Finding Peace in Unexpected Places

I've been having a rough day. Kasey has been gone for seven days with eight more days before he'll be home. I miss him terribly. So much, in fact, that I break into tears at random moments.

My children, even though I love them dearly, are constantly at my feet and in my face. I am overwhelmed. I am tired. I am lonely.

While talking to a friend on the phone, I had one of my random crying moments. She offered to take my girls so I could do my grocery shopping alone. Even though her baby is younger than mine, she offered to keep Kimberly, too.

I walked through the grocery store. I forgot what it's like to be able to pick out some good produce instead of merely picking up the first bunch of bananas or closest bag of carrots just so I can get through the store with my 3 kids quicker. Despite the noise and goings-on of the store and its customers, I felt peaceful.

I came home to unload my groceries. The quiet is such a welcome sound. I peed in complete and utter silence. It was so nice not to have children barging in, banging on the door, or a baby crying in the background, because how dare I take 45 seconds to myself when they are awake.

When I opened the freezer to put away the hot pockets, egg rolls, and ice cream that I bought for after bed time, there were no whiny voices begging for a Popsicle or a bite of my ice cream. It was peaceful. Putting away groceries was peaceful. I don't think I've ever thought that before.

But now I've been gone for nearly an hour. And I'm starting to feel a little guilty. Because what if my girls are fighting or my baby is crying while my friend's is too. Even if that is true, I think I'm going to indulge myself with 30 seconds more of complete peace and silence before I bring the craziness back home.

I Knew It!

As I suspected, my girls have started reenacting the "Charlie bit my finger - again!" video. The surprise is the two who are doing it. I thought for sure it would be Makayla and Ellie. Nope. I was fixing dinner and heard Ellie yelling, "Ouch. Ouch! OOOUUUUCH!!"

"Mom, Kimberly bit my finger." To Kimberly she said, "And that really hurt!"

Hmmm. . . looks to me like the one crying is Kimberly. Ellie thought it was hilarious! What a stinker!

For the Chocolate Liker. As Opposed to the Chocolate Lover.

I like chocolate, but I do not love it. So, I was very excited to get my hands on this not-so-chocolatey, super-easy brownie recipe. I didn't take pictures of the whole process like I use to. Who has time for that anymore? Certainly not me! But here's the recipe anyway.

Blonde Brownies

2 cups white sugar
1 cup melted butter
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 T cocoa
2 cups flour

Cream sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla and cocoa. Stir in flour. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts if desired. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. Check after 25 minutes.

I never add the chocolate chips or nuts because a) I don't think nuts belong in any dessert, and b) adding chocolate chips makes it too chocolatey for me. But please feel free to add either one or both to yours.

Something I really love about this recipe is how easy it is to cut it in half. I feel a lot less guilty about eating an entire 8x8 pan of brownies than I do an entire 9x13 pan of brownies.

Hours Of Endless Entertainment on YouTube

These two videos are currently the most requested "movies" at my house.


I'm sure this one will cease being funny when my girls start reenacting it.


My whole family gets a kick out of this. Yesterday I started humming the "Snape. Snape. Severus Snape." part to myself. Out of nowhere Makayla sang "Dumbledore." pretty soon we had our own little Mysterious Ticking Noise song going. I must also note that this song has replaced The Phantom of the Opera as the number one song that Makayla sings while going to the bathroom.

Kimberly at 4 Months

Kimberly will be turning 4 months old this week. I know this is so cliche, but where did the time go?

She is so much fun between her screaming bouts, which are [thankfully] becoming fewer and farther between. She coos and kicks when I talk to her. She has a huge, wide-open-mouth grin. Her laugh is a mixture of a cough, a sneeze, and a giggle. So hilarious!

And my favorite new trick of hers--shoving her hand down her throat until she pukes. Good times!

Our next big adventure will be rice cereal. She has started watching my fork go from my plate to my mouth during meal times and has started grabbing at the food on my plate.

Sorry I don't have an updated picture. The batteries in my camera died about 2 weeks ago and I just haven't made time to change them.

Do These Pants Make Me Look Fat?

My soon-to-be five-year-old daughter just said to me, "I'm too fat to do that!" after I asked her to do some trifle thing.

Are you kidding me?! "I'm too fat!" My mind is reeling. I have no idea how to even attempt to handle this situation.

She's four!

I think I'm going to have to add that to the list of phrases, like "You're stupid," that we just don't say.

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In other news, I've been playing the role of single mother for the past 2 weeks while Kasey has been working out of town.

It sucks. A lot.

And since I have zero energy by the end of the day, I have not been blogging. Which is really too bad because I've had some great ideas of things I could/should blog about.

New Pictures by Carried Away Photography

These are some of my favorite pictures from our recent photo session with Carrie. I've been looking forward to getting some new family pictures since Kimberly was born. So, here they are.

I really love this series of black & whites with each of my girls.

How great is that backdrop?!

Little Ballerinas

This is my favorite picture from the entire photo session. I love it so much that I made it the background on my desktop. Which is saying a lot because the last time I changed the background on my computer was when Ellie was 9 months old.