Pickin' Berries

Wanna know what I did on Thursday?

Mom took me here:

And we picked blackberries!

Mom kept telling Jansen not to eat too many.

'Cause he might get a tummy ache. As for me...
I was just happy to be in a beautiful place with fun people.

Natalie's Wonderland

Natalie loves Jansen's room. It's like her own little often-forbidden wonderland. She loves to sneak in there (and I love to watch her sneak in there) and just play with his toys for a little while.

And then she's off to meddle in someone else's room!

Bring On the Tags

I was too slow about getting around to the "Memory Tag," and since that was sooooo last week in the blogging world, here's another tag:

4 Things I like/love about Nate:

1. Nate still loves Disney movies. We were babysitting some kids and they were watching Peter Pan and Nate was just as enthralled with it as the kids. In this picture he is laughing at something Hook said.

2. Even though he is very busy, he takes great care of our lawn and flower beds.

3. He mopped the floor last night. Pure joy.

4. He has such a happy, bright countenance. I just love how he is always smiling.

4 Jobs That I've Had:

1. Kids Foot Locker

2. Emergency Essentials (in various departments)

3. 2nd Grade Teacher

4. I think those are the only jobs I've had!

4 TV Shows I Watch:

I actually LOVE TV but pretty much never watch it. Some shows I turn on during the day sometimes for some company:

1. Jon and Kate Plus 8

2. What Not to Wear

3. The Today Show

4. Anything else on TLC

4 Places I Have Been: (these are very exotic)

1. Florida

2. Ohio

3. Washington

4. New York

4 People Who Email Me Regularly:

1. Real Simple recipes...they never sound good to me though and weird ingredients

2. Facebook stuff

3. Millions and millions of friends (hah)

4. Ward emails

4 of My Favorite Foods

1. Ice Cream

2. Texas Roadhouse Rolls with Cinnamon Butter Stuff

3. Smoothies

4. Spinach Tomato Tortellini

4 Places I'd Like to Visit

1. I'm not picky, just take me on vacation!

4 things I'm Looking Forward to in the Next Year

1. Christmas (I'm in no hurry, but I do love it)

2. Seeing Jansen go to preschool and be in Sunbeams

3. Having someone fly out here to visit us

4. Just doing fun things with the kids and great friends

I tag: anyone who would like to make my afternoons more interesting and will do this so I can read it.

The Winners and Something You Should Try

Winners from the Pay it Forward contest:

Noelle and Laney!

I'll be contacting you soon...

I wanted to share this recipe because it has become a favorite meal and it's very easy. It's called Cincinnati Chili. Never heard of it? When Nate and I were dating, his family introduced me to it and I have to admit I was skeptical. It seemed kind of strange. But it grows on you, and I LOVE IT now. Just try it. It's also known as Skyline Chili, which is a restaurant chain based in Cincinnati. This particular recipe is from Nate's grandma's cookbook called The Best of Beverly.

Combine: 2 lb hamburger (don't brown it first)

2 chopped onions

1 qt water

Simmer together for 30 minutes. After this I like to put this mixture in the blender so there's no meat chunks.

Add: 2 cans (8 oz each) tomato sauce

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp garlic powder

4 T chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp red pepper

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate ( I use cocoa powder)

2 T vinegar

1 bay leaf

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 drops Tabasco (I prefer to leave out)

Simmer uncovered 2-3 hours until thickened. To serve, put cooked, thin spaghetti on each plate, cover with chili, and sprinkle with LOTS and LOTS of cheddar cheese. Don't be deterred by the seemingly long list of ingredients. Once you have them on hand, this recipe is so easy. And it will make a lot...you can freeze some for later!

An Attempt

I tried to give Natalie a little ponytail on the top of her head. The hair is a little sparse up there, so it wasn't easy, but it worked okay.

She's got enough hair in the back for a cute little pony, but she looks like George Washington. So we're going to wait awhile on that one. And I can't figure out how to un-underline this text.

For those who are interested, HERE is a video of Natalie walking around some more.

A Happy Birthday to My Mom

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!
I can pretty much guarantee you would like my mom. She's extremely likable...not to mention lovable. Even animals love her. That's probably because she feeds and adopts all of them. (Don't worry, she's NOT one of those cat ladies with 40 cats.) She's beautiful, and once you've gotten to know her, you are welcome to her fridge, her backyard, her car, and frankly, her bed. (That simply means that she's super laid back and makes you feel welcome!) She has raised me and my little brother and sister by herself since I was in 8th grade (with the help of wonderful extended family) and I have to say she did it magnificently. I had this epiphany when I was visiting Utah this year...I realized that when it comes to her kids, my mom is seriously the most unselfish person I know. And it had never really hit me because she does it so effortlessly and quietly. Even when it was very difficult, she found ways to make things work out for us. She loves her grandkids like they are the most important people in the world to her and I love the relationship I have with her. I love you mom and wish you a happy happy day! If you want to read another great blog about her, go HERE.

You Know You're Desperate When...

You know you're really desperate for something sweet when...

• you steal your son's potty training reward candy and find something else to bribe him with
• you find a fly in your 2 day old leftover Slurpee and now you can't eat it and you almost cry
• you want to go find the Christmas stockings and see if somehow a piece of candy got overlooked and is possibly nestled in the toe
• you eat a couple of your son's Flintstones vitamins
• you steal a sip of the generic brand, warm, diet cola you are going to marinate some meat in...and now you want more
• You are thoroughly disappointed when you get out all the Halloween decorations and there is not one piece of leftover candy hiding in there.
• You're willing to pay $.85 for a measly candy bar from the checkout aisle at the grocery store

It's all true folks.

The Ol' Feed the Kid a Lemon Trick

Truth is, as you can see in the last two pictures, she pretty much enjoyed it. Natalie's never been one to let a little sour citrus slow her down. Next up, the Atomic Fireball.

Hurricane Season

Updates: Hurricane Natalie weakened to a tropical storm as she made landfall in the southwest corner of the kitchen, leaving a trail of kitchen utensil destruction in her wake. Mommy had been bracing for the storm, and chose to wait it out in a kitchen chair.
"I just don't know if my poor house can withstand this annihilation."

An incident management team of one had been prepositioned to help with clean up and provide first-responder support to his mother.

The busiest part of the Nye household hurricane season is usually in August and September. So far this year, there have been four named storms, two of which became culinary hurricanes. Mom and federal forecasters predict a total of 12 to 16 named storms and forty to sixty hurricanes this season.

Just Paying It Forward

Many of you probably remember and entered a Pay It Forward contest as they circulated the blogging world a few months ago. Well, I actually won a couple and was awarded some fabulous gifts. My job now? To pay it forward. It's been a long time coming, but here it is. I don't care where you live, who you are, how many times you've won, just enter! Even if you've already done this on your blog, enter anyway. (No one will expect you to post the contest again...) And if you win, I'll send you a little something.

Here are the rules: You simply make a comment to this post in the next week and on Thursday, July 31, I will put your name in a drawing and the two people that I draw out get something from me! Winners will be posted on August 1. And then, if you win, you can pay it forward...if you want to. :) You better enter Lexi.