If she had the proper words to say,

We babysat Miss Emma today for about five hours. She was a doll the whole time. She was awake and playful, and she never fussed or whimpered. I was absolutely gobsmacked at how very PERFECT she behaved for us! It almost felt like stealing to take money when Adam and Tanya tried to pay us: we left the cash behind on their counter. They noticed, however, and ran it over to Jack anyway. *wink*

I began a roast this afternoon, and we had it for dinner tonight. I fixed the leftovers up for stew in a few more nights, too. I will only have to pop it on the stove, and add dumplings to it as it simmers. I'm thinking that will be perfect for Tuesday night's soccer practice schedule.

I finished up one set of cookies this afternoon, and I'll take pictures tomorrow. I'm working on three sets tonight, and one is 75% done right now, but I need to let the last step "set" a bit before I can proceed to the next one. I love when ideas turn out so cute!

It was so crazy-warm today, and I had A.J. shovel a few loads of snow from the yard onto the driveway for fast melting. We did that last spring, and it helped us to be rid of the snow several days before everyone else on our block. It was warm yesterday also, and it should stay this way for the next four days as well. I imagine there will be considerably less snow by the end of this warm spell!

I made these two new recipes for the boys' big sleepover on the 21st, and I definitely want to share them! They were well received by the crowd of boys, and I am already planning when I will make them each again.


Banana Pineapple Bread.

This sweet bread has just a bit of tangy pop! from the crushed pineapple, and I thought it would be such a nice perk from the heavier winter foods. I wasn't wrong! It made two loaves, and the nine boys here polished off one loaf in just minutes!

( Recipe and another picture. )

Cheddar Sausage Muffins.

These hearty muffins were so light and springy in texture, and the golden bits of cheeses throughout made them practically melt in your mouth. You could easily substitute the sausage for another meat of your choice, too!

( Recipe. )

Well, we were supposed to have roast tonight for dinner. I planned it this way so that we could have the resulting leftover beef stew tomorrow night - an easy dinner after Jack's first soccer game of the season. However, when I pulled the chunk of meat out of the fridge at 2pm for searing, it was still a solidly frozen block. Drat.

Instead, it's back in the fridge for more thawing time (though it already had two days!), and tonight I've bumped up a meal from later on in the week: goulash, broccoli, and cottage cheese. Just a bit ago, I was standing in the kitchen, wondering what to do with myself. It was still a little early to prep dinner, but I really wanted to be in there. So... I whipped up a batch of fudge brownies, and now they're in the oven. We'll have them for dessert tonight.

Today, I updated the boys' book lists, paid all our bills, entered all Coke points into the system, cleared my desk and the bar (paper "hot spots" in this house), dropped off a prescription, shopped a short list at the commissary, stopped in and had lunch with Jack at his school, chatted for over an hour with bigbrain61 on the phone, filled the prescription, and put away the groceries. Believe it or not, that was ALL before noon! By the time I was done with all of that, I laid down on the couch for a quick nap, and then I woke up when A.J. came in from school. Once Jack was also home, I loaded up the boys and headed to the barber shop. It's payday, as well as the day before Picture Day at the elementary school, so there was quite a lengthy wait. Finally, the boys were sheared, and then we did some birthday shopping for October.

I'm thinking about making some cookies in the next couple days, but they're just "test" subjects, so I haven't fully decided. I have one large order and two small orders to do in the next two weeks, and I still have several cookies I need to post (Facebook seems to get those pictures first, I guess).

It looked light it might rain today, and there was a chance of it, but it never happened. The weather should be nice and warm again tomorrow, though. I'm taking pictures of a newborn baby boy in the morning. (Well, it's scheduled, at least.) He'll be just ten days new, and I hope he's sleepy. His mama was very sweet when I met her at a surprise birthday party for my neighbor last Saturday. I'm excited, and I know she is as well. She understands that this is not really what I do, but she's willing to accept that with good faith!

I hope to pull out my fall decorations soon. I might do it this weekend. We're also discussing which weekends to look at for hanging lights. (When we lived in Alaska, he usually hung white lights on the roof in September. That way, we used them with orange lights for Halloween and later with more white lights for Christmas. Plus, he didn't have to be outside/climb on the roof in the bitter cold once winter and snow had come.) Philip is trying to either get leave or get someone to switch him a shift so that he can have the 24th off next Friday. The boys are out of school that day for inservice, and we're planning to go down to Bismarck for the day. We actually haven't been back to Bismarck since passing through it when we moved here!

Goodness, the brownies are smelling absolutely heavenly at the moment. I just pulled them from the oven, and I can't wait to have a fresh one in a little while! :-)

I smashed my finger tonight while loading the dishwasher. It was one of those genius-brand of smashings - the kind where I didn't actually drop anything on it, but instead I caught it between the pegs on the rack of the dishwasher. Catching it "alarmed" me, and then I yanked backward on the rack, causing my finger to become fully smashed within the pegs. Yow, the pain! I do this on a regular basis with grocery carts, but this is the first time I've injured myself in the dishwasher.

It's hours later, and my nailbed is still completely white and throbbing. I'm such a klutz.

I made canned spinach tonight as a side for dinner (meatloaf, corn-on-the-cob). Now, as a child, my Granny made me eat spinach in the summers I lived at her house, and I hated it. (She insisted I drink buttermilk too, but that stopped after I later puked it all over the inside of the car on a hot, Texas afternoon. She also made me eat chunks of avocado - clearly, she was trying to kill me.) I don't remember my mom ever making canned spinach, so I'm going to assume that she must not have liked it, either. Granny's version of canned spinach was very sour - drained, vinegar added, and topped with a bit of salt at serving. I would gag and gag and gag, and I honestly don't recall how I ever got enough of it down to even leave the table.

(Lest you think my Granny only made disgusting food, I assure you that's not the case. For example, she made the best homemade biscuits and chocolate gravy that you would ever, ever have melt on your tongue... but you had to finish your spinach first!)

And so it doesn't make a lot of sense, I'm sure, that I would try serving a vegetable that I detest to my own family. However, even though there are things I don't like, I figure my boys deserve the chance to try new foods. We eat so many, many things, but spinach is something they've only ever had fresh in salads. Recently, I served brussel sprouts alongside a meal, hoping to like them more as an adult (these were a regular favorite of my mom's, and I never came to like them growing up, either). We all cleaned our plates, but I learned the brussel sprouts were definitely not a taste I had "acquired" over time. Even as we ate, we all four discussed how terrible-tasting the sprouts were, discussing how I would never make them again. (But hey, at least the boys tried them, ate them, and then made a decision on them for themselves, right?)

While we'd been looking forward to the meatloaf on the meal plan, there had been much trepidation in talks of the upcoming spinach. I decided to make it differently, hoping to veer from the sour taste. When I dumped the two cans of spinach (actual Popeye® brand!) into the pot, A.J. and I looked over it, uncertainty clear on our faces. Philip walked by and sniffed the pot, declaring, "There's just no way that can be good, honey." I worried, but I soldiered on. I boiled the spinach, then drained it well. I added a bit of butter and a shake of garlic powder. Finally, I served it up.

The rule in our house is, "Eat the things you don't like first." It just saves time, really. Even as I put the plates of food in front of the boys, I reminded them that they should try and eat the spinach first, as it probably wouldn't be their favorite thing. To my surprise, they GOBBLED IT UP. I took a bite... not bad at all! Even Philip didn't mind the spinach. Success!

In the end, I'm glad I gave it a try, for I certainly never would have guessed the outcome. Brussel sprouts will remain a zero in our book, though. *wink*

I made Alfredo Chicken Primavera tonight, but I didn't take any pictures of it. This is an older recipe from my Recipe Basket™, and I've really only been documenting the newer stuff. As if it didn't have enough veggies already (carrots, red peppers, broccoli), I still served it up with green beans. I didn't, however, get my hind end in gear early enough to pull off the Fudge Berry Pie that was to be dessert. It will have to be some other day.

Oh my, but it feels busy around here lately. We got the call late last week of Jack's assignment to the orange team for spring soccer season, and it's been go-go-go ever since. The 'Orange Suns' had a Meet-and-Greet event with their coach on Sunday evening. We were already in town, buying more landscaping supplies, so we hung out for an extra 45 minutes instead of driving home to the base, and then all the way back out to town again.

Last night (Monday), we had a Jamboree to attend for the entire soccer association. We went extra-early, having been warned that there were 502 registered players this season. Wow, but it was crowded! It was well-organized, and the soccer club took a giant picture of all the players together in their team shirts. Then they ran skills and drills for the next couple hours. We had arrived at 4:50 to secure parking (the event didn't start until 6pm, but Jack's coach had all the players arriving at 5:45 to group together), so we'd not eaten dinner first. I brought water bottles for each of us, and I was so glad! To run many of the drills, parents were needed, and I was out there tossing and kicking soccer balls around for a few hours. A.J. stood close by and tinkered with my camera (I'll have to check out what he shot later on - maybe he got some great pics!).

Jack has practice on Monday nights for the next month, as well as games every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. His first game is two days from now, and the team hasn't practiced yet. In fact, they have TWO games before the first practice (Thursday and Saturday). I've never heard of such a thing, but he's excited about it nonetheless.

Also this Thursday, Jack chose Earth Day to have his birthday celebration at school. See, in Nebraska, the school year started after his birthday (August 9th). We were already here in North Dakota by his half-birthday (February 9th), but the teacher made the records at the beginning of the school year, and she didn't even think about it. During parent-teacher conferences last month, she told him to pick a day to celebrate and let her know. Now, in their old school, birthdays weren't a big deal - students weren't allowed to bring in treats or snacks at all. At their new school, there are no rules. As such, Jack is very excited for Thursday!

I wish I'd thought to take 'before' pictures of the yard, but alas. This house had been vacant for at least a couple years before we moved in, so the yard is completely bare. There's weeds, but that's about it. Philip and I built retaining walls for three, large raised flowerbeds using these pavers, and then we've been lining around our bushes/trees in the backyard with black edging, filling it with white rock. We also yanked up the ugly concrete things under the eave spouts, replacing them with discreet, bendable hoses. Now that we have the flowerbeds established, we can focus on the grass repair.

I've also been editing up a storm! At some point in the future, I'll have a "Marathon Posting Day," using so many of my pictures. Man, am I ever behind on that! However, it is so rewarding each night to clean up and file away more folders of pictures onto the harddrive. I swear, there's hardly anything on this computer since I upped to Windows 7, and it feels so nice.

I'm off to be a kitchen tornado for a few hours tonight. I'm prepping and freezing a few meals, hoping it will help with the soccer-induced chaos of the next month!

I couldn't wait to make this for dinner in our menu plan, and it absolutely didn't disappoint!


Chicken Broccoli Shells, served with yams and fruit cocktail.

I didn't quite double the recipe, but I used more broccoli and chicken than called for, so I upped the amount of pasta shells, too. I didn't up the cheeses, so I'm sure ours wasn't quite as cheesy as it should have been, but it was still so scrumptious. :-)

( Recipe, and two more pictures. )

The Corned Beef and Cabbage verdict:

Me - eh, not so much
A.J. - edible, but loved the brisket
Jack - HECK YES, WHEN CAN I GET THIRDS OF EVERYTHING?!

I don't think I did anything wrong, I just wasn't really in the mood for it after smelling it cook all day long. Since I'd never made it before, I didn't know how that might affect me. In addition, I haven't had a good appetite all week either, and that might have been part of it.

The rolls and the mint chocolate cheesecake were phenomenal. Even the cheesecake, though, I only ate three bites of and put the rest of the slice in the fridge for later. My tummy's just not quite right. I do have pics, but they'll be posted some other time.

I fell asleep while A.J. was in the shower tonight, and then again the second Jack was done with his bath and had given me a kiss goodnight. I napped for almost two hours on the couch before I woke up. Then I was all, "ACK! I have to do the dishes and start that load of laundry!" *zing!*

Now it's time for a chapter or two of my book (The Last Song) and bed for reals.

My very first ever corned beef is cooking away in the CrockPot right now. I'm so anxious to see how it turns out for dinner! I've also got dough rising for Refrigerator Rolls, and I made a mint chocolate cheesecake ahead of time last night. I'm thinking about making some lemonade and tinting it green, too. :-)

I must say, I always feel a bit bad for an orange when I grate away the peel for a recipe. It always looks so very sad and disheveled afterward. Once I had finished grating what I needed for the beef syrup, I patted the orange on its... head? ... and promised that I would eat the rest of it with love. In fact, I decided that the poor orange wouldn't want to be alone in my tummy, so I peeled up another one to go with it. Now my taste buds are singing the praise of yummy oranges (they are SO good right now - go buy some!), and the oranges are having a party in my tummy.

That's win-win, I say. *wink*

How much yeast is in a "packet," I wonder? See, I use enough yeast that I buy it in little brown-glass bottles, but I'm going to have to figure this out before tomorrow. I'm making Refrigerator Rolls, and the recipe calls for 2 packets. ETA: 2-1/4 tsp. = 1 packet. Thank you, Google.

I made the prettiest cookies today. Well, I actually made the sugar cookies yesterday, but I iced them this afternoon. My cutter was a bit larger than I realized it to be, so I didn't get as many cookies as I'd imagined (and I made two batches of dough to start with). I'm toying with the idea of making another batch early tomorrow, but we'll see. I already do have a lovely dessert planned for Wednesday anyway.

Also, my neighbor and friend asked if I'd be willing to make either a cake or cupcakes for her baby shower this weekend. I'm waiting on one gift in the mail, but I have the others ready and have the perfect wrapping papers to match. I'd already RSVP'ed and was very excited for her shower... to now be asked to craft some goodies is just, well, icing on the cake! (Forgive the intended pun, as it is rather late.)

I received a cute package in the mail yesterday from sdaisyk. She sent me a handful of Coke caps, but she included TONS of little goodies, too. Everything is so sweet and thoughtful - thank you, Sarah!

The boys were out of school this past Thursday and Friday for a break, and it has thrown me all off schedule. It just seemed like yesterday should really have been Monday, you know? As we were passing the base theatre last night, I saw the marquee and read, The Toothfairy, getting all excited. On our way back, I told the boys to try and read for the showtime, but right as we passed it, I realized that it the showing was for Saturday night... and it *was* Saturday night. (The base theatre only shows each movie once.) Gah. In my head, it had felt like Friday all day. Bummer, too, as that's one I had really wanted to see in the theatres.

Speaking of theatres, Philip took the boys last weekend to see Percy Jackson & The Olympians, and they all really enjoyed it. A.J. had received the first two books of the series for Christmas, so when he mentioned wanting to see the movie, I told him he needed to read his book first. He then read it in two days, and then he read the second book in three days. We'll have to look for the other books for him to finish, and now Jack wants to read them, too. I wanted to read the book before seeing the film, and I hadn't gotten a chance, so I told Philip to take them instead. I'll catch it on DVD later. :-)

And then Diary of a Wimpy Kid comes out this coming Friday, and both boys have been stoked about that one for a few months. They both love the book series, and I'm sure the movie will be fun. I can get behind that heartily, especially as I'm hoping it will direct their interest completely away from Alice in Wonderland. Jack wants to see it, but I think it just looks... off? I love most of J. Depp's movies, but I have no desire to see this one (though I've previewed the soundtrack, and it is lovely). In this case, Jack's just going to have to "keep wanting," and that's as close as he'll get. *wink*

The boys used their monies a few weeks ago to reserve copies of the two new Pokemon games at GameStop, and they've been reminding us for the past several days that today was the pick-up date. I thought that was odd; don't games usually come out on Tuesdays, like music and movies? At any rate, we got an automated reminder call yesterday even, and I took them to the BX GameStop today to pay for the rest and pick-up their games. One bought the silver, and one bought the gold (that's as far as this Mom goes into the "geek-speak," heh!), and they both received little boxes with commemorative figurines, too. It was hard for them to buckle up seatbelts a few minutes later, due to how over-the-moon they were feeling. Ha!

It's been hours, and I am still SO stuffed from dinner. I made Pineapple Veggie Chicken (a favorite of ours for years), but I tossed in tons of extra amounts of veggies. I only put in half as much chicken as usual, so we gorged ourselves on mushrooms, snow peas, red and green peppers, and onions. Afterward, the boys made tonight's dessert: Tutti-Frutti Smoothies, and those were full of strawberries, bananas, and orange juice. Jack drained his large glass in seconds, I swear. I feel like I'm going to float away on fruits and veggies in my dreams!

A.J. made dinner and dessert for us last night. He did it all on his own, and he did a wonderful job. Everything was very, very tasty, and he and Jack gobbled up the leftovers today for lunch, too!


Meatball Soup.

( Recipe and more. )

In addition to making the soup, A.J. also heated the oven and threw in a few crusty sourdough rolls. He was very attentive to the timer, and he did a great job with the potholders in retrieving the stone once they were golden-brown. Yummy!


Fried Banana Sundaes.

( Recipes and progress pictures. )