Chef Katie

Has anyone tried this stuff??

I ordered this on a whim from a fundraiser through Andrea's daughters' preschool.
It's awesome. The kids had a ball.
After all those years telling them not to...this is the kind of Play-Doh they CAN eat!! BONUS.






BEFORE AND AFTERS:







EERIE RESEMBLANCE...


If you want to try this for yourself, click HERE. It's great for rainy days, sunny days, keeping them occupied and happy for a long time, distracting them when they are on your last nerve, turning a bad mood into a good one, filling the house with the smell of baking cookies, and just plain ole bribery. Just sayin'.

And you get to eat the leftovers because they make so many. At least I heard some people do that. :)

Happy Halloween...ala 2001

Random thoughts as I made this page...

1. She was in preschool...had just turned three.
2. He had been in Kindergarten for two months. Loving it. Almost 6 years old.
3. This was Jordan's first year choosing his own costume...when I couldn't persuade him to be a pumpkin...a bunny...or something otherwise just as cute. I gave him parameters. He chose an outifit with a weapon. I was devastated. We survived. The picture of him posing as a ninja makes it all worth it.
4. Katie's smile in this picture CRACKS ME UP. It is also SO HOW SHE WAS at three years of age. God, she was just so spicy. (Still is:)
5. I looove how he is holding her hand.
6. Katie wore that outfit for weeks after Halloween had passed...she particularly loved the fur lined skirt, but especially the shoes that made the "click click" sound. To this day, when one of us is wearing a heel, Kate and I call them "click click shoes". :)
7. My hair is literally a helmet.
8. I love how she positions her feet in this picture, like she is going to prom or something.
9. He is missing a tooth...it was the first one to come out, and he had just lost it weeks before.
10. They got along SO WELL at this age.
11. I miss the pink house.
12. I love them so much.

Ripping Off The Band Aid

Well, I did it. I have gone through every digital image I can find of J&K.

There's a LOT.

Pretty much freaked out for 24 hours, looking at it all and trying to wrap my brain around how to organize the images into both a chronological blueprint of their lives so far, and also do it in a way that is creative and cute. Holy shit.

Had to go away from it for a while to think. Went to church. Actually prayed about the photos. Came back to the photos. Ugh, not much better. There is so much and its all over the place. Got mad at my past self for not being more meticulous about labeling and organizing pictures in a coherent way. Went to the driving range and took out frustration on golf balls. There's that's better. Came back tonight. Moved, copied, labeled, and categorized. A little better now. I have a plan. It's in the baby stages and quite shaky, but it's a plan.

There is a bright side to all of this, though...I get to spend hours looking at the two little faces I have missed so much...

Memories

I have two scrapbooks.

One is for Jordan...his first two years.

The second one is for Katie...her first two years.

I love these books. I worked for endless hours to crop, mount, journal, decorate, sticker, and preserve each phase of their baby-ness in an "acid-free" bubble.

I literally "cropped 'til I dropped". (Thank you, Creative Memories...I love your company for pioneering the scrapbooking frontier, and opening this creative, love-driven world to me.)

Then, in 2000, I bought a Kodak digital camera. (Remembering it now, it seems so huge and bulky... little did I know that over time, my digital cameras would be big...then go tiny...then get even bigger)
I bought the first one so I would have enough "pixels" (and I didn't know what this meant, the guy at Circuit City just told me to get a LOT) to really capture every moment in its truest form.

So now, I have years and years and YEARS of precious photos...images of J&K's childhood...locked in jpegs, gifs, and God knows what else. Over the years I have thought about those pictures and wished I had them in my hands...so I could touch them...shuffle through them in a shoebox...or tape them to the fridge, instead of displaying them in a slide show on a computer screensaver.

It's time to join this digital scrapbooking world all my friends rave about. It's actually very fun, and the possibilites are endless.

Here is my first attempt.

Psstt...I think I'm hooked. :)

A Boy and His Caddie

(click collage to enlarge)

Love this...

Jordan golfing in a tournament.

Dad on his bag.

They are focused, determined, and work great as a team.

They talk in a language reserved for golfers. They use words like drives, putts, chips, greens, fairways, bunkers, pins, backspin, yardage, and club selection.

They use phrases like "up and down", "on the beach", "pulled it", and "buried lie".

The caddie provides praise, encouragement, and suggestions when asked. He is patient, kind, and always positive.

He knows how tough the game is.

He also knows his son loves the game as much as he does.

My Dad

This is my Dad.

He has loved me unconditionally throughout my life...and still does.

He supports me...no matter what.

He is constant...stable...and dependable.

He is the most generously helpful person I know.

He is always there for me.

He loves and supports my family.

He adores my kids...and they adore him right back.

I see him in myself on a daily basis.

He models lifelong health and fitness for me.

He has more "little quirks" than anyone I know.

He is devoted to his girls, their husbands, and their children.

I don't know what I would do without him.

He loves his three daughters more than we will ever know.

He thinks he is lucky to have us girls, but I think it's the other way around. :)

This is my Dad.

This is a great man.

Happy Father's Day, Dad...

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

I'm not superstitious, BUT...

I have never believed in superstitions.

I merrily skip under ladders. If I spill salt, I just clean it up. I laugh at my sister when she doesn't let me say that "certain number" three times in a row.

(SIX...sorry, Kel, it had to be done.)

Broken mirrors don't bother me. I scoff at black cats crossing my path...it's just a cute kitty to me. And if I get one of those emails that say "Forward this to 10 of your closest friends, or you will have seven years of bad luck/all your dreams will come true", I instantly delete it in disgust, even if it is about God. I don't believe God would punish me because I chose not to clog the internet with mass emails. He knows I believe in Him.



That said...bad things happened today.


And it is Friday the 13th.


WHAT THE!!!!


The Evidence:

1) My sister's hubby David woke up in EXCRUCIATING PAIN. Doubled over. Fetal position. Vomiting from pain. Emergency room. Battery of tests. SCARY. Turns out he has kidney stones. He is still in incredible pain as I type this.


2) I watched Baby Lily while they were at the hospital. This was the BEST part of my day. That child is angelic. God, I love her. I got to hold her and smell her sweet head and breathe in her baby breath. BABY HEAVEN.

The only thing unlucky about this was that she was a little fussy, and she is NEVER fussy. EVER!! She is one of those even-keeled, calm babies that smiles constantly, and can be soothed in an instant. NOT like her to fuss. I believe babies sense things. She must be superstitious like her mother. I also think she knew how her Daddy was hurting. Or maybe she was just tired and I don't have her favorite swing at my house. Either way, Lily was sad, and that is unlucky to me. :(


3) 2 hours later...on the way home from Jordan's golf tournament...Jamie, the kids and I were stopped at a red light.

BAM!!!!!

We got rear-ended. HARD. Like, I felt my neck snap back and forth. What a shocker. Katie crying. Police lights. It was a three-car collision, and the driver that caused it was a little old man. He looked SO scared. He gets out of his car and uses his WALKER and OXYGEN TANK. My heart ached to look at him. That poor man. I didn't even care about my car at this point, I just couldn't take my eyes off his confused little face. That, and the college kid whose Trans-Am was sandwiched between our two cars. The police said the old man was driving with a suspended license, which meant he probably had to go to jail. I'm still thinking about him tonight, wondering where he is right now, does he have family...sigh. I hope he is ok, and I also hopes that he never drives again and has a really nice wife that will bring him to the places he wants to go.


It was my kids' first car accident. Their little eyes were SO huge, taking it all in...police lights, twisted metal, cursing, exchanging of license and registration, stopped traffic, onlooker drivers slowing to gawk at us...everything a car accident involves. I did my best to stay calm and let them know everything would be ok...but I know they are changed, just a little bit, forever. Heavy sigh.


Then again, as they grow up, they will always be able to say "My first car accident happened on Friday the 13th". So I guess that's kinda cool.


I just wonder how they will feel about ladders and black cats. :)

Seeking Inspiration

Stumbled across this today...
I find this notion AMAZING.


365 days!!?? Like, every day?

I want to cook more. I want to provide meals for my family where we all sit down and share our day, like all the parenting experts say we should be doing on a nightly basis.

Heavy sigh. This area is my downfall.

I want to get better. Hopefully 365 Days of Crockpotting Ideas will help.

I just bookmarked it.

Hey, it's a start. :)

Girl Time

Had a seriously fun girl night. The kind where you laugh 'til you pee your pants, tell and listen to really hilarious stories, and the one-liners are flying all night.

I SO needed a girls night. Home has been hectic as we settled back into daily routines. And I must say...laundry after vacation seriously sucks ass.

I already have a hate-hate relationship with laundry (this subject deserves its own post, hmmm...), but laundry, on top of all the other unpacking involved, bites it.

Add this to two seriously BORED kids who got WAY too used to having a lake in their backyard, and are now adjusting to the "I-have-nothing-to-do-now-that-school-is-out-even-though-I-could-NOT-wait-for-summer-to-arrive" blues.

Anyway, back to girls night. SO fun.

We went to see "Sex In The City"...........Original idea, I realize.

Even though it does NOT do the movie justice, watch this:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/newline/sexandthecity/trailer/medium.html

I have to say... this is one of the best movies I have ever seen. This statement may make me sound shallow, but who cares.

I laughed, I cried hard...I even laughed whilst crying.

It had it ALL...highs, lows, humor, sadness, drama, beautifully shot "eye candy" scenes, and girl-bonding "women issues"...marriage, divorce, romance, pregnancy, children, parenting, sex, affairs, friendships, counseling, trust, betrayal, arguments, fashion, body issues.........and most importantly, female friendships.

Friendships where they don't care what you look like, how you dress, what car you drive, how your house looks, what parenting decisions you make, how happy or imperfect your life is...they JUST LOVE YOU.

Good and bad. Pretty and ugly. No judgements. And forgiveness, understanding, nurturing, and comfort are just a conversation away.

I love women friends like this. I think they are rare. I have some in my life, and I am so grateful. I wish I had more.

Sometimes a friend seems like they are, but then they are not. That makes me sad and it hurts. But I love the ones I am lucky enough to have in my life.

So, if you haven't seen this movie already, please do. I LOVED it, and I was not even a huge SATC fan. (just learned recently that this is an actual acronym for the show)

I'm not particularly into high fashion, New York, designer shoes, or being "fabulous".

Payless Shoes is my shoe Nirvana. ("You could pay more...but why?")

But, I AM into girlfriends, laughter, fun, support, honesty, trust, and having bonds with really incredible women who help me to be the best version of myself. Where I feel SAFE. Women who give me strength. This movie is a great example of all of the above.

And I highly recommend sneaking Cosmopolitans in plastic cups into the movie theater.

Just sayin'. :)

Home Again

Back from vacation.

Back from lazy days, sleeping in, sunburned noses, outdoor cookouts, reading book after book, making new friends, cold beers, and late night board games.

Back from boat rides, tubing, kneeboarding, and sitting on the dock. Back from wading along the shore searching for little fish. Back from watching the sun dip into the lake with sand in my toes. Back from watching my kids have the time of their lives.

Back home.

It's good to be home. :)