Company Girl Coffee 2.19.10

Good Morning Company Girls!!! I'm so glad to join you again this week :) I missed last week (and almost all of this week) due to NO INTERNET. UGH! We don't have a television service -- although our small town has a PBS station that saved me with toddlers, and we don't have a newspaper delivered b/c we don't have time to read it, and then we were "snowed" in for two days. . .man, it's been a l.o.n.g. 2 weeks. . .although they went to school 3 days last week, none of them were full days -- 2 were delays and 1 was an early dismissal. This week we've been out 4 days. . .but. . .the kids go back to school today -- one hour late, but I'll take it!!! We need to get back on schedule around here. Counting MLK Day and President's Day we have missed 19 days of school in addition to 20+ hours in delays and early dismissals in 2010. It's not all complaints though. . .I really, really love my children and we are blessed with a home large enough that we are not tripping over one another at all times (although for some reason they mostly do insist on being in the same room at the same time, even if they are arguing. . .)

Here are some of the things that kept us busy:
Yesterday friends were over for a few hours. . .they have a new baby and Margaret was in HEAVEN. I snapped this picture to save and show her when she is a mommy someday. . .she's a natural!

There was reading, and television (yep, PBS!), jumping on the trampoline, and Wii, and decorating Valentine's Day boxes (they did get to go to school for their party last Friday). . .
I also had lots of time to cook this week so I thought I'd share some tried-and-true (by me!) recipes and also some projects I found around blogland that I'd like to tackle. I know Rachel Anne did menus last week and hope it's o.k. to still post some recipes for you to browse. . .as well as a few other things. . .

I made these PW meatballs this week -- I served them with egg noodles that I tossed with butter and parm cheese with a side of broccoli. Definitely a "keeper".

This stew was FABULOUS and yes, as easy as he says.

I was browsing through my March issue of Real Simple one day this week and came across 10 Ideas for Chicken Cutlets (pg 196-197) and immediately made Baked Chicken Parmesan. . .so easy, so good (leave your e-mail in the comments if you want the recipe).

And this week we also had some Chicken Burritos from my Southern Living Busy Moms Weeknight Favorites (again, leave a comment and e-mail if you want the recipe). I used Rotel diced tomatoes for the first time in my life -- they made *all* the difference. I'd also never tried refrigerated mild white cheese dip. . .a new "staple" I may keep around for hungry snack-y kids.

Thomas baked a cake on his own this week. . .the first time he's done it without my direct supervision. It was a tad difficult to watch him spray the pan to death but he's gotta learn in a safe environment and I deem that to be in an environment free of criticism. . .it wasn't hurting anything and the best way to learn is by doing.
And on the project then there is my dining room table. A few thoughts on this. It seems Layla has the same table (except the leaves) and this is what she did:
It's not really my style. The table (or at least mine) is too "heavy" for this treatment. But it got me thinking about maybe blackwashing (is that a term?) the table instead. I also saw a piece at my dentist's office this week and her mother had refinished it by dry brushing it (it was black and more the look I was going for). Then, as I was browsing blogs, catching up this morning, I saw this coffee table at Thrifty Decor Chick.
See? It has the grooves on top like my table. . .I think this might be the answer. . .I'll have to come back to this when it gets warmer and I can get the table into the garage. I'd love your opinions though.

This egg project is a good idea but I don't know if I'd have the patience? Need to get some twine. . .

And I want to make these Chocolate Carmel Oatmeal Bars!

Oh, and we did get back online yesterday and I want to tell you how I told my Dude I appreciate him. . .it's a great idea that I found online somewhere (will link if I find it). . .but it is to write him love notes in the shower. The blogger used bath crayons, but we just have a plain old "regular" shower so I use dry erase markers. I like to leave notes there for him to find in the morning. . .last night when I came home from school he had our bed already made up (I washed and dried the sheets but hadn't gotten to the last step yet. . .) but forgot to mention to him that I appreciated him doing that before he fell asleep. So I wrote him a quick note on the shower wall. . .dry erase markers work well on the mirror too. . .

Can you tell I've been deprived of conversation this week?!? I'll stop here. . .if you're even still with me :) I hope to visit all of you this weekend!!! Hope it's a sun-shine-y beautiful weekend for you, whether the sun is out or not :)

Life Without Internet Access

I am beginning to really feel the pain of no internet access. I always knew my life "revolved" around the internet (especially when we moved to our rural area) but it's really come to light this last week. Last Thursday it went down unexpectedly and after two phone calls from me to tech services Friday, then one from my husband, we still didn't have the issue resolved. We were put in for a service call, but you know how that goes. Tom went out Sunday and bought a new modem, thinking that could be the cause. After HOURS of work on that it was a no-go. It's not the modem. He called again yesterday (Monday) and again, we're "on the repair call list". Great.

Do you know how many things I do on the internet? I sure didn't. Sunday the kids asked "who started Valentine's Day?". Hmmmmmm. . . .can't go look it up. All the kids got $5 bills in their Valentine's from their grandparents and Thomas suggested we go to the movies. Great idea! What is playing. . .hmmmmmmmm????? And then there's the issue of school work. . .two of my classes are online. . .with a research paper in one that says "Google and write three pages from your point of view". Sigh. AND what about e-mail? Facebook? I missed Company Coffee again this week!!! And then there's that entire list of people over on my sidebar that I care about in a crazy way. Is it crazy? At least I admit that my "friends" are online I guess. I have plenty of real-life friends too. . .the internet is just so far-reaching and I LOVE it!!! Oh, and last night I needed some dinner ideas. . .I actually had open a magazine and find one --LOL :)

To top it all off, the only place for internet access is at my local university -- that shut down yesterday due to weather!!! Not that I could drag 4 kids there anyway so I can check in with Kristen or Kelly & Harper or Lalya & Kevin (and they just redid "my" dining room table!!). . .there's Mel too but I do know her IRL so we just texted the day away :)


So. . .today. . .internet still down but yesterday Tom finally took pity on me (or my schoolwork quandry) and showed me a place in our house that I can sit with my laptop and piggyback on an unsecure network around here. It's limiting -- no banking or anything -- but at least I am not stressed about school work and I DO feel better knowing what's going on in the world. . .the internet is my connection!!! And I really am trying to limit it so as not to slow down their service. . .can that happen??

Could you function a week without internet service???? Or would you rather not find out??

~ Jenni

P-Dub is the BEST!

You all know Pioneer Woman, right? Right?!? If you don't you have a l-o-n-g day/night reading ahead of you because when you head over to her site you won't leave for several hours. My friend (and fellow blogger Mel) introduced me to her a couple of years ago and I've been hooked ever since. I followed her cookbook journey and missed meeting her at our closest "big city" because my kids had a school program the same night she was going to be there signing her cookbooks. You might remember that I purchased 7 of them in December. . .well, they were such a big hit as Christmas gifts this year that I decided to buy three more for my up-coming Girl's Weekend on Anna Maria Island.I remembered reading at some point that Ree would be happy to sign any books that we sent to her if we weren't able to actually make it to one of her signings. Once my books arrived from Amazon I shipped them off to her, hoping the offer was still good. I wrote her a quick note and told her what the gift was for and sent them off. . .

Well, today, they came back to me!!! Isn't she great?!? Look how she personalized all of them for my dear, sweet friends. . .
I just know that she's as great in person as she is online!!! Many times I find myself forwarding some of her posts to my husband -- I know that this is a life he would love. Her recipes really are great and I've enjoyed her cookbook very much. If you don't have a copy yet, it's worth your pennies :)

So. . .again Ree. . .thank you very much for taking the time to personalize these cookbooks for my dearest friends and Aunt. And in case you were wondering (I'm sure you weren't. . .) the marker you used to re-use the box STILL SMELLED!!! Ha! I've used those before. . .you get high when you take off the cap. . .Thank you, thank you!

Valentines

This is currently what my dining room table looks like:While most of the nation was tuned in to the Super Bowl (I did hear it was a good game), our family was busy with Valentine cards for school parties on Friday. My kids like to make their own and I conjured up the patience last night to let them.What memories these are and I'm so glad that we had this time together.I got out red, pink, and white paper, pink and red stamps, a couple alphabet sets, my V-day stamps, ribbon and let them get to work. They did a really good job, each of them, at creating their own unique designs.After two hours no one is completely done, but the older two have a much bigger stash than the younger two. Here is Thomas's pile:
There's just something about an 11-yr-old boy working so hard on something for his classmates. He's such a caring soul. . .I hope this never changes.
Marie made white cards for the boys and is working on the pink ones for her female classmates.
She was very careful stamping out each name in a pattern, than being particular which color ribbon went with which ink. She's not usually so careful about these things. . .I loved it.Margaret created her own simple design too, but, ala Margaret got tired stamping everyone's name and began just to write them in :)Frederick worked so intently on his best friend's valentine that it was about the only one he completed from start-to-finish. About an hour into the project I asked my husband to come in and help him along. . .I'll probably have Thomas help him finish up later today.My family is my greatest blessing. We only get one shot at this parenting thing and after 2 hours of concentrated effort on the part of the children last night, my heart sings. Sometimes I think Tom and I have gotten it right -- when our kids care enough about their friends at school that they would take time on a Sunday night to put these together.
Of course, not having television was a disappointment for Thomas last night. . .he's starting to "get" that "everyone else" is doing something he is not. Is it worth giving something else up in our lives in order to pay $75/month for television service? NO!!!! (Or, not yet. . .) And here's how I see it. . .in 10 years will we remember who played?? Probably not. Will we remember these times that we spent together, enjoying our time around the table creating??? Even if our minds don't remember *exactly* what we did, our hearts will carry these memories. You know what's great?!? We are abundantly wealthy in love, not only between ourselves, but in Christ's love too.

Salsa

I get many requests for "my" salsa recipe so today I finally remembered to take pictures while I fixed it after church. I wish my photography skills were a tad more sharp. . .I don't think this picture is the best representation of the product. . .maybe one of these days we'll have a bright, sun-shiney day where I can photograph it natural sunlight and replace this one. Anyhow. . .this is how I prepare it but I think everyone that I give the recipe to adds their own little "twist" on it. That's the way it's supposed to be!!! When I have fresh lime I add some juice to this. Fresh tomatoes are definitely an option when they are in season. . .fresh cilantro is great. . .again, you choose what you and/or your family likes best! Personally, I cannot eat jarred salsa anymore. . .and I think you will feel the same way once you whip this up a time or two. It takes about five minutes, start to finish, and it's easy to always have the ingredients on hand (when I'm *really* in a pinch I used dried onion flakes and garlic powder). . .again, whatever suits you and your family.You need a can of diced tomatoes (or a few fresh seeded diced tomatoes), onion, garlic, course salt, cilantro (or in this case, dried cilantro), and a chipolte seasoning.
I bought mine at Sam's Club (I usually go through one of these a year) but think I've seen these kinds of seasonings on the shelves of the grocery store too.
I also use this hand food processor that I got YEARS ago from Tupperware. I have no idea if they still sell them (in fact the original recipe that mine has evolved from is from a Tupperware show!!!) but a regular food processor or even a blender would work just as well. If you like things chunky then you won't need anything. . .just dump, stir, and enjoy :)
I dumped the can of diced tomatoes in, coursely chopped up 1/2 the onion pictured, pressed 2 large garlic cloves (you could certainly chop that up too), used maybe 1/2 t. salt, probably a teaspoon of dried cilantro, and a "palmful" of the seasoning mix.
Actually after I took this picture I added a bit more :)Have you tried these baked chips? They are SO GOOD. I don't much like baked potato chips, but these Tostitos are really light and tasty.

There you are! I hope you enjoy. . .you really can't mess it up. Today I made this right before lunch, but ideally you'll want to make it at least 2 hours before serving for the best taste. My family gobbled almost all of it up so make a double recipe if you're planning on sharing. . .:)

Company Girl Coffee 2.5

Morning! It's 5:50 a.m. where I am but have a busy day ahead so thought I'd get started with my post now, although the link isn't even up yet :) I have had little time to blog this week and I certainly missed out on visiting with all the Company Girls last weekend. . .you would think with being "snowed in" there would be MORE time but alas, in my life that means less. My kids are home and that is my full-time, never-ending job. The days have been aimless (which I don't like) but now that today they finally go back to school -- it's been a week! -- I am sorry to see our time go. We've developed a pattern around here. . .sort of. . .and. . .well. . .I love them. The upside is I am subbing in their school today so we'll essentially be together most of the day anyway!

I'm sipping on some of "my" hot chocolate and reviewing some of what we've done. . .I worked a couple of shifts at the YMCA and that got us out of the house. Of course when there are snow days the Y is overly busy in the childcare area so they call in extra hands. . .again, it's a great job because I can take the kids with me. . .it gets us out of the house and gives my kids some social time outside of each other. The kids spent two days shoveling the "ice/slush" of the driveway. . .too much shade for the sun to get all of it.
There were friends over and a snowball fight. . .I got nailed during this one while taking pictures so headed back inside. . .

The girls and I made some cookie suckers
and I finally finished up some wall art that I started last month.
It's not what I imagined exactly but I'll hang it for awhile. It needs something between the two rows. . .I'm thinking about it. Any ideas? The blue you see is the color we're thinking about painting our bedroom. . .after seeing it on the canvas I am extra-sure it's too overwhelming for me for the entire room. It's a little softer IRL but all the same our bedroom is fairly big and it's just too much. Maybe the bathroom though. When Tom and Bonnie were doing paint colors a couple weeks ago they picked out another color for the bathroom. . .maybe we'll just flip-flop since that was a more neutral color.

This idea was on my list to do this week. . .so I'm keeping it bookmarked for another day.

I hope you all have a blessed and productive day. I'm off to get ready for school. . .get the kiddies up and going. . .then hopefully a workout after school today. I got to go a couple times this week and don't know why I don't do it more. . .I always feel so GOOD afterward!!! Some girlfriends have invited me over to scrapbook tonight. . .but since I was gone last night (to school) I'm not sure I'll leave Tom again tonight. That decision is 13 hours away. . .

And, Rachel Anne, I've kept up with all the Small Things this week!!! Yahoo!!!! Congrats on the January winners too. . .there was a lot there to complete. And to my friends and family out there who see my "Company Coffee" (almost) each week, hop over to Home Sanctuary to join a great community. . .or just to visit with other Company Girls this week :)

Snow Day Tuesday

And I just heard it will be Snow Day Wednesday tomorrow and I'm betting Snow Day Thursday and possibly Snow Day Friday. . .the weather forecast doesn't look too promising. The problem is, the roads aren't getting cleared off. The temperatures have stayed above freezing and you would think that it wouldn't be all that difficult to move the slush off. . .but I guess the county actually needs the equipment to move the slush off. . .???

Here's a rundown:
Monday
*6:15 a.m. - alarm goes off
*7:30 a.m. - Leave the house on the first timer ring. . .yea! (Technically they have 5 rings to get out, but 1 is superb)
*Drive to tennis. . .the roads are much worse than I anticipated. Still got there close to on time so I was happy. When you only have 1.5 hours of court time a week, every minute matters!!!
*8-9:30 - play tennis. . .none of us were especially "on our game" but we were out, hitting the ball so all is good. . .the kids were GREAT. . .
*9:30-10 a.m. -- find the donut shop in town, Ralphs, that has eluded us for the past two weeks. "Best donuts in town" everyone says, but no one can give specific -- i.e. street names -- on how to get there. Anyway, we finally found it this week. And YES, best donuts in town, hands' down.
*10 - 11 a.m. -- Get an hour in at the YMCA working on sports. Couldn't find the person I was supposed to meet with so worked by myself and got quite a bit accomplished. Yea.
*11 a.m. -12:30 -- let the kids play in the pool. They had a couple of friends show up too so that was fun. Now is the dilemma. . .Marie has a 2 p.m. orthodontist appointment but home is 20 good minutes away. What to do??? Ran to Hobby Lobby to pick something up for my bedroom project then let the kids spend their allowances at the Dollar Tree. Not fun for me, but fun times for them :)
*2 p.m. Laura has her appt. . .her 45 minute appt. was over at 2:30. . .yahoo!!! When does something like that ever happen.
*3 p.m. -- FINALLY home. Whew! Kids have to clean their rooms (under beds, closets, the works) before any screens go on in this house. Boys accomplish that pretty quickly, not the girls. So boys start on next task. . .writing their 5-week over-due Christmas Thank You notes. Done!
*5:30 -- try my hand at some candy making with Marie while dinner roasts in the oven. Not bad, thank you Kelly. The candy. . .not great but I'll try it again.
*6:30 -- sit down to dinner. . .nothing exceptional but nice to be around the table, the kids conversing. . .I love my family!!!
*7:00 -- watch the second half of One Night with a King. The kids really liked it. . .don't know how much they really got out of it, but I thought it was good.
*8 - 8:45 -- staggered bedtimes last night. . .
For me, 8 p.m. - 11 p.m. had a GREAT catch-up conversation with a friend I do not spend nearly enough time with. . .

Today:
*6:15 - alarm goes off. . .we don't actually get out of bed for another half hour :)
*7-8 - get ready to head out. . .breakfast, snacks packed, etc.
*8-8:15 -- MAJOR crisis. . .I asked Thomas (11) to go get something out of my trunk. Instead of opening the garage door and then opening the hatchback (it's a van), he decides to go the "lazy" route and open the back as far as it will go and crawl through. Problem is, Frederick comes out and OPENS THE GARAGE DOOR! Aack! Now the door is stuck on the van door. . .major, major problem. Nothing would budge. . .finally was able to pull the van up enough (after crushing a magazine holder by doing so) to close van door/open garage door. One of the garage door wheels is off the track. Then the road from our subdivision leading out to the main hwy (1.5 miles) was in bad shape so I had to take it slowly when I was already late. . .stay calm. . .pray with the kids in the car because I was an ugly, ugly momma with that door incident. Not proud of that. . .no excuse. . .made them ride to the Y in silence instead of listening to their book on tape. . .needed that silent time to calm down before heading into a crazy morning in Childcare at the Y!
*8:40-12:15 -- YPlay was CRAZY!!! Got to work with the school-age kids (my favorite) with our night supervisor. . .we had a good time even though space is l-i-m-i-t-e-d for those big guys!
*12:15-1:00 - pick up a friend for Thomas, then for Frederick before finally pulling in the driveway.
*1:00 - 3:00 -- actually relax a little!!! Why is having 6 kids in the house easier and more relaxing than just four???? Made Jello with Margaret, then made her the tuna too. . .love being able to say "yes" instead of "no, later" and "no, I'm busy now". LOVE IT.
Speculating: 3:15 - leave the house to take said friends home. Get the boys to swimming at 4. Margaret has ballet at 4:15. We need milk. . .can't believe we've gone through 3 GALLONS since last Friday!! Anyway, gather all kids and hopefully on the way home by 5:45. And here's the bonus: a movie with my girlfriends tonight!!!! Yea!!! School has already been called off so I need some time out. . .and what better night than when the theatre has $1 soda and $1 popcorn?!? We're going to see Extraordinary Measures. . .haven't heard a thing about it but did see a preview and love the actors. . .plus, it's a night out, right???

So. . .I hear I will look back on these days and treasure them. Thing is, I already do :)

And than the greatest compliment of all came today. . .someone sincerely told me that she admired the mother that I am. How I take time with my children and how they interact with one another. Truly, I will carry that with me for a long, long time. I fail, and I fail a lot (see 8-8:15 this morning) but what I want my legacy to be is the kind of mother I am. I hope my children will always know how important they are to me. . .and how grateful I am to our Lord for giving them to me. We are perfectly imperfect.