Useless!

In anticipation of Jeremy's R&R, I have acquired a bad case of uselessness. I'm restless and moody and I can't seem to accomplish anything. He should be home in about a month (and I can hardly stand the wait at this point). I'm starting to think that June will be a very unproductive month for me.

So, in honor of this, I am undertaking a new project. One my cousins got me started on mapmyrun.com (thanks, Alexis!). She has undertaken a challenge to run 50 miles in 30 days. So, I'm going to do the same in the month of June. Hopefully this will be a good activity for when I think "what am I going to do to get my mind off of time passing?". I want to load up on the miles at the beginning of the month, as I do have a rather long to do list for R&R (all those preparation activities need to wait until closer to the time Jeremy is coming home). I also want to work on my pace. I had thought I was running about 10 minute miles. WRONG! I've been running a pitiful 12 - 13 minute mile. So, I have a short course (2.2 miles) mapped out that I want to run once or twice a week until I get my pace to where I want it, which my initial goal is 10 minutes. I'd love to get to the point where I can easily do an 8 minute mile, but I know that is a long way off for me.

Hmmm....I may need to pick up a new pair of running shoes before the month is over! Dont' you love the way I can twist just about any situation into an excuse to shop?!

Hmmmm...

...wondering why the post I made on Wednesday, 5/27, says it was made on Tuesday, 5/26. Interesting...must be because I started it on Tuesday. But, really, who the heck cares when it was started?

Reminiscing

Today my baby boy turned 4 years old. Four!!! It hardly seems possible. Seriously, the last four years have just flown by.

This morning I took his official 4 year photos (something I started doing myself about a year ago). These were two of my favorites, partly because he reminds me so much of Jeremy in them.

And, well, this one was just too funny. This morning I walked into the living room to discover that Reid had stolen Lucy's bow and had put it to good use...

I also spent the day doing a little reminiscing, so I pulled out a few old photos of Reid to share with you.

This was at 3 years:

This was at 2 years, when we celebrated his birthday at Aunt Deb's Ocean (what the kids have taken to calling the Atlantic Ocean):

This was at one year:

And the next couple are from when he was just itty bitty and still at the hospital (the OSU Medical Center -- he's been a Buckeye since the very beginning, just like his daddy). I love the picture of the three of us, because Jeremy & I look so happy (in spite of my terribly swollen face). There are moments from that day that stand out very very clearly in my memory and I'm sure they always will. And, no, not the ones you would think (though I remember that stuff, too, but I'm not going to bore you with those). I remember very clearly driving down 670 in the dark. It was completely deserted and the lights were on under the bridges -- something I normally didn't see on my drive into work. I remember that the feast of Wendy's after Reid was born tasted like the best thing I had ever eaten. And the absolutely gorgeous diamond earrings Jeremy gave me -- the ones I take out only a few times a year -- when I told him they were too much and he should take them back he responded "but you puked for three months, you earned them" (which is why I like to call them my "puke present", as opposed to the super popular "push presents" of today).

Happy Birthday, Reid! I love you just the way you are -- ornery, stubborn, willful, defiant, funny, silly, smart and absolutely perfect just the way you are!

So very proud...

...of my husband and those he serves with and so very grateful for all those who have served and sacrificed all for this great nation, for our freedoms and for our future.

Four!

I can hardly believe it, but Reid will be turning four on Wednesday. Today we had small party in honor of this occasion. It was a nice day with Grandma, Grandpa and couple of good friends, though the weather didn't cooperate and was a bit cool for swimming (but that didn't stop Reid).

I made Reid's cake with fondant. I think it turned out pretty well, though I was regretting my decision to use it this morning after an hour of decorating. I still couldn't get the sides perfectly smooth, but it was pretty decent and better than the last one. Maybe a few more cakes will perfect my technique (though the sugar might kill me -- the buttercream is wicked and hard to resist -- just ask me what I've been putting it on). Reid was totally pleased with the cake, though, so that made it totally worth it!

Reid was so tired, though, that after dinner he fell asleep on Grandma's shoulder! It took quite a bit to get him thoroughly awake for cake. He did manage to wake up enough to eat two cupcakes, though.

I didn't manage to get any good pictures of the present opening, but he was thoroughly pleased with the crane for the train set that he got from our friends. In fact, he was totally disinterested in the domino set that Jeremy & I got him. Oh well...Jeremy & I saved his big gift for Wednesday. Hopefully it will get his attention!

And, what you probably really want to see, the pictures:

Our weekend fun!

So, the kids had a really nice time this weekend. Hannah had spent the previous week at Camp Palmer, so she was a bit tired, though it didn't seem to get in the way of the fun. The weekend was filled with outdoor playing and lots of dirt, which is to be expected when visiting a farm I suppose.

Their favorite thing all weekend? My Aunt & Uncle lent my parents their go-kart and the kids spent hours on end in it. The only downside was that Ross burnt his hands on the motor, which he had been repeatedly warned not to touch (nothing major, though he did have a couple decent sized blisters). After that, he made sure to tell me every time I got near it that I should not touch the engine because I would get hurt, which I thought was cute. I'm not sure who had more fun on it -- Hannah or the boys.







We got to visit with both my Aunt & Uncle and my Great Aunt & Great Uncle on my dad's side. My aunt taught the boys how to race, which was a hoot to watch.





Lucy enjoyed the outdoors, too.

And she and Grandpa had a good time playing. I thought this picture was hilarious (hope you don't mind me posting it, Dad) -- note Lucy is wearing Grandpa's hat. I love the fact that it is cockeyed and backwards.

The trip home went really well. Except for the last two hours, the kids really didn't complain much. In fact, we made it half way home before anyone complained about anything. The kids were exhausted from the weekend, which I think was really helpful -- they slept a good portion of the day while traveling, which is the best way to travel with kids!

Do you know what today is?

Today marks six months of deployment for Jeremy. And it relieves me to say this is a milestone that finally makes me feel like we're getting somewhere. There are now fewer days in front of us than behind us. I've already done six months of this, so I know I can do six more, right?

And R&R is coming soon -- only about 6 weeks until he's home for that. My to-do list to get ready for R&R is long, so I'm hoping time will just fly by as I keep myself occupied with cleaning and organizing and carting the kids to and from their activities. I'm so excited about it that I can hardly stand it -- I can only imagine what kind of a state I will be in by the end of June!

Made it to Ohio

The trip to Ohio was a surprisingly uneventful one. Nothing major to report, other than the fact that the last hour was a bit hairy with both Lucy and Ross screaming at me. Of course, that was after midnight, so they were both legitimately tired and cranky. Actually, we managed to drive 4 hours before we had to stop at all and even then there was only a few minutes of complaining from Lucy right before we got to our stop.

I did end up stopping in hell, though the locals call it Marmet, WV. I lost a good 30 minutes there to nothing more than stupid people. Note to self: it is better to risk a potty accident than to exit the interstate there.

The kids had a great day today. The boys especially loved playing out in the dirt with Grandpa. And you know how it works with boys -- the dirtier they are, the happier they are. The sludge in the bottom of the tub tonight tells me that they had a blast.

They had some special fun today, too, but I'll wait until I can get the pictures off my camera to update on that.

Hmmmm...a bit OCD, maybe?

So, I spent a good portion of the day packing for a trip to Ohio. As usual, I had all the clothes laid out in piles on my bed. I noticed something interesting about my stack of tops. Anyone else see anything interesting here?

I should probably mention that the outfit I have laid out for tomorrow is a navy and white stripe shirt (just like the teal one on the end). Oh, and I had a hot pink and white striped top on today.

Okay, so I have a stripe problem...I suppose I could use a bit more variety in my wardrobe. Stacy and Clinton would have a heyday with me, wouldn't they?

Poop!

Ugghhh...having kids under the age of five is just messy sometimes.

Last night, I bathed all three of the little ones. Ross was the last one in the tub and didn't want to get out. I was going back and forth putting laundry away (don't worry -- he makes noise CONSTANTLY, so I can monitor him easily and I was close by), so I didn't actually see this happen. I hear Reid and Ross giggling excessively. I figured there was a lot of splashing going on and that I may have to put a fresh set of pajamas on Reid due to splashing. I enter the bathroom to be greeted by a tub full of poopy water. The kicker? Ross was fishing the turds out and lining them up on the edge of the tub.

There was only one thing I could do -- turn around and bite my lip to keep from laughing. Yes, I know it is gross, but Ross was so pleased with his "collection" that I couldn't help but laugh (and it was either laugh or cry at that point).

Sigh...the boys sure are a handful.

My not so fabulous fondant...

So, today I assembled the fondant I made last week into a cake. It is certainly not perfect. In fact, there is a ton of stuff wrong with it, but I think it turned out pretty good for a first attempt. Now, no one is allowed to laugh at this, okay?


I definitely rolled the fondant out too think, which is painfully obvious in the picture. And I just could not get the edges smooth -- there are a ton of wrinkles and folds in the fondant. And there is a ton of powdered sugar on the top of the cake. And, well, we'll just leave it at that. What I learned:

1. Fondant must be thin enough that the decorative pieces aren't too heavy to adhere and that the sides can be smoothed without massive wrinkles.

2. Too thick of a layer of buttercream under the fondant is bad -- very very bad. The buttercream squished around under the fondant, making an even more un-even looking appearance.

3. I need a few more tools before trying this again, namely a plastic ruler and a non-stick plastic knife. I had a hard time cutting the ribbon.

4. Three year olds are not helpful when rolling out fondant.

The cake itself was fabulous. I used the Blackout Cake recipe from Karen Barker's "Sweet Stuff" (a book I highly recommend, by the way -- the Peppermint Pattie cake is divine), which is absolutely my favorite chocolate cake recipe ever. I iced the cake with white chocolate buttercream and filled it with white chocolate hazelnut buttercream. I wasn't overly fond of the hazelnuts. I think I would have liked it better if I had ground them up finer and perhaps added a bit of hazelnut extract. The buttercream was amazing, however, which is saying a lot, as I generally don't like buttercream.

The fondant was okay -- it is just really really sweet and a bit chewy. It is a bit like having a layer of taffy on the outside of the cake. It is certainly edible, but not desirable in my book. Fortunately, you can just peel the fondant off the outside if you don't want it. It definitely is fun to work with and the effect is really cool, so I'll be trying this again soon. In fact, I'll probably be trying it for Reid's birthday in a few weeks...now just to figure out a Hawaiian themed cake for him!

Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew!!!!!!

Yuck! I just had to fish a GIGANTIC mouse out of my pool. Not quite big enough for me to call it a rat, but close. Ick, ick, ick, ick, ick...

At least it was floating in the bottom of the pool. We've had mice before (two little ones) and a couple frogs (though, those stupid things don't die, unfortunately), but they were in the skimmer basket. I hate cleaning the skimmer basket out, because you actually have to get your hand near whatever gross things are in it. At least when I'm fishing something out of the water, it is on the other end of a 16 foot long pole.

Ugh...it just gives me the creeps thinking about the wet little thing.

Obviously, I can handle these things myself, but dang I wish Jeremy were here to deal with the gross stuff!

Mmmmm...strawberries!

Yesterday morning, Betty & I took the kids strawberry picking at a nearby patch. We only picked two baskets, but brought home 6 -- two was enough picking for the "experience". My only complaint was that there were a TON of bugs -- much more so than we ever ran into when blueberry picking last year. The kids had a good time, though. Here are a few snapshots of the outing:

This one cracked me up! "Grandma, there is something wrong with this one..."

And, yes, Lucy was along. She was on my back in the carrier, though, so no pics of her today!

I made two batches of jam yesterday afternoon. Reid was surprisingly helpful with this process. I managed to only burn myself once on the canner...something I do EVERY TIME I can. I can cook without incident most days, but I cannot can safely.

The jam is mostly for Jeremy. He loves strawberry jam and much prefers homemade to anything store bought. So, hopefully, the two batches will make it through until the next strawberry season, else I could have a grumpy hubby on my hands.

Now, what to do with the rest of the berries in my fridge...

In the kitchen.

So, yesterday I took a stab at making fondant -- the play dough like frosting for cakes that is super trendy right now (for those of you -- like my husband -- who don't know what it is). I made it with marshmallows, which isn't traditional, but is supposed to taste much better. It is currently sitting in the fridge waiting for a cake to magically appear in my kitchen. It didn't taste too bad, though not the best frosting I've ever had (I do think I'll try adding a flavor when I knead the coloring later). However, it is for aesthetic purposes that I am making it, so as long as it is edible, it is all good with me. I want to do Lucy's cake in fondant, so I have plenty of time to try this over several times.

It was quite the sticky mess. Essentially, you just melt a bunch of marshmallows and then knead in a lot of powdered sugar. My counter (and apron) were a mess. And so was Reid. I kept him busy by letting him lick the bowl from the marshmallows. You know what happens to melted marshmallows after a few moments at room temperature, right? Yep, it gets quite firm. So, it was really an impossible task that I set Reid to. That didn't matter, though, he kept at it for a good 1/2 hour. And that was plenty of time for me to make the fondant and then clean up.

Hopefully I'll get a first stab at putting the stuff on a cake next week.

And for those of you who know me well, then you'll also know I'm a bit like "Tim the toolman", but in the kitchen. You know, that lovable guy from "Tool Time" that had to have more power in everything that he did. Well, that rule applies to my appliances -- more power is always better.

I have a nice KitchenAid mixer that I got for a wedding gift. It is totally adequate for most mixing purposes. I, however, convinced myself several years ago that I needed to upgrade to a bigger model because of my bread making (which, legitimately, was pretty rough on my original mixer). Jeremy has mostly ignored this repeated request. But, he must have gotten tired of listening to me. So, my oh so sweet husband surprised me with a new mixer. When I got home from Ohio a few weeks ago, this was waiting on the front steps for me:

Cool, huh? I more than doubled the power in the motor and did double the bowl capacity. So, I now have 6 quarts of mixing capability. And this thing is so stinking cool!!! I can actually knead a loaf of bread without it walking across the counter.

And I was originally trying to figure out what to do with the old one. But I've decided to keep it. I like my kitchen toys and don't part with them easily. Plus, you just never know when you'll need two at once, right?

P. S. I should mention now that I typed this post while making dinner and feeding Lucy. It works like this: type sentence, feed Lucy a bite or two of banana, throw some cheerios on the tray, type sentence, peek out at boys who are on the screen porch (which would be visible from my sink if I were two inches taller) and yell at them for being ornery to each other, write sentence, stir pasta, repeat. So, yes, this may not be the most well written post ever.

A girls weekend!

The boys spent the weekend with Grandma & Grandpa in Ohio watching Aunt Johnna row. So, Lucy & I had a girls only weekend and it was a lovely, and productive, weekend at that.


Thursday I managed to finish shampooing my carpets and then had dinner with my friend Erin and her son (who is just a month older than Lucy). On Friday we went shopping with Erin and her son. I did some major shopping -- which is something I haven't done in ages --and had a blast! And the entire trip went amazingly well with the two babies in tow. We seriously lost track of time and entirely missed lunch. And let me tell you, Erin is a total enabler. I almost came home with two purses (I did honestly need one -- mine was literally hanging by a thread when we got to the mall). I'm still wondering if I need to go back for the hot pink croco patent leather purse (well, and those brown sandals that I couldn't justify while we were there). Now, I enjoy shopping with Jeremy, but he never would say "that is sooo cute" at the sweet little girl outfits -- it was so nice to go shopping with a girl friend!


On Saturday, Lucy & I tackled stuff around the house. I washed the car seat covers and cleaned part of the van. Why didn't I clean all of it? Because it literally took me an hour to clean the third row (where the boys sit) and the ceiling. The ceiling? Yes, the ceiling, people. It was covered in what I am assuming is milk splatter. It does look better, though, and I did get the worst of the mess. Lucy's nap just was not long enough for me to get more done on that, though. I can't even remember specifically what else we did on Saturday, but we were busy all day and the house looked much better by the time I went to bed.

On Sunday, I did all my usual Monday cleaning. I thought it would be nice to have it done so that the boys & I could spend today just hanging around together. That was a great plan, until I woke up with mastitis (I know, probably too much information for some of you). So, while I haven't felt driven to the doctor yet, I'm feeling pretty run down today and took several naps.

Oh, and I did manage to spend a little bit of time scrapbooking this weekend -- something I haven't done in months. It was nice to have some recreational time to myself.

Lucy stands!!!

Lucy has really been getting around lately. She crawls all over the place, though her crawl is getting modified into a "bear" crawl. She wears a lot of dresses and those tend to get caught under her knees and trip her up, so she has taken to crawling on her hands and feet (with her rear end sticking straight up). It is quite comical to watch, but kudos to her for figuring out a way around the problem! I was just wondering yesterday if this hurdle would give her more incentive to learn to walk soon.

This morning, she sat on the floor with me while I folded diapers. She spent a long time pulling herself up on the basket and got herself up on her knees several times, which she was happy with because she could then reach in and fling items out of the basket. I was just wondering if she'd get herself up to standing, when I looked up and there she stood staring at me with a huge grin on her face. She even let go with one hand. She was thoroughly pleased with herself! Of course, this happened as I was almost finished folding, so the basket no longer had enough weight in it to be stable and I had to hold it down for her, else I would have snapped a picture.

I really just cannot believe how big she is getting already! She is definitely the last baby in this household, so I'm trying to enjoy each milestone and stage. It is crazy and sad to think that soon she will be a toddler and that the baby days will be over for our family. At the same time, though, I can't help but think "hallelujah" -- the lack of sleep issue cannot be totally overlooked no matter how sweet babies are.