How's your food storage?

This morning as I was straightening my hair Sophia walked in and handed me a crumpled bunch of scraps.

"Here, mommy. Barbage (garbage)," said The Girl With The Big Blue Eyes.

Looking it over I could see that it was the remains of what was, just minutes before, a completely usable toy.

"What happened?" I inquired.

And with a look that would convince every jury in the nation except the one I was on, she cocked her head, shrugged one shoulder and replied,

"I no know, mommy." And then blinked enough to put Scarlett O'Hara to shame while smiling with just the side of her mouth.

So by my calculations that puts the Apocalypse beginning somewhere around next Tuesday.

I hope you're ready.

And while you're at it, eat this!

These waffles are ah-mazing! I'm obviously enjoying being able to eat again.

I have to share this recipe!

I've made this a few times and it's easily one of the best recipes up my sleeve. I changed it around this time, swapping chicken broth (well, bouillon and water) for the sherry. I'm skeptical that the crockpot is really burning off the alcohol... Also, my friend was talking about tomato and roasted red pepper soup the other day and I haven't been able to get it out of my head! So I roasted up two whole red peppers and threw those in as well. I served it with my mom's homemade bread recipe.

DIVINE!

Sweet is the work

So I think I can - occasionally - come across as being a little cynical, snide and sarcastic about motherhood, wifery and the whole business. And politics. I can get snide about politics.

(NO, Anna! Not YOU!)

It happens to be part of my nature. I'm not actually cynical or snide in real life, I don't think...it's just one of those things that sneaks up and leaks out in my telling of a story. I love my life. A really lot.

Here are a few reasons why:

Miles (who is afraid of the dark) and Chase (who isn't). Best daddy ever. Patient, loving, kind, firm. Not afraid to get in there and be the bad guy, especially if it means taking the heat off of me, which it usually does.

As a side note: The Big Guy turned 30 today. He's not one to appreciate a long-winded post about how amazing he is. But just know that he is. The world you have lived in for the last 30 years has been better just because he exists. And you probably didn't even know it was because of him. You're welcome.

Photo collages by Cameron.

Live-in Ninja Services. Jealous?

Miles' legs.

Sophie in a tutu while taking the babies for a spin.

This kid surviving a horrible asthma attack in the middle of the night and then spending the next day building blocks like a champ.

Sophie's weird desire to drink an entire cup of water 1/8 of a tsp. at a time, perched in her favorite spot - the middle of the table.

Here we are again the next day. Middle of the table and using small implements to drink a cup of water. And the pigtails. OHHHHHH, the piggies.

My HCG diet is working AWESOME

So I went to the doc today to hear the little kid's heartbeat again...always fun. Though, I can tell s/he is already a bit of a prankster because it took a few tense moments to find it. I may or may not have gotten all hot in the face and freaky during those moments before sighing, "GEEZ" under my breath. I love my doc and he just smiled with me - I could tell he was a little tense for a minute too, which made me love him all the more. Anyway, the baby seemed to be swimming laps because we'd (and that's "we" meaning the doc, while I assisted in laying there holding my breath) find the HB and listen for a sec and the little creep would swim off again! In all fairness, I should expect nothing less. My babies all do regular, in-utero gymnastics for the whole 9 months. It's not uncommon for people sitting next to me at church to get a glimpse of my belly dancing on it's own while I'm sitting perfectly still. It's a trip, I'll tell ya...

So anyway, I've heard about this thing called the "HCG Diet." Have y'all heard about this? I guess the idea is that you load your body with HCG, ie. the PREGNANCY HORMONE, which my body happens to be swimming in right now, and then go through a series of different food phases.

Sounds awesome, doesn't it?

I just wanted to throw this out there, because I think it's a sign that our society has hit yet another LOW on this one. I mean, can't we just go back to Olestra or whatever that was that made people poop without meaning to? Can HCG possibly be better than that?

Let's look at a few of the side-effects that I've noticed from my own anecdotal studies:

• Weight gain: Every time I've had HCG in my system, I tend to gain about 25-35 pounds.

Looking good so far...moving on.

• Temporary or permanent moodiness, bouts of whininess, and overall grumpiness, mixed with periods of extreme crazy.
• Acne
• Fatigue
• Swelling of hands, feet, legs, face and earlobes
• Bleeding gums
• Bloody nose
• Desire of onlookers to touch you inappropriately
• A Baby
• Possibly more than one baby

So, as far as diets go I have to give this one a thumbs down. Unless you like this kind of thing (which, apparently, I do. A lot.).

For all you wine guzzling BYU Cougs out there.

Sorry, Rena. But I had to steal this from your blog. The world needs to know.

Kohls is feeling pretty silly about now.

The official BYU Cougars Wine Cooler! For the apostate Cougar who still wants to show their school pride!

It looks like it's already sold out!

p.s. keep reading if you haven't seen the Cam post below...