Cappuccino Coolers

Here's a good drink recipe for those of you looking for a sweet pick-me-up treat for yourself. (My kids would probably have no problem enjoying this either--if I let them!) It is from an Allrecipes cookbook that I have.

(This yields 2-3 servings, so plan accordingly)
1.5 cups cold coffee
1.5 cups chocolate ice cream
1/4 c. chocolate syrup
crushed ice
whipped cream
chocolate shavings

1. In a blender, combine coffee, ice cream and chocolate syrup. Blend until smooth. Pour over crushed ice into glasses (I threw the ice in the blender, too). Garnish each serving with a dollap of whipped cream and chocolate shavings, find a quiet closet to hide in and ENJOY!

Symptoms of Insanity

Knock on wood, we have all been healthy over here. Unfortunately, school has been cancelled for the entire week due to illness. My mental status has taken a direct hit, and as many of you already know I was CRAZY to begin with! Watch out. Here are some examples of my new symptoms. First of all, I have my Christmas cards ordered (half of them are addressed). Now even my husband can attest to the fact that this task is usually never accomplished until at least December. My parents' Christmas present is finished and will be ordered tomorrow. I think that my stomach has expanded three-fold in the last week. Is that a symptom? I can't breath. I think that I may even be starting to look like a pig. I can't roll over. I curse the swine flu, it has done all of this to me--I am sure of it.

Burnt Offerings

I was lucky enough to be able to go out the other night for supper club. This month's theme was 5 ingredient recipes. I was in charge of the main dish. Let's just say that I had a crazy day of running kids and errands, etc. When I came back from picking up the babysitter my smoke alarms were ringing, and my entree was burned. I was really frustrated. However, I was able to salvage the vegies and chicken (the burnt sauce I am still scrubbing from the bottom of my pans!) and the night ended successfully, as usual.

Here's the recipe for Maple Roasted Chicken-Thighs with Sweet Potatoes from Good Housekeeping.com (and yes, this is one that I would make again for my family). I doubled the recipe and cooked it in 2 pans.

4 large skinless chicken thighs with bones
2 small (about 1 lb. total) sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 small onion cut into 1-inch pieces
8 oz. baby carrots or 8 oz. parsnips cut into 1-inch chunks
1/4 c. maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. In 15.5 x 10.5 inch jelly roll pan or large shallow roasting pan, combine chicken, sweet potatoes, onion, carrots, maple syrup, 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Toss to coat.
3. Roast chicken mixture for 40-45 minutes or until juices run clear when thickest part of thigh is pierced with tip of knife and liquid in pan thickens slightly. Stir vegies once and turn chicken over halfway through roasting.

Chain of Command

I have finally relinquished control of the camera...at least for the moment. Wow, I learned a few things just by looking at all the pictures that my husband has been taking. Probably the most disconcerting was this one.....


This is my project manager, my go-to guy, the man that I get most of my project info from! Talk about reliable. Uh-hum....excuse me, was that last truss put in place correctly?? We'll never know now will we. Well, at least he isn't a pilot.


I also was able to see some great shots like this one of a pretty corner.



After living in a house for awhile, you learn all the features that work for you. This one was really high on my list of must-haves.



It just makes my house so unique. I am sure that this single foundation feature in itself sent our resale value through the roof! My husband really knows how to take care of me.


Here is what the house looked like about a week ago before the garage went up.

For those of you who were planning on driving by to see for yourself what is going on...take note of the mud situation. The coffee pot is not hooked up yet, so all that you will be leaving with is a dirty vehicle. Give us a few more months...and maybe a new project manager!

Project Home Builder

Okay, so that is kind of a corny title, but at least it isn't project home wrecker! So, I have been getting a lot of questions about the new house. However, I am not really the person to answer them unfortunately. (I usually have to get my info from Kyle as to what is going on up there!) I rarely am up at the site due to muddy conditions and the current affairs within my uterus. I do deliver supper every now and then to some hungry men, but I have yet to hike up a ladder to actually walk through the house. (Bruce has penciled in an official tour for the wife this Saturday. I will keep you posted.) My husband is pretty handy with the camera, though. He has taken quite a few pics, and about once a week I find the camera hanging around and look at what he has been working on. I was going to post some of the pictures for all of the inquiring minds to see, but when I go looking for the camera it doesn't want to be found. I did find this picture. It will start you off from the very beginning. This is the street that we used to live on, and will be living on again eventually. This is the work that was done to extend the street. Our lot is located in the upper left hand corner (just close your eyes and use your great imaginations for pete's sake.)

...and that is all you are going to get until I find the camera again. I will share, because as you are probably aware--construction photos are so much fun. I have many different photos of footings and foundations that I am just dying to post! So prepare yourselves for an adventure of a lifetime.

Greetings from the Lost "Ranger"

Hello...anyone there? It's me the Strange Ranger. I kind of took the summer off from the computer in general. However, there is snow on the ground again, so I will channel my insanity to the rest of the world.


Strange as this place is, the summers go by way too fast. This one went particularly fast, because we were so busy. I worked quite a bit this summer, as my baby is not so little anymore and babysitters were readily available. My girls all turned a year older, and Kali is in first grade this year.


Bananas...how they have grown just from looking at these summer pics!


(This princess is going to have a hard fall out of her throne come December!)


We sold our house, and are now homeless on the range.



Well, not exactly. We are living in a rental and are currently building another home, because you know once summer was over life might have gotten kind of boring without a project or two! I survived the move, now we just need to tend to that Christmas shopping before the baby comes. I am letting my husband take care of the house building project. He did pretty well the first time around.


It's good to be back. For those of you that missed me...I spared you of an entire summer's worth of whining and moaning! (Too bad for you that winter is here already! Let the craziness begin!)

Our Dirt

Okay, so I was just reading my blog title (about taking our life to the curb), and realized that we have been keeping our amazing talents locked up in the house lately. I need to start sweeping our dirt back outside again. I will spare you any pics of the dirty house. A lot has been going down in this house. After my bro got married, my fam took a trip across the Mighty Mac-i-nac to visit my sister and her rat pack. My other sister, meanwhile has since returned from the other side of the earth to triple her family size! I now have 2 new nephews Greg and Ross, whom I haven't met personally, but they are home safe and adjusting. We also learned that my husband's job is safe for the time being. I was preparing for it not to be, so that was kind of a relief. The snow has finally melted. We had a 90 degree day last week (hopefully it isn't the only one of the year!) Mexican was the theme of the our last supper club (until after summer) that I hosted at my house on our ninety degree day! We made the trip to Iron Mtn. for a Memorial Day BBQ at my sister's house. Mmmmm. I am hungry again. Maybe it is because I am eating for two lately! Maybe that is why my house is dirty, and I have been hibernating. Maybe this will be number five...and just maybe it really will arrive on Christmas EVE!!!! yikes...gotta run. I have Christmas shopping to do!

Mamma's Boy

Yes, he did get married. Here's the proof for those of you still in disbelief.

My crew...

Daddy's girls.

Mamma's boy.

My Baby Magnet

Who needs fancy workout equipment, when you can do chin-ups and squats in the dishwasher!

Greetings from the Strange Ranger

Hello and greetings from the Strange Range. This is me last week tanning in the front yard. I know, I know it is kind of blinding, but it has been a long winter and I need to "melt" away a few pounds.

I have since hung the kids by their snowpants. Wait, let me rephrase that for the CPS lurkers out there...I have since hung the kids' snowpants.

(Note: There is a difference between hanging them up and actually putting them away. Away they are not. For the sake of all superstitious viewers, I will not put them away until the ticks come to town.)
After the snowpants were hung, we headed to the pool.

"Are we there? Am I swimming?" As you can see, the sun has been a bit blinding for the kids, too.

We don't mind the double vision when it comes to Superman, though. Especially in the basement where the evil spiders lurk.

And in other headlines, the real superman of the house finished his project. Have a lookie.

Don't be scared to stop in if you are passing through these parts. The grass has been spotted again!

Me--The Optimist

I am going to steal a trademark line from my friend Elizabeth and say this, "I am turning over a new leaf (actually more like a wet one)." I am no longer going to be a pessimist (sp?) There I said it. I never would admit it before; I preferred to answer to the tune of a realist (just sugar coats it a bit). Only positive thoughts are allowed in my head. As for the approximately four inches of new snow....I am going to receive it as a gift from the man upstairs. Now the kids aren't tracking in anymore mud, and their clothes are staying clean a lot longer! I am loving the snow pants....never thought that would come from me mid-April did ya! ooh, another positive thought has just popped--now I have more time to finish the spring cleaning that I never really finished! I mean who wants to clean when the weather is nice anyway? Hello, I am a desperate housemom and I love winter (and cleaning). You should try saying that over and over....its really therapeutic.

What I Did Over My Blog Vacation

I granted myself an extended vacation (since I am the boss around here). I didn't think that you would mind a little break from my craziness for a bit anyway. What on earth was I doing that kept my from blogging? It was boring really. Okay, I will tell you.

• A few days were spent spring cleaning for some unexpected company.
• Another couple days were spent recovering from that (and then it became dirty all over again--its a vicious cycle).
• My sisters came to town for our future sister's wedding shower and we whooped it up, of course! (I was expecting their visit.)
• I went to work a handful of days to get a break from refereeing the kids who spent over a week together non-stop for the first time since Christmas.
• We then rewarded the kids for their behavior by taking them to a hotel for a night. (We are really good parents, maybe we will write a book someday about rearing children. Be sure to look for it in the self-help section.)
• The hubster had his week off, and I couldn't possibly let him think that I spend my free time doing anything other than mending, darning socks, scrubbing, and preparing my signature meals everyday. He's making me a new kitchen table upon which to serve those meals, so it was the least that I could do.

...and that is about all that I did during my blog vacation. BTW. I missed you, too!

Ignoring You

I have had a busy week over here. You might not hear from me for awhile (like maybe next week). I might be able to fill you in then on what I have been up to!

Neck Wringing...and other Curious Tales

Well, it snowed again Thursday night. So as promised, several of the northerners made their way to the Strange Range to wring my neck for putting a jinx on their spring. They got a good look for themselves what kind of town I live in. Let's just say that they didn't stay too long, and they fell for the old distraction trick that I used to keep them from wringing my neck. It only took lunch and dessert, and they forgot all about why they ventured south. I rather enjoyed the whole ordeal. I am kind of hoping that it snows again soon! Thanks ladies.

Somewhere Over The....

I wasn't kidding a couple of posts ago when I said that Kali took those pictures. I showed her how to use the camera about a week ago, and she has been loving it. It is kind of fun seeing my house through the eyes of my five year old! I thought that I would share some of her other work with you.

She really knows how to capture her subjects in their natural environments.
Apparently, she thought that we should document that we have a toilet (and a tub). (Actually, for insurance purposes it probably isn't a bad idea. What a smart kid!)

And yes, there is also food in the fridge. What is in your fridge? That might be an idea for the next tag you're "it" post.

This is where she turned the camera over to her brother. My kids believe in sharing. Love and sharing. Sharing and love. Its all one and the same with them!

Jinx

...it is snowing again!

A Strange Ranger's Almanac

I live in a mystical little town that I like to call the Strange Range. Why is it strange you ask? Well, here in this town, it is winter 10.75 months out of the year (and our year only lasts for nine months!) Our snowbanks grow to be 8 feet tall, and they eat little children when they walk to school.

Not to worry, these snowbanks usually spit out the sassy ones.

I've lived in this town for a few years now. It is not for the faint of heart. Many weak souls have fled north (okay so maybe only one that I know of went north, the rest usually head south!) I denied that I lived here for the first few years. I came from a banana belt...you know that one about 7 miles from here. Ignorance is bliss sometimes, until you need to get out of the driveway, and you don't know where it went. (I told you that this place is strange.) Well folks, this year is going to be different. I am going to go out on a limb over here and predict that winter is now over in these parts. Snowbanks will soon disappear and you will find everything that they have consumed in the last nine months. I know, I know you are beginning to think that I have become a little crazy myself. How can I predict something so outrageous? Well, I have based this prediction solely on the fact that......

...I finally learned how to use the snowblower last week. This town may be strange, but Murphy's Law always applies. Look, the kids have found swimsuits this year.

Yes, they get their craziness from their father. I am the only normal one left in this town.....Happy Spring!

Stimulus Package

With the economy the way it is these days, I am very blessed to have passed a stimulus package of my very own nine months ago. Here she is....

She creates new jobs for me about every 30 seconds or so. She only has two "ears", but she loves to leave a big "mark!"

She believes in the redistribution of the pots and pans. Moms shouldn't be the only ones entitled to the contents of the cupboards.

This is me this morning. I am sitting down for the first time after cleaning the house (I am just about to do some chair squats). See, no dust balls under the bed...

Then hurricane Claire arrives on shore...check out the dark clouds rolling in. (All of these pictures can be credited to Kali. I was under the bed bracing for the incoming storm!)

Here's a look into the eyes of the storm itself.

Brace yourselves. Here she comes.

And she hits.....AHHHHHH!

This was the aftermath...

We must rebuild. We will restructure. Focus on this "three" letter word--JOBS! All we need are some building blocks in a school bus.

It all works in cycles. Look, Mom cleaned up her pots and pans. Hahaha!

Gotta go. We've got lots of work now!

Happy Birthday Babygirl!

My baby turned 9 months old yesterday. Where did the time go? I am not really sure to be honest. Here are some tidbits about my little shining star:
Oh, she's a crawlin'...and getting faster. The little stinker heads for the stairs every chance she can get. (We have a gate, but it needs a few minor fixes before it can be hung again.) She's found her voice recently and is really starting to babble.

She has 6 cute teeth, and as the other kids can attest to--she WILL use them if you stick your finger in her mouth. She has a mop of hair and colics that all grows forward, and she has already had a haircut! She also does this thing with her hands when she gets excited or wants something. I have been trying to document it on film for awhile, but you know how that goes.

...and she loves food scraps!

Jo-Jo's Strawberry Poppy-Seed Salad

I made the salad that sis JoLynn had on her blog about a month ago for a shower last night. It was just as she said it was going to be--really yummy. Here's the recipe:

Dressing:
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. red wine vinegar
2T. lemon juice
2 T. onion
1/2 t. salt

I mixed these first ingredients in my blender, then added 2/3 c. veg. oil and 2 t. poppy seeds (also in the blender).

For the salad I had lettuce (she used romaine, I used green leaf), fresh strawberries, cucumber, green onion, and cashews. She added pear and craisins to her salad, but I didn't have these. The dressing makes the salad, so the toppings can be almost whatever you like. The Wally-Worlds had good strawberries this week on sale. Enjoy.

Tag: The Sequel

I promised that I would continue my thoughts from the last post. I decided to take the plunge and do the challenge. Maybe you can learn a few things about me while I am at it. Like....
I love to follow the rules. I took this photo first thing this morning.

I still like to suck my thumb every now and then (and pick my nose at the same time). It is soothing.

I have a double chin. It took a lot of work to get it. Oh, and my lips are naturally this supple (no mosturizer!).

I feel like the neighbor (Wilson?) on the show Home Improvement. My fence is kind of buried in snow right now, so this is what you get!

...and I tag (drumroll please)....The Pioneer Woman (I know that you read this), Marlbaro Man (you really need a your own website), and McDreamy (I will settle with McSteamy if I have to).

Tag

I have been tagged by Ethiopifinn (I just realized the other day that I don't know your married name Jen) to post a self-portrait. This was my first reaction...

Oh wait, that is not my mug. This is to be continued.....(the kids are fighting. heh.)

The Sleeping Child Dilemma

Since I seem to have a theme of sleeping children going this week, I thought that I would visit a topic that is near and dear to my heart. It is a phenomenon that always rears its head when I take all four children into the vehicle and traverse away from the homestead. It is the sleeping child in a car syndrome. It usually strikes the two oldest as we approach the last 200 feet to the garage. I go against all medical advice and threaten to leave them in the car. This usually cures them quickly. However, this syndrome can be very tricky to treat in younger children. All studies show that it is not usually worth treating in a vehicle. Tempting as it may be to not move the victims (especially on a Sunday afternoon), it is considered inhumane in some cultures and does nothing to ease the mother's sympathy pains (ie. her need to also take a nap). So you move the sleeping child away from the vehicle and one of two things may happen. Most likely the child will awake. Efforts to induce sleep again are almost always fruitless. There may have been a few rare cases where the sleeping state had been restored, but I have not been able to document one yet. All hopes for napping are dashed and you deal with reality. End of that story. Now, in the case where the child appears to remain comatose upon removal from the vehicle further evaluation by a trained professional is needed. A flow chart would be nice, but I have yet to come across one in the home medical books. Here is how I try to assess the situation. Is the child still strapped in a carseat? If so, do not move...unless the chance of them waking due to heat stroke (because of their bulky outerwear) outweighs the chance of them waking due to removal, or you plain just do not want them to be sleeping anymore. If the child is not strapped in a carseat then you need to check if the child is wearing protective outer garments for the elements (see photo above for example of this). If so, once again you need to assess the likelihood for heat stroke (quickly, of course). Heat stroke really isn't a worry for me as a mother in the land of eternal snow and ice (at least not for 10 months out of my year). As you can see in the photo above, this is usually where the questions end for me. The inexperienced eye might have tried to remove the outer garments, but nothing good usually comes of that. The above documented case of the syndrome was just one of many that I have dealt with, however, it had an interesting twist to it. A patient history should have been obtained, because come to find out later the patient had been visiting Grandma who had given her some chewing gum (which can faintly be seen in the photo). Luckily, the patient did not react adversely to this chewing gum, rather she just kept chewing it intermittently! It could have been fatal, though. Hopefully, I have enlightened many lives with this information...and let me know if you have a good flow chart for this tricky syndrome. Go forth and prosper!

Random Ramblings

This is the other picture that I should have posted the other day (but I must have been too lazy)! The poor thing has to have one eye on alert for her wild siblings at all times. You never know who is going to try to carry her half way across the room by her feet, or try to force feed her cheerios, or, or, or tickle her. Well, actually maybe the sleeping with open eye thing is hereditary, because I have been told (by not very credible sources, of course) that my eyes don't always shut all the way when I am sleeping. Don't believe everything that you are told my friends. Just yesterday I got my hair cut quite significantly shorter, and I was excited about the change. I was feeling good about it, and then my ever so eloquent husband spake words from his mouth that sounded something like this, "What made you get your haircut like that?" To which I automatically responded, "Why, do you not like it?" He spoke again, "No, I didn't say that...I was just wondering what goes through a girl's mind when she decides to get a haircut like that." Husband...speak no more...sit boy. He tries hard, that man of mine. I guess that was just his way of complimenting my previous hairdo!