Poor Ashton. The kid can not catch a break. He just finished his medicine for an ear infection a week ago and then Sat. night we were up all night with him, and after a visit to the urgent care Sun. morning we found out he either has another ear infection or the last one didn't totally clear up. So we are on meds again. Then today at my mom's house he pulled a lamp down on top of his head.

I was very proud of myself since I didn't freak out. I can remain calm and think somewhat logically when something happens as long as my own kids are not involved but when it is one of my own I tend to lose it. Today I did not, even though when I got to him blood was pouring out of this tiny wound. Why do heads and faces have to bleed so much, they make you think it is so much worse than it really is.

So we came home got him all cleaned up and now he has a nice little bald spot on his head complete with butterfly just to make sure it stays closed and heals up a little bit better.

There is nothing quite like waking up to see you child's eyes looking like this. Since from here on out your day will only get better with all the things that come with a little gunk in the eye. The hand washing til they almost bleed, the 5 tons of laundry since every last thing in the house has to be washed, the near choking death from inhalation of Lysol that must be sprayed on every surface of the house, and the best part of all getting the eye drops into a screaming little girls eye.

I hate pink eye. In all the times my kids have had it (which is plenty, did you know you can get it from a swimming pool chlorine does not kill everything) I have managed to only get it once. Once was enough for me. I spent 3 days laying on my bed with a cold wash cloth over my eyes(which had to be changed often) since I was pretty sure that they would burst into flames at any moment. Here is to another week of scrubbing. Yay me.

Will wonders never cease......

I sit here typing this still in shock and amazement over what I did this morning.

I MADE DINNER.

Yes, folks dinner for the Simpson's was done and cooking before noon today. To make it even better, it took me less than 30 mins. to cook, assemble, and clean up. No joke, 30 mins.

3 of my kids were at school and I didn't have the 4th one roaming my kitchen squawking at me to move so that he could proceed in emptying the cupboard I am standing in front of, since he was taking a nap, so that probably decreased the amount of time it would have normally taken, but anything less than an hour is good enough for me. So to give you a reason to use the second greatest invention of all time (the first greatest is the epidural of course) the crock pot here is the recipe. It is so good.

1 lb Lean ground beef
1 Small onion, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
1 Garlic clove, minced
1 (10 3/4-oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (4.5-oz) can Chopped Green Chiles
1 (10-oz) can Enchilada Sauce
10 (6-inch) corn tortillas
12 oz (3 cups) shredded Monterey Jack cheese




1. In large skillet, cook ground beef, onion and garlic over medium-high heat until browned and thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently, Drain. Stir in soup and chiles.


2. Spray 3 1/2 or 4- quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Spread about 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce in bottom of slow cooker. Place 4 corn tortillas over sauce, overlapping and breaking in half as necessary to make an even layer. Top with 1/3 of beef mixture, spreading evenly. Drizzle with about 1/4 cup enchilada sauce. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the cheese.


3. Repeat layering twice, using 3 corn tortillas and half of remaining beef mixture, enchilada sauce and cheese in each layer. Sprinkler paprika over top.


4. Cover; cook on low setting for 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hours.


5. Let stand about 5 minutes before serving. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, lettuce or whatever else you like.

POOP

(Landon June 2005)

Yes, you read that title right. I said poop. That is what I have been cleaning up the last two days. Poor Ashton has had some sort of nasty bug that has wreaked havoc on his little bum. It has been a long two days full of cleaning, laundry, and multiple baths. Then last night it stopped, just as fast as it started. Today was the first day I dared to venture from my house to take Mackenzie to dance class. I was pretty sure that whatever he had, ran its course and we were done, but I was still nervous since my kids have played cruel tricks on me before. We did make it through dance class with no incidents to speak of and for that I am very happy. So now I will resume my scrubbing and washing of everything and hopefully be back in a few days with happier things to report on like the end of the boys basketball season and our trip to Disneyland. Until then happy cleaning.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END

Landon and his pillow

We finally got rid of Landon's pillow. Remember his lovely orange pillow. Well it is gone thanks to the tooth fairy. I just couldn't take anymore of the finger sucking which the pillow just contributed to, so it is gone. He got a whopping $5 for it which did nothing to ease the pain. He was so mad that morning when he woke up he refused to let me take a picture of him with his money, so this is what we got. A picture of him reaching for a sippy cup on the counter so he could throw it at something or someone, and a picture of the letter (with a corner missing from where he tried to rip it up) and money the tooth fairy left. Although it has not stopped the finger sucking completely it has lessened the amount of time spent with fingers in his mouth. He is still really mad at the tooth fairy, but he will be very happy to report to Dr. Kurt Sturz (the kid's dentist) that the pillow is gone and he is not sucking his fingers as much when he goes to see him again.

ER.

I have watched the show from the beginning and now it is getting ready to end. I will be sad. I know it is pathetic that a show will get me all choked up but it will. So how fitting that during the final season I wind up seeing one of my favorite "Doctors" at Disneyland a few weeks ago.

While I was walking back from a kids bathroom break, Jared says to me "Isn't that Mekhi Pfeiffer?" I look and say yes it's Dr. Pratt and then I start fumbling for my camera. I am too much a of chicken to ask to have a picture taken with him, so I just started taking pictures. He didn't even seem to notice that some crazy lady surrounded by a bunch of kids was taking his picture. Jared said later he would have asked for me if I would have asked him too. Oh well, I got my picture and I was happy. Jared on the other hand was embarrassed, not because I was snapping pictures but because he actually recognized him and knew what show he was on and who is character was. Laura, we can be sad together since I think we are the only ones left watching.

Diet Coke w/ Lime

I have found as of late that I consume far too much soda. Even though it is diet, the amount is alarming to me. I can not completely give up my diet coke. There is nothing better than sitting down at one of my favorite restaurants with my husband or on a girls night to enjoy good food and a diet coke from the fountain. True soda lovers know the fountain always taste better. I am however not going to be filling the shelves in my garage with 12 packs anymore. Hopefully the withdrawals won't be too bad. I have been trying to cut back so I wouldn't go into shock when I reached my last one which was today. I am now going to need to find something else to get me through the roughest parts of my day (maybe the reason I drink so much diet is because most days the entire day is rough). So I am wishing myself good luck, and those who know how much I really do love my diet coke, you can close your mouths now.

My Fatty
I am shocked at how fast time has passed since Ashton was born. He is 9 months old now I am getting sad that he is getting so big (not that he was ever really small, but you know what I mean) This is my last baby and now he is almost not a baby anymore. I need just a little more time to squish him while he will still let me and while he has plenty of chunkiness for me to do so.


I YAshton

Fat Ash is mobile

I finally got my firewire and was able to upload video. This is ashton's attempt at crawling. My kids have done the army crawl, but I have never seen them "swim" like he does. This video is almost a month old so he has gotten much better at it but watching him do this is pure entertainment. The amount of effort it takes him to get his whole body moving has made him thin out just a little in the face. Don't worry my chunky monkey's fat little legs are still as beefy as ever.

Honesty, the best policy?

In my extreme frustrating with the housing market, Obama and his massive spending plans, and greedy people, I am left pondering this thought.

Is honesty really the best policy?

From the looks of it I would have to say no.

Here I am in my house. The one that we pay for, that we qualified for honestly and what do I see when I look out my window, nothing but renters and foreclosures. Now I have nothing against renters, I myself was one for a long time, I have a problem with the owners of that home. Most of them have rented their house so that they can get in a bigger house for a better deal. What happens when they lose their renters though? Are those people able to afford both mortgages? Did they have to prove that when they got a loan for their second house? I will give them this, at least they bothered to find renters unlike the ones who find some shady way to get into another house for less money and then just walk away from the other one. I highly doubt that all the people in my neighborhood renting houses to someone make enough money to cover two mortgages. I know I don't, which is why I am still in my house. Still making my payments. Each week looking at the home ads in the real estate section of the paper with a sick feeling thinking about all those people continuing to contribute to the mess caused by greedy people, which in my mind they themselves are becoming.

So why is it that when it comes to money and markets in general honest people never win? I myself will now be taxed more to make up for the greedy and dishonest people who obviously have no concern for what they are doing to the already severely damaged economy. Which in turn means I will not be able to "stimulate" the economy with my consumer spending because I have less and know enough about managing money to know when you have less, you spend less.

Although Obama says help is on the way with his new 75 billion dollar plan to fix the housing crisis. This time he says he is going to help the responsible ones as well. I am not sure how since there are 7-9 million homes in trouble.( Are there really that many people in this country that don't have any money managing skills. Granted that number does include those who genuinely in trouble not just those who are greedy.) I am pretty sure the responsible ones will be getting the crumbs of that 75 billion.

So I pose the question....

Do you think it is dishonest to just walk away from your responsibility (i.e your mortgage) all in the name of greed? Or is that just how you have to play the market in order to survive ?

Disclaimer: I did not write this post to offend anyone. I wrote it to vent frustration with current conditions and to hear others opinions from either side. If you were offended chances are you have contributed to the problem not because you had a real justification (loss of job, job transfer, starting school, etc.) but because everyone else is doing it.