Three Secrets To Good Mornings

I am blessed to have late sleepers in my house – at least blessed for the sake of sleeping late on Saturdays.  I too am not a morning person.  But in light of school starting, I’m dedicating this post to how I get my kids to wake up in a good mood when they have to wake up before they’re really ready.

1) All Day Nap Day – This is so funny. Mary Claire still takes naps every day, but she’d never admit that she really needs one… ever. And, she is such a rebel so reverse psychology works really well on her right now. So, I sometimes go into her room in the morning and say “Mary Claire, stay in your bed because today we’re having ‘all day nap day!’” That sounds like a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad idea to her, so her little rebellious nature causes her to jump right out of bed in protest – laughing at my ridiculous idea. Score. Ben is totally in favor of ‘all day nap day’ so that one doesn’t work with him.

2) Attack of Izzy – This one’s easy. I just send our half shih tzu/half chiuaua dog into each of the kid’s rooms to attack. She jumps up on their beds and licks them until they have to get up just to get her to stop. She’s crazy about the kids.

3) Music – This one is my favorite because it helps me get awake and happy too. I just crank up my iPod player so you can hear it everywhere in the house and turn on some good music and everybody can’t help but dance. So much fun! Here’s my latest download that we’ve been dancing to – I love this song!

What We Had For Supper

Jane Reynolds cooked some mouth-watering squash and sent some home with me a couple years ago when Anna was babysitting Ben.  I don't know how she made hers, but I made some recently from this recipe at SouthernPlate.com.  Mine wasn't near as good as Jane's.

And here is our non-gourmet supper...

Simple Squash

Yellow Squash (I am using two), sliced
1/2 Vidalia onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon bacon grease, optional (I left it out this time)
water, salt, pepper

Place squash and onion in skillet. Add bacon grease (if using) and about 1 cup of water, just enough to cover bottom of pan and bring to a gentle boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cover, simmering for about ten minutes or until squash and onions are translucent. Strain out of the pan and salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

(I used chicken broth instead of water.  Don't ask me why.  Didn't use bacon grease.  Also added paprika, because it makes me happy.)

Southern Cookin'

Thanks to my good friend/neighbor/sorority sister/confidante/forwarder-of-emails Amy, I have been turned on the the southern cooking delights of Christy at SouthernPlate.com. It feels like Christy's my friend already and I don't even know her! I made some super easy bbq sandwiches this weekend from a recipe I found on her site.

1 boneless beef roast
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
hamburger buns
Put the roast in the crock pot, season with garlic, salt and pepper. Cook on low for 8 hours (time may vary depending on your crock pot - mine cooks faster).
Shred beef and add bbq sauce. Mix and cook 20 minutes more.
Serve on hamburger buns.

Ben Goes to 3rd Grade

Well, Ben wasn't quite as excited about starting 3rd grade as Mary Claire was about starting preschool (can you blame him? no triangle rice krispie treats in 3rd grade). He's at a new school this year, so it was a little scary.

The adjustment has been a difficult one for him since he's trying to find his place with a group of kids that have been together since kindergarten and he's the newcomer, but he's doing good. He's a super-sharp kid and academics have come easy to him so far - I'm thinking 3rd grade may pose more of a challenge, which will be good!

Each year at the beginning of school, Ben has a little adjustment period where he's learning how far he can go and still stay on "blue" (the color discipline system). I told him the first week that he stayed on blue all week (blue is the best, then green, then yellow, then red - worst) that we would reward him. So that was last week and we went on a family bowling outing this weekend. :)

Jason got the best score, but he did make an "A" in bowling in college (yuh huh, there is a college course in bowling - crazy, I know - crazier till that he took it!), so he did have the advantage on the rest of us. :)

And, some good old fashioned Labor day fun...

New Carpet

I'm thinking about getting new carpet for our bedrooms. We've needed it since we bought the house 5 years ago, really.

I'm certainly clueless on the whole process...
-Where to get the best deal, without sacrificing quality
-what color/brand/texture to get
-what do I need to know about the carpet padding that goes underneath
-etc

Anybody with carpet-buying experience have any tips before I start looking?

UPDATE: got new carpet installed; used El Dorado Custom Carpet (they also tiled both of our bathrooms). Did a good job!

Magic Eraser

Yes, that is permanent marker on my floor. Can't leave Mary Claire alone for a SECOND. She knows where the good prowling spots are. Thank goodness for Magic Eraser.

Wanted: Painter

Can anybody recommend a good/affordable local painter/handyman?
I need:

1) Walls in my foyer fixed and painted (I had a wallpaper removal incident)

2) Wallpaper in my kitchen (only goes halfway up the wall) removed and the walls painted

3) Kitchen cabinets painted/handles replaced

Thanks!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Cleaning, Schmeaning

I cleaned my living room at 4:00 PM today and at this time (9:00 PM), it's officially a WRECK again. What gives? Is it just me or is this ridiculous?
Cleaning is worthless. I know I was born to have a maid. Where are you???