Because I clearly don’t have enough to do.

Since I have nothing to do but sit around all day playing video games, watching soap operas, and eating bonbons I decided to start another blog- http://www.cookingnuggets.com/

Okay so that isn’t exactly true. I have never really played a video game, I have never followed a soap opera, and my pancreas has an aversion to bonbons. In actuality I am fishing match box cars out of my spice containers and finding screws in the bottom of my cups of coffee. With my roles as: mom to a pre-schooler and a teenager/daughter to 2 elderly parents/wife/teacher/coach/perpetual college student/house-remodeler/gardener- garden club member/city council member/education advocate/book club discussion leader/part time photographer/ and chief cook I generally have at least 3 to 4 things going on at any given moment. That being said we have to eat. I love to cook and even more importantly I love to eat. The folks I care about all seem to be rather fond of eating as well so cooking is one of those things I do regardless of the other hats I am wearing at any given moment. I get asked a lot about recipes, how to can, and how do I manage to cook with all of the balls I have in the air at any given moment. This blog will provide answers to all of those questions and hopefully help other folks out there with an equally crazy set of hats to wear gain some tricks for how to eat better while multitasking the rest of the circus that most of us loosely refer to as our lives. My goal is a post a day for a year. Yeah I know- because I clearly don’t have enough to do.  Come follow along – at least I am not bored.

Thankfully I have good help in the kitchen.

     

 

Hangin’ with Grandpa Bob

My dad came over for a visit and Caelun started a game where he would take Grandpa’s hat and then put it back on his head. I love how much joy each of them get out of each other. In these pictures my dad is 85 and Caelun is not quite 4. 81 and 1/2 trips around the sun separate them but it doesn’t seem to matter to either of them in the slightest. Hurray for goofy games!

“I have your hat Grandpa!”

“Now I will wear it!”

“Back to you”

And so it keeps going- on and off.

I love this look on my dad’s face.

May the games continue.

Big Shoes To Fill

My dear daughter Abbi has a boyfriend and his name is Hayden. He is a nice kid with BIG feet. Actually at 15 he is something like 6’4 or 6’5 so he is big every where but this is about his feet or more specifically his shoes. This is Caelun with Hayden’s boots.

 

Swirl was coming and Hayden needed a pair of dress shoes- size 17. Yes you read correctly 17. Now where exactly does one go to find size 17 dress shoes? I can relate to his predicament because I have a similar problem in the opposite direction. I wear a size 4E. Having felt the frustration of not being able to buy shoes I decided we were going to find these shoes. Having made this my mission Abbi and I drug the poor boy – who was very tolerant I might add- to 5 different stores before we hit the jack pot. The final solution – JC Pennies. Yep. Go to their shoe department, have them measure your feet- we found out Hayden rather than having the size 17 he thought he had actually has a 16 wide. He actually got to pick out a pair from a variety of styles- again I can relate to the lack of opportunity to do this-, and ordered them. They arrived on our doorstep 4 days later with free shipping- woot! When they arrived we all had to check them out but the 3 year old found them especially interesting. Well Caelun – Hayden has definitely given you some big shoes to fill.

They have landed!

Abbi says- “lets try them on!”

This is what size 16 wide shoes look like on a 3 year old.

Oh wait we have to get them both going the same direction.

This is my -as Clint would say- “freakishly small” size 4 winter boot next to Hayden’s shoe. You can understand why I can commiserate.

 

Maybe in the dinning room –where there is more space to maneuver-he can walk better in them

 

Not to bad.

A little soft shoe any one?

I Heart Valentine’s Day

I love Valentine’s Day. I know it is a commercial ‘Hallmark’ holiday designed to make women feel underappreciated and to get men in trouble but I have kids. Kids make Valentine’s Day about art… and chocolate. Now who can object to that? I got home from school to see my dear God-daughter Nikki, who was babysitting, had helped Caelun make the BIGGEST Valentine’s card EVER. It was the entire back sliding glass door decorated in window paint. How much fun is that? We left it up for over  a week just because it made us smile. I also give the kids some baskets of goodies- well we had to get the chocolate in there somehow. Come appreciate the artwork and check out the kids goodies- I bet they will even share.

    

Nikki helped him get the higher parts.

      

She did some decorating as well.

 

Look at the goodies- there is DEFINATLEY chocolate in there.

   

Abbi didn’t want a picture but Cae-Cae is always up for a “cheese” as he calls it.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day.