Has this ever happened to you?

Lauren has a carpool that leaves every morning around 7:35am, except when one family has the driving duties. It is very frustrating for her that when they drive she only has a few minutes to get to class all the way on the other side of the school! Well, this morning they came on time instead of 10 minutes late! Imagine the shock and awe that created in our house! You see, it was Friday and by the end of the week Lauren has usually learned to embrace their tardiness without too much grumbling...needless to say, she still had a couple of things to do when they honked this morning. It was a little chaotic for a moment then she hurried out the door. All was well. Until 2nd period today when she looked down at her feet and saw this....


When she came home from school today and showed it to me, we laughed so hard that I knew I had to blog it! (She has some Clarke genes after all!) I guess everyone was a little off today, because Calvin wore his shirt backwards, too!

Yummy New Recipe

I just have to share the recipe for a great dinner we had last night! Fish Tacos!

Ingredients:
1 t vegetable oil
1 anaheim chile pepper, chopped (I used jalepeno)
1 leek, chopped (I used onion)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper taste
1 c chicken broth
2 large tomatoes, diced (I used bottled tomatoes, totally drained)
1/2 t ground cumin
1 1/2 lb halibut fillets
1 lime
12 corn tortillas (I used flour)

Directions:
Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat, and saute the chile, leek, and garlic until tender and lightly browned. Season with salt and pepper.
Mix the chicken broth and tomatoes into the skillet, and season with cumin. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to med. Place the halibut into the mixture (I cubed the halibut in large pieces). Sprinkle with lime juice. Cook until the halibut is easily flaked with a fork. Wrap in warmed tortillas to serve.
(I drained the fish and sauce once it was cooked through a strainer and then reduced the juices until thick over med-high heat. Then I added that to fat free sour cream for a yummy sauce for the tacos! Serve with cheese, avocado, lettuce, cillantro, lime, and sour cream!)

Just a little something to make your journey yummy!

"Sister Barrett, do I HAVE to do this?"

YM/YW on Tuesday was...interesting. We went to the Church Dairy Farm in Elberta--look it up--to "muck" out cow stalls! No, I'm not kidding! Yes, it was beyond freezing cold, the stalls were outdoors, and we were mucking and standing in manure, etc! Luckily they provided knee high boot covers for us--I can't imagine the mess in the leader's cars if they hadn't--and we knew we were going to be working outside so most of us dressed warm. (It never fails that some of the kids always show up without coats, gloves, warm shoes...and one girl was even wearing pajama pants--she did have a hat, though!) Yes, the smell was horrible, especially when they "flushed" the gutter with a river about 8 inches deep of a diabolical roaring mixture of water, urine, manure, etc! The cows pretty much left us alone and we felt good (at least that's what we kept pointing out the the kids) about the service we provided. The most memorable part of the night for me was a few girls asking me about every two minutes if she HAD to do this...her hands were cold, she was going to throw-up, she has a sensitive nose...REALLY? Well, then you should probably go back to the car...the rest of us LOVE this and can't smell a thing! It was a good experience for the kids...too bad the leaders had to do it, too--ya know? Oh, and I loved the support I got from home. Jeff just laughed and laughed when I told him about it that night, then he said, "K, go have a shower." Me? Do I smell or something?

Big Girl!

I did it! I actually did it! I threw away Lindsay's sippy cups today! She has been doing so well drinking out of regular cups, that as I was emptying the dish washer, I just gave them the big heave-ho! It's strange having her graduate from so many baby things! Oh, dear! Sob! She's even doing really well with potty training--yes, we're still working on it! So today I thought I'd share my bitter-sweet Mommy moment.
Bye-Bye Sippy!

Pioneer Children

Alli is learning some fun stuff in school this year. She came home from school on Thursday with a bag of something AWESOME she "bought" with her good behavior tickets in class. Guess what it was...nope--it was HARD TACK! She was so excited about it! Her student teacher made some to show the kids what the pioneers had to eat and Alli thought it was so good she just had to have it! She insisted that I try it and assured me that it was good, but I don't see the allure, unless you just need something to work on for a while. She is a funny girl! Here she is about four years ago in our neighborhood 24th of July parade--I thought it was pretty appropriate for this blog. I guess the pioneers didn't have it so bad!

My Day!

Well, there's nothing like being spoiled on your birthday! I got to sleep-in! Yeah! Actually, I slept in a little too late--we all woke up when Lauren was supposed to be ready for her carpool (7:35am)! Yikes! We all pitched in--I made her bed and got her toothbrush ready, Alli got her books and bag together, while Lauren hopped into some clothes and brushed her hair! And a true Birthday Miracle occured--she made her ride! (Luckily for Lauren--she has Foods second period so she didn't have to skip breakfast!)

Once we got her out the door I noticed Alli looking sad and wilted--she wanted to make me breakfast in bed and I wasn't in bed anymore! "I can fix that!" I said and hopped back into bed (trying not to worry too much about the clock and getting the next two kids to the bus stop, of course). Yippee! She happily proceeded to make me a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, accompaned by some delicious orange juice and a cute birthday card and bookmark!




After a delicious and leisurely breakfast, I made lunches and hussled Alli and Cal out the door just in time for the bus. Yeah!

Then once I finished my work...

Splish, splash...


Empty dishwasher...


Wash dishes from last night's family birthday cake bake-off and this morning's breakfast-in-bed...


and fold laundry...


I was able to take a shower and relax! (The freaky thing about me is that I could have left all that work for someone to do for me later, but I wouldn't have been able to relax if I did that!) I was amazed at all the sweet family and friends that came by, called, emailed and facebooked me for my birthday! Although, I must say I was a little embarrased at my horrible voice anytime I answered the phone or door! (I forgot to mention that I had been fighting a bug and was quite congested! Uggh!)

Later on, lovely Lindsay took a nap and so did I! Another Birthday Miracle that looked and felt a little something like this...


I got the night off from YW's so Jeff and I went to Gloria's Little Italy for a wonderful dinner! We love the authentic Italian food they serve there! The Bruschetta is amazing--and I'm not even a tomato eater, we also love their garlic bread and the dishes we ordered were spectacular, as well! Jeff got a tortelini mushroom creamy thing (it was in italian) and I ordered the quattro formaggio pasta! (And, no, we don't count calories on birthdays!) We stopped to grab some of my favorite cake at the Trolley, but they were out! What? I know! We settled for a frozen custard hot fudge sundae! Nice! I had a great day! Thanks to everyone for making my journey so great! (Now you know why I love my birthday's soo much!) It's nice to feel loved!

Might as well celebrate!

January is my favorite month of the year! I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that it is my BIRTHDAY month! I'll be 38 this year! Yikes!!! Aren't birthdays funny? I know I am chronologically older, but I still feel like I'm in my 20's! I know, I'm not fooling anyone, but now I understand how my Mom felt when she used to tell me that she doesn't feel as old as she is (for the record--she doesn't look it, either!) I love birthdays! Birthdays were always a big deal in my family growing up, and even though I'm a Mom now, and usually no one makes me a cake, or makes my all my favorite meals, and the chances are HUGE that I be will changing a dirty diaper (sorry,Pull-up) during the day, there is still something MAGICAL about my birthday. Thanks, Mom. I owe it all to you! I love the excitement I still feel around birthdays--mine or someone else's. You were great at making our day special! You really have a knack for making everyone feel important and loved! You are truly the best Mom ever, I hope my kids will always be excited for their birthdays! We gotta have those fun mile-posts along the journey!

Ouch!

Man alive! I have a whole new respect for the contestants on "The Biggest Looser!" I have only watched the show a few times, but from what I've seen, I am impressed that they are willing and able to do what they do on NATIONAL television. Yesterday, I didn't go to the gym, so I thought I'd exercise at home with what I could find ON DEMAND. I found Jillian Michael's "30 Minute Shred 1 and 2" and thought "Okay, I'll do that." It was pretty dang intense! I finished #1 and decided I could do #2, so I did. It was a great workout that incorporated cardio, strength, and abs--you know the type that leaves your muscles feeling WORKED for awhile afterwards? But, Holy Cow!...today I am STIFF! I am excited that I was able to get such a good workout at home, but I feel bad for those Biggest Looser contestants that have her kicking their backsides into gear every day for months at a time! That is one tough journey man!

Nap Time!

I may have mentioned this before, but...I LOVE NAP TIME! I love to cuddle up under my comforter with a good book and drift off to sleep whenever possible! It helps that Lindsay will go to bed pretty well--IF she gets to sleep with a baby or two. Today she kept adding babies to the list. I thought it was pretty cute when we finally got them all tucked in around her. This is what we had going on today!


I'll make the introductions...on the far left we have the baby Lindsay calls "Big Baby"(I asked Lindsay what her name was and she said "Big"), next is "Sleeping Baby", Lindsay, then comes "Baby Dora", "Dinky" (I think it's really Tinky Winky) and "Sound Baby" (because she make a noise when you squeeze her). As you can tell we are very literal around here! Night-Night! And may there be plenty of naps along your journey!

One Final Bit of Christmas

I know, Christmas is over--we even have all the decorations down, but I just got these pictures of Cal and Alli with Santa.

Calvin is pretty sure this isn't the real Santa, because he looks too young and he's not fat enough. Oh, and his nose isn't red!


Here's Alli telling Santa that she suddenly wants a Nano for Christmas! Isn't it too late to start changing your mind? Tell her, Santa!


We had a great Christmas again this year. We were able to enjoy the day with all our family and that really makes the day great! Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year!