Friday, December 11, 2009

My Grown Up Christmas List

I would like to think that I care about all the things that the song lyrics refer to
  • "no more lives torn apart"
  • "that wars would never start"
  • "love would always win"
but really I don't. They seem sort of dumb and corny to me. The simple things make me happy. So call me crazy but these are the things that have been going through my mind lately that would make up my grown up christmas list:
  • king size deep fit sheets
  • a new down comforter
  • a gravy boat and spoon
  • some cool new high heeled brown shoes
  • a black pair wouldn't hurt either
  • pruning shears
  • some comfy but cute non jean pants
  • brown eye liner
  • my own GPS
  • some tiered serving party dishes

Call me a selfish cad if you must. It's probably true.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Favorite Christmas Lights

....so far.

(the gingerbread house according to my kids)

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Yummiest, Fastest, and Most Foolproof French Bread

Due to overwhelming personal emails and requests here is the french bread recipe I promised over a week ago. Everyone enjoy.

Yield: 1 super large loaf or 2 small loaves
2 1/2 C. warm water (105-110 F)
2 T. yeast
Let it proof
3 T. sugar
1/3 C. oil
1 T. salt
6 C. flour

Mix it in a Kitchen Aid, Bosch, or mixer of choice till blended. Cover and let rise 10 minutes. Remix and repeat ten minute rise sessions for a total of 6 times and 60 minutes. This is a wetter dough. Instead of flour oil a counter and rolling pin. Take the dough roll it out, then roll it up. Seal edges, pinch seam. Put on cookie sheet,cover, and let rise 20 minutes. Use razor blade or sharp knife to make three decorative slits. Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and slice with a sharp bread knife. Egg wash optional for yummy crispy french bread crust.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The Face of An Angel

Every day since his birthday, Dec. 1, this boy has woken up and asked: Is today the day Santa came?
And every day I have to tell him : No not yet.
And he replies: Oh Darn It. How long till Santa comes?
And I will give him the daily counter: 17 days till Santa comes.
And everyday he responds: That will take forever!
What a sweetie!

Monday, December 7, 2009

In My Absence...

Since dropping out of the blog world for six days, a record for me I think, I have been keeping a crazy schedule which includes five hours of sleep or less each night. But a lot has been accomplished.
I have in no particular order:
A. watched the Christmas Devotional weeping shamelessly on several occasions
B. tried to catch up on a weeks worth of laundry (about 9 loads)
C. carried out/baked for/attended a Relief Society Meeting which included Make-A-Mix jars and quilting
D. made four batches to donated and sold over 100 1 lb. boxes of cookies at the Manheim Auto Auction
E. resorted to listening to book on CD to get my reading fix despite being desperately busy
F. set up and decorated two Christmas trees and other indoor decorations
G. went to see the Nutcracker Ballet with Bella, oh my so good
H. took my perfectly acceptable living room, dining room, and kitchen and decided to paint them (before)
I. ate at Olive Garden with two other mother daughter duos before the ballet
J. finished painting, removed the tape, and reassembled my three rooms (after)
K. played in the first snow of the season with my kids, Kody held out the longest
L. and wrote my letter, addressed, and stamped 50 Christmas Cards which are to go out today.

The rest of the house may still look a tornado swept through but I told my friend last week that after Tuesday things would be back to normal. So that leaves me with today for more laundry, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, dusting, and bathrooms, oh and my desk is a bit of an issue, and outside lights, and --- oh perhaps I shouldn't think of all the things I still have yet to do.

Manheim Auto Auction Addendum

More on Letter D:
After sitting at the auction all day from 7:45 am - 4 pm I have decided this is the place to go if you are a woman in need of a self esteem boost. Top ten reasons are as follows:

10. The male to female ratio is disproportionately in your favor.
9. Any other female competition tends to be over the age of 50.
(Note: Beware of one female security cop who is fiercely hot, so that even the women who is 74ish I sat with said, I wouldn't mind doing something so that she could arrest me)
8. The majority of these men are the perfect age demographic of 30-50.
7. The men are some of the sweetest eye candy I have ever seen. Most are well dressed, a fabulously perfect length of scruff, foreign, and exotic looking. Yum Yum.
6. All of these men come with their own accent. Some will even try to seduce you by speaking in their native language.
5. They are generous with their money and bought lots of overpriced cookies for a good cause.
4. Most of these men are dealers and are rich to boot. Some have other homes in other countries since they are dual citizens. Brazilian men will offer to take you to their house in Brazil since you have never been. They volunteer to show you how beautiful it is.
3. These men whether through cultural differences or personalities conducive to the car trade are not afraid to take action and make blatant passes at a woman.
2. They use flattery. And it will make a girl feel fabulous. One will tell you that you are super pretty because in his country super is more than very pretty.
1. If it gets serious they might give you a free car or at least a really cheap one to buy.

Give a holla' for the Manheim Auto Auction Men.
Note: I am not responsible for any long term character issues encountered in these men as I cannot vouch for this type of man, but he sure does make a girl feel very good for a day.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

And Four It Is

Today is Issac's birthday. Although he's a little confused on the topic since we celebrated yesterday due to conflicting events. Since the day Issac was born people have told me he looks exactly like me. It filled me with a sense of pride since the previous two kids had looked so much like "Whitings", people would mention to me that had I not just delivered these children no one would know they were mine. Along with his looks since the day he was born Issac has been more like me than all the other kids combined.
From two weeks old he started crying for what appeared to be no reason and didn't stop until this last year. Similarly my parents have told hundreds of times how I cried for no reason from birth to age two. I have hypothesized some possible reasons for all this crying after knowing myself and Issac. We both know exactly what we want, how we want it, and the time frame in which we want it done. When these things don't come together perfectly we are sooo distraught, hurt, or angry it leads to tears - although as we get older we learn to curtail them better. Issac is supremely sensitive. His feelings get hurt so often. And he responds much more to a firm talking to than a spanking. Spankings make him angry and rebellious. Verbalizing your disappointment hurts his feelings to the point where he will do anything to make it better and needs to be held post talk to reaffirm your love for him.

Issac is fiercely independent. He has always been old enough, big enough, and smart enough to do things on his own. Since two he could dress and undress himself. And just this summer he decided to teach himself to swim where he totally submerses his head and kick rapidly. He doesn't get very far but he is fearless in the attempt. He's very physically adept and has been mastering sports since he was three. Just this past Thanksgiving Day our friends were teaching him to shoot a hockey puck, they are serious ice hockey players. He consistently could get it in the top corner of the goal. He can bat right and left handed and is completely ambidextrous as diagnosed by an occupational therapist. He will cut, draw, play sports, and point using both hands equally. Last night while doing skeet ball at Chuck E' Cheese he alternated each ball from left to right.

His energy and smile are infectious. His laugh is amazing. He is the only person who thinks that being tickled relentlessly is a reward and often asks for it after doing something good. Sometimes he will want to be tickled so much but it then turns to crying all without him ever having complained once. I don't like this part, but it still doesn't seem to bother him too much as he continues to ask to be tickled. If you ask him for a kiss he will refuse you just to be a tease. Then later he will come like he is going to kiss you only to lick you. And finally when you have given up all hope and moved on to something else he will run up unexpectedly and delight you with one of the best kisses ever. He squeezes so hard when he gives hugs you can feel the intensity of emotion he is experiencing.
He is a little monkey and loves to climb, hang, and jump around. He doesn't hold still for very long. And often times if he is supposed to be sleeping you can go into his room and find him hanging upside down from the top bunk slats into his bed balancing precariously on his head. He loves the park and being outside. He thinks that alone time with mom or dad at night is about the best things ever and he adores candy and chocolate which is his ultimate motivator to do things he hates to do.

He is just perfect and I can't imagine our family without him.