I apologize for the LONG delay in posts. I am a little busy with my new endeavor, Macaroni Kid Broomfield. Don't live near Broomfield but think the newsletter is really cool? No problem! Check out Macaroni Kid to find a newsletter near you!
Ok, enough of the plug :) and on to Aztec Soup.
Each of my kids (and my husband) have a night that they cook dinner. Last week when it was my night to cook, I made Chicken Noodle Soup. Semi-homemade. None of that icky canned stuff. Kaylee mentioned that one night she should make Aztec Soup. Sounded intriguing, so I asked, "What's in it?"
Kaylee: "It's just like Chicken Noodle Soup....without the chicken and the noodles."
Uhhuh...Yeah.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
My eldest daughter
Kaylee woke up Friday morning to go to school. It was cold and snowy on Thursday, so she had to sweep the snow off and scrape the windows of her car. She comes back in to inform me that she bent her car key and it wouldn't start her car. I told her to take my key (for her car). I look and she has taken ALL my keys. Go outside to tell her she needs to leave me the rest of my keys. She just needs to take the one for her car. Turns out, she has locked my keys in her car. Go and get Chance's keys. Open the car. Ask her why she didn't start the car while she was doing the windows. She says she did. No, you just turned on the radio.
Saturday, Kaylee has State for Ulitmate Frisbee. She gets up and heads to the school by 8am. Then, she calls. She has locked her (or MY) key in the car. Drive to the school, give her the key, she unlocks the door to her RUNNING car. I think the child needs a key implanted in her forehead.
Saturday, Kaylee has State for Ulitmate Frisbee. She gets up and heads to the school by 8am. Then, she calls. She has locked her (or MY) key in the car. Drive to the school, give her the key, she unlocks the door to her RUNNING car. I think the child needs a key implanted in her forehead.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Christmas cards brought to you by Shutterfly!
Have you seen the new Shutterfly cards for this Christmas? I have used Shutterfly in the past to make photo books of our vacations. Digital pictures are great, but there is nothing better than having a custom, hard-back book with all of those vacation memories. And, when I saw the new Christmas card styles, I was sooo excited!!!
I love writing a little update on what our family has been doing for the past year in our Christmas cards. Shutterfly’s Christmas cards makes this soo easy!
I have several friends who list the top ten highlights of the year on their Christmas cards. Shutterfly has a card for that:
Have a new baby and want to show of all their exciting milestones for the year? Shutterfly has a card for that:
Can’t decide on that ONE perfect picture for your holiday cards? Not a problem with Shutterfly! You can pick a layout that allows you to highlight multiple pictures:
I am so excited to get started on my holiday cards with all the great options from Shutterfly!
disclosure: I was given 50 free holiday cards for my opinions on shutterfly. If you are a blogger, find out how you can get 50 free cards too! http://bit.ly/sfly2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Parenthood
Whoever says parenting is easy LIES! It is not easy. And, one of the hardest and most frustrating parts is the fact that you don't know the outcome until 20 years down the line! That's a lot of investment and a long time to find out if you messed up or not.
If the kids are having trouble with friends do I say something or ignore it? If I say something, does that draw attention to it and make it worse? If I ignore it, is that silently saying, "It's ok" (if they hurt your feelings..or you hurt theirs) ...thereby, making it worse?
How much parental guidance is just that, guidance, and how much is being a "helicopter" parent? Is being a "helicopter" parent bad? Is being an absent parent better? Is there a balance in between? How do you know where that balance is?
If I don't feed my children organically grown, antioxidant rich, good for you food ALL the time, will they question their up bringing later in life?
What form of discipline REALLY works? Time out? Taking things away? Grounding? Extra chores? And, if NONE of those work, what do I do?
When two of them are fighting with the, "Alora" "Arionna" back and forth, do I say something? Yes, it is a life lesson, but since it is a LESSON isn't it my job to teach them how to work these situations out?
Does my child need to have play dates every other day to be successful socially? Or, can I be my true self and just be a hermit?
When they are sick, or injured, how much sympathy is too much? How much extra leeway do you give?
I honestly think there is no black and white in parenting. There are only differing shades of gray. What works for one parent may not work for me...and vise versa. What works for one child, may not work for another. What works in one life stage may not work in the next stage.
I sometimes wish you could pinpoint the "what went wrong" in parenting when you see a parent dealing with a difficult child. I think, "If I knew the mistake they made, I would make sure I didn't make it, too!" But, as a good friend pointed out, I may not make *that* mistake, but I am bound to make others.
All I know is, I probably should just scrap the college funds and start investing in future counseling instead.
If the kids are having trouble with friends do I say something or ignore it? If I say something, does that draw attention to it and make it worse? If I ignore it, is that silently saying, "It's ok" (if they hurt your feelings..or you hurt theirs) ...thereby, making it worse?
How much parental guidance is just that, guidance, and how much is being a "helicopter" parent? Is being a "helicopter" parent bad? Is being an absent parent better? Is there a balance in between? How do you know where that balance is?
If I don't feed my children organically grown, antioxidant rich, good for you food ALL the time, will they question their up bringing later in life?
What form of discipline REALLY works? Time out? Taking things away? Grounding? Extra chores? And, if NONE of those work, what do I do?
When two of them are fighting with the, "Alora" "Arionna" back and forth, do I say something? Yes, it is a life lesson, but since it is a LESSON isn't it my job to teach them how to work these situations out?
Does my child need to have play dates every other day to be successful socially? Or, can I be my true self and just be a hermit?
When they are sick, or injured, how much sympathy is too much? How much extra leeway do you give?
I honestly think there is no black and white in parenting. There are only differing shades of gray. What works for one parent may not work for me...and vise versa. What works for one child, may not work for another. What works in one life stage may not work in the next stage.
I sometimes wish you could pinpoint the "what went wrong" in parenting when you see a parent dealing with a difficult child. I think, "If I knew the mistake they made, I would make sure I didn't make it, too!" But, as a good friend pointed out, I may not make *that* mistake, but I am bound to make others.
All I know is, I probably should just scrap the college funds and start investing in future counseling instead.
Friday, August 6, 2010
(Neverending) Drive to WY
My grandparents celebrate their birthdays 4 days apart. This year, my grandma and grandad celebrated their 89th birthday!!! Of course, the girls and I had to come up to spend some time with them! If it hadn't been this VERY special reason for our trip, we probably would have turned around and went home as soon as we entered WY!
Yesterday morning Kaylee reminded me that her headphones had broke. Can't drive 5 hours without music to listen to. And, I didn't want to have to listen to her playing her DS, so headphones were a must. I agreed to take her to Target. On the way home, I noticed the tire pressure light had come on. We looked at the tires and none were noticeably flat. I figured we would drive home and have Chance take a look. He couldn't tell which tire it was either. His thoughts were the same as mine..take the van to Big O and have them look at it.
Got it there and they said it would be 45 minutes to an hour...so much for leaving at 10am...it was already 10am.
It was indeed 11 by the time they finished, but it was a well spent hour. I found Kaylee a prom dress for next year for $20!!!! and there was a screw in the tire. If we had not noticed the light before leaving, we would have been stuck along I-25 somewhere.
Get home, get the rest of the stuff ready, and in the car...it is almost noon by the time we hit the road.
Get about 1/2 hour from home and see an electronic sign that says "I-25 closed ahead due to accident, use alternate route." Since this is not an area we frequent often, I didn't know an alternate route. So, I called Chance. He can't find anywhere it says the road is closed. By the time he finds the info I need, I have passed the last exit before the accident. So, we sit in traffic and join the rest of the cars exiting. The detour really wasn't too bad. About 3 miles of small town Colorado. It was good thing Chance had given me directions, because there were no markings for the detour.
Finally make it to Cheyenne after 1pm and stop at the rest area for lunch. Get out food for the girls and realize, my lunch was not packed. Kaylee had gotten it ready while I was dealing with the tire, and she had forgotten mine. So, I headed to the McD's drive through (oh, delicacy...not!). After eating, ask Kaylee if she wants to drive now, or wait until we get to Wheatland. She said she didn't care, so I moved to the passenger seat. That is when Kaylee noticed she had left something behind...her purse...with her permit. So, no driving for her.
I drove the rest of the way.
Made good time until we got to the Campbell County line. Then, construction flagger. They had everyone pulled over onto the shoulder. Found out why about 15 minutes later...the bed of a haul truck was being transported on the back of a flat bed truck. For those of you not familiar with a haul truck, they are LARGE! When I drove them at the coal mine, they were the size of a single story house. That is small compared to the trucks of today. The bed of this truck took up the ENTIRE road! Wouldn't want to meet that wide load on a hill!
Finally, it was our turn to go. It took over an hour to drive the 20 miles to Wright. Stopped at the rest area and there was a LINE for the bathroom! The town of Wright only has about 1,200 people. I have never seen a line 6 deep for the bathroom.
Leave Wright and make great headway. We follow a grass fire truck that is headed into Gillette for the fire meeting and he is moving. Decide to take the "short cut" to mom's house rather than go through town. Great idea, until we turn onto Highway 50 and see...another construction flagger!!! Get stopped for another 5-10 minutes. Finally make it to my mom's street, and her neighbor across the street is moving things from one pick-up to another. So, he is stopped in the MIDDLE of the road...completely blocking my mom's driveway.
Make it and eat dinner...at 7pm. We would have been here by 5:30pm...6 at the absolute latest.
Then, this morning, wake up to no water. There is a water break a few streets down. We are meeting my bf from growing up at the Chinese Buffet (the girls INSIST that we eat there every time we visit) and then we are going to the county fair. Please let it be better than yesterday and the start of today!
Yesterday morning Kaylee reminded me that her headphones had broke. Can't drive 5 hours without music to listen to. And, I didn't want to have to listen to her playing her DS, so headphones were a must. I agreed to take her to Target. On the way home, I noticed the tire pressure light had come on. We looked at the tires and none were noticeably flat. I figured we would drive home and have Chance take a look. He couldn't tell which tire it was either. His thoughts were the same as mine..take the van to Big O and have them look at it.
Got it there and they said it would be 45 minutes to an hour...so much for leaving at 10am...it was already 10am.
It was indeed 11 by the time they finished, but it was a well spent hour. I found Kaylee a prom dress for next year for $20!!!! and there was a screw in the tire. If we had not noticed the light before leaving, we would have been stuck along I-25 somewhere.
Get home, get the rest of the stuff ready, and in the car...it is almost noon by the time we hit the road.
Get about 1/2 hour from home and see an electronic sign that says "I-25 closed ahead due to accident, use alternate route." Since this is not an area we frequent often, I didn't know an alternate route. So, I called Chance. He can't find anywhere it says the road is closed. By the time he finds the info I need, I have passed the last exit before the accident. So, we sit in traffic and join the rest of the cars exiting. The detour really wasn't too bad. About 3 miles of small town Colorado. It was good thing Chance had given me directions, because there were no markings for the detour.
Finally make it to Cheyenne after 1pm and stop at the rest area for lunch. Get out food for the girls and realize, my lunch was not packed. Kaylee had gotten it ready while I was dealing with the tire, and she had forgotten mine. So, I headed to the McD's drive through (oh, delicacy...not!). After eating, ask Kaylee if she wants to drive now, or wait until we get to Wheatland. She said she didn't care, so I moved to the passenger seat. That is when Kaylee noticed she had left something behind...her purse...with her permit. So, no driving for her.
I drove the rest of the way.
Made good time until we got to the Campbell County line. Then, construction flagger. They had everyone pulled over onto the shoulder. Found out why about 15 minutes later...the bed of a haul truck was being transported on the back of a flat bed truck. For those of you not familiar with a haul truck, they are LARGE! When I drove them at the coal mine, they were the size of a single story house. That is small compared to the trucks of today. The bed of this truck took up the ENTIRE road! Wouldn't want to meet that wide load on a hill!
Finally, it was our turn to go. It took over an hour to drive the 20 miles to Wright. Stopped at the rest area and there was a LINE for the bathroom! The town of Wright only has about 1,200 people. I have never seen a line 6 deep for the bathroom.
Leave Wright and make great headway. We follow a grass fire truck that is headed into Gillette for the fire meeting and he is moving. Decide to take the "short cut" to mom's house rather than go through town. Great idea, until we turn onto Highway 50 and see...another construction flagger!!! Get stopped for another 5-10 minutes. Finally make it to my mom's street, and her neighbor across the street is moving things from one pick-up to another. So, he is stopped in the MIDDLE of the road...completely blocking my mom's driveway.
Make it and eat dinner...at 7pm. We would have been here by 5:30pm...6 at the absolute latest.
Then, this morning, wake up to no water. There is a water break a few streets down. We are meeting my bf from growing up at the Chinese Buffet (the girls INSIST that we eat there every time we visit) and then we are going to the county fair. Please let it be better than yesterday and the start of today!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
My eldest daughter
Yes, my eldest daughter (who is in the last months of her 15th year) makes me twitch occasionally. Like when she did not have clothes to pack for our weekend in Breckenridge because they were all dirty...and she didn't realize we were leaving the next day (though we had talked about it for weeks). Or when we got to Breckenridge and she didn't have a sweatshirt to wear to the ice arena because she had "forgot"...despite the fact that I had given her a packing list of what she needed to bring.
But, today's post is not about the things she does that make me twitch. Today I write about what she does to make me say, "I have a fabulous teenager!" Last week Kaylee went to CU at Boulder for an Engineering Camp. She believes she wants to be a Mechanical Engineer and we want her to have as much exposure to what that means BEFORE we start paying for college classes. This camp is AWESOME! An entire week spent at CU. Living in the dorms, eating at the cafeteria, designing and building in the Engineering labs. I will admit I was a little jealous when I dropped her off in the lab.
The night before she left for camp she said that the worst part of going to camp for a week was the fact that she would not be able to have dinner with her family. ahhh
Then, Monday the younger 2 girls and myself headed to dinner by ourselves (Chance was headed to gaming and wasn't going to be home for dinner). Kaylee called because she was also going to dinner and then to the local rec center so she wouldn't be home until late. She wanted to make sure she told her sisters, her dad, and I good night before then. ahhh
Kaylee called home EVERY night she was at camp. Just to chat. Tell us what she had been up to that day and to tell her sisters that she loved them and good night. ahhh
When we were eating dinner at the parent workshop portion of the camp, another daughter was telling her mom all about the week. I smiled. I already knew it all, because my teenager had called every single night.
I have a fabulous teenager!
But, today's post is not about the things she does that make me twitch. Today I write about what she does to make me say, "I have a fabulous teenager!" Last week Kaylee went to CU at Boulder for an Engineering Camp. She believes she wants to be a Mechanical Engineer and we want her to have as much exposure to what that means BEFORE we start paying for college classes. This camp is AWESOME! An entire week spent at CU. Living in the dorms, eating at the cafeteria, designing and building in the Engineering labs. I will admit I was a little jealous when I dropped her off in the lab.
The night before she left for camp she said that the worst part of going to camp for a week was the fact that she would not be able to have dinner with her family. ahhh
Then, Monday the younger 2 girls and myself headed to dinner by ourselves (Chance was headed to gaming and wasn't going to be home for dinner). Kaylee called because she was also going to dinner and then to the local rec center so she wouldn't be home until late. She wanted to make sure she told her sisters, her dad, and I good night before then. ahhh
Kaylee called home EVERY night she was at camp. Just to chat. Tell us what she had been up to that day and to tell her sisters that she loved them and good night. ahhh
When we were eating dinner at the parent workshop portion of the camp, another daughter was telling her mom all about the week. I smiled. I already knew it all, because my teenager had called every single night.
I have a fabulous teenager!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Cures
Normally, my posts are about things that make me twitch. Not today. Today I am posting something that helped with the twitching...Frozen Hot Chocolate. I first heard about this divine invention on Oprah. My friend and I were tempted to find the restaurant in NY where they serve this delicacy, but we were never in the right area. Lucky for me, a magazine (Woman's Day) was delivered into my mailbox today with a recipe for Frozen Hot Chocolate. Just what I needed on a hot summer day!
Frozen Hot Chocolate
1/2 cup chocolate syrup
1 cup fat-free evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups ice cubes
Garnish: whipped cream and/or chocolate shavings
1. Combine chocolate syrup, evaporated milk, vanilla and ice in a blender until smooth.
2. Pour into glasses. Garnish.
ENJOY! Feel those twitches disappear.
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