Overheard:

Mommy, I spilled the potty!

Our toilet is not the greatest. It works, but it's flushing capabilities really could be better. Things flow alot better if you practice what I call the "courtesy flush" - I won't elaborate, but you get the idea. Someone didn't practice the courtesy flush. Then Nathan went potty. And when he saw his potty didn't go down, he flushed again, overflowing the toilet all over the bathroom floor. That's when I realized the concept of the need for plunging toilets is probably a little beyond a 3-year-old's comprehension.

Overheard:

Back story: We went to Home Depot on Friday to get a filter for our water faucet. The store in Olathe had a large display of all of their fountains at the front of the store, which Nathan loved. I had to practically drag him away. He wants to take Paul back to see the "waterfalls."
Well, I got the wrong filters, so today went to the Lawrence store to exchange them. I told Nathan we were going to "the waterfall store" and we finally found the display in their outdoor garden store, but they hadn't filled them with water yet, so they weren't working.



Me: Well, they're not working today. Maybe we can come back another time and they'll be working.
Nathan: Yeah, we'll bring Daddy back and he'll fix them.





(It cracked me up because we were at Home Depot, a place chock-full of tools and installation experts, and in my son's eyes, Daddy is the only one that can possibly fix things right.) (Which he is in Mommy's eyes, too. :) )

Walking Kansas

I'm participating in a challenge called Walk Kansas this spring. It consists of teams of 6 collectively walking the distance across the state of Kansas (423 miles), over 8 weeks (it breaks down to 30 minutes of exercise, 5 days a week, for each team member). I did this challenge 4 years ago when I was pregnant with Nathan (has it really been that long?!), and the 8 weeks of participating created a habit of exercise that continued all 9 months of my pregnancy, which was the last time I exercised regularly (except for a brief spate last fall).
We're at the beginning of week 4 for Walk Kansas. Our team consists of me, my mom, my sisters, my best friend Brooke, and my good friend/other sister Christina. We are definitely not in the lead. But really I don't care about that. What I care about is that we're all being challenged to eat better and exercise consistently. We all have been trying before this, and now we're all kind of accountable to each other.
However, the weather is not cooperating. We've probably averaged only 4 days a week where it wasn't raining or below 40 - and at least for me, it seems like those days are the days your schedule makes it so you can't exercise.. And every "nice" day is accompanied by wind. And every route I walk has at least one spot where the wind blows across an open field and will about blow you over.
I'm enjoying it. A lot. I crave the time I get to exercise, and be alone to think, to pray, to have imaginary conversations...... When I walk, I walk for an hour - usually somewhere around 3.5 miles. (I should be able to do it faster, but the gravel, the wind, and the hills slow me down - this ain't like walking on a treadmill, folks!)

I have noticed a few things while walking:

1. There are only 2 routes I can go that are dog-free, meaning either no one owns dogs, or they keep them penned up. I don't want to break up a dog fight, but my dog won't stay home. If I step outside in my tennis shoes, he just knows, and refuses to let me catch him. I've even tried tricking him and going out barefoot or in sandals, and he still somehow knows.


2. Our dog will always poop exactly 1/2 mile into the walk. And usually again at about 2 miles later.


3. 86% of the cars that pass me come up from behind. And of those cars, I'm pretty sure 63% of them throw up a little at the sight of my backside jiggling as I hoof it down the road.


4. You find interesting stuff along side of the road. Last time I did this, I found a magazine all about marijuana - Weed Weekly or something like that. Today, I found a Winchester folding knife with a belt clip. That's going to become part of the regular walking gear.


5. Walking will do wonders for toning up your ankles. Okay, normally we think about our calves getting toned, but honestly, the fat was creeping down the calf and getting dangerously close to becoming a cankle. I'm happy to announce that it's no longer cankle-izing.


6. Walking takes care of back problems. My theory is that in walking and swinging your arms, holding your shoulders back and not slumping, you get everything lined up in your back and strengthen the muscles that hold them in place. Paul refuses to believe me on this and still goes to the chiropractor, even though every time my back has started bothering me, a few days of fitness walking (not meandering, walking with kids, or walking at work), and it has fixed itself.


7. I fully endorse lolly-gagging the last 1/4 mile. It will eliminate sore muscles. My neighbors probably think I'm [even more] insane, because when I get to their house, I start doing kick-steps, knee lifts, and wide-to-each-side steps to stretch everything as I cool down.

There are other interesting things, but I've got 4 weeks left to do this, so I'm sure I'll be talking about it again.

Food Wins

I love food. And I love taking pictures of food I love. I've had some major wins recently, and I thought I'd share them with you. Pizza Meatloaf A variation of Sabrina's stuffed meatloaf, except I used 1 pound of sausage and 1 pound of hamburger, then stuffed it with the pepperoni and mozzarella (or in this case, Italian blend shredded cheese). And I topped it with even more cheese, instead of your normal ketchup-y sauce on the top. This was even better as leftovers than it was straight out of the oven! Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Born from a major craving for chicken and bacon one day, I tried to find a recipe that combined the two. I found a lot that sounded like something I would like, but none that would meet the stringent anti-poultry tendencies of my husband. So I set out on my own. I cut chicken breast tenders in half, then sprinkled them with blackening seasoning. I wrapped each chunk of chicken in a slice of bacon, securing it with a toothpick. I broiled them in the oven and viola! Paul said they were good enough I could put them on the menu as a regular dish. We even tried out smothering them in Italian shredded cheese, and they were excellent that way as well. Dill Bread I love bread, and have an incredible weakness for crackly-crusted, chewy inside bread. Or any type of homemade bread, really. So imagine combining the two! I printed off the recipe for Dill Bread from Grit.com that I got in a newsletter forwarded to me by my mother-in-law. It sounded interesting - dill in bread. It was wonderful! It's not so much the dill I'm in love with, as I couldn't really taste the herb, so much as the end result (maybe because my dill is several years old). If you love ciabatta bread, you will love this recipe. I had to deviate from the recipe a bit - it mentions using dough scrapers, and I don't have any. So I used a combination of a large rubber spatula and my hands, and I think it turned out fine. I also didn't have bread flour, and I thought it turned out great. I did lower my oven to 400. I've had trouble with things burning, and didn't want to chance it. Cooking the bread in the pot with the lid on makes it deliciously moist and chewy on the inside, while that last 10 minutes after you take off the lid makes the crust delightfully crackly and beautifully browned. I loved it, and may or may not have eaten 2/3 of the loaf on my own. It does make a rather small loaf - 8 inches around and 3 inches thick. It's a one-day loaf, not a eat-on-it-all-week loaf. Other Random Food Pictures: Mom's Bread Recipe. My mom makes the most amazing wheat bread and rolls. I have her recipe, but she's tweaked and adjusted it so much over the years, that she's not positive of amounts. I'm getting close. In fact, I've quit buying bread and just make our own. Serves as a two-fold: It's better for us (all natural), and not as easy to just grab a slice and eat it, so not as many carbs for me. Grilled Cheese on Mom's Bread with Sauteed Onions. Saute some onions. In bacon grease is the best. Slice up the above homemade bread, and assemble a grilled cheese sandwich - layer the onions in between two slices of cheese. Heaven. The Ugliest Most Delicious Cookies. I'm going to brag. I make the best sugar cookies. They are amazing. One morning Nathan woke up as Paul was leaving for work, and was inconsolable, about seeing from his upstairs window Paul pulling out the driveway . I finally got him calmed down when I suggested we make Daddy cookies while he was at work. Nathan asked, "And we'll take them to him at work?" How could I refuse? I asked what kind he wanted. "Blue cookies." Okaaaaaay. I asked him if he wanted to put frosting on them. "Yes, purple frosting. And sparkles [sprinkles]?" They didn't really turn out blue, and the frosting wasn't quite purple, but they weren't any less amazing. And Paul enjoyed them even more because they were hand-delivered by the cutest two boys in the world, so he didn't even notice how ugly the cookies were. Cinnamon Rolls. I make treats once a month for Paul's shift. He likes treating them, and I don't mind doing it. I tweaked the The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls (I can't ever be satisfied with a recipe the way it is written), and this is what I come up with. I send this many with him when I make them (which is a double batch), and it makes 1-2 round dishes (pie plates) of extra and ugly ones that we (I) get to enjoy at home. (When I send cookies, I make a quadruple batch.) Do we even need to ask why I can't lose weight?

Thoughts on Miscarriage

I'd like to ask prayers for some of our friends who lost their baby this week. I'm not sure how far along she was... I'm guessing 15 weeks. (She and I got pregnant at about the same time.) They had a miscarriage last year, and everything had seemed okay this time around. My heart is really hurting for them, and I know they would appreciate your prayers.
Having recently been through this (and not even as hard as their experience, her being much further along), I remember how I felt, and offered to help out however I could (I'm not tooting my own horn here). As I was preparing a meal to take to them today, I was thinking about how people react to a miscarriage.
For example, our church has a meal ministry. We take meals to people after the birth of a baby, after deaths, and after surgery. Isn't a miscarriage all three of those rolled into one? Yet we ignore it. We give a pat, "Praying for you." and avoid the topic, if not the person entirely. Why is that? If we're truly pro-life, shouldn't we be showering them in support, as they've lost a person? A dream, hopes.... shattered.
I know we all feel awkward, and we think we don't know what to say. But honestly, just being available would be wonderful. You don't have to say anything. A meal. A bag of groceries. Watch the kids for a couple hours.
Two things that helped me make it through were my sister, who has lost three babies, and talking about our experiences and pregnancies, and my best friend Brooke, who let me celebrate my pregnancy, even though we lost the baby, by not avoiding the topic. Also, Paul being home, so I didn't have to stuff my emotions down and be brave for my kids.
I don't know what I'm thinking I'll accomplish by writing this, but maybe next time you hear of someone losing a baby, you might think of it differently.

Blast from the Past

I think I'm going to start a new series on random things I find or remember. There are some hilarious stories from my past I think about every so often, and Paul gets tired of me re-telling them, I think.

For today, here's a picture I found. It's in really bad shape, because it was in my car for several years, and then I think it's hung on the fridge since then. It's the first picture of Paul and I together when we were "together". May of 2003:

We look so young. Funny how much responsibilities age you. (I was 20 and he was 22.)

His goatee is very short in this picture, not that most of you would notice this. Just a week or two before this, he had shaved it all off. He accidentally buzzed it while he was shaving, and in trying to fix it, made it worse, so he just shaved it off. It was the first time in 4 years that I'd seen him without a goatee. Consequently, he hated how he looked without it, and the only time since then that he's been without it is when he was required to shave it during a rebuild at work where they had to wear face masks. I like how he looks either way. :)

And looking at this really makes me want to get my hair cut short again. I just can't decide.... There are so many advantages to both ways of wearing it.

All in a Day's Work

All of a sudden yesterday, Jacob decided he needed to start potty training. I was in the bathroom with Nathan, and Jake wandered in; I asked him if he wanted to go potty (being silly), and he said yeah. So I sat him down - AND HE WENT! Thinking it was a fluke, I asked him again an hour later, and he went again - this time standing up! He's been very interested in everyone going to the bathroom the last week, so I know something's going on in his head. I think he just wants to be a big guy like his brother. So I decided to go with it. I think he's a little young, but I'd rather start training him now, than wait until I think he's ready, and then have him not be interested, or have it be a power struggle where he refuses to try later on.

Here's today's progress:

One sticker for each time he went - it may have been just a dribble, but it counts! He really, really wants to potty standing up, like Nathan and Daddy do, so we're experimenting with that. The problem is, he doesn't quite have the "relax and release" perfected, and pushes when he pees - well, this morning, he was pushing out pee while standing up....And pushed out some poop, too - onto my foot! Oh well. Tonight, his last potty before bed, he did with no pushing, so I'd call that progress.
We do the pantsless method for potty training - it worked for Nathan, and so we're going to do it again. And for all day without a diaper, he only had one accident (and that was on the linoleum). If he had a diaper on (for nap and when Paul's mom was here watching them during band practice), he still goes in it.
We'll see how it goes. I'm not saying He's potty trained and it's only been a day! But this is how it started with Nathan, so..... We'll see.