Driving my family crazy... for posterity

When we were kids and my mother wanted to take yet another picture of us, she would always say "It's for posterity."

Fast forward 25 years and enter digital cameras...  posterity has taken on a new meaning.  

I am a picture fanatic.  I take thousands of pictures of my children every year.  Although I am a minimalist when it comes to "stuff", I admittedly hoard digital images.  Will I ever really want 18 images of my daughter in the outfield during any given softball game?  Probably not.  Will I delete even one of those images?  Never.

Then I got an iPhone and Project 365 became my new obsession.  Their motto: Document a year of your life by taking a photo a day.  My reaction?  Yes please!  Let's call it image journalling... this is a great and easy way for Smart Phone users to keep a visual record of their life- or the growth of their children...  or pets... or plants?  At the end of the year, I'll make a digital scrapbook with a page to feature each week and we'll have a record of our year in pictures.  (I also keep a written 5 year journal, but it's not like I'm going to put that on the coffee table for visitors to peruse.)  

So now it's my kids and husband that groan when I want to take yet another picture of them, and what do I say?  "It's for posterity..."

P is for Pancake

I bake with my son routinely- cookies, cupcakes, brownies, birthday cakes, you name it...  it's kind of our thing.  However for some reason, he is convinced I don't know how to make pancakes.  I was reminded of this early today when he and I were the only ones awake and I suggested (in a conspiratorial whisper) that we make breakfast for my husband (Jake), my daughter (Grace), and her sleepover guest.  To which he replied, "Mom...  you can't make pancakes."  Apparently, this a skill that only his father possesses.

I was reminded of why I should have stayed in bed when he told me that my much anticipated, new Good Cook Pancake Creator "gun" was not a gun because it doesn't shoot anything and tried to throw it in the garbage.   After a thrown lollipop (before breakfast, don't ask...), some tears, and a timeout, my husband came downstairs and they made pancakes. Maybe it's kind of their thing.

Jake and Miles' Perfect Pancakes

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt (or a pinch in Miles' hand)
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 3 Tbsp cooking oil
• food coloring (optional)

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another.  Combine bowls and stir until moistened.  Batter will be lumpy.

Try the Good Cook Pancake Creator  to add fun shapes.  Just don't advertise it to your son as a "gun" or he will be sorely disappointed and your creator may (nearly) end up in the trash.  

Coffee pots and candid thoughts...

I somehow grew up without a single domestic skill... like, not one.  So, as a self-proclaimed perfectionist and a mother who wants to teach her son and daughter the value of keeping a good home, I've had to teach myself a lot.  Enter Google.  If your search history includes things like "how to de-vein a shrimp" or "how to remove old milk from a couch" or "how to brine a turkey" or "how to clean rust from a bathtub", then we could hang out.

I am lucky to have friends who are far more talented than I.  Enter Jill and her sparkling coffeepot.  Every day I ponder my stained coffeepot with a bit of disdain... until today.  My wonderful, kind, and savvy friend Jill informed me that the easiest way to clean a coffeepot is with baking soda and water.  Apparently this also works for ceramic coffee mugs.  There is no secret process-

1. Just sprinkle in baking soda 
2. Dump in some water
3. Scrub
4. Voila

I'm sold, I'm trilled, and now I, too, have a sparkling coffee pot.

Life is good.

PS- Thanks to Jill, I've also removed aforementioned milk stains from my microsuede throw pillows.  Did everyone else know you can throw two in the washing machine, air dry, and not look like your pillows are covered in slobber?  Magic!

DIY Pizza Party!

Hosted dinner tonight for friends with culinary talents far greater than mine, so I chose a fun, easy dinner to please: DIY pizza.  (This was also appealing to the under 11 crowd.)

Recipes to remember:

Jill's Tasty Artichoke-Red Pepper Dip - crowd pleaser

• 2 packages softened cream cheese
• 1 jar artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1 jar roasted red pepper, drained and chopped
• 2 cups mayo
• 2 cups cheese (she suggests Parmesan, I used cheddar)

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and serve with chips or crackers.

AllRecipe's Awesome Slow Cooker Buffalo Wings

• These were spicy, but the recipe lived up to the name!  I served it with "Bill's Blue Cheese dressing" - another AllRecipes winner.

Better Homes and Gardens Homemade Pizza Dough

• My husband and son LOVE to make this dough together.
• We filled bowls with marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, sausage, bacon, goat cheese, chopped spinach, cherry tomatoes, pineapple, mushrooms, and peppers.
• Children and adults alike went to town making their own pizza masterpieces.

Night in review: 

• Cost was minimal (so husband was happy)
• Prep time was minimal (I spent the afternoon at the science museum with my kids, so they were happy)
• Fun was had by all (so I was happy)

Here we go...

Welcome to my blog.  (That feels weird to say.)

I want to write about my life- as a mom, wife, teacher, friend, daughter, sister, learner, and wonderer.  (According to Blogger, that's not a word.  Oh well.)

More specifically, I want to write about figuring it all out.  As a kid I looked at adults as magical creatures who inherently knew how to prepare a holiday meal, remove coffee stains from mugs, plan a bridal shower, keep a household, do their makeup, balance a career, have good hair, maintain a marriage, and raise little human beings.  They seemed so competent, confident, and wise.  Then I woke up- 31, a husband, 2 kids, a thousand commitments, endless laundry, and not enough time in the day.  There was no boot camp, no jedi training, no magical rite of passage.  Just me...  and some days, seemingly, the balance of the universe hanging in the balance.  Thank goodness for Google, a sense of humor, and a willingness to figure it out.