BARF-mitzvah

My Mom's boyfriend, Castro made us the best Mexican dinner on Christmas night. We had Chicken Enchiladas, Steak Tacos, Rice & Beans, and Seafood Pico de Gallo. We were all so excited to taste it. Well, except Chase...he is the classic "Picky Eater". He always gets stressed out at dinner time. If I would serve him Dutch Babies and Crepes everyday, he would be happy.

He looked at the food that night nervously. We assured him he would be just fine. We told him the steak tacos would be his favorite. He wouldn't touch anything. I told Castro to not feel bad because he even refuses to eat macaroni and cheese! Castro looked at Chase and said, "What kind of American kid are you if you won't eat macaroni and cheese??" I explained that we are amazed he has the energy he does because he barely eats. Castro said "Then you must be......Jewish....what do Jewish people eat, anyway?" I said "Well I know they eat Matzo Balls and Challah bread." Castro looked down at Chase and said "Don't they eat... "Barf-mitzvah?" Tayler thought that was hilarious. Chase was still worried about that steak taco, which had no steak in it and was really just a hollow corn tortilla on a plate.

We had planned on going to see a movie and knew this could take all night, so Scott told Chase he was giving him five minutes to finish his food. He then set his iphone timer and held it up. If it was Brussels sprouts or broccoli, then I wouldn't make him eat it all, just a tiny bite. But he eats corn chips with ease on other days, and this was just a glorified corn chip, so I had no mercy. I didn't want him hungry in 30 minutes or just eating candy at the movie, so I said, "Hurry it up...the timer's ticking."

He choked down a couple of bites as his siblings cheered him on. They didn't really need to chant the count down out loud, I will have to admit. Then I heard the sound.....that horrible, gagging sound. Tayler had the camera. I started yelling, "Oh! He's gonna throw up! Hurry Tayler!" Scott yelled back at me, "Calm down, he is not going to throw up!" Well, he was so caught off guard by us that it came up.....but not OUT. (Sorry. I know. Gross.)

"See!" Scott said. "He didn't throw up." I was looked at Scott. "No....I wasn't worried about THAT, I just wanted Tayler to catch it with the camera for my blog if he DID!!" Tayler said to Scott, "Ya Dad...and you made us miss it!"

I asked Castro if he knew he was going to get dinner and a show. Tayler said, "Well, at least we had our Barf-mitzvah"

How To Spot A Clean Freak....

It is no secret that Scott is a clean freak. He LOVES to clean the house. It makes him happy. He recently bought me an electronic dustpan. It's called the iVac. He was thrilled over it. I thought he was joking. There had to be something different in the box. Nope....that was it. A black contraption that was going to make my life easier. I nicknamed it the iSore. It's a great idea...you sweep up the dirt in front of it and it turns on and sucks it up. The thing is, it turns on when you are walking by it. It turns on when you drop a Sorry game piece and inhales it. It turns on when the cat decides to sit in front of it. If you ask me it creates more work.....but he loves it. He loves to wash walls, floor, counters. We all watch in amazement after a party. Within twenty minutes everything is back to normal....Husbands especially watch with jaws dropped...wishing he would just stop.

A couple of weeks ago my friend Malissa and I were standing in the kitchen talking. Scott was on his laptop drinking coffee. He reached over to grab something and knocked his cup over. Only a true clean freak would do what he did. Instead of letting the coffee hit the floor he threw himself in front of it to catch it. He would rather scald his skin right off his chest than let that liquid hit the floor. Scott even had to laugh at himself. Instead of changing, he got a towel to get any drops that may have missed landing on him. First things first.....

So if you want to spot true clean freak...look for the shirt soaked in coffee...it's a dead giveaway!

Up On The Rooftop

Nobody can accuse me of being a high strung Mom. I know I can get a little worked up at times, but overall....I am pretty laid back.... in my opinion....when it comes to the kids.

Last week while we were at our home schooling classes, Beau called me to say he was locked out of the house...in his PJ's. I told him to call his Dad to see if there was a key. Scott said there wasn't a key to be had so he got a ladder and climbed on the roof to see if he could get into his room through the window. The window was locked. The ladder fell to the ground. The next call I got was from Beau telling me he was now stuck on the roof. I explained we still had an hour left of classes and then we would be home. He had a coat he said, but his feet were freezing. I guess I should have left right then, but I just knew he would be okay. I was in the middle of signing the kids up for the next semester of classes, and if I stopped what I was doing, the classes might fill up. I called him back fifteen minutes later to see if he would like to take the Math class or not. "MOM! I don't care about that right now, my feet are FREEZING!" I didn't sign him up.
On my way home, he called me to ask exactly where I was at. He wanted to know what landmarks were around me. "I just passed the cow in the field, and I am at the blinking light." As we passed in front of our house we could see a little red speck lying flat on the roof. "There is Beau!!" Autumn yelled. We pulled into the driveway and I saw the ladder on the ground. Beau walked over to us and asked Chase to hurry and open his bedroom window so he could climb in.
"Did you do the dishes?" I yelled up to him. "Ummmmm, no, I have been stuck on the roof," he said. "Likely story....." I mumbled. Tayler was in the kitchen when I walked in. I commented that Beau in fact did NOT do the dishes like I had told him to do because he was stuck on the roof.
"He so did that on purpose," Tayler said.
Poor Beau...but he did get to defrost his hands in the warm dishwater. Oh and come to find out, there was a key, but Scott was worried Beau would LOSE it....Beau is such a good sport and was able to laugh about it. Such a great quality to have. :)

Friday Favorites....Triple Barrel Curling Iron

Do you remember the "crimping" irons from the 80's? Well, I happened to love mine. I used it all of the time in high school. I was really sad when crimped hair went out of style. I thought it looked so pretty and natural. We now have something close to that "look". The triple barrel curling iron! It creates those lovely waves. The best part is that it isn't expensive. I got mine at Sally's for only $30.00. (I KNOW!!!) It's a lot of bang for your buck! If I was a decent blogger, I would have thought to take a picture of my hair last week after I used it...."Duh Tupid" ( I am quoting my niece Scarlet here)

Here are a couple of tips that my amazing hair dresser/sister gave me.

1) Straighten your hair one day, then triple barrel it the second day.
2) Use a product called "Shine" on your hair before use.
3) Use smaller strands
4) Spray each strand with hair spray first for more defined waves

Jodi, Jessica and I were practicing on our hair a few weeks ago. My Brother-In-Law came home and Jodi asked him if he liked the way it looked. He said, "Look, if you guys want to have an 80's party while I am at work, that's fine with me"
Ok...it might look a bit 80's, but that is the whole point. Styles seem to cyle about every twenty years, so we are right on schedule. :)

Welcome Kyle

Well, I have a new follower. His name is Kyle. I basically forced him to follow my blog, but that is beside the point.

He doesn't know this, but he will forever hold the position of being my first child's first "official" boyfriend. Yes, Tayler has liked other boys and hung out with them...but she has been accused by her friends of being very, very picky. They told her she had this dream guy made up in her head that DIDN"T exist. She is not one to throw away affection on just anyone. Well, she has found a person who meets these standards, (GASP) and he is the one who gets to hold the title of FIRST BOYFRIEND forever.

He is the one that has made Tayler laugh the hardest, and smile the biggest... that, my friends, made us snap to attention. He is the one Tayler's siblings tell people about. He is the first one to make Scott's eyes look like a deer in headlights. He is the first one that I have wanted to buy a Christmas gift for.

He has had Chase hanging off of his neck, and Autumn making up code names for them. (SHHHHHH..... it's SHARK GIRL and LAVA BOY) The last time Kyle was here, Chase yelled, "TAYLER, YOUR GEERFWIEND IS HERE!" And he still returns.... Kyle is the youngest in his family, so I am impressed at how well he handles Tayler's younger siblings.

I asked Tayler what things she liked about him that she didn't like about other guys. This was her list:

1) He is sarcastic
2) He doesn't wait on her hand and foot.
3) He is a swimmer
4) He gets good grades
5) He plays piano
6) He plays guitar
7) He golfs
8) He has a nice smile
9) He is cute


Ok....there you have it. Kyle Beede folks....Oh, and Kyle...here are a couple pieces of advice.

1) Honor God always...
2) Respect my baby girl...
3) Watch out, because Tayler comes from a long line of strong women..... ;)That green eyed monster can be rough...haha. Her Grandma IS wanted in Oregon, afterall....so mind your P's & Q's.

I <3 You?

I have this little quirk. I often say things that I do not mean so say. Random words will just come out of my mouth for no good reason. I like to tell myself it is because I am always trying to "turn a good phrase" and so words just spill out of me here and there. My head is often in the clouds and I don't notice details very often. (I would make a horrible eye witness.) I am more of an "over-all picture" sort of girl. I like GENERAL ideas...I like concepts. I have been accused of being an air head, but my friend Cassie just tells me I just have a lot to do at once and anyone would act like I do ....thanks Cassie. I will take that. Ya know how some people are Glass Half Empty, and some are Glass Half Full? I don't even know where my glass is half of the time....I just drink out of the hose.

So all that to say...I was on my way to the Logos Christmas Party the other night. I needed nylons so I ran in bare legged and cold into Rite-Aid. I had kids in the car so I went as fast as I could to Isle 18 and grabbed the first ones I saw. I threw them on the counter and swiped my debit card. The lady made small talk while she put the nylons in the bag. "Thank You," she said to me. I took the bag and looked her in the eye and said, "I love you."

I don't know why I said that! It just came out. She looked at me, blinking. I didn't apologize or explain. I was late and had freezing legs, so I left.

Friday Favorites...Cheerios with Hershey's Syrup.

Our Dad is way cool. He knows how to enjoy chocolate. He loves it. When we were little he used to give us our Cheerios smothered with Hershey Syrup. We were thrilled...we couldn't afford the fancy cereal with five kids....so we made our own. It is so gooooood. Trust me......


I was talking to my sister Jodi about this the other day. I have been off of sugar for a few months, but every now and then I just have to indulge. :) She reminded me that we would also put Nestle Quick on rice crispies so we could have....

GHETTO COCOA CRISPIES. HAHA!

We were always SO jealous of Cousin Kristy because Aunt Edie always bought them the fun sugar cereal. We had no choice but to be creative. I will never forget sitting there with Dad in his "tighty whities" while we ate our "Chocolate Cheerios." It didn't matter if we had friends over, there he would sit. Happy as a clam. Skinny ankles and all.........

Autumn had some this morning. She loved it. Chase had some this morning. He said he "kind of" liked them.
He must be missing that particular "King" gene. :)

Christmas Duet-ing

Last night I was over at Jen's house with Autumn. Jen was telling me that her daughter Chloe wants to go Christmas Caroling in the worst way. I asked her if she was going to take her. She laughed and said "Uh no...how embarrassing." I thought about it and unless you have a really organized group, it actually can be a bit nerve racking. You are interrupting people's evening, so if they are going to get up and let half of their heat out....it had better be good. It had better be entertaining. It had better be BROADWAY. I thought of the American Idol auditions, and really... a bad performance can be just as amusing as a good one. Maybe we could just sing off key and make fools of ourselves. That would be worth it for anyone. I could not convince them. Autumn and Chloe decided they were NOT going to wait for us to make it happen for them. They were going out into the neighborhood and they were going to sing for whoever would listen. We just stayed on the couch. I thought I should follow, but Jen and Brian didn't seem worried so I stayed put. It was freezing out there.

They came back after a few minutes and reported that at the first house the person answered the door and laughed the whole way through Jingle Bells. The second house they went to TWICE, but they were happy because two different people answered. The third house they got the door slammed on them because they got the giggles and just held onto each other and laughed through the song.

After they left we cracked up. I suggested we arrange a caroling night for them. Brian said, "Ok Mikki, when should we drop her off with you?" Ummmmm....that isn't what I had in mind. The door bell rang....Nobody got up. "Aren't you going to answer the door?" I asked. Jen reminded me it was only the "Carolers". "Well aren't we going to listen?!" Still nobody moved. "FINE, I will get it..."

I turned on the porch light, opened the door, and watched the two most silly, giggling girls sing Jingle Bells to me. I don't think I even heard one word correctly. I couldn't stop laughing as they hung onto each other, gasping for air at the end of We Wish You A Merry Christmas. I made them sing again so I could take a picture. They asked for hot cocoa because it was about 15 degrees out. I would love to tell you we made them some.....but we didn't. It was late and we had to go. I know....so mean.

I do think I will try to take them out with a group. I just don't want to be responsible for the happiness of random listeners, so if any of you local people are going out....can we come along?

Friday Favorites....Silly Slime...

A few years ago our kids bought some "goo" at a craft fair. They played with it for hours on end. It's right up their alley. Slimy, cold, and gross looking. Surprisingly, it doesn't make too much of a mess.
Today the two little ones stayed busy for hours making it. There is no cooking involved so it was a great project for them to do.
They decided to make me a surprise. They wrote "I LOVE MOM" with the goo. How sweet.... how could I not love this stuff? They were so proud of their efforts. Here is the recipe in case you would like to try it out. I guess it's a toss up...Autumn & Chase are probably today's real Friday Favorites...

SILLY SLIME

1 cup Elmer's glue

1 1/2 cup warm water

food coloring

1 1/2 cup hot water

4 Tbsp Borax

In first container mix first three ingredients.

In second container mix last two.

Pour mixture #1 into #2 and DO NOT STIR

leave for one minute. Pull goo from liquid and separate into small containers. Wipe counters clean, leave open to dry for about one hour.