How to Make the Perfect S’more

It’s more than just a recipe.

It’s a method.

The trick comes from The Husband. He developed it some time before I came into the picture. And I have benefited from it ever since. Especially since he does all the making of them while I do almost all the eating of them.

And now I’m spilling his not so secret trick.

So here it is.

Break up your chocolate candy bar into pieces and place on one half of your graham cracker. Place this near, not not right into, the fire. A rock near the fire will do. Or in our case on the grate above the fire.

Now, when the coals are good and ready, roast your ‘mallow.

I recommend regular sized marshmallows. As opposed to this behemoth. Just too much ‘mallow for a proper s’more.

Once your marshmallow is good and ready your chocolate candy will be soft. Top the roasted goodness on your almost melted chocolate and top with the other half of your graham cracker. When it all comes together it will be ooey and gooey. But trust me it will be fabulous.

The perfect s’more.

There is just one disclaimer.

They’re a bit messier than the average s’more.

But oh so very worth it.

Finding My Happy Place

It occurred to me recently that while I have lots of ideas, and supplies, to create lots of wonderful things I do very little of it. When we moved into this house I was so excited to have a designated craft room. Although I did have share it with the laundry. And the dog. It quickly became a dumping ground. I’m sad to say. And now I get in and get out as fast as possible.

So I’ve decided, and declared to all who will listen (which mainly is my moms and sister. And David too, only because he has to listen to me), I’m going to redo my craft room. I’m going to turn it into my happy place. And then I’m going to never leave it! I kid. I kid. I do want a space that is inviting and organized and, well, pretty. I also don’t want to spend any arms and legs to get myself there. It will be a challenge but I’m in the need of one of those.

In my effort to make things all kinds of real and honest here’s a look at the room now

So this sign isn’t really on the door, but it should be!

Yikes! And this is only the beginning.

I thought I was being organized by putting everything in a drawer or a container. But then I can’t see what I have and then I may or may not buy more of something that I don’t need. For example I may, or may not, have 50 feet of 1/4 inch elastic. Am I the only person that does this?

That table isn’t life size. Well it is if you’re 3 feet tall. To work at it I have to kneel down. To which my knees have nothing nice to say.

Sad bare walls.

On the opposite side of the room is this

And this

So that was embarrassing. But posting these is giving me more motivation to get to work and make it the happy place that I’ve been dreaming of. Things are already underway. I’ve made lists. Drawn pictures and scoured and scoured my favorite blogs and pintrest (of course) for ideas. I’ve even found some amazing things to go in the space. I’m excited to have it done and just as excited to show it off.

To my happy place!

Sweet

Why is this so sweet?

It's not just because she's actually sleeping when I want her to. It's mainly because the bed she's sleeping in belongs to her big sister.

That was, of course, after she did this.

Here’s A Question

Can you see where this is going?

That’s exactly right.

My Morning

This morning I walked into the kitchen to see this mess

Made by this person

Then I brought in the reinforcement

‘Tis The Season

For carving pumpkins.

Last night was our annual pumpkin carving experience. Always a mess joy.

Some were slightly reluctant to participate.

But such reluctance never lasts long.

Pretty soon it’s kicks and giggles for everyone.

The Boy new just what to do. And got right to work.

Boys are gross.

Miss Thing was ready to work too. Although we had to talk her out of washing her hands after each extraction. Don’t you love the mouth-open-while-at-work look. She’s my daughter.

The final product. David always does such a great job. I tend like these sort of things better when I don’t have to them.

Until next year!

No Words Wednesday

Healthy Skin

Little Miss and I are thinking about starting our own skin product line. Oatmeal has such great benifits for the skin. Did you know it is an anti-inflamatory? It does wonders at sluffing away dead skin, cleaning out pores, and absorbing excess oil on the skin. What's left is a smooth and soft feeling skin. We are very beauty conscience around here.

Be productive

*For the record, Mom, she did get a bath just as soon as breakfast was over*

The Principles Office, General Sherman, Doing Laundry and Other Stuff

I'm so thankful that it's finally Friday.

This week as been a bit of a crazy week. It all started Monday. Trying to get a fresh start. I got busy, as soon as The Boy left for school, cleaning cleaning. I started with the front porch. The playroom. I went through toys. Even throwing stuff away (shocking, isn't it) which caused some trauma in one particular little girl. I plowed on. I straightened up the living room before calling it quits for the morning. We had an appointment to get to. Much of what I had done was "undone" in the 15 minutes I spent hoping in the shower. I'd think likening her to General Sherman going through Georgia after the Civil War. Total destruction. That is the phase we are entered. Add that with some serious sassiness. Throw in a little willful disobedience and we've got our self a nice little case of the "two's." That's right folks my sweet, innocent, cute little baby has decided to make a name for herself. Here is a little bit of her handiwork

Along that "willful disobedience" line she has been trying to stand on her chair, while at the table. Such an issue. Many a kids' food has been stolen by her when they weren't looking. One day this week she was sitting at the table eating her breakfast while I was waiting for the bus with The Boy. I turned to check on her and found her like this

Isn't that special? When I told David about it later he said he has found her that way before. He just chose not to tell me, I probably wouldn't have been ready to receive it anyway.
I want my sweet baby back.

Much of this weeks craziness is due to one person. The Boy.

It all started Monday when I was at my little appointment and got a call. From the principle. The Boy was in her office. His offense? Pinching his para. He's aide that is with him almost his entire day. That's right he pinched her. He kept grabbing at a marker, when it was not marker time, so she finally took it and put it behind her. So he pinched her. So he got sent to the principle. She sent me a note home that day saying that she probably acted out of frustration and didn't really want to send him. I'm glad she did though. I discussed with the principle what we thought a proper punishment would be. Then I replayed the whole conversation in my head the entire day. I got a call from Granny, who happened upon The Boy while he was sitting in the principles office. He was less than thrilled to see her.

When he got home that afternoon we had a little "chat." Then I told him no movies and no going outside until Dad came home. He seemed to accept that. Then we went to work on his homework. We had to read a little story then he had to write the letter for the story, in this case an "e." But for some reason he struggled greatly with this. I knew he could do it, he's done it before. He would right a "b" or a "3" I even wrote a bunch on another piece of paper to show him. Then wrote one he could trace. When he would start to act up I'd send him to the couch to take a rest then he would come back and we'd try again. For an hour we did this. He finally did what I was asking. Not long after that Dad came home and wanted to talk to him about his day. Needless to say by this point The Boy was quite tired of "talking" about his rough day.

I did let him play outside in the evening time. I think it helped blow some of the steam off. The next morning he was in much better spirits and left for school, I think, on a good note. That morning I got to working on the laundry and found these in The Boy's pockets when I was sorting out the kids' stuff,

At that point I was ready for a laugh.

Thursday was another big day. But for good stuff. In the evening was his elementary school's "Schools in Review." It's like an open house. They have hot dogs and bouncy toys and just lots of insanity. It was interesting to walk through the school with The Boy. Kids left and right were calling out to him, saying hi. There were three bouncy toys, one was an obstacle course thing. He loved it. That's probably a slight understatement. He just wanted his sister to go with him. She was not sure what to make of all the kids and the craziness that it took her a little while to warm up to the idea. The other kids loved having him, one kid saw him and said "can I go with him?" as it was a two person obstacle course. While I recognize every single kid in the school probably isn't totally smitten by him, or even knows who he is, I felt like a lot did. And all of them were so accepting. That made me happy.

Afterward he and David took off for another big adventure. Big announcement, The Boy is now a Tiger Scout. We've now entered that realm of kids "in stuff." He's got stuff. When David came home and gave me the report (f.y.i. I did send him with a camera but it turned out to be just a parent meeting so there wasn't much to take pictures of) he was soaring. And greatly imploring me to get involved too. We'll see. Slightly out of my "zone." But the words of my father are ringing in my ears, "step outside yourself." This weekend we're going to go and try to find him some "stuff" for all his "stuff" doing. David said the kids played for a while and each of the boys was so good with him. With a ball. I'm sure the kid was in heaven. The boys took turns, letting him have a chance with the ball. Again, that made me happy. This is going to be quite the adventure for us.

I'm just so glad it's Friday.

Be glad it's Friday. 

An Apple A Day

Little Miss got a hold of her sister's apple the other day. I guess you could say she stole it.

As she had no intention of giving it back.

I wonder if anyone has ever an enjoyed an apple as much as this girl did that day.

To really experience the goodness of this apple one must close one's eyes.

She was just having so much fun with it. Who knew and apple could provide so much enjoyment for mom and daughter.

Who can resist this face?

Be happy

Twenty (as in 20!) Loads of Laundry

That's how much laundry I have done, from Sunday to Tuesday, after having been without a washer and dryer for two weeks. Whew! Not something I recommend. Here's the story...

A few weeks ago, plus a couple, our washing machine started making a funny noise. Not good but my response was, "oh well, you still have a job to do. No one cares when I don't feel good!" I'm not the best person to come to when you're sick. My sources tell me I'm not easy to live with. The Noise kept getting louder and more frequent until two weeks ago when it finally quit. Not the noise, the washer. I sighed and then took a few loads of laundry to David's parents. The repair man came, days later, to tell us we had a ball bearing issue. Bad ball bearings. Then he called later to break the news, how much? To fix it would have been about half as much to get a whole new one.

So we hemmed and hawed for a little while and I took a few more loads to David's parents. I was torn because of where we have to put the thing. The broken down one was all one unit (the dryer still works!). So I thought that that is what we would have to go with again. And, let's face it, I'm not sure how much longer this little two bedroom house is going to hold out for us. So I was reluctant to spend so much on something that we would leave here. And then we went shopping.

Turns out there are such things as stackable washer and dryers!  What will they think of next?! We could get a washer and dryer and then still take it with us if and when we move. It's like having my cake and eating it too! So that's what we did. It took a few days to get here. Then it took a few days of sitting in our kitchen. What with Christmas and all. Finally, on Sunday, we finished hooking it up. Then stacked it (I even helped, so I really can say "we".) And. It. Is. A. Beautiful. Thing.

 Ain't she purdy?

 My favorite part? I can see myself! Look there I am! Hi, me! I love watching the wash throughout the cycle, it's hard not to sit for 43 minutes and watch the wash go.

 It has all these new buttons I'm still trying to figure out. I'm starting to feel like my old washer and dryer came from the dark ages.

 I'm not going to lie. I like shiney things. I think my mil put it well when she said, "Did you ever think there would be a day when you would be so excited over a washer and dryer?"

Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza

Last night was, what is becoming, our annual carving pumpkin night. We usually just do one. I'm happy with that number. This is how it goes...
David cuts the top off.
The kids cheer.
Kids clean out the inside.
I draw a face on the pumpkin.
David carves.
Kids cheer.
We stick a candle in it.
Put it outside.
Kids cheer.
That's about it, I think.

The before picture. David never seems to be able to find small pumpkins. Interesting.

A picture is worth a thousand words, don't you think?

Would that he was always so thrilled with all the jobs that I give him. If only.

Such concentration.

Where, I wonder, is this girl's mother? Letting her do dirty work with her hair hanging in her face. My word. It's shameful!

We cannot forget our resident "pumpkin seed picker upper." Also an important job. Dare I say even more so than the rest.

And finally, the finished product!

I don't know why my job has become designing the face. I was so unprepared for this last night. David just said, "draw a Kimberly face." I don't know what that is, so I just drew some circles. Then as he was carving he started laughing hysterically. He had just realized the face I drew was the face my dear sweet brothers and sister usually associate with me. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, this is the face my little Wii character has. Given to me by my loving family. So yes, Amy, Justin & Grant, I know that this pumpkin looks just like me. So don't ask!