I Mean...Who Can Blame Him...Right?

confession...I let him do it a second time for the photo

Well...Actually....

Eli is getting a lot of blog time these days...I figure he is backlogged for all the blogs I wrote about Chloe while he was learning to roll, sit, crawl, walk...you know, important things that I am sure I documented somehow...but not as funny as the stuff 4 year olds come up with.

He gave me a string of bossy  funny comments this morning...all in about 10 minutes.

It started with "Mama, feed me my breakfast" and digressed to wanting me to "stand behind him while he went potty"...and "if one person removes a pull up, the other person has to throw it away."  To which I replied, I am sure you would like for that to be true...HOWEVER... (and, yes.  we are still wearing a pull up at night. stop judging.)

Breakfast was finally eaten and morning routines taken care of...so he plops himself on the couch for an episode of Jake and the Neverland Pirates. (for the record: LOVE this show! both of us.)

"MAMA! Turn on the the TV and get me some apple juice!"

I come around the corner and ask, "Is there anything else I can do for you, Prince Eli?"

"Nooo....well....actually...yes. Get me apple juice and toast."

That's what I like to call totally. wasted. sarcasm.

One Frazzled Mama

I am going to vent a little bit here today...
We have had a couple of rough napping days for the E-man and I am frazzled.

How, Little Man, can you go from "Mommy, you're the shiniest." to "Mom - AAAA. I AMN'T going to sleep with out my Elmo slippers on!!!" in 10 seconds flat?

(okay, I should have let you wear the slippers...I am sorry.  I just knew in t-minus 2 minutes your feet would be sweating buckets with all your 'cushions' (covers) on. But I could have let you learn that lesson for yourself. My bad.)

Also, why is it so stinkin' important that the Nutella be ON TOP of the jelly...and who ever invented that combo for you...and why oh why is it not okay to just flip that little sandwich over...SEE??  See that?? Now the Nutella is just where it is supposed to be.  Magic.

And how do you decide which cars to sleep with on any given day?  And why do you all of a sudden become thirsty after we have said 'sleep tight' even though I offered you something to drink just a few minutes prior??

You are taking your persnickety-ness to a whole new level...and to be honest, your Mama is a bit forlorn in how far to let this thing go...

I get it.
You don't eat meat.  We will not kick that dead horse one more time.  I surrender.
You like your crusts cut off. Oh, fine.
You like your blanket straight down your side for sleeping. But also have specific 'holes' in said blanket that your fingers must stay in. Good enough.
You like your water from the fridge. Nice and cold. Got it.
You like your butter melted. Check.

But this Nutella thing?  It's kinda pushing me over the edge, honestly.

Maybe this is a stage.  Maybe you are needing a sense of control...
But the thing is...I am still in charge.  I know it is hard to be reminded...but it's the truth.
I love you.  I want you to know what you like and don't like.
Those are good qualities.  We just need to figure out how to function better when things are not just exactly the way you want them...or figure out a way to make it more the way you want it without a completely rude meltdown. Mkay?

We will work on this together.  Be forewarned...it probably won't be much fun.

For either of us.

Grandparent's Tea

Chloe's class hosted a Grandparent's Tea this week.

We were so grateful to have Granna and Zeke available for the festivities.

(Boppi and GrandBob, you were and always are missed)

I am cherishing that my parents live close enough to make a day trip to see us. 

They are very dedicated to their grandkids. 

Zeke even took a vacation day!

 LOOK AT THEM!!

Hard to believe they are Grandparents!!

Good genes right there, folks!

 Chloe was so proud to have them there.

She had a chance to appropriately introduce them to her class...

which she did almost silently.

(lots of people she didn't know in the room)

Ms. Law had been preparing the kids on how to be good hosts and hostesses.

Chloe got their cookies and juice for them and sat at the table and made conversation.

Bless. My. Heart.

Love you, Mom and Dad!

Thank you for loving all of us so well...

The legacy you are leaving for our family is nothing short of a GIFT.

Just Me and E

Eli and I were home alone all day yesterday.
I was determined to have fun with him...you know, stay off the computer, not do housework...
So this is what we did for a lot longer than you might think possible:

 I am sure other Mom's do this all the time, we should do it more often.

I am always surprised by how much fun it is.

And how challenging it can be for a 4 year old.

The stacking has to be some skill he should be working on at this age, right?

This one was almost as tall as him!

This one was as tall as me!!

Seriously wobbly...

We were holding our breath as to not blow it over.

Eli thought it would be funny to have a picture of him picking his nose.

It's funny...really. funny. Right?

Side note:  If you come over to our house for a party and we drink out of red cups...

these aren't the ones you will be drinking out of.

nope.

not a chance.

except for... I am my grandmother's granddaughter and also my mother's daughter...

sooooo...they totally will be the same cups...

but I will have run them through the dishwasher...

promise.

Music Monday (on Tuesday)

Oops. It's Tuesday.
We sang this song at church on Sunday.
All the lyrics are simple and profound.
Great reminders of Who He is.

The words that most brought tears to my eyes and still does is "You are here."
Let's run into His arms...running anywhere else just doesn't make sense.
He is here.  Even when 'here' seems scary and uncertain...He is here.

Oh I'm running to Your arms...

(Forever Reign, Hillsong)
I prefer the live version on Youtube, but this one has the lyrics.

House Camping

This has been in our living room all week.

It started out in the yard on Friday.

We all slept in it.

(I did call dibs on the first kid that asked to sleep inside...there were no takers.)

Saturday morning we woke with the sun

and Kev and I gave eachother the -

'we are waaaay too old for this sleeping on the ground stuff' - look.

But were ultimately pleased that we all did, in fact, spend the night in the tent.

With the threat of rain on Sunday morning, we moved the tent into the living room...

because that's what normal people do, right?

Well, as I said, it was there all week...the kids slept in it a few nights,

but played in it every. day.

We are huge supporters of the tent inside.

And camping at home actually...

toilets, showers, real beds all at your disposal if they are needed.

But you can make camping memories at the same time.

Win. Win.

This Is Not a Paid Advertisement

I started my morning off with this ensemble.

Isn't that mug perfection??  We won it in a $1 raffle last weekend and it is my new favorite mug.  It holds a very large quantity of coffee and keeps it warm for quite a long time.

As mentioned in the title, this is not a paid for advertisement (please read that word with an English accent...because that's how I am saying it in my head...'adver-tis-ment'.- emphasis on the 'ver' - thank you.)

This combo is super yum.
Thankful to be seeing all our coffee creamer companies making creamer that is made from real things like milk and cream.  Brilliant!  Why was I not concerned previously when I could leave my 'non-dairy creamer' out on the counter for extended periods of time and not have it spoil??  Am I alone here??

Sigh of relief.

So this week I tried Natural Bliss,Vanilla.  It is yummy.
I like to sprinkle a little lot of cinnamon over the creamer before I pour my coffee.
I'm tellin' ya...poor man's Cinnamon Dolce Latte at the Bucks! :)

Try This, You Will Like It

It was 60 something degrees yesterday and raining.  With our dry 100 (may be exaggerating a bit) day heat wave of 90 + temperatures it felt like Fall might actually make an appearance.

And I know no better way to ring in Fall than SOUP.

Thankfully in my pantry raid I found almost all the ingredients I needed for this, my second favorite soup of all time, Chicken Tortilla Soup. (second only to Tortellini Soup)

This thing just can't be screwed up.
And it is so. stinkin. good.

I put chicken breasts in the crock pot, smother it with salsa and go.  A few hours later, I shred it with 2 forks.
I substitute tortilla chips for the homemade strips because, well, it's just easier and I don't feel like I am missing anything.
I add an insane amount of cilantro.  Because it is AWESOME and can. not. be overdone in my opinion.
And the lime.  Sister, do. not. skimp on the lime.  Just sayin.

I would love to give creds to the person that gave me this recipe, but I have no idea who they are.  I found it online a few years ago and never looked back.

So, if I stole this recipe from you, so sorry.  Leave me a (nice) comment and I will give credit where credit is due.) :)

Side note...at dinner as we ate this soup for the second night in a row, I calculated how many times I have eaten Mexican food in the past week... 7. 7 times. That's once a day folks. Even I am surprised.  But happy.

Finally, the recipe: ( you are welcome.)

Favorite Chicken Tortilla Soup
8- small corn tortillas
2 tbs olive oil

24 oz low sodium Chicken Broth
1 cup water
1-28oz can diced tomatoes
1-4oz can diced green chiles
1-15 oz can black beans
1-15oz can white corn
2 or 3 chicken breasts diced into 1/2 in cubes
2-Bay leaves
1 tbs diced garlic
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp dried crushed red pepper (Or to taste. We like a little heat so I add more than this)
Pinch chili powder (again, I probably add more)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 medium lime
Salt and pepper to taste
Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese for garnish


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. on a cookie sheet brush tortillas on one side with oil. (Instead I use 100% olive oil spray to get the job done faster) Cut into thin 1/4 in or less strips. Bake about 15 minutes until they are golden brown.

In saucepan combine broth, water, tomatoes and all juices, beans, corn, bay leaf,garlic, cumin, red pepper and chili powder: bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil reduce the heat to med-low, add chicken and simmer until cooked through approx. 7-10 mins. Add cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.


Ladle into bowls. Garnish with cheese and top with tortilla strips. Serves 6.

Variations:
You can also add 2 cups white or wild rice to this dish to make it even more filling.

Any other veggies your family likes would be fair game for this soup. Bell peppers are good but they would take an extra step of sauteing them first and then adding them to the soup.

Not everyone will have one of these so I omitted it from the recipe but when I make this soup I tend to precook the chicken in a pressure cooker with salsa and some garlic for a little extra flavor though in time crunch it's easier to cook it in the soup and still just as yummy. When I use the pressure cooker I shred the chicken instead of cube it since it's hot and just add it right to the soup.

Flying

The other day, Eli asked me to help him tie his blanket around his neck as a cape for the first time. 
He swooped through the house and soon found himself atop the arm of the couch.

I saw him do it and had just enough time to think to myself...

"I probably should not let him do this."

Of course, he then did this.

My first thought was,

"that is AWESOME!" and then again, "I probably shouldn't let him do this."

But I did.  And he did...over and over and over and over.

Finally, out of breath, he came to me and asked,

"Mama. I am thinking about finding something higher than the couch to practice my flying."

To which I replied, "Ummmmm.  I think you should stick with the couch."

He wandered around a bit and then did this.

 Threw himself on the couch, looking all dejected and let out a big sigh.

"I gived up."

Me: "You gived up?? You gived up what?"

Another heavy sigh.

"Flying. I guess I'm not meant to be a flyer."

swoon.

he slays me.