Your opinion please...

Today, after all of Dach's drugs kicked it - I decided we could make it to church after all. Since it was Easter and all. I was glad to not have to miss church, but I kept Dach in service with me and didn't send him to his Sunday school class just in case his ear started hurting during service. Always a joy to have a 5 year old restless boy playing with matchbox cars sitting next to you during church - ALWAYS!!

I have come to a conclusion - boys do not know how to properly whisper. They can low-talk, but they cannot seem to get it down to an actual certifiable whisper. Perhaps this is why they always get caught - they aren't ninja enough in their devious plots. Just an observation.

Well, today was THEE day that my husband said we had to get our family photo done for the church directory. A few years ago I pushed and pushed suggested that we add photos of everyone to our church directory so that we could have an easier time of matching names with faces. Since my husband is charge of the directory he finally relented sweetly said yes to my "brilliant" suggestion.

I, by my need to be in control default got the job of official "church directory photographer". So now every year I get to take everyone's photos - which I actually LOVE doing. Although I'm not so sure everyone else loves it. I am not the type of photographer that lines everyone up and takes one shot and calls it good. In my mind, it has to be "Christmas card good". So, I've been known to take up to a dozen or more shots of just one family to make sure that I get "THE ONE". I say, "Why settle for a mediocre photo if you can get a great one?" Even if it takes forever!

I've actually wanted to call people back after taking them and ask them to come in and get retakes because I just didn't get "the one". Hubby's mantra is "It's FINE - it's going to be the size of a postage stamp. It'll do!" AACK!! I rebuke that!!

Well, in my need to control all that exists around me get the perfect photo for our family - I always set the camera up on the tripod and use the self-timer for ours. *whispers - "Because I trust no one!"*

So, today we did just that. I set up the tripod and began the composition arranging and lighting stuff, and then set the self timer. Claire and her MIL and kids were there watching the whole event. Claire kept asking me "Do you want me to just take the photos for you?" "Well, I'll need to see your portfolio..." The truth is, I just hate sucking people into my photo-obsessed vortex because they are ALWAYS way done before I am willing to be. Then I am trying to force them to take "20 more shots...just in case". I get so anal about the whole thing that by the time I'm done - I've promised my kids a trip to Disneyland and alienated everyone within a 30 foot radius.

Well, here are today's results:

Option #1 - Taken by self-timer:

Pros: Good of most of us

Cons: Eric's head should be several inches closer to mine. Dach look like he has an ear infection and is on drugs *oh, wait...* Zane looks like he is pained to be there *oh, wait...*

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Option #2 - Taken by Claire:

Pros: Better of everyone

Cons: Eric's head again, Dach is fading fast

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Option #3 - Taken by Claire:

Pros: Total reality photo! *I was smacking Zane in the head because he was messing up the photo on purpose* It would be hilariously fun to have this photo in the directory.

Cons: Eric's eyes are closed and although funny - it isn't an "attractive" photo of me

Anyway - should I go humorous *I'm quite tempted* or classic...?

Vampires - yes, ear infections - no...

Tip:

If in fact you happen to be up with a sobbing child at 2am the night before Easter, and IF in fact you don't really relish the idea of sitting in an emergency room for several hours and IF in fact you "google" the phrase: ear infection home remedy...you may want to exercise caution and a sprinkling of common sense - just for good measure!

Although cloves of garlic may indeed be useful for warding off vampires and the like, it does not appear to be even somewhat helpful in the cure for ear infections! Yes folks - in my exhausted stupor last night, I followed the advice of home remedy message boards. No, I didn't PEE in my child's ear as SEVERAL people suggested, nor did I strain the juice of boiled onion and garlic and drip that imedicinal goodness nto his ear canal. No, I opted for the following:

"Take a clove of garlic and slice it into a shape resembling an earplug. Wrap a piece of gauze around it and insert the skinny end into the ear. Leave fin or several hours as garlic is a natural antibiotic and will reduce the pain almost immediately."

Well, being as I was in "sleep-deprived-willing-to-try-anything" mode - and I had already administered the maximum amount of Advil and Tylenol: I whittled a stylish garlic earplug, put my garlic-head crying child in my bed with me and hoped for improvement. The only improvement I noticed was the opening of my sinus passages.

Based on the amount of garlic permeating my bedroom all night, I'm fairly certain I should have no fear of any vampires ever gracing my presence!!

Unfortunately, the garlic seemed to do nothing for Dach's ear.

I finally managed to scrounge up the last of some tylenol w/codeine syrup *gee, wouldn't that syrup be nice on an Eggo?!* circa spring 2007. That FINALLY did the trick...but only for 2 1/2 hours. I got a hold of my doctor around 7:30am: "Good morning and Happy Easter!"

One hour later, I was equipped with: amoxicillian, a new bottle of tylenol w/codeine, and some MAGICAL numbing eardrops. Within SECONDS, the eardrops completely knocked out the pain - thus the sobbing.

Yeah folks - I'm sticking with modern medicine! Oh sure, I'll pop the occasional echinacea but I'm putting my stock in Walgreens...

My photoshoot with Robyn...

I had the PLEASURE of hosting my friend Robyn (from California) and her son last night in their way home from passport hell in Canada. Here is Robyn's take on the evening, although she was a little too kind in her description of the "rock-throwing abilities" account. *read: my boys starting a rock throwing FIGHT with her son* *shudder*

Robyn's take:

I am at Natalie's.
I feel the stress melting away.
It may be the ice cream.
It might be the Sloppy Jose's.
No. Not "Sloppy Joes". They're Mexican. Hey, hey, Jose.
Or it might be the fact that their kids seem to worship Skip, who is lapping it up like nobody's business.
How are they worshipping him? Well, the eldest daughter kept tiptoeing over to Skip, and whispering things in his ear during supper. And how was Skip receiving this worship? With a smile that was a lot softer around the edges than one might think. One might almost think that he was sweet on her.
And what of the boys? The two rough-and-tumble boys that appear to think that the sun rises and sets on Skip...
Why, they showed their adoration by showing Skip just how amazing their rock-throwing arms were.
Skip now has two large welts on the back of his head.
I told him that it would be better if they'd broken the skin. Then he could've had a bloody scar to bring back to California.
But Mr. Natalie? He had other ideas. He seemed a little upset that Skip was the target, and proceded to give the home-town boys a lecture that brought scripture into things. A snippet: "In the Bible, they stoned people, you know? And why did they do that? Because they WANTED TO KILL THEM. Do you want to KILL our guest????"
Yeah. I was trying not to laugh, too. And Skip seems pretty proud of his war wounds. He's keeping tabs on the goose eggs on the back of his head, hoping that they'll still be noticeable when he gets back to school on Thursday.

But now the kids are in bed. We'll see if they stay there. And Natalie and I will go find our make-up cases, and get all prettified, so we can take photos before The Very Last Minute.
Oh, and eat ice cream.

After the rock-throwing incident, Zane was so kind to show off his wedgie-inflicting abilities this morning to his friend and ripped Dach's underwear right off his body. Excellent we-have-company manners, just like Mommy taught you.

I gotta run the kids to swim class but here are the pics from our photoshoot:

I miss you already Robyn!!

Riveting conversations with Natalie...

A conversation with an un-named child tonight -

Me: "Go get your pajamas on"

Un-named Child: "Do I have to?!"

Me: "Um, YES - that would be why I said 'Go get your pajamas on'. Because that is what I want you to do. Right now."

Un-named Child: "Why do I have to wear pajamas, anyway? They are just like clothes. I should be able to just wear my clothes." *read: L.A.Z.Y.*

Me: *exasperated* "Because...because...well, because YOU LIVE IN AMERICA!! THAT'S WHY!!!!! Now go do it!"

Husband - (begins to laugh hysterically)

Un-named Child: "Hunh?"

Me: "You are an American! And Americans living in America wear pajamas when they go to bed. That's just the way it is here, buddy-boy. Now go put on your AMERICAN PAJAMAS and quit arguing with me!!!!!!"

Husband - (beet red and uncontrollably shaking with laughter)

Un-named Child: (reappears with pajamas, looking confused) "Um, Mom? These pajamas say they are made in Cambodia..."

Me: "JUST PUT THEM ON YOUR BAHHHHHHH-DEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

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After a lengthy interrogation regarding (which will now live forever in history as) "the rock-throwing incident", I uncovered some more information which if true, would make a little more sense out of the situation. In his sworn statement, Zane stated that on the evening of March 18th, 2008, while outside and with nothing better to do, the boys starting throwing rocks up in the air, and then began throwing them higher and harder. It was in the earthward descent of the rocks that the injuries occured.

Which -if indeed true- makes a TON more sense that my children would be simply too dense to throw rocks up in the air without considering the potential results than the idea of them suddenly fast pitching rocks at a friend for fun. Which would also explain why Scott's lumps were more on top of his head then in the back. Witnesses, anyone...??

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Maisie: "Can we make a tent out of blankets and sleep in the basement tonight?"

Me: "No."

Maisie: "Can we do it on Friday night?"

Me: "Yes, but it will be based on behavior. If you do anything horrible between now and Friday - then the tent party is off."

Maisie: "You mean like take a knife and cut someone's throat open?"

Me: "Yes, that would definitely be cause to cancel the tent party, plus any and ALL parties for the rest of eternity..."

Common Sense *Optional*

I was just looking up some recipes on the internet and found the following:

BREAKFAST BURRITO RECIPE

1 medium zuchinni, sliced
1/4 lb (or so) mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 4 ounce carton liquid fake eggs
1/2 cup non fat cottage cheese
tortillas (optional)

That one will go right next to my Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich -bread optional- recipe.

Come on people - break out the common sense every once in a while!

I cannot comment on it any further - it pains me...

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I had a TOTAL epiphany about something this week and now I can't remember what it was...? Dang it - there I was, hovering on the cusp of brilliance and I've gone and forgotten the whole thing. One more reason why I should be writing everything down as it happens. I should just use a voice recorder when I need to remember a funny story/stroke of brilliance etc...*oddly enough, all of my embarrassing moments are PERMANENTLY seared into my brain* I just feel like a giant ding-dong when I'm recording my life on a voice recorder "Star date 03 dot 13 dot 08: My kids are whacked but in my brilliance, I have invented a device that will propel me into immeasurable fame and wealth..."

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Well, my husband has a trustee board meeting to attend tonight so he will race home to be here for an hour and then head back to the church for a few hours. Which is okay - at least we live close enough to church now that he has a little time to come home before the meeting. But here is the dilemma:

Option #1: Remain home alone with 4 children and put them to bed promptly at 8pm

Option #2: Attend homeschool meeting taking place at the church at the same time as Hubby's meeting and put my kids in the FREE childcare while I relax and hang out with other homeschool moms.

In theory, option #2 sounds more appealing -except- it requires hauling four children out of the house and into the rain and then not getting home from the church until at least 9:30pm - probably later - thus getting them to bed two hours later. I'm not a giant bedtime stickler, I just figure why not have peace and quiet 2 hours earlier if at all possible?

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I tried a really good recipe for breakfast today: Baked Oatmeal. I had never heard of it before, well - probably because up until the past year, oatmeal was never a HUGE part of my life. But, I've been trying to incorporate some variety to my children's daily routine of either cold cereal or bagels. Here is the recipe, it turned out great:

Baked Oatmeal

1 C. applesauce
1 ½ C. sugar (can reduce) - I used brown sugar
1 C. egg substitute
6 C. oats
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 C. nonfat milk

Combine all ingredients in order listed. Pour into greased 9x13-inch pan. Bake at 375° for 30-40 minutes until lightly browned. Can refrigerate overnight before baking. Serve topped with butter, brown sugar, and milk.

Yields: Approximately 12 servings

I cut mine into 24 servings which made just about the right sized "kid" servings. It was really good with just the tiniest amount of butter on top (less than 1 teaspoon) and a sprinkle of brown sugar. I didn't put the milk on top of it, but I did put blueberries on top and THAT was so good! I would have mixed blueberries in it, but I knew all 4 kids would have a royal freak attack if it contain "hot fruit". You could mix in raisins, or blueberries, or cranberries or just about any other kind of fruit you like. Oh yeah - I mixed almonds into the recipe before I cooked it.

I figured out the calories - not including whatever you put on top of it are: 114 calories per slice if you cut it into 24 pieces / or 228 calories if you cut it into 12 pieces with less than 1 gram of fat per serving.



[The original recipe called for oil and eggs, but I changed it to be lower/no fat.]
I got the recipe from: moneysavingmom.com which just happens to be my NEW favorite website!!

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The surprise 40th birthday party last weekend was great!! The birthday girl was COMPLETELY shocked! She thought she was going out to dinner with a friend, Kim. Kim had picked her up and said she had to make a pit-stop to drop off a meal (to a family that had 2 family members who had surgery that week -the surgery part was actually true, so she totally believed it!) There were about 35-40 people waiting for her when she came to the door! Here are some pics...

This is a shot of some of the decorations:

Here is one of me with the birthday girl:



Instead of candles, I got sparklers in the shape of a "4" and a "0". It was very festive!! Although, I would recommend lighting BOTH candles at the same time because they take forever to light and the "4" was half done by the time I got the "0" lit:

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I'll have to post pics of Zane's dragon birthday cake from a couple of weeks ago, that one actually had a smoking volcano...

Let them eat cake...

So....I LOVE the challenge of designing unique cakes and particularily have a fascination with fondant and has versatile it is. Since I am helping throw a 40th birthday party for a friend - I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to make a beautiful "grown-up" cake (since I normally am busy making "kid" cakes). I found this one online as inspiration:

I decided to change the colors and make mine a little less "busy". The color scheme of the party is pink and brown, so this is what I came up with:

After I transport the cake to the party location, I'm going to put these little wired fondant flowers and circles sticking up out of the sides of the cake:



They are very fragile, so I'm not even going to mess with trying to transport it fully assembled.

Of course, I thought this was going to be an "easy" project. *because I'm delusional* In reality, it took about 7 hours to make *how does that even happen??* I am pretty happy with how it turned out - I just wish it were a little smoother. It has several "bumpy" spots. But it looks REALLY good from about 5 feet away!! Go ahead, try it! Stand back about 5 feet from your monitor - now look it it...doesn't it look great?!!! I said:

DOESN'T IT LOOK GREAT FROM BACK THERE!?

Maybe "someday" I'll graduate to fondant expert and people will actually be able to stand in close proximity to my creations...

A new blog for a new month...

Ok, so I'm checking out different blog sites to see which one I want to use. I went to choose a blog name here at blogger.com and was SO SAD to see that "blissfullyfrazzled" was already taken! But that's MY name! My motto! How dare someone else steal my witty phrase! After about 30 minutes of being unable to figure out a different name and get signed up, I decided to GO to this thieving blogger's webpage and see just what kind of pathetic person I had lost my witty namesake to. I typed in "blissfullyfrazzled.blogspot.com" and waited for it to load - ready to pass judgement on the little thief...but WAIT!!!!!!!! What's this?!?! Why, that's MY info on the page!!! Hunh?!?!

Apparently folks - I signed up for this blog 2 1/2 years ago with my PRECIOUS blissfullyfrazzled name and forgot all about it - never even posting an entry.

"Re-YOO-nigh-ted cause it feels so goooooood..."

Wow - brilliance at its finest...