Favorite things part 2

As I was laying in bad last night I remembered 2 more things that I had planned on including in my last post.  What can I say, after 11pm I go on auto pilot and shouldn’t count on myself to remember anything of importance.  So here they are for your enjoyment:

Uncooked tortillas:

These babies are available at Costco.  And let me tell you, once you have had these, you will never go back.  At least I don’t understand why you would.  They cook up like the ones from Cafe Rio or Qdoba, where they will stretch and stay together.  And wow, do they taste amazing.  You should probably head on over to Costco right now to get some.  And if you do, you should also note that they come in more of a green/turquoise package.  This is the only picture I could find. 

Health aide:

Ok, so this one is kind of personal and gross, but let me just say this – it works.  I have never tried nose spray before my doctor gave me this one.  Between allergies and pregnancy I have been stuffed up for so long that it’s the norm for me.  Anyways, without any further details, again I will just say it works.  and now you know all about my snot.  TMI? Maybe.  But as Carter would say, that’s just the way I roll. 

These are a few of my favorite things…

I have a couple of friends who regularly post their favorite things on their blogs.  I love the idea and have actually tried out some of their favorites and loved them too.  Since we all know that I’m not on here enough to post anything on a regular basis, here are some of my favorite things all at once.  Enjoy!

Favorite latest find:

Tide washing machine cleaner.  This is actually what got me thinking about a favorite things post.  I left a load of laundry in the washer for 3 or 4 days a while back and no matter what I did, I could not get the stink out of my front-loading washer.  I tried everything – vinegar, baking soda (together – not the best idea I’ve ever had), bleach, Oxy Clean.  One cycle with this magic powder and my washer smells like a spring breeze.  Amazing.  One tip though, if you are wanting to try it – I think you really only need one half a package at a time instead of the wh0le thing like they say. 

Favorite book:

I love to read, and I read a lot.  Typically, I finish a book and forget about it. I might think about it for a few days if it’s particularly troubling, but in general I couldn’t tell you much about the book I read 2 months ago.  Same thing with movies.  It drives Mike insane.  We can be halfway through a movie and I will realize that I’ve seen it before.  I like to think that I am just making room for more important things, but in reality it’s probably just a symptom of early onset Alzheimer's or something.  Anyways, I read this book at least 6 months ago and I still think about Sarah and her “kitchen pistol”.  She is the woman that I would hope to have been had I lived 100 years ago.  She makes me want to move to Montana and pick up cattle ranching (AZ is way too hot for me).   Which leads me to…

My favorite blog:

The Pioneer Woman.  She’s witty, she cooks, gardens, takes some amazing pictures, homeschools, has her own cookbook AND the cattle ranch.  Pretty much who I would love to be today (ok, except for the home schooling part, we all know I’m not nearly disciplined enough).  I’m not sure where the desire to move to the country is coming from.  I have a sister moving out to the country soon and maybe I’m just feeding off her excitement.  Maybe it’s all the gardening I have been doing lately, living off the land.  Probably it’s the unrealistic world that exists in my head that leaves out all the dirt, hard hard work, early mornings and stinky animals that come with that country living.  All I see is my weed-free garden, kids playing in the yard, and me on the porch sipping virgin margaritas. Anyways, I could look at Ree’s food all day and she has some great tips for photography.  Her tip today on exposure composition  (found here) may have changed the way I take pictures forever.  She’s pretty awesome. 

My favorite gadget:

That would be the new iPhone.  Ok, I don’t really have it – yet.  I have been saving my pennies and holding out for the new version. It’s almost like having a baby – you love it before it actually comes.  Yes, I just compared getting an iPhone to having a child.  What are you going to do about it?  I can promise you that the iPhone will be a lot more obedient and a lot less sassy.   And if it’s not, at least I can upgrade one day:). 

And last but not least, one of my very favorite things – sleep.  Which is where I am off to now.  More favorite things later.  I’m out.

 

 

Broken

I don’t know what it is with my kids, but they seem to have issues with their bones.  I haven’t ever broken more than my toe, and yet 2 of my kids have managed to break something. 

Samantha was climbing over the gate we had up to keep Ben out of the bathroom and she fell on her arm.   She had been overly dramatic all day, so I didn’t think much about it when she cried about it.  She wasn’t screaming or anything.  So we put her to bed and said we would watch it. The next morning she said it still hurt and she wasn’t using that arm, so Mike took her into for X-rays after dropping me and Ben off at the airport.  It was so hard for me to not be there for her.  It turns out that it wasn’t even really broken, more of a buckle because her bones are still so flexible.  She was put in a soft cast (which FYI only come in white) which we get to take off this Friday after only 3 weeks.  It’s a good thing it’s so soon, because it’s hard to keep this girl out of the dirt and water! 

I am just hoping that we are done with this whole cast thing, because I am soooo over it. 

What a month!

Ben has had quite the busy month!  In this past month he has:

Popped 3 new teeth out with 1 more on the way.

Learned how to crawl normally, although he still prefers this:

Learned how to sit himself up from crawling.

Learned how to pull himself up to standing using whatever or whoever is handy.

Taken his first flight out to Utah where he met his cousins for the first time and got to spend some quality time with Grandpa.  He was passed around quite a bit.  Here is is with one of his favorite aunts, Holly.   And one of his other favorite aunts, Amber. His sweet cousins – soon to be his country cousins. And another aunt – Taralea.  I wonder if he will slow down this next month? Somehow I doubt it.

Karate Kids

We heard that they were remaking Karate Kid, so we thought we would give our kids a chance to try out.  I can’t wait to show Carter’s to his future girlfriends. 

Really, we signed Carter up for some Kung Fu classes this summer through the Y and he wanted to show me that he already knew karate.  Yes, you should fear his mad skills:

And not to be outdone, Samantha wanted to show off her Kung Fu moves:

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Back in the day…

When we were young and innocent…

I found these pictures recently and thought they were fun. Looking at them now, I really think our kids are a good mix of both of us.

I am the cutest one (of course) – sitting down with brown hair:And if you can’t tell, Mike is the smallest. Weren’t the 80’s great?

Common Sense?

Let me preface this post by saying that I’m not looking for a pity party here.  I’m not looking for comments saying how beautiful/thin/good looking I am (although those are certainly welcome on any other post).  This is just some good old fashioned venting, plain and simple. 

I can’t tell you how many times I have been asked over the past couple of months if I am pregnant.  No, I am not.  I have 3 beautiful (in my own biased opinion) children and a cursed Peterson gene that causes me to hold onto all the weight I gained with those 3 children in my mid-section.  Believe me when I say that if I could trade it for a little junk in the trunk I would.  I try to brush off the pregnancy comments but really, they are starting to hurt.  I am doing my best. I have been working out.  I do my crunches/planks/whatever before bed. So cut a girl some slack! 

When in doubt, I suggest that we take a “don’t ask, they’ll tell” policy.  This may be common sense for some, but apparently not for everyone.  If someone has blessed baby news to share, they will.  If they don’t, well you can leave that to your own imagination.   Give it a few months, and you will probably get your answer.  And now I feel better.  At least a little.