There you have it, the best test of all: The kid test.

Who needs a scale?

Tristan is on loan for those of you also trying to accomplish weight loss.

Sawyer came along to Daddy’s Office which was a very big deal to him because he had high hopes of scoring an office of his own.

And since Daddy is the boss…

Why not?

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Sawyer having his own office rated higher than candy. And that’s saying a lot.

What are you analyzing there, Sawyer, it looks pretty important.

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Calvin and Hobbes and granola bars in an office of his own.  He’s never coming home.

Greyson was at work, too.

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Never mind the pictures on the wall, Greyson. We want to know what you’re working on.

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Fancy that. School work!

I guess somebody has to work around here.

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Speaking of work…

Sawyer took a break and watched the mo-cap session.

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And here’s the result of my new way of eating and exercise after almost 4 weeks.

I know, I know, it’s like Laurel and Hardy!

The contrast is hurting my eyes.

I wish I could be more academic in citing how many inches I’ve lost but I think I’ll stick with Tristan’s method of weighing in.

I’ll see you in a month, or, you’ll see me in a month with even more millimeters shed.

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You don’t need Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers, you need:

Where’s the Fatness?!

(T-shirts coming soon.)

Is a toothpick stuck in the middle of your dish.

A large bamboo skewer in lieu of the toothpick is also acceptable.

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Inspiration comes from this scene.

Since Mom is sick, you make your own scrambled eggs…

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And lay them on top of a tortilla which you’ve decided is what  the rat was using since you’ve never seen an omelet.

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The experience is not complete until you’ve added bits of  lettuce and raw garlic and red pepper.

Never mind how it tastes, you are creating a masterpiece.

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Your own mother has bankrupt you of the omelet experience and abandoned you to the belief that quesadillas are all that exist.

Poor, deprived children.

Is it any wonder your culinary skills are gleaned from an animated rodent?

]]> http://www.whats-going-on-here.com/2012/02/21/how-to-be-a-chef/feed/ 5 http://www.whats-going-on-here.com/2012/02/21/how-to-be-a-chef/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WhatsGoingOnHere/~3/vAQSupuci0g/ http://www.whats-going-on-here.com/2012/02/20/so-long-farewell-auf-wiedersehen-goodbye/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:13:04 +0000 Missy Jill http://www.whats-going-on-here.com/?p=9394 We said goodbye to an old friend today.

We felt sad.

But not sad enough to actually go out on the porch and let anyone see us taking pictures of our old van being towed away.

That would just be weird.

.

You served us well for 11 years, old van.

You are the only vehicle Tristan and Sawyer have ever known. Greyson was 4 when we got you.

Our lives have been lived in your heated leather seats.

You’ll never be replaced.

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Until tomorrow when the Suburban arrives.

(Life can be so cruel.)

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But we’ll still think of you fondly and all the years we spent together.

The Suburban’s seats are leather, but they aren’t heated.

You’ll always be the one that warms our…

hearts.

Sawyer could be found like this a few days ago, watching tv, hoping not to throw up.

(He didn’t)

But he sure felt like it.

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Kind of the way we all felt after this dinner.  It was one of those– too good to be true– dinners.

I knew we’d be out all day so I needed something I could throw in the crock pot in 5 minutes or less.

So, here’s the skinny: If you see a recipe that calls for 2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup and one can of Cream of Celery soup, don’t, I repeat, don’t substitute two of those cans for Tomato soup.

Tomato soup, ground beef  and a large bag of stuffing do not a dinner make.

But how was I to know that, running out the door and delirious on car buyer intent?

I’m here to save you the trouble of trying it.

Also?

We found a car!

It’s in our driveway right now.

Story to come…I may or may not get the post up as I feel like Sawyer right now.

It looked more like dripping sweat and calloused fingers.

With my machete in hand I approached the computer early this morning and found an interesting email from Todd:

“Happy Anniversary.”

Oh.

Yes.

This day 19 years ago marked a momentous occasion.

.

This is a taste of past celebrations.  Add to that a weekend away.

He’s never forgotten.

This just proves that buying a car on a 4 day deadline zaps all of your brain power and card designing time.

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I also forgot Valentine’s Day.

On top of everything else I happened to pick up a nasty bug and spent all of my non-car-search time in bed.

Somebody was busy though…

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Somebody tip-toed into the kitchen where I could hear the rattle and clang of baking going on.

“Mom, can you come out for a surprise?”

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Todd and I may have missed observing our anniversary in the usual way, but I tell you what–

Doing kids like this together is the best commemoration of all.

Half of one, really.

It was a sacrifice, but what else could I do?

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By the end of this post you are going to be convinced of two things if you aren’t already:

Flash pictures are awful,

and

I never make my boys comb their hair.

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This was Tristan’s favorite present until he opened the big one.

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“I bet it’s a scooter. I just know it is!”

(I’m going to let the pictures do the talking from here on out.)

.

.

.

.

.

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He never thought he’d get his biggest wish: an iPod Touch.

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 There was only one thing left to do then–  decorate the cake.

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He really wanted Red Hot Marshmallow Squirters from Max and Ruby’s birthday story, but this would have to do.

I’m just glad he didn’t go for the caterpillar icing.

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 Notice how Tonka is keen on cake decorating.

You get your schnoz into everything, don’t you Tonka. You’d like this cake for a chew toy, wouldn’t you?

Oh, I almost forgot the most important thing of all…

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Birthday spankin’s

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Touch that cake and you’ll be next, my dear.

We bought these blocks for our kids when we heard that the famous architect

Frank Lloyd Wright played with them when he was a kid.  Indeed, you can see the influence in his work today.

We wanted our kids to have the same stimuli in hopes of opening up doors for their future.

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This is just a taste of what can be done, given the desire and capacity of the child.

I’m almost certain this model was  built by an adult. But given the right tools and opportunity, kids can also build interesting and impressive structures…

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Like so.

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I hope you don’t think I’m a snooty mom now.

I just can’t help but think that my children are special, a cut above the rest.

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Can there by any doubt about it?

I woke up wishing I was a goat.

Let me ‘splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up:

I had a fender bender, repaired the car and thought it was over.

The insurance company then surprisingly declared the car a total loss and said they are dropping it from coverage.

.

I have five days to find another car for our family.

Scrambling.

I am scrambling.

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                                                                                                                      (source)

My nose was glued to the computer all day yesterday as the kids ran wild. (sorry, couldn’t resist.)

I was surfing madly back and forth between consumer websites, car specs, trim packages, seating capacity calculators and craigslist.

Needless to say, nothing else got done.

 I can tell you that the current Ford Expedition chassis was rolled out in 2007  and that it has absolutely no cargo space unless it is the XLT edition.  Isn’t that what life is really all about?

.

So you can see why I woke up this morning at 3:00 thinking of goats.

Actually, I was thinking how many things there were yet to do: wire transfers from the states, driving 1 hour west to see the green car, and 1 hour east to see the gray car, scheduling a mechanic’s evaluation; did I mention the bridge is closed down and it’s Tristan’s birthday?

While my thoughts were racing I started praying that God would make a way for us. That He would find a broad, wide resting place on a rock like Habakkuk 3:19 says:
“The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.”

.

These goats finally made me realize how much there is to that verse. When we find ourselves in precariously impossible situations, we know that He created the mountain and He can see to it that we are perfectly fitted to travel it. There may not be a broad, wide resting place. I might be on the slimmest of edges, but He’ll give me what I need to stay there.

HE is the broad, wide place, not my surroundings.

.

 I mean, does this goat look worried?

He was designed for this. It’s what he does.

I was designed to give glory to God by trusting in who He says He is:

Provider

Sustainer

Director

Keeper

So today, I will think of God, and goats, and chew my cud in peace.

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Who’s with me?

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Photos courtesy Twenty Two Words

]]> http://www.whats-going-on-here.com/2012/02/10/icy-roads-will-bite-you-back/feed/ 8 http://www.whats-going-on-here.com/2012/02/10/icy-roads-will-bite-you-back/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WhatsGoingOnHere/~3/cS1Wcyvx2t4/ http://www.whats-going-on-here.com/2012/02/09/what-i-will-not-do-for-my-kids/#comments Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:50:08 +0000 Missy Jill http://www.whats-going-on-here.com/?p=9292 The dog really did eat her homework.

Lest this become a blog about the things Tonka has destroyed,

let us mosey on to more rosy territory…

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Like how it can be minus 12 degrees but you can still wear a swimsuit here.

THANK YOU for indoor pools.

  Children under 8 are not allowed in this pool unless accompanied by an adult, so this is Sawyer’s first time here.

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Now that he can go in without my adult supervision, I can sit on the other side of this glass partition in chlorine free air and avoid the communal soup.

My motherly sacrifices only go so far. The balking line starts at floating wads of  hair, and unclaimed Band-Aids.

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The sacrifice list goes something like this–

Charging Grizzly: covered

Mad man with a machete: so in his path

Oncoming vehicle: will jump in front of

Crowded indoor pool :  just give me the Grizzly

.

 I try to make up for it by sitting and watching as long as it takes.

I have 7 years to make up for, after all.

(Those people you see in the water?  Soon after we arrived that’s how crowded the WHOLE POOL was, like a marching band at half-time.)

shudder-shudder

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Now THIS I can do.

Is that you, master?

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I see you, Daisy. I’m just letting you sit out in the cold because I’m gratifying my desire to capture this moment on film, first.

I’m thoughtful and caring that way.

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I also thought this might be the perfect opportunity to ask you a question:

Are YOU the one who ate the cookie dough?

Hmmmmmmmm?

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And don’t look for help to come from some other quarter.

This is just you and me, now.

You, and me.

(Maybe I can trip her up.)

Daisy, are you hungry? Would you like some….

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Chocolate chips?

Ah-ha!

I knew it!

Those are the eyes of a soul who has partaken of the dough.