A little hodge podge...

Today is a post hodgepodge of things I've been looking at for the house and food and birthday/gift giving advice.  Yay lets get started.

Sunday morning we skipped church.  I needed some time out away from the house and kids and chores.  You know that whole time to clear your mind and have some single pringle fun?  The hubs kept the crumb crushers at home while I ventured away.  Yes, I have a good hubby.

I found myself walking around the local Target.  With the changes for our home coming about I scoped out the home section of the store for some ideas.  We need some wall décor badly - but not until the walls are completed and paint is finished.  My eye was immediately drawn to the Friends Gather Here print {above}.  What do you think?

 

I'm guessing my eye was drawn to that print because I fell in love with this rug!  However, I am totally torn on this classic yet completely OVER DONE pattern.  See, Brownie doesn't much go for trends but rather classic looks that will stand the test of time.  I'm not real sure when this style came into play for décor but I am guessing it was a long, long, long, long time ago.  I get this idea because I have seen it in catalogs and magazines from the 50's and on websites that show it being used as far back as the 1920's. 

 

Ideas?

 

This rug also caught my attention.  The medallions are gorgeous and my favorite colors are used in this fabric:  brown, tan, blue, green.  I can see this being classic as well but in a bohemian kind of way. What do you think?

 

Do you know what this is?  Delicious is what it is.  Sunday morning we had to have a special treat for breakfast with our fresh watermelon and cantaloupe.  I reached for a Betty Crocker Lemon Bar mix and man....we really enjoyed it!!!  We didn't wait for it to totally cool down (thus the bad cutting) and it went great with a cup of coffee.  This is the first boxed bar mix I have used and I will for sure be purchasing some more.  Yummmy!

 

Over the weekend my husband had a craving for baked beans.  I'm not much of a connoisseur of the bean that is baked.  Last year we had some delicious baked beans made by a friend who can tear some Pinterest up for some recipes.  I didn't have her exact recipe so I did what a good woman (or man) does best.....I went to Yummly.com

I love Yummly.com it will make a non cook want to cook!  I have mentioned this site in previous posts and really hope you will also give them a try.  Think of it as Pinterest but only for recipes!

Here is a link to the baked bean perfection we had.  Next time I will reduce the brown sugar because I'm not a big fan of the sweet taste in the beans.

And yes....these are Texas style baby.  If you're going to eat you better eat BIG as any good Texan would tell you right?!

 

 

 

Lastly, over the weekend a treasured friend celebrated her birthday - number twenty-two I believe {wink}.  I had to get her something that I knew she would love and wouldn't go to waste.  I detest gifts that are wasteful. Really, when it is time to gift skip the trinkets and whatnots and get something that says I appreciate you so much I got you something you can actually utilize that I will not find in your next yard sale.  I believe this rule of thumb should go for all occasions.  I had a friend who was given a "Mermaid House" one year as a gift.  She's nearly 30 and she was given a mermaid house people.  No, she didn't love mermaids or have this dying fascination with Ariel.  She just was given one.  Since it was given to her she had it stored away and every time it was mentioned she would roll her eyes and sigh! Seriously for good friends and good family: you give chocolate, jewelry, or giftcards ok?  So what is truly better than a bag full of chocolate? Nada! Walgreens is my go to for good chocolate selections.  Nothing says you love your friends better than some Godiva.  I wrote a prescription for its best use in the Enjoy blank card.

xx

Brownie

Summer came back!

After 5912 days of rain I am happy to report summer came back.

In lieu of this occasion the chappies and I spent the afternoon by the in the pool.  It was so great to get back into the water instead of watching endless amounts of the stuff pour from the sky for eons...and eons....and eons.

Rain is not a bad thing. Unless you get it days and days and days in a row.  I seriously do not think our ground could hold it much longer before we had to pull out the ark we all built in January to get to and fro.

In honor of the return of my favorite season we also had some food that shouts THIS IS THE BEST SEASON IN THE WORLD. Think of it as a party for our summer taste buds.



1.  Ice Cream Sandwiches by the pool.  Ahhh the mini ice cream sandwich is a mere 90 calories and the taste is divine.  These were compliments of my mom's freezer however we purchase the same brand...the Food Lion store brand named My Essentials.  There are many off brand items I will not touch (ketchup, mayonnaise, pop tart esque foods) however the house brand of the ice cream sandwich at Food Lion cannot be beat.  It is just delicious.



2.  Hotdogs.  I think hotdogs should only be consumed during the summer.  I personally do not feel they are needed at any other time (ok maybe at a fall carnival).  The only time I really want a dog of the hot breed is when it is hot outside and a heavy meal isn't appropriate (or when I am pregnant and then you are allowed to want these foods with no guilt or gut ache).  As mentioned above I am picky about the brand of certain foods and hotdoggies are one.  I will only happily partake in Ballpark, Hebrew National, or Nathan's.  I will not dare touch a die shot weenie - you know the flaming red ones that look like....ok let me stop there bad analogy.  I also am very simple with my hotdog.  A bit of chili and a bit of relish and I am good to go.



3.  Potato Chips.  I do not eat them unless it is summer.  I grew up in a house that kept Sour Crèam and Onion beside the JFG mayonnaise and Holy Bible.  However, I'm not a big chip eater.  Unless it is summer that is.  I will only entertain two types:  Wavy Lays and Salt & Vinegar.  Everything else is worthy of the garbage for me.  And to add to my pickiness of the fried potato slice is this....I only want chips that are curled over.  They give me great joy and happiness and take me to the place where the butterflies are always fluttering about and the unicorns dance on diamond encrusted mountains.



4.  Cosmic Brownies.  I posted on Facebook that Cosmic Brownies would be the death of me and one response I got questioned if they are special brownies.  If by special you mean they make my tastebuds jump up and down and start toying with my addiction toy bin of the brain then yes Zach you are correct....they are very special.  Little Debbie is at it again with my heart perhaps it is the all to powerful artificial ingredient at work or the fantabulous stabilizers that allow this item to sit on the shelf.  I do not care....they are yummy!

So the crazy thing is all these foods are terrible for me.  They are listed on the food guide pyramid as junk and that's ok I'll take that junk for three months a year - proudly I'll have a little of this and a little of that and smile.  Then as I sweat even harder than ever before in the summer sun I'll smile because I know my reward for burning those stupid calories will be indulging in the curled over chip I spotted when I peek in the Wavy Lays bag that takes me to the place where dreams come true.

xx
Brownie

Monday Lesson: Slow it down & relax already.

I really hope July takes its sweet time in passing by.  Anyone else feeling this way?  I mean hello people we are at the half way point of yet another month in this the 2013th year.  Life really does speed up as you get older.  Sometimes I wonder if I should be picking my patio home at the coast that I hope to spend the last three weeks of my existence at.  Three weeks, Brownie?  Yeah, that's probably all I'll be able to afford.  Oh wait reality just slapped - make that the refrigerator box I will park on the sand for three days.

My regular readers know I'm a list maker.  I decided over the weekend to make some lists (because its what all the cool cats do ya know) ---

My list was called August Weekends.

After I created it I needed a very stiff, make you vomit as soon as it hits your uvula, drink.

My August weekends all have duties. 
1.  Plan for the loan trip to the bank. 
2.  Dismantle my cabinets/closets/nooks/crannies and price things for a massive yard sale.
3.  Go to the beach. (Cannot complain on that one). 
4.  Birthday weekend for the children. 
5.  Yard Sale Weekend.

The underlining message of August is prep for change.

August is going to hold not only packing up my entire kitchen/laundry room and selling the majority of its stuff (along with loads of baby stuff) but also the preparation of a new journey. 

Back to working outside the hacienda for one.  It may be a part time job or it may be a part part time job.  I'm not sharing details so don't ask.  That's a big step for a mom who has been home since June 2012.  It is welcomed and it is scary.  It is refreshing and it is also unnerving.  The wait to find out where my path will lead occupationally is a long and tedious one.  It leaves me questioning and worrying but I have quickly learned that is totally ridiculous.  My path is paved I just have to accept that and embrace whatever I find myself doing in 30-60 days.

A chappy headed off to big school is another new journey.  Yes we are going all public school kindergarten with all new (ok not all new but majority new) faces and places and schedules.  I worry over issues of socializing and silent lunches....all will be fine but I am a mommy and it is my place. 

The idea of close being distanced - and this takes on a very different meaning than what you may be thinking.  I'm not delving into this but sometimes new isn't just new for you but also for others.  Confucious say....(haha just seemed to fit there).



My hopes and dreams for my home coming to fruition finally!  But dealing with the mess before the beautiful.  Isn't that life though - anything worth it is messy at first.  It has dust and mud and muck and nails and screws and ripped out cabinetry.  Then at the end of the process it is amazing and beautiful and just what was needed.

As I made my list I realized something - it brought order and calm to my wandering mind.  It brought a schedule and a plan.  It also brought forth the words I keep on my brain:  Phillipians 4:4-9.  I can make all the lists in the world but at the end of the list making what I plan is not what will happen at all times.  I shouldn't worry.  I shouldn't get uptight.  I should sit back and enjoy these lightning fast days and roll with the punches.  What comes will come whether I plan for it or not.  At the end of the day I will be a better person if I hold fast to what I truly believe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

xx

Brownie

Friday Education: Perfection is Totally Bogus

Have you noticed the influx of blog posts, articles, facebook funnies, etc that are telling moms they are okay?  You know the ones that say, "its ok that the laundry is a week behind, mine is too..."  or the ones that say, "yes, I have also allowed my kids to eat a bowl of chocolate ice cream and said that's ok for dinner...." Eye roll.

Today's moms are acting like the past couple thousand years or so have been ran by moms who were June Cleavers in big skirts and aprons and Mary Kay smiles always ready with a cupcake in one hand and a needle and thread in the other. 

Get over it.

Hate to tell you this but even though they were making dinners and sewing clothes they were also hitting the Marlboros pretty hard along with daddy's best scotch.  All the while they were on the, not-so-portable phone bitching to their best friends about their husbands not doing anything and their kids bad attitudes.

There is no such thing as perfection and believe it or not no one has really subjected you to that word unless you are living some synthetically made lifestyle.  Even the most put together mom I know has the most disorganized toy room you have ever seen (and it isn't hidden from guests view) and feeds her kids Mickey D's chicken nuggets.

Nobody cares that your grocery cart isn't all organic.  If that was a big deal then don't you think you would have been eating it a long, long time ago?  Chances are you did because it came from someone's garden in their side yard in July.  But that is beside the point....The point is you did eat High Fructose Corn Syrup foods and you lived!  You did have Little Debbies at snack time and you made it this far!

Nobody cares if your house looks lived in.  It is a house.  Kids are only into those Fisher Price toys for a blippit of time - why hide them away?  Celebrate the fact you have little kids that like fire trucks, baby dolls, and Duplo blocks.  There will be a day when those toys will be replaced by $300 pieces of technology that you cannot afford but you buy for them anyway.

You don't need to fret over organizing to the hilt with small kids.  You'll drive yourself nutso because little kids don't care that mommy copied a cool Pinterest idea that cost her $75 and three hours to make cool chevron patterned storage for the toys.  To a two year old those are meant to be dumped and chunked.

Nobody cares if your kids missed a couple baths.  It happens.  Sometimes it has been too long of a day for you to scrub down your single pringle or your herd of calves.  It is ok to run a bath, toss them in, and watch them play for a few minutes.  They'll get the yuckies off, just watch.

Who really cares if that load of laundry has sat in the washer for three days and now smells of a strange lemon/old woman house fume?  You throw in a quarter cup of bleach, put your detergent in and get them clean again.  Maybe you wanted to show your kids a (dare I say) cool experiment about water and how it can potentially erode things. 

Speaking of laundry....it is expected for clean laundry to pile up just as unclean does.  How about getting everyone their own basket and tossing the clean in the basket and telling the crumb crunchers to put it away.  It never hurt to teach them young - though 10 months may be pushing it a bit.

Is there seriously someone who cares that you signed up to bring chocolate chip cookies and forgot so you ran to the store and threw some Keebler on the plate and said you made them?  Heck no.  You showed up with what you signed up for didn't you?  Most public schools don't even allow "homemade" goods anymore - score mama!!!

What do you mean you don't want to be the team mom?  Awesome then don't!  You do not have to do that.  No where will you find a piece of stone with commandments of your motherhood saying you will be the team mom for every single extracurricular activity and school grade your child is in.  But I bet the idiot that signs up to do it, trying to prove she's supermom or some crap, could use your help so maybe you could spot her one or two times and make a friend for life.

Kids have to have dogs?  No they don't.  Like you - MOM - needed an extra warm body to feed, water, bathe, carry to the doctor when its sick or needs shots, find a place to go when you are going away and eventually burry when the inevitable happens?  NO!  You wait til those crumb crushers are gaining their wings and you need to feel that someone still needs their mommy.  Dogs make great kids after kids have gone on ahead.  They also make good babies when the last thing you need to do is have another human puppy.

Who said you have to play Barbies?  I hate playing Barbies or doll house or whatever.  It grinds my nerves.  Does that make me a bad mama?  Heck no.  Because the minute my kid wants to kick the soccer ball around, play tag, catch lightning bugs, play in the sand box, play a board game, paint a picture, write a story, make something with play dough....I'm there.

Reading to your kids every night is a must.  A must but not a skip a night you'll burn in the fiery pizza oven.  Trust me, I bet your mom didn't read you a book every freakin' night til you were 12 and you did ok didn't you?

I love some parent focused magazines but good gracious they will screw up a good mama in a heart beat.  If you want to be the best parent in the world then maybe you need to do more focusing on what makes you plus the kids happy not the kids and then you.  Your kids adore you for who YOU are not who pop culture says you should be.  Those same kids will pattern their lives after the example you lead....keyword lead.  Do not blindside them by making them think they have to go by what society says is right all the time.

xx
Brownie

Thursday is all YOU!

Guess what?  I love ya'll!

Ok so Wednesday morning I had decided I would tackle the email and email everyone back.  I sit down after a work out and putting the baby down and guess what.....the google isn't googling and the gmail isn't gmailing and I'm screwed.

It turned out to be a server error and all was healed in an hour.  Many of you didn't get an email back and I apologize for that.  I did see a recurring theme in the emails I received so why not tackle those common questions in a blog post.  Sound ok to you?  Great.

1.  Do you write professionally?

Negative.  I don't get paid to write for anything or anybody (but if you want to change that for the right amount I will be more than happy to).  Some of you picked up on how the blog has transitioned into a different style lately and you were smart to think I had started writing with some $$ involved but no I have not.  To be honest I would adore writing for a living.

2.  How many kids do you have and how old are they?

I have two children that I squeezed out.  A little girl who is five going on fifteen and a little boy who is nearing eleven months.  No, I do not wish to have any more.  I am blessed with two healthy munchkins and am completely happy with the blessing of two.  I feel like financially we are not strained and we can accommodate them in the best ways we see fit.

My mom with my little man who has learned to give kisses

3.  Do you feel like you were a better parent when you just had one kid?

Would you believe that question not only showed up in two emails but also in a face to face conversation I had with a friend this week?  Totally do.  And there is a blog post coming up soon to tackle this!!!

4.  Have you quit cooking?  I've been looking for some recipes on your site but don't seem to see any new ones.

Must admit, I don't cook quite as frequently in the summer.  However, because you are looking I'll start doing a little better ;-)

5.  I haven't seen a favorite things post in a while.  Will you be doing more of those?

 Without further ado...shall we?


1.  Calico Jack Pineapple Coconut Rum

When the day is done and the kids are sleeping I sneak out to the porch and sip away on some of my favorite medicine.....this rum!  It is delicious and mixes well with whatever you have in the fridge.  A shot of orange juice, a bit of Simply Lemonade, and Calico Jack = A good boat drink for Brownie.


2.  The local school system's summer lunch program.

Thanks to a grant the local school system has been able to offer children ages 1-18 free breakfast and lunch for a certain period of time over the summer vacation.  This rocks out for me because I don't have to worry about lunch for the kiddos.  We simply take off to the neighboring school and have a yummy lunch.  Seriously, who doesn't like square pizza?

It also rocks that I get to see some other moms that just happen to teach there as well.


3.  Seattle's Best Coffee Level 2.

I'm a coffee fiend and quite frankly am never happy with the roasts I buy.  I happend to have a coupon for this coffee a few weeks back and decided I needed a lighter fair for the hotter season.  Can I tell you how incredibly happy I was after I made my first pot of this stuff?  It has the best flavor, is extremely light on the palate and even when its a muggy 89 degrees I can still down a cup.  Bravo guys!

4.  Mrs. Angell's Garden.

I was the first response when she Facebooked that she was going on vacation and had a garden that could be utilized while she was away.  Since I early birded....I got it!  This week we have been so thankfully harvesting fresh green beans, zuchinni, yellow squash, cucumbers and tomatoes.  Since we opted to not garden this year this experience and opportunity has made my heart happy and my belly even more elated.

5.  My little girl this summer.

My five year old is proving that five is a totally fun age.  She's so funny when she talks about what she wants to do and when I hear her playing.  When they are babies you judge their growth by milestones and things they do.  When they are out of baby stage you tend to judge their growth by how they handle situations and the things they enjoy.  Her favorite things:  lipstick, painting her nails, dancing in Ms Sunni's class, going to the park, and her friend (excuse me best friend) A.




Share your favorite things with me!  I don't wanna be the only one talkin'!!!!
Leave a comment, FB, Tweet, or email me


xx
Brownie

Attention Moms to Be & Newbies!

Tis normal in the heat of July to let the kidlets run around barefoot with tank tops and shorts on.  Boys tend to be shirtless and on occasion a little girl will do the same because it is just so dang hot. 

The baby can get away with swimming naked (after he's had his lunch and had his nasty diaper of the day) and then remaining naked or being diaper clad is perfectly normal.  The last person on earth you want over heating is a baby....and an old person.

It is on target that most days the baby goes down for his afternoon nap in his Pamper, Luvs, or Huggie (whatever was on sale at the store and I had a coupon for is the brand he sports).  He goes down with some tears and then sixty seconds later he's snoozing away.  He normally wakes up to babbling and cooing and throwing his elephants around this crib.

However, the other day there was a slight change in those wake up plans.

All new mamas need to know that what I am about to write - though appalling - is normal and to be expected at least one to two times in babyhood.  It is just part of the whole we're pretty much just intelligent animals idea.  However, intelligence is questioned when this topic is brought up.  It does not require a call to poison control or a drive to the children's hospital or for the mother to lock herself in a closet and wonder where she went wrong.

I was in the kitchen freezing some beans.  In case you aren't familiar with freezing beans it is a timed process.  Three minutes to blanch, seven minutes in ice water, and then the removal of excess water and then the bagging process.  I heard my little baboo upstairs chatting.  I decided to buy some time and let him chat away while I worked on the beans.

When the seven minute ice bath time rolled around I decided that was the perfect time to snatch up said baby and bring him down to watch some Sprout with the princess.

Up the stairs....
Into the nursery....
Stopping at the door.....
Oh my God!
DISGUSTING!

I'm shouting at the older kid to bring up some towels (some wet some dry).  She's blond so naturally I had to give her explicit directions.  They didn't work so I asked her to come up and I'd come down.

Up the stairs she comes....
Into the nursery....
Stopping at my side....
MOMMY HE'S EATING POO!

I'm trying to remove all fecal matter from around him so I can run down stairs and cut on the tub.  "I know babe just talk to him while I run this down and get the water turned on...."

Thirty seconds later:

MOMMY HE'S STILL EATING POO!

Where has this varmint hoarded this crap?  I just got it all up....he's got some mad skills inherited from his great grandma obviously.

The water is on, I run up with towels and scoop up the human manure maker (and eater) and take him to the water.....he knows something isn't quite right.  He sits in the tub and looks at me with the most precious, dare I say it, shit eating grin.  He just sits still as I wash his little body and face.  It is almost like he has one up on me and I'm the one who was doing something gross.  You know that look of - "Yeah mom I got ya" - oh no is he a con man in training?

"Mommy is going to clean your mouth with Listerine!  You are so nasty."

He giggles.

Cheerios may not be poo but they get my and my mom's approval for ok things to eat!
 

I had thought that if he had on more than a diaper this wouldn't have happened.  Let's be frank though if you want something you're going to get it and a onesie would not have stopped him from digging into the chocolate booty bank.

All animals eat their feces if given the chance.  Isn't that delightful?  Chickens love some poop, dogs eat other dogs waste, pigs will even go to town on some poop if they so desire.  Humans are no different.  Though if you are over a 18 months old and doing it you may need an immediate psychological evaluation.

So to all the new mamas out there about to embark on motherhood - yes, your baby is cute and sweet and amazing but your day is coming to experience the grossest of the gross.  Vomit on your chest, poop in your angel's mouth, booger eating fests, butt scratching and then reaching in the chip bag....yes it is all coming to you and it will hit at an amazingly fast speed.

xx
Brownie

Summer time

Nothing screams summer as much as sitting under a cool tree while the hot sun blazes away from the canopy if green. Sitting in a yard chair with two bowls at your feet --- one full of fresh picked green beans and another awaiting the broken green goodness that it will carry to the water. Beside you the little girl you once were - making comical comments about the current undertaking of breaking the beans she helped pick. Then there is the realization that last summer that was you and this summer you are the teacher....the elder.....the wise one.

Picking and breaking green beans has became a time of reminiscing and teaching. I tell my little girl of summer stories spent in my mammaw's garden, sitting under her weeping tree, trips to Walmart for nothing but icees, and tomato sandwiches.

Summer's heat just seems to offer us the coolest time to share the little bits of yesterday.