Aha! Use

One of my favorite magazines, Real Simple, has an article called "Aha! Uses", which gives readers ideas of different ways to use common household objects. For example, wrapping napkins around a paper towel tube when storing them so they don't get wrinkled. (Secure them with fabric hair elastics.)
For those of you not familiar with my Sunday cooking experiences, let me just say they must be cursed. Back when we prepared meat, I did fine most days, but on Sundays it was either raw or overcooked and tough. With beans, I can cook them all day on Sunday, and they will still be crunchy. Well this past Sunday was no different. I tried a recipe from my trusty bread maker recipe book, and the picture to the left shows what I got. I don't even know what to call it. Incidentally, I think I discovered the recipe for Grape Nuts. I double and triple checked the recipe, and yes, I had followed it, except that I also add dough enhancer. I'm pretty sure this isn't how the dough was supposed to be enhanced!
On Monday, #2 discovered a handout from her teacher that had been buried in her school bag. She was supposed to create a model of a habitat, complete with soil, animals, and plants...and it was due Wednesday. She thought a coral reef would be a fun habitat. So we started brainstorming materials she could use. I thought of tearing up and painting a sponge...and then I turned around and saw my "bread". It was perfect! She painted it with the colors of the rainbow, and it looks just like coral.
This was a really fun project for her. The picture on the bottom is kind of blurry, but the effect with the foil-lined lid on the shoebox felt very underwatery. This may be the first school project that I'm not inclined to throw away. Besides, it can double as food storage, right?






So there you go. My other aha! use for this bread was as cereal. And actually, my Grape Nuts "recipe" wasn't too bad with warm milk!

I bet my family can't wait to see the rolls I'm bringing for Thanksgiving!

Accruing My 15 Minutes

My kids think I'm famous!

This morning I tuned the radio to an FM station that I rarely listen to in hopes of waking up my kids with the upbeat, top 40s music. They were asking listeners to phone in with their favorite "bad" movie. Movies that we love in spite of the horrible reviews. I couldn't resist calling in for Kent. One of his favorite movies is Pee Wee's Big Adventure. We only own a handful of movies, and that is one of them. When I gave that title to the radio host, he just laughed a guttural laugh. I don't think he knew what to say! The conversation turned to the Tequila scene (see below if you have five minutes to waste), and I mentioned that Kent does a pretty good impression of Pee Wee with that dance. We talked for maybe 30 seconds.

Anyway, they recorded the conversation and played it on the radio a few minutes later. After my kids heard it, they were convinced that I am now famous--and so are they by inheritance I guess. It got me thinking. I've been in the newspaper once or twice, on radio twice, and on TV once. (It was a public service commercial on a very small, local TV station when I was a kid.) So how about the rest of you? Any interesting (or dull) moments in the limelight?

Now go ahead and waste five minutes. Enjoy--or not!


P.S. Did you know this is a Tim Burton movie? I'm glad he's improved through the years!

Lowering My Expectations

A speaker in Sacrament Meeting today voiced an idea I've had lately, which is basically that people who expect perfection have little patience with others'--or even their own--shortcomings. I've been thinking that my expectations for my family members are too high and I would be happier if I changed those expectations. For example, if I expect that my youngest will make one mess each day that will require more than a few minutes of my time to clean up, then I won't be so upset when he pours spaghetti all over the first floor of our home and walks around on it to hear it crunch. (When he did this last week, I had to remember to be grateful that at least it was dry noodles.) And when the day comes that he doesn't make any big mess, I can be especially grateful for that! Of course there will be days like the day of the spaghetti incident when he will move from one mess to the next. That day I found him playing in the used cat litter box while I was vacuuming crushed pasta, and after I washed his hands I caught him sucking toilet water out of the bowl through a giant Pixie Stick tube. At this point I can't lower my expectations to three messes per day, and hopefully he'll lose interest in cat and people potties before I have to. But confronting the one big mess, and hoping it's the one and only mess of the day, makes it a lot easier to deal with and exercise greater patience.

Too Bad Halloween Is Over

This is hilarious! I wonder if I could get one of my kids to hold still enough to try this and then to jump or scream after two or three minutes. Enjoy!

S'up fools?

#3 picked the pumpkin for our jack-0'-lantern this year, and we all helped carve it. Thanks to Marshie the Marshmallow for the inspiration. Not familiar with Marshie? Consider yourself normal. You can check him out here http://www.homestarrunner.com/marshie.html and a more Halloween-themed version at http://www.homestarrunner.com/malloween.html

I guess I've been a bit of a Halloween Scrooge this year. I never got the decorations out because I didn't want to add to the existing clutter of our house. But the kids have taken over. They webbed our front porch and hung homemade ghosts. My Scrooginess also meant I didn't go any (let alone all) out for costumes. The school children wear one curriculum-themed costume to school, and then usually something else for trick-or-treating. #1 is a corpse; we found a novel that referenced a corpse, so that worked for the school costume too. #2 was going to be an ancient Egyptian, and then changed to a Roman at the very last second--literally; we had a little melt down trying to get her in the van for carpool. Tonight she's a witch. #3 is Little Red Riding Hood and later a devil. (We couldn't find a way to make a devil fit the curriculum--thank goodness!) #4 is a pumpkin and #5 is an elephant. Fortunately, the two youngest haven't been around long enough to be sick of our old costumes, so they still like these two options.




The kids came through for my costume too. While I was at a meeting last night, Kent took them shopping and they bought a light-up, Halloweeney shirt. So I've decided to be a teenager for Halloween--minus the teenage body! Most impressively, #s 1 and 2 spent their own hard-earned cash for my gift. They both starting tutoring younger neighborhood children last week, and they pooled their earnings. I really wish they would save some for themselves, but how can I say anything against their generosity? I've got great kids!

We Miss You Grandpa

My Grandpa Al passed away two Thursdays ago. We attended his funeral Saturday, and it's given me time to reflect on his life and on the Plan of Salvation. I am grateful to know that his death is just the next step in his progression, and to know that he welcomed that next step, which freed him from illness. I have many childhood memories of being with Grandpa. My earliest is when I was probably three years old, and Grandpa kept sneaking fudge bars from his garage freezer for me. Through the years, he took me fishing, introduced me to liverwurst, complimented my sewing, came to my piano recitals, and always answered my phone calls with such exuberance that I felt like he was celebrating my voice: "It's Mary! How are you Mary?! It's so good to hear from you." My strongest impression of Grandpa Al is how much he loved family. He stayed involved in our lives and he organized family reunions for hundreds of relatives. When I cried at his passing, it was because I will miss him. But I am glad that he is well and with loved ones, and that I will be with him again some future day.

This picture is from last year when we visited my grandparents around Labor Day. Not a great picture of my kids, but my Grandpa is cute. He was trying to get #3 to smile.

I've been tagged!

Fortunately, Charlotte gave me a choice of which tag to accept, and this one seemed simpler. I'm not passing on the tag, but feel free to comment on any of the thoughts below, or tag yourself and answer the whole list on your own blog. I like learning things about family and friends that wouldn't normally come up in conversation. Here's a little about me:

Someday: I will learn to play violin.

I usually: can’t sleep past 6:30 a.m., even when my sleep-in alarm time is set to 7:15. (It’s a curse.)

I wonder: where the regulator for my pressure cooker went. (I bought another identical pressure cooker just to have the regulator.) I’ll bet Green5 knows where it is.

I regret: not visiting or keeping in better touch with my grandparents.

I love: Dark Chocolate Cookie Crunch ice cream.

I care: about getting only positive feedback on ebay. (Is that my way of getting a pat on the back?)

I always: bite the inside of my cheeks when I’m nervous or worried.

I worry: I am too hard on my kids.

I am not: too old to skip as a mode of transportation.

I remember: number digits. Phone numbers, car wash codes, addresses…you name it. (Fortunately I can empty them from my memory when I no longer need them.)

I believe: in ghosts.

I dance: freely in front of children; hardly at all in front of adults.

I sing: in my head almost all day and when I’m awake at night. (Is this normal?)

I don’t always: practice what I preach.

I argue: for school vouchers and cutting pork spending.

I write: in my scripture journal five days a week. In my personal journal once a year (usually when I’m upset).

I win: about half the time when Kent and I play card games at night. (Two-player Settlers of Catan is a favorite.)

I lose: and gain three or four pounds on a continual basis. Don’t know why; my weight is just always fluctuating around those pounds.

I wish: I knew what the stock market would do next so I could plan and invest accordingly.

I listen: to people cry a lot. Mostly because I’m daily surrounded by people under age five.

I don't understand: how the new particle accelerator really works, but it seems cool!

I can be found: snuggled in the covers with my electric mattress pad on high when nights are cold.

I am scared: of imaginary burglars when Kent is out of town.

I need: someone to cook for me once in a while.

I forget: my…no, um…I think I forget…hmm…I don’t remember.

I am happy: in my marriage, in my home, to be LDS, and with life in general.