I posted this a while back, but thought it would be perfect today for WFMW: The Five Ingredients Edition.

My oldest daughter has become increasingly more interested in helping me in the kitchen lately and has been asking me when she can cook dinner for the family. Just like music to my ears! So I tried to think of an easy recipe she could follow that didn’t use too many ingredients. Not that anything I ever cook is very difficult, but still she’s eight. And her mother is paranoid about her use of metal on a hot shiny stove so we are taking baby steps here. One of the girls weekday favorites is Pizza Sticks, which they so cleverly have renamed the “Easy Peesy Cheesy Pizza Sticks”. You must, in my house, also refer to these cheesy little wonders by thier equally cheesy name or you may upset the natives. No shortening. No, “hey hand me your plate and I will get you some pizza sticks.” “Mammmmaaaaa, you mean Easy Peesy Cheesy Pizza Sticks.” “Ok. (sigh) Hand me your plate so I can get you some Easy Peesy Cheesy Pizza Sticks. Please.” Good thing I drew the line there. The first title was “Olivia’s Famous Easy Peesy Cheesy and Pepperoni Pizza Sticks.” Whew. I am tired from just typing it. So anyhoo. Here are the ingredients you need:

We don’t shop for specifics in this family. We go by strictly what is on sale and what we have the best coupon for. The breadsticks obviously don’t have to be garlic, and I once used the pizza dough which worked great, but I enjoy the garlicy taste and the girls do too. Oh, and the boyfriend just loves it when we all smell like garlic. The Ramen noodles? Again not necessary unless you have a picky 5 year old that claims she “is just not in the mood for Pizza Sticks”, I mean not in the mood for Easy Peesy Cheesy Pizza Sticks.

So here goes the tutorial. My first. So be kind. And I must mention, that I did nothing during the making of the Easy Chee oh forget it, dinner. Olivia did it all on her own. I even let her take the pan from the oven. I only made her wear 2 hand mits. And use a towel.

First you just open one package of your garlic breadsticks and spread them out on a sheet of wax paper.  And I know you are all so jealous by the expanse of countertop space we have to work with here, but please control yourself.

You want to smush the seams together to make better use of the breadsticks. You don’t want them to be too skinny.

And don’t worry. Having two different colored chipping nailpolish is not necessary for the making of this meal, but if you wanna go spruce up your fingers a la eight-year-old-girl,  go ahead. We’ll wait.

Next you want to cut your dough into bigger squares. I usually get nine to a package of breadsticks.

The next step will no doubt get you a few giggles if you live in a house with children as do I, because now you must cut the cheese. This one Emma took literally and so we all had to evacuate the kitchen for a few moments but we recovered.

You will want to break up your cheese a little bit by splitting it apart so that you have enough for all the sticks.

Now just place a few pieces of pepporoni and a few pieces of cheese into each square and roll it up tightly, pinching the ends.

Tah-Dah! Dab the rolls with a little bit of the vegetable oil on a papertowel to make them crispy in the oven. Now just place all your rolled up breadstick rolls onto the pan and cook at 35o degrees for 11 to 14 minutes.

You will want to turn your sticks over during baking so they get crispy on both sides.

Yum. Just throw them on a plate and douse them with marinara sauce, or if you prefer like Cori, to get a big dallup of marinara on the side and dip, you can do that too.

Just make sure you get a little sauce on your shirt there. Makes the meal complete.

Or you could just skip the whole Easy Peesy Cheesy Pizza Stick ordeal and eat your Ramen noodles and be happy.

But I’m takin the sticks anyday!

Wanna see more great recipes, go visit Works For Me Wednesday at Rocks in my Dryer! Tons of great ideas!

Last night it was rainy and dreary while I made my way home. I thought of what I would make for dinner and what the girls and I could do on an evening of being forced inside because of the rain. I picked Emma up first, as I always do, and the first words out of her mouth were, as they always are, “Mama, can I ride my bike when I get home?”

“Well, it is raining right now, but if it stops raining then you can.”

She seemed content with that and we chatted for the rest of the ride to get her sisters. This time of day is usually our only time together, just the two of us, and I am convinced she tries to fit in as many questions as she possibly can in this expanse of time.

As we pulled in front of the house the raindrops turned to drizzle and before we were checking the mail, it ceased altogether. Before even stepping foot in the house, Emma took her cue from Mother Nature and made her way by skipping to the backyard to retrieve her bike. Before long, her sisters followed suit and began riding with her. I told the girls I was going to get supper going and I would be out very shortly to check on them. I reminded them again the boundaries of their bike riding;

“Don’t forget ladies, not farther than the rock wall at Andrews place or the stop sign up here, ok”

“Yes mam” they chimed in unison.

Not ten minutes later, after putting ground beef on the stove to brown for spaghetti with meat sauce, I stepped foot on the porch to check on the natives. Riding their bikes without a care in the world, I lingered for a moment to enjoy their giggles. I soon called them in for dinner and they convinced me it was a night for eating on the porch. After we enjoyed spaghetti, salad and fresh bread on the porch, I excused myself to do the dishes while the girls again flew for their bikes.

The dishes didn’t take long so I grabbed the basket of towels that I had just taken from the dryer and walked out on the porch to fold while watching the girls. I was disappointed to find that Olivia had ridden past the stop sign and was on her way back when I came outside. I made her put her bike up and go in the house to get ready for pajamas and to work on her project due this Friday. I told Cori and Emma they had about 20 minutes left; that we needed to head inside about 7:15 to get prepared for today. Not 45 seconds later Cori cruised right past the rock wall at Andrews place. I too sent her inside to get ready for pajamas.

Then shaking my head in disbelief at just what my children do and do not retain in their little minds, I looked up to see Emma riding her bike down the sidewalk, being sure to turn around carefully before meeting the stopsign. For the next few minutes I just watched her ride her bike and answer the questions that started flying when she realized we were alone. After explaining to her why it rained, how they built bridges and why cars have 4 wheels and not six, I reminded her that she had only about 5 minutes left before it was time to put the bike away and head inside.

I sat there and enjoyed the pre-summer coolness of a evening after rain and just watched her ride up and down, up and down the sidewalk. I looked down at my watch to see it was 7:14, so I let her know. As we tried to stave off the last minute of our time together, I looked at my little lone survivor of obedience and marveled at her for a moment. I told her it was time to go inside and without missing a beat she walked her bike to the backyard. I waited for her at the side of the house and we walked up the sidewalk hand in hand into the house. As I watched her run up the steps to get pajamas ready and I could not help but think what a brave little girl she is and how she has done such a 180.

This little girl that was diagnosed not even a year ago of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder and Anxiety. I remembered how she would worry about the simplest of things like an adult until it literally made her sick to her stomach. I thought about all the times she was punished at daycare for not sitting still, when she simply could not. I thought about how school administrators told me she needed to be on medication; about the doctors that agreed. I thought about the first time I heard the words ‘chemical imbalance’.  I thought about the time that I caved in and agreed to the smallest therapeutic dose and how my little baby took that little pill and then proceeded to stare into space sitting on the floor in front of her dollhouse instead of playing with it and how that made my heart shatter into a trillion pieces and fall to the floor in the form of hot tears. I then remembered the beautiful young therapist that took my hand in hers in her small office one cold winter day and looked me in my eyes and said to me “We can help your child without medication, but you must be committed and you must be willing to lose all sense of your own emotions. When you get frustrated and want to yell, you must not. I will teach you and we will teach Emma.” I believed her. I committed. And I learned. And tonight when my little girl stopped at the door and looked up at me with those beautiful almond shaped eyes and said “I was the good girl huh, mama?”, I looked right back down at her and said, “You were the best girl, noodle, the best girl.”

I believe ADHD is real. I have to. I have seen my daughter struggle too much to believe that it doesn’t have a name. I believe she gets anxious. I believe that maybe even my baby does have a chemical imbalance.

I don’t know if there is a way to love the ADHD and anxiety right outta her, but I do know I don’t wanna stop trying til I’ve figured it out.

I came across an article this morning that made me think about what a special roll ice cream has played in my life. Hear me out on this one. I think there are things that all families do, little traditions they start that become a link through the generations. Maybe you have cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning because that is what your mom always did and her mom before her. Maybe you always have family night on Wednesdays and eat popcorn because that is what you did growing up.

For my family, ice cream has always been in the background of our family traditions. Every year when I was a little girl, my aunt and uncle would have a fourth of July party. One of two things you could always expect at their parties, ok three, (one was fireworks and two was my cousin Krissy having some sort of injury or breakdown to force everyone to look at her and give her all the attention) was the homemade ice cream my uncle would make. He would break out the ice cream churn and the ice and the salt and then we would all take turns guessing what the special flavor would be. Would it be pineapple this year? Peach? Whatever it was it was always wonderful.

When I got a little older and started playing softball and then crying after softball because I was the catcher and the ache I would feel in my legs from getting up and down 4,982 times per night was almost too much for a spoiled 14 year old to handle, my dad would take me to get ice cream. We would sit on the bench outside of the ice cream place and I would eat my ice cream slowly to soak up all the free time I could get with my dad.

When I turned sixteen I had an ice cream cake from the Dairy Queen for my birthday. My birthday is in June and we sat on the back porch of the house I grew up in and ate cake before it could melt and laughed about anything and everything. Every kid dreams of their sixteenth birthday and all the freedom it will bring and I will never forget that cake.

When I got even a little older and the girls’ father left and I started raising three little girls alone, my grandma became my ally. She never judged me, she never said hateful things, she would just listen to me whine and complain and she would tell me how somehow I would live through all of this. We would have these talks outside of the J&K market, where we would go on warm summer nights to get the girls an ice cream cone.

The house I moved to three years ago is situated about 2 blocks from a small Dairy Queen. My dad joked when I moved in that that is why I chose this house. Walking to Dairy Queen or stopping by there after a bike ride has become a tradition for the girls and I. At least once in the summer, my parents come over and help me rid the backyard of the jungle that grows there the rest of the year. There is always lots of work and lots of sweating and my kids get beyond filthy dirty helping dig in the flowerbeds and carry branches to the curb. The reward at the end of the day is always an ice cream from the Dairy Queen.

To this day my father sits at the kitchen table or on the back porch, if weather allows, and eats a bowl of Rocky Road ice cream every.single.night. My mother buys them two or three at a time. Being out of Rocky Road ice cream at my mothers is equivalent to being out of toilet paper or toothpaste. It is a staple. It is essential. Now, when my daughters take turns having their alone time with Nana and lil Pap (each one gets a night a week to spend at their house alone) my dad makes two bowls of Rocky Road ice cream, one a little smaller than the other. I like to think that my girls eat their ice cream slowly too. Just to soak up all that free time with their Pap.

Dear Lady in the Grocery Store, or the Mall, or the line at the Pharmacy,

I realize you are of an older generation and sometimes change is hard. Especially when it involves race relations, which we all know is a toughy. I am sure seeing a white lady with brown kids can be a little perplexing and sometimes some of  your silly questions can even be validated. Like are my kids adopted. That one I can give you I suppose. My youngest two pretty much look nothing like me and they are well, brown. But the questions that are really none of your business anyway like “Are you married?” and then the one that always follows when I say no, “Do they all have the same dad?”, um, that’s a little much. I apologize if you ask me these questions on a bad day when I may answer by saying “I dunno, the UPS man just dropped them off one day” or “Why yes they do, have you ever heard of Denzel Washington?”

I am not near as nice when the really silly questions come out like “Is that her natural hair color?” (my red head) or “Is her hair that curly naturally?” so try to avoid those. I once convinced a lady at the playland at the mall that I paid $200 every 6 weeks to have their hair permed and professionally colored. They were 2,3, and 4 at the time. She nodded along and then made a beeline for her Canasta meeting to tell everyone all about the crazy white lady at the mall.   

I can also cut some slack on the truly sympathetic questions like “How on earth do you keep it all together raisin’ those girls without a husband?” to which I can usually just say “Easy - I just don’t keep it all together” and then point to my mismatched socks and unbrushed hair.

My new favorite is the one I was asked when we were at the dentist last. I mentioned to the girls that we needed to get moving so we could get Emma to therapy on time; an appointment that was just 20 minutes away. After brazenly asking me what she went to therapy for, I answered “um, she sees a therapist for her ADHD.” “Oh you really believe in that ADHD stuff?”

Yeah, don’t ever think it is okay to ask these kinds of questions really. If you don’t believe in ADHD I would be delighted to invite you to my house at midnight when she is so worked up and fidgety she can’t close her eyes when it is clear she is exhausted. Those nights are always a blast.

So I see that some aspects of my life can seem a little curious and just sometimes you feel like you must ask the question that is burning in your mind. But do me a favor, don’t ask me.

But lady from the gas station this morning, if you are reading this, questions like “Aren’t they just the cutest things?” are fine. Because why yes, yes they are and thank you for noticing.

Love,

Mandy

I promise I am not getting paid for this post, though I wish I were. Because if I were, I would spent every red cent at the very site I was promoting. Just found it by way of another blog and I could not send it to my favorites file fast enough. Some of their stuff is a little tongue-and-cheek (or is it tongue-in-cheek?) and you may not want to check out the site with your 12 year old son looking over your shoulder. (*ahem* - sister that was for you. Isaac go somewhere else for a sec. love ya.) It is WishingFish.com and their stuff is completely adorable and sometimes funny. But mostly just AWESOME!

I mean, check this baby out…. I have subconciously been wishing for this my whole life. Nothing more disappointing than settling for a middle brownie when all the chewy corner brownies have already been confiscated by the short people in my house. I give you - ok - WishingFish gives you:

The All Corner Brownie Pan

Pure genius I tell you. Pure genius.

And then there are the cutest stinking plates in history that someone that reads this blog could just so happen to mention to our mother that I love and remind her I have a birthday in June and maybe slip her the link in her next email. Just sayin.

 or  or

They would be hung on the wall of course. I mean, they are stinkin cute right? Right. (For my slow friends: that is 3 different sets - all equally loveable)

I know this seems a little impractical now, but the 14 year old in me so wants to buy this and put it on my desk for when I am doing homework paying bills and I just need a little snacky snack.

Not that a coaster has ever been thought about being used in my house, these little puppies are awesome. I may even consider using coasters if I had them. Who am I kidding? I would probably never let anyone use them. But they’re awful purty to look it.

Wonder if they would be as pretty with a Princess straw cup on top or one of the various McDonald’s and Arby’s cups we use for drinking in our house? Hmm. Maybe not.

And my all time favorite is this little puppy. What I wouldn’t give to has this and actually be able to use it without being fired.

It’s a stamp and it is awesome. And if I could use it, I would be out of ink by 3:15pm on day of receipt.

So now you know what to get me for Christmas. Good day.

(not sure why I just said Good day. we’ll let that one pass.)

When we moved into our home three years ago, I promised Liv we would do something fun and cool to her room. Up until two days ago it was a small room with beige walls and white ceiling and trim. Not the funnest room for an eight year old. It was also wall to wall furniture. Getting bunkbeds at the time seemed like a great idea. Although necessary for Cori and Emma since they share a room, not so much for Liv. I don’t believe she has ever stepped foot on the top bunk of her bed. However, she did use her desk on the side daily. Because her room was so crowded with furniture she had a hard time even fitting a chair back behind her desk. So I decided to take the bunkbeds apart and take the extra bunk to the basement out of the way. Ok so it is still sitting in the hallway in 52 pieces, but I do have intentions of getting it to the basement and out of the way.

I also started painting in Liv’s room as I mentioned before. I learned last night that by doing this only an hour or so at a time, I may not be finished until late May sometime, but I want to chronicle the process. Last night, while the girls were painting in the kitchen, I snuck upstairs to Liv’s room to get some work done.

The current state of Liv’s room with two coats of white on the walls and ceiling.

My intention (there’s that word again) was to put another coat of white on the largest wall where her desk will go and then touch up some spots around the room. But see the artist in me knew there were small quarts of wonderful colors just sitting in my closet waiting to be cracked open and used….so I just could not resist it any longer. I got a little ahead of myself and I got those colors out. At first it was just the green. The green for the trim and the window casings and door frames.

So I got two coats on most of the trim and window casing. But then I remembered the blue. And I just wanted to look at. To, you know, remember what color blue it was exactly.

Nice huh?

But see, once I saw that beautiful blue, I just keep imagining how awesome the clouds were gonna look on those stark white walls in this amazing shade of blue. And then, once I had clouds, I just kept imagining this cute little bird sitting on a cute little branch. But branches are brown, so I had to crack open the brown.

And then I figured once I had the brown and the blue and the green open, I might as well break out the yellow and the orange. And before you know it, there were things growing everywhere.

Stay tuned, I have a feeling this is going to get out of control… Tonight I open the pink and purple. I know -I’m dangerous.

On saturday, my mom met me and the girls for breakfast and we then made our way to the hairdresser to get Cori’s hair cut. We somehow ended up in the Lowe’s where there just happened to be tons of little quarts of paint on the clearance cart for 3.00 a piece. Tons of little quarts of paint that happened to be wonderful colors like purple and green and turquoise. Colors that would just so happen to look very lovely in a little girls room. So happens I have three little girls so I had to buy them.

This little purchase led to the taking apart of bunkbeds and moving lots of furniture and sweeping up what was an alarming amount of junk and dust from the floor. I thought I may just call it a day, when I figured a Saturday afternoon was as good a time as any to get started on painting. So painting I did. I got one coat on the walls and the ceiling and didn’t take a picture one because, well, I left my camera at work on Friday, OK? And they are just white walls so far, so nothing too exciting. But tonight? Oh tonight it gets exciting. We are going to bust out the beautiful green and paint the trim and woodwork. Oh yeah. I am pretty excited. Liv is about to bust out of her skin with anticipation.

And there is something quite empowering about taking apart bunkbeds and moving furniture and cracking open paint cans with your bare hands without a man in sight. I am woman, hear me roar. Ok so I used one of those little can-opener thingys to get the paint open, but still.

From here on out, I promise to take pictures.

One of my favorite things to do is turn the radio on loud and move to the music while I am cleaning. Just to be clear, cleaning will never be one of my favorite things to do, but if I have to do it, I might as well have fun doing it. I have always loved all kinds of music and my kids do too. Even when I put them through my Sinatra stage when they were toddlers.

I recently got the spring cleaning bug and opened all the doors and turned the radio on and got busy.  It didn’t take long for the music to call Corina in from outside. She loves to dance for me.

Earlier in the day I found an older CD my friend Sarah had put together for me of downloaded songs. She came in at the perfect time….

the “oohhh, I love this song” face

the washing machine

oh yeah, gettin in the groove…and finally….

uh huh… let’s kick these shoes off and get this party started!

My daughter dancing in the springtime air in my fresh lemon pinesol smelling kitchen to “Let’s Dance” by the Beatles….simply priceless.

Liv and Cori are on Spring Break this week so they have sleeping over at my grandparents so I don’t have to pay a babysitter. Did I mention I have the best grandparents ever? So the past few evenings Emma and I have really got to spend some quality time together, which has led to us both staying up too late and not wanting to get up in the morning, but still a blessing. Monday night we met my boyfriend at the park to play catch. He is a youth football and softball coach, so of course, he coached her the whole time, teaching her to step and throw and keep her eye on the ball. She soaked up all the attention and had the biggest smile on her face the whole time.

Last night we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and walk to the pizza place across the street. They recently moved the building they have been operating in for 25 years from the Main Strausse Village to the little strip a street over from the house.

They have been here in town for forever and are kind of iconic, I guess you could say. I have been looking forward to trying them out. That, and it is the only pizza place nearby and let’s face it, at almost $3.50 a gallon, I would rather walk than drive to eat out anyday.

After we played catch a little bit, we started out for our walk.

Emma convinced me that the pizza place would be the perfect place for her to get some time to play her sister’s Nintendo DS while she is gone. She is actually quite good at it and though I never thought I would want to admit something like this, I have found that video games are very good for her. Since her ADHD diagnosis we have tried all sorts of things to help her control her body and cut down on impulsiveness, which was always much worse in public. Sometimes just a crowd or too much noise would be too much for her to handle and a meltdown would ensue. Since she has been introduced to video games, she seems to do much better. The excitement of the game holds her attention and gives her something to focus on. She also seems to be able to tune everything else out while playing. Lately we have been working on accepting when it is time to stop playing. We’re still working on that one. She would play with either her sister’s DS or her Vsmile for 23 hours a day if I would let her.

So walking to the pizza place looked like this.

and this

She finally stopped playing long enough when we sat down to acknowledge my presence. Well, only for a moment. And only to do this.

We finally got our pizza from the cute little waitress and it wasn’t what I expected. I am not sure why I had a preconceived notion that it would be true homemade pizza with gloriously fresh toppings, but it wasn’t. It was more like sauce from a can and sausage you can taste were just thawed out that morning after being dumped from the large plastic bag they came in. Oh well. At least I got to have some stimulating conversation with Emma watch Emma do more of this.

After we put most of the pizza in a box and carried it home to put it in the refrigerator to sit for three days until I throw it away finished dinner, we walked next door to get some gum and then headed home. At first I just took some time to look around at my neighborhood while walking and listen to Emma’s little converse pitter-patter on the sidewalk. I wondered how long I would have before Emma and my other daughters got to the point where they didn’t want to hang out with their mama anymore. Then, just as if she knew what I was thinking, Emma finally shut the DS to do this….

and all was right in my little corner of the world.

Ok so after my last post, another web-based and free photo editing site was recommended to me. Picnik. I am in love. I am addicted. You must try this. You must, I tell you. You can still improve your photos, but also do cool effects that are not offered by Photoshop Express. See:

Mmm hmm. Told ya. Now get your butt over there and get ta editing.

Sometimes when you are feeling like you don’t know what your life is about, and you wonder what your purpose is, God will show you in the details. Sometimes when you take a second to stop and take a deep breath and look around at your life, you will see the small things that make it all worth it. The slices of your days that complete the puzzle of who you are.

At first you may see dust on the top of the refrigerator where you keep the cookie jar. But if you look closely you will see little fingerprints. Little fingerprints that will not be there forever searching for cookies.

At first you may see scraps of paper in the corner you wish someone would have put into the wastebasket. But if you look closely, you will see it is the scrawlings of an eight year old that started and erased and restarted and crumpled up and restarted a note to her nana until she got it just right.

At first you may see that someone has been in your fabric scraps and left quite a mess on the laundry room floor. But if you look closely, you may see all your five year olds Barbies having a wicked camping trip in the play tent and they each have their own little sleepingbag made from brightly colored and discarded scraps of different texture.

At first you may see that someone drug out your planner and scribbled on one of the pages where you much prefer to keep your grocery list. But if you look closely you will see that your seven year old used a highlighter pen to write #1 mom in the corner.

At first you may see just a man. Just a man you think will use you and leave you like all the rest. But if you look closely you see a man that looks at you with pure love in his eyes and kisses your kids on the forehead if he gets there after they have fallen asleep. You hear him whisper I love you to your sleeping daughters with no daddy and you know that your prayers have been answered.

I have always been anal retentive, bordering on OCD. I strive for organization, but too often find myself in the midst of utter chaos. I have tried every gimmicky organizational tool in the book and have recently found 2 that are working wonders in my household! The cute magazine holders I cleverly labeled “Coloring Books” with my never used scrapbook materials, not so much. I still find coloring books scattered all over the house. The two clear bins I also cleverly labeled “Barbie Dolls”, not so much. They prefer the plastic bag my mom’s new comforter came in. I mean, it has a zipper. Silly me!

So anyhoo, I ran across an intriguing idea on one of my favorite blogs Notes from the Trenches. She has seven children. I am so inspired by big families and the ways mothers find ways of keeping things organized. Owlhaven is another favorite. If she can do it with 10 kids, surely I can do it with 3. But anyway, Chris from Notes also blogs at Mommy Points, a blog for Handipoints. My life changed completely the day I found Handipoints. I love Handipoints. My children love Handipoints and all order is restored in my home. And *gasp* chores are getting done, get ready, willingly!

So Handipoints is this wonderful service that allows you to set up charts for your children. They get to check off tasks daily. They earn 1 point for each task and a different amount of bonus points for each task completed. The bonus points can be used to dress the cat each child is assigned when signing up. You can also set up a reward to be received for a set amount of points earned.

Being my kids have more than their fair share of chores, I rose the point values a little for us, or else I would be buying rewards all day long. I chose rewards that were considered pretty special in our home: DVDs, CDs, books, art supplies. I first thought of doing small things from the Dollar Store or something, but I want my kids to feel like all their hard work really is worth something, and I want to teach them the value of a dollar and to hopefully make them feel pride in the item they earned and therefore take better care of it. I forgoed the allowance component with the start of Handipoints. The girls were starting to blow their allowance on silly things that were either broken or lost the following day and I hated to see the waste of money that way. Now I keep putting their allowance in their savings account when I get paid and then use that account to buy their special reward. I am buying all rewards through Amazon so that they can also get mail! I know, I am a genius. I let them know what the reward is right up front so they know what they are working for. When all their points are earned there is the added suspense of waiting for their package to come to the house! Right now Olivia is working towards a new Hannah Montana game for her Nintendo DS, Cori is working for the Enchanted DVD and Emmalee is working towards The Bee Movie DVD. I printed out a picture of each product from Amazon to post on the fridge under their chart as a daily reminder of what they are working for.

Each day they get so excited to check off their chores and count up how many points they have so far. Each of their rewards are worth 125 points, which equals out to about 1 reward a month or so. I can change chores from week to week and they are notified right up front what chores were switched. This gives Cori a break on taking out the garbage which she hates and Olivia from standing outside on the porch waiting while Cooper does his business in the yard, which she hates. I have also found more responsible tasks for Emma to complete this way. In the past, it was always so much easier to just call for Olivia or Cori to do it because they are older. Now, Emma feels more included and helpful - which has also seemed to curb her ADHD considerably. Now she has constructive things to do instead of just run around and aggravate her sisters while they are trying to complete their chores!

This may sound like just something extra for a mom that is already too busy to do, but in my household, I take all the help I can get. My kids have really done a great job with Handipoints and their task charts and they feel proud of themselves. They also get to experience how if you really want something, sometimes you have to work really hard to get it. Olivia has already asked me if we can bump up her point limits in order to receive bigger rewards like a new outfit from “one of the cool stores in the Mall” or a new coat (she wants a dressier one to wear to church).

Handipoints is awesome. The end.

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Next gimmick making my life lovely:

The Grocery Store Scavenger Hunt. I came up with this myself. Thank you, thank you. The grocery store is one of my most hated places. I try to only venture to the grocery store once a month. That way I can go back for small things; milk, bread, etc., on my lunch break or before I stop to get the girls from school. I must admit going to the grocery these days is much easier than it was when I use to have to put two toddlers and a pumpkin seat in one cart and push it while putting my groceries in another cart and pulling it. Oh yeah. Those days were a barrel of laughs. But still I have issues at the grocery store. Now that everyone is too old and too big to sit in a cart, they must walk around with me. Read: Run in three different directions while I am trying to shop while yelling “Mama can we get this?” at least 136 times a piece. I use to use my outside voice at least once while in the grocery store. But then I came up with a genius idea to make the girls feel helpful while using their reading and math skills and to help them practice a little restraint.

We now have to grocery shop on a Saturday or Sunday only because this takes about twice as long as it use to. But it was very fun and the girls loved it and they learned something too! I also think this was the very first time they saw how mommy has to stick to a budget at the grocery store and we can’t just buy whatever we see!

I first made a master grocery list of all the things that I needed to get. Then I highlighted the items on the list; each with a different color; Cori, Pink; Liv, Green, ok you get it. Then I made each of the girls their own list complete with little check off boxes and lines to write the price of the item. I saved the more difficult or specific items for my own list and the easier and nonspecific items like milk I gave to Emma. At the bottom of each of their lists I left a space for them to write in what their “special” would be. What one item they wanted to make sure made it into the basket. For Emma it was Fruity Pebbles cereal and Liv and Cori put their heads together and one got chips, the other, dip. The catch was they had to find everything on their list first (with help from Mom). When we got to the grocery store, each of the girls got a basket and I a cart to unload into when the baskets got too heavy to carry.  Each aisle I would check my “master list” to see who would need help. Liv and her smarty pants hardly needed me at all. Cori got frustrated when trying to find some things but when I paired her with Emma she got more excited and empowered to help Emma read labels. When everyone had everything on their list, we added all the totals on my calculator to make sure we stayed within the budget. When we first walked in, I told the girls up front what we needed to stay at. They watched me with baited breath as I entered each number into the calculator like I was about to open their case on Deal or No Deal. When I hit total and come up a whole $4.26 under budget they all cheered and laughed. People looked at me like I had three heads, but who cares, even small victories are celebrated in our house!

Then the girls got to bag their own “special” and carry it to the car and hold it with them until we got home. A simple idea turned into making a trip to the store actually enjoyable and educational! And I had to keep their little lists with their little scribbled amounts next to their items and their cute little checkmarks. So fun!

And if anyone else has any organizational things for me to try, bring it on! I need all the help I can get!

Yesterday morning the girls and I woke up to this.

And yes I took that picture through the screen. I don’t do cold. Or snow. So after letting the door open only enough for my dog to squeeze his way out, did I quickly shut the screen door and snap a picture.

So what to do on a snow day? Mmmm. I love snow days.

With no dependable babysitter, I had to call in to work. Oh shucks. Because the work is never done, the girls got up and dressed themselves and we got crackin on our chores so we could spend the rest of the day playing together. So first we did a little of this.

And this.

And then came the fun part. I gave all the girls a bath and made them put on thier my favorite pajamas. They are warm and fuzzy and there is just something so adorable about having your kids in matching clothes. Ok, maybe that is just me. But - they. looked. adorable. and I loved it.

So anyway, Emma was done first as the other two are just too cool and too grown and too responsible to have their mommy give them a bath anymore. So while Cori and Liv were upstairs getting their showers, Emma took advantage of the time to do a little of this, which is Emma’s very favorite pasttime.

When the girls were done with their showers, we decided to engage in a little of my favorite pasttime. Only I don’t ever have time for my favorite pasttime so today we made time and did some of this.

Emma worked up such a sweat playin with that dollhouse she had to strip. What I wouldn’t give for some arms like that.

Anyway, when the painting was done we moved on to bigger and better things. Since painting is my/Olivia’s favorite pasttime, we let Cori pick next. She chose for us to do this.

After all that fun, the girls were getting a little tired and whiny so they went upstairs to lay on my bed and watch “Akeelah and the Bee” for the 952nd time, while I, unfortunately had to do a little of this.

Which I must admit is alot more fun since I got this.

Yeah baby!

I even did this.

That’s right folks that is a four couse meal on a weekday. Who has time to cook like this on a weekday? I do, I tell ya.

As long as it’s also a snow day.

I haven’t enjoyed a snow day like that in a long time. And I tell you what, I was glued to the news this morning as much as the girls were for that little banner to pop up to tell us the good news of another snow day today, but no such luck. 

Back to the daily grind *sigh*.

*Disclaimer: I noticed while previewing this post that Cori is in none of the pictures. I promise I love her just as much.

I am pleased to announce to all of my readers that I am feeling much less melancholy today. I had a refreshing weekend and I am well, refreshed. On Saturday, after taking Cori and Liv to Karate, we had plans with Nana to car shop. I could have put a substantial downpayment on a new car for what I have shelled out on the rental car I have been driving for the past 2 1/2 weeks, but oh well. Who needs money when you are a single mom with three kids and a big house with electric bills the size of the national deficit? Oh yeah, that’s me.

So we shopped and shopped and shopped for a car to no avail. Nothing in my price range with less than 2 million miles on it, so as of yet I am still the proud borrower of a Chrysler Sebring, courtesy of Thrifty Car Rental.

The girls and mom and I also stopped by Borders and had hot chocolate and browsed through the books and CDs. The girls were so superbly behaved the entire day - and oh, Emma learned to swallow her ADHD medication with a drink, but for some reason it only works with soda pop. Hmm. Clever little booger isn’t she? In any regard this was a major victory as now I don’t have to cut and crush which shaves an easy 12 seconds off my morning routine. Any little bit helps. I know  that my 5 year old becoming a proficient pill popper should not be so thrilling to me, but, well, it is. And she was quite proud of herself. Even earning herself a heartfelt “Good Job Emma” from her biggest sister whom she idolizes like there is no tomorrow.

We made it home in time for an impromptu visit from my best friend Jamie and her baby, Jalynn. And I tell ya, who would wanna miss this little bundle on their doorstep?

They stayed for a little while until Jalynn could barely keep her little eyes open and then they headed home. The girls and I watched TV for a while before it was time for bed and bath. And I know I mentioned before how my middle daughter is a little quirky, but really, does any one else’s kids watch TV like this?

Man that kid cracks me up!

After the kids were tucked quietly and warmly in their beds, I flopped on the couch and sighed a deep breath. What a great, relaxing, enjoyable day. Just as I settled on some chick flick that was just coming on TV, I decided to make some hot tea and just relax and ignore the laundry taking over the playroom and the grungy bathroom floor that was calling to me to please clean it. I walked back into the living room, settled on the couch under my favorite fuzzy blanket and turned off the lamp. Suddenly I heard my front door knob turn and the door flung open. After almost simultaneously going into cardiac arrest while peeing my pants, I heard these sweet words “What I tell you bout keeping this door unlocked?” Ok so maybe the words weren’t all that sweet but the protective way he said them was very endearing. “Well, Hi Big Daddy, what a great surprise!” Then a sweet kiss right on my lips.

Ahhh, what a great day. A great day that I really needed. And by darn, I deserved it too.  

Saturday came and went. Saturday was a success. Saturday was a BLAST! After taking Liv and Cori to Karate, Emma and I snuck off to the movie theatre to pre-buy our tickets for the Hannah Montana Concert movie for fear that by 5 they may be sold out. We picked up the other two girls and headed to mom’s for lunch.

This was a change in plans, but nana being nana made it just as fun as Dave and Busters and the lunch was much better. After packing their Hannah Montana purses with goodies and a can of pop for each of them, we headed off to the movies.

There were little girls everywhere in their HM attire and giggling and squealing just as I had predicted. The girls were about to burst with excitement as we pulled in the parking lot. I was most excited about the premium parking spot I somehow scored right up front. After forgetting the tickets, because I do things like that, and walking back to the car to retrieve them, we made our way into the show.

And imagine my surprise when we saw these.

Yes people, those are 3D glasses. Hannah Montana was in 3D. How stinkin cool is that? Very cool I tell ya. Very cool. The girls sat entranced for the entire show. Except when they were singing and clapping along. Which was every song. Because they knew every song.

So did every other little girl in the theatre.

Did I mention there were like thousands of them?

After the concert/movie we sat for a moment and let all the other people file out of the theatre. The girls started to spill out all their excitement and jubilation and tell me of their favorite part. I just soaked it all in. As we walked out of the theatre I started to think about the day and about how much fun we all had together as a family. How the girls actually acted like they loved eachother. All day.

I thought about how I enjoyed the concert too. How grateful I was that Miley Cyrus looked adorable the entire show. Not once were there too-short shorts or bellies showing or pre-pubescent cleavage. And her songs are about friendship and cute boys and missing grampas that have passed away and other things little girls should be thinking about.

And I thought about some of the memories I had as a little girl. I remembered how on my 12th birthday I came home from school to find NKOTB tickets on my bed. That’s New Kids On The Block, folks, and I am not ashamed. My best friend Traci Turley and I rocked our raddest NKOTB outfits with dayglo orange and yellow socks and had our hair in matching side ponytails. I remembered how my mom seemed like she had just as much fun at the concert as my friend and I. And now I know how much joy she felt as a mom seeing and experiencing my happiness. I will never forget that day.

 I hope my kids remember Saturday.

I hope they remember their coolest Hannah Montana attire.

I hope they remember how excited they were pulling into the parking lot and seeing the marquee at the exact same time their favorite Hannah Montana song came on Radio Disney.

I hope they remember seeing the posters out front for the first time and feeling butterflies of anticipation in their bellies.

But most importantly I hope they remember this.

Because I know I will.