Things so easy even I can do them

So, I am now a die hard Pinterest user.  If you haven’t come across this website yet then you haven’t truly lived.  In short, it is a virtual bulletin board where you can post pictures (has to have a picture to work) from blogs, websites, whatever.  Most of the stuff on there is great do-it-yourself information, decorating ideas, recipes, etc.  So, you pin from a website you like and then others can find that website too and be just as informed as you.  It’s basically a one stop shop for any type of party ideas you might need or decorating help, or if you feel like you want to build your own farmhouse table (yes, there is link to a tutorial on how to do that).  So, I thought since I am TAKING so much information from this sight I might try and add some things as well.  I am not nearly as crafty as most of the people on there and I am not a super mom like the other half, but I do my best and have come up with some things that at least make my life better, so, there you have it. 

The first is a recipe and it is so simple and yet so yummy that I still can’t believe how easy it was to re-create!  So, I am obsessed (I mean 3 times a week obsessed) with Rubio’s new gourmet tacos (both the steak and the shrimp).  Basically anything with a chipotle sauce on it is going to send me doing back flips and this sauce is amazing!  But, that isn’t really the point, they are just yummy and filling and so good.  So, I figured since we can’t afford my habit I should try to make them myself.  It was so much easier than I thought.  Here is the breakdown:

1 flank steak or carne asada steak for grilling (you can find these in the meat section at your local store).  No particular amount, whatever you know will feed you and your family.

1 ripe avocado (or more if you are feeding more than 3 or 4 people)

1 bunch cilantro

1 round of Cotija cheese (found in cheese section)

corn tortillas ( store bought are fine here here is a link to a great recipe for home made http://allrecipes.com/recipe/corn-tortillas/detail.aspx)

Pico de Gallo salsa

1 bottle Chipotle Ranch dressing or chipotle sandwich spread

1 tube Gourmet Garden mexican herb and spice blend

To marinade steak simply brush on some of the mexican flavor paste on both side, cover, and let sit overnight.

Grill steak until done

while steak is grilling slice avocados and chop cilantro

Grate cheese

Heat tortillas in micro for 25 seconds

Slice meat into 2 inch slices, arrange meat, cheese, cilantro, salsa, avocado, and drizzle chipotle sauce on top, voila!

Here is the finished product, amazing, and so close to the real thing. 

Now here are a couple fun organization ideas.  I am a runner.  Not marathons yet, but I have run a couple half marathons and a handful of shorter races.  For those that race you know that you get a bib number to wear during the race and usually a finisher medal afterwards.  I was stuck on how to display these, or if I even should.  I figured someplace in our bedroom was best.  I didn’t need to have them out for the world to see, but seeing them everyday motivates me to keep running.  I tweaked another idea I saw online and came up with this for displaying both the bibs and the medals. 

Jewelry storage has always been tough for me.  I used to just throw it all in a drawer and then never wear anything because all the necklaces were tangled together with my earrings acting as glue.  So I needed a change.  I used a suction hook from target to hang my necklaces (could probably used another one now that I have more necklaces than when I started) and an old hurricane stand to store my earrings.  I am sure there are even better ways to do this, but it works for me and keeps my drawers clutter free. 

Gearing up for Christmas…

Well, at least for our Christmas photo for our cards.  This is something I think about pretty much from the time school starts until I figure out what I want to do which is usually about three weeks out from Christmas.  This year I thought I would try out some ideas, compile some things and see where it takes me.  Maybe a collage?  Maybe something will jump out at me as PERFECT and I will be finished.  Or maybe I will just have a ton of fun playing around with my camera and my family trying to find just the right shot.  This is one I tweaked from an idea I saw on Pinterest (the best website there is, hands down).  Pretty simple idea, and gotta love Picasa for all the editing it allows (who needs photoshop?). 

Happiest Harry Potter Party

My oldest son just turned 9.  It is still hard to believe it has been that many years, but as all parents say, time really does fly.  His heart’s desire was to have a Harry Potter party, so that is what we did.  I find that I get much less stressed if I am planning a party for just our family.  We have some extended family nearby so that parties are never quiet or dull, not with 5, count them, 5 cousins, all boys, running the show.  So, I researched a bit online, found a cake he liked and I thought I could recreate with ease, and away we went!  I had so much fun gearing up for this party!  Below is a collage of some of the photos for the party. 

Boys will be boys

Every once in a while it hits me that I am a mother to three boys.  Three boys who will become three teenage boys who will become three young men, who will hopefully become three mature, well-mannered, morally upstanding, confident, courageous, and kind men.  This, when broken down like that, seems like a pretty tall order to fill.  I have been entrusted with the job of raising these boys to be brothers, husbands, fathers, and uncles.  Often it is pretty daunting.  There seems to be a lack of real men in this country these days.  Men who mean what they say, say what they believe, and believe in things that end up making the world a better place.  So how do I go about this, as a mother in this day and age?

So what is the deal?  Why aren’t there many men these days?  What has happened to our society that boys just don’t grow up?  I don’t know.  I do know that I see a lot of moms who don’t let their kids, boys and girls a like, take responsibility for themselves.  Here is an example.  My 4 year old is perfectly capable of putting his clothes away once they are clean (folding is another story, but it will come).  I mean, he gets dressed on his own, he knows where to GET the clothes he wears, hence he should totally know where to put them when they are freshly cleaned and folded.  So I let him do this job.  My older two are folding and putting away their own clothes.  Pretty soon they will be washing them too.  Yet I know there are grown men out there who have no idea how to wash a load of laundry let alone fold it.  Why?  Why do moms feel the need to baby their babies for so long? 

I will admit that I am guilty of babying my babies in some ways.  I fear they will get hurt doing certain things but then remember that stitches and broken bones heal and it is kind of a right of passage for kids, especially boys.   I don’t ever want my children to experience pain like that, but I know they will and I know they will survive and hopefully have a good story to tell at the end of it all.  I also know that I could do more when it comes to teaching them manners and etiquette.  It hits me most meals when they wipe their mouths with the backs of their hands and half sit half stand at the table, or talk with food in their mouths.  I sometimes think, what will a future girlfriend’s mother think if this young man does this at her table?  I am suddenly filled with dread and want to immediately send them to charm school, or whatever boys attend to learn manners.  But of course I can teach them these things msyelf, as can Joe, but why is it that we have to teach them?  Do we not do these things ourselves?  I have been trying to be a good example but with boys that is kind of up to the dad.  He must teach them the wonderous trick of opening a door for a lady and how that one simple act will bring him praise and adoration, or pulling out a chair, or standing when a lady leaves the room, or just using a napkin appropriately!  Learning how to shake a hand and look people in the eye when you speak and to walk with confidence and purpose.  As tough as we want them to be, boys are also precious gifts that need to be nurtured in ways that I am not always confident.  But then I look at Joe, my amazing husband, who has never, not once, in 12 years of marriage left the seat up, or burped at the able (or any time for that matter), and is such a wonderful example for my boys that my heart is suddenly at ease.

So, I think that we will be ok.  I pray for my boys each day, that they will be happy, and confident, and have joy unimaginable and will know how to love unconditionally and will also know how to stand up for themselves and others.  I know they will be successful in whatever they choose to do with their lives and I also know that for whatever reason God chose Joe and I to prepare them for the world.  They truly are gifts and I love them all so completely that to think of life without them just isn’t possible.  I know it existed, but that life is so far away from our lives now that it almost seems like a dream.  These boys, these forces of nature, have so changed our lives that I can’t and won’t think of what life was like before.  Children change the direction of our lives and start us on a new adventure that is so amazing it is hard to describe.  I thank God daily for my three blessings and while I have my share of challenging days, the challenges are so worth it. 

More observations and some facts

Oh my, that is pretty much all I can say at the moment.  For a while there I thought I had this three kid thing down to a science, then summer vacation happened. I never realized how amazing it is to have kids in school and to get 5 hours a day, 5 days a week to I recover from the weekend and get ready for the next one.  Summer vacation throws a wrench into that whole, beautiful routine.

Anyway, we are now about a month into our vacation and we have already gone to Hawaii, the big boys did a week long day camp where they went to Legoland every day, and we had a fun 4th of July extended weekend at Grandma’s house.  There were some bumps along the way but those are for another time.  This is our first week with nothing planned and at 9 am on Monday I am already struggling with what to do with the kids!  Well, let me clarify, what FREE things I can do with the kids.  We have ridden the trolley and had a picnic twice and might do that again, but three kids makes pretty much anything an expensive adventure, even just going to lunch let alone someplace like the Zoo.  So, if you have any creative ideas for things to do with three active boys on a summer day, please let me know, I will try anything! 

Now, on to some more observations. 

1.  I just recently started eating and liking things I always hated as a kid.  Things like peppers and onions and different spices and flavorings.  So, don’t worry if your kids don’t like veggies now, they will when they are 35. 

2.  I would really like to see pictures of the people who comment in magazines about celebrities in their bathing suits in THEIR bathing suits.  People in glass houses. 

3.  I am not a fun person to be around when I am hungry or tired, not even to myself!  I really need to remember to carry snacks around, and maybe a pillow.

4.  I recently washed a crayon in the laundry and ruined some nice things.  I tried all of the tricks online to get it out.  None of them worked.  My observation….don’t wash crayons in the laundry.

5.  Our kitty has an affinity for feet, mine especially.  He bites them while I eat, he sleeps on them at night, and chases them as I walk around the house.  I have lost count of how many times he been kicked or tripped over or pushed off something.

6.  You know that old saying “kids these days"?  Well, it’s true.  Once your kids start school you realize just how kids are these days.  It is sad what they are picking up from their classmates, but even more sad that it is pretty standard for kids as young as 6 to know some of the things they do. 

7.  No matter how often I clean off my desk of all the papers and junk it just comes right back almost immediately.  I now think paper has some chemical property that allows it to reproduce like bunnies. 

8.  Just recently had to pay $10 a seat to get assigned seats on a plane.  Yes, that is in addition to actually buying the seats.  If you are doing the math that is $50 extra dollars just to make sure my kids aren’t sitting alone next to some stranger.  Thanks Sun Country. 

That’s all for now.

More observations from an observer

I’m baaack!  Well, it appears that this week has been a great one for making observations.  Although, I think I have always made these observations, even voicing them to only myself while driving somewhere, so perhaps this week has been no more different than any other.  I will jump right in.

1.  A little make-up does not, in fact, go a long way.  In fact, if you try going for the I’m-wearing-make-up-but-trying-to-look-like-I’m-not effect, you will in fact achieve this goal better than you anticipated. You will actually look like you have no make up on.  So all that painstaking shading and powdering will be all for naught.  I am now convinced make-up companies have created their products in such a way that you have to use A LOT in order to look like you are wearing any therefore having to buy more often (just like the shampoo companies have been doing for decades!)  So, in order to look at all ready to face the world you will have to put on much more make-up than you ever thought you would need and instead of looking sick and washed out you will look like a clown. Did I mention that they also make it impossible to correctly apply make-up without a professional’s help?

2.  I don’t like playing games.  I am not at all competitive and in fact can slip into mini-panic attacks when playing any game that actually requires strategy.  So don’t be offended if you ask me to play a game and I decline.  It isn’t you.

3.  Hard boiling an egg to just the right consistency (yolk completely cooked but still fully yellow, not grayish) is a skill I have yet to master. 

4.  I am stealing this one from my mom, but I echo the sentiment completely; what exactly is a pill bug (potato bug, rolly polly) and what is their function in nature?

5.  Don’t watch CNN if you are used to Fox News.  It will be like watching TV in French with no subtitles.  (The opposite is true as well).

6.  Why so many TV shows that involve narrators or actors talking to the camera as if they are being interviewed? 

7.  Watching any of the “Real Housewives” shows makes me feel much better about my life for some reason.  Making your life seem completely shallow and useless seems like a lot of work. 

8.  I am fairly certain my 4 year old has most of the answers to all the world’s burning questions but is revealing them in a secret code of knock-knock jokes.

9.  I have almost completely lost the ability to write with a pen and paper.  It takes me at least two tries to write a check these days, often because I have forgotten how to fill one out, but also because when under pressure to write the check I suddenly forget how to spell.

10.  Sometimes I still get that “homesick” feeling you used to get at camp or sleepovers.  I guess you can take the kid out of the home, but you can never fully take “home” out of the kid.  

When in doubt, ask a kid

So, if you have kids than you know they are brutally honest.  If you don’t have kids you might be aware of this as well.  For instance, this morning while watching Ace Venture Pet Detective with the kids I was laughing at something and Dom goes “your teeth are kinda yellow.”  Now, I am well aware of this, but adults know enough to keep these types of comments to themselves.  Kids, not so much.  So now, all because my 6 year old said something, I am completely self-conscious about my smile whereas before I was happy to live in denial while the adults around me continued to pretend my smile was nothing but perfectly white.  (Time out to make sure my Crest White Strips are staying in place).

This brutality I speak of can also be used for good, however.  Case in point, I come down all gussied up for church and the same 6 year old who pointed out my lack of dental hygiene now says “wow mommy, you looks really pretty.”  So you see, it is a double edged sword.  One minute I am an ogre with bad teeth, the next a princess ready for the ball.  How is a mom supposed to deal with this?!  But, I have to say, I am grateful for my children’s honesty.  They have no reason to hold back, no reason to think that by telling me my teeth are yellow I will shun them or stop talking to them as I might if say, Joe, told me the very same thing.  (Again, I am well aware of my yellow teeth, but if you point it out and you are older than 8, get ready for the silent treatment.)

I employ my children’s honesty a lot when making my crafty things.  Often they will say something while I am in the midst of creating.  It could be a simple, “that looks cute, what is it going to be?”  Or, “is that supposed to be a hat, because it doesn’t looks like one.”  It can be very helpful.  Also it can cause me to put down a project never to pick it back up again.  Later I will find this project wadded up at the bottom of a bag and think, what was this supposed to be?  My kids are usually spot on with their critiques.  I would highly suggest more artists use this method to help with their process.

One area I don’t ever encourage this honesty is when it comes to my cooking.  Now let me preface by saying, I am not a great cook.  I am also not a terrible cook.  Joe might like to add that usually when I make something from a recipe I am almost always short one ingredient and therefore must be creative and substitute something else.  He thinks this is funny.  He might also point out that even with a list I always forget one thing at the grocery store.  So, let’s get back to my cooking.  Since I am neither a gourmet chef nor a frozen dinner type mom I am very self-conscious about my cooking.  I am a pretty good baker, if I do say so myself, but sometimes the main dishes elude my sensibilities.  If it is a dish I myself have never had than I am not really sure how it should taste and therefore when my kids start to gag I don’t know if it is just simply kids being kids or if it is truly gag-worthy.  Regardless, I am utterly offended.  There are less than a handful of non-nugget or macaroni based meals that my kids actually like.  I make these meals often simply to get the kudos I so desperately long for. 

Another area that has brought me to tears is my cleaning.  Again, I am not Martha Stewart, but I do my best and no one has contracted the plague from my housekeeping skills, so there.  Once again my 6 year old (I am sensing a pattern with him) pointed out a smallish bit of crumbs on the breakfast table and said in about as snarky a voice I have ever heard from any of my kids, “ew, I am not eating here, the table is gross!”  And this is when I burst into tears. 

It might appear to some that my kids are hyper-critical.  Nope, they are just kids.  I am reminded of when my oldest was almost two and we were visiting my brother in West Virginia as Christmas.  It was cold there, everyone was bundled up, something we don’t see a lot out here in San Diego.  We were in a coffee shop and there was a larger lady in a red jacket sitting with her back to us having her coffee innocent as can be.  My two year sees her and says “look, Santa!”  Thank goodness she didn’t hear, although I know many friends who have been in similar situations where the person definitely heard.  All you can do is skulk away in shame, but you can’t really reprimand you kids for pointing out the obvious, can you?   I mean, it is like the yellow teeth thing, it is true, everyone knows is, but just because no one ever says anything, does it make it wrong when my kid finally does?  Perhaps that one statement will be what pushes “Santa” to get a gym membership, you never know.  Of course we do talk about keeping our thoughts to ourselves and never pointing (that is impolite, although I am still not quite sure why), and remembering people’s feelings.  But with kids, saying someone is big isn’t said to make them feel bad, it is simply a statement.  Now, there is a shift when this suddenly turns on its heels and then it IS said to make someone feel bad.  I am not sure when this shift takes place exactly, and it might be different with each kid, so I am keeping a keen eye out for clues.  I suspect when instead of simply saying “that person is fat” becomes “hey Dom, look at Shamu over there,” and there is a lot of nudging and chuckling I will have a pretty good idea.

If you are reading this and don’t have kids yet, please don’t let this deter you.  Kids are amazing and it is their brutal honesty that makes them so.  Kids are designed to see the world as purely as possible.  It is a gift we all lose, like the ability to learn any language easily.  Don’t squelch it.  Cry in secret if their yellow teeth comments hurt you, but don’t take away their wide-eyed wonder, until, of course, there is chuckling and nudging, then nip it in the bud.