Mommy MacGyver

Just call me Mommy MacGyver.....
........we have all had those moments where we suddenly need to create something out of nothing! That would be dinner last night!!! Remember I was on my way out for errands when the Princess lost her cookies in the back seat! I didn't realize until moments before the hubby came home that I had nothing, I repeat nothing for dinner in the house. I scanned, slash that - searched the cabinets for some form of food.... Here is what I came up with....

Vegetable broth
canned of diced tomatoes
can of white beans
1/4 bag of little ring pasta
some onions

and I found some frozen vegetables in the freezer - bonus!

So, what did we come up with???

Hearty Minestrone Soup!! Yeah Mommy MacGyver! And it was Delicious!!!! I even found some croutons...dropped them on top for an added little treat. (We don't normally have them - they are empty carbs so I am thinking that hubby bought them and hid them in the cabinet. He acts the most deprived about our carb controlled environment!)

I will be working on my menu planning tomorrow morning. ....

Monday just makes you want to Barf...

Or at least it makes the Princess want to....!!! Yep..isn't that pleasant?!?! Was headed out to do a few errands...when I heard a strange little sound from the backseat, turned around to witness complete nastiness!! I could really go on and on with the details, but who needs that!

Needless to say, I headed home and spent the next 12 hours trying to accomplish the ittiest bittiest tasks!

I LOVE MONDAYS!!!

BUT.....on a completely different note! I started this today.....

You have no fortune.....

A little bedtime story for you....

Remember my mentioning of a broken foot and other cast members (lol...that sounds funny) in my family? And by cast members, I mean cast wearing members! Well here is the funny - somewhat unbelievable story. The kind that makes you say.....SERIOUSLY????? I actually Challenge your bad luck!!

In late August, on a dreary mid-week day, a Customer came in and asked if I would be interested in making Turkish coffee with him/for him? I agreed....it seemed like fun. Plus, I love to learn and try new things. He offered to read my fortune after we had finished our coffee....another part of the Turkish coffee experience. Again, I agreed...seemed pretty exciting to me!

He started with his, he showed me his "fortune" in the coffee grounds....it is a little like reading the clouds....I saw it. It was pretty exciting, I was ready to see what mine had to say.

Then he flipped my cup over, looked at it, looked at it a little more....showed me the lines of coffee grinds and explained that they are roads traveled and to be traveled....and then he very matter-o-factly said..."You have no fortune!".

I laughed a little and told him he didn't know just how true that was! Little did I know what I was in for...

Fast forward a few hours....

An UNBELIEVABLE storm came out of nowhere...literally hail so big that it blanketed the ground...Lightning, wind, and RAIN!! It was CRAZY with all cap's.

We were of course still at the shop and everyone (the entire family) was there, when a huge bolt of lightning struck in the distance. My hubby jokingly said "that just hit our house!...hahahaa". Within 5 minutes his cell phone was ringing. It was our neighbor telling us that the big tree out by our garden just got struck by lightning and had split like a banana. Some cursing followed and a tidbit of panic.....Storm passed and everything was back to normal...or maybe not.

OK, that was Tuesday/Wed......Sunday, same week, The Brawn comes to me, again at the shop, and says "my wrist really hurts..." I take one look at it and realize that it is broken. Yep, it was that obvious. We won't get into the husbands theory that "it didn't look that bad". I leave work, take him up to the Dr.'s....the first Dr. says it is fine...second Dr. confirms the broken wrist.

Remember this is Sunday....

week goes by and there is a birthday party on Saturday...the kids attend and guess what happens? In the words of The Brain...."...well, I fell about 5o times and at some point, this happened...." at which point he shows his swollen deformed wrist off. Yep...you guessed it....broken! Broken wrist, same hand as his brother....same EXACT break!!!

I jokingly say to the Dr....."just cast us all and get it over with. But, not my hands..we own a coffee shop..hahaha" Secretly I am fearing they think I'm abusing my children!

Ok, that was Saturday....

Thursday, get everyone home from school...Princess is sleeping while I am carrying her in from the car. Does anyone hold the door for mom?? NO! Mom holds the door for everyone else and then when I turn to go in and let go of the door...well, I failed to get in before the storm door slammed shut on my Achilles!! This resulted in my foot getting caught between the bottom of the door and the kick plate of the house, causing me to fall forward. I never for one moment thought I broke my foot, but I did know that something was seriously wrong with it. My toes retracted back like the witches feet in The Wizard of Oz!

I went straight to the Dr.'s. The staff at this point looked at me when I walked in like they were having dejavue! And guess what??? I BROKE MY FOOT!!!

So at this point I am sure you are thinking that this just can't get any worse? Never wonder that....Never....

A week later....The Brawn falls down the stairs and guess what....sprains his foot so badly that he needs to be in a cast for 6 weeks!! Yes....6 weeks!!!

I am not going to lie - I started looking for the vehicles to be parked outside my house with the words Social Services on them.

There were many kooky situations in those few weeks....true nutty-ness! We were going to take a group picture of us all, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I am still trying to forget it. I felt like there was a little hex over us. I am hoping that it has worn off by now, know what I mean!

The moral of the story....well....hopefully you will have had a giggle at my expense, but if/when someone tells you that "you have a long road to travel and you have no future"....run...run for the hills!! No, don't do that...you could trip and break something!! Just quietly walk away.....And as for my "fortune"...whatever little fortune I might have had before this incident has since been spent on co-pays and orthopedic bills.

...The same gentleman came in over the weekend and asked if I wanted to make Turkish coffee with him again...Uhhhh....NO!!!

I am still trying to rebuild my fortune!

With Love....

How does a Pumpkin turn into a Carrot?? A Halloween Word Problem..

The Beauty made Pumpkin Cupcakes for us!!! Aren't they cute!

I am thinking this was done because we didn't ever get around to carving pumpkins...

How does a Pumpkin turn into a Carrot??? It's a word problem so try your best...I was always terrible at these in school!! Remember to read carefully!

What do you get when you add 1 Green squiggly bow as the stem + 1 pair Orange leggings + one orange shirt + Orange fluffy tutu + Brown boots for the dirt??

Give up??

A Cute Little Pumpkin!!!

Now...when you subtract- the Orange Fluffy Tutu but + a little extra dirt on the shirt and leggings....what do you get????

A Scraggly little Carrot!!!!!

After her daddy thought he had won this battle...she escaped and ripped the tutu off! Turning herself into a Carrot!!!

Halloween was so laid back this year....I LOVED IT!!!! I was originally feeling really bad about my lack of Halloween decoration and prep work...but at the end of the night - not so much.....

Our version of Halloween included a day together....no school for anyone (mom's choice....we were originally supposed to head to Philadelphia for a Dr. appt.)....then we went to the Park for a Costume Parade - where we had a Winner among us!!! "The Brains" took Judges Choice!!! Look below and you will see why!!

The Brains was dressed as a girl and was hysterical.....took Judges Choice!! Whoo-hoo!! You go babe!!

The Beauty = Penny from "Hairspray"

The Brawn = a Giant with his Fairy Friend

I had to share this picture of The Brawn's girl friend - that is "girl" "friend"...two words.... not "girlfriend" in case anyone was confused....I was asked to make that very clear.....she was a fish tank! LOVED IT!! Too Cute....and HOME MADE! She is a cutey to begin with!

Because we no longer Trick-or-Treat and the kids all "made" their costumes out of previous year costume pieces and things we had on hand, we promised them a special TREAT! A Family Date if you will.... We went to dinner at the Japanese Steak house where we all had a great time....except The Princess who COMPLETELY FREAKED OUT after the guy set the grill on fire at the beginning of our meal!

At that moment she requested in her quietest two year old voice ...that "we go home RIGHT NOW!!!!" It was a little funny....it was even funnier when the guy put food on her plate and she told him...."I eat none-a-dis" as she waved her hands over it like she was making a potion!

Look at the smiles and BIG eyes!!!

Fun was had by all....except maybe The Princess....

Check out her face....I'm thinkin' she's thinkin'.... "Seriously?????"

Much of the evening was spent like this....standing up holding The Princess.....AWAY from the table!! But it was still a very good time!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!!!

I write like I talk....fast!

I just re-read a few of my recent posts and realized that I write just like I talk....FAST!!! I sound like I am on speed!! Which I am not....just a little Espresso.....or maybe a LOT of espresso! Heehee! I was getting worn out just reading them! I promise to slooooow dooooowwwwn a bit!!!

I always get in trouble when I read at Church because they say nobody can keep up with me! I think I get it!

Check in tomorrow for some Fabulous Finds under $5!!!

Good Night!!

MMMMMM Chalk-yette

Do you like "Chalk-yette"????? I bet you do!!! I know a little Princess who LOVES it!!! Loves it with CAPITAL letters!!! I have my very own little sugar baby!! As much limitation as we put on sugar in my house, this Princess finds a way to make the most of it!

We made cupcakes recently and I made this homemade chocolate icing to go with them. At first glance the Princess snubbed her nose at it, .....she actually said..."ewww"...then as if she realized what she had just said, she looked at me and said. "Chalk-yette??? I yike Chalk-yette!!!"

It was all I could do at that point to finish mixing it and put a blob on the cupcakes!!! Clean-up process was a breeze!! She looks like she is in a Chocolate coma!!!

ALL GONE!!!

Who Loves Ya Baby??

Alright...I am going to try and not post something too sappy tonight....the last post was a little sappy....sorry, was having a Mom moment! I thought I would show you what a good little wife I had been lately!!

Now, I confess that there is still a PILE of laundry threatening to take over our house - a BARE minimum of Halloween decorations throughout our house (one of my husbands favorite holidays) - and the biggest confession.....neither one of the two previous confessions are keeping me up at night! Sorry honey, but I do love you!!

BUT....what I have done is.....be very "supportive" of my husband who works like dog for our family.....has recently QUIT "dipping" aka, snuff (you know that disgusting stuff they put in their mouth and then spit out the nasty spit...) AND...my biggest act of Love....

Eating this..... look at that lovely bowl! Even though it resembles a doggie bowl, it isn't...so close though!!

He really enjoys making bread, an obsession of his I haven't yet figured out.....this one was a complete failure, but I (and those poor little children of ours) choked it down...literally. He blamed the failure on the new organic yeast I bought for him. I don't buy it!

I love ya baby, but please don't make us eat those bread sticks again!!!