my babies aren't really babies anymore

I am going to miss how my babies talk.  I should have written these things down as they happened but I never seem to do that.  When Alex was 2, everytime we went for a walk he would "ssssmell ssssumsing."  It was always BBQ or dog poop.  When CSI first started, AJ was 3.  He would sing the theme song, "ooooo, ah deee, oo-oo, oo-oo" Today, Lucy told me that she "earned a bruise."

Back in the day...

I have a uni-brow. I always have. In high school, I tweezed.  It hurt. I made a promise to myself that once I was on my own I would never pluck again. I had dreams of lying in a salon chair, wearing a fluffy robe, while my eyebrows were masterfully sculpted by a stylist.


I found out that there are no fluffy robes and the chairs are uncomfortable and waxing HURTS.  But the pain is quick and I can bear the 6 hours of swollen red eyebrow.  So I wax, and I am very happy with letting someone else rip off my uni-brow.

Some where along the way, I forgot about tweezers.  We have made a plan to get out of debt and that includes cutting out frivolities.  I tried to explain that my self-esteem would plummet if I had a uni-brow and mustache but Adan did not understand.  No more salon. Boo.

Then I remembered!  I used to do something before salons.  It took me a while to remember, but finally I remembered this tweezer thing.  I remembered how I marked with a pencil how far to tweeze, and voila! no more uni-brow.  Doin' it old school.

Yesterday, Alex and I were making waffles.  I had to melt some butter, so I popped it in a measuring cup and threw it in the microwave.  Alex said he loved the microwave, and could not imagine living with out one.  So I told him that I was about 11 when we got our first microwave. He looked horrified and told me that he could not live with out PS2 or PS3 or PSP.  I let him know we did not have one of those or a DVD player.  I thought he was going to fall out.

Juice Feasting

I love raw food.  I got away from it this winter and am ready to renew my commitments!  So, I started a juice feast.  4-5 quarts of yummy healthy juice every day for 90 days.  Yes, 90.

So yesterday I started with 2 quarts.  I had lettuce, spinach, carrots, celery, cilantro, lemon, apple and beet juice.  I drank that in the AM and had a regular dinner.

Today I wanted to do my whole day juicy, but, alas, I watched my extra kiddos today.  I was slightly stressed about having 6 kids inside on a rainy icky day, and a puppy that doesn't understand not to jump and chew and pee on the floor.  Then it took like 2 hours to juice all my stuff for the day. Fast forward to lunch time and I was all tense with a facial tic.

My juice today: 48 ounces of orange, pineapple, strawberry juice.  Berry berry good.
96 ounces of romaine, spinach, carrots, cucumber, cilantro, celery, apple, lemon.

I drank all the fruit juice first, and was full FOREVER, so I did not have any more until about 5.  I drank the remaining quart from yesterday and another quart from today, so total intake was 102 ounces of juice. Then I was craving french fries, pasta, anything!  I know it has to do with an addiction to crappy food so I tried to resist but I lost.  I had a bowl of pasta salad we made for dinner.  It was a fairly healthy meal though.  rotini noodles, broccoli, carrots, celery, peppers, tomatoes, whole olives, cheddar cheese chunks in a zesty italian dressing. Yum! I only had a small bowl and now I feel super full.

I can tell I am detoxing right now.. should be a scary week or so.  I have had no soda in over 24 hours.. this is a big accomplishment for me!  I feel light headed and fuzzy and TIRED.  I know that in a couple days I will feel better, but it's a bitch in the meantime. Before anyone freaks out, I had the same symptoms when i moved to raw food from standard american diet last time.  Only this time I am not chewing. :)

I need to get some cute straws.  Maybe glass ones. I have been eyeballing them.I think maybe I should vlog these things.  Maybe.

baking - PB&J muffins

I was super busy today. I made 2 batches of PB&J muffins, and a batch of poppy seed bagels. Tomorrow I am going to make dinner rolls, Italian cheesey bagels and maybe some cranberry bagels.

Recipe:

PB&J muffins
I found this recipes on a blog somewhere, sometime. I made a few tweaks and now I am sharing with you! Completely yummalicious. As anyone who knows me knows, before 9 AM is still the night before. Morning is not offically here until 9:01 AM. And I like to sleep in. Sooooo...I made a batch this afternoon for breakfast tomorrow morning. The muffins did not survive the hour.. I had to make more tonight after everyone went to bed!

• 1 1/3 c. flour
• 1 c. oats
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c. applesauce
• 1/3 c. peanut butter
• 1 1/4 c. buttermilk
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• jelly or jam

In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown sugar and sugar. In a medium bowl, combing egg, applesauce, peanut butter, buttermilk and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Fill greased muffin cups half full. I use a larger silverware spoon and pour a heaping spoonful into the muffin cup. This is usually about half of the muffin cup. Put 1 teaspoon of jam or jelly in the middle of the muffin batter. Spoon more batter over the jelly. Make sure the jelly if completely covered. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 18-20 minutes.

Tips:

• To make buttermilk, add 1 T. of vinegar to a measuring cup and then fill the milk to the desired amount.
  
• Make sure that the jelly is in the middle of the batter and does not reach the edges of the muffin.
  
• Make sure the jelly is completely covered with the remaining batter.
  Do not use more than 1 t. of jelly. The muffin will not be structurally sound, and will collapse.

craziness

Some days I feel like Jean Grey. Shit falls apart all around me. I am dangerous and scary.




Some days Meredith Brooks says perfectly.


We found out a couple days ago that I may have some health problems. The joy of military health care is that it takes forever to see a specialist. I have a great primary care provider, and she says things aren't right but she doesn't know what or the severity of my problems. I will most likely need surgery, but I don't know until I get the surgical consult.

I had to give 600 stool samples. It was soo-oo grody. Nothing like filling a bunch of cups full of shit. mmmm, good times.

So I feel slightly crazy. I keep having an image in my head. I am standing in the middle of a hurricane. Trees are whipping around and I can hear the wind blowing through the streets. I am standing in the middle of the melee perfectly still. Not one hair on my head moves. It is the perfect opposite of how I feel now. Instead of chaos inside, it is chaos outside.

Teacher gifts on the fly

Last night I realized that I needed teacher gifts ASAP! So, i found me some fabric, some extra apple jelly (yes, it is the trash jelly, shhhhh!), a Scentsy room spray, and a handmade heart shaped card. Oh yeah. All handmade. Cost = $0.00.

I basically winged the bag. Rectangle, sew up the sides, box the corners. The straps are rectangles with the sides ironed into the middle and then folded in half. I sewed it into the hem as I turned the hem on the top.

Plant Cell Cake

AJ's science project. Totally edible. I think this speaks for itself. HAHAHA