February 1, 2010

• {Cooking. Having babies in my old age. And a few things in between.}
  
  
  Growing up I was never one of those girls who loved to sew and cook
  and sit around practicing piano…
  I would much rather be in the barn than the kitchen.
  And playing football with my brother and his friends than trying to sew.
  
  I think my mom secretly worried about my future husband.
  And to assure me.. and mostly herself, she’d say every now and then -
  “Oh, you’ll be okay. If you can read you can cook!” : )
  
  I remember Shayne asking me when we were engaged what all I could make, and I said,
  “I honestly don’t know…”
  So… he must have loved me an awful lot to take that risk!!! ; )
  
  But mom was right.
  My reading skills proved to be okay,
  and soon cooking became something I really loved doing.
  {shocking my mother}

  
  (my favorite cook book~ a gift at my bridal shower)
  
  I’m not a huge baker. I’d rather cook than bake.
  But what I’d really rather do is just eat!!
  
  I used to enjoy planning a 2 week menu~
  going to the grocery to buy everything.
  Trying new stuff. Making up my own.
  
  I found it relaxing to be in the kitchen.

  
  (great biscuit recipe~ I like adding cheese and garlic)
  
  Then. Something changed.
  I think it’s called kids. and time and them getting older and running here and there every night~  
  this past year especially it seemed that trying to make a decent meal was so complicated.
  We got into eating out alot – I think we all still groan every time we pass a Wendy’s.
  But, they call it FAST food for a reason, and fast is convenient when you’re on the go..
  
  And though I never really make New Year’s resolutions I did make one this year….
  To get back into cooking and making sure we’re having as many home cooked meals as possible.
  
  Besides just being healthier and saving money,
  I think there’s something to sitting down around a table together.
  A meal time is such an intimate time in my opinion..
  a time for everyone to connect..
  to have undivided attention in front of the whole family to talk and tell about your day –
  I’ve never bought into the theory that kids are to be seen and not heard!
  
  But goodness! As I’m rediscovering.. preparing meals is hard and Wendy’s gets to sounding pretty good when that 6 o clock rush of daddy’s coming home, get the house picked up, change from my sweat pants, stick on some deodorant and be standing in the kitchen all pretty and wifely looking, with something yummy in the oven, trying not to look cross eyed with frustration when he walks in the door!!!
  
  Anyone else know that feeling~  ; )

  
  (brown sugar~ my favorite ingredient.. it’s like building sand castles)
  
  I have found not waiting till the last minute is helpful.
  To get back into my meal planning and stick to it.
  And try to do as much of the prep early on~
  I love meals that can slow cook all day too.
  That’s heaven come dinner time, to just have to pull it out!
  
  If you have any good suggestions shoot them my way….
   
  Here’s my favorite from last week~ Homemade Chicken noodle soup…
  which with all the butter you use, it would make even Julia Child proud!

  
  (my mom’s recipe~ if you have a cold, I promise this WILL cure you)

  
  (the biscuit recipe above~ when you roll the dough thin they come out more like crackers)

  

  
  (best brownies ever)

  
  (also mom’s recipe)

  
  
  
  = = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = =
  
  I officially made up my mind about something the other day…
  
  I would rather go through labor than go to the dentist!
  
  honestly.
  
  No matter how hard I tried to “find a happy place. find a happy place.”
  When I hear the bizzzzzzzz of that drill in my mouth, there is none to be had!  
  
  I had cracked my front tooth…
  the one I had cracked previously, that I filed with my nail file….
  But now was too big to file on my own…
  and I cracked it trying to bite off the acrylic nails I got with the gift card Shayne gave me for Christmas….
  which I didn’t want to get the fill-in’s because they were too expensive…
  so, instead…. end up with a tooth repair that was 3 times as much!!
  
  I can hear my friends saying, “This is such a Amber story!”
  
  Yes. it is.
  
  But the Amber part only gets worse~
  I had called the office and asked how much the repair would be…
  the same tooth had chipped back in 07, and the receptionist looked it up and told me it would be 68 dollars.
  That sounded reasonable, so I set up my appointment.
  
  But once I was there…
  laying back in the chair, with the little blue paper bib already on,  the metal clamper thing holding my mouth open, and the tool tray pushed up to my chin ready for the procedure…
  the doctor said~,
  “I see a sticky note on your file that says you called to ask the price…”
  
  I nodded.
  
  “It’ll be 203.”
  
  “Two hundred and three dollars?” I repeated. Though not quite as clear as that since I had this huge metal thing stuck in my mouth.
  
  He nodded.
  
  “The receptionist said it would be 68?”
  
  “That’s because last time we didn’t charge you for the office visit…” He answered. Though not quite as clear as that since he was wearing his mask over his mouth.
  
  “Oh.”
  
  I wish I were quicker in math and could have tallied that up so I would have known what that actually meant was,
  the office visit was 140 dollars while the procedure was only 68…!
  Of course I didn’t realize this all until my husband did the tallying later that day,
  and was frustrated with me that I didn’t just leave. :/
  
  But I assured him next time I’m in the dentist chair and find out the price is more than double what I was quoted…
  I’ll jump up, tear my paper bib off, rip the metal clamp from my mouth, and march out!
  promise. : ))
  
  Who cares if I don’t get my free tooth brush.

    
  (before and after pictures my dentist sent~ scary)

  = = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = =
  
  Another thing I promised him I’d start doing was cutting his hair. : /
  Which you have to understand this is a huge promise…
  even bigger than the “flee over priced dentist” one.
  I hate cutting hair.

  I don’t ever remember when I was little, having someone ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and saying…

  “A Hair cutter!!”

  But, as I’ve discovered as a wife and mother there’s lots of job descriptions I never bargained for!
   
  So we got a brand new clipper set to help with my job, since our old one nearly pulled your hair out before it would cut it.

  
  (Ben got to be the first to try them out)

  
  (see how shiny~ that weird Avatar looking person is me!)

  
  (look how many whatever they’re called came with it!!)
  
  Do they honestly think you’d put each one on and go in order??
  It would take me 3 hours to cut someone’s hair that way.

  

  Ben prefers hats to haircuts.

  I think I do too. :p
  
  = = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = =
  
  Shayne brought me these tulips the other day which I guess was a good exchange for a hair cut~
  though it was before I had actually cut his hair, so I think they were “just cause.”

  
  
  Reminds me spring is around the corner.
  And I’m glad about that.

  
  
  = = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = =
  
  If you want to hear a fun song, full of truth, scroll down to my playlist to #19
  {let me know if you hear any weird rap songs} ;0
  The kids and I love dancing around the house to it.
  I was going to link it on my post I did recently about relationships, but forgot.
  Maybe it’s been around awhile~ but I just discovered it.
  
  
  (valentine m&m’s are the best~ love the pink& white colors)
  
  = = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = =
   
  
  This is Ben’s first year on a league team in basketball…
  he’s played Upward in the past, and we love that program,
  but felt he was ready to move into something more competitive.
  
  Ben plays hard, and he has alot of natural talent his coach says…
  but one thing he really needs to work on, and the same was true in football,
  is being more aggressive!

  

  

  Which the other day while yelling from the stands it all struck me very funny…
  
  As parents we work hard to try to teach our children to be gentle and kind, to share and not be too rough or too loud….
  then we stick them on a playing field and we’re like, “Kill em!!! Get that ball!! Take him down!!! Be AGGRESSIVE!!!”
  
  No wonder there’s a confused look on most kids faces for the first few years upon joining organized sports!!!
  And we thought it was because they didn’t know what to do with that ball once they got it. : )  

  

  
  (Ben’s tongue hangs out when he runs.. one of these days I know he’s going to bite it off)
  
  = = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = =

  After Ben’s game Saturday Kate took our picture cause she said we matched.

  

  I think I look like my brother Jeff when I wear a hat.
  So I guess this is what I’d look like as a boy.
  A boy with pink lipstick that is.

  

  = = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = =
   
  In a few weeks I’ll be 36, and that just seems crazy to me to be four years away from 40.
  I’m not really bothered by it… just sobered maybe.
  40 seems halfway….
  halfway to where, I’m not sure.
  death?
  But then again I’ve never really thought I’d only live to be 80..
  so not sure where that feeling comes from!
  
  One thing that does kinda nag at me when I think about my age is having more children… of course, we’d love to.
  But sometimes, with each year that passes I wonder - and at this rate, my other kids would be so much older.
  
  But then I remember this guy~

   
  
  who turns 19 in two days.
  
  I can’t imagine life without him…
  and suddenly I realize that 17 years between siblings is really no big deal at all.

  
  
  
  
  amber.
  
  

  • 12:40 am
  • 71 Comments