Burritos

Burritos are one of the food traditions I grew up with. This is a great Mom meal as it is fast, easy, the kids will eat it, and I happen to like them too. We had these lots growing up, and now as a mother I fully appreciate the beauty of the burrito. I haven't made them in a long while and really have not been taking advantage of this great meal. Don't fear we are now, and we are making up for lost time. Both Andrew and Lexie ate two for lunch yesterday. Don't worry Jess it was with the small corn tortillas not the giant flour ones. Add this dish to your lunch repertoire. It is a good one!

Lets Go Swimming

Since my kids have been saying the title of this blog daily I thought I should do a post on it. We have spent a fair amount of time at the pool this summer. The home we are renting is part of a HOA which has a community pool. It has been great. Both Andrew and Lexie have learned to swim this summer just from going to the pool. They still need to practice, but they are good enough that I am not paranoid about them by the water. Anna is also very comfortable around the water. She will sink like a rock though. She has loved taking a bucket and little ladle and spooning the water into the bucket. Don't try and take in from her she will let you know by yelling MINE. I really abhor this word for the 18month to three year old. Some how they pick up on it at say it about everything. I love that picture of her content with her work and her little wispy's glistening in the sunlight. The pool is close. Walking distance, as is Andrew's school so we really are in a good location. We probably have another good month to six weeks of pool usage left as it stay hot for awhile, and I am really ready for a break from the heat.

The CRICKETS have come. Apparently there is a large infestation of crickets every fall, and according to the women at the post office will last till about November. Not looking forward to this part of fall. They just appeared yesterday and they were at various places all over town. They flock to the buildings and you can see walls covered in the biggest blackest crickets I have ever seen. I am a bug sissy, so I may or may not take a picture. I will pray for the seagulls to come. That was Jessica's, my sisters, advice. I think I'll take it. Before we left to come down my home teacher kept commenting on the bugs down here. I'm starting to understand his fixation on them as well as the large market for pest control. Well time to go as I have a messy house and bawling children to attend to. Have a great Saturday!

Kindergarten!

So I'm not sure what to make of the first week of school thus far. Each afternoon when I've picked Andrew up and asked what did you learn, the responses have been as follows:

Monday: "I learned about not hitting."

Tuesday: "learned about not hitting, pushing, and sharing."

Wednesday: "learned about telling the truth."

I'm wondering if this is what all the kindergartners report or just the ones who are having trouble with these concepts. I'm hoping all come home with such reports. He has all day kindergarten so it is going to be a big adjustment. I'm wondering what they do all day, how he is behaving, how much the are indoctrinating him with TEXAS, and the likes. He was super excited about the first day but a little less the following two days. When I asked him if he wanted to wait a year before starting kindergarten he still reported no. I'm hoping Mrs Pemberton is nice and patient, and that Andrew will be able to sit still for longer than 2 minutes. Life's an adventure, things are always changing and I'm not sure what to make of having a school aged child! I shed a few tears of sadness and also a few for Joy. My house been quieter, and cleaner. I hope he likes it, makes friends and learns lots. Andrew I hope you have a great year, I love you!

Kwirks

Lexie November 2008

I think the little kwirks and idiosyncrasies people have are part of what makes them lovable. Just a few minutes ago I told Lex I was going to wash their blankets. My kids have a bad habit of having there blankets with them everywhere. So washing them can sometimes be a big deal. When I told her she said with big eyes and enthusiasm," Okay but don't wash the chocolate off. It smells good and I like it."

I like chocolate too but not on my bedding. She truly has some Larsen blood cause we love treats. I should tell you about my mom and peanut m&m's sometime, but she might get mad. I love you Lexie!

Be Careful What you Wish For

Allergies. You wished for allergies you ask? No I did not. I was just never very sympathetic of my husbands allergies. Sort of thought he was a bit of a baby about the whole thing. So in the wisdom of life, I have been blessed with allergies. My husband and his family have lots of allergies. I can now truly sympathize. I'm allergic to Texas I guess because I have never really had allergies to speak of. Yea every now and then I would get itchy eyes, and a runny nose. But now I have sinus congestion that has taken up residence and I can't get it to clear. So while I didn't exactly wish for allergies, I didn't give my husband the due sympathy he deserved and the universe has seen fit to let me try them out for myself. I will no longer make light of allergies, cause they STINK! Sorry Jeremy for eight years of sort of thinking you were a baby.

Update

Well since my blogging competition ended with my sisters, which by the way I won, I haven't been very good at posting. I'm going to get back into it as it is something I enjoy and makes me happy. So some random updates:

Saturday night (8/22/09) cute Andrew said," Is tomorrow fast Sunday?"
Me: "No."
Andrew: "Is it slow Sunday?"
Jeremy and I had a good laugh at this one. Makes sense if there is a fast Sunday there should be a slow one too. But for me Fast Sunday is the SLOW Sunday. I have never been very good at fasting and it is an area of life I could stand for a little improvement. Sure I fast, or rather go hungry but I really need to develop a testimony of this principle.

When my mom was here in July we decided we would try to highlight my hair, against my better judgement. My mom tried to tell me it didn't look "that bad" when someone uses this term you know it's not good.
So I waited and then when Jess was here she bought some hair dye before she left for home. So that night after the wonderful vacation which you can read about here ended, I dyed my hair. This is a first for me. I have always paid someone for my dye jobs (there is a reason for this). Anyhow, the color is much darker with a fair amount of red highlights. Sometimes I like it and sometimes I don't. But when Lexie noticed she said,"Did you paint your hair?" I told her I did and she got all excited said she wanted to paint her hair in the morning, ran into the bathroom looking for the paint, then asked if I used fingernail polish. I love how their little minds work. They make me so happy and I feel so lucky to be a mother. I just want to always remember the cute things they do and say, especially in the moments where I am clearly losing it.

Under the Weather

So Mom's should never get sick. I'm feeling crumby and unfortunately the work of a mother never ends. Dads can get sick and things seem to continue to run, but if mom is sick the home falls apart. I'm not feeling well. Runny nose, sore throat, body aches and low grade fever. I'm hoping it will exit quickly as Jess is coming into town on Thursday. The worst part is I worked like a dog last night to get the house in shape. Oh well this too shall pass. At least I have LOST, and hot jello water. Did any of you drink that when you were a kid and sick? I'm making some for myself right now, and wishing my own mother was here to take care of me.

Just Because

Winking Andrew , and Lexie chilling on the patio August 4, 2009

So, I came upon the above scene this morning. They recently got umbrellas and who knew they would be such a hit. They want to play with them all of the time. I think they are darling, the children not the umbrellas.

Do you think Lexie should be a model? She is learning the art of posing, maybe I'll put her to work.

Swedish Pancakes

So here are some delicious Swedish Pancakes. These have become a tradition in my family. It is fun to see this happening in my own little family as I can think of food traditions in the family I grew up in as well as in by best friend, Natalie's family. I'm sure it is not exclusive to our families alone. I remember after fast Sundays as a kid coming home and having crackers with cream cheese on top, and nachos. Natty's fam had Lasagna on fast Sundays ( right?)Hawaiian chicken was always a big hit for Sunday dinner, and Abby's rice, both delicious, and something both my sisters and I make for our families now. I guess it is important what food traditions we create in our families because if you don't think the next generation is going to carry them on, you're wrong. Soda drinking, is one from my family. It is not the healthiest tradition but we all ( all 5 kids) picked it up. It makes us happy and is a little pick me up for the day. We could have picked a worse vice. I did hold out on becoming a regular drinker until 25 and I'm quiting this year just haven't yet, don't doubt me though. Enough babble here is the recipe, it is from my mother-in-law, Linda and we love it:
3 eggs beat till thick
1 1/4 Cups milk
3/4 Cup flour ( you may need to add a little extra)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat all ingredients together, pour on electric skillet or crepe ban or big frying pan or whatever you have and cook them up. I like to cover with berries and a sprinkle of powdered sugar, Lexie likes peanut butter, Andrew jam, and Jeremy butter and about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. How is he so skinny?