Wrestling Pics

Remember Nicholas' last wrestling match...the one that he lost, but went down with a HUGE smile on his face?

Wellll, this afternoon he went to his second match and WON both sets of matches. The first one he won was 4 to 6. And the second one was 6 to 1. He had to wrestle a girl his second match. I told him earlier that if he had to wrestle a girl, than he should pretend it's Sarah, since those two are always fighting LOL! When it was over I asked him if he pretended she was Sarah and he said no, but he really wanted to win, because he didn't want to have to say he lost to a girl Hahahaha! He really did a great job and I was SO proud of him today. He behaved really well while he waited for his turn, although he did keep saying he was hungry. I told him we would make a day out of it and go to McDonald's when it was over.

So, as promised I took him to McDonald's and he got a Happy Meal. He ate half of his fries and said I'll eat the rest when we get home. I said why don't you eat it now. And the little booger said "I'm not hungry." After all that whining about being hungry while we were at the match, he then tells me that he's not hungry ??? Sometimes I wonder why I even bother trying to understand these kids.....

Great fighting stance, huh?


His shoe flew off lol, they had to call a time out while his coach ran over and helped him put it back on and tie it again. Those shoes are made to be tight and they are hard to get on, so I have no idea how his came off.
And the winner is.......
Bring it on....



The score ended up being 1 to 6 (see the green tape over the number 6?) Nicholas was green.

I still don't understand what the heck I'm watching or the rules or how they score the points. But I don't really care, cause MY BOY WON!!! WoooHoooo!

The Tooth Fairy Visits

Nicholas lost a tooth yesterday at school. He brought it home in a ziploc baggie and showed it to me. He was all excited about getting money from the tooth fairy. I told him to put it under his pillow and check it in the morning.

Well, this little tooth fairy fell asleep on the couch last night while watching tv and forgot to pay Nicholas a visit. Nicholas didn't say anything this morning, wasn't even really disappointed. I thought maybe he forgot about it. After he left for school I looked under his pillow and there was the tooth waiting to be exchanged. I had a Bad Mommy Moment where I felt guilty for about 5 minutes. Then I got over it. He's eight and still pretty easy to trick when it comes to stuff like this.

I remembered all the other times with the older kids where I forgot about the tooth. Once I put the dollar on the entertainment center in the living room, because that's where they left their tooth the night before. Or once I quickly tossed a buck under the bed while they weren't looking and then suddenly "found" it there and told them the tooth fairy must have forgotten the tooth and dropped the money. I guess there were quite a few times where I had to make up an excuse aka lie about what happened when the tooth fairy didn't visit. Oh the guilt of motherhood, eh?

I took the tooth and placed a dollar under his pillow and when Nicholas came home from school I asked him if the tooth fairy came last night. He said he did look and she didn't come. I said maybe she got busy, check again. So he ran off to his room and looked and came back with his prize. He said "The tooth fairy came while I was at school.....Cool!" Another bad mommy moment avoided {wiping hand across brow}. Hopefully next time the tooth fairy will be more prompt. Or at least do her job before watching tv late at night.

Friday Follow

This is the third week of Friday Follow (my second). I LOVE this idea and I have gotten so many new followers (which leads to comments, also LOVE those). I also came across so many great blogs and have already gotten some great deals from alot of them. I also entered some giveaways (which are addicting as well lol)...Hope I win some of them. The girls at One 2 Try, Hearts Make Families and Midday Escapades came up with this wonderful blog hop idea and I'm glad I stumbled onto it. Join us...I guarantee you will get a bigger following on your blog too.

*You can follow me on Networked Blogs too and if you are also on Networked Blogs I will return the follow.





Have fun and don't say I didn't warn you about how addicting it was......

More Stupid Crap

One of Amanda's chores is doing the dishes. Even though she pokes around, she usually gets them done. But she has told me numerous times (when she doesn't do them all) that Quote: It's not her fault that I always make such big meals. Umm, young lady...You do realize that there are 8 people in this house. And those 8 people use alot of dishes. And that those 8 people actually require me to make such huge meals - you know in order to ensure that everyone gets some. So, yeah, I might be willing to take the blame for dirtying the dishes that I used to cook or bake with, but uh, it's not all MY fault there Missy!

For some reason after months of service my camera decided to crap out on me when I try to upload pics straight off the usb cord. Now I have to hook it up and then go into the computer section, find the camera thingy and click on a bunch of buttons until I accidentally hit the right one and then upload every single pic on the camera, instead of just uploading the most recent ones. It's such a pain in the ass and I have no flippin' clue how to fix it. Makes me nuts!

The newest diet fad? The Taco Bell Drive through diet??? What in the hell is wrong with people promoting that crap. I mean, I like Taco Bell and all that, but to claim losing weight by eating their tacos is just plain crazy. The only way I can think of as a way it works is that you are constantly running to the bathroom, ya know? Cause eating that crap all the time, would definitely give you the runs LOL! Don't you think so?

I hate mornings. I have NEVER been a morning person. I'm not really a night owl either. I think I hit my stride in the afternoon, early evening. Lately though, I have been feeling like I'm not getting enough sleep. Even if I go to bed at a decent hour, I still wake up exhausted. All I want to do is sleep. Is it a winter blues thing? I also wonder if it's because I missed a few of my anti-depressants last month around Christmas/New Year's and they say that it takes a month for it to get into your system. So I'm wondering if all this tiredness is caused from missing those pills last month...is that possible? Seriously though nothing really works as far as going to bed early. Or drinking coffee. I just feel tired and run down these last few days. It makes me even more grouchy than normal when I have to deal with Nathan in the morning.

I'm so sick of my hair lately. It looks like crap. Ever since I had that radiation done (for my thyroid), my hair has been falling out in clumps and looks horrible. It actually stopped falling out and has started to grow in some. But the places where it's growing only grows so far and then stops. It seriously looks like Nathan or one of the kids has taken a pair of scissors to my head and chopped off sections here and there. It looks terrible and it's so thin now. I used to have really thick hair and now it's really thin. I don't know what the hell to do with it anymore. I end up in a ponytail and hat most of the time, trying to cover it all up. Even when I curl it, the curl doesn't last because it's so thin. I have to spray tons of hairspray on it, just to help it keep the curls. Other than just cutting it all off and starting over again, I have no idea what to do with it anymore.

And one more mind boggling observation...the other day Amanda said "that hand pump soap in the bathroom gives me a headache because of the way it smells." It's Method Lavendar scent. So today I'm in the bathroom brushing my teeth and what do I spy on the counter....but Amanda's body lotion that she bought last month. Take a guess what the scent is....Go on, I bet you'll never get it. Uh, yep it's lavendar scented too. Hmmm, wonder if it gives her a headache when she uses that too?!

Brownie Pudding Cake

This was a pretty easy thing to make and it doesn't require very many ingredients. It does look a little weird when you add the "pudding" part on top of the brownie part. But it ends up looking like a two layer bar cake/thingy when it's done. I doubled it because the original recipe is only 4 servings...and that's not enough for a normal size family, let alone a big one like mine - because you can NEVER have enough chocolate/brownie cake in the house, know what I mean....This is the double version of the recipe.

You will need:

1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of sugar
6 TBS of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 cup of milk
2 TBS of cooking oil
1 tsp of vanilla
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
2/3 cups of sugar
1 1/2 cups of boiling water

Stir together flour, the 1/2 cup of sugar, 2 TBS of the cocoa powder and the baking powder. Add milk, oil and vanilla. Stir till smooth. Stir in the nuts. Transfer batter to a 2 quart casserole (or a 9x11 pan). Combine the 2/3 cup of sugar and the remaining cocoa powder. Gradually stir in boiling water. Pour evenly over batter. Bake in a 350* oven about 45 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Serve warm (vanilla ice cream would taste really yummy with this). Makes 8 servings. Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook












***My kids gave this mixed reviews. Some of them liked it, Sarah didn't like it at all. She said it was "weird", I think it was because of the texture of the pudding. Three of them actually said it was "too chocolatey". Nicholas and Nathan asked for seconds. I didn't think it was bad, it was different, that's for sure. I'll probably make it again some time, maybe without the nuts.

Painting Fun

Finishing up the last of the snowman/wintery craft projects this week, since February is approaching soon (and we'll be doing valentine crafts). I tried using a potato as a stencil for the snow balls that I saw somewhere (Sorry I can't give credit, since I can't remember where I saw it), but the potato thing didn't work very well for us. So we switched to a paint brush, which worked alot better.







I think his face in some of these pics is hilarious....like he's really concentrating on his art lol!

Eat Your Heart Out!

I promised Nathan that we could make some cookies today. First, I asked him if he wanted to make sugar cookies or chocolate chip. He chose sugar (because he likes to use the sprinkles). Then I let him decide what shape to make them...he chose hearts over snowmen.



I asked him if he would like to make pink hearts and he said he wanted to make them Red. I told him that I didn't know how red we could get them, but we could certainly try.







They ended up being bright pink with red sprinkles.



He had fun helping me and I always think it's fun doing things with him. Made a little sad though, when I thought about him going off to school this fall....Fortunately, I have a few months and all summer, before I have to worry about it too much.

My Apple Pie Recipe

I made 2 (which is why there are two bowls and tons of apples), but I posted the recipe for ONE pie (serves 8).

For the filling:

6 cups of apples (roughly one apple equals one cup)
3/4 cups of sugar
1 TBS flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Peel and core apples. Cut into thin slices (I just used my apple corer/slicer thingy...way easier). Add the sugar, flour and cinnamon, stir til combined. Set aside while you make the crust.

For the crust:

What you need (for double crust pie):

2 cups of flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup of butter or margarine
1/3 cup of shortening
8-9 TBS of cold water



Mix the flour and salt in a bowl.



Then add the butter and shortening, take 2 knives and cut the butter into pea size shapes using a criss cross pattern with the knives (can't think of a better way to describe it). It will look like this (you can see it better in the bowl on the right):



Then start adding water a tablespoon or two at a time. Stirring with a fork until you get the flour and butter mixture combined (don't add too much water, it'll be too gooey to use). Divide the dough into 2 sections and form a ball with each section.



On a lightly floured surface roll one of the balls out to the size of the pie plate, prick the bottom crust.





Add your fruit or filling.



Then roll out the other ball of dough. Cut the dough about a half inch away from the lip of the plate. Then tuck the top dough under the bottom dough around the edges.



Then seal by using the finger/thumb method (shown in my pic) or using a fork to smash down the edges.



And sprinkle a little bit of sugar on top of the pie.



Put some foil around the edges so that they don't burn.



Bake at 375* for 25 mins. Then remove the foil and bake for another 20-25 mins (til the top is a golden color).

Yummy Perfection



Top with ice cream if you desire

Just a Phone Call Away....

Nathan: "Mom....I want to talk to Nicholas. Can you call him on the phone for me?"

Me: "Nicholas is at school, buddy."

Nathan: "That's okay, he can still talk on the phone. All you have to do is call him."

Wouldn't life be great, if it was always that simple.....

Breathing New Life Into Someone Else's Junk

I've been reading a few blogs lately that have posts about thrift store finds. I've never been much of a yard sale kind of person. Not that I don't like a good bargain, I just never find anything I can use. But since I've been seeing all these neat things people have been finding and fixing up, it's made me want to try it too. So this afternoon, I hit up one of the local thrift stores just for shits and giggles. I discovered that I actually liked browsing through the store. I saw lots of cute stuff too. Never would I ever thought that I would have bought something. But there I was purchasing someone else's junk within an hour.

What did I buy.....



An old mirror that I figure I can paint a fresh coat of white and make it look new. I think it will work perfectly in the girls' bedroom. I also bought a pair of candlesticks that just needed cleaned up a bit. I spent $4.22 on everything. Not such a bad haul, in my opinion. And the funny thing is, I'm eager to go again. Crazy, huh? This is where I put the candlesticks....Looks cute, doesn't it?

Friday Follow

In my quest for more comments and followers (cause who doesn't want more feedback) I decided to give this meme a go. It's called Friday Follow celebration hosted by One 2 Try, Hearts Make Families and Midday Escapades! They invite you to join them every Friday to get more blog followers and to follow other interesting blogs. It is all about sharing and having fun.

Here's how YOU can join the celebration:
* Link up your blog name and URL using the MckLinky below. Only need to add to one blog linky.
* Follow the Friday Follow hostesses listed in the first 3 slots. We will follow you back.
* Follow as many blogs as you like
* Comment on the blogs telling them you're from Friday Follow
* Follow back when you get a new follower through Friday Follow

The Blog Hop is the same at each of the three hosts blogs so you do not have to add your blog at each site. Just one - but you can follow each host blog. Here is the great part, we will follow you back.

I am looking forward to finding some new blogs to read and hope you will read my blog as well! Please leave a comment if you are a new follower so that I can come visit you!

NOT Your Typical Sports Mom

I'll be the first to admit it, I am not a sports person. Yes, I was a tomboy growing up - I liked climbing trees and playing ball in the back yard, but I quickly turned into a girly girl and haven't looked back. Now I'm the mother of four sons and two daughters, both of which are/were tomboys. Amanda played on the boy's baseball league for a few years, played basketball as well. Sarah now plays basketball and loves playing baseball. She doesn't like softball, she likes baseball. I think she likes proving to the boys that she can play just as well as them.

So, I take my kids to all these sporting events and sit there watching the kids and I don't have a stinkin' clue what I'm watching half the time. Seriously!!

I see these other parents screaming out tips and ringing those cowbell things and I just can't get into it. I try cheering when I think I should....like if Sarah hits a triple during a baseball game. Or when Zach actually shoots a ball into the hoop. And I throw an occasional "good job" out there once in a while. But when the kids start talking about their games and how Sarah had a lay out or lay up (whatever the heck it's called) and missed her shot at the hoop...I have no idea what the heck they are talking about.

In fact there was a year when I went to Anthony's basketball games and sat there talking to another mother and didn't see Anthony make the basket - twice in one game. He still won't let me live that one down.

Rich watches two sports....football and boxing. I admit I do kind of like watching the boxing, sometimes. I'm lucky that he really only likes watching the Steelers play ball and even then, he goes to a friend's house to watch the games. I do on occasion watch the games with him and I know I annoy him (hence the reason he likes going to his buddy's house) by asking him stupid questions about the games the whole way through...and it's usually the same stupid questions over and over...because I wasn't really paying attention when he explained it the first hundred times. It's a good thing I didn't marry a man that loved sports or I'd be in big trouble, huh?

So if you ever see me sitting there watching the kids games and think I look like I'm intensely watching the game....think again. I'm usually bored out of my mind, sitting there thinking of what I could be doing or what needs to be done when the game is over, etc. But, hey at least I make an effort to support the kids in their endeavours....what more do you want?!

answers to those ever increasing burning questions...we've heard through the years

How much money do you spend every month on groceries? We spend around $1,000 every month. Sometimes more, sometimes less....depends on what I'm making and whether we are stocking up on staples, things like that. Usually if Rich and I go together, he will grab the sales, staple things, cereal and meat. I get everything else we need to make meals. We shop at Sam's Club at least once every couple of months and stock up on bulk items. We don't spend all that money in one trip. It's usually broken down through the month. I go to the store at least once a day for milk and bread, etc.

How long do the groceries last? Well, we usually go through a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread a day. An 18 pack of eggs lasts about a week. The kids will eat a box and a half of cereal in a day. So it really just depends on what we eat for the week and how far I can make things stretch. I double and sometimes triple recipes because my kids are big eaters and sometimes I make extra just to freeze it for another day when I'm working or too busy to cook dinner.

How many loads of laundry do you do in a day? Usually about 4, sometimes more depending on if I'm washing bed linens and whatnots. I have two washers and dryers (although one dryer currently isn't working). On any given day, I usually have about 3 laundry baskets of clothes for the kids to put away when they get home from school. One basket is usually full of nothing but socks.

What kind of chores do the kids do? The older boys take out the trash and do alot of the outside work...like yard work, shoveling snow, etc. They also take care of the dog (walk him, feed him, bring him in when it gets too cold or wet). Amanda does the dishes, helps cook on nights when I work, cleans the cat box and babysits her younger siblings when I run errands after school. Sarah sweeps the kitchen floor and sometimes mops it. Nicholas wipes the table and chairs off after meals. Sarah also straightens the bathrooms on non cleaning days. Zachary helps keep the pantry room and downstairs freezer organized. Nicholas takes the dirty clothes downstairs to the laundry room. Nathan feeds the cat and helps me do things around the house.

Where do you buy the art supplies? The Dollar Tree (the one where everything's a dollar), Target $ bins, and Walmart, mostly.

Where do you get the ideas for the crafts? Various websites. Most of the time I find a project that I like and just do my own thing with it. I try to give credit when I do copy someone else's project. Sometimes I just make stuff up as I go along.

What about activities for the kids? My kids mostly do sports and they are only allowed to do 2 things at a time. I refuse to spend my life in the car driving them from activity to activity. So mainly one activity is a school related one. For example...Amanda and Anthony are both in the Academic League. Anthony also does band. Currently he is also coaching Zach's basketball team as well (that's an exception to the basic rule). Sarah does the Academic League and basketball (it will soon be baseball). Zach does chorus and basketball (and baseball when the time comes). Nicholas is in wrestling (he'll do baseball too). Nathan goes to story hour at the library.


A few more to answer.....

What do you enjoy doing the most with your "me time"? I watch tv, read, piddle on the computer (mostly Facebook)...things like that.

Are there plans for more kids? This baby factory is closed, I had a tubal after Nathan was born. A teeny tiny part of me would love some more children (I know I'm a crazy fool!)....but the realistic part of me is glad to be done with that part of my life. Although Rich and I have discussed fostering kids in the future. You never know what God has in store for you, so who knows.

What kind of car do you drive? I drive a Dodge Caravan, I picked out captain's chairs when we purchased it and then I got pregnant with Nathan and we needed to do something else to haul everyone around. So Rich found a used third row seat from another mini van and we took out the captain's chairs and put in the extra third row seat. Now everyone has a place to sit when we go somewhere as a family.

There you have it........Aren't you glad you asked?

More Crafty Fun

Nathan's been asking to make a rainbow craft for the last week or two, so yesterday I came up with this idea.



All you need is construction paper for all the colors of the rainbow, glue and some cotton balls.



We ripped up the paper into scraps



Then, glued them onto another piece of paper in the shape of a rainbow.







We then added some cotton balls at the bottom to make clouds.



It can be a bit messy with the scraps of paper (Nathan wanted to throw them around like confetti when he was done with the rainbow). But it's a pretty easy craft and looks cute when it's done.




Today, I wasn't feeling very creative, so we took the easy way out. I decided to let him practice cutting and glueing. I got these cut outs from First-School. I printed them out and we both took turns with the cutting. He did the basic outline of it and I just "spruced" them up a bit. Then he colored the different decorations and glued them onto the snowmen. And we added some pipe cleaners for the arms just for fun.