Ending things on a good note...

NYE is upon us and I definitely have had a year worth thanking God for. I have healthy children, a great husband, family, friends and the opportunity to continue to grow and learn. I am a blessed woman. To top off the final day of 2010, I have successfully taken a nap and made dinner. Definitely a noteworthy afternoon :) The kids have been playing all day and the night is filled with the prospects of homemade pizza (if I get the dough rising sometime soon) and sparkling grape juice. We are all safe and happy and fortunate. There have been many years when I have been happy to see the old year go, in hopes that the new one will usher in something new or different. But this year has been spectacular in its happy, common, nothing special, everything wonderfulness. No real unhappiness marred the time that has passed...the kids are thriving, C is on the cusp of graduation and we are in a great place in our family. That, my friends, is definitely the hallmark of a great year. So I bid you goodbye 2010, and hope the when you close and 2011 comes upon us that the same humdrum happiness follows.

What makes cheese so delicious?

As I sit here, contemplating my many gastronomic sins and the coming of resolutions and renewed healthiness and all other such blah, I come to realize my one, true culinary weakness. It's not sweets, although they are delicious, or carbs, although they are decadent, but instead, it's cheese. Tummy-numbing, 8 fat gram an ounce at best, cheesy goodness. Everything tastes better with cheese...seriously. We turn it into everything from appetizers to desserts. If I removed the cheese calories from my daily intake, I do believe I could cut it by a third. Damn you, devil cheese.

What brought on this whiny diatribe on such a delight? I am staring at a container of Delallo's hot jalapeno cheese dip, wishing I could eat all of it without a good, old-fashioned case of guilt setting in. But, I can't. Besides the fact Chas and the kids would be mad that I ate it all, it's not good for me (although it is dee-lish). Instead, I should munch carrots or celery or other such untasty wholesomeness. Devil cheese, I say.

Otherwise all is good. I love a day when I can say the most eventful episode was playing Elefun with the kiddos. We're all happy and healthy enough :) Tomorrow we shall toast to the end of the old and the beginning of the new. 2010 and devil cheese...adieu!

Is cleanliness really next to Godliness???

Because if it is, I am just about to quit. I feel like I am falling under a mountain of never ending laundry, a tsunami of dishes and we aren't even going to discuss the toys underfoot in my house. I am definitely developing (or if you ask Chas or the kids, have developed) a clean house complex. I hate cleaning, just like every other red blooded American mom. I vastly prefer taking long baths, ready smut novels and eating decadent treats like bonbons and fudge. But being realistic, I find myself spending far more time cleaning the sink and scrubbing around the toilet than indulging in pampering. Worst of it is, the house is never really clean. It's surface straightened, to say the least. But clean...that's a stretch.

So what to do? Do I throw in the proverbial dish towel and let my home fall to rot and ruin? Or do I buckle down and spend not only my waking hours, but my sleeping ones as well working on running this hovel? I've tried to find a happy medium between the two, but I'm not sure if one exists. So, grumble, grumble...and pass the fudge.

It's getting to the that time of night around here...Diva and Daddy are bathing and Aid will be home from his foray with the uncles soon. Eventually ear piercing screams of bedtime dismay will be replaced with blessed silence and the routine of pick-up the toys and prep for the next day begins again :)

http://365project.org/kastrother/365/2010-12-29

365 Project...

So the New Year is fast approaching and as always, resolutions abound. This year I am going to try something new that I learned about from a friend. I'm going to blog and take a picture every day this year...or at least make a most valiant attempt. I am forever complaining that the kids are growing up too fast (which they are) or that I've missed a moment I wished I could have captured. So, I'm going to document a year in the life of us. That way, many moons from now, I can look back and hopefully smile over the silliness of my kids or wonder what in the world possessed me to wear that/say that/think that...you get the picture. So at the end of every day, I will post the link to the 365 project photo of the day and give myself a little reminder of the day that was.

Today was winterproofing the garage door and straightening the Christmas aftermath. My arm aches from holding it high over my head with the drill for three hours and the stupid door still isn't properly sealed, but it is improved over it's previous state, so I'll take that for what it's worth. As for the straightening, my dining room has been officially converted into the school room/playroom for the kids. This way Aidyn can do school work and Diva can play, hopefully not harassing her brother too much. Gone is my beautiful counter height table (broke about 6 weeks ago), my marble-topped wine rack (relegated to kitchen as an island of sorts) and nearly destroyed is my baker's rack. It's been replaced with a mountain of pink plastic, a table from Craigslist and a desk we picked up off the side of the road after a community yard sale. So between homeschooling and our toddler, the house is now more like Bedlam than a showplace. And we want MORE kids you say?!? I make myself laugh too.

So I will now finish my chamomile and mint tea and check my FB and such before heading to bed. Good night :)

Frustration and the eight year old...

How-o-how I love my dearest boy. In so many ways I adore him...but in so many ways I abhor his latest foray into badness. He is going through a growth spurt of sorts. One that drives me insane with it's classic boyish nonsense, according to Chas. Today it was stickers on the desk and dining room table, this weekend it was shutting Caroline out of the room, last week it was some other rather innocuous, eight year old onslaught of evil. I think the idea of having a boy has been more of an idea to this point, rather than a fact. But recently, he is becoming the incarnation of something rotten...a little boy.

So the question begs itself asked...do I just let things continue as they have or try to punish the annoying out of him? If it was just a couple things rather than daily irritations, I would probably let it go. If it was more ingenious evil I would probably let it slide...but stickers stuck to the desk? Seriously? He didn't do that at 3, let alone 8. Maybe it's just cold weather and mischief...I'm not certain. But, needless to say, I think Aidyn will be spending more time in his room for the next couple months...sigh.

Jack Frost attacks...

So winter hasn't officially arrived yet, but the first snow is on the ground and I'm already freezing to death. Cold fingers, cold toes, cold nose and all the other cold stuff that comes along with it :) I've been sipping tea nonstop for days and wishing that the sun would come out just long enough to raise the temperature to 80 or so. I'm not holding my breath though...

School is winding down for Chas and finally becoming an established pattern for Aidyn. The most established it becomes, the better for all of us, of course. I'm definitely looking forward to three weeks of him at home, for the kids sake and mine. I could use some time to catch up around the house and finish all those totes and tasks that need put away.

St. Nick's Day went well...kids were happy with their booty and I'm happy with seeing them smile. Now we simply have to wait for Christmas to make its way here...then hopefully spring can come in a hurry!