I have a little girl now!

OK, so I've recently come to the realization that I no longer have a baby girl. She is definitely reached "little girl" status. Gone are the days of talking about stuff around her that she doesn't understand because this girl picks up on EVERYthing. She's got such the personality too! I can't help but brag about her because she surprises me every day with the things she says and does. I need to write things down more often because she'll do something and I'll think to myself, "I need to remember that one" and then the moment passes. I need to make more of an effort to record some of her girlish shenanigans. They are truly hilarious.

Now I would like to give myself some props. I rarely do this, but in this case I think it is well-deserved. OK, here goes..... I have managed to cook dinner (and good stuff too) for over a week now!! And it's not that hard to do!! A little pre-planning goes a long way. And I am so grateful for all of the yummy recipes I have tried recently that were sent by my MOPS family. Thanks to everyone. And if you have a recipe you'd like me to try and blog about, leave me a comment. Just one stipulation. It must not include any red meat or pork or must be substitutable with chicken and/or ground turkey. Jesse and I don't eat red meat or pork, not because of religious or moral reasons.....just to be healthy. And the weird thing about it is that we were both already eating that way before we met. How strange is that?? For two, non-red meat or pork-eating people to meet, fall madly in love (OK, it wasn't quite like that, but close) and marry is just too much of a funny coincidence.

But! if you wanna get on the moral bandwagon, one could argue that by eating cows, you are increasing the demand for cow meat, thus the demand for cows and cow farms which are big methane gas producers. And for those of you who think you are saving the planet by driving a hybrid.....read this.

OK, sorry to all of the red meat and pork eaters out there who feel a bit bashed. By no means is that my intention. Just raising awareness. And by the way, I think hybrids are great. Keep driving ;o)

Lord of the flies...........

So we've had a "little" fruit fly problem over the past month. We've made an extra effort to not keep ripened fruit out, to wipe down counters thoroughly and not leave ANYTHING edible on the counter unattended to prevent this creatures from multiplying. We've even set "traps" for them. You take a cup, glass, or bottle....put some apple cider vinegar (I mixed white vinegar with grape juice to give it a fruitier smell) in it, then put either some oil or dish soap on the top so they stick to the tantalizing mixture. Then cover the glass with plastic wrap and punch holes in it to trap them in.

I've always been fascinated at how dumb flies are. They can easily get into the HUGE slats of the mini blinds, but for the life of them (literally...because they ALWAYS die in there) can't find their way back out the 1 inch slats. They just keep butting their heads up against the window and the mini blinds. Dumb. Can't get any dumber.

Anywho....this fly problem has been SOOOO annoying given my germophobic nature. I was seriously about to look into more drastic measures UNTIL.....

We made a trip to BJ's and the grocery store and I was putting away the goods.

I was in the middle of rearranging some stuff under the kitchen sink to make room for the 6 boxes of tissues we bought in bulk at BJ's (yes, I go through some tissues lately) when I found it. The NEST!!! I almost didn't recognize what it was except for the vague memory of stashing a small bag of potatoes under there umm....... many SEVERAL months ago. (try 6? 7?)

And there were hundreds (maybe thousands??) of fat well-fed fruit flies and...........brace yourselves....... MAGGOTS!!!!! ALL OVER THE PLACE down there. Ugh!!!!!! I almost hurled right there, but the super nesting mommy in me took over and I went into bleach disinfecting mode. I soaked those suckers in so much bleach cleaner, they didn't see what was coming.

So, moral of the story. Don't forget about your potatoes!!!!! Put them where you will remember to eat them and check them periodically. Like at least every month.

Ok, you guys know I cannot blog without talking about the kids. The other day I got to witness Eve's new little game she plays with her hands. She will make one hand pinch the other hand, then she proceeds to send that hand to time out. She says, "Go time out!! That's not nice!!!" and she slips the disciplined hand under her other arm. Hilarious!! Jesse said she's been doing that periodically. Where does she learn this stuff? I mean who does this stuff?? I guess Miss Eve Rene does!

Oh, and Jesse just finished reading a book called "Shepherding a Child's Heard" by Tedd Tripp and we have begun over the last few weeks to use the disciplining techniques talked about in the book.................and so has Eve. The other day, she put her kitty Yeow over her leg and told him she was going to spank him three times for not obeying, then she tells him that she doesn't ever want to have to spank him again and then proceeds to say a short prayer with him. She mumbled something about helping to obey and thanking Jesus for the cross. haha. Jesse always prays with Eve after he spanks her. That girl picks up on EVERYthing.

So, tomorrow I plan on having craft time with Eve Rene. I bought some stuff to make Christmas ornaments. We'll see how that goes.