Red Pepper Soup

3-4 red bell peppers (I actually used 1 1/2 red peppers, 1 orange, and 1 yellow, because that's what I had.)
minced garlic - about 1 tbsp
1/2-1 onion
2 tbsp butter
2 cups chicken broth (you can use more, but it will be thinner/less creamy)
crushed red pepper flakes - to taste
1 can coconut soup (don't use the light, use the regular)
salt & pepper to taste

Chop up the peppers. In a pot, melt the butter, add the peppers, garlic, salt and pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, & chicken broth. Cook until the peppers are soft. If you have an immersion blender, use it to blend up the peppers until the soup is pretty smooth. If no immersion blender, use a food processor or regular blender.
Add the can of coconut soup and mix up until it's all melted together.

It's delicious! Spicy and sweet! The next day I added leftover chicken breast to it for lunch. Yum!

Colors! Beautiful colors!

This is my half bathroom, yesterday. I felt an urge to paint, so I went scrounging around in the garage to see what we had left from our last painting adventure. We had half a gallon of Birch Forest and almost a whole gallon of white. The bathroom is pretty small, but I still wasn't sure if a half gallon would cover it so I mixed a quarter of a gallon of white paint with it. I actually hoped it would turn out lighter, but it's almost the same color as the dining room (the original recipient of the Birch Forest paint) .

New/Old

I'm planning on painting the master bathroom too, and D suggested "turquoise" which both pleased and shocked me. He wants a lighter color, so I've been looking around for a nice not-too-blue-not-too-green-not-too-dark  paint for our bathroom. 

I just can't decide! In our last house, our whole bedroom was a light, robin's egg blue. While I liked the color, I got VERY sick of staring at blue walls. It just irritated me, even though it seems like a soothing color. I want a color with a little more green in it, but not TOO green. I'm not sure any of these are right, and then of course I'll go to the store and they will all look different and I'll probably come home with purple or something.

Complainy & good stuff too

* We were eating at Casa Blanca while my inlaws were here. Two of us (one was me) ordered a special margarita. It was different colors and O asked, "Why does it look so silly?" FIL: "Because if you drink too many, they make YOU silly!"
Later, in the car, I said something that made the kids laugh. D said, "Oh, Mama is so funny. haha" to which d piped up, "That's because she drinks too much!"
We all had a good laugh out of that one. 

* Miss L was supposed to have an appointment for some follow-up blood work after her long-awaited doctor's appointment last week. The scheduling lady had to call me, because it's not in our town, but in a town about an hour and a half south. They told me that if she hadn't called by the end of Tuesday, to call her. Wednesday was a crazy, busy day and I didn't have a chance to call, and planned to call Thursday. I got a letter in the mail Wednesday evening, with Miss L's appointment time on it. The appointment? Was Wednesday, March 23rd @ 11AM.
It's too bad I don't have a time machine.
The letter was postmarked March 22nd.
I guess I'll be calling today anyway.

* Yesterday, I honked at TWO moronic drivers. One who pulled out in front of me and almost got t-boned, and one who almost hit me while turning left. The kids were so shocked to hear the horn they kept asking, "What was that noise? Why did you do that?"
That's because I almost never use my horn. Two times in one day is definitely a record, and probably more than I've used the horn in the last year. So yeah, I was IN A MOOD yesterday.

* I have had ants in my kitchen for over a month now and despite trying everything I can find on Google, and many, many poisons at the store, I cannot kill all the little suckers.

* We have enough money saved to go on a small vacation and replace our floors! Now, if we could just invent time, we'd be all set!

* We had to cancel the vacation we already had planned this summer, for a variety of reasons. Now I guess we'll just have to find somewhere better to go.

* The kids are all coming down off a solid 9 days of grandparent spoiling, and it's NOT pretty. Plus, they're sad that we live so far away and that makes me even more sad, because I wish we lived closer too.

* C will not stay in bed again. I finally got to a place where I could put him down for a nap and he would stay in bed. I felt comfortable enough to take down the pack-n-play, and that same day he started getting up again. After a few days I put the bed back up, and now he still gets up anyway. If I put him in the bed, he stays in his room but he doesn't sleep. Frustrating!
I swear that when these kids are teenagers I am going to take a lot of pleasure in waking them up at annoying times.

* My kids all, generally, sleep through the night consistently. I never thought it would happen but it did and if YOU are sleep deprived and desperate - hang on! Someday it will happen for you too!!

* I had to give a cat a shower and then a haircut. That was about as much fun as you might imagine. I'm so sick of these cats and their now daily, disgusting messes that I am very tempted to accidentally leave the door open.

* My friend T, is pregnant! I'm so excited!!! Now, go click that link &  look at the cute way she announced!

6

The day you were born was the first day I really realized what unconditional love means.

one

I remember your huge eyes and your attitude about sleep (I DON'T NEED IT. EVER.) and I remember all the stupid, stupid, first-time-mother things that I said. (Many of them started with "never" or some sort of judgment.)  Mostly, I remember how much you changed our lives and how we couldn't wait to have more wonderful babies.

two

three

You have welcomed 2 little brothers and a baby sister with barely a hiccup. You are one of the sweetest children I know. You have always loved babies.

four

five

You are a big kid now. 6! You love school, and being the boss, and typical oldest child. I know you're "big" now, but you still look so small when I drop you off in a sea of children at school. It's amazing watching you grow up, and I feel very lucky to be the mother to such a wonderful, smart, sweet, little boy.

Happy 6th birthday to my first baby.

Spring forward

I know it's not cool to like daylight savings time, but tomorrow morning my kids will get up at 6:15 instead of 5:15 and that makes me a BIG FAN.

Spinning

Today is one of those days that the world seems like it is spinning so fast that I can't catch my breath. I don't know if it's all the tragic news on TV today, or the general speed at which the days seem to be flying that has me flustered.

I bought birthday candles today. My big boy will be 6 on Tuesday. I feel like I could wake up tomorrow and write a post in which he's turning 16, and I wouldn't even be surprised - that's how fast the last six years have gone. I remember his big eyes and bald, baby head like it was just yesterday. My heart thumps loudly when I look at how big he has become.

I will be 30 this year. I don't think 30 is old AT ALL, but I am feeling quite flustered about it anyway. I cleaned out my closet and dresser drawers yesterday and I kept thinking, "Would a 30 year old wear this?" A lot of stuff didn't make the cut. It feels weird to think of no longer being in my twenties. My twenties were good. A marriage was started. Babies were born. A home was made. I feel like my "real life" started in my twenties and I'm reluctant to let them go.  I still have 6 months left in my twenties, and I'm already thinking of leaving them behind.

Lately, I have wanted nothing more than to get away. It is so VERY hard to be the person who has so much responsibility all the time. There is everyday life of children feeding, transporting, raising, & pet care, cooking, cleaning, and general living. Then, trying to maintain a good relationship with your spouse so that one day you don't look at this person who has become a total stranger, and wonder what happened. There are other relationships too, and it's hard enough trying to keep my own family relationships and friendships together and vital, but I'm the appointed manager of D's relationships too. (Call your mother, call your brother, what do you want to get your < insert relative > for < insert occasion > ? (And then buying/wrapping/shipping it myself because he never remembers or has any ideas.) ) 

I feel like The Glue and it. Is. Exhausting.

I know D must feel the same way. While almost everything at home falls directly to me, he works so hard and is such a great dad. I can't imagine doing this with anyone else. Sure, he has faults but he overlooks mine so I try to do the same. We're in this together, and there is no one else I'd rather be hanging on to for dear life.

letters

Dear Russell Stover,
Thank you for messing up on truffles, caramels and peanutty squares on the day you packed my Bloopers box. I'll forgive you for the fruity cremes that snuck in there.

Love,
Sugar High

----

Dear Cats,
You aren't actually starving to death at precisely the moment my feet hit the floor in the morning. Meowing and tripping me before I've had coffee and while I've got SEVERAL other demands to be fed is not the best way to make friends.

Signed,
Sorry I Stepped on Your Tail

----

Dear Children,
My ears hurt. I am probably going to go deaf at some point.

Love,
UseYourInsideVoice FTLOG

---

Dear CC Company,
You have called my house more than once a day, every day, for several weeks. EVERY TIME I answer, you ask for my husband and I tell you he's not home. He's not going to be home at 10AM or 2PM so you can stop calling.

---

Dear Miss L,
That fake choking routine is VERY convincing, but not at all amusing anymore. I have no idea why you think me smacking your back in panic is so stinkin' hilarious.
Love,
Quit Shaving Years Off My Life

---

Dear All The Shoppers at Every Store We Go To,
Yes, they are all ours.
Yes, they are very close in age.
Yes, we know what caused it.
Yes, our hands are full.
No, we didn't have one more just so we could "try again" for a girl.
No, I don't plan to have any more, but it's not really your business, is it?

Sincerely,
Not A Freak Show

PS - I don't want your advice on anything, (Things like "Tell Mommy to slow down!" - directed at the baby - and "Oh, I hope your husband has a good job!" are especially annoying.) and I would mostly appreciate it if you could see that hanging around talking with 4 small children is wasting my window of "all the children are mostly agreeable" time.

Imperfect

I read this blog post this morning. I liked the idea of sharing our imperfections with each other, and I have plenty to share because I am most definitely not anywhere NEAR perfect.

Right now I have about 6 loads of laundry to do and I have no intention of doing any of it today because  the washer hose is leaking. When I finally get around to fixing that and doing all the laundry, there's a good chance I'll pile it all up on the bed until D is home to help put it away. (One of my least favorite chores.)

I let my kids watch too much TV when I am trying to talk on the phone, make dinner, or just need them to be quiet for a little bit.

There have been really bad days where I have yelled so much that my throat actually hurts. I know that sounds terrible, but I really don't think I'm alone in this one.

I made a dinner last week that was SO terrible that even D wouldn't eat it - and he eats ANYTHING. Even really disgusting stuff that most people wouldn't touch. That was definitely not my finest culinary moment.

I only dust once a year, when I take the regular stuff off the shelves to make room for the Christmas stuff. If I didn't put up Christmas decorations, I might never dust.

I don't really want to be friends with my neighbors. I want to be friendly, but not "Sure, drop by anytime!" friendly.

I don't have as much patience as I need. I'm terrible at math. I can't remember basic things I was taught in elementary school history. English used to be my best subject and I have slowly lost the ability to remember correct punctuation and possessives. I remember some things, and others I have to look up. Often, I'm lazy and just guess.

I always feel like people are judging me when they're probably not thinking about me at all. When someone talks about a pet peeve, I always feel paranoid that they're talking about me.

That's just scratching the surface...

Dishes

These are our current dishes. We didn't register for china or any dishes when we got married, as we wanted to pick out our own and we also knew we would never need fancy china. On both points it worked out well. I've never needed china and I've liked our dishes. We went to Target a few days after our wedding and saw these on clearance. They were plain, but they were CHEAP. When your entire wedding costs less than many people spend on a dress; cheap is important. We have used these dishes every day for almost 9 years. They're pretty chipped, but durable and we'll keep them to use as extras for when we need them.

These are our "extra" place settings. Someone gave them to us after our wedding and I've always, always hated them. Not my style at all, but good for when we had company and needed extra plates. These will be going out of my house very shortly, FINALLY, for good. 

The kids have a variety of different size, different color, different shape plates. EVERY meal time there is an argument. I don't let them pick anymore, and haven't for months, but it makes no difference. Everybody wants something else, or they want to match or they DON'T want to match or their plate is too small or they only like the Nemo bowl or WHATEVER. I'm so over it.
I'm ditching 90% of our plastic plates and about half the bowls. I'll keep a few for Miss L, who is the only one not old enough to use a regular plate or bowl without throwing it across the room. 

So, I started a hunt for new dishes! I LOVE DISHES. I look at place settings all the time, but usually hate how much they cost and also find it hard to pick one because I love so many different kinds, and oh yeah, D doesn't like a lot of the same ones I do. I spent awhile on Amazon yesterday, ogling over FiestaWare. I never can decide on just one color so I thought I'd get two different sets but then we might just be back where we started with the complaining and I want the red one, or orange is my faaaaavorite or why do they match and I don't?! As long as I've ignored / tried to fix this problem, it's not getting much better SO. Matching plates it is.

I went out and bought new dishes today. I went to Old Time Pottery with C and Miss L. (I live on the edge, taking a 2.5 year old and a 15 mo old into a store where virtually everything is breakable and it's SOCROWDEDICAN'TBREATHE. Not to worry, we didn't break anything.)

Who knew that it would take me nearly 45 minutes to pick out dishes!

I loved a soft gray set with slightly purple swirls, but D would not go for purple swirls I'm guessing.

I loved the lime green and teal blue set, but was it just a longing for spring and spring colors? Would I soon grow sick of them?

I loved the square plates, but worried about extra chipped edges and the crazy pattern.

I finally settled on a nice heavy set in a beautiful red, that reminds me of FiestaWare but with a cheaper price tag. (Important so that no one feels too bad if one gets dropped or broken.)

Brand: Today's Home
Price: $40 for 8 place settings