Garden of the Gods in Manitou/Colorado Springs

Originally posted 9/19/10 when we were on vacation in Colorado. I could use a vacation right now, so I'm reposting this!

Yeah, yeah, we went to church this Sunday before we went to what I like to call my Outdoor Church: Garden of the Gods. In fact, we went to TWO churches this morning, devout Catholics that we are. Actually, we made a mistake and went to an Episcopalian church first. We made it halfway through before Aron realized we weren't at a Full-On Catholic Mass (I was in the hallway with active girls and Sam, so I was clueless about the situation, which is of course a first). So he schlepped our butts to another church, where I spent the whole Mass in the nursery with my 2 youngest bonding with the nursery workers and playing with my kids.  I think God was cool with that.  I don't, however, think God's cool with traipsing all the little kids to another room to do a Sunday Schoolish youth program and have some fun instead of sitting through church ... and then telling them, "Oops, we have nobody to teach this. Go back and sit with your parents."

Anyway ... our Garden of the Gods experience was amazing as always. Got some walking in, some playing in the red dirt in, lots of time to think about the awesomeness of the universe (no, I was not smoking weed).

And it's always fun to put your kids in rock cracks and take pictures of them.

Call Me Crazy ...

... but I went down to the basement the other day (by the way, is there any other way but to go DOWN to a basement? isn't that a redundant statement I made?), and ...

I heard running wild banshees going crazy on the level above me.

They were running and laughing and having fun.

Some people would yell STOP IT. Believe me, I have my days when I can't handle the noise. I am no saint, friends.

But usually it just makes me smile. It's like music to my ears. It's all I ever wanted to hear when I was stuck in a cubicle working in my late 20s and dreaming of having kids and being at home with them all the time.

Lazy Crockpot Cinnamon Sugar Apples

This is so easy, makes a nice dessert and makes your house smell amazing!

Just cut up any type of apple you like into chunks and toss them into a slow cooker.

Then toss a stick of butter or margarine on top.

Sprinkle in maybe 1/2 cup of sugar.

Sprinkle in maybe 2 T of cinnamon.

Cook on low 4 hours.

Make this recipe your own ... more or less sugar, make it light, whatever.

Enjoy!

P.S. No, I don't peel the apples because I am lazy. AND my friend Jill gave me the idea to put in some flour so it isn't as runny, and also add oats to the top for a Cobbler Effect!

Messy Monday: Snowed in the Midwest

So we have another big snowstorm in progress here in Kansas City. I got some awesome Popeye arms shoveling snow last week, let me tell you! So now things are getting cancelled left and right. Scouts, gymnastics, religious education, you name it. We are gonna be snowed in. Yeah, we have food and all that stuff. My main concern is keeping everyone OCCUPIED, if you know what I mean.

The kids have plenty of toys and schoolwork and movies to watch and games and all that. So when they are happy and playing, I like to sneak off and ...

ORGANIZE.

Above is a picture that is very exciting to me. It's a box (one of like 3 FULL boxes) of kid artwork, postcards, letters and so on. I got them all organized recently into separate Banker's boxes for each kid. I have a sad reason for having done this. Since my friend's son died, I thought about how I would like easy access to any one of my kids' writings and artwork ... just in case.

Oh, and it'll be nice when they move out and you can say, "Here ya go. Here's your box of stuff. Enjoy it until it gets ruined in your future basement flood. Don't worry about me; I have everything scanned."

I also got stuff out of these boxes because it seems some mice or other creatures got into the boxes and ate some of the stuff with glue on it. And let me give you some advice, parents: don't save the crap made out of macaroni or rice. Mice love that crap and they don't realize they are also eating other important things you have saved.

How to Handle Your Parents as Grandparents

I want to share with you an email I recently sent to my parents. I'm  hoping it helps you learn how to handle your own parents in their grandparent role. Sometimes they just need a little smackin' around, ya know. They like to attend stuff or at least know about it, and the kids love to see them, so I like to keep everyone in the know.

"Okay, troops, we have a lot of grandchildren ground to cover. You might know some of this already but I'm reiterating (look it up). ;-)

1. I am working on bidding some of the LEGO architecture sets for Michael's birthday now since there is no rush. Since it's not Xmas, they are MUCH cheaper. If you would like me to find you a set for him, please let me know. You can slip me the money under the table later. Stuff like this http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160974095865. I know you like it when I do your shopping for you. No extra fee.

2. Joel's Scout Court of Honor is [this part not included for you readers in case there are pervos amongst us]. There is some blah-dee-blah then they give out awards and badges. Joel gets his First Class and some badges. After there will be snacks and drinks.

3. FYI ... Joel gets to go to Exchange City on [no pervos allowed]! Remember that place? I got to go when I was in school so I'm glad he gets to. I have to get him to several prep classes for it, but it should be fun!

4. Friday night, April 5 at 6:30 is Joel/Callie's play in Spring Hill. A bake sale will be held for donations. It's Alice in Wonderland, then you can leave before Romeo/Juliet starts if you need to! [I left this date in because I'm in charge of play publicity ... pervos will be bounced; I have pervdar (like gaydar), so I will know you are there].

5. [Not telling you this] is Michael's bday party at 1.

6. [It's a secret] is Callie's first communion at 11; party afterward around 12:30 ... (Callie's new friend just happened to have a nice, white, long dress in her play closet that we are borrowing for a first communion dress, saving us like $50 at least! i'll need to get her a headpiece still, i'm thinking.)

I love you guys! We have a busy spring coming up, so take your vitamins, do your stretches and attend your Grandparent Boot Camp.

The Mom