Kids Say the Darndest Things

Each week, I am going to compile the funny things my kids say and then post them on my blog with this title.

Caleb had been crying in the swing while I went to go get duct tape (not to stop his crying by the way), but to fix a board game box and when I returned, Charlotte said, "Caleb's a tent now." What she really meant is Caleb's content now.

I was helping Charlotte with something and she was telling me something that made complete sense, but I obviously can't remember at the moment what it was, but I did say, "I can't argue with that," to which Charlotte said, "But mom, I'm not arguing with you!"

Really, did I hear that correctly?

I just walked into the family room where Caleb was laying on the floor previously asleep and Charlotte was sitting on the couch eating my oranges. I go straight to the swing to look for Caleb's pacifier and Charlotte says, "He's right there!" as she points down to Caleb in the middle of the family room where I had laid him not even 5 minutes prior! I know I've had mommy moments of forgetfulness before, but I don't think I would have forgotten where I put Caleb, never mind the fact I had to step over him to get to the swing!

I'm Back

Here is the first post as a mommy of three! Contrary to popular belief I didn't neglect my blog because of being too busy or adjusting to life with 3, it was just that I was not very motivated to continue it. I was convinced I only had 2 readers (Kimberly and Kim). However, that all changed today, when I got a card from a dear friend in California who said she's been checking my blog! So, for her, and my other friends who live far away, I resume the blog!
Now, with the restarting of my blog, please know that I am extrinsically motivated, so please comment and let me know you are reading. Because to be honest, I hate blogging. I feel like my words are never witty enough and my pictures aren't sharp or clear enough (and that's when I do get pics up, since I hate uploading pics onto our super slow computer.) So, we'll see how this goes!

Boy!

When you show Elijah a picture of me, and you ask him who it is, he says, "Mommy!"
When you show Elijah a picture of Greg, and you ask him who it is, he says, "Daddy!"
When you show Elijah a picture of Charlotte, and you ask him who it is, he says, "Charlotte!"
And when you show Elijah a picture of himself, and you ask him who it is, he says "Boy!"
And we have no idea where he got it from, since we know he knows his name. Regardless it's cute and I don't want to forget!

The Emotions of a Practically 4 Year Old

This weekend Charlotte and I headed to Village Creek Bible Camp for the Women and Girls retreat. And although we had a wonderful, relaxing time this post isn't really about that! We didn't get to camp until 8:30 pm on Friday night, and by the time the hay rack ride, session, snack, and setting up our room were done and taken care of, and Charlotte was in bed, it was 11 pm! Yikes! That is about 3 hours later than she usually goes to bed!
She did take a nap on Saturday and woke up really tired (still) and cranky. I decided to lay with her and ask her what she wanted to do, throwing out the option of even staying in bed. To everything I said, she said "no." Did she want to see the bunny? Did she want to paint? Did she want to lay in the bigger bed? She wanted to go home and see daddy, but I said we couldn't as we had one more day there, but that we could call him on the phone. Even that she didn't want to do. And then a couple of minutes later she said she didn't want to go home. She wanted to stay at camp. She complained of being cold, but then she also complained when she was in her slumber party (sleeping bag). She was absolutely and completely indecisive! More sniffles and crying ensued, so I gently and lovingly asked Charlotte why she was crying, to which she responded, "I'm angry at myself because I don't know what I want to do."

And I couldn't have been prouder! An almost 4 year old expressed her emotions better than some adults I know (myself included!)

Yum, yum, yum, yum!

I'll preface this post by saying that I am not a very confident cook. For a long time I wouldn't bring meals to new moms at church because I was afraid that the family wouldn't like it. Or when we have people come over I make recipes that I know other people I know and trust have made and enjoyed. I'm very hesitant in the kitchen to make up my own recipes, or to deviate from a written recipe. And to be honest, very often I do not try to cook with new ingredients (until recently that is!) Last week it was Eggplant Parmesan, a recipe from my all time favorite magazine cookbook, Everyday Food (best gift ever 2 years ago which keeps coming every month!) And it was delish! Even Greg liked it, who was very hesitant after my mom bought it, saying "Is she planning for US to eat that thing?"

I was very excited when last week, I received my Bzz Agent kit for President Cheese. As a Bzz Agent, I get to try products for FREE and give my honest opinion (no pay for doing so.) So I eagerly looked through my Bzz Kit, and then went through my tried and true cookbooks, and discovered this recipe for Chicken with Feta Cheese. And if you can't already tell from my post title, it was delish, and.....wait for it, wait for it...

Greg even liked it, no, loved it! And this from the man who does not like, or more accurately, hates white food and creamy food. Well, he got both in the meal and devoured 2 big chicken breasts. The President Feta Cheese made the chicken moist, and boy, oh boy, was it packed with flavor! Oh and the aroma while I was cooking the chicken, fabulous! And the best part, I felt like a confident cook! I used an ingredient I normally wouldn't (I LOVE feta cheese, but the extent of my using it has been on salads!), and the result was perfect. Not the same old, same old chicken, I've been known to make.

As I said before, I get to try products for free as a Bzz Agent, and as part of the marketing, pass out coupons for others to try the product. I have 5 $1 off coupons to give away. So, if you want one, leave me a message with a recipe you would like to try using President Cheese and the first 5 people to do so, will get a coupon!

An Easter Hunt

As I was flipping through Family Fun magazine at my chiropractor's office, I discovered an awesome alternative to the Easter Egg Hunt. This year we have been to 2 Easter Egg Hunts, where the kids have received tons of candy, plus we are still making our way through the Valentine's candy, so I loved the idea of having kids search for puzzle pieces in eggs. This way, the kids still have the hunt minus all of the sugar and candy! And lo and behold, I had already bought a puzzle on clearance from Target that I was going to include with Charlotte's Easter basket. However, the puzzle I bought was a floor size puzzle with giant pieces, that would not fit in plastic eggs, so I found some colorful ribbon in my scrapbooking supplies, tied a ribbon around each puzzle piece, "hid" the pieces, and gave Charlotte a basket to let her at 'em.

The result: a big hit! ((At least for Charlotte. Elijah was too busy running around the backyard and tumbling down the hill to participate!) And this hunt came in two parts, because after finding all of the pieces, Charlotte then had a puzzle to put together!