girlymama

happy weekend

I'm not really blogging today. Instead I am packing, packing, packing.
We're going camping! In a tent! With no electricity! With three kids!! One of whom is a baby! And... it is raining! We are packing up our car in the rain!

"Are you nuts?" you ask.

Yes. Yes, we are.

**********
P.S. to Colin:
4:30 is not morning either. The only reason you should ever get up at 4:30 am is to catch a plane to somewhere like Hawaii. Otherwise, one should always be asleep at 4:30. Please make a note of this and adjust accordingly.

**********
We still have about 20 books on Ellie's summer reading list to get done.
We've read 5.
School starts on Tuesday.

Whoops.

memo to my son

Dear Colin,

5am in not morning.  5am is still nighttime for several reasons.

1. It is still dark out.
2. No one else is awake.
3. I am still sleeping.
4. It is still dark out.
5. You eat at 11pm before Mommy goes to bed.
6. You weigh twenty pounds.
7. Therefore, you should be able to go longer than 6 hours without food.
8. Particularly since your thighs are bigger than my biceps.
9. It is still dark out, dang it.

Please adjust your schedule accordingly. It will benefit the whole family. Trust me.

Love,
Mama

sort-of wordless wednesday: gracie

I was looking and looking for a picture that describes my birthday girl Gracie in a nutshell. One that really captures her personality. She's so energetic and full of life (and surprises!) and she has the capacity to be incredibly sweet and incredibly naughty at the same time.

Then I found one.

It was her second birthday and we had a bunch of people over for her party. She blew out her candle. She had a bit of a cold, so we didn't want her to get her germs all over the cake. "Grace," we said, "don't put your fingers in the cake!"

So she licked it.

happy birthday, baby

Mama loves you with all of her heart.

it looked like a good idea in martha stewart kids....

So I tried to bake Grace's birthday cupcakes in ice cream cones. Here are the results of my burst of culinary creativity:

Not quite like the picture in the magazine. Alas, the few we salvaged still tasted okay, though.

Back to the mixer!!

you must try: tequila lime chicken

Now I know what you're thinking.

"Girlymama," you say. "Now, Girlymama, why would I waste perfectly good tequila in a marinade? I would much rather drink it in a margarita."

I hear you.
But let me point out that tequila is purchased in a large bottle. (At least that's how I purchase tequila. Ahem.) After you use the 1/2 cup for the marinade there will be PLENTY left for margaritas. Trust me. I'm fairly sure the tequila is the secret ingredient that makes this chicken so incredible. Its super juicy and infused with this amazing citrusy flavor.

Tequila Lime Chicken
1/2 cup tequila
1 cup lime juice (5 to 6 limes)
1/2 cup orange juice (2 oranges)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon minced fresh jalapeno pepper (1 pepper seeded)
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic (3 cloves)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 whole (6 split) boneless chicken breasts, skin on

Combine the tequila, lime juice, orange juice, chili powder, jalapeno pepper, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken breasts. Refrigerate overnight.

Heat a grill with coals and brush the rack with oil to prevent the chicken from sticking. Remove the chicken breasts from the marinade, sprinkle well with salt and pepper, and grill them skin-side down for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Turn the chicken and cook for another 10 minutes, until just cooked through. Remove from the grill to a plate. Cover tightly and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

**I left out the jalapeno pepper because of the kiddos -- still tasted amazing. We used leftovers to make fajitas - YUM!

recipe origin: Barefoot Contessa Family Style

hold me

My baby is going to kindergarten next week.
Did you hear that?
MY BABY IS GOING TO KINDERGARTEN NEXT WEEK!!!
I am totally freaking out about this. My eyes fill up with tears just thinking about it. I'm not sure I can do this. I am positively riddled with anxiety about putting my little girl in school. As in I am finding myself laying awake at 3am thinking things like: "What if she doesn't like her teacher? What if I don't like her teacher? What if she doesn't have a friend to sit with on the school bus and she has to sit all alone? What if the other kids are mean to her? What if she doesn't have a friend? I bought the wrong type of colored pencils on the school supply list because they were out of the kind it said - is that okay? Will we get in trouble? Did we read enough books of the summer reading list? What if we didn't and now she is behind? Or if we read the wrong books? Can she write her name well enough? Should we be practicing? What about cutting with scissors? Cause she's not really great at cutting with scissors. And what should she bring for a snack?" And OHMYWORD the crazy just goes on and on and ON!!!!

Seriously, you guys. FREAKING OUT.
**********
And I think the title also applies to my reaction after our first delivery of heating oil this morning.
Holy. Cow.
I'd better learn how to knit faster, cause we'll be needing some more sweaters this winter.

at least she warned me

Grace: "Tomorrow I'm going to be a stinker!!"

as my mother faints dead away....

When we were at my grandparents's house, my uncle came by with his Harley.
"Can I go for a ride?"
That was not Husband. That was Ellie.
ELLIE.
This girl is scared of loud noises, nervous around adults she doesn't  know well and very cautious... I was sure she was joking or would chicken out.
Not that I was nervous about putting my baby on a motorcycle. A motorcycle, for cryin' out loud!
Anyway, she plopped my uncle's helmet on her head, she got on and VVVRRROOOMMMMM!!! away they went! We could hear her laughing over the Harley. Seriously! According to my uncle, she kept yelling "Faster! Go faster!!!" My siblings were laughing hysterically at her.

We may have a little wild child on our hands here.

vroooom @ Yahoo! Video

this is going to last forever, right?

My girls have been fighting all day.
Over Colin.
"Mommy, she always gets to play with the baby!" (said very pitifully through tears by Ellie)
"Mommy, its my turn to play with him!" (yelled across the room by Grace)

Remind me of this is about a year when he is constantly getting into all their stuff, driving them crazy and they want me to lock him in his room.