I Love Friday Nights (316/365)

Matt made pancakes and popcorn tonight, per usual. After dinner the
girls both had baths and Daddy set up a tent in the living room so we
could watch one of our Goodwill 47¢ VHS movies (we chose ET) that we
bought today. Yes we still have a VCR, and no I don't plan on getting
rid of it any time soon. Anyway, Alice loved the movie, but got really
scared when the guys in suits appeared looking for ET. So scared in
fact that she rushed to sit on my lap (I can sit on the floor under a
saggy sheet tent for only so long). By the end of it she had forgotten
about the scary bits and was throughly engrossed with ET. I'd say it
was 47¢ well spent!

Pic: Alice, post bath with her new favorite toy, a Lalaloopsy doll.
She bought it with a gift card she got from Auntie Mary and Uncle Andy
for her birthday. Apparently they are pretty popular toys, I think
they are going to be one of the big toys this Christmas season just
based on what I've seen in the store. Personally I don't get their
appeal, or their price tag, but whatever. She's happy.

Stick a Fork in Me (315/365)

I'm done with this day. It could have been a lot worse I know, but I'm
ready for it to be over nonetheless.

• My ears hurt
• My throat is scratchy
• Izzy choked on orange pieces
• She also didn't nap well
• Probably because she too has something
• Alice was unruly once Matt came home
• Cat puked on the floor for the third time this week
• It's raining
• The kids were monsters at dinnertime
• It's not Thanksgiving yet

And now I'm off to bed. Hopefully it'll be a better day when I wake up.

One good thing about today, 30+ years ago today one of my best friends
was born. Happy Birthday, Jess! I hope it was a good one! Love you.

I Guess I Can Make Soup (314/365)

The last time I tried to make soup was after Thanksgiving last year. I was pretty discouraged because it was quite bland, despite having followed the recipe to a T.  I decided to give it another go, this time with a different recipe. It took two days to make, but man was it worth it!  And this is from a woman who usually hates broth soups. 

It's a basic recipe I got out of one of my cookbooks, but I thought I'd share anyway. 

CHICKEN ORZO SOUP

1 large onion, peeled and quartered
2 carrots, peeled and quartered
2 celery stalks, quartered
2 garlic cloves
1 T poultry seasoning
1 T salt
Pepper to taste
5 quarts cold water

3-4 lb whole chicken

Wash chicken, remove breasts and refrigerate. Add the rest of the chicken, plus garlic, carrot, celery, onion, seasoning, and enough water to cover carcass by 1-2 in. 

Heat gradually to boiling point, then add chicken breasts. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 20-30 minutes, or until breast meat is cooked through. Remove breasts, set aside to cool, then refrigerate for later use in another dish. 

Simmer remaining chicken partially covered with a lid for 2-2.5 hours, or until chicken is tender and pulls away from bone. Strain, save only the meat and broth. Remove meat from bones and refrigerate. Place broth in smaller containers to cool for up to 2 hours at room temp until it can safely be stored in the fridge. 

Refrigerate overnight. The fat will then float to the top. Skim it off and discard. Return broth to stock pot, simmer uncovered 1 hour, or until broth is reduced by 1/4. Test seasonings. 

Then I added potatoes, carrots, a few celery stalks, and the reserved meat and let them simmer in the broth until tender. Meanwhile I boiled 4 ish servings of orzo in a separate pot and added the drained orzo to the soup. 

Matt and I sure enjoyed it. The girls, not so much. In fact Alice was sent to bed without dinner for the first time in her life. It was a long day. 

Sent from my iPhone

Oh the Temptation (313/365)

I'm trying to get back on the weightless challenge bandwagon, and I've
done great all day. Unfortunately Matt agreed to make something for
the bake sale at work and he chose to make peanut butter bars that are
similar to Reese's PB cups - my weakness! I think he's just trying to
make his odds of winning even better!

Anybody Else Want One? (312/365)

I saw this Nativity set at Meijer today and had to force myself to walk away and not put it in my cart, though I don't know if I'll be able to resist it the next time it crosses my path!

I'm a sucker for Christmas.

Why Couldn't it Have Been This Gorgeous Yesterday? (311/365)

As luck would have it, our last day in Jville was a beautiful, unseasonably warm, 70*F day. The girls went with Grandma and Grandpa (and their Aunties) to church, then they pretty much played outside, sans coats, until it was time to head home. They did manage to squeeze some lunch and Alice got to play her favorite game, Grandma's secretary though too. We were no more than 15 minutes out of town when both girls conked out. They slept soundly until we woke them for dinner in Bloomington. It was a sign that they had had a good weekend!

I most definitely agree. See you all again soon!

On This Trip to Grandma's We...(310/365)

1) Ate cake and ice cream before 12pm.

2) Matt, Charles, and Tori all did lots of homework.

3) I slept in because I hardly slept last night due to Izzy's lack of wanting to sleep.

4) Those who got up before I did enjoyed pancakes for breakfast.

5) Dad and Alice played Candyland (her first time playing it, EVER if you can believe that) for at least a half hour. AND she actually followed directions and didn't fuss. That's a HUGE win for my little drama queen.

6) Izzy and JJ both took naps. Izzy SOOO didn't want to get up from her nap. Can't imagine why.

7) Oh, and Dad took one too.

8) Erin had to leave us right after cake and presents. It was good to see her, though we wish she could have stayed longer.

9) Dad and Cindy were brave grandparents and took my two girls off my hands and took them to a pot luck.

10) Dad says there were good, but I'll wait until I can talk to Cindy for the final word on that. Dad has a way of forgetting these things.

11) JJ, Tori, Matt, and I went to D'arcy's Pint as I really wanted to get a horseshoe this trip home.

12) After hearing it was an hour wait to get a table, we opted to go to the Dublin Pub instead for shoes that were just as good.

13) And for the waitress that calls you babe.

14) Then the four of us went to a movie on the way home. We saw Social Network and Mr. Sorkin did not disappoint.

Even though my day started at like 2am, crashed at 5:30am, then rebooted at 10am, all in all it was still a very good day.

Now I'm off to bed - hopefully Izzy sleeps the night away!

We Made It (309/365)

I nearly killed us once, but we made it.

Dress Up and Disasters (308/365)

For a few weeks, Izzy has been bringing me these 3D glasses to me,
asking me to put them on her. This was the first time she's kept them
on long enough for me to snap a pic. Isn't she freaking adorable?!

Alice was intently playing waitress this morning. She had just served
her dolly some food when I asked her to come over to me. I saw
something in her hair and couldn't figure out what it was. Upon
further inspection, I discovered she had a crayon tucked behind her
ear! Where does she get this stuff?!

Heading to Jville tomorrow. It was a good thing Matt had to bring in
garbage cans this evening because one of the tires on the van was
flat. So poor Matt, who also had a lecture to watch tonight, had to go
and deal with that while I fed the kids. Thankfully it was just a
screw puncture - easy fix. We were intending to get new tires for the
van NEXT WEEK, so we were pretty thankful we didn't have to do that
tonight. We should be good to go after school lets out!

Looking forward to seeing those of you who will be there - I'm in need
of a good trip home!

Blah (307/365)

2 out of 4 of us are sick. I think Alice feels fine, but she did have
a fever this morning so she missed school. Me, I'm achy and feverish,
but feeling better than I did this afternoon. Hopefully we'll all feel
better soon as we are planning a trip down to Jville soon!

5 Reasons I Loved Tuesday (306/365)

1) Making banana bread with my big girl. She's starting to really love
helping me in the kitchen, and I hope her fascination continues to
grow because I love it when she helps.

2) Conversing with Izzy. That kid really, truly understands everything
I say and it amazes me. I don't think Alice was this young when she
was like this.

3) Watching Izzy dance to Glee. It may have been a rerun (which I
didn't see the first time), but Izzy loved the "funky" music so much
that she busted out moved I've never seen her do before. Gotta love
that girl!

4) The fact that Alice watched the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland
during quiet time today and loved it! I thought for sure that at
least some of it would scare her, but she wasn't fazed. She did keep
pointing out the differences from that version and the cartoon.

5) That today was election day and the annoying phone calls, people at
my door, and awful commercials will now stop. Oh how I've been waiting
for this day!

I'm Ready For My Close Up! (305/365)

Today was picture day at school. Despite her not cooperating with me
this morning, I think she looked pretty darn cute. Now hopefully the
photographer won't Photoshop her head on someone else's body (this
actually happened to my friend's little boy recently - they put it on
a girl's body too! They also didn't bother to Photoshop out his feet).

Oh, and Iz wanted me to take her pic too, so there you go.

Happy Halloween! (304/365)

What a gorgeous day for Trick-or-Treating!! Like most Sundays, we
spent this one in Villa Park at Matt's parents' house. VP does their
trick-or -treating during daytime hours so we were able to enjoy the
beautiful sunshine as we went door-to-door. The wind had a chill on
it, but it was still quite gorgeous out!

My girls were dressed as Care Bears (Mike, Alice really should have
been Grumpy Bear instead of Cheer - ugh!), JR was his hero Thomas the
Tank Engine, and Sammy was a cute little bee.

We made our rounds around the neighborhood and all of the kids came
home with a sack full of goodies to eat. Matt was good and didn't eat
anything other than Smarties. Me, I apparently really needed some
chocolate today! We'll see how screwed up my weigh in is tomorrow -
it was a bad week.

I don't think I mentioned it, but Matt and I are doing another
weightloss challenge. It's really gotten Matt back on the wagon in
terms of good eating habits, but it's yet to light a fire under my
butt. I wish I had more willpower. It ends mid December. We'll see how
well I do with the holidays and with all of the candy in my house at
the moment!

I Love Lazy Saturdays (303/365)

We didn't do much of anything today. We played, watched a Halloween
movie or two, had an early dinner, and we finished the day with a
spooky movie under a tent made of sheets.

The day couldn't have been any better.

I Always Knew She Was Easily Amused (302/365)

Iz and I went to Alice's preschool Halloween party today. In order to
keep her out of the way of the other kids so she didn't get trampled,
I gave her three clothes pins to play with and wouldn't you know it,
they kept her busy the whole time! We passed them back and forth to
one another and I counted them to her as we passed them.

Alice played games, sang songs, trick-or-treated at the old folks home
a few doors down, freeze danced to the record daddy listened to every
year at Halloween, and all in all had a great time. I'm pretty glad we
were able to show up and help out.