The Pioneer Woman

I love cooking. I love being in the kitchen. It is the heartbeat of my home. It is where most of the great memories start or end. It is where my children will remember me...either cooking my butterscotch cookies or chasing their daddy out of the kitchen before he eats all my cookie dough.

Our PTA president and another board member asked me to be in a chili cook-off at school. Without hesitating, I say yes. (I am a glutton for punishment; I cannot say no...AND, see above, I love to cook). So, here I am. It is Sunday. The chili cookoff is Tuesday at 5:30. I have been scouring websites for the perfect white chicken chili. (Why white chicken chili?? Well, because everyone makes regular chili, and I need something that will stand out.) I finally found one I am satisfied with... Pause.

I recently purchased a Pioneer Woman cookbook. If you are a new cook and need help, she is your gal. She takes pictures at every step. She makes cooking seem like an armless baboon could do it. She has a white chicken chili recipe. It has 274 great comments attached to this deliciously simple recipe.

Unpause. After much stress, headache and kitchen pacing, I am making the Pioneer Woman's White Chicken Chili. So, Ree Drummond, if I win Tuesday afternoon, half of my prize is owed to you. (The other half, of course is mine...because I was able to pull off a perfected masterpiece!) 

All In A Days Work

Well, for those of you following the baby-sleeps-in-a-big-boy-bed saga, let it be known...we have reached success. 

Here is a brief run-down of the week.

Monday: Noah was a fuss bucket. We put him to bed asleep. He awoke and decided to  crawl out of his crib for the first time in his life. We were up at 1:15 and stayed up. Until after work. He turned into a holy-terror over night.

Tuesday: My parents came to town to pick up their Harley-dog and see Noah. Dad fixed Noah's crib - he turned it into a big boy bed. I prayed for great night's sleep. I prepared for a HORRIBLE night. I knew we would be up all night...again. Not.A.Peep! 

Wednesday: We prepped for bed. Noah sleeps in footed zip-up jammies (you know, because God forbid his feet touch air at night. You know I was raised right.) Fearing that Tuesday was just God giving me MUCH needed sleep, I knew this night would be terrible. Did he wake up? Yes. Did he fuss? Yes. Did we get him? Nope. I found him this morning pulling at his door, in a diaper only, with a new pack of diapers (104 count) hanging from the rafters and everything below. They were absolutely everywhere. He also had little bits of carpet indention all over his left side. He clearly slept on the floor. 

Thursday night: I laid him down...thought he was asleep. He wasn't. I went ahead with the plan. I laid him down, gave him a kiss and said night night. I shut the door; he screamed. He got out of bed and pulled at the door. Finally after he stopped crying, we went to check on him. We first grabbed the flashlight to look under his door. We didn't even want to attempt to go in if he was asleep against the door. He wasn't. I went inside his room and found him.........asleep. Laying in his bed, asleep. 

I, my friends, call this a success. 

The Serenity Prayer

Writing is cathartic. It works for me. I am good with words. On bad days, this is what I do. I write. I write it out. If I can write it down, I don’t have to think about it any longer. Today was one of those days. You know, the kind of day that you know at any moment, it WILL get better because … well, how could it get worse,  but then it does get worse?? 

Yep, God Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. 

 I must have said this ten thousand times today. Not in the "AA" sense of the meaning, but in the God I need your help today kind of way. 

 

Today, I woke up mad. I woke up mad about something that was completely out of my control. I woke up angry for something that I couldn’t fix…time can only fix it. I was just a GRUMP today. Here is how my day went:

I left my cell phone at home, which quickly threw me off. I left my ID badge at home – which I found out about halfway through the day that it was in my car.  My students were Uncharacteristically bothersome today. I promise that each one asked to go to the bathroom no less than 3 times each BEFORE we went to specials – at 9:20 a.m.. Three of them went AGAIN at Specials. They talked, and chose not to listen. They just couldn’t quite get it all under control today. I didn’t pack a lunch, so, I had to go get one. I had a dentist appointment – which was probably the highlight of my day. THEN, I pick up Noah who was also uncharacteristically cranky. I went to the grocery store. I thought, this could be my redeeming moment. I will buy Cullen’s favorite cake mix and make him a sweet little cake.…I cooked dinner. Cullen came home.. I started his cake backwards. I poured the cake mix before I noticed that I didn’t have eggs. Crucial. After dinner, I went to the grocery store alone. I prayed. I prayed out loud to make sure God heard me. I prayed for a better tomorrow. I prayed for peace. I prayed to see the light of this day. Then, one of my dearest girlfriends, Chyla calls me, and we talked. Gosh it was wonderful – but too quick. I get to the grocery store, still on the phone, buy the milk and head back home. I get about half-way home and realize I DIDN’T GO TO BUY MILK! I needed EGGS! SO, I heavily roll my eyes, turn back around, and go buy eggs. Knowing I can’t do it all, knowing my limit, I get off the phone. I check the eggs to make sure they are not cracked, and I drop my phone… it breaks into 7 pieces. SEVEN! I put it back together and it takes the whole trip back home to reboot. I prayed again. I prayed for this day to end, for God to hit reset. I prayed tomorrow is better than today (how could it not be??).  Okay, I begin the cake making process again… NO FRIGGIN VEGETABLE OIL. Are you kidding me??

I call my friend (and close neighbor) Taylor. She saves me. She puts vegetable oil out for me on her driveway. I drive there and back and start the cake for the THIRD time. {{no good deed ever goes unpunished!}}  Ugh.

So, here I am. It is 9:08. I have schoolwork to do…that I must do. All I WANT to do is go to sleep and start over. Press snooze and start over. Tomorrow WILL be better – It has to be better.

Good Lord, it must be better.

The funny thing is, this is not a bad day. Yes it is a bad day for ME. But, everything I wrote that happened today is not a bad day. It is a series of unfortunate events. AND, even on these bad days, I know God is watching over me. I know that God has filled my life with everything I need and want. Want to know the best part?? Even on the really bad days, I can find one of these two boys. Both have an uncanny ability to turn my frown into the warmest heart, and fullest smile.

January 26, 2012

So, here is to tomorrow NEEDING to be better. GOD GRANT ME THE STRENGTH…

Fuzzy Pictures.

Warning - this picture today is fuzzy. Last night, I met my dad in Andice to get Harley, his dog. We are keeping her for a few days, and Noah INSTANTLY fell in love. They both barked the entire 45 minute drive home.

Then when we got home, Noah sat in her bed, pulled over her dog bowl, and force fed her one...little....bite...at....a....time. Whether she is hungry or not.

She sat at Noah's door for a long time last night. It stole my heart.

While it is fuzzy - here is a picture from last night!

womp, womp.... no picture. Email won't let me save it. Growl. I will update it later.

Can You Fall Twice??

Because I just did. I just fell in love with my son all over again. While I am going to post the picture, I want to tell you just how much fun Noah has been lately. He is a whole new kiddo. Yes, he still prefers his daddy to me...any day, any time, any where. And Yes, I am super jealous of the two of them when we are all together. BUT, when it is just the two of us, he loves me; he likes me, and we are {temporarily} best friends. 

Today, we went to Belton to play with The Durbin clan. Oh boy, we had such a great time. We played at the coffee shop, fed the ducks and walked around. Noah and Kylie played with Kylie's kitchen back at her house, and generally had a wonderful morning. 

THEN, we went to Topsey Exotic Ranch, where we pet and fed zebras, a camel, mini-horses, 12,000 different types of deer, and several other animals. It was wonderful. Noah loved, hated managed to live through the experience... it wasn't until the very end of our trip that he really started to enjoy himself. And thank goodness he did, or it would have never produced this: 

I just love this child. It is possible to fall in love twice - with the same person, I just did.

C'mon...

Day ??, Jan 19, 2012!

I mean, really?! Does it get any cuter than this?? Are there words for this amount of cuteness??

Does many pictures = Many Days?

I have several pictures from yesterday.... so, I am hoping that makes up for my lack of progress the last many days. 

Noah shouting "Daaaaad!" through the fence at the softball game last night.

I caught myself saying to Noah a catch phrase that my mom said to me FREQUENTLY at my dad's ball games. "Get your fingers out of the fence. It is going to hurt when you get hit by a ball!"

It made my heart warm.

Mini-Me and his Dad

While we were at the Mayborn Museum this weekend, I snapped a picture of Noah and Cullen. I feel like, with the pictures I have seen, and what I can imagine, this picture of Noah is exactly what I think Cullen looked like as a small toddler. 

Aren't they a handsome bunch!??

Bubbles

Today, we met The Tappan Family in Waco at the Mayborn Museum for Aubrie's birthday! She turned two. We spent so much time roaming today...and eventually, we found ourselves in the room of bubbles. Noah had a blast. Here are the pictures from our big adventure!