Are You Serious?!

Yesterday afternoon, my doorbell rang. I went to answer and saw 2 cute girls outside. They were about 13 or so. One was holding a box of candy bars and said "Would you like to buy a candy bar? I'm selling them to help pay for my Washington DC trip in the Spring."  The girls were just too cute.
"Just a minute, I'll be right back" I said.
I went into the house and grabbed a dollar. Went back to the door and asked the girl "Which candy bar is your favorite?"
She looked and debated and then said "Snickers. Snickers are definitely my favorite."
I handed her the dollar and said "Now, here's the deal. Here's my dollar but you can have the Snickers bar."
Her mouth dropped open and she said "Really?? Are you serious??"
"Yep" I replied (apparently seeing her delight made me especially verbose, not!)
"Lucky!" her friend said.
The first girl was beaming. "Thanks! Thanks! Just thanks!!"
"Enjoy your candy and good luck with your sales" I told her.
The girls literally skipped down the sidewalk.
Now, as much fun as it was to surprise this girl, I really did this for myself. You see, S was just selling candy bars for Boy Scouts. He sold about half a box and the rest just sat here. Calling my name, smelling delicious. Saying "Annnnnneeee, come eat me. You know you want to. You can do it. Besides, you'll be supporting the Boy Scouts, it's a good cause. You deserve it. You had a good day (or bad day depending). I am sooo luscious, full of chocolatey goodness." It was really tough to resist.
So when the Boy Scout leader asked if anyone had any candy left because people at her office were begging for some, I gladly (well, mostly gladly) handed the half box over to her.
So, when the girls came to the door, I knew I could not have another temptation sitting in this house. I knew I would be buying a bar but really did not want it in the house.
A small victory, but I'll take it.
Best decision I've made this week.

Chicken Gnocci Soup

I highly recommend this Chicken and Gnocci Soup. You can find the recipe here: http://foodfolksandfun.blogspot.com/2011/01/chicken-and-gnocchi-soup-olive-garden.html
It is one of the tastiest soups I've made in a while. Everyone here loved it and S even asked me to make it more often!
For Weight Watchers plus points, it comes out to 6 pts plus per serving. But, I did use 2 cups fat free half and half and 2 cups skim milk instead of 1 quart half & half. Couldn't tell the difference in taste and I loved the lower calories.

MLK: Civil Rights Leader...Really??

C came home singing a song.
"Dr. King, Dr. King, he was a civilized reader....."
She went on to finish the song.
Not sure I heard her correctly, I asked "Can you sing the first line again?"
C said "Sure.  Dr. King, Dr. King, he was a civilized reader"
"umm, C, I think you mean Martin Luther King Jr. was a Civil Rights Leader. That means.."
I was interrupted.
"I know, I know Mama, what that means. It means he helped people have freedom cause some silly people wouldn't let all kids go to school together. You know, I think those people must have something wrong in their head to not let all kids go to school together. God made us all different, who cares what color skin you have?" She skipped off, singing "Dr King, Dr King, he was a civilized reader."
She stopped and said to herself, "He must have really liked books".
"Dr. King, Dr King, he was a civilized reader....."

I swear, I cannot make this stuff up.

Two Thumbs Up

We were eating at our favorite Korean restaurant, and we got dessert for the kids. It is very unusual for us to have dessert when we go out, so this was a big occasion. The kids chose fried ice cream (doesn't sound very Korean to me either, but hey, that was one of the choices).

Two thumbs up. It was a hit!

Thank You Very Very Very Much!!!

This was my latest project when the children needed thank you cards. Simple but cute!

My Boy

We had a day the other day. A big fat, we can't agree on anything, you always make me do stuff I don't like, why do I need to listen to you day. Me and S. It was a tough one.
All day, it was a struggle. We butted heads, we said stuff, we went to our respective rooms, we yelled, we retreated. It was hard. No one told me that there would be days like this when I became a Mom. And, oh, it hurt. It hurt like nothing else could hurt me. My heart was aching even amidst the accusations, the yelling and the tears, from both of us.
At the end of the day, after C was in bed and Hubster hadn't gotten home, we were in the kitchen together, alone, finally, for the first time that day, just talking. I looked at this boy, this boy that I used to sit and rock to sleep, who loved cuddling with me, this boy who used to call me 'the Mama' and jump right up into my arms and exactly at that moment, my heart just melted.

He's getting so big and growing so fast. I held out my arms and he stepped right into them. Wrapped his arms all around me, squeezed, and before I could say anything, he just simply said "I'm sorry Mama". The tears came faster than I could stop them. "Me too" I said, "I don't like it when we argue."  "Me neither," S said.

This boy, this up to my chin, size Men's 7 shoe-wearing, Harry Potter-obsessed, Lego maniac, is growing up. But, underneath it, he's still my boy. And he always will be, even when his heart belongs to that other special someone he'll meet someday.

It was a nice way to end the night.

Almost a Family Picture

This is the closest thing to a family photo (in clothes, not jammies) from Christmas that I have. A nice church member asked if he could take our photo after I took some of the kids:

I did play with it a little in Picnik (a photo editing site, great fun!). I just wish David would have been there, but he took off after dropping us off at church. Considering the three of us didn't even try to coordinate, we did pretty good!