Thankful Version 2012

 

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  2 weeks of planning the perfect menu.  One week of grocery shopping and trying to find the right tablecloth.  2 days of pie baking.  1 day of cooking.  20 minutes of eating.  Somehow I think my equation is off. Just a little.  Oh, but it was worth it.  I admit that I am a little sad to see November slip by as quickly as it has.

 

The entire month of November has been full of moments to be thankful for.  We have spent very happy days raking piles of leaves just to jump in.  I can't imagine a better use for leaves.  We spent hours throwing Maddux's favorite Vanderbilt football back and forth across the front yard.  The daylight slipped away as we chased after Paizlee's wild throws.

I freshened up picture frames with fresh coats of paint and bought all new comforters for the beds. 

Since we are going to be spending more hours indoors over the next few months, I have been focusing on making things as cozy and welcoming as possible. 

 

I bought a twenty-five pound bag of flour and I am happily planning on how to use every cup.  The Christmas cookie list has been made and I am anxious to begin planning exactly what I am going to bake this year.  In the meantime, I made my favorite Caramel Apple Pie for Thanksgiving.  You should absolutely try it.  Just add a bit of cinnamon to your apples and your life will be complete.

 

As I type, the Christmas tree that we cut down this afternoon is happily twinkling in the living room.  We are moving ahead to Christmas and all the magic that December entails.  I hope that your November has brought you as much joy as ours has.  Now... get those cookie sheets ready.  I will be back with recipes!

October is almost OVER

I wait all year for October.  All year.  Truly.  I know, I know... that's slightly bizarre.  But good things always happen in October.  It's one of the things that I can count on.  Death, taxes and that amazing things happen in October.

This month has been full of happiness and pumpkin patches.  We have eaten pumpkin cupcakes at least three times. Plus, pumpkin cookies.  And maybe even some pumpkin fudge.  Yeah... I should have been running behind the hayride just to burn off all of these pumpkin related calories, but I don't think that's allowed. 

I have so many amazing recipes that I need to share.  Pinterest is a labyrinth of recipes and I have had more explode all over my oven that behave appropriately.  Therefore, I feel the need to share my successes.  I will start tomorrow with my Butterfinger Cookie Bake-off.  Two recipes.  One winner. 

I know.  You can barely stand the suspense, can you?

Try to contain yourself.  And go out and buy some Butterfinger candy bars.  You will thank me later.

A New-ish Chapter and Other General Vagueness

Are you ready?  I am going to pretend like I have been posting the whole time without a lapse. And then I am going to make a vague generality while attempting to sound very deep and genius-esque...

I am standing on the edge of a very big change and beginning to really like the way that it feels.

This kid, the daredevil in a blue dress, starts Kindergarten this year.  I won't lie, there will be sadness. Just as there was sadness when each of them left for school and when I ceased to be the one that held their wondering attention for hours upon hours.  After that first day, they came home bursting with stories of new friends and the unending knowledge of their teacher.  I was faced with, "Mom, you know how to spell my spelling words? Are you sure?  Maybe we should check with Mrs. Moore to make sure you are doing it right."

But with Paizlee, it feels different.  She is my last little monster at home.  She is my final attempt at instilling my children with all the goodness in the world before sending her out to get her feelings hurt or having her self-esteem tried upon a daily basis.  Oh, man. I am going to be one huge big ugly mess on the first day of school. In Paizlee's defense, she is braver than all of us put together and she will be more than fine, but I will still be a huge big ugly mess because that is my right as a mother.  That and calling dibs on getting to be first controller for Super Mario Brothers.

So, with all the spare time that I will have on my hands now that I won't have to follow Paizlee around with bubble wrap and bandages, I will get to reshape my days.  Oh, the soap operas and bon bons that will be in my future... oh, wait, that was last year.

I suppose while I am figuring out what next year will look like (especially since I just quit my soul sucking job, gasp!) I will hang out with the monsters.  I am good, no, great with that until I come up with my next genius-esque idea. 

Lessons Learned

We survived Maddux's first year of football. Just in case you are wondering, I did not rush the field or yell anything embarrassing. Shocking, I know. But I did learn a few things...

1. Just because he was the smallest kid on the team did not mean that he couldn't be tough. Please remember that this was the kid dangling from the side view mirror on his first day of Kindergarten because he didn't want to go. He has also been known to cry when someone looks at him weird. This kid was a whole new kid. This was Maddux 2.0. He flattened kids that were a whole head taller. It was *awesome.*

2. Just because he is tough, doesn't mean that I am. I tend to go all mother bear when something is said about my kid. Brad says my mean, outraged face is quite entertaining. At least he thought so until I turned it on him.

3. White football pants have to be the most stupid idea on the face of the planet.

4. Little boys in football pads have to be the cutest thing on the face of the planet.

5. Watching football on television, or even in a stadium is way easier than on a field with ten thousand little kids running around. I spent a lot of time saying, Where did he go? Do you see him? Did he do something good? The fact that they were Cowboys for the first half of the season until their Packers jerseys came in didn't help matters.

6. The dentist will automatically get you in that day when you tell them that your kid knocked his teeth out at football practice.

Never a dull moment at our house. Brad is now trying to convince him to try out wrestling. I can't be concerned with that, I am trying to secure enough bubble wrap for Paizlee to start gymnastics.

Wonderful

Oh, monsters. Today you spilled like a gazillion cheerios across the kitchen floor and then proceeded to stomp on them because they made a cool noise when smashed to dust. You insisted on listening to Selena Gomez on repeat in the car until even I was singing "Love You Like a Love Song" and the lady in front of me in line at Kroger looked at me weird. You hid the remote control before you left for school so that I wouldn't play Mario Kart and beat your high score. You whined, you smelled weird, you begged, pleaded and drove me bonkers. You ganged up on me in an unsuccessful attempt to eat all remaining Halloween candy for dinner.

And then you smiled sweetly. And I remembered just how wonderful you guys are.

We Absolutely Love Cupcakes

Um, duh. Was there ever any doubt?

Once again we made Valentine's Day Rainbow Cupcakes. I must say, I loved looking back at the pictures from two years ago. The kids have gotten so big! Paiz was rocking it out in her high chair. Holy.cow.I.am.old. Just sayin'.

I love using these baking cups when I make cupcakes. They are easier for the kids to fill because they stand alone on a cookie sheet without having to use a muffin tin. They are a little more forgiving to Paizlee swinging batter around. Just take a pair of scissors and make a tiny snip at the rim of the cup so that when it comes time to eat, all you have to do is gently tear away the baking cup.

I just love how pretty these cupcakes are. I made these at Halloween using green, orange and purple batter. I have a major weakness for pretty cupcakes. Oh, and reasons to use sprinkles. I will do pretty much anything that involves sprinkles.

Breuklyn is very serious about decorating cupcakes. This is obviously a very serious business. She is also the first one done. She knows what she wants, gets is accomplished and is then happily munching on cupcakes while Maddux is still fretting over the perfect application of frosting. I love that she always knows what she wants and very often has no problem accomplishing exactly that.

Notice that Maddux is wielding an off-set spatula. No spoon for him. He wants the real deal. He has carefully sampled the frosting and since it met his inspection he will now spend 15 minutes frosting a single cupcake. While Paizlee and Breuklyn hoarded their cupcakes, Maddux was the only one who shared his cupcakes with Brad. Poor Brad. No one wants to share with him. Just where is the cupcake love, people?

Now this kid, she is all about the sprinkles. I can't imagine where she gets it from. The pinker, the better. She carefully arranged her heart sprinkles so that they were sticking up out of the cupcake. She licked all of them to make sure they would stick. She also licked the cupcake to make sure the frosting would stick. She is nothing if not dedicated.

You know that you just need to make these cupcakes this weekend, right? You can hear the sprinkles calling your name, can't you? If not, it is because Paiz ate them all.

We will be up to our eyeballs this weekend in making Valentines, creating teacher's gifts and We Love Breuklyn Day adventures. I hope that your weekend is just as lovely.

We Love Love Love Maddux Day

Maddux had a very difficult time deciding what he wanted to eat for his special day. It's a hard life when you are stuck deciding between cake, ice cream, cookies, cupcakes and banana splits. Those are his favorite foods, after all. I was actually teetering on banana splits for dinner won't be the worst decision I make all month when he decided that pizza was a food that he could live with. As long as there weren't any pepperoni, onions, green peppers or anything else that makes a pizza edible. However, the exact opposite is true when it comes to banana splits. The more that you pile on in terms of bananas, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, sprinkles and cherries, the better that it is. Clearly.

We love Maddux for many reasons.

Breuklyn - "I love Maddux because he is funny. He has the best jokes."

Paizlee - "I love Maddux because he is pretty. And he loves me."

Brad - "I love Maddux because he is the best golfing buddy. He is always happy and he is the best at sharing with his sisters."

Me - "I love Buster because he is unselfish and always super considerate of others. He always asks how my day was and what I did while he was at school. He is always concerned about the feelings of others and always always always puts his interests last. He is rocking it out in Kindergarten and reading like a pro. Plus, he really is hysterical."

Maddux got money in a card from my parents because he got the Principal's Award for the last semester. As he sat in the backseat and looked at his dollars, he took half of them and shared with his sisters. "I don't like it when I have something and they don't" he said. He is just genuinely sweet. And, Maddux, I really hope that you will always stay that way.

Rebooting. Snow helps.

My heart thinks it is back in Michigan with all of the glorious snow that we are blanketed with. Today is our second snow day. I have to admit that I am kind of loving being in a small town where snow absolutely shuts this place down. Annnnd the phone just rang to inform me of no school tomorrow! I guess we are in for another day of snow and hot chocolate.

I bought these super cute chalkboard mugs as Christmas presents for the monsters. I also bought one for Bradley. I like to write fun little messages for him to find in the morning as he is getting ready for work. Today he was thrilled to find, "Tuesday = garbage day." I know he is dying to know where I have hidden the chalk.

Breuklyn and Maddux quickly launched into building a snowman. Where is Paizlee, you ask? She is drinking hot chocolate in the house. She is clearly far too delicate of a flower to deal with the cold. Snort. She just wanted to choose the first cookie out of the oven. Breuklyn wanted coal for the eyes of her snowman, but, sadly, I was fresh out. She had to use radishes instead. Maddux was thrilled. "You can give the snowman my helping of vegetables!" he shouted. Thank you for your selflessness, Maddux.

As the children are thawing out (and their clothing is thawing on my kitchen floor) I am busy planning a few (GASP!) layouts. I know, it is shocking. But my creativity is back and I have purchased enough buttons and paper to prove it. Oh and I also bought this, this and this so there really is no stopping me now! I know that Visa will be glad to know that I am back.

I hope that your January is going as beautifully as mine.

October Things I Love

October brings two whole weeks of Fall Break, which means lots and lots of excitement with the monkeys.
Plus a few real monkeys that we got to check out at the Nashville Zoo. (Did you like that little segway? Nice, right?) I am also pondering exactly why it is that I continue taking pictures of the animals at the zoo. Why? What exactly am I planning on doing with all of the pictures? I don't even like nature.

Now here is a pictures of something I do understand. Pure bliss. I have been to Starbucks three times this week. I actually got an email from Starbucks announcing that the Pumpkin Spice Lattes were back. I don't know if I should be excited about this or mortified that I needed a notification. Jury is still out.

Breuklyn got her ears pierced when Carolyn was here, approximately 6-ish weeks ago. Breuklyn has been spending a lot of time deciding just what earrings she will be trying out once she is allowed to remove the original ones. A girl who is obsessed with earrings is definitely a kindred spirit. Plus, I love that a promised trip to Claire's will result in a clean room and a neatly made bed.

We have been to two pumpkin patches and amassed a total of 12 pumpkins that are hanging out with the mums on the front porch. A trip to the pumpkin patch is absolutely one of my favorite things about October. Brad just wants to know what I am going to do with all of the pumpkins.

Maddux is obsessed with word searches lately. He will sneak into his room with his word search book and stay happily entertained for hours. It is glorious. Plus, it reminds me of Nan. She absolutely loved word searches. Whenever she would complete one, she would write a little note at the top of the page. She would include the date, what the weather was like that day and a little note about her day. She might write, "65 degrees today, making vegetable soup for dinner." When I told Maddux this, he decided that he would include what he was wearing along with the date. "Tuesday. Batman pajamas." Nan would be proud.

October brings cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. I found a Madeleine Pan at a yard sale for 50 cents and just knew that my first attempt would be Martha Stewart's Orange-Cardamom Madeleines. They were absolutely perfect with a cup of tea.

October brings lots of fun to our house. I wanted to take a picture of Paizlee's turquoise leggings, but I got distracted by her (as she calls it) "ballet hair." We have been just loving the weather, the glorious 2 weeks free of commitments and the smell of cinnamon. Life is good at our house. How about yours?

Breaking The Silence...

I really wish that I could write something beautiful and meaningful about Nan. I wish that I could explain clearly how lost I feel without her.

But I can't.

It hurts. It hurts and I cry. And I don't cry in a delicate pretty kind of way. It's ugly.

Instead, I will tell you that Maddux survived his first 2 months of Kindergarten.

After a few weeks of him absolutely hating Kindergarten, he has adjusted happily. I am so very grateful that I no longer hear choruses of please don't make me go! as he would climb out of the car and then attach himself to my side view mirror in the drop-off line. Nothing says amazing parenting like rolling down the window and threatening one's child with impending doom if they don't let go of that mirror this very instant.

Second grade has brought new happiness to my sweet Breuklyn. She is making new friends and we are battling through her difficulties with reading. This year is going to be good for her.

I can also tell you that Paizlee started ballet last week. She has since spent the majority of her days spinning. And I mean that most literally. I have to say that a class full of 3-year-olds learning ballet is definitely enough cuteness to make me happy for the rest of the day.

We have lots of goals set for October. I am happy to report that many of them involve pumpkins and liberal amounts of cinnamon. I am hoping that my absolute favorite time of year will soothe my battered soul. I believe that it will.

5 Reasons To Love Maddux

1. He is the absolute best kid in the world to go grocery shopping with. He makes all of the big decisions (Captain Crunch vs. Lucky Charms and apples vs. bananas) so that I can concentrate on not knocking over the displays as he waves his arms enthusiastically while holding on to the back of the grocery cart. I try to take his opinions very seriously because the child eats nothing other than cereal and chicken nuggets, so if he doesn't speak up when he decides that he will slide a banana into his daily routine, the child will surely starve.

2. He is really an 85-year-old man in a 4-year-old's body. His big concerns in life revolve around when he next gets to eat and whether or not it is too early to put on his pajamas.

3. He loves loves loves to talk on the phone. If the child gets to talk to my dad on the phone, his whole face just light up. He sneaks away with the phone so that he talk about "boy stuff" with his grandpa. I will find him later laying in my bed, all tucked in, just chatting away. He likes to discuss what he has eaten that day (are we sensing a food trend, here?), what he is currently wearing and he loves to throw me under the bus whenever possible. Mommy is still in her pajamas, he will whisper conspiratorially and she fed us cookies for breakfast. Can you believe that? I miss the days when my children couldn't rat me out to my parents.

4. Maddux is sweet. I know that there will come a day when he will transform into a stinky teenage boy, but for now he is sensitive, kind and utterly adorable. He loves to sit in my lap and tell me about all of the thoughts that came into his head during the 11 hours that we weren't together while he was sleeping. He likes to say things like, Mommy, I love you more than pancakes. And he loves to get up at 1:00AM to check on me. He will wander into the living room in his bulldog footie pajamas, rubbing his eyes, and he will ask me what I am doing. He will stick around to fold a few towels with me, discuss how his Backyardigans CD is better than whatever music I am listening to or grab a glass of water and then he will head back to bed. Night, Mommy. Love you more than ice cream.

(This picture is from November 17, 2008)

5. He is growing. His pants are too big around the waist, but just the right length. He talks about how much he is going to love Kindergarten and then, in the same breath, asks if I can go with him. When I look at him, I see Bradley. Everything that is good about Bradley, his kindness and easygoing nature, is evident in our sweet little boy.

I let Maddux pick the winner for the ribbon giveaway and he chose:

A Sarasota said...

Mmm, chicken pastry for dinner tonight.
Nice banner!

November 12, 2009 9:56 AM

Please email me at EsteeLynn(at)gmail(dot)com with your address! Have a happy Wednesday everyone!

A Day In The Leaves

I think that the goal of every child should be to have friends who have more leaves in their yard than you do.

By having friends who have ridiculous amounts of leaves already handily raked into a ginormous pile two things are universally true:

a. Playing at a friend's house is always more fun than playing at home, i.e. playing in their leaves would be much more fun than your own lame leaves.

b. If leaf playing is done elsewhere, this allows the mother to not have to rake her own leaves for the entertainment of her children. Or even worse, to have to re-rake the entire yard after her children have decimated the leaf pile. -shudder-

Just saying.

November?

Remember my epic I love October post? Um, yeah. October didn't turn out quite like I was expecting.
Thanks to this sweet little girl (seen here in her prom picture, hee hee) we now know everything there is to know about abdominal migraines. She also owes me about a month of sleep. I'm going to put it on her tab.

However, October was not a complete loss. In between the Pediatricians, Specialists and Emergency Room visits we managed to squeeze in a few sunny days. A morning at the park was exactly what Maddux was hoping that October would bring. Maddux is always happy, so he is easy to please. A steady supply of Halloween candy and a few mornings at the park are all he really needs in the world.

Breuklyn spent all of October chasing, literally, after Caleb. Breuklyn and her best friend formed the "Chasing Club" which basically consists of chasing a few select boys on the playground. It's all very complicated first grade stuff.

When Brad had lunch with Breuklyn at her school one day, he was horrified to hear his darling 6-year-old being teased by her friends about Caleb being her boyfriend. Poor Brad. I think he is looking into joining the Chasing Club.

I have high hopes for November. Yes, that's right. I am throwing it out into the universe - November is going to be fantastic. It's going to be amazing.

Ooooh, before I forget! - The winner of the Crate Paper giveaway is Lal! Email me at EsteeLynn(at) gmail(dot)com so I can mail your prize out to you!

(PS Kari and Ginger, I haven't forgotten you. Don't give up on me!)