Stone-cold confessions

In case you don't know me in real life, I'm going to tell you a little random something about myself:

I eat ice cream almost every stinkin' day.

Calories be darned. Who gives a rip? Not me. I'm just a girl that at the end of the day needs her ice cream.

Normally I prefer it in dish form -- a scoop is the perfect way to end the day, and no judgment if the day was especially rough with the kiddos and I need two scoops. Ha. Weather and time of year also have no affect on my ice cream consumption either. I am just as happy eating it with snow falling outside as I am in the 100+ degree temperatures.

I am normally very much a Blue Bell girl. There are never less than 3 half-gallons taking up space in our freezer, and little ol' me is the main consumer. My seasonal addiction kicks in come November when I start scouring the countryside for every container of peppermint I can get my little hands on. And no, I am not kidding. Two years ago I think I went through 8 or 10 half-gallon containers of it. In mere months. I know I'm not alone in my peppermint-freakdom as these containers have been very hard to find in years' past because they only make so many. That's right, there are other freaks out there like me. And my friends have only helped fuel my sad little addiction, going so far as even buying me the last half-gallon spotted at their local Walmart.

{Problems, have we?}

The rest of the year I prefer good ol' homemade vanilla, while on occasion trying out a new flavor here or there.

But with summer here and kiddos home that I have to share with (no, I don't share very well, I'll admit it), I've been buying more popsicles. And I bought a box of something random the other day that has started a new addiction for me -- Edy's Fruit Bars in Creamy Coconut.



Heaven on a stick.

What's funny is that I hated coconut as a kid. Nasty stuff. The flakiness killed me.

But now?

Heaven, my friends.

Next time you're dragging yourself through the grocery store (anyone else out there loathe that weekly task?) throw a box in your cart. Sharpie marker out the calorie information, sit back and enjoy perfection in a popsicle.

You'll thank me.

And lest you give me a hard time about my ice cream issues, I must point out that my life is void of any other addictions. No coffee or caffeine for me (okay, maybe one pop a month if we're eating out at a pizza joint or Mexican restaurant). And yes, that means this mama of five isn't fueled by coffee or pop -- I put up with these kiddos au naturel! They haven't "driven me to drink" quite yet, chuckle chuckle.

In the meanwhile, I'll be dragging out the Zoku popsicle maker from the basement this week. It's on our summer bucket list to make popsicles, and there are lots of fun recipes pinned to my Zoku board on Pinterest that I'm just itchin' to try...

Summer Cookin'

With seven people currently living in our house (say wha????), I've had to buckle down and get serious about organization and being more thrifty. Lots of changes have been made, and one of the biggest and best is the fact that I cook a lot more than I ever used to. What used to be one of my least favorite things to do is slowly becoming one of my favorite things to do. Sure wish I felt the same way about cleaning the tub and shower...

Regardless I still have the same issue that creeps in everyday around 3:00 or 3:30 -- what in the heck am I going to make for dinner?

So I took a cue from this clever gal and made a list of 15 "summer" meals for my family to enjoy. I'm definitely a seasonal gal -- my taste in food and in music changes seasonally -- so this is right up my alley to switch things up every 3 months or so, basically, every season. I even typed it up, slapped it on scrapbook paper that I haven't dug into in years, and clipped it up to the fridge for quick and easy reference every day. Most of the recipes I simply keep stored on my Pinterest boards.

I try and cook dinner most weeknights and one meal on weekends at least so we're not having to PB&J it too often. Because of this, we've been enjoying our fast food/eating out meals a lot more since they are far and fewer between. And of course, the ol' budget is thrilled with the changes as we are saving a ton of cash. We're pretty old-fashioned around these parts, so drinks are always milk (from a local dairy), and side-dishes range from steam-in-the-bag frozen vegetables to fruit salad or green salad or sometimes a bag of chips when it is burger or sandwich night. The one thing I haven't mastered yet is getting my grocery store visits down from the almost daily trips we make right now. We tend to shop like Europeans, buying only what we'll need for the next day or two. Yes, it wastes time and gas, but then again, the grocery store is blocks away from our little girlie's daycare, so we have to drive by it anyway. Maybe with this sort of planning ahead I'll get better about it.

I figure that each meal will be eaten roughly twice a month, not too bad as far as repeats go. After 3 months, we'll surely be ready to switch it up to a different list of meals. So here is the list for summer, and I'm including links to my pins when possible in case any of you want to try them as well:

1. Farm Chicks' Fish Fajitas

2. Ham & Cheese Sliders

3. Hillbilly Spaghetti Pie

4. Slow Cooker Thai Style Ribs

5. Crispy Tuna Casserole & 7-Up Biscuits

6. Root Beer Pulled Pork Sandwiches (my family usually gets 2 dinners for all out of this plus 2-3 lunches as well for my husband and I)

7. Slow Cooker Chicken & Cornmeal Dumplings

8. Chicken in Basil Cream Sauce

9. Florentine Chicken Ring

10. Breakfast for dinner (courtesy of the "Breakfast Man" in our house, my husband -- this could be pancakes or waffles, or "toad-in-a-hole", a family favorite)

11. Bison Burgers (again, husband cooking night with bison meat from the Farmer's Market)

12. Ranch House CrockPot Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

13. Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken

14. Baked Potatoes and Green Salad

15. Slow Cooker Apricot Chicken

Happy cooking, my friends! And please, leave me a comment if you have any amazing recipes you think I should add to my arsenal. I am always on the lookout.

Just call me Farmer Val.

Okay, so maybe Farmer is stretching it a bit.

But, I've come a long way, baby. From black thumb to *turning green* thumb!

I've had a problem in the past. I love flowers. I love to plant flowers. And apparently I've loved killing flowers because that's pretty much what happened to all of them, year after year.

Last summer was no exception on a few plants, but I chalk that up to the unbearably 100-plus-degree--every-ding-dong-day-for-months-on-end summer we *enjoyed*, but there were two plants that survived. I purchased two Boston fern hanging plants last spring from Lowe's (on clearance) to hang on our front porch, and at the end of the fall last year, I got the wild idea to bring them inside to see if I could keep them alive. My husband screwed two hooks into the ceiling of our sunroom ("playroom"), bought clear plastic dishes to hang on the bottom of each to catch the drips when I watered them, and sure enough, those babies survived. No, they didn't just survive, they thrived. And like any good mother, I threatened my boys that they better not mess up my ferns in the playroom or they were going to be sorry. Ha.

I think it kind of even turned into a game/challenge for me to try and reverse my killer thumbs. And I'm not gonna lie -- I started talking to those ferns on occasion when I would water them, telling them how beautifully they were growing. Hey, they're living creatures, too, so I figured it couldn't hurt.

So they are back out on the front porch, happy as can be, and monstrously huge. I already had to replant one of them in a bigger hanging container, and I'm pretty sure the other one is ready for a bigger container as well. My husband and I love sitting out on our porch especially at night, watching the bats swooping above our street, and with the addition of the outdoor curtains, it's our own little private sanctuary. And you can't even hear the screaming children upstairs in their rooms...haha...



I also have a table full of herbs in small pots -- lemon thyme, spearmint (solely for sniffing because what are we going to actually do with it?), rosemary, cilantro, basil (oh my heavens, is this ever coming out of our ears, so if you live by me and want some, come and get it), and my personal favorite, catnip. We love the new game of torture-the-kitties-with-the-pretty-green-leaves. It's hilarious. That's right, we're totally fueling our kitties drug habits...



This year I told my husband I wanted to try something new -- vegetables! At first I thought about building a raised bed or two, but then I thought maybe we should start smaller this year to make sure we could hack it. So we decided to start with tomatoes and bell peppers and plant them in containers. I was a bit frustrated at first when I found out how expensive five-gallon gardening containers are (times five), but then we got the genius idea to purchase paint buckets (only a couple bucks each) and drill holes in the bottom for drainage. That's right, redneck gardening at it's finest! Although I give myself props for picking the more stylish silver Lowe's buckets than the neon orange Home Depot ones (no offense, Home Depot, I still love you).

Bazinga!

It worked.

We have two Cherokee purple heirloom tomato plants (you've never tasted a more delicious tomato, I promise) with several big beauties just waiting to turn purplish-red. We did have a few more tomatoes growing on those plants, but they ended up having "blossom end rot" and I regretfully had to prune them off in the hopes of saving the others. I was proud of myself though, for diagnosing them based off what I researched on the internet, and we found a solution at our local nursery to add to the soil to hopefully prevent any more of that.



We also have an Arkansas Traveler tomato plant with tons of tomatoes waiting to ripen. Thank you, local neighborhood Walmart grocery store, for that $3 bargain. Just like any good weirdo, I picked that plant solely on it's name because I know all of the words to the folk song, "The Arkansas Traveler". Want me to sing it for you? No? Alrighty, but you're missing out...



Then there are the two bell pepper plants, one orange and one yellow (my two favorite types of bell peppers). I prefer them over red and green. I think right now we have nine big peppers just waiting to turn colors.





My kids brought home Dixie cups filled with dirt (and supposedly seeds) from school, of course, and only one survived. Supposedly we have ourselves a punkin' growing. Guess we'll be waiting to see if it actually bears us a little orange surprise this fall.



Then my husband got in the act and purchased something he'd obviously been salivating over from the "As Seen on TV" ads. What is it with men and "As Seen on TV" crap? Huh? That's right, he brought home not one, but two Topsy Turvy upside down tomato planters. (You know, because one wouldn't have been enough.) And how do you hang two, you might ask? Well, you go ahead and shell out the buckaroos for the Topsy Turvy big metal contraption to hold them!



But who is eating crow now?

That's right, little ol' me. Those Topsy Turvy thingamajigs are working! He stuffed them with strawberry plants, cherry tomato plants, heirloom tomato plants, and pepper plants, and sure enough, we've got ourselves a mini-hanging garden loaded with produce. And I've gotten in on the act and now prune those plants every morning, pinching off the dead leaves, etc., which seems to be making them grow even faster.









Our nerdiness has only manifested itself with each morning that brings a "Hey, look at this! It's ripening!" or a "Hey, look at that! There's really a tomato growing on our plant!". We're like two little bratty kids in a candy store, giddy with the thrills that growing our first edible wonders can bring. And of course, we're already dreaming and scheming of what we'll add to next year's garden.

Very Pinteresting.

There's nothing like Pinterest to keep a girl grounded.

Once you've spent any amount of time on there (say hours, anyone?), you can feel both inspired and downright intimidated all at the same time. People, please. You can't fool me -- all you little Martha Stewart look-alikes can't really have it all together where you make no less than 482 homespun crafts a day while homeschooling your 19-and-counting children and managing your organic homestead all at the same time. (Um, ya'll better not be pointing fingers at me. I feed my kids Fruit Loops and send their sugared-up selves off to public school every day.) Puh-leeze. I'm assuming all those Pinteresting people out there are just like moi -- pinning fools with thousands of ooh-I-should-try-this-some-day-pins all the while knowing that realistically getting one accomplished a year sounds about right.

Am I right, or am I right? Right, right, right?

Anyway, nothing inspires better than to have a necessity fall apart on you in an hour of need.

I finally found time to sew up some new pajama pants for my growing-several-inches-a-day young lads since all of their pajama bottoms are currently capris, and when I got ready to iron all of my fabric (that I bought weeks, months, and years ago, people, hello procrastinator), my ironing board cover fell right off.

Awesome.

So I did what any other resourceful and desperate girl would do. I grabbed my keys and headed straight out the door to Target, realizing before I even stepped foot out the door that I don't have a normal sized ironing board. No sirree. This years-old special came from Target and was a fancy-schmancy designer (Philip Starck, maybe?) ironing board. It's wider than the average board by at least 5 or 6 inches, and I'm pretty sure a standard size ironing board cover would be no bueno. I blame it on the husband. He bought it.

Ugh.

I quickly dug through my fabric stash (let's not talk about how much fabric I've collected, coughcough, hoarder, coughcough), found three coordinating pieces of "Blossom" by Urban Chiks for Moda (in case anyone wonders), and got to work using this awesome tutorial.

And voila. She went from this ghetto specialness:






to this:





(and a look at the back):







Ah, much better.

And girlfriends, I spent ZERO dollars. That's right. I used the pad from the other cover, ripped the cording out of the other cover as well, and used fabric I already had. My man is so proud. And he is not too manly to iron his shirts on our birdie-infested ironing board.


***

Thank you so much for such kind remarks regarding my last post. I'm definitely going to be sharing more about our fostering journey, the good and the ugly, but I promise to also throw in some more crafting fun (and fails, haha) and general hilarity from slices of my life. You know, in all my free time...

Chewing on my thoughts.

Huh.

I know, I know, same old story -- I've been absent for a while now. As you know, this is due to my new adventure as a foster mom. There are five children needing my attention these days, so free time is a hot commodity 'round these parts. And one of the little darlings is a baby! As in, tiny little thing, my littlest baby ever of this age to care for, and sakes alive, are we ever having a fun time.

But I've also felt lacking in substance to write about. Sounds goofy to say that, yes, considering hello, I am surrounded by five hilarious children which should have me posting about their antics 'round the clock. Unfortunately most of the time I feel I am dealing with a heavy heart and struggle with what to share and what not to share. Our world has been turned upside down in so many wonderful ways, but it's also kicked our tails straight up and into the middle of the mushpot of life -- out of our comfortable little corner of the world into the hurting, the dirty, the mean, the ugly, and the needy (although sometimes those words could apply to each of our hearts, don't you think?). This blog has been a creative outlet for me, mostly filled with lighthearted fodder, but my life has taken a crazy turn from all that for right now, and I'm not sure if my "audience" will care to see this side of things or just prefer the rainbowy-sparkly-glittery side I usually love to share.

The thing is -- foster parenting is one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I wouldn't change it for anything. Truth be told, I would've never imagined myself on this adventure in a million years, yet here I am. Most days are fill-my-cup-up-to-the-brim-with-joy-overflowing types of days. The kind where I feel like pinching myself constantly to make sure it isn't a dream, and that yes, I am truly and unbelievably this happy in life thanks to finally jumping outside of my comfort zone to this new unpredictable and very insecure life we're living as foster parents. But then, of course, some days are poop. Like the crappiest crap ever. (No pun intended especially since we've dealt with the joys of preschooler poo-in-the-pants more often than I'd like to admit, haha.) Days where I feel my heart has already been ripped into a million pieces because I'm hurting so much for these little people we've been called to protect and stand up for; days where I wonder who truly has these little ones' best interests at heart (besides us) and if the big gameplayers are going to indeed make the best decisions for them or if they'll just be lost in the blurry shuffle with the thousands of other foster children; days where I wonder how in the world will I be able to cope if and when the state takes them away from me someday. {Note to self: don't dwell on that thought. Ever.}

So that's where I'm at. Living the dream in many ways, but the type of dream where you often wonder when the rug is going to be pulled out from under you, if indeed it will be pulled out from under you. But trying to remember to pray above all of this -- to trust in God no matter what, no matter the heartache; remembering to constantly thank Him for all of the joys and the trials (ugh, not the easiest); and trying to forget about worrying about what the future holds. Because it is so, so, so not about me.

How's that for an out-of-focus blog update? Ha. I promise to return, once I figure out the correct recipe for what to share from my heart, what to leave out, and how best to share it.

Hope you're enjoying the best summer.

And then there were four...

Um, hello.

It's me.

Yep, I'm still here.

As you could probably guess, I haven't had much time for blogging. Between managing five kids, dealing with the state, squeezing in visits with birthfamily, taking on extra piano gigs, working three part-time jobs, and trying to keep on top of household chores, cooking, etc., well, I've been a bit preoccupied. ;) Oh, and science fair projects. Ugh. Does anyone really enjoy working on those?

Just when I thought life was settling into a "new normal", yesterday took a wild turn on this foster care rollercoaster. The state notified us yesterday morning that our girls would be moving in mere hours to a new placement. We literally had a few hours to prepare. I sped home from work to pack up their belongings, and then I had to run to a memorial service that I was playing piano for while my husband went to meet the caseworker and pass the girls over to her. They were already at daycare for the day, so she just met him there to pick them up. When we dropped them off that morning, we had no idea that we wouldn't be bringing them back home with us that afternoon.

I didn't even get to say goodbye.

You can imagine the emotions swirling through my head, especially since we had virtually no notice, but before I up and complained about how unfair that might seem, passing them off so fast with no goodbye from myself, I took a step back to realize what a blessing it was at the same time. Unfair, yes. But easier on my emotions? Unfortunately, also a big yes. The truth is, no matter how hard it is to part ways, it is a good move for the girls, a step forward towards something we were wanting for them, and in time, the two months with us will be a mere blip on their radar. They will blend right in with the next family, they will be very loved and adored and well taken care of, and most importantly, they will be reunited with another sibling. And words cannot express how thankful I am for my husband through all of this. He has not only been a wonderful father to our three boys and the foster girls, but he has also very much "manned up" and taken charge, especially the hard parts of dealing with the state on tough issues, etc. I am thankful he was the one to do the "pass off" to the caseworker and handle the hard goodbyes.

In the midst of those emotions and thoughts all swirling wildly through my head, an image of Nanny McPhee popped up in my head. What was it she said in that movie? "When you need me but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me but no longer need me, then I have to go." The situation kind of made me feel like that. Those girls needed us for those two months. The situation changed and they no longer needed us specifically, so it was time to move on. You have to rise above the tough feelings and emotions and realize that their best interests must take precedence, and that is exactly what happened. It's nice to be able to move forward from our first fostering experience with a complete sense of peace about the situation and how it played out.

And then there were three.

Or so we thought. At the same time we passed off the two girls and thought we were back to our happy family of us and our three boys, the state called again. My husband hadn't even driven home yet from meeting the caseworker and the girls leaving.

Another sweet girl was needing a safe haven. Could we do it? Could we come get her in the next few hours?

So, you know how it goes...

And then there were FOUR. :)

Week One.

"Week One".

That's a good title for the first week of January AND the first week with our little foster princesses.

This New Year's was nice and low-key for us. Well, as low-key as things can be when you have two guests in your house on top of the three other kids you have. ;) We don't normally do anything for New Year's Eve anyway, and since New Year's Day was a "church day" for us, we went to bed at a normal time and got a good nine hours of sleep. Some might say "boring"; we say "bliss". Going to bed early and getting a lot of sleep = bliss.

Also, this year I made NO resolutions. What's the point? I always start out with good intentions in my resolutions, but I always end up giving up (or forgetting about them) after only a month or two. In many ways, it really is just another day. But on the other hand, I also love that feeling of getting a fresh start, a do-over per say. This year I'm looking to simplify my life in many ways (don't laugh -- it really is possible to simplify even with a house full of kids), so I just decided to go with the idea of picking a word for 2012. And instead of picking a word that is a bit more me-centered like I've done in the past, this year I picked the simplest of desires of my heart, to be "willing".

No more telling God what I want, no more telling God how I think things might work the best, no more asking God for stuff. I truly just want to be "willing" -- willing to follow what He wants me to do. 2011 didn't exactly turn out the way my husband and I wanted it to (although yes, we got two added blessings in our two new sons), but despite the things we went through, we are happier folk because of what we went through. And we definitely learned that letting go of all of those things we try so hard to control in life didn't end up making us miserable like we thought it would, but instead freed us and just added to our happiness and faith in God.

So there you have it. May the year 2012 bring out my most willing heart to be a woman for Him and not for this world.

As for how "week one" has gone with the girls, things are going better than expected. Their transition was much easier than I anticipated, probably due to the fact that at this point they are used to being moved around a lot and it's kind of their reality, bless their little hearts. I found a daycare with spots for both of them and they started yesterday. For gals who'd never been to daycare previously, they did fantastic! Their teachers gushed over how sweet and polite they are, and we couldn't be more proud. And I'm not going to lie -- while I'm at work, it's so nice to have some moments of quiet and adult conversation while they are being taken care of.

Overall we're settling back into a normal routine for us, and the girls are fitting right in. I haven't really changed the way I run my household, and I think that's been the best way (at least for me) to work this out. They're quickly learning all of our "house rules", and it's just life as usual, with two extra little people.

There are times I look at them and can't imagine the day when they will more than likely be moved out of our home. There are times I think my heart will break into a million pieces if they are. And there are times where I think, no, it will all be okay, and then we'll probably get one or two more little people who need a safe place to land and we'll probably love them just as much while we have them. I guess I won't really know how heartbreaking it might be until we cross those milestones, but I guess I'm also learning with this process to simply take it one day at a time and not worry about the next day. Right now my husband and I are looking at it as kind of a "grandparent" type of thing -- you know, how grandparents get to love on them for a little while and then send them back, haha, one of the perks of being a grandparent. It's also a good lesson in patience dealing with the state, and I'm learning to be consistent (read: borderline annoying) and make things happen, you know, to be the squeaky wheel when I need to. It's not only our responsibility to take care of these little ones and shower them with love, but it is also our privilege to be an advocate for them.

So that's our first week in a nutshell. I promise to return with more crafty posts at some point. Believe it or not, I actually squeezed in quite a bit of sewing in the last two weeks, but I need to download my pictures to share.

Oh yeah, and we had a snake in our bathroom. That will make any first week of the year quite exciting, don't you think?!

In the nick of time...

I'm posting the last post of 2011.

And I know it's been a bit lame around here with the lack of posting, but it's been mainly for lack o' time.

Just to keep you updated, my latest little "surprise" with my family is the fact that we are now a foster family. And we picked up our first two little "guests" this week, so we've all been adjusting to a "new normal". They are unbelievably cute -- two sisters, one a toddler and one a preschooler. I can already tell you my heart will break into a million little pieces when they leave us, whenever that may be. But I knew this going into it -- I have to be prepared that my heart will break each and every time, but that's okay. My job is simply to love on these little people and give them a safe place to land and thrive while I have them. Our state is in desperate need of more foster families, and it breaks my heart to think of how many more there are waiting to find a safe place to call home, even if it's just for a little while.

I wish I could post pictures, but I can't show you their little faces, so you'll just have to picture two darling little girls. ;)

2011 was good to us. We went from one son to three, and now we've gone from three to five children who call us Mama and Papa. 2011 was very good for stepping out of our comfort zone, getting out of a more self-centered world into one where we are focusing much more on others. I never thought this is where I would be in life, but I also can't think of a time when I've been any happier. And I'm learning a little more every day that the more I give up to God and hand over the death grip of control I've tried to have on my life, the more He is able to show me such amazing things and allow me to be a part of what He is doing in the world.

Here's wishing you a very Happy New Year.

You need this music.

I have a very talented fellow associate who used to work at Anthropologie with me.

She's a gorgeous girl, both on the outside as well as the inside. And she just happens to be a skilled violinist that plays in the band, Gungor. Hello, they're kinda famous...

I recently found out via Facebook that she was part of a new Christmas project, another gorgeous offering from those talented Gungor folk.



There don't seem to be any videos on YouTube that I can show you, but you can click here to listen to snippets of the amazingly beautiful Christmas tunes yourself. It's almost like standing out in a beautiful field at midnight with snow falling down and songs of Jesus filling the sky. Really.

Check it.

Holiday SOS.

This isn't really an SOS.

But I kinda feel like my posts have been so sporadic that it's almost like I'm sending out an SOS now and then...

"still alive"

"send help"

"send chocolate"

You know, that sort of thing, haha.

But, of course, it's the same old shenanigans --

we're crazy busy.
It's the holidays.
I have three boys to keep up with. (Yes, sometimes that reality check still hits me like a ton of bricks!)
I'm a pianist: at Christmastime I am crazy busy with extra rehearsals and performances, pretty much every night.
Oh, and I started a new job.
I now work an average of 25-30 hours a week.
There's a big change for ya'!

I am now an "Artist in Residence" for our local public school system. (I prefer the title "Arteeeeeest" if you happen to run into me, haha.) Translation: I am a pianist for the vocal music and dance programs at a high school. I should probably clarify that this is an inner city high school. Stress on the "inner city" part of that sentence, yo'.

So far I love it. But what an eye-opener. It is as inner city as inner city gets. Let's just say I might stick out like Little Bo Peep walking the halls, and those halls are more like that Michelle Pfeiffer movie, "Dangerous Minds" (remember that one?), or that TV show on Fox several years back, "Boston Public". Yep, more like that.

But like I said, I love it. I love when they say "hey, Miz Fischer" to me in the halls, I love when they really actually try to sing and glory, hallelujah, what comes out of their mouths is nothing short of heavenly, and I love that I'm (hopefully) making a difference in their lives. Because most of us just can't imagine living in their reality, and that's the truth. Hopefully I am part of the bright spot in their days because they are becoming a part of mine.

And in the meanwhile, we have a few other tricks up our sleeve as a family that we're just waiting on. As if we need more excitement 'round these parts, right? ;)

So what's new in your neck of the woods? I hope you're enjoying a wonderful holiday season so far, and if you're like me, trying to remember to focus on the real meaning of Christmas -- the amazing gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Happy December!

Random awesomeness...

...so you know I'm still alive, haha.

Have you seen this?



Pure voices mixed with empty plastic containers. Awesome.

Three little spooks

Before I forget, here is a glimpse into the magical first Halloween we had together as a family of five...




I had no choice but to come up with something halfway awesome for my three Lego-loving little guys, so I made two Lego bricks and a Lego Darth Vader costume (their ideas). They were pretty excited!

*Please, if you want to borrow my image to share the awesome Lego love with others, please please ask my permission in the comments and also source it back to my blog. I'm no professional, but after hours and hours slaving away on these things, I'd say I might deserve a little credit. Thanks...

We've got it all.

I think Oklahoma needs to change it's tourism marketing plan to something like this:

We've got it all here in Oklahoma!



Blizzards? We've got 'em!

Below-zero temperatures? We've got 'em!

Tornados? We've got 'em!

Floods? We've got 'em!

Hurricanes? (technically we can get the remnants of those, too) We've got 'em!

Over 100-degree temperatures for billions of days on end? We've got 'em!

Droughts? We've got 'em!

And now add to the mix...

Scary earthquakes?

We've got 'em!

I'm just waiting for the "tsunami zone" signs to go up somewhere so we can technically say we've got all of Mother Nature's fury covered -- surely our lakes could get a small tsunami going, haha.

Sheesh.

I felt the earthquake we had last October (2010) which was a 4-point-something. I slept through the next 4-point-something that happened yesterday morning around 2am. But darn-it-all-to-heck if I wasn't WIDE AWAKE for last night's fun, a 5.6 scary ride. Our house shook for at least 20 seconds. We were laying in bed, jumped up, ran down the stairs, and when I thought it was mostly over, I sat down on the sofa only to find my sofa was still shaking for probably another 5 seconds or so. I'm pretty sure I'll be shaking for weeks.

Not cool, people, not cool. Tornados usually give a little warning, and there are places you can seek shelter. Temperatures, high or low, I can deal with. Floods again usually give a little warning so you can evacuate. But earthquakes? What the heck?! There is no warning system and not really much you can do.

And here I'm guessing most people thought Oklahoma must be a boring place to live. I personally would prefer that it be a little less exciting, please...

How did I miss this????

I don't have an official "bucket list" for my life, but in my head there is a running list of things that I've always wanted to see, experience, etc. You know, things like traveling to far-off places, seeing interesting things, etc. Does anyone else do that?

I checked the weather this morning on our local station's website, and lo and behold there were NORTHERN LIGHTS visible in our neck of the woods last night.




And I missed it.

Folks, I've lived up in the cold, cold north and never saw them there either.

Shoot.

Cross your fingers for me that this happens again and I might get a glimpse of the beauty someday...

*image from here

Keep it classy.

Other than this, you will probably NEVER find me posting about Lady Gaga, or as I personally like to refer to her, Lady Gag-Me-With-a-Spoon. It's no secret, I'm not a big fan. I think she's talented, yes, but unfortunately I think she has used her talent in all the wrong ways, and I'm not crazy about the influence she seems to have on the kiddie set.

BUT.

There is always an exception.

Like this ADORABLE video. Tony Bennett + Lady Gaga = fantastico.

Lady Gaga actually keeps it classy! And we all know, that yes, unlike Madonna, the gal can croon.

So enjoy.

And please, pretty please, Lady Gaga, put out some more o' this and a little bit less o' that...

The Great State of Oklahoma has declared it...

OFFICIAL.

Our new and improved forever family of five...




On Friday, September 30th, our little family stood in front of the absolute nicest judge (she even had presents for each of us) who declared us ADOPTED.

What a relief. It took us all by surprise that the process really did indeed take only six months for the state to wrap up (which is a small miracle in and of itself). It's done. These boys will never have to worry about caseworkers, foster homes, shelters, or any other such stuff ever again. As the eldest, Rudy, put it, they are now "just like everybody else", "normal kids with a mom and a dad". I love that.

I also love how Rudy summed it up -- "Mom, my whole life has been filled with short timelines, from my birthparents to different foster homes to here, and now it is just going to be one big ol' timeline going forward".

Amen to that.

And thanks for all of the support and encouraging comments you all have left over the last six months of this crazy journey. Every single word was greatly appreciated.

God is good. All the time.

Imagine my surprise when this afternoon I received a call that our adoption finalization will be THIS FRIDAY.

Thank you, God.

It's gonna be a great weekend.

The September Post.

Hmmm. It's September 28th, and this is my only post so far this month.

Busy much?

September has just been one big whirlwind. The facet of my life marked "adoption" has taken over and twirled me 'round and 'round through the month, and I am just now slowing down, trying to stop my dizzying fall and regain a sense of normal. September equals "school" for much of America, and in my house, it's been the biggest adjustment of all with my newer boys.

Most days I would tell you that this adoption journey (this second one, keeping in mind we did the international thing six years ago) is a piece of cake. But I'm learning to keep my mouth shut because September seemed to be laughing at my standard answer and decided to throw me some curveballs with my boys. So I'm learning a few things as an adoptive mom.

These kids are relatively easy, it's true. They are not your typical "state" kids, inasmuch as they really haven't experienced the same level of traumas and abuse as many of the older waiting kids in our state. For that, not a day goes by that I am not thankful to my core that they were somehow spared a lot of grief and heartache. That being said, they still have six and eleven years of history that didn't include my face, six and eleven years of history and learned behaviors and all of that stuff that I am still learning about (and so are they, for that matter).

This year all three of my boys are at a new school, and thankfully they are all three at the same school which has been a new form of heaven for me. No more long drives from school to school dropping off and picking up. When the weather is nice, we can walk! For the most part, everyone has made the adjustment pretty well. Everyone seems to love learning, everyone is excited about making new friends, and everyone likes their teachers. A pretty good outcome. We also have each of them in a different grade. My youngest two are just two months apart, but we decided at the end of the last school year to hold our newest six-year-old back for another year of kindergarten. Best. Decision. Ever. Although there are times it is like having "virtual twins", they really are quite different in both physical size and personality and learning styles, so now everyone is in their own separate grade. No competition, only support and encouragement for each other, and that part is working out perfectly.

The biggest adjustment for me personally has been the eldest child. Most parents get to work their way up to fifth grade with their child, but I've just been thrown to the wolves, per say. Oh my heavens. He has three different teachers, quite a bit of homework every night, special projects that need to be done at home, lots of tests every week, different teacher websites to keep up with for updates/information, etc. I feel like I need a whole separate planner just for my fifth grader. Anyone out there looking for a personal assistant position? That works for free? I could use one, haha.

Waaaaaay back in the day, I was a fifth grader. I was the poster-child of academic excellence -- nerdy as they come, Coke-bottle glasses and all, but straight-A's on every single report card were my specialty. (I remember crying buckets in high school when I got my first B. Seriously. Oh, the drama.) I was always respectful to my teachers (I had the fear of my mother in me), never skipped homework, never did sloppy work, never forgot papers or tests, etc. It was just second nature for me to try and excel at every single academically that I could. Pretty much picture a milder, quieter Hermione Granger, and you would have fifth-grade me.

Fast-forward to now and it is quite easy to see where the universe is having a great big laugh at my expense. Bless my son's heart, before he moved in with us, he was failing most subjects, and understandably so, as he didn't have anyone checking to see how he was doing in school, to teach him how to be a good student, etc. You can already picture this hilarious new equation, I'm guessing -- my total-other-end-of-the-academic-spectrum son + my overachiever former self = good times, good times.

I'm just going to be honest. September has sucked. It has pulled and prodded, poked and shoved, stretched and strained me. I have had several parenting successes, and I have had more than a handful of parenting FAILS. I keep looking for that parenting handbook that I swear these kids should've come with *winkwink*, and I am trying to figure this all out by trial and error. I've rejoiced with my son in his achievements, and I've definitely cried some tears over his failures. Trying to find a balance between where he is coming from (failing many subjects) and where I would like to see him (hello, straight-A model student, of course, *winkwink*) has been one tightrope act that I have yet to master. Slowly but surely, he is adjusting, I'm being tweaked myself, and we are actually this close to a straight-A report card. We could not be prouder, and it is amazing to see the sense of confidence he is gaining academically. But oh how he has challenged and tested us in other areas as well. We're smart enough to be thankful for the fact that he is challenging and testing us and not just quietly keeping it all to himself, but dang, if it hasn't been a trying month for my husband and I with this one.

In the midst of all of September's drama, I have also struggled with my other two shrinking in the shadows. As most of my focus has constantly been on the eldest, thankfully the other two have still been marching ahead in their own education and thriving. But it has also weighed on me that I have yet to find a good balance where am not just focusing most of my energy on one and not the other two. Dang, how do you mothers of three (or more) do it? Again, a parenting manual would've been nice (haha) because I've had to figure this mother-of-three thing out all by myself, and dangit if I won't be trying to figure it out until the last one turns 18!

Coincidentally, September also marked six months of being a new family of five. Last week we hit the six-month-mark, which is pretty hard to believe! For those of you that have been wondering, we're still not official and are technically just waiting on the judge to set a court date. If you feel so inclined, say a little prayer for us that we get a "good" judge that sets dates earlier than later (I've heard we could expect a court date as late as the end of the year, say WHA????, and that would be no bueno), and that my kids will all be able to write our last name on their school papers sooner than later. It's been official in our hearts since the day they moved in back in March, and not a day goes by that we don't tell them that, but I know that it will just help them feel that much more secure and confident when it's officially recognized by the state as well. They're old enough to understand all of it.

So that's my September in a long-winded nutshell. How was yours?

On the Telly...

Do you get excited about the new fall television shows?

I used to, but here in the last few years, my TV-watching has dwindled greatly, not that I'm complaining. With less TV shows on my radar, I've gotten a heck of a lot more accomplished on sewing, reading, enjoying the outdoors, etc. And my eyes don't bug out nearly as much, haha...

Regardless, there are a few new shows that are going on my DVR schedule to try out. Here's hoping I don't get hooked on all of them so I can keep up my good television habits and not watch too much!

Zooey Deschanel? Yes, yes, and yes. The "New Girl" is looking good. (Is it sad that I recognized her dress in the promo picture as Anthro? Of course, it is.)




Folk music in a cave? Sign me up. "Bluegrass Underground" is supposed to premiere sometime in mid-September on PBS.




Retro and vintage -- right up my alley. I can't wait for "Pan Am" to start on ABC.




Storybook mixed with modern? Intriguing. Could be good, could be a flop. We'll see. But it's got Ginnifer Goodwin, and she's a fave, so surely it has a chance. "Once Upon a Time" starts in October on ABC.




Supposedly there is also a two-part reality show series in the works from TLC all about Sarah Palin's hair salon up north -- "Big Hair Alaska". I might tune in for that -- sounds entertaining to me!

Other returning shows I'm planning on checking out again, at least for a while:

"Gold Rush Alaska" (no air date yet for Season Two) -- my husband and I got hooked on this one for whatever reason

"Sister Wives" -- what can I say, the crazy polygamists suck me in every time. (Well, not really, just suck me in to their stupid TV shows, that's all.)

"The Fabulous Beekman Boys" -- please, PLEASE tell me this one is returning. I think they're pretty fabulous, and Polka Spot the Llama holds a little piece of my heart.




And last but CERTAINLY not least, I'm ready for January to get here so I can start watching "Masterpiece Theater" again! (Fingers crossed for the Downton Abbey Christmas special I've heard about, plus I've heard there will be a second season of regular episodes which supposedly just finished filming.) I'm a total convert, and "Masterpiece Theater" has turned into one of my absolute favorite parts of television.

So what are you planning on watching?

Makin' stuff.

Late yesterday afternoon I actually donned an apron (never happens) in preparation to make dinner, which coincidentally was a very cute full-length-down-to-my-ankles apron from Anthropologie (bargain bin). I only mention this because the whole time I was wearing the apron, I felt drafty in the back (since it was full frontal coverage), and it kept making me think of the scene from "The Parent Trap" (the original, please) in which Hayley Mills cuts the back of her twin's dress off as a prank. I thought that was kind of funny.




Anyway, I digress. Last night I made a deeeeeeeeelicious dinner from scratch. Emphasis on the deeeeeeeeeeelicious. I've never heard such whoopin' and hollerin' from my boys at the dinner table, all of whom proudly proclaimed how much they love my cookin'.

Put a fork in me and call me done.

It was all Pioneer Woman-style up in here last night with some o' this Peach Whiskey BBQ Chicken





and some o' those Smashed Potatoes.




It's safe to say that Pioneer Woman sure knows a thing or two about feedin' boys. And it's always a festive occasion when the Baptists get to take a trip to the liquor store for a big bottle of Jack Daniel's. Just sayin'.

Today I'm a-cookin' some Farm Chicks Granola,




which will hopefully be a delicious alternative spooned on top of vanilla yogurt instead of the usually offering of cold cereal for breakfast. Hopefully one or all of my boys will notice and heap some more lovin' on their mama. Either that or I'm keeping it all to myself. Yum.

And holy cow -- my house smells all sorts of awesome right now from that granola in the oven. Better than any Yankee candle, Scentsy, or other artificial smells. I wish I could bottle it up!

Anything good been cookin' lately in your kitchen?


*First image found via Google; second two images via the lovely Pioneer Woman; last image via Serena, the amazing Farm Chick