Can I see....

A show of hands for how many of you have tried to karate kick your husband? Anyone? No-one? Well don't. A moment of playful fun has me sentenced to the couch for at least today.

The Series of Events:
Bryce, Emily, and Sarah playing in the kitchen... Sarah tried to 'kitcha' Bryce in the ankle, she missed. So of course I had to show her how it was done! I was aiming for his butt, but where I ended up was the floor. I suprise myself with my own strength sometimes... Not! Well I had jumped up and ended up landing on my ankle and tailbone. As I type my foot is still twitching and my ankle is about the size of a golfball. So if anyone asks why I decided to be a grumpy, non-fun person, it's because it seems like everytime I have fun I end up balling and in insane pain. My wonderful hubby put me on the couch with some ice and a hug, then put the girls to bed for me. After what had been such a wonderful day, it was really sad to have it end on such a bad note. Another sleepless night, this time of my own design, was just the icing on the cake.

On a brighter side of things, I have almost all my leather orders caught up, and will hopefully be sent out on Friday. Everything has turned out so well, I'm so excited! I did a belt and wallet for a dear friend, a wallet for a new customer, and a wallet for Bryce's grandma. All turned out beautifully!

In conclusion, I would really like to warn all you fun women out there.... It doesn't pay to try and kick your husband's butt :)

Fa La La La La......

It appears that it is the Christmas season yet again! If I wasn't feeling so horrible I would get up and take a picture of our tree (it's a fake tree this year, pine needles and me are not friends), but i'm so excited to get Christmas going!! I've got a list going for Christmas baking and it might just be longer than the menu for the month. Thank goodness i've been working out like crazy, because it's going to be treat central in this house. Another wonderful part about Christmas is the Christmas parties. I love to dress up and do my hair and make up all pretty. It's the only time of year other than branding where the ranch crew gets to unwind and talk about the year. Black friday coincided with our trip to Hermiston so my Mama and I got a chance to do some black friday shopping at my favorite clothing place... Maurices. Not only did I get to see some good friends that I miss a ton, I got to shop for some clothes! There is nothing better than a little black dress and my I can't wait to wear my new one! There is something about Maurices that I absolutely love... Maybe it's the stellar customer service in the Hermiston store, maybe it's the killer clearence section. Whatever it is, I love them!!! I got a few shirts and a new lbd. Pictures will be posted before we hit the Christmas party!! Happy Holidays everyone!

Different Definitions...

Cold. It can be taken one of three ways... A noun, it is cold. A state of being, you are cold. Or my personal favorite. You have a cold. Yep, this Mama caught a cold. I wouldn't mind being sick for a month straight after both girls leave for college, as long as the entire term of being Mommy was sick-less. There is nothing worse than a headache, lack of sleep, a sore throat, and a fever with two kids who are healthy and running around like crazy! I wouldn't call it the pits though, the flu with children is ten times worse. Let's cross our fingers that we all stay healthy this year!

Hoping everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, we sure did! We made a suprise trip back to our old home town. Sorry for the absence from writing, I happen to be horrible with secrets and was afraid i'd slip! Now that I have the liberty to speak freely, have no fear, I will do so! We got some amazing time with our family and our friends too. The best part though! What is it?! Well, Bryce and I got a new brother! Bryce's mom and dad welcomed Rhett Lloyd into the world a little over two weeks ago! He is the sweetest little guy, can't wait to watch him grow up! Everyone got a good giggle out of taking pictures of Sarah holding her baby Uncle, and Char was the epitome of jealousy whenever I got a chance to snuggle with the little man.
Thanks to my wonderful Mama, Bryce and I got a couple evenings out to spend with friends and we were in absolute bliss. Pretty much all of our friends have little ones now, so even if my babies were in bed, there were always another baby to hold. It's so funny, you beg borrow and plead for an hour or two away, then if there is another baby around, you can't wait to get your hands on that little one! The beauty of motherhood!
Suprisingly, both girls did really good in the car (it's ten hours both ways). Char had some troubles coming home but that was solved with some juice and apple slices. The girl is a sucker for fruit of any kind. She was a trouble baby when it came to sleep though, a note to all you other wonderful moms. Travel with your children!!! I think I got about 16 hours of sleep the four days we were there, and even less since we've been home. Char is such a creature of habit though, that it will take a little bit to get back into a routine.
One wonderful thing about being home is mail! Our family pictures came in the mail while we were gone and it was so exciting to get on there and see our family, all beautiful! There were some questions about whether the rosy cheeks and noses would make for good pictures and I would have to say it was a definite success....

Why the Bug looks so puffy lipped I don't know... But regardless she and her sister were troopers and beautiful!! Happy Holidays everyone!!! Recipes coming soon!!!

How does one...

Judge a cookie? Who should be a judge? What is it about a cookie that makes it great? What is the criteria?  Well I found how out how you judge a cookie today, who should judge, and what the criteria of a GREAT cookie truly is.

Meet my judge...

Charlotte is an incredible judge of food in general but she gave me the low-down on how to judge a cookie today, and I quote:

'1. To judge a cookie, you must have the right cookie to finger connection. You have to be able to feel the texture and gooey-ness
2. Who should be a judge? A small child, I can't honestly think of anyone who might deserve or cherish it more.
3. A cookie is made great by multiple things, but the thing I look for most is how much chocolate is in the cookie. ((I personally think she is bias, anything chocolate is her favorite))'

So there it is, what we all have been looking for. Charlotte also discovered her love for meatball marinara sandwiches this week. They were homemade and everyone cleaned them up, which is amazing because the girls have been on a picky streak. It's a grand thing... but one thing will always be certain... As long as there are two little girls, and of course, one husband, in this house, there will always be a love for Cookies!

The Road Home...

Relationships take time and work, going to boot camp, graduating, then going back to grad school... Anyone who says they have the perfect relationship obviously doesn't worry about money time, shared spaces, or children! While watching Sex and the City The Movie this morning, it came to a part where Samantha says 'I've figured out that a relationship doesn't mean happiness, what about you?' gesturing to a very pregnant Charlotte 'I'm happy everyday.... Not all day every day, but every day.' And Thank you Charlotte for speaking the God's honest truth. After a very long day in town where everything that could go wrong did go wrong, we salvaged the day with a series of things going very right! Then the trip home. As I said in an earlier post, we had a bit of a blizzard a few days ago, so coming home we expect far from perfect road conditions, but not the kind where you get buried in a drift!! Apparently the wind had decided to blow, drifting snow across the road to the top of the tires (this is a prime example of the stuff that makes it VERY difficult to live out here). Thank the Lord for wonderful neighbors! We got stuck about a half mile away from a family on the Dana Ranch and Justin came up with his chained up pick up and pulled us out of the drift and half way home. We rolled in at about 8:30 pm, having started down the 24 miles road at about 5:45 pm. My amazing husband always gets us home! :)

Mexican Emily's Style...

I can't stand taco seasoning from a packet! It's a total pet peeve now, all I can taste is intense amounts of salt (yuck) so it spurred me into finding a less sodium clustered way to make taco meat.

Please ignore the massive amount of grease in the bottom of the pan, I squeeze it out before I put it on a plate but this is my culinary masterpiece for the week.

Taco Meat
1lb ground beef
1/2 Cup Tomato sauce (pre-salted can)
2 teaspoons Cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Pepper to taste

Brown ground beef, tomato sauce, cumin, garlic powder, pepper, together in skillet. The tomato sauce will absorb into the meat along with all the yummy spices and you have a low calorie low sodium solution to high sodium taco seasoning!!  This is very similar to a seasoning mix that the Mexican crew that comes up here to work in the summer uses on their meats (which are to die for!), and i'm too chicken and know too little spanish to ask what they use.

Howdy Neighbor...

There are things in life out here that flat out suck (the blizzard the last two days), but then there are the things that are downright hysterical. I saw a picture a few days ago that had a deer looking in the front door at Fuddruckers (yes that happens frequently up here), and I laughed, deer are funny creatures. Now cows, oh cows, they are anything but predictable. A cow gets chased by horses, humans, and dogs it's entire life being taught to respect authority. There is nothing scarier than an angry cow who decides to turn on you and face off. However, there are things that go beyond the typical behavior for cows.

Hello, Mr. Bull... Though I appreciate your plea to come inside the warm house, I do believe it would be excrutiatingly hard to fit you through the front door! :/  And yes, it snowed all night long! I knocked on the window to get his attention for the picture (he was trying to eat my porch mat) and he gave me the most pathetic/annoyed look ever. Bryce got up and shooed him out of the yard and closed the gate but not before he said goodbye with a few angry tail swishes!

The Weather Outside is Frightful...

But swims inside are so delightful! My girls and I decided yesterday that we were going to take a trip to the tropical, ever warm, waters of Hawaii. Our tropical pool may have been the bathtub but the girls splashed around in their bathing suits and had a blast.

Now, a day later, we are covered up in snow... The thick white cold stuff that has a tendency to ruin pretty much ANY outdoor plans? Yup, it decided to come down in buckets!

It appears winter is here to stay... 18 inches on the ground and counting!

Menu Shmenu....

Menus save my life! For thirty days I have one less thing to think about! I try to go grocery shopping just once a month, using coupons and utilizing loss leader sales. I found that I can feed a family of four, including diapers, on about $250 a month. This last sale at Albertsons was one for the record books, it seemed as though they had seen my menu and put everything on sale accordingly! From pineapple, to turkeys, they were having a sale on everything. I try to shun Wal-Mart as much as possible, I honestly can't think of a worse store... Ever. Bryce and I have had our share of the 'wal-mart reds' where we are in the WORST possible moods until we have checked out, unloaded and are back in the car. Yuck. My favorite part of shopping this month was the meat sale. After Bryce shot his elk, we got our bi-annual 1/2 a steer so we were more than set for red meat, but I don't know about you guys, red meat can get a little old after a while! So onto our monthly shopping we went, Albertsons had a buy one get one that just about made me jump for joy, buy a ham, get a turkey free! The even better part.... I had a coupon for the ham! Boo-Yeah! Ok so that was a little cheesy, but getting stuff on sale excites me!

As far as the menu goes, I plan by using different cuts, 20 ground beef meals, 5 shredded beef or elk meals, and then 5 'other' meat meals (This month Turkey, Chicken, and a couple veggie meals!). Part of the daily routine consists of preparing as much as I can before I am crunched for time so in the mornings I get out everything I need to make the meal and set the meat out to defrost. Not only does this make things easier, dinner becomes just that much more simple to fix when you have a husband and two children screaming at you that they're hungry!

A new spin...

On Dr. Seuss... My wonderful little girl woke up this morning with one task in mind... Reading Mama a story! So while Bryce was getting ready for work I sat down with Sarah and she opened the Dr. Seuss book 'One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish'. I snuggled with her as she carefully opened the first page and waited for her to start 'reading'. She sighed and said.

'Mommy told me no.... Daddy tell me no.... (turned the page) Mama told me no more, Daddy told me no more.'

Startled, I looked at the page, then realized that my sweet girl was inventing a story all her own. I truly never thought that the fact that she gets told 'no' on a pretty regular basis would have any implication on her story telling. Apparently this Mama was wrong!

So this morning i'm stuck here thinking, is that what she is going to remember? Her childhood memories are going to be littered with 'Mama telling me no...', or her sitting in the corner. I know that i'm WAY over thinking it, because i'm not here to be a competetive player in Sarah's popularity contest, but i'd like to be seen as mostly positive!! Why couldn't she have put in 'Mommy took me trick or treating, Daddy took me trick or treating....' We had a blast! The girl was shivering cold with her coat on but she just kept going and going!! We got into the car at the end of the block and she looked at me and said 'Thank 'em Mama, I love you!'.

Note the bright red shoes!!! She's asked to be Dorothy every day since Halloween :)

Gratitude...

With Christmas fast approaching, the television commercials are popping up more and more frequently. The Target one is cute, the dog running through all the people and small buildings, but the one that has my head spinning is the the one from Famous Footwear.  The one wear the blonde teenage girl says 'she won't ever get us, understand us, or get us what we...' then is so suprised and overjoyed when her mother 'gets' her enough to buy her a pair of Madden Girl boots. Her younger brother shares her excitement, and then the mother proceeds to get a hug from her daughter followed by the worst line of all 'This is a Christmas miracle!' I find this to be extremely disturbing. I realize that every teen says the same thing, our parents don't ever get us, that they don't understand us, blah blah blah. Thank God we grow out of that stage, but I have to admit that on Christmas morning I never ever felt the way that that girl spilled on a nationally distributed television commercial. And since when did parents find it an achievement to BUY their childrens gratitude and love? 'A Christmas Miracle'? That would be the reason for the season, that would be the gift of spending time with your family, or being alive to live the day. Not to mention the fact that our children are watching these commercials and the way that girl acted towards her mother and the gift is how our children could take our gifts on Christmas day.  How in the world is this right?