Sorrowfully Sincerely Sick Sigh.....

Beans is under the weather....wonder where that expression came from...under the weather...hmmm, aren't we all under vastly the same weather? Hmmm, standby...I am going to google that phrase for full understanding of it's roots....

Ok here is the result:
To say that someone is "under the weather" is to say that they are not feeling very well. Example: "What's wrong?" Answer: "I'm a bit under the weather." They probably have a simple cold or flu which will go away quickly. Example: "It's nothing serious; I'm just a bit under the weather." Being "under the weather" reminds us that a quick change in the weather can affect our health and the way we feel.

Huh, not very helpful, let me try again...hold on...

I believe that "under the weather" is an old sailor phrase. When men were sick, they would rest below deck and thus were literally "under" the weather on deck

Another site visitor gave his/her opinion about this idiom:
Moreover, the deck they were under was likely "the weather deck", meaning the most exposed deck on the ship, usually the foredeck (over the seamen's quarters at the front end of the ship) or the quarterdeck(where the helm was located, high for a good view). Either way, if you needed to be sick, you wouldn't want to "toss your cookies" where the wind could toss them back in your face, nor would anyone with you want you to do so. You'd be firmly told to "under the weather" to be sick.

Ok that was a bit more helpful...and I shall remember to keep Beans downwind. Thank you lovely folks at google for that. And bonus! This time I didn't have to search for a pic of a bomb as was required in a previous post....Homeland Security has yet to show up on my doorstep...shoot...I just typed bomb and Homeland security in the same sentence...now they are TOTALLY gonna put me on their watch list. Bummer.

Anyhoo, as I was saying, Beans has been under the weather, under the deck on our ship called home, whatev...the boy is sick. Just a bug, high fever with chills....then he'll switch to being freezing cold....and just for fun he throws some puke around every few hours just to keep it interesting. I've never had a child puke so much as this one. Sigh, poor lil dude. 90% love, 1% attitude and 9% puke.

1 + 1 = Yummy!

Run, don't walk...ok, I guess you could drive.. to Costco and get you some o' dis:

Then stuff it into one o' these:

And place in here:

And enjoy! This chicken salad is divine. It has cranberries, pecans, chicken, poppyseeds.....mmmmmm so, so good.

Un-BEE lievable.....

We are under attack. By bees. Hundreds and hundreds of bees. Called maintenace. Took them 2 days to come out and look. They are honey bees. Honey bees are protected in the state of California. We can't protect traditional marriage in this state but at least the honey bees are safe. Grrrrr. My kids can't go outside. This bites. They are calling a bee rescuer. I didn't know there was such a thing as a bee rescuer. They are going to try and move them. They are in no hurry to move them. This bites....well, stings actually. I am about to take matters into my own hands. Anyone have one of those funky bee suits I could borrow?

Lovin life this boy

94 degrees. Water. Jack. It's a beautiful thing.

Hey Bloggy Friends!

Hellooo out there my bloggin friends! Could you do me a favor and unlink my blog linked off of yours if you have it linked? I took the private permission off awhile back, and turned off my profile so that when I comment on your blogs people can't see mine. Just a way I am trying to somewhat control who sees my blog and the faces and locations of my oh so cute children. :) So now we should be down to people whom I have given this web address to or my lovely facebook friends. Thanks peeps!

Can you say BREAKFAST?!

I can. Check it.

your favorite sliced bread
4-6 eggs (depending on how much you're making--I made 9 slices from this amount)
a splash of cream (I use half and half, because it's always in my fridge)
vanilla, a tsp or so
about 2-3 tsp agave (but you can use whatever sweetener you like)
cinnamon, about 1/2 tsp
nutmeg, about 1/4 tsp

Beat all ingredients in a bowl, then pour into something shallow, like a pie plate.
Soak a couple of pieces of bread, on both sides, until they're saturated with the egg mixture.
Heat a little butter and oil in a sauté pan, and when it's hot, add your soaked bread.
Cook for about 2-3 minutes on the first side, until golden brown, then cook the other side the same.

When you're done cooking, layer the French toast with sliced strawberries and bananas, and the blueberries.
Put a dollop of sour cream on the top, and sprinkle some brown sugar over that.
Serve with your favorite maple syrup.

And speaking of maple syrup! Has everyone seen the Agave Maple Syrup Blend at Trader Joe’s? It’s a perfect blend of real maple syrup with agave. Delicious!

While we are on the subject...

While we are on the subject of food(one of my personal favorite subjects!) I must confess I am currently in a recipe rut. Been there? Done that? I spent a couple of hours searching through cookbooks yesterday and tomorrow I am off to the commissary to arm my cabinets with an oven full of new, fresh recipe's that ideally will not make my kids roll their eyes at me. I would one day love, love, love to have a friendship recipe blog of some sort where we could all pool our fav's and share them. I don't really have a clue how to go about that, but one day I will sit and figure it out! So get ready sistas!

PB anyone?

Well, since no one has yet called me, faxed me, texted me or even facebooked me demanding a refund for any of the food I've recommended I am going to continue sharing our favorite snacks and treats. If you enjoy it, you're welcome. If you don't...errrr, Jesus loves you! Today, Peanut Butter Co White Chocolate Wonderful Peanut Butter. In my continued quest to reach the pinnacle of domestication(otherwise pictured as:

I have begun paying more attention to labels. Have you seen what is in normal peanut butter like J*if? The bulk of it is made up of those yucky hydrogenated oils...this White Chocolate stuff ain't got none o' dat. It's made up of peanuts, vanilla, and organic palm oil and let me tell ya....it is nothing but delicious! We love it for dipping apples into, smeared on piece of warm pita or even in a good ole fashioned PB&J. And...bonus! Commissary carries it! Wooo-Hoooo!

It makes a mom's day....

As I've mentioned before all four still seem to think John and I are very cool people. Can I get a woot-woot?! As we approach 12 1/2 with J we are bracing ourselves for the teen-age-iness that is inevitably headed our way as he prepares to stretch his legs out a bit. Which will be good of course as it is obviously our goal for him to be a God centered, independent man one day....but for now, I will bask in the small moments, like his screen saver on his ipod touch:

Yep, that's me. And yep, that's a huge dent in his brand new ipod that he saved forever for...sigh...did I mention he is 12?

A boy and his dog

I don't know who wants to go outside more, the boy, the dog, or the mother trapped inside with four boys on a rainy, rainy day.

One would think....

One would think these two items were unrelated:
Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

But when you have a 6 year old with...shhhh, only 1 tes**ticle....who has to wear a cup to baseball practice, these two items can quickly become very related. But let me back up, a couple of years ago when Jack started playing sports I was getting him ready whilst John was out of town. I am a girl. I am very much a girl. Therefore, I had NO IDEA how this:

was supposed to go on him:


And with his urologist words ringing in my ears about how he MUST be protected I panicked. Do I go get a male neighbor?....uhhh, akward! Do I try and get a hold of John so he can give me step by step instructions?....uhhhh, I am a visual learner so no. Do I call my dad?....uhhh, I'm gonna go with akward again. So I did what all normal mothers would do, I set out to go here:

to swallow my pride, and embarass the heck out of some 16 year old sales boy to find an alternative. And thank you Lord, look what they have!:

Sliding shorts!!! They simply must have been invented by a mother in my exact situation. They are like normal spandex shorts with a small pocket in the front where you slip the cup in, GENIUS! Well, GENIUS! until a couple of years later your now 6 year old says he can put them on himself and then midway through the 1st inning you see him holding his thigh. "Jack!" I yell through the fence. "You okay buddy?" "No" he says. "I lost my, you know." as he points to his "area". And down I go through the bleachers excusing myself as I weave through all of the other parents. Get the boy off the field, into the womens restroom, pull down the baseball pants and out falls the cup. He had put his sliding shorts on inside out so his cup overfloweth. It overfloweth because the pocket was on the inside. Well, like any idiot...I mean...good mother, I hurridly just shoved the cup into place and cinched his belt tight to keep it in place. Because come on! We have a game to play and who wants to take the pants all the way off, and the belt and the kleats to get the pants off, sheesh! My solution....WORKED! Yep, it worked through 9 innings of baseball...until. Until we came home and I was making lunch and I hear, "Mooooommmmm!" "My thing fell off!" (People, I have four boys...I don't really want to hear the words, my thing fell off...ever.) So into the bathroom I go and there it is, hanging out in the blue toilet water....with pee on it. I'm not sure exactly what possessed me to place it in the dishwasher...it was empty...it was available....I think I saw it on a movie once...but I did...threw that baby in there...fired it up and one more boy like disaster averted. Whew! The angst! Don't girls just like have tea parties and stuff?

Does the girl have no shame?!

She did it.
She called.
Again.
Yep, Justin's little love interest continues her mission to trap my son into an early 6 year old marriage I just know it. She is doing things to win his heart such as bringing him a piece of candy, writing notes to him in class, giving him...a DIME..Gasp! This is serious stuff! She called him again the other night, he patiently listened to her go on, and on, and on until nightfall; this boy cracks me up! Isn't the boy supposed to call the girl? Am I that old fashioned? Isn't he supposed to like ride over to her house on his big wheel and ask for her hand in 1st grade? And then they are supposed to go to the playground while he pushes her on the swings until he gets distracted by a worm in the dirt and which point she gets annoyed with him and stomps off and calls him a dork and tells all her friends he has cooties? Isn't THAT how this is all supposed to work?

Baseball & Nor Cal

There's peanut butter...and there's jelly.
There's socks...and there's shoes.
There's dirt..and there's boys.
There's John...and there's Sonia.
There's Cracker Barrell...and there's Sonia.
There's Chick Fil A....and there's Sonia.
There's sweet tea...and there's Sonia.
There's a kitchen..and there's Sonia.
Some things just plain go together. Like Little League Baseball and Northern California. Opening ceremonies was a couple of months back...yes, I am waaaayyy behind on blogging, but I digress. It was a beautiful day, blue sky, kids in temporarily white baseball pants, the pennants, the peanuts, the cracker jacks, it is indeed baseball season, my favorite time of year. Nothing better than a sunny Saturday afternoon on the bleachers, your butt is numb, your skin is tanning, the crack of the bat, the crack of the man sitting in front of you as he leans over to pick up his soda...it's a beautiful thing. Season is now at the halfway point for the bigs, they are so far undefeated and expected to make a run at the city championship. This is the big little leagues, I have to go buy some more chewing tobacco now so they can scratch themselves and spit appropriately.