I'm not just a Mom...

I'm BAACK- well kinda

2012-01-13T18:00:00.001-07:00

I have been pretty busy the last few months and haven't posted well, anything. I have been updating the sidebar with my workout info and occasionally with my dinner for that night. Blogging has been put on hold to make way for volunteering in the kids classes, being Room Mom for my daughter, working out and spending more time with my family amongst other things.

I have quite a few "What The Hell" posts in my head (even 1 WTF post too) and I DO want to share some of the things we've been up to lately.....I just need to find the time. I've even vowed to take more pictures and start participating in You Capture more often (I got a new camera lens for Christmas!) but I still can't figure out when to do that.

For now, enjoy my new blog background, my dinner updates and my workout stats.

Wednesdays Wonderful Recipe- ON Wednesday this time

2011-09-07T16:56:00.000-06:00

Sorry I didn't post last week.....and I'm saying that to no one because I'm pretty sure all of you (the 1 or 2 of you) that read my blog just read it when there is an updated title in your readers and you don't actually keep checking each day to see if I have a new post nor do you expect me to post in a timely manner. (Thank you for that!)

This week I am sharing one of my favorite Pioneer Woman recipes: The Only Casserole Marlboro Man Will Eat aka Chicken Spaghetti.

I know some of you already make this but it is what is for dinner tonight in the Behunin house and I haven't had time to try any new recipes to share with you. The one thing I do differently than PW is to use a cut up rotisserie chicken and canned low sodium broth instead of boiling my own chicken and using the homemade broth. It is mostly because of time constraints and ease of use.

Try it one night with a loaf of crusty bread and a side of steamed broccoli and you have a meal even the pickiest of Marlboro Men will love!

Wednesday's Wonderful Recipe-on Friday

2011-08-19T15:16:00.001-06:00

So I'm a couple of days late in getting this post up. So what? I thought about it a few times on Wednesday and could have gotten a recipe up pretty quickly....but decided to take care of my kids instead.

They both had a Frenectomy done at the dentist's office on Wednesday morning. We gave them a Kiddie Cocktail to make them relax and numbed their upper lips and the awesome dentist used a very tiny laser to cut the extra skin they had connecting their upper lip to their upper gum line. It was keeping their front teeth from growing together, causing a Letterman like gap that could have made dental life harder as they grow older.

Since they couldn't eat anything but soft foods for the rest of the day, they were lucky and got pudding for lunch and shakes for dinner on Wednesday but for lunch on Thursday Colin was starving and needed a little more than junk. He asked me to make some Egg Drop Soup like I did last summer when he had his tonsils removed.

Egg Drop Soup for Two-Tasty Kitchen

I loved that he asked me to make it! It is a simple, basic recipe and totally adaptable to your family's tastes. If I have some, I add a 1/2 cup of frozen peas and carrots to the original recipe but I also double and triple the recipe since Colin loves it so much. I also 1/2 the amount of egg it calls for, since I'm not very good at streaming the eggs into the broth and I don't want to end up with Scrambled Egg Soup.

Try it next time someone is sick, or as a starter to your next Chinese food meal. Enjoy!

Wednesday's Wonderful Recipe

2011-08-10T15:51:00.000-06:00

I know I haven't posted in a week....but we are trying to fit as much FUN into the last few weeks of summer as we can! We spent a day at my parent's having a "Grandkids Day" where all 4 of the grandkids just played in Granny's backyard. It was a lot of fun and really nice to just SIT and let the kids hang out. We spend a morning at a friends pool and we have lots of other fun stuff planned in the days to come! (I might even be able to take a few pics to share)

For now, I'm going to share my favorite cake recipe with you. It is my favorite because it is pretty simple to make (well, I think it is), and it is HOMEMADE FROM SCRATCH. No cake mix required.

Dr Pepper Chocolate Cake

Everyone loves how rich and moist this cake is, and it is easy to take to a potluck. A 9x13 pan and a spatula and everyone can serve themselves. OR you can always plate it at a fancy dinner party (like I have those) and garnish with a few fresh raspberries on top. Sorry I don't have any pictures, I haven't made it in a while...maybe that will be next week's LL dessert!

ENJOY!

I'm a blogger- reviving my Wednesday's Wonderful Recipe posts!

2011-08-03T14:15:00.000-06:00

I haven't shared a recipe in a long, long, long time. Since Christmas, I think. I DO still cook. I DO still take a potluck item to LL once a week. AND I DO want to share a recipe with you. And I AM going to start sharing a recipe every Wednesday. Again.

My husband's favorite dip for chips is French Onion. He loves mixing a carton of sour cream with an Onion Soup Mix packet and going to town with some potato chips (usually Pringles plain). I, on the other hand, find the soup mix to be too salty. So I did some Googling and found an onion dip recipe that I LOVE, my husband LOVES and all of my friends LOVE too. Alton Brown sure knows how to break down recipes and make things simple but delicious.

Alton Brown's Onion Dip From Scratch

2 tablespoons olive oil (I use butter)
1 1/2 cups diced onions(I do 1/2 diced, 1/2 sliced)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

In a saute pan over medium heat add oil, heat and add onions and salt. Cook the onions until they are caramelized, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Mix the rest of the ingredients, and then add the cooled onions. Refrigerate and stir again before serving.

This dip is soo good with regular potato chips, Fritos and even as a dip for a sliced baguette. I have EVEN used the little bit we've had leftover as a spread for sandwiches (go ahead, try it that way....it makes a GREAT turkey sandwich).

I'm person saying: WTH?

2011-07-28T10:00:00.000-06:00

I know I haven't posted in a week but things have been busy around here! I didn't have a Happiness post not because I didn't take pictures, but because I haven't had a chance to go through them all. Next week for sure.

I just came across this article on the Yahoo News! website. It seriously goes in the WTH? category.

Job listings say the unemployed need not apply

Seriously!? They only want applicants that either currently have a job or have recently been laid off? How the HELL is that possible? Our economy is bad and the number of open positions out there are scarce. How do employers think we are going to lower the unemployment numbers in this country if they don't accept applications from workers that have been unemployed for longer than a few months? If there is a job opening, let ALL qualified applicants apply. It is a start to getting our economy back on track.

WTH people? WTH!

I'm a Mom starting to do new things with my family too...

2011-07-20T08:37:00.001-06:00

...things most of you wouldn't think I would do.

First off- I'm a kind of a girly girl. I don't really enjoy being outdoors unless it includes me sitting on the back deck with ~~bottle~~ glass of wine and a good book or my laptop. That means a shower and a bathroom aren't very far away. If we go camping (which we haven't done since way before the kids were born) it is at an established campground or KOA. We car camp.

SO you would assume I don't like to fish. Well, you are right...I'm kind of squirmy when it comes to baiting the hook with a live night crawler (or part of a live night crawler) and I will never, ever gut a fish, EVER. But I'm pretty good at casting, OK at waiting patiently for a fish and sitting at a fish pond or lake side isn't too bad.

We got gear together for us to go fishing while we were at Bear Lake. Due to a couple of severe sunburns, only Seth and Colin were able to go out on the raft and fish. So before our fishing licenses expired, we decided to take the kids out to a local fishing pond and teach them how to fish.

We didn't catch anything, and we learned a few lessons- don't fish at a place that has a playground or Lilly will complain that she doesn't get to play, make note of the wind so the line doesn't drift as you are casting, and make sure you bring a pair of sunglasses for Colin or he will complain too.

We will go again and maybe try a new spot (one without a playground) and hopefully I'll have some fish to try new recipes on!

I'm the Mom of a kid that finds Happiness in the funniest ways.

2011-07-19T10:04:00.000-06:00

My oldest has a non-typical way of playing most days. He likes to do what we call "Projects". My Dad gives him plumbing parts that don't work anymore (and are not fixable) and he gets to take them apart and see how they work. Sometimes he puts them back together, sometimes he doesn't but these "projects" keep him busy for hours. And I don't mean just 1 or 2 I mean 8 or more. That translates into Happiness for the kid and Happiness for the rest of the house (meaning, we don't have to entertain him).


Colin and his own set of tools


Studying a circuit board

I'm linking to Leigh vs. Laundry and her 52 weeks of Happiness. Trying to find Happiness in my week. Sometimes it is hard and sometimes it is pretty easy.

I'm a Mom that found happiness this weekend- so did my family!

2011-07-12T09:00:00.000-06:00

We spent the weekend at a cabin near Bear Lake, Utah. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins, fishing and riding in the boat. We had a blast doing the same thing. Here are three pics that depict the Happiness we all found while out on the boat on Friday.

Colin on the boat for the 1st time


Daredevil Lilly on the tube for the 1st time


Seth just chillin'

We all found some Happiness this weekend, mine was found behind the camera. I'm linking to Leigh vs. Laundry's Happiness Project this week. I'm going to try to get behind the camera more often and force myself to find the happy things in my life.

I'm a slacker blogger that keeps adding to the post in her head.

2011-07-11T10:18:00.000-06:00

No really, I do. I have been writing a post in my head for months now and since I never get around to actually typing it out, I just keep adding events to it. SO- I think this post is going to be a bullet point post and it will be pretty long since I'm going to cover pretty much the whole year until now.

This is what our year has been like so far:

February

Colin lost a few teeth. 2 I think. He lost 2 last year and it was slow going for the Tooth Fairy.

Colin turned 8! We had a great birthday with my family going to the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum in Provo, Utah and then having pizza at Grandpa and Grandma's. It was exactly what he wanted to do!

For Valentine's Day my sweet husband bought me a copy of The Pioneer Woman's book Black Heels to Tractor Wheels AND conspired a bit with my friend Katie to get me a ticket to see her (again!) and get my book signed! It was a fun night with Katie, Holly and Michelle.

March

Colin had his 2nd grade program: The Dinosaur Fair. It was awesomely filled with songs about dinosaurs, facts about dinosaurs and the always cool dinosaur dioramas. He had a small part which he memorized quickly and said with great enthusiasm.

At this point in the year, Lilly is just being Lilly, learning new things each week and growing up way too fast! (I couldn't leave her out!)

Colin lost 2 more teeth! The Tooth Fairy was a little busy around here the first few months of 2011.

April

Colin started Cub Scouts and loves it! He participated in his first Pinewood Derby AND won 4th place overall (out of 17 cars) AND his first run was the fastest run of the night! He named the car Meteor Speeder and boy was it fitting!

Lilly's Kindergarten Orientation was at the end of April. I will have both kids in school 5 days a week for a few hours each day. We are BOTH so excited for her to start school in September.

May

I became Colin's Cub Scout assistant Den Leader. It has been so much fun helping the boys learn more about the world around them, doing crafts and making gifts for parents.

Colin's class (and I) went on a field trip to the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur museum. It was a lot of work for the chaperones but so much fun for the kids!

For Mother's Day I got a new laptop! I needed one really bad and it was totally time to upgrade. I love it and can't wait to get a "skin" for the top.

We helped with a yard sale to benefit the Ride For Javin Tour deCure team. It was at my parent's house and we earned quite a bit of money between the items that were donated and the goodies I made!

Lilly turned 5! We had a BBQ/Strawberry Shortcake Birthday party at my parents after the yard sale and had a lot of fun.

Lilly graduated from preschool. Her program was so cute (she is an adorable little Hula Girl) and the end of the year video made me cry. She has grown up SO MUCH this last year and learned a lot of things to help her in Kindergarten.

June

We had a birthday party for Lilly- a little late I know- but it was the only time we could do it.

Colin had his last day of 2nd grade! Despite some social issues and a change in meds in March he made it through! His grades and behavior improved over the previous term and we are so proud. His teacher was so good with him all year long and I am going to miss volunteering in the classroom every week.

Seth rode his first benefit bike ride the Tour deCure! 25 miles with the Ride For Javin Team and they raised over $2000 to help find a cure for diabetes. It was a fun day and a great accomplishment for Seth, he now wants to do a few other rides around the state.

I had a birthday. I am now one year older and I have quite a few more grey hairs on my head. We went to the Clark Planetarium and saw a 3-D movie about the Hubble Telescope and had 5 Guys for lunch. My friends had a birthday LL for me the following Tuesday and overall it was a great birthday. Now if only the grey hair would go away.

July (so far)

We had a fun 4th of July weekend. Lots of time as a family. Neighborhood/Scout breakfast and an impromptu pancake breakfast with neighbors. Fireworks with the same neighbors and lots of fun. It was nice to spend time at home and just relax.

We spend a weekend at Bear Lake using a cabin that is owned by a friend of my Dad's. That is totally my idea of camping- cabin with running water and electricity, mattresses to sleep on and a shower! We had a lot of fun going out on the boat and my kids LOVED riding on the tube. Colin went the fastest without falling off and Lilly was a little daredevil. I took hundreds of pics of them on the boat, and if I get a chance I will share a few of them!

That is our year so far! We've done so many fun things and have many fun things ahead for our family! I'm going to try to start sharing a new recipe each week and at least one WTH? post a week too. Try is the key word (as usual) since we are busy, busy, busy this summer.

I'm a Mom WAY overdue for a blog update, I know!

2011-03-21T09:10:00.000-06:00

I have pretty much set blogging aside for, well, real life stuff. I have a blog post in mind- a quick overview of our month of February but until I have a bit of time to write and add pics and stuff this one will have to do for a bit.

Last year,I became aware of a great company here in Utah that makes quality, modest, CUTE swimsuits. Not only are they CUTE but they have a whole line of Plus Sized suits that DON'T make the curvy girl look like an old lady.

Hapari Swimwear rocks! I got this tankini last year:

Pic- on the Hapari website here

Now I don't look quite as cute in it as she does but I DO feel comfortable in it and I feel well, SECURE in it (no wardrobe malfunctions here) and I feel stylish in it!

Do you want one? Go to Hapari and take a look. Do you want to WIN one? Go to My Giveaway Today and see how YOU can win a gift certificate to Hapari. Don't forget HAPARI!

I'm trying to find happiness every day.

2011-02-08T08:46:00.000-07:00

I haven't been very "happy" lately. Stress from getting calls from Colin's school, the family getting colds. the overall Utah weather and multiple other small things have kind of put the kibosh on that.

Things have been looking up- Colin is doing better in school, the family is getting better and the weather, well the weather still sucks but not much I can do about that. Colin has recently decided it would be fun to help me in the kitchen. My favorite time so far, was when he helped me make French Bread to go with an easy Chicken Alfredo meal. We both had a lot of fun and he did a GREAT job! He doesn't pose for pictures very nicely, so my picture for Leigh's Happiness Project is the first loaf of French Bread he formed. Not only does BREAD make me happy (my thighs will attest to that) but spending that time in the kitchen with him makes me happy too.

I'm linking to Leigh vs. Laundry and her Happiness project (check it out!). She is on week 49 of her project and well, I guess I'm starting over again. Hopefully I will start to find the happiness in every day things again.

I'm also a Mom sick of my last post.

2011-01-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

I'm sick of my last post being at the top of my page. I don't have a REAL post even remotely prepared but the Holidays are so far gone and I hate to be reminded of my slacker qualities each time I check my blog.
It has been cold here, so cold that the kids haven't played outside for weeks and we haven't had enough of a snow storm since December. Hopefully we will wake up to snow tomorrow morning so I can send the kids out to play and we can get rid of this COLD.

Here are pics of the kids playing after the last snow storm. Check out how cool the "snowman" is. Seth made a fort and the kids wanted to build a snowman when he was done but he had used most of the good snow for the fort. The result of Seth making the kids happy is in the second pic below.

WHEW! Now my "Happy Holidays" post isn't at the top of my blog.

I'm a blogger saying "Happy Holidays!"

2010-12-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I'm a homemaker having some fun making Christmas Treats!

2010-12-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

I like to make treats for my family and friends through the month of December to show them I care (as do most people). I have my "usuals": Oreo Truffles, Spritz cookies & Sugar Cookies and each year I do a few new things. Last year it was Peppermint Bark (so easy to make, but I left it in the garage fridge and we forgot about it), Vanilla Wafer Pops (they didn't work out well for me...my fault entirely) and Rice Krispie Balls (a throwback to my childhood).

This year I've tried TWO new recipes that aren't too bad. Through a couple of friends (Hi Katie! Hi Barbi!), I found a local (and by local I mean on the WEST side of the Salt Lake Valley) food blogger that shares her family friendly recipes at Jamie Cooks It Up. LOVE her! Most of her recipes that I've tried, work! And they are ones that I can make while Colin is doing Homework and the kids will eat them! I've used my Kitchen Aid way more often since reading her blog, and I've made bread (not something I ever thought I'd do).

I tried her Sweet Cherry Candy Cane cookies and her White Chocolate Popcorn. YUM!

The Sweet Cherry Candy cane cookies didn't work out as candy canes (the dough was too crumby- again, my fault!) but we rolled the dough into balls and they turned out! The colors are Christmasy and Lilly loved helping me roll the cookie dough. And she loves eating them.

The White Chocolate Popcorn was SO easy to make once I figured out how many cups of popcorn are in a bag of microwave popcorn AND how much un-popped popcorn would make the same amount of air popped popcorn. (BTW- there are approx. 12 cups in a microwave bag, and 1/3 cup un-popped kernels make 12 cups air popped popcorn). I didn't add the peanuts (we don't eat nuts in our family) and to one batch I added 1/2 cup dried cranberries. It looks so pretty and is a perfect item to give as a gift. Like Jamie says, make some up, put it in a cute bag and you've got something yummy to give to a friend.

Now that I've tried the new recipes and added them to my recipe box, it is time to make my traditional treats. Oreo Truffles are up first, hopefully followed by homemade sugar cookies for the kids to decorate (gonna try PW's recipe this year). Hope your Holiday baking is successful!

I'm a Mom trying to WIN- to give her kids a game filled Christmas! (Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme)

2010-12-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

TodaysMama and GameStop are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

Mama's Holiday Wish List Meme
1. What is your holiday wish for your family?

For us to all get along. Some days are filled with peace and other days are well, NOT. I'd LOVE to have 31 continuous days of all of us getting along, no fights, no yelling, no back talk from the kids. *sigh* I'm gonna try my best!

2. What is your Christmas morning / Hanukkah Nightly tradition?

We (the parents) check to see if Santa has come to visit. Then we all go downstairs together, check to see what he brought us and dig through the stockings first. Usually he leaves us a little bit of a cereal snack, so we don't get hungry while opening gifts. Once all the gifts are open, Mom makes breakfast while the kids play with toys.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?

A bedroom set. My husband and I have been married for 12 years and we STILL don't have matching bedroom furniture.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?

We try to take a drive through neighborhoods and look at the Christmas lights. The kids oooh, and ahhh over seeing the houses lit up!

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?

I remember playing Chutes and Ladders (my Mom's from when she was a girl) and Guess Who. Usually it was just the kids playing, but man did we have a fun time!

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?

Every Christmas Eve each member of our family gets a new pair of PJ's. I know a lot of families that have that tradition, but it is one thing I remember fondly about my childhood.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip?

I would LOVE to take the kids to Disneyland or Disney World during the Holidays. To watch the kids see such a magical place dressed up in it's best would be so fun!

8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?

The top 3 GameStop items on MY wish list this year are a Nintendo DSi in PINK, Big Brain Academy for Nintendo DS AND Call of Duty Black Ops for PC (for my husband). Hey...the question said "YOUR GameStop wish list". NOT the kids!

Go check out Today's Mama for this Meme- and other ways to enter EVEN more cool items from GameStop!

I'm a woman STILL trying to be healthy.

2010-11-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

I AM. Even though I don't workout as much as I used to (or as much as I'd like to), I'm still trying to make better choices in my every day goings on. And I am going to reiterate that I am trying to be HEALTHY, I'm not trying to get rid of those curves I so proudly bragged about in my last post. (Yeah, yeah, I know. It has been about a month since I last posted, so sue me. Again)

Anyway....winter is a hard time to stick with healthy foods. In the summer it was so easy to grill a chicken breast, or a lean steak, pair it with a salad and call it dinner. In the winter, not so much. I want soups, and roasts and comfort food. Winter food is just designed to pack on the pounds. And it isn't so healthy.

Any suggestions for yummy comfort/winter food that is healthier than other foods? I'm at a loss, and really want to switch it up!

I'm a "curvy" Mom too.

2010-10-22T12:27:00.000-06:00

Curvy. I like that word better than "plus-sized". I've got a belly. I've got big boobs. I've got childbearing hips. I've got an ass that sticks out. I've got "curves".

Every time the seasons change I have a hard time finding clothes that don't make me look like I am 75 years old that actually fit me. I know I've complained about this before, but today I read a blog from Barefoot Foodie (Brittany) that says exactly how I feel in a better way.

Go check it out: Big Fat Rant. She rocks! (AND she looks marvelous too!)

I'm a woman that just realized she is now a grown up.

2010-09-25T18:35:00.000-06:00

There is an event in most people's lives that make them realize they are now "grown up." For some people it is the day they graduate from college. For a few it is the day they get married. And for most it is the day their first child is born (or soon after). For me it was the day I realized I was attending the "Room Mother's Tea" at my child's school.

Do you remember "Room Mothers"? The one Mom that ran the Holiday parties, organized the donations for the teacher's end of the year class gift, led the activities at Field Day and helped with teacher appreciation week? Well, I guess that is me this year. Along with another Mom or two (thank GOD!)

I remember my Mom helping out with my school as I was growing up. I remember her being the PTA membership person, and gathering incentives from local businesses and counting the membership money after manning the PTA booth. She spent a lot of time writing letters to get "free ice cream cone" and "free game of bowling" coupons to staple to the membership envelopes. Then throughout the year, she continued to help out, using those connections to get fun prizes for the kids. I even think she was "room mom" for each of us kids at least once during our elementary school years. Those things just seemed like things a "grown up" would do.

I don't know why being invited to the "Room Representatives Tea" made me feel "grown up" over other events in my life. I certainly don't feel "old" (and I am going to clarify, I NEVER thought my Mom was old as I was growing up. We are barely 20 years apart in age, so actually I am older than she was when her oldest-me-was in second grade.) Maybe it is because I don't know if I am ready for this. I am ready to help my son's class in any way I can, but I don't know if I am ready to be considered a "grown up". Hopefully I will have so much fun with this responsibility, I will not seem like such a "grown up" to my son's classmates.

(And for those of you that really know me, just know I am still going to categorize myself as a "White Trash Mom" since I WILL be delegating AND I will probably be passing off things we will be doing as my own even if I got them from Oriental Trading.)

I am Mom saying: What The Hell?

2010-09-05T18:21:00.000-06:00

By now everyone knows the train wreck that goes by the name of Kanye West. And everyone knows the crap he pulled at last year's MTV Video Music Awards when Taylor Swift won her award. If you don't, first of all- read some entertainment news and second- go here.

So pretty much everyone in the world was on Taylor Swift's side (she handled herself pretty well for a teenager) and proclaimed Kanye West a HUGE douchebag. Or high. Or drunk. Or all three. But as he has in the past he turns it all around on HIM and makes a statement that just confirms his douchebagginess and blames his rough year on the media.

You can read the Yahoo! News story here.

"Oh no! The media dissed me all year long! I had to close down my clothing line and I didn't get to make that extra million this year.! It is NOT my fault, I was a jerk but the media 'demonized' me." WHAT THE HELL? Or how about SHUT THE HELL UP! It has been a year, stop bringing it up, stop being a martyr and start being a decent human being (if possible).

I'm a blogger that has been blogging for 3 years now.

2010-08-24T04:04:00.000-06:00

3 YEARS! That is a hell of a long time. I know I don't always have funny things to say, nor do I always say things that you agree with, but this is MY blog and I can say what I want to.

Thanks for reading. I will probably never get more than 30 readers, mostly because I don't have the time or energy to blog all that often, but I'll keep chronicling my quest to remember that I'm a real person too, not JUST a Mom.

(Sorry I don't have any big blogoversary giveaway or anything. I don't have time for that, nor do I have the money to spend on a giveaway item. AND I don't have huge sponsors to donate items to giveaway. So there. I do however, promise to have a few more blog posts this week and only one of them will be a "What The Hell?" post, well maybe.)

I'm a Mom saying WHAT THE HELL?

2010-08-12T19:14:00.001-06:00

I just read a local story that made me say "What The Hell!" It was almost out loud.

Here is the story: Police: Dad retaliated by abandoning kids at Mall

Seriously? SERIOUSLY? A 3 year old and an 18 month old? SERIOUSLY? So you get pissed off at your spouse/partner and you walk out to cool off. YOU. ALONE. You don't freaking take the kids with you and leave them at the mall. What the Hell was he thinking? That HE wasn't going to get in trouble for it? It sounds as if (now this is just speculation) the parents were possibly drug addicts, or down on their luck, since the Police hadn't given the kids back to their Mother at the time the story was posted. But really....drug addiction is no excuse to do shit like that.

OK, that's my "What The Hell" for the week. If any more info becomes available (since I don't want to spread untrue speculations about the parents, or at least the Mom) I'll update.

*UPDATE* Well it's not so much of an update as a correction. The children are 18 months and 3 months old. BABIES. No so much kids as BABIES. WTH?

I'm a supporter of Gay rights too.

2010-08-04T16:35:00.000-06:00

Today a Federal Judge in California overturned Proposition 8. *squeeeeeee* I am so glad there are still Judges out there that rule based on the law/constitutionality of said law instead of on personal opinion. It restores my faith in our justice system. And it takes us one step closer to Equal Rights for all.

Read more info on the ruling HERE.

Just so we are clear, I have no problems with gays people getting married. Everyone is entitled to the same rights I have. A gay person's right to get married is not threatening my marriage. It is not like my husband is going to up and divorce me to marry his gay lover. And I'm not going to do that to him. I've know many gay or lesbian couples that treat each other with more love, respect and understanding than many of the straight couples I know. Your sexual orientation doesn't have any bearing on how good of a marriage you have.

That is my two cents and my support of Equal Rights!

What The Hell?

2010-08-03T17:25:00.001-06:00

You all know I read Mama Pop on an hourly basis. Hourly because the updates throughout the day are plentiful and I don't want to miss out on the goings on of the rich and famous (and sometimes the bankrupt and fallen/falling). This morning I read an article on Mama Pop that I loved!

Super model Gisele seems to think that breastfeeding should be a mandatory law across the globe. MANDATORY BREASTFEEDING. WHAT. THE. HELL?

Snarky Amber gives her take on it HERE.

I agree wholeheartedly with Snarky Amber. So much, in fact, that I don't have much else to say other than WHAT THE HELL GISELE!!

even if my most of my posts make you think I am.

2010-07-21T20:05:00.000-06:00

I know I am pretty much a typical "mommy blogger". My kids take up most of my world with the other parts being my husband and friends. There are some times that I have an opinion on something that isn't kid related and I need to start sharing them with you more often.

I thinking of starting a day of the week called "What The Hell?" Like "What The Hell Wednesdays" or something like that. Maybe I'll just have a few random posts here and there called "What The Hell?" I"ll think more about it.

Anyway, this week I read an article about a young singer from the Philippines getting Botox injections for her upcoming role in Glee. You can read the article here. As I read it I of course started thinking "WTH! Seriously?" She is 18 with skin like a baby's ass and she got Botox. Of course her representatives claim it wasn't so she would look young, oh no, they couldn't be honest about it, they make up some excuse of "muscle pain in the jaw". I want to know if it was NOT cosmetic, why did she let cameras film the process? If she was in pain, why subject herself to filming the injections?

So I've though about what it would be like to get Botox, or something similar in a few lines I have on my forehead and that one crappy deep line in between my eyes, but I'm over 30. AND I wouldn't get anything done until after 40. I certainly wouldn't get anything done at age 18. Freaking 18. What The Hell?

What are your thoughts on the article?

I'm a Flip owner that actually remembered to use it.

2010-07-17T15:07:00.000-06:00

I never have my Flip Mino handy to use when I need it. I should have had it out when Danielle did her impression of Gus rubbing his junk all over the furniture at Brandi's house (Gus is 2...and Dani wasn't naked OR drunk, and can you call it junk when the kids is only 2?). In fact there are multiple times I have been at Brandi's when I should have been filming people (note to self, next time BRING AND USE THE FLIP!) I should use it when the kids are riding bikes and playing out front, since they are only kids for a little while. AND I should totally have used it when Colin got his "sleepy medicine" right before his surgery last week. Then I could have gotten rich off of my kid, just like THIS guy.

But I am lame and I only use it when we are in Disneyland or when I can film my kids goofing off. I've been trying to live more in the moment and not spend the time worrying about "capturing the moment" but that ends up making me wish I would have taken a few pics or used the Flip. SO...the other day I lived in the moment for a bit, then realized I should film it. It is just my little girl swinging on the swings but she was having fun and being cute. I'm sharing it. It isn't really funny and she doesn't fall off but it is part of our summer fun. So I'm sharing.

And I also know I am a boring Mommy Blogger. That is part of the reason I don't leave many comments on some of the blogs I read. I know not many people that don't know me personally don't really care about much of the shit I talk about on here. I'm not Dooce.

I'm a Mom playing nurse that missed Movie MOMS this month.

2010-07-15T16:18:00.000-06:00

Colin wasn't feeling well enough today for us to attend the monthly Movie MOMS meeting. I was bummed for two reasons: 1) it was held at my friend Katie's pool, and in the 95+ degree weather that would have been sooo nice and 2) the movies we watched were ones that I would have liked to participate in the discussion of. (OK so that sentence doesn't make grammatical sense, but deal)

The movies that Katie picked for July were Revolutionary Road and The Business of Being Born. GREAT movies to spark a discussion of women's reproductive rights. Have you seen them?

I loved Revolutionary Road for many reasons (LOVE Kate Winslet) and I was never so grateful that I don't live in the 1950's than at the end of the movie. I am so glad I don't have to deal with an overly male dominated society or a husband that stifles me and over-rules my vote in what happens to me and my body. (I could get more specific, but I don't want to give anything away in case you haven't seen it yet)

To be truthful, I didn't finish watching The Business of Being Born. It kind of pissed me off. Not because I don't believe in giving women the right to choose how and where they give birth, because I DO think women should have that right, but because it made me feel like less of a woman because I chose a doctor and hospital for my first pregnancy (in turn because of health issues I chose a doctor and hospital for my second pregnancy too). If a woman wants to give birth without intervention, she should be able to but those women should also respect the decision of any other woman that doesn't want to do it that way. I wanted to try to "go natural" with my second child but it wasn't in the cards. I know it was best for me and the baby that I was induced a little early and had an epidural during the birthing process. I shouldn't be made to feel guilty that I trusted my doctor. Before you go off on me, I know that is NOT what the filmmakers were trying to do when they made this film. I know they were trying to inform the women in the US that there are other options when it comes to giving birth. I also know they were possibly trying to let people in the US know that there are a lot of women out there that would prefer midwives to doctors and home births to hospital ones despite what some state laws dictate but I can't help how the movie made me feel.

Those are my takes on the Movie MOM movies for July. What did you think of the movies?

I've also been playing nurse.

2010-07-13T17:56:00.000-06:00

Not THAT kind of nurse (get your mind out of the gutter). Although....naughty nurse might be a little fun for our upcoming Anniversary....but I digress. I've been playing nurse to my husband and son since they both had surgery in the last 5 days. That is where all of my energy has been directed, keeping them healthy.

Both surgeries were planned, and neither were life threatening, but recovery can be a bear. I was expecting a little more pain and suffering coming from my husband (sorry Seth, but I was) but his surgery went smoothly, and pretty painless (and NO it wasn't a little snip, snip type of procedure). He was the ideal patient. Even brought ME a beer on Saturday, possibly trying to get me drunk.

Colin's surgery went well also, and all he has been doing is sleeping. He's played a little Wii, and watched some TV, but mostly he's been quiet as a mouse (so unlike him) and not just because his throat hurts. It has been hard to get him to take his medicine and drink fluids, but I think that will change here soon. Threatening to take him back to the hospital has worked a bit. Hey! It's the truth...if he gets dehydrated, we have to take him back for IV fluids. Sometimes the brutal truth works the best. Oh, and thanks to Seth for being a great Dad and helping out with the late night and medicine dosings. It helps so much to have a partner in all of this.

I'm gonna get back to playing nurse....AGAIN! Not THAT kind of nurse.

I'm a Mom keeping my kids busy this summer.

2010-07-02T22:32:00.000-06:00

And by keeping them busy, I'm having a hard time keeping up with my blogging. As you all can tell. We've had birthdays and Father's Day and water slide days and park days and....well you get the picture. Now it is July and I should get it together. Doesn't mean I will.

Do you want a short recap of the last month or so? Well, who cares....I'm gonna give you one anyway.

Lilly and I both got a year older. We celebrated Lilly's birthday with a Purplicious party at my sister's clubhouse, and I celebrated mine by having a girls night at the Roller Derby. Yes, I said Roller Derby. The Salt City Derby Girls had a double Bout the night of my birthday, and we had a blast. But NO we did NOT don roller skates and join them. Although I am tempted.

Father's Day came and Seth finally got his new grill. It is the coolest thing....a gas grill and a charcoal grill all in one. Needless to say, we've been grilling a lot since then. Gonna smoke some salmon on a cedar plank soon....YUM!

I've still been going to Zumba, a little. Things got hectic, but I'm going when I can. I'm still trying to eat healthier and grilling is helping with that, but some days it is SO hard to make sure fruits and veggies are a part of every meal. I'm gonna stick with it, and get better though, I promise.

We've had many days with friends, Movie MOMS, Book Club, Classic Fun Center days, and even a great lunch at an old friend's house (something I need to do more often.) I got to see a friend I hadn't seen for a while and I met an "imaginary friend" from FB. We saw Toy Story 3 (it is soo good, go see it!) and I saw Eclipse at an early fundraising showing (not a bad movie, but I went mostly for the time with friends). I finished a book I was supposed to read for April, read the book club book for June and started on the book for July. I wish I could find the time to read more, but as hard as I try there aren't enough hours in the day. I've recently joined Good Reads, and I put my bookshelf over on the right, if you are interested.

I know I should be using my camera more, but I haven't been feeling it. And with all the water things we've been doing, I don't dare bring my camera, in fear of breaking it. I have been happy, even though I haven't been participating in The Happiness Project and I've been trying to find some good You Capture shots and I know, I know, you'll have to take my word for it since there are no pictures to prove it.

So that is our month in a very large nutshell. I wish I had more to say, or could put into words what I think about some of the current events, but most of the time I can't even get my laundry done let alone wax intelligent about the goings on in the world. I know, boring life, but it is my life and right now I really AM just a Mom.

(Forgive the lack of links....I have most of them in posts somewhere. I just am too tired to link up.)

I'm a Happy Mom today too!

2010-06-08T16:21:00.000-06:00

This is my third week participating in Leigh vs. Laundry's Happiness Challenge (her 15th) and I look forward to it each week. It forces me to realize how many little things make me happy, and that despite my grumpy attitude some days, I really AM happy.

Today, I got the first pedicure of the summer season! It was very relaxing despite the fact my kids were there (playing with my pedicurist's kids....they had a blast!) and so nice to finally get my toes painted!!

The color is OPI "Plugged-In Plum" I LOVE IT!

So- pretty toes make me happy!

Go on over to Leigh's and check out what makes other bloggers happy!

I'm crafty too, well sometimes.

2010-06-07T16:19:00.000-06:00

Sometimes is probably an overstatement. Maybe I should have said "I think I can be crafty, then I never follow through." That is more truthful. Anyway, I finally decided to finish a project I had collected the needed items for, but hadn't really started.

I found this at Pier 1 and just KNEW I could make it myself.

So, I found an expensive wall frame ("as-is" from Michael's custom frame department) dug through my craft stuff (I've got a lot, even though I rarely make something) and found my $1 Target ball of twine, dusted off some old clothes pins and grabbed my handy dandy staple gun to get started!

This was so easy to make! I flipped over the frame and got to work!

I just started by stapling one end of the twine to the frame, and stretching it to the other side (as straight as I could get it...I'm NOT a perfectionist when I want to get things done quickly) and stapled the other end, trimming it so it couldn't be seen on the other side. (As you can see, I didn't measure so the twine was equal distance apart...I wanted it to be a little uneven, so different sizes of art work would fit, that and as I said before, I can get lazy when I want to work fast).

I clipped the clothes pins to the twine along with some of my kids paintings, and hung it up! (This is not where I want it in my home, I just hung it there to show it off to you)

Of course you can find a cheap frame, paint it and glaze it and make it your own, AND you can go the extra step to paint the clothes pins the color YOU like, but I like mine this way...it is going in the basement and the black frame matches perfectly, and the plain clothes pins give a little lighter touch to the room.

I'm linking this to Shanty 2 Chic's I Made It Without My Hubby party, since, I did everything without his help! (Yeah, it's a pretty simple project, but I'm proud of myself for finally getting it done!)

UPDATE: OK, so I wrote this post in anticipation of I Made It Without My Hubby, and now a few adjustments have been made. The clothes pins and artwork ended up being too heavy for just stapled twine, and a few of the twine lines fell off! So I just added a dab of hot glue to each of the staples/twine ends on one side of the frame, let it dry, then pulled the other end as tight as I could and glued that side too. So far, that fixed it!

I'm a photographer remembering to actually take pictures.

2010-06-03T18:57:00.000-06:00

I had a hard time deciding which photo was my BEST photo this week for Beth's You Capture Challenge. I really think my best two were 1) a sky one I posted last week and 2) a pic of my son and his teacher. But I didn't get permission from his teacher to post the pic so I had to go with my third best pic of the week. Hope you enjoy! Oh and PS I don't know if I've said this, but all of my pics are SOOC shots. I don't have any photo editing software, so I'm pretty proud of some of the what I think to be, cool pics I take. (notice I said some) And I guess I'd better take the time to say that I normally use the auto setting on my camera, but sometimes I use the "no flash" setting (well, that's what I call it.)

I'm happy AGAIN this week!

2010-06-01T15:29:00.000-06:00

Can you believe it? I have ANOTHER picture that makes me happy. Two weeks in a row! Hopefully I can keep it up.

A big ole pan of Brownies

Well, it isn't just the brownies that made me happy. It was the time I spent with friends eating them, and other yummy food and drinking cocktails. It was supposed to be a girls movie night, but turned into food and conversation. (Which is OK with me!) I took a few other pics (Holly holding a bottle of booze) but this was the best one.

Go over to Leigh's and see the other things that make people happy. (Oh and sorry for linking so late in the day...I had a crazy morning!)

I'm a photographer watching the sky.

2010-05-27T15:14:00.000-06:00

SKY. That was this weeks You Capture Challenge. So....I took out my camera yesterday to see what kind of shot I could come up with for this challenge, and the sky looked like it was winter. Partially cloudy, no sun in sight. So NOT fun. I WAS going to just wait til next week, but today's weather was more suited for a SKY challenge. Enjoy!

I'm the Mom that hosted Movie MOMS this month.

2010-05-26T05:17:00.001-06:00

I am the one that got to choose the MOMS Club Movie MOMS movies for this month, and host the activity at my house. I am always tempted to host it at the Starbucks in Target, but I refrain (I spend too much time there anyway).

This month we watched Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead. I LOVED both of these zombie movies. Zombies aren't something that usually interest me, but I think because each of them were making light of the world being taken over by Zombies, they made for great Zombie movies.

Everyone else loved the movies too...there wasn't much of a discussion of plot line (other than a bit of talk about the "rules" in Zombieland) and there wasn't anyone that disapproved of my movie choices. In fact, someone new joined us, just because she loved the movies (Hi Mel!)

Anyway...hope you've seen them...if not go rent them, or steal them off the internet (I do NOT condone the stealing of movies off the internet...really I don't) but go watch them!!!

Next month's movies: The Adventures of Priscillia Queen of the Desert and Puccini for Beginners, in honor of Utah's Pride Month.

Oh, and just a note, if you want to know more about any of those movies...you can look them up at IMDB or Netflix. I'm too tired to link to all of them. Yeah, call me lazy. I don't mind.

I'm a Mom that is Happy, despite her complaining.

2010-05-25T07:34:00.002-06:00

No, really, I AM! Many things make me happy, multiple times a day even!

I've been invited to join a new linky party on Tuesdays called The Happiness Project over at Leigh vs. Laundry. Leigh's project is meant to bring happiness to the blogosphere, and I'm going to try to help out! All I have to do is post a picture of something that makes me happy. Some weeks that might be hard to accomplish, but I am going to try.

Happiness Project Week 13:

One thing that makes me insanely happy is when my kids are truly, happy:

Yeah, he's not excstatic, but he's happy, for him.

Having a blue tongue makes her happy

Thanks for the invite Leigh! This will be a fun project to participate in. Go ahead and link your Happiness pictures up to Leigh vs. Laundry, and check out the things that make other bloggers happy.

I'm a photographer digging in my photo archives.

2010-05-20T17:52:00.000-06:00

OK, so I'm an amateur photographer. But I wasn't able to take the time to figure out how to change the setting on my camera to get some great Depth of Field captures for this week's You Capture challenge. So I dug into my archives and chose two that I think fit the challenge, but that I took last December. Feel free to tell me I've failed, or that I've come close, but not quite, or even that I should start getting it together to complete these challenges without having to go to my archives.

Ice Cold Dr Pepper

Tray of Copper Camel Shots

I love the second picture....it is one of my favorites. And I promise all of the shots weren't for me...they were for a table of poker playing guys. OK, OK, I'll be honest, I had a few of them myself.

Go check out the rest of the great Depth of Field captures over at Beth's.

I'm a Mom still trying to get/eat healthy.

2010-05-17T16:23:00.000-06:00

I'm still doing pretty good at working out, and eating well. I haven't stuck to a salad every day, but I've tried. Saturday we didn't have much in the house to eat, and no one wanted to go get take out, so I rummaged through the pantry and realized I had all the ingredients for a recipe my friend Katie has share with me a few times (first she just gave me the recipe, then she put it on our Facebook group page as a low fat/low calorie recipe).

This Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup is very tasty! I topped mine with low fat cheese, light sour cream and 1/2 an avocado. But top yours with whatever you'd like! The recipe makes a lot, so it would be a great dinner for the whole family, or you can save it for lunches for yourself through the week (I'm having some after Zumba tonight!) Thanks for sharing Katie!

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 cans (10 oz each) Ro*Tel® Mexican Diced Tomatoes, undrained (or plain diced tomatoes if you don't like spicey foods)

1 can (16 oz each) Rosarita® Fat-Free Refried Beans
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
2 cans (14 oz each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
Fried corn tortilla strips or chips, optional
Shredded cheddar cheese, optional

Place undrained tomatoes, beans, corn and broth in medium saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. Stir until combined. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.Add chicken; heat until hot. Serve topped with tortilla strips and cheese, if desired.

For each 1 1/3 cup serving: 151 calories, 3 grams fat (1 g saturated), 3 grams fiber, 856 mg sodium, 16 grams protein, 34 mg cholesterol, 15 g carbs.

I'm a Mom that reads "Mommy Blogs".

2010-05-13T12:58:00.000-06:00

I am addicted to the Internet. I subscribe to many different blogs, but most of them can be categorized at "Mommy Blogs". Some people take offense to that category, but those are the blogs I relate to most. Because even though I'm Not JUST a Mom, that IS first and foremost what I am.

Anyway....in honor of US Mother's Day (yeah, yeah, I know, this post is a little late) I'm sharing some of my favorite Mom blogs with you. NOTE: Some of these are not safe for kids. So if you are a kid, don't read them.

Mummy Time- I don't remember if I've shared this with you or not, but Brenda is on awesome Aussie. Mummy Time was blogger's Blog of Note in Dec 2009, and I've read it ever since!

Seven Clown Circus- I really am not sure how I found Angie of Seven Clown Circus. I just did. And I read every day. I don't always comment, but I love to read, and I'm amazed at how she handles her 5 kids (I so couldn't do that, I'm a 2 kid Mom all the way)

Shit My Kids Ruined- LOVE this site!!! It makes me feel soo much better about my kids destroying our stuff. It happens to other people too!!!

MWDAS- Love this site too. I belong to the Facebook Group and I subscribe to the blog Words of Wisdom from the foul-mouthed founder of Moms Who Drink and Swear. Nikki ROCKS! She tells it like it is, and even though she vents to us on FB, we all know she still loves her kids, and wouldn't trade them for anything!

Hope you all had a great Mother's Day here in the US. Mine was nice and relaxed. And I hope to start participating in the You Capture challenge again. This week's challenge was "Yellow". There is nothing yellow in my world right now...we barely have blue skies. *sigh*

I'm the winner (again) of a SWEET prize.

2010-05-05T07:59:00.002-06:00

I have started frequenting a site that hosts giveaways every day. Comments are only open for 24 hours (or less) and you have to check back everyday to see if you won, and of course to see what the next giveaway is. My Giveaway Today rocks! There are usually only 3 or 4 ways to enter, and it is really easy to do so.
I entered a giveaway a week or so ago, and I only entered one of the ways and I WON! SWEET! I really don't enter as many giveaways as you might think (I only enter the ones I really want to win) and sometimes I don't do everything I can to enter multiple times. So I love that I DO win every once in a while.

I won a $35 gift certificate to the Just Bead It Designs wonderful etsy shop! It took me a while to decide what I wanted, there were (are) soo many things to choose from. But I finally decided on the "Gothic Bead and Charms Bracelet" and the "William Shakespeare Charmed Beaded Bookmark". I love the bracelet! I wear it with a few other bangles I have, and it is so fun! (My husband thought the combo was annoying to listen to, but I like it) Since the shop had one-of-a-kind items, the items I received aren't shown anymore and that is why I took a few pics so you can see. (Please remember I am not a photographer...these pictures won't do the items justice)

LOVE the skulls on this bracelet! It is pretty and edgy at the same time.

Look it's Will! Such a pretty bookmark.

I highly recommend you check out both of these great sites! Especially if you need/want a very customized charm bracelet OR like to have a very easy chance at winning some great prizes!

The usual disclaimer: I won the gift certificate from My Giveaway Today, and chose my items from Just Bead It Designs myself. I was not asked to write about either of these sites, nor was I monetarily compensated for writing the post.

I'm a woman trying to become healthier.

2010-05-04T10:46:00.000-06:00

Trying is the key word. And notice I didn't say, "trying to lose weight" or "trying to count calories". I've done those things before, and I just get frustrated at the lack of results, and quit.

I've joined some of my friends in a support campaign to start working out more often, start eating healthier, and to keep each other going in our individual goals. We share low-fat, low-calorie recipes, we've posted foods we have found that taste great and are healthy alternatives to our normal foods, we share music play lists that get our hearts pumping, and overall encourage each other to get out and get moving.

So far, I am doing fairly well....I had 11 workouts last month (which is HUGE for me) and have vowed to workout 17 times this month (4 of those workouts are going to be a local Zumba class) and I have tried to have some kind of healthy meal at least once a day (Chick-fil-A salads are so yummy). So to keep myself accountable (not sure I like that word, but whatever) I am also going to put a new section over there on the right side of my blog that lists what I have done that day to make myself healthier. And I will periodically share some of the fun recipes and foods my friends and I have found , just in case you've made some of the same goals we have.

If you've got any great tips, or suggestions of things that have worked for you feel free to share them in the comments. 'Cuz I'm not to proud to ask for comments.

I'm a Mom that opens her mouth and jinxes it.

2010-05-03T17:42:00.000-06:00

A few posts ago I talked about how great the weather was and how much fun we had spending the day at a park as a family. I was thinking it was great to have something positive to write about, something fun, something out of the ordinary that got us out of our tedious, scheduled world. It was great until I realized I jinxed the whole state of Utah. I talked about the weather, and Mother Nature decided to laugh at us. We had more rain, more snow, and more cold days that made it seem like January instead of April. Almost every day we woke up to snow, I complained about it, and it continued.

I will no longer write about the weather. I do not want to jinx us again. I DO NOT want the month of May to be like the end of the month of April. I vow to keep my mouth shut when it warms up. I will however, post wordless pics of us enjoying the sun and the warmth and the fun that this summer will bring. So keep an eye out for them, they will be coming your way soon. I hope.

I'm a blogger responding to a request.

2010-05-02T14:27:00.001-06:00

You would think I could keep it together enough to blog about the things I say I'm gonna blog about. Sometimes it takes a gentle reminder or request from a reader to make me stay on top of it (thanks Holly!)

You would also think it would be easy for me to blog once a month about the movies we watch for my Movie MOMS group. Just stop thinking! As a Mom, I've found that what I think should be happening, and what actually happens are two completely opposite things. But I'll try harder....promise.

So as I said, Holly reminded me that I haven't given my views on the movies we watched for Movie MOMS in April. So here they are...and if you've seen them, feel free to give your own views in the comments.

The first movie I watched was Vicky Cristina Barcelona. I was looking forward to seeing it, since there was a lot of hype surrounding it and Penelope Cruz's performance as Maria Elena (she won an Oscar for the role). But to tell you the truth, I wasn't all that impressed with it. Maybe because of the hype, I was expecting more than what I saw, or maybe it was because I wasn't able to watch it uninterrupted (it wasn't the kids either, they were asleep). I liked Scarlet Johansson in her role as Cristina, she was very good portraying a more bohemian, free spirited, open minded individual. Even if she didn't know what she wanted out of life in the long run, she was good at living her life for the moment, and that is something we all need to learn how to do. As for Vicky, Rebecca Hall was good at portraying her, but I'm not so sure I liked the kind of person Vicky is. She didn't seem open to change. She had her life all planned out, and she had an idea of how things were supposed to be, but when her feelings about life, and her fiancee' changed, she tossed them aside totally willing to live a life of unhappiness. I know a lot of people liked this film, but it isn't in my top 10. I AM going to put it in my Netflix queue again, and see if I can watch it uninterrupted, and get a new perspective on it.

The second film I watched was Kolya. It is a foreign film, so we joked we needed to read the movie (subtitles), but it is the best movie I've ever had to read. Since many of you haven't heard of this movie let me give you the description from Netflix:

"In Soviet Czechoslovakia, middle-aged concert cellist and bachelor Frantisek Louka (Zdenek Sverak) is strapped for cash, reduced to playing funerals, when a chance relationship results in his caring for a 5-year-old Russian boy, Kolja (Andrei Chalimon). Political turmoil is imminent on the eve of the Velvet Revolution, while Louka's own emotional upheaval is just as unpredictable in this heartwarming, Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning tale."

Heartwarming, is one of the best words to describe this film. It is steeped in Czech history, and made me want to learn more about the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). Mostly because a lot of this was going on during my lifetime, and even though I was young, I find it interesting how much the world has changed just in the 30 some odd years I've been alive. Anyway.....this movie was so sweet, and loving, I admit I cried in a few spots. And I loved seeing how a person can change all because of a kid. The way Louka took responsibility for a child that wasn't even related to him, was heartfelt and sweet. The one thing I couldn't figure out though (and my discussion group agreed) is why so many women were so attracted to not so attractive older man that doesn't have a decent job (he was kicked out of the philharmonic) or a decent place to live. If you can figure it out, let me know. BUT I totally recommend you see this movie at least once.

May's movies for my Movie MOMS are Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead. They are my choices, and since there seems to be an influx of monster themed movies I thought it appropriate to see a couple of comedy based monster movies. I'll let you know what everyone thought of them, once we meet to discuss. I'm putting a reminder in my calendar NOW so I will actually follow through.

I'm a Mom that almost forgot how much she likes the Springtime!

2010-04-19T15:29:00.002-06:00

We finally have more than one day a week with warm spring like weather here in Utah. Boy has it been nice! Park days with MOMS Club friends are bound to be popping up in the next few weeks, and we can't wait! Yesterday, we decided to not have a lazy Sunday (our normal Sundays usually consist of staying in PJ's, me doing laundry and watching movies, kids watching their movies, and my husband playing computer games all day long) and we went to the park to fly kites. Colin made the special request for us to do so, and we thought it best to haul our lazy asses out of bed, get dressed, and have a family park day. We loaded up the car with the kites, the sunscreen, bottles of water, and the kids and headed to the closest park. I was really surprised the park wasn't very busy! Granted it WAS a Sunday before 4:00PM (the area we live in is largely populated by people belonging to the Mormon religion and the last session of their church services is out by 4:00) but it was also a nice sunny, windy day, and I thought there would be more people out and about. The wind was perfect for flying kites! It wasn't too much of a breeze so the kites wouldn't fly, and it wasn't too harsh that it tore them apart (plastic Target kites 2 for $5). We didn't even need to run to get them up in the air! I didn't bring my camera (bad Mommy!) so there are no pictures, but we will go fly kites again soon and I'll remember my camera. The kids played on the playground for a bit, and Lilly rolled down some of the hills- she loved doing that, but she'd start rolling down a hill, stop in the middle of it and ask "Am I still on the hill?" then start back down the hill again! Seth said it was so funny! We came home and the kids were all worn out, ready to watch a movie and chill for the rest of the day. There wasn't much fighting, (we all got along,whew!) and all in all it was a great day for the Behunin household (burgers on the grill too, thanks Seth!). Those are the days that make me remember how much I missed Spring and how much I love spending time with my kids. I like Spring!

I'm a person that has a hard time following through.....sometimes.

2010-04-12T17:55:00.000-06:00

I know I shouldn't be like that. I don't WANT to be that person, but sometimes, things, LIFE gets in the way. I don't blog as often as I'd like to, but that is mostly because I don't have much to say. Or at least not much that anyone would like to hear. That and not a lot of people comment on my blog (notice I didn't say "nobody comments") and it gets a little discouraging writing to few people. BUT I did remember that I was supposed to follow up on my post about movies. I had one person comment on that post with a list of their favorite movies (Thanks Brenda!) and just in case you didn't read her comment I'm re posting it: "Ummm. Fave movies. Easy peasy. 1. Cinema Paradiso. Greatest film ever. IMO. 2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I have a thing for Jim Carrey. Ahem. 3. Crash. Ohmygod, that scene where the little girl was shot. Bawled my eyes out. 4. Pan's Labyrinth. Again, when the little died at the end. Waterworks galore! 5. Finding Nemo. Obviously. Hehe. Loads more but too lazy to tap on my iPhone now. Sowee." Sooooo...I have only seen 2 of those movies. I can let you guess which ones, but I am sure you already know. I feel so, well, lame. It's not that I have different tastes in movies (well, I'm almost positive that my favorite director is not Brenda's favorite director...I'm a bit sick and twisted having Kevin Smith as my fave) it is just that I never get a chance to see movies in the theater, and by the time I get to Netflix them, I forget which ones I've wanted to see. Added the 3 I haven't seen to Netflix cue. Promise. I guess I should share my favorite movies with you, huh? OK...just don't laugh at me for my choices. Or if you DO laugh, don't let me know you did. I love anything by Kevin Smith (Yes, even Zack and Miri Make a Porno) but I think Chasing Amy is my favorite by him. I don't know if it is because Ben Affleck was so damn young, or if it is because I LOVE Joey Lauren Adams. She's The One. Not to be confused with the teenage cheese fest that is She's All That. Sixteen Candles The Breakfast Club Pretty in Pink See a trend? Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil- I LOVE John Cusack (He's #1 on my laminated/doorbell list) and the story is just a good one. I have yet to read the book, but this movie is what first made want to visit Savannah (I have yet to do that either) I'm sure I have a few more, but these are my all time favorites. We've watched a few good ones for Movie MOMS the last few months, and after we discuss the two for April, I'll let you know what they are, and how I felt about them. Whew! I've now crossed another thing off of my list, so I'm NOT that person that doesn't follow through...at least for now.

I'm a person curious about Easter traditions.

2010-04-02T13:28:00.002-06:00

With today being Good Friday for most of the world, and Easter being this upcoming Sunday, I've been thinking about Easter traditions some of YOU might have. We don't really have and "traditions" per say...the Easter Bunny visits, we dye hard-boiled eggs and we usually see my family on Easter Sunday. I know Easter is about more than the Easter Bunny to a lot of you, but since we aren't religious, it is more about spending time with family, and celebrating the beginning of Spring! (Hopefully, there was snow here yesterday) I thought about starting an Easter brunch tradition by making PW's Hot Cross Buns (don't they look yummy?) and scrambled eggs with ham and cheese (ham is traditional for Easter, right? And does anyone know why that is?) But do you think I can really get up early enough to make the Hot Cross Buns so we can eat them while they ARE still Hot? (The answer to that, by the way, is no way in hell.) So, what are YOUR Easter/Spring traditions? Are they something simple I can incorporate into my family "traditions"? Or do you go all out and OTT because you LOVE to celebrate Spring? (I do want to hear about those too, since I can only wish I had the time and energy to be OTT and go all out for Easter.)

I'm a procrastinator too.

2010-03-30T14:20:00.003-06:00

It has been almost a month since we've been back from our vacation, and I just barely went through the 650+ pictures I took while we were there (gonna make a slide show soon) I still need to take a look at the few pictures on my Photo Pass and get some copies made. WHEW! It might not seem like a lot, but getting some totally uninterrupted time to do that is almost impossible. Might just have to lock myself in the bathroom to do it! Anyway...I've been procrastinating telling you about a couple of giveaways I won, mostly because of that whole, having time to blog thing, and because I wanted to get time to use the products so I could tell you a bit more about them! :) First, I won a giveaway from megryansmom at Look It's Megryansmom! She got a chance to give 5 CD Roms to her readers. The coolest thing about the CD Rom is that it is Rainbow Brite! (remember her? If not, you are too young...way too young) I loved that she is making a comeback and that if I won, I would be able to share something from my childhood with my daughter (I think I still have a stuffed sprite thingy around here somewhere. It squeaks when you shake it!) The CD Rom arrived in the mail while we were gone, and it was so fun to get my held mail and find something other than bills and junk in the mix! It took me a few days to get the time to check it out, but when I did I was totally fun! My daughter had a blast playing with me, and all the features were great! We got to do puzzles, make our own coloring pages and print them, and best of all we got to spend some time together. So happy I won this prize! Second, I won a contest (for lack of a better word) on Oscar night. I follow Solessence on Twitter and she tweeted about a giveaway she was having on her blog. Name that actress in her very stylish dress with her very stylish nail polish. And anyone that knows me, knows that the actress in the picture on this post is one of my very favorites, and of course I answered the question first....and not only by a small margin, no I don't think anyone else got a chance to answer at all (kind of feel bad about that, but you snooze you lose!) Anyway, since I was the quickest, I won a stick of Dove Ultimate Visibly Smooth Anti-Persperant and Deodorant. I know, I know, as my husband said, who would want to win that? BUT I've been wanting to try it out for a while now, and since changing deodorants is kind of a big thing, I've been chicken! Now that I've used it for a few weeks, I like it. I goes on smooth, and has reduced the little red bumps just like it says. I haven't noticed if it reduces the appearance of hair, but once summer is upon us, I'm sure I will notice it. It smells great and I think I will purchase more once this stick is gone. Thanks so much for the prizes ladies! (Disclaimer: I was not paid for any of the products I reviewed, I promise I won them in giveaways. I was not paid for my honest review of either product)

I'm a Sister/Sister-in-law that supports her family when she can.

2010-03-23T08:58:00.000-06:00

For those of you that don't know, today is the American Diabetes Association's "Alert Day". It is designed to help raise awareness of the risks of Type 2 Diabetes, and to let you know if you are at risk by taking a test on risk factors. My brother-in-law Javin was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and then later diagnosed with Type 1. It has been hard for him to get it under control and he and my sister, Jannell are now trying to raise awareness by riding in the Utah Tour deCure in June. Their bike team "Ride for Javin" needs to raise money to help fund awareness campaigns, and research studies to Stop Diabetes. I've donated a little bit, and they are to 34% of their donation goal. I am very proud of them for pledging to ride in this "race", mostly because they are riding their bikes more often to help them get ready for it, and that in turn makes BOTH of them healthier. If you'd like more information about the Tour deCure ride in your area click here. OR if you'd like more info on how you can donate to the "Ride For Javin" team, leave me a comment, or email me, and I'll send you the links. (This is not a plea for donations, this post was to help you become aware that there are things you can do to help stop diabetes, and for you to become aware of the risks and signs YOU might have this disease.)

I'm a vacationer getting back to reality.

2010-03-08T15:31:00.002-07:00

Which is never fun. Even if you love your friends and the kids like school and being home, coming back from vacation SUCKS! We drove to Cali-forn-i-a to take the kids to Disneyland. Great trip. Kids loved it. WE loved it. But more on that later. Probably next week. Or the next. Lots of stuff going on this week and next. Most of it good (all part of reality). Anyway......one thing I HATE about vacation? Vacation hair. No matter what shampoo I use (my own, or the hotel's, or even the stuff left at our condo) or how much, or how little conditioner I use, my hair is never, ever in top form while I'm on vacation. I have no clue WHY! I HATE IT! And I forgot to bring my really cute hat, so I had to buy just a semi-cute hat from the Disney Shop. And even though I know it doesn't matter what you look like on vacation, I just feel better knowing I put some effort into looking decent as we navigated our way through the happiest place on earth. Anyone else hate vacation hair? Or am I missing some kind of cool trick to keep from having vacation hair? (I know this wasn't quite the post people wanted after my return from CA, but it is what is on my mind right now...you'll just have to wait for DL pics!)

I'm a Mom looking for "Shapes" in my everyday life.

2010-02-25T08:44:00.006-07:00

And it was hard! Mostly because I was busy, busy, busy over the last week! My son had a Birthday (he's now 7) and between the school treats, the friends birthday party and the family birthday party finding time to find shapes was almost impossible! I realized some of the pics I took of the parties were shapes. So I'll share them here.

I know they aren't as fun as they should be, but at least I came up with something for Beth's You Capture Challenge, most weeks I don't participate cuz I can't find the time! Head on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry and see the pics of people that are more creative than I am!

I'm a Mom with unusual "kisses".

2010-02-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

I wanted to capture some authentic kisses for this week's You Capture Challenge. I have a hard time getting my kids to be good for any kind of posed picture, and I never have my camera when those spontaneous hugs and kisses occur. So today I am sharing with you the kinds of "kisses" I give on special occasions and holidays.

I made PW's Chicken-fried steak for V-Day Dinner

I made Rice Krispie Pops for a few neighbors and my family

For a special V-Day dessert I tried my hand at Cheesecake Balls

(not very pretty are they?)

I love to cook and bake and create things to show my family and friends that I love and appreciate them. It is so satisfying knowing that people enjoy the things I make, and I am proud to call these dishes my "kisses".

Now head on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry and take a look at some other wonderful depictions of Kisses, and hopefully you'll get to see a few real ones.

I'm a woman that loves watching movies too.

2010-02-16T20:08:00.003-07:00

Although, I'm not alone. I haven't met a person that doesn't like watching at least some kind of film. Whether it be animation (or even anime) or drama, or adventure or foreign film, almost everyone has a favorite movie (I say almost because I know there is going to be someone out there that will contradict that statement). The MOMS Club Chapter I belong to has a Movie MOMS club of sorts that meets each month to review and discuss 2 movies another MOMS Club member has chosen. It has been so much fun being able to watch movies that either a) someone else loves or b) someone else has wanted to see, but hasn't. I have seen a few movies I would never known existed if someone hadn't suggested it. We got Netflix mostly because getting the movies I wanted to watch was easier that way (LOVE Netflix by the way...LOVE it!) My turn to choose movies will come around again soon (there are only 5 or 6 people that attend Movie MOMS on a regular basis) and I'm wondering what some of YOUR favorite movies are. I was thinking of choosing movies with Luke Wilson in them (I like him as an actor) or finding some kind of theme to follow (it is find of fun to think one up) but it might be even more fun to choose movies that some of my readers enjoy (like I have very many readers). Just leave me a comment, and if there are enough responses, I'll let you know what they are, and possibly share some of my favorite movies with you.

I'm a fun Mom too!

2010-02-07T09:07:00.002-07:00

Or at least sometimes I am. I've tried to set aside some time to make Valentine's day treats with the kids, since well, Valentine's Day is in a week. We still have school Valentine's to put together (so simple this year, I had stickers made with a cute V-Day message and their names. Pick a treat, peel a sticker, stick it on, DONE!) and Valentine Treats for friends to make, but we are slowly getting through what I have planned since: Yesterday, we got a chance to make treats for my family. I subscribe to a food blog that suggested we make Valentine's Day Buttons, out of snap pretzels, candy melting disks, and M&Ms. So simple, and it was something the kids could help with! First you set out the pretzels, then you put a candy disk on each one. Slide them into the oven for 2 minutes, then before they cool off you gently push an M&M into each of the slightly melted candy disks. Once they cool, you can pop one into your mouth, or put them in a cute cellophane bag to give as a gift! I didn't take pics, it was a little crazy with the kids helping and all, but Colleen over at Souffle Bombay has the full recipe, and a cute pic of the finished product. Check it out, and maybe take a moment in the upcoming busy week, to make a treat with the kids!

I'm a Mom that needs to be reminded that What I am Doing Matters.

2010-01-29T16:25:00.002-07:00

And I was reminded of that today. By Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess) on her part-time gig "Good Mom/Bad Mom" on the Houston Chronicle's web site. I am totally bookmarking this video so I can watch it and cry over it any time I wonder if it is all worth it to stay home and be with my kids 24-7 (which, honestly, is pretty damn often these days). What You're Doing Matters Like I said before, Jenny, way to make me cry, way to make me cry (Bitch). (I didn't think I could write that on my comment over at Good Mom/Bad Mom. I am pretty sure the Houston Chronicle would have deleted it.)

I am a domestic engineer that Loves a few things in her home.

2010-01-21T12:07:00.006-07:00

This week's You Capture Challenge was to capture something in our home that we love (or wait....Beth's exact words are "Love Around Your Home"). Her explanation was for us to recognize the items around our home that we love. Possibly something we would not have purchased for ourselves, but we still use because it has a special place in our hearts. Or something that makes us think "I love that" every time we pass by.

As soon as I read the challenge, I knew exactly what I was going to capture. As I looked at the photos I'd taken, I realized that I didn't quite get the look I wanted when I shot them, but I'm still sharing them with you, since I didn't have much time to take more photos. Enjoy?

This is a cross stitch my Mom did for my wedding. She had it framed an matted and added the elegant plaque with our wedding date. It matches with the birdcages we had for our centerpieces, and I got to keep one as a memento. (The snowflake ribbon is part of the winter themed decor in my living room right now, not a normal decoration)

I love my family! This is the first family picture taken after my daughter was born. It sits on my entry way table along with a Valentine's Day decoration I got as a gift. I keep the "Love" sign out all year long because it just fits. (Pardon the dust, I do not like dusting, so it's part of the "decor")

Take a look at the other wonderful You Capture challenges over at I Should Be Folding Laundry. And comment on Beth's, her captures are so sweet!

I'm a master chef, sharing a dinner party worthy recipe.

2010-01-19T07:16:00.000-07:00

OK, so those of you that read this blog on a regular basis, or those of you that know me at all, know I'm lying about the first part. I am NOT a master chef, I am just a little old (OK so not THAT old) housewife who loves to cook. And try cooking new things. The recipe I am going to share IS, however, worthy of serving at a dinner party. And it's pretty easy. Check out the recipe for Bacon Wrapped Chicken- here. Now that you've read the recipe these are the things I'm going to change the next time I make this for my family: 1) I'm going to pound the chicken a little flatter so the chicken is rolled up a bit more., 2) I think using Chive cream cheese spread will give it a bit more flavor and easier to roll, as well as using a thin spreading of it will make less ooze out while the chicken is cooking. 3) Use two pieces of bacon depending on what size chicken breasts you use. The more bacon, the better! 4) I think I am going to put the chicken under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp up at least the top of the bacon...it needed just a bit more crunch. 5) Totally serve this with egg noodles, BUT it would also be great with boiled red potatoes (sauce served on top) or even mashed potatoes. This is a recipe I am going to use again, the whole family ate it willingly, and it was just as good as leftovers a few days later. Sorry there are no pics, I didn't have a chance to take any. Let me know if you try it!

I'm a person that doesn't like winter.

2010-01-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

Well at least not winter in Utah. When it snows, I love falling asleep to the large flakes of snow, falling silently, slowly from the slightly illuminated sky. I love waking up to the smooth, pure, undisturbed blanket that covers the trees, grass and sometimes the streets knowing I can hibernate in the house all day, wrapped in PJ's and robes, wearing slippers and carrying around a large cup of hot coffee. That is WHEN and IF it snows. Some years we have tons of snow, and there are more than enough of the above hibernation days to go around. This year however, we have NOT had a lot of snow (yet....fingers crossed) and we end up with a horrible, smoggy, disgusting inversion in the valleys. Which is where I live. We get crunchy grey snow, partially melted, used over and over with footprints that end up icing up making the world look well, gross.

That is what we've had to contend with the last few weeks. I was able to take a few pics of what winter in Utah looks like, as of this week. I am hoping for a good old fashioned storm to blow through here one night and get rid of the horrible air quality. Enjoy what winter is in Utah right now, then head on over to I Should be Folding Laundry and check out other You Capture pics, and what winter looks like with other area's of the nation.

Can you see the inversion line? It goes about half way up the mountain. Everything below it, covered in grime and muck. Everything above it, clear and sunny!

The unused swingset in the backyard...it's too cold to let the kids go out and play.

The footprints that litter my backyard. Kids, animals, and falling debris.

I'm also a blog stalker/hopper/surfer.

2010-01-11T15:05:00.001-07:00

I spend way too much time on the computer. Playing games on Facebook. Writing blog posts and not ever posting them. Checking email (not that doing so takes a lot of time). Reading the news, World, National and Local. And reading blogs. Lots of blogs. Too many blogs. Fun blogs. Cooking blogs. Giveaway Blogs. It has been too long since I have shared any of the new blogs I'm reading with you so I thought I do so now! Barefoot Foodie: (taken right from the "About" section of her blog) "I’m a wife, a mother a few times over, a writer, a cusser, an eater, a petter of strange dogs on the street, a drinker, an over-reactor, a music lover, an over-sharer, and a spiller of food down the front of my shirt. Always." Mummy Time: Brenda is a SAHM in Sydney. She has a great way of telling about her life as a Mum of 4. The Big Piece of Cake: Kate is just cute. And anything to do with cake, is a plus in my book. Sleep Talkin' Man: This blog is so funny! Even though it is just a bunch of random things a guy says in his sleep, it is hilarious that he lets his wife publish them. I read it with the slight fear that my husband will start taping my sleep talking episodes, and do the same thing. And last, but certainly NOT least: MamaPop: I know I've blogged about these guys before, but I love them! Every one of them! I will admit I like to catch up on the celebrity gossip, and learn about TV shows I'd like to watch, but can't find the time, and the writers at MamaPop give their own opinions of all those things. I love reading the opinions, and relating to some of them (other's I just laugh and shake my head at). Take some time, if you have any, to check these guys out. I've started reading a few other blogs, but I'm not quite sure if I'm ready to share them with you or not. There is a possibility I'll start sharing new blogs I find once a month.

I'm a Mom choosing her word of the year.

2010-01-10T10:18:00.005-07:00

Now that I've said goodbye to 2009, I've got to face, and say hello to 2010. Last year I chose a word that was supposed to keep me on track with my resolutions, a word I could remember/turn to when I wanted to quit, when I felt like giving up. Last year's word was "RELAX". (You can read that post here) I know for a fact I didn't complete all of my goals from last year. I rarely worked out, I'm still on blood pressure medication, so I know my slowing down and Relaxing hasn't helped on that front either. BUT I have spent time reading more to my kids, and reading more than just one book a month for myself, AND I stopped taking on more than I could handle (no more being on the MOMS Club Board, and I cut back on going Over The Top when I came to entertaining, kids school projects, and things like that). A 50% success rate isn't so bad, is it? It has been hard trying to find my word for 2010. It is the beginning of a new year, the beginning of a new decade, and hopefully the beginning of us being able to function like a normal family. So I've chosen a few words, that I hope will help me accomplish my goals for 2010 I still need to RELAX, not only to help my high blood pressure, but I need to RELAX as a parent and not be so rigid about some of the things my kids do (or the way they do them). I will have CONFIDENCE in my parenting skills, CONFIDENCE that I can do all I need to to help my son through this year, and CONFIDENCE that we can all make it. I also need CONFIDENCE in general, but we won't get into that anymore than we already have in previous posts. I will also try to make better use of my TIME. Right now, I spend a lot of my extra time on the computer, instead of making my household work the way it should. So I will take the TIME to plan, clean, grocery shop and do whatever else I need to do to be a better Domestic Engineer! So RELAX, CONFIDENCE, and TIME are my 3 words for the year. Let's see if I can do better than 50% in 2010!

I'm a person saying goodbye to 2009.

2010-01-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Just like everyone else in the world. And yeah, this will be kind of a flashback post along with a bit of goal setting. Just like everyone else has written. 2009 was a tough one for us. We started out the year with having to face the fact that the kid we thought was being fairly well behaved while he was in the care of other adults (IE. school) was starting to have some huge behavioral issues. We knew he was a tough kid. We knew it wasn't easy being his parents. But we thought he was just being himself with us since he was comfortable around us. We didn't realize how much "being himself" came into play during school hours. I don't know if we were in denial, or if we were totally delusional, but reality was pretty much shoved in our faces toward the end of his kindergarten year. He had some issues, OK some pretty big issues. We were forced to face the problems head on.

We took some assessment questionnaires (some very confusing and repetitive assessment questionnaires) and it seems that our son is on the scale for ADHD and Oppositional Defiance Disorder (I had no clue there was a name for him freaking out so much when things don't go his way). With the help of a new awesome pediatrician, a few specialists, and a lot of good friends, we spent the remainder of the year getting through it (OK having him on ADHD meds hasn't hurt either).

Colin has been less defiant, less violent, and less emotional. The key word being "less". Some days are so bad I have to leave the house to keep from going insane. Some days I just want to crawl into a hole and cry for hours. Some days I wonder what I've done as a parent to deserve the hand I've been dealt. Some days run very smoothly and I get an "I love you Mom out of the blue." Or a hug when I ask for one. I am very happy to say goodbye to 2009, and what I hope proves to be the toughest part of learning to help our son be a productive member of society. And a productive member of our family too. It was very draining trying to anticipate how he is going to react to something we know he isn't going to like, and to try and put it in a way he can understand that it isn't a slam against him.

So one of my hopes for 2010 is for us to become closer as a family, and for us to want to spend time together instead of wanting to pull a Homer and Bart choking session each time we are in the same room. I have other hopes for me, on a more personal level, and I'll share them in another post (this one is already too long!)

That is just a small amount of what we've been through in 2009, I guess I shared it with you so you have a better understanding of why I've backed off on my blogging, and why they've been such superficial posts (well, more so than normal). I didn't want to be the "Debbie Downer" of the blogging world, and I didn't want to fake happiness when I wasn't feeling it. Look for another "resolutions" post coming soon!

I'm a blogger with the best Top 10 list ever!

2009-12-31T17:16:00.002-07:00

All around the interwebs "Top 10 of 2009" lists are popping up. Some are serious, some are silly, and some are downright weird. My favorite lists have come from Mama Pop. Mama Pop rocks the celebrity/current events world all year long, but each contributor has put together some great "Top 10 of 2009" lists. My favorite of those lists has been the one Katie (aka motherbumper) just posted. My Top Ten Celebrity Memory Making Moments of 2009 made me smile, made me laugh, and made me cry (mostly from the laughing). Check it out along with the other Mama Pop Best of 2009 lists.

I'm a Mom wishing you Happy Holidays!

2009-12-25T09:40:00.002-07:00

Merry Christmas! Thanks to all of you that still read my blog, whether you comment or not. I'm going to try to post a little more often, even if they are short posts. Christmas pics (and possibly video!) coming soon! Now it's time to get ready for a day filled with relatives. *sigh*

I'm a little bit of a braggart too.

2009-12-19T15:54:00.002-07:00

Just a quick tidbit about Lilly. She is loving, loving school and has recently learned her "ABC's" (only the song) and sings it on a very regular basis. Our 22 year old nephew came for a visit this afternoon and Lilly decided to show off. She sang her ABC's for him, in a very cute way, and instead of singing "L-M-N-O-P" she said "Elmo-Pee". I loved it! She is so silly when she sings it, and tries so hard to sing it correctly. What makes this so funny, at least to me, is that when my nephew used to sing his "ABC's", he used to say "And the men all pee" during the same point in the song! Anyone else have a funny tidbit about their kids or nieces or nephews and the "ABC's"?

I'm a Mom spending more time making Christmas "treats" for her kids.

2009-12-15T15:09:00.004-07:00

This Christmas season I've been trying to spend more time making treats for and with my kids. Yes, I've taken shortcuts on a few of the treats, but the kids have loved them just the same. I don't know if I will make my Spritz cookies this year, but I am going to try to make a few new things to make up for it. In fact, I made something I've never made for my kids before. Caramel Corn. My Mom used to make it for us, or for neighbors for Christmas gifts. It would take her a long time to make it the way her Mom used to. She'd pop the popcorn, make the caramel, mix the two together and bake. She'd bake for like 15 minutes, then stir the caramel corn. Then she'd bake for 15 more minutes and stir again. That would go on for an hour or so, and in between breaking up fights between us kids, and trying to do other things around the house, it would take a lot of time. Time I just don't have right now. Time that would take away from the time I have been trying to spend on my son. Luckily I have a great friend that has an easy peasy way to make caramel corn (Thanks Holly!). She sent me the recipe, and it has taken me days to get the chance to make it. So I'm sharing the recipe with you, so you can make some easy yummy caramel corn for your kids, or maybe for just for you! Microwave Caramel Popcorn 1/2 C. Margarine 1 C. Brown Sugar 1/3 C. light Karo Syrup Dash of Salt 1 C. un-popped Popcorn 1 tsp. baking soda Air Pop popcorn into a large bowl. Cut margarine into 1 qt. microwave proof dish. Add brown sugar, Karo syrup, and salt. Cook on high for 5 minutes. Mixture will boil. Remove from microwave and stir in soda. The mixture will expand when the soda is added, so make sure you don't go for a tiny bowl. Pour mixture over plain air-popped popcorn. Stir until popcorn is evenly coated. I also like to add cashews and drizzle with melted chocolate if I'm feeling fancy. :) It was so easy to make this, and I was even really tempted to add a cup or so of M&M's to the popcorn for a little bit of a chocolate kick! Can't wait for my kids to try some!

I'm a Mom that is not alone in her feeling of "drowning".

2009-12-10T18:33:00.002-07:00

A fellow blogger wrote a post today about the stress she feels as she looks at or thinks about her "To Do List" for Christmas. I could have written the post myself. (Read Mommy Mo' s post "Stiff" here) Every time I check something off my list of things to do before Christmas, I usually add something else. So every time I look at or think about my list, I feel like I am drowning in "to do's". AND these last few days have been so cold, I haven't wanted to leave the house to do errands, or purchase gifts, so I was behind (I have since caught up!) A few drinks, or shots of vanilla Vodka (yum) have helped me de-stress and re prioritize. I've taken things off my list (things that are "extra") and I've changed the way I've wanted to do things (for instance, instead of baking homemade sugar cookies, and using cookie cutters to make shapes, I used a mix and just baked round ones). The kids enjoyed decorating them just as much as if I had stressed out over baking them. And I enjoyed letting them. So I guess I challenge you to take some things off of your lists, change things around a little, have a glass of wine (or a shot of vodka) and enjoy this Christmas season the best you can! Oh, and Thanks Mommy Mo' for the offer to share a couple bottles of wine, I wish I lived closer to you!

I'm a Mom vowing to slow down this Christmas season.

2009-12-07T08:30:00.003-07:00

Some people like the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. I don't. I don't handle stress very well. I like things to work smoothly, and I have a hard time "going with the flow". I'm better than I used to be, but I'm not as laid back as other people I know. I probably never will be. This Christmas season I've vowed to get my shopping done early so I am able to spend more time enjoying the season with my kids. I want to help them write letters to Santa. I want to make and decorate sugar cookies. I want them to help make the treats for our neighbors. We just received a pre cut out Gingerbread house to decorate. I'd like to read a Christmas story or book every evening, to spend some quiet time as a family. So far the story/book idea hasn't worked, but that isn't my fault (the kids have been a bit wound up at night and they have been sent to bed early to get more sleep) and I haven't even baked pull apart cookies. But it will happen, we WILL slow down and spend more time as a family enjoying the quiet as the snow falls, or taking a drive to see the Christmas lights. That is my goal for this Christmas.

I'm a Mom with a sense of satisfaction.

2009-11-30T13:21:00.004-07:00

I made it! I made it through NaBloPoMo 2009. I didn't know if I could do it, but it was nice to set a goal (however small) and accomplish it. My posts may not have been interesting, and I did pull a few of them out of my ass (or out of thin air if you prefer) but it was fun! I'll have to remember NaBloPoMo for 2010, and see if I can do it again! Hopefully I'll be more fun next year!

I'm a blogger with title writers block.

2009-11-29T13:13:00.004-07:00

I'm having a hard time coming up with good titles for my posts. Just when I think I've come up with some thing clever, the same title pops up in my previously used titles cache, and I have to start all over again with the thinking. Oy! The Thinking! (Sometimes I just can't think and most of the time it is because there is no quiet spot in the house to think) I guess the key word in that first sentence up there is "good". I've been able to come up with titles but not all of them constitute a "good" subject for a blog post. Here are some examples: I'm not just a Mom... "I'm the worst Mom in the world that ruins all my kids fun" No one wants to hear about my son's fits that end up with him in a time-out (or 50) and him blaming me for "ruining all his fun" or "ruining his life" or "being the worst Mom" ever. Because at the end of it all, I have my moments where I AM the worst Mom ever, but I don't really want to ruin the illusion that I am the "perfect" Mom. "I'm a housewife that would rather sit on her ass than clean the kitchen" No one really needs to know how bad my kitchen really is. They just want to see it clean when they come over, with swept and mopped floors, and a clear counter. Maybe the dishes done too (although, that IS the one thing that is pretty caught up on in our house, but that is because my husband does the dishes. I don't). "I'm a woman that has no fitness goals despite owning a Wii Fit, the games My Fitness Coach and Gold's Gym Cardio Workout, and a treadmill." See the above title. "I'm also a psycho because some days I just can't handle it all and I run away from my kids." OK, so I make sure someone is taking care of them when I DO run away, but still. Does anyone really care that yesterday I got sick of my son's throwing a fit and my daughter's whining, so I got in the car and ran to the liquor store? Well, OK if you do, I'll write about it. Any of those titles make a good blog post? I didn't think so. I guess I'll try to find a quiet spot in the house to start thinking of some better ones.

I'm a Ute fan too!

2009-11-28T16:18:00.004-07:00

Big college rivalry game being played today! Utah and BYU have played 90 games against each other, today being the 91st. Most of the time they are equally matched teams, and some years are a bit mismatched, but it is usually a pretty good football game. As always, my loyalties lie with my Alma mater the University of Utah. Even though I am not a huge football watcher, I still root for the Utes during the rivalry game. So GO UTES!!!

I'm a Mom that loves food.

2009-11-27T09:42:00.005-07:00

I love finding new recipes. I love buying the ingredients. I love making the dish. And I most of all, love eating the finished product! That made it easy (and tough at the same time) to participate in Beth's (at I Should Be Folding Laundry) You Capture Challenge this week: FOOD!

I took pictures of the pie I made while I was making it. I took pictures of the food at Thanksgiving. And I took pictures of the pie we had for dessert (oh YUM!). But I think my favorite picture of food is the one that comes with a bit of nostalgia.

When we were little my Mom used to make cinnamon and sugar cookies out of the leftover pie crust. I'm sure some of your Moms did the same thing, but at the time, we thought it was something special. My Grandma used to do the same thing for my Mom, and it was one small tradition we kept up with after my Grandmother passed away. Even though it was very simple, we would watch as my Mom cut the leftover pie crust dough into rectangles, not all perfectly shaped, brush the dough with melted butter, and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on them. We would wait in anticipation for them to be baked and cooled enough to eat, of course asking "Are they done yet?" way too many times for my Mom's liking (hey! 15 minutes is a long time to a kid!) Even though I didn't always LOVE eating them, just watching my Mom make them, and having her tell the story about her Mom making them, prompted me to make Pie Crust Cookies for my kids this year. I guess I'd forgotten that kids don't necessarily like them because my kids didn't eat many, but at least I'm passing on a tradition.

Go see what other yummy Food captures are over on I Should Be Folding Laundry.

I'm the Mom of a thankful family.

2009-11-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

Or at least thankful kids. I asked them what they are thankful for this year and this is the response I got: Colin is: -Thankful for family -Thankful for school friends -Thankful for chocolate (even though he doesn't like it) Lilly is: -Thankful for her family (Colin, and Mommy, and Daddy) -Thankful for candy and pies (umm, OK) -Thankful for her doggy (or I guess I should say her toys, since the doggy is just a toy) I know my husband wouldn't like me sharing what he is thankful for on my blog, so I didn't ask. On the other hand, I am: -Thankful for a family that loves me and will quickly forgive. -Thankful for a husband that works hard to provide us with all we need and most of what we want (and we don't have to use the welfare system to get any of the things we need). -Thankful for many friends that have become a support system and that are willing to listen to my bitching about motherhood. AND since my son gave a silly answer, I am: -Thankful for wine, and chocolate martinis, and mudslides, and margaritas and any other alcoholic drink that helps me decompress after a particularly hard day on the job. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! (Now back to your regularly scheduled non-mushy blog reading)

I'm a Mom watching her kids grow up.

2009-11-25T19:51:00.004-07:00

I know kids are supposed to grow up. I know that is the goal of having children, to help them grow up and become productive members of society. But sometimes it is a bit hard watching them become independent little beings.

Colin lost his first tooth this week. It had been loose for a long time, and he was a little scared to play with it, not wanting to have it come out, then lose it while he was at school. He didn't need to worry, it hung in there for so long that it came out while he was having a snack, at home. The bad thing is that, it came out while Seth and I weren't around. Luckily my Mom was here, and she being the expert on lost teeth she is, put it in a safe place. The tooth fairy came that night and brought him 2 dollars and a wallet to keep it in. Seth took a few pics of our gap toothed son so enjoy!

(Sorry this post is so late in the day, the day before Thanksgiving can be a busy one!)

I'm a cook with a suggestion.

2009-11-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

Does anyone NOT have leftover turkey after Thanksgiving? We usually do, not a lot, but we have enough that doesn't get eaten some years. I know there are tons of recipes out there that give you an idea of what to do with that leftover turkey, but I want to put my 2 cents in. I found a really good recipe for Organic Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. One day I'd like to try it the Organic way, but good thing for me, it has instructions on how to make it non-organic. I used a rotisserie chicken, and the boxes of wild rice, so I don't think my veggies got cooked long enough, and they were a little crunchy. But other than that, it was easy to make and oh so good! I think it would be really good to use turkey instead of the chicken, as a new and different choice for using up the Thanksgiving leftovers!

I'm the wife of a man who will not refuse a dare.

2009-11-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

Let me explain. The whole time I have known Seth he has taken just about any dare offered to him. Especially if it involves money. Before we had kids, he was dared to lick the flap of the garbage can in European Connection for $5. He did it. About a year ago he overheard a co-worker (well, she's an ex-coworker now) talking about the "11" at the Wing Coop in Holladay, and he decided to complete it. 11 wings in the 11 sauce in 11 minutes, he did it in 10 minutes 42 seconds and he doesn't like to eat wings (something about the bones). So when he heard about the challenge at Chunga's I wasn't surprised when he said he's try it. Chunga's is a very tasty Mexican food restaurant in well, what Seth called "The Ghetto". It is at 200 South and 900 West (well, in that area) which isn't the nicest part of SLC. The challenge is to eat 27 tacos in 45 minutes. And these aren't your Taco Bell tacos. I wasn't around the day Seth decided to do the Chunga's challenge, but our friend Kelly was. Kelly (burgersmoke) started a blog about the best tacos in the SLC area and my husband is a famous part of that blog now. Read all about Seth's experience on SLC Tacos. A Champion Will Be Made Today... and Seth vs. 27 Tacos- The Aftermath So if you decide to dare my husband to eat something strange, or to bet him he won't eat something, be aware, he will be up to the challenge. (I know the SLC Tacos posts were a bit ago, and I started my post about the same time, but I forgot about them, and decided to share during NaBloPoMo, crafty aren't I?)

I'm a little busy too. Just a little.

2009-11-22T16:15:00.002-07:00

Even though I have spent most of my time at home this weekend, I've been busy. I realized that I won't have much time after Thanksgiving to take pictures for, make, and order Christmas Cards, or the Calendars I give to Grandparents each Christmas. So I've been putting those together. I had a hard time deciding what pics to use for the calendar, and I didn't have pics for Christmas yet, so I had to take those. I hate taking posed pics of my kids! They are never good for me! (I wanted to have a friend take some pics of us this year, but all of my weekends have been full or hers have been full, so I never made a "date" to get them done. Hopefully in the Spring Jan!) So we had a mini photo session this afternoon, and I picked the best shots of them that I could.

I'm also getting ready for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Luckily no one is coming here for dinner, but I DO have to make 1 pie, and 1 side dish and of course help once we get to my parents house. I decided to get my fixings today, so I wouldn't be in the middle of the crazy, crazy Thanksgiving shoppers later in the week. It was still crazy, but not as crazy as it will be on Wednesday.

So that is my weekend. Been waiting for the snow that was in the forecast to be here yesterday afternoon, and then THIS afternoon, but it hasn't materialized. Most likely it will be here just in time for the morning commute.

(Day 22 of NaBloPoMo and I'm still going! You surprised? I AM!)

I'm a photographer that finally saw a sunset.

2009-11-21T10:58:00.003-07:00

I know I'm a few days late in joining the You Capture Challenge over at I Should Be Folding Laundry, but last night we had the most amazing sunset! I didn't even know it was happening until I passed my front window and saw my car glowing pink in my driveway. I grabbed my camera and ran outside (without shoes on) to capture it. I am sure the neighbors thought I was nuts, but I don't care! I loved it! I couldn't choose just one photo, so I made a slide show. I hope it isn't against the You Capture rules to do so, but I couldn't resist showing you all of them. I'm sure I won't see a sunset like that again for a long time. Enjoy the slide show, then head over to Beth's blog and see some more incredible sunrises and sunsets.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I'm a Twilight Saga fan(ish) too.

2009-11-20T11:07:00.003-07:00

So, I liked the books. Well, loved the books. And have been excited for the movies (but not so excited I dressed like Bella, or stood in line for hours just to get tickets). I didn't even see Twilight until my friend Mel had a Twilight viewing party when it came out on DVD (that was so much fun!) Last night I got to see New Moon with a bunch of friends at an early showing of the movie! Katie's neighborhood did a fundraiser and for a small donation we got a ticket to an exclusive showing of New Moon. The fundraiser coordinator ROCKED! She got a whole theater for the early showing just for people that donated to the cause. It was so great to be able to see the movie at 6:00PM the night before opening day, in a theater where I knew I wouldn't have to deal with too many Twilight crazed teenage girls. Although there were some crazy women (like the Mom that brought her newborn to the show, I mean, WTH? Leave the kids at home) most of the theater was pretty insync with what was going on, on screen. (I loved that when Jacob first came onto the screen everyone went "ewww!" because he still had his long hair) The theater was pretty quiet most of the time and it was really nice to just watch a movie! I got to sit in a row with most of my friends, and no one made fun of me for wearing my New Moon t-shirt (at least not to my face). All in all the movie was better than Twilight, but could have been better in general. I'm interested to see if the other two movies will get subsequently better as the budgets get larger. I will buy the DVD, just so I can have the collection (OK, and so I can look at Jacob's abs whenever I want-Oooooh baby!) but it isn't a movie that I will watch too often. The most fun of the night was when we went to dinner after the movie! MacCool's remains one of my favorite places to eat and hang, especially if we get a fun waiter. Do you remember Ed from this post? Well, Ed was our waiter last night! A bunch of crazy women, along with a pretty crazy waiter makes for a crazy evening! Jabs thrown here and there, and great service, is why I love MacCool's so much! I need to go more often, even if it is just for a drink and an appetizer before a movie. So to summarize: New Moon the movie 1 thumb up, MacCool's for the after party 2 thumbs and a big toe up. (Luckily we didn't have to much to drink that it was 2 thumbs and a New Moon shirt up)

I'm a Mom that loves spending time with Friends!

2009-11-19T08:28:00.002-07:00

This is another quick post. I have a busy day ahead, between discussing movies at Movie MOMS, and cleaning the house enough that the babysitter will feel comfortable while she's over here, and going to a pre-midnight showing of New Moon tonight, I don't have a lot of time. I know, ANOTHER quick post? I would have thought you'd be glad about that after some of my really long wordy posts the last few weeks. So, I get to spend the evening with some friends, watching New Moon, possibly going to dinner and having drinks, and all in all having a great relaxing evening. Whoo Hoo! But tomorrow I'll have a post about the movie and the great evening I had! PS If you were here to see if I had any pictures of a sunrise or a sunset you must not know me very well. There is no way I am going to be awake early enough to take a pic of a sunrise and sunset is during homework and the witching hour here in UT. I wanted to be creative, and have my kids color what they think a sunrise, or sunset looks like, but they shot me down. Sorry! I'll try to have a new You Capture next week.

I'm a TV watcher too. updated

2009-11-18T14:20:00.004-07:00

Those of you that know me, already know that. This is another quick post since it has been a long day, and I still have hours to go! Here are a few TV shows you SHOULD be watching if you aren't: Monday: The Big Bang Theory. So funny, so cute, and even though sometimes I want to smack Sheldon upside the head, he rocks! Castle. Nathan Fillion. That is all. Tuesday: The Forgotten. Kinda of a crime drama/cold case type show, but so much more. Christain Slater, and a really cute artist (and a few others) help the forgotten network find the identities of Jon and Jane Doe's and what happened to them. Sad, but uplifiting at the same time. Wednesday: MERCY! Watch mercy! Love the main character, she is great! Thursday: All of NBC until 9:00 (MST) when I switch to The Mentalist. Oooh! Simon Baker is so cute, and smart and even though he doesn't use his Aussie accent, I still like to listen to him talk. Friday: Ummm...The Soup. And Medium. But they are on at the same time, so I'm not sure I know which one to watch. Saturday: Nothing. Nothing on TV. This is usually date night anyway Sunday: Brothers and Sisters. Although I've felt so sad about Kitty and her cancer, that I haven't watched in a few weeks. I'd link to most of these, but either you are watching them, or you can find everything you need to know about these shows on IMDB.

I'm a cook that is going to start keeping buttermilk in her fridge at all times.

2009-11-17T17:10:00.003-07:00

Quite a few of the great recipes Pioneer Woman has on her website call for buttermilk. Now I know some people consider that a staple in the "pantry" but I never have. (I also know people that like to drink it straight *shudder*, and that is totally a personal preference.) But from now on I'll make sure I keep some in my fridge. Once recipe I will make over and over again (as long as I keep the buttermilk in the fridge) are PW's Homemade Chicken Strips. They were so easy to make, and so yummy! I made them the night before Halloween, and the family ate them up! I should have made more since I craved them for lunch the next day, but they were great with my homemade french fries and BBQ sauce for dipping. (Next time I make them, I want to try PW's Homemade Ranch Dressing though, mmmmm) If you want something quick and easy to serve, try 'em!

I am now a HUGE fan of The Girl Who.

2009-11-16T15:07:00.002-07:00

I spent part of my day yesterday reading the archives of The Girl Who. I barely got through part of the first year she started putting her journal into a blog, so it is going to be a long time before I get through all of them. One entry brought me to tears. It goes along with my post from last Friday, all whiny and shit, but I've never been able to put into words how I feel some days/weeks and she did it for me. Read her post here, and if you feel like it, comment on it. Here or there, or both places. You might get sick of me talking about The Girl Who. Who cares? Just don't read the post if you don't like it. (OK, so I care. I'll try to keep the posts about her to a minimum, -K-?)

I'm a blogger running out of things to say!

2009-11-15T12:56:00.002-07:00

I've been trying so hard to make sure I have something semi-interesting to write about during NaBloPoMo, but it isn't easy! Yeah, I kind of copped out yesterday, with the whole "it's snowing in Utah" post, but I get a few "freebies" don't I? I don't have a lot to talk about today either. It is another lazy day in the Behunin house. Watching sappy movies and doing a little laundry. And reading Post Secret. Of course, reading Post Secret. I love that Frank posts a few extra secrets on TwitPics every Saturday. It gives me something to look forward to on Sundays. This week he posted these secrets: http://twitpic.com/pj7ze , and the judgemental people commenting really piss me off! (Read through them) I mean, who is anyone to judge what movies, books, or even songs can get someone through a tough time. Who cares if the whole world doesn't approve of the Twilight series, some of us like it, and enjoy reading the books and seeing the movies? Who cares if someone that doesn't normally enjoy that type of book or movie, gets something out of it that no one else can see? Post Secret is supposed to be a place where secrets can be shared without judgement. So to those that commented about the first Saturday Secret in a mean, judgemental way, screw you! (I know, I'm so articulate)

I'm lazy too.

2009-11-14T15:51:00.002-07:00

Well, on the days laziness is called for. Which is pretty much the weekends. I spent last evening with a couple of friends drinking and chatting ( thanks girls, I so needed that!) but didn't get home until late (or early, whatever). I've spent most of the day in bed watching movies and being lazy. That is mostly because it has been snowing all day long. And what better day to be lazy than a snowy one? I took a few pics of the snow, but they didn't turn out. So if you want to know what Utah looks like on the 14th of November 2009, take a look out your own damn window, or if you DON'T live in Utah, be grateful you don't have a few inches of snow outside your door today!

or maybe I am.

2009-11-13T12:55:00.001-07:00

So I know that my blog is mostly a glossed over peek into my version of motherhood and being a housewife. But I've been thinking a lot about changing that. I don't mean I'm going to go all "my life sucks" on you, but on the days I'm having a hard time, I'm not going to hold back. Well, maybe I'll hold back a bit, but I'm not going to post something fun when my head is telling me to just let it all out. I'm going to try to express what I'm thinking, but since I'm not a very good writer (did you read those two damn long posts about PW? I need to figure out how to be short and to the point!) try is all I can give you. Recently I came across a blog, well OK, dooce had been talking about it on Twitter, The Girl Who, that I was really getting into. I started reading the archives, and read her love story, Mormon to Married in Manhattan, and started to get to know her through her writing. Let me rephrase that: started to get to know her through her AMAZING writing. I love the way she writes. I just love it. She wrote a funny post about Facebook (or as she calls it, Facefuck) and came to the crazy realization that we not only grew up in the same hometown, but we went to High School together. And not only did we go to High School together, but we were in the same graduating class. (Not gonna give any details, I feel old enough already some days) So I read a bit more of her archives and found her maiden name, and read more about her childhood. I got out my yearbooks (yeah, I'm a little ashamed of that) and looked her up. We didn't have the same friends, although I knew who she was and who her friends were. She was a popular girl that dated a football player, and I was less than popular that liked drama and choir (and dated a geek, yes, I CAN admit to that now). As I made this discovery, I started thinking. I of course started thinking about how appearances can be deceiving (or from one of my favorite songs by Insipid Brown "appearances are so misleading") and how I thought things were perfect for the blond, blue eyed, cheerleader type that seemed to have it all. And they weren't. Not by a long shot. I also started thinking about how things change. How the people I though were going to be successful after high school, are not the ones I consider successful now, or the ones I thought would have it good, are actually screw ups. Every once in a while an old schoolmate will end up in the news, and not in a good way. In fact a few years ago, a girl I desperately wanted to be friends with, and I wanted to like me in the worst way ended up being caught stealing identities from college students, and committing fraud. What!? That was just about as bad as seeing a kid from Junior high on the news for trying to rob a bank with his brother (seriously. And I won't tell you about a former friend from Junior High that didn't help save a girl from ODing. It is just too crazy). The one thing I think most about though as I find out about people from high school and what their lives are like, is me and my life. I find out that The Girl Who is a TV producer for a local news station. I find out that the tall redhead with big boobs that could sing, and act, and make friends like there is no tomorrow, has written her own plays, and music and lives in New York and doesn't look much older than when we graduated (bitch). I know I should say "who cares" and I know I should be grateful for what I DO have (and I am, every day I am so grateful for my husband and kids and the life we have made, and the great friends I have) but I wonder what I have contributed to society. I wonder why my life isn't as exciting as theirs. I feel like I do the same things day in and day out and it is boring a repetitive. I know many of you feel the same way sometimes. Or do you? Oh my God! I just took a bit of a break from writing this post, and realized I sound a bit whiny. OK so really whiny. I'm going to leave it as is, since these are the things I think about sometimes. Do you feel that way? Or am I just a nut? And truthfully, I am NOT looking for validation, well, not in the "You have a great life. You have a great family and your kids are your contribution to society" kind of way. I mean, tell me I'm not alone, or not crazy. Or tell me I am. I might just need that slap in the face to get me back on track, and to realize that being "just a Mom" is OK.

I'm a Mom showing part of her "Real Life".

2009-11-12T08:45:00.001-07:00

*Sigh* This week's You Capture challenge, Real Life, was tough for me. I have a hard time telling most people about what really goes on in my "Real" life. Not that I paint everything to be all sunshine and roses, but very few people know some of the day to day conflicts we go through in the Behunin household.

I'm not going to share everything in this post, but here is a little peek into my "Real Life".

I have a 3 year old daughter. Those of you that have had (or do have) 3 year old daughter, or a 3 year old for that matter, know they get so frustrated when they try to do something on their own and it doesn't work out right. One example is when my daughter tries to put on her pants. Inevitably things go wrong and she freaks out. But once she asks for some help (or gets some help), the waterworks shut off in an instant.

Waaahhh! I can't do it!

Yay! I got help. If these pics look staged, or fake it is because the pouty face and the whining and crying ARE fake. Every time. And it is loud and obnoxious. And no matter how many times I tell her I can't hear or understand her when she is whining, it still happens multiple times a day! It's enough to pull my hair out!

Then there is my son. Between the homework and the reading (and the fighting over homework and reading) EVERY NIGHT I don't have a lot of time for much housework, so once again the kitchen is a mess most of the time.

Son actually reading without a fight

Dirty dishes in the sink, as usual

After the kids have gone to bed, I stretch out on the bed and play on the computer. Oh, who am I kidding? I am on and off the computer all day long. I know, I know, my kitchen wouldn't look like the pic above if I wasn't on the computer all day, but some days, it is just the perfect getaway from the laundry, the vacuuming and the toilet cleaning. Especially the toilet cleaning.

I LOVE the skin on my laptop, so girly!

And last, but not least, my REAL LIFE consists of a drink or two (OK sometimes 3) a few nights a week, so I can unwind and de-stress. Sometimes it is a chocolate martini, or a margarita, but last night it was a glass of Barefoot White Zinfandel wine. (I know most of you know this is part of my real life, but there are some out there that either don't know, or don't approve. Well, I'm putting it out there. Some times I need a drink to stay sane, and I don't care who knows it.)

I like how the wine looks in this one, kind of fun!

So those are my "Real Life" You Capture photos. Go to I Should Be Folding Laundry and see what fun stuff Beth and her readers have in store for you!

Oh! And this week, I WILL, visit more of your You Capture posts, I promise! There are just not enough hours in the day sometimes!

I'm also a grateful American.

2009-11-11T14:13:00.002-07:00

Today is Veteran's Day. I want to express my gratitude to all of the Veteran's out there that have served our country. Even though I currently don't have anyone in my family that is a member of the military, and I have never personally had to feel the absence of a loved one who has been deployed, or experienced the loss of a family member due to war, my Thanks goes out to each and every one of my friend's husbands, wives, fathers, grandfathers that have risked their lives (or potentially risked their lives) to protect my freedom. So thank you.

I'm a cook looking forward to slow cooker season!

2009-11-10T05:08:00.000-07:00

Slow Cooker season is upon us! I love smelling dinner simmering away in the slow cooker throughout the day after little effort from the cook (that is usually me!) The smells seem to scream "Fall is here". Recently as I was watching Good Things Utah, a local talk show, I saw a cooking segment by a local blogger (no, not dooce. Does she even cook?) who was is trying to use her slow cooker for 365 days. So I checked out her blog and 365 Days of Slow Cooking is pretty cool! She uses a star system to rate the recipes, and gives her and her family's opinion of the dish. It is pretty easy to navigate and fun to see what recipes she has tried. I decided to try a 4 star recipe Sweet and Spicy Ribs. We hadn't had any pork around here for a while, and I am sick of cooking pork chops when we do, so I adapted the recipe a bit. Not only did I half the recipe (6 lbs of ribs is a lot of food for 2 adults and 2 kids) but I used boneless pork country ribs instead of the beef. This was so yummy! It smelled divine all day long, and the sauce had just a tiny bit of kick! I think I will add more of the Cajun seasoning next time, to give it more of the spicy and less of the sweet. I served it with mashed potatoes with the sauce as gravy. The ribs fell apart as we ate them, no knife needed, and it would be fun to try a pork roast in the sauce for pulled pork sandwiches. I will make these quite a few times this winter, and I'm hoping to be able to cook the full recipe to share with friends as some point (that depends on if I decide to clean my house and invite people over or not). All in all a great recipe, worthy of the 4 stars Karen gave it! (It's the 10th day of NaBloPoMo and I'm still doing well....hope I can keep this up!)

I'm a Mom that took her kids to see They Might Be Giants

2009-11-09T17:51:00.002-07:00

OK, my husband took them too! They Might Be Giants is a band that has been around a long time. One of my friends even said "I went and saw them like 20 years ago!" When their fans started getting older and having kids, they started making albums full of kids songs. I'm pretty sure if you have kids, or nieces and nephews (or even grandchildren) you've heard a few of their songs. (One of the most famous is the new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song). They came to SLC last year, and I was a bit peeved they didn't have a kids show, or perform at an all ages venue. So I don't know if they heard I was mad (ha, ha, ha) or they realized they have a TON of kid fans too but this time they performed twice while they were here! I don't think our kids knew what to expect from a rock concert, so I don't think they were too excited. We waited for 30 minutes until we got into the venue (Murray Theater) and for 35-40 minutes more after we got in. As we waited they showed the DVD from their new album Here Comes Science, and that was pretty cool. It kept the kids entertained, and made me want to go buy the CD/DVD. Once they started to play, it was awesome! Colin loved being able to watch them play, and when they started playing the electric drums (those are so cool) he realized we weren't lying when we told him they would have some unusual instruments. They Might Be Giants played a few songs for the adults (Particle Man) but most of them were all about the kids. They shot confetti through the air a few times, and Lilly was disappointed it didn't reach her the first time. The second time she was asleep! Yes! She fell asleep during a concert. Seth had her up on his shoulders, and she fell asleep. Luckily even after he went into the lobby, he was still able to hear the music. I just can't believe she missed a lot of the show. Oh well! I'll be able to tell her all about it when she grows up. Even though the tickets were a little expensive, if They Might Be Giants comes to town again and plays a kids show, I am SO THERE!

I'm a Cook finishing her story about meeting PW

2009-11-08T19:14:00.001-07:00

Continued from this post: The "roadies" tested the microphone, the bookstore representative (at least I THINK that's who she was) said a few words, a hush fell over the crowd (well, as much of a hush that would happen in 500 people) and Ree walked up to the mic! Right away people began taking pictures. Some stood up, some lifted their cameras as high as they could, and others were lucky enough to have a prefect shot of her and her SIL Missy and I think her MIL was in the room too. (Mine ended up having a big white spot, and I couldn't figure out what it was, until I realized it was the flash bouncing off the hair of the lady sitting in front of me-Oops!) Ree spoke for a few moments (including telling us about her sudden onset of allergies, that's Utah for ya!) then started taking questions from the audience. She was so sweet to answer all the questions! I wish I would have had a notepad to write all of the questions down, but they varied from "How do you take pictures of your food? Do you used a tri-pod?" To which Ree answered "I used to use a tri-pod, but it hindered what I could take pictures of so now I use my elbows as a sort of tri-pod" , or something similar to that. Someone asked Missy if Ree was the same in person as she is in her writing that answer was "Yes, absolutely!") A question or two later a member of the audience asked an inaudible question, she was on the front row, and the next thing we know Ree steps back up to the mic and starts singing! She sang a few lines of what I now know to be an Ethel Merman song, and she sang it well! You can find her account of the "incident" HERE. Ree is so cute! Traci even got to ask a question...she asked how many Pioneer Woman readers there are, or how many hits Ree gets on her website. Ree was so down to earth when she answered, she was so humble. It seems that she doesn't even look at how many hits she gets, or how many readers she has. She said it would make her nervous to think about it, and she won't be able to write they what she wants to if she knew (or at least I think that is how she answered). The person behind us said she read it is something like 2 million a month, but I read in an LA times article, she gets 13 million pages views a month. (I don't know the difference between the two, but WOW that is a lot!) One of my favorite questions someone asked was about "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels", and YES, she IS publishing the love story! She is finishing the second half (Wedding Day-Present Day I assume) and going to make it into a book. Whoo Hoo! Book Club choice for sure! After she was done answering questions, she made her way to the book store and started signing the cookbooks of the first 20 people in line...now remember some of us had "F"...luckily even though we waited in a large line (I know, I know, it shouldn't have been so large if "A" and "B" were in the bookstore, why were the rest of the crowd just standing around?) we had fun! Katie and Michelle stayed back with us, so we weren't lacking for good conversation (although we were lacking in food...we were starving!) People walked by and kept asking us about our aprons! They all thought they were cute (GREAT idea Traci) and most wished us luck in getting Ree to sign them. We stood behind a group of girls that were also "F" and they had some fun calling all of us "F'ers" even though the people standing in the way were really the "F'ers", and finally, finally got up to be close enough to be in the bookstore. As we made our way through the bookstore, getting closer and closer to Ree, we started getting tired....so tired I thought I was hallucinating when I saw Missy bring in a few kids that were out in the cold, and the bookstore let them! I also thought I was hallucinating when we went up a few stairs, well stood on the stairs, and at the top was Ree's mother-in-law! Traci spoke with her for a bit, and I admired her beautiful diamond earrings, a gift from her husband (Traci asked), and a few other fans asked her to sign their cookbooks. We kept winding our way through the bookstore, and finally, finally got close enough to take pics (because of the number of people, they asked we only take pictures OF Ree and none WITH her) People kept standing in my way so I couldn't take a decent picture. All of a sudden up the stairs comes a guy from Fox 13 news with a camera on his shoulder...he asked Ree a question or two, and just as I was sitting down, he started filming the crowd (whew! I was lucky! I think I was out of the way.) When we finally got up to see Ree, we handed our cookbooks to the bookstore employee, one person at a time, and Traci asked Ree if she would sign the aprons, explaining to Ree about Annie, not being able to be with us because of her daughter being ill. Ree said something about using tons of antibacterial hand sanitizer and was so sweet to be willing to sign the aprons. (See Beth, that's where the aprons and a sweater come into play....and I WAS wearing pants. REALLY, I was!) She signed three books and two aprons for Traci and it was my turn! I was so quiet (yeah, I know) and didn't know what to say. In fact the only thing I remember saying was that I loved her hair color and that her colorist did a great job (there was a post or a tweet about her going to get her hair done) and maybe I said something about how much I like her? I totally don't remember! (If any of you want to remind me what I said, but not how stupid I sounded, please feel free!) She signed MY cookbook first, and the one for a friend second, then my apron. As she was signing my books, Katie took a picture of me, NEAR Ree (but not with her) and I know I looked way cheesy! I feel bad, because as Katie got her book and apron signed and Michelle got hers signed, I don't remember what happened! I was on such a high from talking to Ree, and her not being a jerk (how many people thought The Pioneer Woman could be a jerk, not me, but you never know) that I didn't pay attention! Sorry Katie, sorry Michelle! I do remember going out of the bookstore and having a few people ask if she signed our aprons, us deciding where to go eat (it was like 9:00 by that point), and me doing a little skip dance thingy on our way back to Traci's car because I was so excited! It was so cool to be able to meet someone I read on a daily basis, someone that shares so many of the recipes I love to cook, and my family loves to eat, and someone that just makes my life so much more fun! I am going to savor the cookbook (and cook out of it too) and possibly get the apron framed (I don't want to find out if the marker Ree signed it with is really permanent) and hopefully when Black Heels comes out in print form, she will sign books at a larger location!

I'm a cool Mom because...

2009-11-07T18:55:00.002-07:00

...I took my kids to their first concert today! And that is why I can't finish my post about meeting The Pioneer Woman. It has been a long day ( and a long night before that) and my head is pounding, I'm trying to reason with a tired, grumpy 6 year old and finishing my "To Be Continued" is just not going to happen tonight. Hopefully I will get the chance tomorrow!

I'm a cook that got to meet The Pioneer Woman!

2009-11-06T21:03:00.002-07:00

So as most of you know Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman; aka PW; aka P-Dub) wrote a cookbook. Let me rephrase that she wrote a BEAUTIFUL cookbook. Oh! This cookbook is heaven! The photos are beautiful, the recipes delicious and the cover is divine! (OK, so I like the cover because it is orange and that means I can display it in my kitchen, and it won't look out of place!) And since most authors take a book tour, Ree did too. Or as she calls it a "book trip". On November 4th she was here in SLC! I was so excited she decided to stop here! We are not in any way shape or form a big city like Chicago or LA, but as shown by the number of fans that came out to see her, we loves us some PW! Let me back up here...a few friends and I decided to go out to The King's English Bookstore to see her and have her sign our cookbooks. We planned for a little bit, and then Traci came up with the idea to make aprons with a cute vintage cowgirl printed on it, so we could maybe have Ree sign them and it might make us stand out a bit. We planned for a little bit more, chose our aprons and had one made for PW, then got out names embroidered on them (and of course Ree's on her's along with "SLC loves Pioneer Woman"). On the day of the book signing, Traci picked me up (in my carefully picked out "book signing outfit") and we headed to Sugarhouse. We were meeting Katie and her friend Michelle, and hoping Barbi would be able to come out with us too (Barbi wussed out, but I don't blame her, and Traci's friend Annie had a sick baby, so she couldn't make it). As Traci and I were on our way Katie texted me telling us to hurry, because there were tons of people, and more kept showing up! Now I know not all of you have been to The King's English but it is a quaint bookstore amidst a few shops along 15th and 15th smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood in SLC. The first thing I thought (and texted to Katie) was "SHIT!" Thinking we were not going to be able to make it to see Ree. We pulled up and parked (up a hill, and I was wearing my new "hot" boots) at about 5:40ish. We rushed down the hill and got in line, even before seeing where Katie and Michelle were. We were so lucky! We hadn't been in line long when a lady came by and handed us a "ticket" to the book signing. Traci and I were "F". Now at the time I didn't know what that meant, but I eventually found out that there were 20 of each letter, so that meant we were in the 5th group of 20 people to be able to go in and meet Ree. (Katie had "C" and Michelle had "D" lucky bitches!) The letters went to up "Q". And there were more people that didn't get tickets that waited for after the people with tickets had taken their turn. Seriously, we think there were 500+ people there to meet Ree and get their books signed. WOW! We stood in line (after buying our books from the local bookstore) for about 45 minutes. They opened the gallery (cute art gallery where Ree spoke) at 6:30 and we were so lucky that Katie and Michelle saved us seats or we would have been standing like 300 other people that didn't get seats (THANKS!) Ree was slated to speak at 7:00, so we waited in the midst of the excited crowd,taking pictures, and browsing the cookbook. The "roadies" tested the microphone, the bookstore representative (at least I THINK that's who she was) said a few words, a hush fell over the crowd (well, as much of a hush that would happen in 500 people) and.... TO BE CONTINUED! (Aww..it's late, and I'm still tired, and well, this post has been long. And I need something to write about tomorrow, dontcha know?)

I'm a hobbyist wishing I had more time for my hobby.

2009-11-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

Even though I don't get enough alone time to hone my photography skills, I've still been trying to take photos and use my camera in different ways. I think I need to watch the DVD that came with my camera, so I have a better idea of what I'm doing.

This week's You Capture Challenge was to shoot whatever I wanted! So I took my camera with me a few places this week and came up with some fun stuff....at least I think the photos are fun.

Glow of a fake Jack-o-lantern decorating a hallway at my husband's work

Glow of a REAL Jack-o-lantern on our front step

Glow of a Pioneer Woman Signing Books at The King's English in SLC

Go check out the other great photographer's You Capture Shots at I Should Be Folding Laundry! And tomorrow I will have a post about the whole experience meeting Ree! (Sorry I didn't get one done today Barbi...it's been a long day!)

I'm a Pioneer Woman fan too.

2009-11-04T16:05:00.003-07:00

Well, you already knew that! Just in case I get home from Ree's book signing a little late, I'm posting this so I don't miss a day of NoBloPoMo. I'm so excited to get The Pioneer Woman's new cookbook, and have it signed and to see her in person! I hope to be able to meet her and get a pic with her and give her the surprise my friends and I got for her. I'll give you an update either later tonight, or tomorrow! Yee-Haw!

I'm a cook loving that soup weather is here!

2009-11-03T05:52:00.003-07:00

Soup is one of my favorite things to make. It is easy to make, and one of the greatest comfort foods ever! I have a few no-fail soup recipes but this has become my family's favorite (OK, so Colin doesn't like it since he doesn't like potatoes). This recipe makes a TON of soup, so it is great for sharing whether with a family that has a new baby, or for a dinner party with friends. It is so yummy to serve with fresh grilled panini's or in a soup bowl. If you are vegetarian you can always use vegetable bouillion cubes and leave the ham out. If you try it let me know...I'd love to hear your take on this recipe! Potato Cheese Soup 6 cups potatoes diced 3 chicken boullion cubes 6 cups carrots diced 3/4 cup butter 1 onion chopped 3/4 cup flour 1 cup celery diced 1 quart half & half 16 oz velveeta diced ham (optional) Put vegetables in large stock pot. Add bullion cubes and enough water to cover. Cook until vegetables are tender. Add velveeta, stiring occasionally to melt cheese. In seperate pan melt butter and add flour to make a roux (add salt and pepper to taste). Slowly whisk in half & half, cook until thickened. Add white sauce to vegetables and cheese. Add ham and heat through.

I'm a blogger participating in NaBloPoMo.

2009-11-02T07:44:00.005-07:00

What is NaBloPoMo you might ask? NaBloPoMo stands for National Blog Posting Month. Every Novebmer a challenge is issued to bloggers for them to write at least 1 post a day for 30 days. We all know that there are very few bloggers that can post something every day, so it is a fun challenge to attempt. I was so wrapped up in Halloween that it snuck up on me this year. Last year I vowed to try NaBloPoMo when I came around again, I forgot about it until I read this post by Tia over at Clever Girl Goes Blog. Thanks for your post Tia! Since she reminded me of it, I've decided to try it despite all the stuff going on. Maybe I'll get brave and share, or maybe I'll just use Plinky most of the month. Whatever gets posted, at least I'll feel like I've accomplished something. So stick with me, and see what I come up with!

I'm a Mom on her game!

2009-11-01T13:35:00.003-07:00

Look! It's the day after Halloween, and I actually have my Halloween slideshow finished! I'm finally on top of something...now if I could just get my Raider's Curtains done. We had some fun this Halloween season and even though we didn't get to see the Witches at Gardner Village this year, the kids still had plenty to keep them occupied. Enjoy the pictures!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I'm finally taking time for the things I want to do.

2009-10-29T13:20:00.004-06:00

I decided I needed to start participating in the You Capture Challenge again. Photography is something I want to get better at, and I need to take the time and practice, practice, practice!

This weeks You Capture Challenge is Autumn. I'm glad I took a few pics last week since winter encroached on our Autumn this week! I didn't get out of my neighborhood to take the pics, I just took some of the neighbors trees while the kids were out playing. Hey, at least they weren't OUR trees! I know they aren't the best, but I had fun trying a few different camera settings out.

Every time I see the tree in the first pic, I think of Fall. I don't know why, it just does. The second pic is a close up of some leaves that I found interesting. Enjoy!

I'm a Mom starting to get it together, a little.

2009-10-27T14:51:00.004-06:00

Things have been going pretty good here in the Behunin household the last little bit. The bathroom is almost totally usable, Colin is doing well in school, Lilly is potty trained, Seth's finger is healing as well as can be expected, and I am starting to get organized for the Holidays. Tonight I am taking dinner to a friend that recently had a baby. I had a hard time deciding what to take her, since everyone takes a lasagna, or pasta, and the weather went from "fallish" to "Winter" in 3.5 seconds. I googled "Meals to take to a friend" or something like that, and came up with the menu below: Potato Cheese Soup- I'll share my recipe next week! Semi-Homemade Parker house Rolls- Rhodes Bake-N-Serv ROCK! Easy Apple Crisp- Yummy dessert find the recipe here. This might be my new go-to meal to take to a friend that needs it. At least for the winter. What is YOUR favorite meal to take to someone?

I'm a winner, twice this time!

2009-10-22T17:54:00.000-06:00

So a few months back you know I won a great giveaway from Fabulous Fun Finds. I enter the giveaways on that site if I like them (still holding out that I will win something from Twisted Silver- I LOVE their jewelry!) and I have found a newer site called Give Me Goodies (word has it that the person that runs that blog is the sister of the person that runs FFF). AND if any of the blogs I read on a regular basis have a giveaway, I enter those too (come on Kitchen Aid from PW!). I here to tell you that if you enter enough, you'll win!

I've won two, yes two, giveaways in the last few months. I was waiting to receive my winnings, so I that I could take pictures and share them with you.

First off, I won a gift certificate worth $20 for the esty shop Mary Dorsch Pottery from Give Me Goodies. I knew exactly what I was going to get! Even though I LOVED, and I mean LOVED the coffee mugs, I knew I had to have a tumbler to go in the new bathroom. It is simple, and if I pair it with the right things, it can look really cute and help with the look I'm trying to go for in there. This is what it looks like:

Cool, huh? I guess we could put toothbrushes in it, or fresh flowers, or even some fake ones. I don't know...I might play around with it a bit.

The second giveaway I won was from Mommy Mo' at Growing Up Mo'. I found her blog after joining You Capture from I Should Be Folding Laundry (my apologies for not participating in the challenge for a while. I just haven't felt very inspired. Maybe this weeks challenge will bring me inspiration, but don't hold me to it). Her very beautiful youngest son recently turned 1 and she held a weeks worth of giveaways to celebrate! I was lucky enough to win the Johnson and Johnson skin care gift pack, full of great skin care products for baby!

Now you all know I'm NOT and I mean NOT having anymore kids. So why would I want to win a baby skin care set? Because my sister-in-law is having another baby! I'm going to be an Aunt again, and this time we are hoping it is a boy. I'll give the whole lot to her and she will be set for a little while when the new baby comes in April. Thanks Lisa! The only reason I posted this was to tell you I actually DO win things. And to give some kudos to the great bloggers that give things away. Check 'em out! Side Note- As I went to get the link to Give Me Goodies, Blogger told me that blog doesn't exist! I know it did at one point, I still have the button on my sidebar, but I'm not sure what is going on. I'll keep the button up just in case it comes back..but if it is gone forever, I'm kind of sad....it was a fun blog to look at, and try to win things from! :(

I'm a cook thinking Pumpkin is Halloweenish, right?

2009-10-20T18:02:00.003-06:00

So I suck at taking the time to write posts. And obviously I suck at writing titles for posts too. Maybe I should take a class...there's got to be one out there somewhere! Here is your "weekly" food post: Make Pioneer Woman's Moist Pumpkin Spice Muffins. So yummy. So easy. And very Halloweenish, or Fally if you prefer. (Yes, I totally just made up a few words there, at least I didn't use Halloweenie. That is my favorite word to describe the Halloween season. Halloweenie.) I made these for Book Club last week and they were a hit. Even though I over baked the first batch (tricky new oven) they were still good. So make them. Great recipe for fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving and such.