LOVE LETTERS FROM GRACIE

Last night, Gracie wrote love letters to her Daddy and I. Isn't she totally (insert trademark Gracie hair flip here), the sweetest? Here's Daddy's...
and mine....Yeah, I know, totally sweet.

NOT ME MONDAY!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Yes, I know its Tuesday. Can't we just pretend its Monday? Oh wait, that would put me one day behind for my weekend. Forget that. So here's my dirt for the week (and beyond)...

Since our vacuum cleaner has been broken for nearly a month and we haven't spent the money on a new one yet (relax, we have been using the shop vac so the place isn't completely disgusting), I absolutely DID NOT allow the dogs into the house to do a clean sweep of the carpet. That would be so disgusting!! Of course, it did save me on dog food for the day. I mean, if I had actually did that. Which I totally didn't.

I also DID NOT deny my children the pleasure of having their neighbor friends over to play yesterday simply because I didn't want to put on a bra and some decent clothes. Any decent Mom would make an effort to let their kids have a good time.

I WAS NOT tempted to click on the "How I lost my jiggly fat" link that popped up in my email account earlier this week. I DO NOT have any extra jiggly fat that I need to get rid of. NONE!

I DID NOT bribe, manipulate and threaten encourage my children to be on their best behavior while at the farm chicks show with me with promises of treats and a special outing. Of course, MY children always enjoy being on their best behavior simply just because they like being good, and don't need compensation. I also DID NOT spend $2.00 each on spongebob ice cream bars simply because they had actual candy eyeballs that stuck out of his head. Who would spend good money on crap like that? Not me.

After volunteering at Gracie's Kindergarten yesterday, my butt IS NOT sore from sitting in the itty, bitty Kindergarten sized chair for 2 hours cutting and rubber cementing. I also DID NOT secretely enjoy the smell of the rubber cement.

I AM NOT getting ready to dig through the outside garbage can looking for a very important piece of paper that my husband left out for me yesterday. I'm sure I DID NOT get it mixed up with some other papers and threw it away, along with some moldy salsa and leftover bbq chicken drumsticks. I'm sure that WILL NOT be disgusting.

Wish me luck.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOT MUCH

Yesterday we had a great time at farm chicks! There were four of us girls, and then I brought the kids along too. They were very well behaved, I was so proud of them. Money's tight these days, so I didn't buy much, just one thing for the house and then a birthday gift. Here's what I got... Here's some pictures of some of the booths...

Cute, huh? I love the primitive/shabby chic style. (Check out the farm chicks blog by clicking here http://thefarmchicks.typepad.com/). After we left farm chicks, we stopped for coffee and then dropped by a nearby park so we could visit and the kids could burn off a little LOT of pent up energy. Their favorite part of the day was buying spongebob ice cream bars from the ice cream truck.

Then, we came home and did a little housework and yardwork, then cooked up some chicken on the BBQ. After that, I built a fire in our outdoor fireplace and we roasted marshmallows. The kids and I just sat by the fire, talked alot, and just relaxed.

Fast forward to today. I got up early and got some stuff done before the kids got up, then it was off to school. After that I came home and cleaned out the garage a little so I could get my car back in it. It was still a mess from when we built the raised garden a couple weeks ago. Then it was time for chores, bills, and the like. At 12:20, I went to Gracie's school to have lunch with her. She was SO excited and Mrs. Milliken said she was talking about it all day. I offered to stay and help out since I didn't really have any plans until school was out. I put together 22 father's day gifts for the Kindergartners to take home for their Dads, and then worked on their year end memory books. I really enjoyed it and Gracie was on cloud 9 having me there. I totally would have loved being a Kindergarten teacher!

After we got home, Cole and I were butting heads about something and off he stormed into his room, got into bed and went to sleep. HA! He did the same thing about a month ago. I let him stay up way too late last night and I'm sure that has something to do with it. So now, Gracie is watching a little T.V. and I'm folding laundry and poking around on the computer.

Remember the spelling test Cole and I have been so anxiously waiting for (and working on?). He got it back today and, got 2 letters switched around so he didn't get it right. BUMMER!! I could tell he was going too fast because his writing was sloppy and he had written and erased several times. Oh well, I'm still proud of how close he came, and I'm certain that if he had taken his time he wouldn't have made the simple mistake.

I'm starting another blog!! Actually, more of a journal. This one isn't public, sorry. I'm using it as a place to think, vent, be sad, be mad, be glad, etc. All the stuff I don't necessarily want to share with anyone else. I have some friends that do this and say it is very therapeutic, and it allows them to be honest when dealing with their feelings because no one will see it. I think this would be great for me. It will also be interesting to look back on and see what I struggle with now as opposed to 5 years from now. Wish me luck!

Someone asked me yesterday where I find the time to blog. It's simple, really. First of all, I don't watch television at all during the week. If there's something I want to watch, I DVR it and watch it on the weekends after the kids go to bed. This frees up ALOT of time! The last show I watched was the season finale of Grey's anatomy. Oh wait, I did watch an episode of The little couple last night. Cute show! Secondly, I do alot of scheduled posting. So, I write the post at one time, but maybe schedule it to post at a different time or day. I write alot of my posts in the mornings before work, or in the afternoon while the kids play outside with their friends. Not much in the evenings, because we're doing family stuff and we go to bed early 'round these parts. Third, it really doesn't take much time after the initial set up, and its SO fun! (to me, at least).

Well this turned out to be a random post about everything and nothing, didn't it?

MOM ALWAYS SAID IT WAS NICE TO SHARE

I've been meaning to share this recipe for awhile and can't remember if I ever did. Sure, the sensible thing would be to look back through my posts and see, but I prefer the lazy way of just taking my chances since I do have other things to do today. This is for chicken marsala, and it is out of this world! We will be having this tomorrow night with parmesan asparagus. Give it a try!

CHICKEN MARSALA

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup all-purpose flour for coating
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded 1/4 inch thick
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1/4 cup cooking sherry

DIRECTIONS
In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano. Coat chicken pieces in flour mixture.
In a large skillet, melt butter in oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the pan, and lightly brown. Turn over chicken pieces, and add mushrooms. Pour in wine and sherry. Cover skillet; simmer chicken 10 minutes, turning once, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

This is good served with potatoes...you can drizzle some of the sauce over them. ENJOY!

GOOD MORNING, BEAUTIFUL

Ahhhh, no Sunday morning (or any other morning for that matter) would be complete without my coffee....I love you, coffee.I have been waiting for this day for a whole entire year!! Today is the farm chicks show! I went last year by myself, and have been raving about it since then. A group of about 4 or 5 of us from work have been planning today out since last June. What's that you say? You don't KNOW WHO THE FARM CHICKS ARE? Impossible!

Check 'em out here http://thefarmchicks.com/farmchicks.html

The show today is a combination of all different sorts of vendors selling different things. Think Saks fifth avenue meets flea market. Cool, I told you! I'm hoping to find some funky vegetable stakes for my garden. Afterwards we may do coffee or lunch, or whatever the hell we feel like. Ooops, I sad a bad word. I can't help myself. Farm chicks are HERE!

HELLO, LITTLE RADISHES

Hooray! One week to the day since we planted our new garden, and I am happy to announce the arrival of our...radishes! I knew they would be the first to sprout but that was fast! I know you are simply dying for a look, so here you go...Aren't you thrilled? No? Well then you must have more exciting things going on in your life than I do...because I'm freakin' excited! Soon, they will look delcious and tasty like this...On a more disturbing note, my topsy-turvy tomatoes are going all turvy-topsy on me. (Did you catch that clever play on words? You have to read carefully, I'm quick like that). See what I mean? See that branch on the bottom left that has done a U-turn? It's trying to grow upright. Seems that its ticked off about being flipped over all topsy-turvylike. My question is, what the heck do I do now? I have been consulting with fellow topsy-turvy'ers and no one knows. Maybe when the tomatoes arrive they will weight it back down? Any ideas? Anyone curious as to how many more times I can slip the words topsy-turvy into this post?

BY SPECIAL INVITATION....THE LADYBUG TABLE

Last night, at Gracie's Kindergarten BBQ, there were all kinds of activities to keep the kids busy. The kids played Bingo, did arts and crafts, visited the book fair and played outside. Their favorite thing, however, was having their faces painted!!

It was also very exciting for Gracie to show Cole around her classroom and meet her friends. Cole got to visit with Mrs. Grant, his Kindergarten teacher from last year. We also visited with Mrs. Marsh, the Kindergarten counselor. She is someone we particularly enjoyed visiting with, as she and Cole spent quite a bit of time together last year!! Apparently, when he was having a tough time paying attention, etc, in class, he would go to Mrs. Marsh's office. She is a wonderful, wonderful person and is so good at what she does. You can really tell she loves the kids. We've bumped into her a few times at the store and she always remembers us by name and talks about how much she enjoyed Cole when he was in Kindergarten. Last night I commented on how she remembers his name when we see him and she said "Well, I especially remember Cole because he is such a special guy!" Then, she said "and I think Mom knows what I mean by that!". Ummmm....why yes, I do. He definately is easy to remember!!

Did you all know that I have very special lunch plans for Monday? I will be dining with my Kindergartner at....The Ladybug Table, thank you very much. I will be bringing Wendy's (so I'm told), and it will be simply fabulous. Maybe I'll get to have one of those milk pouches that you just stick the straw into, or an orange shape-up. I've always wondered what the heck those are. She's been begging me all year and I am finally getting to it. I wanted to spend so much more time at the Kindergarten center this year volunteering, but I had to take quite a bit of time off work when Gracie was in the hospital (and out). I really will miss it, everyone there is fantastic, and they were so good to use when Gracie was sick. I can't say enough good things about the Central Valley Kindergarten Center. I almost want to have another baby just so we can go back!

SO LONG, KINDERGARTEN

I am an emotional mess. Tonight we went to Gracie's Kindergarten center for their "end of the year" bbq / family night. I can't believe she is done with Kindergarten. Where did this year go? What will we do without her wonderful, wonderful teacher, Mrs. Milliken? Gracie adores her. No more learning to write the alphabet and numbers. No more sitting at the butterfly and ladybug tables. No more Thanksgiving turkeys' made out of her little paint covered handprints. No more silly little songs to help her remember her color words. I can't believe its over. I can't believe she is 6 years older and almost a first grader. Watching my little girl leave Kindergarten is so much harder than watching her begin last fall was.

Yes, she is still a little girl, and a Mama's girl at that. But, I'm running out of time with her. I know, I know, we've got many more years, but where did the first 6 years go? I remember nursing her when she was a baby and thinking, I've got SO much time to enjoy this little person. Now, we've moved on to addition and subtraction, and pierced ears. Soon she will be gone and I will be lost. She is such an extension of me, and I love our connection. Does our relationship just change as time goes on? Does our connection grow and mature and deepen? I have to hope so.

I know she will love first grade. She is beyond ready. And, she still loves snugglin' with Mama and wants to do everything with me. Sometimes this drives me nuts, but I have to remind myself to embrace these times while I have them. She has such a loving heart and gentle spirit, and makes this world a better place to live in.

Gracie, Mommy loves you.

SUPERCALACALIFRAJILISTIC...OH FORGET IT.

This Friday, Cole has his last spelling test. He has done fantastic with them, and his favorite part is the "juicy" bonus word they have at the end of their test. It's just "extra", but he and I love to work on them and I don't think he has ever missed one. They are words like metamorphosis, environment, etc. Something beyond first grade level. Sooooo....his whole spelling test this week is centered around one "juicy" word....

supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

You know, from Mary Poppins. Either Mr. Porter has a great sense of humor or he's downright mean!


Cole's been practicing it every day since Friday, and today when we got home he got it perfect! Check it out....
Obviously, he got MY smarts! We'll see how he holds up under the pressure on Friday! Wish him luck!

DON'T MESS WITH MOM...UPDATED

Here's what happens to little boys who antagonize their mother just a little too much while she's holding a garden hose....He totally had it coming. And, just so you know, Miss Gracie had her part in this as well. She was actually the instigator of the whole thing, but then she got cold and her mood turned sour. She spent a half hour laughing hysterically about getting wet, and 20 minutes afterwards crying about it. What would a loving, doting Mama do in a situation such as this? Take a picture, of course!I don't want any harrassing phone calls from the grandparents claiming neglect. No Sutton children were harmed during the making of this post.