I love my kids

I love my kids.
I love my kids.
I love my kids.


They both wrote their names along with other graffitti on the back of my leather seats and the grab bar in front of their seats in the mini van. It won't come off the bars. So, if we are still driving this car in 10 years you will know why. Who would want to buy a van that has NATHAN and MADELYN written all over. Better yet, maybe we should make the mini van be their first car when they start driving.

Someday we will laugh about this, right????

out of the mouth of babes

I forgot to mention that during Sunday school prayer request time, Nathan asked if his class would pray for his mom's drinking habit. Nice huh??? I tried to explain that he meant Pepsi, not amaretto sours.

Prodigy

I just had to share what happened tonight after dinner. I usually never have the TV on during dinner but for some reason I did tonight. After we were through eating Nathan and I cuddled up on the couch to watch "Wheel of Fortune." Nathan has never seen this show before and he was absolutely fascinated by it. When it comes time for the final round three letters pop up on the screen and he screams out "MICROSCOPE" He was right. He started jumping up and down saying that he was the champion and that he would win the $40,000 prize. We didn't have the heart to tell him that Pat Sajack would not be sending him a check.
Mom: "Nathan, that was amazing! How did you know that?"
Nathan: "Because I am smart mom and you are my teacher."

He sure knows how to butter me up. That just earned him another year of homeschooling.

Deceptivily Delicious

So my sweet mother in law bought Jessica Seinfeild's new cook book that was featured on Oprah in attempts to get Nathan to eat veggies. Nathan has not eaten a fruit or vegetable since he ate baby food and even then he didn't much care for it. I read the cookbook and got really excited about hiding veggies in the kids food. Yesterday I stocked up on vegetables at the store, I have to admit that I bought veggies that I had never bought before. I never found the chick peas though. Does anyone out there know what those are??

The basis of this cookbook is that you steam and puree veggies and then hide them in their food. Last night after the kiddos were asleep the pureeing began. I steamed,chopped and blended veggies for 2 hours. Next I scooped them into baggies and put them in the freezer. Then I prepared sweet potato pancakes for this morning.

The deception begins....

I cooked the pancakes and then the kids actually ate them. I can not believe Nathan ate sweet potatoes. After his second bite he said, "Mom these taste like pineapples." I was like, "Umm, Nathan how on earth would you know what pineapple taste like, you have never eaten one?" So he dropped it and continued eating!! Yea, this is actually working.


Lunch: Sprinkled the organic peanut butter with flax seed mill. They ate again with no complaints!! Granted, they had ice cream sandwiches for desert but I can only win one battle at a time.


Dinner: I made homemade chicken nuggets with whole wheat bread crumbs, spices, flax seed, and the broccoli puree. The broccoli was hidden by the bread crumb mixture. Jarrett walks in from work and sneaks a deviled egg just like he always does when I make deviled eggs but what he didn't know is that it was made with the cauliflower puree. I didn't dare tell him. The look on his face was priceless. He started gagging and ran to the sink and spit it out. Guess you shouldn't mess with a man's favorite food. I will admit they were NASTY! The nuggets were great though and again the kids ate them. Nathan ate more veggies today than he has in 5 years and he didn't even know it. I never knew cooking could be so much fun!

On the Hunt

The first pic is of all the cousins on Kathy's side. The new baby is Carson.
Madelyn went to a princess make over party last night. She loved the makeup!

Well, the new buzz around the Short house is that we are moving. We are going to put our house up for sale this week by owner so we are working like busy little beavers trying to get the house in order. I know, I know this isn't the best time of year to be doing this however there are several reasons why we must. I won't get into them now though. Jarrett and I thought we had a new neighborhood all picked out but come to find out (When we viewed the plat) that behind the beautiful trees that would have been in our back yard there is a rail road. We aren't thinking that is such a good idea now. So we are back to square one. We found a floor plan that we really like and that would suit our family, now it is finding a neighborhood that we can afford to build it in. We have drug the kids all around trying to find "the One" They really have been good sports about it but every time we get in the car they say "Here we go again!"

Househunting is really fun with a four and six year old, here are some of my observations:

A. They like to run whenever they enter a home. (Lukily we are looking at new construction so they aren't damaging some poor homeowners belongings)

B. They love to scream at the top of their lungs just to hear themselves echo.

C. They head to the stairs first and run up and down them. (Stairs are their only request in a new home)

D. They love to slam all the doors.

E. Did I mention scream and run around????

F. They can find any sharp, metal or dangerous thing left in the house by the construction workers.

G. They like to jump in the dust piles, pick up dirty cigarettes,and half drank cups.

H. They love all the wood, bricks, and dirt in the yards. Who needs toys when you have that to play with.

I. They aren't concerned with the details like which color granite there is or will the furniture fit, they just love the fact that the house has stairs.

We desire the house that God has for us. We are trusting that he will lead us to the right one. I am so glad that we serve such a great and awesome God who cares even about the littlest details about our lives. We are specifically praying for great neighbors and for playmates for Nathan and Madelyn. We don't have a lot of neighborhood kids here and we desire that for them.

Today is my Dad's 66th b-day! Happy birthday pops! For his birthday my sister, Karen, called to tell him she is pregnant!! Her kids are 14 and 10! SURPRISE!!!!!! Our family is having a population explosion. There is something with the age of 38 in my family. Kris was 38 and not planning on another baby, now Karen is 38 and was not planning another baby. I think I will get on birth control when I am 38. Thank goodness that isn't for another 10 years or so.