten minutes after he walked in the door:

John: 'Ah, my dearest Brea, most precious, beautiful, and wise above all other women! How I have missed you in these long hours of our absence. How faired you and our lovely progeny on this day?'

(Ok, fine. What he really said was more along the lines of, 'Hey baby. Gah, I'm glad to be out of the store; my shift was crazy long. How was your day with the kids?' But come on. My translation sounded way better.)

Brea: 'I'm glad you asked; it was great! We accomplished a lot, caught up on school and laundry, shot the bows out back, got all our church clothes picked out ...' blah, blah, brag about productiveness, blah, blah, blah

John: 'Wow, that's impressive. The house looks great, by the way. Any reason for getting so much done?'

(I thought for about 3 seconds about being offended by that last comment, but seeing how he made an accurate observation, I decided to take the compliment and run with it.)

Brea: 'Ok, this might sound a silly ...'

(John raised his eyebrow at that.)

Brea: '... a little sillier than normal, but I had this dream last night, and I was taking names and kicking ass in the middle of this medieval battle ...'

(both eyebrows were raised after that)

Brea: '... ANYWAY, so when I woke up, I felt like listening to Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries. So I did. I've always loved that one, and it set me in a very conquering mood, and I've decided I'm doing the same thing tomorrow. If it works, I'm totally adding it to my morning routine.'

John: 'The ride of the who the whaaaaaaaaa?'

Brea: 'Richard Wagner? German opera composer? Ride of the Valkyries? Any of this ringing a bell?'

John: (crickets started chirping)

Brea: 'Seriously? Um ... ok. Hold on, don't go anywhere.'

(I ran off to get my laptop, and pulled up Ride on YouTube, and played it for him.)

John: 'Oh, you mean Kill The Wabbit! Yeah, I know about that composer. You know, they used to play him at a lot of Nazi rallies. Hitler was a big fan of his.'

Brea: (long, chirping-filled pause as I tried to figure out which question to ask first) 'Whaaaa ... ? They did? He was? Wait, kill the wabbit? Dude, I'm not a Nazi!'

John: 'Chill. I didn't call you a Nazi. Come on, Kill The Wabbit! Bugs Bunny? Elmer Fudd? Any of this ringing a bell for you?'

Brea: (cricket noises swell to symphonic proportions)

John: (raises the eyebrow again)

Brea: 'Wait, the one where Elmer Fudd looks like a Viking trashcan? Yeah, I remember that one.'

John: 'Cool. I was getting worried that you hadn't heard of it.'

(I just looked at him for a minute.)

Brea: 'Isn't that supposed to be my line?'

So now, do I have shrill Valkyries screeching in German stuck in my head? Nooooooooo ... I've frickin' got frickin' Elmer Fudd singing frickin' 'kill the waaabbit! Kill the waaaaaaaaabbit!!' stuck on a terrible loop in my frickin' head. I liked it better when I was dreaming about opening up a can of medieval WHOOP ASS.

So now I just may have to kill John, and talking about putting a damper on my Mother's Day. 'No, officer, I haven't seen ~~the tiny pieces of his body that I buried out back~~ John this morning. I'm very confused, also!'

If he starts singing Rebecca Black's Friday (oh, yes, that's right. He does it to annoy me!) at any point tonight or tomorrow, IT'S ON.

I'm just saying.

Now where did I put that hacksaw ... ?

(No, I'm mostly probably totally kidding. Really. Promise.)

Whaaaa???

2011-05-06T08:45:00.004-05:00

Ok, it's now been OVER a year since I've posted. This has got to be a record, even for moi. So here's a quick update on the last year of my life:

Sam, The Eldest, is almost 9, and getting to be more like his father every day. This is usually a good thing. He's been playing baseball (yeah, I'm going to admit that he RAWKS my socks off ... he's GOOD!), and participating in AWANA Club, and he's about to finish second grade in a few weeks. He's responsible and steady and my favorite child.

Evie, the Drama Mama, will be 8 this summer. She's reading every single thing the can get her hands on (no, I have no idea where she gets THAT propensity!), and she becomes more like me every day. This is occasionally a good thing. She did the same AWANA Club as Sam, and she'll also be finishing second grade soon. As much as I doubted at times, my friends were right, and cursive didn't kill anyone in our household. She's dramatic and loving and my favorite child.

David, my Danger Boy, is 4 ... and nothing but trouble. Don't let the huge dimples fool you; he's not to be trusted any further than you can throw him. He'll be starting kindergarten when we begin our next school year, and he'll tell you that he knows multiplication ... and then start yelling out random numbers to prove his point. He's the toughest kid I know and idolizes his siblings and he's my favorite child.

Elizabeth Skye is 13 months old ... and God help that poor child, but we call her The Beetle. Or sometimes just Beetle. I'm not kidding. She doesn't answer to Skye, but if you holler "BEETLE!" from the other side of the house, she comes a'running. Or a'toddling, as it were. She has a smirk that screams TROUBLE, and she loves to hug people, and her favorite pastime is looking right at you, throwing something on the floor, and sweetly saying 'Uh oh!' She is mischievous and the most beautiful little thing with curls and dimples ever and my favorite child.

Two of my dearest recently found out that they're pregnant, and are due within a few weeks of each other. My mom's comment? "Oh, I'm so happy for her!" Followed by, "Brea, this isn't a race. DO NOT go and get yourself knocked up again!"

a) it's totally a race (hi, I'm a FIRSTBORN!!!), and out of the three of us, I'm WINNING already.

b) I need like 37 more babies, so I'm not ruling anything out.

John and I, with the occasional help of our family, just finished putting a 400-square-foot deck on the back of our house, complete with railing, gates, and stairs. I've never physically worked so hard in my entire life, and had so much fun at the same time.

And on that note, my feral monkeys are losing their minds, and need some wrangling. We're off to the store, but I promise that I'll be back more often.

And to the person for whom I'm writing this post ... you know who you are, and I love you so much, and I wish I could see you every day!!!!!!!!!

still around

2010-04-18T21:09:00.002-05:00

No really, I'm still kicking. Promise. Been a little busy ...

Miss Elizabeth Skye was born on April 3 at 10:50. She was 6 pounds and 10 ounces ... my smallest baby yet! I'll have her birth story coming soon. Stay tuned; it's a fun one!

(I'm not as cool as Jessica, having an unexpected unattended birth, but it was a little quick!)

So, I'll leave you with this for a day or two. If you haven't heard of The Oatmeal, you simply must go and play on the website. (Warning: not kid friendly!) And if you've read Twilight, and LOVE it for its sheer and utter AWFULNESS (which, of course, translates into AWESOMENESS), then you have to read this. Now.

You'll thank me. No, really.

Mom of the Year Award

2010-02-25T16:01:00.003-06:00

OHMommy over at Classy Chaos thinks that she's in the running for the Worst Mom of the Year award. Seriously, you should go read this post. A recap: she sent her daughter to preschool in a cheerleading costume. One that her daughter is obsessed with. What parent hasn't done that?

(Seriously, Sam has this pair of baseball pants that a friend gave him that he wears every. freaking. day. and I hate them with a passion that burns hotter than a thousand suns. However, I let him wear them because ... well, it's easier than trying to reason with the child. Or burning the pants. But I digress ...)

But OHMommy forgot that it was school picture day. And that there may or may not have been some oatmeal on said cheerleading costume. She's fairly mortified, and acting like the world is ending. :)

(I say this with love, because she makes me laugh all the time when I check out her blog. You should spend some time perusing her archives.)

But dearest Pauline, wonderful OHMommy, I have news for you. You might be classy, you might be a tad obsessed with stilettos in a slightly unhealthy way, you might speak several languages ... but you, my dear, are an amateur. You have no idea.

But I do. Because at book club last night, we got to talking. My sweet friend Melanie, who introduced me to the book club five years ago, is someone I met at a Bible study I did when Sam and Evie were little. Melanie was in my small group one year, then was the teacher for one of the children's classes ... the class with Sam and Evie.

Our story takes place about the time that Evie was learning how to dress herself, and she was very proud of it. Didn't matter that she would put on a pink shirt with some sequins and some green pants and maybe a blue sock and an orange sock. With ugly brown shoes. Heaven help the person who tried to coordinate her once her mind was set.

(I don't know why she owned green pants. Looking back, I find that to be ... well ... wrong. No one should own green pants, and I have no excuse for letting them enter my house. I apologize.)

So we were running late one morning (yes, shocking, I know!!) and finally everyone was dressed and out the door and in their car seats and buckled and snapped and strapped and we were driving across town to Bible study. I ended up only being abut five minutes late to small group after dropping off the kids and running across the church grounds.

I think that was the year we were studying Esther, but I don't remember. I'm sure everything went well, and that I enjoyed the lesson that day (as I generally did; it was a great Bible study), and learned stuff. Chatted a bit with my aunt and some friends, and went back to the kids building to pick up Sam and Evie and head home. When I got over there, Melanie ~~rushed me at the door and dragged my ass over to a corner~~ very discretely pulled my aside.

"What's up, Mel?" I inquired in my usual, carefree tone of voice.

"Brea, your daughter isnnkelwlem mme mumble kjwlr wenbjwrhw."

"Huh?"

"It's Evie. She mmwejkwr mumble wejlrwe."

"Melanie, speak up. You're freaking me out! What did Evie do?"

"Brea, she didn't do anything. She isn't wearing any underwear!"

(silence)

(crickets begin to chirp)

"Huh?"

(At this point, I should probably mention Evie's outfit for the day. Was she wearing pants? No. A long skirt? Notsomuch. Shorts, even? Of course not. Evie was wearing a cute flared short denim skirt with a pink bow on it, a green shirt, and red sandals. The outfit is forever seared into my memory, believe me.)

"Yeah, Brea. She went over to play with the dollhouse, picked up a doll, and I could see all the way to China if you know what I mean."

"Oh. Um. Hmmmm. Well, shit."

"Yeah."

And then it dawned on me ... "OH MY GOODNESS! I brought my daughter to Bible study in a short skirt with no flipping underwear?!?!"

"Yeah, Brea."

"Melanie, I've never done this before, I swear. Thank you so much for not turning me in! Wait, you didn't turn me in, did you?"

She hadn't turned me in. And now, it's really, really, really funny. Everyone (especially the gals without kids) got a really big kick out of the story last night.

So there's a few lessons you can learn from all this:

1. As Pauline has taught us, pay attention to school picture day. It's probably best to mark it on a very visible calendar. In red ink.

2. The things that mortify us at the time, make us pray for the earth to open and swallow us whole ... in the long run, it's ok. More than ok, it's usually pretty damn funny.

And last, but certainly not least ...

3. Always do an underwear check before walking out the door. Especially if you're headed to Bible study.

For real.

My Morning

2010-02-20T11:45:00.003-06:00

Yes, moi, the ultimate wake-up-early, watch-the-sunrise, enjoy-the-silence-of-the-morning kind of gal ... It's true. It's 11:45 and I'm only on my second cup of coffee, because I've only been up for about an hour.

Why, Brea?

Oh, I'm glad you asked. Because, with five weeks left until my due date, the psychotic nesting instinct has started to randomly strike. I say random because right now, were someone to pour a bucket of sand on the floor of every room in my house, I would probably look at said piles of sand and walk away.

Last night? At 11? Noooooooo ... I was up until 1:30 cleaning my effin' bathroom. With a freakin' toothbrush. Also, my washing machine. What kind of crazy person takes a scrubber and said toothbrush and details their washing machine?

Oh, right. Yeah. That would be me.

Then I had to take a bath. Cause, you know, why not? Also, my back was hurting.

And my sweet husband, who didn't even get home until 2:30, ran crowd control on the kids this morning until I rolled myself out of bed. God bless that wonderful man.

And now, as I sip my third cup of coffee, I'm being serenaded my the clacking of my keys on the keyboard, Rush playing on iTunes, and ... the sounds of a rifle being fired repeatedly in my backyard. Cause, you know, why not? We live in Bastrop, people. You know all those stereotypical redneck stories you hear about people in the country? I'm pretty sure that most, if not all, of the stories originated in Bastrop County. So when Saturday morning rolls around, it's what you do: wake up, have some coffee and breakfast, chat with your spouse over the newspaper, tell the kids to brush their teeth, then head out back for a little bonding and target practice.

I just decided to stay in this morning because I didn't want to damage everyone's self-esteem too much. I'm a good shot, mmmk? Though Sam is quickly catching up ... I don't like that. What a punk. :)

And on that note, it's now noon, and I have to get my lazy butt in the shower, then to the grocery store and back before John starts getting ready for work. Have a great weekend, everyone! Who has some big plans for the next few days?

growing up

2010-02-18T19:15:00.002-06:00

No, not me. I'm not growing up; I've refused so far, why start now?

A friend and I went out for lunch and coffee last week, which was cool, until we got to 'Bux ... and she said, "Oh, I don't like coffee."

(Insert Brea giving Elli a really sarcastic and unbelieving look here.)

Who doesn't like coffee?? So I asked her, like any kind and sensitive friend would, "What in heaven's name is wrong with you? Who doesn't like coffee?" Luckily, I have a very nice friend, and she laughed and said, "Well, neither of my parents drink it, so I was never around it until college, and by then, I just didn't want any."

Well, ok. I get that. So we started talking about how each family seems to leave out a few traditional things, and the kids grow up all deprived and neglected.

(Not really about the deprived and neglected part. But go with me, mmmk?)

For those of you who live in places that aren't the South or Texas, there are certain things you do. You drink sweet tea year-round, for the better part of every day. You grow tomatoes. You say "yes, ma'am" and "no, sir" so that your momma doesn't tan your hide when you get home, and "please" and "thank you" are kind of ingrained and will never, ever leave your vocabulary, even if you try to not be polite. (I'm so not kidding. I thank people all the time for the most inane things! I can't help it!) You eat bar-b-que with alarming frequency.

And there are a few foods that ... well ... Robert E Lee help you if you don't serve them at a holiday. Ham. Rolls. Turkey. Gravy, preferably two different kinds. Green bean casserole. Yams with marshmallows on top. I mention these last two things because ...

(takes a deep breath to prepare for confession time)

... my family doesn't eat these foods.

(ducks from rotten food being thrown)

I know!! It's awful!! But as far as green beans went, we had so many fresh green beans from the garden that I think we didn't feel the need to torture ourselves with the things from a can. What is with the weird ring of those crunchy faux-onion thingys on the top? And, I mean, what did a green bean ever do to me that I'd want to put it in an oven?? Honestly! And the thing with the canned yams and the marshmallows ... to this day, it freaks me out. I'm not kidding. We grew up eating sweet potatoes at every holiday (still do!), but it was my great-grandmother's sweet potato souffle recipe that we had. (It's better. Trust me. By a million and 38 times.)

Also, I didn't realize until I was in my late teens, maybe ever older than 20, that when the rest of the world eats ribs, they eat pork ribs. Pork ribs!

The horror!!

I'm a Lone Star kind of gal, and as far as I'm concerned (and of course, I'm right) ribs go from the cow to the smoker to my plate. COW. Beef ribs, people. It's the only way to live trust me. Especially if my dad is making that kinda sweet sauce stuff that he brushes over them while they're on the grill ... Man, I still remember sneaking lots of little tastes of that stuff while he was cooking.

(In retrospect, it's kind of amazing that my brothers and I didn't all die of food poisoning when we were younger. However, that's a whole 'nother topic for another day ... and I'm digressing.)

All that to say, I guess I can't fault Elli too much for ordering hot chocolate instead of coffee. She wasn't raised to know better. (Zing! That's right, I said it!) We all have things our families leave out. I don't like potato salad, although it shows up a every. Southern. gathering. ever., and I also don't drink sweet tea. Can't help it!

At least I'm not as bad as my freakishly tall younger brothers. They were both raised right, in a God fearing, Gospel singing, coffee drinking household, and they still don't drink coffee. Can you believe the nerve of those two?!?!

Anyway, what always shows up on your family's holiday table? Is there anything obviously missing?

V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-E

2010-02-14T18:19:00.003-06:00

Ok, here's a few things I love. In alphabetical order, cause ... well, why not, right??

A good Texas southern drawl. Nothing sexier than being called "ma'am" while having a door opened for you by a Good Ole' Boy. Seriously.

Babies!!! And book club.

Chickens. And cowboy boots. I wear my boots four or five times each week, minimum. Even during Texas summers. And cooking. Chili. Oh, and coffee. Hmm, C is a good letter for me.

Dirt. It makes things grow. It smells unique. My kids like to play in it. 'Nough said.

Earthworms. See above. And Ertha Kitt.

Facebook. For real. And the Farmers' Market. And Field of Dreams.

Greek mythology.

Having such wonderful friends. Especially ones who live in Iowa, and say, "Sure, we've never met in person, but you can bring your punk ass kids and come visit me this summer!" (She doesn't know it, but I plan on throwing out a LOT of Field of Dreams references while I'm there.)

Information. I love to learn about anything and everything.

Jedi mind tricks. And homemade dewberry jam. And jasmine flowers: so small, but so fragrant!

Koala bears. I want to hug me some koala bear.

Long walks on the beach. *

My Amazon Kindle. It goes against almost everything I believe ... and I'm horribly, hopelessly in love with it!

Novels. And Nancy, my completely wonderful grandmother. (Note to self: interview her for the blog; she's super funny!) And the word nuptial.

Onions, but only when finely chopped and cooked. Especially in chili.

Procreation, the act of.

Queen. The band. Much like my BFF Sarah, my favorite song in the Whole World is Bohemian Rhapsody. That ballad is unparalleled in it's amazingness, right, Sarah?

Rough earth snakes. They look (and mostly act) like giant earthworms. We find them out here a lot, and Evie calls them 'the most friendly snake of all.' Of course, she's right.

Sarah. I know that is surprising ... if you've never met me. Or talked to me. Or looked at my blog.

Teasing John, and having him tease me back. It's quite fun, especially when I can one-up him ... which happens about ever second never. And Texas, cause it's the best. And tacos (the real kind, not from Taco Hell.)

Ufology. (That's the study of UFOs. I'm not kidding. I didn't make that up, I promise!)

Vampires. Edward Cullen, Sookie Stackhouse, Black Dagger boys, Ann Rice ... I can't help it! Sorry!! (Please don't tell anyone, cause I'd be really embarrassed to admit that I don't read Real Literature 100% of the time. In my defense, Atlas Shrugged is still the best book I've read in many, many years.)

WD40. Cause squeaky doors are the bane of my existence. Well, squeaky doors and laundry. But the WD40 doesn't help much with laundry. And working on my truck, but only when it doesn't cost too much money.

Xanadu. Have you seen that movie? It's awful; the ultimate guilty pleasure!

Yesterday. One of my fav Beatles' songs.

Zombie movies, even though they scare the ever-living (or is it ever-undead??) snot out of me.

So now you know.

*Total lie. I hate the ocean with a passion. But it sounds nice, don't you think?

It's the New Year!

2010-01-05T10:31:00.002-06:00

And I've got nothing new to say. :) But I figured I'd better get on with this posting thing before Sarah comes after me and pummels me with a keyboard or something.

Baby news: I've officially hit my third trimester. I feel ridiculously pregnant, and it happened really, really fast. Like always. I have a check up with Laurie this afternoon. I love Laurie. Midwives rule. I'd like to be able to take Texas' midwifery exam by next summer. We'll see how that works out ... I think the baby is going to be here early. I have absolutely no valid reason to feel like this. I just know it.

Come to think of it, I also knew, without a doubt (or any valid reason) that David was going to be a girl. So ... following that logic, the baby should be here about three weeks late.

My older two kids both got a Nintendo DS for Christmas. Samuel's is blue; Evelyn's is pink. I was all for the idea at first, but now I've limited game time to 20 minutes each day. I set a timer. For real.

We started back to school yesterday, and it went really well. We've already finished this morning's session, and we'll do half of the afternoon session (math) before we leave for Laurie's, and half (language and phonics) when we get back. This whole 'time management' thing doesn't suck, I'm telling you. Why has no one ever mentioned it to me before??

I hope everyone is having a lovely week. I shall return soon!!

Out With The Old ...

2009-12-31T23:20:00.002-06:00

Ok, I've got a few resolutions for my 2010. Ready?

1. I want to continue doing better with my house. The last few weeks have been awesome, I've been working (with lots of help from John) on some new systems that have made a huge difference. Let's see if I can keep that momentum going.

2. I want to do better with my household budget. Cause, y'know. Debt = awesome. Or not. Also, we plan to be 100% debt-free (except for the larger house note) by October, or the end of the year at the latest.

3. I want 75% of my food to originate 100 miles or less from my house. It's become A Thing with me, one I'll elaborate on more in the coming weeks.

4. I want to post on my blog 3 times each week, with pics twice a month.

5. I want to visit three states this year, layovers not included. :) I'm thinking Ohio, somewhere as of yet not determined, and call me crazy but I'd love to road-trip to Iowa and visit someone's farm. I have yet to inform that last person that I want to come visit her. I should probably check first.

6. I want to finish my book this year. Even if no one ever reads it, I just want to prove to myself that I can.

Do you have any resolutions? Let's talk about them!!

Notes unrelated to my resolutions: I'm almost 28 weeks pregnant!! Had an ultrasound a few weeks ago, and everything looks wonderful. Baby is measuring right within range, I've finally started to gain weight, and I feel very ... pregnant. The whole 'bending over' thing is getting somewhat difficult.

Christmas, at my mom's house this year, was awesome. Sarah got me my absolute fav gift, and John bought me the coolest set of butterfly-shaped flights for my much-needed new set of darts. They probably cost all of $3, and I'm completely in love with them.

I am the only well person in my house right now. Everyone else has the cold that's going around the church, the one from which I recovered three weeks ago. Way to stay ahead of the curve, family!!!

It's 25 minutes from the New Year, and I'm thinking I'll be asleep by then. John's at work, and hopefully he'll be home before 1. So ... Happy New Year!!

that Mom Of The Year award probably got lost in the mail, right?

2009-12-14T15:45:00.003-06:00

My kids are all sitting at the table right now doing their schoolwork. David is destroying eating playing with play dough, and Evelyn and Samuel are doing math facts. Here's what I hear:

*cue humming* *cue VERY earnest singing*

Evie: Mama, just killed a man ... put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger now he's dead ... *singing trails off* Hey Sam, why do you think he killed the guy?

Sam: I dunno. Maybe the man made him wear those white pants.

*laughter*

E: Yeah, those were really bad pants.

*cue more singing*

David: I see a little silhouette of a mouse.

E: No, David, that's not how it goes ...

*and the conversation goes downhill from there*

That's right, my kids are discussing Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. I have officially arrived as a parent.

Also, if you haven't seen that video in a while ... or ever ... your life is lacking some pure awesomeness. Go now and watch it. G'head!! Go!!!

Mexican Hot Chocolate

2009-10-24T20:00:00.003-05:00

I unveiled this new (to me) drink at today's book club, and it was a huge hit. We met at my house, and since it's October and our book was originally written in Spanish, I decided to go with a Dia de los Muertos (day of the dead) theme. It's a Central American/Mexican tradition that, unlike Halloween, isn't all about the creepy and the gouls and the ghosts. It's about celebrating the lives of your loved ones who have passed away.

There are several traditional foods that are served on Dia del los Muertos, and I'll be posting the ones I made in the next few days. The first one I'm posting is because of popular demand. Seriously, everyone who was here today wanted the recipe, so ... Sonia, Melanie, Elli, Lisa, and Esther, this is for y'all!!

Mexican Hot Chocolate

2 c boiling water
1 chile pepper, stem and seeds removed (or 1 t cayenne pepper)
4 c milk
1 c cream*
1 vanilla bean, split**
1-2 cinnamon sticks, halved
8 oz bittersweet chocolate***
2 T sugar
whipped cream****

In a small saucepan, add chile or pepper to water and reduce to a quick simmer. Reduce to 1 cup of liquid and strain and discard the solids, reserving the liquid.

Over low heat in a larger saucepan, combine the milk and cream, vanilla bean, and cinnamon sticks, stirring frequently for 20 minutes. DO NOT BOIL!! Add the chocolate and cinnamon, stirring with a whisk until the chocolate has completely melted. Remove the cinnamon and vanilla and turn off the heat. Add the chile-infused water little by little, according to taste.

Serve immediately (this drink separates and settles very quickly) with whipped cream on top. Enjoy!

*I use 5 cups of 2% milk. I mean, seriously, it's already a pretty rich drink without the cream.
**If you cheat ~~like me~~ and use a high-quality liquid vanilla (mine comes in a wine bottle-sized bottle from Mexico), don't add it until you stir in the chile water. Vanilla becomes bitter if you leave it in the heat for too long.
***I found a dark chocolate that was in between semi-sweet and bitter sweet. I think it had 64% cocoa? Anyway, it tasted great, and I didn't have to add any of the sugar. And let's talk chocolate for a minute. If you buy a cheapo chocolate, your drink will taste like it has a cheapo chocolate in it. For a recipe like this, splurge, and buy the good stuff. You'll thank me, I promise.
****Don't make me come over there ~~and slap you~~ because you decided to use ~~nasty-ass~~ ~~faux~~ ~~horrid~~ whipped cream from a can, or even worse, Cool Whip. I will come after you and show you the error of your ways. You don't want that. Make the real stuff.

:)

conversations with John

2009-10-22T13:20:00.003-05:00

Random conversation that took place yesterday morning when I got off the phone with a friend of mine ...

Brea: Hey, when my fabulous and beautiful friend Liz gets a high-paying job in New York, can I go visit her and her husband Alex if she buys me a plane ticket? In like a year?

John: Hey, how come I'm never invited on these imaginary and/or hypothetical trips? Maybe I'd like to get a break from the kids and everything, too. Did you ever think of that?

B: ~~No, actually. I didn't.~~ You've never said one kind thing about New York, and you always make that scoffing noise when I bring up most places I'd one day like to visit.

J: Well, I'd at least like to be considered in your plans.

B: ~~I do consider you when making imaginary plans. Someone has to stay with the kids.~~

J: You just thought to yourself that you consider me the babysitter, didn't you?

B: NO! I did not ~~use the word babysitter in my head~~.

J: You're lying. But I don't care. And since when is Liz considering a job in New York?

B: Well, I don't think she actually is. It's been a bunch of talk so far. Then she calls me, and we make imaginary plans. Hey! Did I mention that she and another friend and I are going to Italy to celebrate our 35th birthdays? In like 2017?

J: Again I'm not invited?

B: On the Italy trip? Definitely not. It's a girls weekend.

J: How long of a girls weekend?

B: Um ... a two-week long one?

J: And I'm staying with the kids?

B: Uh huh. But tell you what. If Liz gets a high-paying job in New York and decide to spring for plane tickets for you and me, and I can get our moms to watch the kids, would you want to come with me to visit Liz and Alex?

J: I don't know. I don't think I could just let someone else buy me a plane ticket.

B: ~~OMG(osh) THIS IS WHY I NEVER INVITE YOU ANYWHERE YOU INSANE REDNECK IN SHORTS AND WORK BOOTS AND TALL SOCKS AND A BAD HAT!!!!!! YOU MAKE ME COMPLETELY CRAZY, YOU KNOW THAT?!?!?!?????~~

B: It's cool, it's imaginary plans anyway. But your ass still isn't coming to Italy in 8 years, so deal with that now.

Monday Meal Plan

2009-10-20T09:37:00.004-05:00

(Yeah, I know it's Tuesday. So sue me.)

Tuesday: John is off. Yay! Leftovers for lunch, and stir-fry for supper.

Wednesday: John opens. Chicken sandwiches for lunch, pot roast for supper.

Thursday: John is off. Roast beef sandwiches for lunch, spaghetti for supper.

Friday: John closes, and we'll be doing massive getting-ready for book club on Saturday. Pizza for lunch, leftovers for supper, plus fun stuff from the market.

Saturday: John closes. Dia de los Muertos meal for lunch book club, and enchiladas with rice for supper.

Sunday: John closes. Leftovers for lunch, and sandwiches for supper.

Kind of boring week until Saturday. I'm ok with that. :) What are you eating this week? Got a good recipe to share with me? I'm always on the look out for new things!

my sad story

2009-10-16T19:18:00.002-05:00

about my mouth. Remember I thought I was working on a sinus infection? Notsomuch. I had a tooth that had gone over to the Dark Side, and very long story short, I had one of my wisdom teeth pulled on Wednesday. Starting Sunday evening, I was pretty much curled up on the couch/in bed with pain. It sucked.

By the way ... having a tooth pulled? While you're pregnant and don't have access to the really fun pain meds?

Not cool.

At least they revised the whole you can only take Tylenol when we're done decision.

Probably because I looked like I was going to stab someone if they stuck with that for too long.

So that's where I've been. I've got some food musings coming tomorrow, and John is starting a three day weekend (over a real weekend. What the hell?) tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll get out to Cameron and buy some new chicks. We'll see.

And my garden started coming up today. Lots of teeny-tiny little fuzzy green things. Woohoo!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-10-13T09:41:00.002-05:00

Outside my window... it's foggy and muggy, and I still can't get over how GREEN everything is right now.

I am thinking... that I have limited garden space, and how I can best use it.

I am thankful for... an amazing husband who comes home from working an 11-hour-day and immediately sends me to bed because of my tooth, and takes care of everything for the rest of the evening. Seriously, that man is awesome.

I am wearing... my favorite Petrol jeans and a dirty t-shirt (I've been tilling, and I'm taking a break before I head back out with the kids to start planting).

I am remembering... life before children as I watch them finish their school for the day. (It wasn't that great, for the record!)

I am going... to finish my winter garden before lunch, and run up to the Book Basket this afternoon to order World War Z. And maybe get a (decaf, of course) Pumpkin Spice Latte.

I am reading... Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Again. You need to read this, people!

I am hoping... to not be a whining baby for the rest of the week, because the dentist can't see me until Monday, and I can't really take any medicine other than the occasional Tylenol.

I am creating... a person. In my belly.

On my mind... I wish I lived closer to Sarah (or she lived closer to me), I am blessed with awesome friends and family, and God is so very, very good to me.

From the learning rooms... today, it's gardening! What is a winter vegetable here in Texas? Why do we try to grow lots of our own food? Why do we plant more than we can eat? (Because it's not worth having things if you can't share them!)

Noticing that... the more simple I make my life, the happier I tend to be.

Pondering these words..."Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." Faith isn't always easy as an adult. Sometimes, I do wish I could be more like my kids.

From the kitchen... leftover potato soup from yesterday, making bread this afternoon, and smoothies for our morning snack.

Around the house... finishing the laundry, unpacking the bags from last week (I haven't had the energy to get to them yet!), and trying to make some sense of the upstairs.

One of my favorite things... feeling content. Right now, I'm there. :)

Potato Soup

2009-10-12T08:31:00.003-05:00

Potato Soup
by Brea Stewart

This very basic potato soup is a favorite around our house, because you can dress it up in so many ways, and it's CHEAP!! It's simple to make, and if you're just making it for 2, then halve the recipe and enjoy leftovers for lunch the next day.

1 large baked Russet potato
2 large raw Russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small white or yellow onion, cubed
1 quart chicken stock
1 cup cream (or half and half, or whole milk)
1 T fresh thyme (or 3/4 t dried thyme)
salt and pepper to taste
garnish*

In a food processor or blender, pulse raw potato chunks until finely minced. Repeat with the onion. Add both to the chicken broth, with 1t each salt and pepper and the thyme, in a large stockpot. Cook just below a simmer for 1 1/2-2 hours, stirring frequently. Slowly stir in cream, and add chunks of baked potato (leave the skin on for a more rustic taste). Test the taste and add salt or pepper as needed. Cook for 10 more minutes, ladle into deep bowls, and garnish as desired and serve immediately.

*cheddar cheese, fresh bacon bits, sour cream, chives, diced broccoli, diced peppers, shredded chicken, or anything else that sounds good!

**For an interesting twist, puree 1 cup roasted red peppers with 3 T roasted garlic and add about halfway through the cooking process. Mmmmmm ...

***Amazing and hearty on a cold day. Goes great with a side of salad and/or some toasted french bread.

some random ramblings

2009-10-12T07:30:00.005-05:00

I just finished my book club book for this month, Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It was amazing; I loved it and thought it was a perfect October book. Written in 2002 (maybe?) and translated into English in the last few years, it's set in Barcelona in the 1950's. A ten-year-old named Daniel discovers a book by the author Julian Carax. When he sets out to find other works by the author, he discovers that someone is destroying every copy of Julian Carax's work to be found. Daniel decides to learn more about the author's life, and the story he learns is very sad and at times very dangerous. Seriously, you can get it on amazon for under $3.00. What have you got to lose?

The kids and I just spent almost a week in Katy with my family. It was a ton of fun, and I got to take the kids to the Rice Harvest Festival. I haven't been in at least ten years, and I loved going back! Ran into several people I know, and got to hang out with some old friends afterward at my mom's house. I'll be posting pics on Facebook later today.

I think I have a sinus infection. I've spent about 1/4 of my time the last new days praying for death.

John and I have become completely and irrevocably obsessed with Dexter. It's amazing. And fortunately, blood doesn't bother me, so I can tell John what happened after a particularly gruesome scene.

I'm making my awesome potato soup today. It's wonderful. ~~Even the crazy people I know who are flirting with the idea of being vegetarians like Sarah, can make this. You just can't add bacon.~~ I'll post the recipe later when I dig it out of whatever hole in which it's chosen to hide.

I believe life is not worth living without bacon.

Just ordered a new recipe card organizer to try and start wrangling the chaos that is My Kitchen. I can't wait for it to get here!!

I had to have the radiator replaced on my POS truck while we were in Katy. Long story. At one point, I ran out of bad words and had to start making up new ones. Not kidding. So I now have $482 fewer dollars ... but a truck that runs. Tell me again why I like the damn thing so much?

We got to hear the baby's heartbeat last week. It was awesome. I've gained 4 pounds in 16 weeks, and all looks well so far. Woohoo!!

:)

it's a very sad birthday

2009-10-01T09:19:00.003-05:00

But a happy one, too. My sweet little brother, the youngest one, the baby of the family, turns eighteen today.

And also, he's not little anymore. He's, like, 8' 13" or something. (Not really, but he's crazy tall.) He's towered over all 5' 2" of me for years. He drives a car now. Sometimes, he talks about girls (EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW!!). Is a senior in high school. Went to Europe last summer. Tells me about books he's read.

None of these things are supposed to happen, because he's my little baby brother. So, to sum it up, I'm not ok with him turning eighteen today. He's a freakin' grown-up.

How is he celebrating? He and a bunch of friends are skipping school ... and going to MFAH, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Which is, admittedly, a pretty cool thing to do. I kinda used to do it all the time when I was in school ... but that's a whole 'nother post.

Back to my brother. I love him to death. We're really, really close. Last night on the way home from book club, he made me laugh so hard that I couldn't breathe and had tears streaming down my face.

So happy birthday to my ginormous little brother. And no, this does NOT mean that I'm acknowledging that he could take me down. I will continue to tell him on a regular basis to watch his back, lest I decided to come and kick his ass just to take him down a notch or seven.

Cause that's what good big sisters do, right?

Chuck Norris can divide by zero

2009-09-29T17:46:00.003-05:00

I'll be playing with the layout over the next few weeks, so don't be surprised if it's different every time you visit. :)

In other news ... We didn't get the belt changed today because of some technical difficulties, but I did get three of the hoses replaced on my own. After making a trip to the parts store to replace something that broke. So, step one to taking over the world: learning how to replace engine hoses. CHECK!!!!

Edited to add: Any final new layout will be approved by SaRaH, the one with me in the picture up top. Because she is high maintenance. And also, she is the boss of me.

My Truck, or The Story of a Total POS

2009-09-28T14:53:00.002-05:00

I have a truck. After going for almost two years with only one vehicle, we bought my truck. Found it on Craigslist, didn't pay much for it. John says we overpaid, and I say that you can't put a price on (my) happiness.

It's a complete piece of crap.

And I love it with an unfounded, makes-no-sense kind of passion.

John hates it, in a fire-of-a-thousand-suns kind of way.

She's a '94 F150, (mostly) white, two-door with a full backseat. Which means we all fit with legroom and no jump seats. Yay!! Used to belong to the City of Austin, and she was one of their paint crew trucks. She has paint ALL OVER HER. John says it makes her look really ugly. I say it gives her character. 4.9, V6 engine, so I can pull stuff if I want to, but she doesn't eat gas like a V8 would. Both kayaks fit in the back at the same time. Her name is Shirley Mae. Because she's a good 'ole country truck.

Except ...

She keeps breaking. And so, John hates her.

Here's the thing. I was talking with John one day, and he laughingly told me that I'm missing a pink gene from somewhere in my DNA. And I've decided that it's true. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook, and being a mom and wife totally rocks. However, I like a lot of decidedly un-pink things. I love guns. I like having dirt under my nails after working outside. Clearing underbrush by hand is not only enjoyable, it burns lots of calories.

My dream is to one day buy an old, non-working '69 Stingray and rebuild the whole thing. And in this dream, fantasy harshly collides with reality. I know absolutely NOTHING about cars. Or trucks. Or engines. Whatever.

My new goal in life is to learn lots of mechanical stuff. My first step? Tomorrow, I'm going to be replacing the main belt in my truck, along with several hoses. I'll have some help, but I want to be the one who really does it.

Wish me luck, and I'll let you know how much skin I lose off my knuckles in the process.

Might even post a pic or two. We'll see.

Adventures in Parenting

2009-09-26T17:49:00.003-05:00

This happened while I was pecking out my last post, and if I don't put it down now, I'm going to forget it. :)

Drama Mama comes running into the house, crying buckets of tears.

"Evie, what's wrong, hon?"

"David said he was going to catch a cottonmouth and throw it at my head!!!!!"

"Wait, wait. Is there a cottonmouth outside right now?"

(**we did have on by the deck last week, and we killed it, but David is kind of obsessed**)

"No, but he says he's going to find one and pick it up and throw it at my head!!!!!!!"

(Seriously, that was how she was speaking to me. Italics and bold and all.)

"Ok, Evie. Let's talk for a minute. I have some news for you. If David tries to pick up a snake and throw it at your head, it's going to bite him. And it's going to hurt him really bad. And he's going to drop it, so don't worry. He won't be able to throw a snake at your head or any other part of your body."

"Oh. Ok."

"And Evie, what's the snake rule?"

"NEVER PICK UP A SNAKE!!!!!!"

"Exactly. Remind your Danger Boy brother for me, will you?"

"Sure, Mom!"

It's conversations like this that make me feel very secure in the fact that my Parent of the Year award is on its way to my house right now.

**There are four basic types of venomous snakes in Texas: CCCR, the coral snake, the copperhead, the cottonmouth, and the rattlesnake. As of last week with the death of a cottonmouth we temporarily named Tom, all four have been killed within a hundred feet of my house. And .... um ... this isn't news for my FB friends, but we kind of have an escaped coral snake somewhere in the house. We've named him George.

All that to say, my kids are very, very, VERY good about snake safety. I am fairly certain that David wouldn't go find a cottonmouth and pick it up and throw it at Evie's head.

But I think I'll go have a chat with him, just to make sure ...

Adventures In Parenting

2009-09-26T17:20:00.004-05:00

So I'm trying to get some rest during the kids' nap time this afternoon.

(Translation: I'm praying that they keep it down long enough for me to get three winks so I don't pass out from exhaustion later.)

I hear a tapping on one of the downstairs windows. I investigate. Nothing there. My dog is asleep, and all the doors are still locked, so I know it wasn't one of my creatures. Neighbor's dog, maybe? Really stupid humming bird? It's happened before, just not repeatedly like that. I go back to bed.

More tapping.

Upon investigation, more nothing. Starting to get a little frustrated here, so I decide to camp out in the chair beside the window and see if my poltergeist feels the urge to take a visible form.

A few minutes later, I look up from my book and see something. Hmm, a piece of paper with about ten paperclips just fell to the ground. What the hell?

Then I find my answer. A rope with a magnet tied on the end is lowered, and it picks up the paper with paperclips. Before the rope completely clears the window, a small car falls to the ground. The rope reappears a few minutes later, paper-free, and tries to get the car. No success.

At this point, the Good Parent Gene kicks in, and I decide to stop my child or children from leaning out the window, which (because of a very tall foundation on that side of the house) is about two and a half stories up.

I high-tail it up the stairs and into the boys' room. To my not-in-the-least-bit surprise, ~~Drama Mama~~ Evelyn is directing this shindig, ~~Eldest~~ Sam is the one with hands on the rope, and ~~Danger Boy~~ David is the one chucking stuff out the window. I whistle (after making sure David had pulled his entire body back inside) and all three whirl around. I give them The Stare.

They give me the who me? I wasn't doing anything remiss look. They are such punks. And they totally know it.

The results: I took away the rope. And the car. And the paperclips. And the chair below the window. And promised to beat them all with a big stick and make them sleep outside for a week in the rain if they ever do that again.

And I'm guessing it will be less than 24 hours before my mom figures out that a) I'm posting again, and b) calls to tell me that the babies shouldn't be hanging out the window. On this point, of course, she will be completely right.

one way to make sure your day starts off well ...

2009-09-25T11:20:00.003-05:00

After your husband makes a totally valid point, and does so in a very loving way, get defensive.

When you turn to stomp off, he'll ask, "Are we going to have breakfast together?"

Lie and say, "I was planning on it, but then you started being an asshole, and I'm not hungry anyway."

This works out especially well if you a) are freaking starving, b) have yet to finish your first cupof coffee, and c) are completely wrong and refuse to admit it, even to yourself.

The End

**This post is brought to you by the letter L, the number 14, and a myriad of CRAZY HORMONES.

**I have apologized, and John and I are friends once again. Just in case you were wondering.

does anyone remember me?

2009-09-24T08:19:00.002-05:00

So. Lookie here. I may be back! Yeah, I know my last post was a while ago. Like a few weeks. Or, maybe ... y'know, over four months.

Sorry, Sarah. I still love you, I promise!

But I think I just might be back. For real. Life has been over-the-top, completely stinkin' crazy, but I'm starting to get a handle on it now.

Or not. Maybe I'm just good at lying. :)

But here's what new:

I'm pregnant, which was a surprise to absolutely NO ONE except me. Long story, but after spending about an hour in tears, I got excited. Really excited. I'm 13 weeks, and due at the very end of March.

Samuel, the Eldest, turned seven in June. I'm not ok with that. Evelyn, my amazing little Drama Mama, turned six in August. I'm slightly more ok with that, but only because she has promised not to turn eight. And David, my perpetual Danger Boy, will be three in a few weeks. We're not even going there in terms of what I think of that.

I'm writing a book. It's fiction, and a lot of fun~~, and Sarah is going to wait until it comes out on the best seller list to read it, because she has too many other things to read right now~~.

I spend too much time on Facebook, so please come and be my friend! I use the term 'punk ass' a lot, and it makes my mother very upset, and the longest she has waited to call me and ask me not to say it anymore was three hours. Look, it's how I talk in day-to-day conversation. Just keeping it real, mmmk?

After MUCH prayer, and TOO MANY conversations, blessed talks with my mentor, and lots of other factors, we decided to keep the kids at home again this year. And what do you know, it's going wonderfully!!! The older two are in first grade, and we're using a modified A Beka course, and I'm surprised at how much I'm loving it.

Not only did I stop blogging, I also stopped reading other people's blogs. I've missed lots of people, especially Jessica. I'll be back to doing that, also.

After the second hottest summer on record, and the driest ever in our county, it's raining. Praise God!! People, we had 68 days of 100 or higher weather. But today, the third day of fall? I don't think it's going to reach 70. I get to wear a sweater!!!!!!!!!!!

That's about it. I'll be back soon with completely unimportant ramblings and some new recipes and funny kids stories and some updated pictures. For today, go and make some bread, then for supper have some amazing soup and cornbread, and top it off with apple spice cake.

:)

just for Sarah

2009-05-13T23:46:00.002-05:00

Hello Sarah! It may already be Wednesday at your house up in ~~stinkin' Yankee-land~~ Ohio, but it's still Tuesday down here in Texas. So I don't have to hand over my password yet. :)

Well, it's official. We have the pox. I've been trying to expose my kids to the chicken pox for about four years now, and it was getting a little frustrating. None of them has had it yet. And after our second round of exposure to the same family (yay, big families with lots of kids and a huge exposure window!!!), Evelyn started breaking out last night, and Samuel this afternoon. I'm so excited, and just praying that ~~Danger Boy~~ David will break out in the next few days. We've been under quarantine for the last ... oh ... um ... 29 days. Not that I've been counting or anything. So, soon, we'll be able to go out into the world of our friends and our church again. You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to it.

And now for something completely different:

A man with three buttocks.

Just kidding. And points to you if you know to what that joke is a reference.

Anyway. My guilty pleasure of the week: the Twilight soundtrack. Seriously. It rocks. The movie? Notsomuch. It completely sucked, even if you aren't utterly obsessed with the books ~~like me~~ like other people I know. I've been listening to it nonstop for the last three weeks. Love it!!

And now, I think Sam has fallen back asleep (a bad dream woke him up a while ago, and he's had a little trouble calming down), and John should be home in about an hour, and I plan to be back asleep when he gets here.

New recipe coming before the end of the week, I promise, Sarah!

stuff

2009-04-28T10:43:00.002-05:00

Evan has written another chapter in Adventures in Ardenhail. It's an interesting read, so if you want, click on the link and start at chapter one.

Sarah's husband, Scott, called me last night to let me know he had read some of my Conversations with Sarah. At first I was concerned that he was mad at me, but my fears were quickly turned aside when I realized how hard he was laughing. He reminded me of a few old conversations which will be appearing in the next few weeks, much to the chagrin of my dearest friend, I'm sure. Washington Monument, here we come!!

I love you, Sarah!!

The dewberries are starting to turn, so I predict many, many cuts and stains on my hands in the upcoming weeks. I can't wait to make more jam and cobbler and syrup, just like we made last year. It was so much fun, and we just ran out of the syrup about a month ago. This year, I know that I need to make twice as much of everything, especially since the last freeze we had killed off most of the Hill Country peaches for the season. (Insert Brea sobbing hysterically upon hearing the news)

My gardens are doing really well; I love watching the way everything grows. We've had so much rain in the last month or two that the whole county is wigging out. Not enough rain to bring us out of the drought, but at least enough that I'm far less concerned than normal about my house burning to the ground.

And we're still waiting for the kids to come down with the chicken pox. It should be any day now; David even has a few suspicious spots on his belly that I'm watching very closely. Yay!!

And now for something completely different:

I'm off to take a bath. In the middle of the day. Because John is reading The Hobbit to the kids. And because I can.

So there.

Conversations with Sarah

2009-04-27T08:09:00.002-05:00

(phone rings)

Brea: Hi Sarah!

Sarah: Hey, can I have some of the dandelion wine you're going to make?

B: How'd you know about that?

S: I read it on (cute drummer from high school)'s wall on FaceBook.

B: Oh. Yeah, I'm making it sometime soon, and I'll mail you a bottle when it's ready in 6 months.

S: How do you make dandelion wine anyway?

B: You take the blossoms, and ...

S: Wait, you make it from the flowers? Like, real dandelions? But that's a plant!

B: Yeah, Sarah. It's a plant. Regular wine is made from grapes. Guess what those are.

S: Um, plants.

B: And those peppers you put in your soup?

S: Plants.

B: And wheat for flour for bread? Guess what wheat is.

S: Yeah, it's a plant. Ok, ok, I get it.

B: I could go on.

S: I know. I said I get it.

B: Ok, then. Just trying to help you out here.

:)

Amazing Pizza

2009-04-14T07:35:00.004-05:00

I got this recipe from Debbie King. Anything that goes over well with 10 kids, enough to make an appearance on the table each week, immediately is ok in my book. I modified it a bit, because I seem to be utterly incapable of following a recipe as its written ... We have this pizza at least once a week, usually on Friday Pizza and Movie Night, but it also doubles really, really well and we have it often when company with kids comes over. Involve the whole family, and get ready for a fun, tasty, and healthy night!

Pizza
by Brea, modified from Debbie King

makes one extra-large pizza, or two medium pizzas

4 c white whole wheat flour
4 t yeast
1 1/2 t gluten*
2 T brown sugar
1 t salt
1 3/4 c warm water
garlic, basil, oregano, parsley, Parmesan cheese, and/or whatever pizza-y flavors you like**
olive oil
cornmeal
sauce, cheese, and toppings

Preheat oven to its lowest setting, usually 170 or 150. Toss everything in your mixer with your dough hook attachment, and start mixing. When the dough starts to pull in the flour, but there's still some left at the bottom of the bowl, start adding the olive oil one T at a time, until it's all incorporated and slightly sticky, but can still be kneaded with the dough hook without making a huge mess. Knead in the bowl with the hook for a few more minutes, then take off the bowl and drizzle more olive oil on the dough, turning to coat. Cover with a dish towel, and put it in the warm oven for about 20 minutes.

Let it rise, then take it out, turn your oven to 400 (if you have a convection, turn on that function), dump the dough on the counter, knead two or three times, and start rolling it out. When the dough starts to stick, start tossing small handfuls of cornmeal on the dough and counter to keep it from sticking and tearing. Slide it onto your pizza pan, fold the crust at the edges should you be so inclined, and poke the bottom all over with a fork so it doesn't have huge air bubbles when you pre-bake it. Please trust me on this step.

Put it back in your oven at 400 until the crust just starts to change color, and isn't doughy anymore. Take it out, top with anything you like to use***, and put it back in the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly. (Start out using less cheese than you think you're going to need.) Slice it and enjoy with a cold beer or glass of lemonade, and a fresh-picked green salad!

*If you don't have gluten available like SOME PEOPLE I KNOW WHO LIVE IN OHIO, you can reduce the whole-wheat flour by 1/2 c, and add 1/2 c bread flour.

**I usually add, in an ever-so-precise manner, a few shakes of garlic powder and several shakes of basil. I like to keep it simple.

***Some topping suggestions: green pepper, red peppers, roasted red peppers, banana peppers (are we starting to see a pepper-obsessed trend at Brea's house?), pineapples, pepperoni, portabella mushrooms, sliced grilled chicken, black olives, fresh sliced tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, spinach, bell peppers, bacon, ham, anchovies, peanut butter ... whatever you like. That's the great thing about homemade pizza ... it's full of endless possibilities!

it's bad ... it's really bad

2009-04-11T18:04:00.002-05:00

What do you get when you push a piano down a mine shaft?

(I'm so sorry about this.)

A-flat minor.

(Get it??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Ohhhhh, I loves me some really bad jokes. Seriously.)

Still Alive ...

2009-04-11T10:21:00.002-05:00

I'm still here. Just been a tad busy.

We were talking at Bible Study the other morning, and a friend made the comment that Satan is awfully subtle, and one of his sneakiest tricks (in our humble opinion) is isolation. Especially for a woman. Especially for a mom.

I've been working on the isolation thing. No so much with myself; I'm a fairly social person, and loneliness isn't one (of the many things) I tend to have consistent struggles with. But I know other who do, and who are struggling right now. Interweb peeps, you can't grow if you don't let people in your lives. It might be painful and honestly, quite scary, to confide your struggles, but it's so very, very important. Try it. You'll be amazed what happens. God is so very, very good.

Christ told us repeatedly to get over ourselves and put others first. (And yeah, in case you're wondering, that was a paraphrase. I don't know that Jesus ever said, 'Get over yourself,' verbatim.) One of the best ways we can show His love is not through saying how much we love others, although that is a great thing to do. The best way to show His love is to show His love. Helping others. Taking a meal to a tired family, helping an incredibly overwhelmed friend unpack, watching a few extra kids, being an open ear with open arms. ~~Letting someone borrow your Twilight books to help them have an escape for a little while.~~

So that's where I've been. Getting over myself, trying to learn that life really isn't about me, learning that I ought not talk quite so much about myself, and getting out there.

So. I'll leave you with three things, and the promise of (hopefully) slightly more frequent posts.

1) Every. single. one. of. you. needs to go out and buy Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Trust me on this one. Would I lead you astray when it comes to a book? I think not.

2) Check out Evan's blog. He's the son of a friend at church, and he's also a friend. He loves lit almost as much as moi, so I do like him quite a bit (even if he is going to A&M this fall. Gasp!!). His blog is new, so there's not much on there yet, but it's worth taking a visit. Tell him you came from over here if you leave him a comment.

3) HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed day filled with reverent celebration, good food, and lots of family and friends. (And pray for me. At last count, we're expecting around 20 people including us, and the weather is supposed to be crap. Where am I going to put everyone?? Oh, well, I'll figure it out somehow ...)

Basic Hearty Quiche

2009-03-27T09:44:00.002-05:00

So, we have a million (18) chickens, and we get a billion (3-4 dozen) eggs each week, so we love getting creative with egg dishes. Like quiche! It's one of my favorites, we eat it at least once a week. Everyone in my family chows on it, and I've had several requests lately for the recipe. Here's my basic recipe, and I'll explain at the end how I modify it. This recipe feeds my family of five until we're stuffed, with just enough leftover for me to have it for breakfast the next morning.

Basic Hearty Quiche
by Brea!

9 eggs
3/4 c dairy (I usually go with 1/2 c milk, 1/4 c cream or half and half)
1 pk frozen spinach, defrosted, liquid squeezed out, and chopped
1/2 yellow onion, diced
olive oil, pepper, salt, other herbs and spices
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
pie crust (optional)

Heat oven to 350. If using a pie crust, fit it to the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan and pre-bake for 20 minutes.

Beat eggs, dairy, herbs, and a pinch of salt and pepper in bowl and set aside. In a small skillet, sweat the onion in olive oil until they just start to turn brown. Turn heat off and let the onion start to cool.

By small pinches, spread the spinach evenly over the bottom of the pan (or on the crust). Spoon the onion and oil evenly over the spinach, and sprinkle the cheese over that. Slowly pour the egg and dairy mix over everything, and use your finger or the back of a spoon to poke as much of the spinach and cheese back under the liquid.

Put it in the oven and back for 20-30 minutes, or until the center of the quiche is no longer liquid. Enjoy!!

***
I am extremely lazy, and I usually don't make a crust. So just spray your pan with non-stick spray before you add the spinach.

I almost always add bacon: Dice up three uncooked slices and start them in the small skillet just before onions. Cook 2-3 minutes over medium heat, then add onion and oil and follow directions from there.

I also love to add pepper, red, green (when John isn't going to eat it), yellow, orange, whatever. Add and cook with the onions.

Becky and Alex added leftover roasted veggies, layering them with the spinach, and said it turned out very well. My mom likes to add broccoli.

Use more or less cheese and veggies by taste. If you like a thicker, heartier quiche, add a few more eggs or use a little less milk. If you like a lighter quiche, use more milk or less eggs. Play with this recipe and make it your own, and most of all, have fun and enjoy it!!

Oh. My. Goodness!

2009-03-23T13:07:00.002-05:00

We're finally a two-vehicle household again! After a year and a half with only one vehicle, we bought a truck on Saturday!!! YAY!!!!!!

But there is a slight problem. Here it is: I love my new truck. Love it. LOVE IT. If I had to choose between my new truck, and John, I would probably choose John. But I'd really have to think about it for a while.

What's that? Yes, of course I'll tell you more about my truck. I'm so glad you asked! It's a '94 F150, v6 (something surprisingly difficult to find), it holds all of us comfortably, and it's loud. And big. And mostly white. And has a killer toolbox. With relatively low mileage, considering it's 15 years old. And have I mentioned yet that I LOVE it? Because I do. I really, really do. All I need it a gun rack and a big dog in the back, and possibly a pair of upside down work boots behind the toolbox, and transformation as a ~~backwoods redneck~~ country mama will be complete.

So if I don't post much for a while (something I'm trying to be better about, sorry Sarah!), it's because the kids and I (and maybe John, if he can be nice) are out driving in my awesome truck.

I really love my truck. (But not as much as I love Sarah!!)

Things I Do When My Kids Aren't Here

2009-03-20T17:57:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. I'm still here, still kicking. It's Spring, and we try to avoid being in the house as much as possible. I have no laptop (Brea pouts), so that kind of equates to no blogging.

Anyway. My kids are in Katy this weekend with my mom. I'm totally doing my happy dance. John is working tonight and tomorrow night, so we get to hang out together during the day (we'll be in Austin tomorrow, looking at trucks and going on a lunch date) and I get to watch Girl Movies while he's not home to make fun of me. YYAAAYYYYY!!

Things I do when my kids are with my mother and John is at work:

Watch Girl Movies whenever I want to. If I feel the need to start my movie at 6:30, I can. Just because.

Eat cookie dough. And not have to justify or share it.

Take a bath. Or three.

Read on my front porch for an hour.

Walk down the trail through the back of our property. For no apparent reason.

Read in the tree house (really just a glorified yet wonderfully placed platform) for an hour.

Have a beer without worrying that the beer-stealing baby is going to get it if I leave it on the coffee table.

Change clothes, realize the shirt I want is in the laundry room, and walk across the house in jeans and a bra to get it.

Clean out my daughter's room and throw lots of things away without worrying that she'll see something and shriek, 'But that one is my favorite!!!!!!!!!!' even though it's something that's been hidden in the back of her closet since the day we moved into this house.

Obsessively check my email.

Go back and read the archives on my all-time favorite guilty pleasure website, Go Fug Yourself, for an hour.

Make bread without any interruptions.

Make XanGo calls without having to say, 'Would you mind holding on for a sec while I get my kids some juice?' a single time.

Did I mention the part about unlimited Girl Movies? This evening, it's P. S., I Love You (for the 28th time) and The Holiday (for the first time). Tomorrow, Garden State (for the 98th time), and Before Sunset (for the 2nd time). I know what I like, ok? And I trust my dear Sarah's movie recommendations.

Go to bed early, should the mood strike me.

Stay up late, should the mood strike me.

~~Have a third rum & coke, should the mood strike me, because I can sleep late in the morning.~~ Wait, who said that? I wouldn't do something like that.

Ok, yes I would. Third rum & coke, here I come!

Have my quiet time, and know that, since my phone is on vibrate, it will actually be quiet time for one!

Blog.

Nap.

Mop with no footprints other than my own on the floor afterwards.

Seriously, is this how the other half lives? This is a nice break. But I know by Sunday morning, I'll be very excited to have the kids back. We've been planning this for over a month, so I've been looking forward to it, but I'll be glad to have them back.

Probably.

:)

rain, and something to think about

2009-03-09T13:48:00.003-05:00

I don't think I ever wrote about our wildfire a week and a half ago, but it was really bad. Over 1300 acres, that kind of bad. My family was very very blessed, because while the fire was extremely close to us, distance-wise, the 25- to 30-mph winds were blowing away from us. Had the winds shifted, we would have been evacuated, and our house (more than likely) wouldn't be here right now. We've had fires closer than this (my next door neighbor burned down 10 acres a few summers ago, but it was on the other side of her property from us) several times, but I don't know that any have been this scary.

My part of Texas is the driest area in the country right now. I can totally prove it:

See that big, dark brown bubble? I live right smack-dab in the middle of it. Texas is the only state out of 50 that had the dark brown right now. If we don't get rain soon ... well, things sure aren't going to get any better. And they're not so good right now, know what I mean? (The US Drought Map can be found here.)

The kids and I are about to sit down at the table and get our indoor seeds started. I'd love to direct sow everything right now, but I just know we've got one more freeze lurking somewhere around the corner. It won't kill me to wait a week or two. I never did get my onions and potatoes in ... I didn't want to water them. And everyone at the Farmers' Market will have them, so I don't feel too bad. :)

So. Back to the fire. It really got me thinking. God forbid something were to happen and you were evacuated from your house, do you know what you would take? If you had five minutes to get out, what would make it with you in the car? If you had an hour, what would you take?

We have a three-tiered list.

the Stewart Bug-Out List
Stage One (aka, stage 'holy crap, the backyard is on fire!!')
*kids
*BOBs (bug-out bags, we have two, and each has a change of clothes and jammies for each of us, some cash that is NEVER allowed to be touched, munchies like granola bars and raisins, a few new goodies for the kids, and copies of insurance papers and vital numbers. These bags live where they can always be easliy reached, and are ready to go at all times.)
*cell phones
*computer hard drive and cameras, if time allows (we monthly back up all pics, music, etc to CDs, and the CDs live at Chili's, so if we lose the computer, we don't lose everything)
*dog

Stage Two (aka, stage 'the backyard isn't on fire yet, but we see the firemen knocking on doors up the street headed our way')
*all of theStage One stuff
*pillows
*my jewelrey box (I'm a vain person, ok? I like my stuff)
*photo albums
*comfort stuff for the kids (stuffed animals or blankets)
*heirloom stuff (I've got some very sentimentally valuable old quilts, etc)
*our guns and any ammo on hand (no because I think we'd need it on the road, I just like my guns and would rather not replace them if I have a chance to grab them)

Stage Three (aka, stage 'we're gettting word that we need to leave if the winds don't die down soon, but the fire or whatever disaster is still a ways off)
*all Stage One and Two stuff
*a few more bags of clothes
*anything the kids have time to grab, if reasonable
*my seed collection
*special books
*whatever else we feel we safely have time for

Now, that being said ... there is nothing in this house worth risking my life. If we need to get out, we're out. Period. We have insurance, and frankly, it's all just stuff. Yes, some of it is stuff I really like, but still. Stuff.

I know some of my list might seem silly to you, like the seeds and books in stage three. But I love my seeds, especially now that I've started collecting my own. And we have some books that almost can't be replaced. And I know that I don't need a change of clothes, because I can always buy another set of jammies, but if I'm being evacuated from my house, and I'm going to have to sleep in a strange bed (even if it's at a friend or relative's house), I want my own jammies. So there. :)

Anyway. I just wanted to give you something to think about. What would you do if you had to leave at a moment's notice, not just because of fire danger? Do you have at least two evacuation routes? What if it's something far less complex than that; do your kids and husband know where to meet if there's a fire in your house? Do they know not to go back in any burning building? I pray that I will never need to use any of this information, but seriously, people. Does it hurt so much to plan ahead?

And please pray that we get some of the rain they're forecasting this weekend, and that this will be a totally moot post. :)

brutes

2009-03-02T22:17:00.005-06:00

Oh.

OH!!

OH MY GOOD HEAVENS!!!! I just love the interweb!

Just think. You can wake up on a lovely Monday, make your coffee, drink 16 cups while you're reading the Bible and waiting for the rest of your family to wake up, feed everyone breakfast, start some laundry, feel mildly accomplished, because, ya know, you just love Mondays. You are that freak of nature who doesn't really like the weekends, but absolutely thinks Monday is the greatest day of the week.

You've come to grips with your strangeness. It's ok with you now. It's who you are, and you embrace it.

You have lunch. Make some more coffee. Get your husband's clothes ready for work. Do other stuff, accomplish other things. Put the kids down for a nap. Kiss above-mentioned husband goodbye for the evening as he leaves for work.

It's been a good day.

So you decide to reward yourself with a 86th cup of coffee, and a little bit of web surfing.

Next thing you know, you're a super hero.

Yeah, you read that correctly. Confused? Let me show you what I mean:

Oh, yeah. I made me into a super hero. Now, my hair would be much longer (it's almost down to my waist, despite the 4 inches we took off last month), my boots would have some major heels on them, and (sorry, Mom, I have to say it) well, I've had three kids. My rack just isn't that great. And I don't consider myself lumbering, even if I am fairly incredible.

However, I'm all for hitting people with a club. Honestly. Anyone can shoot anyone else. Me included. I have and love guns. But it takes real finesse to beat someone down with a club. I'm just saying.
But that wasn't enough for me. No. I was not finished.

'What more could there be?' you ask. 'This chick is already such a freak. What more could she find?'

Everyone knows you can't fight crime, with a club, alone.

You had to have seen that one coming. It looks JUST LIKE JOHN. He's even ancient!! Doesn't that picture look just like Leonidas from 300? It totally does, doesn't it? I know!! People at work call him Leonidas. This looks JUST LIKE HIM. I'm not kidding.

Well, his head's not that small compared to his body. And he told me one time when we were talking about super heroes (because we don't have three kids and land and chickens and things to do. We have all the time in the world to debate DC v Marvel, and who would win in a fight between hero A and hero B, and then he tells me I can't make up super heroes, and I think I can. He's wrong. But I digress.) that even if he was a super hero, he would never wear tights. But he sometimes looks like he wants to hit people with a big, wooden club.

Don't tell him I told you that. Wouldn't want him to take out the clubby anger on me. Because did you SEE me? I could totally kick his ass.

But seriously! We have matching capes!!! How freaking awesome is that? We're like the hottest crime fighting husband-and-wife duo ever. I wonder what cool powers our kids will inherit from us? (No, David, falling down is not a super power. You do recover surprisingly quickly, though. I'll have to think about that one. "Look, in the sky! It's ... Healing Boy!" Nah. Just doesn't have that ring to it. Sorry.)

So I love the internet. Because you can go to the website The Hero Factory. And suddenly, your average nice day becomes utterly amazing and fantastic, because know you know that when someone messes with you on the phone, or cuts you off in traffic, or is really rude to you in the line at the HEB, you're just being benevolent by not responding. Because you're a super hero.

They'd best learn to respect, if they know what's good for them. I'm just saying.

Because you could totally kick their ass.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-03-02T09:10:00.002-06:00

My Daybook ~ March 2, 2009

***

Outside my window ... the sun is shining, the sky is clear, the trees are putting on their leaves, and wildflower are popping up, despite the frightening lack of rain this winter.

***

I am thinking ... how thankful I am that the fire in our county, which burned almost 1300 acres, didn't head our direction. We weren't too far from it, but the wind was in our favor. And that I wish Sarah didn't live so stinkin' far away from me.

***

I am thankful for ... my church, the retreat from which I just came home, the God who forgives me no matter how many times I royally mess up everything, and good friends and family who always love me.

***

From the learning rooms ... who knows. Lots of life lessons today, probably not a lot of hard-core formal school.

***

From the kitchen ... bread (if I can get John to get me honey from the store), beignets, and Mexican Rice Casserole for lunch.

***

I am wearing ... one of John's old sweaters, old comfy holey jeans, and flip-flops.

***

I am creating ... a pleasant atmosphere in my home, theoretically. Well, I'm working on it, at least.

***

I am reading ... Oliver Twist, The Shaping of a Christian Family, and Jane Eyre. And headed to the bookstore later this morning.

***

I am hoping ... to learn 'What Wondrous Love Is This' by this afternoon. I'm getting there, slowly but surely ... I think.

***

I am hearing ... Over The Rhine's Snow Angel on my computer, Sam chasing the dog outside, lots of birds in the trees, and an angry rooster who is getting his ass kicked by an even more angry hen.

***

Around the house ... I really need to mop my floors, but beignets sound more fun. We've got the upstairs under control, things are fairly well organized downstairs, and the kitchen doesn't frighten me at the moment. My yard, however ... Yeah. Gotta get that done today.

***

One of my favorite things ... holding Baby Lewis at church yesterday, and learning that Kristie told my husband that I'm a baby hog. Well, yeah. Helloooooo! Have you not met me?? :)

***

A few plans for the rest of the week ... lots of XanGo call backs and follow-ups, need to get more chicken scratch, library and bookstore, hanging out with the family, and George Washington Day at Camp Winchester on Saturday.

Happy Monday!!

"this one's my favorite!"

2009-03-01T19:17:00.002-06:00

We had our annual Ladies' Retreat this weekend at Camp Tejas. My dear friend Kristie's sister, Kim, came up to do the music. Kim is a hard person to be around. Not because she's not awesome. She's too awesome! She has beautiful dark eyes, and lovely thick long dark hair, and she's got curves in all the right places, and she has this voice. Oh, does she have a voice. I positively despise her.

Well, except for the fact that I totally wish she was my little sister. And ... she's younger than I. So I wasn't the youngest person at the retreat, and that was a first.

Ok. I love Kim. I admit it. But all that is a digression. What I'm getting at is this. Kim did a wonderful job with the music. She and Kristie and our speaker coordinated on lovely songs with beautiful lyrics that dovetailed with the message. And Melissa, who was sitting beside me the whole time, could not stop laughing at me. Because every time Kristie or Kim announced the next song, I would just about start bouncing out of my chair, loudly whispering to Melissa, 'This one's my favorite!!'

But it's true. I cannot pick a favorite hymn, anymore than I can pick a favorite child. I love them all so much. I love the different styles of music. I love the lyrics. I love finding out who wrote each, and why and when it was written. I love old hymns (Martin Luther wrote 'A Mighty Fortress is Our God') and I love the new Maranatha hymns like 'Father, I Adore You.' (And, that last one is a round. And I loves me a good round.)

Today, our Communion hymn was 'What Wondrous Love Is This,' (that link is totally kid safe, btw) one that I've heard before, but I always forget how much I love it. I was sad for a second that Melissa didn't sit by me in church, because at this point John is immune to, 'Hey baby, guess what! This one's my favorite!!'

I'm not a great piano player, but with lots of practice, I can master a song. I take it measure by measure, over and over again, and I eventually get it. I can play the theme to Forrest Gump, and the opening lines of Moonlight Sonata. My hands are small (I can stretch to have an ovtice plus on reach), so Claire de Lune has been frustrating me for a while, but I'm slowly but surely getting there. Stupid crazy-ass Debussey chords. What was that man thinking? Mere mortals have a tough time when they have small hands. I need a mini-piano, that's what I need.

Sorry. I digress, yet again.

At the retreat, we sang 'Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,' one of my favorites. I can play that one from beginning to end and have all the words memorized. 'Be Thou My Vision,' another favorite. I'm learning this one. 'Open Our Eyes, Lord,' can't play is but I do love it.

My favorite Christmas hymns are ... all of them, except 'It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.' I just don't like that one.

We sang 'O Love That Will Not Let Me Go' a few weeks ago, and by Tuesday evening I could play it without completely butchering it, quite a feat for me. I can play 'There's Something About the Name of Jesus,' and 'In My Life, Lord.' I do seem to be drawn to the slightly slower and more melancholy songs, but maybe that's just because I know there's no hope that I have the talent to play the Hallelujah Chorus. After John's grandfather's funeral, I learned to play 'How Great Thou Art,' which I used to this was just ok, but it's also a favorite now.

But really, the music is secondary to the lyrics in my mind. I really didn't like 'O Love That Will Not Let Me Go' the first few times we sang it. But then one Sunday, the third verse really sank in.

'O joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my eyes to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.'

I think anyone who has gone through times of suffering or sorrow, and has turned to the Lord for comfort, can understand that stanza. The promise of a tearless morning ... the thought that joy actually seeks us, though we often try to hide from it in our pain and suffering ... it's a powerful thing, the love of God.

There are so many hymns I hear that take me back to my childhood. I grew up in a music lovin' alcohol shunnin' can I get an AMEN? goog ole' Southern Baptist church. And boy, did we love to sing. I'm still known to wander around our house singing 'This Is the Day (That the Lord has Made' in a rather loud voice, far too early n the morning.

What? Stop looking at me like that. I have to wake up my family somehow, don't I? Better than an alarm clock ...

Music just makes me happy. And not just hymns, though they seem to be ... well, my favorite. I love Led Zeppelin. I listen to the old classics of the Big Band Era. Hey, Benny Goodman! Glen Miller, how ya' doing? I love Metallica. I love love love bluegrass music. I'm a huge fan of punk, old school and new school alike. When I start feeling too much like a mom, and worry that I'm losing that crazy, wild side of me that I used to love and sometimes forget about, I always put on The Offspring or some Less Than Jake. Yay, ska!! Loves me some bubblegum pop, too. And let's not forget my extreme and embarrassing love for bad music. Oh, man. Me and bad music? We're, like, thisclose. Brea + bad music = BFF. One might even say, BF4E. Seriously!

So there you have it. The ramblings that have been running around in my head for the last few days. What about you? Do you have a favorite song? What about a favorite hymn, should you be so inclined? What kind of music makes you happy? What do you listen to when you're blue?

Which one is your favorite?

what every new mother should know

2009-02-26T08:49:00.003-06:00

I'm not posting pics on this subject, because then there would be solid evidence that I'm telling the truth. :)

David turned two in October. He is my most outwardly-loving child, and will run at you and wrap his arms around your legs for no reason whatsoever. He has a great sense of humor, laughs almost nonstop, and would live on Campbell's Creamy Tomato Soup if given the chance.

He also has no fear. Of anything. At all. We ever-so-fondly refer to him as Danger Baby. If you say, 'Hey David, are you a Danger Baby?' he says, 'YES!!' If you say, 'David, where's Danger Baby?' he just grins a blindingly happy smile and points to his belly. His head might be more apt, but I'll explain that in a minute ...

He gains a new scar each week. He falls off things. He's the only one we've had to take to the ER with an injury-related emergency. I highly doubt it was our last trip with him. He jumps off things. He climbs. He thinks he knows how to ride a bike without training wheels. (For the record, he doesn't.)

I'm looking at him right now, and here's what I'm seeing: A scar from the seven stitches on his forehead. A scab on top of the scar where he fell when I was in Ohio. Three bruises in various stages of healing on different places on his forehead. A swollen top lip. His nose is still slightly swollen, although only his parents would notice, from the ever-so-fun bloody nose he got the other night. A bite mark that's healing, on his cheek, from where the dog bit him. (He decided to bite the puppy when she was asleep. THAT worked out well, let me tell you.) Scratches under his left eye from running into a tree in the wooded part of our property. Scratches near his right ear from another argument with some scrub brush on a different day.

And people, that's just his head. You don't even want to know what his knees and elbows look like.

I am amazed that he still has all his teeth.

The crazy thing is, he's really not clumsy. I might even say that he's the most graceful of all my children at this age, but it's just that he has no fear of anything. AT ALL!! A fence? Great, let's climb it. Something hidden at the top of the pantry? No problem, I can scale it. The big kids are climbing trees? Bring it on. Sam can ride a bike? Well, I'm not getting left behind!

'Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you ...'

I had been in Ohio for all of about two or three hours when John sent a picture to my phone. I took one look at it and started laughing. Laughing really, really, really hard. Why? Because I'm a very bad and totally unsympathetic mom, that's why. Sarah took one look at the picture and started to hyperventilate. David looked like he had been in a bar brawl with a bunch of Hell's Angels. And was grinning from ear to ear.

She stared at me and said, 'Why aren't you freaking out? You're his mom! I'm not even related to the kid and I'm totally freaking out! Is he ok?'

Once I stopped laughing (and it took a minute or two), I explained to her. 'Sarah, first off, that's just David. I'm happy to see all his teeth in place and both ears still attached. Secondly, if John had to take any of the kids to the ER, he would totally call me before he figured out how to use the camera on his phone. Trust me.'

That's just the way John and I are as parents. Kids will get hurt. They will have scars. We try to teach them how to properly jump, and fall, so as to minimize damage. We keep a far closer eye on Danger Baby than we did the others at this age. We don't coddle them when they get hurt. A common response to 'I'm bleeding!!' is 'How's that working out for you?'

My kids know how to clean out a scratch, a cut, and a scrape. They know what's appropriate to come crying to me about, and when they need to suck it up. Band-aids are rarely seen, despite the number of flesh wounds that occur in the abounding chaos of our lives. We don't let them whine, and as a result, we don't have whiny kids. Whiny kids bother me, and I decided when I was pregnant with Sam that I didn't want any. So there! :)

I got to thinking about all this earlier this morning, when OHmommy, the stiletto ho over at Classy Chaos, did a post called "What Every New Mother Should Know." I'm sure every mom has her own advice to give, but mine would be (and is) this: when you have kids, life changes for ever. Having a plan is nice, but you have GOT to learn to be flexible, because kids are not predictable. They drop the quiche you were making for bible study on the floor, and the dish shatters and you can't even throw the food to the chickens because of the shards of glass. They find the Sharpie you hid and color on your walls. Or worse, your couch. The fall down and get blood on your favorite shirt of all time that you've had for 7 years, and you have to throw it away. They have a bad dream at 3 in the morning on the one night you really need to get some extra sleep.

So learn to roll with the punches, and teach your kids to do the same. They'll be much more well-adjusted for it, and they just might thank you for it one day. (Hey, Mom. Thanks for being such an awesome mom to me and Kevin and Wes. And it's ok. I promise I won't ever tell them that you totally love me the most!!)

Also, it doesn't hurt to have a working knowledge of basic first aid.

So ... what's your number one tip that every new mom should know?

so ... I'm an idiot

2009-02-25T13:22:00.002-06:00

Ok, peeps. You are going to love this.

So I'm notorious with our book club for being rather last minute. I very rarely arrive on time (although, in my defense, I usually have to wait until John gets home then drive over an hour to whomever's house where we're meeting), and I almost never get my book until a few days before we meet. Then I have to speed through it, most often finishing it the day of book club. The first time I came, I was invited by Melanie on a Tuesday afternoon, I went to the library that evening, found a copy of Rebecca by Daphne DeMaurier, and joined the ladies I'd soon come to know and love the following evening after reading the whole book. I read fast, ok?

This month, I decided to break out of my pattern, and do things totally differently. I went to the library two days after January's meeting and got my book. I took my time to read through it. It was depressing, and sucked my will to live right out of my soul (it seems a lot of our books have been ~~really happy and uplifting~~ depressing as hell lately), but I finished it anyway. Even John noticed, and told me he was impressed. :) I was so proud of myself! I was going to be prepared! With witty and insightful things to say!! Even though the book sucked my will to live!!!

Book club is tonight. I was on the phone with Melanie (the precious gal who not only started our book club, but also helped me buy the lovely house where I live) yesterday afternoon, and we were talking about our book, The Girls. I asked her if any of the books on our list for the year were happy ones, and she said, 'I know! What's with all the sad lit lately?' We kept talking for a while. She said, '...and then I saw that thing on conjoined twins the other morning on the Today Show. What a coincidence!'

I thought, 'Huh. That's nice. I think one of the characters in the book had cousins that were twins, but they were only mentioned in passing. Were they even conjoined? Maybe that part really stuck with her.'

Then she said, 'Yeah, I have a hard time reading anything where someone dies horribly in a car crash, because of my mom and everything.'

Again I thought, 'Huh. Did I skip over a whole part about a car crash? I mean, I remember when she killed her husband, and it turned out that all her friends had slept with him at one point or another, and that one friend had cancer, but I really don't remember a wreck.'

We talked and wondered if our book club was going to be able to keep up much conversation about the book, and whether we'd all have to drink the Kool-Aid afterward to escape the depression we'd all be going through, because of how non-uplifting this book was.

Then she brought up conjoined twins again. I had to stop her. 'Melanie, I'm sorry, but I don't remember any twins. Who were the twins?'

There was a long pause.

'BREA! For the love of Xenu, what book did you read?'

'Well, I read The Girls. The one where those five girls grow up together, and then one of them kills her husband after they'd all lost touch, and everyone came back to their hometown for his funeral, and no one else realized what a total asshat the guy was, and how awful he had been ...'

'BREA! Stop! That's not the book we're reading. Did you get the title right?'

'Well ... I think so. It said "the girls" in big blue letters on the front cover, so I assumed that was the title ...'

'Brea, our book is a novel about the oldest living conjoined twins; they're attached at the head, and they decide to write their memoirs.'

'Really? I didn't read that book.'

... I READ THE WRONG BOOK!!!! Apparently, there are TWO horribly depressing books called The Girls, and I didn't check the author when I got the book from my library; I just checked out the only book they had called The Girls.

And I have no car until John gets home, when I leave for book club. He didn't get home until after 8:30 last night, or I totally would have made a really late trip to one of the book stores in Austin to buy the book. I already have a complex about book club; all the gals there are smart and pretty and professional, and I feel so much younger than all of them (ok, I am so much younger than some of them, but that's besides the point), and they drink wine (I can't stand wine, and it makes me feel like such a little kid), and I worry that I'm constantly on the edge of doing something totally embarrassing, like making my drink come out my nose, or having to tell them I'm knocked up again, or spitting food, or falling down as I am fairly prone to do from time to time.

So ... the moral of the story is this: ALWAYS CHECK THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE READING, OR OTHERWISE YOU'RE GOING TO LOOK LIKE A BLOOMIN' IDIOT IN FRONT OF ALL YOUR SMART, SOPHISTICATED, WELL-READ FRIENDS.

The end.

A Few of My Favorite Things

2009-02-18T11:50:00.004-06:00

I'm going to do my favorite sounds today. I have so many of then, I'm such a sensory-aware person, that's it's hard to only pick 7. But here I go.

7. The dull (and sometimes not-so-dull) roar of children at my house. We end up with a crowd over here more often than not, seeing how with three children, we're the smallest family we know. Sweet Becky has 4, ages 2-14, dear Kristie has 5, ages 2-10, and Debbie has 10, ages 2-24. But only 7 are still at home. :) I thrive on chaos, I love noise and insanity, I would care less if people track dirt on my floors or accidentally breaking something (what's the use of having it, whatever it is, if you aren't going to use it? Accidents happen!), and I know how to patch up any wound just short of someone needing stitches, so I'm emotionally well-equipped to have large crowds at my place. I love hearing the yells and laughter of several families with all their kids, dads consulting each other around the grill, moms chatting and laughing in the kitchen, older kids drifting between becoming adults and still wanting to be silly with the younger kids. It's a precious thing to hear.

6. The sound of my husband's deep, even breaths as he sleeps beside me. I have a very hard time falling to sleep at night. I'm incredibly afraid of the dark, which a fun thing to admit when you're 26. I pray and I sing to myself, and that helps, but the thing that calms me the most is listening to John, who is maddeningly able to fall asleep in 43.7 seconds flat each night. It's also the reason he finds me passed out on the couch on nights that he closes, because he's not there, and I hate going to bed alone more than anything else in life, even if it is just for a few hours.

5. The sound of my feet crunching through the leaves and pine needles in the back half of my property. We have a great trail that winds all the way to our back fence, and I love to walk down there by myself sometimes just to see what nature has been up to, and see what birds I'm able to spot. And my footsteps, while not very loud like my kids' or my husband's (a few drops of the Cherokee must have made it through the generations, I guess), are music to my ears.

4. The sound of my kids playing sweetly with each other. They really can be incredibly kind when they set their minds to it, and it's great to hear everyone being polite. Sometimes I get to hear sentences like, 'Evie, make sure you hold David's hand so he doesn't fall while I put this rope around his waist.' No, really, I got to hear that one through one of my back windows a few afternoons ago.

3. The sound of my coffee maker making those weird hissing noises. Because that means that my coffee is ready, and I can pour my first of 35 cups of the day.

2. The sound of quiet and stillness in the late night and early morning from my rocking chair on the front porch. We don't have traffic by our house then, and we're too far from the main road to hear any of that noise. You can find me outside every morning, vice-like grip on my cup of coffee, come hell or high water. Even if it's only for two or three minutes, or sometimes I read for an hour before my kids get up if weather permits, I would live on my porch if it was feasible.

And my most favorite of all my favorite sounds in my life ..

1. The sound of my husband's laugh. I don't hear it often enough, and I can't get enough of it. John isn't one prone to emotional outbursts (Ha! I think I do enough of that for both of us!!), so while he's quick to smile, his laugh is like an addictive substance for me. It makes my day brighter and my heart beat quicker, and it is the one reason above all others that I thank God for my (incredibly good) hearing.

What's your favorite sound?

The Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-02-16T10:43:00.002-06:00

My Daybook ~ 16 February

***
Outside My Window ... low clouds are starting to burn off, and it'll probably be in the 70's again today. I'm ready for the GREEN to come back.

***
I am thinking ... how much I enjoy coffee, and how much I miss Sarah and Scott, because my trip to Ohio was freakin' awesome. Also, I hate sentences that end with a preposition. Yeah, I've got issues. TELL me about it!

***
I am thankful for ... the organizational kick on which John and I have both been, because it's really feeling nice around here these days!
***

From the learning rooms ... reading lesson, money lesson, and we start learning about levers and such today.
***

From the kitchen ... John's making fajitas later, and the kids and I are going to make bread and maybe some cookies, if I can drag myself inside long enough. Huh. Probably not cookies, cause the sun just broke through.

***
I am wearing ... my favorite blue jeans, a gray t-shirt, my most wonderful and soft green hoodie, and a sparkley pink hair thing. I stole it from Evelyn, because I couldn't find any of my own.
***

I am creating ... a fresh garden today, and hopefully a fence to go around it so the bleeping chickens won't eat my deeds at they being to sprout again. And creating some fun memories with the kids, hopefully.
***

I am going ... to will myself out of whatever mood I've been in the last few days. And I'm going to take a nap later this afternoon, because I haven't been sleeping well.
***

I am reading ... something too embarrassing to put into words. I think I feel a Friday Confession coming soon. And I'm also reading Daphne DeMaurier, and Kipling's Captains Courageous, and The Summer of 1787, and I think I got something my Melville that I'll start tomorrow. I cannot function if I'm only reading one thing at a time, an I read too fast anyway.
***

I am hoping ... my tiller is still working, although I don't know why it wouldn't be working, and that summer will come early, because I just don't do well for these few short months of 'winter.' It's probably good that I don't live any farther north.
***

I am hearing... John bringing me laundry to fold (he's so sweet like that!), and the kids playing sweetly upstairs, and the dog snoring under my chair, and the woodpecker on my kitchen tree, and the cardinals up front on the feeder.
***

Around the house ... chaos abounds (at least it's starting to feel like orderly chaos, I guess), and it's really the only way I function. I'm not Type B, I'm more along the lines of Type J or something. Seriously. I love it.
***

One of my favorite things ...the smell of tomato vines, and the taste of a green bean I snagged while weeding the ground beneath it, the feel of dirt on my hands, and the greenness of the beginning of summer.
***

A few plans for the rest of the week ... John is off today, Tuesday, and Thursday, so we have a ton of projects to finish, and school, and Bastrop Gardens, my favorite nursery, opens today, so I imagine we'll be there at least once, since the owner tracked me down to let me know it was expected that I show my face. :) And talking to Sarah, because did I mention tha I HATE that she lives in Ohio, and I miss her far more than I thought I would, especially after having her to myself for five days straight.
***

So apparently, this weather has been getting to me more than I realize, and I'm really needing some time outside to get dirty and revel in God's wonderful, beautiful, and mysteriously fantastic creation.

For more Daybooks, click here. Thanks again to Jessica for inspiring me to do this!

Conversations with John

2009-02-02T12:30:00.002-06:00

"Hey, baby, do you want to be an organ donor?"

(glances suspiciously at me) "Why?"

"Oh, I dunno. I read an article about it the other day."

"I don't like it when you read. You start getting ideas. Next thing I know, you're going to be wanting to vote! And drive!"

"Yeah, I know. A woman's place is barefoot in the kitchen, not reading the newspaper. Sorry about that. Anyway, I want to be an organ donor. And I was wondering if you want to be one, too."

"Well, I guess. As long as I'm dead first."

leaving on a jet plane ...

2009-02-02T12:05:00.002-06:00

Don't know when I'll be back again ...

Just kidding! I totally know when I'm coming back. I leave my house at 5 on Thursday morning, and I'll be hugging Sarah by just after noon, and I'll be getting back to the Austin airport around 11 Monday night. That's right, FIVE day away from my family. I'm very excited, and somewhat nervous (I absolutely hate to fly!), and I just can't wait to see Sarah. Because she's awesome. And I love her. And miss her. And ... I won't have to hear the (bleeping) roosters crow for 5 days! Yay!!

And this trip does have another great aspect to it. If I hadn't had the miscarriage, I probably would have been having a baby this weekend. My due date was February 10, and my kids have all come a little early. I'm ok with what happened, I really am. God has been so good, and has blessed me in ways I couldn't possibly imagine over the last 6 months. But it'll be good for me to not be at home, and to not be around my kids, because I'm telling you, David is so stinking cute that if I hold him for too long, I can feel my ovaries start twitching. I'm not trying to forget what happened, and I'm not dwelling or wallowing. But I'm glad for the distraction.

So please pray for me, for safe travels, and for my family, that no one would have any head wounds while I'm gone, and that we all would just have fun. And that I wouldn't be too stressed before I leave! I've got so much to do, but I've made a list and broken it all down by day, so it's not too bad.

I mean, it is. I have SO MUCH TO DO.

But luckily, I'm not stressing.

No, really! I'm not at all stressed.

(Yes, I am. I lied.)

bad influences abound

2009-01-29T17:53:00.002-06:00

It's not good when your 2-year-old drops a toy and says, 'Oh, shit.' In a very calm voice, just like a certain parent.

Also not great when your 5-year-old is having trouble working through the tangles in her hair, quietly puts the brush down, studies herself in the mirror for a moment, and says, 'Hell.' In an eerily similar tone to the above-mentioned parent.

They probably learned that from their father.

Not from their mother, who curses like a sailor.

Yeah, they definitely got that from John.

Baby Food ... how we did it

2009-01-17T10:00:00.002-06:00

I've always made my own baby food for the kids. It started out because my husband has been know to be ~~a Scrooge-esque skinflint with money~~ a thrifty person, and saw the prices on jar baby food, and said, 'No way!' He ~~forced me~~ encouraged me to learn how to make our own baby food, and once I started, I fell in love with it for the price and the ease, and haven't looked back ever since.

It's evolved from child to child. With Sam, I made special baby food for him. With David ... not so much. Here's how I did it. This may work for you, it may not, or you might be Sarah, reading this and thinking, 'This is boring.' That's ok.

The first food for Sam (after oatmeal cereal) was bananas. If you have a banana and a fork, you can make banana baby food. Bananas are currently $.49/pound. Last time I checked (like 6 years ago), a jar of banana baby food was around $.75. For the love of all things holy, if you make no other baby food but this, please make your own smooshy bananas!! Here's how you do it:

Peel the banana. Put it in a bowl. Smash it up with a fork. If you don't own any forks, a spoon works just as well, but might take 47 extra seconds. Add some oatmeal cereal to make it a little less slippery. Feed it to your baby. Look! You just fed your kid homemade baby food!! Yay, you!!

Let me throw in a note about baby cereal. I think rice cereal is stupid. It has no nutritional value except for what is added to it. I've always started out with oatmeal cereal, and even that I only did for about a week before just feeding the baby oatmeal.

If you don't have a small food processor, that's ok, but having one is really helpful. For example, after I figured out that the oatmeal cereal didn't make my kids break out into hives or go into shock (no allergies), I just fed them oatmeal. Here's how. Make oatmeal, but make a serving more than your family currently eats. Take out the baby's serving. Put it in the food processor with some breast milk or formula or whatever you are using. Or water, that works fine, too. Pulse the oat/liquid mix until it's as smooth and runny as you can get it. You don't want it to be too thick at first. I made mine thin enough to drip from the spoon, but not completely watery. Cool it down and feed it to the baby. Viola! More baby food!! Refrigerate the unused portion (which will be most of it at first), and warm up small batches over the next few days to use whenever you need it.

For the first few months, we added oatmeal to everything the kids ate. Fruit, veggies, everything. Our rule was this: at breakfast, we did fruit and grain. At lunch, veggie and grain. At supper, fruit, veggie, and grain. So for breakfast, just add a few spoons of banana or applesauce or pureed strawberries.

With Sam, I made baby food in big batches. I would take a whole bag of baby carrots, steam them until they were super soft, and puree the whole thing (using the water they were cooked with to get the consistency I wanted). I would cool the batch completely, then freeze small portions (1 cup) in flattened Ziplock bags. Anytime I wanted to feed Sam carrots, I would pull the bag out, thaw it in hot water, and let 'er rip.

Always make sure you introduce each new food individually. It's really important to watch for allergies and things like that. And just because they don't want to eat it first doesn't mean that they don't (or won't) like it! It's just new, and they're a baby, and not sure what to do. So they automatically spit everything out.

It's easy to puree and freeze combinations, too. Some ideas: carrots and broccoli. Squash and green beans (the only food I ever strained, because of the strings). Carrots, broccoli, and squash. Sweet potatoes and whatever. Spinach and whatever.

Regular potatoes don't freeze well. Just trust me on this one before you add potatoes to three different batches of food and find all of it unusable later.

I found it much easier to not freeze fruit. Just whip up a small batch and use it within two or three days. Fruit is fun. Bananas, strawberries, blueberries, apples, pears, kiwi, star fruit, peaches, plumbs, apricots, pluots, the list is endless! Step outside the box and use your imagination. You can use frozen fruit, too. Put it in a covered bowl or plastic bag in the fridge overnight, and smoosh it up in the morning.

Also, with the exception of sugar and salt, don't hide flavors from your kids! My kids had cinnamon (from the applesauce) at 6 months. I added very small amounts of herbs and spices at 8 months, and they were eating everything we ate by 12 or 13 months.

With Evie, we transitioned her to table food by about 10 months, and I didn't freeze as much for her. I did more of it on the spot.

David is obviously a Third Child in many ways, one of which is this: I never made him baby food past 7 months. And I never froze anything for him. I gave him what we ate, except that sometimes I would give it a quick spin in the food processor, or I would cook his a little bit longer. His first food was avocado. High in fat, not normally one that causes allergies. And if you get one that's pretty ripe, you don't even have to squish it (I never smooshed David's bananas, either). Just scoop out a tiny bit on a fork, and put it in the baby's mouth.

I didn't start my kids on baby food until close to 6 months. They don't need it before then. Sometimes I'd give them a few (plain) Cheerios to keep them busy ... and because it's really funny. The first time you see your little one try to eat a Cheerio, you'll understand. No milk until 12 months, and we tried not to do too much cheese before 10 months. And we never did meat until 14 or 15 months, but that was a personal preferance. I think the 'experts' say 9 months for meat. I say that's stupid. Babies don't need meat, and have a hard time digesting it. (And it makes for some really, really, really nasty diapers. Trust me!!)

The only time I used baby food in a jar was when the kids were under 8 months, and we were traveling more than 2 hours away for more than one meal. Unless you're willing to take a cooler with ice (I did this occasionally), it's not safe.

Have I ever mentioned that I married a restaurant manager who is, by profession, a total food safety Nazi? Yeah, you won't be seeing any mold, botulism, or food poisoning over at our house.

I say that, and we'll probably all get sick because I was so prideful. Oy.

So that's how we did baby food. John helped a lot and made a bunch of it, too. I loved it, and if we have anymore kids, I'll be not buying jar baby food for them, too. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments (I've changed it back so anyone can comment) or email me at brea.mangosteen(at)gmail(dot)com.

Coming next: How I Taught My 10-Month-Olds To Have Excellent Table Manners.

I hate coughs, but I love our NP

2009-01-13T08:27:00.003-06:00

We haven't been to the doctor in over a year. The last time we went, it was because David, just having had his first birthday, had a bad cough he couldn't shake.

Today, we're headed into the doctor. For both the boys. For a nasty cough they can't shake.

Ugg.

We've been very fortunate with our medical care out here. We have a wonderful family practitioner just in town, and we see his nurse practitioner (NP), Sarah, for all the kids. Sarah is very sweet, and very respectful of the choices we make for our children. Our last pediatrician in Austin was ~~horrible~~ um ~~not very nice~~ uh ~~not at all respectful~~ I mean, someone with whom I frequently butted heads. She didn't like that we were planning on homeschooling the kids, or that I was interested in homebirth, and she got downright mean about vaccines.

The first time we saw Sarah was when David was 5 days old. As she was taking his (albeit very brief) history, she asked where he was born. After a few seconds hesitation, I told her he was born at our house. She set her clipboard down, looked at me, and said, 'Ooh, homebirth! How cool! Did you like the experience?'

I hugged her.

She thinks that all kids should get the full run of vaccines, but is very supportive of a delayed schedule, and is willing to talk with me about the ones she feels are the most important, since we only do a few of them (DTaP, specifically). She supports trying herbal treatments first, and if they work, she's happy to hear it. If herbal stuff doesn't work, there's no condemnation, and she discusses the prescriptions she recommends and why before she prescribes them.

In my opinion, she does medicine the way medicine should really be done. :)

Did I mention that she has 9 kids? So you know that makes me give her some extra love!

Anyway. All that rambling to say, please be praying for us. I need some sleep. Between getting up with both boys at least once (if not several) each night, and getting up with the puppy once each night, I am really, really tired. Really tired. I mean, really tired!

Post on homemade baby food coming tomorrow, for Che and the other few who have asked. :) Hope everyone has a great day, and if you're in the area, make sure you get outside and enjoy this amazing weather! (And if you're in Iowa or Ohio, and you know who you are, sorry about that. You two try and stay warm, k? Love you!)

Questions That No One Asked

2009-01-12T08:11:00.002-06:00

I'm stealing stuff from Ryan again, because I am totally unable to have an original thought this morning. David and Sam have both developed horrible coughs with this cold dry air that came in over the weekend, I have a puppy that thinks it's fun to cry 37 times each night and wake me up, and I'm too stupid to go to bed at a reasonable hour, even though I know I wake up at 5:30 every morning.

So. Here are some questions that no one has recently asked me. And maybe a few that they have.

What bugs you, Brea?
I'm glad you asked. Lots of things bug me. But I hate it when toothpaste is in the sink after the kids brush their teeth. (Brea shudders.) It makes me twitchy.

What else?
I use a brush, not a sponge, to wash my dishes. It bugs me when John puts it back in the sink, instead of where it goes, and grease gets on the brush. If grease is on a pan, I can wash it off. How can I clean off the grease on the handle of the brush????? Ewwwww!!!!

Are you pregnant, Brea?
No. No. And once again, in case you were wondering, no. Not that I would mind being pregnant. But I've been asked 5 times in the last two weeks. And I haven't gained any weight. It's all very confusing.

Hey, Brea, if you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
First, I would go to Ohio. And see what's-her-name up there. Then Spain. And John and I were just talking about what we would do if he ever changes jobs. He would set it up where he had 6 weeks in between the old job and the new, and we would spend a month (in the summer, of course) taking a road trip and camping in the Northwest. Oregon, Washington, maybe Idaho and Montana, too. And I might visit Jessica in the right season, and take home some of her pears.

Do you make your own bread and live in the country and homeschool because you're some kind of religious kook?
Ok I've had this question asked before. In those exact words. And here's how I answered at the time: Uh, define 'kook.' :) I make my own bread because I like it. I think it's the best bread I've ever tasted. The first time I made it after I got the new oven, we ate three loaves in 6 hours, and I'm not exaggerating. I live in the country for many reasons. The taxes are lower. More bang for my buck. I like to go outside and hear silence in the morning, and see the stars at night. There are no deed restrictions out here, which has ups and downs. I can do whatever I want to my land ... but so can the people who live up the street, breed hateful dogs, and have 9 cars in their front yard. And I don't homeschool so my kids will do better on the SAT, or so they won't be influenced by those evil public school people, or to protect them from all the big bads that are in the world. I teach my children to read so they can read God's Word. I teach them math because Jesus made numbers, so Jesus' two plus Jesus' two equals Jesus' four. I teach my kids about nature because In The Beginning, the Trinity dictated the creation of the world. We raise chickens because the Word tells us to exercise dominion, but it also tells us to be good stewards. (You know, the Jews were the first ones to have animal rights laws. take that, PETA!)

I homeschool my kids so that they may better know God.

You are a religious kook, aren't you?
Yeah probably, and I'm ok with that. I'm supposed to be in this world, not of it.

How many kids do you eventually want?
At least 6. I'd really love 10 or 12. But please don't tell my mother. She'll pass out and hit her head.

Which of your children is your favorite?
Well, Sam, of course. Also, Evelyn. And obviously, David.

What's with your obsession with mornings?
I dunno. They're just awesome. And clean, and new. Joy comes in the morning, ya know.

What's the deal with Texas?
If you have to ask, you'll never get it.

If you had to pick one best friend, who would it be?
Sarah. And Kristie. Margaret. And Becky. Totally my mom. Jessica is my best interweb peep.

If you could have any job besides the one you have, Brea, what would it be?
I think I would want to be a missionary. Or a midwife or a nurse. Oh! I know! I'd be a nurse-midwife missionary in some third world country.

What's your favorite color?
Purple.

What is your favorite thing that you own?
My boots. I wear them every. single. day. and freak out when I see the puppy anywhere near them.

What's your least favorite thing?
Grape flavoring. Grape gum, grape candy, grape medicine ... Uuuugggggg!! What's up with that?

Brea, what are your true thoughts on President-Elect Obama?
I pray that he is an excellent president. Our family prays for him daily. And I don't envy the position that he's in, or his job. At all. Stop assuming that just because I didn't vote for him, that I won't support him or that I hope he falls on his face. I hope he's a great president.

Do you have a favorite book?
No. Well, yes. My Bible. But after that, I can't pick just one. If I absolutely had to, it would probably be The Count of Monte Cristo. But I can't pick.

What was the best Christmas gift you received, Brea?
My new Swiss Army knife. I need to make sure I take it out of my purse before I go to Ohio, because I'm totally the kind of person who would forget and end up on some terror watch list because I'd pitch a fit when they tried to take it from me.

What was the best Christmas gift you gave?
I don't know. I had a lot of fun shopping this year. I found a great pair of handmade knitting needles for my midwife, but I haven't seen her yet. And I got my brother a cool book, The Complete Manual of Things That Might Kill You. I wanted to keep it for myself. But didn't.

Are you still talking?
Yeah, but I'm just about done. My coffee is cold and running low. And you know how much I love my coffee!! Just one more ...

What's a question that no one asks you, but you want to answer?

Wow.

2009-01-10T07:49:00.002-06:00

So I haven't posted since Christmas. Sorry about that. Things that have been keeping me busy:

*I finally got a new oven. After going what seemed like 28 years without, I am able to bake once again. And boy, have I ever been baking!! Bread, cookies, cakes, lasagna, casseroles, pies, you name it, I've probably been baking it. And gaining 42 pounds in the process.

*I have three kids under 7. They are crazy little people. And they keep me busy.

*Christmas, New Year's, family, friends, and organizing everything in my life. Each year, I take the week between Christmas and the New Year and do some major cleaning, organizing, and throwing out of lots of stuff. It's such a wonder feeling!

*We got a puppy! Her name is Brownie. She's black and white. She's about 6 weeks old, and we got her just over a week ago. I love her. A lot. We've been crate training her (which I've never done before; that's a fun new experience, let me tell you!), and that takes a lot of time, and in some ways, my friends were right. It kind of is like having a newborn!

*One of my best friends is Becky. She and her family came with us to the river this summer. She's my awesome Barnabas friend that isn't afraid to call me a dumb ass when the need arises. Her husband works for APD. He's also in the Navy reserves, and he's being deployed. Tomorrow. For a year. To the Persian Gulf. So we've been trying to help them out in any way we can before he leaves. All of their kids were over here Tuesday and Wednesday, to give the wonderful couple some alone time before he leaves, and let me tell you this: that in one incredibly delightful family. I really do love them all, very dearly.

(Please keep Ralph and Becky and their kids in your prayers.)

*I FINALLY BOUGHT MY TICKET FOR OHIO!!! (Sarah, you didn't think I'd leave you out of another post, did you?) I leave in less than four weeks, and I'll be gone from my family for five full days. I've never been gone for that long. I wish I could say that I'm really worried about leaving them for that long ... but I'm not. I'm a bad mom, what can I say? :) While I'm there, I get to hang out with my amazing best friend, who is not only lovely and pretty on the outside, but has the most precious spirit of anyone I know. I get to stalk Ryan from This Is Reverb. His church has a Saturday night service, and Sarah and I are going to visit for that. Who knows, we might let her husband come with us, too, if he behaves himself. And I get to see another old friend from high school, and I' m looking forward to that.

*We started school on Monday, with a new schedule, and it's been going wonderfully well.

*My closet is still clean. Not 'I've been trying to be less messy' clean, but 'really, honest-to-goodness, totally spotless and still organized' clean. It's been amazing. And the person who is ever more surprised than I? My dearest husband.

*Lots of other things. I just can't think of them right now because I need to refill my coffee, let the chickens out, take the dog out for a walk, feed my hungry children, fold some laundry, sweep my floors, bake some bread, work on our memory verse for the month, and start school.

It's only 8:15, and I think I need a nap.

:)

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-25T07:51:00.002-06:00

Good morning, interweb peeps! We're getting ready to attack the stockings, and start cooking after that. Hope everyone has a lovely Christmas, filled with good friends, holiday cheer, and lots of love.

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Catching Up

2008-12-17T08:35:00.003-06:00

Oh, my, I'm tired. Been busy, busy, busy! Finally got the tree up and decorated. Sang in church on Sunday, even ended up soloing one verse, and didn't throw up everywhere. Had lots of people here for lunch afterwards. Sent the kids home with my mom for two days, which was awesome!

Had brunch with a friend from XanGo, learned lots of great new stuff, can't wait to start using my new-found knowledge. Then went over to Kristie's after.

Got the go-ahead to buy a ticket to Ohio for the first full weekend in February (I'd love to discuss this trip with a certain friend who lives there that I'll be visiting, but apparently she's forgotten how to use her phone and hasn't called me back). (You know who you are.) (When you read this, please call me.) (Yes, SARAH, I'm taking about you.)

Drove into Houston yesterday to have lunch with my awesome grandfather, dropped off a mix of herbs for my under-the-weather little brother, went by the Fudge Shop on my way home, and fell asleep on the couch at 7:45. Which, like many other things in the last few days, was awesome.

Received the Greatest Christmas Letter Ever from a very funny and sweet gal that lives far away from me and is becoming a very dear friend. I also got to talk to her last week on the phone, and it was one of the best and easiest conversations I've had in a long time. And her Greatest Christmas Letter Ever was, well, awesome.

Staying at home today, doing housework and school and some limited cooking. And I think I see a nice cozy nap on the couch in my future, because I really haven't been sleeping well the last week or so.

Going to the Nutcracker tomorrow evening, after possibly FINALLY GETTING A NEW STOVE!!!!!!!! But we'll see about that.

I'll have something far more interesting to post tomorrow, I promise. In the meantime, let me introduce you to a few people:

This is John and Che's blog. They have a daughter that I kind of want to meet. I went to high school with them.

This is Mari's blog. I also went to high school with Mari. She's a military wife, and lives in Japan right now. How cool is that?? However, she's tired of being startled by tentacles every time she turns around. She said so.

Most of you know P-Dub. And she truly rules. But did you know she's got a new homeschool section on her website? Ree doesn't write much of it, but Heather at OMSH does a wonderful job, and I keep wondering it if would be inappropriate of my to ask to be adopted into her family.

So. There you go. Please tell me (because I'm momentarily tired of talking about myself) what you're doing for the rest of the week! Are you done with your Christmas shopping yet?

Update

2008-12-13T10:43:00.002-06:00

Well, the decision has been made. And now that that's out of the way, I can tell you what was going on.

John was offered a promotion. I know, you're thinking, 'Yay, John! Good for you!!'

But not so much. The promotion that was offered was in Plainview, Texas. Which is, as my dad put it, 'not the end of the world, but not too far from it.' If you cut off the panhandle of Texas where it stop being straight on the Oklahoma side, Plainview is about a county below there, right in the middle. The middle of nowhere, that is!

Yes, it would have been more money, and a chance to do something new. But really, it's only money. We're doing fine financially, and we're more than happy out where we are. And we like our trees. The only trees near Plainview are the ones people have planted in town. And we'd end up living in town, and I don't like living in towns. (We're 15 minutes from Bastrop right now, and that's about as close to a town as I plan on living!)

Actually, I was far more willing to go out there than John. Part of that is because I have more of a restless spirit, and you only live once, right? It wouldn't be forever. Maybe 5 years. But I love my life out here. I love my church, and my friends, and my family, and I know I wouldn't lose friendships or family, but right now my parents are less than two hours away. So is all the rest of my family. And John's family. And all my friends.

Except Sarah, who did something ridiculous and MOVED TO OHIO. But that's an old rant that you've heard before.

Sarah, I miss you and I can't wait to see you in February!

Anyway. We'd be at least 8 hours from my life here, and 9+ hours from my family in Katy and Houston. I'd really miss everything out here. John told me that he didn't want to leave, because 1) he thought he'd 'shrivel up and die in that part of the state' (I'm not kidding. He said that several times), and 2) he's never been happier in his life than he is right now.

It's just money. And what's more money if you're not happy?

So after lots of taking and a ton of prayer, we realized that we had made the best decision for our family. And, best of all, we have complete and total peace that we made the right choice.

Prayer Request

2008-12-11T17:04:00.003-06:00

Will y'all please pray for us? We've got a big, big, BIG decision to make, and it has to be made by tomorrow morning.

We're asking for specific prayers:
*That we would have open hearts.
*That we would consider each others feelings without being too influenced by emotions.
*That we would be able to take all factors into account, the tangible and non-tangible ones.
*That we would have total and complete peace once the decision is made.

Thanks!

Brrrrrrrr!!

2008-12-11T07:52:00.002-06:00

Wow, it's been cold! Yesterday morning, we woke up to some COLD weather. It had sleeted and snowed the night before, and there was lots of white when we got up for the day.

Ok, there was a lot more sleet than snow, but we're from Houston. And we live in Central Texas. We don't get much of either in these parts. It stayed cold enough yesterday to never melt all the ice on the rooftops around here. We never even made it past 38! But it's supposed to be in the mid 60's today, so life is back to normal.

Anyway. Enough about the weather.

I've been BUSY! It's a big week for us if we've got two things in the evenings, and we've got a whole week's worth right now. Saturday was my XanGo Christmas party in New Braunfels. My friend Tana came with me, and it was awesome (Kristie watched the kids). Sunday was church, then potluck, and then I had my book club Christmas party, which was a total blast. I love my book club, not so much for the books we read (although I do love those), but for the lovely ladies that I get to see and know better each month.

Monday, Kristie and I went to IKEA and the Outlet Mall up in Round Rock, and had a lovely time. It's been years since I went shopping with another gal (I'm not a shopper!), and I forgot how much fun it can be. I got a new dress to wear to the Nutcracker next week, new black boots (I love a good bargain. These boots are normally $90, and I ended up paying $32. Woohoo!), a cute pair of really nice jeans, a green and blue top, and a beautiful watch. And not including IKEA, I only spent about $70!! Hello, gift cards and Christmas sales!!

On the way home, Kristie convinced me to sing with her and Johnna at church on Sunday, so Tuesday evening we met over at Kristie's house to practice our sing, after we had picked on out. We decided on a beautiful hymn I hadn't previously heard, In the Bleak Midwinter. I'm scared out of my mind, but also looking forward to it.

Last night, Kristie (yes, I've seen her every day for the last 5 days!) and I took out our friend Melissa, who just had a baby. Melissa and her husband are having a hard time. New babies are wonderful, but they can be ... um ... difficult, to say the least. Can I get an amen, moms? In my experience, the first baby is the hardest, because you have no idea what you're doing! Add a total lack of sleep, and enough hormones to knock out an elephant, and it can be a very hard experience for the first few weeks or months. Melissa's baby is two weeks old, and other than doctor visits, Melissa hasn't been out of the house, so Kristie an I decided to kidnap her and go up to Chili's for food and desserts. Despite what Melissa thinks (she was kind of down, and had lots of questions, and kept insisting that she wasn't good company), we had a great time.

Today, we're getting a tree and pulling down all the Christmas decorations, then going out to a friend's house for supper this evening (they've got 10 kids, but only 7 are still at home). I'm super excited about that. Friday, Tana and her kids are coming out, and I'm teaching Tana how to make toffee (it's such a fun recipe!), then she and her husband have a Christmas dinner on Saturday, so we'll be watching her kids then. I love her kids!

Sunday is church and the special program, and my mom is coming up for that, then she and some other friends are coming over for lunch afterwards. I'm meeting with a friend, Robert, on Monday to learn how to market Glimpse to spas and salons, and I'll spend the afternoon and evening getting all my materials together and ready for Tuesday, when I'll be going to said spas and salons.

On Wednesday, I'm going to sit on the couch and stare at the wall.

And we're going to the Nutcracker in Austin on Thursday.

I'm tired from just writing all of that. I think I'll go and take a nap before John gets out of bed. :)

The Simple Woman's Daybook

2008-12-08T12:41:00.003-06:00

For more fun, check out http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

FOR TODAY Monday, December 8, 2008...

Outside my window... It is icky and gray and not very chilly, and all the leaves are turning gold and brown and falling off the trees.

I am thinking... that I love this band I'm listening to, Over the Rhine.

I am thankful for... always having enough.

From the learning rooms... I need to get back on track, cause I've been a total slacker for the last few weeks!

From the kitchen... we're cooking a brisket this afternoon, and I'm getting everything together to make chili tomorrow.

I am wearing... my fav denim skirt, a blue tank top, and a green sweater that I would probably marry if I didn't like John quite so much. :)

I am creating... a pretty blue and while blanket for my cousin-in-law, who is having a little boy in about a month.

I am going... to IKEA this afternoon and evening with dearest Kristie while John stays here with the kids.

I am reading... The Great Influenza, one of the most fascinating books I've read in years.

I am hoping... to have time for a quick nap before I leave this afternoon.

I am hearing... my lovely music, and the kids playing with John outside in the leaf piles we've been making.

Around the house... there is stuff everywhere. Someone really should do something about that!

One of my favorite things... is my HEB Texas Pecan Coffee Beans that I grind each morning.

A few plans for the rest of the week: getting the house under control, and getting out the Christmas stuff.

Have a great week everyone!

goosebumps and a gun, part two

2008-12-03T10:54:00.002-06:00

Sorry, I've had a cold and been in bed the last few days. So here's part two ...

My grandfather was on a security detail in Germany in 1945, and was sweeping an area for the arriving VIP. Under a culvert, he found something wrapped in fabric, like someone had stashed it until they could come back and get it. It was a great find, and he had it shipped back home the next day.

It was a Mauser 98, the basic German rifle. The equivalent of an M1 that the Americans used. This particular M98 was Gestapo issue. It was a good gun. Mauser knew what they were doing. Still do. They made excellent guns that had been around for a long time, guns that got their reputation originally, not through war, but for being good and reliable hunting guns. Big game in Africa. Deer hunting at home. That sort of thing.

My grandfather was home soon after that. He spent the entire next winter working on a new stock for his gun. It's a beautiful one, too. Hand made over a few months from one piece of mesquite, sanded and shaped to perfection. Used it for hunting for many years. My dad hunted with it, too. My granddad doesn't hunt anymore, so the gun has been sitting in the back of our gun cabinet since I can remember. I didn't know anything about it when I was a little kid; I just knew there was a 'German Gun' in with all the rest (we had 10-20 guns, depending on the time. Dad used to love to buy guns at pawn shops and refinish them, make them all purty, and resell them. Some, like my .410 shotgun that I LOVE, ended up being so nice that we kept them. But I digress.).

John's dad was over last month, and he and John got to talking about WWII, and the Mauser versus the M1, and how they'd love to have one of each. I told them that I remembered there was a German Gun at my dad's house, and I thought it might have come from the war, but I didn't know much else about it. I called my dad and he told me what he knew, and told me he'd bring it up next weekend when he and Wesley came to visit.

So my dad and brother got here. They went out to get lunch, but brought the gun in before they left so we could look at it before we started shooting it. (I love living in the country, by the way! I can shoot anything I please, at any time of the day, in my 'backyard.') John and I were looking at, commenting on how pretty it is, and how heavy, and we were laughing about how hard we just knew it was going to kick. John turned it over to look at the underside, noticed something and took a closer look, and stopped cold. I asked him what was wrong, and without a word he handed the gun to me and pointed at something. I took a closer look, and saw what he had seen. And knew right away why he had stopped. I got chills just looking at it.

The Nazi Eagle was stamped into the metal of the gun in three or four places. It was probably about a centimeter high, maybe even a little less, so you couldn't make out a ton of details, but there was absolutely no mistaking what it was.

Let's think about some facts for a second. This gun was made in 1940. My granddad found it in 1945. It was a Gestapo gun. It was worn and had been hidden. This was not a gun that had sat around in a case for people to look at. This was a gun that had been used, probably frequently, probably for its intended purpose.

I was holding a gun that had almost certainly killed Allied soldiers, if not Americans, during WWII.

That's a sobering thought. Seeing those eagles was creepy as hell.

I wasn't able to go out and shoot it with John, Dad, and Wesley. I was just too freaked out. And I'll tell you what ... that gun is LOUD. I mean, LOUD. John got to shoot it several times, and kept laughingly saying over the next few days, 'Oh, man, I've got Mauser shoulder! That thing kicked like a mule!'

So it's a very fascinating thing to have in my family. I asked Dad the following day if I can have it once he dies or is otherwise unable to use it anymore. (He said yes, I can, as long as I don't poison him to try and get it early.)

But until then, the next time he brings it out, I'm looking forward to shooting it. But I'll never be able to forget where it came from.

goosebumps and a gun, part one

2008-11-30T15:19:00.003-06:00

Ok, so last post I alluded to some Nazi paraphernalia. Here's my story.

My husband and I love history. He's into WWII, Winston Churchill, and the Founding Fathers. I like the Civil War, the months and years leading up to the Revolutionary War, and WWII. He likes to read about the events and the military leaders, and I like to know about the events leading up to the events. We both like Greek history. It makes for some fun conversations, like the time we spent two hours discussing the role of airplanes in combat, how it changed from primarily observation to one of the more important aspects of warfare. Light conversations like that ...

Anyway. We both have a very strong military presence is our families. John's father was a captain in the Army and tank commander in Vietnam, and his paternal grandfather was in the Army Air Corps in WWII. My maternal grandmother was an Army brat; her father served in WWI, and her older brother was a pilot in WWII (he was shot down over Italy, and MIA for several months. He made is back to safety eventually. I don't know how. I need to learn the details of that story ... but I digress). My maternal grandfather was a pilot in the Air Force during the Korean War. He flew atomic materials. That used to be classified, and he had Top Secret clearance. But it's been declassified since then, so don't worry. You won't get busted for reading this. :)

And now we come to my paternal grandfather. He was a combat engineer in the infantry in the Army in WWII. That means that he was one of the guys responsible for all the construction stuff. Need to get a bunch of heavy stuff over a river? Call the combat engineers, they'll get you a bridge built. Need a landing strip where airplanes don't normally land? They've got it covered. He served (in this order, I think) in England, France, Belgium, North Africa, and Germany.

{Cool side note: he was on a ship, headed for the Pacific theater, after he left Germany. The ship was passing Gibraltar when the captain came over the loudspeaker: Lads, Japan has just formally surrendered. We will be altering our course at this time. Our new destination is New Your City. You can imagine how excited everyone on board was ... especially considering how things had been going in the Pacific!}

When he was in Germany, things were pretty much done there. At one point, he on security detail for a visiting VIP. He and the other men with him were given the task of clearing out an area: making sure there were no bad guys or land mines or guns or knives or boogey monsters or falling tree limbs or Mad Cow-laced beef. (I totally made those last few up, in case you were wondering.) And while he was on that detail, he found something that he kept and had shipped back home ...

And I'll tell you tomorrow what it was, and how it ended up at my house last weekend ...

2008-11-27T08:40:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

kids and closets, and thanks

2008-11-26T07:37:00.005-06:00

I've painted myself into quite a corner. My MIL has the older two kids right now. (WOOHOO!!!) I met her in Hempstead on Monday at lunch time to drop them off, and they'll be with her until Thursday, when she's coming out to my mom's for Thanksgiving, obviously bringing Sam and Evie with her.

I had all kinds of lovely things planned for myself when the older two were gone. Playing with David. Watching ~~Friends~~ educational documentaries. Watching ~~House and Bones~~ more educational documentaries. Weeding my gardens. Going over to Kristie's, letting David play while we make toffee and drink coffee and talk a lot. Get lots of work done for Glimpse and XanGo. Reading some books. Hang out with my awesome and cute and funny and sarcastic husband. Have a beer.

And clean out my closet. It's bad, people. It's really, really bad.

So yesterday I started cleaning out my closet, looking forward to getting everything sorted, folded, and put away so I could go over to Kristie's today and drink coffee. I love coffee. Anywho, I started cleaning. And sorting. And folding. And decided to take out the bottom shelf in my built-in in the closet.

{I'm going to have to digress here for a second. THE CLOSETS IN THE MASTER BEDROOM ARE VERY, VERY STUPID IN THIS HOUSE. The built-ins are on the wrong sides of the closet, the doors are angled so it's really difficult to get in, they're skinny and long and, well, stupid. They've been on my to-do list for a long time now: to get in there, tear everything out, paint, and start all over. With a design that isn't stupid.}

Now you know. So I grabbed my hammer. I started taking out the shelf. I realized I also needed the drill, so I ran to get that one, too. This whole time, John had been upstairs with David playing trains, David's latest obsession. John eventually got a little worried about all the banging and drilling and ran downstairs to check on me. He tried to walk into the bathroom (but couldn't because of the mountain of clothes and shoes blocking his path), and settled for talking to me from the door. He had a slightly frightened look in his eyes.

'Um, honey, whatcha doing?'

'John, aren't you glad you didn't marry a girl who's afraid to use a hammer or power tools?'

'Right now I'm a little afraid of you. What are you up to?'

'John, you don't need to be afraid of me. My daddy taught me well. I know what I'm doing.'

'Which is what, exactly?'

'I'm just taking a shelf out of the closet so I can move these storage containers out of my way and have more room for my shoes.'

'About that. Why do you have so many pair of shoes? You only wear 3 pair. Ever.'

'John, a lady has to keep her options open. And shut up. You will not mock my shoes!'

At this point, John worked his way over to my closet and checked what I was doing. He was impressed, because I was doing it the right way and not tearing anything else apart. (Seriously. I love power tools, and I know how to use them correctly. Thanks, Dad!) But then he pulled a John. He started saying things like, 'Oh, we could move the clothes bar over here' and 'We could pull this whole thing out and get new shelving and it'd be much better organized' and 'blah, blah, blah.' I should have known better than to listen to him, and start a mini-remodel project less than two days before Thanksgiving, but nooooo. He conned me with his sweet talk of easy organization, and I fell for it.

Peeps, my bathroom looks like something exploded. And it doesn't even have clothes in it anymore!!! I completely pulled out the built-in. The hanging bars. All the random hardware. I've sanded and patched and sanded and inhaled about three pounds of sheet rock in dust form. I have to very quickly paint today so hubs can put in the new shelves and bars. I'm assuming it'll require at least two trips to Home Depot, if not three or four.

And yes, I'll be very happy about it in the long run, because this is something I've been begging John to help me with since we moved to this house three years ago. But all I wanted to do was play trains with David and drink coffee with Kristie and maybe weed in the garden a little.

On that note, I'd like to tell you a few things for which I'm thankful, before I have to start sanding and painting and hammering things again:

*A husband who helps me and supports me in crazy projects.
*A dad who saw far enough passed the blond curls to teach me how to use a hammer when I was 5.
*My mom, who is hosting what will be a wonderful Thanksgiving this year.
*My MIL, for giving me a few few days off so I can get my partner-in-crime to help me destroy things while David watches from the doorway saying, 'BOOM!' a lot.
*This amazing country I live in. It may not be perfect, but I love it, and can't think of any place better to live.
*My husband's job, which doesn't take him out of town, on the road, under heavy moving equipment, into burning buildings, out to the Bering Sea, or into the line of fire. (I'll talk more about this in a few months.)
*My wonderful extended family of friends, including but not limited to: Sarah, Kristie, Margaret, Jessica at Farm Fresh (I really hope I can meet you one day IRL, girl!), Tana, my awesome book club ladies, and all the lovely women at my church.
*Some really brave Europeans generations back, being persecuted for their beliefs, who had the courage to get on those ships and head towards New England. And for all those who kept coming over, even after reports of those first few winters mads in back across the Atlantic.
*A personal Savior that I can truly call Brother and Friend.

Big hugs and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!!!!!!!

ps-have you ever had something stamped with the Nazi Eagle in your hand? I've got a cool story for you on Friday ...

Conversations with Sarah

2008-11-25T07:42:00.003-06:00

"Brea, I'm going to hack into your blog and post something for you."

"I know, you said that in your comment. I humbly apologize for the lack of posts, and I will indeed strive to remedy the situation and prevent it from occurring in the future."

"I'm not kidding, Brea."

"I believe you."

"So you'll post something soon?"

"Anything for you, dearest Sarah with pretty hair, high above all other best friends."

"Ok. Hey, it's like 14 degrees here. And rainy."

"Dude, I told you not to leave Texas. It's going to be in the high 60's today, and we're supposed to get to 80 on Thanksgiving."

"Shut up, Brea."

"Ok, Sarah."

I loves me some Glenn Beck

2008-11-14T16:57:00.002-06:00

I really do. I wish I had a chance to catch his radio show every day. I found this archive called 'Big Bad WalMart' over at Amy's Humble Musings. My favorite paragraph is this one:

But the thing I regret on this program is as I delivered these messages, as I say, "Hey, tough times are coming," all the people here for some reason is, "It's the apocalypse; Jesus is coming; run for your lives; the entire country's going to burn to the ground." I don't believe any of that -- well, I do believe Jesus is coming and the "Run for your life" part, but I don't believe that the country's going to burn to the ground. I think we're going to have tough times. But I mean, let's look at the toughest times in American history. The Civil War. Yes, did cities burn to the ground? Yep. Did commerce still happen? Did people still have families? Did people still have food and homes? Did they struggle? Yes. Did they die? Yes. But did we survive? Yes. And that's -- when I say dark, dark times are coming, look at the worst time in American history, the Civil War. That was a dark time. But life still went on. And so when I say look out, here comes the economy, something that we've never faced before, you are still going to have to go out and buy stuff. You are just going to have to be careful to get your money's worth. Things are still going to happen.

Go over and read the whole thing. It's worth the time, even though it's a little long.

And on that note, have a lovely weekend everyone! I'll be back Monday (if not sooner) with a yummy new cold weather appropriate recipe. Mmmmm ... :)

Holly Rules!

2008-11-11T13:39:00.002-06:00

Please check out the latest developments at my fellow Texan's house, aka June Cleaver Nirvana.

Holly, don't tell my husband, but I think I love you. And my boys would love you, too. And I love that you would love my boys and totally get it.

Love,
~Brea

Chili

2008-11-10T05:23:00.003-06:00

Cold weather is kind of here. Maybe it's already here for you. So have some friends over, and eat around the fire with a nice cold beer. What will you feed them? Make this now. Thank me later.

Chili
by Brea

3 dried ancho peppers, stemmed and seeded
2 T dried oregano
2 T sweet paprika
2 T whole coriander
1 T cumin seed
2T chili powder
3 T extra-virgin olive oil
2 yellow onions, diced
1 lb ground venison*
1 lb ground beef*
3 c cooked pinto beans
salt and pepper
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 canned chipotle pepper, diced (or 2 T chipotle puree)
1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
2 green bell peppers, diced
1 yellow, red, orange, or white bell pepper, diced
1 28-oz can whole tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 whole cinnamon sticks (break in half)
1 t sugar
2 T masa harina
Fritos, grated cheese, lime wedges, cilantro leaves, for garnish

In a small dry skillet over low heat add the ancho peppers, oregano, paprika, coriander, cumin, and chili powder. Cook until they begin to smell, about two minutes. Put the spices in a spice mill or food grinder and grind until they are powdered. Set aside.

In a heave bottomed pot over medium heat, add the oil, onions, garlic, meat, and peppers. Cook until the meat has lost almost all traces of pink. Add 2-3 T of the spice mix, along with the tomatoes, cinnamon sticks, and sugar. Season with salt and stir well. Add some hot water until the meat is just covered. Bring up to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cook covered for 45 minutes, stirring often and adding liquid to keep everything covered.

After 45 minutes barely simmering, add the beans and mesa harina, and cook at a medium simmer for 10 more minutes, uncovered, to thicken. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Serve over Fritos, with cheese, lime, and cilantro for garnish.

*You can use and combination of ground meat you'd like. I usually only use one pound, total.

Yes, I know. There are beans in my chili, and I'm from Texas. Believe me, I feel very, very ashamed. Please don't tell my family. But I'm not rich enough to be snobby; I can't afford 4 pounds of meat for one dish. And the beans really are a great addition. Just please don't tell my grandma I said that, mmmkay??

Paul, Timothy, and Barnabas

2008-11-09T09:00:00.002-06:00

Do you have a Paul? What about a Timothy or a Barnabas? They don't have these actual names (although it would be freakin' cool if they did!); it's the relationships I'm talking about.

The references come from the New Testament, and these people are typically not related to you, although they can be at times.

Your Paul is your mentor. Someone you can trust, someone you know will give you honest advice when you need to hear it (usually when you don't want to hear it), someone you can always go to for help. She's the one who steps in when your life isn't going so great, and maybe you can't even see it, but she can, and she's been there, and she loves you, and helps you.

Your Barnabas is your friend. Your buddy. Someone you walk with, share life with. She helps you. You help her. You cry on each others' shoulders. You laugh until milk (or red wine) comes out of your noses. You freak out and take your kids to her with a 15 minute heads-up, only because that's how long it takes to drive to her house. She shows up on your doorstep, a mess, leaves her kids with you, and goes to Starbucks for two hours. Or Mexico. And you're delighted that you could help out in some way. You hold each other accountable without malice or judgment.

Your Timothy is the person you mentor. Usually younger than you, but not always. She calls you and asks for child training tips. She has a fight with her husband (or sister, mother, daughter, son, whoever) and calls you in tears, asking how to fix it. You give her the honest advice she might now want to hear, and you do it with love. You step in and take over once in a blue moon, and you have the trust between you that you can say, 'I don't think you can see this in your life right now, but it isn't healthy, and I'm worried about you. Here's where we can start.'

I've been blessed by more than one each of the above. And I've found that sometimes, most times, the lines merge, and your Barnabas becomes your mentor for a brief time, or your Timothy is your best friends for a while.

Pace is my all-the-way-Paul. Pace is our pastor's wife, expecting baby #7 in the next few days. I wouldn't say that she and I are buddies, but we are friends. Pace is well-read, and wise, and answers my theological questions, and patiently gives me advice for dealing with Evelyn's temper, or Sam's disposition. Other than church I might not talk to her more than once or twice a month, but she is invaluable to me.

I have been blessed with several Barnabas'. Sarah and Margaret are my two BFFs from high school. They are true, dyed-in-the-wool friends. I'm the only one with kids (hey, Sarah, hurry up already!!!!), but we're all married to wonderful, godly men, and we have similar over-all goals for our lives. And we all love the Astros, even when the Astros suck. We call each other and chat, we have Girls' Night once or twice a year, we give and get advice, and we love each other unconditionally. (And Sarah just moved away, and Marg and I are sad. But we're going to visit her this spring.) I love these women like you don't even know.

Becky and Kristie are two more close friends. Each is a true Barnabas. But each has been married longer than John and I, and they both have children older than mine. Kristie's oldest is 10 (her youngest is a pinch older than David), and Becky's oldest is 14 (her youngest is a pinch younger than David). Kristie took my kids without a single second hesitation the day I started to miscarry, and was a shoulder to lean on. She helped me immensely in the months following, because she's been there before. She is occasionally a Paul, too, when it comes to marriage, and keeping my house, and teaching my children.

Becky is amazing, too. Becky is a peer, in that we have very similar personalities. We both would rather spend 4 hours in the mud with our kids than wipe down our kitchen counters, or do laundry. We have a 5-minute (ok, 20-minute) chat every morning, and ask how our goals for the previous day turned out, and share our goals for the day ahead. More than once, after I've put the kids to bed, I've thought, 'Ahh, now I can plant my butt on the couch now and curl up with that book I'm reading. Oh! Crap! I told Becky I was going to clean off all the surfaces in my bedroom today, and fold an extra load of laundry. I'd better get that done, so when I talk to her in the morning, I can tell her I did it.' It's a wonderful system. I love it.

Here's another really, really important aspect to having a Barnabas like Becky. A few weeks ago, I did something incredibly stupid, and I lied to John. And promptly got caught. It was the first time I'd ever lied to him, and I felt horrible. Worse than I've ever felt before. It was awful. (I'm not talking infidelity or anything like that, just me being stupid.) I didn't want to tell anyone about it, because I was so embarrassed, and ashamed, but I knew I needed to talk to someone and get some advice. I called Becky. Being the wonderful friend she is, she listened patiently to my tearful confession, asked me questions, and thought it over.

Then she called my a dumb ass. And told me I'm an idiot.

Properly chastened, I could do nothing more than agree with her. Because she was right, and I needed to hear it. She told me stop making excuses, buck it up, and own up to what I had done. Becky's been married twice as long as I have, and knows all about that communication stuff a husband and wife are supposed to do. Which, in this case, was me swallowing my (very stupid) pride and begging forgiveness from the single most amazing and important person in my life, my wonderful husband. We talked for quite a while.

Then she told me that this couldn't wait another night, and that this is a talk John and I needed to have without our kids running in and out of the room the whole time. And she told me that she would meet me at Chili's in 20 minutes when we went to pick up John, and take my kids to spend the night at her house.

You need a friend like this in your life. And you need to make a point to be a friend like this, too.

I don't think I have a specific Timothy at the moment. I have friends that come to me for help in certain areas, like cooking or budgeting. My friend Tana called me the other evening, and I finally heard those eight wonderful words I've been waiting my whole adult life to hear:

"Brea, will you teach me how to bake?"

Ha ha ha! I kid (mostly), but my friends do come to me for advice in areas that are my strengths, some friends more than others. And your relationships with your friends are constantly changing, and some seasons they'll be your Timothy, and some will be your Barnabas, and some will even be your Paul.

These friendships don't just happen; like all good things in life, they take work. Some people make friends faster, or more easily, than others; some people really have to put forth the effort. Me? I'm a mix. Being friends with Sarah and Becky is like breathing. It comes easily and naturally and seems like it's always been there. I've really had to work at my relationships with Kristie and Pace, but I'm incredibly grateful that each of these women is a part of my life.

So. Do you have friendships like these?

(ps-John and I are good now. No worries, we're actually better in a lot of ways than before it happened. And in case I haven't mentioned it before, communication is a good thing!!!)

Pain, and a little fun

2008-11-03T13:29:00.002-06:00

I think I've broken my tail bone. Or at least severely bruised it. I kind of want to die right now, or maybe Jesus will come back before I have to work the elections for 14+ hours tomorrow.

Long story short, I completely ate it going down the back steps (5 of 'em, made of ~~titanium~~ wood), hit the side of my head, my butt, the back of one of my legs, and broke or bruised my tail bone. It ain't fun, peeps. I thought I was going to pass out walking up the stairs to put the kids to bed last night.

(Side note: This is one of those times that it really, really, really pays off to have well-trained children. Other than saying bedtime prayers and tucking everyone in, I didn't have to lift a finger last night. Did I mention that John was working? Sam got everyone ready for bed, including taking David to the bathroom, putting his diaper on, and getting him dressed, and Evelyn mostly cleaned the table and kitchen for me, while I was busy lying on the couch, praying for death. Those kids are angels!!)

So that's me. In pain. Takes me 37 minutes to roll over in bed, unless I'm asleep, and just roll over the normal fast way, but then I wake up crying and scare the husband. Yay!

And on a slightly lighter note ... Let's play the Google game!!! Here's how some people have recently found me here at Ramblings of a Busy Mom. (I might change that to Ramblings of a Clumsy Moron Who is in Quite a Bit of Pain. I'm just saying.)

brea mom's morning off
Really? I get the morning off? Great! I'm going to lay on the couch and watch TV. Sweet.

jeub family racist
I don't think they are. They seem like a lovely family. I kind of keep hoping they'll adopt me, but no such luck yet.

12 hour oven brisket, can i cook a 8 pound brisket in the oven, brisket oven then grill, and many, many other brisket searches
What? It's really freakin' good brisket.

my best mom atx out
Well, I am pretty great, and I did live in Austin (ATX) for a while, but the best? I'm flattered! Thank you!

mom star boy
Huh? If you say so.

lynsey daughter, brea
Is 'lynsey' a real word?

orange cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting
You haven't lived until you've tried it. It's awesome.

Those are some of the more mild ones I've had recently. I'll post some fun ones then next time they come up. Hope everyone has a lovely evening, and a great week. I'm going to go sit on some ice now.

And don't forget ...

GO OUT AND VOTE TOMORROW!!!!!!!!

Music, music, music

2008-10-28T08:53:00.002-05:00

I love music. It makes my world go 'round. It soothes my heart, lightens my mood, and often (to the chagrin of my dearest husband) makes me dance. Poorly. I like good music (have you heard Take the Skinheads Bowling by Cracker? It's awesome!), and I'll occasionally admit that I love really bad music, too.

I love cheesy Christian music, and I love music from the late 60's and early 70's, and I love love love punk (Sex Pistols and Dead Kennedys all the way, man), and I love dance music, and I love classical music, and I love country music (I was crushed in late elementary school when I figured out that I wouldn't be able to marry Garth Brooks. Seriously. Crushed.), and I loves me some bands with great hair (hello, Guns n' Roses and Black Sabbath!), and I love ska (Losing Streak by Less Than Jake is still one of my top 10 fav albums, as is The Fury of the Aquabats, by The Aquabats), and have I mentioned how much I love music?

So I was playing on YouTube yesterday; I decided I wanted some background music while I was ~~checking my email and reading blogs~~ working. I love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Love them. LOVE. THEM. Listening to them sing Battle Hymn of the Republic can make me cry ~~every single time I listen to it~~. And so can their rendition of Climb Ev'ry Mountain. And I came across this, which is one of my favorite hymns (did I mention hymns in my list of music I love? Because I love hymns, too!).

Be Still My Soul, by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

So go on over and listen. Be prepared to weep. Then everyone get together, and pool your money, and send me to see these guys live, please!!

Changes

2008-10-24T20:50:00.002-05:00

Sorry, people. After the two horrible anonymous comments I just deleted (and I pretty much never delete anything; never had any need to), no more anon comments. Go away. I'm not going to be won over to your side by being called a racist, ignorant, being accused of brainwashing my children, or by you calling my friend a broodmare. Seriously.

But way to pay attention when your mom taught you how to win friends and influence people. She must be really, really proud of you. Congratulations.

10 Things

2008-10-24T09:45:00.002-05:00

About me. Maybe this is news to you, or maybe it isn't.

Here we go.

1. I hate people touching my feet. I tend to freak out and accidentally kick. Hard. I don't have a problem with feet (others' feet), but heaven help the person who gets too close to mine.

2. I cannot help myself, but I love to smell babies. If you let me hold your baby, and it looks like I'm snorting crack off the top of their head, I promise, your baby is not in danger. I am very, very good with babies. I just obsessively smell them.

3. I am extremely afraid of the dark.

4. I can handle mice, snakes, spiders of all sizes, bugs, lizards and skinks, and just about anything else you can throw my way. But if I see a cockroach, I will be reduced to a small, crying infant, curled int he corner in the fetal position, sucking my thumb.

5. I am a very good shot with my .410 and my .22 rifle.

6. I probably get this from my mother, Annie Oakley, who used to be in shooting competitions, and held her own quite well.

7. There are two kinds of nap people: people who can take a 10-minute nap and be totally refreshed, like my ~~stoopid~~ wonderful husband, and people who cannot sleep less than 1 hour to feel rested. I am in the second category.

8. I form strange friendships online, almost overnight. And I'm ok with that.

9. My best friend ever just moved to Cincinnati, and I miss her. A lot. And she's only been up there for like 15 hours at this point.

10. I painted my toenails for the first time in months last week, and I keep getting a little surprised when I look at my toes, because I'm not used to seeing them painted. How lame am I?

Have a great weekend!

Would you vote, part 2- an open letter

2008-10-21T11:43:00.003-05:00

To whom it may concern:

Well, thank you to ~~all the people~~ the person who left me all the sweet comments. This is why I moderate my comments, by the way. I approved every single one, with the exception of the one left by 'palin is a lesbian' who said, and I quote, 'f*ck you.' Please click here and read what ~~everyone~~ this person wrote.

How do I know it was one person who left all the comments (with the exception of the first three, left by friends of mine)? Well, for one thing, not a single comment was made with a blog address to track back to. Way to show some balls there, buddy. Also, I have StatCounter, and every comment was left today, Tuesday, October 21. One after the other. And according to StatCounter, as of 11:15 this morning, I have had TWO unique visitors. TWO. That really doesn't seem like enough to garner 43 comments from 43 people. Or even 23 people. Or, hell, even 3 people.

"Those of you who have taken the time to read the facts on this matter, thank you. Those of you who are making comments based on things that are not true please educate yourself." (about halfway down, at 1:48 am) I MODERATE MY COMMENTS!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE SAYING ON MY BLOG, UNLESS YOU'RE THE ONE LEAVING EVERY SINGLE COMMENT. But it was sweet of you to call me the moron, and ignorant. Let's think about that one for a minute or two.

And another thing. And let me make sure I'm very, very clear when I say this, so that there's no confusion whatsoever. I WOULD NOT VOTE FOR SEN. OBAMA EVEN IF HE WAS THE MOST PRO-LIFE OF ALL PRO-LIFE PEOPLE. This article was a drop in the bucket for me, and not one that changed my thinking one way or another. But allow me to specifically address some of the comments.

If you think I'm an ignorant Texan, I'm ok with that. At least I have the common sense to think my ideas through, and I have the decency and manners to never be so hateful to someone I've never even met. My momma raised me better than that. ~~And you, apparently.~~

Yes, I care that Guns Stop A Beating Heart. I own three. I want a new one for Christmas. The only hearts they've ever stopped from beating are the raccoons who try and eat my chickens, some doves when I was younger, and the tin cans we hang on strings. And if you try getting into my house without my consent, we'll see how well your heart is beating when the dust clears.

I'm not saying I agree with 100% of the views of the author of the article. If she opposes condoms in Africa, I don't agree with her. But I posted one article, not her entire philosophy or life story.

Someone who is anti-abortion (or PRO-LIFE) is not necessarily anti-contraception. But we oppose abortion as contraception, that's for sure. I'm just saying. I have no problems with condoms, Viagra, getting one's tubes tied, or limiting your family size. That's your business, not mine. But I don't think you should be able to take a life to do so, not when there's so many people desperate to get a baby who just can't.

Another good one: "Repubs don't care about babies." No, no, you're right. That's why I thought my heart was breaking in two and couldn't catch my breath for days when this happened. It was probably because I was so relieved not to have another burden added to my family.

So, honey? Yeah, you who left all the comments, I'm sorry you didn't leave me with a way to write back to you. Good luck growing a pair soon!

xoxo,
~Brea

Sleeping Outside

2008-10-10T08:38:00.003-05:00

It's all the rage. All the cool kids are doing it. Haven't you heard?

John set up a ginormous tent out front a few days ago, and my older kids have pretty much moved outside, coming in only to seek food, occasional drink, and PBS Kids for Curious George. We've been reading outside, taking naps outside, doing school outside, eating lunch outside, playing outside, and they've been sleeping outside at night. I won't let them eat near the tent, much to their chagrin, because we have very crafty raccoons (all names Billy), and now that the raccoons can't get eat my chicks' toes through the bottom of the coop anymore, I'm convinced they would try to get into the tent and eat my children. They're some big stinkin' raccoons!!

John's going to camp out with the kids tonight, and I might give into Sam's begging and let David sleep out there with them. Imagine, an entire house to myself!! Not that I'll be able to throw a keg party or anything, seeing how they'll all be 30 feet from my front door, but still ...

I. Hate. Technology.

2008-10-07T10:40:00.003-05:00

Seriously. I hate it. I mean, yeah, it really makes my life easy and fun at times (she writes on her computer as she sits in her air conditioned house, drink coffee made in an electric coffee maker and heated in the microwave, eating cake baked in a toaster oven!). Ok, I'm not really talking about that kind of technology. Electricity? Bring it on! DVD's? Love 'em! Remote controlled cars? Yes, please!

No, I'm talking about my/our dependence on communication devices! I mean, if we didn't have caller ID, would the world end? (I don't have caller ID on my land line, and pretty much everyone I know thinks I live in the stone age.) If we go to work, or to the store, and we forget the cell phone, will the sky start falling? What if the email goes out for a few hours? Would your head explode?

I hate that feeling--like I'm tied to my technology. John often refers to his cell as his e-leash.

We have really spotty cable out here. We're literally at the end of the cable line. The people that live across the street from us can't get cable access, unless they'd be willing to run a 100-ft cable to their house. My internet only works about 2/3 of the time. Do I pay 2/3 of my internet bill? No, I don't. I don't like my cable company, but I don't have an alternative. They're rude when I call, and unhelpful, and try to convince me that the call center is in the United States, when I've never been able to understand a single person I've talked to without asking them to repeat what they said 3 times. But I digress.

I've become able to function without internet for a few days at a time. It used to drive me completely insane, but I've learned to live with it. I am a reasonable, thinking human being. I can cope with whatever life throws my way!

That being said ...

My cell phone died.

I can't go up to the AT&T store until Thursday at the earliest.

It's killing me.

I have no cell phone.

My life, as I know it to be, is over.

Here's a list of people I can't call:
Sarah
Margaret
my mom
Lyndsey
Florence
my dad
Wesley (my brother)
John's cell phone
my MIL
all my grandparents except the one who lives in Austin
and about a bazillion other people I know who don't have 512 area codes

I had no desire to call most of those people yesterday morning. But then my phone died. And now that I know that I can't call them, I really, really, really, really, really want to.

I'm just saying.

I hate technology. But only because I love it so much.

5, 5, 5, 5, 5 ...

2008-10-05T08:17:00.003-05:00

I like Ryan over at This Is REVERB . He's less than a year older than me. He has absolutely no idea who I am; I lurk at his site. He's a pastor with lots of tattoos. I have a secret thing for tattoos, but please don't tell my husband. He's got a precious daughter whose cheeks I want to kiss, and I totally want to be friends with his wife. He lives in ~~a ridiculous other country that's not Texas~~ Cincinnati, but I don't hold it against him too much. Ryan did a post on 5's, and since I've got ~~so many things to say I can't pick just one or two or seven~~ nothing to report, I thought I'd steal his lovely idea. Minus the pictures.

My 5 Favorite Verses (in random order)
1. Galatians 6:9 Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
2. Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.
3. Psalm 30:5b Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
4. Proverbs 18:24 A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
5. Matthew 5:3-16 the Beatitudes, and then some

My 5 Favorite IRL, Non-Family Friends
1. Sarah
2. Lyndsey
3. Margaret
4. Kristie
5. my book club gals

My 5 Favorite Blogs
1. Farm Fresh
2. Go Fug Yourself
3. Confessions of a Pioneer Woman
4. Amy's Humble Musings
5. This Is REVERB

My 5 Favorite Places
1. My front porch in the morning, watching the sunrise peek over the trees.
2. The spot on my husband's chest where my head rests when I hug him or when I lay down.
3. The Brazos River where my grandparents live, where we used to set trot lines and fish crawl through barbed wire and swim and ruin all our clothes in the red clay.
4. The nursery in our church, where I get to watch babies during Sunday School and chat with Pace and talk politics and borrow books from Evan.
5. Starbucks. (Stop judging me. I freakin' love Starbucks, people. I hardly ever go there, because I can't justify the cost, but I kind of want to move in and drink Pumpkin Spice Lattes all day long.)

My 5 Favorite Things To Cook
1. Pumpkin Bread
2. Swiss Chard Over Pasta
3. Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins
4. Bread
5. Anything with lots and lots and lots of bell peppers.

(I really, really miss my oven. I've having baking withdrawals. I've waited months and months fro fresh pumpkin, so I can make pumpkin muffins, and they're finally in season, and I can't make pumpkin muffins now!!!!!!)

So there's my 5 by 5. What are your favorite things?

The Rules

2008-10-02T12:11:00.001-05:00

Check out this link. It lists one family's half-joking rules for marriage. Totally safe read, even with little ones peeking over your shoulder. :)

The Rules

my Lone Star boy

2008-09-29T18:09:00.003-05:00

Well, we're back. We've been back for a week. And I haven't updated. Sorry!

The trip to Corpus went as well as can be expected. I didn't have to go to the beach (YAY!!), and the aquarium and the USS Lexington (an aircraft carrier that's been turned into a kind of museum) were awesome. So. That's all I have to report from the trip.

And this week. has. been. insane!! My oven went out a few days ago, and it's probably going to cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $5000 to replace it. $300 for the actual oven, and $4700 for the rest of the kitchen that'll be remodeled. I'm very, very nervous, and incredibly excited at the same time. I've not been crazy about my kitchen since we've moved in, and we've been planning on remodeling before we move (probably in 3-4 years), but this is just a little sooner than expected!

The weather here has been absolutely wonderful. We could really use some rain (I think we're something like 20 inches under the average amount), but we've practically been living outside. I don't think we've been higher than 92 in the last two weeks, and the nights have been getting in the low 60's/high 50's. You can all laugh at me, but it's like winter here! :) Not really, but it's been awfully nice.

And last week, Sam got out of bed and went outside to bring the newspaper in for John. He went out wearing a t-shirts and no pants. Underwear but no pants. (Look, we live in the country. We can get away with this kind of thing, ok? Just be glad he was wearing any clothes at all.) It was 62 out. I know, because this comment prompted me to look and make note of the temp. He ran back inside, shivering and telling me he was freezing cold. Then he asked me the question. The one that proved something to me.

"Mom, do you think it's going to snow today? Because it feels like it's cold enough for snow."

It was at that exact moment that I knew.

We're from Texas. There's just no two ways about it.

and we're off!

2008-09-20T05:50:00.002-05:00

It's almost 6 on Saturday morning as I type this. I was up early this morning, at ten after five. ~~Luckily, I was wise and went to bed early last night~~ OK, I'm a moron, and didn't get to bed until almost one. Helloooooooo, coffee!!!

I'll be leaving in about two hours to take the chicks (and various 'thank you' goodies) over th Kristie's house. God bless that family; what wonderful friends they are to have!! I'll head back home after that, to load up the van and collect my family. Luckily, we'll only be gone for two nights, and David doesn't require near as much stuff as he used to when it comes to traveling, so there's not too much to load.

We'll head over to Enterprise to pick up the car we're renting for the trip, because even though we took the van in on Tuesday and thought the a/c was fixed ... it's not. So they'll work on it over the weekend (I can think of more pleasant things to do that drive over 12 hours round trip with no a/c in September in Texas!), and hopefully we can pick it back up on Monday afternoon or Tuesday. After we get all our stuff from the van to the rental, we'll be off for the drive down to Corpus Cristie, which should take us about 5 hours, with a few stops factored in.

As much as I enjoy whining, I really am looking forward to this trip. I've been given a pass from getting in the ocean (Brea + the Gulf of Mexico = NOOOO!), and I don't have to go fishing (if I'm going to fish, I want to do it from a river bank, under a tree, with a bell on my line and a good book beside me), and we're planning on going and seeing the aquarium they have down there, and either the aircraft carrier I've been to when I was a wee little tyke, or the battleship. I wish we had time to do both, but we don't. Oh, well.

Please pray that we have a safe trip, that this would be a time of fellowship for our family (I'll explain more on that when we're back), and that our van won't be too durned expensive to fix!

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. Remember to hug your children more than normal, kiss your husband slightly longer than you'd normally deem appropriate, and call up your friends or family and tell them you love them!! God bless!!

it never rains, but pours

2008-09-17T18:09:00.003-05:00

Well, that's not true. It doesn't actually rain here at all. But the weather has been dreamy for this time of year! I haven't had to run my a/c in 3 days. Yeah, buddy!

But anyway. It's been insane as usual around here. Last Friday, we went to the ER (at 6:15 in the morning, may I add!) to get David's stitches taken out of his head wound. He did beautifully; not a single whimper, flinch, or sniffle, and he didn't even try and move the doc's hand.

Yay, David!!

$500 later, we got home. (Why is it so expensive??) Everyone was excited to see how his head was doing, and how he was healing. About 2 hours later, we were all outside, and no one was more happy about that than David. He hadn't been able to be outside all week, and he was delighted to be out there. Until he fell, hit his forehead on the wheelbarrow, and busted about half of his head wound back open.

Bad, bad David.

Blood everywhere, older kids freaking out, John kind of freaking out (if you'll remember, he wasn't here the first time), much running for the first aid kit, and a debate over whether or not to take him back in and get him re-stitched. We decided no to go back to the ER, and rely on butterfly band which has worked pretty well. But still, I spent most of the three days after that keeping him within arm's reach, to 1) keep him from injuring himself again, and 2) keep him from taking the bandages off his head.

Hurricane over the weekend, which meant lots of attempted (and several failed) phone calls. Everyone we know is ok. My mother-in-law, up in The Woodlands, still doesn't have power, and probably won't for at least another week.

Church on Sunday, and John worked Saturday night. We only have one car, and John doesn't go to Sunday School when he works Saturday nights, so here was our routine Sunday: I woke up at 5:15, like always. I had my coffee and quiet time, got all the church clothes ready, got the kids up and made breakfast for everyone as quietly as possible. Brush hair and teeth, dress, and try to be out the door by 9:10, waking John just before we leave so he can start getting ready. Then I have to leave Sunday School early (I work in the nursery with Pace, and we only have 3 babies, one of which is mine) with David and go back and get John. We try to make it back before the service begins, but we usually miss the first song (it's a 40 minute round trip, church to home and back), so Sam and Evie always sit with another family until we get there. This week, John had to be at work around noon, so we bolted out the door as soon as the announcements were over and took him straight to work. The kids and I headed home for lunch, had a lovely afternoon and evening, and went back to pick John up around 10. It was close to 11 before we were home and the kids in bed. Whew!!

Then came Monday. Monday was bad, because my sweet, wonderful, precious dog, Maggie, got run over by the school bus and died. It was an awful afternoon. After being screamed at by my neighbor (no, he wasn't the one who hit the dog; he was just that pissed off at me, I guess), and having Maggie's collar thrown at me, I came inside, told the kids, put on a movie, and promptly threw up. (Not because of how she looked. She looked perfect, like she was asleep. I was that freaked out by everything.) I called my dear friend Becky, who decided that I shouldn't be at the house with the kids by myself with a psychotic neighbor next door, so her family came over to watch the Cowboys game. Did I mention that her husband is a former Marine, current Navy reservist, and a police officer? And that John was at work and not due home for at least a few hours? I was more than ok with them coming over.

Tuesday we got up, picked up a rental car, dropped the van off at the shop to have the a/c fixed, came home, buried Maggie, I ran some errands and had girl time with Evie (and got the first chunk of my Christmas shopping done), we went and picked the van back up, came home, had supper, and I passed out on the couch around 9:30, watching The Best of the Johnny Cash Show, which was amazing, before I fell asleep.

And today, I've cleaned out the chicken coop and made lost of repairs to the year, started clearing my gardens so I can till them tomorrow, and folded lots and lots of laundry.

Tomorrow, we start a new Bible Study at Kristie's house. It's a Beth Moore study. I've never done one before, but they're supposed to be awesome. I'm excited. And tomorrow I start getting ready for our short trip to Corpus Christie, which I'm emphatically not excited about. John's dad has a timeshare or something down there, and we're going Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I don't like leaving my house, I don't like sharing a room with all three of my noisy-sleeping kids, and i. hate. the. beach. Sand gets in my hair, and in my clothes, and in my car, and in places that sand has no right being. I'm just saying. And I really hate going places on weekends, because then there's other people out, too, and I just don't like other people. Except you, of course. :)

I know, I know. I'm just whining and trying to gain sympathy at this point. (Is it working? Do you feel ever so sorry for me yet???) Anyway ...

I'm awfully tired. If someone could come body-snatch me for a day or two, and I could just nap, that'd be great ...

Would you vote for him after reading this?

2008-09-14T14:42:00.004-05:00

Wow. I'm not one to post a ton of political stuff on my site, but I came across this article from July 19, 2006 on WorldNetDaily.com this morning. It truly scares me.

Why Jesus Would Not Vote For Barack Obama

What the hell is wrong with some people? Seriously!

hurricanes and other ramblings

2008-09-13T10:09:00.002-05:00

As you know (or maybe you don't, in which case this is new to you), I'm from the Houston area. Katy, just went of Houston on I-10, to be exact. And as you also know (and if you don't know this, you probably live in a big hole in the ground, with a rock for a door, in which case you probably don't have interweb access and aren't reading this anyway), a hurricane just hit Galveston and Houston. Hurricane Ike. He wasn't too strong, as hurricanes go, but he was a big ole' boy.

I've been in touch with all the vital friends and family in the area this morning, and while no one seems to have power (thank you, Lord, for cell phones that work without power!), everyone is doing ok. The storm has essentially passed my Katy/West Houston friends and family, and the rest of my peeps are north of Houston, mostly in The Woodlands, and they're doing ok, too.

This is/was a really bad storm. I think it's going to be a lot worse than people previously thought. Please pray for everyone in the path of this thing; they really need it. I heard on the news that 3 million customers are without power, which means over 4.5 million people without power, and it's goin got be weeks before the power is restored everywhere.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

2008-09-09T06:44:00.003-05:00

Jessica at Farm Fresh just did this post, and I loved it! So I'm going to be a sheeple and do one, too. :)

For Today ...

Outside my window ... The sky is just turning gray, and it's incredibly still and humid. It's only supposed to be in the upper 90's today, which is such a lovely break from the multiple 100+ days we had most of last month!

I am thinking ... that I need to get my butt of the computer and get in the shower, and wondering why I decided to sleep in and not get up until 5:50 this morning.

From the learning room ... I have no idea. I think we're going to do a lot of baking this afternoon, so we'll get quite a bit of unintentional learning done. :)

I am thankful for ... so many things. My darling husband. My sweet children. My amazing friends. A Savior who loves me no matter how many times I screw up. XanGo, for really helping with John's allergies.

From the kitchen ... Oatmeal for breakfast, yummy chicken salad for lunch, maybe stuffed squash for supper, and lots of baking when I get home this afternoon.

I am wearing ... a towel. I really need to get off the computer and into the shower!

I am reading ... two different books by Elisabeth Elliott. God's Guidance: A Slow and Certain Light, and The Shaping of a Christian Family. Both awesome. You need to get them, today.

I am hoping ... that all the kids wake up with great attitudes, and behave for John today while I'm gone. And that they all have fun together. And that the dentist isn't going to charge me for the cap that popped off.

I am creating ... a very fun and noisy family. And a large new flock of chickens, who will hopefully be nicer than our last ones, and not eat their own eggs. (We got 20 new chicks a few weeks ago, and had 7 out of 11 of the last ones processed.)

I am hearing ... Maggie's tags on her collar jingle as she follows David around, and David playing with a truck and a gun ... both toys, of course!

Around the house ... I'm loving my clean floors downstairs, I need to vacuum upstairs, and I can smell my new candle all the way up here in the loft ... and it isn't even lit right now!!

One of my favorite things ... is my quiet time in the mornings. You might think I'm crazy to get up so early when I don't have to, but nothing beats drinking a hot cup of coffee and reading my Bible on the front porch before the sun has come up. It's lovely, and quiet, and not hot, and almost magical. Seriously.

A few plans for the week ... Dentist and lunch with a friend from book club today. Watching the hurricane to see if we can make it in to the Astros game Friday night (probably not). Preparing for visitors if the hurricane is still headed straight to Houston (probably, but hopefully not!). Kissing my kids and husband many, many times. Taking David at 6 am Friday to have his stitches out. Tying to keep David from pulling out said stitches before the correct time, or smearing dirt in them. Conference calls and work stuff. Homeschooling. Trying to convince my best friend Sarah that she really, really, really needs to come visit me before she moves in the next month or two. Taking care of the chicks and chickens. Playing ball with Maggie. Y'know, all the normal, everyday stuff that makes my life so dang awesome!!

The Simple Woman's Daybook is held over at The Simple Woman every Monday. Go check it out!

one fall, five hours, and seven stitches

2008-09-08T08:29:00.002-05:00

Mom, please don't read this. I can't be held responsible for you reading this, seeing the b-l-o-o-d word, fainting at work, hitting your head, having a concussion, and being rushed to the hospital. So just check back in a few days, please, Mother Dearest.

Ok. So. I'm putting some towels away in my bathroom yesterday when I head a fall. One of those falls that you hear, and it makes your heart stop beating for a few seconds and makes you run faster than Jesse Owens. So my heart stopped beating for a few seconds and I ran faster than Jesse Owens to the living room, where David had decided to swan dive into the corner of the fireplace. It only took me a few seconds to get to him, and he looked like an extra from a low-budget horror flick. I'm not kidding. Blood everywhere. By the time I picked him up and got to the kitchen to wipe him off, his face, his shirt, and part of my shirt were covered in blood. I thought maybe he had knocked a tooth out, too, because of all the blood that made it into his mouth, but it was only the spot on his forehead.

I saw he was going to need a stitch or ten, so once the bleeding really stopped, I taped a piece of gauze to his head, got a bag ready (full of books, snacks, and drinks- hey, man, I've got three young kids. I go places prepared!), got everyone changed and found shoes, and went up to the hospital. We made it there about an hour after it happened, which is pretty good, considering all the shoe-finding, and that we live about 20 minutes away. David was totally calm at this point, and jabbering on about whatever it was he was jabbering about.

I got the older kids settled in the lobby, checked in, and saw the triage nurse. There was only one doc in the ER, and there were several people to be seen before us, so I called my dear friend Kristie, who lives five minutes from the hospital, and her husband came and got the older two kids about ten minutes later. Yay!! My kids are absolutely wonderful, but I had no objections whatsoever about not having them there with us.

Have I mentioned that John was at work? Fortunately, he opened yesterday, and was able to get someone to bring him up to the ER as soon as the night manager came in. John got there around 4:30, just as we were going back to be seen by the doc. The doc looked at David's head wound, put a gauze soaked with topical lidocaine over the gash, and told us to wait. David continued to have a wonderful attitude, flirting with the female nurses, the male nurse, the doctor, the admissions girl, and the little old lady who (I think) had a broken wrist.

After the lidocaine worked it's numbing magic, the doc gave him the shots, waited a few minutes longer, and stitched him up. I got to watch the whole thing, and it was awesome. Seriously, I'm not being sarcastic. I'm a freak, and while I can't handle anything resembling a zombie movie, I love to know how the body works, and watch all those gross things doctors do. (My mother would have been on the floor, passed out. I'm not kidding. When I called to tell her where we were, I never got passed 'David cut his head' before she was shrieking and telling me to stop talking. It was a very interesting conversation.)

So we were at the ER for almost five hours total, and my little baby (yes, I know he'll be two in less than a month. No, I will not stop calling him my little baby. You can't make me. So there.) has seven stitches in his forehead. I got home, put the kids to bed, and poured myself a nice, cold, much-deserved beer. I drank most of it, watched some old-school Star Trek with John, and fell asleep on the couch before ten.

We go in on Friday to get the stitches taken out. Did I mention what a little trooper he was? He was amazing!!!!!!!!!! And I don't think he even noticed that he had stitches until he saw himself in the mirror this morning. :)

Conversations with Sarah

2008-09-03T08:43:00.003-05:00

(phone rings)

Brea: Sarah!!!!! I'm so glad you made it home from Ohio safely. Tell me again why you're being crazy and moving away from Texas?
Sarah: Because I want to be near my sister and her boys, and help her out because her life is difficult.
B: Oh. Ok. Well, if you're going to be all not selfish, I guess I can't rag on you too much.
S: So how are you?

(rambles fly back and forth about the weekends we had, family issues on both sides, drama or lack thereof, blah, blah, blah)

S: Did I interrupt you from anything? Sorry to be calling so late.
B: No, John and I were watching I Am Legend.

(let me interject something here. Legend is about the sole survivor in New York City after a virus kills everyone, and the dead people turn into zombies. I don't do zombie movies, ever since watching the new Dawn of the Dead, and when I see zombie movies, I don't sleep for at least two weeks. I'm not kidding; zombies completely freak be out!!!!!!!!!)

S: Oh, I'm sorry! I'll let you get back to that.
B: No, it's really ok. We were only like 10 minutes into the movie, and when the phone rang, I shouted, 'O, thank you Jesus,' then glared accusingly at John and said on my way to answer the phone, 'I can't believe you were going to let me watch that!!'
S: Is that the one with Will Smith?
B: Yeah.
S: I remember that. Everyone dies in the end! Even Will Smith!!
B: Yeah, I figured as much. John saw the original and liked it, so he wanted to watch this one, too. I think I might like the old one, but this one is already getting to me.

(we go on to talk about the movie as Sarah remembers it, plot lines, other zombie movies, my issues with zombies, etc.)

B: The thing is, I hate zombie movies. I mean, I really, really hate them. I love scary movies, but I just can't watch zombie movies anymore since Dawn of the Dead. Zombies freak me out.
S: You have to keep reminding yourself that they aren't real.

(at this point, I think, 'Wait, did she just say that to me? Did she seriously just tell me to remember that zombies aren't real?')

B: Wait, did you seriously just tell me to remember that zombies aren't real? Sarah, I know that zombies aren't real!!!!!
S: Oh. Yeah. Sorry about that.

Prayer Request

2008-08-22T06:11:00.003-05:00

I would love your prayers right now, wonderful interweb friends. A good friend of mine, my best friend in the whole wide world since sixth grade ~~when we played the oboe together in band~~ what? I wasn't in band. Ok, ok, yes I was. I am a true, double-reed playing nerd at heart. Don't tell anyone.

I digress. My bestest friend ever was diagnosed with cervical cancer this week. It's really early, and I think the outlook is good, but still. When you hear 'you have' and 'cancer' in the same sentence, it's not exactly a perk-up-my-week kind of moment, you know? Please pray for her. She's been one of the most positive influences in my life, and she's a little down right now. Ha. As you can imagine. Pray that she would have peace and calmness, and wisdom for some decisions that she and her husband are in the process of making, and that she would just feel God's loving arms wrapped around her, which I know they are.

I'm off to visit her this afternoon, so I'll be back and try to have a fun post up tomorrow. I keep forgetting that I still haven't introduced y'all to Maggie, my new, sweet, slightly scared (of other people, not me) pound puppy.

An Open Letter

2008-08-19T08:21:00.002-05:00

Dear Food:

I don't understand why we have to be like this right now. We've always been on the best of terms! I love you more than I love myself. When someone asks me if I'm hungry, I always reply with a smirk, 'Oh, we must not have met before.' I am always hungry. My husband constantly tells me, 'Baby, you've never met a carb that you didn't like.' And it's true. ~~Except maybe for~~ um well, ~~there's that one thing~~ uh, ~~oh, how about that dish~~ nope, uhh, I love carbs. Oh! Rye bread. Sorry, I don't like rye bread. Whew, glad I got that off my chest. Rye bread, I'm sorry to break it to you like this.

But I digress. Food, we've always had a lovely relationship. I mean, there was that one time in high school, when I flirted with maybe being anorexic or bulimic, because I knew a lot of (in retrospect, really messed up) girls who were doing it. Then I realized that I'd just be hungry, and I was already tiny to begin with, and I didn't want icky teeth and stringy hair, but mostly I didn't want to have to break up with you. Because I love you.

Even my husband has come to terms with the other love in my life. (Sometimes, I tell him that he's my other love, but he knows that I'm probably kidding, unless I'm making coffee cake or pancakes or homemade bread, in which case, like I said, he's come to terms with that.) And don't get me started on butter. The three secrets to French cooking? Butter, butter, and a little more butter. And I don't even eat French food, although I can make a mean crepe.

I have a love affair with fresh vegetables, as you can see evidence of in this recipe. And this one. Don't even get me started on bell peppers, or we'll be here all day. I have gardens that I sometimes view as shrines to you, food. Herbs. Tomatoes. Pumpkins. Oh, pumpkins. This recipe changed my life for the better, and I've never looked back, even though you actually have to peel and grate a pumpkin.

I have a thing for peaches. Especially fresh ones from Fredericksburg. I love books about food. I sit down and read The Joy of Cooking, even though a bunch of the recipes are crap, like it's a novel. Last week, I made 12 coffee cakes. I'm not kidding. I mean, I gave several of them away (just ask Sarah), and some are in my freezer, but did I mention that I made 12 coffee cakes???

And now, I can't have you, dearest Food. I have picked up a light version of John's despicable stomach bug. Eating half a banana, the thing I find most tolerable at the moment, sends me to bed with queasiness for three hours. Those five bites of lasagna I had yesterday evening? I'm still regretting that, and it's 8:30 the next morning.

What have I done to you? Please, just tell me, and I'll apologize and make it up to you. I promise I'll never say whatever it was I said ever again!! Since Friday night, here's what I've eaten (and please bear in mind that it's now Tuesday!): 4 small slices of an amazing pizza from Two Rows; four Rolos; a hot dog; two bananas; five large, ill-advised bites of lasagna.

That's it! This is killing me!! Why can't we all just get along? I'm ready to kiss and make up, Food. I yearn for chicken pot pie, I long for a fresh fruit and yogurt smoothie, I pine for a big steaming bowl of brown rice, I weep for spice cake, my heart breaks for purple hulled peas, and I mourn the fact that I can't eat the pancakes I'm about to make for the rest of my family.

Why, God, why??? How do I fix this? I'm just hungry, and I want to eat without cursing the Food I love 10 minutes later. I'm very happy with my size, I feel no need to change it, and already my stellar boot cut jeans that may have been a tad on the ... uh ... fitted side aren't so fitted anymore. If this continues, I'll have to buy a belt!!!!

So, in closing, my darling Food, please get back to me soon. I miss you like a caged bird misses flight, like a sightless man misses colors, like a broken pen misses the poetry it once wrote. Please, please, let's make up and be friends once more.

Yours always and forever,
and with more love than you can imagine,

~Brea Stewart

Weekends

2008-08-15T09:43:00.002-05:00

Holy shark repellent, Batman!! Life is crazy, but great! We've been really busy with the new dog, starting school again, baking, and keeping up with the everyday housework. I keep waiting for things to slow down, but truth be told, I'm happy being busy. It keeps my mind off other things, and makes me feel great being accomplished. Or something like that. :)

Sorry I haven't posted more. Other than work stuff and email, I haven't been on the interweb very much in the last month. I've been lurking around my friends' blogs, but haven't done much blogging myself, obviously.

And now, we're off to Houston!! The kids and I are going to drop John off at a friend's house (we only have one vehicle, and he's going to borrow a car so he can do wild and crazy things like go to work ...) and head to my mom's, stopping on the way to visit my youngest brother at work. I'm going to the Astros game this evening with my two best girlfriends from high school, Sarah and Margret. It'll be our last time to go out together for quite a while, because Sarah is ~~a fool~~ moving to Ohio. Who leaves Texas to go to Ohio? Seriously!! But I really an going to miss her like you don't even know.

Then I've got an awesome XanGo event on Saturday ... So I'll be able to write my whole weekend (except for the drinks after the game, of course!) as a tax deduction!! Woohoo!! My brother and some friends are going to crash here on Saturday night, because they're going tubing in New Braunfels and driving here after. They were really hoping to camp, but since basically all of Texas is under a burn ban, they can't have a fire, and what's the point of camping if you can't have a campfire??

So. What do you have planned over the next few days? I want to hear about it, even if it's not the most exciting weekend you've ever had. :) I hope everyone has an absolutely wonderful weekend!!!!

millions of peaches, peaches for me

2008-08-07T12:31:00.003-05:00

I love my husband.

But I love him even more when he isn't sick.

Seriously! It's like having an extra 3 kids!!

But he's doing much better. He walked in the door yesterday evening with a big grin on his face. Immediately suspicious (believe me, I didn't marry a big-ole'-grin kind of guy), I asked him what was going on. He said, 'Oh, nothing. It's jut nice to feel human again.' He did not have a good few days!!

And last weekend, I bought over half a bushel of peaches from the guy at the Farmers' Market ... for only $10!!! That's right, a ginormous cardboard box of fresh Fredericksburg peaches, for just $10. I rule. :) But this is why it pays to know the people who grow your food. I had mentioned to Peachy John (not to be confused with Husband John) a few weeks ago that I love canning food, and having good quality stuff to eat when the fresh food goes out of season. So when I went up there on Friday, he said, 'Hey, I might have something for you! Are you still putting up food?' I told him that I was, and he said, 'Well, I brought a whole box of slightly bruised fruit, and I can't sell it, but I thought you might like it. I'll give it to you for $10.'

I died. Then I came back, shrieking, 'I'll take it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' And when I got home and started looking through the box, I knew Peachy John had been more than fair. Much of the fruit was really great, maybe a slight bruise or imperfection. A few of them ... not so much. I had to throw several to the chickens. They were ok with that. But since peaches turn so quickly, I had to work my butt off this weekend to get everything done. I made about 8 smaller peach cobblers, canned 5 pints of sliced peaches, made 5 pints of peach butter, and made a peach pie. This is after we all (except Sick Husband John) gorged ourselves on fresh peaches out of the box.

I know, I know. It's a hard life, but somebody's gotta do it!!

This goes to reaffirm how good God has been to my family. This might now have been such a big deal to another family, because 99% of the people I know don't can food. They would have turned down this offer. (Then again, I can't sew to save my life, so while being offered a few bolts of pretty cloth might be wonderful to someone else, it wouldn't help moi.) But God always provides; it's just not always in when ways I was expecting or hoping. But the unlooked for blessing can be the best ones, in my opinion!!

And in other news, we've had three recent additions to our family in the last month, so I'll post some pictures tomorrow. It's just hard to get a good snapshot, when they're constantly chasing each other, or running after sticks you throw, or getting distracted by butterflies.

On that note, I have got to gets me a nap!! I haven't been sleeping well lately, and it's not helping my over all, general sweet and pleasant disposition.

What Day Is It?

2008-07-29T22:44:00.002-05:00

I'm not kidding. I had to sit here for a minute or two, telling myself that I would not stoop to scrolling over the clock in the bottom corner, to see what day it is. Seriously! We have been so busy the past few weeks, I haven't hardly had time to take a deep breath, let alone figure out where I am or when I am.

(Don't you love my grammar there? That's right, I is gonna homeschool my young'ens!)

Let's go back about three weeks.

Week one: I was starting the process of getting ready for our trip to the Frio River. I did lots of shopping and cooking ahead and list making. I was even using the lists to do the shopping and cooking ahead! I had my first prenatal with my midwife, got to hear the baby's heartbeat, and spent the day in Austin with my friend Becky, buying things together for the trip (her family went with us). Also trying to keep up normal life stuff, like cooking every night, keeping the house in order, teaching my children, taking care of the new kittens and new chickens, blah, blah, blah.

Weekend one: My world pretty much crashes down around my ears, starting Friday evening. I have a miscarriage. It takes over 48 hours to happen. I went through a freakin' mini-labor, people! Contractions and all! (That's the side no one ever really tells you about) I momentarily lose my mind, then come back to reality and am startled to see just how wonderful the people there are in my life; I have never, ever felt more love surrounding me at all times.

Week two: We leave for the river less than 24 hours after it happens. I have a surprisingly good time, and come home ready for a vacation from my vacation.

Weekend two: Get home, unpack, freak out about 38 times about my house because it's a wreck and I think I feel ok but honestly, I'm not physically up to doing that kind of thing yet and it's frustrating my to no end.

Week two: For the first few days, see above. But then I do start to feel better. Emotionally and physically. Which is good, because I had a booth at the Butterfly Festival this weekend that it took my a good, full three days to get ready for.

Weekend two: (this is the weekend we just came out of) bake. And bake. And go to the Farmers' Market, buy a bunch of peaches to make peach butter, fall in love with a rescue dog, convince John to let me get this dog even though he had yet to see it, and get a new dog. That was just on Friday. The festival was all day Saturday. And I had a great time. And made enough to cover my costs and pay for my surprisingly expensive dog. John's mom was here, so we decided to go see Batman. After I was out in the Texas heat all day. All. Day. Long. I'm just saying. There's a story behind seeing the movie. I'll save it for another day. You'll appreciate it, I promise. The short part is that we didn't get home until after 1 am. Then we had Sunday School and church the next morning. I was about to fall asleep, despite a very, very good sermon.

Week three: (which so far has been yesterday and today) I have cleaned my house top to bottom. And played a lot with the new dog. More about her to come soon. Her name is Maggie. And played with the kids. And cooked many meals, because John has been off both days, and it's been Project Central around here. And I got my book club book yesterday and read the whole thing already because I don't have time to read tomorrow because I've got XanGo calls and phone meetings most of the day, and book club is tomorrow night.

So if you're in the Bastrop area in the next few days, and you see a barefoot, un-showered, half dressed, sleep deprived woman wandering the streets with a really cute dog and some cute kids in tow, muttering to herself, that's me. Just write a note on my head saying that I like non-fat vanilla lattes (no foam, please!), and point me to the Starbucks. I'm sure a little caffeine will perk me right up!

And then please drop my children and the dog at my mom's house, and take me back to the river with a 6-pack of beer. You can just leave me at the gate to Garner State Park. It's ok, I have a pass! But please don't tell them here you've taken me until I have time to take a nap by the river, under a nice big tree, mmk? Thanks!

The More Things Change ...

2008-07-24T08:25:00.002-05:00

.. the louder my kids get!! Haha, just kidding.

Well, I'm not really kidding. My kids are just really loud. But that's the way I love it. I would be so sad to have quiet, still, boring children. As I told a friend last week, 'You can ask a rambunctious or mischievous child to be quiet for a few minutes, but you can't ask a boring child to be interesting for a little while.' :) It's totally true.

So. Anyway. I was making Purple Hulled Peas and Potatoes, with Mashed Butternut Squash, for supper last night. I love both of these dishes, and they're very Southern fare, so I decided to take pictures and do a lovely recipe-with-picture post, Ree Style. It was all going great, until I started cutting and cooking things, and then life happened. So, I'll post the recipe later today or tomorrow (and you'll thank me when you make it all), but instead, I decided to give you a little peak into the supper-making process around here. People who have no children yet, enjoy the fast cooking while you can!! :)

Let me set this up. Italics will be my running internal monologue, the bold type will be the things I did, and regular type, things I said. I'll toss a few times in there, just for kicks, but I'm not exactly watching a clock in the midst of all the ~~chaos~~ uh ~~insanity~~ um standard operating procedure.

noon: Man, I really feel like peas and squash. Let me make sure I have everything, so I can make that for supper this evening. Oh, I do. Sweet.

5:00 Hmm, John should be home by 6:30, and the squash takes a while to cook. I should start thinking about prep work. 'No, you can't watch Monsters, Inc. You already watched it today.'

5:44 I should get that squash started. Don't want to forget to turn on the oven like last week. I'm totally the smart one, I know. Start singing I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt. I can't believe I'm singing this. What is wrong with me? I'm embarrassed, and John isn't even here to make fun of me! Oh, well. I am too sexy for my shirt, it's true. I need to wash this shirt, come to think of it. I hope that spot from earlier comes out. Get squash ready and in oven. Where are my children? Eh, they'll turn up eventually. David's in here, so the other two must be outside.

Take last onion out of pantry. Make sure to get more next time I'm at HEB. Throw away 3 rotten heads of garlic. I hope this last one is still good. Well, I'm ok there. 'No, David. The last time I gave you a piece of onion to eat you cried and wouldn't speak to me for almost an hour.' Is it strange that my not-yet-2-year-old knows how to give me the silent treatment? Oh, well. Cut garlic and onion, trying to take pictures of the process, without getting garlic and onion all over my camera. How in the heck does Ree do this? I need a tripod. And a better kitchen.

I hate digging through my fridge. Why is there so much crap in here? Yeah, like I can blame someone else for that. Oh, there's the bacon. I'd better sharpen my knife. 'What do you mean, Evie's bleeding? How much? Where? What did you do to her? No, don't give me that. You need to be respectful, and tell me the truth. Ok, I'm sure it was an accident that you hit her in the butt with a baseball. No more baseball this evening. Is she actually bleeding? Ok, good. Take your brother outside with you. Say yes, ma'am. Try again. Once more, and with the right tone of voice. Great! Thanks, hon. Yes, I'll tell you when I chop the peppers, but you can't have much, because these are smaller than normal.'

Cut bacon. Pull out bell peppers. Orange, yellow, white, and purple. I love bell peppers. I hope they stay in season a little longer this year. Why will peppers not grow out here? Everyone else in the entire freakin world can grow peppers. I have a green thumb!! Why can't I grow peppers? Seriously!! 'Evie, stop yelling at me! What are you panicking about? Which one? David? Yes, I'm coming. Did you help him out of the fire ants? Why not? Well, that was nice of Sam. Oh, sweetie, I'm so glad you helped him get the ants out of his toes. You're such a great sister. He seems ok now. You keep playing out here for a while. Yes, I'll tell you also when the peppers are cut. But they're small, so you can only have a few pieces this time. Yes, I know how much you loooove peppers. It seems to be genetic.'

Start cooking onions, garlic, and bacon. Why do people cook their peppers? They taste so much better then they're crunchy. I'll give David his own little bowl of diced peppers, and the kids can just have a slice when they come back inside. I think maybe I think too much into peppers. I love purple hulled peas. I feel so ... I dunno, Southern when I cook them. I'm glad Erica had some left when I got there [to the Farmers' Market] on Saturday. OH! I wish they wouldn't slam the door.

'Hey kids. Yes, I was just cutting them. No, you can't have your own bowl. Stop arguing with me. You need to say Yes, Ma'am, before you can ask me why. Again, with the correct tone. Thank you! Because you only have one slice, and David has several small pieces. You don't need a bowl. Yes, I see that he got out the little pot. I know he's putting his peppers in there. It's ok. Yes, the pot is clean. I'm not going to let your little brother eat food from a dirty pot. We haven't lived in Bastrop for that long. Never mind what that means.

'Stop interrupting your sister. No, Evie, you can't tell me about how Sam was scaring you with a sword. I don't care if he told you he was going to cut off your leg. No, Evie, he's not actually going to cut off your leg. No, he isn't. Evie, no he isn't! Oh, stop arguing with me. You two made a mess up in the loft this morning. Please go start on that while I make supper. It doesn't matter what we're eating. That has no bearing on your cleaning the loft.' Give kids detailed and boring cleaning instructions.

Well. David is occupied with putting his peppers into three different pots before eating them. I can live with that. Where was I? I did garlic, onions, peppers, bacon. What am I making? Peas. Mmk. I'd better get the peas out of the fridge. CRAP. I forgot to shell them. Well, the kids are occupied, so I should be able to get them done pretty quickly. Oooh, that didn't sound good. 'SAM! WHAT WAS THAT NOISE? STOP SHOUTING AT ME AND GET YOUR BUTT DOWNSTAIRS! Thank you for coming down here. What was that noise? Seriously? Sam, you can't climb in the bookshelf and try to jump on Evie. I don't care if you're trying to be a spider. No, Sam, you're not actually a spider. Stop arguing with me. No, you can't take a drink upstairs. Here, just have a sip of mine. Don't get your cooties in it. Never mind. I'll explain cooties when you're older. Go politely apologize to your sister.'

Ok. Peas. Where's the baby? 'David!' He's in the laundry room. I hope he's not in the chicken scratch. 'David! Get out of the chicken feed! And the cat food! No, please don't take anything out of the trash. Thank you. Can you close the door for me? Thank you. Eat your peppers! Good job.' Where is my strainer? I need a bigger bowl to shell these peas into. I haven't shelled peas since I was a kid. This is going to take forever. We're not going to eat until next Monday! Why didn't I do this OH MY GAWD, SOMETHING IS ON MY TOE!!!! IT'S A SCORpion never mind, it's just a leaf. How did a leaf get on my toe? Oh, well. I'm glad John wasn't here to hear me shriek like that.

'HEY, Y'ALL COME DOWN HERE. Thank you. I need y'all to help me shell peas. Shell peas. Shell. Peas. These are peas. Yes, I'm making purple peas for supper. Yes, you have to eat it.' Pulls out clean bowl for peas and gets the kids in a circle. 'Sit down. I know, I like doing things on the floor, too. No, we're not putting the peas on the floor. In the bowl. That one right there. The white one. Right in front of you. Right there! Sam, are you messing with me? You goose. You're funny.'

Explain two times how to shell peas. 'David, stop biting the peas and spitting them back in the bowl. Evie, the dark ones are easier than the green ones. Sam, stop taking all the dark ones away from your sister. Thank you. Evie, don't say HAHA at your brother. David! Stop that! Evie, I know he's trying to sit on you. Just let him. See, doesn't he look happy? Thank you. Yes, I love David, too.'

THIS IS TAKING FOREVER!!! Nostalgia, my ass. I think I have a bag of frozen fresh shelled peas in the freezer. Sweet! I do! 'Ok, kids, thanks for your help. Sam, please take David to use the restroom before you go upstairs. Yes, you both did a wonderful job. Thank you!' Man, I forgot how long it takes to shell peas. What idiot buys peas in the pod, when you can buy them already shelled? At least if you grow them, you've got a reason to shell them. Peas are in. Hope they don't take too long to cook. It's already 6:45! Goodness! When did it get that late?

'Hey David. Did you go to the bathroom? Good job! Please come help me unload the dishwasher.' My kid isn't even two, and he knows how to unload the dishwasher. He even does it the right way! Man, I RULE. I'm the best parent EVER! Crap. 'David, stay back. NO! Don't touch the broken glass. I'll clean it up.' Clean up glass. Glad that was just a small bowl. What was I saying? About my parenting? Pride goes before the fall ... of a bowl? Ha, I'm funny. I wish John was here so I could tell him. He'd HATE that joke! Ha! 'Great job, David!' He really is such a precious kid. He'll be an awesome older brother some day. I wonder when we should start trying again? Ok, can't start on that right now. I've got too much else going on.

Basil! I forgot the basil! 'David, keep unloading the plates.' Run outside to cut some basil. EWW! Poo! Stupid chicken. I hate chicken poo. That'll teach me to go out back without my flip flops. Clean feet. And hands. And basil. Where's my knife? There is it. Basil is in, let's get that dishwasher finished.

Turn around from unloading dishwasher. EGADS!!!! It looks like a bomb went off in here! I gotta get this tidied up, at least a little bit! John should be home soon. 'David, go put this in the pantry. Please don't lick the top of the pepper.' What was that verse in Isaiah that Pace sent me? I need to find that and post it on the fridge this month. I'll put it alongside this one. I love this verse! Am I forgetting something? Older kids are occupied, David is still putting stuff away, peas are going, I'm almost done with the clean ... THE SQUASH! Crap! Frantically pull squash out of oven. Ok, that's a little ... uh ... done. Well, I didn't burn it, so it should just be that much easier to mash.

'Oh! You scared me! Are you done with the loft? What do you mean, you're done with your part? Is Evie done? Well, no one is finished until the loft is totally clean. Uh huh, her side too. Dude, you know how it works. The more help you give her, the faster you're done. Great attitude, Sam! Thank you!'

Where's the baby? I hear him talking with Sam up the stairs. Good. Squash. Man, that's easy to scoop! OUCH! And hot. I need to overcook this every time. It was much harder last time. Well, that's in the mixer, butter and sugar and salt, good to go. I'm glad I used foil, clean up will be so ... 'WHAT???' Run upstairs. 'He spilled water near the computer? Where? Oh, Evie, don't scare me like that. He's like 10 feet from the computer. Is this your water? Stop crying. Please stop crying. You're not in trouble. Is it your water? Well, you know you're not supposed to have drinks up here. Clean up what he spilled, then you can all come downstairs.'

'No, your foot isn't bleeding, Evie. It is not. It is not! I'm looking right at it! Ok, you can get a band aid for it. Go. Sam, stop telling her that you're going to cut off her limbs. Yes, and toes and fingers. Don't tell her you're going to cut off anything. Remember, you're supposed to be her protector! How can you protect her if she's scared of you? Yes, you can apologize to her. That would be a very kind thing for you to do.' Turn to David. 'I hope anyone who comes after you is a boy Y'all are so much easier!' Laugh when David shrieks 'Yeah!'

Back down to the kitchen. Bowls on the counter for the hot soup. 'Sam, please set small plates out for everyone. Evie, forks and spoons. David, come clean up your books. Now, David. Say yes, ma'am. Thank you!' Squash? Check. Soup? Needs some salt and pepper. Check. 'Everyone go wash hands. Sam, help David.' I gotta change my shirt. John should be here any second. I can't believe I timed it like this! I never have supper on the table when he gets home! Of course, it's 7:30, so that might have something to do with it, also. I gotta get more organized.

'Hi, honey! I'm glad you're home! Yeah, it does smell good. Thank you! I'm glad you noticed the clean kitchen. The kids helped me a lot this afternoon. I think I'll let them tell you about it ... Our day? No, nothing out of the ordinary.'

More Thoughts on Recent Events

2008-07-22T08:23:00.002-05:00

Before I begin, there's one thing I need to address. Jessica had her baby!!!! Yay!!!! It's a boy, born at home Sunday evening. And she ended up having an 'unattended' birth (just her mom and husband), because her labor was really fast and the midwife lives an hour and a half away. (And I thought Laurie was far away, because it takes her almost an hour to get here!) So go read her mom's guest post, and tell her congrats!

But anyway. Here's the deal. I have issues with the way society treats the idea of children. And marriage. And pregnancy. But I don't think this is news to anyone who comes around here regularly. Marriage is the most wonderful blessing a person can experience, outside knowing Christ in a personal relationship. Children are a blessing, amazing products of a holy union. I'm not saying that every single person should forgo all forms of birth control and have 26 children in 25 years, but every big family I know totally rocks!! And a pregnant woman is a lovely sight to behold, not some strange anomaly to be stared at in the grocery store, especially when she's 'already got all those other kids with her.'

And miscarriage isn't treated the way it should be treated, not necessarily by those around us, but by those of us who go through it. You don't just lose an idea, your body isn't getting rid of a few cells that didn't form correctly. When you miscarry, you lose a baby. We need to treat it like what it is!

Yes, it's different than losing a full-term baby, a child, a brother, sister, parent, or spouse. I'm not saying that it's the same thing. But it's not something that's meant to be ignored. Life doesn't return to normal as soon as you're able to stop using the pads. We need to be taught to grieve. We need to be told that it's ok to be sad, even two, three, five, or twenty months later. Everyone processes events, life, in different ways. Those of you who haven't been pregnant won't fully understand this, because you can't, until you come to the realization that you've been given the gift of a growing life inside you.

We all wonder what the baby will look like. Will this one have my nose, like the others do? Sam's hair is the color of mine when I was that age, but John's texture. Evie is the opposite, with her dad's color, and my texture. David? We're not quite sure about that yet. What would this baby's hair have been like? Would I finally have had a baby born with a bunch of hair? (Probably not, but I can hope!) Are any of my babies to come going to have my eye color? I really want a dark brown eyed baby!!

When you already have kids, it adds a whole different level to those questions. Sam and David have a very sweet, special, and obvious bond. I don't know if it's because they're brothers, because they share a room, or because of the age difference. Probably a little of all three, and then some. What about this baby? Who would help him take his first steps? Would it be John or me, or one of the older kids? David took his sweet time to walk, because he was an excellent crawler, and didn't have a problem keeping up with Sam and Evie indoors. He took off walking like a shot once the weather warmed up, and he had to keep up outside, though! Would this one do that? What would be his first word? What game would he like to play with his older siblings? Evie loved to be tossed around and hang upside down, even at a really young age that worried both of our moms. David loves it, too. Sam hated it, and still does. Would this baby be as insanely ticklish as the other three?

There's other questions, too, that only come with having a few kids under your belt. Sam's never had an allergy in his life, other than bull nettle. Evie was allergic to bananas when she first started solids. David loves spicy foods, and chips and salsa. What if this baby doesn't like or (God forbid!) is allergic to bell peppers? I'd have to change the way we eat half our meals? What if the baby can't tolerate milk? Man cannot live on cheese alone, but we like to try sometimes.

I so enjoyed nursing David. It was an absolutely wonderful experience. I can't tell you just how much I was looking forward to nursing this precious new little one, to the point where I feel very sad knowing it won't happen with this baby. I was so excited about having another homebirth, too! Part of me really wanted (and still wants) to have an unassisted birth ... but let's not tell John about that one. He'd get all panicky, and pass out, and make me sigh a blood oath promising not to make him deliver a baby once he woke up. :) But I had already running birth scenarios in my head.

Please don't think that I'm obsessing, or that I was obsessing before the miscarriage happened. I'm not, and I wasn't. All these thoughts are totally natural, and there's really no stopping them. It's when we don't take the time to acknowledge them, and we don't acknowledge what really happened, that we get into trouble.

I don't think there's a point to this post. Partially, I want to get all this written out so I don't forget. Heaven forbid this ever happens to you, maybe you'll remember just a pinch of what you've read, and you won't think there's something wrong with you, just because you feel emotionally fine one day, and burst into tears the next for no (apparently logical) reason. Maybe you've stumbled here because you're going through this. You're not alone! And even if you feel alone from your family and friends, you're never truly alone. There's an amazing, special, loving Someone who is always, no matter what, there for you.

Isaiah 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

We're always in His arms. And that can be an awfully comforting thing to know when something you don't understand happens.

Matthew 5:4 Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, 4 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:A time to be born, and a time to die ... A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

Monday Meal Plan

2008-07-21T13:13:00.003-05:00

Well, here goes for this week.

Monday, July 21 (John is off. Woohoo!)
lunch: grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches, with strawberries
supper: Chili's (this is a huge treat for us. John has eaten Chili's food 5 days a week for the last 19 years; it's not exactly something he's chomping at the bit to do on his days off!)

Tuesday, July 22 (John opens, then has Men's Leadership Class that evening)
lunch: wraps
supper: fresh purple hulled peas with bacon, and baked mashed butternut squash

Wednesday, July 23 (John opens)
lunch: leftovers
supper: stuffed squash

Thursday, July 24 (John closes)
lunch: red beans and rice with sausage and cornbread
supper: leftovers

Friday, July 25 (John is a mid)
lunch: whatever John makes*
supper: leftovers and sandwiches

Saturday, July 26 (John opens) *
lunch: n/a
supper: leftovers and sandwiches

Sunday, July 27 (John closes)
lunch: baked potatoes with trimmings and salad
supper: wraps

*On Saturday, I'll have a booth at Deena's Bastrop Gardens, at the Butterfly Festival. (If you're local, please come play!!! It's going to be a ton of fun.) I'll have my herbal teas, XanGo samples, drinks, peach and apple butter, and about a bazillion baked goods. I started making batches of cookie dough (freezing the dough into cookie-sized balls) a few weeks ago, so I'll be baking cookies, brownies, and muffins all day Friday. I don't care what my family is eating, as long as 1) I don't have to cook it, and 2) it's not my cookies, etc. :) We'll be eating lunch at the festival, cause the tamale people will be there. Woohoo!!

Home Again, and the Story of What Happened

2008-07-21T07:28:00.004-05:00

Well, we're home! We've been back since Friday afternoon, but I haven't really been on the computer since then. Busy with life and everything else that goes along with it. I'll post more about our vacation later this week.

First off, I just wanted to thank everyone for all their kind, wonderful, sweet, and supportive comments. You all brought tears to my eyes. Thank you.

I'm doing ok. I've been through a whole myriad of emotions over the last week and a half. I'll probably do a few posts on this topic this week, but I won't be going on and on and on. I just need to get some stuff out there.

Here's the story. I had my first prenatal checkup with Laurie on Tuesday. Even though it was a little early (I was just over 9 weeks), we decided to try and find Baby's heartbeat. We were able to catch it for a few seconds two or three times. It was awesome. That's one of my favorite moments in each pregnancy, the first time I can hear the baby. I was so excited! I had seen a friend of mine, Melissa, on Thursday evening. She came out on Friday to have lunch and go to the Farmers' Market with us, and when she got to my casa, she told me that I looked a little tired or something. I felt a little tired, but didn't think much of it. Hello! I've got three young kids, the youngest being a very talented climber. I'm usually a little tired! :)

But in retrospect, I was feeling much more tired than normal. I took a nap that afternoon, fixed supper, picked John up from work, and didn't think much else of it. Then I started spotting that evening. I was pretty freaked out, because I've never done that before the last few weeks of a pregnancy. I didn't tell John yet. I tried to lay down and get some sleep that night, but I was too worried to sleep very well. I woke up every hour and a half to two hours all night, and my spotting was getting heavier and heavier. By the time I got up and made coffee on Saturday morning, I wasn't spotting anymore, I was bleeding. John knew something was wrong as soon as he looked at me when he woke up, and I told him. We just sat there for a minute, and he told me I needed to not pack anything (keep in mind we were about to leave for a week Monday morning, and nothing except the food buying was done), just to call Laurie as soon as I got back home and let him know what she said.

We took John to work, and by the time I called Laurie, I was sure what was happening. I had started cramping mildly. Laurie confirmed over the phone what I was thinking, and I let the kids eat breakfast while they watched a movie-a big treat around here. I laid down for a while, realized I wasn't going to start feeling any better, and called my precious friend Kristie. As soon as she said hello, I told her I was cramping and bleeding. Having gone through two of these herself, she knew exactly what was going on, and told me to bring the kids over to her house for the day (I had told her I needed to go by Blockbuster to get a movie to distract me for a while). The kids were at her house all day, and she called me to let me know that she was going to get John when his shift was done, and bring everyone home so I didn't have to go out again. (I love her. Seriously.)

I sat on my couch and cried all day. Not the 'I'm so depressed, my world is ending, I want to sit in a dark room for months' kind of crying, but more of an 'I'm really freakin' sad, and this just sucks, and I had no idea this movie was so sad (yet awesome)' kind of cry. Kristie brought my crew home, and John and I sat the kids down and told them what was going on. We explained it like this: what happened is God's way of taking care of Baby. If he (or she) had been born, he might have been hurting, or sick, or just had something very, very wrong. He might have even died as a baby, and as sad as this event we were currently experiencing was, that would have been far worse. As it is now, Baby is already in heaven with his Father, and he'll never know pain or suffering. (Sam, my little theologian, asked if we though Baby was a baby or a man with God, and I told him I wasn't sure, but that we would find out one day. :) )

The kids went to bed not long after that, and John and I just hung out on the couch. Melissa called to ask if she could take the older two kids to church in the morning, since John was working, which I agreed to before she could get all the words out of her mouth.

Laurie had told me I was far enough along (10 weeks) that I would know when it actually happened, and she thought it would probably happen Saturday night or Sunday morning. It didn't. Melissa took the kids to Sonic after church, and David and I just hung out on the couch all morning and watched movies and gardening shows. All the kids took a nap soon after they got back, and I did, too. Becky, my friend whose family came on vacation with us, called (I had let her know what was going on Saturday) and told me she was in town, and since she had to pick something up from me anyway, why didn't she just bring John home, too?

On the way over, she and John talked and decided that if it was ok with me, she would just take all the kids home with her, and they would spend the night at her house. (Yeah, I was ok with that!!) That turned out to be the biggest blessing of the whole weekend, because it happened later that evening.

It was the strangest thing I've ever experienced. I went through a mini-labor, fairly painful contractions and all. After it happened, I laid down on the couch and completely lost it for about 20 minutes. John just sat with me, and held me, and let me cry (and he cried a little himself. But don't tell him that I told you). When I had calmed down enough to speak again, I told John that I had hoped it wouldn't happen. Yes, logically I knew and had accepted what was going on. I wasn't trying to fight it, and I knew it was for the best. But there was still a little part of me that had hoped that it was all a mistake, that maybe it was all a coincidence or a fluke. When I told him that, I found out that he had kind of been hoping the same thing, too.

It was the worst weekend of my life, and one of the best, too. The support and love people gave was wonderful. John was nothing short of amazing, and we've bonded in a way that we didn't know existed.

So I'm doing ok now. I get a little sad, and I still have to take it somewhat easy, physically, but I'm doing ok. I went to the Farmers' Market on Saturday, and the guy that drives in from Fredericksburg with peaches totally flirted with me and gave me two extra peaches, so that was a nice little end to my week. :) I told John, and he asked me if I wanted him to beat the guy up and I said thanks, but no, because then I couldn't get peaches anymore, and I really like peaches. But I digress. We would really appreciate your continued prayers, because this whole thing is a process, and it's not over yet. I don't know if it ever is completely over. But that's just life.

Sad News, or an Update

2008-07-14T13:18:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that we're not pregnant anymore. I started having a miscarriage on Friday evening, and it happened late yesterday (Sunday). I'm doing ok, just a little sad and tired.

For my IRL friends who I've talked to over the last few days, I'm doing much better. Thank you all so much for your kind words; they've helped me more than you'll know.

God is good, and we're getting through this time. I've had more help from friends than I know what to do with, and I feel more loved than I ever have before.

We're leaving in a few minutes to go on vacation until Friday, and when we get back, I'll do a better post. And don't worry, I'm going to totally take it easy while we're gone.

Thanks in advance for your prayers!

Monday Meal Plan

2008-07-07T10:39:00.002-05:00

Here's my plan for the week. Our schedule is a little wonky ... but really, when is it not?

Monday 7/7 (John opens)
lunch: leftover purple hulled peas and cornbread, and strawberries
supper: stuffed squash

Tuesday 7/8 (John is off, and I've got my first checkup with the midwife. Yay!)
lunch: turkey sandwiches
supper: leftover squash and a green salad

Wednesday 7/9 (John is a mid, and he'll be gone for lunch and supper)
lunch: wraps* and soup
supper: clean out the fridge leftovers. Or maybe pizza. :)

Thursday 7/10 (John opens, and I've got a XanGo meeting that evening in Austin)
lunch: black bean, pepper, and cheese quesadillas
supper: spaghetti with meat sauce and a green salad

Friday 7/11 (John is a mid, and will be gone for lunch and supper)
lunch: wraps* and fruit salad
supper: kids choice (I do this once a week, on a night that John's at work)

Saturday 7/12 (John opens, and we'll be packing for the river)
lunch: sandwiches
supper: crock pot roast

Sunday 7/13 (John opens, we've got church, and we'll be finishing up our river preparations)
lunch: roast leftovers
supper: chopped beef sandwiches

*Wraps are a big favorite around here, because they're so durned versatile. You can put basically anything in them. And I've given up on the whole wheat tortillas because 1) my husband hates them; 2) they're kind of a pain in the butt and more expensive; 3) pretty much everything else we eat is whole wheat; and 4) I found the. world's. best. tortillas. at a place here called Jalisco's. They make them fresh every day, they're super cheap, and they're the best tortillas I've ever had. And I've had more than one or two tortillas. I'm just saying.

That's my week. What are you eating this week?

New Hack Post

2008-07-07T10:34:00.002-05:00

Hey all you homeschoolers ... I just put up a new post over at Homeschool Hacks, mostly consisting of my schedule, and what material we're using this year. So, if you're interested in seeing how I roll, head on over and check it out.

And to everyone else, have a great day!

Friday Confessions

2008-07-04T14:28:00.002-05:00

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend.

As you might know, I have no children right now.

(insert Brea either doing the Happy Dance, or taking a nap just because she can)

The older kids are with John's mom, and David is with my mom. I go pick them all up tomorrow afternoon. Since they've been gone, I've had some time to ~~sleep in late~~ get stuff done. Time to ~~play on the internet~~ finish up some projects. Time to ~~watch lots of the Discovery Channel~~ think deep thoughts about life. Today's confession?

I totally want to be an Alaskan crab fisherman.

However, there are several problems with that. Let's talk about them:

1) I don't eat shellfish (with the exception of crawdads, and then only about once every two years). I think if I worked on a crab fishing boat, I'd have to eat crab.

2) I am extremely sensitive to motion. I can't handle being the passenger in a car for 15 minutes without getting nauseous, so I'm pretty sure I couldn't hack it on a boat for days or weeks at a time, in what seems to be fairly bad weather many times.

3) I really, really, really hate the ocean. My idea of living in hell is being stuck on an iceburg for eternity. Which brings us to

4) I hate being cold. We've talked about this in the past, so you know that this is no secret.

5) It's all guys. I am not a guy. You do the math.

6) Those guys are gone from their families for really long stretches of time. I get cranky when I have to spend more than 2 hours away from home.

7) Did I mention the part about hating the ocean and being cold?

8) I'd have to come into contact with Edgar, and I might have a problem with that, because I really, really ~~love~~ admire him.

This is Edgar. He's my homie.

(He did a really good interview, a livechat, here. It's pretty funny.)

Edgar works on the Northwestern. His brother, Sig, is the captain. Edgar is the deck boss and engineer. Their family is Norwegian.

Here's Edgar with his brothers. Sig, the captain, on the left, and the other brother whose name I can't remember, on the right. The other brother avoids the camera at all costs, so we don't know much about him.

(Google tells me that the third brother is Norman. Sorry about that, Norm!)

It seems to be a prerequisite in crab fishing that you have to smoke. I think maybe when you fill out the application, there's a question that says, 'Do you smoke?' and if you say no, they just throw your app away.

But it's not just Edgar that ~~I'm completely and utterly obsessed with~~ I like. This is Johnathan and his brother Andy. They're co captains of the Time Bandit.

They're very funny together. They take turns driving the boat. I like their crew, too.

This is Phil. I used to be really afraid of Phil, but now I know that he just has to pretend to be tough. He's really a big softie.

Phil is the captain of the Cornelia Marie. His two sons, Jake and Josh, are also on the boat. Arguments and yelling ensue, often. But everyone is always friends afterwards.

A few episodes ago, Phil had to be airlifted off the boat, because he was coughing up blood. They thought he had broken a rib. Or three. But when he got to the hospital, it turned out that he had a blood clot that started in his leg, passed through his heart, and was in his lungs. Hence, the coughing blood. We haven't found out yet if he'll be back on the boat this season. It's all very suspenseful, I tell you! (And he's not helping himself by sneaking out of his room, going outside, and smoking. I'm just saying. Phil probably smokes at much at the rest of the fleet, combined.)

There's other boats the Discovery Channel follows, too. Keith is the captain of the Wizard. Sten is captain of the North American. And Rick is captain of the Early Dawn. Keith is pretty funny, but he's a little too prone to drama for my tastes.

Now, this is not a show you can just watch one episode of and be hooked. If you haven't seen it before, wait for a marathon to come on, sit down with the world's largest pile of laundry, and watch you some Deadliest Catch. You won't be sorry.

(Don't worry, we don't have to keep this one from John. He knows and is totally ok with my ~~obsession~~ um ~~crush~~ um no wait, obsession with ~~Edgar~~ this show. He was sick a while back, and basically spent two days on the couch, when they happened to be running a Deadliest Catch marathon, and he's also obsessed, too, which is funny, because John never gets excited about any TV, unless it's the Astros, but they way their year is going, we really don't need to get into that right now. I'm just saying. Wouldn't be good for my blood pressure, which wouldn't be good for the baby. For real.)

(Bleeping Astros. Grrrr ...)

Summertime

2008-07-01T10:35:00.002-05:00

I love summer. I really do. I wish we weren't in such a drought at the moment (I saw on the news this morning it's been labeled 'extreme'). Some rain would be REALLY nice. But I like the summers.

And I've been very busy this summer, so I apologize for lack of posts. In the last few weeks, I've gone to the Republican State Convention in Houston (well, John went, and I stayed with the kids at my mom's house in Katy), made peach butter, bought 5 ugly new chickens (they just finished molting and have no tails), been slightly but not very morning sick, had my XanGo friends from Phoenix in for a weekend, had two appointments with a bakery here in town about the owner carrying XanGo in the store, received two new kittens from a friend of mine, dealt with my oldest son turning 6 (and I still don't approve, for the record), had a party for said son, gone to book club, tried to nap, tilled my back garden and planted 5 or 6 different kinds of winter squash and 3 kinds of okra, and general (but unsuccessfully) tried to keep my house and yard in decent order. And napping. I'm a great fan of taking naps at the moment. :)

So that's where I've been. I'll have something interesting later today or tomorrow, promise. John's mom is taking the two older kids for three nights, starting tomorrow, and my mom is taking David on Thursday and Friday night. I'm getting everyone back on Saturday. Free time!!!!! I don't know what to do with myself. I have so many projects to get done, and unfortunately, John is working every night that the kids are gone. We'll do some stuff during the day, but I see some good movies in my future. And just think ... I can watch them at 5 in the evening if I want to!! Oh, how wild and crazy am I???? I know. Very wild and crazy. :)

And now, I'm off to sequester two of my chickens, play with the kittens, make some apple butter, deal with a daughter with a stomach ache, and get everyone packed today. Woohoo!!

Lions and Tigers and Bears ...

2008-06-24T20:16:00.002-05:00

OH MY!!

Sam is going to be 6 on Friday. I'm very upset with him, because I thought we had an understanding. I agreed to let him turn 5, and he agreed not to get any older. I think he's just being very disrespectful, and I do not, under any circumstances, approve of him getting older.

Next thing you know, Evie is going to be trying to turn 5!! (That would be the end of August. Apparently, she also doesn't listen to her mother.)

What's this world coming to? Seriously? I don't know how much longer I can take all of this.

Ah, the Life of a Homeschooler

2008-06-18T19:08:00.004-05:00

Seriously, I spit out my ~~coffee~~ ~~sorry, pregnant people don't drink coffee~~ herbal tea when I saw this.

Seriously!!!!!! Come on, you other homeschoolin' mamas out there! You know it's true! Give me some love.

(Except in our case, we ~~threaten~~ ~~bribe~~ politely ask our kids not to talk about Star Wars or Transformers at church, only to have every. single. other. kid. bring it up. So I guess I don't feel quite so bad ...)

Works-for-me Wednesday

2008-06-11T09:34:00.002-05:00

I'm pretty sure there aren't any guys out there reading my blog, but on the off chance that there are, I'm going to say this just once: TURN AWAY. NOW. This is a girls-only post. You don't want to read this if you aren't a female. (I almost said 'you don't want to read this if you don't have a va-jay-jay' but my mom would get upset at me for that. So I won't say that part.)

Ok, here's something that works for me. (And check out Rocks in my Dryer for more awesome tips!) After David was born, and he was about 6 weeks old, I started having a very hard time nursing him. I'd already nursed my other two, and other than an extremely fun bout of mastitis, I hadn't had any issues. All of a sudden, nursing HURT. And itched. I was very confused. So After about 6 days of crying each time I fed David (I actually cried each time. I'm not exaggerating.), I finally called Laurie, my awesome midwife. After listening to me for a whopping 7 seconds, she said, 'Well, Brea, you've got thrush. Make a 10-1 water/white vinegar solution, and rinse off a few times each day, and every time you shower.'

Thrush? What the heck is that? Turns out, it's basically a yeast infection. Babies can have it in their mouths, too. (David didn't.) I was sure I would never be able to fix it that easily, just using a very diluted vinegar solution. What with the searing pain and all. But hey, I'm game for just about anything once or twice, so I decided to give it a whirl.

Oh. My. Goodness. Oh me of little faith. Within one hour of using the rinse just twice, I could tell a massive difference. Now, it was slightly uncomfortable at first. But nothing compared to the thrush.

And here's the great part, because I know the majority of you are reading this thinking, 'But I don't have kids,' or 'I'm done with the nursing part of my life,' or something like that. BUT. Thrush is a yeast infection. We all know where else yeast infections happen, right??? Those nasty over-the-counter remedies from the store are ... well, nasty. Seriously. The next time you feel one coming on, mix yourself a water/vinegar solution. 10 parts water to max 1 part vinegar. You might want to start out even weaker than that. Use a peri bottle, or even just use a wash cloth. Trust me, this totally works!!!!

And I'm keeping it in mind this time when the baby comes. So I don't go through the torture again. (Oh, and if you ever have a baby with thrush in his or her mouth, there's an easy fix for that, too. All you do is run up to the store and buy some acidophilus, the powdered kind, in the little capsules. Break them open, put a little on your finger, and put it in the baby's mouth. Totally safe for the baby, and really funny to watch, too!)

250th post ... and a secret!!!

2008-06-09T11:06:00.003-05:00

Good morning, blogosphere!!!! This is my 250th post!! I can't believe it!! I love blogging so much, and having ... you know ... like 4 people read what I write. One is my mom. I'm ok with that, because she's supa-cool!!

In other news, we'll be painting Evie's room this week before we leave for the convention. A very pretty yellow color, since I know you were super curious. Now you know.

Oh, what? Stop rambling and tell the secret? Well, I guess since I'm telling you, it's not so much a secret, as a surprise. Ok, here goes:

That would be a picture of a pregnancy test. See the faint vertical line in the first little window? That means the test is positive. Soooo ...

I'M GONNA HAVE A BABY!!!!!

I'm due on Feb 10. John and I are really, really excited. Well, I'm really, really excited, and John is excited. He's a guy. It's not really 'real' to him yet. (It never gets 'real' to him until we're asleep, and my giant belly is resting against him, and the baby kicks so hard that he wakes up. That's when it's real.)

I love how well that man knows me. When I told him, his face lit up, and he gave me a huge, and we talked for a minute or two, and then he asked me, 'So, who else knows?' He's good. My answer? 'Well, only Kristie, because I needed help deciphering the test.' He said, 'So only one person besides me? And you've known for 4 hours? I'm impressed!'

In the past, John has been lucky if he's in the top five people to hear. :) I'm basically the worst secret-keeper in the history of the world. I'm good with others' secrets, I mean, just not my own.

So if you would be praying for me, and the baby, that we would both be healthy, and that this pregnancy would be easy and with mo problems that'd be wonderful. Yes, we're planning on doing another homebirth. :)

Have a lovely day!! My stomach is turning, so I'm going to lay down for a bit, before working in the garden this afternoon.

Oat Pancakes

2008-06-08T19:12:00.003-05:00

Also known as The Best Pancakes EVER. Please disregard my last recipe, I was young and silly and didn't know the error of my ways. I'm so sorry!! But seriously, we usually have these at least once a week. I always double the recipe and have a few left over, which we either have for snacks in the afternoon, or I freeze for a later morning.

Oat Pancakes
by Anita Cogburn

1 c oats
1 c whole-wheat flour, or white whole-wheat flour
2 T sugar
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 c milk
1/4 c white vinegar*
1/4 c oil

Add vinegar to milk, and let sit for about 10 minutes (until it looks like buttermilk). Combine oats, flour, sugar, powder, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well, and set aside. Combine all the wet ingredients, and mix into the dry bowl until just combined. Do not over mix!! Pout batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a lightly greased hot griddle; turn when bubbles form and just start to pop on the surface of the pancake. Cook until second side is golden brown.

*You're adding the vinegar to the milk to make buttermilk. If you happen to have buttermilk on hand, then just use 1 1/2 c buttermilk, and no vinegar.

I know!!! How simple is that!!!! Ok. So go forth and make these pancakes. In the morning. Pour hot syrup on them. Add pecans. Or sliced strawberries. Or those super cool mini chocolate chips. Your kids will love you, your husband will be so happy that he'll forget he married you and propose on the spot, and did you see all the ingredients? If you don't count all the syrup (which of course I don't), these pancakes aren't too bad for you!!!

You could quadruple this recipe, which I've totally done when I've got family in town, and make your family think you're the best cook ever, or you could quadruple the recipe for you and your normal family, freeze the leftovers, and have pancakes every morning for a week. Or, once a week for like a month, and not have to cook but once. I'm just saying.

(PS-tune in tomorrow for my 250th post, and a fun, super top-secret surprise!!!!)

Stuffed Squash ... my favorite!!

2008-06-07T06:10:00.005-05:00

Mmmm ... I get hungry just writing that title. This is probably my absolute all-time favorite summer meal. Make sure you buy as many of the ingredients from your local farmers' market as you can; it just doesn't taste as good if you have to go to the store for everything (unless you don't live within two hours of a farmers' market, in which case I suggest either moving, or planting a really great garden). And you can do anything with this recipe! Substitute to your heart's content!!

Stuffed Eight-Ball Squash
by Brea!

4-5 eight ball squash (a kind of zucchini, actually!)*
2 cups brown rice, cooked (measure out two uncooked cups, and use the whole amount in the recipe)
1 lb ground meat (I like to use venison, but beef or turkey would work great, too)
3 bell peppers: red, gold, and purple (or whatever colors you like), diced
1 large or two small red tomatoes, diced
1 yellow or orange tomato, diced
1 c finely diced carrots (optional)
1/2 sweet onion, diced
3-6 cloves garlic, diced
extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
fresh Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350. Heat a really big stock pot 2/3 full of salted water. Either cut the top off the squash, or (I like to do this) without removing the top, cut the squash in half, from top to bottom. Remove all the seeds (this isn't like doing a pumpkin, you can just use a spoon), and throw them out or feed them to the chickens. When your water is boiling, place all the cut squash in the water for about 3-4 minutes, not enough to fully cook them, just enough to take a little of the crunch out. Remove, and set aside to drain and cool.

In a large frying pan, brown the meat, onion, carrots, garlic, and if you don't like crunchy peppers, the peppers. (Since I use venison, I have to add olive oil at this phase to make it brown correctly, but if you're using regular ground beef, you might want to brown the meat and veggies separately, then mix them together once you've drained the fat off the meat.) Turn off the heat, and add the peppers if you haven't already, tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste, and the rice, then add a few tablespoons or freshly grated Parmesan to make sure everything binds together. Mix it all really well (you might need to use a really big bowl if your pan isn't ginormus), then start filling your squash.

NOTE: Make sure your squash doesn't have any water in it!! If you have to use a paper towel to soak up the water, then do that, just trust me, you do not want water in your squash.

Add as much filling as you can to each squash**; don't be afraid to really pack it in there. Just don't break your squash. Place all the filled squash on a large baking sheet (if you cover it with foil first, clean up will be really easy, and you'll thank me later!), and add a sprinkle of Parmesan to the top of each squash, just for fun. And because it tastes awesome. Place the pan in the oven, and bake for about 10-15 minutes, just enough to let everything get all warm and yummy and good smelling and the squash to finish cooking.

Remove from the oven and serve pretty quickly, while it still looks pretty, and I recommend bowls and not plates, it just makes life easier. Enjoy!!!

*I guess you could use some really big regular squash or zucchini, but I've never tried it. Just make sure that they're really big, big enough that they'll hold plenty of filling once you scoop out the seeds and pulpy goo.

**Yes, you will have filling left over. Lots of it. So either invite a million people over for supper and make 12 servings instead of 5, or do what I do: put the extra in the fridge, and have it for lunch the next day. It's sooooo good reheated the second day.

ps- this recipe is insanely healthy, especially of you don't use ground beef, but don't tell anyone. It tastes almost sinfully delicious!!!!

*~ramblings of a busy mom~*

I do NOT loves me some wascally wabbits!!!

Whaaaa???

still around

Mom of the Year Award

My Morning

growing up

V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-E

It's the New Year!

Out With The Old ...

that Mom Of The Year award probably got lost in the mail, right?

Mexican Hot Chocolate

conversations with John

Monday Meal Plan

my sad story

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Potato Soup

some random ramblings

it's a very sad birthday

Chuck Norris can divide by zero

My Truck, or The Story of a Total POS

Adventures in Parenting

Adventures In Parenting

one way to make sure your day starts off well ...

does anyone remember me?

just for Sarah

stuff

Conversations with Sarah

Amazing Pizza

it's bad ... it's really bad

Still Alive ...

Basic Hearty Quiche

Oh. My. Goodness!

Things I Do When My Kids Aren't Here

rain, and something to think about

brutes

The Simple Woman's Daybook

"this one's my favorite!"

what every new mother should know

so ... I'm an idiot

A Few of My Favorite Things

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Conversations with John

leaving on a jet plane ...

bad influences abound

Baby Food ... how we did it

I hate coughs, but I love our NP

Questions That No One Asked

Wow.

Merry Christmas!!

Catching Up

Update

Prayer Request

Brrrrrrrr!!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

goosebumps and a gun, part two

goosebumps and a gun, part one

kids and closets, and thanks

Conversations with Sarah

I loves me some Glenn Beck

Holly Rules!

Chili

Paul, Timothy, and Barnabas

Pain, and a little fun

Music, music, music

Changes

10 Things

Would you vote, part 2- an open letter

Sleeping Outside

I. Hate. Technology.

5, 5, 5, 5, 5 ...

The Rules

my Lone Star boy

and we're off!

it never rains, but pours

Would you vote for him after reading this?

hurricanes and other ramblings

The Simple Woman's Daybook

one fall, five hours, and seven stitches

Conversations with Sarah

~ramblings of a busy mom~