I'm a little bit of a braggart too.

Just a quick tidbit about Lilly. She is loving, loving school and has recently learned her "ABC's" (only the song) and sings it on a very regular basis.

Our 22 year old nephew came for a visit this afternoon and Lilly decided to show off. She sang her ABC's for him, in a very cute way, and instead of singing "L-M-N-O-P" she said "Elmo-Pee". I loved it! She is so silly when she sings it, and tries so hard to sing it correctly. What makes this so funny, at least to me, is that when my nephew used to sing his "ABC's", he used to say "And the men all pee" during the same point in the song!

Anyone else have a funny tidbit about their kids or nieces or nephews and the "ABC's"?

I'm a Mom spending more time making Christmas "treats" for her kids.

This Christmas season I've been trying to spend more time making treats for and with my kids. Yes, I've taken shortcuts on a few of the treats, but the kids have loved them just the same. I don't know if I will make my Spritz cookies this year, but I am going to try to make a few new things to make up for it. In fact, I made something I've never made for my kids before. Caramel Corn. My Mom used to make it for us, or for neighbors for Christmas gifts. It would take her a long time to make it the way her Mom used to. She'd pop the popcorn, make the caramel, mix the two together and bake. She'd bake for like 15 minutes, then stir the caramel corn. Then she'd bake for 15 more minutes and stir again. That would go on for an hour or so, and in between breaking up fights between us kids, and trying to do other things around the house, it would take a lot of time. Time I just don't have right now. Time that would take away from the time I have been trying to spend on my son.

Luckily I have a great friend that has an easy peasy way to make caramel corn (Thanks Holly!). She sent me the recipe, and it has taken me days to get the chance to make it. So I'm sharing the recipe with you, so you can make some easy yummy caramel corn for your kids, or maybe for just for you!

Microwave Caramel Popcorn
1/2 C. Margarine
1 C. Brown Sugar
1/3 C. light Karo Syrup
Dash of Salt
1 C. un-popped Popcorn
1 tsp. baking soda

Air Pop popcorn into a large bowl. Cut margarine into 1 qt. microwave proof dish. Add brown sugar, Karo syrup, and salt. Cook on high for 5 minutes. Mixture will boil. Remove from microwave and stir in soda. The mixture will expand when the soda is added, so make sure you don't go for a tiny bowl. Pour mixture over plain air-popped popcorn. Stir until popcorn is evenly coated. I also like to add cashews and drizzle with melted chocolate if I'm feeling fancy. :)

It was so easy to make this, and I was even really tempted to add a cup or so of M&M's to the popcorn for a little bit of a chocolate kick!

Can't wait for my kids to try some!

I'm a Mom that is not alone in her feeling of "drowning".

A fellow blogger wrote a post today about the stress she feels as she looks at or thinks about her "To Do List" for Christmas. I could have written the post myself. (Read Mommy Mo' s post "Stiff" here)

Every time I check something off my list of things to do before Christmas, I usually add something else. So every time I look at or think about my list, I feel like I am drowning in "to do's". AND these last few days have been so cold, I haven't wanted to leave the house to do errands, or purchase gifts, so I was behind (I have since caught up!) A few drinks, or shots of vanilla Vodka (yum) have helped me de-stress and re prioritize. I've taken things off my list (things that are "extra") and I've changed the way I've wanted to do things (for instance, instead of baking homemade sugar cookies, and using cookie cutters to make shapes, I used a mix and just baked round ones). The kids enjoyed decorating them just as much as if I had stressed out over baking them. And I enjoyed letting them.

So I guess I challenge you to take some things off of your lists, change things around a little, have a glass of wine (or a shot of vodka) and enjoy this Christmas season the best you can! Oh, and Thanks Mommy Mo' for the offer to share a couple bottles of wine, I wish I lived closer to you!

I'm a Mom vowing to slow down this Christmas season.

Some people like the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. I don't. I don't handle stress very well. I like things to work smoothly, and I have a hard time "going with the flow". I'm better than I used to be, but I'm not as laid back as other people I know. I probably never will be.

This Christmas season I've vowed to get my shopping done early so I am able to spend more time enjoying the season with my kids. I want to help them write letters to Santa. I want to make and decorate sugar cookies. I want them to help make the treats for our neighbors. We just received a pre cut out Gingerbread house to decorate. I'd like to read a Christmas story or book every evening, to spend some quiet time as a family.

So far the story/book idea hasn't worked, but that isn't my fault (the kids have been a bit wound up at night and they have been sent to bed early to get more sleep) and I haven't even baked pull apart cookies. But it will happen, we WILL slow down and spend more time as a family enjoying the quiet as the snow falls, or taking a drive to see the Christmas lights. That is my goal for this Christmas.

I'm a Mom with a sense of satisfaction.

I made it! I made it through NaBloPoMo 2009. I didn't know if I could do it, but it was nice to set a goal (however small) and accomplish it.
My posts may not have been interesting, and I did pull a few of them out of my ass (or out of thin air if you prefer) but it was fun! I'll have to remember NaBloPoMo for 2010, and see if I can do it again! Hopefully I'll be more fun next year!

I'm a blogger with title writers block.

I'm having a hard time coming up with good titles for my posts. Just when I think I've come up with some thing clever, the same title pops up in my previously used titles cache, and I have to start all over again with the thinking. Oy! The Thinking! (Sometimes I just can't think and most of the time it is because there is no quiet spot in the house to think)

I guess the key word in that first sentence up there is "good". I've been able to come up with titles but not all of them constitute a "good" subject for a blog post. Here are some examples:

I'm not just a Mom...

"I'm the worst Mom in the world that ruins all my kids fun"
No one wants to hear about my son's fits that end up with him in a time-out (or 50) and him blaming me for "ruining all his fun" or "ruining his life" or "being the worst Mom" ever. Because at the end of it all, I have my moments where I AM the worst Mom ever, but I don't really want to ruin the illusion that I am the "perfect" Mom.

"I'm a housewife that would rather sit on her ass than clean the kitchen"
No one really needs to know how bad my kitchen really is. They just want to see it clean when they come over, with swept and mopped floors, and a clear counter. Maybe the dishes done too (although, that IS the one thing that is pretty caught up on in our house, but that is because my husband does the dishes. I don't).

"I'm a woman that has no fitness goals despite owning a Wii Fit, the games My Fitness Coach and Gold's Gym Cardio Workout, and a treadmill."
See the above title.

"I'm also a psycho because some days I just can't handle it all and I run away from my kids."
OK, so I make sure someone is taking care of them when I DO run away, but still. Does anyone really care that yesterday I got sick of my son's throwing a fit and my daughter's whining, so I got in the car and ran to the liquor store? Well, OK if you do, I'll write about it.


Any of those titles make a good blog post? I didn't think so. I guess I'll try to find a quiet spot in the house to start thinking of some better ones.

I'm a Ute fan too!

Big college rivalry game being played today! Utah and BYU have played 90 games against each other, today being the 91st. Most of the time they are equally matched teams, and some years are a bit mismatched, but it is usually a pretty good football game.

As always, my loyalties lie with my Alma mater the University of Utah. Even though I am not a huge football watcher, I still root for the Utes during the rivalry game.





So GO UTES!!!