G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S

oh the exhilaration of the freezer section lighting up as you walk by.

MAGIC:)

G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S.

{sing it with me fergie. now go back and read it like the song. go ahead. i'll wait.}

{i had to type the O-U-S part freaky fast. couldn't resist.}

YESSSSSSS.
:):):)

s-a-t-u-r-d-a-y-s

{max draws on her face a lot. arms and fingers too.}

...

our saturdays usually 

look like this.

missing: brennan {in the tv room for sure} 

sean {at work during the morning}

and me in pajamas on the fainting couch.

i usually call my grandma joy.

and we chat about life and sometimes some good gossip.

for an hour or so she tells me about when she and grandpa were young bucks,

i particularly love to hear her talk about when grandpa was away in the war,

and their struggles as a young married couple with their two little girls. the things she was afraid of as a young mother, and the lessons life has taught her along the way.

i also REALLY adore her story about how when they didn't have any money, 

she would buy herself a lipstick to cheer herself up and make her feel like new. 

she always makes me feel like a million bucks when i call.

i tell her about the kids, what we did during the week, 

about everyone's level of health,

the weather,

and my deep thoughts about life, living, and the pursuit of happiness.

we talk about politics, religion, the whole gamete.

nothing is off limits.

grandpa sometimes gets on the phone.

i love to ask him about his life as a young boy.

no electricity and no running water.

and no toilet inside their house.

{and then i think about his angel mother who had to potty train two children without a toilet inside her house. and then i think potty training isn't really that hard for us women these days at all.}

he tells me about life on the farm,

his one room school house, and the wonderful teacher that educated up to high school,

and how his family migrated west to oakland, california by train.

{his dad planned to stop in salt lake city to settle, but a fellow traveler convinced him that was a waste of his time and talents, and that he should get on his merry way to oakland. 

and so he did, and the rest was history.}

it's my favorite weekly routine.

{i hope no one ever wants to do soccer in our family. please don't let anyone want to do soccer.}

finger's crossed.

:):):)

"working at the car wash, yeah..."

friday nights and saturday afternoons

have become my favorite times of the entire week.

sean is home with us,

homemade pizza and take out always grace our table,

and with the warm weather

it means we are outside for most of it.

we were all,

{except max and chase}

a little red from the sun last night.

i am ashamed to say

she was the only one i took the time to put sunscreen on.

chase is a man of the shade for now.

time to dig out the mother load of sunscreen from the swim bag in the basement,

where it will sit on my counter for the entire summer.

b/c if it's not convenient,

it appears i won't use it.

and that just won't work.

my skin may be made for the clouds and fog,

but my heart was made for the sun!

{and snow}

sunscreen

sunscreen

sunscreen

lady friend {or bug}

saturday night tonight:

secret mother's day preparations by my people

sean mows the lawn

the kids beg to be pushed on the swings for 4 hours straight

weeding

pizza

brennan tries to escape the fence

max runs away from brennan and his tape measure

brennan finds a lady friend

or bug

whichever.

either way,

he told us she loves him

rocket popsicles

green feet all around

baths

rocking baby chase on my chest

it's not a vacation,

but it's pretty darn close.

the netherlands {36 weeks}

did you know that in the netherlands when you are pregnant,
you are considered legally insane?
and any crime you commit during your pregnancy is tried under insanity?
this is what someone told me at church last week.
and i was like, "oh my gosh, i TOTALLY agree!"
not about committing murder,
or getting away with committing murder,
or committing crimes in general,
just about being legally insane.
when you are pregnant.
netherlands,
smart people.
at least,
if it's true.
and if it's not true,
it should be.

weekend accomplishments:
sean fixed brennan's flat.
i survived tai pan on a saturday with two kids, alone.
2 kids is easier than 3 kids.
this is what i have determined.
i came out with two baskets {and two kids, kind of 3} that organized the toys that felt unorganized.
my nesting self just had to get those baskets and it had to get them NOW!
and i got a sunburn.
face, chest, left arm/top of left wrist.
they still itch.
ouch.
the end.

just call me "bins"

1. how to keep your fridge from smelling like onions:

TIN FOIL.

forget the plastic bags.

just wrap it up in foil.

you're welcome.

(thank you stacy beck)

...

2. how to make a gourmet meal that your kids will NOT like as much as spaghetti and meatball night.

but that you and your body WILL love more.

i promise.

(i squeezed limes over the veggies before broiling, with sea salt and oregano.

HOLY MOLY ONIONS.

amazing.)

...

-MENU-

broiled shrimp,

click here.

white rice

broiled veggies, seasoned and EVOO'd

{EVOO'd=extra virgin olive oil}

...

start to finish: 30 minutes

not joking.

clean up was even faster.

 ...

AND

in case you were wondering about

MY LIST

on saturday..

sean saw it when he came home from his morning patients.

said he almost cried.

then he laughed b/c he thought i was crazy.

then i smiled

and i told him it was more of a 6 month list,

not a one day list.

(even though i was secretly hoping we would get to everything)

but hot dog,

we finished almost everything on it.

{inset shock and amazement here}

and at 9pm that night we laid on the couch declaring we had most definitely overdone it.

i couldn't walk.

like really.

i had to use the walls for support and walked like a bent over 93 year old.

sean laughed at me.

and said it was b.c i looked so cute hobbling around.

i think i probably just looked ridiculous.

 have mercy,

it felt good to get it all done though.

REALLY GOOD.

NEXT SATURDAY:

basement.

dun

dun

dun

{i bought extra bins}

Garage sale.

Garage sales are awkward.

The end.

...

 made $50.

and i only spent $10 on two razor scooters from my neighbor across the street. 

$10!!!

FOR 2!

watching my kids play with everything on my lawn

AND

get paid for doing it.

i'd say it was worth it.
max stayed in her jammies until 2pm.
brennan ate...
i'm not sure if he ate anything other than cookies all morning.

still don't know what i'm going to do with that armoire.

it's sitting in my driveway.

if you want it,

it's yours.

FREE!

stinky the skinny bandit

max stunk this morning.
like really stunk.
and NOT like poo.
like stink.
like she hadn't had a bath since tuesday.
and had been in the same outfit since thursday...
or maybe it was wednesday night...
i can't remember.
so i let her soak a few extra minutes in her bubbles.
i love her eyes.
they weren't stinky.
but i still had to turn my head away when i was burping her this morning.
good thing we had time for a morning bath.
SKINNY PIZZA.
well, thin pizza.
or so it looks.
but i thought skinny sounded more exciting to eat.
no?
the latest and greatest from my kitchen follows.
whole wheat dough.
no sauce.
moz cheese.
toppings.
more moz cheese.
more whole wheat dough.
pinch the sides like a pie.
cook.
vwallah.
and a diet pepsi/dr pepper mix on the side.

a pizza pannini of sorts.

i couldn't stop eating.

make it tonight, you won't regret.

recipe below.

i can't wait for leftovers at lunch...
...

heaven bless saturday breakfasts.

...

whole wheat dough

1 c warm water, 1tsp sugar, 1 packet yeast, stir.

set in microwave, closed, but don't cook anything.

leave for 7-10 min until yeast puffs up on the top.

in the meantime...

2 & 3/4c whole wheat flour (or you could use white flour)

1 tsp salt

2 tbls oil

after yeast mixture is done, add to flour mixture and knead for about 5 min.

(i use the dough hook on my kitchen aid).

add about 1/2c warm water while the dough is mixing or being kneaded.

sometimes a little more.

(should look more wet than dry, like spiderwebs on the walls of the mixing bowl or tacky to your fingers--the moisture is THE KEY here. better too wet, than too dry).

spray pam in a bowl, put dough in bowl.

(should be too moist to roll into a ball. i just lump it in the center of the bowl like a ball).

cover with towel.

put in microwave, closed, but not cooking.

leave for about an hour.

flour on counter where you are rolling out dough.

separate dough into 2 parts if you are doing the pannini pizza.

roll out

(use more flour on top of dough so it doesn't stick to rolling pin).

assemble.

cook 450* 16-17 min.

email me if you have questions.

emilygibson82@yahoo.com

happy eating:-)

bisquick

over some unusually thick pancakes this morning, we discussed a serious topic.
why is manny not married?
handy manny.
it's been sean's favorite show for a good 6 months now.
he's a single, attractive young man, with integrity, a positive attitude, and a thriving business.
and yet, there seem to be no callers.
TAMN should be notified immediately for her next MO' Matchelor.
i think brennan just said "alligator."
i have witnesses.
and what is up with the bisquick mix?
thick like biscuits i say.
very filling and quite tasty, but they claim one batch makes 14.
we got 6 out of our batch.
does that mean i ate 2?
the things wouldn't spread out.
we laid 'em out on the flapjack flipper
(the big long black thing we got from our wedding. did you get one too? we love ours.)
and they laid there like big tasty biscuits.
which would be fine, except we thought we were making pancakes.
i've scoured the box at least 3 times with only a few distractions.
no luck.
we seem to have followed the directions for "pancakes."
i still feel like i ate butter smeared, syrup covered, biscuits for breakfast...
and they were really good.