Day 13

What's for dinner? Is one of the most asked questions by a child to their mother, there is gotta be some kinda research out there that says this question is asked 4.5 zillion times. Dinner for me is one of my "highs" of the day, already mentioned my passion for food and I love to cook. It may sound odd, but it is my way of winding down for the day. Preparing a meal for my famiy brings me a sense of peace, not sure they are always happy with what I cook....but how does that go...it's not who wins it is how you play the game....same theory applies for me when I cook...it's the process I enjoy most.



Holiday baking with the fam, not the most flattering pic, but in true form apron and all!

  Making the dinner is only one part of the whole experience, the fun starts when we sit down for dinner and begin our meal. Not sure about other families but I've heard dinner is rarely shared at the table with the family together and normalicy these days is different meals and different times for different members of the family. Well we have never been normal that is for sure. We do make it a point to sit down most evenings (prob 6 out of 7) and eat dinner as a family together, no T.V., hands washed, and kids help set table, get drinks, clean up etc...

Helping make dessert!

Like  I a said the fun begins when we sit down, with 7 different personalities, a lot of things can happen during dinner time. We are lucky to make it through dinner without any food fights, spilt drinks, hurt feelings and minor injurys.

Meals begin with a prayer, thus the quaralling begins, each person has taken it upon themselves to be the one to recite the prayer for the evenings meal. If a person of authority (me or dad) does not interrupt and assign someone the task quickly, they all start in with their own version. Trying to stop this process is a feat in itself. Everyone is talking at different speeds, tones, and because of their ages at different levels of speech.

My 3 years old, speaks incredibly fast with a very simple vocabulary "thank you Jesus for my mommy, my daddy, my food, my school, my house, my car, my toys...and continues to name every noun he's seen throughout the day. My 5 year old, instructs everyone to bow their head, close their eyes, and fold their hands, before the prayer can even begin, so while she's waiting for everyone to do this, the 3 year old is half way through his day thanking Jesus for toilet paper and recess. My 7 and 9 year old boys, have already begin eating or have tried to, but have been yelled at by my 17 year old for not waiting until prayers are completed. Not to mention they are getting the evil eye from the 5 year old for not bowing their heads, closing their eyes, and folding their hands. Eventually if the process is taking to long I will intervene and complete the prayer so we can all eat before the food is cold or spoiled.

Next we move on to the main discussion, which is "highs and lows". This is a tradition I recommend for any size of family, it is sure to strike some positive conversations with a laugh or two. Highs and lows are where each of us take a turn explaining what our high point for the day was and what our low point for the day was, if you don't have one or the other you can pass, but almost everyone has at least one and most of the time both. It's is a great way to find out what the kids experienced that day and poke around a bit in their lives to make sure everything is ok with them and gives us a chance to talk a little bit about our day. It is often funny because like before with the prayers, they are so unique.The order it which they take turns will also determine how the conversation will go.

If the 5 year old goes first we have to interrupt her at least 4-5 times to get her to come to the conclusion of usually her high...which is often describing a story involving a princess and a Disney movie. Next is usually the boys who are pretty quick at both, but very opposite. My 7 year old is very detailed and accurate, but if he is in a giggly mood forget about it, half of what he says won't make sense. My 9 year old turns a story from the day into the most recent thrill packed action movie (he is quite the Indiana Jones in most stories), we often have to pick and choose what we believe from his storytelling, you can count on 30% being accurate. My 17 year old usually has one or the other but not both....and it is usually about someone that pissed her off at school or someone that made her laugh so hard she peed her pants. Her stories usually make the rest of the kids laugh, because she often changes her voice and uses facial expressions to act like the people she is imitating in her story. And of course there is the 3 year old, who usually goes last, because he wants to hear everyone elses stories so he can wrap it up into a summary and make it his own...which is Hilarious because it invovles everyone's highs and lows, a monster truck, a plane explosion and a motorcycle with a flat tire, oh yeah and him fixing the above 3 with dad's tools.



Got the giggles.



17 year old explaining highs and lows


And then we went on a mission with Spiderman and the Monster Truck



By then we are ready to wrap up dinner time, and the 5 year old and 7 year old have already asked a dozen times if we are having dessert so they can force down most of their meal, knowing I won't let them have it if they haven't done their dinner justice. I don't force them to eat everything on thier plate (knowing how that created horrible eating habits for me as a child), but I do encourage them to taste everything and take a few bites of everything. Dessert is not served every night, but occasionaly through the week, it is a special treat and not expected after every meal.



Making Halloween Dessert

 And there you have it....family dinner time....it doesn't have to be some tedious task that you dread each night, turn it into the best time of the day and get a few laughs. You don't have to have kids to experience highs and lows you can do it with anyone you are sharing a meal with...try it, you might learn a few things....about yourself mostly.

  

Until Manana.....

Day 12

Technical Difficulties-prevented me from blogging last night. So here is my alternate blog so that I can say that there was an attempt made for day 12, but just like humans, technology is not perfect. More to come later tonight about family and the importance of sitting down to eat a meal together, yes I said together all at the same time, no tv trays, etc....

Until Later.....

Day 11

1/11/11-Life never seems to surprise me, but is as consistent as today's date.  For those of you like my husband, who appreciate vehicles, this will be right up your alley.

Our world is full of broken people, but that is not such a bad thing, because without broken people their would be no need for mechanics, thus our reason for existence.

We are the mechanics consistently repairing one another, whether it be fueling each other with hope and inspiration or giving each other a daily tune up. Everyone of us is needed by another, whether they are family member, friend, or a stranger. The sooner we understand the simple fact, we are here to help one another, the sooner we can get to work at our real job, as a mechanic. Some of us are skilled with body work while others are talented with the intricacies of building engines, but every part of us needs occasional TLC from a mechanic. Without something to repair a mechanic is useless.

Longer trips and bumpier roads, require more attention from a mechanic. The more highways we travel the wiser we become about the routes we have taken and the routes we should avoid, often leaving and pointing out a clear path for others to take. Every road trip will need a few oil changes and maybe a few new parts, but not without the help of a good mechanic, no vehicle can change their own oil.

We are all travelers, but not yet all mechanics. Being a mechanic is something you may have learned at a very young age, maybe a few mechanics took you under their wing and showed you few things in the shop when you got older, or you may have never experienced the expertise of mechanic so you don't know how important it is to be one....and know one. Well it is never too late to be a mechanic, with a world full of broken people in need of repair the job opportunities are limitless and the paycheck is incomparable.  When's the last time you filled someones tank or helped them change a much needed tire?

Day 10

Must admit the most recent events in our world shake me...mostly as a mom. My heart goes out to the families in AZ that are grieving over lost ones, especially because it is so close to the home I grew up in. The question that boggles me most "Is this something new that is happening under the sun or has human kind always had such horrific events, just a different time different place?"

With a few history lessons I am quickly reminded, Evil has a new date, but unfortunately it is not new to dwell in human kind to massacre each other for undefined and misunderstood motives.

God Bless those families and God will glorify the events of that ugly day for good.....his promise is never broken.

Until Manana......

Day 9

Well hope you don't mind a few plugs for some new innovative and empowering products, cause you know now that Christmas is over I need to start my birthday list. My younger but I say bigger brother (he's the size of the average guy in Gold's Gym if you get my drift) invited the family over today to check out his new Kinects XBOX 360, not sure about the spelling. The point is this product was amazing it had everyone of our family members ages 3 to 55 up and exercising over and over again...now kid you not we didn't approach it as exercise, nor were we watching our diet considering the greasy burgers and dogs on the grill and incredible home-mayonnaise potato salad. Oh yeah and the made from scratch batch of chocolate chip cookies(which I had four of with a glass of 1% milk). Enough about food one of my favorite subjects that obviously and easily sidetracks my thoughts, more about this video game. I forgot to tell you the best thing about the video game, there is no stupid controller that runs out of batteries or has to be charged or that you have to by 5 versions of so everyone can play. Your body is the controller. Check out this video for a quick peek....

Now many game systems have come out in recent years that have tried to interact physically with the consumer, with all the bad rap they get because of the video addicted children they have created (mine included), it only makes sense they should attempt to clean up their reputation. Well I have to give them (NINTENDO) credit for this one...now I have really enjoyed the family time we have shared with rock band and how it has increased my children's musical culture, but this Kinect XBOX 360 is really something. We were all huffing, puffing, and begging to be the next challenger in the dance off. It was just like Karaoke except with dancing and we couldn't get enough of it. Midway through the challenges my mom was inspired to open a dance club...and incorporate this theory in the dance clubs so that everyone could show off their moves and not be a wall flower....just like her to think of the underdogs, even the ones with no rhythm.

You have to understand everyone of our family members has a complex personality, most of them have had some traumatic event in their lives and it affected them in very different ways, so for some of them to get up and shake their groove thing was a big step....so yep...it was like family therapy Kinects XBOX 360 style. And for that I am thankful, we had a blast and it was good clean fun, with only some slight alcohol inebriation....me a rum and coke and my mom a couple of beers. Shoot we both worked that off with a couple of "Jungle Boogie & Funky Town" sets. That was the other plus side to the game it showcased music from all eras so everyone can choose a song they recognized and connected with....however be careful to choose one you know, you could get hurt trying to pull some of those moves.

Well back to current issue at hand...what do I want more for my birthday a new sewing machine to help connect with my previously inner 1920's wife/mom or the video game that could possibly help me stick to those past new years resolutions and drop some poundage. Tough call, but more importantly my family would enjoy both...after all it's not all about me. But you know what they say honey (if you're reading this)...happy wife happy life! Plus maybe they"ll come out with a couples version of dance off for the Kinects XBOX 360. Now that's what I call date night...forget dinner and movie with hubby. I can imagine it now a little Def Leppard "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and some lingerie and I might get more than a sewing machine for my birthday. Somebody patten that before Nintendo gets word. And with that I leave you with a little teaser....

Until Manana.....

Day 8

Today was a wonderful day, the first quilting day with my dear mom. For those of you just tuning in...in an effort to spend more time with my mom and get in touch with my inner 1920's housewife/mom I have devoted my Saturday mornings to quilting with my mother. For those of you that know me, you would not gather I am the quilting type, in fact I am a self proclaimed rock n roll cowgirl who wears boots 6 days a week because I don't have the patience to tie my shoes. Others might say it is right up my alley, after all I love to cook and having a big family, it just comes with the territory. Well I must say I have a new devoted respect for quilters...and for squares. Yes, squares and I'm not referring to the guy/girl you dated in 8th grade. If you have never quilted then you won't get the square reference, but having to cut a couple dozen squares today to prep, was an experience in itself. Not to mention the math and geometry skills required for quilting, I mean for real, why don't you just thrown in Spanish and French and we would've covered every subject in the first year of college.

Originally the plan was my mom was going to work on making doll while I worked on a quilt, dolls are one of her real sewing passions. Well 30 minutes into working with me, she decided maybe it was best that she also work on a quilt she had already started so she could help me and I could learn by watching her.  Another 20 minutes into it...and she decided it would be best if we both worked on the same quilt and made two identical quilts. Knowing how nice my mom was, this was her way of guaranteeing that at least one quilt would come out ok, even if we had to sacrifice the other during the process. Wow....you can gather I was not the best student and had a lot to learn. God bless my mom, she was so patient and willing to work with my total inexperience. Well after 4-6 hours of prep, including going to the store to purchase materials and re-learning how to use the sewing machine again we accomplished.....da da dah....two whole squares...

I know it doesn't look like much, but those two squares kicked my a?#! But what was even more amazing was I didn't want to stop I wanted to do more...however I could tell my mom was ready to throw in the towel and call it a day....so I had mercy on her and we stopped.

Although she was wore out my mom would've continued for hours if I wanted. She was so happy and so was I, in fact we spent the whole day together talking and just hanging out, I didn't want to leave her. It felt so good to be around her and soak in her pure goodness.

My prayer tonight...Lord please help me to be at least part of the mom my mother is...and forgive me for any hurt I have ever caused her. Please bless the desires of her humble heart..she wants nor prays for anything but the safety and happiness of her children. Please fill her with that peace and thank you for blessing me with such a wonderful Mom. Amen.

Until Manana.....

Day 7

Ok remember when I said I would do the blog everyday it was physically possible, well yesterday was one of those days it was physically impossible. Flu set in and I was knocked out all day, so my apologies for missing day 7. However here is a few links and continuation of the last blog about my client Taylor Barton. In December Taylor had his first annual celebrity poker tournament at the Palms in Las Vegas. It was a fab event to benefit Taylor's new foundation to end Middle School and High School Bullying. There were some great celebs in attendance. Here are some you tube interviews you don't want to miss....

Taylor Thank You...

Interview with Maura Tierney from ER...



Interview with Richard Kind from Spin City...

Interview with Full Tilt Poker Pros....

Until later tonight for Day 8.....