1. Sometimes it is SO obvious that we are a girly household.
This week as Mia and Lauren were wrestling around and tickling each other, I stopped them to explain something to Mia.
"See how you're playing right now?" I began. "This is called rough-housing, and it's OK for now. But if you start getting too rowdy, you'll have to stop. If Lauren starts screaming, then you're hurting her, and you need to stop. And when I say it's time to calm down, you need to listen and do as I say. Understand?"
"Sure I do, mom." Mia went right back to the giggling, squirming, rolling mess and rough-housed with Lauren like I'd never seen her do before. It made me nervous. Now, all you moms of boys would probably not have even registered this activity on your rowdy-radar. But my lacy, sweet, pink girls were making me nervous. So I pulled the plug.
"OK, Mia, that's enough," I said. "It's time to calm down."
Thankfully, Mia did as I asked. Then she said "We were having fun ruffling, huh mama?"
Ruffling. It's like rough-housing, only prettier.
2. Despite our feminine tendencies, we can still attempt to pull off a healthy slaughter.
Sleeping Beauty: "Oh! What a lovely little bakery you have!
Is this the dining room?
Belle: *sigh* No, CUPCAKE. You're giving blondes a bad name.
These princesses were about to be baked alive, and had I not been too attached to my muffin pan, I might've liked to watch it happen. Also, baked plastic fumes couldn't have been good for our lungs. Rest assured, no princesses were harmed in the making of this photo. Beyond psychologically, I mean.
3. I haven't pulled up any more carrots yet. I couldn't bear to think of the rejection they'd have to withstand if my husband started laughing at their tininess. But I have gotten two red peppers.
If it takes approximately 2 months for a pepper to mature (I'm really shooting in the dark here - anybody know if that's accurate?), that doesn't give these babies much leeway if we have some cold weather in late September. However, if they do mature before the cold sets in, I imagine we'll be eating stuffed peppers for dinner in September. I don't have any other recipes that require red bells, and other than snacking on them raw, I'm out of ideas. What do you make with Red Bell Peppers?
4. One night this week, Justin and I were snuggling on the couch watching a little PBS, enjoying each other's company. He had his arm draped over my legs, which were draped over his lap, while he absently rubbed my calf. It was sweet.
Then, without even realizing what he was doing (I hope), he quickly raked his forearm over my shin. He was SCRATCHING himself on my unshaven legs. Truly romantic.
5. My 27th birthday is on Monday and we're celebrating this weekend. (The big family carnival was a celebration too - but Justin likes to do his own thing for me, too. Perhaps to make up for using me as a scratching post...) One of my very favorite things to do on any sort of date is to go see a movie. Not highly original, I know, but it's my birthday and I'll bore if I want to.
Besides, I already got my gift. Justin and his mom went in together and got me a netbook. Yay! Now I can use a computer without worrying that Justin needs our PC for more important reasons than blogging. Like, studying for his graduate classes that begin in a few weeks. See? The netbook is totally necessary.
Slightly off topic lame joke: If our laptop is a PC - personal computer - the netbook is like my personal pan computer. Like a personal pan pizza? Because it's so tiny? Get it?
What is it they say about having to explain a joke? Oh yes - it's a bad joke.
6. Mmmm...Pizza.
7. I love my life. I love playing in the backyard after dinner, waiting for the sun to go down, and watching these two lovelies giggling together.
It bears repeating: I love my life.
Pop on over to Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes - and have a blessedly beautiful weekend!
I love the cup cakes and the almost baked princesses.
ReplyDeleteThat is the sort of thing I could easily see happening here.
God Bless
Oh my gosh I was laughing so hard about your unshaved legs. Since baby I barely every shave my legs. When my husband gets close I always warn him that he might get hurt. :)
ReplyDeleteOur peppers are so huge and yet have not changed color yet! I hope someone else out there knows how long that's supposed to take. Because I'm starting to think my husband got had and we planted green peppers instead of red and yellow!
ReplyDeleteWe mostly just eats ours in salad and he takes them to eat raw with lunch. But if we have extra, I'll throw them in about anything - any time there are chopped onions, I figure adding some chopped pepper can't hurt!
I use red bell peppers in stir-fries, mostly. They add a lovely splash of colour. We also use them in salads.
ReplyDeleteThe unshaven leg story is too funny! I only shave mine twice a week or so and my husband is always pointing out the obvious to me like I don't notice..."Your legs are whiskery".
When I don't shave my legs and my 3-year-old happens to rub against them, he looks at me with horror and asks, "Mama- What happened?!" Like I committed an unpardonable crime or something.
ReplyDeleteRuffling? That is some awesomeness right there.
And pizza... yes, I'll take a slice :D
Fajitas!! Of course living almost in Mexico as I do, I would think of mexican food first for bell peppers...
ReplyDeleteAnd I love my life too. We're pretty lucky, huh?
#3... Your carrot story last week was funny. If your husband thought *those* were puny carrots, he should have seen the ones my husband grew. He got a whole batch of carrots that were about half as long as my thumb. They were the cutest, most adorable carrots you've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteAs for red peppers, my husband likes to put them into Potatoes O'Brien.
Love the Cupcake princesses!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter and husband love "ruffling" -- only they call it "Smush." He pretends to smother her with his belly (yelling "Smuuuuuuuuuuush!") while she screams with laughter.
Clearly you and your husband are in tune -- you have stubble just when he needs it. At least you don't let it go so long it stops being scratchy. . .
ReplyDeleteI love the wrestling story, and can picture the rising anxiety level as the play gets more and more wild. When my second was an infant I was playing with her in front of my oldest, then nearly 3. I was pretending to chew on her little baby belly while she laughed. The older sister leaned down and bit her on the stomach, was SHOCKED when she discovered I hadn't actually been biting the baby. So, yeah, we have to keep on top of the play, no?
Absolutely beautiful garden pictures, by the way, don't know how you got the color to show so well.
Great blog you have here and beautiful girls, too. We didn't know anything of wrestling until my son turned 2, and boy is he schooling my 4-year-old daughter and I, especially when Papa's out of town and we have to do the "ruffling."
ReplyDeleteI was secretly hoping you'd end the cupcake story with melting princesses, but I can see your situation with the fumes and all.
Thanks for your comments over at my place, too.
It sounds like you have a wonderful life. What kind of graduate studies will your husband be doing? Mine will start his master's in geography this fall--he's planning to go through a PhD, so it will take a while. As for red peppers, I LOVE them and wish they weren't twice as expensive as green peppers at the grocery store. We stock up when they're on sale, slice them up, and freeze them, so we can pull them out pre-sliced to use in stir-fries, fajitas, and rice dishes.
ReplyDeleteYou know...green peppers are just red or yellow etc peppers picked early-you can still pick and use the ones you have that haven't turned as green peppers. They mature faster the hotter it is too...You can also chop them up and freeze them in the amounts you would use them as--I mix chopped peppers with chopped onion to grab quick for omelets and fried potatos etc--little baggies 1 cup or so work nicely here :D Looove your veiw of life-shoulda let the Princesses have it though :D Cupcake tins are fun to just hand to little kids and see what they find to fit in them--or chop up little stuff and serve lunch from--here they end up in the sandbox :(
ReplyDeleteThese quick takes are fantastic! I especially enjoyed the "ruffling" story. Actually, I think my girls would enjoy rough-housing more if it *were* called ruffling because, as you say, it's prettier. Thanks for the great blog!
ReplyDeleteYour #4 made me laugh out loud....hilarious! Isn't married life grand?
ReplyDeleteAlso, #1--love the "ruffling". Yep, girls are very different. I have 3 sons and 1 daughter, and you are so right when you say girls do the same things boys do--only prettier ;)
Thanks for commenting on my blog:)
I'm getting so many good ideas for my peppers, ladies! Thank you :) And I'm beginning to think none of us ever shave our legs... :D
ReplyDeleteAnna - I need details on Potatoes Obrien...
JoAnna - Smush might be making an appearance at the Heavenly household. This sounds like the kind of wrestling I can get on board with. (While putting my belly to good use :))
Marie - I'm not sure how the colors showed up so well in those pics either - I'm a terrible photog. But it was early evening outside, and cloudy. Apparently, that makes for just right veggies :)
Cortney - I can't believe I didn't think of Fajitas! Yes, we are lucky :) We'd be alot luckier if there weren't so many states separating us, though ;)
Udubalum mom - I'm thinking we need to have a crayon-melting adventure soon. I'm dying to see some mixed up melted colors now, and I'll be sure to post the results. Maybe that will satisfy our princess-melting desires? :)
Erin - Hubby is getting his MBA. Not quite as intersting as geography, and if he could do what he REALLY wanted to do, he'd get something like History or Theology. But his job will reimburse him for a major in his field - business - so there we have it. Maybe someday, he'll study what really interests him. (Also, I think I'll try freezing my peppers - I wasn't sure if that would work.)
Dandelionmom - I had heard that about peppers, but Red are my favorite! I'll hold out as long as we can. Plus, August is usually our hottest month here, so maybe they'll mature faster this time around. And I hadn't considered letting the cupcake pans be a toy - I have a silicon one that I don't really ever use - which will now be repurposed into a free toy. Thanks for the inspiration!
Emily - Thank you for the sweet compliments! It makes my day when someone enjoys my blog...and I really enjoyed yours too!
Leigh-ann - Yup, married life is the state for me. Can you imagine trying to date and find your soul mate again after all these years?! Ugh. Just think of having to shave your legs EVERY DAY to seem all hygenic and pretty :) I love being accepted for who I am. And then being useful to my husband as well - wonderful. Even if it is slightly embarrassing. ;)
Potatoes O'Brien...
ReplyDeleteCut a bunch of raw potatoes into little cubes (about as long as the tip of your finger is wide). Cut green peppers, red peppers, and onions into similar sized pieces and mix it all together. Season to taste (my husband usually does salt, pepper, onion powder, maybe seasoning salt or a tiny bit of garlic powder). Fry the whole thing in as much butter as you can stand the thought of using. (He insists oil is much worse than butter for this purpose; I think he may use a whole stick of butter, over time, for a full skillet's batch). Use medium heat, I think, and it's done when the potatoes are nicely browned. Enjoy.
The "ruffling" story was too funny! I have 3 boys, but my mother only had 2 girls. So one day when my boys were very young, she was still trying to get used to how boys play. My boys were rough-housing, running, and jumping down about 4 or 5 stairs at a time, over and over. I barely noticed, but she was about to jump out of her seat. She finally turned to me and asked if I would do something so they didn't hurt themselves?! It surprised me so much because she was always so gentle and never the type of person to criticize or butt in about how I parented. In later years she eased up and got used to the way they look like they're trying to kill each other when they play.
ReplyDeleteHay, thanks for visiting my blog and for your sweet comment. It's nice meeting you and I enjoyed reading about your family today. Hope to see you around again.
hah! so funny - I loved the scratching on the unshaven leg. THat has totally happened in my house.
ReplyDeletea)I think I'm going to have to steal the ruffling term. GREAT!
ReplyDeleteb)Those are some impressive red peppers!!
c)Happy Birthday tomorrow! Enjoy and put your feet up at some point:)
d)Welcome to the "my husband is in grad school" world. I am guessing your PC will come in quite handy as I have found that once my husband entered this world, the computer has become a GREAT friend:)
I know you now have more recipe ideas than you do peppers to put them in, but I really wanted to share a favorite with you! The recipe I use calls for 3 red peppers (adjust as needed), sliced, crumbled feta, kosher or sea salt, ground pepper, 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, 1 T. lemon juice, and 30 ripped oregano leaves (or 1 heaping tsp. dried). Toss all together. Super easy and super delish.
ReplyDeleteYour baked princess story reminds me of a friend of mine - when we were younger, McDonald's was giving away little hard-plastic Barbie dolls with Happy Meals. This friend of mine would run out to the parking lot as soon as she got her prize and stick it under the tire of someone's car. Then we'd go back inside to eat and she's happily wait for Barbie to get squashed...
ReplyDeleteAlso, love the leg hair story. I can totally relate!
Ruffling -- HA! :) Don't you just love girls?
ReplyDelete