No Computer...

Mr. Man fixed both computers today... So no post until Tuesday...

Dissolved But Not Forgotten

I used to belong to our church boundary called the "...3rd Ward", but tonight it was dissolved back mostly into the 2nd Ward while a few families, including us, now belong to the 1st Ward.
I saw so many in tears; and rightly so... For six years, many families formed such great and strong bonds of friendship that 6 years was a painful jolt that in one night, the same families would have one less day, the most important day, to associate. You see, we now have separate buildings to meet on completely opposite sides of the area.

As for me and my family, it was a mixed blessing... We only have to get up earlier and have new leaders to guide us. We still have the same great families that make us happy to go to church on Sundays and bless our lives with their kindness and friendships. Some of those other beloved families now belong to the other ward and we now have to find extra time and work harder to keep our friendships which in reality are not really that hard to do.

I will mostly miss my courageous Cutie Crew. I say courageous because every Sunday that I'm there, they brave being with someone who not only look different than they do in most aspects, but also, someone they collectively chose to trust and love back during those wonderful singing and play times. They are amazing toddlers... They played well together, they knew each other and that unconditional love that only innocence can maintain was always so strong in that room that you can't deny that there is a loving and perfect God who watches out for us...

So long "... 3rd Ward". I will miss you, but I will never forget you...

Saturday Ends, Sabbath Begins

Not much today... Just cleaned up for the Sabbath. Too distracted with the notion of my hubs coming home tomorrow.

We didn't go anywhere today and just feasted on grilled cheese using the homemade bread I just recently made. If you want the recipe, here's the link from EHow dot com. I made it last Thursday and the last half loaf is still quite soft today. And it has a slight sweet taste that the the kids love. Yay!

Read more of the Children of the Lamp book 1 to the kiddos, we're now on Chapter 16. We could've been done earlier, but "life" says "not yet". LOL

Goodnight...

Why Is It...

That when school starts... My normally happy, go lucky smart children fall prey to these hair- pulling "grrr" questions? Why do they let...

• Drama happen in all situations?
• Laziness reign over homework?
• Texting or little TV bring about the zombies in them?
• TV privileges become a battleground?
• Mommy doing homework or housework, NOT be seen as a quiet zone?
• Forgetfulness as a viable defense?
• Bedtime a painful chore?
• Their big brains turn to mush over chores?

Don't get me wrong, it all gets sorted out after a few weeks, but until then no matter how organized we are in getting ready for school, they go through so much whacked out personal routine that I literally lock myself in the bathroom and scream!

It's not helping that between the two opposing schedules of Mr. Man's work shift and school, I am back to being a literal insomniac again. I caught maybe an hour the last 5 days, of zzzz's... Yes, people, I am cranky!

If you've never gone through these, congratulations! As for me, it is an annual ritual. *sigh*

Going Gourmet...

Hosted by Designs by Gollum
You know those pricey bottles of "flavored" oils?

Well, the last rain and sunny days we had made my own basil bloom like a community potluck depended on it, and I still have a lot of Pure Olive Oil from Costco last September. So, with that in mind, I decided to finally use the $2.99 bottle I got from IKEA last month and make my own!
I know, I'm not creating a trend, but I'm more gloating over the fact that I was finally able to do it!
See that good looking bunch, that's only a few stems. Yummy!
And here it is! I purposely bruised most of the leaves to start the infusion. After only a few hours, the olive oil smelled incredible!

1. Make sure the bottle you use is sanitized (washed in hot, rinsed well and dried)
2. Harvest the herbs you will use.
   
3. Rinse herbs lightly on all sides and pat dry lightly. Let dry on a paper towel for a few hours or overnight. Or lightly blanch in a boiling water. Again, let dry completely.
   
4. Slowly insert herbs in the bottle, lightly bruising some of the leaves.
   
5. Pour oil slowly with a small funnel.
6. Leave a gap from the mouth to the top of the oil level to aerate.
   
7. Make sure the lid is secure to keep from spoiling.
   

What's the first thing you should drizzle it on? Some great steak of course, I made some steak, basil and tomato salad, eat with steamed rice and you'll have an amazing explosion in your mouth!

Ok, I'm off to bake some sandwich bread for tomorrow!

Thanks for hosting Michael Lee and thanks for visiting!

A "Date" to Remember...

In Hobby Lobby last Monday, we also found, or I should say, Mr. Man found his son his first model car to build. He was as excited about finding it than I-Dude was in learning how to put it together! Here he is with all the pieces out of the box... (Mr. Man took his pictures)
After several minutes of concentration and hardwork, I-Dude manages to complete it all on his own! Look at that grin of accomplishment! ;-)
Tonight, we also decided to make good on our date to try out Joe's Crab Shack that we've set when we first saw the sign by the freeway, TWO YEARS AGO! Mr. Man took me to Marshall's so I can spend my giftcard in finding another top to use for our date but I couldn't concentrate and none of the styles called to me. *exasperated*

How do l look? Am I ready for our date? I know, a momentary lapse of cowardice to bring you a photo of moi! (yes, my hair is naturally wavy and the hubs love my long hair, so no cutting it this year!) I don't wear make-up normally but I do wear them from time to time. You just can't tell half the time because of my skin tone.

Anyway, we left Marshall's empty-handed, but I hinted that I wanted to wear heels to our date (for the obvious height gap; let's just say that even with heels and my hair pulled straight up from my scalp, I'd still be a few inches shorter than my darling hubs.)

Look at what he got me! We went to Payless and I found this uber cute pair of dark purple, 3-in heel, ruffled, peep-toes! I love them!
This is what it looks like from Payless dot com... Isn't it gorgeous? Mr. Man thought they were S-E-X-Y! Sold and cha-ching! My second "NOT ON SALE" pair my whole married life. My first one, my wedding pumps...
I can't tell you how good it feels to have a baby-sitter at a moment's notice!

Well as you can tell from any establishment with a "Shack" at the end, it is no Four Seasons. We walk in and each table, mostly booths, were occupied with families, FAMILIES! Awkward phase 1- check!

Since Mr. Man is a mechanic, any blingage is a no-no, so often, his wedding ring sits in my jewelry box. Tonight, it sat in the box, but I had on mine, so at Joe's, I looked like a cheating married tramp in hot looking getup of purple overblouse tank, straight cut figure-fitting jeans, high heels, dangling earrings, luscious curls down my back and red lipstick to boot! Oh the looks I attracted... Awkward phase 2-check!

We had to wear bibs to protect ourselves from the embarrassing accidental explosion of cracked crab shells. Did I mention my hair is naturally thick and wavy? Well, putting on that bib took a little longer than I thought only to find later that I DIDN'T manage to tie it at all! It fell down to my *ahem* front, stopped by *ahem* my "twins". So... I had to look for a wet wipe on our table, quickly get the "crab guts" and smell out of every nail and whole hands, quickly grab UP, then RETIE my bib! I was so relieved I didn't have any "accidents", but... but... I was more concerned about my new shoes! So I kept looking down while Mr. Man was staring at me, letting me know that he approves of my "purty" look. He had to eventually ask me if I dropped anything or if I got anything on my legs. TRAMPY PERSONA COMING OUT? lol Awkward phase 3-check!

Overall, I realized that the date was a true success. We kept people guessing if we were married-to each other; Mr. Man had all eyes on me and I looked and felt H-O-T, as in I looked good! (Haven't felt that in a while and it felt amazing!) I told the hubs that it felt like we were on an "early dating" sort of date- and we didn't talk much about the kids! We enjoyed the shellfish, each other and the fact that we just strengthened our marriage...

Hope you, too, had a great Tuesday!

FHE: First Day of School Fun!!!

It's our turn to sound the trumpet of joy! It's the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Of course, the following smiles were made possible by a great breakfast of Toaster Strudle (flavor, your choice), bacon, melon bites and milk. Of course, you can't forget the multivitamin! Gotta keep up that enthusiasm you know! For lunch, a sandwich, chips, juice and extra snacks. We dropped them off this morning since their backpacks are loaded with supplies.

Here's I-Dude, the first one out the door...
Then it's J-Pony with a tight pony tail and a semi wavy hair from last night's braids.

Last but not least, L-Infinity, starting her senior year as Ac/Dec Co-Captain, Laurel President and very fashion forward with her classic ensemble.

Yesterday, Mr. Man noticed that our van's battery was faltering, so we waited until after midnight, then hit Walmart for a new battery! Here he is, undoing the old one after the kiddos were off to school... He's so darn cute when he's being all self-sufficient. *sigh*
And this is the close-up of our almost dead *spluttering* battery.

After 8 hours, here are the two smallish kiddos, fresh from the bus stop! As for L-Infinity, she had too much to report to take a picture. LOL
We still had more than a handful of school supplies, mainly art related, to still buy so for FHE, we treated them to dinner at a new nearby bbq place called Cobb Switch! It is so good there! You have to try their Potato Casserole- to die for!

The two little ones just couldn't pass up a photo-op when they saw this sign. Of course, didn't have the real cam, so the cell had to do.
As we were entering, we noticed the bricks, in the shape of Texas! Cool beans! ;-) (whoops, my toes sneaked in)
Here are the kiddos, enjoying their meal. See the size of that glass? Wowie, it's like sipping a Route 44!
After dinner (yes there were leftovers even though we only shared 1 1/4 lb. brisket and a few sides), we managed to hunt down the art supplies in Hobby Lobby, then we headed towards the sunset to the mall and use up a great coupon in Pac Sun for L-Infinity. We also found great pair of pants and a belt for I-Dude!

Got back well after 9PM and scrambled to get everyone bathed, calmed and ready for prayer, but we did it!

Hope your Monday was as tiring as ours... ;-)

An Amazing Sabbath

Played with my amazing Cutie Crew in Nursery. We were loud but definitely had a great time. And Mr. Man got home in time for us to renew our recommends and had a relaxing time at home...

Some neighbors, you just wanna...

I don't expect anyone to agree with me on this, but since this is my blog and all...

It's officially less than 36 hours before a whole school year starts up again and everywhere around here kids are being put on some kind of routine again. Well, apparently our "back" neighbor didn't get the memo!

At 9:45PM, said neighbor starts blasting their music with bass loud enough to freak out my two smallish kiddos. People were talking in their patio, no... make that screaming since they were so loud and cars were parked on the obvious, NO PARKING ZONES of the RED LINE and the MANICURED LAWN. HELLO!!!

Didn't these people read their contracts about the 10PM Noise and Loitering curfew, or the NO PARTYING OUTSIDE YOUR UNIT (including the patio after 9PM) or... at least have enough common sense to realize that each and everyone of the units in the building have SMALL CHILDREN THAT HAVE TO GO TO BED EARLY?

My next door neighbors, tired from shopping for last minute BTS supplies, also had to complain about them because of the cars interfering with their ease to get out. My friend's husband waited with me and since his job is on call 24/7, he had to make sure he'll have an easy way to get out and leave PRONTO! So we both call the "Courtesy Officer" who WALKS instead of DRIVE to the area and took him a good 20 minutes to arrive.

The worst thing about this LATE party, they had little kids suffering from the BLASTING BASS! On top of that, I think they were friends with the newly "off duty" PAPA JOHN'S driver because we saw a delivery car do REVERSE at about 40 mph! It was zipping by anywhere backwards! Can you say, NUTS?!

C'mon! Of course, this morning, they had to wake me up from fighting in their MASTER bedroom! Closet doors were slamming, screaming and what sounded like another friend "mediating". Well, bud, it didn't work!!! You just added to the noise!

Aaaaahhhh!!! If these neighbors don't quit it, I have no choice but to complain about them to the management on Monday. I'm surprised that their "next door" neighbor whom I also know (nice lady, btw), doesn't complain and just accepts all the excuses this lady gives her!

Other than that, we had a typical day... I've discovered that I really am not impressed with Facebook, but I am into the Farm games!

Tax Free BTS Weekend

Today until Sunday, it will be "Back to School Tax Free Shopping Days" here in our area. To take advantage of that, the kiddos and I walked to Kohl's this morning. See, the kiddos didn't mind carrying all the bags. Yes, I helped of course. We started out with the clouds threatening to "cry" again but after (as proof in above photo) the sun was also happy with our haul!

We were able to get everything we needed: (clearance 60-80% off) sneakers, placemats, shorts, undershirts; and two lunch boxes for well under my budget! It helped that Kohl's sent out those $10 giftcards in the mail and that they were doing their "$10 for every $50 spent" deal. Mr. Man will like that!

Great shopping, exercise and being together. Can't beat that great feeling!