The Expanding Zoo

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The Mischief Maker and I are happy to let y’all in on a little secret we’ve been keeping.

Come this fall, the Zoo will be growing!  TADA!!!

Baby

The Sassy One took one look at this picture and said, “The aliens are attacking. Run for your lives!”  Well, it may not be an alien, but it is another Fields — so you may want to run for your lives anyway.  ;)

Kidding, people!  We are excited for this new ball of fun that will most certainly add another element of insanity to our already crazy household.  A new little person for my dear husband to warp into a bundle of chaos!  Hang on!  It’s gonna get fun!

Now let me share with you a little (HUGE) pet peeve I have about being pregnant.

People seem to think a pregnant tummy gives them the right to ask any number of dumb and incredibly personal questions.  Having as many children as we do seems to add to the belief that perfect strangers have a sudden right to invasion of privacy.

Here’s some good pregnancy math for you:
Major pet peeve + hormonal pregnant lady = increased chances of slapping, eye-rolling, and generally sarcastic answers.

Just to help you out, let me answer some of the inevitable questions and comments now.

Because I’m nice and considerate like that.

And yes, people have asked me every one of these questions on more than one occasion.  Here goes:

1.  Yes, we do know what causes this.  We have been married for 15 years.  We’re pros.  Obviously.  ;)  (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.  Ask a stupid question…)

2.  This makes six at home and eight in total.  Yes, I said eight.

3.  No, I am not insane.  Well, not totally anyway.  Okay, maybe I am.  But that’s not the reason for the number of children we have.

4.  You would go crazy with this many children?  That’s too bad.  I’m sorry you’ve raised children you don’t like.  Oh, and by the way, thanks for saying that in front of my kids.  It’s always nice when people make them feel like they are such a burden.

5.  No, you cannot touch my stomach.  If you have to ask, we don’t know each other well enough.

6.  Of course the baby is my husband’s!  What is wrong with you people?

7.  No, I don’t have a ton of patience.  I do, however, have plenty of extra opportunities to practice.

8.  Yes, my hands are already full.  So is my heart.  This is a good thing.

9.  Are we “done” yet?  We’re not cooking turkeys, people.  Oh, wait — you meant are we going to have any more?  I don’t know. Why?  Do we need to pre-order them?

10.  Do we want a boy or a girl?  Preferably.

11.  No, we aren’t going to find out what we are having.  What?  You wouldn’t be able to stand it?  Silly me, I must have forgotten this was about you.  My bad.

12.  Was this planned?  Well, obviously by somebody, whether us or God — but are you really asking me whether our *ahem* “activities” were meant for the purpose of productivity or for recreation?  Perv.

13.  No, we don’t need a hobby.  We have plenty to do.  I just wasn’t aware that the two things have to be mutually exclusive.

14.  And finally, when I see you in public:  Yes, they are all mine.  And thank you for demonstrating your ability to count to six.  Good job!

:D

Romans 8:28 — Part 2

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“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

As if September wasn’t bad enough (see that post here), along comes November.  Oh, November:  how I bless you and curse you all at once!

To make a long story VERY short (and because should I recount my story my head may explode and laser beams may shoot out of my eyesockets and ruin my computer) I am no longer working.  Well, at least not at that wretched place I once called my job.  I promise you that five children do not allow me to not work at home.  ;o) The events that caused me to leave my job, while difficult, have bestowed such wonderful blessings upon me and my family.

Because I’m home. <3

And being home rocks!

Now, let’s clear something up here.  There are those of you who will criticize this decision by the Mischief Maker and myself for me to be home.  You know who you are.  You have made it abundantly clear what you think of such foolery.  Raising a family of seven on a single salary?  How unreasonable!  How unfair to my poor husband who must trudge off to work everyday!  What a waste of my life!  To you I say, I will not have it.  Period.  Go scream into your pillow.

*Ahem.*  Now regaining my composure and moving on from that brief moment of snarkiness…

In the first couple of weeks being home I realized how hard these last four years had been on my family.  The few hours I had at home after work each evening were almost exclusively spent hounding the kids about homework and chores, while simultaneously trying to make dinner and rush children from one obligation to the next.  My home was falling apart, both physically and spiritually.  The inmates were running the asylum and the list of tasks I needed to get done fell further and further behind.

In the overwhelming absence of their two working parents, the interactions between the inhabitants of the Fields’ Zoo were somewhat akin to the Lord of the Flies.  And if you haven’t read the book, folks:  that’s not pretty.  Every relationship was strained as the older ones tried to maintain control they weren’t equipped or mature enough for; the younger ones lashed out in persistent, attention-seeking defiance and disruptive behavior; and they all sought their own form of peace that didn’t seem to include the well-being or consideration of others.

The utter chaos that had enveloped my house left me feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, and angry.  More time was spent putting out fires than building up my home and family.  Home was not a refuge for my husband as it should be.

Now, I tell you all of this not because it had anything to do with my leaving work.  Sadly, that was not the deciding factor — though it really should have been.  The deciding factor was a work issue, but I can take a not-so-subtle hint that we should make some changes. ;o)  I just had to trust that God would, in fact, work this all together for our good.

Of course, when considering the loss of an income the primary concern is, “How will we make it?”  In the midst of considering that dilemma — and with God’s ever-perfect timing — I just happened upon the following passage by an author I don’t even typically follow:

“Throughout the four Gospel accounts, Jesus showed us that our God is a practical God, who is interested in providing for our daily needs practically. To those who were hungry, He provided food by multiplying the loaves and fish. To the fishermen who toiled all night and caught nothing, He gave them more than a boatload of fish. Jesus didn’t stop there—whoever encountered Him received from Him what they lacked. He healed the broken hearted and gave sight to the blind. The sick who came to Him were all healed. Even the dead received His resurrection life! Beloved, whatever you need today, go to Jesus. He is a practical God who is interested in every area of your life, and is more than willing to supply all your needs! Amen!”
http://josephprince.com/
And that, dear friends, was the not-so-subtle hint that I needed.  I will remain home.  I will trust in God, our Provider.  And I will not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Romans 8:28 — Part 1

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“…we know that all things work together for good to those who love God…” 

…and that is what this post is about.

I’ve been a little MIA for, oh, only about six months or so.  That’s a long time to be MIA on my blog.  Believe it or not — and I certainly didn’t — I’ve actually heard about it from a few people.  I will take that as a HUGE compliment!  Thank you, if you have complained to me.  ;)  I guess I’ve got some ‘splaining to do!

Listen, way back in September the dear husband and I had one of them-there life-changing event thingies.  Someday I may blog about that.  Maybe.  But in the meantime I’ll just tell y’all what I’ve been doing and what I learned from that.

For a while I leaned heavily on Romans 8:28.  A person wants to ask, “Why me?”  The answer for me came two-fold:

1.)  No matter how bad it is, someone else has it worse.
2.)  It’s not my business to know.

I know, I know…that’s harsh.  And I’m not eloquent in my delivery of harsh things.  All I’m saying is that we will never understand all things.  If we did, or if we could see the future, what would we ever go through that would build our character?  Test our resolve and strength?  Help us grow?  Or more importantly, cause us to give full trust our ever-faithful God?

I have read critics that say God is a scapegoat for the weak when they can’t handle life.  I say, au contraire!  It takes strength to trust, it takes strength to have faith, and it takes a tremendous amount of strength to feel peace in the midst of adversity, knowing that — even though it may not feel like it at the time — the Big Guy’s got your back.  And I believe that He does.  He works it all together for our good when we love Him.  I’m not saying that nothing bad will ever happen to us, I’m just saying that we may never know what those negative things have changed in our lives that brings the good back around to us.

I would love to hear your opinions (or perhaps just better explanation) of how God works things together for our good.

*****

Lest this post get to be too long, part two will be coming tomorrow.  I’m so happy to be back and hoping to hear from some of you, my dear friends!

 

Frugal Challenge: Week 1 Results

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I did pretty good sticking to my meal plan for the first week.  Just to recap, this was my plan for last week, along with any changes I made and recipes where applicable:

Sunday:     Church Potluck (we brought juice from our pantry)  Am I the only one that has absolutely no control at a potluck?!  I don’t know what it is about our church in particular but some people there make the most delicious meals!

Monday:     Spaghetti w/turkey meatballs   I had meatballs in the freezer from a freezer cooking session a while back.  You can find the original recipe here.  I used lean ground turkey in place of the ground beef.  Because I was short on time, I tried skipping the baking of the meatballs and letting them cook in the simmering spaghetti sauce.  This resulted in the meatballs falling apart, making for some very thick (and yummy!) meat sauce!

Tuesday:     13-Bean Soup w/Corn Bread  Ok, so I cheated on the corn bread. ;)   I had a boxed mix I had gotten with coupons for $.50.  I didn’t have a recipe for the bean soup so I did a dump recipe (As in, dump it in ’til it looks right!) from what I had on hand at home.  The following measurements are my best guess:
2 cups mixed beans
One ham bone leftover from a spiral sliced ham
1/2 large onion, diced
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning (which I think is a mixture of basil, thyme, and oregano)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Put in the crockpot and let set on low all day.  The last time I tried this I didn’t add nearly enough water so it dried up and burned, so this time I over compensated and added way too much!  It made for a much thinner soup than I prefer but it tasted wonderful!  The kids — including the big one ;) — all balked at first but once they tried it they were thrilled!

Wednesday:     Tomato Soup w/Grilled Cheese Sandwiches  I was hoping to be able to make homemade tomato soups with all the marvelous bounty from my garden this year; but alas, I have harvested a whopping four cherry tomatoes.  My larger tomatoes did not even grow.  So trusty Campbell’s Condensed it was.

Thursday:     Homemade Pizza 

Again, I had homemade pizza crusts and pizza sauce in the freezer.  I took these out in the morning before work so when I got home all that needed to be done was to roll the dough out and let the kids build the toppings!  I think in the future I will divide the dough into mini-pizza portions so they can each create their own masterpieces.  I also plan to experiment with some pre-cooked deep dish crusts and to try out this no-cook recipe for the sauce, since the last batch of sauce attacked me while it was simmering and left a scar! 

Friday:     Zucchini Meatloaf  Another dump recipe that was a hit!  I was amazed that the troops ate the zucchini right up.  I used approximately:
1 pound lean ground beef
2 large zucchini
1 egg
1 slice bread, crumbled into tiny pieces
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup each onion, green and red bell peppers, finely diced
Italian seasoning, minced garlic, salt, and pepper to taste
Cut off ends of zucchini and slice in half.  Using a melon baller or a spoon, scoop the middle of the zucchini out, making a bowl.  Be sure not to scoop out too much!  Mix the rest of the ingredients with your hands — just to thoroughly gross out the little ones — and press into the zucchini bowls.  Bake at 350 until done, approximately 30-45 minutes depending on the thickness of your meatloaf.

Saturday:     Sweet Italian Pasta Toss  Despite my searching, I can’t find the exact recipe for this online.  I find this a very odd thing, indeed.  So here’s my best tip:  go to the store and buy a package of Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage.  The recipe is inside the label.  Seriously.  If you ask me, the sausage makes this meal, so you have to buy it anyway.  Right?

What about you?  Does anyone have a recipe they tried this week that they’d like to share, good or bad?

 

 

Frugal Challenge: Week 1 Plan

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Alright, so having mentally inventoried my pantry and freezer I have come up with the following dinner menu for the next few weeks.

I made a list of meals I could create from what I have on hand, then separated the meals out so I didn’t make the same type right in a row — I tend to get in a rut and do that!  I made sure to plan the easier dinners on the nights we don’t get home until 7:30-8:00pm and the more labor intensive dinners for the weekends.

Week 1
Sunday:     Church Potluck (we brought juice from our pantry)
Monday:     Spaghetti w/turkey meatballs
Tuesday:     13-Bean Soup w/Corn Bread
Wednesday:     Tomato Soup w/Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Thursday:     Homemade Pizza
Friday:     Zucchini Meatloaf
Saturday:     Sweet Italian Pasta Toss

Week 2
Sunday:     Church Potluck (we will bring baked chicken drumsticks)
Monday:     3-Bean Crockpot Turkey Chili
Tuesday:     Potato Ham Soup w/Homemade Cheesy Garlic Bread
Wednesday:     Crockpot Chicken w/peach mango salsa (if I can find the veggies cheap enough)
Thursday:     Crockpot Pork Roast
Friday:     Chicken Salad using leftovers from Wednesday
Saturday:     Fried Chicken

Week 3
Sunday:     Church Potluck
Monday:     Chili Dogs using leftovers from the 3-bean turkey chili
Tuesday:     Lasagna
Wednesday:     The Mischief Maker gets paid and we have made it!  Woohoo!  (And yes, I will be celebrating by buying a pizza.  With coupons of course!  ;) )

Now school lunches for the kids may be a bit trickier!  There are three things that will help me in this area:

1.  The Littles (Ham and Sassy Jr) are pretty keen on taking leftovers like pasta!
2.  I already have a small supply of homemade breakfast sandwiches, bean burritos, and hot pockets that I made in the week before school.
3.  Luckily, one of my favorite bloggers, Crystal over at Money Saving Mom, is doing a two-week Lunchbox Freezer Cooking series.  Thank you, Crystal! I’ll follow up on that in another post!

For a link to the original story about my Frugal Challenge, click here!

Happy cooking!  :)

 

 

Frugal Challenge: Walking the Walk

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A while back I had fun doing my eight-week Eat From Your Pantry series, where I purposed to spend less than $50 per week on food for my family by eating what was already in our cupboards.  While I didn’t always stay within my goal, it did set a new precedent for my grocery shopping habits — and got me off my Diet Coke binge!  Since that time, I have routinely kept my grocery bill below $100 per week for my family of seven.

Though it has been a couple months since my final post in that series, I continue to get a lot of positive feedback on it and had been considering a subsequent series.  Well, God apparently thought I needed a little prodding to stop talking the talk and start really walking the walk.  Isn’t God marvelously funny like that?

A rather troublesome event happened at my husband’s job that made it necessary for him to find new work.  Now.  For the sanity of us all.

Don’t ask me what happened, lest my head explode.

*****

Now, my friends, I told you all that to tell you this:

Because of the difference in pay periods between Old Angry Job and New Happy Job, we will be three weeks without a paycheck.  This would not have been a problem had we planned.

We didn’t plan.

And Old Angry Job paid weekly, so this is quite the sudden hitch in our getalong. But have no fear, people.  Have no fear.  I am up for the challenge.  And prayer.  I am up for lots. And lots. Of prayer.  ;)  Thank you very much.

*****

Would now be a good time for a confession?  Yes?  Ok, lean in… Closer…  Closer…  You ready?  Here goes:

I have only made dinner for my children once in the last week.  And on that day there were no vegetables.

There.  It has been said.  You can feel normal now.  You know you’ve done it, too!  No?  Really?  Oh.  Um…ok, forget I said that.

What were we talking about?

Oh! Oh, yes!  We were discussing how I, the Mother of the Year, am always well-organized and prepared, with nutritious meals planned weeks in advance, having bravely overcome the difficulties of chronic fatigue and working-all-day-coming-home-at-8pm-every-night-because-of-soccer-season.

No, we weren’t?  Man, I can’t get anything by you!  You guys are gooood!

*****

Alright, so because this wasn’t planned I’m not really starting with much of a stocked pantry.  I’m going to have to be well-organized and prepared, planning out meals as much in advance as possible, shopping by my grocery list (or when I can get stuff dirt cheap, like the 10 packs of Oscar Meyer hot dogs I got free last week or the $.50 bags of salad I plan to pick up later today), and — here’s the hard part for me — actually cooking what I’ve planned without being “too tired.”

That being said, I’m off to go inventory my pantry and freezer and I’ll be back to post…something.  Meal list?  Budget?  Frugal ideas?  I don’t know!  Didn’t I just tell you I don’t plan ahead?!  Sheesh!

:)

 

 

Insanity, In Short Form

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Just some random thoughts that really fit no where and shall appear in no particular order.

I actually thought I published this post last week, but alas, it did not post.  Obviously.

Because I am that talented with my blogging self.  Obviously.

So, here are my ramblings, a week late:

*****

A conversation with Sassy Jr:

“Do you know why I love these kinds of chips?”
“Why?”
“Because they have so much salty on them.”
“Oh, I like that, too!”
“And because they smell like my ear wax.”
“Huh?”
“Here, smell my ear wax.”
“Um…no.”
“No really, mommy.  Smell my ear wax.”
“I don’t think so.”
“But that’s why the chips are yummy!  Smell it!”

So think of that, dear readers, the next time you find yourself enjoying a bag of Lay’s potato chips.

*****

My schedule for Saturday morning:

 

Plus The Ham picked up an extra 11am game.  Because don’t all seven-year-olds pick up extra soccer games just for fun?

And we did our back to school shopping.  Two days before school started.

 *****

Why yes, my husband does a have giant, random collection of fast food condiments filling up an entire drawer.  Doesn’t yours?

*****

I managed to harvest enough zucchini from my garden to make an entire meal of it.  Woot!  I stuffed said zucchini with left over meats (a little ham, a little ground beef, and a little shredded chicken), plus some shredded cheese, diced bits of zucchini I had scooped out of the middles, and some marinara sauce.  It pretty much rocked.  I always feel like fireworks should magically appear in my kitchen when I get my kids to eat their vegetables!  ;)

(P.S.  Since posting, er, not posting this last week I have now made four loaves of zucchini bread and had sliced, grilled zucchini for dinner twice.  And yet my counter overrunneth with zucchini!  Ideas for preserving it?  Please?)

*****

Now, dear readers, what say you of my poor tomato plants?  I’ve watered more, watered less, fertilized.  The weird little creatures are still growing tomatoes, but they look like this:

 

See all the brown leaves and stalks?  HELP!!!

*****

Just for fun The Sassy One put a can of juice in the freezer overnight so it would be cold for school.  By some miracle, the can did not explode in my freezer, but she was afraid it wouldn’t be thawed out in time for lunch the next day so she put it in the microwave.

An aluminum can.

In. The. Microwave.

By some second random miracle my microwave also did not explode

*****

The End.

Flashback Friday: Sleepwalker

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It occurs to me that there are SO many crazy Zoo stories I have yet to tell you from before I started blogging.  Therefore, I shall begin my series of Flashback Fridays with a story I hope The Dude can forgive me for.

Some day.  ;o)

First, there are a couple of facts that are very important to know when telling this story.

Fun Fact #1:  When Dude was a wee one, from the time he was potty trained to around six or seven, he would sleep walk.  No, he would sleep run. Now the fun thing about his sleep running is that he only did it when he needed to go potty.

But he was asleep, you see, and had no idea where the potty was.  True story.

One had to be very quick when hearing his little pitter-patter feet lest he decide at random where the potty should be on that particular occasion.  It was usually behind a door.  Somewhere.  As a potty should rightly be.

Fun Fact #2:  Dude also had night terrors, which are different from nightmares in that “they” don’t suggest you wake up the little tykes with night terrors lest they incorporate you into their bad dreams.

*****

Now, one night when Dude was five The Mischief Maker fell asleep on the couch.  Dude and I were sleeping soundly in our respective rooms that are right next to each other when suddenly I hear pitter-patter run right by my door.

I alight like the man in the Night Before Christmas poem and run after Dude, in hopes I could catch him before he christened our new living room carpet!

 The Dude runs into the living room, turns around, and runs back into the kitchen where he sees me running after him.  Being startled at the sight of me in the dark, he turns around again and starts running back toward the living room, and

BAM!

…he runs full speed into the wall and crumples to the floor where he starts screaming with all he has.  And he won’t stop.

I pick The Dude up in an effort to wake him, and at this point the Mischief Maker wakes up from the couch.  Sort of.  He wakes up enough to run into the kitchen, see me shaking the screaming Dude (Gently, people!  Never fear!) and in his semi-comatose state think I must have done something to that poor child.

So the Mischief Maker does what any semi-comatose, insane person would do:  He runs to us, grabs The Dude out of my arms, holds him up in the air over his head, looks into my eyes, and screams like a warrior.  ”AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Which — and I know this will shock you — made The Dude scream even more.

So I did what any semi-comatose mother looking at an insane warrior-man holding her child would do.  I grabbed The Dude back, looked at my husband, and said, “WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!”

To which the now awake Mischief Maker replied, “Huh?”

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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Um, hello? Hi.  Remember me?  The blogging slacker? Because I know you were all waiting with baited breath, hoping and praying daily that I will resume my nonsensical ramblings.  Right?  RIGHT???

Well, the fam and I had a mah-velous time last weekend.  We drove our very own selves to the water park!  And we were blessed to have the company of two of The Dude’s friends, Brandon and KatieFish!  Yay!!!  I have to tell you that this is only the second time in my life having been to a water park, what with traumatizing myself and all the first time I went.  That would have been about 12 years ago when my husband insisted I go with his family, and he has not gotten me back to one until now.

Here are some fun facts about me and water parks:
1.  I’m afraid of water.
2.  I’m afraid of heights.
3.  I got stuck on the slide.  Seriously.  In front of what I’m sure was the entire park.  It was awesome.

So you can see how I was SO excited for this weekend, right?  Well, turns out the water park was not so bad because:
1.  It was way more fun watching the kiddos having a BLAST, since only one of them had ever been before.
2.  I ditched the kids to spend about 10 minutes drifting down the Lazy Lagoon with my hunk, which is the closest thing we have had to a date in months.  Well, that is until the kids found us and flipped our boat.  Little bit of a mood killer right there.
3.  I did not go on any slides.
4.  Most importantly, I DID NOT GO ON ANY SLIDES!!!!!!!!

The Zoo did manage to convince me to go on a couple of rides, and I was quite proud of myself!  The first one was technically a slide, but it was okay because it was more like mini rapids and I was in a boat.

By the way: more trauma.  Picture the whole line waiting and watching while a chubby lady tries in vain to climb into a rubber boat that won’t stay still without flipping her two small children out of it.  And the tiny, young park worker that was about as big as my thigh having to help me into it.  I mean, not that we’re talking about me or anything.  We’re talking about…some other…chubby lady.  Pity her, people!  Pity her!

The second ride I risked my life on rode on was called “The Cyclone,” but my dear children aptly nicknamed it “The Toilet.”  This heinous contraption drops you five stories down an enclosed tube into a giant bowl that does indeed resemble a toilet, where you then swirl round and round until you drop through a hole in the bottom and swoosh down the drain into a pool.

What convinced me to get on this death trap, you ask?  I was wondering that myself as I stood whimpering at the top, staring down that dreadful 45-degree tunnel.  Then I remembered it was Sassy Jr’s sweet little face that had convinced me.  The same sweet little face that giggled at me hysterically as I screamed all the way through the ride.  There’s nothing like the ego boost you get as you scream in terror like a little girl while being mocked by a six-year-old.

In stark contrast to my…um…bravery, was that of The Dude, who, together with the Mischief Maker and KatieFish, flew so far up the ramp on “The Avalanche” that their boat rammed into the wall at the end and The Dude’s feet hung over the side — also five stories in the air.  After exiting the ride, The Dude quite happily announced, “I thought I was going to DIE!”  and then promptly got in line again.  My children are insane.  Make no mistake, they get it from their father.

Oh, and another fun fact about me and water parks:  I learned not to use the toilet seat covers when you have just gotten out of the pool.  Just trust me on that one.  ;)

Side note:  I did not get any photos at the water park.  I decided I would not be a slave to my camera!  It was rather enjoyable, although it feels odd not to have captured the memories of their happy faces.  I did, however, get a few pictures of after the water park.

This was our 50th anniversary, commemorative antenna weenie from the Weinerschnitzel.  Yes, I just said “commemorative antenna weenie.”  Try not to laugh.  I dare you. 

 

My children had never heard of the Weinerschnitzel, deprived little souls that they are, but let it be known that this did not stop them from downing a whole lotta da food after seven hours at the water park!  It was an incredible sight, let me tell ya.

Oh, and this is the picture of our lovely van breaking down.  Three-and-a-half hours from home.  In the middle of nowhere.  With just enough cell phone service to receive the panicked texts from the parents of the children that were with us wondering what is going on, but not quite enough cell phone service to send a response.  So that was fun.

Luckily, our friends were smartical enough to connect with us through the local Highway Patrol to find out where we were and come like the Cavalry!  Of course, with the communication problems and the distance they had to travel, the Cavalry arrived six hours later, at about 2am. 

Math lesson for today:  7 tired children x 6 hours in a car = 42 billion degrees of fun.  You should try it sometime.  Kidding.

Here’s The Sassy One sleeping on our dash.  It was the only space we had left, people!

 

 We also had one sleeping in the floor, who confessed later that he had just spent three hours laying on top of a donut box.  Why he didn’t move the box is beyond me.

THE SILVER LINING:  My husband pretty much rocks! 

Here he is with our car trouble: “Well, the car will start with a jump, but it won’t stay running and the battery won’t hold enough of a charge to keep the lights on.  That tells me that the alternator went out.  I can fix that in about an hour if the parts store has one in stock.”

Here I am with our car trouble: “Uhhhhhh……”

So after everyone slept awhile, the stores were open, and the dust had settled, the Mischief Maker and I drove back out to the van and — get this — we were ALONE.  For nine glorious hours!  Honestly, that was the best uninterrupted time we have had together for probably six years.  Thank you, Jesus, for car trouble!

 

I Never Doubted You!

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I would just like to start by announcing that on Saturday, the 21st of July in the year 2012, I, Lisa Fields, made an actual dinner with some actual zucchini from my actual pallet garden.

HA!  Please, please, hold the applause.  I blush.

And I want you to know that when The Sassy One saw me come in with my victory zucchini, she declared, “I never doubted you, Mom.”

Again I say, HA!  Indeed, double HA!

Just for the record, and for your very own pleasure, the recipe I made was this one, with a few modifications:
1.  Use Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage (if you ask me, the sausage is the key to making this recipe the BOMB!)
2.  Cut the casing off the sausage and chunk it into bite-sized pieces before you cook it.
3.  I use two zucchini instead of one and never add cherry tomatoes.  Because mushy cherry tomatoes are nasty.

This is one of the few recipes I make that everyone in my house loves!  Enjoy!

You’re welcome.

*****

I got asked out on a date by a handsome guy.  Woot!  Be jealous, ladies.  Be jealous.

Oh, wait.  Before you get too jealous, I’ll just let you know that this handsome guy lacks details.  Like a little thing called a baby sitter.  So the date ended up including five kids and the words “mini golf.”

Don’t get me wrong, the mini golf was fun and all, but there’s just something about…
…”Genna, come back here.”
“Logan, back up.”
“It’s your turn.  It’s your turn.  It’s YOUR TURN!”
“That’s no fair!”
“I wanna go next!”
“Genna, come back here!”
“Logan, I told you you would get hit with the club if you didn’t back up.”
“Genna, come back here NOW!”…
…that just ruins the romance.

Eh, at least there was still a handsome guy involved.  ;)

Side note, I actually caught The Dude smiling in a picture:

Haircut, anyone?

This in itself was a feat of epic proportions!  You may not know it, but you should be impressed.  Seriously.  Now go commence being impressed.  I’ll wait…

Dude Jr. was quite amused to have actually seen the likeness of one of his favorite songs:

And I won the mini golf game.  You can applaud now.  I’ll wait…

*****

Speaking of babysitters, I think I need to stop letting The Sassy One be in charge of the Littles.

The Ham is likely to be taken advantage of by his sisters and come out looking like this:

Yes, that’s him on the left.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go bribe his brothers to go play with some guns or trucks or … alligators.

Wish me luck.