Twin Bananas

This morning while I was mashing bananas for banana bread I ran across something I had never seen before.  Twin bananas!

Has anyone else seen one of these?

The banana bread was excellent BTW.  I added a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter and after I sprayed the pans I sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar for some added flavor!

Happy Monday

Hope everyone had a great Easter!  We had a day filled with friends, family and lots of love.  Can't beat that.  My God-daughter was confirmed yesterday morning.  It was a beautiful sunrise service.  She had me in tears when she mouthed "I love you." to me while she stood in the front of the church.  I do love that girl!

After the second church service we headed to my aunts house for dinner.  We spent a lovely afternoon with Gaga and ate way too much!  Shark surprised Chip with a birthday cake with a tank on it.  Everyone knows how he likes CAP.  While cutting the cake Chip realized the tank was actually a transformer.  Everyone had fun taking turns playing with it.

Tomorrow is Chip's 17th birthday.  Since tomorrow is a very busy day for us we have cancelled all activities for today and are celebrating instead.  Omelets for breakfast, nachos for dinner and beef stew for supper.  His requests are reasonable and easy to fulfill...except for the iPad he requested.  He isn't getting that...sorry babe!  Guess I shouldn't call my 17 year old son babe anymore...sorry bud!  I will give you the day off school tomorrow instead.  I am reasonable after all.

Better get going...gonna be a busy day.  I have yogurt in the crock pot and need to get cracking on the beef stew and strawberry cake and laundry and dusting and every other thing I can possibly fit into a day at home! 

Wishing you a great Monday.

Happy trails~~~

The Royals Get Spoofed

I haven't been following the royal wedding this time around but you can bet your pantyhose that I watched Prince Charles and Lady Di's wedding from beginning to end.  And even though I wanted to be Lady Di, I found the wedding quite boring.  There, I said it.  The wedding was boring!  Of course I was only 11 years old at the time.  I find this one to be much more entertaining.

 

Normal...Ahhhh

I have started this post 4 times now. I have absolutely nothing to say. We haven't done anything interesting. Nothing scholastic. Nothing fun. Nothing worth mentioning. We have just been living a normal life. And normal is gooooood!

Yesterday the temperature soared to about 80 degrees! Heavenly! We opened our windows and "hopefully" got some of the winter stink out of the house. Goodness knows we needed a little nice weather pick me up. This morning it is really windy though. :-/

We have spent the weekend watching the pair of Iowa Eagles in Decorah.


This is our second year watching them. They just amaze us. While we were watching yesterday we saw the second eaglet hatch (or what we think was the second eaglet hatching).

That was pretty cool.

Later in the day the second eagle flew up and dropped a dead bird, left and came back 3 seconds later with a dead fish. AWESOME!


But my favorite part of the day was when they let the first little one out of the bowl for a while. The mama kept a close eye on her eaglet. When the wind came up she spread her wings to protect it and then took her beak and rolled it back into the nest.


The eaglets are cute as a button and we can't wait to watch their development.


If, by chance, you haven't heard of the Decorah Eagles, check them out! They are terrific living science. (on a side note, I can't believe the boom in traffic on the site....I hear they have even been on the national news! I sent the link out to all my contacts when the first egg was laid. Not one person responded. Now I keep getting emails from those same people telling me so and so sent them this great site and I should check it out. Stop 'noring my emails people...my feelings are hurtin' so. LOL..just pulling yer leg this find Monday morning!)

Today Sweet has an appointment to get braids in her hair for the gymnastics competition this weekend. We are taking a mini vacation so we can enjoy the time away. Gotta pack, clean the car and be ready to leave Thursday morning. We are trying to find economical field trips on the way to Nebraska. On the way back I hope to stop at the Air Museum. Something that will tie in with Civil Air Patrol.

I like normal. It is good. Happy Monday!



(c) 2008-1011 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

Amazing, Brilliant...Yeah

I had an amazingly brilliant moment this morning and I am still paying for it. The background to this story is important. Without the proper background information the story just wouldn't be what it should be, so let me start with that.

It started this morning after dropping Cool off at work. I knew we had to come to Sokol to clean and thought picking something quick up for breakfast was my best bet. I stopped at Panera to get a bagel pack. Nothing like 13 bagels and cream cheese to start the morning off right. I parked, grabbed my purse and went into the store. I looked in the entry way and immediately turned around. There was no way I was going to be the last of 12 people in line for bagels. My grandpa stood in line for 4 hours in 1941 and all he got was beans. I wasn't following down that same path. I have learned from his mistakes.

So, I went to my nemesis, Walmart. I hate Walmart. I only go there when no other store is open. It was only 7:30. I had no choice. I parked, grabbed my purse and headed into the super store. I grabbed a buggy and went to look at day-old bread, hoping for bagels. No day-old. So, I went to the cream cheese and picked up some honey walnut. Then I started looking at bagels. Did you know that most of the brands have high fructose corn syrup in them. Why? That makes absolutely no sense to me. When I make bagels I don't put corn syrup in them. Anyway, I found a brand with no hfcs and picked three different kinds. Not that it matters but I got french toast, apple cinnamon and everything. I also picked up another cream cheese...this time chive.

I went up to the front to check out and noticed that strawberries were on sale for $1.88/lb. Thinking fruit and bagels sounded good, I threw (set gently) two pounds in the buggy. I went to the self check out, ran my groceries through, paid and went back to the car. I was quite happy with myself for choosing not to stand in line. I got 18 bagels, two cream cheese tubs and 2 lbs of strawberries for less than a bagel pack would have cost me.

After buckling up and telling the picklets my money saving news, we went to the gas station. Dill was craving a cappuccino. Dill and Chip went in and got hot chocolate and cappuccino for all of us. We then made our way to Sokol. I figured we would eat a quick breakfast of bagels and strawberries and get to work cleaning.

I came in, my hands full. Dill came in, his hands full. Sweet came in carrying her hot chocolate. Chip came in carrying his hot chocolate and an empty coffee cup. This is where it all started wrong. This is the course of events as I remember them.

Chip said to Sweet, "How come you didn't bring the bagels in?"
Sweet said to Chip, "How come you didn't?"
Chip said to Sweet, while flailing his hands, "My hands are kind of full Sweet!"
Sweet said to Chip, "You still couldn't have gotten them. Go back out and get them."
Chip said to Sweet, "You."

Cutting off the inevitable, "no you", that was coming I set something on the desk, rather hard like, and said..er yelled.."OMG! I'll just get them!"

That is when it happened. I stomped around the desk and tables and set off for the car. I was going to show them just how simple getting a bag of bagels and cream cheese actually is.

The next thing I knew I was rolling in the middle of the parking lot. I stood up, all cool like, giving the impression that I meant to do that. That's when the pain set it. My finger, knees and back were throbbing.

I looked down at my already swollen finger to see that a chunk out of the side of my finger was gone and that blood was dripping (gushing?). I went back inside, sat down and trying very hard not to...started crying. More out of embarrassment than anything.

As I sat there, thinking to myself, 'Is it really that hard to get bagels and cream cheese in from the car?' I saw out of the corner of my eye Chip coming inside carrying the Walmart bag. Hmmm...

Ok, so maybe I am NOT amazing or brilliant. And the background to the story isn't all that important either, just makes it a tad more interesting. And no matter how I try, I can't blame this on Wal-Mart. And goodness knows I tried.

So why did I feel the need to chronicle this moment? That is a good question since I don't come off looking so good in it. After careful consideration I think I have come up with the answers.

Number 1, so I can print it off and send it to the kids each Mother and Father's day with the simple message, "You reap what you sow. Love, Mom"
Number 2, so I have written proof that went I told Cool what happened his first question was, "What pants were you wearing?" Yes, he was more worried about my new jeans than my well being ladies and gents. Just a small glimpse into the life of this pickle wife.
And Number 3, to remind myself that getting mad at the picklets and stomping off to "show them" is not the answer. It doesn't teach them anything productive and ends up making me look bad in the long run.

That's my story boys and girls. And I'm sticking to it.

By the way, according to spell check, I mis-spelled bagel 13 times. Fitting, huh?

Just a Cup of Tea

Sent via email from my parents...

One day my mother was out, and my dad was in charge of me. I was maybe 2 1/2 years old. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a gift, and it was one of my favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought him a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my mom came home.

My dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!' Mom waited, and sure enough, here I came down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy; and she watched him drink it up.

Then she said, (as only a mother would know), "'Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is the toilet?"

Ha! Have a great week!

Breakfast and Cool Website

Tired again this morning. But nothing new there. It is snowing and blowing. We are expecting up to a foot of snow before the whole storm is over sometime tomorrow morning. It is definitely a good day for baked oatmeal, hot cocoa and a good read aloud. Oatmeal is in the oven. :-)

We took the day off from school yesterday since Cool took the day off work. It was a rare treat and we enjoyed it quite a bit. We snuggled on the couch and watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Nanny Mc Phee Returns and Iron Man 2. Lots of fresh popped corn and ice water topped it off. We also took a van load to Good Will. The workers couldn't believe how many "hampers" we filled up. It was amazing how much junk we got rid of and how much more we need to get rid of. Depressing in fact.

Today will be a normal school day. The only difference is we don't have to be somewhere at a certain time. We don't have to stop for 2 1/2 hours for gymnastics and then be done by 3:30 to get Cool from work. I already feel relaxed.

I was directed toward a website last night that I want to share. Christian Homeschool Hub has some awesome free resources and downloads that I think many of you will enjoy. There is a February planner available right now. The website offers some neat resources so take a took around.

Have a good Tuesday!


(c) 2008-2011 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

A Fun Night

Chip wasn't feeling the best last night and decided going to CAP wasn't the best idea. That meant we got to go home early. We were home before 5:00. It was still light. We weren't all ready for bed. It was heavenly.

We decided to take full advantage of it too. We made homemade pizza for supper. Everyone fixed their own and customized it to their liking. We then took advantage of the Redbox code from yesterday and watched Grown Ups. I can't tell you the last time we all laughed that hard while together. It is one of the funniest movies I have seen in quite some time.

At 8:00 the movie was over and we all headed to bed. No complaints about it being too early, just bed.

Ahhhh...it is any wonder that I woke up with a smile on my face? It was truly a great night. Now off to deliver those papers. ;-)

A Riddle

What family has four vehicles; 1 doesn't run, 1 runs but can't move, 1 runs and moves but doesn't heat and 1 runs, moves, heats but has no brakes?

Any guesses?

Monday

Temps below zero. Windchills way below zero. And the papers are on time. Not a good day for the heat in the car to decide not to work.

Hot cocoa and coffee all around while we wait for the van to warm up.

You Tube

This week I am going to highlight some favorite you-tubes.

Today I am highlighting two of my favorites. They are feel good songs. They put a smile on my face and just make me happy. It don't get better than that. :-)

David Crawford sings "Spoiled Bumblebee" to the tune "Flight of the Bumble Bee". It's about a shopping trip with kids and a case of the gimmees.

He also sings Pachelbel Bedtime. I actually bought this song from I-tunes so I could have it on my Mp3 player. It makes me laugh everytime I hear it. And I love the video! Watch the interaction between David and his daughter. It is precious.

The Gift of an Ordinary Day

This was shared with my by my friend Jayne. It is so true to life, so real. Watch, listen and embrace the "ordinary day". You will be so happy you did.



~~Happy Trails~~

Honey-Do's

I have a perpetual Honey-Do list for Cool. Most of the time it doesn't get done. I'm not saying Cool doesn't do things around the house by any means. He cooks supper at least three times a week, he does the dishes those nights, cleans the porch, does laundry and picks up the nights that I am not home. But when we are both home, I want him to relax. Now, that could be because I want to relax myself and seeing that he is relaxing makes me feel less guilty for relaxing. Regardless of the reasons why, the relaxing ultimately makes the honey-do list long and intensive when we finally decide that it can't be put off any more.

To take a pro-active stance on this whole list making and accomplishing business, I have decided to make shorter honey-do lists for Cool. Two or three things, tops. That way it isn't labor and time intensive and maybe, just maybe things will actually get done.

This weekends list consists of:
hang pictures in Sweet's room
hang pictures in hallway
take extension cord out of bedroom
hang curtain rods back up

OK, so that is 4 things but it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours tops. And if these things get done then the house will be that much closer to being what we might consider done. Of course, probably by the time we get to the point we consider "done", I will decide it is time for a change and the process will start again. Oh well.

~~Happy Trails~~

(c) 2008-2010 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

10 Ways to Make Today GREAT

1. Think good things will happen.
2. Express gratitude to a loved one.
3. Put your gripes away.
4. Be patient.
5. Do something for yourself.
6. Reach out to someone who needs comfort.
7. Focus deeply on each moment.
8. Learn from mistakes.
9. Look closely at the beauty of nature.
10. SMILE

Just a little reminder to those of us who need it. :-P

What I Have Learned...

I've learned...that the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.
I've learned...that the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself
with people smarter than I am.
I've learned...that having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful
feelings in the world.
I've learned...that just one person saying to me, "You've made my day!" makes my day.
I've learned...that I feel better about myself when I make others feel better about themselves.
I've learned...that when you're in love, it shows.
I've learned...that the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.
I've learned...that it is those small daily happenings that make my life so spectacular.
I've learned...that there's nothing sweeter than sleeping with your babies and feeling
their breath on your cheeks.
I've learned...that what we have done for ourselves alone dies with us. What we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.

~from a newsletter I received~

A Quote

The kids and I were sitting at the supper table eating while at my parents house and I said,

"You know, this is what it would be like every night if Cool and I were to get
divorced."

The look on my dad's face was priceless. But the look on Cool's face when I told him was even moreso. I love yanking their chains like that. It makes my day.

Prayer

Whether you are the prayin' type or the sendin' good vibes type, I ask that you send your prayers, good thoughts and healing wishes toward my Godson and his family. He was involved in a car accident and peace is needed at this time. Thanks.

Prayer
by Maya Angelou

Father, Mother, God,
Thank you for your presence
during the hard and mean days.
For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence
during the bright and sunny days,
for then we can share that which we have
with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence
during the Holy Days, for then we are able
to celebrate you and our families
and friends.

For those who have no voice,
we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy,
we ask you pour your love out
in waterfalls and tenderness.

For those who live in pain,
we ask you to bathe them
in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask
you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed,
we ask you to shower upon them
the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless
sea of substance, we ask you to give all the
world that which we need most---PEACE.

UGH

Blogger published some posts that either weren't finished or were not ever going to be posted. I just went through and deleted a bunch. I hate when stuff I write for my own mental health gets out for all of the public to view. No one needs to know the status of my mental health, for sure. :-/ Many apologies to those who read the ramblings of the never meant to be published, mental health writing blog posts.

If You Ever Loved Somebody

PUT YOUR HANDS UP!

Ownership

The question of ownership has been a saucy topic around the house the last few weeks. Cool and I firmly believe that for the picklets to appreciate what they have, they have to work hard and take a certain amount of ownership in those things. For instance, Dill likes Tae Kwon Do and is required to pay a portion of his TKD classes each month. Chip loves gymnastics and volunteers his time at Sokol teaching, assisting and cleaning to earn his fees. Sweet is also required to pay for part of her gymnastics. She doesn't think this is fair because she is just a kid.

When she signed up for homeschool gymnastics I told her I would pay for it. She decided she wanted two hours a week for homeschool gymnastics instead of one. I told her she needed to pay half. She reluctantly agreed. She has been shelling out her $27.50 per month for three months.

We then decided to make the change to another gym. That took our cost from volunteering for her gym time to $200.00 per month. A big jump. We made the decision that Sweet would pay $40.00 per month for this. That is $10 per week and only cents per hour. She has been a bit reluctant with needing to pay this as she is just a kid you know.

Now I hear that she needs private lessons to perfect her text moves so she can compete this season. I told her to talk to to coaches and see what they mean by compete. Do they mean state? If they do, since her goal is to go to state, she could pay for private lessons herself. Well, that put the little cherub over the edge. She started sobbing. I can't afford to pay for all this. I have to pay for gymnastics, leotards, food. I AM JUST A KID!

I calmly explained to her that we do pay a majority of her lessons and that as much as we want to see her succeed we are not willing to put the family in the poor house to see it happen. I also explained that we have bought her several leotards and the extras she thinks she needs are her responsibility. 13 might be a bit excessive. And as for food. I supply food at no cost to her every day. If that food is not up to her standards then, YES, she does have to buy her own food. I am not McDonalds. I then went on to explain that I make the same amount from the paper route as she does. I not only have to pay for gymnastics and TKD, I have to pay for gas, oil changes, insurance and every other little things that comes about. I even went on to say that I have to drive back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...

We both burst into laughter at that. Having children understand that money doesn't grow on trees and that there is a certain amount of ownership when you are required to pay for it is a touchy subject.

As a family we are barely keeping our heads above water. We provide the picklets with the necessities and several other things that are not necessary. So I ask myself, How much is too much? Where do we draw the line? I don't think there is a good answer to that.

Sweet has a passion, a drive, for gymnastics that I have never had for anything my entire life. And while she has that passion I want to nurture it and give her all I can; but groceries, heat, water and a roof over our heads needs to come first. How do you explain that to an 11 year old when you can't scream, "I AM JUST A KID!"?

(c) 2008-2010 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines