Conversations I Thought I'd Never Have In My Life

(Child takes a full bin of small plastic food and dumps them on the floor, right before bed time.)

Mama asks, "Child, what are you doing?"

Child replies, "I'm looking for the plastic eggs."

Mama responds, "Sorry child, you ate them all."

A letter to our late Cheyenne

Dear Cheyenne,

I seriously missed you today. I was cooking sausage and while transferring them into a bowl, one rolled off the spoon, across the counter and it continued to roll across the floor. I chuckled to myself, thought of some childhood song this resembled, then got really sad. I realized you weren't there by my side to fix my cooking error. I thought to myself, "Cheyenne, you would have been in heaven with a taste of this delicious morsel." Then I corrected myself. "I forgot, you already are in heaven."

You are terribly missed by all of the Kadavy family, including your sidekick Zoe. She doesn't like vacationing in Colorado without you.

Me and Half and Half

I was doing some cooking the other day. I made creamed swiss chard. It sounds bad, I know, but it was a vegetable we received from our CSA and I needed to use it. It tasted wonderful, probably because it was made with half and half. I was wondering what to do with the remainder of the pint of half and half, so I started putting it in my coffee. When it was gone, I realized how much I missed the half and half, especially in my afternoon iced coffee. I went to the store yesterday to pick up a quart of half and half and was delighted to see how inexpensive it was compared to the flavored coffee creamer I usually buy. As I read the label, I saw a little flag that read "Great in Coffee and in Cooking." Hmmm, I thought, coffee and cooking, those are my two passions.

Me and half and half were meant to be together.

After a very busy 4th of July weekend, I thought the best thing I could do for my kids is take them to the beach at Lake Loveland to really exhaust them. We had a lot of fun, a lot of sun, no sunburns, and one attempted drowning.

Note to self: don't get the kids TOO tired at the beach, they won't even be able to stand on their own two feet in the water.

Amish Friendship Bread

There's a part of me that is somewhat skeptical of "Amish Friendship Bread." Don't get me wrong, I'm not being critical of the Amish faith. I think they are a wonderfully dedicated people who love their simple way of life to obey God. I'm also not criticizing the recipe. It is a delicious recipe that is very sweet vanilla base with a hint of cinnamon sugar. If you're not familiar with this recipe, here is a link, and a cute little write-up, where even these people boast that good bread takes 10 days to make!

http://www.armchair.com/recipe/bake002.html

Assuming the simple way of life of the Amish people, why would an Amish recipe have a box of instant Jello pudding? Isn't that the opposite of their belief? Is this just something that the folks at Jello came up with thinking they could boost sales of their instant Jello pudding and fooling people to think that this is the way of the Amish? Are the sweet, innocent Amish people unaware that Jello is using their simple ways to push their product?

Something just doesn't seem right to me.

Potty Training

Part of potty training is having the child remove the soiled clothing and put clean clothing on. I give my son credit for putting his shirt on. It's upside-down, but it's on.

Another part of potty training is lots of praise. "Atta boy, son. Atta boy!"

(This photo was taken on day one of his final and successful attempt at potty training. Atta boy, son!)

Ever had one of those days?

Have you ever had one of those days that you wish you could drink your way to the bottom of the coffee pot? I've had some days where I've just wanted to feel like this little baby - laying face down in an empty coffee pot, most likely after having consumed the contents of the coffee pot.

Today was not one of those days. This picture just makes me laugh. I'm in a funny mood today and just want to share this photo with you today.

If you're not a coffee drinker, maybe you'd prefer tea like Spiderman does.

As parents we feel like we need to give our children a title to a nickname, specifically "Miss" or "Mister". "Well, aren't you Mister Cranky-Pants today?" or "How is my little Miss Giggles this morning?" It sometimes is a title that reflects their mood for the moment.

The nickname I have difficulty with is calling my son "Misbehaving". I think I'm saying "Miss Behaving" but he's not a miss and he's not behaving, so I correct myself by saying "Mister Behaving", no that's not right, he's not behaving. "Mister Miss Behaving", no, he's still misbehaving, but he's still not a miss. Should I say "Mister Mister Behaving"? Then at this point do I break out into my acapella rendition of the 80's band Mister Mister and their (semi) hit "Kyrie"? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHXgHjDOxUM

Aww, just be quiet and knock it off, Mister Crabby. You don't want your Mama to start singing in public.

Have you ever had days where you think you'd be better off if you were bleeding out your eyes? I'm such a drama queen. Headaches can really test your ability to handle screaming kids.

Easter

Here is the family decorating Easter Eggs on the day before Easter. It was quite a bit of fun for everyone. Madeline decided to take a marker and jam it completely through her egg. There were other "Oops" eggs that were decorated and labeled as such.

Here is Madeline on Easter morning after our Easter egg hunt in the house. She decided that the contents of one egg was tastier than finding the rest of the eggs.

Gabriel, too, had problems staying focused on the task of hunting for eggs. He was happy eating them as he went along.

Anna knew the routine: find as many eggs as you can, then you can eat them later. Little did I know that there were a few eggs that were overlooked and I had a little squirrel that would find an egg and hide under the table or in her room eating the contents of that plastic egg. I was finding foil wrappers around the house for several days.

The only attempt at a family photo on Easter Sunday. Why can't kids look at the camera?

My Birthday

OK, I'll post my only picture of me on my birthday, opening my gift from the family. I just don't feel like publishing my age, that's all.

March Snow

Here is a picture of the snow we received on March 19th. I always like March Snows. It's almost like it's a freak incident of nature. Two days before this snow we had almost 70 degree weather. Colorado and Nebraska are very similar, in that sense.

March 20th:

I let the kids outside to enjoy the snow while it's still here. This is the day after the snow. Notice there is no snow on the cement or rocks. The snow only remains on the grass and rooftops.

Gabriel is enjoying the snow that landed on the bird bath.

Anna has a taste of the cold, fresh snow.

Madeline is just so darn cute in her sister's hand-me-down denim jumper and pink uggs.

Annual MOPS Spa Day

I have been looking forward to this day all year. It is such a treat for me to put the three kids into their "classrooms" and I get to focus on me. A hand massage, Otis Spunkmeyer chocolate muffin and coffee, a neck massage and a foot soak. There's no way I could ever replicate that at home, that's for sure! Lots of friends to talk with to boot, so it was a wonderful morning. The kids were very happy in their classrooms, so Mommy is happy.

Car Washes and Pot Holes

I made a bold statement today. I got the car washed. I know you must think I'm crazy with all of that snow and slush and wet pavement out there. I don't care what you think. I made my kids happy by going into the car wash. I think for them it's the anticipation of the sprinkling of each cycle in the car wash. And driving into the car wash.

After the car wash I realized really how much snow, slush and wet pavement really is out there. So I swerve to miss the slush and wet pavement and drive extra slow. It's almost like swerving for pot holes driving slower so that you see the pot holes in time to avoid them. I curse myself quietly as I realize I took the slushier route to run my errands.

As I drive through my little town I realize that I'm more aware of wet pavement and less aware of pot holes. Alas, there aren't any pot holes to be found. Then I remember, we were swerving for pot holes last week as we visited our home town. Why so many pot holes in our hometown but not in our current city, you may ask?

Snow plows.

"That is all I have to say. Let's smoke a while."

(Whoops, movie quote alert.)

IHOP Free Pancake Day

Gabriel had his first dentist appointment today. Our hygienist Coral was very excited to share this special day with our special guy.

We celebrated this day afterwards by going out to IHOP for Free Pancake Day. Daddy only stayed for 15 minutes, which made this another benchmark day for me. I survived a meal with the three kids alone in a restaurant. I think time of day makes a difference. By evening time, the kids are ready for bed, not a restaurant experience.

Our snow is slowly melting, so after a carb-packed meal of free pancakes, I thought we could enjoy the sunshine and play in the snow.

That didn't last long. Here are my footprints of me running after kids running away. Children have a tendency to not listen to Mommy when they are tired or whacked-out on pancake carbs. (Wow, I can run. It's a talent I don't share, only in case of emergency.)

Once my mischievous children were down for their naps, I went back outside to shovel the snow which is quickly turning into slush. See how the cement drive is drying off quickly? It's all in my plan to fight the snow and have the drive clear and dry by the time the workers come on Thursday to work on our small house repairs. Mwah, ha ha ha. (Rubbing hands devilishly).

Darn, after all this work was done, I then remembered that it is to snow more on Thursday. Bah.

After all of that hard work of chasing kids, naps, shoveling the snow the kids put back on the drive, checking on frozen drain spouts and an ice-covered driveway, it's nice to see our boots drying in the warm sun. (Note my Dr. Marten sprinting boots.)

Then it's time to enjoy "Bunny Cafe". A nice cozy snack of hot cocoa and a granola bar at the shop where the rabbit's eyes are freakishly large.

My kitchen projects for the day. Our usual whole wheat bread on the left, and my experiment for the day, Carrot Thyme Bread. A horrible reminder of the elevation of this town. I follow a recipe as written and I am rewarded with this concave lump of aromatic heaven. It may not make a nice sandwich bread, but I'll broil with butter, or maybe even with parmesan and garlic, or even make croutons. I refuse to toss it out as a loss!