Brownies (the BEST brownies you will ever make)

Among my friends, I have been named the brownie lady. I started bringing brownies to our get togethers a couple years ago. I had picked up the Hershey Brownie mix from Sam's Club. It was a good price and thought we should give it a try. I HAD NO IDEA what effect these brownies would have on my life. I am not kidding you! I mean they have given me a reputation! I think that my friends are really only going to miss my brownies and not me! If we are going to hang out with our homeschool friends at Vickie's house, I MUST make brownies. Then US moms have to keep them near us, so we can eat as many as we want before the kids come to get them. If we have a play or a homeschool outing like for example the sock hop, I MUST make brownies. It is getting to where I really need to bring two pans because one is simply not enough. My friends all believe it is because I make in my Pampered Chef Stone. I am jealous because my friend, Michelle, has not ONE Pampered Chef rectangular baker, but TWO! She could make two pans of brownies in the awesome stone. Or as she did at our last scrapbooking night, she made ziti in one and brownies in the other. I came home and told my mom of my insane jealousy over her TWO stones (and did I mention she has the glazed ones - mine is the older plain kind)! My mom asked me in her most sensible voice, "Why didn't you ever ask somebody to get you another one for your birthday or Christmas?" Well, I don't know! Because that makes sense, I guess. I suppose it is because I always think I am going to have another Pampered Chef party. I love having the parties, but I just haven't gotten to it. Maybe I should before I move. I won't have tons of friends to invite when I move. Hmmm... that is something to think about. Anyway, that was not the point of my post. It is about the brownies! If you go to Sam's club - you must try the Hershey's brownie mix. It is like $5 something a box and it makes two big pans of brownies. It used to make 2.5 pans, but they got cheap and took one of the bag mixes out. I forgive them only because the brownies are so completely awesome! You need to go out and get a Sam's membership and buy these brownies! I am not kidding. Your life will not be the same without them. Oh and I am going to post another favorite thing I buy from Sam's one day soon. Complete with step by step cooking instructions and pictures. I already took the pictures, but they are on a new camera and I haven't figured out how to get them off the camera yet. Enjoy the brownies!

The view from last Friday...

Ash on my car!

In case you didn't hear, there have been some wild fires in Florida. I don't actually know WHERE they are because I don't watch the news. I just know that we have had more smoke than ever before. I don't completely understand why. Several years ago most of I4 was on fire between Tampa and Orlando and we didn't get smoke like this. I took these pictures last Friday with every intention of coming here to post them. I just got busy and more busy along the way. I am finally posting them now, so that is good, right. I know I said I was going to be better about blogging and then I didn't write for a week. It is just that I have some deep philisophical thoughts going on in my head and I haven't been writing them out, but maybe I will share them soon. Maybe I will get back to my old self and post pictures more. I sure hope that I do!

My son is an artist...

I know... I know... it has been almost a week again. I think I have lost my most avid reader - my sister. I am not seeing Arkansas show up on my counter these days. I am sorry I am not posting much. I really do intend to try more. Anyway, Timmy had to pressure wash the roof of my mom's carport last week. I thought he was gone for quite a long time considering it isn't that big of a job. Later in the day, I took my mom home from work to find his artwork. Boy did it give us a good laugh! Who knew he has so much talent? Quite a good self portrait of him, don't you think? By the way, he was pressure washing to get it ready to paint - so it was okay to be a little artistic!

Our house is on the market...

There is a real, honest to goodness sign in the yard. It is advertised on the MLS listing and soon (maybe it already is) will be on REALTOR.COM. I haven't wrote a whole lot on my blog because I try to write when I feel "blessed" with my life. It is not that I don't feel blessed, but I am feeling very stressed. Hey - that rhymes! I feel like we priced it too high and it won't sell and the phone will never ever ring. I feel like I will soon own two houses even though we now only have one income. There are a few other things going on that really have NOTHING to do with me, but because I care for the people that these things are happening to - I am struggling. One is a little boy in our neighborhood and without going into the yucky details here - could you just send up a prayer for a little boy named Jonathon that lives by me. He needs God to watch over him and help him get through a tough time that little 8 year old boys shouldn't have to. He is not sick and he will live, he just needs some prayers. The other has to do with my mom and she will be fine, but she had a minor setback this week and it just plain put a damper on my already not so great attitude. In all of this, I do have things that make me feel blessed. I have WONDERFUL friends. One called me just yesterday and asked me if I was "wiggin"! Yes, I was and at that very moment it was nice to hear somebody tell me it would be okay. Then I met with that friend and a few others later. Again, they listened to me ramble off all of my worries and they assured me it would be okay. We even planned a fun trip to Busch Gardens to reward the girls for selling cookies. Something I would not be able to spend money on right now, but will be taken care of for me. I have also been blessed because my husband broke his back and finished all the work on this house. It looks amazing! It is everything I ever wanted it to be when I moved in here years ago. It has been amazing to see all the projects we planned come into reality. Now that it is done, I have been able to sit and watch the kids swim for a few hours each day this week. (I am not a swimmer unless it is really warm water - so I watch). I am blessed with cable/wireless Internet that allows me to use my laptop by the pool! I guess I am just trying to write all the things I have running through my head. I am trying to have faith that God knows exactly who is supposed to buy my house and when that will be. He also knows if I am supposed to price it too high and wait for awhile, only to change it later. He obviously knows exactly when I am supposed to move to SC and it will happen. Right now, I need to remember I have done all I can do to prepare to sell this house. I can relax just a bit and watch my kids swim. Some way and some how it will all work out.

Someday when he is grown up... he will GET me for this!

Sebastian has been swimming the last few weeks. I use the word "swimming" very loosely. He doesn't really like to get off of the steps. At first, I just put the yellow swim tube outfit on him. After all, Savannah and her cousin, Karis, swam just fine with those when they were his age. He did okay with just the swim tube the first day until he stepped off the steps and he sorta toppled and his head got wet. Then he screamed HYSTERICALLY! I decided to try adding the water wings to see if that gave him more confidence. I didn't actually have any water wings handy because I had bought two of the yellow tube things thinking that would be enough. I told my mom I wanted to get him some water wings to which she replied that she had a brand new pair. The thing is that she bought that brand new pair years ago for Savannah and they are PINK! Oh well, who is going to know that he wore pink swimmies, a yellow tube and lime green swimming trunks? Right? I guess lots of people now. Someday he will find this picture and tell me that THIS is why he needs therapy!

House pictures finally...

I am finally getting around to posting pictures of my house. The bedrooms are sort of hard to take pictures of, but I tried. For those of you who were praying we got a contract from the landowner behind us - keep praying. He wants the house, but can't come up with the $$$. So, it is on the market the house shall go. Leave me some comments about what you like or don't like. I really, truly want to know what everyone thinks! Thanks!

A typical moment in my life...

I know I am supposed to be posting pictures of my house. I really did take some today. I didn't take all of them though. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not. Be patient. I felt like I needed to post something, anything! Yesterday was our co-op day. I let Savannah have poptarts for breakfast on co-op day. I popped them in the toaster. Great! Then one got stuck in the toaster. I unplug the toaster, I grab a plastic Pampered Chef measuring spoon because I am still freaked out I may get electrocuted. I try to pull it out and it gets stuck more. By this time, Savannah has to see why I am trying to stick a plastic measuring spoon in the toaster. She is RIGHT next to me. I start to cough. You know that tickle that comes from nowhere and you can't stop coughing. I start to think - I will just make another poptart - then I remember I can't because this one will burn and stink up the house - with a realtor coming in a little while. Then I am still coughing like crazy. I am doing that thing of turning your head and hacking into your arm so not to spew germs all over the toaster, poptart, my kids, etc. Savannah is RIGHT THERE! Did I mention I am coughing like crazy, trying to take the poptart out of the toaster and then Sebastian is RIGHT THERE. He is saying, "MOMMA! OKAY??? MOMMA! OKAY???" and patting me as he says it. He is the official "Are you okay guy" if anyone, anywhere ever coughs and he has to pat you to make sure you will be okay. So, I am coughing like crazy, trying to get the poptart out of the stinking toaster, Savannah is DESPERATE to see that darn poptart in the toaster and Sebastian is standing on my foot patting me and repeating himself over and over. At this very moment I think my head may just explode, but finally the stinking poptart comes out and I grab my water cup and drink like I just came from the desert. Savannah walks away with the stinking poptart and Sebastian no longer cares if I am okay because I am not coughing. This is just a little glimpse into my exciting life! I hope you enjoyed it. I am sure there are many, many more really interesting stories like this to share!

Prom pictures and ramblings...

It has been almost a week of no blogging. I talked to my sister-in-law today. She said she wondered if I was stressed because I wasn't blogging. Yes, that would be the answer. I have been trying to finish house stuff, loan stuff, etc. I don't like to whine here, so thus the lack of blogging. The good news it that I have 3 realtor appointments set up and should soon have a pretty good idea of our house status. I hope! Hang in there... it is sure to get more exciting. I was talking to a friend earlier this week and realized I hadn't put any of the prom pictures on my blog. Timmy had a girlfriend/prom date, but they are no longer a couple. Nice pictures though! Prom was not nearly as fun this year as last year, so I was told. They were all quite unhappy about it. I am so sorry it turned out that way for all of them. I would say there is always next year, but this was Timmy's senior prom. Instead I am hoping graduation and the festivities will be fun. I will try to post house pictures on Sunday. I am planning to take pictures for flyers, so hope I can get a blog entry up about all the projects finally being done.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Today is my 35th birthday. I thought I could write some really wonderful thing about it, but I haven't really thought of much all throughout the day. I went out to dinner last night with Tim. Then we went to Kohl's. I have been wanting to go there without kids for some time. I didn't find anything I wanted and was not really impressed. I have no idea why when my children were running around Kohl's like wild banshees, I thought there were all sorts of things I wanted to look at. Did they just disappear because I was able to actually look? Very odd. We came home and I shopped online for possible pictures for a wall that needs some decor in our living room. It has the huge aquarium on it now, but that will be gone tomorrow. It will leave behind a big and empty space. So, I need some perfect decor that makes somebody buy my house quick! Anyway, back to my birthday. We didn't do anything special today. My mom is having dinner for me at her house tomorrow evening. That will be the family celebration. Tim finished painting the outside of the house today. He was nearly done, but needed to get a longer ladder to finish the peaks. I was really happy to have that done on my birthday. That was a huge hurdle we had to get over to list our house for sale. Tomorrow, he will take the huge aquarium down and we will finish the living room paint and baseboards. Another biggie in listing the house. Ummm... That's right... I was talking about my birthday. I guess the way I keep ending up on something about this current house or buying another house describes how I feel about my birthday. I am glad I have a birthday obviously, but I am so scattered with other things right now. I was not/am not really thinking about a birthday in the midst of everything else. I was sitting on the porch with the kids today. I got Sebastian all suited up to go swimming with Sissy. That lasted all of ten seconds. He is not really into the swimming thing. I was thinking back to my 25th birthday ten years ago. We only had Timmy back then. I desperately wanted another baby. I woke up on my 25th birthday to a dreary, rainy day. My sister, Michelle, was visiting from Illinois and we were supposed to do something very fun that day. It was raining too hard to do any of the traditional Florida tourist things. I had taken the day off of work. I was so bummed to see the rain. I rolled over in bed and wanted to have a pity party all for myself. I was sad. I was sad because it was raining. I was sad because I had "wasted" a day off of work. I was sad because my sister had flown in from Illinois to celebrate my 25th birthday with me and it was a yucky birthday. Most of all I was sad because I did not have a new baby, nor was I pregnant with a new baby. This weighed so heavy on me that I felt that it may just swallow me up. After all... I was getting so old at 25! Imagine being 25 and still not had your second baby! Yes, I know now that my thinking was ridiculous, but at the time - it consumed me. I just laid there in bed and thought that I may never ever have another baby and I would never ever be happy again. I did finally pull myself out of bed and we ended up at the mall. A wonderful day of shopping in the mall without kids - Timmy still went to public school back then. I found the cutest little black outfit. I think it was a size 3 and it fit perfect. I treated myself to it. I survived that birthday just fine. As I was sitting on the porch watching my silly boy in his lime green swim trunks, yellow swim tube and pink swimmies (they were Savannah's), I realized how crazy I was to think my world was ending back when I was 25. Here I was 10 years later and I not only had one more baby, but I had two more babies since then. I haven't been to a mall shopping without kids in like 8 years. I haven't fit into a size 3 little black outfit in like 9 years. I realized that I worried about too much back then and I still worry about too much now. Somehow life has a funny way of working out. I took my "boring" day of watching my kids swim, helping Tim paint our house, and cooking myself a cheese steak for dinner and soaked it all in. I guess that is all I can ask for on my birthday.

Bubbles...

The Easter Bunny brought Sebastian a really cool bubble thing and extra awesome bubbles! Thanks to Sebastian's Aunt Karen, we learned about these bubbles that work so much better than anything else we have ever tried. She spent an evening blowing bubbles with him when we were in SC. I gave that news to the Easter Bunny and poof - we got great bubbles! If you have a toddler, run - do not walk - to your nearest Target and purchase these items. I have had so much extra peace this week because of this! He loves his bubbles. We did already lose a wand, but the great thing is there are THREE of them. Even better - the container does not spill! I love these things! The first item is called - Gazillion Bubble Solution . The second item is called No Spill Big Bubble Bucket . The first link is to Target. The second is to Amazon. They sell the Bubble Bucket at Target, but I coudln't find it on the Target website. They both run about $8.88. I know that is a little pricey for a bottle of bubbles, but I am telling you these bubbles work so much better than any other kind I have tried. Remember, I am cheap, cheap, cheap and I think they are worth it! Okay, this is my favorite toy of the season!

Easter details...

Yes, even 18 year old children get baskets at our house! Doesn't he look awake? I think he and his friend went to sleep around 5am or so.

The Easter Bunny brought a new scooter... he sorta forgot about Easter grass or tissue paper or pretty basket filling stuff - there is always next year.

Hey! I like this hunting eggs thing! Everywhere I look, I find something to put in my bag!

Smelly bubbles!

I have been lazy, busy, lazy, busy - you get the idea. One minute I am painting the baseboards at 2am and the next I have fallen asleep on the couch watching The Suite Life of Zac and Cody with Savannah. (By the way, I just realized Zac and Cody live in a hotel SUITE. I had to ask Tim why!) Blogging has been on my mind, but I just haven't been actually making it to the desktop computer to upload the pictures and actually write something. THEN - my best friend, Jorgena, (aka Jorge) sends me not ONE email, but TWO emails with pictures of her little boy from Easter. Mind you, she is not a computer junkie like me. She is not a blogger. She does not read endless message boards, google tons of things, or check her email 20 times a day. And, yet, she managed to get TWO emails out with pictures. I realized I needed to drag my sorry butt from the rocking chair and add the pictures. Well, truthfully, I am STILL in the rocking chair typing the text on my laptop. I will go add the pictures when I am done here. The real problem is I love my laptop, but I am a little anal about having all my family photos stored in one place. Since I didn't always have the laptop, our pictures are on the desktop. I know this is crazy, but it is just my quirk. Okay, back to Easter. Easter was very nice. We went to my sister's church because she sings in the chior there. She did a wonderful job. It was a hugely uplifting service. She goes to a large church with lots of music, lighting, props, etc. At one point the men's quartet sang a song about Rolling Away the Stone on the Tomb. They actually had a tomb with a stone that rolled away and then Jesus - okay a man dressed as Jesus came out. It was pretty intense. They had rumbling and sounds to make you feel like the room was shaking as the stone rolled away. Then the lights flashed and there HE was! It was inspiring! Then it was over and Jesus - okay the man dressed as Jesus walked around the tomb and exited the stage. I leaned over to my mom and said, "And then Jesus exits stage left!" She just busted out laughing! We were in the front row and she was not happy with me for making her laugh out of the blue! I enjoyed it though. We left church and went home to hang out while my mom did her best Grandma stuff getting ready at her house. A couple hours later we went over and enjoyed a great bbq steak lunch. Then there is the Easter Egg hunt. My children may very well think that the Easter Bunny loves them best. Or maybe it is their Grandma. She insists it isn't. Even the adults have eggs to find. It is so much fun. Timmy has graduated to being an adult. So, I had to tackle him to steal the eggs from his pocket. He is just so much better at finding them than me. He was so kind and gave me 4 of his eggs. He loves his momma. The rest of the day was in my post below about going home, getting jammies on, eating Tim's chocolate bunny because he let me and I love Dove chocolate. Okay, Jorgena, I posted the pictures. I can let go of the blog guilt now! Thank you very much!

A baby with a cold, a lot of work, and a sweet surprise...

I haven't had a lot of time to write again. Sebastian came down with a cold last week. He has been pretty miserable. He wanted to sit on my lap or be held 99% of the time. He would wake up a few times a night and I would give him more motrin to bring down his temp. It was tiring to say the least. I did enjoy the cuddle time though. The only time I didn't was when I was eating dinner. I am trying so very hard to follow my Sparkpeople. I don't eat a lot all day, but dinner is my happy time! He wanted to sit and cough on my food each night. Doesn't that sound lovely? A few times, my patience had run out and I sat him on the floor next to me. He WAILED as if I had just physically cut his body from mine. It was not fun. Did I mention how tiring it was? Anyway, in the midst of that we rented a storage space and put TONS and TONS of stuff in storage to make our house look big and airy! At least that is what all the expert articles tell you to do when you are selling your house. It was me, Tim and Timmy. Moving, pulling, pushing all the stuff. It was a lot of work! I should have lost five more pounds doing it, but I didn't. We did this on Saturday night. When I woke up on Sunday morning, I was certain that I had been hit by the moving truck. Now I know I say I try not to complain on my blog. I truly don't want this to be a complaining place. So I will say that the amount of work we got done was amazing. Timmy was AMAZING! He worked and did not complain once. Remember he is not happy about this move. That says alot that he really pitched in. We just all worked well together even though I kept waiting for one of us to get grouchy and scream something we would later regret. Easter was nice, but we were all tired and Sebastian felt horrible. I will write a dedicated Easter post with pictures later. By 4:30, I just wanted to go home to bed. I came home, put Sebastian down for a nap, put my jammies on (yes at 4:30pm) and went to bed. Only to be woken up every 20 minutes because Sebastian would cough and cry. I gave up and took him out of bed, laid him in my lap, and watched him drift between sleep and coughing. I was cozy in my jammies, holding my baby. The next day, Monday, he seemed to feel a little better. He actually went out to play with his new bubbles. Then I gave him a bucket of water to play with the magic sponge thingies that Grandma... er... the Easter Bunny hid at her house. He enjoyed the fun and got very wet. I reasoned this would help keep him cool and his temp down. I got him out some dry clothes, changed his diaper and cleaned him up. In the middle of this, he stopped, grabbed my neck and gave me a HUGE HUG. He said, "Mommy, I ove you!" Awwww... A simple "Mommy, I ove you!" made all the tiredness and work all worth it. What a sweetie!

Funnies from Sebastian

This picture was from our trip to the SC zoo... Doesn't he seem right at home with the monkey?

I was in Sam's Club on Monday. I decided to try on some Reeboks. Why did Sam's stop carrying the Keds tennis shoes I have been buying for three years? I love them and I want a new pair! Oops... that is not what this post is about. Okay, I am standing there trying on a shoe. Sebastian is standing next to me. He looks up at me and says, "Mom, I will be right back, okay?" Ummm... I say, "No, Sebastian. That is not okay." In his very best nearly teenager voice, he says, "Mooooooommmm! I will be RIGHT BACK, okay?" Ummm... I say, "No Sebastian. You are ONLY TWO YEARS OLD. You will not be right back, okay." He gives me the biggest frown and sorta huffs at me like I have foiled his best plans. Last week, I told him to put his stuffed frog in his bed. He took it in there, set him in the bed and said, "Night, night" He turned around and got to the door and said to the frog, "See you soon!" What a silly boy! I love all of the talking he is doing right now. It just cracks me up!

Friday Feast

Appetizer
When you travel, which mode of transportation do you prefer?

If it is far away, by air. I don't mind short road trips.

Soup
Have you ever met a blogging friend in person?

Yes, at the Winter Promise Retreat.

Salad
When was the last time you were really, really tired?

Last night! Sebastian has a cold and that makes for a long night.

Main Course
If you could have dinner with any one fictional character from a book or movie, who would it be?

Harry Potter

Dessert
Fill in the blank: One day, I hope to see _Europe and all of my grandchildren grow up______________.

Are you wanting anymore house info???

Have you heard all the house details you could ever possibly bare to hear? Can you stand yet another post about offers and counter offers and should we or shouldn't we? Or do you want to be left hanging, just wondering what happened next and what we decided? Well... maybe I should just wait. I guess that could be mean and nasty, so I won't wait. We played the offer and counter offer game 3 times over the last two days. AND... AND... AND... They accepted our last offer! Actually, our last offer was the same as the second to last offer because we didn't change it. We just had them resubmit it as our final offer. We do not have all the paperwork signed because there was a small mix-up over who will be paying how much of the closing costs. I am not sure how that will play out, but should know by tomorrow. If we get it all taken care of this house should close on May 15th. Now to sell this house! I told Tim I want a For Sale sign with a big bow on it for my birthday that is coming up! How it that for a gift? We are getting close to being ready to list it. Only a few more things to do. Actually, I have a blog post to show you one of my great house project accomplishments from last week. I just need to take a picture during the day. I will try to remember tomorrow!

Happy Blog Anniversary to me! Happy Birthday to my sister, Leann!

Today marks one year of blogging for me! Wow! What a year! Crazy Everyday Blessings - all year long. I don't remember what I planned my blog would be back a year ago. I am sure it has changed as the time went on. I still look forward to writing my thoughts out and sharing them with you. I guess sometimes life gets busy and blogging takes a low priority, but I do seem to always want to come back and blog at some point. Anyway, today is also my sister Leann's birthday! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Leann! Happy Birthday to You! How old are you? How old are you? How old is Leann? How old are you? May the dear Lord bless you! May the dear Lord bless you! May the dear Lord bless Leann! May the dear Lord bless you! Yep! That is how have always sang it plus a few banging of the forks on the glasses and plates, a few bing, bam, booms from the goofy family. Hope you could hear us singing, Leann!